Truth in the Tinsel: Days Six through Ten

Our Truth in the Tinsel experience continues.  Today's post covers days six through ten.  (Not sure what Truth in the Tinsel is all about?  See my previous post here.)

 December 6th:  Mary Visits Elizabeth
The kids listened with great interest as I read to them how Mary went to visit her cousin Elisabeth. They especially liked the part when little baby John leaped up in his mother's womb at the presence of his Savior.  Since Little Sprout was born just last year, they clearly remember her jumping and kicking in my belly; so they understood and delighted in this account of the baby John's reaction to Mary's pregnancy.
I helped the kids cut out these paper dolls representing the pregnant ladies Mary and Elisabeth, and then the kids set about gloriously splashing them with their watercolors.  A preference for greens, blacks, and browns certainly make their dolls look like they were in the throes of morning sickness. :)

 December 7th:  Mary Sings a Song of Worship
We read the story of Mary visiting Elisabeth again today and focused on the beautiful song of praise that Mary sang to God after Elisabeth spoke words of blessing on her baby.  "My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.  For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden; for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed..."  These are amazing words of peace and joy from a young woman who had to have been nervous and uncertain of her future.
The kids chose various marbles and glued them to an old CD to help remind us of Mary's beautiful song.  Poor Beast stressed about putting his marbles in a perfect circle, which probably got in the way of him really learning from the truth today.  Oh well.

 December 8th:  Jesus is the Rising Sun
We learned that Elisabeth did indeed give birth to a son that they named John.  Zachariah was finally able to speak, and when he did, the words of praise and prophecy just poured forth.  He spoke of how his child would lead the way and direct people to Jesus Christ.  He described Jesus as "the rising sun" that will "shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace." 
So we made bright orange paper suns and glued brilliant little sequins all over them as we talked about our Savior, the rising sun.

 December 9th:  Joseph Was a Righteous Man
I shared with the kids about another man in our story, a man named Joseph.  He was described as a just and righteous man.  When he found out about Mary's pregnancy, he felt the right thing to do woul be to put her away, but privately so she would not be shamed.  The kids and I talked about what a godly man he was - determined to do right.  I asked the kids if they could think of other righteous men in their lives and was pleased to hear them immediately answer with 'Daddy, and Grandpa, and Pop." 
The kids designed their clothespin Josephs similar to the Mary clothespin dolls they had made. 

December 10th:  Joseph Has a Dream
It was very interesting to talk to the kids about dreams today.  Gabi in particular was eager to share some dreams she had had recently.  I explained that back in Bible times, sometimes God spoke to his faithful followers in a dream.  Then we read about Joseph's dream in which the angel of the Lord told him not to be afraid to marry Mary. 
The kids chose fabric out of my stash and put together this little pillows to represent Joseph's dream.  While they worked on their pillows, I reminded them that God always reassures us and makes His presence known when we are doing right.

Pink Piggy Party

Happy happy first birthday to our spunky, adorable, and joyful fourth child!  We love you so much, Hosanna Joy, and it truly was a joy to celebrate this milestone with you on Sunday.

 We had a pink piggy party for Little Sprout.  Everything was in shades of pink, even the birthday girl's special outfit. 

 I made a swirly pink cake topped with a princess piggy bank.  The cake recipe was this vanilla cupcake recipe from Glorious Treats.  I did switch out the vegetable oil for coconut oil and added a few spoonfuls of strawberry preserves for flavor and a little pink color.  The frosting was colored with beet juice (about one teaspoon of beet juice to every eight tablespoons of frosting).  Besides the cake, we served popcorn in a big pink bowl, pigs-in-a-blanket, strawberry angel cookies, and homemade strawberry lemonade. 

 Little Sprout's grandpa made a colorful birthday banner featuring photos of the birthday girl from every month of her life so far.  (The background is a bunch of bananas because "Banana" is Daddy's favorite pet name for her.)

 Besides the banner, the dining room was festooned with pink and white streamers and festive little pigs.  I made the pigs by purchasing a set of five pink fan circle decorations from Party City and then hot gluing pig ears, eyes, and noses to each one. 

 I knew from the moment she was born that Little Sprout would wear a cute tutu for her first birthday.  I followed the directions here on the Ribbon Retreat to make her a cute, very fluffy tutu.  I used bright pink and light pink tulle and accented it with a big pink flower.  For her shirt, I purchased an inexpensive white long-sleeved onesie from Walmart, cut out a "1" from pink polka-dotted fabric, and hand-sewed it to the onesie with pink thread and matching rik-rak.  Her gigantic flowered headband was a gift from a friend. 

