Thursday, January 31, 2008

My grandma's da bomb yo!

My grandmother has always been quite the cool cat. The groovy chick. The grandma from... well, you get the idea. Now, don't get it all wrong, she's no Proverbs 31 woman but on a worldly level she's just a fun person. Sometimes she means to be funny and sometimes it's an accident. But we always laugh and she laughs right with us. She's one of my favorite people in this world, definately one of the most colorful characters in my life.

So we're on the phone yesterday and she doesn't quite get the cell phone concept so she always pauses then ignores it when I tell her I'm driving or shopping or whatnot. That's great in itself. We're talking as I'm driving and I hear her yell &*$%!!! <--- enter expletive that begins with "s" here. She tells me to hold on and I hear beeping along with her yelling in the background, *#$&* #*$&(# this stupid (#*$#(* thing!!! You're such a pain in the #$#!!!!!!). She comes back to tell me that the smoke alarms always go off when she cooks. Ummm yelling at them doesn't usually make them stop. ;-) We continue talking and my phone dies. I put it on the charger and call her back and she says in an annoyed voice, "I don't know what happened, would you believe the operator cut in?! The nerve! She said 'the number I was calling was not in service to please try again', WHAT IS SHE NUTS?!?!?!" I try to stifle my laughter as my fondness for her and her grandma'isms grow. I didn't bother to tell her the operator was a recording, she wouldn't have believed me anyway.

Do you guys have a relative like this?

Monday, January 28, 2008

Negatives...

Alright so I'm at.my.wits.end tonight. I had gotten a full day of school in, prepared 3 meals plus snacks. Played with the kids, read to them, did everything that I could possibly have done and I was just plum worn out. Because ya know, kids keep taking because they just don't have empathy yet. Well, my 10yo does and my 8yo is capable of it but the 6, 4, & 2yo - not a trace of it yet. So I'm into full lecture mode in the van as we went to surprise daddy at work with a homemade grilled steak and potato dinner. I'm telling them that I'm grateful for the help they provide but that they cannot continue to take advantage and it's not fair for mom to clean up or have to yell at them to clean up their mess. I'm sure they heard blah...blah...blah... But I was done. I was ranting and raving, bordering on tears and my 10 & 8yo know enough to just shut up and listen. They have the wisdom. When I'm done talking at them my 10yo says, "Mom, you are always telling us how important it is to look at the positives in every situation. Why are you bringing so many negatives up now?". *sigh* How can you argue with that?

Later I'll write about my reflections on bathrooms and kids. LOL

Thursday, January 24, 2008

The joys of life

Here is baby T (not looking so babyish anymore!) watching his favorite clip in the "Oobie" show we have recorded. He cracks all of us up all the time!

Enjoy!

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Quote of the day

From my 8yo DD to her brother (10) while they're doing math work at the table. She is reflecting out loud as she does her work:

"One day we might thank mom for this (work).... or not.".

Weaning has been rough on me...

I thought I was weaning my son but truth is, I'm weaning myself. It was harder on me than it was on him I think. It still is hard. He's my last baby. Before him I was usually pregnant when I weaned and I knew there would be another sweet baby to come and watch grow. There's something about nursing. When I was young and naive I looked upon it even as a gross thing. Almost a perverse thing. But when I had children of my own I realized how ignorant that was. What a special and unique bond it is. God knew what he was doing. He creates hormones to both make baby happy and content to stay still & mama too. It's a strong bonding experience. On a lighter note, it's almost equivalent to that first buzz you get if you ever had drinking days. Everything is right with the world. On top of all that you get the satisfaction of knowing you are sustaining life. By yourself. I always thought that was a blessing and confidence booster! I can honestly say 75% or more of my nursing days were enjoyable once I got past the social mores of the world and became confident in the beautiful thing is really is.

When I had my first son 10 years ago I was embarrassed by breastfeeding, even resentful of it because it took me away from everyone. I went into the bathroom in public, dressing rooms, I isolated myself in other peoples homes. By the time my daughter was born I was more confident and nowadays I can nurse like MacGyver - just give me a blanket & my teeth - I don't need any stinkin' hands. LOL And you wouldn't even know what was going on. ;-)

So, it's been a journey for me, 5 children, almost 8 years long (I didn't start extended nursing until my 4th child). I've grown so much, I've been pregnant, with newborn, going to school, teaching school, but I've always been nursing. It's been part of who I am, what I'm used to. But, I recognized that for baby T and I it had become a dependency issue. And I didn't enjoy being just his food supply. He was actually rude to me unless I was feeding at times. And then he started gorging himself and making himself sick. So, it was definately time. And it was definately harder on me than it was on him. He's already stopped asking. Which partly makes me want to cry and partly makes me proud. It's bittersweet.

