We Dig Winter

As January turned into February, winter reminded us it wasn't ready to leave just yet. Derek and I laughed at the advertisement in the paper last night reminding us to have our lawnmower serviced soon. Yeah right! While I'm a big fan of summer, I actually don't mind the winter. I think it can be fun. That must be why I live in a place where we get to experience all four seasons.

This lastest round of winter weather has been too much for our kids to be outside in. But Ginger the snowdog can handle it. :) She went into a digging frenzy in this snow drift recently. I thought there must be something delicious trapped beneath all that snow--she was working so hard! It made us laugh as we watched from the comfort of our warm house. Right now she's basking in the sun, so don't feel sorry for her out in the cold. She's taken over our kitchen with her big clumsy self. :)

Aaron loves our fireplace. Derek took this picture today before leaving for work. What a treat to start school 2 hours late. Also in this picture is evidence of our newest endeavor. We are enrolled in  "Financial Peace University" by Dave Ramsey. I have feared this class for years, and yet, I crave financial peace. Who doesn't? How can our income cover all of our needs, present and future, and still leave money left over for things like vacations and Christmas? How can we give more? Those are my questions that I hope to find answers for. I find it funny (ha ha) that at the same time we're in this study I'm also in a women's group at church studying "Lord, Change My Attitude." In the first two weeks the focus has been on replacing a complaining attitude with a grateful attitude. A perfect way to make sure I don't complain about all the hard things we're doing in Dave Ramsey's study. Ouch! Talk about getting hit from both sides! :)
To close this post I'm just going to list random things our kids are doing right now. It's my way of making sure I don't forget even the little things about today. :)

• They listen to "Hank the Cowdog" stories every day.
• They play basketball in Braylen's room and it sounds like a war zone in our house.
• Aaron always asks me what color his yogurt will be after he mixes the colors together. "What does pink and purple make? What does pink and yellow make? What does blue and pink make?"
• They shout at each other with a sound I can't reproduce in the written word. They are not fighting when they do this. I think they are communicating like cave men.
• They're playing Star Wars on the wii again.
• Most days I feel overwhelmed with the amount of homework Kaleb has--both written and online. And he's only in 3rd grade!
• Aaron gives us kisses, butterfly kisses, and eye kisses at bedtime. An eye kiss is when he presses his winking eye against my cheek.
• Braylen asked Derek a hard question the other day, but we're happy he's comfortable enough to ask questions like that.
• Aaron loves homemade banana milkshakes, and I'm happy to make them for him. A few extra calories can only help that boy. :)

Racing through January

We recently celebrated our 100th day of school. Aaron was such a good sport and posed for this picture. What am I going to do when I don't have any little ones to do these cute things for me? His sign states that he is 100 days smarter, and he truly is. I love it when he reads me books and figures out Kaleb's math facts. Kaleb doesn't love that so much. I think it's funny that he wanted to bring 100 cheese balls to school for his 100 day party. Too bad I didn't have any cheese balls that day. His second choice? 100 rubber bands. Silly boy! After plucking 100 rubber bands out of my junk drawer in the kitchen, there were still some left over. Imagine that. :) I never knew I hoarded rubber bands. After finding a huge container of cheese balls the other day, Aaron now has all the cheese balls he wants.

The Pinewood Derby was on Monday. Grandpa was able to come and watch this year! Of course Grandma came too, and Derek's brother and family made it in time for Kaleb's races. It was a fun, fast night. Kaleb ended up in second place for his den, and he was happy with that. Braylen placed third in his den...out of 3. But he had such an incredible attitude and was happy for the other boys. Even Kaleb. That says a lot about his heart. Next time he chooses to be a "not very nice brother," I'll have to remember when he was a nice brother. :) Aaron raced his car before and after the official Cub Scout race, and he LOVED doing that. Next year he will be an official Cub Scout, while Braylen will be a Boy Scout in less than a month from now. I remember when he was a cute little Tiger Cub.

Do you know what A and B the C of D means? Braylen says it frequently. If you're not familiar with 11 year old boy-speak it means, "Above and Beyond the Call of Duty." I don't know where he got that from. I love it that he's maturing but he still lets me give him hugs and kisses. His favorite times to talk to me are at bedtime. Lots of times I'm tired by then and just want him to go to sleep. But the mom in me tells me to grab onto these opportunities when I can.

Today I'm thankful it's Friday. I'm thankful we have our new homeowners and auto insurance policies figured out. That was a month-long headache that is finally settled. I had lots of fun in Braylen's classroom again today. :) Every January 28th I remember a friend of mine whose birthday is today. I haven't seen her in many many years, but I'm thinking of her today. Dates stick in my mind. It's so strange, but I remember lots of things I don't need to remember. I used to think it made me kind of nerdy, but I've decided that it's God's way of using me. An example? January 28th, many years ago, I witnessed a baby's delivery for the first time. I was in college, and I was the student nurse assigned to this particular mother. I "coached" her through her delivery and I've never forgotten it. She had a baby girl and every January 28th I think of this "baby." She's a teenager now, and I even found her on facebook. Not that I friended her. That would be weird I'm sure. But I can say a little prayer for her on her birthday. How many other people can say their student nurse from the 90's prays for them on their birthdays? I'm not a stalker, I promise. :)

Wrapping up, can you tell from this picture what Aaron will be getting for Valentine's Day? When the snowmen at our house start wearing pink boots and hats, it's time for some new paints. :)

The Red Crayon

Last Sunday my little sweetie wore this outfit to church. My mom knit the sweater for Aaron, and being the good little grandson that he is, he wore it with pride. He received lots of compliments from our friends, and he stayed plenty warm in Sunday School. What a happy day. What I didn't know, but soon found out, was what he put in his pocket at church.

