Monday, January 26, 2009

Brrrrrr....

It's cold today. In the house and out.
It's supposed to ice. It's raining in teensy drips which is freezing, mostly on the bridges, overpasses and my van.
But it's really cold in the house, too.
This picture was too good to pass up.
School and a fuzzy blanket.
Fuzzy friend is a bonus.

Thursday, January 22, 2009

Wanted: enemies of the empire...

My boys get action figures. They really enjoy playing with them. They don't enjoy playing with the bad guys. They are unloved, for obvious reasons. They are the bad guys, after all. So it was a bit of a suprise when G-man asked for bad guys to go with his Star Wars: Clone Wars action figures. The store was all out. Not only is Christmas toy season over, but they were doing inventory and reshuffling the store for normal toy selling. (Which means, next to nothing.)

I managed to pick out 1 assassin bot and then some creepy looking action figures from another set that looked very capable for the bad guy role needed.

My goodness!! They got to work right away! They wasted no time in capturing some Clone Soldiers and immediately began questioning them about troop movements and plans.

The CIA reportedly has w*terbo*rding (don't want that creepy search here), Darth Vader has that mystery Drug and the creepy robot, Veggie Tales has the Island of Perpetual tickling. They are NOTHING. NOTHING I tell you compared to the atrocities these foes have put our stalwart Republic Clone troopers through.

It looks like a simple connect four game. But not in the hands of the enemy.
These are now molten hot rocks -- and if the Republic soldiers don't answer the questions... they will suffer.

SUFFER!!

MWAHAHAHAHA!

They refused. And the enemy did what he said he would do...

Of course, we know that the enemy would have dropped the molten rocks - no matter what... but alas.. our troops have suffered a great blow. But this will not hurt morale - it will bolster the men! They will fight on! They must!! Or their comrades have died in vain.

but first - it's lunch time.

Falling over the slide...

About 2 weeks ago, My 3 big kids were outside playing freeze tag in semi-cool weather. It wasn't bitter cold like it had been here previously.

It was dusk.

Not that it matters - I'm just setting the tone of our tale.

Let's see if I can rephrase..and maybe even accomplish some nut shelling.... "Cabin feverish children at dusk decided to play freeze tag."

Mini-Me came in crying. She had fallen over our slide. Tripped and fell.
My first thought was -- that takes talent. It's huge. AND YELLOW. (She got this talent from me, I'm sure. We are talented folk here at the laundry pile.)

I knew that the leg was not broken but I knew it was going to be one doozy of a bruise. It was an interesting blue-green at the point of impact. No skin was broken - so she put ice on it and I moved on with life. Dinner. Bed time. Discourse. Silliness. The normal night time stuff.

And then she couldn't sleep. It hurt too much. Everytime she touched it on something, it hurt.
And it was still swelling.

Well. Drats.
The Professor and I did that "eye-lock" thing that parents do... and after a brief discussion Mini-Me and I headed off to the Urgent care center.

The first person (Intake nurse?) took info and then left - and another one came in saying something about "I'll take a look..." in that tone of voice that told everyone that she doubted it.

She took one brief look and said, "Oh, yeah. It needs an x-ray>"

and she was gone.

And then we had the x-ray tech come. Mini-Me asked questions. We got to see the bones (No breaks, no fractures!!!) and then we went back and waited for the on-call doctor.

It's around 10pm now. Mini-Me is tired. She's shivering. She's wrapped up in her little blanket. She wants to go home (now that we saw the x-rays) and she's getting cranky.

The doctor said that there were no breaks. And he asks her if she knew the names of the bones in the leg. She told him "I forgot." - because we had asked the x-ray tech. He begins to tell us, while pretending to talk to her, about the bones in her leg. That if this one had been broken she would not have been able to walk on it.

"I could see the swelling in the x-ray."
I laughed. So could I.
I could see the swelling the next day, too.

wanna see?
Then he tells her, "This is what we call a hematoma. Do you know what that is?"

Remember the description I gave of Mini-Me previously?

"No, I don't. And I don't really care." was her answer.

He took it all in stride...after a second. He said, "You're going to be feisty when you get older. I can see you as a CEO of a company or a high-powered attorney. What do you want to be?"

"A veterinarian or an ocean-ologist." she told him.

The next day, her bruise hurt and I, being the mom that I am, took pictures.



It hurt her when she wore denim - so comfy pants were required.. and so was frozen Stir Fry -- because it was swollen and had a bit of a fever.
Her bruise is so much better. She was cute that day. "Mom it's really funky colors. and it hurts."

and I had an epiphany of sorts. "I know it hurts. There isn't much else we can do besides the tylenol that you had. Let's call it 'pretty' and 'healed'. "

It was kind of pretty. But when that came out of my mouth - Holy Spirit patted us on the back. Complaining about it wasn't going to help at that point. That was the best thing we could have done. It changed her way of thinking and talking - and it really healed much faster than it might have otherwise.

