Saturday, our homeschool group performed the musical, A Dragon for Dinner.

Here’s the cast…which includes a storyteller, a king (Asa), a queen, a princess, maids, a gardeners boy, a prime minister, a security guy (Justus) and a two headed dragon.

Here’s King Asa and Security Guy Justus. (um, Justus doesn’t really have buck teeth…but it kinda looks that way in this picture.)  :)

And here are two of the sweetest girls EVER!! (Matt and I are working out contracts with the parents of these girls for arranged marriages for two of our boys…) 

A few more shots…

Ah, I wish you could have been there! It was a proud, sweet moment for parents, that’s for sure! These kids worked SO HARD and did such a great job!

Oh, and thankfully, this fairy story had a happy ending…as everyone remembered their lines…the scenery stayed in place…the dragon did not eat the princess…and everyone lived happily ever after.

If you know my family, you know that our littlest guy, Malachi has struggled with severe eczema since he was about 2 months old. He is now 3 years old.

We’ve tried…well…everything to make him better.

But, we really, really do not want to resort to drugs…as they might help the eczema…but they would just cause other – worse – problems later (or now).

We’ve worked very hard to find a natural remedy for Malachi. (That’s one of the main reasons we’ve switched to more a more healthy eating style.)

And, we’ve taken some heat from some folks who just don’t understand why we wouldn’t simply give him the drugs. If it would make the eczema go away…

Well, yes….but eczema is not the real issue here… Malachi’s problems are just manifesting themselves through the skin. We want to get to the real issue. 

We were encouraged almost a year ago when our family chiropractor called an offered us something new to try. Black Current Seed Oil. And it did help quite a bit.

But winter has been hard on him…and he’s slowly getting worse again.

And now…well, he’s getting these horrible, puffy, pussy, red with infection sores all over his feet and legs.

They look SO ouchy. 

I am discouraged. And I am weary. I want my baby to be better. I don’t want him to wimper with pain…nor do I want his sleep to be disturbed anymore because he’s so itchy.

I so want to get to the root of the problem.

Please pray for Malachi. He’s such a tough kid.

I’m taking him to our chiropractor this afternoon again…who is such a good doctor.

He’s more than just a “back adjustor”… He works to help heal the whole body…

He will be testing Malachi again for allergies (we tested him when he was little…but nothing showed up at that time. He was too little and not really eating on his own yet…)

I appreciate this doctor so much, because he truly cares about Malachi and has worked so hard with us to try to get to the bottom of this.

Thanks for letting me share this with you…and I appreciate your prayers so much for Malachi. (And maybe one or two for his parents too.)

I’ll give you an update after our appointment. 

You are all a blessing to me. :)

Today, when Malachi went out to play…he grabbed a fleece John Deere hat and stuck it on. No coat. No gloves. It’s not even really cold. But, he had to have that hat.

And I had to have that picture!

This is the guy who, when he flushes the potty and it doesn’t work ’cause he doesn’t hold the flusher down long enough…says, “Oh, I think it needs a new battery.”

This is the guy who, when he finishes his turn with prayer time and gets to tag someone else, says, “I pick Mommy! ‘Cause he’s my best friend!” (Poor kid…he rarely hears female pronouns around here…)

This is the guy who adds an extra “r” to most of his words…so he says things like, “Oh, gurd job Daddy! Can you read me a burk now?”

This is the guy who stands up on a chair with his microphone in his hands and sings “Jesus Loves Me” at the top of his lungs until his neck veins are bulging out. Then he gets down and reverently says, “Okay, now let’s prayer.”

This is the guy who, when he got up from his bed at naptime today when he wasn’t supposed to, gave this reason, “Mama! We forgot to do my reading lesson!” (Uh-huh…and of course I said, “No, remember, we did it right after we finished your Algebra…”)

Yes, this is the guy who makes us all laugh a lot…

The guy who, at the end of the day says to me, “Gurd night, Mama. You’re the best guy ever!”

Ah, finally…two weeks after the big day…I’m finally getting around to telling you about Justus’ 8th birthday!!

I have some good excuses for being so late in doing this (although I can’t really remember what they are…)

Oh, one is that the night before his birthday…Justus got a fever. And didn’t even care anymore that the next day was his birthday.

And that’s saying a lot…since for the last 11.29 months, that’s all we’d been hearing about.

I’m very serious. We plan birthdays big time around here. 

Justus even had his details planned down to the conversations he would have with his friends who came over for the sleepover…(Justus would say, “Okay guys, now that we’ve made dinner, I’m going to put it in the oven.” and his friends would say, “What? You mean your mom will put it in the oven?” and Justus would say, “No! I’m a professional chef. I put things in the oven all the time by myself. I know, it’s crazy, since I’m only eight…” and his friends would be amazed and impressed and look at each other as if to say, “I don’t believe it.”)

