The Not-So-Nice Side of Nature

For all intents and purposes, I love nature. I love the smell of the woods, especially here, where the forest floors are often filled with sweet smelling ferns. I don't mind the wildlife - even the bugs and little critters that would make me cringe had I found them in my own home in Arizona. But, out here, it's not a big deal.

I also love the weather. It varies and that's nice. Sometimes you get rainy days, others are sunny and cool. Still, others are hot and muggy. The weathermen out this way have their work cut out for them.

But then again, there are some things I don't like. Here are 2 of them.

1. The scary thunderstorm. Typically, I enjoy a good thunderstorm. But there are thunderstorms that fall under "scary." We had one of these storms just a few nights ago. It woke me up at 11:40 pm. Thunder and lightening were right on top of us. You can tell how far a storm is by counting the seconds between thunderclaps and strikes of lightening. If there are three seconds between the two, then you can surmise that the storm is about three miles off. But this storm, the lightening and the thunder were almost simultaneous.

Earlier in the evening my father had seen on the news that there was a chance of severe thunderstorms with winds up to 70 mph. That's a big deal out here. My parents' home is surrounded by tall tall trees that sway and bend even in the slightest of winds. This was all on my mind as I sat in my bed.

The children were still asleep and I just sat up listening to the storm and wondering at what point I should take us all down to the basement.

But just as I was about to bolt to the basement with the kids, the storm started to move off. It only lasted about half-an-hour, but the entire time I was scared.

2. On Sunday at church I noticed a speck of dirt behind Colt's ear. I thought that was odd because he had just been given quite a nice bath the night before. I shrugged it off thinking it was indeed a speck of dirt or even a bit of glitter from doing crafts the day before. After church I noticed the dirt again and I took a closer look. My stomach churned. My heart sank.

It was a tick. (Need I say more?)

Now, we run across our fair share of ticks out here. We don't mind them as long as they aren't embedding themselves in us and as long as they are large ticks (the large ticks are not the dreaded deer tick that carries Lyme Disease).

But this tick was tiny. I mean really really tiny - as in so tiny I was surprised I even noticed it! I pulled that sucker out and put him in an enclosed jar for later identification. But, we were pretty sure that it was a deer tick. Not all deer tick carry Lyme Disease, but you never know.

So, for the rest of the day on Sunday I was on the phone with two doctors - ours from Arizona and my family doctor here in Pennsylvania. I really wanted them to start antibiotics right away just in case. But neither doctor's office would go this route. Instead I was advised to keep close observation on Colt for any fever, bulls-eye type rash at the sight of the bite, and any other flu-like symptoms. Should he fall ill between then and 2 weeks he was to be seen right away and be treated. I still want him on antibiotics just in case, but after a second call to my doctor's office and them again denying my request, I am being overprotective of Colt, asking him how he's feeling constantly, checking his bite for a rash. But, he's being a good sport about it and doesn't mind my constant harassing.

So far, so good. Although, today after coming back from lunch Colt started to feel sick to his stomach and proceeded to throw up. Then I'm wondering if he's SICK sick, or if it's just car sickness (it was a 40 minute ride in the car). He recovered quickly and has felt fine since, so I'm thinking he was just car sick.

The majority of nature I love, but let's be real . . . ticks suck (ha ha) and so do scary thunderstorms.

New teeth

Carena's front teeth have been missing for ages now. But, finally they have come in!

Horse Camp - Day 4

Colt tagged along today and played with Frankie. Carena is doing really well at riding and I'm so proud of her. It's a lot of hard work.

Horse Camp - Day 3

No pictures for day 3, but Carena was most excited about using the porta-potty.

Horse Camp - Day 2

She's such a peanut up there.

Riding Video 2

Video 2:

Riding Videos

I took some short clips of Carena riding. She's a natural! Here's one of them.

Horse Camp - Day 1

Today was Carena's first day of horseback riding camp. She got to ride, a lot! She also did crafts and learned some basic horse care. She had a blast (but some of it made me nervous, even though I used to ride when I was younger!).

Carena's new ride: Dusty


Look! No hands!!



