The trouble with imaginary friends

It is just all fun and games in the imaginary world until someone gets nail polish in their eye.

Yes, our darling ER maven struck again. This time we avoided the actual hospital but calls to medical professionals were made while the child was half drowned in the sink.

As it turns out, Sedona's imaginary friend (whose name she will not disclose) thought that a pale pink (yes, sparkly) nail polish might make dazzling eye make up. She then proceeded to apply said nail polish to lids and lashes which of course resulted in blood curdling screams, seering pain and a very red eyeball.

As soon as I identified the problem (through the tears and falling over) I dragged her to the sink and flushed her eye out which procured more screams and flailing.

Seriously.

So she's okay now. The vision intact and a little bit of an added sparkle to her right eye for a few days until the nail polish wears off.

Is everyone's life this exciting? Cause I'm gettin tired and I might be running low on adrenaline.

Our last hoorah

Living in Saint Louis, you are often told that the City Museum is lovely. I believed them, but didn't understood just how lovely a museum could be. I knew it wasn't the cheapest place around and so decided that we'd make it the last hoorah. Our final summer event. One last blast before school and bedtimes, alarm clocks and homework set in again.

So Friday night we picked Jeremy up from work a bit early and headed downtown to the City Museum.

I can't tell you how much we enjoyed it. Well, I can try and I can show too many pictures but you still won't get it. So you'll just have to come visit and see for yourselves.

City Museum says it is "where the imagination runs wild" and boy do they mean it. From grand pianos out in the open for banging and playing and composing, to Art City, trains that go through glow in the dark tunnels and well, more slides than I dare to count. We explored cold, dark caves in the bowels of the building and got lost in a giant bird's nest in a tree. They even have a vintage clothing boutique, circus and skateless skate park. Everything is designed with the imagination first.

The World Aquarium is just the way an imaginative aquarium should be. You can pet a shark (amongst other things), see giant catfish fed and yes, climb through more tunnels and slides. What initially looked half-baked, turned out to be just what the creative mind needed. The aquarium is an additional admission fee so I was a little bit suprised to find hundreds of individual aquarium tanks set up with separate lights and filters etc like you'd find in many a child's bedroom, hand written signs and encyclopedia pages (literally) of info Scotch taped to the glass. Instead of being substandard though, I've decided it was more of an adventure, more like exploring to wander through what could easily be a scientist/biologist's basement. And it wasn't just fish. Alligators, snakes, tarantulas, guinea pigs, and macaws loose in the air.

Oh but Art City. I stood in awe of the heaps and mountains of collage fodder, more tempera paint than you can shake a brush at, mounds of clay ready to be shaped. . . all free for the using. Big fishbowls full of water for used paint brushes and to discourage "dirty double dipping". Sedona is guilty of this dirty little deed and instead of surrendering her brushes, she made her way to a splatter booth/box to create messier, more active art. Everything about this room screamed "spill your creativity here!" I looked at Jeremy and said, this is like my dream come true. . .he looked worried and replied only"you're going to go tear the hell out of the kitchen now aren't you?" He knows me too well. I imagine concrete floors stripped of crummy vinyl tile and splattered instead with paintings spilled over. Mis-matched chairs no longer mis-matching as they all find a home in the paint smearing hands of the kids. Walls strung with anything and everything that inspires. Whether it be our own masterpieces or chunks of fabric and photo that make us think, or least breath for a moment longer. . . . .ah yes. Art City. And again, the pictures can't possibly do it justice.

But here I'll go trying anyway. . .

Sedona's ER portfolio

Head injuries or not. . .the girl still hams it up for the camera.

What limited sense of self preservation and pride that I still have intact prevents me from posting the pictures of Mommy and Daddy making funny faces for the camera wielding patient during our 4 hour stay in the ER. But know this . . . we are not beautiful people when eyes go crossed, lips curl, and nostrils flare.

A call for helmets and oven mitts

The following post is told in flashbacks, so if you have sustained any brain injuries or have trouble with the space-time continuum, then discontinue reading now.

