First Day of School 2009

The kids were excited to start school today. Not so excited to get up, but that's to be expected.

Matthew was happy, grinning, goofy, and wanted to hold my hand instead of pulling away and complaining. He showed everyone his new Transformers lunchbox. Those who didn't heed his call were poked and forced to look at the Transformers lunchbox until they were appropriately amazed.

There were 15 kids at the bus stop today. That is probably double the number that will be riding the bus the rest of the year... Notice also how many girls there are. We found out yesterday that there may be 3 more sisters joining the school in a week. So, that will officially make the the neighborhood odds roughly 14 to 4 in favor of the girls. If you added youngsters not in school yet, you'd have to bring that up to 23 to 5 (including 3 sets of twin girls). Seriously, there's something in the water here that makes more girls.

Quote of the day: Allison and Julia saw the moon still out as we were walking to the bus stop and told Matthew, "Look, there's the moon." Matthew looks up and says, "Yeah, but he's not my friend."

Super cool insects

Julia was in heaven. Not only does Mr. Paul have hornets, he has a whole hornet NEST in the bushes in his front yard. They are, according to Mr. Paul's research, bald-faced hornets. Now, anyone who knows me knows I like flying insects about as much as I like peanut butter. I probably would rather eat peanut butter than be near a potentially stinging/biting insect. The obvious difference between the two is that I don't run away from peanut butter screaming like a little girl and occasionally falling down or running into stuff. So, for me to get close enough to take these pictures is a big step in my recovery from my complete-freaking-out-over-potentially biting/stinging-insects disease.

Julia, who in the insect world is known as "the kid who plays with us until we die, or scares us so bad we wish we'd die", tried to get closer and closer to the nest. Mr. Paul observantly pointed out that there could be several hundred hornets in the nest. Making them mad could bring them all out. This would probably be bad and would totally derail any progress I would have ever made in my insect-tolerance. It could also keep Julia from thinking insects were cool ever again.

I actually just looked it up and they are not true hornets. They are actually from the wasp family, or more specifically yellow jackets. Hmmmm....I also just read that they very aggressively protect their hive and will go for the facial area when they attack (how did they know that's my worst nightmare!?!) I don't think I will be taking any more pictures....

Haircut Day

It's official - Julia and Allison both had their hair brushed today. They got haircuts. I took pictures as proof...

Interesting Global Warming Policy video

Below is a link to a 40 minute video talking about global warming policies. If you have 40 minutes to watch American Idol (or any "reality" show for that matter), you can watch this:

http://blog.heritage.org/2009/07/28/why-global-warming-policies-are-more-dangerous-than-global-warming-itself/

Another Lesson

This one is more of a "something to remember" lesson than one that was the result of any actions on the part of me or the kids (or Bucky).

Lesson #436: Always have a pen and something to write on within reach at all times. But, make sure that said pen is not a sharpie AND that it is not within reach of a 5-year old boy.

Why? Well, you just don't ever really know what will come out of the mouth of a child. A comedian would never have to write any material given enough time observing a group of 3-10 year old children. Examples? Here are are few from the last few days in our sphere of influence....

Matthew has declared for some time that his right foot "smells like cheeseburgers" and his left foot "smells like french fries". The other day, he said that his right foot instead "smells like chicken and Hi-C". But, you get the idea. Yesterday morning, he wakes up and declares that his right foot "still smells like cheeseburgers" but that his left foot was "stinky". When I asked him why, he just looked at me like I was a total idiot and said, "It just is. I don't know why!"

The second example needs a little background. Since school starts in a little more than a week, that means the kids have been out of school for a long, long time. So, they fight about everything. They get mad if they touch each other, look at each other, use too much shampoo, use too little shampoo, etc. etc. So, we were at the grocery store picking up some stuff. Matthew was busy smelling his feet in the cart. Julia and Allison were having some kind of argument about Rubik's cubes or gum balls or the insanity of considering a Cap and Trade bill with its real estate market-killing EPA compliance components. It really could have been anything and it doesn't matter what they fought about because it's usually nonsense (like the Cap and Trade bill...for crying out loud even **Greenpeace is against it!) ANYWAY, as they are walking to the car Julia murmurs something I didn't catch to Allison who loudly and adamantly responds: "It's not your business or concern Julia...whatever THAT means!"

