My Miniature Musicians

Today, we 'studied' rhythm. Pots and pans, plastics, spatulas, wooden forks, and a lot of noise. The kids had a blast, and I feel kind of like the cat from Tom and Jerry. You know, when he is beat across the head with some handy piece of cookware and then his whole body vibrates and his vision blurs? Yeah, that's me. However, it occupied the kids for a solid half hour and I was able to be productive without the aid of pint size people under my feet. 'Hooray' for the day!

Sunshine Scents

One of the bright spots in daily chores for me is my laundry line. Well, my make shift laundry line. It's on the 'Honey Do' list to get a real one up, but for now, the one I have strung up on the back porch is serving it's purpose wonderfully. Several folks have looked at me like I have a few screws loose when they see my line. Obviously, they wonder why I don't just use the dryer. Well, let me tell you what launched my laundry line fetish.

We made the switch over to cloth diapers about 6 months ago. I love the diapers, in case you are wondering. But, the particular type we chose have parts that can't go in the dryer. At first, I dried the covers by hanging them up from the shower rod in the bathroom. Then, as it got hotter and hotter, it occurred to me that it would be faster to hang them outside. So, I hung them from the frame of the trampoline. Then, I wanted to dry other things outside, so I would lay them on the top of the trampoline. But, they blew away frequently.

So, with a bit of twine and some clothespins that I had bought for the kids to play with, the laundry line was born. These days I use if for diapers, sheets, towels, whites, mostly anything that will not be stretched out or sun stiffened past comfort (jeans). It took me a couple tries before I got the hang of liquid fabric softener for this endeavor, but now our laundry is soft and smells so wonderfully sunny.

The days are beginning to cool off a tad, and here in Alabama, if it rains, you can just forget trying to line dry clothes. So, I am having to use the dryer a little more often. I am wondering how often I will get to use my laundry line this fall and winter.

I have learned several practical benefits to laundry line usage. Our home was built in an old field, and we have no trees.(my major issue with this house!) The sun rises at the back of our home and sets right in the front windows. Cooling the place to most people's standards is a lost cause. Therefore, by using my laundry line, I cut down on the amount of time appliances run and generate more heat in our little solar panel home. In turn, this also cuts down a bit on our power bill, and as a stay at home Mommy and homemaker, I am constantly looking for ways to ease up on the budget.

Then there are the 'other' benefits. First, I love the smell! Second, I take several short trips outside daily with the kids following like little ducklings. This is better for them, these short spurts of outside time, when the heat is near 100. And, my favorite is that Thomas and Sarah Grace both love to walk under the laundry line when the linens are hanging. They laugh at the way the sheets or towels drag across their heads, and peek-a-boo brings on all new excitement.
Who knew that a piece of smartly hung string could bring so much to a household?

X and Y

I once read this article in which the author was making her case on the sameness of opposite sex children. She contended that males and females were born exactly the same, and that the kind of culture they were in decreed how and if their personality traits would tend to be more 'boy' or 'girl'. I understood her to be saying that developing male or female characteristics depended solely upon what the child's environment was.

I can see where this could happen a little bit. I grew up in neighborhoods that were mostly populated by little boys. I think this had an impact on my love for sports. It's not a rabid love, but I truly enjoy playing ball, especially baseball. I liked to toss my hair up in a ponytail and troop around with the guys wearing a baseball cap and chasing snakes and things of that nature. BUT, even though I may struggle with wearing dresses, I am still a very feminine creature. I love jewelry, pedicures, having the door opened for me, trying to make a cozy and inviting home, taking care of my family, and chocolate. I like to cook (though sometimes even after I cook and prep, I would rather serve peanut butter to my family!), enjoy journalling, and love to chat for hours on end with my girlfriends. Despite the number of boys I grew up running around with, I am still a woman. I love being a woman, and as the years pass by, I am trying to become more and more a lady. You will probably still catch me playing ball in the back yard with my son, but look at my toes while I do this. I guarantee they look good! I will have earrings on, probably a bracelet and necklace, and perhaps even a bit of make up.

Suffice it to say, I disagree wholeheartedly with this poor author. As if my own life weren't enough, my daughter, Sarah Grace, started toting around a handbag just before her first birthday. This, I can honestly say, I did not instill in her. I rarely carry a purse anymore. It's either the diaper bag, or my wallet. (Although, admittedly, I have quite a collection of purses from back in the pre-baby days where I would switch out frequently to make sure the purse did not clash with my outfit...post potty training, I can't wait to pull 'em back out!) Sarah also enjoys brushing her hair, and although she is possibly too young for me to say this, I think she prisses more when wearing a dress than she does in a romper or shorts. Gracie also enjoys 'helping' to put away dishes, helping with laundry (I fold, she unfolds) and wearing bracelets. She is partial to lip shiner (chapstick). This cracks me up to no end, as my son has NO tolerance for chapstick, even when he needs it!

