Smells like gum

M: I smell gum.

Me: You always smell gum M. You must have gum up your nose.

Me: Just kidding M. Take your finger out of your nose.

Shiny Eyes

Our kids all have really shiny eyes.
You can see in their baby pictures how they have such shiny eyes.
Also you can see how they look like triplets. It's surreal really.

Hi Holiday

We went to Gainesville because that's what we do when G has no school. It was great. Grandparents to hug, an auntie to chase, friends to visit, mud for the making.


Once upon a time my friend H said she likes unexpected visits. My own social anxiety and home shame preclude my believing this can be true. But maybe we'll "give it a whirl" next time we're in town?


We were actually in town Thursday and Friday too. That was our sneaky visit where we went to the hospital and had G checked out. As I walked in to the hospital with my 4 month old baby in one arm, and my 6 year old baby on the other I was struck with a memory. 6 years ago I carried that baby into this same entrance of this hospital. I had driven from the pediatrician's office rather than take the offered ambulance. He was strapped to my chest in a baby Bjorn with a blanket over top. We rode the elevator up to the 9th floor and checked in to the PICU like we were going to an event, rather than our lives becoming one.


But on this day, in 2011 my 6 year old is healthy and has a brilliant smile. He adores his little sisters, both of them.

And I said to myself "Self..."

That's and oldie but a goodie from Stake Conference.

I'm falling in love with a house that is in my comfort zone. I'm certain that their asking price is way too high, which frees me up to imagine that it's within our price range. It's a fixer upper sort of place that fits with my view of our family's status level. It's got a workshop so P can buy tools and hopefully not have them stolen. It's blocks from G's school. It's got a chimney (G's request for a future house) and it has a yard (M's hearts desire for a future home).

It does not appear to have central heating and air. Deal breaker. Maybe.

It does have an upstairs with the slanted wall/ceiling. I never got to have one of those rooms in my childhood home. They were in the home but I never was cool enough to have one. So basically that is a big selling point to me.

Cute boy

It's official. This little guy is contest winning cute.

There are a lot of challenges to being a deaf child. One is that you don't get to overhear your parents talk about how awesome you are. And lately a lot of my interactions with G have been of this nature: "Stop screaming" or "Stop shaking the baby" or "Do not put your foot near the baby so she grabs it and puts it in her mouth!"

Trying to balance things out, I have tried to tell him I love him more and ask him if he knows that. Now, when I tell him I love him, he smiles gently.

"I know" he says.

Raising M

It's funny raising M. She's hilarious. She's crazy. She's responsible! She has expectations. When she does things that I don't like I try to ask "Did I tell you not to...?" It is a somewhat rhetorical question about the idea that she should know better, but it's also a real question. Because if I have told her not to do ... she's in trouble. If I haven't told her to do this, than this is a warning.

I'm trying to raise her to not be a control freak like me.

Tonight I made stir-fry with pork, broccli, and peppers. M doesn't like peppers. Because the veggie stand had orange and red peppers on sale it was a no brain-er to separate the stir-fry. Red, orange and pork for me. Green and pork for M. Green, red, orange and pork for P. Cheese sandwich for G.

As M got along in her meal she exclaimed "Mom! Did I tell you I don't like peppers?"

"Yes, M. You did tell me you don't like peppers. I'm sorry there are peppers in your dinner." and I took them out. They were easy to find.

Say what you mean!

Mean what you say.

Today in the car M was throwing the ball in the car and I took it away from her. G was scolding her and telling her that there is a rule, no throwing balls in the car. M asked for her ball back and said "I promise I won't throw it again." Really?

Where did she learn this word "promise"? I felt as horrified as I did the day she told me that "When I am 15, I will have a baby." Kids can't promise. They're kids. They can try, and try, and try again. I cringe when I hear "But you PROMISED!" in some kids show about how parents don't keep promises. Why is this word so abused?

Parents, listen up. Stop using the word promise if you don't know what it means. It means that you will do something no matter what. It means that your honor is at stake. It means it WILL happen.

Don't promise to be home at a certain time because you are not in control of all factors. All they learn from empty promises is that promises don't mean anything.

Don't ask your kids to promise things. They are kids and cannot be expected to keep a promise. All they are doing is getting an exercise in breaking promises.

Say "I'll try to be home..." If someone asks you to promise, they are manipulating you and you should call them on it. Don't let kids force you into a promise and then get their heart broken when you can't hold up the other end. They are kids! Teach them to honor their word, and not give it lightly.

There are real promises to make and keep. When they're old enough they can make those promises, and keep them.

if you marry a reader...

If you marry a reader you're likely to have reader children. Ok, not really. It helps if you're a reader too. And it's really cute.

Just across the street

We've lived here 7 months and we just recently found this path across the street. It's lovely in a "Why is this tree farm called a conservation area?" kind of way. Anyway, it is a new place to go on Sunday afternoons when the children are in need of a break! Hurray!

"Did you know smoke...kills your body?"

We live at the playground. Sometimes I feel a little sad that we roam the public places of this dear city like we are homeless. I schedule our day to allow for 1 potty break in 5 hours away from the home. And I choose our destinations according to the facilities they afford.

A new favorite place is a park that has bathrooms, is not very busy, has a lake, monkey bars... it's great. So we were there in our nomadic existence last week and another group came. Whereas I was one adult with 3 children, they were 3 adults with one child. The little girl was very interested in hanging out with the kids. Having already played on the playground for 40 minutes, we were moving on to the walk portion of the outing.

This nice group wanted to feed the ducks and so they went back and got some french fries and chicken nuggets from their car. They offered to share with my kids, and I don't know but I think my kids were torn about throwing fast food to the ducks. We joked that feeding ducks chicken nuggets was like the "abomination" spoken of by Lilo, in "Lilo and Stitch."

Later we were discussing the burned patch of trees and the arsonist who had apparently struck this park 3 times. One of the adults in the group lit up a cigarette. M took a step up the slope. "Did you know smoke..." she said.

I wasn't sure it was coming, but I figured it might be.

"What's that Honey?" asked the smoker.

with a glance at me "...kills your body?" finished M.

"I'm sorry" I muttered to the ladies.

"Oh, I know it's bad for me" said the smoker.

I'm proud of M. I try every day to make sure she know that she's smart, beautiful and loved. I'm glad that she knows smoking kills your body. I try and teach her to love her healthy body and to take good care of it.

In our other nomadic travels we frequently pass smokers and the kids run by as fast as they can. M seems more curious about it than G. G's always had a stronger sense of ok and BAD! So I try and bolster M's confidence in the ok and BAD!