Good Food + Good Friends = Good Fun

Tuesday we had our monthly book report lunch at Alfy's Pizza. My friend Lisa has a little girl named Selah that reminds me a lot of my Bella. She's only three and a tiny little thing with a great big personality! While the girls were sitting together eating lunch, Selah got Parmesan cheese all over her mouth and face. Being polite and having a mother that has taught her to always share, she turned to Bella and said "Look at my face! Do you want to lick it off?". Bella seemed to seriously ponder the offer for a brief moment before declining. (I'm honestly a little surprised that she didn't) I can just foresee these two having some great times together; and probably getting into big trouble too!

Ha!

We have 3 small dogs that live on our street. Two are Chihuahuas and one is a long haired mini Dauschund I think. The kids were out playing and the little dauschund was out running around. When I called the kids in, Isaac excitedly said "Mom, I saw a rat!" You saw a....? Oh, no Isaac, that's a dog. He looked very puzzled and asked me to clarify that the animal we were both looking at was in fact a dog. He doesn't spend time with dogs since he's allergic to them, but I guess he's going to share in Jeremy's feelings about the little tiny ones. I just love the things that little ones say!

Boo on the zoo and a Bella-ism too

Since I'm no longer on bed rest, today the whole crew headed to the zoo. It was a beautiful sunny day, but not too warm, which made it perfect for a preggo like me. We met up with some wonderful homeschooling moms while we were there. Between us there were 5 moms, 4 strollers, a wagon, and I think more than 20 kids!!! Wow! They are all such awesome kids though that it was very enjoyable, and it's always nice to get some time to chat with other grown ups. I had high hopes that walking so much would at least get some good contractions going, but that didn't happen. We were there for over 3 hours and I didn't have one single contraction! All I got were super sore hips and swollen feet. Booo! It was still a nice day though, and felt great to get out and about for a bit.

Now, on to the Bella-ism. Genna was pushing Nahshon in the stroller and Jeremy joked with her asking if she would push mom if mom got too tired. Genna politely replied that she thought mom was a bit too heavy with baby Micaiah in her tummy. Bella then piped up and said "and mom's got a big butt! BOOM! BOOM! Maybe you should just name the baby butter" Gee, thanks sweetie. (I rarely even eat butter by the way!) Good ol' Bella.

Dear Mr. President

Tonight Genna decided she wanted to write a letter to President Obama. Not really sure what prompted her to want to do this, but I thought it was a great idea. It wasn't a very long letter; she asked how he liked being president and how everything was going. She told him she was getting a new baby brother soon, and said it was cool that he got a new dog. She signed it with her name, age, and a pencil drawing of him. We looked up the address on-line, and she addressed and stamped the envelope herself. She knows that the president is very busy and won't have time to write her back, but I'm glad to see she is paying attention and wanting to "make herself known". We'll be dropping it in the mail tomorrow, so keep an eye on your mailbox Mr. President!

Just line 'em up and shoot 'em!

I told the kids tonight that on Friday they were all getting up to date on their shots. Genna had the normal kid reaction of asking if it was going to hurt and if they'll give her a toothbrush when she's done. (I guess she got a toothbrush the last time she got shots?) Elijah on the other hand, asked why we wanted to have him killed! Oh my, time to jump on Google and find some (not too scary) pictures to explain this one! I tried to tell him it was just a little pinch of medicine in his arm, but he's rather insistent that if he gets "shot" he'll die. My poor little guy, what kind of parents does he think he has!?!

This is what happens when dad is in charge

I think the picture pretty much says it all.

Wait........ What? No!

It's 9pm, I'm exhausted and on the verge of falling asleep. Isaac came in insisting that I follow him and see what he's done. He seems very proud of himself, which means that he is not going to give up until I get up. I follow him to the kitchen where he happily motions towards the floor and exclaims "See! I did it!" I stood there pondering why the ENTIRE kitchen floor was covered with water when suddenly Bella goes flying by screaming "yahoo! Slip and slide!" My immediate reaction: "NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Isaac went off to the bathroom pouting, to get some towels to clean up his creation. Bella replied "Ok, I'll change". Before I even had a chance to register what she said she was sliding across the floor once again, this time in her bathing suit. Uh, not what I was talking about when I said no Bella. I really don't care what outfit you have on, we're not turning the kitchen into our own personal water park. Somehow my kids always know just what to do to take me from the verge of sleeping to wide awake for the next 3 hours.

