All the Popsicles I want?

I think my kids say at least one thing every day that I mentally note I should blog later, because it makes me laugh or think.  Always something I don't want to forget.  :)  Today, this is what I heard from the back of the vehicle while I was out on errands.

"Mommy, if you and Daddy die, can you give me all the Popsicles I want to eat?"

I said, "ummm, what?  Ava if mommy and daddy die, we can't give you anything."

Then she said, "Well, I mean if you both die, can I have all the Popsicles that I want so I don't die?"

I said that I was sure she could eat lots of Popsicles, but then I asked her if she wanted us to die.  She said, "NO!!!  You are a pretty good mommy.  You take care of us.  You clean and cook for us. But if you died, I guess I would live with Grandma or Nana for a whole month."

Then I said, "well, what would you do after you stay a whole month at Grandma's or Nana's?"

This is my favorite part, she said, just as matter of fact as ever, "well, I would probably turn into a mommy while I was there. I would take Christian home and be his mommy."

She cracks me up.  All she wants in life is to grow up and be a mommy. :)  Girl after my own heart.

Overjoyed With O Week

I think personally that O was a bit harder than some of the letters. In fact, I have had a harder time with all of the vowels.  However, we did what we could.  It ended up being a very full week of Opportunity. 

We started off with Psalm 8:1 "Oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth.  You have set Your glory above the Heavens."  Then we did a devotional / object lesson with an empty Jar. The jar was full of Oxygen and we need Oxygen.  We discussed how we need and use it and then went into how we Need God and Jesus and though we can't see them, we can be full with them.  We know they are there.  It worked out pretty descent.

Some of the activities we did were "the Not so Ordinary Orange" craft.  We took Oranges and a sharpie pen and decorated our Oranges.  We gave them faces, hair and even drew pictures on them.  The kids then peeled them on their OWN and we ate them. :)

Another activity we did was playing OUTSIDE everyday at some point.  We had fun because the weather granted us some fun play temperatures.  The kids took the Mail OUT to the mail box each day and went OUT to get the mail each day.  This made them feel important.

A few of the foods we ate were of course, Oranges, O shaped PBJ sandwiches, Oatmeal, and My favorite was Octopus Hotdogs.   I had the most fun making them and the kids laughed the entire time they ate them.  Then we followed that up with looking up some info on Octopuses :)  Then we went right into discussing the Ocean.  We talked about Octopuses all the way to Oil Spills and how it affects the Ocean animals.  Then we made a big OCEAN SCENE and hung in on the wall.  It was neat to see them drawing things they think live in the Ocean.  I love Ava's Octopuses.  Can you see them?

Another thing we discussed was the importance of Obedience.  It is important in all we do that we obey first God and then our parents and so on and so forth.  We worked on Obeying simple commands. :)  We shall see how that works in the future.


Christian's fish died also, so since it was O week, Micah wrote up an Obituary and we read it during the service of the fish's flushing.  Then we talked about what an obituary was.  Kind of hard to explain that one.

Can't think of anything else we did for O week other than the normal things.  We discussed and practiced opposites, practiced writing the letter O and drawing Ovals. :)  Ya know, all the not so original stuff. :)

The Story Behind Edmond Nemo - the Fish

So the last entry you were introduced to the famous Edmond Nemo, but lets get to how he got that name.  You see, both of our children are OBSESSED right now with the Narnia series and they pretend all the time that they are the characters in the movies.  Ava is usually Susan and Christian refers to her as Susan all the time.  For example, he says, "waaaa, Susan hit me."  :)  She calls him Peter and Edmond, depending on who she wants to call him.  These names, Susan - Lucy - Edmond - and Peter get tossed around alot at our house.

Okay, so on our way home from the shower, as they were discussing what to name the fish, Christian wanted to name him Nemo first.  Then a few minutes later he referred to him as Edmond.  Ava then suggested we call him Edmond Nemo Bumbaugh.  This worked for Christian, so that is the name that stuck.  :) 

On our way home, Christian was soooo excited about his first real pet, his fish!!! He kept laughing and asked if Edmond Nemo could sleep in his room.  Then he yell to the fish from his car seat and he would say, "hi buddy, you okay down dere?"   He was really quite ecstatic about the whole thing.  Ava was upset that she didn't get one, but after awhile and a few conversations on the way home, she was over it and just decided to "help" Christian take care of his Edmond Nemo.

