I'm the *best* mom ever...

Without these funny stories of my failings as a mother, life wouldn't be nearly so bearable! So, Kris shows me this paper, this drawing that Kaleb did for school. Now, let me go back and say that I have a very vague memory of Kaleb telling us a few months ago he needed something with numbers on it. That is the extent of my memory of this 'project'.

The first picture is his project. It's basically an Ice Mountain water bottle label. The second picture is his explanation for the project.

It was the only thing he could find. Great. We're never going to win the "Parents of the Year" award this year!!

Swine flu?

We stopped at McDonald's for lunch today. I ordered two chicken nugget happy meals with chocolate milk, one girl and one boy (Kat wanted the boy toy). When I got to the window, they gave us our food and the girls happened to look in their bags before I pulled away. Katherine said "We got apple dippers." So I caught the guy's attention that was working the window and told him they were supposed to have French fries. He said "You asked for apple dippers." I said "No...I didn't. I asked for two chicken nugget happy meals with chocolate milk-one girl and one boy." The man insisted I said "apple dippers". He then turned to the girl who actually took my order to get some back up for his accusation and she said "You said apple dippers." I still can't figure out what I said that would have made them think I said "apple dippers." I NEVER at any point said 'apple dippers' when I ordered. And yet here these people were, insisting (in tones that were less than kind) that I did indeed ask for apple dippers. My kids NEVER ask for apple dippers. Why would I, all of a sudden, out of the blue just order apple dippers? In fact, until I saw Kat holding them, I forgot McDonald's even HAD apple dippers. So then the guy says "I'm going to need the apple dippers back." Um...I wasn't trying to get free French fries!!! I just wanted them to give me what I ordered.

We had a great drive out to Kansas today. The weather was great-cool, in the 50's and sunny. It's about time we saw some sun! I swear it has been raining for two weeks straight. It was getting really old. My sister is back at her place in Kansas and Katherine, Abbey and I are 'road-tripping'. Tonight we're staying in Kansas City, MO and will head back home in the morning. Since Kat's birthday was Monday and Abbey's is today, we decided to just celebrate with a little trip. The girls are watching a little late night Hannah Montana before bed.

Last night I could feel a cough coming on. Today, I woke up with awful sinus pressure in my head, eyes, cheeks, etc...throughout the day it has progressively gotten worse. My throat is killing me now and I forgot to get some Chloraseptic drops so it will be interesting to see if I can stay asleep all night. Oh wait, I NEVER stay asleep all night! Every time I try to take a breath in through my mouth, I find myself coughing. I decided to give Zycam a try. People at work have been talking about it and seem to be pleased with it. I started on it this morning. Let's hope it nips this in the bud because when Christian NE called me yesterday to pre-register for my EMG/NCV that is supposed to be done on Monday, she specifically said that if I have ANY symptoms of the flu/swine flu/anything that I should not come in for my appointment-because they are trying to ensure that they keep the swine flu out of their office. I have waited too long to finally get a test done that should have been done months ago-I DO NOT want to have to reschedule it. I have about a day and a half to get over whatever this is. Let's just hope I 'caught' it and can keep it from getting any worse.

Judy Blume

Remember when I got really upset about E.T. and The Goonies and the bad language in those movies? How is it that a book that is written for children can be so very bad? I remember reading Judy Blume books as a kid. I read Freckle Juice. I read the Fudge series. I don't remember much about any of them, but I am pretty sure they were not as bad as Blubber. There were at least 6 times throughout the 3 hour book that I was horrified by the language. If bad language offends you, please stop reading. I am only writing these words to illustrate what I heard while we listened to Blubber on the way to Kansas today. Now, I can tolerate the fact that C.S. Lewis used the word 'damn' on a couple of different occasions in The Chronicles of Narnia books. In fact, I told Kris that meant that I could use that word too, though he disagreed. ;-) Anyway...that word is used in at least 4 forms. A fifth grader calls her teacher a *itch. In another instance, a kid is called a 'dumb @ss' by another kid. I just couldn't believe this. Maybe I'm naive. Maybe I should have done a little more research, but I thought that I could trust Judy Blume. Here is an excerpt from an article I read talking about banned books:

"Judy Blume's "Blubber," a book about a school girl who's teased for being overweight, is listed at No. 2 on this year's OIF "challenged" list. Blume, who has also written books on blossoming sexuality, says she has the distinction of being one of the most censored authors in America. In an online chat on CNN.com Monday, Blume talked about the effects of censorship.

