Charlyn’s Web

I have been doing genealogy research instead of updating this or writing personal emails.  Sorry everyone!

It is exciting when I am doing the research and actually FIND information.  I found the ship that my Norwegian ancestors came on, not through Ellis Island but Quebec, Quebec.  Now I have a copy of the ship’s passenger list.

But I keep hitting brick walls with several of my searches.  It doesn’t help that several of the names are exceeding common- think of my maiden name.  Sometimes the first name is unusual and that can help but there is always the common names that every one seems to share.  Some names are not so common, but then they are always spelled wrong.  The “i” before the “e” or the “x” changed to a “r”.  I found a family on the census that had the relatively easy name of “Cooper” but it was miss indexed as “Casper”.  It’s on a census that is just indexed with no images attached so I can’t go look at it but I know it’s the right family- right location, right first names and ages.  Sigh.

Good thing I like research and challenges- as long as those challenges don’t come from my kids!

I told you of the Hacking of the Hair of Pixie.

I was worried that she would hold a grudge, be angry at me for awhile. But that wasn’t the case. In fact she seemed ok with it.

We went to church Sunday, it was Easter so she was dressed in a pink poofy dress and looked cute. I asked the Sunday School Teacher what she thought of the new hair cut. She said it was cute. She said she had asked Pixie what she thought of it and Pixie had said she didn’t like it at first but now she does.

Whew.

It’s finally here!  I’ve been saying “Ah April!” for months now and it’s hard to believe that it’s here!

Last fall my friend Boo Boo and I talked of our long friendship and realized that we have known each other for 20 years!  We thought that was something to celebrate.  She offered to buy me a plane ticket for my birthday and Christmas.  I hemmed and hawed, couldn’t make up my mind (really unusual that, I am such a decisive person. )  Did I really want to leave the kids and Big Guy for that long?  I wasn’t sure how the Big Guy would feel about being left for that long too.  One day he came home with a bunch of boxes of Hamburger Helper.  I was thinking that was rather strange as I hardly ever use those anymore and they get old sitting in the cupboard.  He announced that they would be good for him to make while I was gone!  Yipee!

Then came the hard part- finding a “good” time.  I decided that the fall was not good as there were many events happening- between birthdays and holidays.  So we decided on March- which is closer to Boo Boo’s birthday.  So we could celebrate my birthday, hers, and 20 years of each other. But we forgot about Spring Break and what it would do for ticket prices so it got pushed past that time and it was set for April.

Whenever we are feeling low, which it has been a long haul for my good Friend, we would tell each other- April!  And we would smile and things would look better.   Just hang in there, April is almost here.

And now it is here!  I leave on Saturday.  It hardly seems possible.

The hardest part will be the actual LEAVING of my dear family.  Parting is hard.  BUT once that is over, I am sure they will be fine… and so will I.

My Dear Friend has a hair appointment set up for me.  I have been under strict instructions to not mess with my hair until then.  I have been good and not snipped my bangs.  Brownie points for me!  Also set up is a pedicure and a manicure.  I’ve not had the pleasure of either one so I am excited.

And Shopping.  I am NOT a shopper.  For clothes especially.  I like looking at things, like kitchen gadgets and books.  But finding fun in clothes shopping has always eluded me.  Probably because I am supposed to actually PART with money.   Saying that, I am inexplicably excited about going clothes shopping on this trip.  Probably because of the company.  Probably because she will boss me around and I will have limited decision making to do (another thing I am SO good at).  I will wear comfy shoes and make sure I am well fed before we start out.  That always makes things more bearable.

Coffee.  I plan on having morning coffee with her like we did when we were young (er).  Relax.  Do some cooking.

I will not have to share the bathroom stall with two other bums.  I will not have to remind those said Bums to stay off the floor, that it is not polite to try to see under the wall into the next stall.  I will not have six hands to wash.  I can eat whatever  I want without sharing.   Maybe, just maybe I can have a complete thought without interruptions.   I will not have to count heads every five minutes.  I doubt there will be anyone who looks at the food I just worked hard to make and say  “EWWWW! What is it!?!”  but I could be wrong about that.  I can sleep in.  (Down side- no Big Guy waking me up.)  There will not be anyone climbing the walls (literally) or screaming “There’s a Monster!” as they run through the house.  No whining, no squabbling, no fighting over seats at the table, no having to remind people to get dressed (well, I don’t think most of these things will be issues).

