September 6, 2012

around the house

I just marvel at the fact that THERE ARE LITTLE PEOPLE WALKING AROUND MY HOUSE.

After getting hitched, John and I waited a little while to have kids. Like 7 years.

Our first year, we were still in college together.
The next year I taught high school and it was a big fat joke...so I retired.
Five years I went to graduate school...halfway through...really wanting kids.

So I know how it feels to wait and really want to have kids.

Some people think it's odd that I love having kids so much.

Partly it's because I appreciate having them after waiting so long. My house was quiet for 7 years. But even if we got knocked up immediately, I'm sure I would have loved it. Might not have been as appreciative though.

So when I see a little toddling tush walking by...minding its own business...just meandering through the house, I am awe struck at God's goodness. And I think to myself. "Omyword. Is this really my kid walking by?"

And the little evidences of these small human creatures are scattered around the house. I get such a kick out of it.

Like for example, this week I was walking through the family room and saw this lego robot that Ollie had made. Just sitting there against my girly wall.

"Hey Ollie! What is that?" I asked.

"Oh it's the samurai", he explained. Which is a big robot from Ninjago. Of course. It's always Ninjago these days.

And then I glance over and Finn has some cotton balls in a dixie cup.

"Hey little human...whatcha doin'?" I wonder.

"I'm making itching powder", he tells me.

Oh yes. Clearly.

This is how itching powder is made, apparently. I mean, you could buy it at Target. Or DIY at home. Your choice.

Just boil up some water and CAREFULLY place your dixie cup of shredded cotton balls next to the steaming water for 23 minutes{ehhh 23 hours...same diff}, so the cotton will absorb the moisture and magically become itching powder.

Don't blame me if your experiment doesn't work. You are the one who wanted to make itching powder, not me.

Other evidencing of these little humans are more concealed. For example, we recently discovered that Finn hides all his teeny tiny Ninjago lego weapons under his bed so Twain can't find them.

Well Twain may be the baby of the family, but let me tell you something. He's not stew-pid. The other morning he whispers sheepishly in my ear, "can I play with Finn's 'ninjado' swords?"

"Sure Twain. Where are they?", I ask curiously. 

And then Twain crawls waay under Finn's bed and unveils the secret stash of weapons of mass destruction. Bam.

Oh. my.word.

So. I let Twain play with one sword at a time, and then he must put it back. Shhhh. Don't tell Finn. Our lil secret, k?

These two are always conspiring together in their bedroom. Snuggling under covers, plotting about their kitties.


Right above his bed, Ollie constructed this kitty condo, complete with balcony for Sir Tux and Master Tabby. These tiny kitties are living large those days.
Tabby and Tux can even brush their teeth in the little complex to the far left. So fancy. I wish I had my own outhouse to brush my teeth in.

Ollie also made this little lego car for Twain to drive Tabby around in. And it was on the counter and every time John and I passed it, we smiled. 

Sometimes this kitty can be seen holding a teeny tiny ninja sword.

Soooo. What do you get when you cross a kitty with ninjago?

A ninja kitty. This creation was invented by neighbor Libby. She knows how much Twain likes the blue ninja Jay...and kitties. SO voila. Blue ninja kitty.

When I refer to Ninjas, you don't have any idea what I'm talking about, do you.

Ok, here's the quick lowdown.

Here is the crew of Ninjago: 4 teenage ninjas + sensei wu + girl Nya

Kai: Red, master of fire. Has cute spiky hair.
Cole: Black, master of earth. Has bushy eyebrows.
Zane: White, master of ice. Has no sense of humor and is the odd ball of the group.
Jay: Blue, master of lightening. Talks a lot and is funny. Has a crush on Kai's sister, Nya.

Hey. Pay attention. There will be a quiz at the end.

Sometimes they wear hooded masks. I prefer that they do not. Because they have cute hair. And it's all about the hair. I was poking around online for sketches of these little cuties. Presh.


Then I got a little scared when I realized that some teenage emo girls are taking these Ninjago legos a tad seriously. I mean, even more seriously than I do. I uncovered a fan base of epic proportions. This one girl drew a sketch of what she thinks these 4 ninjas LEGOS would look like AS HUMANS.

These are LEY-GOS, girlie. Not the cast of Twilight.

One girl even wrote the following comment:

So basically this girl wants to marry the ninja LEGO Cole. I think I need to get online and explain to these girls how things work....eh maybe not.

I think I'm just gonna stick to watching the little Ninjago movies with the boys, and playing Legos with them.

More evidences. I opened my freezer and saw a purple bowl of water with Ninjago legos inside.



Ninja Zane, master of ice, is freezing his enemy, the serpent. Obviously.

