Ten Things of Thankful, Week 30 - The Polar Vortex/500th Post Edition

This.  This is my 500th blog post.  FIVE HUNDRED!!  That fact just boggles my mind.

There is no time to expound on the significance of this, as I've got a thankful list to get done and not much time to do it.  I shall save it for another day.  Just a warning...it may not be until my 600th post.

On to the Polar Vortex Edition of the TToT!

I love it when we get to pull out new, impressive-sounding terms for "weather events".  And this one is especially good, because by the nature of the word, you have to say it slowly and enunciate, or you will accidentally say "polar voltex" and be ridiculed by all who hear you.  Saying it slowly and enunciating every syllable makes it sound even more intimidating, don't you think?  Even more so when you say it with a deep voice and a serious face.

Since you all know me as the Winter Wimp when it comes to cold weather, you will probably be surprised to hear that I actually enjoyed the Vortex.  While there were some learning experiences to go with just about every good thing, there were lots of good things.

************** 1 ***********

The Thankful:  Sunshine.  After the snow on Sunday, we got two days of beautiful sunshine.  Sparkly snow blinking in the sun is one of the prettiest scenes in the world.

I'm sorry these photos don't do the gorgeousness of the day justice.  It was too cold to take my camera outside, so I had to be content with photos from the windows.  Which was difficult, considering most of our windows looked like this:

or worse.  What you see there is ice.  On the INSIDE of our windows.

The Lesson:  Get some plexiglass on the outside of the windows.  The windows that already have some fared much better.

******************* 2 *************

The Thankful:  Going with the sunshine again.  With temperatures in the -40 range, the sun was very helpful for the animals.  The chicken coop has windows, so the sun shining in helps warm them up.  The dogs also enjoyed basking in the sun in places which were blocked by the wind.

The Lesson:  Sunshine and Vortexes create crazy things.  I looked out the back window to the coop, and saw something I've never seen before.  See if you can spot it...

It's not because the photo is crooked.  The sun melted some snow, and the wind was so ferocious that it caused the icicles to grow off-center!

************** 3 **************

The Thankful:  I was warm.  It seems the temperature of the inside of my house is not my problem.  The problem is the having to go in and out of the house several times each day.  For 5 days I stayed in pajamas and my fuzzy pink robe, and I was warm.
The Lesson:  Wearing your robe all day every day may give people the impression that you haven't showered in 5 days.  I will have you know, under that robe was a new pair of pajamas and clean underwear at least every other day!

****************** 4 **************

The Thankful:  I didn't drive anywhere for 5 days.  My van sat in the driveway, looking like this:

The Lesson:  Scrape ALL the snow off of your vehicle before you drive.  On the day I finally had to drive, Phoenix cleaned the car off for me.  He did not brush off the snow on the top of the van.  As we drove down the driveway I said, "It's gonna be funny to watch all that snow fall off the back when we pick up speed".  And then we forgot about it.  Until 20 minutes later when I stopped to make a left-hand turn and all that snow came sliding to the front of the car.  I was sitting in the middle of a 5-lane freeway completely unable to see through the foot of snow covering my windshield.  

*************** 5 ***************

The Thankful:  For 5 days, we got to play as many games as we wanted.  The kids received a new game for Christmas (Settlers of Catan), and it got lots of use this week.  Cuckoo discovered he loves Monopoly, so we played many games of the SpongeBob version.  Scrabble, Yahtzee, African Adventures, and Who Knew? were popular, too.

The Lesson:  When you play this many games with kids, they will get really good at them.  This week, I lost Scrabble to an 11 year old (Giant), Monopoly to a 4 year old (Cuckoo) and Catan to a 5 year old.  And I didn't "let" them win.  They have to earn their wins.  Humble is my word for the week.

***************** 6 ***********

The Thankful:  Minecraft.  I can't believe I'm saying it, but I'm thankful for a video game.  As the week went on, the kids' patience with each other started to wear thin.  And the day I was sick and couldn't play too many games worried me.  Until I let them play Minecraft.  The big kids played on their iPods, and the little kids took turns with my iPad.  All 6 got comfortable in the boys' room and played this interactive game together.  Laughter poured from the room all afternoon.

The Lesson:  When kids are allowed to play an unlimited amount of video games for two days, they don't want to give it up.  Not too big of a deal with the big kids.  The little ones, though, have not been happy.

