Ike's Aftermath

Even here in the Midwest, we are feeling the effects of hurricane Ike.  

It rained buckets all weekend long, and although it was very conducive to having movie marathons and baking chocolate chip cookies, it is wreaking havoc on the rivers in our town.

One of the best things about the town that I live in, is the two rivers that converge and flow through the heart of downtown.  The Fox and Illinois rivers are beautiful (as evidenced by our canoe trip last weekend) but are taking a turn for the worse.  

Today, I would describe the rivers as downright scary.

The national weather service has issued flood warnings and you can literally see the river getting higher.

Starchy is a teacher at the high school.  There are no classes today because the school is located right on the river.  He went this morning to see for himself and took these pictures from his iPhone.  

The wall in the foreground is the only thing preventing the river from spilling over into the school's parking lot.

You can see the water level teetering and looking as if it is almost at the breaking point.  Notice the roof of a gazebo on the other side of the river!

This picture was taken from Starchy's classroom.  

The next 24 hours are going to be key.  Starchy is at the high school now filling sandbags.  I will keep everyone posted!

I need a 25 hour day!

Aggghh!  How can it be that September is almost half-way through?  Where did summer go?  I know I am not alone here, but with fall activities starting I feel like I am getting about 75% of what I need accomplished.  Not good.

For starters, I have been neglecting the blog.  It weights heavy on my mind.  I don't want my family and friends across the country (and beyond) to think that I have forgotten them (I haven't).  

And believe me when I say, there has been a ton to blog about.  I just haven't found a spare minute to do it.  Maybe I need to clone myself...

Anyhoo, here is the update from the Midwest:

HP is doing great.  She is attending preschool two mornings a week.  Her favorite thing about going is her friend Peanut.  You'd think that the two girls would want to expand their social circle, but it is the exact opposite.  They are joined at the hip.  I guess at 3 yrs old, when you have a good friend, you want to hang on to them (which come to think of it, is not much different when you are 29).

On the home front, HP is having a VERY hard time staying in her bed at night.  We have tried a star reward system as bribery, we have tried the firm walk-you-back-to-your-bed approach, nothing is working.  The girl just wants to sleep with us.  Sidenote:  we have never done a family bed and both kids have always slept in their own room, so this isn't a habit she has had since birth.  Starchy and I are at our wits end.  There are only so many times that I can walk her back to her room at night before I say "screw it" and hop in bed with her.  Any advice would be appreciated.

The Dude is also loving preschool.  He is in a different class from HP and loves how many other boys are in his class (we all know The Crew girls way outnumber him).  He comes home singing songs and telling me about the learning games that he gets to play.  One thing he said yesterday was quite startling though.  I was tucking him in for the night when the following conversation took place:

Me:  "So did you have fun at preschool today?"

The Dude:  "Yeah, it was a lot of fun"

Me:  "Are you making some new friends?"

The Dude: "Yeah, there is a boy named Diego, and a boy named Carter..."

*pause*

"Mom?"

Me: "Yeah?"

The Dude: "There is a really pretty girl in my class"

Flustered me: "Really...um...what is her name?"

The Dude:  "I don't know, but she is really tall and is 5 (he said 5 like he was really impressed)"

Me:  "Why don't you introduce yourself next time?"

The Dude: (very confidently) "Yeah.  I think I will."

Wait one sweet cotton-pickin' second!  My baby isn't supposed to be interested in girls!  When the heck did that happen?

Thank goodness HP is preoccupied with her friend Peanut.  I don't think I could handle both of them growing up too fast.

The Crew at Big Rock

It was such a gorgeous day out that the kids and I took a trip to one of our favorite places...Big Rock.  

They had a BLAST.  

One of the best parts about my job is getting to see the world through a child's eye's.  

They hung from the tree branches, climbed up Big Rock, picked up leaves and dead cicada shells, raced around the field...it is amazing how much fun they can have with only each other at their disposal.  

See for yourself...

Racing down the street towards the park.

The Dude in a RARE moment of reflection.

