warning: brag blog

Flora is our little artist.  She LOVES "artisting" and is really very good at it.  This is a picture she drew for our new baby neighbor, Logan.  She was trying to draw a dog like the one on her sketchbook cover.  I was amazed at how well she did.    

She's also picking up many "grown up" words and phrases.  She has learned the days of the week and some units of time.  And she asks the meaning of EVERY word she doesn't know -- even some words that she knows how to use but doesn't exactly know the meaning.  Like "probably" and "pretty" (as in pretty good, pretty big, etc).  She keeps me on my toes!  Some of those words are hard to explain!

Scout loves letters.  I think we all know that by now.  And he's basically taught himself to read.  Seriously.  I bought a package of 70 sight words in the $1 Spot at Target thinking it would be a fun thing for us to practice while Flora is at preschool.  He already knew half of them.....sounded out most of what he didn't already know......and I had to help him with about 10 words.  I was shocked.  I knew he could read some words but had no idea he was THAT good.

Yellow and Exit were two of the words he already recognized.  He's been interested in numbers lately too.  He held up a 42 and asked if it was "forty-two."  Then he switched the numbers to a 24 and asked if it was a "tooty-four."

Timber's most obvious skill right now is copying Scout.  If Scout runs in circles, Timber runs in circles.  If Scout sings a song, Timber sings a song.  If Scout eats a banana, Timber eats a banana.  Consequently, Timber is also very interested in letters and numbers.  He recognizes about half of the alphabet and can count to 10.

If Scout wears shoes and pants and no shirt, Timber wears shoes and pants and no shirt.  This could be very useful when potty training time comes around.

Chris can shave!  Who knew???  He actually knows how to use a razor and shaving cream.  I think the only time I've seen Chris clean-shaven was once or twice in college.  And I'm positive the kids have never seen this sight before. 

I'm pretty sure this won't happen again for another 10 years so I took a picture -- just to remind him that it IS possible.  

And I can do this.  That's right -- crossed eyes AND fish lips.  You know you're impressed.

Haha, this is another one of my I-was-so-bored-in-the-hospital-with-Timber pictures.  

Ok, brag blog is over.  In summary -- we're awesome and we know it.   :-)

uh, yeah, i think so

"Mommy, are you sure your potty can handle a 5-year-old bum?"
~Flora, age 5~

know your options

So, we received the bill for Timber's hospital stay.  Wow.  If I had known they were charging that much I might have requested a few more free coffees and granola bars.  Thankfully, insurance will knock a good chunk off the total.  I decided to have some fun with what was initially a very disheartening number.   

After scouring craigslist and ebay, I've compiled a list of things you can purchase for the price of a 5-day/4-night hospital stay:

A Pair of Small Cast Bronze Indoor Outdoor Giraffe Statues

a.k.a. Ridiculously Overpriced Tacky "Art"

A Hermes Birkin Bag

Someone please punch me if I ever pay this much for a purse.

A Fine Large Traditional Stained Glass Church Window

Yes, a LARGE stained glass window.  If only I knew someone who had recently purchased a church....

 Ancient Roman Marble Male Lower Torso 

Because you can never have too many of these on display in your house, right?

 Victorian Style Cast Iron Beautiful Gazebo

 Hm, well it looks more spacious than our hospital room.

 Lowe 180W 115HP Optimax with Side Imaging Sonar
I'm pretty sure Chris would have taken Timber to the local medicine doctor and bought the boat instead if he'd known....

 2003 Prostreet Custom Chopper
Yes, it's pretty.....but where would I put three car seats???

 2010 John Deere 2520
Ah, this is more like it.  There are tons of places to attach car seats on this one!  But would it fit in my garage??  And exactly how long would it take us to get to the grocery store??

 2003 Glastron, 22ft, with extended swim platform
If the fishing boat wasn't your thing then how about this pretty piece of marine machinery? 

And my personal favorite way to spend $19k....

 2005 Challenger 5th wheel w/3 slides
Seriously....how awesome is this????  

We could sell our house, travel the country, and grill every night.  What a life!

So next time the doctors recommend hospitalizing one of my children (well, hopefully there is no "next time".... but if there is.....) I'm going to ask about my options first.  Is hospitalization really necessary?  Could we possibly treat him on a custom chopper or in a cast iron gazebo instead? 

to do

After playing in the front yard for a while last night, we all came inside to eat dinner.  As Scout reached the top of the stairs, he dramatically fell to the floor and moaned, "Mommy, I don't want to grow up!  I don't want to be 20!  And I never never want a wife."  Totally random, totally unprompted, totally out of the blue.

