Mom: Katie - time to say your prayer.
Katie: Dear God, Thank you for this day. Please help the pilgrims get home on the Mayflower safely. Amen.... Mom, did they get home safely?
Mom: Baby, that all happened a long time ago.
Katie: Was that in 1982?
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Sunday, November 18, 2007
2 Thoughts...
A couple years ago, one of the middle schoolers at church asked me, "When your baby (Micah was a baby at the time) poops in his diaper and you have to change him, does it still stink to you, since he's your baby?"
Bless her heart.
Dear R.K. - Yes. It stinks. Badly. (And I hear a resounding AMEN from Rick.)
I thought about this yesterday because I was struck by something that is different in my experience with my kids than my experience with other kids. When I was teaching I developed a massive gross-out phobia with loose/losing teeth. It seriously made me nauseas to see kids wiggle and pull out their teeth.
Well, Katie lost her second tooth yesterday and it was ugly. I can't explain exactly how this happened. All I really understood from her hysterical crying was that a blanket snagged this not-very-loose tooth and when she rolled over in bed, it jerked the tooth out. It was bloody and seemed to hurt quite a bit. But I realized later that day that I hadn't been particularly grossed out. I felt bad for Katie and somewhat perplexed as to how that all happened, but not grossed out. Score one for the mom. 2 teeth down, many more to go. My favorite part of the whole tooth-losing event was listening to Katie this morning, reenact how she woke up and discovered that the tooth box was empty of the tooth and full of a dollar!
Speaking of favorite times, I think that our assembly at church yesterday was one of my all time favorites - at least in the top 10. During the singing time, Micah (who was dressed exactly like Rick in a blue dress shirt and khaki pants) led his own little worship time in the aisle beside me with a yellow crayon as his microphone. He has his little hands in the air and he was singing at the top of his lungs! It was beautiful. I think Rick had a hard time keeping everyone together because there weren't too many eyes on him - they were all watching Micah and laughing their heads off. I know that he isn't supposed to be providing the entertainment - in fact, I know he didn't even see anyone watching him because he'd have stopped if he did. He was just all into the praise music. But I just can't stifle that enthusiasm! It is so cool to see him praising God and trying to be like his dad! I can't think of a more beautiful thing that could happen in our assembly, so I let him sing on! The dancing got a little crazy, but sometimes you just can't help yourself!
Bless her heart.
Dear R.K. - Yes. It stinks. Badly. (And I hear a resounding AMEN from Rick.)
I thought about this yesterday because I was struck by something that is different in my experience with my kids than my experience with other kids. When I was teaching I developed a massive gross-out phobia with loose/losing teeth. It seriously made me nauseas to see kids wiggle and pull out their teeth.
Well, Katie lost her second tooth yesterday and it was ugly. I can't explain exactly how this happened. All I really understood from her hysterical crying was that a blanket snagged this not-very-loose tooth and when she rolled over in bed, it jerked the tooth out. It was bloody and seemed to hurt quite a bit. But I realized later that day that I hadn't been particularly grossed out. I felt bad for Katie and somewhat perplexed as to how that all happened, but not grossed out. Score one for the mom. 2 teeth down, many more to go. My favorite part of the whole tooth-losing event was listening to Katie this morning, reenact how she woke up and discovered that the tooth box was empty of the tooth and full of a dollar!
Speaking of favorite times, I think that our assembly at church yesterday was one of my all time favorites - at least in the top 10. During the singing time, Micah (who was dressed exactly like Rick in a blue dress shirt and khaki pants) led his own little worship time in the aisle beside me with a yellow crayon as his microphone. He has his little hands in the air and he was singing at the top of his lungs! It was beautiful. I think Rick had a hard time keeping everyone together because there weren't too many eyes on him - they were all watching Micah and laughing their heads off. I know that he isn't supposed to be providing the entertainment - in fact, I know he didn't even see anyone watching him because he'd have stopped if he did. He was just all into the praise music. But I just can't stifle that enthusiasm! It is so cool to see him praising God and trying to be like his dad! I can't think of a more beautiful thing that could happen in our assembly, so I let him sing on! The dancing got a little crazy, but sometimes you just can't help yourself!
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Scarmbled Eggs, Chicken Nuggets and Micah's Nose
Parenting is such a learning experience. Yesterday, I learned that scrambled eggs are much the same consistency as, well, there's not a very nice way to say this...well, as snot. I know this now because Micah stuck them up his nose but fortunately, due to their unique consistency, they blew right out into a tissue! Breakfast, anyone?
They tell you during your parenting crash course that you shouldn't leave young children unattended while they are eating. I heard this. What they didn't tell you is that while a child is eating, safely secured in his highchair, you can get a surprising amount of work done. (This, along with many other things, is why I always lose my mother-of-the-year award in early January!) With Katie, this unattended eating issue only came up once, when she stuck a straight pretzel in her ear and broke it off. (Thanks to Shari and her suction machine, we were spared an ER visit.) However, with Micah this is becoming a bigger issue.
