Wordless Wednesday: Let the 13+ year journey begin!

T.G.I.F.

One afternoon, I let the boys lay in my bed for nap time because it was thunderstorming. There was a spider web in our window with a spider in the middle. It had captured lunch and was tending to it. So we watched it as we lay there listening to the storm. After a little while, Elijah (who is pretty much paralized by thunder) softly asked Judah, "Should we pray to not be afraid?" Judah said he didn't know, so I said that one can pray anytime they need to. I asked Elijah if he'd like to pray, and he said he did. In the sweetest little boy voice, "Dear God, please help mommy and daddy. And please help me not to be afraid of the thunder and lightning. And please, Lord, help the spider and his food to be safe from the rain and thunder." It was just too cute with a sweet edge of compassion.

As I was making breakfast-for-dinner, I asked the boys if they enjoyed seeing the chickens some friends from church had. I asked them if they thought it was cool that our friends could just go out in their backyard and get fresh eggs.

Judah: To do what with them?

Me: To cook them and eat them, of course! So yummy!

Elijah: NO! Then they wouldn't be baby chickens!

Me: Aww, well, Elijah, those eggs are eggs to eat, not grow into baby chickens. You have to have a daddy chicken to have baby chickens.

Judah: Hmm, that's different. I know that mommy grown-ups have babies; but with chickens, it's the daddies that have the babies.

Me: (Oh dear.) Well, no, you have to have a daddy chicken and a mommy chicken to have baby chickens. Just like you have to have a mommy and a daddy to have a baby. (And we'll end it there for now!)

While eating Spanish rice with dinner, Judah asked, "Will it turn us to speaking Spanish?"

Monday Meditations: Young Marriage

I get daily emails from The Generous Wife with tips and ideas of how to bless my Hubby and our marriage. Every Saturday, the tip has something to do with the intimacy of marriage as well as a list of blog posts The Generous Wife found interesting that week. I read one that caught my eye and that led to another post that caught my eye. PLEASE read it - Young Marriage.

Simply astounding, huh? It bucks against so much that even those in my own tight circle might have learned and even hold to. I myself was memorably told by two adults when I was engaged that I was too young -- that I needed to "get out in the world" and "experience the world for myself" before I married. "Have a career, see what it's like." Really? I'm supposed to be separate from the world, and yet you want me to experience it before I marry?

I love each of the points the author brings out in his article. They all make perfect sense. One thing I wish he had noted is that marriages in Bible times were young -- maybe even younger than what the author is pushing for. Girls didn't get jobs first, travel abroad, and only then start desiring a husband. It was the men who got the jobs, worked hard to prepare a place for himself and a bride, and then married a young lady who was ready to be a wife and mother. Sounds like a fairy tale!

In this day and age, it is a fairy tale. There's one thing that flies in the face of the Young Marriage article. Did you perhaps think it while reading? Or did you even say it out loud because you were so shocked at the argument for young marriage among "kids these days"? Yeah, I thought it, too.

But most teens and young adults these days aren't ready for marriage! They are too immature and self-focused!

Indeed. Even I look back at who I was as a 22 year old bride, and wow. I was a baby! But why do I feel that way? Because I have 7 years, 5 moves, and 3 precious children under my belt (among a host of other smaller events). That'll do wonders to your maturity all around! It's exactly how we learn, grow, and flourish -- living life. Nice how God set it up that way, huh? :-) And if I compare my 18 year old self with my 22 year old self, I would say there is even MORE of a difference between those two people than my 22 year old and 29 year old self. My college years completely transformed who I was. I went in a bubbly, naive, boy-crazy (as in crazy looking for a godly husband), dramatic girl. I graduated a mellow, independent, life-loving engaged young woman. I admit, sometimes I miss the Anne-girl part of me. I know it's still deep inside. But at the same time, she doesn't really have a huge role in my life anymore. I mean, look at how much Anne changed through life experience from that fiery red-headed orphan to the poised young lady! From a Christian point of view, isn't that exactly what is promised in James 1:2-4?

