Siri

Mommy: "Siri, tell Husband that I'm on my way home."

Siri: " Okay. Is the message ready to send?"

Mommy: "Yes, please.  Thank you."

Siri: "Just doing my job."

Kids: "Wow! It must be nice to have Siri to talk to when you get lonely."

Hmm... That Explains It

For our Christmas Concert at the dance studio, I decided to combine my Musical Theater classes and choreograph a dance to "Do You Hear What I Hear."  My younger class will be acting out the song...one is the night wind, one is a little lamb, one is a star, one is a shepherd boy, Ariana is the mighty king, and another little girl is Mary holding baby Jesus.

In class today, I had the following conversation with the girl playing Mary (with input from my girls):

Mary: "Who am I again?"

Me: "Mary."

Mary: "And how does that fit the song again?"

Me: "She's baby Jesus' mommy."

Mary: "And will everyone else know that?"

Ariana: "Yeah! We saw it in a movie!"

Honor: "No, Ariana, it's in the Bible."

Ariana: "Yeah! It's in the Bible!"

Mary: "And she's important?"

Me: "Yes. The song is about baby Jesus and she's His mom."

Mary: "Oh. Okay!"


Turns out the child who's playing Mary is Jewish...

Waiting...

I should be going in to the hospital any time now to be induced to give birth to my little Conan.  I'm not a huge fan of induction, but my blood pressure is starting to go up and my feet are swollen 90% of the time making it at times painful to just sit. Not to mention the carpel tunnel that has been there for a few months that I am ready to be rid of...

Anyway...

The hospital has been busy today so the induction has been pushed back, which is an answer to prayer as I asked God to push it back if my body wasn't ready.  We'll see what happens.

In the meantime, this song has been running through my head:





This verse in particular has special meaning for me today:

No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow'r of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow'r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow'r of Christ I'll stand.

List Done

I mentioned a few posts back that I had a list of things I wanted to accomplish before Conan arrives...well here is the list:

Clean my side of the bedroom so I have a nice place to set up the rocking chair and bassinet--DONE
Clean my bathroom... because it was gross--DONE
Clean out my junk drawer--DONE
Clean out and organize Conan's eventual room--DONE
Write thank you notes for gifts already received--DONE (I think...)
Sort through baby clothes--DONE
Wash all baby toys that the big kids no longer play with--DONE
Clean out the hall closet so I can easily fit my vacuum inside--DONE
Clean up my kitchen--DONE
Keep up on laundry, dishes, sweeping, dusting--DONE
Clean up and vacuum my office floor (otherwise known as the cat room)--DONE
Vacuum the couch--DONE
Submit my newest article for my writing class--DONE
Write letters to Honor and Connor for their 9th birthday--DONE
Prepare and wrap gifts for the kiddos from Conan for when I go into the hospital--DONE
Finish the chapter on the Skeletal System with the kiddos for science--DONE
Find a new place for all of Connor and Honor's new toys--DONE


I think that my list of things is complete.  You will no longer find rooms of hidden junk anywhere in the house (well, except on Daddy's side of the bed because I don't know what to do with all that stuff). Yes, there is more that I could do, but these were the things that I absolutely wanted accomplished first.  And they are. 

So bring on the kiddo!!!

Annoyed

There's a joke that Brian Regan does about how people think the world revolves around them.  Whenever anyone cuts in line or does something inconsiderate, Daddy will quote it.  

Here it is for your reference:

http://youtu.be/NV_V3aDERrE?t=3m46s

It is surprising to me how often people think the world revolves around them.  I am not quite as annoyed by the people who are blind to the others around them (because sometimes people have a lot on their mind) as much as I am bothered by people who complain at the drop of a hat.

Today at McDonalds, I was bothered.

As Connor and I walked in, we noticed a little girl--probably around Samuel's age--running over to the drink machine. She failed to notice the water on the floor and fell on her rear end.  She immediately began crying, but otherwise was unhurt.  No more than 30 seconds later, the employee, who already walked by with a mop, returned with a "Caution, Wet Floor" sign.  It was obvious that she had already been in the process of cleaning up the mess, but had been slowed down by the crowd of people waiting in line.

