New Poster

It's coming!

Enjoy

Click here for xmas pictures. Happy Holidays!

Afternoon conversation

Me: Em, you need to wipe your mouth.
E: Why, Mama?
Me: You have a milk moustache.
E: No, I don't.
Me: Yes, you do. I can see it.
E: It's not a milk moustache. It's snot.
Me: Right.
Welcome to my adventure, people. Anyone want a ride?

Picture Update

I finally had some time to upload a crapload of pictures. The last set of pictures I uploaded were random shots from the summer. Here is a timeline of our adventures from the end of summer through the past several months.
August - My birthday party & Emma's first day of school
September - nothing much happened, no pics of note
October - U2 concert in Tampa for me and Andy; Tara's wedding; Halloween for kids
November - Disney World trip with Mimi & Papa; Philadelphia trip for Reagan for NWP, NCTE & ALAN conferences
Click here and choose an album.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The original Thanksgiving story as told by Emma.

Irritation

People who treat the movie theater like their own living room. Shut the hell up people.

Time

It occurs to me as I'm sitting her at 3:57 on a Friday afternoon that time is mercurial. I almost didn't start this post because I am quite positive that the sound of Mama-doing-something-for-herself will awaken my sleeping son at any moment. He came home early from school today with a case of tummy-trouble. Andy came home with him, put him down at 12:45, and he's still sawing away here at the crest of 4:00pm. This is sad because I'm going out for a wedding shower/bachelorette party tonight and I may not get to see him if he sleeps much longer. He was still asleep when I left for work this morning at 6:50. [For those of you not aware of my life's current IRONY - school begins at 7:30am for me this year and I have a 1st period class. Yes - it sucks for those of us who are decidedly night owls.] But it also occurs to me that were Jackson awake, this time would be flying by as I wrestled/snuggled/chased him through the house for some much needed mama-and-me time before I leave for the evening. It moves too slowly through the doldrums of life and too quickly through the joys.

I need to post pictures of Emma's first day of school, now that it's a month and a half AFTER THE FACT. I need to post new pics of Jackson and the rug burn currently adorning his nose that was captured forever in his school picture on Wednesday. I need to tell you all about the 11th grade class I have been coerced into teaching even after they asked and I said emphatically NO (Mom, MK - aren't you proud?) but instead have happily discovered that I like the material and the students. I need to tell you about this new book that I'm reading/listening to that makes me laugh out loud WHILE I'M ON THE ELLIPTICAL MACHINE (check the list in the side bar). I need to change the blog background for Halloween. And of course there are the daily chores that should be getting done right now but aren't because I'm waxing rhapsodic on the computer about time.

However...as I type I realize that the most important thing to tell you about is this. I love my life. I have a fantastic husband, a pretty great job (even if it is in FL), terrific kids, cute & cuddly cats, a home and a benevolent God who loves me in spite of myself. Emma asked me to see a picture of Isabelle Wednesday night and we looked through some of Izzie's things together. When I started crying, Emma hugged me and said, "It's OK Mama. We have lots of time to see her and play with her and hug her when God is ready for us." Wisdom from children. So, all that to say this - I need to tell you a lot of things but right now, I'm too busy enjoying my life - including the craziness that manifests itself as cat vomit in my sports bra. I love you all and hope you're busy living life too.

And for those of you keeping score, Jackson started talking 2.4 minutes ago. I have enough time to turn this off before the screaming starts. Happy Friday, everyone!

Update

The online photo album should now be working. I fixed the link and revamped the directions in the post.

The evidence

We have been hearing rumors that there is a biter in Jackson's class (shockingly, it's not Jackson himself). There have been several days we've picked him up and been asked to sign an incident report because he has been bitten. I could never tell that it occurred and assumed the school was just being proactive...until today. Observe.
That's the best shot I could get of it, but one can clearly see the bite mark. What you can't see very well from the photo is the bluish/purplish bruising on the inside of the bite. Whoever the kid is that bit him must have really wanted a piece of him! Who could blame him/her - he's a sweety.

Photos Galore

I have updated a web album on pictures from our summer. When you get to the main page, choose "slideshow" to see all the photos. I'm including a few pics as teasers.
This is Emma and her friend Diana headed down the aisle to graduation from Pre-K in May.
This is Jackson and me home on our first full day of summer vacation together! He wanted to be taking the pictures. I also discovered my new camera has a feature where I can turn photos into black/white or sepia so I was playing around with it.
Jackson with the essential bathtub-mohawk.
The rest are included in the online album. I must warn you that Andy and I stink at taking pictures so there are very few from the whole summer. We have gotten into a horrible habit of relying on aunts and uncles to take pictures when we're all together. Therefore there are no pictures of our trip to Destin over July 4th with the Mauks. Aunt Tara gave me a CD but it's currently languishing on my desk at school. I took not one photo at the Snider family reunion in TX but Uncle Matt took lots, especially at the zoo so I'll have to beg a disk from him too. I did manage to get a few shots while we were in AR but Matt took better pics, I'm sure. All that to say this, be happy with what you're getting people. Love to you all!
Click here to see the rest of my pitiable store of pictures!

Whoa - that's weird...nope - that's God.

This morning the family made it to church for the first time in weeks! Between Andy and my plague-infected selves and our traveling, church has been missed a lot this summer; both physically and spiritually. It felt good to be back and have people smiling and asking after our absences as we made our way to drop the kids off at the Kids Zone and get ourselves to the sanctuary.

