Leaving Nebraska

We have successfully completed a cross-country move! One month ago, today, we loaded up the truck and we moved to the big G. So far, pretty great, here! The weather is definitely a major upgrade, our house is beautiful and suits our needs well, and the kids are, for the most part, really loving their schools.

Yesterday, we verbally accepted an offer on the house, and today we turn in our signed papers. For the past 3 months, that house has been an enormous source of stress for me. I worried about getting it ready to sell, I worried about getting everything done in time, I worried about keeping it clean for open houses and showings, I worried about it being clean enough when we left, I worried about how long it would take to sell. I worried about whether we'd left anything important behind (I worried about that a LOT)... yeah. That. It turns out I was worrying about the wrong "things" being left behind.

When we accepted the offer yesterday, I started thinking about those "things" again, the material things that could have been overlooked. Then I thought about my garden. I worked my butt off to make the front of the house look awesome. Truckloads of dirt, truckloads of mulch, hauling and placing of bricks, and the hours I spent agonizing over which plants to put in it. I bought several online, several from a garage sale, and several from a friend's gardening-enthusiast father. And I inherited many from friends. Those make it more personal, I thought sadly. Then my thoughts strayed to the two plants in the garden bed that were grown from seeds, by Sam, at his school last year. A marigold and some wheat grass. I didn't take those with me when I left. I couldn't, really, since it was the end of December when we left. But... they're there, without me.

And that led me to think about the kids' hand/footprints we made in the cement when we got the slab poured for the new hot tub. Emma and Simon did handprints and Max, who was just a few months old at the time, did a footprint. Those little indentations in the cement, that mean nothing to anyone but us, left behind.

The paintings that Emma and Simon and I did in the playhouse. I remember that day well. We put Max on a blanket in the yard and went to town. Paint shirts became unnecessary, because the mess could not be contained, but we had a great time. I bet the new owners will paint over it.

The time we spent in that house was a very busy time. We came with three kids and left with six. We were 27 when we moved in, and 34 when we left. 6 1/2 prime years of our lives... lots of memories. We made lifelong friends. We had uncountable hours of hearty laughter, and good times with buds. It's so strange to think about someone else living there, doing those things.

When we pulled out of the driveway and waved goodbye to the house and the neighborhood, I had a smile on my face and I said "good riddance!" We spent over 60 thousand dollars on it in the last two years, not to mention other regular upkeep and new appliances over the 6 years. If the offer we got yesterday stands, we will have sold it for 8.5 thousand less than we paid for it. Financially speaking, I hated that house. :) But now, thinking back on the good times, it sure did contain a lot of them.

We leave behind the inheritance of amazing neighbors, a good, safe area for raising a family, and the hope that "our old house" generates as many great times for them as it did for us. I don't think of Georgia as home yet, and I'm sure it'll be awhile before I do. I think that makes it harder, closing the door on 5309. But it'll come, with time, and of course I have the most important thing in the world with me: my family.

Apple Picking

We (except Oliver and Simon) went to the apple orchard in Nebraska City last weekend with our friends, the Powells. A good time was had by all, but I think my favorite moment was when our massive van got stuck in the mud (the only parking being in an orchard after several days of rain). Luckily, several guys were willing to help, and only later did Shelle inform me that as I hit the gas, I sprayed mud all over the guy wearing the white pullover. Ooopsies!

Photos are here!

9/11

The past week or two I've been reading a lot about the events of September 11, 2001.  I'm normally not an excessively patriotic person, but it's hard to not get emotional when you think about that day.  Watching videos, thinking about it all... it's just overwhelming.

And yet, life goes on.  I'm far enough removed that I normally don't stop and think about it on a daily, weekly, or even monthly basis.  I'm not one of the mothers who lost a baby (full-grown, but always their baby), wives who lost a spouse, sisters who lost a brother.  As far as I know, I don't even know anyone who did.  But the anguish, panic, loss, felt by those who did is almost universal (almost).  Imagining going through that brings me to the brink of tears, over and over again.

