Sick Day

It's been a slightly rough day here. Last night Lily was really congested and complained about some symptoms that sounded like the onset of a bad cold. Today it was confirmed and she stayed home from school. The problem is that Amanda is now starting to show some early signs. Fortunately, it is nothing too debilitating, but Lily is going to stay home tomorrow after having a 102 fever tonight. The good news is that the little Peanut is pretty resilient and doesn't really seem to be too bothered. Right now they're watching The Voice.

This came at the end of a really fun weekend. Of course, Thanksgiving was fun with family and good food. Friday night the kids spent the night with the McKenzies so Amanda and I could go see Catching Fire, which was excellent.

On Saturday they brought the kids back and we all watched the Michigan game, which ended up being much more thrilling than we thought it would be. The McKenzies went home and then there were a couple of naps during the first half of the Auburn game. We all watched the end of the game together over a makeshift dinner and everyone agreed that it was well worth our time to watch it.

On Sunday we had some new friends over from our new church. There is some Polish heritage with Amanda's friend, so it gave me an excuse to make stuffed cabbage. It was a little risky making something new for guests, but between an online recipe and my own intuition I have to say that it came out great. I'm pretty sure the secret was including some good kielbasa from the Meat House. Nothing like a house that smells like cabbage and garlic!

The good news is that Noah and I seem to be OK. I feel slightly off, but I think I'm going to dodge this. Noah seems completely nonplussed. The highlight for him is that we spent time yesterday and today working on a video game. Good times for Pook.

Weekend Activities

We had an extremely active weekend and I am very glad to be working from home today after it. We started it off by attending a Halloween party at the McKenzies. Amanda worked hard to get our costumes together and I think that they came out pretty good.

Being Barney and Betty Rubble was pretty easy, though in the future I have to remember how static electricity works as my costume kept clinging to my shorts. Nevertheless, the costumes were a hit.

Saturday morning brought frost and soccer. This was our last game, so I mixed up the players and positions a bit more. Noah was on offense and alertly stayed near the goalie while the goalie tried to drop-kick the ball. He picked up the trash and put it in the net! This was very exciting for us as it was a pure hustle play. We came home in the afternoon and had some grilled burgers before I watched the first half of Ohio State's pasting of Penn State.

Sunday we went to church early and then got ready for the Monster Dash 5k. Here are Amanda and her sisters in their Pink Ladies getups.

The race was an unqualified success for all. The ladies ran through the whole thing. I finished with a PR of 23:46, which made me happy. Then we headed over to Lilly's Pizza to eat and drink some carbs. Brenna spent the night last night, so I took Noah out to Buffaloe Lanes to play some arcade games and earn tickets. We finished with a long browse at Target, which is one of his favorite things to do.

All in all, it was a very successful weekend. Today I have a parent-teacher meeting with Noah's teacher. I am looking forward to what she thinks.

Best...mommy...ever

Amanda let Noah choose what he wanted his pumpkin to look like this year. He chose Mario (of course). Although Amanda had a rough day today with gloomy weather, catching up on laundry, and coming down from vacation, she carved out this pumpkin for Noah. You can see the results and the template from which she started below.

Do you see the resemblance?

Amanda is hardly Ms Crafts, but she did this and she did a fine job. The only negative from all this is that she sets the bar pretty high for herself. I'm not sure that Noah really appreciates this as much as he should, but someday he will. I'm pretty confident his future wife may not appreciate this ("my mom used to carve Mario out of a pumpkin").

Lily has already said that she wants something much simpler. Amanda is very glad to hear that! Lily seems more interested in harvesting the seeds to toast. She went through all the goo and pulled out all the seeds. That should be fun.

Savannah Travelog

Amanda had wanted to visit Savannah, but it didn't seem like a good idea to go on our actual anniversary. We thought the weather would be nicer in October and we were right. It was beautiful when we arrived on Friday. Once we got checked-in we took a walk to do some shopping and get a sense of what the town was like. We stumbled upon a great tea room where Amanda found a new favorite tea. After that we went to Tybee Island for the sunset. We finished the day at a local pub where Amanda had a lamb burger and I had bison. It was a splendid time all around.

We started our day on Saturday with a kayak trip near Wilmington Island. It was some work paddling against the tide, but we were up to the challenge. Sadly, it was not particularly scenic, but it was nice to get out on a beautiful morning.

