It’s true! I caught it on camera! 😉

 

Really, though — I had to re-stage the book reading, since my video camera (ie, phone) was giving me grief the first go-round. They didn’t mind hamming it up again (as you can tell!).

 

The book they are reading was a gift from Nana & Granddad that they bought on an Alaskan cruise. Fun, fun! The boys enjoy the colorful pictures and silly sounding animal names (puffin, warblers, octopi).

 

Without further ado, I present to you this rousing rendition of “Alaska 1-2-3” …

 

The 11yo and I had a few hours of quality time earlier this week. He has been helping out with a tutoring program that our church hosts, and although there hasn’t been much need for him to work on homework problems with other kids (we are blessed to have several adult volunteers, as well), he does spend a lot of time playing games with them and reading to the little ones. I’m so proud of him and his heart for service!

 

Anyway, we treated ourselves to dinner before tutoring, and while we were sitting together, he asked me out of the blue: “Hey, Mom, does Baylor have any classes in entreprenooing?” I tried not to giggle and told him that Baylor actually has a whole program in Entrepreneurship. He was stoked! He then informed me that he still plans to open his own restaurant, so he will take a class in entrepreneurship, cooking and engineering (for fun).

 

I asked why cooking, and he said that a good restaurant owner needs to know how to cook everything on the menu, obviously!

 

Obviously.

 

I didn’t have the heart to tell him that Baylor doesn’t have a culinary arts program, but later on I thought to myself that he could study nutrition in the Family & Consumer Sciences program … especially when he learns that the department is full of girls! (He couldn’t care less right now, but something tells me that he’ll care a lot more when he’s 19! 🙂 )

 

Coincidentally, I ran into both the deans of Engineering and Business at a symposium on campus yesterday, so I told them about my 11yo’s big plans. They got a laugh out of it. I resisted telling them that they’re going to have to fight over him come 2018! 😉

 

Baylor Class of 2022, Sic ‘em! (Ok, NOW I feel old!!!)

I admit that I love the color pink (although my favorite is yellow), and every Easter I like to walk by the toddler clothing section and admire the frilly little dresses with an ever-so-brief moment of longing because I don’t have any girls. However, seeing that my tolerance threshold for whining/baby talk/squealing is pretty low, I guess God – in his wisdom – thought it best to entrust me with boys, instead.

 

Most of their disciplinary needs are stereotypical “boy” things: scuffling with each other, running in the house, taking a running leap onto the couch, putting stinky socks in each others’ faces, etc. Lately, though, the Baby Talk Monster has infiltrated our home, and it’s driving me bonkers!

 

No. 5 was playing Mario Kart on the Wii when I overheard him exclaim, “Me Bowser! Me in first place!” (Bowser is a character in the game.) Later on at dinner, he said, “Me want more, please.” These recent substitutions of “me” for “I” came on the heels of No. 4 barely saying three words in a row that weren’t whIIIIInnnniiinnnnng. I feel a twitch coming on, just thinking about it.

 

Something had to be done to squelch this behavior before my 6yos reverted to 2yos!

 

Our house rule for running indoors is push-ups (5 for the little ones, 10 for the big kids). The rule applies in our home, someone else’s home … even at church. Yes, they’ve had to do push-ups in the hallway at church. We’ve had this rule for well over a year now, and they even enforce it on each other. Occasionally, they’ll even stop in their tracks and start doing push-ups without being reminded, LOL! Their karate instructor once said that our boys will have the strongest arms in the county. 😉

 

Along those same lines, I thought that jumping jacks would be a reasonable enforcement tool for baby talk. We started it yesterday, and so far, No. 5 has had to do two sets of 15 jumping jacks (last night after dinner and this morning). No. 4 got a warning this morning at breakfast, but he got a reprieve the first time.

 

We’ll see how it goes, but so far, I think it’s working out well. It gets them moving (“gets their energy out,” as I like to say), and it’s a quick & easy correction for a fairly mild (albeit very annoying) habit.

Well, my grand idea of getting the boys to make New Year’s resolutions was a flop. The oldest two seemed to get it; No. 1 said his goal would be to pray everyday. No. 2 said that he wanted to beat his pogo stick jumping record (currently 352 jumps in a row, he claims!) and reach 400. That’s a worthy goal for an almost-10yo, I think!

 

The little three just said, “I don’t know” and went back to whatever they were chattering about before I so rudely interrupted with my great idea. :p

 

One thing I’m resolving for them, however, is a less hectic morning routine. They got two alarm clocks for Christmas this year (one for each bedroom, each Star Wars themed!), and today was the second day we used them. I still had to poke my head in the rooms and be sure they actually got up and started getting ready, but I think we’re off to a good start, all in all.

 

I don’t mind waking them up in the mornings; it’s a nice way to start the day with a kind word and friendly voice (before their attitudes disintegrate into fussing 30 min later when someone can’t find their shoes). I think that using an alarm clock, though, will help to instill a little bit of independence. I don’t mind waking them up now, but I’d like to think that I won’t still have to when they’re in high school! :p

 

Today was a very good morning. The notorious sleepyhead was actually the first one dressed! Here’s to a great 2011.

I got roped into being a Room Mom once. Never again. It was my oldest’s Pre-K class, and I was working part-time back then, so I figured I should give it a whirl. I’ve managed people and led programs; how hard could it be? Bahahaha! Let me just tell you that the one (and only) time I went to the classroom to “help” the teacher prep some craft materials, I cut my hand open with a pair of scissors.

 

I tried to wrangle volunteers for this booth and that activity, not to mention the contributions for the various holiday parties and field trips. I love being a parent, but dealing with other people’s kids (and their parents & grandparents) is not a trait that is inherent in me. So, I thank the teachers and bless the Room Moms for being willing to deal with the rest of us, because I can vouch that it isn’t a walk in the park.

