It's not Tuesday, but I'll still tackle it!

I missed Tackle It Tuesday, and then I remembered that I wanted to participate. Our playroom needed major tackling - and so did corner of the living room that holds some toys. Tomorrow is #3's First Birthday, so there are more toys coming. It was time to manage the ones we have.

The Before:




After:






And, since it doesn't look like I did a lot - this is what went in the trash and the give-away pile:

For the love of Tacky

My son is out in the backyard singing at the top of his voice:

"How many legs does a fish have?
How many wings on a cow?
O, I wonder... Yes, I wonder."

He cracks me up. :)

FOUR on the floor!

Yesterday at lunch, Bookworm#2 was repeatedly learning back in his chair (two legs on the floor, two legs off), and I had repeatedly told him "Four legs on the floor."

Well, Mommy has a limit to how many times she'll say that before the privelege of having a chair is taken away. I've never had to revoke that particular privelege before, but yesterday, I did. Saying "Four on the floor" five times in two minutes was just ridiculous.

So, I told him to stand up, and I took his chair and put it in my bedroom. He threw himself on the floor kicking and screaming because he hates it when something deviates from the norm AND when he doesn't get his way. I sent him to his room because we don't allow fit throwing in the public areas of the house. Nineteen minutes later the screaming stopped. He went potty, and then he returned to the table with the little stepstool that resides in the bathroom.

He set it down where his chair had been. And he sat on it. Then he stood to take a bite of his food. Then he sat back down to chew. Then he stood to take a second bite, and he sat back down to chew it. Up. Bite. Down. Up. Bite. Down. Up. Bite. Down. Up. Bite. Down. Up....

And so continued the meal.

I, however, had to leave the table to prevent my stiffled laughter from becoming a choking hazard.

Mama's hiding. No seeking. :)

Before you get too concerned, my husband is home. I was supposed to go to a women's event at our church tonight, but since I'm now the only one without the tummy troubles, I decided to stay home and make sure that we don't pass this to any other households. I think it's rotovirus, and it is just plain nasty.

So, today we did no actual school work. Instead, we read:
A Zoo for Mister Muster,
Curious George Takes a Job (twice)
Bread and Jam for Francis
Alexander and the Wind-Up Mouse
Frederick
Tacky and the Winter Games
Pajama Time
Snuggle Puppy

And that doesn't include the night-time reading, which the Bookworm King is starting now. It's only 7:15, but #2 is so tired that he's wired, and #3 would love to play in peace for a bit, so #2 is headed to bed for more stories. The King is reading the Bible reading for the day and a picture book or two. I'll grab a book about rocks and a phonics reading and take #2 to bed shortly.

Bookworm#2 played Vsmile and watched a lot of TV today. We'll be doing schoolwork tomorrow. I got some chores accomplished. I need to get my Bible study homework done, but since I won't be going, I'm not that motivated. I hope that one of my buddies scores me the video from this week and last week so that I can watch them. We're doing an older Beth Moore study about David (A Heart Like His) and I want to hear what she has to say.

But for now, I'd better quit blogging and get a bit of organizing done.

I love to organize. :)
For the moment, my sweet Bookworm King banished me to the walk-in closet that we use as an office. I was supposed to get the evening off, but it didn't happen - he's giving me some much needed quiet. I may wind up spending the better part of the evening in here because it's a mess. I have a bunch of stuff that I need to file or otherwise take care of.

Ick Sick Day

#2 and #3 have the icky-sickies. We're just hanging out today - and doing a lot of necessary laundry. I'm on my fourth shirt of the day (counting since midnight, #3 is on his third set of pjs. Both of their beds got changed in the night - I started the first load of the day at 2am with ALL of the bedding from #2's bed - since then, he's managed to get to a bowl - or the sink - or the potty.

We've read some nice stories this morning - A Zoo for Mister Muster and Curious George Rides a Bike.

