When Stormtroopers get uppity...

We call out the Men In Blue...

If only I'd known...

That Amazon.com was selling babies...I wouldn't have gone through all of those infertility treatments all those years ago!

And the good news of the day is...

Following the harrowing ordeal of stolen passports, missed flights and the replacement of said passports and the hassle of rescheduling flights...Kokoo* One is in the air.

On their way to the airport in Nairobi yesterday evening, the bag containing all five passports for my sister's family was snatched out of the open van window. Apparently my 15-year-old nephew had to be pulled back in since he was on his way out the window after the assailant. A very good lesson in 3rd-World Survival: passports/possessions can be replaced (and they were), lives cannot.


*the grandkids call my parents Kokoo (Grandmother in Maa) and Babu (Grandfather in Swahili)

Still breathing...

How about just a recap of the week...

Sean rolled out of here at 4:30 in the am last Sunday...he won't be rolling back until the end of August (yes, I said August!). He hadn't even been gone 12 hours and I had to call poison control because Kyleigh decided to gulp down a bottle of lotion (non-toxic, just viscous and causing her to gag). Then, of course, I had to deal with the 25 pound, red-headed ball of fury she morphed into once she realized that her daddy was not there to respond to her loud beckoning.

Our county offers a wide variety of cheap summer programs for the kids. Jacob is enrolled in a two week long preschool Nature Camp from 9 to 12. He's been having a blast! Learning new games, making new friends and coming home with the coolest little crafts. Friday they went on a hike through the woods. And now he wants to go on more hikes and that just makes my heart go all mushy.

The paper chain Jacob and I made to help him count down the days to his cousin's return (they've been in Tanzania and Kenya for the past five weeks) and Kokoo's arrival is getting shorter! Three links left. I don't know who is more excited--him or me. We'll drive out to my sister's Tuesday evening and pick my mom up when they all get in. I might let everyone rest a couple of days before calling for reinforcements!

I am eternally grateful for an amazing and wonderful babysitter who was able to spend the night last night and be here for my children when they woke up since I had to be out of the house by 6! The 2nd Annual Splash, Pedal and Dash youth triathlon was today and we had 104 kids--ages 5-15--participate! It was an amazing but hot day! Everyone did fantastic--there are some crazy fast kids out there! I'm also grateful to work for a boss who'll instruct me to take cash out of the cash box to help pay for my wonderful babysitter.

Finally--when I got home I was greeted at the door by a very snotty, teary-eyed 21-month-old. A sick little girl. Apparently Someone doesn't think I've been stretched enough.

I admire a woman who has her priorities in the correct order...

It is so not *just* a t-shirt!

So, even though my Favorite T-Shirt Ever is a number of years old, the company is still making it. Yea! But they're out of stock in my size. Boo.

They have a very friendly "contact us" page which I utilized.

My first attempt was deleted...it went something along the lines of...Dear Shirt People, this is my Most Favorite T-Shirt ever and, well, life is really sucky right now with a lot of stuff going on and losing this shirt has been like the proverbial final straw and I think that maybe, just maybe if I can control one thing like replacing my Most Favorite T-Shirt Ever then maybe it'll give me the boost I need to back up and regroup and handle all of this other crap Life just tossed my way.

I opted instead to simply request an email notification when they got mediums back in stock. Then again, I might have received a free one just out of sympathy with the first one!

And the winner is...

GERD...Gastroesophageal reflux disease...and aren't we having fun now. It's actually a rather severe case (of course it is), previously undiagnosed because I really wasn't presenting the usual symptoms. A non-obese 37-year-old female goes to the doctor with panic attack like symptoms--chest pain, shortness of breath and occasional wheezing. And this has been going on for over a year. What would you think? I am now fully armed with medications to repair my esophagus and stomach ulcar as well as tame the beasty within. I'm also digging for alternative medications--open for any and all suggestions.

So...today I have been cut off of my entire essential diet: coffee, chocolate, garlic, onions, tomatoes and milk. And my most favorite t-shirt ever has a stain. In the inmortal words of Alexander this has been a Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day.

Comic relief...always welcome

Everything has rules...

And apparently certain facts are not to be divulged...

See? I can learn. I can take instruction. Now if I can only learn how to feed my children something other than grilled cheese and raman while my Baby's Daddy is gone for the next six weeks...


Edited to add...
Yes, I removed the previous post--sorry. But when Sean read it he sort of made that snorting pepsi out of his nose sound that usually means he can't believe what his loving wife just posted on the big ol' public internet. And even though I found his reaction hilarious there was no good way to reword stuff so I took it down. For those of you that made the effort to comment--thank you! I appreciate each and every word of support I recieve. Just didn't want you to think I completly dismissed what was said. And I'm determined to not sit on here and whine for the next month and a half. Honest.