One thing's for certain, if you don't want her to give you an answer -- you'd better not ask the question.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Like a cookie..

Just a mommy moment that totally melted my heart.

I took J-man to speech therapy today.
It's been a while since we visited the bathrooms in the building.

As he washed his hands I realized how much he's grown in the time since we started therapy and today..
I said, "You've gotten taller."
He nodded, "'cause I believe God."

"Really?" said I -- wondering how the two connected.

He was so earnest I just grinned and my heart melted - along with my memory. I tried engraving this moment in my brain - but I don't think I succeeded.

He nodded and said - in essence - "You talk to God when you have a bad dream and He changes your bad dream to a good dream." This from the 4 year old with pronoun issues!!

I was just in awe of Him and of God. God's been talking to Him while he's asleep, I think.

He dried his hands - independently, I have to say and kept talking...
.
"So I believe God. And He blesses you ..... Like a cookie."

Sweet.
Very sweet.

Totally had to scoop my heart up and pour it back in.

Ninja Cat

Sometimes we see things that just make us laugh.
This cat makes me laugh every time.

It makes the kids laugh every time, too.

I don't know which is more fun - watching the cat or watching the kids watch the cat.

Ninja Cat:

Friday, January 16, 2009

O Praise Him!

As I was doing some midnight laundry tonight, this song popped into my head. I was filled with such a sense of worship -- I had to find it.

Even in the midst of Midnight Laundry - I can still praise. It's not a new revelation - I'm just enjoying the moment with God. So go along with me...

I know this video has been around for a while - but it is one of my favorites!
The song is awesome.

O, Praise Him!!


David Crowder Band "O, Praise Him".

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Funny way to say it...

Yesterday, J-man came up beside me while I was scrolling through e-mails.
He took note of my earrings.
"Oh, you wearing a earring. I like it." Then he noted that I had on two earrings.
"Oh, you have two." (or something like that...I forgot by the charm of the next sentence)

"You like a lady, mom." He went back to playing his game. as he picked up his controller,
"A BOY lady. I figured that out myself."

I was afraid that maybe I should wear make up more often - or fix my hair differently.
I thought it was funny, because of the "figured that out myself" comment.
I told my funny to the professor who pointed out that it was supposed to be complimentary.

J-man has decided that girly things -- well, they're not quite evil - but they're close. He is adamant that he partake in nothing girly.

So for him to tell me that I was a "boy lady" -- means that he thinks I'm cool.

It's different....but I'll take it.
My four year old thinks I'm cool. I hope he thinks that for a very long time.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

One Pure and Holy Passion

I woke up with this song in my heart this morning.
It is the cry of my heart. That I would run after Him. The lover of my soul.
Even on the days that I don't feel "the passion" - it's nice to know that He is approachable.

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Costly Consternation...

otherwise known as "How to make a shoe sales man cringe".
My old, worn out shoes.
Be glad it's not a scratch and sniff.

I've known I needed new shoes for a while. When your feet hurt as much as when you wear them as when you don't - it's time for new shoes.

So tonight, I asked the Professor if we could stop by the running shoe store --
(a store that sells running shoes - not a shoe store that is actually running. Just wanted to clear that up - you know, just in case I read this later, when I've had more caffeine. Or, even if you read this later. With or without caffeine.)

I've had really good experiences by buying my shoes at this kind of shoe store. They know exactly what I need when I say, "My ankles roll and I have flat feet."
So we stopped at the one that was along our path - to see if they were open. They were. And in I went. I explained that I needed new shoes, my ankles roll and I have flat feet.

He, turned out it was the owner of the place (don't I feel special), knew exactly what I needed. He checked my old shoes for size and said, "These are Brooks Ascension number something something, that I promptly forgot. They haven't made these since before I opened my store (mumbled in shock) years ago."

I really think he'll be talking about me for days. He put my shoes in the box from whence my new *unsmelly* shoes came with a bit of awe. They either really stunk, or he was just freaked by the fact that they were so old.

I selected two new shoes. One for everyday, one for walking (which I need to get back to) and told him that my old ones would be lawn mowing shoes.

"Yeah, those would be good for that soft surface."
Which was probably a very nice way of saying, "Gooberhead."

Monday, January 5, 2009

It's a woodchuck, after all

I passed by Mini-Me's school papers, and glancing down, saw the word "woodchuck".

I asked her the immortal question about the wood chuck chucking would, if it could.

She grinned at me for being silly.
Then she said, "But it CAN chuck wood, it's a wood chuck, after all."

I just laughed.
It made my day.