Ash Wednesday

A few funnies from church. Today I decided to take the younger girls to the Ash Wednesday service at our church..this is the first time I've ever gone, but it was a nice service. Ok, gloomy, yes, but thought-provoking. It's a somber, quiet service. There weren't a whole lot of people there and definitely no kids besides my 3 and 5yos. They sitting quietly while the vicar discussed the meaning of the ashes.... and matters of life, death, love, and faith, when my littlest one calls out, "I NEED TO GO POOP!!"
Comic relief, I suppose.
Then it's time to get our ashes put on our foreheads in the sign of the cross. We are in a slow-moving, solemn line at the alter when little BBH sees the first lady get a black smudge on her forehead and says, (again, very loudly) "I DON'T WANT THAT ON MY HEAD!!"
ANH (5) was simply disappointed because she wanted her smudge to be darker. Do I think they got some meaning out of the service? Um, maybe. But I was glad I went.
Last week, they attended a Christian youth group which they go to a few times a month called GHG. I picked them up afterwards and all seemed well. The next day, ANH says out of the blue-"Mom, at GHG they said that if someone hits us on the cheek, we're supposed to turn the other cheek..(long pause)..but what if they hit the OTHER cheek??" Then she said, "I've been thinking about that a lot."
That had been troubling her little mind all day! Since I'm a great mom who always has just the right answer...I did what came naturally. Burst out into uncontrolled fits of laughter and finally told her, through tears from laughing, "That is a great question!"
Some ideas, and maybe some church services, are a little too abstract for small children. But I do understand why Jesus loves them best...

So Long, It's Been Fun

I'm finally getting back to my blog! Sorry for the long delay..I know I've inconvienenced millions of readers who've been eagerly awaiting what's new with the H family. So I'm here to catch everybody up!
My first blog of 2009 is a goodbye to a true, semi-trustworthy, old friend. After 10 years of good service, we are saying goodbye to our 1992 Volkswagon Jetta. This was our first car here in the PNW, the only car we owned for our first three years of 'real' life (as in, not student life). We found our first home driving this car, we drove to R's first day on the job in this car, we drove to the hospital in this car and came home with our first baby...and our second baby...before we succumbed to the mini van.
R spent hours fixing this car, the kids spent hours playing (and fighting) in this car, it broke down on me at least a few times. Our favorite part of the Jetta was the sunroof-though we live in the rainiest part of the country; go figure. We were planning on teaching the kids stick shift with it...if only it could have hung on for 6 more years...
The Jetta had so many problems but my favorite was the idling problem. The engine would 'rev' without provocation. Every time I'd be in the parking lot of preschool, BabiesRus, or some other place where there are many moms and small kids walking to their cars, I'd be in the Jetta, patiently waiting for pedestrians, while the engine REVVED like crazy. The moms would always look at me scornfully...like can't that crazy lady see I'm 8 months pregnant and walking with my 14 month old and we're going as fast as we can?!? I'd try to smile but that never helped. Preschool was always the worst because the people kinda know you there...
Another constant was the leaking water problem-remember, RAINY climate. So whenever R would take some people out to lunch from work, the car may or may not STINK..depending if there is standing water in the trunk...which depends if it's rained recently, and, of course, it has. That's just to name a few problems.
Now the engine has officially died, so we are donating it to a worthy charity who, for whatever reason, wants it. This is one of the last pictures we have of the Jetta. We are here, playing the glorious Snowstorm of 2008, while the poor clunker is getting it's engine frozen...for good.
Don't ask about us getting a new car...we're just not ready yet...sniff sniff....

Update

Even better than a dime....a Norwegian ore, which is like the Norwegian penny. It looks like a dime but smaller. I guess A's piggy bank may need to be supplemented with some coins of value when she realizes the only thing an ore is good for is not choking her sister to death. A parental bail out plan is on the table.

The Coin passed yesterday at 9am without incident.
Child and Coin are doing well.

Bad Mom Moment

Little B has been our most mischievous child so far. If someone is not watching her...she WILL be getting into something. She has been the one who eats the toothpaste-luckily I found out it's not as poisonous as I thought! She likes to either drink her bath water or dump her bath water out all over the floor. The toilet has been one of her favorite play areas...her dolls like to go swimming in it, she likes to unroll the whole roll of tp and drag it around the house, but her favorite pastime is going in the cupboard and taking out the fresh rolls of tp and finding out how many she can shove into the toilet.

