Stay Away From Nazis

We supplement our school material by going to the library once a month and choosing age-appropriate biographies for the children to read on their own. They get to choose who they learn about and they swap them amongst each other so instead of learning about one person, they usually learn about at least three.  This month the biographies were on Ponce de Leon, Paul Revere, Anne Frank and some NASCAR driver (Samuel...).  Honor and Connor write book reports on their books.  I have provided an outline and they basically fill in the blanks. Anne Frank was an interesting one this time around (it was a biography on Anne Frank, not her diary).  Here is a snippet:

I chose to read this book because I heard she had a sad story and I like sad stories. This book was like I thought it would be because Anne Frank's sister wasn't in the beginning. It was different than I thought it would be because in the end Otto did not die.

...

The main character and I learned nothing.

Mommy: "You should have learned something from reading this."

 Honor: "All I learned was to stay away from Nazis."

Mommy: "Well, I know Anne learned something."

Honor: "No she didn't learn anything--she died."

Literally

Sunday mornings usually consist of me scrambling around trying to get everyone else to focus and get to church on time. I get as much done the night before as I possibly can, but I still have my normal chores of feeding the animals, checking the greenhouse, and feeding my children.  Surprise, surprise, we're pretty much always late for Sunday School.  But today we were asked specifically to be on time as the children need to practice for their Christmas play next week so it was more important than usual to rush the children through their morning routine.

Mommy: "I'm going outside to do chores right now. Connor, it is very important for you to be done with your shower by the time I come back. Do you understand?"

Connor: "Yes, Mom."

20 minutes later.

Mommy: "Connor!  Why haven't you taken a shower yet?"

Connor: "I'm sorry, Mom. I was busy messing around with Ariana and lost track of time."

Mommy: "Well get in there!  You have five minutes before Daddy starts his shower."

5 minutes later.

Connor: "ACH! The water is cold!"

Mommy: "I TOLD you Daddy was going to start his shower.  Hurry up and get out."

5 minutes later, the water is still running.

Mommy: "Connor! Hurry up and get out!"

Connor: "I haven't washed my body yet!"

Mommy: "What do you mean you haven't washed off yet?"


Opening the door to check on him...

Mommy: "Connor! Why are you standing outside the shower with the water still running???"

Connor: "The water is cold and you told me to get out."


Grrr...........

Guinea Pigs and Temper Tantrums

There are two things you need to know for this story. 

1.  Ariana struggles multiple times a day on occasion with controlling her temper. We are working on it. Hard. It is a constant reminder of "take a deep breath, close your mouth, and walk away." She wants to do the right thing--she really does. She is trying very hard and we pray about it every day. And she is getting better. Eventually God will see her through this...at least that's what I tell myself multiple times a day.
2. The girls want an animal of their very own. We found kittens in our shop a while back and the girls love them, but they are not entirely theirs...plus the kittens are too fast when they don't want attention. The girls want a slower animal, like a bunny.  Or a guinea pig, which is what they finally decided on.  

Honor: "Mommy, Ariana and I want to put our money together and buy a guinea pig. Or two if we can, so that we each have our own."

Mommy: "What about a cage?  Who's going to by that?"

Honor: "We have enough wood and chicken wire around here to build a cage. We'll build it ourselves."

Mommy: "And what about the stuff that goes inside the cage?  What kind of litter will you use?"



Honor: "Newspaper. We have lots of newspaper!"

Mommy: "Oh.  And who will buy the food?"

Honor: "You."

Mommy: "And how much does food cost?"

Honor: "I don't know."

Mommy: "Well, let's see. The guinea pig costs about $10--I really don't know about that for sure, but let's just say the guinea pig costs $10.  Food costs about $15/month.  Guinea pigs live about 5-8 years...let's just say you play hard with this piggie and he only lives 5 years.  That's a total of $900.  You are spending $10. I am spending $900.  Is that right?"

Honor: "Um.  Yeah. But you have the money!"

Mommy: "Okay. Well, I will let you have a guinea pig if it is okay with Daddy."


Later, I was outside doing chores and I overheard the following conversation between my girls.



Honor: "Daddy said that we can't have one. He says that we have enough animals already."

Ariana: "That's not fair!  Dad always says we have too many animals when we do not have too many animals and we are going to buy our own animal so it wouldn't be his animal!  Ooooh! He makes it so hard to control my temper!"

Poor Ariana. She is trying so hard!

Gifts

Daddy: "Honor, what do you want for Christmas?"

Honor: "I'll be happy with whatever I get."

Seriously...what other eight year old in America would say that? 

I am so happy I am raising Hallmark children...

Black Friday

Connor: "Mom, what is 'Black Friday'?"

Mommy: "Well, it is a term for shopping. It is the day after Thanksgiving when the stores who have not made a profit all year suddenly make a profit because so many people are buying their Christmas presents and doing other shopping then. It's not something you really see. It's on a chart and it shows a line going down from zero that is red and then on Black Friday, the line starts going up from zero."

Connor: "Oh.  That's pretty... not interesting.  Just people shopping! That's boring!"

I couldn't agree more, my son.

Don't Want to Snooze THAT Alarm

"...LOVE your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic.  Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ love those who love them.  And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ lend to ‘sinners,’ expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High,because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful."      (Luke 6: 27-36)


Connor: "And what does this mean?"

... (mumbled discussion)

Samuel: "Read this one now!"


This preciousness is what I woke to this morning. I love my sons!

That's Why They Make Calendars...

Ariana's birthday is November 26th. This upcoming Monday. Time flies by WAY too fast.

Anyway...

Because it is Ariana's birthday month, Samuel has been reminding me repeatedly that his birthday is coming up.  And I've been reminding him repeatedly that his birthday is over six months away. On June 27th to be exact.  

"June 27th?"

"Yep. June 27th."

 I called the doctor this morning to schedule a well visit for Ariana's 7 year check-up as well as flu shots for all of the kiddos. The receptionist verified all of the kids' birthdates. 

"Honor and Connor were both born on August 17, 2004, correct?"
 
"Yep."

"And Ariana was born November 26, 2005, correct?"

"Yes."

 "Samuel's birthday is June 23, 2007 correct?" 

...

Oh. Um. Yeah. That's right. It's the twenty-third of June. 


You would think you would remember something like that...

"Secret" Admirer

I thought passing notes was something that I would most likely avoid if I homeschooled.  Apparently not.



Luke (my 7 year old nephew, in case I haven't mentioned him before...): "What is this?"

Mommy: "What is what?"

Luke: "This paper.  I found it on my desk. It says it's from the post office."

Immediately I knew the note was from one of my daughters.  They play post office all the time.

Mommy: "Give me the paper Luke."

He handed me the note and went back to work as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.



Here is what it said:

On the outside:

to: Luke

from: secret Admirer

Hint: its a girl

On the inside:

Dear Luke
I really Like 
you Luke I want
to be pals again
can We.
Love your secret
Admirer

 
from: the post 
office
Please send
a Letter back

(For the record, my children do know how to use punctuation and capitalization correctly, but only when it is on a test...)

