Tuesday, June 29, 2010

A (very) Little Progress

My scrapbooking challenge is still on, even though I'm far behind in my goals. I have gotten 2 baby books completed and another almost up to date. I say that's not too bad for a one-handed nursing momma of seven little cuties!


Here are some pics of a batch of borders I made and a few pages from Verity-Grace's baby book to show them off.

Monday, June 28, 2010

From the Mouths of Babes

We all know that children can say some of the funniest and most endearing things. Their innocence and childlike faith produces such a pure and literal understanding of our world.

I'm afraid that I haven't done well at recording these precious sayings, so I'm starting a running post here to help me remember. I know I'll look back on these with a great smile and a full heart. I hope others will too!

4yo Susannah, while clearing the table: "Boys, you left your book on the table! Grrr...you boys are just Slugs." (in reference to the well known, "sluggard" of proverbial note. "Go to the ant, you sluggard. Consider its ways and be wise!)
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12yo Elizabeth and 10yo Joshua were having a discussion about boys shaving. Elizabeth, being the oldest and best informed on the subject ;-), let Joshua know that, "you cannot begin shaving your face, Josh, until after you have started shaving your legs."  (heehee...I guess I missed the "gender-specifics" when we had that talk.)
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6yo Ruth was perusing a neat children's anatomy book I recently purchased for our schooling. She was full of great questions about the body parts she was seeing.  She got to a page on the heart and asked, "Mommy, is this the heart?"  "Yes honey, this is the outside and if you lift the flap, you can see the inside where the blood moves in and out."  Ruth continued to examine that flap for another minute or two and then said, "But Mommy, where's Jesus?"  I was really confused, "Jesus?" She matter-of-factly replied, "Yes. Jesus is IN our hearts."  SO PRECIOUS!!  (what a teachable moment, right?)
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When Elizabeth was 3 or 4 years old, like every wise parent, we would spell to keep our plans in code. I would frequently spell the word P-A-R-K when I was thinking of going out for some fun.  One day, as we drove by the park we usually visited, she called out, "Mommy, can we go to the P-Q-R-S?" 
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8yo Benjamin was finishing up running laps to help correct some attitude issues. When he finished, I asked if he was ready to apologize, he said "Yes. I'm sorry for running so many laps." (yeah, that was a long day ;-)
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The children were heading out to play in the swimming pool. The plan was to play "Atlantis" the underwater city. 12yo Elizabeth said, "I'll be the Mermaid Guide to the city!"  To which 11yo Joshua replied, "No. We have GPS for that."
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5yo Ruth was working in the kitchen with me, washing dishes. As she was washing she said, "This is hard. But, even when I figured out it isn't fun, I'm still working." (Learning good lessons young.)
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Our girlies are lover's of all things Princess. They especially love the story of Princarella (Cinderella ). We read it quite often at naptime. Well, in our story version, there is a comment about how the stepsisters were spoiled with pretty dresses and jewels and treated like princesses while Cinderella had to clean and cook and do chores. (Poor her, right?)
So, insert Mommy's gentle comments: "Well, how did those girls who got all of those pretty dresses and not have to work turn out?
Girlies: Selfish.
Smiling Mommy: Yes. But Cinderella had to do the work, and how did she turn out?
Girlies: Nice.
Triumphant Mommy: Yes. So which is better? To get all the pretty dresses, or to learn to work hard?
5yo Ruth: To get the pretty dresses AND work hard.
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I had been making short "to-do" lists for my dc each morning on little sticky notes. Once they complete the items they receive a reward of some sort. I leave them on the table for them to pick up each morning. One day my list was with theirs. It was very funny as each one of them saw the list and said the exact same thing...
"Who's list is THIS??!!" Spoken with the fear and terror that it just *might* be theirs for the day!! They were more than happy to take their own lists that morning!!
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The children were setting up their pretend restaurant (Benjy's Foodies) while I was making tortillas. I heard several.... "Okay, let's pretend you are my dad and I'm your daughter"...type thing. Then 5yo Benjamin said, "Mom, let's pretend I'm your son and I'm helping you make tortillas."
Mommy: "Ummm, okay."
Benjamin: "Mom, let's pretend we are making these for lunch."
Mommy: "Ummm, okay." (Because we were!)
The final funny was when the Baby Susannah joined us.
3yo Ruth said, "Mom, let's pretend she's your baby and she's having a snack while you work." (Because she was!)
Mommy: "Ummmm, okay!"
Isn't "pretending" fun?!!
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9yo Elizabeth used her writing assignment to give me a "present". I'll type it out here as-is to give you the full effect.
I followed my mommy and this is what I saw.  She has long nails and her hair looks silky. her fase is pink her eyes are brown and her skin feells soft. She has a very soft vouse (voice) and her breth smells like cofee! I think my mom is GREAT!
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7yo Ruth: Mom, is a yard three feet?
Mom: Yes. Good work.
Ruth: Well, we have a yard and it *isn't* three feet.
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We were loading up the van today. As my girls were buckling up, I heard my 7yo call out, "Let's Rock n' Roll!"

