McBlog

Chase is our fiery boy. I used to write his funny quotes down all the time, but it seems as though lately there aren’t as many, because everything he says now is logical! But he still amuses us from time to time.

I think every kid says funny things in their prayers. Day before yesterday, Chase was blessing our food and he poured out his soul, saying among other things, “Please help the husbands to find wives, and the wives to find husbands.” He often prays that none of us will get sick ever again.

He doesn’t remember his dreams much, but when he does, they’re intense. He told me recently that he had a nightmare in which we were going into Shredder’s round attack ball and there were lasers and a tv that had us on camera. He accidentally walked into the laser, and the tv started yelling, “Chase! Chase! Chase!” He said it was really scary.

I love it when he plays “dogs” with Charlotte, and they both scamper around on all fours, whimpering and barking.

He sometimes comes up to Charlotte and exclaims in a high-pitched voice, “Hi, Charlotte! It’s me, Brother!” and he hugs her, then she screams and pushes him away. I’m so glad he’s good to his little sister. He likes to call Charlotte nicknames like “Tiny”, “Jelly Bean”, “Baby”, and refers to her as “my sister.”

He has definite style opinions, as you can see in the way he dresses. I wish I could dress him like a sweet little boy doll, but it just doesn’t work that way! He likes to help Charlotte and me pick out our clothes. Yesterday he said, “You should wear the other flip flops, Mom. They’re prettier.”

He misses Disneyworld a lot. He was looking at our photos and kept saying, “I wish I was still there.” Also, when I was in the bathroom yesterday, he came in holding a wallet and pretended to hand me something, saying, “Here’s my Fast Pass for the bathroom.” I guess he got used to the idea of Fast Passes to get to the front of the line!

I feel like every day I ride a rollercoaster, where I feel happy and grateful for my kids, then very frustrated and hopeless, and then back again. Does every parent feel this way at different times? I don’t know how I’m doing as a parent, which is scary for me. We laugh and have fun together, we stay home sometimes and go do fun things a lot, too. I praise myself in my head for having us all dressed, and for remembering the 17 items we need to bring with us when we go somewhere for the day. Hooray, I’m doing well! Then Chase misbehaves or talks back to me, and I don’t know exactly what the best solution is, besides telling him to not talk to me like that. Now I’m NOT doing that well as a parent… But I also realize that it depends on who is judging you. Because you might do something you know is right, and everyone else looks at you and believes it’s the wrong way to do it. I am reading a book called Parenting with Love and Logic, and I’m hoping it will give me tips for specific situations with kids. I go back and forth all the time, feeling like I’m doing a pretty good job raising my kids, but more often than not, I wonder if I can handle any more kids someday, I wonder why I feel so out of control, and why it feels like the days are so slow, but also passing me by! I try not to compare myself to others, but sometimes it’s hard not to. Overall, life is good and I am thankful for so much. We have a lot of good and not so good times at home. In the evening, Pace comes home to help me out, and dinnertime is crazy, but then we all hang out together and it’s so blissful and fulfilling. And after we get the kids to bed, I wonder why I felt like things were so chaotic, and I feel like life is going just fine. Recently, I talked to my friend Melissa and it seemed that we were both feeling some of what I was just saying above. Also, I was just blog-hopping and another friend seemed to have similar sentiments, which helps me feel better. Hopefully I can get a better hold on things!

Back home. Tired. Lots of pictures and video coming soon. What a magical place!

They are everywhere

…He’s anxious for a vaycay?

At a recent summer library day, I was reminded of this awesome gooey gunk that I was introduced to in first grade and hadn’t thought about since: Oobleck. At the library they had read some Dr. Seuss books and had some activities that involved Dr. Seuss themes (we LOVE our little library, ghetto though it may be!).

The recipe is: a small box of cornstarch ($1 at Walmart), a little bit of water, and a few drops of food coloring. Squish together with your hands, and observe how it feels solid at times, but then it feels runny when you hold it in your hands.

I remember seeing a Mythbusters episode where one of the redhead guys was able to run across a large vat of oobleck. So interesting and entertaining, even for adults! 🙂

My kids + friends played with the oobleck indoors, and although it just dissolves with water, it ended up splattered all over the walls and wiped on the ground, etc. Not ideal for a perfectionist mother. So the second and subsequent times we made it, I had them take it outside to play with it. SO oobleck is a great OUTDOOR activity, after which you can just hose everything down!

Also, there’s always good ol’ classic play dough, which is easy to make, play with and store in the fridge for a few months at a time, and then make some more if food ever gets mixed in with it.