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish it's work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

It is life itself that has the potential to mature the Christian. It's full of trials of varying degrees that can shape and hone various edges of who we are. How important it is to note that this happens throughout ALL of life. The shaping and honing happens to 5 year olds, 15 year olds, 25 year olds, 35 year olds, 45 year olds.... you get my point. So who is society - and many Christians - to say "You're too young to get married. You need to experience the world (aka be more mature and knowledgeable of how things work)." And don't even get me started on how young people should "work and save up money" before they marry. (Then you're saying money is more important than fulfilling God's command for us to marry and be fruitful. "But it's foolish to not prepare financially..." Sure, but blah blah blah. My hubby and I had $800 in our combined accounts when we got married and no official job for our first month of marriage. But God provided a timeline for our story that involved marriage before money... see, you got me started on the topic!)

What do I think the answer is? If I'm going to agree with the young marriage concept, how do I account for the immaturity of young adults these days? Well, I can only speak from the Christian perspective of a mother aiming to rear children who will honor the Lord with their lives. And that's the key! A great deal of why teens and young adults do not "seem" ready for marriage is because parents have failed to prepare them! Too many families are so busy -- both parents work, extracurricular activities consume family time, and the TV sucks up what time is left. God graciously set up life so that it matures us as we move through it -- and as a Christian parent, it is my privilege and responsibility to guide and support each of my children as they move through their lives. To help them process each trial that comes their way so that it does produce maturity rather than hardness or flippancy. Children left to themselves will be raised by their flesh -- and those children are the ones who will never be ready for the self-sacrificing, other-focused act of marriage. Children who are lovingly led through life and constantly directed towards the Savior as their ultimate Guide will be raised by the Spirit -- and those children are the ones who WILL be ready for marriage regardless of their age. Sure, there might be some flaws here and there. But you, my reader... are YOU perfectly responsible in your marriage? Are YOU perfectly responsible with your money? Do YOU always make the right decisions? And how old are you? How long have you been married? Yeah, that's what I thought. ;-)

It's a vicious cycle Satan has created. He's been quite clever at tearing the family apart, as noted in Young Marriage. As he gets parents to leave the picture, kids raise themselves. Then parents see their kids are too immature to marry and make them wait. Kids do wait and open themselves up to "experiencing the world" -- ending up with all kinds of baggage that they bring to marriage (not all sexual, either). Which leads to tough marriages and often divorce. Which means the kids of that marriage have a higher chance of being left to raise themselves and have not-so-good examples to follow... and it goes on and on.

I may have been "young" at 22. But I felt that I was perfectly ready for marriage. And I suppose my parents did, too. And obviously God, too, since it happened! ;-) And there has been NOTHING more joyous than to experience the world and life with my husband. Both he and I arrived in marriage with very little baggage. We have an incredibly strong, loving, growing, passionate relationship. Praise GOD! And we're just living life together -- always with a best friend and lover by our side to help us through whatever comes, good or bad. To me, that seems WAY better than voluntarily experiencing the world and life alone until I'm 30. Which is kind of a scary thought to me, actually. (What if God plans a late marriage? Note the emphasis on "voluntarily"... then hold your horses until the last paragraph of my post.)

So if you are a Christian parent, commit to raising your children to be godly and mature. Talk with them. Be involved in what life throws at them and help them process Biblically. Always remind them that their lives are to be lived for God's glory, not for self. If our focus is to point them to Christ, then we can trust Him to bring them to the level of maturity needed for young marriage, if the Lord wills. How wonderful to see our children get to live more years with someone they love AND be saved from a host of baggage that can come with late marriage!

And remember for yourself... God has written each person's love story. If your child's love story begins at 19, trust Him. If your other child's love story begins at 30, trust Him. Either way, be there for your children, pray often, and enjoy being a character in God's script for them!

T.O.P.S.

No, you can't change your birthday to a different day.

T.G.I.F.

I was drying my hair and putting on very light make-up one afternoon before my Hubz got home. Judah was watching me and asking why I was doing it. I said that I wanted to look a little nicer for Daddy. "Why?" Because I love him. :-) When I was finished, I turned to Judah and fluffed my hair. I smiled and asked him if I looked a little nicer. "Sure." ::pause:: "And with a smile on your face, you look even more nicer." Ah, Lord, let him always remember that principle when dealing with women. :-)

While I was cleaning up for breakfast one morning, Judah asked "Mommy, can I cut my heart out?" LOL No worries. He meant that he wanted to draw me a red heart and cut it out -- he saw a boy do it in a book we read the night before. But it sure was weird to hear my 5 year old innocently ask that question!

