Yeah Yeah....i'm that odd.
I had the kids cast lots to do chores and earn x-box time today. I was trying to think of a creative way to get them to help with chores without the ususal problems of nobody wanting to do the "hard stuff". We do not do allowance, frankly, we can not afford to pay them for work, but believe that if they live here, have beds, clothes and food, that they should be productive members of the household. We also do not feel they should play x-box all day. So, here, you have to do chores to earn x-box time.
Now that I have explained that, let me tell you what I did today. I offered the children the chance to roll the dice and get a chore and then roll the dice again and see how much time they could earn. Just to make it fun, one of the things they could earn was -30 mintues of x-box time. ...in other words, do the chore and LOSE x-box time. But on the cool end of things, they could also roll and get UNLIMITED x-box time this visit to the house and the next (they are my step-sons, we get them every other weekend).
The chores, assorted stuff like take down the Christmas lights from outside, clean out the van, put away the clean dishes....nothing HORRIBLE, just stuff that needs to be done.
SO, next time you are trying to find a fun way to get the kids to do something around the house, grab the dice from your games and cast a lot or two.
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Saturday, January 21, 2006
Will my future daughter-in-law please stand up.
MB came into our room last night crying....nay, sobbing.....after being in bed about 10 minutes.
Me "honey what's wrong?"
MB "I....don't....know...who...I...am...going...to.....marry" (instert giant sob here).
Me (holding back laughter)....come here baby (insert climb onto our bed and sobbing as I hug him.
You see, I forgot to pray with him abut his wife last night because, as always, he interrupts when we pray and my back was killing be bending down between the 2 bunk beds. LOL. We pray everynight, mostly for the ususal...family, friends, ppl we know who are sick, his puppy, and lately I have been praying with him for his future wife. Yeah, I know it's a long way off. The kid is only 4-1/2 years old, but I want him to have God's best for him. He's a "needy" boy and I am working on that. I always pray that his wife will love God more than she loves MB because, honestly, she will need God more than my son, but prayerfully be committed to my son. Isn't that horrible to say. There has been enough "ugly" in our family histories and I don't want my boy or my future DIL to have to go through some of the crap DH and I or MIL and FIL have gone through...the chain breaks here as far as I am concerned. Back to our conversation.....
"MB, how old are you?"
"4"
"Okay. The youngest person I know who ever thought about getting married was 18. You have 14 years to pray for a wife still....hopefully longer. Can you not worry about that tonight?"
"but mommy, we forgot to pray for her."
"Okay, lets pray for her".
and we did.
Then we snuggled. (I LOVE that he still likes to snuggle).
"okay MB, time for bed. I love you."
"Love you too mommy"
once his bedroom door closed...I laughed my butt off! It was, after all, pretty darn funny. You without sin cast the first stone....you know you laugh at your kids too.
Me "honey what's wrong?"
MB "I....don't....know...who...I...am...going...to.....marry" (instert giant sob here).
Me (holding back laughter)....come here baby (insert climb onto our bed and sobbing as I hug him.
You see, I forgot to pray with him abut his wife last night because, as always, he interrupts when we pray and my back was killing be bending down between the 2 bunk beds. LOL. We pray everynight, mostly for the ususal...family, friends, ppl we know who are sick, his puppy, and lately I have been praying with him for his future wife. Yeah, I know it's a long way off. The kid is only 4-1/2 years old, but I want him to have God's best for him. He's a "needy" boy and I am working on that. I always pray that his wife will love God more than she loves MB because, honestly, she will need God more than my son, but prayerfully be committed to my son. Isn't that horrible to say. There has been enough "ugly" in our family histories and I don't want my boy or my future DIL to have to go through some of the crap DH and I or MIL and FIL have gone through...the chain breaks here as far as I am concerned. Back to our conversation.....
"MB, how old are you?"
"4"
"Okay. The youngest person I know who ever thought about getting married was 18. You have 14 years to pray for a wife still....hopefully longer. Can you not worry about that tonight?"
"but mommy, we forgot to pray for her."
"Okay, lets pray for her".
and we did.
Then we snuggled. (I LOVE that he still likes to snuggle).
