Ryder funnies.

Ryder is playing baseball for the first time this year and has been super excited. His team has been practicing for several weeks now and the boys are anxious to play their first game.

Unfortunately, week one came and the game was canceled due to rain.

Week two came and the game was canceled due to the opposing team dropping out of the league.

Now, here we are, week three, game tonight at 7pm....the forecast....possible thunder showers, so we'll see.

Ryder, however, is most excited about one thing. He said his coach told him they would be everywhere and he knows he wants to go to one.

"What is it?", I asked him. "What do you want to go to at your game?"

"Mom, my coach said they have confession stands there and they're everywhere! I can't wait to get a snack!"

Just a snack, huh? Maybe when you're ordering those nachos there's more to it?

@ the Dinosaur: and how does that make you feel?

The kids were happily digging in the sandbox for hours the other day. The weather was perfect, a light breeze with beautiful sunshine and they dug away.

Finally, they came inside to show the me the dinosaur bones and teeth they had found. "Look mom! We are being psychologists out there. Look what we discovered!"

Trying to hide my grin, I said, "Oh, you're being archeologists, how fun!"

"Yeah mom, archeologists. It's so fun, we want to do this forever!"

Here are some of the psychologists, I mean, archeologists finds:

I found myself imagining them out there talking to the old bones; asking about their childhood, what their friends were like and how all of that made them feel.....



*Check out mom's bag HERE!

Where's the sprinkles?

While talking to my sister, Bekah, Saturday afternoon, we exchanged "stories" about what cool thing we were working on. She was excitedly getting ready to steam mop her floors, "Aren't you jealous, Lizzie? I mean, I know that's how you want to be spending your Saturday!"

Um, yeah, that's what I wish I was doing...

"Well, I think I might be cooler Beks. I'm trading out the kids clothes. You know, fall and winter to spring and summer."

Silence.

A bit of snickering.

"Yeah Lizzie, cuz we have seasons and all here in San Diego, I know just what you mean..."

So Beks, just for you, you know, so you can see what you're missing out on living in a season-less city:

Ashlynn helping to lighten the mood of the lovely job:

When Addie and Gage heard what was going on they were super excited. I had announced that we were getting out the spring clothes and they couldn't wait to get started, even offering to help with what they could...

Until the bins started coming up from the basement and getting opened.

Where's the sprinkles? You said we were getting the sprinkles!

Ryder funnies.

A couple of funny things Ryder has "shared" with us lately:

We were at Target the other day walking down the aisle where "womanly" items were located, and very full of people, when he shouted, "Look mom, bandaids! These are like the biggest bandaids ever!" Before I could stop him, "Look, the whole aisle is full of them!"

Let's just say he gave a good laugh to everyone else within ear shot and managed to slightly embarrass his mother....


Yesterday, he was frustrated about something and said, "This stinks! And I don't mean the smell, I mean the word!"

Randy and I were glad he was walking downstairs as he said it, so we could crack up! Thanks for the laughs Ryde, our resident funny man :-).

The maid or made?

A conversation I had with Gage last night as we he was anxiously waiting for me to finish the dishes. See, he has to wait until the dishes are done for dessert.

Gage: "Mooooooom, why do you always have to do the dishes?"

Me: "I know! Why do I always have to do them?!? I should have a maid shouldn't I?"

Gage: "Yes mama, a maid, you should have a maid!"

As I was basking in the glow that one of my children valued my hard work enough that I was deserving of assistance, Gage's wheels kept turning inside his cute little head.

Gage: "But mama, you made all of this dinner and you always made everything, so you are the maid!"

Just when I thought someone was cutting me some slack......

A few things.

Random thought:

When you buy something that has 48 servings, it seems like a lot.

That is, until six people have it once a day....and it only lasts eight days......

Listening to the kids talk in the car as we pulled out of our garage:

"Why did we buy a house with such a small garage?"

Well, actually, we have a lot of kids, it's the car that is big...."

"We should just get a garage from Costco, that would be big enough for us!"

