sayings

abbie calls nipples nickels.

we told silas that today was the last day of 2011 and he said, "whew! i'm so tired of odd numbered years"

Miracle on 34th Street

Actually there aren't 34 streets in Lagrange, but we have our own Christmas miracle. We are buying a house in Lagrange!

who?

First sign you don't spend enough with your kids? Mom, "titus, i think its time for you to have some special time with dad." Titus, "with who?"

sayings

said by silas as he was popping bubble wrap, "i'm letting new air into the world!"

Boys and Girls are different

We watched half of The Sound of Music last night. Abbey was enraptured by it and sang with Maria during every song. Luke just kept asking where the Nazis were.

tables turned

We work on the buddy system. Elijah's buddy is abbie. Tonight when elijah finished putting on her pajamas she reached into the dresser drawer, grabbed elijah's pajamas and told him, "foot in."

Silas wants to be a farmer doctor aka veterinarian when he grows up. Josiah left the bathroom and let Silas know that "there is a wasp on the bathroom floor that needs medical attention."

After dinner Sam got up to leave the table and said, "oh yeah! I just remembered I'm not supposed to wipe my dirty hands on the wall."

titus' breakfast

we let titus make his own breakfast this morning...peanut butter turkey mayo sandwich. yum

inside energy

some of the boys were being wild so mom told them to go attend "elijah boot camp" outside. luke, not wanting to go out in the cold, approached mom and said, "i've got energy that is inside."

butter villain

titus said in his dramatic super-hero voice while clearing the table, "stick of butter! i don't like you, stick of butter!"

listerine

josiah was heartily puking tonight. as he was finishing and trying to get all of the nasties out of his mouth, dad offered him some listerine. he tried it and said, "now i'm going to puke out fire."

sooo cold outside...

6:00 AM and still dark outside. 20 degrees and still some snow on the ground. Sam walks outside, comes back in and complains, "its soo cold outside when you are in your underwear."

during sam's test

sam, "dad, is the study of soil called bootany or pediology?"

elijah, "sam, it's pronounced bootanology"

dad, "it's pronounced botany"

robin, "hey, that's cheating. you're taking a test."

Heard in the living room tonight.

"Superman! Quit pulling off Buzz Lightyear's wings!"

abbie strikes back

matt and robin were in the middle of a fast and furious training session with abbie. we were trying to get her to obey when luke says to come here (for a diaper change, or something). we would instruct luke to give abbie the instruction, then abbie would scream, "no!" we would then administer some discipline to abbie and repeat the process. after several training sessions, we tried one more time. we said, "luke tell her to come here." luke said, "abbie, come here." and abbie pointed her finger at lukey and yelled "boom."

sayings

matt: "robin, i don't just love you for your money."

sayings

samuel in his underwear: "dad, can i turn up the heater? it says 65 and it is really cold in here."

SNOW!!!!

Last night we got our first snow of the season. The grass is a white carpet and all the bushes and trees have a thick dusty coating.

I took Abbey to the window and told her, "I have something to show you."

As I pulled back the curtains, her eyes got wide and she gasped with delight. "A pumpkin!!!" She said excitedly.

We have had pumpkins out for at least two months.

Art Time

Ok Gideon. Time to color.

Gideon, "Mom what should I make?"

Mom, "You could try a pumpkin."

Gideon, "I don't know how to draw squares. I am going to draw a square. I've never drawn a square. I'm going to draw a square."

A square it is then!

bible story review II

robin: "where did abram's father come from?"

elijah: "meso pot o mania"

bible story review

mom: "gideon, what was the first man made?"

gideon: "noah"

mom: "very close, it was adam. what was the name of the garden?"

gideon: "the garden of the lord."

mom: "very close. titus, what is the name of the garden?"

titus: "the garden of evil"

we are such successful parents :)

Updates

Matt is very aware of any new thing installed on our computer. Yesterday he came home to see a Bejeweled 3 icon on our task bar.

"What is this?!!" he questioned.

