HIPY PAPY BTHUTHDTH THUTHDA BTHUTHDY to Me (as Owl from the Hundred Acre Wood would spell it).

Today has been a happy day. It's my 32nd birthday. It started last night, when I decided to watch a movie (African Queen, from 1951). Matt was at the gym and I sent the kids out of the room and told them to go play. After about 45 minutes of movie time and only about 4 interruptions (I sure do like those headphones we have! I could almost ignore the loud playing in the next room.)I put kids to bed. It's been a while since they've been in bed before 9 and it felt great to have a quiet house to finish my movie. After is was over and Matt was home he played X-box and I read a while. We slept in till 8:40, and I decided to make it a care-free morning for myself. Matt hadn't slept well becuase it was hot in the house. We've had two days in a row of 70+ degree weather, which was a great birthday present in itself. So breakfast this morning was whatever anybody wanted. I had (too many) Peanut Butter Bars I'd made last night and the kids fixed themselves a picnic of potato chips and ice water to dine on in the playhouse. I spent the morning browsing store sites for maternity dressses, reading facebook, checking email. After Matt got up we watched some motorcycle videos on youtube, then I found some Tim Hawkins videos that made us laugh till we were red-faced and short of breath.

My birthday breakfast

My one request for my birthday was to have a good meal that I didn't have to cook or clean up after. With the weather being so gorgeous today I suggested we go to the Greenway, a local nature-trail place and just enjoy being outside. Matt decided we'd get lunch to-go in town and eat at the big pavilion at the Greenway. He chose McDonald's for the kids and himself and told me to choose where I wanted my food from. I got a big meal from the Japanese Steakhouse, and off we went to the pavilion, with sprinkling rain starting. By the time we got out of the van and under shelter, it was pouring rain. We ate and then the kids took off with the two umbrellas we'd brought and played in the rain. Matt and I got to visit a little and laugh at Cassie, who hung out with us out of the rain. It was so relaxing and fun. Everybody was happy. Even when Camie took a pretty bad fall on the concrete drainage ditch they were running through she didn't make a fuss about it. It's a day I think I'll remember for a long time.

Oh, and on the way to town we checked the mail and there were two packages for me! Granted, they were things I'd ordered, but I hadn't expected to have them so soon, nor on my birthday. One was the next volume teacher's manual for the kids' unit studies we're doing, and the other was a pregnancy support belt that I am really hoping will bring relief from the constant pelvic and back pain I have. Each step hurts/burns and shifting positions in bed or on the sofa is painful and has to be done in stages so I don't yell out in pain. This belt had good reviews and the homepage describing it talked about it relieving the very same pains I experience. I'm excited about the possibility of walking fairly normally rather than waddling to avoid pulling my pelvic muscles, and just not hurting so much. I have so much more energy when I feel good.

The kids gave me cards and presents the other day. This is the first year they've really done anything like that, except last year when Camie wrapped a bunch of our movies up in tissue paper for me to choose what I wanted to watch. Oh, and they colored a basket of Felicity's with chalk and put picnic cups and snacks in it.

But this year, they went all out. I'd told Camie about how my brother Neil gave me a  present when I was about 9. It was wrapped in layer after layer of newspaper spray-painted silver, and he put an inflated latex glove on top for a bow. For those of you who don't know my family, you may not have heard of the Ugliest Wrapping Contest begun by my brothers years ago. They disliked wrapping presents and making them look nice anyway, so decided to have fun with it.That year I began to wonder as I pulled layers of paper away if there was going to be anything I wanted in the middle. There was. It was a Mickey Mouse watch I'd been 

wanting. And I still have it in my keepsake box. 

Gift-giver #1.  Some friends were over one day and the kids took turns doing puppet shows. Camie thought her friend Coleman's shows were hilarious.

Uncle Neil was an inspiration to Camie. She brought me a ball-shaped present taped up in many layers of silver duct tape, with the warning that it was a trick. I struggled with the tape a bit (that stuff is pretty strong) and finally made it to the middle, where there was a wadded up colorfully scribbled on paper. I laughed and told her it was a good joke. She was very pleased. 

Gift-giver #2. Lissy was cuddling with Simon the cat one evening and fell sleep. Simon fell asleep on top of her.

Then Felicity appeared with a grocery bag and told me Happy Birthday. I opened it and found a clipboard that has been buried in a corner of the laundry room, complete with my list still on it of what foods were in the freezer back when I was using the clipboard about a year ago. She also included a blue marker ("With a top on it! It can even still write!"), a flat stick with her initials written on it (with my new marker, probably) and  a wallet that used to be Camie's (even has her name written in permanent marker). She had made me a card earlier that day on a bright yellow sheet of paper. 

