Bubba Speak

Little David had just now started to do memory work. He has diddled with it before, but he never really wanted to memorize anything and I never wanted to push. But as we were working with Tot on this, he picked it up :)




"You must understand this, my dear brothers.
Everyone should be quick to listen,
slow to speak, and slow to get angry."

James 1:19

So cute, I could just eat him right up :)

Tot Speak

Upon hearing that she was not allowed to spit on the ground...

T: There are just so many rules!

UK: Sorry, Tot. That's the way it is.

T: (shakes her fist at the sky) I curse the day rules were made!

Stealth Masseuse

For Christmas this year, I gave Dave the gift of a one hour back massage every Sunday night for the rest of the year. It could have gone horribly wrong, of course. I could have forgotten to do it. I could have started the year off right and then just let busyness get in the way. But instead, we've protected this time and every Sunday night at 9:30 pm we close up the house, hop on the bed, turn the tv on, and I start the back massage.

I'm pretty proud of this gift for a few reasons: Dave carries almost all of his stress in his back and this is a good way for him to start the week a little better than he left it; like most men his love language is physical touch and all the massaging helps show him I like him, and the last reason - well, the last reason is completely, totally selfish and possibly the working of a criminal master mind.

While I back massage, I watch The Vampire Diaries.

Oh yeah.

While this hour long massage is happening, I am watching my Tivo-ed episode of The Vampire Diaries, possibly the most cheese-tastic show ever, with NO redeeming value, but lots of shirtless men brooding - Holla! (Yes, I just said Holla - roll with it.) Dave can not stand this show, so I don't make him watch it the day it comes on - that would be mean. But I have to watch it sometime, right? So, when Sunday night rolls around I turn on my show and he puts his face into the mattress and I massage his back for an hour while I watch. He would rather I be watching Mythbusters or something, but he's not going to argue while he's getting an entire hour of back massage, now will he? Nope, nope he won't. And you know he can't have his face in the mattress an entire hour, sometimes he catches glimpses of the screen, and of course he hears all of the dialogue.

You know what this means, right? Slowly, week-by-week, my master plan is working. Every now and then I hear:

"Hey, is that Damon or Stefen talking?"

"Now is this girl a vampire, too?"

"Wait, I thought she was dead."

"Is he wearing the ring that makes him unable to be killed? Where did he get that??"


Mwah ha ha ha ha....



Edited To Add: Dave wants the general populace to know that he does NOT watch Vampire Diaries for personal enjoyment, he is simply feigning interest to make me feel better :)

Do The Next Thing

Oh friends, it's been a day. It's been a day already and it's barely past noon.

So far, my day has included waking up to find the children holding a mostly empty tray where 20+ No Bake Cookies had been before. Oh the gastrointestinal woes that awaited them (and me, by proxy). Little David spends the morning emptying the dress up box and every other box. Then while I talked with an AT&T repair man in our back yard (that I wasn't expecting) wearing my pajama pants and muddy cowboy boots, they woke up the (teething, fever running, no sleeping) Gator and hid her in Tot's room. As I escorted said AT&T repair man out of our (broken) gate past our (barking, muddy) dog, I see the children running around our front yard clad only in underwear and my shoes. And I still haven't found the Gator. I get them all inside, walk to Tot's room and find the entire room dismantled and the Gator hiding behind a pile of blankets. They are instructed to clean the room or there will be no mercy.
Tot runs in later while I'm unpacking a large box of curriculum that just arrived saying the duck was burned.

Wait, what?

Yes, they sat a stuffed duck on a lamp and Tot noticed it smoking and took it off immediately. House fire averted. We get the rooms cleaned up, lunch fixed, curriculum put away and then I realized that I had a doctor's appointment scheduled for Gator this morning that I completely forgot about.

The cherry on top of my proverbial stinky sundae.

And now it's naptime.

Things have finally quieted down and I have Chick Fil A on the way.

I am meditating on this :

In Which I Recommend Running Products

So, I've been running about 3 times a week for the last 2 1/2 months or so, and while I am by no means an expert - here are some things that I think you should look into if you are a beginning runner. Beginning Runner meaning that you walk a good portion of the time and you do this to have some semblance of alone time in an otherwise hectic life, not to become the next Marathon Man. Anyways, you don't need much, really just your own two feet. But here are some things that will help you along the way.

1. A Great Running Plan - I personally use this plan from Cool Runnings. Oops, I mean this plan. It's incremental, it's great for beginners who just don't know where to start and don't want to burn out.

2. Good Shoes - I would love to recommend something fancy, but all I can honestly recommend is something good and cushion-y. Not your old track shoes from high school.

3. Great Pants - Ladies, you will NOT regret these pants. You just won't. They are expensive and you don't need them, but you will love every minute in them.

4. Great Tunes - Get thee an iPod.

5. The Outdoors - For the love of all that is good, get off the tread mill and go run outside. Treadmills and gyms are great for when you simply can't be outdoors, but you just can't beat the real, live air blowing against your face and the natural ups and downs of the hills around you.


