So our family watched a movie called Food, Inc. It was very enlightening. It was all about a veil that is put up between the consumer and the producer/manufacturer of food. Even today at Wal-mart, I noticed the woman in front of me in line purchasing a dozen eggs. Just normal, Walmart-brand eggs. Not organic, nothing special. On the package, it said "farm fresh". However, the movie we watched showed another side to how the food gets to us and the price both the animals and farm/plant employees have to pay. In the past, when I heard vegetarians say that they felt bad for the animals, I didn't get it because I thought this was the order of things in nature. It's a food chain, it's not animal cruelty. I never considered how the animals were treated prior to being killed. I just thought that they were fed and taken care of until their day. I know that's naive, but typically I'm naive about many things. After watching the movie, I saw several examples of how mistreatment of the animals impacted many humans. I also saw how the big-dogs of the food industry treated their employees as poorly as they treated their animals. It really opened my eyes.
We went shopping at Harris-Teeter to pick up some organic things. They have by far the best selection in our area (only 15-20 minutes away). Making the switch to totally healthy is tricky. First of all, I have 37 years of experience of eating whatever, not thinking of the impact on my health and on the food industry. A 37 year habit of eating convenience foods from time to time, not even every day, is tough to break out of. It takes more time and forethought to make thoughtful, considerate food choices.
At the end of the movie, the screen read, "You get to vote three times a day." I'm praying that as the New Year rolls around and I have some time off next week to get organized and regroup, we'll be able to lean a little more to the organic side of things.
One week in particular was very good for us on an "eating organically" scale. I noticed, even in that short time, that the children were able to find something for a snack that they liked from what we had in the cabinet. For years past, the cabinet had more processed, convenience foods. For snacks, at least for that week, we really tried to think outside of the box. All the children, especially Birdie, tolerated the difference and actually ate less-processed, less-convenience, and less-good-for-you snacks.
Friday, December 25, 2009
The Reason for the Wise Men
As Bug and I looked at a nativity scene at my sister's church, she said, "There's the wise men. They brought the presents. Santa Claus didn't bring baby Jesus presents so that's why the wise men had to come." :)
Bear's Letter to Santa
Dear Santa Cluas,
I want you to bring 3 things that are on my list and 2 suprizes and please bring a present for: Jackie, Piper, and Abby [dogs in our family]. If you can please bring Dellaney an american girl doll. and if you can please bring dady some new sunglases. Is that ok if you get a baby for Joclair.
have a good time
I love the way he added things in for two of his three sisters. Either he ran out of space, time, or ideas before he was able to ask for something for Birdie. Even though this blog has nicknames, it was more important for me to write it just as he did.
Merry Christmas!
I want you to bring 3 things that are on my list and 2 suprizes and please bring a present for: Jackie, Piper, and Abby [dogs in our family]. If you can please bring Dellaney an american girl doll. and if you can please bring dady some new sunglases. Is that ok if you get a baby for Joclair.
have a good time
I love the way he added things in for two of his three sisters. Either he ran out of space, time, or ideas before he was able to ask for something for Birdie. Even though this blog has nicknames, it was more important for me to write it just as he did.
Merry Christmas!
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Summer
Apparently, I didn't spend any part of my summer updating my blog. Years from now my children may wonder what happened this summer since I haven't chosen to record anything in over two months. Well, here are a few things that happened this summer...
Chapter Books - The twins started reading chapter books. Bear found (with my help) a really cool series by Dan Gutman. The first book in the series is called Miss Daisy is Crazy. All the books are hilarious and are a good fit for him. He can read them on his own:). Lou Lou began reading a series about princesses - girls who attend a Princess Academy. This is a semi-good match for Lou Lou's interests. Other options that we did not choose included several fairy books, which I'm not in favor of, and animal fiction books (horses, puppies, etc.). If we could find chapter books about girls who love ballet, that would be right down Lou Lou's alley. We did end up finding a series about children in Appleville Elementary School. The problem is...there are only 4 books in the series. We'll see how it goes for Lou Lou!
Birthday - Birdie turned 2! She is very social, very chatty, very copy-catty of anything Bug or Lou Lou say, and very loving. She loves kissing everyone and always sticks out her lips and her chin so much as she heads toward someone to give them a smooch:). The funniest thing that she did this summer...All the kids were playing in our kiddie pool, and, for some reason, the big kids were acting like monsters and saying, "Rah! Rah! Rah!". It must have bothered Birdie because she came up to me to tell me what turned out to be her first official tattle tale. She began with a few sentences of gibberish and then, imitating the big kids, said, "Rah! Rah! Rah!". We all laughed about that one! Today, I was talking with her about using the bathroom, and when I said, "When you have to poop out, come in here and poop in the potty," she said, "OH!" with a loud "aha" sound, like she was thinking, "What a great idea! I never thought of that before!".
Bug turns over a three year old leaf...Bug, my most laid back, sensitive, good as gold child has turned over a new leaf. I guess I should say she is exploring another part of her personality. She has become somewhat feisty with a bit of a sassy mouth. Although her feistiness is not to the degree that Lou Lou's was at 3 years old, it seems just as difficult to deal with because it still surprises me when she acts like that. Anyway, she is still very sensitive and reminds me of myself so much. She is very independent, strong but a little bit fragile at the same time. The monster-chasing game is the new thing at our house recently. Typically, Jimmy's the monster, but if he's not around, Bear is happy to fill in. Tonight, Jimmy was going around chasing and scaring and being a tickle monster. Anyway, all the kids were running all around the house as he turned lights on and off. By the way, this game is nothing I enjoy or participate in. Even as a child, I didn't like scary, run around like crazy games. When they play, I just keep doing whatever...folding clothes, sweeping the floor, etc. Well once tonight, when Bug ran past me, I could see that she was really distressed, way past the point of having fun. I so completely identified with her. It's a rather odd feeling to have a child that is natured so much like myself. I think she likes Monster Chase when it first gets started, but when it gets really cranked up or keeps going for awhile, she can't take it. It makes me think about her as an older child and a grownup, because being sensitive is tough sometimes.