 My darling baby girl had a grand time at her party. 

 She dove into her cake with great gusto while our other guests enjoyed the party food and played fun games on the Wii.  She enjoyed her cake so much that Grandma had to give her a quick sink bath before she opened her gifts.  A sleepy baby in cupcake pajamas cuddled with her new "babies" and fell asleep in her momma's arms.  It was the perfect end to a perfect piggy party.



Ten Months

 I love this face!  I love this girl!  Her enthusiasm, her sense of humor, her energy, and her affection just fill and complete our family.

She is growing at a ridiculous rate.  Babbling up a storm, her favorite words are mama, dada, Anna, m-nana (banana), and bye-bye.  Little Sprout is walking!!!!! now.  She is the earliest walker of all my kids.  It's exciting, because all the other kids cheer her on and get all-out giddy when she takes a shaky step.  Of course, amidst all the excitement, I would love to hang on to my baby just a bit longer.  Lucky for me, she is a fantastic snuggler and a great playmate.  Sometimes, after the other kids go to bed, I'll go into her room and wake her up for one more snuggle and playtime with just me.  Yeah, I'm sentimental that way. :)

Love you so much, you sweet sweet baby cheeks.  Happy ten months!

"Touchdown!"

Growing up in my family meant you liked football.  Or at least tolerated it.  We didn't have a TV so we listened to all the Philadelphia Eagles' games on the radio.  We all had our favorite teams - I liked the Eagles but told everyone my favorite team was the Denver Broncos.  I made that decision based purely on the fact that their mascot was a horse.  And I liked horses.  Ah, the reasoning of teenage girls! 

Every week, my mom would draw up a chart of the NFL teams that were playing each other that week.  We then predicted the winners of each game.  The person with the most correct wins had bragging rights that week.  See - no gambling! There was really nothing to be gained.  Except for arguments and bickering, that is.

Anyway, as we listened to those games on the radio, we never tired of hearing Merrill Reese's "It's Goooooooood!" as the Eagles scored another field goal.  "Touchdown!" was even better, naturally. 

It stands to reason then that I would carry on some of these football traditions in my own family.  Unfortunately, we live entirely too far from Philly to hear "It's Gooooooood!" on our radio.  My kids are too young to vote on game results.  As for favorite teams, I am not influencing their decisions at all.  I just point out that we don't really live in "football territory" anyway (the closest team is the Seattle Seahawks) so picking Mommy's team just seems like a natural thing to do.  Oh, and I may just have unpacked a tiny Eagles cheerleader outfit that the Drama Queen wore at a year old. . .

One football tradition that we have faithfully carried out with all four children is teaching them to raise their arms when you say "Touchdown!" before their first football season starts.  The reasons for doing so are numerous.

1.  It's incredibly cute.  So cute, in fact, that you will keep saying "Touchdown!" over and over again just to see them do it until they give you the mom-please-stop-my-arms-hurt look.

2.  It immediately identifies you as good parents.  When you are out and about and the word touchdown causes your little one to immediately raise their arms, other fans think, "Wow, those parents are doing it right.  They're teaching the most important things first."

3.  It is invaluable to undressing your child quickly.  To this day, when I am helping the Spud or any of the other kids take off their shirt to get ready for bed, I say "Touchdown!" and their arms shoot up, greatly expediting the process.

4.  Once you have trained them to do "Touchdown!", there really is no limit to what else you can train them to do.  Giving high fives, blowing kisses, breakdancing - all of these are a piece of cake for your toddler once they have mastered the "Touchdown!"

It is with great pride we carry on the tradition with Little Sprout.  Please click on the following video and observe the cuteness:



"It's Gooooooood!"

Little Man and the Birthday





We have a birthday tradition in our family of tying a big bunch of bright balloons on the birthday child's chair and leaving a special small gift at their breakfast plate.  When they wake up and come upstairs to the dining room, they get so excited to see the balloons and gift, and it just sets the tone for the whole fun day.

