The last time I remember giving “the look”, the boys and I were on our way into a store.  Just in front of us was a mom and two boys. Her boys were about 4 & 2.  As I watched her maneuver her boys into the shopping cart, I had a flash back of me with a 4-year-old Woody and a 2-year-old Tigger – and longed for those sweet toddler moments.  As I herded my almost 10 & 8 year-old into the store, I gave her “the look.”

Chances are, if you’re a mom, you’ve either given or received “the look” I’m talking about.  It’s the look that says and sometimes screams, “Enjoy this moment, Momma! Take mental pictures! Take the time to delight in these babies!  They grow up so quickly you’ll want to hold on to this – enjoy it while you can!”

I’m thankful that I identified “the look” when I saw it.  The lady who gave it to me was right. I did need the reminder to “enjoy the moment.” It wasn’t a spectacular moment – we were just walking through the parking lot giggling about the events of the day. But, because I noticed “the look”, it’s a day that I will always remember.

—     —    —    —   —

So Momma’s – that’s my Mother’s Day message:

Enjoy the moment!

Delight in your little ones, because they won’t be little for long!

Soak up the memories!

As for me, I will be loving on two boys who squeal and run whenever I try to kiss them. But I’m the momma – so I. will. win.

In His blinding Glory.
It’s like standing in the sun.
Only it is comfort beyond comprehension.
Complete Majesty.

His Grace amazing.
He knows all I have done.
The accidental.
The intentional.

He knows all I will do.
The thoughtless.
The thoughtful.
He forgives.

All of it – Completely covered by His amazing grace.

His Love encompassing.
Every single part is loved.
The parts that are too big.
The parts that are too small.
The parts that I don’t like at all.
Those wrinkles           -          Loved.
These spots          -          Cherished.
This gray hair          -          Adored.

All of it – Completely cloaked in His abounding Love.

Then the call of the clock rouses me from sleep.
I don’t want the dream to end.
Yet the clock persists.

I lay still.
Recalling the dream.
Consumed in Glory.
Holding tangible Grace.
Immersed in Love.

The feeling.
The color.
The wonder.

As I roll it all over in my mind,
I realize it doesn’t end.

Whether I sleep or wake
His Glory is still blinding.
His Grace is still amazing.
His Love is still abounding.

What a reason to arise!

Celebrate this day
For it is a day the Lord has made!

It is reality discovered in a dream.

The problem: clothes with grease/oil stains.  Unfortunately, many times I didn’t notice the stain prior to washing and drying, so there was no pre-treatment.  With a house full of boys, this happens frequently. In the old days, that meant the shirt had to be trashed or moved to the “don’t wear out of the house” category in the closet.

Enter miracle product: Lestoil.  I buy mine at the local Ace Hardware store. I’ve also found it on Amazon. I learned about it on a blog a couple of years ago.  (I can’t remember which blog…) It was written by a grandmother who was giving young mothers and wives advice on keeping house.  She suggested using Lestoil on items with grease stains, and let me tell you, she changed my life.

The first challenge was a whole load of clothes that got washed with my son’s Chapstick.  When I pulled the load out of the dryer and found grease stains all over the shirts I was near tears.  Then I remembered the suggestion, went out and bought some, then returned to see if it worked.  I treated each stain with an application of Lestoil, let it sit for a minute, and then tossed it in to the washing machine with my normal detergent.  I was amazed when each shirt was pulled out of the dryer the second time – and not a grease stain to be found anywhere.

Since then I’ve used it to remove stains caused by bacon grease, olive oil, canola oil, gun grease, and plenty of stains of unknown origin.  I will warn you that it stinks to high-heaven.  But, I can deal with that as long as it removes the oil stain.  Other than the smell, my only complaint is the packaging.  I transfer it to a pump bottle because I think it’s easier to apply to stains than the pour-style bottle. Again, I am more than willing to deal with that because it gets the stains out!

These pictures were taken today.  I pulled this shirt out of the dryer this morning and discovered the stains. I then took it to the laundry room, took a picture of it, treated it, washed it, dried it, took another picture, and voilà, the stains are gone!

This my friends, is why Lestoil is my favorite laundry product.*

*This is NOT a sponsored post. Lestoil and it’s parent company have no idea who I am. The only compensation I will receive from this post is the satisfaction of sharing something that works very well for me.