Backyard...Jimmy cut down lots of trees in our back yard. We still have 10-12 and I think he cut down 7 or 8. He cut them down to make more space, to help the grass to grow, and to make space for a playhouse and swingset. The playhouse is set up, complete with a small flag from Mama C. The swingset is set to be finished Labor Day Weekend I hope. During the last part of the summer, it seemed to rain every single day, which held up swingset construction:)
New job...Prayers answered...The day before Open House, I found out that I indeed was moving to my "old" school as the Title I teacher. Title I teacher is nothing I would have ever picked, but with so much prayer just from me over the last two years, I felt that this was exactly where God wanted me. I have prayed for this move diligently, daily for the past two years. It feels like I'm back at home, and the twins are in the second grade there. I am so completely, immensely happy about spending my working time there:):)
New fish...We have two big fish decals and four small fish decals on our car, representing me, Jimmy, and our 4 children. We added two new fish this summer to represent Courtney and Trey, our babies in heaven. Courtney went to heaven in July 2004, when I was about 7 weeks along. Trey went to heaven in February 2009, when I was about 10 weeks along. Recently, the twins noticed the fish and asked me about the "extra" fish. When I explained it to them, they were excited about having a brother and sister waiting for them in heaven. By giving these two babies names and recognition in our family, it makes it easier for the rest of my children to (later on down the road) begin to understand openness to life, the culture of life versus the culture of death, and God-control versus birth control, which was God's plan all along. Thank God for Courtney and Trey:)!
Chapter Books - The twins started reading chapter books. Bear found (with my help) a really cool series by Dan Gutman. The first book in the series is called Miss Daisy is Crazy. All the books are hilarious and are a good fit for him. He can read them on his own:). Lou Lou began reading a series about princesses - girls who attend a Princess Academy. This is a semi-good match for Lou Lou's interests. Other options that we did not choose included several fairy books, which I'm not in favor of, and animal fiction books (horses, puppies, etc.). If we could find chapter books about girls who love ballet, that would be right down Lou Lou's alley. We did end up finding a series about children in Appleville Elementary School. The problem is...there are only 4 books in the series. We'll see how it goes for Lou Lou!
Birthday - Birdie turned 2! She is very social, very chatty, very copy-catty of anything Bug or Lou Lou say, and very loving. She loves kissing everyone and always sticks out her lips and her chin so much as she heads toward someone to give them a smooch:). The funniest thing that she did this summer...All the kids were playing in our kiddie pool, and, for some reason, the big kids were acting like monsters and saying, "Rah! Rah! Rah!". It must have bothered Birdie because she came up to me to tell me what turned out to be her first official tattle tale. She began with a few sentences of gibberish and then, imitating the big kids, said, "Rah! Rah! Rah!". We all laughed about that one! Today, I was talking with her about using the bathroom, and when I said, "When you have to poop out, come in here and poop in the potty," she said, "OH!" with a loud "aha" sound, like she was thinking, "What a great idea! I never thought of that before!".
Bug turns over a three year old leaf...Bug, my most laid back, sensitive, good as gold child has turned over a new leaf. I guess I should say she is exploring another part of her personality. She has become somewhat feisty with a bit of a sassy mouth. Although her feistiness is not to the degree that Lou Lou's was at 3 years old, it seems just as difficult to deal with because it still surprises me when she acts like that. Anyway, she is still very sensitive and reminds me of myself so much. She is very independent, strong but a little bit fragile at the same time. The monster-chasing game is the new thing at our house recently. Typically, Jimmy's the monster, but if he's not around, Bear is happy to fill in. Tonight, Jimmy was going around chasing and scaring and being a tickle monster. Anyway, all the kids were running all around the house as he turned lights on and off. By the way, this game is nothing I enjoy or participate in. Even as a child, I didn't like scary, run around like crazy games. When they play, I just keep doing whatever...folding clothes, sweeping the floor, etc. Well once tonight, when Bug ran past me, I could see that she was really distressed, way past the point of having fun. I so completely identified with her. It's a rather odd feeling to have a child that is natured so much like myself. I think she likes Monster Chase when it first gets started, but when it gets really cranked up or keeps going for awhile, she can't take it. It makes me think about her as an older child and a grownup, because being sensitive is tough sometimes.
Backyard...Jimmy cut down lots of trees in our back yard. We still have 10-12 and I think he cut down 7 or 8. He cut them down to make more space, to help the grass to grow, and to make space for a playhouse and swingset. The playhouse is set up, complete with a small flag from Mama C. The swingset is set to be finished Labor Day Weekend I hope. During the last part of the summer, it seemed to rain every single day, which held up swingset construction:)
New job...Prayers answered...The day before Open House, I found out that I indeed was moving to my "old" school as the Title I teacher. Title I teacher is nothing I would have ever picked, but with so much prayer just from me over the last two years, I felt that this was exactly where God wanted me. I have prayed for this move diligently, daily for the past two years. It feels like I'm back at home, and the twins are in the second grade there. I am so completely, immensely happy about spending my working time there:):)
New fish...We have two big fish decals and four small fish decals on our car, representing me, Jimmy, and our 4 children. We added two new fish this summer to represent Courtney and Trey, our babies in heaven. Courtney went to heaven in July 2004, when I was about 7 weeks along. Trey went to heaven in February 2009, when I was about 10 weeks along. Recently, the twins noticed the fish and asked me about the "extra" fish. When I explained it to them, they were excited about having a brother and sister waiting for them in heaven. By giving these two babies names and recognition in our family, it makes it easier for the rest of my children to (later on down the road) begin to understand openness to life, the culture of life versus the culture of death, and God-control versus birth control, which was God's plan all along. Thank God for Courtney and Trey:)!
Friday, June 19, 2009
Sugar
A few nights ago, I wanted to do something fun with Joey without all the other kids. It seems like it's harder to find one-on-one times with each child, so when I catch a minute, I try to make the most of it. I started pointing to different places on my face and asking her to name them. If she got it wrong, I tickled her, so she intentionally got some wrong. I asked her some easy ones (nose, eyes, ears) and some trickier ones (eyebrow, ear lobe). When I pointed to her cheek and said, "What's this?", she said, "That's my sugar!". I don't even know if she knew the actual name for her cheek or not.
Au Revoir, Chapel Hill!
So last night was Jimmy's last night of Chapel Hill forever. No more papers. No more problem sets. No more trips to Chapel Hill. When he got home last night, he told all the kids that he was really done. It still doesn't seem real. He walked with the graduates on Mother's Day but still had one more class to take. That really made NO SENSE to the children! Anyway, Yay Yay for us!
Vegetable Mixup
So we have found and bought into a local CSA to get some organic produce, fresh from the farm. Actually, it's not exactly local. The farm is on Powhatan Road in Clayton. How odd is that? My grandparents attended Powhatan FWB church on Powhatan road. You pass by the church and keep trucking and you finally get to the farm. We only bought half a share just to see how it would go. I didn't want to have lots of leftover food wasted, but I think next year we'll buy a whole share. We get a box of produce a week. So far we've gotten...collards, spinach, garden peas, cabbage, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, and basil.
