Lesson Learned

Last week we went to my oldest son's swim team family bonfire.  I called the hostess to confirm she really meant "family...as in the whole family".

"Yep," she said.  "The entire family is invited."

"Well, then there will be 8 of us there."

"Oh, 8 people?  Oh.  Well...that's great.  See you Saturday."

Most of the other high-schoolers were there with their parents.  A few had brought some younger, elementary-school aged siblings.  We were the only ones with pre-schoolers.  But we were there.  All there.

This home was beautiful.  The back yard was a children's paradise with manicured paths through the woods leading back to this chalet-style shed and fire pit.  In the shed, which was painted red and had this cute curving roof and covered porch, the upstairs had been transformed into a hide-out of sorts.  There were a few cots stored up there for impromptu campouts.  There was also a fire pole descending from a balcony on the 2nd floor to the ground.  Attached to the side of the shed was a cool rope swing that you had to climb up on a platform to mount.  And over to one side of the woods there was a zip line.

My little girls first tried out the rope swing, but it being dark and all, the big kids kept walking into the swinging path and the girls would hit them.  So they decided to try out the fire pole.  I went inside to help them at the top and my husband stayed down below to catch them.  There were 5 or 6 swimmers in the upstairs of the shed hanging out -- my son being one of them.  He was showing off his little sisters to the other kids....particularly the ladies.  Little sisters have magic ways about them....making all kinds of young women want to talk to Kyle.  And he knows it.

After the girls had slid down the pole a few times, they asked me to try.  So, being the cool mom (not!), I attempted the fire pole.  My husband looked at me and shook his head as I was going down.  It was slow.  And ugly.  Not quite the picture I think he was hoping for.  When I got to the bottom, one of the high-school girls who was debating about going down was being teased and prodded to go for it.  While I was standing there, her phone fell out of her pocket and landed right on my lip.  Yeeeeeoooooowwww!  Now, I couldn't scream or cry or make any other obnoxious noises because we did not know any of these people.  The young woman was still standing on the balcony asking, "Where's my phone???"

I wanted to shout, "It hit me in the mouth, you moron!!", but for my son's sake, I kept my mouth shut.

After that we made our way over to the fire pit to hang out.  My two girls were hanging on my lap whining.  One had a tummy ache.  One was just being two.  I was talking to an older woman who said to me, "I just can't believe you can carry on a conversation as if nothing is going on."  I realized that they must be making more of a racket than I thought.  The four year old was still complaining of the tummy ache and I decided I better take her to the bathroom.  We made our way into this very large, well decorated and immaculately kept home.  The girls were fighting over who would go first because they both had to go "weely bad".  I decided Charlotte should go first because if we were going to have an accident, it's WAY better to have a pee accident than a poop accident.  Especially at someone else's house.  Charlotte sat.  And sat.  And sat.  Gwen was grabbing herself and laying on the floor with her feet up on the wall.  "Get your feet off their wall!!!!"  Oh my word.  They would know for sure whose muddy feet were on their wall.  Definitely not any of their kids.  I made an executive decision to remove Charlotte from the potty so Gwen could go.  Charlotte protested and stayed right next to the toilet with her pants pulled down ready to jump back on as soon as Gwen finished.  Once Gwen finished her business, Charlotte climbed back on.  And sat.  And sat.  And sat.  Nothing.  You know, there's only so long that it's OK to hang out in someone's house when they are not even inside.  "Charlotte, you are going to have to wait and go at home.  We have to go back outside now."  She did not like that plan, but got up and went back outside with me.  Continuing to complain and whine.

I had finally had enough and asked Matt to drive the 2 little girls and I home and then come back to stay with the others.  The girls were glad to gather their things and head to the van.  I think the other guests were glad to see the little girls gather their things and head to the van, too.  Charlotte complained the whole way home.   "My tummy hurts."  As soon as we pulled into the driveway and parked, she said, "I think I'm gonna barf."  We quickly opened the door and she had no sooner set foot on the driveway then she let fly.  Oh....was I ever glad to be at my own house.  And good girl for doing it outside where I did not have to clean anything up.  Just send daddy out with a bucket of water and all's well!  Once that was over she was her chipper, content self.  Ready to watch a movie and get her PJ's on and hang out.

Guess I learned my lesson....when it says "Family Cookout".  It doesn't really mean the WHOLE family.  Some things are better accomplished with a small group.  Next time I'll know.

