Sneak Peak

There's been a project in my sewing queue that I've been really wanting to work on, and I finally got the chance to start on it yesterday!  Here's a little preview:

I can't wait to see the finished result!  Oh, and for the record, that costume material is a beast to work with!  I mean, just sewing two pieces together is fine, but finishing the edges is darn near impossible without a serger.  So, I have been getting some good practice with the zig-zag stitch on my machine.  Hope everyone is having a nice Father's Day weekend!

Little Thoughts

Been awhile since I've done one of these (or, any blog post, for that matter ;)

 While bathing the kids:

Rachel:  "Can I have one?"  (referring to some liquid shampoo)

Andrew:  "Can I have some, too?"

Me:  "Sure."

I give a little bit to each of them, and Rachel proceeds to wash her hair, but Andrew says "Now what??"

Me:  "Wash your belly."

Andrew:  "Do I put my hands in the water first?"

Me:  "Yeah, you can."

So, he puts his hands in the water and rubs them together...

Me:  "Can you wash your hair?"

Andrew:  "Nah...I don't think so."

....of course not.  Now it's Natalie's turn to bathe, and she has this big, red splotch on her tummy:

Natalie:  "You have to be gentle when you bathe me, because Andrew speared me."

Me:  "What do you mean 'he speared' you?"

Natalie:  "He took his sword and put his broken screwdriver on the end of it, and made a spear, then speared me with it."

Me:  "Oh, I'm so sorry..."

Soooo, let me get this straight:  the boy can't wash his own hair, but he can fashion a spear using a Nerf sword and a plastic screwdriver???  Sounds par for the course =)  That boy is too silly!  Later, we were watching Peter Pan, and we got to the part where Peter goes to bring Tiger Lily back to her Father. Wendy is in the background saying, "Peter, oh Peter, wait for me!" Andrew says: "Ugh! She is SO slow, right?!"....awww, it was his first real experience at being completely baffled by women! That boy has a long road ahead of him ;)  

Oh, the difference between boys and girls never cease to amuse amaze me.  I do love those children, and how much silliness and fun they bring to my life!

Although, sometimes a little peace and quiet is good, too....;)

~~~~~

Rachel: "I don't want my hamich (aka sandwich); I want to hit Wuke's back."
Me: Uhhhh, I'm gonna say 'no' to that one.

~~~~~

The other day, Natalie decided to put labels on everyone.....incorrectly O_o:

