My faithful fan that I've had for several years now finally broke last week. I loved my fan and really wanted another one, especially before Conan comes because we use box fans for white noise regardless of the season. (By the way, some of the questions on this Walmart answers page about this fan REALLY make me glad I homeschool...)
Daddy went to the store and bought me a new fan the day it broke. It is the exact same fan, which caused the children some confusion because Daddy put the old fan back in the new fan's box and they couldn't figure out why we had two fans and they couldn't play with the box. Really. They questioned this for two days at varying times until I finally just threw the thing into the dumpster. (We ran out of trash bags and I wasn't able to go to the store. I was cleaning out my closet, so I had a pile of holey jeans that needed to be thrown away and I am the type of person that only likes to make one trip so I waited until I had trash bags to take the fan out...you may call me lazy now, but that's why the garbage sat in my room for two days. But I digress...)
Ariana came into my room this morning and began raving about the new fan. "It's so beautiful! The old one was not nearly as pretty. It was covered in dust!"
Sadly, I had to clarify. "That's because we never dusted it."
"Oh."
Apparently dust is considered a decoration in my home...
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Pregnancy Dreams
I've been having very vivid dreams this pregnancy. There was one a few weeks ago where I dreamed I went to visit Steph at the hospital and the doctors wouldn't let her take her baby home because they wanted to make sure that she and her husband liked the name Abel (the name of their baby due the same time as ours). I woke up quite angry from that dream.
This morning I had a very involved dream where I was building a house with some organization like Habitat for Humanity with a bunch of twenty-somethings (and yes, I was as pregnant as I am now). After working all day, the group decided to go to a club. All 30 of us packed into a small car, drove through McDonalds so the driver could get a shake, and then drove to the club, which was still being furnished. Before the club owner would let me in (my lockermate from high school), she forced me to eat an apple slice with some sort of spicy, sugary dip on it, claiming that I would love it. I didn't. But I smiled and said thank you anyway.
I searched through the crowd and finally found my husband sitting in Steph's overstuffed chair in the back of the club talking to a group of guys. I immediately went and sat in his lap and cuddled up to him. It was the best feeling in the world, snuggling up to my husband. I had missed him! All was right in the world. He cuddled me back, but kept up the conversation he was having with the guys about some remodeling needed on the club. Then Thor got up and took his hammer to some nails sticking out of the floor, leaving a large tube sticking out of the floor. My husband pointed out that he (my husband) was going to sink the light in the floor so people wouldn't trip on it and not to worry about it.
Then Samuel yell-whispered "Happy Birthday!" in my ear and told me to come play with the birthday present he gave me. Although my husband was lying right next to me, it still felt horrible uncuddling from him and coming back to the real world. But one look at my sweet son's face and I melted. Waking up to children who are excited to see you just because they love you is the best feeling in the world!
This morning I had a very involved dream where I was building a house with some organization like Habitat for Humanity with a bunch of twenty-somethings (and yes, I was as pregnant as I am now). After working all day, the group decided to go to a club. All 30 of us packed into a small car, drove through McDonalds so the driver could get a shake, and then drove to the club, which was still being furnished. Before the club owner would let me in (my lockermate from high school), she forced me to eat an apple slice with some sort of spicy, sugary dip on it, claiming that I would love it. I didn't. But I smiled and said thank you anyway.
I searched through the crowd and finally found my husband sitting in Steph's overstuffed chair in the back of the club talking to a group of guys. I immediately went and sat in his lap and cuddled up to him. It was the best feeling in the world, snuggling up to my husband. I had missed him! All was right in the world. He cuddled me back, but kept up the conversation he was having with the guys about some remodeling needed on the club. Then Thor got up and took his hammer to some nails sticking out of the floor, leaving a large tube sticking out of the floor. My husband pointed out that he (my husband) was going to sink the light in the floor so people wouldn't trip on it and not to worry about it.
Then Samuel yell-whispered "Happy Birthday!" in my ear and told me to come play with the birthday present he gave me. Although my husband was lying right next to me, it still felt horrible uncuddling from him and coming back to the real world. But one look at my sweet son's face and I melted. Waking up to children who are excited to see you just because they love you is the best feeling in the world!
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Thursday, May 9, 2013
What's In A Name?
William
Ian
Elias
Liam
Ezekial
Nathaniel
Josiah
Timothy
Simeon
Alexander
Judah All of these are great names with excellent meanings ranging from "strong-willed protector" to "the LORD saves" to "Praise, Thanksgiving"...great meanings. Most of these names (I thought) also met my husband's criteria of an "uncommon" name. But alas, each of these names were rejected in the search for the perfect name for our newest baby boy.