The Latest Incident
I got the call yesterday at work.
"Sedona hit her head and it is like swelling faster than like...it is swelling really fast. What should I do?"
This call does not surprise me. Why? Because head injuries are what we do best in the Nulik house.

The Previous Incident
Just ten days previous to this Sedona and I were at the park having a nice time on the swings.
"I'm going to do a new trick, Daddy," she says.
"No...no tricks today," I say.
However, this warning was too late. She had already released the chains and commenced her attempt to fly. This attempt culminated in a dive that would have made Olympic judges proud.
Several hours and a few puking bathroom visits later, we had found ourselves in the warm confines of the Lake Saint Louis Emergency Room. CAT scans proved what we already knew...no concussions...just mild stupidity.

The Walking Through Doors Incident
However...not even this episode surprised me...why? Because only several weeks previous on a trip to Chicago, Jana thought she would try to be like Patrick Swayze in Ghost and go through a glass backdoor.
After failing to shape shift around the door, we ended up in exotic Central DuPage Hospital. No brain scan necessary here. After an ER fee, they told us to "Be careful." Apparently, I listen to doctors like I listened to my parents in high school.

The Original Incident?
Since the phone call yesterday, I have done some serious soul-searching..."Gully, Jeremy...that is 3 head injuries in 1 month. What is going on here?" Then, the memory of my childhood came to mind. Wow, I hit my head a lot. If my fallible memory serves me incorrectly, then I come up with at least 3 good sized concussions. This does not count the time I fell out of the tree house or when I jumped off my friend Steve's bike pegs. I can't imagine the worry that this caused my parents.
I am reminded of this phrase, "The sins of the father are visited upon the son." Apparently this applies to daughters and wives as well. God is not gender specific with the whole son thing.

Update On the Most Recent Head Injury
Sedona is fine. After another set of brain scans we have found the same thing. She has a mild case of being related to her parents.


Watch for more updates and, if possible, please send some helmets and oven mits. As head of the household, I would like to protect the other heads in the household by instituting a "Helmets must be worn at all times" policy. The oven mits are just a precaution. I wouldn't want anyone's eyes to get poked out. All helmets are welcomed, but ones that include a face mask are preferred.

- Jeremy

Lonely Goats Tour 2008

It is a funny thing to find your children so very much unlike the other 30 running around screaming and chasing goats. Both of mine, separately, took up an adoption and compassion cause. After visitng with and brushing every goat she could find sitting alone near the fence, Sedona took to one particular goat, and there she sat for more than 30 minutes. Talk about dedication.

Jordan in the meantime traveled around looking for the loneliest, smallest goats and offered them additional milk (yes, we are crazy city folk feeding fenced goats from bottles for sport).

While the other children scrambled amidst the frenzied goats all fighting each other for the bottles of milk, mine were repeatedly found as far from the action as you could get. While somehow sweetly satisfying and encouraging it was also, I'm afraid, exhausting. I simply wasn't as taken with the goats as they were and, not wanting to leave their bleeding hearts alone, had to kind of loiter around the goat pen for a great deal longer than I'd ever intended or desired.

So I'm having all these swell thoughts about the kids kind hearts, and great compassion, their slow and steady approach to serving these underling goats, right? Ah yes, we've recently applied for 501c3 status, don't worry. . . .
And then Jordan, sweet Jordan, helped me snap out of it.

He'd been fending off other goats and humans in service of a particular goat (you'll see him below in the slides) for quite some time. Any other kids who tried to feed him were quickly turned away. Afterall, "this is MY goat." He looked at me and introduced me to his goat, was silent for a minute then peered deep into the goat's eyes and announced, "This goat doesn't like me anymore I need to find a new goat."

I still laugh good and hard when I replay it in my head (or on my screen as the case may be). I might be alone in seeing the irony here. Just as I'm thinking how devoted to this goat he is, how seemingly unselfish, he reveals that it had little to do with that particular goat. Rather, he wanted to be needed, to be adored. Ahh yes, human afterall.