This post is included in today’s Works-for-Me Wednesday linkup at We Are THAT Family.

Tigger - George Washington, Woody - Thomas Edison

Tigger had a blast dressing up as Mr. Washington.  I found the wig and neck piece on sale for $5 at Amazon over Christmas.  We went shopping at Goodwill and found the vest and green corduroy pants for $6.  Once we added his own shirt and shoes, along with some knee-high stockings of mom’s, his costume was complete.

Tigger really got into his role as George Washington.  He did a great job remembering his speech with the help of some index cards:

My name is George Washington. I was born February 22, 1732 in Wakefield, Virginia.
As a young student, I practiced handwriting but math was my favorite subject.
My father died when I was 11 years old. My half-brother Lawrence became my mentor. At 16, I became a surveyor because I liked measuring and map-making.
When I married my darling bride, Martha, in 1759, I became a step-father to Jacky and Patsy.
When the first continental congress met in Philadelphia, they decided I would be a good general. I was a good general. I encouraged my men to keep fighting for freedom.
After fighting in the war for 8 years we won and I became a hero. The newly formed government decided I should be the first president of our nation.
Because I was the first, many call me “The Father of Our Country.” I was unanimously elected for both of my terms as president. I never lived in the White House, but I did plan our nation’s capitol.
It is hard for a guy like me to relax, but when I do, I like to play cards, go fishing, and go fox hunting.
Much like my teeth today, I lost many teeth as an adult. I had a dentist create a set of false teeth for me. He made them out of hippopotamus ivory, human teeth and metal.
When I died, December 14th 1799, I was humbled that many said I was “First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of my countrymen.”

A friend shared with me that when she went to talk with Tigger aka George Washington, she told him that she had visited his home.  He responded quizzically, “Mount Vernon?” When she gave him affirmation, he was very excited.  Then she told me she shared that she had seen where George Washington was buried and Tigger’s response was to hold his shaking head in his hands and sigh like it was more than he could bear.  Oh my!  I have a little thespian on my hands!

In the group picture with all of the kids, Tigger has a bizzare expression on his face.  When I asked him about it, he said he was trying to keep his teeth together like George Washington.  One thing we learned at the museum about President Washington’s teeth is that they had a spring in them that kept them open, so he often looked angry or pensive because he had to consciously work on keeping his jaw closed.    The fact that Tigger remembered to “stay in character” for this absolutely cracks me up.  My mother has said for quite some time that she thinks he will be a preacher or an actor.  I’m pretty sure this confirms those thoughts.

Woody also enjoyed dressing up.  He liked the fact that the costume wasn’t all that involved.  Knowing his personal taste, he would have hated wearing a wig or an elaborate costume.  We used a suit and shoes that we already had, so all we bought was his shirt which was $3 at a resale shop, and silver hair paint for $3.

Woody did a great job as Thomas Edison.  One comment that I received over and over from several moms is that he is going to be stunningly handsome when he is old. The combination of silver hair and blue eyes are going to have all of the ladies chasing him around in the nursing home.

Woody’s speech as Thomas Edison:

My name is Thomas Alva Edison. I was born February 11th, 1847 in Milan, Ohio. I was the youngest of seven children. All of my brothers and sisters used to call me Al.
I had hearing problems as a child, probably due to Scarlet fever. My teachers thought I wasn’t smart, but really, I couldn’t hear them. My mother thought I was full of curiosity and quite bright, so she began homeschooling me after 3 months of public school.
When I was 9, my mom gave me an elementary science book on chemistry. It was so much fun trying out every experiment in the book. I was hooked and began spending all of my extra money on chemicals to do more experiments!
I was a good business man all of my life. As a child, I grew vegetables and sold them in town. When I was 12, I started selling newspapers and candy on the train. When I was 14, I saved 3-year-old Jimmy MacKenzie from a runaway boxcar. I started my own weekly newspaper when I was 15.
I married my sweetheart, Mary Stillwell and we had three children. Unfortunately, she died. I then married Mila Miller and we also had three children.
I began my career as an inventor with the electrical vote recorder. Shortly after that, I created the phonograph which dazzled the public. Because of that, I became known as “the Wizard of Menlo Park.”
I created over 1,000 inventions, and had 1,093 successful U.S. patents. However, my favorite invention was the phonograph.
I am most known for inventing the light bulb, however, I didn’t invent it – I only made it better. I tried using different materials for filaments until I found one that was bright but did not burn up.
When I died on October 18th 1931, much of the world called me a genius. But I know better. I know that a good idea is not enough. It takes hard work to make dreams into a reality. That is why I say, “Genius is 1 percent inspiration, and 99 percent perspiration.”

