The 'Smells' of Spring

Spring time in Minnesota is supposed to be beautiful.  Fresh air, new grass, clean lovely smells right?  Yeah, well, thus far we've had some plain old stank around here.  Things are thawing for sure...but that's not always such a good thing...

 For the past two weeks or so everytime I'd open my back porch door to go out to the deck or head to  the garage I'd catch a whiff of something kind of unpleasant.  "Kind of unpleasant "really did describe it at first. Not highly offensive, just stinky.   I chalked it up to the sneakers (boy sneakers more specifically) and the steady stream of gym bags we keep out there. (boy gym bags more specifically)  Anyway....I took the gym bags to the deck, and sprayed the shoes, but said smell only seemed to worsen over the next few days.  It went from unpleasant to that  "OH NO,  SOMETHING DIED UNDER THE FREEZER" kind of smell. 

Meanwhile...let me take you to our van. Something was also "kind of unpleasant" in there too.  We are a family of five and we carpool with lots of our extended family to sporting events all year round.  We also carpool with friends and haul kids to church, to camp, to the Y, to Grandmas, to yonder and back. And we eat in there.  Burgers, turkey sandwhiches, granola bars, popcorn, hotdogs, apples, ice cream,  leftover hotdish (in little individual containers) carrot sticks (with ranch in a baggie) you name it we've taken it along on a road trip.  We honestly do clear out our garbage and  try to keep it somewhat decent. But I'll be honest, after an entire basketball season with a van full of  8 people eating hotdish and popcorn it needs a solid two day cleaning.  We did that....it looked sparkly clean....except for that....smell. And just like our porch,  it went from unpleasant to "OH NO, SOMETHING DIED UNDER THE SEAT kind of smell.

Cut to the chase. 

 The porch: A large chunk of ham wrapped in foil, hidden on a shelf.  (the porch serves as a great freezer in the winter)  Obviously I missed this piece of piggy as the warm weather hit.  I apologized profusely to the boy in my house I had been blaming.  Afterall, I was sure he and his gear were the culprit.  (Secretly I was very relieved it wasn't him...I mean,  if you have a kid who smells like rotting pork that's a problem bigger than odor eaters can fix)

The van: Taco Johns.  More specifically a half eaten beef burrito that was still in the wrapper but tucked into the pocket  (deep down in the pocket)  on the back of one of the seats.  Of course NO ONE did it.  It was the "Taco Johns Burrito Bandit" playing a bad joke on us.  I didn't push the issue.  I figure I had already wrongly accused one of my children for  the bad pig,   I wouldn't try and blame anyone for the equally bad beef.  In actuality it could have been one of my many carpooling relatives who left us that present.  And do I really want to start accusing my father in law of such things?


I hope you are all enjoying spring wherever you are...the sights and smells of new grass, new leaves, and birds chirping a new song.  The warm sunshine that greets you on your deck in the morning as you have a cup of coffee...ah...there is nothing like spring.  But, I also give you this Spring  Thaw Warning .......if you start to smell something "unpleasant" don't automatically go blaming your father in law....you might just need to check under the passenger seat for a container of hotdish.     Carry on...and tiptoe through the tulips!!!

It's in the genes

Is this genetic? 'Boxing out' in the kitchen I mean.  Seems like there is most definitely a boxing out gene in our house.   Sorry these pictures are kind of blurry, but when your'e trying to catch the gene in action it's quite difficult.  I'm certainly no sissy, prissy kind of girl...I grew up with two younger brothers and a neighborhood FULL of boys.  But I can honestly say I never really feel like boxing out in my kitchen.  Nope. Never.  Seriously...look at this scene closely....there is some mayo on the counter and a large vat of Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce.  (We have a big love of sauces)  So obviously there was some sandwhich making going on.  Then....what?.... suddenly....."Hey this turkey makes me want to box out?"  

UH OH....now the "wrestler gene" is making its' appearance.  See how they started close to the counter, but now we have serious hip checking, deep knee bending and they're moving down the hallway.  I did not follow them down there.  You'd have to be nuts to go after two males with high levels of wrestler gene pumping in their veins into a narrow hallway.  You may not make it out.  I stayed back in the safety of my kitchen, using the Baby Rays as a shield while yelling things like, "Hey boys...BOYS...!!'  "Whoa..hey watch the walls...the paint..." ... "Don't hurt your father he has to work tomorrow."  And just as quickly as it started, it's over.  Back to the kitchen to find the cheese and bread. 

After sandwhiches were consumed they were hanging out on the couch when I captured this moment.  I'm sure the ESPN gene was having it's full effect here.   There's nothing like some Sweet Baby Rays and Sports Center to mellow out my men.

But...no matter what their age, boys will always need to box out I guess...and wrestle.  I just wish it wasn't in my kitchen. 