Kids Say...

Over the weekend I let the little girls watch Tangled.  It's a version of the story of Rapunzel -- the girl with the long hair trapped in the tower.  Afterward, Gwen kept talking about blue jeans.  "You be blue jeans, I'll be purple."  I could not figure out what she was talking about.  After a long go-round of questions and explanations, she emphatically told me, "You be Blue Jeans....you know the boy who is Purple's friend".  The main character other than Rapunzel is a young man named Eugene.  Gwen had decided his name was Blue Jeans, and she had also decided that Rapunzel's name was Purple.  Hilarious.  She and Charlotte are really into pretend...."you be the mom and I'll be the baby".... "You be the dog and I'll be the girl"....."You be the horse and I'll be the rider"....and on an on.

Then today, Gwen was going potty before her nap.  I realized she had wet herself.  "Gwen, did you potty in your pants?" I asked her.

"No, Charlotte did."

"Charlotte peed in your pants?"

"Yes.  She did.  She did it."

Now that's an interesting explanation.  Never heard of someone peeing in another person's pants.

Cooks in My Kitchen

I have some chefs in my family.  My oldest daughter LOVES to bake.  She has become the champion apple pie baker of our extended family.  It's a killer apple pie -- with a graham cracker crust and crumb topping.  Mmmmmm.  She also recently whipped up some gingersnap cookies.  They were pretty good, too....although I must admit I'm partial to chocolate chip cookies (or more specifically the dough).  She asks about twice a week if she can bake something.  I usually cringe.  I hate other people in my kitchen.  Which is funny because I am rarely in my kitchen alone.  I don't want others messing with my stuff, using up my ingredients, leaving a mess even though they promised to clean up when they were done.  I know I should be thankful she wants to be in the kitchen, and I should work with her more and more -- turning over dinner to her eventually.  Not sure I can give that one up!

Also, my oldest son, a freshman in highschool, likes to step into the kitchen occasionally.  He and the other two boys like to watch cooking shows on PBS on Saturday mornings.  (Don't ask them about it, they would probably deny it!)  I think that America's Test Kitchen or BBQ U is their favorite.  Anyway, last Saturday I slept in until 8:00 and woke to find Kyle making crepes.  Yes, you saw that correctly....crepes.  My 14 year old son was making crepes.  He had seen them make them on TV and had to have them.  He filled them with eggs and cheese and served them up to all of us.  Pretty impressive, I must say!  He was so humble about it..."they are too thick - they should be thinner than a tortilla and these just aren't quite the way I wanted".  It was so cute.  I just can't believe he made crepes!

My worst kitchen nightmare is my two little girls wanting to "help".  Oh, I just want to scream when I hear that word.  It's usually when I decide to make cookies.  I try to sneak in there and make them, but as soon as the mixer starts up, they are right there on the kitchen chair they pulled over.  Asking to crack the eggs, dump the flour, measure the salt, eat the dough.  And you know what???  It usually DOES happen exactly the way I think it will.  They get shells in the dough, they spill the flour, they measure too much salt, beg for more chocolate chips and fight over who gets to lick the beaters.  Every time.  Is that wrong?? Aren't moms supposed to love having their little chicks gather 'round and make cookies together?  Well not this mama.  I want to be alone in my kitchen - preferably with my little corner fold-down TV on, doing my own thing.  I guess that will come in about 15 years, huh?

Date Nights

Something that I was completely unprepared for as my kids get older is how hard it is to find "couple time".  Matt and I love to go on date nights - we try to go out at least once a month.  It doesn't always happen, but we look forward to that time.  But we also enjoy just hanging out together in the evenings after the kids are in bed.  That used to be an easy task....throw the kids in bed (maybe even a tad early - they couldn't read the clock anyway!) and have the whole evening to ourselves.  Now, as a freshman in high school and a seventh grader, the oldest two aren't buying it!  They can read a clock now (thankfully) and they want to stay up later on the weekends and watch their own movie or play a game with us.  That leaves a very small (and sometimes nonexistent) window to have couple time.  We still love to hire a sitter -- a senior in college who has been babysitting for us for 12 years -- and go out.  The sitter is for the little kids, but also to calm our hearts so we know they are safe and not fighting with each other.  She's been around us for so long that I no longer have to even give her instructions or set out PJs.  She walks in the door and we walk out... totally at peace that the kids are going to have a ball, be well fed, and go to bed happy and on time.  Ahhhh.   It's good to still crave time with your man after 18 years of marriage.  I do love him and loving having time with him!  

