Blizzard!

And not the good, Dairy Queen kind. The snow kind.

Started last Friday around 1 p.m. and didn't stop until Saturday night. I'd say we probably got 30 inches of snow at our house, and with the blizzard conditions it was blowing and swirling all over.

Schools were closed on Friday in anticipation of the weather. This was such a big storm that this area is not at all equipped to handle it.

The kids still aren't back in school.

They've had 6 days off.

Tell me they'll really go back on Monday?!?

They've pretty much totally zoned out this entire time. Video games all morning, podcasts all afternoon, spending an hour of outside time and that's it, then back inside for more down time, dinner, then more screen time. I had 2.5 days off work, but Tod didn't miss any time. I loved every second of the down time, I'll tell you that – I could get used to a life of leisure (though I'd prefer if I could actually leave the house).

The kids' brains might be mush by now.

Reed hung out with friends a bit, but mostly he'd rather be home. Amy too, I guess.

It's supposed to warm up in the next few days so hopefully a lot of this snow will melt (it's still pretty much one lane on all the neighborhood roads) and things can get back to normal.

I vote for no more snow!

Little by little

Wednesday is laundry day around here (though it feels like laundry day comes much more frequently than just weekly). It's one of my two telework days, so I take advantage of being at home to multi-task. Greatest thing ever. Usually I have to retrieve the kids' dirty clothes from their rooms, but a couple of month ago, Reed started bringing his laundry basket to our room as he headed downstairs on Wednesday mornings.

YAHOO!

Okay so I realize that this might be more a function of him running out of pants, so that triggers him to think 'hey is it laundry day?' but I am still taking it as a victory.

He is doing something that makes my life easier. I love it!

And speaking of pants - I think I've written about this before - but Reed still doesn't like to wear pants that have buttons/zippers. I blame myself for this, because I've always chosen comfortable clothes for him (what one year old needs to be super stylish in cool jeans?) but I keep hoping he'll grow out of it. At the start of fall, we went clothes shopping and he got a pair of jeans and a couple of pairs of jeans-like pants. Then he kept on wearing shorts, despite the temperature, because he "didn't have any pants." Eventually he decided it'd be better to not freeze, and he's been wearing what he considers "fancy" pants more frequently. And lately he isn't even complaining about it! I dare not ask if he actually finds the pants semi-comfortable now...don't want to draw attention to it. But that's what I'm hoping. Maybe, just maybe he's starting to care how he dresses??? Who knows.

Oh and he still loves silly socks, which makes me very happy.

Sayonara, 2015!

The years fly by, don't they! We've had a great Christmas break, with lots of family activities and even a bit of down time too. Santa was good to all of us.

Looking forward to a fabulous 2016!

Ahoy, matey!

Pretty rough day for ol' Reed-o yesterday. Back in the summer, he had a chalazion in his left eye, which is kind of like a pimple, but on your eyelid. That never quite went away completely, I think, and on Sunday it exploded into a huge red thing hanging from underneath his upper eyelid, crusty and gross (I'll spare you the picture of it).

Argh! Avast, back to
school with ya, 
middle school pirate! 

So on Monday we went to the pediatrician, who was perplexed, and sent us to an ophthalmologist the next day. He diagnosed it as a "pyogenic granuloma" and said yep, it needs to be cut off. Thank goodness he was able to do it right then, because I'm not sure I would have been able to get Reed back in the office again. 

I watched the whole awful thing – from the numbing shots (multiple) in his eye, which bleed A LOT, through to snipping the thing off and cauterizing the wound. I nearly tossed my cookies. It was painful for Reed, but he was super brave. And he got to wear an eye patch at school for the rest of the day, which he liked much better than having this gross thing hanging in his eye.

Hopefully this is the end of it! Mama can't take any more! LOL

Thirteen!

Yesterday was Reed's thirteenth birthday.

Thirteen! A teenager!

The saying goes 'The days go slow but the years go fast." It really is so true. I mean really, wasn't I just in middle school, turning 13? And now our kid is 13. Taller than me, and closing in on Tod too.

