is this what it would be like?

time for a political statement blog....I am not a fan of the government. seriously, less is better is my book. I might not know how to argue my views as well as my uber-intelligent hubby, but I CAN share my experiences. And they have often been frustrating and time-consuming.
I worked for the public school system for four years, so my stories are endless in that realm, but I had a recent experience that left me incredulous.....
I was attempting to get passports for my children. Sounds easy enough, huh? We are taking a trip in early 2010 and we will be flying south of the USA to a warmer, more desirable climate. I love a good project and was excited to begin planning for our trip. But passports take lots of time, so they were a priority.
First stop, FedEx Office for photos. That was an adventure, since both my boys do not enjoy having their picture taken. I know, really great for an aspiring photographer? But we got their pictures after multiple attempts, paid for our photos, and escaped before to much damage was done in the store.
I then called our local post office to see if I needed to make an appointment. After trying for a couple hours, I got through to a human who told me the first available appointments were December 30th.....what! That was a month away! And only a few weeks before our trip. I said no thanks and figured we would try another plan.
Then, I called the 1.800.United States Postal Service number, since that is the ONLY number they give for every location in Richmond. The "nice" lady on the phone told me a downtown location that takes walk ins. I got the address and asked for the phone number. She asked me if she could help me. I asked for the phone number again. She asked if she could help me, again. Yes lady, isn't it clear that you can help me by giving me the number? I know she gave me the address, but I was still going to call to "make sure" they could help me at this particular post office. She refused. At that point, I should have known that it was getting interesting.
So, next day at lunch we picked up daddy from work and headed downtown. I had all the appropriate forms completed and an envelope full of birth certificates, SS cards, and parental identification. No one can accuse me of not being prepared! We parallel park downtown after circling the block a few times and drag our two young children into the post office. I get to the desk.
me: "Yes, you can help me. I need passports for my two young loud children"(maybe if they see the urgency they will rush us through?)
overworked postal worker: "No, we don't do that anymore"
me: "nooooooo, arghhhh, &*%$, #@!* ahhhhh, this is *&%@ ridiculous!!!!!!" actually, I was thinking that, but I politely explained that the 1.800.USPS lady told me you did walk-ins.
opw: "I know, we try to get them to change that since we no longer have a passport specialist working at this location"(seriously, how hard is it to check my forms and stamp them approved?)"you can go around the corner about 5 blocks to the city hall and they can do it for you"

At this point, I am thinking about how I wanted the phone number for the location. Not such a stupid idea, huh?

Scott and I rushed out with our increasingly hungry children, drove around the block, found the building, parallel parked again, and ran up the city hall steps. While we were doing that, we were grumbling under our breaths and trying to scrounge enough snacks to keep tummies from grumbling while we made one more stop than planned. I have to admit that things got easy from that point on. The lady at the city treasurers office was very kind and helpful....but it cost us. We paid more for better service. At that point we were ready for whatever it would take to just be finished and be able to go feed our children.

Moral of the story:
If we let government run our health care.....we will have trouble getting service, there will be limited availability for basic procedures, and then we will end up paying more to get the job done.


Good news is....we get to go somewhere warm very soon!

Norman Rockwell

I have gotten more than one comment that my children have a Norman Rockwell look to them. I believe that translates into All American happy smiling children. Of course, my main example of Norman Rockwell growing up was this framed poster above our guest room bed with two elderly people. It was interesting. But I do get the fact that my boys are cute.
While riding the train in Blue Ridge, GA last week, we got the chance to hang out with Santa. Instead of asking for presents, Danny really wanted to know why he wears "glubes" (ie: gloves). I snapped a photo as Danny was chatting with the man in red.

A friend on facebook saw this photo and once again referenced the Norman Rockwell likeness.

Cute, huh?

There's always one

yep...every time you try to take a picture of 8 kids with their Grandmommy you are bound to have at least one who won't cooperate. And Joshie's number was up this Thanksgiving. Our annual picture taking of the Gaskills and Smiths was fairly successful, minus the child trying to somersault out of the photo. Thanks Shaye for trying, but I think it was a lost cause.
Here is the best picture from the photo shoot...


and if you would like to see what lining up 8 grandkids after the Pink Pig looks like, then here you go. They are by age.....S-7, M-6, A-5, P-4, S-3, D-3, J-1, J-1

You can imagine that we got lots of attention as Scott, Mere, Grandmommy, and I tried to successfully work our way from the Pig to the food court at Lenox Mall. We were thankful to also have Melissa and Olivia join us for the ride and lunch. One more adult, but tipping the kids numbers to 9. ouch. Due to the mall's awkward design we had to ride multiple elevators to get there with our strollers. I wonder if Santa minds us yelling at him from the balcony every year? We are definitely continuing some fun traditions!

Seriously. You just did that?

