Nursery Date

Good Thursday morning!

The Gallery Pic this morning is of the "Spring Bud." I was going to try a day-to-day pictorial, but this is a very stubborn bud (as you can tell). It's been a week since the last picture was taken. I may have inadvertently picked a "Spring Bud" which is a dud... and if that is the case, I'm sorry I have wasted your time!

ANNOUNCEMENT! ANNOUNCEMENT! ANNOUNCEMENT! - Please support Roxanne Adams and her family by eating at the Gardendale Chick-Fil-A TODAY! Receipts from breakfast, lunch, after school and dinner will benefit Roxanne for her ongoing treatment of dysautonomia. (She will receive 20 percent of the receipts.) Be sure to turn in your receipt, and tell your cashier, "This is for Roxanne!" The store will be playing Spin the Wheel from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. for prizes! Tell all your friends!

RANDOMNESS - I have three kids. Three teenagers. No... two teenagers and a 20-something. Over the years, these three "people" have been taught to do any number of household chores. They can load a dishwasher, clean a toilet, do a load of laundry, make a bed you can bounce a quarter on, wash cars, dust, vacuum, etc., etc., etc. You get the general idea.

However, there is one thing all three of them do that drives me to the edge. When they transfer wet clothes from the washer and put them into the dryer, they do not turn the dryer on. They leave the wet clothes sitting in the dryer... and they do not push the button. ONE BUTTON!

What does this mean? Is it genetic? Are they afraid of the dryer? Are they trying to make me cry... out loud... a lot? I don't know. It's very perplexing. It's like washing a whole car... except the left rear tire.

Now, if you tell me your teenager does the same exact thing, I will feel better. Misery does indeed love company. But if you tell me this never happens in your household, I don't know what I will do.

Knowing my children will one day be in charge of everything in their lives (paying bills, holding down a job, raising a family, planning vacations, etc.) while wearing soaking wet clothes because they didn't push ONE BUTTON is very discouraging.

Until I can find a way to blame this on Mikie's side of the family, I'm going to start feeling like a failure. I just know I will!

The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia (a/k/a The Night Mom Tried to Pass Out in Georgia)

Yea! Another camping story! I have a million of them!

We had been to Stone Mountain many times, but never on a camping trip. We planned a trip with two other families and headed for the park which is only two and half hours away. When we arrived, we were very pleased with what we saw. Beautiful campsites, places for the kids to ride their bikes, the lake within viewing and walking distance... and a brand new bathhouse. We pitched our tent as close as possible to the brand new bathhouse.

Everything was going well. The kids were playing great. We had a good dinner. We sat around the fire and told stories and ate s'mores. Josh, age five, ate too many s'mores... way too many s'mores.

It was time for bed, so we brushed our teeth and climbed into our nice, warm sleeping bags on our nice, soft air mattresses smelling of campfire smoke and other outdoorsy smells. Everyone dozed off.

We were awakened by the unmistakable sound of a child being sick in the middle of the night. It's probably mean to say, but when you're in a tent, you can hear everyone and everything within ten campsites of your own tent... so in your heart of hearts you're kind of hoping it's a kid in someone else's tent. No such luck! "Which one is it? Which one is it?" Mike and I were already climbing out of sleeping bags to assess the damage... and damage there was.

It was Josh. "Please tell me he didn't get sick in our shoes?" I asked Mike feebly since he was already up and trying to find the lanterns.

"Nope. Just him, his sleeping bag and one coat." Minimal damage in camping terms.

Mike stripped Josh down, tossed him over to me for a change of PJs and illness assessment, and headed out the door with the bag, coat and Josh's clothes. (We decided to toss the PJs.) Mike spent an hour in the new bathhouse cleaning the nylon sleeping bag and the coat, and came back for the verdict.

"No fever. No stomachache. My professional opinion is too many s'mores."

"How many did he have?" Mike asked.

"I would have to say from the damage report... more than one or two." And then we slept. The next morning, Josh woke up happy and well, and we decided to count our blessings we did not have a stomach bug. (Not to mention, we gave him a s'more limit he was to abide by for the rest of his life... 1 or 2 per sitting. NO MORE!)

We spent the day hiking, exploring and playing with the other families. It was a good day. We were grilling hot dogs and hamburgers for our dinner, and I was setting the picnic table when I looked over at three year-old Grant. His flushed cheeks and droopy eyes could have been the result of playing hard all day, but there was something else... something I had seen before. "Grant, are you feeling... ," I started to ask... but never got to finish. Grant got sick all over the picnic table. I knew for a fact no s'mores had been eaten yet, so I feared this might be something more serious.

His mom came over to check him out and in our professional opinions, Grant had a stomach bug. As the dads cleaned the table, discussions were held as to what we should do. Grant's family decided to pack up and head to Alabama as quickly as possible so they could be home in the event other family members came down with the illness, also. One problem. It is not a five minute job to take down a tent and pack everything up, so it was decided Mike, Grant's mom and dad and all the boys available would help pack up... and I would hold and comfort sick little Grant.

