Stupid teenage tricks

I know that the teenage brain is missing in action, but I wasn't sure just how much so till today. Big Brother (age 14.5) mows the lawn. I asked him to do that today and then put the tractor back. He mentioned that he thought tractors should be able to go on the road. I told him that he was not to take the lawn tractor on the road. He mows the lawn then everything gets quiet. I thought he had put the tractor back in the shed. No such luck. He decided that taking the tractor up the street was a good idea. No...I have no idea why he would think this was a good idea, but he did. So I took off in the van after him and found him pushing the tractor about an 1/8th of a mile from the house. It had died while crossing a neighbor's driveway. Not only had he taken it out of the yard, but he didn't check the amount of gas in it. He moved the mower out of the way and I brought him back to get the gas can. He refilled the mower and then drove it back home and put it away. He is rightfully embarrassed and I don't think he will do it again. I am going to be completely grey before I am 45 (and I turn 43 this year).

Can't argue with this logic

Little Sister has an interesting way of coming to conclusions.
This morning she asked me if she could watch "Little Einsteins". I don't have a problem with the show, but I think it is a little young for her (she's 7 1/2). I told her that she wasn't a little girl anymore and the following conversation took place:

Me: "You're not a little kid anymore"
LS: "Yes I am"
Me: "No, you're a middler"
LS: "But I'm not a large, I'm a medium which makes me small."

The conversation ended at that point and I told her she could watch "Little Einsteins". I can't argue with that kind of logic. :-)

Getting Fit on the Wii

We are an electronic family. When our XBox started dying last summer we wondered what to replace it with. We considered the XBox 360, but it didn't offer games that we could all play as a family. We pressed our luck and went in search of the illusive Wii. We figured almost a year after it was first released, it shouldn't be that hard to get. We were so wrong! I was amazed when in store after store (and on line too) I heard the same thing, "We don't have any and don't know when we will get any in". One day I was in the mall looking for something else and just for kicks I asked in the local Gamespot and they told me that they heard a rumor that EB Games in the mall had just gotten a shipment in. I rushed across the mall and asked about it. The folks at EB were shocked. They had only gotten 4 in about 10 minutes before and I was the second person to come asking about them. I quickly snatched up what I needed and began on a very interesting journey into Wii land.
Our family has had a lot of fun playing the Wii and now we are going to work on getting fit using it too. When I heard Wii fit was coming out, I made sure to be at the store when the doors opened. We got the game 2 days ago and have not been disappointed. From Little Brother and Little Sister up through DH and I, we all have burned more than a few calories on that little board.
We have done Yoga, run in place, checked our balance, ski jumped and put little balls in little holes, just to name a few. I would recommend this anyone who hates exercise but knows that if they don't they won't be healthy.
I only wish they had come out with something like this years ago. I would probably be in better shape if they had.

Stupid Kid Tricks

Well, Big Brother, my 14 year old son, has been having trouble lately with doing things before he thinks (typical 14 year old boy). Today he was mad that I was making him show his work in Pre-Algebra course. He is a good math student and it has come very easy to him. I know that he will have to show work when he takes Algebra at co-op next year so I wanted to get him used to it this year. He was being stubborn and took his book to copy. I let him go do that because I knew that it wasn't going to make any difference because he was still going to have to copy the problem and show the work. What I didn't count on was that he was going to think sticking his middle finger into the hole of a cast iron reloading set up that we had to move into the downstairs' living room when we put in a new window in the back hallway this weekend was going to be a good idea. The finger went in well, but didn't come out. He was complaining that it hurt and that is was getting cold.
The reloading set up was connected to a small stand and the hole was on the top, so the blood was rushing to his finger, making it swell. I tilted the table over and unbolted the piece from the table. I then held the piece upside down (holding the solid metal shaft that is designed to go into the hole his finger was in) trying to get the blood to drain out and shrink his finger. I got mineral oil (we had tried baby lotion and soap already) and poured it by the finger. Finally it came loose enough and popped out. I was not fancying calling the doctor to tell him that my son was a real redneck and that I was coming in with a reloader stuck to his middle finger. I wonder if he said "Hey Y'all watch this" before he did it????

Bad News, Good News

Bad News: On Friday morning I went to the dishwasher to get some clean dishes out. Much to my chagrin, the dishwasher hadn't been set off the night before, so I closed it and pushed the start button. Even more to my chagrin, nothing happened. I tried closing it again, but still nothing. This was not what I wanted to see with a family of 6 on Easter weekend.
Good News: I called the company that has our extended warranty (Thank God for those extended warranties).
Bad News: They told us they could schedule someone to come out on Monday. I was totally unthrilled about that prospect, but it was what I expected.
Good News: Later on I got a call from the local company and the nice lady told me that they could get someone out that day. OH JOY!! I would have my dishwasher for the weekend, or so I thought.
Bad News: We had no idea what the problem was and thought it might be that a mouse had bit through the cord. When I mentioned this to the lady from the local company, she said that wouldn't be covered by the warranty. Oh well, I didn't have a choice but to have it fixed so I told him to come over anyway.
Good News: When the tech arrived, he took apart the front of the dishwasher and found that it was a problem with the computer in the touch pad and would be covered by warranty. I was glad that it seemed like a small problem that needed a piece replaced. I am old enough to remember when a repair man would come with all the parts he needed to fix the appliance in his truck. He would figure out what piece wore out and he would fix it. With today's appliances, there are so many parts and there are so many different brands that it is impossible to carry all the parts they need, thus leading to...
Bad News: He needs to order a part and it won't be here for 7 to 10 days. UUGGHH!!!

