21 questions to ask your kids

21 questions to ask your kids

This is a meme from Facebook. I know I should answer it there, but I already neglect my blog too much as it is.

Copy this note, ask your kid the questions and write them down exactly how they respond. What do they really think?

For reference my kids are:
O (4-years old)
T (7-years)
E (10-years)
I (12-years, only girl)


1. What is something Mommy always says to you?
O: Sweetie
T: Sweetie Pie
E: Never (This is true. He asks me for a drink or something and I always respond "never," and laugh. I like to tease.)
I: Clean your room.

2. What makes Mommy happy?
O: When I kiss you.
T: When I give you pictures.
E: Coffee
I: Doing art

3. What makes Mommy sad?
O: Punching you (uhh, yeah, that would!)
T: When we are naughty
E: Fighting
I: The boys fighting

4. How does Mommy make you laugh?
O: kissing my cheeks
T: tickle us
E: Tickling
I: Playing games with us

5. What was Mommy like as a child?
O: a girl
T: girl
E: sweet kid
I: you loved dolls

6. How old is Mommy?
O: a lot old
T: 30
E: 31
I: 31

7. How tall is Mommy?
O: This high (he jumped with his hand up in the air)
T: almost as tall as the door
E: 6'7"
I: 5'5" (She's close-- I'm 5'6")

8. What is Mommy's favorite thing to do?
O: Kissing
T: Hug
E: Drink coffee
I: Cheer people up (okay, I love all of these answers!!)

9. What does Mommy do when you're not around?
O: Clean up
T: Clean
E: Clean the house
I: Make things for us

10. If Mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?
O: Money
T: Money (hmm...could they not think of anything else?)
E: Art
I: Art

11. What is Mommy really good at?
O: Drawing
T: Drawing
E: Drawing
I: Making people happy

12. What is Mommy not very good at?
O: Crying
T: Putting me to sleep (??)
E: Not getting sick on a boat (I do get horribly motion sick)
I: Typing

13. What does Mommy do for her job?
O: Make us do school
T: school
E: pictures
I: Photography

14. What is Mommy's favorite food?
O: broccoli
T: soup
E: healthy stuff
I: salad

15. What makes you proud of Mommy?
O: do prizes (??)
T: you cleaning
E: she takes care of us
I: taking us fun places

16. If Mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?
O: a boy (??)
T: Black Beauty (??)
E: The Little Mermaid (when I asked why, he simply said, "she's a girl, and you swim well.")
I: Wendy in Peter Pan

17. What do you and Mommy do together?
O: Build blocks
T: hug
E: do art
I: arts and crafts

18. How are you and Mommy the same?
O: We're both cleanin' up rooms.
T: We both hug each other. We both have hair.
E: We're both human.
I: We both love to travel and do artwork.

19. How are you and Mommy different?
O: You have huge hair and I don't.
T: You have lipstick and I don't.
E: You have long hair and I have really short hair.
I: You like to clean and I don't.

20. How do you know Mommy loves you?
O: Because I have cheeks (this may need an explanation, no? I love love love to kiss this boys toddler cheeks!)
T: Because you always kiss me and hug me and everything.
E: You take care of us.
I: Because you say so. (interesting insight into their love language, perhaps?)

21. Where is Mommy's favorite place to go?
O: To Julie's house
T: In my room with me. Or going on a date with Daddy.
E: the beach
I: to an art museum


This was so much fun. The next interview will be all about THEM, their favorites, ideas... I want to keep doing this every year. :D
If you do it, please let me know!

back in time on the water

After seeing my photos of the rafting trip, my Papaw sent me some old photos of my parents at Beaver Lake, in the late 70's. Hey, the styles are coming back around!

My Dad also reminded me of some funny comments while we were on the river:

At one point, referring to the previous float trip that Fred, Nature Man and Dad took,
Fred said, "I think that's the same gravel bank we stopped at before." The Artist, who was on her first float trip, logically asked, "Are we going in circles?" Good opportunity to explain the nature of rivers!

