Kitchen Oops

Youngest daughter: More syrup, please.

Oldest son: These pancakes don't taste like usual.

Me: They are the same- eat them.

Youngest daughter: More syrup.
(Gave more syrup)

Oldest child: They really don't taste the same.

Oldest daughter: These don't taste good, Mom.

Me: Just eat them; just because they aren't the same, doesn't mean they aren't good.

Oldest child: They really aren't good, Mom. On my second bite I had to drink my whole cup of milk to swallow it.

Youngest daughter: More syrup.


Light finally dawns on me that I grabbed the box of baking soda when I made my mix this morning rather than baking powder . . . OOPS!

Me (in my mind as I swoop up plates to hand out replacement breakfasts): No, they really DON'T taste the same.

Poor little one who kept eating as long as she had "more syrup"!!

I have made that little mix-ups two other times- once in high school cooking class and once in college or early married years. Hope it is another good while before I do it again! Sorry kids!

Guilty

of pretending that I can't hear my children screaming (with delight) and that I don't know they are playing on my bed (maybe even hanging from the ceiling fan!?) so I can get some things done around the house.

(sigh)

Maybe Your Kid Shouldn't Come

over after all!

One of Alexa's friends came home with us after school today as her mom was having a procedure done today and needed a bit of help with the logistics of her five kiddos! We had a great afternoon- snacks, playtime outside, playtime inside, and some good 'ole Tom and Jerry on the tv.

However, when it was time to take her home, I took her to the wrong house! No one was home for us to be too embarassed, but when we pulled up, she said, "I have never lived in this house!" It was too cute. She wasn't upset or overly forceful, but she knew it didn't look right.

Why did I take her to the wrong house?

Well, I have picked her up and dropped her off one other time. I knew which neighborhood, and I knew she lived next to the neighborhood playground. I was thinking she was the house across the street from the playground which put the playground in her front yard. She actually lives in the house on the next block which puts the playground almost in her back yard. Oops! The house layouts (at least from the outside) are exactly the same, so I really thought I was in the right place.

Oh well . . . we didn't seem to upset her and I had a good laugh about it. Just a warning though to any other people out there who haven't brought their child to our house before . . . you might use caution after all!

(In case the signficance of this post escapes you, keep reading to my post from last Friday.)

A Great Compliment

Someone we have a casual relationship with dropped off their child at our house this evening for some play time. When invited, the mom asked if she could stick around for a while. I said that was fine, she could stay as long as she wanted for her and/or her child to feel comfortable. She came in, she visited for a few minutes, and left. Before leaving, she mentioned that she had asked one her friends to ask her husband (who apparently works in the athletic dept) if he would let his kids play at our house. He said "Yes, there is no question about that!" Apparently that was the only confirmation she needed, because other than ask what movie we would be watching, she seemed more than comfortable leaving her son after a quick good-bye to him.

I know our family isn't perfect, but it is nice to know that people I don't even know that well (I don't even know the guy she asked) recognize Rob and I as being responsible, trustworthy people.

Why is it . . .

that some of the foods I enjoy most are ones my kids can't seem to stand?!

I made chicken pot pie yesterday which is totally one of my favorites -definitely something I would put in the comfort food category- but not a single one of my kids enjoys it. Three of them had their obligatory bite to be excused from the table, and the other picked through and ate a few bites - but that was it. Seriously?! I don't even consider my kids to be all that picky either. They definitely have favorites, but for the most part are good sports about eating (at least trying) most things.

So, last night, even though the five of us sat down to eat dinner together, it was kind of a lonely meal because I was the only one eating. :(

I am surprised none of them woke up at 4:00 a.m. hungry for breakfast!

Goings On

Things have been busy around here . . .

Gymnastics once a week for the three youngest kiddos.

Robbie had his first flag football practice and game this week - too cute! I loved it!

I have started teaching the two year old Sunday school class at church, and it is so much fun! Those little people are so sweet and ready just to soak up whatever I have to say. I'm so glad we got the class started. So exciting!

Still pondering my cousin's death and her four little children at home with their dad.

My good friend Kelly's five year old has been in and out of the hospital with pneumonia and plueral efusion and now has a chest tube in. Her other two boys are staying with friends for the weekend while she and her husband are with the middle son at the hospital in Indianapolis.

My day baby wasn't feeling so good this week - lots of teeth coming in, lots of drool, much crying. By Friday, he was starting to feel better though - yea, sweet boy!

Rachel and Robbie have had a fever in the last two weeks- gone after just one dose of medicine with no additional symptons. ??

Rob, Cole, and I have all had congestion, cough, sore throats, but no fever. The boys are over it; I am in it right now.

Alexa is the only one who has stayed completely healthy, but she is so worn out and still adjusting to this routine of all day school, that by Thursday each week she is about ready to crack. She made it through another week though and is doing great!

Robbie got his mid-term grades for the first quarter- they range from 92% in one class to 100% in six classes to 102% in yet another. I know, I know . . . he really needs to work on that 92%! Never fear, we will get things under control! :)

We hosted Rob's mom last weekend while she came for a visit. Always nice to have her here with us, and the kids definitely enjoy the extra attention! Robbie said when she left, "It won't be as much fun jump roping without Grandma here!"

Well, that is all that I think I want to share for now. I am going to go to bed because it is very late, and I shouldn't even be up right now. I've gotta be fresh for my little two year olds coming to class tomorrow! Good night!

One of my Biggest Fears

Although as a mother I would hate to see anything bad happen to my children, I think I am most fearful of something happening to me so that I would not be there for my children. I know that probably sounds extremely self-centered in that I am the only one that can take care of them. But, really, I am their mother and who better to care for them than me?!

Anyway, this post is showing up today because yesterday, a cousin of mine passed away . . . leaving four young children behind.

For those of you who know me well, my family is a bit spread out so to speak. My dad left when I was two, and although I have stayed in contact with him, it has been quite a while since I have been close to any of the rest of his family - not due to problems . . . just the business of life with too much to do, too much distance to cover, "too many" families to try to visit. Anyway, it was the daughter of my biological dad's brother who died. Just within the last year she was diagnosed with leukemia -while pregnant with her fourth child.

What I have inserted below is the email I got from my dad's wife this morning with the news. (I had received a call yesterday afternoon that she was in a medical induced coma as the doctors were trying to fight the infection but it was not looking good.)


Your dad is going to call you today. Annie was taken off of life support at 7:00 last night and died at 7:10.

This is so terribly hard. She went into remission from the leukemia after her first chemo, and she only had one chemo left. She beat the cancer, but died from the effects of the treatment. She was, like you, a stay-at-home mom with four kids, one only a few months old. I just keep thinking it wasn’t her time to go.

One thing I have learned in the last few months is how important it is to tell your loved ones that you love them every time you see them or talk to them. The last time I saw Annie, I hugged her and told her I love her and that I was very proud of her. I didn’t get to say goodbye to her like I did Patty and Jerry, but at least I know that the last thing I said to her was that I love her.

As a side note, Patty (my dad's half-sister)and Jerry (his brother)also passed away this year- Patty in March, Jerry just last month. It has been a rough year for the family.

Esther

One of the two books of the Bible named after a woman.

Part of the Bible I have studied before.

A book of the Bible that doesn't once use the word "God".

