Ooooh, OOOooooh - Mail!!

I don't know if I have ever been so excited by the idea of mail.  Maybe as a child- especially when my grandmother would send me a new post mark or when a package came from my Aunt Buffy.  But right now, I am exstatic about the idea of a couple of boxes actually arriving here.

Let me give you a little bit of back story.

In December 2012, my mother mailed two boxes to me.  Previously my husband had received packages here in Malaysia with no problem - some from me, some from his family.  The only hitch he ever encountered was the customs bill.  Otherwise - it has been no problem.  However, in the case of my two boxes... they never arrived.  When I inquired with my mother about them in late December/early January, as I had allowed some extra time for holiday shipping, she responded with the tracking numbers.  So - onto USPS.com I went to track the packages.  What did my little eyes see?  The address could not be confirmed and they were being sent back to the US.  WHAT???  I quickly started in with phone calls, emails, more phone calls...  Things weren't simple.  First there was the language barriers.  Most personnel I first talked with were a bit hard to understand.  I had only been in country about a month and my Bahasa Malay was nil.  They personnel on the other end of the line were very helpul though - would call over someone who spoke English a bit clearer for my benefit.  They gave me numbers and names to call, email addresses to send info to... all to no avail.  The packages were already on their way back to the US. 

Well - January came and went.  The tracking status still said the packages were being returned.  February came and went.  The tracking status still said the packages were being returned.  March came.... Finally, the packages appeared in Nebraska.  Battered.  Beaten.  Almost softened spheres instead of boxes.   My mom, the trooper she is, said everything was there and that she was re-boxing and sending the boxes again. 

This time though - she put the hubby's name on the boxes.  His packages seem to have no problem getting through the guards at our building.  Additionally, I am now tracking their every move.  Not just sitting back and waiting.  I will know when the arrive in country and will hound everyone about my packages every day.  (Well, maybe not hound, but they will know that I am here, am expecting the boxes and that this is a real address to deliver to.)

The thing is - I have new shoes in those boxes.  Now, I am not a shoe freak.  It is just that I have yet to find even one store that has shoes in my size for women.  Shoe shopping is one thing I will do when I return home. 

I have new bras in the boxes.  Again - I have yet to find a shop that makes beautiful holders for my womanhood.  So, bra and shoe shopping is on my return agenda.

I have new dresses in the boxes.  There is tropical weather here and I know I will love these dresses and wanted them a few months ago. 

The kids have items in the boxes, too. 

Just knowing they are on their way is SOOOOO exciting to me.  I am having a hard time getting to sleep each night.  I will be so very appreciative when these boxes arrive. 

However, if we have any problems this time.... I will cry.

My Daughter, His Son

So the hubby has this burning need to have a son who plays rugby.  Well, I gave him two sons - twins none the less.  It was his job to then instill in them the desire and need to play this sport that he loves so much.  Daddy-o's dream was to have a dynamic duo that would make all other rugby fans and players take note and need autographs wherever they went...

Well, after years of prodding, "mentoring" and begging... neither of the boys really like rugby.  One of the twins told said father about this decision a month or so ago.  Said father was grumpy for the rest of the week.  The other twin likes rugby, but doesn't love it.  He likes to go practice, but isn't so big on playing in matches.  The other twin dropped this bomb on his father this week. 

I could see grumpy daddy coming back - the kids don't like him and neither do I.  So, half-heartedly - I reminded soon-to-be-grumpy-daddy that he could still share his love of rugby with the one little rugger he had left - our daughter.  Well, she does LOVE rugby.  She loves all aspects of it - tackling, running down boys bigger than her and trying to (and often succeeding in) taking them down, learning the defense... you name it - she seems to just eat it up.

This morning she was so excited about it being a rugby pratice day, I just had to snap a picture.  My daughter is my husband's son... when it comes to rugby.

Making Popcorn from Scratch!

Well, living in this new country has us in a conundrum on a weekly basis.  A few weeks ago, we finally got the popcorn topping the hubby likes.  (He had to bring it back from the US with him, as we have not been able to find it here.)  So that presented the next challenges - Finding Popcorn and Learning how to Pop IT! 

He quickly found the raw popcorn at our local Hero (market).  It looked like popcorn kernels.  It was labeled as popcorn kernels - but I still had my doubts about it popping like popcorn kernels!

