stories from Booboo & Miss Ro

It has recently been just non-stop hilarity over here from my two big kids.  For some hump day laughs, please enjoy these two little comedians.

chocolate milk at New Years

While brushing my hair

Gemma:  you looking beautiful, momma.

Me: Thanks honey for fixing my hair

Gemma:  okay, now I need scissors

Me:  Gem.  No.

walking towards the steps to go downstairs

Gemma:  It's okay, Momma, I'm just going to cut MY hair

Me:  Gemma.  I said No.  You cannot use scissors right now and you definitely can not cut your own hair!

Gemma:  I don't understand you.

Me:  Come back in here, honey.

Gemma: (stomping in room) I don't care!

While discussing his basketball birthday party (in APRIL; 3 months away)

Greyson:  and Daddy's whole basketball team is invited

Me:  Hah, okay, sweetheart

Greyson:  and you need to put on their papers for inviting  (breathless) You...can...sleep....over!!

Me:  Um, I don't think that's going to work, buddy.  There's too many, where would everyone fit?

Greyson:  The littlest player, Mark* can use my sleeping bag.  

Me:  And what about Gabe*?  He's so long, where will he sleep?

Greyson:  I have a great idea!  Under our bunk beds!

*names changed to protect players' identities  (hahha)

Greyson:  Mom!!  Gemma said a fairy stole her make-up

Gemma:  A fairy did take it.  He picked it up and flew it away with his wings!

Greyson:  What other colors are lions?

Me:  I think just orange, yellow, and brown.  I've never heard of a white or black lion.

Greyson:  There are white ones in Antarctica

Me:

Greyson:  there are!  

Me:  where did you hear that?

Greyson:  Daddy told me

Me:

Greyson:  you didn't hear us because we were sneaking downstairs talking quietly

Me:

Greyson:  okay, I'm telling a lie, but I know there are white lions in Antarctica.  I just know inside my heart.

Momentarily angry at her grandfather Chum

Gemma:  You are the child and I am the genius!

While I was attempting to scrub paint off of the carpet bedroom floor

Me:  Grey, this is a really big mess, buddy.  Why weren't you being more careful with the paint?

Greyson:  I was in a panic

Me:

Greyson:  Well, remember I'm an elf because of my ears are pointy.  And I was in a panic because I didn't know why I wasn't at the North Pole

Me:  

Greyson:  Okay, I'm not an elf, Mom, I'm just growing.

We have a saying around here when the kids start repeating whine-requests 30 times in a row that goes something like "How many times do you have to say it?" and the kids answer "One time."

So while we were getting ready for bed and I was feeding the baby

Gemma:  Momma, I.want.you.to.hold.me

Me:  sweetheart, as soon as Violet eats, I will put her in her bed and hold you forever and ever

Gemma:  Momma, hold.me

Me:  Gem, honey, in just a minute.  lay down and wait for me.

Gemma:  I.want.you.to.hold.ME!

Me:  that's enough Gemma Rose

Gemma:  How many times do I have to say it, Momma?  Five Times?  Yes, five times!!  Hold me, hold me, hold me,

Me:

Gemma:  hold me, hold me, hold me,.....

After nearly breaking his neck doing a front flip on the couch

Me:  Grey!  Are you okay?!  Why would you do that?!

Greyson:  (laughing hysterically) It's okay Mum, I'm just re-dick-lee-ous

Gemma:  (all sung)

Here are my babies

Momma, I brought you some besketti (play spaghetti)

And this is my Momma's happy valentines

with coooooooooookies 

they taste so nice

but greyson cannot have any

stop looking at me greyson!

I am playing with my babies

not youuuuuuuuuuuu

Here's hoping your Wednesday is filled with laughter - from all of us here at the Studer Zoo Crew, but especially this little darling angel girl who giggles and makes raspberries at her 'reedickleeous' big bro and sis all day :)

12 Months of Kindness: 2015

2015 will be our seventh year of committing to twelve months of kindness.  We've been planning out an act of kindness for each month since we've been married and now it just feels like it is a part of us; a part of the root that our family grows up from.

Over the past six years, our 12 Months of Kindness project has given our years (and lives) a little something extra.  A little less bit of feeling like we're just steadily marching through time - it has forced us, at least once a month, to look up from our daily busy and see how much we have to be grateful for.  A reminder that because we have been given much, we too must give.  

It strengthens our desire to be those kinds of people.  The kinds of people who resolve to take responsibility for those around them.  The kinds of people that focus on what is possible and not what feels overwhelming.  The kinds of people who extend a hand into the empty space between us and another.  That's the kind of people we want to be and 12 Months of Kindness is a monthly reminder that we can be those kinds of people; as long as we keep trying.

