funnies

Just a couple new ones...

Our pipes froze during the last really cold spell a few weeks ago.  We all got ready that morning without water.  Meagan was brushing her teeth with a bottle of water and wearing her too-small-winter-coat (fit her fine before she grew six inches this year but now the sleeves only come down to mid wrist)  She said all dramatic like, "Mom!  Look at me!  Now I know what it feels like to be a poor child!"

Ethan has become very interested in babies and how they get into tummies.  The other day he said, "Mom remember when I grew in your tummy?"  I said, "No, because you grew in another ladies tummy" (we have had this discussion before).  He said, "Oh.  Aunt Laura's tummy?"

NiNi's pyramid business scheme

NiNi has a wad of about $56 saved up from her birthday and she loves it....counts it, smells it, caresses it.  Don't mention spending it.  She did break down and spend some of it at Build-a Bear but it was very painful for her.  Then I found this while doing my once a month cleaning of her room.  The girl's got plans!

"Things we need for the kids spying club...
Get with Kat and Logie for a meeting talk.  We need better stuff and new programs.  Get us on the newspaper.  Moms and dads will say, Wow!  Then get more money, go shopping for new stuff and toys.  Get so much toys we sell some in a groge (garage) sale.  More moms will see how much money we have and send their kid to us.  We will make them pay 50 cents for one hour.  Get so much spy stuff the kids moms will have a baby and send them to us to teach them.  Then we will have partys.  Give us $20 tips.  Will will get to keep the money get some snacks.  Get the kids to eat them.  We will say we are the best!  Give us more money.  Sell to us all the toys dameage (damaged) and make them a awesome toy."

Thankful

 A little over a year ago I started my list of 1000 things I'm grateful for.  Not there yet but I recently passed the 500 mark which is a pretty significant accomplishment for this gal.  I seriously think it's helped me to become a more joyful person.  Anyway, feeling very lucky today for so many special relationships.  Many people feel fortunate for that rare close friend. The one who rearranges not only their schedule for you but also sacrifices time, energy, money.  Not really sure how it happened (except that God led us to a church that really takes care of us!)  but I have several of these "got your back" relationships and I feel like it's a little bit of heaven on earth.  People who make a bee line to talk to NiNi or give her a hug because they understand how hard these interactions are for her.  People who have brought us meals, flowers and cards to share in both our grief and joy over the years.  People who have cleaned our toilet, moved our furniture in 90 degree heat, and driven across town to spend time with us.  Friends who know me, I mean really know me...the good, the bad and the ugly...and amazingly still love me.  Next week Chris and I are taking our first real vacation without kids.  There are 5 different people (moms included) willing to use up precious PTO or their day off to hang out with our kids and taxi them around to their various activities.  Sometimes I have to pinch myself.  And it's so neat to watch our kids experience this.  Watch them literally grow up with their best friends. An entire community of people loving them, investing in their spiritual development, and giving us invaulable feedback on our parenting.  The kids may never really understand how rare all of this is, but I certainly do.



Here is Meagan and Claire when they were about 6 years old, and a recent shot of the whole crew at a church conference last month.

 

This may have been one of the first times we brought NiNi to Bible class and that is Emma with her.  They have another little friend that is blonde and the 3 of them together is like Charlie's Angels!

Funnies

This is how Ethan's room looks on a regular basis.  Notice that the bed is made.  That's only because he never sleeps in it.  His new thing is to dump every toy out of it's bin and then pile it all into the center of the room.  On this day I had told him we would need to pick it up.  He said, "How about you clean my room and I watch cartoons."

Ethan was helping to make sack lunches that we deliver to some folks downtown each month.  He wandered away and I found him taking a little break.  Sorta renders the "hygienic gloves" pretty useless.  Not to mention a helpful mental image if your new year's resolution was to eat less at fast food restaurants.

Other funnies...

Ethan was playing with this long stuffed snake when he got a bright idea and said, "Hey snake, you wanna be my rope and I'll be your cowboy?"

Meagan and NiNi were listening to some Bob Dylan song on my ipod and NiNi whispered, "Woah... when was THIS popular?  The 1800's?"

I was trying to tell Ethan something and he couldn't hear me so he said, "Talk louder!  What's wrong, you outta batteries?"

Ethan asked me the other day, "What are hot dogs?"  I said, "Gross meat"  He responded, "I like gross meat!"

