A rose by any other name...

Bill wants to open the blog up for name ideas. I will be switching back to allowing anonymous comments for it, since a lot of you read blogs but don't write them.



Be aware, if the meany who said nasty things in the past comments something rude it won't be approved, so don't bother.



I have an idea for a name in mind, but Bill is excited to hear what you all will suggest! Please bear in mind, I will be checking the meanings of all the names, as that is very important to me!! And as a small disclaimer, I get to name this baby, Bill named Brian and Zachary (we make sure the other one doesn't hate the name, of course) and I named Dustin and Michael, so it's totally my turn. Therefore, don't be bummin' if I don't use your idea!!

I need to slow down...

I wake up every morning feeling tired enough to go back to bed. I'm thinking about calling to postpone my doc appointment and ultrasound so I can get extra sleep.






Oh, I kid! I'm beat, but the suspense is killing me too!!

I managed to get through Monday on a sugar high... the nurse called at 8 am and told me I passed the glucose test! WOO HOO!! I beat the lousy system!

Saturday we had double header of baseball, and the game before ran late, so we were there awhile. I got a sunburn, which was nice! Bill baked apple pie for the birthday boy Saturday night, and decided we need nighttime fire drills. The pies ran over and burned on. He let a puff of smoke out of the oven when he took them out, and all the detectors went off!! But NO ONE, and I mean NO ONE budged. He told us in the morning, and we were all, huh, never heard it.

Dustin turned 13 Sunday, which deserves a post with pictures, but right now I just don't have time to upload anything to blogger. I do have pictures though. Monday night I ordered his Lego NXT for him (he almost had enough with this years birthday money added to the year of cash he has been saving) so he's thrilled. On the teenager note, I asked the school secretary to have him call me when it was between classes. He did, and I was explaining to him I wouldn't be home after school and why. He interrupts me, and says, "Mom?" "What?" "I'm missing gym class."

Allrightythen.

Sunday we skipped church (2nd week in a row, not good) for the fireman's family breakfast. VERY yummy, and excellent service i must say. The officers on the dept cook and serve, you just sit down and great food keeps showing up!

We found the kitchen counters Sunday afternoon, no small feat for those of you who have been in my house! They still look good, but in the process of cleaning this weekend I lost my laptop cord. VERY BAD. Of course, Bill (aka Daddy Finder of All Things Temporarily Misplaced) found it Monday night, in the couch cushions. Sigh.

I drove 142 miles for work Monday. Then after supper we helped a couple from Texas move into Wilton. They were great. I tagged along because with no nap, I thought Z would fall apart, and he insisted he was going. But he didn't, so we were out late. Then I worked Tuesday, starting with a meeting in Rumford, and after an afternoon nap and supper we went back to unload the rest of the U-Haul into a storage unit. Again, I went along to keep the kids out from underfoot, sure I could leave after a short time. We left at 815, which was still earlier than Daddy. They are such nice people though, I'm just glad they had the help.

So now, I blog. It's just the rundown of where I've been, but now you know. I'm bringing the laptop. I may be able to blog more there. But for now, back to bed.

April Fooled

I thought I would let you all in on the joke I played. Yep, I played an April Fool's joke, and it worked.

I went to familyfun.com because I am not creative. They had this joke, which suggested to put an elastic around the sprayer at the kitchen sink. My elastic didn't fit right, so I thought about it, and since the sprayer is black, I used electrical tape. Oh yes I did. And then I laid down with Z for a nap, giggling uncontrollably.

When Dustin and Brian got home, I waited. Then Z woke up, and went out to see them. I waited. He asked for grapes we had just bought that morning, and Dustin took some and rinsed them for him. In the kitchen sink. Nothing.

I got up. I asked him about the grapes. He gave me a weird look, and kept saying, "Yeah, I just rinsed enough for Zachary." I kept looking at the sink, and he kept saying, "What?"

Not enough tape. Electrical tape has this interesting stretchy quality, and so it had stretched.

Dustin and Brian joined in the giggling as I retaped it. With lots of layers. Then I ended up going to Walmart. I called as I headed home at 5:00, Dustin was still doing homework, and so I asked Brian to start cutting the english muffins for english muffin pizzas for supper.

When I got home, Brian said, "Mom, it works! I spilled pizza sauce, and went to get a dish cloth, and forgot and sprayed myself!!" We laughed heartily, especially because Brian has been working through a list of practical jokes he's played on others all day long!

Dad arrived minutes later, and got in the shower after a day in the cold mud, having dressed for 50 degree weather. Oops. When he was dressed again, I moved to the dining room to wash the table and asked him to make Kool-aid. Then I asked Brian to put away the Cheez-Its he had snacked on. So Brian was in the kitchen, watching and waiting.

