Fun at our house!

Jackson
When I got home from work today I discovered he was in his room because of a "disagreement" he'd had with Brad as to the exact moment homework was going to start. Both of my children are far to literal. That has been the highlight with him so far. It's now after dinner and he's still in his room though now doing his homework too. He's not at all happy about it, in that poor, poor pitiful me kind of way that only a 9 year old can truly master.

Teddy
is 11. Is there really any more that needs to be said on the topic? Okay, I'll go on, just for the heck of it. It started with him during dinner when he held his cup straight up in the air very defiantly saying "Mo-om" so as to signal me he needed more milk. Both Brad and I were quick to explain to him the error of his ways commenting specifically on the rudeness of such an act. And what did my charming little 11 year old do? Why he argued of course. That wasn't rude. Not at all, as evidenced by the fact that "I even wrote down a list of 20 things that are rude". Why yes you did dear - you wrote those things down because I gave you that assignment when it seemed you were struggling with which kinds of things were rude things - apparently you missed one!!!!

As a side note on that list: I made him come up with that list of things he does that are rude... I'm guessing a year ago maybe a bit more than that - and that is very depressing. But for the sake of my future amusement - I'm going to share what my then 10 year old wrote as 20 things that are rude:
1. samantics 2. rolling eyes 3. not talking 4. not looking 5. attitute 6. yelling 7. tone 9. speaking loudly 10. not being nice 11. saying: I hate you 12. ignoring 13. bothering 14. saying: yo! 15. saying: what! 16. saying: word! 17. making fun of people 18. calling people: peeps! 19. saying: sup! 20. always thinking your the awsomest.

okay - I swear I never saw 11-20 until tonight - though this little list on two tiny pieces of paper has been hanging in my bathroom this whole time. When we had the conversation tonight in the kitchen he said there were 20 and I said I thought there had only been 10. He was right, but this was totally news to me. 20 is such a suck up and such a Teddy thing to do. He gets As in spelling though you'd never know it from this list.

Then I was upstairs monitoring Jackson's homework while Ted was downstairs doing his with Brad when I hear....

Brad: Ted come back here, you can't do that with your foot.
Ted: NOT IF YOU'RE GOING TO THROW STUFF AT ME
(note: Brad would never throw something at Teddy, though perhaps this is a different avenue to explore)
B: There's a proper way to clean this stuff up - not with your foot.
T: NOT IF YOU'RE GOING TO THROW STUFF AND FLING IT AT MY HEAD (a one note wonder - my boy is)
Then there was a little more back and forth; increasingly quiet - they've seemingly worked it out.
T: OH NOW YOU'RE LAUGHING AT ME!!! (a lot of stomping)
B: I thought you were joking
T: SHUT UP!!!!!
B: Teddy come back here
It's a vicious cycle - such fun to be had by all!

Oh and for the comic relief..... That would be Jackson by way of Teddy

T: Mo-om, Jackson has renamed Firefox
Camela: Ok thanks, please do your homework
T: Fine but I think you want to know the new name
(based on Ted's tone I think he's probably right but I still hesitate to reward tattling with my time and energy - but I break down...)
C: okay what is it?
T: nakedwoman
C: (burst out laughing).... uh... okay thanks, I'll take care of it.

A bit later Ted and I head downstairs for computer help from Brad.
C: honey, Ted needs your help getting a connection to the internet and Jackson changed the name of Firefox to nakedwoman
B: (burst out laughing) Then looking at Ted. I guess I'm not supposed to laugh at that am I.
C: (still laughing...) No. No you're not

okay - that's our evening between 6 and 8 tonight. Just another typical evening here.

Camela

Another day... another blizzard

Okay - I'm seriously done with this whole major snow storm thing.

We had a huge snowstorm right before Christmas and even though the storm happened on a Saturday the boys missed the last three days of school before the Christmas break. I really don't even remember how much snow we got in that one, but I remember thinking - wow this is a lot of snow for a MD snowstorm..... uh... yeah, not so much.

Then starting last Friday night and lasting through Saturday it snowed over 30 inches. 30 inches! I don't live in the mountains, or in the mid-west, or any other place where 30 inches of snow doesn't seem like the apocalypse. (In fact people around here are calling it the snowpocalypse or the snownami). As of Tuesday morning our neighborhood had yet to be visited by the county plows. Someone finally got a guy to come in here and help us out. It was absolutely wonderful that we got some help but the problem about him was that it was just a guy with a little pickup truck that has a stationary plow thingy on the front. For a normal MD snowstorm this would be perfect, but for this much snow - uh... this is not a good thing - it's just not nearly powerful enough. He did manage to create a single lane on each road and with cooperation people can get in and out of the neighborhood.

