Life At The Circus

I mentioned before , that Scott and I have not made any decisions regarding the size of our circus crew.  Some days we feel quite complete with our trio, others there’s that desire to add another little one to the crew.  So, we haven’t done anything drastic and we’re spending some time praying and thinking on it.  But the crew members are starting to share their feelings on the matter.  Not that we asked them their opinion mind you. Last week the kids and I were walking to the park each holding hands and my son who was in the middle of his two sisters, says to me… “Mom, it’s not fair that I don’t have a brother.  They both do and I don’t and I want one. Me:  Well, if we did have a baby brother, he’d be a lot younger than you. Son:  That’s ok.  I want to teach him things, like karate. Me:  Hmm… well, there is no guarantee we’d have a boy. Son:  Oh, well, then you could just have another and we could have 5 kids (woah, slo...

My little brother celebrated his birthday this week.  And being the good big sister that I am, I thought I’d share some lovely pics of him growing up for my Fro Me to You post this week.  Cuz’ nothing says happy birthday like having your big sister post your picture on the internet for the world to see. Happy Birthday Little Brother! Here we are at one of his birthdays.  I am guessing he was five or 6, making me 8 or 9.  Looks like I gave him a dream team poster.  We look pretty dressed up for birthday gifts, so I am guessing his birthday fell on a Sunday that year and he got to open his gifts before we left for church.   And here we are on a family excursion to see the Cherry Blossoms in DC.  I am guessing I am in about fifth or sixth grade.  Please take notice of the turquoise shorts with the tucked in shirt and my favorite, the coordinating turquoise “koosh ball” earrings. I was stylin, don’t ya think? He is my only brother....

I had a dream last night that I went to the movies and when it was my turn to order the tickets, I couldn’t remember the name of the movie we wanted to see.  For some reason they didn’t list them on the wall behind the register like normal.  I tried to call someone for help, but suddenly my phone had been replaced with a different phone and every time I hit the buttons for my contact list, it took me to some funky screen and I couldn’t find anyone’s number.  As the line behind me grew and grew I kept begging the man at the register, “Please, it’s about a guy and a girl… it’s a comedy, with a little romance…you know the one…what is it?”  The funny thing is at the end of the dream when I finally found out the name of the movie, I said to myself, “Man, my memory is really going…it must be momnesia …I have totally gotta blog about this.” And then I woke up. What?  I am blogging in my dreams now?  I thought it was bad enough that when my kids say something...

We have a few daily battles here at the circus which I have to mediate carefully.  One involves who buckled their top straps first in the car seat and the other is over who gets to eat off of the coveted plate at meal time.  I made the innocent mistake of purchasing three different animal face plates last year at Target.  I also bought some basic color plates as well.   I was careful to make sure I got red and purple (my son and daughter’s favorite colors as well as 2 others since they baby didn’t yet have an opinion on colors and it was nice to have extras for when friends are visiting) . I remember bringing them home with excitement, our first kid plates, weren’t they cute?  And for awhile all went smoothly.  But, somewhere in the last year my daughter decided her favorite things were whatever her big brother liked best.  So, since he wanted the frog plate at dinner, she too wanted the frog plate.  And poor mr monkey and miss lady ...

Found this on CNN headlines…it appears I am not the only mom living at the circus .  Gotta busy Monday ahead of me, will try to post an update of our crazy circus life later today, until then you can read about this circus life .

Last week in church the pastor gave an illustration in which he mentioned the number of American lives lost during various wars in our history.  My son looked over at me and asked why he was talking about American soldiers getting killed. This led to a discussion later in the week in which it was brought to my attention that my son was under the impression that good guys don’t die in war.   It was a sobering discussion I had with my four year old that afternoon that went something like this... Son:  Mom, why did the good guys die?  I thought they killed the bad guys. Me:  Well, sometimes they do, but sometimes the bad guys kill them first.  The bad guys are trying to get them just like they are trying to get the bad guys. Son:  But Mom, they have camouflage so the bad guys can’t see them Me:  True, and that helps a lot, but sometimes the good guys still get hurt.  That’s why they are heroes…not just because they hurt the bad guys, but because by doing so they are risking their own live...