What do you tell a 3-year-old who doesn't want to grow up? 

"Uh . . . okay," I said, "but you still have to wash your hands before dinner."

He seemed okay with that.  It made me think about how overwhelming the big picture can be but it's always manageable if we just focus on the next step.  For example, after grocery shopping and running errands with the kids this morning I came home to a horribly messy house that needs to be cleaned before our guests arrive tomorrow.  I wanted to fall to the ground dramatically and moan about my messy house.  Instead I wandered around the house for about 20 minutes trying to get started but not sure where to start.  Finally, I made a very detailed list and was able to get some things done once I had very simple action steps down on paper.  "Put away groceries," "unload dishwasher," "sweep" . . . I can wrap my head around those commands much easier than "clean the house."

Of course, blogging was not on my list.  Neither was chatting with my cousin on gmail or googling "why can't I keep my house clean" (apparently many other people have the same problem -- I'm not alone!).  And I forgot to put "Make the kids some lunch" on the list so it's now 1pm and they're asking for food.

BUT, I did put away the groceries!  CHECK! 

what's up with us

Timber has been very interested in playing "Doctor" since his stay in the hospital. He knows exactly what to do with all those medical instruments in his play doctor's bag now! Chris is a much more compliant patient than Timber was though.

Flora has a birthday in three days!!! I just can't wrap my head around the fact that she will be 5-yrs-old. Wow. She doesn't know it but her cousins Callie, Ellie, and Toby are coming up to surprise her Thursday after school. She's going to be SO excited!!! She also has her first preschool field trip on Thursday. Since she'll be out of the building Thursday I sent birthday cupcakes to school with her today. I saw a sunshine cupcake craft on pinterest that I decided to copy. I think they're cute!

Scout is an attentive student of his wise friends, Sheep, Squirrel, and Unicorn. If he knows anything, it's because Sheep told him. He has learned how to read and spell many words because Unicorn taught him. Squirrel tells him why the stars are in outer space and which month it is. Sheep plays letter games with Scout and Unicorn teaches him how to add numbers together. I'm really beginning to wonder if there's more than stuffing inside these little guys. 

recap

Oh man.
I am exhausted.

Here's a quick little recap of what has happened since my last blog:

First we did this --

Flora went to stay with Aunt Sara Thursday through Sunday (Sept 13-16).  While she was gone I worked and worked and worked and worked on her new "girly room."  It was exhausting but I am so happy with the results.  She loves it, I love it, it's awesome.  But it was a lot of work.

Then we did this --

Sunday night after we picked up Flora I noticed Timber was running a low fever.  On Tuesday I took him to see his pediatrician.  He had all kinds of things going on but the most concerning was a swollen area on the right side of his neck.  He wouldn't turn his head to the right at all and screamed in pain at the slightest touch to his neck.  I knew something was really wrong but didn't feel that overwhelming urge to take him to the ER immediately.  So we saw his pediatrician and she recommended we go to the Children's Mercy Hospital ER because she thought he definitely needed a CT scan on his neck.

I KNEW we would be going to the hospital that day.  And I KNEW Timber and I would be staying overnight at the hospital.  Chris never forgets his cell phone but he forgot to take it to work that day.  I was  SO SURE we would be going to the hospital that before we went to the doctor's office I looked up the phone number to the church he's working at so I could call him from the doctor's office.  I also had a list made of what to take to the hospital with us.  I didn't actually pack the bag, but when we left our pediatrician's office I was able to run home and throw everything on my list into the bag quickly.  God has a way of preparing you for things like this.  I wasn't terrified or freaked out when the doctor told us to go to the hospital because I already knew it was going to happen.  It's pretty sweet to have an all-knowing God in my corner.   

Sure enough, we checked into the ER (Chris met us at the hospital and took Scout back home with him -- Flora was in preschool) and after a CT scan and bloodwork they decided to admit Timber.  It was so nice to have everything I needed already with me!  True, I was carrying my purse, my overnight bag, and Timber around the ER all day but it was worth it.

