Charlyn’s Web

I wanted to call off today due to lack of enthusiasm.  Unfortunately,  the kids not only had enthusiasm but they were insistent.  Sigh.

A few hugs and kisses from the Big Guy and things were looking up- a little.

A few emails sent back and forth with Boo Boo and things looked a little more better.  (Which, I am sure, is proper English.)

Mexican tonight for dinner, although I don’t know exactly which item, is something to anticipate.

Maybe, just maybe, we should go ahead with today after all.

You didn’t know that you could start a car with a hair dryer? I didn’t either, until we tried it.

We’ve been having a TERRIBLE time getting the ’83 Mercedes Diesel started here lately. Brett took it to work last week but couldn’t get it started to go home. We had to go get him in the Suburban. He hooked up the jumper cables to give the car battery a boost and tried a “million” times to get it started. That was the number Kirsten came up with, it must have seemed that way to her but in actuality it was only 3-4 times. Even Mr. Stubborn had to give up and leave it there. The rest of the week was spent diagnosing the problem and finally on Friday got it started. One of the glow plugs had gone out on a cylinder with good compression (not all of the cylinders can say that).

On Sunday, it wouldn’t start again so we took the Suburban to church.

Monday the glow plug light on the dash wasn’t coming on which caused Brett to think that something was wrong with the glow plug thingy (I know that is a complicated word to understand but it’s the best I can do).

Tuesday he stayed home and we tested the glow plugs. They were really working which means just the light is out in the dash. He plugged in the block heater for awhile but it still didn’t want to start so then he started up the shop heater, pointing it straight at the car. Eventually, it decided it was warm enough to start. Brett thinks (hopes) the problem is the fuel so we went driving around to use up the tank. We still have half a tank to go.

Are you wondering where the hair dryer comes in? Wednesday, last night, I wanted to go to a Prayer Meeting at church and was going to take the car. Brett has been driving the Suburban because he is afraid the car will not start after work. I plugged the car in about 2, planning on leaving about 5:30. I couldn’t get it started. I got Brett, who couldn’t get it started. (Ha!  It wasn’t just a “girl”thing!) The motor block felt warm to the touch but it just wouldn’t start. Someone had told Brett that pointing a hair dryer into the air intake would help so we treked back into the house and got my trusty, old hair dryer. We pointed the hair dryer into the intake and Brett turned the key. Wa-la! The car started. I was a little concerned after the meeting that it wouldn’t start but it did after a moments hesitation.

This morning, I wanted to take the kids to a Homeschool Science Fair. I didn’t get the car plugged in until about an hour before we wanted to go. I took the hair dryer and hooked it all up. But it didn’t start and the hair dryer got too warm and stopped because I just had it resting on the engine and it was pointing crooked. I called Brett and he suggested Hans go out to hold the hair dryer. So out we went again but to no avail. Sigh. It must be a combination of warm engine block and warm air in the intake.

We came in and played Alphabet Go Fish and Math Rummy then made popcorn and watched TV. I was pretty disappointed.

Kirsten just said “We missed it!”

What did we miss?

“The Home School kids!”

Umm, yeah we missed that a long time ago.

“I wish the car had started!”

Yeah, me too.

I went to put away some sheets in “Grandpa and Grandma’s” room, a.k.a. the guest room when I was stymied by a locked door. Seems the mysterious Locker got to that door too. Brett had told me how he unlocked “Henry” and I was able to get this door open without too much trouble.

Then I decided that we should go out and enjoy the snow. I went to go get winter weather items from the Junk Room but, you guessed it, the door was locked. The problem here is that for some unknown reason this interior door has a keyed lock. I think it was because the people who lived here before had teenagers and must have allowed them to have locks with keys on their doors. Personally, I think this is a totally asinine idea but they didn’t ask me. We have never changed them, only turning the lock on Hans’ door around so that he wouldn’t be able to lock himself in and then not get out. This still means someone on the outside can (and will) lock him in but it is an easy fix. We don’t have a key for the doors, the house key will not work. So the door remains locked. At least it’s not the bathroom again and there are not vital thinks stored in there.

