But in between the fighting, they really do have good relationships. I love listening to my teen daughters plan their futures. I love seeing my older kids lovingly interact with their younger siblings ... though it can sometimes be rare. I love watching the younger ones try so hard to be like their older siblings. And I love their shared laughter.
Just a few moments from my week that brightened my days:
**Sunday, we got home from church, and were all carrying in our stuff. 8 yo M challenged 3 yo G to a race to the front door. G said, "nooo" in a tired voice. Then 8 yo M promised him he'd go slow. G perked up his head, said "Okay!" and took off running without any warning. They ran back to the house and M let G win. It was so sweet, I waited a moment for Steve to catch up to me and told him about it.
**Friday, we were going to a homeschool group field trip in Salina. We don't get to Salina very often, so when we go, we try to take care of our shopping. We're also in the midst of updating the kids' portraits, so we have to visit Sears. We had just finished M's photo shoot and were supposed to eat at Pizza Hut before meeting the other homeschool families at the museum. But, we were running out of time. We decided to get the pizza "to go" and eat in the car. Not something we'd usually risk, but we didn't have a choice.
In the end, as we were gathering up the last few crusts, Steve spotted a mushroom in the box. He asked if it was a mushroom. I said, "I guess." Our 15 yo replied that he shouldn't eat it because it was really a fecal turd. (She's not a fan of mushrooms.) Steve ate it anyway, and then I informed her that the term was fecal matter and to say fecal turd was redundant. Of course, the younger kids then wanted fecal defined. That resulted in a few moments of creativity as they used fecal in as many ways possible, including a few insults.
Before I shut down their inappropriate conversation, I had to shake my head and laugh ... quietly with Steve. Definitely not the Duggars, as we scarf down pizza outside a museum, while listening to our boys call each other fecal face. Not pretty, but definitely real. I did put a stop to the fecal talk, and then we went into the history museum and enjoyed a couple hours exploring it with our friends. Unfortunately, the fecal talk resurfaced as they handled replica buffalo chips at the replica homestead. Can you imagine burning those to heat your home? Phew!
** Our kids have been troopers over the past 7 months as we've had increasing involvement in caring for Steve's Mom. The older ones have babysat as we took her to doctor appointments, delivered daily medication, took her to have her hair done, and as we toured different facilities she could move to. They've waited patiently at times as we added shopping for Grandma into our own shopping trips. And they have helped clean her home (or babysat while I did it) when she was away on trips. This week hasn't been any different. They've had their week disrupted, as well, but they didn't complain when we had to bring Mom home on Tuesday to keep her supervised, or when Steve and I had to spend Wednesday taking care of her business and transferring her to the hospital. They haven't complained (yet) about being at her house to start sorting it out, either. I love that they're learning how to love and serve, and that they know how to pull together as a family and pitch in, even when it's not fun.
** We're on the 7th week of our Walk Kansas project. It was an 8 week project, so we're really close to the end. Our younger children aren't officially on the team, but they all join in when we exercise. Yesterday, I was watching my 8 yo son, who is as skinny as a beanpole, doing a Biggest Loser Cardio Max workout. His 1 yo sister was copying him in the background. I'm not going to tell them not to exercise, because it's healthy for them, but it still made me giggle to see these young ones exercising when they are so young and certainly don't need to lose weight at all. I love their energy, though.
** 1 yo V has also learned to say "Ow!" So, with every tiny bump she says "Ow!" and rubs the owie ... usually her head. Then she milks it by saying it over and over and getting as many kisses as we'll give her.
** 1 yo V is learning new words and skills. She loves to say "Uh Oh!" with the proper sing-song intonation all day long. All it takes is one person dropping something to start her saying "Uh Oh!" for half an hour. Of course, it probably doesn't help that we keep saying it back to her.
** 1 yo V has also learned to say "Ow!" So, with every tiny bump she says "Ow!" and rubs the owie ... usually her head. Then she milks it by saying it over and over and getting as many kisses as we'll give her.
** And finally, a picture. While I went for a lunch refill on 1 yo V's plate, she decided to help 15 yo R do her language arts. She put on her big sister's reading glasses, scribbled in her notebook, messed with her ipod and phone, and this is how I found her.
Yep, that's my little V! Later she helped relocate all the kids' toothbrushes throughout the house. They really appreciated that, too.
Just sharing a few positive moments from our life in the past week,
April E.