Creative Genius

We have gotten back into our normal routine of school, chores, meals, kids activities, sleep, repeat.  While it was a blessing to have my sister-in-law and two nephews stay with us for three weeks, it's also nice to get back to it just being the eight of us.  Funny, isn't it.  I used to think our house was crowded with eight!!!  All I needed was a little perspective.

Today, the girls were making a craft that called for using some tape on the back to hold a piece in place.  I don't know about your house, but around here, tape is a hot commodity.  I buy the mega pack....like 6 rolls at a time.  I have no idea what they use it for, but it's always gone within weeks.  Anyway, today I was looking all over for the tape.  I just had four new rolls last week.  The boys kept telling me, "It's all gone.  We used it all."  But I just couldn't believe them.  Sure enough, not a roll to be found.  Now, what to do about that craft that needed a piece of tape to hold it in place.  That's when I walked past the box of bandaids that had been left out on the counter.  Perfect!!  So we have two little pictures of Ruth (from the Bible) gathering wheat - and 2 real wheat stalks tucked into her basket on her back held in place with bandaids.

Later this afternoon I was outside with the kids cleaning up our pumpkin display.  We had at least 12 pumpkins carved and/or painted for Halloween.  We had set up a little table in the front yard to display them properly on Monday night.  But now that it's Wednesday....and November 2nd, it was time to clean it up.  When I came back out from running something into the house, the boys had a hammer and were taking turns whacking a pumpkin that had never been carved.  Fairly harmless fun, I thought to myself.  But then the 4 year old stepped up and wanted a turn.  She started using the "pull the nail out" side of the hammer.....hmmm.....maybe not so harmless after all.  With that, my husband came around the corner and asked very calmly, "Would you like me to call the ER now to make an appointment for the kid who hacks into their leg?"  OK.  I got the picture.  I then suggested that they work on it with their baseball bats in the middle of the yard.  One at a time.  One hit per turn.  Everyone else standing in the driveway. The two boys had their metal bats, the 2 year old had the orange toddler wiffle-ball bat, and the 4 year old had a hockey stick.  It was a good challenge.  Of course, they completely obliterated the thing.  Shredded it into hundreds of pieces.  Good clean (or dirty) fun.  And no one got hurt.

Life is Different Now

It has been a good, long while since I have posted.  Life has sort of been turned upside down over the last month.  My brother, Geoff, took his own life on Sept 25th.  Since that date we have been preparing for the funeral, traveling to Montana for the service and then back to Indiana for another service and adjusting to life as it is now.  His wife and two small children have been staying with us since then.  They are preparing to return home on Tuesday.  It's hard thinking about them leaving.  It's like a little part of him is still here since they are around.  When they leave, I think it will feel very final.  We know that Geoff is now at peace and is in heaven with his Savior - that does bring comfort.  We also know that he had struggled with depression for at least 15 years, with the last year being very hard - a daily battle to stay alive - and that now he no longer has to be in that ugly place.  In the end, his body just could not handle one more doctor or prescription or treatment.  He was very sick.  It's all well and good to understand on an intellectual level.  But making your heart understand is a whole different thing.  Making children understand.....a whole different thing.  It will be a long time of grieving.  But God is good.  And I am determined to praise Him in this storm.  One of my very dear friends sang that song at our celebration of life ("Praise You in This Storm" by Casting Crowns).  That is what I am clinging to.

Blessings

There's some pretty yucky stuff going on with a family member.  We are in the middle of all of the mess - counseling, hugging, loving on this person.  When I am able to back away for just a bit, I am reminded just how blessed I am.  I have a wonderful husband and 6 kids who are healthy and happy.  (I must just say that I am not bragging here -  not saying my husband is always this perfect man -- he's broken and imperfect.  In fact, he told me this morning that he was sitting in church thinking about how flawed he was and how flawed I was, but yet we work together with Christ to fill in each other's gaps.  My kids are also not perfect -- they're whiny, argumentative, and irritating, but we're working on it!)  I am so thankful for friends -- deep, real, true friends.  Friends who cry with you when you don't know what else to do.  Friends who help out this family member even though they have never met them.  Friends who are praying for this situation.  I am also thankful for extended family -- for difficult circumstances forcing family to have to work together and be real with each other.

