Adventure...Orchard Style

After a LONG weekend of not feeling well and holed up in the house mending our health the first opportunity to get outside arrived.  I have been meaning to pick up my camera again so I concocted the plan to have an adventure in our neighborhood orchards.  What I thought would eat up about an hour of time turned into Gilligan three hour tour.  At some point I had to ask myself was this really worth it.  Alas it was, I had a great time and the kids got to see a real jackrabbit. 

Although my kids are like a herd of hybrid Cat Elephants (much meowing and spitting at each other and the tromping of heavy feet through the leaves) the rabbit had no choice but to run for its dear life.  What must it had thought of all the noise in the serene orchard. No matter, the trip was FUN!



Bitsy LaRue's bestie took flight for the higher branches.  It wasn't a pretty sight.  So much taunting from one little ooh ooh.

 

 Laugh it up Ooh Ooh

 The final happy of the day was a ride in one of these bad boys!  Thank you guys for welcoming us into your working home.  The kids and I had a grand time!

Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer. ~ William S. Burroughs

Not just another day....

Amidst the mundane days the jewel waits.  That special moment where it takes my breath away.  The jewel could be anything, a kind word, a hug, walking outside to see the spectacular color of the sky, finding my keys, all the kids getting to school on time and safe or just simply a hot cup of coffee in the morning.  I get excited if my favorite show is not in a rerun.  I am a simple gal, it doesn't take much to bring a smile to my face.  The other day was different.

My Friday was hectic, full of mishaps and a deep need to concentrate on the tasks at hand.  On my way to pick up my little ones I just kept going over and over all the adult pressures in my head.  I was "what if.." to death.  All I could do is growl. Growl loud.

I walk into the door to a chaotic ocean of kids, backpacks, and NOISE.  In the sea of kids I started my terminator scan looking for the signature life forces of my brood.  Their auras are quite lovely by the way.  In mid scan, I hear the voice "MOMMMY! YOU'RE HERE!"  Ahhh a warm welcome, my heart is a bit softer.  He comes running with his arms wide open and a big smile on his face.  So handsome and sweet my son is growing into a lovely person. 

"Mommy, I have something for you.  Close your eyes." 

"What do you have?"

"Mom, just close your eyes, it's a surprise!"

"Ok." So I close my eyes.

"Here Mom, you can open your eyes.  I got you some jewelry"

I open my eyes to the most beautiful piece of jewelry I possess.  I can't think of a prouder mom at that moment.  My boy knows me so very well, and although I know it is one of his favorite characters too, he is an excellent padawan learner.

Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer.
~ William S. Burroughs

THIS IS SPARTA!

This guy is a GENIUS! I laugh out loud with the kids every single video.  This is better than tv and a fun thing to do with the kids. 


Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer. ~ William S. Burroughs

Ninja Cat

This video makes the kids howl with laughter. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.



Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer. ~ William S. Burroughs

The Tale of Bitsy LaRue

The Bits (AKA Frankie Lightfingers or Bitsy LaRue) as she is known is spunky, smiley and more often than not very cuddly.  She is very eager to please, throws a frequent "I Love You Mommy" my way (I am greatly appreciative) and can be VERY bossy.  There is housed in this 37.5 pounds of little girl body the attitude of a 350 pound line backer for the Chicago Bears.  Combined with this attitude is the Mensa genius from MIT who is incredibly sharp witted and knows no fear. 

Imagine playing a chess game for every word you utter to Bitsy LaRue, she retains and hits the save button on every sentence, every eavesdrop from the hallway and frankly just up in my grill for every little thing.  Needless to say, I am on my game for every second of the day, forced to plan my next 15 moves before our next encounter.  Keeps my mind sharp, this is better than crossword puzzles and I see this as a foreshadow of what is to come in the, dare I say, teenage years. 

She is a leader and an architect of trouble, but make no mistake this all part of the myriad of reasons why I love this little girl to my core.  Armed with her monkey in one arm and a twinkle in her eye she is a natural force of nature. 

Her main weapon is flashlights...and monkey! Her two weapons are flashlights, monkey and cute smile. Damn I will try that again, her three weapons are flashlights, monkey, cute smile and her snuggieness. DOH, amongst her weaponry are such diverse things as flashlights, monkey, cute smile, snuggieness, fierce determination and ruthless sense of style. No one expects the arrival of BITSY LARUE!

Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer. ~ William S. Burroughs

A brief moment of weasel speak

Weasel speak: Mom, can I have a snack?

Mommy: No, I am fixing dinner right now.  You will be eating in 15 minutes.

Weasel speak: (groans, head drops back, body slumps.  In an instant body language changes moods) Mom, I know we are going to eat but do you think I could just have two crackers, I have been working very hard at school today and my teacher told me that I should have a snack when I come home because it will make my body strong so I just wanted to ask you if I could just have a very small snack and it won't spoil my dinner because my body has been working very hard and I promise I will eat dinner and Mom what is it your fixing for our dinner? I will eat it no matter what but I just want to know what kind of food it is. (takes a well deserved breathe, displays big doe eyes and cocks head to the side like the RCA bobble head dog)

How did all of that come out of one little brain?  Calculating, logical, working all the angles.  This one will make a FAB lawyer or corporate raider some day.  I am in awe and frankly a little frightened.  Even with all that effort the cash prize of a snack before dinner was not obtained but damn I gotta give my little weasel stylie points for trying.

Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer. ~ William S. Burroughs

Where have you been?

Well on the road to oblivion of course!  Where else would I be?  Maybe Interzone but I have been there once and did not have a great time.  Burroughs totally lied and made it sound grander than it really was.  Plus there were too many bugs.

Anywho, it has been a world wind few weeks.  Totally grateful for the time off but woeful not willing to come back to the chaos.  But alas, here I am, entrenched into another semester of brain dead souls wandering the hallways looking for someone to tell them what to do and then resenting it.  Vicious cycle.  Can't be help I suppose.

The kids and I had a wonderful time, played, slept, watched movies, ate and generally enjoyed each others time together.  For me the best part of the whole time off was getting to work in the classrooms for a whole week.  Man, I have not had that much fun in years!  Those kids have the swankiest cafeteria EVER!  I had to bring lunch money and everything.  They have a salad bar.  Honest to Abe a portable salad bar with a bevy of fresh fruit, veggies, and a little ranch to squeeze on the plate.  All that AND a bag a chips for a $1.75 which I don't think I ever had a hot lunch that good. 

Kids are fun, but really it gave me an appreciation of what their teachers do every day.  It is tough to wrangle 20 eight year old kids and have them focus on the task at hand.  Think about having 20 five year old kids to focus!  Needless to say, I was tired.  Mostly from playing outside on the playground with the kids.  I had a mean game of tag/red rover, red rover going on. Those kids have no mercy on the old.  At least I got my exercise in for the day.  It is good to know I can easily make friends with little kids.  They are sometimes much more fun than adults and generally like my sense of humor.  Where a goof can be a goof and appear to be cool. 

Be back soon for more tales.........

Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer. ~ William S. Burroughs