Gimme a Break (and no I am not referring to a Kit Kat bar)

Yesterday, at school Bug was pushed while playing - nothing mean or vindictive, just pushed. He hurt his arm. I wondered back and forth about taking him in and eventually decided it best to double check.

The doctor figured it was fractured or had a fracture called "green stick". We didn't make it to radiology in time for them to check it last night so off we went this morning.

And now, for the rest of the story...

I just got back from our appointments with Radiology, the doctor and the Cast Technician, Boris.



(yesterday after picking Bug up from my friend's house after work - pre doctor)

Bug has definitely broken his arm - his radius to be precise. Apparently the bone is at a 5 to 10 degree elevation from where it should be and we need to go to the Cast Clinic on Thursday to see the Orthopedic Surgeon to see if "manipulation" of the bone is required.



(Waiting at the walk-in clinic yesterday with his pink panther)

He will be casted then. For now, he has a brace on the arm and a sling to keep it stable.



(Trying to figure out the best way to support his arm during the night. This attempt was a fail.)



(Apparently, this way was the most comfortable for the little man.)



(The temporary "fix" until we see the surgeon to rule out the need for surgery on Thursday morning.)

Whole Lotta Shakin' Adjusting Goin' On

Wow, I have been quiet! I think this is probably the quietest I have been, well, ever.

Sorry about that.

There's just been a lot of adjusting going on in our home, in our lives.

Adjusting to BigB being gone for days at a time, in communities where we can't reach him.

Adjusting to Rush being gone.

Adjusting to the fragile emotional state of Jellybean and Bug right now, as they adjust.

Adjusting to the new school year (for the kids and for BigB).

Adjusting to adding music lessons, for both children, into our schedule.

Adjusting to my needing a new job. (I have a couple of places I would like to apply but I need to be able to find someone to "pawn" my kids off on for a bit - can't be applying for work with 2 kids in tow.)

Adjusting to the busyness of the last week and the upcoming week.

Adjusting to remembering to care for the two lizards we have inherited.

Did I mention adjusting to Rush being gone?
We may know where she is and we may know that she is being taken care of but, that only eases the worry and doesn't aid much at all in the "dealing" with the fact that she is gone.

It's has simply been a time of stretching and adjusting and trusting in God that He is in control and all will be as it is supposed to be.

How Do I Taste, Moby?

The evening of August 18 BigB & I watched a movie with Rush, Finding Nemo to be exact. She knows ALL the words; she can recite them perfectly even without the movie playing. It sparked some interesting conversation.

→ Rush wants to be able to sit in the mouth of a Blue Whale but only if it won't eat her. Why? So she can say "How do I tast, Moby?! Huh?".
→ This lead to a conversation about how horrible it would be to be swallowed by a whale and die due to digestion.
→ She wants to be able to eat Blow Fish because one wrong cut or mistake during cooking and it "could" kill her; she thinks that would be a thrill. However, she thinks people who play Russian Roulette are idiots. Odd...
→ She wants a salt water tank with all the main characters from Finding Nemo.
→ She named the log in her terrarium "Logwannahawkaloogie".
→ She thinks it would be great to have an animal that "could eat me walk past me, as long as they can't see me so they can't eat me."
→ Rush's comment on Darla (the dentist's niece on Finding Nemo), "If she keeps killing fish, why get her a new one? Why not buy her a hamster?"
Huh??????????
→ Quote from Rush, "I'd like to go sliding with the Polar Bears...if they can't see me. I could wear a polar bear costume!"
→ She thinks that the babies Marlon and Dory would have, if they were to have babies, would be very cute. She imagines them orange with blue stripes. "Can you breed fish?! Here, you guys, now have babies!"

But, I think the most memorable thing I got from that movie came in a quote from the movie itself (not that I like it being memorable or anything)
"Of course I like you; it's because I like you that I can't be with you."

I certainly do love my Nemo loving, Nemo quoting girl - more than she knows and more than I ever thought I could ever love...

Excuse me. Is my head on straight?

It feels like it isn't.

It took a few motrin to get me to sleep last night.

I can't think, or focus, or smile.

I'm trying. To smile, that is.

I'm trying. To think straight, that is.