When we exploring along the bank, Nature Man said, "Poppy, here are some deer tracks." (He's extremely observant of nature, as you know.) Dash helpfully added, "That means that there was a deer here once but now it's dead." NatureMan responded, "That's not what it means at all!"

a compliment?

The Artist felt my stomach after a workout last night and said, "wow-- it feels like dough or something." Gee, thanks.

I overheard Little Lad counting earlier, "one, two, free, fork, five, six, seben..." But, hey he's only 2! I like the "fork" in there!

Dash: "Why is the mammoth 'a-stink'? Did it toot or something?"

Dash, my literal man

Dash was just counting at the table. He got to 10 and stopped. Daddy looked at him and asked, "Can you count higher?"

So Dash stood up and counted to 10 again! :-)

Yesterday Dash was loudly singing in the playroom. The Naturalist asked him to please sing silently (a nice way to tell someone to just be quiet!)

Dash nodded and then loudly sang "Silently, silently."

What "Good Girls" do and other rambling knockin'-about thoughts when I'm tired

I am one of those mom's who doesn't go out without make-up. Why? Because I usually feel most comfortable with make-up on. Sure, there are those days that I wish I didn't feel the "need" to put it on. But on the whole, I enjoy dressing up. For me, make-up and clothes are almost an art form. It's fun to experiment, dress-up, and "play pretty." Besides, it makes my husband feel special when I take a little extra effort to look nice for him.

On those days that I just don't feel like it, though, I feel obligated to stay home. The make-up thing, while being enjoyable and fun for me, also turns into a crippling weakness at times. When I really look a mess, I feel a mess. If I don't look pulled together I don't feel put together.
And I feel judged.
Women have a bad habit of judging everything from clothes to hair to parenting choices. So your best friend dyes her hair every other week? So what? Does that hurt anyone? Does it ruin her testimony? Does a nose ring mean you aren't a Christian? Does an extra long hem-line mean you are better equipped to serve God? Long hair or short hair? Dyed hair or natural? Public school, private, or homeschool? House immaculate...or a mess? Live by a schedule, or just one moment at a time? Why do people, especially women it seems, get so defensive when others live differently?

Hmmm....I just wonder what compels women to judge, judge, judge each other?

We should be cheering each other on, not judging and demeaning. We should be helping each other.
Mentoring each other.

Jealousy is rife among girls and women. Women frequently react with thinly veiled jealousy when they see other women come into unexpected blessings or succeed in some way. (A success they either don't know how to, or don't feel able to claim for themselves.)

I know there are many women out there who are emotionally starved. And it must be hard to see other women being fed well, when they are starving for that. The reaction to criticize, to put down and to tell other women that they are behaving in an unacceptable manner makes sense at some level if you are famished and desperately crying out, desiring attention, needing help. So I guess the next time I am criticized, I will just look at it as a cry for help! :-)
(Heh heh-- Not that I am ever criticized for anything!! )

Anyway, I've mentioned before how much I LOVE Mothering Matters. I've never been involved in a group before that so purposely puts Titus 2: 3 and 4 to work. (Older women are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children...) Older women, for the most part, seem to be past all the pettiness. We could learn a lot from that. All the "little stuff" doesn't matter so much. Life is about glorifying God, right? Living for HIM. Banding together to worship, to reach others and be a light for the world. Each of us, in our own walks, can live for Him. We can reach others the way no one else can. If we were all alike, just Christian cloned robots, how could we possibly reach and relate to anyone different?

No, it's the blue-hairdo spiky Christian that can reach other blue-hair spiky people. (Or people who think that hair is "totally awesome"...)It's the public school Christians that other p.s. people can relate better to. It's the homeschooled Christ-followers that other homeschoolers might be interested in talking to. So why do we judge differences? I want to be who I am supposed to be...and if that means I have a bright green living room and short red hair and lots of beautiful children who are homeschooled...well, maybe I can strike up a conversation with someone else who likes bright green in their living room!

