Funnies from the kids

I keep this notebook where I try to write down funny things the kids say.  I don't always get it written down before I forget, but I try.  Here are some of my favorites:

2008
Logan: (after putting his undies on backwards) "Mom, my undies are a little loose and a little tight."
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Brayden: " Mom, before I went to kindergarten, I thought germ killer was where we got out our swords and killed the bad guys. But now I know it's just stuff you put on your hands."
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Logan: (instead of Mr. Potato Head) "Sir 'Tato Head"
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Brayden: "Mom, how do the sun and moon know when to go up and down if they have no eyes?"
Me: "God tells them."
Brayden: "How do they hear if they have no ears?"

2009
Logan: (after getting new shoes with Transformers on them) "Well I like my new shoes, but they don't transform into anything. I wake up in the morning and go look at them and they are still just shoes."
----
Logan: "Watch me do hiccups, mom." (Proceeds to do a push-up)
----
Me: (after Brayden and Logan had been fighting for awhile) "It sounds to me like you guys just need a break from each other for awhile."
Brayden: "Ya, like for a few days!"
----
Logan: "My brother, Preston, is getting bigger and bigger, I can tell, but I'm not. Well my mom says I am, but I can't see it."
----
Brayden: "Mom, how would you feel if a really big snake ate your mom?"
Me: "I'd be very sad."
Brayden: "Well that's how sad I am that I couldn't take grandma's stuffed elephant home with me."
----
Brayden: "Mom, did we come from your tummy or an egg?"
----
Brayden: "I'm not crying, I'm just talking sad."
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Logan: "I'm so excited that the baby is growing and your tummy is getting bigger. And these are getting bigger too (pointing to my chest) - your bumps!"
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Logan: (singing "Oh Be Careful") "Oh be careful little mouth what you chew."
----
Brayden: "It's a good thing God made us toot."
Me: "Why?"
Brayden: "Because then we'd know when we need to poop."
----
Logan: (burp) "That was just a pretending burp."
Brayden: "No, Logan, it was a not real burp, so it was a fiction burp."

2010
Brayden: "I'm putting some Please Come Back cream on Daddy's bald spot so it will grow back."
----
We were walking and saw some geese who were honking really loudly
Me: "Logan, what do you think they're saying to each other?"
Logan: "I don't know, I don't speak duck."
----
Preston: "Oh my cow!" (instead of oh my goodness or holy cow)
----
Preston: "I don't like going to the quiet library (adult section), just the loud one (kids section)."
----
Preston: (he had a runny nose) "Uh-oh, I have a bless you."
----
Preston: "When I'm 4, Ashten will be 1. That's weird."
----
We were talking about how Santa isn't real, but some kids think he is. I asked Brayden if he told kids Santa wasn't real or just let them pretend, specifically talking about a girl in his class who believed in Santa.
Brayden: "I just let her pretend. Otherwise she'd get mad. And I don't want to make her mad - girls just react differently than boys when they're mad."

2011
Logan: "Since Ms. Pat (our neighbor) doesn't have kids, maybe she never gets mad!"
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Brayden: (talking about Ashten dancing) "Sometimes the thing in the behind gets shaking a little."
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Brayden: "I don't like snow: it's cold and it doesn't even taste good!"

2012
Me: "Preston, how was your nap?"
Preston: "I don't know, I was asleep the whole time."
----
Logan: "If I were in heaven, I would ask God if I could hold the world in my hands for a minute. But I bet it would be heavy."
----
Logan: "I love the snow!"
Preston: "Why don't you put a ring on it?" (thank you, Beyoncé, for that!  haha)
----
Brayden: "You know how when you're born you get some things from your mom and some things from your dad? Well I think I got my long hair from mom and my rolling around in bed and making a mess when I sleep from dad."
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Logan: (pointing to his toes) "This is my thumb toe (big toe), this is my pinky toe (little toe), and this is my inappropriate toe (middle toe)."
----
Logan: "Mom, do you have a typewriter I can use?"
Me: "No, I have a computer though."
Logan: "Um, no, a typewriter would be much easier."
----
Me: "What color is the mud?"
Ashten: "Yuck!"
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We were playing hide-and-seek
Me: "Ashten, I'm sorry I can't play anymore, I need to go make dinner."
Ashten: "That's ok, I'll play by myself!"

