Teamwork

Especially since our family does not have a lot of females (yet), I like that the ones we do have work so well together.

Kylee, Stephanie and I share a lot of the same goals and interests. For instance, love of God and family, service to the church, keeping our guys out of trouble ... you know, the usual things.

We help out with each others' children--I change the occasional diaper or snuggle one or more of the grandkids until they fall asleep, and Steph and Kylee keep me informed if one of my guys is doing something they shouldn't or has posted something stupid on Facebook.

Both of them have helped me with advice on decorating my home, and they've both made wreaths and/or decorations for me because they're both very crafty and creative. I return the favor by not making something for them because I'm not crafty at all.

We also work well together at planning family activities and get-togethers. There's a lot of us when we're all together and it sometimes takes a lot of planning to have everything go smoothly and everyone be entertained.

Our ability to work well together came in very handy a couple of years ago when we took a day trip to a nearby city to do some shopping. Navigating kids and strollers and shopping bags and diaper bags and lunch times and nap times--not to mention actually shopping at stores--took all three of us.

At one point we were getting ready to leave Hobby Lobby when a full-blown snowstorm suddenly came up. No snow had been predicted for the day, and actually, it wasn't all that cold. We were wearing light jackets and not heavy coats. I was the driver that day, so I volunteered to go get the van and bring it up to the door. The snow was really heavy and the wind whipped all around me ... until I got to the van (it was a big van, so it was parked in the back of the parking lot). As soon as I started the van, the snow let up and by the time I got up to the door, the sun had come out again. Guess we should have waited a few minutes, but when you have crying kids and full diapers, waiting isn't always an option.

At any rate, Kylee and Stephanie quickly loaded up and buckled the kids into their carseats and then settled in themselves. I headed toward the exit where there were several cars lined up, waiting to turn out into traffic. I pulled up to the line of cars, and at that moment our brakes quit working.

"The brakes are out!" I shouted in my best imitation of the heroine in an action movie.

"Honk your horn!" Kylee advised immediately while leaning over to make sure the kids were secure.

"There's room to pull over there!" Stephanie pointed as she watched for openings and helped me navigate into the traffic coming into the parking lot, past the line of waiting cars, and out into the street where I continued honking and driving and pumping useless brakes until I was able to steer into an empty parking lot that allowed the van to roll to a stop.

There was a sudden moment of complete silence as I put the van in park and we all drew shaky breaths of relief and prayers of thanks.

Then out came the cellphones as we called husbands and sons and brothers and arranged a couple of cars to come up and take us home. Then I made more calls to get a tow truck for the van while Kylee and Stephanie made a quick run to a nearby convenience store for snacks and beverages as we were going to have several hours to wait before tow truck and rescue drivers could reach us.

All in all, other than the very real danger of crashing into oncoming vehicles and the threat of imminent death (not that I'm dramatic at all), we had a nice little time of snacks and Pinterest and chatting and laughing while waiting to be rescued. The kids even cooperated by taking naps almost the entire time we were stuck in the parking lot. It's not an event I want to repeat any time soon, but it does make for some good laughs and memories now and that's partly because of the way we work together and the way we get along.

I wouldn't trade that for anything. Well, maybe for working brakes, but other than that--nothing!

Who's who?

Often times you wonder before your kids are born if they will look like you or your spouse. You wonder if they will get your eyes or his hair color. When they are finally born you get several opinions of who your child looks like. For us, it has been pretty close with all three of our girls whether they look like Matt or myself. I thought it would be fun to get your opinion!

Here is my husband when he was two and a half.

Here is me at the same age.

Here are all three of our girls in no particular order. Can you guess who is who?

Now, do you think they look like my husband or myself?

Siblings

 Can't live with them, can't live without them. In our house, no one could mess with a Boyd... except of course, a Boyd. The other day I found a questionnaire about siblings and it made me chuckle. So I thought I'd share some of the questions with you.

• What did they want to be when they grew up? Well, I asked them just now and they are not answering me seriously. My mom's reply was "you seriously thought they would answer you seriously?"

• What kind of treats did they always want on their birthday? I'm pretty sure all of us wanted an ice cream cake because they are amazing. We also always got to pick what we wanted for dinner on our birthday. After we came back from Africa, even Mcdonalds was a worthy birthday dinner. 

