eternally chaotic » Isaac

Red Delivers Christmas Eve

Isi — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 04:57:35 +0000

Christmas this year introduced a new member to our family named Red. And NO to those of you thinking the unthinkable – the family head count remains at a solid seven, including the dog. This little persons name, after much enthusiastically and somewhat fanatical debate among existing family members was determined to be “Red”. Red the Christmas Elf. He would only be around for a few weeks out of the year, didn’t eat much and pretty much remained stationary throughout the day – at some point during the day, when our eyes were cast elsewhere, he would just vanish until the next morning. Red had some specific rules about being touched or bothered as well – certainly the kids were to strictly forbidden to touch him and to leave him alone lest he lose his observational and somewhat magical powers granted by the spirit that is Christmas. Red’s job was to cast a watchful eye upon his family, take score of the good versus bad and report back to some higher power a recommendation as to which list each household member might befit. Somehow during his strictly “observational” process he would always find a way to cause mischief and leave a mess.

Two nights before Christmas however, Red left something additional in each of the stockings of the Children of the Corn. A gold dipped envelope containing a silver inked letter from The Man himself. Now was the time of reckoning. The time of knowing. Was it the good list or the bad. What did Santa think? What did he know? When we opened our weary eyes the next morning would they sparkle and shine from majestic reflection of silver and gold or be dim from broken hope and disappointment.

Each of the Children red aloud so that we might know.
Only two more nights to go.

We must have been doing something right,
As when we gathered together for Christmas night.
We found a letter attached to our tree.
A letter that could only be from He
Was attached to our tree.
What might it say, what could it be,
this letter attached to our tree.
Opened and red by Carol Lee
Was this letter attached to our tree.
Inside was a riddle that brought us to glee.
A mystery that we must unravel to see,
why the letter was placed in our tree.
Through the house the children did chase,
To find the wrapped boxes Red did place.
Each in turn leading back to the tree
Where displayed for all to see,
was a cleverly disguised box holding a Wii.

After the paper was cleared and calm was restored, midnight munchies were set out for Santa and the reindeer. A concoction of cookies, fresh oats, granola and some whole milk – a taste that goes straight to the mid-section and was likely the reason there are nine reindeer instead of eight….also a taste shared by Uno. He sampled the goodies but we didn’t mention that to the kids. It’s hard to tell the difference between teeth marks from a Red Nosed Reindeer or a Sheppard.

In the end Red delivered his report to the Big Man at the north pole and at some point during the year, unbeknownst to their parents, the Children of the Corn must have been good little boys and girls!!!

Merry Christmas Eve.

Flying on Smencil

Isi — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 15:52:50 +0000

A recent foray into the kids school yesterday to return a book bag overlooked by its rightful owner upon exiting the van while hastily headed to stand in a magical line. Said book bag in hand I signed into school and applied my sticky name badge identifying myself as non-hostile. It was then that I noticed an unusually large number of kids standing in line around a corner, a destination somewhere unseen, and sound decibel levels near rock concert pandemonium. Earlier the kids were excited about purchasing a special pencil at the book store before class so I figured Piper, the rightful owner of the abandoned book bag, would be in line somewhere. Searching, I was passed by kid after kid, each with a pencil in hand, or tucked up under their nose, all sniffing heftily. The line continued down a hall and around a corner and at the end I saw the destination of each of the queued – an ordinary looking table, attended by ordinary looking teachers, selling ordinary looking pencils. But wait. The kids near the front of the line were vibrating with joy and excitement. Looking past each ahead with both envy and hatred that they might reach their destination first and by chance deplete the stockpile of tabled treasure. I heard then from the peddlers up ahead, a dreadful announcement, “Only three left”, followed by a roar of elementary curses and a crushing push from those in line trying to rush the table in a last ditch effort to get their clammy hands on the last of the vehicles of their writing desire, the type of rush you would expect when Great White uses pyrotechnics on stage. It was at this moment that I learned of the connection between this now hysterical line and what our kids had been robbing piggy banks and having lucid dreams for. Smencils. These crafty little gems things are drugs but for entry level fiends. These magical little rolls of graphite surrounded by wood and topped with a squishy colored eraser might as well be laced with Florida Snow or Fatty perfectly disguised for private consumption for the level of obsession they insight. The line alone to purchase one of these was on par with how the Mac-ites enthusiastically lines up days ahead to offer paper donations to their fruity deity. I finally caught up to my bag-less princess and her brother skipping their way to class from the now broken line of envious onlookers. They were not in the lucky bunch to get a hit but both were optimistic that the next time the peddler came to bear gifts that they too might be able to fly.