Scattered on the desk are some of Finn's paintings of "spinjitzus". He kinda copied them from a picture as he painted, but I still think they are cute.


Ok, it's not all about Ninjago. There are other things around our house. Major things. Like evidences of the BIG people that live here too.

Like John thinks he's going to grow an avacado tree from this pit. This has been staring at my face every time I wash dishes. I think it's only fair that you have to look at it too.

It takes 7 years for an avocado tree to bear fruit. So check back in with us in 7 years, ok?

And evidence that I do indeed live in this house full of boys.

I think I might have killed this cactus.


Here is a picture of a cute dinner that I made for the boys in my house. Yes, I'm totally bragging about finally making something other than macncheese. Shameful.

I think boys like cute food. What do you think?

And finally. I'm very excited about this mini-lipstick I won from my Sephora rewards card this weekend. It's the black case to the right, for comparison sake, next to a NORMAL case of lipstick.

Cute, no? And the color is red. I have always wanted to try red lipstick. Doesn't that seem exciting? The girl at the counter said that "anyone can pull off red". Even you.

I am so glad that I have spent my money at Sephora all these years, just so that I could finally win this mini-lipstick. So thank you Sephora.

p.s. I hereby crown you masters of Ninjago, after reading this post.

27 comments:

  1. I love the name Kai and wanted it for Silas, but Matt did not think it was a manly enough name. Apparently it is manly enough for Ninjago! If only we had known........
    I am so glad that you are enjoying the evidences of your little people. I can relate because I have enjoyed having my house decorated with streamers, balloons and birthday signs recently. Our dogs have had almost daily birthday parties, planned and hosted by Ali.

    ReplyDelete
  2. your family makes me smile every time i come here, i love it. it's like a glimpse into what my future will be like. I have a son and the way that the gene pool works around here, I'm bound to end up with how ever many more. all boys. everywhere. for generations. anyhow, i love boys imaginations, and lego obsessions, and dirt obsessions, and gun/sword/etc. obsessions. they are a blast. the way that you describe your love of being a mom is sweet.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am in fact a master of ninjago as well my friend, DJ got the lego serpentine all terrain vehicle for his birthday, it took my husband an hour {maybe 2} to put together. There is nothing that screams boy mom more than searching on your hands and knees through the carpet before you vacuum because you know if you happen to suck up a little ninja sword you will never {never ever} hear the end of it!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ok the frozen legos made me LOL! Those boys of yours are so entertaining! How do you stand it?!

    ReplyDelete
  5. oye. this made me teary for some reason... loving your babies for all of those creative, adorable, sometimes messy bits of evidence that they're part of your family and home and life. i have four littles of my own, 6 and 4 year old boys and 2 year old twin girls. i learned to make an origami ninja star today in preparation for the almost-7 yo's upcoming ninjago-themed birthday party. i've been busted for confusing lloyd and lord garmadon more than once. love your blog and your photos... thanks for sharing the good stuff.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i wish i got to see how your party turned out...do you have a blog?

      Delete
  6. hahah, when i was little i wanted to marry michaelangelo from the ninja turtles. good thing i didn't have the internet to document it!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh, how I can relate to the Lego Ninjago madness...I am a mother to 4 boys as well. It is NON-STOP Ninjago in this house. I love your blog!

    ReplyDelete
  8. interesting. i married my hubby while still in college (senior), but he is 4 almost 5 yrs older than me. we had a baby a little longer than a year after we married. i LOVE my kids, but i often wonder what it would have been like if we had waited to have kids. now that they are here i don't regret it, but i wonder/wish we had more time together before we had kids.

    anyway, what did you go to grad school for? was it school that made you decide to wait, were you working at the time too? how did you both meet?! :)

    i want to see the red lipstick on too! i've never been brave enough to try it. lol

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Marjorie! I went to grad school for my masters in chem because I LOVE teaching college students and you need a masters to do that. I did not want to teach high school again. I could not deal with the attitudes. I was working the whole time I was in grad school as a T.A. for chem labs and chem discussions. i LOVED my college students so much but around 3 years into program, I wanted my own kids to love on...but I needed to finish the program first. And when I finally was ready to try it took a little while to actually get pregnant because I was on the pill for for so long and it had pretty much killed my cycle. I regret taking the pill for various reasons. Also I had a pesky cyst to deal with, tmi, haha. I will have to do my story some time about how I met John! I was actually thinking about that the other day!

      Delete
  9. love all the pictures! i have two girls and a boy (who is only 8 months old) and i can't wait for more boy stuff around the house. interesting fact....my husband and i married our junior year of college and also waited seven years before having kids! i am glad we waited and had some time together before starting a family.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I LOVE reading your posts. They are so fun and always bring a bright and happy smile to my face. Thank you for sharing your funness with us. I'm not quite sure if that's a word. And thank you also for opening up your comments. I'll be commenting a lot. because I like you. a lot!

