Rugrats and Dirty Rugs

My Wish- Rascal Flatts I hope that days come easy and moments pass slow, And each road leads you where you want to go, And if you're faced with a choice, and you have to choose, I hope you choose the one that means the most to you. And if one door opens to another door closed, I hope you keep on walkin' till you find the window, If it's cold outside, show the world the warmth of your smile, But more than anything, more than anything, My wish, for you, is that this life becomes all that you want it to, Your dreams stay big, your worries stay small, You never need to carry more than you can hold, And while you're out there getting where you're getting to, I hope you know somebody loves you, and wants the same things too, Yeah, this is my wish. I hope you never look back, but you never forget, All the ones who love you, in the place you left, I hope you always forgive, and you never regret, And you help somebody every chance you get, Oh, you find God's grace, in ev...

Yesterday, I went into the boys' bathroom right before dinner to spray it down for cleaning. I put some blue toilet cleaner in the toilet and decided to let it sit while we ate. We all sat down and prayed for our food. Then, I noticed Sleepy was dancing around in his seat as usual. I told him to go to the bathroom, but forgot to tell him to use a different bathroom. A minute later, we heard, "Mom! Blue and yellow make green!" Both Happy and Grumpy jumped up from the table to see, but their father told them to sit back down. What can I say? Our son is learning his colors.

Yesterday, I took the boys to the pound to look at cats. We didn't find the right cat for our family, so we ended up coming back home. I promised them that we would go to another pound tomorrow. With that promise in mind, they went about their business not forgetting for an instant about my promise. The day before, I had decided to start my exercise program again. With complete arrogance, I did the entire Tae-Bo video and congratulated myself for being able to get through it after months of ignoring it. "Wow! My heart is still going strong!" I said to myself. Twenty-four hours later, every muscle in my body was yelling at me. So, when we got back from the pound, I decided to feed the baby and then take a screaming hot bath to try to take away the aches and pains. I put the baby in his carseat next to the tub and closed myself off behind the shower curtain. Sleepy comes in and decides to talk to me and since the baby was fussing I asked him to put the pacifier i...

A conversation between father and son: "I'm confused," said Grumpy. "Boys hate girl things, and girls hate boy things, right?" "Right," said Doc. "But, someday, girls will be the most important thing in the world to you." With incredulous disgust, Grumpy exclaimed, "I'm going to like GIRL things?!" "NO! No!", cried Doc. "You will still like boy things, but girls will be very important to you. Trust me, kid, you will understand when the time comes." Screwing up his face, Grumpy said, "I'm confused."

Sleepy does not like his new kitchen chore. Each boy has a kitchen chore to do and that really helps keep messes down to a minimum especially with a mom who is sleep deprived. Sleepy's chore is to clear off the dining room table after dinner. Happy has insisted on taking over the chore of setting the table, so I had to give Sleepy something else to do. It probably seems overwhelming to him, so I've asked Grumpy to help him for a little while until he gets it right. Last night, I went downstairs to collapse on the couch and feed the baby. Unbeknownst to me, they only took the plates, forks, and cups to the sink and left behind all the food. A little while later, I was dozing on the couch while the boys were watching a holiday special on TV. As I felt myself slipping away, I felt a cold wet kiss on my nose. I jerked awake to see Happy with sour cream all over his mouth. His grumpy mother then ordered him to the bathroom to wash up. As I wipe the sour cream off my nose,...

I have never been able to think quickly. Not even when I was a fresh-faced kindergartner soaking everything up with my brain. It usually takes me a while to think about things especially when I have to think about finding something. I was the kind of child that had to be taught how to look for something I lost. I remember my dad sitting me down and telling me to go look back in my mind and think about the places where I had been. So, whenever I need to remember where I put something, I literally sit down and think about where I've been. My husband, on the other hand, is a very quick thinker. He probably thought it was odd the first time he was introduced to my way of finding things. We are both absent-minded and misplace things all the time. When we were first married, he would come to me asking where something is. I would stop what I was doing, sit down, and seem to go into a trance. He would stand there looking at me with a dumbfounded look on his face and say, "U...

The boys love their baby brother, Sneezy. They were there for his birth and he has been "our baby" ever since. There is no jealousy and they each want their turn to hold him on occasion. Sleepy and Happy will often argue about who's baby he is. I will hear them say, "My baby! No! MY baby!" The "discussion" will get so heated that I will cut in and say, "He's MY baby, so knock it off alright?" At one time, Grumpy asked, "Can I pet him, Mom?" I said, "He's not a dog, Grumpy. And yes, you can touch his hair." Yesterday, after church, Grumpy was having a snack when some friends of ours said that they were going to take Sneezy home with them. With tears welling in his eyes, he worriedly said, "You have to ask my mom first! You can't take him! He's OUR baby!" They assured him they didn't have a bed or diapers for him so they couldn't possibly take him home with them. It took a fe...