Basically what I do is get the box, find out what we have, look up recipes in my cookbooks or on the internet, and then throw something together. We've had spinach lasagna, cabbage cooked with bacon, squash with nutmeg, and broiled zucchini. Things that I wouldn't have tasted before are now options for me because I spent time cooking them. Everything I've cooked has been pretty good. My children haven't fallen in love with any of it yet besides the spinach lasagna, but they have tried every new recipe. To me, this is a plus. At least they're getting a taste for all different kinds of vegetables. I especially love the fact that I'm getting fresh vegetables from Powhatan Road in Clayton, so close to my grandmother's house where I used to get fresh vegetables from :).
The first week all we got was spinach and collards. I got up early Sunday morning and began freezing the collards and making spinach lasagna. Later on that week we determined that I had actually made collard lasagna and frozen the spinach using "freezing collards" directions. Jimmy kept eating it and said it tasted pretty good. He was surprised that I had gotten it mixed up, but my grandmother never messed with spinach, and when she did collards, I didn't really help because there was no "before-the-kitchen" work to do. When she did corn, I helped silk. When she did peas, I helped shell. No ahead of time stuff was necessary for collards, so she pretty much did it all. Anyway, it gave us something to laugh about!
Basically what I do is get the box, find out what we have, look up recipes in my cookbooks or on the internet, and then throw something together. We've had spinach lasagna, cabbage cooked with bacon, squash with nutmeg, and broiled zucchini. Things that I wouldn't have tasted before are now options for me because I spent time cooking them. Everything I've cooked has been pretty good. My children haven't fallen in love with any of it yet besides the spinach lasagna, but they have tried every new recipe. To me, this is a plus. At least they're getting a taste for all different kinds of vegetables. I especially love the fact that I'm getting fresh vegetables from Powhatan Road in Clayton, so close to my grandmother's house where I used to get fresh vegetables from :).
The first week all we got was spinach and collards. I got up early Sunday morning and began freezing the collards and making spinach lasagna. Later on that week we determined that I had actually made collard lasagna and frozen the spinach using "freezing collards" directions. Jimmy kept eating it and said it tasted pretty good. He was surprised that I had gotten it mixed up, but my grandmother never messed with spinach, and when she did collards, I didn't really help because there was no "before-the-kitchen" work to do. When she did corn, I helped silk. When she did peas, I helped shell. No ahead of time stuff was necessary for collards, so she pretty much did it all. Anyway, it gave us something to laugh about!
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Birdie in May
Birdie as a baby was so laid back. She was a walk in the park kind of baby. Since about 18 months old, she has really come out of her shell. She doesn't hold back, and freely hits and fusses in her own gibberish to get what she wants or to express her disapproval. When she's on the red towel for one minute for time out, she sits there and goes through this sequence...
1) smiles while I'm putting her on the towel and smiles as I tell her why she's in timeout
2) cries when I walk away and sometimes moves off of the red towel while making "I'll show you" eyes - Then I move her back and tell her to stay there in timeout.
3) remembers about her thumb and her belly button and pacifies herself for a few seconds
4) takes out her thumb and begins saying, "Mama, come here!" over and over
Through all of this, I have to remind all the bunch to not look at her and not let her see them laughing. All the rest of us are laughing because she is so funny going through all of this in her one-minute timeout.
Finally, when the timer goes off, I go over to her and remind her not to hit/jerk/swat or whatever and then ask her to say, "I'm sorry." When she says I'm sorry, she says in the sweetest, about-to-cry voice, like she's acting upset when she's really completely over it. Then she gives me a hug, and she initiates putting the red towel back in place and out of sight. That's the funniest part of all! She's ready to get rid of that thing!
She loves to sing and dance, but once when me and all of the kids were singing some songs with her, naturally we wanted to quit singing and hear her sing. I told them that I would sing the song really softly so that they could hear her and they could just listen. She usually does good and sings along for the first few lines. Then, she remembers her thumb and belly button again. She pops her thumb in her mouth and begins forcefully nodding her head up and down as if to say, "Carry on with your singing:)!"
Since having a few red towel timeouts, she has mostly quit hitting (at least me anyway) and resorted to swatting with a cross look on her face. It's like she's still hitting me in her mind, but figured out a way to do it without getting in real trouble. What a character!
Future for Birdie: Who knows?
When it's time for family prayer, she's the one who determines who's not there and begins calling them loudly to tell them to come downstairs to pray. When it's her turn to pray, she just says, "Daddy, daddy, daddy!"
1) smiles while I'm putting her on the towel and smiles as I tell her why she's in timeout
2) cries when I walk away and sometimes moves off of the red towel while making "I'll show you" eyes - Then I move her back and tell her to stay there in timeout.
3) remembers about her thumb and her belly button and pacifies herself for a few seconds
4) takes out her thumb and begins saying, "Mama, come here!" over and over
Through all of this, I have to remind all the bunch to not look at her and not let her see them laughing. All the rest of us are laughing because she is so funny going through all of this in her one-minute timeout.
Finally, when the timer goes off, I go over to her and remind her not to hit/jerk/swat or whatever and then ask her to say, "I'm sorry." When she says I'm sorry, she says in the sweetest, about-to-cry voice, like she's acting upset when she's really completely over it. Then she gives me a hug, and she initiates putting the red towel back in place and out of sight. That's the funniest part of all! She's ready to get rid of that thing!
She loves to sing and dance, but once when me and all of the kids were singing some songs with her, naturally we wanted to quit singing and hear her sing. I told them that I would sing the song really softly so that they could hear her and they could just listen. She usually does good and sings along for the first few lines. Then, she remembers her thumb and belly button again. She pops her thumb in her mouth and begins forcefully nodding her head up and down as if to say, "Carry on with your singing:)!"
Since having a few red towel timeouts, she has mostly quit hitting (at least me anyway) and resorted to swatting with a cross look on her face. It's like she's still hitting me in her mind, but figured out a way to do it without getting in real trouble. What a character!
Future for Birdie: Who knows?
When it's time for family prayer, she's the one who determines who's not there and begins calling them loudly to tell them to come downstairs to pray. When it's her turn to pray, she just says, "Daddy, daddy, daddy!"
Bug in May
Bug has just recently gotten into picking out her own clothes. She always wants to wear out of season attire, such as sweatpants and sweatshirt in mid-May. She gets very upset when I tell her we can't do this because she'll "burn slam up". She always says that she doesn't mind being hot. Sometimes when we're on a stay-home day, as she calls it, I say yes to whatever she picks out, and then sometimes she'll say, "You're right, Mama. I'm too hot in long pants now!". When she can't wear long pants and a long-sleeved shirt, she wants to choose two short-sleeved t-shirts to wear, one on top of the other.
