My husband finally returned home to us on Monday...late, of course. I was so happy to have him back. I thought, "Hey maybe now I'll get some sleep." Well, I did get to sleep in the next day (Thank you! Thank you!), but then it rained. Not just the typical WA rain, but a flooding rain. Our basement has been converted into an apartment that we rent out to a friend of ours. She had to come upstairs and wake us up at 3:15 in the morning on Tuesday? ...
Life & Love
Just Another Day in Paradise
If there's one thing you can count on living in Western Washington, it's the rain. We did have a white Christmas, which is rare, but since then the rain has washed all the snow away. It makes me sad. The kids can go outside and play in the sun, the cold or the snow, but not the rain. So cabin fever is starting to set in. I don't help this matter much because if left on my own, I would never leave the house. That's not really acceptable when you ...
My Heart is in Texas
(Before you begin, I should warn you that I'm feeling especially long-winded!)MC is in Texas right now visiting his family. It was kind of a last-minute decision. We had a free ticket voucher from being bumped off another flight earlier this year and Hubby was thinking about seeing his family. His mom has been really sick for the last couple of years, she has COPD. She was a chronic smoker and her lungs are pretty much hardening up and not ...
Snowfolk
We have snow. Actual snow. It's several inches deep and has stuck for a few days now. That may not seem like a big deal to those who are used to living in it but it's a bit unusual for WA. You see, we get snow. But it never sticks around for long. We can always count on the rain to wash it all away. But it's been here for a week now and it's enough that church was canceled this morning over concern about road conditions.I love the snow. I love to ...
Dear Santa…
Dear Santa,I've tried to be good this year. I've been watching what I eat (and it all looked pretty good), keeping the house clean (when we're having company), and playing with my children (I love the "quiet game"). I make sure to do the laundry after everyone's run out of underwear and the children are always bathed after they start to stink. I catch the dust bunnies when they escape from under the furniture, help the kids find their clean ...
Coal for Christmas
My children wholeheartedly believe in Santa Claus. I realize my oldest is almost 10, but when it comes to this particular question, I live by the "don't ask, don't tell" philosophy. They know that Santa brings toys to the good kids and they've heard about the coal for bad kids. However, I've never held this over their heads or threatened them with it. You know the "Santa's watching so you'd better behave or you'll get coal" trick? Yeah, it hasn't ...
Lost and Found
All year long my children have been looking forward to a special event--the Lego Convention (yes, there really is such a thing). Howdy is fanatical about Legos and the other 2 just think they're fun but we all enjoy going. It's held in Seattle and people come from all over the country to show off their Lego sculptures. They have a Space Needle that is taller than me, an Eiffel Tower, a 10+ foot Titanic. It's fun to see what they can come up ...
Long Overdue
How do you explain to your 8-yr old son that he has Autism? How do you explain to his siblings that you can't always treat their brother the same way, that things aren't always fair for them? This has been my recent dilemma. My children all know that Bubba is different. I've explained to them several times that his brain works differently than other people's and that's why he does some of the things that he does, like throwing fits and not ...
It's Definitely Never Dull
Had an interesting conversation with Howdy the other day. We have a dog who is not fixed and has been trying to take advantage of our other male dog. My son knows this as "trying to make babies". We've had this discussion already and I thought I had explained all the mechanics clearly. (It's amazing how much you can learn from having pets!) Apparently he either tuned me out or just didn't get it because he was asking questions again. Let me ...