Lent, Day 34 and So On

I still have a lot of other things I want to blog about when I have some spare minutes ... or hours.  But I don't want to fall down completely on the whole Lenten Thankfulness thing!  It's what's kept me going over this very busy season of life.

Nanny McGyver

Sometimes I find myself in a situation that requires my inner McGyver to come to the surface to save the day.  Today, was one of those days.   While I'm almost embarrassed to write about this story, I was so pleased with the results that it would be a shame not to document the success.

Plus, I already told the child's mother and she laughed about it, so I guess I'm clear to tell you about it here.

What Did They Just Say?

Our kids are all totally smart, intelligent, brilliant and creative -- just like your kids.  But sometimes, they are a mystery to me.  Sometimes, they say stuff that is quite hilarious, but then I'm left asking myself, "Did they just forget or did they actually not know that?"

Playing Bible Trivia with the boys in school yesterday (we do like an occasional "game day" in school to break up the monotony), one question was: How many days did it take God to create the earth?

Eye Rolling in Fun

Our son, Z, is entering a new phase of life.  We noticed the signs with H a couple years back and here we are again with Z.

In our experience, we've seen these changes taking place, result in surges of really aggressive behavior.  They come from seemingly nowhere and it can be really challenging to help them through such outbursts without affecting others too negatively.  They don't mean to do it and they always feel bad afterwards, but they haven't yet learned how to control these surges of aggressive feelings.

I find myself sending Z outside a lot when he gets like that.

Conversations with Our Favorite Kindergartener

I love my niece, N, mostly because she is so adorable.  And five.  Three and five are my favorite ages for kids.

Disclaimer:  I love my kids at all ages, but I like them better on particular days and at certain ages ... and so far, that's three and five.  I have a hunch I might like them a lot at 30, too.  But we'll see.

Anyway, so N and I were chatting it up this morning and I wanted to capture some of the best moments and record them here for me to reflect back on when she's nine or 14 or whatever.  It was a lot to remember, so hopefully I've captured the gist of these stories from earlier today and you'll excuse me if I'm a word or two off on anything.  I'm pretty sure I'm close though.

A Couple of Funny Quotes

Yesterday was rich with humor from our youngest two.  If you haven't checked out my Step-by-step post, you can read a lot of good humor there.

However, I would be remiss if I didn't sneak in these quotes somewhere (sorry these are repeats for you, Jessica, since I texted them to you) for record keeping and entertainment.

Step-by-step

I was working with our seven-year-olds in school today and talking about step-by-step processes.  So for fun, I started asking them their idea of step-by-step processes of things they do (then I added in some things they probably had no clue about just to see what they'd come up with) and I made sure to record their answers precisely.

Here are the questions and their step-by-step instructions.  I'd like to recommend you don't actually follow their processes and use a more reputable source if you need instructions.  But it's still fun to read their responses and this survey gives you a little window into our kids' personalities...

Free

Lately, the kids have all been "daddy's kids" more than usual.  I think, because of that, C must have said something to the kids because I've been hearing a lot of justifications to their positive comments about Daddy to me so I don't feel bad or something.

For example, this morning, Z was saying he was glad it was Friday because then he gets to go with Daddy and S to bring her to her teen group. 

I said, "I was thinking tonight you could stay with Kool and the Gang so you can do a fun thing I have planned for us, also because I think S needs some one-on-one time with Daddy tonight."

There was silence.

"In Fact, I'm Dreaming Right Now..."

This week in school we were memorizing verse two of Psalm 139:

"You know when I sit and when I rise,

you perceive my thoughts from afar."

No Argument

Funny.

My husband sent me this link because he thought I could relate.

Completely Random Costumes

While I was typing up my last blog post, I was interrupted by J and O who have been playing together up in the loft for an hour or so.  They came to show me the new costumes they created.

J was wearing a blindfold and holding one of those big plastic crayon banks (you know, they're like three feet long and from the Dollar Tree).  O had pillows strapped all over his body with belts and he wore a funny jacket and hat over those.

Throwing a Hammer

I've blogged previously about how I'm beginning to notice certain ways our sons are becoming more like their dad.  This morning was one of those moments where one son might as well have been his dad standing there talking to me.

The three boys were upstairs playing Legos when J finally roused herself from bed (before 9:00 so miracle of miracles!) and decided to join them.  If there is one thing I've learned, it's that if the boys are playing nicely together, introducing a female into the mix will always create chaos.

Little Tiny Cars

Well, I guess we are officially a homeschool family (as if there was any doubt).  The kids have fully adjusted to our 14-passenger van as a normal-sized vehicle.

Weekend Review

Goodness, so much happened over the weekend it feels like ... I need to sort through it all here...

Friday was a typical day filled with a lot of kid stuff.  I managed to get outside during the hot part of the day to pull a bunch of weeds and dead plants from our backyard.  I'm not sure why that seemed like the best part of the day to do that ... but there I was.  N came to help and did; Z came to help, but did not.  So it goes.

New Pants

If you know our son, Z, or if you're getting to know him through my stories here at Mama Flock, you know he loves all things stuffed animals.

I just saw this news story and the picture is just hilarious.  I soooo need to figure out a way to make Z some pants like this for his next birthday or Christmas or something.  He would just be in complete love -- being able to take all these friends with him every where he goes.

How Great Thou Art

I was raised attending Lutheran church services primarily (and Sunday School and youth group, etc.).  If you're not familiar with that part of the Christian church, it's a little like going to a Catholic church without all the focus on saints and Mary, mother of Jesus.  So ours was pretty formal and our church services were very old school -- hymnal usage, group readings, formulaic and predictable.  It gave me a fine foundation, but compared with the churches I've belonged to as an adult, Lutheran churches couldn't compete for my dedication and spiritual growth.

That being said, even though my adult life has led me to churches whose services are more contemporary and lively, there is still a part of me that will always feel comforted by classic hymns.  Fortunately, our contemporary church here in New Mexico does, occasionally, dabble in classic hymns at the end of a run of contemporary worship songs.  I like it.  It reaches the places inside me that remind me of childlike faith, the comfort of my mother's singing (all the time) while I was growing up and extends through the generations, bringing something old into the new and introducing our children to something of my past.

Yard Sale Eve

Today, H, L, K and I spent several hours cleaning our garage and rummaging through its contents finding more stuff to sell.  There is a lot out there that only C can decipher and decide upon, so he'll be doing that throughout the course of the sale, providing fresh inventory all morning long.  The garage wasn't even on my head-swirling list, but it is surprisingly relieving to have it all cleaned (especially knowing people will be getting an up close look at it tomorrow).

S watched the younger kids again and Z, he pretty much drove everybody crazy.  But I'm sure the house being turned on end and emptied of its contents little by little is very unnerving for him.  So we do what we can to get through it and Sunday, things will be back to normalsville.

Funny Niece

My niece, N, is so funny.  Maybe it's the age (5) or her role in our family -- I don't know, but she says a million funny things a day and I can't keep track of them all.

But today, I am writing three of them down for you all...

And If You're Not Too Busy Journaling...

... go check out this other Mom blog that I found while trying to remember the name of a stinky flower.  I have been reading this for at least ten minutes and I'm dying here with laughter.  I love this lady and her attitude about motherhood.  So I'm giving her a free link on my blog here -- not that she needs it -- but in case you've never read her blog and you happen by my little blog, you should go there.  She's funnier than me. 

Stinky Flowers