McAllen Texas is the most expensive town in the most expensive country in the world

“The greatest threat to America’s fiscal health is not Social Security,” President Barack Obama said in a March speech at the White House. “It’s not the investments that we’ve made to rescue our economy during this crisis. By a wide margin, the biggest threat to our nation’s balance sheet is the skyrocketing cost of health care. It’s not even close.” Check out The Cost Conundrum

Born Again

On the way home from school, G mumbles something about not being able to remember. So naturally I ask him what he can't remember. "Being born," he says. 

"Hm. Neither do I," I think silently. But I'm not sure I ever really tried. 

"Do you remember anything about being born?" I ask. Not sure where this is going.

"No," he replies. Then, "I remember it was like waking up into a dream. Like I woke up but I was in a dream but I knew it wasn't a dream because I tried to look inside a plant but I couldn't see inside the plant so I knew it wasn't a dream."

I remember my parents saying that I said weird stuff as a kid. Once, I freaked out my mom so bad that she wouldn't put me to bed alone. She left me alone in the dark, went and got my dad, and they put me to bed together that night. 

So just to clarify, I asked, "So you remember that being born felt like you were waking up, but going into a dream."

"Yeah!" he said, like I had just hit it right on the nose.

So now I'm thinking about that movie with Nicole Kidman, I think called the Others, where the (spoiler alert) people think there are ghosts in the house but really they are the ghosts. If my son is really insightful, or has this past life memory like

 I did at his age, then does that mean that when we die it will be like waking up? Not that I'm looking forward to the day, but somehow that makes it kind of bearable to imagine. When I'm 110 years old maybe.

And on a lighter note, here is a fabulously precious photo of my lovelies riding a pretend horse.

  

Easter Pics

There are too many precious Easter pics to count from Aunt Bec, but here are a few of my faves. 

More Kid Stories

I think my favorite thing E does right now is looking for monkeys completely at random. It's a very quiet kind of looking. In the middle of dinner or walking through the halls at school, she suddenly whips her head around, looks to the side and in a harsh whisper says, "Muuuuukeys..." So I ask, also in a whisper (she's very convincing) "Where are the monkeys?"
She responds with shrugging hands and wide, concerned eyes and another whisper "I no know. Where muuuukeys?"
And then we're finished. There's no all clear, no resolution. We just move on to the next adventure.

G and I were playing rhyming on the way home from school yesterday. He's getting very good and also very creative and sometimes loses his train of thought. Say... way... hay... "Oh, hey! That means when somebody takes your toy and you don't want them to."

In my backyard, there is a porch. And over the porch is a lattice that makes shade. And hanging from a wood beam that holds up the lattice is a popcicle stick, which is attached using a long piece of tape. And hanging from the popcicle stick is another long piece of tape that dangles in the breeze. It is a windchime.

Zoo Camping

We camped at the zoo last weekend and went on a night time tour. I must have dozed off at some point because I woke up to the sound of howling monkeys. 

Deborah Conrad

This is very sad news. Deborah was a powerful force. You could grow stronger by standing next to her. Taking her yoga classes was downright inspirational. She lived and died with conviction. Her husband summed it up best in her obituary.

Hot dog night

E figured out how to use a fork. It's the little things.

I dunno why. This kid just cracks me up. 

Zoo Pics

Last week, E would not sleep. She wouldn't nap. She would wake up in the middle of the night screaming. She's request milkies only minutes after finishing her milkies. And it wasn't any better when awake. She whined all last week. She whined when held, louder when put down. She whined because she wanted something, or she didn't want something, or she just took something from her brother and wanted to start a fight.

Then one night, she was playing in the cupboards while I made dinner. She pulls a Tupperware lid from the cabinet, looks at me, and says, "circle." Aha! It was a learning spurt! Pete and I have noticed that kids have learning spurts the way they have those super fast growth spurts.

Now that she has come out the other side of it, this weekend has been so much fun. She has grown into a toddler all of a sudden, with even more tricks and dances and cunning smiles than ever before. So here are a few pics from our morning at the zoo today. I guess you can't see how grown up she's getting here, but the cute factor is still quite high. 

