it's been a rough week for harry. he is a genius. well, not really. but he's really really smart. he reads like crazy, writes like an author. the only problem he has is math. and it's not like he's not smart in it, just that it doesn't come easy.

he spent last week being defiant about his homework. he told his teacher he'd turn it in this week. he's spend the week on this weeks' homework, not doing either. he turns it in on friday.

so i sat down with him (he won't let me help unless he asks) and we toughed it out. we worked like crazy on long division. i went to my basketball game, harry came with me. when the other team didn't show up, we sat on the chairs and worked on long division more. page after page we worked. and you know what? it started to click with him.

i think i almost understand why teachers do the job they do. it was an awesome feeling when he looked at me, knowing how to do it. he went from "this is stupid and i hate it" to "hey, this is kinda fun" to "i totally rock at long division". it was a very rewarding experience for me, and i think harry felt a lot better about himself. plus, i think it helps us. you know, the whole, mom and son thing. i don't know how to explain it, just that, even though i was bored, tired, annoyed, by long division, it was totally worth it to see him "get" it. i am really proud of him for working so hard, and i'm a little bit proud of me for figuring it out too.

12 is

the number that was on the thermometer this morning.

the number of boys jeans i picked up this morning...either too small or too big, or have too many holes, or they are just dirty. between 3 boys, that is still a lot


the number of eggs i found in the chicken coop


the number of matchless socks i found lying around


the time of day it is


the number of miles i've run this week(so far, right? i could have a good day today)


the number of points my team made at the basketball game last night


the number of times i've smashed my nose. most recently at the basketball game last night



the number of times i've tried to get a run in on the treadmill today


+ a billion, the number of times we've watched the new star trek movie



the number of times i want to eat the chocolate i brought home from the candy store



the number of bids on ebay for the cool star trek toys, that i was outbid on,that i wanted to get for the boys for christmas



it must be the nexus of the universe. or maybe just the nexus of star trek.

funny fussy

foot art

my feet

big d's feet

fussy's feet

harry (the one who started it all)'s feet

chilli's feet (doesn't he look like a yellow submarine artist?)

and of course, it quickly progressed to mustaches and body art

yeah, that is chilli's version of body hair, tattoos and glasses

we had a jack sparrow show up

and the boys had fun decorating me. i look awesome.

i always tease big d about being an optimist. he can call, busy at work, in a meeting, or something else, and give me a prediction for his arrival home. i usually add and hour. or if we need to meet someone, i add time, or if he wants to have a day off, he will be hopeful, while i just don't make plans until last minute. something always comes up. i always tell him he's an optimist and i'm a realist. i've gotten used to it over time.

in motherhood though, i'm defiantly an optimist. one of my kids will throw up and i'll make an excuse. "maybe dinner was bad", or "maybe he jumped around too much". when in reality i know that he is sick.

such is fussy. since sunday. it started sunday night with a late night puke. and the optimist in me thought, "this is just a one time thing. no big deal, he'll feel better in the morning". and fussy did feel better in the morning. and he played and jumped and then puked again. only it was a lot later. so i just thought "well, his stomach is probably just tired from last night, and he was jumping around a lot". and then he puked that night. and then my realist side kinda kicked in. and i knew he was sick.

last night he was up every hour, on the dot. which makes for the grumpy realist side of me to stomp my foot. tomorrow is the big turkey day, and if this continues as history predicts, well, i won't be going. i will be home with either fussy, or someone else. or even myself. pukey sicks rarely leave the house with just one victim.

i guess it's time to stop making fun of big d.

wow, i know....

i'm as inconsistent as ever. it's been a rough first half of november though. for me. the boys are loving it, as they are off track. we went to arizona. so to try and enlighten you all (hi mom!) on what we did, here's some pictures.

driving to arizona. this is when it started to clear up. yeah, that is snow. obviously we hadn't made it to arizona yet.

the van after the snow storm. that's not snow, it's ice. it was cold. really really cold.

the hotel the first night. the boys were so hyper that we just let them watch movies until they could go to sleep.

glen canyon dam

these were some ruins in some place that i can't remember the name. it was in arizona and it was really cold. but they were totally worth it. you know, for something 800+ years old, they don't look too bad.

the lizards, which ironically were in the 30 degree temperatures, but not so much when we were in tucson.

the lava flow from the volcano. super cool. and still really cold. that is why no one is in this picture. we didn't want to get out of the van, so we let big d do all the dirty work.

then to the zoo. which was cool cuz they had these animals. the otters.

and these, the polar bears. i love the polar bears

then the desert museum. which is awesome. seriously. too bad we were a bit tired and grumpy.

kitt peak. which was a very pretty drive. and not much else. sorry big d. i wish it would have been cool like you remembered

then to old tucson. the place they make western movies. nothin' beats a good john wayne movie, right? it really was interesting.

then the trip home. montezuma's castle. amazing!

and hoover dam, and the new bridge

2200 miles round trip. that is a lot of time in the van. it was 4 days of traveling. we made a lot of stops, ate way too much junk food, way too much fast food, and didn't get to spend near enough time in arizona. and we came home to snow.

halloween

election day

it brought tears to my eyes today as i drove home after taking the kids to school. the tears were for the candidates standing out on the corners of the street waving little signs. they were waving them in earnest and i thought about how wonderful it is to live in a country where you vote for your leaders.

it hit me then, that we are all in this together. even though we all think different, feel different, or value different things, the one thing that is the most important, is our ability to choose those people who we think can do the best job. the leaders that can protect our rights.

and whoever wins, or whatever happens next, we should be proud of the fact that we had a hand in it. there is nothing more awe inspiring than that.

before we left the house, chili asked if it was a holiday today, and i told him that it kinda was. he just wanted to stay home from school. it made me realize that this is one of the most important days of the year, and maybe we should celebrate it. this is the day that reminds us what it is like, and how wonderful it is, to be an american.