A Jewish woman who married a heathen king to save her people.

The name of the new Bible Study I just started at church today . . .

and am very excited about. The lesson I am doing this time is from Beth Moore -whom I love- and is different than my previous study. I will have to get out my old book and notes though to refresh what I learned the last time.

It takes a lot of work to really do a Beth Moore study as there are five days of homework lessons during the nine week series. The Women's group I meet with gets together every Wednesday for an hour and a half to do the weekly video series and for discussion. I am not deterred though!

I joined this group two and a half years ago, but then took a hiatus last year while I was watching my day baby as I opted to attend the Mom's Group that also meets at our church and didn't feel right about leaving him two mornings a week in someone else's care since I was getting paid to care for him. I haven't changed my views on that, but this year I have decided to do the Bible Study group instead. I really missed it last year, so I am very excited to be back with this unique and special group of ladies and to learn a lot. You might even get stuck hearing about it every now and then.

Breaking In and Branching Out

After a not quite hysterical, but certainly concerned, phone call to Rob this afternoon, I was finally able to get Cole out of his room!

The short background story- The door knob on Rachel and Cole's room has been dysfunctional for a while. It has worked out pretty well though because they can't open it - kind of like a built-in child-proof lock. Every now and then, it is a little tough for me to open as well, but generally with a jiggle or tug, I can get it.

Today- Cole woke up from his nap and couldn't get his door open (expected), but neither could I (unexpected). I tried for about five minutes -which felt like 30 minutes!, and even Robbie gave it a few good efforts. Finally I called Rob, apologized for the interruption to his work day, and asked his advice.

First suggestion: Open the window; I hadn't checked it because I was fairly certain it was locked, but I did check it.

It was locked.

Next suggestion: Use a hammer and bang on the door knob.

Did it - once, twice, three times, four times . . . finally it gave way and I was able to open the door.

Whew!

Poor Cole. He was not panicked or all that upset, but he was crying a little and he has a really scratchy voice right now, so it sounded pretty pathetic.

He was happy as soon as he was released.

I took the doorknob off immediately.

We went to Wal-Mart before dinner to buy a new one.

I installed it while waiting for the water to boil.

Installing the new knob was a first for me, and if I do say so, I did a fine job!

I even bought a door knob with a lock and put it on the outside of the room to be the new child-proof lock. Robbie (and Alexa) have been instructed to NEVER lock the door and only to unlock the door if they have been specifically asked to do so by Rob or I.

One More Thing to Do . . .

NOT FORGET TO GO PICK UP MY KIDS AFTER SCHOOL!!!

Busy Time of Year

. . . okay, I will admit that there really doesn't seem to be an "un-busy" time of year . . . EVER . . . but sometimes I seem busier with out-of-the-ordinary tasks (Spirit Week at school or VBS at church, for example) and sometimes it is due to new things being added to the agenda. This time it is more due to the "new" things that is leading me to feel "busy". And although it doesn't really matter to anyone else and is not all that enlightning or entertaining, I am going to list some of the things that come to mind because it will help remind me why I shouldn't be spending rest time (the kids' rest time, that is) sitting at my computer.

I sent two kids back to school today.

I have an extra one at home; he came back on Tuesday. :)

I am working on hiring new people for the nursery at church.

I am working on new literature for the nursery - brochures, procedures, signage, etc.

I am planning curriculum for the two year old Sunday school class I will start teaching in September.

I need to be ready to prep the materials for new curriculum that will be used for the 3-4 year old children's church for September.

I need to clean out some spaces at church that are used for nursery and children's church materials. (Clutter seems to become overbearing after a few years.)

I need to start actually paying attention to our budgeting now that tuition payments have started again!

The kids are also signed up for activities this fall which is the first time I have ever done that. With it being football season, it always seems busy enough, but. . .

Robbie is old enough so I think he will handle it just fine. He is really interested in football, therefore, he will be playing flag football through our YMCA starting in September. It is a short, informal season but should be a lot of fun.

Alexa is going to continue gymnastics for at least the first nine weeks of school. She has been doing a great job with it and really enjoys it. It seems like it has been good for her confidence, and I think she enjoys having something that is just for her.

Rachel and Cole will continue for a while with their morning "gym play" class as well. We go on Mondays when I don't have my extra one in tow, and they really like it. I enjoy it as well since it is something special to do with them that is just about them.

Just a normal kid

Lest anyone think my seven year old is anything other than just a normal kid, here is a quote from him this morning as we were riding in the van--

"When I grow up, I am going to teach people to burp the ABCs and toot."

Wow! He sure knows how to make his mother proud! :)

Earlier in the ride, he did say something quite a bit cuter that showed some intelligence which I was much more pleased to hear and that was--

He said something and used the word grazing.

Five year old sister asks, "What is grazing?"

Reply, "Peacefully eating grass in the field."

I know I'm his mother, but I thought that was a sweet (and accurate) answer.

On second thought . . .

maybe they do need more structured activities!

(Note the last sentence of paragraph 1)

Trip to the Hearing Clinic

Although I sometimes ask my older children if their ears are working, today's trip had nothing to do with them. Rob and I decided, however, that we should probably get Coley's ears tested. He has some apparent speech delays (which could be attributed to any number of things- I expound on this below), but it made sense to first have his ears checked. We have been considering this for a while now, and finally a few weeks ago I called and got an appointment.

Today was the day! I called earlier in the week to get an idea of how long the appointment would last and what exactly they would be doing so I could make appropriate plans for our day and prepare Cole a bit for this new experience. I did a mini (non scientific) simulation last night with all four kids. I also took Robbie along while my mom stayed with the girls.

Why did I bring Robbie? Sometime after I made the appointment and made arrangements for my mom to come over, I realized Cole has NEVER gone anywhere with just me. We ALWAYS have at least one other child with us. If there are only two kids along, it is usually Rachel, but there are times we have split up in other combos, but anyway, I digress. I was a bit concerned (and maybe without cause) that if I took him away from home by himself, to a strange, new place, to meet this new person (the audiologist), and had him do strange new things, it might freak him out a bit. Robbie was not allowed to go in the room with us, but the receptionist said it would be fine to bring someone else along as long as he/she would be comfortable sitting alone in the lobby during the exam . . . thus Robbie being the best choice, and he was more than willing to do it. It was a good thing we did too because we had to wait 30 minutes in the waiting room which wasn't really a kid friendly place, and although he wasn't upset, Cole did keeping say "go home" every few minutes.

We did finally get back to the exam room, and Cole did awesome! At 2 1/2 years, he was fell in the inbetween stage between two different kinds of testing methods. After doing the first one and it being fairly conclusive, but not quite exact, the audiologist explained the next level of testing but thought he might not be old enough to do it. I said he would likely be able to do it, and with some hesitation she completed that test as well. He did GREAT! That's my boy!

It confirmed her results from the first test that he can hear (and respond) like any other hearing two year old. He could hear all noises within speech range and high pitches as well. Results were somewhat inconclusive/inconsistent on low range sounds, but even if he really couldn't hear those, it wouldn't be affecting his speech at all. YEA!!

Why did we feel the need to do this?

We knew he could hear; he does respond to conversations, directions, etc. But just because he can hear, doesn't mean he is hearing the same way everyone else hears which could affect how he produces speech sounds.