We drove about two hours and didn't get home till late that night, but even though they had both fallen asleep, they immediately woke up to see the fish once we got home.  They ran in and hurried to change into their pjs so they could see Edmond Nemo.  That night, we decided to let him sleep in Christian's room.  Christian wanted to pet him but we explained that if you pet a fish, they die.  I know,  a little drastic, but we had to scare him.  Anyway, so we were tired and went to bed, but the kids stayed up and talked to the new friend they had brought home.  I peeked in their room to see them squatted down and staring in the fish bowl and they were talking to him.  Christian was saying things like, "hi buddy, you are so cute.  I love you." and it was the sweetest voice you ever heard.  Ava was helping Christian to show him all of his toys and they were treating him like he was a new puppy.  :)  SO sweet. I think Micah and I layed over in our room listening for quite awhile, and we were having to stuff pillows in our mouths to keep the kids from hearing us laugh.  It really was an unforgettable experience.

The next few days, weeks went well.  We changed and cleaned the water and fed the fish.  He seemed to be doing well and Christian was so proud of his fish.  He told everyone about this fish he loved so much.  Pappy Sweetheart kept asking Christian if he could eat the fish when he came to visit and Christian would get upset and tell him "NO Pappy."  Poor kid, I think he actually believed Pappy. :)

So, we were in the kitchen and Micah changed Edmond Nemo's water.  The fish was swimming around fine and then all of a sudden, Micah got my attention and just like that Edmond Nemo had rolled over on his side and was floating on top in a very peculiar manner.  So sad.  We checked to make sure and then we called Christian over to talk to him.  Daddy picked Christian up and told him we had some very sad news for him.  Christian, our little always happy child, was smiling and shaking his head yes.  When we told him Edmond Nemo had died, he first started laughing, almost as though he wasn't sure of his reaction and then when he realized what was said and we were not joking, his whole demeanor changed and he started to sob.  We hugged him for quite awhile and he was so so sad.  He took it really hard and it broke our hearts.  We tried to comfort him and we sat in the living room and cried with him. 

The very sad pet owner of Edmond Nemo. . .saying goodbye. 

Then, when we thought long enough had passed, we heard something from the kitchen.  He had snuck out and was talking in a very sad quiet voice.  This is what we heard coming from the kitchen, and it made us both tear up.  "I miss you fishy. . .sniffle . . . "  then something about loving Edmond and so on and so forth. We couldn't hear all word for word, but it was HEARTBREAKING and then we heard.  "you kidding me!!!"  and here what he had done was knocked the butt of a knife against the fish and since the fish obviously moved, then he thought Edmond was still alive.  His whole demeanor changed.   We tried to tell him that he was still dead, but he wouldn't believe it.  I guess his own state of denial.   Anyway, so we had a little service around the toilet as Christian flushed Edmond Nemo to his watery grave.

He did flush the toilet on his own, but we think he thought Nemo was still alive.  Guess we will just let him think that. :)

Micah typed up an obituary, since it was O week after all and it was fitting. :)  Below is the obituary.

Edmond Nemo died in his tank today, May 14, 2011, of natural causes. He was the pet goldfish of Edmond/Peter/Christian (depending on the day) Bumbaugh. His birth date is unknown, but he arrived in our home on April 29, 2011. He was full of life, and outlived his life expectancy of one week.
He is survived by an aunt Lucy/Susan/Ava (depending on the day) Bumbaugh, and Grandparents, Micah and Michelle Bumbaugh. After a brief private ceremony, he was sent to the sea via the porcelain bowl.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that monetary donations be made to the surviving grandparents :)

What an awesome baby shower we experienced. The best one ever!!!  We were invited, as a whole family, kids, hubby and all, to a baby shower in honor of our dear friends, the Stifflers and their soon arriving baby girl.  Her name is to be Olivia Grace Stiffler and we can't wait to meet her.  After this shower, it is very apparent there are many people anxiously awaiting the arrival. :)

The shower was amazing.  They had drinks and food galore.  They had anything you could want to drink and even had juice boxes for the kids.  The meal was delicious and the company was even better. The dessert table was full of chocolate covered pretzels, strawberries, candies, and anything else you can cover with chocolate and serve. Then they had rented a soft serve ice cream machine that went along with their huge sundae bar that they had set up.  The kids favorite part, of course.  Christian was so excited to make his OWN sundae.

