Christmas Music Dance Party

The other evening, we had a Christmas Music Dance Party. The crazies and I turned on a mix of VeggieTales Christmas music and traditional holiday songs and danced to our hearts' content. Pander always seems to break dance, Fia uses the time to practice some of her ballet class moves (but throws in a few booty shakes for good measure!), and Noodle likes to run in circles around everyone else and call it dancing. But Moo, she is my special dancer. I use the term loosely, because much like her mother (yes, this is a confession) she thrashes and convulses and creates some of the weirdest dance combos I have ever seen. Actually, her dancing brings back memories of The Debi Dance and the lesser known Debi Dance 2000, as a reference point for those who are in the know. I can't help but laugh and join in when I see the 4 of them together, hearts filled with joy, feet filled with energy and eyes filled with excitement.
Right now, the joy of dancing for the crazies is 10 times more than any other time of year, because they are anticipating the celebration of the birth of Jesus. We have spent alot of time this year thinking about why we give each other gifts (in remembrance of the Magi's gifts to Jesus), how to share Jesus' love to others (through charitable donations and kind acts) and considering why Jesus was even born to begin with (the first step in salvation through the death of Jesus was the necessary birth into human form, a perfect man to bear the guilt of all mankind.) But today I want to share with you why we dance. In the Bible translation called The Message, Luke 2:8-14 reads:

"There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God's angel stood among them and God's glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, "Don't be afraid. I'm here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David's town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you're to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger."
At once the angel was joined by a huge angelic choir singing God's praises:
Glory to God in the heavenly heights,
Peace to all men and women on earth who please him."

This scene always gets to me. Angels announcing the birth of their Creator, their Lord, as a baby in lowly human form. They knew the sacrifice, what it meant for God to dwell among the humans, the favor, gift and blessing it was to have his presence among us. Such a joyful, blessed moment that at its annoucement, the host of heaven's angelic armies had to burst into joyful song. All I can picture in my mind's eye is a sky filled with musical celebration. And what goes better with a joyful musical celebration than joy-filled, praising dance?! We may not have the hosts of heaven here to sing for us, but the crazies and I celebrated the awe-inspiring, humbling, sacrificial birth of Jesus with the joy it was intended to have. And I believe Jesus and the angels appreciated our efforts, even Moo's joyful, unusual thrashing!
However you and your family celebrate the holiday, I just want to encourage you to find an outlet of pure joy knowing in that one moment the God of heaven, Creator of all, became God with us.
Merry Christmas!

Advent Activities

This year, I started a new tradition with the crazies. We have a homemade advent calander and have been doing small activities to celebrate and look forward to Christmas all month. Some of the activities are small winter fun things, like having hot cocoa for dessert or watching a Christmas movie with popcorn. Some of the activities are more holiday oriented, like going to see Christmas light displays and making ornaments. Others are charitable activities like making red kettle donations out of piggy banks, bringing winter clothes to donate at Goodwill, and buying a toy for Toys for Tots. And the last few are reminders of the true meaning of Christmas, reading Matthew chapter 1, Luke chapter 2, and a children's book about the birth of Christ. I really want my kids to know that Christmas is important because of Christ. I want them to realize that we only give each other gifts to remind us that the Magi brought gifts to Christ and that Christ is God's gift of salvation to the world. I am excited to see these things starting to make sense to them.
One day when we were leaving WallyWorld, Fia asked to put a quarter in the red kettle. After she dropped it in, the bell ringer said "Oh thank you, Santa saw you do a good thing!" Fia frowned at her and said "Santa isn't real." The woman insisted he was real, and Fia said "No, my parents give me gifts at Christmas to remember Jesus' birthday!" She tossed her hair and stomped away, irritated that the bell ringer was insisting on being wrong. As I followed her, the woman shot me a look and said "They'll resent you for that someday." I just smiled and wished her a Merry CHRIST-mas. I highly doubt my children will resent having an honest, open relationship with their mother, or learning about their Savior's birth! It was exciting to me that Fia stood her ground and didn't cave when confronted by an untruth. What a strong little girl. :)

Kittens!

