The Birds and the Bees

Yesterday was FAB-U-LOUS weather wise.

Well, that is, until about 2pm.

Then the wind came.

We were snuggled up at nap time by then anyways.

Before nap, while enjoying the wonderful day, we heard some wild screeching noises in the air. Noting to myself that it wasn't typical bird noises that we here from our suburban birds, I hopped off my chair on the porch and went to see what was making all that noise.

As I stared up into the sky, trying carefully not to blind myself from the sun, I saw three falcons flying around all crazy like, and just screeching their little hearts out. Quickly, I got The Girl and The Little Man and pointed out what I was looking at. I told them that I thought maybe they were screeching so loudly because they might have found food nearby. The Girl quickly corrected me.

d: No mom, it's not because they have found food. They are probably doing some sort of mating ritual.
me: (Totally dumbfounded and trying to act like A) I completely expected the conversation to take this twist, and B) that my eyes were NOT completely bugged out of my head) Really? What do you mean?
d: I mean that they are probably trying to mate.
me: What does that mean? (Again, picking my jaw up off the floor)
d: See, those two birds are probably boy birds, and the other one is a girl bird. The boy birds are probably fighting over that girl bird so they can mate her.
me: What does that mean...mate her?
d: You know, the boy bird will make her his wife. Then they can make a nest and then have babies.
me: That's what it means when they mate? She gets to be his wife?
d: YES! (totally annoyed with me at this point)
me: Oh yea.

At least she gets to be his wife FIRST.

Happiness Again

I know.

I barely recognize this place.

This week doesn't promise to be much better.

Actually, the whole month of May looks like pure craziness.

I did want to stop by very quickly though and let you all know that my beloved Mojo Bars are BACK! A little while ago, I posted my deep passion for these bars which disappeared off of the shelves a while ago due to the salmonella outbreak which was linked to peanuts. I was really upset that I couldn't find a suitable replacement. Either the flavor was off or the ingredients caused some intestinal woes for me later in the day.

Which everyone loved.

Happily, yesterday, as I was cruising the grocery store aisles, there they were. I was shocked. I had actually called the company not even a month ago. I had to know. I needed to prepare myself if they were not coming back. I had perused their website, and although the product was still listed, it stated that they were not available at this time. So in minor freak out mode, I called. She assured me they were still making them, but she wasn't sure when they would return to shelves as their was no production date listed. I was still panicky, but I had to trust the Clif Bar lady.

As, I went to grab my beloved bars and put them into my basket, I had to laugh. It figures they were there, restocked, at that moment. Why? Well, about a week ago, I had found a suitable replacement.

And I bought them.

In bulk.

I don't care. I still bought the Mojo Bars. Now I will just have a little variety.

And Fruit Loops Aren't Half Bad Either

I am feeling much better as this week comes to a close. It feels good to get things accomplished, and not so good to be looking at a pile of stuff that needs to be accomplished. Checking stuff off of a To-Do list does wonders for my mood.

Oh, that and the 80 DEGREE TEMPS we have had this week.

I think it's official. I can't go back to snow anymore until November.

At least.

Now that I said that, we should have snow through May.

That's just how it works.

Here's another happy note: We have reached a new level in culinary happiness in our home.

Both of my children, will now eat cereal WITH milk in it. Up until recently, it was dry cereal only. Also, they were just kind of iffy on cereal. They could take it or leave it. I have been baffled by this for years. As a child, I LIVED on cereal. I had it for breakfast, as a snack, and sometimes we had it for dinner. In college, it is what got me through the one year I bought a meal plan through the university food program.

Crunch Berries never tasted so good.

It's such a freedom to have an alternative choice. Especially, since breakfast has been so limiting. I feel like I could break out into song.

In case you are wondering, I would choose "A Whole New World" from the Aladdin soundtrack.

I will admit, I did stoop to the level of sprinkling a little sugar on the Cheerios to entice The Little Man.

Hey, we go with what works here.

It's Crazy

Well, now that we've gotten all of that snow out of the way, I think we are ready to hit spring time! This week will be fab-u-lous.

All week.

I know I don't need to say much more than that.

