Janitor

Last night I asked my boys to make me a list of their top 5 things they want for Christmas. Every boy had some form of food. Colby wants his own watermelon. Cael wants 100 starburst. Carter wants 1000 dum-dum suckers etc. So weird, but kinda funny! Then the best... Colby wants a janitor so he doesn't have to do chores anymore. That would be make his bed, and clean up the entry way every other day. Whew, we better hire a "janitor" for those tough chores!! So funny but cute!

What Did You Learn Today?

When Chet got home from work one day, he asked Colby what he learned that day. Colby says, "You don't stand on the sidewalk holding a sign, you go out and work for money!" Needless to say, Chet and I laughed pretty hard.

We were at Walmart earlier that day and Colby saw a beggar on the sidewalk. He was very confused. He asked me why that guy was standing there with a sign and wanted to know what the sign said. I told him that he was asking for free money without doing anything but asking for it. I asked him if he thought that was the best way to spend his time? He was still a little confused so I told him that if he wanted to have things in life, he had to work for them and not just ask for handouts. He needed to work and not just hope that others would give him everything. He understood that. And I thought that was the end of it. Obviously it sank in pretty well with him.

(I know that we are supposed to give to those in need, but I have a REALLY hard time with beggars. As I talked to my friends about this, they said that they will always give them leftovers if they have any from eating out. Most people won't take them. They get things like, "I'm a diabetic." or "I have a gluten intolerance." I call bullcrap!!! If others want to give, GREAT! But as for me, I like giving a generous donation to fast offerings instead. And do Secret Santa. And shovel driveways. And other kinds of service. I do not agree with standing on the corner begging. I read an article once that said the average beggar will make $400K a year if done full time. I'd rather my boys know that working hard is how to do it!!! And then they can help others!)

How can I not?

Oh goodness, how can I not share this letter from Caden to me on my birthday. Caden is so funny sometimes, so deep sometimes, and sometimes he just confuses me. This letter has all three. Here it is!

Dear Mom,

You make me feel like a humen. I feel good everytime your around me. You look like a butter fly.When your grumpe your like a fly. We all like you in are life. We all love you. Your like a ant Queen. You are like a deer with a buttiful booty. You are good.

His spelling is horrible!!! His grammer is even worse! But I wouldn't trade that little rat for anything in the world! He loves me the most! He is "going through that stage" right now, at least just the beginning, and he is a different person every 2 minutes, but he always loves me. He always hugs me. He always prays for me, for help for me to do all I need to and his gratitude for me as well. I sure do love to see his heart. I'll try to always be a "butter"fly, and not just a fly, haha!!!

Let the Games Begin

I thought that I really kinda had a grasp on my preteens eating. Like I knew that they sometimes eat a lot, and often. Well, tonight at dinner I saw a whole new game begin. Keeping Caden Full, that's the name, but theres a twist. He NEVER will be!!! I was making grilled cheese (Im obsessed lately with grilled cheese. Like I need the dairy or something!) Caden is not a huge fan of lots of cheese. I was pumping out grilled cheese as fast as I could and the boys would just take them. Caden was telling me that I was putting way too much cheese on them, and that he was gagging. Well, did that make any difference to him? He still proceeded to eat THREE full sandwiches, and then tells me that he is still hungary. I had the 4 ends from two loaves of bread that he saw ready to be thrown away and asks if he can make cinnamon toast with those 4 pieces of bread. He makes and eats them. Then he asks if we were having dessert. At the same time he was looking in the fridge with both doors open hoping to see something else to eat. I think he was satisfied, but never full. How can anyone eat that much bread in one sitting?!? And he just turned 10! Trouble! He is a bigger eater than either his older brothers. Might be time to up the food budget again!!!!

Weirdest Ever

We don't have cable, so my boys see very few commercials. While watching the one show we watch from hulu together as a family, The Voice, Carter tells me, "Mom, I think Geico will go down in history as the WEIRDEST ads ever!" Oh my gosh I laughed out loud. He really has no idea how weird they can get, but they are pretty weird!

Dinner Yum

Today when Carson got home from school, I had lists of things for the boys to do. Carson is a list boy!!!! If I ever need anything done, I just need to make a list and Carson will work until every last thing is done. After chores, a few boys were over that jumped on the tramp and hung out. After all the dust settled and it was just our family, minus dad that was out of town, Carson went to the fridge, and did what boys do: open both doors and just stand and look. After a while he says, "Mom, can I grill some brauts?" I say, sure. He then says, "Well, can I cook some brauts, and hot dogs, and some cinnamon rolls? That would be a good dinner. Well, actually I never got an after school snack so I will cook one braugt for a snack, one for dinner and a package of cinnamon rolls (the yummy little Pillsbury ones), and some hot dogs. Yeah, that sounds good!" I told him that sounded like the dinner of champions. He bounces down the stairs and out the door to the grill. After getting them on, he comes back inside and pulls open the fridge and says, "And I think I'll add some bacon. Yep, bacon for sure." as he procedes to pull out a few slices of bacon to make. True boy, through and through. His stomach does most of the talking.