Another 30 seconds later, another woman appeared and saw the girl crying. 

"What happened?" she asked the child's mom.

"She fell on the water on the floor. They didn't have a sign out here or anything!" The mom explained irately.

Pointing to the sign, "you didn't see this sign?"

"It wasn't there! They just now put it up." (less than a minute later in a crowded restaurant...)

So, the woman immediately marched up in front of the line of people and demanded to speak to the manager.  The manager came over right away and the woman announced in a nasty voice, "my granddaughter just fell over by the drink machine because you didn't put up your sign soon enough!"

I have no idea how the manager replied because there were too many people between me and the woman, but I was irritated enough at that point to want to speak some common sense to the woman (I'm 9 months pregnant and perhaps my emotions are a bit on edge...).

What I wanted to say was:


"Excuse me, Ma'am, but I witnessed the fall and subsequent sign distribution.  It is obvious to me that the McDonald's employee was in the process of cleaning up the mess and placing a sign there as a warning when your granddaughter slipped and fell. Unfortunately, the employee is not God and therefore is not omniscient.  She could only clean up the mess once she learned of it and had no idea your granddaughter would go running across the restaurant before she had the opportunity to place up her sign.  Since you are psychic and can predict the future, please feel free to inform the employee beforehand next time because by definition, an accident means that it was unexpected and unintentional.  Your granddaughter did not even bruise her tailbone.  Please go back to your business and encourage your granddaughter to be more cautious when walking and stop wasting everyone else's time. Thank you."

I am sure my facial expression would have done the trick had they bothered to notice anyone else around them...

Removing a Symbol

This morning I did something that I haven't done in over eleven years...I removed my wedding ring.  Yes, I have taken it off periodically to clean it, but those times never lasted for more than an hour and it was returned as soon as possible to its rightful place on the ring finger on my left hand. I hate taking it off. I actually cried this morning.  Really. 

It could have something to do with my pregnancy hormones though...

I have never been much of a ring person. My fingers are short and stumpy and I always felt rings accentuated that fact.  That was, until my husband gave me my engagement ring. It was perfect. It made me feel special. I had been chosen. I am loved. Yes, I know, God chose me and loved me first--I'm not trying to minimize that--but being the wife of my husband has always been a source of pride for me (and I mean that in the non-bragging, "I adore him" way). I think my husband is amazing and I am so thankful that he thinks similar loving thoughts about me.  The engagement/wedding ring he gave me symbolizes that love without end--that no matter how rough life gets, no matter how many arguments we have, no matter what is going on around us, our love will continue on. And I had to take it off.

I didn't have to take it off with Honor.  I swelled, but mostly the swelling was kept in my ankles and only happened in the last few weeks. 

I didn't have to take if off with Samuel.  I don't think I had any swelling with him at all--if so, it was minimal.

But with both of my other pregnancies, the summer temperatures didn't get up past 110* EVERY DAY.  I wasn't doing farm chores, taking kids to swimming lessons, dancing lessons, and still trying to maintain a semblance of a clean home.  With the other two, I wasn't drinking over 100 ounces of water a day and still feeling thirsty when I went to bed at night. No matter how hard I try, I just can't keep up with the liquid demands this summer is putting on my body.

Last Sunday I wore dress socks to church.  It was the first time I'd noticed the swelling. On the drive home I decided that my feet and legs were uncomfortable, so I took my shoes and socks off.  Over 30 minutes later, I laid down for a nap and scratched my ankle. There were deep gouges in my legs where the tops of my socks had been.  You know, the type of gouges you get when you wrap a rubber band around your wrist too tightly...only deeper. My legs had swelled. They weren't cankles, but they were noticeably thicker.

Last night my hands started to hurt.  I didn't tell my husband, but I noticed that my ring was extremely tight. I quickly went to bed to cool off my body.  This morning I made the difficult decision to remove the ring. I had to do it before getting out of bed because even a few minutes of being up and about would make it tighten to the point where I wouldn't be able to get it off for the rest of the day. By the time Conan is born, that finger will lose its tell-tale ring line and it will be as if there was never a ring there.  I hate that.  HATE. IT. 

