Little Socks

Now that we have been married for eight years, I am accustomed to picking up Boyd's socks (truth be told, I actually pawn the job off on the kids these days:) )But now we have little boys (or should I say boyds) in the mix. Speep has never really been the destructive type, but he is definitely into everything. His new hobby is to get up after we put him to bed and play in the bathroom. Yikes! Scary I know. A whole range of nightmarish scenarios flood my mind when I think of what could happen between the cleaners, cords, razors, soaps, etc., water, and my two year old. Last week I heard him stomping around up there, and found him desperately trying to use toilet paper to clean up shaving cream that he had sprayed all over the place. When I got to thoroughly cleaning and investigating the mess, I discovered a brand new, but mysteriously empty econofamilyjumbo-size bottle of body wash laying on a shelf, and many many bubbles in the toilet. Literally money down the drain. The bathroom smelled great, though!

One night this week, I sent Speep back to bed a couple of times after various complaints and pleas. The final one was some mumbled issue about his pants.........the pants seemed fine to me, so "To Bed!" When I retired for the evening, I construed that the pants issue must have had something to do with the several jars of mineral makeup spilled all over the bathroom and toilet issue. I'm glad Speep was asleep at that point, because Boyd and I couldn't help but laugh. Of course there was discipline and a lot of cleaning up to do in the morning, but seeing that crazy mess, and his little footprints all over the tile was pretty cute.

I think we have the boundries about staying in bed all settled now. I'll let you know next week.

Flutter by

Today is a beautiful day! My mom informed me that the heat index over the weekend is supposed to be in the 100's. I'm trying not to acknowledge that.
Since it is so lovely outside, of course we went out and played. The kids love stepping out the front door and peeking over to "GB's" (my mom's) to see if she is on her porch. About 90% of the times she is there reading her newspaper, and about 90% of those times, we go over for a little visit. What a blessing for our children to be able to be so close to their grandparents -- in proximity, and in heart, too!
I really love watching the kids play out there in the front yard, and joining in the fun some, too. Sidewalk chalk; running races; grass and clover and dandelion bouquets; princesses dancing; princesses laughing; princesses playing dead in the grass until someone comes to kiss them; using jump ropes to hitch siblings up to scooters for a "modern-day"(?) horse and buggy......and watching butterflies. They all love to spot and chase butterflies.
When I was a kid I played alot of the same games, but with my friends and mostly my neighbor, since I don't have any siblings. I think our all time favorite, go-to game was "Goopy-Goop". Translation: mud pies. A majority of the time was actually spent shoveling and sifting dirt with our sandbox toys. The dirt had to be perfect -- free of rocks, bugs, grass, etc; lovingly and repeatedly sifted to form millions of tiny spheres of earth. Then we could add water. We could sneak around the garage to the other neighbor's yard and steal their gigantic wild onions. We could mix and slop it around. The end product was usually a pail- or wheelbarrow-full of grassily garnished and rockily decorated sludge. Of course it was a cake for some forest animal's birthday. Because we were orphans who grew up in the forest and befriended all the forest animals.............. you know, there in the back yards of our homes, in the middle of town. :) It was glorious.
So, what did you play when you were a kid?

One of those moments

When Peach turned two, we bought her a bicycle. It was a tiny one, but a full-fledged bike non-the-less. Again, she was two......... her birthday is in the middle of winter........ but I knew that somehow she would learn to ride that bike, and would be a pro by summer. Now Peach is five and half. She never learned to ride that bike, and now she can't even fit onto it.
Last winter we received a heavy duty, John-Deer-ish tricycle with attached trailer. In the Spring, we accidentally ordered about 1/2 a truckload too much mulch for a landscaping project. (oops!) Knowing that we couldn't leave all that mulch in the middle of the city sidewalk, but not knowing what else to do with it, we decided to dump it inside of our fenced backyard. Moving that much mulch is ..............a tongue twister!................. but it's also a BIG job! So, we drafted the kiddos and set to work. While Boyd and I filled and hauled the wheel barrow, Speep and Apple helped fill the tricycle trailer, and Peach rode it around to the back ............ about 496 times! Knowing how to pedal, turn corners, and the like were not an issue after that day.
Fast forward to last Friday. We found a "Big" bike for a good price. Peach loved it, Daddy aired up the tires, and off she went. Seriously, she just went. I couldn't believe it. The new bike has training wheels and all, but I still thought it would take a few tries (or maybe days............ we ARE talking about mini-ME here) to adjust from the tricycle to this big bike. But, no. She just hopped on and rode away. I was so shocked and proud that I just stood on the sidewalk with a dumb grin on my face. It was all kind of movie-like, too ---- All the kids were playing, she was riding into the sunset....... As I watched her I kept thinking "Remember this. Remember this moment. Take it all in. This is one one of THOSE moments in life."