Lost in Translation.....not always.

Gage: "Mommy, Outside for shoes on. Outside for shoes on, outside for shoes on...."

Translation: Mommy, put your shoes on and come outside.

So glad I can speak two year old....most of the time.

Ashlynn's take on Murphy

Around my house, I am forever referring to good old Murphy's Law. Ashlynn finally asked me the other day what it meant, so I explained away. She looked at me and in shock and said:

"Well, why didn't he also say 'What can't go wrong, won't go wrong!?!'"

There you have it, my daughter the perpetual optimist, we'll just refer to it as Ashlynn's Law. So glad to have a "glass half full" around me all day!

In Ryder's Words.....

Here are Ryder's answers:

This is a cool idea. Copy this note, ask your child the questions and write them down exactly how they respond.

1. What is something mom always says to you?
"Stop doing that."

2. What makes mommy happy?
"If I clean the house with you, if I do that or clean the basement."

3. What makes mommy sad?
"If I don't clean the basement."

4. How does your mommy make you laugh?
"By tickling me under my neck."

5. What was your mommy like as a child?
"Like a little girl that was a little mean when she was a child, like Gage, when you were two."

6. How old is your mom?
"8."

7. How tall is your mom?
"I'd say, uhhhh, nine inches."

8. What is your moms favorite thing to do?
"Uhhhhhh, do school work with us."

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
"Clean the house."

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
"Ride a motorcycle and jump over a high cliff. And go zoom, zoom (lots of other sound effects I can't spell)"

11. What is your mom really good at?
"Hmmmm, you, uhhh, I going to say good at drawing designs."

12. What is your mom not very good at?
"Uhhhh, lifting really heavy stuff that daddy could lift."

13. What does your mom do for her job?
"I would say, watch the kids while everybody, adults are gone."

14. What's your moms favorite food?
"I'd say go to Sammy's Pizza and get a vegetable pizza."

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
"Clean the basement without us."

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
"Oh, I'd say Wonder Girl on Justice League."

17. What do you and your mom do together?
"Kiss together."

18. How are you and your mom the same?
"We both like flowers."

19. How are you and your mom different?
"That I have three watches and you have none."

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
"When you get the school work box down for me. My math stuff and I give you a hug."

21. Where is your moms favorite place to go?
"I'd say Sammy's Pizza."

A note about my mom, by Ashlynn

A friend of mine on facebook did this and I thought I would post it here. I'll start with Ashlynn and try it with the other kids each week.

This is a cool idea. Copy this note, ask your child the questions and write them down exactly how they respond.

1. What is something mom always says to you?
"No."

2. What makes mommy happy?
"Uhhhhhhhhhhhhh, to clean the house or the basement."

3. What makes mommy sad?
"When someone is being naughty and you give them a ....."

4. How does your mommy make you laugh?
"Tickle me."

5. What was your mommy like as a child?
"Pretty."

6. How old is your mom?
"29."

7. How tall is your mom?
"Ten inches."

8. What is your moms favorite thing to do?
"To play with us."

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
"Clean the house."

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
"The first cleaning record."

11. What is your mom really good at?
"Watching Adysen."

12. What is your mom not very good at?
"Uhhhhhh, hmmmmm. (long silence) I can't think of anything"

13. What does your mom do for her job?
"Stay home and watch the kids."

14. What's your moms favorite food?
"Homemade pizza."

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
"To help us and be a good mother."

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
"I would say Jerry."

17. What do you and your mom do together?
"Make bracelets."

18. How are you and your mom the same?
" 'Cause We both have curly hair."

19. How are you and your different?
" 'Cause you have brown hair and I have blonde hair."

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
" 'Cause you give me a hug and kiss."

21. Where is your moms favorite place to go?
"Shopping."

What's that buddy?

Me to Gage as we were outside swinging: "Look at the birdie Gage. That's a robin. That robin is looking for worms!" (Always looking for those teachable moments)

Gage: "It's not superman?"

Me, not really getting it: "Uh, what's that buddy?"

