quotes

Got Funnies

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Today I’m thankful for the funny things my kids say.

I  want to be a policeman when I grow up  because they eat donuts and drink  coffee.- Jack

I want to be a ballerina, not a ballerina coach.  Just a ballerina.  -Elsie

Raise your hand if you like oaps [oats] the most. -Elsie

When asking Nadine if something was too hot, she said, Not enough to make my flexibility  [reflexes] leave. 

While driving, Elijah and Nadine were talking about different colors, and Elijah mentioned the color of Abendigo.  As in, one of the men thrown into the fiery furnace.  I think he meant indigo.

Of course, Betty is full of cute things every day.  Her latest is an exuberant, Let’s go!  Whenever we go somewhere.

 

 

Take That, Monday

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For whatever reason, Monday mornings always seem out to get me.

Petty arguments:  “Did you hurt her?” was my question. “Not that much,” was the answer.

Getting on  the computer without asking: Someone googled their name and so it was pretty easy to figure out who did it.  Another child said to them, “They [meaning google] don’t know who you are.  You’re not famous.  Yet.”  I couldn’t help but chuckle under my breath.

During school, Elijah was writing a short story and was trying to think of a title for it.  He was contemplating using  A Knight’s Tale until Nadine sternly warned him, “You can’t use Knight’s Tale.  Remember?  You will have to pay twenty-five million dollars!  And then you’ll go to jail!”  I’m glad plagiarism and copyright rules are strictly enforced around here.

Earlier this afternoon I was feeling the desperate need for some sunshine, so Jack and I sat outside to practice his reading.  After about ten minutes it felt like a bug flew into my hair.  There was an awful buzzing sound, which was muffled and then stopped when I shooed at whatever was there.  I thought it flew back out, until a minute later when I heard more horrible buzzing coming from my hair.  I shooed it again and asked Jack what it was.  He looked in my hair and yelled, “It’s a wasp!”  I then proceeded to scream and panic and scream some more.  I yelled for Elijah to come and get it OUT OF MY HAIR!  The neighbors must have thought I was being attacked.  I am petrified of getting stung.  The thought of a wasp or yellow jacket (which it turns out it was) stinging me on my head makes me shiver.  After some more stomping, head swirling, and yelling, miraculously it flew out.  I promptly put a hat on my head.

Even though there are fights and disagreements, there are also sweet moments.  At lunch Nadine looked over at Elsie and said, “What is your favorite food, Elsie?  I need to get to know you better, since we always get into fights!”

Right now they are outside playing “China”, and speaking in some unintelligible language.  There are two countries at war I think.  Betty may be the ransom, I’m not sure.  There are scarves and hats and lots of foreign dialogue.  We’re out to get Monday and make it fun!

Thursday Quotable’s

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When food is low, but you have one can of whipped cream hidden in the back of the fridge… tada!   Dessert in a can.  The kids had fun squirting it into their mouths.  Elsie preferred spooning it out of the lid.

Elsie says very funny things.  For instance, after watching the older two playing a chess game, she came up to me and said, “I want to play chest!”  Oh my.

Then she came downstairs wearing panties and a sweatshirt.  I asked her why she wasn’t wearing any pants.  “Uh, because I’m hot.”  Then why are you wearing a sweatshirt?  “That’s because I’m cold!”  Of course.

Upon having a little friend over who wanted to jump on the trampoline, Jack said to me, “She’s the customer!”  He proceeded to go jump on the trampoline with her.  The customer is always right!

I’m not the only one lamenting summer’s farewell.  Nadine said sadly to me, “But I haven’t even finished growing my tan skin yet!”

We have started school this week, and everyone has been super excited about the new books, new approach, and new year!  Before we step into our last day of school for this week, I have to share this cute sight that is sharing the kitchen table with me:

  Happy Thursday!

Getting Summer

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I find myself saying “Gotcha!” a lot whenever I pick up Betty.  It can be in a reassuring voice after she’s fallen, or in a fun voice as she is being tickled.

