Although I haven’t done any funny kid conversations or sayings lately, trust me it isn’t because they don’t happen on a daily basis. There are far too many times when we need to keep a straight face and deal with something calmly and seriously with them and simply have to leave the room to get composure because they make things far too amusing.

With Little Bug M, every day he has something to monologue about, this is absolutely NO exaggeration. The way that his monologues are delivered would set the best actor in the world to shame, it is quite entertaining.

Now, that’s not to say that Monkey E doesn’t have his fair share of moments that quite literally have us laughing until we cry. He says really big words at the most interesting times… but uses them completely how they should be used… it’s definitely made us stop and stare on several occasions.

The noses…

So… let’s first get this out of the way, since it’s obvious in the photo that both of them have the exact same scab in the exact same spot on their noses. You aren’t the first to notice, it’s been a source of great confusion and amusement at school, as the staff thought that only one had it and delivered him to the class they thought was his, only to discover they both had this nose thing.

But I digress…

You see, it is a trampoline burn {trampoline version of a rug burn}. I wasn’t watching the very moment it happened, there were several bigger boys out there and the three youngest were sitting nicely on the trampoline, so I decided to run inside and start making dinner.

The story, as all three of them tell it is that J-Man decided to tell both of the Twinkies that they needed to lick the trampoline. What on earth possessed either him to tell them to do it, or them to actually listen, truly is beyond all comprehension to me. But they did!

Somehow both fell forward at exactly the same time, in exactly the same way {I have to wonder if they weren’t nudged… just saying!} resulting in exactly the same nose thing. It’s one of the wonders of the universe, but there you have it.

Just your general run of the mill interactive morning breakfast table type conversation…

This is a conversation I wrote down recently. Apparently I came in toward the end of a breakfast time monologue given by Little Bug who isn’t always sure how he feels about being home every other Friday.

Bug: We can only watch baby shows on Fridays… but not Chicken Little because there’s an invasion and they don’t like invasions.

Me: Babies don’t like invasions… good to know.

Tater: Especially not when told by Chickens!

Stay tuned for more Crazy Kid Convos in the very near future!

There was a song we sang a lot growing up and the lines in this song ring so very true today, yet so little time is spent reflecting on their importance. Here’s the first verse:

O be careful little eyes what you see
O be careful little eyes what you see
There’s a Father up above
And He’s looking down in love
So, be careful little eyes what you see

I never thought that this song would resonate so clearly in parenting as a perfect object lesson for you guys, but here we are and I see the importance of each verse of this song each and every day.

Yes, this definitely goes along with the whole “garbage in, garbage out” concept you guys love so much (no sarcasm there haha). Just a little more pointed.

What happens when you aren’t careful what you watch or see?

Not only can so many images in this world (via tv, movies, or other things) be very disturbing, unhealthy &/or inappropriate, but when you aren’t careful they can numb you. Your eyes are often said to be the window to the soul… GUARD that!!

And yes, I’m fully aware that it’s not socially acceptable to question the all-powerful wisdom of Hollywood (again with the sarcasm…I know!)

When you were little we tried to carefully guard what you watched on tv, and even sometimes things we’d stumble upon in public. But as you grow, this is more and more up to you.

Your dad couldn’t be a better example of being careful what you allow yourself to see. When he sees something inappropriate on TV, what does he do? If you don’t know, watch him next time and see (hint hint: he looks away…every time…whether I’m there or not).

There are definitely times when we can’t protect ourselves, that’s not what I’m talking about, this is a choice thing. Are you choosing to watch things that will build you up, help you grow, even just plain clean entertain you? or are you choosing to watch junk that will numb you to the beauty of God’s creation and will for your life?

I love you guys!!!
Mom

I have always cut all my boys’ hair. I actually began cutting even hubby’s hair about 6 months after we got married. Salesman has always liked longer hair styles and likes to try to find ways out of getting his hair trimmed.

He’s creative and tends to attempt persuasion and distraction to get out of it.. and he always fails.

As I was finishing up his haircut today he suddenly pipes up with …

“I bet God doesn’t like it when we get our haircut cuz then he has to recount all the hairs on our head.”

Laughing hysterically (while feeling a little bad because my new hair cutting scissors do occasionally pull out a hair here and there) I honestly really had no response. When he saw this he felt it necessary to add…

“Well, why do you think he told that one person [Samson] never to cut his hair?”

Sigh…. gotta love it!

Being a family of 8 with 1 (yes one) bathroom we definitely face a few challenges now and then. I really try to take advantage of any creative thoughts that come to me to make things work a little better for everyone concerned.

It’s been challenging recently since we now have three of our sons in the above 10 category, and the younger two of those three are still figuring it all out.  Between ages 10-12 boys start to have BO … and they need a little (or a lot of) instruction on proper hygiene.

The biggest problem has been making sure everyone can find what they need when they need it, especially our oldest son who wears contacts and has a little different bedtime/morning routine than his siblings.

Recently I decided to put together a Shower Kit for CJ and it worked out great!!! It’s perfect for him, and keeps everything organized!

What you purchase for each child’s shower kit will obviously depend upon their individual needs, and this concept would definitely work for a girl as well as a boy.