Well - I quickly found a great "recipe" or directions for homemade popcorn.  Seriously, I can't believe I had to go look for one, but I wasn't sure on the oil to kernels ratio.  The one I found is great.  It has you heat the oil with only a few kernels in the pan, then when they pop - you add the remaining bulk of the kernels - turn off the heat for 30 sec. - then resume heating/popping.  It works like a charm!  We have VERY FEW unpopped kernels.  (We used sunflower oil - in case you were wondering.  3 Tbs to 1/3c. popcorn kernels.)

I have become accustomed to microwave popcorn.  Before I began microwaving popcorn (what? 20 years ago?) we had an air popper.  I don't know that I have ever popped popcorn from scratch in my entire life before this.  The kids just think it is great that it still pops up like microwave popcorn and love that we make it so that the lid starts coming off the pan as we near the end of the popping.  They love seeing that huge pan fill - and almost overflow - with fresh, piping hot popcorn. 

Add dried cranberries - and I am one happy momma! 

Hmmm... What other crazy dried goods from this country can I try???

UP - In the Middle of the Night

I have never claimed to be an I-need-8-solid-hours-of-sleep-to-be-functional type of girl.  Usually, it is more in the neighborhood of 4-6 and things are dandy.  There is one caveat to this - the bed has to be all mine!

DD does not seem to understand this concept, and she doesn't understand that the bed in her room is hers!  What is up with this?  She understands concepts like: death, marriage, even my (and Stephen Hawking's) beginning explanations on nuclear fusion and black holes.  We are getting ready to start debates on string theory and she can't get that she has her own bed for the entire night?  Does she think she is in some weird "other" world in which she can only spend 2-4 hours in her own bed and then must change camp sites? 

(Note:  I realize that there are times I only need four hours and if she sleeps four then you would think it would all be good.  However, my four hours starts a minimum of two hours after her four hours starts.... nice math problem - leaving me with about only 2 hours prior to infiltration.) 

What is a mom (yawn) to do?  If I owned Dunkin' Donuts - I'd be right on time to make the donuts.

Coffee Craving

Heather
Originally uploaded by DoubleMomma

All that talk of tranquility has me craving some coffee!! It made me think of this photo that was taken when I was in Iraq. That mug is as big as my head and I would drink 1-3 of those a day while over there.

And I wonder why there is no quiet time in my house? How dare I!!

The Silence B4 the Storm

Divon Meditating
Originally uploaded by DoubleMomma

When I see the kids do yoga - it is sureal in so many ways. Unreal is more like it. The kids are typical siblings - it is rarely the quiet and tranquility of this picture.

No the kids don't do yoga outdoors in a field of wildflowers with bunnies hopping beside them and a deer drinking at the pond 100 feet away. They do it twice a week inside a studio because all the wildflowers would have caused a run for the Benadryl, and Divon and Dazjah would be chasing the bunny to see if it's tail was really fluffy or just a marshmellow they could try to eat.

That being said, I always tell other moms that there kids are great when they come over - they always are - and it is becuase our children are on better behavior when they are at someone else's house, they don't know just how far the rules can bend and they don't try to see just how far they can push those limits for fear that I will hold them upside down by their ankles off my deck. (My children know this is an idle threat!) But this picture showed me that my kids can actually relax their bodies and minds prior to 8:30 pm. Not to mention, the boys can now touch their toes without a ruler in each hand! (No they can't stick their foot behind their head, but Dazjah can - and they may be able to before the end of the year, if they stop laughing long enough to really try!)

Remember Karate Kid?

DD Crane
Originally uploaded by DoubleMomma

Gee - does this pose look familiar? I thought I was looking at her version of the ending of the Karate Kid movie. No - it was just DD being silly with how she was going to go nuts and win the evening of sparring - there was no winner - it wasn't a competition. I was just glad I had my camera out and ready when DD pulled this pose. The face that she gave me with it had me rolling.

Of course, the other day when I talked to my sister had me rolling, too. At that time though it was because how her 10 and 7 year-olds explained having a baby. The 10 y.o. explained it as, "The baby comes out of the belly button." (Very matter-of-fact and confident in his answer.) The 7 y.o. then pipes in, "Yeah, and it has that string you have to cut." This is in sharp contrast (HA!) to my children who state that you have to "poop out the baby." Hey, at least mine know the right area!

Silly Girl-isms 101

Who is this crazy lady?
Originally uploaded by DoubleMomma

DD is so silly sometimes. Last night it was with her impression of acting crazy - this is the photo for proof. Tonight it was with her explanation of real versus pretend people on TV.

