Summertime=haircuts at home

In an effort to cut down cost, I always buzz cut the boys hair through the summer. Then we let it grow the rest of the year, just getting it trimmed a couple of times.

It is NOT something I enjoy doing at all.

It's NOT something they enjoy at all.

A few years ago, the older boys discovered that if I buzz it all the way down to nothing it's over much faster. Also, they can get through the whole summer with just one cut. So, that's what I've done the past few years.

This year, Jerald decided he didn't want it quite that short. He was willing to endure a longer time frame and he was very patient with me. It doesn't look too dreadful...at least I don't think it does. If you see us and it's awful, please let me live in denial. ;-)

Rocklin started off wanting it the way I did Jerald's, but after a few minutes he was fast heading towards meltdown mode. We decided it was best for both of us to just shave it all off.

Next up was Aaron. He wanted a nice blend between the two...sides/back shaved and top short. He was the easiest of all of them.

Last was Parker. There is a reason he's last. He starts a meltdown before it's even his turn. I tried bribing him, didn't work. I told him I'd shave it all the way since it was faster. A minute or two into it, he said "I thought you said it was faster. This is NOT fast enough". Another couple of minutes and he was screaming. I was sure the neighbors thought I was beating him to death.

By the time I had just the top left, he was completely hysterical and I was nearly in tears. Kev was holding him and trying to calm him down. I opted then to do a mohawk. Yeah, I know it's not a nice "church boy" haircut, but oh well. I did a quick swipe down each side and I just could not make him endure one more second.

So, it's not exactly a cut his daddy likes, but even daddy has to admit that he's adorable!
(besides, I think daddy was almost in tears too)

My Birthday blessings...

On Tuesday, Jerald kicked off the day by giving me these flowers. He went shopping with Kev the night before and bought them. It was quite a surprise, as I don't get flowers often and Jerald usually "spills the beans" on stuff like this pretty quickly.

While I prepared breakfast, this card appeared on the table...

I have no pictures, but later in the day I was showered with several of my favorite candies, a mango scented candle, picture frames, a sheet set and comforter and one son gave me three dollars of his own money.

My biggest birthday blessings are the ones that money cannot buy. The memories made as we played and cuddled and chatted away the day are priceless. Once Kev was home from work, we ventured out to the park for a bit of play time before dinner.

I'm pretty sure that every year, I say "this is the best birthday ever".

Every year, I mean it!!

Recent Quotables

(I apologize for the repeats for those on facebook and/or twitter)

1)The other night, Kev asked Parker to let the dogs back in the house. He said it in such a way that it gave Parker the impression that it was an optional request. (parenting tip #476 If you request something in the form of an optional question, do not be surprised when the answer is no)

Parker's response: A short pause and then "No, I'm a King and kings don't do that kind of stuff"

2)This isn't as funny reading it, but trust me it's funny. Every single time someone mentions an odd odor, Parker blames Rocklin. Poor Rocklin has done nothing to deserve this honor. We have no clue why he picked Rocklin over others in the family. Someone will say, "what's that I smell?" and with no thought and in a very matter of fact tone, Parker will just say "it's Rock of course".

3) Parker: "I think I'm gonna die." Why do you think that? "cause I'm hot and I have a headache, I can't clean 'cause I'm just gonna die". It was an effort to stay inside, but avoid chores. The other kids are outside and I told him "go outside with your siblings or stay in and help me clean".

4)Aaron wrote Parker's name on a slip of paper...P-a-r-K-e-R. Parker is insisting it's wrong. "my name is 'pelled O-R-A-and some other ledders"

5)Aaron and Parker had dentists appointments last week. I was trying to prep them for what it would be like, etc. Aaron did not believe me that he really had to go. He said, "I thought you was just trying to trip me".

6) The next morning, I was getting them ready to go. Aaron took in a deep breath and said, "I am so not excited about this" and Parker said, "I do NOT want him to touch my teef". I think I've mentioned before that Jerald just loves going to the dentist. He asked if he could go to help keep them calm. When they got home, everyone was happy. Aaron said he really liked going and that "Jay was such a good helper to me. He told me 'bout everything and so I wasn't scared as much like." Parker was just thrilled that he got a new toothbrush. He would have a toothbrush in his mouth half the day if I let him, and he loves getting new ones.

