928 Clara - Post Ike

Lot cleared of debris....ready to rebuild...maybe someday...

Wow...I'm Gonna Be Famous!!

Blogging about all the antics my kids (and my husband) go through for the last two years has really been rewarding...the kids love going back and re-experiencing all the good things... and some of the bad things we've experienced over these two years that Itsashambles has been in existance.

However....a couple of weeks ago, I submitted two of my videos...Coco Climbs the Ladder, and Dad's Version of Mom's Birthday to KHOU in Houston, to potentially be played on air as part of Great Day Houston....(both of these videos are posted on this site)

And lo and behold, both of them were selected. Tonight, I'm attending the taping of that show, and may be interviewed by Sam Malone...(big deal in Houston, not so much anywhere else I don't think).

So, in essence, my kids, my family and myself...live on...through the power of video, and the power of community. It's been a great experience!

The Polar Bear Club

What happens to children when they grow up at the beach? They become immune to water temperature. That's my theory anyway!! 

And now that Hurricane Ike has taken away each weekend trip to 

the beach, one's gotta make due...with the water one can find...and with the outside temperature around 60 degrees, you can imagine how COLD the water is. 

In this first picture you can see the personality and conviction in regards to what they're about to do. Chase is ready and willing, and Ashlynn is willing if Chase is, and Connor SAYS he's willing....but is he really??

And Kylee's face shows it all...the ANGUISH of jumping in the FREEZING water!

Precocious? You decide!

This video was taken during a family gathering this past Christmas. Have fun watching....and hopefully commenting!

Tyler...We Miss YOU!!

DSC_0078
Originally uploaded by nibbuccms.

Almost everyone was in one place this weekend, except our hard working Tyler, who was busily waiting tables and earning money.

This pic will have to stand for the Christmas picture this year, and as you can probably tell by the look on some of our faces, by the time this picture had been taken, several of us were really tired...Chase and Kiki to name a few!

Tyler, usually we try to Photoshop you in, but unfortunately, i don't think I have a recent picture...(get the hint??) Come by more often!!

It's SNOWING!

I love blogging with my mobile phone...especially since I've really deemed myself a "multimedia blogger"...I'd much rather tell the story I have to tell in pictures and videos. Aren't pictures worth a 1000 words??

Today, I posted two images from my mobile phone on my way to different schools as part of my job. I noted the temperature each and every trip...and there were quite a few of them today.

6:30 AM - 39 degrees

8:30 AM - 34 degrees

10:15 AM - 36 degrees

11:30 AM - 37 degrees where it stayed for quite a long time...

4:30 PM - I went outside to go home with Ashlynn in tow, and she began screaming..."it's SNOWING!!!" over and over and over.

As we got in the car, and took the picture of the flakes on the windshield, we talked about the fact that the temperature was not cold enough to make the snow stay...and that we would need the numbers on the thermometer to be at least 32 degrees...

All the way home as the temperature gauge in the car would decrease a degree,  ( we started at 41 degrees from sitting in the parking lot which was not an accurate read) Ashlynn would let out a little whoop and holler. When we drove up into the driveway it hovered at 34.

What will tomorrow hold??? It was only 4 years ago...remember??? Will we get to have a SNOW DAY???

http://www.themccubbinfamily.com/gallery2.htm

Baby, it's COLD outside!

Coco the Great

During Thanksgiving vacation, Kylee came bounding into the house..."MOM!! Coco climbed the ladder!!" (remember, she's got Apraxia, so that all came out without many consonants)...My head whipped around, took inventory of Kylee's facial expression to see if there was a kernel of truth to this exclamation...wasn't sure. 

"Great!  Let me know if she does it again," I said as I returned to my task at hand.

A few minutes passed, and this time, Ashlynn came in the back door with a "WHAM". "MOM....MOM!!! Coco really DID climb the ladder!!"

Away we all flew to the back yard with video camera in hand to see with our own eyes, that indeed Coco was doing her own agility training, by climbing the playground ladder over and over.

Who knew that our sweet, chew happy one year old black lab could keep up with the kids...all the way up the ladder!! 

