Debunked and Puddle Jumped

Oh, beware the weekends when Adam is bored. Especially those weekends when we don't want to spend money, because you never know what is going to end up happening. Sometimes this is a good thing, because necessary chores get done. And sometimes, we have weekends full of surprises. Which makes for fun, but not for restful, times!

This was one such weekend. It started off well, with a decision - far belated, mind you - to mow the lawn. Almost instantly upon starting the mower, Adam startled a good-sized bullfrog in our yard. So we decided to build a temporary home for the frog until the mowing was complete.

The kids loved touching the frog. Heath was first in line.

Rapt attention is given as the temporary "pond" is created. Adam added the stuff we add to the fish tank to treat the water so the frog would be safe from the chemicals in regular tap water.
The kids found stones and built up a little resting area for the frog so he had his choice of water or land. He enjoyed his temporary home until the mowing was completed.

Adam let Heath mow a few rows under close and careful supervision. (I think this may have been the only shot in which Adam's hands weren't also on the mower.)

Carrie and her basket of "pets."

An hour or so after the mowing, Adam was still bored. So he spontaneously invites my sister's family over to watch the game that night and starts cooking like crazy. Here Quin is mixing the "gourmet" potatoes.

Daddy pitches in to help.

The big girls do the little girls' hair. Nicole holds Quin, who is showing off her new French braids. They lasted until she started wrestling with the boys.

At 20, Alex is still at the kids' table. The other kids won't let him graduate to the dining room yet!

Nicole and Claire. Special prizes for most spirit wear, least minutes watching the game.

My sister looks bored here, but she's really just trying to understand what Carrie is saying to her. Something about her braids, I assume. Hairdo compliments of Nicole and Claire.

We're not big sports fans in my family - OK, my sister's family and my mom are, but Adam and I certainly aren't. Anyway, we don't really own any OSU attire. Heath has some passed down from his cousins. He's not sporting a Michigan jersey here - it's just an Old Navy jersey that happens to be blue and gold.

And Alex was in a win-win situation - he's also a fan of USC, so he didn't really care who won. Of all the kids big and small, Ethan was the only one to watch the entire game. Randy held a similar role for the adults. The rest of us didn't settle in until later in the first quarter.

On Sunday, Adam was still bored. We had boring things like laundry to do, and I was out a bit with Alex in the afternoon, but relaxing was not enough for Adam. So he spontaneously decided to take apart Carrie and Quin's bunk beds and make them into twin beds. Which would have been great, but that meant that A) I had to help and B) we had to move the entire room around. Anyway, the girls were thrilled, and we like the way it works. They have a small room, but even with the beds down they didn't seem to lose much space. Carrie asked me to put her lamb pictures back up on the wall - they are galleys from a children's book, so she likes me to read them to her. The bunk beds obscured them, so they haven't been on the walls for a while.

I think they'll like it, because they've been trading beds off and on lately because they each preferred the lower bunk. Now they're both on the ground!

Quin tucked her little Mickey and Minnie dolls under the covers herself.

Look - there's room above my head! Carrie likes the room arrangement also.

Maybe they'll stay in their own room tonight!

Heath wanted a picture taken of him in his room since the girls got pictures taken in theirs.

His new tooth is starting to come in already, though it's hard to capture in pictures.

I think his other bottom tooth is also getting loose.

Happy Birthday Makayla and Cameron!

Happy 5th Birthday, Makayla!

We weren't able to make the drive to the party because of my surgery on Thursday. (I won't be riding in a car until Monday at the earliest.) But we've been thinking about her today.

And Happy 10th Birthday, Cameron.

Since we couldn't go to him, my sister brought her family to us to celebrate. We gave the boys Heath's first dirtbike, which Adam completely refurbished, as a combined birthday present. Mom bought them their new helmets.

I wasn't able to see them ride today, but Adam said they had a great time.

Welcome, Tooth Fairy!

The Tooth Fairy visited one of the Littles for the first time last night.

Heath has lost his first tooth!

Wesleyan University or Bust!

"Is she moving away permanently?" you might ask. No, Ari is simply moving in to her dorm at Wesleyan University in Connnecticut for her freshman year. I've moved across the country to relocate from Los Angeles back to Columbus - with two small children - with less baggage than this. Not only are the "way back" seats turned under, we also took out a middle-row seat to fit everything in. See that little grey-green bag beneath the pillows? That's my stuff.
Ari hugs Quin good-bye. I think Ari will miss the Littles the most.

Ari with Grandma. Ari really wanted Grandma to come with us, but Adam had to be out of town and Grandma was in charge of the Littles while we were gone.

We made the trip in 12 hours and found our hotel. That left enough time to drive to the campus in the evening. Ari wanted to go to O'Rourke's diner because she had seen it on the travel channel, but it was closed by the time we got there. She had to settle for her favorite food - sushi - at Mikado's instead.

Wesleyan had the registration and move-in process down pat. We went to the science hall, got her ID and extra information and goodies, checked in with financial aid, and turned in her W-4 and I9 forms in less than 15 minutes.

When we drove to the dorm, the police officers parked us, and campus volunteers had the car unloaded in 3 minutes flat - less time than it took Ari to get her key. And then they had all of her stuff - that whole van full of stuff - in her room before I parked the car and walked back to the dorm. We got there at 9:00, and we finished the entire registration process and were in the room with all of her stuff by 9:30.

It really impressed me - woo hoo OCD campus organizers!

Ari meets her roommate, Taylor. They've been talking online for months, but this is the first face-to-face moment. Taylor's whole family came - mom and dad, two sisters, and grandma. Though Taylor's family lives in DC, her grandmother lives about 20 minutes from campus. She very graciously offered to include Ari in some "home and family" moments if she needs some.

Believe it or not, all that stuff fit in her room. I had to eat a little crow, because I had anticipated having to bring a lot back with me.

Ari and Taylor had the room in a livable state before noon. All that's left is putting up a few more things on the walls.

We bumped into the other Academy student who is attending Wesleyan over lunch and met his roomate. That afternoon, when Ari expressed a little concern about getting to meet people, I pointed out that she already knew three and has a whole week of orientation to meet more. I think she's feeling better about that today than yesterday, because she sent me a Facebook message that said she was going to watch a movie after dinner with a girl she had met in her dorm. Taylor was feeling the same way, I think, but told her mom she felt OK about it because she figured everyone was in the same boat.

After boxed lunches on the lawn, we picked up some of Ari's books from the package mailroom. We met up with Taylor and her family as they were coming back from the campus bookstore.

Talk about "meant to be" - the girls had the identical shade of nail polish on their toes!

And when Taylor's family and I left the dorm, our vans were parked right next to each other in the parking lot. It was a little eerie, but very reassuring. They'll be a good match.

In fact, I felt so good about the entire experience that I didn't cry for half of the trip home.

I only cried the last 6 hours.

Oh, and today, when Adam wanted to use Ari's car to take me to my pre-operative testing at Riverside because "it gets better gas mileage," both he and my mother looked at me like I had lost my mind when that made me start crying.

I figure I'm allowed at least a few weeks of good mope.