Code Name: Operation Mom

I probably don't need to say much about this picture, since it's fairly self-explanatory if you look closely. I'm sure you see things like this all the time. However, as the reader, you might like a little clarification.

I had just finished playing keyboard, earlier this evening, with our church's Celebrate Recovery Band. I was sitting next to a girlfriend, listening to a great speaker giving a moving testimony, when I got a phone call (my phone was on vibrate, lest you think I am some heathen who forgets to turn her ringer off during church) from the preacher's wife. I knew this was likely a bad thing because she was teaching the kids' class. My kids' kids' class. I snuck out of service & went to see who might be bleeding profusely this time. It was Titus (boy #5), but there was no blood anywhere. His teacher said, "Come take a look." I thought, since there was no blood, that there might be some internal injury, so I readied myself to start checking his pupil dilation for signs of concussion. It was an internal problem alright....but not in the way I had thought. Yes, you read the incident report correctly. Yes, he had torn a little piece of rubber off of his shoe. Yes, he had placed it into his ear canal. Why had he done this, you ask? Well, because, you see, he had torn a little piece of rubber off of his shoe. The classroom was out of trash cans (I can only assume) and he didn't know what to do. Then, it suddenly dawned on him that he had just the thing! He had a very convenient, very tiny hole, in his very own head, that the little piece of torn shoe rubber would fit into perfectly! (It makes sense when you think about it.) But it didn't end up being the enjoyable experience he had thought it would. He was fairly upset & panicked when I got to him. First, I tried to pry it gently out with the curve of a paper clip. Wouldn't budge. I was afraid to really dig around in there & either hurt his ear, or shove the rubber chunk further in. I was desperately trying to avoid an annoying hours-long visit to the ER. I've had my fair share of those. They've lost their charm. I try to "fix things" myself as much as possible, if it's not a broken bone, or some life threatening thing. Butterfly bandages have saved us big bucks in ER bills. Stitches shcmitches. I had the brilliant idea, in my desperation, to take Titus into the bathroom, where no one would see me perform Code Name: Operation Mom. I put my lips around his ear canal area, created an air-tight seal & tried to suck the thing out. That's when it occurred to me that I should probably wash his ears more often. The thing still wouldn't budge. Titus did, however, acquire a lovely hickey inside of his ear. Almost resigned to needing to go to the ER after all (and a little embarrassed about possibly having to explain the ear hickey to the doctor), I took Titus, whose panic was ever-rising, back to class to get the other boys & get ready to leave. Fortunately, his teacher had found some tweezers in the first aid kit, during my absence. It took me 20 seconds flat to get the torn shoe rubber out of his ear canal with those tweezers. Titus was as happy as a mother who had just given birth. Gasping, giggling, laughing and hugging ensued. The poor kid. All ended well. I was able to go back to my group & the kids were able to continue with their class. I really appreciate the preacher's wife, & the other teachers, for all that they do for my children, but I think I might talk to them about buying a trash can for the classroom. ;-)

Making Friends

 

My boys like to make stuff...

....like this handsome stick fellow here.....

 

 

 

......and this cool Nerf-gun-warrior-buddy-guy......

 

 

 

......and like this cute little super-stick-hero-baby-dude......
 

 

.......and like this ginormous family of stick friends.

 

 

Why, you ask, did they spend hours outside, making these adorable stick friends?

 

 

 

So they could engage them in battle, naturally.......

 

 

.....and kill them all. Of course.

 

 

When they brought me this cute little "friend" (into my house!!!), they wanted to keep it, and love it, and pet it, and take it home, and call it George. I said, "No" calmly (only squealing and shrieking slightly).......and had them set it free down by the canal.


Even though I am a mean mommy and don't let the boys keep the furry "friends" that they find, I am still cool, right? Aaaaarg. Yeah.

