If You See Smoke...

This post in particular is for all my local neighbors out there.

I'm asking - no, begging you - if you see/smell smoke, please call the fire department as soon as possible. And send one of your kids down to check on us.

Because yesterday, I found my son (one guess who) in the kitchen with one of these devices.

And despite the fact that it is "child-proof", his three-year-old brain has worked out that you "push this button and then click here" to make it work. And there was much screaming of the sisters who came running to me, since he was experimenting with it, and hiding in the kitchen corner. Again.

But fortunately no real or permanent fire.

Up the lighter goes into a high, high cabinet, but be warned should you leave one lying around your house and should we come to visit. Have a phone handy.

Donation Time

While we were painting the other day, Zachary looked at me and said, "I think we should sell Kaleb."

"Ok. So who do you think we should sell him too?" I asked.

"The Salvation Army."

"Why should we sell him to the Salvation Army?"

"Well, I don't play with him that much anymore."

So, while he seems to be grasping the concept of giving things away that we don't play with that often, I didn't quite intend for the meaning to extend that far.

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Head on over to Mary's for a little more Tiny Talk Tuesday. It's always fun to read the things other little ones are saying!

What Comes After Terrible Twos?

You hear so much about the terrible two's, but my experience has been more that it's the year AFTER that which seems most difficult.

And what exactly is that year called?

Because right now, in the midst of it with Zachary, there are days that I think it would be more productive to whack my head repeatedly on something like this:

Reasoning with a 3 year old can be comical - or make you just want to cry. Take for example the following conversation:

Z: This is the right and this is the left (meanwhile pointing in the opposite directions...)

Me: Actually, your window is on your right and Kaleb is on your left.

Z: (a little louder) THAT is the right and THAT is the left (again pointing opposite directions...)

At this point the two backseat helpers are pitching in their 2 cents, and the volume in the car is getting very loud.

Me: Zachary. Remember how this hand makes an "L" for left and the other hand is right?

Z: NO! That is NOT right. THIS is right.

Sigh. It's so nice to know that he already has all the answers. (While banging my head on the steering wheel).

year

Our Little Squatters

One of my friends called me this morning and wanted to get together. And I truly wanted to.

But the kids just wouldn't cooperate long enough to let me even get one load of laundry started. Started. Not from start to finish. Just collected, put in the washer, soaped up and going.

I sent them outside to play for half an hour. And not even two minutes later someone was screaming. Bubbles had spilled. A few minutes later, someone had stolen one minuscule fruit snack from an other's bowl. Or hit another. Or told another what to do. The cycle just kept going and going. And the laundry didn't even get in the washer.

Zachary managed to also get himself soaking wet, since the wading pool was full of rain and he decided to slide into it. He didn't like being wet, but I made him stay in his clothes to play in the meantime. A few minutes later, Laurianna came running inside to let me know that Zachary was running around the backyard completely naked.

Shocking, I know.

Before I could get his clothes back on, he started yelling he had to pee NOW (which he did!!) so with lack of foresight, I let him pee in the corner of the yard, quickly re-dressed him and reminded him to keep his clothes on.

I finally got that load of laundry started (after only an hour and a half) and sat down with Kaleb to read a book with him when McKenna came running in, all excited and smiling.

"Mom! Guess what Zachary and I did?"

I can't even begin to guess. And never in a million did I expect to hear:

"We pooped in the backyard! Right where Zachary peed!"

Sure enough, both of them collaborated, squatted and did their business. IN MY BACKYARD!!And that was my morning - all before 10:15am. How was your day?

Toothless Wonder

Laurianna has lost 2 bottom teeth already, but there is just something about losing a top tooth that changes the look of a child.

And I will admit that it was hard for me not to giggle for the first few days after she lost it. It's just too cute and strangely odd looking.




Even now as I look at the pictures that I took, it just makes me smile. But at the same time it's a little sad. Yes, I am aware that my children are growing up. This makes it even more obvious. Her face is maturing. Freckles are popping up and spreading ever-so-sweetly overnight.


Of course, in the end it all boils down to how much the tooth fairy is willing to cough up for a precious top tooth. This one warranted $2 - the first dollar since it was such a special tooth and the second dollar because we managed to get this tooth out before the replacement tooth came out (which was a BIG issue with the bottom two).

*** A little explanation: $2 is not a per tooth norm. This was a special, ummm... cash prize, because of the dental issues (getting it out before the other tooth came in) associated with the tooth. The first tooth ever was $1, and subsequent teeth have only been 25 cents. We would go broke if we attached that much cash to each tooth *grins*. ***


The money aspect has McKenna wiggling as fast as she can in anticipation of the vast benefits that await her. She's convinced she'll be rich, rich, rich.

As the Gas Goes Up..

With gas prices rising, I am thinking that perhaps the minivan should be left in the driveway and we might need to invest in one of these as a family adventure of sorts...a bicycle built for 6!

The Sign of a Good Cook

I'm really hoping that this picture shows how dedicated I am to cooking...and not anything contrary to that fact.

Truly it shows that at times I get rather...ummm...distracted. By turning on the wrong burner and then wondering what-in-the-world-that-smell-is.

Don't Let the Bedbugs Bite...or Scare You

Since we are finished with school now, for some crazy reason I thought life might be a little more low-key.

Not so much.