Instead, my darling husband was seriously choosing names such as:
Jakob
Buckster
And names with apostrophes.
No.
So, finally, my husband and I sat down at a baby name website and entered in the search criteria: "boy names", "Welsh, Irish, or Gaelic," "must have origin" and "must have a meaning."
Daddy: "How about Aodhan?"
Mommy: "no"
Daddy: "Bartley?"
Mommy: "no"
Daddy: "Braendan?"
Mommy: "no"
Daddy: "Aiden?"
Mommy: "Okay."
Daddy: "No. That's too common. ... How about Aodan?"
Mommy: "no"
Daddy: "How about Banan? No...that means 'white'... How about Bleddyn?"
Mommy: "no"
Daddy: "Cathaoir? It means 'guard'..."
Mommy: "no"
Daddy: (getting excited) "Conan!"
Mommy: "Like the barbarian?"
Daddy: "Yeeaahhh!"
silence
Daddy: "If he ends up as big as Samuel, that will be a perfect name for him!"
silence
Daddy: "That's not a 'no.'"
Mommy: "What does it mean?"
Daddy: "Intelligent, swift-footed warrior. Or wolf-lover."
Mommy: "I like that first meaning..."
Daddy: "Let's just try it out for a while and see."
And that is how our baby came to be named Conan Lester (Lester after both of our maternal grandfathers).
Surprisingly enough, most people we tell the name to really like it. Especially men. Many have already decided when he becomes of age they will call him Conan the Destroyer.
My mom was not a huge fan of the name because it immediately brought to mind Conan O'Brian (who I think is pretty funny as far as late night talk show hosts go). She thinks he is funny looking, but I don't think he's that bad...I used to have a crush on him in high school ;-).
But my first thought was always Conan the Barbarian (you can think my dad for the many "man" movies I watched growing up). Although, to be clear, it will be pronounced "Co-NUN", not "Co-NAN".
And as my friend, Amber, pointed out...what little guy wouldn't want to be named after Conan the Barbarian?
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Boo
Honor enjoys sneaking up behind Samuel and shouting "boo," prompting the following comment from her little brother:
"Mom, I was going to tell Honor I wasn't afraid of her, but I didn't have the nerve."
"Mom, I was going to tell Honor I wasn't afraid of her, but I didn't have the nerve."
Friday, May 3, 2013
Mommy and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day
Our church is part of a group of churches that supports the camp our children will eventually attend, which is about four hours from where we live. Long story short, they are using volunteers to build up the camp and our church decided they would go this week to help. Well, it turned out only a few members were able to go. I asked my husband last Sunday why he didn't volunteer and he told me he thought it would be too hard for me (I tend to get pretty exhausted by the end of the day with this pregnancy). I told him I could manage and encouraged him to go since he is very skilled in this area. He told me that he would wait and see if he was needed. Tuesday his dad called and said they needed an electrician, which my husband can do well. Since I had already given him my approval, my husband decided to go up Thursday evening through Saturday morning to help out.
Thursday my niece and nephew stayed late for school and the chickens got out of their coop four times. The new ducks and chicken we got over the weekend did not want to go into the new coop that my husband had built before he left. And the horses did not want to go into the arena for bed.
However, thankfully before he left, my husband had taken it upon himself to ask our brother-in-law to put the goats away at night, saving me from complete exhaustion.
Today I woke up to no internet. I had wanted to print out some math races for Honor and Connor as well as some new calendars this morning, but that didn't happen. When I told the children that the internet was out, they immediately reminded me that Friday is "Adventures from the Book of Virtues" day for devotions. It is something they look forward to all week. I choose an episode beforehand so I know the topic (Honesty, integrity, generosity, humility...), then I look up Bible passages that cover those topics. Then we watch the episode and discuss again what the Bible had to say once it's over. It's their favorite day for devotions because they get to watch tv during school. I spent an hour on the phone with the internet company and finally got an appointment for between 3 and 5. When the kids found out the internet repair guy wouldn't be coming until after school and we would have to do "normal" devotions, they were very upset.
After I got off the phone, I went to release the ducks from their new house. They were too scared to walk down the ramp. Thankfully they eventually walked down, after their "mama chicken" came out first.
Despite being told repeatedly not to climb the trees in our backyard because they are not strong enough to support the kids' weight, Samuel climbed one of the orange trees and scraped his arm while I was in milking the goats. Thankfully, he learned that climbing in the tree causes scrapes and he might not do it again for a while.
Despite being told that he is not to feed our baby goat without adult supervision, Ariana gave Connor the bottle (again, while I was finishing milking the goats) and he squeezed it, cracking it. It was our only bottle. Thankfully, the nipple fits onto a 2 liter bottle just fine and we had one in the garage refrigerator.
