Bubble gum trees

Emma has dubbed these the "bubble gum trees." I love the name.

Walking on a brisk spring day to see the bubble gum trees.

Oh, the drama!

"Adana?" I call, realizing that I haven't heard or seen her in the last 2 minutes. Not a good thing.

"Adana!?" I check the front door to make sure it's still locked, then run to the back of the house to see if she's slipped out the dog door. She's not in the backyard.

"ADANA!" Feeling annoyed, with a twinge of concern, I send all the kids running in different directions to locate her. It's now been 2 1/2 minutes since I've seen or heard her. Definitely NOT a good thing.

"ADAAANAAA!!" I really hate screaming through the house, but she has been missing for 3 full minutes. With Adana, that's plenty of time to paint the walls with fingernail polish or eat some fertilizer. (Been there, done that to both of those).

Then, I hear a small rustling sound behind the chair in the family room.

The little sneak had snagged a box of cereal and was hiding out with her stash. She knows she's (1) not supposed to be breaking into the pantry and (2) not supposed to be eating in the family room. Can't you see the guilt written across her face? (Yeah, right.)

This is what happened when I took her contraband cereal away. Mean mom!

**UPDATE**

This is what I found a few hours later. Good to know that she really learned her lesson.

Fashionista!?

Emma: Mom, do you know what a FASHIONISTA is?
Me: Ummm . . . I think so. (Not really, but I wasn't about to admit that to her.)
Emma: Well, I AM one. So I need to start carrying accessories. All FASHIONISTAS carry accessories.

._._._._._._._._._._.

Okaaaaaay . . . Can someone please translate the above conversation for me.

Be honest - it means I can probably kiss my zero-balance credit cards good-bye, right?

And for goodness sake, don't tell them that we count watching American Idol as our music class!

(Thanks, mom, for sending this. Been there, done that, eh?) :-)

"OK, they're so NOT going to be famous!"

~Emma, watching an intro to the Beatles on American Idol.

Yeah, my kids are so hip.

One of Adana's favorite cartoons is Max & Ruby. It's about a stubborn, monosyllabic toddler bunny and his ever-so-gentle, patient and resourceful older sister bunny.

The Nick Jr. website has this to say about the series:

Max & Ruby . . . offers an empowering message for children by showing Max and Ruby playing together and resolving their differences in ways that are respectful and supportive.

Yeah, right. Actually, I think the truth is that this show is meant to make parents feel like crap. We are worthless, grumpy beasts who obviously can't deal with our own kids as well as a 7-year old bunny can.

Case in point:

In one of today's episodes, Ruby (the big sister) wanted to catch the bus to go visit her friend. As soon as they got out to the curb to wait for the bus, Max demanded that she go back inside to get a toy.

Lesson #1 - when your toddler yells "Fire Truck," the correct response is to sweetly say, "OK, I'll go get your fire truck." Then, when this causes you to miss your bus, you must respond (still with absolute sweetness), "Oh dear. Now we'll have to wait for the next one."

Reality #1 - when your toddler yells "Fire Truck," you say, "Yep, you forgot your fire truck. Here's a rock you can play with."

In the course of the episode, Max & Ruby ended up missing 5 or 6 buses, all due to Max demanding a toy and Ruby calmly obliging. Ultimately, they end up missing the last bus of the day, which means that Ruby will not get to go visit her friend after all. She merely sighs and accepts the disapointment, while Max smirks and exclaims, "Stay home!"

Lesson #2 - no matter how inconvenienced you are, you should always maintain a perfectly peaceful and tender demeanor.

Reality #2 - kids can be a huge inconvenience - that's what Time Out and spankings are for (oh yeah - I went there. I said the "s" word.)

I think it's about time to introduce Adana to Spongebob.

A few belated updates

Most of you know that I am NOT a night person, not by a long shot. My idea of staying up late is watching the 10pm rerun of Seinfeld, and I'm usually falling asleep before it's over. So, this is a long explanation for why most of my blog posts will not be very timely. I will rarely stay up late at night, just to post about something that happened during the day. I'm too tired; I'll post about it when I get around to it (i.e. when Adana is napping and the kids are done with their schoolwork). I will, however, put off cleaning the house or making dinner in order to post to my blog. C'mon, I have my priorities.