Later Camie gave me another gift: two necklaces (which I had helped her knot--they were originally hers). One had three pretty stickers wrapped around the yarn at the base and another has a plastic pendant from one of her dolls.

Micah got into the gift-giving spirit and was inspired by Camie's wrapping. He gave me a wad of paper and napkins held together with duct tape. Inside was a pretty silverish-blue bead. As I oohed and ahhed over how pretty it was he told me Camie had given it to him from one of her dress-up necklaces. Then he added, "I really wanted to keep it and pretend it is a grenade." I told him he could have it, but he wouldn't take it, adding, "It's your present." So I told him I'd keep it but if he wanted to play with it and pretend it was his grenade that would be fine.

Gift-Giver #3. He brought me this playdough cake hidden behind his back and said, "I made you one more thing."  He showed  me the hearts on top and asked, "Do you know why I put hearts on top? To show you that I wuv you. And maybe because it's your birthday."
My goodness I love these kids.

And Cassie, ever wanting to be a part of what the big kids are doing brought me a basketball and said, "Dis is urr's  Birtday Peasant. Open it."

Gift -Giver #4. Cassie, playing with her baby dolls outside one day all by herself. I took the picture from inside so she wouldn' t see me.

I can't help but think of the Winnie the Pooh story where he and Piglet give Eeyore birthday presents. Pooh's was going to be a pot of honey, but as he walked along on his way to give it to Eeyore, he was hungry and began eating it.


"Now let me see," he thought, as he took his last lick of the inside of the jar, "Where was I going? Ah, yes, Eeyore." He got up slowly. And then, suddenly, he remembered. He had eaten Eeyore's birthday present! "Bother!" said Pooh. "What shall I do? I must give him something." 
For a little while he couldn't think of anything. Then he thought: "Well, it's a very nice pot, even if there's no honey in it, and if I washed it clean, and got somebody to write 'A Happy Birthday' on it, Eeyore could keep things in it, which might be Useful." So, as he was just passing the Hundred Acre Wood, he went inside to call on Owl, who lived there. 


Pooh's Useful Pot with HIPY PAPY BTHUTHDTH THUTHDA BTHUTHDY written on it by the knowledgeable Owl reminds me very much of my children's gifts. And I loved them just as much as Eeyore did his popped balloon from Piglet and empty honey jar/Useful Pot from Pooh.


"I'm very glad," said Pooh happily, "that I thought of giving you a Useful Pot to put things in." 
"I'm very glad," said Piglet happily, "that I thought of giving you something to put in a Useful Pot." 
But Eeyore wasn't listening. He was taking the balloon out, and putting it back again, as happy as could be....


And for those like my sister Sara and me, who grew up watching the classic Winnie the Pooh movies, here's a link to this episode for you to enjoy. 

This has been one of the most fun birthdays I've had since having kids. Normally it's not much of a day off, but the kids are old enough now to somewhat take care of their own needs. It's been fun just to hang out together and see the kids get along. That was a lovely present. :)

My collection of birthday presents. Micah's grenade/bead is beside the stick and the wad of papers above it is what it was wrapped in.

The Playhouse. This was all the kids' Christmas and birthday presents....for a year or two. ;) All four kids are in this picture, and on the playhouse....can you find them? (Click on it to see it bigger.) The little roof over the porch area wasn't done when this was taken but is now, and there is a wavy slide coming off the right side of the playhouse now. You can kind of see the curly tubeslide on the back.It is THE FAVORITE place to play and we love watching them enjoy our many hours of hard work.

Felicity's birthday cake, December 14. Yes, that says, "Happy Birthday Gerbil and Felicity" at her request. Daddy let her pick out the cake and what she wanted on it. 

Micah's nightly uniform to match Daddy. Matt has to wear black compression socks to help with varicose vein pain in his legs, so Micah copies that as best he can with his own black socks and regular socks over the top. Daddy's lounge-wear are his blue shorts (just like Micah's) and white tee shirt. These two guys are so cute  together. The other day Matt had on jogging pants, so Micah went upstairs and put his on too. That boy loves his Daddy.

Helping Daddy. He is a quiet boy which works out well for watching Daddy work.  He helped Matt carry paving stones and brought him other things he needed.

The two big girls enjoying Lissy's birthday cake.

We were throwing out this torn up babybed mattress, but Matt found another use for it before it headed to the trash: Stair sledding. Matt tried it, and I did too. It was very fast and very fun! (The spots on the camera are either from a dirty lense or dust flying up as they zoomed past me each time.)

