Arms x3

Yesterday on Yahoo there was a photo of a Chinese baby born with three arms. The kids walked in when I was looking at this photo and became glued to the screen.

"Why does he have three arms?", GooseyGirl asked.

"Does he have more bones in his body because he has that extra arm?", BirdMan asked.

I thought this was a great opportunity to talk about those with special needs. I wanted to impress upon them that just because someone might look different, it doesn't mean they are different inside. I wanted to guide them towards compassion.

"WOW, it would be COOL to have three arms!", RocketMan exclaimed.

"Er...cool? How's that?", I asked.

"Well, you could ride your bike and hold a book to read at the same time!", RocketMan answered.

Suddenly GooseyGirl squeals, "Oh, yeah! You could do a cannonball in the pool and be able to hold your nose AND your legs!"

I was going for compassion and winded up at envy instead.

I do have to hand it to GooseyGirl. She may have girly girl tendencies but sometimes it is obvious she is surrounded by boys! Have I mentioned her unique burping abilities? Ahhhh... things to make a mother proud.

Wedding Quilt

It took me over a year to finish but I was finally able to give Ole and Juliet their wedding quilt! It has over 18 yellow and blue fabrics in it. The pattern is a modern interpretation of the traditional wedding ring quilt. Do you see the circles? The pattern also reminds me of windmills from Ole's home country of Denmark.

I machine quilted circles through the top and the border has flowers that are reminiscent of Japanese floral motifs. They are headed to Japan for three years this August, so I thought the flowers were appropriate.

This heirloom quilt is entitled, "Circles of Love through Sunshine and Shadows". As you make a quilt for someone you think about them throughout the process. It almost becomes an extended prayer for the recipients as the quilt takes on a life of it's own. Every stitch has piece of me in it and my dreams for their future.

This quilt is the biggest and most difficult one I've done yet. I'm really pleased with how it turned out and I know it will enjoy it's new home!

RocketMan's tooth

Yes, that is my little boy. The one who can't seem to take a picture without taking the word goofy to new heights. The bright spot is that someday these shots will make great blackmail material.

As you can see from the first picture, he lost his front tooth! In case you are wondering, our fairy pays $2.25 for the big teeth. She's a bit more conservative for the other teeth. The tooth fairy's husband thought $2.25 was a bit excessive but then he doesn't get to enjoy the pure joy on all three faces the next morning when they discover the cash!

I asked RocketMan if he wanted to wait to lay his tooth out for the fairy until after Auntie Juliet and Uncle Ole came so that he could show them. (They are flying in tonight). He said, "Naw, I want the money."

At least he is honest!

Caesar, More Than Just a Salad.

Arrrrr, today during our history lesson Julius Caesar was kidnapped by pirates. Well, me hearties, the only notion my kidlets have of a pirate is the scallywag, Captain Hook. Blimey! Me little landlubbers thought this story was more fun than drinking grog over a ship full of booty. Yo-ho-ho-ho!

ahem....

Anyway, the pictures they drew of this story included a ship with the jolly rogers flag and a pirate in the crows nest with a telescope shouting, "Romans Ahoy!". BirdMan's drawing included the Romans shooting a missle at the pirates. And yes, the pirates had a parrot but he assured me that the bird got away safely.

The story goes that the pirates demanded a ransom from Caesar's family. Once Caesar heard how much they were asking he told them he was worth way more. My kids thought this was pretty funny so I asked the kids how much they'd be worth to pirates.

RocketMan said, "$50,000".

Birdman said, "1 million".

GooseyGirl said, "One penny. So that you could afford to buy me, Mommy, because I'd miss you."

What a brown noser!

I found a list of pirate pick up lines (no, I didn't share these with the kidlets):
4. Avast, me proud beauty! Wanna know why my Roger is so Jolly?

3. I'd love to drop anchor in your lagoon.

2. How'd you like to scrape the barnacles off of me rudder?

1. Prepare to be boarded.

We're expecting!

We're going to be new parents... of a conure! He was hatched on March 31 of this year is is currently being weanedand we'll pick him up on June 2. We've ordered a cage and toys which should be here soon. The kids are so excited and there has been a great debate about what we should name our new little feathered friend.

We were over at my parent's house on Friday for dinner and GooseyGirl decided to start a list with everyone's ideas for a birdie name. We were all brainstorming and names were flying.