Like I mentioned above (and anyone who is around him can tell) he is not all that chatty. The number of words he uses is significantly less than the average child his age.

Examples: A week before his second birthday, he was probably only saying 10 words regularly. No two word phrases, or anything- just the basics . . . mom, dad, ball. A week after his second birthday, he added another five words, and shortly after another five words. An average two year old, however, is saying at least 30 words and beginning to combine words- mommy go, play outside.

Examples from our other children: At age two, Robbie was saying around 100 words and could carry on some form of conversation with me. At age 18 months, Alexa was saying 150 words and having complete conversations! At age two, Rachel was using about 50-60 words and using multiple two word combos.

Anyway, he has continued to add words to his vocabulary, but his language is still somewhat stilted. He does have several pairs of words that sound the same such as show/shoe and hoola-hoop/swimsuit (strange one, I know! They both kind of sound like "hoo-hoot") which is typical for early talkers, but can be frustrating for him when we aren't sure which one he is trying to say. Just in the last couple of weeks (AFTER I made the appt., of course) has he started to put words together. (yippee!)

Moving on, I think he will develop just fine; he is just going to do so at his own pace. The next step if we have concerns is to have him see a speech pathologist. My feelings right now are to wait a bit seeing as he has made some big improvements over the last month, but I will continue to stay in tune with how he is doing.

What are the other possible reasons for his speech delay?
(I did promise to cover this earlier)

-He is the youngest child in the family.
-He is a twin.
-He is a boy.

Any one of those factors increases a child's chance to have issues with speech delay, and all three are true for him.

For now, we will just encourage him to keep talking -and tell the other kids not to talk for him- to see what he can do! He is such a sweet boy and has really enjoyed being able to communicate better over the last month. I don't want to rush him for something he is not ready to do, but I don't want him to be frustrated and not have the support he needs (if he needs it).

Fun Stuff

Although I love arts and crafts, I don't always spend the time to do a lot with the kids. They do painting with water colors and coloring rather often, but beyond that we don't always get motivated to get more inventive. I have a TON of books with activity ideas, so I don't even really need to be inventive, I just need to get out the supplies (which we have a TON of as well). They just do so darn well playing together with their own games and activities, they don't seem to need a lot of direction from me. Anyway . . .

Last week a friend came to stay with them while I went to a "thing" and she did a fun craft with them. It involved using shaving cream and food coloring- so not for the faint of heart. :) You can find the directions HERE and check out some of the finished products below.



This week (although it doesn't take much creativity), we taped a big piece of paper to the wall in our entryway area, and the kids created an ocean mural. We haven't painted the ocean water on yet, but you can get a glimpse of the critters in the photos below, some more recognizable than others depending on the age of the artist.





Yesterday, the big kids were coloring and they each put their finished products into envelopes to share. Their envelopes were so cute, I had to take a picture of those that I included here too.

Looks can be deceiving

If you looked around my house this morning around 9:30 a.m., you would have seen two kids in pajamas and three kids in clothes. The kids in pajamas were in no rush to get dressed and only did so when I told them "it was time" because we needed to run a quick errand to church.

Your assumption may be that the two pajama clad children (a 5 year old girl and 2 year old boy) were the last lazy ones to get up, and the other two were the early birds who had gotten past the "just woke up phase".

*If you are good at math, you would know that 2+2=4, and I mentioned five kids above. The "extra" kid was my day baby who is back for a couple of days this week. He came dressed and was probably up earlier than any of my kids, so he doesn't really count in this scenario.

Anyway, if you were to make such assumptions you would be quite wrong. Cole (the two year old boy) wakes up the earliest every morning, and he is generally the last to be interested in getting dressed. Alexa (the five year old girl) also tends to get up early, and -although she loves to wear cute clothes- is more than content to lounge around and play in her pajamas until she must get dressed. Robbie (7) and Rachel (2) would prefer to sleep longer, but as soon as they are up, they are ready to get dressed.


As a side note, while I have noticed definite differences between boys and girls that I do think are due to nature (you know in the whole nature vs. nurture debate), I feel like Robbie/Rachel and Alexa/Cole have more similar personalities than do 'the boys' and 'the girls'. This is one example of how those personalities come to light each day.

As a second side note, I am not really look forward to next week being 'back to school' and everyone having to get dressed each morning in a timely manner. Just one of the reasons I wish summer vacation could continue!

HOT TAMALES! -or- WHAT WAS I THINKING?!

I was just in the attic looking through shoes, clothes, and such to see what I could pull down for kids to start wearing now or soon. I actually enjoy this kind of task as I enjoy looking forward to what is to come, but I get little glimpses of the past as I look at things my big kids used to wear that my little kids will get to wear soon.

Back to the title of the post. I was in the attic at 4:00 p.m. in 93 degrees/feels like 102 degrees. It probably doesn't need to be said, but it was VERY HOT in the attic and I came down dripping wet.

The task is done, and I was able to retrieve some good stuff that I am sure the kids will be excited to see!

Discontinued

I seem to have troubles with finding a product that I like, and then soon after I discover it, it becomes discontinued.

Although it probably doesn't need to be said, THIS IS FRUSTRATING!

It happens with all sorts of products- food, styling products, make-up, cleaning supplies . . . you name it, and if I have used it and liked it - it is unlikely to be sold in stores anymore!

Okay, so maybe it isn't quite that bad, but it has happened often enough that I somewhat scared to try something new for fear that I will like it and be disappointed yet again when I can no longer find it on the shelves of my local store.

Some products I have liked well enough to search on-line to order from somewhere else or retreive from some ebay seller, but most often I just sigh and carry on.

Now, I will admit that some items I refer to were clearance items that I got because they were a good deal, but definitely not ALL (or even the majority) have been obtained in that situation.

The moral of the story may be: If you know me and are making, selling, promoting a product, don't give it to me to try!

(sigh)

Brown Bag Lunches

School starts soon, and I am going to ask for your favorite brown bag lunch tips. Everyone has something to contribute here, whether you are a . . .

MOM, ummm ... I mean PARENT
who currently is or has in the past packed school lunches for kids

or a

KID
who currently is or has in the past eaten a packed school lunch.

I feel like I have been fairly successful in the past with packing lunches, but I am adding an eater this year and am always interested in new ideas. I was also talking to a mom the other day who will be starting this journey for the first time and was voicing some uncertainty about this new realm.

Anyway, I am looking for anything from foods to try, how to keep things warm or cold, what to avoid, how to streamline the packing process, how to package goodies to avoid squishing, how to keep things "green" by not using so many plastic baggies, . . . anything!

So, all you experienced eaters and packers out there, tell me what you know even if it just what your favorite brown bag lunch was as a kid.

Bible- G? PG?

I actually planned on posting some more thoughts on the Bible reading thing and one of the issues I was going to chat about was brought up in a comment on the previous post. I feel like it is worth a whole post, however, than just a comment in reply.

I think her comment was something like, "I don't think the Bible is PG, is it?" My thoughts . . . definitely not G. Likely not to be PG either. However, with PG meaning "parental guidance", I think we will do okay.

The Bible -although inspired by God- does not contain only good, wholesome ideas, thoughts, or words. How do I feel about this as my seven year old reads through his Bible?