Other highlights from our trip to Grant's Farm:

-A kangaroo that didn't do so much as flutter an eyelash (do they have eyelashes?) in the hour we were near its pen. Very creepy.

- Jordan got to feed an apple to an elephant!! I thought his face would cracked he was smiling so hard for what seemed like hours afterward.

- Displeased that the brochure showed a young horse alongside one of the full grown Clydesdale Budweiser horses when there wasn't a baby to found anywhere in the stables. . .Sedona announced that the babies were all hiding under the hay. I can't tell you how put out she was though. She's not down with false advertising.

- Ducks mating just a few feet away from the crowd. Always a good conversation piece for both 4 year olds and 9 year olds alike.

- Camels. Really, there isn't much about camels that isn't bizarre and interesting and somehow a little bit gross. They seem just great in movies and on safari home decor but up close and personal . . . yeah, I dunno.

Of humidity and gas prices.. . .

I realized just this week that we are down to 2 little weeks of long and winding summer days. 10 days to be exact. But as tends to happen in Saint Louis this time of year, the humidity has steadily climbed through the roof, sending my fibromyalgia into a little temper tantrum and slowing our outdoor adventures. And while Saint Louis has gobs of free attractions, they are all 20-35 miles away from home sweet home, which in my sad, old Blazer translates roughly into at least $20 in gas alone per trip. Not exactly free.

And so. . . .this past week found us at the pool, a mere mile from our home and at $10 admission I figure we saved $10 and we bargain away. We swam, we sunned. Tuesday was a good day.

Wednesday brought more rain (and its subsequent sticky, slimy air) and we made our way to the front yard to bask in it. It was a delicious summer rain, no lightening, no thunder, just a warm, steady rain.

Thursday, I don't care to mention as it was . . . well one of those days. Only a small percentage of residents made their way out of pajamas, movies were watched, boys were driven to silly gestures of boredom, snacks were scattered, imaginations were put to work (see Professor Jordan below, complete with costumes). And we move on . . . .

By Friday morning, the humidity reached such absurd heights that the toilet paper began to sag off the roll, paperback book covers rolled and curled up, edges of papers waffled in the moisture. Ahh yes. let's settle here near all the rivers and swamps. Delightful.

And then I found myself in Dallas!! I got to travel, on my very own, to Dallas for the My Shopping Genie Launch and it was terrif. Time spent with my mom, time spent without whining of incessant requests (besides my own), and the new technology was amazing. I'm really excited about this business as it might just be the way I get to stay home with the kids this school year. In fact, I'm sure that it is the way.

Shameless plug ----->www.myshoppinggenie.com/nulikjana It is a free download, totally free software. When the newest version goes public later this week I truly believe it will be the greatest shopping tool on the internet. It helps you compare prices and shop smart. Try it out and let me know what you think. I hope you love it.

End of shameless plug.

And now for the proof.

So that's what's been happening here. Stay tuned. . .next week we go to see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and to the City Museum. I'm looking forward to it.

I did it!

I painted my hair!!

Okay that part was really an unfortunate, though amusing, side effect of the long time coming painting of the kitchen.

Celery green went cerulean and cream tile went Jalepeno while cabinets turned chalkboards. Big fun.

Sedona, for one, had a blast squeezing her roller with her hands. She went to wash off the paint and returned with carefully remaining blue finger nails - had scrubbed the rest off, strategically leaving behind those little fingernails. It is a lovely color.

A rather warm, but magic nevertheless, house

Monday we found ourselves at The Magic House with friends. It is a children's museum of sorts, full of simply fabulous exhibits, experiments, tunnels and most famously - Children's Town, complete with victorian house, grocery store, pizzaria, library and more. It is fabulous - if somewhat of a mad house. There aren't any pictures of the hour we spent in a mock grocery store because I was employed restocking plastic produce while Jordan manned the register and deligated, ever so diplomatically, other (lesser, he might say) duties to pretty much every other kid in the joint.

