Summer once again! Our summers seem shorter because the twins and Steve are on a different school schedule than us. For our summers, I imagine a big long sub being chopped off at either end. We are not home all together as much as when Steve taught at Norwayne Middle School. I'm teaching summer school and Steve is working at PT's Grille as well as working on getting his AIG certificate through 4 online courses. Still very busy plus our house is for sale. It has been so pleasant to finally get everything (and keep everything) in order in our house. Summer is so much more laid back and my brain feels not so overwhelmed. Now that Georgie Pie is not nursing anymore, this year should be a little easier. For the first year after I have a baby, I nurse and pump and my brain just isn't as free. Keeping up with the milk supply is always on my mind and takes up some time. I'm certainly not complaining because I wouldn't have it any other way, but it definitely takes up a big spot in my life that now is freed up for other things.
Praying for our house to sell quick! A few weeks before school got out, our upstairs air conditioner went out and we all had to sleep downstairs. For about two weeks, we all took our pillows and blankets and piled all around downstairs to sleep. We were all together and I loved it. That's where the idea for selling our two-story house began. Hopefully we will move to a one-story house soon.
Linus...Pie has fallen in love with carrying around a blanket. The blanket is a bit long and she's prone to trip anyway so we have to watch her.
Steve, Dellaney, and Blinson left yesterday for Lake Junaluska. They will be back on Sunday. It was a little hard for Dellaney to leave for that long, so we are all praying here that she has a good time and that the time flies by.
For this weekend, it's just me and the 4 younger girls. Hopefully we can have fun and keep the house straight at the same time:)!
Friday, July 18, 2014
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Mirrors
Whenever GL sees a mirror, she immediately starts waving. It is instant - automatic - I think she likes seeing herself waving back. She waves from her shoulder all the way down with her whole arm. She will always wave at Jimmy more than anyone else.
How She Talks
The paperwork is underway for LG to get some speech therapy. She mainly drops off the first consonants of many words. Her talking sounds like a pile of vowels. In context and when you are with her, she is easier to understand. When she is on the phone, it all sounds like gibberish. These three words sound exactly the same...barbecue, baby food, bathing suit. Hadley and Daddy used to sound identical, but she has since fixed Daddy. Hadley still sounds messed up. For B, she used to say B Beer, then she moved to Bibbitz, and now Binton. For D, she says Naney, the exact same way that D used to say her own name. For J, she says Yoyo. For GL, she says My baby or Orge En. She speaks with lots of expression and her most recent new word is "embarassed".
The Maid
After all the kids got up from the table, it looked as if they weren't finished eating. No one had cleaned up their space. Feeling frustrated, I called the oldest three back in to the dining room and asked them to bring me a phone. When they all got in there, I told them that I would give any one of them $100 if they could call a maid to come and clean off the table. Immediately, Joey and B started cleaning off the table, while D started doing something with the phone. Suddenly, my cell phone started ringing. D said, "I'm calling the maid...all day long every day all you do around here is clean up:)!" Quick wit!
What Kindergartners Say...
Running crazy around my house yesterday morning getting ready for school...I told H to go and count to 50 for her daddy. Joey must have heard her counting. On the way to school, Joey mentioned that each time H got to a number ending with 9, she would pause awhile to determine what number came next. Then Joey began to explain that in 1st grade you can't count like that. Instead, you have to count fast. Joey began to demonstrate, counting very rapidly. When she got to about 84, H put her hand up on her forehead and said, "Do I really have to learn this RIGHT now?"
H conversation with Joey in the car...
H: Mama was talking about helping me quit sucking my thumb and she looked on that dot.com thing. It said cut off your thumbs. I'm not gonna let anybody do that.
Later on that same ride, I was praying our prayer for the morning and Joey and H started talking. When I finished praying, I said, "Why are y'all talking in the middle of my prayer?" J said, "I'm sorry, Mama." H said, "I'm sorry, Mama. I was ignoring you. I didn't know you were talking to God. I thought you were talking to us."
Last night, H and Joey were invited to spend the night at a friend's house since they don't have school today. When I agreed, H came over to the friend's mom and said, "I'm going to try not to freak out, but I am so excited!"
On another day, H said, "I heard at school that it is a bad thing to stick up your middle finger. What am I gonna do if my teacher asks me to show her 2? Should I do this [She put her two fingers pointing down.]? Or maybe I could do bunny rabbits [holding up bunny ears with crooked fingers]?"
H conversation with Joey in the car...
H: Mama was talking about helping me quit sucking my thumb and she looked on that dot.com thing. It said cut off your thumbs. I'm not gonna let anybody do that.
Later on that same ride, I was praying our prayer for the morning and Joey and H started talking. When I finished praying, I said, "Why are y'all talking in the middle of my prayer?" J said, "I'm sorry, Mama." H said, "I'm sorry, Mama. I was ignoring you. I didn't know you were talking to God. I thought you were talking to us."