Home- learnin' aint too bad

Our son Dboy who is 16 and a sophmore this year likes to tell people that he's "home-learned" by his mama when asked about school.  He also says it in this really bad hillbilly type accent.  (can you hear the banjos in the background?)  He apparently has his father's sense of humor. 

We do have people ask us frequently why we've chosen to homeschool so I've made a really
short list and posted a few pictures that convey some of the reasons we homeschool.

Reason 1. 

 The heavy lifting power I now have at my disposal is priceless!  You can tell from the look on his face that he's so EXCITED to be our pack mule.  I know it's 'teaching' him all kinds of important life lessons.  (his dad is behind him with the cattle prod)

Reason 2.

Store bought bread is beneath us, and all kids need a good dose of Home Economics.  She has her own really cute orange apron so she feels special while doing the family baking.  (notice there is no cattle prod in this picture)  I'm standing just outside the frame with the whip.

 



Reason 3.

Well what did you think dishwashers were for?  PARENTS?  Ha!!  We start them on the dishwasher before they are weaned.  Rockstar and I figured that with three kids we'll have been able to avoid the dishwasher for about 28  years total.   When they all leave home we're just going to use paper plates and our fingers. 






So there you have it.  Our homeschool philosophy.  It's all about what's BEST for the KIDS.  If you want to know some other reasons why we homeschool I have posted a tab on the homepage.  It's not required reading, so there will be no testing.  (See I slip into that teacher mode real easily)  Well, I better get busy...I have to warm up that cattle prod...there's bread to be baked and some heavy hauling to be done.  Education is important. 

Sweet Feet (NOT)

"It smells like feet in here!!"  My family is just used to me blurting this out.  That or other versions of the same phrase...."Gross, I smell feet."   "FEEEET"   "I smell feet again people!!" I'm not sure why I think I smell feet so often. Well, actually  no, I DO know why.... it could have something to do with the gym bag collection that gets left in the front entry.  This habit makes me so crazy I've been known to literally foam at the mouth and start things on fire with my death ray vision.  You know how weight lifters have those big veins that pop out of their arms, and necks...?  Yeah, well I'm pretty sure if you looked at my neck closely you'd think I was up for the Mrs. Schwarzenegger pageant.  When we were kids my brothers and I knew if moms' lower teeth showed ('the fangs') we had about 10 seconds until detonation.  When my kids see the neck vein, the foam, and the couch cushions smoldering....they know...."Uh oh. Mom smells feet!" Gross?  Yes.  Very gross.  We are big sports people around here...plus we have a family membership at the Y.  So gym bags, well, they are just part of life.  I have nothing against the bags.  In fact I love a blue Nike gym bag as much as some of my purses. (ok, that might be a stretch)   I just don't like said Nike bags in my entry.  Where they smell.  Like FEET!  I'm hoping that my children work harder at breaking this habit.  It's getting quite expensive to replace the couch cushions and my neck hurts.

The days of Superman & Elmo

I know that I'm not having any more babies. I've known that for quite some time obviously.  However I still wax nostalgic every now and then of the years gone by with my kids.  The days when I loved to kiss their chubby feet, and rock them to sleep while they made those cute little chipmunk squeaks.   The other day I happened to be in the baby aisle at the store for some reason.  I think I got lost while looking for the papertowels when suddenly I saw it.  The bright pink bottle.  I cracked it open and took a long whiff.  Ahhhh Baby Magic.  Suddenly I wanted to buy a cart full of Pampers and a 3 pack of Onesies.  I resisted, but I did buy a trial size of the lotion.  I don't know what possessed me, but it's kind of fun to see it in my purse now.

I loved the days of Superman and Elmo jammies.  The days when the tub was full of boats, squirt guns, and rubber duckies.  I wish I could have known how fast the time would go.  I might have enjoyed the splashing more.  I don't know about the flooding though.  I mean honestly, the amount of water that would end up on the floor was staggering.  There is nothing quite like snuggling with your freshly scrubbed children though.  Their noses so pink and shiny.  Their damp heads against your chest while you sing favorite songs and read favorite stories.  In our house daddy always did the final tucking in.  Usually there would be some squealing too.  A decent goodnight tickle by dad was just as important as the singing and stories.  Even as teenagers daddy still does the final tucking in.  There isn't so much tickling anymore...but every once in a while an arm wrestling challenge is issued and Dboy and dad head to the table.  Much to Dboy's dismay his dad sufficiently whoops him everytime.  Much jeering and hollering ensues.  This has replaced our stories and singing...but that's ok, I'm kind of tired of Good Night Moon.  We'll break it out for the grandkids one day and it will seem like a new story once again. 