More proof?

My two year old son, Thomas, loves to wrestle with his Daddy. He also enjoys jumping up and then landing right on his hindquarters (and oh, how painful it looks) then laughing and starting the procedure over again. He collects acorns, rocks, leaves, sticks, blades of grass, the occasional bug, and once, dog droppings. If there is a ball within eyesight, he is beelining for it. He laughs maniacally when someone stomps on a bug, loves to drive his dump trucks around the yard adding to his treasures, enjoys following along with his bubble mower (which we STILL can't make work) as Joshua mows the yard, and has an inexplicable attraction to all things car. He adores taking things apart, and then working to put them back together, playing in his Daddy's tools (the tape measure is his absolute favorite...we measure everything when he pulls it out), and airplanes, how he loves airplanes.

So, just in case I was in any doubt before having children, I am a firm believer that the double X chromosome possesses innate qualities that those born with the Y chromosome just do not get. Ask your husband what he thinks on that... he will probably agree. Don't put words into my mouth, I am not making the argument that one is better than the other. Simply that boys and girls are different by Creator's design. Sure, society and parenting and beliefs can impact these behaviors, but left to their own vices, boys will be boys and girls will be girls. Praise God for this, and that He had the foresight to bring about both the male and the female, for reasons other than reproduction. I mean, did you ever read 'Lord of the Flies'?

Girl Talk

When I was growing up, there was this game called 'Girl Talk' that I wanted so badly I couldn't see straight. (What does that phrase actually mean anyway?) I never did own it, but my best friend did. After we played it once or twice, it wound up on a shelf to collect dust and eventually landed in a yard sale.

Now that I am older, and hopefully a tad bit wiser, I prefer a much different version of Girl Talk. You know, the kind where girls (ladies) actually get together and talk! My dear friend Lora trekked all the way in from Virginia for a girls weekend. Her sweet hubby kept their 2 year old mostly-potty-trained twins and 1 year old not-potty-trained-not-twin for three whole days so she could visit and eat here in Huntsville. Applause and many thanks, Andrew! He is not the only hero of this story. Let me not forget to mention Joanna's husband Jason, who kept their 6 year old, 4 year old, and 2 year old for a day and a half so that Joanna could join in the fun. She got to bring their sweet little 4 month old with her, much to the pleasure of Lora and myself. And last, but most assuredly not least, my own wonderful Joshua, who swept our two blessings off for a day and a half to insure that we ladies could do all manner of silly girl stuff.

And silly we did. Dinner, and I don't think we got to the restaurant until after my kids usually go to bed, with FREE birthday brownies! Yum! Stayed up past our bedtime, until like 2am...when was the last time that happened? Then, get this, a lazy, two hour breakfast graced with much wonderful conversation of all sorts! And that after we slept in! (Well, I felt like we slept in. I am not sure I have made it past 8am since I had kiddos.) Shopping, ice cream, laughter, music, fantastic food, and just plain great fellowship. What more could a girl ask for???

We didn't solve the world's problems, but we hashed out some of our own. We didn't stop terrorism, but we talked about discipline methods for our kids. We didn't figure out how to feed the world, but we talked about some good meal websites. People still throw way to much into landfills, but we compared preferences on cloth diapering. I will probably go to Kroger tomorrow and buy more organic milk for my kids, but I am now aware of some local-ish folks who offer shares so that you can get raw milk. School systems still do not meet the standards by which I want my children educated, but I now have much more insight and information on different homeschooling ideas and curriculum. And, I know I will get short tempered with my children again, soon, but I have two wonderful sources who the very thought of helps me to remember, this too shall pass. My children will survive, and if I think and make a conscious effort, I can ward off the madness of it all. Know what I mean?

So, I am pumped by the idea that we want to do this again next year. Maybe before, if we can talk those daring husbands of ours into it!

Thomas' Happy Birthday

I did promise this post. And since Thomas has been sitting here in my lap looking over the pictures with me this morning, it was a good reminder to do it.

So the day started out a bit overcast, but not rainy. I got up pretty early to finish the little patch of lawn mowing that Joshua couldn't do the night before because it's getting dark earlier these days. I quickly learned why my Daddy always waited until afternoon or evening to mow. The dew was so heavy that the lawn mower couldn't cope with it and the thick grass. So, after two minutes, I gave it up, and went to make cake. =) I fared much better there.

We had several friends and lots of family come to celebrate with us. The kids were happy to play in the pool and jump on the trampoline while the adults all visited and reminisced of their own children's younger years.