Unfortunately, all the snow/rain we got in the three day storm, is now coming into our basement. I find this rather odd considering the house is over 15 years old and has NEVER had an issue up to this point.

We got A LOT of moisture, people.

And we are thankful.

Really.

So combine the awesome weather this week with about one million and twelve things to do (give or take a few), getting our carpets RE-cleaned (don't even ask because it is ugly), and just a basic feeling of overwhelmedness (that's not I word, I know this, but go with it), I am going to try to do my best to still be here this week.

I also vow to not come here unless I have something nice to say.

Which, when I am overwhelmed is difficult.

So, I might not be here.

But, pray that I will

Thank you.

Good night.

It's The Little Things

Well, it seems as though the weather people here aren't crazy after all. We did end up getting snow pretty much all day today. I don't know what the totals are because it is such a wet snow much of it is melting as it collects on the grass and deck. The streets didn't even collect snow, but instead stayed wet all day with a few patches of heavy slush.

I am not freaking out over this bad weather even in the slightest bit, which is totally out of character for me. Some are saying, "Goodness! It's April!" I could care less. It will be 70 on Monday again, and there will be no visible trace that this storm even existed. We will just be able to enjoy green grass and budding trees.

That's my kind of storm.

Plus, it put us back into our jammies for a whole day.

You know my love for jammies.

My Little Man has the same love. He was so happy and content today watching the snow fall in his Spider Man jammies. He was especially thrilled because they were the Spider Man jammies that had the webbing connecting his arms to his sides. These special jammies had somehow gone MIA for the last few months. They resurfaced last night, and even if it had been a nice day, I don't think that I could have peeled those babies off if I wanted to. They were on to stay.

Since it was yucky out, and I didn't want to go anywhere, I thought I would get some chores done around the house. Namely, I needed to go through the kids closets. Even though it was snowing today, warm weather is right around the corner, and I needed to make room for some spring/summer clothes.

Thankfully, we are lucky enough to get some hand-me-downs from our cousins. Today, as I was going through some of the new-to-us clothes, out popped a pair of light-up Lightening McQueen tennis shoes for The Little Man. A few weeks earlier, we saw this same pair of shoes at the store, and he begged for them. Having a feeling we would have a similar pair waiting for us in the Hand-Me-Down Bin, I didn't cave into his incessant pleading.

You should have seen the way his eyes lit right up. It was like he just received the best gift ever. He ran straight upstairs to get a pair of socks, and then on went those shoes. He kept them on all day. I found him a couple of times in the bathroom with the lights off stomping away. As I was putting the Easter stuff away in the basement, we trekked upstairs with the lights off. He said, "Momma, don't worry if the lights are off. I have light up shoes to show us the way."

I was thankful.

I just wished I wouldn't have waited so long to show him that he didn't need to STOMP his feet to light those babies up. A simple tap of the heel got them going.

Spider Man jammies WITH the webbing, Lightening McQueen light-up tennis shoes, and snowy wet weather to keep you at home in both; it was The Little Man's best day ever.

For the Love of the Game

The Little Man has turned into quite the "gamer". At our health club they have a kid's club and a portion of it has computers full of kid's games. Just recently, The Little Man has given up time on the jungle gym and has chosen to spend some time playing computer games.

He has been telling me all about how he tries to get to different levels, that you have to beat different characters to get past certain points in the game, and all the different facets of the game. Since I don't really know the game he is talking about, I just listen and try to follow along.

Today, when I picked him up from child care, he excitedly told me that he had finally made it to level four. I know he had been wanting to get to "level four" for a few weeks now, so I congratulated him. Tonight, I found out just how excited he was with his accomplishment when I heard this prayer at bedtime:

Dear God and Jesus,
Thank you for this day. Thank you that I got to go to workout with Mommy. Thank you Lord that you let me beat the Boss. Lord, will you help me to beat the Egg Bomber next so that I can make it to level five? In Jesus' name, Amen.