******************** 7 *************

The Thankful:  Lots and lots of good meals.  With nowhere to go, I had all the time in the world to cook for my family.  We had huge breakfasts and dinners every day.  When you raise your own meat and can veggies from your garden, there's plenty of food to fill your bellies, even if you can't get to a store for a week.

The Lesson:  Kids love snowmen pancakes to go with the theme of snow days.

Just be careful not to make the snowmen too much bigger than your spatula.

*********************** 8 *****************

The Thankful:  After a slow start, the chickens are laying eggs like crazy.  It seems our birds never got the memo, so they don't know that chickens normally slow down or stop laying eggs during the winter.  Out of now 27 chickens (Read yesterday's post if you don't know why I said "now".) we are getting an average of 18 eggs per day.

The Lesson:  Plan for a Polar Vortex.  Most of our customers come from school, but with school out for Christmas and everyone trapped for 5 days, the eggs have piled up.  We've been eating lots and lots of eggs, but still have 18 dozen eggs in our fridge.  Really should have done something about this before the snow hit.

***************** 9 *************

The Thankful:  If I had to have a cold, this was the time to have it.  If it would have been over Christmas, I wouldn't have been able to visit with my grandma.  With school being out, I was able to actually sit on the couch and let my body take care of the illness.  The cold was gone in two days.

The Lesson:  Don't take Nyquil.  Ever. (You really just need to read yesterday's post.)

*************** 10 *************

The Thankful:  An organized game closet, basement, and toy box.  Actually, the toy box is gone.  Out of our living room.  Finally.  The kids and COW did a great job organizing everything and making me a very happy camper.  (I was cooking while they did all of it.)

The Lesson:  Send Cuckoo away when organizing toys.  Buttercup was given the job of cleaning out the toy box, including putting outgrown toys in a Goodwill bag.  Cuckoo couldn't handle it, and whenever she wasn't looking, he'd grab something out of the bag or out of the toy box and run.  She spent half her time collecting things from him while we all laughed and laughed.  (She was laughing, too, for most of it.  I finally had to step in and distract Cuckoo.)

All in all, it was a great week, with so much laughter and fun.

Now, it's your turn.  What made you happy this week?  Learn anything while having fun?

OH WAIT!!!  I ALMOST FORGOT!!!!

We have a new co-host!!!  Sandy has agreed to join us after Melissa, sadly, had to step down from the position.  Be sure to click over and say hi!

Have a lovely day!

<div align="center"> <a href=" http://summat2thinkon.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Ten%20Things%20of%20Thankful" rel=”nofollow” title="Ten Things of Thankful" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Wxc-WB-ppvah62zvRkTqHQaiN7oRbWDRWNur3PD3DQi_c_dPQTssLJQhJCtAGfc4YTMtMgzoLWNmxNoyN-21iDyQS1NZtrLt3ucVyICiuiwI-4w7yv1F_J5tRJkG2MbJsQdetiZgvwzS/s1600/TenThingsBanner.jpg" alt="Ten Things of Thankful" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

 Your hosts

A Fly on our (Chicken Coop) Wall, Considerings, Finding Ninee, Getting Literal, I can say mama, I Want Backsies, Mother of Imperfection, Rewritten, Thankful Me, The Wakefield Doctrine

An InLinkz Link-up

I Was Drugged. Something Died. As Usual.

I got a cold.

I took a full dose of Nyquil.

That was dumb.

My head was foggy the next morning.

And I was off kilter on into the afternoon.

The couch was my friend.

I stayed on my friend.

All morning and on into the afternoon.

The children came to see me.

They asked for food and drink.

I granted permission.

They fed themselves.

The animals needed food and drink.

They did not come to see me.

I just knew.

I sent the children out.

One child returned to see me.

"MOM!  ACHICKENSTUCKITSHEADUNDERTHEDOORANDGOTSTUCKANDKILLEDITSELFANDITSGROSSANDICAN'TEVENOPENTHEDOORANDYOUNEEDTOCOOOOOOOOME!"

I rose from the couch.

I donned a winter coat and thick work gloves.

Two children were called in to assist.

I took stock of the situation.

A dead chicken peered at me.

From a crack under the door.

Just as the child had reported.