I happen to know the identity of the "secret admirer" because she came to me earlier that day complaining that Luke was turning everyone against her because she got their chalk drawings wet with bubbles.  She was quite upset.  Also, to be fair, she thinks that a secret admirer is someone who wants to be your friend. Thankfully, Luke has no idea what a secret admirer is either so we are safe.

Poor girl. I really should explain what a secret admirer is, but I love how her innocent mind works!

Word Problems

For math today, Connor and Honor were asked to write out an addition word problem and a subtraction word problem.  Connor's just struck me as funny for some reason...

I had $2.  I bought a grenade for $1. How many $ did I have left?

Boys.

Dead or Alive?

I overheard the following snippit from an argument my children were having during recess.  I could hear Connor say something, but I couldn't understand him.  Ariana escalated the argument and I could hear her quite clearly...

Connor: ....

Ariana: "He's not dead, he's in Heaven."

Connor: "Oh, yeah. But his body is dead."

Ariana: "Well, yeah, his body is dead, but he is in Heaven."


Apparently Connor conceded the point because the conversation returned to normal inaudible levels from that point on.  I love the little theological discussions they have.

He's #1!

Today at breakfast:

Samuel: "Mom, can I be your #1 Fan?"

...and he was serious.  I love him!

Political Post

Okay, not really, but I thought it was fitting to post this the day after the elections...



My third graders are currently studying Mid-Atlantic states in their History and Geography lessons (for those of you who aren't from the Mid-Atlantic states and are not smarter than a fifth grader, they are NY, PA, NJ, DE, MD and, although technically not a state, Washington D.C.).  As part of their lessons, we briefly discussed the three branches of government.


Here was one of the answers on Honor's self quiz:



Why does the United States have three branches of government?


because all three branches have to agree on all of the laws like no taping your kid in the corner.



Yep. That's a good law.

However, taping them to windows is perfectly acceptable...

It's 3 a.m.

[Video of Bear Grylls in Arizona]

I had a VERY vivid dream of Connor reenacting the above video (around the 10 minute mark) with a short piece of black rubber hose and a mud puddle in our backyard. As we do live in AZ and water is hard to come by, you would think this might be impossible, but one of our sinks in our shop actually drains directly outside leaving a large puddle that takes an hour or two to dry...

I must find all rubber hoses and destroy them.

Anyway, because of this vivid dream (that I thought for sure was real because, well, it is very much something Connor would do), I was having a slight panic attack and debating about whether or not to wake up Daddy to talk about possibilities of anti-freeze in puddles by the shop, when I heard a loud bang downstairs...where the children sleep.

Loud noises do not go unremarked in my home, so the dogs and I got up to investigate. The basement bathroom light was on and the boys' bedroom door was open. Apparently, kicking large toys with bare feet in the dark makes a lot of noise because before I was halfway there, my son announced, "Mom. It's 3 a.m." in a voice that sounded only half awake.

I find it interesting that he knew it was me without seeing who it was.

"Yes, Son, I know very well exactly what time it is," I said as I rounded the corner to the bathroom. My son was completely naked. "What was that loud noise?"

"Sometimes I drop the toilet lid when I am trying to go to the bathroom." (Note to self: make sure the boys clean the bathroom floor and around the toilet in the morning...) "Mom, I peed my bed. My underwear is all soaked. Can I sleep with you?"

What would your answer be?

"Um. No."

"But my underwear is all wet!"

Exactly why you won't be sleeping with me.

"Take the sheets off your bed and put on new ones."  Yes. That's how I roll at 3 a.m.

Thankfully all of his blankets were at his feet so only his sheet got wet. That made life a tiny bit easier. And thankfully my other son slept right through everything--which made my life a whole lot easier.

He was re-tucked in five minutes later.

I returned to my bedroom and decided it would be a good idea to use the restroom before falling back asleep. Being a girl, I sat down... and almost fell into the toilet. Apparently while I was on our church's ladies' retreat this weekend, my husband retrained himself to leave the toilet seat up in the middle of the night.

And that is what 3 a.m. looks like at our home.

Explanations and Prayers

My children's innocence never ceases to amaze me. This last weekend I had the sad task of informing the children that the baby was no longer in my belly. This was part of the reason that I didn't want to tell them in the first place, but my husband was right--it is an opportunity to teach them about life and death in a way that isn't too tangible (I wasn't showing yet so I think for them the baby was in the realm of "dream").

Pretty much as soon as I returned from the doctor, Ariana chased me down to ask if I'd heard the baby's heartbeat. It was then that I had to inform her that the baby was no longer in my belly. She was visibly upset, however her response was simple: "It's okay, Mommy. You can just grow another one."

Honor was sad for me, but she too seemed to think it was a matter of just telling the baby to grow now.  Samuel treated the news as if I had said the sky was blue or a dog barks. Nothing too interesting there. 

Connor, however, always surprises me with his insight.  For three nights in a row, Connor thanked God that the baby was now "having fun in Heaven." Then, yesterday out of the blue he added to that.  "...and thank you that the baby doesn't have to come to earth and experience pain here on earth." I'm sure I have said something similar to that when a loved one has died before, but it has been a while since anyone has died. For him to make that connection to the baby was extremely moving to me. Such a sweet boy.

Not Meant To Be

The Sunday before last I began bleeding when I used the restroom.  I immediately thought miscarriage, but the nurses on call for my OB said that it was normal and that I didn't need to worry unless I had cramping and a heavy "period". Since neither of those happened and the bleeding stopped, I believed that I was fine. I even continued having morning sickness.  However, today they did an ultrasound and determined that although the endrometrial lining was still thick showing that I had been pregnant, there was no baby or tissue to be found within my uterus. They determined that the bleeding had in fact been a miscarriage. 

Thank you for your prayers.

Small Complication...

Not to get into too much detail, but I have been having some slight bleeding with this pregnancy. Although the doctor assures me this is "normal" it is a bit unsettling.  I am trying to rest as much as possible, but I am not good at resting.  So, if you all would pray that the bleeding stops soon and God would give me peace, I would sure appreciate it.  Thanks.

It Should Be GET To...

We had an incident in school today in which a boy hit a girl. Samuel, who is very good at dispensing all the advice he has ever heard, passed along this little tidbit in a tone reminiscent of Solomon.

"Boys have to marry girls, boys don't hit girls."

Much wisdom from that lad, although I'm not sure "have to" is quite the way I would put it...

Great Shape

We bought a new truck to carry our new 5th wheeler that we don't have yet, but Daddy was insistent that we WILL have one eventually so we needed a truck to carry it. He didn't want to put the cart before the horse...

Anyway, before we bought the truck, Daddy was excited to tell me all about it. Samuel, who loves cars, listened intently.

Daddy: "It's a '97, but it only has 80,000 miles. They put a custom bed on it that would have cost several thousand dollars just for that alone and the interior looks brand new. It was owned by an older couple who didn't drive it much. It's in really great shape."

Samuel: "Is it a rectangle?"

Choose Right

When my kiddos watch tv, they tend to pick a character to "be".  "I pick Fluttershy!" "I pick SuperWhy!" "I pick Celestia!" "I pick the purple flower!" "I pick the green truck!"...