Gideon, who is 3, calmly explained, "I installed an update, dad."

dad, "hm."

Bible Study

Matt and I have a Bible study at our house every Wednesday night. The boys and I hustle around getting the house clean, making snacks, coffee, and pulling it all together in time for Awana and our Bible Study guests arriving.

Tonight I had the boys folding the last load of laundry right before Bible study started. Our friends arrived and brought an apple pie and whipped cream yum! We had a wonderful evening of study, conversation, laughing, eating, and smelling Abbey who was having really stinky gas all night.

When I left to pick up the boys from Awana I went into my room to get a sweatshirt. On the floor in front of my bedroom door, RIGHT BETWEEN MY BIBLE STUDY GUESTS! was a pile of my underwear that never got put away!

Lovely and going on my list of embarrassing moments.  But my guests are very kind and thought it was funny.

Ear Marbles

Today Joe said, "Mom it feels like there is a ball in my ear. When I shake my head it rolls around."

Mom, "Well did you put something in them?"

Joe, "unpopped popcorn. But the doctor took those out." (story from several years ago).

Mom, "Well let me see."

A flashlight inspection clearly showed a giant wad of earwax. I tried irrigating with no success. So I tried the big no-no which has worked so well on many other occasions. Tweezers. They worked. I was able to just grab the end of the wax blob without touching the ear. A giant blob from each. And a lecture about don't put anything in your ear smaller than your elbow for good measure.

Pictures of the ear wax blob coming to a blog near you.

aghhhhh!

Sam was playing outside and brought in his dug up treasure to show me. It was a DECOMPOSING MOLE!!! AGGHHHHH! GET THAT THING OUT OF THE HOUSE AND WASH YOUR HANDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He was holding the jaw, palate, teeth and two legs.

When Matt came home he was still bragging about his find.

This was one of the grosser things they've brought in.

oh matt

Today I was folding clothes on my bed and I teased Matt, "Matt will you put away your laundry or is that outside of your skill set?"

His response, "if it doesn't have an electrical plug I don't know what to do with it."

sayings

luke was telling josiah how to get a window down to the bottom of the computer screen: "just hit miminize"

justice

to those to whom matt hid a used diaper in your house: justice has been served. (i was collaterally damaged)

Matt woke up the other morning and found a dirty diaper under my pillow. "HAHA" he said, "you slept on a dirty diaper last night." then he straightened his pillow, and "HAHA" on him there was one under his too.

Elijah remembered what his dad did and decided to pay him back.

Awana Crazy Hair Night

 

Lincoln Logs

I think we must have missed our nap

Gideon fell asleep at the table watching Matt do his math homework.

Some kind of kids

Gideon walked in complaining, "Mom some kind of kids got all my things."

Great Job Joe!

Joe chopped a bunch of apples off our neighbor's tree and we made applesauce. YUM!

Abbey's first real haircut

hmm don't think she likes it

oh good! she does!

Matt Matt Matt

Matt is a meat and potatoes kind of guy (with no emphasis on the potatoes).

The boys and I picked carrots out of the garden. When we finished I washed one and handed it to Matt and asked, "Do you want a carrot?"

He asked, "What is it?"

What ARE our options here mom?

Abbey has a biting problem. Gideon is her usual target.

Today she bit him because she wanted him to get off her blankie.

Gideon through his tears asked me, "Can we give her to somebody else?"

sayings

while the big brothers were with mom at kick-boxing, Josiah was teaching the little brothers how high-society works. he lifted his pinkey up while he took a drink and he said, "this is how the fancy people drink. joe didn't realize that he had made a mess until gideon replied very seriously, "and fancy people spill their drink like that too."

Garden Delights

I made a vegetable stew this morning in my crockpot. Later I realized that all but one of the vegetables were from our garden. Tomatoes, corn, peas, green beans, carrots, and green peppers. I put potatoes in also which picked at the potato farm down the road, so those only half count.  : ) I hope its good!

