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Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

My little brother is in town for a job interview. For being a punk brother, I sure do miss his mug.



He looks normal, I know.

But don't be fooled. He's not called Crazy Uncle Stephen for no reason!


I thought it would be fun to interview him for my blog.

(Ha! When I started "thinking" is precisely where I messed up.)

Anyhow, take the following with a grain of salt and consider the source. This information is from the same kid who tripped me ON PURPOSE in our parents' driveway when he was in high school and I was in college. I had to have bandaid's y'all. It was that bad.

 

ME: Hey Stephen, I want to interview you for my blog. Just because.

BRO: 'kay.

ME: What do you think about when you think of us growing up together?

BRO: Honestly, you were the only sister I was scared of... the only one. That and you were the best farter.

ME: What?! I was the best burper! I could burp on demand and burp the alphabet. I didn’t fart.

BRO: Are you kidding? You were the worst by far.

ME: Okay, I’m ending this interview right now.

See what I mean? I was tormented by him! And HE LIES.

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

I can't believe it's already here-- the birthday de double digits!


I made his cake on Friday night in anticipation of an early celebration with David's parents. But since the cake smelled so yummy and the homemade frosting was beckoning, it was a unanimous decision to celebrate early!

So we had cake (red is Austin's favorite color) and gifts that very night. Even though his birthday is today (Sunday)! :)


Oops! The icing was stickier than I thought!


(Ack! Ignore the gross and disgustingly dirty trashcan.)

Happy Birthday, my Austie-bostie! I am so glad that *I* am your mommy!!! Your hugs, sweet smile and tenderness makes my heart melt. I love you!

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

On the way to church, there is one building that constantly gets some sort of remark from my boys-- and that is the "Country Club."

Lest ye think, ahem, that it is a high falootin' sort of place, it is the Country Club Bar. As in a seedy cinder block building set right next to the railroad tracks (because drunks and train tracks are always a stellar combination, y'all).

When my boys were younger, they'd ask about it and what people might do there.

They asked questions like "So what kind of drinks, mommy?" And I'd tell them that people would probably be drinking beer and liquor in there. When explaining liquor, I told them it was stinky, tasted bad and I'm sure burned their throats.

That's when they started whispering to each other "*gasp!* Look! That's where those people drink hot drinks instead of go to church!"

If that wasn't funny enough, conversation took a more interesting turn when we added three little girls to the mix last Wednesday night.

Upon passing the Country Club, this was overheard:

"You can't get drunk from drinking root beer because it's just soda."

"What do you think they do in there?
-I bet they play pool and drink beer.
-And smoke cigarettes!"

"And there are women in there too! And they show their bellybuttons!"

This is the point where Austin, who will be 10yo on Monday, loudly sucked in his breath.

One of the girls turned to him and said "It's not funny, Austin!"

He replied, "I don't think it's funny! I think it's DISGUSTING!"

And all five children concurred that it was indeed sinful and disgusting to be showing your bellybutton.

We tackle deep, spiritual subjects in our devotional time, can't you tell?

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

I was in the third grade when I finally "got" what my dad meant whenever we had this conversation:

Kids: Daddy, we're hungry!
Dad: Nice to meet you Hungry, I'm dad.

 

Yup, hilarious.

Not.

He said this quite often so it truly was a lightbulb moment for me when it clicked in my head! When I explained the revelation to my younger siblings, only one of them "got" it too. Oh well. They all figured it out eventually (I'm assuming).

(I must have no shame in posting this picture. For the record, I was younger than this in the aforementioned trip down memory lane. Also, those are my pj's... not real clothes. It's embarrassing either way though.)

To carry on the sad tradition (and because it's a fact that you always end up saying things your parents said), I'll do that to my boys sometimes.

Mommy, I'm hungry.
Glad to meet you hungry, I'm mommy.

They haven't gotten it... yet. They just kind of tilt their heads and laugh at me. Because I am apparently so very silly. But one day, they will laugh (or groan) because they'll realize that I am so very clever.

Or not.

 

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

When a boy has a splinter in his foot and tweezers don't work, daddy must then bust out the old needle.

And when a needle is produced, you get gigantic crocodile tears and one very sad boy...


Noah was yelling "Daddy, don't hurt me!" in the middle of the aforementioned operation.

David calmly replied, "Noah, the last thing I want to do is hurt you!"

Ahem. Insert BIG misunderstanding by Noah and even larger tears being produced.

Why?

Well, after I did this for him...


... we had this conversation:

N: Daddy really wanted to hurt me!

Me: No he didn't. Why do you think that?

N: Because he said he did! He said "The last thing I want to do is hurt you." See? It was the last thing he wanted to do! He wanted to do it!

Me: Noah, when daddy says that, it means that hurting you is the very last thing in the world he would ever want to do. Y'know, like he would rather poke his own eye out before he would ever want you to be hurt.

N: Oooohhhhh.

I speak boy talk, as evidenced by my poke-his-eye-out analogy that Noah obviously related very well to.

Be impressed. At least momentarily.

Please?

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

It's a happy day when I get a rare glimpse into the mind of my mysterious Noah. Much of his life, he has been the quiet one of my boys, often keeping his thoughts and emotions inside. Every once in a while he would ask a profound question, but only after he had sufficiently pondered it.

Nowadays he can be quite the chatty-McChatster with his words and thoughts spilling out of his mouth, barely able to catch his breath for the excitement of having to tell you what's on his mind!




This morning, the silliness and funny that is Noah came out in the magical moments just after he woke up.

I had a weird long dream.

You and daddy were FAMOUS!

Y'all had your own restaurant! And it had your own picture on it and the picture was made out of lightbulbs. I saw all of this when I flew over in a little airplane.

Daddy, you, Austin and I were on a boat in the sea. There were a bunch of tires on the boat. We'd repair the tires but daddy kept getting seasick. Every time he got seasick, the tires would break again.

Me: Why did you have tires on a boat? What did you need them for?

I don't know mommy-- I told you it was a weird dream!

Let's see... We even took baths. We'd jump into the sea but it would be just like bathtub water... nice, warm bathtub water!

Then this storm suddenly came up and lightning struck right next to us.

We had to take the boat and go hide in a cave. And you know what? There were scorpions and bats and spiders on the ceiling of that cave!

It never did rain.

If your kids ever wake up remembering their dreams, write it down! There's something fun about saving odd and ends of a childhood like this... remembering the little moments, the little dreams (even especially if they're weird!)

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

We finally got some rain these past couple of days. It's amazing how a yard can transform from brown, scratchy grass to green and overgrown and full of these guys:


One day last summer, Christian and I were under the big swinging tree in the backyard where we spied a giant of a mushroom. It was seriously h-u-g-e, unlike that piddly thing you see up there. Christian was quite excited about the strange, squishy growth that was most definitely not there the day before.

Being the 3 year old that he was, examination and scientific study was not going to be on his agenda. Instead, Christian quickly ran to the garage and came back with...


... his favorite golf club.

Fooouuuuurrrr!!!

Does it get anymore redneck than yard golf?  Oh wait.  Around here it does.  :)

I wish I had a picture of him from that day. It was his last afternoon here in our earthly home. But God knew then and He knows now that maybe I didn't really need pics from that day. Perhaps I'd look back on them with sorrow instead of remembering the joys of that day?

As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.
~Psalm 18:30

Anyhow, I can't help but think of Christian whenever I see a mushroom-- be it in the yard or at the grocery store. :-) He's the only one of the boys (including David) that would even take a taste of my homemade cream of mushroom soup. And I make good soup, y'all!

Oh, before I forget, I know David would appreciate me mentioning the fact that Christian hit that mushroom steady, straight and blew it to smithereens. He had some mad golfing skillz!

Love,
Marshie

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

Yesterday, my Noah celebrated his 8th birthday.  Although we spent half the day driving to visit my parents, it was still a very special day that we celebrated together as a family.  Balloons were hung in his doorway while he was sleeping, notes hung on the mirror, gifts wrapped... and ice cream cake from Coldstone at halmonee and grandpa's house!

The BIG day for the boys, however, was today when we took them to Six Flags!  It was a scorching 102+ degrees but there were NO LINES!!!  As in zero.   We got there when they opened at 10:30am, rode all the rides (except the Tony Hawk ride which was broken), and left around 3pm.  The boys even admit to be roller-coastered out!

Strange Confession:  I can ride the Superman, Batman and almost every roller coaster.  But what really scares me?  The swings.

You can stop laughing now.

Really.  I mean it.

Back to the purpose of this post...

Happy Birthday to my sleep-loving, goofy grinning, army man loving, Scooby-Doo PJ wearing, says he's a daddy's boy (but I know better), 8 year old Noah!!!  You make me so happy and I love you very much!

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

Two weeks ago, David and I spent a few days in San Antonio with our good friends Tim and Laura.  The Riverwalk area is a romantic place to stroll hand in hand-- interesting people, delicious dining options (well, except for this one Italian place that was super yucky. note to self: stick with Mexican food when visiting SA!), and picturesque areas to sit and relax.

Look!  David is smiling in this picture! :)  He's not as mean as his bald head makes him look sometimes.

When strolling about hand-in-hand in the aforementioned romantic Riverwalk, people smiled at us and were just super friendly.  At first I didn't see the glances and smiles by complete strangers for what they really were. 

This one couple laughed and asked David to stop so they could look closer at his shirt-- that's when I KNEW.

Hey, people think we're NEWLYWEDS!!!

It would've been a-okay if this were due to how young or in love we look. 

But nope.  That wasn't the reason.  Wanna see the real reason?!

Yup, the old "Game Over" shirt given to him not by his old buddies back in the day, but from some certain boys at our church who know that David loves him some Xbox 360!  How sad is that? 

It is kinda funny though.  Especially how the groom is frowning and the bride is smiling.

I'm not mad.  I'll keep wearing this shirt anyway:

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

Fourteen years and 2 days ago, I walked into the Federal Building in Dallas, TX to take the Air Force Officer Qualification Test.  I sat next to this handsome, confident and funny young man.  We had lunch that day.  A week later, he finally asked me out by saying "So when are you going to let me take you out?"

We were engaged 3 months later.  Here's a pic of us at our first Christmas together a la Sears:

Brrrr... doesn't that realistic background give you the chills and make you want to drink some hot chocolate and sing Christmas carols?

That's what I thought.

I graduated college in May and we were married in June.

Anyone want to tell me to say Cheese and smile?  I was a tulle princess marrying my prince (that looked like he had a mullet in many a wedding photo courtesy of bad lighting and poor photography skillz).  Look how young we all look! 

David was already working for Continental Express and made Captain by that Christmas.  We honeymooned in Cancun and began our married life in Cleveland, Ohio. 

When we first got married, I would wake up every day and be amazed that this was my life-- how blessed I was!  I couldn't believe that I got to spend the rest of my life with this wonderful man. That we could be together all the time.

And you know what?  I still feel that way today.

HAPPY 13TH ANNIVERSARY, MY LOVE!!!

Maybe next year I won't wait so last minute to make our anniversary post and be able to wax a little more eloquent about just how much I love thee! :)

 

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

Next to the Father-Son campout in the fall, Austin and Noah's favorite Master Club (like Awanas) activity is the Pinewood Derby.

POP QUIZ: Can you guess which car up there belongs to Noah?

The Derby is a fun time of food and fellowship with friends from church.  Since this is a race, the goal for many is to build the fastest car.  We are not quite there with the car building skillz to win first place (or any place!) when it comes to speed.  Our enjoyment comes from building a car from the boys' imagination and shooting for a win in the Most Creative category.

Oh and it is always a good idea for the car to make to all the way to the end of the track!  I am ashamed to admit that this year, we had a vehicle stop cold right in the middle of the track.  Not once, but TWICE!  Sorry Austin!  But look, him and his yummy car forgive us!

Doesn't his car look delicioso?

Austin worked with David to make the dish part of the car.  He made the ice cream, banana and toppings with Crayola Model Magic.  Neat-o,  don't you think?  Slow car but still fun!

**Did you figure out which car up there was Noah's?**

It seems whenever Noah is concerned, an army man must always be involved.  In fact, I had to get on to him tonight for hiding army men and Lego's in his bed so he can play with them at night!  Silly boy.  At least this guy has his arms-- they purposefully maim their guys in battle sometime.  To make it more real. Ummm... okay.

Noah was double blessed this Derby because his car not only made it to the end of the track every single time, but he also won the trophy for Most Creative.  Congrats Noah-boah!

He is very proud of his trophy.  What is it with kids and trophies anyway?  Maybe I should make myself a trophy.  Y'know, like "Queen Mother of the Year" or something.

Austin was happy for Noah to win.  Austin actually won Most Creative for his police tank car back in his first Derby.  And Christian even won a trophy last year for 2nd place in speed. :)  Courtesy of Luke-- thanks, Luke! 

So big smiles all around-- with or without trophies!

Christian - Pinewood Derby 2008

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

My dad sent this picture to me tonight.

And if that thin young man with shades and a motor scooter wasn't enough, he wrote this on the back of the photo:

"In case you don't recognize this handsome, debonaire, playboy.  It's me.  Show this to Dan & all pretty girls."

I admit it... I totally busted a gut when I read the back of this picture-- especially the part about showing it to all pretty girls!  Oh my oh my oh my!   How funny is that?!

This is completely opposite of what I know my dad to be like. Not that he isn't handsome or anything... he's just a rather quiet, devoted man that has been married to my mom for over 3 decades.  So it's hard to see him as a "debonaire playboy".   It does make me think that I need to ask my dad a few more questions about his childhood and young adult life.  Maybe even bring out the old voice recorder.