There's a few things that Coco does that drives me nuts...(like shedding and chewing everything)...but her willingness to play with the kids makes up for that 10 fold.

OK....so if we open the front door, the first thing Coco does is run away....but what's more important anyway? Staying in the house? OR CLIMBING THE LADDER???

cute!

Too Cute!

Sent from my AT&T Windows Mobile phone.

Layni's Texas History Video

Out of the Mouths of 8 year olds....

Walker Station is having the Second Annual Movie Under the Stars Night in two weeks, and boy is Ashlynn excited....she told me all the way home what was going to be happening...

"And Mom, we need to bring blankets and chairs like last year, but I don't think we need to bring food because there's going to be a CONFESSION STAND." 

Laugh out loud...belly laugh from me.... :)

I wonder what Walker Station will sell at their confession stand....

Let there be PAINT!

I'm so excited! New paint! ...which means no more kid dirtied walls!

Chew, Chewing,Chewed

OK...it's been a long time since I've had a chewer like Coco. She's been mighty particular up until now...it started with her stealing whatever was on the counter that smelled like food, resembled food, or was food, and her treasure off the counter goes right outside, is ripped, torn, and the edible part devoured. The backyard sometimes resembles a neglected roadside ditch....peices of paper, dishes and cans strewn about carelessly. The neighbors really must think the kids have a problem with littering. Yes, they are very impulsive and sometimes lazy, but at least I can reason with them about where they discard their trash.

Other times when the kitchen is clean, and there's nothing to be stolen, electrical cords satisfy her stealing and chewing needs. Not electrical cords plugged into the wall, mind you, but those expensive, sometimes irreplaceable cords that go to things like the Wii controllers, or your hastily discarded cell phone charger....

Last night, as I was just finishing putting kids to bed and was completing my light extinguishing circuit, I discovered her new passion, as my feet collided with the hard plastic Barbie body parts on the stairs. However, I didn't find  whole body parts, but hard, sharp plastic pieces that resembled a chewed and discarded wad of gum....many wads of gum...many sharp wads of gum left lovingly on the top three stairs leading to the bedrooms. From experience, I can tell you that chewed Barbie legs and my bare feet created just enough rucus to make several kids come scampering out of there just created cocoons.

I know Labs are infamous for food obsessions...and so I kind of deal with her impulsivity when it comes to sweet cornbread and butter. However, I'm kind of at a loss as to how to keep her from scattering pencil parts, black electrical "doggie licorice", and now Barbie body parts about the house.

I would say that I've looked it up on the Internet, Hey Wait!! Maybe the skunk remedies will do!!.. Seriously, if you've got a suggestion or two...toss it my way before all the Barbies end up with one less limb (or worse).

New Five Photo Story- Need Your Help

If you all are out there....I challenge you to post to my newest contribution to the 5 picture story group on Flickr.

You do have to register with Flickr to post, but if you use Yahoo, you already have an account, if if you don't, getting one is not that difficult.

And as a last resort, will you do it for me...please??

http://www.flickr.com/groups/visualstory/discuss/72157608175616091/

Multimedia message

Multimedia message

Trick or Treat

Our Skunkitty gifted us with 8 lovely kittens a week before Ike. The only positive thing I can say this time is that she really picked a beautiful donor. Six of the kittens are very Siamese with blue eyes. The other two look like her...long haired black..but this time the tip of each tail has a spash of white. :)

We're opening the kitty adoption agency this week! Reserve yours today!

Have you Seen Enough Yet?

This is a narrated video, probably most relevant to those that know the area...

My New Beachfront View....Post Hurricane Ike

Best Cat on the Planet

Snickers (the only cat I claim)..is like no other.....what a sweetie...

too much

Sometimes it's just toooo good....

Check this out. What was to what is...

Crystal Beach Hurricane Damage

As many of you know, my family has been anchored in Crystal Beach. I've owned property there since 1993, and my parents and brother relocated there soon in early 2001.

