In which I explain the previously mentioned wasp incident

We have a post on the porch that wasps have collected on several times.

Today they were back again, so I went and got the wasp spray - a job always done by Greg before.

And I've always given him a hard time for using so much.

(foreshadowing)

So.... I sprayed a few little squirts and the pack of 5? 8? separated and flew away.

I backed off and watched.

Then I felt something wet against my side - under my arm.

A wet wasp.

So, naturally, I shooed it away.

And it headed straight for a group of kiddos: Dale, Alan, and the 2 little girls they were playing with.

It flew right between them.

I've never chased a wasp before.

It had to have been dying though, because it went past them and landed under the big dog close by.

I'm lukcy that dog isn't skittish, because I jumped at it and stomped under it (it was standing) and squished the wasp.

And then....

the wasps were still circling and mad.

I went back toward the house.

And then I heard Dale screaming

I DONT' WANT IT ON ME!! I DON'T WANT IT ON ME! IT'S ONE ME GET IT OFF ME! I DON'T WANT IT ON ME!!!!

and he had one up by his collar bone.

So I went at Dale and hit the wasp off of him. And boldly too. Not in a girly / scaredy way.

Because I only had one shot to get it right.

It hit the ground and I squished it too.

I didn't feel like much of a hero though, since I caused the whole thing and all.

In fact, I felt a little sheepish.

I think I'll leave the wasp extermination to Greg in the future.
(and not say ONE WORD about how much spray he uses!)

A day in the herd...

I'm going to try something different today. I'm going to do an add-on post.

6:33 am - Alan woke up. Bad timing. I'm not happy when I see the time.
(Ironically, off and on from when I was a teenager I would set my alarm for 6:33 so the first numbers I saw each day would remind me of Matthew 6:33...."seek ye first".)

I began rocking Alan - thankfully it is still dark out at 6:33. For 2 more days, anyway. Dale sneezed 5 times. Alan miraculously remained sleepy. Daddy Buffalo's alarm went off. Alan did not remain sleepy. (BTW.... we're staying away from home and sleeping all in one room. A very large room, but still.) "Daddy daddy daddy daddy daddy."

Oh well.

Fast forward..... Greg went to work, Dale got up. The boys snacked on vanilla wafers and peanut butter. At least they had milk to drink.

I got dressed and enlisted the boys as kitchen 'help'. I washed dishes, Dale dried and put away the plastic stuff, and Alan splashed dishwater everywhere.

I hate to admit I didn't enjoy that experience like I should have. It sounds good on paper (er... on screen?) and I will definitely try again. I like having my boys close by. Underfoot. I just need to work on my patience for it. :)

We finished up dishes and got ready for breakfast - cereal, and if you have the sugary kind it isn't really any different than milk and cookies for breakfast, if you think about it.

Alan is asleep now for his first morning nap in days and days. Who knows what this will mean for the afternoon?? Stay tuned!

Now Dale and I are off to read together. :)

***-------------------------------------------------***

1:00 - Alan slept almost 2 hours!! Which tells me he really needed that nap.

Dale and I did a little bit of school work. We're kind of having a light week this week. First we read this book together. Just one of our 'extras' from the library this week.

Then we read the story of Jesus washing the disciples' feet and did some table-work - coloring and writing. Short, easy simple stuff today. And good thing I didn't have lofty goals and extensive plans: Dale was full of energy and the sillies.

Then it was lunch for all 3 of us. Dale disappeared to play outside soon after and I haven't seen him since. :) Alan, on the other hand has been persistently asking to go out from the moment Dale left. He was content to sit in my lap and sing songs for a while, but the distractions are used up and he has brought me his socks. Looks like we're going outside!

***------------------------------------------------***

5:30pm - We DID spend some time outside! (During which I was responsible for putting 4 kids, 1 dog, and myself in danger of getting wasp stung. Oops)

Alan did NOT have a second nap. I laid him down and he stayed quietly in his bed (that's a BIG warning sign, by the way. More on that in another post) but did not go to sleep.

Greg is home. He and the boys are outside. Again. More. Still. Oh the joys of OUTSIDE!! :) Thank you Lord for beautiful days like today. :)

Supper is cooking and we'll all be around the table soon. Ahhhh.... life is good, isn't it? :)

***--------------------------***

9:48
Had our supper and a dessert I made (pear crumble - without a recipe!).