 Fear the sword.

Biology according to a 4 1/2 year old

Micah (4 1/2) yelling to cousin Caroline through the glass door: (3): "Did you know we'er made out of dirt and we have tiny bugs [germs] on our skin that you can't see?"

I laughed out loud and said, "I doubt she really wanted to hear that."

He got a little bit insulted and said, "Well, I'm not going to tell her anything else, then."

Just a quick comment

See my blog photo? Notice the bare feet, short sleeves, thin polyester dress, green leaves and green grass? (Well, that's rye grass, such a nice summery touch in the winter.) Yep, folks. This was taken right before Christmas. That's December in MS for you. :) At least for a day or so out of the month. The rest of the time it's pretty cold, like, we at least have to wear a jacket.

Rose

A new year, a new post

I have a few minutes of relative peace (the girls are in the room, but are busy drawing and talking to each other) so I decided to try to post a little. (Now they are trying to sing Tim Hawkins'  "Pretty Pink Tractor" song, in very southern voices.)

***Two hours later, after a paper-airplane flying event that included all 6 of us, clean-up, and bedtime...***

Well, the aforementioned peace was short lived. As in, before I finished typing that short paragraph there was some argument about how one sister's singing sounded bad. Now all is quiet, so I'll try again.

I've been such a nag lately to the kids, following them around the house (not so graciously) reminding them to pick up shoes, hang up jackets, take plates to the kitchen after meals, clean rooms, bring toys and various clothes inside from the yard. I was tired of it and I'm pretty sure they were too. I felt like my only options were let it go, and thus stop nagging (ha! Like that would work), or constantly remind them to pick stuff up, because they sure weren't remembering to do it on their own. I mentioned the dilemma to Matt one morning and asked for any ideas to give them incentives to pick up after themselves. He suggested that each time they leave messes around, have them make two trips to the woodshed....for firewood, that is. Our woodpile on the  porch is always in need of more wood, as Matt's Missouri fires go through quite a bit of wood at a time, so having them bring two pieces each several times a day worked out well for us, and seemed to be a good reminder for them to keep their messes cleaned up.

Then one day it dawned on me that if it were raining or dark, that chore wouldn't work too well, as the woodshed is way out across the yard and the lights in it aren't working. That's when I remembered a chore idea I'd seen on some blog somewhere one time. Simple jobs are written on popsicle sticks and kept in a can. When I see a mess (and I try to be reasonable and give them a little while to notice it and clean it up without a reminder) I tell them to clean it up and pick a stick. So far, it's worked well. If they complain about having to do a job, they get to pick another one after that job is done.

The part I really like is that these are simple chores I used to rotate through their chore charts, but I changed charts and chore methods, so this stuff wasn't getting done very consistently. Now it is. :) Occasionally they get into it and ask  to pick another stick. I think it's the suspense of not knowing which one they'll get that makes it fun. Matt put a "get out of jail free" stick in there from his Bluebell icecream bar. It's shorter than the rest and has the bluebell picture on it. Probably won't keep that in there long, but it's a funny idea.  Even Cassie tries to get involved. She'll pick one and then claim it says, "Take your bowl to the kitchen." I'll ask if she did, she'll say "Wes" (yes) and then "Way! (Yay!) I'm so big!" Even if the kid who actually had to pick a stick is a little grumpy about having to do a job, he or she will usually laugh at her and her one "chore" that she always manages to pick. She's good comic relief.

Why just in the past week or so I've already had these things done:
dust piano and china cabinet
clean trash out of van
organize plastic bowl drawer
organize a closet (pick up hangers, put shoes in place, pick up toys)
sweep Mom's and Dad's bathroom
neaten a pantry shelf  (a favorite, though I have yet to figure out why)
wipe floor under table
fold towels
sweep kitchen
clean the microwave
wipe kitchen cabinet doors and drawers
organize a dresser drawer
vacuum under sofa
clean playroom glass door
sanitize doorknobs
clean front of stove (another favorite, but I do know why. It's stainless steel and they get to use a special     cleaner and it gets really shiny.)

