White Christmas

Just so we never forget....Dallas, TX actually had snow on Christmas Eve which gave us a beautiful white, crisp, cold Christmas morning...the stuff Christmas songs are made of. The best part about Texas weather is, we were outside playing basketball the day before in 72 degree weather.
We even did some make-shift sledding thanks to Aunt Sveta's ingenious idea of a laundry basket, some rope and Chuck's leg power.

I Amaze My Children

....well, at least Gavin.

It doesn't take much, I found out. All you have to do is be able to make homemade applesauce. Seriously.

Chloe was watching "Sid the Science Kid" one day and they made applesauce. And since they did it - we had to. Chloe already knows the recipe since she watched the cartoon - so, no problems there. We're set to go with a cartoon recipe. (I sneaked a peak at recipes.com without her prior knowledge so I'd have a little edge on stuff like temperature, amounts and cooking times that the cartoon failed to take into account.)

So we joyfully peeled, cored, cut and chopped lots of apples and then voila - it became applesauce. When we unveiled the finished product one night after dinner for dessert, Gavin almost came undone. "You MADE this mom???"

"Well, yes. Chloe and I did it together."

"I had no idea people could make applesauce."

"Oh you poor thing. How do you think it gets in those little plastic containers in the store?"

Gavin, now too busy to answer due to over-exaggerating every bite. (Think "Bob" in "What About Bob" while eating dinner with the Dr. and his family at their lake house.)

Since I discovered this new, highly sought after skill (of making applesauce), Gavin wanted to see it done in person and actually help me so he could too, one day, impress others. So tonight, the boys and I duplicated my earlier applesauce cooking technique with Chloe from a few days ago. We were rock stars. We cut and peeled like nobody's business.

The applesauce did it's thing on the stove and then came the 'Most Impressive Part'. It was now time for me to take the potato masher and smoosh the cooked apples. Gavin again, was beside himself. This is an honest-to-goodness direct quote, "Wow! Wait till I get back to school and tell all my friends that my mom can make homemade applesauce! They're going to think that is so cool!"

I'm sure they will honey, I'm sure they will. I know these skills might impress the previously homeschooled crowd, but I'm not so sure they will impress the public school crowd. But you know, whatever... it's worth a shot. Being that we previously homeschooled, they just might have us in the same social scene as the "Little House on the Prairie" bunch and would actually be surprised if we didn't make our own applesauce.

I don't know what Gavin is more excited about tonight on this eve of Christmas Eve...Santa coming or getting to eat homemade applesauce.

Random Mail

What stay-at-home mom doesn't live for mail time?!?

I love when mail comes...the hope that you might get a random card in the mail for no reason at all. Such pie-in-the-sky thinking sometimes saves my sanity during a long, monotonous day. Like people even send cards anymore when it's not your birthday or Christmas. But just the same...I love racing out to the mail box as soon as I see the mail truck pass by.

Once Chuck started working from home, this created a bit of tension between us. His office has the perfect view to our mailbox. I'm normally upstairs without of view of the beloved post box, thus, at a disadvantage of knowing the exact moment the mailman has shoved new and interesting things for me to read in my very own box. Chuck apparently had no clue how much this time of day means to me. I even caught him walking out to the mailbox on one occasion and asked him, "What do you think you're doing? This is my time, buddy. Back away from the mail box!" So now...he seems to find it quite amusing to pretend to race to the mailbox when he sees me making my daily b-line for it. What is funny to some, is not to others. I do not find his shenanigans humorous.

I love random mail. Maybe I'll get a catalog that I can read. Maybe I can peruse the sales at the local grocery store. Maybe I'll put a bill on Chuck's desk. The possibilities are endless and that is what I love so much. The randomness, never-knowing-what-to-expect about the mail.

Take for instance the letter I received one day about 7 years ago. I remember this exactly because I have NEVER received such a letter before. And no...I didn't win a huge sum of money. It didn't even have a return address. But it did have beautiful penmanship. My curiosity was peeked. Only old people write in cursive any more, so I deduced that that this must be from someone elderly that I knew. That narrowed the field tremendously.

Once I was satisfied with my deductions and analyzations of the envelope, I anxiously ripped it open. To my utter astonishment I find an article clipped out of a paper. It was cut with such precision. The name of the paper was trimmed off the bottom. I had no way of tracing this to a location. But that same neat, cursive handwriting was on the top of the article. It read, "Corrie, I thought you could use this."

