New Super Hero, Headwear, and Independence

McKay asks to wear this ensemble to school lately. He calls himself Super Jones (Super Man + Indiana Jones). He especially loves to flip the cape over his head in order to fasten it around his neck.

The first picture makes him look a bit sinister, but don't be fooled. He's the sweetest helper of a super hero and this is his favorite job. Notice his other super accessories - the Mardi Gras beads and Jedi sword - must haves for any fighter of bad guys he says.

Hey pretty girl! Morgan likes to sport her own style of hats lately. Unfortunately it's of the underwear variety. She'll find the boys briefs and either put them on her head or hang them on her arm like she's carrying a hand bag. For President's Day we took the kids to an indoor pool called Filderado. It had a wave pool, a few slides, and fun fountains - great for all ages! The kids loved it! Morgan found her swim suit bottoms hanging to dry and stuck them on her head.

Finally Morgan and McKay can give loves to each other without one of them screaming. I love this!!!

I watched my friend's beautiful roly poly baby the other day. Morgan thought Sophia was her own life size baby doll! While I was getting instructions from my friend, we looked down and saw Morgan perched on Sophia's lap giving her loves.

Ryan is working from home for a stint right now and I am loving having him and the car around all the time! It's taken very little adjusting for me, I just hope he doesn't get tired of me! I don't know if yesterday's mishap is related to this change of routine, but either way I was quite mortified!

Yesterday afternoon I got cleaning the kitchen and chatting on the phone with a friend. I completely spaced what time it was and forgot to pick Easton up from the bus! I usually set a timer for myself each day so I don't miss it. Luckily, a mom of a 5th grader who is never at the bus stop walked Easton home. Easton wasn't even ruffled but I sure was! It's about a fifteen minute walk for him but he guided them all here. Isn't it great to meet someone for the first time in a moment like this! Gotta love first impressions!

This afternoon Easton told me he wants to walk home all by himself now. This would be so convenient, but he's just 6! The German kids walk home alone at this age, but . . . And I'm so proud that he's gaining such confidence in himself! But I don't know that I'm ready to let him go it alone just yet. Besides, the walks home are his most chatty time where I get to hear about his day before he's distracted by everything else. I'm not ready for these kids to grow up. No more, I say!!!

Techie me!

I actually set a bonafide goal this year that I'm still working on come February! How's that for follow through?! It's written down even, broken into steps. Sadly, I don't have a good track record on this front. My goal is to give each of the kids a keepsake book of their first year on their birthday complete with pictures and journaling.

You'd think that with the blogging I've done, I'd have it ready to go. Not so much! I've had to get all the pictures, movies, and all things written organized and it's taken longer that anticipated just to get it all on one computer. Ugh. I'm using iLife to help me out, watching tutorials and reading helpful blogs about topics like capturing still shots within home movies. I'm feeling pretty proud of myself today! Exhibits A & B for the first book. McKay's birthday is coming fast in April!




I'd have had more time lately in the evenings, but Ryan and I are recently hooked on seasons 1-5 of Burn Notice. Every time I'd seen teasers for the show I'd groan. It looked really dumb. We're in season 3 and I'm in love with it. Real fun trade craft, characters you grow to love, and less violence than 24.

Pediatrician visit

We've been living in Germany over a year now so I'm feeling like I've got some things down pretty well. For instance, I didn't pull out the GPS today at all running errands today or going to book group tonight and was pretty pleased with myself! On the other hand, I also had pediatrician appointments for all three kids today. Boy was I a fish out of water all over again!

This nice older gentleman is their doctor and the office is in the next town over - Holzgerlingen. He talks non-stop, but not in English unless I ask him to clarify which I often forget to do because he's going so fast I can't keep up. If the reason for my visit wasn't so traumatizing, I'd enjoy it. Immunizations are the bane of my existence. Easton literally screamed bloody murder, hit away the doctor's hands and made a run for it. The doctor had to come back with reinforcements to give the shot. McKay didn't get shots but was for sure traumatized by big brother's performance and seeing Morgan bleed real good after one of hers. His eyes got real big and all three of my kids had that ultimate look of terror and betrayal when my eyes met theirs. Enough said. It really made my afternoon but more was to come.