Before we left the house as we gathered up the child/church accoutrement, Emma glanced at our Bibles. She looked at them thoughtfully as they lay stacked on the counter waiting to be loaded into the car. Then she said, "Mama, when do we read the Bible?" I was immediately convicted of how little I actually read my Bible outside of church. I responded, "You can read the Bible any time. We could read it after school or at bedtime or whenever we feel like it." Then she asked why we read the Bible. (She's really into the "why" questions these days, right Papa?) So I gave her the standard response that we read the Bible to know what God tells us about how to live our lives and make good choices. And so the conversation went on until we were all loaded in the car and other things caught her attention. I thought about it all the way to church. I mean, Emma loves to read. We read fairy tales, chapter books, picture books, and she even demands narration of movies and TV shows after we watch them. Then it occurred to me that other than the times that Emma chooses one of the few (shamefully few) Bible story books for her bedtime reading, we really don't talk about the Bible with her that much outside of church.

So...all of that to end with this.
Andy and I got settled and jumped into our Sunday morning worship like normal. Then our pastor, Mark, began with the "Question of the Day" which usually is related somehow to his message. The question today: What is your favorite book? This of course led into his discussion of why we, as a congregation, spend so little time in the word of God. I was dumbfounded. My daughter had just set up today's sermon on her own - with a little help from the man upstairs. So Andy & I were encouraged to begin reading our Bibles more often and to include Emma. I am currently researching picture Bibles online and plan to make my way to Martel's or Lifeway this week to get Emma her 1st Bible. (Sadly, she hasn't yet received her own.) It's convicting and exciting all at the same time. Thank you Lord for showing us just how incredible your Spirit is to bring about your Will through the questions of a child.

We Survived

We have survived the summer although, in contrast to last summer, Andy and I have spent the majority of this summer under the weather rather than the kids. I'd rather have it that way. It's always so miserable when the little ones don't feel well - for everyone. Knock wood - Andy and I are healthy right now. (Do you hear all the germs laughing maniacally as they swarm towards our home since I've just cursed us by bragging about our health?)

I will be along shortly with a summary of our activities and pics (thanks to aunts and uncles who are quicker with the camera than we are). Work week begins for me next week and I'm not even sure of what I'll be teacher. They like to keep us guessing, they do.

We all head back to school on the 24th, including Em! She's going to be in kindergarten and I can't even begin to tell you how that terrifies and excites me all at the same time. In addition to being so excited for her I can't hardly believe it, I'm also so grateful for the Pre-K and K teachers out there. I now realize firsthand what you all deal with on a daily basis and my prayers are with you. This just reinforces my decision to teach the upper grades. I am preparing to become a prayer warrior for my child's K teacher, as those of you who know Emma are well aware of how much patience (and how many answers!) the woman will need. And all of this is said knowing that my daughter is a good girl. She is polite and tries her hardest to do the right thing. I am amazed at her energy, intelligence, curiosity and generosity. I don't know how I deserved such a fabulous daughter but I got her and now, her teacher gets all of her too. Plus 23 others! God Bless them: the kids and the teachers.

Here's to another year for all of us! (And that is definitely intended to be a TOAST, people. Remember: we teach, therefore we drink.) Happy Mind Molding!

Emma's birthday wish list

Posted is a picture of her bday cake. Isn't it ridiculous? Don't have time for Kaboodle so here it is:
Barbies (she's into them now, dear God help us all)
shoes (size 11 or 12)
a pink, patent leather purse (she was very particular about this)
a nightgown or 2 (thanks, Mimi)
games for her Leapster
board games (we already have CandyLand, Chutes and Ladders, and a matching game)
clothes (size 5T or XS tops; size 5 bottoms)
Anything else you can think of is fair game. I will warn you - the parentals don't take kindly to loud, noisy, flashing type toys so you will be blacklisted if such things arrive in the mail.

Love you all! Here's keeping our fingers crossed that the jump-party goes smoothly Friday.

Thoughts on books (shocker)...

Having been a Harry Potter fan for years (I distinctly remember waiting in line for my copy of Prisoner) and a Twilight fan since the first book was IN HARDBACK, I choose to take issue with 4 phenomenon (which are listed here in no particular order).

* I cannot stand people who say they knew what was going to happen in the HP books all along. They are liars and as such should be subjected to one or more of Filch's desired punishments.
* The "bandwagon books" that have cropped up surrounding both aforementioned series are pathetic.(that's right, I used "aforementioned" in my blog, people.) You are not J.K. Rowling or Stephenie Meyer or Neil Gaiman so GIVE IT UP.
*Screaming at a movie premier or book signing or TV interview is just embarrassing for all of us who are true fans. Get control and stop yourself. BTW - Robert Pattison is not really Edward and Dan Radcliffe is not really Harry. Rob cannot (nor will he) bite you and Dan cannot send you a Howler for your birthday so GET OVER YOURSELF.
* Why must I be considered a "Twilight Mom" purely because of my age? I was reading these books when some of the girls where in grammar school. I am officially offended by the term and will be sending around a strongly worded letter (right, Thursday girls?) with an accompanying petition to ban the term shortly.

Discuss.