I went through an alternate door.

Two children were given instructions.

One child whined.

"THATISDISGUSTINGYOUWANTMETOACTUALLYGOOVERTHEREANDOPENTHEDOORWHERETHEDEADCHICKENISSTUCK?!?!?!"

I ignored her.

I went into the coop.

One child corralled the live chickens.

I grabbed the dead chicken's leg.

A child opened the door from the outside.

Where the head was.

I pulled the chicken out.

I trudged through the snow.

Carrying a dead chicken.

The chicken was tossed over a fence.

It landed in the field.

I went back to the house.

The boots, coat, and gloves were removed.

My hands were washed.

I collapsed on my friend.

I stayed there.

All afternoon and into the night.

COW brought pizza home for dinner.

Everyone ate.

I extracted a promise from COW.

Remind me

To never take

a full dose

of Nyquil

again.

Ever.

ANDSTOPRAISINGCHICKENSBECAUSETHEYARETHEDUMBESTANIMALSONTHEFACEOFTHEPLANET!!!!!

I'm feeling much better.

The chicken is not.

Have a lovely day!

My Mom Lost Me on I-71

We were on I-71, somewhere in the middle of our 6 hour drive through Ohio, headed to my mom's new home in Kentucky.  It was a two-car caravan led by Mom.  I was the 16 year old driver in the second car.

I was finding the drive to be quite easy.  My biggest annoyance was having to find a new radio station every time we moved through another town.

That is, it was easy until we came to the long line of red tail lights all road trippers dread.  A traffic jam.  By the looks of it, a traffic jam that was going to make our 6 hour drive a whole lot longer than 6 hours.  We putzed along, inching our way closer to the open road on the other side of the construction.

We finally came to the cause of the backup; construction walls were funneling us down to one lane.  Being such an inexperienced driver, I was not skilled in the art of merging traffic. A car got in front of me.  He let another car in front of him. My panic rose with each new car that ducked in line ahead of me.  As I craned my neck to keep an eye on Mom's car, more and more cars got between us.

Finally, there were just too many.

I lost sight of her.

With absolutely no idea how to get to her house in Kentucky.

With everyone now in single file, our speed picked up.  I was in full-on, 16 year old, what-the-hell-am-I-supposed-to-do mode while traveling at 55 mph with a cement wall on one side and a long row of orange construction cones on the other.  For miles.  It wasn't pretty.  Driving through construction with limited space in the lane is hard enough, but doing it while panicked that you will be lost in the middle of Ohio for the rest of your life is downright terrible.

At one point, I actually hit a cone and sent it flying.  I was close to losing my gourd.  Clearly my litany of "What do I do?  What do I do?  What do I do?" wasn't working.

I finally got so scared I started to pray. "Help me.  Help me.  HELP ME!!!"

I was led to get off the freeway.  I can't say I made the decision, because, honestly, my brain wasn't working well enough to make a decision.  I simply remember feeling that I should take the first exit I came to and get out of that line of cars.

With my heart pounding, I pulled out of line and onto the ramp, completely clueless as to what to do next.

With no idea of where I was, I simply got to the end of the ramp and turned.

To find my mom had done the exact same thing.  I found her waiting for me, in a bit of a panic herself.

It was one of the happiest moments of my short 16 year life.  The relief didn't wash over me, it crashed.

We got out of our cars, yellled/talked our stories to each other, made a plan for what to do if this were to happen again, and headed back to the freeway.

As I watch my kids get older, as I hand cell phones to each child as he hits the Christmas of his 8th grade year, I think, "In many, many ways, kids have it so easy these days."

If Phoenix and I were to have this same drive, with the same traffic jam, there would be no fear.  There would be no panic. There would simply be a phone call to say, "Hey, meet me at Speedway at exit 14".  It certainly wouldn't be a story to tell 25 years later.

There were so many stories like this growing up. So many scenarios where a cell phone would have made life so much easier.  Yet, it is through these scenarios that I learned to trust my instincts.  It is through these scenarios that I learned to be independent.  It is through these scenarios that I gained confidence in myself and my ability to solve problems.

I'm torn.  Part of me is glad my kids won't have to go through these sometimes scary experiences, but part of me feels like I'm taking away some growing experiences which would come in very handy as they become adults and move away from home.