7) Jerald is on this holiday kick. He keeps looking up obscure holidays to share. His favorites so far, National Chocolate Chip day (May 15th) and National Packrat day (May 17th). He knows that he and Kev are the packrats of the house. He told Kev, "I think we should both celebrate it"...I was thinking, "you celebrate it every day, just look around the house".

8)The children brought home baby frogs and tadpoles from the pond at church. I heard Parker say, "Look, I made a rock". I turned to look and he had dumped an entire box of baking soda into the center of their home to make a "rock". We have no more frogs or tadpoles :-(

9)Parker's learning the art of flattery: "Your belly is like a big boulder and your hair is like a camels hump."

10) Aaron's favorite blanket was dirty and he asked me the other night to be sure and wash it yesterday. I washed it, but forgot to switch it to the dryer until just before bedtime. He went to bed only to come out a few minutes later. He was very concerned and quite serious when he said, "it seems we have a serious problem here. My butterfly blanket is not on my bed." I apologized and told him it was in the dryer, that I would bring it to him as soon as it was finished. He replied with "it's okay that you messed up. You can just put it on me when it's finished. Waking me up would really not be a good thing though, so do it gently and very very quiet like".

11)Rocklin doesn't say much that sticks in my mind. He's fairly quiet as far as words go. He's definately not quiet in volume, but he's more of the sound effects, always drumming on something kind of guy. He is constantly doing funny things though. He is very dramatic in his play and does things like...take the stuffing from a destroyed dog toy and put it all around his head/under his hat to make it look like clown hair. He is the master of costumes and nearly every day is dressed up like an explorer, or an HVAC guy or a football player, etc.

12) A few weeks ago, the children were pretending to be various explorers. They dressed up and I asked them each who they were pretending to be. Jerald was Magellan, Rocklin was Columbus, Magdalyn was Vespucci. I asked Aaron and he said, "no one special. I'm just a pirate. Arrrgh". I looked at Parker, he pulled on his shirt, which happened to be Kev's Grinch shirt again. Then he said, "I just a grinch that's all, just a grinch".

13)During this playtime, Jerald decided to make "hardtack, but without the bugs" so they could be authentic explorers. After enjoying their treat?, it was announced "it tasted like half-dryed playdough". I am not even going to ask how in the world they know what half-dryed playdough tastes like.

14)I was in the shower yesterday when Mag needed to use the bathroom. She came in to do her business and said, "just so you know, I took my hat off for you because you are a lady" ???? Okay. Deep sigh. "I'm pretending to be a Union soldier, you know those were all men and you are a lady so I took my hat off for you until I go out".

15)Last night, Aaron had a belly ache and was ready for bed. He does not enjoy brushing his teeth nearly as much as Parker does, so he's always looking for an excuse to skip teeth brushing. He mustered up the most pitiful tone and facial expression he could and said "My belly hurts so so much that I cannot even open my mouth. So, can I just skip brushing my teeth?"

16)My recent favorite is Aaron's request for grilled cheese...

"I don't want a sandwich. I just want grilled cheese."

I assume he thinks that a sandwich= cold, so a grilled cheese sandwich is not a sandwich?

While I'm preparing it, he says "I want a grilled cheese without the cheese"

I have no idea what he means.

We go back and forth for a few minutes, neither of us understanding the other.

Finally in exasperation he says, "Nevermind. Can I just have toast and be done with it?"

After much thought, I think what he really wanted was crispy bread, prepared the same way that you prepare a grilled cheese sandwich.

Exhibit #597 that Life with the little rebels...

...is never dull!

Evidence gathered after a recent indoor "snow fight" that took place in my kitchen.



This was several days ago. I am still cleaning flour out of cracks and crevices...in drawers, cabinets, under the microwave, all manor of places I never imagined it would get into.

Yeah, good thing they got that cuteness factor going for them, huh?

(FYI, it was instigated by Rocklin...he somehow conveniently missed being captured in all of the pics I took. He thought it would be funny to toss a bit towards Parker. Parker of course, decided a full out blizzard is what was really needed. Jerald was just an innocent bystander working on muffin batter. An innocent bystander that happened to be caught tossing flour in the air, lol.)

Life with this crew may never be dull, but it is certainly blessed!

There are times when this sort of thing drives me nuts. Days when I'd scold them, rant and rave as I cleaned up.

