Pecan Harvesting

It's February and we still have a ton of pecans falling from the trees. We have been picking buckets of pecans since this fall. We had a great harvest this year, and they are sooo good. Have you seen how expensive organic pecans are at the store? We have so many that we have taken to using them as recreational items. Sometimes we launch them across our backyard with a bat, and other times we put our busy little boys to work shelling them. The little one will NOT be exempt from this task. I suggest you purchase your own pecan trees if you live in a place that can grow them, because it will keep the the kids busy for hours.

One must first collect the appropriate pecans.

Then one must bang them with a rock to crush the shells and remove the pecans. I am so proud that my little cavemen know how to use tools.

Don't waste anytime eating them as they can provide proper fuel for more crushing.

Mmmmmm! Yummy pecans!

Me Me Memes?

1. I was tagged for the first time ever for a meme by Julie from the the calm before the stork.

As usual, I am behind on these things, but it isn't unusual for me to procrastinate things. In high school, I used to get up an hour before class to cram for my biology tests, which I had to take during first period. I guess I did okay in that class considering I didn't usually wake up until 3rd period and basically just sat there during class with a glazed look on my face. It's the same glazed look I have for the first two hours after my kids wake me up every morning at seven. Who designed kids to wake up so damn early anyway? They should be born with the coordination to pour their own cereal and drinks if you ask me. Every night I prepare their drinks--chocolate milk for the older boy and plain milk for the Bee--put them in the fridge, and then pour cheerios into their supposed-to-be-no-spill-but-spill-all-of-the-time-anyway containers and place them on the high chair in attempts to buy myself just a few more minutes in bed. Sometimes it works, and sometimes I just ignore them.

And now back to the meme. Here are the rules.

1. Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.

2. Share five random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog.

3. Share the five top places on your “want to see or want to see again” list.

4. Tag a minimum of five random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment in their blog.

2. Share five random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog.

*My uncle use to call me "Blue Eyes" and so did the rest of his family when I was a kid. My uncle was German-English and owned a ranch we used to go to every Sunday for dinner. The story goes that he thought my eyes were going to be blue when he saw me as a baby, and despite the fact that they ended up brown, the nickname stuck. Maybe he was just able to see the future and into the eyes of my own children.

*My best childhood memories are of his farm. There were chickens we fed, cows we milked, horses we'd often ride, ducks we'd chase, and dogs and cats that were the foundation of his alarm system. There were also numerous pecan trees for snacking on and a vegetable garden. My cousins and I use to secretly build fires and forts and played hide-and-seek among the mesquite trees. We'd also go swimming in the pond when I wasn't too grossed out by the fish and algae living in it.

*I don't eat salad. I am generally very picky about which veggies I eat and how. I will only eat carrots in soup, and spinach in sandwiches.

* Between fourth and seventh grade, I went to three different elementary schools and two different middle schools in three different states.

* I have over 30 cousins I almost never see.

* And because the first two weren't quite random, here is a sixth. I married my high school sweetheart who I met when I was 16 and he was 18 in my AP Spanish class. We have been together for almost 13 years and married for 7.

3. Share the five top places on your “want to see or want to see again” list.

*Yosemite National Park because I never get tired of its beauty.

*Illinois because during the brief time I lived there, I never once made it to Chicago.

*Yucatan Peninsula and other interior parts of Mexico.

*Spain

*Italy

4. Tag a minimum of five random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment in their blog.

1001 Petals

Veronica on the Verge

Miguelina

HalfMama

Mommy off the Record

Taxes, Cars, and Life Changes

Things I have been up to these last couple of weeks

1. Doing our taxes because we KNOW we have some money coming back from good Uncle Sam, and we needs the money.

2. Planning our move, because as much as we love Austin and the people, my husband can do without the heat and mosquitoes, and I can do without him complaining about them. I can deal, but to be fair, I am not as much of an outdoor person as he is. We are moving back to the SF Bay Area and renting our little home here. Sad.

3. I have started tutoring students at two different schools at the end of their school day four days a week, which makes it kind of a crazy schedule for us since The Dada teaches in the morning, comes home watches kids while I leave and tutor, and then I come home and we trade so that he can go and teach again at night. CRAZY! I wonder if my kids will ever appreciate how much we struggled to have one parent home with them at all times. They are going to have to get used to having grandma watch them for at least part of the day when they are not in school from now on. Grandma is scared with good reason, and I am thinking we will have to find someone to help grandma out.

4. We searched and bought a car with a loan from Grandpa. Thank You Grandpa! You see, our previous car was a Toyota Previa, and we loved it except that now it rattles like you have a couple of jackhammers following you around wherever you go, the radio is busted, and the AC is also not functioning which is needed for reasons of survival here, and for the impending drive we will have to make across the desert to get to Cali in the early summer. My boy is sad to be giving up this old car, since he has not yet gotten to the stage where he is worried about what his parents are driving. The older boy wanted a truck, and he could not be made to understand that it is illegal to have little boys flying out of the back of pick-up trucks. We stayed loyal to Toyota and bought a Sienna. Buying this car made me think of all the cars we had growing up: a bright yellow with brown stripes Gremlin ( who made this car anyway?), beat up Toyota pick up that I frequently rode in the back of, a brown Pinto that was once riding on only two wheels because a drunk driver was trying to push us off the rode in it and sadly met its end when another drunk driver collided with it months later. I LOATHE drunk drivers!