She was such an easy baby and toddler that I don't have any great big memory about her back then. Potty training and getting from the crib into a big-girl bed seemed to be overnight achievements for her. I try to snuggle her up and carry her as much as I can because I think she still really wants to be my baby. If Birdie sees Bug in my lap, she puts up a fight to get my lap. Bug is very patient with Birdie, always trying to say the nicest way what she ought to do or ought not to do.
So many times I've told her...
me: Bug, it happened again last night!
Bug: What happened?
me: You got even prettier and sweeter than you were yesterday!
Bug: (big smile and hug)
Also, she's starting grunting when she's really hugging me. She'll give a really tight squeeze and then make a big grunt noise. I tell her that's how I know she really loves me.
Last night she told me her own paraphrase of our recurrent conversation:
Bug: Guess what? (her two favorite words to say together - oh, she also likes to say "Look Mama!")
me: What?
Bug: Yesterday I was pretty and today I'm pretty too! (another big grin)
me: (big hug and a grunt)
Bug's future plans: Live in a house with Lou Lou in our neighborhood. She's not planning on getting married, but said she would have a boyfriend at 16 and eventually be a mommy when she grew up:).
Nighttime, the time when I'm programmed to think that everything should be calm and sweet and loving, is difficult for me. My unwinding time (time to sit down for usually the first time of the day) is after everyone is in their beds. Needless to say, my patience is not always long enough with uncooperative children. Typically, I can keep my cool, but if you know me, you can hear it in my voice that my patience is growing thin. The other night, as I answered Bug's question about her blanket for the third or fourth time, she responded by saying, "Mommy, you lose-ded your patience. Your patience is not in here with us." What made me feel good about this is that she was smiling as she said it, like it didn't really impact her and like she understood that I'm human and I don't have to be the perfect Mom for her each and every night.
Tonight, as Bear chose to play in his room rather than do as I had asked repeatedly, I said to him, "You can tell by my voice that my patience is running out. Please follow my directions." Bug piped in very matter-of-factly and said, "When will your patience be back?":)
She was such an easy baby and toddler that I don't have any great big memory about her back then. Potty training and getting from the crib into a big-girl bed seemed to be overnight achievements for her. I try to snuggle her up and carry her as much as I can because I think she still really wants to be my baby. If Birdie sees Bug in my lap, she puts up a fight to get my lap. Bug is very patient with Birdie, always trying to say the nicest way what she ought to do or ought not to do.
So many times I've told her...
me: Bug, it happened again last night!
Bug: What happened?
me: You got even prettier and sweeter than you were yesterday!
Bug: (big smile and hug)
Also, she's starting grunting when she's really hugging me. She'll give a really tight squeeze and then make a big grunt noise. I tell her that's how I know she really loves me.
Last night she told me her own paraphrase of our recurrent conversation:
Bug: Guess what? (her two favorite words to say together - oh, she also likes to say "Look Mama!")
me: What?
Bug: Yesterday I was pretty and today I'm pretty too! (another big grin)
me: (big hug and a grunt)
Bug's future plans: Live in a house with Lou Lou in our neighborhood. She's not planning on getting married, but said she would have a boyfriend at 16 and eventually be a mommy when she grew up:).
Nighttime, the time when I'm programmed to think that everything should be calm and sweet and loving, is difficult for me. My unwinding time (time to sit down for usually the first time of the day) is after everyone is in their beds. Needless to say, my patience is not always long enough with uncooperative children. Typically, I can keep my cool, but if you know me, you can hear it in my voice that my patience is growing thin. The other night, as I answered Bug's question about her blanket for the third or fourth time, she responded by saying, "Mommy, you lose-ded your patience. Your patience is not in here with us." What made me feel good about this is that she was smiling as she said it, like it didn't really impact her and like she understood that I'm human and I don't have to be the perfect Mom for her each and every night.
Tonight, as Bear chose to play in his room rather than do as I had asked repeatedly, I said to him, "You can tell by my voice that my patience is running out. Please follow my directions." Bug piped in very matter-of-factly and said, "When will your patience be back?":)
Lou Lou in May
Lou Lou has fallen so in love with dance, and she is sad that she won't be able to take lessons through the summer. I wasn't able to go to Bear's scouting event because I was at Lou Lou's ballet recital. She takes dance at Artistic Dance Academy and the recital was jaw-dropping. Not just Lou Lou's performance, but all the performances looked so professional and so breathtaking. I was so totally loving it that nearly every song was a contemporary Christian song. It was so amazing! Lou Lou did great in her dance. Her song was from The Prince of Egypt movie, "I Give to You His Heart." The whole song was from the point of view of Moses's mother as she decided to put him into the river in a basket to avoid his murder by Pharaoh's soldiers. I cried through the whole thing, thinking about Moses's mother and thinking about how we all should realize that in order to keep our children, we must be willing to realize that they are ours for only a short time, but they belong to God and are in His Hands forever. Entrusting them in God's care, just like Moses's mother did. In order to save her baby's life, she had to entrust him back to God. (When my sister YaYa reads this, she'll say, "Camille, you think too much!"):)
Lou Lou is artist supreme in her class. After her 1st grade teacher displays all the students' artwork (with their names written on the back), her third grade daughter is able to pick Lou Lou's work from the rest. She seems to have a natural gift for it. She doesn't even act like she loves art that much, but it just comes easily for her.
Her piano recital is coming up next Sunday. A few months ago, I decided to cut my help out cold turkey. Every time I was in there with her at the piano, she would become so easily and instantly frustrated if I told her one minor correction. I decided to act as if I knew nothing about music, and no matter how she played or what she played, I always said, from the kitchen, "That sounds good!". She didn't want me to leave her in there alone initially, and cried and fussed about how this didn't make sense. Now, she likes practicing by herself, and her confidence and independence have greatly improved.
What's in the future for Lou Lou? She wants to be a nurse or a dancer or a librarian. She wants to buy her own house and live happily unmarried with her sister Bug in a house in our neighborhood:).
A few weeks ago, Lou Lou and her cousin Necie were talking and laughing and talking and laughing. Lou Lou was about to take a bite or sip of something that Necie had already partaken of. Quickly, sounding alarmed, Necie said, "No, remember the swine flu!". Lou Lou said, "Well, they said on the news not to get all worried about it!".
Lou Lou is artist supreme in her class. After her 1st grade teacher displays all the students' artwork (with their names written on the back), her third grade daughter is able to pick Lou Lou's work from the rest. She seems to have a natural gift for it. She doesn't even act like she loves art that much, but it just comes easily for her.