So. If you would be so kind, can you tell me when I haven't put my head on straight? I need to adjust to a new normal that I don't like. one. little. bit. It sort of feels like open heart surgery without the anesthetic (not that I have had open heart surgery with or without it).

I am turning to God for strength but I think there may be road construction or something, as there seems to be a bit of a delay.

Another Super Saturday

This past Saturday was a nice family day. We had no plan, despite our attempts at figuring out what we were going to do. No one could think of anything we would all like, our town is a little lacking in that area unless you can get out to one of the many gorgeous lakes, unfortunately that wasn't a choice for Saturday.

We left our house, flying by the seat of our proverbial pants. No plan. No clue. We were just leaving.

We drove to Extreme Pita to have a quick, healthy lunch. It was delish! The 2 youngest kids had a ham & cheese pita with their own version of the works; their meals came with drinks and a cookie. What more could a kid want? We don't need no stinkin' Happy Meal to make us happy. The food was delicious. Rush had a grilled chicken pita; BigB had a Mandarine Chicken pita and I had a, mmmmm, yummy Mediteranean pita. It was so yummy. Have I mentioned that the food there is very yummy? I did? Oh, sorry. To finish off our meals, as we were still jsut a tad hungry, we split a package of freshly made garlic pita chips with hummus. Well, I had hummus; everyone else had Ranch. How boring.





Just look at that face as Jellybean bites into that pita. Isn't she just screaming, "MMMMM this is delish!"

From Extreme Pita we walked over to the pet store which was a big mistake. HUGE! Here we held some bunnies & some hamsters, checked out some fish, and fell in love with an adorable Boston Terrier pup & an equally adorable soft, fluffy grey kitten with gorgeous blue eyes. This is when we left the store, empty-handed with long, sullen faces.



Rush with a cute little hamster she decided to call Hernado or Fredrico; she couldn't decide.


Tell me how you could resist this adorable face? Tell me! Seriously! TELL ME!


Or this one?! Look at that face! {sigh} What cuties! Now you can see why we left so forelorn with empty arms...

The boys played football while we sunned ourselves and made funny faces at mom whow was always holding the camera...

And then we hopped on the swings to swing the heat away, and to giggle uncontollably as dad gave pushes.



We finished off the day with a family movie and some snuggling. I love days like these...

But, it's my day off...

(Read the next few lines together really fast or simultaneously, if you can to feel the right mood to this story.)

Bug: Mo-om
Jellybean: I'm sorry....I'm sorry
Bug: Mo-om
Jellybean: I'm sorry; I'm sorry. I said I was sorry.
Bug: Mo-m
Jellybean: I'm sorry. Sorry. Sorry (mo-om). Sorry. I said...
Bug: Mo-om, Jellybean kicked my de-esk.
Jellybean: I'm sor...no I didn't.
Bug: Well, it's part of it! Mo-om...
Jellybean: I. Am. Sorry!
Bug, at this point stuck his fingers in his ears; I kid you not and I was waiting with baited breath to hear "I'm not listening" singing from his voice.

I slowly got up and sent each one on their merry way to their rooms; it's supposed to be my day off and I don't want to hear stupid fighting at this time of morning. Legitimate fighting maybe. Stupid fighting, no. After all, it's my day off and I have all ready been up for 3 hours.

Here, Piggy! Piggy!

Remember all the sickness we had at our house last week? I talked about it here. Just this morning I got a phone call from Rikki, a friendly sounding public health nurse, who called to inform me that, yes, Bug did indeed have a confirmed case of H1N1 (aka Swine Flu). That being said, she also said that it was very safe (in fact, extremely acurate) to say that Jellybean, BigB and LilB had the virus as well.

We found out that the boys, and Jellybean, are to be in isolation for 7 days from the start of their symptoms. Seven days from the start of Bug's symptoms was this past Tuesday. I love how that system worked in this case. We found out 3 days after the isolation period was up that he should be isolated. Good thing we didn't really go anywhere.

That's kind of exciting!

Well it is! Are you arguing with me?! Seriously?

Ok. I am done being silly. I am going to blame it on all that totally cool thunder we are getting today! I always get in a goofy mood when there is a thunder storm and the better the storm, well, the goofier I get. It seems to stir something up in me because I feel so energetic and like a ball of live wires or something but I digress.