Oh yeah. Not only did Bill get wet, but Brian laughed so hard he fell to the kitchen floor.

Who do you suppose Bill assumed the guilty April Fooler was? Yup. He turned the sprayer on Brian!

I laughed and laughed! Brian was still laughing when he said it was Mom, who was still safely around the corner where the sprayer would never reach! I did get a big wet hug though, and reminded Bill I don't have any other (maternity) clothes , so be nice to me! It was blissful.

Next year I am doomed.

Rough Weekend

It started out ok. Bill is on call this week, and went in the morning early to help a family we are friends with move. I made a dinner for them in the crock pot, and then headed to there old place to help clean it out (renting and all, you want that deposit back!) with our boys. That was fun, Wells kids and Jones kids get along a little too well great, add water and sponges and, well, you get the idea.

Bill intended to meet up with us and help clean, but then got a call to go to Carrabassett Valley. There's a private school with dorms up there, they partly (intentionally) drained a reservoir, and the pump quit out. Apparently they wanted water for the weekend for the 2 or 3 people still there, even though they are planning to finish draining it Monday and will need it restarted again later in the week. We wouldn't have minded so much, but Saturday was also Bill's birthday. He worked, in the cold, until about 5:30.

While he worked, I peeled and canned carrots, we won't even talk about the hassle of the gasket here, frosted the cake and made lasagna. Home around 6:30, we rushed through supper, and then had cake.

Tired who?

Sunday, he leaves early for church as usual, we are there on time, classes separate, and Zachary finally goes to Nursery (after walking the halls with Daddy for fun!).

I'm sitting in a Sunday School class when I hear screaming/crying from the hall. Not certain it was Zachary (toss up between him and out little friend Daniel, I knew the scream well though) I went rushing to the hall. Zachary was bleeding from the forehead.

It was cleaned up and determined he had fallen, and just his bad luck his head struck the door hinge. He had a nice little gash, maybe half an inch. Then the great debate began, to stitch or not to stitch. While cosmetics suggested stitch (the comment was made he might wanna be president someday) practicality was screaming 3 year old for no other reason but to be pretty?

I hesitated.

But we couldn't get a Band-Aid to stay on. We only had generic ones.

So, we took him to the ER. I was told (after the hour and a half wait) that infection was highly unlikely with a head wound, they bleed enough at that area to cleanse it.

So apparently we should have gone to Rite-Aid for a real Band-Aid.

Well we didn't wait the hour and a half for nothing, so we went ahead with the stitches.

All 4.

Poor baby didn't stand a chance. The numbing agent they used (applied with a cotton ball taped to his head) moved, rendering it useless. So, to numb the spot he got 2 hideous shots in his forehead, and then of course the stitches that didn't hurt but sure felt/looked scary.

But he can still be president now.

I looked at Bill, and shook my head. Our 3 other boys, ages 12, 10, and almost 8, have never needed a stitch.

At 3 he's now had four.

This doesn't bode well for the future.

Hobbies

My husband has taken up a hobby while he watches TV. It's productive. Good for both the environment and our pocketbook.

Me? I have a hobby while he watches TV too.

It's enormously productive!! Hey, just let me live in my dream world for a few minutes, k? Some day I'll enter a Tetris competition and win millions and help him retire early.

Or...

NOT.

I have, however, managed to figure out how to show you video... maybe. Try this, it's not my best video ever, but he's so darn cute. He was showing me in slow motion how he ran across the room!

Oh the paints that I would paint...

OK, wanna see?

I thought maybe. This is my husband, trying to rid the old wall of old wallpaper paste:

"Daddy, I can do that!!"

"I don't know Zack, what do you think?"

Dustin: "Can I help?"

Dustin: "Not what I had in mind, but I guess I can move boxes."

"Dad, I think we should keep this hole."

Dustin was rewarded with a chance at a power tool, the drill to remove screws holding in the shelves. Little id we know 90% were stripped when they were put in, so he couldn't get them out with it. he was a good sport though, and worked at that last one with the pliers!!
"HAH!! GOTCHA!!"

Next post will have paint!

OK, I think I can...

blog, that is.

Savannah's funeral was beautiful. I didn't cry 'til we got to the grave site, or maybe back at the church, but either way Melissa's dad had on a moisture resistant suit coat, so it was ok. And her Dad is a really, really nice hugger. And I don't much like hugs. But I'll take a hug from him any day, it's very comforting.

I decided that funerals are the time when most people say goodbye. The level of tears a person experiences at the actual funeral, I think, has some relation to the level of grief they have already experienced, and the level of acceptance at the loss. Savannah's poor little friend sat behind me, and the sweetheart (I know her well enough to know she really is a sweetheart) cried through almost the entire service. As did others.