We did go out in the snow. Hans and I had fun making a snow man and having a snow ball fight. Kirsten didn’t complain about the “crunchy” snow and managed to find some joy out there. Talia, on the other hand, thought the whole thing was a waste of time and told me at the top of her high pitched lungs. There’s always one. I think she was tired because she hasn’t been napping. She did get some sleep this afternoon which seems to have helped her outlook.

KJ has discovered locks on doors. This hasn’t been a problem….until today. She must have turned the lock on “Henry”- the name for the bathroom by the kid’s rooms- then was able to get out but then the door was shut again with no one in there. And now it’s locked tight. So we have all be using the master bathroom. This was fine….until the toilet became plugged. It’s very easy to do in our low flow, cheap toilets. The plunger is in Henry. Quite the quandary. If I was mechanically inclined, I would try to stick something in the hole in the knob to unlock Henry but I think I’ll just wait until The Col. gets home. Hope he’s not too late tonight.

Hans had three teeth loose. The two upper ones, with the adult tooth coming in behind pushing out the baby teeth and one on the bottom, just left of center. He has troubles eating, he has to work around the loose ones. He has to stick the food in the side of his mouth and gnaw it off.

After supper, the kids got their usual burst of energy and were racing through the house. Hans and Talia started to wrestle on the floor. As Hans tried to  disentangle himself from her steely grip, he yelled “I’ve lost a tooth!”   The Little Brute had knocked out her big brother’s tooth!

Hans was excited and danced all over. It was the lower one, the first of his teeth to come out without an adult tooth growing behind it. He felt that it meant he was getting older. Brett explained that there were still lots of teeth to go! It’s the fourth one he has lost.

Talia was a little concerned about her teeth for awhile. She kept feeling them until I explained that hers would stay in there until she was big like Hans.

I know that it is boring to check a blog multiple times to find the same entries starting at you. I will try to update more often. Now that I actually have a blog, I find I have a bit of writers block. The reality of finding something interesting to write about on an almost daily basis can be overwhelming. The kids don’t do THAT many funny things. From the overwhelming number of comments being left, I can tell that everyone thinks what I write is fascinating. Come on now, don’t be shy! A little (positive) feed back is helpful.

My parents came for a visit this weekend. They normally come on Friday afternoon and stay until Sunday, leaving when we go to church. It’s about a 200 mile drive, all freeway (dull). After they got here Brett pointed out that Monday was a holiday (for him anyway) and that they could stay longer. I wasn’t sure that they would want to do that but they did! A quick call to the neighbor taking care of the animals and it was all set. The kids enjoyed having the Grandparents around for a bit longer, we had some good conversations and Mom got to play lots of card games on the computer. I guess everyone had a good time.

Although Dad did have to go to church… for the record, the building is still standing. It’s always a mystery as to how things will go with the service since we don’t have a pastor and get by with fill in speakers. This speaker was one I hadn’t heard before but did a fairly good job. I think he used quite a few “Christian” words that may not have meaning for others.

Talia is the best “pee-pee” dancer! The other two didn’t do that too much but Talia does it anytime, anywhere. She even can “dance” when she is sitting down! I do the dumb thing of asking her if she has to go, to which she usually answers “No!” I watch her for another two seconds and then escort her to the bathroom. As we have noted before, when you have a bladder the size of a walnut and have to go when it’s half full- it’s a pretty frequent event.

Kirsten shouts, as they run through the house: “We are the fighting shoulders!” Personally, I am glad that my shoulders are not fighting.

Hans’ adult front tooth is coming in behind the baby tooth. It is causing both front baby teeth to point out- like buck teeth. The baby teeth are shifting around some causing a gap on one side. We keep encouraging Hans to wiggle them so they will come out but so far no luck. Every time this happens, I think- this is the time we’ll have to go get them pulled but so far that hasn’t happened.

My good friend, Boo Boo, sent a link to the most interesting article. A must read for parents! We think we are doing a good thing to build up our kids’ self esteem by telling them they are smart…. think again! There have been actual studies done on this and the information is in the article.

The boys (Brett and Hans) had their ears lowered. It was really needed as their ears were getting pretty high on their heads and they looked pretty shabby.