Wow! That one was so close and loud it made me jump! Too cool! (Digressing again...)

Let me get to the point of what is kind of exciting. Rush is turning 16 this summer.

{16?! Seriously, when did this happen!? I mean wasn't it just yesterday she was a chubby faced, pigtailed 2 year old taking her poodle/terrier, Princess, for a walk? Wasn't it just last week that she cried when her Papa Ray told her that his sprayer killed weeds and she cried and begged him to promise to NEVER KILL WEEDS AGAIN!? Wasn't it? It wasn't really THAT long ago that she strutted out of her Kindergarten classroom proud as punch over the fact that she had met the Queen of England? (Really it was the school secretary dressed up as the Queen but there was no telling my Rush that. She met the Queen and that was THAT!) Has that much time really passed since we found her fixing Pa's swather with a yellow and green handled chisel? Wasn't it last week we took these pictures?}

Yes, Rush is turning 16 years old this summer and she has morphed from an adorable little girl with the biggest, bluest eyes and biggest heart to a beautiful young lady with the most beautiful green eyes and the biggest heart. (Yes, I am aware her eyes went from blue to green.)

So, as her mom, I want something special for my daughter's Sweet 16, from gift to party. (By the way, her Dad wants these things to; it's not just me.) I am not telling the gift as I don't know how often she reads here but I can tell you about the party. (Do you guys know how much I LOVE to plan parties? I love, love, LOVE it!)

The afternoon of her party is going to spent at the Spa with a few of her close friends and, of course, her mama. When we are done there, we will be going to our house for a family supper and her "bestest" friend will most likely be spending the night.

The invitation parts are now printed on their appropriate page color (vanilla; I didn't have any caramel left); I will then be putting them onto a chocolate background and finishing them off with a nice green ribbon and I have printed spa information on kiwi paper. Supper invites are on the kiwi green and I will finish those off with a chocolate ribbon. (Rush loves green.)

I have plans for refreshments at the spa (including fruit with dip, cheese, crackers, chocolate and some cupcakes ~ yummy!)

I am so very excited and I really hope it all goes off the way it has played out in my head several times since planning it.

Now, it is time to get planning Bug's 6th birthday but first I need to contact his buddy's mom to see if she wants another joint party this year (since their birthdays are only days away from each others). It seems he is wanting to go to the park for an all out run around and play, weiner roast kind of day. Easy enough.

Do NOT start a phone call conversation like this EVER

Moments ago my phone at work rang; it was BigB. He is going to give you an excellent example of how NOT to start a conversation.

"First of all, he's ok."

and then there was a pause...

I have to admit that during that pause I immediately forgot 'first of all, he's ok'. I immediately went to who is he (given the terribly high fever Bug had been fighting up until yesterday and the fact that LilB just left our house to travel to Calgary for a family reunion with his mom's family and I have a terribly vivid imagination (quick too) and several people and scenarios popped into my head).

What should I have done? Turned my fears and imagination directly and immediately over to God and waited for BigB to finish.

Here's the scoop.
As I had said LilB was on his way to Calgary to the family reunion and in a city very near ours he was side swiped; his car is pretty smashed up which means he can not drive to the reunion and he is returning to our house as we speak I type this.

He IS ok; he is pretty ticked off that his car has so much damage to it and I think he will have to remain here until his car is fixed (which has it's pluses and negatives - plus that we get to visit with him, negative that he misses the reunion with his other family and his return to his home in Missouri may be delayed depending on when it can be repaired.)

But don't. ever. start a conversation like that with anyone. ever! Especially if that person is someone whose family didn't want to tell her her brother had a heart attack because she is 'overly sensitive' and 'overly protective' and would 'freak out' (read panic)

How to handle this type of conversation (only from the side of the person doing the calling and scaring and not the replies from the person recieving said call and being scared):
"Hi. How is your day going?"
"Great. Me? I'm doing all right. Oh, I just wanted to let you know that someone side swiped LilB in (insert name of city near ours here) so he is on his way back here. I guess we'll be getting a few more days with him after all."

A lot nicer, heh? A lot less room for panic and imagination to creep in. A lot more focus on the smooshing of the car than the possible smooshing and/or breaking of the son.