All grins:

Craft time!

Happy Father's Day

Rainy Day

A few days ago we had a nice rain and thunderstorm. What a relief it was from the humidity!

If you look closely, you'll see a rainbow through the trees (no pot of gold, though):


Enjoying the storm from the safety of the porch:


Even I got in on the fun (notice the frizzy hair - I told you it was humid!):

Pinecone Alley

Today we went for a walk down the driveway and onto a pathway we've named, "Pinecone Alley." We decided to collect a bunch of pinecones and later we'll be doing some crafts involving them.






The littlest bear cub sharpens his nails on the bark of a tree:


This picture makes me sad. I remember when Carena barely reached her grandmother's knees. Now she's so big:

At one point, Jonathan got mad at me and sat down in the driveway and refused to move:


Picnic lunch on the porch:


Yes, we do have monkeys here:

Entomology 101

One thing about being out here in the sticks is the variety of wildlife and critters you stumble upon almost daily. There is a ton of learning going on - for every new critter, we run to the Audubon and Peterson Field Guides to name and classify our new friends. One of our most recent finds was this guy (this is actually an image from the internet - I don't have the skills to take a decent picture):



He's a Daring Jumping Spider. I've seen him on the porch (eating another spider) and most often on the window out of the kitchen. I'm in no way a spider lover, but it is fun to learn and see different creatures in their natural habitats. Plus, there is enough room around here for us all to co-exist.

Colt's New Skill

A Normal Day

Sometimes it's difficult finding my place here. I don't quite feel like myself when I'm not in charge of my own household. Oh, of course I clean up after myself and the kids and I still make meals for the children, but it's not my home. Also, the children are often busy with their grandparents, so I don't see them as much. And I miss them (well, I don't actually miss Jonathan since he has been stuck to my hip for over a week now).

But today was normal. Today, my parents ran some errands on their own and I decided to run a few errands of my own with the kids. We went to the grocery store and picked up some groceries. We went to a small department store and walked around and looked at the various items. Then, I took the kids out for lunch at an Italian restaurant. Carena and I had a slice of pizza. Colt and Jonathan had a bowl of penne alfredo. It was so nice sitting there with my three precious children eating a yummy lunch. It was so nice to reconnect with them - just us.

I felt normal (or as close to normal as I get).

Tagged

Blech . . .

1. My age at my next birthday:

2. A place I would like to visit: Hawaii





3. My favorite thing: no, not the kitten (although - awwww!), the napping

4. Favorite thing to eat: artichokes


5. Favorite place: dreamland . . . yeah, that's right.


6. Favorite Color:


7. My nicknames: Let's just skip this one . . .

8. First job: I was a stable hand. I mucked stalls, fed and watered horses, did some training, exercising . . .



9. College Major: criminal justice



10. Concerts I've been to:

11. Names of my pets: Hobie

PA Pictures

Colt and Jonathan enjoy an ice cream cone on the porch.

One of the reasons I like coming to PA is because the kids get to play outside all day. I remember, as a little girl, spending my entire summer on the swing-set.

One of the yucky parts of nature: an infestation of tent worms. They are literally EVERYWHERE.

Colt multi-tasking: on the swing-set and playing a video game.

Holy Grossness!

My mom makes the most phenomenal chocolate sauce for ice cream. Today, I asked her if she'd make me some. Well, it turns out she had some already made in the refrigerator. So, she heated that up and we poured it on our ice cream. I took a few bites and it just tasted not right at all. But, was it me? Were my taste-buds going bad? And then I didn't want to say anything to hurt my mom's feelings. I ate some more. But, it got to the point where I couldn't not say something. I said, "this tastes kind of weird." And then I added, "this isn't chocolate, is it?" Her eyes got wide, I could tell she was thinking and then she said, "oh no! I know what it is!" Did I dare ask? I asked . . .

It was a sauce she was making for some baked beans. A sauce with KETCHUP in it, yellow MUSTARD, molasses and brown sugar. All mixed together it looked like chocolate. I ate half of my ice cream with that stuff on it. I shudder now even thinking about it. I've always thought that the most gross combination of foods would be ice cream and ketchup. And here I was - I just ate it.

