Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and the Style of a Three Year Old

When I was 5 years old, I challenged my dad on the existence of Santa Claus and he admitted the truth.  My mom was not happy with him, being as I was their only child.  Similarly, I wanted to tell my kids early on about Santa, whereas my husband wanted to play along for a few years.  I tried hinting with Monk for years, but he was unswerving in his belief.  Finally, when he was 8 or 9 I couldn't take it any more.  I asked him point blank how he thought Santa could possibly make it to every house in the entire world in one night.  He rattled off something about the force and warp speed.  Thank you, Star Wars.  Next, I asked him how Santa could possibly squeeze down all those narrow chimneys.  Simple- he beamed down them, you know, teleportation.  Thank you, Star Trek.  After reminding him that both Star Wars and Star Trek are science FICTION, I had to resort to telling him straight out.  He did not take it well.  That evening his dad was trying to console him and said, "It's like with the Tooth Fairy..."  Monk got this stricken look on his face and said, "The TOOTH FAIRY?!"  Dad tried again with, "You know the Easter Bunny isn't real, right?"  Poor Monk.  With tears in his eyes he lamented, "Three in one night!"  Then and there, Big D and I decided that we couldn't let this ruse go on as long with the other children. 

She wore this tiara, shorts, and snow boots combo all day.

When I approached Twinkle Toes a few days later (she was 6 or 7), she took it well.  "I already knew that."  Maybe she takes after her momma.  The next year we let Measle in on the act and I've been very careful since then to never mislead the kids.  We don't rush to the mall to have their pictures made with Santa.  I don't talk about what Santa will bring them.  We don't write letters to the North Pole.  When Prince (5) and I were at the mall the other day, he saw a man in a Santa costume and looked like he wanted to go over to him.  Then he questioned, "You and dad buy my presents, right mom?"  I reassured him that he wasn't missing out on anything.  Then yesterday my parents treated us to the annual Santa's brunch at a local dinner club.  (The buffet is to die for!)  Every year we go and every year the kids see Santa and Mrs. Claus.  All my work is undone in an hour of seeing the "real" Santa! 

Gotta love those red shoes!  Perfect for playing ball!

As for the Tooth Fairy, I'm the worst, EVER.  Once, my husband left pixie dust when Measle lost a tooth.  That caused a lot of excitement.  Of course, I'm usually supposed to be the Tooth Fairy and I always forget.  When Monk and Twinkle Toes were little, I tried to play along.  I would palm some money and pretend to look everywhere for where the money could have fallen, before "finding" it to their joy.  Prince lost his first tooth the other day and he was so excited.  Of course, I forgot and the next morning when he mentioned it, I got some money out of my purse and gave it to him.  He took it in stride.  I did caution him not to tell any of his friends in school that I'm the Tooth Fairy.  He promised he wouldn't. 

A true Texan.  Boots and a gun complete any outfit.

There's crazy hair... then there's just crazy.

Tuesday was crazy hair day at Lucie's pre-school.  Her big sisters helped her get ready. 

Lucie with her signature drink, a Roaster's decaf white mocha. 

And today I walked in on my weird unsocialized homeschool kids playing SPY.

Can you tell which one's Russian?

That one in the front-left is especially dangerous.  Ask anyone in our family. 

Just another day in the life.  What can I say?  I was an only child and spent a lot of time reading or playing quietly by myself in my room.  I'm thrilled my kids have fun playing with each other.

It only took me 6 months to think of this!

Remember how my parents forced me to accept an ipad for my birthday?  Well since I couldn't very well give it back to them (that would be RUDE), I've been enjoying it.  For the last three months I've mainly used it for reading the Bible.  Since finishing my most recent 90 day Bible challenge, I've had a little extra time for surfing.  I bought some cloth diapers from Amazon on the ipad a couple of nights ago.  (I was trapped in my bedroom with two sleeping babes, because BigD had the men over for Bible study and they go late.)  Then today I was about to get on my computer to look up a recipe for leftover oatmeal cookies, but my husband was on the computer.  I almost asked him if he could get off long enough for me to look up a recipe when I thought, "Hey, I could use my ipad for that."  Sitting in the computer room, I looked up the recipe then left the ipad there and walked into the kitchen to write it down.  No, I'm not kidding.  I'm that slow.  (I even thought, "Bummer, no printer."  Then just as I'm about to write down the recipe I thought, "Why don't I just bring my ipad into the kitchen with me?"  Oh my goodness, I cannot believe it has taken me 6 long months to think of this.   I must be blonde on the inside : ).