"Connie the Conure", GooseyGirl said.

"Cleo", I hollered.

"Pecker!", Grandma yelled.

!!!!!!!

Apparently, Grandma, a conservative Christian, got a little carried away by the whole shout-out-everything-that-comes-to-mind provision of this exercise in creativity. Fortunately GooseyGirl thought she said, "Pepper".

"Pepper??? That's a crazy name Grammy!", GooseyGirl said.

Grandma realizes what she just hollered out from the kitchen with a house full of little ones and starts giggling uncontrollably. I hide behind the newspaper as GooseyGirl continues thinking of names unaware of what just transpired, thank goodness.

By the way, the bird now has a name. Meet Apollo, the Green-cheeked Conure.

The Oedipus Complex

BirdMan is head over heels in love with me. He coos at me all the time and says, "Momma, some day I'm gonna' marry you." I absolutely LOVE it and drink in those little lovey eyes he makes at me because I know that the winds of change will soon turn those lovey stares into glares of teenage angst.

Every time he announces his future wedding plans, GooseyGirl protests. As the leading expert on all things romantic, GooseyGirl tells BirdMan emphatically, "You can't marry her, she's ALREADY married!" Then she lets out this sigh of frustration for being around people so completely uninformed in the ways of love.

I always tell BirdMan, "Baby, Daddy won't mind if you want to marry me." Then BirdMan just beams at me and my heart swells.

Last night, the kidlets and I were sitting in the family room reading some of our new library books. However, BirdMan had long put down his book. He was being very, very quiet. Then he looked at me with the most serious expression I've ever seen on his face. He said, "Momma, how old are people to get married?"

I said, "Well, I got married when I was 25. Daddy was 29. Auntie Juliet was 35. Grandma was 19. So once you are a grownup you can get married any time you want. Why, sweetie?"

"I was just wondering, Momma. I was just thinking.... um.... do you think I really CAN get married to you?"

I was so touched and my heart melted as his little blue eyes met mine.

GooseyGirl piped up as she rolled her eyes, "Are you CRAZY? She'll be an OLD woman! You wouldn't want to marry HER!"

Ahhhh... children.... always willing to put you in your place.

Quintuplets!

I've always wondered how being a triplet will impact their personalities and identity. Strangers have a natural interest in them and will stop to talk. I've been told that in school situations, multiples are knowns by the student body simply because being a triplet is novel.

For this reason, I've always looked for opportunities to get together with other multiples. It makes being a triplet utterly ordinary to them because they know lots of other multiples. It also gives me a chance to talk to another woman slogging through the land of multiples which picks up my spirits.

This morning we have a playdate with a set of quintuplets, that's five kids! We've had them over to our home a few times but this will be the first time my kids get to go play at their house.

Fish Story

Our neighbor has a stocked pond. Each year he adds different varieties of fish and they are growing bigger. He graciously allows our kids to fish in his pond as long as they throw back anything they catch. It is the best fishing experience because as soon as you put your hook in a fish bites it immediately. None of this waiting, casting, re-casting business. Throw her in and reel one out!

Saturday BirdMan was fishing and Shawn noticed that Birdman was struggling with his pole. It was getting closer and closer to the surface of the water. Shawn said, "Pull up your pole, Son."

BirdMan shouted, "I can't, Dad!" And with one big tug Birdman beached an 18", 5 pound Catfish!!

When he came home he said, "Momma, it went from the tippy tip of my fingers to my pits and it weighed 95 pounds!" Shawn verified the length but pointed out the weight BirdMan was quoting was the makings of a good fish story.

Unfortunately they didn't take a camera with them to the pond. However, on Mother's Day the kidlets and Shawn went fishing again but this time they were able to snap some photos of the fish they caught. The one GooseyGirl caught is being held by BirdMan because she didn't want to touch its mouth.

Needless to say, they had fun!

Calligraphy

During history we are talking about Ancient China. We have had some fun playing around with the 7 strokes that make up Chinese characters. Our history activity book had some characters they could copy. I showed them the first Chinese character you see on the left and I asked them what they thought the character might be.

GooseyGirl promptly answered, "A mess." :)

Actually it means "Woman". Do you see the woman with the child on her lap? Isn't that cool?

The kidlets then tried their hand at writing a Chinese character. The first one you see is by Gooseygirl and means "tree".

