Day Two at The Lake

Day Two was pretty much all about being in the water, from just after breakfast until the sun went down. Even Jenny and Jasmin got up the gumption (after much coaxing) to get in.



It was also very much about fishing. David was great about accommodating whichever kids wanted to fish (there were several!), and a few fish were even caught...

Babyman and David workin' the rod.


Got one on the line!

Babyman's first fish! A little one, just like him ;)

Michael was pretty much a pro and pulled in a couple of decent sized fish...

As usual, the combination of sun, swimming, excitement, and whacky eating schedule combined for some wacky BG numbers for William. We managed to avoid any freak-out lows by liberally snacking on fruit and nuts, but I ended up keeping him higher than I like in anticipation of post-swimming lows. And, he seems to be growing 'cause he's eating like a horse...along with all the rest of the kids. I can't believe how much food they all packed away!

Day One at The Lake

Despite getting up later than I had planned, we managed to get packed up, loaded up, hitched up, and piled into two vehicles in pretty good time.

Babyman and Michael ready to go.

It wasn't a very long drive to the lake, even with multiple stops. David and five cubs went in the Sequoia, and KitMama and I went in her van with one cub and four dogs (two were dropped off elsewhere...only two came with us to the lake). It was definitely hot when we got there, but we got Popper set up and were down at the lake in plenty of time to enjoy the water.

J and Babyman.

David even got in a little fishin' time...

Note the all-important beer...

essential for catching fish.

And, as always, S had her camera out and took lots of fabulous pictures...

The photographer.

This trip seemed like a good opportunity to check out some iPhone/iTouch apps for diabetes management. Thomas was good enough to let me use his iTouch, I downloaded a couple of apps, and started logging data while we were still at home. It is really convenient to be able to load data straight into the iTouch, rather than mess with a written log. There's a fairly decent food library with carb counts, and the timer on-board is very helpful. But, you have to have the ratios, correction factors, etc. in your head to calculate doses. Not a problem for me, but would be for anyone else filling in at dose time. I'll be hunting for the "perfect app", I'm sure...

Getting Ready

We were invited by S and family to join them at Lake Sinclair for several days. Their family has a small house there, and because a few other families would also be there, we decided to take Popper along for additional bed space. So, in addition to packing the usual stuff for camping and laking, a big portion of Sunday was spent preparing food to take along.

Michael was my kitchen helper. He learned how to break up, peel and mince garlic. Lots of garlic!

Michael doin' the garlic.

Very carefully chopping.

In addition to garlic, we used a ton of cilantro. Half a bunch for the salsa, a full bunch for the sofrito, and two full bunches for a new recipe I was trying out, Mojo Verde. The cilantro I was able to get at the store was looking a bit tired, and was very unlikely to survive the three days or so until Taco Night at the lake. So, instead of using fresh cilantro for my infamous Fresh Avocado Salsa, I decided to try making it with Mojo Verde. Although the sauce turned out good, I think next time I'll try substituting lime juice for the apple cider vinegar.

Oh, yeah, the sofrito is something that I tried a couple of weeks back. I was getting jarred sofrito at the store, but it has MSG in it, which I'd like to avoid. So, I found this recipe on line for a fresh, green sofrito. But, I wanted the tomato-pasty version, so I popped the green sofrito into a saucepan with 2 cans of tomato paste, 1 T paprika, 1 T garlic powder, and 1 t salt, and then simmered til it cooked down to the consistency I wanted. It made up three small jars. For Spanish Rice, I simply put two cups of brown rice in the cooker with one jar of sofrito and the appropriate amount of water. Very tasty ;)

Life Lessons :: Finances

Thomas decided that he absolutely HAD to have an iTouch before his overnight at his buddy's house on Thursday. His buddy already has an iTouch, which is the coolest thing ever, and there are so many cool things they can do together if they both have one. Etc., etc., etc.

Thomas already had a fair bundle of cash stashed away, but definitely not enough to buy the unit he wanted. We talked about which unit he wanted, the cost, about shopping for the best price, about how he could best get it before Thursday, and about warranties. Then we talked about how he was going to pay for it, and we opened up the idea of Thomas taking out a loan with The Bank of Mom and Dad. We talked about Principle, and how much the Principle would be after taxes, shipping, warranty, carrying case, and his downpayment. We talked about interest, and decided on a fair interest rate. We talked about his anticipated income, his anticipated expenses, and what he felt he could reasonably commit to paying off each month.

We took the idea to Dad, he hopped on board, and arranged for a trip to Best Buy today.



I think many of us can identify with the post-shopping high (in this case, ecstasy may be a more appropriate term). Thomas is eager to get his loan paid off (he mowed two lawns today and paid the full $20 earned toward his loan), and is looking for ways to earn extra money so he can do so.