Yesterday was a typical winter day here with thick clouds overhead and cold temperatures. On days when we are having the inversion (cold air trapped under a high pressure) the temperature will vary by only a few degrees- 25 is the low and 30 is the high. We had been in the house for days now, due to all of the illness so I thought that it would … wait for it… be “good” for us to go out to get the mail. The children had questions about how “good” it would be for them. Hans complained and was a slow as could be getting his stuff on. Talia complained too and wasn’tvery cooperative. Kirsten, on the other hand, quietly went about the business of getting her cold weather gear on. After the long fight, noise and hassle, I was glad to get them outside and on our way. Sigh. I have such delusions about how these things should go all the while the kids have their ideas about how things should NOT go. I was cheer-leading the troops- Come on, get moving quickly so your blood will pump and you’ll warm up! They move slower and come to a stop. Is it instinctual to just stand still in the cold? Huddling up, I guess. I decided they could just do their thing and I would walk quickly to the mailbox, a 1/4 mile away. Talia stopped in the driveway and after I was a fair distance from her; she started to wail. I yelled back at her that I would come get her on the way back. Of course, I should have realized it was a loosing battle to have her actually HEAR me, what with all that noise so close to her(coming from her own mouth). I heard an opening and shouted again and then she calmed down. She had started walking by then and Kirsten, who actually had been walking quite quickly waited for her at the end of the driveway. What a sweet sister. Hans was a few feet behind me and I made it to the mailbox. On the way back, Talia had started crying again. I often wonder what our neighbors think and am glad that they are not very many in number and work outside the home. I gave both girls hugs and told Kirsten what a good big sister she was to have waited for her sister and then walked with her. I walked everyone home and they were very grateful to get back into the house.

I may think twice on an overcast, 30 degree day about a “good for us” walk.

On Sunday the 21st Hans came down with a fever cold. He was down and out on Monday with a high temperature. Tuesday and Wednesday he was showing improvement but on Thursday his temperature went high again and he didn’t act like he felt well at all. He continued to have a low fever and by Sunday I was getting concerned. I told myself that if he still had it on Monday I would call the doctor. Then I took his temp and it was in the normal range! Whew! He has started to perk up too, which is a good sign. Although he still has a cough and runny nose.

I kept watching the girls, waiting to see if they would get it too. They just seemed fine all week. Brett, on the other hand, came down with the cold part pretty soon. I felt like I was fighting something off, took Coldeze lozenges when my throat felt sore and some fake Air Borne too.

Then Saturday morning rolled around. I was awakened by whinny “Mommy”s coming from the girl’s room about 6:30. I got up and went in there to find Kirsten on the floor pointing to a wet spot on the floor- “I threw up!” Great way to start the day, I always say. Really, I’m sure I say that. Kirsten ended up doing the nasty deed every half hour, stretching longer slowly. She seemed done with that part early in the afternoon but was running a fever. Talia ate a large breakfast and was playing all around, seemingly the only truly healthy one in the bunch. I was feeling a little off but I have also been known to be a little bit of a hypochondriac and with all of the sickness around me, I had plenty of symptoms to feed off of. Then in the late morning, Talia came up to me and laid her head on my leg, saying “I don’t feel!” Yep, she was hot too. She was “sick” really only once but she seemed to feel worse than KJ later.

We kept our germs to ourselves and stayed home from Church on Sunday. I can’t think of an instance where the whole family has stayed home before. We watched lots of TV- mostly Looney Tunes DVDs. The girls slept alot. Hans wouldn’t take a nap but fell asleep in a chair before 8 o’clock. Brett stayed home from work on Monday and everyone continued to lie around.

Through this all, I have been waiting to get really sick. And waiting. And waiting. But, so far, praise the Lord! I have remained well. This is surprising because I used to catch about everything out there. Maybe that’s what has given me immunity. Also, I am the Mother- which means I deal with the body fluids. I shall leave that there but it contrubutes to my surprise.

Today, Hans seems well and we had school. Talia slept until 8 AM and still seems a little off. She’s been having problems with the other end now. Kirsten also but she seems to be OK otherwise.

I can’t believe I am saying this, but I will be glad to have everyone back to their rambunctious selves again.