I will not know what to do with myself.

Pickles.

Yep, we tried peanut butter and dill pickle sandwiches today.  I told KJ that a character in a book I read likes them and today she decided that she would like to try it too.  I made her and I a half sandwich that we split and also made a peanut butter and banana sandwich to split between everyone.  KJ liked it!  And so did I.  The other two took bites and decided it wasn’t bad.  KJ liked it so much she had more.  Everyone liked the banana too.

Maybe one day we will try tomatoes and lettuce.

“Whine! ”

That is a common sound coming out of Pixie. If she is unhappy about something, if she is frustrated, angry- “Whine!” She can’t seem to be able to find the words to express herself at those times and resorts to whining. It’s never pleasant and getting less so the older she gets. It doesn’t help to tell her to stop, she just keeps it up. As if unable to stop on her own.

She wants long hair but it is a hassle because she doesn’t want it combed. It used to be she wanted it in pig tails or in a “flower” (she looks like Pebbles from the Flintstones) every day and was good about letting it be brushed out. But lately, she has been leaving it down more and is more unwilling to let it be brushed. It became an “issue”. I kept telling her that if she wanted long hair she needed to let it be brushed out but she would keep up that grating, incessant noise until I threatened to cut it off. One day I even got the scissors out and she promised to behave so I didn’t cut it.

But last night, she started in again. Brett asked her later if it hurt and she said “no”. She has a tendency to not like things and not to cooperate with things when it’s not her idea. So I got out the scissors and cut.

I do admit that I cut it too short. I wanted it just below her sholders and with the weight of about 4-5 inches off, it ended up shorter than that. And I wish that I had done a better job. One side is longer than the other and the back goes up a bit. I wonder if she’ll let me even it out.

But you know what? She looks cute. Her hair looks full and thick. It frames her face. It was getting pretty stringy looking. Part of it was that it wasn’t being washed often enough but I had noticed even after a cleaning that it would look stringy and not full.

I thought this morning she would be upset with me but she ran to me first thing, yelling “Mommy!” and held my hand at breakfast. She mentioned that I still had long hair this morning but I pointed out to her that I had already brushed it. That long hair needs to be taken care of and she wasn’t letting us do that.

She also said, while trying to hide a smile, that she was going to tell on me and then I would get a spanking. I asked her who she was going to tell and she informed me it was Papa. I’m scared, really scared.

She wasn’t happy with the “flower” we put in this morning and took it out. I think it looked different than before. She also thinks it should be grown out by Saturday. But overall she has had a pretty good attitude about it. I did apologize for cutting it too short but again told her why I had cut it.

I hope some of this sinks into that little, hard, opinionated head of hers.

But maybe not.

The Public Schools are on Spring Break this week.

Therefore, the weather is terrible.  Rainy, windy, cold.

But, we homeschool.  We are trudging along with school, although at an easier pace.  HP isn’t happy with this development but we remind him that there are days he has off when the other kids have to go to school.  Maybe when the weather gets nice again we’ll play hooky and do something fun.

Bahhhahaha!  Evil laugh.  But then again, maybe not.  😉

As I sit here, mind void of higher brain activity being made number by repeated games of Spider Solitaire, I wonder why I have a blog.

I have been reading other’s prose on the Web and am definitely in awe of what some people produce.   Some people have things to say and say it well.  Some produce tons of stuff- posting multiple times a day- even when they don’t have anything to say.   And here I sit- being watched by multiple “camera traps” that my son has positioned all around the house (not to worry if you are concerned about your next visit being “caught” on camera- they are made out of Legos.)  and nothing of import has come to mind.  Maybe I am too worried about “importance”.    Maybe the Camera Traps are inhibiting my creativity.   Having a blog and feeling the need to “produce” for my phantom readers is stressful.  Yooo Hooo! Anyone out there?