At any rate, I know God will use me. For me. And I am trying NOT to care what anyone else thinks. Not that I have been let down by people lately, but I've just been thinking a lot about how we tend to stick to standards, live by the norm, and judge anyone who walks a to a different tune, on the same path.
Romans 12: 4-6 "Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith."

Together we are a force to be reckoned with. We are Christ's body. We can make a difference.

Tonight I had a fantastic night with an awesome family. The lovely lady is not only amazingly equipped to reach others, but she desires to with her whole heart. And she equips others to "go and do likewise" simply with the power of encouraging words and a hospitable heart. Ah, what sweet relief it is to be around others who just love others for who they are, differences and all. (Even though I did pull her down with my pathetic attempt at playing Mad Gab. I warned you I was no good!!)

I'm a leper, hear me roar!

The kids have been going to HABC VBS this week. On the first day, The Naturalist came home and told me all about "playing leopard."

He said they put on spot stickers.

And they were sick.

And couldn't see their families.

Aha! Do you mean "leper," Honey?

My sweet Naturalist. It made perfect sense to him that they would have him pretend to be a sick leopard for awhile.

Going Up?

This morning Live Wire ran into the living room completely decked out in prison garb, with a Darth Vader mask, and a cowboy hat on (at least he's clothed, right??) He shouts, "Look at me, Mommy, I'm Elevator!"

By the way, yesterday was a MUCH better day, despite the bad sunburn on the back of my neck. Can't believe I missed getting sunscreen on that much skin! And despite the horrid bee sting on my left foot. On the bright side, I got to spend a couple hours with a dear friend at the pool. And The bee died after stinging me.

(Just so you know, ice and toothpaste are the best remedies for bee sting.)

We're Baaaaccckkk! and funnier than ever...heh

So much to write, so little time, as always! First of all, Happy Independence Day!!

I'll share a couple of quick quips, and write more about vacation when I have time! :-)

The Naturalist: "Why is there a cemetery right next to that hospital?"

(as we drive through Johnson)

Daddy says: "I don't know, but that's a baaaaad sign!"

(That happened to be the hospital where I delivered my last baby...)

At Devil's Den State Park today, LiveWire waded into the water, "Mommy! Look, my toes are drowning!"

On the way home from Silver Dollar City on Tuesday, The Artist announces, "I see a guy riding a horse who is wearing a hat!" (She does so love horses!)

LiveWire excitedly looks out the window, "Where's the horse with the hat??"

The Lazy Man's Guide to Cleaning

In case you didn't know, we have pet mice. Don't ask. The favorite one is named Chunky Cheese, because that little bugger loves to eat. As Fred watched him devour an orange slice, he thinks aloud, "Maybe we should let him go in the playroom for awhile each day, to eat up any crumbs."

Uh, no.

Men.

Boy Funnies

This week's funnies from the boys:

On Tuesday, Trevor asked me for some of my Buzz Lightyear. He was talking about my rootbeer.

Yesterday afternoon Trevor told me he liked my ring tones. He was pointing to my dangling earrings. Ha!

Last night Ethan asked what kinds of seeds would grow in his mouth. Seeds?
"Yeah, you said if we don't brush our teeth right, we'll get 'the seeds'." Ha! I was saying "disease."

Floodin' Funnies

I'm still undecided on a nickname for my crazy third-born. For now he will be LiveWire.

LiveWire at 4:30am "There's a TOMATO outside!" It was really hailing and woke us all up.

LiveWire at 10:30am, excitedly watching the water rise, flooding homes and cars around us, "Daddy, it's the OCEAN here."

LiveWire at 1pm, when he was told it was time to come inside to eat, "Okay, sure, but I'm just fishin'."

the boy mind

While cooking lunch, we sometimes play "what starts with __?" Today was the letter S.
Isabelle- sweet
Ethan- snot
Trevor- sssstinky
Isabelle- sugar
Ethan- spiders
Trevor-ssssnake
Isabelle- smile
Ethan- shark
Trevor- sssslimy
You get the idea! The way boys' minds work...