At this office, your child receives their shots and then the secretary prints off prescriptions which you go downstairs to the pharmacy to have filled. Until today, I thought I had to walk my crew and those filled shots back upstairs to the doctor's office. Apparently they kindly deliver them for you! Hurray for that, but the snag I hit today was paying for them.

This pharmacy, like many places in Germany, only take cash. Euro. [I've never been a real cash carrying gal, I much prefer debit cards.] Previous shots have not been very expensive so I thought I was alright having remembered to hit the ATM on post that morning. To be on the safe side, I told the pharmacist I wasn't sure I had enough euro and to tell me the total first. He didn't. He rung it up, stamped the prescriptions and I actually laughed when he told me it was 334euro! I totally thought he was joking! Do people generally carry that kind of cash around?!

My crew was still moaning from their shots and I had to tell the chipper pharmacist I had to find an ATM. At the same time I looked at my watch and also needed to be heading to pick up Ryan from work. My mind started reeling. Using the ATM's on the street would cost me all sorts of fees so I'd have to come back to pay after running to the base. Then again, the pharmacy would be closed by the time I could get back which means I need to do it tomorrow and I hadn't planned to drive Ryan in to work so I could have the car . . . . now I was the one moaning.

I also realized I'd need a VAT form and wondered if we have any left or if I'd have to run to the VAT office tomorrow also to buy one of those before running back to the pharmacy [$4 each]. Does this pharmacy even take a VAT form? Not all do. VAT forms are a fabulous part of the US-Germany Status of Forces Agreement that allows me to not pay the 19% tax on items under a certain amount. Having that form would save me 63euros ($85!) on this purchase! [My math may not be right, it's not my strong suite.] We have to keep track of those VAT forms and see that the three copies go where they need to go. It's a hassle but it sure does save us money especially while the dollar is weak!

Standing at the counter was all just a tad too complicated to handle after soothing two inconsolable children getting shots who were still moaning and being super-needy while also wanting to roam a busy shop with all sorts of candy-looking meds and vitamins within easy reach. I told the pharmacist I'd be right back.

I got the kids to the car which sometimes is a major feat, today for sure. Morgan was screaming to be let down during the whole walk because I've recently been letting her walk with me to and from McKay's school. She takes forever because of all the interesting things to see and touch and step on along the way. Right now I was the mean mom not letting her down to explore on the sidewalk of a very busy street when I had to split my attention among her brothers too. McKay was already walking at a snail's pace sucking his thumb. When asked to cross the street quickly with us, McKay continued to saunter, thumb in mouth, while raising his free hand in a "Stop" posture, glaring down the waiting vehicles! I'm not even kidding, he does this often!

Everyone loaded up, I parked closer to the pharmacy and ran in to try and get the prescriptions back so I could go to my neighborhood pharmacy where I can pay with my debit and VAT. No luck. He'd stamped them at the beginning which meant they had to be filled there. Great. So I've got a receipt that I have to go pay tomorrow and all that this process entails.

Perhaps I'm making a big deal out of nothing here. Dealing with my kids through that appointment was about all I could handle. My mind was preoccupied today with a big challenge Ryan's got at work so perhaps I'm a little over-frazzled. No worries, his job is safe but we sure could use prayers that it is resolved quickly. It's days like this where I realize I've got a ways to go to be in my groove here but I'm making progress here and there.

Da Girls 'Dos

Morgan loves to oversee my cooking. The other night I let her play with the water for a bit while I finished up dinner. She was one happy camper and I had some really wet towels to show for the aftermath!

I love putting her hair up in pigtails so I can see her face! The pigtails actually remind me of either little firecrackers or Shrek's ears. She could be Shrek and Fiona's missing baby with that round face and she does sometimes channel her inner ogre! If and when Morgan wants to get back at me, she'll look right at me and start tugging at one of them pigtails. Stinker! I wrote a whole post about her recently that I have yet to publish. She really is so much fun and I love this age!

