Changes in the Way We Do Things

After a few disturbing stories about predators and photos of children on the Internets, we are changing the way we do the blog. Rob and I have been going back and forth on this issue for as long as we have had the blog, but a particular event pushed us to take steps. Currently we are simply password protecting all video and pictures that are posted to the blog. This means we can post the link to the slideshows and videos, you click on it and then enter a password to view.

We want to share our lives with you, without letting all the creepies in the world join in. So you can email me at miriam (dot) caldwell (at) gmail (dot) com and I will send you the password. I just have to verify that you aren't a creepy. Please don't hesitate to email me requesting the password. Rob and I are both a bit worried that this will put off old friends, that we aren't in touch with on a regular basis or make people feel uncomfortable. Basically if we can verify that one of us has met you in real life and we don't consider you scary you'll get the password.

Okay now that the awkwardness is all out of the way a bit of an update.

Last Saturday we went to the zoo and met Gail and Eldon who brought along Chloe. Beth and Caleb were excited to see her nice green cast, and I think they were a little jealous of her broken arm. It was a fun trip, not a lot of pressure, with some walking. It wasn't hot, which was super nice, but Rob didn't take the camera since they were calling for rain. It didn't rain while we were there, but Gail and Eldon left early because of Tornado Watches or Warnings.

Sunday was a typical day, but the rest of the week has just been one thing after another. Monday was okay. But Tuesday was rough. My day consisted of cleaning a broken plate and finger painting on the wall. Then we headed to the library where a little girl went missing. It was awful, she was found, but I still shake inside when I think about it. The poor mom. It really bothered Caleb, he still talks about her screaming (in grief, panic, terror). The police came. They found the little girl. But everyone at the library was really shaken up. And then we come home. It doesn't get better unfortunately. I'm taking care of a few phone calls downstairs, and then I hear Caleb crying. It's not a normal cry, and I run upstairs. He was walking towards me still screaming and clutching his arm. It looked bowed out and just funny. Plus Caleb's tough and shakes most things off.

So we head to the doctor. We left the house around 1:00 and got home after 6:00. He has a broken arm. He broke the Ulna on his left arm. It's a pretty bad break, the two pieces of bone were at an angle to each other. The radial bone is bowed out, and the doctor thinks it is probably broken as well, even though it didn't show up on the x-ray. Poor Caleb spent much of the afternoon whimpering, and wasn't happy when the doctor wrapped the cast and set the bone. He chose a green cast (no surprise since that is his favorite color) and was upset when the cast got hot as it hardened. He is already complaining of itching and he doesn't like the extra attention--at least not today.

I'd post a picture of the break, but it's in dropbox, and that's Rob's thing. I am just not that technologically savvy. I'm okay with that.

The rest of the kids are doing great. And Rob and I are trying not to feel like guilty parents. (Caleb was jumping off his dresser onto his bed for fun and landed on his arm--Jacob jumped again today---so hopefully no repeats.)

Funnies!

Conversation:

Caleb: What are bulls?

Me: They're male mean cows with horns and nose rings.

Caleb: So they are dad cows that are mean to protect the babies from creditors.

Me: What are creditors?

Caleb: Bad guys who do mean things and steal.

So I didn't post . . .

I didn't post last week. Nothing much had happened, and there weren't any funny stories to tell. I worked all weekend, and didn't want to spend the time on the computer. But this has been a new week. This weekend we were going to go visit the zoo, since we only have a month left on the membership, and we likely won't renew it over the summer unless we go to an aquarium again. It's just too hot to do the zoo all day in the summer.

But before we went (it was kind of a last minute decision to go) Rob decided he did want to go pick up this special release DVD of The Mountain Goats. We hurried to get in the car and drive twenty minutes to the one record shop in town that had some, but Rob neglected to tell me it was Record Store Day, which may have changed my willing ness to participate in this adventure. I drop Rob off since the parking there is awful. The store is right across from NC State on the no parking side, where they are installing the roundabouts. Meaning it's a mess. The plan was I'd do a loop or two and Rob would be out on the curb. So I loop once, really taking my time going through campus. Come back no Rob. Loop again, come back, no Rob. Loop again--no Rob. Finally after forty five minutes in the car, I decide Rob must have died and been carried off in an ambulance during one of my loops. So I find a parking spot on campus--so glad it's Saturday. Haul the three kids out of the car, and it starts to rain. Then we walk to the record store and walk in.

It is filled with old men and a line that wraps around the store. And Rob is still ten people back from the register. Wondering if they take debit cards, since everyone he's watched has paid cash, holding the LAST copy of the DVD in his hand. The kids are upset. I talked to him briefly, ask the person in front of him if they take cards (they do) and then haul the kids out of there back into the construction on the road, and we wait at the bell tower.

The kids still want to go the zoo, but I'm not too keen on the idea because we wouldn't get there until two and they close at five. But Rob's for it. But I make him check the air pressure in the tire. (And there are two previous stories where he brushed my concerns aside, but we won't go there) The air was low, and he filled it up, and found the nail that was causing the slow leak. So now I don't want to drive to the zoo. Even though I'm pretty certain we drove to the beach on that tire, because I filled it up with air a month ago.

