Swagwagon

I recently registered at swagbucks.com. I've heard about it a couple of times and decided to try it out. It's a web site that awards points for using its search engine and then points can be redeemed for things you actually want. I just signed up a week ago and am half way to a modest Amazon gift card. Ben is on a book-buying binge, so even modest gift cards are useful.

I seem to be a sucker for this. Points are awarded randomly, and every once in a while I do a search and a note pops up that I've won a point or two. It's exciting every time.

Of course, if you want to try it out, I'll get a few points for it if you click on the image at the top of this post. It might be a good way to cope with a mild gambling need. :)

Owen and The Girl

Wednesday night is grocery night (double coupons! I saved 15% in coupons!) and Owen came with me to the store. He is awesome at the grocery store. He chats and "helps" and talks to people and loves the whole business.

When we were driving out of the parking lot I heard Owen say from the back of the van, "There's one girl." Sure enough, there was a young woman in front of the strip mall a few stores down. "She doesn't shoot us, Mom."

?

No, Owen, nobody is going to shoot us. "Ok, Mom. Nobody shoot us and everybody be ok."

Art

This may be the first project we've done at home about which all 3 boys were equally enthusiastic. Excellent use for Fruit Loops, and they even followed my no-eating-while-gluing edict.

Sam's (bottom left) is the most orderly - one color per arc. Jude's (top) has nicely shaped arcs but color fidelity is less important. Owen (bottom right) used as many green and yellow as he could find.

Good Times

Knocking down the doors to the small mammal building at the zoo. We need to see bats!
Loitering by the orangutans.
Visiting friends in Manitowoc. These two love the camera.

Forces of Chaos

Last night I opened the downstairs cabinet that takes deposits from our laundry chute and almost shed actual salty tears over the pile of clothes waiting there. The laundry lands on a shelf that is about waist-high, so when the pile is tall, dirty clothes fall on me. It's not encouraging.

Ben and I watched the episode of 24 (shocking conclusion!) we taped earlier this week, but I didn't let him fast-forward through the commercials because we needed time to move laundry and fold. Our reward: clean underwear for everyone this morning.

My dear mother-in-law was here a couple of weeks ago and ironed everything in sight. She perseveres in trying to keep us looking nice. I'm afraid personal entropy is more powerful than even my in-laws. Today I will do my part. I will strive to restore order in the universe by ironing my husband's shirts.

Colorism

An intriguing opinion piece from the New York Times about racial prejudice. The author argues that our culture sees people on a scale of light to dark, and the closer a person's skin is to white the more successful he or she is likely to be. Not a new argument, but applied well to current events.

Parenting multiracial children makes me sensitive to this sort of distinction.

News update

1. Jude is fully recovered from his appendix episode. Last week I took him for a follow-up visit with the surgeon, and the doctor advised me to "forget this ever happened. It's just a blip on his chart, and he'll never have appendicitis again!" Jude has three tiny scars on his lower abdomen to show for it, and he is proud to show them off.
2. Owen has moved up to the toddler bed. It's a modified crib, so it still had three-and-a-half raised sides, but he can get in and out by himself. Last night he was not happy about bedtime and after several short conversations with me ("Owen, why are you crying?" "Because.... because.... because I want to wake up!"), he got out of bed, turned on the light, and sat by the door.
3. Sam has some important questions. Last night: "Why did God make us, Mom?" and "Why does the earth go around the sun?"

Bunk Beds!

Sam and Jude have graduated to bunk beds. Last night was their first night in the new beds, and it was exciting. Sam sleeps on the top bunk and Jude sleeps on the bottom ("it's so cozy!"). Conveniently, there is now an available twin bed in the room from which I supervised bedtime last night. They tried so hard to be quiet and go to sleep but how can you keep quiet when your very mattress is the most exciting thing in life?

20 in 10

Several of the blogs I read have celebrated the new year by making non-resolution resolutions. No big promises, but lists of aspirations. I've decided to hop on the wagon with my own list of year-inspired suggestions to myself: Twenty in Ten. The number 20 lends itself to some reasonable-looking goals. I am not committing to them, but it's good to have a list of ideas in case I want to try one.

Twenty in Ten

1. Read 20 books in 2010.

2. Try 20 new recipes in 2010.

3. Exercise 20 minutes/day (on average).

4. Log 20 bag nights as a family. (If we go on a family camping trip, one night = five bag nights.)

5. Review 20 children's books on this blog.

I'm open to suggestions. Please post a comment if you have a 20 in 10 idea.

Twenty Ten

This is the boys' first-ever new year's celebration. Candles were lit, "Happy New Year to You" was sung, peanut m&m's were eaten, and construction-paper confetti was tossed all over my parents' kitchen. Good times.

When My DVD Player Died

The boys and I were in the van, buckled up and ready to set out for a full-day's drive to Kentucky for a week with my parents. Ben was not coming with us, and I had decided that heavy use of the DVD player would be appropriate. Rot their brains! Numb their eyeballs! Just get me through this trip in peace.

But the player would not work. Ben fiddled with it for a while but there was nothing to be done.

I cried one small tear and then made the announcement: "Boys, we will have no shows in the van today." Jude and Owen were unconcerned, but Sam took it hard. He warmed up with a strong freestyle kick and a few screams direct from the diaphragm. Soon, seeing there was no hope, he fell silent. By the time we got on the highway the furor had passed.

We made the most peaceful trip we've had in a few years.

350+ miles; about 8 hours; two and a half stops (a half stop involves Mom distributing snacks, drinks and toys while boys remain in seats). Zero tantrums, zero injuries.

The trip back home a week later was equally peaceful. They played with superhero action figures, looked at books, told each other jokes, and we listened to CDs. They color-wondered through Chicago (thanks Aunt Kimberley!).

Around hour 7 I heard Jude say to Owen, "Look! Your feet are the babies and my feet are the mom and dad!" His feet proceeded to give parental advice and instruction to Owen's feet.