Scared?
No.

Worried?
No.

Concerned?
No.

Aware?
Yes.

I am completely aware of this issue, and have thought about it. In fact one evening Rob was reading a chapter to him at bedtime and came across a word/topic of "if-y" appropriateness. I think maybe it was the word "rape". Robbie asked what it meant, and Rob provided a somewhat toned down definition, but one that would help Robbie understand the story.

How do I plan on handling this? If he asks about a word, I will answer with enough information to make it understandable to him and appropriate for what he needs to understand -much like Rob did. He does have a dictionary and knows how to use it, so he may be looking up words on his own as far as I know.



For another day . . .
What can a seven year old really understand in the Bible?
Asked another way, is he really getting anything out of this experience?

Inspired by a Seven Year Old

As my son was reading his Bible in the van last Wednesday, he casually commented that it would probably taken him ten years to read the whole Bible. He had started at Genesis 1:1 the day before and was several chapters in at this point.

I mentioned to him that they were actual "plans" for reading the whole Bible in one and two years for people that were interested. I also explained some had you read straight from the beginning, some combined old and new testament readings, and some also included Psalm passages into the daily readings.

I am not sure that he listened to any of my more detailed information, but he certainly latched onto the thought of reading the entire Bible in one year. I could already feel his internal competitive and challenge seeking energy focusing on that idea!

Currently (ten days in), he is in Exodus, chapter 30. I printed out a plan from the internet this weekend that was a straight front to back reading and it included reading three chapters each day. Considering he has read over sixty chapters in ten days, he has a very good start.

I have not read the entire Bible myself, so after dragging my feet the first few days that he was reading, I have also committed myself to the task. I am definitely on the three chapters a day average, but it has been enjoyable and interesting. I consider myself moderately familiar with the Bible for a layperson with no theological study, but I have encountered a few things I didn't know or remember as well as have smiled at things I knew but just hadn't thought on in a while.

I am sure it will be quite a year!

Confessions of a Vacation Bible School Addict

Yesterday,

I spent time

on-line

looking at

next year's program.

Why I Love Vacation Bible School

10. Living and breathing it for months
9. The teamwork
8. The enthusiam
7. The decorations
6. The crafts
5. The Bible stories
4. The busy-ness
3. The waves, high fives, and hugs from the kids
2. The kids are cute
1. The music and singing . . .

Last Day of VBS

is always kind of sad. As much work as it is, I really enjoy Vacation Bible School, and it makes me a little sad to say good-bye to the kids (and the fun) at the end of the week.

No doubt it will be an amazing day!

Whew!

Okay, so I am taking some time to breathe today and actually SIT DOWN!

Maybe I'll even eat today!

I had that nice little trip with Rob back at the end of June (which I never even wrote about- shame on me!) and shortly after we got back I spent 24 hours being sick as a dog and then we entertained house guests for a week (VERY FUN!) and then it has been non-stop Vacation Bible School planning/working/participating for the ten days since!

A bit more detail. . .

Rob and I jetted off (unfortunately not in our private jet as it was in the shop during this trip) to the San Diego area for four days in June. We actually stayed in Carlsbad, just north of SD; our hotel was right next to Legoland for any lego lover readers out there. Rob had a Don Joy conference, and I tagged along for the vacation. I shopped, walked, read by the pool, ate good food, drank good wine, slept in a bit, enjoyed a long walk on the beach with Rob, got a manicure and pedicure at the hotel spa, and REALLY liked being able to finish multiple uninterrupted conversations with Rob. My Mom and Aunt Beth stayed with the kids and everyone seemed to do great! They were happy to have us home, but I don't really think they missed us too much as they were having too much fun. Thanks to Beth, my house was much cleaner when I arrived home than when I left!

We got home around 11 p.m. Sunday night. I decided to spend Monday doing mostly fun stuff with the kids which is totally against my nature. Normally I spend my first hours back doing catch up with laundry, cleaning, etc. I opted to delay those types of duties for fun with the kids as I knew the next couple of weeks would be busy ones.

As I headed out to the grocery store Monday night I started not feeling so well. I managed to get the shopping done and all my cold items put away before I crashed in the recliner. By 2am, I started vomiting (sorry this part is not such a fun read) and kept that and more going for the next 3.5 hours or so. I spent most of Tuesday in bed or on the recliner in the LR. Not much was accomplished this day either, other than I finished the third book I took on vacation that I hadn't quite finished. Rob came home around 10:30am (I think) and managed the kids and house for the rest of the day. Thank goodness!

Wednesday came around and the illness had passed, but I was still pretty wiped out as I hadn't started eating much yet. I managed to get caught up around the house and made a trip into church to touch base on Vacation Bible School stuff.

Thursday- I got a few errands taken care of and then our first house guests arrived! Rob's sister, her hubbie, and girls showed up mid-day and our "at-home vacation" began! We swam a lot, ate a lot, played Wii, did open gym at our gymnastics center, played glow-in-the-dark mini golf, watched fireworks on the 4th, and had a ton of fun! They left Sunday morning.

On Sunday afternoon, I spent some extra time at church without children in tow, to get some organizing done for VBS and sorting supplies that had been donated. I arrived home in time for dinner and some calmness, before . . .

Our second group of house guests arrived! Rob's brother, his wife (with yet-to- be-born baby ... YEA!), and daughter rang the doorbell around 8 pm. We swam a lot, ate a lot, had a picnic lunch on campus with some VERY friendly squirrels, ducks, & geese, bought some shirts at Hobby Lobby, visited the training room, and had a ton of fun!

They left Wednesday, and then began the BIG PUSH for finishing VBS projects, organizing, etc. We are now a week later- three days into VBS and all is well, but we are all tired!

I am likely to report more details on VBS later, but for now I think I am done writing.

Okay, just so you know, the eat comment from above was a joke. I have been eating- it's just that my food consumption hasn't actually been of the proper food pyramid variety and/or at normal eating times. Seriously, Mom and Rob and anyone else who is overly protective of me, I REALLY have been eating!

My Pledge

On our family blog I posted about how wonderful a dad Rob is, so on this blog I am going share the inspiration for my pledge to my husband. Feel free to share your thoughts on this one.

Go ahead and click on the picture to enlarge:

Swimming

Friday is a day off from swim lessons, so I took the kids to swim at our friends' house. Even though the lady of the house always assures me we can come "whenever", I always call ahead. I called around 10:15 this morning, and her teenage daughter was still sleeping and she didn't think they had any plans for the day.

I decided to get ready to leave ASAP so when the daughter got up and shared her plans with her mother, we would hopefully be out of the way by then. As it was close enough to lunch time that I didn't want to come home with cranky kids, I threw together a "snack lunch" of popcorn, pretzels, goldfish crackers, grapes, apples & peanut butter, cheese, and Gatorade. It was definitely a good plan because by the time we got suited and sunscreen covered, packed the food, put the dog out, dropped off some VBS materials at another friend's house, filled the van with gas (after having to turn the van because I pulled up on the wrong side of the pump?!), it was 11:15 when we got there. AND, just before we arrived the pool guys showed up. While they did their thing, the kids ate their lunch on the patio and patiently waited for the guys to be done. It didn't take long so with partially full tummies, the kids took off for the pool and we played for two hours.

