1. Glasses.
*sigh*
There will be a day when I will no longer have to wonder/worry/fret/despair/go into debt over glasses.
That day has not yet come.
The problem is, dear readers, that my Handsome Dude is not yet ready in the cognitive department to be responsible for a pair of $260 glasses. However, when he does not wear his glasses, this is what happens to his eyes:
The weaker one turns in. If he does not wear his glasses, the weak eye will get worse and might become lazy. And I feel I owe it to my son to not allow his eye to go lazy.
I am failing. But I am trying.
I’ve started patching. I am constantly searching for glasses. I am constantly scrubbing dirt and peanut butter off the glasses. I am trying to teach him to be responsible with his glasses.
But what can you expect from a boy who declares his favorite colors to be “ornange” and “star?”
2. Handsome Dude has 3 pairs of glasses.
Pair #1-Broken.
Pair #2-Broken and scratched
Pair #3-Missing for over a week.
I went to the optical office with the first two pairs. Pair #1 can never be repaired.
*Let us have a moment of silence*
Pair #2 can be temporarily fixed but I was told repeatedly that they will break again soon and the scratch is pretty bad.
Pair #3-still missing
I must order a new pair.
Fun Fact: We lost our vision insurance in April.
3. Sweet Pea’s glasses have been missing for over a month.
I must order a new pair.
Reminder of a fun fact: We lost our vision insurance in April.
I love the lady that helps us there. She has been helping us since Sweet Pea was two. She gave me each pair at half price.
Holla, Optical Lady!
Holla!
So, two new glasses are on the way.
3. After we ordered the glasses, we went to our old house . . . you know . . . the one we use as a rental, to clean it for our next group.
Guess what Daisy Mae found in the backyard?
Handsome Dude’s missing pair of glasses.
Let us pray for all the glasses that come in and out of his little world.
*Amen*
4. The rental biz is working out nicely, albeit exhausting. Between June 23 and August 22 we had 8 bookings! And we have monthly renters coming in from September through May, and then we will do vacation renters again in the summer months.
5. I am kind of sick of the vacation renter concept and ready for a break. It is a lot of cleaning. And with homeschooling looming around the bend, I would like to not have that extra worry in my life.
6. News of good tidings! I am kind-of-sort-of-maybe getting excited about homeschooling!
7. News of sad tidings! I am kind-of-sort-of-maybe terrified of homeschooling.
8. I threw caution to the wind and put huckleberries on my oatmeal this morning.
It was like Christmas for my tastebuds.
Huckleberries are delicious. They are just a drag to go get.
Do not, I repeat, do not, inform my husband that I used the precious berries so frivolously.
9. My kids pronounce huckleberries like, “HAWK-le-bewies.”
Raise your hand if you have noticed that this post has been . . . pointless.
This is because I didn’t want it to seem all about the next portion.
Which is, in fact, the whole reason for this blog post.
Brace yourselves.
10. Last night, my husband went huckleberry picking. He came home and was cleaning the berries and putting them in the freezer bags. We were chatting.
Or, more accurately, I was chatting and he was feigning interest in what I was prattling on and on about.
Suddenly, I looked at his face.
Me: Dude! Your forehead is cut!
LJ: Yup.
Now, this is not rare. He is always coming home with cuts and scrapes, missing fingernails, and bandaged wounds from where a nail gun went through his hand.
My Lumberjack? Injured?
It ain’t no thang.
Me: When did you get that?
LJ: Huckleberry picking.
Me: How?
LJ: A squirrel jumped out of the brush and attacked me when I was picking.
Me: NO! Really?!?
LJ: Yes, Taylor
Me: Oh, that’s fantastic! Can I please take a picture?!
LJ: Whatever, Taylor.
Me: It might end up in my blog.
LJ: I am sure it will, Taylor.
Me: Oh, but it is so funny!
LJ: Whatever, Taylor.
Me: Speaking of my blog, you should read it today.
LJ: Why?
Me: Because Running Bear loves Little White Dove.
LJ: You are a dork.
