oh, the irony

So

I'm putting together the activity sets for the preschool swap

and Lexi is playing with my clothespins.

my regular clothespins.

Does anybody else see the irony ??

We get so hung up 

on trying to offer our children all the 'right' educational experiences

and all we really need to do

is include them in life. 

real, regular life.

there's a new blog in town

Brandon got a digital microscope for his b-day

(that's why your comment got deleted, Kaylana)

You may have seen it; I accidentally linked to it recently.

anyways.

The kids have all had quite a bit of fun with it

and it's led to him starting a blog, Guess the Thing.

He going to post a couple of close-up photos every week

and wants ya'll to see if you can figure out what they are.

Then the following week, he'll share the not-so-close-up pictures

that correspond with the previous week's close-ups

and a few more new pictures.

Sounds fun, huh??

so gather up the kids and head on over

and play

:-)

speaking of new blogs....

Several months ago

I started another one for my crafty stuff

since this blog was in danger of turning into a 'look what I did' site

instead of a family scrapbook.

Most of ya'll probably already knew that

but just in case somebody missed it

and cares

I didn't want ya to feel left out.

makes a momma's heart happy

By chance
we both pulled into different spots 

in Aldi's parking lot at the same time.

I was running in to pick up a few groceries;

he was heading over to Marketplace to work.

He could have pretended he didn't see us.

He could have waved hello and walked the other way.

But he didn't;

he smiled real big

and came over and gave me a hug.

I do love my boy!

that crazy little Lex'

So.

I'm trying to get the girl to sleep.

She's so tired.

But man, she's a fighter!

I left the room for a minnute

thinking that

maybe

without me in there

she could finally succumb to sleep.

Then

I could hear what sounded like Bible pages rustling.

Okay.

How can I spank her for getting a Bible??

I went in

 - it's dark, mind you -

and I could barely make out her figure next to Papa.

Oh, that's so sweet.

She's lying next to Daddy reading the Bible.

And then

I smelled a very faint perfume-y scent.
what??

She had gotten up
(she's a quiet li'l bugger when she wants to be!)

gone to the bathroom 

grabbed my box of tampons

(accidentally didn't buy the unscented this time)

took the whole box box and got back in bed.

Reading the Bible - my eye! 

a little bit of lately

This is my favorite shirt on Lexi right now.

I can't even tell you why ~ I just love her in it!

That it only cost 25 cents at a yard sale is a bonus.

School is in full force

bu there's still plenty of time for playing.

Josiah kinda tends toward laziness.

Needless to say, that's not gonna fly

so I've been having him stick close to me.

He's learned how to rinse the dishes, then stack them

before loading into the dishwasher.

This is his first load - pretty good, huh?!

Birthday Season will be over soon.

The little ones sure love buying gifts for their bubs!

I'm still on page 16 of my manual

but I'm not as scared to use the camera.

I'll be thrilled when I can finally shoot manually

but I'm quite happy with results of the auto settings for now.

(some of the above pics were all taken w/ my point & shoot)

chill pill

My mind races in 37 different directions

every time I put a baby to sleep.

One of the directions its often going

is

school.

I can't really do school the way I'd like to.

It's just not possible.

I'm coming to grips with that

and trying to find a balance between what I want to do

and what we absolutely positively have to do.

Sadly

more often than not

what we really end up doing isn't even a compromise;

it's the bare-bones minimum.

And I hate that!

Anyways

back to one of my 37 trains of thought....

I haven't worked on scissoring with the little ones.

(that's what Josiah used to call cutting - which makes perfect sense!)

I need to make up some worksheets.

Straight lines for Lily

curvy for Josiah

zigzags for Jeremiah....

These are the things that run through my head.

What is the matter with me?

I mean. Really??

My kids are always making tickets.

or collages.

            

Why just this morning, Lily cut up a playing card.

Granted, she got fussed at for it, 

because it was formerly part of a whole deck,

which is rare around here.

One of my huge pet peeves

 is their paper scraps all over the floor.

And I was worried about them acquiring the proper cutting skills??

Sometimes

I just need to take a chill pill.

graduation 2011

"Are you sentimental?"

She'd asked innocently,

wondering if perhaps

she was a touch too sentimental about the whole thing.

I, without a thought, answered, "Oh, yeah."

"Your first one's the toughest, though," I added

as her eyes brimmed with tears and her voice got shaky.

Then

I sort of felt bad for not being more sentimental;

being a veteran graduator and all has hardened me, I guess.

As I was nursing Lexi later,

I began making a mental list of the things that needed doing.