If they watch tv during the day (generally I don't allow TV until after 5 pm on weekdays), I require that it either be a Christian DVD, a documentary, or Smile of a Child. Since it was raining this morning, it became a TV morning until I finished chores (I typically like them to play outside while I am doing chores...).

So Smile of a Child it was, with the show, Little Buds (which is really quite cute).  The Bible story came on where the 5,000 are fed and I heard the children choosing their characters:

Honor: "I choose the little girl in the blue dress!"

Ariana: "I choose the little girl in the other blue dress!"

Samuel: "I choose Jesus forever!"

Amen Son!

Samuel was playing with the Trio set.  Honor wanted to build a castle.  The following conversation ensued:


Daddy: "...It's like the time when Connor was playing with that trailer and the gate fell down and he got hurt."

Samuel: "Yeah, and like the time I was playing with it and my head fell off."

Connor: "You'd be dead if your head fell off."

Honor: "Yeah, you'd be dead if your head fell off and I would be sitting there playing with that toy instead."


Well...that's one way of looking at it...

Banking 101

Honor received some birthday money from Grandma.  Eight dollars...because she is now EIGHT!!!!!!!!  AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!  

Anyway...

The children have little locking banks with three slots in the top: save, spend, and share.   At this point, since money still doesn't have much value to them yet and since we haven't started an allowance, I let them put their money wherever they want.  Honor likes to make things as even as possible.


As she was rolling up her bills to put them in each slot, she let me know what the save slot was for..

"When this slot gets full, we take it to the bank and they attach a credit card to it."

Um...no.

Star Wars Bride

"Look Mommy!  ♫♪ Dun dun dun, da da dun, da da dun...♫♪ "

Ariana hands me a drawing of a man and woman stick figure. "It's you and Daddy getting married!"

"Were you trying to sing the Bridal March?" I ask with a grin.

She enthusiastically shakes her head "yes."

Good, because for a second there I thought I'd lost her to the dark side...

Company's Coming Over...

Ariana: "I HATE CLEANING!!! I'M NEVER PICKING UP TOYS AGAIN!!!"

Mommy: "Okay. But you won't be able to come upstairs until you get your section done."

Ariana: "But I don't want to clean the basement. I want to dust!"

Mommy: "I'll let you dust, but only after you've cleaned up your section."

Twenty minutes later...

Ariana: "I finished cleaning my section. Can I dust now???"

She grabbed the dusting rag and went to town.

Twenty minutes later...

Ariana: "I finished dusting. Can I clean the toilet in the basement?"

Mommy: "You can clean the toilet in the basement if you pick up all the dirty laundry and garbage on the floor in the bathroom first."

Ariana: "Okay!"

Ten minutes later...

Ariana: "I cleaned up the laundry. Can I clean the toilet now?"

Mommy: "Sure."

After the cleaning solution had been squirted in the toilet...

Mommy: "There sure are a lot of toys in here. How about I go get the brush, and while I do that, you clean the toys out of the bathroom. Once all the toys are picked up from the bathroom, I'll give you the brush."

Ariana: "Okay!!!"


I should win parenting awards...

Grandmaism

Honor just said, "Oh for Heaven's sake!"

She sounded so much like Paul's mom I almost cried laughing. 

Losing the Magic

"Mom, _______ says the Tooth Fairy isn't real," Honor said, barging into the boy's room while I was tucking in Samuel.

Let's get rid of everyone's belief all at once!

"Honor, go to your room." I didn't answer her unspoken question, though all eyes turned on me at once.  Is she real, Mom? They all wanted to know.  I tucked the boys in and left the question hanging in the air.

But Honor wasn't so easy.

"I just want to know...are you the Tooth Fairy, Mom?"

There it was. The question I had been dreading.  I thought I had a few more years. The kids are homeschooled...the Tooth Fairy shouldn't be outed at such an early age with no other kids to disillusion them. Unfortunately we do not keep our kids in a bubble. They have older friends...with big mouths.

Up until that point, the only one who had questioned the Tooth Fairy's identity had been Connor. But he had said it this way, "I think the Tooth Fairy is just pretend. I think that you are the Tooth Fairy."  He came to this conclusion on his own, since he knows Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny are just pretend. However, because he didn't ask me straight out, I was able to answer, "Why would you think that? You know, the Tooth Fairy doesn't leave money for children who don't believe in him or her."  Connor's belief skyrocketed from that point on and he is the Tooth Fairy's most ardent supporter.

Ariana just lost her first two teeth and the Tooth Fairy is a big topic of discussion around here. She treasures her note and bag from the Tooth Fairy. Samuel hasn't even lost a tooth yet. He keeps asking when the Tooth Fairy will come and visit him.  I was not ready to give up the fantasy of the Tooth Fairy yet. 

But Honor asked me point blank.

I had already decided that I wasn't going to lie about the Tooth Fairy if asked.  Pretend, yes, because I believe that children should believe in fairy tales and all things fantastical. I think it is important to foster a sense of imagination and adventure--to teach them to dream and that all things are possible. (This song captures it perfectly for me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmv9ApexH0A)  But I wasn't going to lie.

"Honor, isn't it more fun to believe in the Tooth Fairy?"

"The Tooth Fairy is fun, but I only believe in what I can see."  Wow. Heartbreaker.

"But you can't see God, and we know that He is real." (Now, just to clarify, I was not comparing God to the Tooth Fairy, but she scared me when she said that and I wanted to verify that she had full faith in God still...)

"We can see the Bible."  Whew. Good answer, Honey!

Just at that moment, Ariana had to go to the restroom.  With her sister gone, Honor cried out in frustration, "just tell me, Mom!  Are you the Tooth Fairy?"

So I told her.

"When children lose a tooth, it is tradition for mommies and daddies to hide a gift from the Tooth Fairy under their pillow."

"So, you are the Tooth Fairy?"


"Yes, Honey, but don't tell anyone.  We don't want to ruin the others' fun. ...  Does it upset you?"

Big dimple.  "No. I'm happy you're the Tooth Fairy."

I smiled. "I think the Tooth Fairy will keep leaving you presents under your pillow.  Remember, it is our secret, okay?"

She smiled back. "Okay. I'll probably forget you're the Tooth Fairy anyway."

I sincerely hope so.

Zacchaeus

Many of us know the "Zacchaeus" song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kSBHGnZI35Y&feature=related

My children have all sung this song at one point or another, but apparently it has been awhile because Samuel had forgotten it.

Mommy: "What did you learn in VBS today?"

Samuel: "We learned about Zacchaeus!"

Mommy: "Oh, really!  So...what kind of man was he?"

Samuel: "A weenie man!"


...

Later, on the car ride home from church, I was privileged to hear his rendition of this children's classic:

Zacchaeus was a wee little man

And a wee little man he was

He climbed up in a tree
...

For Jesus to see
...

And Jesus said, "COME DOWN NOW!"

For I'm going to your house today

For I'm going to your house today

Well, at least he got the "wee little man" part right. 

Singing With Ariana

For months now Ariana has been wanting to sing special music with me in church. God has truly given her a gift of singing and I was happy to find a song that she could sing with me.  The very first time either of us heard the song, she sang right along with the music near perfectly. I knew it was a good choice! 