When Bashful was younger, he learned how to play chess. When he learned well enough to play the game with others, his competitive spirit was born. The kid liked to win and if he didn't, watch out. His younger brother, Grumpy, has also shown a competitive streak recently during his swimming lessons. As Doc took our sons into the locker room to change back into their clothes, Grumpy pointed to another boy and said with relish, "Do you see that kid over there? I beat him in a race!" Doc told him not to point, lower his voice, and finish getting dressed. As they were walking out the door, Grumpy couldn't take his eyes off the other boy as if reliving the ultimate victory in his mind. During Bashful's soccer season, I would often watch Grumpy on the sidelines. When we first arrive on the field, Bashful takes his position and Grumpy looks for friends to play with. I watch him as he stands there watching other siblings playing in the grass with a look of yearning on his ...

Our house sits on critter heaven. We've battled snakes, spiders, and a lizard comes to visit in our window well daily. Did I mention we also have visiting centipedes? Doc finds the occasional centipede in the basement and does the usual spraying till they suffocate. Then he likes to bring me his prize and talk about how big and nasty it was. One time, I took Happy into the downstairs bathroom to give him his bath. There was a bowl sitting in the tub and I picked it up just as Happy was sitting down. Cowering underneath the bowl, was a humongous centipede and it was going straight toward my little boy's hind end. Since I was not expecting this little surprise, I was caught off-guard. Since I am also a girl, I did the usual screaming of the lungs as well. "Ahh, ahh, ahh!" came out a few times before I was able to grab a hold of my senses and my son. Since there had been a few seconds of hysteria, Happy was able to get a good look at the thing. "Worm in ...

It was interesting to see my husband and our two-year-old interact without me as a mediator. They both have a strong will and sometimes it tends to clash. Since I was relegated to the bedroom with our newborn baby, my husband had the duties of cooking, cleaning, and babysitting for a week. Many times that week, I heard the usual screaming and crying from Aidan and my husband dealt with it swiftly and efficiently. At one point, though, Aidan stomps up the stairs crying and goes into his room. Our bathroom is situated right next to his room and since I was in there, I was able to hear his ranting. I heard, "I tell Mama! I tell Mama!" in a pathetic, feel-sorry-for-me voice. It's hard not to laugh and feel sorry for the little termagent.

When I was twelve years old, my mother's cousin brought her new baby for a visit. I was drawn to that little person like a moth to a flame. I was the firstborn of four children and already a little mother. I had my baby dolls and Barbie dolls, tea sets and doll house, but this was a REAL baby that I was allowed to feed and change. I remember lovingly doing these things during their visit and then as time went by they had to leave. I keenly felt my empty arms and went looking for my mother. We usually had our "woman to woman" chats in the bathroom and that's where I found her putting things away. With my heart in my eyes, I begged her to have another baby so I could take care of him or her. She sat down on the toilet seat and gently broke the news that she was done having babies. With tears rolling down my cheeks and my heart breaking, I heard her tell me that soon I will be able to have my own baby to love and hold. I love the newborn stage. It's my fav...

As I bite into a luscious Reese's peanut butter cup, I have one thought in my mind. Thank you, Lord, that none of my children have food allergies. Otherwise, I would not be able to steal some of the candy bars from their Halloween candy stash. I would normally consider myself a meat and potatoes kind of gal. I would rather eat roast and mashed potatoes than candy any day. There comes a time, though, in every woman's life when eating chocolate becomes a must. Yesterday, I grabbed the pumpkin full of candy, locked the bathroom door, filled the tub with hot water, and luxuriated in a chocolate fest. It had to be done. May I say that Snickers is the best candy bar ever? Of course, Reese's comes in a very close second. Peanut butter and chocolate were made for each other. I was a bit disappointed to see no Butterfinger bars at all. What's up with that? Aidan probably noticed the less than full pumpkin because he brought me an empty one and told me that we need ...

Tuesday afternoon, I had my first false labor ever. I've never had false labor. It sucks. When I thought the baby was coming, all of a sudden adrenaline shot through my body and I began to shake from head to toe. I was excited and ready to go. My husband jumped up and starting doing what husbands do when they know their wife is about to give birth. He was going to make sure I made it to the hospital no matter what. We got the kids ready to go and told them to go outside and play. For some reason, the contractions were not progressing. I thought it was odd and decided to pace for a while hoping that would help things along. The boys came in to eat hot dogs and went out again. Still nothing was really happening. So, I decided to eat something since I hadn't eaten since breakfast. After that, the contractions were gone for good. That left us all utterly depressed. I was hoping to finally hold this little baby, my husband was hoping to meet him, too, of course, but ...