Do you know what the random, elderly person who didn't spell my name correctly thought I could use? An article on how to loose weight!!! The crazy thing is, I had just dropped at least 30 pounds right after I had Bennett. I was back to my pre-wedding weight.

I was bewildered. I was laughing. I was crying. Who in their right mind sends someone an article on how to loose weight...and doesn't sign their name?! This person was very smart for wanting to stay anonymous! Then I thought, maybe this is someone playing a joke on me. To be so lucky. To this day, I still have no clue who sent me that article. That is also why I am a little more reserved when going thru my stack of mail. I shy away from things without return addresses. I still love the actual mail checking routine - but you know....there might just be a weight loss article with your name on it and are you really ready to read that?

Think about it.

Parenting Help

Every now and then we need a little extra help as parents. Sometimes our disciplining strategies become old and out-dated or stop working all together. Often people reach out to the parenting section of the local bookstore to find the latest book to offer advice. Well....we kinda did that too.

We LOVE books. My kids will stop whatever they're doing and come running if I ask them, "Hey guys, want me to read to you?" We all enter the magical new world together. We also love to listen to books on cd while traveling in the car. It can be a 5 minute jaunt to the store or a 5 hour road trip. Our favorite, hands down is, Hank The Cowdog.

John Erickson is a genius, hilarious author. The books are funny, quick-witted and well written. But the audio tapes, read by the author, are even better. I can't tell you how many quotes have wriggled their way into our daily lives as a result of these books.

One such quote has actually helped us in our parenting endeavors. You have to understand the characters to really appreciate the quote. Hank is 'the Head of Ranch Security', a dog who takes himself and life way too seriously. Drover is smarter than he looks but talks in circles. Pete is the manipulative, sly, barn cat always ready to make a fool out of Hank.

I'm sure you're wondering, how in the world could any rational person receive parenting advice from such a motley crew of characters? And that would be a legitimate question. Inspiration comes from many sources and if God can use a childrens' book series to help me with my children when it comes to speaking the language they understand best...then I'm all for it!

Hank is always onto Drover for doing things he doesn't like and always threatens him with, "Drover, your behavior is unacceptable and despicable and this is going in my report." This is not an exact quote as I don't have a tape recorder for a memory as my children seem to -but its close enough to get the jist.

So...I have found this little quote helpful when needing to diffuse a situation that might get too heated, say...a back seat argument, a whiney-hiney, or a back-talker. I then pull out from the depths of my memory the advice I learned from Hank and address the child 'in the wrong' with, "Young lady/gentleman, your behavior is unacceptable and despicable and this will definitely be going into my report!" I of course use all the mock seriousness I can muster. This disarms the child and we all end up in stitches of laughter. Like I have a report I turn in at the end of each day for each child - that thought alone cracks me up!

I also enjoy "glaring icepicks and bayonets" at them when they misbehave...or at least telling them that's what I'm doing. Good use of facial expressions goes a long way.

Another 'Hankism' that has made its way into our family is a life quote Hank lives by. One day, Gavin and I were having a serious conversation. I reminded him of how we do things in this family, you know 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you'. Unbeknownst to me, Gavin had already deemed a Hank quote as our 'family motto' and replied, "Ya Mom, I know our family motto," and remember, this was going on in a moment of real seriousness, "do unto others...but don't take trash from the cat." Perfect timing Gavin. Whatever was the problem was - was no longer. Another hard time was laid to rest via the humor of our beloved Hank.

Cheating or Life Help?

So...I'm on the plane flying home to my family yesterday all by my self. No little people to help - what's a mom to do? I decide to 'look normal' and pull out the complimentary magazine resting in the pocket on the seat in front of me. After skimming thru the incredibly boring articles I suddenly notice a Sudoku puzzle that needed me.

Of course I chose the puzzle labeled 'easier'. There is no test here. I have nothing to prove. This is all just for fun...right? So then, of course, because I guess I don't reason like the average Einstein, I'm having a little difficulty in making this puzzle work out right. I thought this was the easy one. Even the subheading to the puzzle said, "No math required; simple logic". Obviously I'm lacking in the 'simple logic' department cuz I'm thinking I needed a little math at that moment.

