Put It Away
ORGANIZATION AT WORK OR HOME
More Family Stories
My Mom?
The other day, I was in the living room putting away Christmas decorations when I heard my mom come into the kitchen. (you can hear my mom approaching as her cane makes a distinct noise against the tile).
Well, I walked into the kitchen to see what she wanted, but she wasn't there.
A short time later, the same thing occurred.
Then I realized it was Papito, our Quaker, that was making the noise.
He can also imitate the children's laughing and even imitates coughing. He also says his name and "I love you".
Felipe's chicken
When Felipe was two or so, he brought a chicken into the house.
I do not even know how he caught it. How he carried it all the way to the house without getting pecked or scratched.
But he did.
We have it on video in a box somewhere. Someday, I will digitalize the videos and then I will show the world what fun six boys were to raise!
Monster Truck
A couple of weeks ago, I was driving to church, and somehow we got on the subject of 2-wheel drive versus 4-wheel drive and how to drive in the ice and the snow.
I was explaining these things to Felipe, as he has a permit and this will be his first winter to drive.
I then explained that we always put rocks in the back of the truck as it is 2-wheel drive, and needs the weight in the back to give it stability.
When out of the blue, seven-year-old Rebeca exclaimed, "Not a monster truck!"
We all died laughing. We did not even know she was listening and it is even odder as we do not watch any sports or any type of racing.
I asked her how she knew about monster trucks and she said, "Phineas and Ferb." (A Disney Cartoon). What an enlightened age we live in.
SURPRIZE
Friday evening, Maria and Travis approached me while I was working on the computer.
Maria showed me two home pregnancy tests: and they were both positive.
I didn't get excited; simply acknowledged it, and went back to work.
Later, I went to the living room where they were watching a movie. I apologized for not getting excited about their news.
Maria said, "Yea, we told his mom, and some friends, and they went crazy, hugged us, and were so happy."
I then told her that I, myself, was puzzled at first by my nonchalant response.
Then I realized, it was because it wasn't a surprise to me...I KNEW that she would get pregnant and actually, I was surprised it didn't happen sooner.
Maria was washing hers and Travis's clothes the other evening and Rebeca was helping her fold the laundry.
She came to a pair of Travis's boxers and Rebeca said, "I don't want to touch his panties...they smell."
Then she assertively informed Maria,
"My husband's panties won't smell."
The warrior
Tony was about 3 and Douglas was about 15 months when the following happened.
Fito and I were friends with a really neat family in Niotaze, KS.
The mother and her daughters would occasionally babysit the boys for us.
They lived in the country and had chickens. However, their rooster was mean!
He always attacked the boys and us and we would have to chase him away.
One evening, we were going somewhere and went to drop the boys off.
When we arrived, instead of waiting in the car while Fito chased away the rooster, Tony jumped out behind him.
Tony stood his ground with his feet firmly planted, for Tony had come prepared.
He was wearing boots and a plastic helmet he had received for Christmas. He also had his plastic shield, and plastic sword.
The rooster came running over, and as Fito and the family (who had come outside when they heard the car) watched--Tony swung hard and struck the rooster on the side of the head.
The rooster wobbled and fell down. He was out for a minute and when he came to, he went to the back.
He never again bothered the boys.
[Tony is now at West Point....is it environment or genetics?!?]
Sometimes when my sons are playing video games they will scream like banshees so I'll tell them to not scream like girls.
Well, one afternoon after school my daughter Rebeca was playing a video game. When she was playing she did something wrong in the game and she screamed.
Then she said " I screamed like a girl!"
Then David said, "You are a girl!"
She then turned back to the game and said, "I scream like a boy."
OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!
Just about a week ago, I was lying in bed with Fito.
Elizabeth and Rebeca were with us at the time and we were just talking about things. Elizabeth was telling about some photographs that were taken of their cousin’s wedding that were on Facebook.
I went into educational mode, and started to tell the girls some of the rules of photography. I was telling them to hold the camera very still and to move it slowly.
I said you need to be very careful to not cut off their heads, and to keep the person in the center of the field.
Fito then chuckled and asked Rebeca if she knew what I meant by “cutting off their heads”.
She replied, “Why would you cut their heads off with a camera?”
We all laughed, then he explained what the expression meant. She was happy to know that her Mom was not cutting the heads off of people.