We came home, ate a very quick lunch, and then hustled back downtown to do a walking tour related to Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. It was more narration than walking. The narration was fascinating and the guide seemed to truly enjoy the subject. It seems that he is reading the transcripts of the four trials just to get more information. Conveniently enough, the tour ended by Mercer House where "the incident" occurred and which was a block from where we were staying. Amanda rested while I went to get more tea. After I got back I met a locksmith from AAA who extricated the keys from our car (oops on me!). We got cleaned up and then headed out for dinner.

Based on the reviews, I really wanted to eat at the Olde Pink House (incidentally, it was a Jim Williams restoration project), but we would have had to eat at 5:00 or at 9:00. Instead, we ate at Vic's on the River. We had a wonderful meal and got our server to take our photo. She suggested we go out on the balcony. I suppose we could have taken more time to frame up the shot, but this still came out pretty good. You will note that I got some sun whilst kayaking and walking. Silly me for not thinking of a hat as each year my forehead seems to grow.

On the Balcony at Vic's

Sunday we took a walk around Forsyth Park and then drove out to Bonaventure Cemetery. We are not big into cemeteries, but this is indeed a really nice spot. Finally, we went to City Market to do some last-minute gift shopping and to get some lunch. We had an uneventful drive home and were happily reunited with the children and Oreo.

Getting Our Kicks

The kids were particularly difficult yesterday, so I took them out after dinner. I had a couple of errands to run that I didn't think would be particularly fun for them. After all, I was not about to take them bowling after misbehaving during the day.

First, we went to Rapid Refill Ink. The black toner cartridge I got from them had a problem with the fuser that was smudging all our printouts. They were gracious about giving me a new one, which I appreciated. The kids did pretty well there, for the most part.

After that, we went to REI because I wanted to look at some sandals. Amanda has made it clear that my Birkenstock-style Bass sandals have seen their day with regards to fashion, and she won't be seen with me wearing my toe shoes. One of the younger men at our church really likes his Chacos sandals, so I figured I'd try some on and then buy them at Amazon. It turns out that REI had them on sale, so I got a good deal.

Meanwhile, the kids really wanted to try on some toe shoes. Amanda is currently the lone dissenter in the house with respect to toe shoes. The salesman was very gracious in finding them in the kids' sizes. The kids thought that they were great, but I am not about to spend $60/pair on shoes for kids. I'm sure that plenty of folks do, but we are not that crunchy.

It's nice that the kids ended up enjoying themselves. That was not necessarily my goal, but it worked out well. And Amanda was really grateful for the quiet.

April Fools

Amanda has become something of a Pinterestphile. If you don't know about Pinterest you probably should. It has lots of great ideas on it, and one category is April Fool's pranks. Amanda got a bunch of them and used them to great effect.

I was the first victim. My shampoo is in a squeeze bottle and I didn't understand why I couldn't get any out. I discovered a small square of plastic wrap between the neck of the bottle and the hole out of which it squeezes. I figured that we were done, but we were just getting started.

By the time I came down for breakfast the family was well into theirs. Amanda asked Noah if he'd like an apple and then asked me if I'd wash one for him. Of course, being the nice dad that I am I was all too happy to do so. To my surprise, I got squirted by the sprayer because someone had put a rubber band on it. Apparently Lily was the first victim, and she surprisingly took it in stride. The family had a great laugh over my wetness, which was fine.

Amanda warned me not to be the first out the front door, but that was 45 minutes before we left for church. She pulled the old vaseline on the knob trick. As soon as I touched it I remembered her warning. Noah was not so fortunate and was more upset because he hates having his hands messy.

Of course, Noah and Lily tried to come up with their own pranks in the form of misinformation, but they were not successful. It will take some time for them to get the hang of it. Nevertheless, everyone had fun with it.

Birthday

Yesterday was Amanda's birthday and we packed in quite a bit. It started when I brought her some breakfast in bed that is also compatible with her diet. This was a slice of french toast covered in melted dark chocolate with sliced strawberries on top. After getting Lily off to school I took Noah shopping to Wal-Mart and Sam's. Noah got some pool toys which should come in handy this summer.

