Today when I picked up Big T from his school, he was discussing everyone's costumes...whose was cool.....what all of his friends wore. They had a school wide contest and the costumes that were considered the 'BEST' got prizes.
Big T, after he took off his scary skull mask, said, "Yeah, but I didn't win anything....(but in a more excited voice....)...But you know what was REALLY COOL? ALL the special needs kids got prizes for THEIR costumes. THAT was pretty cool." :-)
Okay...so after Mom felt her heart swell to twice it's size....I asked him a few questions about the costumes they had on. And he explained what each one of them had worn.
So, T, do you wanna know what I think is REALLY COOL? The fact that you took the time to appreciate that it was really cool that they ALL got recognition.
Last night, Coco went with some friends to a Halloween park and came in late. This morning, there was a cool t-shirt with a grim reaper decal on it laying on the table. Little T was enchanted with because it had a battery powered electrical box that made it light up. "That's COOL!"
Now....here's how she got that shirt.
She said, "The Chainsaw guy was following us around while we were standing in line....he kept messing with us.....sneaking up and running his chainsaw (with NO chain...thank goodness) right behind us! Then later, he handed us a shirt." LOL (For surviving his 'scary' antics, I think)
The funniest thing to me is that she was explaining to me what to do to wash it. (She showed me how you have to disconnect the little battery box from the shirt wiring). But I said...."And WHO told you how to wash it???" She said..."The Chainsaw guy. He held it up and pulled the box from the wires and said (in a scary voice), "WAASSHH!" That struck me as totally funny....the irony of it. A dude with a chainsaw telling you what to do to launder a t-shirt correctly. LOL
I'm thinking it might be okay to lock this guy in a laundromat with a few loads of clothes. I just would have something else to do.....ELSEWHERE! :)
I guess even 'ghouls' have domestic skills...Who knew????
I'll bet their 'ghoul-friends' are happy. (Okay...I'll stop now.) ;-)
My kids LOVE these certain muffins my Mom makes for them....they call them "Memaw Muffins". They would eat them every day for breakfast and honestly, I don't mind because (sssshhhhhh, they are BRAN muffins - 2 cups of bran flakes and 4 cups of All Bran are in those little babies.) A few mornings ago, I baked a pan of them for my kids and the morning schedule started. My daughter gets up early and we leave the house about 7:20am to head to the bus stop (2 minutes away). When I get back about 10 minutes later, sometimes my boys are awake and already downstairs but they usually don't eat until I am there. I sat down with her while she was eating and my dog came over and was begging like crazy. She has never had table food and doesn't usually beg when we are at the table so I thought she wanted to go outside. Took her out and when she came back in, same thing....whine, whine, whine. I sat back down at the table and she jumped in my lap and over to my daughter's lap. We had a good giggle about her trying to get our attention and when my daughter was putting her back on the floor, she reached and snapped a quick bite of a muffin that was on her plate! We were shocked - she had never done that before! So off we went to the bus stop and the boys were still asleep.
10 minutes later, I come back in and both boys were awake. I start to go in the kitchen and I noticed my daughter's milk spilled on the tablecloth (soaking), also spilled on the chair and onto the floor (although it looked like somebody had made a feeble attempt at wiping it up.) I started in: "Who spilled the milk?" "Not me!" "And not me!" "Okay, one of you is not telling the truth! Who did it?" No one confessed. Then I got irritated. "Okay, WHO ate breakfast?" "Not me!" "Not me either! I haven't even come downstairs yet!" These little toots were in cahoots with each other. The milk was spilled, the 3 remaining muffins were completely gone and NOBODY was confessing. In our house, lying is the LAST thing you want to do - you can get in trouble fast for that than almost anything else. So, once again: "WHO ATE BREAKFAST AND SPILLED THE MILK???" And once again, "NOT ME!" "NOT ME!". I turned to walk by the table again and BAM! I turned back around and looked at my dog who was lying ever so quietly in the chair with my youngest. "Zoey?" She lifted her head and her little "beard" was very wet. I said, "Did YOU spill the milk?" She hung her little head like I was about to give her away. And it dawned on me that for the first time ever, that darn dog had gotten ON the table, eaten 3 BRAN muffins, had a little milk and was now resting comfortably on the chair for her morning nap. I was so mad at her and then thought it was hilarious. How was I to punish her? I knew that the number of times she would go to the bathroom that day would be punishment enough.....and I think it was. :)
I had to apologize to my boys.....you know, for blaming them when the dog really DID eat their breakfast. Who could ever make this stuff up?? ;-)
I have several 4-wheeler stories from our last 'riding' trip... I'll start with this one...... ;-)
Coco and I were riding together on my 4-wheeler. We had gone in alot of areas that we knew...then we came upon this sign in a back field..."4-WHEEL DRIVE ONLY".There was a trail past the fence. Coco and I were sitting on the 4 wheeler and I said....."I don't think this IS a 4-wheel drive."
