Tag Archives: parenting

Fly on the Wall: Making Merry

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Welcome to a Fly on the Wall group post. Today 5 bloggers are inviting you to catch a Fly on the Wall Postglimpse 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:

Wreath making 2019

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

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.

Getting in the spirit Go Mama O.jpg

Why not wear a Santa hat to breakfast?

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

Old Faithful Fly on the Wall

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Welcome to a Fly on the Wall group post. Today 7 bloggers are inviting you to catch a Fly on the Wall Postglimpse 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                  https://www.BakingInATornado.com

Never Ever Give Up Hope             https://batteredhope.blogspot.com

Menopausal Mother                     https://www.menopausalmom.com/

Spatulas on Parade                     https://spatulasonparade.blogspot.com

The Crazy Mama Llama                     https://www.thecrazymamallama.com/

Follow Me Home                        https://followmehome.shellybean.com

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.

Playing Trivia with the Kids

We have this game called Beat the Parents, a trivia game where kids take on parents (obviously).  Daddy O. and I faced Big Sister, Little Brother, and their two cousins, ages 10 and 7, so we really had a good game going.

My 10 year old nephew was surprised as we talked about shots that happen at Starbucks, “What they put shots in your coffee?”  Not those kind of shots (at the doctor’s office or of the alcoholic variety)…but espresso shots!

Big Sister called out “world ball” during one answer.

“You mean a globe?” I suggested.  Yeah – that.

I asked, “What is Old Faithful?”

Little Brother shouted out, “a priest.”

Another little voice yelled, “a dog.”

Nice try…

Another question that stumped the kids, “What are blue jeans made of?”

They decided that silk was the best answer.  I guess we don’t talk about denim much. This is a really really fun game that we love playing.  Check it out if you haven’t before.

Tooth Fairy Questions

Big Sister’s tooth broke in half, so she wondered, “What does the tooth fairy do with broken teeth? Does it count as two teeth?”  Nice try…

Cold Days Call for Baking & Bundling Up

Wisconsin has had an awful winter – lots of snow and extreme cold, called a polar vortex. The kids and I decided to bake muffins on one of our snow days.

Big Sister guided me, saying, “The muffins should be golden, round, and bumpy.”

Can you tell that we watch baking shows?

On one of many horribly frigid days, I found myself sporting a fleece bathrobe over a hoodie and sweatpants.  I may have even had my hood up because I simply felt chilled to the bone.

I turned to Daddy O. and said, “Wow, this is what you married! Pretty hot, right?!”

Still Loves his Mama

We were talking about school, and Little Brother was being a little grumpy about it.  As we talked more, he shared, “I get lonely when I’m at school.  I miss you, Mama.”

This was so sweet.  I try to volunteer at his school during library time, and he really doesn’t even acknowledge me much, but he did admit that he wants me there.  I’ll take it!

Now shoo, Fly!  Go check out those other fun bloggers!

 

 

 

 

Kid Problems

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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.”

Kids' Multivitamin Bottle

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: Smart Kids

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

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.

The first day back to school after the holidays and I ask the kids how their day was.

Big Sister: Good

Little Brother: Annoying!

I could tell Little Brother was grumpy and tired, so I said later, “Well, maybe you should go to bed early. Sometimes after a bad day, a good night’s rest will make you feel better.”

Little Brother replied, “I didn’t say I had a bad day. It was a miserable day.”

Okay then…

Just Between Siblings

I can’t remember the exact context, but I heard the kids talking:

Little Brother: Me thinking only of myself.

Big Sister: If you do that, then you can’t be a Jedi.

Daddy O. has them well-trained on Star Wars.

Two Cute One-liners from Smart Kids

Big Sister’s friend said, “Don’t yuck someone else’s yum.”

Little Brother declared (as he asked me to read him a story), “A story will make a good snuggle even better.”

Future Blogger?

Little Brother brought home some journal entries from his kindergarten class, and they really are great. It’s adorable to see what stands out in his mind and what he chooses to draw and share. I think he could be a future blogger.

Journal Thing a ma bob

I played with my little blue thing a ma bob this morning.

Journal Kicked my Heel

I accidentally kicked my heel yesterday.

Riveting, right?!

Journal Beer Garden

I went to the beer gardens.

YES, this is true.  We DID take the kids to a beer garden in town.  There IS a playground and slide there, so it IS family-friendly.  No, this isn’t a weekly thing. Of course, he writes about this in kindergarten!!

Grandma’s Got a New Job

My mom recently retired, and her schedule has been quite full. I was telling Daddy O., “Grandma is working the polls.”

And then I realized that it could be interpreted as “poles.” We just cracked up.

Grandma will be working as part of the primary election staff just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

The BEST for Last!

Big Sister: Mom is smart.  She is raising two kids.

Amen, sister!

Now go read those other fantastic blogs for a peek into some other homes:

Baking In A Tornado                  http://www.BakingInATornado.com

Menopausal Mother                     http://www.menopausalmom.com/

Never Ever Give Up Hope            https://batteredhope.blogspot.com

Bookworm in the Kitchen             http://www.bookwormkitchen.com/

Spatulas on Parade                   https://spatulasonparade.blogspot.com

On Being Thankful

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Thanksgiving and the holidays really are a delightful time of year.  My kids (ages six and eight) really are at a sweet age – old enough to start understanding more about the meaning of holidays we celebrate at church and with our families.

For Thanksgiving, they brought home numerous projects that shared what they were thankful for. It appeared that both kids made a similar project, so I just had to share them here:

 

on thankfulness Go Mama O.

Pictured on the top: my 8-year-old daughter’s picture, Bottom: my 6-year-old son

A few things that I love about these pictures: both include a cat.  I am surprised she made it into the picture because she and the kids don’t have the best relationship.  She’s a fat, old, grumpy, but cute kitty, who prefers us adults much more than the kids. Still, I’m glad they appreciate her.

Instead of family, my son is thankful for his tv.  We only have one, and he doesn’t watch it that often, but I guess that tv time is precious to him. It’s good to know where his priorities are.

I think there’s an age difference reflected in these pictures.  My daughter is very sweet, and while my son can be sweet too, he definitely has a more independent, stubborn side, sometimes acting as if he is an only child.

In all fairness, he did create other pictures that did say he was thankful for family, so all hope is not lost for him.

I’m grateful for teachers helping reinforce the importance of being thankful at school because it’s something we certainly talk about at home.