2013
Ashten: (after seeing a black man at the store) "Oh, it's an adoption!"
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Brayden: "You know what girls do that's weird? They walk around in big groups and talk a lot and shake their heads around so their hair waves around."
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Ashten: "When I grow up, I want to be a Barbie."
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Preston: "Do you know why people in jail don't get dessert? Because they have been very bad and they don't deserve any treats!"
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Ashten: "Has God or Jesus died?"
Me: "Well Jesus died, but then He rose again!"
Ashten "So He's alive right now?"
Me: "Yes"
Ashten: "Why?"
Me: "Because that's what God wanted."
Ashten: "Aw, that's cute."
----
Brayden: "I made a morning schedule and I have no time for fighting!"

Belmar buddy

In Logan's class at school, his teacher does this cool thing where each week a different kid gets to be Belmar Buddy for the week.  They get to fill out a poster about themselves and bring in some items for show and tell, as well as some items for a estimation jar and a "guess the object" bag.  Basically it's a chance for them to share a little about themselves and get a few extra privileges at school that week.  Logan has been looking forward to being chosen all year and it finally happened in early November!!

He wasted no time getting his timeline poster done and Chris and him worked on it for over an hour one morning. 

 

He had to choose 10 significant events from his life and put them on a timeline.  He chose:

• his birth
• 1st tractor ride (with my grandpa)
• 1st guitar
• 1st day of kindergarten
• learning to ride a bike
• his baptism
• losing his 1st tooth
• science fair project
• 1st  baseball game
• 1st 14er

Can't believe how quickly he's growing up, especially when I see those pictures and events on his timeline that don't seem that long ago!

Homework

Now that Preston is in 1st grade, he has a little more homework.  I think he likes it though, it makes him feel older and more grown up like his brothers, who have homework every night.

 

 

Now I think this girl wants to get into school so she can do homework too!!

Puppy Sequoia

In 2003, when we bought our house, we also got a dog.  I wasn't completely sold on the idea, but Chris had been waiting and waiting and really wanted a dog, and I had already gotten 2 cats, so I wasn't really in a position to argue.

For 10 1/2 years, she was a great dog.  She was very obedient pretty much right from the start, and very loyal and faithful.  She especially loved Chris, I guess she could tell he is the one who wanted her most.  We rarely had house training problems, hardly ever discipline problems or tearing up the yard or house problems. She wanted to please us and she loved to be around us.

Over Thanksgiving break, however, we had to put Sequoia down.  It was heartbreaking.  She had 2 bad hips and 2 bad knees, which made walking up and down the stairs very hard for her.  She always had a sad look on her face, and I think she was in a lot of pain most of the time.  Anytime anyone bumped her or touched her, she whined and groaned.  She wouldn't even roll over onto her back anymore for a belly rub.  She spent most of her days inside sleeping.  She had a bunch of sores on her body, one of which bled all the time.  It must have hurt her because she was always licking at it, which made it bleed worse. 

Unfortunately, having to put her down definitely put a damper on our whole Thanksgiving break that we had together as a family.  It felt like someone was missing.  Sequoia had always been around us when we were just at home relaxing.  She laid downstairs when we were watching TV or playing.  She went up to bed with us when we went up to our room for the night.  She would come up to the kitchen when I was cooking or when we were eating.  She wanted to be around us and as much as she sometimes got in my way, I realize that I miss that.

What surprises me is how much I grew to enjoy having a dog.  She felt like a part of our family.  Even when it was just me and Ashten during the day, having Sequoia around felt comfortable.  It didn't feel as lonely.  And I definitely felt more safe with her there.  Most people who know me will be shocked to hear this, but I really, really miss having a dog and I hope we will be able to get another one someday.  Definitely not as a replacement for Sequoia, just another dog to love and be a part of our family.

