WoooOOOoooooo!

After returning home from work last week my husband started helping me put our bedroom back together after my day of painting it. I finished screwing the switch plates back on and put the screwdriver down. A few minutes later we needed it again but couldn't find it. We looked everywhere and then gave up and got a different one. A few minutes later I returned to the room and saw the original screwdriver laying on the bed. "Oh, you found it! Where was it?" My husband turned around and said, "What?" He had not found it and yet it was laying there in plain view and none of the boys had been around to explain the mysterious incident. His eyes grew wide and he said, "We are so outta here." I was laughing too hard to take him seriously. Once I got a hold of myself I said there must be a logical explanation. We just had to think like Jason and Grant! So after brainstorming, we figured out that we had placed something on top of it (a candle) and when we moved it we just didn't notice the screwdriver there right away. We were official de-bunkers!

Normally something like a lost screwdriver would not cause such a stir as it did, but since moving to our new place it was not the first unusual thing to happen. A couple weeks ago, Cole came downstairs to tell me he saw dark shadows in my room and he was freaked out. He's not normally skittish and I reassured him that it was just the trees outside blowing around and there was a full moon so that would explain the shadows. He was not convinced so I walked him to his room and showed him there was nothing in mine. He finally went to sleep.


A couple nights later he came down again and said he heard strange noises. My husband and I said it was just a different house than he was used to and it made new noises. He went back to his room but returned within minutes and said he had seen the bathroom light turn on by itself. My husband rolled his eyes and walked him back to bed. When he returned he looked freaked out and said that the light really was on. And since Cole's room is the closest one to the bathroom he would have seen Clayton walk by if he had. And Clayton never turns on the light anyway because there's a night light. Hmmmmmm. I was getting pretty excited while my husband was already making plans to relocate.

We agreed not to mention it and to play it down if it came up again. But the next morning I suddenly remembered that on the second night we were here I had gotten up around 4am and noticed Cole's light on in his room. I mentioned to him the next day that he had gone to sleep with his light on (which he has never done before) and he looked completely surprised and said he had not. Hmmmmm.

The final freaky thing before the screwdriver incident was when Cooper asked me, "Mom, who was that in the kitchen with you?" to which I said, "No one. What are you talking about?" He said, "The man in the white shirt?" I tried not to act freaked out so he wouldn't think that was a great way to get Mom's attention, and he hasn't mentioned anything like it since.

This house has no bad vibes or heaviness about it so I think if there is something here, it's not a negative thing. I keep turning around expecting to see 'someone' but so far, no luck. They say that when you have your first true paranormal experience you will not even be able to wrap your brain around it. I hope it happens to me and not my husband or we probably will have to move again. He's not as ghost-friendly.

And for the record, I never let the boys watch Ghost Hunters or anything like it. When they ask me if I believe in ghosts I just say, "Some people do, some people don't and what do you think?" They just blink and walk away.

Just the other days Cole asked, "How long have the Ghost Hunters been ghost hunting?"

"About 10 years, I guess."

"With no success?" he asked.

"No, Cole, they've never seen a doggone thing..."

snacktime

The very first kid's CD I ever bought came with a book called Howdi Do by Woody Guthrie. Cole was just a few months old and I had not yet been introduced to the sub-genre of children's music. I popped it into the car CD player on the way to pick my husband up from work and was amazed at how baby Cole immediately grew quiet, listening intently.

Howjee, heejee, hijee, hojee,
Howdi do, sir, doodle-do.
Howdi doosle, doodle-doozie,
Howdi do, howdi do.
Howjee, hojee, heejee, hijee,
Howdi do!

It was so fun and catchy and it has since become a family classic. They love to read the book and listen to the song over and over.

But since then, the only children's music I've heard is either sung by what sounds like creepy ghost children in a choir or the terrible "Kid's Bop" CD's they advertise mercilessly during Spongebob. Twelve year-old girls dressed up like hookers singing Brittany Spears songs and making me very glad I have all boys.

...Until this week. On my way somewhere (Lowe's' probably since I practically live there now), I heard a song called Pollywog in a Bog by, believe it or not, the Barenaked Ladies. It was so cute and so catchy that I went right out an bought their new CD, Snacktime.