No one wears Superman, or Elmo jammies in our house anymore.  No one needs a rubber duckie or toy boat in the tub.  None of them can sit on my lap without causing me to let out an "uff da you're heavy".  Their feet aren't so cute and chubby anymore...and I certainly don't feel like kissing them.  But...if they wanted to use some of that Baby Magic in my purse I might consider it. 

A Family that Plays (music) Together...

One of my most favorite memories as a child was lying in bed at night and hearing my mom make popcorn in the kitchen and listening to my dad play guitar.  As the popcorn smell drifted upstairs I'd hear my dad tuning up for some golden oldies.  The Beatles were really big in our house.  In fact, I consider myself a "Beatle Baby" as I'm sure John, Paul, George and Ringo serenaded me from the ol' turntable as my mom rocked me to sleep.  As the corn popped, and my mouth watered, my parents would usually break into some kind of song.  He'd start by warming up  his guitar with a little ditty I loved called "Alice's Restaurant."  And then, at some point they always seemed to sing "Brown Eyed Girl."  Mom, would be melting butter and singing harmony from the kitchen..... "Do you remember when.... we used to sing...Sha-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la- dee-da- la-dee-da...brown eyed girl"  I usually sang along quietly,  trying to match my moms notes.  I liked that we were both harmonizing with dad, it was kind of  like my own little secret.   I remember thinking if the song were "Blue Eyed Girl" it could have been about me.  I still pretended it was anyway. 

I took piano lessons for many years, played in the marching band, sang in various choirs and singing groups. One of my younger brothers took up piano and guitar too.  I wonder how many hours we spent on our big upright?  It was my Grandma's piano and the one my dad learned to play on too.  Every now and then dad would come in and plop down on the bench beside me and I knew it was time to get serious.  It was CHOPSTICKS time!!!  Sometimes I would play the top, and sometimes the bottom...but the goal of our chopsticks duet was not to make beautiful music... nope, it was to see who could be clever enough to mess up the other persons rhythm.  For a long time I was the underdog, but over the years was able to trip up good old dad a few times too.  This past Christmas our Gracie and her PaPa had their first "Chopsticks Showdown" I tried downloading a short 35 second video of them,  but for some reason blogger wasn't allowing me to.  Suffice it to say Gracie will be the underdog for a while too...but PaPa better watch out because she's feisty!

As I watched my dad and daughter duke it out on the keyboard it brought back so many fond memories of our little den with the big piano on Channing Ave.  I love that my kids will now have some of the same memories too.  Our son Dboy,  has followed in his PaPa and Uncle's footsteps and become a pretty darn good guitar player.  I'm thinking it sure would be fun to have "Alice's Restaurant" played in our house too.  We'll have to get Pa Pa workin' on that next.



This is by far and away one of my favorite Christmas pictures from this past year.  Dboy on guitar, PaPa rockin the bass, and Gracie tickling the ivories with some "Joy to the World" and "Deck the Halls."  It made me really glad that I grew up in a house with lots of music. And even more glad that my kids are too. Oh, and I saved the best for last....sometimes my parents would let me and my brothers come downstairs and join them for popcorn.  Even on a school night!!  Now that really was music to our ears.

Three Little Words

You're probably thinking awwww she's going to write about those three little words.  The words we all long to hear.  As much as I adore those three little words and even say them many times a day to those around me, they aren't the ones I'm thinking of right now.  These words I write of today are completely different but sometimes popular around here too... I've even been known to say them to myself.  Here's a picture that will help you understand.

                                                              "ARE YOU DUMB?"

Now wait...before you go all Dr. Phil on me and call the child psychologist.  My children know I don't really think they are dumb.  Remember I homeschool them, so of course their brillance is unmatched in the tri-county area.  They know this is how I lovingly ask them if they are off their rockers.  If they have a screw loose... If their elevator goes all the way to the top...If their cake is frosted.  You get the gist.  On this particular day my son happened to be the recipient of the three little words.  I don't really need to explain do I?  I mean it's not exactly balmy here right now.  In fact the day this was taken I think I may have used five words.  Something like "DUDE....HELLO???...ARE YOU DUMB?" Appropriate if you ask me.  As I've been writing this post I realize I use lots of three word phrases in my life. 

Here's my Top 5 on any given day

1. You JUST ate.

2. Pick that up.  ( I do try and say please, but this isn't the four word phrase list)

3. What's that SMELL? (use your imagination)

4. Think it through.  (something I say to them so I don't have to ask 'Are you Dumb?' as often)

5. You JUST ate.  (sometimes this one is actually said 'Seriously..really?..you just ate)  And yes I realize I said this one twice.

So you see, 'Are you dumb?' isn't even in the top 5 daily phrases.  Dr. Phil can keep his job helping shoe addicts, excessive flossers, and the women who love them.  I for one think I'll go tell my kids those other three little words.  The ones I mean the very most, and the ones I know they love to hear.    "Time for lunch"