Are y'all surprised by old pictures of your parents or how they used to be back in the day?

This also makes me wonder what my boys are going to think about David and I when we were younger.  Or even if they were to look back to how we are right now... would anything be surprising to them?  Would we seem like normal parents or like old fogey's?  Maybe I should ask them when they wake up in the morning.  Or maybe I just don't want to know.

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

If my boys were to rewrite history, there would be less yawning and much more drama.  

Maybe the heavy artillery is required because there's gold in there?  Who knows what kind of treasure is being safeguarded?  If I ask the boys, it seems that the answer changes each time or they suddenly don't remember (which is code for: Hey mom, will you stop asking us these questions and just let us play?).

For the record: I'd hate to be the soldier that has the dinosaur doodoo duty.

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

From my sisters and brother...

I thought it was perfect just as it was. Then I flipped it over to see this...

My first glimpse of those bright blue eyes literally took my breath away.  I cried a lot after opening this unexpected gift, but it was a good kind of crying.

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

I'm in northern California visiting my baby sister Debbie (aka Bobo) and her hubsy-wubsy Aubrey.  They are a tres cute couple.

Today was our first full day here.  Although the temp was in the 90s, it was still gorgeous outside!  Our exciting day started off with a visit to the Jelly Belly Factory.

They had a pretty neat-o tour and gave away lots of free samples.  While the boys were impressed with the soda flavors of jelly beans, I was rather engrossed with the nasty flavors of jelly beans-- the likes of skunk, toothpaste, and dirt.  I even thought that the Rotten Egg flavored jelly beans weren't too bad.  My little sis, however, almost puked it out.  Sounds gross, doesn't it?  But not as gross as Vomit flavored jelly beans!

We then made a quick stop at the Golden Gate Bridge...

...before we arrived at Muir Woods. 

Even though I had these on my feet...

 

Boy did I feel silly clomping through the forest in these shoes!  It made me feel like the girl that would show up to a pool party wearing makeup, giant hair and lots of jewelry.  Silly and high maintenance.

The slightly sore feet and high-maintenance image were worth it though!

We leave on Thursday.  I have a feeling it's going to get here all too soon!

*The reason I'm wearing those ridiculous-for-the-woods shoes is that it was a very last minute trip and there was no time to go back to the house to put on sensible tennis shoes.  Just for the record and all...

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

Your dad sends you this picture in an e-mail:

Yup.  That's my mom's status upgrade in Wii Golf to "Pro".  Needless to say, they are enjoying his retirement!

Come to think of it, I don't think they have EVER sent me a picture of themselves.  But that's okay...  I can just stare at my mom's Mii.

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

I have picky eaters in this house.  They get it from their daddy.  I have decided that each week, we will try to learn to like something new.  This week, we are learning to like celery.

How did the boys respond to this today?

THEY LOVED IT, Y'ALL!!!

That was much easier than I anticipated.  Now to think of what we'll work on for next week.  Perhaps broccoflower might be pushing it... at least for now (and especially since I don't even know if *I* will like it!).

Did your parents make you learn to like certain foods when you were growing up?  While my dad didn't exactly make us learn to like cow tongue when we were little, he did force us to try it!  Blech!!!  Although I do believe that my sister Lele threw a fit or maybe ran away or something to avoid having to eat it.  She was always smart like that. There are definite drawbacks when grandma and grandpa have a farm and cows. 

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

 I saw this over at Darcy's blawg and thought I'd give it a go.  I'm sure I was sent this on Facebook but well, I never quite get around to the tags and notes from there.  One day I will, but not today.

Without further ado, here is an interview about mommy with my boys Austin (Dash) and Noah (Tank).  To keep them from influencing each other's answers, I took them aside individually and asked them these questions.

FROM AUSTIN (9.5 yo)

1.  What is something mom always says to you?
Uhhh… what do you mean?  I don’t know. That’s a tough one.

2. What makes mom happy?
Flowers. (said in a whisper)

3. What makes mom sad?
Thinking about Christian. 
(I love my boys. They are so sweet.)

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
Tells funny jokes. 

5. What was your mom like as a child?
Laughs and says “I don’t know! I don’t remember what your picture looked like.”
(I explain, not what did I look like as a child, but what WAS I like?)
 “A servant?”
(yah, I felt like that sometimes too! Hehehe)

6. How old is your mom?
Uhhhh… 33?

7. How tall is your mom?
Uhhhh… 6 feet 2 inches?

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Chat with popcorn? (Amy, he's talking about you!)

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Get on the computer.

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
A famous cook. In our family, you are!

11. What is your mom really good at?
Kicking daddy’s butt in Scrabble and cooking.

12. What is your mom not very good at?
WordTwist.  True!

13. What does your mom do for a job?
The Grocery Game and Heart of the Matter

14.What is your mom's favorite food?
Kimchi

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
Her cooking.  I’m always hungry.

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Goldilocks?  Wait, no… that’s a fairy tale.  Hmmm… that’s really tough.  I’m trying to think but I’m more good at fairy tales.

17. What do you and your mom do together?
Go shopping and cook.

18. How are you and your mom the same?
I can’t think of one for that.

19. How are you and your mom different?
You’re fully Korean and I’m only part Korean.
I remind him that I am also only part Korean.
He says “Ohhh… then erase that.”

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Because she’s nice.

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
He’s bald.

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Suzanne’s house.  Am I free now?

FROM NOAH (7.5 yo)

1.  What is something mom always says to you?
I love you.

2. What makes mom happy?
Me laughing!

3. What makes mom sad? 
Really nothing except for when Christian died.
(I love my boys. They are so sweet.)

4. How does your mom make you laugh? 
Tickles!!!  Aggghhh!!!

5. What was your mom like as a child?
I don’t know!  I never looked at a picture of you. I’d just say weird.

6. How old is your mom?
Easy. 30!  (Let’s ignore the fact that he’s the only one that goes to the eye doctor on a regular basis).

7. How tall is your mom?
I don’t know.  10 feet tall?  Okay, let’s just say 5.

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
On the computer!

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
On the computer!  On the computer!

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
I don’t know.  Money!  M-O-N-E-Y.  It’s all about the M-O-N-E-Y, isn’t that right?

11. What is your mom really good at?
Scrabble.  I mean, Pathwords!

12. What is your mom not very good at?
Playing with our dog Snowball.

13. What does your mom do for a job?
That’s easy.  The Grocery Game.  Oh, I meant shop! For groceries!

14.What is your mom's favorite food?
Spaghetti.

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
I love her.  What else?

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
I don’t know.

17. What do you and your mom do together? 
Sit around.

18. How are you and your mom the same?
We’re not the same!

19. How are you and your mom different?
We each do different stuff. And we each have a different hobby.  Yours is on the computer hobby and mine and Austin’s is on the xbox hobby.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
She always says it.

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
I have no idea.

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Kroger?  Okay, I’m done.  Oh, I meant Starbucks!

 

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

While folding laundry this evening, I came across an extra extra thick pair of socks.  Size medium, ankle cut, Hanes, blue stitching on the toe.  Further investigation led to the discovery of not one, but three pairs of socks--all neatly tucked within one another. 

While the sock monster has been known to mysteriously eat a stray or weak sock that lagged behind the herd, it had never before been known to carefully place socks within one another. 

This could only mean one thing.

Onion Boy has been wearing at least three pairs of socks at the same time!  Hillbilly-Pirate Boy is too picky about how clothes feel to ever try such an uncomfortable stunt.  Besides, his socks have green stitching on the toe.

When confronted with the aforementioned allegations of sock abuse, Onion Boy responded with a giant, prideful grin on his face.

What, mommy?  Didn't you know that the other day I even had on FOUR shirts?!

Ummm... no, honey.  Mommy does not notice such things when they are worn by a skeleton boy!  He seriously is deficient in the muscle mass department-- talk about skin and bones!  The boy eats and gets taller and his feet even grow, but his waist, arms and legs never ever get wider.  I wish I had that problem.

So dear friends, do your children wear multiple layers?  And remember, I'm not talking about cold weather layering (it's been warm here).  This is dressing like this-- four shirts, 3 socks and who knows what else-- just because! 

At least it wasn't like 2 pairs of shorts with 6 frogs shoved in the pocket, which has happened before courtesy of OB and HPB.

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

Here is my video for HOTM's video meme about why I love my spouse:

 We don't do much for V-day, but we did start the day with Tank's first soccer game of the season where he scored 2 goals! And the second one? Wow, it was amazing- my boy has his daddy's soccer SKILLZ!

 

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

I don't need a Valentine to shower me with chocolates, diamonds and romance.  Who needs that when I have the most beautiful cup of flowers and weeds given by a young man who thinks I am the bestest cooker in the history of the whole world?

So what are your V-day plans?  Are your expectations realistic?  Will you remember to give and do without the hope of receiving anything in return? (Although a payment in kisses and hugs can go a very long way!)

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

I think the days of genuine smiles and normal teeth are long gone.  When they are really young, you think it's a good thing when they learn to smile for the camera... until you realize it's the fake, cheesy camera smile that they just can't seem to get rid of! 

Then there is our current dilemma-- Tank's pirate smile.  The loss of additional front teeth makes him a special pirate- a hillbilly pirate!

   

Glimpses of genuine smiles are hard to come by, but I can still occasionally capture certain facial expressions that are just "them".  Okay, well mostly them.. my boys are too dorky to be looking so serious and normal.  But I say that with as much love as a proud mommy can!

     

Speaking of cheese, that brings me to the subject of the cutting of cheese.  There is an inordinately large amount of noxious greenhouse gases floating around the Drews house.  And I am not the one responsible for the hole in the ozone layer that lies directly above our abode!

I will give my boys an "A" for creativity though... whenever they fart, they smile or laugh and say "Howdy!"  And Dash once cracked me up by telling me "It's a jailbreak mommy!"

I do love my boys.  Pirate teeth, stinky bootays and all.

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

I can't believe it!  I found out today- ahem, while playing too many rounds of WordTwist on Facebook- that wot is a word!!!  It is the 3rd person archaic form of the word wit or wat (depending on the source), meaning to know or be aware of.  Hmmm... go figure.  Sounds deep and thought provoking, huh?

So Christian singing "everybody wants to WOT" kinda sorta made sense.

I find that to be quite hilarious this morning and just had to share! :-)

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

Will wonders never cease?!  When we landed in Houston, we looked out the window to see big, giant, beautiful snowflakes!  Dash and Tank were SO excited.  We could hardly believe our eyes!

This just never happens here in Houston... although people say it snowed here 4 years ago, it never did at our house... so that time didn't count. :-)

 

    

Edited to add:  I just had to add that the boys did not own heavy jackets or gloves or hats until last week. I hit a few thrift stores and Target to purchase the too-warm-for-Houston items in preparation for our visit to Spokane this week (where it did not snow!).  Lest ye think that the weather has gone topsy turvy, the forecast for Houston tomorrow is 71!  C-R-A-Z-Y!

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

Back from Disney-- zero lines, cold weather, fun fun fun!  While I collect my thoughts on it all, I swiped this fun tag from Emily for y'all to check out.  She makes everything seem exciting, even checking the mail!

1. He's sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen?  Xbox 360's Call of Duty 4.

2. You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad?  Ranch dressing.  But he won't actually eat it-- silly you for thinking such a thing!  He might take one measly bite and then he'll push it around the plate/bowl until you are done with yours.  He's polite but doesn't partake.

3. What's one food he doesn't like?  Anything green.  Unless it's grass to mow or money to be had, his life has no green... zip, zilch, zero.

4. You go out to the bar. What does he order?  I wouldn't be at a bar in the first place but if for some reason he were, he would get a Dr. Pepper.  But only if they gave free refills.  We're frugal like that.

5. Where did he go to high school? MacArthur High School in Irving, TX.

6. What size shoe does he wear?  10.5-11 Wide

7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be?  Tools, video games, and he has this fabulous collection of model airplanes!

8. What is his favorite type of sandwich? Grilled Ham and Cheese (with mayo)

9. What would he eat every day if he could?  Nasty Hamburger Helper Double Cheeseburger Macaroni.  He's also a big fan of pizza.

10. What is his favorite cereal? He's not much for cereal but when he does eat it, he eats either plain Cheerios or Peanut Butter Crunch cereal.

11. What would he never wear?  Pink! No way!

12. What is his favorite sports team?  Texas Longhorns.

13. Who did he vote for?  Definitely McCain!

14. Who is his best friend? ME.  But since that's a boring answer and sort of a given, I would say his buddy Tim.  They are like brothers!

15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do?  Put my cold feet on him. 
16. How many states has he lived in?  Four: Texas, Ohio, Georgia and then back to Texas (home sweet home!)

17. What is his heritage? German.

18. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what would it be? Yellow cake with homemade cream cheese frosting.

19. Did he play sports in high school? He played soccer from the time he was 4 years old all the way through college.  His dad was his coach for most of those years. :-)

20. What could he spend hours doing? Playing Xbox or working around the house.  He is quite the handyman and always has some kind of project going.  He recently put in recessed lights in our schoolroom and will soon be making some shelves for the boys' closet.

21. What's something cool about him? Cool is such a relative term!  I suppose what is the coolest about him is that he absolutely loves his family.  The guys he flies with at work always remember him for being the guy that looks at pictures of his wife and kids on his laptop all the time.  He doesn't do that as much at the present since he's still having a difficult time being without Christian, but there is NO DOUBT where his heart is.  He doesn't have the problem of being propositioned by ahem... flight attendants like many of the other guys.  Wedding rings are rarely a deterrent but a joy and genuine love for family?  That always works!

Let me know if you end up doing this tag as well.  I'd love to hear more about your hubs!