Kick Ball/Liz Update

For those wondering about our friend Liz, here's the news.
She fractured her jaw and damaged and perhaps killed her top 4-6 teeth. She has her top jaw wired shut and was kept in the hospital overnight because she kept losing consciousness.
She's looking at 4-6 weeks recovery and will probably lose her teeth and have to have a bridge.
Sheesh - who wants to play Kick Ball now?

Inquiries, Interrogations, and other Irritations...

Observation Tabulations for today:

Emma asks questions about EVERYTHING. Today, just for fun, I counted how many questions she asked over the course of an hour. 1 hour total: 127 - I shit you not.

Jackson has discovered that, because my name is "Mama", if he says this with rising inflection, I think I am being addressed and will respond to him. 1 hour total: 34 - I shit you not. Keep in mind, he's learning to talk.

Jackson's new words (with translation):
mun mo (one more)
bay bee (baby)
co call (phone call) for some reason this is always whispered
col (cold) also whispered
nk (drink)
Emma's new words/phrases
actually
speaking of... (not that you have to speaking of something in order for her to use this one
seriously? (that's my fault)
eventually
that's funny...

Life with kids. Ain't it amusing.ui

Screams, Smiles and Sirens

There have been exciting happenings here at the Mauk Ranch in the last few days. It all began two nights ago (insert wavy lines and synthesized dream music here)...

SCREAMS: Around 11:30 a piercing scream broke the night...I'm really not being dramatic. Andy will back me up on this, Jackson screamed like he was getting a shot at Dr. Jones's office. I thought he had gotten an arm stuck in the crib slats. After the initial shock wore off, I headed in to settle the boy back to sleep. He was NOT going to settle right down. He strained and struggled to have me carry him out of the room. I thought surely once we were out in the living room he would calm down. Nothing doing. 10 minutes later he was still screaming - the kind of screams that worry a parent. I finally let him down because he was beating the hell out of me straining against my holding him. As soon as he hit the floor, he staggered into the kitchen and tried to climb into his highchair. Still screaming I tried everything from slices of cheddar to graham crackers and milk. Nothing made him stop screaming. After 25 total minutes of screaming with 10 minutes in the high chair, he picked up a graham cracker which I thought he would throw. His eyes were kind of glazed over and when this had all begun we thought we were dealing with a night terror. Because he was responding to our ministrations with yes's and no's we finally determined he was still asleep and sleep walking. This was confirmed when J vacantly stared at the refrigerator, blinked, stared at his hands, dropped the graham cracker he had been screaming at, looked and me and said, "Mama?" Yep, he had been asleep the whole time. 3 minutes later he was happily munching some graham crackers, sipping some milk and chatting with me and Andy. When he was full, he went right back to sleep. We have all officially experienced Jackson's first nightmare/sleep walking experience. Whew.

SMILES: Jackson's such a happy guy - they call him Smiley at the YMCA. Whenever we go work out and leave him at the Kidz Zone, they love to have him because he smiles so much. This morning was no different. It was another play date with Jackson's Trojan Tots classmates. We headed to Zoinks which is Tallahassee's version of The Jump Zone. (For those non-parents out there, picture warehouse space filled with giant inflatable jumpers, arcade games and screaming kids) Jackson had SO MUCH FUN! He was smiling from ear to ear walking down the hallway to the front door. After we got arm-banded and socked up, he headed straight for... the big kid jumpers. Of course, he thinks he's 7. He won't stay on the toddler jumpers but wants to go with all the big kids on the huge jungle jumpers. I would have spent all day pulling him off of them though. He was so happy. Laughing and chasing around his little buddies, he was the definition of ecstatic. At one point, all the moms had me in the jumper hauling in little ones and dumping them over the side and down the slides. They loved every minute of it. No, Mimi, I didn't have a camera but my mommy-memory-bank will keep those shots forever.

On a more somber note..
SIRENS: Andy's office is participating in intramural Kick Ball this summer. Tonight was his first game so me and the kids loaded up the juice boxes and goldfish to head out and cheer Daddy on at the opening game. Turns out it was a short game. 1 full inning completed, the opposing team had a man on base and it was batter-up. It was a high-fly ball straight into center field that resulted in an out. However, their man on base was headed for home. And he barreled straight into our catcher, Liz. Now Liz is probably in her late 40s or early 50s and had offered to play catcher to avoid lots of running. She didn't realize this was to be a full-contact sport. The runner's head made contact with Liz's mouth. (Are you having flashbacks, Mom?) She fell backward and her head bounced on the ground. I mean BOUNCED. When she sat up she was holding her mouth, blood seeping between her fingers, while saying, "My teeth! Are my teeth OK?" with a wide-eyed, dazed look on her face. It was scary. She actually passed out, not once but twice while we waited on the paramedics. Yep, it was that bad - we had to call 911. 1 University policeman, 2 EMS SUVs and a fire truck later, I made the executive decision that it was time for Andy's cheering section to exit. Andy was helping keep her from falling over so he stayed until the paramedics arrived to treat her. Originally we just thought everyone would get up and dust themselves off but it didn't turn out that way. We kept Emma out of direct line of sight but of course she had lots of questions. I think things will be OK but we're still waiting to hear an official report. More than likely she has a concussion and all your prayers are appreciated to make sure that this is a minor injury that turns in to a ruefully humorous story in the months to come. Hopefully, the next Kick Ball game will be much quieter and boring.