There are a few important pieces to making sure you have a successful year of 12 Months of Kindness and after six years - we've found these to the be main cornerstones:

1. Plan ahead:  it is imperative to make your list of 12 acts of kindness at the start of your year.  Look through the future months and consider the events you already have scheduled (birthdays, vacations, seasons, holidays, etc) and try to think about acts of kindness that will be feasible within each month's constraints (financial, time, physical)
2. Make sure your tasks are measurable:  this is important on all lists you make, but especially for the 12 Months of Kindness List.  Make it an actionable item, instead of saying "Give back to our neighborhood" - this is hard to measure when it comes time to whether or not this month was a success.  Sure, you didn't start any neighborhood fights and you waved to your elderly neighborhood - but maybe not necessarily something you'd officially qualify as "giving back."  Decide instead on a the specific way in which you'll 'give back' - for example, "Pick up trash on our road."  or "Give a monetary donation to our local fire department."  Those are both tasks that you can certifiably check off the list; you know when they've been completed for sure.  
3. Display your list in a high-traffic place:  our list of 12 acts of kindness hangs on our fridge so that we walk past it several times a day.  After the first task is crossed off/highlighted, it serves as even more motivation to continue to make sure we are meeting our goals at monthly kindness.  

So, this past week, Brandon and I sat down after the kids went to bed to compile our 2015 12 Months of Kindness challenge for our family.  We slotted in our yearly events (May, June, July, and December) and then talked about, pin-searched, and recalled from the past acts of kindness that could fill in the rest of our months of the year.  

Lucky for me, some of our months are working double duty as they are also items on my 100 small things list (March and November).  We are trying thing this year we've never done (September) and doing some of our old favorites (August, October).  

12 Months of Kindness

2015

January:  Give someone the 'day off'

February:  Anonymously pay for someone's dinner while out to eat

March:  serve a meal at the Winder Area Community Kitchen

April:  Send a special care package to Raph (our friend through World Vision)

May:  award two CV high school seniors with the Studer Scholarship (7th year)

June: organize the 2nd annual CVAA Superhero 5K and Family Fun Run/Walk

July: 7th Annual Studer's Invitational Beer Olympics!

August:  Donation of goods to the Cambria County Humane Society

September:  Assist at/with the Johnstown Backpack Project

October: Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF

November:  host an Oxfam America Hunger Banquet

December:  participate in Giving Tuesday

Besides our commitment to the 12 Months of Kindness Project (#12mokp on instagram if you join!), we also try to choose kindness everyday in our interactions with one another and others.  Things like refraining from name-calling, saying 'please' & 'thank you' every time, and waving to our neighbors as we drive by.  

I'm also hoping to do a semi-revival of my 12 Months of Kindness Project blog (yea, who forgot that it existed? this chick), mostly with a boost of facebook page posts and sharing other people's stories of kindness and RAOKs.

Are you making a plan to add kindness as a goal to your 2015?  I want to hear about it!!  Comment or link up below!

three under five.

whew.  it has been one heck of a week over here.  a big reminder this week that we currently have three kids under five years old.

three under five.

like everyone (ev.ery.one.) that sees us out says, we "have our hands full."  indeed, my friend.  indeed we do.

the kids are reeling with post-holiday mania.
it's just been so many parties.  so many presents.  so many cookies.  so many late bedtimes.
it seems like this week has just been a full collapse of normalcy.

fighting, mess making, not listening, attitude, talking back.  it's been a hard few days in mummahood.

jumping from the top of the stairs to the landing...in the swimsuits.

I'm also trying to look at the massive amounts of what feels like clutter and too much stuff that happens every year after the holidays.  So much recycling, so many more toys, just so much stuff.  Am I the only one that has this January panic of how much crap it feels like is in their house?

a mess they made in the laundry room with recycling.  why do we even have any toys?

Monday was awful, just so much fighting, and difficulty resting, and crazy happening all day long with my three under five.  And then we had a tragic situation between one of our dogs and our sweet Jinxy cat that night. Jinxy is no longer with us which has us all heartbroken and now we are currently in the process of finding possible solutions for Bullet's behavior including seeing a professional dog behavior specialist on Monday and visiting the vet on Tuesday to see if his aggression is pain related.  We are operating with heavy hearts right now.

Greyson tried to make me feel better by telling me, "At least one happy thing Mom.  Jinxy is in heaven now having fun with cat Jesus."

cat Jesus.
gah, out of the mouths of babes, honestly.

we celebrated the last bit of our holiday season with Orthodox Christmas and we completed one of my 100 small things tasks - sleeping out under the Christmas tree.

it is always so refreshing to get the holiday decor down though - honestly, even though it was such a hassle to get the tree and decorations down myself on Wednesday, if I didn't get it down that day I felt like I was becoming unhinged.

We muscled through the week though - attending the kids' classes, Daddy's basketball game, and regular household chores.

B and I finally went grocery shopping (we were nearly bare cupboards) and stayed up until 1p putting groceries away, cleaning out the fridge and building a fire in the wood stove downstairs because of the super freezing temps this week.

Speaking of staying up late, that was another weird thing about this week - Gem kept passing out around 5p everyday and then waking up at like 7:30p - so then none of us went to bed until almost 11pm every night!?  Last night the four of us fell asleep downstairs on the couches watching Full House at midnight.  so weird.

TGIF today though, somehow we all seem to have a little more grace and patience with each other.  We had an exciting and fun day with home preschool and even had an ice cream snack for our Letter I week.  I'm hoping to get my new planner for 2015 today (HAH, 9 days into the year already, goodness) and I'm oddly excited about trying a new dinner tonight.  I'm hopeful that we are getting back into the groove of things after a very long, albeit joyous and blessed, holiday season.

so, yes, we have our hands full.
but as someone very sweet once reminded me.
"you think my hands are full?
you should see my heart."