Regardless how this works out in the end, I can't see how it can't be a valuable life lesson. Either Thomas will learn the pain of using credit foolishly and having to continue paying off a shiny new toy even after the shine has worn off (or it's been put through the laundry), or he's going to learn to use credit in a way that is smart and beneficial.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this all shakes out.

In the mean time, I think I really want a iTouch ;)

Yes, this did scratch the hardwood floor. If you don't already know where he got the idea, check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCCrpVB5bFc

Mom's Night In for Craft Hope

This is Grace. She is making a bracelet.

Grace is great about pulling our little group together to participate in Craft Hope service projects. Last month she banded us together to make Safe Birthing Kits for Haiti, which my goofy little bears were tucked into.

Project 12 is Bracelets for Russian Orphans (the deadline for submissions is June 15th, so there's plenty of time to participate!). Grace's daughter, Ella, decided that for her birthday she would like to have a bracelet-making party in support of Project 12, which resulted in a baggie full of bracelets. Because we couldn't make it to the party, the following week Grace brought all of her materials to our house where the Huey-Bee clan made more bracelets.

Thomas' macrame'd masterpiece.

This past Wednesday, Grace hosted "Mom's Night In". We all brought appetizer-style edibles, sipped wine (or water), and made bracelets. I brought along bracelets I had made since Grace announced the project and made several more throughout the evening, and we ended up with nice a pile by the end of the night that looked like this:

And the "total collection" baggie looked like this:

So, when Grace first brought this project to our attention, I immediately set about finding a way to make bracelets that I could put together fairly quickly and would look decent. I'm really not very good about putting together beaded things that look like they were put together like that on purpose, like Kit is:

One macrame'd and three beaded bracelets by Kit.

Although I did manage to make a few macrame'd bracelets...

...my favorite technique turned out to be...you guessed it...knitted:

I saw a tutorial on line for incorporating beads into a knitted project and went with that.

Knitted beaded bracelet.

I also made non-beaded bracelets (including matching Friendship bracelets for Butterfly and I), and discovered how to make a twisted knitted bracelet (which I am making for the kiddos). So far, my contribution to Project 12 (both knitted and macrame'd) looks something like this:

Since we've still got about a month to go before the submission deadline, I'm hoping to have another dozen or more ready to go by then.

How many bracelets do you think you can squeeze out between now and then?

Mud-d-d-d-d

The Pirate and Michael. Michael is wearing his brand-new, fresh out of the package skivies. The expressions pretty much say it all.

Mothers Day

First, Happy Mothers Day to every mother out there! I hope each and every one of you had a wonderful day, full of love and sweetness and blessed peace (like that last part ever happens if you've got kids around!).

Second, I just have to ask, "What's with the apostrophe?" Every time I see it written out, it's written "Mother's Day" but that just doesn't make sense to me, unless it's "My Mother's Day." If it's supposed to be everyone's mother's day, then it should be "Mothers' Day" right? So, I blew off the whole apostrophe thing and called it "Mothers Day."

So, yes, I did sleep in. Kind of. Since I'm not really an early riser on most days, "sleeping in" can result in rising at dusk, and that's kind of not possible in a houseful. Also, I was treated to breakfast in bed...fresh baked scones courtesy of KitMama, orange slices, and coffee fixed just like I like (Thank You Michael and Little Man!).

I was "planning" to go plant some bulbs in the garden today (thank you, honey, for all the new bulbs!) and even dressed in my scrudgy garden get-up. But, other things gently tugged me in other directions. Most of my time today was pleasantly spent reviewing photos of the past year-plus for a project (which at this time I am unable to divulge). I love looking at pictures of my boys as they change, remembering the things we've done and places we've been. It was a great way to spend a chunk of Mothers Day.

David and our boys presented me with a couple of nice's; a mother-of-pearl Celtic knot pendant (from hubby), a tin of Tiger Balm (there's a story behind that...but another day), and a heated massaging pillow...soooooo awesome! Thanks, guys, for making me feel special!

Then, on to overseeing "crafts." Yesterday David took four-of-six boys to Home Depot for their monthly kids craft, and they made tulip planters. David picked up an assortment of acrylic paints, and the kids set to work.

Michael "going red."

The Pirate getting tips from Papa.


Thomas applying earth-tone to the base.
The t-shirt says neither "got art" nor "got fart!",
but "got peart?" It's a RUSH thing.


Little Man applies concentration to his craft.

Babyman was too little to do the craft,

but made a lovely painting of a purple jello pool.

We recently saw "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs."
Several times.

The final masterpieces.

