Back to the dated titles. . . they're just so much easier than using the brain cells to think of something witty! Here's some random Monday Ramblings.
Went school supply shopping for Ian tonight. . . you know, for the wierd things some middle school teachers want. I'm thinking that when the kids get schedules a week before school starts, they should have teacher supply lists up on the website so that every parent of a middle schooler isn't cruisin' Staples/Office Depot/etc for wide ruled notebooks on the first day of school! I saw no less that 10 families that I knew in that store while looking for supplies tonight. Happens every year.
Alaina's been after me to find her a giraffe print lampshade. She has a "little" obsession with giraffes and after getting her giraffe print bedding for her birthday last year, she's so over the lavender lampshade in her room. It so "doesn't match!" I had no clue there was such a thing as a self-adhesive lampshade until I went shopping with my sister today and mentioned the need for said giraffe shade. So going to have to get one and do her up a cute little shade as a surprise.
Have you guys ever visited to Vanilla Joy? I'd never heard of it, but saw a link to go there on Lisa Bearnson's blog. Has some cute ideas of things to do with kids, some interesting looking recipes. . . and most of all, some terrific scrapbook giveaways this week. You should check it out!
If you do not know the story of Steven Curtis Chapman's family's loss this past May, you should check out the article in the current People magazine. I'd stopped buying it several years ago, but did buy this issue (the one with Elizabeth Edwards on the cover) so that I could read the Chapman's story. The Chapmans (and the 3 older kids) were also on Larry King Live and GMA while Andy and I were in France. Especially interesting to me was Larry King's day after recap statement. Steven wrote a 4th verse to his song "Yours" after Maria's death and you can now find it on iTunes. The Chapman family has really been able to show the world how through faith, you can make it through the hardest times.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Another new school year
School started up again this morning and the kids were all excited to go back. Alaina spent all of yesterday saying "I can't WAIT for tomorrow!" Allison, as always, was perhaps a bit apprehensive. Ian was just glad to be getting back to school so he could hang out with friends. Unfortunately, he didn't get to do a lot of that this summer. Here are pictures of the kids before they left for school. I think this is the first year I didn't get all the school goers in a photo together! Last year, I made Ian get up that early to take the group picture . . .but then it was a LONG wait until he actually had to be at school. He's playing the baritone for the second year -- he's gotta lug that thing back and forth to school everyday. My next door neighbor told me this morning she wished he reconsider riding a bike to school with her daughter and the girl across the street. I think the days of him wanting to go to school with them are gone -- at least for now! tehehe . . .but told the neighbor there was no way Ian could balance that honkin' thing on a bike!
The girls were juggling backpacks, paint cans, and in Alaina's case, lunchboxes. We always buy something off the teachers' wishlists, if they have them posted, to bring in the first day of school, so Alaina's backpack was full of baby wipes. She was a trooper and carried it all in herself!
Each year, we bring the teachers a first day of school gift. For at least the past 5 years, it's been a decorated paint can. I had a bit of a hard time figuring how to make one look more manly this year, as we have our first male (elementary school) teacher. I fill them with whatever I can find that I either remember always running out of when I was a teacher or know might be something they'd need/want. This year's cans had: 2 packages of "teacher" stickers, a magnetic notepad, a calculator, rubber bands/various clips, a set of dry erase markers, post-it notes, hand sanitizer, some sharpies, and Hersheys Hugs and Kisses. I usually try to decorate them to match the teacher's rooms (as we go the Friday before school starts to meet the teachers), but this year, there wasn't any obvious theme for either teacher's room. So my goal for Alaina's teacher was for it not to look girly, and noticed Allison's teacher had bright colored curtains on her windows, so I went bright with her. Here's what I ended up with:
It's a little lonely around here. . . definitely a lot less noise! However, I am free to go shopping and out to lunch with my sister who ended up with the day off.
The girls were juggling backpacks, paint cans, and in Alaina's case, lunchboxes. We always buy something off the teachers' wishlists, if they have them posted, to bring in the first day of school, so Alaina's backpack was full of baby wipes. She was a trooper and carried it all in herself!
Each year, we bring the teachers a first day of school gift. For at least the past 5 years, it's been a decorated paint can. I had a bit of a hard time figuring how to make one look more manly this year, as we have our first male (elementary school) teacher. I fill them with whatever I can find that I either remember always running out of when I was a teacher or know might be something they'd need/want. This year's cans had: 2 packages of "teacher" stickers, a magnetic notepad, a calculator, rubber bands/various clips, a set of dry erase markers, post-it notes, hand sanitizer, some sharpies, and Hersheys Hugs and Kisses. I usually try to decorate them to match the teacher's rooms (as we go the Friday before school starts to meet the teachers), but this year, there wasn't any obvious theme for either teacher's room. So my goal for Alaina's teacher was for it not to look girly, and noticed Allison's teacher had bright colored curtains on her windows, so I went bright with her. Here's what I ended up with:
It's a little lonely around here. . . definitely a lot less noise! However, I am free to go shopping and out to lunch with my sister who ended up with the day off.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Elaine's home
I know I still haven't finished up the Paris posts .. . trying hard to get everything organized here and prioritized! But did want to let everyone know that Elaine is home from the hospital . . . but will probably be in bed for awhile.