"okay MB, time for bed. I love you."
"Love you too mommy"
once his bedroom door closed...I laughed my butt off! It was, after all, pretty darn funny. You without sin cast the first stone....you know you laugh at your kids too.
Friday, January 20, 2006
School daze, school daze, wonderful Golden Rule days....
If you haven't figured it out yet, in August of this year (gulp) MB will start kindergarten along with thousands of other kiddos across the country. Like most parents, we are in the struggle to figure out where in the world to send our child to school. Should it be this hard? Private school, public school, home school, magnet school, montisori school, Christian school.....really, the options are endless...and the nausea begins.
Plop plop, fizz fizz oh what a relief it is.......(gulp). Ahhhh. Shake it off now. There, the Alka Seltzer is down and the headache is subsiding along with the tummy ache. Lets continue.
Did our parents have such a hard time figuring out what to do with us when it was time to turn 5 and begin the "formal" educational process? I don't think so. I think I remember my mother and every other mother dancing in the streets as we little tykes in our dresses or blue jeans boarded the big yellow bus for the first time, off to experience milk in tiny cartons and hot lunches that were anything but hot, fresh or tasty. Off to experiment with the taste of paste and how LONG we could play with the kitchen set before the teacher made us move to a different station and fight our battles when a boy named John H. who kissed girls when we played near the ditch in the playground. No...my mom was HAPPY SLAPPY to send me to public school through all my education. I even chose (financially) a state (gasp!) school for my college education. Honestly, I think I turned out okay.
But I don't know if I am just super duper paranoid or if things really are scarier sooner now, but I'm all fits and fidgets about sending MB to a public school, but we really can not afford the cost of a private or Christian school and after-care since school gets out before work gets out. So we are left with the conundrum of public school or bankruptcy if I stay home and home school (which was the original plan foiled a few months ago when I lost my work-from-home job).
Now, before you get all hot and bothered and start flaming me about public school, I will confess the one we are zoned for is okay. The teachers are kind, the principal is guarded but nice. I hear it is one of the best elementary schools in the district. All very good things...but again, I'm paranoid and worry about MB and dehydration and medications....and exposure to 22 kids in a classroom every day. That is my biggest fear.
The whole "Christian education" sounds great, but I know that bad stuff goes on there too.
I have to believe that God will watch my son. I know that I am responsible for supplementing my son's public school education with the truths of the Bible and the love of God. I know that it is my job to bathe my son in prayer, to pray for his teachers, principal, board of education and even the janitor....and believe me, I do. Right now he goes to a Christian woman's home every day I work and I know she takes care of him, but you know what...every day I drop him off I lay my hands on him and pray that God will watch over him and protect him and that GOD will guard my heart and let me trust HIM with my very precious monkey boy.
They are going to be exposed to LOTS of stuff, but with God all things are possible and I know, after all, that HE has a plan for my monkey boy and it is perfect, and nothing I do can thwart Him from His will.
Behold, the comfort of God.
Plop plop, fizz fizz oh what a relief it is.......(gulp). Ahhhh. Shake it off now. There, the Alka Seltzer is down and the headache is subsiding along with the tummy ache. Lets continue.
Did our parents have such a hard time figuring out what to do with us when it was time to turn 5 and begin the "formal" educational process? I don't think so. I think I remember my mother and every other mother dancing in the streets as we little tykes in our dresses or blue jeans boarded the big yellow bus for the first time, off to experience milk in tiny cartons and hot lunches that were anything but hot, fresh or tasty. Off to experiment with the taste of paste and how LONG we could play with the kitchen set before the teacher made us move to a different station and fight our battles when a boy named John H. who kissed girls when we played near the ditch in the playground. No...my mom was HAPPY SLAPPY to send me to public school through all my education. I even chose (financially) a state (gasp!) school for my college education. Honestly, I think I turned out okay.
But I don't know if I am just super duper paranoid or if things really are scarier sooner now, but I'm all fits and fidgets about sending MB to a public school, but we really can not afford the cost of a private or Christian school and after-care since school gets out before work gets out. So we are left with the conundrum of public school or bankruptcy if I stay home and home school (which was the original plan foiled a few months ago when I lost my work-from-home job).