Reed is a homebody and, given the choice, would rather just hang around home instead of going out doing things. All the better if he can spend his time playing video games (says he). There are more frequent signs of maturity - and believe me, we take every small victory as a true victory - from only having to ask him once (hey maybe someday we won't have to ask at all! wouldn't that be grand!) to do something, to less grudgingly doing chores like walking the dog, taking out the trash/recycling, or doing dishes. School work...well, Reed continues to do really well (7 A's and a B+) without putting in a ton of effort. Things seem to come pretty easily to him, but we hope that when things do get tough, he'll be able to develop study/work habits that will allow him to continue to succeed. Reed didn't want to do flag football this fall, so instead his one activity is the Model UN club at school. There've only been a few meetings so far, so we're not totally sure what that's all about. Reed's best pal is still Robbie Webster, I think that's going on five years now. They don't have any classes together (4th grade was their only year together) but they sit together on the bus every day and get together from time to time. Reed continues to be a picky-ish eater, really doesn't like things that are mixed together like red beans and rice with sausage (he only eats the sausage). But he'll always eat a salad, which I know a lot of kids won't, so that's good. If he had it his way, our family dinners would be burgers, pizza, tortellini soup and salad, tacos, cereal, cereal and more cereal. He also doesn't like anything "spicy" – and let me tell you that is a broad definition for him.

For his birthday, Reed said he wanted to build his own computer. So we bought some parts, Tod had some parts already on hand, and together they built the new computer.

Already enjoying it!

If we can just get Reed to be a bit more tolerant of his loving little sister, we'd be all good. That's probably our biggest issue....bickering kids. Many days are a struggle when the kids end up having their "outside time" at the same time – evidently our driveway isn't big enough for the both of them (and the whole great big rest of the world is uninteresting). Sigh.

But it's pretty cool to have a "grown up" kid who we enjoy being with, and who we find funny and engaging. It's such fun to be his parents. Love you, Reed-o.

Trouble in the corn maze

Last year we went to a corn maze and Reed separated from the rest of us and blasted off in the other direction, trying to beat us out. We beat him, but he still contests it.

Happy group at the start of our expedition.

This year we tried a new corn maze. Turns out it was a lot more challenging than the one last year. We started the same way...team of 3 versus team of 1. Off he went. Tod and I followed Amy, and she observed the strategy of always turning right (mostly...she took a few shortcuts). After lots of dead ends and misdirections, the 3 of us made our way out in probably 45 minutes of walking. Then we waited. And waited. And waited. After about 45 minutes, Tod and Amy went back in to what was kind of a central point of the maze to see if they could see Reed. They didn't see Reed, but they did see lots of families desperate to find their way out ("Can you tell us how to get out?!?" and "We've been walking forever – do you know the way out?"). Then Amy came back out and Tod went back in to walk through the maze and try to find Reed. Somehow he managed to find him within 10 or 15 minutes, much to Reed's relief:

Actual relief not pictured.

I felt SO horrible that he was lost in there so long!! He must've walked 5 miles, and covered and re-covered most every inch of the maze. He wouldn't admit it, but I think he was getting pretty worried. Thank goodness we found him without too much trouble once we actually started looking.

Next time...Reed gets a cell phone in the corn maze.

New furry family member

Meet Eddie. "No, I'd really rather not come out
from under the desk, thanks."

About a month or so ago, one night while Tod and I were watching TV we heard a weird sound outside. Turns out it was a cat, perhaps in some kind of altercation with another cat. When we went out, the cat was lying in the grass in front of our house, and didn't move when approached – we were afraid it was injured, but no...it was just really chill. Then the cat became my pal, wanting lots of loving. It followed me up on the porch and hung out for a while. Super cool cat. After a little bit, the other cat also came by.

Anyway that got me thinking it'd be kind of neat to have a cat. But I wasn't totally sure, so I thought it would be good to volunteer with Friends of Homeless Animals (FOHA) as "cat cuddlers" to see what I really thought. Amy and I volunteered two times before I decided that yes we do have room in our hearts and home for a feline friend.

Amy and I picked him because he was a really relaxed cat, and one we felt was least likely to bite or scratch or be really crazy. Plus he'd been in a foster home with two big dogs and he loved them, so we figured that would be a positive thing toward getting him to like Shelby.

We have tried to come up with a better name for the cat but we can't agree on anything and haven't hit on the right thing. I'm afraid he might be stuck with Eddie.

So far things are moving along slowly. I think it's possible that Shelby thinks this is another (weird looking) dog to play with. She is very much playing the stereotypical role of over-exuberant dog who's desperate for a new friend. Eddie has logged a lot of time hiding in the spot pictured above, and today he's been under our bed all day.

Maybe one day they'll be friends?