they boy's name is Luke!

~~~~~

A cousin of ours: "What did y'all do with all the crawfish you peeled?" Me: "put it in the freezer." Natalie: "yeah, to make crawfish staytoufee..."

 

Another Day in the Life

A continuation of the silly antics that go on in my house hold =)

She's either going to be a very popular trend-setter, or have no friends at all, except for me:

she was cold....the main outfit was really cute, but once she stared adding the warming elements, things started to go downhill, and she turned us into "that weird homeschooling family"!

Rachel was tiptoeing around the house, so I asked her what she was doing, and she said "I'm scared."  Me:  "scared of what?"  Rachel:  "I'm scared!!"  Ok...fine.

Oh, yesterday, Luke ate his first solid food!  Natalie was really excited, because I let her have the honor of administering the first feeding =).  He had sweet potatoes, of the organic variety, and he seemed to like it.  He was definitely interested, so I think we are going to have a good eater on our hands!  I probably took enough pictures of this event that if you printed them, and then flipped through them quickly enough it would be like watching the whole thing on video, but I won't subject you to that...here are just a few ;)

excited to try the first bite!!

hmmm...not so sure about this

and he likes it!

 

Rachel is sitting on a blanket with Luke, playing with some toys.  She put one in front of him, and right when he started to grab for it, she took it away and said "noooooo, you can't hab it"...Then, she did it again, and again...so, I walk up and watch for a second, and when she notices me standing there, she says "Lukey can't hab it....he's too wittle."  Right...as if that justifies her teasing him with a toy!  They learn the art of aggravating younger siblings pretty quickly ;)

I think the dishes and laundry are multiplying when I am not looking....so, I better go wrap up the rest of my chores before the husband gets home and it's time for dinner.  That, and I need to go do something effective to discipline my children.  I *specifically* told them not to play in the garden, to which Natalie replied "I'm not!" (sassy responses are like nails on a chalkboard to me!), but I just went out there to FIND THEM IN THE GARDEN..."digging for buried treasure", according to Andrew.  Good grief!  Do you ever feel like you take one step forward and two steps back when it comes to ensuring your children act decent?!?!  Lately, we are on the backtrack....

A Day in the Life

When I first started this blog a little over a year ago, I did it with the intention of it being a kind of online scrapbook.  A way to remember the fun little memories that happen in our daily lives.  Sure, sometimes I go a little deeper and write about my lofty ponderings (hah!), but really, I just want to come back one day, years down the road, and read these posts and smile about the silly things the kids said and did, enjoy old family photos, and just be able to remember what life was like as a young wife and mother, raising her children - the good, the bad, and the ugly =)  So, I thought I would try something new today.  Quite honestly, I'm not really a "writer"...I'm a math nerd.  Want to know a secret?  I LOVE calculus (and geometry, algebra, and trig, too)!  So, if you're looking for good, solid literature, or deep, theological discussions then move along folks, because you won't find that here =)  What you will find (in this post in particular) are little snippets of what goes on in my day...so, let's get right to it...here is what a typical day in the life of me is like....I'm journaling freestyle today, y'all!

 8:00 a.m  looking forward to the day when the only person's pancake I have to cut is my own!

after-breakfast:  I literally just locked the kids outside, because their only form of communication seems to be shouting or shrieking this morning O_o...

11:00 a.m. Natalie locked herself in her room while punished (she was quite made at me, thus the locking of the door), and is now asleep...with me locked out! Remind me again that the child is not *acutally* 15!!!!  On the plus side, she really did need a nap, as she is getting over an ear-infection.  And, even better, I now have the opportunity to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee while the younger ones play on the floor with their legos =)

Now, Rachel is pulling the lego wagon around the house, with a little toy alligator in it...she brings it to me, all excited, and says "look, Mom!  an alligator!"  Me:  "Wow!  Rachel:  "He's dead...he died"  Me:  "uhhhh, ok...how did he die?"  Rachel:  "he died!"  Me:  "Ohhhh kay"  

1:15:  Natalie is up from her nap, and still holding a grudge against being punished.....it's going to be a long afternoon.

At naptime for the two middle kids:  I go to lay down in bed with them for a few minutes, and Andrew asks me: "Mom, can you sleep with us?"  Me:  "Oh, maybe for a minute or two."  Andrew: "How about four?!"  Me: "Sounds good...four it is =)"  Rachel:  "pour it is!"  

Now, it is time for the Great Nap Debate!  Do I make efficient use of kid free time while they are asleep, and tackle the pile of dishes and laundry???  Or, do I actually lay down and ease the exhaustion??....Except Luke just put in his two cents; he's crying, so I guess both will have to wait until later.

1:45 p.m.: Natalie is back to her smiley, chatty self again =)  The barriers have broken down!  That, and I think she wants something from me...like food ;)

Andrew: "knock, knock..." Me: "who's there?" Andrew: "banana" Me: "banana who?" Andrew: "a banana who thinks you're pretty!" =)  ~a joke from yesterday~

 ***excerpt from yesterday:  Rachel: "Hey! Not pair!!! wee me awone, Mom!"....luckily for her, she finally gave in to the nap I was "unpairly" coercing her to take, so the second part of her request is now being fulfilled =)***

My kids like to play with all those plastic medicine droppers, cups, and other devices cleverly designed for getting small children to consume their yucky flavored medicines.  They like to play doctor, and give shots to each other (which I always wonder about, because they know how much they hate getting shots, so why would they want to subject their siblings to it, even if it is just for pretend?!?!)...they like to pretend to have a stethoscope, and listen to each others heart beat.  So, today, Andrew collected all his "doctor gear" in a little container.  "I'm going to be a doctor, Mom."  Me:  "Ok, have at it."  He starts to walk away, then doubles back and says "wait, I need a spoon."  Me: " A spoon?  What for?"  Andrew: "In case there's chocolate..."  Oh!  Well, of course!  Because, you never know when a yummy bowl of chocolate will just materialize while you are administering pretend shots to your little sister!

 2:45 p.m.:  There is now a craft explosion on my kitchen table.  Normally, I try to have all the kids napping/resting at the same time each day.  Andrew, Rachel, and Luke all still take naps, but Natalie is getting past that.  However, she is still expected to have quiet time while the other ones are sleeping, and for as long as the other ones are sleeping.  She knows that if she doesn't want to go nap (which she still does maybe twice a week), then she can stay up, as long as she doesn't bother me...I laid out the rule that while the little ones are napping, it is also Mommy's quiet time to get chores done, relax, read, play on the computer, or whatever.  So, today, she is crafting!  I have developed a love/hate relationship with crafts.  I'm glad that she is creative, and not vegging out in front of TV or video games all the time.  I like that she is enjoying herself and having fun on her own.  And, I even enjoy seeing the creations she makes...they can be pretty impressive at times!  What I hate is the mess!!!  All those bits and pieces of paper drive.me.crazy!  It's one of the things I have just had to let go, but it still takes effort to let it go.  But that's ok; all those little scraps of paper everywhere aren't so bad, when I look over there and see my sweet Natalie working so diligently on a project she loves =)  She's in her element!

4:45 p.m.:  Naps are over, kids are outside waiting for Dad to get home, and I didn't get near as much work done as I'd hoped, but that's ok!  It'll be waiting for me tomorrow...on to dinner prep, now!  Tonight, I am making spinach quiche with homemade pie crust!  I'm using the pie crust recipe from here, and the filling recipe from here.  I'm adjusting the filling to things I have on hand (like fresh spinach and mushrooms as opposed to frozen and canned, and Monterrey cheese).  Hope it comes out good!!!

Ok, this post turned out a lot longer than I'd thought it would, so I'm ending it here!  It was also supposed to be posted yesterday...oops!  Oh, and the quiche was really good!

Mother Knows Best...

I remember the moment I realized that my mother is way smarter than I had ever given her credit for.  The memory is so clear in my mind, it's like it happened yesterday.  I was in third grade.  We were learning how to correctly address an envelope.  I remember being excited about this, because I was the only student who had a sister who was married, and didn't live at home...I even had a baby niece!  I decided to address my envelope to my sister.  Our assignment was to complete the envelope at home.  So, I did my envelope as best I could remember, then went and showed Mom.  She very patiently corrected my mistakes and told me what to do to fix it.  I was having none of it...embarrassingly enough, I told her how wrong she was, and that I was right!  I knew, because that is how our teacher told us to do it.  Finally, Mom said calmly, "fine...turn it in like that if that's how your teacher wants it."  So, I did....and I got it back with a big, fat "F" on it!  And, to add insult to injury, she had no idea who the envelope was for, since I didn't put my name on the return address, so she had to ask the class who the envelope was for...which meant everyone saw all the red marks all over it when she was showed the class to see who it was for.  And, of course they all knew it was mine when I had to walk the walk of shame to the front of the class to get my envelope back.  Needless to say, it was mortifying, and after that I listened to my Mom's wisdom more often...well, sometimes ;)  

I just wonder how much longer it will take Natalie to come to this realization that sometimes mothers really do know best, as she sits and gets her spelling words wrong, because she refuses to look at the words on the board, because she already looked at them once, which should be enough according to her.  "Fine", I tell her, "turn it in like that, if you think that's correct"....hopefully she'll get the message when  I make her go back and write them again five more times, correctly, of course.  The problem is, there is no class to be mortified in front of, so it may take her a little longer to get the message.  *SIGH*

Little Thoughts