Last week the girls and I were at the auto mechanic waiting to get the oil changed in our minivan.  We were sitting nicely in the the waiting room reading books and enjoying some goldfish when suddenly I look over at the older one and shockingly find her standing in the waiting room (filled with people) with her pants and underwear down to her ankles.  I quickly pull them up and ask her why she did this and she explains that her “butt hurts.”  I quickly take her into the bathroom to fix this. Today I took the kids to the park to enjoy our heat wave (45 degrees today).  As I was unloading the girls I look over to see my son with his drawers dropped, peeing in the grass.  “What are you doing?” I shriek as I then make eye contact with the mom in the car beside ours.  “I have to pee,” he explains.  As if it is ok to just pee wherever we want.  For the second time in a week, I find myself hurriedly pulling up my child’s pants and ushering him a...

A few weeks ago Scott’s cousin was married in CA.  Since the groom was from Brazil, we were among many friends and relatives that weren’t able to attend the ceremony.  The family thoughtfully broadcasted the ceremony live on the internet.  I had never attending a wedding this way before.  While we would have preferred to attend the wedding in person and share in their celebration with them, in some ways, it was the easiest way to watch the ceremony with our three kids present. The kids were able to play during the ceremony without us having to worry about them disturbing anyone else.   My daughter made sure that all of the little people were present and lined up to see the ceremony,  while my son flew something around the room. We were able to type messages to the bride and groom and they could talk back to us.  My daughter didn’t  quite grasp the fact that they couldn’t see her though.  Here she is holding up some signs...

I recently discovered a way to entertain and delight my children, while also getting some help in the kitchen.  I let them wash dishes in the sink by hand.  I don’t give them anything fragile.   But at almost 3 and almost 5, they are quite capable of scrubbing pots and pans or large bowls…things I can’t squeeze into the dishwasher.  They beg me for the opportunity and it keeps them content for up an hour. I figure I gotta take advantage of this while I can…having my kids beg for the chance to do the dishes is not something I anticipate lasting forever.   I’ve learned a few tricks to keep this successful. One child is on dish duty at a time.  (2 preschoolers at the sink is recipe for trouble).  Be prepared to go through more than your usual amount of soap.  Seems the kids think you need a LOT of soap to clean those pots. I limit them to two or three dishes.  I don’t want them to be overwhelmed or to get bored…...

Check out 5 Minutes for Mom for more WW.

I am dealing with some serious reentry probs today, so my post is not only later in the day than normal, but will be more of a random tangent on life at the circus today. The entire circus fam is fighting colds.  Runny noses, coughs…we felt them coming on at the end of last week but oddly enough standing in 15 degree weather for 4 hours did little to fight them off.  That coupled with the fact that the five of us spent 11 hours in the car together this weekend breathing in the same recycled air, has ensured that we are all equally miserable. It’s not that bad though…if we are feeling too blue or grouchy all I gotta do is play my recently downloaded “Here We Go, Here We Go Steelers, Here We Go, Pittsburgh's Going to the Superbowl” song and all five of us are dancing and singing along.  I am sure we’ll have all the lyrics memorized by the 1st! On our drive home yesterday we were stuck in two different traffic backups.  For the first one, we were able to get off, take a back road,and...

Game time 6:30pm on Sunday, January 18, 2009 Scott and I were in our seats by 4:45.  We were too excited to stay away any longer.  When we looked out into the stadium, it was obvious who the non season ticket holders were.  There was a sprinkling of us around the stadium.  Rookies eager to enjoy every precious minute of the event.  As we sat down in our seat (only three rows back in the upper level) we could see everything!!  I looked over to Scott and said, “I think I just found a way to be discontent with our big screen TV.”  The temperature was in the twenties and then the teens.  We came prepared though.  I was wearing… 3 layers of pants 4 layers of shirts 1 military issue arctic condition coat borrowed from my FIL 2 pairs of gloves 3 socks 1 stadium blanket 1 pair of boots (one of which lost its sole) 3 hand warmers 4 foot warmers     I’ll be honest.  My hands and toes were cold.  And I co...

A few weeks ago I was talking with a friend of mine about the Steelers game.  She had offered her condolences on our loss against Tennessee.  I told her I wasn’t too worried about it because we were going to the play offs.  She looked at my kind of incredulously and asked, “Really?” “Yea,” I said. “Your going to the playoffs?  That’s crazy.” I was kinda confused, we were after all the leader of our division, and then it hit me… “We, the Steelers, I said, not we Scott and Crystal.” We both got a laugh out of the miscommunication.  But this time, I mean it. We’re going to the AFC Championship Game. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT????? SOOOOOOOO COOL!!!!!!! We, Scott and Crystal are going to watch the Steelers play the Ravens in the AFC Championship Game this Sunday at Heinz Field.  I can not even tell you how giddy with excitement we both are.  I’m talking jump up and down screaming in the living room when I won the bid on ebay, excited. ...

