Getting Out of the House

I'm really sorry that I have no pictures to post. With as much as I have to say, and without pictures, that probably means few will make it to the end of this post. 

THE CAMPING TRIP

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. The first night of all four us and Lewis sleeping in a tent together was far worse than I ever imagined. It wasn't because it was too crowded (although it was), it was because the temperature dropped below 39. Silas woke up 3 times, Micah woke up 5 times, and I woke up 2 times on my own to worry about my children being warm enough. We were in our tent from only 9 until 7. You can do the math.

The next night, after consulting a professional fireman, we turned on our space heater. We woke up when Micah crawled out of his peapod at 6am but it was fun to wake up to such a happy baby. Both Silas and Micah loved being outside all weekend.  I was surprised at how much I enjoyed being with old friends. They were more fun than I had remembered. It was also great to share our campsite with the Bradleys, even though they slept in the car the second night. We had some great hot dogs and hamburgers and pudgy pies. And no one threw up, not even once.

THE BIG TRIP TO PHOENIX

Flying with Silas and Micah surprised me. They were exceptionally well-behaved on the airplane. Micah slept on every flight (although he didn't fall asleep until landing in LR on the way back) and Silas tried very hard not to kick the seat in front of him. Joel and I found new and creative ways to haul carseats through terminals and by the time our last flight was over, we were like a well-oiled machine.

Being in Phoenix also surprised me. No- I should say that being in Mountain Standard time surprised me. I didn't know until this trip how dependent I have become on such a rigid nap/bedtime schedule. I'm pretty sure I cried more than the children. I cried the most on the day that Silas woke us all up at 4:30am. I thought it was 6:30 so I let him get up out of bed only to realize an hour later (when I was making sure it was at least 7:30 before I let him out of our room) that I was sorely mistaken. This went on all weekend. Now throw in a myriad of wedding activities and 2 cars for 8 (2 in space in-efficient carseats).  I was very proud of the entire Fank. family. All the adults were long-suffering with the children, but more impressive, was how patient everyone was with each other. The possibilities for strife were endless and honestly, I came pretty close to losing it with the little ones. But Papa, Gamma, and Emily came to the rescue every time. The wedding would have been a disaster without their help. The wedding, by the way, was really lovely, and it was so great to see all the family members, meet Christina and see some of Joel's friends from highschool. Another highlight was going to the Neighborhood Church with Emily. This experience was so unique that I won't write about it now, but it's definitely worth sharing.

I went to the dentist today for the first time in 5 years. Since Joel started medical school, this was the first time we could afford it. I am proud to say, I only have one dead tooth and 4 cavities (VERY VERY SMALL ones). That's only 1 per year. Not too shabby.

Next time, check back to hear about the first ever camping trip with a three-year-old sheltie, a two-year-old boy, and a one-year-old boy. The trip complications started this morning when the campsite called to tell me they were completely closed for the next week. After calling 2 other campgrounds who were completely booked, I finally found one with enough campsites to accommodate all the other friends and their children. 

I really can't wait to write about the experience. The last time I went camping with Andrea...well, I should just let her write about it on her blog. But it included a tornado, 3 wrecked canoes and an abandoned tent.

Furious George

Tonight Silas read us this story:

"Curious George went down through a hole.  He bit some people.  The lamp wasn't broken.  He talked on the phone.  The End."

This is the cover of the book that Silas read.

PG-13 for disturbing images

This picture serves as a buffer for the image that follows. It was taken within minutes of the next. I promise that I didn't pull this happy face from the archives.

Micah has Erythema Multiforme (minor- at this point). What you can't tell from this picture is that these lesions are raised and target-like. It doesn't seem to bother him. In fact, he's been happier today than he has been since he first got sick 10 days ago. The only crying today has been from the 3 times he hit his head on the tile floor. I don't think the rash and the falling are related.

And the fence is done!

Reflections on the Fence and some Pictures of the Progress

The fence project began Wednesday afternoon. I called the fence company we paid from the interest free loan we gave the government last year. They told us they would be there Monday. Like this Monday.

This is the section blowing into our neighbor's yard.
The unfinished deck that Micah wants to fall off of when we play outside.