I decided to challenge Birdman a little so I asked him to make up a character for "Sun". What he came up with really impressed me. Do you see the land with the sun rising and setting above it? Isn't that great?

I held my breath as I asked RocketMan to make up a character that means flower. He isn't comfortable in the land of creativity and many times will dissolve in tears if you ask him to just invent something. He is very legalistic and a major perfectionist (gee, I wonder where that comes from). Most of the time he gets anxious when he steps outside of his comfort zone. I was so pleased when he willingly took a leap of faith and just made something up. Can you see the stem and the petals? How about the bee coming in to get some pollen?

The Case of the Can

We recently got brand new, HUGE green garbage cans from our trash service. In a land of racoon raids, it was a welcome gift. Now we can finally get rid of our 15+ year old garbage can that has a big hole in the bottom. How did the big ol' hole get there in the first place? Well, this particular can has a bit of history.

You see, at our old house, someone stole our garbage can. I couldn't believe it! Who in the world would want my smelly old garbage can? It was there at the end of the driveway when I went to the grocery store but had vanished when I came back.

I thought to myself, "What has the world come to? People are stealing garbage cans now? Moral decline! Outrage!"

About a week went by and the car needed to get a tune up at our friendly mechanic who has a store at the end of our street. Shawn has been taking his cars there since he learned to drive, so they know him well. As soon as he walks into that temple of testosterone, they all bust out laughing. They said, "Hey, man, did 'ya find your garbage can?"

Shawn replied suspiciously, "How do you guys know my garbage can is missing?"

By this point the mechanics who work there can hardly speak because they are laughing so hard. Finally they said, "Man, your wife came barrelin' down the road with your garbage can hooked onto the bumper! It was shootin' sparks out the back! And then when she turned the corner it flung off and rolled into the ditch!"

Sure enough, Shawn found our garbage can in the bottom of the ditch. All the friction from dragging the can down the road at 45 miles an hour, melted away part of the plastic all the way through the bottom of the can.

*Sigh*

Aunt Laverne

Shawn's Aunt Laverne, died Friday morning. She was his father's sister and he is honored to be a pallbearer for the funeral this afternoon. She was a lovely lady whose favorite flower was the iris. Her entire back yard was covered in these flowers and we were lucky enough to get some of her extras a few years back. Every time our iris flowers bloom we will think of her.

What I will remember most about her is her smile. You know how when some people smile you can see their eyes twinkle? Hers twinkled every single time she smiled. I can't remember her smiling without her eyes dancing right along. She also adored her cat and would coo and talk about the kitty whenever given the opportunity. She had a ready smile for everyone and I feel honored to have known her.

Laverne Huffman Strahl-Hill, 82, died Friday, May 5, 2006, at Clark Memorial Hospital in Jeffersonville, IN. Laverne was the widow of Carl E. Strahl and John Hill, and a member of Holy Family Catholic Church in New Albany. She was an avid square dancer and member of the Beam Bottle Club in Louisville. Survivors include sons, Ray Strahl (Ramona) of Jeffersonville, and Carl L. Strahl of Georgetown, IN; three grandchildren, Brian, Jennifer and Aaron; one great-grandchild, Haley Sieg; and a sister, Ellen Tyler of Jeffersontown.

UPDATE: We just got back from the funeral. RocketMan walked up to see Aunt Laverne in the casket and said, "She doesn't look like she's 82. She looks like she's 79." Aunt Laverne would have LOVED that!!

GooseyGirl the Athlete

My throat is sore and my legs hurt.

Why, you ask? It is from screaming and jumping up and down at the kidlet's baseball game last night. I had to scream so that I could be heard over the roar of all the other team parents. Why were they screaming? Well, we were all hollering for one person, GooseyGirl.

My daughter seems to have inherited my athletic prowess, poor thing. She is the only girl on her team and the only girl on any of the other teams we've played. Plus, she's got a long way to go with her abilities. A really, really long way to go.

Normally she strikes out. We've had the other parents come up to us and say that they hope she gets just one little hit so that she can enjoy some small feeling of success. She is the last to bat and her permanent position is right field.

Well, last night the game was tied, it was the last inning and our team had two outs. GooseyGirl was up to bat and we started out giving our low key encouraging remarks, "You can do it", "Give us a big hit", "Swing hard". Normal stuff that each child hears from the parents when it is their turn.

