Stuart's spectrum

Stuart seemed to be unsure about a new babysitter, Carly, who is the daughter of Stuart's old teacher. She told us this story.

Carly: Boys you need to brush your teeth and wash your face and then we can play before you have to get to bed.
Stuart: Uh! You are definitely...not fun.

Later after they played for a while.
Stuart: You are definitely funny.

Thanksgiving antics

Sabrina came early with me to Abbie's to help cook Thanksgiving dinner. At nap time, Sabrina and I went upstairs for her nap. She was so tired, she just rolled over, closed her eyes, and whispered, "I love you, Mama." With my heart full of thanks, I went downstairs to peel potatoes and enjoy the girl time in the kitchen. About 45 minutes later, Abbie went upstairs to put Kasen down for his nap. When she returned, she was saying Kasen's room as all askew. "Oh, no. Sabrina!" I thought as I darted up the stairs. I opened the door to her room and her blanket was neatly spread out over her doll, who was lying on the pillow, but no Sabrina. I walked to the master bedroom—still no sign of her. I walked through to the master bath where I heard running water. Sabrina is at the tub with the water running and a peri bottle in her mouth! (If you don't know what a peri bottle is, just know that it's not something you put in your mouth!) She had washcloths in the tub to make it fill up because it's too deep for her to reach the stopper. With her dress dripping wet, she smiled her cheesy smile and said, "Good morning, Mama." Abbie, who had been following me, had to leave the room because she was laughing! I put my hand out to take her hand and Sabrina cried repeatedly, "I need a bath! Kasen needs a bath! Baby needs a bath!" I sorted her out and put her back in bed, then I went to clean up the bath. She's put about 4 hand towels in the toilet as well as the washcloths in the tub! There was so much water on the floor, it took me two full towels to soak it all up! So much for helping out!

Stuart loved playing in the basement at Dan & Abbie's. After supper we heard lots of crying and Stuart had two huge gashes in his fingers. I set him up on the counter to rinse the cuts and teasing him said, "Stuart, remember, I said I DIDN'T want to go to the hospital tonight." As we rinsed the cuts, it was mostly torn skin, but all the fingers were really swollen. After he's got bandaids on an ice pack at the table, he said, "Mom, I want to go to the hospital." Silly boy! David checks his fingers; they're just a little swollen, but nothing is really wrong. Still we need some medicine, so we end up hopping in the truck to go a neighbor who has his age and they of course have children's motrin! So he may not have been to the hospital, but he was excited he got to go somewhere! As well, Stuart has been especially sweet the last few days. He'll come hang on me and say, "You're the best mom in the whole world." Or to Michael and say, "You're the best dad in whole world." As I was saying good night last night Stuart says, "Mom! Wait! Everyone in the whole world has moms and dads, but my mom and dad are the best." Oh, it just melts your heart when they do that.

One of my favorite Thanksgiving traditions is the beginning of holiday baking. My family has these Italian cookies that we make called riscotti. They have great sentimental meaning in my family and can also be used as currency in bartering transactions. The recipe starts with 5 pounds of flour (yes, pounds) and makes about 300 cookies. You can image how long it takes to roll all these cookies. So I watch movies while I roll and ice the cookies—White Christmas and Sleepless in Seattle. It is most fun with other people, but the kids aren't quite old enough to help. This year, Jenn Russo came to hang out with me and we rolled cookies. So much fun!


Sabrina 'helping' with some of the cookie icing.
A glimpse of the cookie load.

My thankful images

Chase reading Treasure Island.



Michael, seriously the greatest husband in the world.



Chase and his good friend Clay.


These burning bushes are my favorite part of my yard.



Stuart at school. I love their school.



Sabrina reading to me. She's the mommy; I'm the girl.



My kids, no longer babies, with minds and hearts of their own. God keep them and bless them with a life in You.

Not me! Monday

Oh this week. Well, there were many things I DID NOT do this week. I will only bore you with a few. See other fun weeks on MckMama's site.


I DID NOT hang metal measuring spoons on my daughter's door knob to alert me to her opening her door when she should be in bed. I DID NOT contemplate going to the store to buy a set of jingle bells. I DID NOT catch Sabrina saying "Shhhhh" to the spoons.

I DID NOT drive through the pretty, expensive neighborhood to get to the library, just so it would take longer to get home because Michael was out of town and I couldn't face two full hours at home alone before bedtime.

I DID NOT behave awkwardly when saying good bye (again) to my friend who is leaving because I just couldn't cry any more.

I DID NOT fall asleep in the chair while my son was talking to me while he was doing his homework.

I DID NOT take hangers to a girls' night to give away because I was tired of the bag sitting in my entryway. I DID NOT get annoyed because there were still several left to take home.

I DID NOT forget my camera when I went to Chase's school for his Kindergarten play about the First Thanksgiving. I DID NOT take several pictures with my cell phone. I was not that mom.

I DID NOT cry (again!) in chapel, at the Y, in World Market, or all afternoon. I DID NOT keep repeating Matt Redman's "Blessed be your Name" and Jessica Simpson's "Still Beautiful" so I could just get all the tears out.