I was 8 months pregnant with Simon on that day.  Emma was 10 months old.  I was at home, on the phone with the exterminator, discussing spiders in the bushes surrounding our house.  Ironic, kind of.  He is the one who told me about the first plane.  He didn't really know anything but that a plane had hit.  I remember thinking it was probably a private plane, out of control - an accident.  I thought "that's too bad" and went on with my day.  A few hours later, Oliver called me and asked if I was watching T.V.  I said no, and he told me what was going on and that I should turn it on.  For the next few hours, I watched footage while Emma played nearby.

The city of Lincoln did not shut down completely, but a lot of businesses closed for the day that afternoon.  I can't remember why Oliver wasn't home that evening, but Emma and I went to Hobby Lobby to buy frames for ultrasound photos I wanted to display on the wall.  I was apprehensive about going anywhere.  No one knew if that was the end of the day's attacks or if there was more to come, across the country.  Hobby Lobby was basically empty.

I'm 34 now instead of 24.  I'm sure that plays a role in my emotional response to this anniversary.  My kids are getting older.  The big, scary world looms ahead as I suppress the overwhelming urge to cover them in bubble wrap the moment they get out of bed in the morning.

Simon was born on October 18th, a happy and healthy baby.  He has shown a lot of interest in 9/11.  As he talks about what he wants to be when he grows up, I can picture him in a suit on Wall Street.  I know what his face looks like when he's panicking.  I know what his heart feels like when it's running on adrenaline, and he's sobbing against my chest.  Putting him, mentally, as an adult, into a scene like what I've been seeing lately, is something I can't not do.  Is it nature's way of preparing you?  Or torturing you?

I just put elbow- and kneepads on Max as he was practicing riding his bike without training wheels.  I watched Oliver hold on to his shoulders as he ran behind Max, steadying him as he tilted to one side and then the other.  I hope he'll let us do the same every day for the rest of his life, whether he's riding a bike or not.

It would be lovely if we could avoid tragedies.  If everyone just lived a relatively even-keeled life and just died peacefully in their sleep at a ripe old age.  For some, that happens.  But until you find out if that's your path or not, I guess it's best to live each day to the fullest you possibly can.  You have to get up each morning and love your life - the gift you have been given.  Otherwise, you end up with a lifetime of memories of staring at the walls of the jail cell you put yourself in.  And be thankful.  For everything you have.  Your family, your friends, food, water, shelter.  Your underwear.  Whatever.  Whatever you have, no matter how little it may be, is something to be thankful for.  Whatever you have is something that millions of people don't.


 "I would rather have thirty minutes of wonderful than a whole lifetime of nothin' special." - There is a Steel Magnolias quote for every situation, I swear.

Sam and his pee.

Sam was in the bathroom and announced that he was done peeing. Then he came into the room with a plastic sack. Max said "he's done peeing? He peed in the sack?" I said "nooo, in the bathroom." It says a lot, though, that I then had to check the sack, just to be sure. Yep, the bathroom.

Maximillian the Bravest Knight in the Whole Wide World

I started something huge tonight. Max asked me to tell him a story, so I invented Maximillian, the Brave Knight. Max quickly changed it to Maximillian, the Bravest Knight in the Whole Wide World, and the story was off. MtBKitWWW has decided that he wants various things that living in the middle ages don't provide. French fries, for one. Soda, things like that. So he invents a time-traveling machine to take him to different eras to obtain these important items. He has the ability to make a time machine out of anything he'll fit into, but sometimes he pops into places in time he didn't want to go to. His first attempt landed him in the bedroom of a boy named Max whose mom ("blasted woman!" as MtBKitWWW called her, with much irritation from Mom) did not respond to his demands for french fries.

Lots of fun will be had with this one, I think. Even Simon got into it, acting out the scene, and telling another version when I had finished. Having boys is pretty neat. :)

Christmas Cards 2010

Needless to say, family photos when you have 6 kids under the age of 10 are nothing less than a major challenge. We had ours taken in October with the hope of getting "just one, pleeease, just one!" good one of everyone. No such luck. We were lucky to get a few with everyone sitting down in the same general area.