Tippy Tuesday: Life Saver... literally.

Each minute we spend is life right? Well, thanks to my sweet friend, I now have many minutes of life saved for other things!!!

She came over a couple weeks ago to do some cleaning because my back was ka-put. One of her generous ideas was to let me borrow her Swiffer Vac until my back feels better because, let's face it, sweeping with a broom does involve the back quite a bit.

Oh. my. HEAVENS!

The Swiffer Vac has done two amazing things for me:

1) DRASTICALLY cut down on time spent sweeping my downstairs. There is no carpet in any room, so dirt and debris adds up faster than my daughter bites a cookie. If I use the broom to sweep my downstairs, it can take about a half hour. Swiffer Vac = 5 minutes MAX. That's not to say I will never use a broom again. As my friend noted, it won't get every last bit a broom can. But that's not what bothers me. It's the bigger bits you can feel and see, not the dust particles. (A good broom sweep and mop every week or two should suffice.)

2) DRASTICALLY cut down on the annoyance I get with my hard floors. Don't get me wrong. I love having hard floors downstairs! But uuuuuugh... I can't believe how jaded we are into thinking vacuuming our carpets gets them clean. If you saw what piles up daily on my hard floors.... But with the Swiffer Vac, I can pop that puppy out after EVERY meal without dreading the chore and have non-crunchy floors in a couple minutes.

BONUS: I finally found what I've been looking for -- the little simple swiffer cloths my mom used to give me to dust our home. Guess which 5 and 4 year olds are about to take over the dusting chore...

So today's tip if you have sizable hard floors in your home: BUY A SWIFFER VAC!

I gotta get me a coupon so my sweet friend can have hers back... ;-)

Wordless Wednesday: The Latest Craze

Yes, two of those are stealth bomber paper airplanes. And the odd square-ish one is the type that holds the world record for longest flight -- and I believe it! Check it out: 10paperairplanes

Tippy Tuesday: Sweet Taste of Independence

I would like to share with my readers what is now a new family tradition for us -- a real flag cake! I'm not just talking about the typical strawberries and blueberries used to decorate a cake as a flag. I found the idea here. Props to this young lady for having a practical passion and pursuing it -- she's even been featured on the news! Seemed simple enough and very unique, so I had to try it! And as an added bonus, I'm breaking down and giving you all my secret to souping up boxed cake mix to be an incredibly moist, tender cake. Non-readers might be sorry! ;-)

2 boxes white cake mix

2-3 cans cream cheese frosting

1 tube red food coloring gel

1 tube blue food coloring gel

6 eggs

2 cups buttermilk*

1 cup vegetable oil

Parchment paper

Butter

*If you don't have buttermilk (who does?), use 2 tablespoons lemon juice and add enough milk to make 2 cups. It's a 1 Tbs to 1 cup ratio. Let sit 5 minutes.

Line the bottoms of 2-3 round cake pans with parchment paper. Using a paper towel, lightly coat the paper with butter. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 (adjust to 325 for dark pans). Combine the cake mix, eggs, buttermilk, and oil in a mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat on medium 2 minutes. Use a 1 cup measure to evenly divide the batter into three separate bowls, being careful to get it as exact as you can. In one bowl, thoroughly mix in all of the red gel. In another bowl, thoroughly mix in all of the blue gel. Leave the remaining bowl white. Pour each batter into a cake pan. Bake as directed on box, about 30 minutes. Remove to wire rack; cool for 10 minutes. Turn out of pan onto extra sheets of parchment paper; cool completely. Gently peel off parchment circle.

Level tops of cakes to make each layer the same height. (Here I rabbit trail -- I "splurged" on one of those cake leveler things. If I had known years ago it was only $4 at Michaels, I would have been lovin' cake baking a lot more over the years! It makes QUICK and easy work of leveling tops of cakes and splitting layers! GET ONE! End rabbit trail.) Then, split ONLY the red and white layers evenly into two layers each.

ASSEMBLY:

1) Spread some icing on one white half, top with one red half. Place on center of cake plate.

