Outtakes

 

 

Why we do what we do.

"I can't wait to get to do this with my own babies!"  ~Sunshine

 

So...

Him: Mom, a button popped off my flannel shirt!

Me: Sounds like it's time for you to learn how to sew on a button.

Sew he did!

Pastis is an honorable man

Cracking my kids up right now...



Veni, vidi, vici! ~ Julius Caesar, 47 BC
Ike, Aim! Ice! Saw! Ike, on Kurd! ~ Stephan Pastis, 2010 AD

Speaking of Texas History...

Matagorda Bay from space

While discussing Marques de San Miguel de Aguayo's three pivotal points of action that anchored Texas to the control of the Spanish government in the early 1700's one of which was to establish a presidio down at Matagorda Bay on the site of the previously destroyed French colony, Sunshine pipes up with, "Matagorda Bay? Matagorda Bay! It's a party in your mouth. Matagorda Bay!!! That's really fun to say!"

Yep. That's my Sunshine!

Go ahead. Say it out loud. You know you want to!




P.S. Here's a link for all you link lovers to a photo gallery by Tracy Johnson that includes a gorgeous picture of a Matagorda Bay sunset.

Dreams

The scent of cupcakes baking in the early morning mingles with the rich aroma of coffee brewing on the counter and conspires to convince my children they have awakened in the middle of a donut shop. (Krispy Kreme to be specific.)

Sad reality awaited them.

Always hopeful... cupcakes for breakfast?

Sweet early morning dreams...

Say what?

Count this as just one of the many things I never thought I'd hear myself say...

Someone needs to come get the ark of the covenant out of my kitchen!


(BTW: It was made out of LEGOs.)

Fruit & Veggie Tales

Sunshine was trying to find all of the grapes that needed to be washed when the kids were getting their lunch the other day. She pulled out a bag she thought was filled with red grapes only to be informed by The Professor that she was holding a bag of cherries. He then helpfully handed her the bag of grapes she was searching for. "How did you know?" she asked.

He responded dryly in his ever deepening voice, "*If it doesn't have a stem it's not a cherry, even if it has a cherry kind of shape. If it doesn't have a stem it's not a cherry. If it doesn't have a stem it's not a cherry, it's a grape."

He cracks me up! Happy First Friday!



*This is only gonna make sense to those who are familiar with this:

Thank you...

...for all of your sweet congratulations and offers of prayer! I will take 'em! Anyone who has ever lost a child in utero knows that you can't help but worry a little (or a lot) until you know that things are going well. As I was saying to Kristen in her post sharing the wonderful details about the new little man in her life, none of us is given a guarantee. We can either choose to be worried and fearful or we can choose hopefulness and joy. I admit that once I am past these first few months, I will breathe a lot easier, but I am choosing to be hopeful right now. It is so much more pleasant than the alternative.

The funniest distraction so far has been my big kids' reaction. I should explain a little first. The last time I was pregnant, my oldest was only 6 and the girls were 4 and 3. Now, 6 years old is plenty old enough to remember things, but being a boy, if it didn't have wheels, he wasn't paying much attention to it. So, they really have no recollections of me being pregnant. They remember BigBoy as a baby and remember playing little games with him, but they don't remember much before that.

Now that they are 12, 10 and 9, they are paying close attention to everything! They ask me how I'm feeling, if they can get me anything and if I can feel the baby yet. Their biggest fascination is with the idea of cravings. They can't wait for me to get some! I can't open the refrigerator door to get a glass of water without someone asking me, "Have the cravings started?" I'm not sure where they are getting their Pregnancy 101 information from, but this subject is on their radar in a big way.

You might have also noticed that over on the sidebar, I added Baby Izzy to my dance card.  The children have taken to calling the baby "Izzy" thanks to Husband's suggestion. The first positive pregnancy test (yes, there was more than one!) showed up on the traditional feast of St. Isidore the Farmer so I suggested calling the baby Izzy in his honor. We have a habit of making up nicknames for babies until we know who they really are and this baby is no exception. Husband said, "Yeah...Izzy a boy? Izzy a girl? We don't know yet!" and it stuck.

It is such a delight to see them so curious and excited. This is all very new for me. I've never had a baby and had big kids to help. Oh sure, they could fetch diapers and wet wipes when BigBoy was little, but they couldn't REALLY help. Now, life is so different and I am just trying to enjoy every minute of this whole new world.

Kids of the Future

Looking at the back of the 35mm camera Husband dug out of his drawer, BigBoy asks, "Where do you see the picture?" He shows it to The Professor who responds flatly, "It's a joke camera."

