Not everything tastes like chicken.

Posted April 18th, 2007 by Mom | Comments (0)

The boys and I had a wonderful new experience this morning. They watched me cut up a whole pineapple that I purchased at the grocery store a few days ago. They are often inquisitive about where things come from, and I want them to understand that food and products don’t just come from stores - they are grown and made into usable products.

I have pulled over to the side of the road to pick some cotton for them and then explained how the machines pick the cotton to take to the factories to have their clothes made, they have helped me squeeze lemons to make lemon juice in turn created into lemonade, and I frequently try to show them the nature that God created for us to tend.

The boys and I loved eating the pineapple. They watched me cut off the top, sides and bottom to reveal the juicy, sweet fruit. They loved the large slices as opposed to the tidbits that I usually purchase in the can.

There was only one issue:

J said, “It tastes like strawberry.”

Mommy, “Um,…”

Need a light?

Posted April 17th, 2007 by Mom | Comments (1)

A long time ago, B told me, “It is sometimes easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission.”

I have used that quote before when I have had to ask forgiveness from B or to explain why I did something. I’m sure B highly regrets ever mentioning that phrase to me and if he had to redo any moment in his life, it would be to NOT tell me that.

Ever since we moved into our home, we have not liked the paint or most of the light fixtures. The builder used a cream colored paint in flat texture. For homes with kids, flat paint is not good. It shows every fingerprint and every mark. The only good thing about flat paint is that if there are any flaws in the wall, they are disguised. The paint I prefer is interior satin. It has a slight shiny sheen and holds up well to being washed. When we purchased this home, it wasn’t totally complete. We got to pick out the carpet and tile. I’m so glad to have tile in our bathroom. (The builder was going to put carpet in our bathroom. Can you imagine?! Constant moisture on carpet - Eeeewwwww!!!)

Anyway back to my story… Yesterday I decided I wanted to paint our 1/2 bathroom that is off the kitchen. Very slowly I am painting the whole house… I looked in the bathroom to establish a game plan and determined that I might as well remove the light fixture. This would make painting the wall above the mirror easier.

A few months ago, I talked to one of my girlfriends (Jill) and she told me that she didn’t like her bathroom light fixtures either so she took them down and spray painted them. Well, if Jill can do that, I can take mine down, too. It took me a few minutes to figure it out. Once I had the lights out, I unscrewed the cover and took it off too. Looking at the wires was a bit intimidating, but I thought - “I’ve got the cover off now, I might as well go to the home improvement store and purchase a new light fixture. Why paint the walls pretty, get new towels and floor mat and have an ugly light fixture in there?”

Back home, I painted the walls and installed the new light fixture (after turning off the breaker). I’m really proud of myself. It looks really good.

When B got home, he didn’t comment on the paint smell. I don’t know if he noticed it or not. He did ask if I mopped the kitchen floor since he could smell the pine sol from where I cleaned the bathroom before putting everything on the floor and counter. Clean AND pretty bathroom.

After dinner, B excused himself and went to the bathroom, he was shocked at the change. First he noticed the paint color. Then he went back and I heard an exclamation as he noticed the light fixture. Talk about shock! He was quite impressed (as a matter of fact, he said that he was going to brag about me at work today…).

I am proficient at using screwdrivers and hammers, power drills, paint and paint brushes, ladders and step stools, and I can now change out a light fixture.

Fire?!

Posted April 15th, 2007 by Mom | Comments (0)

This morning, B and I were scheduled to serve in childcare at church. I decided that since we were going to be helping with J’s class, that we might as well have C with us since he had already been to Sunday School and would just be in childcare in his classroom as well.

There were 6 helpers, including us, in J’s classroom. There were around 12 kids (2-3 years old, with the exception of C). Ratio was pretty good.

However, the ratio wasn’t good enough to prevent one of the little ones from standing on a table and pulling the fire alarm.

Guess what! It wasn’t either C or J that pulled the fire alarm. Surprise, Surprise!

This was a good teaching moment, after the church person came and turned off the alarm, to teach the children about fire alarms, real and false.

When the church man came to turn off the alarm, he was talking into his walkie talkie. I overheard part of the conversation. He gave the room number where the alarm was activated and said, “two words - 2 year olds.”

I’m tired

Posted April 11th, 2007 by Mom | Comments (0)

Well, our front flower bed has fresh mulch. The kids enjoyed playing in it. I dragged the 14 bags around to where I wanted them dumped, cut the bags to release the mulch and then spread it out. In the meantime, while I was working in the flower beds, the kids were also busy working.

C and J were busy making new piles in the freshly spread mulch. Imagine smooth, pretty flower beds with irregularly placed smaller piles, sand shovels and matchbox cars. I don’t know if they buried any of the cars. Time will tell as the mulch disintegrates and as C and J start asking where their cars are.

C and J also enjoyed packing the mulch in their pails and transporting it to other areas of the flower bed. Such good helpers.

Will this ever end?

Posted April 9th, 2007 by Mom | Comments (0)

C (the almost 5 year old) came in the kitchen just a moment ago. He had a tic tac stuffed up his nose.

Okay - new problem. It has been J that has been stuffing stuff up his nose the past couple of months. Not C - he has never done this before. Come on, now! Shouldn’t the older one be teaching the younger one how to be mature, not the younger one teaching the older one bad stuff?!

Bigger problem - as soon as I got the tic tac out of C’s nose, he reached for it and put it in his mouth… Eeeeewwww.

(Should this be categorized under Everyday Life or Health?)

Screenwriter’s dream audience

Posted April 7th, 2007 by Mom | Comments (0)

I really am a screenwriter’s dream audience. I require spoon feeding of the plot lines. B on the other hand can usually figure out the plot, main character’s roles and the ending all before the opening credits.

A few months ago, B and I had a discussion that mainly was one sided. I instructed B to PLEASE not utter any comments during a show - either movie or tv show - that we both are watching. His comments totally ruin the shows for me. His comments make me feel totally stupid that I didn’t think as far ahead as he did. Granted, he is really smart, but so am I! I just watch shows for the pure entertainment value, not to think. Thinking ruins the “veggie” feeling of watching. If I wanted to think, I would read instead. Reading is for thinking people.

This evening, since we had a babysitter, I picked the movie to go see. I chose “Premonition” with Sandra Bullock. B read the reviews and they weren’t very good. That led me to think that I would really like the movie. What do reviewers know? They think watching a screen requires thinking. Oh, how they are wrong.

I really liked the movie. Instead of B commenting all through the show, the girls behind me in the theater did that for him. I didn’t get mad at B, but I still knew what was going on. I actually turned to the girls as we were leaving and told them that I want to sit in front of them at our next movie. They were really good at figuring out the plot or what was going to happen next.

As we were leaving, I asked B if he wanted to stay for a double feature. His comment was that the next movie would have to be something like “300″ (which I guess is a macho film?) since whatever we watched next would have to counter balance the estrogen of “Premonition!”