There are days when I'm reminded why we stopped at two kids...

I love my kids....that's been established, right?

I adore them, they make me laugh, they challenge me in ways I never thought possible.  I used to think I was a patient person before I had kids....I almost prided myself on my ability to be patient and keep my cool under any circumstance....yeah, I can almost hear God chuckling right now....knowing His master plan in giving me my darling little bundles.

I'm not really sure at what point we made the decision to halt the production of Yount offspring....but today is one of those days I'm glad there are only two little buggers galloping, jumping, sliding, scooting, racing, climbing and shouting under my feet.

- God sent the animals two by two on the ark....I think that was the idea for my little animals too. 

- Drumsets come with two drumsticks....so do chickens....

- They can only gang up on each other.

- Two little faces fit perfectly in the mirror when it's time to brush teeth.

- We have two toilets on the main floor....no one ever wants to be the one to run upstairs and they ALWAYS have to go at the same time....it's like a synchronized urination station...

- The middle seat in the van fits two booster seats...

- Two parents...two hands, two feet, two sets of eyes, two sets of ears (the better to hear the shouting with)

- He burps....she farts....both ends are covered....

- And my greatest reason for sticking with two kids I remembered tonight....the mixer only comes with two beaters....

H :)

Um, yeah...homeschooling.

I took Robin to school on a Monday for the last time today (at least for the next few months). 

This is going to be a challenge.

We've decided to start homeschooling in January, the 3rd to be exact.  Robin is a great kid.  He has too much energy and too much imagination and he lacks listening skills and grumbles when I ask him to brush his teeth....but he's an amazing kid. 

His enthusiasm is inspiring, his ideas are creative and keep me laughing, he is always absorbing what I do (not necessarily what I say) and he grumbles about brushing his teeth....but will rush up the stairs to protect his sister from the imaginary creature she is terrified is waiting behind her bedroom door. 

He has a heart of gold, that is being molded, shaped, wounded and pruned.  Jesus asks us to come to him like a little child, and I know He gave me Robin especially for me to see and know what that looks like...(wipe eyes....keep writing)

Robin is too smart for his own good.  Two days ago he was literally bouncing off the walls, furniture, doors, stairs....and the living room was taking a particularly bad beating.  I asked him twice to settle down and at least stop hopping around on the furniture.  Then he flopped on the arm of the couch and fell and rolled and bounced off the cushion.  So, that was it.  He lost furniture privileges.  These are the days when he gets to be a ground dweller.  Anytime he wants to sit or lie down he does not get to use furniture at all....I even make him sleep on the ground.  I have only used this punishment one other time about a year ago....it's worked pretty well so far.

I walk into the kitchen and find him laying (quite comfortably) across the kitchen counter, head resting on the bar, watching TV...technically he's not on the furniture, so I guess he's safe....for now.

This is how his mind works.  He will be with me all day.  I think I may be in for some trouble.

So many factors have gone into our choice to homeschool.  I'm not really up for defending them at the moment, I'm noticing it's a pretty hot topic of conversation.  But I do want people to know how genuinely excited both Robin and I are for this new adventure.  He's counting down the days.  He will miss school and a few friends, and we've enjoyed his teacher-we just know that this move is right for him.

I think I'm more worried about my abilities to teach him....I once argued with Sean that New England was a state, not New Jersey.  I can't have anyone talking to me if I have to add more than 4 numbers in my head, and I usually have to sing the ABC song whenever I'm trying to alphabetize anything.

This week I get the wonderful privilege to pick the brains of many of my girlfriends who homeschool...I get to read from piles of books they have loaned me...and I get to decide what program will work best for our situation.  And I get to think about what on earth I will actually do on that Monday morning when my sweet little energetic, crazy, imaginative, goofy six year old boy is sitting across the kitchen table from me.

Eeek!  I'm so excited!  I get to be a nerd with my kid....maybe he'll even learn to play the ukulele 8-)

H :)

So, I gotta get this down...because I have a life too you know...

Sean and I are busy early tomorrow morning helping to facilitate a marriage seminar at one of our church branches in Spokane.

We decided to have the kids crash at Grandma's tonight mostly because we have to leave the house at 6:45 in the morning...

So, tonight is one of our date nights and since I spend most of my time documenting stuff the kids do and I rarely write down stuff Sean and I do together, I thought I'd take a note.

We dropped off the kids at grandma's after the itty bitty's were stuffed with happy meals and content for at least a few seconds with the new cruddy McDonald's toy.  Sean and I each had a quick burger and then headed off to church, where Jesus, courtesty of the Holy Spirit proceeded to kick my ever-lovin' tookus on trusting Him.  Yeah....talked about it this morning in small group and then tonight at church....I'm a little dense but usually that means he would like me to learn a lesson in all that.  I think I'll sit up and listen now.

So, thoroughly raked over from church we had planned to meet up with my sister for some birthday dessert, but apparently when she turned 23 she can't stay up past 7:30, and bailed on us....(it's okay, still love ya bunches Sara-lama-ding-dong, but couldn't help but get a smidge of a jab in there). 

Sean and I headed over to our favorite date night retreat....Walmart.  We thought we'd walk up and down the aisles and see what sounded good to eat, plus check out the Redbox selection and you just might spot something entertaining at the Walmart. 

Tonight I'm thinking we might have been entertainment for others though.  I was walking around with Ben and Jerry's in one hand trying to find snow pants for the kids when I lost my husband.  So, I decided to hang out in the "unmentionables" area because generally I'll find my hubby somewhere around there eventually...
No snow pants were found but I did find my husband, with a carton of Chunky Monkey something or other under one arm and a can of Spaghetti O's (ugh, I think I just gagged a little just thinking about it) under the other.  We decided to keep wandering and Sean thought Walmart would be a good place to work on perfecting his Justin Bieber hair toss impersonation....so I'm laughing hysterically with melting ice cream, at my pop icon wannabe husband, in the underwear aisle at Walmart on a Friday night.....yep, that sounds about right for most of our date nights.

