My lookouts -

Now, this may only be funny to you if you believe the same things I do.
Such as, some day Jesus, the King of all Kings will come (in the sky) to gather all the Christians to live with Him forever.

I believe that. I look forward to hopefully living to see that day. And I tell my children about what the Bible says about Jesus returning to earth.

Weeeeeeellllllll!
Of all the things I say  and how many thousands of times I repeat myself... this is one of the stories that has stuck.
Have you ever been out at night in the complete darkness and saw an airplane flying exactly your direction?? Their yellow lights are SUPER bright - even at that altitude.

Two times now, in the last month, our kids have seen it and started jumping and shouting - "Jesus is coming back - Look! There He is!!!"

Then we have to break the news to them that it is not actually Jesus, but just an airplane planning to land.... but that Jesus can't wait to meet them in person and good job keeping a 'look-out'.  :)

If that doesn't make you smile... I don't know what will!

Things I love

My 17 month old daughter Talia knows and recognizes Ariel (Disney's mermaid) - thanks to her 3 year old sister. What I love, is that she calls her "ya-ya".... and usually with great passion too! Whether we are in a store and she sees her on a cup or a sheet set, or sees our Ariel barbie, or the movie case, she nails it every time.  Sooo adorable!

I love that Talia loves socks and shoes. (it is practical with cold weather coming - but that's not my favorite part)
She gets dressed each morning on the floor and then she starts toddling away until I say, 'time for socks!'.
Then she races back across the floor and plops her butt down in front of me, shoving her tiny little toes in my face saying, 'gock. gock.' LOVE it. Then she promptly says, "shoes. shoes", immediately following that. Then she smiles in wonder at her newly adorned feet and toddles out of the room.

Our three year old, Avalon, is still talking 'cute'. You may call it baby talk... but by my third child and now realizing how fast this is all going, I let her do it. It is not on purpose, not that whiny baby talk you may be thinking of, but just a failure to speak correct English. haha.... her brother and sister correct her all the time.. so I really don't have to!

Gi-Show = Giselle (Disney's princess from Enchanted) This is especially cute in a sentence, and it drives her older brother nuts. "I want to watch Gi-Show when we get home."
Frustrated brother... "yeah, I know Avi, but WHAT show????"

I wicked it off wif my tum. = I licked it off with my tongue.
As in... what she just did to the cream cheese fluff on her finger.

Dear Barney,

We watched your show today Barney. It was great. You made a wind chime out of an old tin can, spoons, blocks of trash and metal scraps and stuff. Wow! It makes music on it's own when the wind blows. So fascinating.

"We can make that!" my daughter says. "We have that stuff!"

Oh yeah... great. We have that stuff alright. It is in my trash can, my silverware drawer, and corners of the garage.

I definitely want to hang all that crap from the eaves of my house dangling from string like a proud display of trash for all the neighborhood to see. That would be fantastic. There's nothing that says, 'hey, we aren't white trash yet, but we're headed there quickly', like a bunch of junk hanging in your yard banging around and making noise.

Thanks so much for giving this idea to my three year old. The same child that hangs on to ideas for months. We just love your show - it is soo educational and helpful! Next week, can we learn something creative?? Like, I don't know, fingerpainting with food coloring? or new uses for used tissues?

I did it for their own good...

Wow, I haven't been on here for two weeks. Haven't felt very 'bloggy'... but now I have a short story for you....

I currently, as I type, have a seven year old in the room next to me, fake crying his eyes out. Loudly. I mean, BIG 'ol crocodile tears. Moans. Groans. Sobs.

And do you want to know why?? I took his afternoon friend play date privilege away. Why, you ask?? Well.. it was a million little things really. He was disobedient, disrespectful, and not a very 'nice' little boy all morning. He didn't really commit the same crime twice or more, but he did commit about a thousand different and varying crimes... so to speak.

I kept warning him and warning him. "I'll take away your friend privilege this afternoon if you keep this up!" I would say.
"If you can't be nice to family, you can't be nice to friends" I said. I warned him and I warned him. I warned him some more.

I was breaking my heart. He is off from school today and should be having a fun play day. It wasn't turning out that way though and I had to do something about it.
So I did. I took away the play date.

You can only push mama's buttons for so long....

I did it for his own good. A tantrum by a seven year old isn't pretty. It ain't pretty people!! But it is better than a full out tantrum by a fourteen year old! Dat be da truth!

So, as my header says... it is difficult to be a perfect parent when you actually have children. Before you have kids you say things like... well, I would never do that...or... my kids will never talk to me like that.... etc, etc... but then you actually HAVE kids and it's like... hello!