I had a plan for this all along. My plan didn't include the weekend being that of Easter or children with the flu. Taking down the fence ourselves has saved us $300 minus the cost of the tetanus shot I'm going to have to get. Joel and I have done the entire thing alone. This brings me to my next thought. Dr. Phil said (more than) once, "Good fences make good neighbors." Without a fence around our yard, we've been exposed to the neighborhood in front of, and behind us. We like the people who live on our street. We've made a point to meet them and I try to be in the front yard when I see others outside in their yards. Some of the neighborhood friends who have stopped by to see me, or Joel and me, work have said things like the following:

"You're tearing your fence down? Are you moving out or something?" (this was by a 4-year-old girl).
"You young kids are doing a great job. I'm going to go drink a cup of coffee now." (this was by a neighbor who shares the largest side of the fence. We had strongly hoped she would add, "And then I'll be out to help you...")
"Is that your park?" (by the 4-year-old girl's 5-year-old sister)

It's been nice to have people come and go as we work. Silas has asked me no fewer than 25 times "What are you doing". The first 24 times I answered, "I'm tearing down the old fence so we can build a new one. This one is broken." The 25th time, I realized he was ready for a more complex answer and so I told him the cold, hard truth. This answer, especially in light of our neighbors' comings and goings into our yard, saddened me. "Silas, in our culture, we go to great lengths to define our personal space and property. Many people build fences to keep people out of their yards." And out of their lives.

The boards with nails at the bottom of the gate to keep lewis from crawling underneath when we play in the front yard.

I should note this is NOT why we are building our fence. Ours is to keep people in. And so we don't have to pick up all of our outside toys every time we have to go in for orange juice or emergency nap times. Before, I thought this was a very important aspect of rebuilding a privacy fence, as opposed to a chain link fence, like most folks have in our neighborhood. But after our fence came down and we saw how everyone else really lives in their backyards, I don't feel the same way at all.
A big ole pile of pickets. This will all be firewood as soon as we can turn the chain saw on.
Ivy we pulled off the fence. And this isn't all off it.

What Happens when the Fanks AND the Bradleys Visit at the Same Time

I've been meaning to post these pictures for a long time. These were taken over Christmas/THE WEDDING.

The upstairs

the Breakfast table

the Guest Bedroom

The Longest Day of Spring

Time is standing still here.

1) Joel has been working until midnight for the last 4 days.
2) Micah has had a fever since March 14. He hasn't walked or climbed on/fallen off the picnic table since then.
3) On Thursday, March 13, we planted seeds to grow nice things for our back yard. Now, I'm no gardening expert, but I think that seeds are supposed to get at least some sunshine. Am I right? Huh. No sunshine since early on March 14.
4) Supposedly everyone is on Spring Break. I was sure that when everyone had spring break, things would somehow be different at our house. But it must be March 14 and spring break doesn't start for at least 3 more days (10 days for others) because there is no vacationing around here...

Normally, I would be glad for a little consistency. But I don't want Micah to have a fever forever. I actually enjoy it a little bit when he tubles off the picnic table (so long as no crying is involved) It would be nice to eat supper with Joel again. And if our little seeds survived the mini flooding and hail we've had nearly every night since "march 14", I would really like to say I grew something this year. And spring break? No need to say anything more about that.

Yes, today-March 14-has been one very long day. I'm especially thankful for friends and family I've talked to and for my neighbor who has been so helpful with Silas while Micah needs so much attention. And at least Joel working until midnight means he's been home until noon, ensuring some of the most cheerful playtime hours (except for Micah, whose aforementioned state has kept him napping all of Joel's waking hours at home). If we can get out of this glitch in time and get to Wednesday, he'll have another day off and maybe I'll remember to take a picture of something.

Like falling off a blog

If anyone is still out there reading our blog, I'm back. I have to be. There are too many exciting things coming up this spring: a huge fence demolition/resconstruction, a camping trip, a trip out west to Arizona, not to mention all the "normal" things that happen here worth remembering (like what we will do with Joel's TWO DAYS OFF IN A ROW this week! Amazing.).

It didn't make the paper...

...but the big news around here is that Micah is walking! You can also see in the picture that he has 4, count 'em, FOUR teeth in his mouth.

We've been having such a great time around here. Silas and Micah each have different things they love, but still find ways to involve the other in play/fighting over it.

Silas loves to build with blocks. Micah loves to knock them over.
Micah loves to roll the soccer ball. Silas loves to pick it up and throw it down the stairs or onto the stove.
Silas loves to play with cars. Micah loves to put the cars in his mouth.
Micah loves to climb onto the picnic table. Silas loves to sit as close to him as possible, ensuring a quick fall by Micah.



You just never know when the game is going to be taken as an offense. Keeps me on my toes, for sure.

Applesauce Disaster Sauce

We eat applesauce nearly every single morning with zero incidence. Today when we ate breakfast, I gave Micah a big bite of pink strawberry applesauce and he sneezed it all over me. Less than 20 seconds later, Silas dropped his bowl of applesauce face down on the floor.

In other developments, Micah loves to roll the soccer ball around and crawl after it, which is very cute. Silas took a nap at MOPs for the first time AND cooperated at Walmart all in the same day. As I write there are alternating games of 3-man-wrestle (with Joel) and keep-away and screaming in protest over the soccer ball between Silas and Lewis.