Last week, I thought my brain was going to explode into a million pieces. At the worst possible time in my life, I got a jury duty summons. Now, most of you might not think that was something to panic over. Some of you might even say, "Yippee! I get paid for this!" Me? I hate even the thought of jury duty. In the good ole state of Colorado, there is no job exemption from this duty. That means homeschool moms, too. How asinine. Why do they think we are homeschool moms in the first place? Don't they realize we are the only caregivers of our children and that our husbands would have to take the day off to take care of them while we sit on our butts in a courthouse? No, I do not like jury duty. I had asked my son to be my legs for me and go get the mail from the mailbox at the end of the drive. He came back in with it all and I slowly went through it. When I came to the jury duty summons, I thought I was seeing things. I did a double take. I immediately rippe...

When you know you have a big family: 1) You come downstairs with two of your children and make them breakfast. The two-year-old is talking at the top of his lungs. You say, "Shhh! Be quiet! EVERYONE is sleeping." 2) You go through four gallons of milk a week.....and you know it's only going to get worse. 3) Your grocery bill is sky high....and you know it's only going to get worse. 4) You have to plung your toilets twice a week. 5) Your laundry room looks like Mt. Everest. 6) You need an entire room just for the stuffed animals. 7) You count heads in public places to make sure you are not losing someone. 8) You start barricading certain rooms in the house to keep them clean. 9) Mr. Clean Magic Erasers and Murphy's Oil Soap have become your best friends. 10) You realize that this will not last forever and hope to cherish every moment of it.

Our poor sons are doomed to be absentminded for the rest of their lives. It's in the genes. Both of their parents are prone to this and it will only get worse as we get older. If I don't put the van keys in a certain place, I will have to go ransacking the house for them. My husband is the same way with his eyeglasses. All of our sons will have this problem, but with Caleb it seems he has inherited a double shot. In my post Sliding Doors , Caleb leaves the van door open for the whole world to see. This occurrence hasn't happened in some time, but on Halloween night, it made its appearance again. I feel it was bound to happen again when he was thinking about something else. We had decided to meet Daddy for dinner and went to a fast food restaurant. We got our food, sat down, and started enjoying the high-fat, high-cholesterol yumminess. At one point, I looked out the window and immediately gasped. There was our van with the door wide open yet again. "Caleb! I told you t...

We don't have a good track record with drinking glasses in this house. It is a given that we will eventually end up with no glasses in the house. We usually have to scrounge around for something to drink in and end up using the coffee cups. At least twice a year, I have to buy new glasses. There are various reasons why it ends up this way. The biggest reason is probably me since the boys don't even drink from them and use plastic cups instead. I have a reputation in our home as being a total clutz. Either my elbow or my fingers come in contact with the unsuspecting object and bam! I end up sweeping the floor. The scenario starts out with me cleaning up the kitchen. As I see the glass begin to fall to the floor, everything slows down to slow motion. My eyes widen, my mouth opens, and out comes a wail. "Noooooo!" is followed by a growl and a banging of the fists on the kitchen counter. I get very upset with myself and the boys know by now to scatter in all d...

Whenever our family goes out in public, we have to keep our fingers crossed. There is always a virus laying in wait for our poor unsuspecting children. This past week, four of us were laid low with the flu. For some odd reason, my husband and Caleb were happily saved from this. My other boys and myself included were not so lucky. My little imp was the first to come down with it and passed it on to me. I couldn't understand how we got sick when there was no apparent sickness going around where we were. As I'm hanging over the toilet wanting to die, I wanted to kill whoever had gone out in public with this virus. Anyway, the same night I received my gift, Justin proceeded to throw up on the couch and then the carpet before he made his way to the bathroom. The next day, as is usually the case, he was very stubborn and refused to sleep it off. By the time evening rolled around, Justin's eyes were bloodshot and droopy. In my flu-induced state, I told him to go to bed....

My favorite channel is the Food Network. I love getting ideas on making yummy food for my family and friends. The only time that I don't really appreciate it is during Halloween. It is chock full of ideas on how to make goulish-looking food or tons of sweets. It pretty much turns my stomach regardless of my pregnancy. Turning perfectly good breadsticks into fingers with long nails, spaghetti into worms, food with eyeballs, etc., totally grosses me out. It might be fun for boys and maybe for some girls, but it will not be something I can bring myself to do. When I was a kid, my mom made green eggs and ham for fun. All she did was put green food coloring in the scrambled eggs, but I couldn't touch them. I couldn't even look at them. Normally, I don't have a weak stomach. I can change my son's dirty diaper without one gag. Food is different for me. It should be something beautiful to look at, delightful to smell, and mouth-watering. Otherwise, it goes in ...

Things I promised myself I would never do: 1) "discipline" my kids. I refuse to use the "s" word in case there is a weirdo out there ready to call the cops on me. I can say, "Why no, officer! I would NEVER do that. Just look at my blog. I said "discipline". That means "time out". Whenever I was spanked as a kid, the only thing I could think of to say to my parents in rebellion was, "I am never going to spank MY kids when I'm a mom!" I usually got a smirk, a quirk of the brow, and an, "Oh, yeah?" 2) eat vegetables. I would come to the dinner table and most often there would be vegetables as part of our meal. It would be a low point in my day to see those vegetables. My parents were adamant about eating every bite off our plate or we weren't allowed to leave the table. Most nights, I would be the last person sitting at the table crying into my plate refusing to eat the nastiness. One day, my tortorous l...