I finally went and got a haircut two weeks ago. The last time I'd had a trim was in June or July. I've been trying to grow it long again, something about Bare girls trying to gain Favorite Daughter status with my dad but I've got way too much competition nowadays! I was over due for a trim to say the least, but the problem was that I had no idea what I wanted other than to give it some life as I grew it out. Luckily, I like what the stylist did and I even let her put tints in. That's officially the first time I've ever had my hair colored! Ryan hasn't noticed yet, so I think it's safe to say the tints are pretty subtle. They're supposed to look just like my natural summer sun highlights. Since I only do my hair a couple times a week, I don't have much experience and it seems to look like an old Friends Rachel look to me when I'm done. A couple of people have recently asked me for a pic of the new 'do, so I had McKay take this pic below after church this afternoon. This rather flat from the snow-rain look is actually what I probably look like most of the time right now anyhow.

And for Rach, it still just sits there and flips out!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We have no set traditions for this Hallmark holiday, often letting the run of the week determine how much we put into it. We like it that way but I am trying to put a little more effort into it for the boys, especially since they're at fun ages to get it going. They've really enjoyed giving Valentines out in the evenings and it sure was fun! Besides, the world can do with more of us telling each other more often how much we love one another! I think this tradition's going to be a keeper!

This is my first year doing Valentines with the boys for school. We were only able to finish Easton's kindergarten class and then, as fate would have it, school was cancelled due to snow and ice. Now I have to re-bake the sugar cookies for their party pushed to Tuesday. As for kid Valentines, I've never really liked the store bought ones and know I'll succumb to them soon enough, but thought we'd try our hand at making some ourselves. I gathered pictures last week of ones I thought he might enjoy making and he'd settled on a cute simple bear hug Valentine. But as we went to sit down and make them earlier in the week [I was so proud of myself for starting early], Easton only wanted to make the conversation heart ones like those on our windows. Oh well, there's always next year! Easton even brainstormed with me about the messages. It was good handwriting practice for him as we chatted about spaces between words and trying to get each word to fit on one line. Watching him pick just the right message for each classmate was really adorable!

McKay almost sabotaged the effort until I remembered he's a pro with a glue stick. He glued almost all of them and did such a great job. I love watching them work together!!!

We finished these Thursday evening. Earlier that day at school, the kids both celebrated Fasching, or Carnivale. Easton came home with a great pirate mustache and McKay refused to take his costume off for anything until Friday afternoon. At the kindergarten, McKay's class had quite the decor! They'd had the kids helping all week to make the decorations of origami, blowing and filling up balloons with confetti they'd punched, spreading machine shredded paper everywhere, streamers and special lights . . . it was something! And what a mess in the end! OIY! However, I loved seeing the kids pushing the many kid-sized brooms right along with the teachers and parents.

Valentine's Day has been great so far! Ryan gave me some photo software I'd had my eye on and a laugh-out-loud card which he seems to specialize in now and again! I personalized a cute little poem and will bake him cookies this evening. For breakfast, we enjoyed his request for oatmeal the way he likes it with pecans, almond extract, cinnamon, nutmeg and some brown sugar. We'll have Ryan's favorite lasagna this evening which he slaved over this morning and I've been salivating over all day!!!

I've been dying to see how Easton's interaction with Brynna played out today. Easton has been talking about giving Brynna the "I Y U" Valentine from our window since we made them a week ago. We never got around to making his entire Primary class Valentines this weekend so I didn't bring it up this morning before church. But Easton didn't forget! Just before getting coats on, he went over to the window and took the Valentine off the window and told me he wanted to give it to Brynna today. I put it in my bag for him, asking when he thought he'd give it to her. He didn't know yet.

