Ear training for the mechanically inclined

"Hey Mom. Did you hear those cars outside at 5:56 this morning? One was a Lamborghini for sure. The other one was either a Viper or an Aston Martin. Now I'm thinking it was a Viper because it didn't pop, crack, and growl like the Aston Martin. Anyway...they had a stop-light drag race. It woke me up. I thought I was dreaming! It was so fun to hear..."

The mostly one-sided conversation went on from here about the actual noises each car tends to make--and why--and how fast they are able to go in 60 seconds, etc. I'll spare you the deets.

Any guesses on the source of this quote? hehe =)

Don't Sweat the Small Stuff

We have lots of little people stuff around our house. With four young children, I guess it comes with the territory (and oftentimes takes over the territory). Around here, when the "small stuff" is on the floor, it is referred to as "people rollers." When it is shoved in a drawer, I consider it in transitional housing (in waiting for the round file). I found a big stash of said stuff in a drawer I was going through this morning. The collage (below) is just a handful among numerous handsful of the small stuff that I am not allowed to "make disappear"--yet. Hmmm. Now I forgot what I was actually searching for in the drawer.


If you're wondering about any of the items, please continue reading. If not, please just say a quick prayer for me. Thanks!

Upper Left--ball of wax from a round of consumed cheese
Mary Kate: "No Mom, don't get rid of my sculpting wax. I still like to make things with it."
You can see her fine work with this wax at the bottom of this post.

Upper Middle
Jimmer: "Mom, we just got these vampire teeth. Don't get rid of them...and don't put them away with the other Halloween decorations either because I want to wear them."

Upper Right
Mary Kate: "I still have my doll, Annabelle, so we can't throw away that part that came off her neck."

Middle Left
Mikey: "Mom, that's not garbage. We use it to trap bugs and watch them."

Center
Kathleen: "I made that smoke pipe for our stuffed animals, Mom. If I put little bits of paper in it, it can also be a confetti blower! Don't throw it away yet."

Middle Right--rubber band wrapped around a toothpick
Mikey: "Don't throw that away. It's a handy tool. Sometimes I need something pointy, and sometimes I need rubber bands to hold things together."

Lower Left--Knitting spool cord (made by Mary Kate)
The kids still make snakes, snails, and who knows what else with it. It's been around for at least three years.

Lower Middle--rock
Mary Kate: "Mom, that's my favorite best skipping rock I found at Hamilton pool. That's a rare rock to find."

Lower Right--cloaking device and (hopefully not underwear but) hat.
Jimmer: "I made the outfit for (stuffed TY pet) Iggy. It's the first outfit I made myself."

This stuff is priceless to the kids. I'll try not to sweat the small stuff...as long as my drawer will still close!

Kids: creating lunch and homeschooling their mother

Mary Kate made a butterfly lunch for herself today. Then she asked me to take a picture of it. Hmmm, blogumenting our lives is starting to rub off on her.The other kids wanted sailboat sandwiches. I got the sailboat idea from Kristin in this post.They didn't feel like embellishing them today.

Kathleen decided to make her own fruit and veggie sailboat scene instead.
I've found when we make lunch critters and creations with our food, our kids usually eat better, talk a lot more during lunch (maybe not always a good thing), and start all kinds of interesting conversations.

As I listen to them, I keep wondering, "Where do they get this stuff?"

I just received a box in the mail as we were sitting down for lunch. Kathleen carried it in the house, looked at it and said, "Oh, it weighs 11 pounds. That's the same as the heaviest lemon."

Me: "What? There is an 11-pound lemon?"

Kathleen: "Yeah, some Asian farmer grew it."

Me: "Really? Where did you learn that?"

Kathleen: "We read about it in one of our magazines."

Then, after I was reading something about St. Patrick, Kathleen asked, "Mom, when was St. Patrick born?"

Me (after looking it up): "He was born around 385 A.D."

Kathleen: "Wow, that was almost 1,000 years before spectacles were even invented!"

Me: "Uh, I guess so. When were spectacles invented?"

Kathleen: "Around 1300."

Me: "Hmmm...where did you learn that?"

Kathleen: "That's what it said at one of the museums in Canada. It showed a big slice of tree with its rings, and it pointed to the years that things happened in history."

Mikey (chiming in): "Did you know that Theodore Roosevelt used to carry 12 pairs of glasses with him when he went to war? He put them in every pocket of his uniform so if he lost a pair, he'd have another--so he'd always be able to see."

Me: "Oh, yeah."

Thank you, kids, for homeschooling your mom...and making me feel better just when I was wondering if you were learning enough!

