Feelin' Pukey

So...I keep experiencing blog worthy things but haven't been feeling all that great for a couple of days and haven't wanted to post. Today has got to be the last day. I'm counting on it. Here are just a few...


Blog worthy thing #1: Travis came home from two weeks worth of travel. It was a very long two weeks. I couldn't type anything to describe how happy we all were that he returned home. Thanks to all who took care of him along the trip.

Blog worthy thing #2: The night before Trav was supposed to come home, things started going down around here. I put a fussy Burke to bed with a fever. I thought it felt warm in the house so I turned the heater down a tiny bit, thinking I was also doing him a favor. My boys kept waking up all night long. Each time I got out of bed I realized it was freezing cold in our house so I stumbled downstairs, in zombie mode with my eyes closed, time after time, to turn the heater up a little bit more.
Finally, it was time to get up at 6:40am with Isaac to get ready for the bus to come. It was still freezing cold. My eyes were finally open far enough to read the thermostat. It was 60 degrees!! I called Travis, who was about to board the airplane. He quickly called our friend Erik, who is kind enough to help us fix everything we can't fix for ourselves. Erik came over a short time later. He turned the breaker for the furnace off and took the furnace apart. He found a bad switch but needed a new part to fix it. He rigged it temporarily to heat the house up while we worked on getting the new part.
He left telling me that if I left the house it would be a good idea to turn the furnace off but to just watch it otherwise. I got in the shower to get ready for the day. Midway through I heard the deafening sound of the smoke detector going off. Instantly I ran out of the shower and downstairs, sopping wet, towel in hand, convinced that the furnace had just blown up and we were about to be burned to death. Charlie and Burke were fine (Theron and Isaac were at school) and I was running through the house in my fancy fancy birthday suit searching for the fire.
As I started down the basement stairs I could see that the air was cloudy. I continued to search for the fire. No luck. I quickly realized that it was very humid in the basement and after a few more seconds of thought decided that the dryer vent had been knocked off the back of the dryer (which was running) and that the cloudy air was from lint and not smoke. I nervously decided there was no fire. The fire alarm stopped screaming at me and things got pretty quiet.
Just as I began making my way upstairs to finish my shower the alarm started going off again. I went back down to the basement. No fire. I checked the garage and everything else I could think of. No fire. The alarm stopped screaming again. Just then the phone rang. It was Travis calling from the airport to check in on us while he waited to board the next plane. The alarm started going off again. Travis: "How are you?" Me: "NOT GOOD." Travis: "Why don't you just take the battery out?" Convinced now that there was no fire I reached up to pull the battery out. Suddenly, it occurred to me that I was standing in front of the front window (still in my birthday suit) reaching up to pull the battery out of the detector while the school kids waited out on the corner in front of our house for the bus. What a show! I can hear them now, "There she goes again!" To bring a long story to and end...there was no fire and Travis fixed the furnace with the new part when he got home later that day. Until then we left the furnace and dryer off while awaiting the hero's return just to be safe. It wasn't a warm wait.

Blog worthy thing #3: Sometime in the middle of the fire alarm going off I discovered Charlie in the kitchen with the gift wrapping tape strung out all over the place. I addressed the situation and moved on to more important things...like fighting fires.

Blog worthy thing #4: Also sometime during the fire search I remember noticing that Charlie was picking his nose. Who cares about a little nose picking when your house is burning down, right? When I finally did make it back to the shower I found Charlie in my bathroom. He had a huge pile of hand soap squirted out on the counter and was washing his hands in the sink leaning his belly right into his "clean" mess. Trying not to overreact... Me: "Charlie, what are you doing?" Charlie: "I washing the hands." Me: "Why?...oh, did you have boogers on your fingers?" Charlie matter of factly: "I ate a booger!" Me, totally grossed out but almost too exhausted to care: "Ew, yucky! Don't eat your boogers." Charlie confused: "Don't eat a booger?" Charlie (under his breath): "Ew, yucky."

Center of Attention

Afternoon Fun

The moment Isaac walked in the door from school today he started telling me he was bored. "How can that be?!" I asked out loud. I tried wrestling with him. He said that wasn't any fun, although I did note that he could not stop laughing. Maybe he was surprised at my good wrestling moves. I also suggested that we just hug each other all afternoon. He didn't go for that either. Man! Where's the love?

We finally agreed to make play-dough. Then, of course, we had to play with it.