We got to church and sat two rows in front of Brynna's family. I asked if he wanted to give it to her before the meeting began and he looked at me with a bit of a deer-in-the-headlights look. I shrugged it off and said it was in the bag whenever he decided he wanted it. I was secretly glad because even though her mom and I have giggled over Easton's crush, Brynna is unaware and I kinda like it that way. They're just so little and I'll hold on to that as long as possible. But at the same time, I love that Easton wanted to give her something special and I want to encourage that behavior in a healthy way. What's a parent to do?! I was a little freaked out that he insisted on the "I Y U" Valentine because she's the youngest in a big family with all teenage siblings. I didn't want them to weird her out or tease her which may come back to Easton. I'm totally over-thinking this, right?

After Sacrament meeting, I asked Easton if he wanted to take the Valentine with him and he said no. I left it at that and we headed to class. After church he told me that he felt nervous and shy because he had pink stars in his eyes when he saw her. Really, he did! I told him I understood completely, can't we all?! I even told him random silly things used to come out of my mouth around Ryan when we'd first met and were getting to know each other because I'd felt that way. What a funny conversation to have with my 6 year old!

Easton did absolutely love the actual conversation heart candie boxes his teacher gave out. I haven't been out shopping a lot lately with the kids so he hadn't seen them in the stores and thought it was funny that the candy said some of the same things our Valentines did -- since he believed ours were the original! Ha!

Death of a Spice Cabinet

Last night I was telling Ryan about a recipe I want to try for Butter Chicken, an Indian dish. The recipe has you marinate chicken in a bunch of spices to which Ryan began berating our spice collection. He said he was going to pitch the majority of our spices as his personal project tomorrow. I protested relating to how not all the spices were old, probably just the old glass set which has sentimental value and then I wondered why.

Without finishing my thought, I told him my mom had given me that old set as one of my graduation presents. They were my first set, symbolic of a right of passage. Raucous laughter ensued! I graduated from BYU in 2000! HOLY COW those are some old spices!!! Ryan reiterated the shelf-life of spices and demanded liberation of the cupboard.

Just so we're clear on somethin' - I don't use those spices anymore, but I've clung to them all these years when similar threats of their demise have come knocking. A few years ago when we got a label maker, I had put labels on them in addition to having all our spices on a step ladder in the cupboard which made them so easy to see and use. I admit I was quite proud of the little project.

There's just so many unnecessary things we hang on to in different ways, for different reasons. It made me wonder what other types of internal and external "stuffs" I cling to (and why) that could be gotten rid of to simplify my life. Clothes that will never fit again, shoes that have seen better days, makeup at the bottom of the drawer, electrical cords and chargers for who knows what, anxieties over this and that uncontrollable or inconsequential thing, procrastinating important self improvements because of . . . It's got me thinking about how to add spice and savor to my life by letting go.

Ryan was true to his word this morning. He began cleaning the kitchen and pitching three quarters of our spice cabinet's contents. Then he got ready to go to the store to replace them but he had one question, "What spices should I buy?" Grrr. So there I was digging through the trash to figure out which ones really need to be replaced. I'm pretty proud of myself for only rescuing two items which shall go nameless here in order to protect the innocent. And now I shall go do my duty to fix the washing machine, my nemesis. [Ryan bore with me being a pansy last weekend so it's time to square my shoulders and tell it who's boss around here!]

Easton

As I walked through the living room armed with a basket of dirty laundry headed for the wash, I asked the boys to turn off the TV because their cartoon was over. They rarely listen to me the first time but as I was hunched over loading clothes into the washer, Easton came up and said, "I turned off the TV because I remembered Maddie's Grumpy Afternoon story so I listened to you."

Is that the Hallelujah chorus I hear?!!! Last night I'd read a randomly selected story from the Friend magazine to the boys before bedtime and it talked about Maddie being grumpy while having to run errands with her mom. What a great story to talk about obedience and being helpful!

I grabbed Easton up and smothered him in appreciative kisses! I love this kid! He is so quick to obey and I'm trying real hard to remember to use gospel terms more often! It is fun to see him learning and retaining so much every day!

Then I said it was time to pick up the living room to get ready for Daddy coming home. Easton said, "When I get big, I'm going to go to work so I don't have to pick up toys." Ahhh, if only that was true!