• What do you do that still drives them totally crazy? Pretty sure my existence annoys them, but they all hate it when I am bossy. Which I may tend to be often. 

• What outfit did they wear all the time as a kid that your parents still talk about? They almost all have this thing, where when they find a shirt that they really like, they keep it for the next 7 years and try to claim that it is their lucky shirt or something. Not all of them do this, but the ones that do tend to wear it well past arm raising ability. 

• Which one of your friends did they have a huge crush on? If I said, I would die. 

• Do they want to get married and have a family? My older brother is married and has kids. The younger brothers may have more success in getting married when they no longer think that deodorant is optional. 

• Do they want to live in the same city as you one day? I don't really see any of them moving to Brazil. So I'm gonna say no. 

• How do they like their eggs? There were 6 of us.  We only got scrambled eggs. Mom didn't take requests.

• If you guys could take a sibling trip, no parents or other relatives or significant others, where would you go?  I don't know where we'd start, but we'd either end up in jail or in the loony bin by day two or three. We've never done well on long trips together.  How my parents made it through deputation, I'll never know. 

• Are they super organized, messy/ neat, or fairly laid back? I think one of each. 

• There's no question about germophobes, but I thought you should know, we have a couple of them. 

• What is something you share with your parents that they don't?  That I'm the favorite. 😁

 So your turn. If you and your siblings could take a trip with just you guys, where would you go?

A Gray Reality Check

In many ways it's hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that I've lived for half a century. I could easily almost believe that we're still the young couple in this photograph.

Except for the fact that I creak and groan while working out all the stiff and aching joints after I get up in the morning.

Except for the fact that I find 10:00 to be incredibly late in the evening and an acceptable bedtime.

Except for the fact that he one of us has a lot more wrinkles now.

And he one of us has a lot more gray hair now.

Actually, we both have gray hair, but I started coloring my grays before they became too prominent on my head. Since my gray hair isn't so pronounced, I can pass for about 8-10 years younger than I actually am.

My kids used to announce my birthday--and my age--in their Sunday School class. Since I didn't want to stop celebrating my birthday, I decided to do the next best thing. I taught my kids to lie about my age. No matter what age I was turning, they would say I was thirty-six. Sometimes they tried to say I was twenty-eight, but I'd always correct them because we needed to keep it within the confines of believability.

 Or so I thought.

I'm beginning to suspect that I'm looking more and more my age every day. Some of it has to do with looking in the mirror, but some of it comes from subtle clues from others.

For instance, I get my hair cut from a lady whose husband used to be in the ministry. We often chat of ministry-related things while she's cutting my hair. This past summer, she gave me a little break on the price of a haircut. It was only $3.00 off, but still it seemed like a kind gesture from one pastor's wife to another. At least, it did until I noticed on their pricing board that what she charged me was the senior rate.

I still choose to believe she was simply being kind.

A few weeks ago Stephanie was in town, and she and I decided to take her kids out to lunch one day. We each paid for our own, but I thought my price must have been miscalculated because it was less than I thought it would be.

And then I noticed the cashier had given me a senior discount.

That really hurt, even if it did save me money.

I've been noticing more and more gray peeking through in between colorings, so I've finally decided it's time to face reality. I'm going to raise my head and proudly claim my experience and wisdom. I've earned the grays and the wrinkles and I might as well claim them with pride. I've got six grandchildren, for pete's sake! I know I can't pass for thirty-six any more, so now I'm going to claim to be forty-two.

So what if I'm still shorting myself by almost ten years? If I jump from thirty-six to my real age, I'd have aged fifteen years in three hundred and sixty-five days and that's just not realistic.

Plus, no one ever claimed I was good at math.

What about you? What age do you look?

Captain Underpants!

I realized that it has been awhile since I’ve written about this cutie. 

Last time I wrote about Olivia on my blog, I believe she had just turned one and was quite the cranky pants. Although some things remain the same, a lot has also changed in those five months. She no longer head butts the floor, and she no longer has a major temper (just a little one). She also has developed a pretty funny personality. She loves to give fist bumps, high fives, and kisses. 

