Christmas Quotes that will go down in family history

That's just a mummy...how bad could a mummy be? (Kevin, while playing the wii. Guess he hasn't seen the movie!)

That's an ice cream scoop for a tarantula! (Kevin -- about my new cookie scoop)

I bet that's an ant farm (Chris -- about a wrapped poster tube of Sammi's)

We can just dodge the dead bird (they wanted to play volleyball but there's a dead pelican in the middle of the court)

Top Ten: You Know You Have Sons When...

Train a child in the way he should go,
and when he is old he will not turn from it. Provebs 22:6

I have always been fascinated with 'nature vs. nurture' studies, and at one time (before I had children) I believed that boys and girls were so different because of their upbringing...isn't it fun to see things you were certain of turned upside down?

I learned quickly with our oldest daughter that some girls were going to be 'girly' regardless of what the parents did. Now, as a mother of boys, I know that God is giggling in his throne room as I struggle with the truth that a little 'y' chromosome can make such a huge difference!

So, without further ado, I've learned that you know you are raising a son when:

10. A conversation on any topic can turn into a discussion on animal waste within three sentences.

9. You ask if he has a clean shirt on and he immediately looks down to see if there is any dirt (on the shirt you KNOW he's worn for three days)

8. You walk in his room to collect dirty clothes and find a week's worth of clean underwear in the corner...but no dirty pairs.

7. You have to create rules like 'no dinosaurs at the table'.

6. You decide to raise 'peace-loving' children but they still create guns out of sticks, fingers, and even sandwiches

5. He delightedly shows you that certain body parts 'bounce' when he jumps.

4. Bodily noises create gales of giggles and bragging instead of embarrassment

3. Your son proudly announces that he has discovered eight ways to create those embarrassing bodily noises

2. He chooses to drink root beer because it makes you 'burp better'

And the number one way to know that you are raising a son is....

1. When your family meets your daughter's boss (a minister) for the first time, he proudly announces that he hasn't made any of those embarrassing bodily noises in several days cause he's saving them up for a really big release!

I've Won A New Title!

I am scum mom of the century today.

Chris only has one pair of pants that 'fit'...all the other pairs (which are the exact same type and size) don't fit. Other than the grass stain on the knee, I can't tell which are which and I am evil when I recommend that he wears a different pair. So I let him wear the dirty pair from yesterday.

Kevin has all of a sudden become Mr. Neat. His new pants (which we bought a week or so ago because the others were too tight) collect hair. His new coat collects hair. Even if I clean him before he leaves the house, the clothes apparently collect things on the way to school (yesterday he came running back home so I could get more stuff off of his coat). I told him we could give him a roll of masking tape so he could clean them when he gets to school...that helped a little, but he still broke into tears when I left the room. In addition, the new pants aren't quite tight enough, so all of a sudden he wants to wear his belt (which he refused to wear any other day this year). Of course it isn't where I put it and we can't find it. So I let him wear the dirty pants from yesterday (for some reason he doesn't mind that THESE aren't pristine).

So the boys are happy (well, not unhappy) but the teachers think I'm a scum mom because I send them to school in dirty clothes.

Some days you just can't win!

Fruit Fly Frenzy

I like bugs. They are fascinating little creatures when in their own environments. However, my home is NOT their natural habitat...no matter what they think!

Our dear boys, bless their hearts, have been a bit disobedient. I discovered that they have been sneaking sodas, poptarts, and chocolate covered granola bars into the basement to drink/eat while they play wii. They've been told not to eat in the basement, so, crafty as they are, they hid their half empty soda cans along with poptart crumbs, wrappers, and half eaten granola bars in the bathroom trash can.

Please understand that the basement bathroom doesn't get used often, and therefore I don't clean it often -- it's on my once a month rotation unless we are having company. I may have missed my rotation last month for some reason...so it's been a while.

Well, I went down there yesterday. I should have been prepared for the worst when I saw that the door to the bathroom was closed, but I can be a bit naiive. I opened the door and was absolutely swarmed by fruit flies -- I don't think I'm exaggerating much to say that there were a million of them in there. I held my breath so I wouldn't breath any in!

