Retro

We don't wear bell-bottoms at our house, but we do love some things from that era, namely lava lamps.

We've been finding them at garage sales, estate sales, rummage sales — whatever kind of sale we run upon. We also have one lamp that is cylindrical with glitter but heats up awfully fast and another one shaped like these that has probably been made more recently and is kind of flickery like an lcd light or something.

Somehow they found their way onto the tall kitchen counter and they seem to get turned on at least once a day to do their thing. I never had a lava lamp when I was growing up, so it's been kind of fun to enjoy them with my kids.

Scary

Buddy's latest thing is to scare us. He likes to jump out at his siblings and say, "Boo!" or hide around the corner in a room, and when I come in he'll wait until I notice him and then kind of go, "Ah!"

He's smart enough to do it very quietly with me. I'm used to him and don't usually jump or scare.

About two weeks ago I sent Sparky to the basement for something. I heard her scream and she kind of ran back towards me. I got scared because I thought she saw a big spider.

Nope. Buddy put his life-sized stand-up Cal Ripken, Jr., on the fourth stair down. That was the first thing she saw when she opened the door.

See, about a week prior to this we had finished cleaning out the garage. Buddy has had Cal since Illinois, but he'd been living folded up in the garage since we got here. We had Buddy move him to the basement and we stood him up.

Next thing we know we're following Buddy down the stairs and he jumps back. He has put his "Big Cal" right around the corner so that when someone walked down the basement stairs and turned the corner to the right, they would see a big man. He scared himself twice. He decided that wasn't working so well and he was going to take a different approach. That's when Cal turned up on the stairs.

Next thing I knew Caboose had moved him into the powder room and had scared one of his sisters.

I'm just hoping he doesn't show up on small group night.

♪ They Were 16 Going On 17... ♫

Now they are 17!

They have been since December 3rd.

I keep hearing, "Have you done our birthday post?"

We saw the new Chronicles of Narnia movie (LOVE it) in the afternoon on the 10th and then had a sleepover. We had two decks of Dutch Blitz going so the boys could play too.

Dutch Blitz with eight people is fast and furious! I teamed up with Caboose part of the time to help him out.

We kept things small since Hubby is still recovering. We had a variety of ages over between 13 and 19. I love that about our kids and their friends. Age doesn't really matter, and they didn't have to become grown-ups to realize that. These girls all have strong Christian values and have great attitudes. They enjoy being together and playing games and not gossiping or talking about boys.

The first group of three girls went to sleep at 2:00 a.m. and the second group of three went to sleep just after 4:00 a.m. They decided they should get a little sleep.

The other night when we went out to eat, the waitress asked if we needed two kids menus. She was thinking of Caboose and Sparky. Hubby said pretty soon people are going to think they are twins! Sparky didn't think that was very funny.

By the way, they don't drive yet. We are going to enroll in driver's ed in the spring/summer when the roads aren't snowy and icy. You know, I wonder if they even do driver's ed in Michigan in the winter? Well, I just know Hubby and I do not have the constitution (especially me) to teach them to drive.

We'll warn you once they are on the road! :)

♫ ♪ Later On ♫

♪ ♫ we'll conspire... ♪ ♫

or in the case of at least one of my kids, we'll perspire.

That child, which shall remain unnamed, told me on Sunday that they (so I don't identify whether it's a he or a she) just figured out what the word was in the song. They'd always wondered, because they didn't think it was perspire, but that made sense since they were by a fire and all. So that had to be it.

We have a cat who is not conspiring or perspiring by the fire, just enjoying it as a source of heat.

This is the first winter we've used the fireplace since it had a noxious smell every other time we'd tried to turn it on. This fall, we opened all the windows and ran it for about 10-12 hours to burn off all the smell, which had something to do with the seal and I don't know what else. It worked.

So now the cat is no longer having to use the heater vents as a way to keep warm.

He seems to be totally okay with that.

Meet The Kids: Part 4

I started the Meet the Kids series because I seemed to be posting a lot about Caboose. Then I realized I should actually do one on each of the kids that at least started in a similar fashion so you could compare apples to apples, as much as kids can be compared to each other.

