Christmas Vacation

In the spirit of Clark W. Griswold...we'll be loading up in the Wagon Queen Family Truckster and heading East for Christmas Vacation. 800 miles, 2 days, 2 kids, 2 dogs, 2 MUCH !

No I didn't mis-type, yes the dogs, no...East not South, yes the Truckster.

At the end of the week 4greens will load into the car (we recently put our SUV to rest and swapped to a "cross-over"; it's really a big station wagon) and head towards the First State (Delaware, history buffs) to spend Christmas with Big Daddy and G.G. It will be our first road trip as a family of 4...I mean 6. Can't forget the first kids, Laz and Baby. Maybe this will be Laz's last road trip. The dog years are creepin in on that old dude.

Our first stop will be in the Cleveland area. I've never been to Ohio and have no expectations. Besides, we'll be chained to the Ohio turnpike system. The scenery will be gas stations and fast food restaurants. Maybe we'll grab some souvenir buckeyes. Let me know if you would like one.

Weird things #1: You and you're house do not get along during Winter

Part 1 in a series of I don't know how long...

This is our second winter here in Illinois and as such we consider ourselves "experienced" when it comes to all things cold, snowy and icy. Most mid-westerners would not label us as experienced as we have labelled ourselves, but when you go through as much climatic change as we have in the last 15 months, believe me it puts you in a much different place than you were back in Texas. We've amassed a list if weird things that we've discovered only occur when the temperature drops and stays low.

Weird thing #1: The house

When it's cold outside (and I now define "cold" as temperatures less than 40) you tend to stay inside. Spending lots of time indoors can turn what used to be a nice, new, spacious home into a 6x6 prison. There simply are not enough floors to separate you from each other and not enough pay-per-view to keep you occupied.

Your house throws-up toys, shoes, clothes, couch cushions, blankets, jackets; it's reverse migration, it ALL comes out and doesn't really find its way back in. It reminds me of those penguin movies (either one, the animated of real-life); you know when all of a sudden 2 penguins turn into 20, then into 200, then into 5000. Before you know it there's a million of them in one place, all huddled together to brave winter. Instead of finding a nice cave somewhere, because there are so many caves in Antartica (just go along with me), they get out IN the elements to survive. Our junk does the same thing. And you can forget about trying to keep things "picked up" and clean. The carpets, the walls, the doors, all of them take on this winter hue and it's NOT white. I'm not slamming our capability to clean, because between you and me I can get fierce on cleaning the house. You just never have the chance to leave the house. It's a black hole, again like my feelings about Wal-Mart.

By February you hate your house, your furniture, the walls and that smell that results from the place being closed up for 3 months. We're not a gross family, but things stink after a while. It's no surpise that when the mercury rises above 50 people spring from their cages, in shorts and crocs, and begin congregating on their driveways. It's literally like animals coming out of hibernation. Last winter we would go weeks without seeing the people that live 30 yds from our house. I had no idea that the dude two doors down had 6 kids until they all busted out last spring.

So this year I'm not going to despise my house. We (me and the house) made a promise: it won't make me feel like a prisoner and I won't hold it responsible for winter weight gain and exhorbitant gas bills. Sounds like a deal.

4greens

Last week we had a pretty good snow, but you know what...the grass was still visible even through 4 inches of cover. Despite what gets dumped on us, even what appears to be harmless and possibly enjoyable, the grass is still there - growing. We have an obligation to nuture it and ensure it survives through whatever may come its way.

JibJabs are Jacked Up

For those of you trying to link to the JibJabs on the right side of the page...be patient. The site has just upgraded and added lots more stuff. I think they're probably getting so many hits that it's taking FOREVER to load some of the videos. They still work, just takes a while.

Nuttin for Christmas

FYI...4 1/2 yr olds still lack a sense of humor

Last night, at the end of a LONG day battling pre-schoolers, it was bedtime in the 4greens household. It's your typical routine: round up kids, change into "jammies", brush teeth, read books, rock, scratch backs, hum a song, turn on the nightlight, put just the right blanket on, find stink-dog, etc. Except last night the kiddos did not want to cooperate.

Minor segue...at Christmastime, my mother used to hum or sing "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" every time I mis-behaved. It was her "hint" to me that my behaviour better "straighten up !" or else I would be in for a less than stellar Christmas morning. I hated that as a kid; of course now it's hysterical having my own kids to torture.