Me: At least I did not get attacked by a squirrel.
***
Happy Thursday!
Hahaha! I cannot believe a squirrel attacked him! What is with these forest rodents?! I have one climbing up my arm, he’s got them attacking him, who know’s what’s next? I can’t even imagine cleaning for a vacation rental too. I really hope that when your finances allow you will be able to get someone to do the vacation rental cleaning for you. You should at least price it out, so you know how much it would cost, and then pay yourself that amount (or at least half) out of the rental proceeds. Or something. At the very least you should eat huckleberries on your cereal EVERY MORNING. So there, lumberjack. 🙂
Oh my gosh?! Did the squirrel have rabies? That isn’t normal small animal behavior.
Colby has worn glasses since he was 15 months old. Sometimes I pray that our future babies won’t need glasses at that age. The thought scares me.
Marla @ http://www.asthefarmturns.wordpress.com
Maybe you could convince your kids that the cool thing to do is to duct tape them to their heads each day?
I need more details about this squirrel attack.
Mindee is a genius, yet again.
Glad you’ll have some steady renters through the winter months! That should make things a lot easier for you.
Alex had her kindergarten physical the other day. I was keeping my fingers crossed during the vision exam. I started wearing glasses in the third grade, and after reading all of your glasses trials, I was hoping to avoid it.
We’re good for now…
I double love you. Seriously. I think I should come and stay with you for a few days and just giggle from morning to night. I think my cheeks would hurt from smiling.
I love that you were so sneaky with the huckleberries. Although, I think you should be careful because LJ may have counted said berries. Ooooohhhh…trouble.
I’m sorry that big mean squirrel attacked his face. I do think it was hilarious in a really caring kind of way.
Could you make some sort of glasses strap thing to keep them on that make him think he is a pirate or a cowboy or a knight and then he would keep them on. Maybe??? Just a suggestion. Just a helpful little suggestion from the lady who does not wear her own glasses. Can you make me a strap thing too? A princess one would work for me. ha haaa haaaaahaaa.
Lovesies.
i knew i was creeped out by squirrels for good reason!! is “creeped” a word…my spell check doesn’t recognize it! have you ever tried America’s Best for the glasses? they are really inexpensive but i am not sure about kids.
I love this post! Poor Mama with all those broken glasses. I’ve worn them since I was six, so I have mangled a few pair in my day, but nothing quite like your kiddos!
And let no one tell you have squirrels aren’t aggressive! We used to have some on campus that would throw things and to make matters worse they were twice the size of a normal looking squirrel! Poor Lumberjack!
Great post! I’m still laughing! Your conversations with LJ are just too funny!!
Did you seriously really call LJ “Dude”?
The squirrel probably thought that LJ was stealing his berries! LOL. 😀 As a side note, the squirrel just scratched him, right? If it bit your man, then he probably should take himself to the ER and get rabies shots.
#1 – you are not a dork.
#2- I firmly believe you should gobble up every single huckleberry on the day you bring them home, until LJ no longer thinks it is worth the trouble to pick them.
#3 – you are not a dork.
My precious niece and nephew both wear glasses because their one eye turns in a condition which runs in their father’s side of the family…luckily he works for Transit and they pay for glasses. But I do sympathize with you on this.
BTW…did you get a photo of scratch from squirrel attack?? POOR LJ, polysporin and then vitamin e.
My dad used to warn me of attacking squirrels when I was growing up! He was kidding, and it still traumatized me. Now that I’m a big girl and have gotten over my fear, I read your post.
My poor kids will never be able to wander in a forest without full body gear.
Very funny post!
Wow, you exhaust me Taylor! You have a gift girl – a gift of seeing a humorous side to everything – and THAT will get you through this life with all of it’s challenges! And we will all get to enjoy the ride with you!
Is there some way to attach glasses to a cool looking lanyard for the kiddos? Anything to avoid buying more of them!
I’d be scared about the squirrel injury: rabies, distemper…who knows?