DD started by informing me that not all the people on TV were real. So I asked her who was real and how could you tell. Her answer, "Some people are real, but others - like Lazlo - are not." (Incase you don't know, Lazlo is a cartoon character.) NO WAY!! Lazlo isn't real - this can't be!! I was laughing so loud in my head that I didn't hear the rest of her explanation until she said, "...except the on America's Funniest Pets and People - they are real." These were her final thoughts before going to bed... I can't wait to hear about her dream from last night.

Pretty in Pink

DD
Originally uploaded by DoubleMomma

DD loves wearing dresses. This is just another typical day of dressing for school.... then she emerges from her room and I tell her to change. Well, this day I let her wear the way-too-dressy-dress to school.

This photo was a couple of weeks ago. She has now found two pair of golfing shorts (she has never gone golfing) that she will occassionally wear, and she will wear t-shirts as long as they have sparkles on them. (Makes me think of The Gilmore Girls.) Talk about spunk.

Did I mention that there was a time when she wouldn't do karate because 1) there was no pink belt and 2) you couldn't wear a karate skirt - she could kick higher if she had a karate skirt. (I think she had seen a clip from the new Charlie's Angels on TV.)

Amazingly Smooth - Not unless Nair is Involved

Just one of my little quirks - What are things that are smooth?

• legs after using nair
• a really good, aged liquor
• satin sheets
• my super klutz sister (just joshin' - Jess falls with no grace;o)

However - I have never classified a soda as smooth. I can't believe that this is the new tag line for Cherry Dr. Pepper. The carbonation makes any soda NOT smooth as it sits on your tongue, goes down your throat, and occasionally (after you have drank too much way too fast) that atrocious bellow of a burp. I can't even stick up my pinky and say, "But it is so smooth on my palate." - Not happenin'!

In other (totally unrelated) news - DD will be starting Kindergarten in July. She will be attending the same year-round school as her brothers. They will be in second grade. And - to our delight - she will be in the Spanish Immersion program. I LOVE the Spanish Immersion program. It isn't about the language - I wouldn't care if it were French, Mandarin, Arabic, or Swahili. What it is about is the level of brain usage, the challenges a second language poses, and the creativity utilized by the teachers.

With the boys - there has been no loss of English comprehension. They write as well as and better than most of the traditional (English-only taught) 1st graders in their school. Although they read, talk, and write in Spanish all day - the majority of their time at home is in English. Like many boys they are into comic books and other animation. So, we spend a lot of time at the library - they get to choose some animation books and they get some traditional books. We started the Judy Bloom series about Fudge - they love this series of chapter books. One of their favorite portions to read and re-read and re-read is when Mr. Feathers (the bird) says, "Bonjour, Stupid" repeatedly through the chapter. - FYI: Their school works with the SPLASH! Program. These teachers and assistants are bi-lingual and amazing in their ideas on how to teach.

More Soup Please!

This is how viciously my children protect their food. Note the "touch it and die" look on DD's face, the amazingly awesome block by Divon, and the kung-fu punch you would receive from Zephan.

The kids are very excited that I was the "selectee of choice" for the Kansas position. They are very anxious to move to Kansas so that they can be closer to their Nebraska cousins - Chayse and Tuker. Of course, they are also very interested in what Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun have to offer as well. I guess it is time to do all those things here that I had been putting off. Nothing huge - but the typical one more trip to the beach, some other sights in and around North Carolina that are interesting and fun for a weekend trip, and lots of pictures. Needless to say, I have begun to put together weekend plans for excursions. In a few weeks we will be going to the Museum of Life and Science up in Raleigh. There is a trip to a mysterious and fun house - I will give you the details when we get back. As spring progresses we will return for another hike at Raven Rock and other NC parks. All-in-all there will be plenty more to write about and a plethora of pictures to share...

We have plenty of plans for visiting our east coast family, too. We have scheduled Christmas in New York at Auntie Danielle's place- the kids are super excited anytime we mention New York becuase they know that means they will get to see their cousins Xavier, Sebastian and Savannah. There will be adventures with Grandpa Lu - usually meaning arcade or video games, and we will be attending more rugby games with daddy this spring and summer.

Here they are... loving the snow that we received this week. Although it was only about 6", schools were closed for the past two days. Honestly though - I like that the kids were able to experience it instead of sitting around in class day dreaming about snowmen, snowballs, and snow angels. DD had just been harping on me about how it wasn't winter. Her logic was that it snowed in the winter and we didn't ever have any snow. Therefore, it wasn't winter.

Ding, ding, ding - we have a grand prize winner. DD your fabulous prize is...... WINTER!

