What I did over my summer vacation....the low-down.

Hey y'all,

Trying to update on our wild ride of a summer.  Sean's off handing out backpacks and school supplies at the church for Community Day, the kids are slippin' and sliddin' after a night of vomiting...and I'm running on about 4 hours sleep, sounds like perfect timing to blog to me.  Hey, I could be driving...operating a blog doesn't necessarily fall into the "operating heavy machinery" category, does it?

So, to catch you up.  Sean's company made some changes and let him go in June.  Yeah, that was fun.  But two days after that he got an internship at our church (Real Life) with the Immersion team, helping to train up pastors who visit the church every month.  He also started putting together a coaching program for those pastors, so they can continue to stay in touch with us after they head back home and try to implement some of the stuff they learned while visiting us.

It was a wild few months.  A few down moments, not sure where gas and food and bill money was going to come from, but somehow we made it.  And that's the most important part of this summer.  We decided that we were going to trust God to provide (for our home, our children, ourselves) and He did.  Both Sean and I slept like babies.  We never fought about money or what we didn't have.  The hardest day for the kids was the day we gave up cable.

So, June and July chugged along.  Sean would dutifully report to his part-time job interning at the church, and I continued in my role of supporting him at home.  We have great friends and family who came along side us, helped us from time to time and encouraged us to keep our chins up.

On the morning of July 27, Robin showed up in our bedroom at 7:45 am.  I was in that dozed state, listening to where Sean was in the coffee making process....I don't get up until I hear that hot liquid hit the edge of a mug.  Anyway, Robin climbs in bed with me and tells me, he's never going to get married.  I groggily look over at him and ask why.  He says, because "Jesus never got married and I want to do everything just like Jesus did."  Sean popped back in the bedroom at that moment with two steaming mugs of "wake up Heidi" and we started an hour long conversation with Robin where at the end, he said, "I want Jesus to be my boss forever."  And I cried tears of joy.

On July 28, Sean and I got to celebrate ten years of crazy and wonderful moments together.      

July 30, we got big news.  Sean was going to be interviewing for a full-time pastoral job at the church.  Basically doing what he had started doing as an intern, but they saw a need for him on a full-time basis and he started the long process of interviewing, praying and making sure it was the right fit.

At the same time, I got an e-mail about a part-time job opening at the church in the Communications Dept.  I sent in my resume on a Friday, by the following Thursday afternoon I had interviewed and was informed I got the job.

Sean found out the following day, he was going to be a pastor.

We were both given start dates, his was August 8, mine August 9.

That lead us to, what do we with the kids?  Sean had been working at home for the past three years, I had worked minimally since Robin was born, and a little after Katie was born, but nothing like I was going to be doing.  Homeschooling had been going well, and I was in the process of figuring out my plan for this next year.  So, again, I just asked God to help us figure this whole thing out.  And again, He did.

We have always been interested in a small prep school that's located on the church campus.  We have several friends who's children attend, and we've been to the school's talent show and graduations, and I just love the environment of the little school.  So, this fall the kids will both be attending.  Katie gets to start up in Kindergarten and Robin will be in the second grade.  Somehow, we can afford it, somehow the schedules all work out, somehow we've been given wonderful gifts we never even knew we wanted.

So, in the time span of about a week and a half, we went from being home together, to being at church together, and we couldn't be more excited.

We're still trying to even begin to understand how this has all worked out, and dude, I'm married to a pastor now!  We just can't believe how this entire thing was orchestrated, how we let God run the whole thing, and how He surprised around every turn.  He's a good Father, who has our best interest at heart.

In short, we've had the best summer ever!

I never thought I'd be so grateful for losing a job.

H :)

A story of a boy...and his cup...

Hey check me out...bein' all bloggity bloggity two days in a row!

Now that I'm back in the blogging world, I have to give you one of my favorite Robin the Wonderoo moments from the past few weeks.  I've told it to a few people in person, so if you've heard it before...um...deal with it. =)

I know a bunch of you are aware Robin played baseball with a pitching machine for the first time this spring and we got the experience of buying him his first "athletic supporter" (AKA: The Cup).  He got pretty comfortable with his cup in no time, wearing it for every practice, around the house, watching cartoons, eating cereal...the actual little plastic cuppy thing also frequented the inside of purse...sometimes I needed to carry it around with us..."just in case, mom".

The only problem with the cup was that we only had one set of the little underoo things with the right pocket in which to wear the cup...and I would get frustrated trying to find and clean the underoo things multiple times a week (I know some of you probably have tips on how to fix this problem for me...it's okay, we're all good now).

So, one night, it's later than normal bedtime, he's finally settling down to bed and I am getting him all tucked in...when I notice he's wearing the underoo things, again.

I sigh heavily, roll my eyes, and start to tell him to change out of the underoo things, knowing I'll need to make sure they're clean for his game the next day.

And then I stop myself before the words come out of my mouth....I'm realizing my wild and crazy seven year old boy is actually settling into bed without complaint or requesting more food...and realize it's not even worth asking him to get up to change.  So instead I say, "Rob-O, you've still got your baseball underoo's on, buddy, you need to stop wearing those all the time, remember?  We talked about this a few times now, but don't worry about it, just change in the morning, okay?..."