Logan sleeps

Brayden and Logan are getting to an age where they just aren't sleepy for an 8:00 bedtime very often.  We have tried to remedy this a little by letting them stay up a little later at night to read.  This kills two birds with one stone: they get their reading done for school and they get to stay up and read and feel a little older with extra priveleges!

One week Logan asked if he could stay up as late as he wanted as long as he was reading any night, and I agreed to let him do that on Friday nights only, since he didn't have to get up and do anything that important on Saturdays.  Since then, it has become a regular thing, something they look forward to, often staying up till 10 or later just reading.  (Side note: I'm jealous they can read at night because I can't!  If I'm tired, I will fall asleep, no matter how good my book is.)

Well a few weeks ago on a Friday night, Logan was in his room reading, but he was very quiet (unusual for him, even when he's reading) so we went to check on him and lo and behold, he was asleep!  At 8:30!  On the one night he's allowed to stay up as late as he wants!

Guess this guy does need sleep after all?

Thankfully

Here we are, another major holiday and no referral.  Honestly lately I have lost hope.  It feels like it's forever away and like it's even a waste of time to think about it, but the longer time goes on, the less I can not think about it. 

But thankfully I am not going this alone.  First and foremost, God is in the middle of this.  I know He's got this.  I know He's in control.  I know He knows what's going to happen and He's got the whole thing planned out, even before we were on board with it He did.  And I know that He has a purpose even in the wait, so I can have peace even now, even though it's super tough and I just want the waiting part to be done.

I'm also super thankful for the support of Chris.  His father heart is aching for his daughter just like my heart is, and I know he is thinking about her and wishing he could see her soon.  He is the one person I feel like I will always have support from, no matter what my feelings are that day.  I love that he's with me in this, we're a team, probably more than ever before! 

And our kids.  They process this adoption very differently, but I know they think about their sister and wonder what it will be like when she's home with us.  They all acknowledge that they have another sister, even though they don't even know who she is yet.  They are excited and that makes me excited!

Baby girl, we miss you and we all love you.  And I know I say this every, every holiday (and that won't stop!), but we are hoping and praying with everything we have that you are here next Thanksgiving with us!

Crazy pink hair

There is always a crazy hair night at AWANA at our church.  This year Preston and Ashten didn't really want to participate (I don't blame them, I never did silly stuff like that either!) and Brayden wanted to wear his mohawk hat.  Good, 3 down, 1 to go!! 

Logan wanted to shave his head bald.  And I really would have let him except that we had family pictures in a week and a half and I wanted him to have some hair for that.  I tried to talk him into all kinds of other things.  I offered to go get that hair spray paint at Sally's or shave a design in the back of his head (where it wouldn't be visible in our family pictures) or let him wear Ashten's pink wig.  He immediately shot all my ideas down, he was dead set on a shaved head.  I was about to just give in (because really it's not that big of a deal and if he really wants a shaved head to be silly and goofy at church, who cares?) because you gotta choose your battles, you know?

But then, hallelujah, he decided to go with the pink wig!!!!!!  I think he rocked it and he got all kinds of good attention from it at church, which was his original intent I think, so he was happy!

Never mind my electric green kitchen - it doesn't photograph
well.  But trust me, that's not the true color.

 

That's my silly Logan boy!

Ashten's first (written) words

A few mornings ago, Ashten woke up before I was done with my quiet time.  As usual, she was kind of groggy and grumpy, so she wanted to sit on my lap while I finished up.  I always have my Bible out and a spiral notebook, since I like to journal or write out prayers while I'm studying my Bible.  So, after a few minutes of watching me, Ashten wanted to get out her spiral notebook and "write" too. 

Ashten has never really gone through the "drawing" phase.  You know that phase that toddlers go through where they scribble on a page with markers or crayons in big, curvy lines and call it an elephant (or whatever)?  Ashten never really did that, she has always written in pen or pencil tiny little marks mostly between the lines, and I think it's because she sees her brothers writing and wants to imitate them. 