We practiced together for a month. She wanted to practice every chance she got.  The morning of the special, Ariana woke up early, came in to our bedroom with her prettiest dress and asked me to do her hair like a princess.

The following is an edited video of she and I singing together before our church--colored out so you can't really see us.  If it sounds like my voice is shaking...it is.  I was nervous for her and trying very hard not to laugh the entire time. When she waved to a friend, I almost lost it. You may recall from a previous post, I laugh when my emotions overwhelm me. Listening to my daughter sing to God publicly (in front of around 200 people) was one of the most precious things I've ever heard. I am so proud of her!

Flattery

Okay...this has nothing to do with my children at all, but it made me feel good so I'm sharing it (it's not the type of thing that would make a good FB status, but I figure, those who read my blog won't judge me too harshly for bragging on myself...right???) 

Today, a parent of a new student sat in on my Musical Theater class. Typically parents are not allowed, however, if a student is trying the class for the first time I don't mind if the parents watch.  After class, the parent came up to me and remarked, "You are incredibly talented! You have an amazingly beautiful voice and you just float across the stage. Have you had the opportunity to perform on stage anywhere lately?"  I have NEVER had anyone tell me that I "floated" across stage before.  I've always thought that I more resembled a clumsy hippo. Where was all this encouragement back when I actually had time to perform???

But to be honest, these are the kinds of things I need to hear from strangers. So often I feel so under-qualified to be teaching Musical Theater. I was never the "star" of the show. It has been years since I last performed (the summer I graduated from high school!)--aside from occasional solos at church. Despite being in Show Choir in high school, I never felt very talented as a dancer. Yet, here I am teaching Musical Theater CHOREOGRAPHY. Those who know me say that my students are learning well and that I am doing an excellent job as a teacher...but they know me.  And I suppose the fact that I've been teaching there for two years now and haven't been fired says that I am doing a decent job, but then again, our Best Man owns the dance studio. I know that the parents of my students are happy with the class, but very few of them have actually sat in on the class. So hearing a stranger tell me that I am doing a good job means so much to me.






And now I have a post...so it hasn't been an entire month! :-P 

(I will try to write an update as to what all I've been up to sometime soon...maybe...)

Gentlemen, Grab Your Ladies

When walking through a busy parking lot with all four of my children, I typically hold my boys' hands because, well, they are the most likely to dodge out in front of an oncoming semi truck to grab something shiny on the sidewalk.  However, my girls do not like to hold hands with boys. Dilemma. So, I decided to teach my little boys how to be "gentlemen" and my little girls how to be "ladies". Gentlemen should always escort ladies to keep them safe. And since my girls are very much into etiquette at the present time, they willingly allow my sons to link elbows with them.

Today as we were walking through the Lowe's parking lot, I noticed that Honor was walking a few feet behind us.

"Connor, aren't you missing something? Or, to be more exact, someone."

He immediately understood my question and whined back this response: "Mom, I was escorting Honor, but she got away!"

The good ones always get away...

All Grown Up

My baby Samuel turned FIVE on Saturday!!! Can you believe it??? I sure can't. 

Anyway, today we had his five year well check-up. He is still on the giant side: 98th percentile in height, 78th percentile in weight. And he is perfectly healthy (well, minus the slow knee reflex response.  He hasn't learned to kick as hard as he can like his mama yet...just to make sure the doctor sees the response...)

After a visit to the restroom to leave the customary urine sample (so fun to hold a cup for a little boy whose aim is not always the best...) we had the following conversation:

"Okay, Little Man, time to go back to our room," I said as I pulled open the bathroom door.

Samuel stopped, pulled on my hand and forced me to drop to my knees to look him in the eyes. "Mom. I am five now. You can call me, 'big man.'"

I stand corrected.

Correct Answer

We were working on predictions in Language Arts.  Honor and Connor were supposed to guess what a story was about based on the title and then based on the picture.  Then they were to read the story and answer a couple of questions. 

And this is why I love homeschooling:



What new thing did you learn about spiders from this story?



nothing I already knew everything.


Hey, you have to love her honesty!

The Ant Dilemma

Ariana: "Ack! Ants! Kill them!"

Connor: "No! Don't kill them! They're a part of nature."

This argument continued until the line of ants disappeared under our floorboards an hour later.

Can't wait for bug guy to come this afternoon!

High Five

Samuel: "I want to play Don't Break the Ice with you today."

Mommy: "Okay, but I have to clean my office first. How about, while I'm cleaning the office, you guys can clean the basement!"

I held up my hand in the universal "high five as an acceptance of terms" gesture.  Samuel immediately slapped it.

Samuel: "I don't want to clean the basement."

Mommy: "But you gave me a high five."

Samuel: "I gave you a high five to get your hand away from me, but I don't want to clean the basement."

Man, I love him!

(And I really need to get a voice recorder, because his little voice makes everything twenty times cuter!)

Remodeling

My floor looked like this:

over my entire living area.  Although not perfectly clean here, it is not horribly dirty. It just always looked dirty. Who in their right mind chooses to put down white porcelain tile with a faint "paw print" pattern over the entire floor when they live in the country???

So, you understand why we had to remodel the floor.  Red oak hardwood was our choice. Lovely.


The cover of our dishwasher was warped and fell off when you opened the door--unless you are smart like me and used electrical tape to hold it on--then it stayed in place for a whole week without falling off. The inside had also started to rust, so it was only logical that we replace the dishwasher at the same time that we laid down the new flooring.

But then it got interesting.

See, when Daddy took the dishwasher out from under the counter, he realized why the door cover kept falling off: the steam from the dishwasher over time had warped the laminate counter top causing it to hang down just slightly over the edge so that it hit the cover and busted the inside piece. When he removed the dishwasher, he removed part of the laminate.

So we needed new countertops.

Then, while working on the floor, Daddy realized that parts of the tile had been laid on plywood because they covered the basement, while small areas were laid on cement. The little alcoves in front of the guest room and office would need to have the wood glued down.  The front entryway would need new tile. But what to do with the recessed area in front of the bay window?


I get a window seat!

The day after my husband finished laying most of the floor, our refrigerator broke--most likely shifted something around when putting in the flooring. It was 15 years old anyway; time for a replacement. So we loaded the children into the car, dropped them off at Grandma's and headed to the appliance store. About 3 miles from the store, a kind gentleman pulled up next to us at a stoplight and alerted us to the fact that our tire was very low on air.  We pulled into the next gas station and as Daddy filled it with air, he heard the air leaving. We had minutes to find a new tire store.

We rolled into the parking lot of a tire place on the rim and decided to replace all four tires--they needed it.  While we waited, we walked 2 miles in 107* heat to the appliance store to pick out our refrigerator. It will be delivered today. The salesman kindly drove us back to the tire store and we made it home safely.

So...

What do you get when you choose to remodel your floor?

A new hardwood floor,
A new dishwasher,
New countertops,
New tile in the entryway,
A window seat,
A refrigerator,
And four new tires.

I asked my husband if that meant we were done remodeling for the next few years. His answer:

"Well, except I would like to get a new stove top next year..."