We recently expanded our crazy family by getting 2 tiny kittens from my cousin. She took her cat in to be fixed and the vet said the cat was already pregnant. My cousin couldn't stand his suggestion of "kitty abortion" so we benefitted by gaining Pansy and Rose. Let me tell you, these ladies are 2 of the sweetest kittens I've ever seen. They are calm, snuggle when they are wanted and entertain each other when all the humans are busy. Oh, and they are so extremely patient with the 4 crazies!
Pander likes to watch Pansy and Rose and sometimes brings his blanket out and lets Rose lay on it with him. He is very protective of them, and he loves to play with them. Fia has a history of being scared of animals. It stems from a long ago experience with my sister-in-law's dogs. The 3 dogs were excited to see Fia and as a group knocked her down. She was 2 and very tiny, and couldn't get herself back up. In the time it took me to cross the room (like 5 seconds!) she developed a lasting terror of animals. With Rose and Pansy, she has overcome that fear somewhat. She pets them, plays with them with a string toy and most importantly, doesn't scream when they walk by! (I don't think she likes dogs still.) Moo is a kitty lover. The cats have been drawn to her from moment one, and there always seems to be one of them on her lap. Moo gets a big ole grin and whispers "Rosie likes me Mama!" and it just melts my heart. But Noodle, oh Noodle, he's a different story. I cannot get the boy to stop harassing the poor cats. He is always trying to hug them, carry them, or just plain bother them. It's never intentionally mean, he just loves them too much! So far, we have gotten to the point where picking Rose and Pansy up is agains the rules. He still tries, but far less often and I think the cats appreciate it. And I appreciate that they are tolerant- not a single bite or scratch on any of the crazies, even though heaven knows I would have bitten Noodle by now if I were them!

2 Oozes

The first ooze involves Fia's eyes. The upper respiratory infection she has had for the last few days has apparently gotten worse and she now has an eye infection. That means this morning, when she work up, she had crusty eye boogies all over the place and her poor little eyes were so swollen they looked bugged out. We took a trip to the pediatrician, and now we face the joy of using eye drops twice a day for the next 5 days. Seriously, I think eye drops are the worst kid medicine out there!

While we were waiting for the dr. to come back with results of the rapid strep test (negative), the second ooze happened. Fia was sitting on the dr's table, coloring beautiful pictures with the crayons the office provides. She wrote her name and my name too. Suddenly she announced "I want to write Pander's name, but I want to OOZE orange!" I love it when kids say things incorrectly, it cracks me up. And since Fia is 5 now, its been a long time since she's had one of these little kid goof ups. I guess I better work with Fia on how to "ooze" the word use!

School-isms

Ugh. I despise having Pander and Fia in school! I never thought I would dislike the public school system, I loved being in it myself. I didn't consider myself  a "homeschool mom" because I lack organizational skills and I'm only slightly creative. But then the school-isms started.
School-isms are words, concepts and behaviors that the crazies pick up from kids at school and bring home. They are outside of our accepted behavior and vocabulary and are typically things the crazies would not be exposed to (especially at this young age) if they were not in public school.
The first one happened when Pander was in  4 year old kindergarten. He came home and told me he fell on the playground and hurt his boner. "WHAT?!" He calmly repeated what he told me, and added that his friend told him boner was another word for your bottom. Seriously, there are parents out there who let their 4 year olds hear that kind of language, even if they don't explain correct definitions to them. Due to school, my 4 year old was the dumping ground for their poor parenting.
Another school-ism happened with Fia this week. I brought a new kind of cereal home from the grocery store and she came into the kitchen and was very excited to see it. She pointed at the box and shouted "Oh. My. God!" Again, I was shocked and surprised at the language 4 year olds are exposed to. I corrected her a little harshly and told her we only use God's name when we are talking to or about him or in prayer. She started to cry, and I felt bad because I know she really didn't realize it was wrong and kids at school were allowed to say it. I ended up apologizing for over-reacting, because my irritation should have been aimed at the school and other parents, not her.
Tonight, as we were getting ready for bed, Pander unexpectedly blasted me with another school-ism. He wanted to tell me a riddle. "What do you get when you take away the N in fun?" Well, you can figure that one out yourself. I gasped "Pander!" and he said "I know its supposed to be bad, but what does it mean to say that?" and I had to sit and tell my 6 year old (who now has a lovely range of cuss words to choose from) that we were not going to talk about what it meant, that some words are inappropriate, naughty, or mean and that we just don't ever use them. He said okay, but I have a feeling I haven't seen the end of this conversation, wheels were turning in his eyes while he tried to digest what I was telling him. As he walked away he said "Don't be mad Momma, I didn't know it was that bad." And I told him "I know, I'm not mad at you, I just really need you to understand that is a very naughty word and you can never say it again."  At the end of the day, I am more and more convinced that my lack of organization and half-hearted creativity would be a better environment than being surrounded by all those nasty school-isms.