2) Spread some icing on the remaining white half, top with remaining red half.

3) Find a small bowl or coffee cup that, when placed in center of cake layer, will leave about a 2 inch ring. Use either a serrated knife to cut around the object or if the dish has no handle, gently press the object down into the cake to cut a circle. Do this for both the blue layer and one red/white layer.

4) Spread some icing on the red/white layer on cake plate. Place the blue ring on top. Do your best to gently ice the inside of the blue ring (ha! that was the hardest and most-failed part of making this cake). Gently push the small red/white circle into center of blue ring.

Use remaining icing to finish off the cake! I EEKED out using 2 cans. Three would have been much less nail-biting. :-) I used a toothpick dipped in icing to gently drag in towards the center to create the firework effect.

The thing I love about this cake is that it looks so simple on the outside, unobtrusive and not so special. But then when you cut into it... HAPPY 4TH OF JULY, AMERICA!

T.G.I.F.

My aunt and uncle were here visiting this past week. It seemed that Mandy's short comments to Elijah would produce adorable responses. One morning at breakfast, something happened that made Mandy say "Mommys are smart!" Without a beat, Elijah said, "And beautiful!" Later, we said something about my mom, and Mandy commented, "Nini is the best!" Again, without a beat, Elijah said, "And the cutest!" :-)

At dinner one night, we were talking about what we wanted to do that evening with my aunt and uncle. Judah repeatedly brought up the "Fish Mall," the mall near us that has a huge Bass Pro Shop containing a big aquarium of catfish, etc. Over and over and OVER the boy kept asking if we could go there. Matt finally turned to Judah and made a box motion with his hands: "Judah, this is a box. We're going to put the Fish Mall in a box and not talk about it anymore." We moved on to several other conversations. Then out of the blue, Judah turned to Matt. "Daddy, let's pretend the Fish Mall is in a box. And then we open the box." I think all of our jaws hit the table and then we gufawed in laughter! Smart kid. Or is that smart aleck kid? (We did end up visiting the Fish Mall!)

T.O.P.S.

No, we don't eat eyeballs for Christmas.

Well, there seems to have been a lag in Things Only Parents Say... because I haven't had to say very many odd things recently. :-) So to extend today's post, I will give a small update on Eden as well as an exciting venture I wish to undertake.

Eden... Oh my, how cute she is! She's 14 months now. Walk instead of crawls. Loves to climb into little chairs and up the stairs. Lights up at the sight of her brothers. Squeals both in delight and anger. Can cop quite the attitude or throw quite the tantrum (can we say GIRL?). She knows where her eyes and teeth are. Loves doggies. She LOVES her Da-da. Her first discernable babble-words are "uh-oh," "dah-doo" (thank you), and I think "dah-dee" (doggie). She has a great capacity for facial expression that can melt you or make you roll on the floor laughing. And probably the latest skill mastery that has kind of shocked us is that she can mostly feed herself. Just this morning, she had a bowl of oatmeal with VERY little assistance. She does such a great job!! It's nice to see that I'll soon get to eat my own food without doing the "bite for you, bite for me" method. But it also feels too early to say goodbye to that stage! She's just over one! ::sigh:: I love my baby girl. Thank you, Lord, for doing YOUR will and not mine. I always said I never really wanted a girl. He knows best!

As for this new venture... For a long time, I've always wanted to impact teen girls in the area of purity. If there was any reason I ever wanted to be involved in a youth group somewhere, it was that reason. Well, that hasn't really worked out due to moving so much and now to current life stage. But I had an inspiration this last week and realized on Sunday -- I should write a book. If I can't be directly involved en mass with youth girls right now, maybe I can work on putting down on paper what I want to invest in their lives. So, here's the working title:

The Virgin Heart

I know. Kinda makes me nervous to use such a blunt word. But it catches you, doesn't it? There are lots of great books out there on sexual purity, and that is a passion of mine as well. But, praise be to God, I did not have a huge struggle staying pure sexually for my future husband. The area I struggled in was purity of heart -- maintaining a Virgin Heart. It is completely possible to give your heart away, whether you intend to or not, without even being touched by a guy. For this book, I would like to infuse Scripture and the principles we can draw from it concerning purity of heart with the four foundational stories of my Heart's life. Two are guys I gave my heart to, one intentional and one non-intentional. One is a guy that forever holds my heart and body (Love you, Hun!). And the last is the One who eternally holds my heart and soul and deserves all glory for what I've learned from these relationships. Please pray for me to have wisdom as I try to write this book. I hope it comes together and is not another one of those "oo, that's a good idea" that fizzles out. Might take a while since I do have lots of other responsibilities. And if it never gets out there, then the Lord had it as an exercise in my meditating on His wonderful creation of our hearts and giving us the capacity to love Him and others.

