I_am_not_a_plebe's Xanga

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:41:25 GMT

We had a busy day here today. I had a Pampered Chef party this evening, so the kids and I spent the day cleaning and getting the house ready. We also made a trip to the store to get a few things and I thought fresh flowers would be nice. So Rachael picked out beautiful red roses. On the trip home, I hear her muttering about roses from her seat. I ask her what she's doing and it turns out that she was naming each rose. The best part is that she named one of them Rose Tyler. I don't know how many of you will get the reference, but it made me laugh out loud.

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 01:04:54 GMT

We had a family night tonight. It was pretty fun. It was a spur of the moment decision, which I don't always handle well, but I think I did just fine this time! We went to see Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs at the "dollar" theater. It's actually the 3 dollar theater that only takes cash so it cost an extra $2 in ATM fees, but it's all good. We surprised the kids and wouldn't tell them what we were doing until we got there. We didn't watch it in 3D, which was probably a good idea. Jon sat in my lap most of the movie and during a part where a scary thing leaped out of the bushes, he threw his hands up to cover his ears and punched me right in the nose! I think that would have happened a lot more frequently had it been in 3D. There was another part when Sid the Sloth was saying goodbye to 3 baby dinosaurs that Jon broke down in tears and was so sad. It's probably a good thing that we were the only ones in the theater! Jon also cried tonight when we ran out of black olives, so you never know what's going to set the boy off.

So we had fun. Then it was home to get on jammies, brush our teeth and head to bed. Well, that's what the kids did anyway. I am obviously still up. I'd like to get in the habit of regular blogs again, if only to write down some of the goofy things the kids say or do...and they say and do a lot of goofy things!

We're enjoying homeschooling. The kids are chugging right along, doing great with their work. They seem to enjoy most of it. Jon's a little tougher to keep engaged than Rachael is, but we're working on it. He does a great job when he can focus, but that's not very often and not for very long. So we just keep plugging away and try different things to keep his head in the game.

Rachael is enjoying learning to knit. Her Grandma is teaching her. That particular creative gene skipped me and went to my daughter. She's really quite good at it already. I can barely hold the needles in my hands. I drop them all the time and I can't seem to go more than 1 or 2 rows without buggering it up. Rachael just zips right along and doesn't have a problem at all. I'm glad she's having fun with it. She's making a scarf for herself. I think her goal is to have it done by Christmas. She only knits a few rows a week on the days she's at Grandma's house, so I think it's a good goal. I hope she makes me a scarf, too! She may even start taking orders! She has also started paino lessons and is having fun with that. She's especially excited because she got a Christmas book last week and now she's learning Christmas music. I really like Christmas music so I'm looking forward to her learning the songs as well.

Monday, August 17, 2009

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 12:25:08 GMT

Hard to believe summer is practically over. I have my last softball game today, assuming it doesn't get rained out. School is looming on the horizon. How did the time go by so fast? You'd think by now I'd stop being amazed at how quickly time passes, but it still catches me off guard. I remember thinking back in May, "Oh, I have until August to do that, no hurry." And now it's August and it seems like it's only been a week or two. Anyway, I'm sure one day I'll accept it, but for now it's still weird to me. :)

Rachael has lost another tooth. This makes 8. All 4 front teeth on the top and bottom. She was excited that the tooth fairy visited last night. We also cleaned her room yesterday, so the tooth fairy had a clear shot to the bed and wouldn't trip over anything on the way! It's amazing how trashed a 7 year old's room can get. We need to establish a few routines to keep things tidy so it doesn't get so out of hand again.

Our oven has been broken for a while now, at least a month, maybe a little longer. The lower heating element went out. Brent is fixing it right now actually, so hopefully it'll be in working order today. It'll be nice to have the option to bake again. Granted, I use it mostly for baking frozen pizzas, but you never know when the urge to bake brownies might strike.

Thursday, July 09, 2009

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:51:01 GMT

I never did a follow up on our night at Chuck E. Cheese. It wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting. It wasn't too full, which was nice. So the kids got to play lots of fun games without having to wait too long for anything. We still have tokens left over which means another trip sometime soon to use them up. That'll be fun. So, we played games while we waited for our pizza. Then we ate dinner and Brent had a surprise for Rachael. He bought one of their cakes and had Chuck E. Cheese come to our table and give Rach a birthday hug.

