Month: September 2011

autumn-time . . . and the livin is easy

Week two started out much easier than week one. By Wed (Friday) I was having to wake up the younger two boys and convince them that getting in the shower would make them feel better about having to go to school. I guess the boys caught up on sleep over the weekend because they were all up and in the shower by 6:40 when I got up. We were able to have breakfast together, read today’s Jesus Calling as our devotional, and then sat and relaxed on the front steps as we waited for the bus.

   

Once the boys were off to school a friend came over to use our internet (she just moved here and doesn’t have internet at home yet) then we went out to coffee with another friend. While I was out enjoying a cappuccino and swapping moving horror stories, Lucy made dinner, cleaned the kitchen and mopped the floors, and put Camille down for a nap.

    
(Camille has been playing peek-a-boo lately and she thinks she’s hilarious. She is.)

In the afternoon Josh came home from school — he started his course today. They start at 7am so he left before I woke up, poor guy. He told me about his day as we waited for the boys to come home on the bus. I can’t believe he can take a graduate level course in Arabic. It makes my brain hurt to think how hard that must be.


(when she’s not playing peek-a-boo she likes press the buttons on my phone. If I don’t watch her carefully she ends up calling one of my friends or Josh.)

The boys all had a good day and Carter even got through his homework with minimal fuss and as a result had time to play with his friends before dinner. I could Groundhog Day this day over again a few times before getting tired of it.


(bonus “baby talk” video — more of the same.)

Things you don’t learn at home school

After only one week, my kids are already picking up things that I neglected to teach them at home. The other day I was getting a pair of scissors out of the drawer and Caleb reached out, took my wrist and tilted it downward saying, “Unh-unh, Mom. Scissors always have to be pointed at the floor.” I asked, “Is that one of the rules you learned at school?” He nodded proudly.

It’s not like I was letting them use scissors as weapons or swords or anything, but aside from the “don’t run with the scissors!” that I probably yelled out once or twice, I don’t think we had any scissor rules except for the one about only cutting your own hair.

I’m now realizing there are a few other things that all good citizens are supposed to know that I might have neglected to tell them. At dinner one night the big news of the day was the fire alarm going off and they all had to evacuate. Calvin said, “Mom, it was crazy. The fire alarm went off and everyone put down their books and walked outside.”

(Me, trying to figure out the strange part): ??Huh??

Calvin, in an incredulous tone says, “I don’t know why they weren’t all running. It could have been a fire!”

After I stopped laughing long enough to catch my breath and wipe my tears, I gasped out, “Baby, that’s what you’re supposed when there is a fire because if everyone panics and starts running then people might get hurt. It does make sense that if there was a fire, you’d want to get out as fast as possible, but they want everyone to be safe so you have to walk.”

Thankfully he walked calmly outside with the rest of the class because “that’s what everyone else was doing.” Score 1 for peer pressure. I guess the common sense home rule of “get out of the house as fast as possible” doesn’t quite translate to a classroom situation.

The moral of the story is if you’re ever in a building with my boys and the fire alarm goes off, you better be faster than they are or they might run you down from behind and shiv you with a pair of scissors as they race out of the building. Don’t blame them. Their mother didn’t teach them anything.

kitchen gadgets galore

Today is Carter’s 10th birthday so Josh took the boys to a movie (Hoodwinked 2 — something about Red Riding Hood. Who knew there was even a first one?) and I stayed home with the baby. Something about paying money to chase her around the lobby of the movie theater wasn’t really appealing since I’ve done that before. Did you see The Santa Clause 2? Me neither, thanks to a toddler that wanted to run up the aisle, shrieking with laughter, every time I tried to catch 5 minutes of the movie.

Well that toddler is 10 today and I’m home making our traditional birthday breakfast (dinner). We have our bacon ($8 for 1/2 a pound) and I’m making chocolate chip waffles with strawberry ice cream.

I wasn’t sure whether we were going to have pancakes or waffles so I started with the sure thing: whipped cream. I pulled out my kitchen aid mixer and saw the ice cream maker sitting next to it. Hmm, I bet Carter would like ice cream with his breakfast . . . so while the whipping cream was beating, I pulled out frozen strawberries and my hand blender.

I made up the ice cream base with milk (lowfat), frozen strawberries, sugar and lemon juice. I pulverized the frozen strawberries with the hand blender until the mix looked like a strawberry milkshake. Then I poured it into the ice cream maker and started it up.

Pancakes or waffles? Lucy made pancakes for breakfast yesterday (crepes, actually) so I got out my waffle iron and have the batter ready. When they walk in the door, the waffle cooking will commence. I have the European version of M&Ms– Smarties (not the little pellets of candy that I love on Halloween. These Smarties are made of chocolate), so I’m going to try making Smartie waffles. I did make them with 1/2 whole wheat flour, so they aren’t completely unhealthy.

I’m thankful for my modern conveniences of a waffle iron, hand blender, mixer, and ice cream maker, but there’s one thing in my kitchen that is old school and can’t be improved upon — the cast iron skillet. Josh, the bacon pro, will pull out one of our many cast iron cooking devices and cook the bacon while I do the waffles and then we’ll throw the dirty dishes in the dishwasher. Did you hear we finally got a dishwasher? Someone moved out so one became available and they installed it last week. Happy day.

Since dinner is all prepped I think I’m going to relax with a drink using my newest gadget. An ice shaver/sno cone maker. My mom and dad saw my sister using one with her kids and thought the boys would love it so they sent it as a surprise. When Camille hears the ice grinding she comes running. Kris, if you haven’t tried DP over shaved ice yet, you’re missing out. Dr. Pepper slushie . . . mmm.

the middles

This week was hurried mornings and rushed evenings, broken up by blurry stretches of mid-day. I don’t remember what I did each day, but here are the highlights of my middles:

went to the gym (once. I’m easing back into it)
had a pedicure and lunch with a friend
met another friend for coffee and book discussion
took baby girl to get her vaccines
ran errands with Josh and Camille
stretched out on the couch while Lucy cleaned the house
went to coffee with Josh and baby
edited Josh’s Turkey trip report

I’m tired, but satisfied and content. Tomorrow I don’t have to wake up at 6:30 or 7, but baby might think differently after a week of early rising. Our days look different now, but I’m enjoying the time I have with the boys at breakfast and in the evening before bed. The evening of their first day of school I went to tuck them in and kiss them goodnight to find they had all crawled into the same bed — some of the best things haven’t changed.

 One thing that has changed is since it’s only the two of us (or the three of us if Josh is around) during the day, I have time to let this little one lead the way and see where she takes us.

 

*** this is one of those videos that will be sleep-inducing if you aren’t related to her. Unless you find toddler walking entertaining . . .

Two peas

Lately I’ve been amazed by how much Camille looks like Carter at the same age. And from this video I took today, it looks like she’s taking after him in more ways than one: