"I think we need a new car."

I know, I hardly recognize my computer since I've been away from it for so long. The past few weeks have been more than a whirlwind of activity getting ready for conference, but so far today, I seem to have found a few random minutes kicking around. I thought I'd use them here to reacquaint myself with my computer and to pop up from the blog graveyard.

One of the million things I've thought about blogging was the fuel system in our van. Recently it's been starting up just fine the first time it's run in a day, and it drives just fine for the first.. maybe 5 minutes. Then it stalls. Preferably in the middle of an intersection, or just as the traffic clears and there's a gap available to merge. And most noticeably - when we were supposed to be somewhere at a particular time or when we're already late. To fix it, we let it sit for a few minutes and then try starting it up again. Once it starts up, there are no more problems for the rest of that day. Sometimes it takes a while and a few start-up attempts. This is very embarrassing when you're blocking the left hand turning lane at a light and the poor folks behind you have to wait through three green lights before they decided to go a different way. Or when random street walkers graciously push you out of the middle of the four-way stop so you can wait out your stall on the side of the road without blocking traffic.

All this started a few weeks ago, and it gradually got worse to a certain point. The first time it happened, we thought we were out of gas and the fuel gage was messed up or stuck. But then it started happening more often and it didn't matter how recently we'd filled the tank, so we were able to eliminate that option. Finally it was so predictable that Sir started taking a different route to work (so he could stall somewhere practical) and I would leave myself an extra 20 minutes when leaving for appointments and such. We decided it was either the fuel filter/fuel pump or water/dirt/gunk in the gas tank.

So, Sir spent a good chunk of a wet, cold Saturday replacing the fuel filter or the pump (I can't remember which one it was now). The next day - the van stalled. We got a bottle of some gas tank cleaner stuff and dumped it in at the next fill up. And we choked up the extra cash to fill the tank with the highest grade gasoline. The day after that - we didn't stall. Apparently, we had solved the problem. Temporarily. After a week or so without stalling (just long enough to drop our guard), the van stalled again, and has been getting worse again over the last few days.

That said, let me get to what I set out to say today.

Yesterday, after we dropped Sir off at work (the van had stalled on the way in), Dolly piped up from her corner in the back, "Mommy, I think we need a new car." "Really?,." I replied. "Yeah, 'cause nemember, yesterday when our car was dead and we had to get a new car?" ('Yesterday' means any day in the past, for your information) "I remember," I said, "but we couldn't fix that car. Maybe we can fix this one. Don't you think that would be a good idea?" "Yeah, but this car was dead today, and the Lord Jesus fixed it, but I think we need to get another new car." The conversation changed and we went on with our day.

Later when we picked Sir up from work that evening, I told him what Dolly had said. He thought it was amusing and decided to ask her about it. "So, Dolly," he started "You think we need to get a new car?" (Dolly had missed her nap that afternoon, and was almost asleep, and very groggy) "What?" she asked. Sir repeated the question and she replied very sleepily, "But I already have a new blue car...." And with that she gazed out the window with her head leaning against the side of her carseat. Content to let the world drive by.

Well, my few random minutes that were kicking around have long gone and I need to be doing my laundry, bathing kids, and finishing the last pre-conference things on my list. Cookies and squares just don't make themselves you know! And if I organize everything just right, I might get a nap today. That would be very good - especially with three days of meetings starting tomorrow night.

What are the Odds?

See the little paper above? Let me tell you its story....

Sunday happens to regularly be the busiest day of the week for me. And usually the most exhausting as well. This past Sunday was no different, so when Monday morning rolled around, I was NOT ready to start another week. But unlike their mother, my kids were ready to roar (literally) a whole half hour earlier than our regular time to get up.

The alarm still hadn't gone off, and here my kids were already banging on my bedroom door as they pushed and shoved to determine who would actually get to turn the doorknob and thus most efficiently disturb my last few moments of peace. I think PC won the contest (and a few bonks from his sister) so they both came in fussing/yelling/non-stop chattering '... Mommy... is it morning time yet, Mommy?... Mommy, can we get out of bed now?... Mommy... can we eat breakfast?... can we have macaroni and cheese, Mommy?... Mo-'. You get the idea. Did I mention I was not ready to start another week? Make that another day.

