Out of the Mouths of Moms

So my bloggy friend MckMama (www.mckmama.com) has a new post up called "Out of the Mouths of Moms" like the button above says.

I'm gonna do an "Out of the Mouths of Moms" post here, because I think I say pretty funny stuff to my kids sometimes... if someone were to walk in just as I was saying them and not know what's going on. So here we go. These are for-real quotes from yours truly to my kiddos:

"I think that if I whistled, it would sound the same as a midget, yes."

"I'm sorry you think her singing is 'actually really obnoxious,' she can still sing"

"No, you can't have Isaiah's poopy diaper for an experiment."

"Take your Turd with you when you go down to the lake so you don't lose him."

"Please take your polar bear out of the freezer."

"Please don't stand on the deck naked like that."

"Please take the counting bears out of the toilet."

"The words to the song are, 'Say what you need to say,' not "Sandwich needs to say.'"

**And my personal favorite (not-so-much funny, but STILL my favorite!):
"That's right Buddy, if you saw Jesus walking on the water and he told you to walk out to him, you could. Because you're absolutely correct when you say, 'If he says it, it will happen.'"


How about you? Say anything funny to your kids lately?

Hop over to MckMama's blog and check out what others have said to their kids! I was laughing so hard at some of them I was crying!

The Tea Party

With the movement and rising of the political Tea Party (whose ideals I do appreciate!) I thought I'd host my own lil tea party for the kiddos. Because well, you know, that's about as far as I can get politically at this point in my life.

I invited Jonah and Aphia to join me for afternoon tea today. I told them that they had to dress up in outfits from our dress up boxes and that I'd come and escort them to tea. I spoke in a British accent, which they thought was really odd. I told them they had to have very good manners at tea and they did! They only spoke when I asked them a question- they were clearly not sure how to act which was quite hysterical! We munched on tea cakes (Little Debby Zebra Cakes) and sipped our tea (cherry lime Vitamin Water) with our pinkies out. I lit some candles and put a table cloth on the table! When I asked them about their favorite parts of summer so far, Jonah said, "Swimming in the pool yesterday with Jack." Aphia said, "Having tea right now!"

Ellian

We had a "visitor" at our house tonight. As I was bathing Isaiah, Aphia came into the bathroom and let me know that "Ellian" was sitting on the stairs. I continued the conversation with, "Oh! Who is Ellian?" "She's my friend and she's 3." "Cool, did she come to visit us?" I asked. "Yep, she lives with her mom and dad. But her dad died," Aphia said looking rather sad. "Oh, that's too bad. How did her dad die?" I asked. "He went to the doctor and then got hurt and then he died." "Does she have brothers or sisters?" "No, just a mom and a dad, but her dad is dead." "Ok, where does she live?" I pressed on. "Where do me and Ellian live?" "No, where does Ellian live?" she seemed to want to evade the question and so continued with, "Her nickname is Ellie. We can call her that." "Ok, well then where does Ellie live?" "Me and Ellie?" "No, just Ellie." "Um, she lives with her mom, because her dad died." She seemed sad, but matter of fact about it. "She's here to play with me, but right now she's sitting over on the steps."

The conversation continued a bit about Ellian, but died away when the kids realized that Nature was on, on PBS in a minute, and Ellian didn't get mentioned again.

I think it is comical when imaginary friends show up. It just makes me wonder what is going on in the little brain of the one conjuring them up. An old neighbor girl once had an imaginary friend who could do all the things that she couldn't. "Saphina" could talk back to her parents and disobey, she could stay up as late as she wanted, she could hit and kick and stick out her tongue. My sister used to have her "grandfather" which was also a little funny since both of our grandpas died many, many years before we were born.

I do not remember Jonah ever having an imaginary friend. But I often tease about how he's not an "out of the box" thinker, much like his Papa. I also often tease Jeremiah about how rigid he was/is in his playing and how he had the imagination of a rock. Sure he'd play, but it was never anything remotely outlandish. Very real, practical, methodical, and logistical he was/is. When I say, "Let's pretend..." to the kids, Jeremiah kind of cocks his head to the side like puppies do, like he hasn't the foggiest idea of what I'm saying. It's pretty cute!