So . . . here are a few things that have recently occured in the Russell household:

Sunday evening, Jared participated with the Bainbridge Island Youth Orchestra in a recital at the library. They did a great job! I wasn't able to get a very good picture, and I think that I chose a poor spot in the music to try recording them. But hey, I usually forget to even bring the camera to these sorts of things, so I'm just pleased that I've actually got something to post here.

Monday was St. Patrick's Day. I made the kids Green Eggs & Ham for breakfast (well, turkey bacon. Close enough, right?).

Thanks, Sloan, for the great idea. Since they celebrate everything a day ahead of us in Japan, I get to copy all of her great suggestions. The big debate around our house was proper St. Patrick's Day protocol. In other words, what legally constitutes "wearing green?"

Jared very carefully selected clothes that did not have a spot of green on them, then put a small green ponytail in his hair. He loved fooling people into pinching him, then revealing his bit 'o green and pinching them back. I'm afraid it's his Grandpa Guisinger's genes coming through.

We also had a raging debate over the definition of the word "wear." Does the green actually have to be part of your clothing? Is it enough to just be touching something green? Does it have to be showing, or does green on your underwear count? How 'bout if you have a piece of lettuce stuck to the bottom of your shirt? (that was Emma's idea)

Sigh. I'm just glad this only comes once a year. And people wonder why I'm not big into holidays. :-)

Monday was also the 1 year anniversary of the great adventure known as "Russell Family Home Ownership." Yes, we've been in our house exactly one year. Woo Hoo! One year of paying interest on a loan with little else to show for it (except a great landscaping job done by Nathan! Good job, honey!)

We have a tradition, born primarily out of necessity, of eating pizza on the first night in a new house. So, to celebrate our 1 year anniversary, I picked up pizza from the new Modern Pie joint on the island. Pretty tasty! We got the Margherita (raw tomato sauce, fontina, fresh mozzarella, and fresh basil) and the Funghi (Braised Seasonal Mushrooms, Laura Chenel Goat Cheese, Torn Arugula). Sure beats greasy pepperoni. Just don't ask how much it cost. Ouch.

Camping, Russell style

Now that Jared is officially a Boy Scout, he has to start doing the whole camping thing. Nathan & I used to really enjoy camping - until we had kids. Then it somehow lost it's appeal. Keeping the kids out of the dirt (impossible), trying to get excited kids to sleep in a tent (HA!), freezing your butt off when a kid has to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night . . . No thanks. Give me a nice Best Western with an indoor pool, fresh towels every morning, and a complementary breakfast buffet in the lobby.

But, as I was saying, Jared wants to get his Eagle. And that means campouts. Luckily, this will be primarily Nathan's responsibility. They don't really invite the moms to come along.

Nathan & Jared went on their first Boy Scout campout last fall. They went to Fort Flagler State Park, right on the Puget Sound. They had a good time, but rather than pitch a tent and sleep in the cold drizzle, they decided to sleep in the back of Nathan's truck, which had a shell. Nice and dry and quiet.

But one of the requirements for earning the rank of Tenderfoot is to "sleep in a tent which you've helped pitch." Throwing a sleeping bag in the back of a truck just doesn't count. So . . . . (to cut this long story short), Jared helped pitch the tent in our living room this evening. And he will earn his Tenderfoot at the Court of Honor on Thursday.

Reality check

We've had my bro-in-law, Branden, staying with us for the last few days. Thirty, single, and bored. out. of. his. mind. He's tried to keep a positive attitude, but I really feel for the poor guy.

Here's a typical day around here: everyone is up and moving by 7:30 a.m. Most of the morning is spent in a state of barely-contained chaos. Emma is starving for breakfast, Jared needs help with math, Micah can't find his science book, Adana spills her cereal on the floor, Jared has another math question, Emma want to know how to spell "ballerina," Adana has taken off her diaper (somewhere), Micah can't find the Lysol to clean the bathroom . . . And that's before 8:00 a.m.

Nathan, of course, is at work all day. So poor Branden has been stuck on the domestic front. I worry that this may scare him from ever marrying or having kids.

I usually have very few complaints about my life. I've got a great husband - supportive and generally sympathetic to my particular trials. As far as kids go, I think I lucked out. They're pretty darn good kids.