I finally got out and made it to work on Tuesday..... which was just in time for the blizzard. Seriously, are you kidding me? It started snowing on Tuesday afternoon and right now it's 8pm on Wednesday night and it's still snowing. We've had driving snow and intense wind all day long. My office closed for the first time in the 15 years I've been there. Baltimore City has declared it a 'Phase 3' emergency which means that except for official vehicles (fire, police, utilities) no cars are allowed on the roads - period. You will get a huge fine and possible jail time if you drive on a city road today.

Depending on where you are in MD you'll get between 10-30 additional inches on top of the roughly 30 inches from 3 days ago. That's right I said 3 days ago. Come on now, this is just silly. So we hadn't yet gotten plowed from the first storm and now we have these HUGE snow drifts - up to our windows (with snow inside the screens), our mailbox is all but covered, people have been shoveling throughout the day only to come back and find the wind erased all their hard work. Really imagine the wind blown snowdrifts that you've seen in your life and now put them on top of a base of 30 inches of snow that was already there and wet and heavy and not going anywhere. The State and County officials are begging people to stay off the roads for the next 48 hours at least.

I didn't mention that on Tuesday they canceled schools for the rest of the week. And while on some level I think this is ridiculous (the fact that they called the whole week so early) - the reality is - until a snowplow actually comes into our neighborhood there is no possibility of a bus actually making it through the neighborhood to pick them up so I guess it makes total sense. Frankly, while my office might be opened tomorrow I already know I'm not going to make it in. The only road into my neighborhood sits smack dab in the middle of a 2 mile long narrow, twisty, hill. A hill where I've encountered the worst driving conditions of my entire life - twice now. There is just no way it will be passable for my sedan or Brad's van tomorrow.... We'll have to wait and see what Friday brings.

Camela

Lots and lots of snow

IT SNOWED
A lot

The town closest to us; about seven minutes from here, reported 33.8 inches of snow. That's more snow then I've ever seen at one time in my life... (okay well except on a mountain while skiing)

Jackson is totally loving this and quickly throws on his snow clothes - well there's usually some whining when we get to the fleece lining part of his coat, but that's quickly overcome - and is ready to go. Whether it's building a fort or shoveling he's game and just loves throwing himself into large piles of snow whenever possible.

Teddy has totally surprised me with his willingness to help - I always knew I could get him to do it, I just thought it would be more painful for one or both of us - and he's also shocked the heck out of me by staying outside and playing for hours and hours on end. This is a boy who likes his creature comforts. He has not remotely surprised me with just how difficult it is to get him dressed for the elements.... Let's just say that it is a long and painful process for all concerned.

Brad and the boys shoveled off about half of the deck and made a huge pile of snow on the ground below and then all three of them decided to jump from the deck into the newly made pile. Unfortunately no one told me so I wasn't able to get it on film but since we are supposed to get 10-20 more inches tomorrow night I think we'll have no problem having a do-over

Here are some pictures in no particular order of the snow.....

Jackson shoveling on the back deck.

Brad and Teddy on the deck.

Sorry for the lousy picture - This is taken in the driveway. It says roughly 27.5" and was measured once the snow had stopped but Brad had shoveled several inches away the night before.

Our mailbox.

Jackson continues to like to hide from the camera.

More of Jackson hiding....

The grill

Deck chairs and table

Bandit can just see over the snow on two legs.

But not so much on four...

The next morning.... and the next

Let me preface with - other than the very unusual two hour nap Jack took during the day there was no indication whatsoever that he was remotely under the weather.

Jack: Can I call Jake to play?
Me: No
Jack: Why?
Me: You stayed home sick today; you can't play with your friends

Jack: Can I have more (a 2nd huge helping of) mac n cheese
Me: No
Jack: Why?
Me: You stayed home sick with an upset stomach. We'll see how that does in your stomach for a while then if you still want more food in a while we'll talk about it.
Jack: how long? 5 minutes?


Anyway, the next morning I go downstairs and find him moping around with his bucket at his side while watching TV.

Me: Jackson, you need socks and shoes
Jack: I'm not feeling well
Me: uh huh Sorry to hear that, put on your socks and shoes
Jack: (shocked) Do I have to go to school?
Me: Yes.

He whined and moaned and crawled his way upstairs while I got stuff ready. After about 15 minutes he came up to me, fully dressed including his coat...
Jack: Mom! Is it okay if I go outside and run around the driveway since it's all shoveled? You know how if I don't feel good I just need to run around so I can get more energy.
Me: uh, sure, kid.


Now for this morning.....
I go into Jackson's room first thing this morning so I can get him into the shower. He's sitting all mopey on his bed; bucket at his side.

