Shhhhhhhh! Wanna know a secret?

I’ll give you three hints…

Hint #1

Hint #2.

Hint #3.

Did you figure it out? I’ll bet you did, cuz you’re super-smart.

Post if you think you know what the secret is; I’ll let you know if you’re right!

Cowboy has wanted to be a Marine ever since he was knee-high to a grasshopper. (Definition: Quite young, as in I haven’t seen him since I was knee-high to a grasshopper.)

Even though both of my grandfathers served in the military – my dad’s dad in the Air Force and my mom’s dad as a Navy Sea Bee – I hoped Cowboy would change his mind. I have nothing but the greatest respect and appreciation for the men and women who serve in the military, but I didn’t want Cowboy to be one of them.

I know it’s selfish, but I didn’t want to worry about him or stand by helplessly as Princess worried about him. I didn’t want Princess and Peanut to be lonely and missing him while he was gone. I didn’t want – God forbid – him to be injured or worse in Iraq or Afghanistan.

But Cowboy had his heart set on becoming a Marine, and as much as Princess didn’t want to be separated from him she knew how important it was to him. She wanted him to be able to follow his heart’s desire, so after many discussions between Cowboy, Princess, and the Marines recruiter they came up with a plan that everyone could agree upon: Cowboy joined the Marines Reserves.

The Marines Reserves seems to be a perfect compromise for Cowboy and Princess. Cowboy gets to follow his dream, serve his country, and have help paying for college while Princess gets to keep her husband near – once he finishes training. When I first heard that Cowboy wanted to join the Marines I was mostly worried for Cowboy’s safety. Even though the recruiter said that the job Cowboy wanted to train for would keep him stateside, I wasn’t so sure. He’s a big and strong young man who’s been hunting since he was a kids so he knows his way around guns , so it seems logical that he’d be sent overseas.

Another of my worries – and a selfish one at that – was that Cowboy and Princess would end up moving across the country to California. It’s rare for a week to go by without seeing them so I can’t imagine only seeing them a couple of times a year. I also worried about Princess finishing college if they ended up moving. She’s only in her second year and has at least two yet to go – more if she follows her original plan and continues on to law school – and from the little research I did it seemed unlikely that all of her credits would transfer. But as a Reserves member Cowboy will return home again after his training – yea!

Originally Cowboy was supposed to leave for boot camp in March, but there was a change in plans and he was scheduled to leave mid-January. Luckily Princess was on Christmas break from college until the last week of January, because they had a lot to do and not much time to do it! There was paperwork to complete and file, finances and insurance to figure out, and an entire apartment to pack.

Cowboy’s parents, Teacher, and I did what we could to help Princess and Cowboy prepare for his departure. Cowboy’s parents put in countless hours at the apartment, packing boxes and moving items into storage at their shop. With less flexible schedules Teacher and I weren’t able to help pack but we did our best to provide moral support and encouragement for Princess and Cowboy.

The days hurtled on until it was the night before he was scheduled to leave. Teacher and I had to work the next morning so Cowboy, Princess and Peanut came over for supper so we could all spend one last night together. Even though we knew it was coming, I don’t think any of us was ready. The next day Princess and Cowboy’s mom dropped him off at the recruiter’s office with nothing but the clothes on his back, his driver’s license, and Princess’s bible. OK, to be honest he still had his iPod and phone, but he planned to leave them with his sister in Milwaukee. He knew he couldn’t take them to boot camp but wanted to text and call Princess until the very last moment. After a snowy drive to Milwaukee Cowboy had one last night of relative freedom before boarding a plane headed for San Diego and twelve weeks of Marines boot camp.

God be with you while you’re away, Cowboy. We love you, are so incredibly proud of you, and can’t wait for you to come home again!

Some families take their kids to a farm where they ride hay wagons out to a pumpkin patch and pick their pumpkins right from the vine. We’ve done that with our kids many times, but not this year. This year we took the kids on a car ride to a florist where they picked their pumpkins right from the blacktop. The story isn’t as nostalgic, but the end result was the same – we had pumpkins to carve!

