Halloween 2009 October 31, 2009

This posts contains a bunch of not-too-pretty-good Halloween type snapshots of my children. These first few not-too-pretty-good pictures are from Thursday night when we went to a festival thing at the L.J. Historical Museum.

And the rest are from tonight. We went to a carnival at the 1st Presbyterian Church. I have to point out the pony pictures to you. I didn’t really realize that most of the parents of the little kids were walking the track beside their kids to keep them from falling off. I didn’t really realize that there was nothing keeping Mikey on that pony except his own hand until he was already on his way. So instead of running to catch up to keep him safe, I just took pictures. The girl pulling him probably thought he was about four so she probably wasn’t worried about it. Anyway, thankfully he didn’t fall off and get trampled by the stallion he was riding.

This week’s couch finds October 31, 2009

On Fridays, or at the very least every other Friday, I pull the couches away from the wall and gather the many toys that Mikey has put back there during the week. Here is what I found yesterday.

And here just for you I have posed Santa Claus and Kit Fisto in a pile of fake puke in front of a charming white picket fence.

Our first fieldtrip! October 29, 2009

Yesterday Jack and I went to this interactive theater in Houston and watched a play about the history of Houston. I actually didn’t realize it was about Houston until we got there. I thought it was about Texas in general. Anyway, we got in free and Jack had a good time. AND…shockingly enough, I didn’t get lost coming or going. That is a miracle. Here are a few pictures I took during the play. There were just four actors and they just ran around like crazy people pretending to be different characters. It was really pretty amusing. Jackson really enjoyed it but said he didn’t learn anything. Typical.

Then we went to Cracker Barrel for lunch. I ate way too much great food and then still ate a bag of Sugar Babies on the way home. Jack played this triangle peg game several times. One time (with my help) he ended it with only two pegs left. If you have only one peg left you’re supposedly a genius. Jackson said, “Man! I was almost a genius!” He says the funnies things sometimes.

If Jack’s in the mood the be photographed, he likes to make lots of different weird faces. He does this on his own. I just take the pictures. If Jack’s not in the mood to be photographed, then he hides his face or glares at me or whines.

This one cracks me up. He looks so pitiful.

Man, I love that kid and my 50mm lens. But I love the kid more, of course.

In a funk. October 27, 2009

I don’t mean for this to be like a rambly “poor-me” post or whatever but that’s probably how it will end up. It’s just kind of how I’m feeling right now. I guess it’s kind of how I’ve been feeling for a while.

I think since our friends moved to Singapore I’ve pretty much quit trying to connect with anyone else. I was never all that great at going out of my way to be friendly with people before they left but since then, it’s certainly gotten worse. It just doesn’t seem worth it anymore. I know that’s a terrible thing to say. We’ve got lots of acquaintances and even some people we would consider friends. I’ve got a couple of good friends and so does Phillip but we don’t really have any couples that we hang out with anymore. And I feel pretty sad about it a lot. We’re not really in a small group at church anymore. Partly because of child care issues and partly because I think if I walk into that small group without seeing the Stunzs there, I might just fall apart. I just feel like we’ve gotten ourselves pretty isolated. And Phillip may not appreciate me writing this stuff but just know that this is coming from me, not him. He probably doesn’t even feel this way. So, there you have it. In a nutshell I feel pretty lonely lately. And I realize to some that’s a pretty pathetic and weak thing to say but it’s the truth. It’s no one’s fault but my own. I have done this to myself and I don’t know how to fix it or even if it can be fixed. Maybe lots of other people feel the same way I do but they’re just better at playing games. I don’t guess I play very well with others.

Not Me! Monday (just barely!) October 26, 2009

This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Dear Monday,
You are my favorite day of the week. You cause me to stop and reflect and evaluate my actions during the week. You don’t judge me. You’re not a friend or an enemy. You just are Monday. Others hate you but not me, Monday. Nope, not me.
Yours truly,
Jenny

I’ve decided to dedicate a series of haikus to Monday.

Please go to the store
Oops, can you go again please
Lets have a cookie

I so need this lens
Never mind, I don’t need it
I will return it

I need some money
Look, Jackson has eight dollars
I will pay him back

Brought order to church
Left photo order at church
Don’t tell my client

Can I have your gum?
I told a girl that I had
stinky monkey breath

Lost my credit card
and my driver’s license too
I found one again

I took the dog for a walk. October 20, 2009

Jackson is hanging with my mom for a while today. They’re doing some of his school stuff over there and we’ll catch up on the rest of it later. And since it was a nice morning, I decided to take the dog for a walk.