However, over the past couple of weeks she has developed a strange obsession. I’ve seen previews for that TLC show about crazy obsessions. People are obsessed with things from Christmas decorations to the color pink to being an adult baby. Weird, right? Well, Olivia isn't that obsessed yet, and I refuse to let it go that far, but she  has become obsessed with underwear. Yes, that’s right. Underwear! Mostly, her sister’s underwear. 

She will randomly go to her room and pull out a handful and carry it around with her. She will sit and play with it or even try putting on a few pairs at once. If I have some clothes laid out for the girls, she will take the pair of underwear or pull out a pair from the clean laundry that I just pulled from the dryer. I really don’t know where this came from or why she really even likes them. Maybe it's just that they are soft and bright colored?

A few evenings ago she was pretty cranky so she went to her room and pulled out a few pairs of underwear and was holding them. It was almost comforting to her. I sat her next to me with her underwear while I folded some laundry. The next thing you know I looked over and she has fallen asleep with her pile of underwear tucked in beside her.

If she is that interested in underwear, maybe I should consider potty training? Potty training two girls at once. Am I crazy or efficient? Only time will tell. Either way, wish me luck!

Still Learning!

   I'm pretty sure I've mentioned that we are on deputation to be missionaries in Brazil. We've been on deputation for about a year and eight months. That time has had its ups and downs. We've laughed, we've cried, and we've learned.  I thought I'd share with you a list of ten or so things that deputation has changed about us or taught us.

Here we go!

• I've learned that I'm not a very social person.... or so people think... 😉
  Most people that know me can verify this about me. In fact, I'm pretty sure my in-laws are still wondering what happened to the girl from the top picture. 

• I've learned that there's something about ordering new prayer cards that makes you fertile. Don't believe me, just ask my mom. There are no prayer cards from when my family was on deputation that have all six of us kids. Every time we went to get new ones done, my mom would find out within the month that she was expecting again. Same thing happened with my husband and I. Before we even officially started deputation we got the prayer cards ordered, the banner with our picture, the presentation finished... and then we found out our little boy was on the way. And about a month and a half ago we ordered new prayer cards, then a few weeks later we found out baby #3 is on the way. 

• I've learned that the only way to survive the long trips with sanity still intact is to embrace hearing the leap frog letter factory songs for the 50th time, maybe even sing along. 😜 Hey, she's learning, right? So I should be happy. 

• I've learned that the neighbors in a hotel don't appreciate my kids energy level when we pull into a hotel at 11:00 at night. We may or may not have had a noise complaint called on us. I really try, I do, but if you had been in the car for ten hours, and slept for the last three then you would be ready to party at 11 p.m. too. 

• I've changed in that I used to be the mom that wanted to keep her kids in the service all the time. Well, now I unashamedly say I'm sad when we get to a church and they don't have a nursery. Don't judge me. You moms on deputation who are stuck in a car all day every day and then you still keep them in services... You deserve a medal or something! 

• I've also changed my expectations of what to accomplish when we are home for a week from travelling. It used to be that I wanted to scrub the house from top to bottom, in addition to all the laundry, unpacking, and repacking. I wanted to sort and organize everything that had been waiting for me, maybe even do a little cleaning out in the garage. Now my expectations and plans are a little lower. I have to do the laundry, unpacking, and repacking, but as for cleaning... as long as I leave the house so that I'm not coming back to the after effect of a tornado in my living room, I'm good with it. 

• I've also learned that there are a lot more people out there who understand crazy toddlers than there are those who don't understand. Praise the Lord! 

• I've learned that eating a little food off the floor or putting a pacifier or cup back in your mouth off the floor isn't going to kill your kids. Hmm, maybe that's the reason for the nastiness that has been my kids diapers this last week. Oh well, it builds the immune system, right?!?

• Lastly, yes, lastly (I know, not ten. I did say "or so") I've learned that I don't always have time to sit and think of all ten "or so" things. 😂 And this is the reason you're only getting nine this morning. 

Have a happy Monday and a great week! 

What Do These Have in Common??

 I know, I know. This is not a typical post time. I have a good excuse for being late, but we'll get to that. So, before you rush off to your weekend, we're gonna play a game.