Then I go and wait ridiculous amounts of time between each one. It's been about a year and a half since the last one. Caboose has asked occasionally when I'm going to do a post about him.

Caboose runs a close second to the child with the most nicknames. Why, I have no idea. He just seems to be nickname fodder. They come out of our mouths and stick. Caboose is only used on the blog.

Caboose doesn't care to have his picture made. He struggles with smiling naturally. We've worked on a secret code that helps him give a real smile. It's two words, but unless you're around us when we take a picture and happen to hear one of us whisper it, you'll just have to be in the dark. It's nothing life-altering, just silly. Except to him.

What would you like for people to know about you?

Hi! I like to play the wii. I like to play.

Do you think you're the best player on the wii?

It depends on what game. I can always beat Chatty. Sometimes I lose to you and Dad on Mario Kart.

I still think he goes easy on us, even though he won't admit it.

What do you like to play?

Legos and Imaginext.

What do you like to watch on tv?

Star Wars. It's on tv sometimes. I don't really know anything else.

He's now obsessed with Star Wars since we've watched them in the last couple of months.

What did you watch on tv when you were younger?

Thomas the Tank Engine, Barney, Arthur, Franklin, Dora, Blues Clues.

I just remembered while I was typing that list that when he was about 18 months old, he used to say, "Oh, man!" all the time like Swiper in Dora. There was another boy at church who was a late talker, and then his mom told us one Sunday that he started talking and was saying, "Oh, man!"

What do you think about having older twin sisters?

Annoying.

Both of them?

One of them.

She shall remain unnamed on the blog!

What do you think about having an older brother?

Sometimes it's fun. Sometimes it's not because he gets into my business.

Do you think you'll be taller than Sparky soon?

Yes. But I don't like being tall because then I have to make my own food.

He likes for people to wait on him hand and foot. He likes people to get his cereal for him, or his milk, and he has to get the stepstool to reach the bowls or cups. As he gets taller, he doesn't have the excuse. This boy is a bona fide stinker.

Do you think you are funny?

Sometimes.

Do you think the other guys think you're funny?

Probably not. They don't laugh.

He doesn't realize we're doing every thing we can not to roll on the floor laughing.

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Cheesecake Factory Worker. Either that or maybe a mailman. I'd get bored of being a mailman though.

Remember he's living at home forever. I don't know what his wife and four kids are doing. Oh, and I suppose if he's having his own kids, the nameless annoying sister won't have to have kids to keep him in his old age. (That story where the nameless annoying sister is not nameless can be found in the last half of this post.)

Why are you so afraid of needles?

They're scary and they hurt. I don't like tacks either. I can't watch anybody get shots.

What happens when you see a needle on tv?

I get queasy.

So I guess you won't be a doctor or nurse?

No, because it's creepy.

What do you like most about Michigan?

It's cold and I have a lot of friends.

What do you like least about Michigan?

Nothing.

You might also be interested in these posts:

Buddy — Meet The Kids: Part 1
Chatty — Meet The Kids: Part 2
Sparky — Meet The Kids: Part 3 and Meet The Kids: Part 3a

*Sparklers*

"I command you to play Mario Cart with me."

"I command you to be quiet."

I must have been a boring kid. My excitement was trying to spell my name in the air in cursive before the sparkler died out.

3 out of 4 is PLENTY!

Chatty came back from Horse Camp happy, and more importantly, unscathed.

Because immediately following the stitch marks and blisters obtained by Buddy and Sparky (and those blisters ended up being second degree burns, and she has since turned into a scaly creature and we're just trying to protect the new skin), Caboose did this on the inflatables at Family Fun Night at church.

Like most 10-year-old boys, he didn't tell us until he got home. You know, so he wouldn't have to leave all the fun.

Stitch Marks and Blisters

Tonight Buddy played a ball game with no injuries, bruises, or stitch marks.

Then he got home.

Buddy and Hubby were tossing the ball out in the yard before they came in the house. They were talking and tossing. Buddy pulled his glove down too soon from in front of his face. He just doesn't normally do things like that.