Anyway... that's what I'm doing today... how's your week going????
What??
I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sobs in the next room.....

Deep thoughts...by Tara

Do you remember those early 90's SNL segments of Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy that usually didn't make much sense. This is sure to rival that.

That being said, I am feeling rather bi-polar about moving.

I guess sometimes I look around and love our house so much I can't imagine moving. The inside of the house anyway. I am not in love with our lot size, the neighbors looking down on us from 5 feet away, or the whole claustrophobic-ness of a cookie cutter neighborhood.


On the other hand, I also like having neighbors around, with neighborhood streets to walk and ride bikes. To borrow sugar from your friend as you run out of ingredients while cooking. Standing in your driveways while the kids run around together, catching up with the folks next door.

On the other hand, I want to live in the country, 'away from it all'. I want acreage, I want mountain views, I want well water, and a wood burning fireplace. But... then you don't have the neighborhood feel. No riding bikes on sidewalks. No group of neighborhood kids going from house to house....

Our house hasn't sold. But what if it does?? Where do we go? Do I want another neighborhood, not for me, but for my kids? Or do I want the country house and lifestyle, not just for me, but because I think it will be so good for my kids!! You know???

And don't even get me started on the 'country lifestyle'. I have problems. I think (I say I am sure) that I want chickens, rabbits, and a duck if we move to the country. And I also want a large garden, and homemade bread... and I want my girls in cute country dresses, and my boy having a ball just running the land outdoors, and shoot! maybe while I'm at it, I'll home school.

See what I mean... I run off on tangents. This coming from the woman who knows the value of living close to shopping malls..... I may be bi-polar indeed.

It doesn't help that I'm reading Little House in the Big Woods to the kids. It makes me want to be Ma and make the kids corn husk dolls. Then I have to think about real life and how we don't eat bears caught from Pa's traps. I live in the 21st century, and somehow, I have to find a way to blend all that I love from the simple and uncomplicated life, into this modern and not completely escapable life.

Ahh... that's my therapy for the day. If anyone is still reading.... you may know what I mean, when I say that sometimes... you just have to blurt out your thoughts.... even if they may sound crazy to others.

Update on the house

I wrote about six weeks ago to say that the house is on the market. Well.... for the last three of the six weeks, no one has come to see the house. A very quiet three weeks. And we grew lazy. Lazy! Twenty-four hours ago the house was not looking good. So much so, that we joked about how horrible it would be to have a call for a showing.

Then, as I was cleaning the dishes yesterday morning, the phone rang.

It was our realtor's office.

They wanted to know if we could have a showing.... in 45 minutes.

I said yes. (!!!)

And thus began the crazy running around the house. It didn't get perfect, but decent enough for people to walk in the door. I still had dishes in the sink, the garage was a disaster, and the laundry room isn't near 'staged', but it was doable. Especially since I had been under the weather with a virus since last Wed. night. It felt excusable. And I even left the realtor a note saying so.
Then, while I was out for that showing, we got two more calls for showings! I have two more today (so I really need to get off this and do some final cleaning touches)

Three weeks of silence and then three showings in 24 hours!
One thing is for sure: If you aren't showing your house to people, whether they be strangers or friends, it is really easy to let it go. And once you start slipping.... it seems it happens sooo fast, it is not so easy to recover!

I Feel Pretty, Oh So Pretty...

There's nothing like a little 'lift' from your kids to make you feel great about yourself.

My oldest daughter (who is 5) has recently discovered that she has the fullest lips in the family - and inadvertently likes to rub it in.

"mom, my lips are big. Yours are not. Yours are tiny and small."

"yes, thanks Vivianne, I know. My lips are not as full as yours."
Now repeat the above conversation five or so times.

Seriously, even though she is just five, that conversation grew really old this past weekend. I think I am half human, and part bird. I have chicken legs, chicken lips, and crow's feet. Ha!

THEN! We were driving (me and the four kids) in the van on Saturday and everyone was silent. Ahhhh... It was a gorgeous sunny and warm day. Peace filled the van. Then suddenly...
"AGH!!!" a high-pitched scream from my daughter in the rear of the vehicle, "I thought I saw a old ugly witch's hand coming through the window!" she tells her brother..."But it is not a witch's hand...." (she giggles)"It is just a reflection of mom's hand in the window! phew."

Don't I just feel so pretty now?? Growing older is fun. I have grey roots to cover this week before they get any longer, and now I know I have tiny bird lips and old witch's hands... fabulous.