We have been talking a lot about feelings lately because Ethan get so messed up by the slightest intensity in our voice.  We have a book that talks about how it's ok even to feel conflicting feelings all at the same time.  Meagan was telling us something and we were distracted and not responding.  She pretended to be hurt and said to Ethan, "They're not listening to me."  Ethan patted her face and said, "Meagan, they're not always gonna listen to you and that makes you feel mad and that's ok" 

Ethan found a prescription medicine bottle in the bathroom and brought it to me.  I tried to sound very serious and said, "What do we do if we find medicine?"  He said, "Ummm...eat it up?"

When Ethan really wants us to pay attention to what he's saying he taps his temple and says, "Listen to my think bubble!" 

After 2 days battle over Valentines candy (knowing it was there but not able to have as much as he wanted)  Ethan finally brought me his sack and said, "Here mom you can have this.  I can't handle it"  Spoken like a true addict.

NiNi's birthday

Part of the girls' birthday presents this year was painting and decorating their rooms.  NiNi wanted pink walls but lucky for me I have had an 8-year-old girl before and seem to recall they stop liking pink by the age of 9.  So we opted for green walls and pink accents.  In one of my craftier moments, I picked up some frames at goodwill and covered them in patterned paper and mod podge to match her room.

 

NiNi's birthday party almost didn't happen. Ethan had been sick all week and by Wednesday morning had passed it on to her. Friday night she still had a fever and I knew there was no way she would be up to it by the next day. Luckily all of the girls were available Sunday so we crossed our fingers. By Sunday morning she was about 75% so we doped her up and strapped on the skates. Birthday parties are a very big deal for her and she starts planning the next one almost immediately after the previous year's. The activities, the type of cake, the theme, the invites, you name it. We don't usually indulge her every whim but she got most of what she asked for this year...right down to the Dairy Queen cake (in January) and the candle in the shape of an "8"

Eating cake is sad business

2014 blizzard

 

This is a picture of the egg and dairy case at our local supermarket the night before the big storm.  I was walking through the aisles thinking that this could make for an interesting study of what Americans feel they cannot live without:  Milk, eggs and bread (strata anyone?), but also bacon, bananas, and Kraft mac n cheese.  Plenty of vegetarian fare still available.  The snow started Sunday morning...beautiful, fluffy and perfect for snowman building and snowball fighting.  As we shoveled the driveway, we piled it all into one spot so the kids could sled down our already inclined front yard.  It made a pretty impressive hill that shot them down along the driveway, past the mailbox and into the street.  The pictures just don't do it justice!  Then our down-the-street cousins creeped on over to try it out.  Our neighbors kept peering through the window to see what crazy people were having a party on their front lawn in the middle of a blizzard.  The next day was a snow day.  And the next day.  And the next day.  And that's pretty much when the party ended for old mom.  Two weeks of Christmas break followed by 5 consecutive snow days.  By the end of it I was afraid someone was going to get hurt.  And by "hurt" I do mean intentional violence inflicted by parent onto bored, whining, bickering, cooped-up kid.

 

Had to ration our 1/2 bag of mini-marshmellows for the cocoa.  7 per person.  Now that's roughing it!

goodbye 2013

We squeezed in our very last specialist appointment on Dec 31st.  That makes for a grand total of 8 surgeries/medical procedures and too many doctor visits to count.  Hit our max out of pocket months ago so our insurance company must hate us.  I often felt like running the kids to appointments consumed the hours equivalent to a part time job each week.  Good thing my other job is a part time job.  I've probably said it before, but I have a new found appreciation for families with kids who have serious and chronic medical conditions. What we are doing is just a walk in the park compared to that.  Ethan's last procedure of the year was a nasal endoscopy to check the functioning of his palate.  The doc wanted to wait on this one, but too bad for Ethan that he has a speech therapist mom.  I didn't want to wait 6 months to find out that he didn't even know what a functioning palate felt like.  And I knew the chances of getting any decent data was 50/50 so we might as well try it while it was still "free."  It was nice talking shop with the lovely SLP who performed the scope.  Ethan had to sit perfectly still while a tube the size of a spaghetti noodle was threaded up his nose and down the back of his throat.  And not cry. And say "buy baby a bib" about a million times.  It went as horribly as you'd expect but we did get the pictures we needed and he is getting "fair" closure of his palate.  Not great, but ok.  Which means no palate revision in the spring...yay!  In fact, God willing, there are no surgeries on tap at all for 2014.  Possibly not even any specialists visits.  Now that would be something!