Bigger than some; smaller than others. Almost 36 weeks and counting. I want to shout a big thank you to all of my family and friends for the outrageously generous gifts I received for my 5th baby. This kid is already spoiled and he's not even out yet. I washed all my new baby clothes in Dreft last night and was overwhelmed with the need for him to arrive immediately. He may be two or three weeks in coming, though. I will try not to go insane with the waiting. Here are some pics of the wonderful things I got.

My husband and I have been married for twelve years now. We have had our share of pet peeves about each other, but there is one in particular that has me chuckling lately. For years, I have had a problem with the loud buzzer or extremely loud music that awakens my husband in the dark every morning. It probably wouldn't bother me so much if he didn't press the snooze button ten times. Literally. I'm not exaggerating here. Okay, so maybe it's only five, but you get the point. Now, I do have compassion for my husband. I understand it is very difficult to get up in the dark and get ready for a job that you would like to say "shove it" to. You would think I would remember this compassion early in the morning, but when you are as jealous of your sleep as I am, that compassion flies out the window after the third slap of the snooze button. I'm sure my husband's ears are still ringing over the years of complaints coming from the other side of the bed. "Ju...

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart; Naught be all else to me, save that thou art. Thou my best Thought, by day or by night, Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light. Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word; I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord; Thou my great Father, I thy true son; Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one. Be Thou my battle Shield, Sword for the fight; Be Thou my Dignity, Thou my Delight; Thou my soul's Shelter, Thou my high Tower: Raise Thou me heavenward, O Power of my power. Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise, Thou my Inheritance, now and always: Thou and Thou only, first in my heart, High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art. High King of Heaven, my victory won, May I reach Heaven's joys, O bright Heaven's Son! Heart of my own heart, whatever befall, Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all. Words by Mary Elizabeth Byrne *I love the Irish tune to this lovely hymn.

We do not have a very good track record with our pets. Our last guinea pig was ceremoniously dumped in the trash can, the pet fish was belly up when we came back from vacation in July, and the beagle puppy "mysteriously disappeared" a few months ago. The only pet we had left was Leigh and she was forever relegated to the garage after the diaretic episodes at 5 in the morning on two occasions. Now, I do my best to forget that we have an animal living in the vicinity. Growing up, my family had one animal after another in our house and it never bothered me. In fact, I was delighted as a girl would be. I never thought I would grow up to hate having animals in my home, but that turned out to be the case. I adore animals......just not in my house. There is a good reason for this non-welcoming feeling. I am the one who has to clean up after them, feed them, and listen to their noise. I already have four boys to do all that for and now I have to do that for an animal? Some...

They have a termagent for a mother. I have become increasingly irritable lately. I have difficulty sleeping and I feel pressured to get school done every day in order to take time off for this baby to finally GET HERE already. I have done a lot of yelling and that's probably why this baby won't come until he's good and ready. Who wants a mother who yells all the time? He's probably in there thinking, "Take a chill, Mom." I know all of them are thinking that while I'm screaming like a banshee. Lately, I have noticed a peculiar trait in my oldest son that has exasperated me. This week, he left a garbage bag in the garage without putting it in the garbage can. Not putting the garbage in the trash can in the garage is a big no-no in our house because the dang dog is a bad dog when it comes to trash. She had gotten into the bag and the trash was strewn all over the garage. As I am "reprimanding" him for this and telling him he has to clean ...

The crack of chewing gum always drove my mother crazy. Growing up, my siblings and I learned never to crack our gum with our mother in the same room. Whenever I involuntarily cracked my gum, her head would whip around and she would have this crazy look in her eyes. "Spit it out," she would demand and would even hold out her hand if there was nothing available to dispose of the gum. The cracking of gum never really bothered me, but this past Saturday I realized that I do have my own pet peeve and it drove me nearly insane. I have realized for years now that I have a gentleman for a husband. I was thankful for this quality in him never more so than on Saturday. We went to our son's last Soccer game together this past weekend. We sat next to Loudmouth Dad. Yelling his head off was bad enough, but then the man began to spit on the ground. I've seen men do this for years. Ever since I was a teenager and saw teenage boys do this, I was completely disgusted by it....