All 4 cleaned the kitchen together, so there won't be dirty dishes waiting on me in the morning. So I won't have to feed my children vanilla wafers for breakfast. ;)

Did some stuff on the internet. Played some stuff with the boys. Did some more stuff on the internet while Greg got them ready for bed (usually something we both do) - what a treat!

Said prayers, tucked them in. Got to spend some quiet time w/my man before the weekend apart. We like to play card games sometimes at night. I won two quick hands of Uno tonight. :)

And now it's off to bed!

I think I spot a pattern....

I'm beginning to think it is never a good idea to teach your kids to "say cheese." Because you might end up with a lot of this:And this:(It IS true that I'm not the only one with a baby making messes wearing nothing but a diaper and a dirty face, right? .... right?)

Moving on...
Sorry, Dale. I had to make a sacrifice with this picture to make my point, and you were it. You took one for the team, and I thank you.

But what really makes me feel ok about making Dale 'take a hit' is that I took one too:
How a thin person can make it look like she has 4 chins I do not know.

But we're supposed to be noticing Alan, anyway. And the way every smile has the same toothy grin. Chin pushed forward. Head tilted to one side.

See?

And all a result of saying "CHEEEESE".

This would also be a good time to mention that this same child will bring me the camera, insisting "cheese, cheese, cheese!" and also knows how to turn on the camera function of my cell phone all by himself. I can't tell you how many times he has handed me my phone, camera on, and backed away saying "cheese".

And, wouldn't you know it.. my phone is full of pictures of our favorite little cheeser. Go figure.

Things worth considering.

Please, take the time to watch these videos. They are worth it.







15 minutes ago I had never heard of this woman. Now? I love her.

The stakes of the election we are facing are very high. The issues are numerous, although the ONE issue discussed above should be enough motivator for any of us.

Please - GO VOTE. Don't believe the lie that your vote doesn't count. NOT voting is essentially casting a vote for the opposing party.


**Thanks to MaddieLynn for the link to the first video, and Mrs. June Fuentes for the other two.**

How do you deal with Mommy-Stress?

I know I just explained all this in my last post, but it is worth repeating:

As Moms we have all at one time or another had one of those days. Part of what makes those days so hard is feeling alone in the barrage of mommy-stressors. Everyone else has it all together, right? Of course not.

As we plug along day after day we have all found different things that help us maintain or restore some semblance of peace and joy in our daily home-making and motherhood. Our own personal stress-busters! Wouldn't it be helpful to find out what those things are for other moms? Please, do tell how you prevent 'those days' and get through them when they hit in spite for your best (or not-so-best) efforts!

Here are a few of my favorite stress-busters:

- One of my first responses when I can feel stress mounting is to eliminate excess noise. Hopefully I can catch this stressor early and calmly instead of letting it get to me too long and snapping at someone! Anyway, it always helps to take note of all the noise input - how many things can you hear in that moment? How loud are they? Turn off the tv. Confiscate (or turn off) noise-making toys. Send noisy kids to play outside if possible, or to do something quietly, or at least go to another part of the house!

- On the flip side of the coin, sometimes I find playing music can help me de-stress. This is usually NOT in the noisy times (although I guess you could play music loud enough to drown everything else out, lol) - but mostly in the quieter times when my hands are busy, but my mind is going over and over a certain worry or a seemingly never-ending to-do list. I then turn on some upbeat worship music or classical (Mozart is my favorite for cleaning). The upbeat music tends to lighten my steps (and my workload) while distracting my over-thinking mind. As a bonus, one or both of the boys will often pass through and dance for a while - AND they are learning worship songs or getting exposure to classical music!

- Another stress preventer for me is meal planning. My days ALWAYS seem to end better when I have known all day what is coming up for supper (and prepared accordingly). For me, meal planning starts before a grocery-run. I plan the next week or so of meals (usually just supper, but I'm trying to add on lunches lately), and then make my grocery list from that. This also makes grocery shopping less stressful and more productive. Here is a link to my 3-week rotation system that is currently working pretty good for me, and Menu Plan Monday is a good place to visit for inspiration.

