I can't even.

You guys. The DMV is no joke. Throw a pandemic on top of it, and watch heads roll. 

My license expired on my birthday, but because of the pandemic the DMV was shut down until early June. When the state reopened the facilities it was to serve only those with expired licenses or those obtaining a license for the first time. I drove past several different facilities several different times only to be discouraged by the lines that were hundreds (yes, HUNDREDS) deep. But last week I decided to bite the bullet and head out to a more rural location. I arrived about an hour before the facility opened and was eighth in line. I had completed my registration online so as to be sure I had all of the necessary documents to obtain my Real ID. So when the doors opened and Suzette, the not-so-chipper employee armed with a megaphone and a visor hat, approached me I was confident that I would be ushered right in to snap a picture, pay my fee, and be on my way all before the sun had come up over the building. Boy. Was. I. Wrong. The state requires you to present, among other things, an original credit card statement from a major credit card (i.e., Master Card, Visa, or American Express), so I showed her my Citi card statement. The statement physically sent to me from Citi card in the mail just days earlier. But, according to Suzette, the DMV door bouncer, that statement needed to also mention somewhere on it that it was a Master Card. Are you kidding me?! Nope. Suzette was not joking. Never mind that I could show her my actual credit card that ended in the same numbers as the account statement and showed a flashy little hologram Master Card emblem. That power tripping crazed beast of a lady would not let me in unless I could find the words "Master Card" on the statement. Clearly Citi did not consult with the state of Illinois DMV when producing its statements as those words just don't exist on my Master Card statement. Ugh. I pleaded to let her look at my car insurance card or my car registration information but neither of those were acceptable forms of ID. Feeling rejected but determined, I hopped in my car, drove the 30 minutes home, and collected every single form of ID I could muster. When I arrived back to the DMV some 60 minutes later, the line was crazy long. I knew it would be, but I also knew that there was a line for "expecting mothers." So I stepped into that line. If there is one thing I have learned over the years, it's that no one is going to question if a woman is pregnant or not. Besides it said "expecting." And I am a mother who was expecting to get my license. And quickly. Bam. By now Suzette was harassing people around the corner, so I had the pleasure of presenting my 857 forms of ID to Carol. Carol informed me that they don't accept photocopies of mortgage statements, to which I replied that the majority of our bills are online (except for our credit card statement, and we all know how terribly wrong things went when I showed that) and that I printed it off my computer. Rather than argue with her about my printer's shitty resolution and smudgy printing capabilities, I thumbed through some other bills and was allowed in to the building on account of my $9.00 recycling bin bill. After waiting inside the building for more than 30 minutes because the computers had since gone down, because why not, I met the real hero of the day: Veronica, the girl who took my cash and told me that my license picture was amazing. And within 90 days, I will receive my new ID and be able to confirm if, in fact, Veronica was just blowing smoke to smooth over what could have only been her 93rd hostile customer of the day.

 

{My old license, clipped to a whole bunch of forms of ID. Some more acceptable than others...}

July Bits

The pieces of our July puzzle.

{Doing the baseball thing. A lot. So great to watch my kiddo play the game he loves! Side note: Mason is NOT a pitcher, but will hop on the mound when given the chance!}

{Doing the football thing. A lot. Strangely, though, I never snapped a picture of my favorite QB doing his thing. But I did grab this picture of his favorite fan!}

{Tumbling. This girl has been practicing her gymnastics like crazy. Among her new skills: the splits and back walkovers. Way to go, Cam!}

{Cousin time. And twinning to the extreme!}

{Gardening. We have picked nearly 200 green beans from our tiny garden this summer. Camryn and Jacob love to pick and eat!}

{Going places. We have been traveling locally on all kinds of wheels to all kinds of nearby destinations.}

{Backyard living. We redid our patio area and have been busy putting the finishing touches on it. We are just a few projects away from being able to completely enjoy it!} 

Squeezing out the most of what is left of our summer!

Like Father, Like Son

It took nearly seven months, but these two were able to knock “meet the deductible” off our list of things to do this year within a week of each other. 

First up: Mason. This kid was complaining of stomach pain for about a week before he asked me to take him to the doctor. An abdominal x-ray later and we were out the door with a “kid needs to poop” diagnosis. We swung through the pharmacy to pick up an arsenal of fiber and prune juice, and this kid was going in no time. Except that he was still complaining of stomach pain two days later. So off to the quick care for the full ringer of tests: urinalysis, blood tests, chest x-ray, and abdominal ultrasound, which would eventually rule out liver, pancreas, appendix, gall bladder, intestine, and heart issues. We went home with the same constipation diagnosis. Glad it was nothing serious, but the kid was still in pain so Caleb worked his massage magic on Mason, and what’d ya know that kid had some tight muscles and a poking rib causing the pain. A quick pop, and Mason was good as new. Next time we will use our free resources before enlisting the help of paid professionals... 