Sparky was totally impressed because he has stitch marks on his nose. That's the sign of a good injury to her. She loves stitch marks.

Buddy's nose appears to not be broken. He's had lots of ice on it to keep the swelling as low as it is. There's been a lot of blood. Hubby had to pour some water and rake the grass so it didn't look like a crime scene.

Really, Sparky had sunscreen on over the weekend. She is our sunburning child. She never goes without, and she uses the serious stuff. We just don't know what happened.

She has the unfortunate first of blisters, for her and all the kids.

I'll just add that if Chatty were here and not at horse camp, she'd be all over the Brady Bunch line, "Oh, my nose!"

Happy Father's Day!

(Don't forget to enter the giveaway for the $60 CSN Gift Certificate here. It's open until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, June 20th.)

Chatty left for horse camp early today, so we are minus one in our pictures. It's weird. I took a picture of her, but it's on the camera she has with her. That was really good planning on my part.

Before this picture Buddy told Hubby, "This might be your last Father's Day where you're taller than me."

This might be the last Father's Day where Sparky is taller than Caboose. You can even see her heart in the picture.

Last year I fondly remembered Lou Brock Bobblehead Day from 2004.

This is Father's Day just two years ago, right after I started my blog. We were still living in Virginia at the time.

Happy Father's Day!

Latin and Cow Milk from a Straw

We've moved on from French and Blank Socks.

Sparky and the boys are learning French. Sparky is learning French since that is the primary language they speak in Togo, West Africa, where she wants to be a missionary. The boys are learning it because they think it's cool, fun, and they want to talk to her so no one else knows what they are saying.

All the kids are learning Latin. We're using Prima Latina to start everyone at the beginning together. It makes it easier for me. We're learning Latin to help with vocabulary.

When I told the kids we were starting Latin a couple of weeks ago, Caboose was excited. He said, "Now I'll know three languages." I told him Latin isn't a language that is spoken in any countries anymore like English or French. He no longer saw the need to learn it.

Today during our lesson they were supposed to remember to call me teacher in Latin. Magistra. They were doing that, Salve, Magistra, and then Buddy piped in, "It sounds like you would be something we would be drinking milk out of - the straw part."

I went along with it and said, "I'm a magic straw." Although there is no 'c' sound in there.

And then to finish it off, Caboose chimed in, "You don't have things you squeeze milk out of like a cow."

There were three kids and one mom who are a lot smarter than one 10-year-old at the table, and we were totally cracking up. Sparky was laughing so hard she was crying.

I just gave the zip-the-lip sign and we're waiting until he's older.

Eight

You can fit that many kids on a trampoline.

Picture courtesy of my poor quality camera phone, but it's better than nothing!

High Fives at our House

We've always laughed at our house because although Hubby and I are nowhere near the same height, our hands are the same size.

Well, technically his hand is larger but my fingers are longer, thus making our overall hand length the same.

The funny thing we noticed tonight is his thumb is bigger, my second finger is longer, and his ring finger is longer. The middle and pinky are the same. Details stick out when you're taking pictures.

So the point of this was that Hubby keeps going on and on about Buddy's hands. He has been for a while because they're so big. Hubby keeps saying that if he'd had Buddy's fingers he could have palmed a basketball. Buddy obviously got his long fingers after me.

I think the wedding ring in the picture will be the hint on which hand belongs to Hubby, but the other one is Buddy.

Just for a little giggle, our softball player that has to handle a much larger ball than the baseball that Buddy does, has tiny hands. Tiny even before being compared to Buddy's:

She'll never palm a basketball, except for those little miniature ones.

Zircon, Zircon, Sapphire, Garnet

I've wanted a necklace for the longest time with my kids' names, a charm type with one to represent each child.

I've loved so many of the ones from The Vintage Pearl. I never win the giveaways on other blogs.

So for Mother's Day this year, Hubby and I looked them over and picked one out and ordered it.

Yes, I know I don't say my kids' names, and I know you can see them. I figure people who read this regularly aren't stalkers and won't care, and this post will hopefully just bury itself among all the other craziness and go unnoticed otherwise.

