Jan. 13, 2009 - Slave Labor

This post is dedicated to my husband's deranged sense of humor. 

I am always, always, always looking for new ways to keep us organized.  I remember when we first moved into this house I thought that there was no way that we could ever fill it up.  Well, we have, and we are overflowing...hence, my need to simplify and organize is never satisfied.  My latest quest has been the kid's closets.  We tackled those this weekend and came up with the idea of getting out a week's worth of clothing at a time.  Now, I'm also cheap and don't want to spend money where I don't have to, so we decided to make this storage thing ourselves.  Since, we aren't overly creative, we used an old bookcase and paper.  Works great.  Here it is...



This one is for the girls, and to help with the words, Ben added pictures.  We actually tried to add a picture of what we were doing that day.  Sunday - church, Friday - Co-op, etc...Take a look at Saturday...it's our work day...


Hilarious.  Funny thing, I don't think they argued too much about the correctness of the picture...As a matter of fact, when Q saw it, he said, "Yeah, we're just your little slaves." 

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Jan. 13, 2009 - Entrepreneurial Humans

This past weekend the kids found some rocks that had been buried in our backyard for some time.  They cleaned them up, polished them, and then set about making a small business for themselves.  They set up their rock shop on our front lawn with their "Crystals for Sale" sign and then commenced waiting.




After a while of not having any actual paying customers, Ben went outside and purchased a great set of "crystals" that now decorate my dresser.  S was in my room when Ben brought them to me and we asked her if she wanted to go outside to buy one for herself.  We even gave her a nickel to do it.  She said, "I can't go outside without a, a........a......(searching for the word inserted here).......a........a tall human."   

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Oct. 20, 2008 - Update

I’ve been meaning to blog for ages…so here I go…some things I don’t want to forget…

S has trouble with pronouns.  Not that we are explaining what they are to her, or anything like that, but she literally uses them incorrectly…….all the time.  Where us going mama?  Me going to the store mama?  That’s for we isn’t it mama….and so on…Well a while ago we were having donuts as a treat on a Saturday morning and she was told that she had to wash her hands and then come get her donut.  She did just that, but as she ran to the table, she yelled out “Here me come donut”.  We’ve laughed about that for a few weeks now! 


Yesterday we went letterboxing at a state park near our home.  There were 6 letterboxes on quite a long stretch of fitness trail.  After we had been there for awhile H started to get tired.  Then, she started to whine, and boy does she know how to do that.  “Mama, my legs hurt sooooooooo bad,,,,I mean it they are burnnnnniiinnnnggg.  How much farther, when are we gonna be back at the car, I’m soooooooo tired.”  At that moment we saw one of the fitness stations (pull up bars and such) that the kids had been enjoying all afternoon.  This one happened to be monkey bars, which are her favorite.  I have never in my life seen such an immediate change in disposition.  The whines instantly turned to squeals of delight and those tired worn out legs had just enough juice left in them to sprint the 30 feet to the bars and then commence jumping up and down in anticipation waiting for Daddy to lift her.  Amazing!


Q sure likes his morning coffee.  Now, to explain, he gets exactly ½ cup of Half Café with milk and creamer.  Everymorning.  He comes down the stairs groggy eyed staring at the coffee pot asking when it will be finished.  I find this funny in and of itself, but the other day, he had a really rough day discipline wise and was just plain crabby.  I suggested that maybe it was the caffeine and then went on with the day.  The next morning as he’s staring at the pot he says “only a half cup today mama, I don’t want to be cranky.”   Smart boy.


N is getting so very big.  He will be double digits next year.  That blows my mind.  He was just born.  I know he was.  Seems like yesterday he was sprawled out on the floor, surrounded by baby toys, chewing on a green rat name BOVE.  Man, those were the days.  Now he has to help his mama get from one room to the next when my back feels like jello.  Thing is, he’s actually a help.  I think the kid is stronger than me. He opens jars that I can’t.  Ok, I must stop now, I’m 33 weeks pregnant and I feel like I’m writing a Hallmark commercial.

I’ll post more tomorrow when my hormones have settled a bit and I’ve mopped up the tears.

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Mar. 7, 2008 - The Good Humor Man

Last week Q asked me for a bowl of ice cream.  Simple enough.  Then, he added, “Can you make it a really big, big bowl?”  I looked at that cute little face, weighed my consequences, and decided to humor him.  So, I said, “You’re Quinn, I’ll humor you.”  (yet another Princess Bride reference around here)

A few days pass and the kids again asked for ice cream.  I said sure, and as I was busy doing something, I said “dish it up yourselves”.  As they are doing so, I overheard Q say “I’m going to humor myself.”  I found it funny.

Finally last night the boys asked for ice cream and as it is almost gone I said “sure”.  Once again Q said “I’m going to humor myself again, I really am.  I’m going to humor myself…….a lot.”  It may be terribly wrong to find it funny because there are quite possibly underlying greed issues here…but I couldn’t help myself.  I had to laugh. 

Talk about The Good Humor Man!

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Feb. 29, 2008 - The Same Old Boring Story

Last night in the car I hear Q say “Mama, H hit me.”  This is not the first time.  Or the second. 
Soooo……I asked H why she hit her brother.  She replies, “He was making me bored.” 
I must say, I have never heard that one before. 
It was strangely refreshing.

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Feb. 19, 2008 - Dinner Rules

A few nights ago we did something different.  We stepped outside our comfort zone and actually grilled salmon!  GASP!  For a 'no seafood as a rule' family, this was incredibly strange and somewhat awkward.  The cooking process went well, and the specimen turned out looking fairly edible.  Then came the true test.  Actually helping it pass through our mouths, into our stomachs. 

Back up a little and you will know that at our house we have been dealing with picky eaters.  Really have been for about 7 years...ever since a certain 7 year old was born...but that's another story...Anyway, I had the bright idea to institute a new rule around here to stop complaining.  This idea was discussed between the husband/wife team of this family and then given once as fair warning to the four little eaters.  I stood back and waited to see if it would actually work.  The rule?  If complaints are heard about your dinner in any way, then it will be fed to someone who won't complain and then you get to wait for the next meal.  Who won't complain?  Lucy.  Our 110 pound Golden Retriever.  Sounded reasonable.  Mostly.

As I'm sure you can see coming, my plan backfired.  The four little eaters saw fish being put down on our family dinner table and had the bright idea that if they complained about it, they would not actually have to eat it.  You saw that coming right?  Strangely I didn't.  Temporary blindness maybe. 

Well.......we assured them that yes, they did actually have to try this beautiful (I'm sure it would be beautiful to some people) salmon.  I then made another mistake.  I decided to explain WHY we were trying salmon that evening.  "We are doing this to eat healthier, we are doing this to take care of our bodies, to keep them strong, etc, etc, etc,..."  My last statement was "We are doing this for daddy".  That was where I went wrong.  N looks at me and then passes his plate across to Ben and says "Then here daddy, if we are doing this for you,,,you can have mine."  For some reason I found this hilariously funny.  Maybe because I was thinking the same thing...

In the end, we found the salmon to be indeed edible and will probably try it again in the near future.  The four little eaters made it through another meal, and as it turns out, I am in search of the perfect child training ideas for picky eaters,,,,,,again.

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Feb. 13, 2008 - SSSSME

This morning during the kid's journaling time, S wanted me to write her name for her.  I proceeded to write her name, then I put a big S on the paper and said SSSSSSonora.  She replied, “SSSSMe”.

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Jan. 31, 2008 - Some Silly Things I Want to Remember

Something from each one this week…

N: This morning after N’s Bible study, I asked him what he read about and he answers…"Never listen to your wife."  (add mischievous grin here)

HUH?

Genesis 3:17-19

I KNOW it’s not REALLY funny, but I had to laugh nonetheless…

Guess I wouldn’t have found it so funny if I had backed up and read verse 16…

Alright, alright, it’s not funny…but N is!

Q:  He now speaks of himself in the third person.  “Q really likes this, Q doesn’t want to eat that, Q wants to go to the movies…”  and so on and so on…I haven’t had time to psychoanalyze this yet…

H:  On the way to play practice the other night she and I were discussing what is appropriate behavior in public and she informs me that…”I will not burp, I will not say I have to go potty, and I MOSTLY will NOT eat a fly.  Yep.  Eat a fly. 

S:  And finally S.  She is three today and I cannot believe it.  Here is a photo of her from our trip to OKC last week.  She is getting so very big.  She talks all the time…pretty much non-stop.  This has made school challenging.  So much so, that even the boys are asking her to be quiet.  It’s hard to believe that she is already three!  Happy Birthday, my beautiful little talker!!!


I will try to post more Children’s Museum photos soon!

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Jan. 24, 2008 - A Not So Funny Bone

This morning H hit her elbow on the corner of our computer desk.  Here is how the conversation went after that:

H:  OOOOOWWWWWW!!!!!

Me:  What happened?

H:  I hit my, my, my,,,,,,,,what is this right here?

Me:  Well, when you get hit right there they call it your funny bone.

H:  Your FUNNY BONE! 

 THATS NOT FUNNY!!!!!!!  (And, if you know H, you know that she says this particular statement quite often...about many things!)

This was one time that I actually agreed with her!

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Nov. 8, 2007 - NEVER Say Never

Ok, so when I watch A Christmas Story I always cringe at the part where the mom gets the younger son to eat his dinner by making him act like a pig. This has always been one of my better "I will NEVER do that" moments.

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