{A picture of the patient about five minutes before the nurse asked him if he feels safe at home, to which he replied, “yes, except when my dad is there...” And now we wait for the state to visit...}

Next up: Caleb. We have been doing quite a bit of landscaping over the past week, and on Saturday while working in the yard Caleb felt faint. I was at the garden store buying plants when he texted me that he wasn’t feeling well and that I should check on him when I get home to make sure he is still alive. I did what every wife would do in that situation: I finished my shopping, but first I called the most responsible child to have him get his dad a Gatorade and then proceeded to come home and unload the next round of plants before checking on Caleb. I can’t fix dead, and if those plants stayed in the hot car they would have been a wilty mess. Then I checked on Caleb. He seemed ok, but asked me to take him to the quick care. Caleb doesn’t typically ask for medical help—except for that one time when he thought his kidneys were failing but it turned out to be the same stomach flu Jacob and I had just battled—so when he asked to go to the ER I figured we best go. His chief complaints: dizziness, weakness, and a full feeling in his heart. We checked in and narrowly escaped being puked on by the patient checking in behind us (enough for me to now feel dizzy and weak...). We were escorted to a room where he had lots of blood taken, a chest x-ray, and all kinds of stickers and wires stuck to him to monitor things. Anyways, long story short: he was dehydrated. 

So, in conclusion: We met our deductible this week with such diagnoses as constipation and dehydration. So very thankful that was all that was wrong. And now that we all know what those feel like, I hope to avoid having to pay to figure that out next time... 

Another Last First

After years of convincing herself that scooters are the only way to ride on two wheels, Camryn has finally broadened her transportation horizons. Despite all of our efforts to teach her how to ride a bike for the past several years, she decided last week to put all of her trust in Papa (the man with two non-bending knees and limited running-alongside-a-bike capabilities) as her teacher. And, by golly, she got it down pat! Since taking off the training wheels, this girl has joined a neighborhood gang of biker chicks and can be seen riding her bike everywhere all the time. She insisted that we ride bikes to the school (more than a mile each way), and I caught her trying out some new fancy moves along the way. 

Way to go, Cam! 

Baseball Busy!

Mason is killin’ it in baseball right now! 

Mason's season is in full swing--finally!--with four games in the past four days. It feels good to be back to sports. And it feels great watching Mason tear it up on the field! He hit two legit home runs in two games, threw a kid out stealing third, and made an out on a guy running home. He looks amazing behind the plate, did well pitching (he is not a pitcher), and is second to none with a bat. I hope this kid stays hot!

{Game recaps. Love seeing his name on there!}

{His coach texted Caleb and me last night. Seems Mason has made marked improvement...}

{After hitting his first homerun on Friday without video evidence, Mason demanded that I record his every at bat. Good call as I was able to catch his second homerun on film for him. I will not apologize for the screams and cheers of a very proud momma!}

July 4th

With all activities shut down for the Fourth--looking at you Covid--Caleb decided to use that as an excuse to buy way too many fireworks for our own neighborhood party! Through our village's police department Facebook page we learned that most fireworks actually are legal in Illinois. Among those that are illegal, however, are Roman Candles. 

{Here are the boys lighting off Roman Candles. Caleb's advice as he handed Mason his first round: Even if it sparks and burns your arm you can't let go of the candle, and you can't wave that arm around to brush off the spark that is burning your arm. Solid safety advice.}

{Camryn stuck with the holiday staples: sparklers and snappers.}

Not pictured: Caleb leading by example by lighting off bottle rockets between his fingers, Mason going against his better judgment and lighting off a whole package of sparklers at once ("Is someone welding down there?" asked a neighbor as an explosion of light lit up the dark sky), and that time Jacob lit off a Jumping Jack that went straight up his shorts. 

When not trying to blow up their bodies, the boys were busy fishing and Camryn was busy making fish faces. 

A fun Fourth for all!

June Wrap-Up

June flew by. Here is us doing the things.

{Red rocks no more. Caleb and I spent a weekend filling a Dumpster to the brim with remaining rocks out of our backyard landscaping. These rocks have been a thorn in Caleb's side since we moved in nearly six years ago. They are now gone, and I have discovered yet another project I will always hire out in the future!}

{This girl. It appears she has gone quarantine crazy!}

{Car parade. Our community has a weekly car show downtown, but it was canceled this year. Thanks, Covid. So to make lemonade out of lemons, the car show now parades through different neighborhoods. And we were able to catch front row seats to fifty classic cars driving down our street a few weeks back. A fun reason to get out of the house!}

{Losing teeth. Mason yanked four teeth during quarantine, and all of them lost a tooth this past week. Losing teeth can be an overly dramatic experience for Camryn, but after she lost her front tooth last night, Caleb made her record a video to her future self with a reminder that losing very wiggly teeth does not actually hurt. Time will tell if she buys into her own words!}

{Pool days every day. My parents installed a heater this summer so the water is kept at a temperature suitable for adults (ahem, me). Double that with dads available to launch kids into the water, and this is turning out to be a pretty solid summer!}

{Nature is all around us! Camryn discovered this group of bunnies living in our front flower bed. And because I care so very deeply about the lives of bunnies, I let the kids play with the bunnies for bit before we delivered them to their new home: The prairie behind our house where I hope they make friends with the hawks and owls that live nearby. The boys have also been doing a bit of fishing. Mason is currently on self-proclaimed hiatus after he hooked a fish by the eye and can't seem to overcome the grief. Rest assured, the empathy he shows fish in a pond far exceeds the empathy he shows for his siblings.}

{Stretching. Camryn is determined to master the splits and has spent several hours watching stretching videos to limber up. Of all our kids, she is the only one who has ever wanted to practice something without being forced to the point of tears. Get after it, lady!}

{Rainbows everywhere! After having a mostly dry June, we finally have had a few rainstorms that have left behind no shortage of rainbows and beautiful sunsets. Love!}

{These two. Camryn and her bestie demanded the need for matching clothes. They came home with these matching gymnastics outfits, which is perfect for all of the hours they spend tumbling together on the trampoline!}