Our saga began on Friday at 2:00, when I got a phone call from a beach house neighbor that Doug had fallen 14 feet off a ladder as he was finishing putting up the storm boards over the windows at our beach house. He was taken by ambulance to UTMB, where after many tests, it was determined that he was able to be released. He's still immobile, but in one piece. Because Doug was now enroute to the hospital, my Yukon remained in Crystal Beach. We did have a friend come and get the car and move it to High Island, but we have yet to hear from that friend about his well being, let alone whether my Yukon made it through the storm surge. We're still waiting on that one.

Click here for images of what once was, use the BACK button to navigate back to the blog.

Doug and Sandee's House

Mike's House (my brother)

Mom and Dad's House (the only one standing)

More later as we get updates.

Two for One SALE!!

This weekend, I moved the three girls downstairs to a bigger bedroom. So, consequently, there is still stuff everywhere between the old upstairs bedroom and the new downstairs bedroom. This morning I was in the old room looking for clothes that were scattered from hither to yon...picked up a few off the floor by the closet and proceeded to walk into another room....until I heard "MEOW....MEOW..." No...it was more like "MEW, MEW...". Regardless, Skunkitty had once again gifted me with 6 more kittens that I don't want! And....she was JUST Pregnant and gave birth at the beginning of June. The moral of this story is...the DAY AFTER you give the last kitten away? Get the cat to the vet!

Way Cool...right?

I've been trying to keep up with whether other people are reading and or responding to this blog....

And according to sources, one should search on Google for the name of your blog, as well as search Technorati to see what comes up.

Good news! We're international...but according to Techorati? My Blog Rank is 4,571,198. Wow...4,571,198. According to Technorati there are 15.5 million active blogs...so numerically speaking? I'm ahead of 10,928, 802 others!!

Miss Texas 2020

There are times in my life, when I've run across someone that I know in my heart is destined for great things. Sometimes I'm not sure how I know that, but I just do.

This week while at the beach, I had one such occasion. I met Miss Texas 2020. Mind you, right now she's only 6, but in 12 more years, she'll be doing the beauty pagent wave, mark my words.

I know this because behind the guise of being 6, she was really practicing how she would answer the interview questions posed to her by the panel of judges.

Taylor was visiting the beach for the day with her family last week, and once she spotted Kylee, she merrily jaunted the small distance between their "camp" and ours, proclaiming, "My mama says I only have 30 minutes to play with you..." and, I responded that that would be fine. Here's where the amazement starts, and you really can't get the full gist in print, therefore, please click on the links to the audio.

After alerting me to her alotted time limit, she said,

Wow. Ok. In the next breath, she'd told us exactly where she lived, and invited us all to her birthday party. In the course of the thirty minute period, she went back and forth several times, the final time bringing back her "purse" for lack of a better word. After this trip she said:,


Out of the mouths of 6 year olds. However, Taylor lived up to her orations. She proceded to pull out her makeup and lovingly apply it to Kylee's face. I know..I know...make up, especially lip gloss can carry germs, but...I couldn't break the spell of one special six year old ministering to my oft mute Kylee.

I'm sure I could tell you the rest of Taylor's entire life story here, but suffice it to say, she impressed me. Wise beyond her years, Taylor approached something and someone she was unfamiliar with, and embraced it for all it was worth.

Each time I go to the beach, I'll be on the lookout for Miss Texas 2020. It was the best 30 minutes I've spent in conversation in a great while.

Persistence

Here's a 5 picture story..hopefully telling what happened to the skunks...

Solving the Skunk Dilemma

Ok...what do you do when a mama skunk and 4 babies have invaded your space?

Here's what the Internet says...
1. Moth balls will do the trick but they're a known carcenogen so don't put them where you can smell them.
2. Rags soaked in fox urine.
3. Light...constant light

After researching this, and trying the mothballs...(since I couldn't locate any fox urine), I can scientifically tell you that skunks could care less about my $15.00 worth of cancer causing moth balls.

So...on to the local bar to ask the locals about what I should do. Here's my choices there:
1. Harvest the babies...they're worth $500 each on the open market as pets..Get Rich!
2. Shoot the sucker, but be ready for a mighty big stink.
3. Go look in the Sand Castle subdivision for Perry. He's the one waving the whole chicken over his head lookin' for gators. He'd probably be willin' to catch the skunk.

