Two More Makes Four

We live in an apartment.  It is not small, it is not huge . . . its adequate in its 3 bedroom capacity to house our small family of 2 boys and a set of parents.

A couple of times a week I watch two more tots . . . same age as my boys, 3 and 4 . . . close enough that I can say that.  I think Jordan turns 3 in December.  Thats beside the point.

When you get 4 boys under 5 in an average sized 3 bedroom apartment . . . trapped indoors due to rain and hail and cold winds . . . it is amusing, trying and “I-should-be-documenting-this-for-some-reality-show-revealing-of-tot-behavior-whilst-trapped-indoors-for-hours” kind of feeling.

I’ll leave it to the producers to think of a shorter name for the documentary.

Perhaps

“Trying Times in Tot-Land”.

Or something stupid like that.

The boys I watch are fantastic kids.  The listen and help pick up when I announce those times.  They eat politely and are mostly nice to my boys.  They use the potty . . . without me reminding them too much.  They stay out of the garbage and leave the fridge alphabet magnets on the fridge . . . while and after playing with them.  They buckle themselves in their carseats . . . no help from me, just a bit of supervision.  They share, for the most part, and enjoy interacting with my kids.

Unlike some other tots that live here . . . that listen on when I get that tone in my voice and pick up if I’m standing over them.  I’m pretty sure Tob had his dinner plate taken away tonight for throwing carrots at Sam, across the room, so the eating politely thing is stricken.  I don’t think I’ll talk too much about the “being nice to others” bit . . . except to say that wrestling and rough housing is fine for a little while and then the boys were done . . . well, not my boys, just the boys I was watching. I hate poop . . . poop in the toilet!!  ”Didn’t I just throw that empty Wheat Thins box in the garbage, Tob? Huh? Why are you using it for a car ramp? And, no, you can’t have the lid off he discarded milk carton either!” Gross! The stove is not my favorite spot for the alphabet magnets to be sported. You know, hefting a 20 pound 15 month old in a car seat . .. oh, who am I kidding . . . 30 pound 15 month old in a car seat was a feat of sorts.  I do believe that constitutes as an all-body workout.  Hoisting a 45 pound 4.5 year old into a car seat that now sits in a 4×4 SUV. . . I think my back is out.  I don’t think Sam ever relinquished the highly sought after ‘Mac’ truck (from the movie Cars) . . . the one thats made of plastic that is missing half its parts, not to mention missing the trailer that attaches to it . . . piece of plastic crap.  ”Take my friends back,” Tob kept saying all evening.  I didn’t really comprehend what he was referring to . . . then Aaron decided to clarify . . . “I think he wants to you take us back home.”  So frickin sweet my kids are! Like merchandise . . . just take them back.  Hmmm . . . is there return/exchange for kids?

Actually I love my kids . . . no worries.

I mean . . . who couldn’t love this!

Two  . . . two is a good number.

~blessings

Say Something!

Ok, I’m normally not very negative on here . . . whiny, but not negative . . .  and that post I did on the state fair is bugging me every time I log in here . . . which is a couple of times a day if I’m home enough.

So I’m gonna write something else, say something, so thats not the first thing I see on my blog.

Yesterday my sisters, Kelli and Tiffany . . . along with their tots, Braxton (Kelli’s 2 year old) and Aidrik (Tiff’s 1 year old) . . . came to visit me.  They hung out and ate dinner with us and just generally caught up with me and mine, since we don’t see each other very often, at all, anymore. I loved having them!! I miss living in close proximity!!

Justin was home today.  Though he had worked overnight, so he had to sleep while the boys and I went to church this morning.  Church was good and then we took some well deserved naps, yours truly included.  This afternoon we had errands and stuff we needed for the house so we managed to get to the store and Petco for dog food. Poor dog, he’s always out of dog food for like a week before we remember to get more. He doesn’t starve, believe me you! The dog eats more than my kids, I think.  Just unhealthy people food. He starts to itch really bad, I’m sure its food allergies, and thats usually when it dawns on me he’s been living on people food for a good week.  The itchiness goes away when his diet is primarily dog food.

I know you wanted and needed all the above information . . . especially about my dog and his negligent owners.