I spoke at a mom's group at our church on Friday, and as I was introduced the host gave a little bio including all of my "awesome mom" stats:  married 18 years, 6 kids, homeschools, funny, etc.  It was very humbling, but not an accurate or at least not a complete picture of who I am.  I didn't want these young moms to be intimidated by me.  I'm the farthest thing from "mom of the year".  I used a visual of a beautiful crystal glass filled with the dirt I swept off my kitchen floor.  We all put on our beautiful side and show off how shimmery and sparkly we are, but it's when you are willing to tip the glass on its side and reveal what's inside that people can really get to know you, dirt and all.  That's the real me -- the dirt on my floor.  You can know about me...the gum wrapper revealing what kind of gum I chew, the bandaid wrapper showing that someone had a cut, the corn silks showing what we ate for dinner, the parts of my front door wreath that got knocked to the ground by 2 kids playing chase.  That's the real me.  And, yes, I do package it in the beautiful glass -- we all do.  But if we are going to be true, we must be willing to look at and accept the "dirt".

WHY???

Why....
-  does she crush up the egg shells in the sink and rub the goo all over?
-  does she squirt half a tube of toothpaste all over the sink and rub it in?
-  does she eat the blue ice packs you put in coolers?
-  does she sing, "ooh, baby.  ooh, baby.  Oh, yeah!" in the grocery store?
-  does she only wear one shoe to the pool?
-  does she only make it half way to the pool on her bike and then want me to carry her and the bike (and the pool bag, towels and inner tube) the rest of the way?
-  does she think whoopie cushions are hilarious -- saying she's going to do a "booty sit"?
-  does she chew up apples and spit them out before swallowing?
-  does she insist Barbie also get sunscreen on before she goes to the pool?
-  does she see our favorite check out woman at Target and say, "Miss Maria!  I wuv her.  I wuv you, Miss Maria"?
-  is she so darn cute....particularly after a bath with those blonde curls hanging down in her face?

Sometimes it's so hard not to be irritated all day long.
And then she looks at me and smiles and says, "I wuv you, Momma" and instantly the frustration melts....at least until I discover the next mess.

Oooh -- it's been a while

Life just has a way of whizzing by.  Last time I checked, it was mid-summer....now we are clearly into our fall routine.  Football, school, chores, etc.

My oldest is two weeks into his FRESHMAN year of high school.  How can that be???  Didn't anyone tell him that I am not old enough to have a kid in high school??  He's getting along great, though.

Next oldest is in 7th grade.  She is so happy to be back at school because it means more face to face time with her friends.

The next two - 5th and 3rd grade are at home with me and the little girls (although they are not so little any more).  They are two and four now!  And......fully and completely potty trained.  Yeee Haw!  That is one thing I am not sad to leave behind.  I got sad when we took the crib down and when I moved the rocking chair out of the former nursery.  (I had nursed all 6 babies in that chair....it's hideous, but my tush sat in that thing for many, many hours)  But I will never miss changing a diaper.

My brother is living with us temporarily.  It makes for a whole different dynamic.  The kids get all hyper and excited when he walks in the door - each one talking faster and louder than the other so that they can be heard when they tell him all about their day.  His wife will be following him soon and then they will move into their house here.  It will be so fun to have cousins and aunts and uncles around.  We have never had that before.  I am sure it is culture shock for him - having moved here from rural Montana...you know, noise, traffic lights, paved roads, strip malls.  They are all foreign concepts to him!

One thing that I just have to share my excitement about -- three of my kids got baptized last week!  What a joy it was to see them decide to make a public statement of their faith.  My husband and I feel so blessed.

My final thought....Gwen's version of the "ABC's".... "next time don't you sing with me."

Boys!

