Nevi in a very serious voice:   “Mom, how can a salami kill you?”

Me:  “Well a salami is a type of meat, like pepperoni, and I have no idea, outside of someone choking, how  it could kill somebody.”

Nevi again:  “But Mom, the other night at dinner (about 2 months ago to be exact) Daddy prayed for the people who had been killed by the salami”

Me:  “That would be a  “tsunami”, Nevi”.

Poor little sweetie – I can’t imagine what other misunderstandings are swimming around in her brain.

Hide the Passwords!

Sam and Nevi sat crowded on my lap today as we searched the internet for Star Wars backpacks.  Sam’s only requirement was that it had to be 3-D – which shot my brilliant idea of buying the adorable one that Pottery Barn sells.  Instead, we ended up on eBay where we found exactly what he wanted.  Nevi clicked all the payment buttons, I filled in a few passwords, and it was purchased.  An hour later Sam walked by me and said, “I can’t believe I get that backpack off the internet, it’s like it was free.  All we had to do what press some buttons and it’s going to come to our house!”

I better hide my passwords!

Misunderstanding Moments with Sam

This morning Sam came into my room dressed in a church shirt that was in desperate need of ironing so I asked him to take off the wrinkled number so that  I could iron it.  He looked at me, paused to think and then said, “nah, I’m pretty much already warm enough”  Apparantly he thinks an iron is a clothes warmer,  not a wrinkle remover.

After lunch today, Ellie headed outside to use her new magnifying glass to burn a dead bee “at the stake” as she stated it.  She gathered some dead leaves, found a nice sunny section of the neighbors (sorry Hickersons!!! I didn’t know) driveway and got to work.  The efforts resulted in lots of smoke, but no flame.  After several discussions and many trips in and out of the house for advice, she gave it one more try.  Sam walked out, looked at what she was doing, and asked,  “Ellie, why aren’t you just using a match?”

Not a misunderstanding, but still worthy of remembering, Friday night I took the 3 middle kids for a special night out while Ellie was at a party – dinner at Jose Peppers and then to off to see the movie Rio.  As we were walking out of the theater, Sam very dramatically stated to us with his arms making a swishing motion in the air, “We must never speak about this night to Ellie!”

Diary of a Birthday

Our sweet Geneva Grace turned 4 today.  Here’s a recap:

  

Her last picture as a three year old – what a wonderful year it was!!!

Birthday breakfasts at our house always consist of homemade waffles or pancakes, berries and fresh whipped cream.  The night before her big day, as I was kissing her goodnight, she requested a can of Princess Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup!  No argument from me – it was much easier to fix!!!

Next came presents!  I love what was captured in this picture because no matter the age or gender of my children, they all got excited about the gifts Nevi opened.  The whole crew spent several minutes decorating play cupcakes, serving tea in the new tea set, and even trying to squeeze onto her new doll bunk bed!

Sam wasn’t too sure about the whole “tea party” thing, but as soon as he saw that chocolate chips were involved, he put his “man pride” aside and dug in!

Millie was so excited to be included.  Now, every day when she sits down in her booster chair for lunch, she says “tea, tea!” until I bring her the little pot full of water.

The tea party was going along fabulously, so I stepped outside to take out the trash.  Sam came running out a minute later, saying in a very serious voice. “We have a situation in there mom!”  I went in to find Millie on top of the table and flower petals strewn all over the place – why do I even take my eyes off her for a minute?

Next it was off to see crazy Dr. Nichols for her 4 year well-child check .  I would have loved to have her dressed in something cute for our day on the town, but I decided to just relax and enjoy the cuteness of the ensemble she picked out herself.  During the entire office visit, Nevi did not crack a smile or speak a word.  When it was time for her vision test, Sam and Millie proudly stood outside in the hall and observed.  At one point, Nevi could not make out one of the pictures on the vision chart, and Sam could not take it a second longer.  He sidled right up next to her and whispered the answer in her ear!  A nice early start to cheating – how proud I was!  We ended the visit with a trip to the bathroom so that she could provide a urine specimen – this was not something she was excited about at all.  She pursed her lips, and looked at me as if to say, “mom, this is the grossest thing I have ever done!”  Sam, on the other hand, tried to take Dr. Nichols up on his  offer to let  Sam produce a specimen too, and was so annoyed when I wouldn’t let him!

Next it was a yummy lunch at Red Robin – soda and fries for everyone!  The kids were so excited.

After a quiet afternoon at home, we dropped Nevi off for some shopping time at Target with Aunt Mim.  Nevi had been pouring over the baby doll aisle there for months, and I was excited to see what she picked out.  When we met back up later in the evening for ice cream, she came running out to our car yelling, “Diapy Wipey!  Diapy Wipey!” as she proudly showed us her new doll.  I can honestly say that I have never seen that sweet girl more hyper or excited!  It was so funny.

It’s become an awesome tradition with 5 kid birthday’s a year to skip the big birthday dinner and just meet for ice cream and presents – everyone’s happy and I don’t have a big mess to clean up.

Then it was off to bed, with the anticipation of a fun friend birthday party the next day – pictures to come.

Mother’s Day

Had a great day. Sweet homemade cards, a scavenger hunt for gift cards to my favorite places and a yummy meal that I didn’t have to cook. Sam got so into the scavenger hunt game that after it was all over he hid a penny and 2 jewel stickers, handed me a flashlight and said. “I think you’re going to need a flashlight for these presents mom”. My Favorite thing?  The card Janie made me that said ” I don’t care if you’re pretty or not. I still love you”. Thanks… I think!