He starts to lay down on his stomach and I go to pull his sheets up when his eyes go wide and he sits straight up and looks at me.

"Mom!  I think I still have the cup in there!"

"Okay, Robin...." (this is the part where I'm still just getting used to life with a boy)

He opens up the waistband of his underoo things and sticks his hand down his pants.

I stand there waiting...

and waiting...

and waiting...

and waiting...

and waiting...

and wondering what on earth is down his pants...as he sits there....fidgeting....

and waiting...

and then he looks up at me with a big smile and just says, "Nope, it's not in there... that's just me!"

Rolls over, and goes to sleep.

And I laugh all the way back downstairs.

H :)

Just a smidge of catchity catch up...

I've had a couple of people ask me about my blog and lack of posts....so, here I am posting.

I don't really have a good reason for being absent for (hang on, let me click back and see when I last posted...)...Holy cow May 6!  It's July for crying out loud!  What's wrong with me!  Okay, sorry to all of my 28 loyal followers...I'll work on it.

As I was saying, I don't really have a good reason for being so ridiculously absent, other than family vacations, my husband is job searching, tons of family and friends visiting, and the occasional shiny thing that flashes before my eyes and I forget what I'm actually supposed to be doing.

So, what's new around here:  I did start up a tiny new little business thingy.  I started writing some of my quirky little sayings on coffee mugs, they are called Sassy Sippers.  I bought TONS of mugs from thrift stores, (I decided to go all green and recycle cool) cleaned them up and wrote things I have floating around in my head on them...it's slow to get going and I think I'm driving my husband crazy with piles of mugs everywhere and I could be a little high from the paint fumes, but I'm having a good time, and that's all that matters right?

Robin is now 7, and surprisingly better at being 7 than he was at being 6.  We celebrated Katie's 4 & 3/4 birthday in May with 75% of a hot fudge sundae.

Um, the dog got a haircut, Sean needs a haircut, I just cut Robin's hair, Katie would like her haircut...and I have been wearing lots of hats so I don't have to look at my hair.

Lots more things coming up soon for the Yount family...at least we're hoping for some exciting things to start happening...will keep you posted, I promise!

I have a few stories I need to get down before I loose them in my mental rolodex, I'll start working on those soon too.

Do people even still use rolodexes?  There's probably a Google Rolodex I know nothing about...

Sorry, shiny thing.

Talk soon friends!

H :)

Katie Lou Who-dini....

In my sleep deprived state this morning, I'm realizing it's been a few weeks since I've written an update about all the bugs crawling around in my salad.

This morning, one kid is sick....and slightly grumpy....I'll give you a hint as to who it is....his first name starts with an "R" and ends with "obin."

The other kid of mine is quite awake, despite her odd night of sleep.

The point of this blog isn't too discuss Robin's intestinal issues, or my lack of sleep, but rather Katie's ability to overcome any sleeping situation....here's the cockroach crawling around my greenery this morning.

Katie is a bit of a squirt for her age....she's always been in the lower percentiles....however, she can dominate and kick one or two adults out of a queen size bed without hesitation.  I know other parents out there know what I'm talking about.

It's pretty rare that she gets to sleep with us...it's usually the occassional bad dream or wind storm or illness, and of course she loves to crash with mom when dad travels for work.  She's pretty guilty of  kicks to the kidney, knees in the back, hogging of the pillow, and sleeping sideways so that we end up huddled onto a strip of the bed about a foot wide, just trying to keep some balance before teetering over the edge.

Katie has kicked Sean in the face while sleeping.

She has slapped me across the face in some dream stupor.

I've witnessed her stand straight up while sleeping and fall flat on her face.

One of my favorites was the time Sean was out of town and I woke up in the early morning feeling a little awkward....it was then that I realized that as I slept on my stomach, Katie crawled on top of me and fallen asleep on my back, face up, with her head resting on my rump and her feet draped over my shoulders....and sadly I slept through the whole thing.

But last night was another good one.  Robin asked to sleep on the couch and Katie asked to sleep on the floor next to my side of the bed.  I spent most of the night on "high alert" waiting for the puke sounds to start up, thinking it would be Robin having trouble in the night.  But no, somewhere around 5 am I heard a whimpering sound.  I sat straight up in bed and listened for a moment....and tried to crack my eyes open.  Then I heard the whimpering again, followed by a thud, then more whimpering.  Our dog sleeps under the bed so I assumed it was him and just laid back down.

Then I heard the little muffled, "moooooom"....."moooooooooom!"  I sat up again trying to figure out where the noise was coming from, peaked over the edge of our bed to see Katie....or what was left of Katie to see. All I could see was her heels poked out and kicking from under the bed...she looked like the scene in the Wizard of Oz when the witch gets squished by the house.

So, I hopped out of bed, grabbed her by the ankles and dragged her out from under the bed on her poor little face.  I think she cried....I doubt she woke up.....I hugged and kissed her and placed her in bed between Sean and I....where her feet proceeded to attack his kidneys.

Our little Katie Lou Who-dini is quite the little sleeper....I'm hoping tonight we have better nocturnal results.

H :)

Educating for the future....of wrestling.

This week Robin has decided he would like to be a professional wrestler....apparently he is now a fan of Rey Mysterio....who I didn't know existed until this week.

He's had obsessions in the past.

