Waves and Water

Remember I told you last week that my friend took me and the kids to the beach for the afternoon?  Well, I found some movie making software on my computer and made a video of some of the pictures I took.  Here’s the finished result!

Our Day at the Beach

I thought of doing a voice-over narration, and maybe I will on a future video, but this time I decided some sound effects would be nice. 

I’ve had a lot of fun playing around with the movie software!  I also made one for Memorial Day that I’ll post then, too. 

Dyed and Gone

Well, it finally happened.  I knew that day was coming.  For 10 years I knew it was coming.  It arrived last week, quietly, sneaking in when I wasn’t looking.

“Hey guys, are you ready to color some eggs?” I asked the kids just before Easter weekend.

“Yay!” chimed the princess.  She loves doing stuff like that.

My son was silent. 

“Hon?  Are you in for coloring eggs?” I asked again.

“Um … mom?”

Boom.  There it was.  A decade in the making and you know it’s coming and it still catches you off guard.  You keep thinking, “just one more year … .” 

“It’s okay hon,” I told him.  “I get it.  I do.”

“Do you?  I just … I just feel like such a baby coloring eggs.  I mean, I don’t want to hurt your feelings and if it means a lot to you, I’ll color them with you guys.”

“Oh don’t be silly!” I told him.  “Kids grow out of things all the time!  I knew it was coming!  You keep playing your game, your sister and I will do them.” 

“Thanks mom, for understanding.” 

He hugged me and I kissed him to let him know it really was okay. 

And it is.  Still, you miss the baby days when they’re gone, despite how much you cherish the big kid days when they arrive. 

My other egg coloring buddy remains for a few more years yet so I still have some time.  After that, I’m on my own, I guess. 

I might have to hunt the eggs by myself too, after I hide them. 

 

So you had a bad day

Recently, my friend WIGSF did a post about happiness.  You can read about it here.    He was talking about a song that made him happy, and it made me think about a particular song that my daughter sings that makes her happy too.  And drives me crazy.  And makes me happy. 

See, it’s a silly song, a cute song, a fun song and she sings it with much joy and abandon.  It really makes her happy.

And that’s a beautiful thing.

But she plays it over and over and over and over.  That drives me crazy.  The song, not her singing!

I smile anyway, because I’d rather she sing and be happy.  That’s part of the mom rules.   

On the plus side, she can carry a tune, unlike her mother, and that is also a beautiful thing. 

This too shall pass, and I will miss it when it’s gone.  So for now, I’m going to enjoy the cute. 

I’m pretty sure that once you hear it, you’ll have a happy too.  I recommend that you limit your listening to once a day, however.  Unless you’re 6.  Then you can listen to it however many times you like. 

Where is the moment we needed the most
You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost
They tell me your blue skies fade to grey
They tell me your passion’s gone away
And I don’t need no carryin’ on

You stand in the line just to hit a new low
You’re faking a smile with the coffee to go
You tell me your life’s been way off line
You’re falling to pieces every time
And I don’t need no carryin’ on

Cause you had a bad day
You’re taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don’t know
You tell me don’t lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
The camera don’t lie
You’re coming back down and you really don’t mind
You had a bad day
You had a bad day

Well you need a blue sky holiday
The point is they laugh at what you say
And I don’t need no carryin’ on

You had a bad day
You’re taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don’t know
You tell me don’t lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
The camera don’t lie
You’re coming back down and you really don’t mind
You had a bad day

(Oh.. Holiday..)

Sometimes the system goes on the blink
And the whole thing turns out wrong
You might not make it back and you know
That you could be well oh that strong
And I’m not wrong

So where is the passion when you need it the most
Oh you and I
You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost

Cause you had a bad day
You’re taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around
You say you don’t know
You tell me don’t lie
You work at a smile and you go for a ride
You had a bad day
You’ve seen what you like
And how does it feel for one more time
You had a bad day
You had a bad day

Had a bad day
Had a bad day
Had a bad day
Had a bad day
Had a bad day

Whensday

I cracked up when I first saw this picture, and posted it on FaceBook.  It brings up a very special family memory for me.  The story behind the giggle is kind of cute though but first I wanted to give some background.

I don’t do horror very well.  As a little kid, my sister would terrorize me by making me watch Dark Shadows, after which I could be found cowering under the bed.

As a teen, I came of age in the Halloween, and Friday the 13th era, which became popular date films.  I almost walked out of The Boogeyman but my date convinced me not to.  I remember perhaps 1 scene from each of those, the rest of the time spent hiding behind my hands.  I would have walked out on My Bloody Valentine but was a guest at someone else’s home and didn’t want to look childish.  So you can see, horror and I never mixed well. 

