Long Live DUFDN

All is alive and well on the DUFDN (dress up for dinner night) homefront. The theme this go around was 'anything from tv or movies'. You see, we're running out of themes, so we're grasping at straws here. This is what we came up with:

Chloe is proudly sporting the Super Target Logo as in one of their commercials

Gavin is is a reporter for the local Channel 8 News (love the comb mustache)

Bennett is one of the Unimind creatures from the Buzz Lightyear movie ("we are one")

Daddy is the NBC logo (again with the head gear)

I am a chef/judge on the Food Network channel (that is one
of the boys very old and small taekwondo jackets I'm squeezed into)

My Thoughts On Homeschooling

When my husband first discussed homeschooling with me, I laughed. I told him that I'd pay to have someone else teach my children at home. At that time, we only had one kid and he was one. I think I had enough time to research and see for myself how hard this was going to be.

But my son ended up choosing homeschooling for us. He was so driven to learn. We just naturally evolved into this method. I had done a lot of reading. You know, I had to know exactly what to do and how to do it before hand so I wouldn't fail miserably, thus avoiding any life lessons that maybe God would like to teach me in my failure. Don't worry. I failed. Over and over.

I tried doing school at home. Didn't work. I tried being two distinct personalities: Mommy and Teacher. Didn't work. I tried doing everything everyone else said and suggested knowing that anyone knows better than me how to do this. I tried relying on myself and left God out of the picture. I tried planning every 5 minute increment of the day. I also tried unschooling and didn't plan one minute of the day. Notice a pattern here? I, I, I. Yep. I was trusting in me and my abilities. This whole homeschool thing has never been about my kids, turns out it was about me trying to do my best and impress everyone around me. Lesson humbly learned.

When I bottomed out and failed because of utter exhaustion, I decided to finally let God have his say in this whole mess. Whew! What a relief. To be led by Him. He cares about my kids more than I do. He knows what they need and he can use me as an instrument to help guide them. He's also proven he doesn't even need me - he can do just fine without me. When I surrender, I'm a much better teacher, parent, spouse, friend. This whole homeschool thing has taught me to surrender my expectations and will completely to him and learn how to be a good listener. Something I'm always trying to instill in my own children - look who ended up needing a refresher course. Mommy.

I no longer panic that I'm ruining my children for life. We actually put them in public school for the first time last year and they did just fine. They learned things there I wasn't able to give them at home. We've also had some amazing learning moments at home that they couldn't have gained in a school setting.

I refuse to put God in a box. If I've learned anything these past seven years of home educating it's that:

1. There is not just one right way to do this
2. It is a sacrifice
3. Learning is fun and messy
4. You will fail and you will learn and you will go on - that's life
5. Sometimes it's fun; sometimes it's hard
6. Homeschooling is not perfect, it too has it's short comings
7. There is a time when it is good and a time when it is harmful - learn when those are

Burping Etiquette

As we're walking hand in hand, Chloe looks up at me and says in her dainty, soft voice, "Mommy, I just burped Fruit Loops."

"You what??"

"As I burped, the taste of Fruit Loops passed over my taste buds. It was good."

As you can see, even ladies burp...and that's not always a bad thing.

The Human Booby Trap

The kids are upstairs playing 'cowboy'. They come down only to check on me and tell me all about the game they're playing. I hear Bennett yelling, "BOSS. BOSS."

Naively, I think they're talking about me. So I cordially yell back, "What Honey?"

"Not you Mom, Chloe. She's the Boss."

"Oh. Why?"

"Cuz we're playing Cowboys and we're fighting the British. And she's the boss."

Head nod. At a loss for words.

Bennett continues, "Mom, my whole body is a booby trap."

Ahhh. I see. How so?

"Do you want to know my powers? Well, my freckles are burning hot spots. My belly button turns into a machine gun. My eyelashes are tenticles. My hair is fire. Skin is water. My teeth turn into shooting missiles and my nose can smell like a dog. See, it's all a booby trap. Oh ya, and my toots and burps knock people out. And I'm not really smart."

That's when Chloe pips in with, "I'm the Boss cuz I don't do anything wrong. My job is to keep them gathered and not let them do anything crazy."

That's when Gavin informs me of his powers, "My name is Super Cowboy and my powers are: can go thru anything, my hat can make me fly, I have a sonic gun, I have a lasso that makes things weightless and I have a flying dragon named Bingo."

Okay. Can I go now?

All I'm sayin is, I wouldn't want to be 'the British' right now.

Gavin and Small Talk

It is summer. I spend every waking hour with my children - much to my delight. We do everything together. I take that back, sometimes they'll allow me a 5 minute window to read uninterrupted. But mostly, their little world's rotate around me constantly.