We named this goat Gregory, as in the children's book, "Gregory the Terrible Eater." G had to relinquish his scarf to Daddy when ol' Gregory just wouldn't leave it alone. I can't blame the poor guy. It probably tasted like peanut butter. 
This is a nice photo. It shows how I saved the day by packing a nutritious picnic lunch. You can also notice how my boys like to dress alike. And how my son is growing up too. He is entering the stage where he invents a brand new horrible face for every photograph.  
Oh that's better. He was trying to make a horrible face but his dad is so funny. And the person behind me was dressed like a chicken. 
No, not really, but a chicken on a train would have been funny. 
One last pic of the goats. E is grooming this one. He was waiting by the food. Very patiently. He didn't move at all for a good 5 minutes. He must have been feeling a little annoyed that we didn't bring any quarters for the goat snack machine. I like that. A vending machine where you pay to buy food for someone else. 

More cute kid photos

It just doesn't get much cuter than pink high tops and pigtails. This is the backside of a very patient child waiting to go pet some goats at the zoo. (See next post) 

I hereby put down my sword of "no TV in my house!" and swear fealty to the almighty Wii.

This was an educational experience. I was teaching G about the Midnight Snack. A lesson only second in importance to that of Road Food. 

I assume you know of the Midnight Snack or can at least guess what it is by its obvious name. Just in case you haven't attended G-Bub's Most Important Lessons in Life training, Road Food is any kind of junk food that is packaged in such a way that you can eat some on the way home without anyone being the wiser. (i.e. 14 doughnuts-1=baker's dozen). 

Note: It is NOT Road Food if you eat the whole thing and throw the box in the neighbor's trash can (i.e. Thin Mints). 

Interim cuteness

So many things to share... So time for bed again...

Here's some cuteness to tide you over for now. 

xoxo

Evening Relaxation

Bathtime is such a relaxing time of evening. It really lets the kids unwind and get settled down for a good night's rest. Take a look at one of our most soothing family rituals.

Well, hail

This crazy hill country weather. I thought the coast had extreme weather, but this is really something else. It was 85 degrees yesterday. At 9:30 last night, it hailed. Not itty bitty hail either. I mean, we're not talking ping pong size or anything, but it was way bigger than Sonic ice. Our house pops and creaks pretty loud under normal circumstances, but it was popping and cracking and pinging all over the place. I thought it was about to crack in two. Then Peter thought an airplane had exploded and shrapnel was falling down on our roof. So naturally we checked on the kids. I asked G if he was asleep. He didn't answer. So I told Peter, "he's asleep. Should we wake him up?" And then I asked G again a little louder if he was asleep. He told me, "I was." We're always complaining about how they never go to bed before 10 anymore, and here we are waking him up to eat ice that bounced around in dirt. Well, he didn't eat the ice, but he thought it was pretty cool when I did.

"Look Mommy!" moment #1

My son and I were walking through Target, picking up some workout clothes for me in hopes that having new clothes would somehow inspire me to do something as boring and painful and jogging since apparently nobody dances on the weekends here. We had just finished in the workout section and were heading over to fulfill my bribe in the toy section (he chose PlayDoh over Bakugan. Pretty cool) when this family walks past. They're from somewhere in the Middle East I guess--if I were as well traveled as I'd like to be, I might know where--and the dad has this big white turban on his head with a loooong grey and white beard streaming down his chin and neck. His wife is in a sari and their little child wore American clothes. G points directly at them and shouts, "LOOK MOMMY!" There was no ignoring him. We were all of 15 feet from them. They smile and wave. In horror, I smile and wave back. Then G continues, "He is from a STORY! It came TRUE! Mommy it's TRUE. The story is TRUE!" Before I could think, I asked, "Which story?" And then thought, oh no, he's going to say Aladdin. But no. "Mommy, he's a REAL SHEPHERD! Like from the BIBLE! Didn't you SEE him? Wow..." And then a little sigh, "hmmm." He was so very pleased.

41 Inches

No, Pete, this isn't about the size of your bugga. THIS is about go karts. G played hookie today. Check us out. 