Rowdy Baby Noodle

After we were "done" having kids, Jeff and I were talking about getting the permanent "all done" surgery. I was a bit sad, disappointed not to have another boy. I always dreamed of a houseful of boys when I was growing up. Then, one happy birthday later, before the surgery could take place, we were expecting #4! And baby was due 13 months after MooMoo was born!

My fourth pregnancy was very difficult, physically and emotionally. I had gestational diabetes with all my pregnancies, but it was most difficult to manage through diet with my last pregnacy. I also had terrible sciatic pain the whole time. But all of that was much easier than the news that our baby boy had a higher than usual chance of down syndrome. We had extra tests, met a specialist, changed from a midwife to an OB, and eventually were told that he had no actual physical markers of the syndrome, despite the initial tests. I still half expected Noodle to be born with Downs, and it weighed heavily on me for the last few months. During all this, the specialist mentioned that my due date was probably off, and I agreed with her. I forgot all about it due to the stress, and apparently it was never noted in my chart. So when labor was induced 2 weeks early according to my original due date, I was actually induced 6 weeks early. Noodle was born a premie, at over 9 lbs!

Noodle had some typical premie developmental delays. He was behind on speech and cognition so he recieved therapy for 6 months. He also had interesting sensory motor quirks, took longer to learn to chew, and hated texture in his foods. In fact, he is now 2 yrs and 10 months and today he ate his first "regular" veggie, a piece of broccoli. He still eats baby food vegtables for the most part!

Noodle is a lovey dovey, he snuggles and likes to pet my hair. He is also active, crazy, and a bit wild! He is the only one of the crazies who has ever had stitches, he is the only one who has fallen off the top bunk bed, and he is the only one who hung from the monkey bars before turning 3! He has a huge mommy attachment, and I have to say, I am a sucker for his pudgy little (often scraped or bruised!) face and he can wrap me around his finger just by saying "Wuv ooo Mama!"

MooMoo the Clown

After the adventure of having 2 kids in just bit over a year, you would think we would take a break for a bit, right? And we did...sort of. There are 16 months between Fia and MooMoo, the largest gap between any of our kids. Jeff and I decided we were going to be a 3 child family, and since we already had 2 so close together, we might as well have the third one soon and get them all out of diapers around the same time. In theory, it was a great plan...in practice, still good but more complicated by the addition of #4, but that's a later post.

MooMoo is my mini-me. She is quiet in front of other people, but the loudest of the crazies at home. She likes to play jokes on people, especially if she can do it in a sneaky way. She can be passive agressive, and even though she is younger than Pander and Fia, she can really hold her own with them. Oh, and Moo is stubborn as the day is long! She is so much like me that she even tried to share my birthday, but came 2 hours too soon!