Foreign money

The children found a bag filled with foreign money. It was my brother Mike's bag of money from the countries he visited. What fun our kids had examining it, discovering what countries the coins and bills were from, sorting it all out, trying to figure its worth, weighing the coins, and imagining all of his travels.
There's money from England, Germany, Switzerland, Greece, Netherlands, France, Italy, Mexico, and Canada. There's even a U.S.A. penny from 1916. Cool! (It's also the time period we're currently studying!)
Their comments as they went through the money:

"He has a very interesting collection of money. The only other coins that I've seen with printing on the edges, like his coins from Greece, France and Germany, are my U.S.A. Presidential $1 coins that I've gotten from the tooth fairy!"
--Mikey

"I wonder if he ever knew how much all this money was worth."
--Kathleen

"I've never seen anything like this!"
--Mary Kate

"How did he even get all of this money going to all the different places?"
--Jimmer
Thanks, Big Brother! I hope you can see how much your nieces and nephews you never met are enjoying your collection!

Straight from Jimmer's mouth

Jimmer's explanation:

"I was walking around the kitchen with my icy in my mouth. Suddenly I bent over and hit my icy on Mikey's bottom, and then my tooth shot out like a rocket."

Jimmer's first tooth came out after Mary Kate's foot somehow knocked it out (I still don't know how that all happened). Mikey helped his 2nd one come out. When I brought this to Jimmer's attention, he said:

"Yeah, Kathleen might knock out the next one with her head!"

Here's his new look...although his face is a bit distorted in this picture.See Mikey in the background with his green icy?

Plans for the future

Mikey woke up pretty excited this morning. I could tell right then that he had been awake for some time with his gears turning, as usual. Mikey (a.k.a. Filibuster Boy) started off the conversation:

Mikey: "I know what I want to have when I grow up, and I've also figured out how much it will cost."

Mom: "What do you want?"

Mikey: "I want two vehicles: a Jeep Wrangler and a pick up. I'd also like a kayak, a bicycle, and a pick-up camper. The way I figure it, it should cost me about $28,000 if I get some things used."

Mom: "Are you planning on having a family?"

Mikey: "Yes, I'll have two children so we can all ride in the Jeep."

Mom: "Do you think your wife will want all those things?"

Mikey: (pause) "I guess I'll have to find a wife who likes to go camping."

What they do when they're left alone

Now that we've started school, we have more structure...but still, perhaps, a little too much free time!? This is what I might see running around the house if I leave our little monkeys up to their own devices.
Yes, Jimmer taped a pipe cleaner to his face for a mustache! His wig is from an old costume. The cowboy hat is from Mikey and Kathleen's fifth birthday party.

Then, I go looking for the rest of the kids and find this...

I'm not sure what Mikey was doing, but if I found him I'm sure I would get a dissertation like what he started as I was closing his door and saying goodnight last night. It went like this:

Mikey: "Mom, don't you think it would be scary if you were in the middle of the Step Pyramid and noticed that the whole thing was being held up by a couple of pieces of timber?"

Me: "Boy, I guess that would be pretty scary. Goodnight, Sweetie (trying to close the door)."

Mikey: "What do you think you would do if you were in there and thought thousands of tons of stones were about to fall on you?"

Me: "Whoa, I suppose I'd try to get out quickly."

Mikey: "It has over 4 miles of tunnels, and some of them were built to confuse people, so you might not even find your way out."

Me: "Pretty scary! Goodnight (closing the door again)."

Mikey: "You would be over 400 feet down. You wouldn't have any light, so you wouldn't be able to see anything. That would be pretty creepy, wouldn't it?"

Me: "Yep. Goodnight, Mike! Love you."

Mikey: "Goodnight. Love you."

The next morning (Mikey looking not-uncommonly tired)...

Me: "Mikey, you look a little tired."

Mikey: "Sometimes I stay awake at night thinking about different things."

(At least he has stopped coming in our room when he can't sleep!)

The Olympics--reality TV at its best!

We're not big TV watchers...except when it's an Olympic year! The kids have been very interested in watching the competitions so far, and it's quite fun to see them get so excited for the athletes!

As we were watching tonight, Jimmer had some classic one-liners. I don't even remember them all--he was on such a roll. Here are a few.

Jimmer (watching dressage): "That looks like Abraham Lincoln riding his horse."

Jimmer (watching all of the male gynmasts warm up before their competition): "Daddy, are those big, tall men?"

Daddy: "Well, they're young men with big muscles."

Jimmer: "But are they tall?"

Daddy: "They're usually not very tall. (pause) Maybe they're the world's shortest giants."