I think while I'm really reflecting here I'm realizing it's the first huge step for me of the process of letting go. I know there are going to be harder steps in the future. I just hope I always can be selfless enough to look past my own emotions and put my children first. When we're not mutually benefitting anymore from something it's time to let it go. Am I on to something older moms? Is it going to be this hard every step of the way?

Is it too late to say I don't think I'm qualified for the job? LOL

So anyway, all this to share a poem I wrote during what I call my grieving process. It's all just so final and I needed a way to express myself. Some of you may be able to relate.


If you fell down all I had to do,
was say one special word to you.
When it was late & sleepiness crept in,
One word and out came that sweet drowsy grin.
On those wee morning hours with just you and I,
That word always made you happily sigh.
Cold afternoons just before you would nap,
One word brought warmth and rest with a snap.
I will always cherish these moments, my beautiful son,
The moments you called on with the word "mum".
This chapter may be over in both of our lives,
But I will always remember & treasure, your sweet nursing eyes.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Great imagination...

My oldest is 10 and he has a quick wit about him. The kind of wit that's fun when other people's kids have it, but not always as amusing when it's your own. Especially when they're still in the stages of figuring out what's taboo and what "good timing" is. For example, when mom has asked you to go to bed 5 times, it's probably NOT a good time to play a practical joke. I try so hard to keep calm and rational so I don't crush his spirits. Lately I've really been trying to appreciate him and his humor and who he is becoming as a person. With 5 it's easy to just clump them together into one herd of children but they really are 5 special & unique people. It's awesome.

So today, when the stick-in-the-mud side of me grew frustrated that he brought humor into his schooling, the gentler softer side of me knew that it was time to loosen up and laugh. He really is a funny kid!

The following is a drawing (using Paint, he much prefers doing things on the computer) my oldest did when prompted to draw the characters of the story of Anansi the spider, a character from West African lore we read about in our Story of the Word curriculum today. The kids were asked to draw a picture of Anansi with a banana, potato, & a few grains of rice. This was my sons interpretation. He thought the potato he tried to draw looked like Elvis and then the rice grain he drew first looked like it had glasses. I thought the banana was especially good and he added the words to a song we used to sing all the time when he was really little.



Monday, January 14, 2008

Why I love TiVo...

This may not get me Mother of the Year (go ahead, click on it if you dare), but it gets me 30 minutes of peace and 2 hands which I desperately need in the morning for school. Just for the record, I never thought one of MY children (read that with your nose turned up in the air) would be like this with ANY show, or toy, or blanket, or other pacifying object other than myself. HA! So, unless you have more than 2 children, of have done this already yourself, I don't want to hear it. I could go back to the past and hear myself judge me! lol

I apologize ahead of time for my baby voice, the firewood in front of the TV, the laundry hamper (hey, it's almost empty), and the 1 Christmas item we did put up this year still on top of the TV. Alright, now you may watch, hehe.






And just to show you how much he gets into it:





I'm just glad although he likes that Oobi show, he doesn't like it as much as The Upside Down Show. I can't handle Oobi and it's stupid smacking sounds when it eats. I want to send Oobi to a country that resorts to cutting hands off for stealing. I'd make Oobi steal.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

My mom rocked the 80's

Before you click on this picture please read the "share" post below. It will make more sense to you that way. ;-)

BTW, she didn't have big hair in this particular pic but give me time, I'll find a better one. hehe

Oh and mom? If you're reading this... What in the sam hell is that thing on your finger? Was it gum you were saving for later or what? hehe

Share?

My father-in-law once told me I should write a book with all the stories and characters that were part of my life when I first met my husband. I was an only child who listened to adult conversations a lot. Too much in fact. I had a single mother who dated some characters & a dad with a big family and who managed a 7-11. So people were part of my daily life. I always felt lonely so I started being a "fly on a wall" and analyzing people regularly at an early age. That's when I wasn't singing songs about saving the world in my grandmas backyard. I had grand plans. ;-)

So, here's one of my stories:

My mom was shopping by herself in a Home Improvement store when she was probably in her early-to-mid 30's. She had big hair, always wore makeup, and wasn't afraid to be ultra stylish (which makes for great pictures to make fun of her today). She was a fox really, I'm glad I have her genes!

