Baptized by Fire, Well Fire Ants

I don't know if you can tell from the picture or not but Grantham was attacked by fire ants. For those of you who are not familiar with fire ants (or people like John who are non-believers in the scene in the new Indiana Jones movie). Here is what happened: Grantham was digging in a mulch pile near our garden when he stepped in an ant's nest. We have tried to teach him to stay out of their path but it was hard to see in the dark dirt (usually ant's nest look like a small pile of sand that has been dumped on top of the grass). He started running and fell saying ANTS! ANTS! John ran over to see what the commotion was about and started knocking the ants off of Grantham. All of this happened in just a few minutes, but if you can make out the picture, Grantham has at least thirty bites. Grantham was such a trooper (I have only had two bites but they burn for a few days, then form into puss pockets and finally scab over). Even after two weeks there are still signs of the "attack." Every time Grantham notices the small bumps on his feet, he ask John or me "Why did the ants do that?" When we try to explain that the ants were scared because he stepped on their house he says "I didn't mean to," or "they (the ants)shouldn't do that." John took the bites as an all out war against all the ants in our yard. I just pray that Grantham never has to go through this again!
On a lighter note, we are settling into the area and rain has brought with it cooler weather. The people here continue to be overly gracious and friendly. Hopefully we will be on more of a schedule soon.

When HOT weather strikes

What is a child to do when the weather never goes below 75 degrees and the highs are hitting 99 and 100 everyday? Grantham and his mommy started going a little crazy until we talked Papa into getting us a few items we will call the Mississippi Summer Survival Kit. I know you are dying to know what we have in our "kit." Well they say pictures can say a thousand words so here we go:

Number 1:

The all important swimming pool - since our neighborhood does not have a pool we decided to improvise with a little 10' x 10' x 2' pool in our own backyard. We don't get the fun of socializing with our neighbors but we can endure the heat outside for an hour or so.

Number 2:

Yes that is an inflatable bouncy toy in our livingroom! Hey you make exceptions when energy levels are at an all time high and you can't be outside too long.

We FINALLY Made It

The Pulcinis are moving up with cable internet instead of dial-up we are ready to keep in touch with the world. With a recent move to Mississippi, our lives feel a little topsyturvy (boxes are still litering the house, there are no pictures on the walls, schedule What is THAT?). I am in a constant internal debate about if I should keep the house "clean" or unpack the boxes that are still piled up. With the high possiblity of moving again in two years, I am begining to wonder if my mother-in-law and sister-in-law are not on to something when they ask me, "Why are you unpacking? The more you leave packed up the less you will have to do in two years." Oh well, I am sure that I will laugh at this when I look back on it in a few months.
Our lives are pretty normal just with new surroundings. John is working at the hospital. He seems to like the allergy/immunology group and the hours are SOOO much better as a fellow than as a resident. I am busy chasing after Grantham who has offically entered the terrible twos (so far we have only managed to isolate ourselves from new people - everyone we meet usually gets a good knock in the head or if they are lucky a punch on the arm). I keep telling myself that other moms understand but from the looks we get I am not so sure. Hopefully this "stage" will end quickly. Grantham and I are keeping busy discovering the town (McDonalds, Chickfila, The Natural Science museum). Have you noticed a trend - everywhere we go is inside. Yes, it is HOT here. In Indianapolis, people hide out for the winter. Here people hide out in the summer. No joke you can start sweating just from walking from your house to your car in the garage. Grantham and I were determined when we first moved to play outside. Within five minutes Grantham was beat red and so sweaty that I thought he had figured out how to turn the water hose on himself. Needless to say we are learning how to stay cool (check back later to see how).
Thanks for checking in with us as we start a new chapter in our lives!