I have one boy in particular who loves his mama.  He is always affectionate and ready for a hug or a kiss - both to give one and receive.  Today he went to our neighbor's garage sale and bought me a present.  I always cringe at those words:  "Look what I bought you at the garage sale!"  This was a carrot shaped piece of artwork with 6 small cheese or butter knives with carrot tops that stick into the large carrot.  Now I have to figure out what to do with it as it is neither practical or physically beautiful.  However, it is beautiful in one way....my youngest son picked it out just for me.  He spent his own $2.00 on me.  Not on candy or a toy or anything else except his mama.  And for that reason we will use it tonight at dinner when we eat our pizza and it will be proudly displayed on my kitchen counter.  It will sit next to the ShrinkyDink with the words, "I Love You" on it and the 3 inch tall Sculptey clay letters that spell out "I LOVE MOM" and the heart shaped rock and the red wooden heart wall hanging bought at the last garage sale.  And every time I walk in my kitchen I am reminded that I am loved very much!

I also picked up my daughter and middle son at camp today.  Can I just say, ten year old boys stink.  Especially ones who have been at camp during a week of 95+ degree heat.  I could hardly stand to love on him when I saw him.  But, of course, I did.  Then he got in the car and took off his shoes.  Shoes he'd worn all week with no socks.  Oh, heavens.  It was RIPE in there.  I can't put my finger on the exact smell, but if you mix body odor with bad breath and clothes that have been wet in a pond and never dried fully and nasty foot smell, then you have a pretty good idea of what we put up with for an hour and a half.  When I got home I unpacked his clothes and found 3 pair of clean underwear.  Now, this camp was only 5 days long.....do the math.  (2 pair of underwear worn over 5.5 days)  Perhaps this was adding to the stench.  Perhaps.

Now, I am waiting for cookies to come out of the oven.  For that is my love language.  Food.  I love to bake cookies for my kids and their friends.  I can smell the ooey, gooey warm cookie smell right now.  To me it shouts, "I love you!"  I am not always great with physical affection, so sometimes cookies are my hugs.  It just feels good to have all 6 kids back under one roof.  Crazy good, you know?

Messes and More

A long time ago we had a dog named Fred.  He was a good dog, but really disgusting in many ways - he ate the insides out of diapers and had to have 15 teeth pulled because they were so rotten and one time he pooped into a floor vent in our house.  Earlier this week, I had the unpleasant task of remembering Fred by cleaning up an accident that was very similar to the "poop in the vent" incident.  Gwen, who is completely pee trained is struggling in the potty department when going #2.  She pooped her pants in the middle of lunch - so I cleaned her off and left her without underwear thinking it was almost nap time anyway.  Not even 10 minutes later, I see her in the family room pooping again....and it's runny.  Puddling at her feet, running down her legs.  Oh.  My.  Word.  And so, as I was cleaning up her mess again, I was reminded of Fred!  Then, she announced that she needed to go more.  I put her on the potty, she did her thing and then proudly exclaimed, "Me did it!"  But I couldn't even be happy for her.  How 'bout the other two "misses"???

Other than cleaning up after Gwen, this has been a pretty quiet week.  Kyle and Ben went to their grandparent's to visit and Joel and Gretta are at camp.  They slowly start trickling in later today and by tomorrow afternoon, everyone will be home.  Sunday was an emotional day for me.  When we dropped Gretta off at camp, she was not feeling well.  Actually, she was trying to decide if she felt well enough to even stay.  I knew how badly she wanted to be there - with two school friends in her cabin, even.  The counselors were great and really encouraged her to stay - telling her that she could sleep at the nurse's station for the first night and that they just knew she would be feeling great by the next day.  After a long and tearful deliberation, she decided to stay.  It broke my heart to leave her when she was crying.  It reminded me of leaving my kids at the church nursery when they are crying.  It about rips my heart out!  And, no matter how big they get, I guess it will always be the same.  I heard an interesting saying:  A mother is only as happy as her saddest child.  So true!  The good news is that I haven't heard from camp.  They said they would call if she was not well within 24 hours.  So at this point, no news is good news.

Is It Wrong??

To begin, Kyle got home safe and sound from camp.  It was a wonderful experience and we can't say enough good things about HoneyRock Camp.  The kids were very excited to see him - both little girls running up and screaming his name.  Joel trying to act cool and also trying not to cry.  Very sweet to a mama's soul!

On a totally different note....

Is it wrong......
- to hear one little girl say to another, "Lay on me and lick me like a dog."????
- for one (unnamed child) to eat THREE full size corn dogs in one sitting???
- to order a large Diet Coke for me and 2 small ice creams for my little girls only to realize I'm 16 cents short....and then cancel the 2 ice creams so I can still get my Diet Coke????

