Mary has created a carnival to help us record those funny and precious things our kids say, so we’ll remember them in years to come. Some weeks I’ve got nothing…this week, however, my kids gave me a few gems I don’t want to forget.
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Last week my five year old and I were working on handwriting. Handwriting is often a battlefield for us. This particular day I knew he wasn’t giving it his all and I wasn’t seeing his best work. I told him he needed to do his best and reminded him that his tutor would be looking at it the next time he goes his class. His response, “What? I thought this was just a scrimmage!”
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I have a thing for those red hot candies at Valentine’s day. Seriously, could eat em by the handful for hours. And I was having a hard time waiting till nap time to sneak them so my kids caught me and thus, I had to share. When my son had his first taste of a red hot he described it as tasting “like Michael’s smells at Christmas time!” I just loved his description and his simile.
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And don’t forget my post on Friday when my 4 yr old told me she doesn’t believe there is a baby in my belly.
I love my life at the circus and the endless source of smiles and laughs my children give to me.
Most years when I put together our family scrapbooks, our “Fun in the Snow” spread looks something like this. Notice the grass poking through the snow and the pathetic little snowball snowman my son built?
But, this winter has been crazy! We had a record breaking snowfall in December. Then, last week we got a good 6 inches of snowfall (which in any normal MD winter, would have made us giddy with excitement). And today we were blasted with another record breaking and historic snowfall. 
In a way I feel kind of sorry for our kids, because at this young age they are already seeing the most snow they will probably ever see at one time. It’s all down here from here. No worries, though, we’ve documented it well and are fully enjoying some fun in the snow. I am so glad that this year I snagged some boots on sale on Black Friday. I def got my money’s worth out of em!
(click me and I’ll get bigger)
Last night I was holding my girls on my lap when they began to play a little rough. I reminded them that there was a baby in my belly and they needed to be gentle.
My 4 yr old then said, “Mom, I don’t think you really have a baby in your belly. I think it is just food.”
I assured her there really is a baby in there and reminded her that she’s seen the baby’s picture and heard the heart beat.
“Yea,” she said, “But I think your wrong, I think you’re going to go to the hospital and that is not what is going to come out.”
So basically, my daughter thinks I am fat and she told me so to my face.
Motherhood: Not for the weak of spirit
I looked at my daughter this morning and noticed her belly had gotten much bigger. “What is in your jammies”, I asked.
She informed me that she too had a baby in her belly.
If only my pregnancy could be so short and my delivery so easy.
This week my baby girl asked me to put her hair in two braids.
When did her hair get long enough to braid?
She was quite excited to pose for me afterwards.
Doesn’t she look so grown up? Seriously, when did this happen?
Visit here or here for more fun with pictures.
In Science we’ve been talking about what God created on each of the 6 days of creation. Currently we’re on day 6 and discussing the creatures that walked on the land.
While the kids were playing on Friday, they got the idea to group their stuffed animals according to classification. Of course they didn’t use these exact words. But, they made a pile of non mammals and another of mammals and then called me in to take a look. I praised their scientific efforts. They then decided to find ALL of their stuffed animals to group.
I was excited that they were so easily self entertained and let them go at it, while I worked to clean other areas of the house. (trying really hard not to think about the mess huge pile of toys that was being formed in the schoolroom).
Every few minutes one of them would come out to ask me, “Is this a mammal?” “What about horses?” I reviewed with my son the criteria for mammals. A short while later he appeared and said, “Mom, what about boys? Are boys mammals? We have hair, but we don’t make milk.”
They were so excited to show me their giant mammal pile, themselves included as they too are mammals.
February is here. I am happy to say I’ve finally put away all our Christmas decor and while it isn’t completely conquered, I have tamed the laundry beast and gotten somewhat of a grip on the house chores and school work.
For now
So, with this new month, I’ve set some goals for some things I’d like to get done around the house. And thanks to two different blogging friends, I have some accountability and inspiration. Thanks Andrea and Becky!!
Andrea is hosting a sew along. She’s been posting some adorable dresses and pants with pockets and all sorts of cute things she whips up in her “spare time.” I typically look at them, drool, and think, “if only” and “perhaps I should forward the link to my SIL or my mom, people who actually use their sewing machines!” But, then she introduced this concept of a sew along and I was intrigued.
This is her plan:
Week 1: Know your machine- This is for absolute beginners and for those who haven’t sewed in a while. This will require that you have a machine (yours or borrowed), the manual, some scrap fabric, scissors, a seam ripper, and thread.