Hope everyone else is enjoying your summers as much as we are!

Summer, summer summer, summer-time...

Summer is upon us faster than I expected. This past week has been my first at home with both the kids. It definitely takes some adjusting. Nothing much special going on here, jsut the normal beginning of summer things: realigning Jackson's routine to being at home, convincing Emma that naptime is not a suggestion, and trying to make sure we only eat at McDonald's/Chick-fil-A once a week.

We have some traveling planned for those of you who are waiting to see either when we'll leave town or when we'll show up in your neck of the woods.
I'm going to Panama City next week for AP training (not so fun) and 1 week by myself (way fun.)
Andy's headed to D.C. June 22ndish for a week of training. (see above parethetical commentary)
We're headed to Destin with the Mauks for the 4th of July.
Headed to Dallas for a Snider family reunion July 25thish. Then on to LR/HS for a week or so.
Then back to Tally to start back to school.

Hope you all are well. More anecdotal updates and new summer pics to come.

When listed in this manner, summer seems rather short.

Futile

It is confirmed. All my students' heads are full - continuing to fill their minds with knowledge will only push previously learned material out their ears. It is a futile endeavor to teach them more. Summer must come soon!

Trying my hand...

So, as I've said, writing the poem for Izzie got me thinking - and writing. So here's another attempt. This one was inspired by a student. Some of you may remember that earlier in the year I had a student commit suicide. One of his close friends had really struggled with his death during the year and then over our Spring Break, another of their buddies committed suicide also. This boy is really struggling but has a great heart. He reminds me a lot of Jay and I've kept a watchful eye on him while he's mourned both his friends and tried to keep his head up this year. Let me know what you think but, be gentle, I'm just experimenting.

Almost Grown

Infectious laughter.

Boyish exuberance.

His mischievous grin

melts staunch resolve.

His is a rippling

façade of contentment.

His heart expands

to embrace friend and foe.

His attentions blossom

into appreciation for

both mother and lover.

His broadening shoulders

carry too much sorrow

for one so young.

His gallant swagger

falters in the

face of uncertainty.

His fun-loving spirit

sags under the weight of

new-found responsibility.

Will the boy refuse to grow

And slowly leak vitality?

Or

Will that vitality sustain

a man of character?

Before dinner conversation...

Scene: kitchen table, toys scattered over floor, school drawings on table, etc...

Emma: Mama, let's open the package! Quick, sit down!
Me: How can I sit down? There's a troll in my chair! It's Princess Fiona! What is Princess Fiona doing in my chair? If I sit on a troll, I could hurt myself.
Emma: Mama, don't be silly. (Next said with a tone one would use when explaining that of course the grass isn't purple) Princess Fiona is not a troll. She's a yogurt.
Me: My fault. Of course she is.

Sleepwalking & unexpected anticipation

This is going to be a random post.

Emma has begun sleepwalking. Apparently she's taking after her Mama. My own mother tells me that I suffered from this same affliction near the age of 5 as well. She emerged into the living room the other evening looking a little dazed. She wouldn't respond to questions at all and came immediately to Andy (of course). She stood next to Andy while he and I looked at each other, perplexed. Then Andy said, "Emma, let's go back to bed, baby." She nodded her head and promptly climbed into his lap, curled up and passed out. It was awesome. Since then she's acted similarly a couple of times. Last night was pretty hilarious too. Andy's been letting her watch the original Star Wars movies. She's enthralled. I guess fantasy's her thing. Last night when I went into her room in reponse to her moaning, she was standing next to her bed and she said, "Mama, tell Bobba Fett to get out of my room." Hilarious.

Speaking of enthralled, my friend Jennifer had the brilliant idea to introduce Emma to American Idol. We watched our first episode together last week. She is mesmerized. She hasn't sat that still for an extended length of time since the last time she was running a fever. Also,k she noticed things about the show that I never would have picked up. She observed that one of the contestants wasn't wearing sunglasses when the rest of them were. I (sadly) had watched that portion of the show 3 times (with Jennifer, who is self-admittedly obsessed) earlier that day. Neither of us had noticed the missing sunglasses. Then, yesterday we had a conference with Emma's school. Her evaluator told us that Emma's social and language skills were off the chart. So, acting classes appear to be in her future.

In other news, I am irrationally and unexpectedly excited about 2 upcoming movies. X Men Origins: Wolverine and Terminator Salvation. Those of you that know me are aware that these are not my normal film fare but for some reason they are intriguing to me. I'm also reading Angels & Demons in preparation for that movie. Yes, I've been told to beware the ending - that it's dumb. We'll see.

And finally, I really enjoyed writing that poem last week. I've been working on poetry with my students and writing a little. More poems to come. Stay tuned.

P.S. New school pic of E will be scanned and posted soon. She's so grown-up. I can't believe she'll be in kindergarten next year. Lisa, how did you do it?

Pause...

Today I took time to
pause.
Just two hours instead of a
lifetime of you.
I measure it
without you in
each of my breaths,
lost hopes, and,
every day, a
pause.
Time tiptoes past without
pause.
Your unrealized possibilities are hard to ignore.
I know your eyes in the supermarket.
I hear your laugh on the playground.
I watch you stumble at Sunday school.
It gives me
pause.
They are not you.
They cannot be you.
And so I sigh,
shake my head, and
pause
before I go on my way.
I choose remembrance over remorse because
every day there will be time to
pause.