Sigh.

Here Comes the Sun...

Samuel came to me while Connor and Honor were finishing up their schoolwork. He was carrying the following drawing.  Thinking it was a picture of him, Mommy and Daddy, I asked him to tell me about it. (Just to clarify, I CAN read.  I added the words later in Paint...)

This is what he said:

"This is me as a baby. 
This is you. 
This is a rain cloud. 
This is God holding out his arm to stop the rain and keep the sun on us."

  ^{Matthew 19:14}

 But Jesus said, “Let the children alone, and do not hinder them from coming to Me; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

My Little Ninja

Just one question...

"Are they clean????"

Hand Me Downs

This beautiful card was an early Mother's Day gift from my sweet little Ariana...

 

She makes me smile :-D...

Proud Artist

The kiddos got their schoolwork done very early today so I gave them some paper, colored pencils, paints, crayons and scissors and let them have at it.  Connor asked me to leave the room so he could make my Mother's Day surprise.  So I checked my e-mail.

A few minutes after I sat down, Samuel came running in to show me his artwork.

"Mom! Mom! Look what I made!  How do you like IT?"

No pun intended...

That's Not MY Hat

We have a teenager living with us for an indeterminate amount of time. He is pretty low maintenance...basically we only see him when he needs to eat, use the restroom, or do laundry. Yesterday was a laundry day.

Today when I went to do laundry there was one sock left in the dryer. Not wanting to bother finding the key to unlock the door to his room (locked to keep the little children out, not the adults...), I simply hung the sock on the doorknob.

Later I found the sock on the bathroom floor.

"Who took the sock off Z's door?"

A chorus of "not me" came from the three older children.

I sighed and maybe rolled my eyes a little. "If you were not the who, then you don't need to answer." Looking pointedly at my youngest son, I asked, "Samuel?"

Without looking up from his Kindergarten Smart Steps game, he answered, "I took it. I was going to use it as a hat, but it didn't fit."

I promptly left the room so that he would not hear my hysterical laughter.

Yes

Yes, one of the lights was out in the basement making it dimmer than normal.

Yes, I did see a fake gecko sitting on top of the kids' costume box.

Yes, I did "trap" it under a clear tea pot so that I could carry it outside.

Yes, I did graduate from Iowa State University with a degree in Animal Ecology.

Yes, my husband does want to call ISU and tell them to take my degree back...

I Know I Shouldn't Laugh But...

this struck me as very funny for some reason...


In History and Geography, we are studying about pollution.  At the end of each chapter, the children must fill in the blank with the correct word from the story. 

The question read:

Sometimes ____________ can help prevent pollution.

The correct answer was "laws".

This is what one of my children wrote:


Sometimes smoking can help prevent pollution.


I think we need to go back and reread exactly what pollution is...

Mmmm....Yummy

I was hodgepodging lunch with the knowledge that I would be going to the store later today.  Samuel came into the kitchen and watched me put beefaroni (not something the kids really like), carrots and a rice cake on each plate. 

"Where's the sandwich?" he asked.

I thought through my list: no butter, no peanut butter, no lunchmeat... "I don't have anything to put inside the sandwich," I replied.

Samuel walked to the pantry. "We have bread."  He walked to the refrigerator and studied the contents for a second. "We have jelly. We have mayonnaise. We have mustard.  I know!  Let's have a jelly, mayonnaise, and mustard sandwich. That sounds yummy!"

And that is why I don't allow him to make lunch...

I Majored in Animal Ecology...

So why does my daughter have such unique animal descriptions?


Honor, stretching her neck as far as it would go: "My neck is as long as a bear's!"

Fun With Connor

Daddy (to Honor): "Pete and Repeat were on a boat. Pete fell off. Who was left?"

Honor giggles and refuses to answer.

So Connor answers for her: "Repeat!"

Daddy: "Pete and Repeat were on a boat. Pete fell off. Who was left?"

Connor (very literal, that one): "Repeat!"

Daddy (chuckling): "Pete and Repeat were on a boat. Pete fell off. Who was left?"

Connor: "Repeat!"

Daddy: "If you don't get the joke by the third time, it's not funny anymore... Pete and Repeat were on a boat. Pete fell off. Who was left?"

Connor (indignantly): "But, Daaaaaaad! It IS Repeat!"

Mommy laughed her head off.

----------------------------------------------



At dinner tonight, Connor began his typical random questioning. "Mom, is it illegal for handicapped people to park in a non-handicap parking space?"

"No," Mommy answered, amused at his line of thought.

"Wow. So handicapped people can park anywhere! They're so lucky!"

Well, that's one way to look at it...

Avocado Ice Cream and Other Random Conversation During School

Connor was working away at his Language Arts when he lifted up his head and announced very seriously, "Mom, Dad's not going to know where I live."

"What?! Why would you say that?" I asked, completely flabbergasted. Daddy wasn't at home and the last topic of conversation had been Connor telling me he is going to make avocado ice cream with the avocados he will get from the tree he's growing in our kitchen window. Now he was talking about running away? It made no sense.

He explained: "When I grow up, Dad's not going to know where I live because I don't want him to come over and jump on my couch."

I began laughing. Daddy is often telling the kids when they jump on the couch that when they grow up, he's going to come over and jump on their couches...and write on their walls, and break all their expensive equipment...

Through my laughter, I hear Connor continue, "I'm going to have a nice couch too..."

Boy he makes me laugh!

Let's Play Pretend

The children wanted to use last night's pizza box in their pretend play. Connor's cardboard box (clubhouse) was to be the house. Connor was to be the pizza delivery man. Ariana was to be the chef. Honor and Samuel were to be the little boy and little girl ordering the pizza...

Honor: "No. I want to be the pizza delivery person!"

Mommy: "Well, then, can I be the little girl? I never get to be the little girl."

The kids were super excited that Mommy was joining in...

Connor: "You can be the dog!"

Thanks, Son.

I Shall Never Be Crafty

I shall never be crafty...and I am okay with that. Most of the time. But deep down I almost feel a bit flawed. I know what you are all thinking: "Oh, but MOMMY, you have supermodel good looks, perfect hair, run marathons in your sleep, and fight giant sea monsters with your bare hands! Who cares if you're not crafty?" But it's true...I do care.

It's not that I buy into the whole perfect homeschooling mom scenario. My house will never be clean and I cannot slave away at the stove all day for a perfect meal while making sure my kids are learning Latin and pre-calc in 2nd grade (I'm saving that for 4th grade, duh!). My kids are lucky that they don't eat Ramen noodles for dinner every night! (Although, I think the kids would actually like to have "rotten noodles" as Samuel calls them.) I told Daddy when we first started this stay-at-home thing that I am a stay-at-home MOM, not a HOUSE wife, and he agreed that my first job is to raise the children for the Lord. But deep down inside, a part of me feels that a "good" homeschooling mom encourages their kids' creativity. Some moms actually give their children scissors and glue  and tell them to have fun!

ARE THEY CRAZY???????