So, here she is mindlessly pushing the cart around browsing the store. After awhile she hears something almost inaudible but she ignores it. "air?". A few more minutes go by and she hears it again:"Share?"
She keeps pushing away and hears it again, a little louder this time, "Share?"
Bewildered, she looks behind her and about 25 feet back there is a small mexican man (read the quoted words above with an accent) behind her slowly wheeling his cart and looking right at her. Perplexed she continues walking, a little faster now*. The man behind her picks up his pace to match hers saying louder, "Share? Now she's really freaked out because she has NO idea what this man is saying but she knows he's saying it to her. They go around the store for a minute or so like this, her speeding up and staring straight ahead and him picking up the pace and yelling, ""SHARE?!". It must have been a sight!
She finally has enough** and she stops dead in her tracks, turns around and says to the guy, "What?! What do you want from me?!" To this he replies meekly and a bit starstruck: "I take picture? You Cher?.

BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!! SHe was floating on a cloud singing "If I could turn back time" for weeks. And it was only 5 years ago that she started wearing colors again, she only wore black for years after that. And fringe.

You can thank Melissa for inspiring me to tell this story. She had a similiar float-on-a-cloud moment due to looking like a celebrity. ;-)

* A trait my mom has that I haven't talked about yet is that she was/is addicted to true crime stories/novels so everyone is a suspect and out to get her.

** Despite this trait she's a face-em-head-on kind of woman where I'm more the hide-in-the-closet-and-pray type of woman myself.

Snoopy's in the genes!

When I was in elementary school I wanted the part of Snoopy in the school play SOOO bad I could taste it! Almost as bad as when I wanted the part of Wendy in Peter Pan. But, my low voice didn't cost me the part of Snoopy because he didn't speak, just held up signs. I LOVED being the comic relief! I remember my mom putting my hair into pig tails dog ears. I even remember calling my grandmother and excitingly telling her I got the part! To have that excitement again over something so small!

A couple of weeks ago I read a 4-H e-mail that there was going to be a show in town for our county. In our 4-H group they were casting a Peanuts play. I asked my oldest if he wanted to be in it (the rest are Cloverbuds or younger) & he said he did. I asked which part he'd want and he immediately said "Snoopy!". Later on I told him I was Snoopy too, pretty cool. Well, he got the part because we're probably the only family up as late as the time that the e-mail came.

So, I had less than 2 weeks to get creative and make a Snoopy costume. I have a lot of creativity in my head folks but executing is a very different story for me. But, I'm proud of the end result:





It was cute and all but it was L---O----N-----G. And apparently the teenagers in officer positions thought a good way to entertain us all was to drink soda and belch into the microphone for laughs. I'm.dead.serious. Yeah.

I think this picture illustrates best how dad, the kids, & I felt by the time it was over:




So, being the corny folk we are (it really rubs off on the youngin's which is quite fun to watch!), I had to take this shot right before we left. He had gotten his tail stuck in the door and we all thought this was hilarious. Maybe we were just so happy to be outside again! ;-)




*No fictional dogs or real children were harmed in these photos*

**Please ignore how filthy my van is**

Have a great weekend!!!

Friday, January 11, 2008

A lake I'd never swim in...

I love burning candles. I especially love the tart burners. I take great pride in my home smelling like pine or cranberries or lavender. White cotton, Cucumber-Melon, Vanilla sugar, Mmmmmmmm. Sometimes I think about if it's really healthy but especially when we have guests coming by, or it's a lazy weekend in, I just love having a wonderful smelling home.

But there's one scent I wouldn't buy. Sewage. And yet, that's what my home has smelled like lately. Lovely eh? No matter how many White Lily & Rose tarts or Citrus blend candles I burn it's always a la sewage. Doesn't cover it up at all. Just makes the first whiff a bit tolerable which is great for say the UPS guy but friends, relatives, and US - no. Doesn't help.

We've also been plagued with odd stomach viruses. So once we identified a possible sewage problem my brave dad went to the great down under and found something we were afraid of. A lake of sewage. *sigh*

So, we begged our plumber to come out ASAP and he did, today. He was 3 hours late and acted like he was 3 hours early but he's still a welcoming sight at this point. He's a very matter-of-fact, laid back, thoughtful (in action, not in words due to the matter-of-fact trait) guy. He walks into the house and asks, "Sewage problem?" I tell him we think so and he says, "Is that what I'm smelling?". I could think of a dozen wise ass answers at this point but the man is our only hope so I said we thought so. So, he goes down into the abyss with my father who's already down there. You really have to picture this next scenario so I'm giving it it's own paragraph.

