Life At The Circus

I’m always looking for something to spice things up here at the circus.  And this year I think the kids are old enough to really enjoy some pranks tomorrow for April Fools.   I was delighted to open my recent addition of Family Fun magazine and find some fun little pranks to pull on the little ones.  All sweet innocent fun! So, tomorrow we’ll be having some arctic cereal . ( The night before April Fools' day, pour milk over half a bowl of cereal and put it in the freezer. In the morning, add a covering of more cereal and milk. Call your child to breakfast and watch him try to eat it.) And for dinner we’ll be having cupcakes …or so they think. I MAY through in some dirt for dessert, depending on how the day pans out.  They’ve had it before, but love it and it seems like a fun finish to a silly day.  What about you?  Got any fun pranks up your sleeves for tomorrow?  Click here , if your looking for some more inspiration!

True Random Number Generator Result: 4 Megan March 27, 2009 at 9:11 am [ edit ] “Love it Crystal! Scott did a great job! With our GCC and Karen connection I’m sure we’ll run into each other one of these days - but blogging has been such a fun way to get to know you and your family. I’m going to follow you on twitter - I just started doing it as well, but have no clue what I’m doing!” Congratulations Megan!  E-mail me your address and I’ll send out your Starbucks gift card this week!!  Thanks to all who commented and a super big thanks to all of you who read my blog and share in our life in this way.  You are a huge encouragement to me!  

God Bless Sunday School teachers…especially the teachers of those dear two and three year olds.  How they keep those squiggling, squirming little bodies still on those carpet squares to hear the whole lesson is beyond me. Perhaps, it’s occasionally beyond them too.  Seems they don’t always get quite the whole lesson. At lunch today I was asking my three year old what she learned about in Sunday School.  I was so excited to get an answer beyond the typical, “God” or “Jesus”. Daughter: “We learned about a man who was stuck on the side of the road and he was hurt and dirty.  And the bad men just passed him by and didn’t help him.” Mom:“Hmm…that wasn’t very nice was it?  Did anyone help him?” Daughter: “No.” Mom: “Wait…are you sure?  No one helped him?” Daughter: “No one helped him.” My husband chimed in to try to draw out the rest of the story, so he asked, "so, is the hurt man still on the side of the road right now?" Daughter: "yep" Dad: “Oh...why do you think your S...

One year ago today I entered into this crazy blogging world.  My initial post was very short and my commenter's were only IRL friends and family.  For awhile I only received comments from my mom, my mother in law or one of my two sisters in law.  Now I have by no means “made it” in the blogging world.  If anything, I have learned that there are a gazillion mommy bloggers out there with cute kids and tales to share.  What makes some rise to the top with hundreds of commenter's and thousands in their RSS feed?  I do not know.   But, I do not measure my success in the numbers of people reading and responding to my thoughts each day.  I love blogging and even though I only have a scattering of faithful readers each day, I still consider it a worthwhile investment of my time.  And the reason is for those of you with whom I have formed a “real” relationship.  A year ago today I had no idea that I would make true friends through this bl...

My son loves baseball.  I am not sure exactly where this love comes from since his dad and I are both avid football fans, but could care less about baseball.  Didn’t even watch the World Series.  In fact, the only baseball I’ve watched over the past few years, I’ve watched with my son.  As a 2 year old, he would ask for it on TV and we’d sit and watch several innings on ESPN or catch a little on Sports Center.  When he turned two, his aunt Karen and Uncle Jim sent him a tee ball stand for his birthday.  Perhaps that is where his love was born. Can you believe it was once acceptable practice in our house to play baseball indoors?  This shot was taken in our living room and as memory recalls, this was not an isolated incident.  For his third birthday we threw him a baseball themed party…hot dogs and peanuts and cracker jacks, with a baseball cake to top it all off.  One of my favorite memories from that party was when the kid...

Not exactly wordless this week, but since it is in fact Wednesday, I decided to share some pictures from our week. Our Little Lady:  All dressed up with no place to go! She was so proud when she discovered her “new trick”  “Mom, I can do my ‘noisy medicine’ (aka nebulizer) while playing legos…this is my new trick!” Someone got into Mommy’s dresser and proudly paraded down the hall saying, “Pretty” My daughter came downstairs the other day and told me her brother was using the screwdriver.  I instantly panicked after remembering his little escapade last summer with the screwdriver. I was relieved to find he had just taken the screws off of the little plate off of the doorway.  He then put them back on and screwdriver away!  (not sure which was the bigger feat, unscrewing and screwing in the screws, or putting the screwdriver back where it belonged when he was done)! Since my daughter started feeling sick this weekend she has opted to sleep on the floor with a bunch of pillows to help e...

Tonight my son had his very first baseball practice and he was as cute as could be and I am dying to share some pix of the occasion, but my brain is complete mush after taking care of my sick girls all day (and it’s clear we still have a very long night ahead of us).  I will save it for later this week when I can give it the time it deserves. What a day! I never got my “ Can’t Leave Alone Bars” made during nap time today.  And I didn’t get to blog hop all that much either.   My son has been eager to make his own scrapbook with the pictures he’s been taking as well as a few others and he begged to pick them out during nap time.  Sorry folks, but it was way more important. And my poor middle child had trouble falling asleep because she just kept  coughing.  And wheezing.  And coughing.  And crying (which causes more coughing), all the while still wheezing.  Poor poor girl. I finally called and made an appointment for her at the ped...