I can't handle the chaos caused by crayons and a coloring sheet. Telling the kids to cut out snowflakes is stretching me to my max. Periodically, someone will run an idea across my computer screen that they swear is super easy and not very messy. So I'll try it. Because homeschooling moms are supposed to be crafty. I think it is in the definition somewhere. And I don't want my kids to miss out on all the fun crafts that the public school kiddos get to make.

I think there are way too many people out there who need to learn what "easy" means.

And the term "messy" is very subjective. What is messy to a mom of a single little girl is nothing compared to the mess of four excited children--two of which are boys (makes a much bigger difference than you could ever imagine!).

Will I stop trying to add crafty things into my repertoire of schooling? Most likely no. I am an optimist by nature. Yet I know it will not turn out as planned and I have to be okay with that. It's either accept it or pull out my arm hairs one at a time in frustration (can't mess up my perfect hair can I?). Since I don't handle pain all that well, I figure the only option is to accept that my kids might just have to miss out on this aspect of growing up.

But they have their own private petting zoo so I think it all balances out...

It's Actually a Good Thing...

At lunch today, Samuel stood up and proudly announced his adoration for his siblings:

"I love each of you ELEVEN percent!"

Hey...it's better than TEN percent...

11 Things

So...

Viviene from the Journey of a Woman tagged me to complete one of those questionnaire dealy do's. I actually like doing these things, so I am going to do it! Sort of...

Here are the rules:

1. Put the rules on your blog.
2. Every person tagged should tell 11 things about themselves, answer the 11 questions asked by the one that tagged you, tag 11 other people and ask them 11 different questions.
3. Let the people whom you tagged know you’ve done so.
4. Don’t tag anyone who’s been tagged before.
5. Really do tag 11 others; don’t go all “if you want to take this tag”.

 11 (Very Random) Things About Me

1. I am a rule follower. 
2. Growing up, I was allowed to try many different activities. I was average at most of them, but never excelled at anything. 
3. I find great satisfaction and fullfillment in taking care of my family and teaching my children. I feel like I have finally found my "niche".
4. I am not looking forward to my children growing up, however, once they are teenagers, I am looking forward to doing foster care with older children (my husband wants to wait until our children are older...)
5. I seriously would like to take up square dancing...froofy skirts and all.
6. I have invited my neighbors over for dinner on multiple occasions in order to get to know them and they have never accepted. Why wouldn't they want to have free steak???
7. Although my neighbors have yet to accept my invitation, we tend to have people over for dinner often. I enjoy entertaining and it is a good excuse to make sure the house is somewhat tidy. (Notice I didn't say clean. I am convinced that my house will never be clean until my children move out...)
8. If someone needs my help and it is within my power to help, I have a very difficult time saying no...because I want to help, not because I want to make them happy. Thankfully my husband is very good at keeping me from over working myself...
9. Green is my favorite color because it is the color of life. It is just a happy color in general.
10. I enjoy smiling and laughing. Occasionally this gets me into trouble...
11. When I get extremely angry, the emotion shows itself as either crying or laughing. My husband is no longer confused by this...

 11 Questions from Viviene

1. Who/What motivates you? The easy answer(s) would be God/Christ, my parents, my husband, my children. In the end, however, my motivation is honestly Christ...or rather, I attempt to keep Him in mind as I go about my tasks. I am raising my children to live for Him--would He be pleased with the job I am doing? I want to serve others as Christ served--am I living out His example? Often, unfortunately, that is a no, but whenever I catch myself struggling or feel like I just want to give up and stay in bed all day, this is what keeps me going. My life is not my own. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. 
2. Favorite character of your spouse/special someone/someone you want? By this I assume you mean characteristic that I like? Without question, the thing I like most about my husband is his desire to protect me. It manifests itself in many ways, but it always makes me feel valuable and loved.
3. Name you want for your child? Honor Elizabeth, Ariana Jane, Connor Owen, Samuel Ai. (Just kidding...although, these were names we wanted :-D).  If we were blessed to have another daughter, her name would be Elanie Joy. If we were blessed to have another son, I have no idea what we would name him!
4. Most hated household chore? Um....all??  Probably dusting because it never ends.
5. Top 5 places you’d like to go to? Australia, New Zealand, Venice, Greece, The Creation Museum
6. Favorite food to cook? Mashed potatoes
7. Best place in the world? Wherever my husband and children are
8. What makes you smile? Everything has that potential. My children. Singing.
9. Who is your role model? There are several women at church that I admire. My mom has always been a great role model of kindness and generosity and seeing the best in others.
10. What’s your worst trait? I talk too much
11. Where will you go when you die tonight? I'm going to die tonight!!!!!  Well IF I die tonight, I will be going to Heaven. I accepted Christ as my personal Savior when I was tenish. (It never occurred to me that the date would be important...). I remember clearly that I went to Sunday School (I was a bus kid), and my teacher had told the class that compared to God, there is no one that is "good" and no one is worthy of Heaven apart from Christ. I remember getting picked up by my dad and telling him, "Dad, did you know that good people go to Hell too?" I don't quite remember his response, but it was something along the lines of, "Uh huh. That's nice." and it was dropped. But it bothered me throughout the day. That night in my bed, I poured my heart out to the Lord and asked Him to save me from Hell. I do not remember the exact words I used, but I remember the anguish I felt and then the release and peace I felt after I prayed. From that moment on, I have felt secure that I am God's child. Death is not something I fear in the slightest.

11 Different Questions

1. What is your favorite color?
2. If you could teach a dog a new trick, what would it be? 
3. Do you enjoy singing? How about just in the shower?
4. If you were a superhero, what would your superpower be?
5. Can you do a cartwheel?
6. What is your favorite sound?
7. What would you do with $27.56?
8. Do you have any weird tricks? (i.e., double jointed? wiggle your nose?, etc.)
9. If you had to give up one of your five senses, which would it be and why?
10. Do you have a favorite Bible verse? What is it?
11. Which do you prefer: car, boat, or airplane? (money is no object)

 Okay now...I don't know 11 bloggers!!!  So...I will tag as many as I can...

1. Sara at Bodnar Family
2. Chelleybutton at Lost in the Pensieve 
3. Emily at Scribbles from Emily
4. BusyMommy at Just In Case You Were Wondering
5. Melilotnfosco at Thoughts from Middle Earth
6. Mary at Giving Up on Perfect

And that's it. So, being a rule follower doesn't help me much here!  If you want to be tagged, please let me know and I will happily tag you! (See, that's different than: "if you want to take this tag" :-D).

Enjoy!

(Oh, and if you answer my questions, make sure you let me know...sometimes I miss posts and I'd hate to miss one I requested!)

Reading Room

Connor has been wanting an "all-boys clubhouse" for quite some time. Well, the newest bunch of baby chicks was finally moved to the chicken coop over the weekend, leaving a large, empty box to be used willy-nilly. Connor jumped at the chance.

So, I gave him a black marker and told him it was his to do with as he pleased.

I love that the first thing Connor drew into his clubhouse was a bookshelf...

Building an Elephant's Self-Esteem

Honor has her Daddy's body type: tall and thin. A perfect little ballerina.

Last night we were watching Incredible Creatures That Defy Evolution  on Netflix Watch Instantly (a GREAT series to watch...amazing stuff!) and they began discussing Elephants.

