JINX!!

Just so you know, I can't talk.  I've been jinxed.

Much thanks goes to my 13 year old who learned how to do this and shared it with my 10 year.  Thanks again to the 10 year old for sharing it with the 8 year old.  And, yeah, the 6 year old bought into it BIG time. 

Don't remember how jinxing works?  Two people unintentionally say the same words at the same time.  One yells, "JINX," thereby muting the second person.  The jinxed or muted person cannot speak until someone calls his or her name.

I was first jinxed this morning by saying, "I love you," to my child.  Not a bad way to go since he had told me he loved me at the same time.  I finally got out of that silencing when his brother was unhappy with his breakfast options and opted to whine my name repeatedly.

Later, two of the boys and I began to nag the oldest boy.  "Come on," gave way to simultaneous, "JINX!!!" and somehow the three of us were all silenced. 

We've been pantomining for an hour now.  We've pantomined all the things we will do for the 10 year old if he will simply say our names. 

This 10 year old, who spent much of the first half of his life silenced by severe speech issues, loves solitude and quiet.  And this 10 year old boy just smiled at us and walked out of the room all without ever saying our names.

At this point we are wondering, do giggles count as talking??

Slow Down, My Son

Caution's 8 year old boy: "Mommy, I am almost grown now, so I don't want you to see me naked any more."

Caution: "Sounds great, but it does mean that you will have to stop walking around the house and forgetting to get dressed."

8 year old: "Okay. I've thought about it. I'm good with that. Do I need to start using deodorant now that I'm getting older?"

Caution *sniffing* "No, you're still smelling sweet and should be that way for a while longer."

8 year old: "How about shaving?"

Caution: "I think you'll get through third grade without needing to do that."

8 year old: "I'm glad we had this conversation. Being grown up like I am is kind of a challenge, isn't it? BUT when I'm a dad, I'm going to tell my baby about the naked thing before he's born so he will be ready!"

It's Like My Birthday Without Getting Any Older

Now lookie here at what came my way yesterday.

First, from Laura aka Peach from Silence is Broken,  I received this:

I love Laura.  Most of you know her (that's how I met most of you!), but if you don't, you need to meet her.  Want to learn the definition of survivor?  Meet Laura.  Want to learn the definition of generosity?  Meet Laura.  Want to know the person I want as a neighbor?  Meet Laura.  Need a laugh, encouragement, honesty or acceptance?  You know what you should do.  Meet Laura.


And this beauty is from Jeannelle from Midlife by Farmlight:

Of course, I think Jeannelle is a beauty, too.  She lives on an Iowa dairy farm and is sooooo smart and articulate.  She has a marvelous way of looking at the ordinary in extraordinary fashion.  She finds artistry and wonder in all aspects of her day.  And if that isn't enough, her farm posts are fun.  Her cows make my sons laugh!

Now my turn...

For Jeannelle, Pam from Mappersnapper (my first blogging friend and advisor and who may be coming to see me in person!!!), and Ann from From the Front Porch (who doesn't do these kinds of things, but whose blog is beautiful and does a great job of balancing thought-provoking with sweet), I present:

For Laura, and Karen from The Rocking Pony (who writes about MY  her family in such an honest and sweet way,) and another Pam from Life on a Southern Farm, (whose philosophy of debt-free living impacts my thinking more than she knows), I present:

Isn't blogging fun ??

Common Sense Isn't Everything, You Know

I woke last week to the lovely aroma called eau du natural gas. I am not talking about the natural gas my boys embrace so freely. I am talking about the natural gas which reduces houses to splinters in seconds. After spending considerable time hoping to wake from the bad dream, I acknowledged that perhaps I was already awake.

Moving stealthily so as not to make a spark, I slowly moved down the hall to check the carbon monoxide monitor. The readout was 000, so I knew we were all still alive.

The problem was that the gas odor was stronger than ever. After thinking about what to eat for breakfast and wondering what was for dinner, I considered waking my children and moving them from the imminent danger of the natural gas. But wait! *sniff* *sniff*

It was coming from outside!!! We were safe!!! So it was just our yard that was going to explode!! Fantastic!!!

I thought about my elderly neighbor all alone in her big house. No, I didn't hear her dog barking. I thought about my lovely neighbors on the other side. No, their dog wasn't barking either. Deciding that they might be dead already, I chose to leave them alone.

*Sniff* *sniff* The gas seemed to be lessening. So ... I left my sleeping children in their beds and drove over to work to pick up some textbooks.

Okay. I know you've just decided not to will your children to me, but everything turned out just fine. Exactly as it should. A little construction incident nearby was the culprit. Just a little illegal venting of gas lines.

How do I know? I know because I have a neighbor with common sense and she called the gas company. And my own children? The children I left behind? What they don't know won't hurt them. At least this time it didn't.

Now, if you will please excuse me, I going back to put my head in the sand for a while. Why don't we wait a little while longer before you send me that Mother of the Year award?

You Ask Why We Miss Having a Dog

From Caution's Kitchen

This is what happens to cookie dough when one forgets to add flour. 

 Does anyone have any idea how to get this cookie glue off my beloved cookie sheet??

Guests

I feel like I like in Florida. No, not the weather. Not the ocean. Not the transplanted Yankees. What I'm talking about is guests. Uninvited guests who show up every summer for about two weeks until we kill most of them.

I'm talking about Fruit Flies. They arrive each summer about this time and just think since we're not the greatest housekeepers, that they can live anywhere they want. This year Mr. and Mrs. Fruit Fly and 12,ooo of their children arrived a few days ago. They love it here, and we've been gracious enough as hosts. Shoot, we've pretty much let them have the run of the house, but this year they are especially fond of my kitchen and bathrooms. I'm talking swarms, clouds of these idiots.

They aren't fast fliers and it's quite the sport here to lock oneself in a bathroom late at night. BOOM! BOOM! CRASH! We all find these sounds so lovely as the person in the bathroom tries to kill as many fruit flies as possible during the time the person should be brushing and flossing. Then the person emerges from the bathroom declaring his victory over fruit flies while forgetting to camouflage his unbrushed and unflossed teeth.

We've tried to be polite about the fruit flies. We've tried to be gracious. We've gotten rid of the produce. We've bleaching the surfaces. We've blasted the drains. We've used the homemade traps and remedies listed on Google. We've even used...chemicals - in our kitchen area.

But nothing works. We still walk into a room only to encounter even more fruit flies than were there 10 minutes before. They find their way into everything. Think contact lenses.

So each year, when Mr. and Mrs. Fruit Fly announce that they are moving in permanently, we have to bring in the guest buster. We are reduced to putting up those horrible fly strips. You know the kind found at most church camps? Those long sticky strips with flies permanently glued to death? That's what we use - in our kitchen - next to the chemicals.

So if we ever move to Florida, our future guests have a little heads-up on what it will be like at our home. Really, we're all about gracious hospitality.