We’ve been battling some germs here at the circus.  Everything from ear infections, stomach bugs, croup, asthma attacks… we seem to have had it all, and then had it again.  After this week’s bout of croup went from kid to kid (with the baby waking up today with a fever) I am thinking Momma could use some chocolate.   So, during nap time today I plan to whip up some of these (my favs) and enjoy a little chocolate fix while I try to catch up on some blog reading and commenting.  For those of you that have stopped over this week from the UBP , I am eager to stop on over to your blogs as well.     Can't Leave Alone Bars 1 pkg         White Cake Mix (18-1/4oz Box) 1/3 c         Vegetable oil 1 can          14 oz Sweetened Condensed Milk 1 c           ...

5 Minutes for Mom is hosting their annual blog party and this year I am joining in the fun!  So kick your shoes off, change in to some comfy pants and make yourself at home, because the best thing about a blog party is you can join in the fun from the comfort of your couch! I’ve been blogging for almost a year now.  What started as a fulfillment of my new years resolution, has grown into a means of making new friends and reconnecting with old ones as I share my circus life as a wife and stay at home mom of three active preschoolers. Have you ever been to a circus?  Then you know that a circus is a chaotic event with a ton of things fighting for your attention. Your watching a trapeze artist in the center ring when BOOM! A crazy fool shot himself out of a cannon in the ring to your left.  You start watching the clowns in that left-hand ring only to find out that you totally missed another man actually stick his head into the mouth of a lion in the right-hand ring.... My roles as wife, h...

When my oldest doesn’t take a nap, I am often looking for creative ways for him to play quietly while the girls sleep and I do “whatever I do” during nap time.  Often time he plays quietly in his nap room (I separate the kids during nap time so they aren’t sleeping in the same room) or will play a computer game.  Some days, however, I give him the point and shoot and let him have fun with his artistic side.  Man, does he have fun with it too. One day he came up from nap and asked me to download the pics onto our computer.  He had taken 88 pictures in 20 min in the guest room! He comes by it naturally though, as now that we are “digital” Scott and I have a tendency to snap quite a few, resulting in 2 external hard drives for picture storage. Ahem! So here are some pictures taken by my son over the past month or so. I love his little feet peeking out at the bottom in this one. His patient model. (If you only knew the 15 or so shots he took of her we...

Someday when I open my silverware drawer I will find each piece sitting neatly in the slot it belongs. Someday my kids won’t come running when they hear me opening the dishwasher, eager to help put the dishes away. And I will look back on these days when my 19 mth old did it all by herself with longing. So, today I am enjoying the help!   Check out 5M4M for actual Wordless Wednesdays.

I seriously wonder what moms did before the internet.  Where did you go when you were looking for that cookie recipe you can’t find in your recipe box, or to check for tips on how to bring your child’s fever down, or to seek help tips for crayon removal? A few weeks ago when I discovered this   after my daughter’s naptime, I left a face book status that I was wondering how to get marker off of a baby doll face and within the hour I had 15 helpful tips. But, it turned out this lovely mess was crayon and not marker.  (when I asked her why she wrote on her doll with crayon her response was, “Because the crayon was there.”  Niiiice!) Have no fear, google is here! Turns out you can get crayon off of plastic by using baby oil . Check out the results.   A few weeks later I found this little note on the wall when I was preparing the guest room for company.  I would have assumed it was my daughter again, because I KNOW my son knows better than to w...

Yesterday when I was taking a picture of my son with his “baby” to post on the blog, he asked what I was going to do with the picture.  Son: “Are you going to send it away to people?” Me: No, I’m just putting it on my blog.  Son: But I want this picture for my scrapbook. Me: That’s fine, you can still have the picture, they’re not taking it, just looking at it. Son: Do you know the people that see your blog? Me: Not all of them. Son: Then why are you putting this picture on there? Me: Because I want to tell them about how happy we are to find baby. Son: Did they know baby was missing? Me: No Son: Then why are you telling them?    Ah, the dear boy has stumbled upon one of the mysteries of blogging… who are these people visiting my site?  Why do they care about our life?   I’ve been blogging for almost a year now and I don’t have these answers exactly figured out.  But I do know that since starting my bl...

5 years ago if you had told me that I would care, I mean really care , about a little stuffed animal blankey, I would have laughed.  Shortly before I stopped teaching my third graders threw me a “surprise” baby shower.  One of my students gave me a blankey/stuffed animal all in one.  You know those things that have an animal head on one end, blankey in the middle and feet and buttom on the other end?  My husband so nicely referred to it as looking like “road kill” with it’s flattened middle. Anyways, this little lamb turned out to be my son’s lovey.  As in “return to the church and search through the nursery when you realize it was left behind…” “can’t fall asleep without it…” kind of lovey.      When I was preggo with my daughter he was just under two and he named his little blankey, “baby”.  Not sure if it was because I was always talking about my baby or what.   But 3 years later the name has stuck.  And each ...