I can just hear Buddy now when he reads it. "Mom blew our cover!"

Mother's Day

My first Mother's Day with four children, May 14, 2000.

As in four children six and under (January-February, 2000).

As in six just the previous month before the fourth one was born. We were homeschooling kindergarten then. Those were busy days at our house.

There's a funny story about my hair in that last picture. I needed a haircut badly, and I really didn't see getting out of the house for one any time soon. I cut my bangs by myself all the time (since college when I'd had a very bad experience with too short bangs one too many times), so I just used that layering technique a smidge on the sides to taper it so it wasn't so lumped at the bottom, then I had Hubby come in the bathroom and told him how long I wanted it and to cut it straight across that length. Obviously my hormones were a little off kilter still. But it worked.

French and Blank Socks

When Sparky got home from Africa, she asked if she could learn French instead of Spanish since that is the language spoken in Togo. I found an instant immmersion cd set at Sam's Club that promises it is as good or better than Rosetta Stone for under $20. It's at least a start for the remainder of this school year to get her familiar with some words and pharases.

The boys have both decided that they want to learn French too. They've learned a few foods, numbers, simple phrases, and colors.

Caboose was telling me the colors he remembered the other day. In the course of the conversation he couldn't quite remember white, so I told him it was blanc.

So everyone starts saying blanc over and over. It gets a little irritating sometimes, but I try and bite my tongue since they are learning and not intentially trying to annoy me.

Then I told them how they could remember it. White is plain, like blank, like blanc.

So we proceed into a discussion about socks. It's not hard for me to get there. I have a way.

When Buddy was little, as in under 5-ish, he wore the cutest socks. Socks with stuff on them, like dinosaurs, and construction stuff, and firemen stuff, and lizards...you get the idea. He didn't own white socks, because he didn't like, in his own words, "Blank Socks."

Back when we went to my grandparent's 60th wedding anniversary celebration at church, for some reason we knew my cousin Jeff liked socks with stuff on them, but grown-up stuff, like paisley or grown-up designs, not plain khaki or black or blue or brown, so Buddy was all pumped about talking non-blank socks. I don't even know if Jeff remembers, but here they were with Buddy counting off all his different ones as he told him.

I have little snippets of his old socks in his scrapbook because I also have fond memories of them. His "blank socks" comment ranks as one of mine and Hubby's favorites.

And now, Buddy only wears blanc socks.

"I Hope I Don't Have The Fanciest Dress"

"Can we please get there extra early so people aren't watching us walk up? I'd rather be watching other people walk up."

"I can't walk in these shoes. I think my dress is fancier than everybody who is here already."

It's Senior Banquet time for the girls again, an event arranged for our church's youth group (9th-12th graders) each spring.

Girly Chatty loves shopping for the fancy dress and accessories. Sparky doesn't. Can you guess that she was the one who said all those things at the beginning? She had the teeny tiniest of heel on her shoe. Like maybe an inch. But this is only the second time she's worn one.

The first time was last year's Senior Banquet. Since Sparky has a tiny foot to go along with her petite frame, the heel last year was chunkier because we could only find her a shoe in the children's department. It had pictures all over the shoe (which her foot did cover up when it was on) of a current pop star. She cringes to this day to think about it, but she was going to wear them again this year.

Fortunately, they had almost the exact same shoe in the adult section this year in a size 5, appropriately named the Hannah, just without the pictures. And a slightly skinnier heel.

If you go back and look at last year's pictures, they are even wearing the same color dresses as last year. Just so you don't think I posted the wrong pictures.

Sparky picked out a sweater because she likes to be covered up. She didn't want to wear a bracelet, but you will notice that she is sporting her (ratty) friendship bracelet and a couple of brown or black ponytail holders. A nice matching bracelet wouldn't have worked. I see that now that I've looked at the picture closer.

Here are the girls with two of their good friends. The one on the left is a grade older, and the one on the right is in the same grade and shares Sparky's love of green.

Green girl has a set of older fraternal twins that are a brother/sister and a set of younger brothers that I think are identical. I can't remember what her mom told me. If they are fraternal, they look an awful lot alike. They are Caboose's age and friends with him, and they call each other Brother so nobody really knows who is who. She is sweet as can be and has one other sister in the middle with her.