After that Noah and I went to a friend of Amanda's house where I watched Noah and their five year-old son and the ladies went out to tea. Sadly, the tea room was disappointing, but they enjoyed their time together. Since the tea room was a bust I got some take-out from Biaggi's and we took it as a picnic to Lake Crabtree. Amanda and Lily went out on the kayak and I took Noah to the playground.

Noah Being Brave

The photo above is a landmark moment in Noah's playing life. Those little platforms are maybe two feet off the ground and are a bit wobbly. I think that is intentional as they help to develop balance. At first I had to hold his hand as he walked across them. But as time wore on he became more confident. Amanda was pleasantly surprised by the news that he did this.

Next to the playground there was a girl practicing volleyball with her dad. Noah actually found that more interesting than the play equipment. He loved it when their ball went into the woods and I retrieved it for them. He wanted to retrieve it and throw it, but I don't think he understands how hard it is for a little guy to throw a volleyball.

We retrieved the girls, loaded up the kayak, and then came home for bath and bed. Amanda was fast asleep by the time I came to bed a little before 10:00. That's good because today will be a busy one too. More on that tomorrow.

Making Music

As I write this I am working from home in the basement.  Noah is getting into things here in the basement and Amanda is upstairs practicing her bass guitar.  We actually played together last night and it was pretty good.  She is on the road to being Hope's first female bassist now.  It won't be long before she is imitating the chops from some of the masters.

We're on the road to having our own little family band.  We need to get Lily on the keyboard and Noah seems like a natural on the drums.  He can keep a beat when we sing before meals.  Lily really wants a violin and I'm planning on using that as a motivator for her to learn piano.  If she gets proficient at the piano she can get a violin.  We'll see how it goes.

Birthday Pics 2

Visits

It's going to be a busy 5 days for us here. Grandma Judy is coming for a visit this weekend. That usually keeps us somewhat busy with various activities. Then on Sunday Amanda and Tiffany are driving up to Pennsylvania for a funeral. I'm watching the kids on Monday and Tuesday and then it's back to the grind on Wednesday.

The only wrinkle for me is that this upcoming week has the dress rehearsal for Lily's ballet recital. Other than that I'm looking forward to some time with nothing in particular to do. I may install Windows 7 on the PC since I don't have anything that is due anytime soon. I may paint the back door as well. I certainly will take Noah to Dick's Sporting Goods after we drop Grandma Judy off at the airport so he can look at the various balls that they sell.

The Bug Goes On

It was not a good night last night. Amanda ended up sleeping on the couch in Lily's room so she could hold the bowl for Lily to throw up in. I'm not sure, but I think Lily threw up at least 3 times last night, if not 4. Hopefully they will both sleep in a little bit. I'm not sure what this will do for our plans today. If we don't go it won't be the end of the world as I do have some homework to get done.

On the other hand, Noah and I are doing much better. I could really go for a big greasy breakfast this morning after hardly eating at all yesterday. I think my body is telling me something.

The Sprint

We're in our customary pre-vacation sprint. I've been trying to get some things done at work before I go incommunicado for a week. Amanda has had all manner of social obligations. I think if Hillary Clinton saw Amanda's day she would say, "Wow, that's pretty busy." It's not quite as bad as campaigning, but she is pretty busy.

Lily has been something of a pill lately. She keeps waking us up at night to tell us that she is afraid of the dark. She is now sleeping with a Mag-Lite. I taught her how to completely unscrew the top so it is kind of a candle. I also told her that if she was really scared she could turn on her lamp. Hopefully it doesn't come to that. All I know is that I don't want for her to wake us up!

I hope to blog about our vacation as things happen. Stay tuned!

The Sick House

We've had a wild and wooly past 25 hours here at the Chamberlain house. At around 3:00 yesterday Lily came in from playing with her friends. She had a bunch of chocolate on her shirt and she ran straight to the bathroom. She started throwing up then and kept dry heaving pretty regularly until around 7:00 at night. Around 10:00 Amanda started getting sick.

I made the mistake of going in to the office today, but was recalled. Amanda has pretty much laid low most of the day napping and reading in bed. Our weather is gorgeous, but I haven't been able to talk Lily out of the house yet. She did play outside for a little bit. I've been doing my email and blogging from the deck. I think I may take her and Noah to the airport after dinner.

The good news is that everyone seems to be on the mend. Hopefully this will not carry over to the weekend.