Remember that show Fear Factor? They'd eat stuff like bull testicles and 100-year old eggs or coagulated blood balls? Yeah, well I ate ketchup and ice cream together. Where's my $50,000?

What We've Been Up To

Being here is not very different than being there for me. I still tend to my children, make meals (although my mother does bless me and the children with her delicious dinners), give baths, do laundry, keep the house clean - all the stuff I usually do in AZ.

But, it's different. While I'm typing this I occasionally look out the window to see a forest of trees, green grass and wildlife. Yesterday we had a thunderstorm. Lots of rain, dark skies, and thunder.

Mostly, the children play outside all day - on the swings, taking walks in the woods, just plain having fun. My mom also hosts a little "school" for the kids. For an hour or two a day she's the teacher and Carena and Colt are the students. They love having school.

During Jonathan's naps and in the evenings, I have been reading These Is My Words. I just finished it yesterday and if no one had been around I would have sobbed my heart out. I love that book! It is now my number 1 favorite (sorry Jane Eyre). Thank you to all those who have recommended that book.

I've taken a few walks through the woods. Jonathan and I took a walk down to the third pond and saw a new tree that has fallen. I'll take a picture of that and post it later.

I've seen some wildlife. The other night we saw a skunk. Yesterday the kids and I saw two pileated woodpeckers (the big ones that look like Woody Woodpecker) - which was a rare treat since they tend to be a bit elusive. But the most wonderful thing we've seen is a mother deer and her new little fawn. We noticed the mother just outside the kitchen window and then noticed some movement in the ferns and saw a wobbly-legged spotted fawn. We think that the mother placed the fawn there so close to the house, because she felt it was safe. With so much activity here at the house, coyotes, bears and other predators are more likely to stay away, making this a safe refuge for the fawn while the mother would graze nearby.

We're not too exciting, but just hearing the trees rustle in the wind is fun to me.

We're here

Sorry, I don't have any pictures for this entry.

We made it to Pennsylvania. It was not easy getting here. For those of you who have never traveled via air with your children, it is a daunting, exhausting, frustrating, and plain difficult task. Just getting through security is a trick. I had my three children, a diaper bag and Jonathan's bulky and heavy car seat. When you go through security they make you take your shoes off. ALL of our shoes, even little Jonathan's. I think what makes it so terrible is knowing that there is a huge long line behind me waiting "patiently" while I take everyone's shoes off, get all of our stuff on the conveyor belt and then walk one at a time through security. On the other side, we are then rushed to put our shoes back on, gather up our belongings and head to our gate.

The first leg of the flight is about 4 hours long. This time we had purchased a seat for Jonathan, rather than have him sit on my lap. That was nice - he was in his familiar car seat and knew that once he was buckled in there was no getting up. To make our trips smoother, I always pack for the kids travel bags with various goodies and small cheap toys. They do not get their travel bags until we are on the plane and in the air. Then they entertain themselves with this new loot.

After our first leg, we landed in Detroit to catch our connecting flight. This was probably the hardest time for me. Detroit airport is HUGE, with millions on moving walkways, a train to ride to the next concourse, a tunnel with weird changing lights, and more moving walkways. Of course we had to go from the end of one concourse all the way to the very last of another concourse. This had to be done in breakneck speed while I was carrying Jonathan AND his car seat. Carena held Colt's hand and we practically ran. But we made it to our connecting flight which should have only been an hour long flight but . . .

Right before we were to land in Pennsylvania, a storm kicked up and we were unable to land due to high winds. So we circled and circled and circled some more. At one point Colt said to me, "Mama?" I looked at him and he was GREEN. I grabbed the air sick bag and he proceeded to throw up numerous times. The flight attendant was wonderful though and ran and got him cool wet cloths for his head to help him feel better. So, after circling and circling, and still unable to land the pilots diverted the plane to another airport not too far away to land and refuel. After refueling, we took off again and headed back to the airport where the storm had cleared and we were able to land . . . two hours late.

But, we're here.