Home Free

Olly Olly Oxen Free! Come out, come out wherever you are!

The girls are home from college; Mike drove to St. Louis and picked Taryn up at Tim's. I'm really glad to see my girls again so soon!

Meanwhile back at the ranch, we enjoyed a stopover visit from my Uncle Steve. It's been awhile since we laid eyes on each other so I was happy for the opportunity to chat.

Indie and I were invited to a painting thing at a preschool coworker's HOA. I was looking forward to doing something I've never done - paint on canvas. An instructor had the example of a barn scene we were supposed to paint. Along with it, she had other paintings for inspiration and further examples of ways to paint trees. We smocked up and tapped into our inner artists. One problem was pretty apparent: Indy and I kept choosing the same stuff, and we were both off the grid on following the example. Heh heh. We were supposed to make a simple white triangle for the barn. But we didn't. We both chose the same barn, and then we both switched it up so we'd be different. And we both ended up with fences. And I know for a fact that Indy copied my tree, cuz she told me. It was the only thing worth copying really.

My last masterpiece was most likely a fingerpainting. I don't think it's horrible, but Mariah said "Hmmm, abstract" and she had a tone. Probably because she didn't get to go and be a show off. When Mike came to pick us up, he laughed because I had taken an element from all the paintings. I never did follow the crowd. And yes, I am very aware that my pathway is all wrong. I meant to fix it, but ran out of time. My first inclination was to skip the path entirely and I wish I would have because I did it 4 times and it never got any better.

Indie's turned out cute. She was ahead of the class most of the time, painting her barn roof (correctly I might add) before we had been given instructions and she didn't have to scrape off and start over at all.
Tina's painting totally passed the Easel Evaluation. She followed directions 100%. She's like that in real life too :) I enjoy working with her alot and we like to say to each other at least once a week "We have the best jobs!"

Anyways, it's good to know where your Home Free is. Whether it's coming to Home Sweet Home, or hanging out with friends who are a blessing to you.

And now for some trivia:
Olly olly oxen free (and variants: ollie ollie umphrey, olly-olly-ee, ally ally in free[1] ) is a catchphrase used in such children's games as hide and seek to indicate that players who are hiding can come out into the open without losing the game, that the position of the sides in a game has changed (as in which side is in the field or which side is at bat or "up" in baseball or kickball), or, alternatively, that the game is entirely over. It is thought to derive from the phrase "All ye, all ye 'outs' in free;" in other words: all who are "out" may come in without penalty.[2] However, this may not be the etymology at all--"Olly olly oxen free" is suspiciously close to the German phrase "Alle, alle auch sind frei," meaning "everyone, everyone is also free."[citation needed] Various calls used for such purposes have gone by the collective name of "ollyoxalls" in some places.[3]

Advice Anyone?

Aussie is back and he brought Indy with him again! What a grrreat cat! The last time he was here I ignored my intuition and forgot to ask Indy if anything was out of the ordinary with him. Turns out he had a raging UTI going on. Poor kitty. He had to have antibiotic shots and pills. Indy discovered that she could not hide his pill crushed into smithereens in his meat because he ate everything in the bowl and left behind tiny crushed up pieces of pill. So she decided to try hiding it in a piece of cheese. (Skeptical face) I know it works for dogs, but come on, if he won't eat a teeny tiny piece slathered in gravy.... GULP! Every single time. He is what I like to call a Cheese Ho.

This has nothing to do with anything at all, but if anyone is looking for the most fantastic blanket of all time for a great price, check out Overstock.com. It's called the Borrego Sherpa Throw/Blanket and is $31 for all sizes. I've never been warmer with such a lightweight blanket. It is the best! I got 3 of them and if I could, I'd get 3 more.

Today is the last day of preschool before we break for the holidays. We have the cutest program. It tells the story of Jesus' birth from the fireflies, butterflies, and ladybugs perspective. I can get a copy of the program if anyone wants it. I'm still singing the song in my head that I have been working on with one of the classes! Too cute!!

Lots of great advice to be found here today: I ordered from Oriental Trading a card game like Old Maid called Pass The Ugly Sweater. When I searched for a pic I saw you could get it elsewhere too. I gave it as my gift to the preschoolers. I heard a couple went bananas when they opened it! We've been playing it at preschool for the past couple days so they knew what a treat they had. I bet they didn't even LOOK at the Reese's that accompanied the gift. Well, maybe not, but still, it's a huge hit with the 5 and under crowd, and I hear the siblings enjoy it too. A couple moms commented that they had to play multiple hands of it at home with the family. Exactly. The. Way. Ms. Chrissie. Plays. It. It has matches that are very imaginative and you basically drool over things like: An Army of T-Rexes, a 100 foot wide cookie, a money tree growing in your backyard, your own rollercoaster, etc to make it super fun. If you're a tad competitive, you might even find ways to hide cards of things you want to have in your own backyard. One mom said her son was a bit confused because the Ugly Sweater card wasn't ugly at all.

