I smiled

Today I smiled 

at a girl getting her hair fixed for prom

at her mom who was beaming, clearly excited for her daughter

at our resurrection garden

at my reflection at the salon 

at our disappearing Disney countdown chains

at a an old man buying Easter candy from See's Chocolates

at a picture of my son sporting his first mohawk at age 3

at the silly string that lingers on the side of my house

when my kids turned off their own light because they were ready to go to sleep before we said they had to

when the cute shoes that I bought my daughter fit

at my child who said our house was cold because we had the window open

at my husband

at the thought of the lego man in the tomb of our resurrection garden -because it couldn't be empty- not until Sunday

I am not grumpy. I am just confused.

My husband was out of town this week. Last night,  I sent him a text to say that Thing 3 had been suffering from a stomach ache and Thing 4 had diarrhea before dinner and threw up after dinner. My husband texted back that he needed to stay another day.

I lost my  breath.
He was kidding.

Oh- I've taken to calling my kids Thing 1, 2, 3 and 4 this week after Thing 2 donned his Suessical  clothes at school one day. (It was reading week.)

Last night, Thing 2 was the only one of the six of us to get a good night's sleep.

About midnight, Thing 4 threw up in bed. It was the best kind. The puke was all over her bed, sprayed on the wall, and in her hair. None of us enjoyed it.

We cleaned everything up, remade her bed, washed out her hair and comforted her. She went back to sleep sweetly. All was calm for about an hour. She threw up again. Slept again. Threw up again. I am not even sure if she threw up 3 or 4 more times. It is a blur.

Sometime while she was sleeping, Thing 3 ran down the hall in a panic. He woke with a gusher of a bloody nose. My husband wouldn't call it a gusher but since I was wiping blood off the light switch this morning, I'll call it a gusher. Thing 3 did not like having a tissue in his nose at all. Squeezing slightly at the bridge of his nose was irritating. It took a few minutes (a decade) for him to relax and for his nose to stop bleeding.

I wasn't sleeping well because... well, just because. So, I heard every sound. I had my heightened mom ears turned on to listen for the coughing sound of Thing 4.

I popped up out of bed when I heard the heavy footsteps of a child. Thing 1 was walking down the hall wrapped in his bed blanket. He does that every morning, when he has to get up for school. Except that it wasn't morning. My husband asked Thing 1, "What are you doing?" To which he answered, "I don't know." My husband asked, "Do you need to go to the bathroom?" To which he said, "No." My husband said, "Go on back to bed, buddy." And, he did.
Thing 1 is our sleep walker. I don't know if he was sleep walking or if he was just awakened by the chaos and thought it was morning. Either way, he wasn't very coherent and he didn't remember it this morning.

Thing 2 (pictured above) slept soundly.


I tried coffee this morning. It didn't work.
I've now eaten two chocolate chip cookies as a mid morning snack. Delightful.
I still can't shake the fog in my brain.
Dora the Explorer is entertaining me this morning.

I am not grumpy. I am just confused.

I had enough sense to ask my boys this morning to go ahead and get sick. Seriously. We need to get this crap finished before Spring Break, which is one week away.

Thursday Thanks Tank: 196

I've been thinking about my thankfulness all day. It is late but I desperately want to write out some thankful thoughts, anyway. Bare with me, this list will probably be shorter and choppy.
I am thankful. for these things and so much more:

accomplishing a goal - ran my first 5k this past weekend!
healing - all of the kids are back in school, as of Wednesday
MOPS- it was wonderful to make it to the group this week
funny things my kids say
a happy trumpet player- it was wonderful to watch my son having a good time during his concert tonight
honesty
flowers starting to bloom
finishing a book - there is something fantastic about getting lost in a book for a few days
fresh fruit - I forgot how much I like cuties.
my husband's job
a call from a friend who had tips to share about our upcoming Disneyland trip
finding out that our local baseball team will have a peanut-free day this year - I will be so much more relaxed at the game
a good listener
setting aside the necessary for the important- I didn't get all of the work done around the house today, but I did play with my daughter
Rainbows - I love them. Still can't believe I caught that shot from yesterday's post on my phone

Think about what you appreciate. Take time for gratitude.

Wednesday Words: Rainbow

"Be a rainbow in someone else's cloud." Maya Angelou

Thursday Thanks Tank #195

This day was not what I expected. 
I stayed home with a sick child. One child was sick Sun-Tues and made it back to school on Wed. Now, another child is sick. 
It wasn't what I had planned. Quite frankly, I was not happy this morning with the prospect of being home with a sick child. When I looked at him, my mothering heart wanted to comfort him and take care of him but when I was not with him, my heart was grumbling. 
My grumpiness melted away as I went through the day... or perhaps it was it as I drank my second cup of coffee
Today wasn't bad. It was a low-key. I moved through the day, being productive, while letting my son rest. I decided to focus on thankfulness and then make a batch of cookies... or banana bread. 
I did part of that... I focused on thankfulness. Then the afternoon got busier and busier and the day turned into night.

I started this thankful list mid-afternoon and I am finishing it just before bed. 