This was definitely a highlight of her night! So we ate our cake then went and played more. Brent played the games that give you tickets and the kids got to pick out some prizes. Always an ordeal, but we made it out with no tears and very little arguing. It was a pretty good night.

And a little fish update. Rachael has been wonderful remembering to feed Beatty. I don't think any of my reminders have been necessary. And she is so on top of when his water needs changed. I do the actual cleaning, but she rides my case until I get it done!

Jon wants a pet now, too. I told him he can get one when he turns 7. He's decided that he wants a turtle. We'll see if that still the case in 2 years!

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 11:03:46 GMT

Rachael turned 7 yesterday. Unbelievable! When did she get so big? We had a great day. And the Kuster household has grown by 1.

We now have a betta fish named Beatty. Rachael has been asking for a pet for a long time now. We've been saying "Maybe for your birthday" for months. Well, her birthday came and we got her the fish. She wanted a dog, but I thought we should start small. We went to the pet store yesterday and got the supplies we needed and the fish. Our first tank had a crack down the front, so we had to take it back and exchange it. The second tank was perfect. As we're leaving the pet store, Jon held the door open for us. I thanked him and he said, "When I grow up I want to be a doorman." I laughed and wondered if any current doorman wanted to be one when he was a kid.

So this morning at 7 am I wake up to "MOM! Mom, you've gotta come. We need to change the tank!" I'm dead asleep and it took me a moment to register that someone was talking. But when I did, I heard the note of panic in the voice, not so much the words. When I finally realized what she was talking about, I was not a happy camper. "The water's all cloudy. I can barely see him!" So I drag myself out of bed and check it out. I was expecting murk, I didn't get it. The water was cloudy, but barely. The fish was still clearly visible. The water got changed anyway. I didn't realize how difficult it would be to catch a silly fish in a net. The tank is tiny, so there's not a lot of room to maneuver. Maybe I can find a smaller net. After the water was changed and the fish fed I said to Rachael, "I don't want you to ever wake me up for that again. You can wait until I wake up on my own and I can change the water then." So hopefully no more 7am water changing emergencies.

We also made a special cake for her. I will NEVER have a job as a baker/decorater.

I thought it was fairly pathetic, but Rachaell loved it. She helped do the decorating. She'd been saying for days that she was going to have a butterfly cake and that it was going to be purple. She got her purple butterfly cake. I don't think she cared much how it looked. I was just happy I got it to resemble a butterfly. When I was serving it, the first thing I cut off were the bottom wings. Jon was watching and said, "Now it looks like a bat!"

To wrap up her birthday celebration, we're heading to Chuck E. Cheese this afternoon. I am not really looking forward to that. I really don't like that place. But the kids love it. And she's been asking to go for her birthday for quite some time now. So I suppose that I can suffer through an afternoon of sugar crazed kids who all want to play the same game at the same time. I might even enjoy it, but that's a long shot. But Rachael will have fun, and that's the whole point.

Friday, May 29, 2009

Fri, 29 May 2009 13:26:08 GMT

A few days ago, I picked up a pen and notebook and started writing again. I can't even remember the last time I did that. It's been years. Possibly not since Rachael was born, which is almost 7 years. I'm most creative and productive at night, when the kids are in bed and things are quiet. So, I've had a few late nights this past week. I don't have a great track record on finishing stories, and I don't know how to keep them short, so we'll see how this goes. I just know that I get stuff in my head and I can't think about anything else until it's down on paper. I have difficutly writing creatively on the computer because I'm too focused on spelling and structure. I spend more time backspacing than writing, so I write with pen and paper. I think it's because I know I can't go back and fix a mistake that helps me just keep going and working with it. I spend too much time revising and getting it just right on the computer, and I don't move forward. I even have a specific pen that I prefer, black Bic, not sure why, but I like it best. I did put some of my character information on the computer last night. The computer is great to get it all out there and be able to manipulate the details, but for the process of writing the story, I still need paper. If this story makes it all the way to the computer, it will be a huge step for me. So, we'll see what happens!