He has been a professional football player, baseball player, but only plays college basketball (the pro's are ridiculous).  He has been a skateboarder, motorcycle rider, ninja expert, surfer, spy, police officer, professional video game player, and all of the Marvel comics characters, and he tends to combine these careers also.  For example, he's been a police officer who is a super hero, but his powers are to surf on the basketball court....it happens.

But apparently he's pretty serious about this wrestling thing.

I have been trying to figure out curriculum for school through the summer and next year.  But now that he's made this decision for his professional career, it helps me to really streamline and focus our education.

This week we've been watching a show we found on Netflix about the top 50 WWE Wrestlers of all time.  Needless to say, I've learned quite a lot about the Wide Wide World of Wrestling.

Sounds like I need to teach him to work a microphone.

He's going to need to look good in his underoo's so....more sit-ups at recess.

Bodyslamming 101.

He's already written his own entrance song....the trouble is how does he perform it live, as he's making his entrance.....that's a stumper.

Katie can teach him about costume design.

Smack talk is vitally important, might have to work on that multiple times a day.

Theatrics....nah, he's got that down okay.

He'll need a catchy name.  He has been asking to change his name to Tripp....Tripp-tastic, Tripp-onator, Tripp-o-lama-ding-dong...

He'll need to learn how to squander his wealth, mostly on velour body suits and gold chains...oh and maybe a cool sidekick animal...he could have a big walrus on a chain and be Tripp and the Big Tusk.

Mastering the jump off the top rope will be a challenge...but we have a front porch with a railing, we'll get creative.

Sequins, sequins, sequins.

We aren't called the Wrestlin' Rhino's School for Misfits for nothin'!

H :)

So, let's talk about vegetarians...

Robin and Katie were in the backseat of the mini.

They were listening to music.  Katie's favorite song is called "Katie", it's by Deana Carter.  It's about a little girl named Katie who is a vegetarian.

Katie asks Robin, "What's a vegetarian?"

Robin answers right back without even a pause, "It's a person who cleans houses."

Katie says, "Oh, but I'm not a vegetarian."

Robin just looks at her and says, "No, but you will be when you grow up."

And that's the end of the talk on vegetarians.

First baseball practice of the year...

Robin's playing in the farm league this year.

Basically that means he finally gets upgraded to the pitching machine.

Sean bought him all the gear.  New cleats, new batting gloves, new socks, a new throw back net, and a new cup. I guess you could also call it an "athletic supporter".  I only had sisters, so Robin is my first experience with a boy...I have a lot to learn.

Katie helped Robin figure out how to put the cup on.....thank goodness she's around.

All of the gear, coats, cleats, and children were dumped in the car and we rushed off to the first practice of the year.

Robin did well on his first outing.  Stopped grounders, snagged pop flies, his throwing mechanics need some work, but he swung the bat well and didn't pretend to turn into a Transformer or anything on the field like last season, so that's progress.

It was about 50 degrees with 25 mile an hour wind gusts tonight...so Katie didn't last too long watching from the bleachers.  In fact, she lasted a total of fifteen minutes and we headed back to the car, where we watched baseball like most North Idahoans do in April....through the windshield.

So, for the next hour and fifteen minutes Katie sat with me in the front seat of the mini and we chatted and watched brother play baseball.

Katie showed me how to work the bluetooth.

We talked about what age she can get her ears pierced.

We chewed gum and blew bubbles.

We made faces in the rearview mirror.

We discussed the value of a good pair of pink cowboy boots.

And if I remember correctly, there was a discussion about chocolate bunnies, why she has brown eyes...and how long it will be until she gets to drive the car.

It's now about bedtime.  Kids are brushing teeth and putting on pajamies.  They've eaten corn dogs for dinner and watched a smidge of the Chanel de Disney.

There's pink cowboy boots on the floor, sweatshirts scattered all over the living room, and an athletic supporter on the dining room table....and one day of baseball practice down.

Katie starts soccer this weekend....that should provide some blogger fodder....so stay tuned!

H :)

Robin the Wonderoo...

Robin's brain never ceases to amaze me.

I have cut his hair since he was a baby.

I used to do it with scissors and then as he got to be a toddler we moved on to electric clippers.

Now, for the most part, it's a very simple process, I don't have a cape, so we've kept the whole ordeal pretty basic.  I turn the shower on, while he strips down to his underwear and plops on a stool in our bathroom.  I buzz his head pretty quickly....taking extra care around his neck and ears and then he hops off the stool, unders are tossed over his shoulder and he hops in the shower.

We've done this routine for a few years now.

I have my hair cut by my "too cute for her own good" friend Sara.  She's young, blonde, and extremely adorable and Robin is, of course is completely aware of this fact.

The other day I told Robin I was going to have Sara cut his hair.

His face went blank, his eyes wide and a panicked look started to set in on his face.

And then he asked me, "she won't have to see my in my unders will she?!"

"Nope Robin, she won't see you in your unders."

Robin the Wonderoo....gotta love that kiddo.

H :)

Goobers...

One of those goober days...don't ask me why...

Goober crazy hair.

Goober gunky teeth.

Goobers on my shirt.

Goobers on my feet.

Goober smeared carpet.

Goober stuck sheets.

Goober spackled ceiling.

Goober on the cleats.