Elijah got a general elk tag and plans to go hunting. I think some chunky elk meat in our veggie stew would be yummmmy!

sayings

one of the kids asked me what a doodad is on the side of my laptop and i said it was a thumprint scanner. now gideon, who must have misheard, is constantly calling it a pumpkin scanner.

Homeschooling

Pro's and cons for homeschooling. Pro - Your kid can work at his own pace. Con - You might have to buy more hundred dollar books before the year is out.

Getting dressed

Silas walked up the stairs for night church and I saw that his shirt was inside out.  It was collared complete with the collar turned down backwards.  Cheryl Miles was walking up next to me and we chuckled about it, they she noticed that Matt's T-shirt was also inside out and we had an even bigger laugh.

The funniest part came during the service when Matt started giggling and pointed out Si's inside out shirt and I got to say "so is yours!" and he looked at it and I was right. HaHa!

Miss Kissedy

That is Abbey's nickname.

We went to Matt's 20!! year reunion. By far he was the most handsome, youngest, smartest, responsible, kindest man there. The following day there was a picnic where families were invited.

Abbey was in a friendly mood and decided to make friends with some girls. They were maybe ages 4 and 5 and in the grass playing a patty cake type game.  I was maybe 50 ft from her but I could hear her clear as a bell walk up to those girls and ask, "Do you want to box?"

Also she bites.

Luke

Luke had drunk a glass of water and came to me with this gem, "Mom, I think the water went down the wrong lane."

Typical "Injuries"

Gideon : "Mom, I'm hurt." (crying, groaning, hugging mom)

Mom: "Where do you hurt?"

Gid: "(sniff) I don't know."

Mom: "ok."

Gid: "I need an ice pack."

Mom: "What would you put it on?"

Gid: "Where it hurts."

Mom: "Well where does it hurt?"

Gid: "I don't know." (Crying is over and he is confused at why I don't understand.)


Mom: "no ice pack, go lay down"


Gid lays down. One minute later: "I'm ok now."

oh sam 2

Sam just asked me where he might find a quiet place in the house so he could do his artwork in peace. 

Bahahahaha!!!!!!!!

oh Sam

Sam was reading the back of our Tillamook Chedder Cheese and we had this conversation:

Sam,"Mom! There isn't any rennet in this cheese."

Mom, "What is rennet?"

Sam, "Part of a cows stomach lining."

Mom, "oh. Where did you hear about rennet?"

Sam, "Little House in the Big Woods. Rennet can get hard and crusty if the calf doesn't eat anything other than it's mother's milk.  At least that is what I think."

Sam, "I wonder how they make cheese without any rennet."

(He just yelled at me for spelling rennet wrong and pointed out a problem with my punctuation.)

Also Gideon on how to make pot pie.

You get a chicken and it pops. "Chicken pop pie!"

For the Hornoks and the Zanders: Silly Dreams

Joe had some bad stomach cramps last night. As I sat with him and listened to him writhe and groan in pain I thought it reminded me of labor.  The cramps went away and I went back to sleep.

I dreamed my friends the Hornoks decided to have an unassisted home birth.  They went camping and Rylee was having her baby in the woods.  Her husband was delivering the baby.  Her contractions eased up and I told Nathan I thought labor had stopped.  The Zanders showed up and Nathan handed Heather Zander a syringe with pitocin in it and Heather gave Rylee a shot in the armpit.  I woke up before Rylee had the baby.

However, Rylee had the baby in real life 2 weeks ago so I wasn't left hanging.  I do think Heather needs to learn where to give a shot though.

Joe feels much better this morning.

Abbey and her babies

Girls with 7 brothers that have dolls don't know what to do with them.

When Abbey got a new doll last week she socked it in the face on her way to the candy that came with it.

I've been really encouraged with her mothering lately as she has been carrying her dolls around.

I was cleaning the bathroom this morning and I asked her if she would like to give her babies a bath.  She got really excited and picked them up and walked toward the bathtub.  She stopped at the toilet, lifted the lid and proceeded to try and "bath" a baby in the toilet. Aggghhh!

