Car Conversations

On the way home from church a couple weeks ago:

Me: "What did you learn in class today, boys?"

Micah: "That Jesus was perfect & never sinned."

Jarod: "Mom?"

Me: "What?"

Jarod: "Did Jesus ever fart?"

Me: "Yes. (Sigh.) Jesus farted. But he probably said excuse me."






On the way home from church today:

Jarod, ripping his coat off in the back seat to avoid death from heat-stroke: "Mom, turn off the heater!!!! I'm sweating like a pig."

Seth, rolling his eyes at his brother's pathetic, inexcusable ignorance: "Pigs are NOT ABLE to sweat, Jarod."

Me, realizing something profound: "Oh!!! That must be why they roll around in the mud! To stay cool!"

Auntie Gloria, being the smart lady she is: "Horses can't vomit. They don't have the same gag reflex that humans do. If they eat too much they can die."

Me, taking note of the obvious parallel: "Hmmmm. Weird. Hey! Justin can't whistle."

Chomping at the Bit

                                                                 This past fall (& early winter), I started taking the boys to this neato horse ranch. Mr.Mike adopts horses who need homes & has the youth help him care for them. He teaches kids how to groom the horses & clean out horsie-stalls & also gives riding lessons. He teaches a strong joy-in-work ethic. Due to illness, I have not been able to take the boys there for a couple months. But they love going & are chomping at the bit to go back to see Mr.Mike & his beautiful horses. Jarod & Seth especially seem to have a way with the horses & love interacting with them. 

                                   

                   Watching big brothers ride & waiting for their turns.

                                           Mr.Mike giving Jarod riding lessons.

                                                           Seth on his own!!!!!

                                                           Hard-workin' boys!!!

         OCD-boy: "Why am I standing in poop?"

                                                   Yes, Titus. Your shoe is DIRTY.
               

        One of my bestist best friends ever......and the one who introduced us to Mr.Mike & his horsies.

                                             A famous Mr.Mike group hug.

A Pile on the Bathroom Floor

When the house is quiet for a little too long, one should wonder why. One should stop what one is doing....to check it out. BEFORE the entire linen closet is emptied............ 

              

           ...............and BEFORE Mt. Everest is erected in the bathroom.

Oh, well. They're cute. More blogging material. And one can show off her cute paint job.   

                            
                                     Signed, One

What We Should Have Given the Kids For Christmas

No, not hiking gear from the sports store. Giant paper bags. Cuz they're fun. And it would have saved us a lot of $.

                                    Just look at the joy on their little faces.

                                               Peek-a-boo, Auntie Gloria!!!!!

                                 Isaac started really talking a couple months ago. It's the cutest thing EVER. "MOMMY!!! I duck, Mommy! I duck!!!"
                                                   

 "I BOKE it, Mom! I boke it!!!" 

                                                  Gideon's cheese-ball face.

          This is a video. It's really cute. Click on it. If you want.

God Thought It Was Cute

Christmas break was nice. My thrift store Christmas-gift-shopping was a success. Grandma also spoiled my kids & shocked their socks off.....like she usually does. It's nice that my kids don't actually EXPECT her to do that. She always spoils them, so they SHOULD expect it. But I sort of led them to believe that they might not get much from her.......so she wouldn't feel like she NEEDED to spend as much money as usual. She did anyway, of course. It's so fun to see them get so excited & to see that they feel so blessed & thankful.   Between my awesome thrift store finds & Grandma's generosity, the boys have quite the Nerf Gun arsenal. And lots of other neat stuff. 

Justin helped with a little bit of the Christmas shopping this year. He scored this awesome bow for Seth at a second hand store. 

 

Daddy's story times have inspired creativity in the Homeschool-Drama-Club. This is Oliver Twist & his midwife. His mother died in childbirth. At least it's not Jesus, Joseph & Mary. Poor Tom.

Justin & I did a lot of THIS over Christmas break.

 Happy news! My sister Gloria has been staying with us for the holidays! It's been lovely having her around. I've sat up late nights having great talks with her, getting to know her better, talking about life & our childhood, etc. The boys LOVE her. She plays games with them, talks to them, reads to them.....laughs with (and AT) them. She babysat the other night so Justin & I could go on a date. We went to see Narnia. I felt a little guilty for not taking the kids to that, but we didn't have enough "free-movie" coupons to include them. Do you KNOW how much it costs to take them ALL to a movie?! We'll wait for it to go to the dollar theatre, thank you. We went to Costco....without the kids....and I don't feel guilty about that. We also went to the Library so we could continue our hot date at home on the couch......reading.




 Auntie Gloria tells a good tale.

She helps her nephew reach their goals.

                                   Jarod's favorite present: a cook book by Alton Brown, his hero.

Tonight, for dinner, I made my Very-Plain-Put-Everything-in-it-Casserole (that's my official name for it).....which the kids love & which my husband kindly, patiently tolerates. It's my "good-mother-compromise". I can pretend I'm cooking for my family like a GOOD homemaker would do.  My VPPEC contains veggies, whole wheat noodles, protein.....and it's EASY. I like easy. Poor Justin. The boys make me feel so good about my "skills". They tell me I am such a good cook. Poor ignorant little fellas. I'm making it easier on their future wives. Setting the bar kinda low, so they will be pleasantly surprised when their wives cook for them. Unlike MY mama-in-law, bless her gourmet-cooking little heart. (OK. Well, not gourmet exactly. But REALLY good.) I just never had a chance. Anyway, tonight.....Jarod informed me sweetly, with a mouth full of VPPEC, "See, mom? You can actually make a very delicious, home-cooked meal.....just with everyday items from your kitchen!!!"

                                           Thank you, Alton.

