I Should Be Knitting

Well, it's true, I should be knitting. The house is quiet, I am feeling slightly euphoric from having some success selling jeans on eBay, but remembered I hadn't been on here for a while and should do a post! Why should I knit you ask, well it is because at long last I am finishing up the sleeveless dress for R! I am so sick of looking at lavender yarn that I have been pushing myself to get this project done!! Itlooks to be big enough that she can wear it with a shirt under it come this fall, which is a very good thing, seeing as she will be wearing it weekly til she outgrows it!! :) I think I started this project back in March, and considering that I only get it out to work on it for about an hour a day, I'm not doing too bad.

Yesterday was a bit cooler and it felt like the verge of fall. I was so happy to wear jeans comfortably the entire day! I love the changing of the seasons, it's like life begins all fresh again.

School is going okay. I hesitate to say well because I feel like it is barely controlled chaos most mornings. We converted the "office/sewing room/guest room" into the "school room" and it is crowded. I'd love to move the futon out of there to have some more space. A. is doing well and loving 1st grade, especially homework time with Daddy. G. is starting to figure out the ABC's, although for some reason the letter "I" really stumps her. Today I was trying to give her a hint by pointing to my eye and she looked at me and asked if my eyeball was hurting and when I said no, I giving you a hint, she says I know, "m" for make-up! I gave up after that!!

After the first MOPS is under our belt I think that we will start potty training in earnest with Miss R. She is starting to figure a few things about the process. She is talking more than ever and we have some pretty sweet conversations with her. Before bed (especially if I've had to run out before bed) she likes to tell me about her evening. And she loves to list who kissed her before bed, Daddy, Jing Jing (A or G's name), Murray, Jackson, and Mama. It's so cute. Especially since she doesn't say kiss, she puckers up and makes the sound! My favorite of her new words is "boob", which is her word for "bib". Kinda caught me off guard at first, but now just gives me a little laugh!

It's Been Awhile

Well, it has been awhile since I've had a couple of minutes to sit and blog. The past week or so has been a blur of sick kids and pre-fall busyness. A. got hit a couple weeks ago by what I thought was a version of a cold that I was getting over, only hers turned into this fever/sore throat thing. So much so that I took her in to the doc (thankfully the co-pay cured her!). Anyway, so then it was G's turn. She didn't get nearly as sick thankfully, but still had the (as she put it) forehead and neck pain. So just as she is getting over the crud, you got it, R comes down with it. Only instead of a lingering fever she goes straight into this horrible croupy smoker's cough. She gave us several sleepless nights and close-to a trip to the ER. She scared years off of my life I am convinced! I finally gave up sleeping with the monitor last night, even though she's right next door. Hearing your child struggle for every breath like she did is not a sound I will soon forget. Wow. But God is good, He healed each one and they are all happy digging away in the dirt as I type.

MOPS is gearing up to start and with it brings the usual stresses and panics. Will there be enough Moppets workers? How many moms will God bring us? Is every possible contingency planned for? All of those kinds of things weigh on my mind. Thankfully this year I've got a partner to work with.


And since the blue moon was out earlier this week, did you see it?? I decided to go hog wild in cleaning. I haven't cleaned cleaned in so long. So with my crabby clingy toddler strapped on in her carrier, I got down on my hands and knees (literally) and scrubbed nooks and crannies. And it must have been soothing to my little cranky-pants because it put her to sleep!! I told one friend that if I had known I could have had that effect on her, I wouldn't have waited for the blue moon!

Got Weevils?

If you don't, I would be happy to share! :)

Well, I no longer have them either, I hope. I decided to do a simple, completely easy lunch, one with no nutritive value whatsoever, but the kids will eat it--ramen soup, or as it's known around my house "curly noodles". Anyway, got the noodles in, noticed that one package had torn while I was crunching up the noodles (or so I thought!!), but didn't think much of it, til I went to add in the flavoring. You guessed it, bugs, weevils floating in and amongst the curly noodles! UGH! Disgusting! As A put it "gagarama". I quickly dumped the offending noodles into the sink and opted for easy lunch #2, pb&j.

This whole experience reminded me of a similar situation that one of my girlfriends had a few years back. She and her family were visiting with her in-laws. Grandma got a bowl of cereal for her daughter and my friend happened to look over and see weevils in the cheerios her daughter had been eating! Talk about another gross-out. Thankfully I saw the bugs in time, but I think it's going to be a good long time before I get the courage to crack open another bag of those noodles!

Hot Water

Our littlest one has a deep and sincere love of all water, especially tap, especially directly out of the faucet! This love was encouraged by one of my sister's ingenious (no sarcasm intended! honest!) ideas to keep R occupied and that was to play in my mom's kitchen sink. Since that fateful afternoon, it has become an afternoon ritual at our house to have R play in the sink while I fix supper or even before if necessary! She will take off her shoes if needed, then slide a stool over to the sink and start saying "toadies" (toes) or "wet" or "sink", anything to get your attention. Well, now add to this the fact that she is learning to differentiate between hot and cold temperatures . . .

