Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Fall Festival!

The parking lot is abuzz with activity as everyone is frantically getting ready to entertain about 750,842 children (or 300 give or take). Remember the crisp cool air that I spoke so highly of a few weeks ago? Remember how inspiring? Remember how wonderful? Remember how Fall Festivelish? Well.....the cool air has left the building (or the state of South Carolina to be more exact) . Our fall festival is taking place in exactly 90 degree weather. Lovely.Our sweet Children's Minister said she felt like she was getting ready for Vacation Bible School (which in itself is a whole post).

So to all my fine friends who are  running around and sweating...i will see you at 6:15 because that's when I can leave this desk...and the air conditioning.

I love you all! Thanks for all you do!

Monday, October 25, 2010

A Few Loose Ends

I have some loose ends that are begging to be tied. I know you are just dying to know and keep checking back here just in case I update (or you just happened to come across this blog and figured you'd waste a few moments of your day...either way it's all good).

  1. Noah's birthday weekend was greatness (please note I put weekend because Noah does not celebrate for just one day...it takes a whole weekend)! Friday Charles coordinated a sleepover...Saturday brought a lot of tunnel digging and Sunday we enjoyed a day with family at Chez Trezevant (aka Anne and Daniel's) with some fabulous food. Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes. He had a great weekend. 
  2. The temperatures are creeping back up and therefore my air conditioner has once again stopped working. Lovely.
  3. The temperatures are creeping back up and therefore I have NOT done any more bridge walking (uphill). The Yoga still holds the record at two times. 
  4. Charles had to work Saturday night and we watched a little of the Gamecocks game before he left. I kept it on and ended up watching the whole thing. Not only did I watch the whole thing I proceeded to watch the whole second half again the next night so I could show Charles where I thought they had made a bad call. What is happening to me? I am getting a little concerned. Do I need to see someone about this? Football...Really?
Now that you have been sufficiently updated in the World of Rachel I know you will be able to sleep much better.

    Friday, October 22, 2010

    13

    Today is a big day. Noah is 13. I have a teenager. 13. He thinks he has been a teenager for about two years now. He would tell me "So what? I a teen" I guess he can now officially enter the teenaged world. I am really handling it quite well. He started middle school in September and I guess I got most of my lamenting over at that time. There are times when I really have to step back and take a look at Noah with fresh eyes because I admit, he is a hard child to live with at times! Here are some things I try to keep in mind...
    1. When Noah is being stubborn and won't do what I want him too I try to remember that when he was on ECMO he was so stubborn that we couldn't talk to him or touch him or he would shut the pump down. Now being on a heart lung bypass may not seem like it is a good time to be stubborn but in reality, for Noah it was. He fought the good fight and came out of it not much worse for the wear.
    2. When Noah gets mad and "runded away" down the street and I have to chase him down and talk some sense into him I try to remember that this is the child that the doctors at MUSC said may never walk or run. I should be thankful that he is running...even it is away from me.
    3. When Noah calls me (or his brothers, or his cousins, or Butros Butros Gahli) an idiot (eeyait as he says it) I try to remember that this was the child we thought would never talk. I can remember Charles and I talking about how if we just just hear him say "I love you" it would make all the hours of therapy worth it. Now we can't get him to hush. And let me just say, why is it that the stronger the bad word is the clearer it comes out of his mouth? He doesn't say toothbrush real well but oh my soul can he say shut-up (and any four letter word that you can think of).
    4. When Noah tells me he wants another mother I try to read the note he left in my wallet when I got my wisdom teeth pulled. It said "I hope your teeth is o.k. love:Noah" He really does care.
    5. When Noah will not wake up in the morning I try to remember that this is the same child who did not sleep (at all) from the ages of 13 months til about 6 years. God bless the peaceful sleep.
    6. When Noah goes through his afternoon without so much as a kiss my foot, I try to remember that this is the same child who thanked me for paying the electric bill.
    7. When Noah gets out of the car and goes inside and sits his sitter in the chair to watch tv without once thinking to help me carry in bags or the baby or his bookbag, I try to remember the evening he made me a "sweet and sour" sandwich (which if you do not know consists of sweet n sour sauce from Mcdonalds and two slices of bread) just because I was having a bad day.
    8. When Noah is mean to Wil and beats him up I try to remember that this is the same child who sometimes reaches over and puts his arm around him and says "We best friends now". Please note this is ususally about 5 minutes before one of them runs screaming into whatever room I am in saying ..."Blank is trying to (insert some kind of  violent action here) with (insert some sort of weapon here) and it hurts!"
    9. When Noah complains about homework and pitches a fit about going to school I try to remember that this is the same child I used to put on my shoulders while pushing Wil in the stroller to get him into the school building when he was three.