Saturday was actually my sister Amy's real birthday, and she was gracious enough to share with Thomas this year. I made small cakes for each of them, and Amy had the honors of helping Thomas to blow out the candles on both cakes. Thomas has a special way of 'blowing' out candles, or 'blowing' his nose. He gets all serious looking, gazes you right in the eye, and utters one word. Blow. So, to help him understand the meaning of blowing out the birthday candles, and, if I am honest, to give my sister a hard time, we graced the cakes with Magical Relighting Candles! Thomas loved this, and after about the third round of blowing out candles, he got the hang of it.

Small footnote here. The Magical Relighting Candle package says nothing about the massive amounts of smoke created by the blowing out of their candles over and over and over. So, as we all choked and wondered that the fire alarm wasn't going off, Thomas and Amy laughed their way through Birthday wishing.

Thomas was only mildly impressed by the cake. Much more taken with the Cheetos. Sigh. But, he did the obligatory face smash in the cake, albeit a clean-ish face smash, and posed for the picture. Silly boy. On the other hand, he was old enough this year to really get into ripping the paper off the gifts. He was really quite the ham.


Overall, it was a wonderful day. The kids had a blast, and of course went to bed a tad early. And, we are just now finishing off the last of the birthday cake! Yum!

Things I Have Learned

Motherhood has brought about tons of expansions in the grey matter. I mean, who knew that one kid could make so much _______? (noise, mess, stink, snot, drool, use your imagination here.) On the other hand, people severely underestimate the intelligence that can be gleaned from children.

It has been an extremely long day. We celebrated Thomas' 2nd birthday today. The Big Day was actually Tuesday, but somehow that is not conducive to getting the whole family here. Tuesday, we did a special trip to Baskin Robbins and sang the song, over and over and over. Today, we had cake and watermelon and all that jazz. But I will tell you more about Thomas' day later. Right now, I just want to share some of the nuggets of truth I am surrounded by.

If you leave pretzels in the sink to get wet and soak for a few, it stinks of fish. This is especially bad for me, as I do NOT like fish.

Regardless of how many times you ram a tonka truck into the wall and yell 'Beep, Beep', the wall does not move.

CD's and DVD's are irresistible play toys.

The cat does not mind sharing his food with a toddler. The cat LOVES to share the toddler's food.

Cloth diapers do not hold the 'do' when kids are swimming.

ANYTHING can be utilized as a step stool to counter surf.

When kids begin counter surfing, knives should be put even higher. (no boo-boo's to learn this one, praise the Lord)

Bugs are a great source of entertainment and protein.

Toilet fishing is a sport.

White shirts hide snot stains better than black ones.

Pretzels dumped on the floor make a great 5am breakfast. (see counter surfing)

It really is okay if two grandmothers and one great grandmother feed my kids chocolate cake all day. It is only ONE day out of many.

Cats like chocolate cake. Their 'motors' run double time after a few bites.

Sometimes, you can let the kitchen wait overnight. After all, it's not like you get a lot of company in the wee hours of the morning.

Books are edible.

Bathroom floors are easy to keep clean...just let the toddlers splash for a bit. At this point, it is necessary to mop up with a towel. We do this at least once a day. Floor looks great.

So, ponder these deep lessons. And let me know some of the goodies your kids have taught you!

Sleeping Habits

So, its been a hectic past few days. I have been filling in at the school where I worked for several years, and while this is entertaining for me, it is a major change for the kids. They are getting up earlier, because I have to be there by 7am, having their daily routines thrown over for the daily schedule that the school has for each class, coming home in the afternoon with a tired Mommy, and eating the oddest things that I keep claiming as meals. Much to their credit, they are rolling with it quite nicely. The only major factor is that they are so much more tired and a tad more cranky in the evenings.

Meal time has been, well, eclectic. Can I say that? I am, and since I am author of this entry, then you get to read it. *Grin* Let me recount to you my favorite meal for the kids this week. Oatmeal. Yep, that's right. Quaker Oats. And a lot of it. I figure oatmeal is mostly healthy, or at least better then the cheese puffs Thomas was after, and since I made a load of it, they got plenty in their bellies. Plus, the stuff is crazy thick, so I know it 'stuck to their ribs' as the saying goes. We chased the oatmeal with milk and a couple cookies. They were happy.

Bed time has been the harshest thing for us to all cope with. Gracie is READY at 6:30. Give me my bottle. Snuggle me for a minute. Quick prayers. Put me in bed. Leave me alone. Good night.

Then, there is Thomas. I don't think he has been to bed on time a single night this week. Not that it would matter if we got him there on time. He doesn't stay. For weeks now, I have been commenting to people on how easy it was to put Thomas in a Big Boy Bed. He just decided it was time, and we really didn't have any big power struggles.

Until now.