So I suggest bowling to the kids. And they say okay, as long as we go to the zoo next week, which is our plan. Rob grumbles a bit about the bowling, but on some fluke we got mailed a certificate for four free games and shoe rentals. We'd only have to pay for one person to bowl, and that's a good deal. But we get to the bowling alley and they are in the midst of a hardcore tournament. So we leave, kids in tears.

Finally we determine to go to Earth Day in downtown Raleigh. The celebration was a lot of fun last year, but as soon as we get there we had issues. Poor Caleb is going through an extremely phobic stage. Pretty bad. And there are two things there he is afraid of dogs (lots of dogs) and the Fat Cat from the credit union, which is someone dressed up in the costume. We ended up touring the history museum, and then went back outside where Caleb had a complete meltdown, and then really hurt his dad. Yeah it was bad. So we left without doing anything at the festival. All three kids were crying, and Rob's eyes were watering something fierce. Plus he could barely walk.

To appease Beth and Jacob we decided to go to the Mordecai House (the haunted house) and check out some ghosts. The kids actually did amazingly well on the tour, which didn't talk about ghosts. It was a mall group us and three ladies. When we asked up the ladies didn't look too pleased and they whispered at each other. You know what I mean. But I'm proud to say that at the end of the tour they complimented us on our well-behaved kids, which isn't something we usually hear. Caleb is convinced there was a ghost because the rocking chair moved by itself. And Jacob wants to get a bathtub shaped like a hat that they had there.

On the way home we hit Sonic during happy hour and got some yummy drinks.

Caleb can write most of the alphabet. There are five letters he needs to work on. The only reason I share this is because i decided on Friday night that we should start working on his writing. So I sat down and said draw me an A Caleb. We went through the whole alphabet, and he'd tell me the sound and draw the letter. It's amazing to me since I haven't worked on it with him yet. And I never see him drawing and writing like Beth did at his age. Then we wrote words together, and he was able to sound most of them out. Super proud.

Beth is really starting to read more and she brought home several fours on her papers. Good stuff. I'm super proud. Jacob is doing amazing with speech. I've a feeling that we might be able to stop soon, but I don't want him to regress, so we'll see.

Have a great week everyone!

Fort Fisher Beach Trip

Fort Fisher Beach from Robert Caldwell on Vimeo.

We recently visited the aquarium at Fort Fisher, NC. The kids loved jumping waves and playing in the sand at the beach. The water was unusually cold--freezing really. We were a bit bummed the civil war history museum was closed for the Easter holidays; the kids wanted to visit a real, live haunted Civil War fort.
And as always, I recommend you click the Vimeo link and watch the video full-screen and in HD on the vimeo site.

Easter!

So Rob should be uploading video of the crazy fun that we had this week. One more day of Spring Break tomorrow, and then everything goes back to a normal schedule.

After Grandma's house the kids came home and had a pretty good week. We made cookies (and a huge mess), and then we dyed Easter eggs the next day. The kids loved that, even though they had already done it at Grandma's house. on Friday Rob had the day off and so we drove out to the beach for the day. I must say that I love where we live, where for a tank of gas, we can go spend a fun afternoon at the beach. We went to the aquarium, and then over to the beach. Rob wanted to hit Ft. Fisher, the actual fort, but it was closed. Rob wanted to see it because it is supposed to be haunted, but the kids were glad that it was closed. They were anti ghost on Friday--though it may be that they wanted to spend more time at the beach. They found a ton of HUGE seashells, and they were all whole. The great thing is that even though it was crowded it wasn't too bad.

There is something about staring out at the ocean that just brings me peace. I get the same feeling sitting the mountains or a forest or at a temple, but it is a wonderful thing. The water was freezing, and I can't believe that the kids spent as much time playing in it as they did. On the way home Rob and I had the whole buying a beach house (in our dreams) discussion. We do this nearly every time we go to the beach. I think it'd be nice to do, but only if we had enough money. We aren't at that point right now.

Then Saturday morning the Easter bunny came. Lots of fun, the kids got more Zhu Zhu pets, and the house thing and candy. Though we did significantly cut back on candy, and it is nearly gone right now. And I'm glad because it means no crazy melt downs or other silliness. Then we set in and watched Conference--which was really good in case you missed it. My major takeaway was the importance of spending quality time with your kids teaching about the gospel and building good relationships. It is nice to hear so much about focusing on your kids. I think it is a change from earlier generations (I could be wrong of course), but now I know so many families that do the same things that Rob and I do, which is spend good quality time doing things as a family, taking time to be together as a family. It is important to step away from the rush, and all of the activities that scatter you everywhere and spend time just being together, being friends and building relationships.

Anyway, sorry to get all philosophical on you all. I hope that you have a good week, and that you enjoy life. It's worth doing.