You can't trick me!

After tonight's "delicious dirt" incident, the girls decided to quiz each other on spelling. They were asking each other pretty easy words like bath and dog. Then Genna decided she would try to stump Bella. "Can you spell Aubrey?" she asked. Without skipping a beat Bella answered "Yep! It's spelled M-O-M!" Haha! Nice one Bell!

What happened to your manners young lady!

Tonight I made tacos for dinner. Since I'm a vegetarian I use veggie soy crumbles in place of ground beef. There are a couple different brands we buy, and tonight this happened to be the one I used. When it comes to the kid's food choices, they know they are allowed to tell me if there is anything they don't like, but they are required to be polite about it. (I find it rude when someone says something is gross and makes a fuss while the person next to them is happily eating that particular item) Genna is normally a very polite little girl and never wants to say anything that will offend someone, which is why tonight she left me almost speechless when she took a bite of the veggie crumbles and proclaimed "this dirt is great!" I thought she was being sarcastic, and rude to boot. I reminded her about my rule when she doesn't like something and asked her why she would say such a thing. She fumbled over her words for a minute until I point blank asked her why she called it dirt. Her response "because it comes from the ground". I was still puzzled and asked her what she was talking about when she reminded me the product is called Smart Ground, and she had read the name on the package. I guess for her Smart Ground = ground = dirt. After that I felt terrible for scolding her, but also so proud of her for the fact that she thought I had served up dirt and tried it without one hint of protest!

Woohoo! Thanks God!

We have a Chrysler Town & Country, which seats our family of 7 perfectly. However, since we are going to become a family of 8 very soon, we needed to make some adjustments. Since buying a new car isn't in the cards right now, we figured we would have to replace the middle row captains chairs with a 3-seat bench. Obviously we knew there was a time limit on getting this done, but with all the hiccups we've had the past few months, it's just been pushed further down on our list of things to take care of. About a week ago I told Jeremy it was time to get on this. He started calling around different places and looking around on the internet everyday, but wasn't having any luck. Normally on Sunday our computer is turned off, but I forgot to shut it down Saturday night so it was still on when we got up Sunday morning. Jeremy decided to hop on real quick and just check Craigslist to see, if by chance, someone had listed what we were looking for. Not only did he find the exact seat that we needed, it was in excellent condition, and it was FREE! He picked it up last night and it snapped right into place perfectly! I'm so relieved that we were able to get this taken care of before baby Micaiah arrives. Tonight he's going to strip down the infant car seat and give it a good scrub, and tomorrow he'll get it in the car and all ready for our new little man. Have faith and God will provide!

Too obedient?

I'm not really sure there is such a thing, but tonight's level of obedience had me in stitches! The kids were helping me get some things organize in my room for our new baby boy. We had cleared out a spot, which I told the kids was for the baby bed. By baby bed, I was referring to the bassinet in the corner of Nahshon's room. It's pretty light, just a little awkward to carry alone, so I asked Genna and Elijah if they could handle bringing it in together. They said it was no problem and went off the Nahshon's room to retrieve the baby bed. When they didn't come back after a while I figure I should go check on them and see if there was a problem. When I got to the door of Nahshon's room, there was Nahshon's crib, wedged into the doorway, and Genna and Elijah were taking it apart!!! I couldn't help but instantly burst into laughter, and although I already knew the answer, I asked them what in the world they were doing. Their sincere response "It was too big to fit through the door, so we're taking it down. You said you wanted us to bring in the baby bed, right?" They had tools spread out on the floor and everything! I guess they were so happy to be helping and know that I have great confidence in their abilities that they didn't even stop to wonder if I was actually asking them to bring in a full size crib. Looking back at the evening now, I understand why Genna suggested we measure the cleared out spot; she was concerned the bed would be too big and get stuck. I thought it was a funny request only because the bassinet really isn't that large, but praised her for anticipating a possible problem and assured her it would fit just fine. I still can't help but laugh every time I think back on that scene, and when I imagine they must have been thinking in their heads about their crazy mother. I sure do love my kids!

so sweet, but doesn't exactly work

Isaac's flashlight was not working, so he attempted to use the tried and true mommy method of fixing things: kiss it all better! Luckily when that didn't work, mom was standing by with the next best thing- new batteries.

