Status Symbol

As our family was driving down the freeway a few weeks ago, Shane and I notice a conversation in the back seat that involves bowel movement.  Somehow a very interesting topic to the young generation.  And Aidan pipes up in his loud, yet squeaky voice:

"My poop is curly!  Sometimes it makes a C... or even a G!"

I suppose as the youngest, you will try anything to improve your status.

At least we were all together as a family making memories, right?

12 Years of Sheer Bliss

This month, we celebrated our 12th year of marriage.

A little B&B, an expensive restaurant and a movie.  We are so creative!

It's fun to think of the ways we are similar, and the ways we are different.

Like toast, for example.

We both like the french bread toasted with butter.

But!

Shane likes it sweet and fruity.

I like it with heavily salted avocado. 

According to the kids, here are some ways we are alike and different.

SAME:

L: You are both married.  Your fingers both turn white when you get angry.  

A: You're both adults.  You are both parents.  You are both humans. You both speak the same language. You both quiver when you are cold. You both go on errands.(I'm glad we both speak the same language.  Could be a real downer in a marriage not to.)

J: You both have the same color of eyes. You both have red lips.  You both spank us when you are annoyed.  You both like to sleep in. You both smooch when you are happy.(I guess we spank based on how we feel; not on how the kids behave...)

DIFFERENT:

J: You are loud and noisy and Papa is quiet.  And you don't look the same. I think Mom's huggier. You cook and Papa doesn't.  And you make strawberry shortcake and water the plants.  Papa's funnier than Mama.  Papa treats us calm, Mama treats us grouchy.  Papa has a goatee, you don't.(well, I guess there are points there for both of us)

A: The way you look.  Dad's hairy, Mom's not. (thanks, son) And mom has longer hair than Dad. Your voices are different.  How about your mind? Dad's smarter than you, Mom.(indeed)

L: For one thing, you are not a man and a man, and you are not a woman and a woman.  Papa does necessary work and you don't.  just kidding!  (hardee har har) 

The New Toothless

Our third child experienced a first: losing his first tooth.  Sometimes, when a first happens for the third time, it isn't as new or exciting, and I have to pep up the enthusiasm for it.

Not so losing teeth!

We have been enjoying the cute evenness of Aidan's baby teeth, as we are surrounded by huge honkers and big gaps on the other two.  But true to our weird family, his bottom two adult teeth showed up behind the babies.  And not too long after, the babies started to come loose.  We quickly prepped by sewing him a "tooth pillow" and it was none too soon.  It came out the next day.

Aidan's story is a little... odd.  The routine runs thiswise:  The tooth fairy grants your wish on the fist tooth, then gives a dollar for all teeth following.  In the past, I have suggested that the kiddo write a private note to the tooth fairy with their wish on it.  True to form, we forgot to take care of it and Aidan woke up the next morning without a visit from the tooth fairy.  Luckily, it was Saturday morning and he was more interested in his computer time and forgot about it too.  So Shane snuck in his room and retrieved the note.  And this is what he showed me:

What do you DO with THIS????  No biggie, Mom, just a simple request to make all my dreams come true.  HA!  Shane reaches for his wallet and says, how about a $5?  In the end, Shane used a trip to town to snag a nano bug (look it up) and we stuck that in Aidan's tooth pillow pocket.  Later, after the booty had been found, we hear this conversation between Aidan and Julia where she gives him an education.

Julia: What did you wish, Aidan?

Aidan: I wanted the tooth fairy to make the things I dream about at night to happen in real life!  I have really cool dreams and I want them to come true!

Julia:  Oh, that's too big of a wish for the tooth fairy! (She had wished for a horse on her first tooth.)  You have to wish a tooth-sized wish!

So, Aidan was happy with his nano, and he played with it for awhile.  Later in the day, they got their allowance.  It was kind of a lot, since I had skipped a few weeks.  With his wad of cash in hand, he ran into his room, and ran out again telling me: I gave the tooth fairy two dollars, Mom!  She is so nice that I wanted to tell her thank-you and I hope she will accept it! (italics, mine)

What in the WORLD am I to do with this kid?  With a kicker line like that, how can I not take that money out of the pocket?  So I did, but I think I'll just smuggle it back into his wallet.  I certainly don't want it!  =)  Any ideas?  Maybe a note from the tooth fairy?  

I should have just stuck to a simple quarter per tooth.  I could have made sure it was a state or national park quarter, since they are collecting those.  KISS!  (keep it simple, stupid)

Get That Term Right!

I just love some of our conversations with the kids.  It's so enlightening and entertaining!

At every meal, there is a constant flow of conversation, or at least some sort of noise.  Today's lunch conversation included talk of puberty, a new term that we have discussed in basic outlines during science.  There was some general speculation on when they would reach puberty, and then some comments about how I was in puberty.  So I corrected them, saying that I was past puberty.  Then I posed the question:

"What comes after puberty?"

Lucas shouts out:  "Adultery!"

A List of Quotes by Aidan

While de-cluttering, I came across this scrap of a grocery list with a few things that Aidan said.

While folding laundry:

"Mom, your butt cheek is as big as my head!"
Not a word in common usage around here, as it's discouraged. And I guess with undies on your head, it makes the comparison more... obvious

While playing at the park:

"All the kids are in awe of me!"

and to a little girl:

"Did you see me eat that bagel?  Pretty awesome, huh!"

"Look!  He's plunging to his doom!"

I asked Aidan:

"What's the prettiest part of my face?"

"Nothing, really."

"Not even one little part?"

"No.  Not much."

That's what I get for trying to wrangle a compliment from a child!

House Project: more boys blue bedroom

Here is Tuesday's progress:

A start on the ceiling... what a hassle!

At least I had a bunk bed to use for part of the ceiling.

At this point, I felt a bit like Michelangelo.

Minus the talent, of course.

It comes together!

I did the right hand crack BY HAND.

I will do the wall crack by hand as well.

Maybe.

Yes, walls have cracks.

And this is where I left off.

I think you can tell which two cracks need attention.

Attention for another day!

Story:  Tonight we took a Family Bike Ride.  (We say it in capitals.) As I was doing my famous "ride up beside little kids and give them a helpful shove going uphill" I almost bashed into Aidan's back tire. Since I didn't want to do this, I didn't turn, just let the bike fall over, but somehow missed catching myself with my foot.  Hiney high, wide and handsome, I slo-mo'ed to the ground, landing on my knee and elbow.  In gravel.  Gracefully, I got to my feet and turned back to observe my Honey's reaction.  He was carefully sympathetic, and never once cracked a smile at me!  I did have a mildly scraped up knee. But I'm fine, especially since no neighbors were out.  So if they saw me, they had time to back out of their window before I looked around.  

Also: As I was suffering through this ceiling, Aidan told me that I could paint until my heart was content.  Then he asked me if my heart was content.  So I said, no, that my heart would not be content until the painting was done!  He suggested I just stop painting and that I would find my heart was content after all.  I suspect he was right, but forced myself to keep going, regardless of my heart's contentment level.

Dishes and Philosophy

The kids have kitchen chores that rotate weekly. I'm a happy mama because they are all old enough to do all three jobs and they've been doing them long enough that they do them WELL!  Yay!  My reason for having kids has come true! Kidding... kidding. The jobs are set and clear the table, unload the dishwasher and rinse and sort the dishes.

This week, Aidan has the "rinse and sort" job which means he organizes the dirty dishes, rinses them off in a sink of water and puts them in the other side of the sink for me to load.  Nowadays, I tell the kids to do their job, (assign an extra chore if there is complaining) and then check back to find a sink full of dishes that I can load in the dishwasher.  Beautamous!

Aidan was playing in the sink with a spoon and tupperware, a dangerous temptation of rinsing dishes, and announced:

"If I had three hands, I could wash these dishes twice as fast!  And if I had four hands, I could wash the dishes three times as fast.  And if I had five hands, I could wash the dishes.... four times as fast. I would hold this dish with this hand and wash it with this one, and hold another dish in the other hand and wash it with the other hand. And if I had six hands, I could wash dishes five times as fast."

I love it when I get to hear what they are thinking about!

A Chicken Persepctive

As we drove into town the other day, Lucas and I had an interesting conversation.

He asked me "Mom, if I were a chicken, would I enjoy being a chicken?"

An interesting thought to ponder.  Both of them.

Why would he be wondering this?  However, if he can wonder what it's like to be a chicken, perhaps it isn't too much of a leap to then wondering what life is like for other people.

I wonder what he thinks about that I never hear?

When I Grow Up To Be Normal

The other day, I was telling Aidan how grown up he is getting!

I asked him what he was going to be when he grew up, maybe a fireman or a cowboy?

"Nah," he said.  "Just a normal person."

But maybe he'd like to be an astronaut!  Or perhaps fly airplanes?

"No, Mom," he said.  "I'm just going to be a normal person."


Later in the day, he happened to have a similar conversation with his Papa.  When Shane asked him what he was going to be, he replied:

"I'm just going to be a normal man."


His total lack of enthusiasm was crazy!  Once again, it would be so interesting to dive inside the mind of a child.  I hypothesize that he might mean he wants to be like Shane, who is "normal" to Aidan.  He'll play Starfall on the computer and tell me he's "working at the computer, like Papa".  He's mentioned on several occasions how he's going to grow up and work in his closet like Papa does.  (Shane has no office in this house, so his walk-in closet is his office here.)  So perhaps Aidan's idea of what a "normal man" does is to sit in his closet with his computer and "work".