Yes.  It's wrong.  All of it.  But, sadly, it's all true.

Big Brother

The kids are all desperately missing Kyle.  He's been gone for 2 1/2 weeks. Matt and I leave today to go get him.  We'll be back in 48 hours - 22 of which will be spent on the road.  Thankfully, we aren't taking any kids with us -- that's way too much car time in that short of a span.  Anyway, yesterday a friend was asking me if I was missing Kyle.  I told her that I was, but that it hadn't seemed like 2 1/2 weeks.  Ben, who was standing near by, said, "What??  It seems like it's been 20 weeks!"  This is the same kid who told my mom that they couldn't swim in her pond without Kyle because it just wasn't any fun without him.  I think that there will be six kids very happy to be reunited on Friday evening.  I'm just wondering how long it will last until the arguing starts?????

Cosmetics

What is it with little girls loving to put in make-up and such?  On Friday, Charlotte came running downstairs yelling, "Mom!  Gwennie has your special white stuff all over."  It sounded dangerous and I didn't even know what she was talking about.  I ran upstairs and found Gwen with my Mary Kay facial lotion with SPF 15 lathered all over her right leg.  It was thick enough I could have mistaken it for shaving cream.  (Note to my Mary Kay lady.....I need more lotion and cleanser ASAP!)

Yesterday I took the two little girls to Target so Charlotte could pick out something using a $15 gift card she got for her birthday.  We stopped in the shoe section 1st.  She was debating a cute pair of pink sandals. While we were weighing the pros and cons, Gwen took off her own shoes and found a pair of cute, pink, sparkly Hello Kitty shoes -- and they were just her size - all without my help.  Charlotte decided against the sandals, but I could not get Gwen to take off the sparkly shoes.  She wore them around Target with the little stretchy chord between them, making her take little shuffle steps.  When we got back to the toy area, Charlotte quickly found a pretend hair styling kit (hair dryer with batteries that make it really blow, a curling iron, straightening iron, brush, pretend lipstick, etc.).   She was SOLD.  Thinking that Gwen would be sad because Charlotte had a whole new bag of goodies, I bought her a tube of Lip Smacker chapstick.....THE ENTIRE TUBE OF LIP SMACKER WAS GONE - TOTALLY GONE - BEFORE WE GOT HOME. It was in her hair, around her eyes, on her chin.  There were chunks of it on the floor and in her car seat.  She had been digging pieces of it out with her little finger.  Stinker.  So much for trying to be nice Mommy.

While the girls got the hair stuff out and started playing, I made mac n cheese for lunch.  When I served them, I told them that the macaroni was a little warm and to eat their strawberries first.  Then I heard the mini blow dryer going.  Charlotte was cooling off their mac n cheese with her it!  Genius.

As I was starting to type this out, Charlotte came running up to my chair, grabbed it and swung herself around.  The chair back split in two.  She stood totally still, not even blinking, knowing she was about to get it.  I turned around and said, "How many times have I told you not to yank on the chair??"

"About a hundred," she replied.  Ohhh.  It's so hard to keep a straight face when they answer you so seriously.

Tomorrow at our pool is the annual Fourth of July party.  They have all sorts of games throughout the day.  My older kids have been counting the days.  Gretta is anxious for the Starburst toss (thousands of candies thrown in the water followed by a free-for-all) while Joel and Ben have literally been practicing for days for the Big Splash Contest.  The winner gets $5 to spend at the concession stand - which is equal to 5 candy bars!  It will be a nail-biter, I'm sure!

Happy Fourth of July!

Trufe

Yesterday, as the little girls and I were in the car, they told me that their babysitter had taken them out for ice cream while I had been gone.  Then they told me that she had take them to a new hamburger/hot dog/ice cream place in town.  They continued to elaborate the story telling me they had actually eaten lunch there - and Charlotte went into great detail about the hamburgers they had gotten and how Gwen had to eat two more bites before the babysitter would let her get ice cream.  The babysitter had not said anything about taking them out to lunch, so I was trying to figure out what the truth was.  I asked them, "Are you guys making up a story or are you telling me the truth?"

Gwen replied, "I do trufe you."

Still unsure, I called the sitter to get the full explanation.  They had gone to the new place for ice cream, but had not eaten lunch.....so Gwen was not "trufing me" after all.  