We all had a great time and came home tired!

Jelly Jars

Just a word of advice: If you spill a little jelly on the outside of the jelly jar, make sure to clean it off before you put it back in the fridge.

You might think the worst thing that could happen if you did not follow this advice is that your hand might get a bit sticky the next time you pick up the jelly jar.

However, I had a "friend" who didn't quite get her jelly jar clean once and the next time she pulled it out of the door of her fridge, it actually stuck to the neighboring jar of jelly, pulled it up too (unbeknownst to said "friend"), and in transit from fridge to counter (still unknown to the "friend") the second, tag-along jelly jar dropped to the floor (now finally realized by the "friend"). Of course, the jar broke from the fall, and my "friend's" many small children were banned from her kitchen until she cleaned up the mess delaying the making of the PB/J sandwiches for which the many small children were waiting.

In conclusion, my "friend" recommends always, definitely clean up any dribbles of jelly on the outside of the jar!

New Job

I got the call today offering me the nursery coordinator position at church. I did actually have an interview for it (which made me chuckle a bit); as far as I know, they didn't actually call my references. I do have to fill out the paperwork for a background check, so I won't be officially hired until that all comes through. Then I will start working and getting my less than $200 month paycheck.

Upon accepting the job, I called Rob and told him come August, he was going to have play some catch up becase I would have two jobs to his one. Hee-hee! I THINK he will still be working more hours with his one job than my two combined, so I guess I will let him off the hook. And, to be fair, I have taken the better part of five years (the amount of time since we moved to Cape and Alexa was born) off from work, so maybe- just maybe, he's still ahead after all . . . that is if I actually kept track of those kinds of things! :)

My Little Brother

My little, okay, I should really say younger brother has been living in Europe for the last two years. He just got married this December to his Greek bride and I have shared pictures here (I hope they don't mind!). I am very proud of him. He is currently working on learning various coding languages for computer programming (although I probably didn't say that correctly), and his wife is in the market for a job. Unfortunately, they are not interested in moving to the US, so we will have to make good use of the internet to keep in touch and look forward to visits. We have yet to figure out how to afford the six of us traveling to Austria or how to afford me being gone for an entire week (really the only length of time to make the long trip worthwhile) to go visit on my own.

Just a note, his wedding was nothing like what is depicted in A Big Fat Greek Wedding, nor is his bride's family in any way/shape/form similar to the family in the film. Although I give my readers credit that you would be smart enough to know this, I feel obligated to make that statement.

Kids and Band-aids

The way I see it there are two kinds of kids.

1) The one who thinks a band-aid can cure any injury- no matter how big or small, no matter very real or quite imagined.

. . . and . . .

2) The one who can loose enough blood that they almost need a transfusion but doesn't notice or cry until you put a band-aid on it at which point the child thinks he/she must be permanently disabled and becomes paralyzed.

Way to Mom's Heart

Last night while reading books with Rachel and Cole, I had an "aaah moment". We were talking about the pictures on the page, and I asked about the flowers, "what do we do with flowers?" In asking this I was expecting the usual response of them leaning into the page like they were smelling the flowers. Instead, Cole turned on my lap, touched my chest, and said, "uh Mom" with a big smile.

Cole is not much of a talker; he says about 30-40 words -compared to Rachel who probably says over 150 and uses complete sentences. He doesn't combine words much either, but does verbalize some grunts and syllables here and there amongst his actual words. So . . . all this to really just to say his "uh Mom" really meant give them "to Mom"!

What a sweet (unexpected) answer from a very sweet boy!

Unsettling

I just wrote a resume, reference list, and cover letter. I haven't done that in years, and it felt very strange! I am not even applying for a "real" job, but it made me nervous just putting it all together as it led me to think of the day that I will go back to work at a "real" job. Yikes! I know stay-at-home-moms do it all the time so I am sure there will be a place for me somewhere, but whew!

So, if I am not applying for a real job, why am I doing this? you might be asking. The Nursery Coordinator position at our church is available. It is actually a paid position (I've never been at a church that pays for this spot), but it makes good enough money that I figure I can schedule workers on Sunday mornings as well as any other events that need childcare. It is a paid position but they don't have any formal application or anything (the previous person filling the position was also director of the early childhood center our church hosts and is retiring after 22 years), so I am doing the whole sha-bang of cover letter, resume, and references. These people know me, so it will be interesting to see if they actually get all official and call references, interview, etc. If they do, I guess I can chalk it up to good experience. What if I don't get the job though?! I guess I will have to come back here to share my misery with all my (three) loyal readers! You will help me feel better, right? :)

Whew!

First day of swim lessons was today. I was a little nervous for Alexa. Our parks and rec program offers lessons for 3-4 year olds in the kiddie pool, and then starts level 1 students in the big pool. Alexa (age 5) has done the kiddie pool thing the last two years, and really is beyond that, but I was concerned the jump to the big pool was going to be too much for her. Don't get me wrong, I know she CAN do it, it was just the matter of whether she was willing to try. She can get turned off by the littlest things sometimes and then just shut down (by the way, this is beyond frustrating for me). However, when I came to pick her up she was soaked head to toe and smiling! Whew!

The level 1 group had close to 20 kids and four instructors, so I asked her if they had split up. She said yes, the kids who knew how to (which I translated as were "willing to") put their heads in the water right away went to one group; the others in another group. She said by the end though she was putting her head in (not really a new thing for her, but she does have to be in the mood to do it) and trying to help another boy who didn't want to do it! YAY ALEXA! There are still many more days left, but I am much relieved that day one went so well for her.

Check! another item completed

It has been a pretty crazy spring around here with lots of activities. There has been the normal daily busyness along with the various special activities which I may or may not have mentioned here before. In my tiredness at the moment, I am not even sure what I have shared previously. Anyway, another program was held today that I can mark off my list. The children's director at our church is retiring, and her "Service Celebration" was today. I was on the planning committee for that, and although it was fairly low key compared to some of the other activities I've had going on, it still took extra time, attention, and focus. Now that it is over, all that is left on my list is summer fun with the kids and Vacation Bible School. VBS is a big one (I actually started planning back in February), it will be nice to have that as my sole "outside" focus for the next six weeks.

So far, so good

Well, we have finished our first week of summer vacation and have managed to survive one another. Now if the kids can all survive the strep throat making its way through our troops, we'll have an even better second week. Even with some illness, we have done some swimming, gone horse back riding, visited with friends (Oops! Hope we didn't get anyone else sick!), been medicating sickos, been watching LOTS of tv, played/watched two baseball games, colored, read, done puzzles, made a trip to the library, played with play-doh, and the most exciting- done the sleeping in thing (well, at least a little bit of sleeping in).

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!

Today is the last day of school. As of 1:00 this afternoon, my kids are home for the summer, and I am very excited! I can't wait for the fun we can have, and on a more selfish note, I am glad I won't be driving back and forth to school up to three times a day!

Reading and Cakes (HA!)

Not only have I not been posting much these days, I haven't been reading much either. My friend, Nicole, sent me an interesting book entitled People of the Book that she reviewed on her blog here. I was in the middle of a couple of other books when it arrived so it had to wait a week or so for me to get started. I have now been reading it close to three weeks and am over half done, quite interested in what is going on, but just don't have a lot of free time to make it move any faster. I am also quite behind on blog readings. I check in here and there on a few, haven't left a comment in who knows how long, and am way out of touch in general. Never fear, it is okay, because my real life here is plenty of entertainment these days.

