Just got this and thought it was worth a post.

JUST A MOM?

A woman, renewing her driver's license at the County Clerk 's office,
was asked by the woman recorder to state her occupation.

She hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself.

'What I mean is, ' explained the recorder,
'do you have a job or are you just a ..?'

'Of course I have a job,' snapped the woman.

'I'm a Mom.'

'We don't list 'Mom' as an occupation,

'housewife' covers it,'
Said the recorder emphatically.

I forgot all about her story until one day I found myself in the same situation, this time at our own Town Hall.
The Clerk was obviously a career woman, poised,
efficient, and possessed of a high sounding title like,
'Official Interrogator' or 'Town Registrar.'

'What is your occupation?' she probed.

What made me say it? I do not know.
The words simply popped out.
'I'm a Research Associate in the field of
Child Development and Human Relations.'

The clerk paused, ball -point pen frozen in midair and
looked up as though she had not heard right.

I repeated the title slowly emphasizing the most significant words.
Then I stared with wonder as my pronouncement was written,
in bold, black ink on the official questionnaire.

'Might I ask,' said the clerk with new interest,
'just what you do in your field?'

Coolly, without any trace of fluster in my voice,
I heard myself reply,
'I have a continuing program of research,
(what mother doesn't)
In the laboratory and in the field,
(normally I would have said indoors and out.)
I'm working for my Masters, (first the Lord and then the whole family)
and already have four credits (all daughters).
Of course, the job is one of the most demanding in the humanities,
(any mother care to disagree?)
and I often work 14 hours a day, (24 is more like it).
But the job is more challenging than most run-of-the-mill careers
and the rewards are more of a satisfaction rather than just money.'

There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk's voice as she
completed the form, stood up, and personally ushered me to the door.

As I drove into our driveway, buoyed up by my glamorous new career,
I was greeted by my lab assistants -- ages 13, 7, and 3.
Upstairs I could hear our new experimental model,
(a 6 month old baby) in the child development program,
testing out a new vocal pattern.
I felt I had scored a beat on bureaucracy!
And I had gone on the official records as someone more
distinguished and indispensable to mankind than 'just another Mom.'

Motherhood!

What a glorious career!
Especially when there's a title on the door.


Does this make grandmothers
'Senior Research associates in the field of Child Development
and Human Relations'
And great grandmothers
'Executive Senior Research Associates?'
I think so!!!
I also think it makes Aunts

Associate Research Assistants.'

Spider!!!

I have to post these, although I should be getting kids dressed! We went to the Butterfly Pavilion last week and we all held Rosie the Tarantula - even ME!!! It was too cool - and I HATE spiders!

t

You know the old saying about kids and wrapping paper...

Well, it works with a rake and some mulch too!

We had co-op here yesterday, and after lunch the kids got really involved in a project down by the swings. It seems that Jacob found one of the kid's leaf rakes, and decided to start raking up the mulch under the swings. Will quickly jumped in with a second rake and before you could say "Hey, don't do that!", they had raked up all the mulch and scooped it (with their hands) into a large Rubbermaid box. It went from there to the wagon, where it was rolled, you guessed it, back to the swings, where they spread it out. Then they repeated the process - heck, I don't know, I gave up counting! But they were so busy about their work, and everyone got involved except for Torin (his mom wisely kept him out of it - he likes to eat bark!). The cool thing was, they were working so well together, they were not fighting over rakes, wagons or bins, and they were very disappointed when it was time to go!

So much for putting in a gajillion dollar play ground back there - I'm headed to Lowe's for some more mulch!!

t

Herding Squirrels...

Have you ever been there? Nine kids under seven years of age, three moms, the wind blowing at 25 knots (no lie!) and miles of unexplored 'wilderness'. We came up with the only definition that fits - Herding Squirrels". Just try it, if you are brave enough!