No...none of these were viable options...I might have gone the gator catching route but couldn't find anyone swinging chickens over their head.

All I want is for her to relocate. Just take the babies and head on into the culvert system where we know that the skunks exist and we deal with that.

So, I scatter more moth balls, and what does Mama Skunk do? Laughs at me, as I awake to a whole NEW burrow she'd created during the night. Not only did she create another foot high mound, but she'd gone through the yard and dug up fist sized holes looking for grubs while she was at it.

So...we cover up the other two holes she'd dug...scattered what was left of our ineffective moth balls and turn on the hose aimed at the new burrow.

I must say, for as many times as she's been deluged with water, she sure has handled it well. She retrieved all four skunk babies, and this time carried all four of them two houses away. All the while I watched...and waited and thought to myself...whew! At least they're not next to me anymore.

I decided to go on with my day...got the kids and went to the beach. When I returned from the beach, I was sitting down under the house...just a mere 5 or 6 yards away from the skunk burrow, when what did I see???? MAMA SKUNK!!

At this point I'm open for suggestions...just none that involve fox urine or swinging chickens!

New Beach Neighbors

So...what happens when your 13 year old laments..."I'm bored?" And Mom says....lets put water in that new critter hole..and see what comes out!" Just your run of the mill typical beach drama...

Wainwright Photo Stream

The Boys' got Talent

Con-Man and Brother participated in a talent show today. We created a video to show the "raw" talent. They rocked out to "We Will Rock You".

The Ugarook (bearded seal)

It was cold yesterday and I was still in bed. Asleep. Dreaming. You know, warm cozy in bed asleep, dreaming, when my Grandma comes and pulls the covers off and says excitedly “Eddie’s dad Jim caught an ugarook [a bearded seal]! Come out of bed I want you to take pictures. Tell me when he starts cutting it.” By the time I’m out the door Eddie’s there outside swinging. “Hey JDn [that’s my nickname JD- n] come swing?” I love Eskimo accents they’re so cool I wish I had one. I’m jealous because Eddie has one and he’s just a kid. I wanted one ever since I found out there even was such a thing.“Sure.” I made my way over to his house across the street when this “glassily” odor about makes my eyes water. I turned around to see Eddie’s dad start cutting the ugarook. I took pictures of the ugarook and Eddie. Later on my favorite dog, Rosco, comes walking to us with her master. The horribly bad part about Rosco is that she’s blind in her right eye! Why? Because someone went up to her and shot her with a Beebee gun?! Soon they left and Grandma’s over and Jim has the guts out with what looks like there is a squid inside. The closer you got the stronger the smell. After 2 days he has it almost done all he needs now is to get the blubber off the ugarook skin. He already has the meat outside at the back of the house to dry and turn into beef Jerky (ugarook jerky).

Nalukatuk #2

Today was basically the same thing (as Monday’s Nalukatuk) but after the blanket toss and the candy we had Eskimo dancing. It was amazingly the same thing, the women would bob up and down by bending their knees and move their arms like they’re swimming, and the men would stomp their feet to the beat of the drums, and move their arms. The drums were made of seal skin for the surface wood formed in a circle for the seal skin to hold on to. And for the drum sticks they use a thin stick with duck tape on the top and bottom of the stick so it won’t split in two. They hit that and sing in Eskimo while the men and women go to a specific area and dance. The purpose of dancing is to show how brave you are. Grandma says the men love to do that.

Yesterday was the Nulukatuk

A Nalukatuk is the celebration of catching whales. You go to a specific place and you pray, then people sing. Then people serve duck soup, bread, and Eskimo donuts. Then the people throw candy for the little kids.

After that, it gets boring because you’re just supposed to sit there until they all run out of food. (I knew I should have brought my I-pod.) We sat on wood with a tarp that kept the wind from us, which made my white pants become brownish gray. We decided to come back for the blanket toss. We all came back at 7 but the blanket wasn’t up yet so all the little kids came in and out of the tarp. Then the blanket was up then down then up then down again. Then finally it was up, up to your eyes I would say. It was awesome.