Joshua puts Thomas to bed. It is their special time of day. They have chats, prayers and cuddles, then Thomas gets in his bed and that is that. Sometimes, he opts to get back up and play. He will turn on his closet light and play with his toys. We allow this, since he stays in his room, and usually even turns the light out and puts himself back in bed when he is done. No big deal. However, the past few nights have been a bit of an issue. He moans and groans and crys and calls out and kicks at the door and the walls and comes out to see if maybe we have changed our minds. We haven't. So, off he goes, with some prompting from Daddy, and we start over again. Eventually he tires himself out and by the time Joshua and I go to bed, Thomas is asleep. But don't make the mistake of thinking he is putting himself back in his bed these days. Oh, no. He lays over like a lump right in front of the door so you can't open it. He crawls up in the chair in his room and kicks back there. He puts half his body under the bed and snoozes. Anywhere but IN the bed. Why is this? I haven't the slightest idea. But, its kinda funny, and this, too, shall pass. Right?

Climbing The Walls

Yesterday, a piano was delivered to our home, compliments of Joshua's parents. We are so thankful to have it in our home. Thomas' eyes lit up immediately, and as soon as the thing was in place, he sat down and started plucking out notes.

Last night, after the kids had been put in bed, Joshua sat down to play. For those of you who know Joshua, you know what a treat this is. I was doubly thankful to have the piano here after about two seconds with him at the keys.

This morning, I rounded a corner to find Thomas perched on the very top of the piano. My first thought was horror. My second was laughter. And the third, the one I acted on, was to calmly get him down, explain to him that he had done something that was wrong, and let him know that if I caught him up there again, there would be consequences.

What? Consequences? Okay, Mom.

Not ten minutes later, I found my son literally climbing up the bookshelf. His feet were on the third shelf(the one his hand is resting on in the picture!), and he was still trying to go up.

This time, the first thought was horror. The second, laughter. The third was awe...I mean, when did he learn to do that anyway? And the fourth was the pep talk. Some will argue that I should have spanked at this point. But, I said not to climb on the piano. I didn't' say a word about the bookshelf. One of the things I learned at the daycare is that you have to s-p-e-l-l it out for kids, especially boys.

So, Thomas and I chatted about how furniture is not for climbing on. And while we were chatting, Gracie was trying to climb the bookshelf. For her efforts, we now have one broken piece of picture frame glass.

It is not quite 11am as I tap out this entry. My son is sitting contentedly on the floor trying to put his shoes on my feet. My daughter is napping. And I am wondering if we should just invest in one of those climbing walls...or maybe just get the swingset put up! Hmmm...

These Are The Days

I woke up this morning with that phrase as it relates to several songs running through my head. Vanessa Williams sang 'These are the days, the sweetest days we'll know.' 10,000 Maniacs told us that ' These are the days, These are days you'’ll remember, Never before and never since, I promise, Will the whole world be warm as this.' And while neither of these songs refer specifically to the joys of being a part of a young family, I couldn't help but be extra thankful to our Father for starting off my day with this phrase as a reminder of the everyday blessings He has given my way.


So, as I show Thomas for the millionth time where the 'on' button is for a toy that drives me nuts, or change the endless parade of diapers, I will continue to sing my songs and praise my Lord. Because these are the days, and He has filled them with joys in big and small ways.

Sarah's Happy Birthday

Our little Sarah Grace had her first birthday this weekend! I walked into her room Saturday morning singing 'Happy Birthday', and watching her sunny little face smile as she danced and clapped her hands. By the time her Daddy sang to her at breakfast, she was looking a little confused by the new song that everyone kept directing towards her. She probably thinks the song hers now, as she heard it several more times that day!


We threw a party to mark her first year on Sunday afternoon, and were humbled by all the folks who came to her celebration. Family and friends, some who drove 8+ hours to be here, gathered on an entirely too hot afternoon in our overcrowded home to visit and eat cake! It was such a blessing to have them all here. We feasted on cake and cookies and other assorted unhealthy snacks, then turned the children out to the swimming pool to rinse off and cool off. All those cute diapered babies!


Gracie enjoyed her first taste of cake, loved all the attention, and was happy as a clam in the pool. She wasn't quite so interested in her gifts, but was pleased to have pretty paper to chew on! Thomas, on the other hand, has gotten quite a bit of mileage from new toys that Sarah received. We are now focusing on helping him to understand that they are not 'MINE' (oh, that word!); that they are in fact Sarah Grace's toys and he must not take them from her. She is gracious enough to share, praise the Lord!


We thank you from the bottom of our hearts, those who were able to come. It was so wonderful to share this milestone in our daughter's life with our loved ones! For everyone else who called or sent cards or prayers, we thank you and we missed you!