Sorry there's no pictures these days.

A Morning So Extraordinary

This was so aweful, I thought I might need to remember some day for reference.

7:30- got out of bed to two crying children.
7:45-changed poopy diaper #1
7:50-Micah threw-up on me
8:15- changed poopy diaper #2
8:30- cleaned up cat vomit on the stairs
9:25-cleaned up sick-doggie poo under the table

Also during this time, I had to enforce two time-outs and administer one spanking.

One Year Old!!!!

This afternoon, I picked Micah up, he grabbed my hair so I couldn't turn away, and he sneezed in my face.
It's been an unforgettable year. I have so much to be thankful for.
Happy Birthday, Micah!

Here's Why You Should Be Glad I'm On Sabbatical

I have a few minutes to type now that the boys are in bed and this is all I can think to write about:

This is the progress of unpacking from the Holiday Journey.

Monday: park the car and drag everything just barely through the door.
Tuesday: take the boys' suitecase up stairs. Take my suitcase to the stairs by the kitchen.
Wednesday: open the boys' suitcase. Get tired of stepping over my suitcase everytime I want to cook or eat.
Thursday: Take my suitcase upstairs and open it. Dump clothes out of all suitcases on the floor.
Friday: put suitcases in closet. Take one laundry basket to the garage.

Goals for Saturday: Wash clothes; put away clean clothes on the floor from the suitcases; put away clean clothes from the washing machine.

I should add that somewhere in all that I took down our Christmas decorations. I swept up all the pine needles and while I was getting a dustpan, Micah crawled through the middle of the dirt pile.

My Apologies

A quick note to say that I'm taking a break from blogging for a while. Micah is crawling and Silas is in the throws of two-year-old-hood. I can't justify spending as much time as I do in front of a computer screen that causes me to face the wall.

But before I say my good-bye for this sabbatical, here's some stats:

Micah is almost 1 and amost 20 lbs!
Abbie's getting married this weekend and Silas will be the ring-bearer.
I got the KitchenAid mixer of my dreams for Christmas so let the baking begin.
Joel is about to be a RESIDENT and not an intern anymore.
I didn't lose any weight for the contest but I didn't really gain any weight this Christmas. Goal accomplished.
Silas and Micah share a room now so we have an extra-free guest bedroom again.

See you later!

-alice

"the Ball"

I promised I would post about the film festival and I know that many of you have been checking multiple times a day to hear the results. Sorry to make you wait so long.

This year's films were fantastic! Here's a list of titles/producers

"So Where Do You Think You Can Dance"- a remake of "So You Think You Can Dance"- by Dad
"the Ball" by me -a remake of a Twighlight Zone Episode titled "the Doll"- by me
"The Prodigal Son" -a retelling of the parable in the Bible- by Joel
"The Argyle Pants" -a retelling of the poem "What Was I Scared Of?" by Dr. Seuss- by Andrea
"The Woods" -a remake of "The Cave" - by Emily
"Kat Kong" -a remake of "King Kong"-by Laura
"Mort and the Sour Scheme"- a retelling of "Mort and the Sour Scheme"- by Katie
"Sleeping Beauty" - a retelling of "Sleeping Beauty- by Sara

There were awards given in many categories, but I'll just list the ones that we the people got to vote on.

The People's Choice Award went to.....Laura!
Best Actor was a tie between Dad in "So Where Do You Think You Can Dance?" and Heath in "The Argyle Pants".
Best Actress went to me for "the Ball"
Best Remake went to me as well.

Tune in a little over a year or so to hear about next year's PFF. The theme?
Christmas Movies...

The only Thanksgiving I can remember being as wild as this year's, was the year we went to Aunt Jean's. I can't remember if all the sisters were there or not, but I do remember 2 Japanese girls, Nana, and 12 doxens involved.

Thanksgiving Holiday started on Saturday for Silas, Micah and me. Just a few hours after we got out of the car, the trickle of arrivals would continue until Abbie, Zach, Stewart, the Bradleys, Laura and Emily were all home. Everyone was home by Tuesday (except Joel, who had to work until 10am on Thursday).



Here's a list of all the noteably things that happened:

1) I helped mom buy a tent for Zach and Stewart to sleep in.
2) We all ate at Cici's.
3) Andrea and Emily made Rum Pumpkin Pecan Pies and Sweet Potato Cake.
4) Muffy (the Cocker Spaniel puppy) got poked in the eye and got an ulcer.
5) My car got a check-up.
6) Dad split about 1000 lbs of wood.
7) Zach and Abbie decided to get married and set the date for less than a month and a half away.
8) Mine and Joel's team won the Thanksgiving Day Softball Game.
9) We played capture the flag.
10) We had the second annual Poteet Family Film Festival.
11) Micah got chest x-rays and had a fever of 105º.



