Long Gone Gun & The Salt Flats

Thirteen hours into our 16-hour trip from Louisiana to Kansas we'd all had enough.

Around Oklahoma City, probably about 2 hours into our second day of driving, "Pop, pop, pop, pop!"

"Justis, STOP!" Madalynn, Dawson and I said in unison, without having to look for the source of our noise. He's the family percussionist, so if it makes noise, Justis "plays" it.

I looked back to see Justis wearing his Daddy's ornery grin and holding Dawson's broken cap gun. My "rule" for our trips is NO TOYS. The radio, DVD player, books and the pure delight of being in a car with each other is quite enough entertainment for any trip. The kids all testified that the gun was already in the van before we packed for the trip and they found it under the back seat. I insisted the gun be put back under the back seat and it stay there out of my sight.

Two hours later, "Pop, pop, pop, pop, POP!" I had listened to movie after movie on the DVD player and all sounds were grating on my nerves a little by this time.

Then, "Mo-om, Justis is popping the gun at me again," Madalynn said in disgust.

"Justis, knock it off. I'd better not hear it again. I warned you once."

Ten minutes later. "Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, POP! Heheheheheh!" The noise was closer this time, so I looked back and, behold, Madalynn was taunting her brother with the same gun she was tattling about her brother teasing her with ten minutes earlier.

"Let me see the gun," I said. Madalynn surrendered the gun to my outstretched hand.

I rolled down the window, held that little broken and plastic gun up and released it into the wind. Getting rid of something annoying never felt so good!

Silence followed. I looked in the rear-view mirror. I expected tears immediately, but the kids full-well knew something was coming and they sat in shock, surprised I would take such a dramatic measure.

Madalynn immediately turned to Justis, "I'm sorry Justis," she said with complete sincerity.

"It's okay, Madalynn." Justis said with a sad face.

Then Dawson sadly spoke up, "That was my gun." He had purchased it with money my grandma had given him for his birthday. His "cowboy toys" are his favorites.

"Sorry, Dawson," Madalynn and Justis said in unison.

Tears welled up in Dawson's eyes. "I will buy you another one Daws, I promise," I said smiling. He was okay with that.

I did not feel one bit of guilt for throwing that gun out the window until I realized it wasn't biodegradable. Then I felt bad for littering.

Ten miles down the road I saw a historical marker sign and decided it was high time for us to all get out of the car and have more than two feet of personal space between us.

We ended up at the salt marshes, where endangered birds nest. I saw the pretty white salt bottoms and decided, aside from being a fun place to let the kids run, the scenery would make for a great photo shoot. So I got out my camera and told the kids to do what they do best, play and smile. And so they did. And so we had a wonderful last (3-hour) leg of our trip. And we all got out at "grandma and grandpa's house smiling and still willing to speak to one another!

(I forgot to mention. I was a two-time environmental offender that day. As we were walking out of the salt flats a different way that we came in, we all noticed a sign that said "NO ONE BEYOND THIS POINT." I hope we didn't ruin any endangered bird nests (yikes). Please don't turn me in!)

Justis: $1 Richer

Justis has been waiting for his easy money (that is, his first tooth to fall out) for about three weeks now.

He's no dummy. He realized, as soon as the Tooth Fairy started bringing big sis dollar bills for each tooth she lost, his chance was coming to make a profit!

The struggle for Justis is that he HATES the sight or mention of blood and freaks out when he gets a paper cut. Madalynn just basically jostled and yanked on her teeth at the first sign of a wiggle until she forced them out. Not Justis. That crazy tooth hung in his mouth so loosely that I was afraid he was going to eat it when he accidentally tripped or took a drink or bite of something!

He breathed a sigh of relief when the tooth just popped out with no blood or pain. I was relieved there was no drama. :)

Justis will wake up tomorrow one dollar richer. He hoards it. I'm guessing his Tooth Fairy money will help fund the purchase of his first vehicle or something. Love you, Justis!

Memphis: A puppy in a big dog body!

Chewing paper, eating my plants, escaping from his outdoor pen, digging my flowerbeds AND digging in my flower pots have all become "fun" puppy playtime for my new "puppy" Memphis.

Memphis is now about five months old. He's nearly as big as our full-grown chocolate lab, Dixie! He has a ravenous appetite, and still loves coming in the house and taking a nap under the (unused) high chair or the kitchen table.

He's been an awesome student in "Travis Hunting School." He's whistle-trained to sit and stay, then come. He's working on multiple retrieves with his blaze-orange fetching "dummies," as we call them. Thank you to my awesome husband Travis for training him!

Memphis likes the water. Thankfully the alligators didn't eat him when Travis took him swimming in a local swamp. Seriously. Memphis has also discovered the "poop ditch," as we fondly call it (the sewage ditch where the 'supposedly' 90% clean water goes after it leaves our little treatment thingy).

Between smelling like poopy mud and wet dog and shredding every bit of paper and crayon he can find on the floor, he has spent more time outside than in, lately.

Memphis is growing to be a smart, loyal dog! Hopefully we can train him to stay away from the poop ditch, now!

My Valentines

A rose and a very sweet card from my hubby were waiting for me beside me on Travis's pillow this morning. Travis wanted me to find my Valentine surprise first thing, and since he was up 'n' at 'em before 5 they had been waiting there for me a while! He goes to bed early. I stay up late. I get up late, and he gets up early. Totally opposite, but we've managed to make it work! Thank you for working to bless me before the sun was up this morning, Travis. I love you!

