The big announcement

Well, I guess it is official now. The sign went in the yard on Wednesday. We are moving. We will still be midwesterners, but no longer in the same state. We've never sold a house before so we are experiencing all kinds of things we never have before. So are our kids... And I'm still not sure they've completely grasped what moving means. John was very concerned yesterday "Do we need to move the toilet?" We assured them there would be toilets at the new house...

The Horn Family Dictionary

I 've come to think that we need our own dictionary. My kids have developed their words for certain things and without a dictionary some people may have a hard time knowing what they are talking about. Here are some of the words I would include:

hopper sore
noun, a canker sore; ulceration in the mouth
Origin: Ashley--she just decided that they should be called this because canker is too hard to remember

vent
verb, rent; sample sentence: "Are we going to vent the movie or buy it?"
Origin: Ashley

swinging bed
noun, hammock
Origin: John (I think)

washdown
noun, a car wash facility; may also be used to describe any type of facility that washes any type of vehicle including trains
Origin: John through watching way too much Thomas the Train

tic tattoo
noun, a child's temporary tattoo; they generally feature cartoon figures including Cars and Hello Kitty
Origin: Ashley--I've tried to explain, but she insists this is what they are called

The Redneck Retro Rocket Train Ride

About this time yesterday my kids were in the basement (our play room). I was in the kitchen doing something-can't really remember what but I know it must of been important. Evidently while they were in the basement John decided to get creative. He put in his hillbilly teeth (AKA bubba teeth) which I knew he was doing because I helped him find them. Then he took Nathan's retro rocket and set it on the train table. At this point he decided to go for a ride on the train table. It was one of those moments that I really wish I had a picture of--I'm sure it would be priceless. But, alas, all I got to see of it was the busted top lip when he crashed down off the table. Needless to say, I think he's learned his lesson and probably won't be going for any more redneck retro rocket train rides in the near future.

Excuse me, mom, I speak whinese

For the Horn side of the family, Joe wanted me to title this "Excuse me, ma'am, but I speak jive." But I've never seen the movie Airplane and didn't find it near as funny as he did. Maybe you will get it if you were born a Horn... Anyway, on with my post. One of my favorite books is Creative Correction by Lisa Welchel. She gives very creative ideas on how to correct some common childhood errors. I tend not to be very creative in that department, so I find it very helpful. A year or two ago, we had a whiner develop in our house. I was at my ropes end when I consulted Lisa's book. One of her suggestions, which I loved, was to tell the child that you can't understand him/her because you don't speak whinese. I loved the idea and immediately began to use it. And it worked great!!!! Well, in the last couple of weeks we have had a new whiner develop. (You would think after having four children I would know what breeds whining by now, but I don't...) So this morning I decided to try my foreign language bit. So I said, "I can't understand you. I don't speak whinese. In order for me to help you, you have to talk like a big kid so I can understand you." The child stared at me blankly and then proceeded to restate the same thing in the same language--whinese. I told the child that I didn't understand. (I was beginning to think that said child didn't undertand english) But then, just as I thought all was lost, another child began to interpret "Mom, (the child) said..." So glad at least someone in the house can speak whinese...

Mulch

I think I'm addicted to mulch. I've had this spot in my front flower beds that has needed mulch all summer. I have two peonies next to the driveway and a big rain storm swept away most of the mulch that was there. So every other day I have to go out and pull weeds. Now pulling weeds is very gratifying because you can see what you've accomplished. However, nothing can be that gratifying when it is 95 degrees with 95 percent humidity outside. So Joe went to the store and got me 4 bags of mulch. Actually, he got both of us 4 bags of mulch. I had to share because he wanted to put some around our tree in the backyard. So I got 2 bags to myself. The place where it was needed didn't need the entire 2 bags so I decided to do a little touch up in some other flower beds. Funny thing that happened though, the more mulch I laid the worse all the other mulch looked. And, thus, I had to drive to the store, buy more mulch, and ended up spending my afternoon mulching all of my flower beds. Maybe my other trees need mulch too....

My Kindergartener

My youngest daughter, Ashley, has a gift of drama. I really do think it is a gift and at some point in her life will be very useful. But, currently it explains why the last couple of weeks when she has told me that her teeth hurt I didn't really pay attention. I mean, why would your teeth hurt? I was also a little reluctant to touch her tooth yesterday when she told me it was wiggly. Honestly, I wasn't expecting it to be. Much to my surprise, it was extremely wiggly. Then I felt like a bad mom, because it explained why it would have hurt over the last couple of weeks. It was soooo wiggly (and the tooth next to it) that Daddy was able to pull both of them out this morning with no tears from Ashley. So now she is officially looking like a kindergartener.