I'm sure I'm leaving some things out. I'll add them as they come to mind.
Next post: the film festival!!!

An Everyday Afternoon from around 3:15-4:30

Silas, Micah and I like to play outside every day. Even on cold rainy days, we get out for a least a few minutes.
When we're outside, Micah swings in the red swing hanging from a tree around 4 feet above the ground. Silas pushes his tonka truck up and down the hill, and under and around the swing. Lewis barks incessantly at squirrels in the neighbors' yards or at Silas and the truck, if they're having too much fun. Two days ago our normal afternoon included this series of events.

1. I went inside to get potatoes out of the oven and get a glass of water. When I returned, Silas had Micah's spit-up all over his back.


2. Thank goodness I had that glass of water too because the other remarkable thing that happened was a wasp landed right on my bluejeans!!!!!!!! I screamed and poured the water on him (and my bluejeans) and then I squashed him. I saved the day.


This is Lewis trying to keep Silas and the Tonka truck with the herd.

All Saints Day

Ironic. Behavior here has been anything but saintly.
But the point of this post is to tell you about our All Hallows Even, or Halloween as some have come to call it.

New Year's Resolution #1: don't take Silas and Micah to trick or treat without their father.
New Year's Resolution #2: don't take a wagon for trick or treating when no one wants to ride in it.
New Year's Resolution #3: don't think that just because you leave a bowl of something you think no one else will like (such as oh, say, animal crackers) that at the end of the evening there will be any left for your kid.

The truth is we had fun for about 10 minutes. That was the ten minutes that both Silas and MIcah rode in the wagon. After that, when neither Silas NOR Micah rode in the wagon, the evening fun began to fade. But over all, the costumes were fun and what other holiday is there when people in a community walk around on the street with each other?

This is the end of the fun. Silas didn't want anything else but to pull the wagon. Micah wouldn't sit up any more so I let him lay down in the wagon. It was s l o w going. But we made it home in time to take a couple of pictures. Though
none with all of us together.

Finally, below is a picture from our super fun trip to the pumpkin patch.


P.S. Sorry about the sideways pictures. I'm not sure why ended up like that and I don't have the go-get-'em attitude to fix it just now.

the Great Outdoors in Pictures

The Great Outdoors

We took Silas and Micah on a hiking trip in a national park not too far from home. Some friends kindly lent us their baby back-pack carriers though I was hoping that Silas would prefer to walk rather than be carried. However, after a recent hike at Pinnacle, I suspected we would be hauling around a 35+ load on our backs.
_______________________
Pinnacle
Silas and I started up the trail, hoping to meet Joel, Dad, the sisters and exchange students on their down. After more than 20 minutes we had made it almost 3/10 of the 1.5 mile hike. I realized after 12 steps in that this was not a destination-goal hike. For Silas, it was about digging in the dirt, saying hello to people and dogs passing us as they came or went, stopping to spot every airplane, trailmarker or bird singing overhead. And jumping. Did I mention jumping? I think we stopped 8 times (in 20 minutes, mind you) to jump off a rock.

I realized Silas was tired when he refused to stand up after one of our stops to dig in the dirt. Since I was in exercise mode, I told him we could dig at the bottom but fo rnow, if he didn't walk, I would have to carry him. BIG MISTAKE. I carried him on my hip most of the way back down. He was so encouraging though; he told me things like "You're doing it, Mama!" "Don't fall!" and "Mama, do you need help?" To this I replied, "Yes, Silas. WHy don't you get down and walk now."
_______________________

So, we took the backpacks to Petit Jean. After we checked into our lodge, we hike a mile or so to see the "bear caves." Apparently, no bears live there, but I believe they did before the white man came and sent the bears onto the trail of tears.
Anyway, the trail and caves were lovely and rocky and provided the perfect pre-supper/bedtime exercise Silas needed to prepare him for...

Sharing a 70 sq. foot room with all of us. It was a long night. I think my favorite part was the screaming while banging the crib against our neighbors wall. The next morning, we checked out and hiked the Cedar Creek Falls Trail down the waterfall. I remember hiking this trail in college and thinking, "Gosh, this is a pretty good hike." Going down felt 3 times as long since Micah was pulling my hair to climb out of the pack. The way up was much more grueling yet pleasant than I remember in college. I had Silas singing songs in my ear. In one round, he sang "happy birthday" to Zaccheus.

Overall, it was such a fun experience. We saw fish in the creek, chipmunks and squirrels on the trail, wildflowers and yes, there were plenty of places to jump off rocks as well.
Pictures coming soon.