Winter Doldrums amd Hearing Things

My guy is home sick from school again today.  He had one of his giant nonstop coughing attacks last night. He gets these in the winter.  Very frustrating for all involved.  Sam will be fine, everything is great, then he lays down to go to sleep and about thirty minutes later it's nonstop violent hacking. For a long time.

We have prescription meds and we know the drill....prop him up, run the mister, apply Vicks and give meds.  And wait.  And eventually the meds kick in and he sleeps.  But the next day is iffy.  He may bounce back feeling great, or he may be somewhat hungover, as he is today.  So, he is home, and is listlessly playing computer games. 

Benny pleaded to stay home today too, of course.  But it didn't work.

On a seperate note, does this happen to anyone else?  Every time I run the vaccuumn cleaner...I mean EVERYtime, I think I hear the phone ringing.  All the thousands of years I've been vaccumming, all the millions of times I've run that thing, I almost always stop in mid-vacuumn, switch it off, and listen.

All the times I've done this, only once was the phone actually, truly ringing.  But that one time just kind of validated all the other "Is that the phone?" moments. 

Weird, isn't it?

And with the hair dryer.  Most times I run the hair dryer, I keep thinking I hear a voice nearby, talking.  Today, for example, I was drying my hair just around the corner from Sam, with the door open, and I could have sworn I heard him talking to me.  I stopped, checked, but no Sam.  The minute I turned the dryer on again, I thought I heard his voice once more.

I think I may be losing my mind.  Oh well, considering how long that phenomenon has been going on, I guess I can't blame it on the winter doldrums.

Speaking of which, we are looking at a big storm moving in today, and three days worth of rain.  I'm so tired of rain.  And coughing.  And illness. And such.  But still. I know I have so much to be thankful for.  The kids aren't really that sick.  What a huge blessing to have healthy children.  My husband is really making his mark in the community with his wonderful photography, so much so that he was just interviewed and put in the paper!  The deer are back, the bear is gone.  Life is good, all is well.  And the sun will shine again.

And I will be sure to post it here when it does!

Camera Fun

Thursday night everyone was feeling dull and bored.  So naturally we got out the camera and encouraged Benny to run across the living room, jump up on the box, and tumble onto the couch.  The most important part of the activity was trying to catch the perfect photo of Benny in mid air. 

All of these pictures were taken by Sam.

It's not as dangerous as it looks.

Then Benny wandered around taking pictures of the TV....

...Toys in his room, the floor, the wall, and of course, Spike:

(who was enjoying a graham cracker and being cute)

And picture worthy.

The joy of digital pictures....free and fun!

I'm Not A Football Player

Today was a lovely day.  Nippy, but sunny.  The boys came home and headed straight for the trampoline.  A new favorite game for football-obsessed Sam is to get on the trampoline and throw his football high in the air, bouncing up to catch it.  Sometimes he and Benny dive for it together, seeing who can snatch the ball out of the air first.

So they asked me to come stand a little ways away from the trampoline and throw the football at them.  Then they'd jump up and try to catch it.

Keep in mind the trampoline has a net so I had to clear the net.

So.....I did okay the first few times, then I started missing.  And missing.  And missing.

And then I heard Sam say, "Mom, does your arm hurt?"  I said no, why?  He said, "Well, sometimes when my arm hurts I don't throw very well."

A few more tries on my part and he said kindly, "It's okay Mom.  You're doing a good job.  Don't feel bad."

Oh boy.  There is something both sweet and depressing in hearing your ten-year-old child make excuses for you and assure you that nobody is making fun of your total and complete ineptitude.  I never felt older and more out of shape than I did at that moment.

I snapped the ball into the cage a few times, then announced I was quitting.

Little guy was kind and reassuring some more, and I thanked him for being so patient with me.  Then I went inside and walked around feeling unathletic and fogey-ish.  But......the thing to take away, I guess, is that my boy is not critical, and he does understand the value in "giving it the old college try."

 

Thanks Gram

Well, Christmas is long gone but does it matter?  A month or so ago, Mom bought Gingerbread House kits for the kids to do. I had visions of us all sitting around enjoying an activity together, but I never followed up.  Until today.  It's a cold gray day out there, and this seemed like a great time to finally  make our houses.