My dad is germaphobic & a neat freak. It comes in handy at times but being under the house is not appealing to him, even without sewage. He's armed with lights, plastic, and a Lysol bottle in lieu of bug spray. He's wearing full body coveralls (thanks *L*, he LOVES those), socks over his jeans, boots, a long sleeve shirt over the coveralls, gloves, and a mask. And he's still freaked out. So he brings the plumber to the area where the lovely lake is. The plumber, bare handed, jeans, short sleeved shirt, casual as can be says it looks like sewage. As they ponder that the guy takes his BARE hand, puts it in the water waving it underneath. THen he scoops up some of the water, watches it run off and says, "yeah, there's definately some sewage in there".

YUCK! I think my dad wanted to hurl right then. But to him it's no big deal. That's kind of cool that the human species can adapt that well to their profession.

The good news is the leak is from our SINK in the kitchen, NOT sewage. A few months ago we had a sewage pipe repaired and the leftovers didn't dry up properly so when the new leak started a lake it stirred everything up. Lovely. I'm sure you all wanted to know this right? hehe

So, it was a-quittin' time for Mr. Laid Back but he's coming back bright and early. After some lime and replacing the cast iron old piping we should be good as new.

At least we found out why our heating bill was so high these past few months. Apparently the hot air was going through an unfinished vent and into the crawlspace. No wonder the cat liked being under the house so much!

I'm thinking about marketing a sewage scent tart candle, maybe plumbers would buy 'em. ;-)

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Painting with children

OK so I took Dys' advice and decided to take on more household projects with my kids. Our 2yo is just not ready to paint (although he thinks he is) so while the others were helping I gave baby *T* a clean paint brush with a bowl of water and a clean wall to "paint". All good, right? Would I be blogging about it if it was? LOL!

So, I'm deep in paint-land thinking to myself, "Wow, this isn't so bad after all. Everyone is doing a great job!". Then I turn around. Somehow little Mr. Sneaks-a-lot got his little brush into the rolling pan. And so he painted a wall we didn't have any intentions on painting.

But, it wasn't that bad.

And he was SO happy.

And it was my risk.

So, we just laughed and took lots of pictures. Looking at that wall makes me smile.

Enjoy!


Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Vote by Issue

Try voting by the issues, not by the candidates personalities. It was an educational experience that solidified my vote! :-)

Monday, January 7, 2008

Yoga with children

OK so I'm really, really trying hard to get into my best shape. Partly because I really want to be around for a long time and well, to be honest, partly because 2 of my in-great-shape friends want to take me to Europe next Fall. It's an awesome opportunity I'm thrilled about but not as thrilled lying on the beach in between those too. LOL Of course, I don't NEED to look my best for anyone since my husband has never stopped thinking I was beautiful but I really want to for myself and for my health.

SO... one of the new routines I'm adding to my day is morning Yoga. My original plan was to get up before the darling little ones and have my morning coffee & breakfast bar, do a Bible study peacefully at the table watching the sunrise and then do my Yoga routine before cheerfully greeting my children as they wake with a hot breakfast awaiting. Yeah, I watched WAY too much Nick-at-Nite growing up. Damn Donna Reed and the delusions she's caused me. *sniff*

So into my world of color, my reality. I wake up with the kids and drink my coffee as they enjoy their instant oatmeal and I read through e-mail instead of being productive. Then I remember the Yoga tape and pop it in. My older daughter wants to try it too so I give her the spare mat and away we go. For the first 20mins the kids played in and out of the room and left us alone pretty much. Then my daughter got tired and gave up. I was the sole yoga survivor.

So, I'm attempting the Downward Facing Dog pose and all of a sudden I peer down my shirt from the collar (you are supossed to hang your head) and I see my 2yo peering in from the waist side and he says cheerfully, "Mum?!??". Mum is our word for nursing. *sigh* Yeah, weaning is going well.

So... onto the mediatation series. HA! I've learned 2 things. #1 I am EXTREMELY good at ignoring the rest of the world and focusing inward. & #2 My oldest son (10) finally has developed EMPATHY! WooHoo I didn't think it would ever happen folks! I didn't think they EVER developed that trait! But, as my 4yo DD was screaming in my ear that the 6yo hurt her (this is commonplace and I promise you it's almost always not as bad as she says and no, I do not normally ignore it), my 10yo came to my rescue. He reassured her and told her to "leave mommy alone, she's exercising". At this point I'm lying flat with my eyes closed deep in focus and I hear my 4yo, "Is she dead?" Then comes the Peoples' Elbow (not normally involved in Yoga). My 2yo was the elbow culprit but doggonit, I kept focus!

So, that's Yoga for ya, mommy style. I think when I'm 100 and I'm doing Yoga peacefully I will miss the chaos of today. Or maybe it will be my husband peering down my shirt unexpectantly when I do Yoga in those days. LOL