Hey handsome

Xmas Decorating

G's Spanish Lesson

This afternoon at the park, G was playing with a kid his age that didn't speak English. The kid's mom and I were visiting to the side of the giant sandbox they were in, and she was holding a baby. Here's the boys' exchange:

"Is that your sister?"

"My seester."

"Oh, what's her name?"

"My seester."

"Yeah, your sister, what's her name?"

"My seester."

"What is your sister's name???"

"Whachoosay?"

"Oh, Choosay. Okay."

 

My new fight

For years, I've actively avoided getting a cell phone that does anything beyond make phone calls, wake me up in the morning and keep my calendar straight. That seemed like a lot of stuff for a phone to do. I've resisted having a tiny device that allows me to send emails to my boss while taking my morning poo. It was a moral issue. I haven't wanted to become one of them at lunch or the doc's office or my kids' holiday play. 

I got my first Blackberry on Friday. There wasn't a choice this time. When I picked it up, the IT guy said, "Here's your phone. Oh look, you have 5 emails. Better catch up."  But I had just left my desk two minutes before. This can't be true. 

So I guess now I can see how they become them. It's right there blinking at you and making funny noises and how can you not check it? 

I'm gonna find out. I'm not giving up. I will NOT become one of them.

... ok, admittedly i have no idea how to use the thing and therefore can't post this or anything else from the toilet...

Christmas Shopping Part 1

I was searching around on the web for the perfect gifts for my children and got a little distracted. Now I want one of these:

New Home

We're having fun in our new home. 

A Potty Story

Not so very long ago, it was bath time. The kids were already jaybirds and the bath was filling. G had just finished going potty and E was very curious, so I put her on the potty next. 

G just laughed and laughed and when he caught his breath he told me, "Mommy, she can't go pee pee on the potty!" 

"Why?" I asked. 

I was expecting some comment about how she's too little or doesn't know how yet, but no...

"Because SHE only has a BUTT!"

So we all laughed hysterically for our own reasons.

Zzzzzzzz

For the second night in a row I found myself passed out, my top half flung across a mattress on the floor with one slobbery boob hanging out. My bottom half was strewn across the carpet and folded under the frame of another bed. I thought to myself, "Wow, you can get like this without being drunk." 

Then I pondered why baby snores are cute and grownup snores are not. 

I don't prefer Japanese food

We sat down to dinner last night for homemade chicken teriyaki with rice and vegetables. G commented that edamame is Japanese food. Then, "I don't prefer Japanese food."

So I asked, "What kind of food do you prefer?"

He responded, "I like beans and toast and that kind of thing."

P.S. I survived my first day at my new job, though they sent me home early for looking sick. Tomorrow is a holiday. So far my schedule is juuuuust riiiiiight. 

Home Again

Hooray! We did it! We relocated far from Apocalypse Island. I start my new job on Monday. The kids are already loving their new school (though G has not chosen a friend yet, as he is being very cautious about his choice since he knows we won't be picking up and leaving this time). My parents came over today and helped us hang pictures on the walls--the same pictures that we never got around to hanging in our last house, so this really is feeling like home. What a blessing it is to have a home. Turns out being a wanderer isn't nearly as much fun as I thought it would be... you know, back when I thought about being a wanderer. 

Evacuation Vacation Photos

The kids and I took a picnic to the park when P had to head south for work for a couple of days. 

In this first one, E is doing her silly posture, poking out her head and pulling back her elbows. When she does it standing up, she looks something more like a rooster and then adds a little stomp and wobble for good measure. 
There's no way to stay out of trouble when  you look this cute when you're angry. 

G took this one of me. We had fun taking pictures of each other and being silly. 
The green stuff is from washable markers. He likes to give himself stripes from time to time. It always freaks his teachers out when he does it at school. That's fun for all of us, especially when I act like it's the first time. 

Check out #6 in the yellow shirt. The nature center had a butterfly parade where anyone could participate. The lead butterfly was this older guy who had a long cape of butterfly fabric and had all the children flapping their arms and sniffing flowers and people. 

Who could imagine that these two don't have kids? It takes most parents years of practice to accomplish the sleep-on-the-sly move you see demonstrated here.