My husband had a squirrel run across the road while he was on his motorcycle…I guess husband was in the way because he ran up husband’s leg, across his lap, and jumped off. Strange, but true.
The visual from this just made me giggle out loud..that’s a rarity, I usually only giggle on the “inside” 😉
First of all you may be a dork, but I happen to think that all of the best people are dorks…And, yes, I just watched the new Alice in Wonderland, which was surprisingly good….
Second of all, I had lots of other thoughts, but they all flew out the window at the thought of a squirrel attack, and the fear of rabies…
Will you sequester him in the barn and shove food in through a hole for a few days to ensure he’s not a danger to anyone? I hear that’s what they did in the olden days! I’m pretty sure that’s what Little White Dove would have done to Running Bear!
Here’s a link with photos of the glasses my friends have for their one year old. They are really flexible and have a strap option which helps keep them on. The brand is Lafont Pour les Bebes (sounds fancy, I know) and my friends, who are also on a budget, LOVE them. http://www.allaboutvision.com/whatsnew/img_frames/lafont-bebe.htm
While my brother and I were in college he started a club aptly entitled “the I touched a squirrel club.” Not kidding – there were t-shirts and everything. If you touched a squirrel you got to be in the club. Keep in mind there were big fat squirrels all over campus that weren’t too scared of humans college people. Your husband touched (or got touched by) a wild squirrel. He would have been our leader!
Bahahaha!! Funny stuff.
I still say rent a cleaning company to do the rental!
or, you know, HIRE a cleaning company…
my goodness, with all of today’s technology can’t they make a pair of glasses that a child can’t break??? you should come up with something and patent it and makes oodles and gobs of money and then share the wealth!!! =) have you tried a strap that hold them snuggly to his precious little head?? i’m sure you have but i had to ask just in case….happy thursday!!!
I HATE squirrels! Since I was like 15 years old, I HATE squirrels. You know Monty Python and the Holy Grail and how they are afraid of the rabbit? That’s me with squirrels, only it’s not that I’m afraid. it’s more that I HATE THEM!
Now i hate them even more! Tell Lumberjack to take his shotgun with him when he goes huckleberry picking! KILL the squirrels!!! KILL them I say.
Huckleberries definitely are precious, which is why it sucked when my sister would eat half the bucket while we were picking.
I too am a little concerned about LJ…if the skin is broken I’d see a dr. Squirrels are nasty.
We have a chipmunk (or two or maybe ten) that has been having a grand old time playing inside the tubing running out from the gutter. It’s under our deck and my dog has taken to squeezing herself under the deck and then laying in stealth attack mode with her nose to the ground at the end of the tube just waiting to grab that chipmunk. Yesterday I may have had to squeeze myself under there too to get her out. It was not pretty and I am not cut out for this much rural. I used to spend my days sipping tea in London. Now I am face down in the leaves and dirt and who knows what (shudder) under my deck wrestling a dog and trying hard not to be bitten by a chipmunk/possum/fox/bear. What has happened to my life???
Have a nice weekend!
regarding HD’s glasses…can children wear contacts?? Or is that like completely impossible? I do not wear contacts or glasses (20-20, baby! yeah!) nor do I have any children (and I’m totally clueless about children) so maybe this is the dumbest suggestion of all time, but could HD start wearing contacts??
Feel free to just point and laugh at this question if it’s totally ridiculous and remind yourself that you were at one point also completely clueless about children. But it’s just a thought.
I over heard two women at the next table in Applebees… One was telling her son’s woes of losing/breaking glasses and the other told her when her son went through that phase she discovered Wal-Mart optical has a “glasses insurance” and they replace them “no questions asked”… I don’t know the details or even how true this is, but I thought of you when I heard this… (Don’t ask why I was eavesdropping at Applebees… It’s another story for another day…)
Ditto all the comments about keeping a close eye on scratch. Keep it clean with peroxide; and yes, they do have unbreakable glasses for kids and for decades there have been elastic straps for kids glasses to keep them on. Perhaps lumberjill likes livin on the edge like her ma.