So, it was rather surprising when Gavin sat down to the dinner table last night like he just got home from a long day of work and asked me, "So, Mom, how was your day today?"

Um. Shall I go with sarcasm or pity him with his attempt at small talk (as I wish others would to for me in my ghastly attempts at small talk all too often)? I opt for the latter, "Well, Honey, I've had a fantastic day. How about you?"

"Oh. It's been good, Mom. Mom, I really like your cheek bones, how they go really high up like that and how it makes your cheeks kinda sunk in."

"Why thank you Honey."

"Mom. I also like your eyes."

"Aren't you sweet. Thanks so much" The other children are nodding in agreement with verbal ascents being thrown about cuz nobody wants to be one-upped in the 'lavish praises on mommy' department.

"And Mom. I like your eye brows and those bones up there."

"Well Honey, you are full on encouraging words tonight. Thank you so much. I don't know what to say." I can't wipe the smirk off my face and he continues staring at me all thru dinner.

It's so hard to believe that I'm the center of someone else's world. That the way I respond, the way I look at them, the sound of my voice, can all make or break their day.

The other night Chuck and I were going on a date and I came down in proper date attire. I actually did my hair (as opposed to the common pony tail or ever present clip), put on makeup and a dress. As soon as I walked down the stairs the kids descended upon me, Chloe patting my hair like a pony, Bennett rubbing my elbow and staring at me with stars in his eyes, Gavin bestowing praises upon me.

I'm awed with the gift of these little people in my life - I don't want to waste one valuable second with them. I love Gavin's awkwardness (at times). I love Bennett's flirtatiousness and flattery (yesterday he told me he'd be my servant for the day and said he didn't want me doing any work). I love Chloe's properness (be it in her speech or lady like mannerisms). How can I lavish love on them as much as they do me? I guess I can always start by admiring their cheek bones.

Spike

I cut Bennett's hair last night and gave him the look he's always dreamed of: a mohawk! He took one look in the mirror, let out a whoop and declared, "I shall now be called Spike!" And so it is.

What Really Matters

I was the first one up on this beautiful, Saturday morning. I thought I'd take this free, quiet time to read. I come downstairs to my 'reading spot' and no more than 30 seconds later I hear a quiet pitter patter on the stairs. I have company. It's Bennett. He LOVES to cuddle. He NEEDS to cuddle. It's his love language. So, I put down my book and we snuggle in the chair just basking in the quiet, peace and the love. As he gets up to go he looks back and me and says, "Mom, my thankful today is that I'm alive one more day." Me too, honey, me too. What a beautiful way to start another day...another day I won't take for granted, I will have no expectations of, I will live to its fullest.

The Tooth Fairy

Gavin seems to be going thru a 'tooth spurt'. He's lost several teeth all in a row over the past week or two. The tooth fairy seldom remembers to visit him the first night. This little over sight seems to provoke him.

After two different teeth falling out and giving the tooth fairy lots of repeat business, Gavin wakes up and tells me one morning, "Mom, the tooth fairy didn't come again last night."

"What did she need to come again for? You've already broke the bank with all your teeth recently."

To which he non-chalantly replied, "I had another tooth under my pillow last night."

"WHAT?! You didn't tell me you lost another tooth!"

"Exactly. I was trying to see if the tooth fairy would still come if I didn't tell you guys about my lost tooth."

So he's playing a little experiment on us is he? I'm thinking maybe he's on to something.

So, that night he goes to put his 3rd lost tooth under his pillow, but can't find it. So, he decides to write a note to the fairy. As you can tell, he went all out.


For reasons unbeknownst to us, the tooth fairy did not show up that night. Come to find out, we had two very disappointed children. Apparently, Chloe jumped on the note writing bandwagon and left her own note for the fairy.


We told both the kids that under no circumstances will the fairy come unless there is a bona fide tooth under the pillow. She does not answer questions or write notes. Do you think you can leave a note for Santa under your pillow any day of the week and expect him to respond? Come on now.

I'm thinking its time we had a little heart to heart with Gavin. I'm actually thinking he's been playing us for quite some time now. What people do for money.

Dandelions

This morning Bennett, Chloe and I were walking through a field filled with dandelions and clover on our way back from a park. Instinctively, Bennett reached down and picked up the dandelion. And just as instinctively and quickly I said, "Bennett DO NOT eat that dandelion." Do normal people tell their children this? Should that have been the first words out of my mouth? Why did I know my son wanted to eat the dandelion? Call it intuition. Call it past experience. Just call it Bennett. This is how he rolls.

"Awww Mom. Why not? They're good."