All that to lead into the fact that I was taking a moment this afternoon to do some blog reading and on a friend's blog her blog roll (or whatever it is called) happened to catch my eye and I clicked on the top one entitled Cake Wrecks . I think I have glanced at this one before, but I took a peek again today and it made me laugh out loud so you can click on the name if you happen to have some spare moments and feel like you might want to laugh out loud as well. PLEASE USE CAUTION if any of you have sleeping little people like I do right now . . . although the content is funny and laughing is good for your health, you don't want to wake them just for the sake of a chuckle or two!

Something to Ponder

I was told by someone the other day that I put myself down "way too much". The person who told me this is a relatively new friend- someone I have just met since Rachel and Cole have been born. Despite our fairly new relationship, I feel very connected to her and she is someone whose opinion I really treasure. The thing is one of the areas I feel I struggle most with is pride. I feel like God has really blessed me with a loving husband who provides well for our family, beautiful and talented children, and has gifted me with many talents. I know, it sounds like I am totally bragging there and even though I sometimes give God the credit as I did in this post, there are often times I feel pretty proud as though I have everything to do with how things are going . . . thus, the pride problem.

It was a real shocker to hear her comment. Maybe I am more open about my shortcomings with her than with others and thus deserve the caution from her as she convicted me of this negative behavior. Maybe I am like that with others and just don't realize it? Maybe it is an area she is especially sensitive to so she just notices random comments more often? Maybe I try to balance my self-convicted internal pride problem externally with comments about things that I mess up?

I don't know, but the incident happened on Sunday and I have been pondering it ever since.

I Survived . . .

and had a good time last night! Our evening started at the (calmer venue) wine bar. Although we weren't in a private room, we were in a back room that we pretty much filled up. It was a great atmosphere. Food and drink (from the bar) as well as the cake and cookies (brought in) were tasty and well received by the group. I think most had a nice time. We spent two and a half hours there visiting, gifting, laughing before we headed to "the strip". I haven't been in a college bar in six years like I mentioned previously, and it was a bit yucky (yes, yucky!) walking into the first smokey place. However, all in all the three places we visited were not overly crowded or noisy. I enjoyed a few drinks early in the evening, enjoyed myself, and was able to drive the bride-to-be home by 1:00AM. Whew! I stay up that late at home often enough that I wasn't overly tired, but usually I am in comfy clothes sitting on my couch reading or working on a project, NOT wearing high heels for the previous 6 hours in a social setting. I was happy to strip off the offending shoes and smelly clothes and crawl into bed next to my man.

I had a great evening (and didn't feel overly old), and more importantly I believe my friend had fun and felt special! As a side note, the people I left at home had a good evening as well.

Am I Too Old for This?

Last Saturday I spent getting ready for my son's birthday party. I felt quite comfortable doing that and enjoyed the preparations and watching him celebrate with his friends.

Today I am getting ready to co-host a bachelorette party. I am having fun with the preparations although am a little unsettled because I haven't actually been to the wine bar (so fancy, eh?) where we are starting the evening. I have a variety of decorative items but don't actually know what kind of space I will be working with.

I am looking forward to an evening "out with the girls" even though half of them are young (some much younger!) ladies from Rob's work and the other half I don't know because they work with the bride-to-be. Anyway, back to the topic of this post, am I too old for something like this? I feel too old for things like this. It has been six years since I have gone out on the town! I guess the real answer will decided after I get there and how soon I start looking at my watch and wondering when I get to go to bed! :)

Party On

Well, the roads remained clear and the party was on! Eleven first graders plus Robbie and Alexa showed up at the pizza place and played glow-in-the-dark miniature golf (indoors, of course) followed by a pizza dinner. Birthday cake was served following a rousing chorus of "The Birthday Song" . . . does this song really have a name? Robbie had a great time, and it was fun to watch him celebrate with his friends. The cake which resembled an OSU -as he had picked OSU napkins and such- was devoured and definitely not wasted time or effort as I feared earlier in the day.

Am I Doing This for Nothing?

We have a birthday party scheduled for later this evening at a local pizza place.
The problem: It is snowing.
Actually, the real problem: It is snowing in Oklahoma.

We are under a winter weather advisory as it is supposed to snow into the late afternoon/evening time. The snow is really wet, and I don't think the roads are bad. I'll get a real report from Rob when he comes home from work.

The reason for the post: I am currently working on icing the birthday cake for the party tonight and wondering if I am wasting my time. Sometimes even a little bit of snow is enough to throw the locals around here in a tailspin.

The current dilemna: Do we have the party and hope that at least some people come and no one gets hurts driving (they really don't know how to drive in the snow around here) -OR- postpone for another time? And, of course, what I am going to do with all this cake?!

A Funny

I was driving behind a car with a pink ribbon magnet. (This is not the funny part.) The pink ribbon, of course, for breast cancer awareness. (Again, not to the funny part yet.) The words on the ribbon . . . SAVE THE TA-TAs!

Don't know what

to say, but I gotta say something because I haven't reported in for a week. Too many things going on around here, I guess. We did have a big week- a new dog (arrived last Sunday), toddler beds for the two year olds (set up on Monday), regularly schedule gymnastic classes for the younger three, the weekly basketball practice on Tuesday with game day on Saturday for the oldest, hosting a "cocktail party" for the recruits for Rob's department at work, and -of course- all the cleaning, planning, shopping, food prep, and then cleaning again that goes along with hosting a party, and keeping up with life in general. I have already started doing some planning for the summer Vacation Bible School program at church, so I often find myself paging through the manuals or on-line hunting for decorating ideas, craft options, bulk pricing on certain items, etc.

Going with the topic of food prep, it often seems like extra cooking projects come in groups around here. For example, this past Friday I took a meal to a family in the athletic dept. in which the mom has a broken arm so wives have been taking turns helping out by bringing them dinner. (As a side, this is the family that inspired my thankfulness the no one in our family has food allergies. In preparing for this family, it had to be something that met a no salt and no dairy restriction- a bit difficult in my opinion.) We had the party Saturday. I made a small contribution to a church luncheon today (nothing big or difficult- just remembering to take it was the hardest part!) On Wednesday, I am preparing lunch for the teachers at the kids' school.

So, nothing exciting to say here today, but that is all that I have to say because I actually sat down with the computer to do some VBS work, but felt like I really needed to make a report of some sort. Signing off in Oklahoma,

Live Commercial

"Green works- cleans up tough messes!" is what my 4 year old tells me. I do actually use this product, but I don't think she knew that. When she saw me break out a new bottle today, she told me again, "Green works- cleans up tough messes". I said, "Really?" Enthusiastically, "Yes,(short pause) at least that's what the tv at Grandma's house tells me. You should use it with your Sham-Wow, Mom, and get things really clean!"

Yes, I use Green Works for some cleaning, and I do own the 'as seen on tv' Sham-Wow product. I got them for Christmas (another story in itself) and am very excited about them! Anyway, we might get this house cleaned up sometime, because I tell you, there are some tough messes around.