However, the more time goes by, the more I realize these moments are to be cherished. There was no real harm done, other than a bit of extra work. They had fun. It's a memory made. Life can't always be fun and games. Do we really need to take everything so seriously though?

My babies are growing up much to fast for my liking. It won't be too many more years before they are off with their own families, their own lives, their own dreams and goals to tackle. I want to have more of these moments while they are still my little ones.

I will have years of my life (Lord willing) to clean and organize and keep my house beautiful. Excuse the flour on the floor, the sticky substance on the chair, the cobwebs on the ceiling and the dirty footprints on the couch, I'm to busy to deal with them. Too busy laughing and playing and creating indoor snow fights!

FOUR!!!

Tonight I cuddled with a sweet, precocious, rambunctious, ornery three year old. We read from A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh...chapter six, in which Eeyore has a birthday and gets two presents.

We played with the camera a bit and took goofy pictures of ourselves...of which none will show up on this blog.

Okay, okay, I'll share one...but that's it...

Then I kissed him and he gave me nose rubbies and a high five.

He then drifted off to sleep on the couch in the matter of just a few minutes. Now, as I type this, all is quiet in the house except the soft snoring of said three year old.

(yes, his eyes are partly open...he often sleeps that way. It always creeps me out, the same way as when my brother slept that way as a child)

Now, in the stillness of the night I sit.

I reflect.

I pray.

I ponder.

I dream.

I blog.

I say goodbye.

Goodbye to three,

for in the morning,

I will greet a four year old!

Still sweet, precocious, rambunctious, and ornery...but four!

(yeah, technically he won't be four until 2:17pm, but we aren't super technical around these parts...at least most of us aren't)

Parker,

Four years ago, it was a night much like this one. I stayed up late pondering your birth. I wondered what you'd be like. Who you'd look like. If you'd be Parker Abrams or Winsor Joy, knowing in my heart you were Parker all along. I thanked God for blessing our family with you and prayed that you would grow to love and serve him with all of your heart.

Tonight, I again, thank God...

...for blessing our family with you.

...for infectious laughter that fills the room anytime someone even comes near your belly.

...for the reminders to find delight in simple things, like ice and new toothbrushes.

...for "wittle shower dances"

...for nose rubbies and high fives.

...for "piddo" (pillow) sharing as we drift off to sleep.

...for the twinkle in your eye that makes me forget that I'm frustrated you've changed clothes seventeen times in three hours.

...for the way you endearingly call Aaron, "Aary" even though you can now pronounce it properly.

...for the fact that you didn't cut off a limb when you used a butcher knife to cut your orange this morning. (please next time ask for help)

...for the way you adore your daddy.

...for your strongwill and determination...God will use that in mighty ways some day.

...for the way you tolerate being "mothered" by Magdalyn and that you have genuinely enjoyed being her real live baby doll.

...for the special friendship you have with Aaron.

...for the way you get excited about birds just because you know Jerald is excited about them.

...for the way you follow Rock around and always aim to be like him.

I'm so very thankful tonight that God gave you to me.

Of all the mamas in the world, He picked me to be the one that would hold you when you hurt and stay up with you through countless sleepless nights.

I'm the one that gets to laugh with you, cry over you, pray for you and wonder if you will make it to 18 before I kill you (or I have a heart attack) ;-).

I am humbled and I am grateful.

I love you and I am so excited to see what adventures await as we embark on this year of four!

Happy Birthday and many happy returns of the day to my sweet,sweet Punky-doo!

forgot to share...a diagnosis

While we may not have answers for the ongoing, underlying issues with the children, we did receive one diagnosis last week. Some of you know, Rocklin has had ongoing hives for nearly a year.

All of the children have had them at times, usually traced to a specific food. However, most reactions have not included hives, so it wasn't something we were accustomed to dealing with much.

Seemingly out of nowhere last summer, Rocklin started having several episodes a day of hives. No amount of observing, journaling, brainwracking could figure it out. When the weather began to get colder, he had fewer episodes. They weren't gone completely, but there was a definate decrease. Now that the weather is warmer again, he's beginning to have them more regularly.
(in fact, he just came in complaining about them now...it's the second time today, which is what prompted me to post)

It appears that at least some of the hives can be attributed to a type of hives called cholinergic urticaria. You can do a google search if you'd like, there are numerous sites that will come up and give you all the info and then some that you'd ever want to know.

