Frivolous Friday: Things We Do to Our Kids

Despite all my best efforts, I am sure I've done many things over the years which have traumatized the Young'uns.  Probably for life.  It's hard to be a great Mom all the time.  We have weak moments.

However, I can honestly say I've never been this weak... at least not when my camera has been around.

Poor kid!  This was his mother's cure for sunburn.  I think it is cornstarch.  Apparently, his left hand escaped the sun.  Maybe he was in a Michael Jackson phase and was sporting the sparkly white glove at the beach that day. 

Whatever is going on here, it made me laugh.  Happy Frivolous Friday!

Once again, thanks for the laugh Awkward Family photos!

Frivolous Friday: The 14 Days of Homeschooling

A few years ago, I had a role in helping put together our homeschool group's (Green Bay Area Christian Homeschoolers...say that three times fast) annual Kick Off Meeting.  You know how sometimes those types of meetings can get a bit...I'll just say it...boring?  I mean I know they're necessary and good, but can't we have a little fun while we're at it?

So, we organized a bit of entertainment to end the evening.  It was titled the "Fourteen Days of Homeschooling."  FYI - the lyrics were not all written by me.  I found them online in several places and then tweaked them a bit.  Aren't all the gals who volunteered to perform great?  What a suprise to see which ladies stepped up.  It's always a good thing to laugh at ourselves from time to time.

Little did I know, there would be a video camera in the audience and said video would be posted to YouTube! 

So, if you're a homeschooling mom right smack in the middle of schooling planning - watch and give yourself a break.  If you're not a homeschooling mom - watch anyway.  It's pretty funny!

I'd forgotten all about this night.  Thanks Julie for reminding me!

Frivolous Friday...All the Wrinkled Ladies

Zucchini Week has been so serious...so here's something to lighten things up. I love this video, especially the more mature gals dancing in the background. Totally see myself and some friends doing this for a talent show at our retirement community in about 40 years or so. Or maybe my sisters will dance with me...

Gals you are all beautiful and God loves you very much no matter how many wrinkles you have!


 
Thanks to Julie L.!

Frivolous Friday - Dad Life

Depending on how you look at things, this post can either be late from last Friday or early for this Friday.  I'm thinking of it as early, because, well, the more kids we've had it seems I rarely manage to get something done early.

I love the Big Guy more than words can say.  He is truly a gift to myself and the Young'uns.  Earlier today, he sent me a link to this video called, "Dad Life."  It is hilarious and if you watch it, you'll recognize lots of Dads or parts of lots of Dad you know.

Dad Life from Church on the Move.


After I finished laughing, I went into the kitchen do some cooking and got to thinking about the video and the Big Guy. I know the Big Guy likes mowing the lawn and taking his "entourage" to the park or swimming pool. He'll even admit to enjoying a good DVD aimed at the younger set. But I am sure there are many days when he is left thinking, "Isn't there a bit more? Something a tad more adventurous?"

Often Moms (including me) feel like we're the ones who have it the toughest - the kids, the work, the food, the cleaning, etc. etc. etc. Even if Dads are helpful (and the Big Guy is), we still feel end up feeling so put upon for some reason. But what about the Dads?

Surely, the kids, the work, the food, the cleaning, etc. etc. etc. starts to wear on them as well. Not to mention the less than content and happy wife... A guy's got to want a break.

So, thanks Big Guy! I love you! When you need a break, please take it! I'll do my best to send you off with a warm hug and a smile.

Frivolous Friday - Just One More

When I saw this photo, my first thought was "What's so funny?"  We've got tons of the classic sitting-on-the-couch-in-a-big-pile-of-family photos.  It actually took me about a minute to find the funniness.  What possessed them to take this photo and who volunteered to be... well, I'm just going to stop there.  You'll have to find what I mean for yourself.

I promise, this will be the last photo I post from Awkward Family Photos.  It really will.  I just can't help it; I love to laugh.

Best Birthday Cake!