I sat in a chair away from the commotion and held the feverish little boy for a little over an hour knowing the possibility of my catching his illness was going to be huge. (To this day, I can't hold a sick little boy and not kiss the top of his head, rub his back and whisper in his ear that everything is going to be okay.) So in my mind, I knew in just a few hours I, too, would be in the brand new bathhouse at Stone Mountain, Georgia throwing up. I just decided to "go with it."

We said good-bye to Grant and our friends about 10:30 that night, and once again headed to bed. No s'mores had been eaten. Everyone seemed to be feeling okay. I was feeling okay. Maybe, just maybe, we had dodged a bullet. We all dozed off.

We were awakened by the unmistakable sound of a child being sick in the middle of the night. I'm sorry to say, I again hoped it was some other kid in some other tent down the way. And unfortunately it was not. "Which one is it? Which one is it?" Mike and I were climbing out of our sleeping bags trying to assess damage. This time it was Austin. "Please tell me he didn't get sick in our shoes?" I asked.

"Nope. Sleeping bag, two coats and PJs." Mike was already gathering everything to head to the bathhouse (Mike is a GREAT dad and husband), and I held a shaking, feverish little boy in my arms. This wasn't a case of too many s'mores. This was the dreaded stomach bug.

Mike and I decided to nickname our tent the "Death Tent," because... well, to be honest, it had lost that woodsy smell two nights earlier and things were not getting any better. We stayed up with Austin most of the night, and the next day he and I stayed in the brand new bathhouse while Josh and Mikie took our campsite down.

There really isn't a moral to this story. It was a weekend of just trying to survive... trying to have a good time in a really bad situation... being a family looking for the blessings in a series of very unfortunate events and living to tell the tale. If it had been our first camping experience, no doubt about it, it would have been our last. But we had several great camping trips under our belt, and we considered this one a little bump in road. I guess if we sat down and tried to think of the good things that weekend we could come up with one or two.

Good Thing #1 - No one ever got sick in our shoes. That was a biggie for me.

Good Thing #2 - No one else in our family got the stomach bug, which was pretty much a miracle considering our close quarters.

Good Thing #3 - We discovered at an early age that Josh can't hold his s'mores (and this fact has helped during other camping trips).

Good Thing #4 - I'm sorry. I think I'm going to have to stop at #3. I can't seem to think of Good Thing #4. (It's taken me ten years to think of Good Things #1 through #3.)

If you're wondering about the title of this story (The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia), we found Georgia is incredibly dark in the middle of the night in a campground when you're wandering around trying to clean sleeping bags and such. And part two of the title (The Night Mom Tried to Black Out in Georgia) refers to my inability to pass out until all the bad stuff stops happening. I'm just one of those people who is going to be painfully aware (and fully awake) of any situation I'm in... good or bad. Not a very good trait as far as I'm concerned.

Blog Linkage - Okay. Here are three very different links for you to check out today. One for St. Patrick's Day... one to look at beautiful photos (no reading required)... and one comparing a two year-old to a junior high teenage girl (very, very funny).

1. Click on eighteen25 under My Blog List. Scroll down to the post entitled "Gotta See This" dated March 4. The girls have shared several good St. Patrick's Day ideas for parents of little ones.

2. Click on Confessions of a Pioneer Woman under My Blog List. Click on "Photography" at the top of the page. The Pioneer Woman had a photo contest entitled "Sisters" last week. Take your time and look at these beautiful, photos. (My favorite didn't even make the finals!)

3. Click on Big Mama under My Blog List. Read today's post entitled "Have Car, Will Travel." Feel free to laugh out loud!

Enjoy!

Nursery Date

My new friend, Kristel, left a comment in the Comment section last week talking about an idea she found in the Family Fun Magazine. She and her kiddos are going to plant grass seed in a plastic tray or glass baking dish, watch the grass grow, trim the grass and then let some of their favorite "tiny toys" play in the homegrown yard. (You can find this idea on page 66 of the March 2011 issue.)

That little comment made me think about my trip to Leaf & Petal Nursery behind the Summit (in Cahaba Heights) last week. Not only was it a nursery, but it had a very pretty store attached, too. You can call them at 205-871-3832 for specific directions.

Why not take one of your little ones on a date to pick out a special flower, bush or tree to plant in your yard this Spring. (Remember the lemon tree my friend bought? How cool would that be?)

A lemon or lime tree may be out of your price range for a date, but there are always smaller plants and flowers you could purchase. Spend a little time shopping for the perfect plant before heading to lunch. If you want to stick with the theme (nature, Spring, etc.), plan on taking your date to a restaurant which serves fruit, salads, etc. (Uh, that would be O'Carrs Restaurant only 30 seconds away from the Leaf & Petal Nursery in Cahaba Heights!)

But wait! There's more! Once you get home, it will be time to get your hands dirty. Make sure you and your child follow the instructions and plant your flower, bush or tree in a special place.

And by all means, have fun!

Have a blessed Thursday! Friday afternoon will mark the beginning of Spring Break. YEA! I'll have one more camping story, another pic of two and Weekend Happenings to share.

Take care, and I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Sincerely,

The Enchanting Belinda