See. I just knew that's what he was going to do. "Honey. I don't take issue with you wanting to eat a dandelion [parental note: you've got to pick your battles]. What I take issue with is that this particular one is in a random field. Do you know how many dogs might have peed on it? Or how many soles of shoes have tramped across it?" See...quick thinking on my feet (something I'm not typically known for). Afterall, this is a health and safety issue. I continue with, "Honey, you can eat all the dandelions in our backyard if you want...just not out in public."

I think he appreciated my line of reasoning.

HDS

That would be the all-famous acronym, Hornet Defense Squad. Doesn't every family have one of those? Chuck was getting rid of some wasp nests in the back yard this past weekend. That resulted in a lot of wasps flying around looking for their home that was no more. So my people decided to arm themselves and rid us of all unwanted wasps. However, saying they were killing hornets must have sounded more dangerous, thus the name. Please be aware that my children thought of this all on their own. I did not suggest one thing. I just found them like this. Enough said.

The Mallotts Descend Upon San Diego

I had alot of cool titles picked out for this post...the options are endless actually: The Adventures in Parking, Adventures in Finding Food, Taking a Vacation From Our Problems, The 2000 Mile Trek, The Food Channel or National Geographic Channel Every Night in the Hotel, The Vacation of Perfect Weather and Perfect Sunsets....the list goes on and on.

We repeatedly told the kids we are taking a vacation from our problems, so whenever they complained they heard, "Sorry...we're on vacation, you can't be having a problem right now." And we'd go on as if everything was normal. Why don't I use this same train of thought during the other 51 weeks of the year?

Some moments that really stand out are: Gavin texting me the entire trip from the seat behind me, becoming scared of wild boars taking over the continent (thanks National Geographic), the endless array of food at the continental breakfast (none of which I can eat), the tornado that was only a mile behind us on the highway and coming our way, the many heights we were at where I lost all feeling in my legs and shook like a leaf while looking out over cliffs and mountains (but it was so worth it), looking for restaurants with only an 'A' in the window (they grade restaurants in San Diego and we were all over that!), shopping at my favorite store (I love you H&M!), the vast beauty of this world and it's many different landscapes, my infinite smallness when compared with the ocean, being overwhelmed with how huge God is and his awesomeness, the joy and laughter that comes with spending uninterrupted time with the ones I love.

Here's a glimpse of our vacation in snapshot form:

The sunrise in Las Cruces, NM

Watching the kids take pictures

Mimicking a famous statue in San Diego

The great zoo

The amazing LaJolla Cove

La Jolla's natural beauty

The perfect weather and beauty of Laguna Beach

The beautiful blue of the water at Laguna Beach

My favorite time of day (sunset)

and getting to experience it at the Pacific Ocean


The awesomeness and genius of Legoland

The 117 degree heat in the Arizona desert


The cliff of death (my terminology, not theirs) in Tonto National Forest of Arizona

The incredible Palo Duro Canyon of Texas

Flashy

Guess what this crazy kid announced during dinner time tonight? You wouldn't even be able to guess so I'm just going to have to tell you. He busts out with, "You know, I would be a whole lot more flashy and attractive to girls if I didn't have these two, big, front teeth...you know, like when I was younger."

Flashy, eh?

Of course my first response to him is, "So you felt you were quite the flashy fellow back when you were 3...cuz that's the last time you had front teeth." Remember, he knocked out his front two top teeth playing kill the carrier and his bottom two front teeth wrestling, both around the age of 3 or 4. So...he hasn't been sporting the flashy look since then evidently.


He back pedals in order to correct his theory, "No, I was flashy when I was three with all those small teeth, but I liked it when I didn't have any front teeth, just a hole." This is what flashy looks like people:


Yes...girls definitely think a hole in the front of your mouth where your teeth should be is much flashier and attractive. And while we're on the subject, what does he even care what girls are thinking anyway??? And where did he ever hear the word 'flashy'? He has never heard Chuck or me tell one another, "My, you're looking flashy today!"

We wouldn't be parents if we didn't launch into the whole 'people like you for who you are on the inside not what you look like on the outside' routine. We also explained that every kid his age has two, big, front teeth and that he's completely normal. Eight year olds have small faces and big teeth that they will eventually grow in to. We even talked about our 'non-flashy' days when Daddy and I had big front teeth with the space in the middle. We were diving into ancient history there - but the kids seemed to appreciate it. And no, there will be no posting of those pictures for posterity - they'll just have to take our word for it.

It's nothing that alot of unconditional love and a little orthodontic work can't fix. But God help me if Bennett insists on looking 'flashy' as a teenager. This could lead to lots of interesting stories.