Other antics include using markers to decorate her whole body right before church, supplementing her room decorations with her own crayon-drawn murals, and if she gets the chance she likes to scribble on photographs and/or library books with pen. More dangerous favorites include playing with matches (and lit candles when available), sticking keys in electrical outlets, running with scissors-you name it, she's done it.

Being home with her all day, one may wonder where I am when she is doing all this?? Well, I have to admit sometimes I am blabbering on the phone, but often I'm being a good little homemaker and putting laundry away, cooking dinner, helping someone with their homework...and various other noble-housewife-pursuits. Or maybe I am just looking away for ONE SECOND!

Well, her latest incident came yesterday and unfortunately it was one of those times when I was blabbering on the phone and not pursuing a "noble-housewife-task". She was upstairs and decided to 'count' Allison's money, which consists of all coins. I heard her making a strange coughing/screaming noise and she was saying something was stuck in her throat. I ran upstairs as she was saying "now it's in my tummy!!" (with a little smile on her face). I asked her which coin and she pointed to a silver one. Now, we wait....

I'm saying two prayers: THANK YOU GOD FOR NOT LETTING HER CHOKE, and PLEASE LET IT BE THE DIME!

Giant Pumpkin Head Cake

Last weekend, we had occasion to bake a Giant Pumpkin Head Cake. If you love cake, I'd recommend this one. It serves more people than there are who actually want some. What you do is make 2 dense pumpkin bundt cakes, stick them together, and slather the whole thing with the brightest orange frosting you can make...then add a face. Oh, and don't forget the stem...an ice cream cone slathered with more green frosting! It weighs about 200lbs and really sticks to the ribs! Great way to fill up hungry little bellies for days and maybe even weeks. I'm definitely keeping this one in my recipe box.

Meet 'Midnight'

When I was little I always wanted a rabbit. More than anything. My parents knew this would be a terrible pet for us and never gave in. I'm sure they also took into consideration the fact that I was DEATHLY afraid of our cat to the point that I would not walk past the cat. If the cat was waiting in front of the door when I got home from school, I would call my mom from the porch so she could shoo him away so I could walk past. Oh, and this happened pretty much every day. Unfortunately, I was also terrifed of every other cat...and this lasted my whole life until now.

Our 9yo, H, has been wanting a guinea pig. I was actually considering this, knowing they don't bite or scratch like cats, but RH wasn't thrilled with housing a rodent. Plus, the ones at the pet store sort of gave me the willies. The pet store girl didn't really help, either. She said guinea pigs didn't smell at all, but she then qualified that statement by adding that she, herself, LIKED the 'barnyard' smell. So that was sort of a red flag.

But I wanted a pet for the kids...we both grew up with pets (ok, none of those pets ever really worked out-but at least our parents tried!). Plus, I love my house-full of kids....but our mini van is feeling really crowded as it is so I don't see us adopting those twins I always wanted.

All of the sudden, my neighbor K tells me she has this wonderful stray cat hanging at her house and she really wants it but her husband says no and the pound will have to kill it. We go see him and he's The Best Cat! He does not bite, scratch, chase, meow, attack shoe laces, and he's beautiful! And I am a self-proclaimed Cat Hater! Yes, the thought has occurred to me that he is terminally ill or extremely old..but he looks neither. I would name him Mellow Yellow but he's black so the kids named him 'Midnight' (RH wanted Jet...but he'd be more like Barge).

We brought him home the very next day and last night he was purring away with 4 kids doting on him constantly. Little B says, "Mom, I like buying cats!" Then A tells a story of her friend who has a dog who "Just laid 2 puppies!"

'Baby' Turns 3

Well, the baby of the family is now three! B had a fun party with friends and cupcakes in the backyard. When you ask her how old she is now, she promptly replies: "fifteen"...not sure why she keeps doing this...

The very next day after B's birthday, we found out that we have a new little cousin, "E"! From all accounts, he is very adorable...though we won't get to meet him in person for a while since he is on the other coast. Keep those photos coming!
R is happy because, well, the family needs more boys! E will need to be good with a bat & ball to fit in with all his cousins...and since his parents are such baseball fans, I'm thinking this won't be a problem.