Some Thoughts For Fall

Septemeber has arrived. And with it comes the cooler weather (sooner than I expected, but not unwelcome), the return of the dreaded footbal season, cold season, pre-school, and soup.

Josh and I were on a walk with the boys the other day, and we were talking about the weather, and I realized (again) how much I LOVE Autumn. It seems that every year, I forget about my favorite season, and every year I vow not to. Then it rolls around again, fally as ever and I am struck by my affection for the crisp air, the crisp apples, the crisp... I can't think of any other crisp things I like, besides apple crisp, but I already said apples.

Fall brings out my lesser used domestic desires. Like the ones to make elaborate soups, and breads and other warm comfort foods from scratch. Or, indoor crafty things. At homegroup last week, I launched into my plans to aquire a sewing machine and teach myself how to sew and begin making wonderful home funishings. My very good friend, Karen cut me down to size with, "Don't you think you have enough hobbies? Do you really need one more?" She's like the string on my kite. Needless to say, I have abandoned (for now) the sewing machine adventure.

Fall has also brought a new change to our house. Today was Jackson's first day of Pre-school. I did not cry. Neither did he. Noah did, but only 'cause I didn't get him out of the car fast enough. It was a sucessful day at school. He had fun, didn't punch anyone (as far as I know), and I had an extra set of clothes packed in his backpack, which I hoped he wouldn't use, but did. He towers over the other kids, but to me he looked so small. it makes me wonder if I'll cry when Noah goes to school. Prob'ly not. It's not my style.

There were other big changes happening all around me in the last month and I found myself all riled up over them. I spent a couple days in a terrible funk, and then (duh!!!) I went to the Lord. I had been complaining about all the things in my life that change when I don't want them to, and letting Him know what I thought of His actions, when I realized that I'm not the boss of Him. That was sort of huge. See, I'm the boss in my house. So if there are changes to be made, they go my way and in my time. Not to say that Josh is the un-boss, but kinda. So, to look at the things around me that I always expected to always stay the same, and know that that wouldn't always be, was a little scary. But I think the Lord spoke to me. I was reminded that He DOESN'T change. He's always faithful. He's constant. It's not the deepest concept to dig for, but I needed it right then and it was good.

Here's a picture of us at the beginning of a wedding this summer. I had this great plan to have candy and crackers at hand to keep the boys quiet during the ceremony. That didn't work out. Maybe we'll get to see the video. But we all looked pretty good. Note, if you will, my "just returned from Hawaii" glow.

So, there's that.

Summer is in the air at the House Full of Boys! As I write this, it's 11:30 pm and all the windows are open to let the cool air in.
Jackson is now into maps. He has a map of Sodor Island (The Island on which Thomas the Tank Engine and all his friends reside) in a book, and he loves it. So, last week while shopping at Walls, I found a map place mat. Perfect! He can't rip it, tear it or otherwise harm it! He can only learn! Well, we've been learning the West Coast states and their capitals. "Jackson, where's Waasshhiinnnggtooonnn?" I say slowly. He points lackadaisically as thought this is already old hat and he'd rather be anywhere else. "and what is the capital of Washington?"
"O-limpEeaaahhhhh!" He says with some enthusiasm. "And what state is this?" "Californyaaaahhhh" I think that my son watches Paula Deen while I'm not looking. He can make any word into a 3 or 4 syllable doozy. "Now, what's the capital?" "I DON'T know." "Remember.... it's Sssssssss......" "Tell me." "Come on, it's got toe in it...." "Toes?!?!?!" "No, it's Sacramento." "Oh, right, Sacramehntooooooo. I'm all done Mama."
If I had to homeschool, we'd be in trouble.

This One's Hat Fell Off, Mama!