Well I must be off! After the Christmas Program we have our staff party. I'm giving another classroom quilt to our Older Two's teacher. I wasn't going to be a routine quilt giver, but everyone was saying they hoped that I drew their name for the gift exchange. So mom and I found a smaller size pattern we liked, and then I found the material in the bottom bin in the back of the quilting material store. I LOVE to shop for material but I don't sew; I just sit back, help piece squares, and then wait for the finished product to emerge! What a deal, eh? I have a photo in my iphone of it that I will post later when I have more time.

My work is done here ... for now.

What to wear?

Or maybe more to the point, do I wear to bed what I'm going to wear to work tomorrow? It's Polar Express day. And pajama day. We will read part of the book, and finish our day with the movie. Hot Cocoa, popcorn, and cookies are involved. And I'm subbing in a classroom. Let the mayhem begin.

The last time I subbed there was ages ago. And the kids are still doing Elvis Presley "thank you, thank you very much" imitations from our morning meeting. I can't imagine the trouble I'll instigate while wearing pajamas. It's gotta factor into what I do, I'm thinking. If only nap time was involved! But no, we're way too high energy to fall for that.

Mike will be staying home from work tomorrow. Isn't it a bummer when you are sick on your own birthday? Mike hardly ever gets sick either. I didn't think he'd be able to tough it out but he was determined to try since he put in for vacation time next week. When I came home today he was sick in bed. What can you do? When you're sick, you're sick.

Happy Birthday Mike. And please, stick to wearing your pajamas tomorrow too.... heh heh.

Crunch Time

The local kids have tests, tests, and more tests all this week and Monday-Tuesday. Then they are out for winter break. The college girls are pretty much in the same boat - exams, preparing for exams, and last of the semester papers, projects and of course more tests.

I took stock of the gifts under the Christmas tree since in the frenzy, I wanted to make sure we had done a good job. One present was mislabeled. Today Grammy and I are going to do her shopping, I have one more present to take care of plus miscellaneous Christmas stuff, and we have a couple errands to take care of as well. She just got back from getting Ellie her pawdicure so it's time to leave and get an early start.

We had a church brunch here the first Saturday of December. The hit of the brunch were 3 deer in the backyard woods. Everyone kept checking to see if they were still there. It was funny to see ladies pointing to the woods and trying to describe which tree to look at admist all the trees back there. Mom decided to buy the deer corn since they were so patient with all the crazy people looking at them. So now we have deer feed from Tractor Supply. The salt lick I always wanted to put out comes next. We found the "co-op experience" at Tractor Supply a little different.

I was going to put up photos from Mariah's Madrigal night, but Mike must have deleted them from the camera. I can't find them in my picture folder either so I hope he will add them after the post. I have a photo of the 3 deer too but that is gone as well. Anyway, the performance was wonderful!! Mariah has a lovely singing voice. She has been working hard at it and it shows. I was very proud of my beautiful girl.

Best of luck to my dear ones as they finish their semester and hope you enjoy your crunch time deers!

Almost 12-11-11

It was going to be a surprise, but some people nagged me into doing my 12-11 blog early. It's been noted that I haven't posted anything new since 11-11-11. Well, didja ever think maybe I was going to wait until 12-11 and just do a monthly update from now on? Huh, huh, didja?!

Well, actually that wasn't the plan but it seems like a good excuse now. And here's the latest and greatest:

Indy and Taryn came home for Thanksgiving. We had a GREAT week with everyone back in the house. The girls decided to do Black Friday and we were an amazing team of shoppers. Even after sleeping in, we were able to got everything in one day, the mall wasn't THAT busy, and when we filled Indy's bug with shopping bags, we looked at each other in wonderment and awe of our prowess. Then we thought to wonder: who's giving what to whom? Smiles all around, and the obvious solution: dump it all on my bed, call dibs, and make piles for people. Once we did that, it didn't seem productive to put it all back in bags so we all voted to wrap now! As we were wrapping, Indy said we had to set up the tree too, so the presents could go under it. After what seemed like a couple hours of wrapping we were done, and laughed at how we knew almost every present in every box and the only ones who didn't know was Gib and Mike. I'd like to point out, that Gib was offered a chance to see what "he" bought and wrap his gifts to his sisters himself, but he's decided it will be more fun if I wrap the gifts from him to his sisters. After all, (Gibbie quote) "Somebody's gotta be surprised on Christmas". My next favorite quote was when Indy and I, in exhaustion, crashed on the couch, admiring out tree, the beautiful presents under it and Indy goes, "now you have to stare at them for an entire month!".