A few nights ago she turned on the faucet by herself and ended up getting hot water which she was none to happy about. (She doesn't even like to have her washcloth warm!) Anyway, we quickly remedied that and chuckled over how cute is that, she's figured out temperature. Fast forward to later that night, bed time and she's running around bare buns pre-pj's. She darts into the bathroom and gets up on the stool and starts talking about water. Then she says "toadies hot" "hot toadies", etc. I go in there only to find that she had pottied while on the stool and yes her toadies were in "hot water", er um, so to speak!

Rough Day, But . . .

Well, it has been a rough day, actually week. I've been fighting off a cold as have a couple of the girls. Then add babysitting full-time and a clingy 18 month old and there you have it. . . but tonight as I was washing up the dishes (thinking I know I just did this!!) I decided to count my blessings. I need to do this more purposefully in my life. I think of my blessings in an abstract way, usually in the form of "thank God I'm not having to deal with that in my family", rather than being specific to my life. So here's my list for tonight and my resolution to do this more often!
I AM THANKFUL:
1. That my R wants me to hold her
2. That my immune system is healthy
3. That my husband will push the kids on the swings even after a day at work, so I can have a break (and blog!)
4. That my girls tell me that they love me daily
5. That my gardens are growing despite the dogs "help"
6. For good music to wash dishes to, tonight "Sixpence None the Richer", mostly "ABBA" :)
7. For loving parents, who are willing to watch my princesses so we can get out for a hot date at Lowe's
8. For good friends who listen to the big and the little stuff of my life
9. That I can stay home with my girls
10. For Internet shopping, so I don't have to do ALL my shopping with my extra helpers!

A's First Meme

Here is A's first meme. This took her quite a bit thought! I hope you enjoy!

3 Things that Scare Me:
-Fire
-Thunderstorms
-Things that go "beep" in the night

3 People Who Make Me Laugh:
-Daddy
-Mommy
-Rilla

3 Things I Love:
-Watermelon
-Mommy
-Daddy

3 Things I Hate:
-When Grace hits me
-Waiting
-When my sisters scream in my ear

3 Things I Don't Understand:
-Computers
-How trees grow
-Much about how my body works

3 Things on My Floor:
-Books
-Stuffed animals
-Tissues

3 Things I'm Doing Right Now:
-Thinking of answers
-Playing with my toes
-Denying playing with my toes

3 Things I Want To Do Before I Die:
-Have grandchildren
-Have babies
-See Mommy and Daddy often (AWWWW!)

3 Things I Can Do:
-Play soccer
-Swim
-Play with my sisters

3 Ways to Describe My Personality:
-I'm shy
-Good imagination
-Very sweet, empathetic and sympathetic

3 Things I Cannot Do:
-Make baskets (basketball)
-Can't climb on the couch standing (no feet on the couch)
-Backflip

3 Things I Think You Should Listen To:
-What I want to say
-Christian music
-Sunday school teachers

3 Things I Think You Should Never Listen To:
-Lying
-Violence
-Non-christian music

3 Absolute Favorite Foods:
-Chicken fingers
-Drumsticks
-Watermelon

3 Things I'd Like to Learn:
-How to sew
-How to build a pig pen
-How to knit baby clothes

3 Beverages I Drink Regularly:
-Milk
-Juice
-Sun Tea

3 Shows I Watched As A Kid:
-Tom and Jerry
-Chip and Dale
-Aladdin

G's First Meme

Here is G's first meme. She is a hoot. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed getting her answers.

3 Things that Scare Me:
-Bad Guys
-Burg-a-lars
-Bad Dreams

3 People Who Make Me Laugh:
-Rilla
-Papa Al
-Dylan

3 Things I Love:
-Everything that God gave me (that pretty much sums it up!)
-When Mommy says "I love you"
-Princesses and dressing up and pretty shoes

3 Things I Hate:
-Being shot
-Being bited
-Being poked

3 Things I Don't Understand:
-Throwing up
-What Mommy says to me when I'm back-floating
-When Rilla bites me

3 Things on My Floor:
-Carpets
-Yucky stuff
-Food

3 Things I'm Doing Right Now:
-Playing with Rilla
-Playing my leapster
-Thinking about stuff

3 Things I Want To Do Before I Die:
-Heal people
-Swim in the ocean
-Swim in a lake

3 Things I Can Do:
-Play with Rilla
-Climb a tree, but with help
-Swim by myself

3 Ways to Describe My Personality:
-Free Spirit
-Cuddler/Snuggler
-A bit strong-willed at times (especially when I'm hungry/tired)