Wish Bugs

Good news everyone! Peach informed me that the little dust particles that you see flying in the air when sunshine beams through your windows are Wish Bugs. Who would want to harm a harmless Wish Bug? Not me! Think of all that the wish bugs could do for you! I didn't get the whole scoop on these magnificent creatures, but I'm thinking they must be genie-like. In any case, I think we are all definitely off the hook. No more dusting! Save the Wish Bugs!

Round and Round He Goes

Over the past year I have been researching and putting to use more natural ways of doing things --- natural remedies and natural cleaners specifically. However, last week our big upstairs bathroom was looking pretty grungy, so I broke out the Soft Scrub with Bleach. Praise the Lord for that stuff! I scrubbed and scrubbed. Well, that evening, as I tucked my girls into bed, Speep waited in the bathroom for my help (he's potty training). I heard him repeatedly flushing the toilet, but I figured it was not that big of a deal, and I could get the girls hug and kisses in before tending to the situation. Upon entering the bathroom, nonchalance turned to horror! Each time the toilet flushed and the water swirled down the drain, Speep stuck his arm into the toilet as far as he could and swirled right along with frantic enthusiasm. NOOOOOOOO! Yuck Yuck Yuck! Don't do that! Yes, it was disgusting, but at least there was nothing in the toilet, and it had been cleaned just that afternoon. That makes it not so bad, right?

One Less

Water Parks................... I. Love. Them. I! Love! Them! On the way to church camp (which we attended last week) we pass a water park. I went to said park many times as a kid. On the camp trip, we also pass a resort that used to have a year-round, indoor ice skating rink (it wasn't very good) which has been renovated into a year-round, indoor water park (sweet!)
Unfortunately, my children will probably never know the relaxation (and skin blistering sun exposure) of The Lazy River; the adreneline rush from zooming and spinning down the tallest water slide (though they'll be spared the inevitable wedgie at the end --- you know, from plunging into the water so hard......... maybe only girls' swimsuits cause that.....anyway...); the confidence of finally surviving the deep end of the Wave Pool. When we drive past, it makes me sad that we will never take our children to a place like that, because it really is a good time.
But I am confident that, as we raise up this family of ours, God has turned our hearts toward a higher standard. When you go to a water park, there's a whole lot of nakedness. This is according to the biblical standard of bearing the thigh = naked (Exodus 28:42, Isaiah 47:1-3) . And if thighs are to be kept private, I'm pretty sure midriffs, cleavage, cracks, and backs should be covered, too. This standard is fairly opposite of the general standard in our society, but God calls Christians to purity of thought and conversation (lifestyle). We cannot honestly teach our children to cover themselves daily, but then pick one day to run naked at the water park. We cannot honestly shield their eyes from sexy ads, but then take them out for a day of skin watching.
There will be plenty of opportunities in our children's lives for each of them to walk the tightrope of temptation; to see things they shouldn't -- accidentally or on the sly; to choose between covered and uncovered...
We choose to provide one less stumbling block in their journey.

Big Bubba

I have been asked on a few occasions now, "What is the baby's nickname?" Well, we do have a definite nickname for him, but with it being such a close variation of his name, and my vow to "protect the innocent" :) I won't reveal it here. However, many many times a day, I say to him "Are you some kind of big bubba?" This could be for burping loud, pushing off of my legs with his legs, rolling over.......... just anything that impresses me. Since the question is always accompanied by flashy-eyed, mommy smiles, I always get a big, dimpled smile in response. It's great! :) He also has this thing of raising one eyebrow and smiling. It makes me think of something Joey (from Friends) would do......... or any guy who thinks he's all that, actually (and presuming he is "all that" AND has the ability to raise one eyebrow at a time). OK, now everybody who has tried to raise one eyebrow at a time while reading this post, raise your hand. :)