I'm thinking I'm going to walk a fine line with the cell phones.  It's going to be hard.  The paranoid parent in my will want to use the phones to make sure I know exactly where my kids are at all times and micromanage their comings and goings.  The smart parent in me will need to loosen the grip.  I need to give them space to make choices.  I need to let them make bad choices so they can learn from them.

I want my kids to have stories.  I want them to have stories about struggles they had and experiences they got through.  I don't yet know what those stories will be, but I do know one story they won't be able to tell, because I learned from my experience 25 years ago.  They won't be telling stories about being stranded in the middle of Indiana, because my kids will always know the address and the directions on how to get where they are going.

Do you have a story from when you were growing up in which a cell phone would have been very handy?

Have a lovely day!


   

The Ripple Effect - Yes, There's a Moral to This Story

Since the big kids were little kids, I have been complimented for their good behavior in restaurants.  Apparently, good behavior in a restaurant isn't very common, as we were complimented almost every time we went out to eat.  One woman even told us she would never go out to eat with her own grandchildren, but she'd go out with my kids.

The good behavior had less to do with my parenting and more to do with the fact my kids have always really like to eat.  Proof:  I rarely got complimented when we were at a store.

We don't get the compliments nearly so often anymore, and I'm thinking it's because the kids are older.  I don't know of any 15 year olds who are still running around a restaurant causing trouble.  You don't get compliments for normal, expected behavior.

A few days ago, I took all the boys out for lunch between dentist and orthodontist appointments.  The waitress not only complimented us, but said, "Your kids are the most well behaved kids I've ever seen."  I thanked her, but my body language must have said, "I bet you say that to all the families," because she followed it up with "No, really.  They really are."

And with that, my children had to prove her wrong.

When we were basically done with our meal, I had Phoenix take Cuckoo to the restroom, which was just around the corner, practically in the main area of the restaurant.  (It's safer to have a big kid take a little kid than to take the little kid myself and leave the rest of the kids to their own devices out in the restaurant.  (And by "safer" I don't mean for my children, but for the patrons sitting around them.))

Once they were gone, Turken, of course, had to go to the restroom.  At 5, he knows the difference between the men's room and the women's room, and begs us to use the men's.  Since Phoenix was in there, I allowed him to go to the men's room, while I continued on to the women's.

The moment my cheeks hit the porcelain, chaos ensued, starting with Cuckoo screaming from the men's room.  (I could hear him from my position in the women's room.)

"MOM!  MOOOOOOOOM!  MOOOOOOOOOM! *paurse*  MOM!  MOMMOMOMMOM!  MOOOOOOMMMMMMYYYYYY!"

Then Turken, from outside the restroom (I knew it was outside, as there was not the echo effect that Cuckoo's screams had)...

"MOM!  MOOOOOOOM!  MOM!  MOM!  MOOOOOOOOM!"

As I pulled up my pants and washed my hands, I could hear my little lovelies arguing and yelling in the restroom.

When I got out in the hall, Giant was standing just outside the restroom.  He was laughing, saying there was a guy in there who had to endure the ridiculousness of my young children.

I stood out there, unable to do anything about the screaming and hysterical obnoxiousness going on in the men's room.

At one point, the man came out and walked across the hall to go into the kitchen.

Fortunately, I didn't have to storm the bathroom, as my three came out right after him.

I immediately rounded everyone up and into their coats, grabbed the check, and headed for the door, never looking up, as I didn't want to accidentally make eye contact with anyone in the place.  Once in the van, I got the whole story.

When they got into the restroom, Phoenix let Cuckoo go into a stall alone, and Cuckoo immediately locked the door.

Cuckoo then went "#2" and started yelling for me, because that's what he does at home when he needs me to wipe his bottom.

Phoenix was at a loss, seeing as how the door was locked and he couldn't get into him.  He sent Turken out to find me.  When Turken wants to find me, he simply stands and screams for me.  In this case, just outside the men's room door, practically in the restaurant (even though he knew I was in the women's restroom and could have easily come to get me).

Somehow Phoenix did manage to get Cuckoo out of the stall and to the sink to wash his hands, as well as get Turken to stop yelling and get in to go to the bathroom.  Seems Cuckoo wasn't in the mood to wash his hands, but was in his "I'm going to be as silly as I can and make everything so much more difficult for my caregiver" mood.  Thus the hysterical obnoxiousness I heard from the hall.  It didn't cross Phoenix's mind to simply let it go and bring him to me, so I could take him to wash his hands in the women's restroom.