Then suddenly, after being stuck for more than 5 minutes, I notice in extremely fine print, "answers on page 110". Yay!! I'll just take a little peak at this one teeny, tiny section and then I should be able to figure the rest out, I think to myself. But as I start to turn the page, I suddenly realize that there are people sitting VERY close all around me. What if they saw me turning to the answers page? What if they thought I couldn't handle the 'easy' sudoku? What if they think I'm a cheater? Why do I care so much what all these strangers are thinking?

This conversation in my head with myself lasted WAY TOO LONG. This was obviously a momentous, moral hurdle I needed to overcome and needed to give it some serious thought. Thankfully I was alone and my thoughts were able to battle back and forth uninterrupted - which for me is a luxury. Then to make matters worse, I'm sitting there with a stupid grin on my face. Then I start to feel the need to explain my sudden humor to those around me cuz it's not like I'm the kind of person to sit there smiling and laughing for no reason. I wouldn't want all these passengers thinking I have mental issues (which obviously I do if I'm giving this stupid thought process this much attention).

At last, I come to peace with my decision. Yes...I will cheat...who cares what everyone is thinking. This is not school. This is life. And sometimes in life you need a little extra help. And if they didn't want me to look at the answers, they wouldn't have even told me in 8 point font that there was a place to find them. Aren't we all looking for answers in life? I knew this post could end up being used for some greater purpose other than a showcase for my crazy mental state. There is obviously a bigger picture here.

Confusing Acronyms

A couple of weeks ago, Chloe's sweet little friend came back from her vacation with a gift for Chloe. She handed her the gift bag and they both excitedly sat down on the stairwell to open it. Chloe pulls out this adorable little pin with the letters B-F-F on it. She looks at me and says, "What does it say Mommy?"

Since I'm so experienced in worldly matters, I quickly come to her rescue and announce for all to hear, "Sweetie, B-F-F stands for 'best female friend'. " Chloe's look of confusion vanished and I continued on with, "Wasn't that so sweet of your friend to think of you?"

Meanwhile, friend's Mom and Chuck are rolling on the ground in laughter. I couldn't imagine what would be so funny. Then Chuck kindly tries to correct my ignorance by saying, "Uh, Baby, I think it means 'best friends forever'." And I'm like, "Seriously?" And he's like, "ya". Oops. This whole time anytime I heard that acronym, I thought that's how people were deciphering between best female best male friend. What do I know?

Chloe, ever ready to believe her mother decides, "I like best female friend better, Mommy". Of course she does. She wants to save her mother from embarrassment. I had already gone thru all the shades of red there were.

The moral of the story, actually there are two: 1. don't open your mouth (Cori) unless you really know what you're talking about and 2. acronyms are really confusing. I'm so glad I never joined the military where it seems every other word out of their mouths are an acronym. I would be in a perpetual state of confusion. Naïveté was always my strong point growing up.

This also reveals another side of me: I'm not up with the whole texting thing. If I were, I would have a handle of some of these teeny-bopper phrases. LOL!

Hangman

Playing hangman with a 5 year old who has a very shaky (at best) grasp of the english language in regards to spelling is not an activity I would recommend for the faint of heart (or the impatient). This same 5 year old hates to lose. Insists I draw hair and pants on the 'hangman' before he actually goes down so as to give her more time to guess. She also tends to want to quit before the game is officially over so she can't say she lost. She has a firm grasp of phonetic spelling and often adds way to many lines when it's my turn to guess. She also has selective hearing and 'claims' she didn't hear me when I said a letter she later writes on her spaces. This is an exercise in futility, kinda like playing 'I Spy' in a moving car.

Looking Cool

I now know what it means to be 'cool' in the eyes of my boys. Today I chose to wear yoga like pants and a sport shirt, you know, those new fangled kinds of shirts made out of that tight, stretchy material that makes it look like you just went to work out but didn't. I was waiting for the boys outside of school where I always wait. Bennett almost walked right past me. Once he recognized me he exclaimed, "Mom! You look cool...and pretty...but mostly cool. And you're wearing a blue shirt! Cool!" This was accompanied with lots of rubbing of my shirt and staring starry eyed up to me. My self esteem just received a major boost. Then Gavin comes sauntering along. Amazingly enough, he too notices my 'different' attire (I'm more a skirt and t-shirt type person). His comment: "This shirt makes you look like you just exercised. Does it make you want to run?" Excellent. If I can make my own son think I was exercising, then any random passer by might be fooled as well. Because that is the whole reason behind the outfit...only make them think you like to exercise...but don't. Looking cool feels good, I tell you! Plus...it would take a whole lot more than a cool shirt to make me want to run.

