Treehouse News - Up to speed...

Yes, I know.  I have definitely failed in updating here over the last few months.  I just looked at the last entry I had started in here and it was cut short by a hard drive failure.  I never really caught up after that.  Although, I have been trying to keep my priorities in line, as I said here a few months ago, so my kitchen has been cleaner.  *smile*

I decided not to try getting everything in here, but thought an update on the kids was way overdue.  Here are some of my favorite moments of the last few months.

Yep, we started school!

The new school space

Princess

My Second Grader

Princess has grown so much. She lost all her front teeth, and as her new ones are growing in she is looking more and more mature to me. Here are some of my favorite moments from her:

Princess was showing off her new toothless spot in her mouth to our neighbor.  Then, our neighbor shared that their puppy had just lost some puppy teeth, too.   Princess giggled, “Did he leave them for the doggie tooth fairy?"



While watching Pixar shorts, Princess concluded, “That Jack-a-lope is like God.”  I wasn't sure how to take that, so I asked her how.  She said that the jack-a-lope was like God because he accepted the sheep no matter what, whether he had fleece or was shorn.

Little Man drew me a picture of me driving in an 18 wheeler through the country, with lines in the back to indicate speed. I asked, “How fast am I going?” He answered, “About 150.” Princess said, “I guess the speed limit is fast in the country!”

I added red pepper to a dish, and Princess’ reaction was, “The peppers touch only the nerves that say, ‘I don’t like them!’”

We had been reading a biography on George Mueller who started his life as a swindler, but was a changed man when he became a Christian. One night, after reading only about the start of his life, this was our dinner conversation:

Me to Princess: “Where did your manners go tonight?”
Princess: “I don’t know. Maybe to a big beer party that lasted seven days.”
Ryan: “Good homeschooling, hon. I bet they don’t advertise that on the Sonlight website!”

One of the things we have covered in Language Arts recently is Compound Words. Princess’ eyes lit up after talking about them for a few minutes: “Mom! A lot of times we use Compound Words in knock knock jokes!”

One evening, the lights suddenly went out in Princess' room because she tripped the breaker.  She said, "Did I have a blackout in just my room? Am I gonna have to sleep somewhere else?"

Princess and Little Man were looking at books in the car.  Little Man asked what a "wosset" was.  Her response was, "That, apparently, is a wosset."

The kids wanted to play a joke on Daddy.  They asked if he ever played tricks on me.  I said, "Yeah, but not in a long time."  A short while later, they were planning their joke and asked me what I thought we should do.  I said, "I can't even tell you the last trick daddy played on me."  Princess said, "Well, I can tell you he next one we are going to play on him!"

Princess was not speaking very respectfully in her request one night at the dinner table, and I asked her to reword her request in a more respectful manner.  She complied and then said, "Do you want me to do an example of the really rude way of saying it?"  I said, "No."  She replied, "Okay. Well I'll be right here if you change your mind."

"I think I'm going to name my 105th child Dora."  I am not sure what she is planning on naming the other 104!


"Christ died to save us from our skins."  Princess immediately caught her error, but it has been repeated over and over ever since!

Little Man

My Kindergartener

Little Man is just starting Kindergarten. Some of the things he comes out with are hysterical, but I don't always share them here. Some things are just better to tell about in person...you know…with facial expressions and body language!  Here are some of the things I think will be fun even in type.

Ryan:  What would mommy do if we came home with a Puppy?
Little Man:  Run away.

I think Little Man will definitely be the strong, sensitive type. I was comforting him one day when he was upset and, true to his nature, he said, “What do you do when you cry? Does Daddy pick you up?” I love this boy! He is so sweet!

I can’t remember what question I asked, but I had asked about what someone wore for some reason. Little Man said, “I know! Whitie Tighties!” He had just heard the term, "Tighty Whities" for the first time a few days before and, clearly, he likes the term - even if he doesn't quite have it right!


I went to Starbucks to get my regular and Little Man said, “I think they are almost out of those…You keep on taking them!”

Ryan: Wow. you're doing a great job (on that puzzle).
Little Man: Thanks. It'd be better if I had a giant octopus helping me.


"You don't touch that. Even though it looks like a log...it's not." (In case you hadn't guessed...he is talking about poop!)


Princess was saying she wanted to be an explorer and go all over the world.  Little Man's concerns were natural, "You would need to pack a big lunch for that!"

A few years ago, we drove along the local river to explore the different parts of a river up close and personal.  Every so often, I will ask the kids if they remember anything about it.  Recently, I was checking with them again to see if they knew the name of the river.

Me:  "Do you know what it is?"
Princess:  "The mouth?"
Me:  "No, but good guess. The mouth is on the other side. Do you know what it is though?"
Little Man:  "It's nose? It has a mouth, it must have a nose!"