I'm going to list some things, and you have to figure out how they all go together. Don't worry, I won't keep you waiting too long. I'll tell you at the end, but STOP RIGHT THERE!! Don't you dare scroll to the end to find out. Play fair, guys!

• September 15, October 16, November 16, December 18, January 18, February 19, March 19, April 2, April 16, April 25??

• Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Watermelon??

• Bob's Cheeseburgers??

• Lack of Sleep??

• Stopping almost every hour for a potty break during a long trip on deputation??

• Hardcore potty training??

• Necessary Clothes Shopping??

• Ten sets of feet and ten sets of hands??

Have you figured it out yet??  If not, here's one more clue for you.

  We're excited to announce that there's another baby Gerwitz coming! Our little girl is so excited about the new baby in my belly and our little boy has no idea what he's smiling about. 😁

I'm sure most of the items are self explanatory now, but I do have to explain Bob's Cheeseburgers. That is the restaurant that we passed and I thought it was a funny name, so I start to say to my husband "That's original. Bob's Cheeseburg (BLAH)!" Apparently, new baby didn't even like the sound of it. And my reason for not posting this morning was because I was up late, then had an early doctor's appointment, then I came home and fell asleep. Now after finally catching up, I was ready to write. 

 So what do you guys think? Do my kids need a brother or a sister??

Happy Fall Y'all!

I love this time of year:  the weather, the smells, the colors, but my favorite most of all is fall decorating! I love looking on Pinterest for new ideas for DIY projects. I came across a new craft not long ago. It’s so easy and super inexpensive! It’s not a craft you can quickly squeeze in during nap-time, however it’s the perfect project to keep you awake for that movie you have been dying to watch!

If you are not a crafty person, don’t worry! You will be able to do this too!

Today, I’m going to show you how to make a “rag wreath”.

What’s fun about this is you can really do these wreaths in any colors, patterns, shapes and sizes. 

What you will need:

wire wreath form (Walmart is the cheapest I found, so far!)

2 yards of fabric or 8 fat quarters ($.97 at Walmart)

Scissors 

Start by laying out your material. I like to fold over the material or put two fat quarters on top of each other. If you are cutting strips instead of tearing strips, this saves a lot of time. (Both ways work!)

First, you will want to cut long strips that are about one inch wide. Then, cut each long strip in half or in thirds. I have always cut them in thirds. 

Begin your wreath by tying these strips onto the wire wreath form!

Tie the first strip onto the two “outer” wires of the wreath. Tie the second strip to the two “middle” wires and the third strip to the two “inner” wires of the wreath form. 

Continue around until you have the wire wreath form completely covered in strips of fabric. After I’m finished, I like to go and add some strips in the places that look a little “bare”. 

The photo below is a “back” view of the wreath …

and here is your finished product!!

You can dress wreaths up with anything you would like, flowers, ribbons, etc … Or they look great plain too!

This is the perfect craft to do while your watching a good movie. It’s so simple, yet adds so much to any decorating that you’re doing! 

I Remember

September 11th.

Sunshine. Autumn. Blue skies. Tuesday.

Shock. Horror. Terror. 

Everyone has a story to tell, don't they? If you weren't there experiencing it, you were watching it on television. You remember where you were and what you were doing. 

You remember the point where you realized this wasn't an accident.

You remember the feelings of fear and horror and terror and anger ...

You remember the moment you decided to do something about this.

Some people traveled to New York or to Washington D.C. to try and help. Some helped from home by sending supplies and giving blood. And praying.

Some joined the military to help protect their country and to honor those who lost their lives.

This year's remembrance seems almost like an afterthought because so many of us have been focused on the devastation that Irma has been causing. But even at that, we pause and we remember what happened.

The tributes today and the memories and the news clips and the photos ... they're for me and you. They are to remind us of what happened. The memorials are to make us stop and think of those who were attacked:  on the planes ... in the towers ... at the Pentagon ... They remind us of the heroes who lost their lives rushing into the towers to rescue others, and the heroes who lost their lives in a field in Pennsylvania while fighting against the terrorists who had hijacked their plane.