A Rough Morning

My alarm went off at 4:45 as usual this morning and, as usual, I didn't jump right out of bed. Noah was making lots of noise and Amanda got him up to feed him. I didn't actually get out of bed until about 5:20 because that's how long it took for him to finish. Of course, he started crying as soon as Amanda put him down.

I tried to go through my normal morning routine, but he kept crying intermittently. I went in to comfort him and that seemed to help, but as soon as I put him back down he started crying again. I was all set to give him Motrin, but then he stopped crying. I thought maybe I was in the clear. I got all ready to work out, but then he started up again.

I resigned myself to the fact that he was not going to sleep. I got him up, changed him, and gave him some Motrin. I brought him down to sit with me while I started to work instead of work out. I figured I might as well try to redeem the time.

I was surprised at 6:40 when I heard Lily's hard and rapid footsteps up above me. She told me that she saw a bug in her room. Sure enough, there was a small roach on her wall. I tried to grab it, but it eluded me and ended up behind her dresser. I guess it's Talstar season again. The problem was that Lily was then up.

Lily tried to entertain Noah in the basement, but it was to no avail. At 7:00 we had breakfast. At 7:30 I woke up Amanda because I had to take the car back to the mechanic to get the brakes looked at. The rear brakes have been squealing since I got them inspected a few weeks ago. It's a great thing that I can work from home!

I hope that today improves for Amanda. At least she is going out with a friend tonight.

Rise and Shine

Today is Thursday, which means that it is also the second consecutive day for me to have class in the evening. This morning it dawned on me that I had not seen Noah since I put him to bed Tuesday evening. I got to see Lily briefly yesterday morning because she was already awake. We got to go through the "flash the lights, beep the horn, wave, and don't forget" routine.

This morning was a bit different. Amanda was awake and Noah was making his little noises, but Lily was still out. I find that I leave about 15 minutes later on class nights since I hang around the office anyway. It just doesn't buy me anything to get to work early. Since it was pushing 7:30 I came upstairs to see if Lily was awake. She wasn't, but Amanda suggested I wake her to say goodbye. I appreciated this offer since I certainly was not going to give Amanda more Lily time without permission.

Lily was still sleeping pretty soundly when I came into her room. She had a tough time waking up. However, she was very glad to give me a hug and a kiss before I left. I also got to see Noah very briefly before leaving for work. It's great to get his big gummy smile and a happy little squeal.

Now instead of just giving Amanda a quiet "I love you" (so as not to rouse any children) and leaving I got to see the whole family walking down the stairs before I left. I also got to see Lily stand at the front window and wave as I flashed the lights and beeped the horn and waved and didn't forget.

I'm really enjoying seminary this semester, but I don't like being away two nights/week.

New Bern House

Amanda's small group has mostly completed their two day project at the New Bern House. Yesterday's painting went fairly well, but there was a complication when the residents of the room didn't know that they were coming. Another complication was that all the painting didn't get done yesterday. This meant that today became more difficult even though it was supposed to be the easy day.

To further complicate matters, several members of Amanda's group had sick children and couldn't come. Fortunately, Amanda called up some reserves who found ways to be there. It wasn't easy for them, but they did get the painting done and they got some window treatments up. It's good to have this done for now.

My part in this was pretty simple. I took Lily to preschool today and I kept Noah at the house. He napped this morning and then I fed him when he woke up. I took him to pick up Lily and then Lily and I enjoyed lunch at a local McDonald's (her request). I took Lily and Noah to Lily's dance class, met Amanda, swapped cars, and then came home. Amanda, Lily, and Noah crashed shortly after their return.

Sometimes I wonder if the difficulty of these projects shows that our lives are too complex. Either way, it was definitely a sacrifice for Amanda to help with this.

Unusually Restful

We're actually having a fairly restful Sunday. Amanda is kind of busy getting ready for her small group's project of renovating a room in a nearby house, but it's still not as stressful as many of our Sundays. We're enjoying a sunny day with temps in the high 40s. Noah is trying to nap, but is having a hard time with Lily and Sarah playing in her bedroom. This may not be a surprise, but Lily likes to boss around a girl that is 7.

A bit more on this service project -- there is a house in Raleigh that we call the "New Bern House" (it's on New Bern Avenue). It's a big old house that serves as a place for people to go. I don't think I'd quite call it a runaway shelter or homeless shelter. It's not just a place for abused women and families to go, though it serves as that too. I guess it's a place for people who need a home. Since it is so old it's also pretty run-down in places. Amanda's small group is going to paint and decorate a room in it.