Gage: It's robin not superman, momma?"

Me: "Yeah, sure buddy. It's Robin not Superman."

What two year old needs to know a robin from a blue-jay anyway?

It's not that bad, really.

Ryder, holding up a half-empty bottle of water, from the way back seat of the car: "Mom, can I drink this?"

Me (trying to drive. at night): "I don't know buddy, is there something wrong with it?"

Ryder: "I'm just wondering if I can drink it."

Me: "Ashlynn, does it look ok to you, I mean is there something growing in it?"

Ashlynn (in a very motherly tone, using hand gestures and rolling her eyes): "Oh, it's fine Ryder, yeah sure, go ahead. I mean what's the worst that could happen to you? Like, you might get a cough or something, but it's no big deal. There could be some germs on it. Or not. I mean germs are sometimes everywhere and you might get a few, but it won't be that bad."

This germ talk when on for, like, five minutes. Honestly, I don't know where she gets if from, er, ok, maybe I do. Anyway, I think he took a swig of it, we'll see if he's coughing in the morning since evidently it's "the worst that could happen".

Not much going but a bunch of sickies.

Haven't blogged much lately, we have literally had someone sick in the house since mid January. I am totally. o. ver. it. I've got to say last night was the breaking point for me. Adysen was up the entire night and Gage for almost the whole night. It's difficult when the little ones are sick, they are unable to fully communicate what hurts and it can get frustrating. All I could think about was how bad so many people have it and here I was crying about being awake with snotty, coughing, ear-tugging babies. And yet, if God isn't with me in the "small stuff" how will I ever make it through the "big stuff".


Fortunately Ashlynn put some humor back into my day. She was worried the bean sprouts she had been enjoying for the last several days were going to take up residence in her stomach and begin reproducing (The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, anyone?). She imagined a bean stock growing from her belly button, a prospect that wasn't appealing at all. Quickly, I explained that the acids in her digestive tract would take care of that and just pull the nutrients they needed from them and how healthy they were for her. Well yo know me, that launched an entire lesson about how your body metabolizes food, takes what it needs, stores some for later and eliminates the rest.

"Eliminates, huh?", she looked at me quizzically for a moment and then responded, "Oh, I get it. Kinda like on American Idol and Biggest Loser."

Thanks for a great belly laugh Ashlynn. Oh, and putting certain things into perspective. :-)

Say what?

When moving furniture around the last thing you want to hear goes something like this:

"My teeth! I've been looking everywhere for those!"


When a certain child comes downstairs from being by themselves upstairs, you don't want to hear:

"It's just water momma, it's just water, it's just water momma."


When you have finished decorating the tree and house for Christmas and you are all ready to make those yummy carmel apples you've been waiting all day for, the last thing you want to meet when you ask where all the supplies went is:

A blank stare.


I'll let you guess which kid did what. Due to her age, Adysen has not joined this club quite yet.

Notice: The following is a re-dramatization.......

Randy and I were running some errands with the kids the other day. As often happens in the car, a little fight broke out between Ashlynn and Ryder. In attempts to figure out what happened, I was asking each one what was going on. Ryder sits in the way back so sometimes it's really hard to hear him so Ashlynn usually interprets for me.

This time I got more than I bargained for.

Ashlynn started to whisper to Ryder, turned to me and said "Ok mom, just watch us, we'll show you what happened."

Suddenly the fight started again and I could see what was going on, only it wasn't the real thing. It was merely a re-enactment of what took place.

Now you have it, my four year old and six year old can "act out" scenarios that have taken place so we can determine who was at fault. All I ask is: "What next?"

I'm sorry, what was that?!??

Me to Ashlynn: "Can you please pick those Barbie shoes up off the ground, I don't want Gage to get them."

Ashlynn's response (while playing on pbskids.org): "Um, I'm on a really tight schedule right now and have to get this done."


Me to Ryde: "Ok buddy, it's time for bed, let's go brush your teeth."
Ryder's response (dragging himself across the family room looking very tired): "I want to let them live mommy. I want to go straight to bed and let them live."

