Tad-a-poles and Fwogs

If you've "liked" the Calm Crazy Facebook page (yes, shameless plug) then you already know that we've been caring for some tadpoles here at the house. Sam, our 14-year-old, brought some up from the creek a little over a week ago and the little kids went completely ga-ga over them. We've had near constant talk of "tad-a-poles" and "fwogs" ever since. I never knew how much fun a project like this could be; I have to admit to being completely charmed by the whole thing.

The tadpoles' habitat used to be in a much smaller tupperware container but we found this great plastic container while we were cleaning out our closet this weekend--you know, in preparation for 'The Big Move Part Zwei'. Last night Sam ran down to the creek to get more 'crick muck' (I type out 'creek' here on the old blog but the Hoosier in me thinks 'crick' every single time) and then we dumped our five original tad-a-poles into the new and improved version.

At one point during the evening I managed to get Zander and Izzy to sit still long enough to take a little video of them talking about the whole thing. Right before the start of the video I told them to tell me what they were looking at, but the rest is pretty much all them. The video is pretty cute (obviously I'm a bit biased) and just over a minute long. But really. I dare you to watch this thing and not smile.

I think I've thanked Sam about 50 times for coming up with this idea. It probably would never have occurred to me that these two would enjoy it this much. And, I have to say, Jason and I like it too. There are all kinds of little bugs and things in that water. It's really neat to watch. We've got our own little ecosystem in that box.

Have you ever raised tadpoles? What kinds of science projects have you done with your kids?

Needs More Protein?

Some of my favorite family memories aren't seen--they're heard! Here's a snippet I caught from around the corner earlier this afternoon.

Jason (voice slightly higher than normal): Izzy! Don't put that spider in your mouth!

Izzy (in a long suffering, resigned voice): Okay dad.

***

What funnies have you heard around your house lately?

Uncle Nathan's Big Surprise

Want to know how a 25-year-old man cemented the title of "Best Uncle Ever"? You might think that getting all four of his nephews (plus sister, brother-in-law, and father) into Disney Land for free might do it. I do believe that would have been enough. Nate being Nate, however, prescribes to the adage: Go big or go home. Getting the boys into Disney wasn't enough for him. No, no...he had to do--more.

Did you know that Disney has a Jedi Academy? The Jedi Master in brown may or may not be a friend of Nate's. How freakishly awesome is that?

Turns out, they pull kids right out of the crowd to train in the ways of the Jedi. Sam, Jake, and Zander were all picked. Here is Jake at the beginning of training. He is quite serious.

That kid in the bottom left corner? You may be able to figure out by his hair that it's Zander. He's supposed to be listening to the lesson but he spent some serious time trying to attach the light saber to his shorts.

This came back to bite him in the butt a little later. He was the (only) recipient of (repeated) remedial Jedi training throughout the lesson.

Jake was in heaven. The smiles on all three boys' faces during instruction were priceless. The kids (there were around 20 in all) did great, following the directions of the Master Jedi and copying their every move. I really thought we were going to go home and hear about nothing but the training they were able to do, the moves they had learned...

...but I was so wrong. We heard about a lot more than that! Can you believe that Darth Vader came right out of the ground?! This event was made 1000 times better for the simple fact that we had no idea it was going to happen! So incredible!

Do you remember, though, how I mentioned that Zander was just a wee bit on the overwhelmed side all day? At the appearance of Darth Vader, we started watching Master Z for signs of cracking. He was nervous but the crack didn't actually happen until the next act...I have to say, I might have cracked too.

Don't worry. Nate's friend pulled Zander from the group right away and brought him back to us. He had a blast with the training but by then was fully ready to return to the safety of the 2-inch space between mom and dad. (I kid. He was fine as soon as he knew he didn't have to fight them. That doesn't sound as funny though, does it? Oh well. Such is life.)

Here's Jake being confronted by Darth Vader. "Join me on the dark side, young Jedi."

Jake wasn't interested. Poor Darth Vader. Jake held his own. He was also able to fight Darth Maul but I didn't get any decent pictures of that. (Sam fought Darth Maul as well. I did not have a good angle to take pictures of Sam during this whole thing; my dad took several great ones. I was going to take them off his Facebook page but couldn't get it figured out.)

The two Darths fought the children--er, I mean Jedi--and then retreated after being soundly defeated. Not after issuing several dire sounding, empty threats, of course. We all know how those bad guys roll.

There was a graduation ceremony after the great fight but there are too many identifiable children in the shot to post it here. All three boys have a neat little certificate to go with their memories of the day, though. So much fun! And there you have it. How one man became the World's Best Uncle in the course of a single day! How often do kids get to live out their dreams like this? So neat!