The funniest occurrence was on our mega-trip a couple months ago. We were eating Chick-fil-a in the car. As he finished his nuggets, Micah started calmly saying "Mama. Chicken. Nose." Micah says strange stuff, so I don't get too worked up. He might have thought he saw me put chicken in my nose, which I was pretty sure I hadn't. He might have been wondering if chicken's had noses. Or, it was possible that he was saying something that had nothing to do with chickens or noses. I did look in his nose and of course I couldn't see anything, so along we went.
We stayed in a hotel that night and the next morning, Rick took him down to the continental breakfast. A crowded hotel breakfast is hairy enough - add a fast and determined 2 year old and Rick's patience was put to the test. But the best part, which I laughed heartily about upon hearing it, was when Micah did a gi-normous sneeze in the middle of it all and out flew a rather large piece of chicken. We now know that Micah's nasal cavity must be quite large to have accommodated such a chunk of chicken! Honey mustard, anyone?
Ahhh... the glamorous life! And it's only getting better!
They tell you during your parenting crash course that you shouldn't leave young children unattended while they are eating. I heard this. What they didn't tell you is that while a child is eating, safely secured in his highchair, you can get a surprising amount of work done. (This, along with many other things, is why I always lose my mother-of-the-year award in early January!) With Katie, this unattended eating issue only came up once, when she stuck a straight pretzel in her ear and broke it off. (Thanks to Shari and her suction machine, we were spared an ER visit.) However, with Micah this is becoming a bigger issue.
The funniest occurrence was on our mega-trip a couple months ago. We were eating Chick-fil-a in the car. As he finished his nuggets, Micah started calmly saying "Mama. Chicken. Nose." Micah says strange stuff, so I don't get too worked up. He might have thought he saw me put chicken in my nose, which I was pretty sure I hadn't. He might have been wondering if chicken's had noses. Or, it was possible that he was saying something that had nothing to do with chickens or noses. I did look in his nose and of course I couldn't see anything, so along we went.
We stayed in a hotel that night and the next morning, Rick took him down to the continental breakfast. A crowded hotel breakfast is hairy enough - add a fast and determined 2 year old and Rick's patience was put to the test. But the best part, which I laughed heartily about upon hearing it, was when Micah did a gi-normous sneeze in the middle of it all and out flew a rather large piece of chicken. We now know that Micah's nasal cavity must be quite large to have accommodated such a chunk of chicken! Honey mustard, anyone?
Ahhh... the glamorous life! And it's only getting better!
Sunday, November 11, 2007
A Plain Old Sunday
Well, it's just another day around here. Let's see what I can tell you...
Micah started going happily into his preschool last week, for the first time. Previously, he would start, from the moment he saw me put his backpack in the car, saying "No no Miss Debbie does bubbles." (Miss Debbie is his teacher and she usually ends the day with a massive bubble-blowing event, earning her the name from Micah "Miss-Debbie-does-bubbles".) He has gone from throwing a raging fit when we leave him to now throwing a fit when we pick him up. I think that kid has a quota of fits he must throw each day because it seems pretty arbitrary when he throws them. He wants music on. He doesn't want music on. He wants certain music on. He wants it louder, softer, etc.... But fortunately for him, he's a lover and my frustration is diminished when he (frequently) showers his love on me. One of my friends said her 3 year old asked her, at a rather tense parent-child moment, "Mama, are you trying not to kill us?" I guess Micah might sense that at times, so he pours on the charm!
I am daily astounded at what Katie is learning at school. It's been mostly good stuff so far! I'm sure the bad stuff will astound me too, whenever we get around to that! The other night we were laying in her bed thinking of everything that starts with the letter "M". I said "marshmallow" and she said, "Hey mom, did you know that is a compound word?" Wow! She's in kindergarten, for Pete's sake! Anyway, I'll quit there to avoid the "look-my-kids-a-genius" obnoxiousness that irritates me with other people! I'll save the listing of her amazing accomplishments for my parents. Isn't that the great thing about grandparents? They never tire of hearing how wonderful your kid is!
Anyway, Rick is doing good too. He launched a website for his jewelry stuff - you can see it here . The business has been just enough for him and we are blessed by the chance to keep his skills up and supplement our income.
I wrapped 6 Christmas gifts last night. I was pretty proud of myself. Not that they look exceptional or anything, but that is just 6 gifts that I won't have to buy the week before Christmas! I know, it's a glamorous life. You don't have to remind me.
Well, unfortunately, that's about all I got. I'll sign off with one of my new favorite quotes...
"Some people are like slinkies - not really good for anything, but they bring a smile to your face when pushed down the stairs."
PS - By the way, in the picture above, Katie is not squatting down - Micah is really that tall! Yikes!
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Tools
Here are my deep thoughts for the week!
I think that we are born with certain innate tools. I think this is different than talents or skills.
I'll use myself as an example. And Rick of course!
I was born with an internal clock (set to the right time!). Here is why I think this.