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

Yesterday 9yo Dash and I were discussing the differences between an abstract noun and a concrete noun.

Me: Give me an example of a concrete noun.

Dash: A pencil!

Me: Give me an example of an abstract noun.

Dash thinks for a couple of seconds.

Dash (in a calm and matter-of-fact voice): Christian.

Me (after regaining my composure):  Why do you say that?

Dash:  Because I can't see him or touch him.

Me:  Ummm... okay.  That's a very sweet answer although I don't think that is what the people that made this workbook quite had in mind.  But I guess you're right...  How about we just skip this and move to the next one?

Dash:  Okay, mommy.

It's always interesting to see when Christian will come up in our conversations.  Usually it's out of the blue and an unexpected surprise!  I am so glad that the boys are comfortable talking about Christian.  Sometimes we cry but other times it's very matter-of-fact with hardly a tear (okay, maybe just a little choking up)... remembering and laughing and talking as a family.  I am so thankful that God has kept us close-- close to Him and close to each other!

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

So how many of you really think I call David my hubsy-wubsy-pookey-bear in real life?

Well, I don't!  I usually call him David, babe or occasionally Dash's real name if he's frustrating me somehow (which ummm... let's just say does not make him very happy-- although it really is accidentally done-- honest!).

Today, David turned the big 36.  HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY!!!

David's parents came to visit, we ate a yummy lunch at Chuy's and then came home for birthday cake (with homemade cream cheese frosting).  After having this old Kodak camera for years, I finally tried the self-timer button so we could have a picture with everyone in it:

Not too bad, eh?  Although I can't for the life of me figure out why David never smiles in pictures.  He looks kinda mean, don't ya think?  But he really is nice and super fun!  Even if he doesn't have a nickname like sugar-baby-fluffy-buttercup.

David has always called me babe.  For some reason, he decided earlier this year that he would start calling me Marsha.  Marsha!  Can you believe it?  Not only did it totally freak me out, but I kept feeling like he was mad at me for something.  I finally forced him to quit calling me by my real name and asked him to please call me what he always calls me-- which is babe (and most likely more appealing than the alternative which would be "My Queen").  I also promised not to give him a hard time about whether or not if he knew what my real name was-- or if he was scared that he'd accidentally say his girlfriend's name instead of mine.  (Oh I kid!  Like he'd have a girlfriend.  We are very secure in our relationship and there is no need for anyone to worry.  Thankyouverymuch.)

So, do y'all have nicknames for each other?  Please share.  And be HONEST!  I promise I won't laugh.  Too hard.

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Dash is a very loving boy.  He has always been huggy and emotional, walking around with his heart on his sleeve.  The aforementioned sleeve, however, is beginning to SMELL! 

Aggghhh!  I'm not talking about stinky-outside smell but stinky-body-odor-because-I'm-growing-up smell!  He's only 9 years old for crying out loud.  Is it really time for that already?!

So daddy gave him a lesson on proper deodorant usage (not anti-perspirant... just deodorant).

For some reason I have an odd feeling of boo-hoo-he's-growing-up mixed with some sort of maternal-pride.  How weird is that?!  Anyone else feel like that sometimes?

Lest ye think that it is a sign of maturity-- trust me, it isn't!  When I pointed out the body odor, he laughed and proceeded to stick his arm pit right on my nose.  Yes, he definitely has his daddy's sense of humor (if that's what you want to call it)!

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

It is SO hard to be wordless-- especially if you know me! LOL

It's amazing how David+Me could equal three very different looking boys!  Some people think Dash and Tank are twins... but I think it's just that they have similar haircuts-- buzzcut a la mommy. ;-) 

PS These are pictures from our recent trip to Buffalo, NY.  God truly blessed us with a wonderful family trip!  I don't think I'll ever forget it... not just because it was with Christian (striking a muscley pose), but because it really was THAT FUN!

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

I think David and I might have said "Well, when you're a grown-up one day, you can do whatever you want" a few too many times.

As my sisters Lele and Bobo were driving the boys to church the other night, 7yo Tank related this rather matter-of-factly:

I'm never gonna get married.  Wanna know why?

I don't think my wife would like it very much that I went to Chuck E Cheese every single day.

And then I believe there was some under the breath comment about having to kick her out.

Yup, I'm glad my boy is thinking long-term!  I know I have trained him well when at the very top of his "Things to look for in a wife" list is a love for Chuck E Cheese! LOL

 

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Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

(I was not the one filming this sideways... my dear husband realized the error of his ways at the end.  Also, please note that while my boys cannot sing harmony, they have no problems tweaking classic songs to suit their tastes and style-- hence the smelling, zoo, and cha cha cha references.)

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Wow, was that a long blogosphere absence or what?  That's what happens when I get too busy... I go off-grid.  Wait, I take that back.  That's what happens when I get too busy AND cranky at the same time!

The highlights and lowlights of the past two weeks:

+We went to the lake for a few days with friends.  

There were about 4 momma's, 1 David for part of the time, and 30 kids (give or take a few).  It was fun and relaxing and I was too lazy to take any pictures.

+Oh blankie, where art thou?

Somehow 3yo Dozer has learned to cope without his buddy and has even confiscated other pieces of fleece around the house to compensate.  But what about ME?!  What about Mommy?!!!  I am SO saddened at the disappearance of his little buddy... his shadow... his companion when he sucks his thumb at night.  I even offered a reward to anyone who finds it-- scissor rips, green paint stains, fuzzballs and all-- nothing beats the original!  But to no avail.  I am in mourning over this.

That blankie has been there for many things... bedtime, camping, double black eye, hide and seek... *sniff* *sniff*

 
 
 
 


+Dash celebrated his 9th birthday this past weekend!

NINE YEARS OLD!  That is halfway to an adult!!! 

I have been a bit anxious about this day for much of the year.  Not that I boohoo the loss of the early childhood or anything.  But the responsibility of raising a child into a young man has weighed heavily on my mind.  A reminder that while he is a good kid and we have a great relationship, I question whether we as parents have done enough?  Have taken advantage of opportunities to talk about God?  To live out a good Christ-like example?  Aggghhh!  I'm running out of time!

Okay, back to the birthday.  With all the rain and it being the Tax Free weekend here in Texas, we opted to stay HOME rather than go out!  Friday, we did venture out to Chuck E Cheese first thing in the morning (coupons in hand, of course! LOL), to have our family day.  We usually reserve the actual birthday day for just family-- no friends and no party.  We'll do something together as a family and have a cake and presents.  In the early years, I found myself being so busy taking care of everyone else, *I* never had the time to reflect and really enjoy the day with my children.  Now, celebrations of the party magnitude are held on a different day.

Anyhow, it rained but we were cozy inside with our little men.

+Our dog got bit on the face by a copperhead snake.

She's doing okay now but her face did swell up pretty big.  We took her to the animal ER almost right away (as soon as we could find an open vet on a Saturday evening!).

One thing to say about that-- better the dog than a kid.

She is pretty much all the way recovered.  I don't think any of my kids would've been so fortunate.  Ditto when David was stung by a swarm of bees on his face and head last week.  He was mowing the neighbors lawn and in the far corner of their property was a tree FULL of bees.  I guess they didn't like the vibration of the mower!  I have never been stung by a bee or wasp-- although my kids have.  So the mere thought of it makes me shudder!

+3 year olds are so fun!

They speak their own language,
they laugh hysterically when you kiss their bellybutton,
they say funny things like Mommy, I bumped my forehead
and just when I am surprised that he used the word forehead,
he ruins it by saying and then I bumped my other head. 
What?!  You have two heads? 
And as he touches one side of his forehead and then the other,
he replies Yes, I have dis forehead and then dis head over here.

Ummm... okay then.

And that, as best as I can remember, wraps up my life up to this point.

+What have y'all been doing?

Love,
Marshie

PS  Have you seen it?  Have you?  Boo hoo...

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

I have to write this down so I don't forget.  At 7 years old, I wonder how many more funny things a kid can say.  Because y'know, sometimes when they're much older, weird or wrong things they say just aren't quite funny as much as they are reason to question how well you lernz em in homeschool! LOL

David and I went on a date yesterday-- and we didn't go to Sam's Club!  What were we thinking?  That's okay because the roster of places we went included the likes of Academy, Ross, Starbucks for me, Exxon for him (for an Icee!), Best Buy, IKEA and Korea Gardens restaurant (YUMMY).

When we got back we were talking to the babysitter.  She was laughing when she told us that Tank was excited about going to the lake on Monday (we're going with several other families from church next week).

Tank was hopping up and down and said:

I just can't wait to go FISHING!!!  Oh it's going to be so much fun!  And you know what else?  If we catch enough we can cook them up for supper and have fried chicken!  I LOVE FRIED CHICKEN!!!

Okay, now you just tell me that wasn't hilarious talking up there.  Go ahead.  It was funnay, no?

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David and I... we've been married for over 12 years now.  We are an institution!  There is no just Marsha or just David... It is David and Marsha.  Marsha and David.

***cue cheesy music***

No matter the decade, baby... we are SOULMATES!!!

 
 

 

  

(Love triangle?  Hmmm... which one will I choose?!  *snort*)

This was from Yearbook Yourself.  During the HOTM Conference, I saw Dawn post something similar and it just CRACKED ME UP!  I'm going to regret (maybe) staying up until 2:30am doing this... but it was my sister Coco's fault (definitely).  It wouldn't have been nearly as funny if we weren't IM'ing and doing this together!

So what do y'all think?  Let me know if you do this too!

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

My friend DeeDee tagged me with this one a while back... Since I am a slacker blogger, I am just now getting around to playing along!

1. Who is your man?  David  

2. How long have you been together?  We just celebrated 12 years of marriage! :-)  I think I forgot to mention that that was one of the reasons I went on that Cancun trip with him last month.  Happy Anniversary, baby!!! 

(Ummm... yeah, this is us NOT in Cancun!  We are not really beachy people. This was our very cool trip to Beijing that we took a few years ago-- it was cheap, not crowded and WINTER.  Worth freezing our butt off, though!)

3. How long dated?  We were married one year and 2 days after the day we met.

4. How old is your man? 35

5. Who eats more? Him, although I have been known to be REALLY hungry!!!

6. Who said "I love you" first? He did-- I was determined to not say it first.  One of those romantic notions of wanting to be serenaded by words.  I even remember where we were, the obnoxious movie that was playing, my little sister asleep on the couch, and that he had this little speech leading up to "...and this is why I LOVE YOU."  Be still my pounding heart!

7. Who is taller? He is!  He was 6'3" when we got married but is now 6'2".  I am still 5'7".

8. Who sings better? I guess I do.  He kinda sings really quietly... almost whispering to himself.  One day, I know he'll sing with gusto!  He does sing a little louder when it's his fav song at church "It is Well with my Soul" or if there is a cheesy 80s song on the radio. 

9. Who is smarter?  Ahem, actually we are both smart-- smart enough to marry each other!  He's very practical and common sensical... I'm a bit more academic.  We're smart in different ways and balance each other out perfectly!

10. Whose temper is worse?  Mine! Mine! Mine!  David is VERY laid back and rarely loses his temper.  It's a daily thing for me.  Sometimes even hourly, I'm ashamed to say.  But I do apologize... in fact, I'm a little too good at it as it is often necessary!

11. Who does the laundry?  I do.  Although he does carry the heavy laundry baskets for me to the laundry room.

12. Who takes out the garbage?  We finally gave that duty to 7yo Tank.  I'll take it out of the kitchen trashcan though (since it is often overstuffed and gets stuck).  Tank takes it to the big bin outside and drags it all to the street on trash days.

13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do!

14. Who pays the bills?  I do.  I'm home all the time and his schedule is wacky... besides, the more I can do myself, the more time he has to spend with his family when he's home!

15. Who is better with the computer?  Internet and programs, that would be me.  Fixing something that's broken or adding more memory or something technical like that-- that would be him!

16. Who mows the lawn? We all do. :-)  I'll usually get on the zero turn riding mower and he'll get on our old fashioned regular riding mower (we have 3.5 acres-- so the addage many hands, make light work is very true).  But since the kids are getting bigger, I imagine they'll take it over more and more.  I do NOT trust them on the zero turn though-- it is waaaay too fast for them!

17. Who cooks dinner?  I love to cook!  David's cooking skillz consists of cereal, Kraft mac and cheese (made the wrong way), pb&j's and perhaps Hamburger Helper's Double Cheeseburger Macaroni if he is feeling adventurous in the kitchen.

18. Who drives when you are together?  He does!  Call me old-fashioned but I can't stand to see a wife in the driver's seat and husband in the passenger seat.  It just makes me think that the wife is overbearing and the husband is a pansy (no offense to those who do for medical reasons or whatever-- just being honest here!)

19. Who pays when you go out? It's our money so I'm not sure whatcha mean... David usually physically pays it though.  My purse is a cavern and it's so much easier for him to just whip out his wallet.  Besides, I think it's the gentlemanly thing to do.

20. Who is most stubborn? Oh, do you even have to ask?!  Of course it is ME!!!

21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Well, since I am usually in the wrong (see above regarding temper and stubborness), that would be me.  But David has no problems admitting he's wrong if that's the case.

22. Whose parents do you see the most? Hard to say, we see both quite often.  Maybe we see his more since they live closer and are retired?  But we don't really keep count... I think it's pretty even stevens.

23. Who kissed who first? He kissed me first.   

24. Who asked who out? After talking long-distance on the phone for almost a week, he finally said "So when are you going to let me take you out?"  I thought he'd never ask!