Poor child, he needs a healthier view!

The Best

"Mom, your bread is better than a bakery!" said Lucas.

"Mom, your bread is better than a store OR a bakery!" said Julia.

"Mom, your foot is better than a fan!" said Aidan.

Just a few funny things my kids have said lately...

Aidan was sitting in time out on the love seat.  After about twenty seconds he asked me:
"Are you ever going to let me get up at some point?"

Aidan, upon being kissed and cuddled up in his bed at bedtime when he didn't want to go:
"Waahhhh!  I'm so sad!  I'm the saddest kid.  I'm sadder than you will ever know!"

Julia, my early riser, climbed into bed with me for a few minutes in the early morning hours.  After awhile, Aidan joined us.  They talked for a few minutes, and then this conversation ensued:
Julia: "Mom, I wish that I had that like Aidan...  Well, I guess I shouldn't say that."
Mom: "What do you mean?"
Julia: "We aren't supposed to cub."
Mom: ??  "What are you cubbing?"
Julia:  "Well, we aren't supposed to, so I guess I shouldn't talk about it, right?"
Mom(wanting to reinforce such good reasoning but very confused): "What does cub mean?"
Julia:  "The Bible says we shouldn't cub other people's things, like their toys and stuff.  And we shouldn't want to be like them, but just be happy with what we have."

Ooohhhhhhh!

Mom: "That's right!  And that word is "covet" and that was a very good girl...etc, etc..."

Lucas says lots of interesting things, too.  Lately, we've been working on the idea that just because something sounds right doesn't mean it's true.  He's very good at giving us all information, but sometimes his information isn't quite correct.  So we practice the idea of checking our information, both ideas that we want to pass on and ideas we get from others.  Kinda takes the fun out of correcting others!  (Which is kind of the point, in a way.)

Love Notes

Not long ago, Lucas was feeling sad and blue.  Julia took the initiative to cheer him up, and worked on a little project for him.

Then she came to me and asked if I would write down a poem she made up.  I was so curious to see what it was all about, since this would be the first poem she has ever shared with me.

Huddle up next

Go on a date

Snuggle with love

Jump on the trampoline with Lucas

I loved it!  So did Lucas. =)

And then there was Father's Day:

More artwork, and this year, I had the kids finish a sentence telling why they like having Shane be their Papa.  I think he liked it.  =)

Julia:

"I'm glad you are my Papa because you're handsome, you work hard and I love you.  When you look at me it makes me smile."

Lucas:

"I'm glad you are my Papa because you take me to special places like Karting and because you're so fun, so nice and I love you."

Aidan:

"I'm glad you are my Papa because of your great work and how you tickled me yesterday and you are very nice."

Horse Shocks

Don't you just hate it when you get a horse shock?  Such a pain!

Once upon a time, a mother told her little boy that the cramp in his leg was a charlie horse.  This has gone down in history as a horse shock, and forever after, we get to hear about horse shocks whenever someone has a charlie horse, or simply a sore leg.

Chickens are worm-free!  Yay!  Somehow, I'm not yet ready to eat their eggs.  But I'm sure I'll get over that soon enough.  I'm starting to get tired of throwing away dozens of eggs.

All for today!

Aidan's Special Brand of Cute

Firstly:

Aidan and Toe are doing much better these days! Thanks for the good wishes to Aidan, he loved it when I read him your comments. I asked him if he wanted to say anything back. He says:

Thank-you for saying "That's cool!"

Nextly, I would like to feature Aidan in this post because I have some quotes and pictures that need sharing. For our family photo shoot, he was a total ham! Each of our kids has a little something special and unique from the other kids. And they contrast each other perfectly, highlighting each other's qualities. I'll sprinkle them about...

Silly face...

Hair tuft in the back...

Lovin' this cheese!

Isn't it GREAT?

Funky moon-face smile to finish it off

Aidan does say some funny things and sometimes it's so random, I can't figure out what he's really thinking about. For instance, one night at dinner our family was discussing Aidan's penchant for picking the candy hearts off other people's cookies. As we talked about it, Shane cleverly said " Aidan steals little girls' hearts!" Aidan, not to be outdone in the wit department, says "I steal little girls AND little boys hearts!". Shane and I crack up, Lucas and Julia laugh along with us. To see how far this would go, I asked Aidan what he did with their hearts. He looks at me for half a second and I can see him thinking. Then he says " I chomp them with my teeth, eat them and swallow them with water!"

A great example of the contrast between my two boys.

Another day, after some parental correction, he told me something very interesting through his tears.

"Mom, I know this is a long sentence, but I need you. (Touches the corner of his eyes underneath.) The sentence is from here to here. From the corner of this eye to the corner of this eye."

