Amazing kids and painted houses

My kids are amazing.  Sure, I know, you think ALL moms say that, but when I say it, it is true.   Let me tell you why,

Today my father in law came over and helped my husband spray paint the exterior of the house. We've been here for almost 10.5 years now (we thought we'd be in the house about 5 years ha ha)  and the house was painted in February.  Now, February is often a beautiful month here in the PNW, but....not housepainting ideal beautiful.  It is amazing the paint has lasted this long.  I digress.  FIL and Big Guy were busy painting the house, and I wanted to be outside so I could do whatever running they need (like the 2 trips to 2 different stores I did today)  So my kids, my amazing wonderful small people...were essentially taped into a house alone, all day.....and my house is still standing....in fact, it was even pick up able....See, amazing....I didn't lie.

They did have an escape route, as we left the garage and I DID let them watch WAY more TV than is normally healthy...but still, they stayed inside, for the most part, kept each other entertained, and didn't totally wreck my house.

We'll see how the rest of the week goes...trim is needing to be white and it is calling my name.

Things I don't buy anymore

Yeah, I know, strange title, right.  Today I got my vanilla beans in, I"ve been thinking about making vanilla extract for 2 years and I finally did it In part I finally did it as a celebration of more readily available high test alcohol in stores in WA, and because I just like making weird stuff.  So, in honor of the weird stuff idea, here are my list of things I don't buy at a store anymore, because I make them myself....things I never thought I would, and without the internet I couldn't have....see, it doesn't just suck all of our time into a vortex of uselessness, it helps us.

I will list them in order.

 First, jam.  Ever since I was first handed a brown bag of plums by my in-laws 10 years ago....I have not had store bought jam in my house.  I have made plum, mint, blackberry, strawberry, blueberry, mixed berry, and peach.  I made several of them several times....so yummy, and stupid easy, which is why I make it.  Blackberry is the cheapest for me to make, because I have a ton in my backyard....growing for free (and if I am not careful, could easily move us out of our house)

Then, Pickles.  I started with dill, and they are SOOOO good.... garlicky, spicy, sour, yummm.  They again are easy, but they do have cure time....3 long months of waiting for THIS seasons pickles.  I also do sweets, dill and sweet relish, pickled beets, and I have done dilly beans, but I don't think I'll do them again.

Then, the really weird one, I made (and make) laundry soap.  So nice to pass up those smelly bottles of laundry soap that are WAY overpriced.  I have 2 types in buckets in my garage, regular and delicate, and I spend about 5 bucks a batch, which makes 10 gallons of detergent....can't beat the price.

Then, my hubby got me a stick blender, and one of the recipes was mayonnaise.  So I tried it....it was BLAND.....it NEEDED salt, so the second batch I added a pinch of salt....problem solved.....so I have not bought it since.  I make it weekly (roughly) and not only is it cheaper, but it doesn't have all the preservatives.

Next hardware purchase equaled a new homemade project, and that is, I use my vita-mix (fantastic, can't beat it really) to make our peanut butter.  I was buying Adams, because I like the more natural, but now, we just buy peanuts, and I grind it up myself.  It is truly healthy (Skippy and Jiff are NOT) and yummy.  I don't think it is THAT much cheaper, but I like making it myself.

So now, I am making vanilla extract, and my next project is liquid soap and hand sanitizer  We don't use it at home, because I like bar soap, but I always have the slivers that are too small to use anymore, and was throwing them out.  This spring when getting the motorhome ready for summer, I realized I needed liquid soap for the bathroom out there, so my google fingers got moving, and I realized I could turn my useless slivers of bar soap into liquid soap for the motorhome.  Two birds, one stone is the name of the game.  The hand sanitizer too, I want to put some in the sewer compartment of the motorhome (for obvious reasons) and have some around the house, and I like making stuff at home....it is my hobby.

Big Guy

Big Guy is my man, my other half (better in most ways)  He is one amazing man.  He is hard working, very talented, smart, funny (sometimes not as much as he THINKS he is....) and just wonderful.

He and I met at his prom....no really we did.  A mutual friend, whom I met when I lived in Italy called up, rather last minute and invited me.  I suspect he wanted a ride, as he didn't drive, and I had a car, but nevertheless, I went.  At the dance, which was okay, I met this giant of a guy....and he is, he is more than a FOOT taller than I am.  He asked me to dance, and I agreed, even though I had taken off my shoes.  It was during the dance that I decided that Big Guy was not for me....he was awkwardly crouched down in order to dance with me, and we must have looked silly.  Thankfully for me, God has a sense of humor....because 2 and a half years later we got married.

I love him.  I love him more today than the day I married him, and I can only assume I will love him more tomorrow than I do today.  He doesn't always understand me....but then, there are somethings that only my dad understands (like why chicken trucks make me smile) so that is to be expected.  He loves me, supports me, and is the best daddy ever to my crazy kids.  He is the greatest.

Helping Bug open Birthday presents.  See, best daddy ever.

Bug

He is my baby.  He also decided today that going back to sleep after Daddy woke up big brother was not in the cards, so he (and I) have been up and crabby since 5:30.  My crabbiness will go away soon, as I am having a cup of coffee at the moment.  His....well, nap will come when he can't stand himself any longer.