Today we got word that a father of two students at Easton's school died in a helicopter accident last weekend. I talked with Easton about it on the walk home from the bus. He took it pretty well and was able to tell me what teachers were given to share with the students. He stopped at one point and grabbed my leg. "I don't want Daddy to fly helicopters." I told him no worries there.

In his Bulldog Envelope today he had a Help Haiti envelope. The students are to place a dollar in it and bring it back. We hadn't talked to the kids about the horrible earthquake there, but I felt like I needed to this afternoon. We pulled out the globe and I showed them pictures online of buildings turned to rubble, tent cities, bandaged people, and relief efforts. They took it pretty well and both incidents helped us talk about things we could do to help even though we're far away.

Love is in the air!

Easton's flame for the little girl at church is still burning strong. At dinner tonight I was trying to ask the boys what they learned in their Primary classes today. As Easton started, he began telling me who was there. He started with Joe, the teacher's son whom he loves to be silly with and play chase after church. And then he loftily sighed, "And Brynna." Oh man, he's over the moon for her!

I asked if he sits by her and he said he tries to but that sometimes other people have sat by her already. Today he got to sit between Joe and Brynna, it was a good day. He said he sits and looks at her a lot but doesn't get to talk to her because only the teacher can talk in class. It was real cute as he tried to think of a word to describe how he feels around her and settled on word "love" with a dreamy look in his eye. I said, "Lovey-dovey, eh?" "Yeah," he replied. Get him talking about Brynna and he's a chatter!

When asked what he likes about Brynna, he mentions her pretty dresses and long, pretty hair. He says he still gets hearts in his eyes when he looks at her [like in cartoons] and that we need to live her until he is big so he can marry her.

I told him we could make Valentines for everyone in his Primary class and he ran over to our window and selected the "I YU" one saying it was the one he would give to Brynna. Man, this is so cute and I love that he's pretty shy around her, love struck really, but will chat to us nonstop! So sweet!!!

As the boys started handing out their family Valentines before bed, Morgan got in on the action. Easton put one on her shirt and she lit up. She lovingly patted it and just beamed with joy! I'm really enjoying this week of Valentine giving. It's very cute to see the boys enjoying it so much. What a great thing to be reminded each day to tell each person how much I love them!

Hedgehog Interrupted

Do the books you read impact your moods and sleep habits? For me, Yes.

I took the chance to finish my book this morning rather than sleep in while the kids did their own things. I had four pages left when the kids converged on my hiding place. I made promises and shooed them away. They were back with only two paragraphs to go. I shooed them away one last time, happy to be their mother and to nurture them in three minutes if they'd just let me be. And they did. Because of the book, I was actually happy to resume mothering, crushing them with hugs and kisses. Then I spent a few hours reflecting on the book's message while being subjected to all manner of interruptions. Because that is family life and I'm blessed it is mine.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

On Wednesday, I was ready to put this book down forever. I was fed up with the characters but had heard it took a while to get into and to be patient because it was worth it. Boy could that statement apply to my life sometimes. Yours? I had even called two friends also reading it for book club to ask when it would turn around! Again, applied to my life, I have great friends I regularly use as life lines!

Luckily, I was able to pick up the audio book version at the library that day and I agree that it made all the difference! Because this book was translated from French, it was so nice to hear all the beautiful names and French words properly pronounced!

In the end, trudging through definitely was worth it! I really enjoyed Barbery's writing style with many quotable passages and some that made me laugh out loud. I literally cried at one point with Morgan practically sitting on my head sucking on her blanket patting my cheeks. I'll do whatever it takes to read in peace around here! I did get bogged down now and then with Barbery's musings on philosophy and there's some on art, literature and music too so be forewarned if that's not your cup of tea. In the end, however, I really enjoyed most of those musings because of previous exposure. I found a common thread with this book among other recent faves -- stories of personal awakenings filling their lives with overarching purpose whether or not they ascribe to any religious beliefs. Three Cups of Tea, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, The Necklace, Born to Run, and Little Dorrit.