The Bookworm King did go to church - he was playing in the worship band, so he had to show up - and he and I aren't sick, so we're pretty sure he didn't contaminate anyone. He and #2 are currently at the kitchen table working on/playing with their laptops (#2 has an old one that was laying around the office - it's pretty much only useful for playing kid games and typing in Appleworks - so the King's boss decided to bless #2 with it when his computer died a couple of months ago. It's kind of nice to be able to easily get the computer out to play with without having to keep it out all the time. #2 is still young enough that "out of sight, out of mind" is quite true.

I'm going to get back to the boys. :)

Ultimate Blog Party from 5 Minutes for Mom

It's been a long winter, and I'm in need of sunshine and a party. So, I'm going to participate in the 5 Minutes for Mom Ultimate Blog Party. It's the first week of March, and there are lots of available prizes. Sounds like some fun to me. I hope you'll come too!

I told you he was a monkey. :)

#3 is the same size an average chimp.

Elephants - the Glory Day post

Danny was fascinated by elephants. For one thing, they were big and hard to miss, so to watch them at the zoo was easy for him - he enjoyed the giraffes for the same reason. And, while in this picture he is standing at the rail, most of his time at the zoo was spent in his wheelchair, and it was easy to view these animals in our local zoo from a seated position. Overall, he loved the zoo. So, that's where we went this morning to think of Danny. You see, it was two years ago today we held him and sang to him and handed him over to the Lord and he
became our treasure in heaven.

Our trip today didn't go as planned - though it was warm and beautiful, parts of the zoo were closed off for repair and improvement because it is mid-week and mid-winter. The train wasn't running (much to #2's disappointment). We wanted to see the giraffes, chimps, elephants and penguins. We saw the siamung, gibbons, polar bear and elephants.

DS#2 also likes the elephants. He was particularly amused today because this elephant was taking a dust bath. He liked knowing that
this elephant enjoys dirt as much as he does.

DS#3 was, however, more interested in his snack than in the elephants. He enjoyed the ride around the zoo, and he did have a good look at the elephants, but most of the rest of his time at the zoo was occupied by this organic fuji apple. I don't blame him - I ate one and then I finished his too because they were SO good.

The trip to Danny's "remembering spot" at the cemetary was uneventful - we took him four red heart-shaped balloons - one from each of us. My ILs had already tied on some balloons of their own, and my mom had added a new pinwheel and some bright yellow and purple pansies. It seems kind of wrong to put flowers on a little boy's grave, so we tend to focus on things that interested him. He loved balloons and pinwheels and bubbles and all those things that boys like. We came home for quiet time and some rest before we met the family for dinner at Fuddrucker's. Overall, it was a good day.

Blogger Friend School Assignment #19: On the Drawing Board

This week’s assignment is to post a picture of one your family’s/child’s art projects or drawings. Be even more daring and post one of your own! Journal about the project.

This is a piece of Danny-art. Our eldest son, Danny, did this piece of spin art at his school in the fall of 2004. He stuck his finger into the paint as it was spinning and got this nifty look. What was really amazing was that he stuck his finger into paint at all - he had some serious sensory defensiveness that ordinarily kept him from touching anything wet ant gooey.

Tomorrow is the third time we'll celebrate his Glory Day, so you'll probably hear more about him then.

Book List Meme

Bold the ones you’ve read
italicize the ones you want to read
cross out the ones you won’t touch with a 10 foot pole
+ put a cross infront of the ones on your book shelf
asterisk* the ones you’ve never heard of
(put parenthesis around the book if undecided)

1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)+
3. To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)+
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)+
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)+
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)+
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)+
9. Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)*
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)*
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)+
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling)
17. Fall on Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban(Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)+
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)+
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)+
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)+
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)*
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)+
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)+
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)+
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie (Mitch Albom)
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
(32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks))
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)*
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True (Wally Lamb)
(39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant))
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible+
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)+
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)+
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)+
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)+
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)+
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)+
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)*
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)*
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)+
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller)
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)+
76. The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)*
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving) *
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)*
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down (Richard Adams)
87. Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth (Pearl S. Buck)
(94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd))
(95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum))
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
(100. Ulysses (James Joyce))

Gasoline.

