7 Quick Takes Friday

1.

Lauren has been composing and playing songs on the piano lately. All the time. Until today every song title ended with the word "forever."

"Joy Forever"
"We'll Be Here Forever"
"Boys Forever" (Yes, I raised my eyebrows at that one. I'm hoping it's because her favorite song right now is "When the Boys Light Up" by Newsboys.)
"Snow Forever" (I do NOT like that one, though given where we live, I fear it may be prophetic.)

That was her entire repertoire until yesterday.

Yesterday afternoon she was making up another new song the piano, and I overheard her telling her friend Ally what the song was called:

"I Seek My Deadness"

I must have had her repeat it fifteen times before I was convinced that's what she really said. Flabbergasted, I asked her where she came up with that. She said:

It goes, "My father died, my hope is found, and I bow and seek my deadness."

Umm, if I didn't know that she is the world's happiest kid who literally sings about butterflies when she's laying in her bed at night, I would be really concerned!

2.

When I told David about the song title, he noted that it could just be a sign of her spiritual maturity. Technically, we should all be seeking our deadness, right?

As if on cue, just as I was typing this, she wrote another one and asked me if I wanted to hear her play it. She said it's called, "My Blood Is Here, But My Sin Is Not."

I'm thinking maybe the hymns I often play are going over her head a little, but she's coming up with remarkably spiritually sound song titles.

3.

After four months of all-Super-Mario-Brothers-all-the-time, I am happy that the kids are rediscovering Wii Sports.

Surely flailing like madmen and screaming at the television while pretending to box is better for them than darting up and down tunnels and stomping on mushrooms, right?

Though, I must admit hearing my eight year-old yell, "Make him cry, 'Mommy!'" while playing Wii boxing is slightly disconcerting.

Make him cry, "Mommy?" Where does he get this?

4.

Okay, I think that's enough stories about the freakishly bizarre things my kids have said this week.

5.

Today was 4 year-old preschool Field Trip and Harvest Party Day. Here's Lauren and her class dressed as scarecrows for a party and field trip to a local nursing home:

6.

Yes, as you can see in that last picture, it was quite cold outside today. Yes, Lauren was shivering. Yes, she's wearing capris.

They were supposed to wear blue jeans or overalls and a plaid shirt. Being my little fashionista princess, she HATES blue jeans, so she does not even own a pair. The best I could dig up was a pair of denim capris. It didn't occur to me until it started snowing that I should have made her put tights or leggings under them!

Yep, I've got that Mom of the Year award in the bag now.

7.

Head over to Conversion Diary for more Quick Takes, and have a great weekend! May it be warmer where you are than it is here.

Notes to Self

1. If you have more noodles than spaghetti sauce and decide to put the huge clump of leftover noodles down the sink, make sure to run the garbage disposal.

2. If you forget to run the garbage disposal, and clogged and leaking pipes ensue, please, PLEASE don't run the dishwasher.

3. If you have already set the dishwasher to run during the night, remember to TURN IT OFF, or you will awaken to a wet, sopping, disgusting flooded kitchen in the morning.

Sincerely,
The Voice of Experience

"Let people love you"

Today was Joshua's 8th birthday.

I cannot believe my first baby, the one who made made me a mom, the one who slept wrapped in a glow-blanket for jaundice, who refused to sleep unless I was holding him, who learned right along with me all about swaddling and breastfeeding and diaper rash and bouncy seats, has been on this earth for eight years.

Tomorrow I will post pictures of his Super Mario birthday party and his favorite birthday present ever, his ipod.

Tonight, though, I wanted to share with you what Lauren "wrote" for Joshua this morning.

She was distraught when she realized it was his birthday and she did not have a card for him, so I suggested she make him one.

Lauren: Mommy, how do you spell "Dear Josh?"

I told her.

Lauren: Mommy, how do you spell, "I love you?"

I told her.

Lauren: How do you spell "Happy Birthday?"

I told her.

Lauren: How do you spell, "It's your day to let people love you?"

I sat in stunned silence. And then I wrote it for her and told her it was the best birthday wish I'd ever heard. (Especially from a four year-old!)

7 Quick Takes Friday

1.

I'm having an MRI this afternoon. I've had several, so I'm not overly freaked out about it, but they always make me nervous.

It's not so much the closed-space, claustrophobia issues that most people have.

It's the irrational fear that I have metal somewhere on me. I double and triple check that I don't have on my wedding rings or a necklace, but there's still always that concern that I have a steel plate in my head that I don't remember.

Is it bad that I think I wrote about this last time I had an MRI, but I'm not sure?

2.

