A Day In The Life

Things heard and seen in the Baysinger house today:

Marcus: "For my first car you guys can buy me either a Rolls Royce or a Ferrari. I guess I'd settle for a Porsche if I had to."


Max was crying after waking up from his nap...
Mason: (singing) "Hush little baby, don't say a word. Mama's gonna buy you some handcuffs."
I turned just in time to see him approaching the baby with his handcuffs! Who knows what would have happened if I hadn't been there.

Mason: "Is Chuck E Cheese a long ways away?"
Me: "Not really - it's near your school."
Mason: "That's weird. My dad said it's in California."

Marcus: (staring at his feet) "I wonder if you could flip someone off with your toe?"
Glad to see our parenting skills are paying off, as well as the big bucks we spend on that Christ-centered education!

After I sneezed near Max:
Max: (From the belly) "Giggle, Giggle"
It was a really cute giggle, and we had one of those lovey, snuggly mommy/baby moments for about 5 minutes afterward.

Mason: "I need to use the lavatory."
What 4 year old says that? Was I secretly proud that he did...yes. But now that he's mastered vocabulary, I wish he could at least TRY to wipe himself. Good grief.

Max's Turn

Now where did I put that binky?

It's not that Max isn't as important as the other family members. I don't blog about him very often because he simply doesn't do much. No funny one-liners, no tragic disasters. So here's to my baby. A blogging day all to himself. Isn't he sweet?

Parades and Festibals

At our house everything is either a parade or a festival (which Mason pronouces "festibal" - just like Marcus used to. It's cute - I refuse to correct him). If we walk from the bedroom to the kitchen, it's a parade. If we have people over to eat dinner, it's a festival. In fact, we invited the grandparents over to eat the morel mushrooms last night, and all day Mason prepared for the Mushroom Festibal. He said, "I'll play the music and Grammy can dance." Today, he's preparing for a neighborhood parade. He's creating his list for invitations and I just heard him say that we need to invite Annica and Annica's bird. He also plans to invite his (imaginary) sister. I hadn't heard about her in awhile, but I guess she's still around. He has a makeshift clipboard made from cardboard and a chip clip. He's taking notes and informed me that he needs it because he's the Grand Marshall. Where does he get this stuff? Truth be known - he gets it from me. I'm a festival/parade girl at heart. I suppose it's a small town thing. I come from a town that has a Labor Day festival with a parade so short it literally goes around the block twice - I am not kidding. I still have my baton, and though Blake won't let me twirl it in the yard for fear of what the neighbors will think - I still twirl it inside sometimes. So I guess I have taught my kids to love parades and festivals...I mean festibals. Hey! Maybe I'll twirl my baton in Mason's parade today. The neighbors already think we're weird.

Going Once...Going Twice

Have you ever wondered how much your child would fetch on eBay? Today is that day for me.

I recently heard an author say that most victims of violent crime say, looking back, that something was "off" right before their attack. They almost all said that something just felt wrong, and if they'd followed their instincts, the attack - in many cases - would have been prevented. I felt that feeling today.

I could hear sounds coming from the kitchen that didn't fit. I was feeding Max, so it wasn't convenient to get up and go investigate. I should have. A few moments later, Mason came into the living room and in the sweetest, most innocent voice said, "I'm sorry." I nervously asked what he was sorry about, and he said, "Well...it's stainable." I knew it was going to be bad. I was right.

He has been so anxious for the shlushly stand (as he calls it) to open. Until it does, we've been making our own at home. He had found the super-concentrated Kool-Aid I use (red, of course) and decided to make a drink. He had spilled it all over the kitchen cabinet (they are white) and into the silverware drawer (it is white). It looked like a mass murder had taken place right in my kitchen. I was mortified. Mason took off into the bedroom to hide, and I couldn't decide whether to start cleaning or take a picture for my blog! I opted to clean given the "stainable" factor, but laughed later at the amount of time I spent making the final decision.