Both boys had discussions about how disobeying causes problems. They've heard it all before...
About quarter til 11, I finally had a chance to check the internet again. It was quickly discovered that Oscar the cat had chewed through the ethernet wire. While I was in the shop looking for another ethernet cable, the internet guy showed up. I explained to him that I thought I'd figured out the cause of the internet outage and that I hadn't had time to call the company to cancel the appointment, but that I didn't want to get charged since I did figure it out before 3, which was when he was supposed to come. He graciously supplied an ethernet cord and told me he wouldn't charge us.
Shortly after he left, I looked at my pasture and realized the goats had gotten into a fenced off area of Ash trees. Stinkin' goats! I hurried in there and threw them over the fence. They jumped back through the hole they'd gotten in in the first place. Thankfully the man who helps with our landscaping and yardwork (amongst other things) was there and he was able to patch up the hole after we threw them back out two or three more times.
The last Friday of the month is "Dollar Store Day". If the kiddos worked diligently every day during schooltime for that month, they earn an item of their choice from the Dollar Store. It's a big deal. Not everyone gets it every month (for various reasons), but it is definitely an incentive. Since I knew I would be exhausted by the end of today and I would still have to do all the chores, etc., I decided to take the kids earlier in the day rather than after school and we would get lunch out as well.
The children loved me.
After turning out of our neighborhood, I noticed a sheriff car behind me. I had a bad premonition...but then again, police cars make me nervous ever since a highway patrolman pulled me over and cursed me out a few years back. "KIDS! Stop turning around! Sit under your seatbelt! DON'T MOVE! I don't want to give this police officer any reason to pull me over!" (My children were all legally buckled in, but the new seatbelt laws in AZ give police the right to pull people over under suspicion of not being belted in correctly and, as I said, police cars make me nervous...) I drove exactly the speed limit because he was right behind me. I stopped at every stop sign. I obeyed all the traffic laws. And yet, he pulled me over!
I rolled down my window with my license handy and waited for him to come up. I was proud of myself--no shaking at all.
As anticipated, he asked for license and registration. "I'm sorry, sir, but what did I do wrong?"
"I was just getting to that. Are you aware that your tags are outdated?"
My jaw dropped. "No. I was NOT aware. I did not get an e-mail or a letter. I'm very diligent about turning those things in. We have several vehicles...well, I only have this one, but total we have several vehicles and we're always getting registration warnings in my e-mail and I did not get one for this vehicle. I just didn't even think to check because I always get the emails," I rambled as I searched through my glovebox for my registration. I finally found it and, yes, my tags had expired in February. Ugh.
Thankfully, he believed me and he was nice and only gave me a warning, letting me know that a citation for this is normally $625. Unfortunately, that meant we were not going to make it the Dollar Store because I wasn't going to risk it.
The children were not as merciful as I would have hoped.
However, McDonald's was right there and I felt that it was safe enough to get the kids Happy Meals. They loved me again. But as we were getting out of the car at home, Honor dropped her Sprite all over the back of the truck. Which is why A. we rarely get pop, and B. we never let the kids have it in the car. Sigh.
Upon returning home, the horses were in the goat shed and two more chickens had gotten out. Thankfully, I think I found the hole they were using. I think.
Also, upon returning home, the children discovered that a baby grackle had fallen from the tree. The violent parents quickly decided to attack my sweet, innocent children as they approached said birdie. Thankfully no one got hurt. The kids were not allowed to play outside again the rest of the day.
Since the internet was back on, we were able to continue with the original devotional plan.
I may have taken a nap during the story part.
I opted to take the day off of school and the children played in the basement for two hours. Thankfully, my brother-in-law picked up his kiddos a little early today.
...
I miss my husband!
Thursday my niece and nephew stayed late for school and the chickens got out of their coop four times. The new ducks and chicken we got over the weekend did not want to go into the new coop that my husband had built before he left. And the horses did not want to go into the arena for bed.
However, thankfully before he left, my husband had taken it upon himself to ask our brother-in-law to put the goats away at night, saving me from complete exhaustion.
Today I woke up to no internet. I had wanted to print out some math races for Honor and Connor as well as some new calendars this morning, but that didn't happen. When I told the children that the internet was out, they immediately reminded me that Friday is "Adventures from the Book of Virtues" day for devotions. It is something they look forward to all week. I choose an episode beforehand so I know the topic (Honesty, integrity, generosity, humility...), then I look up Bible passages that cover those topics. Then we watch the episode and discuss again what the Bible had to say once it's over. It's their favorite day for devotions because they get to watch tv during school. I spent an hour on the phone with the internet company and finally got an appointment for between 3 and 5. When the kids found out the internet repair guy wouldn't be coming until after school and we would have to do "normal" devotions, they were very upset.