 The Spud's fourth birthday was a couple of weeks ago.  On the morning of his special day, I set about making pancakes for the crew.  The Drama Queen came into the kitchen and casually commented, "Hey, I guess it isn't his birthday today after all.  There aren't any balloons on his chair."  My heart dropped.  How had I completely forgotten our birthday tradition?  The Nerd hadn't yet left for work, and he overheard her comment.  He disappeared into the bedroom and came out a short while later with a wrapped gift.  "Hey, buddy, we forgot to put this by your plate this morning," he said as he handed it over to an excited Spud.  I mouthed a quick "thank-you" and quickly turned my attention back to the pancakes.  It really wasn't a big deal in itself.
It's just that - poor Spud always seems to get the short end of the stick, especially when it comes to birthdays.  One birthday we only got him one gift - a Cozy Coupe (used, no less).  Apparently we have a tendency to get back on the "get-out-of-debt" wagon during the summer, and it affects poor Spud's birthdays.  Of course, he is the kind of kid that gets a lot of joy (and a lot of mileage!) out of toys, and he never seemed bothered by it.

 This year, we were determined to make it better.  I failed on the balloons front, but we managed to have a fun dinner out that night and spoiled him with lots of gifts, mostly Thomas the Tank Engine in nature.  It wasn't his year for a birthday party, but we surprised him with a trip to Shady Dell Miniature Trains later that week. 

 It was a gorgeous Sunday afternoon, and all the kids were excited to ride the trains at Shady Dell.  Every time I looked at Spud that afternoon, he was grinning from ear to ear.  It was definitely the best way to celebrate his special day.

 I can't believe my little man is four years old.  He is the most stubborn and yet the sweetest little guy.  I count myself so privileged to spend time with him every day and to be his momma.  Often, he will surprise me with a fierce hug and kiss;  the next moment he is running away and shouting no. 
He is passionate about his cars and trains.  I will help him get his tracks all set up early in the morning, and he will drive his trains and cars around for hours on end.  He adores his big brother and sister and usually gives in to what they want. 

He fits perfectly into our family.  I  know that tomorrow morning, he will be the first to greet me with a sleepy hello and a request for cereal.  I absolutely adore him.  Happy birthday, sweet Spud!

First Day

 Planning, praying, perspiring, more planning, pondering. . . The decision to homeschool our three oldest this year was certainly not easy.  Although I am beyond certain that we made the right decision, it still doesn't take away the butterflies and the "what-if's" and the uncertainties.  Technically last year was our first year of homeschooling, but it was only the Drama Queen.  She is bright and loves school; so it really was an easy year overall.  Being pregnant with Little Sprout did complicate things a little, and towards the end, we were both agonizing through endless worksheets and books.  I am learning a lot about homeschooling though.  It's not "school at home."  You don't have to do every. single. worksheet.  If she can spell all the words on her list without looking on Monday, there's no sense in dragging it out for the whole week.  If curriculum isn't working, I have the power to ditch it and find something that does.  Anyway.

 We had our first official day of school yesterday.  The Nerd had steam-cleaned the carpet in our "school-room" the night before; so I got up early to move furniture back in, look over lesson plans, make pancakes, soothe an unhappy baby, push the unfolded laundry to the end of the couch, etc.

 When I came out to the living room, I found Little Miss Drama Queen curled up on the couch asleep.  As soon as she smelled the pancakes sizzling on the griddle, she shot up from under her blanket and asked if it was time to start school yet.  I was tickled to see that she had gotten up in the middle of the night and changed into her "back-to-school outfit" before going back to sleep.

 Since no day passes around here without some drama, our first day of homeschooling certainly had its share.  Spud woke up sobbing that he didn't feel good and spent all his time at the breakfast table crying that his brother was "looking at him."  The Beast was of course overstimulated with the excitement and difference in schedule.  He spent a lot of time running into walls and causing general chaos.  No one was particularly thrilled to be posing for so many first day pictures, but obviously they did a great job faking it.

The school day went well enough.  It helped me see where my planned schedule didn't work and where I could cut time.  I got the same tingle of excitement that I got every year as a school teacher before I had my kids.  When asked what their favorite part of the day was, The Drama Queen responded with "math class" and the Spud favored coloring the American flag in history class.  The Beast's favorite?  Sharpening pencils and making sure everything was in his pencil box.  Obviously we have lots of room for progress. :)  Afterwards, we headed out to the library to check out books on the topics we are studying in history and science.  Then I took them to the park to burn off some extra energy.  (I had no extra energy at this point).

Here's to another successful day today.  Hey, I'll settle for a pretty average day.  Also, I need to write in "Teacher Nap Time" on the schedule.

Little Sprout Vs The Watermelon

May Brings...