At times people have asked what they can do to help out -- right now, prayer, lots of prayer, for Elaine, my brother Chris, and my niece Isabel is greatly desired. If you are so inclined, I know she's love to receive some cards. They are always a lift for her. If you need their address, please email me (bazzillgal@aol.com . . . or whatever other email address you have for me will work as well) and I'll be glad to get it to you.
At times people have asked what they can do to help out -- right now, prayer, lots of prayer, for Elaine, my brother Chris, and my niece Isabel is greatly desired. If you are so inclined, I know she's love to receive some cards. They are always a lift for her. If you need their address, please email me (bazzillgal@aol.com . . . or whatever other email address you have for me will work as well) and I'll be glad to get it to you.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Elaine Update
I have cut and paste this from my sister's blog . . . .Here's recent information on Elaine's progress.
Elaine: HD 6......Meaning Hospital Day number 6
It has come to my attention that many are wanting updates on Elaine. I so much appreciate my dear family and friends being in interested and concerned for Elaine. Of course, I can't share everything because it is not my information to share. However, I will start including the things that Elaine has shared with the general public to keep everyone more up to date. Elaine was admitted to the hospital last Friday. She was initially admitted for high calcium levels, which has been adding to her pain and nausea. The calcium is currently within normal limits, but there are now a few other things that are a bit out of whack....One of which showed up on an x-ray today. She was told today that she has a broken rib, which the doctor attributes to just "bumping into something." She is in a lot of pain, but does seem to do better in the mornings. My mom called tonight and said that Isabel had crawled up into Elaine's lap, and they spent some good time snuggling.
I can sum all of this up fairly simply by saying- My family needs your prayers. We are very concerned about Elaine....and my brother.....and Isabel.
Note from Heather -- also keep my sister Brooke in your prayers. She's recovering from a little surgical procedure. It looks like everything is fine, but wow, dealing with all of this isn't easy.
Additional info on Isabel -- she's been at our house since last night and has enjoyed her "cousin" time. My mom picked her up for tumbling class then she was headed to the hospital for an evening visit. She'll be back with us tonight after hre visit.
Elaine: HD 6......Meaning Hospital Day number 6
It has come to my attention that many are wanting updates on Elaine. I so much appreciate my dear family and friends being in interested and concerned for Elaine. Of course, I can't share everything because it is not my information to share. However, I will start including the things that Elaine has shared with the general public to keep everyone more up to date. Elaine was admitted to the hospital last Friday. She was initially admitted for high calcium levels, which has been adding to her pain and nausea. The calcium is currently within normal limits, but there are now a few other things that are a bit out of whack....One of which showed up on an x-ray today. She was told today that she has a broken rib, which the doctor attributes to just "bumping into something." She is in a lot of pain, but does seem to do better in the mornings. My mom called tonight and said that Isabel had crawled up into Elaine's lap, and they spent some good time snuggling.
I can sum all of this up fairly simply by saying- My family needs your prayers. We are very concerned about Elaine....and my brother.....and Isabel.
Note from Heather -- also keep my sister Brooke in your prayers. She's recovering from a little surgical procedure. It looks like everything is fine, but wow, dealing with all of this isn't easy.
Additional info on Isabel -- she's been at our house since last night and has enjoyed her "cousin" time. My mom picked her up for tumbling class then she was headed to the hospital for an evening visit. She'll be back with us tonight after hre visit.
Monday, August 04, 2008
Paris, Day 1
Andy and I left (on different planes) for Paris on August 3. I had what I can only guess was an anxiety attack when we left on the same plane to Costa Rica several years ago. We felt I'd do better if we were on separate planes -- you know, so I wouldn't worry so much about leaving the kids orphans! Turned out to be a good thing, as he was able to fly business class (he was headed there for work) and I was flying in "steerage" on his miles.
Long, long day! I ended up sitting with 6 children in the seats directly around me. All but one was 6 or under -- including triplet 3 year olds and an infant. Any time a mother continually reassures the people around her that "really, they're great travellers!" assume there's a reason she's saying it so many times. EEK! I didn't get a wink of sleep the whole trip -- not good as when we landed it was 9 am Paris time (and 2 am Dallas time). I was quite worn out and grumpy by the time I met up with Andy at the airport!
