Mothers and Sons

I have such a wonderfully sweet little boy! He is so precious to me. I feel sorry for moms who don't have sons because there is something so special between a mom and her son.... just listen to this example...

The other day I was in the bathroom doing my makeup. The kids were both in the kitchen finishing up their lunch. We were headed somewhere after lunch I can't remember where...anyway..he loves to help out and one of the things is the best at is sweeping the kitchen for me. He is only five but does a fantastic job! He loves to feel grown up. (not like my daughter...a totally different story!)

He came back into the bathroom and said, "Mom...I think the trash is too full.... I'm going to go ahead and tie it up so we can take it out."

Did my mom heart just melt?! NOT!

I didn't miss a beat with my response....

"I want you to go get your sandwich out of the trashcan right now and eat it. And don't try to trick me like that ever again."

Oh, the brokenhearted downcast look I got in response...."Okay" he replied....tragically.

But he did obey.

Am I a bad mom for making my son eat a sandwich out of the trash can? Oh puleeze! It's not like we have poopy diapers in there anymore! Nah, we got much bigger problems than that to tackle... problems like a very smart boy!

Want another example of his extreme talent?

We were sitting at a restaurant and discussing Katie's "love list" (yeah another story there, how do they think of this stuff?). I don't remember how we got around to it but someone asked Noah if he had or who his girlfriend was or something to that affect. His response????

"I have two girlfriends....there and there..." (with a cunning smile and big blue eyes...pointing to his MOMMY and his sister!)

Does he know how to work a room or what?

Yeah....we have MUCH bigger problems than poopy diapers!

Proof!

I would love for you to read my post and give us your opinion
on a group read for the beach!
Click the top right "book blog" button.

Onto the post:

This morning, Noah asked, "What does proof mean?"

Well...I told him that proof is what tells you if something really happened or not, or if it is true or not. Okay, so I probably didn't do a great job with that, but I think I improved by giving examples. I told him that if someone said he ate a cookie without asking, that the proof might be if he had chocolate chips on his face. Or that if someone said Katie took candy, then the proof would be if we found the candy in her room. Yes, I know there are other definitions, and I probably need to start using the dictionary instead and all that. But here's the punchline:



Katie said, "He means like 'waterproof' what does that 'proof' mean?"
Noah added, "Yeah, and like fireproof, what does that mean?"

All my "great" stories and intentions. I meant well! ha ha ha! I guess they already had the "water" and "fire" part down....*ha*

My Rainy Day Helpers

This morning I baked a beautiful and yummy homemade from scratch Chocolate Texas Sheet Cake. Mmmmmm.......
I baked it for our Bible Study that was supposed to start tonight, but within a couple of hours of it being frosted, it was decided that with the flood warnings and road closures that we should postpone until next week.
What to do with that fresh chocolate cake?
Well..... Katie and Noah were a big help by unloading the dishwasher for me, working together to do so. I decided we should ALL enjoy a piece of the delicious cake since I wouldn't be taking it anywhere tonight.
After having such a sweet reward for helping me out, Katie and Noah got inspired..... and then loaded the dishwasher for me as well (while I called and emailed and facebooked people about the class cancellation).
Here they are....even "pre-washing" the dishes in the sink....

This is what a dishwasher might look like if loaded by a 5 and 6 year old...
completely unassisted.... :)

Proudly even drying off the dishes before placing them in the dishwasher...

Washing out the mixing bowl before loading in the dishwasher

I guess we might need a lesson in how to load the dishwasher,
but THIS way kills SO much more time! ha ha!
Especially on a rainy RAINY day!

Friday Funnies: The joys of live television!

We recently got out a digital antennae that we had purchased earlier in the year and hooked up. We wanted to see what it would pick up now with the digital switchover. Turns out we picked up about 5 channels! Several Ion/Qubo channels and PBS.

Katie and Noah greatly enjoyed watching cartoons on Qubo. I like that channel too because it shows things like 321 Penguins and other "different" kinds of cartoons.

What I didn't realize was how very little our kids have been exposed to commercials!

I was in the bedroom yesterday and Katie runs in and says, "Go to perfect brownie.com mommy, hurry!"

Now, keep in mind that I have not watched commercials in YEARS! So I am quickly trying to think of why a kids' show would tell them to visit such an oddly named website....hmmm...