That about wraps it up.  I’ve been a bit of a slacker in the exercise department . . . but so goes life (as my friend, Sarah, pointed out) and there’s grace for that.

God is always good to us and I’m grateful tonight for his covering and grace in our lives . . . our health and well-being, as well.

God bless!

Samuel, he’s busy picking flowers . . .

Killin’ Time

We, all of us, were busy with an appointment this morning and now I’m freshly showered, I’m killing time until the boys wake up . . . then we’re off to keep J company whilst he volunteers his time for Relay for Life . . . I use the word ‘volunteer’ very very loosely.  He doesn’t get paid but his whole shift is required to be there . . .

I joke about eating a lot of cookies . . . but I ain’t kiddin’ today.  Justin brought home huge quantities of Safeway’s fresh cookies . . . um, they’re good, real good . . . and I keep on eatin’em!

I dislike my hair right now . . . kinda frizzy and in need of a professional cut . . . I don’t think my self-cuts are cutting it.  Get it . . . cutting it! hee hee I crack myself up!

I should be doing the dishes and being productive in other ways right now . . . but I’m not and I probably won’t.  The kiddos will be up here, in the less than an hour and then we’re off and runnin’ again.

I was so excited about having a sunny day yesterday we ended up going on two walks . . . I found a playground, no more than, a mile from my house and so we made a morning of it . . . and then an afternoon of it.  The sun felt good . . . the heat felt good and we thrived in it yesterday!

I think we’re staying and having dinner with J’s shift as well . . . we’ll see how the boys hold up.

Well, God keeps on being faithful to us and we’re going to make our bills, yet again, this month.  On paper it doesn’t work . . . but its getting done anyway . . . so honor to God, as usual!!

I’m going for now . . . just wanted to pop in and say hello . . . and, of course, kill some time.

God Bless!!

Calling

I grew up being a pastor’s kid in a non-denominational church. That was 15 years of my life (age 10 on). So I was fully aware of “callings” and the like . . . all the religious jargen associated. I truly feel like my day in and day out, comings and goings, are what God has called me to. My eyes being focused on the one we were created to worship (Jesus) and letting the overflow of that . . . the fruits of being in HIS Spirit . . . effect my daily contacts and life. How I choose to treat my upstairs apartment neighbor is just as important as how I portray Jesus and HIS teachings in a message to thousands (I haven’t had the opportunity to do that, by the way). So I don’t have a clue what my “future” calling is . . . but I know what God has laid in my life and path to do today . . . raise my boys to truly know HIM, treat all humanity with the love and grace of our Saviour, and be the best wife possible.

As for dreaming, I dream about going back to Africa as a missionary . . . to somehow be involved in placing orphans and bringing a solid and truthful knowledge of Jesus where hope seems depleted. If thats in the cards God has for me, so be it.

I’m learning daily that I’m loved by an amazing and gracious God. I yearn for truth and wisdom . . . as much I do for grace and mercy . . . having more grace than truth is spiritually off balance . . . I’ve always leaned more on the side of grace and God is really convicting me to balance it out a bit with more truth.

Samuel

Samuel, aka: The Samster, Sam, Sammy (not my fav)

Once Samuel was done eating and we didn’t drop whatever we were doing and get him down asap . . . he wouldn’t throw food, like his elder bro . . . he would transport the food stuffs from his tray to the tippy top of his head and down the back of his neck. Many a time I would clean him up, pick the remnants off his shirt and pants, attempting to avoid an immediate sweep/mop or vacuum job (apprx the 10th or so for that day). Inevitably I would set him down on his feet and his lunch (breakfast/dinner) would fall out of the back of his shirt onto the floor. ugh. Recently he has been nicer and proceeds to chuck the food instead . . . yes we are working on curbing this habit as well.

Samuel is a momma’s boy! I sit on the couch (or any other sitting appliance) and his “cuddle radar” will alert him and he will locate me within a millisecond or so and land himself in my lap. He then sets his head in the bashful position (chin to chest) and lift only his eyes, looking me at me sideways. If I even appear to be looking at him he bursts into laughter. He has the bashful position down! So cute, he is!!!

Cooking day?