The rest of our hospital stay was pretty uneventful.  Timber was on IV antibiotics from Tuesday to Friday and we were released Saturday morning.  Every night the ENT (Ear/Nose/Throat) doctors came to examine his neck and every night they said, "We may have to do surgery tomorrow," but every morning they said, "It's a little bit better.  Let's see if the antibiotics can get rid of it without surgery."  And that's what happened.

Timber really amused the doctors and nurses in the hospital because he would turn his face away and shut his eyes tight when they came in the room.  It was like he thought they couldn't see him (and do all their annoying, uncomfortable poking and prodding) if he couldn't see them.  As unhappy as he was to see them come in, he was always very happy to smile and wave goodbye to them when they left the room.  He was obviously very happy to see them go!  

Oh, and he also celebrated his 2-yr birthday in the hospital.

 

We came home with some really nasty tasting oral antibiotics that Timber had to take 3 times a day for three days.  On doctor's orders, I gave him a spoonful of Hershey's chocolate syrup before and after each dose.  Why doesn't MY doctor ever suggest anything like that???

Timber is 100% better now.  He is laughing and playing and being his silly little self.  God is good.

But what if he wasn't better?  What if the doctors had told us that he would never get better?  What if we had to watch our little boy struggle with constant pain or had him taken from us?  God is good.

It's hard to understand how God can be good when bad things happen.  I've never experienced anything truly tragic in my family but I KNOW that God is good in ALL situations.  I don't need healing or prosperity or happiness to know that He is good.  I KNOW that God is good.  And because of that knowledge I can live my life without fear of the unknown.  I honestly don't see how people live without knowing God.  Is "religion" a crutch?  You betcha!  Jesus is my crutch, my wheelchair, my stretcher, and my life support. 

So, in conclusion --

Flora finally has her "girly room."
Timber was sick but now he's all better.
God is good.
And I am tired.

truck man

Timber is Truck Man.  Every day at naptime and every night at bedtime he says, "Nigh-nigh, Ruck Man!" to himself in the mirror.  Then we walk into his bedroom and he says, "Ruck Man shut door," "Ruck Man ligh off," "Good dob, Ruck Man!"  It's an appropriate name for a little boy who can drive cars and trucks in the dirt for hours.

Also, someone called me a "warrior" on my walk this morning.  My battle axe and bronze-plated shield were safely hidden out of sight so I assume she was referring to the fact that I was pushing three kiddos uphill in a stroller. 
I smiled and said something like, "Ha-ugh," in response because 1) what am I supposed to say to that? and 2) I was pushing three kiddos uphill and didn't have much breath leftover for chitchat.  But it was nice to be appreciated.  All the kids ever say is, "Mommy, can you run so we can go faster?"

macaroni on my toes

Why haven't I been using my double stroller for the past two years???  Today we discovered that Flora, Scout, and Timber can all ride quite comfortably in the double stroller.  That means Mommy gets to exercise OUTSIDE!  Hooray!  And exercise I did!  That's 97 lbs of cuteness packed into that stroller.  Uphill or down, pushing these three through the neighborhoods was a real workout.  We went for a long walk this morning while it was still cool and then around the block a couple times this afternoon.  It was supposed to be an afternoon walk in which we ALL walked but ten yards down the sidewalk Scout decided he didn't want to walk.  So, we piled into the stroller again.

And then they decided to play dress-up this afternoon.  Our dress-up clothes collection is quite impressive thanks to a few hand-me-downs, a few good yard sales, and a 90% off Halloween costume sale at Target last year.  Money can't buy these expressions though!  

Ah, dinnertime -- possibly my least favorite hour of the day.  We were supposed to have grilled chicken but Chris got home later than he thought he would (and I don't do raw chicken) so I had to go to Plan B for the kids (the grown-ups will still have chicken later tonight).  Macaroni & Cheese to the rescue!  Except they didn't want to eat their macaroni.  I took a bite out of the pan to show them how good it was and suddenly they all wanted a bite of MY macaroni.  Finally I just sat down with the pan in my lap and let them eat all the macaroni they wanted. 

In the feeding frenzy that followed I ended up with macaroni on my toes and plenty of macaroni on the kitchen floor but their little bellies were full.  Not pretty, but effective.  Whatever works, right?? 

dickens, days, and darlin's

Perhaps Charles Dickens was raising two boys when he penned the opening words to A Tale of Two Cities.  He seems to describe the love/hate relationship between Scout and Timber perfectly.

A Tale of Two Cities
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to heaven, we were all going direct the other way . . .