Last night, H and Joey were invited to spend the night at a friend's house since they don't have school today. When I agreed, H came over to the friend's mom and said, "I'm going to try not to freak out, but I am so excited!"
On another day, H said, "I heard at school that it is a bad thing to stick up your middle finger. What am I gonna do if my teacher asks me to show her 2? Should I do this [She put her two fingers pointing down.]? Or maybe I could do bunny rabbits [holding up bunny ears with crooked fingers]?"
Monday, September 9, 2013
Funny funny funny
J said just the other day...
Mama, you know how if you tell someone, "You're a redneck," they'll say, "No, I'm not!". People who are rednecks don't know that they are.
I said, "Have you been going around telling people that they're rednecks?"
She said, "No, Mama, I know better than that but you know what I mean?"
After I cooked scrambled eggs, H said, "These eggs are so good, they taste like homemade." I tried to explain to her that they were homemade but I couldn't get her to understand. I think she thought that homemade eggs came from a chicken in our yard. After this whole homemade discussion, she said, "I really wish you would make me some homemade Cheetos."
We had some ants in the kitchen a few months ago. When I started spraying everything down, H said, "Now the bugs are like Oh man, they're cleaning up, now we have to go somewhere else."
H said, "Mama, did you know that God can do some really cool stuff? God can even do a split. When God does something really cool, the devil just says, Man, I wish I could do that." So true so true! We need to remember that God has already won. The devil is not an opposite and equal force with God. With God on our side, the devil is not only beneath God but also beneath us.
H said, "Why don't we go to that pool anymore?" I told her that the people who ran the pool closed it to everyone except the very close residents. We talked about that that made no sense, and then she said, "Yeah, I mean we all live in North Carolina."
H said, "I'm not trying to be mean to God, but I think I like the Great Wolfe Lodge better than heaven."
If I say, "H, stop sucking your thumb," she says, "But I'm hungry!"
H said, "I know how to spell our dog's name...AB (A bee)!"
Mama, you know how if you tell someone, "You're a redneck," they'll say, "No, I'm not!". People who are rednecks don't know that they are.
I said, "Have you been going around telling people that they're rednecks?"
She said, "No, Mama, I know better than that but you know what I mean?"
After I cooked scrambled eggs, H said, "These eggs are so good, they taste like homemade." I tried to explain to her that they were homemade but I couldn't get her to understand. I think she thought that homemade eggs came from a chicken in our yard. After this whole homemade discussion, she said, "I really wish you would make me some homemade Cheetos."
We had some ants in the kitchen a few months ago. When I started spraying everything down, H said, "Now the bugs are like Oh man, they're cleaning up, now we have to go somewhere else."
H said, "Mama, did you know that God can do some really cool stuff? God can even do a split. When God does something really cool, the devil just says, Man, I wish I could do that." So true so true! We need to remember that God has already won. The devil is not an opposite and equal force with God. With God on our side, the devil is not only beneath God but also beneath us.
H said, "Why don't we go to that pool anymore?" I told her that the people who ran the pool closed it to everyone except the very close residents. We talked about that that made no sense, and then she said, "Yeah, I mean we all live in North Carolina."
H said, "I'm not trying to be mean to God, but I think I like the Great Wolfe Lodge better than heaven."
If I say, "H, stop sucking your thumb," she says, "But I'm hungry!"
H said, "I know how to spell our dog's name...AB (A bee)!"
Catching Up Again
Catching up with my family blog again. Wonder why it took me 6 kids before I became completely overwhelmed. I'm trying to get back to the basics to deal with the overwhelming feeling of not being able to do enough to keep my head above water. There is much to do around here, too much for me to also have to teach 25 young students and coordinate and lead and accompany several choirs at the church. By back to the basics, I mean that I'm trying to lean into what God has to say to me, and trying to take in a little baby bite of His peace every day. I'm doing this through odb.org, which is an online version of the devotional that my grandparents used every night (at 10:00 a.m.). Lately, I've come up with a word of the day to get me through the day. I remember that word and remember that all I have to do is the very next thing, rather than becoming overwhelmed by considering EVERYTHING that needs to be done. I'm also trying to remember to pray three times a day, even if it's only for a few minutes.
With all that having been said, six children is a whole lot of fun. When I was a teenager, I would have jumped at the chance to babysit for 6 children. I was fascinated by large families as a child and loved it when I was able to babysit for a family of 4 children.
Six children is chaotic and I feel that I am on demand a great deal of the time. In trying to make sure that everyone gets the attention they need, I've started a Saturday breakfast tradition. I take one child out each Saturday morning for breakfast. I'm also considering making part of this tradition to come home and make a smoothie for all the other kids here. My crowd loves smoothies that they fight over who will get the last drop. They're healthy and quick and fun!