Her piano recital is coming up next Sunday. A few months ago, I decided to cut my help out cold turkey. Every time I was in there with her at the piano, she would become so easily and instantly frustrated if I told her one minor correction. I decided to act as if I knew nothing about music, and no matter how she played or what she played, I always said, from the kitchen, "That sounds good!". She didn't want me to leave her in there alone initially, and cried and fussed about how this didn't make sense. Now, she likes practicing by herself, and her confidence and independence have greatly improved.
What's in the future for Lou Lou? She wants to be a nurse or a dancer or a librarian. She wants to buy her own house and live happily unmarried with her sister Bug in a house in our neighborhood:).
A few weeks ago, Lou Lou and her cousin Necie were talking and laughing and talking and laughing. Lou Lou was about to take a bite or sip of something that Necie had already partaken of. Quickly, sounding alarmed, Necie said, "No, remember the swine flu!". Lou Lou said, "Well, they said on the news not to get all worried about it!".
Bear in May
Well, I wanted to get in at least one blog entry for May before June arrived, so here it is...
Bear participated in a Raingutter Regatta with his Cub Scout Pack today. He raced 4 times with a boat that he and Jimmy worked on, and won 3 of the 4 races. Back in Feb., he raced his pinewood derby car with much less success, so he was so excited to win so much today. He also got a ribbon for Best of Show. His boat wasn't decorated much at all, but Jimmy said that his sail was different than everyone else's. He also promoted to Wolf (up from Tiger Cub) and got his new scouting book for next year. I think he finally fell asleep at around 11:30 Sat. night after staying up reading it. He was so sweet sleeping with his book. It reminded me of when he was little and wanted to sleep with what seemed like 1,000 books.
He spent part of the day catching and throwing a baseball with Jimmy. Because Jimmy has been working on his master's for the past twelve - oops - I meant two:) years, there hasn't been a lot of extra time for anybody to do anything laid back, spur of the moment, etc. Our life for the last two years has been especially fast-paced and stressful, but his last class is on June 18 and we will all be celebrating then! Anyway, Bear seemed to enjoy today with Jimmy!
Bear has continued with his barrage of questions at no particular time. Lately he's wanted to know a lot about the sun. He wants to know how close you could get to the sun before you would get burned up. He also said, "Since the sun is a ball of fire, what if you had all the water in the world and sprayed on it - Could you put the sun out?". Another funny question that he threw at me the other day was, "Mama, do you ever go to sleep?".
Future plans for Bear... He says he is not getting married. He wants to live with us forever:). He also wants to be a book illustrator when he grows up. His reading has really taken off and he hardly ever asks me to read anything for him. Our latest fun book to read together was Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume.
Bear participated in a Raingutter Regatta with his Cub Scout Pack today. He raced 4 times with a boat that he and Jimmy worked on, and won 3 of the 4 races. Back in Feb., he raced his pinewood derby car with much less success, so he was so excited to win so much today. He also got a ribbon for Best of Show. His boat wasn't decorated much at all, but Jimmy said that his sail was different than everyone else's. He also promoted to Wolf (up from Tiger Cub) and got his new scouting book for next year. I think he finally fell asleep at around 11:30 Sat. night after staying up reading it. He was so sweet sleeping with his book. It reminded me of when he was little and wanted to sleep with what seemed like 1,000 books.
He spent part of the day catching and throwing a baseball with Jimmy. Because Jimmy has been working on his master's for the past twelve - oops - I meant two:) years, there hasn't been a lot of extra time for anybody to do anything laid back, spur of the moment, etc. Our life for the last two years has been especially fast-paced and stressful, but his last class is on June 18 and we will all be celebrating then! Anyway, Bear seemed to enjoy today with Jimmy!
Bear has continued with his barrage of questions at no particular time. Lately he's wanted to know a lot about the sun. He wants to know how close you could get to the sun before you would get burned up. He also said, "Since the sun is a ball of fire, what if you had all the water in the world and sprayed on it - Could you put the sun out?". Another funny question that he threw at me the other day was, "Mama, do you ever go to sleep?".
Future plans for Bear... He says he is not getting married. He wants to live with us forever:). He also wants to be a book illustrator when he grows up. His reading has really taken off and he hardly ever asks me to read anything for him. Our latest fun book to read together was Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Facebook Buzz
Facebook is kind of a weird thing to me. I don't understand the point of it. I think it's fun to look at people's photos and maybe find an old friend. However, I don't understand why knowing when a person is doing their laundry or finishing up a term paper or getting ready to watch Survivor is important or even helpful. I do have a facebook page, mainly so I could look at other's pages to see what all the buzz was about. One thing that turned me off from it is that I read a line on someone's page that said, "Be careful. It's addictive and it'll suck you right in". Anyway, maybe one day I'll have an a-ha and understand it.
Insight from a Seven-Year-Old
Bear, out of the blue, comes up with this the other day...
Mama, you know what? God is like the principal, Jesus is like the teacher, and the Holy Spirit is the assistant principal. The disciples are the teacher assistants.
As I considered this analogy more, I realized how much he was right on the money. I was impressed!
Mama, you know what? God is like the principal, Jesus is like the teacher, and the Holy Spirit is the assistant principal. The disciples are the teacher assistants.
As I considered this analogy more, I realized how much he was right on the money. I was impressed!
Terrible Twos
Birdie is almost 21 months old, and Bug is three and a half years old. Although neither of them are two, they both seem to be experiencing the terrible twos. It's sort of like the twins all over again. Birdie and Bug's terrible twos aren't so bad, because for the most part, they are both very laid back. However, Birdie especially has opened up a whole new part of her personality. In the past 2-3 weeks, she has become somewhat "feisty", a word we typically only use to describe Lou Lou. It seems that overnight, she got some spunk and shows it off everyday. She is still very loving and always wants to kiss and hug everyone. She lets me know when she is unhappy with a forceful grunt, a scream, or a toy thrown from her hand across the room. She has also hit me as well as move her hand as if she was going to hit me. All of her fits are always accompanied by cross eyebrows. There's some other word for this but I can't think of what it is. When she has her face like this, it immediately makes me think of the word "cross". Most of these fits are brought on by things like me asking her to take some non-food object out of her mouth or to let me change her diaper.
Bug doesn't really throw fits, but seems to always really want the opposite of whatever I just said. She doesn't really throw a fit, but many times, will ask me a question about something she wants to do. If my response is not what she wanted, she always says these three words: "Just real quick?". I guess she thinks if we do it quick, it will be okay. Her upset times are usually at times when we're headed out the door and she wants to do something that is not a "morning before school" activity.