But the memorials aren't just for us. It stunned me recently to realize that my youngest, Nick, wasn't even two on September 11, 2001. He knows what the date is. He's seen pictures. But he doesn't really remember the day for himself. He has no recollection of what occurred. The memorials and remembrances are for him and thousands like him who were too young to have any actual memories from that day. 

Why would I want my son to remember something so horrible? Because sometimes we need to be reminded that there is evil in the world. We need to know that there are people out there who truly hate the good and right and will do anything to destroy it. We need to be reminded that, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." (Edmund Burke)

But my son needs to remember September 11th for another reason as well. He needs to know that there are heroes in the world. There are people who will give their lives trying to help others. He needs to know that there are heroes who will fight evil in all its forms, regardless of political stance or cost to oneself.

I hope that we never forget the lessons we learned that day and the heroic examples that were given. I think memorials are a good tool to remind us of what's truly important; to challenge us to stand for what's right and fight against the things that are wrong.

So today, as you trudge in to your Monday morning workload ... as you clean up from a storm ... as you head out on your errands ... Remember.

 

Answers to Yesterday's Quiz

So you think you know your Boyds? Let's see how you did. Here's the answers to yesterday's quiz:

1. Matt. He was barefoot on the cement floor of the garage when he tried to plug in a 220v plug. His hand looked like someone had bored holes in it with a drill.

2. Paul. He was three and we were on our way to Uganda. There was a girls' soccer team in the row behind him and they all fell in love.

3 and 4. Stephanie.

5. Paul. He was looking for one of our cats, but instead he came across the feral suitor who had slipped in the window looking for his girlfriends.

6. Luke.

7. Nick. I don't know if he was making up his own language or trying to say something in English, but we always knew when he wanted seconds.

8. Joel came down with meningitis before he was a week old.

9. Luke. Although technically I guess this could be Paul, Joel and Nick as well because they all made bets with each other.

10. Matt decided a light saber battle would be a good way to attract attention to our yard sale. And it worked ... until the police showed up.

11. Luke. The church was on Hughes Road at the time and he gave quite a view to all the traffic.

12. Matt. His daughter takes after him, too.

13. Joel. He didn't want to go to the park that day, but I insisted. Talk about mom guilt!

14. Nick. He had Bo and Lar and Beth and Rufus. Rufus was the imaginary dog.

15. Stephanie. It was an accident, but that didn't make the puppy any less dead.

16. Paul. We were at a meeting where the pastor made no secret of the fact that he was only tolerating another missionary. Paul was two and kept peeking out at the pastor with his big green eyes. By the time the service was over and we were packing up our display table, Paul and the pastor were playing hide-n-seek in the auditorium. The church took us on that month.

17. Joel shoved Nicky off the porch. Nick landed face first on the cement apron.

18. Nick. He ran all over our compound in Uganda, and when he was tired, he'd just drop wherever he was and go to sleep.

So now you have it. Thanks for playing!

Which One?

I have a game for you on this cool, fall-like Friday morning. I'll give you a list of things that one or more of my children did, and you guess which child it was.

Disclaimer: My kids and family may remember things differently, but since I'm the one writing the blog, my memory is the official one being used.

Ready to play? Pick one or guess them all and answer in the comments. Here we go:

1.  Which child electrocuted themselves while we were in Uganda?

2.  Which child made friends with an entire soccer team while on an airplane?

3.  Which child made a perfect score on their driving test?

4.  Which child tended to drift over the middle line while learning to drive? (Hint:  same one as the answer in #3)

5.  Which child discovered a strange cat in their bedroom?

6.  One of them met a soldier at an airport. He/she thanked the soldier for their service, gave them a Gospel tract, and made such an impression that the soldier wrote a letter to my husband about them.

7.  Which child said, "Pwease! I wuv it, atee-tee, awoo-woo" whenever they wanted seconds at dinner?

8.  Which child ended up in the intensive care unit at the hospital when they were six days old?

9. Which child made a bet on how soon I would actually burst into tears when dropping them off at college?

10. Which child stopped traffic by having a light saber battle on top of a parked car at the side of the road?

11.  Which child whipped his pants down and "watered" the flowers in front of the church building when he was two?

12.  Which child regularly introduced himself/herself to strangers in the grocery store?

13.  Which child broke both his wrists when I insisted he go to the park and get some exercise?

14.  One of them had imaginary friends (re: more than one) when they were little.

15.  Which one ran over a puppy with a motorcycle?

16.  One of them actually won over a pastor and got a church to take us on for support when we were missionaries to Uganda.

