Mrs. Grumpy

I've been grumpy a bit lately. Can you blame me? It is 7:20 in the morning and the two youngest have already thrown tantrums. They have only been awake for 7 minutes! It has been like this for over a week. My hubby was out of town all last week so I never had a break from the kids. I can't even go into my bedroom or the bathroom without one of them following me to the door. If I go into the bedroom and lock the door, the two youngest pound on it and yell at me. If I go into the bathroom, they stand on the other side of the door talking to me. My two older ones do this a lot too. They don't have anything to say to me while I'm in the same room as them, but the moment I enter the bathroom and shut the door, they suddenly need to ask questions or tell me stories.

I'm also now 38 weeks pregnant. Having this baby is about the only thought my mind is capable of thinking of. I just want to know when it is going to happen. Then I could relax and plan, but knowing it could happen anywhere from tomorrow to three weeks down the road is making me crazy.

My kids seem to talk back to me more. My homeschool son gets annoyed when I ask him to do his work. He wants to do only one page in his book and be done for the day. Yesterday I decided to read out loud from Peter Pan to him. When he saw what I was about to do, he exclaimed loudly, "Oh no."

Perhaps it is always this way and it probably is, but my pregnancy induced grumpiness is making things all the worse.

On the positive side, my two year old is super cute (when he isn't throwing a tantrum) and his vocabulary has improved by leaps and bounds lately. He can say just about anything he wants. He can tell me more specifically what he wants to eat, not just num nums. He can tell me his tummy (leg, tongue, etc.) hurts. He can tell me what it is that his sister did to him to make him upset. His phrases are usually only 2-3 words long, but he is really amazing what thoughts and emotions he can convey with those 2-3 words.

Long rambling thought on Language and Music

Over the last 5 years, I have made English language history a favorite subject. I found the evolution of the language fascinating. English’s earliest roots are the Indo-European language. As people moved and centuries past, the language changed and took on many new forms with new names. What we now call Germanic is where English really separated from the other main branches of languages. The Germanic language changed and became many more languages and we finally reach the period of Old English. Although mostly unrecognizable to our modern eyes, it is not hard to see that this strange language is the basis of what we speak now. Only about 20% of Old English remains in our current vocabulary. English was almost squashed as a language during the Norman Invasion. It was the language of the common and poor people. Yet, it endured. It was able to survive thanks to it’s flexibility and it took on new words while keeping the old. To this day, English is a very flexible language, creating new words constantly to fit with the changing times. It is versatile and expressive.

I wish I knew more of the language and could use great vocabulary in my daily expressions, but I must confess, I do not and it really doesn’t matter because the average English speaker wouldn’t understand the vocabulary anyway. For instance, if I were to mention in general conversation about the size of a vomitory, most people would think me being quite gross, but I’m not. A vomitory is a large doorway.

To switch subjects for a moment, I want to talk a bit about music. Music is a universal language. A group of people who can’t speak to each other because of spoken language barriers can sit together and listen to music. Music is fantastic. My parents introduced me to classical music at a very young age. Later when I entered middle school, I needed to fill some class time and I wanted to fill that time with music. I choose to play in the band. I picked an instrument I knew nothing about – the bassoon. I loved being a part of a large body of music. I loved the small, yet important addition that the bassoon provided to each song. I learned to appreciate the little changes and little additions found in a score.

This love of the small changes in music has continued in my life. Some of my favorite music to listen to are movie soundtracks. They are the “classical” music of this modern age. John Williams, John Barry, Harry Gregson-Williams and so many more and the modern form of Amadeus or Beethoven. Instead of writing for operas that people go to for entertainment, these modern men write for movies. My two youngest children love to listen to the Danny Elfman version of Willy Wonka. I must admit, I love it too. There is one song that I love and it is a silly song, but it has one moment that last for 2 measures or eight counts that I find lovely to listen too. The song is building into it’s main chorus and a flute joins in and plays probably 5 notes, but I absolutely love those 5 notes! It is silly and yet, I love that part. I’ve noticed this with other music. There will be a song and a trombone will come in playing a counter line in it’s lower register and it gives me the goose bumps.

Now, I want to tie in this English language thought and music thought. English has over 600,000 words, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. That is a lot of words. Music is the universal language and that makes the vocabulary able to describe music in the millions and billions! Yet, with all these words that are available to me, I can’t put into words what it is that music does to me. I can’t describe the way it makes me feel. I can’t tell about those 5 notes of the flute without using silly words like goose bumps.

I hope that when my life ends here and I enter into the world of heavenly beings, I will find the way to express the feelings I have for music. Perhaps something so heavenly as music can not be described in any other way than with heavenly words. Until then, when I listen to music and I say, “Oh, this part I love, listen to the flute. Isn’t that beautiful?”, just listen to what I point out and try to make a polite, yet meaningful comment like, “That was beautiful, it gave me the goose bumps.”

projects

My hubby has been gone all week and instead of sitting in my rocking chair, cross stitiching and watching all the bonnet movies I can, I've been working like mad. On Monday we had a bunch of dirt (compost) delivered to our house. I spent two days moving a lot of it, but my back gave up and I haven't moved any since Tuesday. So, yesterday I decided it was time to paint the ugly "school room". It is the extra room in the house that should be a dining room but never became one. Instead it became the sewing room/school room/toy room/whatever room. It has awful 70's wallpaper on it. See:



So, I decided I had had enough of it and I pulled off the moulding and yesterday I primed all but one part of it. My kids have all helped. Some have helped a little too much, if you know what I mean and have gotten paint on the carpet and their clothes.



Now the walls are white and I've started painting them their new color, which is basically, the same color as the primer - white! I really don't like white walls, but I don't feel like I'm in the frame of mind to make color decisions. I don't like painting and I'm not very good at it so I went with what is easiest.

(This breaking news is being told to me as I type - my daughter doesn't know any more JennyJenna's. They have died! JennyJenna is her imaginary friend, as you might remember. Well, not the queen JennyJenna died, just the kung fu JennyJenna. Yeah, I don't get it either....)

OK. So, a few nights ago, I was laying down to sleep on the couch and was blinded by the street lights flooding though the living room. Since I was getting the whatever room ready to paint, I had taken the curtains down to puddy holes in the wall. Without the curtains, I couldn't sleep. During the middle of the night I started to wonder if I could shoot the street lights from my window with a BB gun. I decided as much as I would like to do that, it wouldn't be a good idea. First, I don't have a BB gun, second, it is probably illegal. I wondered if I could shoot the street lights with my bow and arrows. Then I decided I shouldn't try this either. My arrows have blunts on them and I can't aim that well. Also I only have three arrows and I really wouldn't want to loose them. So, I slept poorly. Last night, I rigged up a blanket to hang in the room and block the window. It was so classy you know, and my toddler kept pointing at it and saying "ghost!"

I have to get this room painted by tomorrow. Hubby comes home Saturday and I would like at least one day to sit on the couch, cross stitching and watching a bonnet movie! I'm hoping all this is a sign of nesting and this baby will come soon! I just wish the nesting would extend to the rest of the house and I would want to clean it more. While I'm painting, the rest of the house is getting ignored and starting to look pretty messy.

ice cut update

This evening while my children and I are having dinner, one of my sons remarked how the drinking water was ice cold. (It wasn't ice cold, just refrigerator cold) My daughter immediately began talking of how ice can cut you. My older son rolled his eyes and said, "Don't talk about it!" My daughter replies with, "But ice can cut you, I've had one."

The Paranoia of a 4 year old

My 4 year old daughter has an amazing memory and mind. She can remember things that happened long ago in her short life. I’m astounded when she brings up a specific incident that happened a year ago. We must be careful with her because of this great memory she has.

She also has a habit of getting “fixed” on an idea or incident and she will talk about it for a long, long time. Several examples:

-About two weeks ago, she got a small cut from a piece of ice she was sucking on. I wasn’t there for the incident so I don’t know the particulars, but she got a cut on one of her fingers from this bit of ice. For days and days she talked constantly of “ice cuts”. When I told her I didn’t want to hear anymore about ice cuts she told me she wasn’t done talking about them. Luckily, he wound has healed and she has not thought of it in a week.

-Black Holes! I don’t know where she heard about black holes. I’m guessing it was a know-it-all older brother who told her about black holes and their ability to suck up all things. Several weeks ago daughter was quite concerned about these black holes. She asked if they really could suck us up. I answered truthfully, yes, they could. She wanted to know where one was and if it was anywhere near our house. I answered her they are far, far away in outer space. She talked about these black holes for several days and then I heard nothing about it again, until this morning. She brought them up again.

-Crocodiles. This morning through what seemed like random chatter coming from my four year old which started while she was watching me trim my hair, she came across the idea of crocodiles. She then asked if crocodiles can eat people. I said yes, they could. She then asked, would they eat us in pieces? Probably, I answered. She went on talking about how she doesn’t like crocodiles, alligators and T-Rex’s. The T-Rex gave me a clue as to where this idea came from. Her brothers made her watch “Walking with Dinosaurs” yesterday while they were in the van. Those brothers!

-The biting chair. This will sound strange. I love Doris Day movies and one of my favorites to watch is “Pillow Talk”. In the end, Doris’s character redecorates Rock Hudson’s apartment in the most hideous way. Good friend Tony Randall, in a state of shock, sits down in a chair in the newly decorated living room. He immediately jumps and yells, “That chair! It bit me!” My daughter was amazed. A chair that would actually bite someone. She couldn’t stop talking about the biting chair. She talked about it all day long. I’m afraid I might have traumatized her.