Tomorrow D is making her speech for class president. I'm proud of her for being confident enough to take this on. She is taking dance and has just gotten her first pair of pointe shoes.
B has gotten really involved at his school with TSA and Mock Trial. He also loves doing scouts and soccer.
J is dancing and taking piano. She is right across the hall from me at school and that has been so much fun so far this year. Every time she comes out to recess she comes over to me and gives me a big hug.
H just started big school. She had a rough day with behavior last week, but after we talked to her, she looked like she was going to a funeral the next morning on her way to school. Since our talk, she has done better. She is really social, so it doesn't come as naturally to her to be quiet.
L has potty trained in the last two months and has done beautifully. My motto about this is, "Wait until the child is ready. Don't even start until the child is ready." She is the funniest talker and she leaves off so many of her initial consonants. 1-2-3 is un - oo - ee. Her name is E A. I think she is really going to be a person who loves the stage. At our spring revival, she sung with the preschool choir for the first time. She sang Zacchaeus and did such a great job, singing loud and doing all the motions.
G is our newest addition. She looks just like all the rest of the children. She is 95% for weight and 89% for height. She has a double chin. She is very laid back and enjoys watching all the coming and going of all the other children. She was recently diagnosed (just last Thursday) with ASD - atrial septal defect - which means she has a hole in her heart that has not closed up. She also has another smaller hole in her heart. So far it is not impacting her at all so we are just watching and waiting to determine the best action for her. L calls her "my baby".
Everyone always calls me Supermom. It used to really get on my nerves because it's like everyone thinks I'm so different, and I feel just like everyone else. Because I have so much to do, last year I had three all-nighters, staying up and catching up on grading papers, entering grades, planning, etc. One of these all-nighters I was working on my National Board renewal. Things were coming to me pretty quickly and were coming together pretty good for this. (I don't know if I passed or not. I'm supposed to find out in October.) Anyway, when I looked at the clock and realized how much great progress I had made even though it was 4:30, I thought to myself, "Guess what? I was wrong and everyone else was right. I Am Superwoman! Haha".
With all that having been said, six children is a whole lot of fun. When I was a teenager, I would have jumped at the chance to babysit for 6 children. I was fascinated by large families as a child and loved it when I was able to babysit for a family of 4 children.
Six children is chaotic and I feel that I am on demand a great deal of the time. In trying to make sure that everyone gets the attention they need, I've started a Saturday breakfast tradition. I take one child out each Saturday morning for breakfast. I'm also considering making part of this tradition to come home and make a smoothie for all the other kids here. My crowd loves smoothies that they fight over who will get the last drop. They're healthy and quick and fun!
Tomorrow D is making her speech for class president. I'm proud of her for being confident enough to take this on. She is taking dance and has just gotten her first pair of pointe shoes.
B has gotten really involved at his school with TSA and Mock Trial. He also loves doing scouts and soccer.
J is dancing and taking piano. She is right across the hall from me at school and that has been so much fun so far this year. Every time she comes out to recess she comes over to me and gives me a big hug.
H just started big school. She had a rough day with behavior last week, but after we talked to her, she looked like she was going to a funeral the next morning on her way to school. Since our talk, she has done better. She is really social, so it doesn't come as naturally to her to be quiet.
L has potty trained in the last two months and has done beautifully. My motto about this is, "Wait until the child is ready. Don't even start until the child is ready." She is the funniest talker and she leaves off so many of her initial consonants. 1-2-3 is un - oo - ee. Her name is E A. I think she is really going to be a person who loves the stage. At our spring revival, she sung with the preschool choir for the first time. She sang Zacchaeus and did such a great job, singing loud and doing all the motions.
G is our newest addition. She looks just like all the rest of the children. She is 95% for weight and 89% for height. She has a double chin. She is very laid back and enjoys watching all the coming and going of all the other children. She was recently diagnosed (just last Thursday) with ASD - atrial septal defect - which means she has a hole in her heart that has not closed up. She also has another smaller hole in her heart. So far it is not impacting her at all so we are just watching and waiting to determine the best action for her. L calls her "my baby".
Everyone always calls me Supermom. It used to really get on my nerves because it's like everyone thinks I'm so different, and I feel just like everyone else. Because I have so much to do, last year I had three all-nighters, staying up and catching up on grading papers, entering grades, planning, etc. One of these all-nighters I was working on my National Board renewal. Things were coming to me pretty quickly and were coming together pretty good for this. (I don't know if I passed or not. I'm supposed to find out in October.) Anyway, when I looked at the clock and realized how much great progress I had made even though it was 4:30, I thought to myself, "Guess what? I was wrong and everyone else was right. I Am Superwoman! Haha".
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