Goobers on the fridge.

Only goobers left to eat.

Goobers in the bathroom.

Goober slobbered seats.

Goobers on the porch.

Goobered sloppy kids.

Goobers, goobers everywhere.

Smile and say, "I don't care."

:)

Bye, Bye Baby...

There are people that write amazing blogs about decorating....like my friend Sharyl, she's at http://thelittlebrownhouse.us/, she has great stuff on buying and crafting and decorating things.....I am not her....in fact, I am so far removed from all of that super cool stuff, her blog is even decorated cooler than mine.  (Nice work by the way Sharyl.) =)

I love looking at people's houses.  I love the thought of living in a Pottery Barn catalog....but my brain just doesn't quite work that way.  I'm a girl of laziness and necessity; a girl of ease and least work, most benefit.  If Jane Austen were to describe me in Pride and Prejudice she would have called me, "a modest woman, of ordinary means, not following the fashion of the time, but rather a woman of convenience."

That being said, I attempted to be all Pottery Barn cool this weekend.....but, all I ended up with was sore calves.

We just sold our black satin baby grand piano.  It left our home on Thursday morning to go live on a nice farm with a large family....where it can run free.  And while the baby grand was too large for the space we tried to fit it into....when it was gone, the space left was pretty big....and then the wheels started spinning....how can I best make this space fit my life?  A few ideas crossed my mind.....installing a pop dispenser or a gumball machine...but in the end I decided to make it practical for homeschool....so we opted for the ever so exciting bookshelf.

Sean decided he wanted to paint and he wanted the whole wall to be red.  I said, "Sure."  I have no idea if it's still cool to have a red wall....or if that is more circa 2004....I figure if I'm somewhere within the style of the past ten years that's close enough for me.

So, my girlfriend and I set out to upgrade a few things.  I bought a can of red paint and a white board for the kitchen....too much change at one time can mess up my whole "convenience" thing...mostly because then I don't know where anything is.

We now have a red wall, a cleaned and organized bookshelf, the living room looks exactly the same even with my three different attempts to move it around.  I have sore calves (don't ask me why), a pile of things to be donated, a white board, bunnies of dust removed, a great time with a girlfriend, a kitchen disaster, no baby grand, paint stains on my hands, and garlic breath.

I think I earned a couple of Pottery Barn coolness points, but I'm still no Little Brown House....but for me, this is progress....and last I checked progress was a good thing.



Before.....

And after....

More work still to be done, guitar needs to be hung on the wall and the book shelf needs more bins (we kinda have a lot more movies than I thought we did...)....but my Pottery Barn effort is complete.

Looking at the pictures I kinda like the "before"....but it is what it is.... "Penelope" the piano is much happier now and the kids and I have more room to dance. :)

H :)

Ode to my mama...

I was glancing at a picture of my parents today and it provided the inspiration for today's blog.  I love my mom, she's great.  She's funny and crazy smart, and usually knows the right thing to do in any situation.  And while I do LOOK like my dad in drag,  I have however noticed there's a couple of my mom's crazy quirks that are seeping thru the genetic gene pool I never really thought I'd see...

• I'm beginning to truly appreciate bacon so crispy it's actually dusty.

• I dance in the grocery store and don't realize it....until the kids say something.

• I value a good fleece vest.

• I like the imaginary break on the passenger side of the car....I use it often.

• I try with all my might to not to swear....but if I do, I make it good.

• Uck....no matter what pants I buy....no matter what style.....they are still mom jeans.

• Everything is better with balsalmic vinegar and olive oil.

• Poptarts are to be toasted and buttered.

• There is no better time to plan for the next meal than while I am stuffed from the last one.

• Don't go to bed angry.

• Smile and nod.

• Thank you notes.....okay, so that one is always in the back of my mind....not so much on the actual writing of them, gotta admit.

• I talk to myself and when the kids catch me, I tell them I'm just singing...

• I will look for my cell phone in my purse, and panic thinking I've lost it, while talking on my cell phone...

• Try to always comb the kid's hair so it looks like no matter what, "somebody loves them".

• Date your husband.

• Wine is good and often necessary.

• Finally, say "goodnight" whenever you leave or hangup the phone...never say "goodbye".  Goodbye can be forever while goodnight is see ya soon.

My dad is great and gave me my quirky sense of humor and large calves, but my mom is responsible for a lot more than I tend to give her credit for....love ya mamasita....oh you too Pops.

Smarty pants...

These were Robin's excuses for why he was unable to do school today:

• "I have to stretch before I read,"  so he did....for ten minutes.
• "I have to finish licking my knee."
• "But my eyelashes are burning!"
• "Hungry."
• "Too many boogers mom, I can't concentrate."
• "But I only got to play for two hours!!"
• "I can't see anything when my eyes are rolled back in my head."
• "My fingers are too busy shooting lasers out of them."
• "I'm smarter than a cowboy jumping off a hill, why do I have to do this?!"

Homeschooling is so easy anyone can do it!  And the kids never complain and they always sit still and answer with "yes mom," "thank you, mom,"  and my personal favorite, "please mom, can you teach me some more?"

Are you swimming in the sarcasm?  'Cause I'm literally scooping it up in giant handfulls and heaving it at your head.