The most incredible thing about my daughter is, we will be doing something and she will bring up these things from out of nowhere. You can be sure this isn’t the last time I hear about biting chairs or black holes.

Spring is in the air

The lovely season of spring is beginning here in southern Virginia. The daffodils are blooming. They are so bright and yellow. They make you happy just to see them. The last two days have had temperatures in the low 70’s. Today will be cooler, but still in the 60’s. At least for this week, it is spring here. Of course, this being Virginia, next week could be in the 20’s and 30’s again. You never know from week to week what it will be like outside.

But let’s forget for today that winter is still the official season and that it could snow in April. Today is a bright, slightly cool, spring day. For two days now I’ve been using my clothes line again. I will use it again today. Two days ago, my son and I made can stilts. He has enjoyed wandering the backyard in them. I wish we had sidewalks here that he could go up and down the street. The kids have spent hours outside jumping on the trampoline and digging in the sand box. We planted an herb garden this week. I hope in another week or two we will see the first little shoots of our plants. My tulips that I planted last year are starting to poke small green leaves up from the ground. It is a good day.

Last night we had a thunderstorm. I love those. I opened the curtains up so I would watch the sky light up. The storm sang me to sleep.

It’s one of those days that makes you happy to be alive. I just wish I could imagine the busy street and the sounds of zooming cars and school buses away.

All about Moi!

Dahling, I know your deepest desire is to know all about Moi!

1. What is your occupation? An actress, of course!
2. What color are your socks right now? Socks? How horrid. No, I’m wearing black silk stockings.
3. What are you listening to right now? My surround sound of Moi’s beautiful voice singing the greatest show tunes of the 40’s.
4. What was the last thing that you ate? The most delicious crème broulie.
5. Can you drive a stick? A what? I don’t drive, I have a chauffeur.
6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Dahling, don’t you know there is already a crayon named after me?
7. Who is your favorite singer? Moi
8. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Not really.
9. How old are you today? (giggle) Oh, Dahling, I’m a lady and lets just say I’m over 21.
10. Favorite drink? I know it is so common, but I love Root Beer. It just tickles my nose in the funniest way.
11. What is your favorite sport to watch? I loath sports. So common, so vulgar, so primal.
12. Have you ever dyed your hair? Of course not! My hair is naturally this blond, always has been, always will be. That reminds me I need to set up an appointment with my hairdresser, Pierre.
13. What is your favorite place to vacation? Europe, dahling. I adore Paris.
14. Favorite food? Caviar
15. Last movie you watched? My movie. Is there anything else worth watching?
16. Favorite Day of the Year? My birthday – an entire day devoted to Moi!
17. What do you do to vent anger? I shoe shop. Yesterday, I was mad at my gardener for planting ugly seeds and I was so mad that I went and found the most adorable red, strappy, 5 inch heels that have the biggest red jewel on the big toe.
18. What was your favorite toy as a child? A mirror.
19. What is your favorite, fall or spring? Spring. There are so many more cuter outfits for the spring.
20. Hugs or kisses? I’m not going there, dahling…
21. Cherry or Blueberry? Chocolate covered strawberries, thank you.
22. Do you want your friends to email you back? No, I’m not interested in their pathetic lives.
25. Living arrangements? I have the most gorgeous mansion on a hill over looking the ocean. My private swimming pool has a movie screen on one end and I love to sit in my luxurious floating chair and watch my movies.
26. When was the last time you cried? Last night while I was watching my death scene in my movie. It was so tragic.
27. What is on the floor of your closet? Plush carpeting.
28. Who is the friend you have had the longest that you are sending this to? I’ll send it back to myself. I’m the only one who matters.
29. Who is the friend you have had the shortest that you are sending this to? Ditto
30. Favorite smells? Chanel No. 5, is there any other fragrance?
31. What inspires you? Moi
32. What are you afraid of? Wrinkles
33. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? Hamburgers are so common. I dine on only the best filet mingon.
34. Favorite car? Stretched limos.
35. Number of keys on your key ring? I don’t carry keys! I wouldn’t want anything making that horrid jangling noise in my fashion handbag.
36. How many years at your current job? I was born to act and be rich.
37. Favorite day of the week? I love Saturdays, it is my day to soak in my hot tub and my personal masseuse works on me for hours.
38. How many states have you lived in? Just one.
39. How many countries have you been to? I’ve been to more than I can count. My favorite countries to visit are France, Africa and Hawaii.

There you go. Now you know my deepest secrets. I hope, Dahling, that this has been enlightening.

Books

Last night I had an activity with the Activity Day Girls at church. To encourage the great pastime of reading, I had each girl tell us about her favorite book or a book she has recently read.

To start things off, I brought along four of my favorites. My books were The Secret Garden, Peter Pan, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and Anne of Green Gables. The Anne book isn't high on my list of favorites, but it is a fun read and I thought the girls might really enjoy it. First of all, it was sad when I introduced each of my books and the girls would say, I've seen that movie! While I enjoy the movie versions of these books (I've never seen an Anne movie, although I know there is one) the movies are never as good as the books. One girl said she hated each movie.

Then, each girl took a turn to tell us about her book. One girl brought in a fantasy novel she had just finished. Another girl told us about one she was reading in school. Another girl said her book was called Spiderwick, but it wasn't the Chronicles book. The other girls didn't believe her. I felt bad. She could hardly tell us about the book because the others were saying there was no way that was a Spiderwick book.

Anyway, after it was over, I thought back to when I was in school and the books the teachers made me read. I didn't like most of them. It seems teachers are keeping this up. They like to pick depressing, thought-provocing novels based on true events and wars instead of great classic literature. I told the girls thank goodness for summers when you can choose your own good books to read. I was lucky enough to have a teacher in the 11th grade who told us to pick any book by an American author in the 20th century. What a huge choice! I picked a Star Wars novel. It was acceptable and I got an A on my paper. I loved that teacher for letting us do that. I'll never understand why some people choose to read depressing novels about people who always end up with a fatal disease and dying a sad death. To each his own, I guess.

This has been a rambling, random thought with no point brought to you by the letters B, G, and the number 4836.

It's never a dull moment with children

Time flies by and yet it is going so slowly....

Kids are fixing their lunches. My two sons each have a sword and fight inbetween waiting for the toaster and eating the toast. My daughter has been wearing a cape for two days. Half of the time she thinks herself a queen while wearing the cape. The other half of the time she says she can fly and she runs around the house holding the cape out. We went to WalMart and the library this morning - she had on her cape. Her cape is a blanket and since it is in the 40's today, it works well as a warm wrap.

She has always had her own sense of style. When she was very, very small, she loved to wear her best dresses all of the time. Really, I didn't mind. The looked so pretty in them and I knew the phase would not last. We would be at a store and people would ask me if we had just had pictures taken. No, I would say, she just likes to wear her dresses. Now, instead of her pretty dresses, she prefers to wear purple t-shirts with red plaid skirts or she will wear a bright yellow skirt with a pink long sleeve t-shirt. Nothing matches anymore. Still, right now it isn't worth fighting about. As long as she is appropriatly covered, if she feels good in her outfit, I don't mind.


My children feel it a need to out-do each other. I guess most children do. The "game" King of the Hill didn't come out of nowhere. My daughter will just start to sing. She has a lovely voice. Her brother finds the song annoying and he tells her so. She starts to sing more loudly and begins to add annoying sounds in her singing. Seeing she isn't going to stop, he begins his own annoying noises. They raise to a terrible level until I have to loudly command they both stop.

Then, son begins to stomp on the floor. "What song am I doing?" Daughter wisely and candidly points out it sounds like stomping. He gets upset, again asking us what song he is stomping out. I tell him I agree with daughter it just sounds like stomping. He informs me he is doing the song "Popeye". I listen more closely.... nope, it still sounds like stomping to me.

Pile of pink

I just love the pile of pink. I washed all the baby clothes yesterday. It was fun to fold and look at the tiny onesies and pajamas. There is still lots of time before I'll need these things, but I couldn't resist washing them any longer.

Today two of my sons will be getting Haircuts by Mom. They are looking like John Denver in the early Eighties. My toddler is very good about getting his hair cut, but it is so hard to hold still when you are two. He also has a runny nose and likes to keep his hands in his mouth (although he is no longer teething). This could make for a hairy face while getting the haircut.

Well, my daughter needs a bath and the toddler can't resist time in the Splashy, so we are off to get clean. Then we'll do haircuts and he can have a second splashy.

A history of random thoughts

My toddler broke a bowl today. Whoever said Correll doesn't break, hasn't been to my house. We have broken more bowls in the last few months then I can remember. Today, it was the toddler's fault. Why is it when you yell "Don't Move!" that they have to keep moving? I yell at my toddler not to move and he starts to back up from the shattered mess. I tell my daughter to stay out. This hurt her feelings, it wasn't her fault the bowl broke, so why should she have to stay out of the kitchen?

Anyway, I'm cleaning up this bowl and I was disappointed to find that it was a clean bowl that had fallen to the floor. Now, I have to clean up the remains of a clean bowl and I still have as many dirty dishes as before this one broke. Does that make sense? If a dirty bowl had broken, it would have been like cleaning up one mess, not two.

I guess that is pretty ridiculous.

I have a history of silly random thoughts. I'll share a few with you.