Anyway, I sent the kids out of our room (this caused the volume levels to increase exponentially) and I slowly dragged myself out of bed and went through the motions of getting everything started. Sir's lunch, dress kids, feed kids, get dressed, feed Emma, wash kids up, eat, clear table. The whole time I was thinking about the to-do list that I've been putting off for so long and which has only been getting longer in the meantime. So, I decided I'd buckle down and drag myself through one of these projects and just hope that in the process I'd finally wake up and be more fit to handle the day.

Except, when I'd listed the most important items, they all seemed to be top priority and I couldn't decide which one to start with. So, I jotted each job down on a little piece of paper, and dumped them into a bucket. There were twelve jobs - then because I remembered Sir's last words as he kissed me goodbye that morning "Try and take it easy today ok?" I thought I should at least give 'taking it easy' half a chance and added "DO NOTHING TODAY" on it's own little paper to the bucket. I shook the bucket up to ensure that all the papers got properly mixed up, and then called Dolly to come pick a paper. She grabbed two and I told her to put one back. Then I unfolded the little paper to find she'd selected "DO NOTHING TODAY". I just laughed (probably much to Dolly's confusion since I definitely wasn't in a laughing mood up to that point). It just seemed so unreal, but it did really change the mood of the day. And so we did just about nothing!

We grabbed the sidewalk chalk and drew roads and houses and stores and swimming pools on the patio. Then while the kids drove cars on their newly drawn roads, I took a few loads of stuff that had been piling up in the kitchen out to the shed. Then I dragged out the trampoline, and let the kids bounce away for a bit while I went inside to pack a picnic lunch.

When the lunch was ready, I called the kids inside, and we packed Emma up, grabbed our jackets, the diaper bag and the picnic basket and loaded up the double stroller. First we hiked up to the corner store where we bought some 'pink juice' (Gatorade), a bag of Cheetos, and some chocolate bars and then we headed out to explore and see if we could find a picnic spot.

It was a mostly sunny day, and I just wanted to find a warm spot to spread the picnic blanket before it was time to head home and take our much needed naps. So, we started wandering back toward home and had gone about two blocks from the corner store when we came upon a little side path leading off from the sidewalk. We followed it a little ways, and to our amazement found the most absolutely perfect picnic spot!

Needless to say, I fell in love with this little secluded park-like area almost instantly. It was surrounded by the fenced backyards of a number of houses, so it seemed very private. The main street was within seeing distance, but it was far enough away that you didn't notice the heavy traffic at all. There was even a little forest, and some big rocks.

Dolly got to unpack our lunch (much to her excitement) and we enjoyed our macaroni and cheese and junk food in the warm sunshine with a clear blue sky overhead. The kids thought it was great too, because I didn't make them stay put and finish their lunch before they could run off and play. Instead I let them come and go as they pleased. They would run off (as long as they could still see me it was OK) and then when they remembered, they would run back for a few more bites of lunch.

Finally lunch was over, and we got everything packed up again and back into the stroller. Then we decided to wander a little and do a bit of exploring as we headed in the general direction of home. Much to my surprise and excitement, our hidden little park had a little exit path that came out into our very own neighborhood alley less than two blocks away from our house!

Anyway, now that it's really really late and past my bedtime by a few hours, I think I'll wrap this up and get some sleep. Tomorrow will be a busy day, but I didn't want to put off our Monday adventure for too long. That's how my neglected posts sadly join the archives of unfinished and barely stared posts that will either never be posted or if they ever are will be so old that they're of little or no interest anymore.

"Hi, Mommy! Can you take a picture of me?"

My Little Man @ 18 Months

December 31st, 2007

"My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways."
Proverbs 23:26

Practice Makes P-p-p-p-perfect!

