The Queen Comes Out of Hiding

Yes, that's me. I'm back. I really do miss blogging, but it took a lot of time away from other things in my life. Mainly housekeeping, child rearing, exercise, spending face to face time with important people in my life, etc. I guess I need to find a happy medium. I am not the best time manager. We'll see how it all goes.

You may wonder what's been going on around here. I'll try to sum it up for you.

The King of my castle is busy, busy, busy. Always on the road, it seems. When he's home, he's on the phone with work...I guess I shouldn't complain. He has a large family to provide for, and it takes a lot of provision to keep us going. He doesn't get a lot of free time, but his new hobby is trying to create the perfect pie. You'd think I would like it, but I don't. You should see the scale when I step on it. He's sabotaging me.

I can't remember what I called this kid. Squire? He's 14. He is busy with school and activities. Track is happening now, and only 35 days left of school. He has big plans to take Driver's Ed this summer. (Lord, help me!) That way he'll be ready to drive when he turns 15 in September. He would like us to move to South Dakota so he could be driving now.

I'm pretty sure I called this one Scribe. He's 13 and up to the same stuff as his closest brother. It's frightening to me, but his voice is changing. I hear men in my house all the time now. He's a comedian and makes me roll my eyes and shake my head many times a day.

Jester. Not so much anymore. The laughter he brought to our home is no longer here. He decided to disown the family. This is one of the last times I saw him, which was on his 19th birthday in October. It's sad. It's hard. I'm trying to deal with the rejection, but not doing so well. Some days I cry. Other days I am just plain angry. Angry with him. Angry with my husband, because I so badly want to blame someone. Angry with me, because I didn't see it coming. I feel betrayed. I miss him.

Prince Charming. What can I say about him? He makes me smile every day. I look at him in awe and wonder. As a mother I can brag about his brilliance. He's four and is starting to read. Seriously. I haven't even taught him how. The other day he said to me, "Freak is like free. Free is F-R-E-E. I can spell freak. F-R-E-E-C." I was very impressed. Of course, I didn't correct him. He'll be home another year so he should have the correct spelling down before he starts Kindergarten in 2012.

My Jouster. Not so much a fighter with me anymore. (Whew!) Though we do compete from time to time. Here we are doing a push up contest (he beat me because he's only 20 and the sun was in my eyes, but I gave him a run for his money). He is making great strides at turning his life around. He still lives at home and is my right hand man when The King is away. He's working at Hardee's while he waits to start construction work the end of May. He's looking forward to making some real money so he can get a place of his own. I'm not so sure I want him to go, It is really nice having another adult around all the time. He has a girlfriend who has a one year old son. I adore that little guy. I love it when they come to visit so I can get my baby fix.

Maiden and Duchess. Two years apart and toothless together. Isn't that fun? I love my girls. One looks just like me, one acts just like me. So, I guess I have two Mini-Me's. I don't know if that's good or bad. I guess it depends on who you ask. They are doing well in school, and sadly for The King, love to spend time at the mall (which I have no problem with).

Well, that's it for today. I'll have to let you know in the next few days what I've been doing for myself. I am heading down a new path...

Itchy, Itchy Chicken Pox

Prince Charming caught the pox. I had a few sleepless nights with the poor guy. The King was out of town so I had the privilege of dealing with it all on my own. He was a little crabby and hard to deal with during the worst of it, but now that he's almost clear of any pox, things are back to normal.

He loved being covered with Calamine lotion. Some of his siblings wanted to count his spots, but he said, "No, they are my poxth...you can't count them!"

He thought every spot needed a bandage, but I talked him into only one. The worst pock he had was on the inside of his lower left eyelid. It didn't bother him as much as it bothered me.

He was a pretty popular little boy. I had a number of people call to come visit so they could expose their kids. He loved the attention...and sharing lollipops with his friends.

He took a lot of oatmeal baths. I put oatmeal in an old sock and he would squeeze the milky liquid out into the tub and rub it on the worst of his itchy spots.