Easter Banter

I had an interesting conversation with The Girl yesterday.

d: Mom, I don't get why we get candy on Easter.
me: What do you mean?
d: I mean why do we get candy for Easter if we are celebrating Jesus beating death? It doesn't even make sense.
me: I know. It really doesn't does it?
d: Ya, what's the point?
me: I guess you could call it a distraction.
d: What?
me: You know, something that makes you think of something other than what you are supposed to be focused on. It takes away your attention.
d: Ya, because we are supposed to be thinking about Jesus.
me: Yes, we are supposed to be thinking about Jesus and what He did for us, but then there are all these little distractions that take your focus away from the real reason for the day.
d: Why?
me: I guess because Satan doesn't want us to think about Jesus and what He did for us.

Silence and pondering.

d: Ya, candy is a HUGE distraction.

King of Glory

I woke up this Easter morning with a song on my heart and playing in my head. I love what I heard someone say once, that they feel like when they have a song lyrics running around in their head, it's the Holy Spirit in them singing and praising God.

Romans says: "In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express." -Romans 8:28.

I can't help but think that the Spirit also intercedes for us when we can't think of the words to express our praise.

So as I sang this song in my head this morning, I thought I would search for it online so I could listen to it.

How appropriate that it was paired up with this video.

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners Christ died for us." -Romans 5:6-8

Happy Easter!

It's All About the Basket

It was a crazy day. Hubs and I thought we would go ahead and end our day with four, FOUR, F-O-U-R episodes of The Office. It seems as though we got a little behind.

Thankfully, we can check that off the to do list.

I must say I am a bit worried about Michael Scott and his new adventure.

That is neither here nor there.

So, today was the day that The Little Man had been looking forward to the whole week. It was the day of the Great Easter Party at school. He had a little performance to do, an Easter Egg hunt, and finally a reception.

OK, it was a few muffins and a fruit salad.

It was delightful.

I have to say, I am not big on the whole Easter Basket/Egg extravaganza. Easter is HUGE to me, don't get me wrong, but I don't understand where the whole bunny and eggs got involved. It makes no sense to me. So when the school requested that the kids bring their own Easter baskets today for the egg hunt, I found myself in a little bit of a pickle.

Since this Easter tradition isn't such a big deal to me, I haven't really invested that much money or effort in finding the cutest Easter basket for The Little Man. I think the one he has came from the local grocery store one year, and it had stuff in it already. So, instead of throwing the basket away, I just keep using it over and over.

When I brought it upstairs today (yes, it still was in the basement even though Easter is a mere four days away), The Hubs had a BIG problem with it. He claimed I couldn't send The Little Man to school with that basket.

The basket may or may not have had pink and purple on it.

Hey! There was also some blue and yellow.

Anyway, Hubs and I argued over whether or not it would be OK to let him show up at school with a "girly" type basket. Hubs thought he needed a Spider Man basket or something, to which I responded, "Ya, because nothing says 'He has risen' like Spider Man." In the end, I ended up back at the local supermarket trying to find a compromise between a "girly" basket and a Spider Man basket.

With four days left until Easter, the options were a bit limited.

I did find a suitable basket that only sported blue and yellow.

Guess what we saw first thing as we entered the school? His friend...carrying a Spider Man basket.

Of course we did.

Thankfully, I was able to easily distract The Little Man with the fact that they just needed the baskets to carry all the eggs he was going to find. And those eggs? They were filled with CANDY! LOTS OF CANDY!

He was all set again and not the least bit distracted by the Spider Man basket.

Just check him out:

Sporting a new basket with only "Man Colors":


The loot:


His favorite egg:


See, he isn't mad about the basket:

A Book Review

I got a sunburn today! I know, shame on me! However, I am happy that it was warm enough for a sunburn to actually occur. I am also happy that I was able to soak up the day because in just few days, the rest of the week goes downhill fast. Also, in my defense, we were getting our carpets cleaned so I was kind of forced outside today with the kids, unprepared.

Enough excuses.

It was glorious.

The girl brought home a writing assignment that she worked on this past week. It's really cute so I thought I would share.

OK, it's cute to me because I am her mother. You may actually want to check out.