25. Who proposed? He did!

26. Who is the most sensitive? Yours truly.  (aka emotional)

27. Who has more friends?  I've never really counted.  We are both very blessed with lots of friends!

28. Who has more siblings? Definitely me!  I am one of five children.  David is an only child.

29. Who wears the pants in the family? David does, although yes I am the opinionated type and some people might find it hard to believe that I do submit to my husband (and cheerfully-- well, most of the time I'm cheerful about it).  He always respects my opinion and seeks my advice, so I definitely cannot complain.  I would not want the burden of being the final authority in our family-- I'll let him stand before God on that one!  Besides, I completely trust and respect him-- he's wise with money, level headed, has his priorities straight regarding his family/job/friends/etc, and always has our best interests at heart.

30. How did you meet? We met at the federal building in Dallas taking the Air Force Officer Qualification Test. I wanted to be in intel and he wanted to fly the big C-5 transport planes with a reserve unit in San Antonio.  We went to lunch that day, dated, were engaged in 3 months and were married 1 year and 2 days after the day we met.  We would've gotten married sooner but I needed to graduate college first-- one of those unspoken family rules.  We did end up turning down our commissions for the sake of being together.  It is probably the only regret we have-- not having served our country.  We would still make the same choices about it today, but we are saddened about it nonetheless.

Well, I guess this means I have to tag some peeps.  How about I take the pansy way out just leave this open?  If you actually read this far down, consider yourself tagged!!!  Just be sure to let me know that you are participating so I can be sure to come take a look-see about your other half! 

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

Yesterday before the typical summer afternoon downpour of rain, I walked outside to behold this beautiful sight:

That is my newly turned 7yo mowing the lawn-- hooray!  And he did NOT drive it into the pond-- double hooray!  What a big boy!  Can you see how his feet barely reach the pedals?  He had to put bricks and a log on the seat to give it enough weight to reach the pedals and keep the engine from shutting down (which it automatically does if you lift up off the seat).

Today I was thinking about this incident and how my kids are growing up so quickly (bear with me if you have teens and think that this is when they are really little kids, okay?). 

We went to Denny's for lunch today and upon leaving the restaurant, the above mentioned Tank noticed a sign very similar to this one:

He saw the sign and audibly gasped. 

I heard him excitedly whisper Smoke. Free! 

And then I knew.  I knew exactly what that boy was thinking.  I hated to burst his bubble... but I did it anyway.

Tank, that does NOT mean that they are giving away free smoke!!!  It means that you cannot smoke here.

My little pyro was visibly disappointed, especially since they lit and launched and burned the very last of their roman candles, smoke bombs, strobe flasher thingies and other loud and bright and loud fireworks last night.  Yup, he is definitely still quite little.

I think we're going to have to start back with our lessons very soon.  I don't know how much more brain mush I can take.

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Yesterday was my sister Coco's birthday-- she is now closer to 40 than 30!  CONGRATULATIONS Older Sister of mine! hehe  Would y'all mind hopping over to her blog  and wishing her a (slightly belated) happy birthday? :-)

I love my sister-- she has always been my best friend.  I'm sure I've gotten on her nerves over the years and have beaten her up a time or two when we were little (although I'm sure she totally deserved it!), and yet she still sticks by me.  I love how I can talk to her half a dozen times a day and she still answers the phone (she's obviously a glutton for punishment).  And we really got close when she was prego with Benjamin the same time that I was prego with Dozer.  I highly recommend being prego at the same time as a sister because NO ONE else could possibly be as interested as a prego sister in exactly how big you're getting, how tired you are, what you really wish you could eat and the constant Ugh... it's hard to breathe when you are past the 35 week mark-- oh and all of this repeated several times a day, every day for a very very very long time!

It was really nice having her and her kidlets over this last week-- I miss them already!  Speaking of her kidlets, I must say that my niece Emily is quite a cutie-patootie...

Whenever I see her and Dozer together, I can't help but realize how they look so much alike-- as in bright eyes, blonde hair, and very WHITE.

I'm telling you, they look more like siblings than they do with their real siblings.  The rest of us are more blah blah brown haired and eyed and skinned! 

(Ewww... for some reason that gave me the visual of actually being skinned... Oh let me digress for a split second... In my college biology lab, I walked into the lab and thought to myself What is that piece of driftwood doing on the lab counter?  Then I realized it was a skinned cat!  I kid you not.  Startling, it was.  And learning about different muscles the assignment would be, young Jedi.) 

Anyhow, moving right along!

It was nice for my littlest man to have a cousin so close in age to play with.  Benjamin is only a month younger than Dozer so they totally understand one another, even when nobody else does.  Nothing like a pair of 3yo boys to make you smile and keep you on your toes!

Okay Coco, you need to hurry up and get your hiney down here-- closer to ME!

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  Look who is 7 years old today!

Happy, happy birthday to Tank!

You have a contagious laugh that spreads around the room; your interesting turn of words always impresses; your sweet spirit makes you a joy to be around; your "noticeable" voice makes it so easy to know if you are nearby;  and your super smile and laid back ways makes everyone want to be your friend.  These are just a few of the many things that make you unique and one of a kind-- we are SO proud of who you are!

  

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We have been working on learning all the words to The Star Spangled Banner-- verses 1 and 2.  Yes, we are obviously still working on it! LOL  This was (definitely!) not their best performance but... well, it just makes me smile. :-)   Yes boys, I sometimes have trouble with those high notes too.  And trying to decide between saying "the" like thee or thuh... that's always a tough call in the music world.

Happy Independence Day, y'all!

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I was going to post about our busy week-- cookout with friends we haven't seen in forever, the big union rally downtown, my nephew's half birthday party... but after driving 500+ miles in the past 2 days, I'm tired.

After seeing the very talented JenIg and Coie in concert, I thought I'd share the skillz of the latest musical talent in the Drews household with you instead.  For your listening pleasure:

 

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

The other morning, I walked into the kitchen to find this... abandoned on top of the stove...

What in the world?

I hollered (because that's what we do in Texas, holler...) for my eldest son and chief boy baker in the house.

Dash, what in the world is this doing here?!

With great disappointment in his voice, he explained...

Well, mommy, I thought it was going to be a WHOLE pizza in there but it was JUST the crust!!!

I laughed ALL morning long about this!  Poor kid.  I bet he was sorely disappointed and quite surprised to find just plain old dough in that can!  *snort*

Reason number 5,692 to have kids:  pure entertainment value.

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That is what grandpa has been calling Tank.  It's fitting, I suppose... although I thought snaggletooth was that weird tooth that grows up in the top of your gums.  But I guess the definition doesn't really matter.  What grandpa meant is this... 

Isn't he cute?! :-)

There are worse things than being called Snaggletooth.  Poor Tank could lose that second tooth (which is VERY loose, by the way) and then be tormented with the song All I Want For Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth... over and over and over and over again.  Trust me!  I speak from personal experience. 

I was in the 3rd grade.  Nope, I wasn't being teased by some meanies in public school... but by my dad and my older sister Coco.  Yup, my own flesh and blood!  (Coco, you are so fun to pick on! hehehee)  The teasing was so bad and incessant, I refused to show my teeth when I smiled.  I have a family picture to prove it too.  Of course, I was then made fun of for my goofy smile in the aforementioned family picture... but I digress.  Boo hoo.  Poor me.

Anyhow, I actually like how they look and lisp when they lose their front teeth!  It's waaay better than that super goofy smile they have when their giganto new front teeth come in and are too big for their still small mouth and smile.  I don't know, which do you like better?  No teeth or the too big rabbit looking teeth?

*update*

Well, Tank is very happy to report this!!!

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Three year old Dozer, bounds into the room with his face completely lit up in excitement:

Mommy!  Mommy!  I can say SSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!

He gives me a high five and then races back to his room.

A couple minutes later, he runs back into the room, stops in front of me with this huge grin on his face and then loudly proclaims: 

MOMMY! Mommy!  Wooook!  I can say T!  T!  T!  T!

Have I ever mentioned just how much I love the Leap Frog - Letter Factory DVD?  That was one of the biggest resources in helping my kids learn to read.  They learned their letter sounds with it first and then we worked through Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons (minus the icky writing part).

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Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

Do you have one of those kids that thinks a lot?  As in it surprises you that they have so much going on up there and yet they don't even tell you about it?  Silent thinking... scary stuff, I tell ya.

Well, Tank is kinda like that.  He has always been quiet, easy going, and tends to ask you questions out of the blue.  Like when he was 4 years old and I had a rare outing at the grocery store with just me and him.  As I was passing the toilet paper, he looked up at me from in the cart and asked "What happens when we die?  Am I going to die soon?  Are you going to die soon?"  Yeah, talk about stopping me in my tracks and catching me completely off guard!  Oi.

Tank is now almost 7 years old.  I was doing some work on the computer last night and he comes running into the room crying.  He is so hysterical I can barely understand him! 

T:  Ooooohhhh... my stomach hurts!  What happens when you eat poison?!  Can you tell me?!  Will I die?!  What happens when you eat poison?!!!  (and he continues to bawl and babble)

Me:  What?!  You ate POISON?!  What poison?  How can you eat poison when you're in bed?!  What did you eat?!

I finally got him to stop crying and wailing long enough to get a sorta straight answer from him.

T:  Y'know, sprinkles?  If I eat sprinkles will it kill me?  Is it POISON?!

Me:  Sprinkles? What sprinkles? Cupcake sprinkles? Or ant killer sprinkles?

T:  I DON'T KNOW!!!

Me:  Show me.

So I follow him to his room and ask him to show me what he's talking about.  I was half expecting it to be those little silica beads that come with shoes and other items.  We looked all around and I'm starting to raise my voice asking him WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!

He continues to look and ask me questions about poison-- will it kill you, does it make you throw up, what happens?  We discuss garage chemicals and under the sink cleaners... but it was none of those.

Alas, my crazy kid (who is usually so calm-- really!), has me feel his bed.

T:  It was actually just one little piece of this. 
(wipes his hand across his bed). 
Feel it?  Do you see it, mommy? 
(His voice is now a little quieter and he sees the look on my face... he's starting to feel silly... and in trouble.)

Me:  Uhhh... Tank?  That is SAND.  You ate a piece of SAND!!!!!!!!

T (a little more quieter):  So will it kill me mommy?  Is it poison?

If he ever does this to me again, poison will be the least of his worries!!!  I gave him a hug, kiss, swat on the hiney and told him to get his worrywart self into bed. 

It will not kill you.  It will not give you a tummyache.  It is SAND. From the dirtpile you played in earlier tonight!  We'll clean it tomorrow.  Don't ever put something that is not food into your mouth ever again and you won't have to worry about this ever again!!!

Y'know he gets this weirdoness from his dad's side of the family. 
(I love you dad! I love you mom!  I'm sure it skipped your generation though!) ;-)

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

My husband is a handsome man, a manly man, a handyman and now a lumberjack.  His shorts, however, are just one thing: distracting (and I'm being kind by limiting it to that one word). 

So try to look at the giganto tree crashing down to the earth and not at his bright red shorts running across the yard.

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

The other day, 3yo Dozer and 8yo Dash ran up to me and gave me a big hug.  I looked down at them and said,  "I love my little squirt.  I love my big squirt.  And medium squirt (aka 6yo Tank) is still taking a nap."

Dash gives me another big hug and says "And you're a long and skinny squirt!"

And because I want him to elaborate and to make sure this would be a compliment instead of some sick form of potty humor, I ask him "What do you mean?"

He says, "Because you're long and skinny, mommy!"

  Oh, I just love that boy!  He has a great attention to detail. :-)

The next day, even though he woke up waaay too early, Dash brightened my day when he was doing his language arts worksheet.  He had to go around the house and find examples of the antonyms on the page.  For example, "Ugly & Pretty."  For ugly, he put his little brother Dozer.  Okay, so that wasn't very nice.  But for pretty, he put "Mommy".  So I guess I'll let that first part slide this time. 

Yup, I'm educatin' him real good like for his future wife.  Not only can he dish out breakfast in the morning but he is really good about dishing out compliments as well!

***

PS Keep your eyes out for an upcoming announcement about my very own BIRTHDAY BLOGGY GIVEAWAY!  And the ever-so-talented chickadee even made me this cute little graphic-- don't you just love it?!

 

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

It's been in the 80s here all week.  This is how the boys cooled down after soccer this past Saturday.

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

The boys and I stopped by to see David's grandmother on our way home from visiting my folks last week.  She lives in a very small house in a very small town.  But her heart is quite big.   

She also makes the best angel food cake EVER, has a green thumb, is a sewing genious, plays t-ball with the boys, has a super fun tire swing in the backyard, has vintage toys that have survived generations of boys, and is SPUNKY.  Oh yes she is!   


   

Okay, I know the boys look orange here, but they are not sunburned!  It's just a horrid picture with the background being SO BRIGHT and the boys being so dark.  I tweaked and then I got tired and now they're orange.  I've decided to give up now and just let y'all use your imaginations to make them look more normal.  And while y'all are at it, just pretend that they act normal too, okay?  ;-)

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

Why is it that people say niece and nephew but not nephew and niece?  I guess it flows easier with niece first for some reason.  But I digress.

I just wanted to share a picture of my nephew and my niece with y'all.  Nephew first because he's older and I'm just used to putting the oldest child's name first when I'm writing.  You can blame my older sister for that.

Anyhoo!  These pics were taken by my sister on Easter Sunday.  I've been playing around with my new Photoshop Elements and tweaked them ever so slightly.

