Morbid Lunchtime Conversations

So, the other day during lunchtime, somehow the term "biology" came up, so the kids and I started discussing how biology is the study of life.  Then I started sharing stories of my time in biology class with Mr. Haus, and how he had us studying birds, and how we had to disect things.  Okay, Hughes did the disecting, but I was proud of my weak-stomached-self for holding a frog eyeball in my gloved hands.  =O  Then, we were talking about how in A&P, Mr. Carter had them disecting cats, and how I did NOT take that class.  Then we got to talking about where those animals that got disected came from.  THEN we started talking about how medical people learn lots of things from disecting animals and cadavers.  And then there was talk about how you could be an organ donor, donate your body to science, get cremated, or get buried.  And the kids were talking about what they would want done with their bodies.  Well, I think mostly the girls were.  I'm not sure what Isaac was doing.  Eating, perhaps?  =O  Anyways, then Ruby was talking about a funeral they went to (someone from David's nursing home), and how the man's eyes were closed.  I told them that they make sure the dead person's eyes are closed, and the kids wanted to know why.  I told them it would be a bit disturbing to go up to see your beloved and have them "staring" back at you.  And then they wanted to know how the eyes stayed closed.  Jadelyn had an idea - "maybe they put glue on the colored part of your eyes and then slam them closed".  Lovely.  I believe I ended the conversation there.  =P

Oh!  I KNEW there was something else!  And not morbid, even!  =O  Jadelyn started reading yesterday!  In fact, she nearly finished a 50+ page book with Isaac's help.  She's not keen on sounding out words, at ALL, but she learns sight words QUICK so off she went.  It's so great to see my little man in the role of reading coach.  He's quite good at it and nice and patient, and it's SO GOOD for his confidence and practice.  Just a proud moment, you know.  ;)

Okay, back to work!

Quick Note...

So, I've been missing for a long time.  Kidney stone surgery and recovery (1 cm by 6mm MONSTER, doc said it probably had been growing for a year to get to be that size =O), falling and hurting my shoulder real bad, etc., etc.  I'm probably 95% cured now.  MRI said fractured shoulder, orthopedic doctor said no fracture, just a bad MRI and a badly bruised bone.  Shoulder has been a bit achy the past few days, but you know.  I've been back to painting and caulking and cleaning and life is good.  =)  There's my update.  Now you know.

There's been several times that things happen and I think I need to write about it, but alas, I didn't.  So trying to get back on the blogging bandwagon again.  =O

Today, the kids and I were talking about a student who broke his collarbone.  He has to keep his arm in a sling for a couple weeks, and I was commenting that I hope it's not his dominant arm.  Jadelyn then was talking about how rough it would be if his "coloring bone" was broken, and how he would color messy and out of the lines.  Funny kid.  =)

After a sweet tuck-in session with Isaac tonight (his favorite bedtime song is "Away in a Manger" lately...I think 'cause it's the song he thinks is the longest, and he likes his back scratched on his bare back for as long as he can), he told me that he is going to invent a machine that will scratch backs and sing songs.  He just might knock it out of the park with a machine like that!

And then, I was singing to Ruby (also "Away in a Manger" tonight), and she was grinning like a silly loon.  A kind silly loon.  Today we focused on kindness.  She made treasure hunts for all of us.  Most of the messages spell out "I love you so much." when put together.  What a sweet little color-coded-treasure-hunt-maker!  And she shared a cheese "puff" with Lynnie at lunch and water with Lynnie in the van.  Sometimes she really struggles with being kind.  Tonight she said, "I like being kind."  I like it too, Ruby.  Love you to loves.

Night night!

Crazy Little Lynnie....

This girl.  She is so random and spunky and NAUGHTY at times.  Oh!!!  =P

Anyways, just a few little stories.

On Friday, I was practicing the piano.  Cradle Roll songs for the next day.  Now, Cradle Roll songs are written simply and they are short.  To fit the attention span of the children.  Jadelyn climbed up next to me on the piano bench and announced that she thinks that tomorrow she will sing more.  'Cause she's learning the songs.  And then, for the next however long, she sat next to me, singing MAYBE a few words before she busts out talking again.  Things like, "Wouldn't it be cool to have a pet lion and tiger?"  "During this song, Titus and I lay down on the floor.  We smile at each other.  We used to be shy of each other, but we made friends."  "What does that spell?"  And singing, "I'm so cooooonfuuussed, I don't know this sonnnggg!!!" during "Only a Boy Named David", which, I believe she really does know.  It just cracked me up.  She couldn't get through a song without talking.  Except I think once.  Oh, Lynnie.  I was wishing David would come out and video it for posterity, but alas, he was otherwise occupied...

This morning, Jadelyn was laying on the floor outside the closed bathroom door, for she wanted to tell me something once I got out.  Which, come to think of it, I don't think she ever did.  Anyways, she's waiting.  And peeking under the door.  And giving me the rundown about how she knows I'm out of the shower because she can see my feet.  Then, she stuck her hand under the door and wanted me to touch it with my foot.  Which I did.  She then pulled her hand away and started doing "Bubblegum, bubblegum in a dish....how many pieces do you wish?" on my toes.  For 5-10 minutes.  No breaks. 

So, this girl can stay on task pointing at my toes, but not singing songs.  Guess she has different interests than me!!!  =P

Baby Horsey...

