Jesus, Pirates, and the Oregon Trail

we went to the oregon trail museum in baker city this last weekend. my family, the nieces, and in-laws. if you have never been, you should put it on your bucket list. it is way fun and very informative. there are actual horses, buffalo, oxen, sheep that have been stuffed (is taxadermied the right term?) they are set up to look like they are traveling on the oregon trail. there are foot paths you can walk on when the weather is nice and see ruts from the wagons. it is very neat to be in the place where these brave americans ventured out to find a better life.

while we were enjoying the life size wagon train, we talked about how the people had to walk 10-20 miles each day and once the children out grew their shoes, they went barefoot. this is our last field trip of the school year. and we are now enjoying the summer before third grade (gah! third grade? oh time, please slow down, just a bit)

near the end of the display, there is a man driving his sheep. he has a nice staff and about six sheep. of course his hair is long, because there were no barber shops along the oregon trail. Ehm sees the shepherd and yells out “LOOK! I FOUND JESUS! I SEE JESUS, HI, JESUS!” now i am trying not to laugh, because her faith is so perfectly childlike. but Jesus on the oregon trail? then i took a closer look, it does look like the classic pictures of the Savior that are so often portrayed. Ehm was so happy that she got to see “her Jesus.”

then comes the part of the museum where we start our oregon trail adventure starting at independence, missouri. there is a wonderful display of a ship in a box and Baba thinks it is a pirate ship. she has an unnatural fascination with all things pirate and has for over a year now.

right now in the exhibit room there is a life size wagon and foam blocks that are labeled (beans, rice, fine clothes, work clothes, china, grandmother’s clock, chair, bed roll, bedding, linens, gun making supplies, bullets, whiskey, medicine, cast-iron stove, cook ware, bacon, hard tack, dried fruit, trinkets, toys…there are many others to, i can’t recall any more at the moment.) the idea is to pack your wagon making sure not to exceed the weight limit and to make sure you are taking the necessary things and not wasting room on things you would like, but are not necessary. this is a fun way to learn about how difficult traveling would have been. also makes me grateful for all the things i have and feel that i can not live without.

there is a place to put on a puppet show with animal puppets, and a giant magnet word board (this was my favorite), also a dress up corner and a play camera to see what clothes and hats from that time were like.


the kids loved this part a lot. and who doesn’t like dress up?

all in all it was a very educational and super fun time had by all. and now i have shared it with you so now you know the oregon trail started out with pirates  on a ship and ended with Jesus and his sheep.







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i know what you are doing...

this is what evey mother dreads to hear...

"i know what you are doing when you and daddy lock your bedroom door."

"oh, you do? tell me what you think" i tried to remain calm and not hyperventelate because my seven year old daughter has a cute smug expression on her face. meanwhile my mind is racing...what did we do last night? i didn't think we were that loud. good greif her room is clear across the house. yes, daddy-o is my man...mmmm.  oh right "tell me, honey."

"you and dad smook each others faces for a long time. i am glad you lock the door because i think it is gross."

(smook is her made up work for smooch, it has meant "kiss" for the last four years or so.)

"well one day when you get married, you will like to smook with your husband. just be glad that mommy and daddy love each other. it is a good thing for us to smook. " big sigh of releif. oh man, i did not want to get into that subject today...whew.

i do wonder how much she knows, but for now, i think her knowledge is just right. and for now, this is just another pretty dress...



yes, i had to look twice too.  think it is an interesting display.

link up your own true story and join in all the laughter and embarassment with us. thanks for reading...

sweet little piggy toes

a few weeks ago, Ehm asked me to help put her sandals on. when i put her foot into the shoe, she screamed like i was killing her loudly protested. after a close inspection of the shoe, i decided there must be something wrong with her foot.
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sure enough, the big toe was gray on the side. weird. i tried again to put on the shoe, *insert more screaming* but it was no use. i finally just snatched her up and put her into the car with shoes in the diaper bag just in case.
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later that night she kept saying owie, owie, foot. i could not figure it out. so i looked at her foot again to be shocked by discover her in-grown toenail. yes, my dear sweet baby not yet two years old, has an ingrown toenail! What?
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compelled to ease her discomfort, i got out the clippers and rooted around skillfully got to work. there was putrid green and yellow pus oozing from her sweet toe after i clipped away some of  the skin. *you need to know i have had several ingrown toenails myself, so i know how to remedy this sort of owie* while i was torturing helping my sweet baby girl to feel better, she was SCREAMING (yes, in all caps. my ears are still ringing.)
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ever the one to stick her nose into other's business concerned for others welfare, Yah came into my room to see why her sister was so upset. i explained about Ehm's toe and Yah was disgusted enthralled to find out all about it.
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i fixed Ehm's toe and after about a week, it was all better and there was no more protesting about wearing shoes. *insert awe and applause for a job well done*
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just yesterday, Yah told me her foot hurt....yep, you guessed it now she has an ingrown toenail. What? i did not realize ingrown toe nails are contagious. don't come to my house for a while. Yah's poor toe was bright red and festered, i went to get the clippers and she asked me "what are you going to do?" *whimper*
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i reminded her of little sisters toe and what i did to fix it. "oh No, you are NOT going to do that to me." she said in total seven year old defiance.
"yes, i am" i said in the "i mean business" tone that every nurse has used with Yah. i got the clippers and the hydrogen-per-oxide and was about to reach for her foot, when Yah screamed said "wait, wait, wait, i have something i need to ask you." what. "if you just leave it alone, what will happen?"
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your foot will turn into one big oozing, bleeding sore and then dad will cut it off with a saw well...i will have to take you to the doctor and they will give you several shots in your toe and then he will cut on your toe with a knife and then he will poke down inside it with medicine and it hurts really bad and you will scream and cry.
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now Yah's eyes are bugging outta her head and she decides to let "nurse mom" fix her foot. this is going to hurt, but try not to scream, your brother is sleeping and he doesn't feel well, ...and we don't want to scare your sister.
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Yah was very brave and let me fix her toe. she did cry, but not much screaming. then it was Ehm's turn to wonder what mom was doing to big sister. when she understood what was going on, she took off her sock and said "foot owie" (her foot is fine) i thought it was so funny that she needed a band-aid too.
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the kids are staying at grandma and papa's house tonight, as daddy-o and i both have to work. when they got to our house to get the kids, Yah told papa:
"guess what, papa? i finally have my very own in grown toe nail! mom fixed it and put on a band-aid"
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well, isn't that an interesting thing to be proud of?
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thanks for reading...have a great tuesday!