Lesson over. Never forget it!

***Edited to add***
LilB has since decided to carry on to Calgary (as I was just informed through a second call) and is taking care of accident business at the police station of "city very near us". I have to admit, it is extremely difficult to say 'goodbye' to your child twice in one day with the excitement of getting to spend more time with him smooshed in between good bye's. This is where I would kick the dirt with a swiping motion of my feet, gestured with a closed fist a motion of disappointment by moving said fist slightly to the front of my body, cast my eyes downward and give a HUGE melodramatic sigh. If I were totally into those kinds of antics, shich I so totally am NOT.

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me Monday! A fun and therapeutic way to deal with our not-so-proud and not-so-glorious moments from the week. It was created by MckMama, mom to many small children. So pop on over to her site to read what she and others have NOT done in the past week. Here is what she has to say about Not Me Mondays:

"Are you feeling guilty for pretending not to notice as your child sucked toothpaste out of the tube? Feel like a slouch for wearing your husband's big, baggy t-shirts all day? We'll don't! Not Me! Monday was born out of my desire to admit some of my imperfections and reveal a few moments I'd rather forget. You may find it therapeutic to join in and do the same thing!"

I did NOT play nursemaid to my family all wee - one at a time it seems. Bug did NOT fight a temperature between 38.5 and 40.7 Celsius (which is approximately 100 to 103 temp) for 4 days. With his temperature so high I did NOT end up taking him to the doctor and, therefore, don't have these pictures to share with you.

I had only left him on the couch for 5 minutes while I tucked another sick child into their bed and I came upstairs to this sight - Bug passed out on the loveseat with his bottle tucked in his arm; I did NOT have to snap a picture because I found it terribly humourous given the fact that he reminded me of a 5 year old version of a park-bench person. Nope, NOT ME; I don't find humor in the strangest most inappropriate places, especially when I am tired.

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We did NOT spend most of our visit with LilB dealing with gingerale, thermometers, tylenol, lukewarm baths, "nuggles" and pukepails and not nearly as much visiting as we had hoped. BigB and LilB did, however, get to make it to the golf course twice before both were struck with this flu.
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With all the sickness running amuck in my household and all the HIGH fevers, I did NOT spend most of my time running around with this in my hand


run to one person, checking a temp, running to disinfect, on to the next, and so on. Nope, NOT ME! We are the epitomy of health ALL the time.

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It was NOT our 9th anniversary on Wednesday and we were NOT scheduled to teach in Youth that day so we did NOT do anything for our anniversary until Saturday afternoon. We did NOT have a great lunch at a nice vietnamese restaurant having hot and sour soup and special vermicelli (YUM) along with some great conversation!

I usually do NOT have a reflective day on our anniversary because it is not just our anniversary but two special people's birthdays as well and so I did NOT get emotional and write about it here. NOT ME! I am not senitmental AT ALL.
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With all the sick children I had to contend with I did NOT make it to church Friday night just to turn around and take two of them home right after I was done singing. I did NOT feel a smidge selfish because I did NOT want to stay so I could sit with LilB during a service as it has been so long. I did NOT wish I could have stayed to listen to the sermon as it was on Persistance and Consistency. Nope, I am never selfish about anything so NOT ME! NOT ME! NOT ME!

I did NOT have my cell phone with my at church (eventually giving it to BigB) because we were waiting for the doctor to phone us with news from the pediatrician as to what he wanted us to do with Bug and all his feverness. (I did NOT just make up the word 'feverness'.)

The pediatrician said to just continue with what we were doing but they did NOT put his name on a list so the on-call ped would be aware of him should we have to take him into emergency. We, thankfully, did not have to take him!
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I did NOT end up laughing at my children or my husband as they said some very silly, fever-induced things that made no sense because I am ever the sensitive one and I would NEVER laugh at the expense of my family especially when they aren't feeling well - no matter how silly their words are. NOT ME!
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Because of all the sickness that has NOT been making its rounds in my house I will NOT be spending my days off this week (I have Wed, Thurs, Fri off) disinfencting my house. I will NOT probably take a break from it on the evening of Wednesday so my family & I can enjoy the Canada Day celebrations and fireworks (if there is no fireban or anything and they still have them). I am NOT looking forward to that and don't have to go out today or tomorrow to buy our Canada Day red & white accessories.