...it's something that Jadelyn likes to play every now and then.  Yesterday, I asked her for a little cuddle, and she informed me that she was a baby horsey.  I asked her why we like to cuddle so much.  She looked up at me and answered, "neeeeiiiggghhh."  I don't know why, but it cracked me up.  I laughed and laughed and laughed.  Crazy kid.

Van Rides.

Today we went on a bit of a road trip.  Just a bit.  Started in Phoenix.  On the day that they got the most rain in the history of Phoenix.  Flooding.  But we avoided it, for which I am so thankful.  Last time we visited Phoenix overnight it was 67 freezin' degrees and we were there to swim in a freezin' outdoor pool.  I'm thinking that Phoenix and I are not friends.  Anyways.

The van ride was a bit crazy.  The kids were way more excited and FEISTY than they should have been and much more than they normally are.  At one point, I turned around to see Jadelyn licking her sunglasses.  Why?  Nobody knows.  Then, I turned around later and found Isaac with his snorkel gear on like that is a totally normal way to go down the road.  Right?  And THEN I turned around another time to see Jadelyn, with a UN-lidded waterbottle up to her head sticking straight out, and her eyes were all crossed looking at it.  I mean.  WHERE did this kid come from?  HOW did she end up in my family?  I asked her.  She shrugged and then suggested that maybe she came from the "crazy farm".  I think I need to stop turning around while we're driving. 

Earlier, Ruby asked, out of the clear blue, if Uncle William's family is breaking the rules.  What rule, pray tell?  Well, she wanted to know if they were breaking the law when they get out of their seats and use a potty seat in the car.  This was followed by much conversation.  About how if we raced across America, their family would kick our tail.  And about how we could call the police and have them pulled over to give us a fair chance.  And on and on and on, and then Isaac busts out talking about the ceiling of the van.  I died laughing.  As in I could hardly breathe.  I started to cry.  Isaac was mad about me laughing at him.  (He continued later, after I regained some composure, talking about some contraption on the top of a van for using for some purpose about pottying and where the poop and pee would go.)  I mean, HOW AM I EVEN RELATED TO THEM??!?!?!?  Then, I'm so tickled I texted Shelley about it.  About how our family was talking about her family and I was dying laughing and it was hilarious and she would need to trust me and it was about their family pottying in the van.  And I got a reply.  That the recipient didn't recognize this number but laughter is good for the soul.  I thought Shelley was pulling my leg.  So I texted back something about, "Is this not Shelley?  Are you not joking?" and I got a response that they weren't joking and it wasn't Shelley and "Peace".  Of all the texts to send to a wrong number, I send a text about pottying in the van.  Not a text like, "where you at?" or "what're you up to?" or "are you almost here?"  Nope.  Not me.  I text strangers about pottying in the van.  Maybe I DO belong in this family after all.  Ai yai yai.

Jokes...

When I was younger, I was the master of telling "Kimmie Jokes" also known as terrible questions that nobody would guess the "answer" to (meaning that if they DID guess it, I'd change the "answer"), ending with me giving the "answer" followed by hysterical laughter.  My one mainstay was "Why was there bones on the moon?"  "Because the cow didn't make it over!!!!!" *Insert Hysterical Laughter Here*.

The kids are telling jokes at lunch right now.  Just heard this gem:

Ruby:  "Why are there engines on the moon?"
Isaac:  "Because the car didn't make it over."
Ruby:  "CarS.  Because there were engineS".

The creator of Kimmie jokes is so proud.

Holding Her Breath.

Ruby has had lots of fun lately seeing how long she can hold her breath.  She even roped me into having several contests with her the other day to see who could hold their breath the longest.  And I was afraid a time or two that she'd actually beat me!  =O

Last night at supper, somehow the topic of Ruby's surgery/hospitalizations came up.  Oh, I remember now!  They were talking about motorized cars, and Ruby was saying that she got to drive one on the way back to her first surgery.  That was crazy.  Drug the child up and put her behind a wheel.  Bad, bad combination.  =P  Jadelyn was reminding us (as she seems to always do when the topic arises) that she and Isaac threw up in Gram's car when they were coming to visit Ruby and I at the hospital.  Isaac added in that Gram gave him a bag to throw up in, but he missed.  And Jadelyn was talking about wiping up with baby wipes.  Bless you, Mom.  All I remember was that you called and said you weren't going to make it 'cause they both got sick.  And you were all upbeat sounding.  Wowzers.  Anyways, back to the point of the story.  So, we were talking about the laughing juice or whatever they gave Ruby before surgery that made her loopy the first time, but didn't work the second time.  Ruby said that she knew the pain that was coming was going to be bad, and so she just didn't get giddy.  She screamed all the way back to the room.  SCREAMED as they took her away.  Last night, Ruby told us that she tried to hold her breath when they put the mask on her, but it didn't work because she'd been crying, so she was gulping air during her sniffs and stuff.  And for some reason, I got all teary.  I almost thought I should excuse myself from the table and come back to my room and have a good cry.  My poor baby girl, all alone, scared out of her mind, trying to hold her breath.  Silly, I realize, but that's how I felt.  I talked to her about it later.  How I was sad that she was so scared and that I wasn't there with her (they don't let parent's back for anesthesia where we went).  Ruby, ever the practical one, told me that it wouldn't have done any good if I WAS back there.  She was just scared of hurting.  So, independent Ruby, thanks for not needing me.  Now I can erase that guilt.  Right?  ;)