You will never have this day with your children again...

Thanks to my sister-in-law for sharing this with me.

SO beautiful.

I shall be printing and posting this somewhere prominent, to read each day!

Shirt tucks and ...the Booger War

One precious, handsome son of mine was getting ready this morning for Mass... he couldn't have looked more dapper, dressed in his finest (his choice)... suit vest and pants, dress shirt and dress shoes. This is my son who insists on having his shirts tucked in no matter what the outfit, no matter what the occasion. He hikes his pants up nice and high, to be sure the shirt doesn't come untucked. And I let him do it, because, well... I find it incredibly adorable, despite the 'Erkel look'. (remember the tv show with Erkel? Family Matters, I believe...)

Anyway, today he was getting ready and I had big sis on 'Help little brother' duty. As she was patiently tucking in his shirt, his hand were up to his face...
"C, put your hands down so I can tuck in your shirt."
"Okay, okay! Just a minute- okay.....I....GOT IT!"
(Next moment: booger was inserted delightedly into mouth, with a great smile of immense satisfaction, having retrieved the gold.)


Mama had to finish tucking his shirt in, for big sister was just a tad bit grossed out at that point, wanting nothing to do with the Booger-Picker/Eater.

Ah yes. The War with Boogers. Am I the only one who battles this war with her children??
Indeed this was not the first incident, nor shall it be the last!! I have struggled through this with each of my children. (I even caught the 20 month old sticking his finger in his nose the other day to my great horror!!!)  But with each child, I swear- there's absolutely No Shame whatsoever! I have even tried the 'Aren't you embarrassed that so and so is watching you??" tactic. But nope. Not even a flinch. I've tried the "Gross! Think of all the germs you're touching!" approach....even having Nurse Grandma tell them reasons they shouldn't do this from a medical perspective. I've tried the 'Oh, let's be a lady/gentlemen' plea, hoping they would instinctively desire virtue over vice, manners over muck. But who am I kidding?? Seriously-you'd think they'd never had such a savory meal in their life, the way they incessantly work to reach that one particular booger, way back there, then without hesitating a moment, pop it in their little mouth and- I'm not kidding- actually close their eyes and smile as they 'chew' and swallow. Ahhhhh!!!!!! It's hopeless, it is!

Okay, so maybe it's just my kids. But... I do have hope. At least my oldest has outgrown it over time. (Unless she still does it in secret....uh oh. I hadn't thought about that.)
These habits are hard to break, so it seems.
But.... it's a child thing........right??!!
:)

An Apple....or 2 or 3....Keeps the.... Doctor Away??

I'm not sure this good ol' adage is going to cut it at our house. In fact, I think it may be a dangerous recommendation at this point with this set of children.
Frankly, I'm more concerned that, rather than keeping anything or anybody away from our house,  they're going to invite the bugs into our house!
Explanation? Yes, of course...

Today.... well, I'll start off by saying: My children LOVE apples.
Even the baby gleefully requests "Bapple!!" daily, as he watches his brothers and sisters sumptuously crunch into a shiny, crunchy, delectable, juicy apple. The only one at this point missing out on this daily delight is my oldest darling daughter, M, who has faithfully and dutifully obeyed her Doctor and, alas, cannot indulge in this 'forbidden fruit' until the braces come off!

But their love affair with apples is perhaps going to need some self-control and better habit-training; a point that was clearly and repeatedly brought to my attention over- and over-and over again today.
Let me show you what I mean....

It all started when I noticed the oldest brother crunching on an apple delightedly, and thoughtfully running into the kitchen to grab an apple for his brother. Aw, how sweet and thoughtful. Made me smile. A few moments later, after getting several mouthwatering crunches in, the two brothers set down their apples simultaneously on the kitchen table and proceeded to head outside to continue their afternoon  boys' play, assuring me they'd 'be back soon' to finish them off:

Then, moments later, I noticed the middle sister merrily crunching into an apple of her very own, as she was busily and contentedly coloring something in the school room... Shortly after, I noticed two more apples suddenly sitting on the kitchen counter (while the other two apples were still left forlornly waiting to be retrieved on the kitchen table):

At this point, I was doing a quick clean up around the house, and became aware that something strange was going on here.....another apple lying just outside the laundry room:

And another sitting on the girls' bed:

Oh yes, yet another on the interrupted, unfinished Thomas the Train board game:

I collected the apples from the house and set them down on the counter, amused by how many different shapes and sizes, bit and bites each apple displayed. Mind you, the other two apples were still sitting on the table, waiting patiently for the brothers to return and claim them:

But wait! Lest you think this comedy over, yet another is soon discovered tapping the ivories:

At this point, it's more amusing to me than anything. Seriously??? Is this a joke?? I looked around to see if anybody was hiding and snickering in a corner as I discover another apple so daintily set upon the soft couch pillow, almost like an offering upon a plush, royal pillow:

And, thank goodness I discovered (before the ants or roaches) the next apple that, I assume, had inadvertently rolled under the futon (most likely sending its owner back to the kitchen in search of a new apple to replace the 'lost' one- ah yes, I believe I'm catching on here):

Aha! Caught ya! This little guy never received an apple from me today! Oh ho no! But- if I was a
bettin' woman, I'd put my money on one of his big brothers! Most likely one of them took pity upon the little beggar, as he - oh so irresistibly- cried out "Bapple? Bapple?", with his wistful, larger-than-life, dreamy blue eyes and melt-your-heart smile:

 CRUNCH!!!!  (Unfortunately, I didn't get a snap of it, but what you don't see here is that he actually had set down another apple.  Yep, you heard right: two apples! One in each hand, double-fisting it! One bite from this one, one bite from that one....a merry ol' time for this apple glutton!):

 So, now I stacked up the apples that I could gather (some had now been re-claimed, or were still being bit into, so I was only able to grab enough to satisfy 7 dwarves):

Unbelievable. A family meeting will be called to discuss our new "Irwin Apple Rules":
1. The proper way to request an apple from an adult only: No more 'help yourselves'!
2. The proper way to eat an apple: Every. Last. Bite.... except for the seeds and the stem. From one apple. Not two. Not three. Not one in each hand. Nope. And before even thinking about being done, look and test and taste: If there's any 'crunch' left, sit back down: it's not done!
3. The proper way to dispose of an apple: First, show Mama/Papa, to see if you receive permission to be done. If so, then dispose in the sink or trash only. If no, sit back down and finish it up!
4. The proper way to share an apple with the baby: Um, let's just say: Nope. No sharing. Only Mama/Papa doles out sliced apples to the baby. And it will be one at a time.

So. That's that. Lessons learned, Apples eaten. The rest of the day went by without any more apple discoveries, thankfully.......

Until dinnertime. Going to the freezer to grab something, lo and behold! A frozen apple creation to behold:

Flabbergasted Me: "What is this all about?"
Innocent child: "Oh! We almost forgot about that! It's a special secret apple dessert! We wanted to try and see what it would be like to freeze it, after we put maple syrup on it!"
Sigh. Well.....at least this one hadn't been bitten into yet!!!! (Have you ever seen/touched a frozen apple? This was a new experience for me! It was rock solid.)

Irwin Apple Lesson #5. Apples will remain where Mama puts them. No 'special secret desserts'  allowed. And no more experiments in the freezer.

Why BedHead Hair is one my favorite things.....

(Is it awful that I didn't have any desire whatsoever to touch that head of hair with a brush? No way. You can't even style hair that way if you wanted to!)

Okay. I need to go find someone to smooch right now!!!!!!!!!

Things That Make You Go "Hmmmmm...."

I really enjoy the show "Duck Dynasty"- we have been able to watch several episodes, thanks to Netflix. Great family- funny scenarios, amusing interactions, and in the end, an endearing moral (most often hi lighting the importance of family).  Good fun entertainment. In fact, I really like the family and what I have seen/read about them.

Now, having said that- I have never ever been one to 'advertise' for famous people or name brands. I even cringe inwardly at the idea of my girls wearing specific Disney princess logos/attire. (Nonetheless, there are still a few that have made their way into the girls' dressers over the years.) I don't know- I just think it's strange to wear another person's picture on me....well, at least if they're a stranger. (I am not speaking of the endearing Mother's Day shirt donning a picture of my favorite little people in the whole world!)  So....the boys were in need of new undies, and their father picked some up on the way home yesterday. As we were folding laundry this afternoon, I came across, well.... something that made me go 'Hmmmmm.'  

I don't think I need to say anything else.

(okay. Can't help it. This is just.....bizarre....weird....disturbing...wrong??? Wearing a face on a fanny? I'm thinking either the Duck Dynasty crew doesn't know all the different Duck attire styles out there that don their faces....or, they're having the final laugh..... um.....yeah.)