~~~~~

Andrew:  "There was a farmer who had a dog, and Andrew was his name-O.  E-I-N-G-O, E-I-N-G-O, E-I-N-G-O, and Andrew was his name-O!"

=)

~~~~~

  Me:  "Hey Rach, are you ready for a nap?"

Rachel:  "No, ma'am....Natalie needs a nap!"

~~~~~

The other night Natalie was finishing up her schoolwork while I was fixing dinner.  She decided, while she was on a roll, she would do her math page for the next day.....fast forward to the next morning.  I reminded her that she didn't have any math that day, because she had done her work the night before.  She got all excited and said,

"awesome!  from now on, I'm going to do my math page the night before, so that I never have to do math in school again!!!"

The funny thing is that she *actually* thinks she beat the system on this one...I'm not even going to bother explaining that the joke is actually on her ;)

~~~~~

Getting Braver...

I've been really wanting to try my hand at making a fifty's style soda fountain dress for awhile now.  So, while spending time in Lafayette a week or so ago, I did some therapeutic shopping at Joann's.  I found this fabric to go with the Simplicity 6587 pattern (all on sale, plus a coupon, of course!):

My sister says this fabric will look really good for this pattern...we'll see!  She does have good taste, though

I think I am going to try dress A (which is the green one), and add the sash from dress B (the blue one).  I hope it comes out ok!!!  I'm pretty nervous about all those button holes...ELEVEN all together O_o: