Our last "Hurrah"

School starts way too early here - summer should not end one second before Labor Day, maybe even Halloween. Except preschool - I could really get behind year round preschool.

So, the weekend before the weekend before school started, we joined Randy at a conference on Hilton Head Island for one last moment.

One last romp on the beach by the boys:


One last splash in the waves - for Stevie and Wally on their "skate"boards


(someone mentioned after watching him - "he's not really afraid of anything, is he?"

One last meager attempt to obey the law, even though we SO wanted to take some sanddollars home:


One last sunset over the ocean:


One last run of my fingers through his sun-kissed curly locks:

(okay, not really my last since I'm still not ready to chop them - is there therapy for that?)

One last sunglasses and hat disguise for me - now I'll actually have to do my hair and makeup :)


But hopefully not the last frolic with Dad:


or not the last friend-making without mom and dad's help or prodding - actually a first for us on vacation!


and, most definitely not the last hand-holding of sisters and brothers:


Good-bye summer, though it's not the last you'll see of us!

Very Personal

. . . well only kind of personal, but still fun :)



Jan sent me this survey, I thought I would share the results (they are from yesterday). If you are reading this, consider yourself duly tagged!!

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? yes - hippy '70s singer Melanie (you're hearing her now)

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Monday night

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? yes if I try

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? swiss cheese (sorry I love a veggie sandwich)

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? 3 girls, 2 boys

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Yes

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? love it!

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS no

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? not without xanex!

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? kashi go lean

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF? No

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? strong willed, strong legs, weak arms!

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? chocolate with caramel on top

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? their hair

15. RED OR PINK? pink

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? my insecurity

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? my newborns

18. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? my compassion and sense of humor

19. WHAT COLOR SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? What? In summer?? No shoes. - great answer! ditto

20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? Doritos & fountain Diet Coke

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? stevie begging me to paint (not a chance)

22. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? orange

23. FAVORITE SMELLS? new baby smothered in baby magic wrapped in clothes washed with ivory snow and downey

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? mom

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU? love her

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? my daughters play softball

27. HAIR COLOR? dark brown

28. EYE COLOR? green

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No

30. FAVORITE FOOD? cheese

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? happy

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? dark knight (batman) - Randy made me and I loved it!

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? off-white

34. SUMMER OR WINTER? summer

35. HUGS OR KISSES? hugs

36. FAVORITE DESSERT? homemade brownie

37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND? Heather

38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND Randy (enough said)

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? On Chesil Beach - Holly made me and it's SO good!!

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? Don't have one.

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT? jon stewart.

42. FAVORITE SOUND? thundering ocean

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Sting :)

44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME??? france, except it felt like home, so maybe - Piedmont Hospital on Christmas Day

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? I do something best the first time, and it progressively gets worse with practice unless I practice so hard that I master it (which happens very infreqeuntly!!)

46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? L.A.

47. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK? All!

Hitting the Slopes

There are only two cities I can say I love year round. One is Paris, though I've only been there in the summer, I'd go anytime (yes, Randy, that IS a challenge!!) The other is a place I can actually speak to with some experience, and every time I drive to Utah I just want to stop - Park City.

In the winter the snow is breathtaking and the mountain all dressed up in her coat of white velvet beckons you to her. In the summer, she sheds the coat for her naked beauty, and accessorized with just a hint of wild flower and greenery, her slopes are still irresistable.

We visit her like a great aunt every trip - we only stop for a short time, we don't actually know that much about her and what she has to offer, but we settle in and enjoy the familiar. And like a child who is offered a piece of candy from the hard candy dish, we usually just choose a safe butterscotch or strawberry with the chewy inside - we do the alpine slide in the summer and tubing in the winter (apparently I am always wearing sunglasses and a hat), but once in a while we venture out and try the red one with the swirls that look like a ribbon.