Here’s what I did for my (almost) 15 year old son:

• Basket (should be small, have a handle, have separate compartments, be well ventilated, plastic is easiest to clean)
• Body Wash (since he’s in football he needed something that was tough on odor)
• Shampoo
• Deodorant (depending on the child, usually simple deodorant is sufficient, if your son is a teen and in a sport you may want to consider having him use on that’s antiperspirant/deodorant during sports season)
• Toothcare: toothbrush, toothpaste, floss, small mouthwash
• Shaving cream and razor
• Contact case and Storage solution

Again, this is super adaptable for each individual child and definitely costs under $20 to put together.  Once your child has their shower kit and a storage place of their own, it’s easy for them to let you know when they are out of something.

In the long run this technique definitely saves us money since everything is in one place and not getting “lost” in the rest of their things.

Ok, to squelch all contemplation at the title of this post…no frogs were actually eaten.  Now we can proceed with this week’s silly kid conversation.

Monkey: *cough* *cough* “Mom, what made me cough like that?”

Me: “um, I’m not sure hon”

Monkey: “Oh yeah, that’s right I ate a frog”

Me: “A frog?”

Monkey: “yeah”

Me: “Oh, you mean you have a frog in your throat!”

Monkey: “Yeah that…A frog in my throat”

LOL!!!!

Saturday the boys were outside playing and Monkey comes marching to the house and announces…

“You know it’s raining because it’s dripping from the sky”

When he was told to go outside and play some more while he still had the chance, he replied…

“Well, the sky’s leaking on my head”

I love it!

So as you know, the twins are an endless source of craziness, and laughter. They have the funniest ideas, translations and dreams. When they wake up in the morning it isn’t uncommon for one or both of them to have a lot (and I mean a lot) to say. The subject matter is different all the time, but they are not to be interrupted or ignored…that would simply be unacceptable (to them of course lol)!!!

The other day Monkey was following me around the house as I did the morning routine and decided I needed to know about his dream from the night before. I believe he was the only one up and here’s how the conversation went…

Monkey: Mommy, there was pizza in my dream last night.

Me: Oh? Pizza huh?

Monkey: Yeah, and ice cream and cake too.

Me: Oh really? Wow, that must have been a yummy dream.

Monkey: (sigh) Yes mommy it was really yummy.

Just another tiny snippet from my less than boring life.

As you can imagine, there’s a lot of interesting events, conversations and happenings in life with 6 boys. All of us have things we swear we’d never say to our children…and most of us have caught ourselves saying them anyway.  But recently I have discovered that there are quite a few things I have said in my term as a parent that I never in my wildest dreams could’ve imagined I would need to say.

So here’s just one of those things…..

“Don’t pee on your Brother!!!”

Have a great day

The conversations with the Twinks never cease to amaze me.

Waking up yesterday to Bugs insisting that everyone “Rise and Shine” as he turns on every light was mildly amusing.

Followed on his heels by Monkey announcing, “I don’t get an awwowance, and I don’t have a job!” *big Monkey sigh*

To which I replied, “well you are only 3 so it’s ok that you don’t have a job or get an allowance.”

Monkey: “Well, yeah, I’m 3-2 years old and don’t have a job or get an awwowance!” (he always says he’s 3-2 years old instead of 3 lol).

Well there’s no arguing with that I guess.

I have recently realized (though I have no idea why it took me so long) that my Twinkies talk non stop.  They are just little chatterboxes.

I could almost write a Dr. Seuss type book with their antics…something along the lines of “here, there and everywhere” would be involved because it doesn’t matter where we are going (or not going as the case may be) or what we are doing (again..or not doing) they will always have something to say about it.

I’m not sure exactly when they decided they know more than any of the rest of their family members…all of whom are older than them, but they are positive that they do.  Preschoolers that are unequivocally smarter than the rest of the world are a force to be reckoned with…or feared…or both.

This is the position I find myself in daily.  What crazy scheme will they try today?  Will they have a story to tell or someone to tell off?  Can I possibly keep up?

I have never questioned God’s sense of humor in blessing us with these two adorable little creatures, but that doesn’t mean that I always get it.  None of my other children were capable of getting ahead of me more quickly than these two.

And when there are two of them ahead of you, you are in trouble.

But I digress…

I talk a lot about their funny little sayings and their conversations.  Honestly though that is just a small portion of the interesting life with my twins.  There’s always the climbing of walls, seeing how quickly we can take something apart (or away from a brother) and the ever present search for anything artsy we aren’t supposed to touch without mom being right there to supervise.

These items include, but are not limited to: scissors, tape, crayons, markers, pencils, erasers, etc.

We recently had what I currently refer to as “the incident” with scissors.  Yes, the timeless tradition of cutting one’s hair was exacted by our loveable Bugs a little over a week ago.  Unlike most other children who participate in this ritual of preschoolerdom, my son decided to cut a perfect line, at scalp level, straight up the middle of his head instead of across the front.

He ended up with some sort of odd looking reverse mohawk…nothing short of hideous.  It took me far too long though to work up the nerve to whack it all off.  But I did and he is now a tough little soldier…still with a little baldish streak up the middle of his head lol.

Now the only thing left to do is take a picture and scrapbook it for posterity.  Because there is no way I’m letting him forget it when his son decides to do the same thing!  This is one of the beautiful things in parenting…I think I need to remember it more often!