As a kid I really enjoyed being on stage.  Had a rather significant part in our church musical when I was in third grade which led me to believe I had skill…even did a few plays in middle school (with embarrassing tales of their own to be shared on future Thursdays) but the high school band plays were my low points. Each spring our school would put on a play written by our band director.  She was a kind lady with a heart of gold.  She wrote these plays set in the time of Laura Ingalls Wilder, with the small town charm and old dresses.  I believe there were two if not three of these productions. Each year I’d go to try outs where we’d get to read through portions of the play.  And each year I’d be hopeful that this would be my year to land a significant part.  Only each year when she would announce the parts, I was always given the part of a character who strangely wasn’t in the play when we did the read through.  Like magic I’d go to see the list...

Wasn’t able to snap a picture of this one, because it was too disgusting for me to do anything but stop it right away… But if anyone wondered why I call it life at the circus… …just caught my 18th month old brushing her teeth with her brother’s tooth brush, in the dog bowl… gross on so many levels…

Check out 5M4M for more WW

Check it out…I am the featured tackle this week at 5 Minutes for Mom !!!  Go ahead and click here and read about what I tackled this week at the circus! 

My Daybook: Monday January 12 Outside my window... the sun is shining brightly and Christmas lights still hang on the front of the house (though no longer on the roof…we’re half way there) I am thinking... I really need to stop putting off folding the laundry piled beside my bed I am thankful for... the Steelers victory last night advancing them to the AFC Championship From the learning room… working on Catechism questions From the kitchen... Scott will be making pancakes for him and the kids for dinner tonight I am wearing... jeans and my Steelers Superbowl XL Champions Tee I am creating... I am not that creative, I do hope to tackle hemming my sons pants this week, does that count? I am going... to MOPS tonight at my church (hence the pancake dinner tonight) I am reading... Love Walked in by Marisa de los Santos, The One Year Chronological Bible, Teaching Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons I am hoping... my kids wake up in good moods I am h...

Sometimes little snippets of the extraordinary appear in the midst of everyday life.  Right smack in the middle of a messy kitchen with trashcans overflowing, and kids walking around half naked, a conversation took place at our dining room table.  Scott was having eggnog with the two oldest children and I had gotten the video camera out to catch my littlest one playing with the tripod.  She was walking around setting up the tripod and exclaiming, “Cheese.”  I wasn’t able to catch her saying it when the camera was on her but during this time, a conversation began which I soon realized I just might want to record.  Scott asked my son what the most important thing was…his answer touched our hearts.  You’ll have to excuse the fact that all of our kids are half naked (we’d had pasta for dinner that night so I had taken off their shirts).  And I have no idea why my little girl is walking around with an empty milk carton in her stroller, we do have baby d...

If anyone came over today to see the last installment in the Eggnog Series, please check back later today.  I had some slight technical difficulties with my video clip and am in the midst of the long upload process right now.  Please come back again this afternoon to see the video of one of Scott’s most memorable father/son talks to date.  You won’t want to miss it!

Eggnog has always been a special drink at our house.   Since our son was just a toddler, he’s enjoyed sipping this treat with his Daddy. Last winter as Scott and my son were enjoying this holiday treat,  Scott told him  that eggnog is a talking drink.  “You sip it slowly like a dessert and talk about important things,” he instructed him. From this was born eggnog talks . The next night my three and half year hold son asked for some eggnog, then looked up at his Daddy and said, “Dad, let’s talk…how was your day?” And each time they sat and sipped their special treat, they’d talk about various things…most often questions that my son had.   He’s always good for a question or two. After Christmas we were on a 5 hour car ride when out of the blue my son called to the front of the van, Son: “Hey Mom, was Joseph a doctor?” Me: “No, actually he was a carpenter.” pause (Scott and look at each other all excited about the fact that our little boy was sitting in the back seat pondering the Christm...