Last summer we were treated to a girls night out with Auntie Heather, and the outdoor hot tubs were a hit!! This summer, along with the slide and coaster, we visited Olympic Park to watch a ski jump show. The boys loved sitting in the bobsled in the museum and I couldn't get enough of sitting outside soaking up the sun and breathing and smelling the arid mountain air.

And, like when I was a child and would go with Grandma to see Aunt Loene, I loved her little old brick bungalow with the giant bathtub and tree-lined street and pictured myself living there, I could say the same for Park City. But chances of it happening are about the same as they would have been for moving in with Aunt Loene.

reality check

We arrived home from summer "vacation" (I don't think it technically counts as a vacation since I bring my work in the form of 4 kids with me) nearly a week ago and this morning my mom returned home (she was trying not to look too relieved about that), so I am left contemplating real life and how I can best avoid it.

Off topic, I just had to take a picture of Great White since I felt like a clone of Randy when I packed it and it looked "packed" not thrown together and stuffed to the gills - hmmm, maybe that's a metaphor for my reality. . . Even more off topic, note the John Edwards bumper stickers - they are a symbol of my journey out of adolescence and I can't part with them until he kicks Karl Rove to the curb in his upcoming September debate, and until Obama picks a running mate, but I digress. . .

We have a tradition for road trips in our family of a "reality check" which stems back from college debate trips. When the driver of the big van would get sleepy, no matter how many other people were legitimately asleep in the van, all the windows would be rolled down while some loud obnoxious song is cranked (the one you hear now is what we used this summer). When all passengers were in check with reality, the windows would be rolled up and the radio returned to its normal volume.

Since it's almost lunch time here and we are still eating the groceries bought by Randy the bachelor, I have a feeling I am due for a reality check, home-style. Maybe I'll go find reality before she finds me and I'll get to define her myself. Maybe she'll look more like my car on our trip home - everything with a designated place, easy to find, full but not stuffed. Likely not, but hopefully at least I'll keep my hair from flying out the windows. You'll know I succeeded when I have posted vacation pics. Check mate.

happy earth day from the princess and the pea

I am not a nature lover. A tree-hugger yes, but feel-the-grass-under-my-feet as I sweat on the hiking trail girl, never. I love that nature exists, I want to protect it, I just don't enjoy sleeping and eating in it. My idea of a nice day outside includes cement and a swimming pool.

So, when we invited ourselves to our friends camping trip (in the rain), I immediately sent Randy to the sporting goods store on a mission - find something I can sleep on that will feel like my bed. And this is what he found:


Do the cots look like my bed because Wally is jumping on them?

As we were leaving, I was mocked for my camping attire - full face of makeup, open toed shoes (I have to say in my defense I had removed my heels!!), and "not camping" clothes (not sure still what camping clothes are).

The rain didn't really bother me, nor did the dirt in the tent. What did get to me was the natural disasters I foresaw - children falling into the fire, getting lost in the woods, or dragged out of the tent by a bear (I don't believe there really are any bears where we were, but a red-neck fills just fine in my scenario). Doesn't this look dangerous?




As Randy zipped us into the tent (don't even get me started on the issue of being zipped inside of something), I was in for the longest night of my life. Comfy as the cot was, and loud as Randy's rhythmic snores were, they were no contest to the sounds of nature which amplified for my full hearing pleasure in the tent. I heard squeaks I assumed were mice running rampant through the camp, chewing their way into our snack-packed rubbermaid tubs through the sealed bags and into the mainstay of life - the Fritos. I heard flits against the tent, certain they were bugs of every kind, there to crawl into my sleeping bag to give me a big case of the jitters (not surewhat else bugs actually do, but I am terrified of them!). My imagination had the best of me, and with nothing more than a couple of zippers and layers of nylon between me and nature, I could not sleep.

Just as the sun peeked its way into the tent, I could hear the restless stirring of boys fighting to be awake, only now I was finally asleep. And now, it was time for breakfast.