Today, like many days I've felt like renaming the blog to something that reflected my inability to finish a thought or task because of interruptions. I appreciated the short chapters/journal entries of this book. It fit nicely into my life which is nothing if not constant interruptions.

For example . . .

For two hours today I walked in and out of the kitchen many times with the express purpose of grabbing a rag or paper towels to clean up some spilled milk on the table from McKay helping himself to breakfast. It seemed that every time I turned around, Morgan had bit off more than she could chew-literally-and is learning this week how to put things she spits out in the trash with consistent, direct kind prodding. Life is positively ridiculous sometimes at this stage with someone or something needing me at every turn. This morning I rolled with it. [This afternoon, I admit I rolled less smoothly and was a bit willful.]

And then there's how the interruptions of my profession affect my relationships. From the moment Ryan got home last night, each conversation we've attempted to have has never gotten past the first acknowledgements of starting a conversation. Frustrating, tedious, and humorous all at the same time because while sharing my thoughts or family business would have been nice, it was even more enjoyable for us both to realize and share a look that said the contented loud playing or needs of our children should take precedence in those very moments. Applying this book to my role as a mother got me thinking about how foundational I am in my kids' lives so they do not become like the walking wounded - Palombe, Renee, and numerous real people I've known in my life. Thank you, Ryan, for being my rock and personal ipod technician.

I've lately said that I feel like a pretty capable mother until I venture into public with my children. For some odd reason, there were two instances this week when I had to pat myself on the back when handling my kids' interruptions in public, being the mother I want to be.

In the grocery store. We've all had it happen to us there! It was past lunch time/nap time and McKay lost it. Threw himself on the ground and tossed his boots a yard away in front of the pastry and deli windows with a good sized crowd to see his performance. I didn't even flinch and let him scream it out while I finished what I needed to do there. I got some real glares and a couple comments even. When it was time to move on, I got down and helped him up, chatted and smoothed it over and we were on our way. He just felt he wasn't being seen or heard, ya know?

Then for the past three weeks we've enjoyed having a couple of Ryan's coworkers come over to play board games each Wednesday. I feed the kids before they come over and then start a movie for them until bedtime. This week the kids were more needy and vocal than the previous two weeks. We were learning a new game [Puerto Rico] which made the interruptions more noticeable. Both of the coworkers are married guys without children, one's wife is in Iraq and the other loves having a new "game group." The second friend has jovially made it quite clear he's never wanted to have kids which seems to be reinforced for him each time he visits our house for game night. Ha! Amid his comments and the kids acting out at bedtime, I wasn't and still am not even offended, it's not a reflection on my kids. I recognize it's his choice and I've chosen differently. It's that simple. Guess that makes me all growed up for real now!

This is my life and I love it! I have chosen it. I have a husband who loves me and we've been blessed with children. These people in my life are the greatest and hardest things I've ever done. I'm grateful for books that help me look at my life, find joy, and open me to new things! My marketability in the world's workforce may be suffering, but I know I'm in the right place at the right time doing what matters most. I just need reminders at about 1, 5 and 7pm each day when I run out of steam!

Delightful!

Yesterday. Easton had to have a tooth pulled. He had to be restrained by me and two assistants just to be sedated. Talk about torture for all parties involved! But beautiful, delightful things resulted:

Morgan sat on Easton's bed as he awoke, giving him gentle love pats on the bottom while sucking on her blanket or eating teddy grahams. She also delighted a German man who was woozily waking up from his procedure. He liked hearing her "singing" and obstacle course training -- crawling under and climbing up everything in our sequestered, shared room. My favorite was when as he was jabbering on to my blank smile. Finally, I sheepishly offered, "English?" Then he slurred, "Ennn-gll-isshh . . . [thinking too hard for someone sedated] . . . [still thinking] . . . (sing song) Good night!" And he passed out with a smile on his face.