hot tub man

so, here i sit eating chili cheese fritos...how i love them, but i only eat them once in a great while when there is no husband or kids in sight or within smelling distance...which means i eat them at work. i eat my fritos in a nice way, i just hold it in my mouth until all the chili goodness is sucked off. this, i think, prolongs the enjoyment. and also means i will stop with just one small snack sized bag. if i just horked them down, which i have done, i will eat a family sized bag in one sitting! this is not good for my waist line or my cholesterol, but who really keeps track of that until it is life or death? i run the night audit shift at a wonderful hotel...so there is some down time which needs to be filled and tonight the vending machines were calling to me. well i was on the fourth floor any way. a guest came in and said "i want your penthouse suite." i said very upbeat, "sure thing coming right up"...it was then that i realized he was serious...and that he was slightly (or maybe more) intoxicated. i quoted the rate and he didn't blink an eye, just flipped me his card and waited for keys. well i checked him in and wished him a good night. a while later, phone rings "front desk this is christina, may i help you?" hot tub man was on the other line. he says "there is something wrong with this tub in here" i asked what was the problem. "the jet covers keep blowing off" well i have never been in a hot tub that is in a room since my wedding night and i don't remember any thing about the tub, so i offer to move him to a different room. i ask if he wants to get the key or have me bring it to him. he says "well, i'm naked so could you just bring it to me?" ahh...sure. i take him the key and stop by the vending room while waiting for the elevator to come back up, why do they put that room right next to the elevator? oh yeah, convenience, right. so i wilt under the pressure, i am doing a good job at my job so i can have a little treat, a mug root beer and fritos. ahh bliss. phone rings again, hot tub man..."this tub is doing the same thing! i want you to come up here and look at it so you can see what is going on. give us about ten minutes so we can get dressed and then come look." first of all i am freakin out! i have never gone into an occupied guest room. are they planning to murder me, or hurt me? ahhh! deep breath, things are going to be all right. people only do psycho things like kill the desk clerk in the movies...right? right. off i go, still shaking. now to the third floor and in to the room. hot tub wife is on chair, visibly intoxicated. "hi there!" now i know something is wrong...do i stay or do i go? around the corner to the hot tub, full of water. now i get it they are going to drown me and the housekeepers will find me in the morning. "see that right there? that thing keeps coming out" sure enough it is a jet cover. i reach in and screw it back into the tub. "well lets try it again." hot tub man starts the tub and the thingy flies off again. :well sir i an very sorry. i will go and check the tub in a different room and you can move there if you like?" "i came here for a romantic night with my wife and now it is ruined. i don't want to move again. this is just wrong, i want you to comp my room." "well i will have to call my manager, i don't know if i can so that without a manager's code. i can move you, and i will make sure the tub is working before i move you." "no you call your manager and get my room for free. this is not your fault i am not taking this out on you. but i want this to be fixed. this is wrong." "yes sir, i agree, i'm sorry for the inconvenience to you and your wife. i will call my manager and see what i can do to make this right. i will call you back in ten to fifteen minutes." "yeah, you talk to him and get this fixed. and you need to call me and tell me what he said." first of all my manager is a gal. i call mrs h and tell her situation. she says "offer to discount the room. give discounted rate and let them move again if they want. if they choose to stay then charge them for a regular king room since tub is not working." "okeydokie, by the way, sorry for ringing you at 1:00 am, sleep well. see you tomorrow" call hot tub man and tell him what manager said he is very and i mean very upset. "i want this to be a free room, i am trying to have a romantic night with my wife and now it is ruined!" "well, i can move you again, or you can stay where you are and i will give you x rate." "i want to stay where i am. do you think that $40 is going to make a difference? i will not move again. do not change the rate of my room, i will come down in the morning and talk to your manager face to face and i will work this out myself." "ok i will leave your rate the way it is and you can talk to my manager in the morning. have a good night sir." wow now i am really glad that i got these fritos. i did need some comfort food, i know that you aren't supposed to turn to food for the answers, but it is 1:30 in the morning and everybody that i would normally talk to are all sleeping, it seems selfish to wake them. oh no, the phone is ringing again! hot tub man again! "hey, how do i get this tv to show me my dvd?" *sigh of relief* "well sir, simply push the source button and blah blah blah." "sure 'nuff there it is, great." i am now out of fritos...maybe i will get some more, it has been a stressful night. ok i will write out my experience as a way to distract myself...right, good idea. this is the responsible option right? interesting side bar: my relief in the morning is a guy, j. hot tub man will think the manager is a guy...hahaha.

just for the record, this is an older post, but it is true and i thought it was funny. join in the tst fun click on the button to see other stories and to add yours as well.