Stop it with the birthdays already!

 Well, it’s been a little while now but Captain Obvious had another birthday and I had yet another moment of realization, “I am grown up!”

 How does it happen?

No one can say. But I was picking dandelion bouquets one day and filling little vases with my children’s beautiful weeds the next.

I love this first picture of us as parents. You might not be able to tell except the red face but Captain was taking a breath in the middle of a good cry and Matt and I are laughing.

Who would have known that this little screaming baby would turn into a boy?

A boy who loves the Lord.

A boy who helps with his siblings.

A boy who loves animals.

A boy, whom a the ripe age of 9 is already passionate about truth and faith.

Where do they come from?

I am certainly nothing special.

After all, wasn’t I nine just last week?

 

No one has ever been able to describe it and mother’s will forever say, “I can remember my childhood like it was yesterday.”

I am in awe at the wonder of God’s creation!

Children.

Beautiful, unique, challenging, growing, child of mine.

Side note – Captain Obvious has requested a nick name change. I haven’t decided yet if I can bear to give up my “authority”. He would like to petition the blog for the name Doolittle instead of Captain Obvious.

Waaaaaa!

Super glue saves the day again.

It was half past lunchtime. We rarely use the real clock here, everything revolves around food for my boys. So, half past lunchtime and all we had left for school was math. I had to gather my wits and collect supplies so with the little one’s down the big boys set out to entertain themselves while they waited.

I shoulda’ known that the giggling couldn’t be a good sign. Then, in a flash, a crack… and no more giggling.

Scarfunkle, duly named, had whacked his noggin on the old steam trunk in my living room. As head wounds do, it bled and bled.

So much for math!

I rinsed it off in the bath to get a good look and that darn thing was so small but still spread open and wouldn’t stop bleeding. It’s a good thing this injury happened indoors so the wound was really clean! I put some antibacterial ointment on it and separated the hair.

What do do? Three hours in the ER didn’t sound real appealing so I texted my nurse friend.

Scarfunkle cut his head. Small but won’t stop bleeding. Think I could superglue it?

We decided that since he cut the back of his head there wasn’t anything cosmetic to worry about and it was probably only a 2 stitcher, plus they often use super glue in the ER… SOoooo, glue it is.

He cried and cried but told me he didn’t feel a thing. I guess it was just the though of his mom gluing his brains in. 🙂

You might remember the OTHER time I had to use super glue in a pinch. That poor dog won’t be anywhere within a mile of us if we are unloading the truck now.

Or remember Loud Kiddington’s nose fascination.

Why do these things always happen to me? 🙂

Monkeys in the Trees

My husband loves to tell the story about when he and his younger brother built a zip line in their backyard as kids. His brother would want me to inform you that he was only a semi-willing participant but when things started to get ugly he was the one saying, “Matt, I don’t think you should do that.”

A rope and a bike wheel and a couple of boys zipping through the yard make quite the spectacle. But tie that rope to a cement wall and you’ve got a problem. They soon learned when part of the wall tumbled downa.

Since he is all grown up now he needed to relive those times. He and the boys made one this weekend with a broken bike and are having quite a time playing on their new toy. I hope you enjoy my goofy video production. CLICK HERE to see my monkeys!

Thank you to all our service men and women. I’m so proud of you Luke & Mary.

Have a nice holiday!

Link up NEXT week for FAB Friday

I wanted to remind you that it’s almost THAT time again. Time to share your bloopers and find the silver lining. Time for standing in the rain. Time that we share our struggles and look on the bright side. Time for LEMONAIDE!

Have you had any days like that this month? Days where you would cry if you didn’t have someone to laugh with?

Write a post, including pictures if you like and come back next Friday to share with other bloggers how they’ve turned trials into joy’s. Read these great examples.

• Some have written poems – Check out Jaime’s take on PMS “Every month she sends me a gift
  But it never gives my spirits a lift…”
• Some have told stories – Here is The Lumberjack’s Wife (AKA Lumberjill) on boys, messes, Idol, Starbucks and being a “help meet”! HAHA! Love it.
•  Some are oh so smart and include mom tips – Momma Mindy’s “Leno Style Grammar Tutorial” cracked me up!
• Others have shared pictures and perspective – A post I wrote on life’s blessings. 

Whatever your style, the rules are simple. Write a post. Include a link to Blog Schmog so readers can find other FAB Friday posts. Visit the others and laugh together!

For more muddy details 🙂 click the FAB Friday page above.

My littlest boy sings opera.

Check out my little Pavarotti. Yes, he dressed himself for the “concert”.

Loud Kiddington sings Jesus Loves Me opera style.

http://www.myfamily.com/share?s=PJYPWDjoCrTlylVH5nVj5Q

10 or more ways to curb video game addiction

Did you see my new button? It’s in honor of comments. I love comments. That cute new button features my oldest son, Captain Obvious.

Lets get the conversation started.

What’s a mom to do when her kids can’t put down the video games? I’ve had varying degrees of trouble with games in my house and I recently read a funny take on this mom crisis at my friend Gina’s blog Writer Interrupted. Read her post The Devil’s Play Thing, you’ll get a good laugh. The sympathetic kind!

Gina and I came up with some solutions…

1. No video games ever, no way, no how. Haha!

2. Limit the game days. Keep it to weekends or some other time that works in your family.

3. Limit the time allowed.

4. Make the kids earn the time.

… but I want to hear from you. So the rest of those “10 or more ways” as mentioned in the title are going to come from you.