I do have to give the boys credit...their trash actually made it into a trash can! But the smell of rotten soda and crumbs was pretty overwhelming. And every move I made just sent waves of flies out into the other room! I ran out, slammed the door, and went to get a big trash bag. I put it over the trash can and literally ran it up the stairs and out the door....I'm not sure how many flies actually left the house. I grabbed the bug spray and fumigated the bathroom. (WARNING: You really should read the warning on the bottle and not spray it into the air then breath the fumes....).

This morning I went to the kitchen and most of the fruit flies had relocated to the kitchen. They had landed on the cabinet doors, stove top, sink...almost any surface that was flat. I found this great site on the internet that has a ton of labor intensive ways to get rid of them. We are experimenting with the inverted soda bottle, glass container, and several metal containers covered with plastic wrap and filled with either apples or balsamic vinegar. Yes, the kitchen smells...unusual.

I really couldn't wait for the traps to do their dirty work, so I decided to attack with the vacuum cleaner. Now, if you are a bit sadistic, this can be rather fun. If a fruitfly gets within four inches of the hose, it is sucked in almost immediately! The boys thought it was really cool.

Well, we'll see how this all works. So far the apples are attracting more than the vinegar...and the vacuum has definitely won with the highest kill count. I'll update tomorrow to see how well it all works.

Any one know the gestation period of fruit flies?????

That Last Moment of Expectation...

It is 7:05 a.m. on a Monday morning...my last few moments of silence before the day (and the week) kicks off. In two minutes the boys alarm will go off. What will that bring?

I will most likely see a sleepy Kevin, hair all tussled, creeping quietly into my room. He often stands behind me watching me work for a minute until I realize he's there, then he either snuggles on my lap or climbs into my bed until he's fully awake.

Christopher, on the other hand, is an unknown morning surprise. On good days he jumps out of bed, gets dressed in about two minutes flat, runs downstairs to eat his breakfast and then plays happily until it's time to go to school. On 'neutral' days he will turn the alarm off, pull the blankets over his head, and stay in bed until the last possible minute (my preferred morning routine personally!). Then there are the 'wild card' days. He may yell at Kevin for turning off the alarm clock. Or he may yell at him because he DIDN'T turn off the alarm clock! He will decide that he absolutely wants the one thing we don't happen to have for breakfast...then get angry because it isn't available. He hates his uniform, and each piece will not fit well for some reason -- or it will be itchy, smell funny, or just look all wrong when he puts it on.

How will I respond? Some days I'm patient and I talk softly, helping him to see his options and trying to tease him into changing his mood. Most often I do start with that approach, but he knows just how to push my buttons. Comments like "Why do you always buy me clothes I don't like" or "Why don't you ever get any food I like" just tend to hit me the wrong way and I get a bit defensive. Things usually go downhill from there.

I'm the grown up here...and he's a child learning his way in the world. The Bible says I should teach him the way he should go...which means I should set a good example for the way they should act when faced with poor attitudes...

Uh oh...it's 7:15 and the alarm hasn't gone off yet. I went in to wake them up. Kevin started crying because he woke up too late and he's stomping down the stairs. Chris covered his head. Let's see how the morning goes!

It's a Nice Donut, but....

Last night I let Sammi and the boys buy a dozen donuts for our 'bedtime snack' and breakfast today. They went on an adventure, and each chose two donuts that were to be set aside for them. To fill the box, Sammi chose a few long johns and rounded out the dozen.

The boys were a bit miffed when I told them to select one of the two donuts they had chosen as their bedtime snack. I guess they wanted to save those for last! Then, this morning, Sammi took her last selected donut and a long john for her friend.

Kevin woke up (early, which may explain a lot), went to the donut box and broke into tears. He was really upset that someone had taken all except for one of the long johns. He was angry that there were so few donuts left. I told him that his specially selected donut was still there, but that wasn't good enough! I allowed him to have the one chocolate long john that was left instead of his special donut, but he still sniffled and whimpered through the whole thing. I'm sure it tasted like cardboard in his mouth.

It occurred to me that his response is unfortunately the same response most of us have in today's society. We have the things we chose, our jobs, homes, spouses, stuff, and yet we want something else. A bigger house, a bigger paycheck, more stuff. Then, even when we have more than we chose or need, we are still dissatisfied that someone else has more! When will we learn to be content with the wonderful blessings that we have?