Needless to say, my ipad has found a new home.  Well, at least a new home away from home, since I guess its true home is the car.  Cooking will never be the same again in my kitchen!  (I hope I can't say that about my ipad.)  Now, will someone please remind me why I need that crowded shelf of cookbooks?

The mystery of the missing socks, solved!

When reaching in to get some diapers out of my fancy schmancy washing machine,

I noticed something peeking out at me.

Look at that.  There's something hiding in there!

Aha!  Found you!

I wonder how long these socks have been hiding out in here.

Their mates will be glad they've been found.

In other news, today I remembered that Calvin's supposed to have some tummy time each day.  Yes, that's right.  He's my sixth child and I forgot until today that he's supposed to spend time on his stomach every day.  Great.  Now he's going to be behind developmentally.  Hopefully he'll catch up later. 

What do you think?  Is he enjoying himself?

Is it just me or is he really cute?

I must have a pride problem...

... because the Lord keeps humbling me!

It was one of those days again.  And it's only half over.  I think the beginning was when I was bathing Calvin in his little tub on my bathroom counter and he pee-peed in a large arc across the bathroom and got Measle's boots, leggings, shirt, and Bible study, as well as the bathroom floor wet with pee-pee.  I thought it was kind of funny, but Measle did not.  I stopped it with the washcloth, but when I removed the washcloth, he started right up again.  Measle left my bathroom greatly offended and crying buckets on her way to change clothes.

Or maybe it really started before that when Twinkle Toes reported to me that Queen climbed up into her top bunk this morning (no ladder).

However, I managed to get the kids loaded into the car for Bible study, but we were running late and Twinkle Toes couldn't find her CBS notebook.  Then as we're driving down the road, I hear from the back-back of the car, "Mom, Queen has a knife!"  Queen (2) got into the car without her shoes, but she managed to grab a knife and the little container of icing that comes in the Pillsbury cinnamon rolls tube on her way out the door. (Yes, I let my kids eat those awful things occasionally.  Hey, I just had a baby- don't judge.  I need all the help I can get.  I, on the other hand, don't touch them with a ten foot pole.  I eat my Total Raisin Bran every morning, which is why I was able to wear my regular size 4 jeans today.  Hooray!)  Anyway, she was using the knife to scrape around the edges and get the last little bit of icing out of the container and into her mouth.  Once she finished off the icing, she evidently found other uses for the knife, which is why I was hearing screams coming from the back-back as we were driving to Bible study.  One of the older kids managed to disarm her, much to her chagrin.  Then the screams turned to, "I want my KNIFE!"  Not exactly the kind of sentence you expect to hear coming out of a two year old's mouth.  Note to self:  move Queen's carseat up to within my reach again.

Then when we arrived at the church I realized I hadn't brought the diaper bag.  I couldn't believe I was going to be there for two hours and one nursing session, without any diapers!  I guess this isn't the first time I've done this, because even my "spare" was missing from the console in my car.  Poor Calvin!  We made it, though- and without any leaks!

Then on the way home, I stopped off at Braum's to buy some milk.  This is one of those little markets where you can park your car right in front of the store and be in and out in less than five minutes.  So... I gave the kids specific instructions about being quiet and orderly and keeping their hands to themselves and left the big kids in charge.  I could see several of them up out of their seats as I was walking back to the car 2 minutes later with the milk and everyone had a slightly different version of what was happening and whose fault it was.  What's so discouraging is that we've been praying this week that the Lord would give us a greater love for Him and one another.  I calmly, if a bit dejectedly, explained to the kids that trying to get their siblings into trouble so they wouldn't get ice cream (oops- I'm revealing too much of myself in this post!) was not loving them.  Then we talked about what it looks like to "be lovers of selves" rather than loving others.  And then we talked about how if we say we love God, but don't show love to our brothers and sisters in Christ, then we're liars and the truth is not in us.  Is any of this getting through to my children?! 

So, that was my crazy day, thus far.  I did manage to catch Calvin in a bit of a grin, though.  It's not quite a smile, but we're getting close. 

Oh- and I learned yesterday that Calvin's just under 15 lbs and 25 inches.  At not quite 2 months old!  He must be getting enough to eat!  I think I have his good appetite to thank for my rapid weight loss.  That goes a long way to helping me appreciate the middle of the night nursing sessions! 

Thank you Lord for blessing me with such wonderful children.  Help me to be faithful to patiently and lovingly train them up in the gospel, wisdom, and guidance of Your Word!  And thank you for keeping me humble.  Apart from You, there is nothing good in me!  Amen

No change?! Birthdays, one... more... week, and bread from heaven.