I can't believe May is already in session. This collage is a glimpse of our May last year.  The Beast was just then starting to learn how to overcome some of his sensory issues.  The Drama Queen had just graduated from preschool.  The Spud was getting ready to be three.  (Yikes - what a year three has been!  And he still fits into that shirt!)
Part of my disbelief that it is already May stems from the fact that there is no spring-like weather to be found around here.  I'm sitting here typing this in my flannel pj's while sipping hot tea.  Well, that and I feel pretty sick, so maybe I'm not such an accurate barometer.
What does May bring for us this year?  Well, hopefully some flowers eventually, but I see an IEP meeting, a Mother's Day without Grandma Millie this year, some much-needed family time, some major decisions to be made, and the finish of our first year of homeschooling.
Happy Cinco de Mayo...

They Can Be Cute

We had an eventful Easter, to say the least. Who knew that the combination of sugar, church, and overly exciting activities would lead to such drama?! The story behind that will be the subject of another post.

For now, feast your eyes on my cute offspring in their matching (of course!) outfits:

Sisters! I am so excited to be able to say that now that we have added Little Sprout to the family. The Drama Queen was pirouetting in her turquoise and black dress all day, and Little Sprout was irresistible in her bubble dress, even more delicious than any old chocolate bunny.

Brothers! I caught the boys relaxing together on the recliner in their matching outfits. I wonder how many more years I can pull off the whole matchy clothing thing before the kids start protesting?

My new blog header is my favorite picture of the day, but this one is a close second. No question that these kiddos are related, eh?

Grandma and Papa came over for a heart-attack-inducing Easter dinner. Can you tell the grandkids love them lots?!

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

Buddies

They fight sometimes. They call each other names and say "go away, stop bothering me!"

But secretly, they love each other. They are buddies, with the Spud following big brother around wherever he goes. They sit huddled over their Kindle, companionably watching Woody Woodpecker and giggling at all the same moments.

They make this momma's heart smile. Life with four littles so close in age can sometimes be difficult, but seeing my kidlets become friends for life is worth it.

I Love This Man

I feel pretty blessed to call this man my husband. Our children don't even know yet how fortunate they are to be able to call him Daddy. The Nerd rarely makes an appearance here on the blog; mostly because he is a behind-the-scenes kind of guy. And trust me, the movie of our life would be pretty pathetic if he weren't working so hard behind the scenes.

His work ethic is amazing. As I write this, he is still out, working a second job to put our family in a better financial position. He is dedicated to his job and is recognized frequently for the passion he puts into it. My husband comes home from work and immediately adjusts himself to his favorite job of husband and father.

And let me tell you - what a fantastic father he is! The man has the patience of a saint with our offspring and invests as much time as he can into each one of them. When our family is gallivanting about, I know he will easily step into his role of grabbing wayward kids, dragging kids to the bathroom, changing diapers if necessary, and being a very active parent in the process.

When he gets home tonight, I know that although he'll be dead tired, he'll still lie next to me in bed and listen to me unload the doings of the day. He is a wonderful communicator - I have a lot to learn from him! I get giddy at the thought of him coming home.

And again, I think, What did I do to deserve such a great guy? I am most certainly blessed!

And every once in a while, I've got to brag on my man. :)

Train Fever

What is it about little boys and trains? Honestly, the Beast never really seemed to care about trains, but our Spud seems to have been born with a toy train in his hand. He is THAT obsessed. He does love him some Thomas and Friends, but he is perfectly willing to play with generic trains too. Spud will take quite a bit of time to set up his tracks in the morning and then spend hours driving his trains endlessly around the track. Whatever pull those trains have on the little guy, I want in on their secret. If he paid half as much attention to me as he did those trains, I would be Mother of the Year!

Anyway, when we found out a train show would be in Portland a few weeks ago, we (the Nerd) thought it would be a fun event for the kids. (That's because he read the ticket information that said kids were FREE!) Adults were ten dollars each, and they lured you in with promises that all kids would get to ride Thomas the Tank Engine.

Most of the rest of the show was run by guys who are a little too into their trains, if you know what I mean. They are the kind that search and search for the perfect tree replica to put in a special spot in their train set-up in their house. Still, my little man was bursting at the seams with excitement at all the trains!

Not only did several very kind vendors let him "operate" their trains, but he also spent some time in a play area playing with Thomas trains and lots and lots of plastic tracks. Pretty much the same thing he could have done at home, except at home we don't have a hot dog vendor standing nearby tempting kids with his $4 hot dogs and sodas.

There was a giant Lego city set up in the middle of the show. The Beast was especially enamored with the pirate ship and kept sneaking under the rope to "get a better look." The guys who had spent over fourteen hours building the city were having mini panic attacks at this threat to their handiwork. I did my best to keep my extremely over-stimulated Beast from doing any damage.