Honor: "Shh! The elephants are my favorite! They're skinny just like me!"

She makes me smile.

That's Not Practical

Daddy was looking at pretty little Ferraries (really, how do you spell the plural of Ferrari?). Calling Honor over, he pointed to a little red, two-seater and said, "What do you think?"

Without skipping a beat Honor replied, "Uh uh, Dad. That is not a family car!"

That's my girl!

Where Does a Superhero Get His Strength?

"I can do this because GOD CREATED ME!"

~Samuel, said in his best hero voice as he flew his little superhero character around the room.

It's Science

To supplement our science curriculum, I allow the children to choose their own science books from the library over whatever topic is interesting to them at the time. During our latest visit, Samuel chose books on insects and plants, Honor chose books on plants and changing seasons, Connor chose books on space and longitude/latitude, and Ariana chose books on kittens and chickens.

Daddy wasn't pleased when he heard Ariana reading hers...

The book that she was most excited about reading is: "Egg to Chick" by Millicent E. Selsam; A Science I CAN READ Book, geared towards children ages 5-8. She loves to help me with our own baby chicks so she couldn't wait to read more about them.  She eagerly opened the book and began to read to her Daddy in her little six-year-old voice.

Let's just say that Daddy would like me to do a better job of skimming their books from now on...

Thanks

Ariana: "Mooommm! WHY can't we make the recipe?"

I think about it for a moment.

Mommy: "Hmmm...what equipment will you be needing to make your recipe?"

Connor: "A bowl."

Mommy: "That I will have to wash..."

Connor: "We'll wash it!"

Mommy: "Are you going to want to use my juicer?"

Connor: "No. Just a bowl."

Mommy: "Okay. I will let you make your recipe as long as you clean up the counter before you make it and clean up ALL of your mess when you are done. But first you have to get your schoolwork done."

Connor and Ariana run into the living room. As he gets his books straightened out on the table, Connor yells in to me: "Mom, you're going to be the first one to try it! Because we love you!"

Yay. I can't wait...

Recipes

My children are angry with me at the moment. I am refusing to allow them to make the recipes that they have made up on their little notebooks.  I have offered to allow them to make cookies for Daddy with me this afternoon, but they are not quite appeased by this solution.  If they were just making this recipe for pretend, I wouldn't care, but they are requiring the use of my giant juicer which has an annoying amount of cleaning for the amount of juice received, so whenever Daddy and I juice anything, we do it by the bucket full. 

Here is the recipe Connor wrote out:

Fruty Attack

3 sliced oringes

3 sliced tangerines

whip cream

cherry

for free!

------------------------------

Notes

Its so good!

After Ariana showed this recipe to me, I asked where she would get the cherry. She replied:

"We don't have any cherries, so we will be using an apple instead."

Who knew changing ingredients was that simple?

We've Been Watching Enchanted...

Ariana was asked to write a story for her phonics lesson yesterday.  The instructions stated that she could write her story about whatever she wanted. She was to write it on scratch paper, have her teacher proofread it, and then re-write the corrected story in her book.

Here was the story she wrote (unedited):

a baby princess

has ben Born.

When She grows up

She and her Mom

giv to the poor

mune and then gow

shoping. the end.

In case you can't read six-year-old, here is the edited version:

A baby princess has been born. When she grows up, she and her mom give the poor money and then go shopping. The end.

I am somehow raising a Valley girl...

My Daughter, the Shepherdess

(Otherwise Known As: I GOT TO SEE MY FIRST GOAT BEING BORN!!!!)

I will spare you all the amazing video I took of my wonderful doe, Cindy Crawford, giving birth to the adorable little buck, Speedy, since it would cause several of my readers to vomit and because this post is about Honor, not about the goat. Well...indirectly about the goat...

Honor has taken over the care of our new little kids. She expects to go out to the goat barn with me every time I feed them and stays in there while I do the rest of the chores. She makes sure they are nursing evenly and getting enough milk. When the kids wander too far from their mamas, she promptly herds them back. When they start to get tired, she tucks them into their little "kid house". She has even taken to wearing the same jeans day in and day out because her kids "recognize her" in those clothes (I do make her change if we plan on going anywhere...).

I didn't realize that she had been paying attention to the signs of labor as well...

Honor: "Mommy! Come quick!  Cindy is about to have her baby!"

Mommy: "How can you tell?"

Honor: "She's nesting!"

Knowing full well that she had been nesting for a couple of days, I wasn't too worried at that point.

Mommy: "Do you mean, she's lying down?"

Honor: "No, Mommy! She's NESTING!"

Mommy (humoring her): "Okay, Baby. I'll be right there."

I finished caring for the chickens, made sure the gates were all locked, and headed for the goat barn expecting to see Cindy taking a nap. After all, most of our births had taken place at night and Cindy hadn't been showing any of the active labor signs when I checked on her an hour earlier...no need to rush.

Sure enough though, Honor was right. When I got in there, Cindy was standing in the corner making soft noises and contracting. I asked Ariana to go and get the "birthing kit" bag and tell Daddy. She started pushing about five minutes after Daddy arrived and less than thirty minutes later, Speedy was born.

Cindy Crawford cleaning off her freshly born kid, Speedy

I love that my daughter is taking after me!

Unsolicited Phone Calls

Speaking of phone calls and unattended boys...  Connor answered the phone while I was outside. He is not allowed to do that, but he did. He thought he was allowed since I occasionally let Honor answer the phone, but only when it is one of a few specific numbers and only when I tell her ahead of time... but I digress.

Connor answered the phone and I missed out on hearing his very first phone call from one of his own little friends. Apparently the conversation went like this:

Connor: "Hello."

X: "Hi Connor. My dad says I can't come over for a playdate today."

Connor: "That's okay. Maybe we can do it another time."

X: "Okay. Bye."

Connor: "Bye."

...and I missed it!

Which is Why I Lock My Bedroom Door Every Time I Leave the Room...

This week has been mildly exhausting due to an influx of baby goats. I must say that baby goats are extremely cute and I have enjoyed my time in the goat barn, but for every minute I spend out making sure the new babies are nursing correctly, it leaves a minute of my sons being unattended (my girls like spending time in the goat barn with me...). Case in point: this afternoon.

Daddy came out of our bedroom certain that one of the goats had given birth during his nap (he heard loud crying on the baby monitor). I was pretty certain that it was merely the baby that had been born yesterday, so I leisurely walked over to the tack shed to get the evening portion of hay...without my cell phone, which I had left in my bedroom on my nightstand.

I was right. No brand-new baby goats.

After taking care of the rest of the chores, Daddy informed me that we were going to go on a dinner date. He had already called his cousin and wanted to leave within 15 minutes. Okay. Thanks for the heads up.

I quickly changed my clothes, loaded the dishwasher and had the kiddos sweep the floor. Then I went to get my cell phone...

"Hey, how'd the flashlight get on?" I asked as I picked it up to put it in my purse. "Oh no! The battery is completely drained!"  I was baffled. I knew that I hadn't turned on the flashlight and I have a locking pattern on the phone so none of the kids should have been able to turn it on.

But my youngest son is awfully lucky...