What to say about Bug?  Well, first of all, he is CUTE.  Biased...nope, not me, like many mothers I am totally objective when it comes to analyzing the cuteness of my babies...wait....nevermind.  But he IS cute...really.  He has this chuckle, really low pitched, that he does when you do what it is he wanted...like you picked up (to give to him) the thing he had been eyeing.  Or when someone FINALLY gives him to mommy. (finally being 5 seconds after he sees me)  Did I mention he is a mommy's boy?  He is, he LOVES mommy, thinks the world begins and ends dependent on his ability to SEE me.

He is a passionate little person.  The things he loves he LOVES, the things he doesn't....he HATES, and that little human can get ANGRY.  Even as a tiny infant, when he got ANGRY, his face could and would turn BLACK.....if you have never seen a BLACK temper, count yourself blessed, it is a scary sight.  Teaching Bug self control is going to be a struggle, (Lord, help me with mine, PLEASE)

He has an engineering bent, like Kiddo, and loves Dublos.  The first thing he does in the morning when he is done eating (nothing gets in the way of the tummy, man) is scoot off to Sissy's room to get her dublos....and he has 2 or more with him the rest of the day.  He also loves the bucket toy with the sorter lid, but needs someone to help him get the lid back on when he dumps it out.  He thinks Sissy is the most interesting person (aside from mommy) and has many of her facial expressions.  He is more talkative than the middle 2 though, much like Buddy was....Thankfully he likes sleep better than Buddy....this morning aside.

Bug gets a birthday cake

Sissy

Today is my little girl's turn.

Sissy is 3, and FINALLY potty trained...so much for girls being easier...she was MUCH like Kiddo on that front.  She is a joyful little thing, and she adores her daddy.  Really and truly a daddy's girl.  She is very reserved in a new environment, and takes a bit to warm up.  Many times when people meet her they comment about how quiet she is.....There are times I wish she would be...like when she screeches because she isn't getting her way.

Having a daughter has been fun.  It is fun to have someone so connected to me.  The boys are, as babies, but they soon realize that they are more like Big Guy than like me.  This is a good thing, of COURSE, but....Sissy is mine in that way.  She is interested in how I do my hair, my clothes, you know, all that girlie stuff.  That isn't to say she can't get grubby and play in the dirt with the boys, she certainly can, and does.  She LOVES to play the princess or mom in their many stories.  She LOVES to play in water, in dirt, or in a combination of the two.  She will grudgingly play alone, but much prefers to play with someone.

She feeds the boys competitive spirit on so many levels.  All the kids shout and run to Big Guy when he gets home, I think the hanger of an aircraft carrier is quieter than my house at 5, really.  When she isn't there though, the boys calmly say, hi daddy, when he gets home...She feeds the excitement, the shouting, the competitiveness over the first hug.

The boys pull away when I tell them something exciting, to shout, to run and tell someone else, to do whatever. She gasps and hugs tight....she is just SO different.

My girl, on her 3rd birthday.

Reading

Okay, I will admit, I am an avid reader, and I want all my kids to be as well.  I want them to sink into the worlds that a good book can place them.  I want them to be able to visualize something from the written word and not from the video monitor.

My older son, he picked up reading with little problem, and RAN with it.  He can read, at just 9 years old a Hardy Boy mystery in just under 2 hours....really.  Buddy just LOVES to read, and it can sometimes be embarrassing, like the other day when he read a man's shirt at WINCO that said, "Beer Goes Here"

I've always thought Kiddo struggled with reading more, but then yesterday he surprised me.  He read the first few words of his memory verse for the week, for school, and did so without any prompting.  He read "Colossians <an aside, how sad is it that Google Chrome reads that as a misspelling> 1:16-17, For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth..."  Now this is the kid I think struggles, and he does....words like 'said' can trip him up, so can 'who' and even sometimes 'have'

Then I was thinking....schools, even public ones, used to use the Bible to teach kids to read.  Not only the bible of course, there were McGuffey Primers too.  And my kid struggles less with reading Bible verses, like the one above (he did the whole passage today with just a few helps) than he does with words from his phonics book, like 'giggle' and 'people'  Now, granted people has some strange vowel combinations, but is it trickier than 'authorities'? (a word he sounded out this morning)

Now, maybe my kid is just strange, and it is possible, after all, he is half mine and half Big Guy, and we are plenty strange ourselves.....but it strikes me that perhaps using the bible to help teach kids foundational things like reading, is beneficial.

I don't know, just my $.02 for today.  Tomorrow, back to bragging about my kids, it is Sissy's turn.

Kiddo

Today is Kiddo's turn.  He is 6, and a true joy.  He LOVES to make people laugh.  If he were in regular school I would be getting lots of reports home about how is a distraction to the other kids....because he has these faces that just crack you up.

He is a bit more of a reluctant student than his brother, especially when it comes to new skills.  He would rather just NOT do it, because he really doesn't like to work hard to do stuff, maybe because so many things come easily to him.  Math is one of those easy things, he just GETS it.  Reading on the other hand...that is harder.....he often just sits there and looks at me if I tell him he didn't get a word right the first time he sounds it out.  He IS doing better, and I am thankful that he is home with me where we can take the time it needs to really learn to love reading, and the world it opens up to him.

Kiddo is the most like my husband, so parenting him gives me a peek at the little boy my husband must have been. So full of silly JOY, and an honest love of people, and how they feel.  Things on the other hand (toys, furniture, walls) are of much less importance, and if in the course of play (or an idea pops in his head) something is destroyed...oh well.  Mommy sadly isn't nearly so nonchalant about the destruction.

He has enriched my life, taught me to relax more as a parent, and is truly a gift, to me, to Big Guy, and to our family.

He had pulled down half of the animals and then fallen asleep under them.