Another wonderful treat today was the opportunity to meet for the first time a dear friend of mine. I've known Butterfly for over two years now, originally finding one another on line through TJEd and continuing our friendship through major changes on both sides, always supporting, inspiring, accepting and loving one another. For me, our relationship is the living embodiment of not just tolerating, or even accepting, but genuinely appreciating differences and embracing the person as a whole.

Anyway, David and I drove downtown to pick up Butterfly at the ATL airport for a nice dinner (at a restaurant...without kids!) during her lay-over. Actual grow-up conversation! It was fabulous! And, just to knock my socks off, Butterfly presented me with this...

...something she knows I have wanted for quite a long time now (probably only TJEd'ers will appreciate this puppy...check out the date!). She hauled that sucker (and, it IS heavy!) from Colorado to the Virgin Islands to Atlanta in her backpack, not knowing for sure whether or not we would be able to hook up (our family's plans were changed just a few days ago...after Butterfly was already in The Islands). What a Super Serindipity that David and I had no plans and she happened to end up on the earlier flight home so we could spend some time together!

On a purely corny note, I bestowed upon Butterfly my first ever friendship bracelet. I know, what planet have I been living on that I've never given a friend a friendship bracelet. But, better late than never, right? Thanks to Craft Hope's Project 12, I've been working on making bracelets. And, my favorite bracelet to make so far happens to be....knitted! Go figure. But, more on that later. For now, it warms my heart to know that a dear friend is on a plane zooming to Colorado with MY knitted friendship bracelet on her wrist, which happens to match the one on my wrist right now.

Okay. All for now. I really want to say something....actually a lot of somethings....about how awesome it is to have Kit Mama and her family living with us, and how awesome each individual member of that particular family is, and how fabulously our two families have blended for our co-hab. But, that really deserves a completely separate post, which I will try to get to in the near future. Along with catching up on everything that has been filling our days for the past few months that I haven't had time to write about. I'll do my best to keep up, and possibly even catch up, from here on out, even if it's just posting pictures.

'Night, All!

Garden Haiku

My garden trampled
By hundred pound dumb-ass dog
Children, close the gate!

Okay, I'm not sure this qualifies in terms of the "spirit" of haiku, but at least the sylable count is right.

Once I've finished schlepping the ump-teenth load of dirt and/or mulch, I'll post a couple of pictures of what I've been spending to much of my time and energy on (since, obviously, I've not been blogging!). I hope I mange to actually grow something edible ;)

Huey Haiku

Papa Bear just returned from a longer-than-usual business trip to California and Colorado. He was able to slip in some much-needed visit time with relatives, and arranged a video conference with the Bear Cubs on Easter evening. He was also bitten by the Haiku Bug, and put together some ditties to share with all.

Enjoy!

L.A. to Salt Lake

Through cloud saturated skies

Now onto Denver
.

Safely in Denver

Here to enjoy some of this

Rocky Mountain High!
.

Meetings all day long

Necessitated coffee

To keep from dozing…
.

Peered out my window

To examine great vistas

Of awesome grandeur!
.

Outbound tomorrow

Home to see my family

And sleep for a week!
.

Rockies capped with snow

Like a thick blanket of white

Splitting earth from sky
.

Home at last am I

Reception incredible

Return to normal

.

Welcome home, babe! You were missed by all!

Mike's Bike

On Monday Michael decided to take the training wheels off his bike. 'Nuff said.

Can't Even Begin to 'Splain, or Even Sum Up, But I'll Try, In No Particular Order

Okay, a lot has been going on this week. At the forefront has been KitMama's family settling in and all of our mutual adjustment-ing, which, really, hasn't been all that much. For the sake of everyone's sanity, we've decided to trim back our weekly Tuesday Night Homeschool Family Film/Game/Dinner gatherings to twice a month. This past Tuesday was Classic Moms Book Club Discussion/Movie night, and since we were all (supposedly) reading Tom Jones, we decided on British fare. S came up with a nice menu, and I learned how to make pasties. That would be "pasties" as in "nasty", not "pasties" as in "tasty". No twirling was involved. On Wednesday, we got our first sprouts in the greenhouse. And the asparagus and strawberry plants I ordered were delivered.

Bugger!!! My perennial planter wasn't ready, and I realized I need a much bigger planter than I had planned on. So, started clearing space for a Much Bigger Planter.

Meanwhile, the sprouts in the greenhouse kept sprouting.

On Saturday I finished moving the Clay Buster soil amendment to the Perennial planter and mixing it in. David picked up a load of topsoil, which I moved to the planter, and commenced planting the asparagus and strawberries.

The asparagus roots look sort of like space aliens sitting on their mounds waiting to be covered in soil.

Strawberries came in a bundle, which I stuck in the fridge til planting time.

Strawberry Space Aliens waiting for top soil.