Take my life, and let it be Consecrated, Lord, to thee, Take my moments and my days; Let them flow in ceaseless praise. Take my hands, and let them move At the impulse of thy love. Take my feet, and let them be Swift and beautiful for thee. Take my voice, and let me sing, Always, only, for my King. Take my lips, and let them be Filled with messages from thee. Take my silver and my gold; Not a mite would I withhold. Take my intellect, and use Every power as thou shalt choose. Take my will, and make it thine; It shall be no longer mine. Take my heart, it is thine own; It shall be thy royal throne. Take my love; my Lord, I pour At thy feet its treasure store. Take myself, and I will be Ever, only, all for thee. Amen. Words by Cecil Frances Alexander Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

My youngest brother's birthday was this week. He is seven years younger than me and my first experience with babies. I'm sure I was the little mother with him in between the big sister moments. He always seemed so little and fragile to me and I guess that's why Justin reminds me of him sometimes. To celebrate my baby brother's birthday in a big way, I'm going to tell a story about him. This is the story that seems to be the one my mother tells of the most about him probably because it was very traumatic for her. Being a mother of boys myself, I totally understand that. This story is prominent in my mind lately and I think you'll know why. When I was little, we lived in a neighborhood where the grocery store and the elementary school were within walking distance. On one particular day, my mother took us on a walk to the grocery store. We got to the store and Mom made her purchases without any problems. As we were leaving, though, that's when disast...

Every morning, Aidan wakes me up by getting into bed with me and proceeds to talk or sing to himself until mama pays attention. This morning, he did exactly that until I finally got up and threw a load of laundry in the washer all the while listening to him trying to tell me something about poop/potty chair while wearing no diaper. As is usually the case, he takes his diaper off now when it feels too tight or uncomfortable then goes looking for another one for mama to put on him. Well, he couldn't find another diaper this morning and decided to do his business anyway. I had visions of poopie on the floor somewhere, so I wasn't very happy. When I came out of the laundry room, I went into the bathroom without much hope of seeing poopie in the potty, but I decided to lift the lid and peek anyway. I was delightfully wrong. The kid had actually gotten up this morning while I was snoozing away, took off his diaper, and proceeded to poop in the potty chair. I was absolutely am...

Aidan looks just like the cherub on my sidebar with innocent expression and all. Of course, he is definitely cuter. He can be very sweet and empathetic as well. He loves to cuddle and kiss and be an all-around little angel. There is another side to Aidan, though. It seems as if he is an angel one minute and a devil the next. He has been a busy little bee this week. This week, after school was over, I come upstairs to find cereal spread out over the family room. Another day, I had stupidly left out some spices on the kitchen counter one of them being garlic powder. After school, I come upstairs to find a fine layer of garlic powder on the kitchen floor and the bottle no where to be seen. Later on in the week, I find the rest of the garlic powder in with the summer clothes that I had put in bins to be stored when the weather finally gets cold. As I'm picking out clothes for the boys to wear, I have to shake off garlic powder in the process. A couple days ago, I make a couple apple p...

I am a daydreamer. I always have been. When I was a girl, I daydreamed about my prince charming. Now, my daydreams are a little different. I daydream: 1) about being 120 pounds again. 2) about what I would like to eat. 3) about going on a date with my husband, but not just any date. The kind of date that Richard Gere took Julia Roberts on in Pretty Woman. You know. The kind where she wears this glorious red gown and he wears a tux. He then takes her on a ride in a limo then a plane to see an opera. 4) about giving birth during different scenarios. For instance, what happens if the baby's head starts to come out while we are still in the car? 5) about having long, glorious hair down to my hips like those medieval women you see in the movies. 6) about Hilary Clinton and that muslim Obama guy being mysteriously assassinated. 7) about being kidnapped by Muslim terrorists and sent to live in Iraq while awaiting ransom. (I have no idea why I think about that one. I have an overactive ima...

Whenever I get pregnant, I space-out for nine months. I define the word "absent-mindedness". I'm always losing something I need or forgetting about something. Basically, I lose my mind. Just last week, I brought my boys to the grocery store to get a few things and walked right up to the exit door. I just stood there for two seconds wondering why the doors wouldn't open when the entrance doors next to us opened for someone else. This pregnancy hasn't been as bad, but I recall a time when my absent-mindedness cost me a huge amount of embarrassment. When I was pregnant with Justin, Nathanael was in pre-K and Caleb was barely 2. We had a little Kia Sephia at the time instead of our van with only two little ones sitting in the backseat. Three days a week, I took Nathanael to his adorable little class at a Christian school in town. I always liked to walk him to the door and get a kiss and hug before saying goodbye. I would then walk back to the car and to my ...

In a house full of boys, the potty-training doesn't end. I'll be potty-training my boys until they are out of the house. I've gotten them to the point where they will use the toilet, but that's about it. I still have to remind them to wipe themselves, flush the toilet, and wash their hands. After the 101st reminder of those basic things, they still don't remember to turn the light off or shut the door while they do their business. Whenever I clean the two bathrooms that they use, I scour those places with heavy-duty cleaners and when I'm done they still smell like urine. One day, this past week I went into the downstairs bathroom. Being 90 weeks pregnant, I have to visit the bathroom hourly. With three boys using the same toilet, it certainly gets a lot of use during the day. As I stood up, I realized that there is another rule that needs some help. As the only female in the house, this rule had me irate as I stormed out of the bathroom into the kitchen. I looke...