She looked at me like I was nuts and started counting the wheels. "1-2-3-4.....Umm.....YEAH.....IT IS!!" (even rolling her eyes at me.) LOL!!!
We had to stop the 4-wheeler or I would've fallen off from laughing so hard. :-)
By the way.....she'll be out on the road soon.....hopefully on all 4 wheels. Just giving you a heads up. ;-)
L-O-V-E that 'blonde' girl. Her 'blonde' Mom~~~G (P.S. Posted WITH permission.) ;-)
The other day, Big T had Little T around the waist and was lifting him up to look in a full length mirror. His question to Little T was....."HEY, do you wanna see what it feels like to be 'MY' TALL?????" :)
I thought that was really cute. Trying to show his little brother what it felt like to be bigger....Even though Little T "THINKS" he's big enough to run with the big boys already.....and usually does.
Now.....since I'm only 5'3.....I would like my 5'10 daughter to lift me up so I can see what 'HER' tall is like. I want to see if there is a climate change or something. ;-)
I don't even remember what made me run across this yesterday, but I'm really glad that I did. This gentleman, Wilson A. Bentley, photographed snowflakes in 1925 under a microscope, so that people could actually SEE what they looked like.
I'll never look at snow the same way again.
"No two snowflakes are alike."~~WB
Wilson A. Bentley The Snowflake Man
"Under the microscope, I found that snowflakes were miracles of beauty; and it seemed a shame that this beauty should not be seen and appreciated by others. Every crystal was a masterpiece of design and no one design was ever repeated., When a snowflake melted, that design was forever lost. Just that much beauty was gone, without leaving any record behind."
Wilson "Snowflake" Bentley 1925
I'm thinking that if God can create such small masterpieces like snowflakes.....maybe the most intricate, gorgeous natural wonders that I have ever seen....a boundless number of them......and we don't ever take the time to notice their intricate beauty, how oblivious are we to the things that we DO see that are right in front of us that are miracles everyday? Things that lie hidden in people.....that we don't dig down deep enough to appreciate? Or don't take the time to really SEE?
Now....here is a revision of his quote which I did, as applied to the people in our lives.
"(With close attention), I find that people are miracles of beauty;
and it seems a shame that this beauty cannot be seen and appreciated by others.
Every person is a masterpiece of design and no one design is ever repeated.
When people pass on, that design is forever lost.
Just that much beauty is gone, without leaving any record behind."
Trying to learn to appreciate the masterpieces that surround me every day,
G
Copy this into your browser and explore the Snowflake Museum.
Today, Big T climbed in the car after school. "Oh...my....goodness....Today, we had this science experiment in class. We had to put chocolate chips in a pie pan and heat it with a candle and watch until they melted....it took 15 minutes....AND THEN SHE DIDN'T LET US EAT ANY OF THEM!!!!"
He then asked if he could have a Reeses' Blizzard. Me: "Okay....since you were 'tortured' so much at school today." LOL
Then we went to my office for a bit, where he grabbed a handful of M&M's......
