Moments from the Mommy Memory

Moments I hope I never forget...the moments I want to remember when I am frustrated with Son1, when we are at odds, and when I need to extend him grace he will not merit, because I too have been extended grace by my Heavenly Father....

Moments from Sunday...

Son1 with one of his Sunday School teachers, also our babysitter

Sunday night, Son1 extended his arms like he was flying an airplane and then drooped his head.

Me: What are you doing?
Him: I'm making a cross like Jesus! Jesus lives in heaven now with God, and He is the King!!

I tucked him into bed.
Me: It's time for you to go night night, and I need to make your lunch for your field trip tomorrow.
Him: (Peeking his shiny black three year old eyes out of his covers, wearing an ear to ear grin) Will you write me a note in my lunch, Mommy?

Awwww.....time is going so fast! Remember I love you in the coming years, even when you don't ask me to write you notes in your lunch anymore.

Mother's Day

This was the BEST Mother's Day EVER. In the previous years...

2005: I picked up Burger King while Hubby supervised our carpet removal. We advertised our our first floor carpet FREE to any takers online from our three year old house, but it had to be removed by the recipients. A family came and took several hours carefully cutting our carpet and carpet pad in the dimensions of the rooms in their home with an exacto knife. Mother's Day came and went.

2006: Hubby was not in Hawaii. Our church had an enormous Mother's Day brunch outside. On the spur of the moment, a friend invited Son1 and me to a Mother's Day dinner with her family. I was so grateful not to be alone!

2007: I spent the day nursing a newborn , exhausted. I don't remember Mother's Day.

Which brings me to 2008!!!!

The night before, Hubby offered to get up with the kids on Mother's Day. I made out on the deal, for sure! Ohhh those little guys peeped their eyes open at 5:30AM. That's because I put them to bed so early the night before, but that is an entirely different blog post for later.

I slept awhile longer. My eyes popped open, and I stretched and savored my bed another few minutes, drinking in the quiet of my bedroom. This is a huge treat because Hubby leaves at 5:30 every morning. Extra minutes in bed don't usually happen for me. I headed downstairs, and Son1 ran toward me with his Mother's Day gift. He had been so patient waiting for Mother's Day. He wanted me to open his gift since Friday, when he brought it home from preschool, but I insisted he wait until Mother's Day. Secretly, I have waited three years for my first homemade Mother's Day gift, with great anticipation! The card read, "My love for you grows and grows." The folded card grew into a long stemmed flower. The teacher mounted a picture into a plastic picture frame . In case you can't tell, it's a post it note holder.I loved the box; it was so Hawaii. It was a recycled sushi container.A cookbook was slid under the pink ribbon, composed of the kids' favorite food mom cooks. This is a picture of him with a recipe for pasta below: "She puts it in a pot and cooks it really fast."Then came the gift from Hubby. He took Son1 to pick out my gift. Here is why I love it:

Since missing a member of our family, our floors aren't as clean as often. But my new third child cleans without falsely advertising he is free to good home. (You know who cost me BIG BUCKS.) This one does not bark, poop, or chew. He will not throw a fit if he is contained in a separate room when company comes. All that and he does his job!

While we were unpacking him, Son1 grabbed a filter, stood it on my head, and exclaimed, "YOU'RE THE QUEEN, MOMMY! HERE IS YOUR CROWN!" That melted me!
We went to church, and afterward, all of the ladies in the church, mothers or not, were served lunch by the men. Son1 ran toward me with a decorated Chinese take-out box. I laughed to myself....so Hawaii. Inside was a cupcake he decorated, just like Rachel's!! He is either a cupcake decorating prodigy, or someone helped steady his three year old hands!Finally, Hubby cooked a celebratory meal. My kids melt my heart, and my husband romances it!

She Has To Go Now

I dropped Son1 off at preschool. He turned to his teacher and said, "My mommy has to go now. She has to go to work." My heart sang out the door. He got it! When he got home I asked him if he knew where I worked. "You work at home, on the computer." Well, some of the time!

The Easter Message Retold by Son1

See the cave? It's empty.
Jesus is not there.
See the cross? It's still in the dirt.
Jesus is not there.
He died for my sins.
He lives in heaven now!
Jesus is the King!