SO, what else do I do? I QUICKLY visited perfectbrownie.com....and...discovered....


We had all been duped! When the page loaded Katie said, "Yeah! Perfect Brownie! Let's get one!"

I had to laugh! Several other times there were urgent requests to visit a website...Noah pointed out to me today that we need to get something or other for "ONLY 19.95 dollars and cents!!!!!!"

Hilarious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And, for one more little funny observation.... At lunch time Noah pointed out that they needed to sit in the living room and watch tv while they ate because he said, "When we turn the tv off, it skips!" ha ha! Spoken from someone who has not watched anything that wasn't in DVD or able to be paused in almost two years!!! That is most of his "kid" aged life!!!! :)

It has been so funny! I know the novelty will wear off soon. Corey and I haven't actually been tempted that much. Mostly it is just a bunch of junk...we did watch about 15 minutes of a documentary about bull-fighters which ended up just being random and "bleck!"

I'll take our Netflix instant play episodes of Man vs. Food any day!

Friday Funnies

This isn't really a joke, but it just cracked me up the other night when PJ told me this story about our two daughters. Kaitlyn is about to turn 6 and Katie is about to turn 7. Katie has recently developed a "crush" on the little boy who plays the lead in the church musical they have been working on all summer. So here is the latest development:

Katie (to Kaitlyn):
Garrison was CHASING me and he ALMOST caught me!!!!
And I almost said for him to kiss me on the forehead!

Kaitlyn:
Oh my GOODNESS! Are you KIDDING me?!
Or is there something wrong with my eardrums?!!?!

HA HA HA!!!! PJ was the witness to the conversation so I may have misquoted a bit, but this was the gist of it. What in the world are we going to do with them?! lol.

The sad truth is that Katie, upon seeing Garrison's little brother play soccer yesterday, has moved on! ha ha!

I blame the Disney princess movies!!!!!!!

A Sweet Moment, Friday Funnies, and 7 Things...

A Sweet Moment....(completely candid!)

Karen (my mother in law) participated in a "Friday Funnies" and "7 things about you" post and I thought it would be fun...

Friday Funnies:

Our son, Noah, is a VERY skeptical and inquisitive child. Whereas Katie loves to pretend and imagine and will believe anything you say and not question further, Noah isn't so easily appeased. While we have recently been considering the idea of adding to the family we have casually discussed the idea in front of them..such as "what would you think about having a baby brother or sister", the typical stuff like that. (by the way, no immediate plans are made, just broaching the subject) ANYWAY...I guess Noah has been thinking about this a good bit. I know Katie does...she always has, even before we talked about it, pretending, drawing pictures of us with a new baby around, etc.
The other night when we were settling down for our evening devotional ritual, Noah asked, "So, how exactly does the baby come out of your stomach?"
(He has definitely seen lots of "with child" moms around our church, we run about 10-16 in the BABY nursery each week) Stalling for time I said, "What do you mean?"
and he said, "well, does it just pop out?"
My response was..."It is just a miracle. It happens however God wants it to happen."
He countered with..."Does the doctor cut open your stomach and get it out then glue you back together?"
My response: "There are different ways it happens and it is just a miracle that God decides how it will happen."
Then we moved on.
Well...apparently my answer was not satisfactory because he asked my mom the same question last weekend when they were staying with them. My mom answered: "I really think that is a question you should ask your mom." And he said, "I already asked her, and she doesn't know either."

HA!

"AND NOW
FOR SOMETHING
COMPLETELY DIFFERENT"

So, even though you didn't ask, here are 7 things about me (that you may already know but hey, here goes):

1. I am crazy about Disney World. I'm not sure why, or where it came from, but I am! I don't even love thrill rides, but ever since my first visit when I was in the 8th grade, I have fallen in love with the elaborate "theming" of theme parks. Corey and I went for our 6th anniversary to Universal Studios and Epcot, the family went for the first time in February 2008, and for the second time in February 2009, and Corey and I have an "us" trip tentatively planned for December of this year. Our Disney blog chronicles all our trips and plans! It is my escape (well, other than blogging!)