I was just sure that after missing two nights sleep this week due to contractions that I would be well on my way to labor today.  In fact, I had convinced myself that today was the day.  I've always loved the number 4, so what better day for a birthday?  (I have a 4th and a 16th, great numbers, a 6th, an ok number, and an 11th and a 23rd, terrible numbers.  I mean who wants their birthday to fall on a prime number?  I was born on the 2nd, by the way.  Is it odd that I have a thing for numbers?  I forget that most people don't think about such things.  Remember, this OCD chick popped a tendon in her finger a couple of weeks ago cleaning a stain out of her carpet.  Hey, at least I no longer have an invisible string that trails along behind me requiring I always go out the way I came in.  Either that or I just do it automatically now.  I do, however, have to wear a splint on my finger for 2 more months!)  Anyway, I learned at my appointment that my cervix has not changed.  Not one bit.  I'm still 75% and 3.5.  At least Baby Calvin has turned and is no longer posterior.  I suppose that could have been stalling things. 

I admit that I'm weak.  I've given in.  I know I said I wasn't going to be induced this time around, but here I am at that oh so desperate stage once again.  I made an appointment for next Monday morning, just... in... case.  According to my estimates, he'll weigh 9.5 Lbs by then so I'm hoping to go into labor before Monday.  Somehow having the appointment helps keep hope alive.  This pregnancy will end.  And to let you know how desperate I am to have this baby, next Monday is the 11th!  I've got to go into labor before then.  If not today, maybe the 8th.  I've always liked the number 8, since it's a multiple of 4 and all.

In other news, my bedroom is getting wallpapered this week.  I've been vacuuming up 7.5 yrs worth of dust bunnies from behind bookcases, the entertainment center, dressers, and our bed.  It is quite embarassing the amount of dust we've been living with.  It's amazing we can breathe at all in there.  But, does anyone move furniture that heavy if they don't have to?  I have 10 large stacks of books, many textbooks, in my closet right now awaiting purging and reorganization before being reshelved.  Why do I have such trouble parting with books?  I keep thinking I may need to look something up in one of them.

And just to show you I haven't completely lost my sense of humor, though I'm definitely a bit more sardonic than usual, I'll end with a cute story.  As we were driving along in the car the other day we passed a field that was planted with cotton (not something you see everyday around here).  Measle (7) turned to me and exclaimed in a most excited tone, "Mom, is that manna?"  She was disappointed to learn it was just cotton.  I don't know if I should be happy that she remembered manna was white and covered the fields each morning or concerned that she missed the little fact that the Israelites were in the desert with no grocery stores.  Oh well, she was partially listening anyway.

The Noble Savage

I do not buy makeup for my girls.  There are many reasons for that.  This is one of them.  Our neighbor evidently brought over some makeup Friday and the girls left red lipstick on the bathroom counter.  Louie must have thought it was war paint.

Then yesterday Measle left the lid off the cream and Louie decided it was time to moisterize.  Her whole body.  And her pajamas.  Her skin was really smooth afterwards.

Is this a 5th child thing?  I don't remember the other kids experimenting quite so much.

One step forward and two steps back

I'm having one of those weeks. Yesterday I took Twinkle Toes (9) to her track meet along with American Boy (4) and Baby Lu (18 mos.). We were running late since I had been blogging while I should have been preparing dinner. When my husband came home to tuna sandwhiches I told him I was so sorry, but that I had been finishing up my Bible study questions and it had gotten me to thinking and then one thing led to another and I ended up spending 2 hrs of the kids' naptime searching the Bible and writing. At that point Monk said, "I think that's the best excuse for not making dinner I've ever heard." Big D agreed and everyone forgave me.

Anyway, since we were running late to the track meet we got there after all the good parking places were taken. And by "good" I mean within half a mile. So after dropping Twinkle Toes off as close to her team as I could get her, the little ones and I drove around the park until we found a parking place WAY across the grass from where she was running. I loaded up Baby Lu in the stroller, watched American Boy make her drop her apple into the muddy water at the curb, thought about picking it up and wiping it off, thought better of it, and broke into a trot across the grass. We made it and enjoyed watching her races while Baby Lu climbed in and out of her stroller for the next hour. I told her coach we needed to leave early so I could race back across town to greet my Bible study ladies at the door and let them in (I ended up leaving a note on the door and the door unlocked- just in case.) As we're running back across the grass to the car I keep thinking how out of shape I am (I really am), but as I park the stroller and reach down to get Baby Lu out I notice that the brake was on. I had run a half mile across the grass pushing a toddler in a stroller with the brake on. Have you ever done that? Do other people do stupid things like that? I have to admit I was a bit relieved to learn I'm not quite as out of shape as I had feared I was in the midst of that trek.