1..2..3..4..gee, thanks

I know I've been posting a lot lately. I feel so crummy, and sitting still is about all I can do. Much movement is just out of the question, and I now carry my big plastic bowl with me everywhere. :-(

This morning I was sitting on the couch and Trevor came over to cuddle. He started rubbing and feeling my face with his little toddler hands. Aww...

And then he started counting:
"1...2....3...4..." and so on.
"What are you counting?"
"All the boo-boos on your face."

Gee, thanks, Honey. Way to make Mommy feel better.

The Secret to a Lasting Marriage

"One of the people has to be sane, and the other one is only allowed to be insane occasionally. We take turns on who gets to be which person."

-Actor Christopher Meloni

Fred was the sane one yesterday. And today. Do I have to take turns???

Seriously, though, I feel like I've been under oppression lately. Too many things crowding in at once. Instead of being my normal energetic and rather cheerful self (right??), I've become a mess of blubbering curls.

So what do I do with this new development? Pray? Read my Bible? Cry? Call friends? Well, all of the above, but not in the right order. I'll let you in on my not-so-successful coping strategy: I bawl. Yep, I just sit somewhere and eat cookies and bawl my eyes out. Great, huh? I like to cook when I'm anxious, so there are plenty of breads and desserts abounding right now.

*edited*
Some people offer wonderful advice. Some people think they offer wonderful advice...it's well-meaning, but totally the WRONG thing to say!! I had one of those conversations today. So I called someone else, naturally (actually my Mimi, to pray, and then a friend to come over.) Thank the Dear Lord for friends when you need them. This dear friend drove right over and helped, while I took a time out with the Bible.

And you know what? THAT helped. Duh. So why don't I do that immediately?? WHY? I can't claim the new-Christian-syndrome, because I don't even remember when I was saved. Why do I wait so long to run to my Father's arms? Possibly because I feel foolish crying over such little things when there are so many BIG things that other people deal with. You know, who am I to disturb God, right? Sounds foolish. I tell my kids just the opposite all the time, but then I wait and wait and wait before I work up the courage to knock on that door.

I have two verses on my computer desk: 1 John 5:14 "Now this is confidence we have before Him: whenever we ask anything according to His will, He hears us."
and Psalm 144:2,3 "He is my loving ally and my fortress, my tower of safety, my deliverer. He stands before me as a shield, and I take refuge in him. He subdues the nations under me."

I can believe that. I do believe that. Yet I crumble so easily. Argh.

So, I'm setting some goals, and putting them out here for all to see. Why? Because, like Adelia, I believe that sharing your goals with people you love will help you achieve what you desire. I need prayer, encouragement.
First, I need to stop worrying. I know this isn't easily gauged, and everyone worries to a certain extent. But, specifically, I need to release the worry over things of which I have no control. That does no good.

Second, I need to redeem my time. A line in a book last night suddenly struck me: "A person rescues what he loves." Yes, how obvious. But, really, I tend to let the most important things in my life slide while I take care of "everything else." I need to rescue what I love. I need to focus.

Third (and this is directly related to every other goal), I need to get back on a schedule. How can I redeem my time and reduce my worry if I don't have a game plan? I'm overwhelmed. I need my structure back. Right now I feel like I've lost it from every area: church life, finances, homeschool, housework, you name it. Everything has slid away from me. My darling little sister is helping me work on my Home Keeping Binder, which I plan to put into effect on Thursday. Pray on Thursday. ;-) I know it won't be --KABOOM-- change, but that is the start of my implementation!

Fourth, dang I'm tired. I forgot. Oh, yeah!! I need more sleep. I just *think* that I can get away with 5 or so hours of sleep, but I'm not doing so hot apparently. So I'm setting a curfew. And I'm planning to get up earlier than the kids (no small feat), and have my Bible time ALONE. The kids can read in bed until 7am.