I always know what time it is, within about 15 minutes. Time never gets away from me (like some people say happens to them when they are late.) I am rarely late - usually I am annoyingly early. I can estimate how long something will take me to do and I am usually right.
I know that this is innate because Rick doesn't have it. He has learned a lot of habits from me, so he is not usually late nowadays, but it's not in his blood. He is frequently shocked at what time it is and he is bad at estimating how long something will take. We joke about it - he'll say, "It'll just take a minute." and I'll say, "Great - see you in a few hours!"
On the flip side, however, he has an innate compass. He knows where we are, which direction is out and when to turn. I can look at the sun and, since I always know what time it is, can tell where north is but that doesn't mean I can get anywhere. We live next to a huge neighborhood with winding streets. It is faster to get to the east side of town if we cut through that neighborhood. Rick has been taking that shortcut several times a week for 3 years but I still can't find my way through it. I have a hard time figuring out interstates - I-26 near my house runs north and south but is labelled east and west and I can't remember which direction I need to take to go one exit north of where I am. And the corn-field maze. Don't get me started. Talk about panic attack!
In addition to a clock, I have an internal calculator. Don't take this to mean I'm good at math. I can honestly say I am terrible at math - I don't know calculus from geometry. But I can do math in my head and usually pretty quick. This annoys people too. I think it is a challenge. But this tool goes defunct if I don't have enough sleep.
Rick has an internal tape measure. I'm at a little disadvantage here because I learned metric growing up and now I have to use the other. But I still don't think I have the measurement tool.
Rick can usually know what size blinds we need for the window we didn't measure before going to Lowe's. I would be estimating between 45 and 70 inches! He gets a little closer. I will, however, know that if it costs $29.99 and we have a 15% off coupon, we'll only pay about $158 for it (after he buys a new drill to install it) and it will take approximately 3 months to do the job (after we put it off in favor of anything else)! We are quite a team!
That's all I got!
I think that we are born with certain innate tools. I think this is different than talents or skills.
I'll use myself as an example. And Rick of course!
I was born with an internal clock (set to the right time!). Here is why I think this.
I always know what time it is, within about 15 minutes. Time never gets away from me (like some people say happens to them when they are late.) I am rarely late - usually I am annoyingly early. I can estimate how long something will take me to do and I am usually right.
I know that this is innate because Rick doesn't have it. He has learned a lot of habits from me, so he is not usually late nowadays, but it's not in his blood. He is frequently shocked at what time it is and he is bad at estimating how long something will take. We joke about it - he'll say, "It'll just take a minute." and I'll say, "Great - see you in a few hours!"
On the flip side, however, he has an innate compass. He knows where we are, which direction is out and when to turn. I can look at the sun and, since I always know what time it is, can tell where north is but that doesn't mean I can get anywhere. We live next to a huge neighborhood with winding streets. It is faster to get to the east side of town if we cut through that neighborhood. Rick has been taking that shortcut several times a week for 3 years but I still can't find my way through it. I have a hard time figuring out interstates - I-26 near my house runs north and south but is labelled east and west and I can't remember which direction I need to take to go one exit north of where I am. And the corn-field maze. Don't get me started. Talk about panic attack!
In addition to a clock, I have an internal calculator. Don't take this to mean I'm good at math. I can honestly say I am terrible at math - I don't know calculus from geometry. But I can do math in my head and usually pretty quick. This annoys people too. I think it is a challenge. But this tool goes defunct if I don't have enough sleep.
Rick has an internal tape measure. I'm at a little disadvantage here because I learned metric growing up and now I have to use the other. But I still don't think I have the measurement tool.
Rick can usually know what size blinds we need for the window we didn't measure before going to Lowe's. I would be estimating between 45 and 70 inches! He gets a little closer. I will, however, know that if it costs $29.99 and we have a 15% off coupon, we'll only pay about $158 for it (after he buys a new drill to install it) and it will take approximately 3 months to do the job (after we put it off in favor of anything else)! We are quite a team!
That's all I got!
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Halloween Scrooge
If there was a character that felt about Halloween like Scrooge felt about Christmas, that would be like me. I don't have any spiritual issues about it. I just don't like it. I am annoyed by the persistent knocking on the door, stressed by finding the cutest costume, frustrated by the deluge of sugar on my family, etc. Pretty Scroog-ish, eh? But I grudgingly went along with things again this year, although I refused to pay for costumes. Here was what we came up with - Roman citizens...
It was kinda funny because everyone called Micah "Little Ceasar" (like the pizza guy) and some of the teenagers kept saying that my kids were dressed for a frat party, not a halloween party. That made me laugh and overall, we had a good time at a Halloween party with folks from church and I only spent $6 on the costumes, so life is good!
It was kinda funny because everyone called Micah "Little Ceasar" (like the pizza guy) and some of the teenagers kept saying that my kids were dressed for a frat party, not a halloween party. That made me laugh and overall, we had a good time at a Halloween party with folks from church and I only spent $6 on the costumes, so life is good!
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