2. I am kind of anti-medication. Truthfully. I don't think that there are near as many drugs that are truly useful as there are drugs that just cause more problems for you. I think most everything that is wrong with anyone can be cured with diet changes. My current kick is "anti-artificial sweeteners, especially aspartame and Splenda."

3. I have recently become very thankful that my children were born less than two years apart. At the time it was a very stressful and crazy few years, but now that I am homeschooling I have discovered what an incredible blessing it is! They get along so well and can do many lessons and activities together which makes it a lot more fun for them. What perfect planning, right Corey?! HA!

4. I have never been camping in my entire life. Not in a tent, camper, or under the stars. And...I really don't look forward to changing this fact though I am sure it will happen...maybe.

5. I want to write a book. This is something I have always wanted to do and it on my "want to do list" still. But, I just can't seem to do it and don't know where to start as far as submitting and publishing. I have a few ideas of stories I have made up for Katie and Noah, but I am just doubtful because it seems everything has already been "done."

6. I really enjoy getting great deals with using coupons! (Did you know that?! ha!) Yesterday I spent $11 at Publix and saved $35! I got 6 (24 ct) packages of Chinet lunch plates, 4 (6 ct) boxes of Orville Reddenbacher popcorn, and 2 large bottles of Glass Plus. The $ saved just from my clipped coupons was $17.20!

7. I am kind of thinking about getting a Saturday job. Not sure why....no REAL need. Just an itch I suddenly got for some crazy reason. When I went to Hobby Lobby the other day they had a sign advertising that they need help and it has been on my mind ever since. I even picked up an application and filled it out. Still playing around with options.... a friend suggested tutoring at Sylvan since I have a teaching certificate... but that idea isn't appealing to me as much as Hobby Lobby. I think it is because I love shopping at Hobby Lobby, so that probably in reality isn't a great idea for a place to work! It might not be profitable!

The End.

Play Ball!!!!!!

Noah had his first t-ball game tonight! It was.... so many thing!
Cute, awesome, hilarious, fun....
Their team is the Timber Rattlers. Two of his friends, Canaan and Joshua are also on the same team.
It has been so neat for those boys to be able to play together, especially Noah and Canaan because Bethany happens to be living here right now while her husband is deployed. It has been a very special thing for them and something that who knows when/if they will ever be able to do together again since Canaan is part of a military family.
Anyway, here are Noah and Katie before the game...(above and below).

Above: prayer before the game starts (love a Christian league!)
Below: PLAY BALL!

Above: Noah hanging out in his field position.
Below: The team waiting for their turn at bat.
Noah is on the left end, Joshua is on the right end, and Canaan is beside Joshua.

Above: Noah "on deck."
Below: Waiting for the pitch. The get two coach pitches then they bring out the tee.

HIT AND RUN!

Running to third, then.... playing in the sand on third.

End of the game...

At one point in the game the ball was hit right to Noah and he got it and started to throw to first base, but....
his glove was on the wrong hand! He was so confused and the look on his face was priceless as he tried several times to throw the ball but he didn't let go because it obviously didn't feel right...for a second it looked like he might try to put it in his glove and throw it with his right hand anyway, but he finally just let it go with his left. The coaches politely came over and helped him get his glove on the correct hand.
This is definitely going to be a fun..and entertaining experience!

301st Post!

This is my 301st post.

I missed #300 because I already had a post written and didn't want to put it off...ha.

So, here ya go..in honor of post #300....a NEW layout! What do you think? It is very different from other themes I have done before...but I think I like it.

And....for your laugh of the day...some art by Katie. She drew this last night while laying in the bed "trying" to go to sleep:

She said it is a picture of her sneaking out of bed in the middle of the night to get a cookie.
I love the body language!

Guilty.

We have finally hit the point that our kids have tiny teeny itty bitty toys. Toys that are VERY easily vacuumed.


Wait. I better back up.

Yesterday was cleaning day and we spent pretty much all day doing it. The kids worked in their rooms while I worked in the rest of the house. We have this thing where I tell them "how many" things to go put away and they hurry and go do it and come back for the next number. I know, pretty boring, but they love it. I try to make it interesting by making up different ways like "go pick up as many toys as you are years old." They love it.

So...after a couple hours of cleaning I go to check on the progress. Katie's room was a complete disaster. She takes after me, ha. I investigate further to see that the toys that have been "put away" are actually just stuffed under her bed. As Bethany commented: Classic.