In steps my hero, Shutterfly. Year after year I have ordered our holiday cards from their online site, and this year will be no exception. They have so many different layouts (for moms like me who have to slice and dice photos to get good ones of everyone, or those lucky moms who have so many amazing shots, they can't pick just one), and the styles and graphics are just beautiful. And it's so easy to upload photos to their site to just 'drop' into the design. We get so many compliments on our cards! One year I didn't send one - I just ran out of time. I can't believe the number of people who told me they were disappointed!

This is what I'm choosing from this year: http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-photo-cards I need one with 6-7 individual photos, for separate photos of each child, and then hopefully room for the one of Oliver and me. Or maybe I'll use one of all of the kids, perfect or not. Or maybe the one where Gus is sitting with his back to the camera, but everyone else looks great (thanks a lot, Gus).

I have also ordered photo books from Shutterfly. They're so great to look through, and the kids love seeing themselves in print. The quality is outstanding, and the shipping is fast. Love it! It's my goal to make one of every year since we got married. Maybe after the house starts cleaning itself. :)

So, be on the lookout for this year's masterpiece! I am compiling it little by little, day by day. Hope to have it out by New Years! ;)

Some New News

I can't believe it's almost Thanksgiving again. Where does the time go?

Noteworthy News:

Emma just turned 10 on November 19th! She received her own hairdryer in a fetching pink paisley design, a matching straightening iron, a makeup case and some (mild) makeup to call her own. She was really hoping for a camera, but that will have to happen for Christmas, as I have yet to find a good one at a good price. Suggestions welcome!

Simon turned 9 on October 18th, and all he wanted was a football and some flag football gear. He got just that and had a fabulous time playing with 7 of his closest friends.

Elliot turned 1 on October 20th, and got... a ball. What a difference between what Emma got for her 1st birthday, as the oldest, and what he got. :) Poor guy!! He didn't even get a party. That's okay, I don't think he noticed. I took his picture on his birthday, so I'm doing okay.

Gus turned 4 on November 16th (we did not plan all of these birthdays to be so close together!!) and got some new Thomas the Train toys, which he lives and breathes for. From Grandma and Grandpa he even got a big pop-up Thomas tent, which he slept in last night. Sam is showing signs of being a huge Thomas fan, too, so hopefully this investment will pay off with him and Elliot as well. :)

The kids are absolutely loving being back at public school, and I must admit that it's nice for me to have some breathing room. I never understood those moms who wanted to be away from their kids until everyone started needing me all the time. :) But seriously, it's great for them to be with their friends and Emma and Simon have both been identified as 'gifted' (they do that testing in 2nd grade), so they are in classes that are more challenging for them, which is great. Max is loving kindergarten and his teacher, and making lots of his own friends, which is fantastic, because he really doesn't have any in our neighborhood, so he tags around with Simon. Gus is in preschool, and Sam goes to the same school on the same days (T,Th mornings) to a program for toddlers/pre-preschool and he LOVES it. I never saw a kid more excited to be around other kids his age, and he cannot get enough of his teachers, who adore him. Elliot gets alone time with me on these days, and it's good for us to have in-depth chats while running errands and whatnot.

Today we are getting an assessment of our energy usage. A guy from our energy company is coming out to go through the house. That's the highlight of my day! Tomorrow is grocery shopping for the week and Thanksgiving, which we're spending with Matt & Jen + kids at my parents' house. So thankful for family and the ability to be together and ... the food!!

Simon and Woodrow Wilson

This evening, Simon was telling Oliver what he learned today about President Wilson.

Simon: He was a professor and then president at a college, and then Governor, and then President of the United States.

Oliver: That's right, and what did he teach? If I recall correctly, it was Political Science.

Simon: Yep, it was. And he got really sick while he was President.

Oliver: Oh yeah? Did he die while in office?

Simon: No, he was in bed.