It's a collection of 25 songs, written and performed by the band, just for children. The great thing about it is it's really good music, not just dreck someone whipped up to make a buck off an innocent crowd. The boys love it and I find myself listening to it even when they're not in the car with me.

So for anyone who has children, or doesn't have children, if you want to hear some music that will make you smile and even laugh out loud, this is the CD for you. Just don't tell the little ones the name of the band like I did. You'll never live it down.

at last

So we've been here for 11 days now and we feel more at home than we ever did at our last place after three years. This place is totally us. We love it.

Moving day went well and the boys were thrilled to get here. When we left our old house for the last time I asked if they would like to walk around one last time to say 'goodbye'. They said no and ran to jump in the car. Even as I mopped the floors for the last time and wiped down the counters where thousands upon thousands of meals and snacks had been served, I did not feel one pang of sentiment. All I thought was if I had to mop those floors one more time I was going to burn the house down.

When we arrived at the new place I made the boys lunch and gazed out the window at our new view. Then I turned on the radio and I kid you not, "Rocky Mountain High" by John Denver was playing. I hadn't heard that song in years! But it was so fitting. We were finally moving into our "Colorado house".

The boys spent the first few days in the backyard exploring and catching bugs. One time Cole was running off into the open space and almost tripped over a barbed wire. My husband shouted at him to be careful and said, "That would ruin your day if you tripped on that!" Cole wistfully replied, "Dad, nothing could ruin this day!" Later on the boys got in an arguement over who would get to live here the longest. They were annoyed that Coops will get 14 years while Cole only gets 10.

Buying a new home has its perks but so does owning an older home. For instance, I get my own mailbox at the end of the driveway. No more walking a block to open my little box with a key. Also, older homes sometimes have interesting things the previous owners left behind. Like a 6x6' beveled mirror in the basement! COOL.

I've got to get the boys roller skates right away. But my favorite places are the deck overlooking the beauty and slendor of the Pines, and the lower screened-in porch. I can't wait to sit out there with a good book. Soon. It is summer after all.



So it was all totally worth it. The packing, unpacking, mountains of paperwork, and other moving hassles. We've been in Colorado for three years now but we're finally home.

time

As fast as time passes these days, sometimes it's fun to look back and take a measure of things. Like for instance,

~ 17 years ago at this time I was about to graduate from high school. I was barely 18 and had no real idea what to expect from college. I was still attached to my high school boyfriend, Roy, but itching for freedom.
~ Ten years ago I was a newlywed working at a mortgage company in San Antonio. Looking back I can't believe we weren't scared to death of our financial situation but I guess we were too young to know any better.
~ Eight years ago, I was days away from becoming a mom for the first time. I was huge, hot and impatient. I could not even imagine what changes were brewing. We lived in a two bedroom apartment and shared a car so that I could stay at home with baby Cole. It's one of the things I feel most proud of.
~ Four years ago I had just delivered our third son and we were living in Comfort, Texas. As far as we knew we would be there forever. Ha!
~ Three years ago, we were living in temporary housing and packing for our move to Colorado. I was stressed out, excited and exhausted at the same time. The boys were just 5, 3 and 1 when we moved here. And Cooper had a cast on his arm which he used to thump me with on the airplane all the way from Texas to Colorado while I tried to keep him still and happy.
~ Two years ago at about this time, I had just recovered from hitting rock bottom in a depression I now think had a lot to do with my hormones being haywire from having three babies in four years. What was I thinking?
~Just two months ago we were getting our house ready to sell and hoping for the best. Little did we know we'd be moving in weeks!

And now the exciting part to anticipate:

~ In just three DAYS we'll be in our new place and out of this one! There's a lot that has to happen between here and there but everything has gone so smoothly we couldn't have hoped for better. During the entire process of selling our house and buying the other, the only glitch that came up was when we realized we had somehow bought a house that had no air-conditioning. As Texans the thought had never crossed our minds that such a thing was possible so we didn't even check for it. To us it's like not having a roof! We had one installed and can't wait to feel the cool air pumping through the vents. Aahhhhhhh.

The next time I write anything here will be from our new home...life is good.