I really am glad we made this decision for our family....but I'm wiped....and my sarcasm levels are dangerously low.

H :)

All you need is love...

Listening to the kids run around upstairs this morning.

Jumping, giggling, ka-powing, toilet flushing loveliness....until the inevitable....crying and then blaming.

Katie's threatening to come downstairs and tell me what's happened, Robin's frantically apologizing.

I hear Katie's footsteps down the stairs....and half way down, the footsteps stop.  Robin's upset with her, saying she blames him for everything.  He's preventing her from coming down the stairs to talk to me.  He's overreacting and she can't even get a word out of her mouth without an interruption from him.

I decide it's time for me to stop making breakfast and get involved in the altercation.

I stand at the bottom of the stairs, looking at them.  They are eyeball to eyeball, no one is standing down.  Robin breaks eye contact first and looks at me.  "Mom, she blames me for everything!  Is everything my fault?!"

I say, "Yes, Robin.  Absolutely everything is your fault.  Get used to it."

He plops down on the stairs, crosses his arms and pouts, definitely not in the mood for my teasing.  Meanwhile Katie has walked down the stairs and is standing behind me, peaking up the stairs at Robin.  

I ask Robin for the story...I still don't know what happened....something about forgetting to flush the toilet....I'm trying to sort it out.  Robin's just getting more frustrated and flustered and aware of where he's wrong but still has no desire to admit or own any of his part in this whole thing.

His arms are waving around, he's loud and angry....and then Katie decides to walk back up the stairs.   

She plops on the step next to him.

He's still mad, pointing out where she's wrong and he isn't...and she scoots closer to him.

The more flustered he gets the closer she gets to him....one little cheek shuffle at a time.

Finally, she's right next to him, practically in his lap....he finally notices what she's doing and leans away, still irritated with her....and she gets closer to one flailing arm and plants a kiss on his shoulder.

"I love you Robin."

He immediately stops....looks at her and starts to laugh.....the anger gone, then they run up the stairs together and the giggling, ka-powing, super-heroing starts up again.

Jesus talked about loving your enemy. He said, "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you." 

Katie showed Jesus to her brother today.  But what I love even more was Robin's heart in the whole ordeal.  He knew love and he accepted it....and I couldn't be more proud.

H :)

Bracketology....

So....it's March Madness time.

For the past ten years we've done the whole bracket thing with a group of friends.  Some of our friends now have kids that are participating in the bracket....which is kinda weird, but I'm still not afraid to trash talk with a nine year old, that's how thick skin is developed, right?

Anyway, I usually do okay most years.  I really only care about beating my husband....I could come in 2nd to last place as long as his name is right below mine.  I'm not competitive or anything, I just really have to beat him!

So, this year I pulled my usual trick, while Sean is paying attention for weeks before the tournament, reading articles, following ESPN, ESPN 2, ESPN HD, ESPN 85....and then diligently following selection Sunday and weighing out all of the scenarios teams are playing under, I could care less.  In fact, the soothing sounds of the jibber jabber on selection Sunday tend to lull me into a delicious slumber.

I wake up from my nap, refreshed, hungry, and awaiting the e-mail from my husband where I get to make my picks....which historically has consisted of random upsets, picking teams because I like their mascots or not picking teams because they rejected me when I was submitting college applications (yeah, Washington...I'm talkin' to you!).

This year though I'm a little worried about my selections and my reputation....my husband is quite a few points ahead of me and has made some rather smart choices, once I actually started paying attention.

Oh well, I guess I could let him win just this once....and I won't be bitter about it...I swear!  Hey check me out....I'm maturing.

H :)

Some days you gotta dance...

Playing brokety-broke ball for too many weeks lately.  Not so much on the side of really fun things I like to do.

So, we've been getting creative around here.

For instance instead of going to the bounce house place...the kids get to jump up and down in the living room....whenever they want.

Instead of going to the movies, we watch one of the 75 million cable channels and I talk the kids out of every toy and cleaning product they see advertised.  Apparently we have dirty showers and they are quite concerned about this fact and Kaboom would be great to get because there's no scrubbing!

It's Thursday, so I decided to submit an application for a reality show....I'm sure nothing will come of it, and I wasted a whole five minutes of my day....but it was break time for school and the kidlets where occupied upstairs so I figured why not?

Kids have been bored out of their gourd with all of the lovely rain we've had, so we've spent lots of time encouraging our imaginations.  The kids played with Auntie Sarg and Uncle J Wadd the other night.  Katie put on a sailor hat and pulled out a globe and a magic blanket that would transport them anywhere....but of course Auntie Sarg had to paddle and I think J Wadd was steering the blanket....I don't know, I was off playing guitar with my pops.  Anyway, from what I could hear they spent time in Canada looking for silverware and then they moved onto Iraq...just to look around.  Katie has a very curious finger and she tends to pick spots on the globe that are colored in pinks and purples....so look out Uzbekistan....you might be next.

And we dance a lot.  Katie and I prefer to dance while doing the dishes....Robin prefers to dance while he should be writing in his journal.  I can take away all distractions to get him to get his work done....but I can't take away his love of the dance.....unless I introduce electric shock therapy...but I'm afraid I might end up too trigger happy with that one.

So, in summary...broke sucks, jumping, TV, amazing scrubbing bubbles, Thursday, Uzbekistan and some days you gotta dance.