Week 2: Gather your supplies- We’ll discuss pattern selection, notions, fabric, and tools. I’ll have suggestions for a few different patterns (adult and child) but you are free to use whatever pattern you want. Don’t be afraid to make something for yourself! I’ll be teaching using a basic dress pattern with a zipper.
Week 3: Cutting out your fabric- Learn about measuring and selecting the correct size as well as nap and grain and other fabric terms. You’ll also learn what all the symbols on a pattern are, how to prep your fabric, and how to cut out the pattern. I have a few tricks up my sleeve to show you.
Week 4: Begin sewing! We’ll take the plunge together and begin sewing. We’ll discuss the seam ripper and how to follow the pattern directions. We’ll learn about the different ways to finish seams as well as how to understitch, overstitch and other necessary garment sewing stitches.
Week 5: Finish it up! We’ll talk about zippers, buttons and hemming. The fun stuff! That’s right you’ll have a finished garment by the first week of March!
I know she talks about garments, but I have been wanting new curtains in our master bathroom for 6 years now, so I am starting there. (plus, no zippers are involved in the making of curtains)! 
And now that my husband is almost finished fixing the plumbing in our bathroom, we’ve made a goal to have our bathroom fully usable and even nicely decorated by the end of the month!
These were here when we moved and I have never liked them. Nor have I liked the fact that the rod sticks out inches beyond the window… that too shall be fixed by months end.
As if tackling a sewing project isn’t a big enough goal, I’ve also decided to join in Becky’s WOW Carnival. I’ve done this before…. remember when I finally got to weeding my flower beds last spring?… I owe it all to Becky. Basically, you set a goal for a project you’ve been wanting to get to, but keep putting on the back burner, and you tackle it within one week. This week I’d like to tackle our 2009 Family Scrapbook. (because truthfully, I want to get to our 2007 and 2008 books as well before baby number 4 arrives to the circus in a few months). I plan to make it digitally using shutterfly.com I am not sure if doing the whole book in one week is too lofty of a goal, perhaps I should say this week I’d like to organize all the pictures for our 2009 scrapbook. But, I am going to aim for getting a good chunk of the book done this week, and I’ll check in with you later this week to fill you in on the progress. Here’s hoping I make such great progress that I keep on scrapping 2 yrs more of memories!!
Feeling inspired? Feel free to join me in either or both endeavors. Becky is even offering a Starbucks gift card to one lucky WOW participant this week. Non bloggers are still welcome to participate, just leave her a comment letting her know your joining in the fun! And for those of you who have more talent and comfort than I do with a sewing machine, you may want to consider checking out Andrea’s other carnival.
I’d definitely appreciate the encouragement and support as I take on these two tasks. I promise to post updates on the progress.
My oldest two have gotten into the habit of “e-mailing” each other at the beginning of nap time. And by e-mailing they really mean they are drawing pictures and writing messages back and forth to each other. We’ve worked out a system in which they are allowed to e-mail for the first 30 minutes of nap time. Then, they have to have quiet time in separate rooms for the remaining hour and a half.
I have become a huge fan of the e-mailing time. It is quite precious as a mom to hear them whisper and slipping messages to each other under their doors. It is the most peaceful, argument free time of my day. And sometimes I permit the e-mail time to extend past the designated 30 minute time slot.
These e-mails are not paper less however and quite a lot of drawings and messages are created each week. I simply can not save them all as we’d be drowning in paper trails.
But, from time to time I set aside some gems that I simply can’t part with. Some for sentimental reasons, some because I am impressed with the art work, some because they just make me smile, and serve as momentos of days gone by.
Here are a few recent ones my son drew for his sister.
I loved this one because it was obvious, to me, upon seeing it who he drew. Can you identify the princess he drew for his sister?
Then there is Dora’s mom. This one gave me quite a startle. It was one of the original e-mails he drew months ago. I had no idea Dora’s mother was so heavily endowed!
I know I have mentioned baby Eli here before. Eli is one of my children’s cousin’s and he is adored here at the circus. In fact, both girls have renamed their baby dolls Eli. And my son has taken on the roll of Eli’s dad.
Here is a picture my son drew of my daughter when she had baby Eli at the hospital.
On the left side, you’ll notice the doctor and my son holding baby Eli. Then there is my daughter on the hospital bed in the middle. And lastly there is my daughter holding baby Eli.
I greatly enjoy seeing the drawings my son makes for his sister. I never know what he’ll come up with next.
Isn’t it funny they call this e-mailing instead of letter writing? Sign of the times, I suppose.
The other night as we were driving home from out of town friends, our youngest complained that her belly didn’t feel good. A few minutes later I heard a cough and knew instantly what it meant.
