Tag: Kids

Zombified

11 Comments

Between preparing for Cricket’s birthday party and participating in the follow party hosted by Charlotte Castle on Facebook yesterday, I’m feeling a bit zombified today.  The follow party was great fun – I’ve made some new friends, gained some new followers, and had some great conversations.  But this zombie feeling isn’t likely to let up soon – Cricket’s party is tomorrow and I still have lots to do yet.  I’m taking a break for now, though.  I need a good nap.

I’m still struggling to believe that come Monday, Cricket will be two years old.  It seems like just yesterday we brought him home from the hospital, all excited and filled with joy at the prospect of the new life that was ours to mold.  I must admit, my favorite part of having kids with Seymour (namely, Cricket and Thumper) is that we don’t have to share them with anyone else (Tadpole and Tomcat each come from previous marriages and, while we normally get along pretty well with our exes, there are always times when things don’t go the way we would like them to go or when we don’t get to have the kids when we would like to have them because they’re with their other parents – it’s just part of being divorced).  For instance, Tomcat and Tadpole are with their other parents this weekend and as far as I know will not be able to come to Cricket’s party tomorrow.  It’s a disappointment, but it comes with the territory when you’re a divorced parent.  That’s just the way life goes.

Anyway, my boys are getting so big that it’s hard to believe.  In just over a month I’ll be doing all this again in preparation for Thumper’s first birthday!  To be honest, I’m just glad he’s made it to his birthday because when he was born, we weren’t sure he would.  His birth was vastly different from his brother’s – instead of a joyful event full of smiles and visitors, it was an anxiety-ridden event full of worry and panic.  It all seems like such a long time ago, but at the same time, it feels like only yesterday.  It’s funny how time pulls that off.

And now, to nap.  Don’t forget to stop back Monday, when I’ll be kicking off four days of posts featuring Lisa McKay and her latest book, Love at the Speed of Email!  You won’t want to miss it!

(c) 2012.  All rights reserved.

It’s five o’clock somewhere…

3 Comments

It’s five o’clock somewhere, right?  Why the heck can’t it be five o’clock here?  I just want to go home and sit in my lovely air-conditioned living room and relax with my guys. *sigh*

Also, check out The Page Turner!  It’s a super cool blog run by a great gal and one of yesterday’s posts featured The Lokana Chronicles!  Needless to say, I was pretty stoked.  Be sure to check out the pages 105 Tips for Writers and A Page Turner for a look at the awesome Page Turner software.  The software isn’t live yet, but it sounds like they hope to start beta testing pretty soon.  I personally can’t wait to start playing around with it.

And now, I think I’ll try to rest my poor sun-fried brain.  It’s another scorcher out there today and another one of my kids has another ballgame tonight.  Tadpole played a doubleheader last night (won one, lost one) and Tomcat has a game tonight (not a doubleheader, thank goodness).  I missed out last night because it was too hot for Cricket and Thumper to be outside and I think I’m going to miss out tonight, too, because it’s actually hotter today than yesterday (mid-nineties for temps, heat indices in the lower triple digits, humidity levels approaching 100% – yesterday was pretty similar, but with 30-40 mph winds all day long on top of all that).  Blargh.

(c) 2012.  All rights reserved.

Phlog along, folks!

4 Comments

The beautiful, if shallow, Upper Iowa River
Photo by Kay Kauffman

Once again, it’s Friday.  Once again, it’s been a crazy week.  Did I say crazy?  I think maybe cray-zay might suit a little better.  It all started Sunday.  Sunday began the first-ever Kauffman Family Camping Extravaganza.  Our adventure did not exactly get off to an auspicious start. For one thing, Seymour wanted to leave our house by 10:00 a.m. as the campground we were heading to was three hours away.  His parents were going to go with us, but they live a good hour and a half south of us, so we couldn’t leave till they arrived at our house, and they were late.  Seymour’s mama wasn’t feeling well, so his papa let her sleep in a little late and it was nearly noon by the time they made it to our house.  I think we pulled out of our driveway somewhere around 12:30 p.m.

About an hour or so into the trip, possibly a little more, one of the tires on our camper blew out in spectacular fashion.  There was no fixing this tire – it was in pieces all over the road.  I should have taken a picture of it, but I didn’t think of it at the time.  And apparently campers don’t come with spares standard the way cars do, but Seymour is a smart one and bought one when he picked up the camper, so he got the tire changed and we were soon back on the road.

The excitement continues behind the cut! Will we catch any fish? Or only weeds? Hmm, seems I’ve left that part out. Oh, well – the answer was no fish, only weeds.