I'm not complaining about these terrible twos, and it is really not a suitable name for this stage of a child's life. They are both so precious and hilarious and loving! They especially love each other. Birdie is enamored with all the other children, and is excited when she is doing whatever they're doing. She wants to be right in the middle of whatever they're doing. Her eyes (and Bug's eyes for that matter) are so so expressive. That is also something that she's just recently begun doing, maybe in the last two months. She makes all these silly faces and her eyes get real big as she does something, almost intentionally to make the others laugh. She mimics what anyone around her says, but when she says "Please", somehow she makes it into two syllables, like "pee-dah". When I'm putting ice into glasses for supper, she says "ice" in such a Southern accent way that it sounds almost like "i-us".
On the way to school a few days ago, I started saying the books of the Bible and asking Birdie to repeat after me. She cooperated and began attempting to say all these multiple-syllable words like Deuteronomy and Leviticus. When we got to Ruth, we had to stop because we all couldn't stop laughing. For some reason, when I said Ruth, she must have thought I was making a dog sound (Birdie is all into all the animal sounds and looking at animals, especially dogs). After I said, "Say Ruth," she said, "Roof-roof!" really loud and deep!
Bug is natured so like me, so sensitive and upset over the smallest thing, especially if she thinks she did something wrong. She is very very verbal, and when she uses words incorrectly, it drives Lou Lou crazy. For example, anything in the past, whether it was a few hours ago or two years ago, happened "yesterday" in Bug's vocabulary. Also, she adds "ded" to the end of most verbs in the past tense. She might say, "Mama, you 'member yesterday when Birdie had her birthday [which was back in July], Mama C and Papa and MaJe and Papa J cameded here and we ated breakfast and ated birthday cake and Birdied blowded out her candle?". Then Lou Lou pipes in, "That was not yesterday!".
Bug has a puzzle of a map of the USA. She loves putting it together, and after it's all finished, always wants to know where people live. She calls it her land puzzle, and she says it tells her what land everybody we know lives in. She knows we live in North Carolina, and her eyes get great, great big when I answer most of her questions with North Carolina also. "Where does Mama C live?" When I tell her North Carolina, she has a look of surprise and utter glee and responds, "The same as us?". She is hilarious!
Bug doesn't really throw fits, but seems to always really want the opposite of whatever I just said. She doesn't really throw a fit, but many times, will ask me a question about something she wants to do. If my response is not what she wanted, she always says these three words: "Just real quick?". I guess she thinks if we do it quick, it will be okay. Her upset times are usually at times when we're headed out the door and she wants to do something that is not a "morning before school" activity.
I'm not complaining about these terrible twos, and it is really not a suitable name for this stage of a child's life. They are both so precious and hilarious and loving! They especially love each other. Birdie is enamored with all the other children, and is excited when she is doing whatever they're doing. She wants to be right in the middle of whatever they're doing. Her eyes (and Bug's eyes for that matter) are so so expressive. That is also something that she's just recently begun doing, maybe in the last two months. She makes all these silly faces and her eyes get real big as she does something, almost intentionally to make the others laugh. She mimics what anyone around her says, but when she says "Please", somehow she makes it into two syllables, like "pee-dah". When I'm putting ice into glasses for supper, she says "ice" in such a Southern accent way that it sounds almost like "i-us".
On the way to school a few days ago, I started saying the books of the Bible and asking Birdie to repeat after me. She cooperated and began attempting to say all these multiple-syllable words like Deuteronomy and Leviticus. When we got to Ruth, we had to stop because we all couldn't stop laughing. For some reason, when I said Ruth, she must have thought I was making a dog sound (Birdie is all into all the animal sounds and looking at animals, especially dogs). After I said, "Say Ruth," she said, "Roof-roof!" really loud and deep!
Bug is natured so like me, so sensitive and upset over the smallest thing, especially if she thinks she did something wrong. She is very very verbal, and when she uses words incorrectly, it drives Lou Lou crazy. For example, anything in the past, whether it was a few hours ago or two years ago, happened "yesterday" in Bug's vocabulary. Also, she adds "ded" to the end of most verbs in the past tense. She might say, "Mama, you 'member yesterday when Birdie had her birthday [which was back in July], Mama C and Papa and MaJe and Papa J cameded here and we ated breakfast and ated birthday cake and Birdied blowded out her candle?". Then Lou Lou pipes in, "That was not yesterday!".
Bug has a puzzle of a map of the USA. She loves putting it together, and after it's all finished, always wants to know where people live. She calls it her land puzzle, and she says it tells her what land everybody we know lives in. She knows we live in North Carolina, and her eyes get great, great big when I answer most of her questions with North Carolina also. "Where does Mama C live?" When I tell her North Carolina, she has a look of surprise and utter glee and responds, "The same as us?". She is hilarious!
Monday, March 16, 2009
Solos, Sewing Lessons, Shopping, and Spices
Last Sunday, Bear sang a solo in church. He sang "Voice of Truth" from the movie Facing the Giants. He did a great job! We practiced the Wednesday night before and he kept stopping and starting throughout the song. When we finished practicing, I heard him say something like "-ap" and I thought he said, although this didn't sound like him, "That wasn't worth a crap!". When I asked him to say it louder so I could hear him, he said, "This is when everybody will be clapping!". It's wonderful to have such confidence!
During our revival two weeks ago, the preacher read the verse from Genesis about Adam and Eve being naked prior to the fall. As he read the verse, he said that men should like that verse and the whole congregation was laughing. Lou Lou asked me what they were talking about, and when I told her, she asked me why they were made naked. I told her that's just how it was, and she said, "Until Eve learned how to sew!":)
Bug recently suggested that it would be better for her if she had a bathroom in her room. She said she didn't want to have to walk down the hallway to use the bathroom. I told her I would think about it. Then she said, "Can we go shopping after my nap and buy me a new bathroom for my bedroom?":)
We have lots of baby paraphernalia, both real and for baby dolls. We have a small bear that is supposed to hold "pretend" baby powder. It has small holes at the top in between its ears. Bug was holding this and asked me to look at the holes. She said, "Mama, do you see these holes? Is this salt?" When she saw me smiling so big, she said in a confused way, "Is it pepper?":).
During our revival two weeks ago, the preacher read the verse from Genesis about Adam and Eve being naked prior to the fall. As he read the verse, he said that men should like that verse and the whole congregation was laughing. Lou Lou asked me what they were talking about, and when I told her, she asked me why they were made naked. I told her that's just how it was, and she said, "Until Eve learned how to sew!":)
Bug recently suggested that it would be better for her if she had a bathroom in her room. She said she didn't want to have to walk down the hallway to use the bathroom. I told her I would think about it. Then she said, "Can we go shopping after my nap and buy me a new bathroom for my bedroom?":)
We have lots of baby paraphernalia, both real and for baby dolls. We have a small bear that is supposed to hold "pretend" baby powder. It has small holes at the top in between its ears. Bug was holding this and asked me to look at the holes. She said, "Mama, do you see these holes? Is this salt?" When she saw me smiling so big, she said in a confused way, "Is it pepper?":).