My four little Valentines are running around with Valentine tattoos they got from Grandma and Grandpa Chadd all over their arms and chests. They had fun exchanging Valentines with their friends from home school group
yesterday at the park. Attendance was about 50 kids, instead of the expected 80, because of rain. The rain didn't spoil the fun! We had a good lunch, with tons of sugar cookies, of course, and the kids played on the nice playground before exchanging Valentines.

Jillian was hilarious. She had no idea why she was standing and holding her little paper Valentine bag out, and she was getting VERY agitated and impatient. Someone finally put a SUCKER into her bag, and then she held that little bag out until the cows came home (while stuffing candy into her mouth with the other hand)!

Travis and I will be taking our Valentine's date either tomorrow or another day next week. I'm not big on fighting crowds just for the novelty of Valentine's Day, and neither is Travis. Both of us would prefer a QUIET dinner out and a few hours away on an evening when we can be one of the only couples in a restaraunt. Maybe Monday should be our Valentine's Day!

Facebook: I Finally Gave In

"Jae, are you on Facebook?" Is a question I've gotten many times from my friends in the last year or so.

Ask no more, dear friends! You may now visit me on Facebook.

I usually don't hold out on learning to use and embrace new technology, but I had to warm up to Facebook. The way it "networks" you to so many people, although neat and helpful, is a bit spooky to me still. The fact that I can control whom I allow be my "friend" on Facebook makes it safe, though. Only my Facebook "Friends" can see my info. on the site, so if you want to be a Facebook friend of mine, join Facebook, too. It's free!

Now I get to ask. Are YOU on Facebook?

There were six in the bed and the little one said, "ROLL OVER!"

Finding a hotel room that accommodates a family of six is not easy. Functioning as a family of six in a hotel room is even trickier! God bless suite rooms, is all I have to say.

We were blessed with an extra special two-room suite when we stayed at our hotel in Houston. The pull-out couch bed was in a room separate from the two queen-sized beds. The fact that the suite had the extra room gave us a little extra peace...but it also gave me a HUGE scare!

I woke up to the alarm the day of the marathon and started to rouse the kids. Travis's dad had already dropped Travis off at the marathon downtown about 1 1/2 hours before. I woke the boys first, who had slept in the queen bed opposite Travis and I in the same room. I then went to the other ("living") room and woke Madalynn up and JILLIAN WASN'T THERE. The girls had slept on the pull-out couch.

I calmly walked back into the "bedroom" and walked into the bathroom to make sure she hadn't quietly passed me and gone to the bathroom without me noticing her. I asked the oldest three to help me look. Madalynn then said she hadn't seen her for a while.

I quickly walked back toward the bedroom and glanced at the door, noticing the deadbolt undone. Travis, obviously, could not have returned the deadbolt back to it's locked position when he left that morning, making it possible for little Jillian to have simply walked right out the hotel door without anyone noticing! I made a b-line for the telephone, trying to reassure myself that she was probably across the hall in Scott, Cheryl and Holly's room for some reason.

Scott picked up the phone and I asked him (sure he'd say yes) if Jillian had gotten up early and gone along for the ride to drop Travis off at the marathon and had stayed in their room. He sounded kind of worried and told me that she wasn't in there and to look again and call me back.

Panic mode struck and the kids and I rushed around, looking in the kitchen, bathroom, under the beds in the bedroom. I then went to where she was laying and stood. Her pillow was still on the bed, and so was her blanket. I was just about to call Scott back, the front desk, and the cops, when I decided to get down and look under the pull-out bed.

Right smack in the middle of underneath the bed was Jillian, fast asleep. She had slept right through our panic. I said, "Jillian, how'd you get down there?!" She SLOWLY started stretching and finally climbed out from under the bed, totally unfazed. I can't figure out if she fell of the side of the bed or slid down between the back of the couch and top of the mattress! I called Scott back with the good news and a sigh of relief.

Here are the sweet pictures I snapped of Jillian when I found her under the bed and the kids peacefully sleeping together in the hotel beds.

The Handy Man Can!

Travis is very handy, and he blesses me and the kids with his skills often. His latest project is matching twin beds for the girls. He finished Jillian's bed just a few weeks ago and she is now sleeping like Daddy's little princess each night.

I showed Travis a style of bed I liked on PotteryBarn.com and he volunteered to custom build me two that could accommodate trundles underneath for sleepover guests and extra family when they come.

Travis measured, wrote up the plans, and gave himself a crash-course in bed-making. Constructing the beds took longer than Travis wanted it to, but setting that pretty white bed up for her and seeing the smile on her face was worth the wait for all of us. Now Madalynn cannot WAIT for Travis to finish hers up and set it up. He's not too far from having hers done, too!

The beds are VERY tall since they were built so a trundle would fit underneath. Travis is going back to the drawing board to make a double-step stools to help the girls get up into them. He made cute little single-step stools, but they tip over and Jillian falls trying to get up when she uses one.

The girls, boys and I are all thrilled with Travis's handiwork. The boys like to climb up and just sit on the bed with Jillian, because they think it's so cool to be high up.