Old people would get on it with bags filled with candy and rip a hole in it and send the candy flying. Me and everyone would scavenge to the ground for the candy. After about 5 times of that anyone was able to go on.

I was the 4th to go on. I went the highest. It was hard to go back down because the blanket was doing the worm and you were supposed to balance on it and go back up. I only did it 3 times. Then we went home. There’s another one tomorrow I’m gonna do Eskimo dancing too. Talk to ya then. Layni

What Do Mom's Know...Here's the REAL Story

You’ll never believe what I’m about to tell you so please write back immediately. Ok, ok yesterday I saw a real live polar bear! I’m tell in ya it was amazing I was walking with my friends when a guy drove up to us and said ‘There’s a POLAR BEAR on beach at the ice! Before I could think of what to do next my friends were running there. By then my grandma and grandpa were walking this way. I screamed ‘THERE’S A POLAR BEAR ON THE BEACH ICE, COME QUICK!’ With that all I heard was the pounding of my feet on the gravel and my heart. It was awesome me and my friends went down to the water to get a closer look. We skipped rocks and screamed so the bear would come our way. After that a guy in a truck cussed us out for trying to get the polar bears attention. Quote: ‘You CRAZY the polar bear is faster than you get off the beach before it comes after you!’ End quote. Grandma got a few pictures I hope the internet works so Grandma can send some pictures that’s all for now bye.

I Almost got Chased by a Polar Bear!

The big news this morning is that a polar bear was spotted on the beach eating leftovers from whale butchering. So, what did we do? Headed for the beach....however, before my friends and I could get there, we were screamed at by an angry man in a pick up truck. He told us NOT to go down there, that the polar bear could run WAY faster than we could. So...we never got to see the polar bear. And now I know, when looking for bears...... don't. They run FAST.

(posted by mom for Layni)

I Met Some Friends

Yesterday I met 10 friends; they all wanted to visit. Their names were Nelly; Desandra, James, Rosy, Eddie, Lee, Ronald, George, and David. Their ages were from 14-4. There were more boys than girls. It was fun, after everyone left our house, we all went to a 4 way street, and played tag. Then it turned into throwing rock tag. Soon someone spit on someone and it was spit tag, but someone told their mom and everyone ran. It ended up with me and Eddie jumping on Eddie’s Granma and Grandpa’s trampoline until 10pm your time it’s 1am. I want to stay out later but G-ma says no.

Compilation from Layni

It snowed and snowed last week.. Also after it snowed the streets were buzzing with snowmobiles. The road soon became nothing but mushy snow and a lot of mud. It is better now, with warm weather - up to 60 and 65.

Today me and grandma went walking in 40* [with wind YIKE’S].As we were walking we saw a Marten [it’s a squirrel looking thing, it has a hump towards the back. It’s a little squirrel compared to the ones in Texas. Editor’s note: Locals say this is not a marten, but a ground squirrel. We sent pictures already.

Here in Wainwright almost everyone has a dog, except they all have their dog chained up outside. If they were lucky they would have a dog house. There’s this one dog that looks like Beethoven. I don’t know his name so I call him Beethoven the 4th. And Roscoe is a female dog that we really like. We have petted her.

Grandma and I counted 14 trampolines, but we’re puzzled on how they get them up here? It cost a lot just to buy a trampoline; a whole other story is the cost of shipping it all the way up here.

I'm Bored

Well, it's cold and it snowed a few days ago and it was 4 inches. On my way here I counted 49 airplanes including the planes I flew in. In Wainwright, I counted 9 trampolines - we dont have one. I wish we did though. Sigh. My Grandma keeps me going. Sometimes she makes me go outside even though I dont want to. The best part is the cafe. I know Allisa,Sally, and Ramond. They all work there and I really like them.



Here's a picture of Sally.

Pictures from Layni

Here's the best we could do with SLOW dial up access from Wainwright. I think you'll get the gist though...


The long black pieces are baleen, taken from the latest baleen whale kill. Click here for another image.


The second picture has her wearing a traditional Inupiat parka.

Wainwright Day One

Last night I ate caribou stew. Two whole helpings. I like it, but I didn't like the mooseberries. They were too sour.

