Prayers and good deeds

DD9 is getting shorn tomorrow. A bit over two years ago, she donated her hair to Wigs for Kids. She's been growing it out ever since, and the time has come to once again donate. I promised her a salon cut/style when she gets it cut, so we have an appointment for 9 tomorrow morning to get it cut for Locks of Love. She has enough length so she can get a chin-length style like she's been wanting. I'll post before and after pics soon. She's excited. I know she'll look cool. And I'm proud of her generosity in being a 2nd-time donor.

She's also been improving on her prayer life. She was having some difficulty falling asleep at night...having nightmares, etc. First of all, I started using a white noise machine in her room, and that has helped. And best of all, we've started praying together when I tuck her in, at her request. It's been cathartic for both of us. I didn't have a prayer partner and I've missed that, so I've been enjoying our prayer time very much. We have special people in our life that are seriously ill and we've been praying for them, as well as whatever else is on our hearts. I love her sincerity and openness in her prayer, and I'm glad for this improvement for both of us.

This morning dd fixed breakfast for ds4, then left the room to go fix her own breakfast. DH noticed that ds4 was just sitting there, and not eating. Finally dd came back with her breakfast...ds4 had been waiting for her to come back and pray with him so he could eat. Makes a mum's heart go pitty-pat, for sure.

You know you're homeschoolers when...

Your 9 year old stumbles on a word in the Gettysburg Address which she is memorizing, and your 4 year old immediately fills in the word that she missed! What a hoot. She was a bit miffed at first that he was "helping" her, but then she started giggling too. He told us "Well, you know I listen to a lot of stuff around here." Bwahahahaha.

Fast feet

Here's a rhetorical question for you. Why do the feet of both of my children grow at the same time??? I swear, every time one child's shoes start pinching, the other child's shoes start pinching also. And it's real...it's not a jealousy thing or something, LOL. So, this week I had to do the routine. 4 pairs of shoes. Pink sneakers and strappy black sandels for dd9 (can't find a black winter shoe other than patent leather shoes that neither of us wanted, and she has to have black shoes for her choir concert in April, so I got her shoes that can work for now.) Cool light-up Thomas shoes for ds4, still have to get him dress shoes but he wore black sneakers to church today. These kids are making me poor, I'm quite sure of it!

It's all a hodge-podge of numbers...

2--the days until my ds' mattress arrives for his big boy bed
2--the days I have to get that big boy bed built!
2--number of great kids I am blessed to be mother to
2--angel babies
2--years I've lived in my house
29--the days until my ds' 5th birthday
35--the number of maple trees my dad has tapped
1--the number of gallons of sap my dad has collected so far (hey, it's still winter here!)
36--degrees outside
30--% chance of rain/snow tonight
1--new tomb discovered by archaeologists in Egypt last week
5--intact sarcophagi are in the tomb
85--years have passed since a hidden tomb was found intact in Egypt
9--years I've been a community leader on iVillage
5000--number of posts I've made on the iVillage homeschooling board

Time to post on my blog...

So this is your blah "nothing to report" blog post, LOL. It's warmer out. A whopping 17 degrees! Woohoo, maybe this Arctic cold has gone somewhere, other than here. I think it will be nice for my kids to go play outdoors again. They have excess energies to expend these days.

So yesterday while I was at work, they played school and made Valentines. DD9 said she made a really cool one with lots of glitter glue on the back of a paper plate...then she said "oops, forget that I told you that." ROFL, I think I just got a hint ;-) DS4 already gave me a card he made at Adventurers, addressed to "MOME." Hey, I think that's a much easier way to spell mommy and makes more sense than 2 m's and a Y on the end, LOL.

Course, they have no clue what cool things I have for them for Valentine's Day. For dh, I framed a picture my SIL sent me, of dh aged 13 months, held by his father, with his grandmother standing next to them. For dd9, I found a good deal finally on the American Girl flute set, and for ds4 some more Magnetix if TRU online ever ships them to me...they've deducted the $$$ from my debit card but their site shows no record of an order from me, argh!!!! That's the 2nd run-around I've gotten from them and I won't be ordering there again, for sure.

How cold was that?

Conversation with ds4, as he was riding to church this morning with his Poppa:

DS: "Mommy, did you know it's very cold outside today?"
Me: "Yes, I did."
DS: "It's so cold I'm wearing my mittens on my hands." (We don't wear mittens in the car on a normal day ;-)
Me: "Oh, that must be cooooold then."
DS: "Do you know how cold it is, Mommy?"
Me: "No, how cold is it?"
DS: "It's 'below zero 2' and that means it's very very cold."

ROFL, I just love conversations with smart little kids. I wish he wouldn't grow up so fast. I know we'll be having profound talks for years to come...they're just more serious and not as cute, and, well, I like cute ;-)

Fire Safety Reminder

This is sad. We've had two fatal house fires in January in our county. And both of the deaths were avoidable. In the first one, the three occupants of the house were out, and the victim went back into the burning home for an unknown reason. In the second one, an elderly man hollered to awaken his daughter to go call for help, and stayed in the house to put the fire out with a bucket of water. He wasn't found until the fire was knocked down.

Please, please, please...talk to your family. Plan a meeting place outside if you're struck by an emergency. And please, emphasize to EVERYONE that you don't go back into a burning building. It's not just the fire, it's the toxic fumes. Too often, people are overcome by breathing in the smoke, and then unable to escape the fire :-( Toys and clothes can be replaced...people cannot.

It's February 2...

Time for Crusty the Breadchuck to prognosticate.

Wait a minute! Crusty the Breadchuck? I thought it was Punxatawny Phil!

Well, in my neck of the woods, according to the local paper, this salt-dough creation that was made in 1995, with leek root whiskers, peppercorn nose, and a mixture of coffee and milk for the coat, did see his shadow, meaning six more weeks of winter. Shoot, they should have taken "the thing" outside 5 minutes later...there wouldn't have been a shadow then! Oh well. As for the prognostication, I think I believe Crusty more than Phil...we're in the throes of winter here, with bitterly cold wind chills that are supposed to get even colder, snow, blowing snow, slippery roads, you name it. Yep, it's winter!