When I was a kid, my parents made my siblings and I go to bed at 8pm. When kids have to wake up early to get ready for school, it's understandable to me now why they felt we had to be in bed at a decent hour. My brothers still complain about that to this day. They like to tell of how they would be told to go to bed and they would look outside. To them, it looked like the middle of the day it was so bright out. My brothers were probably in the middle of a death scene or something. They would trudge to bed with many whines and complaints. I'm sure my sister and I did as well. My brothers would plop into bed, prop their chins in their hands, and look out their bedroom window. They would watch forlornly at all the children across the street playing in their yards and wishing they could be with them. After having my own boys, I believe it is a boy's dream to live like Peter Pan. Hey, they want to BE him. No school, no clothes, no dining etiquette, no vegetables, no b...

The batteries died on my camera before I could zoom in and get a better picture. You kind of get an idea of how big it was by looking at the big, black blob. This is the tarantula that was terrorizing our house before my husband bravely put it to death.

I love to watch my son play soccer with other kids his age. Some kids are so tall they look like giants compared to my pre-adolescent one, but I don't worry. I know he will catch up someday. This year the parents on the sidelines are particularly vocal. Throughout the game, I hear a lot of "go, go go!", "kick it!", "good job!", among some other riveting comments. Our team has the most parents yelling at the top of their lungs. The other teams' parents usually look over at one point with frustrated looks at all the noise. I usually just sit there and watch like the dignified person I like to think of myself as. All the kids on our team want a chance to kick the ball into oblivion, so the defenders usually don't protect the goalie leaving him stranded. During one point in last week's game, Nathanael was the goalie. His teammates were on the other end of the field all ready and willing to get their chance to win a goal for their team...

I knew I would love them as soon as I met them. I just wondered what they would think of me. I was nervous the day my husband drove me up to the family cottage in Michigan to introduce me to his parents. I fiddled with my hair and primped in the mirror over and over again looking at myself and wondering how many glaring imperfections in me would they see during our time together. Would they wonder what in the world was he thinking? I have often wondered that myself, but I wasn't about to let him go. You don't find one like him. We pulled into the gravel driveway and when I got out of the car, I was immediately enveloped in hugs and greeted with smiles. From that very moment, I was their new daughter. I didn't have anything to worry about. After twelve years of marriage, that has not changed. During our July vacation, my mother-in-law informed me that she thinks of me and her other daughter-in-law as her daughters. Period. A few years ago, we both discovered we shared a love...

One night, we had a big thunderstorm and our electricity went out. There was no TV, no lights to be able to read, and no computer. We were bored off our rockers. We lit some candles and then Nathanael had an idea. He wanted to do some Bible plays. My husband and I offered to be the audience, so Nat put his brothers to work and they did the story of Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel. Nathanael was the narrator as well as a character or two and he astounded us with his knowledge of the two stories. He narrated almost as if he were reading from a script. We asked him where he got this information and he told us about this book, The Children's Illustrated Bible. It was collecting dust on the bookshelf when he discovered it and took it to his room. Over a short period of time, he read it from cover to cover. This was surprising to us because, well, the kid doesn't enjoy reading. When he reads, he does it to get it over with and therefore, doesn't remember much of what h...

I'm not normally a mean person. I would rather die than show any mean-spiritedness to anyone. I hate confrontations and I am a people pleaser. I like to make friends and to be nice at all costs is very important to me. Things get a little tweeked when I'm pregnant. Hormones rage and emotions run high especially when I'm tired or hungry. Sundays seem to bring out that part of me. Our church is mostly full of old people. My husband and I look like total babes compared to the amount of life experience in the building. When we started attending almost a year ago, they took one look at our family and was willing to spoil our children rotten till I was ready to pull my hair out. I kept thinking, "I'M the mother!", but to no avail. Our children are just too much temptation for them and they bombard us with candy, cake, ice cream and stuffed animals galore. All our kids have to do is look up at them with their beautiful eyes and pink cheeks and they are wr...

This past weekend our family went through more arachnophobia . In my last story about that, I mentioned my oldest son coming to me in the middle of the night telling me he had seen a big, black, hairy tarantula in his room. I didn't believe him and neither did his father. We thought it was his imagination or he had been dreaming or anything to make us able to sleep at night. We were sleeping totally unaware. My husband was spraying the outside of our house with spider repellent when all of a sudden the door bursts open and he yells, "Dee! Get out here, quick!" I thought, "What in the world has him freaking out like this?" and walked out the front door. He pointed to the corner where our house meets the garage and I looked up. There on the wall of my house was the biggest, blackest, hairiest tarantula I had ever seen in person. I just could not believe my eyes. I ran inside and told the boys to get outside to see this thing. Nat took one look and said...