So come on over. If the kids have been particularly forgetful, we'll have a clean house. :)
~~~~~
Another new thing we've been trying for a couple of months is a chore wheel based on this one I really liked the idea of assigning each big kid a Room of Responsibility (ROR), where they learn to keep various rooms tidy. I chose three rooms (living room, downstairs bathroom, and upstairs bath-tub bathroom) that get used a lot and  that they could handle simple chores in.

They've helped me clean each of these before, as I used to rotate them through their charts, but now they have a ROR for two days, then I give the wheel one turn so everybody's job changes. I figured this way they learn how to keep a given room clean without it being too much. If it's one they hate doing, they get to change in a day or so. And we average about every-other day on getting the RORs done anyway, so it's really not too bad on them.



 I help them with a job or two on their lists so they don't feel like they're doing work while I'm off playing and having fun in the kitchen cooking or something (ha), then I try to remember to check up on their work. All in all it goes pretty well. I try to have Cassie be a helper with the one doing the living room, since I don't think having her around the toilet or tub would be very helpful. Sometimes she gets to wipe down the fake leather sofa with a wetwipe, or I have her help get toys put up. I love stopping by these rooms during the evening after the jobs are done, breathing in the sanititzer fumes, seeing how clean they look and knowing I didn't have to do it all. :)

 If we can ever get on a fairly regular schedule, I'm sure things would go a lot smoother, but for now it's working, they're learning responsibility, and I'm getting a clean house without doing it all myself.

~~~
Matt has been on break from school for 3 weeks, but starts back next week. He has class only on Tuesdays and Thursdays, though so we'll still get to see a lot of him. That schedule lasts another 6-8 weeks, then it'll change again.

Baby seems to be growing well, judging from the nice round belly I'm getting. I'm at 24 weeks (I think...kind of lose track), so about 3 1/2 months to go. Some days that seems far off, and others it seems unbelievably close.

Micah seemed to handle the news pretty well when I told them we are having a girl. But a few days later he got a little teary and asked, "Why are there so many girls, and not very many boys?" I wanted to make him feel better so I mentioned that sometimes the ultrasound is wrong. "It probably is a girl, but sometimes, when the baby is born the doctor will say, "Oops! It's a boy!" when they thought it was a girl."  I guess Cassie had been listening to this because a day or so later she was looking at my belly and asked if we were having a girl baby or a boy baby. I told her girl. She paused then said, "Or it might be....Oopsie! it's a boy!"  I laughed so hard I had to sit back down on the bed. She just stood there and grinned, pleased to have been so funny.

One day as we were walking on the driveway, Cassie remembered the huckleberry bush we'd picked from back in May. She asked if we could pick some that day, but I told her there were none there right now, they would be there in the spring time. Then I mentioned that was when her birthday is. Now EVERY time her birthday is mentioned, or she happens to think of it herself, she says, "In da spingtime when da behwwies gwow (berries grow), my birtday is comin'." Sometimes she'll add, "And the oatmeal will be there!" That would be in reference to what she wants for her birthday meal. Felicity chose Raman noodles for hers back in December. Matt chose cubed steak, mashed potatoes, greens and yeast rolls for his. Well, I suggested it and he happily agreed. Camie said she wants roast or porkchops with gravy and mashed potatoes, and Micah probably wants beans and rice, although I don't actually remember. I just want something good that I didn't have to cook or clean up after. :)

Camie has been going to physical therapy for her arm for about 2 months. She was born with Erb's Palsy in her left arm, which basically means the nerves from her spine to that shoulder were damaged during birth, affecting her ability to bend that arm. She had therapy once a week for 3 years starting when she was just a few months old and her range of motion greatly improved.  Just recently Matt was having her lift some dumb-bells for fun at the gym and noticed she wasn't straightening out her left arm all the way. He told her to extend it all the way out and she said she couldn't. She had been able to bend it so much better now than when she was little that we never realized it was sort of stiff and wouldn't straighten completely out. Eight weeks of therapy on it (doing exercises with games and toys) has helped. The OT said she doubts she'll ever be able to fully extend it, but because she's strengthening her bicep, she'll be able to reach toward her head a lot better and lift more with it. And her wrist, which was weak before and limited in range of motion has gotten better. We are very thankful for what has been accomplished in a short amount of time and that there has been improvement. Camie has been very cooperative about it all and loves the attention she gets at therapy. Sometimes I take her in and wait in the van with the other kids, so she gets to be "all alone" and grown up for about 45 minutes.We park right outside the big windows and sometimes I'll see her walk by and wave and grin at us.

Cassie has a favorite pillow she sleeps on, but the other night it wasn't in her bed. I was dreading the hunt we were going to have to go on, but Cassie told me she didn't need it. "I'll sleep with my ears.", meaning her ears wouldn't be on the pillow. :)

Micah was full of questions and comments at church a few weeks ago, and wouldn't quite whispering to me. I told him to hush, I was trying to listen to the preacher. He whispered back, "Why? All he's doing is talking and talking and talking." I guess a little song and dance might have kept Micah's interest a little better.

Another day I'll look through our pictures on the camera see which ones I need to upload into a blog post.
Goodnight. :)
Rose