Fly on the Wall: Making Merry

Posted on December 20, 2019 by Cathy O

Welcome to a Fly on the Wall group post. Today 5 bloggers are inviting you to catch a glimpse of what you’d see if you were a fly on the wall in our homes. Come on in and buzz around my house.

Buzz around, see what you think, then click on these links for a peek into some other homes:

Baking In A Tornado

Never Ever Give Up Hope

Menopausal Mother

Spatulas on Parade

Here’s who you’ll be hearing from in my house:

Me, Mama O.
Daddy O.
Big Sister, age 10
Little Brother, age 8

Since I have been writing these blog posts since 2014, I have my own Fly Post Page. Check it out if you want to hear more craziness from my house.

Around our House

Me (as I was cleaning for our kids’ joint birthday party): Maybe we should have people over more often. It really makes me clean our house.

Big Sister: I call 10 zero teen.

Little Brother (not wanting to do chores): What am I, your slave?!

During breakfast, Big Sister came up with this:

Get Happiness. It’s out there somewhere. It’s not in a store.

Profound, right?

As I was talking about plans and what I needed Daddy O. to do, he asked me to stop lecturing him. I replied, “I’m not lecturing. I’m talking in a loud voice….a stern, loud voice…oh wait…”

Where are my Kids?

It was a Saturday, and we were in the middle of a busy day. I had just taken the kids grocery shopping and was now home unpacking groceries. I started getting some things ready for lunch, but I noticed that I had no idea where the kids went. Being the louder of the two adults in our house, I tend to call for my kids across the house. I even stuck my head out the door and yelled their names. No answer. Not. A. Peep.

I was getting kind of worried, so I decided to look for them, continuing to call their names. I finally found them in the basement and made them come upstairs for lunch.

I explained to them, “When someone is yelling your name, you need to answer. I was getting worried that you ran off or something. It’s not nice to make your mom worry.”

Very calmly, Little Brother chimed in, “Well, when I grow up and have kids, if I don’t like them, then I would just let them go.”

“What?!” I laughed…”You would just let your kids run away! That’s crazy. I guess Daddy and I will be babysitting a lot, so you don’t lose your kids then.”

Making Merry

I had the chance to learn how to make my own wreath with my sister in law. I loved getting crafty with her that morning. We made really large wreaths with wire frames. I was able to use boughs that we had cut down from our frasier fir tree that our kids named Timber. My sister in law used spruce that park rangers provided.

Here were the beautiful end results:

The wreath I made had the burlap bow. It was too big to fit on our mantel, so I moved our outdoor wreath indoors.

Christmas Quotes

During breakfast, Big Sister moved our countdown to Christmas calendar, and started singing, “There are 12 days till Christmas, and I don’t have a true love.”

I replied, “Well, your family can be your true love.” Her answer, “Icky.”

I found some random handwritten notes from Little Brother in a box of scrap paper:

Notes: never eat a gingerbread ornament

For the record, both kids have taken a bite out of old gingerbread ornaments. I hope this note will serve as a reminder for them.

Another note said:

What is the saddest day for a child?

The day after Christmas.

The Spirit of Giving

This is the first year my kids had specific gift ideas for family members, so Daddy O. and I took separate shopping trips with each kid. I was so impressed with Little Brother as we bought gifts for a friend’s birthday, two kids in need from our schools, Daddy O. and Big Sister.

During our shopping, he said once, “Mom, this is on my Christmas list, ” but did not whine for it. He carefully helped me find gifts for each person on our list. We even took time to compare prices. He was so patient and well behaved. I was so proud!

After our trip, we rushed home and brought the gifts upstairs to wrap in his bedroom (just in case Daddy O. and Big Sister would be getting home before the gifts were wrapped).

Little Brother admitted, “I like wrapping gifts.”

Later Big Sister came home and had to sneak Little Brother’s gift upstairs for us to wrap.

“I can’t wait to see his face when he opens it,” she told me.

The spirit of giving was alive and well that day!

The next morning, Little Brother asked me if we could let Big Sister open her gift before Christmas. I told him that she can wait.

It’s so sweet to see these kids think of each other. They really love this time of year. Little Brother even wore this one morning for breakfast.

Why not wear a Santa hat to breakfast?

Wishing you all much merriment and cheer this time of year!

12 Days of Christmas – Sweet Memories

Posted on January 5, 2019 by Cathy O

We took down our Christmas tree today. I didn’t realize until today that it lasted all 12 days of Christmas.

Our real Fraser Fir was nick named Mr. FFR (fluffy, Fraser) by my kids, and yes, we name our trees. It’s a thing…maybe just our thing? Anyway, Mr. FFR really lasted a long time. Sure the needles were falling, but he really looked full and beautiful adorned with lights and ornaments until the very end.

Just look:

Our tree in 2018

Every Christmas Tree Tells a Story

I couldn’t help but feel a little sentimental taking down the tree with so many stories behind the decorations on our tree year after year. Our grandparents and parents gave us so many beautiful ornaments from little on, and some of them have become our daughter’s favorites. My dad handmade wooden sled ornaments years ago. My mom made both the angel that tops our tree and the tree skirt at the bottom.

