Give the boy a camera...

Today was the last day for basketball. Last one. Final. The end. No more.

Until next season, of course.

The day wouldn't have been complete without drama. Jared stayed with Ex1 last night because he wasn't feeling well and we weren't sure if he was going to play today or not - but he woke up feeling fine and so we were all going to meet up at his game, which was the first one of the morning.

We were already rushing, but I wasn't worried about getting there a few minutes late, since Jared would already be there. And then it happened.....

Emily realized that instead of having HER jersey in her bag, she had Jared's.....which meant that Jared had hers. Which meant (duh) that he didn't have his, and his game was starting in about 45 minutes. And we were still at home, 30 miles away.

GET! IN! THE! VAN! NOW!!!!!

We may have broken a few land speed records, but we got there with 30 seconds left on the warm up clock. Jared got his jersey on and was ready to play.

When his game was over, we took off for Emily's game, praying to the gas gods that we would get there without having to push the van because there was no time to stop and get any. But we made it. Barely.

Now Alex does not like to sit still for me. Trying to get him to sit and pay attention to a basketball game is next to impossible. He'll do it for his father, or for anyone else, but he will not do it for me.

However, hand that boy a camera....

Granted, I had to occasionally swipe the camera from him in order to get a few pictures of the games, but he kept himself amused through both games like this. Maybe it's time to find him a cheap (indestructible) digital camera to have for himself when he needs to be able to keep himself occupied.

I can NOT look at these pictures without giggling.

Making progress

Today was officially "Get The Van Ready For TMOART:12 Day" - and it was a long day, to say the least.

The boys and I started by getting up early to go get the new tires for the van. I had gotten 2 new ones last spring before we went to Texas, but we really needed to get 2 more. So we went.





Alex had fun playing with Luke, the shop cat. And then both boys were just tickled to be able to watch the men putting the new tires on the van.

After we got done with the tires, we came back home and I finished cleaning and scrubbing out the chest freezer and got that all done. And of course, worked on some laundry and cleaning and all of that fun stuff. Then we went and got The Dude and ran a couple of errands before we started on the next project - changing the air filter and the oil in the van. That....was an experience.



The air filter was a nightmare. I have no idea how long we wrestled with that thing, but we finally got it changed. It took both of us, several improperly used tools, a lot of 4 letter words, and lots of sweat to get it done. (I admit it - changing it was my idea - I mean really, if we're changing the oil, why don't we go ahead and do the air filter too? It can't be that hard, can it? *snort*)

After that The Dude pretty much took over and changed the oil and oil filter, which really took no time at all. While he went inside to clean up and get a shower, I finally got around to tying up my tomato plants - I just have them planted in buckets on my front steps with a couple of jalapeno plants - and I was thrilled to see these....





When we finally got done with all of that fun stuff, we took the old oil back to the store (love that we can do that) and bought the new bulb for my brake light that we forgot the first time around and then stopped to grab some food.





After we ate, we took The Dude back home and hung out there for a little while before the boys and I came back home. It was still daylight so I decided to go ahead and change the burned out bulb in my brake light...again. I just changed it about a month ago, so I was already annoyed.





With Alex's help to test the lights, I found out that apparently, it's not the bulb after all. For whatever reason, that light just. won't. work. So, that just adds something else to the list of things to figure out before we leave.

At least once I figure that out, and then clean out the van - it will be officially ready to hit the road on Thursday.

I hope I'm ready by then.

Yet another Christmas program...

Tonight was Daniel's preschool Christmas program.

Yet another overload of cuteness!!

I am always amazed at how well those teachers can get that many preschoolers to stand still long enough to sing a handful of Christmas songs! The kids did great - Daniel was his usual quiet self but I think that he had fun. He did pass out as soon as we got home - I think the excitement was just too much for him!

The Dude went with us...and Alex amused himself by playing photographer for a little bit before it started.

Of course, the day started out with the usual...run Alex to school in the pouring rain, run Daniel to school in the pouring rain, pick Alex up from school in the pouring rain, pick Daniel up from school in the pouring rain - I know I shouldn't complain, after how dry the summer was, but ick! already. There's the potential for it all to freeze tonight, which doesn't make me happy, but it'll go away eventually.

I've been trying to get the house together for our big Christmas festivities, so I really need to get cracking on that. Our official Christmas will actually take place on Christmas Eve, so I lose a day of prep time, but it'll all get done eventually. I'll have all of the kids until Christmas Eve night, and then the older four will go to their fathers' houses so I won't have them Christmas Day. But it's all good.

At least I keep telling myself that. Splitting the holidays sucks. Period.

Poop train

After Daniel got sick the other day, he seemed to be fine all weekend. He didn't eat much, but he never really does (unless it's peanut butter & jelly) and he acted fine. This morning we got up and took Alex to school, and when we got back, he still seemed to be fine. We laid around for a while and enjoyed the peace and quiet after the chaotic weekend, and then when it was just about time for him to go to school, he raced to the bathroom where the diarrhea hit him once again.

*sigh*

I called the school and let them know that he wouldn't be there again today, and we took off for Wichita, as I had already made plans that really needed to be done today.

On the way there, we saw something interesting....I saw a jet cruising across the sky - it only caught my eye because the sky was perfectly clear and the contrail was so incredibly white against it. But then I saw it start to turn, and as I watched, it made a complete u-turn! I actually pulled over when I saw that Daniel was staring at it too, and we took a few pictures of it.

Anyway, we got to Wichita and picked up my carpet shampooer from a friend who was borrowing it (and returned her roasting pan that I've had for 8+ months - oops) and then ran to the other side of the city to deliver a custom costume that I made for someone and then we headed back to pick Alex up from school and then home, where we just hung out all evening. Daniel had a few more run-ins with the poop train, but he still seems to be feeling ok - so maybe it's just the remnants of the bug he had the other day or something.

On a humorous note, I have a really bad habit of leaving my camera out within reach of little fingers. So sometimes, when I transfer the pictures to the computer, I get surprise photography from the kids. Apparently Daniel was playing around this morning at some point. These are some of his shots:

Go figure.

A toy apple on my desk

The same toy apple and the hedgeapple from the other day

Daniel's eye view of the bulletin board

I really need to start putting my camera away.

On a side note: can anyone see the Aurora Borealis tonight? Wichita news stations are saying that it's visible if you look to the north - but I have too many trees and streetlights interfering, so I can't see it. Boo. :(