Okay, enough for now. Bible time in bed. I need it.

PS Am I stressing anyone out lately? Didn't someone recently comment about me being upbeat or something? Yeah. Sorry about this, guys. "And this too shall pass."

The Things Boys Do

Oliver, my almost-1-year old, decided to crawl around the house today and remove all of the plug-in safety thing-a-ma-bobs!! I've never had an infant do that before!!! Little rascal.



He also took off at the library today! I sat him down by my feet while I looked through a book, in the kids' room. When I looked down, he was gone! He had crawled out of the kiddie room and was making his way down the hall, much to the delight of an older woman watching.

Trevor. Oh, where do I begin? His newest response when I ask him to do something is, "How 'bout NOT?"

"Trevor, wash your hands and go sit at the table."


"How 'bout NOT."


"Trevor, pick up your blocks now."


"How 'bout NOT."

It's driving me a little crazy.

Does everyone have a child that drives them batty? It used to be Ethan for me, but Ethan has thankfully grown out of that stage. Now it's Trevor all the way. It must be a 3-year old boy thing. I hope.

I have my own sensory overload issues, too. I really like the house to stay pretty clean. And I REALLY don't like things to be too loud. For instance, tapping a fork loudly on the table a few times will just drive me bonkers. Someone coming up behind me and hollering in my ear is unnerving. A bugger who finds my whistle in the backseat and blows it as loud as he can while I'm driving down the highway...arfgh!! Don't get me wrong...I love Trevor to pieces...when he's asleep.

Just kidding. I really do adore him, but he really does frustrate me on an hourly basis. I reread Bringing Up Boys about every 6 months, just to try to understand him and cope with him. After all, most of the time he is not trying to be naughty, he's just being loud and rowdy...all the things boys are, you know. I think I need to find some more good coping books, to keep me in the right frame of mind. Any suggestions?

Fred reminds me that Trev is just "asking" for some undivided attention. That's probably true, but when he acts up, I find myself wanting to get more distance. My initial reaction is always to f l e e, rather than to swoop in for special mama time. I'm working on recognizing this, and thereby stamping out my old patterns of behaviour.

It helps to have someone like Fred. He's so laid back and good-natured. When Trevor starts in with his whinies, Fred looks at him, "I don't understand Whinese, try saying that again." Or, one of Fred's favorite lines, "Do you want me to call the WAH-mbulance?" Both of these get a smile from Trevor and he starts talking like a normal person.
I still have a lot to learn when it comes to boys. ;-)

Prayer is always appreciated!

Haven't seen it, can't play Scene It

All of my family came over Friday night: my parents, sisters Julie and Amy and their husbands and the kids. We ate salad, pizza, chocolate eclairs, leftover VDay chocolates, cookies, rootbeers... and coffee. Yep, even after 10pm, we were all chugging down cups of joe. We're a coffee-lovin' family. Of course, after lunchtime I can only have decaf, or I'll be up all night. It was a regular gorge fest, plus games.

We started out just chowing down while we watched He-Man. Yep, you heard right. Hubby just ordered the first 6 (?) DVDs of He-Man and he has already gotten the boys obsessed with it. It's not at all unusual now for me to see Trevor bounding down the hallway in his batman mask, Spiderman pjs, holding his light saber, shouting "by the power of gray skull." Then Ethan declares that he is He-Man and Trevor can be battle cat.

At first I was like, whoooaa now, there are some things in this cartoon that I don't like. The women dress like...well, just not like women should dress. And the skull face bad guy just isn't something I really like. But I decided to back off. Fred is the Daddy. He was a boy and now he's become a great father...and who am I to deprive his boys of He-Man?