I know that a lot of people are really hurting right now. They are having a really tough time making ends meet. There are a record number of foreclosures in our town (actually, we have the highest rate of foreclosures in the state), many people are out of work, and prices continue to increase with no end in sight. I don't want to downplay the difficulties that these folks are going through.

But so much of our lives are the results of choices that we make. We choose to live in a place that we really can't afford. We want stuff NOW, so we put it on charge, hoping we can pay it off later. We are dissatisfied with our jobs and want 'more, better, sooner' without being willing to take the effort to get more training, put in more effort, or go the extra mile. Or even to get an additional job to pay off some of our stuff. And even when we know what needs to be done to correct a situation, we don't change our behavior in a way that makes a difference.

Paul said he had learned to be content in any situation:

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content
whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it
is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every
situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I
can do everything through him who gives me strength." Phillipians 4:11-13 (NIV)

I want that level of contentment! I want to look around me and acknowledge that God has given me not only what I have selected as a result of my actions, but more indeed! I want to rejoice in that and focus on what really matters -- not the amount of donuts in the box, but the fact that I can hold one in my hand and bite into it's sweet, gooey goodness! Lord, please don't let me lose the joy you have given me because I'm looking at what I don't have. Help me to be content with the wonderful things you give me each day. Help me to make choices that honor you!

Brotherly Love

1 Peter 3:8 Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. (NIV)

Christopher slept in this morning. That's pretty unusual for him -- especially when Kevin wakes up earlier. However, we have learned not to wake him up or we regret it! He can be a real bear when he hasn't had enough sleep.

So I was presuming that today would be a good day...oops! Well, it still will be, but it sure didn't start off that way!

Chris ate his breakfast and went to play on the computer. The computer went through a maintenance scan of some sort, so he had to wait for it to complete before he could pull up the game he wanted to play. Kevin, in his normal mode, went in to the computer room to see what was going on. Chris tried to hide the computer screen for some reason, and Kevin pushed him out of the way. An argument pursued over whose turn it should be.

So I said that Chris could have the computer uninterrupted for 30 minutes, then it would be Kevin's turn. Oops -- there goes Mount Vesuvius. Chris wasn't at all happy that I limited his time. Crying, screaming, and banging caused Chris to lose his computer time. He ran screaming to his room, kicking and throwing things (he's pretty good at throwing tantrums). I told him calmly (I think...) that if he kicked or threw one more thing he would not be able to use the computer at all today. He ran to his bed, covered up completely and started shouting that he hated me once I left the room. Ugh...

A few minutes later, while crying was still loud, I happened to see Kevin sneak up the stairs. He had the cat in his arms. Knowing that Chris is not a very good bunk mate when he's mad, I braced myself for shouts of 'get out of here' and 'leave me alone'. I watched from behind my bedroom door as Kevin snuck up to his doorway and gently put the cat down, sort of pushing her into the bedroom. She went the other way, and he picked her up and tried again. Kevin then raced back down the stairs.

She was exactly what he needed. Chris saw the cat, stopped crying, and picked her up. They lay on the bed together for about ten minutes. Then Chris let her go, got up and went downstairs like nothing ever happened.

It is fascinating for me to watch the interactions between twins. They have very different personalities, and they know exactly which buttons to push to make the other one crazy. However, when things get tough, they also know exactly what to do to help the other one feel better.

It makes my heart melt to see how much they care for each other, even if they would never admit it. This is one of those moments I want to treasure in my heart!

The Beginnings of Modesty

So when does modesty become self-sanctioned? For years we would tell our boys that they needed to close the door when they went to the bathroom, that running around naked using a bathtowel as your cape is not appropriate when we have company, underwear is not to be used as a hat, and clothes are to remain zipped and buttoned until the bathroom or bedroom doors are closed. They seemed to catch on from an obedience perspective, but not from a personal morality view.

But all of a sudden our 'au naturel' 8 year old boys are becoming modest (about time!). They don't want their sisters to be anywhere near when it's bath time (although they still do the superman act on occasion regardless of who is around). On occasion I've even seen them slip under the covers to get dressed for school.

Modesty has hit an all time high this week, though. I have to say that I'm glad, since we have twin 8-year old girls spending the week with us. They both want doors closed before they even consider changing clothes, and this morning Kevin brought his dirty clothes to me...underwear securely wrapped up an hidden inside a shirt and then a pair of pants...just in case! All of a sudden those Sponge Bob briefs don't seem quite so model-worthy!