This morning #2 went with the Bookworm King to the gas station, where he talked the King into letting him help pump the gas. Somehow, in spite of the King's watchful eye, #2 doused himself with gasoline, soaking his clothes and splashing his eyes. By the grace of God, he didn't breathe or swallow any, but the paramedics had to be called, and his eyes had to be washed, and his clothes had to be removed.

By the time I arrived at the gas station (driven by a fellow church member), the King and #2 were sitting in the back of the ambulance waiting for me, with the paramedics observing #2, and #2 rather disgruntled because he couldn't have a doughnut until we knew for sure that he hadn't ingested any gas.

We wound up not going in the ambulance, but taking #2 in the van to the church to get his brother from the nursery, where I had left him in someone else's care, and then to the minor emergency clinic where we have spent so much money lately. My mom was kind enough to meet us with a change of clothes for #2 and to take #3 with her. (Praise the Lord for the spare car seat we keep in her car!)

At the clinic, they rinsed his eyes with another half-liter of water, while he kicked and screamed and carried on and we talked and patted and held him as still as humanly possible. His eyes were examined and declared sore, but alright - and a trip to our favorite pediatric opthomologist was suggested. I'll be calling him tomorrow to see if we can get in to see him in the next couple of days. We went to Gram's house for the rest of the day, and then came home for dinner and rest. We put the boys to bed early because we are all emotionally exhausted from the ordeal.

But my ornery #2 was still able to read to me tonight. Praise be to our Lord Jesus!

Our adventurious Valentine's date :)

We went OUT! It's rare, but it does happen. We went to use a gift certificate at Bonefish Grill this evening while #2 was at Mimi's and #3 was at our house with Gram.

But the wait at Bonefish Grill as about an hour and a half.

Hmmmm... the gift certificate was also valid at Carabba's.

So, we went down the street to Carabba's. But the wait was about an hour there.

Hmmmm... so much for using the gift certificate. Where could we go and eat and get out for about $20.

We went over to Fuddruckers.

The line to order was out the door, and it wove though the lobby inside.

We knew that my mom needed to get home and to bed at a decent hour because she has to teach the toddler class in the morning. We decided to try one more place before we drove to a different suburb. There is this local Mexican restaurant that is authentic and VERY tasty - the kind of place where you'd better speak Spanish if you need anything that varies slightly from the men. We went there. It's a family restaurant that is typically full of Spanish-speaking families - one of those places that we could take the kids and they could be kids without annoying anyone. We had some Fajita Mixta, and it was tasty - and it didn't break the bank. Not the ideal date because it was loud, but we enjoyed ourselves.

Now we are home, and he's working some more, and I'm getting some stuff done - like blogging and catching up on my Bible study homework and getting somethings together for school this week.

OUCH.

I taught #2 how to do a forward roll this afternoon.

Yep, I did.

Remember that I'm rather pregnant, so it was like doing a forward roll with a beach ball tied to me.

Yeah - not my smartest move.

I pulled a muscle in my shoulder and may have knocked something out of place in my neck. I'm sure it will all be better in a couple of days, but in the meantime,

OUCH.

#2 is much better at forward rolls than I am.

Just Tacky...the Penguin, that is

#2 went over to have dinner and spend part of the evening with Mimi tonight. He had a fantastic time - but he arrived home about an hour after his usual story time, and he was really tired. We started the nightly Bible reading - Bookworm King reading while I fed #3 a bottle and #2 sat next to Dad and ate his bedtime snack. And then #2 asked for Tacky the Penguin. There was one problem with that - while he was at Mimi's, we made a trip to the library, and Tacky was among our returns. When I confessed that the book had had to be returned,

#2 began to cry - real, sad tears. This is highly unusual for him - he's not usually this sentimental. We talked and then read Curious George, but he wasn't happy with the swap.

I've already requested that the library hold Tacky for us again.

I'm off to add Tacky the Penguin to our Amazon to-purchase list.

I just have a few moments...