I do think he ended up putting EVERY topping on the sundae, and ate it all anyway. :)

After we ate, they introduced us to the royal family and all the extended family and then they had crafts and activities for the kids so the parents could sit back and relax and talk for awhile.  They had toys and door prizes and all sorts of fun things planned.  I swear we left with more than we came to the shower with.  :)

Here is the boys chatting away and killing time. :)

Here we are posing with the glowing soon to be Mama.  She is beautiful.  Ava was glowing, but more so from all the previously consumed sugar.

And finally, for the main event, or so this little guy though.  I introduce you to this innocent little happy fish that was minding his own business and along came Christian.  Their lives were both changed forever.  In fact, while the fish was innocently just swimming along, being the centerpiece for a table, this special little boy was silently observing.  This was such an event, that before we left the shower, We were tracked down and the fist was presented to Christian.  The sweet look that flashed on his face when he realized it was HIS.  I will never forget.  So this, my friends, is how we were introduced to our beloved Edmond Nemo.  I will get to this story on another entry, but now you have it. 

What a great shower.  We had so much fun.  We love the Stifflers.

Letter N Week

Letter N landed on the week that National Prayer Day was on.  We took this opportunity to pray on that specific day and we talked about prayer.  Then we discussed what it meant to be Needy and we went shopping to get toys for the Operation Christmas Boxes.  I used the word needy for lack of better N word terms but they got the point.  I did have to inform them though that it was not appropriate to go around and point the NEEDY people out.  They were doing it so innocently, like, "hey, that woman is needy because she is using a cane to walk and she needs it."  sweet and observant but not quite what I was trying to get across.   We had to tweak that a little.

We did a devotional on the value of Jesus love and how we should share it with others.  The object of the lesson was a Nickel and how we can spend it or save it or. . .give it to God and allow him to make more out of it and share it with more people.  The kids really liked this lesson and they also liked that they each got a nickel at the end. 

The Cat and the Hat show had a whole half hour on Birds and their nests and how they make them.  this worked perfectly for our week and the kids really were interested in this topic.  It just so happened Grandma Bumbaugh had two birds nests that were built this spring on the pillars of her porch so the kids had really gained quite an interest on this topic.  They colored some pictures of birds and their nests and they also cut pictures of bird nests out of magazines and glued them onto a collage.  Oh, and Ava decided to make her own birds nest.  She used dirt and water to make her mud and then added grass, stones, and some hair.  It is still sitting on our deck waiting for a mama to use it.  Ava asked me the other day, "I wonder how the mommy will get her babies and her eggs into our nest from her nest?"  Not sure how to explain that one.

One activity that was really a great exercise was Ava learning to write her full name.  She really did a pretty good job and she even sent a card to Nana for her birthday that she wrote on.  She practiced writing her Ns and she is getting pretty good at them.  Christian still always writes Letter I or Letter H when writing his letters. :)  We also called Nana numerous times that week since it was N week.

For our service we decided to call and invite Nanny over for a Nice Surprise.  We gave her a present that was a small Nurses angel pendant since she is Christian's Nurse and she is his angel all in one.  It also was Nurses Appreciation Week.  Then we gave her a back massage and a foot massage.  I think Christian more enjoyed tickling her feet than massaging them. :)

Of course for the Bible part of our lessons, we read the story of Noah and that is always one of the kids favorites.  We did a whole section on why we NEED plants in our lives and how to nurture a plant so it grows right.  We ate noodles a few meals that week and we invite our neighbor Jim over for a cookout but he had plans.  We did actually focus on the word Nap and why we Need Naps so we are not so cranky.  It ended up being a great week.


I almost forgot about the NEWS cast the kids put on.  They used their microphone and acted out a news cast.

My Own Personal Super Hero

Ava is spending the night at her Grandma Bumbaugh's house and so we have little man all to ourselves.  Micah and I love these days / nights because Christian is so fun to be with and we get to focus on him.  We were just hanging out, having fun and doing special little things for our son.  When we pulled into our Driveway, I leaned over and kissed Micah and told him I loved him. 