.....AND a couple of Dove Promises....(My favorite) :-) Then, thankfully, his 'chocolate craving' subsided. I told him he had to stop or he'd be bouncing off the walls....which he already is, by the way. :-(
Not sure I'm okay with being 'tortured' too at this point. LOL
NOW......I think I deserve this
for the torture endured watching him eat while I was working:
Enjoy your day!!! I'll try not to throw this many calories into one blog ever again. LOL~~~G
"There is no such thing as an unhappy person with a cupcake."~~~~"Ashtastic"
We have a friend.....I call her "Ashtastic", and if you don't know this random, uplifting, super-talented girl with the awesome personality.....I'm sorry, you might need to meet her. :-) She came up with the tag line above....and we both loved it.
So here are a few 'cupcakes' of our choosing that make us happy. I hope at least one of them makes you smile. Ash...the first one is for you. :-) G & K
TA-DA!!!!! If you're NOT smiling yet.....I think you're smiler needs a tune-up. :-) Have a 'sweet' day with a cherry on top!! G
This post has absolutely nothing to do with kids and everything to do with a husband. My husband and I have been together for about 23 years, married almost 18 so we know each other pretty well. Yesterday morning I left early for church because my 2 older kids volunteer - one in the 5 yr old class and the other on the "Exalt" team which is the kids worship team. I have a little time where I just sit and wait before I go to church so I took everything with me to make the 38 Halloween treat bags for one of my daughter's competitive cheer teams. Sitting in my car, I finished up the last bag and realized I didn't have anything to take them to the gym in. I mean, I had a Target or WalMart sack but I needed something cute. I checked the clock and knew my husband hadn't left home to to head to church so I called him:
"Hello?"
"Hey, can you please do me a favor?"
"Sure."
"Can you pick me out a cute Fall or Halloween bag to put all of these treats in and bring it to me at church?" Dead silence.
"Hello?"
"I'm here......you want me to pick out a CUTE bag and bring it to you?"
"Yes.....now head up to the 2nd floor storage and there is a big blue Rubbermaid bucket...."
He interrupts: "Oh! (sigh of relief) So you are gonna tell me where to find this cute bag?"
"yes.....head upstairs...."
He interrupts again: "So, I am not going to have to determine the "cute factor" on my own?"
"No.....head upstairs....." and I hear a whispered "Thank God".
I have tears at this point I am laughing so hard. So he FINALLY gets upstairs and digs around where I instruct and finds the 2 bags I had in mind and he says, "Are you sure you want these two?"
"Yes, why?"
"Because they don't look very cute to me."
I lost it, had to hang up I was laughing so hard. Thankfully, he arrived right on time with cute bags in hand. Gotta love him. :)
I'm going to continue with K's 'rainbow' theme today.....
because that's what we do. ;-)
THE COLOR OF FRIENDSHIP
Once upon a time the colors of the world started to quarrel.
All claimed that they were the best. The most important, the most useful, the most beautiful and the favorite.
Green said:
“Clearly I am the most important. I am the sign of life and of hope.
I was chosen for grass, trees and leaves. Without me, all animals would die. Look over the countryside and you will see that I am in the majority.”
Blue interrupted:
“You only think about the earth, but consider the sky and the sea. It is the water that is the basis of life and drawn up by the clouds from the deep sea. The sky gives space and peace and serenity. Without my peace, you would all be nothing.”