Today in addition to honing our snowball making skills and having a snowball fight with the neighbors, we also talked about icicles. We talked about why we didn't have them yesterday, but why we had some nice big ones this morning. We took a walk around the neighborhood and talked about icicles and snow on mailboxes. I know that sounds so interesting! However, we talked about why the plastic mailboxes didn't have snow or icicles left on them but the metal ones did. We talked about why there were icicles only on one side - even though the mailbox was level. We talked about how there was up to 2" of snow on one side of the mailbox, but on the top and other side there was little if any.... it was interesting conversation and my little men proved to me why there teachers say they always ask great questions. (Yeah, I am biased... )

It was wonderful to let them all experience some of this weather and all the fun that snow can bring. However, there was a large part of me that desperately wants to sweep them all up and hall them closer to my home - where they would get a large dose of winter - and the chill that comes with it - every year. Hey, I have got to teach these kids what cold weather is - 40 degrees is only on the chilly side of nice, not "pull out the sweaters, long johns, and heavy down coats freezing."

I have a few more pictures posted on my flickr... check it out to see more of the kids and their snowball eating - I mean making - experiences from the past two days.

No Pictures, Just Chatter

These past couple of weeks have been something else! I will post pictures of the car accident in a couple of days. Yes, the kids were with me! Fortunately, we are all still walking and talking.

I will share with you an email I recently sent to my sister....

My old cell was fried by lightning and I don't have any of the numbers that were in it. Would you please send me your number, mom's number, dad's numbers, Heath's number, etc..... Anyone else you can think of. I have the same phone number, it is just that all the numbers I had in my phone were completely obliterated.

And yes, the phone was struck by lightning while only 4 inches from my hand.... well, not quite.

Actually there wasn't even lightning. As a matter of fact, it could better be described as a mother carrying too many things out the door as she was getting all the kids off to school when she put all the items for recycling in the same hand as her phone and she put them all in the recycling bin and left home. Then, when she came back an hour and a half later, the recycling truck had already came and emptied the recycling bin. Yeah, that describes it a little more acurately.

It's Raining, It's Pouring

It has been raining cats and dogs for what seems like a week now. I love the rain. However, I am getting sick of this little song my children sing..... If the "old man is snoring" that means you need to be quiet so he can finish his nap!

This was last week - look at that gorgeous sunshine! This is Divon in one of his famous "I'm gonna' get you" poses. The instructor, Gabrielle, is making sure they don't go flying through the glass window - such a responsible girl!

Now, here is Zephan - wooping up on a girl - or is it the other way around? Zephan and Divon both have this automatic response to jump like the little mexican jumping beans that they look like when ever their instructors say the word 'spar'. And you can see that the girl is grounded, but Zephan is jumping - defending himself - but still jumping. Both of them can't wait to graduate to the next class where they get to wear the sparring gear and throw kicks and punches. Needless to say, we are really working on controlling where our kicks and punches land. One of our most fruitful methods has been to have mom (ME) hold out my feet and each of them gets to throw jabs at it. It is about the right height for another person their height AND I get a great foot massage. It's great- as long as I like a little pain. They pack some pretty hard little jabs!

Finally - here is a picture of DD from last Friday when we were in downtown Fayetteville. This was the outfit she wore to meet her teacher for the first time. We shared a cheese, pita, fruit and yogurt plate at Blue Moon before running off to see her classroom and meet her teacher. Dazjah loves going downtown - what can I say - the girl has class. She is an old spirit - she loves to drink good coffee, have her steak pink, seafood, and a couple sips of good wine. Many people tell me that I am going to have to "watch out with her," but honestly - she is in karate and ballet - she only like girls - and as long as I can keep those factors a priority - I think I have a fighting chance. Also, it is going to take quite a guy to impress her with her tastes!

The Universe is Shifting!!!

Help!! Or, in the words of Sting, "I'm sending out an S.O.S. to the world."

The universe in a paradoxical downfall - my children have started a habit of getting up somewhere between 3:30 and 4:30 a.m. What is going on???? Ever since we started this walking until the sun comes up - they now think that as long as it is dark - it is time to get up! AAAAHHHHHHH.

Even Dazjah - my "don't touch me until I am good and ready to wake up (after 8 a.m.) child" is rising between 5:30 and 6 a.m. consistently. I guess this is my Grandpa Morris' genes shining through - telling me that I am being a lazy bum, not wanting to be up everyday before 6-6:30.

What is a mom to do???? Send coffee, please!

Happy Birthday, Joel and Jessica!

Today is my dad's and my sister's birthday!