As you might imagine, this requires much coordination. As small group leader Amanda gets to be the project manager. Fortunately, she does not have to be the main person for any one thing. Tomorrow she needs to show up and paint. The problem is juggling the kids. Someone else in the group will watch Noah in the morning while Lily is in preschool. On Tuesday I'm going to be more involved as I'm working from home. It's going to be a crazy two days.

In the meantime, we'll enjoy our Sunday as much as we can.

A Slightly Better Day

Yesterday was slightly better than Monday, but not significantly so. Now it seems that Amanda is battling the early stages of a cold. It didn't help that we had a cool, dry night last night and she woke up with a raging sore throat. I asked Lily to be particularly good for Mommy today. I have doubts about whether she did that.

I start my semester tonight. Today is the beginning of my final semester of Greek. Tomorrow will be the Foundations of Biblical Counseling. I have to do a Personal Improvement Plan for the counseling class. This is one project that I suspect Amanda would be glad to help me with. Not so much that I have so many glaring flaws (though I'm sure I do that I don't realize) but that it's always nice when a spouse wants to improve and asks for help.

Noah continues to do well. Amanda introduced peas yesterday. She even sings the "Peas, Glorious Peas" song to him. He is not wild about the baby food form of peas, but I guess he is eating them. It seems to me that we could do homemade baby food with peas like we did with sweet potatoes.

It's refreshing to have such a good little eater. By the way, it seems that Lily cannot get enough kielbasa. She absolutely loves it!

Craziness

Today has been going pretty much full-bore for me. Last night ended at around 12:30 after I got back from the disappointment of watching OSU lose yet another BCS Championship Game. I find it hard to sleep after these games and I found myself awake at 5:30 unable to go back to sleep. I realized that I was going to need a nap today as well as some time to do some reading for school, so I got up and started working. Then once Lily got up I had breakfast with her and Amanda. I managed to squeeze in some weightlifting in the middle of my morning. Then I took a shower and did some more work. I met Amanda and Lily for lunch at Five Guys, hit Sam's Club for some milk and bread, and then came back home. I did manage to nap a little bit after they got home from dance class. That seems to have made a world of difference in how I feel.

I guess it's only fair that I get a small taste of what Amanda experiences each Tuesday. She has to take Lily to preschool, rush over to church, lead her small group, go back to preschool, get Lily, eat, take Lily to dance, then come home. It makes for a pretty crazy day. I'm glad that I've been around today only because Lily had a fit this morning on the potty. It seems that she wanted some company. She comes and goes with that.

Meanwhile, Noah keeps eating like a little champ. He's generally a mellow little man except when Amanda gives him to the babysitters at church. Then he freaks out. This time she put him in their Baby Bjorn and he probably forgot that he wasn't with mommy because he got quiet.

A Rough Day

This is usually such a happy time. It's stressful with various gift-giving obligations, to be sure, but it's usually happy. Personally, I've always enjoyed the two weeks between my birthday and Christmas. The month of December usually flies by for me.

However, this year has been tough. Amanda is still battling something with her sinuses. Lily was particularly difficult today. Apparently at one point Noah was on the floor and she danced on him. Then as I was about to take her and Noah out she was trying to make a point about something and nearly poked in him the eye. She had been warned about touching his face, so this meant a spanking as we were about to head out the door. We're still eating the leftover roast beef from my birthday, so Amanda made some rolls on Saturday and we had french dip sandwiches last night and tonight. Lily decided from the beginning that she wasn't going to eat it, but we finally got her to eat some. She stopped with about three bites to go, despite being told that she wouldn't get any treats tonight.

We've decided that her refusal to eat dinner has to have more repercussions the next day. In the future, she isn't going to get any treats the next day either. Funny how last Monday she ate her pasta because she knew she wouldn't get any doughnuts on Tuesday if she didn't. She wasn't too full then.

On the other hand, she does have some really sweet and/or funny moments. For example, she and Amanda saw the Polar Express yesterday. I guess there is a part where water is chasing after someone. She said that if the water caught them "they shall surely die." I'm pretty sure she got the expression "shall surely die" from her Bible. It warms my heart to see it coming into her speech.

Overall, we could use prayer.