Me: Okay Jackson time for your shower
Jack: I'm not feeling well
Me: (feeling very sarcastic) Perhaps you should get up and jog in place; you know how running around gives you more energy and makes you feel better
Jack: (with a totally straight face) I already tried that

Camela

My morning....

Let me start with... Brad's away.

I probably went to bed around 11:30. I was trying to catch the last weather report as it was snowing and I wanted to know the likelihood of school being canceled.

4:30am - Bandit is losing his mind barking right outside of my bedroom door. At first I assumed he was barking at some deer out the window but I swear he was too close to my door to even see out a window - maybe he just wanted some company? More likely he just wanted to harrass me and figured the best way to do that would be to wake me from a dead sleep at 4:30 in the morning. I got up and invited him into my room and after a few minutes he calmed down and curled up to sleep - on my chest - but still calm and quiet and I could go back to sleep. I wrestled with him so I could get the covers pulled back over onto me, rolled over, closed my eyes, and...

4:45 - Jackson's tapping my arm. "Mom, mom, my stomach really hurts." Internally I roll my eyes and think - yes of course it does because far be it for me to want to get more than five hours of sleep. (side note: Jack has a long history of saying his stomach hurts-sometimes he's sick, sometimes he's had a bad dream, sometimes he's nervous about something - whatever isn't going just as he wants it to; his stomach hurts) He's standing there with his favorite barf bucket looking pitiful. Do you want to climb in bed with me? (shakes his head) shit Do you want to lay down somewhere else? (shakes his head) damn it Do you want me to get up with you? (nods head) yes of course that's what you want.

So like the good mother I am I get up and watch him while he kneels down on my floor hanging his head over said bucket. Perhaps I can distract him out of this, I think. "okay baby do you want me to turn on the TV?" First I turn on the news to see if school is canceled. Channel 11 says it is. I'm thrilled and turn off my alarm clock while thanking God then look for a DIY show which he'll usually fall asleep to but of course it's too early for any of those to be on so I end up settling for ESPN hoping for the same results. Eventually I lure him onto my bed, thinking there's no immediate danger and succumb to the two weights sitting on the tops of my eyelids and close my eyes. After a few minutes I hear him snoring and think hallelujah and I drift off behind him.

5:15 - "Mom, mom, my stomach really hurts" shit f%@# damn "oh baby, I'm so sorry" Quickly I turn on cartoons for him. I'm at that horrible stage in the sleep cycle when my brain and body just will not engage and we're pushing an hour of trying to be awake during it. I'm still hoping the stomach thing is code for restless sleep or something equally benign. Sure enough he plops over on his stomach and starts watching in earnest but I notice on a scroll along the bottom that schools have a 2 hour delay - wait - that's not right - Ch 11 said closed. I turn back to 11 and phew it still says closed. I get up and check the internet - okay I was stupid and went to ch11 online - it's where we always look - and yes it's closed. I check the other channels and they all say 2 hour delay. Come on, really? I log onto my yahoo account to find the email from school - it's not there. Please God I just want to go back to sleep. I find my iphone and look at my work email to see if the email made it through to there - it did; 2 hour delay. I reset my alarm and almost fall asleep until Jack starts kicking his feet to the tune in his head. OMG We resolve that, I beg for calm and sleep and get his promise to wake me if he feels badly again and fall asleep.

5:45 - "Hey mom" he's all kinds of chipper now "can I go downstairs and watch there instead? You know how sometimes I just need to get some extra energy and then I feel fine?" (he's our early riser and generally we have a rule he can't go downstairs until 6am). "Absolutely!!!!!!!... um... I mean... as long as you're feeling up to it." I sleep.

7:45 - 9:15 Teddy comes in and the morning officially begins... I get him up and ready, myself up and ready - breakfasts made, lunches packed, backpack on, Teddy out the door to the bus. "Baby, how're you feeling? Do you want to stay home or are you up for school?" "No I'm good now. I want to go." Great! finish getting ready and wait the hour to take him to school so I can got to work.

10:20 Jack's in the car, happy as a clam and off we go. We're in line at the school. In the next batch of cars that will fill 'the circle' where lots of nice teachers will open the car doors and help the kids out of the cars quickly. "MOM!! MOM! I'M GOING TO BE SICK!!! PULL OVER NOW!!! OH NO! MOM!!!" The line starts moving, I'm barely able to skip the circle and head for the lot. "MOM! HURRY HURRY!" I pull to a stop just in time.

Now it's noon and I've shoveled the driveway, talked to work, written a blog post and contemplated my day.... but I'm thinking a nap might be in order.

Camela