Sperling Central

…please stand by.

We are having computer problems and it is not currently easy for me to manage the blog.  Pictures are out of the question and even posting an entry is not ideal. 

The USB connection was magically hacked off of the mini-receiver – leaving part of it behind – and part of it missing.  My child Randolph (name has been changed to protect alleged perpetrator), was able to eventually produce the missing part after retrieving it from its hiding place.  Shrewd boy, that Randolph.  Mike has ordered a new part, but it will take some time to arrive.

The yard is coming along, but they’re doing tedious work now (sprinklers, clean-up, electrical, etc.). Nothing much is new in terms of visual change.  The boys are healthy.  Mama and Daddy are still working on it, but nothing too profound.

Thank you for your continued patience.  We will resume regular blog programming as soon as possible.

I have friends whose children are girls.  My friends talk about princess dresses, Dora, and dolls.  A few of them paint their daughters’ nails and talk about how their little girls threw a fit because they couldn’t choose their own clothes in the morning. 

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m lucky my boys even wear clothes.  In my house, painting is not related to your fingernails looking good, but about experimentation with how color adheres to different surfaces.  Dolls are only as valuable as the speed with which they can be hurled down the stairs. 

That brings us to this morning.  Jon has acquired several clear plastic cups.  Over the last few days, he has ingeniously decided to capture his plastic insects between two of them.  They look like a bunch of labratory slides showcasing a variety of pretend insects.  This morning, one of them was sitting on my kitchen counter.  I needed to put it away to prepare breakfast and I discovered that the “pretend” bug was moving.  Sure enough, one of my boys had managed to capture a 1-2 inch LIVE beetle between the two cups.  I mean, really.  Look at the size of the thing in comparison to my thumb.  The picture is awful, but it gives you the idea.

The surprising thing is that I didn’t exactly think too much about it.   I asked Jon where they found it, and I non-chalantly picked it up to snap a picture before moving it and carrying on with breakfast.  I guess that’s what “life with boys” does to you. 

Okay.  You animal rights activists out there need to settle down.  An insect is not an animal.  It is not a fish or reptile.  It is an insect.  Insects are 6-legged creatures and they are NOT a special protected class under the U.S. Constitution.  They do NOT have certain rights.  They are bugs.  In our house, we talk a lot about not being cruel to animals or any of God’s creatures.  We don’t smash snails just for fun.  However, if my boys want to squash an ant or two – or maybe capture a living, non-posionous specimen in a plastic cup, more power to them.  Yes, insects are God’s creatures, too.  But I’m pretty sure that one of their main purposes is to exist for the fun and amusement of little boys.

Scientific Discoveries - or Something

Out of Focus Bug

Human Airplane - Ben's newest thing

Even as I write this, my boys are in their fort under Ben’s bed with a flashlight and a book about dinosaurs.  Jon just finished “pretend reading” a story to Ben.  Ben doesn’t want another story.  He wants to bring the bug into the fort.  I told them that a bedroom fort is no place for a real bug (as if the kitchen counter IS).  I am such a GIRL.

Here is the photo shoot from the day.  (Frankly, if this was someone else’s blog, I’d be moving ON.  But if you’re a construction/landscape kind of person, perhaps this will capture your attention.  Sorry about the quality of certain photos.  They were taken from behind the window.)  Our main patio and portions of our firepit and front yard were poured today.  For lunch, Mike grilled burgers for 14.  Everyone had seconds — except for those who had thirds and fourths.  Evidently, pouring concrete makes you hungry.

Pumping In

Smoothing Out

Finishing

Acid Washing

Stepping Up

Grilling

The good news is that we had enough food to feed everyone what they wanted.  Even the homeowners had a bite to eat!

The nice thing about authoring a blog is that I get to decide the subject matter.  It’s my prerogative.  Today, I will hop up on my soap box and discuss COMMON COURTESY.  You know.  It’s when someone passes you the salt and you say, “thank you.”  Or, as in my case, when landscapers are coming with a cement truck to work on our yard at 6AM on a Saturday, I decide to visit my neighbors to apologize in advance and give them a “heads’ up” about the event.  Most of my neighbors responded quite graciously and promised me that it wasn’t a big deal.  Liars.  (But wasn’t it nice of them to make me feel better, anyway?)   

One house, however, did not yield those results.  I rang the doorbell and could see (from the window) that many adult bodies scampered about.  I assumed one would appear at the door.  No.  At this home, a doorbell must signal a mass exodus from the main living area.  After some time, I tried knocking.  And then, I tried knocking again.  E-v-e-n-t-u-a-l-l-y, someone came to the door.  He was maybe 14 or 15 years old.  I suppose I should actually give him credit for arriving.  However, when he opened the door, he fell against the door jamb as if the strength of Samson himself was required to stand before me.  His big welcoming line was, “Ya?” 

Only momentarily taken aback, I recovered to tell the saga of how landscape activities were planned for the early morning and we wanted to forewarn our neighbors.  You know, out of courtesy.  Maybe there were small children in the house?  Maybe there were grandparents who liked to sleep in?  After concluding my polite notification, his benediction was, “K.”  And he closed the door before I moved away.

Now, I’m not Emily Post.  But I’m pretty sure that, “Ya” and “K” do not consititue good manners.  In my book, they don’t even constitute poor manners.  They are little more than 3 letters from the alphabet.  If someone has come to your house to extend you a courtesy, I think it’s right – even if you’re a disgruntled teenager – to at least mumble something like, “Oh.  Okay.  Thanks for letting us know.”  And, if it’s a good day, maybe you go so far as to keep the door open until your guest has turned to leave.  But that’s just me.