What cars were you forced to ride in growing up?

My Little Apostle

Mommy's First Cut

This is what his hair looked like after he woke up every morning...

so mommy decided to cut his hair.

Gray Skies are Gonna...

Is it still January? I lose track these days, and I try to post at least once a week, but lately it's been gloomy and rainy around here and I need a certain amount of sunlight to keep from feeling glum.

It reminds me of the winter I spent in the Santa Cruz Redwood Rainforest during an "El Nino" year. I was in my second year of college and having to get up at 7 in the morning to hike over to an early organic chemistry class. That was depressing enough, but then having to do it in the cold rain didn't help. Everyday I'd hike to class under gray skies, as the winds howled, and the incessant rain pittered and patterred. I carried an umbrella, but it only served to keep my hair dry. The rest of me would sit in class soaking wet and shivering until it was time to walk through the rain again. Even when it did stop raining, the water would continuously trickle from the trees. You would think that would be enough to keep me awake during class, but apparently not. I was under a constant rain cloud.

I slipped into a mild seasonal depression. All I wanted to do everyday is just sleep. I slept in my dorm room, and I slept in class when I did manage to convince myself that I cared enough about passing my classes, and would brave the weather to do so. I spent most of those days asleep and/or wet, so we can safely say that I didn't fare well that quarter in school. It was a good thing the skies started to clear by spring quarter, because if they hadn't, I probably wouldn't have been there the next two years to finish school.

These days I am not getting up early to brave the weather to make it to class, but twice a week, I have to pull myself out of bed, get dressed, dress the older boy, diaper the younger one as I put him to bed in sweats, grab their snacks and lunches, maneuver our too-wide bike trailer through our gate without knocking the bike over onto myself, throw their lunches and snacks prepared the night before in the back, put a jacket on both boys, place their helmets on and my own, and then try to handle them with all their puffy layers to place them in the trailer while I try to manipulate the straps and clips with cold, numb fingers - all of this to get Big Brother to preschool. Once this is all done, I have to then pedal two miles up a steady incline that might as well be Mount Mckinley as my out of shape body can handle little exercise. The wind is of course howling against me and the drizzle gently misting my hair. I get to his preschool and get off the bike to find my legs feeling heavy and tingly all over. I must then proceed to remove all the straps and gear with my frozen claw-like hands. Once the older boy is all signed in, I must then convince the younger Bee that we will have equally as much fun at home than Big Brother will have at school, and then rehelmet and restrap him into the trailer. At least, it's all downhill from his school.

My mom laughs at me when I tell her about my biking adventures. She just chuckles and brings up her own version of walking ten miles through the snow and back story. Her story about how she waded thought the Rio Grande while she was 7 months pregnant with my brother and then almost got run over by a border patrol lady in her jeep who was the person responsible for stripping her of her passport in the first place on orders from my grandmother (dad's mom) who she was friends with. Or the time she walked three miles in the snow to get to work at 3 am because my father wouldn't be bothered to get up and give her a ride. I apparently did not inherent my mom's brave soul.

At least the skies have cleared temporarily, so I must go and soak up some sun while it lasts.

Belated DeLurk

Yes. Yes. I know it was last week, but I tend to be late at most things these days. No, my AF arrived on time thankfully. I know you just needed to know that. I can only go so many years without any sleep ya know. I think I'm going on five years now if you include pregnancy, and the Bee informed me it will be much MUCH longer before he settles into a tolerable sleep schedule. Last night he decided to wake every hour or so. No he's not a newborn. He's 16 months old in fact.

So delurk already. Just say hello, but preferably tell me a bit about yourself. What's your name? Blog? Where did you find out about me?

Come on. Delurk. It would be good for my self-esteem.

The Poo Poo Iniot Tribe

The Dada and I have reason to believe Big Brother thinks we are part of the Poo Poo Iniot Tribe. Whenever he is irate that he is not getting all that his little heart desires, he frequently responds by reminding us we are "Poo Poo Iniots".

Who are the Poo Poo Iniots? Is it possible that Big Brother wandered into my many dusty anthropology books and discovered something about our ancestral heritage that I missed reading about while in college? Probably not. This kid knows his alphabet, but that's a far cry from actually being able to read college level books. Huh? Maybe he has us confused with some tribe he heard about on PBS. He does watch a lot of Reading Rainbow and I know for a fact Levar Burton has done an episode on the Taos Pueblo. Are the Poo Poo Iniots somehow related? Maybe he means the Poo Poo Inuits?

Or is it possible that Big Brother is just a BRAT with an uncontrollable potty mouth. I think maybe the last choice is the most plausible answer, but it would have been cool to be a part of some exotic tribe called the Poo Poo Iniots.