And then I asked the pivotal question, not knowing it was the pivotal question.

"What did the restaurant guy do while all of this was going on?"

"He just went to the bathroom and walked out the door, since Cuckoo and Turken were taking up the sinks."

The restaurant guy didn't wash his hands.

Moral of the story?

Over-complimenting children's behavior leads to bathroom germs in your restaurant food.  Never over-compliment children's behavior.

*To make us feel better about being the cause of a restaurant full of people being exposed to bathroom germs, we have convinced ourselves that he simply chose to get out of the chaos and wash his hands in a sink in the kitchen in peace.  Yup, that's what happened.  I'm sure of it.  No bathroom germs were in the food.  Probably.

Have a lovely day!

Snowapalooza 2014

I sent all the protesting children outside to "make snowmen for those children who are less fortunate.  Not everyone gets snow, you know!". Stephanie told me it was so.

Well, Stephanie, I'm sorry, but as soon as they got out there, they completely forgot about their irritation at having to be out there, as well as the snowmen.  They decided they were going to have a snowball fight, and immediately began building their protective "forts".

Because, Ya'll (May I call you Ya'll?), we have got some seriously good packing snow!  It snowed for almost 12 hours straight.  For those of you who haven't been hit with it all, I have lots and lots of photos for you.  I mean LOTS and LOTS.

Before anyone went outside.  This is the view from my bedroom window.  Do not clean your screen.  Those aren't dirt spots, but snowflakes.  Gigantic, heavy, perfect snowflakes. 

Star building his fort.

While the kids played, COW was using his new snow blower to take care of the driveway while there was still some light.  That's him waaaaaaay down at the end of the driveway.

Phoenix's fort

Buttercup and Cuckoo built one together.

Turken kind of just floated around.

At one point, I saw Turken purposely flop to the ground...

and start waving his arms and legs.

Me:  Are you trying to make a snow angel?
Him:  Yes.
Me:  You are supposed to do it on your back.
Him:  Oh.

It was snowing so heavily, with such big flakes, he was giggling too hard to actually make the snow angel.  The snow was getting in his eyes and mouth and tickling his face.

Seeing Turken, Cuckoo and Giant decided to make some, too.

Phoenix had to take his snow angel up a notch.

Selfie in the reflection of the front door.  No, I don't really have a stocking hanging on my shoulder.  Yes, that's COW still working hard while we had fun.  Yes, that is a Target bag over my face.  I wrapped it around my camera to keep it dry.

Snowball fight!!

Not surprisingly, Buttercup had the best fort.

How about that form?

At one point, Cuckoo decided his best place to hide was behind Star.  

Apparently, Star forgot Cuckoo was there, because he stood up and walked away, causing Cuckoo to fall back and get stuck in the snow.

As Star laughed and helped Cuckoo get up, he looked at me and said, "This reminds me of Randy from 'A Christmas Story'!"

Intermission...Pretty picture of the tree.

Photo #1 in series:  Turken catching snowflakes on his tongue.

Photo #2:  Notice the snow is taller than the boot.  This is the precise moment the snow started to steal his boots.

Photo #3:  Abandoned boots.

Photo #4:  Phoenix "helped" him to the house to have a better chance of getting the boots back on. 

 Finally, we were all exhausted and headed inside.  Well, almost all of us...

How about that bird photo bomb??  Yes, it's a bird that flew right across my shot.  The one bird we saw outside all day.  I can't believe I caught it when it's wings were in the down position.

If you are in the path of this storm, stay safe and warm!  If you aren't, enjoy your lovely weather.  No need to tell me about it just yet.

Have a lovely day!

The Snow Is Comin'! The Snow Is Comin'!, TToT week 29

Of all the weeks of the year, this is one of my favorites.  The kids are home.  There's no "pressure" to get anything done.  There's no trip to Ohio to pack and plan for.  And what sets it apart from other breaks is the fact that COW is home more often than usual.

COW is not one to take a day off of work to just be at home.  In fact, in almost 20 years of marriage, he has NEVER taken a day off of work to just be at home.  He saves his days off for times when we can or have to go somewhere.