Now, before you get all hot and bothered and start flaming me about public school, I will confess the one we are zoned for is okay. The teachers are kind, the principal is guarded but nice. I hear it is one of the best elementary schools in the district. All very good things...but again, I'm paranoid and worry about MB and dehydration and medications....and exposure to 22 kids in a classroom every day. That is my biggest fear.
The whole "Christian education" sounds great, but I know that bad stuff goes on there too.
I have to believe that God will watch my son. I know that I am responsible for supplementing my son's public school education with the truths of the Bible and the love of God. I know that it is my job to bathe my son in prayer, to pray for his teachers, principal, board of education and even the janitor....and believe me, I do. Right now he goes to a Christian woman's home every day I work and I know she takes care of him, but you know what...every day I drop him off I lay my hands on him and pray that God will watch over him and protect him and that GOD will guard my heart and let me trust HIM with my very precious monkey boy.
They are going to be exposed to LOTS of stuff, but with God all things are possible and I know, after all, that HE has a plan for my monkey boy and it is perfect, and nothing I do can thwart Him from His will.
Behold, the comfort of God.
Friday, January 13, 2006
The ugliest word ever.
Cancer. That is it. You thought it was a cuss word. It may as well be. I am so SICK to death of hearing the word cancer because it is so vile to me.
My mom had breast cancer in 1996. She had a radical mastectomy and reconstruction and is doing well so far. (I watched the surgery on the Discovery Channel, it's amazing anybody survives that thing!!! Horrible. I learned 2 valuable lessons that day...1) don't ever watch a surgery you know somebody had on television and 2) you can use a crowbar for more than just pulling houses apart.) My mom's stock went up big time after I saw that on television (cable). Not only did she survive a hideous surgery, but she survived having her pain meds stolen by a random evening/overnight nurse at a Chicagoland hospital. How did she know what they gave her was a Tylenol with a 3 scratched into it.....the woman worked in a pharmacy for over 13 years. I think she knows the real thing. And yes, she did turn her in after she left the hospital. See, mom is smart!.
My dad is a cancer survivor. He had tongue cancer diagnosed in the 1990's (not sure exactly when). He had 1/3 of his tongue cut out and still has problems with swelling, but is cancer free.
I just found out my grandmother has breast cancer. She's over 80, so they are not doing anything for her, her health is too fragile already.
My great-aunt has advanced liver/kidney cancer.
I am part of a prayer group and everyday I get emails of people and tragic stories of kids and moms and young dads and grandmas and grandpas with cancer.
I have a sweet friend who is still struggling with skin cancer.
I found out yesterday that a very respected National MOPs leader has stage 4 ovarian cancer.
That word. I hate it. I am no longer standing still about it either. I am diligently praying against it in my own life. The chain stops here...it will not affect my family. I pray that your family is not affected by it or that it goes no further if you have already been beaten up by it.
I also have begun changing the way I eat and exercise to prevent that potential stronghold. I have never smoked, but was exposed to 2nd hand smoke all my childhood, but I refuse to let that win. I will ask my doctor for a mammogram next time I see her in April. I will schedule that darn Pap even though I don't want to do it. I will get rid of what I know will/can hurt me.
I declare war on cancer in my own life. I am not afraid of you, cancer, you have no place here!
Join me in the battle. Look at your life and see what you can change to prevent cancer and then pray with me that that word will fade from our vocabulary.
My mom had breast cancer in 1996. She had a radical mastectomy and reconstruction and is doing well so far. (I watched the surgery on the Discovery Channel, it's amazing anybody survives that thing!!! Horrible. I learned 2 valuable lessons that day...1) don't ever watch a surgery you know somebody had on television and 2) you can use a crowbar for more than just pulling houses apart.) My mom's stock went up big time after I saw that on television (cable). Not only did she survive a hideous surgery, but she survived having her pain meds stolen by a random evening/overnight nurse at a Chicagoland hospital. How did she know what they gave her was a Tylenol with a 3 scratched into it.....the woman worked in a pharmacy for over 13 years. I think she knows the real thing. And yes, she did turn her in after she left the hospital. See, mom is smart!.