Big Sumo Kitty loves sitting on the tree skirt my mom made.

Ornaments remind me of places we’ve lived or traveled – two more recent ones from the Grand Canyon and South Dakota.

There’s ornaments from Germany and Austria to remember my high school foreign exchange program and my semester abroad in Vienna. There’s a hang gliding Santa that my best friend gave me because I went paragliding in Switzerland.

One plastic orb holds freeze dried flowers from my wedding bouquet.

Another high heel ornament reminds me of our favorite girls’ nights with my sister, cousin and aunt.

Each one of us have ornaments from the year we were born – mine and Daddy O’s looking a little more well-loved than our kids’ numerous baby ornaments.

This tree is our life as a family. It’s adorned with a whole lot of love through many years.

And then there’s the ornaments and gifts that our kids have made. Each year more ornament crafts make their way from backpacks and onto our tree. Today, I have to confess, that some of the ones in bad shape (sticker, foam type) went in the garbage! Many, however, are part of our annual holiday decor.

Most recent craft – top left: hand print trees, reindeer painting (2018, Little Brother), reindeer flower pot (2017 Big Sister), hand print tree (Little Brother), ribbon tree (2017 Big Sister).

While most of these projects were made at school, I remember Big Sister making the reindeer flower pot craft in our basement inside of a patio furniture box that transformed into a “workshop / fort” for our her. She had glue, paint, pipe cleaners and the flower pots all assembled in her work station down there. In the end, she gave me, Daddy O. and her brother each a reindeer flower pot. They turned out adorable, and we were proud of her for putting so much effort into these gifts.

The hand prints are getting bigger through the years, and I can’t help but wonder when they’ll stop doing these hand print crafts. At seven and nine, my kiddos are growing up for sure, but still firmly believe in the magic of Christmas. Big Sister wrote a letter to Santa for our elf Fred to deliver to him. Elf on the Shelf proved to be an amazing way to motivate the kids to get out of bed in the month of December. It was really fun and very sweet.

Here was a new event that Big Sister created at grandma and grandpa’s house this year:

Big Sister’s first concert for family

What will next year hold for our family? How much longer will these sweet traditions last? I can’t predict for sure.

And while some traditions fade away (and I ~~may~~ will be a little sad), I hope we’ll find a way to make new family traditions. Until that day comes, I’m just going to soak up and savor all of the sweetness and joy that this parenting gig can hold.

This is what I found on the back of Little Brother’s hand print craft:

A sweet note just for me

Fly on the Wall: C’est la Vie

Posted on November 23, 2018 by Cathy O

Welcome to a Fly on the Wall group post. Today 5 bloggers are inviting you to catch a Fly on the Wall Post glimpse of what you’d see if you were a fly on the wall in our homes. Come on in and buzz around my house.

Buzz around, see what you think, then click on these links for a peek into some other homes:

Here’s who you’ll be hearing from in my house:

Me, Mama O.
Daddy O.
Big Sister, age 9
Little Brother, age 7

Since I have been writing these blog posts since 2014, I have my own Fly Post Page. Check it out if you want to hear more craziness from my house.

Mixed up Lyrics

One night at dinner, my kids were changing the words to “I like to Move it, Move it” song.

Mom, your song should be, “I like to talk it, talk it. I like to talk it, talk it. I like to …. talk it!”

Dad, your song should be, “I like to snooze it, snooze it. I like to snooze it, snooze it. I like to … snooze it!”

Big sister’s is, “I like to read it, read it. I like to read it, read it. I like to … read it!”

Little brother’s is simply the song, being an active little boy that he is!

Little Brother’s Funny Sayings

Mom, can you do a rainbow load of laundry?

This sounded so sweet. I wash a lot of the bright colors together, but never thought of it as a rainbow load. It almost makes doing laundry sound like fun…almost.

Mom: Hey, can you help me make breakfast?

Little Brother: No, I’m in Legoland.

Busy building away

Little Brother refers to his comforter on his bed as a confronter.

A few weeks ago I bought a chewable vitamin. They were an unwelcome change from the gummy vitamins they replaced.

The horror – chewable vitamins.

Little brother’s reaction: I have to eat 150 of them.

And later –

“The world is against me.”

Wow…just wow.

Serious Readers

My kids really enjoy reading. Sometimes bookmarks can’t be found. As in this case:

Sometimes you just use a tissue for a bookmark

This is an example of the quality material they read.

These Kids

During dinner Big Sister said, “C’est la Vie.”

Little Brother responded: La Vie

Yes…it does sound like, “Say la vie.”

Big, Big Sister

My little girl turned 9 this month. Daddy O. recently commented to me that our daughter is now halfway to 18.

YIKES!!

When I think about it that way, this parenting gig is going by way too fast!

Here’s a picture of her at her friend birthday party (they made unicorn crafts at Michael’s Craft Store).

Big sister and her unicorn sleeping mask

She even wears more grown-up clothing. I want to borrow these boots of hers.

Are these girls boots available in my size?

Me and Daddy O.

One woman from church said to me, “My friend and I saw you and your family in church, and we think you look like teenagers.”

