She's listening...a little too well.

Today in the car I was cut off and almost hit for like the third time in one day. I said out loud that people are driving crazy today. Alyssa said, "Then why don't you drive crazy too?" I told her that two wrongs don't make a right and then she asked what that means. I went on to explain what it meant. Fast forward 2 hours and the boy next door is practicing his trumpet. (We live in a half double.) I hear him often and it almost nevers bothers me. He needs to practice after all. Anyway I just learned today that Alyssa is going to have to practice playing a recorder 15 minutes a day. Can you say torture?! So the boy is practicing next door and I say jokingly to Brian, "I'll just let Alyssa practice in here because if I have to hear the trumpet they can hear the recorder."

Of course Alyssa comes in from behind me. She heard every word...of course. She then proceeds to say, "But Mommy I thought you said two wrongs don't make a right." I then tell her I was just kidding and she says, "Oh I know but that was funny."

How is it that she doesn't listen when I say clean your room or leave your brother alone but hears every not so great thing that comes out of my mouth?

The sounds from the backseat

So today in the car Alyssa and Carter were playing with a moose from Build a Bear. They were pretending the moose was a baby and they were the mom and dad. Everytime it was "daddy's" turn to hold the baby it would pee and would need a diaper change. So he would hand the baby back to "mommy" and she would change her. Eventually "mommy" got tired of letting the baby go to "daddy" because it would dirty it's diaper. So the last time I said from the front,
"I think it's the daddy's turn to change the diaper." Daddy changed very willingly. This whole conversation was beyond funny. What really got me was when Carter said he thinks the baby needs a brother and that when they got home they would get Alvin. Alvin happens to be the chipmunk he made at Build a Bear a while back. Then Carter added, "He's a good man." What? Where did he hear that one from?

These kids are so entertaining!

Mommy is starting to have the blues.

Last night I was having troubles sleeping. I kept thinking about Carter going to Kindergarten. This year Milton Union is going to all day everyday Kindergarten. So here are some of the thoughts going through my head.

He's too little to ride a big school bus. I pray he doesn't get lost in the sea of kids and get turned around and then not be able to find his class. I pray his older sister is nice and shows him to class. Oh my he has to walk through the Junior High hallway to go to lunch, I pray he doesn't get knocked over by a middle schooler not paying attention. What if he cries? When he went to Preschool at CLC I could go check on him. I can't do that when he goes to Kindergarten. Will he be shy or will he open up in class to his teachers and classmates? How will he reach that hook to put his backpack up in his locker, it seems too high. Will he find his bus to get home? How will he get up in the bus because those are big steps?! Will he go to bed in time to get enough sleep? Can he make it through a whole day, 5 days a week.

Okay so this is running through my head and I know most of the answers already. He has to wear a tag the first couple of weeks with his name, address, bus number and teacher name. There are people helping the Kindergarteners get to the bus and to class. They even dismiss them before all other students so they can get on the buses first. I know Alyssa will be nice to him. I know his teacher will help him if he cries and over all I know he will be just fine. I mean you would think I would not be doubting so much since Alyssa has already been through this stuff. My mother reminded me that I was anxious when Alyssa first went to school too. I just don't remember it being this tough. He is my baby though. I mean how can my baby be old enough for Kindergarten? Really!

Then we have Alyssa going into 4th grade. I didn't think it was such a big deal until we went to Open House tonight. All the 4th and 5th graders have classes upstairs and I have never been upstairs before tonight. We went up there and it looked more like a middle school than an elementary. The expectations are higher and they get half of their subjects with one teacher and the other half with another. They are preparing them for middle school is what the teacher told me. WAIT! What did she say? I cannot possibly have a daughter old enough to need to prepare for middle school! Where has the time gone? I was just in school not that long ago. This just can't be happening!

I have been told time and time again that my children will be grown in the blink of an eye, mostly by my Granny. I believed her everytime.

It was a week...

So I realized it has been over a week since I had blogged and I started this thing to have a record of what goes on in my life. I figured it was time to update especially since the person who told me I should journal my life has been on my mind a whole bunch this week.

Last weekend had the really good and the really bad. Last Saturday morning my Granny went to be with the Lord. She lived to be 90! How amazing! That was the really bad (at least for me because it was good for her.) The really good was seeing the preschoolers sing at church. I love my job and I love all 100 plus preschoolers I work with. Of course many of them had that deer in the headlight look being up on the platform with the bright lights and hundreds of people watching but it doesn't matter if they sang or did the motions to the song. See they are preschoolers so they can just stand there and they are as cute as can be.

