My Family

My Family from WiddlyTinks.com

A Boy and His Binkie

This is Benjamin's new favorite game.  OK, not really. He doesn't like to have his pacifier removed.  But Mommy likes this game!

Matthew 7:7 (Paraphrased)

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."

Request seven hours of sleep and you'll almost get it!  I  went to sleep on the couch last night while trying to watch something on tv with Ken.  He has given up on trying to get me to go to bed, mostly because it never works. So at some point he left me alone and went to bed himself.  I got up later and followed him. It must have been close to 10:00.  Usually Benjamin wakes up around 3 or 4 to eat, but last night he slept until 4:50!  So I got a whopping 6 hours and 50 minutes of sleep. In a row!  
I had a strange dream last night about house hunting.  I was looking at lots of different houses and comparing them for a possible move for our family.  I was alone, but I know the kids existed because I was looking at bedrooms and playrooms for them.  The weird thing is that every house was missing a room.  One didn't have a dining room, one only had one bedroom, one was missing a living room. I guess my dream real estate agent didn't listen very well. One of the houses had a really cool playroom though!  I think that was the one with only one bedroom.
Of course I had an early morning visitor. I tried to ignore him, thinking he might go back to sleep, but then he started playing with my hair.  And by "playing" I mean picking out individual strands and pulling them out of my ponytail.  OUCH! So I had to ask him to stop. Which of course means he had to ask me for "Sumpin to eat and sumpin to drink."  Six times. Or maybe seven. I'm not sure, I was trying to sleep.  Well, since it is Ken's birthday, I got out of bed to fulfill Henry's request, and now here I am.
Ken gave himself yesterday off for his birthday, so he got his whole birthday weekend to spend with us! We went to "Fun Day" at Frances' school yesterday. They had fun games set up in the hallways, a magic show in the library, and fun activities in the gym.  The bigs got to go on the moon bounce, and try out an indoor mini golf game.  Frances tried out the obstacle course, but Henry chickened out at the last minute.  After we wore the kids out, we went to the cafeteria to see the food selection.  We also discovered that if you wait until the very last minute that they will give away the last of the food instead of throwing it away!  We tried some Korean rice balls and some sort of "vegetable medley."  I got the vegetables because it looked like it had carrots in it and I thought I could feed those to Benjamin.  They turned out to be orange peppers, but he did eat the zucchini and barley.  
We headed home and got Henry into bed for a late nap as he was starting to melt down.  Ken took a nap and Frances and I sat on the couch reading.  She read an entire chapter book in about an hour! Just like her mother!!
We had a late dinner and then Ken and I got the kids to bed and sat down to watch some tv together.  I don't remember what we watched.  Probably because I fell asleep.


P.S. Happy birthday Ken!!

Groundhogs Versus Mothers: A Field Guide

In honor of the recent holiday, I awoke this morning with groundhogs on the brain. Or maybe it was Henry on my pillow. I'm not sure.  An interrupted night of sleep makes my memory suffer.  But I digress.  
I was thinking about groundhogs and fantasizing about how nice it would be to hibernate all winter long-or just sleep for seven hours straight.  Although there are many differences between moms and groundhogs, there are quite a few similarities that I found interesting to note.

The groundhogs' scientific name is  Marmota Monax .
The Mother's common name is "Mommy." Usually said loudly or repeatedly...or both.

Both groundhogs and mothers have shadows.  Groundhogs have a dark shadow that is a result of their bodies blocking out the sunlight.  Groundhogs' shadows will disappear when they go underground into their burrows or anywhere else that light does not shine.  Mothers have shadows that are made of little people (otherwise known as "children") that follow them around everywhere they go.  Mothers cannot escape their shadows at all.  They will be followed constantly throughout life.  Especially into the bathroom.  A mother's shadow is even more prominent after the lights go out (a time known in most families as "bedtime.")

Groundhogs sleep throughout the winter, surviving on large amounts of food eaten in the fall.  Being herbivores, groundhogs eat grass, seeds, roots and other plants.
Mothers sleep in short bursts, often while trying to talk to a friend on the phone or while reading bedtime stories to their children (referred to previously as "shadows"). Mothers also acquire large amounts of fat, however this is a result of picking leftovers off their children's plates so as not to waste food.

Near the end of winter, groundhogs wake up and come out of their burrows.  They look around and if they see their shadows they will scamper, frightened, back into their burrows to sleep for six more weeks.  If they do not see their shadows, they emerge fully and spring is said to be right around the corner.
In the wee hours of the night, mothers are often awakened by small sounds in their burrows beds. If a mother should open her eyes and see her shadow, she knows that this is the end of her hopes of sleeping anymore that night.  She may be permitted to stay in the bed, but it is very unlikely that she will have enough space to spread out or even be allowed the use of what was previously  known as her pillow.
Should a slight sound awaken the mother, but no shadow is present, the mother will be so giddy with excitement that she will be unable to go back to sleep despite the copious amount of space allotted to her in the bed.

Groundhogs have excellent eyesight and sensitive hearing.  Mothers also have excellent eyesight and hearing. Most mothers can see things behind themselves as well as in other rooms of the house.  Mothers can stand in the kitchen and know that her children's rooms are messy, that their shoes are under the table in the dining room and that Susie did not wash her hands after using the bathroom.  Mothers can hear babies crying on a different level of the house as well as being able to hear tiny feet hitting the floor next to their bed in the middle of the night. Mothers can interpret a wide variety of inflections in the human voice (as in "don't take that tone with me!")  and can hear thoughts not yet voiced from the minds of their children.