My husband understands.  He, very logically, stated that it is better to take it off than to have to cut it off later. Which, of course, is why I did it.  But I feel naked without it. 

I will make the most of this time by getting it cleaned, and the prongs built up and tightened, but I don't have to enjoy it.

I miss my ring.

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!

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!

Late Easter Post

This evening I attended a cake baking class hosted by a friend and taught by a friend (Rebecca from Blessed Bakes...you must check out the photos on her FB page!) who happens to be an EXCELLENT cake baker (pastry chef??? cake artist??? I'm not sure what you'd call her--she's just GOOD!).

ANYWAY...

Basically, at the class/dinner party, we had the opportunity of learning the ins and outs of cake baking and how to avoid the common pitfalls that people like myself never make. Because we all know I am awesome and would never make anything less than spectacular. (Those of you who have tasted my made-from-a-box cakes and from-a-tube frosting can stop laughing now). During her demonstration, I was reminded of Easter.

What does cake baking have to do with Easter?  Well...let me tell you what has happened for the last three Easters in a row...

It started with Resurrection cookies. The first year I focused mostly on the Scripture references; making sure I had all of the Bible verses printed out and ready to go as the kids helped me pour in the ingredients. I made sure all the ingredients were laid out on the counter and pre-measured to ensure a "happy" experience with all the kiddos grabby little hands. As we went through the story, we dumped in the ingredients...without actually looking at anything other than the preheat temperature in the actual recipe. We placed the nuts right in and then I remembered reading something about folding. Suffice it to say, that year's cookies did not come out like empty tombs. They were tasty, but they were flat and relatively hard. 

The next year I tried the Resurrection cookies again. I read through the recipe several times in preparation for baking these with my children sitting happily around the kitchen island. I knew what I'd done wrong last year and was not about to repeat that mistake. I followed the instructions very carefully, but I had no idea what a "stiff peak" was supposed to look like. I beat the mixture for 15 minutes, just as the recipe called for, but I either over-did it or under-did it because, again, when I opened the oven door the next morning, the cookies were flat. (Thankfully Rebecca kindly demonstrated the proper consistency of meringue and I think I can avoid my faux pas again...maybe)

So, this year, I opted for Resurrection Rolls instead. Five super easy ingredients. There was no way I was messing this one up!  I skimmed through the recipe and was certain I knew exactly what to do. What could be simpler? Samuel helped me place "Jesus" in each of the tombs and I sealed up the tombs making sure all crevices were sealed tightly per the instructions.  Then we placed them in the oven and waited.

"Jesus" had melted all over the bottom of the pan and all of my tombs were flat!  AGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What on earth did I do wrong THIS time???

I read through the instructions carefully. OH. That's it. So the butter, cinnamon/sugar mixture was only supposed to cover the marshmallow.  That explains what it was so hard for me to seal the tombs.

Sigh. 

So when Rebecca reminded each of us to carefully read the instructions all the way through before beginning, I knew EXACTLY what she was talking about. Three years in a row I've ruined Easter breakfast.

Or at least I did in my mind. I wanted it to be perfect. But you know what?  My children certainly didn't care.  For them it was all a treat...because they did taste good. All three years they were tasty...just ugly. To my children, it was an opportunity to show them that Mommy makes mistakes--things don't always work according to plan, but we can make the most of it. The real blessing of those Easter mistakes was the opportunity to share special time with my children discussing the true meaning of the Resurrection...which was the whole point to begin with.

And they can't wait to try again next year!

Not to be morbid, but...

Am I the only one who thinks about what songs I want played at my funeral?  I never really thought about the songs I wanted played at my wedding until after I was engaged, but I've always thought about what songs I want at my funeral.  "How Great Thou Art" is a must. Also, if my family could stand it, I'd sure like "Amazing Grace" on bagpipes...but that would be hard to find I think. I'm adding this song into the mix. It sure fits how I feel every morning when I do chores and every night after the kids go to bed...and how I'm sure I'll feel as I get to meet my Savior face to face.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPwYyj6uR1U

2:30 A.M.

I was having a nice dream. I don't remember what exactly, but I remember that it was good and I was very comfortable.

And then it happened.

"mom..."

Thinking it was part of my dream, I just added it right in there and continued to sleep soundly.