Monday was the viewing so more sadness. Alyssa had a rough time and of course Carter didn't really get it. Carter was very matter of fact about the whole thing. He said things like, "Granny is in heaven with Jesus" and "When is she coming back from heaven?" Alyssa cried a bunch and was quite sad but what a blessing too. I mean how many people have great great grandchildren at their funeral grieving them because they loved them so much!

Tuesday was just awful! I took Carter to the doctor because he had been coughing pretty badly for the past day and a half. I would normally wait it out a bit but I felt an undeniable nudge to take him (that would be God nudging.) Anyway it turned out to be pneumonia but we caught it early. Then there was the funeral which was more sadness on a whole different level then I have experienced before. We then came home to get more bad news from friends and then news that Brian's grandfather is not doing well at all.

The week had to get better from there! Thursday Carter had soccer practice and praise the Lord he didn't cough once during practice. In fact he is doing so much better in such a short amount of time! Thank you God for answering that prayer quickly! Friday was time with my family from out of state and it was nice to just hang out and not cry for once that week.

That is the bulk of the week in a nutshell. Now onto the next...

Alyssa the Philosopher

Last night on the way home from church Alyssa was just full of questions and comments. This is a usual thing for a Wednesday night and I believe this is due to the fact that I am usually extremely tired from a long work day. Anyway Alyssa first asked me if God was a boy or a girl. She thinks he is a boy because we call Him Father. I explained that God is just God, not male or female and backed it up with some scripture. She seemed to accept my answer but then said, "But Jesus is a boy."

The girl loves to ask though provoking questions when I am at my most tired. So then came the next statement. It went something like this...

Mom I don't believe this but what if God isn't real? That would mean nothing is real because God made everything but nothing is something.

WHAT?! How am I suppose to respond to that? So I said, "Alyssa, I don't even know how to respond to that. Have you been taking philosophy classes at summer camp?" "No mom. What is philosophy class?" "Don't worry about it Alyssa."

Then it was blissfully silent. No more questions...for now.

Sick

Nobody likes being sick but I will take a cold any single day of the year over having a stomach bug. Getting a stomach flu seems to be becoming a every summer occurance for me and I do get flu shots. I always chalk it up to occupational hazard and as hard as this is to believe, I will take getting a stomach flu once a year rather then give up my job. God has given a burden for caring for preschoolers no matter how many germs they may pass on to me.

Anyway back to the real reason for this entry...

Brian has not been feeling well either but for a different reason. He has been very dizzy all week which makes it quite hard to do his job. He went to the doctor yesterday and she has him do all these things and kind of makes a lot of "huh?" noises then and goes and gets the other doctor in the practice. She comes in and does the same things and makes a lot of "huh?" noises. Not exactly what you want to hear. So they take some blood and tell him to call them by 10am tomorrow if they have not called him. This is great. I can barely move off the couch and my husband has something wrong with him but they have no idea what it is and I can't go to the doctor with him because I can't move off the couch.

This morning comes and the doctor sends him to get a cat scan. Brian is telling me they will finally find the giant tumor he has always tried to convince me he has had. For the entire time I have known Brian, everytime he is sick he says it is because of a tumor. Obviously it is a joke but this time since a cat scan was involved I did not find it very funny. In the end he has enlargement of his membranes from an infection, most likely sinus related. So as of now all he needs is an antibiotic. Praise God!

Now if you think being sick is horrible, which it is, then don't try both parents being sick at the same time. My poor children were making PB&J and cereal for every meal. Thankfully I had cut up a cantelope before I got sick so there was some fruit for them to eat. There was good that came out of both of us being sick at the same time though. It was obvious I was sick but with Brian it wasn't as obvious. If I had been fine I think the kids would have noticed how Brian felt. I also think Alyssa would have been very worried about him because she is old enough to realize people don't just get dizzy all the time. Instead she was more worried about Carter not saying, "Mommy is puking again!" because she cannot stand that word. She says blah blah instead. I guess if I had to get sick to take the attention off of Brian, I would do it again. I mean that is what you do for your children right?

Granny

I have been very blessed in life but I would say the biggest blessing in my life is my family. My great grandmother (I call her Granny) is 91! How many people my age can say their great grandmother is still living? My children have been blessed with a relationship with their great great grandma which I think is also amazing! Another blessing is that I have not really had to see someone I am close with get sick or pass on. Now my Granny is sick and has been for a little while now.

It is heart wrenching for me to see her in a hospital bed, to hear doctors come in and say this and that and leave her when I visit. Last night I couldn't sleep. I lied there praying very little, mostly just being silent. See I know Granny wants to go home. She has been saying for months that she prays for God to take her home every single day. So I pray for no pain and I pray for His will to be done but it seems like such a vague insincere prayer. It doesn't seem to be enough but then last night God, in my silence, reminded me that I can pray for her healing. Praying for healing doesn't mean I am going against her wishes to go home. Healing doesn't always mean a physical healing here on Earth. It really doesn't make it that much easier but I do have some peace.