Truth be told I am at a loss on this one. My boys were earning video game tokens for their daily chores and then only allowed to use them on certain days. At the moment they’ve lost video game for the entire month of March. I resorted to number 1 in a moment of crisis. Actually four moments of crisis (hence the 4 weeks that equal one entire month). I don’t want to stick them in a dungeon 😉 and keep video games away forever because that way they wouldn’t learn responsibility.

What do you think? What methods work for keeping perspective when it comes to games? We could have a whole other discussion on cell phones, TV, friends. AKC!

Counting my Blessings

Sometimes it’s an automatic response for me to dwell on the things I can’t have, my kids can’t eat, those aspects of my life that aren’t working… and then came Fab Friday and as I thought about what to post I realized that perspective is like hanging from my toes. All it accomplishes is clouding my vision.

God wants our worship. He requires our adoration. Not as a chore but as a response to the wonderful things he does. This world is not our home. He has a plan to restore a far greater dwelling that does not decay, disappoint or cause grief. Why worship? Because everything good comes from the Father of Lights.

All that bad junk? A consequence of our fallen world. Not God’s idea. Our idea. OUR idea, to do it on our own to make our own way, to pursue our dreams.

Look around you today. What can you praise Him for?

Of all the things Loud Kiddington can’t eat I’m praising God there are thing he can! Check out Gluten Free 4 Goofs to see what yummy breakfast treat is all over his face.

Boy crafted Noah’s Ark with wood, glue and staples.

Here is the Ark Matt helped the boys make for their cousins for Christmas…

Looks like even Pee Wee lent a hand.

Cut, glue, staple, wa-la!

Now all that’s left is a ridgecap and a coat of stain.  Good job boys!

SNOW!

Yep, its snowing. Are you sick of pictures yet? 

The big boys made a “Thing” size snowman.  Thing Two put on the head.

Thing One adds a carrot nose.

Poor snowman is dirty.

Boy it’s cold and windy!

Hi mom!

Gotta Love Em

Bubba is so far the only person in the world who leaves me speechless.

Gotta love him!

Happy Birthday Thing Two

I’m not even going to say it because it is the same every year for every mother. 

ANOTHER?

Okay, I said it.

Thing Two is six today at 11:33 AM

At six months old he had one little curl on top of his head.  Grammy thought he looked exactly like Kewpie doll.

 

What a spit fire he was at two!

He is charming, sensitive and loves babies.  Most days I hear at least once, “Mom, Pee Wee is too cute I just have to pet her!  She makes me shake.” 

Thing 2’s Wolf Drawing

Also a talented artist who has been known to say, “Each day I draw too much.  At the end I don’t have something else to draw!”

The most serious and introspective of the bunch.

Happy 6th!

Can I Get a Witness?

F.A.B Friday- Fuget ABout it!

Click here for the 1st Fab Friday post.

I hold an opinion that the dynamics in an all boy house are completely different than that of all girls.  Furthermore, a household who’se firstborn is a girl is dictated by her authority and vise versa.

Can you see triple trouble?

Thing Two, Bubba and Thing One “helping” with my livery stables sign. 

Here is an example of the types of “adventures” had in my three boy household.  Little Pee Wee is only beginning to add her own type of fun!

This is from one of my earlier posts but it illustrates this point beautifully:

THINGS THAT DON’T MIX

 Thanks to Thing 1 and Thing 2, with a little help from The Bubba, I have just learned that burn out contests with a remote control monster trucks and a pot full of dirt in the basement, DO NOT MIX!
 I was happily baking a yummy loaf of gluten free bread and trying to think of something to go with it for dinner when it hit me; those boys have been much too giddy in the school room downstairs so I snuck a little peek.  Squinting my eyes and peering through a cloud of dust, I could see that the three had nearly covered the entire basement in a film of dirt.
  Oh NO!?
  Oh YES!
  Apparently “The Bubba” had unearthed a tree I was hoping to transplant in the spring.  “Thing 1″ and “Thing 2″ then took the opportunity to use the new dirt track for their monster truck and in no time flat the whole floor  was coated as well as the hands, feet and clothes of the three hombres.
  “Clean this up, you boys!” I exclaimed.
  “Thing 1″ and “Thing 2″ raced, each one scrambling to be the first to grab the vacuum (what fun for young boys). “2″ won the sprint and started the clean up crew. I grumbled back upstairs to check on my loaves.  The vacuum started and I heard screaming and laughing . Screaming and laughing is never a good sign with boys. I reeled back on my heels and hurried down again through an even thicker cloud of dirt which now covered our school desks, papers, books, chairs, every item of clothing in the snow clothes bin and settled happily on the heads and shoulders of my two oldest. “The Bubba” had retreated since vacuuming is not yet his favorite pastime. I had to dig black clots of dirt out of the corners of my eyes just to see and un-happily discover that “Thing 2″ (my mini mechanic) had removed the vacuum tube on the shop vac and replaced it on the blow side before turning it on, using the powerful machine to blast the “dirt track” throughout the rest of the basement!

Mothers nightmare but quite creative so I couldn’t be too mad.

THE END (for now)

Sooo, what are the order of your children and how does that seem to affect the dynamics? Have you noticed a gender difference between your own household and that of a friend.  Link up with fun and positive posts only  please or leave comments below! 🙂

Here is the finished shed with a brand new sign and the last vestiges of fall at the right. Come spring I’ll hopefully have a hitching post on the long side under the sign.