The Dingbat Diaries, Boy Version, vol.5

The boys are learning Spanish this 9 weeks, and they're picking it up fairly quickly! Yesterday I quizzed them on several vocabulary words and phrases they've learned so far and was surprised at how much they remember. Until...

I held up a flash card that said, "Estoy feliz."

Which means "I am happy."

Pip knew the "I am" part, but was stumped on the rest.

I hinted around a bit, humming some "Feliz Navidad" and mentioning that "Feliz" was the same as in the Christmas song...only it doesn't mean "Merry," you have to change it a little...

Quatro shouted out, "Oh! I know it! It's I AM MARRIED!"

Wednesday Prayer Meetin'

Revelation 7:17

"For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd;

he will lead them to springs of living water.

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

Life has thrown some unexpected challenges my way this past week.

There have been attitude problems (others attitudes and my own!) Disagreements and arguments have arisen. Illness and aging grandparents and decisions that need to be made.

Lots of tears have been shed.

Family members don't see eye to eye.

And through it all, what have I done?

Have I remained calm and clear-headed?

No.

Have I turned it all over to the Lord and let Him lead?

Of course not.

Have I prayed about it and trusted Him for guidance?

I wish I could say that I have.

Instead, I've let my temper get the best of me.

I've snapped at my children and yelled at my husband.

I've stomped around insisting that I know what to do, and if everyone would just listen to me and do what I say, things would be just fine...when really I don't have a clue.

So this morning, when I began looking for a song, God smacked me right between the eyes!

He does things like that sometimes.

Because sometimes I really need it!

Why am I trying to find my own way again?

I don't have all the answers, but I know the One who does.

I'm nothing without Him.

Why can't I remember that?

Each time I forget that and move forward on my own, I end up frustrated and uncertain.

I search for the right path to take and get lost.

But every time I DO trust Him and let Him lead me where I need to go...HE DOES!

Because He knows where I'm supposed to be heading.

It's scary to hand over the reigns and let God take control...again.

But I know that's what I should do.

He knows what needs to be done, which decision is best for all of us.

It's up to me to step back and let Him show me now.

Pray for me to practice what I keep preaching to my kids.

Pray for guidance in the decisions that need to be made within our extended family.

Pray that I will find the courage to put those decisions into place when the time comes.

And pray that my family will still love me once I do.

Can I Share Something Embarrassing?

I've tried to create a friendly and inviting atmosphere of sisterhood here on my blog. An atmosphere where fellow bloggers feel free to share about the things that occur in their lives. So, it occurred to me that perhaps I should share this funny little occurrence that occurred to me yesterday in the hopes that you will learn something from it. And in learning from the occurrence, you could then prevent the funny little occurrence from occurring to you.

Because here at The Source I'm all about helpful tidbits of information.

Just in case you didn't know.

And there's a moral to this story, too. So keep reading...

Here's what went down:

Yesterday morning I woke up around 3 am sneezing my fool head off. Being the kind and loving wife that I am, after 46 or 47 sneezes I hauled my lousy, mucus-ridden carcass out of the bed and dragged a blanket down into the living room where I could make all the racket I wanted without waking up my hubby. Or the kids. Or the dog. Or the neighbors. Or the neighbor's dog.

The weird thing is that I typically only sneeze like 2 or 3 times in a row. Only this episode of sneezing spells wasn't working that way. I was sneezing like over and over and over. Sort of an extended sneeze monologue. Or is it a soliloquy?

Incidentally, don't you hate sneezing? It's so disgusting, spewing particles of snot all over creation. And loud. Why can't sneezes be quiet? Because if sneezes were quiet the rest of my story wouldn't even have happened.

Where was I?

Oh yeah, the sneeze soliloquy.

So anyway, at 6 am I got up again. Time to wake Darling Daughter from her beauty slumber and make her get ready for school. I was still sneezing. Darling Daughter declared that I was grossing her out, and told me to please get away from her before I gave her some horrible disease. She loves her mommy so much y'all!

I got back into my bed, popped a few anti-sneezing pills ans squirted some nasal spray up my nose in a desperate attempt to get control over my sinuses before the Pip Squeak woke because if that child were to hear me sneezing well, let's just say that he would head for the hills!

Did I ever mention that all of our bedrooms are on the same side of the house? Yeah, so the "quiet sneeze" would have really come in handy. Unfortunately, I can't seem to sneeze quietly. All I can do is try to stifle the sneeze.

NOT a good idea.

No, not a good idea at all, as it turns out.

I was stricken once again with a string of sneezes, but in my effort to NOT wake up my twins (or the dog, or the neighbors, or the neighbors dog) I tried to stifle a huge outburst of sneezing and...

I pulled a muscle in my groin.

Or do girls have a groin? I think they do. Don't they? Do I?

Whatever that area is where your leg meets with your hip...THAT'S where I pulled the muscle. You know, because when I tried not to sneeze my body sort of jerked upright in a jack-knife position. And the muscle? It HURTS! And I cannot believe I pulled a daggum freakin' muscle trying not to sneeze.

So the helpful tidbit of information that I wanted to share with you:

"Stifling a sneeze can be hazardous to your health!"

Or, if you are a chronic sneeze-stifler, maybe you could go ahead and do some like, leg-lifts or sit-ups or something to prepare your middle muscles before you catch a cold. That might also work, but I'm not sure cause I haven't tried it.