This was Thursday's Most Used Phrase. My ferociously happy 3 year old repeated these words a million times at least. On Thursday, the boys and I went to the strawberry patch with my good friends Anne, along with her daughters, and Jessica and little Siennalee. Who, incidentally moves enough to be two daughters. Into this pool of estrogen my boys and I heartily threw ourselves for a day of fun, sun, and berries. I have no pictures to share with you. Anne did that duty, and better than I ever could.
We gave the kiddlets a veritable playbook of rules to ignore; which they did admirably. The primary one being: pick the berries at the stem, so their hats stay on. Next was: Only pick the dark red ones, the white ones are babies and need to grow, plus they taste yucky. Well, my son, being the smarty that he is would pick the berry and then, as he was showing me the perfect strawberry with its hat still on, he'd pull it off and utter those words... This one's hat fell off Mama! So now I have to eat it!" The scurvy dog!
After a while, he tired of the monotony and began looking for other interesting things to do.
There was a marker flag sword fight with Noah and Siennalee.
He ran off with Noah in the stroller... I have no idea where he thought they were going to go, we were next to a cemetery.
And last, he started picking the white, unripe berries.
"Oh, no, Jackson" I told him. "Those berries are not ready yet and they taste SOOOOO sour. You won't like those! We need to save them for the next people that come to pick berries."
"I'll just have a little taste." He replied. "Oh, I like there Mom. I'm just gonna keep eating these!"
Whatever!
That was near the end of our adventure, and if it wasn't so late, I would regale one and all with more witty "Jackisms".
G'Night!

Mubbley Bumble Mips

Well, well, well. Haven't seen you 'round here for a while... It's been a busy 6 months. I am now teaching drama at Christ's Center (my prestigious alma mater) to 6 of the MOST dramatic 5th - 7th graders most of you have never met. We are now rehearsing for the Christmas program which is promising to be fierce. Jackson continues to astound all with his brilliance. A few weeks ago, we were playing with his Thomas the Tank Engine set. (his current fav activity/tv show/book, etc...) Thomas derailed and Jackson said, "Oh, no! He's in the Mubbley Bumble Mips!!!" "The what?", was my reply. "The Mubbley Bumble Mips! Oh, NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"
He's very concerned. We asked him what a MBM was and he said, "On the Backyards, The Mubbley Bumble Mips.", like we were completely retarded for not getting what he was throwing down. So, like any competent parent would do, we got out the Backyardigans DVD (one of many, that was the fav. before Thomas.) And sure enough, there were the Bubbly Mud Pits that the pirates had to cross over. I then understood Jackson's compassion for Thomas. I would not want to be stuck in Mubbley Bumble Mips either.

Couches and Craigslist Part 2

So yes. For all of you who were wondering... We finally got rid of the chicken couch. It's been a while so the details are a little blurry, but... A girl and her boyfriend came on Tuesday and picked up the couch. They were going to come Monday...but couldn't. Then they were going to come on Tuesday at 12. They got lost and were late. 2 hours late! Sigh. Well they got here, and I showed them the couch, and told them it was heavy. In my heart, I was praying to the Lord that they wouldn't hate it and leave. I would have cried. This was before Noah was born, so I could very possibly have actually been crying at the time and not known. Who knows? So then they said, "Let's take off the slipcover." "Oh NO!" I screamed silently. "Then you will see how truly hideous this couch is." I could practically hear the girl sending her boyfriend silent vibes to just run away. But... They took it. Along with the four pillows I had stuffed down inside it to help sitters to not fall through to the bottom. YAY!!!!!!! Now we have a great couch! It's such a blessing. And so clean. Even though Noah has peed on it like 5 times so far. I love Resolve.

I'm just so tired!!!

Really. I am. Today, I had my first shower since Sunday. Yeah, it's Wednesday, I know. Maybe I like being grimey... Maybe I LOVE walking around with sour milk on my shoulder. It's cool! I wear all these things as a badge of Mothering honor.
"Oh, yes interested bystander! I DID only get two hours of sleep last night! Thank you for being so concerned!"
"Indeed, Mother of One! It IS quite a bit harder than having just one measly baby. Not just ANYONE can have two children."
"Why... Hello fellow mother of two! Yes, you can join my exclusive club."
I might say all these things... if I ever got out of the house to speak to adults. That must come when you join the "Mother of Schoolchildren" club. For now, I'll just be happy when I make it to the grocery store and back before my "girls" begin to leak.
I wanted this...right?