I'm stuck

I had my Dr. appointment this morning, and I have been sent back to bed for 1 more week. My regular Dr. is not in this week, so I had to see someone different at the office today. I have a feeling if I had seen my regular doc, he would have let me off bedrest today. As it is though, I will follow orders and do what's best for Micaiah. I'm so bummed I won't be able to go to the zoo with the kids tomorrow; I so badly want to go for a long walk! Jeremy is looking forward to having some fun time alone with them though, and they all certainly deserve it with how hard they have been working these past couple weeks. I have come to realize that in pregnancy there is a huge difference between just resting and bedrest. I'm hoping Kerry is right though and that all this rest will result in lots of extra energy after the baby is born. So, to pass some time, who wants to make a guess of when this little man will arrive? Here's our guesses:

Elijah- April 14th
Genna- April 19th
Bella- April 24th
Jeremy- April 30th
me- May 9th

My due date is May 11th.

If you have a guess, leave a comment and tell me what it is!

I agree!

"Bella, what makes you so smart?"


"Because I think about stuff"


What a great answer. She's smart because she thinks. Love it.

What should we do? Let's put him in the zoo!

Around here when someone is being a pest, you will often hear the question asked "what are we going to do with you?", which is promptly followed up with "let's put 'em in the zoo!" Today Nahshon was being particularly pesky, so Genna and Elijah made a giant paper zoo "play pen" complete with giant paper animals and all, and put Nahshon right in! They even handed him a banana and said he was the monkey. It wasn't long though before the cute little monkey turned into King Kong and destroyed the zoo, and the paparazzi didn't make it in time to get a few shots, so you'll just have to use your imagination on this one.

way to be optimistic buddy

A couple weeks ago Jeremy was grocery shopping with the kids and out of the blue Elijah said "Isaac, I think you're going to be a bad guy when you grow up. You're going to steal money." He later recanted his statement and decided Isaac will just forever be stubborn. This morning I asked him where the girls were and he replied with "I don't know about Genna. She's either dead or sleeping." I'm happy to report she was simply sleeping. Elijah on the other hand is really turning into a Debbie-Downer!



(you can Google Debbie-Downer if you have no idea what I'm talking about)

We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo............. How about you? You? You?

I remember when Genna learned that song a couple years ago, and we still sing it when planning a trip to the zoo! This year for Easter my mom and Jeremy's mom purchased the kids a membership to the Woodland Park Zoo instead of doing individual Easter baskets for the kids. On Wednesday morning I have a Dr. appointment, and since I will be 36 weeks at that point, I should get the green light to get out of my bed. To celebrate these past couple weeks of hard work, I think we'll take a day trip to the zoo on Thursday. I cannot wait to get out and go for a nice long walk! I feel pretty confident that once I get to the point where it's safe for me to be up and about, all the labor stuff is going to stop cold and I'll end up being a week late with this little guy. Time to change out of my Pj's and put on my walkin' shoes! Woohooo!

Snack anyone?

Because I'm a vegetarian, my kids have been eating fresh veggies from the moment they join us at the table for meals. I don't raise them vegetarian (that can be their own choice when they are older), but vegetables are a main staple in their daily diet, and they actually enjoy eating them! This however, I find odd. Isaac's idea of a good snack: a giant bowl of steamed broccoli! I realize this is better than a lot of other things he could love as a snack, but still, it is a little strange right?

I love this verse

Ecclesiastes 3

1 To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:
2 A time to be born,
And a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;
3 A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
And a time to build up;
4 A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;
5 A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;
6 A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;
7 A time to tear,
And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence,
And a time to speak;
8 A time to love,
And a time to hate;
A time of war,
And a time of peace.