And then, then I married a horror writer.  Proof that the Lord does indeed have an interesting sense of humor! 

To his credit, the only horror movie Darc ever really strongly encouraged me to watch was The Exorcist.  We caught the 30th anniversary release.  Afterward, I could only wonder what all the fuss was about.

Eventually I realized that what I really loathe is what I’ve come to call “gorror,” that cross between horror and outright, gratuitous gore.  I hate the gory stuff, the bloody, slashing, stabbing, gooey, icky, red yuck.  But suspense I can handle okay.

So when the MiniNess was about 4, Darc picked up a copy of Alien, one of his all time favorite horror movies, and wanted to watch it during family movie time.  I was a bit dubious.  The kids were kind of little for that, I thought.  But we put it in figuring we could stop it if they seemed like they were getting scared.  During the first “facehugger” scene, the scene where the creature leaps onto John Hurt’s face and attaches itself, which startled me since it was the first time I’d ever seen it myself, I heard the little gasps come out of the kids.  Oh here we go! I thought, they’re going to freak out and have nightmares and I shouldn’t have let them see this and …

“Can we watch it again, Daddy?  Can you back up so we can see it again?  That was so cool!”

This is my 4 year old?  My sweet, precious, baby girl?  She wants to see it again?!

“That’s my girl!” exclaimed the proud daddy. 

She couldn’t handle the sight of the vacuum at the time, that sent her screaming to her bed to hide under the covers, but the facehugger in Alien was definitely not a problem.

Yep, that’s not thunder you hear, those are heavenly guffaws. 

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Thankfulness

I went through the kid’s closet today, pulling out the stuff that’s too small so I can give it to goodwill.  As I was straightening and sorting, I realized that not a single one of my son’s shirts fit on the little kid hangers anymore.  I was so glad we’d recently bought him adult hangers!

At the same time, there’s a sadness to that.  As much as you love seeing the people your kids become, you also miss the little children they were.  Those little hangers are precious!  They’ve held a lot of baby clothes over the years, and thus, a lot of memories. 

One more kid still to go on the baby hangers and then … .  I’ll cross that bridge when I get there, I still have some time left.  Thankfully!

What are you thankful for today?

Wall Stuff

I had to go through a few years of old checkbook entries before I finally found the place I’d bought some stuff at a few years ago.  I couldn’t remember the name.  My search paid off though, and I was able to pick up a few decorations for the kids room.  They came today and the kids are thrilled.    That makes mom happy. 

My son is into space now.  It’s his latest passion.  Tomorrow I’ll hang the planets from the ceiling on his half.

My daughter is into green.  She finally decided to go with the jungle thing, and some bugs and flowers. 

I’ve had a fish thing going in the kids bathroom for a few years now, but I thought I’d spruce that up a bit, so I added an extra touch to surprise them.  Heheheheh. 

They thought that was hysterical. 

So if you want some cheap decorations, I can highly recommend PartyCheap.  For a few dollars and some Scotch tape, you can do some big things.

Happy Halloween!

We took the kids out yesterday for trick or treating.  Things are different here, and from when I was a kid.  Back then we could stay out as long as neighbors had their lights on.  Now-a-days, they want trick or treating done on the weekend so it doesn’t interfere with school or something, and during the day so it doesn’t interfere with … night, or something.  I don’t know.  All I do know is that the city ordinances around in many of the local little townships have hours that trick or treating is permitted.  So that’s when we go. 

This year the munchkins decided to be Mario and Batgirl.    We took them to the same neighborhood we’ve taken them to for the past few years, since there’s no trick or treating around the complex here.  It’s a nice neighborhood and many of the people put up some great decorations.  A few times, when the folks at the door saw me waiting on the sidewalk for my kids, would hand the kids some extra candy and say, “give this to your mom!”  How nice is that?  That’s the kind of neighborhood it is.  Some of them even dress up to pass out candy.  The best costume I saw was on a man wearing a t-shirt that had “COSTUME” printed on it.  I thought of WIGSF when I saw that one. 

All in all it was a decent Halloween.  The kids got about half a “bucket” each of candy – good stuff too.  We did run into one dentist – he was funny.  Instead of handing out toothbrushes like the one last year, this one put in fake rotted teeth and reminded kids to brush and floss so they wouldn’t have a smile like his.  I liked his approach.   

Here are my little heroes. 

Have a safe and happy Halloween!