Life is but a vapor.

When I got the call from my sister that her mother-in-law had passed away, I immediately felt the tears come. But there was something else deep down inside that began welling up. I don't think I've ever sobbed so hard so quickly. I'm not sure my heart knew what to do -- it was beating at a very rapid, odd pace. Judah happened to be with Matt and I, so he got a clear picture of fresh grief which Matt had to explain. After a while, I was able to regain composure... then the more sober processing began.

What must it be like for Rich, Marta's husband, to lose the love of his life? What was it like for Autumn to have to wake her husband up to tell him his mother was gone from this earth? What is it like for Andy, Emily, and Ben to no longer have their momma to call or be with? For Erik, Hailey, and Noah to not get to see Grandma anymore?

She's free from pain and tears. And we are left with pain and tears -- grief. I'm thankful for the emotion. I'm thankful God gave us tears. Grief and tears help us humans process. And I'm also thankful that the grief over losing Marta is not life shattering. It seems to be a very thoughtful, sweet grief as we remember the woman she was. So full of joy, friendliness, passion for Jesus.

Tonight, as we were going through many photos of Marta's life -- from childhood to present day -- I was struck with a fresh understanding of two Scriptural principles. Life is but a vapor, and the Lord has numbered our days. Staring at the flirtatious young redhead, the 80's dressed pregnant mom, the mother of the bride, Grandma with her kiddos... Only the Lord knew that all of her days were adding up to this past Sunday when she met Him face to face. She was moving through her life. All around her were moving through life. Not one of us knowing when she would step into eternity. Sixty-one years. Seems like a long time, but I know that for many who love her, including myself, it seems all too short now. Especially Rich. But according to the Lord, it was the perfect amount of earthly life for Marta Bruckman.

Let this serve as a motivation for us to make the most of each moment. Cherish your spouse. Take time for your children. Speak kindly to all. Enjoy the life God has given you. Do your work heartily as unto the Lord. Help when you can. Make it all count as much as possible. Love God with all of who you are. Give your Creator glory with all that you can muster.

Your days are numbered.

T.G.I.F.

While watching Little Einsteins in which the instrument of the episode was a French horn, Judah logically asked, "Are French horns for people who speak French?"

As we were sitting at the table eating breakfast, Elijah was being pretty silly. He was waving his arms around then all of the sudden stopped mid-air. "I'm paused!" Did you just say "I'm PAUSED!"? "Yes." Gone are the days of "I'm freezed/frozen/froze." It's been modernized.

To get some background, listen to this clip from Brian Regan (and disregard the lame graphics). This week, I received my first moment referenced in this little sketch. The boys were playing outside. Judah comes tearing through the front door into the kitchen where I am. "Hey, Mommy!!!" (pause) During the pause, he raised his hands in front of his body as if to calm me down. "Don't worry." (pause) Uuhhhh....you better start talking, son! I don't even remember what happened, but it wasn't serious. Thankfully!

We discovered Elijah calls bookmarks "nookmarks." Ironically, that exists, too.

Judah was pretending to be Superman, complete with blanket cape hanging down his back. He "flew" to the doorway of the kitchen and in a deep voice declared, "I'm Superman!" I played along. I went over to him and put my arms on his shoulders and cried, "Superman, save me!!" He held up his hands and said (still in a deep voice), "Uh, hold on. I have to go save someone." ::speechless:: What am I, chopped liver?? I'm your MOTHER! :-)

Monday Meditation: Family, Builders, & Termites... Oh my!

Life motto ad nauseam: "Life is an adventure." That's what I always say. And I generally have stories to prove it.