I've made a new discovery, and I've worn down the charge on my laptop's batteries playing with it. :) There's a new button on my sidebar for the Moms of Grace forums. This is an online community of Christian moms, and there are so very nice people there.

We had a busy day mostly at home. I cleaned bathrooms and such. I'll tackle the kitchen on Wednesday. We never got around to doing schoolwork, but we went to the Y and had BuddiE and her mom over for lunch and art (and coffee and a chat), so today's focus was on getting along with friends and not demanding your own way. We'll get school done tomorrow.

Right now, I've got to read over my Bible study homework so that I'm ready for tomorrow.

By George, I think he's got it!

My sweet #2 read a story to ME at bedtime tonight. This was the first time he read the whole little book in one sitting. And he did it beautifully. There are some issues with b,p, and d, but I know that will improve with time. We'll keep practicing with this level of Bob and other phonics readers for a couple of weeks, and then it will be time to move on in phonics. But since he's accomplished all of the phonics for MFW Kindergarten, we'll have to get our next thing ordered so it can get here.

After I'd read It's really hard being a bunny, he read Hot Pot to me, and I read Jan Brett's Annie and the Wild Animals to him (that promoted a discussion of the behavior of pregnant mommies, by the way). THEN, he said, "Mommy, will you leave my light on so I can read to myself, please?"

Oh my. A child after my own heart. I've read myself to sleep almost every night since I learned to read, and now he wants to read himself to sleep, too. It just tickles me. :)

Blogger Friend School Assignment #17: Snack Time

I've missed a bunch of Blogger Friend School Assignments. I'm going to have to catch up at some point. But for now, I'm just going to do the one for the current week:

What do you and your kids snack on at your house?

I don't have pictures, but we eat fruit or cheese and crackers or honey bread (not for baby) or cinnamon toast. Occasionally, it's "rabbitsies and cheerios." That is actually Annie's Cheddar Bunnies mixed with Clifford Crunch - a cereal similar to Lucky Charms, but without the marshamallows. Our bread is homemade and whole wheat, so none of these options are horribly unhealthy.

And now that you know what we eat, I'm going to put my sleepy self to bed. I have an early morning tomorrow. :)

He's so quiet when he's sleeping....

It was one of those days - you know the type - the ones in which everything goes in one ear and out the other, in which "No." is an invitation for a discussion, and in which all of yesterday's laws are assumed to be today's suggestions

The kind of day that would cause any mom to yell. And I did - more than I wanted to - mistakenly thinking that an increase in volume
might get my words through his hard little head. (It didn't help - but we did dissolve into a giggle fit at one point, and that did help.)

An example: I took the baby to change his diaper. When I returned, #2 had a pair of pliers that he got from their home in the junk drawer. He was going around "fixing" things. Typically, this kind of thing doesn't last long - he shouldn't have the pliers, but the baby needed a bottle and a nap, and by the time I got the baby to bed, the pliers will be back in their home. I put the baby down so that I'd have my hands free for bottle making. The next thing I heard was the baby screaming in delight. They were playing tug-of-war with his blankie (yep - he's a Linus baby). Then I realized that #2 still had the pliers and was using them to grip the blankie and getting them dangerously close to the baby's head. I finished making the bottle and went to put a stop to it -just as the baby finally got mad and just wanted his blankie. He lunged for it and missed and hit his head on an endtable as #2 ran away giggling gleefully. I comforted the baby and retreived the blankie and the pliers, and had the following discussion with #2:
Me: It is not nice to take your brother's blankie. You wouldn't like it if he took your blankie.
#2: I didn't take his blankie. The pliers did.

Good grief. :) I did manage not to crack a smile, and appropriate measures were taken to
discourage further and future teaching - but the way his mind works really does crack me up.

LOOKIE! #3's newest achievement!!

I can't post a movie. Why not? Because I really don't know how. I have some lovely video of #3's newest skill, but I have no idea how to put it into a blog entry, and my precious Bookworm King is completely swamped, so I'm not asking for help tonight. I know UncaBilly wants to see the video, though - so I'll try to get it up soon.