Hmm…well, we are well past that phase. Daddy O. is almost 40.

Here’s a recent picture of our youthful selves.

Mama O and Daddy O Sept 2018

Now go check out these other Fly on the Wall Posts:

Baking in a Tornado

Menopausal Mother

Never Ever Give Up Hope

Spatulas on Parade

Kid Problems

Posted on September 27, 2018 by Cathy O

We’ve learned that gummy vitamins are not the best for kid’s teeth, so I bought a chewable kind.

My son’s reaction:

“I have to eat 150 of them.”

And later –

“The world is against me.”

The horror – chewable vitamins.

#kidproblems #firstworldproblems

In reality, he’ll only eat 75 because they are shared with her sister. That might be a tiny bit of consolation.

Fly on the Wall: ___ There it is!

Posted on August 24, 2018 by Cathy O

Welcome to a Fly on the Wall group post. Today 6 bloggers are inviting you to catch a Fly on the Wall Post glimpse of what you’d see if you were a fly on the wall in our homes. Come on in and buzz around my house.

Buzz around, see what you think, then click on these links for a peek into some other homes:

Baking In A Tornado

Menopausal Mother

Never Ever Give Up Hope

Spatulas on Parade

My Brand of Crazy

Here’s who you’ll be hearing from in my house:

Me, Mama O.
Daddy O.
Big Sister, age 8
Little Brother, age 6

Since I have been writing these blog posts since 2014, I have my own Fly Post Page. Check it out if you want to hear more craziness from my house.

Happy Dad

Mama O. to Daddy O. on a Friday afternoon: Have you been drinking?

Daddy O.: No, why?

Mama O.: You just seem extra funny. I guess you’re happier on half days of work. (His company has summer hours, so he works 9 hour days and enjoys a half day most Fridays. It has been really nice – we’ve all been happier on Fridays!)

Our Kids

We had some extra quiet time around the house as our kids went with their grandparents for a mini-vacation this summer. During that time, Daddy O. remarked, “I guess we can’t get rid of all of our children” (referring to our fur baby, Sumo Kitty sat at the breakfast table with us).

Sumo Kitty – this is her typical annoyed expression

We were talking about face recognition capabilities. For my laptop, I explained that the camera scans for my face and then logs me in. Little Brother said, “Since Big Sister is a miniature version of Mom, I bet she could login to your computer.”

We tried it, and it didn’t work….yet.

Here is a picture of us together.

Mama O and Big Sister in the North Woods

Mama O. and her mini-me.

This summer we’ve been watching baking shows. Nailed It was definitely a favorite in our house. I think that’s why our kids are getting more adventurous. Case in point: Big Sister added bacon to her cereal. Who wouldn’t want bacon flavored Cheerios?

Anything is better with Bacon!

Historic Action Figures

Daddy O.: What are these?

Mama O.: They are Play Mobil figures my parents gave to the kids from their trip to Germany.

Playmobil figures from Germany. The writing in the book is in German, translates to Book of the Old Testament. The New Testament translated by Doctor Martin Luther.

Big Sister: My guy looks nothing like Martin Luther King Jr.

Mama O.: No, it’s Martin Luther, a famous German who translated the Bible from Latin (just keeping it high level).

Daddy O.: Who’s the other guy?

Mama O.: I think it’s Albrecht Duerer, a German painter.

Daddy O.: What?! I didn’t know they made historic, German action figures?

Mama O.: Pretty awesome, right?! LOL

My German major and one German Art of the Middle Ages class IS being put to good use.

Tip for the Outdoors

While camping and hiking, we remind kids of the saying for poison ivy, “Leaves of three, let it be.” The kid’s aunt chimed in, “Leaves of four, eat some more!”

Remembering Past Summers

Last summer we took an amazing family vacation to South Dakota. My scrapbooking hobby always runs behind, so I have been putting together some pages from last year. Since he saw some pictures from our trip, Little Brother asked me, “How long did we drive to South Dakota?”

I responded, “About 7 hours was the longest we were in the car.” And then he said, “That was painful.”

This is more of the summer grumpiness we experience with Little Brother every year. Last year, he said, “Adults almost always ruin my mood – especially you Mom.” I’m not going to lie, I can’t wait for back to school time!!

Lyrics from Another Time

Does anyone remember the song “Whoomp, there is is!”?

Our kids heard it and immediately thought that they were saying, “Poop, there it is!” Sigh…you have to love potty humor.

It’s no surprise that this is what Little Brother painted when we took some time to paint at our local pottery shop.

Poop Emoji bank (Little Brother), Pony (Big Sister), and Soap Dish (Mama O.)

Okay, that’s all for me and my crazy crew. Now be sure to check out those other fun Fly on the Wall blog posts!

go mama o

balancing kids, life and work on the go

Category Archives: parenting

Fly on the Wall: Making Merry

Around our House

Where are my Kids?

Making Merry

Christmas Quotes

The Spirit of Giving

12 Days of Christmas – Sweet Memories

Fly on the Wall: C’est la Vie

Kid Problems

Fly on the Wall: ___ There it is!