yes, dad, i still do get motion sickness

A guy I know in Salt Lake City had taken a really cool picture of his three kids on a little merry-go-round at a neighborhood park and I thought I'd like to try it since we have one in our little park. I failed to factor in the following:

1. There is way more light down here than there is almost anywhere else in the US. This matters because part of the fun was to slow the shutter speed down enough to make the background really blurry, but slowing the shutter speed lets in MORE light, and when you're starting with oceans of light already.... and yes, it was almost sunset. Still just lots of light.
2. I really have serious problems with motion sickness. And this shot required me riding the merry-go-round with the children. Serious problems. As in, I have to be the driver in any mountains, or else I will be miserable. It's really not a control thing, honey, it's my stomach.

The kids thought it was hilarious. Here are some of the shots I liked:






When we were done, I had to collapse.

could* and hot

So the other night, the 8-year-old comes storming out of his room, in a hurry, asking if he can get some paper and pencil to write down a poem while he was thinking about it. I said sure, and today this is what I found.

"Could and Hot"

I'm could and hot,
sick and not,
and have an upset stomach.
The light is on,
I've got some girls,
the room is hot,
I'm sick and not.
Got a clock?
motion, motion, all that motion,
It makes me so crasy.
It's very hot and I've
some snot.

The End
11/6/08

* I think he meant, "cold."

hey, what's for dinner?

It's no secret that since Andy has taken over the kitchen, this girl has basically forgotten how to cook. Well, it's not completely true, but the meals for which I am responsible are involved and extravagant: meatballs, lasagna, pizza, calzones (apparently I am Italian?), all from scratch. So on the evenings that Andy's not home to feed us (4ish each week), I'm usually at a loss for what to do. I don't like to touch or look at raw chicken. You can really only eat spaghetti so many times each month before they start complaining. I don't like TV dinners. Or Hamburger Helper. Or canned, sodium rich soups. Andy can make a gourmet stir fry out of just about nothing. Not I.

Last year, I met this couple, Brad and Darlene, who owns a little store over in the Cape called Dinner by Design (site). The deal with this is that you place your order, go into the kitchen, and make a bunch of meals at once. Then you take them home and throw them in the freezer to have at any point in the month. At first, it sounded a little strange to me, but I tried it, and it's actually fantastic. First off: yes, you are making frozen dinners. However, instead of getting a frozen dinner at the grocery store that has unpronounceable and incomprehensible ingredients in it, your dinner has real chicken, veggies you recognize, and seasonings that you put in yourself. So you still actually know what you are feeding your family. When you go into the kitchen, there is a separate station for each meal option and everything is ready for you to put together. The best part is that Brad and Darlene follow right behind you and clean up. I want them to come to my house too!

I don't normally do shameless plugs on here, but if you are in the Fort Myers/Cape area and are meal challenged at all, Brad and Darlene are just awesome. My children love the dinners (I went last night and Elanor said "Mommy, I love the design dinners. I am so glad you are getting more design dinners!"). A full meal will do for us for two meals, especially if Andy's not home for one of them, but generally even if he is. They also do half meals if you're just cooking for two (or, like a lot of my friends, two actual eaters). If you don't have time to go in and make the meals, you can pay a little extra and they'll make them for you and you just pick them up. The last two times I've done it, I've gone in with friends and it's a lot of fun to do together.

If you're in my neighborhood, give it a try! If you're not, look anyway and see if there is a kitchen near you. You can't get any nicer than Brad and Darlene, but I imagine the food at the other ones is just as good.

panthers!

pickup game

After today's game was over (yes, another loss, and I have some philosophical growlings about recreational youth soccer to probably not share here--not our team or coaches, because they are great and play their hearts out), some of the kids stayed behind to have a team/parent pickup game. I don't play soccer, so I just took pictures. Here are some of our family playing (can you see which parent they get the tongues hanging out from??). The girls played for the parents.

one nice thing about homeschooling

After months and months of stifling heat and humidity, the weather has finally broken. The high today is only (!) 86 and the humidity is way down. Our house is finally open again and everyone wants to be outside enjoying it. Cabin fever, I believe, is the technical term for it.

So, we do a little bit of school, then have extended recess. And then do it again. They're happy; I'm happy; life is good.

who gets your vote?

So ... I (Andy) am in the unfamiliar territory of being less than 30 days from a major election and still being unsure of who will get my vote. Will it be McCain or Obama? I have many opinions. There are things I like about each candidate, and several I dislike.

So I want to take the step of asking all of you, whether you read this on the blog or on Facebook, to weigh in with your votes. I would love to know up to three things: (1) for whom you will vote - McCain, Obama, or another, (2) the most compelling reason for voting for that person, and (3) a compelling reason to not vote for his (or her) opponent. As always, let's please have some civility along with our courage.

I promise that later I will say what I think.
As always ... grace and peace!