Her children will rise up.........beware!

I love to share parenting techniques with my readers. It is always wise to encourage your children with your words....

My oldest is very sarcastic and witty....I have no idea where he got his sense of humor....???

I am not only his mother, I am his teacher, guidance counselor, principal, dictator, jedi, etc...

I make sure that he is emotionally healthy.....so after many of his comments...I call him a certain name...

Jack gave me this for Mother's Day:

From Smart Ass (or butthead)

It was perfect! 

Quilt for a baby goat.....

I thought I was the only one that made quilts for goats....


This past Monday, I went to my local UPS store to ship the baby quilt and goat to my new nephew!!

I was so excited! I was filled with excitement that Kidd would soon be able to slobber, roll....whatever...on the quilt that I have been working on for the entire winter!! I reluctantly was shipping the goat. I know I could do a better job but I also know that he would be way too old by the time I made another one....

The UPS employee came back to the counter with everything packed into this thin box, slapped the label on and took my money.....

Another emotion washed over me.....what was it.....I am not used to it....

a girly......"awwwwww"

Like people feel for animals or babies...

I had a moment of grief.....or remorse....or something.....I rarely..if EVER have felt it...so I can't put it to words...

ANYWAY....the package SHOULD have arrived in LA, California.. yesterday (friday)....

Here are the pictures........
(don't look too close! i don't follow patterns, i hand sew, design, etc....lots of mistakes!)

 the colorful tags (grosgrain ribbon) are for baby to play with! my Jack always went straight for the tags when he was a baby!!

 Proud Aunt Margaret holding baby.......

Well.....as close as I will get....HA HA!!

Scooby Doo and the curse of the second bathroom....

If you are a regular reader you will remember that every time we continue work on our second bathroom, something happens......
theft
broken arms
surgeries
lawn mower breaks, etc

You also know that I don't want to work. I want to stay home, laze around and do nothing.....

SLOTHS UNITE!

So I send my husband out to do it all and let the house fall apart because I refuse to contribute!

Well, we bought that lawn mower and started work on the bathroom again......

heh... heh.... heh

Memphis has had some major storms and we are having historical flooding.....
It started raining INSIDE our house...

So we are now getting a new roof.....looking at roofers....stopping work on the bathroom......

And I decided to embrace this hysterical comedy.....go with it.....leave things as is....

shop vac as decor in living room

this air thingy stuffed under a table in back room

Let's face it....we can't keep them in the shop because these are the replacements for the ones that were STOLEN out of the shop years ago.....with ALL of my husband's tools.....ahhh the comedy.....

AND last night the curse CONTINUES.....

I planned a healthy dinner of Red Baron frozen pizza because all three guys are sick with allergy/sinus infections/virus...... and I am huge on eating right!!!

We have a lovely and HUGE gas oven that came with the house.

It is from the 1980s....it takes up the entire kitchen. 

Guess what.....

The oven quit working last night......barely cooked those healthy pizzas and then just stopped working!!!

pretty sure the gas heating thingy went out......

SO EXCITED!!!!! It is next on the list........who needs a second bathroom???....not us!

Everybody....calm down!

One of my favorite and wise parenting techniques is "mocking your children".

As a professional, I have also turned it into a behavior technique!!
I would love to share it with all my readers.
Almost everyone finds themselves in situations where they feel they have been personally wronged and feelings of anger burn in the pit of your stomach.

For example:
if you are pulled over for going 60 in a 45.....use my technique.
if you receive a bad grade on a report...use my technique.

THE TECHNIQUE:
stand up, turn around to face everyone, put your arms straight out to your side, straighten out your fingers and loudly say "everybody....calm down!"

WHY?.....you ask...

well, it makes my husband and I giggle

it makes my oldest son grumpy and disgusted

WHY?....you ask....

because of this video about 10 years ago....(my oldest son is the one being pulled down the slide)

AHEM.......close the door!

We spent Easter weekend in Natchez Trace State Park with Jeff's family. The weather was perfect. The cabins were very nice and looked new.  Jeff was able to wear his fashionable hat and I was.......well....I seem to fit the "woodsy" look.....or a P.E. teacher......sigh.....

Max spent some time with his Uncle Nelson on Friday and developed a love for fishing (caught his first fish!)

Pop Pop won another fishing buddy!

My whole family enjoyed the zip line and we fought over turns.....and taking pictures....

Jeff won!

The scenery is so beautiful, the people that live here want to see it AT ALL TIMES!!