When I was quite young, I thought how silly a vacuume cleaner was. As you push it around the room, it leaves it's cord all over the floor. Then, when you are done with the vacuume, you have to clean up the cord off the floor. With a vacuume you clean twice!

Another random thought I had as a child was about dust. (Cleaning is on my mind, can you tell?) When you are wearing white, and you roll around on the floor, you get black dust all over your clothes. However, when you are wearing black, and you roll around the same floor, you end up with white dust on you. This was, to me, very odd. I remember this thought came to me after watching Star Wars. Princess Leia was wearing a white dress and when it got dirty, you could see black. Luke Skywalker was wearing an all black outfit and after rolling about on the floor he is covered in a white dusting.

Yes folks, strange random thoughts have been a part of me for a long time. I'm glad they never go away.

going to Vote!

Today is voiting day in our state. I like going to vote. I feel like I'm doing something important. There isn't much in the way of choices this year, but I went and done my part.

Before heading out I had to find my voters registration card. That took me a while. It wasn't exactly where I thought I kept it. It was close by and took a bit of digging through papers, but I found it.

Next I had to get the kids ready. My 7 year old says, can't I stay home? No, you are going to watch me vote. My daughter starts to whine: I don't want to go. Well, you can't stay home alone and I want you to come with me while I vote. My toddler is excited to get out of the house. After much whining on my son and daughter's part, we made it to the elementary school down the street. My daughter had a sour look on her face the entire time. It's too bad because she is such a pretty girl. While does she have to spoil that sweetness with a sour look? Anyway, I get my card and go to an open booth. My toddler sees a big wooden crab hanging from the ceiling. He thinks it is a spider and starts to head for it. The voter people don't like him going behind the machines. They pull him away. He gets upset. I finish my voting - it was very quick since there is only one vote to make. I turn the group around and we start to leave.

My toddler throws himself to the floor and starts to cry "speeda" which means spider. I have to drag him to the door where I turn in my card and they give me a sticker. They offer one to my daughter, but she gives the guy a dirty look. I have to carry my toddler who is kicking and screaming out the door. He makes himself stiff and heavy making it very hard for me to hold him. I carry him out to the van and we load back in. He cries the whole way home "speeda, speeda"!

Maybe next time, I'll leave them all at home. Without all the loading and unloading into the van, I would cut my time in half. I could be home in 5 minutes.

My book club has been reading Anne of Green Gables this month. It took me a while for me to get over the shock in the book of letting the children run outside all day, walk to school alone, and stay home alone while parents walk to the neighbors. I forget that at one point you could leave your child home while you went down the street for a few minutes. Now, the thought of leaving my kids home for 5 mintues is terrifying. I'm not worried that anything will happen to them, they are good kids and if I put on a movie, they would not even notice I had gone. What is terrifying is that someone might find out I did it and call police on me. What a terrible world we live in now. I wish I could go back to the time of Anne's world and not worry so much about those things.

Oh well, the point to all this is, I VOTED!

no news but always busy

I knew I hadn't written in a while, but I was surprised to see that I had not all the month of February.

The thing is, not much is going on. I mean, with kids, there is always stuff going on, but nothing mentionable.

Hubby is going on a work trip to Colorado. I'm so jealous. I want to go to Colorado! It has been my favorite place for as long as I can remember. We'll miss him for those 4 days, but we will have fun. My sister is coming to see me on Wednesday!!!! I can't wait. We have so much fun together and it will be the first time she comes to my house since we moved here. We are planning a Monkees Marathon.
My hubby is glad he won't be around for that.

There is something going on every night these days. Last week it was all church stuff. This week is it all church stuff too. Last Tuesday I had my first appointment with the midwife. It is a small team of 5 and they were all very nice. All seems to be going well. I was at 32 weeks for the appoitment, but I measured at 37. They were all concerned, but I'm thinking I've just got a good layer of extra pounds they measured which made the numbers high. Baby is good. She is busy. They had a hard time pinning her down to get a heartbeat on her. She kept moving and squirming. I think it is pretty funny, but you know what that means for my future... another super busy kid.

My son has been devouring his Magic Tree House books. I had to take him to the library twice last week because he would read all his books. I'm proud of him. My toddler still likes to be a kitty, puppy, pony, whatever. He has been playing with Star Wars action figures lately. He likes they all have lightsabers. My daughter has decided that her Polly Pocket princess dolls are now Jedi's too. It makes for interesting play. I'm glad she has such a great imagination!

Music Coming Out of My Ears!

My daughter has a little MP3 player that she got for Christmas. She loves it and it plays constantly. Music varies from children songs (Wheels on the Bus) to Primary songs (Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam) to strange soundtracks (Danny Elfman's Willy Wonka). She sings with all of it.

Recently she has started complaining about "music coming out of her ears". We figure this means she has a song stuck in her head. She has mentioned this off and on since Christmas, but the other night, at dinner, this problem was really bothering her. We were eating dinner and she keeps saying she has music coming out of her ears. She looks at me, "Mom, do you hear the music coming out of your ears?" I had to deny that I did. "Yes you do," she insisted, "I can hear it!"

This was really making her concerned. Hubby had an idea, no MP3 player for a while and see if we can get rid of this music in her head. I was fine with the idea. For one thing, she plays her MP3 so much, I have to change the battery every day - it is an expensive habit. Second, she has The Macarena on her MP3. I hate that song, but she loves it. I can only stand to hear it so many times a day.

There has been very little talk from my daughter about music coming out of her ears the last few days. I wish I could say the same thing. I woke up this morning with Barbie's Princess and the Pauper coming out of my ears.

Sharing is making me crazy!

My children don't know how to share. I've tried teaching the principle. I do my best to live the principle. I've showed them how to share and I've praised them when they do to re-enforce it. I've done it just like the books teach. Still, my kids fight so much about everything.

My two oldest have dart gun with Nerf-like darts. Each gun had four to start with. Now only four remain of the original eight. My oldest claims he has lost none and all four belong to him.

This morning, three of the kids were playing with blocks. Instead of just building something great, it became a greedy fight. Who can get the most blocks? Daughter insisted she needed one certain block that brother had. He would not give it up and declared he needed it more. Screaming and crying soon followed.

Last week at dinner, the table was set. The cups we use for the kids are colored. No color is assigned to each kid. It is just a random thing of who gets what color. After I pour the drinks, daughter announces she wants the purple one that her oldest brother has. He quickly takes a drink out of it and says it is his. She refuses to drink from the red cup in front of her.

When we pop popcorn for a family movie, they eat the popcorn as fast as they can, to make sure one of the others doesn't get more.

At various times during the day or week, you will hear one of the children yell, "Don't follow me! I want to be alone!" Several things happen after this. Either they announce they want to be alone, but stay in common rooms and get mad when they others are in there or they go off to their own room or outside and one of the others will spitefully follow them and knock on the door or yell at them through the door.

They are so greedy. Does anyone else have greedy children or am I the only one dealing with this? I can understand my two year old having a hard time with sharing, but why are my nine and seven year olds fighting about sharing? I'm going nuts with all this meanness that is going on. All these things they are fighting over - the darts, the blocks, the colored cups, the popcorn - are completely ridiculous things to fight over too. It is all so stupid! Ahh!

Farewell, President Hinkley

Last night, President Gordon B. Hinkley died. He will be greatly missed.

I must share a memory I have of him. I attended college in Rexburg, ID at Ricks College, years before it became BYU-Idaho. The very first Sunday after school started was a special fireside. The speaker was First Counselor, Gordon B. Hinkley. We waited in long lines to get into the huge gym. My friends and I were lucky enough to get seats on the floor just a few sections away from the pulpit. In front of the pulpit were about three rows of seats that faced the audience. On these seats sat all the stake presidents from the area. Behind the pulpit sat Pres. Hinkley, the college president and other important people.

When Pres. Hinkley was announced, he came up the pulpit and said he was having a hard time seeing all of us because of the glare coming off all the stake president's heads in front of him. We all had a good laugh over that.

It was my first memory of him. He had been in the General Presidency a long time before then, but it was the first experience of my adult life with the good Prophet. I don't think I've had the opportunity since to see him live and be in the same room with him. Still, everytime I saw him on the TV, he brought a smile to my face and usually a good chuckle. What a wonderful sense of humor he had, to the end.

Tonight for Family Home Evening, we will talk about him. I realized that he has been Prophet since before my children were born. My two oldest have only known him as the Prophet. They will miss him, too. The two younger ones will not remember. Thank you, President Hinkley. We love you.

Monday holiday

Today is a teacher inservice day for the schools here, so the kids are off today.

I've kept them busy this morning, but if I don't come up with something for the afternoon, they are going to drive each other and me a bit crazy.

This morning we cleaned! I had them wash the kitchen walls, the kitchen floor, the stairwell walls, the walls upstairs and we cleaned the kids rooms. Then we came back down stairs to pick up stuff off the floor and vacume the enitre down stairs. I did more than half of the work, while the kids did the rest. I'm worn out, but the house looks pretty good.

Now, without something organized to do, they are annoying each other. Isn't that the way it goes?

I think this afternoon will be play time and a movie (if they don't keep getting into trouble for making each other cry). I plan on cross stitching!

pictures of my projects!

If you read the entry below the photos, you will understand what these photos are about.

This photo is the Winter Queen by Mirabilia. This picture came with the pattern and is not my own. There is a lot of bead work in this, but you can't tell from the photo. Itn't she gorgeous?