We (our co-op) had taken a field trip to the Springs to go to Focus and to take a hike. After all the noise and chaos of Whit's End, we thought a nice walk would finish out our day. Little did we know that the wind had picked up and the kids had all renewed their energy at lunch and were raring to go. We also did not take into account that it was Spring Break, and that Garden of the Gods would be a busy place!

So, off we go, two strollers and a wagon in tow, trying to get all nine kids safely across the parking lot and into the park. All the trails are paved, so that was not a problem, but apparently it was not spring break everywhere, because there were groups of elementary kids all over the place! They were climbing the rocks (guess they did not see those 'no rock climbing signs'), chasing each other on the sidewalks, and shrieking at the top of their lungs (must have been the howling wind).

We headed off down a trail and found that it is impossible to keep any kind of order! The bigger kids took off in the front, running and having a great time. One of them found a rock that would write like chalk, so that set the tone for the rest and the "search for the magic writing rocks" was under way. Then we have that group in the middle, who have to stop and inspect every (and I do mean every) hole, stick, bug, dog, stick, rock, hole, stick, rock, bug, dog that they see - while walking backwards, into oncoming foot traffic. Did I mention that the park was very busy that day? And that is was really windy, so no one could hear anyone else? And then there were the few, who just wanted to hunker down in the dirt, and play with the rocks - and they were not moving - period! And then, there were the sweet darlings of our group, two cherubs who happily sat in their respective stroller and wagon and enjoyed watching all the mommies running around herding squirrels!!

Wish you could have been there!!

t

p.s. just in case you want to know how I knew how fast the wind was blowing - just check this out: http://www.disastercenter.com/convert.htm

A look into our Passover experience...

Everyone at the table, coats on, shoes on and "staffs" at hand.

No lamb left on this plate!!

We asked him if he wanted one olive or bunches and you can see from his plate he said "bunches", but he made the same face every time he ate one!

The best part of the meal - no forks!!!

We are reading this week about all the things that happened to Jesus in the week that leads up to Easter, and I decided to have a Passover/foods that the Israelites might have eaten night. Tonight being the night that the Last Supper was celebrated (as calculated in the Christian calendar), I decided to do it today.

So we read the account of the first Passover meal, where God told Moses to have each family slaughter a lamb (no, Eric, we are not going to be slaughtering our own lamb - you could just see him trying to figure out where that was going to happen), and put the blood on the door posts (no, we are not putting blood around our door!) and that they needed to eat the lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, and that they needed to do all of this with their cloaks on, their sandals on their feet and their staffs in their hands. I added, that I thought they did not have forks then, so what were we going to do?! "Eat with our hands" was the response, and so we did.

So we did as much as we could with the attention span we have at this point, and this is what we did: We had lamb in the form of chops and parsley, I also did pita bread and hummus, boiled eggs, olives and green beans (we couldn't not have a veggie, right?!) and we all drank water. We all wore our coats, and had our shoes on ("where are we going, Mommy?" - "Bye bye Daddy", from AJ because Daddy went into the garage to get something - he did have his coat on, after all!! ). Everyone had a walking stick under their chair (the thrill - they got to bring sticks in the house!!) and best of all, they got to eat the whole meal with their hands! Wow!!

It was a great dinner and we really had a lot of fun putting the story into a bit of context for the kiddos. Hope you enjoy the pics!

t

Ta Da!! It's Done!

Hi all! Finally, here are the newest pics of the kitchen. I have been trying to get it looking like a magazine shoot, with nothing on the counters, etc, but then I realized "I have three kids, I homeschool and am trying to keep this house running, so magazine just ain't gonna happen!" So please forgive the avocado growing in the old salsa jar and all the tools still on the counter and enjoy my beautiful new kitchen!! I can't wait to have you all here for a meal!

If you click on the pictures, they will get bigger, so you can see details better. Dad, don't be lusting after those 2" lamb chops on the counter by the stove!

t

Birthday Girl!

Our Sweet Potato had a birthday yesterday, so I thought I would post a few pics for those of you who are far away.

t