I've washed lots of things in my years of mothering. Chapstick leaves greasy spots on clothing. Everyone knows how kleenex shreds itself into millions of pieces. Rocks tumble around and make lots of noise in the dryer. Chocolate candy bars melt. But never in my life had I washed and dried a red crayon. In a load of whites.

I opened the dryer and it looked like a small animal had exploded inside of it. Angry red blotches covered t-shirts, underwear, socks, and the khaki pants that once held the offending crayon. Centered on top of the mound of clothing was a perfectly preserved (empty) Crayola wrapper. It sat there like an offering to me, immediately answering my question of, "What happened in my dryer?!"

Some people might have turned everything into rags and bought new clothing. We're on a single income here, so that's not really an option for me. Plus, some of those "rags" were actually new a few weeks ago. I was NOT going to give up! But I was pretty upset. Poor Aaron. Before googling it, I threw everything back in the wash with bleach. Yeah, that didn't do any good. I know that now. So I left the mess in the laundry room and went to bed.

The next day I found lots of suggestions on the internet. It seemed like for every concoction that worked, someone else would report it wasted their time and money. Which of the many "recipes" should I try? I decided to pick and choose from these suggestions and create my own. I didn't want to spend any money, but I was willing to put a little time into it. My next step was to call my mother-in-law. She brought over one ingredient I needed, and also some more advice. Here's what I did:

• Looked for the big blobs of wax on clothing. They were easy to find. With my iron set to medium heat, I ironed the spots with one paper bag over the clothing and one underneath the clothing. This melts the wax and the paper absorbs it. It really didn't take long. And this is coming from me, the girl who never irons.
• Filled washing machine with hot water. My 4 "magic" ingredients were Era detergent, Shout, Oxiclean, and white vinegar. I didn't measure them, I just guessed. 
• Added the clothing and let it soak for 2 hours.
• Turned the washer back on after 2 hours and let it do it's thing.

I was amazed! No more crayon!!! A few light pink spots here and there, but NOTHING like before! The load of laundry was saved! My kids and my husband witnessed my delight and thought I was a crazy woman! Aaron was off the hook--and I learned a lesson too. Check his pockets. :)

Derby Time

Where do I begin? I have several posts rattling around in my brain. I'll pick this one. :)

January is such an empty month for us. Open weekends and routine weekdays. It's a relief for me, especially after December. We all know what December is like. Derek's been hunting for two weekends with his dad. Braylen went along one day, and our friend Shawn joined them both weekends. They ended up with two deer, and while Derek would like me to post some pictures of his hunt, he didn't bring me any that were blog-worthy. At least not in my blog. :) Maybe next time. Now that hunting is done until spring, I'm hoping to get my living room painted. Braylen will help Derek build some shelves for his room, and of course January is all about Cub Scout Pinewood Derby cars.


Kaleb's sanding his wheels while Aaron sands his car. Braylen's inside not feeling well, but he's building a car too.




Aaron won't be in scouts until next year. But one look at his drawing, where he planned to use his brothers' leftover wood scraps to build a car and wait until next year for tires and stuff, Derek and I melted. I found him a car kit and Derek's including Aaron with the big boys. :)

Aaron sure does love to do whatever Braylen and Kaleb do. But he's still my little boy, and I want to remember how he shows me that. :) So here are some of his latest funnies.

He chants a "song" from one of the "Despicable Me" mini-movies: "I like bana-a-nas" over and over again. So I give him a banana for a snack and he says, "I didn't used to like bananas but now I do. Did they change them?"

He calls tater tots "croutons."

He says, "for the forty-tooth time" instead of forty-second. He also says, "I catched it." When I correct him, part of me regrets it. Soon his baby talk will be gone.

When I ask him where Kaleb is he says, "In the bathroom of course. He's just the king in there!"

So many times when he chatters I'm doing something else at the same time. Last week I had to stop what I was doing and figure out what in the world he was talking about. He said, "Is that a fake woman on a diving board? Or a little woman on a diving board?" Huh? Turns out he was looking at something in the newspaper.

Fridays are his favorite days of the week because he can write in his journal about anything he wants. Today he wrote about his pinewood derby car. :)

Finally, I want to remember how much things have changed between our firstborn and our baby. When Braylen was little, and he had bad dreams, he'd cry out for me. I'd get out of bed and go to him. I'd soothe him any way I could--pray, sing, or snuggle--sometimes it took all three. When Kaleb had bad dreams, he'd come find me in the middle of the night. I would take him back to his room and snuggle him in his bed until he was okay. A few nights ago Aaron had a bad dream. He came to my side of the bed and said in a very bossy tone of voice, "I had a bad dream. I DON'T want to talk about it. I'm getting in your bed to snuggle with you!" I rolled over and let him snuggle beside me. I don't even remember saying anything. Oh, how times have changed. :)