And that concludes my blogging experimenting for today.

H :)

Me and that dude I married...

My husband is super dooper great.

Really, he is.

I've only been married to him....really only dated him, frankly.  But, I think as far as husbands go, there's not much better than him.

- He cleans the bathrooms.
- He cleans out the car....even the nasty french fry seat.
- He gives me his Christmas money so I can go buy a guitar...and all the cool guitar stuff to go with the new guitar...like picks and straps and stuff.
- He makes good coffee.
- He totally pays attention to me and takes the kiddos when I have that "I know why some animals eat their young" look on my face.
- He watches ridiculous girl movies with me.
- He eats my cooking and puts up with my snoring. (yeah, how hot am I sounding right about now?...)
- He listens when I tell him to bring home chocolate or don't come home at all.
- He makes a big deal about my birthday.
- He plans trips for us....especially the good "just the two of us" kind.
- He lets me blog about him....well, this will be published for the whole world to see before he reads it, but he'll get over it.
- He usually smells good.
- He plays rock, paper, scissors with me to see which one of us has to attend to a child crying out for help in the bathroom....and he's okay with losing a lot.
- He'll paint little girl toes.
- Did I mention my snoring?  ...I feel it needs to go down twice.
- He usually gets up if the kids need something at night, since I can't hear anything in my coma-induced state of snoring hibernation station each night.
- He talks me out of crazy ideas.
- He thinks I'm cute.

But he isn't perfect....in fact some of the time I'm ever so slightly annoyed with him.  The Type A thing he has going on can get to me and my slobbish ways from time to time.

'Cause sometimes I just want to be me and not take a shower until 2 in the afternoon and stand in the kitchen and eat cake right out of the pan.

Sometimes I want to smother myself in blankets on the couch in my favorite hoodie, with my iPod and my bible and check out for an hour or two, and be totally selfish and when it's time for dinner I just ask what kind of cereal everyone wants.

Sometimes I need people to understand the laundry isn't done for a perfectly good reason....like I just didn't feel like it.

His perfectly nice and organized ways interfere with my spontaneous laziness.

He doesn't appreciate Marx Brothers movies and has never watched Pride and Prejudice the whole way through with me (one of these days he might make it through the opening credits).
 
He has a strange and organized style of eating Oreo's (and it doesn't involve milk!) and he loves Spaghetti O's....which I insist he eat when I am out of state.  Yeah, so he's not perfect all the time....so really I think I deserve some kuddos tolerating him and his foreign ways. (So, kuddos away people...and don't hold back!)

When I told Sean I was blogging about him, he started so say, "I have a feeling it's going to be filled with....(and he paused just long enough for Robin to spew out and finish the sentence for him) "blood, poop, vomit, teeth, boogers, fingernails!"   Yeah, he's learning that the kids and their sarcastic ways are greatly influenced by me, but he puts up with us anyway, he's a good boy.

Love you babe,
H :)

Things I learn from Katie Lou...

Katie is my precious and very proud four-year-old.

She is adorable and stubborn and sweet as pie.  She is extravagant and a tomboy in a Cinderalla dress and cowboy boots.  She is also wise beyond her years, and teaches me things on a daily basis:

• Your imagination can create anything....from a wedding cake, to a blizzard, to horses in the living room and swimming on the kitchen floor.
• A smile never hurts....neither do dimples.
• Howler monkeys are cool.
• Every outfit should be topped off with pink cowboy boots.
• Each day should begin with a hug for the dog.
• Mandarin oranges are yummy.
• Love your BFF.
• Give people Gold Stars just because.
• Go shopping and only consider the needs of others.
• Laugh when you toot.
• Cry when it hurts.
• Burp when necessary.
• Smile with above mentioned dimples so people don't care about all of the burping, crying and farting.
• Always have your Dora suitcase packed in case an adventure should suddenly arise.
• Your purse should include a good book, a stuffed animal for company and chapstick, and mabye spare panties...
• Everyone loves a tu-tu.
• Love without limits.
• Sing "Twinkie Twinkie Little Star" every night until you fall asleep...keeps the bad dreams away.
• Eskimo kisses are good, even if they are a little snotty.
• Love your brother, even when he's being "shelfish"
• Ask for ice cream every morning for breakfast...one day you might get it.
• Love your daddy.
• Refer to the Lord as "My Jesus."
• Drop anything for chocolate.
• And...accesorize, accesorize, accesorize!  Fedora, boa, bracelets, tights....all of the above.

I love my Katie-Lou. :)

It was the best of times it was the brokest of times...

So, this week kinda stunk a little bit.

We overdrew our account and had to do some juggling financially...not always the most fun to endure.  I think the worst moment was when we realized we ran out of coffee and couldn't afford to get anymore until payday....you know it's bad when you can't even buy coffee!

So, this week we stayed pretty close to the homestead and made due with what we had.  

We ran out of dog food mid-week, which the dog didn't really mind since we just made him rice and eggs and toast and he got lots of leftovers...I think he was kinda bummed when Sean walked in the door with the bag of food under his arm.

