Substituting

Yesterday I subbed at the school so the teachers could enjoy a meal with their spouses. It was one of the pieces to their teacher appreciation week from the school board.

Usually I sub in Dominic's room. The older kids are fun and I enjoy being with them. But yesterday I was babysitting a little girl who will be in Kindergarten next year and she wanted to eat lunch with Caitlin. So I took that classroom instead. 

Oh my word! Those kids are hilarious.

We were sitting outside eating lunch. The following is a piece of the conversation.

Student A - Mrs. Caitlin's Mom? I can't remember your name.

Student B - It's Ms. Tima or Mrs. Murrell.

Student C - You're a really good mom.

Me - Thank you!

Student C - Because you don't bite.

Me - Uhm?!

Student A - Mrs. Caitlin's Mom, I'm really glad you don't bite. 

Student B - Because we'd have to put it on facebook.

By this time I was completely lost and confused. But laughing. What was the thought process that went into this conversation?

Marriage

Caitlin got into the car after school on Friday really upset.

Dominic was consoling her.

"It's ok. Maybe by the time mom lets you, he'll change his mind."

"But Dominic, I wanted him first."

I had to ask -

"Caitlin, what are you upset about."

"Olivia and I asked Matthew to marry us, but he chose her. And I wanted him to be my husband first. I still like Olivia, because she's my best friend. But she won't share Matthew for to be my husband."

Someday. . .

About five years ago I saw a photograph of a little girl wearing her mother's wedding dress. I knew I wanted to do this with Caitlin. There is a story behind my dress, so it would be neat to have it incorporated into her wedding somehow. But that thing is so incredibly dated and stained that there is no way I'd let her wear it in her wedding. The idea is to have the photos of the little girl wearing her mother's dress and have them displayed at the wedding. The best of both worlds.

Caitlin had so much fun with this. 

 

 

I wasn't going to use the veil since the comb was broken and I had no way of attaching it to her hair. But we were able to use some bobby pins.

 

She wanted a bouquet of flowers. So I found some boutonnieres from my wedding that I'd saved and we put them all together.

It was a little disconcerting to see my baby girl in a wedding dress. She looked so beautiful and grown up. But she had so much fun that it was worth it to see her smiles. She didn't want to take the dress off when I finished.

Spring

We've been busy this spring and I just haven't taken as many pictures as I normally do.

So here is some of the things we've been doing this spring.

I went up to run the trail run at Fall Creek Falls again this year. We had intended to camp that weekend, but a combo of Jon being out of town all week and constant rain until Sunday morning prompted us to just drive down the day of the race. I've written about my racing experience on my personal blog, but thought I'd throw in some pictures here of the rest of the family.

It was rather soggy still so the kids got muddy. Leila (my niece) was there and it was fun to play on the playground and cheer for the runners.

 

 The kids ran a little ways with each of us (my cousin, dad, brother, and I) as we came close to the finish line. The pic below is of my brother.

I absolutely LOVE daffodils. So each spring I find a place that no one will notice if I steal some blooms and fill up a vase or two to keep in the house. I thought if I planted a ton it would work, but then I loved the view out my windows and so couldn't pick my own flowers. So Jon found a field, while out biking, that is not in view of anyone's home.

The kids had the entire program at church a couple of weeks ago. It was precious. They sang songs, had a skit for the children's story, and acted out the sermon. 

Caitlin was the princess in the story of Moses.
Dominic was an Israelite in the story of the plagues of Egypt.

 

We went to Blue Coast the other night and Caitlin had her face painted. She asked the lady for a blue lady bug. This was a couple of weeks ago and we are still finding glitter around the house.

Dominic

I made the comment to my family last night that I had assumed that once the kids were past a certain age, that the funny and cute stuff they said would stop. Boy, was I ever wrong. Dominic keeps us in stitches. Some of it can't be written down because it's all in the manner or tone that he says it in. And other things are hard to explain without a novel length post explaining our family's inside jokes. But this kid keeps my face hurting from laughing.