I find this verse to be very inspirational. It makes me feel like life is an ever-changing, exciting journey. It gives me hope that even when going through a rough season in life, a more fruitful one could be just around the corner.

still so strange

No matter how many times I do this, pregnancy is still amazingly strange to me. Last night Micaiah was so active and stretching in every direction that I was actually able to grab hold of his leg! So cool, but so weird.

never thought I'd say that one

I often find myself laughing at the stuff that comes out of my mouth when talking to my children. There are certain things I just never could have predicted I would say to my kids some day. The most recent was to Isaac, when I had to ask him to stop riding his bike in the bathroom. Not too long ago I also had to remind him not to ride on his giant trucks while taking a bath. Being a parent is a strange journey sometimes.

She's writing her memoirs

Although she's only 5, Bella feels that she has lived a long and adventurous life, and has began writing her memoirs. I'll save the details and let you read them yourself when she publishes her book, but it begins like this:


My name is Bella, and this is the story of my childhood...............

now and then

HIGH SCHOOL – 1959 vs. 2009




Scenario 1:

Jack goes quail hunting before school and then pulls into the school parking lot with his shotgun in his truck's gun rack.

1959 - Vice Principal comes over, looks at Jack's shotgun, goes to his car and gets his shotgun to show Jack.

2009 - School goes into lock down, FBI called, Jack hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counselors called in for traumatized students and teachers.



Scenario 2:

Johnny and Mark get into a fist fight after school.

1959 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up buddies.

2009 - Police called and SWAT team arrives – they arrest both Johnny and Mark. They are both charged them with assault and both expelled even though Johnny started it.



Scenario 3:

Jeffrey will not be still in class, he disrupts other students.

1959 - Jeffrey sent to the Principal's office and given a good paddling by the Principal. He then returns to class, sits still and does not disrupt class again.

2009 - Jeffrey is given huge doses of Ritalin. He becomes a zombie. He is then tested for ADD. The school gets extra money from the state because Jeffrey has a disability.



Scenario 4:

Billy breaks a window in his neighbor's car and his Dad gives him a whipping with his belt.

1959 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college and becomes a successful businessman.

2009 - Billy's dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy is removed to foster care and joins a gang. The state psychologist is told by Billy's sister that she remembers being abused herself and their dad goes to prison. Billy's mom has an affair with the psychologist.



Scenario 5:

Mark gets a headache and takes some aspirin to school.

1959 - Mark shares his aspirin with the Principal out on the smoking dock.

2009 - The police are called and Mark is expelled from school for drug violations. His car is then searched for drugs and weapons.



Scenario 6:

Pedro fails high school English.

1959 - Pedro goes to summer school, passes English and goes to college.

2009 - Pedro's cause is taken up by state. Newspaper articles appear nationally explaining that teaching English as a requirement for graduation is racist. ACLU files class action lawsuit against the state school system and Pedro's English teacher. English is then banned from core curriculum. Pedro is given his diploma anyway but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he cannot speak English.



Scenario 7:

Johnny takes apart leftover firecrackers from the Fourth of July, puts them in a model airplane paint bottle and blows up a red ant bed.

1959 - Ants die.

2009 - ATF, Homeland Security and the FBI are all called. Johnny is charged with domestic terrorism. The FBI investigates his parents – and all siblings are removed from their home and all computers are confiscated. Johnny's dad is placed on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again.



Scenario 8:

Johnny falls while running during recess and scrapes his knee. He is found crying by his teacher, Mary. Mary hugs him to comfort him.

1959 - In a short time, Johnny feels better and goes on playing.

2009 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces 3 years in State Prison. Johnny undergoes 5 years of therapy.



http://michaelsavage.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=5103

a good book?

I have not read this book myself, but my mom works in an elementary school and said it is hysterical! It seems to get great reviews, and sounds like it's equally great for boys and girls over a large age span. I can't tell you if I think it's a great book, but it's one I plan to add to our school list for next year!

The best one yet

I really don't like all the finger pointing and mud slinging going on with our elected officials right now, but someone posted this in the response section of an article I was reading this morning, and thought it was too true to pass up:

The US is being run by children loaded up on Frosted Flakes
-jedlimon


Here is the article for those that want to read what this was in response to:
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/254/story/65314.html

words of wisdom

My mom brought delicious Chinese food for dinner tonight, and my fortune cookie said:

you will be transforming a situation in your life now with a positive attitude

Good stuff, I like it!