And, that’s my soap box topic for today. 

What do you do when you’re going on the second week of no structure?  When you’re nothing but sick and there’s no church, no preschool, and no running around?  The boys go stir crazy.  Mama and Daddy are looking for another computer game, another DVD, or another book to keep them occupied.  We’ve blown through the books and now my boys are making trails through the house with them.  (See the unique picture to the left.)   The DVDs are uninspiring and even the computer gets old.

So.  The remedy for this predicament is to escape.  We went to Eastlake today to walk “the pond.”  I figured it was low-key enough to be managed by my sick-o children.  It was also a change of scenery.  It seemed to work, at least for the time being.  They chased some ducks, saw a dog, a cat and a new puppy.  They threw rocks at a few koi fish, steered clear of the geese, chirped with the birds, and climbed some trees.  Jon even peeled a lime and tried feeding it to a seagull.  Such unexpected adventures when you leave the house!  We were only gone for an hour, but it seemed to offer a fresh perspective on the day.

They even climbed a few trees.  Better trees than walls, I say.

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Cement Truck!

I’ve been remiss in providing you with pictures of landscape development.  These are from last week, when the crew started pouring concrete. 

Pouring Concrete

The Finishers

The actual color is much lighter now that it is dry.  Forms are also going up in the front yard for steps and pillars.

We have compiled a list of The Sperling’s Top Five Ways to Keep Swine Flu Rolling.  We’ve covered all 5 of these in the last 12 hours.  You might be interested:

• #5  Cough directly into someone else’s face.  (Apparently it saves you from getting the germs on your hands.)

• #4  Wash your hands thouroughly.  Then pick your nose.

• #3  Lick the bathroom window and the handle on the oven.

• #2  Drink water directly out of the dog’s bowl.  (Eeeew!  Come ON.)

• #1  And (drum roll, please) the number one way to keep the Swine Flu Rolling is to — share Halloween fangs.  Remember those plastic, bendy things that fit in your mouth?  Yep.  Those.

So, we’ve demonstrated what kind of lame-o mother I am.  How can these things happen?  I’m a stay-at-home mom, for crying out loud.  How are my boys faster, more inventive, and more shrewd than I am?  Why are they always one step ahead of me? 

The Author and Her Dog

(Hey.  Where ARE those boys, anyway?  Well, if you see them, tell them I’m downstairs eating bon-bons, watching TV, and casually flipping through a magazine.)

Jonathan appears healthy.  He hasn’t had a fever for 48 hours.  His asthma, however, is worse.  We’re hoping that with continued treatments, he’ll make a complete recovery from his bout with THE flu.

Benjamin, however, is another story.  He is getting worse.  Last night, he was sporting a fever of over 104.  He was also refusing to straighten or walk on his legs – complaining that they hurt – and crying when we touched them.  Not knowing of any injury, that freaked Mom out a bit.  Benjamin typically has a very high pain tolerance, so complaints of that nature seem more serious.   The doctor is less concerned and will talk with us more today.  He said that sometimes high fevers will make kids more sensitive to pain.  This morning, Ben’s fever is gone and he’s walking AND running just fine.  Go figure.  He has been spiking high fevers since last Saturday, then returning to normal.  Then doing it again.  He should stop.

Better Days

Grandma and Grandpa Sperling just completed their visit to San Diego.  One can only question the wisdom of spending 10 days with sick grandchildren, their sick parents, and a sick dog — in the middle of a landscape project.  Nevertheless, they seemed up for the challenge.  We DID manage to do Halloween and celebrate their anniversary as a family.  Mike and I also conned them into providing us with a date night.  (Which they did quite enthusiastically, if you don’t count Grandpa getting sick.)

The boys are newly into chapter books, so they continued their Magic Treehouse series with Grandpa.  Grandma taught Jon a new card game.  And he taught her one (although please don’t ask about objectives or methodology).  Benjamin led the Nerf shooting games, with Jon and Grandpa close behind.  Primarily, the boys watched construction in the yard, took medication, and coughed all week.  The grown-ups did the same.  But evidently, that’s what the grandparents were looking for.  When I dropped them off at the airport yesterday morning, they claimed that they took wonderful memories with them.  They also took some great pictures, a few early Christmas presents, and a case of H1N1.  Poor Grandpa. 

Card Sharks

Supervising

Pictures with Gram

Games with Papa

They’ll come back in the spring.  Hopefully, we’ll all be healthy.

We’ve been so excited to start landscaping.  Last week, it finally happened.  The crew convened in our yard and began their work.  Oh, I’m sure our neighbors LOVE us.  The demolition of our existing patio, sidewalk, and entry way was not quiet work.  The crew starts at 7:30 AM on weekdays and they wait all the way until 8AM on Saturday.  Would you like to be awakened on Saturday morning to the sound of jack hammers in your neighbor’s yard?  I think not.  Nevertheless, the work is progressing and we, the owners, could not be more happy.  I can’t provide the “after” pictures for quite a while, but here are a few of the process:

Before

During

Before

During

We have somewhere between 4-10 workers here each day.  The brief time Mike and I spent thinking about doing some of the work ourselves now seems laughable.  Instead, I am best as photographer of the event, and Mike is best as generic over-seer.  He’s the one in the orange ball cap in the center of the second picture.