Until then - here's a photo. He really think's he's big stuff. :)

It's been fun watching him gain confidence over the last month. He can now motor around the house rather proficiently, but he still results to crawling to get somewhere fast - like if he hears the toilet flush, he drops to his knees and races off to see if he can get his hand in the water before the lid closes.

Boys will be boys. :) I'm rather fond of mine!

Mud, glorious mud

It was 65 degrees out today! It was beautiful! We had a busy day - Bible study (#3 stayed with me and was sweet - he took a nap, too). Then we went to eat pizza and brought BuddiE and her mom and Nurturing Mommy and her two kids home with us to play in the swamp that used to be our backyard - I'll get a picture of them up on the blog as soon as possible (waiting for camera to charge). You should have seen the look on NMsGirl's face when she tried to take a step and her shoe slurped into the mud and stayed put. She was not happy. #2 and the other big kids had a blast and were completely covered. I know BuddiE's mom doesn't mind if I post a picture, so here are #2 and BuddiE covered in slime:

The picture really doesn't do it justice - since they were wearing dark pants, the mud didn't show up well when they were standing on the patio - but here's #2 out in the sunlight (not his best or cutest side, but gives you the right impression:

Here are the pants on the way into the washing machine - I took this one mostly because my mother won't believe I let my kid get this slimy and then cleaned it all up. I'm a little OCD, you know - I don't do slimy.



Know what - they had a BLAST! The cleanup was totally worth it - though I'm really thinking that we need French drains BADLY.

You know you have boys when..

Spoken by the Bookworm King this morning...

"Drew. Finish your breakfast"

"Drew BEAR. Finish your breakfast."

"GET OFF YOUR BROTHER and finish your breakfast."

At that, breakfast was consumed .

Poor, neglected Blog

Fortunately, a neglected blog means that I've been doing my job! My children are happy, we're all SLEEPING! O my Lord, THANK YOU! You all just don't understand what a blessing that is. I slept ALL NIGHT in my own bed on Saturday night. I haven't done that since October 1999. No joke. It's been almost seven and a half YEARS! And not for lack of trying - #1 had a seizure disorder that disturbed his sleep. #2 just doesn't require nearly as much as I do, and #3 is 11 months old and JUST got the hang of sleeping. Of course, I can't get too used to it, because in a short 12 weeks, I'll have a newborn again, and I'll be up. Actually, Sunday morning and Monday morning, I was up at 4am just because I was up. I'm used to being up then, and so I was. Oh well. I can say I've slept one night in my own bed since I became a mother.

ANYWAY, we've been busy. My house isn't a total shambles. The Bookworm King and I went on a date Saturday afternoon, while #3 slept at Gram's house and #2 was out with Mimi. (Thank God for Grandparents who live in town.) We did church on Sunday and had a meeting after and that was most of the day. Last night I paid the bills instead of blogging, and when the mail came today, i figured out why things were looking so nice in my checkbook with my empty to-pay folder. I forgot to pay on the van. DOH! I hate it when I do that kind of thing.

We've done phonics and math this week and last and kind of given MFW Kindergarten a lick and a promise. That's fine - we've done elephants and penguins before - and like I said - we've worked on the cleaning and organizing. Seeing that where we live there are only elephants and penguins in the local zoo, I kind of glossed over that in my nesting frenzy and we've done lots of life skills.

I'm off the blog in a minute to get a snack (I gained NINE pounds last month - and I'm still hungry - of course, I'm pregnant, and I was low on weight gain - guess my body decided to catch up all at once.)

But I wanted to tell you all that someone near and dear to my heart has started a blog. I've sat under her teaching for years and never met her face to face. I'm not a crazy fan or participating in idol worship at all, but God has taught me many many things from Beth Moore's studies, and I was thrilled to know that she has a blog. You can read it yourselves at: livingproofministeries.blogspot.com (I'd try to make that a link, but everytime I do that, HSB adds parts to my link that makes it not work, so ya'll just have to cut and paste.