hippo.CAMP.us

It's the area in our brains where we store memories. I read an interesting article about some particular strategies to help folks suffering from dementia and Alzheimer's (maladies in which the hippocampus, for reasons still mysterious, stops working as it should) and the most effective was simply to write things down and let the person read the information. The spoken word flits through our consciousness and evaporates, even in those of us with a healthy hippocampus, but the written word cements itself, imprints itself, and the memory is retained. I've known this about myself, that I have a need to write things down and read them; I am clearly, in the parlance, A Visual Learner. I still remember the names of the two adorable kids who sat in front of us in church on Sunday--Savannah and Canyon--because they had stickers from the nursery on their backs with their names printed on them in block letters. Anyway, interesting but not necessarily germane to anything. Except if I don't write about it I won't remember it. And there is great stuff I want to remember. Like our camping trip.

It was raining and fairly cold for two days leading up to the camping, so we wavered on whether or not we should actually attempt the trip, especially since we were bringing along friends with us. Thankfully, the weather cooperated nicely. We were dismayed upon our arrival at the Stephen F. Austin State Park to find that approximately 8.2 MILLION Scouts from the greater Houston area would be joining us for our camp out. And, even with the previous days' deluge, there was a burn ban, which meant we had to make our s'mores over a propane stove and eat MRE's that the husband picked up at REI. But aside from that, we had a really good time. Helena stayed home with her doting grandparents Pate plus the husband really loves camping and is eager to do just about everything that needs doing, which means I actually got to relax quite a bit. There was a moment when I lay in the quiet tent (after the Scouts finally quit with the yelling) looking up at the stars (we left off the rain flap, which made things a bit chilly, but great for star gazing) with sleeping babies and sleeping husband all curled up around me in their sleeping bags, and I was deeply awed and thankful: for stars and trees and wind and warmth in the cold and family and good friends and rest. It is goodness and bounty and I should remember. I will write it down. And show a few pictures:

June and Harper whistling with laps full of Spanish moss:


Boys in the hoods:


We by the Brazos:

The end.

Dew on the berry

Let's get caught up. Last Wednesday we took the yearly pilgrimage to Dewberry Farm, where the kids had lots of fun doing things that had very little to do with actual farming. I managed to get not one good photo, but when has that stopped me from posting them?:

A large bouncy convex jumping surface (I'm sure there is a technical name for this, but what??):

These fun go-carts:



A "hay" ride, sans hay:


A "pumpkin" patch, which was really just the back 40 with some miniature pumpkins sprinkled about:

And we ended the day with the place all to ourselves after the masses of school kids left. We did the zip line around 20 times each:


We continued the Outdoor Fun with a weekend camping trip, evidence of which will appear in the next post, because while I've been typing up this masterpiece, the big kids have been performing Cirque du Soleil, Lord of the Flies edition out on the swingset, while Helena has been playing in the dog's water bowl and repeatedly dialing China on my old cell phone.

Jesus rains.

The kids and I were in the car and it started raining and a song came on about Jesus and His reign and I was anticipating some questions and was trying to remember if it's homophone or homonym and then I wondered if the DJ had played the song because it was finally raining (we've had a bit of a drought here) and I decided if I were a DJ, I would totally do that, because, like Jason Mraz, I am All About the Wordplay. That sentence is exhausting. In other theological/weather related news, one day last week when the wind was particularly gusty, Harper and Hudson were out on the swingset and Harper came sprinting in. She ran into her room and ran back out toting her Jesus Storybook Bible. "Whatcha doing?" I queried. "OH, Hudson is yelling at the wind to STOP so I am going to show him WHO makes the wind and that he shouldn't yell STOP." I couldn't really argue with that. Actually, though, now that I think about it, perhaps I should have double checked with her regarding WHO she thinks does make the wind because it's possible she told him it's the guy who illustrated the Jesus Storybook Bible.

A conversation I jotted down recently:

Harper: HUDSON! (every single time she says his name it sounds like an indictment) You are NOT doing what I expected!

Hudson: Eww.

Harper: HUDSON! That is NOT what you say when you watch a movie. It is NOT a compliment!

Hudson: Ew.

Harper: HUDSON. You MAY NOT say "EW" over and over. It is NOT what you do when you watch a movie.

Hudson: (very very quietly) ew.

Harper: HUDSON! Do you need to go to your room? HUDSON! Big boys do NOT suck their thumbs.


I like the way, when the discussion wasn't going how she planned, she changed into personal attack mode, and brought up something completely unrelated to her original complaint. Where in the world did she learn that?

I have bits of paper with scribbled reminders about things I want to remember to write about strewn all over my desk. (exhausting sentence Exhibit B) Some unedited samples:

**"Hudson just tripped on his hoop skirt. And I think I shall say no more about that. Harper can be scary persuasive."


**"People who are wont to intone 'GOD is sovereign' at every circumstance probably feel pretty satisfied with the way things have gone for them."
(I should note that I do, indeed, with all that I am, believe that God IS sovereign. What I despise is when folks in the church use it as a call to inaction. So there.)


**Harper: How did God make mountains?
me: I don't know!
Harper: I think he stuck lots of sticky tape together then painted it.


**"Harper: HUDSON! You can either play dress-up with me OR...I will squish up your toes and eat them for a snack. What's your choice?" (this one perhaps explains the hoop skirt)


I feel as though I should use this very public forum to confess that, yet again, I did not vote in the recent election. I did buy a teapot at Ikea yesterday. We have yet to turn on our heater, even though it has gotten a little chilly this week, and we've all been drinking lots of hot tea to warm up.Cold enough for a hat, but not pants, apparently. I like my teapot, especially the fact that it only cost $9.99, as opposed to the one I saw at Pottery Barn that was $39.99. The real purpose of the Ikea trip was to buy a storage shelf so that I can organize all of the spectacular school materials I acquired from my fairy godmother, who is also known as "Mrs. Spivey, Retired Kindergarten Teacher Extraordinaire." I'll be sure to post a picture when I get it all situated. My dream is to have everything the kids need on a daily basis where they can reach it without any assistance from me. Then I can go off and eat my bonbons while they essentially teach themselves.

For probably a month now, Helena has been eating more than the other two. I have yet to find anything she won't eat. She is also getting tooth #11 and she can sing the ABC's tune, although her pronunciation of the letters is not quite English at this point. In fact, while she babbled during dinner one night, Hudson exclaimed, "Huhyaynuh can talk!" then he listened for another minute and added, "She's speaking Spanish!"