    I am so blessed to have him. I love hearing him say "I love you". I love how he signs 5 more minutes in his sleep. I love that he cares so much about Gabey Baby. I love how much he looks up to his Uncle Tom, Uncle Daniel and Uncle Bobby. I love that he sometimes talks my ear off and other times he is content to stay quiet. I love that sometimes I look at him and see myself and other times I look at him and I see Charles. I love that he can smell when someone has been in the car even if it was the day before. I love that he likes to climb trees just like me.
                                      


                                      

    I Love You Noah!


    Thursday, October 21, 2010

    How I Know It Is Fall...

    Could it be the beautiful colored leaves? No that won't happen here for a while.

    Could it be the crisp cool air? Not really...it was still 85 here today.

    Could it be the cute jeans and sweaters people are wearing? No, most people are still in shorts.

    Could it be the cute Halloween decorations that everyone and their brother are putting up besides me? Possibly.

    Could it be that Baby Gabey decided he just HAD to take his plastic pumpkins to bed with him? Well it is a clue.

    Could it be that since it is no longer 108 degrees outside with 452% humidity- the air conditioner in my car FINALLY decided to start working yesterday? Well that is a good sign and Murphy's Law but not really how I REALLY know!

    How I really know that it is fall is when I go to Walmart EVERY SINGLE THING I TOUCH gives me a static electric shock! So annoying when you are trying to grocery shop. I ended up making Wil walk in front of me so that I could shock him before touching the metal shelves.That on top of the Christmas decorations being out before Halloween is enough to make me wanna boycott. I tell you...pet peeves against Walmart? I got 'em.

    Shop somewhere else? Can't do it.

    Monday, October 18, 2010

    Blame It On Milli Vanilli

    So I have added another award to my trophy case. Now in addition to my Mother of the Year 2010 award I can probably add The World's Worst Blogger. I don't know what to say, I haven't been in the mood.

    I could blame it on being a little disappointed in Glee because it crossed a line I am not sure that I am ready to cross.

    I could blame it on the fact that I have been very busy this last week with trainings (14 hours in the last week) or the paperwork that I am trying to get done.

    I could blame it on the very upsetting news that my good friend Jackie got (I love you jacks and I am here for you no matter what).

    I could blame it on Mike "The Situation" getting voted off of Dancing With the Stars.

    I could blame it on Steve Spurrier because let's face it, he probably deserves it.

    I could even blame it on the rain (hence the catchy title up there) but in all reality it is probably the fact that nothing extraordinary has been happening around here.

    Well, ok I admit my previous posts had nothing extraordinary in them either but somehow I found some reason to write about it.

    I could write about my trip to Walmart or the seriously long wait at the Zaxby's drive through. I could write about doing laundry for 12 hours on Saturday or cleaning out the car (I SOOOO did not clean out the car, I just put that in for Charles) I could write about what Noah said before Sunday School but we have had enough posts about poop (and by enough I mean one). So I will say farewell for tonight and let's hope something terribly exciting happens tomorrow.

    Tuesday, October 12, 2010

    10 Ways I Would Rather Start My Day

    It started out bad. I figured I would list the 10 more desirable things first and then give you the big finale and let you judge which you would take. I am not saying that this is the first time this has happened to anyone. It has even happened to me before. I would just rather it not happen....EVER AGAIN! Here it goes...
    1. I would rather get up at 4:30 in the morning, deliver papers in the pouring rain, on the blue Western Auto bicycle I got for my 10th birthday.
    2. I would rather eat eggs for breakfast. (If you know ANYTHING about me then you know this is huge!)
    3. I would rather have 42 hours of labor with no epidural (ok I have never tried labor without an epidural so this one may not count)
    4. I would rather go for three weeks without a cherry coke.
    5. I would rather have all of my radio stations only get the country stations. 
    6. I would rather have to take showers from here on out. (Just the thought of never being able to sit in a hot bathtub makes me want to cry. It's like the A-1 commercial...yes it's that important)
    7. I would rather wear corduroys in the middle of August. With a sweater. Just Saying.
    8. I would rather never see another musical for as long as I live.
    9. I would rather head shrimp in pluff mud.
    10. I would rather walk (uphill) across this bridge...