I went our usual route (like every other week) which is Redwood to Jonquil and then to that sidewalk that runs parallel to Plantation drive in front of Roberts Elementary. Once we got to that open grassy area beside Plantation Dr., being the genius that I am, I decided to let Scott off of his leash to roam free for a little while. I really didn’t think he would go far. I think you see where this is going. Anyway, he went into a large ditch and found a culvert that (apparently) goes under Plantation Dr. and comes out on the other side by the Elementary School. Crap! So I called him and whistled and waited and drank my coffee and thought about what I should do if he didn’t come back.

I would tell Jack that he was kidnapped by a band of dog thieves who take only the smartest dogs to turn them into super dogs! He would be like Bolt! Isn’t that exciting? He’s better off now. He’s a hero.

Anyway, finally he appeared on the other side of Plantation Dr in front of Roberts Elementary. It’s a 4 lane road. Not a highway, but still. I saw that there were no cars coming so I called him and he carelessly trotted across Plantation Dr. to me. And then I put his leash back on and we continued our walk. And I was grateful that I didn’t have to make up a story about what happened to Scott.

This is the dog who yelps if you so much as bump into him. This is the dog who is too scared to even jump over a shoe if it’s in his way. But he’ll walk into a dark culvert that goes to who knows where and walk across a 4 lane road like he’s walking through a field of lilies. He’s really not the brightest bulb. But we sort of like him anyway.

Not Me! Monday October 19, 2009

Mondays come around so frequently these days.

Are you embarrassed because your dog peed on a guest? Do you take the fashion advice of your four year old? Or maybe you secretly like The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. Well, that’s okay because it’s Not Me! Monday.

This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

I’m not working on Not Me! Monday while my unsupervised children are in the bathtub. Jackson’s not in charge….promise!!

Moving on…

I didn’t carry my kicking and screaming child in from the car this afternoon while neighbors watched in horror. He didn’t throw a shoe into the yard. I didn’t then have to cancel his speech therapy appointment because he was too far gone and his screaming doesn’t really count as “speech” as far as I’m concerned. Nope, that didn’t happen. But if it had, the child would have just completely stopped screaming after about 30 minutes and then would have been in a great mood!

Phillip and I don’t have arbitrary rules like… “You can only say “shut up” if you say it like Yosemite Sam or our next door neighbor. Otherwise, don’t say “shut up” at all. And NEVER say it around other homeschooled kids no matter what.” OR “If the dog eats your food, then you have to stop playing video games.” And we’re not trying to come up with more strange rules to implement for the rest of our kids’ growing up years. Rules like “You can only say a cuss word if you’re holding a piece of bologna on your bare belly.” (Phillip can take credit for that one, btw.) Stuff like that. We’re not doing that. We take this parenting thing very seriously. And you should too.

What’s bigger a pint or a quart? Well, anyway, I didn’t eat an entire container of the smaller of those two of lime sherbet the other day. Nope, not me! I understand metric measuring and I don’t gorge on junk. Is it even metric?? Man, I don’t even know.

I didn’t spend the majority of the day today in pajama pants with dog paw prints on them. Nope, not me!

I don’t call my children “Boy!” That’s kind of redneck, right? Yeah, I don’t do that. And I definitely don’t do it when I’m goofing off on the computer and they’re making lots of racket and I don’t know who the real culprit is and I’m too lazy to go check so I just say “Boy!!!” in hopes that it will scare the pants off of the one who knows he’s misbehaving. Yeah, I don’t do that either.

I’m not waiting until the very last moment to get my sales tax form filled out and mailed in. No way! I don’t procrastinate like that. I don’t wait until the day it has to be postmarked to get it mailed.

Oh, there must be more. There is always more. I really need to keep a daily journal of my inadequacies so I can more accurately share them with you.

Go ahead, play with your food. October 15, 2009

I took these a few (?) weeks ago when I posted the pictures of Mikey and Phillip together. He doesn’t actually wear this shirt everyday. I just saved up a bunch that I took that particular evening.

Mikey doesn’t eat a whole lot. In fact, I don’t really know how he survives most days. The night I took these I think he ate about two bites of his chicken nuggets. Here we have a chicken nugget and apple burger. And why yes, those are my keys in his food. Funny you should ask.