So back to the other morning.  She was writing while I was trying to focus and finish up my devotions and she asked me the letters for mom.  So I told her "M-O-M" and next thing I know, she has written them out.  Except she had to write it twice because the first time she said it looked more like M-P-M. 

 

I wanted to see if she could write her name.  I know she knows what all the letters look like by recognition and she knows how to spell her name, so I told her to give it a shot.  I had to coach a little bit (her A looked more like an H at first since she didn't connect it at the top), but for the most part, she wrote this all by herself!

 

I'm so proud of my little 3-year-old writer!!

Efficient Parenting

I ran across this article the other day and it was such an "ouch" moment for me.  I am a list-maker.  I keep a list of things I need to get done each week, a list of things we need at the grocery or Sam's or Target, a list of meals for the week, a list of blog post ideas, etc.  I will most often judge the success of my day based on how much is left on my to-do list at the end of it, sadly.  I like to be efficient, often priding myself on how much I am able to get done in a day, even with 4 kids at home.

This quote from the article really challenged me to change my thinking:

Checking off tasks as “done” isn’t the best way to gauge a day’s success because, more often than not, good parenting isn’t about efficiency.

It’s not that to-do lists aren’t important or useful. It’s that sometimes the best thing to do is to take the time to truly connect with our children.

The best moms are those who sometimes take a step back from all those items begging to be completed to spend time reading with their kids. The best dads {and moms} are those who understand they have to stop looking down at their smartphone and start looking into their kids’ eyes.

Those special moments of togetherness are what kids will remember and cherish. It’s the times of carefree laughter, learning and affection that will stay with them and let them know they’re valued.

Since reading that article over a week ago, I have really tried to be intentional about shifting my focus from my to-do list to my family.  Sure, there are times when laundry HAS to be done or dinner HAS to be made, and all those things are good to do, but when they consistently take priority over my children, then we've got a problem. 

Preston had been begging to teach me how to play chess every day for a week.  Now, granted, he always asked at like the worst times: right before bedtime, right before we had to leave for school, etc, but I kept saying "not right now, Preston, I/we have to ___________".  It went on like this for about a week.  I felt bad continually saying no to him, but I justified it with my to-do list.  But one night, I finally put aside the things I needed to do and sat down with him and he taught me chess.  It wasn't about the game (because I don't really enjoy chess), but sitting down and doing something with Preston that he was excited about really was great. 

This morning Brayden was having a really rough morning.  Everything upset him and he had a short fuse.  I was doing my best to remain calm and not get mad at him, but it's hard.  I chalk most of it up to him being a preteen, but I can't really say for sure since he's our first preteen!  Right before we were leaving for school, he said "mom, you know what would really make my day better?  If you would come meet me for lunch!"  My first reaction (thankfully not out loud) was annoyance.  Ugh, I have so much to do today and I wasn't even planning on putting on makeup or getting dressed, just hanging out at home and doing laundry and cooking and cleaning.  But then I thought, "okay, Gloria, the whole reason you stay home is not so that the housework is kept up with or so you have time to blog, it's so that you can invest your time in your children".  That thought would not have even come to me a week ago, before I read this article.  So, I met him and the other two for lunch today!!  And seeing his smile and his happiness at me being there made the things I missed out on getting done all worth it. 

I want my kids to remember me as someone who was intentional in their lives, a mom who gave of herself and of her time for them.  Sure, there will always be laundry and dust and dishes, but my kids won't always be at home.  When they are grown and gone, what will they remember?  An unattentive mom?  Or a mom who had time to cuddle and play games and listen?  I pray it's the latter!

Halloween 2013

Hey that rhymes!  (It's the little things that amuse me.)

This year we kept Halloween pretty low-key.  Well as low-key as you can keep a holiday where kids get to dress up and collect as much candy as is possible in one night.  We didn't do Boo at the Zoo this year (mainly because we don't have a zoo membership) but we did go to Bass Pro Shops one night and do trick-or-treating there.  It was really small and not overly done, so it didn't feel like a big stress to do that.  We went with a friend of mine and her two kids.  It was fun!