This morning we got on a small plane patched together with tape and glue and flew to Wainwright.

There are no trees...and the ocean is FROZEN. There are dried up star fish washed up on the beach.

I might really stink by the time I get out of here. We have a bathtub but no shower curtain, and NO washing machine to wash our clothes in. Grandma says she'll have to do our laundry in the sink! No only do we not have a shower curtain, or a washing machine, we don't have a TV, or a car. And no internet access here at our house. Even Grandma says she wants a TV.

Grandpa says the villiage has already caught two whales and that we'll be here for the big celebration.

Fallen into the Black Hole of NO ACCESS

The last communication I had from Layni was last night at 12:09 AM...our time. She was in Barrow, Alaska, and was at the home of a family friend, Rex and Leona Okakok. She could NOT believe that they had a TV, an XBox and Guitar Hero!!

She told me that it was cold, and that it snowed a few snowflakes as they got off the plane.

Today, however, they took the small bush plane to Wainwright....and hence, she's fallen into the black hole of ....??? What did we do BEFORE cell phones and texting??? Will I have to resort to WRITING a letter?

Please Internet Access gods....please send her some connectivity. I've not gone 2 hours without a text message from Layni since she got her phone!

You Tube of the Downstairs Composting toilet

This is the builder explaining how he built the composting toilet.

The Recycling Toilets

You will never believe me if I told you. Cindee's house is weird when it comes to the bathrooms! The top floor bathroom you pull the lid up until it touches the button, then the toilet makes this changing cat litter sound. The weirdest part is once your hiney touches the seat the thing inside the toilet opens.If you do number 2 in the upstairs toilet you have to clean it out.{ basically the toilets are porta-potties} Once you put the lid off the button the toilet makes the cat litter sound again which means its spinning the wee wee out .{ the top floor only allows pee}.

The bottom bathroom is another story. If you need to go number 1, you have to sit close to the edge of the seat if you have to do more than that, you have to put your whole bottom on the seat. {after you do your job, you have to scoop svagnumos (Sphagnum Moss) it adds bacteria that breaks down the solids... its also worm food}Also all the food scraps go down the toilet.

(The picture to the left was added by my mom...and no it's not really what the toilet looks like....it's the 1876 rendition of the same thing)...

It's Time to do Something Different

We've been part-time residents of the Bolivar Penninsula for 13 years now. Much longer than I'd say quite a few of the now residents of CB.



For those that know me, I'm not one to really tell you what I think, unless asked, but also know that I stand up for what I believe in. So...

To all of you who visit the Bolivar Texas beaches....both visitors and property owners:

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Manners your mother obviously never taught you.

1. Clean up after yourself.
   
2. Throw all of your trash in the TRASH can.
   
3. When you borrow something, return it in the same condition.
   
4. Nothing comes for free. Someone ultimately pays for it.
   
5. Don't take advantage of the system. That's just UNFAIR.

Two years ago, my daughters and I chronicled the various sand castles that were built on our beach during the summer of 2006. This year, we think we're going to chronicle something much different. The BIGGEST MESSES left on our Beach, 2008.

Today, after the Sunday of the Memorial Day weekend, it was clear that CB came through and emptied our beach trash cans over night, in anticipation for the new crowd that would stake out the beach today. In just the few minutes that I was on the beach looking at the leftover devastation from the visitors yesterday, three golf carts circled three different trash cans, BRINGING their trash generated at THEIR BEACH HOUSE to the BEACH!! What does this matter, you may ask? Well, one gentleman had 5 bags of trash, of which 2 fit in the trash can. The other 3 were left on the ground. This was at 8:15 AM. Where is the rest of the trash going to go during the course of the day for the new batch of beach goers? You guessed it. ON THE GROUND.

My message is...follow the rules your mother SHOULD have taught you. PLEASE. If you own property, PAY for GARBAGE PICK UP. If you are going to borrow our beaches, CLEAN UP AFTER YOURSELF.

LaM's First Post

I'm going to Wainwright, AK. Keep up with my adventures here.

