Saturday, August 30, 2008

Water Fire

On Friday evening we all went downtown for Water Fire. I was so excited that we got to go with John this year since he now works day shift. I knew it would be right up his ally and it was.


When we'd watched the fires and the Ballet Met dancers for a bit we decided to take a walk around downtown. John wanted to see the new NBC 4 studios so we walked a few blocks. We felt like tourists in our own home town.


At one point I noticed a homeless man and thought he was somewhat icky. Then we watched another man bring him a sandwich and immediately I felt ashamed for my thinking bad thoughts about him. At that point I pointed him out to Samantha and John and told them how the man had given him a sandwich. We had a good discussion about how everyone is a person who deserves respect... how it is not nice to judge others and how you should be nice to everyone because it's the right thing to do and it says something good about you. Then I spent the rest of the time feeling thankful for my family and all that we have as well as the special times we spend together.


While we were walking we heard thunder and made it back to the car just in time... The rain began coming down in buckets. I felt bad for the dancers who weren't able to finish their performance as well as the homeless; I hope they have somewhere that will keep them dry. On the way home it rained so hard we couldn't see. Cars were pulled off all over the highway. I prayed that we'd get home safely to our nice dry home!

Thursday, August 28, 2008

The Stuffed Animal Round Up




Samantha decided to count all of her stuffed animals and make a card for each one with it's name and type of animal!!!
There are 286! I tried to get as many as I could in the picture... the other picture is of the stack of cards...
I love how when she puts her mind to something she really sees it through and I love her creativity. I hope these are an indication of how she will tackle other things in her life.

Monday, August 25, 2008

Obstacle Course of Sorts...

This weekend Samantha said she was going to make an obstacle course. (This was after I told her to stop walking around the kitchen table in circles or she'd make herself sick.) I told her that was a neat idea and asked if I could help. We decided that I would make a list of things she needed to do with a starting point and an ending point. I started the list and then thought of a brilliant idea: I can add chores in here! Here is the list:
  1. Start at the kitchen table
  2. Walk around the coffee table
  3. Touch the "Lazy Hog" plaque hanging on the wall
  4. Sit in Kelly's chair
  5. Look out the front door
  6. Stand in the tub
  7. Sit in the cloud chair
  8. Lay down in the big bed
  9. Lay down in your bed
  10. Fold & put away the laundry in the dryer
  11. Kiss Hannah, Leah, Star and Jamie
  12. Hug your mother
  13. Let Oreo Jr. slide down the railing on the stairs... hold onto him so he doesn't fall
  14. Smell Daddy's sneakers
  15. Put Mr. B in the freezer
  16. Put your box of crayons and markers away
  17. Put the lid from the lemonade pitcher on your head and walk around the kitchen table without holding into it
  18. Do two cartwheels in the back yard
  19. Put Daddy's sneakers away in the closet
  20. Put on Daddy's slippers and walk around the kitchen table with them on, then put them away in the closet
  21. Hug your mother again
  22. Get Mr. B out of the freezer
  23. End at the kitchen table

She had the best time and I got the laundry put away with out even having to get up!

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

35 Things I am loving in August...

1. Paul Simon's Greatest Hits album... that we have been listening to again and again.

2. "The Greatest American Dog" show on CBS... Mom, Samantha and I all love Bill and Star.

3. Macaroni Salad... The Amish kind from Wal Mart... I'm sure the Amish don't really make it but it sure is tasty.

4. School Supplies... I love this time of year when they put out the school supplies... Not only do I buy Samantha's but some for myself as well.

5. Beijing, China... there have been several shows on about Beijing this month with the Olympics being there... It looks like a really beautiful place and I'd love to go there... and climb the Great Wall of China too...

6. The 2008 Summer Olympics... The pole vaulting fascinates me.

7. CNN Headline News... I love Nancy Grace and am really interested in what happened to Caylee Anthony.

8. Horses... I used to be really into horses when I was growing up... I had riding lessons and horse back riding birthday parties and Mom rented me a horse to take care of one summer... One of Samantha's friends (Ann) is really into horses and it reminds me of when I was her age.

9. "The Lucifer Effect" by Philip Zimbardo... This book was amazing and really opened my mind... I highly recommend it.

10. Coffee... anytime there is a list of good things coffee will always be on it... I was doing the driving directions for one of the tech rep's trips at work and saw that there is a Coffee St. in Burlington, VT... how cool is that!

11. Lavender... Samantha and I have a lavender scented pillow in the car and whenever we are beginning to disagree on something or beginning to feel cranky we inhale the relaxing aroma of our lavender pillow and we feel like ourselves again... or one of us starts laughing at how funny the other one looks sniffing the pillow and we laugh all the way home.

12. Basil... that we have growing in pots on our deck... I made bruchetta the other night with it and with the tomatoes we grew... It was so satisfying to eat something that we had grown!

13. "Jon and Kate Plus Eight" on TLC... We all love that show and gather each week to watch it as a family... And, we love to say we are John and Kate plus one.

14. "Misty Of Chincoteague" by Margurite Henry... The Gosselin's took a family vacation to the beach to see the wild horses which reminded me of one of my childhood favorites that I got out and re-read and then gave to Samantha to read.

15. Kate Gosselin's haircut... I love my hair but think it's time for a change. I've had my hair this way now for about 3 years and am craving something new so I think I'll let it grow out a bit and style it like hers.

16. "The Creative Family" by Amanda Blake Soule... I read her blog and finally got her book. I don't know what I was waiting for, it's fabulous. Samantha and I are going to make our own gratitude alphabet as well as many more of her neat suggestions.

17. Green Beans... I'm not a big vegetable girl but this summer I have had a hankering for green beans almost with every meal.