After tucking everyone in with lots of good (boughten) top soil in the Perennial Planter, I realized I was going to need a LOT more space for asparagus and strawberries. So, off the to front of the house to find more space.

And, here it is. Next to the existing strawberry patch, we've got a lovely bed full of Mostly Weeds. Off with their heads! Or, more appropriately, Off with their roots!

Oh, and the sprouts kept on sprouting.

And the kids played all day.

And Baghera joined me in the garden.

And the kids planted their OWN garden.

I didn't get the entire bed prepped before pooping out, but we had friends coming for dinner and I needed to get cleaned up and semi-presentable before they were expected. And I discovered the perfect serving glass for Iced White Wine At The End Of A Long Gardening Day...a small Ball jar with a lid to keep the bugs out. Perfect for sitting on the back deck admiring your day's handiwork.

Jeff made a FABULOUS vegitarian pasta thingy that we all ate way too much of, but it was worth every bite! I fell asleep on the couch during darts.

Sooooooo, TODAY. David left for NY and his Rush concert...oh, yeah, and a business meeting tomorrow ;) I managed to finish prepping the second asparagus bed and plant the rest of them before heading off for a birthday party at 2:00. BTW, it was neigh on a miracle that Kitmama and I managed to get all six kids up, dressed, fed and out the door in time to be ONLY 20 min late for the party. And, it was a nice excuse for me NOT to spend the entire day busting by keester in the yard.

In the meantime, last year's strawberries have been growing like gangbusters.

Last year's orgeano and chives are very happy.

And we have volunteer peas.

And the sprouts just keep on sprouting.

But, I have to say, the BEST part of today was coming home from the party and seeing that the aspargaus I busted my behind planting yesterday, has already begun putting out shoots! WOW! Awesome!

And, believe it or not, the asparagus I finished planting at 12:30 today already had new shoots! How awesome is that?!?

Finally, poking around the yard, I found this year's first iris. Lovely!

Up for tomorrow....more sod-busting to get another strawberry bed ready for planting.

So much to do...so little time...

Yesterday

The doings of the day, in no particular order.

We had a few extra kids sleeping here overnight; two of S's kids, and one Bee kid. Having slept most of the night on the floor in the living room with the kids (inducing said kids to go to sleep sans hour of giggling) I was fully prepared to sleep much of the day away. David got up at a decent hour to get all six kids up, dressed, fed, and out the door for another trip to Home Depot for a building project. The kids all made planter boxes and got their pin, then painted their creations here at home. There was much paint involved. Much of it dribbled.

I tried to catch up on blogs. I'm down to 120 unread blog posts.

Me email is also behind. I owe several people messages. And two people letters. Sorry. Will do my best to get to you soon.

Our "new" neighbor across the street dropped by. She was taking her grandson for a walk, trying to keep him awake until his folks came by to pick him up on their way for a long car trip. They hung out with our gaggle for close to an hour, chatting here and there, and Thomas doing much to keep the little guy entertained and diverted.

David went to his mom's place to finish a repair job and bring back a load of mulch from her recently downed and mulched tree.

S came to start sewing her tie dye apron with a little bit of help from me (it's about 1/2 done), and stayed for dinner.

I duct taped my laptop, because it's reached the point where the "separation" of screen parts is threatening to become permanent and render the screen dead.

The younger kids spent a good deal of time playing "fort" in the newly-returned-home pop-up camper. It needed a bit of TLC from it's month-long trek across the country last summer and spent the last few weeks at the repair shop.

I painted a little girl's fingernails blue.

I didn't knit a single friggin stitch, though I've got several projects in my basket.

I didn't read anything, though I have a stack of books on the mantle and several more on my Kindle waiting to be read.

I didn't do any significant work in the garden, though there is PLENTY of work to do.

We made egg rolls, California rolls and peanut broccoli noods for dinner. S learned how to roll egg rolls, though didn't learn to roll California rolls because of a child-related-skinned-knee incident.

I burned my finger frying egg rolls. Again.

The kids helped unload the 2nd load of mulch from the back of our neighbor's truck. Thomas sliced a good deal of the skin off the tip off one of his fingers on the broken leaf blower. Don't ask why a leaf blower was needed for unloading mulch from the back of truck.

S was inspired by Vegitarian magazine and we changed our menu plan for Tuesday. Apparently I'll be learning to make Pasties.

Thomas was given permission, and promptly went to work avenging his finger injury upon the defective leaf blower by smashing it to bits with a very heavy sledge hammer. Michael now has another motor to add to his collection of parts.

Liz and two of her kids came for an evening of Scrabble. We had a very close match (145 , 146, 148, and David). The kids stayed for the night. We were all up til about 2:00 AM.

KitMama and kids are permanently "here". And Gypsy the dog.

I'm looking forward to a quiet day. Right.