After I got off the phone, I went to release the ducks from their new house. They were too scared to walk down the ramp. Thankfully they eventually walked down, after their "mama chicken" came out first.
Despite being told repeatedly not to climb the trees in our backyard because they are not strong enough to support the kids' weight, Samuel climbed one of the orange trees and scraped his arm while I was in milking the goats. Thankfully, he learned that climbing in the tree causes scrapes and he might not do it again for a while.
Despite being told that he is not to feed our baby goat without adult supervision, Ariana gave Connor the bottle (again, while I was finishing milking the goats) and he squeezed it, cracking it. It was our only bottle. Thankfully, the nipple fits onto a 2 liter bottle just fine and we had one in the garage refrigerator.
Both boys had discussions about how disobeying causes problems. They've heard it all before...
About quarter til 11, I finally had a chance to check the internet again. It was quickly discovered that Oscar the cat had chewed through the ethernet wire. While I was in the shop looking for another ethernet cable, the internet guy showed up. I explained to him that I thought I'd figured out the cause of the internet outage and that I hadn't had time to call the company to cancel the appointment, but that I didn't want to get charged since I did figure it out before 3, which was when he was supposed to come. He graciously supplied an ethernet cord and told me he wouldn't charge us.
Shortly after he left, I looked at my pasture and realized the goats had gotten into a fenced off area of Ash trees. Stinkin' goats! I hurried in there and threw them over the fence. They jumped back through the hole they'd gotten in in the first place. Thankfully the man who helps with our landscaping and yardwork (amongst other things) was there and he was able to patch up the hole after we threw them back out two or three more times.
The last Friday of the month is "Dollar Store Day". If the kiddos worked diligently every day during schooltime for that month, they earn an item of their choice from the Dollar Store. It's a big deal. Not everyone gets it every month (for various reasons), but it is definitely an incentive. Since I knew I would be exhausted by the end of today and I would still have to do all the chores, etc., I decided to take the kids earlier in the day rather than after school and we would get lunch out as well.
The children loved me.
After turning out of our neighborhood, I noticed a sheriff car behind me. I had a bad premonition...but then again, police cars make me nervous ever since a highway patrolman pulled me over and cursed me out a few years back. "KIDS! Stop turning around! Sit under your seatbelt! DON'T MOVE! I don't want to give this police officer any reason to pull me over!" (My children were all legally buckled in, but the new seatbelt laws in AZ give police the right to pull people over under suspicion of not being belted in correctly and, as I said, police cars make me nervous...) I drove exactly the speed limit because he was right behind me. I stopped at every stop sign. I obeyed all the traffic laws. And yet, he pulled me over!
I rolled down my window with my license handy and waited for him to come up. I was proud of myself--no shaking at all.
As anticipated, he asked for license and registration. "I'm sorry, sir, but what did I do wrong?"
"I was just getting to that. Are you aware that your tags are outdated?"
My jaw dropped. "No. I was NOT aware. I did not get an e-mail or a letter. I'm very diligent about turning those things in. We have several vehicles...well, I only have this one, but total we have several vehicles and we're always getting registration warnings in my e-mail and I did not get one for this vehicle. I just didn't even think to check because I always get the emails," I rambled as I searched through my glovebox for my registration. I finally found it and, yes, my tags had expired in February. Ugh.
Thankfully, he believed me and he was nice and only gave me a warning, letting me know that a citation for this is normally $625. Unfortunately, that meant we were not going to make it the Dollar Store because I wasn't going to risk it.
The children were not as merciful as I would have hoped.
However, McDonald's was right there and I felt that it was safe enough to get the kids Happy Meals. They loved me again. But as we were getting out of the car at home, Honor dropped her Sprite all over the back of the truck. Which is why A. we rarely get pop, and B. we never let the kids have it in the car. Sigh.
Upon returning home, the horses were in the goat shed and two more chickens had gotten out. Thankfully, I think I found the hole they were using. I think.
Also, upon returning home, the children discovered that a baby grackle had fallen from the tree. The violent parents quickly decided to attack my sweet, innocent children as they approached said birdie. Thankfully no one got hurt. The kids were not allowed to play outside again the rest of the day.
Since the internet was back on, we were able to continue with the original devotional plan.
I may have taken a nap during the story part.
I opted to take the day off of school and the children played in the basement for two hours. Thankfully, my brother-in-law picked up his kiddos a little early today.
...
I miss my husband!
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