A quiet moment

The days really fly by, and the few times I have to sit down and actually think about something don't come around that often. I get nostalgic when I look through old photos and I think "wow, Max was so little" or "aww, I remember when Emma did that" and can barely remember that time period. Sometimes I wish I could just slow it all down and file away more memories. Today I was holding Elliot and thinking how big he is already. I squeezed him and smelled him, and instantly remembered my other babies and their smells, and realized 'this is why we have so many kids'!! :) No more for us, though - we took care of that in December!

Today we spent the majority of the morning cleaning/organizing and vacuuming. Emma and Simon worked over his room while I did some of the same on the main floor. So many days I just fly through things and put this or that aside for another time to take care of it. I guess sometimes you have to actually take some time to do that. After lunch, we buckled down and went through some school work (including writing letters to Grandma, Grandpa, and Bert as practice for the proper way to do so), and now I'm preparing dinner and trying to keep things picked up!

I love the accomplishment of days like this - getting so much done is cathartic - but now I'm thinking about all the other stuff I really should be doing, like transferring information from calendars (I have 7 years of calendars set aside) to baby books, and more importantly, writing entries in the kids' memory books, which I haven't done in way too many months. I feel like I'm on a speeding train with my head hanging out the window!

Warm fuzzies

The high for today is -4 here in Nebraska. This photo makes me feel a little cozier! :) This is Elliot, 2 months old.

Elliot

We welcomed Elliot Jonas to our family on October 20th at 8:42pm. He was 8lbs 15ozs and 21" in length. We are all doing great, although very busy!! Here are some photos I took this morning: http://picasaweb.google.com/kabanta/ElliotJonas#

More 'soon'! :)

I was so excited last night. Haven't I said 'it's the little things'? We cleaned out the garage, wall to wall, and it looks so much better. It was totally a spur-of-the moment decision on my part - I started while Oly was taking Max for a bike ride to the coffee store, because I was completely sick and tired of stepping over everything and having to weave through things to get through the garage. And also, never being able to find anything!!

When Oly came home, he said two things: "whoa" to all the stuff in the driveway, and "it rained on my bikes" to the three bikes I had put out, and the 4 minute rain shower we had. He didn't even change out of his cycling clothes before he jumped in to help, though, and it went pretty quickly from there! We had several people slow down while driving by, or ask if we were having a garage sale. It did look like a completely unorganized "I threw all this crap on the driveway" sale, I guess. Someone even tried in earnest to buy Oly's motorcycle.

I will take photos when we are completely done, but one stall is completely his bike storage/work shop, which is what he has wanted for a couple of years. The other side is inevitable storage (you know, that stuff that gets shoved out to the garage when you don't have a dedicated storage castle), various non-bicycle tools, and the kids' bikes and other play stuff. Yeah, we haven't been able to park in there for a while, so I've kind of given up on that idea. Plus, our new van (when we finally get it) won't fit in there anyway.

We also moved several things out to the tool shed in the back yard, which, for 4 years has been the home of the lawnmower and the occasional rake/shovel. We put two plastic shelving units (that used to be in the garage) in the shed, and made use of a lot of space that had been wasted. We also moved the snowblower and the seed spreader out there, and even IT looks nice.

After we did most of the work, we took a break and sat in the hot tub for awhile while Sam slept and the kids played. We did a bit more off and on (mostly me putting away some of the stuff I'd brought in to be placed elsewhere, like our DVD collection and some baby stuff), and when Sam, Gus and Max went to bed, I cleaned out the wall units and finished up most of what I needed to do. When we had to move the wall units, it became apparent that there was no way I'd be able to help lift them, so I suggested we use an upside down rug on my side, and I'd drag it while Oly manuvered the other side. He said "I don't think that's going to work" and I said "can we just try it?" I'm so smart.

My van is packed with stuff to take to a friend's house for her garage sale next weekend, and we have filled our trash tote and two additional garbage cans, not including the 20some cans of latex paint that need to be dealt with. Hopefully Oly will get his bike storage stuff assembled today, too. Gotta keep the productivity flowing!

OCM

New photos are up! :) These are from today's field trip.

http://picasaweb.google.com/kabanta/ChildrenSMuseumAugust2009#

Our first week of homeschooling!