And it is so precious to hear his voice tell it like this. We have been working on the Easter story for a few days, but this is how he summed it up.

Stay in Bed!

Last night, I told Son1 that if he got up after I put him to bed, he was going to be spanked. Several minutes later I heard things falling around our desk upstairs. I found Son1 out of bed when I rounded the top of the stairs. He looked guilty, held out a poised hand, and said, "Hand!" No. I told him to get on his bed, and turn over on his tummy, because he was getting a spanking. He dawdled longer than my patience could stand, and I gave him one last chance. Finally he turned on his tummy. Just as I was about to administer his consequence, he shouted out, "READY, SET, GO!!!" Ay yay, yay...what does he think sometimes?

I am Warning You, Waitresses!

Waitresses, this is fair warning before the Farmer Family sits down at your table. There is a high probability Son2 will spill some cheerios on the floor, and Son1 may spill a little of his milk. I always get down and pick up anything that has been strewn on the floor so that it doesn't have to be done by you. But we will still tip you well! We promise you no less than twenty percent for a job well done. Despite our best efforts to clean the area around children's seats, there may still be some rogue evidence. But most of it will be picked up before the bill comes to the table. Now, if you want a chance at a good tip, forget about sucking up to the adults at the table, and quit ignoring my kids. It is far more effective to suck up to my three year old than to me. I could care less how many iced tea refills you bring me, or that you smile and use your bad acting skills as an attempt to convince me you care about me and my comfort. You don't. I know that. You are working your tip. But had you done something so simple as bring out my child's food first, you could have scored more green out of Hubby's wallet. That tiny little act of kindness would make me less edgy and incline our generosity. Think through the ramifications of bringing out the adult plates with nothing for my three year old. And when a little three year old asks about his macaroni and cheese, you should at least acknowledge his question.

So you want to know what happened? Well, you got the part about the macaroni and cheese taking forever to come out. We explained to Son1 oodles of times that they were cooking it. We tried to distract him and change the conversation a few times. Just when I thought I had diverted his attention, guess what commercial comes on TV at the restaurant? Yes, a macaroni commercial. Well, my plate came out, and Hubby's plate came out, without a plate for Son1. He took one look at his dad's chicken alfredo plate with some Superman tunnel vision. That's all he wanted. Who is going to say no to a hungry child? When the macaroni finally showed up, Son1 wanted nothing to do with it. He ate about half his dad's plate. We boxed up that macaroni and that was dinner for the next night for him. The waitress....sigh. She just didn't get it. She used that fakey fakey nicey nicey voice on repeated trips to our table, offered us more drinks , asked how we were doing, did our food taste ok, and wouldn't answer Son1's questions about his macaroni and cheese, not even once. Then this little face was priceless. Forget the macaroni and cheese, I want that.

Soccer Surprises

Son1 has been talking up soccer, and takes note when he sees soccer practices or games. Son1 really hit the I-wanna-play-soccer button recently. Hubby took him out for some one on one soccer for the first time. Sure, we have played kick the ball back and forth, but never any serious footwork. And kicking the ball back and forth with me is one thing. Playing with his dad is a whole other story. Hubby used to coach high school soccer. He played on adult leagues, and was selected to start on the War College Varsity Team in 2003. So when Hubby came home and said Son1 showed some potential, I listened.He is almost old enough to play on a team. We hope his interest holds up. If not, there is always chess.

Just Had To Go Back to Waikiki

Saturday morning started out with some running errands with the two kids in tow. Our plan was to run around for a little while, and then get Son2 home in time for his morning nap. The baby started to fuss, and Son1 started with, "Don't cry baby! In the Farmer Family..." Now I have to stop the story right there. We have started to teach Son1 little proverbs that start with "In the Farmer Family..." They include, "In the Farmer Family we share," and "In the Farmer Family we talk nicely to one another." You get the picture. He has started to repeat them with great enthusiasm. But on Saturday morning, Son1 came up with a new one. "Don't cry baby! In the Farmer Family we..." and he paused for a breath, and resounded with "GO BYE BYE!!!" Ohh Hubby and I just cracked up. Yeah, Son2. Get ahold of yourself. We are just out to have fun in this family. HA! We did get him down for his two naps.