I am thanking the Lord that my new stage of life is two boys who will play happily together with limited help from mommy. I love my boys. I love playing with them, but I need to not play the role of police/referee constantly. My boys really like each other. Today I caught them sitting in the tent in Danny's room playing Legos together. I poked my head in and asked if everything was ok. "yeah mommy, we are playing." Simple as that. Music to mommy's ears!
Do you want to know what is NOT music to mommy's ears?
That would be the sound of a 1 year old entering the bathroom and hearing a splish splash.
Is that what I think it is?
Yes, my child did just stick his hand in the toilet. This is confirmed by the dripping hands and the waves that are forming in the toilet bowl as I peek around the corner. It was clean water, but are toilets ever really clean? After scouring my sons hands with antibacterial soap, I think I may allow him to touch the furniture again. Maybe.
Between touching things he shouldn't, climbing things he shouldn't, and eating things he shouldn't, this little boy is determined to be a challenge to his mommy. At least he has the cute smile, sweet dimple, and snuggly nature to make me forget the fact that he "pretends" to not know what NO means.

Conversations

Danny and I spend lots of time talking in the car. I wish I had a tape recorder for some of the things he has said. Today we had a conversation that was priceless.

A worship song was playing and I was singing along.
Danny started to sing with me, but as usual, he got a few of the words wrong.
I told him the actual words. The line happened to be something about Jesus. I wish I could remember it exactly.
Danny then says to me "Mommy, I know Jesus. He is our savior."
I was tearing up as I looked in the rear view mirror at him. I started to tell him how excited I was that he knew that important bit of information, when he started giggling.

He then proceeded to tell me between giggles that "He pooted".

nice.

How do things go downhill so fast?

Want to Touch a Truck?

Like to touch trucks?
Sounds boring?
How about climbing inside and pretending to drive them?
Not how you would like to spend your Saturday morning?
Then, you must not be Age 1-4.

In Danny's eyes, this might be one of the coolest things we do all year. I thought it was pretty cool too. I loved seeing my children with wonder and amazement in their eyes. Josh had a hard time leaving one truck and going to the next, because he loved it so much. Thank you Junior League of Richmond for helping us have a day of fun!


Thank you Mr. Fireman for letting me ride in the fire truck!


My hat's a little big.


Our trip was made extra fun having our friends with us. Nathan is 2 and Matthew is 4. We had the 1-4 age group covered!


That is one big tire. As usual, it is hard to get 4 boys to look at the camera at the same time.

Playgroup Fun

Ever tried to get 5-10 kids to all smile at the same time?
Good luck with that!

I love getting my camera out at playgroup and snapping a few photos. Most of the kids love to pose for the camera.....EXCEPT when you want them too.

Typically, I enjoy candid shots more than trying to get a person perfectly posed, but every once in a while we need a group shot.
Here is the best of the bunch from our recent trip to the mall playground.



I really love this one from feeding the ducks with playgroup last week!


We love our playgroup/church community! The friendships we have built through it have been very significant in our feeling settled in Richmond.
This city really is Home to us now!

Now if we could just convince all the Gaskills to move here, it would be perfect!

I'm not crazy...ok, maybe a little.

ok. For the few of you who read this blog....please don't think I am going crazy. I know the background has changed more times than I can count. Just trying to find something different, but also one that Mr. GaskillRascal will like.
I need help.
I need one that represents us as a family.
I am the only girl in the house, so flowers are out.

So, the current background is kid friendly, minimal flowers, and gender neutral colors....but I am still not sure.

What do you think?

Should we stay with this theme or keep looking?
	No, this isn't "the one"
	Reminds me of Anne's job as a teacher. perfect
	Did your kids design this? ughhh
	Healthcare reform, what kind of sandwich to have for lunch....I have bigger things to worry about!
pollcode.com free polls

Can we keep this up?

Our two boys are currently play in Danny's room together. I am downstairs, sipping coffee, playing on the computer. I can hear exactly what's going on through the monitor.
I even had time to read my bible this morning, all without the use of television to entertain my boys.
They are actually playing together
....upstairs
....by choice
....without me.
This is amazing!
Can we keep this going?

maybe I shouldn't have said that?

"Bye, see you later"

I know I am not the only mom who has said this to your child when you are trying to get them to leave one place and go to another. Of course, you know you are not going to really leave them, but maybe you have run out of options. Or maybe it is just a part of the process of trying to motivate them to follow you. Deep down, maybe it is a little test to see if they will follow?
ok, when I look at it that way, I am motivated to never say that again to any of them. I do not like to encourage lying or play games when I am really asking for obedience. But when we were headed out of the ChickfilA play area yesterday, I was trying to get Joshie to join us. Danny was all ready to hop in the stroller. I love being able to walk to many restaurants and shops with in 2 miles of our house....but that is a story for another post. Josh was lingering and giving me that "come in here and get me" look.
I was ready to go.
I said those words and then started to close the door and turn away.

And the next moment surprised me.

It was not Josh that got upset, though he did head my way, but Danny. Danny started to cry and beg for me to not leave his brother behind. "Please mommy, noooooo, do NOT leave my brother!" As I reassured him that I would not REALLY do that, I made a guilty glance around for any onlookers. I really didn't want an audience as I tried to explain to my 3 year old that Mommy was kidding...uh, teasing....well, yes it was a lie, BUT I..uh...yeah.
I am sorry.
I will never leave your brother behind.

And I will definitely stop using that tactic to get them to follow me.


I guess that calls for a little brother love photo sharing!