Month: September 2012

I am well aware of the many differences between boys and girls.  Today was just another example of how very different my children are…..

If you recall, a while back we went to the doctor because Ruby was running a fever with no other symptoms.  They asked her to give a urine sample.  She wouldn’t.  We stressed out over it big time.  And that “we” mostly means me.  She ended up having strep, so the urine sample wasn’t even necessary.

Last week the girls had their well-check (we get around to those about every three years).  The doctor told Molly that she hadn’t pee’d for her since she was 3 years old!  She said she REALLY wanted to make sure all checked out well.  Of course, Molly couldn’t go.  And we tried several times.   A little frustrating, but I had learned my lesson from my bad reaction to Ruby, and I just accepted that the pee wasn’t happening for Molly.

Today, however, was a different story.  Trying to be helpful, I asked Mack to fill up his water bottle and bring it with us so he could sip on it in the car.  He gulped the water down before we left the driveway.  We made a quick stop in a store, and while in there he said he just HAD to go.  I was worried he wouldn’t have any urine for us at the doctor’s office, but he looked desperate, so I let him go.  He got a small smoothie in the store, so he drank that on the way to the doctor.  About ten minutes into our drive to the office, he started begging me to let him go potty.  I told him he could wait until we got to the doctor so that he could go in the cup.  With about five minutes left in our drive, what do you know, but Mack stops all his fidgeting and says, “Oh no.  I have some water on me.”

“WHAT??!!  Mack, did you just wet your pants??”

“It’s just a little water.  That’s all.”

We parked.  He got out and was covered with pee all over his shorts.

Then he cried because Ruby laughed and laughed at him.  She laughed so hard she could hardly stand up.  I couldn’t make her stop.  Molly was crying because she does that when situations get stressful.

And he HAD to go potty as soon as we walked into the waiting room.

AND he had to go before we left.

To say we overdid the liquids is an understatement.

Josh wanted to know what we did about getting home.  He had to put back on his wet shorts and suffer all the way home…that’s what we did.

Doctor’s appointments stress me out.  I remember why I wait years and years for well checks.  When they aren’t sick, there is no need to put oneself through such.  Not to mention the question that is asked a million times before the appointment:  “Do I have to get a shot?”  “Will it hurt?”  “Why do I have to get a shot?”  “Will it be this long?  or like this?  or will it take a long time like this?” (as he pokes his arm for different lengths of time)

Ahhh, I’m glad it is almost time for bed.

Oh, that Ruby.  She really did it last night.  In a good way.  A precious way.  I cried.  I would have bawled if Josh hadn’t been right there.  He might have thought I was a bit dramatic, which I have been accused of before.  But there are moments in motherhood that take your breath away…when you see a glimpse of unprompted selflessness in your kid; it’s a grand feeling.

Josh left this morning for a trip.  Last night as he was packing he saw a little note folded just so on his bedside table….”Daddy”

Is that not the sweetest thing?  It is full of love and devotion…don’t you think?

And just in case you have trouble reading it, here is what it says:

“Dear Daddy, I love you so much!  It would be so hard to explain.  Just so you know my arms can’t tell you how much.  And even though I am away from you, you are still close to me.”

SWEETNESS.

 

After a Waffle House breakfast this morning, we took a trip to the Apple Orchard in Blue Ridge.  It was a beautiful day for picking apples.  

The tractor ride was fun for the kids, of course.

The store was full of all things fall…candied apples, apple fritters, apple cinnamon bread, apple cider and more!

We made a surprise stop in at the boot store, and Mack was beside himself with joy!

Ruby got a horse shoe shirt.  Molly got a pink cowgirl hat.  Mack got a cowboy hat and a pair of boots.  The girls wanted to know why he got boots and they didn’t….we explained to them that these shoes will be Mack’s only new shoes for a very long time.  They, however, will likely get cute pink shoes, cute tennis shoe, and some boots from Target–black ones and brown ones.  Girls like a variety of shoes.  Boys can go with what works–especially when a boy really does think he is a cowboy.

I’m back and adding a picture I forgot to put on of Molly!  She looks so cute in her pink hat.

I’ll just skip all the talk about how time flies and that the older I get the faster time ticks on by.  I would bore myself with all that mumbo-jumbo.

So, let me just jump right in and say that I want to blog about where we are in life because we won’t be in this season forever.  And I ain’t making a cutesy scrapbook for each of my kids, so this is as good as it is gonna get for them.  I mean, my first-born does have most of her first year book completed, but admittedly, it would definitely be considered INCOMPLETE.

RUBY:  She is 8 years old and enjoying 3rd grade so far.  She continues to read, read, read.  Each night she is surrounded by books in her bed.  I love it.  I have a very hard time making her turn her light off when I know she is in there reading.  One of the main character traits we are seeing in Ruby is her LOYALTY.  Whew.  That girl cracks us up with how she will knock someone out over an ill-said word about anyone in the family.  She takes up for all of us; however, if one of her siblings tries to say something mean to either Josh or me, she will take them down.  While I appreciate her love and dedication, she does need to relax and take a joke from time to time.  Life will be very difficult for her otherwise.  She’s the one you want on your side—if you ever find yourself needing to be against anyone.  She sings a lot.  If she isn’t reading in her bed, she is singing hymns.  It is precious.  She enjoys school for the most part.  History seems to be her favorite.  Multiplication is in full swing as we conquer 3rd grade math…I get sweaty palms every time I have to teach a new concept.  BUT, I get overly excited when it is time for English–nouns, verbs, and adjectives are fun for me!!  Ruby realized she needed Jesus to save her in July at VBS.  We are working on when we can have her get baptized and make sure we give family time to be here, too.  Very exciting times.

MOLLY: She is 7 years old and getting her two front teeth all the way in.  That makes her look so much older to me.  She plays the piano and recently started with a new teacher.  She seems to really enjoy it!  Molly can be solemn and quiet one minute and then acting like a crazy nut the next.  She usually keeps us laughing in the evenings…I think she likes to entertain her Daddy with her wit.  Her favorite thing to do is watch old videos and look at old pictures and hear stories about when they were little.  I have a few solid stories, but for the most part, their toddlerhood is a blur…they were just so close together that I cannot remember all that well.  We found old videos in the garage a few weeks ago, and I cannot tell you how I did not recall the memories that we watched.  Obviously, they really did happen.  I just happened to not remember any of it on my own.  Molly was recorded at her “crazy” age.  She was almost 2.  She walked around like a little tornado, just looking for what she could destroy.  I’ve found out that she (like Ruby once did) likes to hide her clothes in her closet floor so that she doesn’t have to put them away.  On three occasions I have emptied her closet while she stands there with the most sad look on her face.  It usually happens right after I have finished the laundry and feel a great sense of accomplishment—only to find a whole load of clothes awaiting a good washing sitting in her closet floor!  She has been super kind lately to Ruby and Mack.  I catch her all the time sharing her stuff with them, and I praise her for doing it.  She gave Ruby one of her birthday gifts and let all her cousins color a special thing my sister bought her.  She is a sharer, and I hope it stays that way!!!

MACK:  Oh, Mack.  He is five and a half years old, which is totally mind boggling to me!  We are in the full swing of Kindergarten, and I think he likes it.  We work in spurts.  We usually work on the floor also, which is different than how the girls and I would work.  He is usually moving all around and chatting about all sorts of random things.  We work a spurt, and then I send him off to play and run around while I work with the girls on something and then we work a spurt on something else.  He is learning to read and doing a good job.  He (for some reason) has a mental block on identifying 7, 8 and 9.  A batch of sugar cookies shaped like numbers has helped, BUT we still have a long way to go.  He always has about five little toys in his hands. He wakes up and finds a batch of his favorite five toys and then carries them with him all day.  Some times he even knows a certain five that he must have, so he will empty every basket and bin in his room to find those special toys.  Makes me crazy, but he is also learning to clean up the messes, and wouldn’t you know—-the messes are happening less and less.  His line, “But I’m just the baby,” has lost its magic on me.  From time to time he talks Molly into helping him, but even she is starting to tire of his antics.  He also likes to change clothes often.  He starts off in a new pair of pjs because he just wanted to.  Then, he puts on jeans and a cowboy shirt and boots and then in the afternoon I will see him run by in shorts and a t-shirt!  When I ask him why he keeps changing his clothes, he just says, “It’s just….um…because…BESIDES, I was hot!”

Overall, we are having a fun time with schooling.  Most days it takes 4+ hours.  We start around 8:45, have lunch at 12:30 and then finish up anything else after that.  I have thoroughly enjoyed the Sonlight curriculum.  It keeps us on track with Bible and scripture memory and the History is more on their level.  I still do Peace Hill Press Language and Writing, which I love!  The Answers in Genesis continues to be a great journey.  One of my favorite parts of the day is the read-aloud time.  We start our third book on Monday. I am slowly introducing my girls to how to wash clothes.  I hope one day in the near future they will be amazed and wonder, “How in the world did I start doing my own laundry????”  That’ll be nice…one day.

I hate to be so boring and mostly talk about schooling, but that is our life these days.

7 weeks down, 29 more to go.