According to Grandma, this stuff is better than the store bought kind. It comes out of clothes much easier. This was proven today after Isaac decided to start making different impressions in his flatten play-dough. His fun ended when he got the "not so great" idea to sit on the play-dough (such a boy). I nearly, as they say, "had a cow". Wouldn't you if your kid had half a cup of play dough stuck to his bum? Well, you would if you were me and your son had to wear khakis to school every day. Who ever thought that khakis would be great for a school uniform definitely did not have a six year old boy.

...Anyway, also according to grandma this play dough is especially great because it is edible. I think it's great because it brings families together almost as well as the iphone.

If your family is needing to feel the love try this recipe out.

Mix: 2 c. flour with 2 c. salt
Blend in: 2 c. water, 2 Tbls. oil, and 4 Tbls. cream of tartar
Add food coloring and cook over moderate heat for about 5 minutes while stirring.
Knead to soften.

Choices

Isaac and Theron had some friends over to play. As usual it didn't take long for the basement to look as if a tornado had touched down where they were playing. I asked them all to clean up. Pretty soon Isaac came upstairs very frustrated explaining that he was the only one cleaning. Then he said, "So I'm just going to stay up here so they won't tempt me not to clean. I don't want to make a bad choice."

Oh...is that how it works?

Back Off Mom

Me: "Charlie, are you poopy?"
Charlie: "No, I not poopy."
Me: "Yes, you are. I can smell you."
Charlie: "Don't smell me mom."

The XF7

For Christmas Isaac and Theron each got a bin full of office supplies (tape, staples, staplers, rubber bands, paper, paperclips, rulers, note pads, etc.). We thought this would keep them entertained on a rainy afternoon and keep our supplies from disappearing so quickly.

While I was taking a nap and Travis was away the boys created the XF7 using a diaper box for the torso and a baby wipe box for the head. His arms are two rulers, his head is taped to his body, he has a cut rubber band for a mouth, and is decorated all over with paperclips and small pieces of cut paper. Theron was disappointed that his mouth seemed to frown no matter how much he taped it. To finish him off they taped their robot to a dump truck to make him mobile. How clever! I was most impressed that they created this whole thing without arguing or disturbing me by asking for help. He has been a part of the family now for about one week.

Sunbathing

The sun finally came out!! Theron found a yummy Valentine treat, although he never needs an excuse to eat a piece of candy, and got comfy and warm beside the front door.

Shoe Slug

We recently found two humongous shoe slugs in our kitchen. They are a little bit tricky to identify. At first glance they look like a chenille throw with a small child underneath but don't be fooled. These slugs are sneaky but not bashful. They slop across the room without a peep and go straight for the shoes. They don't hold back and seem to prefer a shoe with a nice warm foot in it. Take note, once the shoe slug is caught it giggles uncontrollably. Beware of the shoe slug!!

Happy Helpers

I came downstairs after dinner a few nights ago to find my three boys happily working together to unload the dishwasher so they could fill it with dirty dishes. They set up a clever chain--Isaac and Charlie hand the dishes up to Theron who puts them in place in the cupboard. I am so grateful for this kind of help and find it very easy to overlook the disorganized cupboard.

I'm especially grateful that Travis did the dishes last night. I didn't get him in action because he was so quick that it was over before I even knew he had started. My guys treat me right.

After trying to express that it really makes me happy to find hard workers like this Isaac insisted that he take a picture of me so...in fairness...have you ever seen such a happy exhausted looking mommy?

Everything Funny

I have been noticing funny things happening all around me lately. The unfortunate thing is that they make me laugh but they leave my mind so quickly. I decided to change that by posting "Everything Funny" every once in a while. Here goes...

Picture this:

I am standing at the book check out station at the library helping Charlie scan his books. Theron is standing beside me gazing into Burke's eyes (as usual) while Burke sits quietly in his stroller. A man walks by me. He says, "Birth Control," as he casually passes us by. Could he possibly be talking to me? There is no one else around. He is not accompanied by anyone else and does not appear to be talking on his cell phone. "Really??" I keep thinking. I could understand a comment like that on many other days when my kids are acting unruly and I seem to be completely out of control but..."Really??" He leaves the library, never looking back at me.

It is possible I misunderstood the events of the situation. Still, I couldn't keep from laughing. "Really??" Should I have shouted after him, "Actually, Sir, I have four!"

Well, Mr. Birth Control, just in case you have found my blog, I am well aware of several forms of birth control. I am also very well aware of how amazing our four boys are and how empty my life would be without them compared to now, and I wouldn't do it differently.

Feelings

Isaac: "Ouch get off! You hurt my band aid!"
Mom: "Your band aid has feelings?"
Isaac: "Yes! It's a feelingable band aid."