Wanted...

Rebecca

Swiper of Funnies

Subject is not armed, but can drive you crazy!!

Kate

Hoarder of Funnies

Subject is armed with many funnies

While taking my older children to school, we were talking about Horton Hears a Who. The night before we were invited over to Cory and Wendy's to watch it all together. Funny movie by the way!
On the way back from school, Kate and Becca were sharing their favorite funny parts of the movie. These two together, well, you never know what will happen. Kate was sharing her part, then Becca shared hers, and so forth. Well, Becca thought a part was funny that Kate had already shared. She started yelling at Becca, "That's my funny! You can't steal people's funnies! Give it back Becca!"
Becca turned to her and simply said, "No Kate, sorry. It's my funny." This made Kate even more hysterical.

"You give me back my funny right now!" Becca shook her head. "Fine," Kate continued, "I'm taking it back." She swiped her hand through the air as if she was catching something. "I have it and you can never get it back!" she said.

Becca then turned to me and said, "Mom, Kate took my funny! I want it back."

Kate told me the whole story as if I had never been in the car. This continued most of the way home. Fighting about the funny and who it belonged to. Finally Becca fessed up to stealing the funny and she apologized and gave it back to Kate.

All is right with the world again!

The Grievances of a Despondant Originator

Did you need a thesaurus to know what I was talking about in the title? Why such the use of big words? Well, I'll tell you. Apparently, I should talk like this all the time. My cute little 1st grader, Grace, is expected to at her age. So I assume, I should as well (I'm being sarcastic if you didn't catch the tone in my voice).

I am so frustrated and angry at what my daughter is supposed to know in her class. I understand that she is in an advanced class, but come on. Her new vocabulary words are: cork, reed, scandalous, commission, and dreadful. The list would not be so bad if the they didn't have to memorize the definition. Commission- the authority granted to an individual to act as an agent for another. Say what? You wouldn't think cork would be bad right? Cork- the outside of an oak tree used to make bottle stoppers. Why can't we just say, a wooden lid for a bottle? We are talking FIRST grade here. They need to understand the definition.

Is it just me? Does anybody else think this is ludicrous? Her and I talked it over and she would like very much to return to her old school. I feel bad, but it sure relieves a lot of stress!

Our NEW Kitchen!!!

I couldn't find many pictures of the kitchen before. We always forget to do that! Here are a few.
Say, " ahhh" to the handsome models in the photos.

Before...

Everything is more of a country feel. And what a clutter mess!

After...

Much better. I finally got organized and got rid of the clutter.

We put the microwave above the stove. That saved a lot of space. Before it sat on a microwave cart to the side of the fridge. Our appliances are no longer mismatched!

Dustin spent so much time on the cabinets. We painted them a bone white, then took a walnut gel stain all over them. I can say we because i helped, a little. He put in a new tile back splash and painted. It is kind of a golden brown. It looks much brighter in the picture than it really is.

We also put hardware on the cupboards. I couldn't believe what a difference.

Dustin's favorite part of the whole kitchen is the under cabinet lighting he personally installed! (sorry for the blury pic, if our flash is off we do not get a crisp picture)

Thanks Honey! I love it!

The Role of Motherhood Defined by Children

The other day I was busy with the house. The girls were playing nicely together upstairs with their Polly pockets. The boys were playing the X Box of course. Becca came down and asked if I would help her put the Cinderella dress on one of the Polly dolls- sometimes it can be really hard!
I struggled, but I did it! She was so happy! She said, "Thanks mom. You did your job!"

She ran away so happy and content. I laughed a little and thought, "I guess that's what I'm here for, to put on Polly pocket clothes."

This incident sparked this post. I asked each of my kids to tell me what they think a mother's job entails. Here are their answers.

Ryan said a mother's job was to teach her kids how to be good people. She should be nice and love her kids no matter what!

Aaron's answers were short. He got embarrassed and didn't want to participate. He managed to to tell me that a mom's job is to feed her kids, clean the house, and make sure they are safe.