Saturday evening came, and we chose to go back to Waikiki for dinner. Soon after we arrived, we heard the blowing of the conch shells announcing the close of the day. The Village Guards precision rifle team led the torch lighting throughout the grounds to the rhythm of island drums.
Once we were seated at our table, Hubby came up with a great idea. I should go and get my food at the buffet while he and the boys went to see the penguins before dark. What a treat for me! No hurrying, no rushing, and no policing anyone under three and a half feet tall.
Turtles and fish swam through the water, while the penguins knew it was almost bedtime.
Hubby came back with the boys and we sat down for another family dinner. Well, we sat for awhile, anyway until I decided to hit the desserts. And once again, I offered to take Son1 with me, only to lose him, like last week. But I knew right where to find him.
After dinner we headed for the park. Once again we enjoyed it all to ourselves. This time Son2 was not content to just watch the fun. Nah...he knew better this week!

Family Pool Time

This was the happy trio after the drama:

But prior to that.....There is a staircase above the rock cave to the camera right. Those stairs lead to an additional pool on the right. Hubby was watching Son1 in the pool that is above the water slide to the left of that man in the blue, up at the top. The pool was full of parents and kids up at the top of the waterslide...so when Hubby turned to get a couple of drinks from the snack shack....who would have thought we could have lost our precious three year old? Please, no lectures on taking our eyes off the child...we already nearly suffered a heart attack, each. I was waiting across the way from the water slide, at a third pool, below. I never saw Son1 come down the slide! (Confusing, I know...all of these pools meander across several other pools not pictured.) Hubby raced along the main level pools that the waterslides from different higher pools drop into, and couldn't find Son1. I jumped up and raced to the top of this waterslide pool, and asked all of the kids if they had seen the little boy with the Spiderman ring. Only one in the crowd says, "YEAH! He is in that pool up there!" So I took the stairs a couple at a time, above the rock structure, with Son2 on my hip, and guess who met us coming down the stairs from the top pool? Hubby and Son1! Hubby shook his head, frustrated. When he asked Son1 what he was doing at the upper pool, in the water, without his Spiderman ring, away from his parents, Son1 gave him a what-do-you-think-I-was-doing look, oh-worried-father-of mine, and said, "I was up there swimming with my friends." He calls EVERYONE his friends. Sheesh!

Now, about Son2, Hubby and I were so proud. He took to the pool water immediately, splishing and splashing, without my Body Glove water carrier, this time. He loved his little wetsuit and chewed happily on the covered foam of his suit, and stayed in the water quite a while. I reassured Hubby that we birth fish in this family.

Well, Son1 did go down the slides by himself several times, right into Hubby's arms. Here is a little video of the boys splashing around, under the watchful eyes of their parents!

These Farmers DO NOT Grow Ears of Corn!

It happened before my very eyes, as in literally less than 3 feet from me. Son1 had an unpopped kernel of popcorn in his hands, and in less than 2 seconds, he put the kernel to his ear, and cried, "Oh no, Mommy!" I gasped. As if frozen in place, I called for Hubby in the next room. "He just shoved a popcorn kernel down his ear!!" And Hubby, not one one to become easily alarmed, really questioned the situation. So he asked Son1 if he had a popcorn kernel shoved down his ear. Poor little guy. He didn't know what to answer, but his eyes gave him away. He wasn't sure if he was in big trouble. So he put his finger in his ear and gave it a good twist. No, no, no!

My gut tightened and a memory from about 27 years ago flashed in my mind. There I sat, in the emergency room on a bed, held down by a couple of nurses in my red Christmas pajamas, with 2 emergency room doctors dousing my ear canal with first cold water, and then warm water. My mom looked on with glassy eyes, not letting a tear fall. I knew Son1 was telling the truth. Once upon a time I snuck some pearl earrings of my mom's into my pierced ears. The stone was loose and fell down my ear canal. When Son1 put his finger in his ear he unintentionally shoved the kernel down farther down the canal. I could just feel it in my gut.