This is Benjamin.  We call him BenBen (we as in the boys and I).  He is a month younger than Dozer and love sticks.  He is a true BOY.  My sister and I grew extra-super-dee-duper close when we were prego at the same time.  It was so nice to have someone to talk to twenty million times a day about big bellies, feeling tired, FOOD, puking and all the other fun prego stuff.  My other non-mommy (so far) sisters would've disowned me before the end of my first trimester-- or at least blocked my calls!  Back to BenBen now... BenBen speaks very clearly and has beautiful hair.  He and Dozer are great buddies.  I really wish we were neighbors. (HINT HINT)

This is Emily.  Em is almost 2 years old.  So far, she is the only niece in the familia.  She is woefully outnumbered by my three boys plus her brother.  I think she likes it that way though.  Needless to say, with all her aunt's and their penchant for retail therapy (I've got three sisters and a brother) she is always fashionably and beautifully dressed.  I don't know what it is about that funny face she's making, but I just LOVE it!

 

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

I know I have shared this precious picture of Tank with y'all before.  But have I shown you the rest of the story?

Do you believe what you see here?

Or is this the real truth?

Methinks he would make a great politician one day!  I just need to teach him to not allow controversial pictures of himself to be taken...

This did make me do some thinking.  Do my boys think I favor one of them over the other?

I am the second of five children... 3 girls, 1 boy, then 1 girl.  My parents never really played favorites-- although I did feel that my brother got preferential treatment sometimes just because he was the only boy!  But the tradeoff for him having his own room, getting to go to grandma and grandpa's (just him, by himself with no other siblings!) and getting the easy job of taking out the trash (while I was on dishwashing duty-- every day, while trash is only twice a week) is that he did get stuck with the scary rooms in the house and he didn't have anyone to talk to at night.  But I digress...

All three of my boys have very different personalities.  Depending on the situation, some are easier to get along with than others.  I do wonder how they'll look back on their childhood and wonder what kind of a mommy they think I was... or am... 

Will they feel injustice about some things-- like who whined, who hit, who rubbed yogurt on the wall and who had to clean it up?  Will they have selective memory?  Will they think I have a favorite?

While I don't worry about this, I do wonder about it.  Life isn't always fair and my children don't need to be coddled about their self-esteem (blah blah blah), but it is a good idea to consider and reevaluate the family dynamics every now and then.  To stop looking at the kids as a group (brothers, 3 boys, my little men!) but as individuals.  Very unique.  Very loved. 

So what was it like in your house?  What is it like today?

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

A few things that were uttered, exclaimed and stated around our house this past week:

• Quit trying to make Dozer eat your evil breakfast!  ~Tank talking to Dash about the toffee crescent rolls Dash made this morning.  Dozer just wasn't hungry... and that did not bode well with his older brother.
  
  
• Hey, is that chicken?!  Like from a pig? ~Tank peeking into the oven
  
  
• Put that machete down.  See?  That's what happens when you don't listen to mommy.  ~Me, stated very matter of factly to 3yo Dozer as he (lightly)bonked his head on the upswing of a rusted hatchet he was trying to hurl across the yard.  I called it a machete because I couldn't think of the right word, but it's a hatchet.  No, it's not his hatchet... the kids found it when they were digging in the yard one day.  Is it sad that I was saying this like it was a normal everyday occurrence instead of yelling it?

Any interesting sayings from your house?

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

When we were eating breakfast yesterday, Dozer started pointing at a poster on our dining room wall and was laughing hysterically. 

Mommy!  hahahahaha!  Come wook!  It's daddy!!! HAHAHAHA!

Well, who could resist seeing what was so funny?  So I walked on over there and crouched down to his level.  He pointed to the poster of the Presidents of the United States.

Ahem.  Well, I already knew this was going to be good.

Wook!  It's daddy!  Right heeow!!!


Nope, that's not daddy baby.  That's Dwight D. Eisenhower!!!  And then I started busting a gut!  Sorry David.  But this is the TRUTH and I did not set him up in ANY way!!!  Bwahahahahaha!

Do y'all see a resemblance?
Don't worry, baby!  You are waaaaay finer than Ike! 

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

They stack things...

They play in the pond...

They play yard golf...

But this one... well, this one is hard to attribute to the fact that they are boys.  It's more like they get these "great" ideas... it must be from their daddy's side of the family! :-)


And just in case you can't read the signs, they say:
bike race
and
free tennis
$5.00

and

bike race open 5:00pm to 5:30pm
$5.00

Who says they aren't learning LIFE skills in our homeschool? 
Yup, it took a looooong while, but eventually they figured out that NO ONE will pay $5.00 to be in a bike race, even if it comes with a free game of tennis in the driveway.  Y'all should have heard the arguments about changing the price to 50 cents instead.  Obviously one child dreams much bigger than the other one!  And the littlest man?  Well, he's smart enough to try to hide his identity and not be a part of this scam plan!

~Marshie

PS Speaking of boys, I bet y'all might have some young men (or ladies) in your life that would enjoy the prize that Emily is giving away-- the entire Kingdom Series by Chuck Black!  Cool prize, huh?  So hurry on over to her CONTEST!

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

Go on.  You know you wanna *GROAN* about the title!  I know I do.  But I still couldn't resist.

Dash's big "Just for Fun" Bee was this past Saturday.  I was nervous.  And anxious.  The night before, he who never prays out loud was excited to pray before bed: 

Dear God,
Please help me at the Spelling Bee tomorrow.
And most of all, help everyone to have fun!
In Jesus' name I pray,
Amen.

Simple and sweet.  And it really summed up his happy and joyful attitude!  We were very proud of him all week long and at the Bee as well.

He got up to spell his first word-- the word I thought I wouldn't forget but have.  Anyhoo, he spelled it correctly and he beamed all the way back to his seat.  If he were to miss the next word, we would've been just fine... All the practice and getting there at 8:30AM was totally worth that one precious smile!

But he made it past the first, second, and third round.  This was his word for the fourth round.


Aren't you impressed with that word? He did a great job and made it all the way to the FIFTH ROUND!  

Unfortunately, he got stumped on the word "dwell"... a surprisingly easy word that he knew very well, but apparently not well enough.  When the announcer said That is incorrect we held our breath for a moment.  Would he cry?  Would he be completely bummed?  Would he argue? 

Nope. He just looked a bit surprised for a second and then quietly went to his seat.  Oh man, we were even more proud of him, especially since he usually wears his heart on his sleeve!

So I was the most anxious one of all leading up to the Bee, but he really took it for what it was-- a fun Bee!

Here are a couple more pics from this past Saturday.  The first is killing time with paper-rock-scissors.  The second is *our* winner!

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

The first few seconds of 2008 were spent kissing two very special people-- Dash and Tank.  I had planned to send them to bed with Dozer at around 9pm.  But they were so happy and awake and David was in Panama so why not let them stay up and ring in the new year with mommy? 

We had nachos and hot fudge sundaes, watched TV and played on the computer (okay, *I* was the one on the computer).  They were wired until about 11:55pm.  Then they had to force themselves to stay awake for the countdown!  Quick kisses, a couple of phone calls and then they pretty much passed out. 

On to this morning, where I started my day with this unexpected accident:

Yes, that is my bottle of perfume nestled into a half a cup of coffee (too bad to ruin that cup, it was perfectly sweetened and creamed!).  Weird, huh?  I can honestly say that I've never done that before.

The rest of my day was spent finishing a fiction book that I started on a quick jaunt to Seattle with hubs yesterday.  We had a great time together, even if it was for only 24 hours... but it was 24 hours sans kidlets!  There are definitely perks to being in the airline industry.  Yup, I'm a spoiled brat.  And I like it.  (Of course, the drawback is hubs working most weekends and most major holidays... so you can either boohoo a little for me or just hit me over the head when I do complain... It's an odd life, huh?)

Anyhoo, the kids rotted their brains watching TV for a while and then they played outside in their pajamas and mud boots.  They had fun with their remote controlled boats (courtesy of crazy Uncle Stephen and Aunt T) in the pond and then ran back in to watch more TV.  Yup, total brain rot was impending.  But it's a rare treat so they took advantage-- they know all too well that our lessons start up again tomorrow.

Since it is the New Year and all, I would like to mention that this uptight and fearful mommy did let the kids enjoy fireworks in the backyard for two nights in a row!  David being home helped their pyro cause greatly.  It is amazing how my laid back husband completely balances me out.  I think the kids would have zero amazing fun without him... if it were just me, they would only have mediocre fun, with him it is amazing fun.   Come on, y'all know what I'm talking about.

The boys wanted me to take pics of them like there were explosions behind them... What do you think?  Does the danger seem real?

Needless to say, the days leading up to 2008 were a BLAST! 

(I know you didn't just *groan*... you knew it was coming... you knew I couldn't resist!)

HAPPY NEW YEAR, MY FRIENDS!

Love,
Marshie

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday to you!

Happy Birthday, dear Jesus!

Happy Birthday to you!

One of our Christmas traditions is to have a birthday cake for Jesus.  We sing Happy Birthday and there is a candle for each kid to blow out (my niece and nephew were here but not in the candle-blowing-out-mood).

Tonight, we'll talk with the boys about what gift they can give him and the greatest gift of all-- Jesus himself!

Merry Christmas, y'all!

Love,
Marshie

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

When Christmas carols are only sung once a year, there are some interesting interpretations that float around.  For example, Dash was singing this little ditty the other day:

...Oh bring us some thingy pudding, oh bring us some thingy pudding, oh bring us some thingy pudding and bring it right here!...

Honey, it's figgy pudding.
Huh?
Figgy pudding. 
What?!  Figgy pudding?!

Now Dash and Tank are both looking at me like I have three heads or something.  Perhaps this is due to the fact that they most likely don't know what a fig is. 

Once explained, they are even more perplexed.  Why in the world would you make pudding out of that?!

In this case, I must agree.  I'll take tapioca, butterscotch, chocolate or plain old vanilla over FIGGY any day!

***

On a more serious note about moi, I have been a total nutcase lately.  A big giant stressball with a headache, big zit over my lip (that I really shouldn't have messed with because it really does make it extra horribly worse!), and a wrinkle between my brows that was getting deeper by the day.  My poor husband.  My poor children.  Oh did they suffer from my door slamming, muttering to myself and then getting eerily silent as I tried not to just cry like a lunatic.  And that was just THIS MORNING.

At first I thought it was the fact that my house is a disaster.  I'll clean up said disaster once again and then more work is done the next day (like baseboards and door trim and sawdust and paint and aggghhh!) which turns into yet another mess.  All over the floors.  Again.  I don't know about y'all but I am not a wear-shoes-in-the-house kind of girl.  You just don't do that if you're Asian.  Anyhoo, bare feet plus contractors (or kids and husband and 3.5 acres) equals junk and gunk on your feet.  Grrr...  Add PMS to that combo and I am beyond UNfun-- I am full blown mean and ugly.

I really wanted to get mad at David and tell him what for and boohoo and all that stuff.  I knew I should pray and just ask God to help me but I didn't want to.  Terrible, isn't it?

For once in my life, I actually held my tongue and was just grouchy the rest of the day.  And now he's at work where I can't call him and I'm sitting here feeling guilty about being horrid to him all day.  *sigh*  I hate it when I do that.  

As I'm sitting here in bed, I look over at my nightstand and see my Bible.  It has been in the exact same spot for waaay too long.  That's the problem.  It happened again.  I got busy with being busy and while I talked to my boys about Jesus' birthday and how amazing God is, I neglected to spend time in His Word and in prayer.  When I get my mind and heart away from God, I have no peace in any part of my life.

So tomorrow I'm going to start my day off the right way.  The best way.  His way.  Have you spent time in God's Word lately?  Have you been busy with Christmas preparations and planning and running around but only had a few seconds to spare to quickly pray or maybe even read a verse or two?  You can get back on track with me!  This is definitely one of those things that you don't want to wait until Jan. 1st to start. :-)  You can even start rightthissecond.

***

On that note, I shall leave you with a few other notes.  Notes that a certain 6yo boy wrote and posted on his bedroom door.


Hey, what about mommy?!  Ungrateful, I tell ya...

And then there was this one a little lower down...


1. Corrected because spelling matters.  At least to his big brother who knows that we spell Dozer's real name like the song... I am a C, I am a C-H, I am a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N...

2. Yes, this is the PERFECT sign since all three of them share a room.

And lest y'all think that the poor little 3yo in this house is not loved by his big brothers...


Nothing says love like a used Hot Wheel!

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

I suppose now is as good a time as any to state for the record that No, we do not do the Santa thing and my kids know that it's a man in a red suit and they also know that some parents like to pretend with their kids that he's real so let's not ruin it for the other children, okay?

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, we did attend Pioneer Christmas at our local historical park this past Saturday.

Oddly enough, I think this is the first picture with Santa that they've ever had.  Notice how thrilled they are.  And how Tank has his eye on Mrs. Clause-- since she's the one handing out candy canes and reindeer food to all the good little boys who smile for their mommy. 

The boys were, however, completely fascinated with the elves' pointed ears.  Wouldn't that be a hoot as a stocking stuffer! 

(Yes, we do stockings but not Santa because it's just FUN, y'all.  What's not to love about a bunch of little toys, candy and odds-and-ends stuffed into an odd-shaped-sock-looking-stocking-that-NO-ONE-would-ever-actually-wear?)

**This is where you imagine a smooth transition in my post.**

Lately, we had gotten used to our warm December days.  The other morning we were pleasantly surprised to find the temperature steadily dropping throughout the day.  But it's still not cold enough for snow. 

Y'hear me boys?  NO SNOW IN HOUSTON.  EVER. 

Like that song We don't have white Christmases in Houston (or whatever it's called).

But I did walk into the bathroom tonight to hear:

LOOK MOMMY! I SNOWMAN!!!