Then I remind myself why I wanted to do this trendy thing.  I wanted to record what was happening in our family and comment on things of interest to me (rather narcissistic, isn’t it?)  Also to let other people, mostly family and friends, keep caught up on our lives.  Mainly, the kids.  They change so fast.  So with that in mind, I don’t have to be Shakespeare (or is it Shackspar?) or to be the best speller (I even confuse spell check) or grammatically correct (I know, too many commas and dashes) but just honest.

Even with Camera Traps watching my every move.

The girls had been outside and came in with dirty hands. While they were being washed up, Kirsten noticed that there were some dark smudges on the Barbie toothpaste tube. She immediately accused Talia of getting dirt on it.

“Kirsten do it!” Was Talia’s reply.

It was starting to degenerate into one of those deep and provocative conversations. “She did it!” “Did not, she did it!” When I pointed out that it was just the price sticker residue that was left when Gramma took it off before giving it to them for Christmas.

They busily told Papa when he came in all about it. Kirsten mentioned it at the breakfast table the next day and when Talia enters Black Ear, she points a chubby finger and proclaims:

“Gramma do it! Gramma fault!”

All settled.

Talia is a little singer.

On our walk the other day she was strutting along singing: “Only boy, David!” over and over again.

If you remember any children’s Bible songs that one is “Only a Boy Named David”. She had the tune kind of right but was dropping a few of the words. And lines, and verses. Who needs all that stuff anyway?

Another one she was singing was – “Happy, happy, happy!” I wondered what she was trying to sing and then I caught “Happy New Year!” and I realised she was singing “Wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!” We were blessed (and I use that word loosely) with a singing Snowman at our last Harvest Festival and it has turned into a favorite of hers. Yeah. I am thrilled. Can’t you tell? But I DO love to hear Talia singing it. I like her version because it is “Happy” and makes me smile.

Another favorite that doesn’t come out quite right is the Happy Birthday song. But I like it, it says it all.

“Happy Day You! Happy Day You!”

And today is a Happy Day since it is dear friend Boo Boo’s birthday. Happy Day You!

We had the radio tuned into a local radio station a few weeks ago when my brain tuned into one of the commercials. It was all about “passing gas” and when to not to it. It talked about leaving the area when “it” was about to occur and to NEVER do “it” around children because it contained noxious “gas”. It was sponsored by the Ad Council etc. I kept thinking “was that for real?” Which just goes to show how little I have to actually think about.

Finally, it was there in my mind while I was on the computer so I looked up the Ad Council to see if they had any information on it. I learned that the Ad Council was a non-profit organization that helps put together Public Service Announcements (PSA). After doing a search on “gas” I found that they indeed did sponsor such an ad. This one was directed by Jason Alexander of Seinfeld fame and has been an on going series since January of 2005. BUT the point was not about “passing gas” but about second hand smoke. Ooops. Silly me. I must have missed that part.

Seems second hand smoke contains noxious gases that is harmful to children and this ad will help motivate parents to stop smoking around their kids. Of course, this is an ad campaign put on by the same people who did the “TV Boss” ads. These ads are supposed to inform parents about the V chip and encourage them to use it to “block” offensive TV shows. One of them has a strung out drug addict on the floor with a man explaining how the show was “great” television but it was too adult content for the kids (seen playing outside through the window, ages about 10) so he was going to “block” the show. The he leaves and the addict says “What a nice lady.” The kids thought that was funny. We don’t watch much TV and we don’t have cable so I have no idea what show he was talking about but I know for sure my kids wouldn’t be watching it! I am finding that some of those shows aren’t even healthy for adults! Anyway, a poll was done to see if the ads had increased parents use of the “V” chip and found a 1% DECREASE in usage. Uh, don’t think it’s working. Could it have been the timing of when they showed the ads? The reason we saw them was not because we were watching “graphic, adult content” TV shows with our kids but because we were watching CARTOONS with our kids on Saturday morning. Wow. What a concept. But it baffles Brett and I as to why they wouldn’t show that kind of ad during the shows that they think are not for kids and maybe make the parents start thinking “is this good for my kid who isn’t in bed yet?” But, no that shows my naivety again. That would mean a loss of revenue because there is someone willing to pay for that slot and they would have to run the PSA free. Oh, and the ad campaign only cost $550 million dollars.