Isaac’s Writes About Uno

Isi — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 02:59:35 +0000

We found a story in Isaac’s school work about our family dog, Uno. He loves to watch and play with Uno and we guess he has recently noted one of Uno’s special fall time activities. Our precious family k-9 has taken to befriending his pillow bed in a somewhat feeble attempt to sate his masculine urges. I have to wonder what goes though his head when this happens. Whenever we see Uno partaking in his enjoyment we stop him quickly but I am curious what the kids think he is doing…..Hiyo Silver….Away.

Uno’s Recovery

The Ninjas

Isi — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 00:06:15 +0000

Jacob wrote a story recently for school about some time we spent playing in the yard. I thought instead of writing something up along with the pictures and video I would just use his story. Let him know what you think.

2010 was the year that I got my dad two katana swords for his birthday. Which I thought was really cool. The sad thing is that I didn’t get to play with them until last Saturday. Also because it was one year since I had got those swords. They’re really cool and it was worth the waiting! They are made of white oak which is a very strong type of wood. One of the swords is over half the weight of the other! I could barely lift it. Well, anyway I asked my dad, “Can I get the ninja swords out and play with them?”. “Gosh, I totally forgot about them!”, dad replied. “Well, all right.”

I found the swords in the closet next to mom’s bed. I ran downstairs in a fury to get to the backyard, with the swords in my hands! Dashing to go get dad. I suddenly run into the door and I fell butt first onto the floor. “I must be too excited”, I thought to myself. I stood up and opened the door and ran outside to get dad, this time without bonking my head on something.

I find dad at the grill cooking steaks. I say, “Dad, look. I got the swords. Here, you take the heavier one. I want the lighter one so that I can swing it faster.” Dad takes the sword and says “Sure okay” and then we head down to the yard. First, dad thought me some moves with the sword. Moves like the upper slash and the stab. Before we fought for real, we practiced attacking each other, seeing if we could block the attacker’s sword. When I was ready dad said, “I think you are ready now” and he started our battle off with a swing which I blocked.

Next, we fought like Dark Vader and Luke Skywalker, deadly foes. Then, my brother, Isaac, joined in. Before Isaac and I fought dad, dad gave Isaac his sword which was the heavier one. I offered to trade him with my sword because it was much lighter. I thought it would accommodate him better because he is not as strong as me. We started to fight dad who now had a Nerf foam sword instead of a wooden one. Since Dad has more experience with this type of stuff he was very much winning. That was until Isaac had a very fast and frightening blow to Dad’s finger which we think broke it but we are not sure. Dad kept on fighting but, eventually he surrendered and we were victorious.

It was fun fighting with them. Jacob was never very aggressive with the sword but Isaac most certainly was. He had not fear and kept coming and coming. He smashed my knuckle in one of these attacks, a crack that stayed blue for nearly a week, I think I know who gets the foam sword next time.

Bulls Eye

Isi — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 00:44:54 +0000

After about two months of talking about it, we finally got our day at the gun range. Jacob has been very patient over the past few weeks as trips have been planned and rescheduled or rescheduled and cancelled. Today though was the perfect day and instead of just Jacob and I going, we were all able to go and take our shots. We headed to Bulls Eye Marksman Gun Club and Indoor Range.

Jacob was interested in shooting his first rifle and after a few months of talking about it and learning the various safety aspects of doing so, it was time. They both hear me talking about going to the range and have been interested in joining me. I thought that would be excellent as well and have been working to that end. I certainly want them to understand and respect weapons as they grow, in particular if they have an interest – one of those instances where if they have an itch it sometimes helps to let them scratch it with you versus with someone else. Regardless I want them to understand what is acceptable and what is not. What rifles, shotguns and pistols are for, how to be safe around them and what to know and do when they might handle one. This was our first hands on lesson.

