March Madness

The weather, that is. Although, the basketball is a little crazy, too. While March isn't quite over, we've seen every type of weather that I can recollect, except a hurricane.

This is one of the tornadoes that came through town March 12. The building in the foreground is a hotel, the tallest in Springfield. The picture was taken from the roof of St. John's Hospital. Andy reports, "When there is a tornado, a hospital calls a code black. All patients are moved away from windows (or windows shuttered). All staff move to help move patients. Our buildings (supposable) can take a direct hit w/ window damage & power outage being the high risk. We drill for this 2x per year. (What really happens is staff go up to the roof to look & bring their digital cameras.)" Of course, this isn't his hospital.


Fast break 9 days in the future to March 21 for our blizzard. It dropped from 70* to below freezing. The snow was falling and the winds were shaking our house more than the tornado did. We ended up with 6-8" of snow covering our croci. Despite the low snowfall totals, by upstate NY standards, the winds made this an actual blizzard.




Within 5 days, the snow fouled out of the game. Now we're back to mud. I hear that the Eskimos have 12 different words for "snow." We're seriously considering coining more than one for "mud." There is just damp ground. Then there is slippery mud. There is also the kind that makes you sink up to your ankles. Megan actually had here boots stick in this type of mud and we had to physically lift her out. The boots stayed behind.



Lest you think I'm exaggerating, here's a close-up of the boots and the view from under the swings.





Like the post office, we're always open for business. (Although, we didn't get mail or go to school the day after the tornado.)

Drew is finishing his indoor soccer season. Baseball begins next week. He went to school today dressed as an architect for career day. Thankfully, we assumed they wear business casual so I didn't have to sew anything - like for biography day (Einstein). He's getting to be a really big help around the house. He's in charge of making sure that we eat dinner on Mondays. He gets the dinner cooked (already prepared but left with cooking instructions) and the table gets set while I have the other 3 at dance. Then after dinner it's garbage night and that's his job, too. It's great to come in the door at 7 PM to a waiting dinner!


Ellen is currently practicing for two recitals, dance and piano. She didn't have career day but she is going to be a teacher. And she's already practicing with Megan. I was all set to start teaching Megan the calendar this week but quickly discovered that Ellen has already covered the days of the week. She is a huge help with Tim. If I'm not around, he looks for Ellen and her purple blanket. She is also developing an extremely quick, dry, and cutting sense of humor. We don't know where she gets it. ;-) (Look hard, she doesn't like having her picture taken because it hurts her eyes. ?)

Megan is very independent, as evidenced by her attire. She is looking forward to the start of soccer next week. Under Ellen's tutelage, she is becoming negotiator #2 in the house. She's constantly on the hunt for what she can earn in exchange for her cooperation. Luckily, she is still pretty easy to please. And sometimes she just has to do it because we said and she's the kid. We've come to an agreement that her cooperative studies are worth 70 cents per day. She was asking what she could get instead of a Happy Meal and thought a video game might be appropriate. So, we developed a formula to convert cooperation into reasonable rewards.

Tim is learning to say lots of words. If he's whining I ask him to tell me with his words. He inevitably signs "help." We're working on getting more specific. I can't be in the kitchen that he isn't under my feet emptying his cabinet of bowls and cups. He can often be found causing hysterical laughter from a rapt audience around the dinner table with silly hand gestures. He's just discovered the art of garbage picking. Apparently the 4 top teeth that popped through last week are ready for chewing discarded apples with peanut butter. If you can't find the TV remote, he's the one to ask. He never seems to forget where he put it, even if that's buried in the drawer with all the plastic sippy cups. Football is his passion. When he's on the loose upstairs, he always steals Drew's autographed ball. He's worn out 2 Eric Carle books that had previously made it through 3 kids but his new favorite is Stomp Stomp.

The Pen is Mightier Than the Sword

I am neurotic about grammar. That's not to say that I use the English language correctly all the time. I certainly have dangled a few participles and ended sentences with prepositions. I frequently change tenses mid-paragraph. However, there are certain things that are like nails on a chalkboard to me. The one that makes me want to scream the loudest is the use of subjective case when the objective is required, especially with prepositions. Just because someone told you that I is appropriate some of the time doesn't mean that me should be thrown out the window. Jill went to the store with Jack and I. AAACCKKKKK!!!!!!!!!

My 9 year old was recently writing a letter to a friend. Since he asked me to find an envelope, address it and mail it for him, I asked if I could read it. He said that I could but warned me that he used chat spelling. (I'll save the story of how he learned online chat spelling for another rant.) I suppose that I should be soothed by the fact that he recognized that internet lingo is not correct. However, it occurred to me that this is fast becoming a dialect of the English language, comparable to ebonics. Just how long will it take before someone insists that your school board recognize and accept this abbreviated language?