This is my attempt at the beautiful Winter Queen. She isn't looking quite as pretty, but I'm working hard on her. Right now I'm working on her hair.



My frist cloth diaper! Isn't it so cute?



The diaper on the baby doll:

Random thoughts and happenings

Several thoughts were running through my mind today. I just can't remember most of them.

One is sick or rather I should say about being sick. My family has had a weird illness. Last Monday and Tuesday, my oldest was home from school with a fever. Nothing more than a fever. Several days later, my youngest gets the fever. On Saturday morning, my daughter gets it, that night my other son gets it and by early Sunday, my husband has it too. I just want them all to stay away from me. So, the weekend was miserable for all with fevers and me for having to deal with all the people with fevers. By Monday, my husband and one son were the only ones still with the fever. Yesterday, my husband stayed home from work still with a fever. He slept all day.

This morning, hubby goes back to work. He is complaining a great deal about how miserable he feels, but he went back anyway. Everyone else seems to be over theirs. Now, one son has a constant cough and another one a very runny nose. Will it ever end? So far I have been lucky and have caught none of this. (knock on wood)

Other happenings - each day I work a little on a cross stitch I'm doing. It is a Mirabilia and it is called Winter Queen. It is beautiful, but what I'm doing to it isn't so beautiful. I'm trying though. I hope to have it complete by the time baby arrives, but it is slow going.

I want to use some cloth diapers with this baby (we really need to save some money). Diapers are so expensive and I thought cloth would be a good way to go. I have lots of the old fashioned diapers that are rectangles that you pin. I wanted to make some that Velcro. I found a great pattern on the Internet and pulled out my fabrics. My biggest problem has been making the pattern. I'm a terrible judge on size. So, I made a nice pattern that seemed like it would be the perfect size for a newborn. After some work (less that one hour), the diaper was complete! It is tiny and oh so cute. I think it might be too tiny though. It might fit her if she were born right now, two months early. My daughter's baby doll is wearing it and it fits perfectly. So cute, way to small!

Still, it was a good trial run and if I make the next ones bigger, it should work and I should be able to sew it together faster.

new pet

My toddler has moved out and a kitty that looks like the toddler has moved in. He spends much of his time (when he isn't crying) pretending that he is a kitten. He crawls around the house, meowing and he climbs into my lap for a snuggle once in a while. I pet and stroke the kitty and call it "sweet kitty" and such. Sometimes it is not a kitty. Sometimes it is a puppy or a piggy. Mostly, though, it is a kitty that hangs out around me these days.

annoying weathermen

When I was in the 7th grade, for whatever reason, we were talking about the TV weather man in science. We talk about how it always seems he is wrong. We don't remember when they are right, only when they are wrong.

I've noticed something else though, about TV weather people. When it is summer and the temps are in the 90's+, the weatherman always says stuff like, "there is no relief coming up from this heat" or "we will finally see some rain that will bring these temperatures down." Then the anchor people agree, yes it is so hot and too bad there is no relief soon. Then if it is raining, comments are made by these same people, all this rain is soaking the area and it looks like by Friday we will finally see some sun. Then, if it is cold, like it often is in winter time, they will say something like, it was 41 degrees today and the temperature will be dropping more, but it will come back up by Saturday and we'll be happy to have it back in the 40's.

No matter what the temperature is they act as if they are never satisfied. Do they "forget" that in the summer time, it is HOT? Do they forget that in the winter time it is cold and temperatures are usually in the 40's or below? If it has been raining, they talk about how nice it will be for the sun to come out. If it has not rained they talk about how much we need the rain. Just make up your mind! It is hard to explain, but listen to your TV weather person.

I don't care if they are right or wrong anymore. Just be satisfied with the current weather and tell us if there will be changes, but you don't need to tell me if they are for the better or worse. Let me make up my own mind. I just might like the rain that we are having and don't want it to get sunny just yet...

The Sopranos

My home has been invaded by the sopranos. Not the Sopranos mob from the TV show. A different mob of sopranos have found their way into my home - singing Barbies. My sister-in-law gave my four year old daughter a Barbie movie for Christmas. Now, each day we hear Princess Barbie and Pauper Barbie sing duets together in their matching soprano voices.

It's not so bad. I mean, it is not as bad as I thought it would be and my daughter loves to sing along. I love to hear her sing. There is one song that the Barbies sing together that I have a little problem with. There is one note in that song that really grates on my nerves. One harmonizing note that sounds very harsh to my ears. Unfortunately they sing that harmonized note many times during the song and hold the note out for several beats.

Other than that one hideous harmony note, I don't mind to much about having the sopranos invading my house. The brothers don't seem to mind it either. They claim it another pink princess movie to be avoided, but they seem to watch it whenever it is on. It is a cute movie with a fun, if very predicable plot. The bad guys are out to ruin the perfect pink kingdom, but in the end the pink princess and the well dressed pauper in purple save the day and the kingdom.

Sing on sopranos!

Vocabulary

Two year olds have an amazing year. When they have their second birthday, they are still babish in so many ways. Many don't have big vocabularies yet. They are just starting to talk with "real" words. By the time they turn three, they are full talkers, often talking their parents to death. There is much to learn during that year. Many new words to learn how to say and how to use.

My two year old has surprised me with a few. Here are some of the new words that have entered his expanding vocabulary.

Batteries - So many toys these days require batteries. My two year old would bring me a toy and fuss and whine at it that it doesn't work. I tell him it needs new batteries. Now, when a toy doesn't work that should be making noise, he starts repeating "batteries".

Booger - This one really surpised me. He said it for the first time a few days ago. He has had a cold for a few weeks. His nose is constantly running the lovely ooze that comes with a cold. Whenever he needs a wipe down I just say, let's wipe off that icky stuff. I've never used booger in front of him. Somehow he picked it up (no pun intended) and he uses it the correct way. He sticks his finger up his nose and says "booger". I laugh and agree.

Then last night he told me a new part of his body - eyeball. He and I talk about his body and I'll say, where is your knee? and he points to his knee. We plau this game with most of his body and face and I've always just used the word, eye. Last night he is sitting in my lap and he pokes his finger into his eye and says "eyeball". He was right, it was his eyeball that he was smashing with his finger.

Isn't the two year old amazing? He still can't tell me with words that he wants help with something, or he wants to be held. He just usually points and whines. He can, however, now tell me that he has a booger.

giving up a name

With three months to go before I get to bestow a name on a new little person, you can imagine my mind is well on names. Anyone who knows me, know that I think about names more than the average person, ok, MUCH more than the average person, but with the opportunity approaching to name a new person, it is on my mind most of the time.
I love names and I wish I could have a hundred kids so I could use two hundred names.

Several months ago, I read a books series. It was alright. A secondary character that I liked had the lovely name, Esme. Later, my husband and I were looking through a name book and came across Esme again. It is a Scottish name. While there are probably people in America with the lovely name, it has not really become an American name staple. I like this in a name. I like the unusual names that are rarely used. This seemed like the perfect name. It was top of our list for a while.

Then, something happened. I found out these books where I saw the name for the first time are being made into a movie. Well, that's that. I'm not naming a baby after a character in a teen movie. The lovely name, Esme, was promptly removed from our list.

So, I've moved on, looking into new names. Then something really strange happened. I was checking out my daily celebrity news on imdb.com and saw that actress Samantha Morton had a baby this week and named her Esme. I don't know who Samantha Morton is, but she is apparently a famous enough actress for imdb.com to mention her. It is a bad thing (to me) when a celebrity names their baby. If you happen to choose the same thing, people are going to think you are just doing what the stars do. I will NOT go down that path of the dark side.

So, Esme, you are definitely out of the running. I'm sorry, too. You are such a pretty name. Well, the name hunt continues....

The New Look

Well, what do you think? Do you like my new look? It is very purple. Purple is a nice color. It is of my own doing and I'm very happy to have done it. I have other web projects I'm going to work on now, but now that I know this, perhaps I'll be able to do some theme projects in the future and hopefully, I'll get better and things won't look so purple. How about pink? Valentines day, here I come!

It is Friday! Hooray! Tonight's menu is Kalua pork, mmmmm. I've been meaning to make this for the last two days, but I kept forgetting. It takes 5-6 hours in a lower temp oven, so it isn't something you can start around four to have at dinner an hour or two later.

I hope I'll remember to do this....

New blog, new year, same old trouble

Now that Christmas is over, I want to update my blog template. I've decided I want to do this myself. Can I tell you what a heck of a time I'm having with it? I'm brand new to html, photoshop and web design. My attempts have been tacky and silly. In photoshop, I've created a nice "Random Thoughts" title but I just can't make it fit right into my header. In the end, it still may be very tacky still, but it will be of my own creation. It is turning out to be very purple. I'm not good at picking out colors. I never was. Want proof? Come see my house.

So, I hope to have a new look for the new year, but it may take more time. Until then, you will continue to see "Merry Christmas!"

Over the years I've made an amazing observation with toddlers. If you give a 2 year old an oatmeal raisin cookie, they can eat the entire cookie minus the raisins. These they store in the cheeks until the rest of the cookie is swallowed then they spit out the unwanted fruit. My two year old did something like this with a mini-Snickers bar. He stuck the entire candy into his mouth, chewed it, swallowed it and then spit out the nuts into my hand. It is incredible! What amazing things two year olds are!