It's my birthday today. I don't want to lose my Mom card, so I won't reveal my true age. Let's just say I am not 40, yet...

In honor of my birth (Thanks Mom!), I thought I'd share my very favorite cake recipe of ALL time. Seriously-this cake is a little bit of heaven. It is especially delicious with some sort of fruity sauce - like rhubarb or strawberry- and some REAL homemade whipped cream on top.

Oh. My. Goodness. It's to die for.

This is not a cake for those who shun fat and calories, but, even if you are one of those type of folks, you should make it anyway. Afterall, you don't eat cake everyday - it's for celebrations! So, you can afford a few extra calories now and then.

Kentucky Butter Cake
(How can it be bad with the word Butter in the title?)

Cake
3 c flour
2 c sugar
1 t salt
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1 c buttermilk (or 1 c milk "soured" with 1 T vinegar or lemon juice)
1 c butter, softened
2 t vanilla extract
4 eggs

Butter Sauce
3/4 c sugar
1/3 c butter
3 T water
2 t vanilla extract

Grease and flour a 12-cup bundt pan. Do NOT skimp on the grease! Trust me, I of what I speak. In mixing bowl, add butter and whip until fluffy. Add sugar and mix well. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix again until fluffy. Add dry ingredients and milk a bit at a time, alternating between the two, and mix on low speed until just moistened, then mix for 3 minutes on medium. Pour into prepared pan and bake at 325 degrees for 55 - 70 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean from the middle.

In small saucepan, combine all butter sauce ingredients. Heat over low heat until butter and sugar are melted.

Using the end of a wooden spoon or a long tined fork, poke about 20 holes all over the bottom of the cake (which is still in the pan at this point). Slowly pour the sauce over the cake and watch it soak into all those holes. Remove cake from pan as soon as sauce is absorbed. Just stick a plate over the cake, hold the plate and cake together and flip the whole thing over. You may have to give it a couple of knocks on the counter. You can eat the cake either warm or cold, plain or with sauce, with or without REAL whipped cream.

I just have one birthday request- if you use Cool-Whip, please don't tell me about it. Thanks.

Frivolous Friday: Another Akward Photo

Just in case you haven't had a good laugh yet today...

A disclaimer: This is NOT, I repeat, this is NOT our family! Although, I was rather impressed with the idea. We are very fond of duct tape here on the farm.

Thanks, once again, to Awkward Family Photos for this shot. If you ever need a good belly laugh, the site is a sure thing. The Big Guy and I laugh until we cry at lots of the photos.

Frivolous Friday - This Seems Eerily Familiar

Part of my growing up years were spent in the great state of South Dakota. I have nothing but wonderful memories of the place. The Big Guy and I have taken family vacations there with our brood. So, don't please don't think that by posting the above photo, I'm harboring some deep seated animosity towards the place and the people who call it home. I'm not.

It's just when I found this photo at Awkward Family Photos, I laughed so hard I cried. My kids came over to the computer because there were worried about me.

We lived in South Dakota during the late 70's and early 80's, right about when I thinking this gem of a photo was probably taken. How do I know this? First off, the sign says that Janklow was governor and I remember that he was in office when I took my school trip to the capital. Who says field trips don't influence kids? Second, I am pretty sure that my sisters and I had shorts like these, not to mention the glasses, that we proudly wore while living in South Dakota. There are so many things wrong with those shorts, I don't know where to begin. And, if you know either of my sisters, don't let them try to convince you they didn't wear them because I can provide photographic documentation.

It just made me laugh.

If you've got some time to kill or need a good laugh, you might what to check out the entire website.

For my CA readers - The Dad in this photo instantaneously brought to mind a resident of the state of California. The Big Guy and I both thought so. The first person who can guess who we thought of will win some great, yet to be determined prize.

Frivolous Friday: A Tribute to Moms in Song!