"One of my concerns is that writers will begin to feel the censor on their backs, and we won't get their very best," Blume says. "Instead their fear, or the fear imposed by the publisher, will limit them. When I lock myself up to write, I cannot allow myself to think about the censor, or the reviewer, or anyone but my characters and their story."

Blume says she doesn't even censor what her children read."

Wow. Really? I can understand writing a book and not necessarily 'caring' about the language you use and just writing because you want to write it. HOWEVER...the fact that this book is passed off as a children's book astonishes me. If I think back to 5th grade, I know that kids were using those words. So I can even understand trying to show that...but...I don't know. I guess I just expected better.

A springy fall...

I finally caved and turned the heat on tonight. The temperatures are going to keep dropping this weekend. Presently we have the rains of spring and the cool air of fall. It's been 'dreary' all week. It's really messing with me...the last two weeks had been much better with regards to my neck pain. This week it has just gotten progressively worse. Today has been the worst it's been since I was in the ER getting morphine through an iv last month. It's not quite that bad today, so I am very thankful for that. But pretty much every joint in my body aches; neck, back, hands, legs. I'm pretty sure I am a 30 year old woman in a 70 year old woman's body (minus the droopiness and wrinkles-though sadly I am sporting some gray hairs)!

I'm going to geek out a bit right now. When I find something new that I like, I tend to get a bit obsessed. This week's obsession is The Swell Season http://www.theswellseason.com/. As I was going to the site to link it here just now I thought "Hmm...let's see if they are coming to St. Louis. It's doubtful but why not look?" Now I'm even more excited! The Swell Season is going to be at The Pageant on December 4!!! Now I'm begging Kris to get us tickets, or to at least get ME a ticket. Anyone in the St. Louis area want to go??? Anyway...they have some really great music, and if you can appreciate music, the harmony on some of the songs is absolutely beautiful! And while it might not be news to you, it was to me to find out that there is a movie called "Once" that features Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova and their music. We're going to watch it tonight. I've also begged Kris to buy me the soundtrack to the movie and The Swell Season album that's out already. There is a new one coming out in October too. Anyway...if you're looking for some new music, check out The Swell Season. Those of you who love Pandora, a station based off of Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova plays some great songs!

This week in fashion...

I've always said that Abbey has an eclectic style. She puts the craziest outfits together and yet somehow she manages to really pull them off. This is today's choice. I have labeled each item so that you can see just how many 'layers' this girl has on! She cracks me up.

A day in the life of the Bishops...

We are trying something new at bedtime. We have been doing The One Year Bible (for kids) before bed each night. And they kids really LOVE it. They look forward to it and they remind us on the days we forget. In addition to the devotion, the kids take turns being the one who gets to pray and pick the song we'll sing. Then we do hugs and kisses and 'officially' start the bedtime routine. And every night, it's the same long, drawn out 30 minute battle to get four kids to go potty, brush their teeth, put their jammies on and get a drink. It just really wasn't working for us. So we decided to try a new tactic. Change up the routine a bit. Now, I don't really like the thought of the kids not being a part of devotions at night; HOWEVER, it is a privilege. Now we have a new rule. When it's time to start bedtime, we set the timer for 7 minutes. I just pulled the number out of the air-it seemed like a sufficient amount of time for all four of them to get themselves ready for bed-which they are all more than capable of. If they are not completely done (except for hugs and kisses) when the timer goes off, they have to go straight to bed, whether they have finished their drinks or finished brushing their teeth (settle down-their little teeth will be fine if they miss a night or two!). They will still get hugs and kisses but they do not get to participate in devotions. Last night, everyone was done in time. Tonight, not so lucky.

Tonight was Olivia's night to miss devotions. She and Abbey had been fighting in the bathroom over the sink. So I went in there and told them that they were done and just had to go to bed. Abbey started bawling (it was her night to pray and pick the song), so I relented with her, even though she was already given a one minute penalty on her 7 minutes for something else right before this. I was not so kind to Olivia. All she had done was go potty. She still didn't have her jammies on. She may or may not have brushed her teeth; because she and Abbey were fighting I am not 100% sure she actually brushed hers. And she hadn't gotten a drink.

So I took her into her room and helped her put her jammies on. I put her in bed and told her that she didn't get to be a part of devotions tonight. She started saying something about Abbey not letting her do something. I explained to her that the timer had gone off and she hadn't even put her jammies on yet. She looked upset but said very weakly "OK." Then her face started to contort and she managed "But I don't want to be a penguin!" before she burst into tears. You see, the jammies I put on her had penguins on them. And she was OBVIOUSLY tired and just needed a good cry. I just found it amusing that those were her last words before she broke down because prior to this we hadn't discussed at all what jammies I was putting on her.