Calvin and Hobbs inspired "Worlds most powerful computer[s]"

My kids can't get enough of Calvin and Hobbs. Thanks to Rob and his old-school library we are the proud owners of 6-7 books. Gabe LOVES them! He is the first in bed at night so he can read them and can be found at any time during the day in his room reading page after page as well.

I'm not sure this is such a good thing. Calvin gets into a lot of trouble. Like my kids need any ideas. Oh well.

The other day I was trying to ask Gabe a question and he just stared and stared at me without saying a word. Finally, in a frustrated voice, I exclaimed, "Gabe!" "Hello." He blinks and says......"Oh, sorry mom. My brain was on screen saver."

Laughing I said, "Where did you get that from." The answer: "Calvin and Hobbs."

Of course.....I should have known.

Anyway, Saturday night Gabe asked if we could make "the worlds most powerful computer." "What?," I said. He gave me a "duh Mom" look (you know the one) and found the comic strip so I would understand.

"I AM THE WORLDS MOST POWERFUL COMPUTER....ASK ME A QUESTION?"

"WHY DOES THE WOLDS MOST POWERFUL COMPUTER WEAR LITTLE RED SNEAKERS?"

"I AM THE WORLD'S MOST POWERFUL COMPUTER. ASK ME A QUESTION."

"DID CALVIN CLEAN HIS ROOM AS I ASKED HIM TO, OR DID HE SPEND THE WHOLE MORNING PLAYING WITH A CARDBOARD BOX?"

"UM...SYSTEM ERROR...DELETE QUESTION AND TRY AGAIN."

"What happened?"......

"Mom booted me up here."

So....this morning I mustered up all the craftiness I posses (which is next to nothing), pulled out a couple of old moving boxes (that hopefully we will not need for a VERY long time), and came up with these.

Super, I know. They will probably be broken in a few hours but hopefully they will enjoy them until then.

A birthday....a bit of bowling..and a swimming pool

It seems like I used to live for blogging. Now I live....and barely blog. Oh well, I guess there is a season for everything. Just thought I would share some pictures of what we have been up to lately. Super boring, I know, but I just don't have anything profound to say.

First of all.....Father's Day. These are the boys projects this year. Rob needed something to put on the bare walls in his office and I came up with this brilliant idea (saw it on a home decorating show once). Some day one of these may be worth millions!

(L to R: Isaac's, Cael's, and Gabe's)

The infamous monkey face. I will admit. I taught them to do it.....and, even though they are cute.......I still do the best monkey!

Our new SUPER, MASSIVE pool! At least the whale slide is cool! The kids love it and that's what counts....right?

My birthday. I'm now a 28 years old with crazy hair. Super!

We actually had a pretty fun filled day. Kids swam, I watched a little girl that did NOT have any understanding of the word "SHARE." Then.....we took naps. I took the boys bowling, all by myself, in the afternoon. Not the best idea. A little nuts (I'm sure you can imagine). Gabe had a good time bowling AND rocking out to the tunes over the loud speaker (of course). Cale thought it was his turn every other time and Isaac thought it was his turn EVERY time so....it was a bit crazy (and I say just a bit to be nice). Next time Rob will be coming with us (a lot.....we have a free kids summer pass...two games a day ALL summer.....FREE! Because my kids are so young I don't even have to rent shoes for them so it really is completely free. Log onto www.kidsbowlfree.com to see if a bowling alley near you participates in this program too (there is one in Salt Lake....I know that much).

So cute!

Rob had today off (Hanford Friday--he has every other Friday off). We spent a good 4 hours out in the back yard preparing it for sod (we called our manager/landlady today and told her that we were going to sod the part that they ripped out and would deduct the price from next months rent as long as she sent her husband over to move the sprinklers...another complicated story. She agreed.....YEAY!) Anyway....so when we were done Rob filled up the kids pool and had a swim. Looks super fun!

(I did manage to snap a few photos before my retina's were burned out)

Just because he's cute. "Cheese"

Look....pictures!

I don't really know what has gotten into me lately. A blogging bug (amongst others running rampant in my body and home).

I thought I would post some pics of our home sweet home. Like I have said before, I am a very visual person. So.... for all y'all that are like me, here are some pictures for you so when you think of my hubby, kids, and myself here on our lonesome in West Richland, Washington you can better picture our humble surroundings.

Home Sweet Home (yes....the house IS pink). Windows belong to Isaac's and Gabe's room. 2000 feet....all one story. Ramblers have their advantages! Not bad for a rental! I'll give you a look inside but only if you cut me some slack. We have not finished decorating or unpacking everything. What with the possible job with the IRS and being sick I just gave up for a time. I'm sure I will get to it eventually (two months before we move again probably).

This is the view from the front door. Isaac's bedroom/kids toy room is directly to the left. Doors on the right belong to (from L to R): Cael, Rob/Mel (the open one...you can see our bathroom door just inside the main door), just out of the picture is the main bathroom door, and Gabe's is a sharp right around the corner.

Then we move directly to the right. This is a view of our EMPTY living room. The bookcase was originally hiding in the corner out of view but had to be moved to it's present place in order to secure (from the children) the ant traps that were put down on the floor in front of the windows. Lovely isn't it? The kids talking/laughing/and, oh yes, screaming echo off the walls and floor like you would not believe. Wonderful acoustics.....even if it does grate on ones nerves.

Back to a front door view into the true "living space" of this house.

Our little kitchen (which suits me just fine). It may be small but I don't like to cook so it really doesn't matter. I have TWO pantries. That's all I care about. It also serves as a dining room/computer room. Like I said, this is where we do MOST of our "living."

And onto the family room. Exciting....I know! Someday I will even set up the shelves on the bookcases. And maybe....even maybe we will actually put something on the shelves. The garage and the laundry room (yep...I have a laundry room) are off to the left of the family room.

So the back yard was actually cute and quaint when we moved in. Then last week the owner was here from California and decided to do a little "work" on the back yard. He brought in a "Bob Cat" and dug out some of the slope to put up a retaining wall. Well, lets just say that the "Bob Cat" did much more than they anticipated. The yard is TRASHED. The grass is ruined beyond repair, sprinkler pipes were broken and rocks are scattered EVERYWHERE. So much for having a nice back yard for the boys to play in. We have to try to keep them off the patches of missing grass so that the minuscule amount of grass seed they threw on it can have a chance to seed. (GOOD LUCK WITH THAT!) and you can't even step out there without shoes unless you want your feet scraped up by rocks or covered in mud/dirt/sand. It's awful. He said he wasn't done but I'm not sure what more damage could be done.

One more thing. Living here is like living on a beach.....except without water. The soil here is not soil at all......it's SAND. The kids love it.........and I......well, I would not mind it if we didn't have dark chocolate pergo floors that show every single tiny little footprint tracked in. Don't get me wrong....it's kinda cute (the footprint, I mean)....just not right after I have cleaned the floors. My dust mop is quickly becoming my favorite household cleaning tool!

How could I forget to mention this.......

Oh, yeah........by the way, Rob turned down the job with the IRS. I know he's a little disappointed but felt it was the best thing to do for the sake of his family.

It looks like we will be sticking around the Tri-Cities for a while after all.

Thanks Rob! As your family we are VERY appreciative of your willingness to put a hold on your dreams, giving us a little ray of hope of a "normal" life. We love you!


Here's to stability......physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.

Cheers!

Music stirs his soul

For better or for worse, music can stir Gabe's soul like no other child I have ever encountered. He can't help but move and groove if a song has a good beat but there is also a very sensitive side to him.

As a young child, not even three, we were sitting in my mothers living room while she was playing on the Clavinova (an electric piano of sorts, for those of you who don't know.....like a glorified/expensive keyboard). She started playing "Amazing Grace" and Gabe, who was playing with some toys on the floor, stopped what he was doing. His bottom lip jutted out and he started to sob.......SOB! For some reason the music had touched him in a way that he could not process so he released the emotions the only way he knew how. My mother stopped playing and his crying stopped. He resumed his previous activity.....that is until she started playing again. The sobs came back. This happened several times (it became a bit of a mean joke on our part....to watch him stop and start crying over and over again.....you can imagine how funny it was).

So......tonight we sat down and watched Ratatouille as a family. The credits had only been rolling for a few seconds.....barely 10 notes were played when Rob turned the TV off. Gabe looked at me and for all the effort he was putting into NOT crying, could not seem to help himself from chocking up as he was telling me how much he "did not like that song." Once I gave him the "it's okay to be sad" line he broke out in sobs. Once again. It was only then that Rob reminded me that this happened that last time we watched Ratatouille. I hadn't remembered.

My heart broke for him.

Gabe had a good cry and we talked about music and how it touches our spirits sometimes and that sometimes, for no reason at all, certain music moves us to tears....whether they be happy or sad tears.

Even after the tears subsided he was still really chocked up about it.....afraid he wouldn't be able to get to sleep because of how scared and sad he was. All by himself he went into his room and said a prayer that Heavenly Father would help him forget the song in his head and be able to go to sleep. He came out and informed me he "was forgetting the notes to the song already." Such faith.

It's times like these I really get a look into the sweet, sensitive boy that Gabe really is. I cherish these times. I love my little boy.

The ants go marching one by one, hoorah....hoorah

So our in-home worker ants spent tireless hours working on these amazing food piles. I don't know where they're getting it from. Just the night before I vacuumed under the rug, on the bottom of the rug and on top of the rug two times. But, alas......by morning they had outdone themselves. It's too darn bad they can't fit the food particles under the baseboard. They work so hard to gather it.

So although I was impressed with all their hard work......I got out the vacuum and sucked it all up. I really did feel bad about it though.

Then I laid traps.......they seem to be working (mostly).

So.....now I just have to get rid of the mice in the garage that seem to be able to take peanut butter off the traps without being snapped in half.

Good times!

I don't think I will know what to do with myself once the infestations over (if they ever are)!

We're moved....our whole lives have fallen apart but at least we are moved!

So...our move to the Tri-Cities is complete. We are all settled (cough, cough) here. Never mind the fact that the kids and I have been sick (one sinus infection, ear infections and pre-pneumonia is all) and we are stuck seeing "urgent care" doctors because no one can see "new patients" for over a month and a half. (Don't mind us....we'll just DIE in the hall while we wait!).

The kids are all on antibiotics and our gas to the house was shut off yesterday (mix up with the gas company). No worries....it is back on. Rob was the only one that had to brave a cold shower. I chose not to shower at all (which greately improved my mood, you can imagine).

So far I have had to clean up mice dropping in the garage (left from the previous tenants who had food in plastic bags in the garage...duh!), dealt with ants running a muck in the house, lots of spiders and flying bugs.......EVERYWHERE! I feel creapy crawly things on me all of the time. I'm probably NOT imagining it, what with the infestation and all.

A few days into the move, Rob gets a letter from the IRS informing him that he has a tentative job offer with them. They want to know if he is going to accept it. ("WHAT????.......YOU ARE GOING TO LEAVE ME FOR SIX MONTHS AND MAKE ME MOVE AGAIN TO ANYWHERE IN THE UNITED STATES.....OR PUERTO RICO? DO YOU NOT REALIZE I AM ALREADY CHEMICALLY UNBALANCED?") No firm decisions yet but I believe we are going to be staying here in Richland. Hopefully!




Do I seem a little grumpy? stressed? insane? The answer is "yes," "yes," "yes." Nothing a little Prozac cant fix!

No really......I am very happy for our new surrounding and Rob's new job. They have been very good to him so far and I am really impressed with them. Not to mention Rob's work schedule is AWESOME. He works MTWR 9hrs.....F 8hrs on week and gets the next friday off. They call them "Hanford" Friday's here. It's pretty cool.

Gabe has already found "friends" here to play with. Although he is completely put out that they can be over at the house 24/7. Or, ever, so far but we have been sick. Don't want to pass it on.

The ward is very welcoming and I think we are going to like it here quite nicely.............at least once I get on something (you think I'm kidding.......sooooooooo NOT kidding!).

I'm speechless..........

It is now 8:07 AM and Cael is still asleep.

This NEVER happens.

Cael is my 5:30AM-er.

Of course, he is pre-pneumonia suffering-ish.

Poor kid.

I think I will drug him with Dimatapp and put a humidifier in his room EVERY night!