Friday morning we brought the pumpkins inside to warm up all day before carving. We learned that lesson the hard way; scooping goop out of frigid pumpkins is not much fun. I wasn’t sure how well the evening would go because we’d had a wave of the pukies take down Little Guy, Princess and Peanut the previous night. That’s why Little Guy is in mis-matched PJs; when you’re dealing with puke you’re just happy to have clean PJs even if they don’t match.

Teacher opened Little Guy’s pumpkin so he could start scooping out the goop. I was afraid that after being sick he wouldn’t be able to take it, but he was fine. Princess not so much so instead of getting down and dirty she took the pictures.

Mmmm, I love the smell of fresh pumpkin! Start scooping, Little Guy.

Brrrrr! Looking at Angel Face makes me cold, but she didn’t want to deal with sleeves when scooping out the pumpkins. Personally I’d just pull up my sleeves – I hate being cold.

Z-Man was really excited about carving his pumpkin and could hardly wait for someone to open it for him. He kept begging to be allowed to cut it himself but I wouldn’t let him. Taking one child College Boy when he was younger to the E.R. because he tried to cut his hand open is more than enough for me!

Finally both boys’ pumpkins were opened so they could dive into the goop.

Angel Face dove right into her pumpkin too. College Boy was never fond of getting his hands into the pumpkin guts, but his siblings don’t seem to mind at all.

Jo-Bear tried an ice cream scoop on his pumpkin. We used to have a big metal spoon that worked great for scooping out pumpkins, but last year it broke. The ice cream scoops are almost as good.

Z-Man really loves playing with his pumpkin’s goop.

We always separate the seeds and goop so we can roast the seeds; Teacher, College Boy and Jo-Bear are especially fond of roasted pumpkin seeds.

Angel Face is ready to start her design. The kids have tried many different methods to transfer their designs to their pumpkins; their favorite method is drawing right on the pumpkin.

I’m obsessed with getting ALL the goop and strings out so I helped Little Guy finish cleaning out his pumpkin.

Perfect! Time for Teacher to take over – he’s our Master Pumpkin Carver.

This is one of those times where Teacher’s art background comes in handy. Little Guy is still deep in his Cars obsession and wanted a Mater pumpkin.

Angel Face is ready to start carving. Watching her I have the first cut is the deepest going through my head.

Can you tell what she’s carving?

I’ll give you a hint: she also carved “Oom” into the pumpkin. Does that help?”

Z-Man is STILL playing in the goop.

Jo-Bear often makes his pumpkin similar to his costume. This year he was a werewolf so he chose a wolf design for his pumpkin. He traced around the pieces with a Sharpie, which worried me at first because I didn’t know if it would come off, but it did.

Almost done – it looks great Jo-Bear!

Z-Man finally stopped playing in the pumpkin goop so his dad could start carving. He had a hard time deciding what he wanted on his pumpkin, but eventually decided on “fish.” Teacher carved a small underwater scene with a shark, starfish and little fishies. Z-Man was so excited about it, especially the shark.

Little Guy was still tired from being sick so once his pumpkin was done he cuddled on the couch with his blanket. Poor little guy!

Peanut was feeling much better, but wasn’t 100% either. She wandered around on the floor, weaving between our legs for a while, then settled on the couch to watch TV when Backyardigans came on. She’ll get to carve her pumpkin with her mommy and daddy when Cowboy gets home from work

Every year Teacher carves a pumpkin especially for me. One year it was the Zany Zebra logo, last year it was a haunted house…

This year it’s flowers!

Thank you Teacher – I love them!

What did you carve on your pumpkins this year?

I love to organize.

Seriously!

There’s something satisfying about starting with a huge jumbled mess and sorting, tossing, boxing and labeling until it’s a neat, organized, usable space.

It makes me happy.

Our game closet was one of my projects:

Every time you opened the door something fell out on you, you couldn’t find anything, and the “Orphaned Pieces” box was stuffed to overflowing.

It was a huge, chaotic mess.

One afternoon I had the kids help me bring all the games to the dining room table. I went through each box, repairing, and replacing missing pieces that had been tossed in the “Orphaned Pieces” box. Games or puzzles that were too broken or missing too many pieces to play with were thrown out, and games or puzzles that hadn’t been played with in a long time were given to charity. Shhh, don’t tell the kids; they haven’t missed some of their things yet!