I didn’t realize this until today when Nadine said, “Gotcha.”  Then she paused before exclaiming, “I’ve never said that word before!”  Then she went on to say, “Would someone please explain what that means?” Seeing as though I was the only one in the room at the time, I took the liberty of explaining it to her.

She was unloading the dishwasher at the time.  I had just sat down after teaching school all morning, cooking lunch, and doing some other things.  Nadine said, “It must feel good to take a break!”  I chuckled at her comment, nodded my head, and sipped my tea. I had just started my lunch.  Somewhere in between scrounging up five lunches with very little food left in our cupboards (I’m determined not to go shopping this week), cleaning up multiple spills, cleaning up one messy baby, laying said baby down for her nap… I finally sat down for my lunch.  This is what often happens after the feeding frenzy we call lunch.  Our kids are eating machines.  I can pretty much honestly say that our fridge is empty.

There is a little milk left, 4 eggs, one block of cheese (which is odd to still have), and a bag of peppers,which has now been roasted and pulverized into salsa.  There is a jar of jam, a few olives and some mustard.  Oh, and relish and garlic!  We have some ice-tea too, but that is about it.  We’re out of cereal, bread, and fruit.  We have many tomatoes and butternut squash.  It’s so adventurous cooking only with what you have!

Speaking of cooking with what we have, our garden has been such a blessing this year!  For the past few days, this is what I get, plus some squash:

Every dinner includes tomatoes.  I find that if I just roast them up, blend them up, or cut them up right away, not one goes to waste.  They are just pure loveliness.  Elijah took these pictures of the gardens this week:

I relish every color, every flower, every taste of summer.  I will be hanging on to it with my last bit of strength, even while fall sneaks up to take its place.  The changing of seasons is like a game of musical chairs, except there is only one chair.  As the music of summer starts to fade, and the rhythm of fall is about to begin, I feel badly for the one about to get kicked out into the march of time again.  I just want to grab summer forever and say, “Gotcha!” and never let go.

Magical Dream

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“Last night I had a magical dream,” Nadine said this morning.  When she tells us her dreams, it is best to get comfortable.  Sometimes it can take the entire length of breakfast, as she picks apart every detail that she can remember.  Underneath all of those curls, there is a very active mind, which doesn’t even really stop thinking while she’s sleeping.  Her description of her dream went on, “It was also interesting, weird-ish, and strange-ish.   Santa gave me a magical spray that made everything invisible.  I tried it on everything, and it never ran out!  I even tried it on a witch, but it didn’t work on her and she told me to try it on someone I didn’t like.  Then I was a lifeguard at girls’ camp!  We went up the hill and the car was cardboard so we kept falling out of the car.  The witch came back, and she did kung-fooey on me but I kicked her with my legs.”  Kung-fooey.  That is my favorite part of her magical dream.  Like Kung Fooey Panda.

Other early morning conversations have gone like this:

Nadine and Elijah were discussing different colors that portray different holidays.  Some were quite obvious, but then they moved on to more difficult ones.  “What about April Fool’s Day?  asked Elijah.  “I think Green, purple, and tan?”  “Presidents’ Day?”  he asked next.  “Brown, black and white.”  “Why?”  “Because their hair is brown, black and white.  Some are blonde and bald too.”  Of course!

Then Nadine told me a very vivid dream that gave me shivers up and down my spine, “I saw Jesus and He said, Follow me, and I will show you something wonderful.  Do you think it means something?  Like that Jesus is about ready to come and get us?”  Elijah answered, “I don’t think so, but I hope it!”

That would be beyond magical.  It will be perfect in every single way.