Visit in Anaheim, Part I

Two weeks ago our family traveled down to Anaheim. You see, we've been back in the states for nearly nine months but we hadn't been able to swing a visit with my dad yet. He was in Anaheim for business and since it's so much closer to drive the 10 hours it takes to get there--as opposed to the 20+ hours it takes to get to El Paso--we decided to make a long weekend of it.

Here's dad with Jake and Zander on the first night. (Yes, Zander is wearing my glasses. Ignore how that suddenly makes him look more like his momma!)

This is the best "group" shot we could get the first night. Izzy was a little stand-offish at first. I'm not sure if it was the new people or the long car ride that did him in, but he came around the next day.

My brother Nate, who lives in the area, managed to get us into Disney Land for free. Yes. All seven of us (not including Izzy as he's free anyway). How awesome is my brother? Uncle Nate took quite the shine to Zander--and vice versa, I assure you. He (Nate) kept telling us that the two of them had more hair together than the rest of us combined. He may have something there.

A picture of my baby brother without a million kids hanging from him. I love him!

One of the better group shots from D-Day (Disney Day). Jason and I thought that Izzy would be the wild card but we were wrong. Although he's still only two, Izzy did great! Poor Zander was completely overwhelmed, though. Disney Land is a big difference from the relative quiet of German and Sierra Nevada foothills living that he's been used to. In this picture, Zander is looking up the exit stairs of the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. I think he was concerned that he was going to have to go back up there. (He was NOT a fan.)

Jason and I took the two older kids to Disney World (Orlando, FL) in 2002, but we haven't had another Disney experience since. I'll admit: we weren't overly enthusiastic about this idea; however, it was fantastic! We all had so much fun. (Even Zander came around. It was the next day, but he did come around!)

Through his friend, Nate was able to treat the three older kids to a really spectacular surprise. I will share more about that tomorrow. It was so neat that it deserves its own post!

Our Crazy Crazy Weekend

Want a real and true look into my life? Let me tell you about the highlight of my weekend. I should start off by telling you that every living thing in the house is fine now. It's a long story, but everyone makes it to the end. Okay, so are you ready? Here we go.

After coming home from grocery shopping on Saturday evening, we sent Sam outside with the dog while I put the groceries away. (Jason was keeping the two little guys out of the kitchen while I worked.) I had just finished putting all the cold items away when chaos erupted in the living room. I could hear Jason yelling and Sam crying. This is, of course, added to the already exuberant noise that the two little kids make while playing. There was so much ruckus that I couldn't even figure out what was going on, so I left the kitchen to check things out.

The first thing I noticed was that dog was hurt. She was unable to put any kind of weight on her right front leg; every time she tried to walk her leg crumpled to the floor and she would fall. She was making these really pitiful noises--it just broke your heart. It wasn't yelping, it was like this really horrid whining noise. As soon as she saw me she slunk (?) over to me. I don't really know how to describe how she was moving, but trust me when I say that it was both pitiful and awkward.

Figuring out what happened to her was tricky because Sam does not do well in stressful situations. He simply wasn't able to tell us what had happened so we did not have even the vaguest of ideas what could be wrong. From the way she was "walking" we thought maybe her shoulder was dislocated, but we had no idea how that could have been possible. I'm very gingerly trying to find out where she's hurt and Jason is calling every vet in the phone book, trying to find someone who can see her. And, of course, it's after 6 PM on a Saturday night--do you think we can find a vet? Nope. Along with all this, we're still asking Sam a million questions and still getting no answers. Not a great combination--certainly it isn't helping the stress level in the house.

In the middle of all this, Izzy walks up to me and hands me a toy knight and one of the toy swords. Normally this is a request for me to put the sword into the knight's hand; I probably do that 20 times a day. I took the toys, put them together, and gave them back--and promptly returned my attention back to the dog. And that is the last calm thing I did for the next 15 minutes.

Jason had just dialed another number and it was right then that he threw the phone to the ground. Thinking he was frustrated, I told him to run across to the neighbors' house and ask them if they knew of an emergency vet. He said, "No, Mandi. Izzy just hit his head again." (Have I talked about how Izzy throws tantrums? I don't think I really have. He is a very passionate child and when he gets mad or frustrated or when mom doesn't quite "get" what he wants her to do apparently, he throws himself to the ground. Hard. The bruises this kid has on his head and face--oh, man. It's awful.) So anyway, I look up and Izzy turns around at the same time and his whole face--and I do mean his whole face--is covered in blood. He had hit his forehead on the edge of the fireplace on his way down to the ground.

The next few minutes were a whirlwind of activity. I scooped Izzy up into my arms and rushed him into the kitchen. Paper towels and washcloths and antiseptic spray and more paper towels and tears and still with the yelling from the other room. It was completely nuts. After just a couple minutes the bleeding slowed way down, though. The cut was deep but very clean (turns out that the edge of that fireplace is wicked sharp) and we were able to put some ointment and bandages on it. He didn't even end up needing to go to the doctor; the cut is healing up nicely.