Happy New Year

Last night we went to some good friends house to celebrate and stayed up way past midnight to bring in the new year. We had a Star Wars partial marathon. We watched Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. We had to stop RotJ about 45 minutes before it was over to watch the ball drop in New York. Then, after the new year kisses and hugs, we went back to Star Wars and finished the movie. All the kids except my 2 year old stayed awake.

At our friends house, there was food galore. They are the best at having appetizers. We hardly ate dinner, just snacked on chips and dip, crackers and cheese ball, veggies, fruit, cheeses, and cookies. Mmmm. A delicious way to end the year.

Now, life will be getting back to normal soon. We got home from our trip on Sunday, spent the day unpacking and recovering from a midnight flight. Yesterday I cleaned like crazy and took Christmas stuff down. Today we will play and relax and then tomorrow, school starts! I guess I will spend part of today working out a lesson plan for the next week or two.

Happy New Year 2008!

Merry Christmas!

I won't be here for about 2 weeks, so I want to say to you Merry Christmas!

Our family leaves tomorrow for Arizona. The kids are very excited. My daughter was so excited about packing her suitcase, she emptied out her dresser drawers. Then, to be helpful, she emptied her younger brother's dressers too. Then she packed it all into their suitcase that they share. She was so sweet to be so helpful. I took everything out and she helped me fold and put into the suitcase what she would be needing. She is insisting we bring just about every stuffed animal and baby doll she owns.

This morning I gave my two younger sons a haircut. They were starting to look like Luke Skywalker. Now they have nicely trimmed hair and everyone got showers. I'll do my older son when he gets home from school. My to do list is so long, there is laundry and packing and I need to get to the library to return some books, and cleaning the house.

I've been learning, recently, about web pages. I'm learning some HTML and enjoying that. My hubby, who loves to do cool projects in Photoshop taught me a few basics and I'm creating things. It has been fun and my attempts aren't very good right now. I'm hoping to fix up my blog and make it fun and when I'm better at that, I want to create some web pages. Anyway, I'm having fun learning a bit of something new. When Christmas is over, I'll fix up my blog.

Well, I've goofed around enough. Merry Christmas everyone, and a very happy new year!

Typical Monday

Things have been quiet around here. A little too quiet. This week's schedule is crazy and this Monday morning we received an omen foretelling us of the week to come.

I got up this morning and went to start breakfast. I checked the dishwasher and found that I had forgotten to start it - again. I've done this a lot lately. I load the dishwasher, put soap in it and forget to turn it on. So, annoyed with myself, I start the dishwasher and start cooking oatmeal. At 7:13, the phone rings. I knew who it was before I answered it. None of our friends get up this early and most of our family are in later time zones so they wouldn't be calling us either. It was my husband's carpool companion asking "Is he coming today?" The answer was no. They had made arrangments, but she forgot. My daughter comes down a few moments later. She had wet her bed and was soaking. So, while the older kids are starting to eat the oatmeal, I take the princess back upstairs and start the bath. She bathes. I go into my bedroom to talk to my hubby while he gets dressed.

After a nice morning conversation in which he told me all about the lack of sleep he got because of the princess going in and out of his room all night, we went down stairs together. The kitchen stank. There is smoke coming out of the dishwasher. I open the dishwasher expecting a fire, but thankfully, there isn't any. It seems the smoke was in the front electrical compartment on the door. OK. The dishwasher is history.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my friend Kristi, who gave me her dishwasher when she remodled her kitchen. We will be installing that dishwasher very soon. Thank you!

Now the downstairs skinks of electrical fire smoke. It is 30 degrees outside, so I can't open windows and doors to air out the kitchen. I lit some incense. I don't like that stuff much, it gives me a headache, but I was hoping it could mask the electric smell. Hubby leaves and I take a couple of things out to the mailbox. When I came back in, the smell nearly knocked me over. The house smells like electric fire with a hint of cinnamon. Ewww.

The week is packed. I have a to do list a mile long, a mountain of laundry awaits me and there are no free evenings this week to get extra things done. I do get the van tomorrow so I can run errands. We leave Friday for our trip to Arizona to see family. I'm dreading the airport!!!! With all the storms going on and all the canceled and delayed flights, I am going to be getting plenty of snacks to take along.

So, do you think the dishwasher fire is a bad omen or is it just one of those things that happen? I'm hoping it is just one of those things..... time will tell.

Boys will be boys

I looked out my kitchen window, just now and saw my two older sons jumping on the trampoline. They are laughing and jumping and flicking underware at each other. They each have a pair of their undies and they are shooting it like a rubber band at each other. Obviously, it is tremendouly funny to them.

What is it about boys? What is it about an underware fight is so hilarious? We live on a busy street. Anyone who walks by or drives by can see this going on. I'm horrified and amused at the same time. Do I let them have their underward fight, or do I stop it?

Ugg, boys!

Run Away Mom

Can I run away today? My youngest didn't get much sleep last night. That is his own fault, but he makes the rest of us suffer when he doesn't get enough sleep. He and his sister can't get along. He wants whatever toy she has. When she doesn't give it to him or she takes it back, he screams a horrible scream. It honestly makes my nerves jump when he lets out a scream like that. Most people would think he had just broken his arm because of the way he screams. No, he is just mad. What do I do to stop him from screaming like a banshee when he doesn't get his way? I've tried popping him in the mouth and telling him don't scream, but he does it again and again and again. He refuses to nap too and I can't hold him. He is too strong for me to stuggle with and my big baby belly just doesn't give me the lap room to hold him in.

So, I was working with my homeschooler and asking him a question. He didn't know an answer and spent more time hitting his head with his hand in a supposed deep thought than he actually spent time thinking. While he is doing this, he sits on his desk, knocking it over. As bad as it is to do that, he had a cup of milk on his desk. I didn't know that was there. The milk went everywhere all over his books, his calculator, and the floor.

Today is a rare day for me that I get the van. But the 2 year old is in a horrible mood and just throwing constant tantrums and crying spells because he is so tired. I wanted to get some copies of pictures at Sam's Club so I could give them to Grandmothers as gifts, but last night hubby told me we went over in our checking account. No money, again. He tells me I should use the credit card, like he does, but I can't stand the debt and I am not going to add to it. What errands can I run with a tired toddler and no money?

I guess it isn't all that bad. I'm in a bad mood today, I guess. I need to get moving. My hubby has had a headache for two weeks and has been in a terrible mood about it. Of course, he won't do anything about it but take pain relief meds and complain. I guess his mood is rubbing off on me. All I know is, if when we get old and he has a lot of medical problems, I'm going to have to get him a private nurse and I'm going to get my own apartment.

Monday clean up

I really haven't thought of much to write about lately. There are a hundred things going on and I stay so busy, but at the same time, nothing really to write.

A few things going on around here:

My 2 year old son is potty-training. He is very young, just turned 2 last month. He is doing alright. We aren't making this a serious effort and if he has accidents, oh well. He is aware of his body and even when he has on a diaper, he will let me know if he needs to go pee. It's messy and the bathroom stinks. I'll be cleaning the floors really good again later today.

Our Christmas plans are on hold at the moment. We were going to my husband's family for Christmas. I was having some anxiety about the trip - 4 kids in the airport for hours, 4 kids on a plane for many more hours, the in-laws pets, and finding a place to sleep everyone once we are there. Still, we were all very excited about seeing the grandparents and all the aunts, uncles and cousins there. Now we found out last night that a one way plane ticket was bought by accident by my mother-in-law. We can get there, but we couldn't get home. A large amount of money was spent and if you have ever looked at one way plane tickets, they are more expensive than just a regular round trip. For the 6 of us to get back home, it would cost a lot more money. So, we are thinking of the possiblities, cancel the trip and go next month for half as much money, go anyway and just spend the money to get home, drive? The drive would be nice but it would be a three and a half day journey each way. Basically, we would get there Christmas Eve and leave around the 28 or 29 to get home intime for school to start and without hubby taking off anymore leave. So, we are waiting to hear from hubby's parents. They are the one to make the decision. There isn't much time to think. Christmas is coming soon.

Anything else? Nope, homeschool, potty training and Christmas travel are taking up much of my thoughts. My mind is busy with those things, but my body is busy with laundry, weekend recovery clean up, and tortilla making.

The Silly Postman

The oddest thing happened today. I was at my computer typing an email to a friend, when there is a knock at the door. It is the postman and he has a registered package for me to sign. He was quite funny about it and told me I am the proud recipient of a registered package and would I please sign. Sure, I signed, took the package and the rest of the mail from his hands and he bowed as he backed up saying thank you in every language he could think of. It was funny and it made me laugh.

I bring in the mail and start going through it, not paying attention to anything else going on the house for a few moments. The package was for my hubby who does all his Christmas shopping online. A few moments later, my seven year old son closes the front door and tells me the mailman didn't pick up the Netflix.

What?

I go out to the mailbox and sitting in it, with the flag still up, are 20 Christmas letters, one birthday card to my grandmother, one card to my cousin and 2 Netflix movies!

The silly postman forgot to pick up our mail, but he was very kind in bringing the mail and the registered package to my door. As soon as hubby gets home from work, I'm going to have to drive those letters to the post office. Most of the letters can wait one more day, but not the birthday card to grandmother. Oh well. I need to get out of the house.

Poetic thoughts at 4:30 a.m.

I have a story to tell - the story of how I, ML, got to sleep on the couch.
This is a true story. Only the names have been changed to protect the not so innocent.

