One Small Step...

TRexDad here, guest posting again.


My first certain memory in life is from this weekend in 1969. It was my grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary, a very intense time for someone who was barely 3. A huge celebration, as you can imagine. As the weekend went on, I remember my parents and grand parents in my grandparents charming living room arranged on chairs and a couch. I sat on the floor in front of them and we all watched as Mankind first set foot on another world. I was oblivious to what magnitude of what I was watching. But it must have made an impression.

I would religiously watch other flights and landings in later years, growing ever more enthused with each mission. I have to say that I never 'got' what the big deal was in the sense of how impossible they really all were to my parent's generation. Rockets were real, and of course they worked! They made me and my peers all want to be astronauts. Nothing was cooler!

40 years later, and I have struggled for over a day to come up with a theme for this post. In the end, there is only one thing to say, and that is "Thanks". Thanks to all the men and women who put us on the moon. To the ones who created the technology, who built the machines, and those who made the voyages, I say Thank You. You have could not have hoped to make a better nor stronger impression.

I hope someone out there has the Right Stuff to lead our country to make even bigger steps to inspire children for generations more.







T

The Dream Is Alive

TRex Dad here, guest posting.

40 years.

Whether you witnessed it live or have merely heard of it since, you know about it. Everyone knows about it. Everyone. Everything we've done since has been compared to it. Those were the days when we dreamt a dream, set a goal, and made that dream into reality. That's who we were then. I ask you, as we remember that day 40 years ago, to consider who we are now. Are we still that people? Are we still that Nation? A People who do things, not "because they are easy, but because they are hard"?

I think that we have lost our way. We could argue why and how endlessly. What would be the point? The point is, will we choose to find our way again? Who will we be going forward? What will you teach your children about who we are?

I will teach my children that the dream is alive, and that their country is the one that should make it come true. As it did, it still can. We simply have to choose to make it so. Then hard work and perseverance will win us through. Because if what we did then was possible, then anything is. We just have to set our minds to it.


"We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too."

Wordful Wednesday - Victory Garden Update

I've had a couple inquiries about the status of my garden. The outdoor victory garden seems to be thriving despite some neglecting. (The unborn baby has caused havoc on my system - I'm down 5 lbs and a good day for me is only vomiting 1 -2 times a day. I am hoping that since I'm in the second trimester, things will start to improve soon.) Unfortunately, the indoor garden has not faired so well.

I've been working on a list of what I will grow again and what I won't. On the list for next year's crop: herbs, tomatoes, peas, carrots. What I won't grow: radishes (took up too much space for the amount they yielded), spinach (it easily became diseased), green onions (took too long to grow), cucumbers (cannot grow a single plant to save my life).

Here are some photos:

Sweet pea plants - the birds, especially the quail, seem to really like them. Despite that, we've yielded a fair crop of delicious peas (T Rex Dad's favorite)! These will be on the list of growing next year. There are carrots to the right front.

Here are the herbs (clockwise: parsley, peppermint, basil, dill, and rosemary in the middle). These have done well. The birds ate the dill down to nothing and it grew back completely and it smells delicious!

One of the frogs living in our shed - there were at least a dozen - they were active and talkative - I love frogs in the garden!

It's hard to see, but on this radish plant is a preying mantis - we put out four mantis egg sacs and we've had several in the yard (they keep the wasp and spider problem in check) and we consider them good luck!

The highlight of my garden - the roma tomato plants. I've already harvested a couple excellent tomatoes and the plants are doing fantastically! They were a gift from Shelley for being accepted to nurse practitioner school. Next to them, a couple of the roma plants that I've planted are also starting to come up.

Don't forget, July Giveaway going on now.
Giveaway rules are the same - entries are counted as one comment per blog posting per blog either T Rex Mom and Dad Tales or T Rex Tales. The entries are doubled at the end for followers.

For more Wordful Wednesdays:

Kid 2.0

Meet the soon to be newest member of the family. We refer to the child as the "Mark II" or 2.0. These photos are from our most recent ultrasound and are just past 12 weeks gestation.

(You can see the awesome wave we witnessed in this photo.)

Yes, this would be why I've been so sickly lately. Things have improved but this little one has not yet received the memo that Mom should be feeling better already! (I've lost 5 lbs and haven't been this thin since high school.) Alas, seeing a healthy baby on the ultrasound and hearing that heartbeat makes it all worth the pains.

School is still on and I will definitely be keeping busy come January 2010!

We have tried to call each of our close friends and family personally. If we have not been able to track you down, we certainly do apologize but the news is spreading and we cannot keep it quiet for much longer!

Since this is uncharted territory for us, we welcome any advice you might have for having two little ones just over two years apart.

Thanks for sharing in our news and we'll keep you posted...

Tuesday's Tribute - Officer/Uncle Rich

This week's tribute goes to a very dear friend of ours and T Rex's honorary "Uncle Rich" with our local police department.

This past week the temperatures have been soaring into the high nineties and our dog Sydney who sleeps in the garage has just been wilting from the heat in the garage. When this happens we leave the third car garage door cracked so air can circulate. We've also been very hard on Syd about her barking habits. Several neighbors have had animal control called on their barking dogs so rather than this happen to us, we've put a bark collar on her and taught her NOT to bark.