I just about fell over laughing, as did the woman unloading groceries next to our car. As I sat writing it down, Allison looked at me and with an exasperated whine said "You're not going to write THAT down, are you?" Ohh yes, definitely a keeper!

The third example is courtesy of Matthew. He always says he likes white powdered doughnuts. But, he will often eat chocolate doughnuts too. So, today we had some chocolate doughnut holes (half-price) that I brought down to the pool for a snack. Matthew, after swimming for an hour, asked if I had any snacks. I held up the doughnut holes and when he saw them he broke into hysterics saying how he didn't want those, he didn't like those, and "No, those are YUCKY!" A few seconds later, in a very quiet and pleading voice he asked, "Can I try one???" I opened the box (suppressing laughing at his very pathetic expression) and gave him one "to try". He took a bite and squealed almost too excitedly, "Yummy!! This isn't yucky, it's yummy!" He then proceeded to run around to random people at the pool showing them his half-eaten doughnut hole proclaiming, "This isn't yucky! See!!!"

** I know that Greenpeace is against it because they don't believe that the bill does enough, not that they are opposed to it in principle. Their lack-of-support however does point out the lunacy of the bill which is heavily politically motivated and ultimately does little if anything to help the environment. It also disproportionally effects the poor.

Angel

There is a new puppy in our neighborhood. No, it's not ours (it's Bobbi Ann's). She's about the size of Bucky's paw, maybe. Her name is Angel and she's so super-cute. It's really neat to have a dog jump on you and not dislocate any major joints or cause bruising!

Immunization Day

So, we had 3 of the 4 kids get shots today. It was actually not too bad with minimal screaming and nothing being thrown.

But, as you can see from the picture, it has taken its toll on Matthew....

It's either the shots, or the fact that I made all the kids get up at 8am (which is an hour later than they'd have to catch their school bus!) School starts in 17 days...I still can't believe the summer has gone this fast.

No new updates on the house. Well, we have ants that are getting in the dishwasher, so that's new. And annoying. I have them cornered, so hopefully I can just wipe them all out (and not myself in the process)...

Darth Matthew

For your viewing enjoyment, we bring you...

Darth Matthew

He does the famous breathing sounds, he will attack you with "a force", and he even has a light saber. This would be menacing if not for the fact that the light saber retracts with gravity...

Pictures of our shack

Here are a few pictures of our house. There's a reason I'm doing this, and it's mostly nuts as Joel will tell you, but there is a reason. For those unaware, Joel is the voice in my head. Okay, that's a joke - he' our real estate agent.

Who climbs a hunk of granite in 90+ degree heat?

Yes, that would be us.

We climbed Stone Mountain yesterday. Well, it's only about a 1-mile hike up the side of it. But, that didn't mean that the kids didn't complain about how hard it was. Julia, on more than one occasion, asked me, "How are you doing this?" Meaning, apparently, walking uphill. I guess this is better than us gasping for breath trying to keep up with them, right?

So, what is Stone Mountain? It is basically a really REALLY big granite "monadnock". This is a real word, I didn't make it up. That means it's a big rock sticking out of the ground. At some point, somebody decided to carve some civil war figures into it. This led us to conclude that it was not, as Allison suggested, done by Indians. Well, I suppose it could have been done by Indians who bore a striking resemblance to Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and "the third guy". But, no, it was in fact carved by (let me go look this up)...okay, it was apparently several different people. It was started sometime after 1916 and was finished in 1972. I did find out that the third guy is Stonewall Jackson. It's big, very southern, but pretty interesting too. The laser light show at night is good. Unless you ask Matthew. He was not the slightest bit impressed by any of it. He hates loud noises. He just kept his hands over his ears and kept asking us, "Is it done?"