But some days, I feel like complaining a bit. Especially when I'm seeing my life from the perspective of someone who doesn't spend the bulk of his day wiping snot/poop/milk/mud from various places.

Just a few complaints, like why do we have white carpet with 4 kids?

Or at what point do I get to take a shower without someone ending up in tears?

Or how is it possible for these kids to be so bored all the time when our house is overflowing with toys?

However, if I really stop and think about it, I wouldn't trade my snot-wiping, toy-picking-up, cries-soothing days for anything. Especially not the dating scene. I suppose it's all a matter of perspective.

But I would like some new carpet.

I might actually watch local news for stuff like this. . .

I haven't researched this to see if it's for real or not. I sure hope it is, because I laughed out loud watching it. One (of MANY) things that I hate about TV news is how grotesquely fake the whole thing is. Reporters and anchor-people can talk about the fluctuation of the stock market, the rape of a child, the dozens killed by a suicide bomber, and the results of the high school football game - all in the same voice, no emotion. It gives the twisted impression that all the stuff they report on in any given 1/2 hour news program is of equal importance.

Anyways, these guys are hilarious. It may not have been the most important news story of the day, but at least the anchorman tried to give the woman a fair shot at telling her part.

Too Old For a Nap!

Emma has been asserting for over a year now that she is TOO OLD TO TAKE NAPS! "No one else in Kindergarten takes a nap," she moans.

After lengthy haggling and negotiating, something akin to what you would find in the halls of the UN, we finally came to an agreement. She only has to take a nap on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Once she turns 6, the Tuesday/Thursday naps come up for review and may/may not be discontinued. (Sunday naps are a requirement for living in our house and will NEVER be optional. That rule applies to all ages in the home.) :-)

So, today is Wednesday. A non-nap day. And here is my I'm-not-tired soon-to-be 6-year old.

Why is it so hard to admit when mom is right?

What do Dora, Veggie Tales, Big Bird and a phone list have in common?

Apparently, they are all quite tasty.
(click on the picture to see the CRUNCH marks up close)

Adana is obsessed with eating paper. She eats books, kleenex, and grocery receipts. I swear that I feed the child, but she just can't control herself when there is a yummy sheet of wood pulp nearby. Could it be a fiber deficiency? Or boredom? She's starting to remind me of a cross between Cookie Monster and the youngest Baudelaire child.

Never a dull (peaceful?) moment

This is what happens when I try to take just a couple minutes to check my email. She's always silent as a stone while perpetrating the crime. My first clue that something was amiss was a sweet little voice singing, "Clean up, clean up, everybody, everywhere," followed by peels of laughter.

So, if you have emailed me recently and haven't had a response, you can understand why. I don't dare turn my back for a minute. I'll get back to you in June . . . 2024 . . . when she's graduated and gone off to college.

Homeschoolers under attack (again)

I just discovered this article and I am annoyed. I'm annoyed with judges who insist on legislating. I'm annoyed with a national education system which is more interested in furthering its own agendas than in the well-being of individual children. And I'm annoyed in a culture that is constantly degrading the role of parents and the value of family life.

I'm not going to rewrite what the article states. If you're interested in the topic, you'll read it. If this doesn't interest you, then just dismiss it as one more soap box that I won't get off of.

But regardless of how you feel about homeschooling, isn't this scary to you!? (Hmmm . . . I guess you will have to actually read the article to answer that question. Go on. Read it.)

I completely agree with what this woman says about the situation:

The appellate court has no right to say that there is no guarantee in the Constitution that allows parents to homeschool; they ought to be ashamed of themselves. The government doesn't give us rights, God does, and herein lies the problem with liberalism; it's all about the government seizing your rights and doling them back to you, hacked and incomplete.

I've heard all the arguments against homeschooling. Yes, there are some irresponsible, occassionally even abusive, parents out there who are not doing what is best for their children. But for EVERY story that I see about a bad homeschooling situation, I can point to many more outrageous situations in the public school system. Fights in the hallways, rapes on the school bus, sex on the playground, teachers abusing their students, low academic standards . . . Heck, I could list similar stories happening in churches and day cares across the country as well. Where are the judges ruling that church attendance or day cares are illegal?