However, this is an upside to this whole story.  We ran out of coffee and I let a couple of friends know and received three containers of freshly ground coffee from three different individuals, on the same morning...all just willing to do whatever they could to help.  And then today, we were hoping a check would go into our account and it didn't...but, my husband was peaking through some stuff for our taxes and at the bottom of a document was a check for $80.63 that was sent to us months ago.  Six months ago to be exact...to the day.  And the check was to be voided after 6 months.  You can't tell me we don't have a God who looks after us (even when we're boneheads with our money) when a check is provided on the day before it's to be voided.  Dang He is a good daddy!

So, that was the blessing today...financially.  This week we were also blessed with wonderful attitudes from our children.  People so willing to help and love us it was ever so slightly overwhelming.  We were released from leading one of our groups and Robin learned how to use Facebook (I'm not quite sure if it's a blessing yet, but so far it's kinda fun).

School was fulfilling this week.  Robin learned how to read clocks.  He's memorized a poem about a catepillar by Christina G. Rosetti.  He knows the difference between common nouns and proper nouns.  He learned about how his diaphragm works and where his spleen is located and he learned about DNA....my head hurt after this week.  The kiddos spent most afternoons working out with their daddy, and Robin could express to me that when he's breathing hard his diaphragm hurts.  Pretty cool stuff.  Oh, and he learned he really liked to dance to a song about cows called "Udder Chaos."

It's now Friday night and we're still hanging out on the broke side of life so we went to church, got lots of hugs and laughs and then headed to the grocery store to stock up on a couple of necessities.  Each kid picked a cart and Sean and I spent a decent amount of time racing each other through the grocery store.  The kids had a great time and they have no idea we're broke...or actually they know cash is tight, but we've been provided for and we can still enjoy each other's company.

I told Sean multiple times this week, "I'd rather be broke with you, than rich with anybody else."  Tonight he smiled at me and said, "Well, you got your wish!" 

H :)

Little moments of genius...

It's been a whole week since I've blogged!

So, brief catch up from last week...

• Monday was crazy...see Monday's blog.
• Tuesday my mom had surgery, got rid of a pesky gall bladder.
• Wednesday we went to the library and attempted to catch up on school.
• Thursday....I have no memory of Thursday...maybe it didn't happen...
• Friday, we had two ministry meetings and church and we did science stuff somewhere in the middle.
• And the Packers won this weekend!  That's the only thing that matters!!

Which brings us to today.

We got through all of the curriculum...we had a field trip to get my hair cut and they learned all about spinning chairs and how to sweep up hair.

We had a discussion at lunch time about the difference between Jello, jelly and gel (as in hair gel)...really important to clear that up today....it was decided that a peanut butter and gel sammich wouldn't taste very good.

And finally, I had a moment of genius.  Robin and I read a couple of books and then Katie asked for her favorite book, "Olivia."

Katie has memorized "Olivia."  There are lots of words in the book that Robin can't pronounce.  When you put the two of them together, Katie fills in for the words Robin doesn't know...and I just get to sit and watch!

And there you have it....my moment of genius! :)

H :)

Monday, monday...

This is now the third Monday of our homeschool adventure for the Wrestlin' Rhino's School for Misfits, and so far they are getting progressively worse.

Last Monday, I found it quite challenging to get Robin to stay focused...

Today, I found it quite challenging to get him to stay seated...

He wanted to play football after lunch, I said, "No, let's do some history and math and then you can play football."

"But I'm tired of school today mom...I already know enough!  I even know what 100 plus 100 is."

I said, "Okay, what is 100 plus 100?"  He said, "One hundred and two."

I said, "Yeah, let's get back to work."

Later we sat down to read and both small ones asked for a piece of chocolate.

Since I'm never one to turn down chocolate I said, "Sure, but you gotta get the little Dove chocolates out of the pantry."

They thoroughly enjoy reading and later quoting to me the sayings on the inside of the Dove wrapper.

Today, I read the inside of Robin's candy to him, it said, "Your smile lights up the whole room."

He looked at me with a big smile....with teeth and lips covered in chocolate and said with garbled chocolate breath, "Well, does it?"

I just said, "It sure does buddy..."

H :)

Lessons learned today at the Wrestlin' Rhino's Homeschool for Misfits...

Okay, honestly, I carried a post-it in my pocket and jotted down all the things I would have posted today had I had anytime to get on Facebook.

So, here we go...

• Monday's stink when you start the day off wearing Tuesday socks...

• A shower washes off the morning grumpies...

• You are not allowed to eat breakfast naked...

• Children look funny running naked to put on clothes so they will be allowed to eat breakfast...

• Robin is too distracted if he forgets to put on underwear under his pants...

• John the Baptist is not Grandpa...

• The book of Luke is not about Luke Skywalker...

• According to Robin, "All pencils are special, but only one has my hope in it..."

• It's fun to crawl on the ground and move things with your head...

• Mom gets really mad when you throw pencils...

• Per Katie, "Mom, I will control Rock, Paper, Scissors....so, you be scissors and I'll be rock, okay?"

• The kids new names are "Don't Robin!" and "Katie Knock it Off!"

• "Poop first, talk later..."

• Even if you spill 7-Up on your spelling list...you still have to finish it.

And that was Monday...

H :)

Day three and four of homeschool....the Wrestlin' Rhino's

Robin has decided our school name is the Wrestlin' Rhino's.