I overheard Sedona asking for a turn at the register and Jordan, very much in store manager character, replied with, " I actually have an even more important job that needs to be done. But its big. Do you think you can do it? It will make you second in command and that is really important. Can you handle it? Okay, I need you to be in charge of arranging all these detergent bottles and other things behind me."

Notice he didn't simply say no. Nope, he's a smooth one. And she was thrilled to be second in command.

Other highlights included the giant bubble, electromagnetic orbs and of course. . .climbing.

Back to the beach!

What else is there to do on a 95 degree day Saturday but swim (and build sand castles with your dad)? You'll notice no pictures of Jordan as I wasn't able to shoot fast enough in the split seconds he'd emerge from the murky depths.

How old are you?

Somewhere along the way, the kids have moved out of diapers and out of strollers, past the need for binkies and sippy cups. . . and somewhere along the way, become actual people. But have I managed to move out of thinking that they NEED me for every little thing? This part of the equation is much tougher.

Every one of the last 4 summers here has held with it various reasons why we couldn't simply live at the pool. Most often it was because my two little hands simply were no match for 3 kids under 3 plus Jordan near large bodies of water. I thought it foolish and unrealistic to imagine hauling all the kids I babysat plus my two to the pool. So we never did. We became sprinkler experts, cheap inflatable pool proficient but never did we dare venture into the wonderful community pool just down the street from our house.

We'd even watch from the playground next to the pool as what seemed like billions of people sweat and burned and yelled and played and, presumably, had a blast. But as I watched I could only think "Ugh, what a nightmare. Chasing children, using pool bathrooms, sooo crowded. No thanks."

I couldn't have been more wrong!! And boy were we missing out.

Friday I shocked Jordan and myself when I granted a request to take him and a friend(Natalie) to Alligator's Creek (the pool down the street). We were there almost 4 hours and couldn't have had a better time.

Granted, there was some confusion at the outset. We approached the window to pay our admission fee and I said, "Two kids and myself". (Natalie has a season's pass).
But then I didn't understand what the woman behind the glass was asking me. And so I repeat. . .

"Just two children and myself."

And she said, "And how old are you?"

"I'm sorry?" I was already confused and we weren't even inside the pool yet!!

"How old are you?"

"Me?"

"Yes. How old are you?"

"27."

"Oh! I'm so sorry!!! Well, i guess you can be flattered . . . i wasn't sure. . . " and so on as she attempted to recover from her mistake.

And then I realized that she hadn't thought that I was 18 and a valid guardian for the minors I had in tow.

Oh man.

So here is the moral of my long and winding story -
Jordan is not 4 and Sedona is not 2 (well, and I'm not 16). I learned a valuable lesson Friday as I sat on the edge of the splash pool watching Sedona befriend any number of kids, help a girl smaller than herself reach the fountain and team up with 2 older boys in a silly game. Meanwhile, Jordan swam to his heart's content in the big pool, making new friends, running into old ones and learning all kinds of new tricks. He didn't need me to micromanage his swimming adventure and neither did she.

The sign outside the entrance said that kids under 9 need to have an adult with them. Is that to suggest that by next summer. . . I won't even need to be there with Jordan?! The reality of how much they've grown is slow to set in. 9 is 9, not 15 and 4 is still very much 4. . . but seeing them as people I get to hang out with instead of little ones to manage has changed the way we interact so much and I gotta tell ya . . . we're having a blast.

Seeing Red?

So the slideshows have gone berserk, simultaneously turning red!

I don't know why. But bear with me. . . I promise to fix it somehow.

Any suggestions as to what the problem might be? Temporary? Photobucket? My computer?

Oh me oh my.

Burn, baby, burn

I'm like the What-Not-To-Do poster girl for the American Cancer Association. Where there is sun. . . there is pink Jana despite any and all efforts at sunscreen. I am going to have to get a gargantuan hat, one that promises to cover me and 6 neighboring sun-seekers, err, sun-hiders.