Hubby peered down that little canal, and sure enough, about half an inch from the opening peeped out the pointy tip of the kernel. Hubby cocked Son1's head toward one side and tried to give it a good shake. Nothing. He fetched some tweezers that are about 6 or 8 inches long and Son1's eyes got really wide. I pulled him up in my lap, held back his flailing arms, and pinned his legs. Hubby tried several times to steady the tweezers and go down the canal, but Son1 would not have it. We became frightened that if Son1 moved just so, we might rupture his ear drum. I suggested we go to the emergency room a few times. But Hubby thought he might dislodge the golden problem from Son1's ear on his own. Besides, the doctors would probably start with tweezers. If Son1 wasn't going to sit still for us, he was MOST DEFINITELY not going to sit still for strangers. Sigh. I just wanted this to be over.


The kernel was lodged past the (b) above. The tip of the kernel that we could see from the outer ear was past the (b) point.

We tried for several minutes to get him still enough to use the tweezers in his ear. We tried bribing him with a lollipop. I sang Frosty the Snowman to distract him. We hugged him. We loved him. We prayed for God to protect him. We threatened him with growing a cornstalk out of his ear, and popcorn popping out of his body. Nothing convinced him. Hubby suddenly thought to vacuum the kernel out of him. No, that would be too loud. Well, how about if he tried to suction it out of his ear? So he tried three times. He took three deep breaths, and made three attempts to vacuum up the kernel with the force of his deep breaths. Nothing. So we tried again to convince him that the only way was to use these tweezers to get the kernel up. Besides, we could see the kernel's little tip. We could get it out if he just allowed us. We pretended to pluck something out of Son2's ear. Then Daddy's ear, and then Mommy's ear. Come on, let's just try. It won't hurt.

"NO DADDY!" Son2 grabbed his Daddy's face and pulled it close to his nose. "YOU KISS MY EAR! YOU KISS MY EAR!" So, I thought quickly. "Ohhh. He wants you to suction it out of his ear, again!" Skeptically, Hubby agreed. So with all of his might he made a suction with his mouth and drew in deep breaths. Over and over. What do you know, that little kernel budged! Slowly that little tip became more visible. Then it started to poke out. It was working!!! So Hubby tried over and over and up it came. Son1 enjoyed the counter pressure as the kernel became dislodged. His crumpled little mouth started to straighten, and then finally turned up some corners. "Again Daddy! Again!" The plan was to get the kernel up to the mouth of the ear canal, and use tweezers to pull it out. The kernel appeared larger and larger in the canal as it crept up. Hubby reached for his tweezers. "NO DADDY!! YOU KISS MY EAR!" So Hubby gave me an optimistic look, pulled the skin around Son1's ear tightly to expose the kernel. He suctioned more and more with his deep breaths. Finally, even though we were all expecting it, we all stared in disbelief when out popped that kernel!

Hoorray! Daddy was thrilled and so was Son1. My stomach loosened from its tightened state. We had a little talk again about not putting things down any body orifices, and let him pick up the kernel with some tweezers. No more corn or popcorn of any kind for our family, any time soon!

Bathtub Independence

I am going to skip the story because it is too exhausting to think about. Just know I opened a Johnson and Johnson shampoo bottle yesterday and the rest of it was used in an adventure during bathtime when I wasn't watching, this evening. Just think: Many wet and soapy towels, sudsy hair that was rinsed several times, and a soaking bath rug. And super slippery floors. I started to get a little upset and frustrated when suddenly Son1 started tugging on my waist. He threw his arms around me and said, "NO MOMMY (grin, grin) you are HAPPY, you are HAPPY, Mommy." And I hugged my little munchkin back. I giggled and returned his grin. "You're right. Mommy IS happy." Yup, happy that I get to parent my inquisitive little one, and honor him for being three years old.

Two Crocodiles

It has been crazy here on the farm, and the kids know it. I am allowing way too much fun under this roof when it is far from funny how overcommitted I am this week. There is just a lot going on. This is the busiest week of the rest of 2007 for Hubby and for me, because of work, church, school, and personal commitments. Hubby called to see how my day was going. I was running through the wildly long list of the day's events, and the next thing I know Son1 catapults past me over the rail of the crib and thuds next to his brother in one flying leap. (Son1 has never done this before.) And then he shouts, "TWO CROCODILES!" And Son2 thought this was crazy funny. And he giggled uncontrollably for awhile. And in the midst of the mayhem I grabbed hold of this sweet moment. Ohhhh to be brothers and love each other soo much. Son2's middle name means "beloved companion." We picked his middle name before we could settle on his first name. He really does live up to his middle name.