  My son has always had a very inquisitive nature.  When I was pregnant with my third child, he was three.  He fully grasped the concept that there was a baby in my belly.  But, what he wanted to know was, how the baby was coming out.  At first I tried with vague, non specific responses.  But they weren’t doing it for him.  He kept bringing it up, again and again.  Then he started to get worried.  “Mommy, how will the doctors get the baby out of your belly?”  “Will they cut you up?”  Finally, after hemming and hawing several times over the course of several weeks, I told him that God gives Mommy’s a special hole for the baby to come out.  This of course didn’t help to dispel his curiosity. He then wanted to see it.  Which, of course, I told him he couldn’t.  I explained it was a special hole and it didn’t really open up until it was time for the baby to come out.  This seemed to satisfy him and the conver...

Click here for more Wordless Wednesdays.

  I don’t remember what magazine or book I read it from, but a few years ago I found an idea for having a wise man celebration.  For some reason I recall it being on January 6th. And I decided it was a good idea.  But that year my entire family got struck with the stomach virus, so we skipped it.  But last year and this year we celebrated, thus making it a tradition at our house.  We make stir fry or Chinese food (because the wise men came from the East) for dinner and we bake star shaped sugar cookies for dessert.  We wear crowns, like the kings and we watch the wise man movie ( The First Noel).   Since we are a young family, in many ways we are still shaping our traditions.  Since our first year of marriage we have hung a Jesus stocking.  In it Scott and I write a note about what we want to give to Jesus that year.  This year we decided to combine the Jesus stocking with Wiseman day.  We discussed as a family what we could...

Much like the decorating of the pumpkin , the constructing of the gingerbread house didn’t happen according to the traditional time line.  We here at the circus like to do things in our own time, thank you very much! I mentioned before that this year I decided to go with the kit over baking from scratch.   I bought the kit in early December and kept waiting for that evening when we were all home and not already busy with something else.  I didn’t want to cram it in just to do it, I wanted to enjoy it.  And so, the gingerbread house was built on January 5th.  Same day I got around to taking the ornaments of off our tree and our decor off the walls.  My son asked if we could keep the gingerbread house out or if we had to take it down too.  I assured him we could keep it up for a few weeks.  I was surprised by how much my youngest contributed to the project.  In addition to eating a corner of the the chimney and the foot and leg off of th...

I often don’t bother scrambling around the house looking for shoes before heading out the door.  We give a good attempt, but if we’re running late, I bank on the fact that we’ll be able to find a pair in the van. One afternoon when my husband asked where to find my daughter’s shoe and I told him, these are what he found on the floor of our van (and believe it or not, there are more that just didn’t fit into the shot). Yea..I’m busted…my days of being held accountable by the preschool pick up line are over…looks like the circus is keeping it real at preschool too.

Lucky for Maggie today is her special day, otherwise, I don’t think I’d have been so nice about finding this on my couch cushions today.

Our beloved pooch turns 6 today!  Where does the time go?  We got her two weeks after moving into our new home and before we had kids.  One of my fourth grade language arts students loved corgi’s and did a book report on Pembrooke Welsh Corgi’s.  He got an A and I was sold on Corgi’s.  I distinctly remember him telling me that they were “light shedders and good with kids.”   He was a bit off on the light shedding, but couldn’t have been more dead on about the kids.  So, thank you Dylan! For about a year she was “our baby” and she was very spoiled.  She ate at precisely the same time every day, she went on walks, she slept on our bed, we played games with her, we took her to the dog park…in a lot of ways she helped shape they way our days went.     Gradually as first one, then two, then three kids came into the picture, she fell further and further down the totem pole.  Now she is happy just to be fed, forget about w...

2008 was a good year at the Circus. In February, I was blessed with a new niece .  You wouldn't have known this though because I didn't begin blogging until the end of March. The spring was also filled with fun family activities like going to a real circus , celebrating Easter , and watching the Blue Angels.   Summer held a trip to the beach , patriotic celebrations , my birthday , camping , sailboat races, and a reunion with friends .  My baby also turned one this summer.  How did that happen??  I trained for and ran in the Annapolis 10 Mile Race .  It was a big accomplishment for me and I was so excited to achieve my goal. Fall marked a new stage of life as my little boy grew up.  Talk about time flying, he began preschool and soccer and suddenly didn't seem so little anymore.  We enjoyed a day at the farm , the county fair , and the pumpkin patch.  I also took a trip to Texas with friends for a MOPS convention (and sang karaoke for the first time). And then the holi...