17.  Which one shoved his/her brother, strapped in an umbrella stroller, off a four-foot high cement porch?

18.  Which one could fall asleep anywhere (under the guava tree, on the steps in the bleachers during a basketball game, etc.)?

And I'm going to stop at eighteen because that means there's three questions for each of them. Because which one would notice if their brothers/sister got more than the others? All of them.

Check back here tomorrow for a special post with the answers.

Mommy's in the Making

On our way home from the store one evening, we started a discussion and my husband suggested to our 4 year old that we would be the kids and that they would be our parents. We instantly started saying things that they say and asking questions (repeatedly) like they do. It went a little something like this: I want a drink, Hold me mom, Will you itch my back?, Can we watch My Little Pony?, Is it bath time yet? etc … 

The girls loved it and played along. When we walked in the door, my husband laid down on the couch and I got all my laundry so I could start folding it. My husband said, “Mom, I’m cold.” Talia started taking my clean towels and started covering him up. He said he needed a bigger blanket. Stella said “I have a better one.” She saved the day by rushing over to our blanket basket and got him his favorite blanket. He then said “Mom, I’m thirsty. Will you get me a drink?” Talia said, “I’ll get it.” She ran to the fridge to get him a water. When she came back with one he said (whining like she does) “Nooo, not this one, I don’t like this one” Stella ran to the fridge and came to the rescue yet again, with a different cold water from the fridge. 

A few minutes later both girls ran to the kitchen and got the paddle. When they came back they told Matt he was getting a spanking.  Stella came in and gave him a good spanking. He laughed. She told him, “You get another one for laughing. It’s not funny!”

In the meantime, I asked, “Mom will you please fold these towels?” They both started folding laundry with me. Then they stopped, so I asked again. It only worked once.

Talia told me “You’re asking for a lot of things.”

I laughed, but I didn’t let them hear me. I didn’t want a spanking too. 

Some people like to torture their kids. Us… manipulation is fine! What a great way to trick our children into doing what we want. This might be a new game for us. (Obvious Sarcasm)

How do you get your kids to do what you want them to do?

When the Cat's Away...

  So, we don't get to be home all that often these days, and when we do it's usually a whirlwind of a few days where we are unpacking, laundry, and repacking. Well, last week we got to be home for a whole week. It was so nice and we took some time to relax and unwind.

    On one particular night we were relaxing on the couch watching a TV show, just enjoying the evening. My little boy had fallen asleep on me, and my little girl was snuggled between me and hubby. It was just so nice and peaceful... until something in the kitchen caught my eye. All the lights in there were off and it looked like something was quickly hopping towards the pantry.

   Fun Fact for ya: I'm terrified of frogs. And with the hopping, I thought it was a frog. So, in a mild panic I whacked my husband in the arm and pointed in the kitchen. Because if I spoke the thing would hear me and it would disappear in my house and torment me for the rest of the time we lived there. What it really boiled down to was, we would have to move if the thing disappeared. So, my brave hero went into the kitchen and started searching. He looked behind the pantry, the counter, and every nook and cranny anywhere near where I saw the creature. NOTHING! It was gone, nowhere to be found. So he came back to the couch and said "just don't worry about it". Right. Cause that was going to happen.

   So we go back to watching the show. Five minutes or so went by and then I saw it. It wasn't a frog. It was just as bad though. The biggest, nastiest, scariest, most devious looking thing I've ever seen. If you are easily scared, don't look at the following picture.

 

Don't judge me. It was in my house. Crawling around my kid's toys. Not cool, mouse. 

   The problem was that every time we would make a move, the mouse would scurry back in the kitchen and disappear again. So, my hubby wanted me to forget the mouse and we could get traps in the morning. My idea of forgetting the mouse was taking my kids in our room for the night and locking the door, because that keeps mice out, and not sleeping a wink until the next day. Knowing me all too well, hubby decided it was huntin time. He loves to hunt. So the opportunity to hunt in his own house was perfect for him. He went off in the other room, then into the kitchen cupboards, then came back with a box that had peanut butter and cheese cubes inside. He put it down against the wall between the living room and the kitchen so the mouse couldn't get back in the kitchen without having to go all the way around the outside of the box. And what little mouse would be able to just walk by all that yummy goodness, right?? 