OK we're back...so kiddos not cooperating at bedtime. Rachel starts singing "I'm Getting Nuttin for Christmas". I was inspired. Harkening back to the days of yore when I was reminded of Christmas morning by the tune MY mother sang. I raced to the computer and found a video slideshow on YouTube of some bad kids and this song in the background.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8735522593758706472&q=I%27m+getting+nuttin+for+christmas&total=9&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0


I played it loud and proud, singing along and inviting both kids to come in and watch. Of course this was extremely traumatic for our oldest, although you wouldn't have noticed initially. It all came out at bedtime. When left with her thoughts, lying in bed alone, I believe she began to recount the day and focus on that song. Tears began to flow and cries rang out "MOMMY !!" She was upset over the song.

Well, almost an hour later she finally tired out and gave up.

4yr olds have no sense of Seasonal humor.

Winter's Here...

My neighbor shared something with me last Spring about the cold weather here...in like a Lion, out like a Lamb. Ain't that the TROOF.

Yesterday morning, WHOP...it was here; and I mean real winter here in Illinois. Not just cold weather; snow, freezing rain, ice, traction control, anti-lock brakes, do I have enough airbags, if I get stranded in the ditch will anyone notice, winter weather. Oh and let's not forget, "passenger air sucking" driving season. You know, when the person in the chosen seat next to you makes that noise when they think you're going around the corner too fast or something appears like it might slam into you. Men, you know what it's like, I needn't say more.

Being that we're not "from here" my family has the love-hate relationship with Winter. After all you can't get to Spring without going through Winter. It's like Wal-Mart; it sucks but it's necessary. So we decide to get out of the house, brave the elements and head to the neighboring metropolis that is Oswego to grocery shop and eat dinner. Initiate wind sucking sounds...

It was brutal and I'm not exaggerating. At a break-neck speed of 35mph we headed off into the freezing rain. The best part was being pummelled by chunks of ice that would peel off the hood and fly into the windshield. Believe me that's a great test of your ability to bite your toungue. Remember there are KIDS IN THE CAR.

Perhaps the most enjoyable aspect of all was the journey back out to the car after shopping. Think about this...have you ever seen a 4x4 shopping cart ? Or one with all wheel drive ? No. Just take a moment and picture Mr. & Mrs. Graceful trying to carry two kids and push their shopping carts over slush. It's another one of those things you just can't appreciate until you do it one. Hmmm...sounds like a topic for future posts, maybe I should make a list.

Notice that I used to term "shopping cart" ? While in line at the checker last night, I, in my ever-so-loving-fatherly voice, instructed our youngest to "get in the buggy". Immediately the checker asked where were from. Rachel gave her line of "Texas, been here a little over a year". The checker said she was tipped off by my use of the word "buggy". One of her friends who lives in the South (Florida, as IF) says that too.

But even though it's cold out, Grass still grows in winter.

4greens

I've caught the bug

One of my friends, strike that, MANY of my friends and family have their own blog sites these days. What makes their lives so much more interesting than mine ? Well, sometimes they do go cool places, adopt internationally, move across the world, etc. So I guess they are cooler than me sometimes. But darnit, I've done some cool things too !

And there's the bug...it's bitten and I'm officially blogging. Secretly I think Rachel will catch it too. This is a woman who LOVES to list, chronicle, journal all aspects of our life. We have a "Things to do before we die" list, a list of good meals that she's served, vacation journals, funny things the kids have done, it goes on and on. Admittedly I probably have forgotten about most of them since writing is not my strongest feature.

You know I kinda like this stream-of-consciousness writing/typing thing. Hmmm...maybe this will work. We'll see....

Don't worry, I don't intend on filling this with dribble about work, me, Lazarus and Baby or my latest vehicle purchase; unless I feel like everyone needs to know. Knowing me that will probably apply to everything that happens to me. Sorry for that in advance.

Instead I'll fill it with the people in my life who really are interesting: my wife, kids, dogs, in-laws, parents, friends, on and on. Oh and I'll put in some pics too, for good measure.

Our little family has been through quite a bit of change over the past 10 years. I can't believe it's been 10...wow I've got some catching up to do. Anyway, that's one of the reasons why I titled this blog "Where the Green's Grass Grows." We seem to have adopted moving as a past time so where our grass grows changes; the location, type of grass, growing conditions, yard size, etc. You'll get the more abstract points of that statement later.

It's also the title of a favorite country song. Country music seems to have this romantic weave throughout mine and Rachel's and life (I know I'm supposed to put her first in that sentence, but I couldn't decide it my's was a word, or if it was mine's). It's not particularly top on my list of listenings, but it is something that both Rachel and I can listen to together.

So at the birth of this blog, the Green family is defined as: Jason (30), Rachel (31), Paige (4 1/2), Jake (2 1/2), Lazarus (~70 dog yrs) and Baby (~60 dog yrs). We're living in a small town in northern Illinois, I'm working for a major energy company, Rachel works for a gourmet food/gift store and we're having a great time. I'll save the details for later posts.

4greens

PS-that pic is not in Illinois