One night at dinner, Little Man prayed, "Please help mom to let go of her control and help us to be more obedient." We have been learning about character traits, like "self-control" and "obedience" but I thought his misstatement to "let go of her control" was probably a pretty accurate description of what I actually need.  Out of the mouths of babes...


While practicing his memory verses, Little man said, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only forgotten son..."  He, unlike Princess, does not generally catch his mistake in this one.  hehehe

Pookie

My Preschooler

Pookie is an amazing beam of light everywhere she goes.  Sometimes it is like sunshine and rainbows, other days more like lightning!  She is always trying to make people smile and laugh.  As she learns more, it is fun to watch her try to explain things.  She doesn't always get the words right, but she gets her point across.  Here are some examples:

We went on a walk during one of the nicer days in May, and it was new for Pookie because we were letting her walk instead of riding in the stroller. We don’t have sidewalks, so we have to be very watchful of the kids and are training them how to take a walk safely through the neighborhood. After Pookie stepped out on the road, I picked her up to carry her. She was trying to convince me that I could let her walk, and she said, “I gonna try not to break my heart.”

Ryan told Pookie one day, “You’re a piece of work!” She replied, “A piece of work?!! I (Pookie)!”


Pookie has been getting better at letter recognition, but she misheard me one day:
Me: Look, it’s a ‘W’
Pookie: “It’s not that a double me!”

I have mentioned before that I like cooking shows, and that Princess has given me critiques on my “presentation,” but there are other ways this has infiltrated our house. Pookie’s new request is that she be permitted to “go to the dessert round”!

We were on our way out one day and Pookie asked, "Can I bring Anna?" (You know...Anna Green Gables). Hehehe

Pookie was frustrated with trying to eat corn on the cob.  Her way of telling us was to exclaim, "I can't eat it...the buttons."

Pookie got stung by a bee...because I put her down in the grass and didn't see the bee.  She had been playing in the pool, and between the cold of being wet and being upset by the sting, she was chattering.  She started to laugh, "I make clicking noise with my teeth!  See?"

Pookie still loves footprints.  After playing in the pool, she was walking on the driveway.  She was showing off to me, "Fooprintz. I made it out of my feet!"

For Pookie's 3rd birthday, I gave out kaleidoscopes for favors.  The day after her party, she wanted her "Ida-cope."  Even after she slowed it down for me, "Ide-a-cope," I didn't understand what she was looking for.  I don't think I figured out until a few hours later what she was so upset about losing!  Now, she has started calling it her "Telescope."  At least I know what she means!

"I am gonna leave that for people...little people."  Pookie said this about the bib at the restaurant on the way to visit Ryan's family.  You know, the little people, not like her...she is big now.

Pookie's favorite birthday present, by far, was a little lip gloss purse.  "I can't find my lip gloss anywhere. I looked all over...downstairs,upstairs. I can't find my lip gloss anywhere!"  I also heard her singing "oh where oh where are you my lip gloss purse!"

Pookie has been having a difficult time in the car, because Little Man and Princess are in the back and she is in the middle.  I am always calling to the two in the back to give her a chance to talk, and working with her to make sure that she is asking politely for her turn to talk.  One day, I heard her say, "Uh, excuse me, Evan. I am going to talk to myself."  Gotta work on her understanding of when to ask them to be quiet...

Pookie also has interesting solutions for things:  "Little girls twirl (their hair). See? Like that. Every time they don't get hiccups by doing that."  I have heard of a lot of solutions to hiccups, but never that one!

After asking what happened to Little Man, Pookie said, "(Little Man) hurt himself by me."  She had been jumping on his belly while he was laying in bed.

When I said that someone turned up the chapstick too much, Pookie said "It wasn't me. It wasn't you. It wasn't a fox..." then proceeded to list everyone else in the family. 

Pookie has been enamored with butterflies lately.  She did a sponge capsule one day and thought it might be a butterfly. I said, "I think it is a farm animal." She said, "Yeah. It is a farm butterfly." (Thankfully, she was happy with the rabbit it actually became.)

Okay...so this was long, but I am glad I will be able to remember these stories in the years to come.  I hope you enjoyed them, as well!

Happy Birthday Princess!

Happy Birthday to my Princess, who seven years ago rocked my world by making my dream of being a mommy come true.  As a baby, she was content and quiet...until she just didn't like something!  She still screams the loudest when she is just. not. happy.  But she also tends to walk through life content and joyful.  I thank God for that because she weathered my "mommy ignorance" pretty well.  We looked at some of her baby pictures today and I thought I would share some of my favorite pictures and memories of her first few years...

• When getting my ultrasound, we decided to find out the sex of the baby.  She was turned the wrong way and we had to move on, with the promise we would check one more time before leaving.  I said, "Come on, baby, turn around so we can see what you are."  A minute later, she moved and we were able to easily see that she was a girl.  =0)



Here she is less than two weeks old. Smiling already!

