A Language of Our Own

There are certain little words that my children have created, some still exist and some have faded away. 

 I choose not to correct these words because frankly....

 I miss them when there gone!

T.C.'isms
Fridge-a-fridger ~ Refrigerator (Long since gone)

Milk-Milk          ~ He use to create doubles for everything, even his Uncle
Snack-Snack        Jay-Jay -which stuck for everyone else too!    
     
                   
Remembery        ~Used for remembering a memory, this is one of my absolute
                             favorites.  I am thinking about having it added to the dictionary.
                             (Still around, thank goodness)

Kayla'isms
Well quite frankly there aren't to many, she has never been much of a talker.  However, she had the tiniest little voice you have ever heard..a.k.a. "The Disney Voice"

~There has to be some....let me think on it!

Sparkles~ What she called freckles for the longest time....I really miss this one, sparkles sounds so much    
                 more glamours!

Addyson'isms
Lellow     ~  I think I like it better than the word yellow, actually! (Still around at this point, but I am afraid it's
                   on the way out)

Milky       ~  Obviously for milk (still around)

Snombie   ~  Her and her siblings have created a game of tag, she follows after them saying, " I'm a snombie"

Friesday   ~  I can't wait for this day to roll around each week just so I can hear her say it!

Ma'ams    ~ When I ask her to do something she replays, "I ma'ams doing it mama."

Pizzer and Cindereller ~  Possibly Cinderella's alter ego!

Idea'er   ~  "I have an idea'er!"

Toys-for-us  ~ Is apparently her favorite store!

Snooder-doodles~ Snicker doodle cookies

Anareese'ism
We anxiously wait to hear all of her wisdom.... so far just the regular "dadadada" and then there are her famous raspberries!

Da-deee   ~ Everything is called da-deee

Hi- Hi-Hi  ~ Will make a great greater someday

Wah-u ~ For water which she loves pointing out everywhere we go.

I plan to add more as they create new ones and I as I remember the old ones!  

I can't wait to hear what will come out of those sweet little lips next.

Two Very Different Views!

The way I saw it....

It was a long frustrating and worrisome night.  Todd and I trying to decided when to administer which medication, when to wait it out, and when to admit it was more than we could handle.  My son has gone almost an entire year without an Asthma attack and I was ready to declare him over it!  

It was slumber party night at our house, which means we watch a movie and then everyone brings their sleeping bags into our room for a slumber party.  We hadn't been in bed long when we heard "the cough." My husband and I looked at each other, we know that sound all to well.  Still believing that he was not going to have any more attacks we waited lying very still and trying not to make a noise.....I don't know why we thought that would help other than when your desperate you will try anything.  It didn't take long for us to realize that we were in a full blown attack, probably one of the worst that we had seen in awhile.  

So we began the regimen....prayer, breathing treatments, steam, propping them up on a mountain of pillows, steroids, steam, and breathing treatments again!  We put him in bed with me so I could monitor his breathing while daddy took his place on the floor so he could stay near by.  After a long exhausting two hours...we had won the battle.  I could finally rest my head on my pillow, thankful for the silence and that God kept us out of the emergency room.  

The way he saw it...

We had spent long periods of time in the hot steamy bathroom trying to make it easier for him to breath.  As a way of trying to keep him calm I began talking to him about the day's events, we had gone to see the Battle of Lewisburg (he is my little history buff to say the least)!

Later we curled up in bed together, I pulled him close to me so I could hear his breathing.  We laid there in bed and I stroked his sweaty little head while I whispered how much I loved him.  He was restless and exhausted from the violent coughs and jittery from all the medications.  A little while later he rolled over and said to me in a soft sweet little voice, "Mama, this is the best slumber party night ever."  I couldn't help but giggle at the thought, I had just spent the past two hours in an exhausting fight to keep him out of the hospital.  He, on the other hand only remembered daddy and I taking turns spending time with him, talking to him and holding him for hours.  

Two very different views of one event! 

Once again I am amazed by the beautiful perspective of life seen through the sweet 

little eyes of my children.

The Wisdom of a Child

I have to say that I have learned more in the eight short years since I became a parent than in all the years prior.  I believe that the best way to learn something is to teach it to someone else, that's when you truly grasp the concept.  It isn't until you see through someone else's eyes (even a child's) and hear their questions that you truly view the concept from all sides.  

To be honest my children have taught me more about what I "thought" I knew than any teacher every could have!  They ask questions and see thing so differently than I do.  I feel so blessed to be able to have their view of  life, it really helps me put things in perspective.  What a shame it would be for me to not hear their ideas, this world is so much prettier through their eyes.  They see a simpler place where people help each other just because someone else needs it and they have a pureness that is not complicated by the logistics of this world.

My son expressed an interest in building hotels for homeless people and giving them access to the internet so they can look for jobs.  He wants people from all over to come together to help pay for these hotels.  He can't understand why anyone wouldn't want to help.  I love his heart for people in-need and I pray 

that God will help me find a way to nurture his passion for hurt and discarded people.

After seeing a family pushing a stroller down a busy street my sweet little girl asked me, "Mama if people really need a car why won't the people that own those car lots just give them one, they have so many."  I told her that people sell those cars to get money.  She looked at me with a sad look on her face and said, "Well I would give them one if I had all those cars."

My children's hearts are so pure and uncorrupted by the strong opinions of this world.  They believe in kindness without questions and that goodness existences inside of all people.  We could all learn a lot from our little blessings, perhaps they are sent here to remind us of the pure world that God had originally created and to help us see a glimpse of what waits for us "back home"!

Sickness!!!!

Well,  you could say that the past week has not been one of our finer ones. I have been extremely ill and on top of that we have been battling the ugly beast in our life......