The Law of Disorder

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It’s inevitable.  The messes.  The laundry piles.  The law of physics which says that even when things are left perfectly alone, they will eventually deteriorate.  Order must always decrease.  It should be called the law of home-making.  This is a typical laundry day in our house:

That doesn’t include sheets that have been accidentally wet during the night.  Thankfully those sheets and blankets were already on the laundry room floor when I heard Elijah frantically yelling, “Mom!  Mom!  The sink is doing it again!” The sheets were quick to soak up some of the gallons of water rushing out of our small sink in the bathroom, but the flood was pretty extreme.  The plug will sometimes fall into ‘closed’ position and is very difficult to pull back up again.  Unfortunately, the water was left running at the same time.  So… an extra little mopping was done here today.  Ah, entropy.

Speaking of things being left alone… yesterday we had somewhat of a scare.  Again, I heard a rather desperate call for me from upstairs.  Betty was in the bathroom with the door closed (she can do that too) and she had reached the lock with her little hands and locked the door.  The lock is only able to be opened from the outside of the door with a skeleton key, as the doorknobs are those old-fashioned giant diamonds.  I immediately freaked out and called Matthew.  I needed the skeleton key, which both of us saw recently but couldn’t remember where, or a locksmith.  With visions of disaster speeding through my head, I prayed and then did the only reasonable thing I could think of doing quickly: climb onto the roof.  So, out the boys’ bedroom window I crawled, walking carefully to the adjacent bathroom window, the hot slanted rooftop toasty under my sandals.  I pried open the screen of the bathroom window and gave Betty a startle when I called her name.  She was sitting in front of the door, playing with the other kids’ fingers under the door, looking unfazed by the whole ordeal.  I unlocked the door and everyone cheered.  Jack said, “Mom, that was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen you do!”  I really, really hope that I never have to climb out on the roof again.  The kids all had a crash course on why putting Betty in the bathroom is NOT a good idea, and we are on the lookout for our skeleton key in case anything like that happens again.  Thankfully it was such a warm day, so the windows were all open!

My fourth load of wash is on the clothesline, school happened, and we have laughed entropy in the face by all of our vacuuming and putting away.  I’m desperately hoping to do better than cereal for supper tonight.  Cooking is one thing that does not fall into any law of physics.  This is called the second law of home-making: supper, if left completely alone, will not just happen.

Jack Be Nimble, Jack Be Quick

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The other day Jack tried explaining that he wanted me to take a picture of him floating away, just like he had seen in a photo once.  We had the sidewalk chalk out, and he had drawn a balloon.  So, I climbed the tree and tried my best to to capture the image of him being pulled into the sky by a single balloon.  Super fun!

Jack likes to say things like, “Oh, grateful,” instead of “Oh, great.”  When Matt asked him if he had a high metabolism he answered, “I forget.”  I purposely don’t really watch them on the trampoline, because their bravery exceeds my own.  However, when I’m hanging laundry on the clothesline, they are drawn to the black circle of bounce and I’m forced to watch their aerial flips and daring leaps.  He is a regular ninja when it comes to the trampoline, and it’s both frightening and exhilarating to watch him.  When he runs, he looks more like a gazelle.  Every few steps he flies through the air in a leap and keeps on going.  Higher is better.  Harder is better.  Pain is weakness leaving the body.  His legs are more bruised than not.  He never wakes up during the night, so when he came stumbling into our room one night I knew something was wrong.  Turns out he fell out of bed… which means he fell from the top bunk.  Ouch!  I have no idea how his wiry body slid out with the side rail on, but I’m glad he was okay.  He loves oats, life, and everything in-between.  For him, every day is about as exciting as being swept away by a single balloon.

What on Earth???

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The other day Elsie said something so funny, yet so profound.  Matthew was working on something and instead of asking him, “What on earth are you doing?” she asked, “What are you doing on the earth!”  It is a valid question, you know.  One that we all should answer.  What am I doing?  Besides the obvious course of survival mode we all habitually travel to remain alive?  There have been definite days in my life where I barely survive.  Days with little feeling of hope, excitement, or feelings of fulfillment.  What am I doing on this earth?  Is my purpose far-reaching, even eternal?  Was I merely put on this earth to wipe babies’ bottoms and cook one-thousand-and-ninety-five meals a year?  Or is there a deeper purpose for my existence?