What do you expect from a 3yo who has never (at least in his memory) played in the snow?  Anyone want to send us some?  Anyone... anyone... Bueller?

I love my little blonde boy.  And not just because he likes to tell anyone and everyone who will listen (yes, EVERYONE) that:

I PEE PEE! IN POTTY! ALL! BY! MYSELF!  'cause I big boy.  I big boy.

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

We went to the doctor a couple days ago since Dozer has had a cough and some breathing troubles.  Besides his puking problem last night-- in my bed and pillow (blech!)-- he seems to be doing well this Sunday morning. 

Just so y'all know, I really despise doing laundry at 3am... and holding a trash can in front of a sad looking sickly boy...  And what is it about that certain cry in the middle of the night that wrenches you out of your sleep and you wake up running to their room just knowing something is wrong?!

After I got things relatively clean, we decided we'd sleep on towels on the bed.  Just in case.  Poor guy was crying and telling me My stomuh hurts mommy!!!  Oi.  It got to me.  So I prayed.  And wouldn't you know it, just a minute or two later he looked at me with his eyes all big and said My stomuh not hurt anymore, mommy!!!

I really really need to stop being surprised when God answers our prayers.  I am thankful but I need to have more faith.  A LOT more.

Anyhoo, we weighed the boys while we were at the doctor's office this week.

Dozer (3yo):  34 pounds
Tank (6yo):  52 pounds
Dash (8yo):  55 pounds

I commented on how close in weight my two oldest were.  After some discussion, the boys determined that Tank dieting was not the way to go.  Boy was he relieved.  Instead, Dash should eat more.  A LOT more.  And that made him very happy.

Dash has always been skinny-- with a big ole noggin!  Like an orange on a toothpick.  Like how his daddy used to be back in the day.  hehehee...

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

First, the bloggity stuff-- because it clears my head and then I don't have to worry about remembering it anymore!

**

TJ at Garden of Weeden shares a couple of her family's Christmas traditions.  I am especially excited about swiping her basket under the Christmas tree idea!

**

DeeDee tells us how we can help homeschoolers being persecuted in Germany by sending Christmas cards with a purpose.  The impact of a collective effort will be far greater than the minimal effort it takes to visit the site to find out where to send your card!

**

It's time to VOTE!  Voting for the Homeschool Blog Awards has begun and will run through December 15th.  The HSBA Team has really made some great changes this year in the voting.  You can vote one category at a time, click on the blog link to view the site and even return later to finish voting.  I have already cast my vote for my friends-- have you?

Look for Our Homeschool and Other Such Happenings (aka ME) in the following categories:  Best Homeschool Mom, Best Encourager, Funniest Homeschool Blog, and Best Cyber-buddy Blog.  There is really only one category that I truly hope to win... but I won't say lest I taint your judgement. :-)  The others I am honored to be nominated for but definitely feel the least qualified to be a part of!  There are just SO many great blogs out there-- and you know who you are!

**

I am pleased as punch to report that no piles of poop have popped up unexpectedly in the yard yesterday or today.  Unlike the other day.

**

Okay, now on to Tank's big event.  Sunday night my little Tank (6yo) was baptized!  After his best day ever, we decided to wait a little bit to make sure he was serious about it all.

It has been difficult to work it out with our church's schedule (big Missions Conference, Masters Club starting up again, etc) and David's work schedule.  I know God has His perfect timing and well, it was this past Sunday night!

Before church, our pastor asked me if we had prepared Tank for what would happen and if he was scared at all.  I told him that Tank was a little nervous.  He asked if he (Tank) cries or screams or kicks when he gets scared.  I said, No. He just talks a lot when he gets scared or nervous.  But he won't cry or kick or scream or anything like that.

We had talked about this night all week and alleviated his fears.  The water will be warm.  Don't worry, it won't be too deep and you can hold your nose!  The pastor will bring you right back up.  Daddy will be right there to help you.  All will be well. 

The evening service is over and it's time for daddy to take Tank up front to change his clothes and get in the water.  So he walks up with daddy while crying.  Oi!  That is not what I expected.

We see our pastor step into the water and he motions for Tank to come.

No Tank.  Not yet anyway.

BUT, we do hear this LOUD little high pitched voice (which is Tank's normal voice, actually) speaking quite rapidly.

Is that water cold?
Whoa!  It's not cold at all!
That's a lot of water in here! hehehehehehehe!

The whole congregation was laughing.  I was crying and laughing at the same time.  My little man overcoming his fears to follow in baptism.  I was proud.  I was smiling.  I should not have been surprised at his constant chatter.

Pastor finally just reached over and scooped him off the steps to get him into the right position.  And then, well... he was baptized!  I had a video clip to show but my friend hasn't e-mailed it to me yet.  It really is funny... all that talking.  And SO him.

(You can see the nervousness in his face.)

Afterwards, he literally ran and skipped and hopped over to me with a gigantic grin on his face.

Mommy!  You know what?!  It was like a giant really warm bathtub!  Okay, I'm going to go play in the gym now.

Ahhh... the heavy burden has been lifted off of his shoulders.  Not only could he be 100% sure* that when he dies, he will go to heaven, but now that dreaded fear of getting dunked in water is behind him.  Life is good.  And then he went to play basketball and chase with the other kids.

*edited to clarify that it's not the baptism that gave him eternal life, but that he asked Jesus Christ to save him from his sins!

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

Thus came the loud and bold exclamation from Dozer when he proudly went potty all by himself!!!  Because he not baby, he big boy. Wanna see my Spiderman underwear?  You go pee pee in potty too, mommy?  Why you sit down?  You go poo poo?  No, *I* flush it! hehehehehehee...

And then we walked out of the bathroom.  And into the church foyer.  While the service was still going on.

I hope no one heard him.

Our normal rule is that you go before or after but never during church.  But seeing as we are only on day 3 of the great potty train, I thought it best to take his whispered word that he had to go potty.  At least he didn't yell that part loudly in the sanctuary!

Yesterday he ran inside and proclaimed:

- I went poo poo all by myself! 
-Uhhh... did you flush?  Did you wipe?  Do you need help?
-NO!  I WENT POO POO OUTSIDE!  ALL! BY! MYSELF!!!

Hmmm... we have no potty outside.  Sure enough, David came in to ask me to guess what he almost stepped in... a nice little present by the tree.

I suppose that is still better than in his pants, right?  Or under the Christmas tree!

** Yup, I'm sure my fine vocabulary will really help my blog rating jump from elementary to genius level!

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

...cuteness...

...football on TV...


...temptation to topple the tower of boardgames...

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

I saw this at Jane's, who saw this at Fee's...

I'm not quite sure what to make of that.  Let's just say that I don't discriminate against the youth among us and leave it at that.

In other news, Dozer is battling day 3 of tonsilitis.  That is three days and three nights in a row of high fever (103+) and interrupted sleep.  The fever refers to him, the lack of sleep refers to me.  However, I am thankful for a long stretch during the day where he is eating, drinking and happily wreaking havoc around the house.

Speaking of Dozer, I ran across this old fav video of Dash tickling him when he was a year old.  His laugh is so contagious.

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And speaking of Dash, today was the last soccer game of the season!  THE LAST ONE.  YEEEEHHHHAAAAWWWW!!!  I am now free on Monday evening, Friday evening and all day Saturday. :-)  Life. is. good. 

I am also pleased as punch (if in fact punch could be pleased) to report that Dash scored his first goal of the season today-- and daddy was even there to witness it!   David has been Tank's coach this season and has had to miss almost all of Dash's games.  There was no jumping or air fists or anything like that by Dash-- but let me tell you, we were a hootin' and a hollerin' like a good soccer mom and dad on the sidelines!  Way to go, Dash!

Gotta run.  Dozer has resorted to potty name calling lately and we have to put a stop to it.  Y'know, like poo-poo head.  Yeah.  Talk about inappropriate.  Especially to a grown up at church!  But that's another story.  I wish I could blame it ALL on fever... but let's face it.  The problem is a lack of discipline and not always having the best example to follow.  His mommy really should do something about that...

 

Have a great weekend, y'all!
Marsha

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

Belatedly posted by mommy.

Me:  Who's birthday is it today?

Dozer:  Chichen's... (his way of saying his name, even though it sounds like he's saying chicken)

Me:  Say my birthday.

Dozer:  Noooo, it MY burday mommy!!!

And so it went until we got to How old are you now? and he'd reply his name Chichen...  Eventually he lost his temper and growled at me like *I* was the one that didn't understand!

I had a video clip of our conversation, trying to blow out candles (which he is apparently not very good at doing), riding the carousel at Chuck E. Cheese, and his great stash of presents (including an entire Brio set of wooden train tracks and cars-- that are battery operated!!!-- that I purchased for 75% off earlier this year).  But I was foiled by technology when the memory card for my camera got bent and now it won't fit into the computer.

Anyhoo, Happy belated 3rd Birthday my big boy and big helper!  I love your outgoing personality, the way you always insist on being in the thick of things (most of the time), your independent spirit, your big grin, how you always bring me flowers and a kiss, how you can kick a ball straight and far, and even your love of fwogs... 

 

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

I just got the boys into their beds and left the room.  I walked by a few minutes later to hear this conversation.

Tank: What were the names of those ships again?

Dash: The Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria.

I stood there with a smile on my face, my heart beginning to warm at the thought of them discussing our recent history lesson...

T: How about we drive the Santa Maria?

D: No.  Let's drive the Nina.

Drive?  You don't drive a ship... do you?  Oh well.  They're discussing.  I don't need to get technical about the terminology...

T: Okay.  Soooo, you can drive first, okay?  I'll be downstairs eating while you're driving.  Then if you need help, you can call me and I'll come up.  Do you think that if we're going in the right direction that you could come down and eat with me at the same time?

D: Yeah.

Oh.  They're pretending instead of having an intellectual discourse on the exact navigational route and the hardships endured by the crews. 

Wait, they're talking about the crews!

T: Hey, how about we drive a cruise ship instead?

Oi.  Not the kind of crews that I was thinking... And then it just went downhill from there...

D: How about we drive a... TOILET CAR?!!! 

Both: Hahahahahahahahahahaha!!!

Yes, my children are full of culture and distinguished learning.  I'm sure they'll be branching out into the creative arts with a toilet car design for the Pinewood Derby.  Or maybe they'll go into automotive technology with a patent for a toilet/booster seat combo. 

Yup, I learns 'em real good!

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

There are so many little things in life that make a girl happy.  We finally got the well fixed and are now the proud owners of running water!  It can be so easy to take for granted the simple things in life-- like a hot shower, being able to do laundry (and not have to touch the emergency underwear and socks),  and washing your hands (instead of using a wipey). 

I never thought I'd say this, but I even missed my nightly ritual of washing dishes.  Washing dishes!  Surely I've gone mad.

Nothing like boys to bring you a heaping dose of reality though.  When they aren't accidentally hitting themselves in the head with the backswing of a hammer, they are losing their teeth and winning first prize at Crazy Hat Night (see Tank on the right).

Did you also notice his missing bottom tooth?  I must confess that I was a better dental fairy this time, unlike previous instances.

As you can see, I finally braved the 60 degree weather and retrieved my camera from the van.  AND even uploaded a few pics. 

I know.  You are shocked and awed by my fortitude.

In other photographic news, the aforementioned sparkly gold shoes that were proudly picked by my boys look like this:



Aren't they cute? Oh, and please notice that this must've been pre-water-woes days since my hair is NOT in a nasty ponytail. You know it was a good day for me since I also took the surprising step of accessorizing (see my dangly gold plated earrings?). My boys thought I looked beeeeeeautiful.

And to round out this post of a quasi-plethora of pictures, here is a pic of my in-law's.  I hate to call them that though.  They're really just dad and mom.



Aren't they an adorable couple?  They are so perfect for each other.  I am extremely thankful that God blessed me with such a wonderful set of second parents!

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

WeaverMom is having a CONTEST at the Multi-Tasking Mom's blog.  And guess what?  You can win a fabulous earring and necklace set made by Susan (aka mamaduso) of Bead-attitudes!

I'm supposed to post about the most romantic time with my husband since kids came into the picture.  To answer this, I think we must first define certain things.  For example, the term romance.

In my pre-married days, I would've defined romance as a horse driven carriage, candelit dinners (prepared by my man, of course!), diamonds, roses and poetry.  But alas, I did not find such things back then... and I certainly haven't found them since!  Those things can only be found in soap operas and novels!  (If I am wrong, please don't burst my bubble and just count yourself lucky for having found such a romantical mate).

Such expectations going into marriage.  My oh my, I think my dearest David did not have a chance!  But even without the outward trappings of overbearing and hit-you-over-the-head "romance", he wooed me with his handsome self, his sense of humor, his easy-going personality, his purpose and drive, his intelligence and many many other fine qualities.  Oh wait, he also brought me roses.  Back then he did.  Now?  Not so much.  And that's okay.

I have come to appreciate the romantic qualities in my Mr. Drews.  How is he romantic?  He does little things.  Many little things.

*Calls me just to tell me he loves me.
*E-mail's me when he's on a trip.
*Let's me sleep in... AND keeps the kids quiet! (which is better than what *I* do for him!)
*Leaves me quick little love notes around the house-- in my jewelry box, my purse, the garage door, the closet, on the mirror, on the computer monitor before he leaves on a trip (on Word with the monitor on sleep, waiting for my fingers to touch the keyboard after the kids have gone to bed).
*He opens doors for me-- car door, house door, or to any building.
*He makes up songs about how he loves his wifey. :-)
*He always thanks me for the meal and compliments my cooking.
*He praises me in front of our children.
*He praises me in front of his parents.
*He even praises me in front of his friends! (and I blush and get embarrassed... but I like it, I really do.)