Two years ago, in October 2005, I was eight months pregnant with my youngest son and I had a terrible cough. I would lay in bed at nights so uncomfortable with a sore back and I would cough and cough. I kept my hubby awake and he was quite annoyed with me. So, frustrated, one night I went downstairs to the couch. With a few pillows, I propped myself up on the arm of the couch and fell asleep. My back no longer hurt and I coughed less because I was almost sitting up.

Into November, my cough went away, but still I slept on the couch. It was so comfy and my back didn't hurt. I was sleeping very well for being nine months along. Then, came the baby. Once we made it home from the hospital, I went back to the bed. But the baby would wake up at night and want to be nursed. I would go down stairs to the rocking chair. If I was able to get him back to sleep, I would go back upstairs. The thing about our stairs, though, they are very squeaky. And my bedroom floor, which is right over the living room, is very squeaky too. Well, after the first few nights of going up and down the squeaky stairs multiple times, I decided this wasn't working out. Baby didn't think so either, because he spent more of the nights awake and fussing than he spent sleeping and I spent more nights walking the downstairs with him than I did sleeping.

It just became easier to sleep on the couch again. Baby would wake up and want to eat. I was there next to my rocking chair. When I walked him, I wasn't bothering anyone else who was asleep. When he finally managed to sleep, I would plop down on the couch and get some rest.

Baby got older and became Mr. Fussy. He cried all day, he cried all night. When he did manage to sleep, he slept on my chest while I slept on the couch. It was the only rest for either of us. He got older and older and my attempts to get baby to sleep on his own were futile. He would not sleep unless I was holding him. Fast forward to now. He is now two and he keeps me up most of the nights still. Just before his second birthday, we got him a bed. It is a comfy bed and we lay him in it at night. He sleeps there until 12:45 and then his internal alarm clock goes off and he comes downstairs. See, I still sleep there. After sleeping there for two years, I can't go back to a bed. The moment I lay down in a bed, my nose plugs up and I can't breath and I usually get heartburn. So, I stay on the soft, comfy couch.

My son wakes up at 12:45 and comes down to find me. He lays on the couch in between my legs. He isn't comfortable. He squirms and kicks and squirms some more. He might finally find a sleeping position, but it is terribly uncomfortable to me. He doesn't sleep long before he wakes up and squirms some more. Anyway, this goes on and on all night long. I end up sleeping in the rocking chair most of the night, which isn't too nice and it makes my rear-end ache. By 3 something, I've had it with my son. I can't sleep. He is in my spot and won't leave. I end up on the computer, reading this and that. I read blogs, I read Wikipedia, I read about sewing, cooking, movie stars, I rate movies I've seen on IMDB. I stay up for an hour or more. Finally around 4:15, I decide I had better try and sleep some more. I go sit in the rocking chair (the couch is occupied) and I can't go back to sleep. My mind is racing. It is thinking poetic thoughts that I wish to blog the next morning. It is thinking about what Ms. Movie Star has done recently. It is thinking about anything. I can't get back to sleep. Finally with less than an hour before my alarm goes off, I fall asleep and moments later, it seems, my alarm goes off and I'm up for the day.

I've got to change two things. I've got to get my son off the couch! It is way too crowded with 2 1/2 people on it. Last night I was getting kicked by my son on the outside and my daughter on the inside at the same time. Who can sleep like that? So, my son needs to go back to bed.

The other thing I need to change is what I do when I get on the computer at night. No more reading! I should find some mindless game to play. I love the Sims 2. Problem with that is, it takes 20 mintues to load the game.

Then, I'm tired in the daytime and I fall asleep when I'm trying to do homeschool lessons with my son. He doesn't mind. It is free time for him, but I mind!

I think I need to get a hotel room each night just for me.

The Rich Vocabulary of the Three Year Old

My vocabulary has been greatly increased since having children. They have provided me with words and phrases that were previously not a part of my repertoire or anyone else’s that I’m aware of. Let’s explore some of this enriching vocabulary.

Pooky – Spooky. A word discovered and made popular by my oldest son when he was quite small. He had a Halloween CD with a song that would chant” “It’s spooky, It’s spooky” Being the small child he was he would chant with gusto, “It’s pooky, it’s pooky!” Now, each year when Halloween rolls around, I often find myself doing this little chant, but I don’t say spooky, I say pooky!

Shoody – Pronounced ‘shoe dee’ – This word is not one of my own children’s. It is my niece who founded this word when she was a small two year old. It means scary. When she saw something scary, she would yell, “Shoody!”

Pooker – Another word of my niece. It means fart. Personally, I like pooker better. Can’t you just see a three year old saying “I had a pooker.” It cracks me up when I think of it.

Opomeal – ‘Oh poe meal’ This is my daughter’s creation. It means oatmeal. It is usually combined with another word to create the favorite breakfast dish, opomeal scotch. When she requests opomeal scotch, I make butterscotch oatmeal for her.

Kol Lo Made – This was one of my son’s who liked to have this for a drink. It is Kool-Aid, the nice refreshing drink of powder, sugar and water. To this day, my husband will ask me if we have any kol lo made to drink.

Pooloo – Let’s go swimming in the pooloo! Be sure to pucker your lips with each “oo” When you say this word, you should look like you are ready to kiss someone – Pooo looo. My second son came up with this super word when he was two or three. Again, only my husband and I still use it in our summer vocabulary.

Gravy Rocket – Born on a mountain top in Tennessee, greatest state in the land of the free, lived in the woods so he knew every tree, killed him a bar when he was only three, Gravy, Gravy Rocket, king of the wild frontier. When my young sons heard this song, they misunderstood the great pioneer legend’s name. Davy Crocket became Gravy Rocket.

Noey – This is no with an ee sound on the end. Come on 2 year old, it’s time for bed. NOEY!

Splashy – This same word is used for all water related areas – a pool, a bath tub, a fountain, a river, the ocean. It is also a verb, as in “Let’s go splashy to get clean.” My older children take showers. My toddler on the other hand takes a splashy.

To boot

It has been a while since I had a random thought. It seems I'm too busy to have many random thoughts anymore, or at least time to entertain those thoughts and write about them.

So, onto today's random thought: to boot. Have you seen or hear this lately? "That purse is cute to boot." What in the world does this mean? Where did the phrase "to boot" come from? Why has it caught on so quickly? It makes absolutely no sense when you think about what you are saying.

Perhaps this is an old phrase, but it seems only this year I've heard it or seen it and it usually is in reference to how cute or great something is. The American Linguistic Society has a conference each year where they pick a word of the year. I want to offer the phrase "to boot" to the ALS. I know it isn't a word, but can some exception be made?

Curious me, I Googled "to boot". (Funny how the word google has become a common verb in our vocabulary) This is what Google says about this strange phrase:

To boot
Meaning:
Moreover; in addition to.

Origin:
This term has nothing to do with footwear. The 'boot' is thought to be a derivative of the earlier 'bat' meaning 'good or useful'. This is also the root of the word 'better'.

Forms of 'to boot' in Old English date from around 1000AD. Robert Manning of Brunne included a version of it in Langtoft's Chronicle, 1330:

"A hundreth knyghtes mo... and four hundreth to bote, squieres of gode aray."

OK, it means moreover; in addition to. So, "That purse is cute to boot" becomes "That purse is cute moreover." Well, in my mind, neither sound good, but it makes sense now. I think it is a phrase that will quickly become abused because I don't think the general population knows really what it means or how to use it. Well, this is one phrase I will avoid to boot.

All Dressed Up in my Christmas Best

Are things looking festive here or what? Do you like the new design of my blog?
I LOVE it!

A huge thanks to Dawn from Barefoot Blogs for making this for me.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope your day is filled with fun, family and tasty food.

Our day is off to a good start. The boys were up long before I was, I could hear them, but they didn't come downstairs and wake me for a change. I am thankful. We've had pancakes with chocolate chips and walnuts. Mmmmm. Now, my dear hubby is preparing the turkey and I'm thankful for that. I really don't like touching that cold, wet bird.

Well, to all of you, happy Thanksgiving and a happy start to the holidays! See you soon.

carpet woes

Why is it when you are tying your hardest at something, it all seems to go wrong?

Maybe that is exaggerating a bit. This morning, in getting ready for my daughter's birthday party, (2 kids) I decided to clean the carpet with my neat-o carpet cleaner. I carefully went over the carpet, putting on the soap and water and then letting the machine suck up all that dirt, sand, hot chocolate, and muddy water that is deep in my pink carpet. When I was done, the living room looked good. The carpet is a brighter color (not always a good thing when your carpet is pink) and the carpet seemed to be fluffier and not matted down by dirt.

I yell, everyone stay out of the living room until the carpet is dry. Toddler isn't listening when I announce this. I walk into the living room later to see pumpkin bread ALL OVER the freshly washed carpet. AHHHHH! Who gave him pumpkin bread? Oh, yeah, I did. The carpet was mostly dry and I quickly ran the regular vacuum over the pumpkin bread.

You try hard and get the living room clean before guest arrive and that is the day the kids want to wander from the kitchen with food. Oh well. The guests coming over is a mom with a 3 and 5 year old. She understands messy floors. She has seen my house in every condition from very clean to don't open your eyes while in my house. She has seen it all and she is still my friend. I guess a little pumpkin bread won't bother her, but it sure bothers me.

P.S. Who's bright idea was it to spell "vacuum" with two u's?