Sorry for the grainy phone pic

Ashten and Sofia

 

Brayden dressed up as a Viking. 

 

 

Logan was Jack (from Magic Tree House - his favorite series right now).

 

 

Preston was the Dark Avenger (kind of looked like Batman)

 

 

 

Ashten was Snow White.  Funny story here: when we went to Bass Pro Shops and trick-or-treated, Ashten wore this Snow White costume, so on Halloween night she informed us she didn't want to be Snow White again because "she had already worn that costume".  Sound like a girl much?  We talked her back into it and she was a really cute Snow White!!

 

 

On Halloween night we went out trick-or-treating as a family.  When they had filled up their buckets Brayden and Preston wanted to come home.  After that I went out again with Logan and Ashten, who weren't ready to be done with all the fun of candy-getting.  Then Ashten was ready to be done, so we dropped her off at home and went back out just me and Logan.  We had SO MUCH CANDY! 

 

 

Last year Chris and I were in the middle of trying to work out and lose weight, so we thought up an ingenious plan to get all of the candy out of the house quickly (besides eating it all in 3 days!).  We paid each of the kids some money for their candy and they all gladly gave it up.  So this year they were expecting that again.  We sold the candy to a dentist's office that buys it and sends it to troops overseas and then we also gave the kids a little and then we took them to the mall where they all picked out a new Lego toy (except for Ashten, who got some new bottles for her baby dolls).  Phew, now that Halloween is over, now the real holiday season can start!

Brayden and the viola

At the elementary schools in our area, orchestra and band start in 5th grade.  Brayden wanted to do it right away and we warned him to think very carefully about his decision because it would mean more time doing something else and less free time.  I will give credit to Brayden, he did weigh the decision carefully and spent time thinking about it seriously, but in the end he did choose to play.  Chris and Brayden went to an informational night where basically all the musical instrument vendors in the area are there and you pick an instrument and rent an instrument, etc.

Brayden chose viola and I am super excited about that because I love the sound of stringed instruments and always kind of wished I had learned to play one. 

 

As we kind of figured, since Brayden can already play the piano, read music, count the beat, etc, he picked up viola fairly quickly.  In fact he was pretty bored the first few weeks of orchestra at school because his teacher was teaching really, really basic stuff and he was far beyond that.  He enjoys the instrument very much though, so I think he will stick with it awhile.

Last week, there was an area-wide orchestra concert.  Brayden did great and the kids sounded pretty good for how short of time they had been doing it. 

 

 

I'm so excited to see Brayden continue to improve!

Matching outfits

My sister gave Ashten a bunch of her daughter's old clothes (still so grateful!!) and one shirt Ashten called her "sparkle" shirt and insisted I had one to match.  I couldn't remember the one she thought she knew I had, but one day it was hanging up to dry and Ashten was super enthusiastic that we should wear them to match the next day.  So we did.....

 

I'll take it now, I know there's a day coming someday when she would be mortified to be seen in public matching her mom! ;)

Sleepy guy

Preston is our kid that can fall asleep anywhere, anytime.  He gets tired and it just doesn't matter where we are or what he's doing, he's out!  He even fell asleep outside during the loud fireworks show this past 4th of July.

Brayden and Logan are getting older and not quite tired and ready for bed when we put the younger two to bed, so we let them stay up and read for a while.  Preston decided he wanted to do that one night, so we obliged, knowing how it would end.  Sure enough, not even 10 minutes later, we came up to find this:

 

I'm thinking this one isn't quite ready for a later bedtime yet!

 

Freezer jam

I get more and more brave and willing to try cooking new things in the kitchen the older I get.  Starting last fall, Chris and I got more serious about eating healthy versus eating cheap and easy.  It has made a difference in how we feel and look and we want our kids to grow up eating healthy too, so it has to translate to every meal and snack.  Slowly, over time we have cut out more processed junk and added more fruits and veggies and whole foods.  I am by no means an expert in it and I still enjoy my chemical-laden creamer with each morning cup of coffee, but for the most part we eat less sugar and more fruits and veggies. 