Sigh. I'm not an activist. I just want to mind my own business and raise my children the best that I am able. Is that so wrong?

If you are interested in helping secure the rights of homeschoolers, please consider signing this petition.

There's an ALLIGATOR at the mall!

The boys were at Camp Seymour today, so the girls and I ran errands in Silverdale. We ended up at the mall Food Court for lunch. While we were sitting there, Adana suddenly screamed, "AGATR!" (alligator!)

She was quite excited and absolutely convinced that there was an alligator nearby. I chuckled, but went on with lunch.

A few minutes later, "LOOK! AGATR!" She shouts "Look!" whenever she wants to get someone's attention. I think it's because we're constantly saying things like "Look! A birdy" or "Look! Airplane!" It always cracks me up when kids start talking babyish to adults, the same way we talk to them.

She was now standing up on her chair, wide-eyed and anxious to find the wild alligator across the room. I could faintly hear the low rumbling of a truck engine outside, so I think that's what she was hearing.

This went on through the whole lunch. "LOOK! MOM! AGATR!! SWIMMING! AGATR WATER!!"

When we got up to leave, she looked everywhere for the growling alligator and was very disappointed when we never found it.

It wasn't until hours later that I finally figured out what the heck she thought she was hearing. In December, we went to Southcenter Mall, where they have a Rain Forest Cafe. Outside the restaurant, in the middle of the mall, is a huge mechanical alligator in a pool of water. It would slowly open it's mouth, growl a bit, then close it and duck back down into the water. We stood and watched it for a few minutes, tried to throw some coins into it's mouth, then we moved on into the mall. The growl of that fake alligator sounded very similar to the rumbling truck outside. So now, Adana is convinced that there are alligators living in shopping malls.

Maybe I should encourage this idea. It might make her afraid of malls and save us some money when she's a teenager.

Test

Sorry, but I don't know how else to go about doing this. I'm trying out Google Reader (yes, I'm slow and I've only just discovered it. Better late than never, right?). But I have a few questions, so I'm testing some things out just to see what happens. Ignore this. Go about your business. Hopefully I'll have something interesting to post soon.

Hmmm . . . this isn't doing what I thought it would. Still testing . . .

This is going to take me a while to figure out because Google Reader seems to be s....l.....o.....w. I thought technology was supposed to move SuperFast. Anyways, continue to ignore this. I'm still testing . . .

What'd you do today?

We spent the afternoon at the park.

Emma on Frog Rock.
Micah digging.

Have I ever mentioned that there is nothing better than a sunny Seattle day? Life has been a bit crazy around here lately. (My mom called to check in on me because some of my previous blog posts had her worried. She keeps repeating, "They're Coming To Take Me Away . . .")

Thanks Mom, but all is well here. As long as the sun keeps shining, at least.

Oops . . .

. . . (bowing head in chagrin) . . . March 4th was also my sister's 24th birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SHERI!!!

and my grandma's 80th birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!!!

(I still think a Grammarpalooza Extravaganza sounds funner than a plain 'ol birthday party. Especially if you just plan on playing Rummicube at said bday party.) :-P

(Is it just me, or do these colors set on the green background hurt your eyes?)

(How many parenthetical additions can one add to the end of a blog before you are forced to scream "Enough!")

National Grammar Day

AGH! I'm so disappointed. There are only 2 more hours remaining in March 4th, and I've only just discovered that it is National Grammar Day. For years, I have had a closet grammar obsession. Whenever I have a free moment, I like to go to the library and surround myself with a huge pile of grammar books. I subscribe to various grammar-focused blogs and podcasts. It's sick, really. But reading about the rules regarding when and when not to use a comma excites me. And don't get me started on the semi-colon!

So, until next year (when I am already planning a National Grammar Day extravaganza that will rock this town!), have a very happy National Grammar Day!

Do you think Hallmark publishes cards for this? Well, they should.

Persepolis

Friday night, I went to a movie with a friend. We saw Persepolis. Loved it! I've been intending all weekend to blog about my thoughts and reactions to this great movie, but it's just not going to happen. Still, I wanted to put it out there as a strong recommendation. If the stars align and I actually get more than a few seconds to sit at the computer, I'll share more about what I thought of it.