MooMoo was a fairly easy baby. She didn't have the belly issues my older 2 had, she was very content and ate like a champ. She was born sucking hungrily on her hand, nursed like a pro from the moment she was handed to me, and didn't need anything beyond a full tummy to be happy. As she grew older, and started moving and talking, we started to see the mischievous side emerge. As soon as anyone vacates a chair (and I mean within a second), it is gone forever because Moo is an infamous seat-stealer. Why? Because she "likes a warm chair."

We call my baby girl MooMoo because when she cries, it is very dramatic and it sounds like injured, dying cattle. The drama is all hype, because as soon as you say "where is that dying cow?" she starts to laugh and can't maintain her fit. She is my funny bunny, and I am really enjoying this school year because we have mornings at home with just me, Moo and Noodle and I'm getting to see a hilarious, independant side to her that I haven't seen when the older kids are home. I can't wait to see how the rest of this year goes, and how MooMoo grows and changes with the opportunity to be the "big man" on campus!

Princess Fia

This is Fia. She was our surprise baby, born only 12 1/2 months after Pander. Jeff and I were not really planning another baby, but it happens, right? :)

Fia and I had a rough start. I had a bit of a disconnect after she was born and it took us a little while to bond. Looking back, I see many reasons for it. First, I had high expectations due to the immediate connection I felt with Pander. Secondly, I didn't breastfeed-I'm not strictly an advocate of bf'ing, all my kids had bottles at some point, but I honestly didn't give it a fair try with Fia because I was on some equality kick and want Jeff to do half the feedings, which was nuts. Finally, Fia was lactose intolerant which made her cranky, pukey, and just generally difficult and trying to figure out what was wrong put my stress level through the roof. It took us awhile, but I will tell you, that girl now owns a huge chunk of my heart and she is my little princess.

Actually, Fia was a princess from birth on. The night after she was born, I tried to send her to the nursery and get some sleep, but they sent her right back. Apparently, princess started to scream and was disturbing all the other babies. She was too hoity toity for the nursery! When Fia started to walk, my sister and I took her to the mall. She wasn't impressed with the clothes, or toy stores but all of a sudden she took off and pressed her little face up against the glass, totally in awe. Guess what Princess was in love with? The well lit, sparkling, beautiful display of high heels!

Fia has one quality that is very much appreciated in our full, bustling home. She is a neat freak! She loves to clean and organization appears to be her life mission. From the moment she could crawl, she would return toys to the toy box without complaint, she can't stand dirty hands, and she loves to chip in and do household chores. In fact, one day I was reorganizing the girls' room and sent all the kids  to play on the swingset. She came back into the room, so I gave her a choice- play outside or get to work cleaning. She chose to stay and reorganize toy bins right along side me for fun. Since I am not well organized, and I am often okay with a cluttered living space, this can cause some conflict. But when it is time to get going and get things done, Fia is my best helper and I am so thankful for my clean little princess!

Meet Pander

I thought that those of you who don't know me personally might want an introduction to my lil crazies. I'll start with Pander.

Before Pander was born, Jeff and I were living in a fancy apartment, I was working full time in the wedding industry and Jeff worked opposite shifts in restaurant management. We refer to those years as "The Golden Age" because compared to our current life, we were rolling in cash. When  we were married a little over a year, we had a miscarriage and it was a devestating time for us. Months later, we were ready to try again. We went to the store and bought an ovulation kit and were just so excited to start the temperature taking, charting and all that fun "trying to get pregnant" stuff. We ripped the kit open as soon as we got home and read the instruction book. The first thing it said was to take a pregnancy test before you start. I thought that was so weird, who would need to buy an ovulation kit if they were already pregnant? I sent Jeff back to the store anyway, to get a test. When he got home I took it and, surprise, surprise, I was already pregnant! Guess it was a good thing we decided we were ready, huh?