Oh yes, I listened to these such plans and “conversations” just about everytime Justus and I were in the kitchen together.

So, when he got a fever the night before and didn’t care about his birthday…well, we knew he was SICK.

So, we called off the party for the following night and put the little guy to bed.

:(

The next morning, he felt quite a bit better…better enough to eat a little of his planned birthday breakfast…

As you can see, everyone else felt just fine eating the biscuits and gravy too…

And he felt better enough to open his presents.

He felt much better as the day went on…not better enough to clean the house…but better enough to blow out birthday candles on this cake. (Remember…the chocolate cheesecake that I didn’t eat…?)

See the candles in the shape of a “J” for Justus?! He’s so clever.

Fast-forward one week…

Everyone is healthy and ready to have a belated birthday party.

The friends show up…with sleeping bags…presents…appetites…and all the other things eight year old boys need for a sleep-over. 

Oh, wait…that’s all eight year old boys need for a sleep-over. No clean socks or toothbrushes needed…

Using those things would take up precious nerf-gun fighting time.

They took a couple of moments to open presents…legos and a new cap gun….and PLENTY of caps….

(Well, I’m pretty sure the caps all got used in the van the next day when I took the boys home…there’s not a mailbox or a pole light left un-shot from here to there. And the windows were rolled up…and…

Oh, never mind…)

Okay, anyway…then (as planned) the boys made dinner themselves. Justus made this plan at Christmas after he got his Kid’s Cooking Kit. He picked out a recipe that he and his friends would make…Ham and Cheese Melts.

And make them they did…YUM!

Then, we had little Chocolate Cheesecake Cupcakes.
Um, they all got one of their own…. Please don’t look at that one little cake and think that I made them all share it. 

(If I’ll let ’em shoot cap guns in an enclosed van, I’ll let ’em all have their own cheesecake. Just so I can have one this time!)

And then there was ball tag and more nerf gun wars and some hide and seek…and then some Play Station 2 before bed.

And then Blueberry Pancakes for breakfast.

And then more nerf gun wars.

And then more PS2.

Then more nerf-gun wars.

And to think…I only got hit with ONE nerf ball that whole time.

The next birthday around here is in June.

Oh yes, the plans are already underway….

A few times a week, I babysit for a little girl who is almost two.

Today, we opened the door to greet Emma and her daddy, and immediately Malachi (age 3) holds a plastic pistol up to her chest.

What a greeting.

And there sweet Emma is, with her little heart shaped red velvet purse in one hand and her pink baby doll in the other hand.

As Emma’s daddy was pulling the door closed behind him to leave, Malachi says, “Emma, I’m going to shoot you!”

Hm. I wonder if I’ll ever be allowed to babysit Emma again after today.

I apologize in advance for making you read this…but really, you must have this sneak peek into my world with four boys. And have compassion for me, for this is what I must live with. 

(You know don’t you, that I wouldn’t trade my four boys with all their potty humor, light sabers, and wrestling matches for all the pink, fru-fru, sit down and color quietly girly-girls in the whole wide world?)

(How do you spell “fru-fru?”)

Anyway, yesterday, one of the boys was trying to figure out the name of that cheese…you know, the one that smells bad…?

And I suggested that he’s probably thinking of parmesan.

And he says, “Oh yeah. That’s it.”

“It totally smells like fried eggs with toot sauce.”

(Whoops of laughter…)

OH MY. I HAD to leave the room. 

WHERE do they come up with these things?

I went into the bathroom and closed the door. I don’t think I stopped laughing for at least 10 minutes. Seriously, 10 minutes.

And now I’m at it again and I can’t tyyyyype.

Well, I’ll leave you with that, and apologize again because I hope I didn’t ruin parmesan cheese for you forever.

Ah, thank you God for boys!

Okeedokee….

Just thought you’d love to hear about my morning.

I was trying to get through the breakfast dishes, while scooting homemade valentines around on the countertops so that they wouldn’t get wet…when Justus (who turns 8 tomorrow!) came in and said,

“Mom, I can’t get this off my finger.”

And I, being the attentive mom that I am, said,

“Okay, just let me finish these dishes real quick first.”

So he waits patiently and tries to get the thing off of his finger while I work on the dishes.

And then I actually LOOK at my child and realize…ooh, that thing doesn’t look like it wants to come off any time soon.

Oh, brother.

So, I took off my rubber gloves and decided that maybe this was a priority over the dishes. 

However (bless his heart), I REALLY wanted to take a picture of the hand because I know the making of a good blog post when I see one. 

So he rolled his eyes and held out his hand in front of the camera like the dutiful son of a blogger.

And then, I tried to get the wooden ring off. And I tried. And I tried some more. And I felt like I was going to tear the poor kid’s finger off!

And it wouldn’t budge.

And then Asa hollered in to me that Malachi needed to go poopoo.

And then Elias hollered in at me that the little 10 month old that I babysit for was stuck somewhere (I didn’t hear where…probably better that way)…

And Justus is still standing there with this orange ring around a soon to be blue finger.

Eeek!

So, I say,

“Asa, can you please take Malachi potty…Elias can you help the little guy get unstuck…Justus will you go get out the butter?…(or get the phone so I can call the fire department?).”

So they all did, and I smeared butter all over Justus’ finger. And it STILL didn’t want to come off.

Oh My Goodness!!! Take a deep breath. 

Justus was super calm through the whole thing, only asking me once,

“Mom, have you ever heard of someone getting something on their finger and then NEVER being able to get it OFF?!?!?”

And I said,

“Yes.”

“But don’t worry. We’ll get it off somehow.” (Even if I have to call Daddy to come home and get out the chainsaw…or something just as sharp but significantly smaller.)

Well, I kept wriggling the thing and feeling so bad, because it HAD to have hurt. Tough ‘ol guy.

And the thing FINALLY came off.

Without firemen, chainsaws or emergency rooms.

Then Justus held up his hands for an “after” picture and ran off to play like nothing ever happened.

“Uh, Justus…come back here and wipe the butter off of that ring and GO PUT IT WHERE IT GOES AND PLEASE don’t do that again ever.”

Then, I went to go retrieve the baby that Elias had gotten unstuck (without the help of butter) and then went to go help Malachi finish up in the bathroom and then went to help Asa with his math, as he had been asking for help long before this all started.

Sooooooo…..

Nothin’ like a CRAZY morning to make one temporarily forget that they miss eating SUGAR! 

The boys and I have been studying the country of India for several weeks now. Fascinating! We’ve all learned a lot…me  most of all.

One thing that has been a good lesson for all of us is the fact that there are so many people who want to live in the cities to get a job (not that there are enough jobs)…that there is not nearly enough housing…and so tons of people will live in one tiny apartment…and sometimes it is just too crowded and someone has to go sleep outside. 

So I’m reading this information to the kids while we sit in our kitchen, which is probably the SIZE of some of the apartments in India, and looking around at the rest of my house, which is probably the size of the country of India (not really, but I DO have a very big house) (for which I am thankful) (even when I have to clean it). 

So, that is your social studies lesson for today…and I hope you gained an appreciation for the size of your home and the fact that you can read and have enough food to eat and that you don’t have to sleep outside when we don’t have enough room for you in the house because we are packed in here nose to nose like a bunch of sardines. (Oh, sorry. I forgot I was not talking to my kids. Sorry ’bout that.)

(“Mama, what’s a sardine?”)

Okay, so ANYWAY…one of Asa’s assignments this week was to make an Indian dish. He looked some up online and found one here. He chose to make something called:  Alu Paratha which is kind of like a tortilla (although just flour and water) with mashed potatoes with spices inside. 

It was a bit time consuming to make, but not toooo bad and Asa did awesome making them. He had to peel potatoes, cook them, mash them and put spices in, knead the dough, roll out the dough, plop some potatoes inside, flatten them out a bit and seal ’em up, then fry them in butter. 

Daddy got home for lunch just as Asa was finishing! Perfect! (Of course, it always happens this way…I am pulling a beautiful lunch from the oven just as my darling husband walks in the door, and so he is greeted by my perfect hair and smile and the aroma of the wonderful meal that awaits him…)

So, we had Asa’s Alu Paratha for lunch and they were delish! 

Now, I have to admit that there were a few of the spices that I didn’t have in my cupboard…and I wasn’t able to make a quick trip to the store for them, nor was I able to make a quick trip to India for them…so we settled on just leaving them out and using what we did have.

So, it probably wasn’t a true Alu Paratha. And also, when it said to put the potatoes into the bready part and then flatten it…I just wasn’t sure how to instruct him to do that without potatoes squishing out and getting all over the rolling pin, so we just sort of pushed them down a little with our hands to flatten them. 

I’m pretty sure women all over India were rolling with laughter yesterday at me when I was telling him, “See Asa, you do it like this.”

Yes, those Indian women were saying, “Girlfriend, that is SO not a Alu Paratha…” (tehehehe)

That’s okay, they can laugh. We had fun and enjoyed trying something new! 

Wonder what country we’re supposed to study next?!

P.S. Now, I know you’re all thinking, “Huh. Here she is trying to sell us this Funky Kitchen book on how to keep an organized and functional kitchen…just look at the background in all those pictures she just posted. Dirty dishes everywhere. Huh.”

 (And you’d be right, I do need to do a few dishes.)  Hey, we dirty up a lot of dishes at our house. And I was helping to educate my child and allow him to create a native dish from the country of India so that he might have a heightened awareness of the cultures around him….

(I know what you’re doing, by the way. You didn’t even notice the dirty dishes before since you were really just noticing the fine strapping young lad in the pictures…and now you’re all going back to look at the dirty dishes in the background. Yeah, I’m on to you..)