And tonight for dinner, Mikey had cheese. Yep, just some cheese.

Stuff and junk October 13, 2009

So this is kind of what’s been going on with us lately in case you’re interested.

You know you are.

Phillip’s job is going okay. I think he’s getting the hang of working with little kids. He’s preparing for his first “performance” of the year. The second graders are doing some patriotic thing, I think. And in case you’re wondering, they won’t be square dancing or paying tribute to Barack Hussein Obama… mmm….mmm….mmm….. And I think Phillip is doing the kids a huge disservice by singing about America and leaving out our super star president.

(sarcasm, people….seriously.)

I just sold one of my lenses. It’s a lens that I like and would rather not sell but I don’t LOVE it. I’m actually selling two lenses and buying one less expensive lens to help out our finances a little. It stinks but that’s the way it goes. Business has been slow. I know it will pick up. I’ll be putting together a wedding website probably in mid November. I’m excited about that. I’ve got some wedding work that I’m really proud of and I have another wedding the first weekend in November.

Mikey will be undergoing testing around the middle of November to see what he qualified for as far as speech help. When he turns 3 in January he will no longer be receiving speech therapy through ECI at our home. There’s a speech therapy play lab at the college that sounds great and he might qualify for that. But it’s at the same time as his preschool, which means I would have to choose. I’m really hoping that I can get Mikey top notch speech therapy and still keep him at his current preschool. He loves it there and his teacher is AMAZING!!! This is how I know she’s amazing. When she talks to us about how great he’s doing, her eyes fill up with tears.

The homeschooling thing is going great for the most part. We have had a couple of bad days and are still trying to find our groove. Phillip and I have decided to take public schooling off the table for the next couple off years at least. I was reminding Jack…threatening Jack that if this homeschool thing doesn’t work out, then he’ll be back in public school for 3rd grade. It was becoming somewhat annoying to everyone. And public schooling IS NOT bad and shouldn’t be used as a threat. I know that but it’s hard to keep that in mind when you’ve got a kid wearing on your nerves. I’m sure if you have homeschooled, you know where I’m coming from. Anyway, if Jack’s attitude stinks and he’s being lazy he will be punished right then and there instead of reminded how great he has it every 10 minutes. Phillip and I think that for our family and for Jackson this is the best education for him for the next few years. And so taking the possibility of public school out of the equation is the best thing right now.

So I guess that sort of sums it up for now. I covered everyone in our home except the dog. And he’s lazy and I don’t walk him enough and he needs to be groomed. Other than that, he’s fine too.

Not Me! Monday October 12, 2009

Oh man, I feel too tired for Not Me! Monday this week.

This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

First of all, you might be glad to know that I finally bought myself some shampoo and conditioner yesterday so I’m no longer using children’s shampoo. Just f.y.i.

So on Saturday we didn’t head over to the pumpkin patch while the church workers were kind of in the middle of setting it up. And we certainly DID NOT get in their way. And I didn’t get irritated with an overly helpful boy who most certainly has a future as either a used car salesman, gallery furniture employee, or t.v. evangelist. Not me! I never get irritated with other people’s kids.

Which reminds me that I didn’t chew out and glare at some other random kid at the Mall play area because he was being way too rough and knocked Mikey over. And because of this, I’m NOT going to take a little side trip that’s not Not Me! Monday related…. I think the “Mall cops” should come by that play thing several times a day and match up children to parents. They should then escort the unsupervised children to the Mall office and make an announcement over the loud speakers (if they have them) for the parents of so&so to come pick them up at the office. It makes me SO MAD when there are unsupervised kids in that play area. Okay, end of rant…for now…..but the next time that kid knocks over my child I’m escorting his fanny to his family’s nail salon to give his mother a piece of my mind. Okay, end of rant….

for now.

Okay, I DID NOT just say all that! Nope, not me!

I also did not honk at a lady for sitting at a light 2 seconds too long. Or say “no thank you” when asked if I would donate $1 to breast cancer awareness. And I didn’t have to use paper towels and/or baby wipes for a few days because we were out of toilet paper and I didn’t “feel like” going to the store. Nor did I sleep through my alarm clock for 20 minutes on Saturday afternoon instead of going to the store to get toilet paper. AND I totally did not say a bad word when I had to handle raw chicken yesterday!!

Wheeew!! I feel better now! This is what going to confession must feel like. Except you have to say that you actually DID stuff instead of didn’t. Anyway, have a great week.