Maybe the girl thing with come with time?

Sayings XXXXV

Luke pointed to our cat that just had a kitten and asked, "Is that a boy or a girl cat?"

sayings: this little piggie

i overheard gideon doing "this little piggie" with abbie sister. this is what i heard:

this little toe went to the market
this little toe ate roastbeef and birds
this little toe ate monkeys
this little toe ate flowers
and this little monkey went wee wee wee all the way home.

Birthday presents from Uncle Don - have patience it takes a few minutes to load

Abbey did punch her baby doll in the face on the video.  She was much more into the candy.

stocks

samuel boyd just bought 5 shares of GE for $76.

growing up in a big family

We usually buy these monster brown bags of salt at Sam's club.  I think they are 25lbs or so. We use those to fill up our smaller salt shakers.

We were running low and I went to Albertsons or somewhere and bought some salt.

This morning I was filling up the shaker with the salt from Albertson's and Luke exclaimed, "WHAT IS THAT THING?"

He had never seen the cylindrical Morton's container before.  Weird. 

One day he will realize most families also do not buy 2 gallon containers of mayo, drums of cooking oil, 50lb bags of flour, gallon jars of relish, and 5 gallon tubs of honey.   : )

sayings xoxo

Luke came to me this morning hobbling.

"mom, my toe. I have a cankernail."

Abbey is talking more every day.

Yesterday Ben was watching a youtube video and she said clear as a bell, "Wow that's a big movie."

Hunters

Elijah Sam Joe and I just passed a hunter safety course.  We are now inexperienced licensed hunters.  Please use extreme caution while in the field.

We went to do some target practice today.  Each boy had great muzzle control and gun safety techniques.  We hit some skeets!!! and made some bullseyes.

Great job.  BTW, there will be no hunting unless someone experienced (obviously not me) takes them out. : )

However, I will volunteer to gut and package the meat.

Children

i saw an article today about the benefits of children.

The 10 hidden benefits of having children.

I love my children.  They are fun. They make life good. They are cute and cuddly and write on my pretty couch with sharpie. I really don't care that much about my couch.  I love my children.

They are a benefit. They are wonderful.

Thank you God for my children.

Sayings xixixix

I was reading the news online this morning and Joe was across the room reading headlines

"WHOA!" he said, "Rodents have taken over London? Do the cops carry bug spray?"

The headline was "Rioters have taken over London." but from across the room it looked like rodents. : )

Sayings

After a day of watching superhero videos, Gideon asked me, "Dad, can Christmas-Man fly?"

Where kittens come from.

Luke was explaining to his friend that we have a new baby kitten.

He told the girl, "We have a new baby kitten and its from a cat."

Big PROBLEM

Matt and I sent all the kids outside so we could have some quiet.  After about 10 minutes Sam knocks on the door.  I open it and he says, "Mom we have a BIG problem." Usually the gravity of that statement means either someone is into a chemical or a pipe is gushing water or the roof has blown off the garage.

I prepared myself.

"What's the problem?" i asked.

"GOATHEADS!  They are everywhere."  He opens his arms and shows me a bunch of weeds.

Whew! False alarm.

mom jeans?

I was wearing my normal walmart jeans and a green short sleeve v neck tshirt.  I thought I looked fine. I decided to change clothes as someone had barfed near me multiple times that morning and there could have been splatter and I was going to a class that night.

I put on a different pair of jeans that my sister gave me.  (had to sew shut the zipper as it didn't work and I certainly don't know how to put on a new zipper). I put on a blue striped walmart long sleeved button up shirt that had been at the bottom of my drawer since winter. The classroom is airconditioned and I freeze in there.  I rolled up the sleeves and thought to put on my trusty crocs.  This was no fashion show.  I changed my mind at the last minute on the crocs and decided to go with flip flops although my teacher said they were inappropriate for "field day". I figured, its not field day I'm still ok.

I walked out of the room and Elijah, Sam and Joe's jaws dropped. Josiah said, "WHOA!" I stopped. Problem?

Elijah, "Your dressed! THANK YOU!"
Joe, "You look awesome!"
Sam, "Very nice mom, where are you going?"

mom, "um yes I got redressed, hunter safety with you."

They all tried to explain how I finally had their fashion approval.

Apparently I stumbled upon the approved dress code.

The trick? Kelly's jeans with a broken zipper, a 3 year old cotton Walmart shirt, and dollar store flipflops.

The oddities of Lagrange

The last two days I have heard what sounded like a dying goose coming from across the road.  Yesterday I decide to go see if something needed to be put out of its misery.  I climbed the low rise across the street and saw 2 donkeys in the field across from my house.  yes donkeys in Lagrange.

This morning before breakfast the boys and I drove over to see them. One of the donkeys was in its fence and was the friendliest animal you ever saw.  It RAN up to the boys to get loves.  It snuggled with Silas, nibbled his shirt and let everybody pet and scratch him.  When we left he cried like a baby. The guy next door said the donkey was sad because the other donkey got out of the fence.

Okay. so there is a donkey wandering Lagrange.  I'm not that surprised. Lagrange is an interesting place. The guy told me to give him a hollar if I saw it.  I certainly will.

Silas told me he saw the donkey walking down the railroad track road yesterday evening.  Apparently he didn't think to mention a donkey on the loose. : )

Also, Ben caught 3 fish last night and we ate them for breakfast this morning.  brown trout. yum. and zucchini bread with whole wheat and zucchini from our garden. delicious.

give me five

ben hornok was playing "give me five" with abbie. then he did the "up high" and "down low." when he got to the "down low" abbie looked at it for a second and then used her foot.

The kitten and abbey

I thought Abbey was playing in the backyard with Titus and Gideon.  When I realized she wasn't there, or in her bedroom I began to worry.  The boys and I fanned out and began looking for her.

We found her in my closet sitting in the box with the cat. I didn't see the kitten right away and panicked that she had sat on it.  Everything was fine.  Momma cat was nursing her baby right there with Abbey plopped there next to her.  Momma cat wasn't bothered at all that Abbey was there.

Now to keep Abbey away from the temptation.  : )

the kitten

bulgy bear had a kitten. we are wondering if there are any more on the way. we came in from a picnic in our yard and we couldn't find bulgy bear or the kitten. a quick search of the house yielded abblet the omlet (who was supposed to be napping) walking around with a 4 hour old kitten and bulgy bear the cat following Abbey.

Conked Out!

I think Abbey just walked to her bed and collapsed. : )

Plants XXXIV

One choke cherry bush that I make jelly out of.

Sam's Plum Tree that he planted.

Plum trees

More plum trees

We are getting plums

more plants

I'm not sure what this is.  Can anyone tell me?  Could it be an immature pumpkin?

So much fun

The boys did this ALL afternoon.  They loved it.  I guess I don't have to spend 30 bucks a person on a water park.  All you need is a shovel, a hose, some sleds, and 5 boys. : )

The best part was none of them could drown in it or be kidnapped and I watched from a safe dry distance on my chair with my book and my coffee.  Aaahhh. It was a great day.

Melons, cucumbers, pumpkins

Bee friendly flowers from Matt's brother

Cabbage, broccoli or cauliflower -  I have two plants and don't know which seeds worked.

I ate my first ripe cherry tomato today and I see lots of green tomatoes on the vine.

Tomatoes

Peppers

Brussel Sprouts

2 carrot rows (need a little weeding and thinning)

Beets

A wheat expirament

More bee friendly flowers from Matt's brother

And more

And more

Peas

Beans

Corn

Sunflowers -  the bees love them

Bald patch - either we didn't get the corn seeds right or we accidentally hoed them up

Better photo of the beans

Mint -  my mom always grew it and I like the way it smells

Chives

Peas!

Sam is enjoying himself right here by the way.  : )