Barb... Oh how I love (ed) her!

I hear from a ton of families that I am their "star babysitter" or that they love how I interact with the kids. They love that I do the dishes before they get home, or will do little things like that. Well I had a babysitter who was the best babysitter I ever had. I often think of her when I babysit, like when I let the kids have an extra treat of some sort... or I might let them get away with watching  some extra television, or playing longer than allowed on something...but when it comes to them having to listen to me. I demand respect. :-) Barb did these things for me and let me tell her about her.

I remember watching television with her, we would watch stuff like "Murder She Wrote" or The Miss America Pageant. My mom and dad used to be on a bowling league when my brother and I were little, and Mom would tell her that we needed to be in bed no later than 10:00 because we had church the next morning. Barb would wait for my parents to pull in the driveway and she would have us RUN to our beds, we would hide under the covers and I would try my hardest to pretend I was asleep. I later found out that my mom knew all along that we ran to sleep when they got home, but she let Barb do it anyway. I found this out like 3 months ago... It made me laugh when I realized that mom knew all along. I thought that I was pulling the wool over her eyes this whole time!

I also remember times that she would do the dishes for my mom. I asked her one time why she always did the dishes for my mom and she just said that my mom works hard all day long and the last thing she probably wants to do is the dishes. It's the same thing that I try to do when I babysit.  There were other times that she would pick things up or just do things to make it easier. I loved that, now looking back I love that she cared not only for me and my brother, but she also took care of my mom.

Barb used to come over and have coffee  with my mom and sit on the front porch. She would stir her coffee with the weirdest things ever. Pencils, spoons, pens, her finger, anything she could find. Haha.... She lived in the only house that was across the street and we would build forts in the field that was on the side of her house. She took the ends of the cereal and poured them all into one container so there was a modge podge of a bunch of different cereal.

When I would get mad at my mom I used to threaten that I was going to run away to Barbs! One time my mom helped me pack my bags, called Barb and said, "Amanda is coming to live with you, take care of her!" So, I went to Barbs, then it was dinner time and the food was horrible (on purpose naturally) so I decided to go back home. 

She was the best. My first year here at Union, Barb lost her fight to cancer. I didn't get to go to her funeral. My best friend Megan is her Granddaughter, and she didn't make it to Megan's wedding, nor did she get to see me graduate. However, I know that she was looking down on us during those really important days. Smiling without her teeth, wearing her towel tubetop and drinking a cup of coffee!! Gosh, I can't believe how much you can miss a person.

Never cease to Laugh!

While sitting in another scintillating class of Religion and Psychology. I received a text about babysitting yesterday afternoon. Being the broke college student that I am, I wholeheartedly agreed to babysit for a couple hours. This family has three kids, and three kids who CRACK ME UP! Marcus, Luke and Kate. They are three funny children. So, yesterday... here are my stories

Funny story one. Luke wakes up from his nap and looks and me and says " Where is my momma?" I said " She went to the store, but can I have a hug?" Luke goes " No, you can have a hug tomorrow..." I broke his little heart when I said I wouldn't be there tomorrow so he had to give me a big hug today! When I left that afternoon, he said " Ms. Manda, I will see you tomorrow and I will hug you tomorrow again" Then he looked down and said "Oh no!!! You won't be here tomorrow!!!" Awww... He's a hugger so I get lots and lots of hugs before I left.

Funny story number two: Marcus (who is 6) is going to the bathroom... (prepare yourself for what's to come LOL) and he is singing at the top of his lungs. All of a sudden he stops and goes "MISS MANDA I NEED YOU TO COME HERE QUICK!!!"  So I go to the bathroom door and ask Marcus if he's okay. He instructs me to open the door because he need's help. Much to my dismay, I open the door. The smell that wafted my direction was enough to knock me on my feet!!! He said " Miss Manda, I have the runny poop and I can't get it all cleaned up so I need help!" I was so sick from the smell that all Marcus could do was laugh at me. The kid laughed so hard while standing up, he pooped on the toilet seat! So I run and get some baby wipes from his sister's room and clean him up. He finished... and I cleaned him up to find out that his pants were messed up too... I have no idea how!!! So I run back into his room, get him some underwear, and the whole time I'm holding my face inside my hoodie trying not to smell anything... and Luke is yelling " MANDA, MARCUS IS ROTTEN!!! HE'S ROTTEN!!" hahahahahaaha