Then upon arriving home and I burst into hyperspeed trying to make coffee in time for Bible study (10 minutes from then.) In my haste I accidentally knocked the glass pot against the sink and it broke. Then I felt really stupid. American Boy was sitting in his place at the bar watching me and when he saw what happened he said, "That happened cuz you were messing around." I wonder where he's heard that before? Poor Big D, I broke his coffee pot. (Tuna sandwhiches for dinner and a broken coffee pot. Tough day for Big D, too.)

You'd think after a day like yesterday, today would be smooth as silk. Nope. Today was the first Wednesday that we didn't have CBS so I decided the kids and I should pay a lucky widow in our church a visit. I wanted us to be an encouragement to a lonely soul so the kids spent the morning making cards and drawings then we all went to visit our friend at her new retirement home. She just moved in like 2 weeks ago and everything was clean and orderly. Now my kids really do know how to behave. OK, so there was the one time we were invited to dinner at the home of a family I knew through the grapevine that had also adopted a son from Russia. They were so gracious to share their experiences with us and swap photos and stories since we had just recently returned from Kazakhstan with American Boy. Then the unthinkable happened. Measle, 3 at that time and fully potty trained for over a year, tinkled on the hardwood floor in their living room. That was embarassing. Talk about leaving an impression. So this wasn't the first time I've been embarassed by something one of my kids has done, but it doesn't happen very often. In fact, it's taken me the 3 years since that last incident to get over it. Or maybe I had just repressed it.

So we were all visiting in our friend's living room, her beautiful living room with recently steam cleaned carpet. When Twinkle Toes (9) gets the bright idea to explore the grassy courtyard area that could be seen through our friend's sliding glass doors. Measle, American Boy, and Baby Lu quickly follow their big sister's lead and only Monk and I remained inside. In a minute the kids decided they had tired of their little adventure, so in they all came and American Boy, I'm sorry to say, brought a little somethink extra in with him. On the bottom of his shoe. And it wasn't mud. And I didn't notice it until after he'd been inside about 30 seconds and in that time he had already run around our friend's living room depositing the fresh mess everywhere he stepped. That was embarassing. Well, our friend doesn't see very well, but I'm sure she smelled it. I reluctantly told her what had happened as I struggled to get each and every spot up with paper towels and hand soap (no cleaning supplies since she has a weekly cleaning service which had just been there yesterday).

Have you ever done that before? Set off to try to bless someone's day and then tracked dog poop all over their clean living room? Maybe these things only happen to me.

After I finished cleaning up the mess as best I could, we decided to move our little fellowship up to the common dining area where Twinkle Toes and Monk could play the piano for us. That was nice, but not enough to really salvage the mission if you know what I mean. When we parted, I promised my friend we'd pick her up next time and bring her to our house.

Sometimes I feel like we take one step forward and two steps back. I know there's a lesson in here somewhere. For one thing, if I call you and ask if we can drop by... Run!

The Best Excuse Ever and Spreading the Sunshine

The kids and I read Luke 12 the other morning and were discussing the parable of the faithful steward afterwards. I said, “Kids, we should always be asking ourselves, if Christ returned right now would He be pleased with what He found? Pleased with our choices? Pleased with our words? Pleased with our activities?” Then I gave an example. “For instance, Mr. Monk, do you think Jesus would be happy to find you playing video games when He returns?” Monk (10) replied sheepishly, “Probably not so much.” Without missing a beat, Twinkle Toes (8) jumped in with, “Mom, how do you think Jesus would feel if He returned to find us doing math?” I told her, “Nice try, but you’re not getting out of math today!” But I was thinking, that just might be the best excuse ever! Forget, the dog ate my homework and cut right to the imminent return of Christ. I mean, that’s pretty hard to argue with. Meanwhile, Measle Bug (6) had the worst excuse ever. When I went in to awaken her that morning (I do this as quietly as possible so as not to awaken the 3 and 1 yr olds) she hid under her covers and said matter of factly, “I can’t come out today.” Oh, she did come out.