I couldn't get what I wanted from a picture because of the way the assignment was set up. The writing program she uses has her put the different ideas and supportive sentences on their own pieces of paper and then they glue it onto one piece of construction paper. Some of the words are hard to see because, the gluing? it wasn't the best. So, like a bad reality show where there are reenactments, I am going to reenact the writing assignment.

Pretend like you are reading this straight from a six year old hand...

In chapter three Little Bear wants to fly to the moon. First, Little Bear made a space hemet. (helmet) Little Bear climbed a tree he jumped and landid. but he was still on earth. but he thought he was on the moon. Second, if he were on the moon he woud not breth (breath). He was on earth. Third, he went home an sow (saw) mother bear. Thay hade (had) lunch. In conclusion this story was splendid.

I can't help it. I eat this stuff up. I want to save all of these little stories she brings home and read them over and over. I love how her personality came through in this even though she was trying to summarize a chapter in a book she read. Saying that "if he were on the moon he would not breath," is totally her. She is acknowledging that it happened in the book, but is also making sure that people know, hello? you can't breath on the moon. Also, saying the story was "splendid" Cracks. Me. Up. Lastly, the way she sprinkled punctuation around? Beautiful.

She must be reading my blog.

Maybe she can give me a review?

I just hope she thinks it's "Splendid".

Somewhere There Was a Wrong Turn

Although the conversation took an inappropriate turn, I still laughed. The kids saw me laugh too, which didn't help me at all when it came time to ask them to please not talk about private parts. I hate it when I can't keep myself under control over topics that seem like I should, as a mother, be mature enough to keep myself together until I am totally out of sight and ear shot of my kids.

This is the conversation I heard this morning at the breakfast table.

d: My pancakes are already all gone.
p: Ya, well, MY pancakes are all gone too.
d: Well, my pancakes have already made it all the way through my digestive track.
p: So! MY pancakes went down my throat, into my tummy, then into my small intestine, then into my large intestine, and then right into my wanker.


Oh, yes he did.

You Have to be Quick to Keep Up

I'm not so sure what is up with me and the lack of blogging lately. I am a bit busier than normal, but not crazy. There has been a lack of material as of late, and then, when something good comes along, that's when I am busy.

With nothing.

Anywho...

Have I ever mentioned how happy I am that The Hubs and I are able to send the kids to a Christian preschool? Well, I am. I just love hearing all the little songs, bible verses, and stories that they learn.

The Little Man is a little less forthcoming with much of the information that they discuss at school. The Girl, she would talk your ear off about all the different stories. The Little Man? not so much. So, when he does say something, like he did yesterday, I like to stop what I am doing, sit down with him, and let him tell me as much as his little heart desires. Considering it usually only takes about 2 minutes for him to get out all he wants to say, it's a small sacrifice to make.

Yesterday at lunch, he said to me, "You know what, Mama? Judas made a really bad choice."

Hold the phone!

I stopped cutting pizza, and came to sit down with him at the table.

"He did?" I asked back, acting all cool and collected.

p: Yup, he made a REALLY bad choice.
me: Oh no! What did he do?
p: I don't know. He's just bad though.
me: You don't remember what the story said he did that was so bad?
p: No.
me: Did he tell the soldiers where to find Jesus?
p: Yup. He told on Jesus and that is really, really, REALLY mean.
me: Do you remember why he told on Jesus?
p: No.
me: did he get something?
p: Yes, they gived him money, and then the soldiers ran and catched Jesus.
me: Yes, they went and found him.
p: If I saw Judas, you know what I would do?
me: No.
p: I would would run really, really, REALLY fast. I would run so fast he would never find me.
me: Oh.
p: Yea, then I would hide, and he would NEVER find me NEVER.
Silence as he strategized his next move.
p: Ya, I would hide in a really hard place for him to find me. Ya, like a tree.
me: A tree?
Silence again as he thinks a bit harder.
p: He could never find me in a tree.
me: Maybe not.
p: Ya, but this tree would not be pokey. It would be soft and smooth. You don't want to hide in pokey trees. They will hurt you.

...And the conversation about Judas and his bad choice is over. In just under 30 seconds we have now switched to playing Hide and Go Seek in trees.