Taryn and I went the next day on a jaunt to get her gifts for Tim. While we were out in the next county over, we spied a store called Delia's that I really wanted to check out. We got into a little more trouble there. A couple of people (Taryn and Mariah) got a couple more gifts. And Taryn got exactly what she wanted for Tim so she was happy and I loved spending time with her. The day before Thanksgiving we went out for lunch together too. I realize that with this girl, I have to accumulate time when she's here, because once she is back on campus, I won't hear from her. Except when she nags me to blog.

Gib got sick just before Thanksgiving break with what appeared at first to be a bad migraine. But then he suddenly developed a high fever. The next morning it wasn't gone. He started feeling really bad so I figured it would be a good idea to get a flu test since Mike and the dude never got theirs. For shame! I took him to the minute clinic and poor Gib was getting sicker by the minute. He developed symptoms of meningitis. The clinic kicked us out. I called his regular dr and they could see us in an hour, they are within walking distance of the house, and so I figured it was better to do that than to go to the Vanderbilt clinic that the minute clinic said to go to. Gib had his meningitis vaccine so I figured no way, but turns out it only protects against a couple strains not all viral meningitis that's out there. In the next hour Gib declined rapidly. I had to help him out of bed, he was beside himself with pain, and he started showing signs of mental confusion. I was starting to show signs of freaking out. He had textbook symptoms of meningitis. In the minute drive to the dr, I debated going to the ER instead. I got him in to see the dr immediately when I got there. She thought due to his ability to move his neck, although it was painful, it probably wasn't but he had to go to the ER for tests and pain relief they couldn't provide. So we got kicked out of the pediatricians and went to the hospital. The only benefit I could see was that they called ahead and we got straight in when we got there. Getting there was a nightmare. Gib couldn't walk by then so he was wheeled out in an office chair (wheelchair missing) and it was super rainy, and the nurse almost lost control of Gib's chair in the parking lot on a slight slope. I almost laughed but I was about to cry for my kid. Mike had just pulled into the lot and so he followed us to the hospital. Gib was fevered for hours while we were there at 103. Nothing brought it down. Flu and strep came back negative so we had to go with the spinal tap. Weird thing was that the second the dr took out spinal fluid, Gib was better! It could have been the extra drugs he had then but it sure seemed like he just needed some pressure taken out. The fluid was clear, tests came back negative for meningitis too. In another hour he dropped to a 101. We were discharged soon after that. Gib slept for the next 18 hours and felt fine from then on.

As a matter of fact, he made it to the Model UN convention the next day after that. I was kinda nervous to send him off for 3 days but he seemed fine. All went well, and Gib had alot of prayers over him that worked wonders. We'll never know exactly what happened with him. Funky Virus is the unofficial diagnosis.

Today Mariah has a big performance with her school chorus. I helped set up for it this afternoon. We are about to leave now to get her back for dress rehearsal. We will enjoy a Madrigals Christmas dinner performance soon. She has been working really hard on it and is excited for us to go.

Mariah also just started allergy shots. She had her 3rd one this week after school today. I want to hit it fast and furious 3x a week and hope to get her well on the way by the time spring hits full force.

11-11-11

This was a momentous Veterans Day because it was the last one for us to celebrate with the middle school's wonderful program honoring the armed forces, and this particular date of 11-11-11 only comes around once a century. It was reminiscent of when Armistice was signed originally on the 11th day of the 11th hour 93 years ago in 1918 at the end of WWI. Last year my grandfather was able to join us for Veterans Day and attend the middle school program. We missed having him with us again this year. He is doing well, slowing down slightly but that's understandable! He limits himself to 3 dances in a row and isn't walking around Lake Murray anymore. Instead he has recently surfaced on facebook and discovered Ham Radio on the internet. Grandpa approaches his 92nd birthday on December 1. There's not too many WWII Veterans around to honor in person anymore. Last year there were a handful at the middle school program and this year only one. Several Veterans attended who served our country in the Korean War, Vietnam and the middle east conflicts. We remembered my grandfather, my dad, Mike's dad, cousins and others who served, and keep in our prayers those still serving in the armed forces today. Mike's sister Crystle, is married to a marine on his second deployment to the middle east. We remember Matt and his family in our prayers often.