I took a big container lid and pushed all the STUFF out from under the bed and told her I was disappointed that she was stuffing everything under her bed when I specifically asked if she was doing that and she said no. She said I hurt her feelings.

Well....EVENTUALLY both rooms were clean and at the end of the day I was doing the vacuuming, which they were not allowed to do because it took them ALL DAY and much whining and complaining to get the job finished...it was completely exhausting. They love vacuuming, so part of their punishment was that they did not get to do the vacuuming (ironic huh).

When I was vacuuming Katie's room I saw a couple of tiny itty bitty Polly Pocket shoes.

I hesitated for a millisecond...then.........

I vacuumed right over them.

Should I feel bad?

There may have been a lego pirate coin that got sucked up too...

V-I-C-T-O-R-Y-!!!!!

(if I sent you a message on your blog about an award, please scroll down to the "Friendship Award post! thanks!)

(this is not a photo of our actual dish, but our's was pretty identical to this one, without the fancy garnish)

I have to share the awesome dinner experience we had tonight!!!! It all started yesterday...around 1:30pm..I decided I finally wanted to try making the dried lentils I had in the cabinet. It was a bag with a seasoning packet included...but called something like "confetti lentils" or something like that. Anyway, I threw them in the crockpot but of course by 6pm they were no where near done and tasting not very good at all! I had added some frozen carrots, vegetable broth, dried onions, and turned it on high. Well, we went out out to eat instead and by the time we got home after running by Kroger, they were smelling pretty good!

Today, I got them back out, put them on the oven and added some frozen spinach, ground beef, as well as some more spices (savory, garlic salt, onion powder). When it was all said and done, the stew was DELICIOUS! It had the flavor sort of like a beef stew but more like a bean/minestrone twist. I also made buttermilk biscuits to go with it which actually turned out to be GREAT! My first success with homemade biscuits!!!

AND....the BEST IS YET TO COME!!! GUESS WHO ate SIX bites of the lentil and spinach stew!!!????

NOAH CARTER THOMPSON!!!!!

We have a new initiative around here where he is required to eat six bites of whatever vegetables we are having for dinner. We discussed it with him and he knows it is just expected...I told him it is now his job to eat bites of vegetables because we are his parents and we have to make sure he is eating healthy foods and he just doesn't have a choice. The first night was BAD! It took a very long time for him to eat his 6 bites of chicken pot pie with vegetables it it.

Tonight, he was awesome! He came in while I was cooking the stew, and as you can see from the photo above the stuff doesn't look very appetizing. It actually doesn't have a super pleasant smell either. But he did it, though he got very sluggish with the last 3 bites, he actually said that "the last two bites were easier than the first bite." No tears or complaining. It may have helped that he lost his games for an entire day last time because he pitched such a fit and he also ended up having to eat about 12 bites because every time it was a major ordeal of talking back over a bite we added another bite to the requirement....but ....ANYWAY.....

We were all so proud of him! No tears and no feeding it to him, he did it all by himself and I do believe that is probably the most of any green vegetable his body has ever had in it at once!!! His stomach may go into shock!!!

Noah's vocabulary....

Noah just came up to me on the couch. First of all, he was explaining why he had been sitting at the table for about 20 minutes with only having eaten one bite of food. (I guess those NINE chicken nuggets he ate yesterday will do him for the rest of the week?). He said, "Well, I took one BIG bite of macaroni in my mouth, and I was sitting there a long time because I had to chew it.

Ha. Well, he has the hiccups.

"Mommy, when I am at Nana's house and I have the hiccups she has a hiccup bracelet that I can wear to make the hiccups go away."

I say, "Really, what are the hiccup bracelets? What are they made of?"

Noah: "They are all different colors except not scarlet, and they are made of softness."

?!?!?!? Too funny. Anyone (Nana) care to enlighten me on this miracle treatment?

And, I have debated and decided that I MUST share this story, it's not really that bad.....

We went shopping last week at the Hanes outlet for some "underthings" for myself which were badly needed. While we are walking around (the only ones in the store I might add) Katie declares quite loudly...

"Mommy....I need a bra, when can I get a bra?!"

To which Noah replied, "Katie, you have to have those things to go in it.......maybe when you are a grown-up."

