Theology Re-Alignment

Playing the game, "Headbands," was funny stuff!

A couple weeks ago, Grant was talking at the dinner table and said something about "Mrs. God."
Taken aback and horrified, I said, "Grant, there is no Mrs. God!"
Grant: "Yeah, you know, Mrs. God and the flowers, plants, and trees."
Me: "Oh! You mean Mother Nature!"
Grant: "Yeah, Mrs. God!"
Me: "No, no. There is no Mrs. God, just God."

I don't know how he even knew the term "Mother Nature," since I don't think I've ever said it, but I explained that people who don't believe in God will sometimes use that term when talking about His creation but that the Bible tells us God created the earth, and there's only one true God.

He thought for moment, and said, "Ok, good to know!"

So funny how his brain works! He's soaking everything up. I'm thankful for the Sunday school teachers, his preschool teachers, and Teacher Ginny in "Tater Tots" at church who are all pouring into him and helping him learn more about the Bible and this great, big God we serve.

Girl Hair

The crazy hair post reminded me to do a post about all the fun hairstyles we've done this year. Right before spring break, East Orient had a lice outbreak, and Aubrey got it. It was a royal pain getting rid of it, but we've had experience, so I knew exactly what to do, and we were able to get rid of it fairly quick. I insisted on having Aubrey's hair up for the rest of the school year, so we wouldn't have to deal with that again. It was either that or cutting her hair short, which she did NOT want to do. Aubrey has been very into her fancy hairstyles this year, so she didn't mind having to have it up. I've had fun learning how to do different kinds of braids and experimenting on her and our neighbor, Kate, who also has long hair. We took Kate to school every Thursday and Friday morning, so we always did matching hair-dos on them on those days. I didn't take pictures of all of them, but here are some of the hairstyles we did:

Last Day of School

Kari's last day of school ended up being the day before Aubrey and Joel's because of a shooting threat at the middle school for the last day. The police did not think it was a credible threat, and the school was open that day, but we just felt better about keeping her home, just to be safe. She was ok with that decision, especially when she learned she'd get to spend the day with Grandma A. and go out to lunch. She managed to squeeze ice cream into the deal, too. :)

So, this photo is on Joel and Aubrey's last day, and Kari's first day of summer break! Grandma and Kari brought home silly string to celebrate the beginning of summer, and the kids had their spray celebration on the trampoline. Grant was too busy playing inside with Russell. He used his later. And yes, Aubrey is on the trampoline with a lollipop in her mouth. Didn't catch that at the time!

Tennis

Kari and Joel both participated in tennis "academy" again this year. They worked on technique and improved their skills with Coach Pate. A couple days of tennis got rained out, but they were able to get matches in a couple different weekends when the weather held out. Aubrey and Grant made their own fun while their siblings were playing.

Spirit Week

I had so much fun with Crazy Hair Day this year. I convinced Joel to spike his hair (next year, I'll try to talk him into putting color in it!), and then I made a couple of delectable doughnuts. Kate and Aubrey were great sports, letting me put a plate and chocolate with sprinkles in their hair.

 Getting it out wasn't bad at all.  Just rinsed it out in the kitchen sink. Easy-peasy!

Some of the other spirit week days were "twin" day, athletic-wear day, mismatched day, and sunglasses day. Joel participated in most of them, and Aubrey did it all. She showed her school spirit! :) 

End of school year

The sky was gorgeous one day while we were waiting in line to pick up the kids. I had to take a photo. The weather has been so crazy lately--sun, extreme heat (100 degrees!), rain, hail, thunder, lightning. Today it's cold and rainy, but we'll have days like this one again soon, I'm sure.

Kari's spring band concert showed a whole lot of growth since their winter concert!

Kari thumped this huge stack of schoolwork on our table this last week. Once there were only 3 school days left, she let us see what she's been doing all year!

She had her piano recital this last week, and she performed beautifully! Her teacher also awarded her the summer scholarship for being a dedicated, hard-working piano student. We're so proud! We sure do love her teacher, too. She's amazing.

Last Day of Preschool--Ever!

Grant's last day was Friday. It's strange to think we're completely done with preschool. This is how it's going to be with Grant. He's going to do everything last, and I will be marveling at the close of every stage and experience, I'm sure.