This week, especially with New Years being on a Wednesday, we get to see him more.  The office was closed Wednesday, and he surprised us by coming home early Thursday and Friday.  Apparently, no one else was at work, so he couldn't get a whole lot done.

So, it's been a great week.  My thankful list this week is easy.

1. I am thankful that when people see funny things, they think of me.  Whether it is by posting it on my facebook page or sending me a note or sending me the actual funny thing, I'm so glad to get the surprise laughs every now and again.  This week, I received a birthday/Christmas present from my friend in Japan.  I actually got to talk with her, too, and she explained the inclusion of these...

Panda shorts.

She said that when she saw them, she had to buy them for someone.  I was the first person who came to mind.  I haven't tried them on yet, but I am looking forward to wearing them on cold, cold days when I have to go watch a soccer game.

I will be wearing them under my long pants, so don't get too excited to see a photo of me wearing them.  Ain't gonna happen.

Probably. This is a blog about our ridiculousness after all.  :)

2.  I am thankful for Buttercup.  This time last year, I would not have said that.  She was a pain in everyone's rear end.  We'll leave the story at that for now.

These days, she is happy and back to normal.  She is pleasant almost all the time.  (She is a teenage girl after all.)  She is very willing to help out.  She even understands and doesn't pitch a fit when I won't let her do certain things with her friends.

This week in particular, she has been wonderful.  On the two hour drive to and from our game day in Kentucky, she read books and chatted with the little boys until they fell asleep.  She made cookies with Cuckoo.  She asked Turken to play cards with her when she saw he was getting bored.

The girl is a peach.

3.  I am thankful for Starbuck's gift cards.  95% of all gift cards given to teachers are Starbuck's gift cards.  (I totally made up that statistic, but based on what I've received, it's probably true.)  I only work 2 hours each week, and I still received $30 in gift cards from our generous parents.  Normally, I give them to people I know who actually drink coffee.  This time, Giant and I had some time to kill, and I was freezing cold, so we went to Starbucks for some hot chocolate.  There was a stack of games on a shelf, so the two of us had a 45 minute date, drinking hot chocolate and playing Battleship.  It was lovely.  I still have plenty more on the cards, so I'm thinking I'll be taking other kids on these special, free dates.

4.  I am thankful I live when I do.  We have already had lots of snow this winter, but the worst is yet to come.  We are supposed to get up to 12 inches of snow in the next 36 hours.  And then, the temps will drop to -12.  With a wind chill of -30.  We are set to live through the coldest temperatures ever recorded.

I'm so glad I don't live in a time where people had to use the outhouse, relied on fires for heat, and rode horses to get places.

5.   I am thankful for my children's desire for me to feel good about myself.  I had on my new fuzzy pink slippers (Thanks COW!) but not my robe, as I had been outside and taken it off.  Cuckoo noticed and said, "If you put your robe on with your slippers, you'd be beautiful."  There are so many things I could retort, but we'll just leave it at that and be thankful.

6.  I am thankful that Turken is on the fast road to being a full-on reader.  I love how reading just clicks with kids.  Each kid has that moment, which is different for each child, but when it happens, it's awesome.  Turken received a bookstore gift card for Christmas and picked out four "level 2" books yesterday.  This was breakfast time this morning:

Yes, it's even better when they choose to read to a younger sibling.

7.  I am thankful that COW used his extra time off to go out and buy a snowblower yesterday.  We already have 6 inches of snow sitting on our driveway causing problems.  With another 12, we'd be stuck but good! We don't have a vehicle on which we can attach a plow, and shoveling a 1/3 of a mile drive is ridiculous.  This morning, the kids were excited to see Daddy's new toy in action...

from inside the house.

OK, I'm in a hurry to go, so I'm ending here.  Relying on secret rule #*mumble mumble*, I'm saying there were at least 3 more thankfuls in the intro paragraph.

Have a wonderful day!

If you are in the line of the big storm and cold weather, I'm praying for you!

Now, what are you thankful for this week?