Lovin' summer...

Not exactly talking politics...

Found this somewhere...and may I say that I'm just so surprised at the results {dripping with sarcasm}...go ahead and play...it's fun!

My Political Views
I am a center-right social libertarian
Right: 1.15, Libertarian: 4.31

Political Spectrum Quiz

A brand spankin' new Household Rule...

Cover of Robin Hood (Most Wanted Edition)

This was actually implemented last week after both--both--of my children had the audacity to shush me from singing along with Robin Hood...

Household Rule #8
If you are to subject us to Disney movies--the same Disney movie--over and over and o-v-e-r, then Mommy gets to sing.

So it is said. So shall it be.

And I really thought the girl would be on my side. But, no. Kyleigh reached up and over and actually put her hand over my mouth. *sigh*

It's like I'm stuck in a really bad Good news/bad news joke...

Bad news...your husband does, indeed, have a debilitating, life altering and incurable disease which he will be on Kick Him in the Booty medication for the rest of his life so he may remain employed and upright...

Good news...we realized after going back over the paperwork and redoing physicals that it's our bad and so we'll go ahead and send him a fairly large check every month for the inconvenience of being a disabled veteran...

Good news... you, on the other hand, are actually quite healthy....

Bad news...even with all of the lengthy, sometimes painful and expensive tests we've performed on you over the past couple of weeks, we still can't figure out what's wrong with you...

Bad news... your husband is leaving on Sunday for a six week long school--disrupting the delicate status quo of the household...

Good news...meh...I'm still working on that one...I'll get back to you when I figure out the punch line...

We're always open to new theories...

One of these things is not like the other...

Take a moment...it'll come to you...


Once you've figured out that these are the exact same tools just different colors, will you then explain to me why I/we all should not be offended. Please?



*It occurred to me that I should explain, exactly, why it is that I am offended in the first place.

What bothers me is the perpetuation of gender bias and stereotypes...crap I've fought against my entire life...
I grew up a preacher's daughter--woman hold your tongue.
Enlisted in the Navy with a very non-female job and it was an uphill battle.
I ride a motorcycle yet every time I go to get parts they always talk to my husband first.
I garden AND I do yard work. Just like my husband cooks, cleans AND changes diapers.

I just found the labels sad in a very pathetic way. Oddly enough, it wouldn't have bothered me at all if they'd labeled them the same and just offered different colors. If I took my kids in and told them they could choose whichever one, odds are pretty good that my son would choose the pink set and I'd let him. Because I'll be damned if my children grow up with any misconception that they can't do something or have something based solely on their plumbing.

As I sit here ever so humbly grateful, this is what's going through my head...

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

~Thom­as O. Chis­holm, 1923

233 years ago...

A smallish group of usurpers and terrorist got together and threw off the oppressive shackles of Tyranny by writing down some thoughts and signing at the bottom*. They thought they'd give Democracy a go.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

Even though by "all men" those men meant all men such as themselves, we're still here and working through all of that. One day the world will see that all mankind is, indeed, created equal.

While most of us are enjoying a day off please take a moment to remember that war is splattered all over the news and regardless of whether they are right or wrong, they are simply a people fighting to be free.

Sound familiar?



*July 2th, 1776 Congress voted to declare the 13 United States of America independent from Great Britain. On the 4th they voted to adopt the Declaration of Independence as a statement proclaiming such.

This is about right...

Not sure I want to see the Super Hero suit I come with...

Armed with nothing more than a diaper bag, a baggie of whole grain saltine crackers, two sippy cups of water, a magnadoodle and a Lego space ship I managed to herd both of my children into the doctor's office for Jacob's 4 year well visit. All by myself. And survived. And brought them both home with me. And didn't forget the Lego space ship. And, yes, my son is brillient and amazing. And quite healthy.

We had the option of no vaccines for this year and just load up next year on the four that are required prior to starting school, or we could split them up two this year and two next year. Jacob choose to go ahead and get two over with--though I'm not exactly sure he knew what we were asking him. But he did know he was getting a lollipop afterward.

On the car ride home he informed me that he would not be getting any more shots. Ever. I explained that the shots were necessary*, that they prevented him from getting really sick. Also reminded him that we were all going to need to get more shots before we went to Africa to visit Kokoo and Babu. Just like his cousins just had to do.

"Well, Mommy," he says in his very serious voice, "Since I already decided I'm not getting any more shots I'll just wait until Kokoo comes home and then visit her at her house here."

Now how am I supposed to argue with a 4-year-old who is already outsmarting me?



*spare me your "vaccines are bad" arguments...I've heard them all. I firmly believe that the odds of supposed life altering side effects of vaccines are nothing compared to the very real odds of death without vaccines.