A Wind Day

When I was in NoVA we had snow days, days when school closed due to snow. In Hawaii we must have had a Wind Day today. School closed for the day because there was no electrical power due to the wind storm. Trees snapped in half all over our town. Son2 woke up three times last night. Son1 was up talking to himself one of the times I got up. Son1 attempted to rake leaves from the storm with a yardstick.

Aloha Grandma B.! We already miss you and the tons of help you were to our family. Son1 came home from the airport and headed right for the cookies he made with you the other night. On the way home from the airport, I told Son1 I was sad Grandma B. went home. I asked him if he was sad, too. "Yes, I am sad," he said. Then after a brief pause he said. "No, no, no, Mommy! I am happy and mommy is happy, too." That was just the right thing for him to say, and very reassuring.

I know a Martysaurus

During dinosaur week Son1 brought home some interesting artwork. A puppet came home called a J.-saurus, and there was also a construction paper J.-saur. And when Son1 wouldn't eat his dinner we would ask if one of these little dinos would like to eat. All of the food got instantly gobbled. Well, when he was here, Marty started to play along as a Martysaurus. And when it would come time to coax our little guy into eating....Marty turned into his Martysaurus and roared at J.saurus to eat his food. The night after Marty left Son1 wouldn't eat. Ugh. And then I remembered....don't you want to eat like a Martysaurus?

A "Little" Bit "Big" Bedtime

Son1 asked if he could sleep in the big bed with Mommy and Daddy. He asks, but I never let him. My mom let me crawl into their bed in the middle of the night until my dad started locking their bedroom door, and I would fall asleep outside their door on the floor. Yes, I was stubborn. Now I am afraid that I won't be able to break a bad habit with my little guy, so the answer to Son1 is always no.

I reminded him of the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Since Daddy and I are big people, then we get to sleep in a bed that is big and just right for us. Since Son1 is little then he gets a smaller bed, that is just right for him.

"No. I'm Big. I want to sleep in the Big Bed!"

"No, you have your bed," I firmly replied.

Which brought on some whining.

"Please stop whining. You are not a baby."

"But I'm Little!" he protested.

Hmmm...maybe he is on the verge of being a little bit big? Or a big bit little?

Halloween: Hawaiian Style

It was pouring on the 31st. I was so bummed. We usually get about 200 trick or treaters. 5pm ticked by, and then 6pm, and I was quite sullen. Halloween Hawaiian style is crazy fun, and it just wasn't going to happen this year. No trick or treaters rang our doorbell, until it was a quarter to 7pm. Hoooraayyyy!

I herded my fire fighter and dalmatian, husband, and guests out the door with umbrellas and strollers for the babies. We quickly took a few streets by storm, quite literally. They call this a rainforest for a reason.

We were soaked and had pity on the babies and headed home.

Baby Lincoln as the Beetle

I put my little dalmatian to bed, while Hubby closed off the walkway to our house. The futura stone that leads to our house was so so slick that we watched a few people walk up to our house and take hard falls. We popped open our garage and let Kathy, Buddy, and Marty hand out candy, along with the pumpkins Kathy and Marty carved.

An aside: Earlier Marty had asked Son1 if he was "J. zee arteest." Son1 sneered at him. He asked him again. "Are you J. zee arteest?" in a French accent. Son1 answered with some attitude and seriousness. "NO!! I am J. Farmer." We died laughing!

These guys...boy did they live it up with the kids that came by. They asked the kids to show them their best tricks for candy.

That left Hubby and me to take Son1 out again while Mark and Kelly watched the crawling beetle and sleeping dalmatian. And three of us had ourselves some happenin' Hawaiian Halloween fun.