(click on the picture to make it larger)

Billy Bob does not have to worry about ventilation.....but we saw 2 wild turkeys, several snakes and 2 beavers. I wonder if he worries about them or if THEY worry about HIM.....

Your heart.....is it exposed?

Tonight, in one innocent....simple and actually....humorous....moment....my heart was exposed...

Thanks to two cute twin 5 yr old boys that sat behind me at our communion service, I realized.....YET AGAIN...ANOTHER...condition of my heart...

The mother told me before the service (apologetically) that this service would be a "first" for her sons. Their bedtime is 7pm. The service was beginning at 6:30. I looked at the 2 blond boys. They looked sleepy but antsy. I smiled and told her it was my bedtime too....she said a few more things that made me think she was nervous. I gestured to my sons and said I understood....then I added that I would ignore her sons behavior....and smiled. She laughed....but still looked nervous.

I wondered if this really was going to be a long service.....did she know me and know that I expect so much from kids???.......or were her kids really "out of control" all the time and this is just her normal routine for new and unsuspecting people???

The service went on and the boys were fine. I don't know her but I compliment her!!

Then it was time for communion. The plates with the cups were being passed. As my row was taking and passing ours, I could hear the twin boys whispering behind me. I could not see them but I could imagine their behavior as I heard their words.

"careful.......careful......carefully....." I imagined them trying to help pass the heavy tray full of communion juice. Their voices were hushed and reverent. It was as if they were passing the most expensive and precious item on earth!

Then I heard the boy that was right behind me gasp and loudly whisper "oh man! I REALLY want one of those!"

I glanced out of the corner of my eye and his mother had just taken the plate from his father and passed it on to the people down the row. I imagined the boy wide-eyed like Christmas morning.

His mother giggled, I giggled....a few others giggled.....then it hit me....and I began to tear up....

The Last Supper......our communion with Jesus.....my eternal life.....ME being saved from hell because of HIM......

careful....careful....carefully.....don't take this for granted....it is precious! It was done for ME!

OH MAN! I REALLY want that!!

EYE like the cephalopod

Max has finished Zoology 2. He only lacks the final! TOMORROW!!!!

I enjoy making final exams. I collect important facts from the entire year and create my own final exam. Because I am a teaching, teachery, teacher (a curse.....and a blessing)......

ANYWAY..one of my favorite things about making finals....not only do you put questions like
1.  Beginning from the shore out to the deep, what are the 4 zones of the ocean floor?

32.  What are the 5 stages of a typical fish's development?

213.  What is the main difference between bivalves and gastropods?

428.  Draw a lobster and label its anatomy.....

BUT...you can throw in questions like:
649.  How did the starfish and the sea urchin pay for their lunch?

mwahahahahha...I love running the entire school system!!

Max loves science and finishes a weeks worth of work in 2 days if I don't watch him carefully....

Meaning he will do all of science and save all other subjects until he finishes the WEEKS worth of science material....except the science projects....it takes longer to grow things, explode things, etc...

The "portfolio" project I chose for this book was the Ocean Box because it was "art".
Each lesson he had to make the creature(s) that he studied and fix it to the box. I did not give any directions. He chose the materials.......even after the first week....when we realized that they were going to continue to "fall", "break", etc......he stuck to his plan!! This FRAGILE ocean box has been carefully moved from kitchen table to mud room and back again since September. Many creatures have shattered, been rebuilt.....and then sometimes....after I put the grade in the book.....and both of us frustrated....we left their remains in the "ocean".....just like LIFE....and they were not reborn!!


Please gently slip into your diving bell and don't tilt!! Don't touch any of the creatures! And no peeing!

I love how he had them going out of the ocean to the top of the water (above the box).

Can you spot the turtle (side), manatee (side), nudibranch (under manatee), snake (side), narwhal (top), octopus (side/corner), and a plesiosaur (um, can't miss it!)?

 In this area, can you spot the silver hammer head? the sea urchin? sea anemone? sponge? coral reef?

purple marine flat worm? lobster? crab? "attacked" starfish?

In this area, observe the jelly fish calmly floating while the school of fish hurry to class! (har har)

As you ascend back above the water, marvel at the beach bummed, humpback whale and the clam sticking out its "tongue" (foot) at the sting ray!

 Here is a walrus! HOLY COW.....hp and office are floating in the water!!!

......and of course, my favorite!! the squid!! EYE like his eye!! CUTE!!!....but I think he left a trail of something close to the camera....swim away!!!

answer:   ......with a sand dollar