Oops!

The link from the previous post was not sufficient, so I will have to look into that. Until then, a little synopsis of the story . . . 40 years ago a white fireman rescued a black baby girl from a burning building and resuscitated her. Just this week, they were reunited as the now 40-year old woman was finally able to track him down to say "thank you".

What a Reunion!

On the topic of thank yous, I thought this article was pretty special. What a significant thank you that occurred yesterday between these two people with a special past.

Thank You Notes

I really like thank you notes. I enjoy sending them. I enjoy receiving them. I tend to send them whether I was able to thank the gift giver in person or not (I think that may be one of the indicators of the appropriateness of sending or not sending). I also think it is nice to send a thank you when people are generous with other things besides gifts, such as their time, kindness, or helpfulness.

Regrettably, I have not been doing as well as I would like with sending thank you notes over the last year or so. Some of you may be thinking up excuses for me in your mind like I am busy or have more important things to worry about, but I don't want to use excuses. Sending thank yous are important to me, yet I have not been giving them the attention they deserve. I feel terrible about many thank yous that should have been sent months ago for people who worked with me on church projects, some gift givers that have not been adequately thanked, etc.

I know there are etiquette rules about thank you notes- appropriate timing, wording suggestions, when you don't have to send them, etc. What is the etiquette for sending late thank yous? Is it better than sending no thank you? I don't know! I am sure I can find something about this on-line or in a book, but do I really want to go by someone else's rules -or what I think is important?

One of my dilemnas now is that we are going to be recruiting helpers for this year's Vacation Bible School soon, and the people that helped me last year are some of the people that I would have liked to send thank you notes to. Does it look like I am sucking up at the last minute to try to get them to say yes if I send a note now? Do I combine the two with a note saying how important they were last year and recruit at the same time?

One of Rob's coworkers really has it going on with thank you notes . . . and, to be honest, I am jealous! She was the only one (that I know of) that gave him a written thank you note for the Christmas gift he gave to all his employees. As a side note, the gifts he bought were with his/our money rather than from his work budget, so he signed all of the gifts with both of our names. Not only did this coworker write the thank you, she even addressed it to both of us. Just a week or so after the first thank you (which she sent in a very timely manner), she sent another thank you for something else he had done for her. I provide a picture here of her second thank you because not only was it super cute (see the cute danglies!) and include a personal note (not pictured) she added great notes on the envelope and top flap of the card. Very thoughtful and impressive; she gets an A+ in my book!




One last comment on thank you notes, I read The Last Lecture over Christmas break. (I highly recommned, by the way.) The author was also strongly in favor of thank you notes and had a good outlook about them, so make sure to pay special attention to that chapter when you read the book.

Well, that is all for now on thank you notes. I wish I knew where to go from here. It might be one of those things I just need to make the commitment to doing better again and start now without trying to catch up. (sigh)

So many things

going around in my head to share and not enough time to share it. I don't even know where to begin. Funny things, cute photos, inspiring stories, venting my grumps, . . . so . . . where to get started today?

I'll share (what I think) is a funny "kid speak" moment. Our six and four year olds are riding in the van with me. Four year old is quizzing six year old on words to spell out of the book she is reading. He is doing well, but she stumps him a bit with the word cherries; he just adds an -s at the end of cherry instead of "changing the -y to -i and adding -es". After she (somewhat smugly, I must say) informs him that he didn't get that one quite right, I give him an example of a word using this rule that I know he knows -the word baby/babies. He nods his understanding, and the ever chatty (still smug) little sister says, "That's right, Robbie. You know 'cherries' just like 'appletizers'!"

WHAT?! Poor me, who tries to be non-judgemental when these type of misconceptions of children come out, cannot help but to laugh. Not only did her example include something that isn't really a word, it wasn't even an example of what we were talking about! Of course, in her mind, it all made perfect sense.

Something I am Thankful For

No one in our family has food allergies or restrictions!

Made My Day

I have to admit that I have been a little edgy today. All four of the kids were up by 6:20 this morning! What is up with that?! Cole generally wakes up around 6:40 and crawls into bed with me for the last 10 minutes that I spend there. Then I shower and get ready. The big kids have a radio alarm that starts playing at 7, but don't usually wake up until I go in around 7:15 with my wake-up call. Rachel sometimes gets up with Cole, while I am getting ready, or waits until the big kids get up. Cole was interested in going back to sleep, but everyone else was up, and he didn't want to miss out. I was very interested in going back to sleep myself!
Everyone has shown their tiredness throughout the day, including me. To make matters more interesting, Robbie is a bit under the weather (cold-cough stuff) and school let out at half day today due to icy weather. No one was able to rest quietly this afternoon seemingly due to change in our routine. I am tired. I barely had time to eat lunch while Cole was screaming in his room while he was supposed to be napping. Fights have broken out randomly. Clinginess is at an all time high. Crying is rampant throughout the house.
While trying to get dinner started I sent the kids out of the main living area of our house to go play in the bedroom(s) together. Things sounded like they were going well, and then Robbie came out to announce they were going to do a music parade for me.



What a way to make me smile! Unfortunately after taking the video and starting this post, this have gone south again. Arguments have started again- over instruments this time. Instruments have been used to bonk each other over the head. Instruments have been thrown. I have someone hanging on my leg. Three children have cried. At least there were some smiles for a while. If we are lucky, we will all be stuck at home tomorrow because of continued icy weather . . . maybe people will sleep in!

Enjoy and Stretch your Mind

(I didn't create this. I pulled it from an email forward. Answers are in the comment section. I got five of them right; it helped, of course, to have a few tossed in there covering language concepts!)

This is a quiz for people who know everything! These are not trick questions. They are straight questions with straight answers

1. Name the one sport in which neither the spectators nor the participants know the score or the leader until the contest ends.
2. What famous North American landmark is constantly moving backward?
3. Of all vegetables, only two can live to produce on their own for several growing seasons. All other vegetables must be replanted every year. What are the only two perennial vegetables?
4. What fruit has its seeds on the outside?
5. In many liquor stores, you can buy pear brandy, with a real pear inside the bottle. The pear is whole and ripe, and the bottle is genuine; it hasn't been cut in any way. How did the pear get inside the bottle?
6. Only three words in standard English begin with the letters 'dw' and they are all common words. Name two of them.
7. There are 14 punctuation marks in English grammar. Can you name at least half of them?
8. Name the only vegetable or fruit that is never sold frozen, canned, processed, cooked, or in any other form except fresh.
9. Name 6 or more things that you can wear on your feet beginning with the letter 'S.'

Kids and Veggies

There are various ideas about getting kids to eat their vegetables. One of the sneaky ways is to hide them in other foods after pureeing (sp?) them. In fact there is a whole book published on different mixtures of veggies based on colors, textures, and tastes and what foods to hide them in including red sauces, casseroles, and even desserts. The name of the book is The Sneaky Chef and there is, of course, mucho info on line where you can learn more and even get some recipes. It is an interesting concept and certainly has good points if it is helping get/keep kids healthy, but it doesn't teach them to be healthy.

I just read an on-line article about kids eating vegetables and, even though it doesn't appear to be super scientific or ground-breaking, I felt like it had some good points. So . . . you can read more about it here for other ideas. I know one thing that I have to remind myself is to serve things to my kids that I don't particularly like (which then I eat too) so they can be exposed to more than just my tastes.