<div align="center"> <a href=" http://summat2thinkon.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Ten%20Things%20of%20Thankful" rel=”nofollow” title="Ten Things of Thankful" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6Wxc-WB-ppvah62zvRkTqHQaiN7oRbWDRWNur3PD3DQi_c_dPQTssLJQhJCtAGfc4YTMtMgzoLWNmxNoyN-21iDyQS1NZtrLt3ucVyICiuiwI-4w7yv1F_J5tRJkG2MbJsQdetiZgvwzS/s1600/TenThingsBanner.jpg" alt="Ten Things of Thankful" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

 Your hosts

A Fly on our (Chicken Coop) Wall, Considerings, Finding Ninee, Getting Literal, Home On Deranged, I can say mama, I Want Backsies, Rewritten, Thankful Me, The Wakefield Doctrine

An InLinkz Link-up

Sauerkraut Is a Polarizing Taste, and Other News From Our Break (7QT and FTSF)

Happy 2014!  A new year and Christmas break following a blogging hiatus leads to plenty of things to write about.

********************** 1 ********************

I equate any break from school with noise.

Constant noise.

My children are incapable of being quiet.

Even when doing "quiet" activities, like putting a jigsaw puzzle together.

You can't understand the noise until you hear it for yourself.

The singing, the trash-talking, the playful bickering, the complete nonsense noise.  No, really.  If they can't think of anything to say or sing, they just make sounds.

I know, it's adorable.  Especially the part where he "na-na-na"s his way through the lyrics he doesn't know.  But now imagine up to 6 kids all doing this at the same time, all singing different songs.  Because when one of them senses that the noise is starting to make me twitch, he pushes the envelope and intentionally gets louder.

Like this:

(We were in the van at night, COW driving.  The loudest voice you hear is Giant, as he's sitting right behind me.)

We have 4 more days of break.  Four more days of lots and lots of noise.

And yet, I don't want break to end.  I love having them home.  I love being able to stay in our pajamas all day long.  I love the loads of time we have to play games and have fun.

And I love the locks on our doors, for those times when the noise gets too much for me and I can throw the children out into the yard for some energy-burning activities.  (If I don't lock the door, they will take turns coming in to tell me something/tattle on someone, make me kiss a non-existent boo-boo.  None of which is quiet.)

********************* 2 ****************

Several months ago, my mom mentioned her desire to have a game night at her house with all of her grandkids.  A week ago, my sister texted me "We got the most fun new game.  You have to come down and play with us."  I called my mom and told her to be ready on Monday, as her dreams were about to come true.

Amazingly enough, all three of my Kentucky siblings and their children were available for at least part of the day.  We brought a bunch of games and snacks, my mom made an unbelievable amount of food, and we spent 7 hours eating and laughing and having a great time with the relatives.  (A total of 15 kids, ages 6 months to 15 years)

Once we were back home, the boys were talking about the fact they missed basketball practice to go to Kentucky for the day.  They all agreed that four hours in the car and missing practice were totally worth it.

It almost made me want to move to Kentucky.  (I said "almost", Mom!)

************************ 3 ************************

Now that the holidays are over, Kate, Stephanie, Janine, and Kristi's Finish the Sentence Friday is back.  This week, we are to write about our blogging goals.

My blogging goal for this year is...

to have fun.  Plain and simple.  I'm not in this to make money.  I'm not in this to gain a gazillion followers or get a book published.  I blog because I want to record our life for my kids.  I enjoy trying to tell our family's stories in funny or interesting and different ways.  I have a ball interacting with everyone here in the world of the internet.  I like hearing from people I know in real life who have heard about the blog.  It's fun.  And I want it to continue.  If it stops being fun, I'll stop doing it.  I don't want to stop, so my goal has to be to have fun.

************************ 4 ******************

Crazy fun people live in Kentucky.  Emphasis on the crazy.

Yes, that is a playhouse on top of an old silo.  It's just down the street from my mom, but I forgot to ask her how it got there.

*************** 5 ********************

COW made me text a friend to let her know that thanks to her, he was having his best New Years Day ever.

Remember the Polish sausage COW made with the sausage stuffer he got for his birthday?

He had some today, paired with homemade sauerkraut I helped a friend make back in September.

At one point, Buttercup and I had this conversation:

B:  Dad is in an exceptionally good mood today.
Me:  Why do you say that?
B:  He's giving away the Twinkies he got in his stocking.  He never gives away the Twinkies he gets in his stocking.
Me:  Never underestimate the power of sauerkraut.
Phoenix (who happened to walk through the room) : I will keep that in mind.
B:  Yeah, in a few years, when I ask for the keys to the car, I will be sure to have a jar of sauerkraut in my hand.