I DID NOT start smelling kids' clothes and decide to put them in the closet if they didn't smell dirty because I was tired of laundry. I DID NOT count up that I have done 65 loads of laundry in the last 30 days.

I DID NOT start writing this blog entry and forget half the things I did not do this week.

Funny conversations again

My conversation with Stuart and Sabrina as we're walking through the parking lot from Target to World Market. This will only make sense to you if you've seen PBS Kids' show "Word World".

Stuart: Where are we going now?
Me: World Market. Can you find the sign with the big "W"?
Stuart: Oh! I see it! The "W" and the "M"
Sabrina: I see an "O"!
Stuart: It's just like "Word World", Mom! Everything is made out of words!
Sabrina: Where's Dog?


Chase had a play on Thursday. He was an announcer telling the story. I forgot my camera, so this is the sad cell phone video. However, you can just see his arm demonstrating Squanto. He had several parts, but this was the best of our "old man".






Michael and Chase had this conversation in the back yard.
Chase: Dad, I know why women have to marry.
Michael: Why?
Chase: Because women have babies, and they need money. And the men get them the money.



Sabrina is very into pretend play right now. She likes being 'the mommy' and uses that an excuse to attempt to get what she wants!

Sabrina: [sitting on my lap facing me and playing with my necklace] Ooo. Pretty. I'm the mommy. You the girl. I wear the necklace and go to work.

Another time she's playing with the computer
Me: Sabrina, hands off the computer. You can't play with it.
Sabrina: Oh, I'm the mommy. I can touch it.

Laughter through Tears

Life around me has been, well, a bit high drama and sad recently. I'm kinda tired of crying, but I've had a lot of "Laughter through tears is my favorite emotion" recently. (Steel Magnolias for those of you who don't remember...) So with each of these conversations, I've been crying and seriously just had to laugh.

Chase:
You know, it definitely wouldn't be good to live near a cocoa factory. I really couldn't do that. He would be too noisy. Maybe a chocolate factory, but not cocoa.

Stuart:
Could we, um, PLEASE go to, um, McDonald's and [slurping sound] get McDonald's stuff? Um, and the take the [slurping sound] McDonald's stuff, um, home and um, eat it? And then, um, maybe play there?

Sabrina:
I have three dogs. [We have no dogs]
You do? 3?
No, 2 dogs.
What are their names?
Naomi and Table.
Naomi and Table?
Yes. Those are my 2 dogs.

With a friend, London:
[I had bemoaning on the phone the difficulty of the day with the kids]
You know, Jenn, when it gets like that I think just go, [shouting in her great Louisiana accent] "OH MY GOODNESS! IS THAT SANTA CLAUS????" I say if there's a Santa up at Walgreen's, you can totally use that.

Sabrina: (Ok, I'd not been crying, but this was just funny)
Mama, I don't want a spanking!
Why do I have to give you a spanking?
Because I shouted "NO" at you.
Do you deserve a spanking?
No.
Why?
'Cause I don't want one.

Thank you, Lord for the gift of laughter and the gift of tears. And I thank you even more that we don't always have to choose.

Not me! Monday

Well, folks. Here it is again. Monday. My weekly journal of some of the things I DID NOT, not ever, do this past week. MckMama has some more Not Me! Monday fun on her blog.

I DID NOT spill an entire can of diet coke on my friend's couch (ivory in color) while she was out. I DID NOT consider blaming it on my daughter.

I DID NOT leave a load of towels in the washer overnight, just because I was too lazy to go down the stairs. I DID NOT forget about them until the next night. I DID NOT simply fold them because I didn't want to rewash them.

I DID NOT fall asleep on the floor of my sons' room when I went to get them up from rest. I DID NOT sleep there for 20 minutes and wake up with a crinkly cheek.

I DID NOT drag my children to 3 grocery stores in one afternoon and bribe them with a "special treat" when they got home.

I DID NOT sit down to finish writing this blog while there are 7 loads of laundry to be folded.

I DID NOT cry the entire way home after leaving a friend who is going away. I, of course, was not crabby the rest of the evening because I was really simply sad.

Chase's funny statements

Just a list of some funny things Chase has said recently.

He's taken to calling Sabrina "sis". As in, "Come one, Sis, let's go cook!" or "Si-is! Don't knock that over!"

Chase: "Mom, when I get older, I don't want to marry."
Me: "Well, you've got a lot of years to decide. You may change you're mind."
Chase: "Nah, I don't want to marry."

"I must, I really must have all my A to Z mystery books in my bed [that's about a dozen books]. Then when I finish one, I can just pick up the next one and keep reading."

While eating a snack of TasteeOs. "Mmmm, these are tast-ee! OH! That must be why they call them TasteeOs!"

Daily Routine a la Sabrina

I got glimpse of Sabrina's impression of our days. All of this took place in Sabrina's room in about 10 minutes.