Yeah...it's funny now.

Shopping Spree and Toothless again!

Top Story:
Katie lost her 3rd tooth just now! It is one of her top teeth...adorable and exciting times!!!!

In other news:
I got to go on a shopping spree at Zales outlet today!

Back story: If you are a faithful reader, you may remember the little anniversary trip last July when Corey and I got new wedding sets. ( You can catch up on that HERE. )
Well, ever since I had the new set, I have had problems with it. Within 2 weeks of getting it, one of the little stones around the center ring was missing. I took it in to be fixed. Picked it up. TWO DAYS later, the same stone was out again. I really wanted to wear my ring so I waited a couple of weeks, and low and behold during that time ANOTHER stone came out. It took me a while to get back down there to get it fixed (at our local Kennesaw store) so it was around Christmas when I took it in. This time it took 3 weeks and I picked it up in January. Well, no kidding, TWO DAYS LATER the original missing stone was OUT AGAIN!
This time I went to the computer, long story, up the chain of command to the regular store, to the outlet stores, and got approved for a full exchange even though it was out of the "exchange window."
This happened to be a week before we went out of town for Disney. I told them I couldn't make it in, etc, etc, and finally today we went up to the original store in Lawrenceville to see what they had and what I could find to exchange.
I spent about 20 minutes looking around thinking that I didn't see anything I liked (well, anything that was what I needed to spend anyway...diamonds can be so ridiculously overpriced!). Finally, I found a set I like,.... I truly even think I like it better than my original one I got last year.
Turns out, after they added up my return and the cost of the new set, I still had $550 to spend! Woo hoo! They did offer me the exchange out of the time frame with the stipulation that it had to be for equal or greater value, OF COURSE.
SO, I went looking. Actually, I knew right away one thing I wanted to get. I have always wanted a sapphire and diamond ring and I knew exactly the one I wanted. That was easy....still have some $$ to spend....la de da...what to get...it was SO FUN except I had a bad headache and the kids were really getting bored (yeah, Corey too). I looked at a chain because I have a beautiful sapphire and diamond cross that I don't have a chain for, but it would have been $190 over my amount to get it. I finally picked out some hoop earrings. They are very pretty. I ended up spending $40 more dollars, but it was almost impossible to get it exactly even....either go $40 over or go $200 over...ha ha.

Anyway, here are my purchases. I love them. I am so happy and glad that this is over and love my rings even better than what I had before! Yay!
This actually has four smaller stones that give the look of the big stone in the middle. I like that I can wear the band alone if I want to....good to have the choice for different days/situations.

I have wanted a sapphire ring like this one for a long time! It is gorgeous!
Not as "big" as it looks on here really. I don't like "big" rings.
Cute, all purpose hoop earrings...with some diamonds.

Rock Stars!

We got a new toy in the mail today. Corey found an awesome deal on Rock Band II. It is originally priced out at about $160-$180 for the set he got which includes the game, drums, microphone, and 2 guitars. Because of a pricing mistake and a bonus he had for a particular retailer, he ended up getting the entire set for about $60. (If Bethany is reading this, do you remember the conversation we had about this, kind of unreal, huh?)
So, anyway, it came today and we checked it out for a little bit with the kids after dinner. The premise is you are a band and you have to play along with the music on your instrument (or sing) and get a good score for accuracy. They had fun. Fortunately, there is a "no fail" mode where the kids can just play whatever they want and it doesn't affect the score of the game! ha ha!
Corey now has his brother over for a "real" trial run with the game.

In the Arctic

During our recent "arctic blast" I decided to have the kids learn about polar animals.
We started with penguins, then last week learned about polar bears.
Here they are with their polar bear faces they made.
Of course, this activity, was more about motor skills than polar bears! ha ha!
On a side note: don't you love the coordinating shirts Katie and Noah are wearing?
Part of their Disney wardrobe!

A Lesson in faith...second year in a row!