The oldest boys had the pox a number of years ago and the middle four were vaccinated. If I could do it over again, I would have skipped the vaccination. Maiden still ended up with 27 pox and Duchess got a few too. They also had fevers, headaches and sore throats along with Prince Charming. I've been told they will need Varicella boosters in the future and there is a possibly they can catch a mild case of pox every time they are exposed. UGH. I wish I would have done my homework on that one!

Fortunately for Prince Charming he's now fully immune, and pretty proud of the fact he had the "chicken poxth blithsterds".

Little Turkey Times Two

Look at this Little Turkey:

So proud that he was able to make his cold cut slice of turkey stick to the window.

I love my Little Turkey.

Blessings,

My Children

Here is the most recent photo I have of all of my children. It was taken on Jouster's 19th birthday in July. I can't believe I have a 19 year old son. It makes it harder for people to believe I am only 29 years old when they see him by my side. There may come a day I will have to admit my real age.

Let me update you on what is going on with each of them.

Jouster: He is now 19 and swore he'd never step foot into a college. However, he is now a college student. He has worked out his schedule so he can be a full time student and still work his job at the hog farm 3 days per week. He still struggles from time to time with demons from his past but is really doing well. I am proud of the wonderful young man he has become.

Jester: We struggled with him over the summer. He left home two weeks ago and we haven't heard from him. He has stayed in contact with Jouster so we know he is safe. We will keep our distance and allow him the space he feels he needs from us. He is a senior in high school this year and will turn 18 in a few weeks. I am sad that our relationship has come to this point, but all I can do now is pray for him. The little kids miss him. Maiden said last night, "I hope he comes home so he can sit in his spot again." (Meaning at the dinner table.) It broke my heart.

Squire: Is in 7th grade this year and is taking his homeschool studies very seriously. He started playing piano again which makes me extremely happy! He is in cross country and is begging to join the Civil Air Patrol.

Scribe: Not so serious about school. He's in 6th grade and hides from me a lot. We are working on him staying on task with getting his work done. He's also in piano again...much to his chagrin and is running cross country. He's a pretty good little runner.

Duchess: She has taken over the role of first born. She likes to "mother" the younger two around and keep them in line. She is a second grader this year and is still working on learning to read. She is now in charge of egg collecting and loves her new chore!

Maiden: My little Kindergartner. Her goal for this school year, "To finish Kindergarten." She only thinks she's doing school if she's working in workbooks. Me reading aloud to her is not considered school to her. She gets frustrated when I won't let her work ahead in her books. I need some of her enthusiasm to wear off on Scribe!

Prince Charming: My little boy is three--and--IS POTTY TRAINED!!!! He is my little snuggler and is never far from my side. The most common words out of his mouth are, "I want my mama," or "I need you mama." I love it. Hopefully his need for me follows him all the way through his teen years.

Prince Charming's Hair

Prince Charming had his first haircut when he was two years old.  He did not like it.  Not one bit.  It was a very traumatic experience for him, he kicked, screamed, and cried the whole time.  The King had to hold him down and the haircut was not one of the best.  We decided the next haircut would wait until he was a little older.

At 31 months of age we decided it was a good time to try again.  He had quite a mop of hair on his head.

When we went to South Dakota for Easter, we took him to The King's favorite barber.

Prince Charming was not impressed:

This is him watching the barber and contemplating whether or not he wanted to participate in such a horrifying activity.

He got as far away from the barber chair as he possible could.  Doesn't he look traumatized at the thought of a haircut?

He watched Squire get his hair cut.

And then he watched Scribe.

Next up was Grandpa.

And Daddy.  But Prince Charming did not participate.  We tried three times to get him into the barber chair.  Too much kicking and screaming.  The barber suggested we give him half a beer and try again later.  We decided the haircut could wait.  Those golden locks weren't so bad.  Maybe when he's a little older...

Five days later, after a day of playing outside in the hot sun, I told Prince Charming his head wouldn't get so sweaty if he had a haircut.  He was afraid it would hurt.  I told him he'd like it better than getting his fingernails clipped.  He thought about it for a while and decided he was willing to to give it a try.  Unfortunately, it was 8:00 at night and not many barbers were readily available.   