Friday, April 24, 2009

Fri, 24 Apr 2009 00:24:12 GMT

Yesterday was another water disaster day. Our sump pump stopped working and our basement flooded. There was water up to my ankles and everything was soaked. So, Brent and I emptied out the basement. We put everything outside on the deck in the backyard. Yesterday was a great day for drying things outside. Breezy, sunny, dry. Some stuff is actually still out there drying over the fence. Unbelievable. Nothing irreplacable was ruined. Mostly just wrapping paper and stuff like that. A pain, but not painful. So we got a new sump pump yesterday. And a clean basement, after all the water receeded, that is.

I know there are some mothers out there who can relate to the latest 'Jon incident.' We had BSF (Bible Study Fellowship) this morning. I take the kids, they go to their class, I go to mine. Well, discussion group is just starting when a children's leader calls me out of the room. She holding a lightbulb. "Did you know that Jon had this?" she asks me. I stare at her dumbfounded for a moment. Of course I didn't know he had a lightbulb! "His hands were empty on the way in," I said. "It must have been in his pocket. I had no idea." "Well, he's quite upset that we took it away. Could you come down and talk to him." So, I head down and try to talk to him. He's not really interested in what I have to say. But we have a quick talk about how he shouldn't have lightbulbs at BSF. I go back to my group. End of incident...Not quite. At about 7:30 this evening, my phone rings. It's one of the children's coordinators. She detailed Jon's morning for me and all the different problems that they had with him today. Not the type of phone call a mother enjoys getting. But it certainly is a helpful phone call. As much as I don't like to hear that my kid causes problems, I'd rather know than not know. This way I can do something about it. So, I made a few suggestions how they can help him transition and assured them that I would work more with him before we get there and prepare him for what is ahead. Tho, we've been doing this since September, so you'd think he'd get the routine by now. I don't know. The phone call was also encouraging because she was in no way "coming down" on me or Jon. She was just letting me know what was going on and that we have some things to work on. She also mentioned that she has a difficult son and can identify with what we're going through. At least Jon's consistent. He's trouble no matter where he is!

On a completely different note, last Saturday, a good friend of mine passed away suddenly and completely unexpectedly. She was just a year older than me and had just had her 3rd baby. This is the first death I've had to deal with of someone close to me. I've had a grandfather and a great grandfather die, but they were never really a big part of my life. I loved them, but I didn't really know them. This gal was a good friend for the past 6 years. And it's sort of brought me up short. I go on crying jags nearly every time I think of this family. How do you trust that something so painful and terrible can work together for good? How can anything good come from 3 little kids losing their mommy? I don't know. But God says it can. God is in control. I find myself leaning on that assurance now more than ever. I certainly don't understand it. I know God does, but it's still a struggle to trust. Jesus, help me trust. It has also brought to mind again just how precious the time is that I have with my family. My kids have gotten lots of hugs lately. Even when they do crazy things involving lightbulbs.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 22:51:18 GMT

We have a drawer in the kitchen that has been giving us fits. It wouldn't close all the way. It'd get stuck open about 4 inches. This caused problems since it was in a corner and when it was open, we couldn't open other drawers. So today, Brent was in the kitchen making lunch. We had chicken nuggets & french fries. Anyway, he was in there and I'm in the living room (the way it should be, by the way), and I hear all this crashing around. It's pretty obvious that he's having trouble with the drawer. The crashing continues and I hear some disturbing sounds, so I yell, "Hey you're breaking the wall!" No response and more crashing. It's around 2 or so when this happens. Life continued, we had lunch, Brent took the kids to the park, we had Root Beer floats and watched cartoons. Then just a few minutes ago, around 7:30, Brent and I are in the living room and something catches his eye...

Yes, friends, that is a hole in the wall.

In his wrestlings with the drawer, Brent managed to send it through the wall into the living room. I knew I had heard something wierd, but it was just low enough behind the couch that sitting in the chair, I didn't see the hole happening. (Don't worry, mom, your couch is fine!) Brent's first thought was that Jon did it! We realized pretty quickly the actual cause, though. I started laughing and I still think it's pretty funny. I don't think Brent finds it quite as humorous. I'm glad it was him and not me who sent it thru the wall. Now we have a great excuse to repaint the living room! Once Brent got done assessing the damage, he sat down and said, "We need to get a bigger couch." Just a few inches taller and no one's the wiser!

Friday, March 20, 2009

Fri, 20 Mar 2009 00:01:40 GMT

I'm not sure how my daughter ended up my daughter. God must have figured the only way I'd become girly was to give me a girly-girl. (It's working, too. Slowly but surely. It's kinda scary.) Rach is a pinkaholic. It's her absolute favorite color. More than half of her wardrobe is pink. She has been instrumental in most of the purchases of the pink items in my wardrobe, too. We were trying to find something green for her to wear the other day for St. Patrick's Day. It wasn't easy. She said, "It would be better if leprechauns wore pink." That's my girl.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Thu, 25 Dec 2008 18:47:47 GMT

Things have been a little crazy around here lately. Christmas prep, power outages, houseguests. And it won't slow down really until after Saturday. But things are good right now. Last Friday-Monday we had my brother & sister-in-law and their daughter (14 months old) staying with us because they didn't have power and we did. It was pretty fun. My kids had a great time with their cousin. And Rachael got to decorate gingerbread men with her aunt Ellen and help her make donuts. Rach loves to help in the kitchen. It's unfortunate, then, with my lack of skill in the kitchen that I'm her mom. But her aunt and grandma help make up for my deficiency. Yay for families! While they were staying with us, Brent made a trip to the store and one of the many things he picked up were Twizzlers (one of our favorite candies around here). He gave one to each kid (minus Mel!) and said "Who's the best dad in the world?" There was a pause...just a little longer than we expected...and Rachael says, "Um, God." We all laugh and Brent says, "Ok, who's the second best dad in the world?" "You!" says Rachael. As my sister-in-law says, "Well, at least she's been paying attention in Sunday School."

And now it's Christmas Day. Crazy. It doesn't seem like Christmas. Brent commented on it last night. He said that since we've done nothing we normally do for Christmas, it's really thrown him off. Usually we travel to see my grandparents and we're gone from Xmas Eve - the day after Xmas. This year we went nowhere. Brent's vacation schedule at his new job didn't accomodate extensive travel this year. Or even not-so-extensive travel. By now we've usually been to about 4 different Xmas celebrations with various family members. This year we had our first Xmas this morning with just the 4 of us. Weird. We went to the Xmas Eve service at church last night.

The kids came, too, and we even let them hold a candle. This is them in their Sunday Best. Jon was CLOSELY supervised. And they both did great. Then we headed out to the Festival of Lights and got there about 2 minutes after they closed down because of the ice build up on the path. Grrr....Then we went home and baked chocolate chip cookies for Santa. We left 4 cookies for him on a special plate. One cookie from each of us.

Aren't they cute! They're in their new footie pjs that were in the stockings they got Christmas Eve. Fun times! This was at about 11 pm Christmas Eve. Then they were sent off to bed right after Brent sprinkled the magic reindeer food on the front lawn. I set to wrapping their presents and putting them under the tree and Brent put the 4 cookies back with the rest of the cookies! He'd already eaten quite a few and wasn't about to eat 4 more.

This morning Rachael woke up around 8 and ran downstairs. I heard her say, "The cookies are all gone! Santa really is real!" She came into our room and showed us the empty plate and was so excited. She then ran into Jon's room to wake him up and let him know that Santa had been here. So at about 8:30, after far too little sleep, we were all up and opening presents! The kids were super excited and were even happy about the clothes they got. We didn't get them any toys because they're going to get plenty from everybody else. So they got clothes and a family game from us. I got the toys! Brent got me Guitar Hero World Tour for our Wii. We thought the Wii had been fried during the power flashes we'd been having, but it worked today when we turned it on. So I was happy about that. And I've spent much of the late morning/early afternoon playing it.

Tomorrow we're off to Grandma & Grandpa's for our next Christmas celebration. Then Saturday, we're having Brent's family down for a party at our house! That'll be fun, and probably means I should be cleaning now. But who wants to clean on Christmas!

Well, I hope that your Christmas is a lot of fun and that you're remembering the reason why we celebrate.

"Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world."