Girls vs. Boys, Part 2

Whoever said that a boy can't (or wouldn't want to) play with a princess castle? Anyone, anyone? As you can see below, a princess castle works great for princesses as well as for a parking garage!

Games

Our older kids received some games for Christmas. I generally enjoy games, so it is always fun for me to see them get gifts like that (also books, coloring/craft items, play-doh - rather than toys which don't seem to get much play time around here). Anyway, they got a few classics that I remember playing at their age like Twister and Sorry. I learned, however, that one of the adults in our house is not a fan of the game Sorry. Sorry!

My favorite of the games they received is a new game called Pictureka! which is kind of a like an "I Spy" book set up like a game with various twists. (I say it is new but as far as I know it may have been around quite a while.) It is advertised for ages 6 and up. Our six year old loves it and is good at it. Our four year old is a bit slower with it, but enjoys the game and has gotten better at it with each time we play. The other grown up in our house and I both enjoy it as well. I would recommend it to others and will probably use it as a gift item for others as well.

The "Secret"

Not that I am the only person to have four children, twins, or even kids fairly close together, but seeing that these characteristics do all apply to me, I am often asked "How do you do it?" I am not exactly sure what the "it" is people are referring to. Maybe they are impressed by how well they all are behaved and just didn't know it was possible to have four such amazing children. Maybe they see that I have showered, dressed in clean clothes, and applied some make-up as well as done something with my hair most mornings. Maybe they ask because my kids are driving them crazy and assume they must be driving me crazy as well. The third hypothesis is the most likely (as anyone who has spent much time with us would second), but anyway, on to the real point of this post and that is the secret to how I do "it".

The answer: Coca-cola and chocolate!

The fact of the matter is I am craving both right now. I have both available in my home but they don't really go along with the fact that I am officially trying to lose the rest of my "baby weight". I figure 33 years is long enough to carry it around. Just kidding . . . Rachel and Cole with be two in less a month (CRAZY!) and I have decided it is time. With cutting down on my soda intake at the beginning of December and trying to actually eat three meals a day instead of snacking during the day and eating dinner at night, I have lost between 7-8 lbs. I feel really good about this, but it doesn't take away my daily -okay, HOURLY- cravings for soda and chocolate.

I was hoping by writing this post, I might be able to take my mind off the cravings and avoid the kitchen for a while. It seems to have helped for now. We'll see how long it lasts!

Day 3

of napping on the sleeping bags went well too! Hurray!

An Experiment Going Well

Cole has been climbing in and out of his bed since he was about 15 months old. Some days/weeks/months he is more interested in doing this than others, but it has now become a regular routine at afternoon rest time and in the morning when he first wakes up.
Anyway, I have been considering moving Cole to a toddler bed for a while now. I know this won't contain him and may even make sleeping at bedtime more difficult (he generally falls asleep within a couple of minutes of laying down each night), but I have been hoping the novelty of a new bed and the fact that I am not trying to contain him would make him feel okay about laying in bed to fall asleep at naptime and HOPEFULLY even in the morning when he first wakes up, although I think this second desire is much less likely to happen.

A couple of things I had to consider were all our travels over the Christmas holidays and decided to wait until we returned so he would be content to sleep in cribs and such on the road. The other thing I have pondered is the idea that Rachel is very content in her crib. From experience with these two though, I know without a doubt that I cannot make a change such as this with just one of them. They are very in tune with what the other one is doing, eating, wearing, anything/everything and making sure things are "fair". I am sure this will be a popular word in their vocabulary once they learn it.

On to the experiment phase . . . yesterday Cole was exhausted but seemed to roaming aimlessly around his room and wouldn't settle in to sleep. Rachel was trying to sleep but Cole's roaming was disrupting her. So, I got out the new sleeping bags they got from Grandma Hunt for Christmas, spread them out on the floor with a pillow and blanket and VOILA! sleep. Cole fell asleep very quickly. Rachel read books for a while, but then konked out. They were both still asleep when it was time to pick Robbie up from school. Again today I stretched out the sleeping bags, and they are snoozing away on them. Rachel again took a little longer as she was checking things (books and drawing pad) out a bit, but always bringing them back to her sleeping bag space.

This is a good sign that the toddler bed transition will go well. In fact, I might even hold off a bit and let them continue napping on the sleeping bags so they can continue to keep to their normal bedtime and sleep routines.

Note- Rachel can climb in and out of her bed as well (she was actually the first one to do it last spring), but chooses not to most of the time. She is happy to let Cole bring her toys and books and remain in restful respose in her bed.

Shopping Nightmare

I took Rachel and Cole to Wal-Mart prior to picking Alexa from school at noon. Now I have had "bad" shopping trips before where I am circling the store because I can't seem to follow my list (or because I left it at home) or I have a hungry child who wants to eat everything in the cart or I have little people with me that are feeling a little too energetic for the confines of the grocery store. All of that pales to my shopping trip today. Poor Cole was so tired from our trips that he just wanted to be held. He is, however, almost 30 lbs. and I had one those huge carts with the double seat for kiddos which are hard enough to push with two hands, let alone one. Therefore, I would not carry him. I did offer him food from the cart which he vehemently declined. This in itself shows how tired he was because he didn't get to 30 lbs because he nibbles at meal time or only eats when he is hungry. My shopping was completed fairly quickly for not having shopped for food for three weeks (I was in line less than 30 minutes after walking into the store), but it was not quick enough for the little man. He started crying within 5-10 minutes from the start and by about 20 minutes was clawing to get out of his harness seatbelt amidst his screams. I only saw one person I knew (there may have been others I knew who saw me as I was trying to stay focused to get done quickly) who gave me a sympathetic nod and I heard a lot of "Someone isn't happy today" - YA THINK?! At the check-out, I let Cole out of the cart after I had put the groceries on the belt. He immediatly stopped crying and put his head on my shoulder with a sigh as if to say, "This is all I needed, Mom." As the clerk worked through our items, I was prepping Cole for the fact he would have to ride in the cart to get out to the van when we were done inside. I think he was hoping that if he ignored me, it wouldn't be true because I got neither his normal wide-eyed, enthusiastic nod nor his eyes narrowed, pouty mouth head shake. When it was time to leave the line, I gently talked to him about the next step and did my best to get him back into the seat which he fought with all his might (and he is one tough kid), so I plopped him into the front seat of the cart. At this point, I could feel many eyes on us as he continued to fight and scream. He kept trying to climb out and several people gasped as he did just that. Remember though, Cole is my climber so I really had no concern about him hurting himself as he climbed because that is just what he does. I was more concerned with him following directions and staying with us in the cart because I knew as soon as he got all the way out he would flop on the floor when he realized that I was not going to carry him. All gentleness left at this point and I could feel the concerned glances becoming more condemning stares. No worries on my part though because I was just doing what needed to be done. I did hold Cole at the van as I unloaded groceries into that back and he did fine getting into his carseat to leave. I guess all things considered, I shouldn't call this a shopping nightmare because Rachel was an absolute gem (I could have been dealing with both of them the entire time) and I only forgot one non-essential item and we got to school to pick up Alexa on time.