We pulled over and began clean up. For once I was thankful for our less than clean minivan as it provided numerous things for us to use as barf bags and clean up rags for the remaining hour drive home.
Once home, we got her clothes in the wash and got the kiddos ready for bed.
Scott and I began preparations with militaristic regime and efficiency. We instantly had the kids get all of their beloved stuffed animals and blankets off of their beds. Each kid was allowed to sleep with one blanket and their washable lovey. I wanted to limit the amount of laundry that would need done if the inevitable occurred. We convinced my son not to sleep on the top bunk. We gave each kid a bowl “just in case” and we braced ourselves for a long night ahead.
My poor little girl was sick most of the night. She went from every 10 minutes to every 30. Finally at around 4:30 her misery seemed to end and I was able to go back to sleep for a few more hours, while Scott got ready to go to the airport for a day long business trip.
Once the kids were awake, I took things slowly. I let my daughter drink water, but only sips in 10 minute increments. I’ve learned the hard way that if you let them gulp down too much water on an empty stomach, they only throw it all up again.
I set a timer and each time it went off she was allowed to take another sip. After an hour or two of this, with her holding it down, I let her drink more. Once it seemed that she was able to keep down the water, and after much begging for food, I let her eat some toast and dry cereal.
So far so good.
As for the others, I was pretty convinced they could fall at any time, so I did my best to prepare for it. I scrubbed down the bathroom and washed all the linens from the night before. I let them eat, but kept the menu bland and didn’t allow them to have dairy.
The biggest risk with the stomach bug is dehydration. So, I did my best to keep the kids and I hydrated incase we were to fall next. I made a chart with each of our names on top. I told them we’d each get a sticker for every glass of water drunk that day.
This worked perfectly for my competitively driven children. All it took was seeing their sibling get a sticker to induce the other child to quickly drink his or her glass. By day’s end my son had drank 6 glasses of water and my daughter had drank 5.
This worked so well, I am thinking of having a water chart up every day to help remind us to stay hydrated!
It’s been over 48 hrs since my daughter first showed signs of being sick. As I type this, Scott is working to put the car seat back together after we took it apart to wash the straps and liners. (What a royal pain those car seats are)!
Much to my great surprise, no one else has showed any signs of being sick. I am thinking if we wake tomorrow with an event free night, then we are in the clear.
I don’t think any of our preparations prevented the rest of us from getting sick. Though we did wash our hangs after every time we touched her and kept the sanitizer close at hand. I was also very careful to keep my hands away from my face.
I do, think however, think that if we had gotten sick, our preparations would have proved useful. Being prepared worked for me this week.
One thing my husband and I try to stress to our kids is that life is not all about them. We love them dearly, and pour much of our time, love, energy and attention out onto them. But, because we love them, we also try to teach them that life does not revolve around them.
We are a family of 5 soon to be 6. So, in a lot of ways this is a lesson that is taught early on out of practicality. We just can’t meet everyone’s needs all the time right when they think they should be met. Sometimes you have to wait. And sometimes you have to go to places and events that you may not want to go to. But, if you cry and throw a tantrum about either, you will calmly be told, “I am sorry you are disappointed and don’t like this, but life is not all about you.”
With this in mind, I thought it was so funny the other day when my almost four year old said to me quite out of the blue, “Mom, ya know, I wish life was all about me.” I wanted to chuckle, b/c like I said it was totally out of the blue… it wasn’t like a few minutes prior we had discussed this. In fact, I think she was sitting on the potty, truth be told.
I love her honesty. Truthfully, don’t we all wish the same thing? I know even in my roles as wife and mom, selfishness creeps in poisons my attitude and outlook. I often need to remind myself that life is not about me.
All that being said, she is quite excited about her birthday in a few weeks. Because birthdays at the circus are a big deal and they are a day when things get to be all about you. (Within reason of course as my son quickly pointed out the other day, even on your birthday it’s really all about God, not you).
That’s right after her total regression back to diapers in August (after a completely embarrassing trip to the grocery store which involved my wiping pee up off of the floor–twice, the shopping cart, not to mention our groceries….I thought I would never leave the house with her in underwear again) but after Christmas we decided to give the ol potty train a try once more. My mom told her at Christmas it could be her New Years resolution. To which she replied in her sing songy voice, “resolution? I don’t have any resolutions!”
She was ready this time. We’ve been accident free during the day for several weeks now and this week we took the plunge and starting putting her to bed in her underwear.
It’s official folks…after 5.5 years…the circus is diaper free (for 4 months anyway).