Happy Birthday, little girl. Mama misses you.

Fun pics

Here is how Jackson ended up by the time dinner was over tonight.
I'm sure you can all see that he has a future as an alternative hair stylist if the left-handed MLB pitcher that Andy's banking on doesn't work out. You can click here to see the entire dinner show.

I also put together a short album of Easter shots. We didn't take any pics of our own on actual Easter Sunday. Uncle Matt and Aunt Leanne will have to save us, again. Click here for pics of Jackson's Easter party.

That's all for now.

Happenings

I haven't posted in a while so I thought I'd try to give a brief update on our happenings since the last post.

The beginning of April was uneventful. Mimi (Patty) was here for my Spring Break to visit and it worked out nicely that she was here because Andy was in Washington, D.C. for a conference for most of the week. We had a blast and I'll post pictures or a link to an album soon. The weather was somewhat rainy during Spring Break but Mimi has lots of fun indoor-play ideas (Tornado Drill in the bathtub, anyone?) for rainy days. Jackson warmed up to her Sunday so she got several good days with both kids. There was an exorbitant trip to Toys R Us and she brought the dress-up clothes from Christmas (finally) so a good time was had by all. I even got to sleep in a couple of days she was here so I call it a successful trip.

Right before she showed up, Jackson cut 3 of his 4 1-year molars. That was agonizing. He was still in agony the first night she stayed with us and everyone but Emma was up for about 3 hours but the teeth are here and we're back to normal...sort of. More on that in a minute.

Aunt Leanne and Uncle Matt were here for Easter weekend. We had lots planned while they were here. Friday night we let the kids have some time with them. Aunt Leanne got to do story-time with Emma and was told about halfway through, "I'm tired now Aunt Leanne. You may go." Ah, hah...thank you, Your Majesty. Jackson seemed to warm up really quickly to both of them. Saturday we hit the FSU Circus and both kids loved it. For those not "in the know" (and I wasn't when we first moved here) FSU trains students as circus performers as part of the performing arts department. They keep a tent up year-round and once each spring they put on 2 weekend worth of FSU Circus. It was amazing! Even Jackson was still for almost an entire hour. He probably would've stayed for the whole thing if it hadn't been naptime. Again, pictures will be coming soon. It was really done professionally and much more entertaining than I imagined. It was a lot of high-wire/trapeze type stuff, which Emma loved. Overall, a good choice.

Saturday night, Miss Amber came to play with the kiddos and the adults headed out to Tallahassee Roller Derby. One of my colleagues at work (and my hair stylist) play on the Tallahassee team and I've been going since she joined the team last year. Matt and Leanne were up for it so we packed up the camp-chairs, a couple cold ones and headed down to the Fair Grounds to see Tallahassee Capital Punishment take on Jacksonville. It was a really good bout and the TRGs (Tallahassee Roller Girls) are really good about giving a tutorial at the beginning of the bout for all the Derby-virgins. I think Matt and Leanne had fun and Andy had never been even though I've been telling him about it for a year. Then we headed out to a local restaurant called Chez Pierre which is an old house near the historic district that's been turned into a restaurant/bar. We had a great time.

Sunday we went to Easter service at our church - which is uber-casual- and Pastor Mark still gave a great sermon. Then we stopped for lunch at Red Elephant pizza and spent some rest-time on the couch watching the end of the Masters before Matt and Leanne headed home. (They actually didn't get home until Monday, mid-morning, but I'll let Leanne tell that story.) All in all - a great trip.

Sunday night I contracted/was attacked by/succumbed to (I can't think of a foul-enough verb) food poisoning. We indulged in a whim to get Chinese food and it proved to be the wrong thing to do. Thankfully I was the only one who ate the chicken-fried rice (Jackson wouldn't let me put it anywhere near him and Emma's sworn off all Chinese in favor of Spaghetti-Os: they are so wise...). 15 minutes after supper I knew something was not right. I spent 8:00pm-4:30ishAM in the bathroom. Having never had food poisoning in my life until now, I can honestly say it kicked my ass. I was out of school Monday and Tuesday feeling like I'd been run over by a bus and punched in the kidneys repeatedly. I vow to avoid this situation at all costs in the future. The ironic thing...Leanne had just mentioned the infamous Fayetteville pizza-left-in-the-hot-car fiasco that she and Jay endured on a visit to see me and Andy. Yeah, food poisoning is not for wimps.

So, back at school, everyone was normal for about 24 hrs. Andy had killer-headache last night and was out of commission from about 5:00 until bedtime. He even stayed home from work today, and most of you know what a big deal that is. I got a call at 11;00 that Jackson has a rash on his belly and have plans to run him by the doctor at 4:00 this afternoon. He had a fever Wed. and had to stay home from school so don't know if the 2 are related or not.

Emma's healthy (KNOCK MAJOR WOOD) for now. She's been dry a lot at night lately and been sleeping in big-girl panties for bedtime, which is a major deal in our house. Slight speed-bump last night but apparently I got up and let her have 2 glasses of water around 2 AM. Don't remember doing that but both Andy and Emma swear it happened so blame the soiled sheets on Mama this time.