I would tweak it a bit though . . .

A Tale of Two Brothers
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of learning, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of cuteness, it was the epoch of tantrums, it was the season of Sharing, it was the season of Selfishness, it was the spring of brotherly love, it was the winter of sibling rivalry, we had every toy before us, we fight over one toy before us, we were all going direct to playtime, we were all going direct to time out. . .

You get the point.  The boys fight a lot and it drives me crazy.  From what I've heard this is just part of having boys.  They'll outgrow it.  I think sisters are the opposite.  They get along great at first and then start fighting and driving each other crazy as they enter their tween years.  Of course, eventually they ALL grow up and become mature adults who love and respect one another and don't poke each other in the eye.  Hopefully.   

******

Today is laundry day.  Flora always asks which day it is when she wakes up.  Sunday is church day, Monday is laundry day, Tuesday and Thursday are school days, Wednesday is home day, Friday is Daddy day, and Saturday is the-day-before-church-day day.  

So when she found out that today was laundry day her unexpected response was, "Oh yea!  Mommy, I love laundry day because laundry day means it's family posh day!"  Uh . . . okay.  Whatever that means.  Then she ran off to "get fancy."

And then we were getting ready to go grocery shopping and she walked into the room wearing two different shoes.  I told her to go put on two of the same shoe and her reply was, "Well, Mommy, it's laundry day so there won't be any people at Walmart to see my shoes because they'll all be at home doing laundry."  So then I had to explain that our laundry day wasn't everyone's laundry day. 

******

We always swing by the bakery when we do our Walmart shopping because they give cookies to the kids.  When the nice bakery lady handed Scout his cookie he surprised her and me both when he said, "Thanks, Darlin'!"

innocence and hate

The Westboro Baptist "Church" group picketed Cedar Ridge Christian Church this morning.  If the name "Westboro Baptist Church" doesn't ring a bell these are the people who picket soldiers' funerals, police officers' funerals, and tons of other events holding really hateful signs.  I don't even think they know what they're against anymore.  Everything and everyone that isn't part of their group maybe?? 

Cedar Ridge is where Chris has been doing his church plant residency for the past couple months.  According to Westboro's website (which I will NOT link to -- it's awful), this is the reason they picketed us: 


The preachers are to blame! Westboro will picket this so-called Christian Church (read whore house) because you are ashamed of the gospel of our dear Lord Jesus Christ!  Cedar Ridge Christian Church pretends to preach the gospel of Christ, but is in reality ashamed of it. Rather than preach the whole word of God, warning their fellow man that their sins are taking them to Hell, and teaching their members to strive against sin, they teach that all you have to do is say that you looooove Jesus it is all ok!

First of all, this is not true.  Cedar Ridge is totally grounded in Scripture.  Chris would never serve at a church that didn't preach the whole Gospel and have high expectations of its members. 

Secondly, today was Chris' first time to preach at Cedar Ridge!  What a welcome!  "The preachers are to blame!"  Haha, he did awesome though.  We've been working through an Essential Elements series on the fruit of the Spirit and before we even knew they would be picketing he was very appropriately scheduled to preach on kindness and goodness.  Two characteristics that the Westboro group fails to display. 

So, anyway, we had to drive right past the picketers and their horrible signs to get into the church parking lot.  Thankfully, none of my kids can read yet!  They had tons of questions though.

"Mommy, what are those people doing out there?  Why do they have those signs?  Why are they here?  Who are they?"  I gave very vague and apparently unsatisfactory answers to all their questions.  Finally, Flora realized the answer on her own.

"OH!" she said, "I know, Mommy!  They're probably holding up the words to the songs we sing in church so everyone will know how to sing them!"

Yes, wouldn't that be nice.... 

Ah, innocence.    

arts and crafts

Flora asked me what the next holiday was.  I told her Timber's birthday was the next holiday (because does Labor Day really count as a holiday to a 4-yr-old??) but she told me that birthdays weren't holidays (if birthdays don't count then I'm sure Labor Day wouldn't count).  So we decided that Halloween was the next holiday.  She nodded, disappeared down the hallway, then came back with several sheets of construction paper.  I was given very specific instructions to cut out "a pumpkin WITH a stem, a witch hat, and a ghost with hands."  I did my cutting and she again disappeared into my bedroom where all the art supplies are kept.  Scout came bounding up to me with two orange pieces of paper and asked for pumpkins too.  I cut.  He disappeared.  Hm.....what could they be up to back there??
They made these completely on their own (after I cut the requested shapes).  Flora's witch-ghost and jack-o-lantern are glued to purple paper and decorated with stickers.  Scout created a whole scene by gluing stuff to an old piece of foam board he found -- he told me the brown parts are the roof (with a pumpkin on the roof), the jack-o-lantern is inside the house, the green is the carpet, and the black is the driveway.  I was pretty impressed with their creativity!  Of course, if Timber had been awake I'm sure he would have added a few scribbles to each project.