So yes, I suppose my husband is romantic.  But not the opera and moonlight picnic kind of romantic.  It's the everyday kind of romantic.  It is the loving me even when I am not so loveable kind of romantic.  Yup, that's MY MAN.

How is your husband romantic?  Are your expectations unrealistic?  Does he show you his love and affection in his own way or are you disappointed because it is not what you imagine it should be like?

OH WAIT!  CONTEST, yes the contest!

My most romantical date since kids came into the picture...

I suppose it would be the weeklong date we took back in February 2004.  It was essentially a 7 day cruise sans kidlets... in the Carribean, y'all.  Beautiful weather, a fantastic ship, great food, we met some fun friends (from Canada, eh!), and went far away as Belize.  Ahhh... it was fantastique! 

It was also the first time since I had kids where I was happy with my body.  I could see my feet.  Without that little pooch (or paunch or bag-o-flabbo) getting in the way.  Just thinking about it makes me wistful...

We spent the entire 7 days together.  I kid you not.  We were like conjoined twins or something.  It was wonderful.  We even got to dress up for a dinner that had courses.  I think we can all agree that that does not happen in the normal everyday life of a mommy.  I don't know about y'all, but I'm a big fan of ONE pot meals!

Before:


After:

 (Dozer immediately after he was born on 11-12-04).
 
And they lived happily ever after...

THE END.

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

This kind of snake is much better than the previously blogged snakity snake!

Dozer had one too but it was tiny and he finished really quickly.  So he decided to paint at least 10 more pictures.  His favorite colors were orange and brown and all shades in between!

This fun project box contained 3 wooden snakes (convenient, huh?) and paint.  I swapped their paint for my paint, which is washable.  And we all know how important that little detail is, don't we?

I have been blessed to find all kinds of fun crafty projects on clearance at Target, Jo-Ann's fabric (tons of $1 crafts available) and Marshall's. 

Tres bien, no?

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

 

My sweet 6 year old Tank.  Not only does he love me, but he loves me mostest!

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

Our last minute trip to the lake a few weeks ago was absolutely wonderful! 



I am really glad that we decided to forgo our first day of lessons and take advantage of the opportunity.

It really was relaxing.  And the kids had a fabulous time.




Tank loved fishing for the first time, catching bullfrogs in the middle of the night and this...  This was his favorite...



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Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

My littlest guy ran up to me tonight and with a proud grin on his face said, "Mommy! I puh fwog in fwijwayto!" 

I opened the door. 

Yup, it was in there.  Right on top of the Gatorade.

Poor big fat frog. 

"Mommy, fwog wan Gatowade! heeheeheehee!"  

And then all of a sudden, "I don wan fwog get cold, mommy."

So he scooped it up and unceremoniously tossed it straight into the backyard.  Lucky for the frog, we had yet to mow that section of wet squishy grass.  The frog's unlucky friend, however, was still hanging out by the back door when we walked out...

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

Today was Dash's birthday.  I can barely believe that my biggest little man is a whopping 8 years old.  I blinked and he went from a baby to a real boy-- the kind that likes to get dirty, play videogames, ride his bike on ramps, build things, play with fire, dribble a basketball and laugh at all jokes, comments and/or variations of words relating to bodily functions.  (Like father, like son I suppose.)

Dash decided that he wanted to spend his birthday at The Johnson Space Center.  Good choice, especially since our family passes expire today!  We were really looking forward to the Grossology exhibit-- doesn't it sound like boy heaven?!

We left this morning and stopped for an early lunch at one of our fav places to eat-- Kelley's.  Good ole country cookin' and POUS's (Portions of Unusual Size).  Silly us.  We didn't give much thought or concern to the pouring rain on the way down there... but with the sky dumping its entire contents upon our departure, we were forced to take notice of Tropical Storm Erin.  The streets were already starting to flood.  We opted to turn around and head back closer to home in the north side of town.  Dash was initially a little disappointed but became excited once we gave him the option of Chuck E. Cheese.  It's our go-to place when we're looking for some inside fun.

So we got back to a slightly drier side of town and visited our friend Chuck E. at CEC.   We played Arctic Thunder (where Tank totally whooped up on me), Skeeball (where my superskeeballchampion husband scored 810,000 points!  Yup, 810,000 with only 9 balls...insane, isn't it?), and that basketball game (where yours truly scored an astounding 44 points in 30 seconds-- SWOOSH, baby! Dh was sweatin... 10 tokens later, we ended up tying with high scores of 44... I could've done more, but you know a man's ego is very fragile...).

Upon the birthday entourage's return home, we had a purchased chocolate cake with chocolate icing and 8 of those fun squiggly candles on top.

It was good times, people.  Good times...

So that was our day.  How was yours?  Oh, and we never did see the previously posted meteor shower.  I was just too tired and when I peeked out at midnight there was NADA, zip, zero meteors.  I did wake up at 3am to take care of a coughing, wheezing Tank though.  Unfortunately, I was not coherent enough to realize that a learning opportunity, memory making moment, cool thing outside was passing me by.  Oh well.  At least I didn't tell the kids ahead of time so they weren't disappointed. 

But maybe I should've because they would've reminded me...  Dash really is my portable memo recorder.  Remember, we need milk, eggs, tortillas and toilet paper.  Hey, remember that I need to make an appointment for Dozer.  Oh, can you remind me to water the plants when we get home?  Don't forget, I need to go to the bank and the post office. 

Other things I love about Dash (this is his birthday post, after all):

1.  We're visiting grandma and grandpa for the weekend.  He told me he packed his math.  It's a new lesson and he was excited about learning it.  (Thanks, Math-U-See!)

2.  When I was telling the boys goodnight, he gave me an eskimo kiss and a big hug with his long skinny arms.  And then he put his cheek on my cheek and said I love you mommy!  I'm so glad that this is normal for him.  I always know where I stand with him... he wears his heart on his sleeve. 

3.  He is the goofy kid that waves really big and goes Hi Mommy!  Hi Daddy!  Hi Tank!  Hi Dozer! even if there is a very big group of people in the room.  He is not ashamed of his family.

4.  His eyes are so dark they are almost black.  He's got a big noggin, big feet and is super-dee-duper skinny... He is a spittin image of his daddy when he was a little boy-- but with asian eyes.  They even stand, jump and run the same.  Cool, but weird at the same time.

5.  He's my exterminator when hubby is out of town.

6.  When he is big like daddy (or maybe even bigger) he will carry me around if I want him to.  Because he's already strong and going to get stronger.  Because he exercises and eats healthy things sometimes.  Like Popeye the Sailor Man.  Toot-toot.

HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY, DASH!  I love you!!!

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

Before we ate our very healthy lunch of hot dogs and macaroni and cheese, I asked for a volunteer to say the blessing.

Dash and Tank just looked at me and then at each other for a second.  Then I heard someone talking... quietly...

I looked down to see 2yo Dozer's little head down on the table and buried in his arms.  I listened closely to his soft and serious voice...

Dank doo por food.
Dank doo por da-ee.
Dank doo mommy.
Dank doo Autie.
Dank doo Boah.
Dank doo home.
Uhhh... dank doo... (insert a BUNCH of stuff I didn't understand)...

And then he lifted his head with a big smile on his face.  We all said AMEN!

I could just cry, I'm so proud of my littlest man!  For all the trouble and ruckus he caused this morning, there is just something beyond precious when a little one prays to God.

I wouldn't trade being a mommy for anything in the whole wide world.

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

The other morning, Dash came to me complaining about his finger hurting.

Mommy!  My water blister popped and it STINGS!!!  I need a bandaid.

How in the world does an almost 8yo get a water blister?!  It's certainly not from an obsession with writing, coloring or drawing.  And we can definitely rule out hard labor as it's a near impossibility to get a water blister from taking the trash out or picking up Tinker Toys.

Then it hits me.

Trigger finger.

Nothing like a supermegacolossal pack of ammo for your cap gun to cause such a devastating injury.

I love my boys!

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

Apparently, little boys are made of cavities.

Tank told me the other day that his tooth hurt. 
Open mouth. 
Look in. 
I can visibly see one giganto cavity. 

You know that doesn't happen overnight, right?  Why is it that they come running to complain whenever they are shoved, slighted or called a poopy (potty talk is not allowed in this family, by the way)... and yet when you have this gaping cavernous hole in your tooth, you don't tell mommy right away?  Or even in the same week or month that it starts to happen?

So off we went on our merrily way to the dentist.  The final tally-- 3 cavities.  *sigh*  The culprits: tight teeth, lack of flossing (they use them as mini swords instead), and too much candy.  Yup.  I threw that last one in there from my mommy memory bank.  They don't drink soda, but they do eat candy.  The very chewy or super hard and sticky kind.  (Another reason why chocolate is the best!)

As you might remember, Tank just turned six.  Well, six years old (plus a Kindergarten graduation) equals funny cards and cold hard cash.  My thrifty boys know just where to get their candy from too.  Kroger.  When it goes on sale 4/$1 or even 5/$1.   A little here, a little there... next thing you know, their teeth resemble the potholes on our street!

Tank will return to said pediatric dentist (whoohooo) on Tuesday where they will use a water laser to fix him up.  We didn't have fancy stuff like that when I was a kid!  Have any of you used this before?  They said no anesthetic required...

Oh, and little Dozer goes in tomorrow for a cleaning and checkup.  I hope that *he* is okay, at least.  Surely you can't totally ruin your pearly whites before you're even 3 years old, can you?

All this dental chaos is resulting in a new Dental Disaster Prevention Plan that we're implementing in our family.  It is really one simple rule.

You are not allowed to buy candy. 

Period.  Not even with your own money.* 
*Exceptions may be made post-holidays.  For a limited time only.  Some restrictions may apply.  See mommy and daddy for details.  We do not condone or purchase candy for our children on a regular basis. They seem to have more money than we do sometimes and buy their own sickening sweets.

I'll let y'all know how it turns out!

Marsha-- who is more like a little fluff of stress instead of a stressball right now. :-)

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

Today my Tank turned 6 years old. 



I can't believe that my little blue eyed, extremely chubby, very happy baby that loved to eat and sleep and play turned into a funny, intelligent, spaz-y big boy with beautiful hazel eyes, a disarming smile and extra extra wide feet... that can read, add, subtract, do story problems, wash windows, and totally melt his mommy's heart.



We celebrated with pizza for breakfast and lots of games at Chuck E. Cheese.  They open at 9am and we were running late... so there was one other family there this morning.  Drat!  We usually have the place completely to ourselves until at least 10:30am.  But it was tons of fun with free birthday tokens and a big balloon. 

Oh, and David actually hit the jackpot on skeeball when he scored over 450,000 on his second game.  I would've gotten almost 500,000 but it didn't count TWO of my 100,000 hits-- I was robbed, I tell ya!  Anyway, the 250 bonus tickets a la daddy brought the ticket tally to 900 tickets. 

Don't worry, we use coupons for buy 50 tokens, get 50 free.  (The most tickets we ever got in one visit was 1800.  I kid you not.  But first thing in the AM is when they test all the games and leave streams of tickets out for the taking.)  The loot: 3 bags of cotton candy and three giant lollipops.  Just remind me to make the dentist appointments tomorrow!

But alas, I digress.  The rest of the day was spent shopping (b-day $ burning a hole in his pocket), playing games, eating and playing some more.  Too bad David had to go to work at noon.  So we're actually postponing the blowing out of candles on a b-day cake until tomorrow morning.  For breakfast.  Because I was a slacker and unprepared for today.  But my boys don't care... they just think it's fun to make a birthday last as l-o-n-g as possible!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TANK!!!

I'm so proud of you and love you so very much!
Mommy

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

When Dash (who is almost 8yo) was changing his clothes today, he was reading the label and excitedly exclaimed "The Philippians!  The Philippians!  This was made by the Philippians!" 

Uhhhh... no, son...  That was made in the Philippines and they are called Filipino's.  The Philippians are from Philippi.

I'm such a party pooper, as usual.  Maybe I should've let it go... He's been memorizing the books of the Bible and well, just got excited to see a real life application!

***

I think I've been staring at that word Philippians for too long.  Have you ever looked at a word for a while and then you question whether or not you spelled it right... Or that it looks really odd for some reason...like you see the letters separately but not the word as a whole? 

Okay.  Maybe it's just me.  I'll stop now before y'all really realize that I'm wonky in the gray matter.  Maybe it's all the drywall dust I've been inhaling...  

Speaking of which, the entire house of paneling has been taken down, popcorn ceiling scraped, kitchen demo'd where appropriate (cabinets, ceiling, counters)...  Still to do-- texture/paint house, redo bathrooms, light fixtures/fans, install appliances, all new flooring, roof, a/c, furnace, windows replaced, new counters... Much of this courtesy of my handy-dandy hubby. :-)  Okay, time for bed now.  I'm t-i-r-e-d!  (oh, and broke too, but you probably already figured that second part out...)

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

Quick note: Find out more about the HSB server update on the Front Porch!

***

Dash has been using the stetro pencil grips for over a month now.  I finally told him to take the grip off his pencil yesterday.  He took it off and actually held his pencil correctly!  I was shocked! 

While it did not do too much to improve the quality of his writing, it did train him to hold his pencil correctly.  So now we are free to work on making his writing more pleasing to the eye.  His hand does not get tired of writing as quickly and he's not pressing as hard as he used to.  I can't wait to teach him to write in cursive...  Well, I'm not looking forward to the teaching process of it, but I am looking forward to the end result!