My dad is a cancer survivor. He had tongue cancer diagnosed in the 1990's (not sure exactly when). He had 1/3 of his tongue cut out and still has problems with swelling, but is cancer free.
I just found out my grandmother has breast cancer. She's over 80, so they are not doing anything for her, her health is too fragile already.
My great-aunt has advanced liver/kidney cancer.
I am part of a prayer group and everyday I get emails of people and tragic stories of kids and moms and young dads and grandmas and grandpas with cancer.
I have a sweet friend who is still struggling with skin cancer.
I found out yesterday that a very respected National MOPs leader has stage 4 ovarian cancer.
That word. I hate it. I am no longer standing still about it either. I am diligently praying against it in my own life. The chain stops here...it will not affect my family. I pray that your family is not affected by it or that it goes no further if you have already been beaten up by it.
I also have begun changing the way I eat and exercise to prevent that potential stronghold. I have never smoked, but was exposed to 2nd hand smoke all my childhood, but I refuse to let that win. I will ask my doctor for a mammogram next time I see her in April. I will schedule that darn Pap even though I don't want to do it. I will get rid of what I know will/can hurt me.
I declare war on cancer in my own life. I am not afraid of you, cancer, you have no place here!
Join me in the battle. Look at your life and see what you can change to prevent cancer and then pray with me that that word will fade from our vocabulary.
Saturday, January 07, 2006
The newborn is gonna kill me
The puppy that is. I really need puppy training advice or something. This dog (and the boy who owns it). Why is it that having a puppy in the house is worse than having a newborn and why is my husband so aggressively angry at this dog all the time like she should KNOW not to whine at 1:30, 2, 3:30, and 5am when we are trying to sleep?
Yes, that is her schedule. We have to keep her in a kennel during the day so she is very ready to play at night. She's a puppy, so I get it. I don't like it, but I understand. Now that we have this dog this is a sample day at my house, starting at bedtime so you really understand....
10:30p I go into the bedroom to unwind watching the grown up cartoons on Adult Swim (my guilty pleasure)
11:15p nothing else good on, lights out and sleep (the dog kennel is in our room so she does not think we are not here)
12:35a dog starts whining....somebody has to run her outside. I try to wait until DH does this.
1:30...more dog whining....more freezziinng cold taking the dog out.
2:30....dog starts whining again....DH throws a pillow at the dogs kennel and yells "Zelda, shut up.
2:32....pillow not affective in exploding the dog kennel like the bomb it was thrown to be...dog starts whining again. DH storms out of bed, shaking house, death grips dog from the cage and throws her outside.
3:30....yup, more dog whining....we both ignore her.
5 am....dog is whining again. Now I have had enough and I know how to shut her up. I take her out of the cage and outside. Then when she comes in I sit in the recliner, reset the alarm clock for 7:15 a after I give MB medicine and Zelda and I snuggle down on the recliner for a nap before I go to work.
7 am....DH gets up and runs across the room late for work.
7:15....alarm goes off and I have to get up, get MB ready for his 'job' at daycare and get myself ready for work.
7:35 a MB is up and should be eating, but instead he is whining loudly because Zelda is trying to eat his pullup while it is still on him.
7:36. Feed and water dog.
8 am...jump in shower for very fast shower before work.....ahhh silence...nope, that is MB standing outside the bathroom screaming bloody murder b/c the dog is trying to eat him again (she is playing, he's convinced he's dying....bad combination for angry mommy)
8:30 I'm now yelling at MB to get ready that we leave in 15 mintues. He is insisting that he is getting dressed. Tyring to prep dinner or start dinner if it is a crockpot dish.
8:40. I'm still trying to get ready, hair dripping wet, putting medicine and toys for the day into the daycare bag, yelling at MB regarding eating his oatmeal and where did he put his socks.
8:47...ok, we are late...where is the dog.....gotta put her in the kennel so I can go to work and come home to SOME house left.....where is the dog....come back here......I said come here (me lunging for the dog again)......Zelda......(insert whining from Sam because he STILL Does not have his socks or shoes on...he claims he does not know how).
8:48: mommy has a total meltdown and starts yelling. Suddenly shoes are on and dog willingly goes into kennel.