I decided to try my hands at making some freezer jam.  My grandma always used to make real jam and give me a jar every time I saw her, and since she passed away last summer I have really missed that.  I wasn't quite ready to do the full canning process, so I started with freezer jam.  It turned out really and the kids like it and it's only raspberries, sugar and pectin, so it's all good!

And my cute helper made all the difference!

 

Little computors

Sunday afternoons are our family time/homework time/football watching time/learning AWANA verses time/rest time.  Since Brayden and Logan are older and further along in school, they usually have more homework.  Brayden usually types up his spelling sentences on the computer, so Preston and Ashten got out their computers and "did homework" too!

 

These two laptops are really old ones that don't even work anymore.  The blue one that Preston has doesn't even have a built-in way to get on the internet!!  And the black one is missing a few keys and is cracked on the side.  But we are too lazy to destroy the hard drives so we can really get rid of them, so most of the time they sit on top of our dryer and the kids play with them every so often.

 

My Little Pony

For the past year or so, we have been doing dates with the kids one-on-one with just one of us.  Each month we do a different kid/adult combination so they each get 3 dates a year.  They really look forward to this time and will plan for weeks what they want to do on their date.  Ashten's date with Chris was in September and instead of going out to eat or going to a movie or something, Chris decided to take her to Build-a-Bear and let her make a My Little Pony.  She loved the experience and still sleeps with her pony every night. 

 

The only downside to this little pony addition to our family is that Ashten wanted to add some music to it and the song is getting just a little old!  Haha!  Here, so you can join in on our listening misery pleasure as well:



 

 

The only reason she even knows this song is because sometimes we rent Just Dance 4 from Redbox for family night.  This song and Call Me Maybe are her absolute favorites on that game!

Preston and Legos

Preston really loves to play Legos and he is really creative with them too.  When he gets a new set, he builds it using the directions, but inevitably they get broken or taken apart and then that's when the genius begins.  Preston is very innovate with his legos, building houses or ships with all kinds of cool "features".

 

"Ethiopia"

 

Ashten got this doll for her birthday and she loves to play with it.  She calls the baby "Ethiopia" and people are always shocked that she even knows that country name.  Then I have to go ahead and explain that we are adopting from there, and then they understand.  I wonder if "K" will want to play with this doll someday?

I'm loving.....

Dark blue nail polish (and my favorite coffee mug), I'm into all the dark nail polish colors right now. (Pardon the messy manicure)

This yogurt I found at the grocery for only 40 cents!  It's yummy and only 60 calories!

A new wreath for the front door that yours truly made!!

New Africa artwork for the bare basement walls, again made by yours truly (hmmm, I'm noticing a pattern here, I must be getting crafty in my mid-age!)

New winter clothes for Ashten given to me by my sweet sister and niece.  Cool story here: so a few weeks ago I was going through Ashten's clothes and realized she actually had very few clothes for winter and those that she did have were mismatched and nothing I could really make an outfit out of. All of her clothes are hand-me-downs, which I am so grateful for, but sometimes you only get one piece of an outfit or just a bunch of clothes that the last kid didn't like as much so they didn't get as worn out and were still pass-down-able.  I prayed that God would provide some winter clothes for Ashten since we couldn't really afford to buy her a new wardrobe for fall/winter. And He did!!!  My sister was getting rid of all of my niece's old clothes and said that I could look through and take whatever would fit Ashten.  Now Ashten has an abundance of cute and stylish cold-weather clothes. God sees and God provides!!)

Insanity. I really have a love/hate relationship with it, it makes me skinny(ish) and it's good for me, but it's hard and there are just days when I'm feeling lazy and don't want to do it.  Chris and I are back to working out daily after our schedule got really off during the summer basement remodel project and the start of school. I love that time with him working out and getting fit, he's such a great encouragement to me when I just want to keel over and die quit.  And I really need to lose some weight again, sigh, why can't it just stay off for good?  But man, if I never have to do another power jump or level 2 drill again, I wouldn't lose any sleep.

What are some of your favorite things right now?