I have the laziest boy on the face of the earth. If you think yours is the laziest, I beg to differ. I love the kid. He makes me laugh and has a great imagination. I could just eat him up. The one thing that makes me worried about him is that he will turn out to be a bum. On the streets. Homeless. Whenever I ask Caleb to do something for me, out comes this high-pitched whine almost like a fire engine screaming down the street. It especially drives me crazy during school time. I ask him, "Would you act like this if Mrs. Cook told you to do this?" It does make him think about that and his answer would be no. I told him I deserve the same respect as his teacher and I can also whop him if he acts up. It doesn't seem to be working on his behavior, though. Another thing that he hates doing is taking a bath. We have threatened him with all sorts of disgusting things that could happen to him if he doesn't clean himself. I told him if he doesn't wash his ha...

When my husband and I went out together for the first time, we went to a restaurant with some friends. We were sitting in a curved booth together and having a great time getting to know one another. I remember having a lot of fun. Years later, my husband informs me that he thought I was bored off my rocker at the time. I didn't understand because I remember that I was so happy just being with him. Soon after we were married, we were at Walt Disney World with his brother, his brother's wife, and their sister. I was having a fine time enjoying the rides. My sister-in-law asked my husband at one time if I was alright. She wasn't sure because I looked so serious. Occasionally, I will get a concerned friend asking me if I'm okay because they see that serious, bored look on my face when I'm perfectly happy and having a good time. I find it an odd characteristic and I know I have passed it on to one or more of my sons. When I was a kid, one of my favorite cartoons was T...

I told my husband that a good vacation for us someday would be to go to Yellowstone National Park. The boys were wondering about it, so I told them what it was like there- geysers, an active volcano, animals of all kinds, Old Faithful, etc. I could see the wheels turning in their heads just thinking about it. I found this little note last night from Caleb addressed to his dad. I will type it exactly how he wrote it. Hey dad, whats up. I was thinking that mabey we can go to the yellowstone naichanal park so we can see volcanos. I love you so much dad. I swore up and down to his father that I didn't put him up to this. This one's definitely a keeper.

"What kind of man do you think I'll be someday?" asked a boy to his mother. "Well, I think you'll be the man that you are now," replied his mother. One time, I told my husband that same sentiment. I said that I believe our sons will be the men that they are now. He told me that a man changes too much to be the same person he was as a boy. I partly disagreed. I even used him as an example. When we were dating in college, my husband didn't have a car so he borrowed a friend's bike to go to the store which was a mile or more away to buy me a rose. He rode that bike all the way back to our college campus carrying the rose in one hand and steering with the other. When he got to my window which was on the top floor, he threw rocks at it to get my attention as he usually did. When I saw what he did for me, I thought it was the sweetest thing in the world. I reminded my husband of this history of ours and told him he is a very sweet man. He infor...

SUPPOSE Suppose, my little lady, Your doll should break her head; Could you make it whole by crying Till your eyes and nose were red? And wouldn't it be pleasanter To treat it as a joke, And say you're glad 'twas Dolly's, And not your head, that broke? Suppose you're dressed for walking, And rain comes pouring down; Will it clear off any sooner Because you scold and frown? And wouldn't it be nicer For you to smile than pout, And so make sunshine in the house When there is none without? Suppose your task, my little man, Is very hard to get; Will it make it any easier For you to sit and fret? And wouldn't it be wiser, Than waiting like a dunce, To go to work in earnest And learn a thing at once? Suppose that some boys have a horse, And some a coach and pair; Will it tire you less while walking To say, "It isn't fair"? And wouldn't it be nobler To keep your temper sweet, And in your heart be thankful You can walk upon your feet? - Phoebe Cary ...

I've never seen the movie Arachnophobia and I never plan to. My husband saw it before we met and he was never the same after that. When we were newlyweds living in a small apartment in Florida, I came to understand my husband's aversion to spiders when he found one on the ceiling above our bed. I was in the kitchen when I heard him yell. I run into the bedroom thinking, "What in the world?" His reaction seemed funny to me since he had a broom in his hands ready to do murder. It was just a spider, for Pete's sake. He asked me if I had ever seen the movie. I said, "Of course not." Four babies later, we end up battling another spider together. I'm being lazy as usual during my last trimester and I'm on the couch when I hear the boys yelling, "There's a tarantula!" over and over again. I turn to see what is going on and see Nat and Justin hovering on the stairs. Aidan is walking around looking for it and Caleb is no where to ...

This is what happens when you leave Southern Colorado for a week on vacation in July. For more WW go to 5 Minutes for Mom .