Ok, I will start this story from the beginning. Justin is in the fire program here in Salem (meaning he’s going to school A LOT and also working at the fire house). Once a term they have their turn to cook for their shift and the paid staff (total of 20 guys). Today is Justin’s turn.

Now, anyone that knows Justin knows he can’t do much of anything in moderation. He says he can, but he’s never proven it to me. Anything that he takes interest in is done to the fullest and the most extreme possible . . . sometimes to my annoyance (though annoying me is not hard to do). The other thing you have to understand about Justin’s personality or crazy people genes, is that he can stay up for several days in a row without sleep, and not in groggy mode either . . . fully functioning. Yeah, weird huh?! (His mom, the same way)

One other thing. Justin loves certain types of food . . . two of his favorites are anything seafood and Greek cuisine (not sure why I need to use the word ‘cuisine’ after Greek, but whatever . . . it sounds better). So for shift today he decided he wants to make a greek meal for the guys. Well, he decided this a week ago. So our plan, all week, was to tackle this feat yesterday (Saturday), his day off.

Friday night Justin comes in at midnight or so. I had done my nightly ritual of picking up the house and had plunked around on the ‘puter . . . I was getting very sleepy and ready for bed. He trounces into the bedroom with two big cookbooks under his arm and proceeds to discuss, excitedly, what he wants to make for Sunday’s shift. We had discussed this all week, but he had apparently come to a conclusion on all accounts and was ready to make his decisions known.

He had good choices, though it was hard peaking my interest as 12:30 in the morning. Moussaka for the main dish, Cheese Moon Pies for the bread/appetizer, Greek Salad and, for dessert he decided on Baklava. And, luckily, all these recipes were in his Greek cookbook.

Oh, but that wasn’t good enough. We had to cross-reference all recipes to ones we found on the internet . . . many times over. Just to make sure they were ‘authentic’ Greek recipes. AND lo and behold, they were all ‘authentic’ (well, as authentic as you can be living in Salem, Oregon and cooking Greek food).

We (or should I say ‘I’) got to bed at around 2-ish am. I was dead asleep, so I never saw, heard or even stirred at noise or movement, until the boys woke up. But apparently Justin proceeded to get sick about an hour later (blamed my beautiful and delicious Quiche I had made for dinner . . . though nobody else gotten sick from it) and threw up several times, seriously impeding what little sleep was left of the night (morning).

So, dragging himself out of bed at 11:30 am, still not feeling well and bit grouchy, he gets ready and leaves to purchase all ingredients for the above mentioned recipes . . . finally getting out of the house at noon ( way later than planned ). He is gone 4 hours . . . count with me . . . 1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . 4 . . . 4 hours! Holy monkeys! Who takes 4 hours to go pick up about 100$ worth of groceries?!

He arrives home (eventually) and comes in with, at least, three different area grocery store bags full of stuff for the Greek meal of the year. He mutters something about how long it took him and he hates driving around for hours looking for everything. Hmmm, was it really that hard? . . . the ingredients weren’t that exotic. Anyway, kind of typical of J and I’ve gotten used to it.

Ok, my story is getting super long, so I’m going to try to wrap it up . . . though I might reference it for years to come.

Anyone that has kids knows that it is hard to concentrate on cooking, baking, talking on the phone, brushing your teeth . . . ok, just about anything that takes your attention off of them for any amount of time. So as soon as Samuel and Tobias honed in on the fact that, not just one of us, but BOTH of us were engrossed in food preparation and our attention was not focused on them . . . all toddler sanity left the house and we became targets for severe whining and obvious misbehaviors . . . misbehaviors that required us to stop what we were doing at the moment and correct them.

But, nothing was to stop this mission of perfection so onward we trudged . . . through leg-clingings (Sam’s favorite move) and projectile toys (Toby’s favorite).

…to be continued

This great poo adventure

So I’ve come to the conclusion that my life is all about poop . . . and pee. With potty training I am in constant awareness of the poo (and pee) . . . then I get to clean it up from Tobias, Samuel and I’m honored to pick up after Byron as he poos in the grass outside. All about the poo. I tell myself to have patience and grace about it cuz someone is going to be responsible for my poo when I’m old and decrepit.