I wish I still had an old 110 to show them or something with a flash cube!

A Wonderful Misunderstanding

Husband (enthusiastically): Let's watch It's a Wonderful Life.

The Professor (skeptically): A Wonderful Wife? What...is it about a guy who gets married?

BigBoy (whispering reverently): And she cooks all of the food that children love!

That's nuts!

Looking indignantly at the side of the can of cashews, my 5 year old exclaims: Mom! Look at this. It says, "Choking warning: Do not give nuts to children under the age of six."

I'm pretty sure that if you can read the choking warning, it doesn't apply to you. Enjoy your cashews, big boy!

Anatomy

Pointing to the back side of his knee, BigBoy says, "Mommy, I have a cramp in my legpit."

'Cuz if you have an armpit you must have a legpit.

From his lips...

... to God's ears!

Bigboy: I wish we could have a baby brother. It's boring with just four children. And it has to be a boy because then it's not even.

(I think he actually means "fair". He thinks the boys should outnumber the girls. He's such a cute little misogynist!)

*I'm sorry if I confused anyone, but this isn't an announcement. Just wishful talking from a 5 year old who has been around a lot of babies lately.

Hoards of Angry Grammarians

...might be tempted to ridicule me for using quotation marks here and in my Monday Minutes post below but I can assure you that the only similarities between what I call "tennis" and the real sport are the racquet and the ball.

As we were practicing our "tennis" last night, BigBoy watched as I hit the second bright yellow ball onto the roof of the local elementary school and said, "Those two balls are fiddlin' on the roof." And then looked at the rosy pink sky and sang, "Sunrise, sunset..." Thank you Bill Nye!


P.S. Today is National Grammar Day!

Backfire

Some moms over at the 4Real Forum were discussing helping older children with studies that required more concentration and someone mentioned having her child do her Math in the master bathroom. It was quiet, there weren't many distractions and it was space that wasn't being used much anyway. I thought, "What a great idea!"

So when Shortcake was having trouble staying focused on her subtraction this morning, I had her follow me in to the bathroom where I had cleaned off the vanity and had a chair all ready for her to sit in. I left briefly to go check on BigBoy and when I came back, saw my beautiful girl in tears. Big, huge sobbing tears.

She thought she was in trouble. Even though I have never, ever used forced confinement as a disciplinary tool before (and don't plan on it).... suddenly she thought I was going to lock her in the bathroom until she could determine the perimeter of a 10' square garden. Our bathroom doesn't even HAVE a lock!

So rather than start saving up for a therapist, I took the bathtub crayons and drew part of a puppy for every question she answered correctly. She has been back to look at her Math puppy three times already and won't let me wipe it away. Thank goodness for ginormous 1980's bathroom mirrors! (See how well it reflects my sea foam green tile!)

Hey, Mom...

Look at me!

I'm goin' staple crazy!

FYI: He was being monitored.

Daddy Time

My husband has always enjoyed bath time. (Yes, I wrote that sentence just to make him blush!) The kids' bath time, that is. He has been Chief Baby Washer since the time The Professor was in diapers. (I wrote that just to make The Professor blush!) Well, now that we have three who can take care of cleaning themselves that only leaves Husband with one to supervise. BigBoy came out of the bathroom last night singing the new ditty Daddy made up for him (probably to distract him from his evil nemesis "Shampoo"):

I had three monkeys for lunch...
I had three monkeys for lunch...
I had three monkeys for lunch...

And we all had banana milkshakes!

He delighted in the queasy looks on the faces of his older siblings while singing the first three lines and then chuckled out the punchline to their relief and amusement. So today, my morning has been filled with answering questions like:

What kind of milkshake would dogs like? (Milk bone milkshakes, of course!)

Can we sing about cats since BigBoy loves cats and doesn't like us to say bad things about cats? (Sure, as long as you all have tuna fish milkshakes.)

Elephants like peanuts, right? (Yes, but peanut butter works better with the rhythm of the song.)

Thank you, God, for the gift of Daddies!

Bathtime Songs from a Feverish Little Boy

Five little pumpkins sitting in the water. The first one says, "Blub blurb blub blub blurb blub."

First a stomach flu, now a cold. Life is grand here in the House of Plague! Be back later when this thing is finished with us!

The critics are raving!

This is a feast day blockbuster you don't want to miss!

"Just like a cinnamon roll! Crunchy on the outside and gooey on the inside." The Professor

"It's good especially dipped in syrup." Shortcake

"I like it." Sunshine

"Me too!" BigBoy