So that is what I have NOT been doing this week. I wonder what I won't do next week. Hopefully something that deals a lot less with medication and thermometers.

I will leave you with a sight that I did NOT see last night just to prove to you that LilB is not as big of a geeknerd as BigB.

Nope. I do NOT have two geeknerds in my family and still do NOT have a broken computer with scads of pictures on a hard drive that I can not get to and a weak little laptop to carry me through. Since there is so much computer knowledge in my family, I always have a finely tuned computer...just like the mechanics wife has the smoothest running car and the carpenter's wife never has half-finished projects in her house. NOT!!!!!
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I did NOT find out how terribly easy it is to make s'mores in the microwave and how delicious they are NOT! I always thought microwaved s'mores would be gross. I guess that's why I did NOT eat at least one a day every day last week at work! Nope, NOT ME! I have way more will power than that and can so totally resist its melty chocolatey, marshmallowy goodness...{drool}

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I also did NOT look down yesterday morning while singing on the Worship team, in front of our congregation to see my belt (with a d-link buckle) had come undone and my belt was swinging in the breeze in front of all to see (at least it wasn't keeping my pants up). I also did NOT discover the underwire to my bra sticking out the top of my shirt during alter call. I most certainly did NOT discover either of these things as I make darn sure I am well put together, never falling apart, especially in public places. I would never have left the house with such defective clothing and it would NOT have been a smidge embarrassing )darn pride! {grin}

Baby's got back nerve

A couple days ago Jellybean informed me that she saw the next door neighbor in is yard as she took the garbage out.

"I decided I needed to talk to him, Mama."

"You did?" (Um, this doesn't sound good. What did she say?! What did she say?!) What did you say, baby?"

"I just let him know that I go to bed at 8:30 and that his kids are too loud outside and they keep me awake real late and maybe he might wanna keep them in the house after 8:00 and put them to bed, please."

(Oh dear Lord, she's telling this man how to parent his children. He is going to be offended. Red alert! We have an offended neighbor! What are we gonna...Heh! Good for her for at least making her needs known and for not just accepting it as the way things have to be. She did say 'please'.)
"Um? Honey, you probably shouldn't have said that to him, ok? But I am glad that you were polite in trying to fix your problem; I am also glad that you tried to fix your problem. You DID say 'please' right? I mean, you told him nicely?"

"Yes, mama I was nice to him."

What do you think? Do I make them cookies or pretend like it never happened?

You Give Me Fever...

This handsome, fun-loving...

...and kind young man

is sick.

He woke yesterday morning with a fever; it started to come down slightly. When I got home from work it was almost 41 degrees Celsius (not entirely sure what that is in Farenheit - about 104). A lukewarm bath brought it down to a not too bad level. I was told he didn'thave a fever when going to bed last night; he woke this morning and it was 38.5. He snuggled with his brother LilB grinning like an idiot that he was really here (yesterday must have been fever induced dream like); I talked to Jellybean on the phone today and she informed me that Bug was outside with LilB working on our car. I received a text from BigB saying Bug was even playing this morning.

A half hour ago, LilB text me to say Bug's fever is back up to 38.5 and he is, once again, lethargic (but not as bad as yesterday).

There may be a trip to the doctor planned AND I think I will be excusing myself from tonight's Youth Group waterfight and watermelon eating contest to "nuggle" with my sick boy. BigB and LilB are more than capable and I will be where my heart longs to be anyway, caring for my children (well, one anyway - the others, that are here, will be in the midst of waterfights, watermelon and BigB's devotional "Being Drenched in the Spirit"). I think I will send my camera along in hopes that one of the 3 capable of picture taking will snap a photo or two of the watery fun!

It's Been Kinda Dry at our House

But boy, oh boy, are we ever glad. It has been a time of celebrations and high-fives, and a time of rest for our washer & dryer. You see, my 5 year old has had difficulty in the wee hours (no pun intended but now that I type it out it is very funny) of the night waking enough to realize he has to go to the bathroom.