(I sometimes envy those with kids graduating

from 'regular' school - all they gotta do is show up)

Then I started thinking

about what pictures we might want to use in Tony's video.

I haven't taken many pictures of Tony lately

I'll need to get better about that.

I thought back to different things he's done in the past few years

and regretted the lack of photographic evidence.

A kazillion hours spent working on his sister's house

and not one photo.

Darn!

That was pretty much his entire summer last year.

and I have no record of it

save the one in my mind

and we all know how reliable that's been lately.

So

I went further back in my mind

picturing photos that we do have.

I got to one taken in the playroom in Ft Smith.

TJ and Tony were laying on a pile of pillows

and T was reading to Ton'.

A Hardy Boys mystery, I think.

And my chest got heavy

and my throat started to tighten up.

My eyes began to sting a little.

I had to stop that thought train right there!

Maybe I'm not as tough as I thought.

I'm not ready to graduate another baby!!

another quilt

Remember this - when I got to hold an angel?

Well, that little angel baby has a new quilt

only

I didn't make it for her.

Lynnet did;

and I hijacked her blog to post about it.

silly little Lex'

I'm sure this is one of those

'you had to be there' stories

but still

I want to remember, so I record.....

Lexi always answers,"Nine!" in a very sing-song voice

when she's asked her age.

"Lexi, how old are you?"

"Nine!"

"You're nine?"

"Yeah!."
"And you still wear diapers?"
Lexi looks down,

"Yeah!"

She always smiles when she says, "Yeah."

"And you still drink momma milk?"

Lexi looks over at Momma.

"Yeah!" :-)

"How old are you, Lexi??"

"Nine!"

repeat repeat repeat

It really is quite hilarious

mixed emotions

~

I'm not sure if I'm happy

or

sad.

Mostly happy, I think.

Tyler put Lexi to sleep this evening.

I kept busy sewing

so I wouldn't cry.

But I'm done sewing now

and the tears are threatening to flow.

my son, my teacher

another post about sleep

Odd, I know.

For someone without much authority on the subject

I sure write about it a lot.

hmm.

Anyways.

Lexi Girl fell asleep

on her pillow tonight (this morning...)

not nursing.

Now,

she has gone to sleep 'unhooked' before

a couple of times

- rocking -

when the well's run dry,

but this is the first time ever

in her whole 19 1/2 month life

that she has fallen asleep in bed on her own.

I was right next to her, of course.

Using my own quilt, because she wouldn't share hers.

Do you have any idea

how difficult it is

to lie there

in the dark

feigning sleep, but not falling asleep??

I

if I may brag a bit

am a master at that.

awww

I walked in the playroom this morning

and saw this

while it should have been cleaned up last night,

I'm kinda glad it wasn't.

Made me smile.

(The rest of the mess didn't make me smile, though...)

It made me think of this

Awww

Two little sweeties

tucked in with love.

and the winner is....

Rebekah

But wait!

There were two Rebekahs in the drawing

which one was it??

~

To determine the winner of the fabulous crayons

we colored pictures of what everyone said they would draw first

if they won

Everyone got in on the action

even Dad

We folded all the pictures in half

and put them in a bucket.

Lily closed her eyes real tight

and pulled out

the dog

Congratulations, Rebekah!!

I'll need your mailing address

~

I just reconnected with Rebekah

thanks to the wonders of modern technology and social media.

She's got a sweet little family

(or big family, depending on your perspective)

and blogs about them

and the food they love over at Rebekahs Family Food and Fun

~

thanks for playing, everyone

and just like that

with very little warning,

it was over.

I have enjoyed having a pool more this year than usual.

I suppose

that is because I actually got out in it

just about every day.

At first

it was all about the kids

and my trying to be more 'present'.

Yes, I am with my children

pretty much all the time,

but I confess I am not always with them.

Stay home mommas know what I mean.

(You do, don't you? or is it just me??)

~

As the season wore on

and walking with Tyler wasn't happening

because it was just too darn hot outside,

I started getting in the pool to exercise

alone

before the children joined me to swim and play.

After finishing my workout

(which if you must know

consisted of running - Baywatch style around the pool

(please-don't picture that!)

until my legs couldn't take any more,

then using just my arms

to keep me in one spot in the pool until they hurt

and then reversing my direction and going against the current

and doing it all over again.

repeat. repeat.repeat...)

but before the kids came out

I would sink down in the water

worn out - but in a good way

and I'd just

breathe.

It only lasted a minute or so

but it was my favorite time of day.