Me, not so much. I think I was more worried about Melissa making it through the eulogy (she and Brian gave it), and the details piece. And I've already done a lot of crying.

Savannah's parents appear to be doing ok. We have seen them several times, and Melissa and I talk daily, still. They are very slowly moving forward, and it seems to me that both the forward part and the slow part are really good things.

As for my family, we are trying really hard to come out of survival mode. Nicki pointed out to me the other day that I haven't reminded them to be nice and LOVE each other because they are brothers in a long time. I believe in the power of love as a verb, even that sometimes you have to go through the motions, the literal actions, before you can reach the point where the love really is intrinsic. I typically expect my children to at least ACT like they love each other, but lately I've allowed them to be more of "Every man for himself!" frames of mind. I talked with the counselor, and I think it's been the right way to be in the moments we've had, but now as we seek out our new "normal" we need to revert back to the "We are all in this together..." process.

Not proving to be easy.

And that new "normal"? Anyone who wants to clue me in on what it should be, that would be fabulous. Except for my recent anonymous commenter who was so thoughtless, they can keep their opinions to themself from here on out. Obviously, my shift is no where near the dramatic experience that Melissa is going through, so please don't mis-take this as putting my families' situation on par with theirs. But even Bill noted when we were watching the fire department cut up our old van, and we had Kiara with us, nobody chided him about where we got the girl. They knew her, knew she was with us, and knew it was normal. I no longer feel the pull to keep my schedule cancel-able, or the excuse for why the laundry and dishes are behind, or the weird need to protect Melissa from that intense loneliness that real trials can bring into our lives.

My husband even felt he had to remind me I'm still needed! I completely lost the month of July, I don't know where I put it. School starts in less than 2 weeks, and if my oldest 2 sign up for soccer like they want to, I'll commence to running like a chicken with my head cut off. I've hardly seen my extended family for months now, and just how do you approach those people again? "Hey, Dad, I know I haven't seen you in months, but a 7 year old you never met but that I grew closer to than my own nieces died and so I've been a bit busy. Do you still live in the same house?" Yeah. Quite the conversation starter.

Anyway, this is where I'm at. Now you know where I've been, loyal reader, and now I will try to be back. I even have a couple more posts (including pictures of my cut up car) swimming around in my head, that I might get to during this nap time. Or I might lay down. Hard to tell.

Perks

Bill came home from work with a big box the other day.

It was a freebie. Nice, huh? The kids like to pump it!

The Curse of the Stay at Home Mom...

Didn't know we were cursed, did you? Well, call it a curse or a blessing, the title depends on the day and the mood around the house.

There is a common misconception among children of the Stay at Home Mother. That misconception is, that "Daddy is the axis that the whole world rotates on."

Don't get me wrong, I like Daddy. If I didn't like Daddy, there would be no children, therefore no SAHM title. But sometimes, the irrational level of idolization that is given to the position of father is a bit much to take.

As the SAHM, you are always there, wiping noses, encouraging homework (or schooling), getting the rooms cleaned, keeping the laundry done, making sure they are fed and out the door when necessary. You kiss the boo boos, make a last minute batch of muffins when there's no snack for school, buy the cereal they want, pay the mortgage so there's a roof over their head. You drive them to soccer, baseball, swim lessons, friends' houses, Lego League, and pick them up after open gym at 4. You keep the iPod charged, download the new music, find the right channel at the right time for Dora, and email the teachers to let them know the major events in their lives, of which there are too many.

You do all of this, while Dad is gone making the living. And Dad's job is not cushy, at least not at our house, he is often knee deep in water in a ditch, or out in the driving snow. He has customers whose houses are so nasty he immediately gets in the shower from walking in the door. He has the occasional mistake that eats him up inside, and the mistakes of others to clean up after. And it takes at least 50 hours of his week. I am not implying his job is easier or harder, it is only different.

But the children don't think about that. They just know he is gone (and needs to be), and that mean mommy is making them work, and not giving them extra cookies. She is resposible for those horrid naps, and if only Daddy could hear me cry out for him, he would come running and snuggle me to sleep in front of NASCAR.

So the moment there is a problem, nay, a qualm that they don't care for how Mommy is handling, They scream for Daddy.
"Daddy won't make me nap."
"Daddy won't make me eat my sandwich."
"Dad won't make me clean my room."
"Dad won't make me fold laundry."
"Dad will let me jump off the roof." (into the seven foot high snowbanking)
"Dad gets me toast when I'm sick."

Not necessarily all of it is true. But Dad isn't there to confirm it, and so Moms are left fighting the ideal.

There is a benefit to all of this, though. You see, when Dad comes home from his long day of work, they run to him, cling to him, and Mommy....