So, we've crossed off another "to do" on our list of things to do before we leave Georgia. We still have to "shoot the hooch" and maybe do a few other things. I'm not sure about shooting the hooch - that means taking a canoe trip down the Chattahoochee river. Me, alone, with 4 kids in a canoe? Yes, what a blog entry that would be!

Hey, aren't you moving?

I get this question just about daily, so I figured I'd post an update, which isn't really an update:

The answer is yes and no.

Todd will report to Rochester shortly. We will be in a holding pattern in Atlanta until we are able to sell the house. It's already been 3 months. But, some have been at this a lot longer.

So, yes we are supposed to move. No, we don't know when. Hopefully, we'll be able to visit somewhere this summer. We have no plans for anything. But, it could all change in a day. We'll just see what happens...

Summer in Atlanta

It's now officially summer in Atlanta. It's been summer for over a month, we've just been in denial. The browning of the grass, the fact that our air conditioner is on most of the day and night, and our inability to walk outside without sweating has signalled that it is, in fact, summer.

So, we finally started doing stuff other than swimming. We still do that too, but the sharpies are now put away.

Yesterday, we went to the World of Coke, CNN Center, Centennial Park, and the Georgia Aquarium. It sounds like a lot, but they are all in the same spot.

World of Coke was first. It was, as you may have guessed, all about Coke. We saw lots of memorabilia, saw the polar bear (but couldn't get a picture due to there being several thousand day camp kids in attendance as well), and were able to try 64 varieties of Coke products produced around the world. Some tasted awesome, some just so-so, and some you had to wonder if it was a joke and they actually sold it. One in particular was "Beverly" - which is sold in Italy. It tasted like peppery tonic water, and really was not even the slightest bit good. Todd had one that had a pine nut flavor marketed in South Africa that wasn't bad. The kids loved the taste testing, and loved even more that they each got their own mini-bottle of coke to bring home.

Incidentally, look at the picture with the writing about "79 days". This is about the huge screw-up in the 1980s called "New Coke". It's funny that the at least acknowledged it - but even funnier that (according to Todd) you can actually still find it in some remote locations in the southeast Pacific!

Next up we went looking for food. This brought us to the CNN Center. It's actually pretty big and I hadn't realized it was so close to where we were going. If we thought CNN actually did a good job reporting the news, we might have taken a tour. Just kidding - it probably would have been interesting no matter what.

Next, we went through Centennial Olympic Park built for the 1996 Olympics. It's a nice park right in the middle of the city. Being that it's summer, there were about 200 kids swimming in the fountains. And, yes, the fountains were turned back on this year since we are technically out of the drought.

Our last stop was the Georgia Aquarium. This is the world's largest aquarium. It has whale sharks and beluga whales and everything in between. It will be getting a dolphin exhibit in Winter 2010. Matthew, upon seeing the asian river otters, came up to me and excitedly said, "I want one of THOSE cats!" Sadly, we won't be able to comply with that. But, it was a cute request. Overall, it was pretty impressive (but I think I still like the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga the best).

In other news, you know you have a kid with a loose tooth when you hear the following questions:

"Mom, can I throw a softball at my face?"

"Mom, do we have any pliers?"

Do we even have to say that Julia was the source for both quotes???

Last Swim Meet 2009

The last swim meet was last night. We lost by 1 point. It was 476 to 466. It is nearly unheard of to be that close. It's one fourth place finish. But, it was still a fun meet. It was against another Timber Ridge neighborhood, so there were plenty of familiar faces.

Unless I screwed it up, this should be a video of each of the girls swimming. Allison and Julia are swimming freestyle, and Amanda is swimming breaststroke.

Swim Team

Here is a video of Allison swimming butterfly and a few pictures of starts. I also have a picture of Allison's goggle hair, which is a look sported by most of the kids at some point in every meet.