Once pain meds were retrieved for possible later use, McKay was picked up from kindergarten, lunch was eaten and so forth - it was that glorious time of day! By 2pm all my babies were sleeping, each having been snuggled to sleep by one happy exhausted momma. I find the easiest way to put my bigger babies to sleep is to fall asleep literally inches away nose to nose and they follow my lead minutes later! It was a divide and conquer sort of day and it actually worked! This is so amazing to me and I know it will pass all too soon. I can't remember the last time Easton took a nap, but he asked to be snuggled like McKay so I happily complied!

Because the phone rang minutes after E had dozed off, I got to sneak in a movie for myself! I'd borrowed the classic musical "King and I" from the library last week and finally sat down to watch it. I've never seen the whole thing and however quaint it may sound, it truly was "Delightful!"

Easton's teacher Ms. Senna called to check in and see how he was. She's been gone for two weeks visiting family in the States for her dad's 70th birthday and to care for her mom suffering from brain cancer while major treatment changes were begun. Easton's sadness and love for his teacher and her family was so sweet as he asked for me to say a prayer with him.

Morgan likes to oversee my dinner making operations from her perch on a step stool. Once she sees me doing quality control taste tests, she demands to do her part. Last night was mom's dilled ham and rice and by the time we sat to eat, Morgan and I were both pretty well filled.

Since I'm really enjoying the Old Testament studying in prep for teaching my Primary class, I pulled out the Old Testament children's reader for bedtime storytime. The boys really loved it and it had me wondering why I hadn't done it before. It answers so many of their questions about how the world began and kept their interest longer than usual. I love their questions, assumptions, and our little discussions! In fact, Easton begged to keep reading it after I left at chapter 5. Hearing Easton pronounce Enoch and other names made my day!

While Ryan watched a guy movie after the kids were in bed, I opted to do some lesson prep, armed with a muffin cup of chocolate and teddy grahams. I haven't dabbled much with all the tools MS Word has added in the past ten years. Good grief! I'm getting old. I laid out my lesson and made a flow chart, seriously stretching whatever graphic design skills I used to think I had. But I was proud of my effort to try something new and to have some good ol' pondering time.

This morning I didn't have to wake up and get everyone out the door. Now THAT is delightful! It's one of those parent-teacher conference days that our teacher isn't doing because of her trip. McKay came to our room announcing, "I need to go to kindergarten and get the gold plates!" Sorry, kiddo - we're having a day at home!

After my morning chores listening to "The Elegance of the Hedgehog," we made Valentines to hang on the windows. Each evening when Ryan gets home, we'll give them to each other. McKay liked tracing a few cookie cutter hearts. Both boys liked cutting one heart out, but grudgingly did a page worth. McKay did most of the pasting, Easton apparently doesn't like to. Who doesn't like using a new glue stick?! Easton did get into writing the little notes and how he wrote them makes me smile! I'm resisting the urge to properly round the corners of kid cut jobs!

Perhaps we'll be baking something fun later. Maybe folding the heaps of laundry in my room. Maybe even washing some other growing heaps too. Maybe. I'm just determined to enjoy the day with them home and have it be a little productive. So far, today too has been delightful!

- - - - - - - -

P.S. And it was! Here's samplings of those Valentines!

An Incredible Boy all day long . . . and here's his handiwork!

Be Mine and Hug me . . .

And my favorite - U R Cute and Hot Stuff as only a youngin' could write it!

Great hand-me-down

We inherited this fabulous doll house from a friend of mine with three girls that have outgrown it. Not to worry, I'm not trying to indoctrinate the boys. Within moments of me pulling this out for the first time, I heard these excerpts of their play:

Easton: Come here honey, I'm going to have a baby!

McKay: It's time to battle!

Easton: Hey, Girl! Get him!

McKay: I can't! He's invisible! (As his character was jumping and sliding down the rooftops.)

And then Morgan came along and she had to test the house for it's seating options.


It wasn't very comfortable so she moved on to giving the doll family members rides in the minivan which had sing song buttons. And the crib and wedding canopy also have these singing buttons. With all their use, I'm sure the batteries will soon be dead but I'll be very tempted to replace them because their songs make her so happy! This girl LOVES music!