Layni's Ordeal...Turned Triumph..An Update

Yesterday Layni came home from school distraught because she'd lost her science review sheet in gym. When I asked her why she had it in gym, she said, " because I wanted to study during my spare time..." Ok.. how noble...but then she was in a pickle. She came up with several plans (outlined in the email to the teacher below, of which none panned out. Read the email I sent to the teacher...and then view her video diary about what happened to her today...

Ms. Pierce:

Layni came home from school saying she'd lost her review for the test. So...I asked her what she should do. Her response was to see if it was on your FBISD page. Guess what? Our internet access was down. Plan 2....go to my son's house to use his internet access....turns out we have the same provider...so on to plan 3...to the library...unfortunately the library was CLOSED.

So....I'm asking for special dispensation...we tried...we really did, and Layni can't afford to fail.

Thanks for taking this under advisement....

Sandra McCubbin
(sent from my wireless)

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Kylee's Cartoon

Ashlynn

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Christmas with Santa

50th Anniversary Celebration

Halloween...Motley Crew

You Never Know....

Here's a picture of our stray cat that we found as a kitten....who has turned out to be such a sweetie!!

How I Spent my Summer Vacation

This year, in working in the Educational Technology office, I had the opportunity to work during the summer, to ready the department for the upcoming year. That means that the only vacation I had this summer was the week of July 4th, when the district offices were closed.

A week at the BEACH!! YIPPEE.....

Take a look at what my week was like.



Flood waters came complete with fish, tadpoles, snakes and TONS of fire ants and spiders swimming for safety. All things that I don't do well.

Don't feel sorry for me...wouldn't you have liked to be in a 1200 sq. foot beach house with 5 children under 12, when it rained everday for 7 straight days?

The Stars Were all in Alignment

DSC_0586e
Originally uploaded by nibbuccms.

When....when will all five kids be dressed in clean clothes, with their hair lookin' so perdy again? The next time might be a long time from now, so I though I'd better capture the moment. For posterity...

One of these things is not like the Other

What's it like being a part of a transracial family? From the inside looking out, we see nothing different about our family from other families we encounter on a daily basis. We do the same things: we love and care for our children equally, regardless of color. They misbehave? We redirect. They accomplish something? We're proud of them. On the inside looking out, we're the same.

From the outside looking in, we are much like the picture above. WE ARE different. We no longer look like everyone else. Our family is the spectacle, much like the squirrel is the focal point in the picture above.

The ramifications are not subtle. We've given up our ability to blend into the crowd. Anonimity? Forget it. People know US, but we have no idea who they are. In a sense, we have celebrity status, and as you know, people have differing viewpoints about celebrities. The can be loved and admired, or hated and despised.

We've come to terms with leaving the majority and becoming a member of a minority group. It's who we are. Hopefully we're here on this earth not to be judged, but to be a role model for others. I know we make an impact on a daily basis. Today....I'm going to put one in the "For" column, and hope that in the end, the "Against" column will be a barren wasteland, where all the tally marks of the early years become erasures...migrating little by little, mark by mark...towards equality.

What a Lovely Duet

My little LayniBug has finally discovered her musical side, which I knew was there since she was three. I'm not sure of the magical ingredient, maybe a very supportive music teacher in 5th grade who turned her onto playing the Recorder, but she practices quite a bit. I heard her upstairs last night before she went to bed playing Amazing Grace :)

 

As a child I used to spend hours and hours playing my recorder. I remember purchasing my wooden recorder from the music store with my own money....boy was I proud. (anyway...)

 

Today, another momentus occasion for her, I brought home her very first trumpet. This is the instrument she's elected to play in the band, simply because there's no need for any guitarist or recorder players...(is that what you call them?)

 

Those of you that know me will say, "why did you just let her use yours?" Are you all kidding? I have a Getzen Doc Severensen!! They don't make those anymore!

 

So..we played the trumpet for a while, and then in looking through one of the music books I bought her found that the recorder book had some recorder duets. We switched to our recorders, practiced for about 10 minutes and then threw down the track on the computer!!

 

Hope you enjoy our merriment!Click here to play our masterpiece..