"Mom..."

Boy, my new Snoogle is comfortable.  It's like sleeping in a nest of clouds.

"MOM..." and a cold nose touches mine, because Ariana thinks she's a kitten and obviously the best way to wake up mama cat is to nuzzle her nose.  It did the trick.

"What is it, Ariana?" I whisper, trying hard not to wake up Daddy.

"I'm thirsty. I need a drink of water."

"Then. Go. Get. One."  My 2:30 a.m. mommy skills are not the most patient.

She leaves the room and turns on all the lights in the living room. Knowing that her cup is sitting there on the kitchen table, I give her a minute to drink and turn the lights back off before heading downstairs. 

Five minutes pass and the lights are still burning brightly in our bedroom.

I leave my Snoogle.

As I enter the living room, Ariana exits the bathroom. "What are you doing?"

"I had to go to the bathroom before I could drink my water."  (enter subtext of 'and play with things in there while I'm at it...')

"There's your water, Ariana. Drink up and get back to bed. Now."

She does. 

Of course, now I have to pee.  Got to love pregnancy.  And while I'm on the toilet, I think back to how much water I drank today because dehydration is a big thing for me and it's really bad when you're pregnant. I remember drinking 20 oz. in the morning before devotions and then heading over to Steph's. She was kind enough to give me a bottle of water because she was watching out for my baby's safety (and her unborn baby's...two days apart).  Then I drank a caffeine-free pop...because the kids dumped foam peanuts ALL over the basement where we do school and they broke into little pieces and I can't handle that mess so I needed sugar to calm me down.  Then I drank another 20 oz of water....maybe two.

Wait. 

Steph gave me a bottle of water.  Which reminded me of this Facebook status she wrote the day before:

I just caught Evie peeing on a 24-pack of water bottles sitting in our hallway. You'll be happy to know she inherited my sleep-walking tendencies

Um. Yeah.  Dehydration suddenly isn't sounding so bad.

Months

Here is how I explain months to my children:

January is Evie's birthday.
February is Valentine's Day.
March is Uncle Tad's birthday, St. Patty's Day and Easter.
April is Grandma's birthday, and Aunt Alisa's birthday.
May is Mommy's birthday, Mother's Day, Grandma in Iowa's birthday, and Abi's birthday.
June is Grandpa's birthday, Father's Day, Aunt Steph's birthday, and Samuel's birthday.
July is Independence Day and Daddy's birthday.
August is Honor and Connor's birthday, Grandpa in Iowa's birthday, and the baby's birthday.
September is Luke's birthday.
October is Harvest Month.
November is Thanksgiving and Ariana's birthday.
December is Uncle Chris' birthday and Christmas.


Right now August is the kids' favorite month (beside January, June, September, and November)

Morning Sickness

Related to that last post...

Although I am very blessed to not suffer too badly from morning sickness, insomuch as I rarely feel the need to actually vomit, the constant nausea is not very pleasant.  There are very few things more distasteful than being forced to eat when you feel like your stomach is twisting in knots, for the express purpose of NOT vomiting.

Been wanting to say that for a few weeks now.  I feel better...mentally anyway.

Please Pray

One of my dearest friends lost her mother tonight to pancreatic cancer. Margo was an amazing mom and a lovely woman with a ready smile and a kind heart. If her daughters were all I knew about her, I would know that she was a godly woman with a servant's heart who left a long legacy of joy behind her. She will be dearly missed even as we rejoice that she is now in Heaven. Please pray with me for comfort for my friends, Amy and Sara.

Thank you.

Russia??? Really???

I just looked up my page stats and found an interesting statistic. I have more views from people in Russia than I do from people in the United States. Now, I'm not quite sure how they came up with the number of page views because it is showing that I have 36 page views from Russia and 33 page views from the US (as well as 2 from Canada (Hi Kimberly), and 1 each from China, Philippines, Singapore--thank you Vivienne!), but those page view numbers don't match my total page views.  

However, that is not the point.

I don't know anyone from Russia.

I don't think anyway.

So...  

To the person or people who are reading my blog from Russia: will you please make yourself known to me in the comments.  

I would love to know who you are.

Fascinating.

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.

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.

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...)

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.