Wow. I can hardly believe how much fun I'm having, and how great Emma and Simon are doing. I was really worried that I'd have trouble getting them to accomplish things without a negative attitude. Not that either of them are particularly negative by any means, but the "aww, do I have to?" stuff I'd get, or putting it off, instead of the just sucking it up and doing it, which they'd do for a teacher.

We jumped into the first week with very eager attitudes and vigor! We (I) decided to take a 'unit studies' approach at first, to determine how organized (or not) we could be. Unit studies just seemed like the easiest way to figure things out, for me. So this week's topic was the human body (intentionally a ridiculously broad topic). I should mention that, a few weeks ago, I had them make a list of topics they'd like to focus on, as well as a list of things they want to learn about that might not be deep enough for a whole week (at grade school level). Simon's list of the latter consisted of: how bikes are made, how mocha machines are made, and how video games are made/written. Do you think he has much of an interest in his father? :)

So all week we've been doing various lessons/activites pertaining to various body parts/systems. We also checked out some Bill Nye videos (and tons of books) from the library, and they watched a few of those. We did a taste bud experiment, and a circulatory system experiment (learned to take their own pulses, and did resting heart rate, moderate exercise heart rate, and heavy exercise heart rate, and analyzed our findings). We did an experiment in the dark to see how much light affected how wide our pupils got, and how quickly they changed. They also had to write a report on any body part/system, and have me proofread it, and then re-copy it in their best handwriting. They both did an awesome job. Can you tell I'm so happy with our decision to homeschool? I know every week won't be this amazing, but I have to gush while I've got the steam. :)

We wrapped up this morning with a spelling test, and are going to take a field trip to the Omaha Children's Museum this afternoon, as they have an exhibit on how the body works. The spelling test was interesting to me, because they picked their own words, based on books they were reading on Monday, and the words were all difficult, especially for a 7 and 8 year old. They each made a list of 10-15 words and we scaled it down to a combined list of 16 (6 from each and 4 from me) and practiced them each day. On Wednesday we looked up definitions and made up sentences to go with them, and I quizzed them periodically throughout the week. Emma got 100% on the test today and Simon got 9/16. I thought he did a great job trying, and most of the words he missed were inverted letters or leaving one out, so really, not any worse than the average adult. :) Emma just has that ingrained desire and need to conquer (she totally gets that from Oliver), and Simon is like "eh, I did as good as I thought I should", which may or may not be from me. :)

Our list:
focus
biology
virus
available
immunity
energy
bacteria
fetus
tongue
process
progress
disease
infectious
development
substances
behavior

So, for those of you who have been asking, things are going great. And they're only getting better. (Sorry, couldn't resist!) I think, selfishly, one of my favorite parts about it is that I'm learning things again. I have to constantly look things up that I don't remember or I'm not sure about, and it feels really good to be gaining that knowledge back.

So anyway - happy weekend everyone! :)

A brief catch-up post

It has come to my attention that I need to stop slacking and update the blog!

The pregnancy is going well. I am retaining a ridiculous amount of water, and need to wear wrist braces every night to keep my hands from falling asleep, which somehow causes numbness and pain all at the same time. I had the same problem when pregnant with Gus. I'm not to the point of needing to wear them during the day, though, so that's a plus! The baby is due on October 25th, so about 3.5 months to go. We're in the home stretch, almost!

Our search for a new vehicle (a larger van) is not as fruitful as I'd hoped, but we do still have a few months, so I'm not panicking yet. We looked into getting a Suburban or something along those lines, but even those aren't big enough for the Bantas (4 car seats take up a lot of room!), so we carry on.

Emma and Simon finished up school on June 4th and are enjoying the summer. We made the decision, after a few years of thought and research, to start homeschooling. Their school is moving to a temporary location all the way across town for a year, and rather than bus them or spend an hour in traffic each way every day, we decided to make the leap of faith and give it a go. They're both pretty excited, and we have already started a bit, with mandatory reading every day for two hours each. They each have a list of chores they have to do every day, so I don't hear "I'm boooored" too often. :) I filed our paperwork with the state of Nebraska, so we're official! In August we'll start an actual curriculum. Emma wants to join 4-H and raise a rabbit, and Simon is eager to try a couple of classes that he has options for, so it should be an interesting year, to be sure.