Words cannot describe how glad I will be when soccer season is over. This three-kids-on-three-different-teams thing is wearing me thin. Add coaching one of those teams, and I've about reached my limit.

3.

Had to take Joshua back to the dentist in Corning, NY yesterday to have the kid version of a root canal. He did really well, but boy did it make me wish we had a pediatric dentist closer than 75 miles away.

4.

I realized something while driving to Corning. There is a pretty simple formula for creating a small town. If you'd like to try it, here's the recipe:

1 Dollar General
1 Fox's Pizza
1 Buchanan Brother's Pharmacy
1 Tastee Freeze (or some other "uniquely" spelled ice cream place)
1 Acorn or 1 Sheetz
1 hardware store
1 VFW or American Legion Post
1 school
a few churches

Combine all of the above within a 1-2 mile radius, and you have just about every town within 50 miles of my house, my own town included.

5.

My momma is coming tomorrow!!

Not only that, but she's bringing two of my four awesome nieces, one of my amazing cousins, and one fantastic friend who is like an aunt to me because she's been my mom's close friend for so much of my life.

If I can survive till tomorrow and stay awake all the way to Buffalo to pick them up, I will be one happy gal.

6.

Which is why I should be cleaning my house instead of writing Quick Takes. Oh, and did I mention that Josh's birthday party is the day after they arrive?

It's official. I've lost my mind.

7.

For Quick Takes by people who are not as desperately in need of getting off the computer as I am, head over to Conversion Diary.

Perspective (If you have a weak stomach, maybe skip this post)

Yesterday I complained to my secretary about what a lousy morning I was having.

The day began with freezing temperatures, pouring rain, allergies that were making me sneeze non-stop, and an annual visit to the GYN. (Yes, I know that's just what you were hoping to read about when you hopped on the internet today. Don't worry, it gets worse.)

It seemed like a pretty miserable morning.

Until today.

This morning began with Lauren coming to me at 7:55 to complain about a "big scab" on her head. It was a tick. A big one.

Yuck, I'm shuddering just thinking about it.

The next half-hour was spent trying to get the tick to release its death grip on Lauren's scalp. No luck. Finally got some of the tick off, but not the most important parts.

So, at around 8:30 I went to the kitchen to call the doctor's office to set up an appointment for them to finish the tick extraction. When I walked in the kitchen I saw a sight from hell.

We set a few mouse-traps last night because we've seen evidence of mice the past few days. I completely forgot about it as I walked into the kitchen this morning.

Instead of the sight of a dead mouse in a trap (which is disgusting but preferable to the alternative), I saw the following: an empty trap, a half-chewed piece of cheese, and blood. Lots and lots of mouse blood.

Seriously, just kill me now. I take back all my complaints about the little sniffles I had yesterday. Please take away the tick and give me back my sniffles. Let me trade the bloody horror scene for a pap smear. I'll take three!

Perspective. If only we could get it in advance.

Fun Run

If you've ever lived in a small town, you know there's nothing they love more than a yard sale. Except a parade. And a festival.

This weekend was the Falling Leaves Festival, and the festivities ended with a 5k/Fun Run to benefit the local library.

Being Beck, I read about the 1/2 mile Fun Run last week, meant to mention it to the kids, and then promptly forgot about it. Luckily, our house is very close to the library, so the sight of people mulling around in running gear jogged my memory, pun intended.

The kids were so excited to be in a real race:










All of the kids did great in the race.

Joshua came in second place but was very disappointed not to take first. He was in the lead the whole race, got to within about 10 feet of the finish line (which was not clearly marked), and thought he was done. As he slowed down, the little boy behind him sprinted past to take the win. So unclear was it that Josh didn't even realize he had not won until Ethan told him a few minutes later.

(I encouraged Joshua that second place is great, that he ran excellently, and that if he'd not slowed down he definitely would have won. I think I'll save the life lesson in that for another day when he's not so disappointed.)

Ethan took fifth place overall and held his own with the big boys the entire race. He asked me several times after the race, "Mommy, did you think I'd get 5th place?" I'm not sure what the best answer is because I did not think he would do well. I generally don't think of him as super athletic or competitive, but I'm starting to think that is simply a downfall of comparing him to Josh who is ULTRA athletic and competitive. The truth is Ethan is one of the better players on his soccer team (he scored three goals on Saturday), and he ran hard and fast today. I think I need to be careful of not pigeon-holing my kids based on my preconceived notions.

Lauren, of course, ran hard and did well. She was the first "little" girl to cross the finish line, coming in behind the bigger girls but among the little boys her own age. She was extremely proud of herself and told me she's an "awesome runner, aren't I?"