"Let what live, buddy?"

"The cavities mommy, let them live. I am toooo tired to brush my teeth."


Where do they get this stuff??? I have never in my life said "tight schedule" what is that?? And I don't recall telling Ryder cavities were alive....I don't think anyway.

Sunday funnies....Part 2

We celebrated Dale's birthday on Sunday and we gathered around the table to enjoy some delicious strawberry shortcake and brownies with ice cream (super low fat and healthy, I know!). Linda sweetly offered "Would anyone like a cup of coffee?" The only response in the room came from my three year old son who very seriously replied: "Yes, please. I would like a cup of coffee."
Mimi, I hope you are proud. :-)


Later, in the car on the way home the kids were begging me to tell them a story. Ashlynn asked me to tell her about Jesus dying on the cross with all the details. When we pulled into the garage, I finished the story and started thinking, you know, Ashlynn always says how much she loves Jesus, but has she actually prayed to have Jesus in her heart? It's like, I know I've been over this with her, but I'm going to double check.

"Ashlynn, would you like to pray and ask Jesus into your heart, forever?" Her response was absolutely priceless: "Well, I already let Him in my heart, but I guess I could ask Him too!" We said the prayer of salvation and after a big amen, she stated: "Mommy, we pray that in church almost every Sunday, I just prayed that this morning, I love that prayer."

Wisdom comes in all shapes and sizes!!

You what?!?

Ashlynn bytes:

"You know what I really want, don't you? I just want to be, you know, my favorite. I just want to be one-eight." Referring to wanting to be 18, apparently the age she perceives her life will begin?!? Though I did put them on restriction from playing with the couch cushions until they were seventeen....maybe that has something to do with it.

"When I grow up, I guess I'll get married (very obligatory sounding), but we are just going to live here." Casually, I informed her that her husband probably wouldn't appreciate that and she gave me the 'you have got to be kidding me' look and responded: "Then I'll just take all of my toys to the new house, but you know what that's gonna make you right? A grandma." Lord have mercy.

Exactly.....

On Valentine's Day we took a plate of cookies to our next door neighbor, who was kind to enough to invite all of the kids inside. After giving us a tour of her lovely home and treating the kids to some goodies of their own, we finished delivering our other packages.

On the way home from Grandma and Grandpa's, Ashlynn remarked how "beautiful Miss Shirley's house was". She actually kept going on and on about it and then asked: "How come our house isn't as pretty and clean as Miss Shirley's? I want our house to be that nice, let's work on that."

I glanced back at her in the mirror and saw her wheels were still turning. The next statement made it all come together: "I guess Miss Shirley doesn't have kids though. All the mess at our house is from kids, kids, kids. With all of the toys and all of the games and all of the books and all of the puppets." She kept thinking quietly.

"I have an idea", I replied. "What if I sell you guys in the next garage sale and then the house will be able to be like Miss Shirley's? Then I won't have any kid stuff around and the house will be clean as a whistle."

Ryder pepped in at this point: "We only have to get rid of Gage, he's the messy one." How sweet, brotherly love in action.

Realizing some of the *cough* (Ryder) children might have taken me seriously about selling them, I went on and on about selling them and the goofy ways I would get rid of all the toys. Assured now I was completely joking, they began to go along with it.

"I can't sell you guys, though. How boring would that be? I would have nothing to do, but clean, clean, clean all day long. No one to play with, no one to make me laugh, no one to hug and kiss all the time. Nope, way to boring. You guys have to stick around. Forever."

It's been cold way too long....

This morning Ashlynn remarked that her orange tasted like a popsicle. How sweet.

Ryder then asks: "What's a popsicle?"

After briefly choking on my orange I answered: "Well buddy, it's that frozen fruity thing you eat in the summer. You know, the ice cream truck brings them."

"Oh, yeah mommy, the ice cream truck. Now I remember."

Poor guy, it's been so darn cold he has apparently forgotten the pleasure of a popsicle.