Speaking of my biggest little guy, please pray for him.  He leaves for his first ever church camp tomorrow.  He'll be gone until Friday.  That's a long time for him to be away from us...especially with non-family members!  But I am relieved that he will have other friends there from our church, as well as some teen friends that are going to be counselors.  Oh, and it's not that far away-- maybe 30-45 minutes?  He is VERY excited about going to camp.  Poor Tank is sad though...not sad that his brother won't be around, but that he is still too young to go (the camp is for those entering 3rd grade through leaving 6th grade).

Please pray for Dash's safety, his personal growth and most of all his salvation!!!  He will be 8 years old in August and his head can tell you all about Jesus dying for our sins.  But his heart... no self-realization... yet...

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

I gave each of the boys their very own Nestle Crunch Bar as a token of mommy love.  As they were devouring their precious little treasures, they ran up to me.

Tank (grinning from ear to ear):  Hey mommy, we can spell "Hollywood"! 

(jumps up and down and then looks over at his co-conspirator)

Dash (ever so proudly):  H-O-L-L-Y-W-O-O-D!!!!!

Me: (staring at them looking very confused)

Tank:  That means we win $10,000!!!

Me:  Huh?

Tank:  Okay, do you think it will at least get us into the semi-finals?

They both stood there eagerly awaiting my answer.  A look of hope on their sweet, chocolate covered faces.  I, however, was still confused.

Then it hit me!  I looked at the wrapper and wouldn't you know it...  On the front of each wrapper it said:

Collect & Win!
American Idol
Spell GO TO HOLLYWOOD
and you could go to the FINALE!

Okay, now *I* was disappointed too!  It's hard to dash the dreams of such little guys, especially when it comes to feats of spelling.

Now I'm still trying to figure out where the $10,000 idea came into play...

Question:  How do you feel about easy money?

I have a friend who is dead set against it.  Personally, I don't like it much and think it doesn't do people much good, especially in the long-run.  Semi-easy money... that could be fun, no?  But in smaller amounts. 

Honestly, I would NEVER want to win the lottery!  Waaaay too much pressure and trust issues.  I have nothing to fear though since I have zero chances of winning.  Might as well go driving down the street throwing dollar bills out the window...

(And to those who choose to participate in said activities-- you know who you are-- this is not a rant or lecture personally directed towards you). :-)

 

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

Aggghhhh... Blehhhhhh...  Strep has invaded my house.  We battled fevers last week with Dozer, flu for me this weekend, and then David got strep.  Then Dash.  Then Tank and Dozer.  Ick. 

But hooray for insurance, a great pediatrician that will see them right away and for drugs!  It's amazing that something that tastes like drinkable bubblegum can actually kill those little guys that make your whole throat swell up, ears ache and head want to explode.

Since we're still contagious and all, it was a nice family day outside today.  We didn't want to get the new babies, momma's and other kids at church sick.  So we stayed home and played outside.  Strange, huh?

But we're already feeling better and really enjoyed the comfortable 70 degree weather in the yard this afternoon.  Trimmed hedges, picked up branches, toys and debris were cleared from the yard and then we had a big giant burn pile.  Life is good! 

The boys also had fun catching and releasing toads.  Okay, releasing waaaay up in the air.  Okay, catching toads and throwing them back into the tiny pond thingy... then catching them again and throwing them again and again and... I don't know why they didn't hop away while they had a chance.

I guess it was also the first time that Dozer really saw an earthworm.  I was digging and was surprised by one on my hand.  Dozer was immediately running to see the cause for my "concern"-- er...my one jump and scream (notice the lack of the -ing at the end-- this means that I'm not afraid of them, just surprised...that's all).  Tank tried to catch it but it kept wiggling out of his hand.  Such SQUEALS of delight and joy ensued!  There is just something so supremely satisfying and endearing about listening to a 2 year old's squeals of delight, laughter and utter abandon.  I so wish there was a way you could capture that in a bottle-- or even just on video!!!  *sigh*  Why does it always disappear upon the production of a lens?

So that was my weekend and my day.  I should say it was terrible and horrible.  But it wasn't.  Well, Saturday night and Sunday were misery when I couldn't even lift up my head, but the rest was still good.  Nothing like being forced to stay home and be with my kids, instead of our usual running around and overcommitment!  I'm a weirdo, I admit it.  But maybe thinking about childish joy makes one wonky in the thinking department. 

(Which, dear ThinkingBlogger buddies, I thank you kindly for the awards!  I just cannot pass it along right now as it requires way too much thought that will surely overtax my gray matter. But I daresay that I will transfer said honor to others in the near future.)

On the agenda tomorrow: Possum Watch.  The boys found a child-size possum outside their window tonight.  They insist on lying wait for it tomorrow night.  I hope they just intend on watching, keeping a science notebook or just laughing at it.  Please oh please don't let them actually want to catch it or *gasp* keep it!

I'm off to deal with my allergies-- stuffy but runny nose.  What is the solution to such a horrid problem, you ask?  You know it without me even having to answer.  But since you must be insisting...it is looking like a walrus.

 

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

My boys are currently taking a soccer class twice a week during the month of April.  On our first day of class, one of the other homeschooling mom's made an interesting comment.

She asked me which ones were my kids.  I pointed them out to her.  She then said Oh!  They're brothers?!  I thought they were friends!

Ummm...yes, they are brothers.  And YES, they are friends too.  I am so glad they don't have to choose-- they can be both!  I guess she saw them talking to each other, laughing and just playing together.  Imagine that...brothers getting along and seeking each other's company over everyone else.

I hope that this scene will be a normal part of our lives from now until the Lord comes back.  Just today, Tank fell asleep while we were driving.  He passed out and plopped his head sideways...leaning on his big brother's shoulder.  That's the way it should always be, right?  They should always be able to lean on and support each other.  Dash just smiled and said That's okay. He can lean on me.

(By the way, they have a very normal brother relationship that includes lots of competing and fighting and adventures...so it was encouraging to witness this moment of personal space violation that yielded no bad results!)

That's also how I feel about my own sisters and brother.  I am very blessed to have a close, special and FUN relationship with each of them!

I know not everyone has a sibling (my dh included), but the Bible speaks of this as well:

A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.  ~Proverbs 18:24

Pretty cool, huh?  As much as I love and am close to my family, I can count on JESUS even more! :-)

 

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

QUESTION:

How do you like your hair?

ANSWERS:

Dash (7yo):  Short.  I want to be like daddy!!!  (yelled at the top of his lungs)

By the way, daddy is completely bald.  Shaved-head-shadow-hair bald (not quite the Mr. Clean cut...at least not yet!).

Tank (5yo):  Ummm...I wike it a wittle wong.
Me:  Why?
Tank:  Because when something hits your head...wike this (proceeds to pound his head with his fist)... then it doesn't hurt as much.  It kinda bounces off wike this!  (couple more pounds for emphasis).
Me:  Okay.  That makes complete sense.
Tank:  Yaaaah.

Perhaps he tested his new hair helmet a little too much today... Anyone have a clue as to when he should stop having this super-cute-very-unique-and-high-pitched-voice?  It's great being able to hear him coming from 10 miles away and all, but...when should I start thinking about saying goodbye to that sweet, piercing voice that can't ever say the "L" sound?

***

PS  Have you submitted your nominations for the Homeschool Blog Awards yet?  Some of our HSB buddies have already been nominated.  Better hurry, nominating ends on April 6th!  I've already made some of my choices...and it hasn't been easy!

PPS    I also have a new friend that will be pulling her kidlets out of private school very soon!  Please stop by her blog and say hi.  I'm sure she would love the encouragement and any advice that y'all might have for someone that has to DE-school her kids first.

PPPS  Check out  CHICKADEE'S thought-provoking and completely encouraging post entitled "A Homemaker".

PPPPS  While I'm sending you around the blogosphere, UNDERDOG is a pretty funny character as well.  I really liked his post entitled "Thump, thump".

PPPPPS  Is there a rule or limitation to the number of post's in a postscript?  Eventually, it just makes me look like I'm sticking my tongue out at y'all...and that would not be using good manners. 

Marsha :-)

 

 

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

Today started off in a mighty and grand way!  Dozer (2yo) looked at me with his pale skin and bright blue eyes.  Then he just stood there.  His skin started blushing bright red underneath that glowing stack of yellow hair.  Ahhh...the first signs of going poo!  Yeeeeeeehaw.

An interesting thing then happened.  He ran to the potty and motioned for me to take off his diaper (strange how the boy who can fix his own cereal, as well as waffles in the toaster can't take off his own diaper...).  So I plopped him up on the porcelain throne.  He smiled, he strained, he tried to escape.  Then...he did it.  Plop.  Blop.  Smile.  SUCCESS!!!

We wiped, we flushed, we high-fived!  The big boys came running in to see what the celebration was all about.  My baby went poopy in the potty!  HOORAY!

I was smiling to myself as I thought about my little baby doing such a grown up thing. :-)  Just at that moment, little Dozer ran in to me crying.  Pointing.  Pointing into the living room.

I walked into the living room to find two little gifts from my littlest man.  Of the smelly variety.  I'm glad he squatted on the floor instead of on the carpet!  Yuppers, two fresh pieces of poop just waiting for mommy.  Still warm too.  Lovely thought, isn't it?

Oh well, I wasn't ready for him to be potty trained anyway.  I'm of the wait til he's 3 and then knock it out in a week mindset.  I guess I should also be thankful that 1.) he didn't hand me this special gift and that 2.) I didn't walk into the room wondering where in the world these little brown footsteps came from!!!

Yucky.

But it's worth it to be a mom, isn't it?  I just love my boys.  Clean, muddy or smelly, they're ALL MINE. :-)

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

Tank (5) bounds into the bedroom.  He excitedly tells his big brother (7): 

You know what?!  When I turn my head to the side like this (turns head), then my eyes stay turned to the side!  And then when I turn it like this (turns head the other direction), my eyes are still on the side!!!  I don't know why it does that!!!

They are both currently in a state of...weirdness.  Yes, weirdness is a good word (and I'm sure it will be a lifelong state).  But curious too.  I haven't explained to them the why's of such an odd occurence.  I don't know if I ever will either.  It has been too fun watching them turn their heads to the side with their eyes staying focused on one position! 

All morning long, tuuuuurn the head, looooook to the side, tuuuuuurn the head, looook to the side... :-) 

Who needs TV or the zoo?  I have my kids to entertain me!!!  Oh, and they get that stuff from their dad's side of the family. hehehee...

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

Last week was my own dear mommy's 60th birthday!  We threw her a humongo birthday party that had lots of Korean food, cake, friends, all my sib's and in-law's in attendance, and even a pinata. 

Weird, I know, but it was fun...and my mom looked too cute whacking that big ole bear that looked like it was strung up on a noose (in the church fellowship hall, no less!).

Here's a pic of my mom back when she was in her 20s.  She was a professional singer back in the day.  Beautiful, no?

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A great time was had by all, except for moi.  Well, it's not that it wasn't fun but that I was SICK.  Can you believe that as soon as I got there, I started feeling odd, bleh, and then just bad?  Yup, the FLU.  I spent the entire weekend laying on the couch and being absolutely miserable.   I tried to hide it though...

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(My mom is on the left.)

So we are now back home and trying to catch up on things...School has yet to be one of them though as all three kidlets have been sick all week.  *sigh*  Fever, boogers, fever, coughing, fever, chest congestion, fever, boogers...  But I'm so very thankful that we are finally getting better!  Sitting on the couch and laying around in bed gets old after a while (I never thought I'd say that!).  Besides, it makes me feel like a bum.

A couple other things wandering through my mind:

* Be sure to check out the HSB Literary Society-- aka book club!  We just started our first discussion on chapters 1-3 of Ishmael by E.D,E,N. Southworth.  We'd love to have y'all join the discussion!

* Have I mentioned that I love my hubby?  He is the bestesterest daddy.  The boys have been amusing themselves the past couple of days with a new "just because" gift from daddy.  They each got their own Craftsman Tape Measure!  This is right up there with the shovels we got them for Christmas one year.  Besides measuring, estimating, and practicing practical math skills, you can return them to any Sears store for a free replacement!  We've returned several shovels the past couple of years and had no problems getting them replaced.  That's what we love about the Craftsman line of hand tools from Sears...boys can get pretty rough with their tools!

* Gena (TOSpublisher) is having a photo contest for a new e-book.  Besides fame, you can also win a little fortune with a gift certificate at The Old Schoolhouse Store!

*  Can anyone recommend a good cookbook for cooking light?  I need normal food (no gourmet here) without too many ingredients.  Needs to be family and picky hubby friendly.  David's good cholesterol levels are too low and I need to adjust our diet.  Actually, this is a GREAT thing since it's the exact incentive he needs to try to eat better.  I am happy to report that he's been working out every day since then, though!  (I'm happily cheering him on from the sidelines...while I eat my thin mints and drink my coffee that is deliciously laden with two spoons of sugar and a healthy dollop of Vanilla Almond Parfait creamer). :-)

Posted in Kids-Family-Funnies-Etc

My original idea for this post was to talk about how you're a big boy when...  Like today when Dozer (2yo) went round and round and round on the Sit n Spin.

But instead I got distracted first by this weirdness

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(The boy needs a pet or something, doesn't he? That's just really sad...) 

And then by this gobblety-goopy-talk that I just could NOT understand!  I can usually kinda figure out what he's saying, but not this time...  Anyone care to translate?  Anyone?


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PS Is anyone going to the Texas Above Rubies retreat this year?   It's in April and southwest of Dallas...just wonderin... I'm not sure if I'm going but a blogger friend in attendance might encourage me to make time for it!

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