Pace's Phobia

(As always, the pictures are not cooperating with the text.  The swim pictures are just because I thought you might have missed seeing pictures of my kids in the pool and at the beach.  I know you probably got used to your daily dose of them and have been going through withdrawals.......)

(This post's capitalization is dedicated to Annette and Ellie.  Thanks for still being my friends even though I am capital-deficient.)

Okay, so, somehow I did not equate summer vacation with no time to blog, but it seems that with all 5 kids home all day, I have lost that little spot in the day that was reserved for my blogging time.  I am working on getting it back.  Negotiations with the children are pending.  I just sent them all away (not even nicely:  "Go do something.  I am going to blog.").  We'll see how long it lasts.  (Note to Annette and Ellie--I just had to go back and re-do the capitalization because I forgot about it.  I hope you are appreciating all this hard work and dedication.)

Besides having all the kids home from school, I have also been very, very, very busy (happily) doing online scrapbooking.  I have finally found my scrapbooking ideal.  When I realized I was really, really, really behind with all my scrapbooks (stuck in 2004), I decided I needed a realistic option to turn to.  Long story short--three weeks after starting an online book for Gwyneth, I have caught her up to when school ended this year.  Not bad, eh?  I don't mind patting myself on the back for that one.  Hope you don't mind.   I'm getting ready to start Liesel's book now.  I'm very excited about the prospect of having all 5 children's books all done.  Hooray for Blurb!!!  (Thanks Liza for coming out to get me started.)

Also, we have been busy little bees getting all our "hurricane preparedness" things ready.  This is a big deal here.  I guess we'll see how good we were at it when the first hurricane hits!  I have to admit, though, that I really do enjoy doing 72-hour kits.  All those little trial-sized tubes of things really appeal to me.

Okay, enough about all that.  Onto Pace's Phobia.

We discovered recently that Pace is frightened of battery-operated things that move.  The biggest offender is a large dump truck that can drive by itself.  Pace hates it.  We had to take it outside and leave it there.  He checks out the window all the time to make sure it's staying put.  I didn't know he was so scared of it until I noticed that he would never walk past it--one day he got trapped in the playroom because it was in the entryway just outside the room.  He kept calling me to come "hold you" and I kept telling him I was right in the kitchen and he could come to me and then I would hold him.  Finally I went into the playroom to see what was going on, and he was peeking around the corner--I could tell he was gauging whether or not he could make it past the dump truck.  The sad thing is, he loved playing with this truck (he got it from a neighbor for his birthday) until he discovered it moved on its own.

He's also terrified of this little fake-pet gerbil we have that has wheels and a battery so it can "run" around in a gerbil ball.  I had to put it up on the fridge, out of sight, before Pace would let me put him down.  

Apparently we didn't introduce him to battery-powered toys at a young enough age.  I think he doesn't understand why they suddenly start moving.  We all think it's funny.  Until he won't let me put him down.  Then I think that he'd better hurry and grow out of this stage.