    Yes, I would rather do any of these things instead of....well here is the deal. Gabey Baby woke up while I was still in the bathtub...so Charles put him in with me to just wash the overnight nastiness off of him. He is so cute and was just standing there speaking Mandarin (he is quite advanced...I'm not even teaching him Chinese he is just picking it up) when all of a sudden (can you guess where this is going?) he smiled an pointed to his stomach and POOPED on my leg (and in the water and on the side of the tub). Just remember...this is same child who had the stomach bug the day before. So it was about the constancy of...well I can't even think about it. Let's just say he mixed it up a bit. 
    Anyway I could, for sure, avoid that for the rest of my life and never miss it!


    Monday, October 11, 2010

    Why Does It Always End With the Phrase "I Think That May Need Stitches"?

         It has been a jam packed weekend! Between the laundry I didn't do and the dishes that are still in the sink you can tell that I am on the ball (especially since Noah and Wil spent most of the weekend away from home)! Oh and just a side note on my walking...it lasted exactly...one time! Yes that is what I have accomplished...one time. That is officially one less than my exciting foray into Yoga after Wil was born. I did that twice. I have big plans for the week to come so stay tuned in for that. I am sure you are at the edge of your seats.
         Anyway the weekend started out with a trip out to dinner. I had a gift card from a very sweet friend who was thinking about me...(I so needed it friend) and I decided to use it as soon as I got it because I have no self control. Anyway my co-worker (who is also a great friend and happens to be one of Gabey Baby's teachers) had no plans Friday night so we thought we'd head on over and eat. It's what we do best. Gabe was on his best out-to-eat behavior (so he basically was not screaming at the tops of his lungs or running around the restaurant but you could have fed about three families of mice with the food that ended up on the floor) and we enjoyed some good food. We even both got some dessert because we deserved it (what with my one trip across the bridge...uphill by the way and her almost joining us for that walk). It was all good I had a gift card and five dollars in my pocket to make up whatever else I needed for the tip...or so I thought. Yes that five dollar bill was really a one dollar bill. That left me with the option to leave our waitress with a $4.64 tip and sneak out of there and never show my face again or to come clean and tell her the truth and promise to be back with a crisp five dollar bill to add to that $4.64 tip. Well I have a little problem with running off at the mouth and telling everyone who will stand still for 2 minutes my whole life story, so I chose to tell her the whole truth. Let's just say she was less than thrilled to have her last tip of the night be $4.64. I guess she did not believe that I would bring her back the rest of the money. (So reminds me of that movie with the cop and the waitress and Rosie Perez except I am no Nicholas Cage and Charles is certainly not Rosie Perez and I would never leave him for Junika because obviously she does not believe that I am going to bring her back that five dollar bill) How much you wanna bet my friend never goes out to dinner with me ever again?
        So Saturday Gabe, Charles and I hung out at the house all day (not doing laundry or dishes). We watched the Gamecocks play. Now I am not a college football fan...I am not any kind of football fan...I am not any kind of ball fan but how could you possibly live in South Carolina and NOT watch that football game? I have to say I was quite proud and even threw a few terms like "down" and "facemask" around (like because the cocks were doing such a great job with this game that I was somehow turned into some sort of superfan who all of a sudden knew what the lines on the field meant). It exhausted me. It was fun to hang out with Charles though. We don't do a whole lot of that kind of thing.
         Sunday brought our church's annual river baptism and picnic. I always enjoy this. Last year Jake, Charles and Wil were baptized and this year my dear friend Crystal's daughter was. And it was her 13th birthday so a special day all around for her family! My friend Shelley's daughter was also baptized. Shelley and I have been friends since we were in the crib room at that same church together and our birthday's are exactly one month apart. Aren't small town lovely? I will have to try and post some pictures because it is really neat to see. We even get tourists taking pictures sometimes (like we do this every Sunday just for the photo ops).
         After I watched a little History Channel (otherwise known as my Sunday nap) Charles and I decided to take all 5 of the Squires Boys down to do a little fishing. Now if you don't recall this is not, according to Noah, my greatest skill in life. It was low tide, there were people there with raw chicken (for crabbing I am told) and someone had been heading shrimp (not that I am on personal terms with the words "heading shrimp" Heyward informed me that was what the smell was). Needless to say, I was on the verge of wishing I was at home watching History. For some reason we decided to forgo the pier and head straight to the boat landing...which just makes me feel that much more secure-what with the floating dock and all. The boys however decided that the boat landing was not good enough and proceeded to head off, waist deep I tell you, into the pluff mud because OBVIOUSLY the fishing is so much better when you can barely move because you are sinking in mud. If you don't live in a place where there is pluff mud let me just tell you- it STINKS! A cross between sewage and dead fish (or headed shrimp...whatever). I took some pictures but they were so far away from the landing that you can barley see them. Not worth the effort to find the camera cord. Now mud is one thing...oysters are another. Wil always finds them. It could be that he is a little hard headed or it could be that he is lacking in the common sense area or it could be that he lost his shoes when he sank to his knees in the pluff mud. I am just saying he got some very deep cuts from some very nasty oysters. The blood that was pouring out of him mixed with the scent of pluff mud was enough to send this non-redneck mom (according to Noah of course) running from the fishing trip.
         To cap off the weekend we are celebrating Columbus Day from home because Noah and Gabe have developed some sort of nasty stomach bug (maybe it was the raw chicken form last night but since only the crabs were eating that I somehow doubt it) and I am a little worried about Wil's nasty cuts. Right now everyone is taking a nap and I plan on spending the next few minutes catching up on some new football terms. Hope ya'll had a good weekend.