Couches and Craigslist

Well, I used craigslist for the first time. I have, in the past, been reluctant to use what I have been told is a wonderful source for procurring and/or relieving yourself of items of use or non-use. But the time came and I could no longer deny my need. Here's the story:

The Setting: My house
The Date: Sometime last week
The Action: Josh and I were sitting near the computer doing I don't remember what. (I'm pregnant. Cut me some slack.) The phone began to ring... Josh answered it. "Hello?... Oh hey, Mike. How's it goin'?... Yeah, we have Josh and Nakita's phone number. Why?... Well, we need a couch... Yeah, they have a pretty nice one, but ours is basically crappy... Yeah... Sweet... Okay, cool... Okay, see you at church... Bye..."
Turns out, Mike and Terryl got a new couch and needed to get rid of their old one. Cool! Really, our couch is awful. Just ask Karen Rivas, she will tell you. The deal is; we got it as a hand me down when we got married. It's a hide a bed, and I think it's like 73 years old. The people that had it before us we not the cleanliest. When we went to pick it up, there was a peice of BBQ chicken stuck in between the cushions. Hurl! Did I mention that one of the cushions has a huge hole in it and is consequently about 2 inches bigger than the other ones? Well, I just did. When we put this monstrous couch in our house I wouldn't sit on it. I febreezed it. Four times. I just couldn't bring myself to sit on it. CHICKEN!!!!! Gross. We got a slipcover and I conquered my fear of the couch. We got some extra pillows to stuff down in the cushions, so you don't fall to the floor. We made it work. And it has served us well for nearly four years. A couch has been on my wish list for nearly four years. And now we have a new one! Thank you Lord!!!! Never mind that we sniped it from our best friends. They'd never know. They have a couch. Who cares that Nakita doesn't love it. They have a chickenless couch. We deserve this couch.
Great! Now, what are we going to do with the chicken express? I called Goodwill. "Hi, do you guys take couches?...No... it isn't really sellable, I guess...Do you know where there are any dumps?... Okay thanks." I called up my father in law. "Hey Jerry, it's Carlie... Josh says you know when the dump in Monroe is open... The second Saturday of the month?... Shoot.... Okay... What?...Craigslist? I don't really... Are you sure?... Okay, we'll try it... Thanks, bye."
I put that couch on craigslist thinking that nothing would come of it. 2 hours later, we had three emails. Sweet! Did I ever tell you how much I love Craigslist? So Phil is gonna pick up our couch on Sunday at one. We race home from church to be ready for Phil... Josh moves the couch. I vaccuum under the couch. I sit on the couch. Phil doesn't show. Josh lays on the couch. I read on the couch. Phil doesn't show. I friggin' hate craigslist. Josh emails the other people who want the couch. Sam calls us right back. She was online. Nice. I love craigslist. Sam and her bf will come on Monday at noon to get the couch. YAY! I call up the Kaisers. Hey, Brooke it's Carlie. We were sposed to come get your couch, but the guy didn't come for our couch. Could you tell yer dad that we'll call him and get the couch sometime this week? Thanks." Josh and I watch tv way too close to the screen, cause we don't want to move the couch back.
Monday am: I get an email from Sam. They can't come get the couch till Tuesday. THAT'S FRICKIN GREAT! Do they know that the couch is in the very middle of my living room? Do they know that there are other people WAITING for us to get our new couch out of their garage? Do they? I write her back. Sure.. that's fine... we'll wait. But you better bring two guys cause this couch is huge... Thanks!
I did NOT really mean thanks.
Nobody ask me what I think of Craigslist.