Pander is a special guy. I know, all kids are special. But to me, Pander was the small light given to me in a really dark time. He was a difficult baby, fussy, lots of tummy issues, but he loved to snuggle and he was always momma's little man. I had no clue how to parent, read everything I could get my hands on, and still didn't know what I was doing, though you never would have heard me admit it at the time. Once, when he was dealing with tummy pain, my grandma kept saying "give that baby some Karo syrup!" and I kept saying "I don't want to try old wives tales, I'm taking him to the pediatrician!" When I finally got to the doctors office, guess what he said? "Put dark Karo syrup in a bottle of water every morning until he's regular." Ouch, should've listened to grandma!

Pander is a smarty pants. By the time he was 18 months old, he knew all his letters and the sounds they made. At 4 years, he was reading. Not just short sentences, but whole books and with expression and feeling. In his kindergarten class last year, he had to be his own reading group because there were no other 5 year olds who could keep up with him. He tries to negotiate with me, always wants to know the reason for everything, can study ants on the sidewalk for hours, and has announced his decision to become a mad scientist when he grows up.

Pander is also an emotional, sensitive boy. As a baby, he didn't walk until he was a year and a half because he of his cautious spirit. He cries when other people cry, and we have to be careful about bringing him into the service at church because if any slow hymns play, he gets overwhelmed by the music and weeps. This emotional side has definite negative points, for instance, small conflicts or discipline can send him into a tailspin. Often times I tell him he needs to stop crying and he says "I just don't know how to stop!" He is easily overwhelmed. But there are up sides to the sensitivity. Whenever I am upset, he is right there loving up on me, making sure I am okay. He never wants to hurt anyone, and is quick to help the other crazies feel better. Such a sweet little man.

So that's my emotional intellectual, Pander. (Who, by the way, just ran through the yard yelling "I'm a beautiful, magical butterfly!" What a kid.)

Commercial Logic

Pander and I have an ongoing debate about his Halloween costume. He chose one last year during the post trick or treat clearance, and has since decided he doesn't like it. The costume he picked is a GI Joe Black Ninja. I think it is awesome, so I am not willing to spend more money so he can change his mind.
Last night, we tried on costumes because next week Pander and Fia have a Costume Parade at school and I wanted to make sure everything fits. Fia's hippie costume was too big (she is a tall, skinny stick so this is a common event and she wasn't upset) so she will be wearing the sparkly soldier outfit I picked for MooMoo. Moo will be wearing the ballet costume Fia used for her last dance recital now, and she is thrilled. Noodle's Zookeeper costume was a perfect fit, yay. Now we get to Pander.
Pander's Ninja costume was a perfect fit, thank goodness. But he HATES it. "It's too long." "I don't like that it covers my face!" "Without the face cover, it just looks like a hood!"  No matter what I tried, he wasn't happy. So he took it off and I gave him a decision to make- he can wear the ninja outfit, or his karate uniform, or no costume at all. He stomped off to his room and I didn't see his angry little face until dinner.
Fast forward to this morning. I am still laying down, not even out of bed yet, when Pander approaches with a new attempt to sway me. "My brain was thinking on my 2 costume choices, and my brain decided no to both of them." Way to blame your brain, dear. I reminded him of the money we spent on his costume and told him we will not be buying a different one. He then broke out with his Commercial Logic. "Didn't we buy this costume from Target?" Yes, we did. "Target says to Buy more, pay less. I want to follow that direction." We did buy something there and we did pay less because it was on clearance. "But I want to follow the direction that says to Buy More, and you always say we have to follow directions!" Insert big, cheesy grin that says he feels there is no way he can lose this discussion now because he has used my own rule to defeat me! Sometimes, there is no reasoning with a 6 year old. So here is where I pull out the arguement that all mommies swear not to use, but do anyway. "You are not getting a new costume, no matter what Target says, because I said so!" Maybe next time he'll ask about this when I'm awake and out of bed, and I'll think of a better way to battle his commercial logic.