I immediately checked the call log. Right before my horrified eyes were two recently dialed calls--to 9-1-1.

See, when the lock is on, the only call you can make is to 911. I thought I had made it very clear to all of my children that they were never to push that red button unless Mommy was dying. I thought my obvious (admittedly irrational) fear of being arrested was plain, even to my four year old.

I was wrong.

I am still quite surprised that the police did not show up. They must get a lot of "accidental" emergency calls. I just hope that when I actually DO need emergency help, they don't ignore my number...

You May Say I'm a Dreamer...

We have eight La Mancha goats: six females, two males. Sometime this week, we are expecting to double that number. 

I have been studying You Tube videos of goat births for the last month. I have read articles on how to know when it's time, what type of medicine to give and when, birthing complications, and newborn health. The veterinarian came and checked all our does and determined they were all healthy and all six were pregnant. If our buck got them all pregnant the first day they were bred, they would all be due on February 19, 2012.

I was not ready.

Last night, I noticed that Little Maiden seemed to be "bagged up" meaning she had a full udder. It is hard to tell on a first time mom since the udder isn't stretched out much yet, but hers seemed fuller than the others. Daddy and I went out to check on her around 10:30 pm and she was lying on the ground. The other does immediately got up to see us, but she lay there. We figured she didn't need to get up since she was right by the door and left for the night.

Before I went to sleep, I watched a few more videos, and prayed that if she really did give birth in the middle of the night, that God would wake me. Oh me of little faith!

At approximately 3:45 am, I had a VERY vivid dream of Little Maiden stretching in a pre-labor pose (see about 45 seconds into this video to know what I mean). It was so clear, that I had the sudden urge to get out of bed and check on the goats. I actually got out of bed and walked to the restroom to wake myself up before getting dressed. While walking back through my room, I determined that I was just nervous and replaying the YouTube videos in my dreams. Eventually I convinced myself of this and fell back to sleep.

At 7 am this morning, I rushed out to the goat shed and found this:

Little Maiden and "Jack"

So, the moral of the story is: 

When you ask God to do something, 

pay attention when He answers...
there could be a huge blessing waiting for you!

Being Thankful

While the other children were outside playing, Connor opted to come into the house and watch "Davey and Goliath"...surprising, but acceptable. The particular episode was about being thankful. Davey's friend wondered why he was always thanking everyone. His response was something along the lines of, "when someone you love does something nice for you, it is natural to want show that you are thankful." He then went on to explain that was one of the reasons he went to church...to thank God for his friends.

After lunch, Connor came up with his own way to be thankful.

"Mom, I think I am going to give the Tooth Fairy the dollar Abi gave me."

"Why would you do that, Son?"

"Because I am thankful that she gives me a dollar for my teeth so I want to give her a dollar to show her that I am thankful."

I wouldn't want him to be my accountant, but he sure is sweet!

Who Needs a Teacher?

I have been postponing Samuel's schooling until he showed an interest in it because I believe children should be allowed to be children and not be forced to grow up too fast. Granted, he knows how to identify all of his letters and numbers, and knows the sounds they make, but beyond that he has shown no interest in learning to read. He learned those simply from watching Word World and Leap Frog...no "official" teaching going on with him. The other children all wanted to do school (meaning workbooks) early--Honor and Connor were begging to learn how to read before they were four--but Samuel showed only periodic interest in it until last week. Before that, he would be happily read to, and then go play with cars in the basement while the other kids did their school.

We started off small: Circle the objects that are the same. Circle the objects that are different. Match the rhyming words. Circle the pictures that begin with the letter "b"... You get the idea. When it came to tracing shapes, he failed. Big time. But that's okay. He's only four. He has never really showed any interest in drawing--scribbling, sure, but not actually making recognizable pictures. No big deal. When he's ready, he'll be ready. We're just playing at school right now anyway. It's a way for him to be a part of the big kid crowd.

And then today came.

A LONG time ago, I picked up some educational placemats that have been sitting in my closet for years. Samuel found those and that was what he wanted to do for school.  I thought they were a little too old for him, but I figured it was just dry erase markers anyway, why not let him try. Surprise, surprise...Samuel is ready for Kindergarten.

These were all done on his very first try...

I hadn't even thought to teach Samuel how to WRITE his name...until today, he hadn't even been able to trace a square.  But when he showed me that he could write these numbers, I thought, 'hmm...why not?'

Here is what he did on his very first attempt...without an ounce of help from me:

 

So, I am very sad to state that I have been WAY underestimating my baby boy.  I'm still not going to push him to read or do school everyday, but when he does do school, we will be doing more than just matching shapes!

Boys and Big Words

(Shortly after finding out that Samuel had snuck into our bedroom and sprayed out half a can of Lysol that was sitting on my nightstand. Ever since we allowed him to play with a can of silly string, he has been fascinated by all things aerosol. Granted, the Lysol should have been put away, but that's not the point...)

Mommy: "Samuel, how would you feel if Mommy and Daddy took your stuff? You wouldn't like it, would you? What if I took Blankie from you? Would you like that?"

Samuel: "No! Don't take Blankie! She's fragile!"


...


(Walking through the produce section of the grocery store...)

Connor: "Mom, why don't you ever buy green bell peppers?"

Mommy: "Because you're the only one who eats them."

Connor: "That's because I'm a peppertarian."


Isn't he clever?

Little Optimist

Samuel was working on his preschool assignment. The instructions were: "Circle the face that shows how you would feel." Under the directions, there were four pictures, each with a "happy face" and a "sad face" beneath. The first two were easy. There was a picture of a girl blowing out a birthday cake. Samuel chose "happy". Then there was a picture of a girl opening a present. Samuel chose "happy" again because, "she's getting new stuff!"

After that things got a bit more difficult...

Picture: A little boy looks surprised as his sand castle gets washed away by a wave.

Mommy: "How does this boy feel? Is he happy or sad?"

Samuel: "Happy."

Mommy: "Why would you say he is happy?"

Samuel: "Because he gets to build another sand castle."

Mommy: "Oh. Okay. But how does he feel now?"

Samuel: "Sad."

Mommy: "Okay. Circle the correct face."

Samuel circles the sad face.

...

Picture: A little boy looks surprised as one of the rear tires falls off his tricycle.

Mommy: "How does this boy feel?"

Samuel: "Happy."

Mommy: "Why do you think he feels happy?"

Samuel: "Because he can tell his daddy and his daddy will fix the tire and he can ride his bike tomorrow!"

Man, I love that boy!

Playing Hookie

Connor came upstairs with TWO backpacks on his back and the following note written on the Magnadoodle:

Dear Mom,


I am leaving home today at 1:00 to tell people about God.


Love, 


Connor

Then we had the following conversation:

Mommy: "No you're not."

Connor: "But MOM! I need to tell people about God so they can know about Him!"

Mommy: "Well, God wants us to tell people about God where we are at too."

Connor: "But MOM! I have my Bible packed in my backpack already so if people have questions about God, I can show them in the Bible."
 
Mommy: "Okay. You can tell people about God the next time we go somewhere, but at 1:00 today, we will be doing afternoon school."


Nice try.