I'm demanding a common sense warning label on all spray-on sunscreens. Just as coffee now says "CAUTION - HOT!" and cigarettes promise cancer, and alcohol warns trouble for pregnant women . . . I want spray-on sunscreen to warn idiots like me that the effectiveness of the spray may be related to the velocity and direction of the wind when applied.

In other words. . . don't spray it on outside!!! I'm a lobster!!! Listen to me, people!!

Yes, this is common sense and yes, I am a relatively intelligent adult and yes, I am burned to a crisp. So take heed. CAUTION- DO NOT APPLY UNDER WINDY CONDITIONS

Burning aside, we had a fabulous day at the "beach" Tuesday. I use scare quotes because I wonder what really constitutes a beach. Is it the presence of sand? The combination of sand and water? Must there be waves? I really don't know.

Nevertheless, we went to Cuivre River State Park and found a lovely little "beach" complete with sand and sun, oh and plenty of water.

To the Zoo!

Back in St Louis again, we made our way to the zoo Monday after the food pantry. Sedona has been desperate to see th snakes and lizards but the last 2 times we were there, the reptile house was closed. So we tried again and this time met with great success.

Sedona's favorite was the pig-nosed turtle, while Jordan opted for a shedding lizard. We even saw what we think must have been lunch trying to stay as far away from the dining snake as possible - about 8 feet up on the glass! We came out just in time to see the sea lions being fed. Jordan did a rousing imitation, startling nearby adults and children alike.

The Dinoroarus exhibit was nice but for the dino expert we have here it was a little bit old hat. But again, great pleasure was found in over- acting and posing for pictures.

Morton Arboretum - Lisle, IL

We were able to make a trip up to Naperville last weekend and managed a little bit of time for exploring the Arboretum on Saturday.

Sedona slept through the first half of the trip but once she was awake she was going full speed. There were giant bugs (which Jordan loved shrieking and posing with), gardens and tree houses, rivers to walk through and even a souvenir watering can and bug goggles (Thank you, Grandma Marianne!).

A wonderful time was had by all but Sedona's flip flops. While climbing we left her shoes down on a bench, in the time it took us to navigate the tree house, someone took the shoes to the lost and found. Oops. The only bad thing was that it took us another 20 minutes to find out that they were in the lost and found and hadn't just been misplaced by us.

Monday, Monday, Monday (Yes, I know that it is Wednesday!)

So Monday means Food Pantry. We volunteer at OASIS Food Pantry every week to help unload, sort and stock all of the perishable items that are donated by local grocery stores. This means lots and lots of icky gooey slimy things piled into a single box that might, if we're lucky, have some stellar produce in it somewhere. Not a job for the squeamish. Fortunately, we are not. Sedona, in particular, is an excellant sport and works hard to help break down boxes and fill the refrigerators with fruits and veggies. Jordan excels in the bread and bakery departments.

We pack lunches and set out to see what kind of trouble we can find once the work is done. Sometimes we find ourselves in the city, others, just downt the road near the riverwalk/old town Saint Charles. This week, though, we decided to try out a new park we stumbled across. It was a bit short-lived as injury and an incurable case of I'm-sweaty-whining set in, but we had fun while we were there.

See?

Desperately Seeking Sunflowers

We went in search of sunflowers today. There is rumored a field full of sunflowers, stretching across a valley near the Missouri River. We saw them. But they were held too far off for us to touch them and flop down and play in them. The stood there, waving, I imagine, at those of us bound by gates and silly orange signs.

Nevermind those silly sunflowers.

Today we found the mud. The streaked and dried, river just receded, still dripping just below surface, riverbank mud. We wallowed. Well, they wallowed. Each making a mark in the sand before sending sticks to challenge river's edge currents. We watched as wood of different sizes and shapes fared so oddly in the currents and whirlpools of the Missouri River.

I can see the moon from bed tonight. Only as the wind blows heavy branches aside and there it sits. And I'm thinking . . . somewhere, everywhere, the river flows in the darkness, sticks still struggling in its course. Rocks, thrown by excited little hands, heavy, still the bottom. Such insignificant changes for a mighty river, it seems.