Take the past couple days for instance. This week was going to be a pretty calm week in a sense that there was not much going on at all out of the norm. Just a fun lunch with Grandma Robin on Wednesday. All of the sudden this is what my week holds and the stories behind how this week's schedule came to be:

FAMILY

Finalization of tickets for my grandmother and little sister to arrive here tomorrow. Sudden but oh so fun! Nonie is coming to care for her mom (my great grandmother) as she has been having some heart trouble this past week. Nonie will come back to stay a night next week before returning to her home. Hope is coming just to spend two weeks with our family -- so fun and so helpful to us as we keep trying to get settled!

BUILDERS

The work on our home seems to have been dragging out longer than we expected. Sounds normal, though. :-) We haven't seen Bob the Builders for a while, most likely due to the rain we've gotten lately. I found out this morning that gutters will be done tomorrow morning and garage doors mid-day. Woo hoo! And speaking of garage doors...

TERMITES

I knew Terminix would be coming today to do a routine pest spray because we have a small ant problem and a weird rolly polly problem (they used to be cute until I started sweeping up about 15-20 per day...and can I say I am SOOOO thankful none of my children like to pick up small things and put them in their mouths!). So I wasn't alarmed at the knock on my door between 1:00 - 3:00. Expecting a man, I was a little surprised to see a woman. You don't really ever see a bug woman, just the "bug man." What surprised me even more was when she said, "Hi, I'm Dawn Marie with Terminix." I'm sorry, what did you say? "Uh, I'm Dawn Marie with Terminix, here to do your free termite inspection." I'm sorry, did you say your name was Dawn Marie? "Yeees?" As in d.a.w.n. m.a.r.i.e.? "Yeeees?" She was pretty hesitant at this point. Is Marie your middle or last name? "Middle. ??" I finally explained (and apologized) that I was quite shocked... because that's my exact name, too. We had a good laugh, and I tried to become un-awkwardified so as to move on with the appointment. And became clear that she was not here to spray but to give the free termite inspection that comes with any Terminix service (who knew?). But that's not all. The next surprise came when she found evidence of active termites in the garage door frames (which are being ripped out tomorrow, perhaps Providence?). May I educate my readers and say that in order to purchase this foreclosed home, it had to pass termite inspection -- and it did. So someone fouled up. (Please submit the following days to prayer as we try to sort through this and hopefully not get docked a sum of money for treatment. The Lord's will be done, though.) Hence, add termite treatment to Wednesday. **ADDENDUM** The "bug man" was just here. Not only did he ask if I was tired and point out the dark circles under my eyes, he also complimented me on my laptop and giggled throughout his time here as he remembered the new term "rolly polly." He said his vocabulary is ever increasing. I said "rolly polly" is more quaint than "pill bug." Despite the ick in this world, sometimes it can be so fun to interact with strangers! It's refreshing when you find a few who are a pleasure to meet!

3) Hubz is bringing home three co-worker friends for lunch on Friday -- I'm looking forward to it! He works with some great guys, and one of them I haven't met yet... the one who gets to share a cubicle with my Love!

Add to that small group and band, normal duties of wife and mommy, 3 nursing covers, house management... We're full up, Sweetcheeks.

But I'm gonna roll with it. Because God is in control. He has written each page of my story. I've been through crazier weeks (like the one before our big move!). And I'm alive, well, happy, and growing. Shoot -- I even got up early and did yoga this morning! Started the day with an answer to prayer, that I would start meeting a new goal!

Oh yeah. The HVAC guy is supposed to be here in 30 minutes. I need to figure out dinner. And the prospect of me being able to read for small group tonight is looking VERY slim now.

Keep focused on what is of supreme importance, and life with be an overall joyous adventure!

But seek first HIS KINGDOM and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. - Matthew 6:33-34

T.G.I.F.

Whew... it's been a while thanks to the move!