Even Sam posed for a picture (a rare event these days!)  I made the icing, which involved getting out the dreaded and hard-to-clean mixer....a committment I normally try to avoid....and the boys opened the candy packages and began eating....I mean, DECORATING.

The icing was a bit too thin, proving once again I have no business doing anything kitchen-related.

It was fun to watch those little hands decorating so carefully.

I told the boys that Gram had bought the kits for them and Benny said, "Wow, tell Gram thanks next time you see her.  Or I'll tell her next time I see her!"  He then added a loud, "Thanks, Gram!"

Benny's masterpiece.  The gumdrops fell through the roof and we remarked that you'd never starve to death if you lived inside.

Sam's roofline.

There was a little bit more eating than actual decorating.  And I have to admit, I joined in.  Icing is just so darned addicting, isn't it?  When my head began spinning from the excess sugar, I forced myself to quit.  Then I sent the boys out to the trampoline to work off the sugar-rush.  (Good plan.  They loved it and came back exhausted.)

Sam's house.  BTW, see that red thing poking out of the door?  Know what that is?  Sam explained that "it's Santa's foot, coming out of the door, because he's getting ready to leave the house."  Wow!

The final result didn't look much like the picture on the box, but we all had a laugh over it, and the boys wanted me to take pictures, so it was all good.

Better late than never!

Stilts

For Christmas, the boys got a pair of stilts.  They were very excited.  But walking on the stilts proved far more difficult than they had planned.  There were many tumbles, many stumbles, and a good degree of discouragement.

But Benny preservered and he is getting very good at walking around on those things!

Naturally, they wanted me to try them, and yes, they ARE difficult.  Just getting up and getting one single step is much harder then it looks. But I did get to the point where I could stump around in them.  Benny was both awed and dismayed.  He said, "You're better at that than me."  I told him to keep trying, that it was like riding a bike...it took a while to get the hang of it, but in time it would be very easy.  And he did!  We especially enjoy clopping around on the porch.  I wonder what the deer think when they come to the yard and see us walking around on an extra pair of legs?

Snow Photos

See this man?  He is ready for anything, including a treacherous hike to the mailboxes in sub zero temps.

Yep, we got out yesterday and explored the snow world.  We walked to the maibox, which was not bad at all, and took several photos.  There were lots of other people out, too, driving and walking and in some cases, sledding.

Of course Sam and Benny had to get out and trampoline-ize the snowfall.  They scooped up snow and threw it at each other, they bounced, ran, frolicked, fell down over and over, and laughed a lot.

And of course they came in soaking wet, frozen, and winded.

It was all very pretty and very bright.

Even the dish got a little snow-face on!

Snow Days

Could you ask for a larger thrill than a snowfall in Georgia?  Not when you're a small boy who lives for that rare, once or twice a year frolick in the snowy yard.  Today was the first snowfall of the winter and the boys are thrilled.

School closed at eleven this morning because snow was on the way.  Sure enough it began to fall around noon.  The boys went straight outside. 

The stilts they got for Christmas were perfect for walking around in the powdery yard.  They also laid down in the leaves...which were barely dusted with snow...and made angels.  Once Sammy came home, they ran around in a full blown snowball fight.  At one point I looked out the window and saw Benny walking around with a snow moustache.  I wonder how the Georgia snow tastes this time of year?

They went out, they  played, the came in.  They went back out.  They came in.  They went back out.  And so forth, and so on.

I've taken lots of pictures and videos of it all, so I'm enjoying it too.  Tomorrow school will most likely be closed due to icy conditions...it's cold out there and supposed to remain that way!

So...not a bad way to ease back into school after three weeks off....a full day of school, a half day, then a snow day.

And of course, snow is not complete without hot chocolate and hot baths and snowball fights and wet clothes and shoes everywhere, which I take care of, and lots of wood chopping, fire building, and fire stoking, which Marty takes care of.  It all makes the house feel cozy and warm.  I couldn't live with snow for months at a time, but for the few days it visits us, I love it!