About Dad: My dad is a tried and true guy. He is honest, has a great laugh, and is the smartest man I know! One of the things I remember about growing up was his collection of Coke bottles from around the world. He had a HUGE bottle - it had to hold about 5 gallons of Coke (at least it looked that way to me as a child)- that, if I remember correctly, was from Turkey. He had another one from somewhere else, China maybe, that had a skeleton of a bat in it. I also remember taking soybeans or corn to the scales with him when I was a child. He would always grab a Coke from the old-style vending machines. That is, the glass bottle vending machines. The drink just seemed cooler in that glass bottle.

Also, my dad was - and still is - the BEST pancake maker in the world! He even suffered through me making french toast - first putting butter in the batter instead of the skillet - and through a second batch of a tablespoon or two of salt instead of a teaspoon - and finally praised my accomplishing an edible product on the third batch - all while laughing. I remember tasting the second batch and being sure that he was going to be furious about me wasting so many eggs. But not my dad - he just tossed it, rinsed the bowl, and told me to try again.

Well, my sister is the one who can really recall the stories from our childhood. She has this insane memory. I swear - there are times when she tells a story - everything is exactly right - but I am thinking to myself, "How do you remember all that? Are you a spybot or something? No one has a memory like that." She remembers every one of the fights between me and my brother (just good sibling rivalry, right?), all the issues around the phone, the tv remote, and the losers I dated. No, I did not think they were losers - well, most of them.

The only semblance of a story that comes immediately to mind is about Furbees and Munchkins. My sister loved her Furbee and Monchichi- I think she still has them to this day - although I am sure she will respond and comment on some elaborate story of how one or both were dismembered, killed in a hunting accident, or Griff has restuffed it in a more realistic way with all his taxidermy skills. She was probably about three when Jane was over to babysit while our parents were out bowling. We were playing some stupid kid game - I think we called it "Alligator." - We took all the cushions off the couch, each kid had one to stand on, if you got some obscure trivia question right you were rewarded with jumping to another couch cushion, if not you got tossed into the alligator pit. Again, I am sure Jess will respond with the official rules and scenario. Well, the question was an easy one - "What is a munchkin?" Jess said she knew and jumped to the next cushion. Me and Heath, my brother, did not think she really knew what a munchkin was - so we challenged her. Her response, after much hesitation, was that a munchkin was a squirrel. Heath and I laughed so hard. Jess and her furbee were thrown in the alligator pit. I think she confused the Monchichi with a munchkin - just looking at it I can understand why. Sorry Jess - I know that is not a wonderful story for you - but it is the only one I remember!

Cherubs, Cherubs, everywhere... Some are here, some are there!

For all of my family and friends who know me sooooooo well.... here are pictures of some children that are near and dear to my heart.

First we have Chelsea with the cat and Jasmine being "pretty in pink."

Now, who do you think is the biggest fan of these two girls? She keeps their pictures on her dresser so that she can talk to them after I tell her it is time to go to bed!

That's right - Little Mama, herself - DD!

Of course I can't leave my little men hanging -

so here are some pictures of them so that you can compare and contrast all 5 of them!

Spider-Pig

Well, Dazjah is still coming to work with me until she starts 'school' on the 25th. So, every day after lunch she usually goes upstairs to lay down, maybe watch a movie - maybe get a nap in, depending on how much running around she has done.

A couple of days ago, after a big lunch, I took her upstairs. I asked her if she just wanted to lay down or if she wanted me to put a movie in. She was still very wide awake and asked for a movie. Well, Dazjah asks for "the spider-pig movie."

Now, most of you may be familiar with the term "spider-pig" because of the Simpson movie. I know that whenever I hear the term I start singing, "Spider-pig, Spider-pig, does whatever a spider-pig does." As do my children, even though we have not seen the movie. (It was great marketing on the advertisers part, just not great follow-through on my non-movie theatre going family!)

I am about to say that we don't have that movie - much less on VHS (it is an old tv that is up in this room!) when another movie catches my eye. I suddenly know exactly which movie she is talking about. Can you guess what movie it is?

She wanted to watch - Charlotte's Web! ("duh")

A Few Wack-a-doodle Ideas I Didn't Know About

First off, the term "wack-a-doodle" is a term that was introduced to me by my best I-got-deployed-to-Iraq buddy - Dana. She was with me the first three months of my tour in Iraq and then she came back to the states to become a war statistic - that's right - she got pregnant within the first 3 minutes of being back on her home turf!