The Big Cleanup
For the past two weekends, we have been catching up on all that was not done while I was dealing with bronchitis. I decided that we would really clean things out rather than just piling junk away so we could see the carpet. I made a list of the rooms that needed work and then let the twins sign up for rooms they were willing to help with. They seemed to like this idea, because they knew that they would each get a break while the other twin was doing his/her jobs. We de-junked and made a big Salvation Army pile from the twin's rooms and from the baby girls' room. It feels so good for everything to have a place and to really know what we have. It seems they have so many toys and so few of these we actually purchased for them. Anyway, both twins have worked really hard to keep their rooms in top-shape. I think Bug is excited about playing in her room, because you can walk on the carpet without stepping on something sharp or tripping.
I am currently catching up on the laundry. I didn't even attempt to make a dent in the laundry pile until I finished all the rooms. I didn't want to do anything halfway, so I focused on one room at a time. This whole cleanup process is probably completely boring to read, but I'm so excited about it that I had to record it.
Work seems crazy. My assistant got a teaching position in the beginning of February and I've been flying mostly solo since then. Hopefully, I'll get a new assistant soon. However, I'm so independent that it feels good to be by myself (with the kids) so that it can be as chaotic as it needs to be without another person imposing her own ideas about appropriate noise levels, etc.
The twins have entered two different contests in the last week. The first was a PBS Young Writer's and Illustrator's Contest. Lou Lou's story was "The Noisy Farm" and Bear's story was "The Fish Who Had No Friends". The second contest they entered was called Doodles 4 Google. They had to decorate the word "Google". They were excited about both contests and seem to think that the winner will be announced within 2 days of mailing the entries off.
One LARGE blessing of having 4 children is seeing how much they love each other. Right after school, Lou Lou wanted to play with Birdie, talk to Birdie, carry Birdie everywhere. After supper, Lou Lou and Bug began playing and even made up their own "sister" high five.
After supper, Jimmy left with Bear for Boy Scouts. I decided to sit down and play the piano for awhile while all the girls played. Birdie walked in and climbed up on my lap. She listened to whatever else I was playing for a bit, and then I played and sang "Jesus Loves Me", "ABC", and "Twinkle, Twinkle". After I finished each song, she clapped her hands and said, "Yay!"
When I picked Birdie up from school today, I was holding her and she was looking around at her friends. I wanted to see if she knew the newest and youngest child in her class. I asked her, "Where's Parker?". She pointed to her and said, "Hey!" in a high-pitched, sweet voice. She sounded just like a mother, even though she's not even 6 months older than Parker. Birdie is really into babies. She typically wants two babies to hold and love. At school, she played with a baby one whole afternoon, asking for a diaper, wipes, etc. for her baby. Her teachers graciously complied:).
I am currently catching up on the laundry. I didn't even attempt to make a dent in the laundry pile until I finished all the rooms. I didn't want to do anything halfway, so I focused on one room at a time. This whole cleanup process is probably completely boring to read, but I'm so excited about it that I had to record it.
Work seems crazy. My assistant got a teaching position in the beginning of February and I've been flying mostly solo since then. Hopefully, I'll get a new assistant soon. However, I'm so independent that it feels good to be by myself (with the kids) so that it can be as chaotic as it needs to be without another person imposing her own ideas about appropriate noise levels, etc.
The twins have entered two different contests in the last week. The first was a PBS Young Writer's and Illustrator's Contest. Lou Lou's story was "The Noisy Farm" and Bear's story was "The Fish Who Had No Friends". The second contest they entered was called Doodles 4 Google. They had to decorate the word "Google". They were excited about both contests and seem to think that the winner will be announced within 2 days of mailing the entries off.
One LARGE blessing of having 4 children is seeing how much they love each other. Right after school, Lou Lou wanted to play with Birdie, talk to Birdie, carry Birdie everywhere. After supper, Lou Lou and Bug began playing and even made up their own "sister" high five.
After supper, Jimmy left with Bear for Boy Scouts. I decided to sit down and play the piano for awhile while all the girls played. Birdie walked in and climbed up on my lap. She listened to whatever else I was playing for a bit, and then I played and sang "Jesus Loves Me", "ABC", and "Twinkle, Twinkle". After I finished each song, she clapped her hands and said, "Yay!"
When I picked Birdie up from school today, I was holding her and she was looking around at her friends. I wanted to see if she knew the newest and youngest child in her class. I asked her, "Where's Parker?". She pointed to her and said, "Hey!" in a high-pitched, sweet voice. She sounded just like a mother, even though she's not even 6 months older than Parker. Birdie is really into babies. She typically wants two babies to hold and love. At school, she played with a baby one whole afternoon, asking for a diaper, wipes, etc. for her baby. Her teachers graciously complied:).
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Coughing, Walking, Dancing, Sleeping, Loving
So I've been sick for going on 3 weeks now. I didn't realize that I had been sick so long until I really started thinking about it. I had a bad cough, but I just kept getting up, doing all my jobs (here and elsewhere), and crashing at night. FINALLY... I went to the doctor and I had bronchitis and the beginning of pneumonia. It took a few days for the meds to kick in and for me to start feeling like myself. My house suffered from my sickness the most. In this economy, I guess you would say the bronchitis "laid me off" of my regular housework. I had no energy, motivation, or whatever to do any dishes/laundry/etc. It's going to take awhile for me to catch up on all that missed work. I don't really like doing dishes, but I actually like doing laundry. I'm trying to use less and less of the dryer, which means that the laundry takes a bit longer. With work, I'm only able to do a load a day. I'm going to try to catch up this weekend.
None of the children have gotten sick although they've all been around me, especially Birdie. Recently, she can't get enough of me, which is very sweet. Since I haven't been feeling that great, it's been harder to deal with her nonstop needs from me, but Lou Lou tries to pitch in and entertain Birdie whenever she can. The big news with Birdie is...she's finally walking. She started on Sunday, February 8. She's not real steady yet, but at least she's willing to practice now. She also voices her opinion a lot more lately. When she says "no", it sounds like "mon".
Lou Lou and Bug went to the YMCA Father/Daughter Dance last Saturday night for Valentine's Day. They had fun. A few hours before the big event, I told Bug that we needed to start getting ready. Her big blue eyes got a little bigger as she said, "Mama, we've got to practice my dancing!"