Last night as I tucked my kids into bed, Dolly asked for a drink. This is a common bedtime ritual, and I had expected it, so I had the sippy cup of water ready to hand out. While Dolly was drinking as slowly as she could manage and still be swallowing, PC decided to make his request known as well. "Gup!" he uttered. "'You want a drink PC?" I asked. He nodded and repeated himself a little more clearly. "Cup... CUp, CUP!" he said. "Ok, you can say your verse while you wait for Dolly,." I told him. I was thinking that if he wanted to be so precise with his words, it would be a great time to get him to practice his Sunday school verse. This is how it went:

"K, PC, Say your verse. Suffer,"
"glalagla"
"No,.. Suffer,"
"glalagla!"
"the,"
"duh,"
"little,"
"li'l"
"children,"
"chiln"
"to,"
"dt-dt-dt-dt-dt!"
"PC, say 'to,'"
"dt-dt-dt-dt-dt!"
"come,"
"cowm,"
"unto,"
"uh-dt-dt-dt!"
"me,"
"EE"
"and,"
"ahn,"
"forbid"
"gala-gla-g-la"
"forBID"
"gla-gla!
"them,"
"dem,"
"not,"
"not!"
"for,"
"for,"
"of,"
"of,"
"such,"
"SUTT!!"
"is,"
"eese"
"the,"
"dt-dt-dt-dt-dt!!"
"the,"
"dt-dt-dt-dt-dt!!"
"kingdom,"
"ging"
"kingdom,"
"ging-da"
"of,"
"of"
"God."
"Gda!"
"Mark,"
silence
"Mark,"
silence
"PC, say, 'Mark,"
"Duh."
"ten,"
"den,"
"fourteen,"
"gla-gla-dt-dt-dt-dt-dt!!!
"Good job! Here's your water... now go to sleep.

THE END

"Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.
Mark 10:14

Laziness Perhaps...

This is what Dolly got for her birthday from Chasm's Lady. They're reusable upper and lower case letter stickers! Sir laughed at me since he was almost convinced that I loved these letters more than Dolly does.... maybe we love them the same? That's ok isn't it?

Today Dolly and I put the alphabet pairs up on her bedroom wall, but as you can see from the picture, there are a few extra letters. Since I'm working on teaching Dolly to read, I wanted to just make up a few words to stick on the sticker-less wall for Dolly to practice sight-reading/memorizing. But, I'm too lazy to think up all the combinations... that and I get too carried away and end up with far too complicated words. 'Battle' and 'Lace' and 'Toil' and 'Runny' are not exactly words for a 3 year old to begin with!

So, what words would you create with the letters:

A - C - E - E - L - B - A - T - T - I - L - N - O - R - R - N - S - S - U - I - Y ?

On my first try, I came up with our surname, BALL, LOT, RUIN and TREES. And I didn't have any leftover letters! Although, 'ruin' might be a little too advanced for someone who's barely mastered the capitalized alphabet, and our Hungarian surname is almost always mis-read by nearly eveyone who sees it for the first time!

Anyway, I think I'll post this for everyone else to think about, while I go take my nap before my kids wake up! Have fun!

Stars

Tonight as we got out of the van after the drive home from meeting, the kids noticed the moon and stars. Often we don't see celestial objects due to the amount of clouds that seem to be always present. PC was the one who spotted the moon first and announced its presence with a loud, "Dat!" "Yes, PC," I responded, "I see the moon too!" Then Dolly piped up with, "And the stars also!"

Since she'd only gotten an 'Um hm,' as a response from me, Dolly continued the conversation as we slowly made our way to the house with, "God made the moon." to which I replied with, "Yes, Dolly He did." "How did he make the moon, Mommy?" she asked. "Well," I started, "He just said, 'Let there be light' and it was light." "Um hm," Dolly agreed "And He made the stars also." "Yep, He did. - PC! go UP the stairs!" I distractedly replied.

Still not satisfied with leaving the conversation there, Dolly asked, "Mommy, what are the stars doing?" "They're just shining, Dolly." I said as I nudged PC into the yard and closed the gate. "And the stars are also-ing!" She said matter-of-factly. "...Are the stars also-ing, Mommy?" I laughed as I realized she was thinking of the memory verse she had learned last year for the Sunday School Treat:

"He made the stars also"
Genesis 1:16.

And then the conversation changed as we started discussing the meaning and uses of the word 'also' while we proceeded to progress toward the house.