The black writing on all the kids' arms/legs/backs/etc.? That's sharpie pen/marker. Yes, parents actively write on their kids with sharpies. We even give kids sharpies to write on each other (they like to decorate each other with slogans like, "Eat my bubbles", "Eat my waves", "You swim like a stone", etc.) But, really, why would we do something like this? Well, for one, sharpie doesn't come off easily. This is important because we write the kids' names on their bodies and their events, heat, and lane assignment's on their arms/legs. Again, why? Let me explain....

There are usually over 200 kids at these meets. They all have swimming suits on. They all pretty much look the same, especially when wet and with goggle hair. It's even harder if they have on a cap and goggles. Sometimes, you can tell by their size how old they are, but a lot of times you can't. Do the kids know what they are swimming? Sometimes. Do they keep track of when they are supposed to swim? Not even a little. If they have their names written on their bodies somewhere, it makes it easier to find them. See, the parents at the meets all have a 2-hour job. It could be timing, ribbons, concessions, place judge, scorekeeper, runners, or the one nobody wants: locator. The locator has to wade through a sea of wet kids to find the one that is missing from their assigned lane. See, the locator works with the line-up person. The line-up person gets the kids in the right order and reminds them about what they are swimming (because they tend to forget). The locator is tasked by the line-up person with hunting down wayward children who either haven't shown up or who have wandered off to the concession stand or tennis court or nearby trees. Usually, while you are off looking for them (and you usually don't have any idea what they look like) they show up and line-up. You search and get frantic...only to return to tell the line-up person the bad news and discover them standing in line. Everyone has to do this job at least once during the season, and it's the hardest one. I got to do it the first meet.

The swim meets are actually pretty fun. Our last meet is Wednesday, and then we will really be getting lazy.

House selling update in one word:

Nothing.

Happy Father's Day !!!

Top 43 Things about My Dad....by Julia Linskey

1. Loves to tickle his children almost to death.
2. Has to bring his children to softball practice.
3. Has to run to keep in shape.
4. Needs lots of computer time.
5. Has to help make breakfast.
6. Must (in theory) mow the lawn.
7. Needs to help neighbors cut down trees.
8. Needs to turn off the sprinkler.
9. Has to go to work.
10. Needs lots of TV time.
11. Needs to play lots of Wii.
12. Has to have quality time alone.
13. Likes sleeping.
14. Doesn't like cleaning up poop.
15. Doesn't like it when Matthew draws on the walls.
16. Likes to spank Matthew.
17. Finds new ways to entertain his children.
18. Doesn't like it when Bucky throws up on his couch.
19. Doesn't like it when Bucky leaves hickory nuts on his couch.
20. Doesn't like it when Bucky sleeps on his couch.
21. He got us a weird dog, but we love him most of time.
22. He doesn't let us get killed.
23. He climbs on the roof so mom won't fall off it and kill herself.
24. He likes to drink coke, even if Matthew always steals the can.
25. Makes sure we don't play Nintendo too long.
26. Likes to eat stuff that we think is icky.
27. Likes to eat stuff that Bucky thinks is icky.
28. He works in his workshop. A lot.
29. He falls asleep sitting up.
30. Teaches Matthew how to go to the bathroom in the woods.
31. Teaches Matthew how not to go to the bathroom in the front yard.
32. He makes us watch the boring news. So we sort of learn more.
33. He likes the Navy. Sometimes.
34. He likes to eat nasty tasting nuts and tries to get other people to eat them too.
35. He can't wait until vacation.
36. He loves the beach. Not.
37. He loves the woods, but not ticks.
38. He likes hiking.
39. He hates cats.
40. He likes to watch football while drinking Fat Squirrel.
41. He drinks lots of milk.
42. He loves mom. Sometimes.
43. He loves us. Even Bucky too.

Our lovable Bucky

Many of you have heard the tales of Bucky. He is not always the most normal dog, but then again he's in our family so how is that even possible.

At the pool today, Matthew saw the lifeguard walking over towards Bucky. He wasn't going to see him, just pick something up by him. Matthew took that opportunity to inform the lifeguard that:

"That's my dog Bucky. He's very weird."

Above is a picture of the boy and his very weird dog.