 Jarod was very happy with this present as well. Yes, it's a snow globe. He has been asking me for a snow globe since August. He LIKES snow-globes, OK? And he likes Veggie Tales. I was SO excited when I found this Bob-the-Tomato-skiing-down-a-mountain-snow-globe at the thrift store! It was brand new, still in the box. It was half-priced, and....GET THIS.....it had "Jared" written RIGHT ON THE TOP of the box!!! I personally feel that God provided this snow globe JUST for Jarod!!! In fact, I told him so when he opened it. He said, "Well, Mom. God spelled my name wrong." For those of you who think I shouldn't have let him say such an irreverent thing about God.....I'm pretty sure God thought it was cute.

 Justin found two huge tubs of Tinker Toys at the thrift store for very cheap. I'm just going to have him do ALL the Christmas shopping next year. He did GREAT. The boys are having endless fun with the Tinker Toys...but, as usual, are having just as much fun with the box they came in.

 I need something like this for ALL of them.....but a little more secure. You know...for safety reasons...

 Twas the night before Christmas......and Mommy was short a stocking, so she improvised with a big ole daddy-sock.



Daddy's annual Christmas morning Bible reading: this year from his IPhone. IPhones are awesome.

Sorry all the pics are so blurry. I couldn't find my other camera & was taking pics with my IPhone. Stupid IPhone. Yeah. It's a love-hate thing.

Tonight's drama: the boys went outside in the dark, 20-degree back yard to have a "Nerf War". Jarod & Micah came back inside a couple minutes later, sobbing hysterically that Jerry (our little black kitty) was stuck in the dryer vent outside the house. They thought she was stuck waaaaaaay down in the metal tube & would have to live there forever, being fed from the end of a wire hanger, broken & bent in order to hand little kitty morsels down to feed her. I was slightly afraid of the bloody mess I might find her in (due to the extreme nature of their sobbing), so I went outside, prepared with a flashlight & GLOVES. It turned out she was simply behind the grating NEXT to the dryer tube-thingy. I pryed that loose & she walked right out. I am Mommy-the-Animal-Rescuer. I am Mommy-the-Soother-of-Frightened-Boys. I kind of kicked Diego's butt. I'm just saying. GO, MOMMY, GO!!!!

My New Year's Resolution: to love Jesus more. I have made, and broken, so many resolutions over the years. Like everyone. I don't think He wants my resolutions, which I cannot accomplish without His strength anyway. I think He wants my love. I'm gonna work on that.

Holiday Greetings to You & Yours!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!! With Love From Us

 

 When ONE is sad, we ALL share in the sorrow.

 Tom & Jerry have been with us for a whole year now!!!

Wuv....twue wuv.......

 Mommy's "helper".

 "Seriously?"

 Little Christmas Elf

 Some Christmas stuff in my house.

 Our special advent calendar from Nanny.

A picture I painted a few years ago. I've been asked if one of the kids did it. Nope. That was me. And I like it.

 
 We loved last week's snow!!!! I would have loved it more if Justin wouldn't have done doughnuts on every side street we drove on.

 The tree my sweet husband surprised me with & which the kids & I decorated this week.

 I like my ornaments.

 Some little boys who are confused about what season/ holiday it is.

Yup. Here's my Christmas Card & family letter. Lame, I know. I know I made you think I would send you a card because of the Christmas card pictures I was trying to take a couple weeks ago & about which I blogged. But I decided I'm going cheap this year. Normally, I enjoy making my Christmas cards (you'd think that would be cheaper than buying cards, but it's not). Postage is ridiculous as well...for the amount of cards I send out each year. In these trying economic times, I am so thankful Justin has a reliable job with good health insurance & that we have a roof over our heads & food to eat. We have had significant car troubles the past few weeks, which has put a bit of a strain on us financially. Fortunately, Justin can pretty much do anything he puts his mind to & we didn't have to take it in to the shop. He finished changing the starter in our Suburban on Thursday, last week, just in time to rescue me from the side of the road on Friday, when the alternator in the van died. I think we're going to be a one-car-family for a little while, which is OK. We have everything that we need and more. We're doing better than a lot of people, but I'm still trying to be careful with our money. I am even shopping at thrift stores for my kids' presents, which they're not excited about. But too bad. I hate the commercialism of Christmas anyway....and all the feelings of entitlement that go along with it all. It's ugly. It creeps me out when I see it in my own kids. I want them to understand how blessed we are compared to so many. I want them to think about giving & doing for others. I am having them do some gift-giving & service-giving types of things this season. I may keep this thrift-store-Christmas thing up every year. I've found some great stuff & great deals. SO. Don't feel like you're the only one who's being gypped with a virtual card. I'm just gypping everyone all around. It's nothing personal. And a big thank you to those of you who have sent me a card already this year. I love that tradition. Your cards are hanging on my wall, making me feel special & loved. Hopefully, I'll be able to continue it next year, by sending out real cards. If you want, you can feel free to print out this blog post & hang it on your wall, so you will feel special too. :) What's nice about this blog/Christmas card/family letter is that......if you've been reading my blog, you already know what we've been up to this year. If you haven't, then shame on you. Fortunately, there's this neat little link at the bottom of the blog that says "older posts" & you can catch up. :) But, um.....here's our family update in a nutshell: Life is good. We are very busy with church & church-related activities & friends. Kids are healthy. School is fine. Some of us are learning musical instruments. Some of us are learning to read. One of us is learning to talk. Some of us are still in love. After 16 years. None of us have had pneumonia or appendicitis this year. No nails, quarters or poisons (not very dangerous ones anyway) have been ingested recently. ER visits have been minimal this year. Justin's job is great. We are so thankful for all of our blessings & for the best gift of all: Jesus!!!!