Asthma!

I don't mind to tell you that I think it is highly unfair that three of my four (still praying that the baby will be in the clear) have Asthma.  We have unfortunately become quite the experts in the matter, much to our own dislike. 

I would much rather deal with my pneumonia anytime, then watch my babies go through these awful episodes.  Each scenario begins much the same, we have our regimen of medication, however often we find ourselves helpless and at the mercy of the beast.  

Well, that is not the actual truth... we believe in a much higher and far more powerful source.  Prayer is the medicine we reach for first, before all of the rest.  So once again I will hand them over to the only one that could ever love them more and pray that He will heal these little lungs and keep my angels safe...yet again!

A Day in the Life of a Homeschooling Mama

Sometimes the best laid plans are just that....plans.  However, the reality of what happens is usually much different.  The beauty of our life is that we are free to make it what we choose it to be.  With that said, the truth of reality is that it can often look pretty ugly at times.  

So picture this... A pristinely clean home with children groomed and dressed to the nines and picture perfect.  Each child is sitting quietly while they work diligently on their school work.  The children are so in love with learning that they never look up from their work and even request extra when they are finished.  Every task is finished in the alloted time and the day moves on without a glitch or blemish.

Now take that image and run a tornado through it.....thats more like it!

Our reality may not always be pretty but it is productive.  My day my not EVER go as planned but at the end of it I have satisfaction.  The foundation of my reality is that I spent the day with MY children and they learned MY values and it was MY eyes that witnessed their struggles and accomplishments.  No, I can pretty much guarantee that it won't be the plan that I pictured in my mind and much of the time it can feel like chaos, but at the end of everyday the satisfaction is all mine.

Picture the image above again and then remember that sometimes...

Babies get fussy even though it's math time...
Spills have to be cleaned up during grammar...
Toddlers need cuddles when older children are reading...
Diapers may need changed during spelling...
Children (and Mamas) get frustrated during lessons...
And Boo Boos need kissed no matter what important task you are focused on at that moment...

Now you have a much more accurate picture of our day!

Our life is full of unexpected interruptions and distractions, our daily path can detour very quickly.  But at the end of everyday we have accomplished my greatest desires....we laughed, loved, learned and yes, even struggled together... as a family!

So I will proudly take these struggles and chaos of today because all to soon....

The little arms that reach for me will be gone...
The sweet kisses from tiny lips will just be memories...
My lap will be all to empty...
My kisses will loose their healing power...
No one will interrupt me while I am speaking...
And my home will be eerily quiet...

And in my moments of reflection I will ache for the interruptions and distractions of today.  But I will have satisfaction in knowing that all of my sacrifices of today will have produced new joys and closer relationship for tomorrow.  So even though this life of ours may seem unusual to some, we choose it because for us the reasons to do it far out way the reasons to not.

Take Me or Leave Me!

In lieu of today I thought that I would share a few corky habits of mine!  

Things that I don't claim to be sane or even rational, 

just things that make me.....me!

Matching P.J's for the little ones...
I can't stand it if the kids come out dressed for bed in mismatched pajamas.  They now make it a point to come out and say, "Look Mama....matching jammies!"


This dishwasher MUST run every night...
Want to upset me...just leave dishes in my sink overnight!  I can't bare to wake up in the morning to dirty dishes in the dishwasher either.  It messes up my routine in the morning which begins with unloading the dishwasher.  I have even been known to get up in the middle of the night to do the dishes if they had been forgotten (which happened just last night).


Holes in socks....
My son and husband have no problem with wearing socks with holes in them.  It is beyond me how anyone could do such an absurd thing!  I'm a holey sock trashing Mama!


While we are on the sock thing...
The same husband and son also have no problem wearing mismatched socks.  My husband will even knowingly put two different socks (and by two different I mean that there is no discrimination in size, color, or style) on the children.....I mean the nerve!!!


Bows in hair...
O.K. I have gotten a little better with this one but still for the most part my girls are not fully dressed without some fluffy color in their hair.  We LOVE bows... to say the least!

Public restrooms...
In my defense this one is not so much a cork as it is just good practice.  I don't let my kids touch the toilet or the toilet paper (until I unroll about half of the roll).......second thought can we just try to make it home?
And please stop calling those holes in the ground with cones on top of them (at all of the State Parks) bathrooms, they are not even close to usable, in my book!  Sorry boys... No running water, No Mama!

Matchy, matchy...
So if this was a count down to my number one cork, I guess this would be number one.  In fact if there was a trivia question about me and "my most extreme cork",  I'm sure that my good friends would get it right every time.  I LOVE, LOVE , LOVE to dress my girls in matching outfits...it's a border line obsession you could say. I will even try to sneak in a somewhat matching outfit for my son from time to time.  I admit I have a problem....don't judge me just love me!

So there it is....just some of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly!  

I don't claim to do it all correctly nor am I attempting to 

set any precedents... 

just trying to be the best me I can be.

 (Sound to Dr. Seusssish?)  

Their Eyes

Have you ever paid attention to just how revealing eyes can be, some have even referred to them as "the windows to our souls."  Even the smallest child can communicate to you through their eyes.  I have come to learn that the key to truly understanding my children is to spend time looking into their sweet little eyes.

How easy it is to speak to them without even looking their way or 

multi-task while they are trying to confide in me.  

Their eyes hold so much hope, faith, and love that can only be seen if their eyes meet mine.  I am afraid that every missed opportunity will eventually equal fewer attempts by them and less opportunities for me to make that connection with them.  

So I will do my best to look past the beautiful shades of blue and green to see what those little windows will reveal to me.  I want to learn all I can about my sweet little ones 

and be able to see things through their eyes... 

the world is such a beautiful place from their view!