Next, I want to thank my friend Gen at Girls and Sunflowers for giving me this blog award. She said I spread a little sunshine in her life and I’m to pass it on to 12 bloggers that do the same for me. I have a special place in my heart for Gen, because 6 months ago when I started blogging, she was one of my very first followers. I noticed I broke 100 followers just the other day. Thanks to all of you who put up with me and my oh-so-opinionated posts. I guess you’ve noticed I enjoy reading and writing. And perhaps I’m missing teaching, just a little ;-). My husband said my blogging obsession wouldn’t last 6 months, so I’m happy to have proven him wrong!

Without further adieu I am passing on the Sunshine Blog Award, in no particular order, to…

Steph at Sound Off
Roan at Joyful Always
Valerie at In Faith and Purity
Jen at Many Blessings, Busy Life
Momma Bug at Momma Bug’s Blog
Debbie at A Journey in Motherhood
Shoni at Nations Around our Table
Amy at In Search of Normal
Stacie at A Firefighter’s Wife
Debi at Who Says 8 is Enough?
Jenilee at The Goodwin Family
MumMe at Our Aussie Half Dozen

I enjoy following all these ladies. Some of them are especially encouraging to me through their comments and interaction with me on my blog. Some of them are very encouraging through what they post about on their blogs. But, all of them have encouraged me in some way or another. Ladies, I’m passing on this award to you for spreading sunshine in my life. Thank you.

If you choose to pass on the award, just list your 12 recipients with links to their blogs, comment on their blogs to let them know they won, and link back to the person who passed the award to you. Thanks again for making blogging fun and rewarding! (Btw, you all probably already know this, but the easiest way to pass on this award is to go to your dashboard then choose the manage tab under the list of the blogs you follow. If you keep this open in one window and have your new post open in another window it's very fast and easy to pass on the award by copying and pasting the blog addresses from the blogs you follow into your new post.)

And if you haven't suggested a question or issue you want me to address in my creation science series, do that here in my Questions over Evolution or Creation Science post.

Intermission: Baby Lu's Pantry Adventures

I've always been a very strict and orderly mother. Mr. Monk (10) was 5 or 6 when we had friends over one day and one of his friends opened our fridge. Monk stared in awe at his friend as he said, "How'd you do that?" The fridge and the pantry have always been off limits to the kids. We snack at "snack time" and I give the kids their allotted food. Well, I guess I'm getting old or soft or both. When Baby Lu got into the pantry the other day I grabbed my camera instead of slapping her hand. We all laughed and said, "Isn't that cute!"

You'd think we never feed her! She really does get plenty to eat!

You can tell she's really upset about breaking the "no food in the living room rule".

As if that wasn't enough, she decided to go back for more.

I mean, just help yourself Lu.

Taking a few for the road.

Little did I know that day was the beginning of something. The next day I was calling for Lu wondering where in the world she was hiding when I found her here.

Just move in, why don't you.

And this was today. She's becoming a pro at pantry-raiding, isn't she?

Ah, what have we here?

I know, I know. I'm going to have to put a stop to this.

Peek-a-boo in the bathtub

Two of Baby Lu's favorite things to do are taking a bath and playing peek-a-boo. She was quite pleased with herself that she figured out how to combine the two!

Actually, I've been using all these cute, but mindless pictures of Lu to butter you up for my next series. I'm going to start posting a series on family-integrated worship tomorrow. I hope you'll tune-in and I really hope you'll share your successes and struggles in this area. I'll share a number of books with you that I've been reading and of course my thoughts on the matter. But I'll also share with you my own personal struggles and questions. Finally, I want to look at what exactly the Bible has to say about this. This is all very new to me so I will cherish your input. So enjoy the pictures today, but gear up for yet another series tomorrow.

Baby Lu talking on the phone and playing in her chair

Hello?

This sounds serious.

I know just what you mean.

Ha ha ha. That's sooo funny!

Ok, hold on.

It's for you.

One sock and two boots later...

Lu has fun in her chair.

Watch this... oops.

And sliding to the floor.

I do have other children, but taking pictures of the baby is so much fun.

Baby Lu giving her new baby doll a bottle

Baby Lu got a new baby doll and accessories for Christmas. Here she is giving her baby a bottle for the first time. What a proud little mother she is.

This is serious work, don't you know?

Wait a minute, is this right? Let me try it in her ear.

Do babies take bottles in their ears? Nooooooo!

Ok, back to business. But wait, let me just try something first.

Well, you can't blame a girl for trying.

You know this bottle feeding wouldn't be half bad if I could just find a comfortable place to do it.

That's better.

Much better.

I know there's something in there.

Maybe I had it turned the wrong way before.

Life is good.