To Do List... Not mine

It is Tina's "to do" list:

Here she is completing tasks on her list.

Maybe if I put tasks like this on my list, I'd have a better chance of completing them. (or a better chance of breaking an ankle).

Doctor David

As is typical of houses with small children, we've had our share of colds this winter. It seems somebody always has a little runny nose or a little cough. Today, it seems, poor Rainbow has come down with something.

Doctor David must administer the necessary medicine. Sorry, Rainbow. It's good for you... even if he is smushing your poor lizard head.

And then of course, just to be safe, he must give some to himself (in his ear no less).

Praying that warmer weather brings health to our home and yours.

Lessons in baking

I learned something new tonight.

There's a reason that bakers use three balls of dough to make cloverleaf rolls.

Because if you only use two balls of dough, the rolls end up looking like -how to say this delicately? - um, "buns".


A fact that did not escape any of the kids' notice, I assure you.

Because I like to

Today David was just laughing for no reason. I asked him why he was laughing. His answer?

"Because I like to."


Isn't laughing great? It truly is good medicine.

A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17:22

(This is what was making David laugh in the last clip. I didn't video him till the third time we watched it... the first time he was laughing so hard he could hardly breathe. He loves penguins. This is another of his favorite clips.)

Spring is just around the corner (Part II)

I have wanted to have a little garden for several years. Whether I want to have the extra work that a garden creates remains to be seen. Not ever having had one before, I'm free to dream about the delicious, fresh produce without thinking of the watering, weeding, etc. Anyway, John had off work yesterday and decided that laying out a garden would be a good project for the day. So here it is:

That's a mite bigger than what I had in mind. I was thinking a little garden with a couple of herb plants and a tomato plant to start. But I know the kids will enjoy helping out with watering and picking, so maybe we can manage it. I'd be more than delighted if we can.

I have been having fun thinking about what we could plant. The kids were with me and I was listing out loud, "Tomatoes, cilantro, basil, oregano, peppers...." Tina pipes up, "Candy?" I never met a child who loves candy as much as that child. Have I mentioned here that she told me she wished we had named her Candy? I digress.

I plan to post some updates and pictures of the garden as we go. I hope it's not a complete failure. I need something to write about when the kids don't give me any material.

Ask the LORD for rain in the springtime;
it is the LORD who makes the storm clouds.
He gives showers of rain to men,
and plants of the field to everyone.
Zechariah 10:1

Spring is just around the corner

If you have small children at home (or ever did), I'm sure you must be familiar with Frog and Toad. What wonderful and memorable little short stories. I was reminded of one last weekend: "The Corner" in Frog and Toad All Year. Toad is feeling down and Frog tells him a story.

When I was small, not much bigger than a pollywog, said Frog, “My father said to me, ‘Son, this is a cold, gray day but spring is just around the corner.’ I wanted spring to come. I went out to find that corner.”

He finds corners and walks around them and doesn't find spring, but finally he walks around the corner of his house and sees flowers growing and birds singing. Last weekend I walked around the corner of our house and this is what I saw growing in our backyard.


Then for our Valentine's Day Dinner on Saturday, I had Tina go cut some of them and we made a centerpiece for our table.

I love spring. It is, without question, my favorite season. Even the kids, who are still praying for snow, have been so happy with the weather.

Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy. Acts 14:17

Overheard

As I'm kissing the girls goodnight Taryn says to me:
I wish I could be a grownup and stay up and eat cake and play the guitar. (Because you know, that's what the life of a grownup is like)

Joseph: (Walking past me with a Battleship gameboard as his laptop computer) I need my computer because all teenagers have their own computers. You had a computer when you were a teenager, right Mommy.
Me: Well, actually I didn't. There were computers, but most people didn't have one back then. Grandma and Grandpa didn't get a computer until after I'd moved out.
Taryn: Wow. That's just hard for me to think about. Like how would you check your email and stuff?
Me: We didn't have email back then.
Taryn: Oh.
Joseph: Were cars invented yet, Mommy?

Okay, so just to recap. They think I'm an old lady born before cars were invented who sits around and eats cake and tries to play musical instruments that she does not really know how to play (with a big bottom)

David comes in the house after playing outside.
David: My hands are dumb.
Me: Huh?
Helpful Taryn: He means they're numb.
Me: Well, you can stay inside until they warm up.
He looks at one hand, then the other.
David: Okay, they're not dumb.

Same day, after David came in from playing outside I wiped his runny nose:
Now I have a clean and shiny nose

David when holding my hands for prayer, "Your hands are cold as an iceberg." And don't think I didn't pass up that opportunity to point out the simile to the older kids. Such is the life of a homeschooler.


David while working on a particularly challenging jigsaw puzzle. My brain is breaking in half-es.



There was a strange electrical smell at church. John thought he could smell it, but after looking around a bit, couldn't smell it anymore. Rebekah comes in, "What smells?" John asks, "Do you smell something?" "Yeah, it smells zappy-ish" Electrical engineer?







Tina doesn't just say ow like the rest of us. When she tripped over Sam's boots on the floor she says, "Sam, why did you leave your boots out? I broke my pretty little toe." After she hit her hand on the wall she says, "That hurt... my hand ran out of air."




Sam looking at the pictures on the refrigerator and talking to John
Sam: Aunt Lori is Mason's stepmother.

John: Yes.
Sam: But she's not an evil stepmother. She's a good stepmother.

Ooops. I'm sorry. That wasn't the picture I meant to post at all. Here's a picture of Lori:

Me thinks we may read a few too many fairy tales?


Kids are hilarious because if they don't remember the right word, they just substitute or make one up. I wish I'd had this blog from the beginning and I could have written an entire Farmer family dictionary. Alligator for elevator, subtractions for contractions (Taryn during one of my pregnancies), all-overs for overalls, etc. The most recent was Rebekah talking about getting ready for the meet. She wanted her hair done with french fries (as in braids?).


So, one night I am tucking Sam into bed. He says, "I want to tell you a funny story." I agree, so he begins, "One day I was pushing down on your soap to get soap out and it went zhoop and shot out into the toilet. That was funny." Thank goodness I keep my toothbrush in the drawer. Eeew.

All the world's a stage?

Well, in this case the pull-out sofa bed is the stage (with sunlight for stage lighting).


And can I just add that I am a little dismayed by their discovery yesterday that they can pull out the bed by themselves? The couch cushions that spend more time on the floor than actually on the couch was a bit annoying. Metal beds in the middle of the living room can be downright hazardous to my poor shins and toes.

First Gymnastics Meet

Their team won the trophy for second place. They both did great (even though they both had a cold and felt lousy). They both had fun which is what I wanted for them. No tears at all even though one of them fell off the beam. I'm a proud Mama.