On the way home from the hospital Carter says from the back seat, "You know if I was super old like Granny and had to stay in the hospital super long, like all day and all night, I would be really sad." He said it with so much compassion for her it brought tears to my eyes. Then wouldn't you know "Temporary Home" came on the radio after that, once again reminding me of the fabulous outcome in the end for all of us if that is what we have choosen. Only God knows if Granny is here for another day, another year or another decade but then again only God knows those things for each of us too.

The Theater

So last night Alyssa and I saw Cinderella at La Comedia with my mom and Christy. Great food, great show and great company! What more could you ask for? Alyssa cracked us all up when she wrapped up two of these little muffins and put them in her purse to take home. I think she was totally fascinated by the production and I know how she feels. To me there is just something about a musical that makes you smile. In fact I think we should break out in song and dance or a regular basis in real life. Actually scratch that...I think others should not myself (I don't have that great of a voice.)

So the actors used the aisle right by our table quite a bit. Everytime one would come in the aisle Alyssa would just stare and whisper, "Look!" The Prince even came around the tables trying on the glass slipper on random people. Afterwards Alyssa asked and received all of their autographs. They were all very gracious and it was a perfect ending to a great night.

Fishing Derby

So bright and early this morning we went to the West Milton Park for a fishing derby. We arrived at 7 am and the place was almost packed already. Brian found a place for the kids and I went and registered them. 7:30 hits and it's time to fish. Alyssa catches one within minutes but it got away just as Brian was pulling it out of the water. She recasts and Carter catches a fish. He got his out of the water and they took it to be measured. His was 14 inches long which was a little guy compared to most of the others. Brian gets Carter recasted and then Alyssa's bobber goes down. I run over to help and we hooked him and started reeling him. Thank goodness Brian came over to help her because this fish was strong! Alyssa and Brian got it reeled in after several minutes. The thing was huge as you can see above. It measured in at 25 1/2 inches long. Too bad they don't go based on weight because I think she would have won first if they did.

Alyssa came in second for the 10 and under category. The first place fish was 1 inch longer and also caught by a girl. She won a new pole and a tackle box that came with accessories. However I think she was more excited by winning a little plastic trophy with 2nd written on it. I am pretty sure she thinks she is a master fisherwoman now and I am also thinking that fish is going to get bigger everytime she retells this story.

Carnival

So tonight the kids and I went to the carnival they have every year in the West Milton Park for the Fourth of July. I wonder why Alyssa likes going to it. She doesn't really like rides. I am pretty sure that her knuckles are probably white as a ghost in the picture above. She wanted to ride the little ferris wheel so badly but that being up in the air stuff is just not for her. Maybe it is the pressure of thinking she is suppose to like them. She did see several friends at the park who were riding about everything. Don't get me wrong; she did have fun. Her favorite was the Funhouse because her feet never left the ground.

Carter liked everything. In fact, the higher the better. He would go on a ride and Alyssa would try to talk him out of it. He wanted to go on the swings but he wasn't tall enough. Which I think was a relief to Alyssa. She was getting scared for him. I went on the Spinning Bears with Carter. Alyssa wouldn't go the first time because she wanted to see how fast they went. So the second time she did go and I think she regretted it. Inside the bear you can make it spin faster if you spin the wheel thingy (that is the closest I can get to what it's real name is). So as soon as the ride started Carter is spinning that thing as fast as he can while Alyssa is saying stop. Of course he didn't stop but Alyssa survived. She held onto my arm like her life depended on it but she made it. All in all we had a great time!

Fish Stories

Carter was such a talkative little boy tonight. We took the kids fishing on the river and here is part of the conversation we had...

Brian: Alyssa you have a bite!
Alyssa: It's only a little one, I want to catch a big one.
Brian: What are you expecting to catch? A whale?
Carter: Alyssa you want to catch a whale! There are whales in here? I don't want to catch a whale, I want to catch a dolphin!
Me: Carter watch your bobber, it's moving.
Carter: Maybe it's a whale.
Me: Maybe it's a dolphin.
Carter: Mommy, there really isn't dolphins in here, just fish.
Me: Like a whale?
Carter: Yeah! They eat lots of water and then blow it out their hole! (giggles)
Alyssa: Whales eat krill!
Carter: Like on Nemo?
Alyssa: Well yeah! Don't you remember the krill saying, "SWIM AWAY!"
Carter: Yeah but I don't think there are whales in here either.
Alyssa: Well duh!