Here is a snippet of video from the middle school program. Mariah took part as a Chorus student in a song and dance number to Bugle Boy from Company C. She wasn't fond of the dance moves, but I told her they were era-appropriate! I can't wait to see the video on TV. I didn't have a good angle so will have to wait for it to air on TV to see Mariah bust out her moves! Here is a snippet of one of the closing numbers. The gentleman singing comes every year and just retired from active duty. It will have sound when Mike figures it out for me :) I can hear it on the file before I uploaded it, so I don't know why it isn't working right now. Mariah is in the front row, red shirts, second from the right.

Samford

On Saturday, Gib and one of his high school buddies toured Samford University on a college preview day. This is a pic of the entrance I pulled off the internet. I took many while on the tour with the guys and they are on my facebook wall. But I didn't get this shot of.... Sherman Lane! How cool is that?!

The university seemed to fit the bill on all levels. Academic excellence, scholarships, only 3 hrs from home, all you can eat cafeteria, more girls than guys on the nearly 5,000 student campus, and it's gorgeous there. That is a combination of the things I thought were important, and the things the guys liked. :)

The only thing we didn't like was not having enough time to talk to everyone at the Degree Fair. Hey, I've got questions and this is how I gather the good stuff Gib will need to know when he is interviewing for scholarship money, and even more importantly how to get him positioned to be invited to compete for the moulah. When we realized people were packing up and leaving (important football game just outside the doors!) we had to hustle to catch the head of the Business major so Gib could ask him several questions. I was very proud of Gib for 1) having questions and 2) sounding intelligent. Good job Gib!!! Seriously though, Gib did great. He spoke clearly, looked 'em in the eye, smiled, shook hands, thanked them for their time. He demonstrated interest and followed up with questions. Can't ask for more than that. The Math, Sociology, Classics, and English profs were very effusive about their subjects and we spent alot of time with them. I have no idea what we missed when everyone bugged out. I'm definitely going to point out in the online eval that more time would be a good thing. I think we missed lunch over the delay too. Now that's just poor planning. But we got to sample the cafeteria which is really a better idea anyway. What they feed you at the Preview Day is not what you'll be eating every day!

One funny thing - at least I found it funny. Actually, I embarassed the kids at least once and THAT is funny. Anyways, I had one burning question for the Communications Majors. Gib and Keaton didn't believe me when I said I only had one question. So I stepped up and asked, "Why do so many students here major in Communications?" Puzzled looks are not what one wants to see when speaking with intelligent people, although I get that alot, and let's be honest... they WERE Communications! Using the other side of the brain people. I like them. So I added, "I noticed alot of the recruiting staff were majoring in it, so is there something special about your program that distinguishes Samford in this area?" Whew, I really hoped I sounded halfway intelligent right about then. The answer cracked me up. I turned away only to see two very surprised faces and the comment "wow you really did only have one question! What was it?!" I told them, and the answer was..... "Our program is very good, but probably the reason why you noticed so many Samford students with that major designation at Preview Day is because they are the ones we can put them in front of people to speak!" Hahaha! I hadn't thought of that! Oh well, even if I didn't score intelligent mom points I got a couple laughs out of it. That's good too. Never underestimate the value of a fun and interesting person (even if it is your mom... ask Indie!) vs. boring single-dimension smarties.

Gib is tenatively thinking Business and Communications (even though he didn't even speak to the communications people. Probably too embarrassed after his Mother was a dweeb). I got to say, though, the Math Department certainly gave it their best shot to sway him to the dark side. He liked the Classics guy and the Great Books program that Fellows Scholars at Samford take. Gib would have to compete for one of the 40 spots in the Fellows program in the incoming class, which is basically their version of an Honors Scholar. Never fear though, I drilled the student on what characteristics were considered most important in the selection process. While Gib would do well with the reading and writing intensive program of study, he feels especially called to Rome and Greece, where the Fellows get to go. If I understood it correctly, your Sophomore year the trip is free. Yeeeah!

So all in all, we loved the university and it is on the short list. Speaking of lists, I now realize I need to make a list of all the interstate exits with decent pitstops between here and there. Gib drove home so he could consider the drive aspect (see how smart he is?!) but he lacks a Rest Area or Cracker Barrel honing instinct. I told him his future wife would appreciate him working on mastering this (not to mention the more important people like his mom and sisters). Never fear, we ARE raising the perfect man, and we will hopefully have a reason for a second, maybe even a third, visit to this university and Gibbie can master an essential life skill in the process.