I've been a bit absent in the blogosphere the past week or so. Life has just caught up to me a bit - planning athletic banquets, extra hours at Tae Kwon Do so Jake can get ready for his black belt test, 4 kids playing soccer - you get the idea. It's wearing me out and sleep has been determined more important than the blog. Sorry. I've missed it. Thoughts have been swirling around my mind, but I haven't had the chance to get them out through my fingers. I digress...

This video is great! We watched it as family on Mother's Day and I laughed 'til I cried. The kids kept looking at me. Not sure if they were concerned about the crying or just amazed that someone had written a song about me...

Enjoy!

Happy No Pants Day!

Yes, today is officially No Pants Day. Who knew? It seems the first Friday in May is traditionally celebrated as No Pants Day.

I think I've lived a sheltered life because this is a new one for me. This holiday seems a bit odd. How does one decide to declare No Pants Day? What's the thought behind (pun intended) the whole thing? Are there any underlying (yep, again, intended) philosophies that I am missing?



No one on the Farm seems to be celebrating No Pants Day except for the smallest Young'un. She would love to celebrate today's holiday every day of the year. We're working on this...

I wasn't planning on running out for anything today, but now that I know about No Pants Day, I might just have to change my mind. Could be interesting to see if anyone is celebrating around town.

Just a short post today...I'm keeping it brief (just had to do it one more time).

Left or Left

Teaching a child their left and right is hard for me. Not because it is technically challenging or requires some secret knowledge...well maybe it does require secret knowledge come to think of it.

No, teaching which way to go if you need to turn left for me is hard because I've always had a hard time distinguishing the two directions myself. North, south, east and west aren't issues in my brain, but to this day, left and right can stump me.

My second grade PE teacher in West Lafayette, Indiana is one of the heroes of my life. I clearly remember her always tanned face, salt and pepper hair, the whistle around her neck. Apparently, my struggle with directions was obvious in her class. She took me aside one day and gave me the key, the secret knowledge to the world of never getting lost and always knowing which hand to use during the Pledge of Allegiance.

She told me to hold out my two hands palms down, fingers and thumb extended. When I did so, she pointed out the fact that the pointer finger and thumb on my left hand formed the letter "L" and that the word Left began with "L."

The room got suddenly brighter, birds started singing, my life was changed.

I've used this piece of knowledge repeatedly in my life. It came in most handy while taking my driving test when I was 16. I practiced sticking up my "L" slyly so that the driving instructor wouldn't see me doing it if I needed a little directional guidance on my test.

Over the course of kids, I've used the "L" to teach my sons their left and right. It seems they didn't need much help with the concept however. They just instinctively knew which was which. My oldest daughter has been a different story. (Which leads me to believe that this might be a girl thing except that my sisters didn't have the same problem I did from what I remember.)

I taught her the "L" trick a long while ago, but it was apparent to me the other day that she hadn't gotten the concept. She was riding her bike with me as I walked and pushed the stroller. Needless to say, she was a bit faster than I and would come to the corners before me. I'd yell ahead which way I'd like her to turn to which she asked, "Which way is that?" Hmmmmm..."Don't you remember the "L" trick with your hands?" I asked when I had caught up to her.

She said, "Well, I tried that thing you showed me and I saw the "L," but my other hand didn't make an "R" so I figured it couldn't be working."

I laugh so hard I cried, but only after she was around the corner and on her way.

I Almost Went Back to Bed

There is a saying, "Things happen in threes." I've no clue where it came from and I am not at ALL a superstitious person, but I'd be lying if I said that phrase didn't cross my mind this morning.

About 6am my little curly Blondie alarm clock went off with her usual "Hello! I'm awake. Come and get me!" (This is really what she says over and over and over.) I have yet to find the snooze button on this particular alarm clock. I grabbed the gal and we headed downstairs.

The first thing I noticed was that there seemed to be a strange kind of whitish reflection coming in through the windows. We looked outside and were greeted with this:



Yep, 5 or more inches of snow. It was beautiful to look at, I'll give you that, but it was SNOW. Just when the trees were budding and we've been thinking spring.