We're getting old

Today is my little Princess's 4th birthday. It is so hard to believe. She is so tall, so verbal, so silly, so pretty, so smart, so great. Today, hubby asked her, what do you think you will get for your birthday? A rock? A stick? A clod of dirt? Princess laughed, No, I'm not going to get a rock or a stick or a clod of dirt. It is funny to hear a four year old use the word 'clod'.

Five days ago my toddler turned two. He is no longer a baby, he is officially a toddler. He can throw professional two year old tantrums. I actually like 2 year olds. They are really fun. They are still babyish in many ways, but they can play, talk some, and laugh at funny things. They are independent, but still need momma to comfort and kiss them.

What do I do with these kids who are growing up so much? My nine year old amazes me. My seven year old has to remind me he isn't so little anymore. My four year old holds great conversations with me and my two year old wants to walk down the stairs alone.

My friends with teenagers scare me. Can I just freeze time? Can't I just keep them at nine, seven, four and two? I don't want to deal with nineteen, seventeen, fourteen and twelve. Well, I have a few more years before we get to that point. Time is flying by and I had better enjoy it while I can. Well, my toddler is asking for num nums and holding the cereal bag. I had better go help him before he dumps the num nums to the floor and helps himself. Got to go enjoy that two year old while he is still two.

Word to the wise

OK, I keep a box for my free samples I get in the mail. It is my emergency box. It has lotion, shampoo, laundry detergent, toothpaste, soap, and other similar items. I was searching through the box the other day and I found that I had a small box of cereal that I had gotten. The box smelled like flowers, but I didn't think anything of it. Well, today, for a snack, I decided I would taste my free sample. It taste like fabric softener. It is also a bit stale (who knows how many months ago I got that), but I can't tell if I like the cereal or not because the smell of mountain air and the taste of wildflowers fill my senses.

Never store food in a container with fabric softener!

Tuesday, already?

This week is busy and my mind is in a million places, except where it should be. I must confess something - I forgot my parent/teacher conference with my son's 4th grade teacher today. I was painting my stairway and just forgot. I remembered this morning when I got up, but then I got to painting, forgot the conference and now I'm feeling quite down. Dumb me. So, here I sit, still in my painting clothes with all the painting stuff that needs to be put away sitting about in various places. The one good thing is, the stairway is DONE! (All except for one part that I can't reach and I don't feel like standing on a stool at the very edge of the top of the stairs. I'll ask hubby to get that for me)

My mom is coming to visit on Saturday! I'm so excited. We only see each other about twice a year. Unfortunatly, the visit is going to be extreemly short. She will leave Monday afternoon. I wish she could stay longer. (sigh)

We had a wonderful day yesterday. We were all home together on a Monday and no one was sick. Usually the only reason someone is home from work or school is because of illness, but not yesterday. We had a great morning, a trip to the Botanical Gardens, and a cookout in the backyard's firepit. The boys camped out in the backyard last night. It was COLD, but they had fun. I've been trying to get them to nap today, but when I sent them upstairs to nap, they turned on their crazy music and danced. Then they ask me if they can come down yet. No, not until you nap. They turned off the music, but I could still hear a lot of movement going on. Well, the toddler napped while the others were upstairs and for my sanity, his napping is more important than the others.

Well, I guess I'll go clean up the painting supplies, shower, put on fresh clothes, and write a note to my son's teacher, appologizing for my lack of showing up today, then I'll clean up and start dinner. I wrote up lesson plans for this week and half of next week's. I really need to get a head on those so I'm not in a panic on Sunday evenings. Later, later, now, it is time to clean.

I'm so excited, and I just can't hide it!

I entered a fall give-a-way contest and won a pre-made Christmas blog design! Around Thanksgiving time, things around here will change and for the better!

Dawn at Barefoot Blog Designs is going to give my blog a Christmas look and I can't wait to see it. I've seen some really neat blogs and they have the coolest designs. I don't know anything about web designs and so I use the pink pre-made blogger template. This is really a fun treat for me. Thank you, Dawn, for being willing to sharing your talent and making my little bit of blogging space a Christmas wonderland later this month!

The contest was started by a fun blog called Rocks in My Dryer . Over 600 people participated in holding give-a-way contests at their blogs. You could enter as many contests as you wanted. I, obviously, didn't hold a give-a-way myself, but the next time I find something like this, I'll hold a contest too. I don't know what I would give yet, but I'll be thinking about it now.

Finding yourself - Not just a teenage problem

There is a young lady that I see at church every week, almost. She is a pretty girl, but sometimes that prettiness is masked by the bizarre hairdos and clothes she wears. I'm sure you've seen the type.

One week she comes with the bottom half of her hair dyed black and straight while the top half is bleach blond and curly. The next week her hair will be all bleached blond and curly. The next week her hair will be something else. (At least part of it is always bleach blond.) Her clothes range from t-shirts and denim skirts, to empire waist mini-dresses, to a brown skirt and blue sweatshirt. It is a secret bit of entertainment for me to see what this young lady will look like from week to week.

I asked a friend of mine, who is closer to the young lady's family than I am, what is up with the changes each week. My friend said the young lady is "searching for herself" in a big way. She tries every hair style and clothing style during these searches. It is a stage most teenages go through.

I laughed to myself. I don't remember really searching for myself as a teen. I was confident in myself. I had a style that was comfortable and neat. It wasn't trendy in anyway, but I was always clean and neat. I knew that I would attend college and I knew what college. In the 9th grade I decided what it was I wanted to study in college and I stuck with it. I went to the college of my choice and I never changed majors once I got to college. I knew what kind of job I wanted and where I wanted to work. I knew what I wanted and where I was going.

Part of those life plans included marriage and children. Now, I have two college degrees, a good husband and four amazing children. Yet now, I feel myself is lost. I find my confidence in who I am is gone. My brain is mushy, I'm anti-social, I'm no longer an intelligent person and I prefer to stay hidden in my home rather than go out and have adventures.

I'm doing the opposite of the teenage thing. Now, I feel the need to find myself, search for myself and find out who I am. The thing is, as a teen, you have the energy to search for yourself, but now, as a 30-Something year old mom, I don't have the energy to do anymore than I'm required to each day. It is a shame to waste youth on youth.

This is all meant in fun, but it is also truth. It's too bad no one has told the young lady it isn't the clothes or the hair styles that make you who you are. Instead of dying her hair various colors from week to week, she should be spending that time she undoubtable spends in front of the mirror, working in areas of interest. Volunteer in places you might want to work someday, take a class in web design or flower arranging. That would help her find herself in a much better way than black hair or empire dresses.

Good luck to us all who are searching for ourselves, no matter how old we are.

Thoughts running wild

OK, hey there! I started wring a blog about a serious topic, but I couldn't get my thoughts expressed in a proper order. If I did, it would take pages to describe what I was thinking. Also, I like to keep my blog on a more positive side. There are so many negative things out there, I didn't want to add to it. Perhaps one day I'll write out my feelings on the serious issue, but for now, I'm letting it go and ready to write about the funny things that go on in life.

I have three sons and one daughter. The boys are boys and they are noisy, messy, gross, and funny. My daughter is girly, pink, sweet and something of a rebel. My toddler son and I were playing with cars the other day. The cars in each of our hands would run head first into each other and crash spectauarly. He would laugh so hard and we would do it again. Later he brings me a couple of his sister's Polly Pocket dolls. (They are the perfect size to fit into a little fist) He gives me one doll and takes the other. He brings his Polly up to mine and says "hi". I say hi back and his Polly attacks mine. He jumps on her head and knocks her over. He laughs and laughs.

On the other hand, when my daughter brings me her Polly's to play with, we first much change all the girl's clothes. After new dresses are on all the girl's, we meet. "Hi, I'm Polly," I say.
"Hi, I'm Cinderella."
Then I ask, "So, Cinderella, what are we going to do today?"
"We are going to have a party"
"Yeah, a party!" I say making Polly jump in the air, "What kind of party?"
"A Valentine's Day party," (forget Thanksgiving and Christmas, let's get right into Valentine's Day)"You need to get the presents"
You know, it isn't a party without presents. "OK, where are the presents?"
"Back there," Cinderella tells me, pointing to some random place in space behind me. I make Polly go to the general area of random space. "No, not there," Cinderella is sounding annoyed, "Over there!" Another random place of space.
"Maybe you had better get the presents, Cinderella. I'll go make a cake."

Well, to make a long story short (too late) Polly can't make the cake correctly either. She doesn't seem to know where the random space kitchen is. This goes on and on. Polly and Cinderella are joined by Ariel, Belle, a kitty and a pet dinosaur. Now, toddler sees the fun, grabs the dinosaur and basically destroys the party in a Godzilla-like fashion.

I love my one sweet daughter. I'm so happy to have that bit of pink and princess in my life, but right now, it is more fun to play with my toddler. I love his laugh when the cars crash or when dolls attack each other and jump on each other's head. I think my three sons have corrupted me.

Ski Battles

My kids found the funniest web site. They love playing funny games and this one is one that even I got into. It is called Ski Battles. Basically, you build a ski slope, push play and watch a little man on skis slide down (or fall down) the slope you made. My kids love to put bumps and strange obstacles in the way of the skiier and watch him fall. It is funny and really quite challenging to make a good slope. It is on a site called addicting games and with ski battle, it is addicting!

http://www.addictinggames.com/skibattle.html

Give it a try.