18. The smell of the rain... the other evening it stormed and I opened the patio door and stood there smelling the rain and really enjoying it.

19. The Clouds... So often this summer I have tilted my head back to savor the moment and take in the fresh air and when I open my eyes am awe struck by how beautiful the clouds have been lately... Almost every evening after dinner when we sit out on the deck and enjoy the outside I am amazed at how perfect the sky is... like a painting... so beautiful.

20. Nectarines... They are in season in August and are mighty tasty!

21. Hydrangeas... Our hydrangea bush has been just gorgeous this summer... It's blooms have been huge and just the most beautiful shade of blue... I have had one in a bud vase in our bathroom almost the entire summer and the blooms seem to last forever.

22. Jack Johnson... I recently pulled out his CD to listen to in the car and had forgotten how cool he is.

23. Toast... Toast with just butter... toast with butter and jam and toast with butter and cinnamon sugar.

24. Frogs... We have seen quite a few frogs this summer when normally we see toads. It's a nice switch. Frogs are neat... even when your husband throws them in your face they are still quite cool.

25. Gnomes... Back in the 1980s when I went to Camp Blue Heron up in Canada we would sit by the huge stone fireplace in the lodge on a rainy night an study Wil Huygen's Gnome Book... I have to find that book again... it was so awesome how it showed every aspect of gnome life.

26. Crocheting... Ellen, Kim and I just got done crocheting a friendship blanket for Lynn who's mother recently passed away... We each crocheted a portion of the blanket in our own chosen colors and then Ellen boardered it and finished it with a flower in one corner... Lynn loved it and it was so great to work on it with people who mean so much to me.

27. Pandas... Pandas are like coffee...they go on every list of good things...

28. "Get Fuzzy"... My favorite comic strip that I look forward to reading each and every single morning... that Bucky and Satchel really make my day!

29. Airborne... That stuff really works at shortening the length of a cold or bug... I swear by the stuff.

30. The Farmer's Market... Every Saturday Samantha and I have made a routine of taking our coffee to go and strolling together through town... As much as I love the changing seasons I am going to miss the market.

31. Geocaching... We have really enjoyed looking for caches as a family this summer and are thankful to have been able to discover new places that, while right in our back yard, we never knew existed.

32. Yogurt... I've always liked yogurt but lately I've been craving it...Yum!

33. Karma... Good karma and the conversations Jenn and I have had about what goes around comes around... I am really thankful for Jenn's unique insight!

34. Peanut butter and honey crackers... Yummy!

35. "The Closer" on TNT... another show John and I have been enjoying this summer...especially the episode where Provenza's car gets stolen. Kyra Sedgewick is awesome.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

A Sad Tale...

Once upon a time, several years ago, I thought it would be a good idea to clean Samantha's room when she wasn't home. That way I could get rid of things I thought she wouldn't even notice were gone. This was not the case. Boy was I WRONG WRONG WRONG! She had two of these little brown dogs (pictured above) and silly me thought: you don't need two. One of them is named Moon Doggie and the other one, the one I got rid of was named Him Dad.

So, here we are several YEARS later... Samantha pulled out Moon Doggie and was playing with him and she was quick to point out that Moon Doggie has no dad because I got rid of Him Dad. Rufus came to the fair with us but he was sad because he STILL misses Him Dad. That kid has a mind like a steel trap.

Friday, August 8, 2008

Gnome Homes



There was an activity at Heritage Park the other evening: making Gnome Homes. My friend Jenn coordinates all the activities for the town hall and this was one of them. She is so creative and comes up with the cutest ideas.
Samantha invited Tara to come with us and the girls really enjoyed themselves. We arrived early so the girls went exploring in the old cemetery adjacent to the park. Jenn is really knowledgeable about the history of this particular cemetery and she gave the girls a tour. She told them where the oldest grave was and where the founder of Groveport is buried as well as what some of the symbols on the gravestones mean. The girls were really interested and then set out to find the gravestone in the newer section with the picture of Elvis on it.
The Gnome Homes turned out really cute and all the kids hoped that a gnome will come to live in their house.

Watching the sun set

Watching the sun set has to be just about the most perfect activity out there! The other night Samantha came to me and asked if she could plan a family activity, she wanted to go out on the deck and watch the sun set. So, last night that is exactly what we did. Samantha made peanut butter cookies that we ate while we sat and watched the sun set. It was beautiful and we really enjoyed the family time together. It was so relaxing to just sit and talk with John and Samantha and not have to be "doing" something or worrying about anything else. We talked about the clouds and listened to the sounds of the neighborhood. There was someone mowing their lawn and the sound of an air conditioner. Those may not sound like noises you'd seek out to listen to but they were really perfect because those are the sounds of our neighborhood and you could just imagine everyone carrying on with their daily lives while we were sitting there watching and listening to it all go by. Once the sun set we went back inside and carried on with our nightly routines. After Samantha climbed in bed I read her one of my favorite books from when I was a child, "Wake Up and Good Night" by Charlotte Zolotow (c.1971). There is one page where the kids are in bed in their cool, dark room and they can hear the hushed voices of the adults downstairs. I used to love that when I was a kid. We all went to sleep with that cozy, happy feeling you get after a really great day.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

The Ohio State Fair

Last Thursday we went to the Ohio State Fair. We love the fair! Ours has this really wonderful natural resources area that is put on by the parks department and we love the butter cow! This year they also had all the president's who were from Ohio carved in butter (their heads). I got to pet a cow which was really exciting... I think this one was pregnant as she was in the newborn baby animal area. We got a funnel cake and had a lemonade, you know, the kind made from the real lemons. It was a great family outing.