It started snowing a bit here at our house around 6:00 or so. It was coming down pretty good but not sticking, so I didn't even tell the kids (they were distracted by a movie and I was making dinner). So later, they discovered this fact on their own. By this time the snow was just truly a "flurry" and it just looked like it had rained. They quickly got out a blue plastic bowl...."Mommy!!! Mommy!!! It's snowing! We have to put the bowl out there to catch some snow!!!!!"
Really?! "Well," I said, "it isn't sticking to the ground, I don't want to go out in the wet."
"Come on, we ALWAYS put a bowl out to catch the snow!!!" (always meaning we did that last year)

And, I remembered what happened last year. So...I reluctantly went out on the back deck and put their bowl out in the middle where it *might* catch some snow.

Low and behold if the snow doesn't pick up....here is a picture after about an hour. Nothing huge, but hey, it's something. I thought it was over...but after it was dark a couple of hours it started sticking. Here is what they were excited to see after we finished eating:
The snow has stopped at the moment, but it calls for a low of 26 degrees tonight and scattered flurries, so they may end up with a bit more by morning.

After seeing their bowl, this verse jumped in my mind:

"Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith will it be done to you" -Matthew 9:29

There's a lesson in there somewhere. It kind of goes along with my Bible memory verse for the second part of this month also......"whatever you ask for in prayer, BELIEVE."

The bowl was set out BEFORE it started snowing hard and sticking.
What bowl has God asked you to put out there?
"According to (our) faith" will God do great things for us.

This brings it all around to my verse for the month:

Mark 11:24
"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer,
believe that you have received it and it will be yours."

"According to your faith........"

Me Too!

Today Noah was in his room "cleaning" and I was in our room...cleaning (no quotes there!). He started calling me to come in his room and I said "Hold on I can't come in there right now I am right in the middle of something."

I was, in fact, trying to prevent an avalanche that was trying to happen in our closet. Some stuff from the top shelf was falling on my head...so..yeah, I was tied up.

He responded with, "I wish you had two more arms!"

Ha ha!!!!! I said, "you wish I had two more arms?!" and he said, "yeah, two more streeeetchy arms so you can reach a long way in here too"

ME TOO NOAH!!!!!! ha.

Scandala!

So, the other night the kids were playing and apparently they had made up a game. When Corey got home Katie was being really hilarious, showing us the "move" she had come up with to "win the game." Corey took a video and posted it on his blog...Click HERE to see the clip. So funny!

Oh yeah, you will have to pause his music player to hear them.

Katie's Game Day

I just realized that I forgot to blog about Katie's game day. She did have the next night to choose a game to play for the family.

Katie's game night was less involved and competitive than what Noah planned. Her game night was: tea party.

We had a tea party on the rug. All four of us. We had sugar in our tea, pretend cakes, etc...all the stuff that goes along with a tea party. It was fun..she was a great hostess!

Game Night, Noah style!

We had a family game night tonight. Noah was our master coordinator of events and he actually managed to incorporate a floppy flyer, bean bag, monster golf ball, croquet mallet, and a soccer ball into a series of fun games....

First of all, he told us that we were going to be on teams. The girls were on a team and the boys were on a team. The series of games were as follows:

1. Throwing a floppy flyer and/or beanbag to each other.

2. Kicking a soccer ball back and forth down the hallway.

3. Croquolf (I just came up with that name) One person uses a foam croquet mallet to hit a monster golf ball into a bowl turned sideways while the other person blocks them.

Noah picked Croquolf first while Katie and I alternated throwing the floppy flyer and beanbag. At Noah's signal we all rotated and had a turn at each activity.

It was fun because Noah REALLY enjoyed making up the games and being boss as he explained the rules and procedures. At the end he announced that the winners were "the grown-ups" and we announced that he was the best game maker of the night.

Tomorrow Katie gets a turn. What fun!

When the world of make-believe fails...

So, I was listening to the kids play with the kitchen playset. They were "cooking" food for each other, typical stuff, etc.
Apparently Katie had made a "jelly-roll" for Noah (first of all, where would she have heard of, experienced a jelly-roll anyway, but that is not the point), and Noah, in typical Noah style, would not give the jelly-roll a single thought and would NOT try it.
Katie was trying to convince him to try the jelly roll, she said, "It is the most wonderful tasty treat in the world!"

Noah just looked at her and replied, "Katie, that is a mabnet." He has trouble saying "magnet" for some reason...and he has a cold.

So matter of fact. She had used a magnet letter as the "jelly roll." I guess he really didn't want to try a jelly roll.