Iowa Boy

 

Did you hear about the new pirate movie?

It's rated ARRGGH.

ARRGGH!

Isaiah: Sweet headband Mom, it makes you look like a pirate!

 

Oh Preschool, let me sing your praises!

 

Because in about 35 minutes, I will be eating lunch with my husband, and no kids, in a restaurant.
Seriously. And it is still daylight.
I think this is one of those life changing moments. :)

Brody the Bat

One costume down, and several to go...
Picture day is tomorrow. For 4 of my kids. Nothing like spending a ton of money at one time.

 

This month's project...

Okay, here is the deal:
Go watch read and watch Jody's blog
Isn't this a great idea?
So, I am responsible for size 2T.
If any of you would like to help, in any way, please do.

I am out of words to describe how this is affecting everything I do these days. Out of words.

It is time for action.

soft curves

 

Monday Musing

At what point do you throw away the dish towel?
I mean seriously.
Why do I keep washing this?

 

Strawberry.

Yesterday evening Isaiah had, shall we say, an unfortunate accident.
He decided it would be a good idea (even though I am certain I have told him otherwise on many occasions), to sit on his skateboard and coast down the street.

He began at the corner of our street and the one the pond is on, headed toward the pond. This particular portion of the street has a nice slant to it, though I wouldn't call it a hill. It is about 4 houses from where he started to the pond, at an acre a piece, it was a ways.

His recollection is, that he was picking up a considerable amount of speed, and the board started to shake. At which point, it sort of flung him off (I imagine one of those merry go round things that old playgrounds have, you know, when you get going super fast, and someone eventually flies off from the shear force of the rotation).

He landed, and slid, on his, how shall we say it, butt. Well, not quite, but just below it anyway.

Steve and I were in our room when he came in. His pants were around his ankles, and he was saying, "MOM!!!" Steve and I were like, "Dude, pull up your pants." And he said, "I got hurt. I'm bleeding." and then he turned around.

He has the biggest strawberry just under his right butt cheek that I have ever seen. It is almost a perfect rectangle, and measures about 4x6 inches. It looks like a harvest site for a skin graft.

I won't go into details about the clean-up, or aftermath. It wasn't pretty.

And he definitely did not want to go to school this morning, because the thought of sitting down all day brought tears to his eyes. But I made him go anyway.

And I assured him that football tonight would be a blast.
Actually I think I said something like, "Are you an athlete? Athletes fight through the pain. This is one of those times. You are going to have to suck it up. Grin and bear it. Deal." He replied, "Mom, SERIOUSLY."

So, I think even though I gave him a killer pep talk, I will still let the coach in on his unfortunate accident. But I am pretty sure he will already know something is wrong, as he is walking with a considerable limp.

matters of the heart

this evening, i had one of those moments of clarity. (lately they seem to come less and less frequently)

my heart does not run in parallel paths. it only intersects, or it doesn't.

i either love you, or i don't. i know that sounds kind of harsh, but the reality of it is so true for me. i don't know how to "like" a person, or think that they are "okay".

i am either all in, or i am not in at all.

and lately this has been a struggle for me. i love people hard. whether i let them know or not, i am fully committed to them, their lives, their families.
and it gets a bit tricky when, for whatever reason, the other people's hearts don't love like i do.

i open myself up to rejection. and i know this, but i still can't change it.

there is not grey in my heart.
and i tend to jump too quick.

a part of me knows i need to work on pacing myself. work on guarding myself more.

but even as i type that, there is a bigger part of me that cries out, "what the hell are you here for then? if not to love with reckless abandon?"
so i still don't know which part will win out.

but i do know this, one side will win, because in everything, there is a winner and a loser. there is either yes, or it is no.
light or dark.
no dimmer on this heart.

There was going to be a deep post...

but then I got home, and the USC game was on.
I can't think deep thoughts when I am watching football.

So, I will give you an update on the snack situation.
Everyone made it without any additional snacks, but I must have said, "If it is not in your bin, then you cannot have it." about a thousand times.

Brody ran out first, followed closely by Micah, then Hannah, Emily, and Isaiah (who had two left as of last night).
I think I will change it a bit for Brody, as thinking in the realm of a whole week at a time is a bit much for him. Most likely I will let him pick out all of his snacks, but only put half of them in, and the other half in the middle of the week.
Everyone else gets it.
And it really was amazing how much less was consumed.

Okay, so the real post will come after USC kills OSU.

i'm out

is it possible to be out of things to say?
or maybe i am just doing more internal processing these days.
i feel a bit like this has become just a place to list all of the things i have to do.
i don't want it to be that.

i don't want to be that.

a mere list.

i want more. so much more.

Be still my beating heart...

Look who showed up for an evening visit!

 

Nothing new.

Not a lot of new stuff happening around here.
Steve's out of town (shocker).
Little boys are out of snacks already.
Hannah and Isaiah are both sore from practices.
Emily has finished yet another book.
And me, I'm doing laundry, blogging, drinking an iced mocha, and doing the dishes all at the same time.

See, nothing new.

New snack system

Thanks to an e-mail from a friend (props to donna g), I now employ a new system when it comes to snacks in the house.

 

On Sunday afternoon the kids all pick out their snacks for the week. The big kids get 10, and the little kids get 7. They can pick anything we have, and can double up on things that they like better than others. They put them in their assigned bin, and that is all they receive for the whole week. If they want to have five snacks one day, and none the next, that is up to them. If they want three bags of chips, up to them.
You would not believe how excited they were to start this system. (okay, emily wasn't as excited). Fruit and cheese, or anything that was made during the week (like the banana bread I made this morning) is always available, and doesn't need to be included in their choices, they are just extras for the week.
So far, so good. I'll let you know when it goes bad. :)

 

A look inside Hannah's bin.

His new nickname: The Gingerbread Man

 

Run, Run, As Fast As You Can. You Can't Catch Me, I'm The Gingerbread Man!

This was touchdown number one (of three), a ninety yard run.
The team did great! With amazing defense, and professional blocks.
They won 20-6.

one point five hours:

the amount of time it takes to scrub my kitchen and dining room floor, with vinegar and water, on my hands and knees.

gone

i have decided that it doesn't matter how much food i purchase at the beginning of the week, by friday, it is always gone.

i can buy a little, or i can go overboard with chips, crackers, and prepackaged desserts. i can shop at sam's club, and have thirty-two of something, but by friday, the results are always the same.

gone. all gone.

at some point i am hoping to learn from this, and only buy a little.

but clearly, given the empty pantry, and empty wallet, that day has yet to arrive.

What to post?

There is much, but nothing.

Steve's out of town, the rain is coming down, and my house is a mess.
I can't get on board with the Fly Lady fad.
I think I am too anti-establishment or something.

Oh, and Brody is already crying about going to preschool in 1.5 hours. Nice.

Bloggless in Iowa.

Cicada Killer Wasp

I'm thinking that this bee ate pollen from plants taking some serious Miracle Grow.