The worst part about the whole ordeal - I now have one sparkling clean white cabinet and a kitchen full of not-so-sparkling whitish cabinets. Now I'm going to have to clean the rest of them with as much vigor as the first one. Ugh! I love being a stay at home mom.

Oh...and you may wonder what I did with Max during this chaos. I plopped him down into his bouncer where he watched with joy and smiles as I cleaned. Turns out it wasn't a look of joy on his face, though. He was joining his brother in celebrating Messes For Mommy Day. Did I mention how much I love being a stay at home mom...really!

Earth Day

We just aren't the type to celebrate Earth Day, and to be honest, I didn't even know it was Earth Day until I read the newspaper. I'm not much of a recycler unless you count the times when Mason has me hold out my hand and he spits his gum out. It never fails - I can't find a tissue or piece of paper, so I just pop it in my mouth and chew it. That's recycling, right? Or at least it's conservation - we're saving an extra piece of gum. Anyway - I'd hate to waste the opportunity to tie my blog in with a national holiday, so here goes.

One of my favorite things about this time of year in the Midwest is the Morel mushroom season. The first few days of warm weather after a good rain causes these tasty jewels to pop up. They are coveted by those who hunt them, and those who don't have access to them, buy them for as much as $60 per ziplock bag! Last year, the weather conditions were perfect and we found tons and tons. This year - not so much. Marcus and I hunted for about an hour and only found 18 - 20 mushrooms. It's hard to know if the best part is hunting them or eating them...it's like an adult Easter egg hunt! So thanks, God, for putting Morel mushrooms on the earth. We'll celebrate Earth Day with a tasty feast.
The second way the Baysingers can celebrate Earth Day is by showing off some of Blake's latest artwork. He got a wood lathe for Christmas and has been busy making the most beautiful bowls and vases. It amazes me that a plain ol' hunk of wood can turn into something so cool! My husband is so talented. God's tree + Blake's God given talent = cool and beautiful stuff. Too bad my photography can't do the pieces justice.

Oh Yes They Call Her The Streak

I serve our church as Treasurer of our Leadership Team. Periodically I get to address our church body regarding financial "stuff" and today was one of those days. I am so excited about Expedition Hope - the name of the building campaign on which we're embarking. More about that later.

A few months ago, I gave a brief financial update to our congregation. We have around 800-900 in attendance on a Sunday during our 3 services, so while I'm not too scared to speak publicly, there sure are a lot of eyes staring back! Right before I went up to give my talk during the 2nd service, my good friend, Jennifer Barclay, walked up beside me as we were standing and singing and said, "Don't freak out but your skirt is completely ripped out in the back." Don't freak out?!?! To appreciate the magnitude of this situation, know that I was 8.5 months pregnant and had stuffed it all into maternity pantyhose for the occasion. It wasn't pretty. Needless to say, I went ahead and freaked out. But it was about 30 seconds before I was up, so I just put my papers behind my back and sidestepped toward the stage. I have no idea how my presentation sounded because all I could think about was the view the poor Worship Team had as they stood behind me. Bless them all.

Fast forward to today. Remembering my last experience, I checked every stitch, possible loose button and seam today as I got dressed. I gave my talk in the 1st and 2nd service and all seemed to be moving along smoothly. Until...yes...until. Until I dropped my baby off in the nursery and one of the workers informed me that the zipper on my pants was open! She'd noticed it as I spoke in the 2nd service, but couldn't really tell for sure based on the angle from which see could see me. When I came into the nursery, she confirmed her suspicions!

I can see that God is keeping my pride in check, but must he use complete humiliation in the process? I'm concerned that the body is going to start thinking I have exhibitionist issues!

And you know the worst part? The offering on the day my skirt was ripped was the 2nd highest of the entire year! Imagine the jokes that I endure from the rest of the Leadership Team over that. Hey - maybe after today's incident, we'll end up with the entire 3 million bucks we need for the new addition. Just joking God - pride is in check!