Yellow chuckled:
“You are all so serious. I bring laughter, gaiety, and warmth into the world. The sun is yellow, the moon is yellow, and the stars are yellow. Every time you look at a sunflower, the whole world starts to smile. Without me there would be no fun.” Orange started next to blow her trumpet: “I am the color of health and strength. I may be scarce, but I am precious for I serve the needs of human life. I carry the most important vitamins. Think of carrots, pumpkins, oranges, mangoes, and papayas. I don’t hang around all the time, but when I fill the sky at sunrise or sunset My beauty is so striking that no one gives another thought to any of you.” Red could stand it no longer he shouted out:
“I am the ruler of all of you. I am blood – life’s blood!I am the color of danger and of bravery. I am willing to fight for a cause. I bring fire into the blood. Without me, the earth would be as empty as the moon. I am the color of passion and of love, the red rose, the poinsettia and the poppy.” Purple rose up to his full height:
He was very tall and spoke with great pomp: “I am the color of royalty and power. Kings, chiefs, and bishops have always chosen me for I am the sign of authority and wisdom. People do not question me! They listen and obey.” Finally Indigo spoke, much more quietly than all the others,but with just as much determination: “Think of me. I am the color of silence. You hardly notice me, but without me you all become superficial. I represent thought and reflection, twilight and deep water. You need me for balance and contrast, for prayer and inner peace.”.
And so all the colors went on boasting each others. Each convinced of his or her own superiority. Their quarreling became louder and louder. Suddenly there was a startling flash of bright lightening, thunder rolled and boomed. Rain started to pour down relentlessly. The colors crouched down in fear, drawing close to one another for comfort.
In the midst of the clamor, the Rain began to speak:
“You foolish colors, fighting amongst yourselves, each trying to dominate the rest. Don’t you know that you were each made for a special purpose, unique and different? Join hands with one another and come to me.”
Doing as they were told, the colors united and joined hands.
The Rain continued:
“From now on, when it rains, each of you will stretch across the sky. In a great bow of color as a reminder that you can all live in peace. The Rainbow is a sign of hope for tomorrow.” And so, whenever a good rain washes the world and a Rainbow appears in the sky, is to let us remember to appreciate one another.
Try to look for 'true colors' in everyone and appreciate them everyday, G
I woke up to a major thunderstorm this morning and it continued until time to take my boys to school. The drive to school is about 15 minutes and goes down a windy road that is thick with trees. Today, the drive was definitely slower as the rain was coming down hard. I was driving about 25-30 mph because it was hard to see. The boys were quiet in the back looking out the windows. My oldest says, "Boy! It is really raining hard!" I agreed. On down the road the raindrops were coming down harder and I had to slow down even more. From the back, Big B says "Now it is even raining harder!" and my 6 year old says, "Yes it is - but just wait.....the rainbow will be here soon! It always comes after the rain."
WOW!!! I love it when God kicks the door of opportunity wide open like that!! The last few minutes of the drive were spent talking about rainbows and God's promises and how He ALWAYS keeps his promises....He will never break them and we can stand on the promises He makes to us. I am always touched when I can hear, in childlike terms, that my kids are "getting it". The boys started talking about how God can make everything better even after it seems dark and bad (like a storm). Little B said, "Yep, He always gives us the rainbow - you just have to wait until the sun peeks through the clouds." Wow....
So today I am thankful for the storm this morning, the hard raindrops, the slow drive among trees just starting to show their fall colors and little boys who get "it". Thank you, God, for your promises and the proof of them.
Here's to the sun "peeking" through your clouds today,
Last night, Tyler was practicing being 'center' in our living room on the wood floor.
Rules that he had to learn before this worked well.....
1. Pull your shorts up so that you can actually SEE who you're hiking to.
2. Take off your socks so that you don't slide and do the splits before you can hike the ball to that person you that you can't see because your shorts are down too far.
;)
This is just too good not to pass on to all. Something absolutely positive for a change. I have repeatedly seen the breakdown of the cost of raising a child, but this is the first time I have seen the rewards listed this way. It's nice, the government recently calculated the cost of raising a child from birth to 18 and came up with $160,140 for a middle income family. Talk about sticker shock! That doesn't even touch college tuition. But $160,140 isn't so bad if you break it down. It translates into:
·$8,896.66 a year, ·$741.30 month, or · $171.08 a week. ·That's a mere $24.24 a day!·Just over a dollar an hour.
Still, you might think the best financial advice is don't have children if you want to be "rich." Actually, it is just the opposite.
What do you get for your $160,140?
Naming rights. First, middle, and last!
Glimpses of God every day.