Tomorrow is Lincoln High School prom, which I get to chaperone. I know, I know...you're all jealous. I'm sure I'll have great anecdotes to share next week. I can see it now, intoxicated athletes, dress malfunctions, possible vomit...what a weekend I have to look forward to.

Hope all is well in your worlds. Look for pictures next week.

Whatever happens, keep eating...

The boy was tired but determined to finish the cookie.

Exercise? Schmexercise....

Why, dear God, why is it so difficult for me to make time for me? Actually, let me be honest...I could make time for me, but instead I make excuses. I use the kids, the house, Andy, my job, almost anything as an excuse to avoid taking care of myself. Then I spiral downward into the well-I-already-blew-it-today abyss so I have that bowl of icecream or 2 beers after the kids go to bed on top of eating 2 helpings of mashed potatoes at dinner. Why am I so weak? Reading this, I am grossed-out by myself. So, I pledge to do it differently starting tomorrow. I'm eschewing sugar and beer completely and carbs are taking a backseat. I did really well in January and lost 6 pounds by mid-February. I'm going back to walking 2-3 times per week. I mean it. Really.

Rule #23.

Your face is not a bike-brake.

Think you want kids?

This is what happens when you tell a baby boy he can't play with electronic equipment.

Blog Hiatus Over

After a little break from blogging, I'm back with a vengeance. This will be short and sweet but with lots of photos and a video or two. Lots has happened this month. We celebrated Jackson's first birthday with just our tiny little family. It wasn't as sad as it sounds. We actually had a really good time. Click here for Jackson's Birthday Pictures. And you can watch the video of birthday singing madness. Pardon my tunelessness. And, in the pics, Jackson is drinking JUICE not beer.



The second video is of the cake eating. It takes so long to load videos, I'll post it later.

The second web album is of Emma's adventures at a recent birthday party. She went to her friend's birthday party at a pony ranch. She was enamored immediately. (No one is shocked, are they Pa and Papa?! And no Dad, you can't buy her a horse. The horse would drown the next time the neighborhood floods.) Click here for the Painted Pony Party pics.

Granddad Robie

Sad news from the Robie side of the family. Granddad passed away this past Wednesday night. We have created a blog site for family and friends to post comments/memories/pictures. Click here for the George F. Robie Memorial website.

He Walks!

I think the video speaks for itself. Pay no attention to the woman in the background saying random things to the children. By the way, he likes to clap for himself. He's very proud.

The boys say, "Yay football!"

More importantly...

Jackson took 3 steps on his own yesterday. No, Mom, I didn't get it on film. He was happy and clapped for himself as we all clapped for him. Now, he's been asleep for almost 2 hours. I guess the Nursery at church kicked his little butt this morning. He fell asleep in the car on the way home, didn't awake when I dumped him in the crib and he's still snoring. Quick, gotta go clean something. Out.

Musings...

So, I have a love/hate relationship with my hair. I love how much hair I have. I have a few friends that are already thinning in patches and I feel lucky that that's not me. However, I also hate how much hair I have. It takes forever to dry it - which was a pain when it was straight but now it's torture since it's gone wavy. Back story: I was the girl with the long, board-straight hair all through high school. It was so long and straight that Senior year, my friend Julie, used a ruler as a guide and cut 6 inches off of it which still left it hanging between my shoulder blades. I cut it off in college (don't we all?), grew it back out again for my wedding (what is it with girls wanting long hair for the marriage?) and cut it progressively shorter until it was boy-short when Emma was born.

Since Emma, I've grown in back out again to the length it attained in summer 2007 when we moved to Tally. Then, I cut my hair off short because of the heat here. But, this has presented me with a dilemma. After Isabelle was born, I discovered that my hair was wavy. 2 different stylists have assured me that this is normal: apparently, with hormonal changes come hair changes. In cutting it short, I have flirted with wearing it wavy but I have a problem. When I wear my hair wavy, I worry about it ALL DAY LONG. I don't think it's wavy enough or that some of it's wavy and some of it's gross. If it's not humid, it sags. If it's too humid, it's frizzy. I now see what Nicole and Jess were complaining about all those years. I began wearing it wavy because it was faster than drying it, not really because I thought it looked good. Although, using some gel and scrunching makes it look WAY better than if I don't fix it. Then it looks like I had a really bad crimping iron accident.

Recently, I've bit the bullet and started straightening it. That adds about 15 minutes to my prep time in the morning and you all know how much I like to sleep. But, I feel so much better about my appearance when it's straight. Maybe it's because I was a straight-haired girl for so long? I don't understand it. And now I'm considering growing it out long again so I can ponytail (right, Gina?) or cutting it off really really short again. What is wrong with me??

If at first you don't succeed...fake it.