But somehow, the grit in the bathroom sink, and the shoes not yet reclaimed signal greater change. The passing of 9 year old summer days, crawling in bed with mud still behind his ears.

Pink Bats and Independance Day Fun

The boy is fighting with the neighbor kid in the front yard. I am slow to intervene. While I've never allowed fighting or weapons, something is different today.

Both boys are smiling. They are in character - last time I was out there it was dragons, though it could just as easily now be Wolverine and Magneto. Regardless, my favorite part is the weapons they have chosen for their battle. One has a large pink wiffle ball bat, the other, a single red boxing glove (thank you Aunt Michelle). Neither, I might add, has any detectable skill in this field.

Meanwhile, Sedona fevers on the couch and I clean the office. I may have finally decided on a color for the kitchen, my short attention span and painting whimsy forcing a potentially radical change. We'll see. Swatches are taped up and I think I'm narrowing in on a plan. I am also plotting bright obnoxious flowers for the bathroom, maybe a few in the corner trailing up to the ceiling, maybe the whole of the ceiling above the tub. You never can tell what I'll do when I get my hands on a bucket of paint.

So that's our 4th. Hope yours is lovely.

You, the people . . .

will hereby receive the slideshow format you desire.

So, umm, vote.

Which is easiest and/or most enjoyabe to view? I am ever so indecisive.

Frontier Park and Foundry Art Center

Last Tuesday we ventured out to the Missouri River in Old Towne Saint Charles for some picnicking, reading, running and exploring.

My favorite moments:

1. blowing bubbles that float and bounce across our blanket, coming to rest atop sweet clover blooms without popping.

2. kids playing what looks like slow-motion tag. skipping and flopping across the empty grandstand stage. Each issuing so many time-outs, they are both barely moving, time-outs only to stop and strategize as it seems the other might be gaining an advantage.

3. the sound of flip-flops mixed with too long, untied shoelaces slapping on the cement.

4. cottonwood floating thick in the air. reminding me of home so long ago.

5. laying, faces to the sky, reading The Phantom Tollbooth, nibbling Cheez-its.

Once finished at the park, storm clouds looming, we made our way to the Foundry Art Center. A fascinating old, well, foundry, that made tanks in WW2 and later railroad cars. The building preserved, now hold artists' studios (who are happy to share what they are working on with curious little eyes) and traveling exhibits. It also features an exhibit of local school kids' work. Very cool. Mine loved it all.

What would you do for a Klondike Park?

So here's the plan. . . .in the interest of not falling even further behind, we'll jump in where we're at and then go back to fill in the gaps.

Today has been a rather lovely day. We went to see the Free Summer Kids Movie at the local theater like we do every Wednesday morning but with the addition of 3, yes 3, buses of preschoolers out to see the Veggie Tales feature today, there were no seats.
We were nonplussed. Ever the innovators though, we took our packed lunch and headed out to Defiance where an old glass quarry serves as one of our nations fine parks.

Our finest moments include, but are not limited to:
1. Jordan determines that it is just so beautiful and relaxing that he wants to live out here when he grows up, just in the country, build his own house etc. And Sedona adds that "we should better come here every single day". I think it was a hit.

2. A long since drowned tree reaches, algae covered, out of the water near a bridge we were crossing and Jordan sees "a mythical creature being eaten by an alligator." Also note that the fish near this particular bridge followed us back and forth from one end to another, disappointed I imagine, that we weren't offering them any food.

3. Purple flowers set lovingly in sweaty hair.

4. Headed towards the Phoenix Composting Toilet (a marvel, I might add) surrounded by silica sparkling sand, Sedona yells "Wait! The bathroom is in the snow!". The sand was very white.

5. Sedona hopping and stalking a small yellow butterfly.

6. Sedona singin, "C'mon strong legs! Take me to the water fountain!" A variation on our usual tune that remedies the hiking & whining blues.

7. Unbearable gratitude as our time there came to an end. Both kids and mom saying thank you thank you thank you. Such beauty.

And now a few photos.