Family - It's a Vivas Thing!

Mar 04 2009

Laughable moment #1

We have a bunny named Oreo. We like to let her loose in our backyard cause she so loves it.

We have a puppy named Roxy. We like to let her loose in our backyard cause she so loves it.

We do not let Oreo and Roxy loose together.

This is Oreo when she was just a baby. She's all grown up now.

This is Roxy. She's still a puppy. She's mostly B-Boo's dog.

Today, Oreo was loose in the backyard. B-Boo came home and went outside. She screamed. We came a runnin'!

Oreo was running. Roxy was chasing Oreo. B-Boo was chasing Roxy. Wish I had a camera for that one!

Incidentally, Oreo won!

Mar 04 2009

Laundry is not my favorite chore to do. I'd rather paint a house, or a room, or a door…but I do laundry willingly, because, well, because I need clean clothes! Laundry is my house has always been a lot. With seven people in one house, you can imagine how much laundry we have! My oldest started doing his own laundry when he was about 13 because he found out he'd get what he wanted quicker if he did it!

I've grown since then. I have a system now that helps. It's those basket sorters that hang on a rack! I love those things! I have two of them. I have one in my bathroom because there is so much traffic in there. We only have two full bathrooms, so hubby and I share ours. We have this one:

I then have another one downstairs by the washer and dryer. It's like this:

Now my kids can sort clothes ahead of time! We have a white basket, a light basket and a dark basket. When the baskets are about halfway (or a little more full) we combine them and wash. When I had my hysterectomy last year, it was a huge help for the kids to automatically know how to sort laundry. I taught them how to use the washing machine before the surgery and whalla! Kids can do laundry.

I do the majority of the washing, but when it comes to folding, I like them to help. There's nothing like having a pile of laundry and pitching it in the middle of the floor for a family folding session. Why? Because that is when the fun starts. The other day we played the "Remember Game"….remember when *** ran into the glass door? Remember when *** beat up *** because *** wouldn't stop picking on her? Remember when mom fell down the driveway? Remember when? We just laughed and laughed and before we knew it we were done folding clothes…but lingered anyway because we just wanted to remember.

And that is why Laundry can be fun, too!

PS. B-Boo just remembered when she put the phone in the wash. It doesn't work anymore. 🙂

Feb 27 2009

Following Him

It's been kind of a crazy week, but when you have a large family full of pets, why expect things to go smoothly, right? It started out as one of those days when you have to keep your priorities straight. We have an older friend who's been sick and is in a rehabilitation home. B-Boo and I had gone to see him the night before and he never knew we were there. The Drama Queen had wanted to go then, but I told her I'd see how he is and then possibly bring her the next morning before we got on with our day.

Well, yesterday was that morning. We're about to head out of town with our youth group and so I had a lot of stuff to do and a little time to do it in. I had to be finished by one because I needed to get the older kids home from school, one had a doctor appointment, then we had swim lessons, I still needed to get all of us packed and so on. I really did not have time to make another trip to the rehabilitation home. I thought to myself that he was probably still sleeping and would not even realize we were there again. I had pretty much made up my mind that when I went downstairs, I'd let the Drama Queen know we would go visit him when we got back in town.

About that time, she showed up upstairs instead. For once, she was ready to go. And while I'd been upstairs taking a shower and getting dressed, apparently she'd been downstairs making a get well card for our dear friend. It was beautiful, too. All decked out with hearts and glitter and a smiley face. She wanted to know if she could please sign my name to it, too.

And that's when I remembered my Bible Study that I'm teaching. It's all about teaching our youth how to follow Christ. It's really easier than we make it out to be. That's what I told them. I also challenged them to do something this week to follow Him in motion. I told them it could be as simple as sending someone a card, but to make sure they did something. And here I was, thinking about MY busy life instead of doing exactly what I'd challenged our teens to do! But the Drama Queen got it all by herself.

So we headed out to the rehab home. And our friend was gone when we got there. We found him. He was awake and alert and in physical therapy! He was not able to talk to us, but the minute we walked in a huge smile lit up his face. His wife was there, also, so we got to visit with her a little bit. The kids were able to help our friend with his physical therapy. When he'd zone out, the Drama Queen would get his attention again and ask him to try and touch her hand. Such a simple thing really, and so hard for our friend to do, but he was willing to try when he saw that sweet little girl encouraging him. So we walked our friend out to say goodbye and then went back in to help some more with the physical therapy. Both the man and the Drama Queen took helping to task. We'd moved on to colors now, so they'd encourage him to move his hand towards whatever color he called out. We stayed for a while longer and then headed out to our day.