The mechanical bull wasn't taking quarters tonight....so in the end we just headed home to bury ourselves in blankets and drown in some java chip mochachino (I don't even know what I bought anymore) ice cream where no cartoons are allowed and we can just lay low like vegetables.

Yeah, typical date night...and it's good stuff.

H :)

Robin and Katie make a decision...

 

Here's the situation last night:

The kids would like to watch a movie.

They are allowed to watch a movie, provided they can agree on the movie.  They decide to play Rock, Paper, Scissors in order to determine what they should watch, since Robin wants Scooby Doo and Katie would like some Dora Explores something movie. 

Katie now has to go potty in the middle of all of this.

She decides to go into the bathroom and shuts the door (which is notable because she NEVER shuts the door).

So, Katie's on the pot and Robin's on the other side of the door.  Robin still demands they should play Rock, Paper, Scissors, because he's impatient and wants this whole thing worked out and obviously can't wait 30 seconds for her to be done (hmmmm....wonder where he gets that trait from?)

Robin is shouting through the door, "Okay, Katie!  Ready?!"

Katie answers, "Yeah!"

Robin starts pounding his fist, "Rock, Paper, Scissors! Okay, Katie I got rock, what did you get?"
Katie yells back through the door, "Um....I got scissors..."

"Okay, Katie best two out of three...rock, paper, scissors!  I got paper, Katie, what did you get?"

"Um...Robin I got rock..."

"Sorry Katie, you lost fair and square, so we're watching Scooby Doo."

Katie mumbles through the door,"I always lose rock, paper, scissors."

Now I'm not even sure she knows the rules...poor kiddo.

So, it's been a long day...

It's been a long day.  Up early, not good sleep last night because of hacking and coughing children and I think someone had a nightmare interruption somewhere....I don't know, I tried to sleep through most of it.....

Sick hubby today, whiney squirts running around and I'm trying to update databases and e-mail addresses in order to get accurate communication out for our church community.

End of the night my eyes feel about crossed (I don't know how people look at a computer screen all day), kids are finally in bed.  Husband is medicated and headed off to hopefully a restful la-la land, when I hear "mom" come from one of the offspring upstairs. 

I was just picking up my guitar too, to work thru some stuff and finally get some time to untie my brain in a quiet living room, so I probably didn't answer with the kindest and most gracious "yes, sweet son of mine" back up the stairs...but somehow he knew I was responding to his call.

He said, "What's on the schedule tomorrow?"

In the back of my brain I'm thinking...."wow, that was a great way to ask that question, and he even used the word 'schedule'...dang!" 

And since I know the next couple of days are going to be crazy with Sean and I at a marriage conference and the kids will be shuffled between grandparents over the next couple of days; I spend a good minute or two explaining to Robin exactly where he goes right after school tomorrow, the activities and plans for tomorrow night, Saturday morning, mid-day, the switchoff to the other grandparents, their activities at Nana's house and then I tell him we'll pick them up Sunday afternoon.  I'm feeling pretty proud of myself for putting this all together in my head and communicating to him precisely what will happen with the "schedule".

He's quiet upstairs for a second and finally goes, "No, mom, what's on the schedule for lunch tomorrow at school?"

"Oh, chili dogs....'night buddy."

"Night mom"

Like I said, it's been a long day....

H :)

Robin Spencer...

Tonight in the car we're all driving along and giving my husband the worst time about his driving. 

In all fairness he did earn it.  He's texting while driving on a dark, windy, rainy night with a car full of loud kids....he was asking for it.

Katie and I (a little heavier on the "I" part) are teasing Sean about his inability to get some of the most basic places in town.  Places we have driven to hundreds of times, but because he's distracted he's making wrong turns and driving right past roads he should turn on.

Robin's in the back seat fully defending his daddy.  He's asking Katie and I to stop laughing and teasing daddy.  Robin starts to get frustrated with us, saying things like, "I can't believe you're saying these things, dad's a good driver!"  Sadly, all of this is completely out of character for my young one.  Normally he's the quickest to jump on the "make fun of daddy" bandwagon.

Finally, I turn around and tease Robin and say, "Oh, buddy, it's so sweet of you to defend your dad....you want good presents for Christmas don't you?"

He looks at me sideways and says, "Um, Yeah!"

Dang, that boy of mine is smarter than I give him credit for.

This picture is Robin as his classic favorite superhero....Nacho Libre.....

Words of Wisdom from Rob-O...

Katie and Robin were having a discussion.

It was movie night and they can only pick a movie we all agree to....that's the rule.  Katie wanted to watch a girlie movie and Robin of course wanted to watch something more masculine....blow stuff up....karate-chop....monster....bad-guy....super-hero.....you get the picture.

So Robin's sitting at the table talking Katie into a specific Scooby Doo movie.  He's telling her all about all the girl parts in some Scooby Doo vs. the Goblin King thing he wanted to watch.  You can see Katie's skeptical....so Robin's pouring it on thick.  He talks all about the scenes with Daphne in the movie and how much Katie likes Daphne. 

Sean looks at Robin and says, "Robin, are you trying to manipulate your sister?"

Robin looks right back at his daddy and says, "But, dad, it's the only way!"..... (he wisely left out the phrase "to get what I want" at the end)

He's figuring this stuff out....

H :)