Groundhogs are small furry rodents slightly larger than a house cat. They make whistling sounds when frightened, angry or while mating.  They waddle when they walk or run and only care for their young until they are about six months old.
Mothers come in all shapes and sizes. Some are hairier than others, but I hear that Bic has a solution for that. Mothers make yelling sounds when frightened or angry and umm...nevermind.  Some mothers waddle near the end of their pregnancies, but this should not EVER be pointed out to them as it is not funny and pregnant mothers do not have a sense of humor.  Mothers care for their children for MUCH longer than six months. 
In fact, mothers care for their children even after their children have children of their own.  

In the grand scheme of things mothers really do love their little shadows, or nighttime visitors, or children, or whatever you would like to call them.  
In summary, mothers are much more amazing than groundhogs in every way imaginable.  But we still wouldn't mind sleeping through the night on occasion.

Your Bill is Enclosed

Hey family!! Just a note to let you know that you still owe me! I have washed and dried and folded and put away a ton of laundry this week. It feels great to be getting caught up. And as a teacher I am all about intrinsic motivation, but I still need something more! After all this work, all I found in the washing machine was one, single, solitary, measly, little dime! Ten cents for all that work!!? I protest! You have got to start leaving more change in your pockets. And bills....yeah, bills. I would totally go for some money laundering.

If this keeps up I will totally be in tears. And then I guess all those tissues in the dryer will be of some use to me!

To summarize:

Good things to leave in your pockets: change, bills, gift cards to fancy restaurants.

Bad things to leave in your pockets: tissues, tissues, and tissues.

Henry the Con Artist

Henry is such a trip! I get to spend a lot of time with him because he is in my class at school and home with me on my days off. We pretty much spend 24/7 together!

He has been quite the con artist lately! I told him yesterday that he couldn't watch TV because he didn't stay in his bed all night. And he says, "Yes, I did! I swept in your bed all night wong!" And I said, "What did you say?" with a little grin and he "repeated" himself. "I swept in my bed all night wong!!"

Often when we are home for the day, he will go to his bed willingly for a nap only to come out 10 minutes later with a big cheesy grin on his face, "Mommy! I stayed in my bed all night wong!" Nope sorry sweetie! You've got to go to sleep!

He gets to eat a piece of candy after dinner for dessert. But only if he eats all his food. And he is quite picky about which candy he picks out. He peruses the stash for about 5 minutes before he finally picks something. Then he picks out another candy and says hopefully, "Two?" "No, Henry. You get one candy." So then he puts one back and asks me to open his treat. After he is completely done eating it, 4 times out of 5 he will come back to me and say. "Mommy. I don't want that candy. I want this one." with the second choice held out to me. Um, sure son, except you've already eaten that one you don't want!

He tries it with books too! For him books are a great stalling technique before naps and bedtime. He usually tries to get us to read him a whole library of books. But just like the candy, we tell him that he gets one book. Yesterday before nap, he brought me a pile of books. I asked him which ONE he wanted me to read and he picked one out. I asked him to go put the others back on the shelf. We snuggled up on the couch to read. He laughed at the silly parts and asked me a few questions. And right after we finished the book he said, "Mommy, I don't want that book. I want the book about..."

Say NO! to crack!

I had company again last night!  Not sure when he showed because he is pretty stealthy, but Henry climbed in our bed again last night.  I guess if he doesn't wake me up I shouldn't complain too much.  It wasn't until I started stirring around 5 AM that I realized he was there.  And completely comfortable in the middle of my pillow.  And Ken was completely comfortable in the middle of his pillow. So where does that leave me???  In the crack between the pillows!  NOT comfortable!  Is it any wonder I am having back issues?  I would much prefer that Henry sleep in the crack. Actually, I take that back. I would prefer that he sleep in his own bed.  But barring that as an option, I would like to have my pillow back.  Pretty please?

Which diagnosis shall we have today??

I am home again with a sickie! This time it is Benjamin. He has the dreaded RSV as well as an ear infection.  Poor baby is working so hard to breathe and all he wants to do is sleep.  Meanwhile I am entertaining Henry, who is not allowed to watch any TV today.  Our rule has been that if he doesn't stay in his own bed at night that he can't watch TV the next day.  I am starting to wonder who is being punished here??!  My current facebook status is :"The first time your child says "Momma" it warms your heart and brings a tear to your eye. The 10,000th time in one hour that your child says "Momma" it drives you insane and brings tears to your eyes."
Now I am trying to get Henry to eat his lunch instead of crawling around the floor like a puppy dog.  Since I set everything to the tune of Frere Jacques, I sang him this song: "Eat your lunch please, eat your lunch please. It's time for nap. Time for nap.  Eat your lunch please, eat your lunch please. So you can go to sleep, so you can go to sleep."
He grinned his little devil grin at me and said, "Mommy, dat's punny!"  Wanna hear mine?"  And then he proceeded to use the same tune and sing back to me, "I-I a-m, I-I a-m. I-I-I-I a-m, I-I-I-I a-m. Don't say a bad word, Don't say a bad word."  And then he ate his honey mustard sauce-because that's an important part of the meal!!


In other Benjamin news-he has another tooth coming in. On top this time. Same side as the one on the bottom.  I think he only has two right now. I don't want to bug him since he doesn't feel good.