Gets a moment to breathe.

I'm not looking for any "Appreciate what you have..." Because I really do try to, all the time. But an Amen from those who know of what I speak, that would be nice.

Welcome to my Party!!

I'm a little nervous, I'm not exactly a "party animal"! But every now and then I need to step out of my comfort zone and stretch myself just a tad!

Well, here at Between You Me and the Fencepost we tend to be awfully busy, but every now and then we run out of excuses to avoid doing the laundry! Boy do we have laundry, 4 boys and a husband with a pretty messy job outside (think layers in the winter) create a TON of laundry:

This is where I sit and spend time talking to you all, instead of keeping a clean house. I'm a SAHM, but until my 2 yo is in school I figure I have a good enough excuse! ;-)

I like to take pictures, I'm not great at it, but I scrapbook them as well. Scrapbooking changed how I take my puictures, blogging has changed how I live my life. For example, when I do things like go to Cumby's to get this:

my only real vice, fountain soda Diet Pepsi. I'm a connoisseur!

Let's check in on the boys, they're so cute, they don't even know they are at a party!

Here is child one:

he's eleven, and just said he didn't want to smile 'cuz he's mad at his brother. I asked him if he still loved his mother, and this is what we got! He's laying in his bed, a loft bed with a desk that my husband made out of PVC pipe and painted black. It's pretty cool!

and child two:

he's nine, and was very intently watching TV. NOT a social butterfly! (takes after his mom)

and child three:

he's seven, and always so happy to perform! Seven is a good age. I like it, he doesn't. He might if he didn't have two older brothers who can "do everything"! He likes to pose for the camera, but I refuse to post on the internet the picture he wanted me to take... his behind! Pants on, of course, just being silly.

Please excuse the mess, like I said, I avoid cleaning! No, that is not a Christmas decoration on my wall in March. Oh, ok, it is, sue me!

and child four:

he's the 2 yo, and likes to play shy! He was planned, but only after much thought and prayer. An awful pregnancy resulted in a child like no other, he radiates love and happiness and it bounces back from everyone around him. I worry he will end up spoiled, but we just can't help ourselves!

He's wearing a Fire Dept T-Shirt. The love of my life is on our town's volunteer department, and he and his fellow firefighters are idolized by my children. Usually they merit the adoration!

The couch he's on was a hand-me-down. Ok, ALL our living room furniture is second hand, from family. The couch I would have refused, it really is UGLY. But, after that last pregnancy I developed a severe hatred of our other couch due to the extensive amount of time I spent on it. And this one is a sleeper sofa, and little did we know we would be having angels sleep on it on a regular basis.

The angels? Right, they are brother and sister to another little girl, who has cancer. They are my very dear friend Melissa's children, and have spent A LOT of nights asleep on that couch! We try not to write too much about them, just when they really are here a lot. Cancer is a very sad topic, but we do address it every now and then (see Post #50 in the archives), as it is prevalent in our lives.

Oh, and of course, the Love of My Life, husband of 12+ years, and father of all my children (that always floors them at school!!):

Cute, huh? I think so. I recently told him we don't spend enough time together, between church responsibilities, friend needs, children, the fire department, and the extended family we never see anymore. He promised me we would spend all kinds of time together in the eternities. Sweet.

Child four is the only one not in need of a haircut. I gave him one a few days ago, I haven't got to the rest, including Love of My Life!

the view from my dining room.

We live up North, and are ready to be done with the snow! Bring on the flooding spring!

Well, I'm glad you stopped by, and look forward to maybe seeing you again soon! Also, I'd love to check out your blog if you have one!

Stay warm! Unless you live in Texas, and then I guess it's stay cool?

OH YEAH!!! ME!!! Silly goose that I am!

Here I am at a family cookout with the Love of My Life:

Ok, time to go meet all of you! Thanks again for stopping by, and drive safe!

Lucky Dog?

Bill came home last night, and I had made a HUGE pot of chicken soup. Thinking he had been out in the cold all day, it would toast him up nicely. For fun, I even made biscuits. They aren't hard to make, but while he loves them I generally despise them, so I never think to bother.

He walked in the door and asked if I minded if he went to bed.

He actually dozed in the recliner while we ate, then retired to his bed around 7.

I was awake at 12 am, thinking to myself, "Any minute now. Any minute." Midnight was a general time for things to hit the fan. I even had spoke to Melissa about plans for today, but they were in the air if Bill was home sick.

He woke up at 5:30. To his alarm. He got up and went to work. I'd be green with envy if I weren't SO relieved! I suppose, having cleaned up after FIVE, yes, FIVE, people's... well... you know, he deserved a break. But I could have sworn he was doomed.