• While watching Baby Einstein farm animals for the first time, she LOVED when the kids would start to sing.  I have a video of her sitting studying the screen until they would sing, then she would look at me and give me a BIG smile as if to say, "Did you hear that, mom?"  They would stop singing and she would go back to studying...as soon as the voices started again she would look at me with that BIG smile again.



Baby Einstein age

• When Little Man was still laying on his blanket at two months, not even rolling yet, Princess was coloring and came over to give him some crayons to play with, too.



At sharing, she's a natural!

• Little Man had an infection that made him cry all the time as a baby.  I was frustrated and sad for him as he cried one day, and Princess (around 2 years old) said, "That's okay mommy, that's what babies do."  Yeah, she has always been articulate!



No one believed me that she was
loud at home...

• Our neighbors had some work done on their driveway, and she LOVED to watch the backhoe!



"I wanna see the backhoe!"

• Princess is a natural momma...she wonders aloud how she will juggle being both Mom and a veterinarian.



Little Mom

• Princess was so affectionate toward Little Man that she even wanted to be close to him when they were both buckled in at meal times.  Her solution was to "hold feet" with him.



Meal times are still time to be close...

• She has always had her own sense of style.  As we looked through pictures, it was all about the layering...



Pajama shirt, Bathing suit, Jean shorts...

Here are some of my other favorites from the first few years:

Three Months

18 months...this is a week before Little Man was born.

Bounce house fun! 2 1/2 years old.

Loving Big Sister

Loving Big sister, again!

If you have any memories of her you would like to share, leave them in the comments here or on Facebook and I will share them with her!

Misunderstood

I wish I could remember the exact quote, but I don't.  It went something like this, "If you are going to live for Christ, you have to be willing to be misunderstood." One of my dearest friends, Andi, shared with me this quote which she had been challenged by.  I just remember thinking, "Wow!  That is hard."  This whole idea of being misunderstood is still hard for me.

I love words.  Anyone that knows me knows that I will tell the whole backstory to any little thing just so you understand why I am telling you about something.  I remember my first Christmas with my husband's family...I think I wore some of them out trying to share with them why some of the items he gave me were so funny.  I just wanted them to know a little about me, a little about us.  They lived far away and didn't really get to see us in our new life together, and they didn't really know me at all.  In addition to backstory, I also tend to replay past conversations in my head trying to find what else I could have said to get my point across more effectively.  I think I want to learn from those conversations so I don't make the same mistake again.

I realized after my last post that if my blog is going to reflect me, and my relationship with Christ, I am going to have to be okay with the fact that I am not perfect and with people possibly misunderstanding my words or motives.  My last post referenced a song that I love.  It is a reminder to me of the reason I work at my marriage, and why I need to be diligent in guarding my thoughts and actions in every area.  Although I usually think about my posts for quite a while and edit and re-edit them over and over (I am currently on my fourth time reading through this one, and this is just a note in my iPod right now!), in that post I thought I would share what I was thinking without the barrage of edits and re-writes.  When I looked the next day, I had a few comments.  One was from a friend that was a great reminder along the lines of the adage "when you point the finger at someone else, there are three more pointing at you".  I don't think she meant it as a rebuttal of anything I had said, but I immediately thought, "oh, that is not what I meant by...". I went back and typed up a comment that explained the "back story".  I still think that my heart in the whole matter could be misunderstood if you were reading my blog from a different background or point of view.  So, in five years you may find me with a thoughtful look on my face...I will be trying to figure out what my post or follow up comment should have said.

Am I okay with being misunderstood?  It  was a little surprising to me to find that I am still struggling with that question.  Who knew I still wanted everyone to be happy with me and to like me?  Didn't that insecurity end with adulthood?  Shouldn't it have ended when I realized I was blessed and contented with my life?  I guess not.

So, I just want to say:  I am going to write what I think and what I feel.  I will not always be right.  I may sound judgmental. I once took a character test to see who I was most like in the Bible...I didn't even know who Deborah was, at the time. She was a judge, and I can't say that I am really surprised that answer came up for me. I see issues in black and white, so sounding judgemental when I talk about them is just one of the rough spots God is still working on in me.  While I see issues in black and white, I don't see people that way.  I may disagree with you, but I will still accept you.  I may heatedly debate a point, only to see your side later.  It is just the way my mind works.  I am always open to feedback that I will carry into my prayer closet and ask God about.  I trust Him to guide me into all truth, even if it turns out that I was wrong about something.

So, I will keep writing.  I will keep sharing my thoughts.  Just don't be surprised if you see them change and shift over time.  God isn't finished with me, yet, and I am so grateful for his patient guidance.