We grabbed a taxi and headed for our hotel. At this point, I was really hoping they'd let us check in at 11:30 even though check-in wasn't until 3 pm. Thankfully, they did. The gal went on and on about how they were upgrading our room to a larger room, on the corner, on the 6th (top) floor. She called it their "superior room". She built that darned room up . . . I was expecting the Taj Mahal! Imagine our surprise when we walked in and saw this:
I didn't just take a picture of part of the room, that's pretty much it! Wall to wall furniture with only about 2 feet on either side of the bed. There was a desk on the other side and a lamp/small chair in the corner. . . but there wasn't much walking room between the desk and the bed. Poor Andy, after I'd already settled into "my side" of the bed, we figured out that he couldn't even stand up straight on his side of the bed, as the ceiling was sloped. I had to wonder what our "inferior" original room would've looked like! I was so happy to see that bed though . . . we laid down for about a 2 hour nap.
After that, we headed to Notre Dame. The guy Andy was there to meet wasn't in that office on Monday, so Andy had the afternoon with me. Thankfully, my friend Erin had given me some information on some of the sights of Paris, so I had some information to pass along to Andy. Notre Dame has the statues of the 28 kings of Judah running along the outside of the building. During the French Revolution, they were mistaken for the Kings of France and the heads were chiseled off. We also were able to see the gargoyles . . . made famous (for our kids at least) by The Hunchback of Notre Dame. We went on inside and walked around the inside, looking at all the sculptures, the paintings, the stained glass. Afterwards, we headed back outside to take another look.
After that, we headed over to Isle St. Louis to hit this ice cream place called Berthillon . . . makers of the best ice cream in Paris. We finally found their storefront, only to discover they were closed for the month of August -- August is when most people in France take their vacation . .. sometimes for the whole month! We knew this before we left and knew we'd miss out on some things because we were going during their vacation month. While we were unable to get icecream at Berthillon, we could still buy Berthillon ice cream all over the city . . . and did just that. Andy got 1 scoop of vanilla and 1 of white chocolate. . . I got 2 scoops of chocolate with orange pieces in it. YUMMY!
We ended up the afternoon with a visit to the Pompidou. . . all the pipes are on the outside of the building! Of course, Andy stood there and tried to figure out what each color pipe was for.
We finished up by eating dinner and going to bed early -- so that we could get up the next day for a full day of work for Andy and a full day of touring for me.
Long, long day! I ended up sitting with 6 children in the seats directly around me. All but one was 6 or under -- including triplet 3 year olds and an infant. Any time a mother continually reassures the people around her that "really, they're great travellers!" assume there's a reason she's saying it so many times. EEK! I didn't get a wink of sleep the whole trip -- not good as when we landed it was 9 am Paris time (and 2 am Dallas time). I was quite worn out and grumpy by the time I met up with Andy at the airport!
We grabbed a taxi and headed for our hotel. At this point, I was really hoping they'd let us check in at 11:30 even though check-in wasn't until 3 pm. Thankfully, they did. The gal went on and on about how they were upgrading our room to a larger room, on the corner, on the 6th (top) floor. She called it their "superior room". She built that darned room up . . . I was expecting the Taj Mahal! Imagine our surprise when we walked in and saw this:
I didn't just take a picture of part of the room, that's pretty much it! Wall to wall furniture with only about 2 feet on either side of the bed. There was a desk on the other side and a lamp/small chair in the corner. . . but there wasn't much walking room between the desk and the bed. Poor Andy, after I'd already settled into "my side" of the bed, we figured out that he couldn't even stand up straight on his side of the bed, as the ceiling was sloped. I had to wonder what our "inferior" original room would've looked like! I was so happy to see that bed though . . . we laid down for about a 2 hour nap.
After that, we headed to Notre Dame. The guy Andy was there to meet wasn't in that office on Monday, so Andy had the afternoon with me. Thankfully, my friend Erin had given me some information on some of the sights of Paris, so I had some information to pass along to Andy. Notre Dame has the statues of the 28 kings of Judah running along the outside of the building. During the French Revolution, they were mistaken for the Kings of France and the heads were chiseled off. We also were able to see the gargoyles . . . made famous (for our kids at least) by The Hunchback of Notre Dame. We went on inside and walked around the inside, looking at all the sculptures, the paintings, the stained glass. Afterwards, we headed back outside to take another look.
After that, we headed over to Isle St. Louis to hit this ice cream place called Berthillon . . . makers of the best ice cream in Paris. We finally found their storefront, only to discover they were closed for the month of August -- August is when most people in France take their vacation . .. sometimes for the whole month! We knew this before we left and knew we'd miss out on some things because we were going during their vacation month. While we were unable to get icecream at Berthillon, we could still buy Berthillon ice cream all over the city . . . and did just that. Andy got 1 scoop of vanilla and 1 of white chocolate. . . I got 2 scoops of chocolate with orange pieces in it. YUMMY!
We ended up the afternoon with a visit to the Pompidou. . . all the pipes are on the outside of the building! Of course, Andy stood there and tried to figure out what each color pipe was for.
We finished up by eating dinner and going to bed early -- so that we could get up the next day for a full day of work for Andy and a full day of touring for me.
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