Air Noise

We live very near a Navy Air Base. F-18’s fly over our house constantly. They fly day and night! The latest at night that I’ve hear a jet fly over was after 2 a.m. I understand they need to practice night flights, but really, can’t they limit the night flights or just stop after 11 p.m.?

I actually don’t mind the noise. I like seeing the F-18’s flying around. I realize they have a very important job.

Virginia is a lovely state for fall and spring. Those seasons last a long time here and they are my favorites. Winter in our area of Virginia are mild and we have seen very little snow, although we get some biting cold winds and summers are hot and humid. But fall, ooo, fall, it is perfect here. The temperature hovers in the mid 70’s and it is pleasant to be outside. I love to take walks and feel the cool air. I don’t turn on the air conditioning, just open up lots of windows and it keeps the inside of the house a perfect temperature. Right outside the front living room window is a little water fall that we installed in April. I love hearing the sounds of water falling from one little pool to the large pool. It is calm and peaceful.

Then, the F-18’s rev up and start flying over. It certainly gives the ambient sounds a new tune. Sometimes they fly directly over the house, pointing their engines right at us. The windows rattle, glasses in the cupboards rattle and I’ve even heard a door shake on it’s hinges. All conversation must be stopped, and if we happen to be watching a movie, we have to rewind a bit to hear what we missed when the jet flew over. F-18’s never travel alone. They work in groups of twos or fours. One passes by and the noise just starts to subside then the next one flies by, then the next one and the next one. Yesterday I was sure they were going to land in our yard. They were low and loud. My toddler, who loves to play outside doesn’t know how to cover his ears yet. He lays his head on the ground, waiting for the jets to pass.

Often I must close the windows while they are flying around. Later I’ll notice they have stopped. I go open all the windows again and guess what happens…. Yes, the F-18’s rev up again.

We are bound to live near air bases. My husband’s work is of the nature where he works with military. (Luckily he is no longer military, but that is another story.) Truly, I don’t mind. I like the jets. I just hope one day we will live near an Air Force Base rather than a Navy Air Base. Air Force has usually got quieter engines. Or, better yet, we can live near some of the stealth fighters. They are awesome to see and well, stealthy quiet.

Blog to blog

Sorry for the multiple postings. I can't get here everyday like I would like to and then thoughts build and finally I do a blogging explosion.

So, what's on the ol' mind?

Blogging. I love reading others blogs. I have a few I visit frequently and somtimes I'll follow links they have for blogs they enjoy. You can go on and on and on doing this. Some, ok, many blogs have weekly things, like Menu Monday, Kitchen Tip Tuesday, Frugal Friday, and I've seen stuff for Wednesday and Thrusday, but I don't remember any right now. These are fun and I enjoy reading kitchen tips and frugal ideas. However, some blogs are nothing but these things. It seems that blogs are used for many reasons.

Some blogs, like the ones that follow the weekly things and nothing else seem like a public To Do list.

- Some are there as family journals
- Some are a nice combination of journal/weekly To Do
- Some are there for the blogger to make money, they get commission off things they review and sell or they are promoting their own wares.
- Some are for creative muses and thoughts
- Some are to make bold statements on certian issues
- the list can go on and on

Nothing is wrong with any of these. I have no point to this, it was just an observation. I hope that my own little blog is a creative combination of personal observation and amusing family life. The blogs I visit most are SAHMs, like me, who want to share a little of their life, their kids lives, and recipies. It is nice for me, who is home all day with her children, with no car available for me to get out of the house, and who just wants to reach out and feel a part of a social group where we all understand each other.

The absolute best part of this social organization is that to visit "friends" I don't have to clean my house or change out of my pink Winnie the Pooh pajamas!

Breakfast?

Breakfast this morning was strange. It was a every kid for himself kind of thing. I didn't plan it that way, but everyone craved something different for breakfast. Hubby and Little Princess had toast, pumpkin bread and mandarine oranges. Oldest son appeared soon after and had pumpkin bread and a banana. Middle son had 2 slices of pumpkin bread. Toddler had a banana, 2 slices of lunch meat (I was fixing Oldest Son's lunch) and a slice of toast. Me, well, mine was the oddest. I had one slice of toast with grape jelly, 2 olives, and 2 slices of dried beef with cream cheese. The olives and dried beef were a part of the lunches I was fixing for hubby and Oldest Son.

Oh well. Everyone has full, happy tummies.

Tomorrow - oatmeal!

Kanga

I don't often do these personality quizzes, but this one was cute. Who doesn't love the Hundred Acre Woods?


Take the 100 Acre Personality Quiz!

Apparently, I'm Kanga, and yep, it fits me pretty well. I'm a mom, through and through. I'm pretty easy going with most kids, but I don't care who's kid you are, you disobey me when I've asked you not to do something, you get a time out. ;)

Giant Pink Fish

Remember the adventures of Jenny Jenna? Well, Jenny Jenna, it seems, is on vacation right now. We haven't heard much about her lately. Now we have a giant pink fish who talks to us. The fish is a stuffed toy that was given to my Little Princess by someone at church who was cleaning out their closets and getting rid of the kiddy stuff from their teenagers rooms.

This fish, would you believe, loves to party. Anytime the big fish talks to us, she is telling us about a party that she is going to have. It seems to plan parties everyday. I'm not sure if pink fish actually has the parties, but she loves to plan them.

It sounds a bit like me, actually. I'm a planner. I love to plan. I have a hard time executing those ideas though.

Back to the giant pink fish, it has gone everywhere with us since last Wednesday when it joined the family. Sometimes the toddler wants the pink fish. Sometimes Little Princess doesn't want to give up her fishy friend. As a result, pink fish has had to have several time outs. Mostly, however, it plans parties with Little Princess. I have been proxy to many invitees: Cinderella, Ariel and Polly. The plans always include cake, dancing, decorations (often in the form of a Christmas tree) and presents. Confused? Yeah, it is hard to keep up with the big pink fish and Little Princess's party plans. Little Princess will be thrilled in a few weeks when we actually begin the planning of her real birthday party. Can you imagine what she might come up with? Perhaps the pink fish will give us some good ideas.

Silly the Clown

We are in homeschool week 5. We are still having fun, but the realization of doing this every day for the rest of the school year is really beginning to dawn on me. I started knowing that I would do it everyday, but today I was thinking how nice it would be to take a break and play or walk or do something else and knowing that all my wants would have to wait until school was done. It's OK, I'm still really enjoying it. (things would be easier if my two younger kids were a bit better)

So, today, I was following a neat set of lessons I found. It said, have the student make his own clown. Then describe the clown and make up a story about the clown. Encourage creativity. Alright! This is something I love to do. Well, Son built the clown. I asked him constructive questions about the clown.

Does your clown have a name? Silly.

OK, does Silly have a hat? No.

Does Silly have hands and feet? Yes.

Tell me something that Silly likes to do. Ummmm.... I don't know.

What makes Silly happy? Ummm...I don't know.

OK, (I start to panic a bit) how would Silly rake leaves? Ummm... with a metal thing on the

bottom and the wood poking up.

Yes, that is how you rake, but would Silly do it in a funny way or would he rake like Dad rakes? Yeah.

I go around in circles with various questions trying to get a creative or articulate answer out of him. Finally I say, Pretend you are Silly, now show me how you would rake the leaves. Son does a little dance. YES!

What are you doing? Raking leaves

Right, but how are you doing it? What makes the way you rake leaves different? I'm doing a dance.

YES! You are doing a dance. Now, tell me a story about Silly doing a dance when he rakes leaves. Ummmm.....

Inside I'm thinking ARGHHHH!

I wish my mom were here. She would know the way to get him to think and talk. I talked to hubby about this today. He told me to forget the clown and next time have him tell a story about his Guild Wars character (a computer game that Son loves to play). That makes sense. I'll try that next time.

Don't send in the clowns.

11 years

We have had an exciting morning. It is my husband and mine anniversary - 11 years!! It is hard to believe. In some ways, it doesn't seem like it could be that long, and it other ways, it has felt like 50 years. Anyway, it has been 11 years ago today we were married in the Jordan River Temple in West Jordan, UT.

Well, my oldest son headed out to the school bus like normal, but a few minutes later, I heard loud dog barking and my son burst through the door. He was breathing hard and had only one shoe on. Three large dogs were on our porch barking. They ran off back into the front yard and down the road a bit. My hubby got on his shoes and grabbed a bat. The kids and I watched from the doorway. They came after my husband and he gave one of the dogs a good whack in it's side. They barked a lot more, but they didn't come back down our side of the street. The kids were able to get on the bus when it came around. My husband was in the yard ready to strike again had the dogs come back. A lady and I called 911 and two police were sent out. Come to find out, the three dogs belongs to a neighbor down the street a bit. They released the dogs back to the owner. I hope they got a good fine to help them remember to keep them locked up better.

It turned out fine and we didn't press anything because no one was hurt, but had they gotten to my son, well, it is awful to think about and I'm just glad he was fast enough to make it back to the house - shaken, but safe.

Now, we are having school. We are playing with cuisenaire rods this morning. My toddler has exactly the same thing as the other two have, but he is still fussing about it and trying to take things away from the others.

Oh, and to top it all off, our fridge doesn't seem to be cooling at all. When I took out sandwich stuff today, the cheese was soft and gooey and the butter was soft and there was just no blast of cool air when the door was opened. Hopefully it can be fixed, but if not, we only have a short time before we have to replace it. Now you know why our family motto is "It never rains, but it pours."