Or in Zoey's case, give up and lie down. That apparently is the feline creed. Since the boy became mobile, we've put the cats' food up on top of the fridge so that little hands can't make little snacks out of the Cat Chow. This seemed the perfect solution since our feline friends are such naturally adept jumpers. This is clearly feline myth. Have you met my cats? Zoey weighs in at a svelt 9.3 pounds with Max anchoring his half of the furry pair at a robust 13.5 pounds. We grow 'em big here on the Mauk Ranch. So, one would assume that Max would, having to heft his great bulk up onto the counter and up again onto the top of the fridge, be the cat who is struggling to reach the food. Sadly, no. Apparently there is something to the survival-of-the-fittest theory because the offer of food seems to be motivation enough for Max to launch himself the 5 feet needed to reach his meals. Granted he uses the counter and seems to stay up there on the fridge for a large portion of the day, but he can make the jump. Zoey? Not so much, with the jumping. I have been sitting here in the kitchen for about 15 minutes now which has been enough time for Zoey to attempt not 1, not 2 but 4 failed attempts to merely mount the kitchen counter. The top of the fridge is clearly the goal AFTER she catches her breath from scaling the cabinets. She's not even really getting any "air". In 3 of the 4 failed attempts she only managed to get about 3 inches off the ground while also pityingly dragging her front paws down the front of the cabinets. I don't know if it was a ploy or if she truly can't jump that high very well. Either way, I couldn't take it anymore and I put her up on the counter. She then gingerly manuevered the eyes on the stove and leapt gracefully onto the fridge to have a bite to eat. I think I've been had.

I was attacked

By the vaccuum. Long story short, the vaccuum fell over, the attachment cord (which is an accordion-like structure) contracted with my neck in the folds. Voila - instant battle wound! This is reason number 7 I should not have to do housework.

Andy Update

I should be grading essays but this is way more fun.

Andy's version of an update, "I'm alive."

I'll try to do a little better. Let me sum up Christmas for Andy: traditional type gifts, horrible sickly wife and child, horrendous 14-16 hour car trip with no help from me, and lots of whining. His Christmas was spectacular. He can't wait for next year. Really.

In other news, Andy is in his 2nd year of 3 years of course work for his PhD in Higher Education. "What does that mean?" I hear you cry. Basically that means he's studying to work on a college campus either teaching classes like the very ones he's taking or working as a Dean of Students or Director of Programs or something like that. Or...as I tell most people, he wants to be a college student for the rest of his life. After he finishes Year 3, he'll spend the 4th year working on his dissertation while job-searching. He works 20 hours each week in the Office for Student Affairs under Mary Coburn, the Vice President for Student Affairs. He is also in charge of the Institute on College Student Values at FSU which happens every Jan/Feb. Last year his entire committee and office were praying that Jackson "stayed inside" until after the institute was over. Jackson complied. After he finishes work, he usually heads to the library for several hours to do his studying. He's very focused and driven - I would never be able to do it that way. But since he can, he still spends most evenings and weekends with us. It is great for the kids and me.

I am so lucky in the partner God gave me. Andy and I compliment each other so well and this move to FL would have ruined us if he wasn't such a wonderful man: mostly because we are so far from family and have very little help with the kids unless we pay babysitters. He is such a help with the kids and the house in addition to dealing with his own work and studies. I don't know how he does it. Emma adores him and Jackson has really begun showing interest in wrestling with Daddy and watching sports.

Our main goal right now with the job search is to get closer to family. A 14 hour car ride to be with family is NOT OK. If we can get within one day's driving distance or even 5 or 6 hours, that would be ideal. At this point, we don't really have any idea of where our next home might be (Dad, it's not going to be UALR) but we're drawing a circle on a map and looking within that circle.

I'm really proud of my husband for following his heart and getting his PhD. I think I always knew he would. I'm glad to be on this journey with him and I can't think of any other person I could take this adventure with - without losing my mind. And we all know how scary that would be.

The Institue looms near so Andy is especially busy right now as we prepare for Jackson's first birthday. How he manages to keep all his plates spinning I'll never know. But one thing I do know is that this brilliant, generous man I'm married to deserves all the accolades he has earned and will earn including these: Fabulous Father and Heroic Husband. Thus endeth the sap.

Jackson Update

Since you received the timeline in the last post, I'll just jump straight into Jackson's info. Jackson spent most of the Christmas break cruising around all the different houses. He started pulling up in November and has been on his way to walking ever since. He's even standing by himself these days. This afternoon he tried to take a step on his own. He collapsed before he actually made the step but there was no crying.

We did learn that Jackson is not a good visitor. He travels in the car fine but he doesn't like being in new and different places. He spent the majority of our trip to AR in an agitated state which manifested itself by his not wanting me to be out of his line of sight at all. If I left the room, he cried - loudly. In addition, due to 2 days in the car and lots of CR-V induced napping, he woke up in the middle of the night for anywhere from 1-3 hours at a time. Before we left home (and before the monster-cold that attacked him and me) he was sleeping through the night really well. The entire trip (including the nights in the hotel) Jackson spent lots of dark hours up and about. Andy took the brunt of it since I was sick as well but once I rallied, we rotated in 1.5 hour shifts. It took him almost the entire first week back in FL to readjust. But, being back in his house, his room, and his routine really helped a lot. When we returned home, we started putting hom down for bed without rocking him. He seemed to be ready for it. The first night he cried for a bout 20 minutes and after that he took to it like a cat to a down quilt. The entire past week, we've put him to bed and he's gotten to sleep himself. But, enough about baby sleep habits.

Jackson also got lots of noisy toys for Christmas. There is a baseball game that I think Andy will burn in effigy on the lawn one day soon. Jackson really likes electronic toys. Anything with blinking lights, sounds or music (all three if possible!) are real winners. He also seems to have an internal homing device connected to the TV remote. If it's in eye-sight, he's going after it. Although these days his favorite game is to completely unpack one of the cabinets under the stove. He also likes to take all of my books off the bottom shelf of the bookcase and unpack the bottom drawers of DVDs in the entertainment center. Basically - he's a boy. And he likes anything he can bang and use to make really loud noises.