So there you have it. Like I said, not much - but those few things have take this distinctly non-running Mom of three into someone that regularly runs 3 miles 3 times a week. Not too shabby!

Tuesday Favorites: Random Edition

Oh yes, it's Tuesday Favorites time. Now, since I write here every Tuesday, I won't make Tuesday favorites a weekly thing here. That would get boring pretty fast. But I will do this every so often just to let the general public know about some things that I am currently loving, or think you should currently love.

They are as follows:

1) Star Trek (2009) - Let me state first off that I am not a huge Star Trek fan. I've seen most of the movies because my parents liked Star Trek, but it's not really a driving force in my life. But this movie was awesome. AWESOME. And if you are one of the ten people who haven't seen this, dude, you are missing out. Great action, interesting plot, and super interesting way to make a new franchise out of an old one. Let me put it this way: I own almost every one of Jane Austen's books in movie form - I am not an action movie junkie. But I insisted we buy this the day it came out and we've watched it multiple times since and will be watching it tonight if I have my way about it.


2. Tucson - Yes, I just came back from a super rad girls weekend there, so I may be a little biased, but I really love this place. I love mountains? It has mountains. I love quiet? Friend, this place is quiet. I love cactus? There is a little thing here called Saguaro National Park, yes, a park devoted to cactus. There is phenomenal Mexican food, wide open skies, and a clear black sky at so you can see the stars. Get thee to Tucson and feel the Arizona Zen.

3. Lawn Mowing Season - Okay, I'll give you that this is a little more random than the other things, but it is SPRING in Texas and I am gloriously happy. The robins are out, the Bradford Pears have lost the blooms and have bright green leaves, and the sound of lawn mowers can be heard at every hour of the day from dawn till dusk. For me, Lawn Mowing Season means that winter is officially over and I can throw open my windows and smell the delicious smell of freshly cut grass and know that only good days are ahead. And lest you think my yard looks anything like the one pictured, we'll just say that limbs awaiting chipping are currently covering most of our backyard and I'm living vicariously through the sounds of my neighbors mowing.

4. Thinking Putty - Short description? Silly putty for grown ups. Long description? Only the coolest thing ever! We ordered a tin of this for Tot because I saw it advertised as a good distraction for kids that needed to fidget while learning. Tot is smart as a whip, but her attention goes haywire without something in her hands. So, when I am reading to her or having her read to me, I let her squeeze and pull the Thinking Putty to get the wiggles out. What is cool about this stuff is that it's silicone based, never dries out, always returns to a puddlish form, and comes in all sorts of forms: magnetic, heat sensitive, glow-in-the-dark, etc. Frankly, Tot only gets it now and then because I like to use it for tension relief. You get a handful of it in one tin and it's the best for squeezing the mad out :)

5. Cactus - I know I already mentioned this once, but I am having a serious case of Desert Love. Did you know that Saguaro cactus take up to 70 years before they grow one of their famous side arms? I know! I had no idea either. So when you see one of the iconic little beasties, you can know that it is old, old, old. And when it rains, the Saguaro soaks up water and looks visibly larger. See? I am full of cactus facts. Love me some cactus. As evidenced by the picture.




So there you have it! 5 things that I am loving this Tuesday. What are you loving today??

Dear Self

Dear Self,

A slice of cheese, Ruffles potato chips, a cupcake and a Diet Dr Pepper is not a balanced lunch.

Yes, it is bad to let the kids sleep in clothes that they were recently playing in the dirt in.

Yes, the baby does need a new diaper cover. This one smells.

No, you can't eat another cupcake. 6 is too many.

No, you can't have a glass of wine at 10am. Yes, I know what the kids got into before 7am. Just because you've shown restraint doesn't mean it's a good idea.

Yes, you have to clean the bathroom today. When Little David stops peeing in the tub instead of the toilet, you can clean the bathroom less.

Yes, you have to fold all that laundry, too. It's getting ridiculous.

What? Of course I'm fun.

Okay fine.

Have another cupcake.

Love,

Your Unsinkable Self.

Badges? We Don't Need No Stinking Badges.

I was feeling pretty on top of my mothering game yesterday.

We had done all of our To Do's for the day, had school, ate a delicious dinner as a family, and Dave was off for his run. I looked at the clock, saw that it was barely 6pm and the sun was still shining bright. Heck. Yeah. How great of a day, right? All the checks checked and it's still daylight. We shouldn't let this great day go to waste inside - we should do something fun! So I loaded the Gator in the stroller and the big kids got their shoes and socks on, and off we went on a walk around the neighborhood. The older kids ran ahead of me laughing and smiling, stopping at all intersections and holding hands on the busy streets while Allie laughed along watching them. I decided I needed a badge. A Freaking Awesome Mother Badge.

You could probably see my smug.

As we neared the end of the walk, my motherly heart bursting with pride at my well planned day and well behaved crew, we walked past a friends home as she happened to exit the front door.

And all heck broke loose.