So here are a few items I didn't know existed, and they rate right up there with "the gentleman's ball scratcher in polished silver."

1) Can-ouflage - Initially, I thought this would be camouflage for hunters beer cans. I was partially right. Bottom line, Jess and Griff - you are still the only people I would by these for. Maybe I would buy the one that is a play on Mountain Dew - Mountain Spew - for my brother since he is adicted to "doin' the dew."

2) Recycled Windshield Glass Stemless Wine Glasses - I just find this an interesting marketing view. Considering how much glass is recylced and all the different products it is used for. I guess I am suppose to be comforted by the thought of a big, juicy grasshopper giving his life so that I could enjoy my environmentaly friendly drink.

3) iCarta iPod Stereo Dock and Bath Tissue Holder - ( I found 2 used ones on Amazon!) Personally I think it should have been named the 'iCrappa iPod Dock and Toilet Paper Dispenser.' Who comes up with these items. Honestly - something that close to toilet? Something just screams "Honey, I'm not feeling so good - it must have been something I ate." about this product. To which I would reply, "I told you to use the hand sanatizer before changing your 'dropping-the-kids-off-at-the-pool' music."

Of course, I let my kids have input on one item they thought should be on this list. Here is the boys top choice:

4) The "What you need to survive a zombie attack" kit. Again, we found this on Amazon and they are asking for it for their birthday. I am not reminding any of you when there birthday is if you think I am signing up to have two 7 year-old boys with machetes, maglites, and crowbars running around the house at 2 a.m. or the neighborhood before dawn.


DD on the otherhand just thinks everyone should own a tutu and high-heels. She says that "Yes, even boys should have them so they can give them to the girls." Hard logic to argue with!

Quiet (Riot) Time

Over the past couple of weeks I have been getting up early to go for a walk. It gets my blood flowing and with the humidity as high as it is I usually have a nice sweat session as well. I usually leave the house around 5:30 in the morning and return just as the sun is coming up.

Well, this morning I awoke at about 5:20. The house was dark. Everything was still and quiet. I slipped out of bed leaving Dazjah (the midnight space-invader) and John slumbering. I grabbed a pair of socks and walking shorts and headed to the living room to put them on in silence and darkness.

I made it to the kitchen, grabbed my shoes and heard little pitter-patter footsteps on the carpet in the hall. I stopped dead in my tracks. In 2 seconds, around the corner came a little boy with nothing but his white and red Hot Wheels underwear on. "Good morning, Mommy."

"Good morning, Zephan."

"What are you doing, Mommy?"

"I'm getting ready to go on my walk." More pitter-patter in the hall. "Good morning, Divon. Would you two like me to turn on some cartoons while I go on my walk?"

Although looking very forlorn in the face, they said they wanted to watch one show while I went for my walk. I turn on the TV and closed the hall door. I sat down to put on my shoes and here comes DD.

Now, DD is not a morning person. She is usually the last one awake and the biggest handful to get ready and moving.

"Mommy, what are you doing?"

"Good morning, Dazjah. I am getting ready to go on my walk. Do you want to watch one show with brothers?"

"AWWWWWW." (lip sticking out, big blue puppy dog eyes appear) "I wanted to go running with you. Why can't I go running with you?"

"If you can get dressed quick you can come."

In record time she had a shirt and pink sweatpants on and was slipping on shoes. The boys, seeing all of this went to get dressed and decide that if DD can go, so can they.

Out the door we all headed. I know this is not going to be a fast paced walk, but maybe we will get in a science lesson or two. So, off we go. At first the kids are quiet - we can hear the crickets and are noticing how many little branches and leaves our mini-thunderstorm blew down the night before. Then Divon says, "Mommy, all the cars are still asleep. And all the people, too."

We all chuckle at the thought of cars getting up, brushing their teeth, making breakfast, etc. Well, that started it all. The rest of the next 45 minutes was spent noticing wildlife, talking about the sun, the sky and how and why the sky changed colors and WAKING UP EVERY DOG AND NEIGHBOR. The kids would get so loud "talking" that I would tell them to tone it down becuase they were shouting. I love going out early in the morning for the peace and quiet. We did meet our neighborhood watch president. His comment was that there was no way he could get his grandkids out of bed this early. It was still before 6 a.m. when we ran into him. He was astonished - to say the least.

By 6:30 I am sure that most of our neighborhood was up due to a different type of morning alarm, but we had seen a rabbit out munching on a lawn, a HUGE cat sleeping on the state trooper's car hood, and many birds. It was a good morning, but definately not a quiet one.