Grace had quite the list. A mother's job is to take care of her kids. She should not let them get sick, drive them to school, and keep them warm. A mother cares for her family and yells at them when they don't get along. ( Yes, I'm a yeller, I admit it, I'm not proud of it)

Kate's answers were very cute. I loved them. It broke motherhood into those little simple things that we do. Mom's do dishes. They fold clothes. She also cooks toast and onions. She has the babies. She puts on shoes and then ties them. Her "most important" job is to drive the car, she takes me to the library.

In the end Becca added these tasks to her list. A mom writes stuff and goes to the store.

Not the most profound things for sure, but then you realize that all these little things lead to the biggest job of all, watching them walk away HAPPY and CONTENT... knowing they are loved and safe!

Too Much Volleyball?

Hi, my name is Larae, and I'm a volleyball-holic .

Most of you probably already knew that, but I've always wanted to say that phrase and there isn't a whole lot of things I use/do in excess. It doesn't have quite the same ring to it as alcoholic though.

I was at the church last night till almost midnight. I would have stayed longer, but I forgot I still had to go to the store. I'm feeling it this morning. I CAN"T MOVE! My shoulder is very tight. My knees are beat up from diving all over the floor. It sure was fun though.

I love being able to do things that I love. It's nice to take time for myself. While most women might find something to relax them, I enjoy a GOOD game of volleyball! Nothing beats a good pass, set, spike! I love to dive too. Who wouldn't love hitting the floor at full force, the ground ripping the skin right from your knee?

Massage? I think not!

Do You Want to Learn A Lot about Your Child?

Then just play with them!

Lately I have been trying to play more with my kids. When Ryan and Aaron were little, I had a lot of extra time. We played all sorts of things. Once I had my girls life just got crazy. I'm sure it is because I became extremely busy just keeping up with each child we added to our family.

I have learned that Kate is a lot like her dad. This is not a bad thing, but she had developed a gift to make you think she is perfectly right in all things. She manipulates the circumstance so she is always the one in the right. I have gotten a kick out of this. If we are playing and she doesn't like the way it is playing out, she has a new rule to implement. The funny thing is she acts like it was ALWAYS a rule!

I will say she inherited my bossiness. I think it is just the chain of command. When Grace is there, she is in charge because she is older. If Grace is gone, then Kate becomes the dictator. I'm sure Becca is just waiting for the day she gets to reign, but maybe that is why she treats Ace the way she does. He's littler than her, so she gets to boss him.

Because Becca is the littlest, she has learned to comply and not to argue. We were at Lowe's and they were racing each other down the aisle. Kate reached the finish line first and proudly shouted, "Yay, I win!" Becca came in right after her and proudly declared, "Yay, I lose!" She was just happy to take part.

She has that passive-aggressive gene though. While Grace and Kate are bossing her around, she has her little ways of letting them know she's not happy. If they aren't paying attention to the game she will quietly knock over or move their game piece. She will slyly steal the toy she wanted and knows well enough to run out of the room. Anything she can do that won't bring too much attention and avoids the confrontation.

I realized I need to include Grace. (I fear she is going to suffer from middle-child syndrome) She is our little angel! However, when she plays that attitude comes out. She is the one always in charge, not willing to take the back seat to anything. We have really been working on that with her. She's getting better at it. She is so friendly though. Anyone can play if they want (they just have to be willing to follow her rules, no exceptions). She has her moments when little sisters are banned from the festivities, but not too many.

My boys are typical boys. They pretty much get along smoothly. Ryan is more laid back, Aaron is more of the perfectionist. I think they are a whole lot easier to raise! Too many emotions involved with a girl! I'm burned out from having three girls right in a row! I love them though and I love the time I am able to sit and enjoy them.

New Year's 2009

For New Year's we went to a comedy club with friends, then back to their house to ring in the New Year! I can't believe how time flies! It's 2009! I told Dustin the other day that by now I thought we would be living like The Jetsons! He informed me how far fetched a life like that would be, but I still think it would be cool. After all they have flying motorcycles now.