Obviously.

And the moral of the story?

"Keep a box of tissue handy and just let 'er rip!"

Now. Aren't you glad you stopped by? You're welcome and have a nice day.

Aged and Confused...Alzheimer's Stinks!

He vividly remembers combat training in 1942.

He was 20 years old when he was called up in the draft and sent off to fight in the Pacific.

(That's the same age my Oldest is right now.)

The stories he tells to my kids are sometimes frightening and other times humorous.

"Of course, there wasn't no toilets. You was s'pose to take your trench shovel and dig a little hole and do your business in there. And then if it happens at night when you're in your foxhole...cause there's a lot of fear and it makes you have to go...you don't get outta your hole cause you'd get..you'd get shot. And so...and so...you'd take and use your helmet and then throw it out to the side. And you'd hope the fellow next to you didn't throw his too far or you'd get wet!"

*Twins giggling* "Grandaddy! Then did you have to put your helmet back on your head??"


"Well, of course you did. You didn't want them snipers blowing your head off!"

Yet, he can't remember why he wanted to go to the emergency room 10 minutes ago or whether he's eaten anything today or why you're there.

"Are you ready to go to the hospital now?"

"Who's going to the hospital?"

"You are. Your stomach is hurting and you said you feel bad and haven't eaten and all?"

"What? I don't think I could eat. My stomach's been bothering me too much. Food would make it worse."

**Darling Daughter** "Grandaddy, here, have some soup. I heated it up for you. It'll make you feel better. Be careful now, it's a little warm."

"Thank you, darlin' I haven't eaten all day."

"I know Grandaddy, here, have some potato, too. It's really good."

Five minutes later..."Should I eat something with my pill? I haven't eaten all day."

He remembers going on patrols, looking for the enemy in the houses,huts and outbuildings of the island...and sometimes finding more interesting things!


"The sergeant...why, he pointed at me and he pointed to a barn...and that meant I was s'pose to go forward and check it. So I went and knocked that door open and uh...I stuck my bayonet up through the loft into the hay bales in case there might be some hiding in there...and instead there was a...there was a mama hog up there! And about four or five baby hogs! And when I hit all up in there with my bayonet, why that hay jumped straight up in the air and they went to squealin'...and I thought it was the Japanese and I was trying to shoot 'em!"

But he doesn't understand what's going on right now.

"Did you find my blood pressure checker?"

"Yes sir, here it is."

"No, the one with the red button. That one don't work any more."

"Ok, here's the one with the red button. Do you want me to help you?"

"Nah...don't need no help. What's it say? My blood pressure is what?"

"135 over 86, Grandaddy, that's really good!"

"It is? Is that what it usually is? What was it last time?"

"I don't know, I wasn't here last time you checked it, but it's good right now, don't worry."

Blank stare...looking off to the other side of the room.

"Grandaddy?"

"What?"

"Do you want me to put your blood pressure checker up for you now?"

"No, I better check my blood pressure real quick in case I need to take my pill."

He turned 88 last month. He's a family treasure. We cherish the moments we have with him. Especially the ones when he remembers. I hope he understands how much he's loved.

Homeschool Music

The boys and I are having "Music" lessons today.
(Checking out youtube videos and cracking up with laughter, I mean.)
Thought we'd share...just in case you need a laugh today, too!

I coulda been a math teacher!

Here I was thinking that it was a good thing I had never decided to homeschool my older two children. After all, I'm not a math whiz. There's no way I would even attempt to teach a Calculus course. I don't know anything about a matrix (unless it involves Keanu Reeves) and I'm really not sure of the difference between a hyperbola and a hyperbole. I will readily admit that it took me two tries to pass Algebra II in high school. Clearly, my older children got their mathematical abilities from someone else in the gene pool.

Darling Daughter came home fretting about her Pre-Cal project that was due today, and asked her poor math-challenged mother to assist.

"Of course, I'll help you, dear."

And then she starts spouting off nonsense about how her project had to include 24 conicals and 4 non-conicals, ellipses, arcs, vertex, cortex, latex, subtext and Playtex...and she lost me.

Yeah, right. Tell you what, sweetie, we'll pin your big brother down and make HIM help you.

Imagine my surprise when she informed me that her project was to create a PICTURE. A picture of, like, whatever she wanted. As long as it had shapes and lines and curves and stuff.

Huh.

Well alrighty then, I can do THAT! Go grab the crayons, baby girl, and Mommy will color a purty picture for your teacher!

Had I known that teaching Pre-Cal was as simple as assigning a bunch of teenagers an art project...had I known that all I had to do was grade who did the best job of recreating Finding Nemo...well, life may have taken a different turn indeed!

On the other hand...I'm kind of glad I didn't know!

Besties

Ok, well, maybe you don't call boys "Besties."

Whatever. He counts as a Bestie, anyway.

These two were best friends...toddlers with matching blond curls...in diapers...

watching Blues Clues...playing Power Rangers, laser tag and yes, even Barbies together!

They started kindergarten together, held hands in fifth grade, graduated middle school together and began high school together.

Now they're Juniors...with brand new class rings...almost grown...and he's a foot taller!

I'm not sure who told those two they could grow up so fast, but they definitely need to stop it, because they're making me feel very old!

Congratulations to all of our Class of '11 on getting your rings last night.