The day had finally come. We don’t have a small caliber rifle and I was wanting to start him out light with a 22 so both the noise and recoil didn’t give him a bad taste from the beginning. The range had a nice bolt action Ruger 22/77 with a low power scope that we took out for a spin. I was hoping for something with iron sites as a start but this was what they had and we made the best of it. It was a bit heavy though and there was some awkwardness in holding it because of the weight but the boys made the best of it and shot quite well.

Jacob won the coin toss and got first shot. He did remarkably well considering he had never shot before and we were in a very crowded and loud range with lots of noise offering easy distraction. His first two shots found their mark near the center and he was excited to continue. We let each of they boys run a clip through and took turns at the reload. Isaac had some initial trouble with sighting through the scope and adjusting to the weight. We propped it up on a towel that the range had for just this scenario and let him hold it a bit short and he was able to find his mark. After a few errant shots he slowly worked his way into the black and orange and as the shooting continued he was able to keep his mark most of the time.

Jacob took his time and challenged himself after the first clip was through. We started at 25 feet, then 35, 50 and 75. Each time he was not only able to continually hit the target but most of his shots found their mark well inside the inner circle. He continually showed us that he could remain calm, patient, and generally take his time, all the while being a great listener and asking questions when he didn’t understand something. He genuinely enjoyed shooting and told us so. He did say the rifle was a bit heavy but he didn’t mind. Next time around we will have to find a youth version with a shorter stock, iron sights and a little less hefty.

Carol and I didn’t miss out on the opportunity to get in our range time either. We have been practicing with a new Kel Tec P11 9mm subcompact. It shoots great even if it is a bit small to absorb the recoil. We finished the day off with a new target and put a clip of both the 9mm and 22 through it before cleaning up, checking out and heading home.

Interestingly – or more so – fantastically, when we were checking out the boys were looking at all the targets and they found a series of various zombie targets that you can purchase for the extra special kind of practice. Next time I know what we will be using. It never hurts to spend some extra time preparing for Z-Day.

The boys did a great job, behaved like young men and generally made us happy. I am very proud of them and look forward to our next trip – Zombie target practice or not…

Zoo Atlanta

Carol — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 19:07:14 +0000

Today the boys and I adventured out to Zoo Atlanta. It was an exhausting 100 degrees, and the boys were in go-go hyper mode. They were so excited, like children in a candy shop. Mommy mentally and physically could barely keep up…. Lol.

Boys cooling off in the misting fans, lol.

I would like to share some photos of the boys. Some photos are with animals and some are with statues and signs (weirdly the wanted to have photos with almost all of them).

Zoo Atlanta offers a few rides and attractions for the children. Here is a look into their rock climbing skills, carousel fun (which the road at least 7 times, lol) , the old school sloooow train and a very clean petting zoo.

Lastly I would like to share some photos of the boy’s favorite animals. The worthy photos that is.

Skate Country

Carol — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 03:32:22 +0000

Today I took the boys to Skate Country. As a child “Skate Country” was the place to be, but as I have grown I tend to forget about these cool places. The boys and I have been searching for “BIG” kid things to do and came up with a list. Today Roller Skating was chosen and with much excitement. The boys were going on and on - how cool they were gonna be skating and how they new exactly what to do. Surprise…Surprise!

Within minutes after we arrived the boys had their skates laced up and were ready to go. The moment they stepped on the rink, everything that they had boasted about was washed away. I was able to get them around the rink one time. After that they were done…”I want to go home” – “can we play games – “I don’t want to skate”. Poor babies, they were so disappointed on how “not easy” it was.

What to do….What to do….hmmm . As I skated around the rink a couple of times pondering how to get the boys to join me, I came up with an idea. Bribery, lol – that should work… Naughty Mommy. I made a deal with them, every lap they completed they would earn fifty cents. So for two times around the rink they would earn a dollar. Hehe – Mommy had eleven dollars in cash on her.

This was Isaac’s first time on roller skates and he actually did quiet well, he was successful on two different occasions to bring himself and Mommy to the ground (I might add, it was hilarious). Before the day was over he was brave enough to tackle the chicken dance and the famous “Hokey Pokey” (little stinker one a prize for it as well).