I love the kids! They crack me up!!! On a separate occasion Luke came up to me and said " Miss Manda, oooo gotta HOOOOOOOGGGEEE booty!" This lovely boy is a whole 3 years old, and he looks at me while saying this. He is being so deliberate with telling me that it's HOOOGGEE.... he sticks his neck out while telling me! I just crack up! Well yesterday every time Marcus was close enough to my butt he would whack it! It cracked me up!! Which it probably shouldn't but it really does....

Even though so much happened in those 3 hours, it really was so much fun. I love spending time with the kids, and I'm even more thankful that God knows what I need in my life more than I do. So, You can never cease to laugh... when things are crazy, or a 3 year old tells you your butt is "hooge" you just have to laugh!!!

Oh How I Love It!!! :)

Adventures in Babysitting in the Snow and Cold.

Today I had to babysit a WONDERFUL nine year old named Josie. She is crazy and excited and keeps me on my toes. She is one of the two girls I babysit. The rest are boys.... anywho... After picking Josie up from school today, after taking a wrong turn to pick her up, the poor thing had a TON of stuff she was carrying with her. So I had to run around Jeepy to let her in. She cracks me up! Well finally I get her home, and much to my dismay Annie the dog was outside. All I could think about was the fact that poor little Annie had been outside all day long in the cold!
So Josie yells "Amanda, get the garage door open, I'll go get Annie" I agreed. So, Annie is being taken care of, and I thought that maybe Josie got in the front door, so I went around because I couldn't get the code to work! Josie, poor thing, attempts to open the door and says "wait, I'll run around the house" Now let me paint this picture for you.... I have a nine year old running around the house, a code that I can't get to work and then a dog that's waiting for me anxiously to get inside. It's quite a sight!!! Alas, due to much persistence... I got the code to go in and we were safely warm inside the house, and Annie was knocked out cold in her doggie bed within 15 minutes.
After about 10 minutes of being in the house, Josie says that we should have a drawing contest. I can't draw to save my life. So my "bunny" turned out to look more like a peep who has decided to mate with a pig. It was the craziest thing I have ever seen. It was quite hilarious. Josie's looked like a sheep... it nowhere near resembled a bunny... but it was fun.
Meanwhile, while we were coloring, their greyhound 4 year old black dog named Dolche decided to poop on the floor. It smelled HORRIBLE, so guess who got stuck cleaning it up! That's right.. ME, THE BABYSITTER!!! hahaha.
Well, it got a little later in the day, Josie was playing on the computer and I was zoned into the Disney Channel which is always on when I watch her, I feel asleep and took a little nap. Not meaning to... it just kinda happened. It scared me because she was in the exact same spot... with the exact same show... underneath a very comfortable blanket that she thought would be good to cover me with.
Now, I am home... underneath another blanket. Watching a crazy interesting show "My strange addiction" it's crazy. This girl eats soap to calm down... Some people do some crazy things!
Well I hope you enjoyed another installment of my crazy life!!! However, I LOVE IT! Oh, How I love It!

The life of me

I love to be a happy person. I love to laugh. I love to cook.  I love to be goofy and laugh with and at people as much as possible! I love children. I love baking. I love doing laundry, and I get a huge satisfaction when I see vacuum lines on my floor when it's been freshly cleaned. I love the Lord and all the blessings he has given me. Never will I ever be able to fully understand all of God's abundant blessings in my life, but everyday that another blessing unfolds is like a great surprise.

So, this blog is my attempt to show the happy in my life with those who want to follow me. I want to show the "Oh how I love it" moments in life! :)

So sit back and relax and enjoy the posts. Comment, laugh, and just enjoy the cards dealt to you while laughing along the way.