This is the entire sophomore class. Some of these kids just come to the youth group and don't come on Sunday, but they have been a part of the youth group since they were old enough.

They went to a nice restaurant and then the rest of the evening's plans were a secret. Since it was only in the 50's here, I think they were probably happy when they got inside where it was warm!

What a Difference a Year Makes

Easter 2009

Easter 2010

Please Keep Off The Grass

April 15, 2001.

Caboose was two days past 15 months old.

He was a late walker. Being the youngest child, you are either an early walker to keep up with all the other older kids, or a late walker because you like to be waited on by others.

Caboose chose the late walker option, so he wasn't one to go outside and run around with the other kids.

That meant he didn't really know what grass was when he did his first egg hunt at our friends' house after church on Easter Sunday.

He freaked out a little. Like he just kind of stood there. There may or may not have been some crying and finger sucking and bed bear involvement.

We moved all the eggs (that were only for him anyway since all the other kids were older and had theirs hidden in the back) to the edge of the sidewalk and flower bed.

He kept hold of bed bear at first.

Eventually he was willing to sit him down and put the eggs in the bag.

He even decided to check out the grass.

He had to be careful not to step in that grass!

Until he got confident and decided he could do both hands at the same time.




I miss this age!

Lucky Ducky

Last October, the kids and I went to the dentist for our six-month cleaning. Each patient gets to enter a monthly drawing. They have one jar for the adults, and one jar for the kids.

Last October, I won the adult drawing for $100 in restaurant gift cards and Buddy won the kids' drawing for a $50 gift card so he could buy a video game he'd been wanting for the Wii.

We got a call at the end of March, and Caboose won this time. He got a massive Easter basket.

I think they're trying to drum up some extra business.

WFMW — Easter Basket Scavenger Hunt

Our kids used to get up in the middle of the night to check out their Easter baskets.

Hubby and I are pretty heavy sleepers, sleep was and is important to us, and so we didn't feel like it was critical to stay up and keep them guarded. We just left them out so that when they got up in the morning they could check them out.

Of course that was when we thought they might get up a little earlier than usual rather than the middle of the night.

When we were in Virginia we decided to come up with a fun and make-them-wait option...an Easter basket scavenger hunt. The first year, or maybe two, we did it before church.

Now they are older and we have to be there by 8:00 a.m. They wait until we get home.

When they were younger it started out by giving them an egg with the first clue. Last year we decided they had to find the clue amidst a lot of eggs.

Once we put that little piece of paper in there, we realized they would know immediately which one it was since you could see through the eggs.

So we cut a bunch of extra little plain pieces of paper and put them in all the other eggs. We're sneaky like that.

They found the first clue:

When visitors come over they ring the doorbell
Which is directly outside the front door.
So that’s where you need to go start your search
Inside by Peka’s vent on the floor.

There was an egg waiting for them with the next clue. We find that we have to be very careful and put them in the egg one-by-one as we walk through the house to make sure they end up in the right spot for the next clue. That first year or so when we did it late at night after they went to bed we almost goofed a few times.

They also know not to pick up any stray eggs they might find because they'd get messed up, but we actually hide some not in plain sight now to make it harder. They love it!

Here are a sample of a few of our other very cheesy clues:

Where do you find the ingredients
For grilled cheese in this house?
Just the white bread you need
Not the cheese for the mouse.

Who do you think has the messiest bedroom?
I think we all know who that is.
I wonder where you will find the next clue in that room.
I can tell you it’s not by a broom.

Find Harold.

A lover of Yankees
A lover of Cardinals
A lover of Blues
Go find the next clue.

Oh where, oh where is Mom’s new space
Where Chatty loves to go?
Just be careful when you are looking around
Or Mom will have to throw you to the ground.

We do 15 to 20 clues, and it's a lot of fun now that we have stairs plus a basement. We have them running all over the place!

They look forward to this every year.

Find more great Works-For-Me-Wednesday ideas at We Are THAT Family.