Thursday, December 30, 2010

last one

not forever; just of 2010.

the kids and i made a last minute trip down to houston monday night, and then on to galveston the next day. a sweet family at our church had 4 tickets to moody gardens that included every attraction at the place, but they had to be used by january 1st.
monday evening we drove down, went to bed, then drove to galveston (about an hour and change...when i drive) the next morning. it was a great day! we went to the aquarium, the discovery museum, a 4D movie, went to lunch at the rainforest cafe, and stayed into the evening for the festival of lights.
as always on a frans outing (especially when allen is not accompanying us; he had to stay and work) there were a few memorable events to brighten the day....
our tickets included a 3D film of our choice (there were several showing), and a ride on the colonel (one of those old timey paddle wheel boats). however, the boat ride was only offered twice that day and we had missed the first one. the second one fell at the same time as the film colby had picked to see which only showed one time that day. the solution; i took molly on the boat an mimi took colby to the film. we got on the boat and there was a concession stand inside. i thought i would be a fabulous mommy and get molly a 'treat'. she wanted orange juice. i got up to the counter and saw a sign that said 'irish coffee'. well, that sounded delicious! it was chilly and i love coffee. and ireland. what i didnt know, because i dont drink and because i'm an idiot, is that what makes the coffee irish, is the liquor. i thought 'irish' just meant it had mint in it or something. imagine my surprise when i took my first drink, and it was a drink; i'm not a sipper. holy nightmare, batman! it was strong! or maybe it wasnt, but it was strong to me because i'm not used to it, and i wasnt expecting it. so then i was faced with a dilemma. what do i do with it?
i was telling allen about it on the phone later that evening....
me: so, i had an adult beverage this afternoon.
allen: WHAT?!?
me: i didnt mean to!
allen: how do you accidentally drink something?
me: (proceed to tell him what happened)
allen: so you drank it?
me: like half of it.
allen: WHAT?!?
me: well, i didnt want to waste it. it cost me six bucks!
allen: you got buzzed!
me: i did not!
allen: you did. and now you're driving drunk around galveston with our kids in the car. you're putting our children in danger.
i assure you he was only giving me a hard time, and i also assure you i was not driving 'buzzed'.
but, hey, lesson learned. irish coffee is not minty.

after we got off the boat we met mimi and colby at the playscape and let the kids play for a little bit. molly got caught up in doing something and (as always must happen when i'm traveling with the kids sans allen) she peed all over herself. i mean all. over. herself. the good thing is she was standing in the dirt...make that mud, so there wasnt really anything for me to clean up other than her of course, and we passed a target just a couple miles outside the park. we were quite a ways from the car, so she had to waddle for a while. we got to the car and i stripped her down to just her shirt. skirt,leggings, socks, shoes and of course underwear all came off. she rode to target like that, and i was able (thankfully!!) to leave her in the car with colby and mimi while i ran in and bought her new stuff to wear.
never a dull moment.

a few days ago she was singing frosty the snowman, and she asked
molly: mommy, when is it going to snow here?
me: i dont know, mo. it doesnt really snow here where we live. well, sometimes it snows in febuary.
molly: can we go to febuary, then?
me: febuary isnt a place, love. its a month.
molly: but i want to go there!
me: ok. we'll go in about 6 weeks.
molly: ok.
problem solved. now i just have to pray for some snow in febuary, or at least a good ice storm.

i'm looking forward to new years eve as always. this will be our seventh year in a row to spend in with our best friends the lamberts and the barners. we go to dinner and then go to someones house (this year its ours) and play games till midnight when we toast the new year and go home! there will be lots off desserts and coffee to be had by all, and i can promise you it wont be irish!

happy new year!!!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

ugh

seriously.
6 weeks?
thats about how long its been since i blogged. i'm a disgrace to consistent bloggers everywhere. i'm no longer fit to call myself a blogger. i have a blog. i dont update it anymore. i dont want to get rid of it in case something hilarious happens, or one of my kids does something ridiculously brilliant that i must document immediately.
i've actually have had moments of 'i need to blog about that' over the last few weeks, but as you can see, i didnt. and now i cant remember what any of thse moments were.
thats what i get i suppose. serves me right. maybe i'll be better in 2011......
i dont know that i even have enough entries on here to do a book this year. i think my grand total is 34 counting this one. i might get one more in before the year is over, making it a nice round 35. thats almost three entries a month, though. not too bad, really, when you look at it that way. maybe i will do a book. it will just be a very very small one.
allen wants me to do the picture-a-day thing again. i definitely blogged more when i was taking a picture a day and posting them each week, but at the time i felt like that was keeping me from blogging on a more regular basis. now it seems the opposite is true.

i hope this season is bringing you joy and lots of time with family and friends. we've been so, so busy; busier than i ever remember being before with just life stuff. i mean, i was doing ANNIE last year through the christmas season, and that was a bit crazy, but this year its just been different parties, and get togethers, and drs appointments, and event after event. all fun though, well except the drs appts.
colby is having his adnoids and tonsils out next wednesday. i week from today. 3 days before christmas. the thought i that the excitement of the big day and he gifts and whatnot will distract him from the pain. that, of course, remains to be seen. i hope i'm right. his adnoids are causing an 80% blockage in his nasal passage. no wonder the kid cant breathe!! as weird as it sounds, i'm looking forward to this surgery. i want my little boy to know what its like to breathe normally! merry christmas, colby! we give you the gift of an unrestricted airway. hahaha. or should i say hohoho. :-)

i went back to africa in november, right before thanksgiving, to work with the kids and missionaries at rafiki. my dad and i went two years ago, and i wanted to go back one more time before the missionaries that we know come back home (in febuary). an old friend of mine went with me, actually, i went with her, and we got to do some great stuff with the kids over there.
one afternoon we were playing a game with the 5th graders (5th grade is their level of education, nt necessarily their age. some of them are 14 and 15 yrs old). the object was to pick a category and start a rythm, then to go around the circle saying things in that category without throwing off the beat. we had done animals, colors, and types of food (which is interesting when you have two cultures that eat completely different things). we were trying to think of another category, and one of the boys said, "madam, please, diseases!!!" melinda and i looked at each other, then back at him, and i said, "o....k...." so he started the beat...
malaria...typhoid...flu (that was me)...gonorrhea...syphillis...strep throat(melinda)...AIDS...etc, etc.
they're saying this stuff as though its no big deal, and to them it wasnt. melinda and i still laugh about it, because it was funny to hear these kids yelling the names of these diseases out loud and proud. but it was sobering to realize that that is their reality. melinda and i are thinking of stuff like the common cold and laryngitis. they're throwing out typhoid and AIDS. wow.
we did have a great time with them, though. i got to do some drama activities with them and some scrapbooking with the mamas there on the village. i was blessed to get to go back a second time.

merry christmas to all of you!! may your days be merry and bright! :-)