While sitting at lunch, Judah randomly asked me what my favorite kind of lobster is. Lobster? What on earth, son. "I don't like any kind of lobster." To which he replied, "Red lobster is my favorite." Elijah piped up, "BLUE lobster is my favorite!" Judah asked why lobsters are red. Uh, well, I think they turn red when they are cooked. Do you mean red lobster or the restaurant red lobster? "There's a restaurant called red lobster??" Yes, they have really good cheddar biscuits. Elijah, "Cheddar CHEESE biscuits??" They're called cheddar bay biscuits. "Cheddar biscuits with CHEESE in them?" ... A pointless, random, confusing conversation ensued. But funny. :-)

I was playing with the boys on their bedroom floor before their bed time. And by "playing," I mean laying there while they put cars under my splayed-out hair to pretend it was a "car wash" for the cars. Hey, it's relaxing to have your hair lightly tugged and stroked! All parties were benefiting. ;-) After a while, I popped my head up and all my hair was hanging in front of my face. Elijah started using both of his hands to get the hair out of my face and finally matter-of-factly stated, "Mommy, you so HAIRY!" Hmm. Thanks, 'Lij. :-P

T.G.I.F.

We were driving home from Target with the windows down since it was so nice out. As we were going slowly through the neighborhood, we could hear the evening songbirds. I asked the boys if they could hear them. "Yes!" Judah suggested that maybe they were looking for their family. I said maybe they were looking for dinner. Elijah? "Yeah, they're having chicken nuggets for dinner!"

There's something about picturing a songbird dining on chicken nuggets that just seems...wrong.

Thursday TOPS

I would never feed us poop.

Tippy Tuesday: Pockets 'n Pants

Could someone please explain to me why infant (or even young toddler) pants have real pockets? Really...what infant is going to stick their hands in their pockets while they lay around? All the pockets do is bunch up and get in the way. So I decided to remedy this non-necessity on Eden's jeans. It's very simple to do and can be done with or without a sewing machine!

First, turn the jeans inside out. Smooth the denim and pocket as best you can and pin through the layers to make sure it will stay flat on the right side when you are finished. Snip the pocket away from the side seam, but do NOT cut through the manufactured curved line of stitching that attaches the pocket to the denim.

Next, whether by hand or machine, sew a curved line ONLY through the two pocket layers and below the manufactured curved stitching. If you sew through the denim, you will see the stitching on the right side of the jeans. Cut off the excess pocket fabric (pinking sheers help with fraying).

Repeat on the other pocket. When you turn the jeans right side out, you will have nice, smooth FAKE pockets. Now when I put Eden's jeans on her, there's no digging down inside tiny pockets to smooth them down her legs. No bunching -- just quick cuteness!

T.G.I.F.

Judah, from the living room, "Are these Eden's socks? No, these are her kankee pants." Then he walked into the room holding the "kankee pants" mid-air by the toe. They were tights. I have no idea where he got "kankee pants" out of tights.

Elijah to Nurse Elaina, "Do I get a shot today?" He really wanted a lollipop. "No, no shot today. Do you WANT one?" Elijah nodded his head yes and had a very thoughtful look on his face. "In my bones. Because they are tight and won't hurt. My knees are bones. But I don't want a shot in my knee. I want one here." as he pointed to the front of his shin. Uh, I think a shot in your bone would hurt MUCH worse than in your muscle! But Elaina affirmed his thought process as creative. :-)

I told Judah to go upstairs and get dressed while I finished feeding Eden her breakfast. He called down from the top of the stairs, "Mommy, I don't think I can wear this guinea pig shirt. It's too small." My mind raced through his wardrobe, wondering what on earth he meant by guinea pig. I asked him to clarify. "I can't wear this guinea pig shirt because I think it's too small." I told him I couldn't think of any shirt that had a guinea pig on it. Maybe he meant size? We did watch G-Force a while back. Maybe he was trying to be cute saying a guinea pig sized shirt would be too small for him. Then it hit me and made me chuckle. "OH! You mean your Razorback shirt?" He said yeah, and I assured him it would fit. That's for all you Arkansans! Woooooo, guinea pigs!

Thursday TOPS

Remember, TOPS stands for Things Only Parents Say.

Please pull your underwear up so your wee-wee is covered.

Don't lick the packing paper.

Get your legs out of the cereal box.

Oops...I just stepped on the cheeseburger. (on the bathroom floor)

Stop laying on that shelf. (I should have finished with "You are not a Zelf!" Anyone know the reference?) ;-)

Wordless Wednesday: The Latest Style in Decor