We tried every trick we could think of:
-No liquid after 6 (or if he was really thirsty, we limited him to a medicine dropper full - I only kid on that but we would seriously only give him a mouthful or two, if he was very thristy).
That didn't work.

-We tried the let's be cruel and wake our poor boy in the middle of the night to drag his zombie-butt out of bed, somehow manage to steer him to the bathroom and coach him into remembering how to take off his underwear (or where they even go) in his sleepy, half awake, mostly comatos state just so he could go to the bathroom and wake up dry! (Whew! Must take a breath after that run-on sentence).
Guess what? That didn't work either. Most times we just wound up frustrating ourselves and confusing him because after sleeping soundly for 4 hours he understood about as much English as an undiscovered tribe of pigmys (Do you think I am kidding?! Nah uh!) adn I usually had a toilet or a bathroom floor to clean the next day because ones aim is not so good when their eyes are closed and they don't comprehend their native language.

-We tried the "let's make sure he goes to the bathroom just before he goes to bed" route and...
...That didn't work either.

-We tried every possible combination of the above attempts and came up short or, as the case may be, wet. Wet and disappointed and embarassed; well, only Bug did.

For a stretch there the only laundry we were washing was his bedding and it was getting frustrating for all involved - including and especially our handsome, young man who was trying his very best to not have accidents and would pray every night to God to help him.

Our morning routine changed considerably: get him out of wet clothes, wash him up, strip the bed, leave it to air dry, hopefully throw his bedding in the washer right then (if we had the time and if not right after work), spray his dried bed with febreeze, wait for that to dry, make his bed and know that it would start over in less than 12 hours.

We have now had 2 weeks of dryness in our house! Bug is so happy and he is so thankful that God has been helping him to not have any accidents. Every morning he wakes up and joyfully tells us how many days it has been and we all celebrate with him - not because it means less work for us but, because he is so thrilled.

So, when I say our house has been kinda dry, it's a good thing (no Martha Stewart reference implied).

I ♥ Rush

Because from the moment they placed her in my arms almost 16 years ago, she has changed my life. From that moment, it wasn't about me any more; my thoughts shifted from me to her - how everything I did would affect her. I know I have made mistakes and that I will continue to make mistakes (just hopefully not the same ones and that the severity of those mistakes lessens each and every time) but I have done my best for her, and I think it's really great how she has changed and impacted me as much as I have her. She took me outside of myself and made me aware of life in a way I never could have dreamt or imagined.

She is a great kid, always has been. Her sense of humor has never failed to leave me in stitches; her heart and compassion has always left me proud. The work ethic that she has shown since entering the work world is one any mom could be proud of but, I am not just any mom. I am the fortuntate one who gets to be her mom.

I ♥ Rush and I have since before I knew her (any mom knows that feeling) but I have no words to describe the tugging, the pulling, the gnawing, the burning in my heart when I think of her (and all my kids but this post is about how I ♥ Rush) and how much I ♥ her and how much she means to me.

"Nobody ever told me that motherhood is a constant gnawing hunger, a confusing mix of envisioning future ages & milestones, cars & boys and the way her grown up hand will feel in mine, and simultaneously mourning tiny pink socks, that surely only ever fit seashells." - S. Murdock

Working at CRC - clean up crew (photo by Eug)

Just hanging out at BK with the family.

Family walk.

Taking a trip down memory lane...

Rush & my Granny K (Oh, how I ♥ them both!)

Looking a little like Miss CindyLoo Who.

Rush & her oldest friend (they met the day he was born 2 days after her) & her most ♥ed stuffed animal Toots.

After what looks like a terribly fun water fight. I think she lost...

Dancing to the music on Fox and the Hound.

Fixing Pa's swather, or should I say "fixing" since she was using a chisel!

Pa & Rush having a nap in the tent at the farm.

And, in the not so distant past of memory lane...

Dad said something that was shockingly funny here (as Rush is wearing a cloth sack a gift came in to make it look like a night cap - her humor, I tell ya).

I don't really know what to say about this one other than she was hamming it up for her cousins by wearing the bright yellow bowl and goggles at Christmas (& she is also wearing Uncle Cowboy's hoodie.)

Clowning around last July for Bug's birthday party.

SSSSSHHHHHHH....I have a secret...

Tyra Rush workin' it like a pro.