We are so glad we chose to keep him home another year and not put him in kindergarten last fall. He had a great second year of preschool, and he is ready for kindergarten now.

Grant and his good buddy, Tyson. They've been best buds for the last two years. They just clicked.

Moments of bliss

There are times when I feel so overwhelmingly blessed, so grateful that I have been able to stay at home with my kids. A couple weeks ago, on a sunny weekday, I experienced a time like that. We didn't have anywhere we needed to go, dinner was already prepped, and I felt pretty caught up on our household chores, so Grant and I headed out to the backyard. I sat in a chair with my feet up and read the last few chapters of my book while Grant played with some toys on a blanket beside me. Eventually, I joined him on the blanket in the shade, and we just sat there, enjoying the time outside. It was just such a peaceful, relaxing afternoon, both of us content and happy. Loved it.

Another day, we'd had a busy morning with lots of errands and cleaning, and it was time for a break. Grant chose to play the game, Headbands, basically a guessing game in which you're trying to deduce what is on your own forehead by asking yes and no questions. He loves it, and we laughed so much! It was another moment of bliss. This time with 5-year-old Grant is coming to a close, and I'm soaking it up.

Strawberry Picking

It was that time this last week--time to pick our yummy Oregon Hood strawberries. They were huge this year at the place we've been going the last couple years. I've never seen Hood berries that big! It made for quicker picking, for sure. Grandma M. came with us, and we picked about 50 lbs, between the three of us, in 1 hour!

Grant helped me wash and de-stem all 33 lbs of those berries and then helped squish some for jam, too. He's a good little helper. We all had strawberry shortcake for dessert that night. Yum!

Hamster Escape

Grant and I were doing the much-needed task of cleaning the hamster cage out in the garage, while "Fluffy" ran around downstairs in her exercise ball, and when we came back in with the clean cage, the ball was empty with the lid off. I panicked a little (or maybe a lot), and we frantically searched for the hamster. We looked everywhere we could think of. There was no sign of her. Right as we were beginning our search, the piano repair man showed up for our scheduled appointment. I warned him that we were looking for a brownish orange runaway hamster, and he went to work on the piano while we continued our search. He found it very entertaining. It was a little bit funny, I had to admit, but I was NOT happy about having a rodent on the loose in my house! Funny now our pet hamster, Fluffy, became " a rodent" as soon as she wasn't in her cage anymore, where she was supposed to be.

We'd been looking for half an hour when I heard a scratching noise from the wall in the dining room. I couldn't figure out how in the world the silly thing got in my wall! Turns out it wasn't in the wall, or the heating vent as I feared,; it was underneath our kitchen corner cabinet. We discovered the small space above the baseboard that she crawled through, but there was nothing I could do to get to her without completely tearing apart our flooring trim and baseboards. I tried coaxing her out with a carrot. She just nibbled on it, got her fill, and went back to gnawing on the wood underneath the cabinet. I tried pulling her out as she chomped on the carrot, but she let go as soon as I pulled.

I had posted my dilemma on Facebook, and my friend, Tera, saw it and texted, volunteering to pick up my kids from school so I could stay on hamster watch. Kind of funny having to tell the school secretary that someone else was picking up my kids at the last minute because I was trying to get a hamster out from under my kitchen cabinets. I'm sure they've heard it all.

Lying on the kitchen floor alerted me to the fact that I really needed to clean my baseboards. They were filthy! So I cleaned while I kept watch.

Three hours into Hamster Watch 2016, my friend, Tiffany, called and told me peanut butter works to lure hamsters out. Her years of teaching at the elementary level taught her all kinds of useful things! I had tried putting peanut butter on the carrot earlier (google search suggested it), but I had been sitting right there holding it, so I probably scared her away. I decided to give it another try. I put peanut butter on a cracker right outside the hole, perched myself on a chair on the other side of the kitchen, and waited. About 20 minutes later, Fluffy poked her nose out the hole, then her arms came out, and then her whole little body was visible. I jumped up, quickly ran over, and picked up that rodent with my bare hands...for the very first time. I screamed in excitement and relief, and the kids cheered and celebrated with me. I plopped her back in her cage triumphantly and then apologized to my poor husband who had been on the phone (Bluetooth) with me when Fluffy reappeared. I think I may have damaged his hearing in my state of excitement. Fluffy is safe and sound. In her cage. Where she belongs. Phew!