No, we did not celebrate Halloween early. It was "pirate night" at Pioneer Club last night. The nice thing about Pioneer Club is that most of our little friends there do not have long, creepy tails. They don't scurry under my fridge, eat all my cheese, poop in my pantry, nibble on my toes while I sleep, and give me fatal blood-born diseases in the middle of the night. The unfortunate thing about Pioneer Club is that it might be frowned upon if we try to annihilate our Pioneer Club friends in battle. I guess that's why we need our stick friends.

 

 

 

A quick shout out to Nanny & Papa, who came from WA for a lovely visit over the weekend. Love you guys!

Summer-Wrap-Up-So-I-Can-Move-On-With-My-Life-Blog-Post

When last the Boy Crazy saga left off, we were saying goodbye to boy #2, who was leaving for church camp. Since then, boy #2 has returned home from church camp, talked about what an amazing time he had at afore-mentioned church camp, crashed shortly thereafter, and slept solidly for practically 3 days straight. The next week (3 days later), we said goodbye to boy #3, who left for preteen camp. Boy #1 also went with him to be a junior counselor. Knowing that boy #1 would be there to watch out for boy #3, made their mama feel better, but she was left alone, with only 4 boys to keep her company, for five. whole. days. She survived, but just barely.

In between the comings and goings of boys numbers 1, 2, and 3, boy #5 had a birthday. Titus turned 6 years old. We had a party with cousins, aunts, and Grandma. Abigail crowned him king for the day, naturally. King Titus received several lovely gifts from his Grandma, Aunts,and parents, but seemed especially excited about the birthday cards. 


Other exciting Summer happenings:

A. Gideon lost his first tooth!

B. More visits were made to our refugee friends for story times.

Apparently showing off for the camera is fun for kiddos from all cultures.

C. Too many awesome Summer outings and camp outs with friends to blog about. 

One camp out was a "boys only" camp out, and the mama was left completely alone in the house, over-night, for the first time....E.V.E.R. She could have gone to band practice, she could have stayed the night with a friend, and she could have gone to a fun BBQ. Instead, all she did was stay home, cry, and watch shows on Hulu. She is embarrassed and doesn't want to talk about it.

D. Gideon lost his second tooth!

E. I/she jumped in with the SweetTarts for a Saturday morning gig in the park, for our community clean-up day. In case you didn't know, I haven't done much with them lately, due to life, kids, etc...Turns out I don't have as much time to be a rock star as I thought. But I thought I'd get one last hoo-rah in before the school year started back up. My sweet sister-in-law, Jubilee, who just moved here from WA (and brought my adorable nephew with her), watched the boys for me that day, and again, the next week end, when I went on our church's ladies retreat. I did much better without my kiddos & hubby that weekend, since I had so many neat gals around me. I definitely needed that weekend. I came home feeling refreshed spiritually & emotionally closer to God, and to other women. So, thank you, Auntie Jubilee!!!

We are now in the full swing of the new school year. Our home group (aka: Bible study) started up again on Tuesdays, and we love it. Justin is leading it & he does a great job. The kids & I are going to Pioneer Club on Wednesdays, where they get to have a blast, and I get to teach the 2 & 3 years olds. There is high school youth group on Mondays, middle school youth group on Tuesdays, Celebrate Recovery on Fridays (where I am privileged to be part of the official, new "CR Band"), and, of course, church on Sundays. I'm desperately trying to get the boys' school lessons done during the days, and not let them get behind....this time. I sometimes feel like I'm failing my kids by not having them all in sports, and music lessons, and such....but, seriously, when would I do it??? I don't honestly know how anyone does it. Justin is also involved in our church's Men's Fraternity, which is an awesome thing, but is so very early in the morning that I am barely breathing when he leaves the house. He is working like a dog, as usual, to support all of us. He is also constantly working on our cars, with their various issues, on his days off. The poor guy needs a break. I think he still wants to take us out on one more camp out before Winter hits. I want a million dollars. I'll let you know if either event comes to pass.