As we rounded the corner into the living room, this is what I saw next:

Apparently, the dog had some issues in the middle of the night. Have I told you how much I love our dog?

It was at this point that the above saying came into my head...and I almost went back to bed.

Not sure if I should have posted that 2nd photo. Truth be told, I have a hard time looking at it, but just thought you might want to walk in my shoes...

Forced Family Fun

Forced Family Fun. Yep, you read that right. We force our family to have fun --together! We are that mean and unreasonable. Shocking, isn't it?

Forced Family Fun isn't a regularly scheduled thing - sometimes it is planned, sometimes it is spontaneous. The Big Guy and/or I will decide that all the Farm inhabitants (except the dog and chickens) need some time together to laugh and just be. You know those days when everyone seems just a bit out of sorts and a tad bit grumpy? Those are perfect days to force your family to have fun!

It probably sounds odd saying that we need time together. I mean we homeschool for pete's sake. The kids and I are together A LOT! Thankfully, the Big Guy is around lots, too. The 7 of us eat almost every meal together actually. That's some together time.

Forced Family Fun is a different type of together. Let me explain...

On any given night, Big Guy will announce at dinner that we'll be having Forced Family Fun at, say 7 pm. All of the kids start clapping and laughing joyfully. (Not. The older guys will maybe roll their eyes just the tiniest bit because some part of their plans for the night just put off for a while. The younger kids DO get excited.) We'll get dinner cleaned up and then at 7 pm gather in the living room. Once there, the plans for Forced Fun are announced. The Fun is often a game or a book, sometimes a board or card game, but more often than not we play charades.

How's that for some Forced Family Fun? Charades!

Truth be told it is a great game to play in a family. Lots of other games are very age specific. Take Candy Land (PLEASE take it from my home!). The 6 year old would love to play Candy Land, but the older boys would rather sort socks or turn compost or, well, you get the idea. Everyone in our family can act from the littlest on up the line. What kid doesn't like to act?

Usually, the Big Guy writes down a bunch of books, movies, characters, animals, "things," people, even sayings that can be acted out and hands them out as we go along. Sometimes, the older kids make up their own. I give the Big Guy his assignments. We've taught them the basics of the game like how to indicate that the thing to be guessed has two words in it. Sometimes we get very fancy and break it down into syllables. Yes, we're crazy around here. It doesn't take long before we are all laughing and yelling and enjoying the gift of each other.

What does Forced Family Fun accomplish? I just told you... "It doesn't take long before we are all laughing and yelling and enjoying the gift of each other."

It's All in the Eye of the Beholder

It is road construction season here. Yes, that is an actual season in places where it snows and is very cold for major portions of the year. Consequently, one of the major roads in our area is torn up and has changed 4 lanes to 2. I will be avoiding this area at all costs for the entire "season."

However, I did take a drive down it this week. I had the three youngest riding along with me and, since I've been a Mom for 15 years now, I know that a good construction site is a pretty cool thing to look at. Besides, we knew what the before of that street looked like, we needed to see the during and so we can appreciate the after. The weather was warm so we had the Suburban windows rolled down and could view the construction close up and even get some dust in the car. It was all very exciting!

Abby, the 2 year old, yelled a variety of greetings at all of the construction workers all along the mile or more, even at stop lights. She got quite a few smiles when they could hear her over the back hoes. She can yell really loudly.

Zach, the 9 year old, kept up a running litany of the various machinery we passed and he knows his machines. He was also amazed at the large variety of concrete and metal pipes those workers are planning to put under the street. Zach is pretty sure that just a couple of those huge ones could make the best fort ever.

It was Ellie, the 6 year old, who had the best comment of the trip. She had been pretty quiet - just taking it all in. When suddenly she yelled, "Look! Look! There is an outhouse! Can you believe it? An outhouse in the middle of the street!"

Just struck me as funny...

Chaos Theory on the Farm

There are days around the farm when everything is all love, sweetness and peace. We all talk kindly, treat each other with love, pick up our own messes, do our work diligently, make delightfully clever jokes and laughter fills the air. I am pretty sure I have even have little birds and butterflies flitting around my head on those days as I skip around the house in my size 8 cotton flowered dress.