Then I arranged the games and puzzles on the shelves according to age level. The top shelf holds the older kids’ games and things we don’t use often.

By the way, “Blood Bowl” is not a mom-sanctioned game; Uncle Ike gave it to College Boy as a gift. Can anyone tell me why uncles love to get their nieces and nephews things they know we don’t want them to have?

The next-highest shelf is for “big kid” games that they play often.

Next are “intermediate” games and a few “little kid” games; the ones Z-Man and Little Guy need help with.

Finally a shelf for Z-Man and Little Guy! Lots of the games on this shelf are used with the daycare too.

On the floor is a handcrafted chess set Teacher’s dad made for College Boy, a basket of clothes I need to iron, etc.

Not bad for an afternoon’s work, the hard part is going to be keeping it clean.

So, what do you think; does this make me a nerd?

Our last day in Grand Haven arrived too quickly. We’d had a whirlwind weekend of favorite food, time at the beach, playing backyard games, and too much sugar, but sadly it was time to go home.

Angel Face had wanted to walk to the famous Grand Haven light house before going home so after church we headed for the beach.

Usually the State Park beach is notoriously crowded, but it’s not too bad on a Sunday morning. It was so gorgeous we had to have one last walk in the sand.

There’s the light house: one of my very favorite sights in the whole world.

Walking along the wet sand with the waves sliding in and out is so calming. I love living in Wisconsin but really, really miss living by the lake.

“Smile, Angel Face!” She loves the beach too. Unfortunately her wading started trouble…

“Hey, Little Guy, do you see the boat? Little Guy?

Awww, honey, you weren’t supposed to go so deep; you’re not in your swim suit!”

Finally we arrived at the light house – some of us wetter than others. From a distance you can’t tell how huge these boulders are, but once Jo-Bear stands by them it’s obvious. I wonder how they moved these rocks in the 1830s without the equipment we have today.

Right after I took this photo Angel Face stole my camera, so I claim no responsibility for the following photos. Of course, I don’t take responsibility for anything I don’t have to.

The catwalk fascinates me. I can’t imagine how scary it would be to fight your way across it during a storm. I can’t imagine waves so high they’d wash you off the catwalk, but I’d love to see it sometime…. from a safe distance, of course.

The view across the channel…

The beach we walked to get here…

It’s a long but beautiful walk to the end of the pier.

There’s a good reason I don’t look at the back view when I get dressed in the morning. Gah!

Almost there! Have I said how much I love the light house?

Another light house photo – cool angle, Angel Face!

Looking off the end of the pier towards Wisconsin.

“Hello house across the lake, did you miss us? We’ll be home later tonight.”

First in a series of photos… subject: Angel Face’s Feet.

Since the kids have been taking Spanish since grade school they get excited when they find things written in Spanish. Teacher and I always keep our eyes open for things to have them translate.

*Sigh*

Looking into the cool water, hearing the waves and seagulls, smelling the fresh lake air is all so relaxing. I dream of someday having a house on the lake…

Another very cool photo of the light house. I never get tired of looking at the light house…

Number Two in the series of Photos of Angel Face’s Feet.

Time to head back – we’ve to a long drive ahead of us yet.

Number Three in the Angel Face’s Feet series. I think she’s obsessed with her feet.

There’s a fine line between wading and swimming and I think the boys are getting very close to crossing it.

There they go across the line! I can’t get too upset with them; if I was a kid I’d have been soaked head to toe by now. It’s just too nice a day not to get wet!

Luckily I have one last clean outfit for each of them.

My Jo-Bear. Somehow I didn’t notice how grown-up he’s getting until now.

“Come on guys, we still need to get downtown for Angel Face’s shirt!”

To be continued…

Z-Man and Little Guy love scooping the suds out of the sink after I’ve done dishes. They wave their hands around to make the bubbles fly everywhere, then laugh maniacally as they stomp on them.

I have no idea where Z-Man is this time.

I have no idea why Little Guy is naked.

