My Son's Obsession Has Gone Far Enough!

My 5 year old is going through a phase, as most young boys do. I think his life has actually been one big phase after another. We have been through the Bob the Builder phase, Incredibles phase, the Spiderman phase, the I'm-a-different-superhero-everyday phase...I could go on. This phase is slightly different. It deals with a word. Are you ready? Booty. Not the pirate kind. The one on the rear side of your body kind.

(Let me digress to say I knew this would happen one day because my friend's son once has a similar phrase phase, only his was, "Shake your booty." It was all he said for a long time. "Good morning, how are you?" "Shake your booty." "What would like for snack?" "Shake your booty." I had him in Sunday School one time and I posed a questioned to the 4 year olds. Of course, the whole class chorused, "Jesus." Not him. He answered with "Shake your booty." He is now 11 and has since recovered so I have hope for Corey.)

He uses it for nearly everything, regardless of the measures we have gone to to stop him. I have learned that he means no disrespect or ill-feelings toward the person, well, most of the time. He does often refer to his sister as Hannah Booty-tana in an argument, but other than that I think he finds Booty-head and other phrases in which he can use the word terms of endearment. I have a terrible time convincing Ms. Hannah Booty-tana that he means no harm. He simply uses it to express himself. She isn't buying it and she tells me everytime he utters the word booty. Like when he is singing "Backward" by Rascal Flatts (you get your house back, you get your car back, you get your booty back) or when she asks him to play and he responds, "Yes, booty." (This is followed by a fight over the word booty and how I've told him to stop..blah, blah, blah.) His favorite TV show is now Spongebob Bootypants. This morning I've realized how far this has gone, however, as he bellows from the bathroom part of a Bible song, "Zac-Booty, you come down, for I'm going to your booty today." And I remember - this too shall pass. One day I'm gonna miss his booty-head!

I'm Somebody's Hero (subtitle: why I love my nieces)

I have come to find out that with each pregnancy past #2, you get slightly different reactions. When I told of my pregnancy with #3, we got a few congratulations and several "Again?s". Now with #4 most people's first question is, "Did you plan that?" or "Don't you know what causes that?" followed by "Is this it?" No, we didn't plan it. God did. 'Nough said. We know what causes it and obviously we like it or are good at it, however you want to view that, I'll leave it alone. Yes, sadly, this is probably it. If I had my way, I woulda lived a hundred years ago when people didn't know what caused it, but it was actually still a blessing to have lots of kids.

But I have a wonderful family who is excited for us, none the less. (Minus the one who suggested we name it "Caboose" because it's the last one on the train). My nieces are the best. All of them - 6 total - give me hope that my children will turn out alright in a crazy world and that they will love their parents and siblings at the end of adolescence. They range in age from 12 to 22 (I think). So last weekend, when we were together for February birthdays, they had just found out our news and were so very excited, which was a real boost. One of them wants 12 and the other said 5 is her minimum. Get that? MINIMUM! You Go, Girls! The one who wants 12 said, "Aunt Tracy, you're my hero!" Now mind you, these girls are teenagers, so I think it's great that they have this outlook on life. It was about that age that the desire to have 4 began for me, so I hope if that's really their dream, God grants it for them, because He is giving me the desires of my heart and it's AWESOME! Well, after the hero comment, I had to leave the room to referee a fight between the 5 younger kids, so I didn't get to say, "Thanks, Girls! You made my day and I love ya!" Oh, yeah, and I'll pay up next time I see you! HAHA

My Birthday Girl!

Happy Birthday to Hannah! She turns 8 today! My how time flies! Here she shows off her new Hannah Montana outfit! Ain't she cute?!

Lysol is my friend (and other lessons learned during a family virus)

So, we have spent much of the past week battling the stomach virus around here. Allie started last Thursday night (of course, during my first week of work - wonder if they got a sub for a sub?) and ended Sunday morning. Donnie and I started simultaneously on Tuesday after midnight. (Why must it happen always at night? I don't think I've ever ralphed during the day.)

So here are my musings from the my recent toilet hugging experiences:
1. There is no such thing as too much Lysol. I have some new products I am going to recommend to the Lysol people, but I'll address that later.)

2. The slower I move, the slower my children who are well and have to go to school move.

3. It is okay to take the kids to school in your pjs.

4. It is also okay to pick them up in the same pjs.

5. It is okay, if you can pass off your pjs for cool lounge wear or don't mind the strange looks, to make a mad dash throught Wal-Mart in search of Karen Kingsbury's new book.

6. Toast is sufficient for all meals.

7. Sisters who keep your children so you can sleep are wonderful! (Of course, she's wonderful anyway - even if she can't name the kid. See previous post.)

8. This too shall pass!

Thankfully with sleep I am me again and went to work today without passing out, which seemed unlikely last night.

When it comes to viruses I have self diagnosed OCD. It nearly causes hysterics trying to figure out what to do first after cleaning up the yuck. Should I wash my hands? Then the faucet has funky germs on it. But if I go get the Lysol can first, the can gets the funkies and spraying it doesn't help much. Should I change clothes before washing my hands? Then my new clothes get the funkies and could therefore spread the virus. I guess I could wash my hands and spray myself down with Lysol after removing the old clothes and before getting out the new ones. But inevitably the Lysol can is in a different part of the house and I have to streak to go get it. (Sorry for the mental pic. Aren't you glad we aren't neighbors?) I say all this because I have come up with other Lysol products that should be invented. The include, but are not limited to: Lysol body spray, Lysol mouth wash, Lysol deodarant, Lysol dish detergent, Lysol shampoo... I could go on. But instead, I'd like input here. Anybody else got ideas? I'll be glad to give you credit when I submit them. Really I will.