I like this shot (although Greg probably won't).  It's like he's giving me the "this is my girl" look.

Peanut holding her friend Boo's hand, showing her the way to Big Rock.

The Crew on Big Rock.

HP...the shirt says it all.

The kids were racing from the flowerbed in the distance.  Poor Boo had biffed it as I was taking the picture (she was fine, she got up and kept running, never missed a beat).

Peanut won (although she cheated and turned around half way there!)!

Canoe Trip

Starchy got a wild idea that we should take the kids canoeing down the fox river this past Sunday.  Knowing that HP and The Dude would be a handful in a canoe, we invited Pappa and Yamma to come along for reinforcement.

It could not have been a more perfect morning.  The air was crisp and the river was calm.  We took our time floating down the river.  The kids enjoyed Oreo's and Pringles (a RARE treat around homebase).  The Dude tried his hand at paddling and didn't do half-bad.  HP was content to sit with anyone who's lap happened to be open.  

We saw a few herron, some cows (this is Illinois after all), a dead fish, and some naked trees (HP pointed to tree's without leaves and deemed them "naked").

Aside from the lackluster wildlife, the scenery was beautiful.  There are gorgeous cliffs lining the river and the greenery was very lush from the recent rains.

To cap off the end to a prefect boat trip, HP and The Dude both took 3 hour naps once we got 

home!

The Dude chowing on some Oreo's.  Yes, that is dirt on his face.  He is 100% boy.

HP and I.  Don't mind the Sunday morning bed head, the river isn't known for taking good glamor shots! ;)

Starchy and his Mom.

The Dude digging for craw fish.  Thank GOD he didn't find one.  Yuck.

They were SO excited to go canoeing even though they really had no clue what it was.

Starchy and the kids.

HP had a death grip on the pringles.  She kept saying "I wuv these chips".

The view...

Count your blessings...

I try not to take for granted how lucky I am.  My kids are healthy.  My husband and I are employed.  I have a loving family....a roof over my head...food in my fridge...I could go on and on.

Since I started blogging, I have discovered this little thing called the blogging community.  As cheesy as it sounds, people who blog, love to spread blog-joy around.  They are supportive, they offer thoughtful comments, and most of all, they rally around one another.  

It is time to rally.

There is a little girl who needs our help.  She has been denied access to health care that would make her quality of life substantially better.  

Please, take two minutes, go here, read her story and sign the petition to get the little girl the medicine she needs.

I think about what I would do if this were HP...or Peanut...or Sissy...or Boo...it makes me shudder.

I thank my lucky stars.

New Crew Member's- Bing-Bing & Boo

We had two wonderful additions to The Crew this week.  I have waited to post about it because I wanted to come up with blog names that were fitting to their little personalities.  

So, without further adieu, I bring you Bing-Bing and Boo!

*applause*

Bing-Bing, is 15 months old.  I have never, ever, seen a kid put down a meal like this one does (I mean that as a compliment).  Its like the little fella has it in his head that he will never eat again.  

After watching him like a hawk the first few days, I tried to outsmart him today.  I took his little string cheese and cut it into tiny pieces (yesterday he shoved two-thirds of it in his mouth at once).  After setting the cheese bits in front of him with a smug "gotcha" look on my face, the little man attempted to shove every little piece in his mouth AT ONCE!  Such a stinker!  

Bing-Bing, it has been fun getting to know you (just not particularly at meal times)! :)

Boo, is 3 years old.  She has joined the princess gang of HP, Peanut and Miss. Thang.  The girl fits right in.  The four of them were in their royal garb this morning, chasing each other with their wands (some of which are actual wands, others are items like phones and swords), all while screeching "Booby Foo!" (a derivative of Bibbity-Bobbity-Boo) at the top of their lungs.  It is a sight to see.

Boo has done a really good job getting to know The Crew and looking out for her little brother Bing-Bing.

First Day of Preschool *sniff*

HP and The Dude on their first day of preschool.  

They were SO excited they barely made it through the morning.  

I managed not to cry.  I came damn close though...