?? I couldn't make heads or tails of it, so I focused on the "I need you" part and rocked him while he chatted. =)

Papa and Mama with the little man

"I'm just excited!"

This phrase has become something of a household word in our little world. It is strange, and would be extremely inappropriate except that Aidan means something different from what an adult would understand. Months ago, I noticed a typical "need to go potty" stance and asked Aidan if he needed to go. His reply? "I'm just excited, Mom." So every time the hand goes down in the "need to go" position, I can be almost certain that my queries will be met with "I don't have to go potty, I'm excited!" I began to insist that he try anyway, and wasn't all that comforted to discover that he'd go every time. On one occasion he became exasperated and insisted "Mo-om! This is what people do when they are excited!" and demonstrated the hand grab. We don't make a big deal about it other than to tell him to try anyway, but it's one of those things that can make social occasions a bit strained as people wonder WHAT our kid is talking about!

But we think he's pretty wonderful and creative. He's at that age where he likes to use big words and every once in a while he gets them right! It's sad to see the baby years slipping away, but happily ALL my children still want lap time with me!=)

Quirks and Cuteness

My sweeties are making me laugh and smile these days. Some days they make me scream and cry, but it's not really their fault. They are just growing little people with a lot to learn and a lot to teach Mom!

Let's start with Lucas.

He's been giving me a lot of compliments lately. The other day he said I was an amazing mommy! I replied that I wasn't that amazing since anyone could do what I do. And he replied "You are amazing because of how much you love us!" Now doesn't that just melt your heart? He's been full of these little compliments, and I admit it: I don't mind! =)

Poor kid gave me a scare, though. He got his first new tooth without losing any. It came in behind his bottom teeth, like this:

But I quickly googled it and discovered it's very common and not to worry. And one of his teeny front teeth are loose, so things are progressing very well. In honor of this occasion, and because he's been dying to learn to sew with a needle and thread, he and I made a tooth pillow.

He stitched on the pocket, and I was impressed, since he's never put needle to fabric before. I sewed up the edges, he stuffed it and voila!!! He's the happy owner of a tooth pillow. Now for some creative ideas for the tooth fairy. Help!

And now for Julia. For starters:

I love this close-up. She might not like it when she's older, but she will if she's ever a mommy! I overheard a conversation between she and Lucas:

Julia: "Boys do not wear boobs!"

Lucas: "They don't wear breasts, Julia. That's politer."

(Both of them meant "bra" anyway)

Clearly we have an open and comfortable conversation level with our children...

The other day, I ran to get Shane. He just had to see how Julia had fallen asleep for her nap! She had tied herself up, then tied herself to the bedpost and just drifted off.

It was hilarious and worrisome all at the same time. I unhitched her from the bedpost and then had a chat with her after she woke up about safety. You never know what will enter their minds to try. It would be impossible to think of everything and forbid it!! Certainly I have never said "Now, go to sleep, Sweetie. And remember, don't tie yourself to your bedpost!"

Now Aidan. He is so cute!

He gets more cuddles than he wants from his Mommy. Last night we got home from a date after bedtime. We were watching a movie, when the door squeaks open slowly, then a little person runs away! So I went after Aidan, and he was crying because he couldn't find me. He was in his tiny, tighty-whiteys and he looked so cute! So I snuggled him up in front of the fire, and gave him a drink of water. He was so happy and then ASKED to be put back in his bed. I could have sat there and held him for MUCH longer!!

I got a picture of the back of his neck, although it's not quite what I had hoped.

I want to get pictures of all my kids beauty spots and knobby knees and cheeks and sideburns. I just don't want to forget!

And that's my little rave about my babies!

Sick Sick Sick

Well, when starting a blog, I suppose one can just jump right in!

Today marks the beginning of week 4 of flu, cold, cough, fever, ear aches and body aches for me and my brood. I did finally go to the doctor, just to make sure we aren't all dying. And sure enough, we just have mild germs, barely worth a prescription(which didn't get filled). So we continue on, using natural remedies like sleep, fluids, "ruh ruh" C (a sister's childhood term for "vitamin") and a few other fringy things.

Of course, this vermin or germ is holding us back from big plans; we have a Kindergardener starting on the 17th with her part-time Montessori class. And so that is when Homeschool will also being for the boys(1st grade and PreK). Which means we need to get the school room ready. But it is currently a bedroom. So we need to move the bunk beds out. But first we need to paint the room the bunk beds are going into. Then we'll paint the school room. THEN we'll get it ready!

Today my 3 year old told me "You are my Mom, but first I need a drink." I felt good about his priorities.

In the next few days, I plan to post pictures and updates on the current projects underway, namely chickens and house painting. But as I've already mentioned, I'm good at starting. It's the follow through that lacks.