But he seems to be having a ball.

Good, clean, Wisconsin fun.

I like to keep my camera on the kitchen counter so I can grab it at a moment’s notice. You never know when one of the kids will do something incredibly cute – or incredibly embarrassing – that I’ll want to capture in full digital color.

Of course this means that the camera sometimes falls into the wrong hands.

Sneaky hands that put it back before I know it’s missing.

But somehow I always find out…

The Mystery Photographer strikes again! I wonder he’ll take photos of this time?

My laptop… Facebook… naptime?

I plead the Fifth!

Still life: “Crackers on Counter.”

Modern art: “Crackers on Counter.”

Ah ha – the Mystery Photographer is unveiled. Hi Little Guy!

Hey, next time ASK before you use mamas camera, ‘K?

“Awww man!”

“Ow!”

I peeked around the corner to see the cause of Z-Man’s distress.

“Aaaaah!”

He was alone so I melted back before he saw me.

“I can’t DO it!”

“Rrrrrrrrr!”

Finally he trudged over.

“I need some water”

“What for?”

Wordlessly he pointed to his right knee which looked like a long string of bubble gum had been swirled around the kneecap several times before getting stuck.

“Oh dear, how did that happen?” Dumb question; he’d been warned many, many times to stop pulling gum out of his mouth and playing with it.

He shrugged, but his face gave him away. I decided not to pursue it; my goal was for him to stop playing with his gum, so making him admit his guilt wasn’t important.

Trying to practice Love and Logic, I empathized, then put the problem back on him: “Oh, that’s too bad. What are you going to do about it?”

“I don’t know.” He looked so sad I almost took pity on him – almost.

“You could try rubbing it off with tissues.”

He grabbed a handful of tissues and set to work.

It wasn’t long before he was back.

“It won’t come off!” he wailed.

“Ohhh, that’s too bad.” I empathized, “Would you like some help?”

He nodded.

Since we were out of peanut butter and I wanted to be sure he wouldn’t forget the consequences of playing with his gum I started picking the gum off with my fingernails. I tried very hard not to pinch skin but the gum was stuck in his little hairs and didn’t want to come off.

It wasn’t pleasant for either of us. Z-Man alternated between giggling and whining, and wiggled so much I had a hard time grabbing the gum without pinching him. With supper and rest breaks thrown in it took several hours before his knee was gum-free, but finally his knee was clean. Whew!

Hopefully next time he has bubble gum he’ll remember to keep it in his mouth. If not, I hope he sticks it in his hair. I’ll bet he’ll never forget having some of his hair buzzed off because it had gum in it!

“Nooo! I don’t want to have swimming lessons!”

“Please don’t make me, please, please please!”

Z-Man wasn’t thrilled with the idea of swimming lessons in May when I first signed him up.

“They’re not for a loooong time, honey. We’ll talk about it later.”

I know when to pick my battles.

Swimming lessons were only mentioned in passing a couple of times in June and the beginning of July.

Gradually he got used to the idea.

In fact, by the middle of July he was so excited about them he drove me crazy asking what day his lessons started. Over and over and over and over again.

Finally it was the first day of swimming lessons! Z-Man was in his swimming suit and downstairs before 7:00am.

He was not a happy camper when I told him it wasn’t time to go for another two hours.

Since they were at 9:30am I couldn’t go to his first two lessons, but I had Wednesday off so I could watch him then.

I don’t know if he’s learning many skills, but he sure is having a great time.

Little Guy went along to play in the wading pool.

He’s not fond of getting his face wet.

At first he ran for a towel every time he got splashed.

But it didn’t take long for him to get over it.

I think he’ll be ready for lessons next summer!

Some things you should know before you read this post:

• 1. My taste is usually the opposite of Teacher’s
• 2. I’m not very fond of change
• 3. “Compromise” means you do things my way
• 4. I have caviar taste but a tuna fish budget
• 5. I’m terrible at making decisions

With these things in mind you can imagine how much fun it was when Teacher and I decided we had to do something about our poor, run-down, used and abused love seats.

