Haiku for Foamy Soap

Purple liquid, flow'ry scent

Prolific foam makes my kids want to wash their hands

What would I do without you?

* * * * * * *

Seriously...what did we do before this stuff?

Flat as a Pancake

This morning I caught E riding his bike in the alley. Now, it's not that dangerous of a place to be, but a mom's gotta have principles. So, I called him inside with the dreaded, "you're in trouble, buddy" voice and he trudged in. After his 3 minute (or so) timeout, I went in to discuss with him his disobedient heart. I asked him if he was supposed to be in the alley. He shook his head. I asked him if he knew why he's not supposed to be in the alley. "Cuz I might get smooshed?" he replied. "Yes! You might get smooshed like a pancake," I affirmed, thankful that he was getting the point of his discipline. Then he looked up at me with those puppy dog eyes and asked, "would you eat me?"

I need to take a non-laughter class for moments like that one! Where do kids come up with this stuff?

Goofiness

#1) I would like to dedicate this photo to all those folks who

say that homeschooled kids are sheltered.

#2) In our family we emphasize donut--I mean, dental--hygiene!

Number 4

Well, I was right. Number 4 is on his or her way. Yippee!!!! We are all very excited about this. Four sounds just right to me.

Already the humor has begun. When we told the kids, J's little mouth hung open in a gaping smile...apparently another sibling was not on his radar. E asked how I knew there was a baby in my tummy. "I peed on a stick," I answered (clearly without forethought). I could just see the little wheels turning in their minds thinking about all the sticks they've peed on and wondering why they've never found out they had babies in their tummies. I showed them the stick to clear up the confusion. All that week E kept coming up to me and asking, "Mom, why did you pee on a stick and God put a baby in your tummy?" J wanted to know if there were four lines if it meant there were two babies. Good logic.

And now the quest for an in-utero name for #4. This is very important to me. My parents named me before I was born. Bozo. Yup. Bozo was my first name. They thought I was a boy and apparently The Bozo Show was big at the time. What the heck?! Oh well, it was the 70's--what can you expect? When I was born (a girl!) my nickname became Bozie, which I was called affectionately, well into my teens. My little brother was Bombo. My baby sister Bobie. It was good to have a name to call the baby before it came.

So...J was Fluffy. Both B and I have tons of hair, so we kind of expected our first to come out resembling Ronald McDonald. E was Slurpee. I love Slurpees, it was a cute name, and there was an anteater on Zoboomafoo called Slurpee. K was Bun-Bun, as in "there's a bun in the oven". The boys called her Bun-Bun more than her real name for her first few months!

What will we call this baby? It takes time to come up with a name that is satisfactorily gender-neutral and cute. This is why I have rejected some of my boys' suggestions. The first suggestion out of J's mouth was "Zurg". Others to follow were "Buzz Droid", "Obi-Wan Kenobi", and "Mrs. Potato Head". B made his contribution, "how 'bout 'Spud'"? At least that one meets the requirements (sort of), but I just can't bring myself to name my unborn child after a tuber or one of Brandy's canines. Although, come to think of it, "Frito" would be kind of cute! Hmmm...I'll have to think about that one.

Meanwhile, the search continues...

Through Farfa's Eyes

Recently a friend known affectionately by many names (e.g. Ra-Ra, Farfa, My Cheeseburger) stopped by to hang out for a few minutes. Since I was absent at the time, she sent me her reflections on the time with the kids. I loved what she had to say and wanted to save it...

I dropped in last night - it was fun to hang out with your kids…to watch
them play in the dirt and pull "flowers" for you. It was hard not to laugh
at little Ms. K - with dirt everywhere, with hair smelling like maple syrup
and with her chocolate covered smile. As I sat there…she would back up her
little bum and park it right in my lap. Oh - the joy, the peace and then
all of a sudden the explosion of energy as she would get up and waddle away to go get her brothers. And that is only K…I could go on and on about
E with his snotty, slimy face and grin that reached from ear to ear and the
twinkle in his eye that made you wonder what he was up to. Thank you for
sharing your family with me. I have so much fun with them.

...We have fun with you too, Farf! Thank you for so beautifully capturing the essence of my chitlins--maple syrup hair, snot and all!!