Jimmer: "Or world's tallest elfs?"

Then watching as the gymnasts started their pommel horse routines...

Jimmer: "Uh, I think that must be the world's largest mail box!" (Referring to the pommel horse!)

Then after watching President Bush hitting the ball around with the women's beach volleyball team...

Jimmer: "What if President Bush was wearing one of the women's beach volleyball uniforms?"
(Yikes! Let's try to erase that mental image!)

Mary Kate: "Hey, they're playing soccer in the water." (Watching water polo.)

Jimmer (following up with Mary Kate's comment about water polo): "Whoa, do you see their swimming suits? They look like girly panties!"

Agreed!

A Dad's Life--Conducting Business at Chick-fil-A & Gorilla Beards

I certainly couldn't homeschool our kids if it wasn't for their very-involved, loving, gentle, extremely charitable, selfless, wonderful Dad. So I thought I'd dedicate today's post to my husband, my best friend, my most bestest bud, Joe.

I just got a call from Joe who is currently at Chick-fil-A (a fast-food restaurant). Since it's his day off--San Jacinto Day, a state holiday--he took Mary Kate to her surgeon's appointment. Jimmer went along for the ride. So, after the appointment, he calls and says he's stopping at the nearby Christian bookstore to pick up some confirmation gifts for a handful of the teenagers at our parish. Very thoughtful!

He then calls from PetsMart. Apparently, Mary Kate hornswoggled him into stopping there to look at fish and birds or something. Then I followed suit and somehow hornswoggled him into looking for algae disks and water conditioner for our future tadpoles. So now, I get a call from him at Chick-fil-A. (He thought it would be a special outing with just the little kids.)

As it turns out, he conducted some business at Chick-fil-A. An architect called Joe on his cell. Thinking it was me, he picked it up--even though he was in the middle of getting lunch for the kids. Before he was finished "conducting business" with this architect, he had gone out to the car to get his paperwork, taken the kids to the bathroom--twice (complete with flushing and washing hands), fed the kids, and supervised them in the play area...unbeknownst to the caller. Now THAT'S a super dad!

Also, thanks to some friends who are on a 2-month RV vacation with their five kids, I was reminded today of another one of Joe's many talents--beard growing. You see, the dad of the RV-ing family has decided not to shave throughout their whole trip. Yes, two months. It reminded me of Joe's last beard-growing stunt.

I refuse to show you a picture of Joe's last beard he grew about a year ago. Okay, just a small one. His Christmas vacation from work usually lasts a couple of weeks, and he christens it by declaring he will not shave for the entire length of his time off. That's fair by me...usually...until he decides that he'll go back to work and still not shave. Then come February, he STILL hasn't shaved. Sigh... It was all very bad timing because he actually resembled a certain middle-eastern tyrant ruler who was...well, he's not around anymore. So, here's the picture of Joe with about 7 weeks growth. See for yourself.

Joe's beard growing talent has not gone unnoticed. A soccer dad friend of ours who was frustrated at the slow growth of his goatie, mentioned that he once said to his buddy, "I know this guy who can grow a full beard in, like, 5 hours (that would be Joe)--and here I am after 1 week with nothing!"

To top it off, this is the comment he got from Mary Kate...

Mary Kate: "Daddy, your beard grew so much--so FAST! Your whole FACE is covered!"
Joe (jokingly): "Do you think I'm a gorilla?"
Mary Kate (unimpressed): "No, you don't know sign language like Koko does."

So, THANK YOU to my kids' Super Dad and to my very talented husband. I know you would even swim through shark-infested water to bring me a cold glass of lemonade! You are the best there is. I love you, Joe!

Chin Ups and a Green Thumb?

The girls were at the doctor's office with Dad yesterday afternoon, and the boys spent time in the back yard doing chin ups on a tree branch. They were both successful... (Here's Mikey in blurred action.)...until Jimmer said he can't do one when I'm trying to take a picture of him. I suggested that he concentrate on what he's doing instead of thinking about the camera. He said, "I do concentrate, but it makes me turn my head." So, there you have it! I always thought (especially when studying in college) that concentrating tends to make one's eyes heavy, but for Jimmer it makes his head turn! Here is his struggle!After they did their chin ups, they peered over to the much neglected side yard and spotted a new bush...er, mammoth sticker plant. Being research minded like his dad, Mikey decided to get out the tape measure. Ack! 3 ft. 5 inches...and I didn't even TRY to grow the thing.
Why is it when I TRY to keep a NICE plant alive, I have much more trouble than the enormous weeds that are completely ignored? I've always joked that any plant that's still alive in our yard (or home for that matter) since we've lived here is simply a "volunteer."