The love seats were first purchased by my parents the same year Teacher and I were married. They the love seats, not my parents started out in my parents’ living room – a room which also housed our piano, a record player < -- linky for those of you too young to know what a record player is and a couple of end tables. The room should have been referred to by the old-fashioned name, “Sitting Room,” because it was mainly used for obligatory piano practice my parents’ after-work cup of coffee and newspaper time.

About seven years ago the love seats entered our crazy household when my parents bought a new couch and gave the love seats to us. Freshly cleaned, Scotch-Guarded, Amish-made, and barely used, they were in almost-new condition.

Sadly, that didn’t last long.

My mom thinks it was the cleaner’s use of water-based solution instead of the solvent-only solution called for on the care tags that did it…

I think it was the endless parade of daycare children and constant use and abuse by our active family that was the cause – after just four years in our household the fabric began to shred.

One day the button on the back pocket of my jeans got so tangled in a cushion’s loose threads that I couldn’t stand up until Teacher cut me loose. Actually, I could stand up but I’d have a cushion attached to my butt. I chose to stay seated until I was rescued. That weekend we purchased duvet covers to throw over the love seats so they wouldn’t try to eat unsuspecting guests.

In the usual way of things, the days flew by so quickly that we didn’t have time to do anything more about the love seats for over a year – except for the fluffing, folding, rearranging, tucking and fussing I did with the duvet covers innumerable times a day.

Finally, fed up with those duvet covers, I decided it was time to do something about the love seats NOW! We couldn’t afford to buy new ones, and everything except the fabric was in such excellent shape that we didn’t want to throw them out, so we decided to reupholster. Following a friend’s recommendation I found a guy who used to work for a big upholstery company. His price was half of what the other companies quoted me, all we had to do was find fabric.

This is where things get interesting – remember the list at the top of the page? We started out at JoAnns, and it didn’t take long for us to realize that the pictures in our heads were vastly different. When I say our tastes are different I’m not exaggerating; it took Teacher and me three years of looking to agree on a comforter! For the love seats Teacher was imagining a fabric with a definite pattern and some depth. I was picturing something neutral, with a small pattern that would disappear when you unfocused your eyes. Neither JoAnns or Hancock had anything to make our hearts go pitty-pat so we decided to check out the place suggested by Brook, aka “the upholstery guy.”

After a 45 min drive we found the place – a huge warehouse-style building surrounded by cornfields and nothing else. Inside it looked like an overstock sale married a flea market; a huge variety of unrelated items – maybe leftovers from other discount stores – were displayed helter-skelter on the shelves. I didnt’ think that we’d find what we were looking for until I saw two rows of triangular shelves displaying roll after roll of upholstery fabric.

Hooray!

None of the fabrics had a content or care label, just a price tag, so Teacher and I had to rely on our instincts. Starting on one end of the first row we methodically unwrapped a corner of each roll to see if we liked the look of it. If we did we’d unroll it further to check the feel, thickness and durability of the fabric. Eventually we narrowed our choices down to three fabrics: a bold silver and purple floral, a multicolored design of intertwined leaves, and heathered greenish tan.

After a surprisingly short debate we decided on the greenish tan. Not only did we both like it a lot, it seemed the most durable – and it was only $5/yard! At home we draped the fabric over one of the love seats and knew we’d made a good choice.

Not only was Brook aka “the upholstery guy” inexpensive, he was FAST too! He picked up the love seats Wednesday and returned them the following Monday. He Scotch-Guarded them for free, and gave us the rest of the bottle to maintain the protection. Can’t beat that customer service!

Want to see the finished love seats?

Drumroll please…

Ta-da!

Brook said the fabric was actually indoor/outdoor fabric and would definitely hold up to the wear and tear of the daycare and our family. He also said that if we’d gotten it retail it could have cost as much as $30/yard. Score!

The fabric has absolutely NO give to it so we don’t have to worry about it stretching and getting saggy – unless the cushions deteriorate. Knock on wood that they’ll hold up another twenty-some years!

The fabric feels kind of silky and smooth – not too fuzzy hot for the summer but not too slippery cold for the winter.

And the bonus? There’s nothing under or behind the couches right now!

How long do you think that’ll last?