The day Gabe almost got run over.

As much as I'd like to sugar coat things and forget it, that's what today is to me.

Here's Max this morning, waking up.  He opens his eyes, starts to get up, falls asleep again, starts getting up again, falls asleep again ...

We started out doing homeschool, as usual.

Gabe was so excited about the possibility of getting his toys in the mail that we took three walks today.  (The first two times we went the mail had not arrived yet.  The third time it was finally there.)

Apparently there was a wreck out on 2920 headed to 290, and a few frustrated motorists turned down our dirt road looking for an outlet.  (We need a sign that says "Dead End.")  I gave directions to one of them. 

Mom drove up to us in the truck, bringing Joe home from school, and stopped at the mailbox.  Gabe was so excited to show them his toy that he was running to get in.  He started to enter on the safe side, then took off running by me for the other side of the truck.  

At the same time an old guy in a silver car chose to risk going off the shoulder to barrel past this truck surrounded by children and pedestrians.  

I hollered at Gabe to stop, but he didn't stop right away.  Holding Max I scuffled after him, grabbed him by the arm, and detained him as this a$$hole sped by.

Gabe keeps saying, "Can we quit thinking about it now?"  But we can't.  Not yet.  We have to make sure nothing like this ever happens again.  I will not permit Gabe to get into a vehicle while we're on our walk anymore.  I don't know how I'll feel about taking our walks anymore ...

The rest of the day was uneventful.  Here's Buddy with Ian and Maya.

Maybe Someone was smiling down on Gabe today.

Or maybe we create our own luck.  In any case, I feel shaken and don't want to take my eyes off him now.  I hope to never have to post about something like this again!

Fussy baby!

Max is teething again.  Fuss, fuss, fuss.

We made a trip to the Homeschool Store this morning and bought some third grade materials for Gabe.  When we came back home, Max took his infant Tylenol bottle, crawled up to the toilet, and dropped it in.  (I need to always keep the lid closed and my eyes open!)

When Gabe came home from school I asked, "Did anyone get in trouble at school today?"  (Because if I don't ask very specific questions, he is not forthcoming with information.)  He said that yes, the whole class got in trouble!  They all had to miss out on show-and-tell because of him ... because he was talking.

This is not surprising.  Gabe is a talker.  He is also not very sensitive to scolding and didn't seem too scathed by the experience.

Gabe took this pic of Max playing on the floor while I was getting dinner ready.  Wish those cruel teeth would stop torturing my baby!

Our day out.

It was Dan's work-from-home day today, so afterward we drove to 1960 and ate at Olive Garden with the very last of our Christmas gift certificates!

I was going to title this post "Fun Day Out," but I realize that no one is really smiling in any of the pics.  Ha.

Max had a good time eating the coasters and trying to get to the salad ...

... and tapping the spoon on the table.

We then sold some old books at Half Price Books and bought these new ones for Gabe!  Gabe is currently enjoying Greek mythology.

We love the books from the Graphic Greek Myths and Legends series.  They are written like comics, and the dialogue is so cheesy.  In Perseus and Medusa, Perseus keeps showing Medusa's head to anyone he has a small beef with, and every time they say, "Aaargh," as they turn to stone!

Here's the picture Gabe drew of Hercules lifting a car ... little bit of anachronism there.

It was a nice rainy day out, even if nobody was smiling.

Klein's is really closing.

Took this picture while whizzing by Klein's today.  I guess too many people in town have been whizzing by it for too long.  It's finally going out of business.

We grocery shopped there for the entirety of my childhood.  Once upon a time I donned a very ugly uniform ...

... and met this guy.

Here's Rita, before she became Granny.  Klein's has been around since 1922. The doors close at the end of April.  The end of an era.

Speaking of going out of business, here's Gabe with his teacher Mrs. Allison at his homeschooling program that won't survive till next year, after being around for 11 years!

More Spider-man toys.  Gabe wanted to take a walk and give Joe his new toy when he passed by on his way home from school.

The more mobile Max gets, the more irritated he is when Gabe tries to pick him up.

He's enjoying playing with toys that roll now.  He likes to kick them or scoot them around in a circle.

Buster goes to the vet again.

This morning we took Buster for some more new puppy shots ... distemper, parvo, etc.

Mom drove us to the vet right down the road.  

Max was fussing for a nap before we left, but he made the journey and stayed pretty quiet.

It turns out that they want to give him four sets of these vaccines about a month apart.  Interested in saving on cost, I asked if it was mandatory that he have a $40 well-pet exam each time.  They said yes, unless I want to give the shots myself.

So, they taught me how to give the shots!  It's just a subcutaneous injection, and they demonstrated how it is given in the left shoulder.  (I was concerned about accidentally vaccinating myself against distemper, but Buster was actually very calm when the vet gave him the shot.)  SO, next time Buster gets his vaccine it will be from me!

Gabe had finished his math work before Spring Break so he didn't have as much homeschool to do today.  He was supposed to write a letter to someone, so he wrote to Max.

He and Grandma were drawing pictures when Maxie got up from his nap.

Serious Max.

Happy Max!

Tonight Gabe needed to use the bathroom while Max was taking a bath and didn't want Max to see him (hence the improvised curtain). Also tonight Joe poked himself in the eye with a stick and wouldn't open his eye for an hour.  Gabe took a walk and submerged his sock and shoe in mud and was furious about it, then was chased by the neighbors' tiny miniature dachshund Weenie who snapped at him from the ground when he climbed up on the fence.  Typical day ...

That's all for today.  Buster says, "See ya tomorrow!"

Selling-my-stuff Sunday.

We did our usual Sunday shop.  Max is now willing to sit in the basket.  Wow!  (Gabe always refused to sit in the basket.)  We came home in time to sell the jumperoo to someone off craigslist.

$45.  Goodbye jumperoo!  Dan went down to the church to meet the folks and make the sale.  He brought a book and took a nap in the car (and had a wonderful time relaxing and not being bothered by anybody)!

$66.  My mei tai also sold on e-bay today. 

So it's officially time for Dan to stop singing silly songs about it.

Dinner at Granny and Gramps' house.

The sun was shining, but it was cold and windy today!  Here's Gabe playing with the Hercules figure that we bought on an odd whim when the movie came out in 1997.

It was too cold for much "outside fun" (as the kids call it).

Isn't it the first day of Spring?  Surely we'll have more smiling faces in outdoor pics next weekend!