8:50 we are in the car and heading to the babysitter...oh man, where is my cell phone....lunch and/or cup of coffee.....
9am...drop MB at the sitter and hop back in car.
9:45....arrive at work, log in, breath.....
10a till 7 p.......work.
7:20, get home (or stop for whatever we need).
7:20:30 Hug boy, smootch dad and take dog outside for a walk so she will 1)not pee in the house and 2) be outside with somebody for a change, she likes that.
7:40 feed and eat dinner (make sure dog has eaten) and try to watch a little tv.
8:30, get boy in bed, movie started, do dishes, clean up a little, start a load of laundry and plan for tomorrow (heck, pray tomorrow gets better!)
10pm try to head toward the bedroom....
10:30...we are back at the beginning of the loop.
SO.......can anybody assess why I am so tired lately?
Yes, that is her schedule. We have to keep her in a kennel during the day so she is very ready to play at night. She's a puppy, so I get it. I don't like it, but I understand. Now that we have this dog this is a sample day at my house, starting at bedtime so you really understand....
10:30p I go into the bedroom to unwind watching the grown up cartoons on Adult Swim (my guilty pleasure)
11:15p nothing else good on, lights out and sleep (the dog kennel is in our room so she does not think we are not here)
12:35a dog starts whining....somebody has to run her outside. I try to wait until DH does this.
1:30...more dog whining....more freezziinng cold taking the dog out.
2:30....dog starts whining again....DH throws a pillow at the dogs kennel and yells "Zelda, shut up.
2:32....pillow not affective in exploding the dog kennel like the bomb it was thrown to be...dog starts whining again. DH storms out of bed, shaking house, death grips dog from the cage and throws her outside.
3:30....yup, more dog whining....we both ignore her.
5 am....dog is whining again. Now I have had enough and I know how to shut her up. I take her out of the cage and outside. Then when she comes in I sit in the recliner, reset the alarm clock for 7:15 a after I give MB medicine and Zelda and I snuggle down on the recliner for a nap before I go to work.
7 am....DH gets up and runs across the room late for work.
7:15....alarm goes off and I have to get up, get MB ready for his 'job' at daycare and get myself ready for work.
7:35 a MB is up and should be eating, but instead he is whining loudly because Zelda is trying to eat his pullup while it is still on him.
7:36. Feed and water dog.
8 am...jump in shower for very fast shower before work.....ahhh silence...nope, that is MB standing outside the bathroom screaming bloody murder b/c the dog is trying to eat him again (she is playing, he's convinced he's dying....bad combination for angry mommy)
8:30 I'm now yelling at MB to get ready that we leave in 15 mintues. He is insisting that he is getting dressed. Tyring to prep dinner or start dinner if it is a crockpot dish.
8:40. I'm still trying to get ready, hair dripping wet, putting medicine and toys for the day into the daycare bag, yelling at MB regarding eating his oatmeal and where did he put his socks.
8:47...ok, we are late...where is the dog.....gotta put her in the kennel so I can go to work and come home to SOME house left.....where is the dog....come back here......I said come here (me lunging for the dog again)......Zelda......(insert whining from Sam because he STILL Does not have his socks or shoes on...he claims he does not know how).
8:48: mommy has a total meltdown and starts yelling. Suddenly shoes are on and dog willingly goes into kennel.
8:50 we are in the car and heading to the babysitter...oh man, where is my cell phone....lunch and/or cup of coffee.....
9am...drop MB at the sitter and hop back in car.
9:45....arrive at work, log in, breath.....
10a till 7 p.......work.
7:20, get home (or stop for whatever we need).
7:20:30 Hug boy, smootch dad and take dog outside for a walk so she will 1)not pee in the house and 2) be outside with somebody for a change, she likes that.
7:40 feed and eat dinner (make sure dog has eaten) and try to watch a little tv.
8:30, get boy in bed, movie started, do dishes, clean up a little, start a load of laundry and plan for tomorrow (heck, pray tomorrow gets better!)
10pm try to head toward the bedroom....
10:30...we are back at the beginning of the loop.
SO.......can anybody assess why I am so tired lately?
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