Good News: I have 2 older kids that can clean, dry and put away dishes by hand, so it isn't all bad :-)

We all have our talents

The other night our next door neighbor's daughter was staying overnight. After dinner I told the girls to do the dishes. Our friend offered to help Big Sister. Little Sister wanted to help too.

Little Sister-"What can I do to help?"
Big Sister- "I don't know. Stand there and look cute."
Little Sister- "Oh Great!!! That's what I do best!"

This is ridiculous!

I am a born and raised New Englander and can handle snow, but this winter has been dowright ridiculous. Concord, the official measurement place for New Hampshire, has registered over 102 inches before the snowstorm we had last night. Where we are usually gets about 1.5 as much snow as they do. If they get 5 inches, we usually between 7 and 9, so I bet we have had 150 inches.

Here are some pictures to give folks an idea of what it is like around our house

Here is a picture of how high the snow is next to the driveway. The van is a 15 passenger and about 8 feet high.

This is our Jeep Wrangler which has been in the yard all winter. Yes, the snow is up to the bottom of the door windows.

This is a frame for a archery target. The target is 3 feet square so the frame is about 5 feet tall.

This is the top of a tomato plant which we planted last Spring. The plant is in a 5 gallon pail with the tomato racks around it.

This is the "Magic Garbage Box". I put bags of garbage into the box and every Wednesday it disappears :) The snow on the top is just since last Sunday. We are hoping to dig out the front since if you can't get the door open the garbage elves can't take the garbage away.

This is our mailbox. It is a white box on a black metal post. Can't see it??? Neither can I.

Can you see the big green cover it? We haven't since the middle of December when it collapsed. Under the tarp is a boat that we hope is still in good shape when the snow finally does melt.

I am very glad that no one was near the barn when the snow came crashing down. This must be a huge weight of snow.

Our kids have a tree house which is 10 feet above the sand pit. The railings are 3.5 feet high and the floor is slatted. This is how much snow has stayed up there.

I can't believe how much snow we have gotten this year and they are saying more snow is coming. Thankfully we should have a couple of days that are in the 40s and most of this should melt. I can dream can't I?????

From the mouthes of babes

We have often thought that Little Brother was born for comic relief and today was no exception. He isn't feeling well (he has a cold) and wanted to eat lots of bananas (one of his favorite foods).
Little Brother: "Mom, can I have another banana?"
Mom: "How many bananas are left?"
Little Brother: "A bunch!"

A Klutz guide to a New England winter pt 2

We made it to the party, but I didn't dance much. Though I really like dancing to fast music, I gave up when I tried dancing to "Loveshack" and zigged when I should have zagged. It wasn't totally bad though. Since so many guys that were going to the party were going to stay home due to the Pats/Jaguars game, they had a big screen TV in the banquet hall and I got to watch a good game. There were times when some of the fans were nervous, but I knew the Pats would win. Anyone who bets against those guys this year is either crazy or knows something we don't know.

We left for MA on Sunday night to beat the storm. DH needed reconstructive surgery after losing 200 pounds (YEAH!!!). He had a gastric bypass done in MA about 18 months ago and we wouldn't trust the reconstruction to anywhere else. If anyone is thinking about gastric bypass in the New England region, Lahey Clinic in Burlington www.lahey.com is the place to do it. They are awesome and so wonderful to the patients and the families.

I stayed at the local Marriott and figured I couldn't get in too much trouble. Wrong again. He was scheduled to have the surgery at 12 pm, but because of emergencies, didn't start till 4. Then it was 4.5 hours for the surgery. I went back to the hotel room tired, stressed and just plain worn out. After relaxing for a couple of hours I went out to pick up something at a local store. Seems harmless enough till I got back. The parking space looked like dry asphalt, really it did. I stepped out of the truck and landed quickly on my backside and left elbow (it was about the only thing left I hadn't hit). I sat on the cold ground and cried. I was fine physically, but I just needed to release. I had held in all the stress and anxiety of a very long day and I needed to just let it out. While I could have lived without the sore backside and bruised elbow, I thank God that He gave me that place to release.

I took the shuttle back to the hospital and saw DH in recovery. Everything went great (PTL) and he was sore but fine.

So now that I have fallen 3 times in 12 days, I have learned some lessons about surviving the winter when you are a Klutz.

1) Don't multitask while walking outside or around dropped clothing. I am going to concentrate on making it from point A to point B rather than what I have to do 20 minutes later.

2) Get the kids to do stuff around the house instead of me doing it all the time. (That's a good rule anytime of year)

3) Assume every piece of real estate you walk on is icy and shuffle. Usually I do that, but not these times.

4) If all else fails, move south :-)

A Klutz guide to a New England Winter pt 1

Well, 2008 hasn't started off as well as I had planned. I have had a severe case of "mommy brain". That condition for those who are not familiar with it, is caused when a mom has 3 million things on her mind and things like where she is going or what is in front of her get ignored. On January 2nd I was going into my laundry room to get some clean clothes and got my feet tangled in some dirty clothes someone left on the floor. I fell forward and hit the outside of my left thigh on a bucket in the room. I got a bruise as big as my hand. I have never had that big a bruise and boy did it hurt. I figured though that I had my one big fall for the year and I was done. Yeah right...
On Saturday the 12th I took my little ones over to a friend's house to stay till my mom could pick them up. Every year DH and I go to the company party and this year it wasn't till January so I needed to get going. Her driveway (like just about every other dirt driveway in New Hampshire) had ice on it. I was very careful coming in and was going to leave via the front door (which came out closer to the van). We chatted for a few minutes when I got there and then I was headed on my way. Instead of going out the front door, I went down off the deck, cell phone in hand and brain out to lunch. I bet I don't really need to go into what happened next. Suffice it to say that I got the left hip, shoulder and palm on that fall.