5yo cries, "Yeah! Let's Rock n' Roll!"

Then...

5yo: Ruth, what does 'Rock n' Roll' mean?

7yo: Well, 'Roll' is what I call Drive. So, it's Driving. And 'Rock' is when you rock back and forth in the van. So, Let's Rock n' Roll!!!

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March 3, 2015


As I'm nursing baby Caleb 2yo Kindred is by my side. I look down and see her licking his head.


I look at her confused and she looks up at me and says, "We not eat the baby?"

I reply, "No, Honey. We don't eat the baby."

"Oh Tay!" and off she goes. (as I then proceed to wash the poor boy's head!)
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8yo Susannah says to us....

"You guys better get used to having me around because I do NOT want to grow up and have to live my own life." 
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In a discussion with Elizabeth and Joshua 15yo Josh reveals that he has an arsenal of files in his head with all the information of all of his friends.  

Me: "So, you have all this information but did you spell their names correctly?"

Josh: "Nope." (he is admittedly not the world's next spelling bee champ)

Me:  "So, I guess it's safe to say you don't have your files alphabetized." 

Josh: "Alphabetized??!!  Who even DOES that anymore???!!!"

To which Elizabeth and I busted up laughing. Really, if you can't spell what IS the sense in alphabetizing?? ;) 
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2.5yo Kindy's language has been exploding over the last couple of months. It's always fun to hear those sweet little ways toddlers form words.  Right now her most common phrase is "Toe Tute" in place of "So Cute".  

So I asked her the other day what her baby brother's name is (in the hopes that she'll get the hang of saying it" to which she replied, "Toe Tute!" 
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Playing Church

6yo Verity, 4yo Honoree', and 2yo Kindred are playing "church" as services for our church have been cancelled this morning. Verity is the Preacher and Honoree' is the Preacher's wife, Kindred is their child.

Honoree' in a sweet-as-syrup voice: "C'mon, honey it's time for church. I know you're going to be bored. But, I brought some things for you to do."

You should see the pile of stuff she's carrying around

Playing Church Day Two:
Honoree': Mom I'm the pastor's wife but the pastor is sick today so now I have to do the preaching.
 

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Retro-Thursday!


One of the great blessings of a large family is enjoying the generous gifts of others. We frequently receive bags of clothing for the children. We all love going through the new-to-us items. Usually it turns into a fun "fashion show" of sorts. Today we dug out quite a blast from the past. Ruth and Susannah had fun dressing up and getting hair do's "just like Mommy wore" from back in the Day.

I mean, it's like Totally Tubular To the Max! Like, so Totally Awesome! Radical, Dude!!

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Happy Birthday-Vacation!

"Happy Birthday!"
"No. Happy Vacation!"
"No."
"Happy Birthday-Vacation!!!"

Those were the sweet words I woke to on Thursday morning of last week. After a lovely morning of sleeping-in, my 4 year old and 6 year old greeted me with brightly colored pages and a greeting I couldn't resist.  I opened my eyes rejoicing in our special day. On June 10th, 15 years ago, David and I were married and our family's beginning was created and blessed by the Lord. 

We enjoyed an amazing breakfast in bed made by our sweet kiddos. Gone are the days of cold cereal and dry toast. We feasted on scrambled eggs, bacon, pancakes, toast and juice. Wow!

After spending the morning playing the "What do you want to do...I don't know...What do you want to do?" Game, we decided to begin our day with an exciting Dump Run. ;-)  Trust me, getting weeks worth of trash and recycling cleared out was a GIFT to us all!!

From there, we decided to redeem the rainy day with some productivity. We grabbed some study materials and tagged along with David to bid some jobs, while sipping some French Vanilla coffee, of course. ;-)

As dinner time approached, we decided to take the generous offer given by David's parents to watch the children for us. We dropped off everyone save Baby Honoree' and headed off for a special dinner out. To top off the evening, my sweet husband accompanied me to the used curriculum sale I was begging to attend.

What an exciting day, huh?

I kept feeling a little bad that we hadn't planned a more exciting time for ourselves. It seemed like making it to 15 years warranted a weekend away, an out-of-the-ordinary experience, or even something sparkly and dangly.

Honestly, we just didn't want that. And as I reflected back on our beginnings, I realized we spent our day perfectly. When we were engaged, we were asked by a loving and watchful friend, WHY we wanted to be married. The only answer I could think of was that we wanted to "do life" together. We both loved the Lord, we wanted to follow after Him with all of our hearts, and we wanted to do it together. It seemed so simple then. And, I guess it really is.

So, Happy Birthday-Vacation to my amazing husband. I love you so much and I'm so grateful to walk beside you in the simple things of life!