I'm hoping our newly planted seedlings do as well this year in our garden. More on that later...

Deep Thoughts :: from the kids

Nov. 15, 2010 -- Because she's reading The King's Fifth (O'Dell) about conquistadores, Kathleen reminded me today that when listening to our Jim Weiss audio taped version of Story of the World (Bauer), Mary Kate used to think he was saying, "Come kiss the Doras." MK was probably around 6 at the time.

August 19, 2010 -- Slightly turned off that I (her mom)am proficient enough in Pig Latin, my daughter decided instead to speak with her twin brother in Turkey Irish. New one on me.


June 11, 2010 -- (after watching the western fights in a few episodes of Bonanza)
Mike: "Their cowboy hats always seem to fall off during their fighting. Then, whenever the guy goes to pick up his hat, he gets shot. They really shouldn't bother getting their hats back."

June 7, 2010 -- (Right after Mary Kate pulled out a tooth)
Mary Kate: "Wow, I've lost four teeth in the last month."
Mikey: "Are you sure you don't just have scurvy?"
The sibling love around here is simply palpable.

Feb. 3, 2010 -- While learning some English language idiosyncracies in his grammar and reading lesson, Jimmer asked, "Was this book made in China or something?"

Nov. 24, 2009--Jimmer: "I always have to wear my sweatshirt when my mom is cold."

Nov. 19, 2009 -- Jimmer: "After reading through a book about the brain, my 7 yo declared, "My brain is telling me I'm too hungry to do my math."

Nov. 7, 2009 -- Jimmer: Logic of my 7 yo son: "Now that I'm seven, are you going to have another baby?"
Me: "Whuh?"
Jimmer: "When I was six, we had six people in our family. Now I'm seven and think we should have another baby to make it seven."

Nov. 3, 2009 -- Jimmer: Home alone with 7 yo (3 others at piano) making paper pulp. His profound statement to me while we were bonding: "Have you noticed that I'm growing hair on my big toes now?" "I have some on my thighs also."

Oct. 13, 2009 -- Jimmer: Listening to her younger son read riddles to his siblings. He thinks he's the funniest person alive! "What does the crab use to call his mom? (His shell phone!) What does the corn chip say to his pal? (Should we go for a dip?)

Sept. 30, 2009 -- Jimmer: My younger son wanted to help take care of his ailing older brother by feeding him crackers one-by-one with the tongs.

Sept. 5, 2009 -- Jimmer: 6 yo son: "You know, unbrellas really don't hold you up very well."
Me: "Whuh?"
Jimmer: "I tried jumping off the side of the house with one. It really doesn't work...but I didn't break it."

Sept 4, 2009 -- Jimmer: Our 6 yo son has created his own excitement (mischief?) in doing math subraction problems. Instead of saying he's "borrowing" he tells himself that he's "robbing" from the other columns. The little bandit!

Aug. 28, 2009 -- Jimmer: Just heard my 6 yo son say to my 10 yo son: "You call me names. My strength you doubt. Pardon me while I knock you out!"

Aus, 12, 2009 -- Jimmer: Quote from my 6 yo son (quite seriously): "Prunes are for special occasions."

May 12, 2009 -- Jimmer: 4th time around -- when 2 vowels go walking, the first one does the talking...er, usually. So many "disobedient" words in the English language. My son calls them "naughty" words! If he only knew...

Feb. 16, 2009 -- Jimmer: Mom is thinking about the willpower it took to refrain from violently making gestures to stop her son's sword fight with his violin bow on stage yesterday.

Feb. 16, 2009 (Jim? Mike?) -- Mom is wondering how she missed a 12 oz. plastic margarine tub going through the wash. She found it in her son's cargo pocket.



Sept. 28, 2009 -- Kids: Our road trips have proven quite lucrative for our kids. In all the nat'l parks, gas stations, laundromat, and stores we frequented this time around, they found $25.33 + a pocket knife. It got embarrassing, though, when they put straws together to reach under a machine.


Nov. 11, 2009 -- Kathleen -- My daughter wants to use her brother's night vision goggles and stay up all night if necessary to see when the tooth fairy comes.

Nov. 2, 2009 -- Kathleen -- Just heard daughter from the breakfast table, "I just alphabetized all of my Halloween candy."

Oct. 30, 2009 -- Kathleen -- When I asked my daughter to make up a sentence with a predicate noun, she used her brother as an example: "Mikey is a gasbag."

Aug. 20, 2009 -- Mary Kate -- Quizzing my 8yo daughter on the skeleton.
Mom: "What's the longest bone in your body?"
MK: "Um..the one in my leg, um...oh, the thyroid?"

