Oh Good.

Nathan: When we start schooling, I'm going to be even more patient than usual.

Cough, Cough, Gag

This is our new chalkboard! I'm just thrilled with it. It was a nice, easy project that only took a couple days, and that only because I had to wait for the calendar layers to dry. I came across the pattern when i googled "chalkboard paint" on Martha Stewart's site. I plan to write something pithy or wise at the top. I'll let you know how that goes ;)

Please note the pink dust on the floor. Awesome.

Now if I can just stop gagging on the chalk dust...

7 Quick Takes Friday

I'm participating in 7 Quick Takes Friday over at Conversion Diary today. I read this blog regularly, and love Jennifer's thoughtful faith.

Isaac is STILL TEETHING! Please, God, let these teeth come through soon, so that we can all sleep!

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I realized this week (and then when asked, I actually had to say it aloud) that I am totally inconsistent in disciplining Brenna. We are smack in the thick of the "MINE!" phase, and I have no idea how to handle it.

A friend is letting me borrow Don't Make Me Count to Three by Ginger Plowman, and I'm hoping that I can apply some wisdom about using scripture to discipline.

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We start homeschooling in a few weeks and I AM PANICKING! What if I'm a terrible teacher? What if my child never learns to read? What if he hates me for keeping him at home? But I've had several women (both homeschoolers and non) encourage me, and I am so grateful for it!

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I painted a wall in my kitchen with chalkboard paint this week, and it is SO FUN! I'll post a picture of it in a day or two, when I put the finishing touches on it. But we started using it yesterday, and the kids love it. I have, however, a very sore throat from gagging on all the chalk dust.

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This week was Brian's birthday, and the kids and I got him the game Mancala. It's very simple and I love it! I remember playing it on a camping trip with my godmother when I was a kid. It's still fun! And easy to play with little ones, if you can get two year old girls to leave the pretty rocks in the game.

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Brian's parents have given us their (practically new) old dishwasher, so we're trying to figure out what needs to be changed in our vintage kitchen in order to fit it in. The conversation keeps going something like this:

Brian: We'll take out this cabinet, put the dishwasher here, and we only need to buy one small cabinet to fill the gap and new countertops.

Me: Okay, one small cabinet, new countertops, the cheap ones from Lowe's. Got it.

Brian: But if we want to move the stove over, we'll need a cabinet over here and a space filler. So we should probably take out this weird wall, I can do that, then we can change out this lower cabinet to a lazy susan cabinet. It'll be much more usable.

Me: Ummm, okay. But if we take out the wall, put in a new cabinet, then all the rest of the cabinets have to go too, right? Because they won't be the same depth.

(vintage kitchens have shallow cabinets, this is why we're having this whole conversation... the dishwasher doesn't fit)

Brian: Yeah. So do you still want to move the sink? We could do that now.

Me: But we have to buy a new sink, right? Because that one won't fit over there.

Brian: Yeah (he's deep in thought, mentally putting everything where it ought to be).

Me: So we're replacing ALL the cabinets and the sink?

Brian: (Still deep in thought) Yeah.

Me: Um, no. Our budget for this project is zero dollars and twelve cents. One cabinet, new countertops, the cheap ones from Lowe's. THAT'S IT!

*

Have to go... we're late for gymnastics!

A Study in Human Behavior

I think the grocery store is funny. People are so accustomed to just doing their thing, they aren't nearly as guarded as in other places. This only pertains to my post because I was thinking about all the random stuff that has happened in the grocery store.

Tonight I was studying the array of kleenex and toilet paper when two ladies stopped their cart next to me and walked away a few feet to study some other array of goods. Hanging off the back of the cart was a little girl, obviously four years old (they just have this look). So the moment her mom and grandmother's backs are turned, this young lady starts grabbing stuff out of the cart and hiding it among the shelves.

I kind of watched her out of the corner of my eye; she had that twinkle. She was playing a joke! It was clear by the way she watched them that she thought they would come back and ask her where the groceries had gone, and she would lead them on a hunt. Woo hoo!