GooseyGirl let the first two pitches fly by her. Two strikes. At this point we are all reminding her that she has to swing at the next pitch. This is the machine pitch league so every pitch should be a good one. The next two pitches the machine did something weird and both pitches were balls. The next five pitches she managed to hit but each was a foul. Finally the baseball gods smiled on us and she hit the ball solid. The crowd absolutely erupted. Everyone was shouting RUN!! RUN!!! No one wanted her to forget that she had to make it to first base because she was just as stunned as we were that she'd actually hit the ball.

She made it to first and everyone was so happy for her. Just getting to the base safely was a tremendous accomplishment. While the next boy was at bat, she was able to steal second. Then the boy hit a line drive past third base. She took off running and everyone was SCREAMING, "GO!", "Run!", "Hurry!". She past third and kept running. GooseyGirl just barely made it to home before catcher caught the ball.

SHE SCORED A RUN!!!!

I was jumping up and down. All the parents were cheering for her. Her whole team yelped for her. The coach was ecstatic! What a victory! Her run won the game for the team.

After the game parents from both teams came up to congratulate her. I think everyone within two miles of that ballpark now knows her name. She was incredibly proud. This morning GooseyGirl wrote about her winning run. What a night!

Funeral Rites

Last fall my grandmother passed away after a long, long battle with Alzheimers. Everyone called her Mam-Maw, however, my kidlets didn't have much of a relationship with her since she had gotten sick before they were born. It was to be the children's first exposure to a visitation and funeral.

I wanted to make sure that they felt comfortable asking me any question at all. I described what they'd see before we got there and I emphasized that I wanted them to ask lots of questions about what was happening. My children were little lights of levity as they went from relative to relative through the room. At one point I watched as GooseyGirl walked to her great grandfather from across the room without any prompting from me. She skipped over to him and gave him a big hug without saying a word and then went back to the other side of the room. I watched the warm smile spread over my grandfather's face as he lit up with joy. I was so proud of how she helped ease his sadness in that little moment.

A little while later, I was talking to some of my relatives and RocketMan came up to me and said, "Mommy, I have a question."

I immediately stopped my conversation and focused all my attention on him, "Yes, sweetie. What is it?"

In a loud voice that carried through the funeral home he said, "Why is Mam-Maw hard?"

Ahemmm.... I guess I hadn't been watching my children as closely as I thought.

A few months later we went to the funeral of my cousin's husband. I told them that this man who died was Great Aunt Pauline's son-in-law and that she might be sad. I told them we might want to find some encouraging words for her.

GooseyGirl said, "We should tell her we hope she feels better... and that she needs to get over it."

!!!!!!!

I said, "Well, let's not say THAT."

We picked up my mother on the way to the funeral home. While in the car, I reminded the kids about how we act at a funeral home and what is expected from them. I went over some of the rules like 1) Don't run 2) Use your inside voice 3) Don't poke the dead guy.

In a disappointed voice, RocketMan said, "Ahhhh.... but why?"

"Because it isn't polite to touch the dead person, honey", I said, while watching my mother turn red as she desperately tried to hold back her laughter.

We got to the funeral home and everything was going fine. They gave hugs to our relatives and soon the boys were bugging me to go up for a look at the coffin. As we are headed that way, in the middle of the quiet, reflective funeral home, RocketMan says loudly, "Remember, We can't TOUCH him, right Mom?"

I wanted to crawl under the casket.

Time Flies

They were born 6 weeks premature. All between 3.5-4lbs. I had 4.5 feet of babies inside me! Now they are seven and had a wonderful Greek Myth birthday. Shawn (Zeus) and I wore togas.

The kids made signs for all the food. The green beans were Medusa Snakes, the salad was Demeter's harvest, the tabouleh was Poseidon's seaweed, the BBQ was Minotaur Meat and the Mexican bean dip was Cyclop's Stew.

I had tons of games and crafts planned but we only did Greek weaving and a Persophone relay. I shared lots of Greek stories with the kids and they were all just fascinated. They especially liked the story of how the Trojan War started and how Athena was born.

The day before our party we got a catalog with tons of birthday party supplies for themes like Teddy Bear Birthday, American Idol Birthday, Pony Birthday, etc. The kidlets all decided that their birthday theme was the best idea and would be way more fun than any of the themes in the catalogs.

Later today, I think we'll be working on some of the crafts I had planned that we didn't get to at the party. Like making Athena Owls and Medusa snakes.