The last two nights, all 4 kids have slept in Bug's room. The three big kids slept with blankets and pillows on the floor. It was so wonderful to walk in there and look at all of them together. Children are wonderful, beautiful, and sometimes hilarious blessings!
None of the children have gotten sick although they've all been around me, especially Birdie. Recently, she can't get enough of me, which is very sweet. Since I haven't been feeling that great, it's been harder to deal with her nonstop needs from me, but Lou Lou tries to pitch in and entertain Birdie whenever she can. The big news with Birdie is...she's finally walking. She started on Sunday, February 8. She's not real steady yet, but at least she's willing to practice now. She also voices her opinion a lot more lately. When she says "no", it sounds like "mon".
Lou Lou and Bug went to the YMCA Father/Daughter Dance last Saturday night for Valentine's Day. They had fun. A few hours before the big event, I told Bug that we needed to start getting ready. Her big blue eyes got a little bigger as she said, "Mama, we've got to practice my dancing!"
The last two nights, all 4 kids have slept in Bug's room. The three big kids slept with blankets and pillows on the floor. It was so wonderful to walk in there and look at all of them together. Children are wonderful, beautiful, and sometimes hilarious blessings!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Snow News
We had lots of snow on the day of inauguration. The bad news was the grownups really wanted to stay inside to watch this historic moment whilst the young ones wanted to play outside. We went outside for awhile. Our "snow" gear was limited, so although they enjoyed themselves outside, once they got inside they realized that they were miserably cold and we had to work on warming everybody back up.
News from this month...
* I've realized (once again) that teaching school is hard work. I think the hardest part is communicating with parents. The planning and teaching parts are the parts I really like. Maybe I could go back and teach 50 years ago when what the teacher said was the gospel.
* Birdie is 18 months old (and one day) and still not walking. She's talking up a storm and moving all around. When she goes outside with her class, she continues to crawl around and the teachers always have to change her near-muddy clothes. She is still very laid back, and her favorite thing to do is give out kisses to anyone. When I ask her if she wants to kiss Brother Bear or whoever, she immediately sticks her lips out towards that person. So cute! She also loves participating in saying the prayer before a meal. She only refuses to participate if I haven't prepared her plate of food yet.
* Bug is still our most laid back kid. A little boy from our church and her daycare class calls her his "Queen of the South" from some song he listens to. He also calls her his Honeybunch. Her teachers said that once when she was crying in timeout, he came over and patted her back and said, "It's okay. You only have to sit here for a little while." Right this minute, she is asking me if she wear two pair of underwear so that she can stay extra warm:).
* Bear participated in his first pinewood derby race today. We had no clue what we were doing as we prepared his car. This was our "learning" year. Bear did not win, but came home with some good ideas about how to make a "faster" car.
* Bear and Lou Lou both had wonderful report cards and they were so proud of them. Lou Lou wanted to know what each little thing on the report card meant, but when I told her that everything was good, she got on the phone with MaJe and told her how great she did.
* Currently, we're reading The Whipping Boy and Kit - American Girl Story. Both very interesting stories!
* My new organizational technique which REALLY works is to lay out 35 outfits on Saturday for the whole week. That's seven outfits per child plus seven for me. This is probably the #1 thing I've done recently to help myself not feel CRAZY every morning.
* Recently, I feel most passionate about the sanctity of life. Thinking about anything that causes life to come to an end is awful. How can it be a crime to kill a human being that's already been born, yet lawful to kill a human being prior to being born? I've been reading a book about the culture of life versus the culture of death. Our current culture is such a culture of death because you hear so much about preventing conception, a woman's choice, etc. Jesus said in Matthew 25:40, "Whatever you do to the least of these my brethren, you do unto me." You can't get much more "least" than an unborn child at conception. Now I'll step off my soapbox!
News from this month...
* I've realized (once again) that teaching school is hard work. I think the hardest part is communicating with parents. The planning and teaching parts are the parts I really like. Maybe I could go back and teach 50 years ago when what the teacher said was the gospel.
* Birdie is 18 months old (and one day) and still not walking. She's talking up a storm and moving all around. When she goes outside with her class, she continues to crawl around and the teachers always have to change her near-muddy clothes. She is still very laid back, and her favorite thing to do is give out kisses to anyone. When I ask her if she wants to kiss Brother Bear or whoever, she immediately sticks her lips out towards that person. So cute! She also loves participating in saying the prayer before a meal. She only refuses to participate if I haven't prepared her plate of food yet.
* Bug is still our most laid back kid. A little boy from our church and her daycare class calls her his "Queen of the South" from some song he listens to. He also calls her his Honeybunch. Her teachers said that once when she was crying in timeout, he came over and patted her back and said, "It's okay. You only have to sit here for a little while." Right this minute, she is asking me if she wear two pair of underwear so that she can stay extra warm:).
* Bear participated in his first pinewood derby race today. We had no clue what we were doing as we prepared his car. This was our "learning" year. Bear did not win, but came home with some good ideas about how to make a "faster" car.
* Bear and Lou Lou both had wonderful report cards and they were so proud of them. Lou Lou wanted to know what each little thing on the report card meant, but when I told her that everything was good, she got on the phone with MaJe and told her how great she did.
* Currently, we're reading The Whipping Boy and Kit - American Girl Story. Both very interesting stories!
* My new organizational technique which REALLY works is to lay out 35 outfits on Saturday for the whole week. That's seven outfits per child plus seven for me. This is probably the #1 thing I've done recently to help myself not feel CRAZY every morning.
* Recently, I feel most passionate about the sanctity of life. Thinking about anything that causes life to come to an end is awful. How can it be a crime to kill a human being that's already been born, yet lawful to kill a human being prior to being born? I've been reading a book about the culture of life versus the culture of death. Our current culture is such a culture of death because you hear so much about preventing conception, a woman's choice, etc. Jesus said in Matthew 25:40, "Whatever you do to the least of these my brethren, you do unto me." You can't get much more "least" than an unborn child at conception. Now I'll step off my soapbox!
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Happy 2009!
So we enjoyed the holidays and the multiple days off. It was nice for everyone to be home together for awhile. Now we're back in the swing of things with school, work, etc. Tonight was Jimmy's first night back in Chapel Hill. He'll be done with graduate school at the end of May. I'm so glad because taking all four of the children to martial arts for Bear's class is not a piece of cake. Tonight we all went, and I felt like everyone was staring at me and my children. It wasn't because we were too loud, but the baby girls were a little cranky. Thankfully, we left there and headed to Mama C's for supper (while I dashed off to PTA). When I got back there to pick everyone up, I enjoyed some of her wonderful broccoli and gingerbread muffins. Now we're home and all four sleepyheads are unbathed and in bed. We did get homework done though.
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