First, she made me sleep with all her blankets and animals on the floor. Then she woke me up, very sweetly (made me feel good) and said " You Sabrina. I'm the mommy. It's time for breakfast!" She then threw some bowls at my face (did not make me feel good). She backed my backpack and her purse and clicked me in the 'car'. She said, "I have to get my purse down," and put her bag next to her. "Let's take the boys to school and then we're going to the Y and then to Rufie's!" [That would be Ruthie's to those having trouble translating!]
So she pretends to drive while saying "drive, drive, drive" and we 'drop off' the boys. We go to the Y and then we get back in. Every time we 'stop' we go through the clicking of belts and the purse and such. "We're at Rufie's! You play upstairs with Rufie and I'm going downstairs to pray with Lisa." She then 'walks down the stairs', kneels, puts her hands together pointed up, and says, "Thank you, Jesus. Amen. Ok, time to go!" [Funny, I don't remember the last time I kneeled to pray and my hands are never together!] "Time to get the boys!" Whole car procedure again and "here's your snack" as she again throws some bowls at me, then we're home. "Time for your nap. I love you" and I'm re-covered with the blankets. She leaves the room and shuts the door!

Phew...what a day!

Not me! Monday

Yes, it's Monday! Time for our weekly confessional of all the activities I DID NOT do this past week. MckMama has more posts from others for NOT ME! Monday.

I DID NOT leave the sprinkler on in the backyard for almost 45 minutes when it was supposed to be 15minutes. I especially DID NOT do this twice this week.

I DID NOT pilfer through my children's Halloween candy and take out the good candy, leaving them with dots and tootsie rolls.

I DID NOT give my daughter 2 nickels in exchange for 2 quarters.

I DID NOT, again, leave my van door open all night. I also DID NOT leave my house door wide open the entire day while I was gone. I do not have a problem with "closure".

I DID NOT make a double recipe of pumpkin bread & muffins and forget that muffins take half as long as bread. I DID NOT completely burn all 24 muffins. I DID NOT try to feed them to my children.

On my front steps, I DID NOT leave pumpkins that had been hollowed out by squirrels. I DID NOT tell people this was an observation exercise, so my children could watch them decay.

I DID NOT talk on my cordless home phone in the car. I DID NOT drive away still talking on the phone. I DID NOT put that phone in my purse when I was finished talking, so I of course DID NOT carry it around that morning. I DID NOT pull it out of my purse to check message when I got near my house again.

Maybe I spend too much time at the Y

I work out regularly. Typically I'm at the YMCA Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and usually at least 1 more day at the Y. The kids do love the childcare, especially when they get to go to the gym. The kids pass through the cardio and weight area and always give enthusiastic waves.

A couple days ago, Sabrina was playing in her room while I put away laundry.
Sabrina says, "I'm going to the Y, Mom. Bye!" Then she talks to her baby: "Here's the nursery. Let's hang up your backpack. Have fun! I love you. I'm going to work out." She leaves her dolls and takes a few steps away from her bed. Then she keeps one foot planted and moves the other leg back and forth in front of her while pumping her arms back and forth as well. "I'm working out," she says to me. She walks back to her bed and picks up her baby, "I'm finished working out."

Below is a video of Stuart exercising.


Well, I guess I'm raising kids who think exercise is cool.

Playing school

Stuart and Sabrina like to play school.

They start in Sabrina's room and pack her "lunch" in her backpack.
Then Stuart drives Sabrina to school: she stands behind him and they walk in a line while he says, "drive, drive, drive" until they get to the entryway. She gets out at school and he helps her find her hook. He waves good bye and walks out. She plays in her "classroom" and then Stuart comes back and says, "Time for carpet time." They sit down and Stuart reads her a book (and by read, I mean the re-telling of a story that may or may not be related to the book in his hand.) After that, sometimes they play some more or they decide it's time for lunch. When they eat lunch they unpack her lunch in her pack and "eat". Then they pack up for "carpool" and drive, drive, drive back to Sabrina's room.

It really is the sweetest thing.

Eating lunch at school
Carpool

Not me! Monday

Yes, it's that time again for me to recount to you all the behavior I DID NOT exhibit this past week. I know none of you would do these things either.

I did not make my two year old carry her gloves because she insisted on bringing them into the store and I didn't want to put them on. I did not allow her to put them in my purse because I told her she had to keep track of them by herself.

I did not leave, for a week, a storage bin of summer clothes in my back hallway. It's not still there.

I did not sit and laugh at my family while they talked about really random things and Skype with Michael about it. He was not sitting right next to me at the table while I did not do this.

I did not skip two of my runs this week. I'm am committed to that training schedule.

There is not popcorn on my floor for supper last night because I, of course, did not serve popcorn and apples for supper. I did not learn that from Shelly Kirkman.

I did not sit down to right this post while the dirty dishes from Sunday's lunch and Monday's breakfast sat on the counter. I would never do that: it's unsanitary and I always do my chores before doing fun things like blogging. Additionally, the groceries that I bought this morning are not sitting on the counter. My children are also not watching TV while I write this post, they are of course reading their books or cleaning their rooms.

I would never be involved in any of these situations. Of course not, not me!

Spinning Class and Halloween

Just a normal Thursday at the Whitmer's







Halloween
Is it really graduation?
Chase & Landry
Aidan, Chase, & Sabrina