He says a few words: he's said Dada and kitty for a while now. He finally said Mama and Sissy this week. He loves to wrestle with me and Emma on the floor and he's pretty fast when he chases her. Just wait till he can walk! He also tries to say Max but it sounds more like "asx". He's a lot like Emma - he loves to sing and he is OBSESSED with the bathtub. We've had to keep the doors to both bathrooms closed so he doesn't take a header over the side. And any time he can take a splash-a-roo in the potty is great fun. He points and "yells" at the cats and loves to chase their tails. Zoey is frightened; Max endures it with annoyed patience.

We are enjoying him completely and I can't believe he'll be a year old in 22 days. As Grandma Mauk always says: they change so much in one year. It truly is amazing.

Emma caveat: 2 things she did Friday that were hilarious. In the midst of abovementioned DVD unpacking, the Star Wars movies ended up on the floor. She brought one to me and said, "Look Mama, they have 2 light sabers and they're both blue." I agreed and then asked her where she learned the word "light saber". She responded, with hands on hips, "I don't know, Mama, I just growed up and knowed it." Right, how silly of me. And later, at bedtime I got her pjs out of her drawer and the shirt was inside-out. I asked, "Which silly person put this shirt up inside-out?" She looked thoughtful for a moment and then...raised her hand. Well, at least she's learning the ins and outs of school procedures.

Andy and Reagan updates coming soon.

Emma Update

I decided that it was too daunting a task to try and cover the entire family and the holidays all in one post so I'm tackling it one person at a time. Here's the scoop on Emma. Short timeline: we spent the week leading up to Christmas and Christmas Day in FL. Santa came to our house and while the kiddos played with their loot, Andy and I scrambled around packing for a trek to AR. We were both feeling under the weather but we soldiered on. We spent 2 days in the car, 3 days with the Sniders, 3 days with the Mauks (and Moellers on New Year's Eve!) and then 2 more days in the car to make it back to Tally with one day to spare to do laundry and unpack toys.

Emma, unlike the rest of us, was mostly healthy over the Christmas holidays. She wanted "lots and lots and lots and lots" of presents, as she told Grandpa on the phone about a week before Christmas. And she got lots of presents. I don't know how, but between E and J we managed to get everything packed in the car to make it back to FL after our visit to AR. Her favorite toy (until this evening) was her nursery set that Santa brought her complete with crib, swing, changing table and stroller. We were informed at dinner tonight that, "Santa never brings me what I want!" and asked if we could take it all back so she could get the pink horse she really wanted. Andy, Santa and I had never heard anything about a pink horse so this was news to us. After explaining that Santa has a No Returns policy, she seemed mollified.

She is loving school and is beginning to be even more observant than ever. She has started noticing the different races and ethnicities of her classmates and teachers. Mostly she describes anyone other than white as "brown" be they African American, Indian American or Hispanic. I guess that's a pretty accurate physical description though. She can recognize all of her letters and does pretty well with numbers 1-10. She likes to line up her foam letters in the bathtub and sing the ABC song while she points to each one. We're missing a few letters from wear and tear over the past 4 years but she leaves a space for the "broken" letters.

She is an amazing big sister. She is so helpful and she even likes to play with Jackson. Mostly they roll around on the floor like puppies, both yelping. She tickles him and he bites and pulls her hair. Then the screaming intensifies and things like, "Mama, Jackson's hurting me!" float to me from her room or the living room. I have flashes of the battles of the next 10-15 years but shake them off quickly. She helps me make bottles and change his diapers and even helps feed him - although she can never stand still long enough for an entire feeding.

She is really into verbal play and pusing her limits with language right now. She says mean things and then tries to avoid consequences by saying, "I'm just joking.." I think she got that from Horton Hears a Who. Thanks Mauk family! She also uses bathroom words like "poop" and "peepee" and "snot" and then smiles wickedly. We try not to laugh and discourage the budding tendency toward potty-mouth (pun semi-intended). She has also started saying, "Oh My God!" which we are trying to morph into "Oh My Gosh!" We think someone at school says it because Andy and I have been pretty careful to avoid things like that. There was my brief affair with saying "damn" under my breath when I was frustrated but when Emma spilled her milk and said, "Damn, Mama, I'm sorry" I nipped that bad habit in the bud quickly.

She loves to dance and sing and these efforts were supported by the Hannah Montana gear she received for Christmas. She has a guitar, a microphone, a purse and a double disk CD set. Thanks to all the aunts and uncles who will be paid back in kind as soon as you have your own rugrats. Particularly when you add in the GIANT PIXIE STICKS Uncle Scott sent our way, there were a few days of what appeared to be a 4 year old drugged out rocking on the ottoman in our living room. Have no fear Scott, there will be reciprocation.

We're looking forward to dance or gymnastics classes this spring. And she is taking all sorts of realistic and abstract photos with her new camera. She's still obsessed with movies and has started learning lines and inflections as well as just watching them. I think I told you about her school Christmas play where she knew ALL the parts. We're thinking acting classes are in her future as well.

I'm sure I've forgotten something but this at least gets everyone up to date. Stay tuned for Jackson, Andy and Reagan updates. Pictures will follow as well when I have more than 10 minutes to myself. So, sometime next year.