Apparently Fred was not the only once-obsessed little boy. My brothers-in-law, Adam and Vu, were glued to the screen as soon as they walked in. I heard lengthy conversations about how He-Man was like Superman, and how Adam always got to be He-Man because of his name (like Clark Kent is Superman, Adam is really He-Man, for those who need a refresher!) It was quite amusing.

After we peeled the men from the cartoons, we started Scene It. Ha! I don't watch TV. I don't watch movies. Is there any doubt that I would totally stink at this game? In my own defense, though, I did get ONE answer right! What little blue fish sings "just keep swimming, just keep swimming?"...

...well, Dory in Finding Nemo, of course! Yea for me! ;-)

After the awful beating I took in that game, we moved on to Nerts (is that right, Julie?) It's a card game, played with four decks of cards. It's fast-paced, and was much more my style.
You know things are getting serious when Fred and Vu turn their hats around!

Adam and I won that game. Julie declared that it was more my kind of game. (yeah, one with no questions, right?? Heh heh)

Anyway, it was so much fun. I love to play games. I'm so grateful to be close to my family, and see them all often.

Vacuuming

Ethan was in charge of vacuuming the living room yesterday. I usually supervise that, but I was needed in the other room. (Apparenlty Trevor had gotten a bit carried away with the "cleaning"/ water bottle I had given him, even with the nozzle on slow flow.)
Anyway, I heard the vacuum going, but when I walked back in the room, I still saw a messy carpet. Hmmm.... He assured me that he had indeed vacuumed the floor. I had him start over, and this time I watched. This is what I saw...

Yes, that's my son "popping a wheelie" while he vacuums.

"It's much easier to push like this!" Yeah. I bet it is.

Beep, beep...beep, beep

Ethan helped me "speed-clean," which is what we do every day before Daddy gets home. The poor guy works a hard job and deserves to come home to a clean house, right? So, we were picking up train pieces, and tossing our flash cards in the buckets, etc. Ethan ran over and said, "Mommy, I'm cleaning so fast that I can feel my heart beeping!"

Izzy is on a roll

I pointed out to Isabelle that she had neglected to pick things up off the floor before she began to sweep. She looked at me and replied, "Mommy, I have my own steps to accomplish this, okay?" Heh heh. How can I argue with an 8-year old that asks in such a way?

In her writing notebook, she titled one section "Imaginashin." Pretty cute!

When we parked at Wal-Mart, Isabelle said, "Mommy, remember that you parked on Row 8." I thanked her and told her that there are so many things I appreciate about her. She answered, "yes, except for my occasional rudeness, but I'm working on that." Ha ha!!

Well, off to our first opera together. I'll let you know how it goes! :-)

"Sorry milk bar closed"

I was nursing the baby before lunch, when Isabelle came over, trying to play with him. The kids have been excited today about Oliver getting his 6th tooth. Well, he was obviously distracted nursing and didn't have much of a desire to play peek-a-boo at that moment. She looked at me and said, "Mommy, can you please just close your boob now?"

Isabelle has also been meeting regularly with a JBU student now, for part of a graduate program thing. The gal played Candy Land with her last week, while asking questions about Isabelle's life, faith, and so forth. When the gal left, Isabelle relayed the questions to me. Then she paused and thought aloud, "I don't have a secret life anymore."

Kindergarten vocabulary

During lunch today Trevor started shamelessly burping away. Ethan looked at him, shocked, and said "Trevor you are burping with no excusement!!"

The policeman caught me!

Today Ethan was playing with a book that my parents gave him for Christmas. It's all about emergency vehicles, and makes the siren noise when you push a button. Leave it to grandparents to buy even books that make noise!!

So he comes up to me and says that now he is a police officer. I grinned. "Mommy, you run and I'll chase you and get you." So off I ran. He quickly caught me and tackled me down. We've never played "police man" before, so I wasn't sure what to expect. Then he took out his little orange notepad and gave me a "ticket." He smiled really big and said, "now we can go to the movies with our tickets, Mommy!!"

Hahahaha!! I just rolled laughing.