We were able to get in the line early to ride Thomas the Tank Engine. Spud's eyes were wide at the fact that we were getting to see the "real Thomas." The Beast was in awe of the steam that came out of Thomas' smoke stack. All of us were a little underwhelmed at the very short and uneventful ride the kids got.

I still don't get why trains have such a magnetic appeal for my son. Seeing his face light up at the show, though, was worth stopping at every. single. booth. to look at the trains. And then, when the Nerd decided to take them on a ride on a "real train" (i.e. the Metro downtown), the kids' reactions were priceless. Totally worth the ticket money and outrageous downtown parking fees!

Rough Week

****a bright spot in a very yucky week****

We did manage to get in the scavenger hunt for the kiddos on Valentines' Day, and the Nerd brought home some sweet stuffed animals and balloons for them as well. Other than that, this past week has not been much of a celebration. Here's a little timeline:

2/11 at 7:00 pm - the Spud develops a fever and severe diarrhea. He has to run to the bathroom often and needs assistance when doing so. Therefore the Nerd and the Spud set up camp in the living room for the night.

2/12 at 9:30 am - I head off to church with the other three kiddos, figuring that whatever bug the Spud's got, it'll pass over soon.

2/12 at 8:00 pm - It appears that the fever and diarrhea are not going away any time soon. It's my turn to stay up with the little guy, and his lack of eating and very pale face worry me.

2/13 at 3:15 pm - After many calls, I am able to get my little man in to see the doctor. She does a thorough check while he flirts with the nurses and tells them he is going to marry his mommy. :) All the usual things are ruled out, even a urinary tract infection. While we are waiting for some test results, Spud makes another run to the bathroom. This time it's bloody.

2/13 at 8:00 pm - I get to stay up with the Spud (and the baby!) again. This night is made even more fun by the fact that I have to collect three stool samples from one very stubborn and uncooperative little boy. ugh. gross.

2/14 at 8:00 pm - The Spud's fever is gone, but he is still very weak and sick. The Nerd offers to take the night shift so as to give me some rest.

2/17 at 6:00 am - The Drama Queen wakes up, complaining of stomach aches and chills. Oh joy - she is running a fever too and has the same bathroom issues. And I call her the Drama Queen for a reason - that girl is no fun when she's sick!

2/18 at 6:00 pm - I get a call from the doctor to inform me that one of the Spud's stool samples has grown a bacteria that looks like salmonella. I am surprised by this and wonder why it took a while to infect the Drama Queen then. I tell the lab tech as much and he puts in an order for samples for her too. I am becoming a pro at this. Meanwhile, Little Sprout has had a low-grade fever all day and has been very grumpy. It's hard to tell if she has diarrhea because she is only 2 months old.

2/19 at 5:00 am - I wake up with the same bathroom issues as the other kiddos. No fever thankfully, but miserable and definitely not able to go to church. The baby seems better, but the Drama Queen is still pretty sick.

2/20 at 9:00 am - I change Little Sprout's diaper and find a tiny amount of blood. I freak out and call the doctor. Well, I call a representative that puts me on hold forever and then finally get a hold of an advice nurse. After several more phone calls, my doctor and Little Sprout's doctor both decide they need samples from us too. Sigh.

2/21 at 7:00 am - I wake up completely overwhelmed. The baby is screaming, and I have to warm up a bottle for her because I can't nurse her right now due to the fact I could be passing salmonella on to her, which is very dangerous for babies. I desperately need to pump, the Spud (who is finally back to his normal self) has raided the kitchen again, the other kids are demanding me to make breakfast and kill a scary spider, and I still need to do these other stool samples.

Yeah. It's been fabulous. The Drama Queen does seem a lot better today; so I am hoping the baby somehow avoided all of this. And the Nerd. I can't have him getting sick too!

Valentines Scavenger Hunt

What is one to do to ensure that her homeschooled daughter receives a whole pile of Valentines on the holiday of love? Have a Valentines scavenger hunt, of course. All you need is a bunch of valentines, candy, paper, and a pen, and you're set to make this a tradition in your house. (The Drama Queen loved it so much that she asked if we could have a scavenger hunt for every holiday!)

Anyway, the night before Valentines Day I went around the house and hid sweet little valentines and candy for the kids, three of each in each hiding spot so no kid was left out. I then wrote out a series of (easy!) clues for the kids to use to find all their treats. Here is a little glimpse into the action: (disclaimer - our hunt took place first thing after breakfast. The Drama Queen had already gotten dressed, but somehow the Beast had become Spiderman during the night and the Spud had lost his pajama pants. I took photos anyway.)

Sibling Love