I don't really like fishing. In fact all do is watch them fish but I am sure glad I went along. If I had stayed home I would have missed all the entertainment.

The Young and the Clueless

So lately to occupy herself and Carter when they are in the car, Alyssa has been making up little skits. She calls her show The Young and the Clueless and uses her silly bands as characters. It is hiliarious! You have to hear the drama in her voice to really appreciate it. If I didn't know any better I would say they must be letting them watch soap operas at summer camp.

Todays show went something like this..."On this episode of The Young and the Clueless..."

Penguin: Elephant, I cannot love you.
Elephant: Well why not?
Penguin: I need to live where it is cold so it will never work out.
Elephant: You are right because I need to live where it is warm.
Penguin: What will we do?

"Coming up on the next episode of The Young and the Clueless...What do Penguin and Elephant do?"

Alyssa is so talented and has always had a great imagination. She already uses her talents singing on the worship team on Wednesdays and being a puppet for the puppet dramas for the preschoolers. I can't exactly put into words the excitement I feel for her because I know God has big plans for her (Jeremiah 29:11) and that He is going use her talents for His glory.

On a side note since I am already talking about Alyssa's imagination....

My favorite memory of her at about 3 years old is her imaginary friends. They went everywhere with us. She had quite the entourage. They were in two groups, "The Boys" and "The Girls." In the boys group was Woody, Buzz, Peter (as in Pan), Chuckie (as in Cheese), Chinny and Ninny (those two are kind of random.) Then the girls were TinkerBell, Jesse and all the Disney Princesses. One day I had gotten her strapped in her carseat to go somewhere. As I started driving down the street she starts yelling, "Mommy! You left the boys! Look they are hanging on the side of the car, they want in!" I told her I wasn't pulling over to let the boys in and she got upset. So I told her I would roll the window down and they could jump in. This did the trick. They apparently jumped in because she said, "Good job boys, you made it!"

I never want to forget that memory!

When I Grow Up

Tonight on the way home from church Carter told me that when he grows up he wants to be a baker. He said he would make cake, pancakes and cookies. I told him I thought that would be an awesome job. His response was a "yeap" in that tone of voice that was saying obviously. Then Alyssa piped in. She said that she wants to be a Preschool Coordinator like Mommy. This then prompted Carter to say, "I have changed my mind. Instead of being a baker, I want to work on cars like Daddy."

This conversation reminded me of just what a big influence Brian and I have on them. I know others things and people have an influence on my children but at the end of the day we are at the top of the list.

The kind of dad my husband is...

-He is the the kind of dad that lets his 9 year old daughter still curl up on his lap.
-He is the kind of dad that carries an almost 40 pound boy with working legs up the stairs every night.
-He is the kind of dad that takes his kids fishing again even though the last time they were done fishing after 2 minutes.
-He is the kind of dad who baits all the hooks and removes all the fish caught too.
-He is the kind of dad who will turn the channel when I give him the look knowing I don't want the kids watching it.
-He is the kind of dad who is still wrapped around the finger of a 9 year old even though she is starting to get sassy.
-He is the kind of dad who will listen to Taylor Swift over and over again in the car for Alyssa.
-He is the kind of dad who passed on his love of The Dukes of Hazzard to his kids.
-He is the kind of dad who has instilled just enough fear in his kids that they don't want me to call him for back up.
-He is the kind of dad who always say I love you.
-He is the kind of dad who goes to work everyday even when he is not feeling well to provide for his family.
-He is the kind of dad who puts up with having a cat when he doesn't really like them. (Although I think Peanut has grown on him.)
-He is the kind of dad that will die for one of his kids.

These are just a handful of wonderful things about Brian and the kind of dad he is. Some may think big deal that is like any dad but sadly it is not. Some battle addictions that bring their family down with them. Some are self centered and some just don't have anything to do with their kids.

Happy Father's Day Brian! You deserve a day of rest.

BOYS

After many debates with myself I decided to start blogging. I am not much for journaling and I am hoping that maybe I will be better at blogging. So it here it goes...

Boys are so different. I thought I knew this before becoming a mother to a boy but I was wrong. I am constantly reminded that certain things are just apart of a boys DNA. Making a gun out of anything must be in the boy DNA. Naturally liking bugs...you guessed it, boy DNA. The latest boy DNA thing I have discovered is having a huge appetite. Carter wants to eat constantly! The newest thing he keeps doing is asking me when dinner is at about 8 pm. Every single night it is the same conversation. Me, "Carter we already ate dinner. Remember we ate (fill in the blank)." Carter then says, "No that was second lunch." Seriously! The boy is trying to create a whole new meal just to get more food.

Now I am left wondering how will ever keep enough food in the house when he is a teenager?