The dog made a huge improvement in the 15 or 20 minutes that we were focused on Izzy. As the dog improved Sam became less stressed and was able to answer our questions. It looks like she was stung by something when she was out in the yard--possibly a bee, but we're thinking scorpion. We saw several before winter started so we know they are out there. By the end of the first hour she was walking just fine. She was very clingy, but fine.

Sunday and Monday were pretty boring around here and I am very happy about that! I could go a long, long time without having to deal with another day like Saturday. How about you? Anything exciting been going on in your neck of the woods lately?

***

I present this to you as a sort of glimpse into the life that we lead. It's not always a calm crazy and I want to make sure that I never come off as trying to say that it is. We are normal people living a normal life, just like any other person on the planet. Sometimes it is just plain old crazy around here and calm is nowhere to be found. The house gets messy, the kids need baths, the beds need made, the laundry piles up, people yell and cry and get angry--but mess and crazy is half of what makes up life. It's not always perfect and calm--even if the tagline on my blog seems to imply that it is.

Happy 14th Birthday, Sam!

Fourteen years ago today, Jason and I met someone new...

An early birthday present for me...

A new playmate for him...

I look at that sweet little face and wonder...

Where has the time gone?

Happy 14th birthday, Samuel! Mom and dad love you.

And How Did You Spend YOUR Thursday?

We added a new member to our family yesterday. She's a lab mix from a local shelter. (Well, from a foster home that services the local shelter.) Her momma had been either abandoned or dumped about 18 months ago; someone in the neighborhood finally brought her in after she had this litter of puppies. This is her third litter of puppies in that 18 months. (Apparently the people in the neighborhood gave the first two litters away at the front of the local Large-Mart store.)

She is a great puppy and I think she's going to be an awesome dog. She seems pretty intelligent so far and I'm guessing she will do very well with training because she is so eager to please. She's very affectionate, loves the kids, would rather snuggle on the couch than run around the house, tolerates a bath, and is getting the hang of her leash. It doesn't hurt that she brings up the estrogen levels in the house, either.

She doesn't have a name yet, though! I want something a little old-fashioned and I'm currently leaning toward Mabel. Any other suggestions? Jason isn't completely sold on Mabel.

Do you have a pet? How did you "meet"?

While I Was Out...

The middle of last week found me in a not-nice place. I struggle with depression (yes, of the diagnosed persuasion) and I flounder every once in awhile. This particular drop was about two weeks long; that is the longest stretch I have had in awhile and, rest assured, I will be heading to the doctor soon.

I took this break from the internet for a number of reasons. I found myself hiding some of my friends on my FB feed. (This is something I have a personal policy against. I think it's ridiculous to have people on your friends list if you aren't interested in seeing what they have to say. Sorry if you do that, but that's just how I see it.) I was being extraordinarily hard on myself (even worse than usual) because everyone in blogland seemed to have it together and what the hey was wrong with me?! I was getting super-frustrated with the lack of interest from my extended family in the kids and our little family. (This is something with which I struggle frequently.) Overall, I was just getting all kinds of wound-up over things that just weren't all that important and/or were completely beyond my control. I needed a break.

I had some big plans to get myself in a more centered place. I was going to get organized and restart my menu and get a great exercise routine going...none of that happened. I did stay off the internet (that was surprisingly easy, to be honest), but I ended up spending a ton of time on the phone instead.

The first day of my self-imposed internet blackout my step-mom had a series of small strokes. She's young and healthy and there is absolutely no "reason" that this should have happened to her. The first couple days were very stressful as my dad, brother, and I tried to keep in touch and updated. (Dad lives in El Paso (but was in Vegas when it happened), my brother is in LA, and I am in Northern California.) I spent most of Thursday in bed crying because it was just so freaking hard. It sucks to be this far away when bad things are going on.

The last two days have shown HUGE improvements, though. Although she will continue to have some lasting effects from the strokes, it looks like she will be able to get nearly back to where she was before this happened. (She is heading into in-patient therapy on Tuesday. If you are so inclined, I would very much appreciate some prayers and positive thoughts heading her way. She's Barb W. in El Paso. Please and thank you.)

Despite all this, I am in a better place today than I was last week. (Yes, I brought my FB friends back out of retirement after logging in earlier this evening.) I'm back to being just regular-hard on myself. (Still need to work on that but at least it's back to a manageable level.) As far as the extended family thing...well, it is what it is. People can only be who they are and I'm just going to have to keep reminding myself of that.

Oh! One more thing that I did learn. I've always kind of wondered what I was not doing when I was online. I mean, the internet (in its present state) isn't all that old. I sometimes wonder what I would be doing if I wasn't online at the times I am. My guess has always been sleep and I was half right. Turns out that the other thing is laundry. I can't remember the last time I was this caught up on my laundry. Not only are things clean--they are folded and put away too! Who knew?!