Some kids can understand concepts naturally. They can learn as easy as a snap of the fingers. Some are a little different. Those children need a little more help learning basic concepts and understanding them. For instance, this crayon is first and that crayon is last. Some kids just get it without being taught. Others need reinforcement on the words and positions. I love my homeschool curriculum. It gives me the choice of whether to teach the basic concepts or just give them the worksheet and say, "Read the directions and do it." I have the same curriculum for two of my sons each in a different grade. With one son, I am able to say the latter. With the other son, I must teach the basics. It is rather interesting to me that each of my sons have come from my womb, and yet they are so very different from each other. I have one in kindergarten and occasionally he manages to surprise me into laughter. It has been a joy to teach him because I believe it has brought u...

My youngest son has been jipped. With the other boys, I diligently worked along with them to get them potty-trained. I encouraged them and bribed them, but with this last one.....there's no bribery left in me. I've come to the point in my life where I just don't have the time to take my son to the potty chair every hour or two hours of the day. With three kids to homeschool and a house to keep clean, the poor kid has to potty-train himself. Of course, I put the potty chair within easy access and put a basket of big boy undies next to it. Instead of bribing him, I threaten him within an inch of his life. "Don't you dare pee-pee on my carpet, kid. Do you hear me?" He just looks at me with this sullen look on his face and says, "No pee-pee." Occasionally, he will try to please me and pee in the potty chair. We will jump and dance around the potty chair like little Indians hooping and hollering in joy. All we need to go with that is some war ...

Little hands and fingers are so precious. I love how chubby and dimpled they look. They can get into a lot of trouble, though. You can usually find handprints on the walls and follow the trail to your little one. The anger usually subsides a little for me when I take their little hands and wash them. Those things are just too darn sweet for me. Last Friday, there were a lot of little fingers running around my house. All sorts of sizes, but all little compared to mine. Those fingers were very busy that day. They played Nintendo, held hands, played with all sorts of games and toys, played outside, ate lunch, and.......fed the dog. I thought I would introduce our dog to the kids so that she wouldn't have to be in the garage all day. In 100 degrees heat outside, the garage is like an oven. I should have left her there. The kids just loved her and she got along with them just fine. She especially enjoyed the little fingers feeding her bits of food. I didn't notice thi...

Living in Southern Colorado where the environment is a semi-desert, we are up to our eyeballs in snakes, lizards, rabbits, mice, and prairie dogs. Often we will see a hawk roaming the land for one of its many prey. It's like a smorgasbord out here. My boys are fascinated with the creatures of this land. I could well do without them thank you very much. Thinking of all the snakes that are hiding in my backyard gives me the chills and I recall a particular time in my life when I was totally creeped out by the nasty things. My husband and I were basking in dream land when we were jolted out of our sleep by a hard knock at our apartment door. It was past midnight and Nathanael was just a baby sleeping peacefully in his crib. When my husband opened the door, he was greeted with a formidable policeman. The man informed us both that he got an anonymous call from someone who saw a snake crawl underneath our door. I immediately went into my son's room ready to defeat this slimy foe in c...

I love boat rides. I don't get to go on them very often and when I do I'm in heaven. It's so relaxing to me and thrilling as well. We have friends from our church that got a speed boat for a song and they came to visit. We all trooped to the lake with our swimsuits and towels ready for the time of our lives. They hooked up the raft to the boat and the boys had a wonderful time hanging on for their lives as the boat sped around the lake. Justin and Aidan got to sit inside the boat and Aidan looked bored off his rocker, but I knew I'd never get him off of it without drugging him senseless. At one point, Nat and Cabe were holding onto the raft with a girl about Nat's age between them. They were staring straight ahead with looks like hodey-hum when all of a sudden the girl slipped right off the raft into the water. Neither one of my boys noticed. About twenty seconds later, Nat looked casually over at her and when he didn't see her next to him did a double...

"My great miseries in this world have been Heathcliff's miseries, and I watched and felt each from the beginning: my great thought in living is himself. If all else perished, and he remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to a mighty stranger: I should not seem a part of it. My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods: time will change it, I'm well aware, as winter changes the trees. My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath: a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nelly, I AM Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind: not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being." - Wuthering Heights So many women worry that when they marry they will "lose themselves". I was very young when I married- just 20. I was still a girl in many ways. I still had a lot of learning and growing to do. As a married woman, I had ...

I saw this meme at Fiddledeedee's and just had to join in. I think a lot about those high school days. Some of it is funny and some of it I would rather forget. So, here goes: 1. Who was your best friend? Mary Smucker. She was five feet tall and had brown hair down to her hips. I was envious of that hair. She was a good Christian girl and loved God. She was a great influence on me. She had a steady boyfriend whom she had been dating for 5,000 years. She was homeschooled right up to her freshman year in high school. I always thought it was weird to be homeschooled and that homeschool families were a little crazy. Now I homeschool my own kids. Go figure. 2. Did you play any sports? Ha. That's a laugh. One time, I joined the cross-country team. Their warm-up was jogging one mile. I didn't get half way before I'm gasping for my life. I realized that for a teenager I was desperately out of shape. Then came the day I found out that to pass PE class we...