Quick learners/schemers those kids are.

******************* 6 **************

While today was the best day of the year for COW, it completely traumatized Cuckoo.

As COW cooked, Cuckoo came in to ask me for a peanut butter sandwich.  Not unusual, except he was holding his nose.

"Why are you holding your nose?"
"Betause it stinks weally, weally bad in the titchen."

For an hour and a half, that boy did not let go of his nose.  He ate his lunch (with a complaint that it tasted funny.  (How many of you did science experiments on smell affecting taste?  Cuckoo hasn't yet.)) played a game, and just hung out with us, all the while holding tight to prevent even a small whiff of sauerkraut stench to enter his nasal passage.

Before today, if you were to ask Cuckoo what the worst food in the world was, he would have answered "soup".  Today, one of the big kids asked him which he'd rather eat, soup or sauerkraut.  Cuckoo answered, "Soup, betause at weast I tan have chocolate soup.  Sauertwaut is da worst.  Down at the bottom."

It wasn't until everyone was done eating, the food was all put away, and the smell had completely dissipated that he was willing to breathe normally.

On an unrelated note, why in the world does a child who refuses to eat chicken and noodles, meatloaf, and a variety of other delicious, good-smelling food have absolutely no trouble trying vile-smelling, been fermented in its own juices for three weeks cabbage?

******************* 7 **************

We have a great zoo in Indianapolis, and we have had a membership there since Phoenix was a baby.  About 5 years ago (maybe) they opened a new exhibit with bats.  Really, really large bats.  While it was a nice idea, they didn't take into account that bats are nocturnal, and the zoo is only open during daylight hours.

For 5 years (or more) we have walked by to see a bunch of impressively-sized bats simply hanging from the ceiling.

Saturday was an unusually warm day, so we made a night of going to church, having dinner at an awesome deli downtown, then heading to the zoo to see the Christmas lights...

at night...

when the bats are awake.

While the kids and I stood transfixed, watching them climb and eat and interact and stretch, COW stood just outside the viewing area.  I'm pretty sure I heard him saying a prayer, asking God to not let them escape, because they would surely end up inside our house.  I said a little prayer, too, because if one of those got inside our house, COW would drop where he stood, and I'd be a widow.

But maybe, after seeing these monster bats, COW will be a little less scared and a little more grateful the next time a normal, itty-bitty bat gets into our house.  (You know one will.)

*********** Last minute addition Bonus take ***************

When the big kids were little kids, I had complete control over the songs they heard.  This is not the case as I raise Turken and Cuckoo.  The big kids and COW (who has had enough of kids' music after all these years) listen to all sorts of non-kids' music when the little kids are around.

Today, Star had this popular song playing, and he and the little boys were singing along.

Well, Turken and Cuckoo were na-na-naing along, since they didn't really know the words.  Until they got to one particular line.  At minute 1:43.

Basically, Cuckoo sang na-na-na-na-na- HELLBOUND na-na-na.

When he is in 2nd grade, he will be the child other parents talk about.  "Oh, keep your child away from Cuckoo.  He has older siblings and is allowed to do all sorts of things I don't want my kids exposed to."

Know how I know?  Because my friends and I used to say it about kids in Phoenix's class.

Well played, God.  Well.  Played.

Feel free to link up with either Finish the Sentence Friday or 7 Quick Takes.  They'd be happy to have you.

Have a lovely day!

*  All last night I tried to link up with the FTSF girls to no avail.  No one was putting up the link.  And then this morning I went to link up with Jen, and she didn't put her link up either.  Forgetting that I couldn't link up with FTSF last night, my mind went straight to worry about Jen.  She was sick last week, so was something really, really wrong with her?  She is known to have massive health problems.  It is not until just this moment (2:18 in the afternoon) when I read a couple of posts about Theme Thursday, that I realized today is Thursday.  It's not Friday.  These are Friday linkups.

A cautionary tale, ya'll.  Staying in your pajamas for too many days in a row really jacks up your internal calendar.

The ladies will love to see you TOMORROW, which is Friday, when they actually have these lovely FRIDAY link-ups.