Then next thing we heard was a sweet little voice coming from behind Micah's seat saying, "daddy, you not cute. .. You a SUPER HERO!!!"  He was so sincere and I actually teared up. 
Isn't that the way we all look at our dads.  Wanting them to be our superheroes and wanting them to save us from the despair in life and the desperate situations we find ourselves in?  That is how I see God.  He is our Heavenly Father and I see him as my own personal SUPER HERO.  I know, I know, he is in charge of saving ALL of us, but I still see him as MINE.  I love Him and I am so glad He sent His Son so I could go free, and someday I too will be set free from the desperate situations I find myself in here on Earth.  Praise Be To GOD!!! I am so grateful I have so much more to look forward to thank what is here facing me now.  don't get me wrong, I love my life, but thank the Good Lord we have something to hope for and focus on. . . we have the promise of Heaven and an eternity with our Super Hero.

Dutch Fest - - -The Runaways

So, if you would have asked Brianna and myself a few months ago, we would have said that boys are definitely easier to raise than girls.  hahha, we have since changed our minds and though we do believe for us, our boys were easier babies, they are NOT easier toddlers and preschoolers.  They, can I say, proved their point undeniably last night while we were at the Shalom Dutch Fest. 
Ryan, Brianna, Micah and I and all four kids decided to go over and get dinner and walk around last night at the Dutch Fest.  There is a ton of delicious food and activities for the kids.  The first thing we saw and of course this trumped food in the kids mind, we came upon a moon bounce.  Reece, Ava, and Christian were all three bouncing around the moon bounce before they even got into the thing.  They were running and squealing and then in the actual moon bounce, we were worried our kids were gonna dominate all the other kids and hurt them.  Our three were def. the crazy ones.  Anyone could have seen they were related. :)

Can't you see their excitement. . .while waiting to get into the moon bounce.

The next thing on our agenda was to EAT. .or at least that was on the adults agenda.  The kids. . . not so much.  They wanted to play on the playgrounds.  So, the men got our food, Micah made a scene, and the kids played.  There were tons of kids running around and it was hard keeping track of the three crazies.  Christian got stuck on the top of a seesaw and was screaming and then I found Reece hanging off a rock climbing wall yelling for help too.  They kept us hopping. 

Oh, yeah, and keeping track of shoes was a nightmare.  They were having fun though.

At one point, I was in charge of all three while Ryan went to find Brianna to show her where we were.  It literally was a few minutes, less than five and yet, the events that transpired sent us all into a laughing and scared panic.  I had my eye on Ava and Reece but I couldn't find Christian. I was panicking a little but figured he wouldn't have wondered too far.  Then it hit me, he might have, no he wouldn't, but yup, he did.  He wondered over to the barrels being pulled by the tractor and was sitting there.  When I saw him, he saw me and the ride was starting to pull away.  He smiled so proud and was waving.  I was attempting to find and locate Reece and Ava and the next thing I know, Ava was yelling at me telling me Reece was out there.  I looked and sure enough he was running behind the train of barrels and trying to grab onto the back of the last one.  he accomplished this twice and fell both times. The tractor guy was looking around behind trying to figure out what was going on and I was Panicked. I started screaming for him to come here and I think I scared the poor guy, because Reece looked up saw me and started to cry.  I snatched his hand up and just then Ava, who I had told to stay put in the safe area was standing beside me and they were both a little rattled.  To say the least so was I.  I had a hold of both kids hands and headed over to where the ride was ending only to see Little Man still grinning and just being so proud.  I honestly think he had NO IDEA what was coming next.  After I had relayed the story to the other three parents, the four of us promised punishment to the three kids.  The punishment was that we cancelled our slumber party.  Reece was supposed to get to spend the night last night and we decided that wasn't going to happen.  It was a sad few moments while the punishment sunk into the three runaways. 

Later on the way home, we laughed so hard I thought I was going to pee myself, but it wasn't funny when it happened.  So after that story, I am sure you understand why we find the boys to be a tad more difficult than the girls.  Though they were our easier babies.  haha. .  . Just glad we are all okay and funny to hear each of their own personal accounts of the story. :)

Poor Reecey, his crying broke my heart. 

And finally, to end the story with a group picture. . before we went to Ritas.