Kindergarten..the Final 13 Days

Tonight was the Kindergarten program....where all the kindergarteners get the opportunity to wave to their parents from the stage.

We waved...until we started laughing, which was the direct cause of the shaky video. Our little Chatterbox...can she dance!!

Family Moments we Won't Forget

This weekend at the beach house we had one of those priceless moments...one just made for learning.. Take a look at the video we created from our experience.

If you're trying to view this video where YouTube is blocked, click here.

Let me Inform You

What's it like to have children that don't conform to society's expectations? Let me say that it's very hard. Not just on us as parents, but it affects every family member in some way. I've decided that sometimes, to let the pressure off the kids, people who are less understanding, need a little bit of understanding "help". Not all children are perfect.

Have you heard of Gardner's Multiple Intelligence Theory? He lists 7 different ways you can be gifted. But I think he'd might discover more ways of giftedness if he studied my five adopted children, on any given day. The trouble here is that the ways my children are "gifted" are not ways that society understands.

So...let me inform you. If you see my children out in public, and I hand you a card..accept it gracefully, read it...and internalize that my children are doing the very best they can.

The Bride of Frankenstein

Braids for my girls seem to be the bane of my existence these days. I know I should love them, since they prevent me from having to comb, condition and try and tame three girl's hair each and every morning, but I can't seem to get out of my no braid rut. Why? It all stems from a little bit of a substance that strikes fear in every mother of African American girls who get braids. WATER....

It all started with Chatterbox playing "beauty shop" one late summer evening. After all the lights were dimmed, she decided to get our hair box and make her self beautiful. What ensued was one 5 year old little girl with several rubber bands that were stuck in her hair, and rather than leave them in until morning, she thought she'd do me a favor and cut them out. She cut them out all right, right along with all her hair surrounding the rubber band, leaving little but a scant 3/4 inch of hair with which to work. She repeated this hair cutting fiasco several times, leaving me with a child that had no workable hairdo...and this was DAYS before she started Kindergarten. So much for being that cute little Chatterbox we all know and love. She was still the chatterbox, but cute???

In desperation, I decided to put braids in her hair...but the forces of nature were working against me. Saturday, when I got to the braid shop, they had no synthetic hair for use, but only real human hair. To put freestyle braids in her hair with human hair was going to cost me $170! Here were my choices...start kindergarten looking like a chemo patient? Or...pay $170?

Seven hours later, I emerged from the shop with my beautiful little Chatterbox, swinging her gorgeous locks from side to side. She was so excited to have hair down to the middle of her back. It was the first time she'd had braids this long (and this expensive)!

As I departed on Monday morning from the child care center at our gym, I cautioned Chatterbox as I had done about 100 times earlier that morning, "Chatterbox, don't under any condition, go swimming today. Do you understand?" I reiterated that same sentiment to the teenager doing childcare duty that morning, having great faith in Chatterbox, that even if her childcare provider broached the swimming pool with her, she'd be fine...she loved her brand new (expensive) locks. I went off to work without a worry. Kindergarten would be fine. Chatterbox was back to having hair which I could style and manage. All was right with the world......

....until I arrived to pick her up. What I saw when I looked at her, resembled that much abused Barbie doll at the bottom of the toy box; the one the girls practiced teasing with a comb, and the one the boys swung around by the hair. My beautiful Chatterbox had been replaced by....the Bride of Frankenstein.

What else was a mother to do but use her fingers as a wide tooth comb? I frantically attempted to smooth the tangled mess into submission, but what I received was a pile of discarded hair strewn about the floor at my feet, like an offering from the braid goddess of unsuspecting white mothers.

So, with all I could muster, I picked up the braids from the floor, while nonchalantly asking Chatterbox what had happened to her hair. "We went swimming, Mama! Are you mad?"

Poor Chatterbox. I'm sure what ensued as we drove home will be one of those times she'll remember as a grown up. It'll be something talked about during family gatherings...."Mom, remember the time you (traumatized me after you) spent $170 on braids and then I went swimming?"

What a poor white mama to do? Learn from the experience....get really good at twisting hair, and know that NEVER should you spend $170 on hair for a five year old.