We see stuff here that we haven't seen on the mainland. This was set up in someone's driveway:

Shootin' hoops for candy

Go fish for candy

This house had an inflatable pool with peanuts in it for the kids to jump in. Son1 found a preschool buddy. Her older sister said, "Oh...her boyfriend is here!" Uh huh. My casa nova has a following.

Now Hubby has a personal favorite when it comes to Halloween. He loves him a Trunk or Treat. Usually it is sponsored by the church in our subdivision. Folks decorate their trunks and the kids go from car to car to get candy. It is really fast and we yield a lot of candy in a short amount of time. But with the rain, they had to move the Trunk or Treat inside the elementary school cafeteria.

We are posing with the pastor's wife of the Trunk or Treat church. Maybe we don't go there for a reason. :)

P.S. I am in a sweatshirt much too huge for me....it is deceptive...I am much smaller. I love this picture anyway.

Inside the cafeteria the "trunkers" set up at long tables and we made even quicker work of loading up on candy.

And because Son1 fits right in with his go go go parents, we were gluttons and hit up a few more streets on the way back from the Trunk or Treat. That rain was no joke. The rain drops were the size of quarters, I am sure. Even a golf umbrella wasn't enough to keep us dry.

At about 8:30 we had enough. We trudged back up to our house to trick or treat one more time at our own house. There sat the Stoltz family, still handing out candy.

Just as I thought I could taste the relief of bedtime for Son1, I found Mr. Personality wide awake. Trick or Treating must have been some stimulation for him, even at just 7 months old.

Folks here are pretty generous, though. It is pretty common for homes to hand out individual goody bags with 4 or 5 pieces of candy each. That's why we just can't seem to pass up Halloween.



Heather calls this my Baby Moses basket...if you have been to my house for a dinner with a good number of folks you know I usually make a salad in this crazy big bowl. After we emptied and sorted all of the candy (and threw away all the gummy candy, YUCK and a WASTE) this is still what we ended up with:

Son2 and His Buds

Son2 and I enjoy meeting other moms and babies outside of our usual circles through Baby Hui. This group of six families just finished meeting. We'll get together once a month now.

Son2, Isaiah, Isabella, Cason, Tess, and Aidan

Aidan was supposed to be this season's baby Aaron on the tv show LOST, but he got too big too fast. His mommy and Cason's mommy and daddy all got to be extras on the show, though.

We were "little" this summer.

Now we are all grown up and do big kid things, like dress up for Halloween.

Sometimes the babies pick on each other. Cason is about to pull Son2's ear. But I wasn't too worried. I knew Son2 could hold his own.

You pull on my EARS and I will suck on your TOES!

Not for the Squeamish...But Easily Seen Through the Eyes of a Child

If you are a vegetarian or are squeamish you probably want to skip this graphic little post.

It's letter "D" week in preschool, and Son1 is learning all about dinosaurs.

We bought a rotisserie chicken from Costco tonight for dinner when we did our grocery shopping. It was late for dinner time, so we quickly served Son1 dinner while Hubby finished cutting the chicken. Son1 said, "Wook, mommy...its a ter-ah-da-till." And I died laughing. Yes, Son1, the chicken does look like a pterodactyl. Can you make it out? The head and beak (looks like a hook) are right near his fore arm.

A Lesson in "Your Welcome"

I have deep thoughts when driving. It is daylight, I am awake, and my children are strapped down, which breeds time for deep thoughts. In my deep thought driving time today I realized that Son1 is consistent with his "thank yous" and "pleases", but needs more practice with "your welcome." So I was going to give him opportunity to practice and start with a thank you.

"Thank you so much for being mommy's good helper today."

Son1 softly replied before I could get to my lesson in "your welcome." Did he say what I think he said?

"What did you say?"
(I even turned around to give him eye contact just to make sure, and he repeated himself, only more loudly.

"No worries, Mommy."
And I laughed hysterically. And he thought that was crazy funny. He is definitely local.

"No problem. I'm a good helper," he replied again.
So much for my lesson in "your welcome."

I Couldn't Help Beaming

Hubby asked Son1 to pray for dinner.

Dear Jesus,
Thank you for my mommy. Amen.

I was beaming so brightly, they could have seen me a block away. I couldn't help it. I want to remember that sincere moment forever.