Oh well, on another note. I LOVE Four! Sooooooooo Much better than 2 and 3. The tantrums are less frequent, the kid more self sufficient, more calm, more teachable, sleep more continuous and afar, more independent and creative play, increased ability for rational thought, more patient, more responsible, more cautious, and the things he says and does are just plain funny. So when four isn't spewing out naughty nonsense phrases, having some kind of meltdown, or ignoring my request to clean up or behave, he is quite tolerable. Now, if we could somehow get the Bee to skip all the wonders that are 2 and 3 and jump right into four we'd be in business.

ER, CT Scans, and X-mas Eve

The E.R. - is there any better place to be on Christmas Eve? Sure it's very sterile, sure there are bunch of sick people, and sure there are plenty of things little boys like the Bee should not touch, but when you are looking for a place to go on Christmas Eve you should try your local medical center.

We opted for the more kid friendly version and went to the the brand new children's medical center here in Central Texas complete with playgrounds, family room housing dvds, books, and computers for all to use, multiple courtyards with wonderful water features, volunteers who on X-mas Eve are just looking for any excuse to give your kid a gift whether they are ill or not, ball machines, and other high tech devices like child friendly CT scans. So we thought while we were there with Big Brother who the previous night was up puking his brains out from a possible blow to the head with a wooden block courtesy of the Bee that we would try the much raved about open CT Scan.

We endured all the waiting that comes with all emergency room visits, all the yelling to the non-ill children not to touch anything because you don't want to break anything since this visit is already going to cost you a zillion bucks, and you don't want to acquire any new germs that will prompt you back to pay even more money you don't have.

Our visit went something like this

Sign in.

Wait. Yell at the Bee not to touch anything especially the toilet in the sooo conveniently placed bathrooms.

Wait. Listen to Big Brother whine that he wants juice, because juice must always be purchased wherever there is juice to be bought even if one is not really intending to drink it.

Wait. Visit with triage nurse. Explain puking and it's possible link to Bee's fit of rage. Yell at the Bee not to touch EVERYTHING.

Wait. Remove Bee from waiting room and explore the hospital because we are just such awful parents for not letting him play with the toilet seat.

Wait. Big Brother is sent to his posh ER room complete with an LCD TV with endless kid stations, his own private bathroom, reclinable and portable bed, and many other medical life saving devices and a trash can that would provide countless of hours of playtime fun for the Bee.

Wait. Sleeping Big Brother get transported for his scan where he eventually wakes up and manges a big grin for the picture the technician kept saying he was getting. Big brother gets two stuffed toy cows from chick fillet for being so cooperative.

Wait. Big Brother keeps asking when he will be getting his pictures.

Wait. Doctor comes in and visits, saying scan is okay and gives brother anti-puking drugs.

Big Brother pukes. Nurse comes in, and later brings Doc in to witness the aftermath of Big Brother's puking powers. Doc suggest IV.

Wait....

Nurse comes in to place IV with a helper and her countless of supposed distraction toys.

Boy is not distracted. Boy screams as the IV is being placed. Volunteer walks in with crayons and coloring books boy can't use because he has an IV placed in the hand he writes with. Boy Screams about this. Nurse brings in a blue stuffed animal.

Wait. Wait. Wait. Distract Bee. Bee naps. Bee wants to play with puke bucket and trash. Remove Bee from room and explore some more. Bee eats lunch. Mommy eats lunch. Bee naps. Wait.......................

Eventually, after two doses of IV fluids, four hours without any puking events, two more stuffed animals including a psychedilic frog, a toy motorcycle, a hospital bill and deductible we'd rather pay later, and an overly cranky Bee, we went home. If that is not what you call fun, I don't know what is. Maybe next year we'll try some place more fun like the fire station or something.

Poo Stains Begone!

I've decided I am the master of poo stain removal. I can make any stain dissapppear as long as I do it immediately after the article of clothing is removed from the offending butt cheeks. This is something I learned after many, MANY diahrea disasters. Not by me of course, but my kids have been known to make quite the mess. The Bee can easily win the title for the greatest poo disaster. In his first four months of life, it wasn't unusual to find poo all the way up on his shoulders. Explosive!

I'm sure you'd love to hear my secret, so here is my simple trick to removing nasty poo stains.

1. Remove the article of clothing without smearing the poo too much back on to the shirt.
2. Rinse article of clothing with plain water.
3. Grab a bleep load of liquid soap and squirt on to stains. It can be any liquid soap lying around - hand soap or baby soap works.
4. Scrub, scrub, scrub. Rinse, rinse, rinse.
5. Finally, the secret ingredient..........DOVE BAR SOAP. I rub the stains out with dove bar soap. Scrub, Lather, rinse, and repeat until all the stains are gone.

It's funny how the dove soap works much like an eraser. I discovered this by accident one day trying to remove my son's nasty poo stains. The only reason I bother with the liquid soap is because I don't want my bar of soap to touch actual poo. Yuck! Especially since I use it to wash my body, but you can easily designate a bar of Dove soap just for this purpose. Later just throw the article of clothing into the wash with the rest of your clothes, and it will be as good as new. Go ahead and try it. You can thank me later.