While I don't miss those days, I will always remember fondly the morning they discovered that their 'private parts' would bounce when they jumped. Hmmm...I'll have to retell that one often when they are older!

I'll Take What I Can Get

Chris and I had a rough day today. He's already decided that he doesn't like school this year so he whines and fights all morning until it's time to leave. It's interesting that he has always had a good day when we talk about it after school. I think it is just having to get ready on a schedule that causes him trouble...he's definitely not a morning person!

This morning it got pretty out of hand and I was frustrated for quite a while. He argued with everything I said and ended up screaming that he hated me (because I told him to put on his socks...I know, I'm cruel).

But tonight he asked me a very strange question. He wanted to know if I would trade my mother for a grape if someone asked me to. What???? After I asked him to repeat it because I was sure I'd heard incorrectly, I answered that of course not, I wouldn't trade my mother for anything.

Then he told Kevin that he would never trade me for a grape...he would be too lonely!It may not be a big hug and "I love you", but some days this is may be the best I can get.

After the disagreements this morning I was sure he'd give someone much more than a grape to take me away. I hope he doesn't change his mind tomorrow if we butt heads again!

What a Great Place!

I don't usually like to promote business establishments in my blog, but I just have to tell about ToysRUs's Birthday Club. This is the second year we have done it (see my original blog, Like a Kid in a Candy Store, from last year). The boys each received a birthday card with a $3.00 gift card. At the store each received a balloon and a birthday crown. Christopher put his on immediately and wore it the whole time...Kevin decided he was too old for that, but he carried the balloon around like a prize.

Then, as we started shopping, they announced over the loud speaker that the boys were doing their birthday shopping, and they asked everyone to congratulate them on turning eight. Several people stopped us to aske about their birthday and oohed and aahed over their toy selections. The boys had each received a gift card from us and some birthday money from their Aunt and Uncle, so they had a fortune to spend ($48.00 each).

We had a blast. Just like last year, Kevin decided what he wanted very quickly (a Hot Wheels toy, Hungry Hungry Hippos, and a remote controlled snake). He put them in the basket and then happily helped his brother shop. Christopher checked over every item. He was appalled at how much some things cost (what a good shopper!) and he didn't want to spend his money all in one place. He was such a frugal shopper. He eventually chose two $5.00 items and I was starting to wonder if we had time to finish shopping since the store closed in just six more hours...

Then he found the spy toys, and he chose to put his two small gifts back in order to purchase night vision goggles, a listening device, secret message pen, small lights that attach to your helmet for secret missions, and several other things. They carefully handed over their money and gift cards and proudly carried their gifts to the car.

We had free kid's meal certificates for a local restaurant because of their birthday, but they didn't want to stop anywhere that might postpone their playtime! Whose children are they and where did they take my fast food junkies????

It was fun to see that their basic personalities are gelling and their shopping techniques remained the same for a whole year. They are already talking about their shopping spree next year! I guess I don't have to agonize over gifts any more as long as they like ToysRUs.

Unreasonable Expectations?

Well, I brought it on myself. I had great expectations that this morning would be different. After all, the boys are eight now, right? Surely that means they will be more mature, wake up happier, and won't fight at the breakfast table.

I know that this is unreasonable, but I expected that today would be better since it was a special day.

But no. Kevin woke up early and realized that his brother had stolen his pillow sometime in the night. He yanked the pillow out from under Chris as 'gently' as he could, and somehow Chris just woke up! I don't think I've written the warning in my blog NOT to wake Chris up any earlier than necessary...he's just not a morning person. I know he's too young to introduce morning caffeine, but he's really tough to live with before 8:00!

So the birthday got off to a rip-roarin start. Have I mentioned that I often pray through the day for the boys' teachers? Some days I think they need it more than others...this would have been one of those days, but at around 8:00 Chris decided that a birthday was worthy of a better attitude. He was all smiles by the time he got to school.

So, the birthday celebration worked to perk up his mood today...what can I use to entice a smile tomorrow?

And before any of you start thinking that Kevin is an innocent bystander in all of this...he told me about getting the pillow from Chris with a big gleam in his eye!

The joys of twins...