Too Much Reading

Ellie was grumbling tonight about having to go to the evening service at church – she doesn’t really understand the content of the sermon and she hates having to put her dress clothes back on.  I was trying to explain to her that we don’t do it for ourselves, but to please God and then I went on to say, “in fact, I was reading something the other day that talked about how what pleases God most is when we obey his laws cheerfully”  She looked at me with a funny face and replied in all sincerity, “Mom, maybe you read too much!”

Treasure Box

I have always viewed my laundry shoot as a huge asset to trying to keep an “orderly” home.  I never have to look at piles of dirty laundry on the main levels of my house, and no one minds throwing their clothes down.  When Janie was born, in the throws of trying to control a wild toddler, I was petrified that Ellie would try to put Janie in it.  Thank goodness that never happened – with any of the kids.

Any playmate that has come to play at our house has always been fascinated with the contraption – I often find “treasures” ie; stuffed animals, little legos and Polly Pockets at the landing – so, as long as I can remember, along with the kids’ pile of laundry to bring up each week, there are always miscellaneous toys to bring up as well.  No big deal…

Until… Millie discovered it.  This week I opened the landing door to discover hundreds of paper clips, tacks and clips mixed in with the dirty clothes – she went to my desk drawer, grabbed the containers full of supplies, and dumped them down the shoot!

I’m getting too old for this job!

Never Saw It Coming

I met Nathan my freshman year in college while playing on the same intramural volleyball team.  I thought he was so good looking and loved the fact that he played soccer like myself.  I thought his slight “twang” was cute and found the fact that he was from Kansas so enduring.  He seemed to dress like every other East Coaster I knew, loved anything North Face and  drove a Jetta – so I thought it was safe to fall in love with him.

3 years later, degree and marriage certificate in hand, I climbed in said Jetta and headed to Kansas with him – it was only going to be for a short while.  He just needed to finish a 2nd degree at Friends and then we would be off to some quaint little town along the  east coast – where we spend our free time at museums and bookstores, when we weren’t coaching or teaching.

I can still remember that first drive to Kansas after our wedding.  I fell asleep somewhere westbound on I-70 between Kansas City and Wichita.  When I woke up, Nathan was singing a song at the top of his lungs.  I thought it was so funny and then I listened closely and realized it was country music.  I was shocked – didn’t we only like Harry Connick Jr, Depeche Mode and Erasure??? (ok, slight exaggeration there, I loved these singers, but he seemed to have indulged me up to this point and never once had we EVER listened to any country music together!)

So, fast forward a few years into  wedded bliss and I began to see more obvious hints of “hillbilly” in my man.  There was the time  he didn’t even flinch when his grandma asked him to come over and shoot her old cat, or the fishing he made me do on a little man-made lake on a friend’s property, the barbecue restaurant, “Bucks Barbecue” that he loved (Which incidently got turned into a Starbucks and makes me smile every time I see it!)  or the gleam I saw in his eye when he brought home a full body fleece camouflage outfit for baby Sam.  We loved to laugh at the changes in my life, and it always made for a good story – but really I was living a happy life in a fun city with great friends and a wonderful little family.

Well, when we hit 15 years of marriage I think Nathan decided there was no point in hiding his true nature any longer – he declared in Eddie Bauer one day that he never really liked any of the clothes they made (Shock to me who bought him lots of items there!) and began making lots more trips to Gander Mountain (sort of like Bass Pro Shop) instead of his usual Backwoods (trendy outdoors equipment and apparel)  Next came the firearms and a clay pigeon “launcher.”

But, I knew that it was all over, when he returned from a trip to Gander last week with this  fleece for me and it was NOT a joke – he really thought I would like it:

Update:  So I indulged him the other day and put the fleece on – only in the house, of course.  Unfortunately, it is a really comfortable one  that I would ordinarily love to wear (if it were in a  SOLID color).  He told me about 3 or 20 times how cute I looked – why couldn’t he say that when I wear the clothes I like???

YOU KNOW SHE’S THE YOUNGEST

All clothing and accessories were chosen by Miss Millie.  She wants to do EVERYTHING just like her brother and sisters – down to the latest trends, ie; silly socks, silly bands, tie dye (maybe not the latest trend for most people, but we aren’t the hippest of people!) and sometimes even a pair or five of Bo’s (her name for Sam) underwear!

I think this is why she seems so exhausting to me right now.  She’s an 8 year old wrapped in the body of a 20 month old.  She doesn’t understand why she can’t be involved in every activity that she sees:  jumping with the big kids on the trampoline, riding bikes, etc; and she is not at all quiet about her resentment.  Luckily she has siblings that delight in her every action, and try to include her whenever possible.  My biggest job right now is convincing them that catering to her every desire will not make for a sweet child – they will do anything to make her happy – and she knows it!

 

 

Out of the mouths..

Sorry Grammy and Pappa, it’s been way too long since my last post.  I hate to miss out on opportunities to document this crazy life, but I have been O.V.E.R.W.H.E.L.M.E.D!!!

 

Conversations  I overheard tonight:

Nevi:  sitting at the table eating her spaghetti  (and apparently picking her nose):  “That was the Worst tasting booger I have ever eaten!”  nice…

Sam:  I took the kids to Braums tonight on the way to pick up Janie from AWANA (more on the subject later).  I was feeling uncharacteristically generous  and allowed each child to order a waffle cone with 2 different flavored dips! When it was time to leave, I went to the counter and ordered Janie a single dip waffle cone to go.  Ellie was very concerned that Janie would be upset with the discrepancy and swore Sam and Nevi to total secrecy.  Sam looked at Ellie and said, “But what if she can smell the 2 different flavors on us?”   Not to worry…  Sam spilled the beans 2 minutes after Janie got in the car.