    Wednesday, October 6, 2010

    A Little Morning Delight

    This weather is absolutely heavenly! I am so excited to walk out of the house and not having to wish for a remote starter on my car just so I don't melt when I get in. What would we do without air conditioning? I used to think I would like to be Amish...you know horse and buggies, cute little prayer caps, the simple life, good food...but let's face it I could not live without air conditioning (or a fan that blows on me at night or a cell phone or the internet or a refrigerator or a car or jeans or The Real Housewives of New Jersey). Anyway back to the weather...as I am making my way around town every morning I look out over the water and I am taken away with the beauty of it all. So peaceful! With the weather inspiring me I decided to spend the hour between dropping Wil off to school and work- taking a walk with Gabey Baby. Ok, now I know you are all about to fall on the floor because I am talking actual exercise here. It's ok, I've done it before.

    I parked downtown so I wouldn't have to walk to the bridge and got the stroller out. I just knew this was gonna be great! It was bright. It was crisp. It was high tide.




    It was also rush hour. And I learned some very good life lessons. And I am going to share them...cause that's how I roll. ( And by the way when  fat, white, late 30 year old women start saying things like because that's how I roll, it is really time to come up with some new lingo...are you hip to that jive?)

    Things I Learned on My First Morning of Walking
    By Rachel Squires

    1. My stroller is growing mold. I love my stroller and this upsets me. Oh the horror...what can I do?
    2. When you stand at the stoplight and push the walk button for the crosswalk and the sign says walk and you are in the middle of the crosswalk and you have the right of way because you are in the crosswalk with the walk sign on and it is a state law that all drivers must yield to persons in a crosswalk even if they don't have a walk sign DO NOT ASSUME that anyone turning right to go over the bridge is going to yield for you (or your moldy stroller).
    3. Don't know if you know this but bridges tend to go uphill. In a car...not so bad. As a matter of fact you may not even notice...but walking? A WHOLE different story (especially to a girl who considers rocking her baby to sleep exercise...I am just a tad out of shape).
    4. I walk a lot faster going downhill than I do going uphill. This may be due to physics or the law of gravity or maybe Brunelli's theory, but I'm just sayin'...downhill I am a STAR!  Uphill not so much!
    5. It is always a good idea to check to see if you need to go to the bathroom before walking (uphill) to the top of the bridge-also on that point maybe a large cherry coke from Sonic not a good idea until after the walk. 
    6. I really don't like heights especially over water. Bridges may not be for me.
    7. The cars pass by you really closely while you are walking (uphill) on the bridge.
    8. There are a lot of diesel vehicles in the low country. Remember the crisp cool air? Not so crisp when mixed in with vehicle emissions.
    9. 5 out of every 10 drivers are talking on their cell phones while they are driving on a very narrow bridge. Our state should pass a law against that sort of thing (however I would be THE FIRST one to get a ticket because I am always on the phone). Just a side note the other drivers are usually singing, yawning or picking their noses. 
    10. Gabey Baby loved taking a walk (uphill) over the bridge and he talked to the water and the boats and the birds and the cars the whole time. I guess we will be doing this again. Come and join us if you would like!

    Tuesday, October 5, 2010

    A Picture of the Rat

    More pictures to come but this is where I found Noah last night. Wish you could get a better sense of the depth of this tunnel. If you don't know what this is... please check out this link.

    Monday, October 4, 2010

    The Ho Chi Minh Trail- Little Boy Style

    Oh do I love this weather! I am so happy that I am not drenched in sweat when I walk the 50 feet to my car after work. I guess it is just part of living in the deep south and I'll never leave so I shouldn't complain but....the crisp days of October make the sticky days of August seem so far away! So Noah, Wil, Baby Gabey and I have really been taking advantage of the fact that we can no longer fry up an egg in the driveway and are spending quite a bit of time outside. Saturday the boys went outside to play next door on the neighbor's playset (shout out Tina) because well let's face it we don't have one. (You may be asking why we do not have a swing-set since we have so many little boys...it is such a great way to have big muscle movements and the back and forth motion of swinging is so centering...It would be great for the boys. Please refer to my previous post Lessons in Little Boys especially the 9th and 10th items down. Not even a swing set is safe in my yard) Anyway when I went out 10 minutes later to check on them all I saw was head to toe dirt! Yes, they were digging a hole underneath the swing. I freaked out and sent them home because after all destroying other people's property is not one of my favorite things for my children to do. (They however think it is great fun and will always engage in that sort of activity if the situation presents itself) We went into my backyard and spent an hour cleaning up the Sanford and Son junk pile that had somehow appeared in the middle of the yard. I so wish I had a before picture. We are talking snake habitat, health hazard, could end up on an episode of Extreme Hoarders junk pile. I am told it was a fort. I'll take their word for. Noah and Wil were not happy about cleaning it up but it had to go because Gabey Baby may have gone in and never come out. I told them that I was sure they could think of something else to do while they were outside. I should have known.

    Gabe and I went into to take a nap (because that's what they say...Always sleep when the baby is napping...I just assume by baby they mean toddler) and when we came back outside we saw that, sure enough, the boys had found something to do while they were outside. I needn't have worried. I took a quick video but I am not sure you can get the full effect.

     

    That shovel is completely in the ground. The Viet Cong have invaded my back yard and have begun to dig a new set of Cu Chi Tunnels. Why is it when my boys are quiet and not about to kill each other it is probably because they are doing something that-
                                                              A. they are not allowed to do
                                                              B. they don't want us to know about, like standing on the roof with a   bucket of water waiting for an adult to walk out of the door. Yes, that's been done at the Squires' house.
                                                              C. could get them killed.

    They worked all day on this hole. They were so excited about it that they invited Jake and Heyward over to help them dig on Sunday. Digging vertically got a little boring for them so they started digging a horizontal tunnel as well. They have a whole plan that includes escape tunnels in case of collapse. Me, being the Mom of the year 2010, saw nothing wrong with this. As a matter of fact I thought it was cute. I told my hubby to go check it out. He came back in and said..."Rachel, they can't go in that tunnel...it could collapse." Well duh...that's why they have escape tunnels. Apparently the Viet Cong knew how to reinforce a tunnel a little better than the Squires boys.

    I guess the next big project will be to fill back in the Cu Chi tunnel in my backyard. It involves moving dirt with the opportunity to shove someone in a half filled in hole so I am assuming the boys will be fine with it.. Maybe then they will take up making booby traps. As long as there is an escape tunnel I guess I'll be ok with it.