We will now be referred to as such....until next week when we're the ducks, or the cows, or chickens, or giant panda's....or whatever else we read about.

Day three was a little chaotic.

Friends were here for most of the day.  They are also homeschooled...so I had one first grader, two kindergardner's and one pre-pre-schooler....whew...that's a mouthful.

Anyway, we did bible together, Katie held her hand over her mouth for most of it since she couldn't seem to stop yapping.

We attempted some math and handwriting....and trying to keep everyone occupied was hurting my brain so I gave up and we resorted to art time.

They each got a magazine, scissors, glue stick and blank paper and they could cut and paste away to their little hearts content....and they did.

They spent two hours giggling, cutting, and sticking crazy pictures together....it was great and I laughed hysterically.  I don't know what we learned, but since they cut up ESPN magazine they are now very familiar with the Gatorade logo.

Then we played ukulele, guitar, the drums and had a dance party with Aretha Franklin...

And that concludes Wednesday.

Thursday was Thursday...

Multiple interruptions, meetings, phone calls and no one listening.

At one point in the afternoon I'd told Robin to quit throwing his pencil and Katie to pick up her paper scraps so many times I started keeping track on the abacus....and neither one was listening.

So, Robin had to stand with his nose on the wall and his hands behind his back until Katie finished picking up her stuff...it was a joint discipline...my favorite kind.  Who doesn't love a good double-whammy?

The afternoon was spent finishing up math problems and reading....and featured Robin eventually performing Dr. Seuss in a French accent...

We learned it takes Robin about 14 tries before he can properly announce the word "bureau".

and...

Katie REALLY likes cutting up paper.

That concludes Thursday and the Wrestlin' Rhino's school of misfits....Katie's working on the school cheer.

Later tater...H :)

Day two of our homeschool adventure...

Overslept again....that's going to be a nasty habit for me to break....but I woke well rested and ready to go today.

Read 1 Corinthians 13 again, we'll probably do that every morning this week over breakfast and chocolate milk. 

Today he wrote in his journal about patience, since love is patient.  His picture was of himself waiting patiently for his turn to talk to me while Katie finished what she was saying.  He understands how that is showing love to his sister and to me.

He wrote a letter to his daddy.  This was the entire letter: "Dear dad, tell the pilot to be in Alcatraz or Transylvania.  Love, Robin"  I'm thinking that's code for something.....like, the dog barks at midnight....

The roads were icky and we were running low on time, so we looked at art around the house instead of a trip to the library.  We chose a picture of sunflowers and roses my grandmother had painted several years ago. 

We talked about color and light and shadows and then he drew his own picture, complete with shadows.

We spent time in my old anatomy book from college. 

We used Katie as our model to understand where the clavicle, humerus and scapula were located. 

We also checked out her spine and looked at cool pictures of cadavers. 

He ate that up. 

We talked about x-rays and muscles and the joints of the hand and ankle and how his body is put together.  And then he drew a picture of the muscular system. 

Math kicked my butt...

Katie and I played dominoes... and then I watched her neatly set up and then destroy piles of blocks. 

I watched how Robin tapped his pencils to count and drum out solutions to his math problems. 

Sean took the kids sledding, P.E. points there.

I called my grandmother and told her about her painting we had used for our "art class"....she loved it.

We had lunch.

We danced.

I untangled fairy wings from a skill saw...

We put meatballs in the crockpot for dinner.  We worked on handwriting.

And the day flew by.....can't wait until tomorrow.

H :)

First day of homeschool...

I woke up a little late so I hustled upstairs and freaked out Robin.  I said, "Robin, hurry, you are gonna be late for school!"  It took him a few seconds to catch on.

We had breakfast together and did a bible study on 1Cor. 13, we talked about what love is, and what love isn't. 

He drew pictures and and wrote sentences. 

He did a spelling list.

We had recess....and it involved Star Wars battles and poptarts...

We worked on his handwriting....he perfected his letter "e" (which we'd been struggling with for a while at school) and I realized half the problem was that he held his pencil the wrong way.

Threatened to tape his fingers to the pencil in the correct place.

Robin taught Katie the Ten Commandments....and he learned how to spell commandments.

I'm waiting for my curriculum so we worked on some math worksheets, he did problems on the whiteboard, we played with flashcards, and made patterns with blocks.

We had a Lego fight....Robin won.

We ate lunch...hot dogs, cheezits and chocolate milk.

We played PIG with the nerf basketball and hoop...I won....neener-neener.

We sat and he read me two books, it took him 45 minutes and that's the longest he's EVER sat and read to me....it was amazing!

We played guitar....or at least I did, they listened.

Currently working on what we'll do tomorrow.  I still didn't get everything done I had planned on accomplishing today, but I've heard such is the life of the homeschool mom....you can pretty much say that everyday. 

Tomorrow we'll do more handwriting and math and reading and maybe we'll look at how bones are constructed or check out rhinoceros' (maybe I'll learn how to spell rhinoceros')  And check out an art book. 

I managed to still finish up two loads of laundry, make dinner, put away clothes, get beds made, a few good talks with Sean and play in the Olivia House with Katie. 

There's a peace in the house today....it's that peace that comes when you finally just buck up and do what God has asked you to do....even if it's hard and requires more than you thought you had in you, more than you thought even He had in you.....and it's totally worth it.

H :)