   It wasn't even two minutes and the mouse was checking out the box. But again, the box was facing the couch so it could see when we would make a move and it would run off. So hubby went around to the other kitchen door and hid in the kitchen behind the box, out of sight. A minute later, the mousey came back to the irresistible box of goodies. At that moment, hubby tipped up the box, closed the lid, and TRAP!! Bye bye, mouse. 

   Our little girl was very curious at this point about what her crazy parents were doing, so my hubby was going to show her the mouse. You could hear it jumping and clawing at the sides. Not wanting to scare our daughter, or let the mouse escape, he shook the box a little to daze the mouse so he could show off the catch. My little girl looked inside and giggled with her daddy at what he caught and then she came back inside to sit with me while daddy disposed of the intruder. 

   While sitting on the couch and waiting, my little girl looks at me and goes "Where him's mom?".  I said "I don't know, I hope she's all gone forever".  She replied with "Awwww, poor little guy mouse. Him's all alone". Really, now we feel sorry for the mouse?? Then when hubby came back she discussed it all again with him and told him that she liked the mouse, and her brother liked the mouse, and daddy liked the mouse, but mommy thinks it's yucky and she doesn't like the mouse. That's right, kid. Mommy doesn't like the mouse. I'm not sure where the sympathy she has comes from, though. 

Several people have asked me already what I'm going to do in Brazil, because I will most likely see mice.... and frogs for that matter, much more often. My answer. Just because they will be around, doesn't mean I have to like them. And now I know how to catch them with a redneck mouse trap. Next to learn in the Brazil department, how to grill a mouse??

The Things Kids Put Me Through

Last week I started to post about taking these two to college, but then I got distracted talking about Paul's phone texting for help. So this week I'm going to post about two weeks ago when I took these two guys to college. By the way, I'm not sure why they were dressed like twins in this picture.

While loading up the vehicles after church, I noticed that one of them had removed his dress shirt and was wearing the dingiest, dirtiest t-shirt I'd ever seen. Apparently he had packed every other t-shirt and it was all he had left to wear.

The next day, after his shower, he was wearing the t-shirt again. He said the college dress code required him to wear a t-shirt under any and every shirt. I told him he could put a t-shirt on under his polo once he unpacked in his dorm room, but he wasn't going to wear that nasty shirt for a second day in a row. He tried spraying it with cologne *gag*, but that didn't work either.

While we waited for the elevator at the hotel we stayed in that night, the other one decided to suddenly informed the strangers also standing there waiting for the elevator that we had dibs on the first car and we didn't share. Thinking he was joking, we all laughed it off and I scolded him for rudeness. The next morning when we left, we found others waiting for the elevator. The same son suddenly decided he needed something from the room we'd just left. Turns out he wasn't kidding--he doesn't like to share elevators. I told him to take the stairs.

One of them called and/or texted me every day for the next week. The other one had to be reminded that he had a mother before I heard from him.

One of them accidentally clogged the toilet in their dorm room bathroom by trying to flush the paper towels he used to clean the bathroom. The other one brought extra hand sanitizer with him to college so that he had one in his room and an extra one in his backpack.

I made them each a batch of homemade cookies before they left home. One of them generously offered to share with their roommates--by handing out some of his brother's cookies.

We have an accountability program on all of our sons' phones, and the program sends an alert if they access something questionable or send or receive a text with in appropriate words in it. One of them laughed hysterically while the other one called me to let me know that his phone had auto-corrected a text to include an inappropriate word. He wanted me to know that I would probably get an alert, but that he hadn't actually meant to send that text.

And one of them that didn't go to college spent the first week that his brothers were gone working on videos to send them. The videos were hysterically funny, but apparently they didn't translate well to blogger. Sorry.

All in all it's been an interesting ten days since they've been gone.

I'm not sure any of us are going to make it through this whole semester.