 

That said, I just have a couple of favors to ask. First of all, please, please, pretty please – tell me which teacher you are representing when you send an email. Signing your email “Caleb’s mom” is not helpful to me. Telling me that you are looking for food items for next week’s party is not enough information.

 

Caleb* may be an only child, but I’ve got three schools and five teachers (not to mention the individual class teachers at the intermediate school who send emails specific to science, music, homeroom, etc.) to keep track of! If I’m going to remember which party I signed up to bring chili and which one I signed up to bring boxes of raisins (you don’t want those mixed up, I’m pretty sure), I need to know which school/teacher/child I’m committed to.

 

The same goes for flyers. I went to a lot of effort to find the perfect cubbie-table with storage space for everyone’s backpacks and individual (labeled!) baskets on top of the table to stash take-home papers. It’s a beautiful system … when it works. (Don’t get me started on the individual coat hooks — WHY no one can seem to find a jacket in the mornings is beyond me!) Anyway, when the cubbie & basket system doesn’t work, papers get pulled from folders and placed on the nearest flat surface, leaving me to fish through the stack and try to figure out whose is whose. I may find a flyer reminding me that book orders are due on Friday. Ok, great – which school? Which class? Or, how about the ones about field trips? Please sign & return the bottom half of the flyer … after you ask all five children who is going to that field trip to try to narrow it down.

 

Paperwork is my nemesis; I admit that much. I need to transfer the information to my Outlook calendar, email a reminder to myself or even call and leave myself a voice mail on my work phone so that I can remember (don’t laugh – I’ve done it!). I try to stay organized and get the boys to keep their stuff organized, but I could use a hand. Vague emails and unspecific flyers have been two of the most difficult things to overcome this semester.

 

Now that we have [almost!] a full semester under our belts with all five kiddos in big-kid school, I’m hopeful that the spring term will be a little more manageable. Pray for us, please.

 

*Caleb was just a name that popped into my head. No offense intended to anyone with a child named Caleb!

I like to shop early for Christmas; in fact, if I can finish by the end of September, I’m golden. I tried Black Friday once — and only once. We were living in the Dallas area at the time, and I went to Garden Ridge Pottery in Plano at a godawful hour of the morning. It was pandemonium! I felt claustrophobic, anxious and out of sorts. I know a lot of people enjoy the adventure that is bargain-shopping, but when I factored in the value of my time and effort, I figured saving a few bucks on a wishlist item at 3am is akin to saving a few cents on gasoline by driving an extra mile down the road to a cheaper gas station. It’s just not worth it to me.

 

That said, I still like a bargain as much as the next person. I just like to catch bargains on a whim, so I tend to pick up Christmas gifts at back-to-school sales in August and end-of-season sales in September. It’s a great system, and it has saved me a lot of money over the years. The only problem is that when I get around to digging boxes out from The Hiding Place, I surprise myself with the purchases that I stashed there a few months ago!

 

It all works out in the wash; everyone gets approximately the same number of gifts, but it puts a kink in my organizing. I really thought I was on top of things this year — I made a spreadsheet of wrapped, unwrapped (ie, Santa) and stocking goodies. Then, I pulled the boxes down from hiding and remembered a few small items that weren’t on my list (granted, we’re talking about books and puzzles sorts of gifts … it’s not like I bought and iPad and forgot about it!).

 

I think we’ll have a good Christmas, as far as presents go, but I’m especially excited about getting the boys involved in the gift-giving more this year. We tallied the results from the coin contest, and No. 5 won! We’re planning to use the money to buy shoes for Buckner International’s orphan ministry, as well as gifts for a family from our church’s angel tree. If the scheduling works out as planned, we’ll also get to deliver the gifts to the family, so that will be a neat experience for the boys.

 

I’m back at work today, but I miss my post-op daily nap. On a positive note, four different people told me that I look sassy, cute, chic and skinny! Wow – this outfit is definitely a keeper! 😉 Those kind of compliments certainly put a spring in my otherwise lethargic steps.

Last night, No. 4 asked me, “When are we going on another field trip?” Thinking that he was talking about school and their recent jaunt to the pumpkin patch, I said that I didn’t know, but I’m sure his class had something planned pretty soon.

 

He said, “No, I mean when are we going on a field trip where we get to miss school and go on an airplane?”

 

Ha! He was referring to our adventure to San Francisco last month for the Army family program. I gently burst his bubble and told him that those kinds of trips are a special treat that we won’t get to do very often, but wasn’t it a blessing that we got to go twice already? Deflated a bit, he agreed that it was a lot of fun.

 

We’ll certainly try to take a family vacation at some point each year, but more than likely, it won’t be on an airplane or during a school day. 🙂

I consider myself a pretty frugal person. I love clothing consignment shops, and much of our furniture over the years has been hand-me-downs. Don’t tell them, but I even filch some nondescript halloween candy for Christmas stockings (and Christmas candy for Easter eggs!). While that’s all well & good, it’s still too easy to get sucked into the holiday commercial mayhem and feel obligated to spend more than necessary so that the kids can have the excitement of unwrapping several items on Christmas morning.

 

This year, we’re trying something new to get the boys involved in the gift-giving process a little more. One by one, we’re taking them to the dollar store (the one that actually costs $1) with a $5 bill. They will pick out one special item for each of the other four boys and pay for the haul himself (the extra buck is to cover tax), then go back home and secretly wrap and label the items for his brothers.

 

When all is said & done, each boy will have four extra presents to unwrap that were specially picked out by his brothers. I’m looking forward to the smiles of anticipation as they get to say, “I bought that for you all by myself!”

Thanks for making the leap to my new blog site! Please make yourself at home; kick off your shoes and stay a while.