I know this to be true: my daughter is much too much like her mom. Be it her imagination, or her need to be partying with the group (as she proved last night, staying up until 11:30 because she did not want to miss out on what was going on with grandma, grandpa, aunts and uncles), her fiery temper, or her excitement for anything! It excited me when Ellian came to play today, it made me smile getting to talk with Aphia about her pretend friend.

Some Days Are Longer Than Others

This summer has been an interesting one so far. As we are about mid-way through I feel like we just started since June was so icky. I spent a lot of June being stuck inside for one of two reasons. 1. It was raining. Or 2. We did not have anything to do outside. Our swingset is still at the old house (being used as a selling point), our pool was not set up, we do not have a sand box, I did not have a double stroller to go on walks with, etc. When I would say to the older kids, "Why don't you go outside and play?" they would say, "Ok and do what?" thus, stumping the mother.

Now it's July and we have done a few things to remedy the situation. We grabbed the swings off the swing set at the old house and put them up under the deck here. We put up the pool and it has been so fun playing in there! And a friend of mine lent me her old double stroller. Now if I want to go on a walk with all three kids it's not Jonah way far ahead on his bike, Aphia way back behind stopping to look at every critter, tree branch or shadow, and me somewhere between the two with Isaiah.

One fabulous point that put things into perspective for me was something my friend Amy said at our Bible Study, two Mondays ago. We were talking about praying for wisdom and being wise. She said that for a while there would be days that she would just say, "Lord, please just let me survive this day. Just get me to bedtime, please!" when she realized that she was not utilizing her days in the way that the Lord would want her to. She shifted her prayer to, "Lord this is going to be a long day, please help me to be wise with the time you have given me today." WOW. I needed to hear this SO much! With three little kids home, all the time, not much on the calendar and looooooong days, I was just trying to survive, not the day, but the ENTIRE SUMMER! Where was the enjoyment? The fulfillment? The fun? I treasured the wise words of my wise friend and changed my daily prayer. Boy what a difference it has made! I have made more of an effort to be the fun mom, not always there just to train, punish, correct and control- blech! Who wants one of those?! Who wants to be one of those?! Not me! On either account! So while I know that it is still my role to "train up a child in the way that he should go," I'm doing it with a little bit of a wiser and lighter heart. And we have been having fun and it has been magnificent!

Each day I look at the posted reminder in my kitchen that says, "Lord help me to be wise with my days." And I remember the words that a MOPS speaker once said to us, "Don't just endure the moment, ENJOY it!"

Meet George Jetson

CAUTION: The following blog entry is going to make me sound archaic. Old. Not down with the times. Ancient. Will cause teenagers to shake their heads in utter embarrassment. But I am willing to take the risk anyways. Here goes.

"Who is she talking to in the family room?" I asked my mom about my sister, Gina, when I was sitting in their kitchen earlier today. I could hear her having a full on conversation, knowing full well that she was alone in the room. "It must be Miss Patsy." "Oh, of course!" I thought, that makes perfect sense, knowing that Gina's boyfriend's mom, Miss Patsy, lives approximately 1000 miles away.

Skype.

It is the way of the Jetsons and we are actually living it.



LIVING IT! Crazy. Amazing. Astonishing. Wonderful. Nuts. Flabbergasting. The picture above of Jane would not make any 16 year old kid bat an eye. They might even wonder why there is a cord that is connected to Jane's monitor. How inconvenient!

My sister and her boyfriend, Chase, have been dating cross-country for over 2 years. They are 17. They met each other while each was on vacation in Branson, Missouri, he from Louisiana and her from Minnesota. They have been able to keep in touch via cell phone, text, email, Myspace, Facebook, traveling here and there a few times, and now Skype. It is very incredible to me.

They live hundreds of miles apart and the other night they actually watched a movie "together." They connected via skype, popped in their dvd's and snuggled up virtually, on their own respective couches. Now this is the kind of dating my dad and any other father would love for his 17 year old daughter! They talked and laughed simultaneously through the movie, just as if they were actually there with each other. Again, mind blowing to me.

I know that many, many people connect through Skype everyday. This is sooooo not new to some of my peeps. It is simply awesome, and who'd-a-thunk that in my day we would actually be living in the way of the Jetsons. Now if I could only get Jeremiah to really use his connections with Honda to get me ASIMO (the Honda robot) as my own personal Rosie...



{drifts off to fantasy dream world where my floors are washed, toilets are gleaming, clothes are folded and put away, meals are cooked all while I am outside playing with my children}