Quotes ;) collected by Mom

Tert provides our family with a steady dose of comic relief, yet he's also really thoughtful and expressive.  Recently he has become extra affectionate toward me.  Last night, he came out to the garden where I was mulching in the dark and kissed me goodnight on my forehead.  I apologized for being so sweaty, and he said, "Mom, I don't want to get emotional here, but you're even prettier when you're sweaty!"

The other day Rus was complaining about having to push a stroller on a walk with Stella and the little ones.  Tert's pep talk was as follows:  "Let's look on the dark side, Rus.  It's boiling hot outside, Filia is fussing, and we have to go on a walk..."  

Filia saw that her big sister was feeling kind of low, so she gave her one of her sweetest smiles and suggested that they watch an "I Love Lucy" and "Dick Van Dyke" show together.  (Tert calls it "Dick Dan Dyke."

Tert - Noticing the overgrown, puffy dandelions on our neighbor's lawn exclaimed, "It's not fair that they get ALL the wishes!!"

I explained that Rus would be learning how to make some lunches this summer.  Tert thought we should leave well enough alone, saying, "Mom's better at cookin' and Aidan is better at bookin'."

Tert - "Rus is writing a story about a dazzle (damsel) in distress!"

When I checked up on a game the kids were playing on the Kindle, Tert assured me, "Mom, we're not playing anything disappropriate.  Just minions in normal bathing suits."

Filia - "Our window is officially cracked."

Filia - "I'm not praising myself, GOD IS!"

Filia loves to "babysit" baby Lux when I'm busy teaching the kids.  One day he woke up from his nap crying, so I sent her in to entertain him (hoping to buy a little extra time while I finished a math lesson).  They were in there playing happily for quite a while before I had a chance to check on him.  Evidently he was being surrounded with toys in his crib and coated in miracle salve (his sister was treating a rash).  I thanked Filia for her help, and she said, "Yup, and I showed him that there were no monsters in his closet."  :)

At nap time, Filia asks me to pray that she will not be afraid of "monsters or ghostses" and that she will have "pleasant thoughts and pleasant dreams."  One day she woke up with a huge smile and the announcement, "I had a good nightmare about new dresses!"

I'm trying to be better about slowing down, ignoring some laundry mountains, and playing with my kids a little more often.  The other evening Rus asked if I could jump on the trampoline and go on a walk with him.  When I told him how much I enjoyed our conversation, he said,"Mom, I've barely scratched the surface of everything I want to say to you."

I've had fun showing the kids the albums from my international travels as an adventuresome, unencumbered 18 year old.  Rus told me that I had a "pretty big life," and was impressed that I had turned down nannying job offers in both Australia and France.  Tert chimed in, "But then you married Dad and got to babysit for life!" 

Rus has been crazy about his online medieval history program through Veritas Press.  I am thoroughly impressed by their classes and amazed at how they manage to engage young kids in such a fun way while teaching about complex (and often dry) periods of history.  The other day Rus said he'd like to go back and redo the most interesting lessons he learned, "like the story of Henry VIII and the Act of Supremacy."

I called into the bathroom to be sure the kids were staying on track with their morning chores, and Tert replied, "Nope, I'm not doing my chores.  I'm just talking to the kids.  Wait...did I just say that OUT LOUD?"

Tert has a pretty impressive vocabulary for a 6 year old and loves to try out big words.  He announced that it was "timid" (humid) outside and smelled like "maneuver" (manure).

With 8 of us sharing one bathroom, we have some frequent traffic issues and close calls with potty.  Filia's advice to me when I was anxiously awaiting my turn was, "Mommy, if you have to pee, just cross your feet!"

We've had a LOT of repair work these past couple of years.  All of our appliances conspired to quit at once, and we have made good use of all of our warranties on the new stuff.  Usually the disruption of workers coming in and out of our small home in the midst of homeschooling and caring for crying, messy little ones with noisy pets and a houseful of broken stuff makes me feel incompetent and embarrassed.  However, this last experience was a pleasant exception...

One of the TDS workmen walked in on our group reading time while the three youngest were snuggled up to me listening to a novel in rapt attention, and he said that it was so great that I ran a daycare.  I explained with a smile that all 6 were mine and that I was teaching them Pre-K through high school at home.  He kept exclaiming about how cute they all were and was amazed by our efficiency. For some reason everyone decided to cooperate beautifully while they were here, so the image of a cheerful mom in makeup and a skirt with 3 children eagerly doing independent work and Connor reading aloud, while Shaila meticulously painted Van Gogh and Brandan cooed in his seat might have been just a little misleading.  It's nice to see that things CAN go smoothly every now and then. ;)