It was quiet, except for the water flowing through the filter

and the sky was always beautiful.

And there was peace.

And then

one day, I got in the pool and it was cold

and the next day

I got in there and it was gasping cold.

And I never climbed back in again.

Just like that

with very little warning

Swimming Season

was over.

On the bright side, though,

it's now cool enough that Tyler and I can walk again

which just happens to also be

my favorite time of day.

gone

We lost a tree in a storm ages ago.

A pretty big tree, at that.

The guys thought it'd be really fun

and manly

to chop at it with an axe.

I was okay with that;

I'm all for exercise.

But the novelty wore off

and the tree sat.

Every day

when I'd look out at the pond,

(And I do look out at the pond every single day.

I'm like an old person; it's part of my opening the blinds routine)

there it would be,

dead

brown

and ugly.

But not anymore!

Thanks, guys!!

out of the mouths of babes

A minimum of twice a day

poor Li'l Miss Lexi,

when she's just desperate to nurse,

hears,

"Just a minute, Lex', Mommy has to go to the bathroom."

What can I say?

I have a small bladder.

Today was such a gorgeous day

and Lexi wanted to spend pretty much all of it

outside.

(pronounced "yide" - said while pointing to the door.

This is also how she tells me which side she'd like to nurse on,

"yide" - while pointing at -well- you get the point.)

"Yide!" She said to Brandon.

"Okay, I'll take you outside.

Can I go to the bathroom first?" He asked.

She looked at him.

"You not Momma!"

"Yide!"

~

don't forget to enter the drawing!!

happenings. and a giveaway

I can hardly believe it's Friday already.

And

a Friday in September, to boot!

On Wednesday, Lily and I made a batch of deodorant.

I've been using my homemade stuff for over a year now

and have been quite pleased.

Tyler had two containers that were just about out

and we had some leftover deodorant

after Lily filled my container

so we scraped out the remains of his

and added it to the remains of mine.

I figured he'd appreciate the manly smell

and this would be a good marriage of

homemade and chemical laden.

The thing about the homemade version is

it's soft.

The tomato lady suggests using a 'light hand' to apply.

It's especially soft for the the first few days after making.

I forgot to tell Tyler we'd switched up his deo

and when he went to use it this morning

he

well

he didn't use a light hand

seeing as how he didn't know he needed to....

It was hilarious

but I suppose you had to be there.

~

Look what came today!!

I'm both excited and terrified.

The battery is charged

and I'm on page 16 of the manual.

I think I might end up on page 16 for quite some time.

~

We also got our Rainbow Resource package today.

If you homeschool - you really must get their catalog

and even if you don't, you might want it - it's packed full of goodies!

When I order school stuff,

I always try to buy a few art supplies to add to our collection.

This year

I picked a couple of winners!

I ordered Lexi some rock crayons

and she loves them!

She likes to color

but regular crayons just don't always show up real well

with the light hand of a little one.

One stroke on the page with a rock and she was sold!

We also ordered a product I've looked at for the past three years

but just couldn't talk myself into.

This year

I was a little bit shy of the $150 in product

to qualify for free shipping

so it was the perfect chance to get them;

I figured

I could either pay for shipping

or I could pay for crayons

and have something to show for my money.

Excellent decision!

I only wish I would've ordered them three years ago.

These are the most amazing crayons I have ever touched

(and I was thoroughly impressed with Lex's rocks!)

The boys both said, "Oh, these are beautiful!"

right after they began coloring.

A half hour later

Lily woke up from her nap and we showed her our new treasure.

As soon as she put crayon to paper

she said,

"These color beautifully!"

~

You know what?

I think I'll do a give-away!

I am so excited about these crayons,

I'm going to give away a set of 24!

No kids?

No problem!

I'm pretty sure if you won these

as soon as they arrived in your mailbox

the kid in you would come out to play.

To enter the drawing

just leave a comment

telling me what you would draw a picture of first

with your silky new crayons

if you won.

I'll draw a winner (draw a winner - haha)

ahem.

Sorry.

I'll draw a winner Monday evening.

things I wonder about

"It's okay Momma.

Maybe someday soon, you'll know your kids names again."

He'd said it with compassion

after I'd called him the wrong names

again

for the kajillionth time.

If I've said it once

I've said it fifty times,

"It isn't that I don't know who you are,

my brain and my mouth just don't work together sometimes."

It got me to wondering...

Sleep deprivation is a form of torture;

keep the victim awake until he talks.

Right?

But

why on earth

would anybody believe what the poor tortured soul said??