    ReplyDelete
  11. ha! i loved jess' comment.
    i too love finding signs of them everywhere. like her teapot in the refrigerator
    this ninjago thing is intense. i don't even know what to say about those girls obsession.
    i think i prefer my girls "tangled" obsession. far less complicated and drama free. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh this is just the cutest post!! I baby sit for a family with 3 boys, the same ages as your eldest 3 and I love the adventures we have (they are also way into Ninjago too!) :)

    Can I ask you why you started/stopped teaching high school? I have one more year of university and then I have to decide what I want to do with my science degree... and was leaning towards high school teaching but still so unsure! It would be nice to hear from someone who has been a teacher before!

    Thank you!
    Ngaio May xx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I started teaching high school because I was young and idealistic and thought I could change the world. I thought the students would be interested in learning. I was only 21. I had no credential and did not do any student teaching, so I was completely unprepared for the amount of discipline the students required.

      It was exhausting having to teach 5 or 6 classes in a row.

      Just coming from the freedom of college, I had forgotten all the restrictions of high school. Like the bell system. All students have to stay in class until the bell rings, regardless of whether or not they finished a test early. I felt like I was in prison, or back in high school myself.

      My husband teaches high school and does just fine. I think you have to have the right personality for it. I would recommend shadowing a teacher around in high school. You will know instantly if the job is for you. I knew the second I stepped foot in the classroom the first day of school, that I had made a terrible mistake. It was a long year. I could not wait for it to end.

      Delete
    2. Thank you for this!! Very interesting! and very helpful! I am going to look into shadowing a teacher for sure!

      Delete
  13. Ha...frozen Legos... we have those. A prison of ice is like the WORST punishment.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Hey Davi, just imagine if you were still teaching High School you actually COULD explain to all the teenage girls how Ninjago is not Twilight, or Hunger Games. ;P
    Phew, dodged that bullet.

    Love your boys. I say it all the time but it's true.

    I tried that avocado pit regrowth, but didn't realize it took so long so I threw it away, maybe I'll try again. I was contemplating regrowing a pineapple too.

    We shall see...

    ReplyDelete
  15. You're kind of the coolest mom 4 boys could ever have. And if even you can rock that red shade, then there's hope for me! (hahaha i just love that she said "even you". How are you supposed to take that?!)
    Thanks for your honest encouragement on my blog today. It's reassuring to know that I'm not the only one who has been shunned by my child. What a terrible feeling though, hey? Ugh.
    Oh, and lastly (lastly? is that even a word? the more i look at it the more it looks wrong. or like something only preachers say or something.) but anyway, LASTLY, these pictures are the very best. So amazing. You've got mad skills, woman!! xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  16. great post. kids are the best. the best best best.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I'm absolutely loving the blogs I've found through "the olive tree" this morning. I had my own Lego issue this morning (will be posting about it later this week), so I was rolling when I saw the robot against the wall. Precious little bugs, all these boys are!

    Am happy to sign up as a new follower. Won't you stop by "this little light" and see if it's your cup of tea?

    Happy Monday!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hi! I'm Eryn, love your blog. Your kids are the cutest. I am 21 & in college but in a relationship with my "high school sweetheart" (should I not feel weird saying that when I graduated like..4 years ago? Cause it feels crazy weird. Anyways!) and we have been talking a lot about when we wanted to settle down and start a family and have decided 4-6 years from now would probably be best for us so your words about wanting kids SO bad but waiting, that's my life! Haha I was reading it nodding my head. I have known I was made to be a mama since I was like, 5. So waiting even now, when I have friends who are settling down (though I do very much want to enjoy the carefree 20s) is hard. But I know like you that waiting will make me love and appreciate every single day with my kids even more! So allllll that to say thanks for sharing as I can relate! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. aw ya poor dear. now. don't follow my suit. instead, go get busy. haha.

      Delete
  19. Oh man. I'm a counselor at a school here and the kids are ALL about Ninjago. Seriously, they love it! I love that Finn hides his swords under his bed, how adorable is that?!

    ReplyDelete
  20. can't. stop. laughing.
    a tad obsessed with COLE from ninjago?!
    holy moly!
    that girl is crazay!
    i had no idea this realm even existed!
    i know that there's a whole wackload of legos out there (we only have lego friends, naturally) but this is unreal!
    can you tell i have 3 daughters... no sons?
    ummm, ya.

    i think john and i could be friends.
    i tried to grow the avocado a few times too.
    mike always got so mad at that stupid pit in the bowl.
    so i always threw it out after a while.
    maybe i'll come visit in 7 years.
    i can start saving up NOW!

    ReplyDelete