And a crazy day it did end up being. Things went wrong in our normal craziness, but we managed to get through it anyway. At the last minute, with packing still needing to be done and dogs needed to be bathed, we found one of our pups had an ear infections. This meant a late night trip to the vet and more craziness.

But I went to bed last night, not stressed with all I did not get accomplished. I was not so worried about what I still needed to do in the morning before we left. Instead, I went to bed thanking God last night for my special children. It was a little girl with a big heart who reminded me just how simple it really is to follow Him.

Feb 23 2009

Funny Things Kids Say

When told that Mom was done driving everyone around, the drama queen, 8 years old said,

"So mom, if I want to go anywhere tomorrow, I have to walk or figure it out, right?"

We were watching a movie the other night that had Lindsey Lohan in it. When this same child saw her, she remarked,

"They need to feed her in real life. She's too skinny!"

One day when the Talented One was about 4 years old we were at my oldest son's baseball game. We were all sitting on the bleachers, which were full that day. Grandpa was sitting on the lower rung and our son was sitting on one higher up. He stood up and proclaimed to the whole world that day,

"Grandpa! Did you know you have a hole on your head?!"

Poor Grandpa was so embarrassed! Now the whole world knew he had a bald spot!

Another time this same son was looking at his grandmother's hand and asked her,
"Grandma, how come you have all those cracks in your hand?"
Poor Grandma had to explain that they were wrinkles.

And then there's our youngest son. When he was about eight years old, he started growing his hair out longer. Before then, he'd always worn it very short. A friend (bald) remarked to him one day,
"Boy, you need a haircut!"
To which he quickly replied,
"Well, at least I have hair."
It was definitely a spewing moment!

But the one that takes the cake for the week had us in stitches tonight. Seriously, I had tears pouring down my cheeks it was so funny! Our two youngest have been having a week of not being very nice to each other. After the final straw tonight, hubby marched them up to our room for a good shaking the fear into them! They are both standing there with tears streaming down their faces as hubby explains to them the need to be kind and loving towards each other. I add in the "treat others as you want to be treated" part, etc, etc.

And then it happened. The Drama Queen just couldn't take it anymore and wails out loudly and with as much drama as she can muster,

"I try to be nice! I'm trying really hard! I can't help it if God made me this way!"

Ok, she was so earnest….and we tried to take her serious, honest we did. But when we looked at The Smart One's face and saw him trying really hard not to laugh as tears were streaming down his face, we just lost it. I mean, I tried biting my lip. I tried turning my face. I did, honest. But….it just bubbled out! We were downright laughing out loud, the three of us, as my poor Drama Queen just stood there wailing. Which made us feel even worse….and continued the drama….until she at least smiled through her tears.

After things were all settled, hubby and I got a moment to ourselves…and just started giggling again. We couldn't help it! The mental picture will be with us for years to come!

Feb 23 2009

Dinner Conversation Anyone?

You know, lately our meals at the table had become almost non-existent. It seems the older kids would come in from school, grab a snack (or a plate of food) and head to their rooms. I make *dinner* early a lot of days because that is when they are most hungry and it just makes sense to have a meal ready in the early afternoon rather than later when they've already scarfed down a plate of food only an hour or two before.

So anyway, in our larger family activities are constant and it seemed like family meals were becoming a thing of the past. And then….we got our carpets cleaned. I planted my feet firmly and said, "No more food in your rooms, in the living room or anywhere but the kitchen!" That gives them two options; kitchen table or kitchen counter/bar.

At first they fought it, but I think they are coming around. I'm enjoying a talkative breakfast with my two younger kids before starting on their home school for the day.

When the two older ones get home, I actually get to talk to them about how their day went…and they pay attention because they're stuck there if they want to eat!

Meals around the table are becoming the norm again…and personally, I think they like it. The conversation alone is something worth sitting there for! They go something like this:

"So how were swim lessons today?"

"It was fun!"

"So, was the chicken, star, rocket really as hard as it looked?"

"I kept mixing the chicken and the star wrong."

"What is the chicken, star, rocket?"

"It's the breast stroke."

"Well, when I took lessons it was monkey, banana, tree!"

"What about the frog thing?"

"Oh, the dolphin was hard."

"You mean the porpoise?"

"What's with all the animals anyway?"

And that's just a snippet of one conversation! Usually there are at least two conversations going on at once and they can get quite confusing, especially if you're part of one and then forget who you are talking to! All of a sudden the table is roaring with laughter because someone will say something that makes absolutely no sense because they've combined the conversations! You've got to be able to keep up at our table!

We're having fun again. I hope they'll remember our laughter around the table when they get older. It's really these moments that are priceless.