- Finally, I have found that I am in much better shape for each day if I set an alarm and get up before my kids. Ideally an hour or more, but even 15 minutes helps. Even though I am slow to wake up, I love mornings and I CHERISH early morning time alone. In the past I have used mornings alone for Bible and prayer time, shower time, blogging, breakfast alone, being outside as the sun comes up.... Unfortunately Alan has been waking up between 6:15 and 6:30 a lot lately, so I haven't even bothered with an alarm. Maybe the time change coming up will help with that!

And I had one more thing I wanted to share, but sometime yesterday that thought escaped and hasn't returned. Probably a sign of being stressed, lol! Or maybe just a sign I should be more diligent about writing things down? Anyone have any helpful hints there? :)

So! What are your tips for handling stress? Write a blog post telling everyone your best Stress-Busters and leave a link to it in the comments of this post. Be sure and link to this post somewhere in your own stress-buster post, and feel free to use the graphic above! Thanks in advance for sharing!

Let's de-stress together!

I was inspired recently by my friend at Heart of a Mommy. she was having a bad "mommy" day and was brave enough to write about it on her blog.

I know we all have those days when nothing seems to go right, the kids are whiny or sick or disobedient or all of the above. Or sometimes, bless their hearts, it's not them, but we just don't have what it takes to handle their energy!

Add to that laundry, and feeding the family, and cleaning, and schooling or work (or both) and then all those other activities that seem to want our time, and, and, and....

My question for you is - what are your ideas for preventing "mommy stress", and then how do you deal with it when it sneaks (or barges) in anyway?

These don't have to be things that you do without fail - none of us do anything without fail. But we all have things that have helped here or there along the way, and I know I, for one, could always use new ideas and encouragements for getting through the tough spells.

To share your ideas: on Friday, write your own blog post with tips and encouragement for stressful days and then link back to my stress-buster post that I will put up on my blog ON FRIDAY (not this post). In the comments of that post, please let us all know the specific link to your stress-post (not your blog in general). If you don't have a blog please do leave a comment and tell us your stress-busters!

In the meantime, feel free to use the logo above on your blog so your readers can be thinking of their own stress-busters to share too. :) See you on Friday!

Learning about money

I love it when I have a good idea.

Dale began learning about money recently. I decided the best way for him to 'get' it was to use it, and the following game was born.

First I raided my change basket for pennies, nickels and dimes.

Then I found some food pictures from the sale paper that comes in the mail. (Actually, I already had some cut out from a sorting game learning the food groups, and since I tend to save things, there they were, ready for me to use.) ANYway....

Next I made a list of the food items I wanted to use, and priced them from 1-8 cents each.

On the first day, we only did pennies. So Dale looked at the list and paid me in pennies for each item he wanted.

As a side note: on some days that we played this game, when
Dale ran out of money we had this conversation -
Dale: I'm out of money!
Me: Then you need to go to work to get more money!

And then I would offer to pay him a certain number of cents for quick little odd jobs. (like putting socks in the hamper, or throwing away the junk mail, etc) This was great for letting him get up from the table and run off energy, AND for a
demonstration that money doesn't just come out of thin air. It was also
good for a little extra clean-up around the house, but don't tell
anybody. ;)

On the second day, inflation set in. :) (A little too much like real life there, but.... )

I kept the same items, but now they were priced from 3-11 cents, and Dale had pennies AND nickels for paying.

Third day, similar story. I simply doubled all the prices, so everything now ranged from 6-22 cents, and we added dimes to Dale's stash.

So - he has been learning a lot from this game, including:
-counting by 5's
-counting by 10's
-addition
-subtraction
-counting money with the highest value first

-money concepts in general
-problem solving

We're going to stop at dimes for now and pull out our store every now and then to keep up what Dale has learned so far. Adding on quarters and dollars seemed like such a leap conceptually we're going to hold off on that for a while.

I have loved how this activity has worked out for us, and I wanted to share it here for those of you who might be interested. You can see I didn't get to fancy with my supplies. I can imagine going all out and setting up a store and 'real' food and everything. Or you could just lay it out in your notebook and move along. ;)