Tot and Little David screamed "JOOOOOYYYY!!!!!! We MIIISSSSEDDD YOOOOOUUU!!" and ran full speed up her driveway, ready to tackle her with hugs. At that very moment, Joy's freshly bathed kids walked outside as well, as Joy tried to tell them to go back inside so they wouldn't get dirty and I tried to calmly call Tot and David back to the sidewalk, which they ignored. Oh, and did I mention Joy was on the phone with her mom trying to do all of this quietly while my kids shrieked and hollared and she hadn't really even said hello to us? Yeah. As quick as you could say "No. No. NOOO!" the kids had all raced inside the house and I was running with the stroller up the driveway trying to get them out of the house and miming apologies to the still-on-phone Joy. I left Allie in the stroller at the front door, tried to grab my crazy fast running kids (swirling in different directions, of course) all while Joy tried to get off the phone, and then Little David runs back outside and tries to push the stroller down the driveway while I finally get a hold of Tot. I pull her outside, grab Little David's arm right before the stroller and Allie with it get away. I catch the stroller, bark at the kids to get their hands on the garage door and Don't you move a muscle. And then ever so sweetly I say "Oh hello Joy, we were just taking a walk. How're you doing?"

Sigh.

She laughed, and then chaos erupted again when her kids ran outside and for the next five minutes all four kids run in a circle shrieking bloody murder and laughing. My "Freaking Awesome Mother" badge definitely and publicly soiled, I succumbed to the moment and laughed along, realizing that while I may be able to control everything for a span within my own house, the kids will always, always go bat stinking crazy the second we see another human being.

On Life

A beautiful life does not just happen, it is built daily by prayer, humility, sacrifice and love. May that beautiful life be yours always

Dennis Castillo

10 Things You Never Thought You'd See Your Child Eat

1. Neosporin.

2. Neosporin with a side of Vapor Rub.

3. Half a cup of salt.

4. Two handfuls of plain blue cheese followed by orange juice.

5. An acrylic-painted Gingerbread Man. At 3am.

6. Ants.

7. Bananas dipped in BBQ sauce and Garlic sauce (from the pizza box you left out the night before).

8. Their own hair (found on the floor after a haircut, before you'd swept it up).

9. Eyeshadow.

10. Half a stick of butter.


And yes, my children have actually eaten every single one of these things. Plus a few more that were too gross to even write down. :)

Just Keep Swimming

If you are a parent of a child ten or younger, I'm going to make a bet that you've seen Finding Nemo at least once. One of the best lines in that movie is Dory singing "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming". Can you even make something up that is more motivating than that? Nope, you can't. The tune is catchy, the words inspiring, and the message Godly. Yep, Godly. God is a God of perseverance; of pushing through the hard times. Pressing on towards the goal, you know.

When the kids are driving you bat stinking crazy and you have no idea how you are going to make it through dinner? Just keep swimming. You'll get there.

When you know that next week your spouse will be traveling and you'll have all the kids by yourself for days at a time and that is always when someone gets sick or hurt? Just keep swimming....and keep your insurance card close by.

When it's been raining for forty days and forty nights, and if it doesn't stop and dry up soon you will most likely shrivel up and die from lack of sunshine and a place for the kids to run around? Just keep swimming. It'll dry up soon.

When you've been potty training for what seems like years; maybe for actual, literal years, and your child calls you to the bathroom to show you that they did make it to the bathroom, and to prove it they fished a little something out of the toilet and laid it on the towel? Just keep swimming....and keep the 409 handy.

See what I mean? When you just keep swimming, you remember that all of life's irritations will pass. Maybe you'll swim a mile and they'll be gone. Maybe you'll swim a marathon and they'll be gone. But when you keep moving, you stop yourself from doing what never works: wallowing.

Wallowing never solved anything and just makes you annoying to be around. Better to be the fish, my friend.

So, be a fish today. Regardless of what you're looking at. If it seems insurmountable, if the list just seems too long or the kids too crazy, just keep swimming and do the next thing.

You'll make it, friend.

Family Life

Welcome to Family Life here on 728b! I'm Kristen and I'll be your fearless leader. Well, maybe not your fearless leader, but I'll be the one doing some of the writing anyway.

Family Life for me is a very busy thing right now. I've been married to a rather wonderful man, Dave, for almost 8 years and we have three children ages 5, 3, and 7 months. I am a stay at home mom and I home-school, use cloth diapers, make our baby food, and try a variety of other granola-type activities. I also spend way too much time on the internet, consume enough Diet Dr. Pepper that I may no longer be made mostly of water, and have a tendency to wear my pajamas until well past noon. It's all about balance, people.

We all know that every family works a little different and looks a little different. It's easy to get wrapped up in our own family unit and forget all the other families and situations out there. My hope here is that you will see a little in to my family life, how we roll and what we do, and that maybe you can see similarities in your own family. It's always nice to know we aren't alone.

And if you have ever caught yourself eating cookie dough in front of the fridge at 11pm, then trust me, you are totally not alone.

I was doing that 5 minutes ago.