Aug. 14, 2009 -- MK -- When I asked my soon-to-be nine yo duaghter what she wants for her upcoming birthday she said, "A volcano cake with tropical flowers, a crank flashlight, a watch, and (drum roll please) a swim cap."

July 27, 2009 -- MK -- Daughter arriving home from a pool outing wth neighbors) "Mom, they had a Code Brown at the first pool, so we had to go to a different one after that."

July 25, 2009 -- one of the girls? -- Quote of the day from our house: "Hey, I just found a leopard-print purse with a hand grenade in it."

July 19, 2009 -- Mike -- First words of the day I heard as I walked into one of the kids' rooms: "Mom, don't talk to Kathleen--she's trying to hold her breath as long as she can."

Feb 22, 1009 -- (re: Mikey) Mom is hoping her son changes his mind about wanting a job someday that requires a G-suit.

Deep thoughts from our boys...

Since I just started blogging in March and because Jimmer is still so young, he is dominating the area of current funny quotes around here. I may add some of the other kids' quotes I've documented throughout the years in an archived posting sometime. Until then...Jimmer almost has a monopoly in this area!

4/13/10
Jimmer: "The only thing about malls I like is the smell of fresh giant pretzels. I really don't like anything else about them."

4/4/10 (During Easter Vigil Mass during the repetitive kneeling of the litany of the saints)
Jimmer: "If we kneel any more times, the spring in my Jack-in-the-box is going to break."

6/15/08 (World Economics)
Mikey: "Our ping pong table and Playmobil toys were made in Germany, we have a hat that was made in Vietnam, and other things made in different places. But most everything seems to be made in CHINA! Things CAN be made in America, but I guess we don't see much of that stuff."

4/10/08
Jimmer (after brushing his teeth with his spin brush...):
"Do you know what I just did, Mom?
Mom: "Brushed your teeth?"
Jimmer: "Yep, but I also washed my face...with my toothbrush. I just got some water on it and brushed all around."
Mom: "You washed your face with your toothbrush turned ON?"
Jimmer (with a very big, proud smile): "Yep!"

4/09/08
Jimmer (getting out of bed in the morning): "Mom, do you know how I fell asleep last night? I was like this (on his stomach) with this hand here (under his pillow) and this hand here (hanging down the side of his bed). I think having my arms like that turned my brain off, and I went to sleep!"

4/08
Jimmer (trying to take a nap on the living room couch): "Mom, do you want to know why I'm not sleeping yet?" (short pause) "I can't sleep because I can hear the clock ticking and it sounds like Home on the Range...and it makes my tummy hurt."

4/08
(I was explaining Mikey and Kathleen's English lesson to them one day with Jimmer sitting on the school room floor next to me sweetly rubbing my leg. We had been talking about using good picture words to describe something--comparing similar features to other things and pointing out unique characteristics.)
Jimmer: "Well, Mommy has whiskers on her legs, so that makes her unique."

3/08
Jimmer (to Gramma): “Some of your front hair looks like Elvis, but you’re a lady!”

3/08
Jimmer (steering the conversation as someone was talking about having to weed the garden): “Speaking of weeds, this is something NOT about weeds…”

3/08
Jimmer (as Gramma talked about comparing costs of goods—down to each “square" of toilet paper): “Well, I like the circled kind of toilet paper because then it just unrolls from the wall.”

Jimmer: “When you have a birthday, if you don’t have a cake, do you still turn an age?”

Mikey (looking at the speedometer): “Daddy, did you press the gas pedal down to 70?”

Jimmer: “I want to do something special without the big kids like the 6, 7, and 8 year olds. I want to do something special with some young year olds!”

Jimmer (Right after he saw me hurriedly slip on the same clothes as the evening before.): “Mom, you look like the same person you were yesterday.”

Jimmer: “When Kathleen and Mary Kate are older, they can go to bunco with you, Mom. And when Mikey and I are older, we can go to work with Dad. We won’t have our own rooms there, so we’ll just stay in Daddy’s room (office).”

Mom: “Jimmy, why were you being naughty?”
Jimmer: “Mom, my head was just making me do it, and I was just trying to make my head stop doing it.”

Jimmer (sticking one of his fingers deep into his eye socket): “Mommy, when I do this, it looks like you have four eyes and glasses on your forehead.”

Kids: “We’re going to do a Christmas play.”
Jimmer: “Yep, Mikey’s going to be the housekeeper, and I’m going to be the three wise men. I don’t know who the donkey is going to be.”