Max turned 4 in April and is quite the card. He has a fun little temper (I'm being sarcastic), and keeps us laughing with his antics (that's true). His most recent funny was when he told Oly that no, there aren't 2 bosses in our house (Mom and Dad), there are 3 - Mom, Dad, and Max.

Gus is still on a Thomas the Train roll. He loves all things Thomas and asks daily if we can go to Target to see Thomas. It's pretty cute - I'm starting to wonder if he loves Target more than I do! He is 2.5 and is potty training himself. I like waiting until they're 3, because it's been much easier that way, but I couldn't ignore the signs any longer, so here we go!

Sam is 15 months old (almost) and is enamored with his siblings. He loves anything messy (which is the opposite of Max) and is my early riser of the bunch. We frequently have a few hours of alone time until someone else wakes up, which is (mostly) okay with me. They don't stay this little for long, so I need to enjoy it while I can!

Our 9 year anniversary is this month. I know it's a drop in the bucket, and I'm glad for that. I feel very fortunate to have married someone who makes me laugh all the time, keeps my interest, challenges me, and sparks my intellect. It doesn't hurt that he's easy on the eyes, either! :)

That's about all the news I have! I have uploaded some photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/kabanta/Summer2009# from the past couple of months, for your viewing pleasure. :)

New photos

Lots to update, but no time right now - finally got some new photos up. They can be seen here: http://picasaweb.google.com/kabanta

Enjoy! :)

Sick of the sickness!

Written Friday:

A few weeks ago, Gus and Sam came down with runny noses and coughs. Then Oliver picked up the cough, and then Max came down with a fever (last week). Shortly thereafter, Gus and Sam came down with mild fevers, and Oliver picked up the congestion and fever.

Max's throat was all gross, but the strep test was negative, and he said he didn't have any pain, so we let it go. Now Max is coughing and has a runny nose, and in the past 48 hours, Gus has slept 40 of them - more if you count the bits of falling asleep wherever he was sitting/laying. He went to bed at 2pm on Wednesday for his nap, and I had to wake him up at 5:30. An hour later, he was asleep in my lap, so I put him back in bed. He slept all night, and the next morning and afternoon, I kept checking on him, and finally got him up at 1pm. At 4pm, after refusing to eat, he wanted to go back to bed. He slept all night, and this afternoon, I finally got him up at 12:30 thinking he had to eat something. I figured he was just sleeping off whatever he had going on.

He was totally out of it, didn't want to eat much, even his absolute faves. He would get up and follow me if I left the room, but otherwise was happy to lay around, and snooze off and on, as long as he could hold my hand (I know, how cute is that??). I put him back to bed at 3 and called the doctor's office and they told me to bring him right in, so I did. I had just given him some ibuprofen, about 30 minutes prior, but his fever was still 100 through his shirt (underarm). Turns out he has a double ear infection and she thinks his body is out of whack from only basically having water for 2 days. We had to get blood drawn to make sure he doesn't need to be hospitalized with an IV (yikes, wth!) and I haven't had a call yet, so I'm optimistic that she was just erring on the side of caution. So, he's back in bed after passing out on the couch, with a cup of G2, some yogurt, and a dose of antibiotics in him. Poor baby. :(

Then there's Sam whose sleeping habits are not at all favorable. He is refusing regular sleep, which is rough, too. I can't wait for this cough to go away and the runny noses to go with it. It's only cute for so long when a kid pulls your sleeve up to their nose to wipe it. Actually it's only cute once, and that's the one time it happens before you realize what they're doing.

I'm just glad I haven't gotten it yet - all I've got going on is 1st trimester exhaustion - and Emma and Simon are both healthy as well. Let it ride!