Today's communicators are becoming end users who are baffled and mystified by the programming code behind English. So, my children will learn grammar. They will know how to construct a sentence and express themselves on paper. Sometimes you know a sentence doesn't sound quite right but how do you determine what is wrong? Diagram it. How do you cement grammar and get them to really understand it? Latin. Latin is unforgiving and rigid. There is only one way to "say" it. Because of this, all of the sudden, English grammar makes sense.

Latin is a dead language? Diagramming is painful and archaic? Well, I like diagramming. It's like a puzzle and full of logic. And Latin? It's a means to an end. Once you get passed the vocabulary, it's like a logic puzzle, too. While I can't prevent my children from choosing chat language (there probably is a geekier, more technical term for that), I can ensure that they are capable of communicating with anyone in the English speaking world, even those who don't have internet access.

Another Year Older

I had a birthday this weekend. When you are a kid, life revolves around your birthday. What kind of cake will I have? Will I have a party at home or go somewhere? Who will I invite? Can I convince Mom that I need a cake for the family, another for my party and cupcakes for school? Will they actually honor my belief that my December birthday will not be perfect unless I have charcoal grilled cheeseburgers, medium rare, with crispy French fries for breakfast?

Once you are a parent, your birthday exists for the sole purpose of pleasing your children. They get almost as existed about your cake as they do about their own. They delight in creating the perfect gift. And be certain that they are scrutinizing your reaction to this gift.

I like to eat. Under Andy's watchful eye, they spent an unusual amount of time in the kitchen. I got to drink a cup of coffee and read my book at the same time! They made me waffles with strawberries and confectioners sugar. They baked a cake. They prepared crab cakes with garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus. And (the biggest gift) they cleaned up after themselves!



In addition to the food, I received messages of love and devotion. They also made me a coupon book. It said "Mom's Chore Book." They assure me that the chores are not for me to do. They will complete them, with a smile, upon my request. It's good to give a gift from the heart but watch out for becoming too invested. One child, ever on the lookout for loop holes wrote, "I will do all the vacuuming in the house for a day," lest I decide to assign the chore for life. Perhaps his day will be Wednesday.


The chore book contained things like mow the lawn and weed. I guess they created this under the delusion that spring begins today. But here is what the National Weather Service has to say:

SCHUYLER-LOGAN-DE WITT-CASS-MENARD-SCOTT-MORGAN-SANGAMON-CHRISTIAN-MACON-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...LINCOLN...JACKSONVILLE...SPRINGFIELD...TAYLORVILLE...
DECATUR 250 PM CST

MON MAR 20 2006...WINTER STORM WARNING IS CANCELLED...

...BLIZZARD WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 9 PM THIS EVENING TO 4 PM CSTTUESDAY...

When Irish Eyes Are Smiling

Their eyes really are like windows to their souls. If you know them, you can probably see what I mean.


The kids spent about 90 minutes last night building the perfect leprechaun trap. It involved empty oatmeal containers, paper towel rolls, masking tape, string and quarters for bait. For the third consecutive year, the leprechaun got away. To their credit, the kids seemed to trip him up much more this year than in the past. Despite his escape, the leprechaun did leave a sack of chocolate coins by each of their pillows.

These are the remnants of the trap. I don't think the Queen CD played any role.









Although she calls it ham, Megan's favorite meal is corned beef. It's a fortunate week from the dinner pleasing perspective. Andy's favorite, Reubens, are on the menu for tomorrow. The whole celebration wore Tim out.

We're Not in Kansas Anymore

OK, we never were in Kansas. I've never even visited Kansas. However, the weather in Illinois has been reminiscent of The Wizard of Oz. Being from the east until 9 months ago, Dorothy and Toto were my only points of reference until now.

When tornadoes are approaching, there are actual sirens that blare. They sound just like the ones on the Weather Channel commercial for tornado week. The only difference is that in addition to the closest siren I could also hear 2 other sirens in the background. I've since learned that these alarms don't peel often and we probably shouldn't have spent 5 minutes pondering the wisdom of relocating the children to the basement. Wisely we chose to err on the side of caution and took shelter underground.

Although the tornado struck our town, thankfully it missed us completely. It's truly amazing that one side of the road can be devastated while across the street the properties are in pristine condition. You hear about this phenomenon but it is astounding to witness.



Although we emerged unscathed, I learned that we should be more prepared than we were. It would be nice to know that candles, flashlights, and a battery powered radio are in a designated place. A change of clothes, including shoes, and an overnight bag would be a good idea. Don't forget diapers! Some water and snacks are worthwhile. A good book to entertain and distract the kids would be helpful. A hard drive backup and disc of photographs would be nice, if, like us, your life is contained on your PC. And unless the basement is finished, some pillows and blankets make the exile much more comfortable. I can't imagine much worse than tired children at 3AM huddled on a cold concrete slab.

We were about 3 miles removed from the path of the F2 and our yard only has some displaced plastic lawn furniture. I am extremely thankful for our safety and the composure that my young children maintained during the storms.