Secret Mission

Notice the white square amidst the waning yellow leaves in the tip-top of the tree. The note has been impaled onto a branch for safe keeping. Yes. It is there on purpose. The AT&T Secret Service club put it there. Here's how the saga begins: It's a windy, arctic day (for Texas that translates into at least 40 degrees). The boys are in 'Section 1' of their little hide-out (whatever that means, Gavin just told me that's where they were), when low and behold, they spot an ED (evil-doer) implanting something into our mailbox. I'm glad they are keeping an eye on the neighborhood. Agents 2, 7 and 9 stealthily sneak over to the mailbox, retrieve the aforementioned item shoved in there and bring it back to the safety of the nuclear power plant they lovingly refer to as their 'fort'. Thank goodness each agent is an adept reader. They translate the message and decide what action to take.

Agent 7 (Gavin) runs inside with the speed and agility of a turtle and asks his mom for a hole punch. Agent 7's mother is a little confused by such a request, but is also thankful for the extra security around the perimeter of the house, so she acquiesces and hands the hole punch over to the agent. All three agents then proceed to climb up into Station 2 (I'm assuming that's the tree since that's where they all were). With a beautifully fashioned hole now in the white document retrieved from the mailbox, the agents decide which branch they should place the notice on for 'safe keeping'. It is fall. All the leaves are falling off the tree. It is windy. I'm not sure any of these thoughts crossed through the agents' minds. They were simply thinking of a quick and safe place for the note that contained their next (actually, first) secret mission.

Later on that same night, Agent 7 confides in me what all the panic was that was transpiring outside prior to sunset. As the story goes...it wasn't an ED afterall, it was just a boy out putting fliers in mailboxes advertising his lost cat. The boys couldn't help but jump on the chance to make this their first official secret mission. Evidently, this created alot of excitement in the group. There wasn't time before dinner and dark to begin their investigation but they sure had time to come up with a plan...and that they did. The first order of business was to keep the mission note in a safe place so they could find it again. (Just between us...it wasn't in the tree when I checked this morning. I sure hope they memorized it).

Gavin confided that really wanted to use a voice altering machine (like we have one lying around the house for such occasions) and call the number on the piece of paper and inform them that a couple of secret agents would indeed find their beloved pet. I gently explained that we might not want to mislead or offer false hope to people who are especially sad right now. He seemed to contemplate that and accept it as truth.

And then...that was all. The mission is in the 'cold case' file right now. Nothing has been done to advance its progress as I have been witness to. The secret agents are currently using their precious daylight time on the Wii for their allotted 30 minutes they have left for the week. Any new or further developments will be posted as it seems I have become the official spokesperson of the AT&T Secret Service club.

Thank Yous

I have always thought I'm the luckiest mommy in the whole world...but now I have proof. My sweet children keep writing me thank you notes and whispering sweet thanks yous in my ear just for me doing what I love to do. Everyday I put a little note in the boys' lunch boxes...so Gavin writes a note to thank me for the note. Everyday I get the joy of spending time with Chloe teaching her...so Chloe makes a precious little card thanking me for being her teacher. Bennett prefers to tell me and show me how he feels...so at night, right before bedtime while we're cuddling, he rubs my hands and feet and tells me how much he loves and appreciates me. Where oh where do I get these amazingly thankful kids from??? It blows me away. Our thankful snowball just keeps getting bigger and bigger.

Every morning Gavin thanks me for making his lunch. Bennett thanks me for cleaning the house so nicely. Chloe thanks me for having a tea party with her. I love to do those things...but to have my children come up and thank me out of the love of their hearts out of their own free will melts my heart each and every time and reminds me how thankful I am to be their Mommy!

Whether or not this continues into the teenage years does not concern me. I know their hearts and they know mine...that's enough to take us through the peaks and valleys of hormones (mine and theirs). I will be treasuring each and every handmade note the rest of my life!

Cooter and Ma

Should adults have this much fun dressing up?

The Door

This is Chloe's door. Notice the beautiful entry rug. It is her very own latch-hook creation. After all, don't rugs go in front of doors? I also especially love the multiple signs and artwork adorning the door. The silk flower on the door knob really gives it that extra something special, don't you think?