Yeah. Right.

I'll be honest. There are parts of some days when it seems like this around here - all goodness and light. Somedays just small parts, very, very small parts, but it is there. Well, except for the size 8 dress part that is never there. Sigh!

Most days it seems we are living on the edge of chaos. Just one small happening can put us over the edge and cause things to start spinning out of control. Chaos. In fact, when I started blogging a good friend suggested an appropriate title for my blog might be, "Little Farm on the Edge." Guess she's seen it a few times.

I've been thinking about what those chaos causing circumstances are and thought I'd share the list because while sad in some ways, they are funny in others. So here goes.

The List of Chaos

1. Me taking a phone call in the middle of school. 10 seconds and everyone scatters.

2. Me needing to use the restroom in the middle of school. See above.

3. The word candy.

4. The Big Guy coming home in the middle of school. Chaos causing, yes, but we love it!

5. One of the seven farm inhabitants waking up in a less than cheery mood.

6. Auggie, the dog, losing his lunch in the living room. Have I shared my love for our dog? (not)

7. Abby, the youngest farmhand, doing something really cute and/or crazy.

8. The words fart and burp and but*ocks. Sigh.

9. Any type of animal, person or vehicle that is just a bit out of the ordinary out in our field.

10. Someone touching someone else or someone else's stuff or thinking about touching it.

11. Physcial actions that correspond to #8.

12. The UPS man.

Why tell you all of this? I guess I am hoping to encourage you the next time things around your house are humming along swimmingly and then the phone rings at the same time the dog pukes while your youngest son makes a body function joke and one of your other kids yells "M & M's" at the same time the UPS guys pulls up with a big box you need to sign for. Be encouraged. Your house isn't the only one in chaos.

Take a deep breath. Laugh at the chaos. Ask for strength. Press on.

Brothers (and sisters), I do not consider myself yet to have taken
hold of it. But this one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and
straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for
which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Phillipians 3:13-14

Couples Therapy

This is one of my favorite video clips! It makes The Big Guy and I laugh every time. To be honest, part of what makes it so funny for me is watching Ron squirm while Tim Hawkins is singing. Ron can't stand awkward situations and if a man actually said these things to his wife...well...it would be awkward.

So, this is Couple's Therapy because laughter is the best medicine!

Enjoy more of Tim Hawkin's video clips here. "Cletus Take the Reel" and "A Homeschool Family" are some of our favorites. Just click the Video tab.

Duct Tape Nukkie

Our 2 year old daughter, Abby, is something. She's busier than all our other kids combined and she has a LOT going on in that head of hers. We're eager to see what God has in store for her, if she hasn't worn us out in the meantime.

She is the first of our kids to take a Nuk or a passie or a Bopee or whatever it is called around your place. All the others siblings were thumb suckers. And so, after five kids, we find ourselves in uncharted territory...how to get rid of the Nuk?

We've been given advice; we've done some reading; we've thought about it. We decided to cut small holes in the 2 remaining Nuks. The thought goes that they won't suck the same and we'll keep cutting the holes a tad bigger every few days until she just doesn't want them anymore.

I cut the holes a few nights ago. I cut one way too big apparently.

That night, Abby was put into bed with the new and improved Nukkie. She immediately said, "Need other Nukkie, please. This Nukkie not working." Yes, she can talk like that. She was told that this was the Nuk she had for tonight so she should go to sleep. Upon hearing this she "Humphed" and rolled over.

After about 10 minutes, she was crying "I need a new Nukkie, please," over and over. She was told "No," and stopped crying for a bit.

After about 15 minutes of more calling and crying, I went in with the other Nukkie (the one with the smaller hole). When she saw it, she said, "Oh, thanks Mom. Here you take the broken Nukkie. You fix it with some duct tape, OK?"

Is the knowledge that duct tape will fix anything common from the womb?