JT's 38th Birthday Events

JT went with his buddy Roger, Bruce B and other running friends to the Carolina Theater for this premiere showing of the movie about Charlie Engle's running expedition across the Sahara Desert to raise attention and funds for clean drinking water. The film and their effort were extraordinary, film was narrated by Matt Damon. Ironically a storm had knocked out the theater's air conditioning that afternoon!

For JT's birthday we went as a couple to this downtown restaurant in a refurbished store ... very pleasant!

Notes About Our Kids From April 2008

I just ran across my notes to Megan H. and Paula F. who bravely and masterfully kept our kids (ages 8, 6, and 1) in our home while I went on a business trip to Florida with J.T.:

Next-door neighbor: The one whose house is for sale: Tracy I.

Not to jinx things, but if you need to call an ambulance, our address is ..... Caffey Drive, Colfax 27235

Here is the general Daily Schedule:

These are guidelines with a lot of flexibility. For things that I've not spelled out, just ask Ross or Lydia- they're very reliable. Also, we want you to have a fun week- so you can say YES to anything the kids ask for that is somewhat reasonable. :)

6:20 Wake up. Ug. I'm sorry it's so early!

Kids get up on their own, get ready and then go downstairs for breakfast. Lydia often needs more help brushing her hair but she doesn't like this. There is a pink brush in the island drawer for touch-ups on her hair. Also, I often have to wet the back of Ross's hair where it sticks up. Rubbing it around helps it to lay back down flat. I usually fix them oatmeal, grits, or frozen waffles (per their request). They also like cereal. They used to watch an educational TV show during breakfast but I'm trying to have them leave the TV off in favor of chatting and sharing a scripture. This is not too popular. At 7:00 Pray for the kids and then they head outside to the bus stop (in our driveway). Sometimes, I have to remind the kids not to have screaming contests because the neighbors are sleeping. Really.

Here is the phone number of a neighbor who drives to school. She says to call her if the kids miss the bus: Julie W. .......

7 or 7:30 Russell usually wakes up and has a warm bottle and some breakfast (leftover waffles from the other kids' plates are fine- I often fix some extra for that purpose). :) I usually fix his next bottle as soon as he finishes one. He might lay in your arms for his bottle.

11 or 12 Lunch (none of the kids have any food allergies. Russell can chomp away on uncut foods)

12, 1 or 2 Russell begins his nap (he usually sleeps in the playpen for naps and overnight). Russell has just learned to climb out of his playpen so we're exploring the idea of adding a zippered tent-top to his playpen. If that won't work, he may need to switch to sleeping in the big crib (I don't think he'll climb out of that). I just lay him down with his navy blue crib sheet and then I close the door.

He usually sleeps for a couple of hours, maybe longer if we're lucky! I usually offer him a warm bottle when he wakes up. I do re-refrigerate the milk if the bottle is not emptied by Russell. I just top it off and have it ready in the fridge for the next time. I usually wash out his glass bottle once a day.

3:00 I unlock the front door, as Ross and Lydia will be barreling in from the bus soon. I sit on the stairs and they might barely say hello or they might have things to show me. They'll want a snack and a TV show. After that, they'll do homework (usually only Ross has homework). I encourage them to practice piano before asking to go outside or play on the computer. If they go outside, I'd like for them to stay in our yard. They should play with balls, not sticks. If they get invited to a neighbor's for a play date, you might suggest that they invite the neighbor over. Then, you don't have to worry about transportation and I find that they play surprisingly nicely and quietly with their friends. Back to the topic of piano practice, Lydia is more resistant on that and I try not to press it. If she does practice, she gets a prize from her prize bag- she locates that by herself.

5 or 6 Dinner. They should try everything but then may get some other simple food if nothing appeals to them. They should carry their plates to the counter when they finish eating. They usually stay in their seats until we all finish eating.

7ish Upstairs for bedtime. They brush their teeth on their own while we brush Russell's teeth. Russell enjoys daytime books, but he's usually too fidgety for them at nighttime. So, we just go pray for Russell by his bed and then lay him down in his porta-crib with his blue crib sheet/blankie. He sleeps with his door closed. If he cries more than about 3 minutes, we go pick him up, snuggle him, then lay him down again and close the door.

Back to the big kids' bedtime routine: I don't require the kids to go potty- leaving it up to them has worked so far- keeping my fingers crossed! If Ross wants to shower, he can do it all on his own. We try to keep bedtime very streamlined because we're invariably worn out by that time of day! So, we only give baths every several days (as needed based upon visible grime or odor). We also let them sleep in their clothes (or with his shirt off- as is Ross's preference). Lydia usually puts on her outfit for the next day to save time in the morning and that's fine with us. We read a book to Ross and Lydia (1 each, usually), pray together and tuck them in with forehead kisses. They'd probably like a kiss on the head but likely won't kiss you back. They both like to have the hallway light left on until they're asleep, and their doors ajar about 6 inches (no need to measure) :). Ross is allowed to read for another 10 or 15 minutes with his lamp on. He usually turns out his light without prompting.

General notes:

The kids don't like any tickling (who does, really?). This is Lydia's only rule for babysitters. :)

I'd suggest that you ignore the phone and let people leave messages. You'll be plenty busy and don't need to be searching for a pen and pencil. If it's us, we'll talk to the machine and you can pick up- or if you're upstairs, you might check the caller ID and just pick up if it's us.

My big kids need to work on not pestering each other or Russell. Please remind them to use their manners- we can use all the help we can get with this! Their consequences for most infractions are to sit in time-out on the stairs (ending with an apology as needed) and/or to get busy doing something helpful (sweep the kitchen floor, for example).

I've got some frozen meals on hand (mostly in the outside freezer) and frozen veggies are in the bottom drawer of the indoor freezer. Please make yourselves at home and use up whatever you'd like!

Russell is pretty safe on the stairs- we let him navigate them by himself. You might want to put up the baby gate (it's near the freezer in the garage) to keep him on the same level with you. We usually don't put it up because then we have to navigate around it. Russell is not very safe in the kitchen. He uses chairs to aid his climbing. He'll reach any drink, etc. on any counter. He loves to drink tea, which is OK if it's decaf. I try to cook in the microwave and oven because Russell is not safe around the stove top, pot handles, etc.

Space for questions to ask us when we call:

Space for any of your notes about the kids this week:

Dad's Book Quote for Me

My Dad left me a nice voice message with a tale about my book:

"Jen, I wanted to tell you a story. Last night I was at the Child Evangelism Fellowship. They were talking about The Five Love Languages. Somebody said, "Oh. Gary Chapman has a new book out now. It's The Five Languages of Apology. It's wonderful!" I said, "I know the co-author of that. She's my daughter!" They said, "Woah!" (Mom and Dad chortling in the background). Anyway, give us a call back when it's convenient. We love you. Bye bye."