Randomness

I haven’t posted a what’s-going-on-in-our-family sort of post in awhile, so I’m posting one this morning, mostly for the sake of my mom (hi, Mom!), who likes to know what her grandchildren are doing. Also because if I don’t write things in the blog I tend to forget they happened. Also because I have nothing deep to post today anyway.

1. Yesterday Squeezy got into a tub of Vaseline that I accidentally left in her bedroom. Art walked into her room to find her with her pants down around her knees, smearing the stuff on her bum and shining like the sun. It could have been a lot worse. But she still required much scrubbing.

2. I have been reading Howard Pyle’s Robin Hood to the boys and we are just loving it. It makes me laugh how every time they meet a new character they have to fight him. I guess men haven’t changed much in the last few centuries, huh?

3. I’ve also been reading the Just So Stories to Stinky and they are delightful. I’m always happy when they pop up in my list of things to read for the day. Yesterday I read him “The Beginning of the Armadillos.” He didn’t know what an armadillo was so we had to look it up. He declared them “creepy.”

4. You know that sound the coffee maker makes when it’s almost done percolating? I love that sound. That is the sound of happy morning magic.

5. The boys are participating in our homeschool group’s production of The Three Trees. Most of the kids need tree costumes, but Bubs is supposed to be a stump. I can handle hot gluing leaves to Stinky’s shirt to make him a tree, but I’m not sure how to create a stump. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

6. One of my current annoyances is the way that stuff keeps appearing on the back of the piano. Stuff that, unlike my cute little snowman display, does not belong there and does not look seasonally adorable. Do you think that throwing it all away would count as going off the deep end?

7. Art has been reading Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang to the boys in the evenings, while I provide sound effects (warning: that link does include some explicit language). Last night Art read something about a box full of cartridges, and Bubs piped up and said, “But where’s the pear tree?” Which might be the first time he ever told a joke he made up himself that was actually funny. These are precious milestones and must be remembered.

8. I’ve been trying to stick to a cleaning schedule for the last few weeks, and it’s been going really well. Tuesday is mop-the-kitchen-and-dining-room day, so yesterday after lunch I had the boys pull out all the chairs and everything and then I mopped once everyone had gone to their rooms for quiet time. And then, two hours later, I sent my boys out to play in the snow. You know how you get into my house from the backyard? Through the dining room, over my freshly mopped floor. I’m a genius. So when they were ready to come in I gave them very specific instructions involving brushing snow off outside, hanging up gear, and drying the floor with a towel. They actually did pretty well about it. My little babies are growing up.

9. Art’s resume has started going forth from our home, unto the ends of the earth. Well, not really of the earth, actually. But you know. It kind of has me in this constant state of panicky excitement, overlaid by a thin veneer of Peace That Passes Understanding. It’s hard to explain. I just know this: God has led us this far, and He’s not going to forget about us now that graduation is getting close. Now . . . breathe.

10. I simply love having a word for the year, and I’m wondering why I never did this before. It has been such a great way to refocus myself when the day is getting away from me. What can I do in this moment to glorify God? Such a great reminder.

11. If I don’t make breakfast soon, my children might start eating each other, so I guess this is it for now. Hope your day is beautiful! 🙂