Two and a half is a great age for funny sayings.  I love to hear her little sentences and phrases....like the things in front of buildings that squirt water up in the air = "Water Mountains"

"Where Wobber" = Where's Robert (her favorite lifeguard at the pool)

On a different (and heart-melting) note, when Gwen got out of bed on Tuesday, she went into the boys room.  "Ky-o??  Ky-o??  Where Ky-o?"  She had forgotten that he was at camp and was searching him out.  She misses him.  They all do....and so do I!

A College Prank

Today I took the kids to see Cars 2.  It was fun.  We got there early enough for the $5 show.  Gwen fell asleep on my lap and the other kids only went through 2 large popcorns.  All in all not a bad morning!

When we got home Gwen wanted to ride her bike - which is a Strider.  It's a mini two-wheeler with no pedals.  She pushes with her feet.  She really wanted our cat to watch her...???  But, the cat had other interests.  Gwen was pushing along and looking backwards over her shoulder to make sure the cat was paying attention when WHAM!, she ran into our car.  The cat didn't even seem to care.

On a totally different note, my husband was a part of a very funny prank in college.  He and his teammates took apart and reassembled a VW Bug in their coach's office at Wheaton College.  This is his coach discovering the Bug....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOSaGvMchEU  Enjoy!

Sorry. I'm Back.

Wow.  Has it really been 6+ weeks since I last posted.  We have been so busy around here.  I have started trying to work a few hours from home each day.  Two hours.  Really shouldn't be that hard to put in 2 hours worth of work (data entry on my computer), but I am struggling!!  I can only do it during nap time when my little ones are asleep.  But then all of my other chores like cleaning my house, doing dishes, laundry, etc get pushed aside.  It's like every single minute of my day is accounted for.  We are trying to figure this out...is it worth it??  Is the relatively paltry amount of money worth it???  I'm starting to think not.  In the mean time, I have had a few of you very kindly ask me if I was going to continue blogging.  Yes, yes, yes.  I want to!  I'm glad you enjoy reading my posts and it's cathartic for me!  I have to tell someone about the crazy things that happen in my life!

So what's going on with our family??  Kyle just left on Monday to go to camp for 3 weeks.  Yikes -- 3 weeks!!  It's way up in Northern Wisconsin.  I'm sure he's having a ball.  It's right up his alley.  This is after a week long fly fishing trip with his grandfather.  He will be a freshman in the fall.  Believe me when I tell you I am not old enough to have a freshman in high school.

The other kids have quickly busied themselves this summer with the local swim team.  They walk over to the pool for practice and then go back later in the day to hang out.  They had a swim meet last night and it was 65 degrees and rainy.  YUCK.  But they all got up this morning to go back over to the pool.  I was going to let them sleep in.  Gretta has been involved in horse camp both as a camper and a helper.  Charlotte has started swim lessons and within 8 lessons has gone from being afraid of putting her head under water to being able to do a front and back float!!  She's quite proud of herself -- and VERY buoyant!

I took the kids up to a friend's lake house in Northern Indiana.  This woman has been my friend since we were 12!!  We had a ball (at least I did...not sure how she felt about the 6 of us invading her beautiful home!!).  She treated us royally -- took the kids tubing and feeding us.  Even Gwen went tubing...my
2 1/2 year old went tubing.  It was hilarious.  She's a daredevil.  And seriously cute.  It's a scary combination.  

As I write this, my husband is outside on the front porch with a few children telling them stories about his days as a sniper in the army.  This is a fictitious story, but they are asking him questions.  I just heard, "Dad, were you really a sniper in the army??  I just can't imagine!"  This all started a few months ago when we played 2 truths and a lie at dinner.  If you've never played, it's pretty self-explanatory.  You tell the other people 3 things about you they don't know.  Two of them are true and one is made up and everyone else has to guess the lie.  Better with adults because kids aren't great at lying -- especially our own kids because as parents we pretty much know everything about our kids.  But it's still fun!

I promise there is more to follow.  I'm back.  Thanks for being patient!

Phonetic Spelling At It's Best

COWQUELATER ---  that small thing with number buttons that you push when you have to add up big numbers.  This was Joel's attempt at spelling "calculator".  One of the best phonetic spellings I have ever seen.