Because I was a dorky kid with the same sense of humor, I knew this was going to backfire on her. As is to be expected, the ladies came back, grabbed the cart, and walked off. I turned and looked at her face as she realized they didn't miss the groceries!

I didn't want to get her in trouble, but that would be a frustrating thing to find out later, so I called out to the woman pushing the cart (the grandma... although I didn't know that until later) and whispered, "your little girl hid your groceries."

"What?"

She looked at me like I was speaking another language.

"Your little girl took your groceries out of your cart and hid them. She thinks she's being funny."

"Oh. Okay..." More bafflement.

I walked away thinking she thinks I'm insane. Oh well, I had to tell her!

I finished my shopping and got in line. When the ladies were looking for a line to get into, the one I spoke to came and said thank you. She still looked a little confused, and she explained that it was her grandaughter. I think she had no idea what to make of such mischief. As she walked away, I just laughed. I have one of my own; they are weird little creatures!

Miscellany

Brenna called me into her room with, "Mama, I need to tell you something."

I sat on her bed and asked, "yes, Brenna?"

"ummmm...." Guess she forgot what it was.

"Do you need to tell me something?"

"ummmm...." Come on, come up with something!

"What do you need to tell me, Brenna?"

"ummmm.... I don't want monsters to get in my bed."

Well, she got me there. I definitely wasn't expecting that! But she said it with a totally straight face, so I reassured her, "Brenna, no monsters are going to get in your bed."

"Okay!" Glad we got that cleared up.

*

Isaac is fascinated by his hands lately. He just watches his fingers move with the most rapt expression. It's really neat to watch.

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For my birthday, I really wanted to try a restaurant that doesn't serve American food. We are totally stuck in a rut! So we walked downtown and turned in circles for a good 20 minutes looking at all the options. I was determined not to go to one of our standby's, but we were ridiculously nervous about trying something new! Well, Brian has had Thai food at work and thought it was pretty good, so we opted for the Thai place. It was AWESOME!

We had a crushed pineapple dish that was served in half a pineapple and a basil chicken dish, then deep fried bananas and ice cream for dessert. We will definitely be going back, but feel pretty silly for being so scared. However, the kids were pretty unimpressed with the lack of crayons and colorful menus with pictures of their choices (we like the klassy places). I had to remind Nathan that we were here FOR MY BIRTHDAY. I GET TO PICK ON MY BIRTHDAY. But he enjoyed the food, so I think going back will be a cinch.

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Nathan tells a joke:

"Knock, knock!"

"Who's there?"

"Nathan!"

"Nathan who?"

"Stewart!"

A comedian he's not.

*

So I've been thinking about our homeschooling schedule in the fall, and I've decided to make a time for board games or puzzles. Besides the one-on-one time for Nathan, I think there are a lot of great things to be learned from games, i.e. following rules, taking turns, counting, focusing, etc.

What are some good games for little kids? (we have candyland, memory and chutes and ladders)

Big Mouth!

Brian took the kids shopping for my birthday present yesterday. He walked in the door with warnings about it being A SURPRISE and DON'T TELL! Both kids came to me to tell me they had a surprise for my birthday and they CAN'T TELL ME WHAT IT IS!

It frustrates Brian to no end that he can never keep a secret from me. I almost always know what he gets me because I'm psychic (he thinks). Mostly I can just read my husband like a book, so if I ask a question the answer is obvious.

So the kids were great. They didn't tell even though they're excited.

Last night as I was cooking dinner, Brenna wandered in to check out what I was doing, beg for food, and inspect the kitchen magnets.

As she's studying our refrigerator, she just asks what's on her mind: "Mama, what's a m-p-tee payerd?"

I was still giggling when Brian walked in the door a few minutes later. Foiled AGAIN!

Now I Don't Have a Lid For My Casserole Dish.

We have mice! So far the only things they've eaten are the tops of a tupperware container and my casserole dish. Can you even replace those? This is SO Brian's job to deal with. I'm sure it's in the husband contract.

Have you had to deal with mice? What worked best?