With that being said, some kids were out last Wednesday evening burglarizing cars and thought they would sneak into our garage and steal our electronics from our cars. (And no, Sydney did NOT bark - good dog or bad dog?) We were totally lucky that's all they took - my purse was sitting on the car seat. They did, however, take my cell phone. So sorry for them - that thing was held together by scotch tape and cannot text (except in Chinese). We were not sure what to do the next morning. So, T Rex Dad called Uncle Rich who is an officer with the police department.

Thursday night he was the acting field officer so he showed up to hear our laments and get the full scoop from us.

Did I mention T Rex thinks Uncle Rich is the coolest - look at that look of admiration!

His visit was a total morale boost - just to know our story was being heard and he was very sympathetic to our situation. He encouraged T Rex Dad to add to the police report the serial numbers of our stolen iPods - which, my totally organized husband had! And he added them to the police report. Rich told us it would not be unheard of to recover the items.

Well, the next night, the kids were caught red handed in an adjacent neighborhood burglarizing more cars. Unlucky for them the did it right in front of a woman who was hiding behind her car and went in and called 9-1-1. To read the full story, visit Rich's website. And in those red hands - our iPods (can't argue with serial numbers)! Of course, a lot of questioning went into getting a confession from the kids but Rich did an amazing job and we're going to get our stuff back (minus the cell phone - guess they did not find it all that valuable)!

T Rex this is what happens to kids like the ones who broke into our garage!

If anyone is deserving of a tribute - it would be Rich. So, our thanks to you! We totally owe you - would a German Chocolate Cake be a good start?

For more Tuesday's Tributes:

Baby Gift Box

Here it is...

The baby gift box I was so excited about. And as you can see, it is indeed a box.

A friend of mine's hubby sells wine to local shops and he gets some of the left over boxes. I thought I would recycle them and use them for gift boxes rather than having to purchase baskets. And then they can be used to put all sorts of things in - toys, bathing supplies, etc.

I went ahead and purchased a couple items off her registry - the Baby Einstein video (essential) and the hangers. T Rex, of course, picked out the rattle. If you look as his blog today you'll understand why! I also threw in a bar of Goat Milk Soap (for mom) since it's totally my new indulgence (and this month's giveaway prize).

The rest of the items I made - baby pants (size 3-9 months and adjustable), burp cloths, and breastfeeding cover. Since this friend is having a boy I went with a cowboy and horse print in blue and orange and then made the burp cloths in matching colors. Orange seems to really be the new vogue color in baby clothes this year.

Total cost was close to $30 ($18 of which was off the registry and $5 for the soap).

Burp cloths tied with the duck rattle, goat milk soap, hangers, and baby pants in the bottom right corner.

The calico print in back is the breastfeeding cover.

The gift was well received with tears of thanks (and probably some hormones mixed in too)! Hopefully, it will be used by a healthy mom and baby for many months to come!

Happy Independence Day and blessings to all our troops who continue to keep our nation a safe and free place to live.

Where We're At...

Well, T Rex's virus seems to be subsiding. He is itching less but also sleeping less. He's averaging only 8 hours of sleep a night when he usually gets 10 - 11. And he's been cutting his naps short. Argh.

What does this mean? Cranky T Rex and grump T Rex Parents with bags under their eyes!

Have I ever mentioned that having kids ages a person rapidly? Seriously, it does, but you know, it is TOTALLY worth it. I know some day we will feel all nostralgic for these days so I'm just going to relish every moment of it!

Luckily, my hubby's been getting up at the wee hour of 5 am to entertain the little guy. It really is hard to be too grumpy with him when he gives out kisses so liberally at such an early hour. And he still has the sweetest breath, even in the morning!

Overall, I think he is on the mend. And I am keeping up with school. That's good news.

And there's a three day weekend with T Rex Dad just around the corner. My mom is going to come on Friday to watch T Rex so we can go to a double movie feature. I've been starved for entertainment. I've been dying to see Transformers 2. And we're going to the IMAX to see it, so I am doubly excited!

Oh, I did pull together an amazing baby gift box for a friend of mine. I have seven friends, yes, seven, who are all having babies within two months of each other. Whew - that's a lot of sewing for me. Maybe I should not have committed to that "homemade gifts only" policy for this year. But the box turned out amazing and since she has not received it yet, I cannot post a photo. I will shortly. All I can say, is if you're needing any assistance in the fertility department, I can get you some of our local water. There has to be something in it!

The winner of June's toddler backpack giveaway is Kim over at "The Child" - her little one is nearly the same age as T Rex. He is so charming and she always has such excellent messages behind her postings. I highly recommend checking out her blog.

Since I have SO many baby gift boxes (you'll see what I mean by boxes when I post the photo), I've decided to skip making something for July and instead give away one of my most FAVORITE new indulgences - Goat Milk Soap. I am totally addicted - especially to the oatmeal honey and cucumber melon. It leaves my skin feeling so soft and the scents are amazing. Check out the link and make note of what kind you think you'd like because the winner of July's giveaway will receive her choice scent.

Giveaway rules are the same - entries are counted as one comment per blog posting per blog either T Rex Mom and Dad Tales or T Rex Tales. The entries are doubled at the end for followers.

(You'll notice my postings are getting fewer but longer - that's probably a trend since I've started school. Be well and if I don't write before the holiday have a great Independence Day for all my American readers out there! And don't forget to put out your flag.)