Yesterday was one of those days when it was pretty hard not to feel the breath of heaven wash over my soul.  I know that sixty-two degrees in January, in Pennsylvania, is not normal or to be expected.  I also know it is fleeting.  My entire being craved the sunshine and warm air so intensely that I feel like it was a gift from my Father sent to bless me personally.  I also know it blessed many other people as well!  I had the privilege of sharing the afternoon with some friends from church, and we took a nature walk through a near-by park.  The outdoors called our names and we just hollered right back, “Coming!”  And we went.


Betty was so cute with her little friend, Will.  She is one month older and liked trying to hold his hand.  They were so sweet together!


We explored the water and soaked in our fill of Vitamin D.

This is one reason I’m on this earth: to love these amazing kids who love life and the God who made them.

Oh to see more clearly that when I love them… what I am doing on this earth is making a difference in eternity.

I am so thankful for every moment on this earth.  There are glimpses of glory and heaven when the sunshine kisses my skin.  Then there are glimpses of how temporary our time on this earth is.  On our way home from the park we were almost hit head-on by someone speeding around the corner of a tight turn.  A flash of how fleeting and wonderful each moment we are given flew through my mind in an instant.


This morning when I got up, the kids had been awake for a little while and told me they had a surprise that I would really like.  Yesterday they had made me breakfast, so I was pretty curious what they had up their pajama sleeves this morning.  I shuffled downstairs to my chipper children who had finished two subjects of school already.  Neatly and correctly.  This has never happened before!  It touches my heart when they think of these kinds of things on their own.  It gives me hope to counter attack the doubt that sneaks into my thoughts sometimes.  My kids are messy, loud, and don’t always make the right choices.  Guess what?  Neither do I.  But they are also growing, learning, and come up with the most brilliant ideas!  I learn from them every day, and even though I love them so much, I need to tell them so better.  Hug them often.  Say, “You’re so smart!” more.  I can’t take it for granted that they’re alive!  I believe God created them to do unique and awesome things while they’re here.  Somehow He entrusted me with this crazy huge job called Mothering.

So, what are you doing on earth?

That’s Why God Made the Moon

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Tonight we were driving home when Elsie spotted the full moon.  “Look!  I see it!  It’s a new moon!”  She wanted her window down so she could see it even better.  “I’ve never seen that one before!”  All the way home, she just kept exclaiming over it.  I thought how God must be smiling.  Perhaps a lot of us went all evening without regarding God’s amazing creation.  But there was a little girl who worshiped and praised the God who made the moon.  We often make worship out to be something more fancy than it is.  I’m just learning that it doesn’t land at a certain time or place or have to be done a certain way.  I’m thankful for a God who accepts our worship from a pure heart.  Jesus said in John 4-:23-24

“But the time is coming—it has, in fact, come—when what you’re called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter.  It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.”

I love that Jesus spoke those words.  He only wants our true selves, adoring Him.  It may be with a guitar in hand.  It may be with our hands in a dirty pile of dinner dishes.  It may be with a pen and paper.  It may be with our feet hitting the ground as we run.  It may be with our faces bowed low to the ground, or it may be with our faces looking upwards in the night sky at the moon.

Top of the Mornin’

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When this little girl comes downstairs, there is usually a mess of curls, a sleepy look, a funny outfit, and a big appetite attached.  Elsie is the queen of funny outfits.  Yesterday I held back a burst of laughter when she walked into the room holding a dirty nerf sword and wearing a gorgeous pink lacy dress, purple crocs, a small black motorcycle helmet, and a backpack.  She looked like she was on some sort of fabulous mission.  Princess biker chic with a little ninja action.  She is always my splash of pink in the middle of  a muddy day.  And we have had a LOT of mud lately!


Last night Jack told me that he really wanted to be a police officer when he grows up.  “Really, mom.  They have cool handcuffs, carry a gun, and eat donuts.  They really do eat donuts!”


At least I can help him fulfill part of that dream and get that boy some donuts!