This was a great event. I am so glad the boys chose to participate.  They did a great job of researching their characters and then “becoming” them for an evening.

This month they/we all read “Adventures in Africa” by Connie Lee Berry, it is the third book in her Incredible Journey series of six.  Each book includes Geographical information about the place the boys in the story travel to, as well as, a Science Experiment to try.  I’ll admit the story is a bit cheese-y but my book club members enjoy it.

For our hour together this month, we discussed the book.  With the characters visiting Africa, there was plenty to talk about.  Next we did the Science Experiment listed in the back of the book.  It was to make invisible ink.  The “ink” is lemon juice. The boys applied it to the paper using q-tips, and then I heated the paper with an iron which made the “ink” appear on the paper.

Tigger's Invisible Ink says "NinjaGo Masters of Spinjitzu"

Next, I told the boys about some of the research I did.  I told them I wanted to find out what African boys their age like to do.  I shared that soccer was a big thing, but they also like to play a game called Mancala.  I found out that many folks in Africa can easily play the game because they can gather small pebbles or seeds, get a stick to poke 12 holes in the ground and they have an instant “game board” to use.

Tigger's Mancala Game Board

So, we made Mancala game boards out of egg cartons.  Each boy was able to color his own design, and we used beans for the pieces to move around the board.  I was surprised at how long it took the boys to color their game boards.  But they enjoyed the activity and once they were completed we had just enough time for a snack.

For our snack time, we discussed many kinds of fruit that grow in Africa.  Citrus is very common, so we ate Clementines.  However, I also wanted to share some of the more unusual fruit that is from Africa.  I purchased a spiny melon, also called a kiwano, for the boys to investigate.  I didn’t have many who were adventurous enough to try it, but we did enjoy looking at the spiky exterior, and contrasting it to the wet and squishy interior. It tastes kind of like a cucumber, but the texture is much like that of tomato seeds.

Spiny Melon - aka Kiwano

Overall, our African Adventure was one of the best Book Club meetings we have had this year.  Now, I need to finish reading “Pirates in Paradise” so I can start planning our next Adventure!

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Pour brownie mix in bowl and mix with a Diet Coke.  Pour in pan and bake.

It seemed too simple. So, what better to do on a cold, rainy evening? Bake brownies!

The Cast

I followed the directions on the website, with a slight alteration. We had one caffeine-free Diet Coke in the fridge leftover from a party a while back.

The baking time on the back of the box says 25-30 minutes. Because these were pretty soupy when I first poured them into the pan, I baked them for 35 minutes.

The results?  Well, they weren’t pretty ~ definitely not show-stoppers.  The problem was that I found them difficult to cut neatly.  BUT.

I found them to be very tasty!  My children loved them! And my husband was just happy that I made dessert!

The Curtain Call

I also altered from the prescribed recipe upon cutting these.  Because they were so messy, I didn’t even attempt to cut them into 24 pieces.  Going by the calories listed on the brownie box and dividing it by 16 (the number of brownies I cut.)  These moist and wonderful brownies are about 137 calories each. Yummy!

I snapped a few pictures so we could share our day.

(remember, you can click on the picture to enlarge it)

We learned quite a bit about our nation’s first president.  I’ll blog more about that soon.

We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear
And we cry in anger when we cannot feel you near
We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love
As if each promise from Your Word is not enough
And all the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we’d have faith to believe

Cause what if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise?

This afternoon, Woody tested several arrangements of  the propeller to see which created a deeper well when rotating the handle.  Tigger watched his Lego character swim around at various speeds and learned a bit about inertia. We talked about Newton’s first law of motion. We talked about how gear sizes determine how quickly gears move.  We talked about how much fun it is to make a mess with water.