I am thankful for:

chocolate - Even just a few chocolate chips can be perfect sometimes.
appointments scheduled - This week, I got some appointments scheduled that I've needed to schedule for months.
houseplants - I recently grew some spider plants from offshoots from another spider plant. My 7 year old said he wishes we could make our house look like a jungle.
Tylenol - thankful for how it can bring down a fever and bring pain relief 
Our trampoline - My kids and their neighborhood friends spend many hours jumping. I love that the kids like to congregate in our backyard.
knowing other allergy parents - Today is Pi day. Another allergy kid's mom called this week to ask if she could provide a piece of pie for her son and mine when the class was having Pi. What a wonderful treat to have another parent that not only understands the allergy but gets that it is fun for our boys to have the same food as someone else in class.
Strawberries - I love them.
The gym - sometimes I just cannot get exercise in at the "right" time. I am thankful the gym is open late and that I can go at night when necessary. Also, I am thankful for the childcare so I can go and take my daughter during the day.
Silly sitcoms and Laughter - My husband and I enjoy laughing together at a few shows. Sometimes it is the perfect end to the day.
Tulips: I enjoyed beautiful cut tulips in my kitchen for much of the week. I love the vibrant color of tulips.
My Kids Reading Books - I watched my oldest laughing to himself as he read a book today. My second son just finished a book - and enjoyed it. It's a major milestone.

I have these things to be thankful for and so much more.

Let your heart be full of Thanksgiving.

"Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name." Psalm 100:4

Wednesday Words: Owen Family Circus

A few words courtesy of the Owen Family Circus

February 2/24/13
In one room, "The Gambler" by Kenny Rogers is playing (courtesy of my husband). In another room, "Tonight is going to be a good night" by the Black Eyed Peas (courtesy of my 11 year old). I am in a room that is joined to both (no doors).  I am having trouble putting together sentences.

Sunday 3/3/13
Conversation of the morning-
Seth: "The first record I ever had was this" (referring to K Rodgers, The Gambler)
David: "What do you mean, record?"

4:30  in afternoon
My husband just snuck outside with the kids BB gun. I'm concerned but mostly, amused.
He is trying to scare a stray animal.
He said, "I won't shoot anything that lives. I mean, that's alive."

3/5/13
My daughter has a "quiet headache." It started the moment when we walked into the library. She whispered, "I just got a quiet headache. It's too quiet in here." When we got home, I asked if her headache was gone. She said, "No, it's still too quiet." I'm not worried. The boys will be home in shifts starting in about an hour. That should take care of her lack-of-noise problem.

3/6/13 7:35 a.m.
"Momma, you need to call the haircut guys." Thomas, age 7
"Why?"
"Elsie wants to be a boy."

3/13/13 7:30 am
Timely question-of-the-day from my 7 year old:  "Momma, what does stressed mean?"

I thought, 'are you even looking at me?'

I answered with an explanation about having to get something done under pressure, either because there is little time or things aren't going the right way.   I can't quite remember what I said ...

Waking up at 7, when your 11 year old likes to leave the house at 7 because school starts at 7:30 makes me stressed.

Have a wonderful, Word-filled Wednesday! 

“The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.” (Psa 19:7-8) 

Middle Finger

One day recently my precious 5 year old asked me what the middle finger meant.

She knew enough to know that she shouldn't put her middle finger up but she wanted to know why. There was no doubt that one of her 3 older brothers told her that pointing with your middle finger means the same as a bad word.

Ah the joys of having older siblings in school.

As simplistically as I could, I told her that putting your middle finger up at someone means that you want something really bad to happen that person. I said that is shows that you don't like the person or are really mad at the person. I also told her the word that means the same thing.

I was honest and forth-coming. All the while, I was a bit sad that I had to explain it all to a 5 year old.

A few hours later, my daughter proudly said,

"Momma, I'm gonna give peanuts the middle finger... It's okay because peanuts are really bad for David."

Thursday Thanks Tank #194

A few things that I am thankful for: 

growing excitement over our upcoming vacation
being able to complete projects

Our Disneyland vacation countdown chain. One chain for each kid and each link has a Disneyland fact.
 


snow and sunshine (all in one day)
home cooked meals
getting together with a friend
the sound of my kids laughing
our trampoline
praying with my family over concerns
a night off while my husband took the kids to the places they needed to be
a library day with my 5 year old
picking a book for my 9 year old - that he wants to read
recognizing when my 11 year old needs a little grace
coffee lovingly delivered to me when I'm having trouble getting going in the morning
reminders from my kids that I'm old (keeps me well grounded)

being a mom

He dedicated his project to me because - I am his mom.

The House is Alive with the Sound of Excitement

My kids were delighted to find this countdown on the table this morning.

After spending too much time trying to print a free Disney countdown without success, I opted to create my own countdown. 

Feel free to use what I created. Here are the files as jpeg images. You should be able to right click and save the image. I created them in PowerPoint  If you'd rather have the PowerPoint file, send me an email.

I'm linking up with Works-for-Me Wednesday this week.  Please stop by and check out all of the other great works-for-me posts.

The Home of the Crystal Ball

On Friday, my son had to give a 20 minute, memorized, power point presentation to his class. Students could pick any topic for the presentation. Snacks and classroom treats were welcomed but not required. 

My son picked Alabama Football for his presentation.

I was one happy Momma. 

Alabama classroom treats? He didn't have to ask me twice. 

 Football cookies (this is about half of them)

Football bouncy balls and cherry jelly bellies

Incorporated in my son's speech were a few opportunities for the class to practice cheering. He started the speech by getting the class to say, "Roll Tide!" Later, they were led to cheer after he played a few notes of Sweet Home Alabama.

It would be delightful to hear any class cheer for Alabama but it was sweetened by being in a Nevada classroom, which is taught by a teacher who graduated from the University of Georgia. 

He did an outstanding job with the presentation. 

Now I just want football season to get here!

Have you seen this picture? It's floating around the internet and while it is photo-shopped, I just love it.