Rush, I want you to know that you mean more to me than I could possibly ever express; my word-bank is void of the appropriate words. Rush, I ♥ you!

"Yeah! Well she died!"

Coming home from work yesterday with Bug in the back seat was a "beverage-out-of nose" (if I would have had one) adventure.

Bug hates bugs; he has to kill every bug he sees (other than ladybugs and worms as they, apparently, are not bugs). There was a teeny little spider in the backseat with him and when Bug failed at being able to fling him off the seat to stomp on him, Bug took off his shoe and repeatedly attempted to smack him with said shoe. This was an absolute fail; the poor spider did nothing but flail around like a ragdoll on a trampoline.

Eventually I jokingly said to Bug that he should just 'eat the spider. It will be ok; I heard of an old lady who swallowed a spider.'

And he said...C'mon everyone, say it with me!

"Yeah! Well, she died!"

A lengthy pause later he followed with, "Man. I hate it when old ladies die!"

What I'd rather be doing

I'd rather be watching Bug finish up the brownie I know he is eating for "dessert" for his lunch and helping him wash the crumbs from his handsome face.
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I'd rather be getting the load of whites out of the dryer, getting them folded and put away and getting Bug's bedding out of the washer to the dryer and on his bed for tonight's sleep.
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I have two toilets that are in desperate need of a good scrubbing.

Did I really just say I would rather be cleaning toilets? Did I really? Somebody, quick, check if I have a fever!
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As was refered in my Not Me Monday post below, I need to go get groceries and now would be a most excellent time to do that.

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My room is a disaster and not the disaster one would be imagining. My room looks like two teenagers live in it as I started to go through our clothes and that has become a work in progress (all over our floor).
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Cooking supper for my family.

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Cleaning up more in our yard.
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Take Bug to the park to play; the rainy day has past and it looks rather nice, albeit windy, outside.
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Going through more of our stuff to get this house more organized and lighter.

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Two words: walls & floors.

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Those are just a few of the things I could be doing right now - and not only could be but wish I were doing. *Sigh*

Sometimes

all a mom can do is be a mom and leave everything else in God's hands. Sometimes we just have to let go of the situation, knowing that no matter the outcome, God will be there to pick up shattered pieces and to mend broken hearts. A mom can fix a "booboo" on the knee with just a little band aid and a little kiss but, there are things that moms just have to leave to "the big guy".

We can ease bruised egos but we can not piece together broken hearts and shattered dreams. Sometimes, no matter how much we want to "fix" things for our children, we need to know that we are not capable of doing such things.

Sometimes it is hard to sit back, offering only a word of encouragement, a hug or tears on behalf of your children, and sometimes it is hard not to run to them but you just have to acknowledge that they have a Father who loves them so much more than you possibly can. Who are we to think we can care for them better than He?

Sometimes it is a struggle to leave those things to God and not try to fix them ourselves, and sometimes we must remind ourselves that, as mothers, there are things we are called to do and capable of doing, and others that we, simply, are not. In the midst of those time, mothers, we are called to pray; that is our job. Pray with fervency because the fervent prayers of a righteous man avail much.

Sometimes it is very hard to be a mom when you see your heart walking around in 7 different directions - epsecially when one of those walking hearts needs more than to be picked up and dusted off. Despite the fact that, at times, being a mom hurts beyond our control, I love being a mom and I will continue to do whatever I can for my kids, including giving complete control to God over their entire lives.

Dr., I have an itch...or an ulcer

Honestly I do but not THAT kind of an itch. I need no creams, ointments and what-not; what I need is to be off from work around 1:00 PM. so I can be home with my children. I can tell you that I really dislike stat holidays.

I am sure you are screaming, "What?!" at your monitors right now but I do. It's like they are put there to tease me or taunt me. "You get your kids today but, tomorrow, nah, not so much."

I loved being home yesterday when Bug got home from school. Yes, I am aware yesterday was a stat but the kids had school as we switched their holiday from yesterday to this coming Friday to accomodate for our conference. I loved being able to give him his lunch, to make sure he was eating it all (& not just the Wagon Wheel) and to get his sweet, willing-to-learn help as I made lasagnas and sandwiches and breakfast burritos (teaching math as we went along). I adored having him scooch over and snuggle in, making sure there was no space between us, to snuggle just for a minute and to hear Jellybean's sing-songy voice call out as she burst through the door to see if she could have an after-school snack.