A short farewell, but not really

6 Comments

Are you confused yet?  Worry not.  What I mean is, I’ll be gone for a few days.  After the week we’ve had, the fam and I need some time away from it all, so we’ve loaded up the trailer and we’re heading for the hills.  It’s our first-ever family camping trip, something we’ve been planning for months and looking forward to since last fall.  It will be four glorious days and three marvelous nights with no electronics, no diapers, no formula, no baby food, and somewhat less whining than normal as Cricket and Thumper will be staying with the world’s best ex-wife.  Once they’re potty-trained, they can start coming with us but until then, I’m looking forward to a few days without diaper duty.

I plan to do a little fishing, a little writing, a little marshmallow-roasting, and have an all-around awesome time with my family.  This week’s events served as a reminder of just how important family is.  I love my family so very much and I am really looking forward to this time with them.

In the meantime, I’ve scheduled a few posts to tide you all over till I get back.  Have a great week!

(c) 2012.  All rights reserved.

Summer lovin’

4 Comments

Ah, summer.  It is June, after all.  How the heck that happened, I’ll never know.  I could swear that only yesterday it was January.  Anyway, Kristen Lamb shared summertime memories of her youth in a post this afternoon and it made me smile.  I remembered some of the same years she described, but I remembered them through the eyes of a child instead of the eyes of a young woman.   Sure, by the time I was five, the Russians were no longer our enemies, but I still remember slip ‘n’ slides, spending more time outside than in, and never locking our doors. Ever.

Photo Friday

Leave a comment

Welcome to another Photo Friday!  Today’s post features those wild and crazy guys, Cricket and Seymour, when at least one of them was slightly less wild and/or crazy.

Seymour and Cricket, two peas in a pod

Taken in the hospital the day after Cricket was born (yes, the date stamp is wrong), this is easily my favorite picture of them so far.  It will probably always be one of my favorites.  Cricket looks so much like Seymour, and I love the look on Seymour’s face.  It says, “Mess with him, and you’ll be praying for the cops to haul you away by the time I’m done with you.”  It reminds me of the Facebook flair that says, “Someone who loves me is well-trained in the use of their weapon and accurate up to three hundred meters.”  We have a framed print of this picture sitting on our mantle.  I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of looking at it.  If I do, I’m sure that means that an even more precious photo has taken its place.

(c) 2012.  All rights reserved.

Related articles

Phlogalicious Friday

8 Comments

Fishing by Kay Kauffman

Welcome to the first in my Friday Phlog series!  This week’s photo features an old picture of my oldest son, the Tominator (aka the Terrific Tomcat).  This photo commemorates his very first fishing trip at his great-aunt Sandy’s house.  She and her husband live in a beautiful gated community dotted with ponds that are kept fully stocked.  When we were visiting them for their 25th anniversary luau (complete with un lechon – that’s roast suckling pig for those of you not in the know), my darling baby boy was treated to his first fishing trip in one of the ponds near Sandy’s gorgeous house.

Do you wanna see the house? Huh? Huh? Do ya? Well, then click on through and check out another pretty picture!

Scenes from home

5 Comments

Apparently my kids need to be educated.  The following conversation took place this morning as we were about to walk out the door:

• M: Tom, why are you only wearing one glove?
•T: Because I lent the other one to RaShaun.
•M: Okay, well, either you need to wear both gloves or neither of them.  Michael Jackson couldn’t pull off the one-glove look and neither can you.
•T: Who’s Michael Jackson?
•R: Didn’t we look him up at your First Communion?
•M: *facepalm* No, that was Michael Jordan.  Different guy.  Do you know the song “Thriller?”
•T: No.
•M: *epic facepalm*

Clearly tonight’s soundtrack must feature Michael Jackson.  I’m not even all that wild about his music, but at least I know who he is.  And while I realize that for the course of their lives he hasn’t been the most popular singer, I still can’t believe they don’t know who he is.  It reminds me of another aspect of their education that is sadly lacking: the ability to alphabetize.

•M: Rachael, will you get out [random movie whose title I can’t recall]?
•R: It’s not here.
•M: Yes, it is.  All the movies are in alphabetical order; just look under [appropriate letter – I think it was L or M].
•R: It’s not here, I’m telling you.
•M: I know we have it. *pulls movie off of shelf*  See?  It’s right where I said it was!
•G: Hold on a minute.  Maybe they don’t know how to alphabetize.
•M: Do you kids know how to alphabetize?
•K: (in unison)No!
•M: *facepalm*

Evidently they don’t teach kids how to alphabetize things in school anymore.  This useful skill must have fallen by the wayside when they did away with media center as a class.  Now that everything is available online, who needs to know about the Dewey Decimal System or how to use a card catalog?  (Please to note the sarcasm.)  Alphabetizing is for the ancients, much like legible cursive or heck, even legible printing.  My kids’ inability to alphabetize was quickly remedied.  I’ve not tested it yet, but I do hope they were paying attention.  After all, stranger things have happened.

(c) 2012.  All rights reserved.