Giggles under the covers every night.
More love than your heart can hold.
Butterfly kisses and Velcro hugs.
Endless wonder over rocks, ants, clouds, and warm cookies.
A hand to hold, usually covered with jelly or chocolate.
A partner for blowing bubbles, flying kites
Someone to laugh yourself silly with, no matter what the boss said or how your stocks performed that day.
For $160,140, you never have to grow up. You get to:
finger-paint,
carve pumpkins,
play hide-and-seek,
catch lightning bugs, and
never stop believing in Santa Claus. You have an excuse to:
keep reading the Adventures of Piglet and Pooh,
watching Saturday morning cartoons,
going to Disney movies, and
wishing on stars.
You get to frame rainbows, hearts, and flowers under refrigerator magnets and collect spray painted noodle wreaths for Christmas, hand prints set in clay for Mother's Day, and cards with backward letters for Father's Day.
For $160,140, there is no greater bang for your buck. You get to be a hero just for:
retrieving a Frisbee off the garage roof,
taking the training wheels off a bike,
removing a splinter,
filling a wading pool,
coaxing a wad of gum out of bangs, and coaching a baseball team that never wins but always gets treated to ice cream regardless.
You get a front row seat to history to witness the:
·first step,
·first word,
·first bra,
·first date, and
·first time behind the wheel.
You get to be immortal. You get another branch added to your family tree, and if you're lucky, a long list of limbs in your obituary called grandchildren and great grandchildren. You get an education in psychology, nursing, criminal justice, communications, and human sexuality that no college can match.
In the eyes of a child, you rank right up there under God. You have all the power to heal a boo-boo, scare away the monsters under the bed, patch a broken heart, police a slumber party, ground them forever, and love them without limits.
So . . one day they will, like you, love without counting the cost. That is quite a deal for the price!!!!!!!
Love & enjoy your children & grandchildren!!!!!!!
Love that 'you never have to grow up' part of the package!! ...... <3 <3 <3....G
During Little T's flag football game last Saturday, I sat in amazement as my 6 year old was told by his coach to stay 'right by' him so that he could put him in when he needed to. Little T followed him up and down the sidelines like a little puppy....and the coach was pacing nervously...you know...flag football is such a 'serious' sport....and he'd occasionally back up and almost run over Little T. But he kept up with him....stayed within a foot of him at all times....just waiting to be put back in the game, which he was, because he's an AWESOME lineman. :-)
NOW......my question is......How come MOM can say...."Stay RIGHT beside me and don't MOVE!!" in ANY store......and he does the EXACT opposite??? He recently was on an aisle with me.....looking for things FOR him actually, and he took off and ran around the end of the aisle and just waited there.....for me to come chase him....because it was FUNNY. T: "Ha ha!".... Me: "Do NOT do that again!!" (Upset face for a while....it was a LONG aisle). That's where the amazement came in......he was told ONE time by his coach......I think it's a 'priority' thing at this point. Keeping Mom from going nuts.......Not a priority. ;-)
Oh, and by the way.....our team did win, with only one distraction during the game.......other than a bunch of yelling adults. (Never mind-that's a rant of it's own). Right before half-time, the center had everyone listening to him before he hiked the ball to the quarterback......and it was considerably quiet, then you hear..... "HEY, THERE'S A SPIDER ON THE BALL!!!" Momentarily, that crisis caught the attention of the players closest to the 'spider ball'.....but I'm assuming it jumped off before it could be heaved down field because they didn't pause long.
I felt kinda sorry for that spider. It probably had never gotten to play football before that day. I was kinda sorry someone noticed because it could've been involved in a touchdown...on it's VERY FIRST 'carry of the ball'!! Of course....I say that with the hope that it was just a grass spider.....and not a tarantula or anything. EEK!! ;-)
Opening ceremony..(wrestling and playtime).....Home court (Our boys' bedroom).....
Game on!
Me, to the boys: "Showertime!"
In perfect unison: "NOOOOOO!!!!!"