Saturday update: Doctor's office called today (conveniently while Oly and I were in the process of removing a tick from Max's head that I found while cutting his hair), said Gus needed to drink about 50ozs of fluids today or he'd need to be hospitalized for dehydration. We, despite constant offering various liquids and cups (and by that I mean that I sat with him for the majority of the day and said "drink again" every 10 seconds), only made it to about half that, but mid-morning he started acting much more normally and was awake for all but about 1.5 hours all day. He is definitely feeling much better, so we're just going to push the fluids again tomorrow and take stock then. I'm sure he's still dehydrated, but he's acting completely normal now, so I'm not worried about it. It was pretty scary when he was sleeping 22 out of 24 hours, and the 2 he was awake was because I woke him up!

Oliver can't stop coughing, but Sam and Max are much better now. We still have runny noses (Gus too) but otherwise, I think the kids are mostly on the mend.

Kangaroos

Emma did a report on kangaroos, and I thought it was pretty fabulous! They also had to write a letter to the animal they reported on, convincing them to live in our climate for awhile. Spelling errors are intentional, this is exactly how she wrote it. :)



THE REPORT:

Kangaroos are BIG animals. They are VERY interesting. Did you know that a baby red kangaroo at birth weighs less than one once? Even I didn't know that! Now let's explore the facts I took from the book Kangaroos by Lynn M. Stone.

Kangaroos has long ears on it's black eyes head. And has a long tail over their big hind feet. A kangaroo usually weighs 150 pounds.

Kangaroos usually eat grass, but I think I should tell you their predetors. Their main preditor is a dingo. Every once in a while a Tasmanian devil eats a baby kangaroo. Eagles swoop down to catch their dinner of a small kangaroo.

Kangaroos live in many places, I'll name them for you. Australia is a very popular place for kangaroos to be spotted. Tasmania is a place where some kangaroos live.

There are 54 kinds of kangaroos. No kidding! Kangaroos are nocturnal, too! Kangaroos are related to wallabies.

A kangaroo seems very interesting. Can you believe that a baby red kangaroo at birth weighs less than one once? I can't! I like the kangaroo because they're cute, kind, and just plain cheerful.



THE LETTER:

Dear Katie Kangaroo,

I want to invite you to my house. You could be my winter guest!

I know you eat grass, so you could mow the uneven grass!

You don't have to worry about dingos, eagles, and Tasmanian devils in Lincoln, Nebraska, because there aren't any! But watch out for Pickles, Libby, and Hotdog, because they can be dangeres!

I know you don't have a baby to put in your pouch, but don't worry! You can give my brothers rides in your pouch!

Don't worried, either, Katie, my dog Grissom, will do the Bunny/Kangaroo Hop with you. Grissom is a handsom golden retriever.

You could sleep on my queen sized bed with me, as long as you don't be kangaroo/hog on my bed!

You will be happy when you see my backyard because it's huge, has a trampaline, a secret passage, clubhouse, a double deck, hot tub, and lots of trees.

Reply soon! Say yes!

Love, Emma

Moving and shaking!

With some painting help from my fabulous friend Carrie, I redid Simon and Max's room a week or two ago. Simon wanted a 'Star Wars The Clone Wars' theme, so I scoured ebay for some good deals, and took a leap of faith with our paint choice colors! The first 4 photos are from right after we got the bunk bed set (beds, dressers, and desk - awesome garage sale score), back when Emma and Simon were sharing a room, Max had his own room, and the other room was a play room.

Now Gus and Sam share a room (photos of that re-do coming soon), and Emma *finally* has a room to herself - no sharing with the baby anymore! In addition to that overhaul, Oly and I moved his office out to the main room in the basement, and created a nice little sitting area for me to hang out in in the evenings, with the added bonus of being able to utilize the fireplace down there! We moved the elliptical, weight bench, and his CompuTrainer (indoor computerized cycling set-up) from the main room into what used to be his office, and that is now the exercise room.

Eventually we're going to move the treadmill down there (it's currently in our bedroom), and mount a flat screen TV on the wall for use while exercising. I will post photos of that once we have everything in place! I've been trying to talk Oly into that set-up for awhile, so I'm glad he finally went for it. We're both enjoying it so far! Anyway, all these changes have been within the past couple of weeks, so that's been keeping us busy!