I've been crafty lately too!  And I'm not usually crafty so I feel the need to brag a little bit.  I finally made my kitchen window look pretty.  It's been ugly for a very long time.


And then I made this wall decoration to hang above my dining table.  It's been a bare yellow wall for years. 

I went through a minimization phase a while back.  Everything came off the walls, the mantle, and every display surface.  I think it was a result of Flora and Scout getting old enough to destroy things.  It was nice for a while but now I'm ready to look at pretty things again.

Hooray for plenty of inspirational ideas on Pinterest!  I'm trying to talk Chris into working part-time at Hobby Lobby (helloooo discount!!!).  

big trucks and dirt

Big dump truck full of dirt. In front of our house. Can we say "better than Dora"???

Mesmerized....

And then the truck dumped the dirt all over Shawn and Katie's driveway! The kids thought this was great!

Sometimes the neighbors gang up on you and dump big piles of dirt in your yard when your husband isn't home (really great neighbors!!).

And, of course, the only thing to do with a big pile of dirt is to let your kids play in it! Immediately followed by bathtime....

more deep thoughts with Scout

We read to the kids from The Jesus Storybook Bible before bed.  It's absolutely the BEST storybook Bible for kids.  The stories are beautifully illustrated and creatively written in language simple enough for kids to understand yet sophisticated enough that I don't feel like I'm reading them The Bible for Preschool Dummies.  I could rave some more about this book but I won't.  If you have young kids you should definitely buy this book.  It's a winner.

So tonight we finally got to the part where Jesus dies on the cross.  The author and illustrator handle the disturbing topic gently but without glossing over any of the important facts.  Jesus died.  He was beaten and mocked.  He was sad to be separated from God.  And he did all those things to rescue us from that very fate.  Pretty heavy stuff whether you're 3-yrs-old or 30-yrs-old.

After the story, Flora left the room to tell Chris something and I asked Scout what he thought of the story.

"Good," he said.
"You liked it?" I asked.
"Yep."
"Why did you like it?"
"Because I like Jesus dying."
"Oh dear, what is wrong with this child???" (is what I thought)
"Why did you like Jesus dying?"  (is what I actually said)
"Because I'm not scared of it," was Scout's reply.
"Why aren't you scared of it?"
"Because I'm saved."

I don't know where he picked up the word "saved" although the book talks a lot about Jesus "saving" or "rescuing" us.  It just struck me as funny that I was worried about the story upsetting them or being too sad or too harsh for them to handle and Scout "got it" right away.  Jesus dying is not a sad story -- it's a great story!  And when I think about it, he's right -- I like Jesus dying too.

"Because I'm saved."

I went ahead and read the next chapter too so the kids could go to bed with visions of a risen Jesus dancing in their heads. 

a picture is worth....

This is the scene I found on the dresser in Flora and Scout's room.  It made me laugh so I thought I would share.  The angels look like they're rolling their eyes, don't they??  Probably muttering "Boys...." under their breath too. 

Timber has learned to climb over the couch but he's not tall enough to climb back.  Our couch is pushed into the bay window area so once you're back there you're stuck unless you can climb over the back of the couch.  Mommy to the rescue!

Flora drew a supercute family picture last night.  It's hanging over my computer right now.  See how she and I are dressed in pink and all the boys are dressed in blue?  This is definitely a keeper.

And finally, look what I found in my hall bathroom yesterday.  The electric outlets in BOTH of our upstairs bathrooms haven't worked since we moved into the house.  That's eight years, folks.  Chris got it in his head yesterday to try to solve this problem.  Again.  He's already attempted this several times over the past eight years.  It has stumped him and several other men with an amateur understanding of electric stuff.  No professionals have been called in because I don't want to pay to have my whole house rewired.  Hm.....even if he doesn't figure out the problem I sense a bathroom remodel in our future.