Big T: "Do the 'Choose-a-number-between-1-and-10' thing...."
(Rules....whoever gets CLOSEST to the number I have held behind my back on my fingers...Showers first.)
So....Cliff Notes Version......Big T got closest the first time.....Little T was closest the second time....Third time....Little T was the closest....
So I hear "NOOOOOOOOO!"..... again...... :-(
So....the SMART Mom in me sneaks up and takes the whistle from me and says....."Okay....Big T in our shower.....Little T in your bathroom......First one to finish is THE WINNER!!!!!!!!"
They jump up and start scurrying to gather bedtime clothes.....(well except for Little T ......
He says: "I'LL GET 'EM TOMORROW!!!!) LOL
Oh......and while they were showering.....I throw in a 'Free Shot':
"The one who smells the best is THE WINNER too." :-)
Here's how the scoreboard turned out:
WINNER BY A 'TUBSLIDE' IN THE QUICK SHOWER CONTEST: Little T
WINNER IN THE 'GREAT SMELLING SON' CONTEST: Big T, because he had an advantage: Axe Body Wash ;-)
In keeping with G's previous post of random Thursday....I feel the need to add this short little story. :)
My 9 yr old son downed a huge bottle each of Gatorade and water after football practice a few nights ago. Doing my obligatory "Mom" warning, I said, "Don't drink that too fast or it will make you sick." About 10 minutes later, he is right beside me in the kitchen holding his throat. "What's wrong?" "I think I have throat cancer." To which I grabbed him up and said, "Don't you ever, ever, ever say that!" (heart beating fast). "Does your throat hurt?" "Yes.....it feels like something is stuck and I need a fire extinguisher". "Okay, come with me." Off I went to the medicine cabinet to get him his first heartburn medication. I grabbed the bottle and he said, "What are you giving me?" "You have heartburn - I told you not to drink all of that so fast and throw food in with it. This will make it go away. Chew and swallow." Being my best medicine taker, he did exactly what I said and off he went. When he got to the door, he turned around and said, "What was that called?" "Tums." "Okay, thanks Mom."
Fast forward to about an hour after dinner. He is beside me in the kitchen again. "Mom, I am having the same problem." "What?" "I think I need a tomb." "Tomb?" "Those things you chew and swallow and it makes your throat feel better." A tomb......couldn't stop laughing. My hubby and I have decided we will never call them TUMS again. We now have "TOMBS" in our medicine cabinet. :)
Welcome to Random Thursday....I'm your host, G....filling your mind with.... well...I'm not sure what, but I'm sure it's useful and important. :-)
THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.~~~Hunter S. Thompson There is only one you. Don't you dare change just because you're out-numbered.~~~Charles Swindoll One doesn't have a sense of humor. It has you. ~~~Larry Gelbart
Sometimes my mind works like this........It keeps me entertained. It just kind of snuck up on me this morning. :-) Have a 'random' day!!! G
My youngest son, "S", was in a horrible mood yesterday and he asked in an irritated tone.... "Why do you always say that "J" was born first?" I said "Well, it's just a fact. You shouldn't be offended." He replied.... "Well, I am. I'm VERY offended". :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When I read this, it reminded me of when I was little and I never could understand why my sister, who was three years younger than me, could be born in April.....when I was born in May.....and I was the oldest??? That didn't fit the puzzle. And why did her birthday come first every year?? THAT MADE NO SENSE WHATSOEVER. I WAS BORN FIRST!!! LOL
Also....the fact that she was CONSISTENTLY taller than me....that didn't sit well with me either. She's still taller than me....I don't think I'll ever catch up at this point. I've really tried........LOL Some things in life.....just don't make any sense....EVER. ;-) G
Today when I picked up Big T from his school, he was discussing everyone's costumes...whose was cool.....what all of his friends wore. They had a school wide contest and the costumes that were considered the 'BEST' got prizes. 
So, T, do you wanna know what I think is REALLY COOL? The fact that you took the time to appreciate that it was really cool that they ALL got recognition. 