 I didn't want to wait for him to change his mind, so I pulled out the scissors and started cutting.

This time there was no crying, kicking or screaming.  Just a little boy who sat still, smiling through the second haircut of his life.

Here he is.  My little boy, who really looks like a boy now...no more baby look for Prince Charming.  (I think I might cry.)

Guest Blogger--Prince Charming

Hi, my name is Prince Charming and I am 2 ½ years old. My mom is letting me be a guest blogger today because I have become a very good photographer. She wants me to show you some of my photos.

First we will start with a self portrait.  I love to take pictures of myself.  Usually I just get my feet, hands, or belly button, but this time I was able to get most of my face.  I like that you can see some food in my teeth.

I love my cars.  I thought you might like to see how I set them up.  "Lighten Akeen" is the car in the middle.  I like the movie 'Cars'.

 
In this photo, I moved the cars from the table to the floor and put "Lighten Akeen" at the end of the line up.

In this one, I put the van in the middle and "Lighten Akeen" on the opposite side.

Now they are back on the table, in the same order, but this is a back view.

I changed the order of them once again.  I am good at car portraits, don't you think?  My talent doesn't stop there.

I also like to take pictures of my mom.  Here she is on the treadmill.  I sit by her when she walks and runs.  I laugh a lot at her because she lets out loud "UH's and OH's" when she is working out.  Sometimes she says, "No pain, no gain."  I have no idea what she's talking about. 

Here is a picture of her feet and legs.  I like to put my cars on the treadmill when she is running.  They move really fast.  Sometimes mom stumbles on them (which I think is funny).  This causes the safety magnet pulls away, and then the whole treadmill stops running.  After this happens about three times,  she yells and tells me to go away...making me cry.  I just don't understand why she's so sensitive.  One time she fell off the treadmill after she tripped over a big truck I put on the belt.  I thought that was really funny.  She didn't laugh at all.

Occasionally I take random photos.  Here is a nearly empty bag of tortilla chips.  

But my true passion is in photographing cars.  The little blue car is  "Thally".  She was in the movie 'Cars' too.  

Well, that's all I have for today.  I'm sure I'll get a few hundred more photos to share with you really soon. 

"Thanks for letting me be your guest blogger today, Mama!  I love you berry berry much."

Benefits of a Home Office

Yesterday I saw this beautiful sight.  The King was on the phone doing business with Duchess and Prince Charming in his arms.  (Psst...honey, could you turn around?)

I'd say this is multitasking at it's best.

Or is it mixing business with pleasure? 

Slurping Soup

In Japan and Hong Kong slurping soup is sign of approval and appreciation of the cooking.  I think the same holds true here in Fairy Tale Land.

Overindulge This Past Christmas?

He knows how you feel.

"Poopie, Mama"

This morning Prince Charming called out to me, "Poopie, Mama." He was pointing to his bottom so I assumed he'd already done the deed and needed a clean diaper. He hadn't gone yet, so I pulled out his little potty chair and grabbed a pair of underwear.

I praised him, "Thank you for telling Mama. You are such a big boy. Let's put your Cars underwear on you. Then you can sit on the potty when you have to go."

I was ill prepared for his reaction. He wanted those underwear off and a diaper back on. But I am stubborn. I refused the diaper request. He was going to wear those underwear until he decided to use the potty chair. I went about my morning routine until one of the older boys called out for my help. I found this:

Prince Charming had lost the underwear. Squire thought it was disgusting to eat breakfast with his brother lurking in the buff . I removed him from the table and reminded him he needed to use the potty. A few minutes later I found this:Since we do not have a dog, one would think it is just a little spilled water, but when a two year old is standing over a puddle saying, "Uh oh, pobby." (that's potty in his language), you can no longer assume it is water.

This is the seventh, I repeat SEVENTH two year old, I have raised. You'd think I'd learn that they are more stubborn than I can ever be. He won. That 15 minutes of blissfully thinking my child would now be in underwear is just a vapor in the wind. We are back to using diapers.

I'll leave you with a little video showing the underwear reaction: