pondering the Y's

I often think about how unique that one letter makes a person.

I am speaking chromosomally, of course.

As I look around at my family it is quite obvious to me that...

Something about the Y causes the male to look in a cabinet/closet/ drawer/room and not see the item he is looking for that is staring him in the face (we call that "the man glance").

Something about the Y gives the male a perfect aiming device for urine, yet he is unable to pee exclusively inside the toilet.

Something about the Y turns a loving touch into a wrestling match.

Something about the Y prevents the male from actually hearing someone talk if there is something more important anything else going through his brain.

Something about the Y makes the words "poop" and "pee" and anything resembling a fart sound hilarious.

Something about the Y gives males the natural ability to turn any object - real or imaginary - into a weapon and instantly create the perfect sound effect to match.

Something about the Y allows men to cut out dessert one day and instantly drop three pounds.

I guess God knew that my XX would only be balanced by five guYs.

And I'm glad He knew.

that took some effort

I have been known to "suggest" that we serve snacks with "less" sugar in the first grade Sunday School class that I teach at church.

When you give 20 six year olds things like Skittles, marshmallows, Fruit Loops, snack cakes and such, it gets a little rowdy in a 15 by 15 room.

Let's reserve the sugar for the teachers, okay?

Anyhoo, I just got an email from Rufus's preschool teacher explaining that they are going to be making gingerbread men on Wednesday and could we send appropriate cookie cutters if we have them.

I guess when 18 kids are eating together, there are bound to be food issues:

"We have a recipe and ingredients that are nut-free, dairy free, gluten free and vegan, so all the children can enjoy the treat."

Oh good.  For a moment I was worried.

end note:  I have no idea if anyone from the school is reading this.  If so, I LOVE our school and am glad they can be respectful toward each child's dietary needs.

time for a nap

Cathy is Squirt's favorite person in our church nursery.  We have two nursery rooms, so when Cathy's room fills up before we get there - we are bummed (secret:  she often saves a spot for Squirt and tells everyone else that her room is full!).

He won't go to anyone else happily and they have formed quite a bond over the last year.

Because Hubby and I teach every week in our kids program, we are almost always there for two services.  We teach one service and then we go to the main service.

It is a long morning for Squirt.

But Cathy has gotten him into a routine.  About halfway through his morning there, she tells him, "Squirt, it's time for a nap."

Now mind you, there are cribs in the nursery rooms.  But she lays him down on a Boppy pillow on the floor with all his favorite lovies and sometimes a book or a toy - and he stays there.

And takes a nap.

This is how we find him when we pick him up.

we start 'em early!

I try to be purposeful about NOT doing all the chores around here.  First of all, I can't do it all.  Secondly, I'm trying to keep my future daughter in-laws in mind and create men that know how to do household chores.

Sauce has always been my dishwasher man.  When it needs emptying, he is the one I call.

He recently recruited help in this department and I commend him for delegating...

plus it is about the cutest thing I've ever seen!

changing my tune

I can admit when I'm mistaken.  I can eat some crow.

Sometimes.

This is one of those times.  Remember when I wrote this and this?

Well I gave it a chance like I told you all I would.  I kept my Facebook page and even looked at it once in a while.  Over the course of four months, it has morphed into something that represents a little fun.

I mean, it's not blogging or anything, but it has some valid
entertainment value.

Facebook stock went up considerably to me when I found a dear friend from high school youth group (hi Jody!) that I have no idea how we ever lost touch.  Then, through her I found three of my high school youth group leaders.

I have been chuckling about the fact that these leaders seemed "old" to me when I was 15.  Apparently, I seemed quite young to them!

And now I realize how incredibly young they were (that's probably why they were so much fun).  In truth, we are probably are less than ten years apart in age.

And now we're peers.  It's been fun catching up and sharing pictures
of our kids.

It is even funnier to hear about their memories of me.  Apparently I was a precocious teenager (yes I had to look it up in the dictionary P.K. and thank you!).  I can't remember how Tony referred to me, but I'm sure I was quite a punk in his eyes.

That's okay though, because I remember those same leaders doing lip synching to MC Hammer and telling us about picking off and saving scabs to give to a girlfriend.

I also enjoy checking in to see that Ashley is playing Candyland, or Grace bought new wine glasses, or Jenny is tired, or my sister Amy is out in the cold, or when Nicole is covered in barf.

I stand corrected.

the festival

The famous Sundance Film festival is in town. Some people love it. They love the locals' ticket deals and looking for movie stars on Main Street.

Me... I pretty much get irritated with the additional traffic that adds ten minutes to my drive to swimming lessons. I feel angry at the gas stations that raise gas prices by 30 cents for the duration of the event - BECAUSE THEY CAN. And I get frustrated with the abundant limo services and out of state cars that have no idea where they are going.

So, I'm all for freedom of expression, but I miss my quiet little ski town.

The good news it that NO ONE comes here to ski this week. So there are no lift lines and plenty of parking spaces.

eavesdropping

We had one of Hunter's friends over for a little while yesterday afternoon while his parents were still at work. The boys had gone to hit some black diamonds for a few hours prior to this, so they were tired.

Wall-E was babysitting in the living room.

Oh, the sweet love story between Wall-E and Eva. Although I've never made it through the entire movie, I have seen the "love connection" between the two robots.

I was in the kitchen, just one room over and heard my almost eight year old say to his friend:

"I want to fall in love someday. Have you fallen in love yet?"

His friend quickly answered that he had, but I couldn't hear the rest of the conversation without entering the room.

Hmmmm.

What I find really interesting is that there is no real dialogue in this Disney movie. It is through robot body language that Hunter figured out that Wall-E was smitten for "EEEEE-va."

I hope you fall in love someday too buddy.

Pick a good one.

double black diamonds

When your kids grow up in a ski town, it is a safe bet that they'll surpass any average to above average adult skier by the age of eight or nine.

We have put them in the locals' program each season since they were each five years old - consisting of seven to ten Saturdays of skiing six hours with awesome instructors.

When I picked up Hunter and Sauce from their coaches this Saturday and said a few pleasantries, I was informed that they spent most of their day on black diamond and double black diamond runs.

Yet they were still asking to do another run when I got there!

We have reached a point with the older boys where it is FUN to ski with them.  It is no longer any work to take them along and they can ski anything on the mountain amazingly well.

How fun it will be when the little boys are at the "black diamond" level too!

what I'll miss

Several nights ago, I was woken up to change and comfort a very constipated Squirt.

Before putting him back in his crib, we stood and swayed to the music from his CD, his head on my shoulder with Mr. Bear tucked between us.

I do not usually do well with broken sleep, but I woke up that morning feeling like I was lucky to be needed as the comforter.

Moms are moms forever, but I'm seeing how the role changes with the growth of each child.

I'm not sure if I'll ever experience the baby stage again, so I am soaking in how special each moment actually is.

girlfriends rock

When I first received this video from a friend in an email, I had no idea who this woman speaking was. 

I Googled Kelly Corrigan and found that she is an author and breast cancer survivor.  Off to the library I went and devoured her biography, "The Middle Place," in about a week.  She is as well written as she is well spoken.  She is funny, HONEST and REAL (love that).

She does drop a few "f-bombs" in her book, but when you're a young mother dealing with an ugly thing like cancer, I think you're entitled to that.  Plus, she is F.U.N.N.Y.

I am blessed to be able to identify with what she says in this video.  I have women in my life who walk with me through the valleys and celebrate on the mountaintops - and I am really grateful.

You know who you are.  I love you girls.

I can't do this life without you.