My daughter loves to change her clothes.  We go through a clothing change at least, AT LEAST 4 times a day.  Thankfully, she can dress herself and requires little assistance from me. Typically she rotates through her most favorite articles of clothing.  In addition to her candy pants , she’s added a silk pair of pj pants to her collection, as well as a too tight Winnie the Pooh pajama shirt.  Her most favorite shirts though have two requirements.    A hood and pockets She loves, loves wearing a hood and putting her hands in her front pockets.  We’ve got the red sweater number above as well as the purple Pooh sweatshirt and a lime green spring jacket. In my biased motherly opinion, I think she wears “the hood” well.   The hooded sweatshirt is a look I don’t pull of nearly so well and typically save for cold camping mornings when I haven’t had a shower yet. 

A few weeks ago my son came up to me and asked if Prince Charming was always the prince.  I told him yes.  His eyes got really big and he said, “ Wow, that is a lot of princesses to take care of. ”  Apparently, he wasn’t done pondering the subject, because later while holding up his sister’s sippy cup, he remarked, “ That’s too many princesses for one guy… you’re only supposed to have one.” How right he is. 

Those that have followed me in the past, know I love holidays.  Here at the circus we celebrate any time we get a chance.  Who doesn’t love some themed treats and fun crafts?  But two holidays hold special significance for us.  Christmas and Easter They are not just days to get dressed up and partake of traditions. And to set them a part we spend a great deal of time, as in weeks, preparing for them.  They are more than a day, but rather a season of celebration. So, when I heard about this carnival going on over at Becoming Me , I was eager to link up.  She’s hosting a carnival where people can link up with their Easter traditions and stories. We have a few Easter traditions here.  In addition to inviting both sets of grandparents over the Saturday before Easter to join us in dyeing eggs and going for an egg hunt, our biggest tradition is spending the weeks prior to Easter focusing the significance of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, for ou...

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This winter Scott and I watched the movie The Pursuit of Happyness starring Will Smith.  Few movies have stuck with me as much as this one.  My heart was so heavy as I watched this very smart man struggle to provide for his son.  The thing that got Scott and I the most, was how immensely blessed we are.  We were given so many opportunities that others don’t get.  We don’t have what we do because we deserve it.  It’s not because we are smarter or work harder or are more responsible.  God has given us so many blessings.  They are gifts.  This was immensely humbling to me.  And it made me all the more sensitive to those who don’t have what I do.  It makes me eager to reach out and share what I have with those in need.  The movie put a story behind the faces I see on the side of the street.    If you haven’t seen it, I encourage you to do so.   We also recently read the book Under the Overpass .  I high...

Scott and I have found a new way to spend a Saturday night together. For two and half years now Scott has been going into a nearby city to distribute bagged lunches to the homeless as part of our church’s homeless ministry.  Typically, I stay home with the kids while he goes.  In January, I had the opportunity of joining him.  I had been once before about a year ago, but still I was nervous.  Scott assured me it was safe and the people were friendly.  They always stop on the same street corner at approx the same time.  People know this and gather there in expectation.  I had the opportunity to speak with a few gentlemen while distributing backpacks.  One man’s name was Joseph.  I was struck by the sense of hope he had.  He worked construction and told me had numerous licenses.  While he was without work at the time, he was quick to tell me about the many places in the city he had worked.  He also told me all about his one y...

From this to this in just 5 days!

This week Scott had a business trip. It could not have come at a worse time for him.  He has some big deadlines at work and this trip meant 3 days away from the office.  He knew before he left that he would return swamped.  It seemed there were more reasons for him not to go, than to go.  And while it seemed not to make any sense, away he went. Wanna know the really cool part? The place he had to go was near where his Nana lives.  He hasn’t seen his Nana in a year and now he was able to spend two nights with her.  His Nana is one of the neatest ladies I’ve known and I was quite jealous of the time he got to spend with her.  Wanna know the really, really cool part about the timing? This week marked one year since his Grandpa went home to be with our Lord.   As I was packing up Scott’s suitcase, I realized the significance of the week.  I said to Scott, “Ya know I know it really doesn’t make any sense for you to go on this trip,...

" It's Friday night/And the mood is right/Gonna have some fun/Show you how it's done, TGIF.. " Remember those days?  Nothing better topped off a hard week of going to school and talking on the phone like a little Full House , Family Matters , and Perfect Strangers.   T.G.I.F. If ever there was a week that needed an end, this week here at the circus, was it. What with puke, and then puke, then a missed gymnastics performance due to puke, and then missing your best friends birthday party thanks to your sisters puke, followed by more puke, then a power outage, puke, snow, still more puke, then Daddy away on a business trip, his homecoming strangely enough followed the next morning by still more puke… This weekend promises 60 degree weather.  We are so opening our windows and airing out the place.  We could totally use a new scent around here. T.G.I.F.