Monday's Crazy

Today was a great day- until noon! Fia and I went on her class field trip to the pumpkin farm. We spent some quality time bonding, I had the chance to meet a few of the classmates she has been talking about for weeks now. My favorite memory from the day was when Fia was trying to feed the goats in the petting zoo. The goats were not very hungry and even though her hand was out, they were not coming for a goaty snack. All of a sudden Fia flew back, tripping over her own lil feet, yelling "What is that big goat?!" Apparently there was a llama in the same pen and he wanted the food. Poor Fia thought she discovered a giant goat. Makes me smile- Princess doesn't belong on a farm.
When we came home, things fell apart a bit. Noodle and MooMoo were "napping" in the same room. They got on the top bunk bed together and Noodle (of course, remember he is Rowdy Baby) launched himself off! He scraped his belly on the nearest dresser, hit his chin into the dresser as well, and managed to bite halfway through his tongue. Fortunately, he fell in a way that all the injuries were not severe. Within 20 minutes, he was done bleeding, done crying and running around. The pediatrician just wanted us to watch him, he has seemed fine.
Most Monday nights, the girls go to ballet and tap for an hour while Pander, Noodle and I sit in the hallways with other parents and siblings. After Humpty Dumpty's great fall this afternoon, we decided to stay home since sitting in the hallway is one of Noodle's least favorite activities of the week. I know better than to ask for extra trouble!

Am I Insane?!?!

Hi! I'm Debi, and I am living a life very similar to the old woman who lived in a shoe.  I suppose that there is a strong enough arguement that some would call me insane.

I have been married to Jeff for over 8 years now and we have 4 crazies, or uh, kids. Pander is 6, he is my Firstborn, the emotional intellectual, distracted, cautious and caring. Fia is 5, she is my Princess, full of attitude, always right and devoted to cleanliness.  MooMoo is 3 1/2, she is my Quiet Clown, the passive aggresive jokester, sneaking in a quick hug before she steals your seat or hides your keys.  Noodle is 2 1/2, he is my Rowdy Baby, a bit behind in some of his milestones, but catching up by the minute, doesn't walk if he can run, doesn't run if he can leap, doesn't leap if he can launch himself off of something. If you have been reading closely, you have discovered the first reason you could call me insane- all 4 of the crazies were born within a period of 3 1/2 years.

Referring back to said old lady, she had a lot of kids, as do I. But she lived in a shoe, you say.  Well, my shoe is a 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom house with less than 900 sq. ft. of living space. 6 people in a tiny house with one potty? That would be the second reason you may call me insane.

While I am a stay at home mom, Jeff does double duty. He works full time second shift in a retail computer troubleshooting job. He also goes to college during the day. This means that most weekdays, Jeff leaves the house to take Pander and Fia to school before 8 AM, goes to class, does homework, goes to work and comes home at 11PM. So I am home with the kids all day by myself 5 days a week while he is out of the house working hard for 15 hours. Weekends are a bit better, though half of Jeff's Saturdays in a month are reserved for studying and homework. Coming as close to single parenting as possible without actually being a single parent is the thrid reason you could call me insane.

As I said, Pander and Fia are in school. Pander is in 1st grade, while Fia is in K-4 and only goes to school for 2 1/2 hours every day. This means we make a total of 3 trips to school every day. Jeff takes the first trip on his way to school, then I bundle up the kids for the last 2 trips. Not so bad in the summer, but in the frigid midwestern winter MooMoo, Noodle and I spend half our days bundling up to go to school and unbundling when we get home. Insane, right? Between trips, we work on home preschooling. This is my first year adding a preschool cirriculum to our hectic schedule, in the hopes of feeling ready to pull Pander and Fia out and homeschool everyone next year. And yes, this is the final reason you may call me insane, having a goal of homeschooling 4 kids in 4 separate grades, while still dealing with the other insane issues of a small house and a nearly missing husband.

I am writing this blog to help me sort through the insanity. To remind me of what we actually accomplish when I start to see my life through the eyes of those who do think I'm crazy. To focus on the funny, the silly and the just plain weird that happens in a family. I want to share with you that if you look close enough, what looks like insanity from the outside, is really love.