3 Things I Cannot Do:
-Pull off my skin
-Pump on the swing
-Go to Day Camp with Ainsley

3 Things I Think You Should Listen To:
-Jesus
-Your Mommies
-My Princess Aurora song

3 Things I Think You Should Never Listen To:
-Animals growling
-Clunking fan
-Bad guys

3 Absolute Favorite Foods:
-Cottage Cheese
-Toast
-Corn on the cob

3 Things I'd Like to Learn:
-How to fly
-How to drive a car
-How to read

3 Beverages I Drink Regularly:
-Milk
-Juice
-Water

3 Shows I Watched As A Kid:
-Racing Stripes
-Madeline
-Clifford

R's first "meme"

I saw this done on a few mommy blogs that I've stumbled upon and thought it was neat, so here is R's first meme, the other girls will follow soon.

3 Things that Scare Me:
-Strangers
-Being away from Mommy
-Loud sounds

3 People Who Make Me Laugh:
-Daddy
-Mommy
-My big sisters

3 Things I Love:
-Being "holdy" by Mommy
-My "bantin" (blankie)
-Playing in the pool, well any water will do

3 Things I Hate:
-Being apart from Mommy
-Being picked up when I haven't asked
-Sleeping all through the night (it's over-rated!)

3 Things I Don't Understand:
-Why I can't play in water all day
-Why Daddy goes to work (I'm much more fun)
-Why Mommy can't hold me all day long

3 Things on My Floor:
-My new sneaks
-Diapers
-My white noise machine

3 Things I'm Doing Right Now:
-Napping like a good girl
-Cuddling my "bantin"
-Thinking it's about time to get up

3 Things I Want To Do Before I Die:
-Play in the big pool with my sisters
-Go "wee" on the slide all by myself
-Sleep all through the night, just once though, to say I did it!

3 Things I Can Do:
-Go down steps upright (with just a little help)
-Wash dishes (best when sitting in the sink)
-Say a lot of words, my newest is "munch" when I want a snack

3 Ways to Describe My Personality:
-Lovable, I've got a smile that will knock your socks off!
-Curious, I love to see what people are doing.
-Stubborn, I know what I want and won't settle for substitutions!

3 Things I Cannot Do:
-Walk upstairs upright
-Get into Janelle's playpen, although I keep trying
-Play in the big pool by myself, Mommy says it's too deep.

3 Things I Think You Should Listen To:
-My "vroom vroom" sound that I use when I see a car
-My songs that I sing. I sing one that sounds like a lullaby.
-Buzzy purr, I love that sound!

3 Things I Think You Should Never Listen To:
-My sisters crying, it makes me cry.
-Janelle crying, it makes me mad.
-The words "bye bye", especially when Mommy says them.

3 Absolute Favorite Foods:
-"Nanas" (bananas), if you aren't fast enough I will eat the skin too!
-"Pop" (popcorn), I love to feed me a bite and then Mommy a bite.
-Spaghetti, I'm a pasta gal.

3 Things I'd Like to Learn:
-How to swim
-How to get onto the stools by myself
-How to put shoes on Barbies

3 Beverages I Drink Regularly:
-Mommy's milk
-Whole milk
-Juice (yes, Mommy I know it's watered down)

3 Shows I Watched As A Kid:
-Whatever little bit was left of my sisters' show, maybe Madeline or Clifford

Here Comes the Bride

Since we have a house full of girls until 5 pm when Daddy comes home to rescue us, we usually end up doing girly things. Well today was no exception. After a power struggle over these (and I quote) "horrible, nasty dress-up shoes", I managed to make both G and myself content with the outcome. (The long story: Murray chewed up one of G's very special dress up shoes after L's wedding even though G had put them away. He snuck one out of the shoe bin. So M and I told her that we would buy replacements. The replacements were not exactly the same and so were deemed yucky and she's never gonna wear them, etc. However, when I went to return said shoes, she had 10,000 fits!! So that is why we needed the compromise today. Whew.) So back to the original story. . .

G and R both had on dress-up shoes, G had a matched set and R was content with just one. They were playing oh so happily in the family room while I was cutting out a skirt for G. Next thing I know I hear G tell R that she is going to be the bride and R can be the groom. G rushes up the stairs gets into her bride dress (aka Cinderella) and comes back to meet her groom. Well, the bride got frustrated with the groom's interest in the goldfish snacks over getting married and started to have a fit when inspiration struck me. I quickly hunted on the web and found a sampling of bridal music (namely Canon in D and Here Comes the Bride) for G to walk down the aisle to and meet her groom at the snack table! :) It worked! G and R both got into walking down the aisle to the music, R was even dancing it was so cute!


Now if only I could be so inspired each time a confrontation was about to rear it's ugly head, I would be all set.