He loves Legos. I've written about that before. But what I love about him is the creativity. He'll buy or ask for a kit because of the pieces that come in it. Upon receiving it, he'll make the kit in the box. Then he'll take it apart and make what he really wanted to make with the pieces.

This was a wedding that he designed. I was rather surprised to see the weapons involved. I asked him why the pastor officiating had a gun. He explained that it was a flair gun to shoot off fireworks when they were finally married. Now why didn't I think about that for my own wedding. =)

Dominic was having a really hard time keeping his room clean. It was so bad that it took us an entire day to get it back in order this last time. So I made a deal with him. If he could keep his room clean, to my standards, for 31 days (thus creating a habit), I would give him a Lego table. It's amazing what a little motivation can do. I also explained that he wouldn't be able to get the table right away since Daddy would have to build it. And if his room ever got messy again he'd lose the table for a week each time. He was amazing. So Jon finally built the table. Thankfully he had some scrap wood in the shop. So the only cost was the plates.

 Jon did an outstanding job. But it was torture for Dominic to wait. He was fine without legs, but Jon insisted. He didn't want it sanded, but Jon insisted. As soon as the plates were glued down he begged to bring it into his room. We told him that we had intended to stain or paint it and the glue needed to dry. But he couldn't wait another second. So we put Legos on the cracks to hold the pieces together and he began building his town. The entire month he was keeping his room clean he had a notebook that he would add ideas to about what buildings or creations he was going to make to put on this table. This boy is in heaven. It's been hard to get him outside to play, which isn't usually the case.

Dominic is at that wonderful stage that affection is gross. He loves giving hugs and will tolerate me giving him kisses as long as it's not in front of his friends. But other people showing affection is beyond disgusting. The other day we were talking about getting married and he said he wasn't going to kiss his bride when the preacher said he could. He was just going to shake her hand.

Me - "Dominic, what if your wife doesn't like that?'

Dominic - "I'm going to find a wife who doesn't like kissing, just like me."

He also has decided to have foster kids since he will be a great dad and he's heard horror stories about foster parents. The bonus is that he'll never have to touch his wife at all that way and can still have kids. Oh how his tune will change in a few years.

The kids love granola and since it is usually filled with sugar and not cheap I started making my own. I've taken my mom's recipe and adjusted it to fit our tastes. The kids eat a ton of it. And even though I make the equivalent of 3 boxes each time, I can't keep up with the demand. Dominic put this sign on the door going outside in hopes that it would remind me to refill the container.

I'm over the moon excited. We bought our lovely home, in part, because of the spacious back yard. But having to mow almost 2 acres every week or more gets old every year. So Jon decided that Dominic was old enough to mow. And the kid loves it. He begs to mow the lawn. We'll still need to use the weed-eater and trim some closer things, but hours have been added back to our week.

I love this boy!

Happy Easter

We have a beautiful service at church and the teachers go all out in the Sabbath schools for Easter. But last year we had a bonfire instead of the usual egg hunt. So this year I just assumed the kids would rather do an activity instead of hunt eggs. Turns out I was wrong. So this morning I hid eggs. It's getting harder and harder to find things to go in those eggs that aren't filled with sugar or are so cheap that they get thrown away later today. Thank goodness for Legos and Matchbox cars. 

Dominic bought a disposable camera at school store on Friday. He's had so much fun taking pictures. He is able to use one of my point & shoots any time he wants. But I guess the appeal of having his very own camera won out.

 Getting ready to start. These kids see no need to dress up. 

They are dirty and mismatched. They were dressed up adorably yesterday for church. 

But did I remember to get a picture? No, of course not.

 Jon opted to go for a bike ride and miss all of the egg hunting fun. =)

 

 She fixed her hair this morning. She said it was "specially for Easter".

 Documenting the loot.

Happy Easter, everyone!