It was my joy to have supper ready and waiting for my husband as he walked in the door after a long, hard day's work and to know that I had made Rush's after-school moments easier with a lasagna ready and waiting for her in the fridge to just pop in the oven for tonight's meal. I felt so capable as a parent knowing that, when Rush has a morning, like this morning, where it is painful for her to lift her sleeping body from her bed (due only to teenageritis & a head cold) or her hair or make-up takes a bit more time perfecting, there are breakfast burritos in my freezer ensuring she will have a nutritional breakfast. (By the way, those burritos cost less than $0.50 each to make.)

I don't want to not work because I feel that, as in the past, I would feel poorly about "not contributing" to the family's financial situation (not that SAHM need to feel that way but more because I can't get the not working thing totatlly out of my system, yet.)but, I don't want to be at work when my kids are at home. In fact, it feels like an ulcer in my spirit when I know they are at home and I am at work.

Wok with Yan LoveMom

If I weren't sitting on it and, therefore, knew I still had it, I'd swear (except I rarely ever do) that I worked my butt off. Now if only that saying went more like "I think I worked my gut off", that would be really cool!

Anyway, there was no sleeping in for this mama today. Kids had school despite it being a stat holiday here; we switched the day off at the school to correspond with our conferece coming up so these guys get Friday off.

Got the kids ready & off to school & BigB went with them to do more work on the building project. I had church work of my own today but I could do it from home; in fact, I needed to do it from home. I was doing some of the cooking for conference today and made 2 huge lasagnas. While I was at it, I thought I would make 2 family sized lasagnas as well, one for tomorrow and one for whenever. I made all the school sandwiches that I had room for (19 sandwiches later) and I made 11 breakfast burritos to freeze as well. I had a roast in the slow cooker for supper and we had some friends over; the younger kids at hot dogs,potato salad and watermelon and the older people had shredded bbq roast beef sandwiches.

Bug, J5 & J6 had SO much fun running around, terrorizing Jellybean & J4 just like good younger brothers do and Jellybean & J4 ran from them screaming like good older sisters do. They always have so much fun together.

Now I sit. Lunches are made (all but a piece of fruit) for the kids; I still need to make Rush & mine but I have this piano tied to the butt I thought I had worked off and I am feeling a smidge lazy.

Missing Rush a lot too; she was working at the group home again but should be home sometime soon. This whole not seeing much of her thing sucks! For all you moms who just have small children at home freeze dry them or something so they don't grow up on you. I plan on freeze drying Jellybean & Bug tomorrow...

...you think I'm kidding...

Rogers vs Vent Yelling (oh yes, it's real, people!)

Paired up, these two will either leave you in stitches, due to their antics, or leave you thinking they are going to cause each other the need for stitches.

That being said, they have recently discovered a new way of interacting with each other (since the big switch of bedrooms) and that is to shriek at each other through the vents. Bug's room is directly above Jellybean's room and so they communicate this way as effectively as one can. The other day I even heard them attempting this new form of communication while Bug was in the bathroom & Jellybean was in her room. It was SO effective for the two, going something like this:

Bug: Can you bring me up more toilet paper? There's no more in the thing!

Jellybean: What?!

Bug: What?!

Jellybean (getting louder): What?!!

Bug: Toilet paper!!!

Jellybean: What?!

Bug: What?! (and so it continued until I succumbed to my need for sanity and went to get the toilet paper myself)

But you can see how effective of a communication tool vents are in the house; I totally see why they would continue to use it for something like this...

Jellybean: Goodnight, Bug!

Bug: What?!

Jellybean: What?! I said 'goodnight'!

Bug: What?!

Jellybean: What?!

Bug: Never mind! Just goodnight!

This is so effective I can't see why anyone would ever choose to get up from where they were to communicate ever again. I am thinking the entire family should start communicating this way. In fact, I can just envision the scene that would occur if we were to attempt waking Rush in the mornings using this technique...

...perhaps we will continue with our method and leave "vent yelling" to the younger two. Yeah, probably a good idea...