Despite the fact that I am doing less in the homeschool realm, I seem to be more tired. And how does that work again? It does, however, contribute to my lack of motivation in blogging. :) Things got a little crazy a few weeks ago with Zachary and we're still in the midst of working some of the things out.

Zachary woke up screaming around 1am about 2 weeks ago. And by screaming, I mean SCREAMING. Panic-filled, shrieking - just what you want to be woken up by. He was convinced that there were bugs crawling all over him. He kept hitting himself, trying to shoo them away. Pointing them out on the floor. Refusing to go back to sleep. And yes, he was definitely fully awake.

My patience at first was absolutely stellar. Model mom, that's me. And about 15 minutes later it started waning. Four HOURS later, it was pretty well shot. I hadn't slept. Zachary hadn't slept. Fun, fun, fun. He finally fell asleep in our bed after Rick got up for work around 6 and slept for a little bit.

When I say he was convinced about there being bugs, it was to the point that he wouldn't even go into his room during the day the next day. The girls were so sweet getting the things he wanted, but he refused to step foot in the room.

Over the last two weeks we've been waging back and forth between his being scared, not-as-scared, doors open, trying anything and everything we can think of to get him past this. And some moments we are much more patient and gracious than others. He hasn't been waking up at night anymore, but we are still dealing with getting him to go to bed happily and just praying that those bed bugs don't make another appearance.

The Best Part of Waking Up at VBS

While I went to a local homeschool convention this last weekend, Laurianna travelled with our church on her first overnight (and really 2 nights) trip away from home. Our church had VBS for the older kids at a retreat center and this was the first year she was able to go.

And very excited to go!

I came home on Saturday and she didn't return until Sunday afternoon - and I hadn't seen her since Thursday. Is it possible that she seemed to have matured ever-so-much just in those few days? She hopped right out of the van drinking a can of grape soda (a huge treat since we don't drink soda), chatting about everything and full of energy.

She talked pretty much non-stop on the way home about all the things she saw in the creek, the songs they sang, the games they played (with full actions from the backseat), how late she stayed up at night, the campfires, and the food. And the best part of the food? Other than the cake every meal?

The coffee bar.

She had coffee with breakfast each morning. While I can inevitably see coffee in all of our children's future due to our love of it, I wasn't quite planning on it starting at age SEVEN!

A Wii bit of a Casualty

We caved. Succumbed to the pressure. Joined so many others in the Wii ranks.

Sad, but true. But with the weather pushing 100 these last few days, it's been fun for the kids and me to play some "active" games indoors. Kaleb even tries to get in on the action by swinging a remote to the VCR around.

When we first got it in the mail last week, I left it in the box, we put the kids to bed, and then I left to run some errands - and let Rick get it all hooked up and ready to go.

I came home, walked in the door, and immediately saw the glass globe to one of our lights cracked, broken, and in many pieces. Just pitifully lying on our kitchen counter.

I knew the kids were in bed when I left and couldn't figure out what in the world had happened. I just gave Rick a blank questioning look of sorts in an attempt to get an answer.

Tennis.

Rick was so actively involved serving in tennis that the Wii remote hit the cord to the ceiling fan, which in turn swung up rather strongly and shattered the globe to our fairly new ceiling fan. Thankfully, Rick was the one to break it. Not me. Not the kids. :)

I, however, have had much fun in passing along the breakage information to most anyone. Especially the guys at Lowe's today when I went to find a new globe for the light. They all had a good laugh when I explained how the globe from a ceiling fan could have possibly broken.

Our first (of many, I am sure) Wii casualty.

The Craziness Continues

I have so much that I really want to post about...and what seems like so little time to do it all in. I am preparing to go to a homeschool convention this weekend, pack Laurianna for a church retreat for a few days...catch up on laundry before I head out, make sure meals are in place for everyone while I'm gone....

Someday I will have a chance to sit down. Other than the 2 minutes I had for this.

Just in Time

This arrived in our mailbox today - not the book, but the dvd set. We already own the book and wanted to read it together, but by the time Rick and I would start reading it truly only sounded like blah, blah, blah (turn page) blah, blah, blah..............zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

And everyone I've talked to about the book has mentioned how great it is. So - perhaps parking our bums in front of the dvd player for 1/2 hour spurts and visually attending will be a help to us to get through the book together. And hopefully it will have some lovely pointers in it. Non to soon.

Because this last week or so has really been pushing some limits in our house. And there are moments when the grace of God has to literally be all over me.

Let's take today for example. Zachary did something. And what that something was I can't recall now, solely because he trumped that something with a bigger something.

The first something ended up with his being dragged to his bedroom for a "time-out" after a little discipline. Whenever we ask him to sit in his room for a few minutes, his immediate response is that he needs to go potty (and yes, we are aware that this is an avoidance tactic). Especially since the first few times we would let him try and he would just stand there. Today was no different. He screamed and cried and wanted to go potty. I said no, told him to stay in his room, and shut the door.

I came back a few minutes later and he was a little calmer, but not enough and when I opened the door he had this "look" on his face. And that is when I stepped IN the bigger something. The boy went and peed on the floor. And this wasn't an accidental, it's-dripping-down-my-leg sorta thing.

His pants were dry because he pulled them down and specifically peed in a spot on the floor.

So help me. This better be covered somewhere in the book/dvd. Because I am about at my wits end with this boy lately. Tonight's mission: DVD #1. It could be a late night.