Jacob on the other hand has been skating a couple of times in the past with school. It has been many years since then. I felt so bad for him at times because he would literally fall 4-5 times in a row busting his knees up and eating the ground, but that child has got crazy determination in him, he refuses to give up once he has his mind set. Before the day was over he was trying to speed and dance around people, sometimes he was successful.

I was so proud of them both, and Mommy’s plan had worked like a charm

Eventually the dollars ran out and to my surprise they continued to skate – YAY!!!

I left the rink that day, a very proud and happy Mommy!

Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch

Isi — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 18:43:55 +0000

Fall and Halloween are now a touch behind us but I still wanted to share a few moments we had together at Jaemore Farms in Alto, GA in early October. It was a perfect day for picking up pumpkins, taking a hay ride, playing some festival games and generally enjoying the perfect weather. The games were pretty cool. Our favorite two were the Apple Sling Shot where Isaac made a bullseye and won a free pumpkin (that got to be my pumpkin) and the duck race where you had to pump a well handle to make the water flow as fast as you could so that your duck would get to the big pond on the other side the fastest – the CoTC loved this and did not want to leave.

The last thing we did was head to the corn maze figuring it wouldn’t take more than thirty minutes or so to work our way through. We even had a system to let each of the kids, in turn, pick which direction we should turn when we came to an intersection. As backup we had a color coded map, blue and red, that when viewed with 3D glasses revealed the correct path out of the maze assuming you could first figure out where you were at. To help in the process there were a number of stations describing various wildlife native to Georgia that could be lined up with the map. All this was well and good until the sun went down and we learned quickly that the meager light of our iPhone was just not enough to illuminate the map so that the harmonious path to freedom could be viewed. We tried for a while, a long while, and finally had to stumble into track down one of the staff who continuously roamed through the maze and ask them for some direction. We likely could have worked it out eventually but we had to head back to civilization so that we could feed our army and put them down to rest. Still a lot of fun. Next time though I think flashlights are in order – flashlights, energy bars and water….no excuses!

Fun in the Snow for Christmas

Isi — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 18:11:03 +0000

It is rare to get snow in Georgia, or well normally it is, but the past few years we have received at least a little, normally after the turn of the new year when winter is in full swing. This year however we were surprised that the weathermen were actually right for once when it started snowing on Christmas Day. It didn’t take long before the temperatures plummeted and massive snow flakes started to stick and accumulate. It was a wet snow to start with, wet enough that Dad and I were able to chase off Autumn, pummeling her with snowball after snowball when she had to leave Christmas night – I guess next time she will stick around

The day after however much of the wetness had dried up and all that was left was a nice power – little icy for skiing but nice nonetheless. The CoTC could take it no longer though and wrapped themselves in layer upon layer to head out into the arctic cold. Great times ensued !!!

It was great to have snow and even better to have it on Christmas Day.

Rocket Mania

Isi — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 03:56:55 +0000

Today Isaac participated in his first Cub Scout outing, Rocket Mania. He is just getting into the groove of being a scout and the outing could not have come at a better time to show him some of the fun stuff they get to do while learning. Part of the day was dedicated to learning about various physical and mental exercises that had to later be demonstrated before one of the instructors. He learned all about kickball, including some variant rules the scouts follow, a little geography including the important elements of a map, in particular the legend, as well as how to find a point on a globe using latitude and longitude. He also had to learn about and demonstrate five manners that were important in everyday life – things such as not interrupting, and saying please and thank you – it was interesting to watch him walk around with instructor (Southern Mrs. Manners) and introduce her to random people with polite sincerity.

After all the learning bits were done and lunch was in our bellies it was time to get out the rockets. These were the hard core, no nonsense liquid propellant type – water rockets. There were rockets of all shapes and sizes, some with nose cones, other without, a few with fins and others with wings – some with nothing at all. The rocket was put onto the launchpad, filled about half way with water and then pressurized to around sixty psi before the safety was removed and the trigger was pulled. Isaac was one of the few that had a weird fitting bottle (thanks dr. pepper) and it did not fully clip into the launch pad so guessing when it would release was somewhat tricky since the release was not fastened into place – once the pressure was just right it would literally take off whereas the other rockets would sit there until you pulled the trigger. His rocket flew pretty well, no nose cone or fins, but it went high and far – I wouldn’t have wanted to be a passenger in it though.

Great day!!! He is looking forward to whatever comes next.