My loss of sleep was my children's gain in junkfood, for the next day I needed all the sugar and caffeine possible to keep myself going. And, as evidenced by the Macon Telegraph photojournalist who took the pic below, I shared the sugar - Stevie and my friend's daughters are eating ice cream under a tree at the Cherry Blossom Festival:

Two Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed . . .

One fell off and broke his head,
Mama called the doctor and the doctor said,
"You win the bump of the night award"

We keep adding to the list we started:
2 urgent care visits (both Wally)
2 ears infected (also Wally)
3 head x-rays (again Wally)
1 intact nose (thankfully!!!)

When we returned home from what seems like should be our standing Monday evening appointment with urgent care, I asked Wally if he was tired. He said, "I want to play with Stevie" isn't that what got your nose looking like this in the first place?!?!?!?!?

keeping score

"Mrs. Selcho, this is Kim, the school nurse" I've heard the phrase about 27 times this school year, as Ellie has taken to the school nurse and they have become fast friends. Usually the call is related to something stuck in her expander, a twisted ankle, a loose tooth, or some other high drama for a 2nd grader.

But this time was different, this time there was alarm in her voice and I could feel my heart beating so hard I was sure it could be seen through my shirt. As I tried to maintain my composure, there were tears of the unknown welling up in my eyes. This time, I really did need to be there.

So far the past few weeks, we have had:

9 sick school days (Kennedy)
1 missed girl scout camp (Kennedy)
1 mono test, strep test, CBC count (Kennedy)
8 doses Benadryl (Wally)
10 doses Tylenol (Wally & Stevie)
2 102 degree fevers (Wally)
3 boxes of kleenex (Wally)
1 "why doesn't Jesus make my mouth {throat} better?" (Stevie)
1 prophylactic benadryl dose (Stevie - who had foraged into forbidden pantry food)
8 projectile burps (Stevie and Kennedy)

and so far, Ellie has been immune. But, Ellie, who is like her mother and never wants to be outdone, has built up her own little tally the past two days:

2 Heimlich Maneuvers
2 chest x-rays
1 urgent-care visit
1 ambulance ride
1 scope
infinite mother panic attacks

It all began at breakfast Wednesday when Ellie choked. She had been gagging a bit, but at one point she completely choked and in spite of my own best panic instincts, I was able to do the Heimlich Maneuver and save her. She was okay and went to school and I vowed never to let her eat shredded wheat again. But she gagged all day long.

So, last night Randy took her to urgent care where they declared her "fine". And today, she went to school as usual.

Then came the call. I was 40 minutes away from the school at that point and unsure of what I was going to do with choking Ellie. The nurse decided to call the ambulance - good choice!!

It felt like a movie, like I was watching someone else try to take care of family business to keep her mind off the fact that her baby was in an ambulance and she wasn't there. Fighting complete hysteria with focus: calling the neighbor to pick Kennedy from the bus, arranging for the girl scouts who were supposed to come that afternoon, checking voice mail, and phoning Holly about Wally's lack of shoes (she was gracious enough to keep the boys). Anything to keep her brain from recognizing the cold stark reality that her child is mortal.

At the end of the day, it really was me, and Ellie is fine. She is having spasms from the swelling caused by the lodged shredded wheat which make her (and everyone around her) believe she is choking, but they will go away. And she is thrilled because the ENT always has the best menu advice for mom - mashed potatos, pudding, ice cream, etc. Though she didn't win in length of illness, she definitely won in drama.

But for those of you keeping score at home, the real winner is life. How much we take it for granted, that our children will be bouncing and laughing and healthy and here. That they'll get off the bus that afternoon with nothing more than some ketchup stains from lunch and a well-rehearsed "fine" when asked how school was. That they'll be rolling their eyes as we lecture about leaving clothes all over the floor and not making their bed. That our goodbye in the morning is temporary.

Statistically speaking we're right, and it's too much pressure to be always mindful of the alternative, not to mention a waste. On days like today, I declare life the winner and just try to play the game well.