This morning while I was in the shower, Gwen and Charlotte were playing in my room and pretending to go on "dates".  They would come in and tell me they had gone to a restaurant or the park, etc. and tell me all about their adventure.  During this, Charlotte came in and said, "We went to have noodles and then we had bubble stidey."  I did not know what she was talking about and asked her if it was a dessert.  "No.  Bubble Stidey.  You, know.  At M-mas (what she calls her grandma)."

I was still not clear.  "Like when you blow bubbles with M-ma??"

"No.  Bubble... Stidey. (Said very s-l-o-w-l-y and with much emphasis)  When M-ma has her friends over in the morning and they talk."

Ahhhh....got it!!  (Bible Study)

Oh, and I Forgot to Mention....

In my last post I forgot to mention that this morning Ben decided to make some juice. We buy the frozen concentrate and this variety was Strawberry, Kiwi, Apple....dark reddish/purple.  He was having trouble with the lid of the concentrate container and it was already thawed out because I had set it out early for the kids.  He decided to pop it off really hard.  SPLAT!  Purpleish red concentrate all over the countertop, running down the cabinets, splattered all over me and Gwen (on her face), all over the floor.  I kept stepping in sticky spots all day.  I even found a patch on the other side of the kitchen about 2:30 this afternoon.  Ugh.

Gretta Made Me Do It

Yesterday during nap time, I could hear Charlotte banging around in her room.  Occasionally, she does not sleep, but she will stay in her room and look at books or play quietly - which is totally fine with me.  When I went to get her up, she sat up in bed and said, "Gretta came in my room and told me to mark on my bed." Gretta had not even been home during nap time, so I knew this was an invention of her mind.  I started off by asking her to tell me why the support board for Gretta's uppper bunk was lying on the ground.  "It just fell out, " was her response.  Hmmm.  Everything was sounding very suspicious!  She had spread out a small blanket on her bed and was sitting on it.  I then asked her where the mark that Gretta told her to make was.  She stood up and lifted the blanket up.  There on the sheets was a 6 inch mark from a red pen.  (The pen was still in her hands).  Hmmm.  Now, I'm no detective, but I started to put the puzzle pieces together.  I told her that I knew that Gretta had not been in her room and asked if the mark was an accident or on purpose.  "On purpose," she answered.  "And I found your red pen, Mom!"  Not really a big deal in the scheme of things, but the lying could not go unpunished.  Oh, it's so hard to spank a really cute, sorrowful 3 year old.

Today we went to Target for our grocery run (one of 3 places we are now stopping - Aldi is now making the list + Costco -- if you've never been to Aldi, it's an experience, but prices are really good, especially on produce).  To begin, there were no double carts on the grocery side of the store, so we had to trek to the other side.  Gwen has figured out how to "houdini" out of the straps and was standing in the seat within minutes.  I knew she was due for a BM and although I was hoping it wouldn't happen there, I was pretty much counting on it.   Sure enough...middle of the produce section, I caught a wiff.  So off to the bathroom we went.  Good thing I caught it early or it would have been U-G-L-Y.  Not that it was pretty to begin with, but if you have toddlers, you know what I mean.  Then the girls kept getting out so they could "help" me get things.  At one point, Gwen pulled marshmallows off the shelf and started trying to chew through the package.  The entire time Charlotte kept asking to go to the candy section because she had earned $5 at her grandmother's house.  So as we made our way to the check-out, we stopped by the candy area.  She made a bee-line for a big box of Starburst.  You should have seen her beaming smile as she paid her $1.07 for her box of candy.  She was so proud that she even got her own bag and receipt.  We finally finished and rushed home to take naps so that I could turn around and pick up Kyle and Gretta from school.  Grocery stores are much easier to navigate solo....as are most things.

This weekend we will be going to Home Depot to pick out all of my annuals.  That's my traditional Mother's Day gift.  We pick them out on Saturday and then my gift is that the kids plant them on Sunday. I just spread them out where I want them and then sit on the front porch and watch them work!  I love it!

Happy Mother's Day to all my fellow mothers.  You are doing a great job.  If you can get to the end of a day and say that you fed your kids, clothed your kids and loved on them a little, it's a good day -- and you are doing the right thing.  Sometimes we get so caught up in the "woulda, shoulda, coulda", that we beat ourselves up.  We get paralyzed by our to-do lists.  But, step back and look at your beautiful children.  Go give them a big hug, tell them they are special to you and that you love them.  Then sit down and take a load off.  You deserve it!