Basically, anytime his core body temperature heats up, he gets hives. In the shower...hives. Outside in the heat playing...hives. Sweating...hives. Nervous/anxious/shy and thrust into a social situation where he's expected to speak to others...hives. Obviously, this is not a fun thing to deal with when you are an active, shy 9 year old boy. He gets nervous/anxious frequently, showers at least daily (0ften twice daily) and plays outside/gets sweaty a lot. All of that means he has hives much of the time.

Apparently, when you are susceptible to hives, it's very common to get more than one type of them. We think this is the case with Rocklin, which explains one of the reasons it's been so hard to figure out. He's got more than one type, which means more than one cause...trying to observe and track that has at times been very frustrating.

We do think the cholinergic urticaria is an accurate diagnosis though. It's not significant in light of all the other issues, but it's nice to have an answer on something for a change. It's also helpful because now we can remind him to keep the shower water a bit cooler, come in for cold drinks/to cool off more frequently and work on ways to avoid becoming so anxious/nervous at times.

Of course, due to the cause, these hives are unavoidable at times. So, we've discovered that benedryl cream does a pretty good job at getting them under control quickly.

What's very interesting to me is cholinergic hives=a reaction caused when the core body temperature rises. Another tentative diagnosis (related to his toes swelling) he received last week relates to a reaction caused when his body is cold and damp and then gets warm/dry too quickly.

I'm wondering now, if and/or how this body temp stuff ties together with everything else???

Stay tuned for the next episode of the contuing saga of Unsolved Mysteries: The little rebel version...I promise no UFO's or other weird paranormal stuff...just lots of joy, love and learning amidst the struggles, frustrations and pain.

Playdough fun!

To really appreciate the above pictures, you need to know a few facts:

1. I am not a fan of playdough. The smell. The texture. The mess. Nope, just not a fan.

2. Despite fact #1, I do think it's a great thing for children to play with for a myriad of reasons.

3. I occasionally get over my disdain and whip up a batch for the kiddos to enjoy.

Okay, so obviously, I'm letting the kids play with playdough...woo hoo for me, right?

Not exactly the point of my posting the pictures.

See, there is something bigger to share.

Something huge.

monumental even.

A milestone of epic proportions.

Look at the pictures again. Do you see?

No?

Let me elaborate.

Aaron is playing with playdough!

This is a big deal people. Big.Deal.

Aaron has always hated playdough. H.A.T.E.D. it in the most fiercest sense of the word. Once, around age two, I tried to "help" him have some fun with playdough and it resulted in a horrific meltdown in which he tossed it on the floor and washed his hands several times to decontaminate them (after having a tantrum).

In fact, just a few months ago, he announced to a Sunday school teacher "I do NOT touch playdough" and he was perfectly content to keep his hands in his pockets and observe while other children played for quite some time with the awful stuff.

Look at the pictures again. These are not pictures of a boy hating playdough.

So, what happened?

I'm not sure exactly.

Last week, Rocklin had an appointment, we left the other children with the H. family. Mrs. H wasn't aware of Aaron's playdough aversion. She brought it out, I think at first he observed, but eventually he gave it a try. Turns out he rather enjoyed it. So much that he was thrilled when Mrs. H gave him a baggie full of green playdough to bring home. It has now become one of his most favorite activities.

I may not be exactly sure what finally helped propel him over this obstacle, but I am thrilled. So thrilled in fact, that I might even be willing to bring out the playdough more than a few times a year!

Of course, the biggest part of this isn't really about playdough. Really, the significance lies in the fact that he was willing to try something he thought he loathed. That he stepped out of his comfort zone, tried something new and discovered he loved it. That is what's worth celebrating!

Auntie Amy and Uncle Michael, this is all your fault...

The other arm is sporting a lovely shade of red...

"Parker, what do we color on when we have markers?"

"Paper"

"Exactly, so please tell me why there is marker on your skin?"

"cuz I want to be yike Aunty Amy and Uncool Michael. You know dey have all those tattoodle thingies. I wanna be yike dat" (apparently, Uncool Michael is very cool, despite the way Parker says Uncle)

"How about we wait until you grow up before you decide on a tattoo?"

"yeah, okay, can I get a wittle Thomas the tank engine one when I growed up?"

"sure"

By the way: I am not anti-tattoo, just couldn't pass up an opportunity to tease my siblings.