Anyway, the following photos are before and after, starting in the corner where the door to the hallway is.






'New' room, complete with awesome neon Star Wars sign for a night light!

Gus's latest adventure

I typed this up on Sunday but was waiting for photos to go along with it. I am a lazy, lazy woman. Here's the dish:

Today while I was making lunch, Gus was sitting in his booster seat at
the table and decided to stand up and turn around to mess with the
patio door. I heard him, and turned around, and told him to sit down.
I glanced back down at what I was doing, and heard him hit the floor.
Gus is just one of those kids who is constantly getting hurt. He's
very accident-prone, I guess you could say. So him bashing his mouth
on something and having a bloody lip is not cause for concern around
here.

I went over, scooped him up, and snuggled him, while lecturing him on
the dangers of standing up on chairs. A minute later, I did the
standard check to be sure all of his teeth are still in place and
realized that he was bleeding a lot more than usual. I wiped the blood
away and checked his mouth and realized that his lower lip was split
way open. Like, to the point where I could see inner lip stuff that I
did not care to see. I informed Oliver that I thought he needed
stitches, and we debated over who would take him in. It was already
'one of those days'!

I took him first to the Urgent Care Center, because I didn't feel like
waiting for hours at the ER, even though, from experience (when Simon
got his eyelid ripped open by Grissom's razor-sharp puppy teeth during
a play session) I figured they'd send me to the ER due to it being a
facial wound and scarring possibilites and all that. Sure enough, 30
minutes later, I was doubling back toward the ER. After an hour wait
(some of which Gus slept in my lap) we were shown to a room at the
hospital, and about 2 hours (and way too much TV) later, a nurse
finally came in. About 30 minutes later, the doctor moseyed in, and by
then I was fighting mad. Gus had fallen during lunch, meaning he
didn't finish. It was dangerously close to dinner time, and he'd slept
all of about 20 minutes worth of a normally 2 hour nap. He was running
out of things to explore in our room, and my forgotten stash of Jelly
Bellies was just about gone. Most unfortunately, the doctor we saw was
the one who had sewn up Simon's eyelid, and I didn't think he'd done
the best job ever. Not much I could do at that point, since Gus's lip
was well on it's way to healing itself by then, and apparently he's
the 'stitches guy' there.

Here we are, waiting for medical attention. The lip was swollen enough that the cut didn't look too deep at that point.



The worst part for me, when watching my kids get stitches, is when
they strap the kid down. No one likes being contained like that
(unless you're a 2 day old baby or just 'one of those' people), and it
just adds to the panic, although I completely understand, obviously,
why it has to be done. So he got wrapped in a straight-jacket of bed
sheets, basically, and they injected his lip (and INTO the cut, what
the hell!) with pain-killer, and of course some got in his mouth and
he was hating that... it was just 15 minutes of screaming, thrashing,
heart-breaking chaos including one old man with a hook and thread, a
young nurse with Gus's head in a vise, and his mama, hugging his torso
and trying to assure him that it would be over soon. In the end, he
received 4 stitches, and we realized that he'd cut his lower lip
pretty deeply on the inside in another spot, but that it didn't need
stitches.

Stitches finished (and not liking the flash). You can see the thumb nail on his left hand, all bruised from the automatic door incident a month or so ago.



We finally got home at 5:40 or so, and of course everyone was worried
about Gus, and worried about their empty bellies. And Gus was not
happy about *anything*. Wanted to be held, didn't want to be held.
Wanted a drink, didn't want a drink. Wanted to eat, didn't want to
eat, and so on. Apparently he could either still taste the painkiller,
or he was remembering the taste, because he kept saying 'yucky' about
everything he put in his mouth. But we were all starving, so Oly and I
played a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors to see who would run for
take-out. He lost, but then couldn't find his wallet, so after 10
minutes of searching, it was decided that I would go, instead.

Finally, about an hour later, we were all fed, and now all of the
children are in bed. I am not looking forward to the next three days
of a 2 year old with stitches. Do they make those dog cones for kids?