Joke of the Day

(Chris):  Knock knock.

(Anna):  Who is it?

(C):  Who's there?

(A):  Oh.  Who's there?

(C):  Arthur.

(A):  Who is Arfur?

(C):  ArTHur.

(A):  Oh. Arfur.

(C):  (Laughs) Arthur any more jokes?

(A):  I don't think so.  Is that right? (Smiles because she "got" the joke.)

Kitchen update

As you can see, the cabinets have been sanded, painted, and sealed.  The new stove us hiding under the brown blanket.  You can barely see one of the new knobs (top left corner of picture).  The rest have been ordered.  The old clock has been affectionately rehung.  I keep telling mom and dad they can't get rid of it.  I think Anna should take it to college with her.  Her roommate will never have seen anything like it!   The best part of this picture is the fresh-out-of-the-oven chocolate chip cookies in front of the mixer.  If you squint just enough you might be able to taste them!  (I don't know why everything here is underlined.  Let's chalk it up to me being my dad's daughter.)

What do you do with your chicken?

Well, Samuel's chicken is a car.  Tonight his God-given boyhood was shining bright.  We were eating a peaceful dinner (really!) when all of a sudden we heard the revving of an engine.  All heads turned toward Samuel who was converting a bite of chicken into a race car.  A moment later that race car took off, charging around the striped rim of his plate.  We all laughed, but secretly I was glad that the car stayed "in its lane".

My mom is reorganizing the cedar chest tonight.  There are so many beautiful heirloom pieces in there.  Somehow, though, my 4-H sewing projects ended up in there, too.  Seriously.  Peach plaid koolots with an elastic waist.  Wow.  That's a style that I'm glad isn't gracing the stores now.  Or maybe it is.  If that's the case, I've got a nice pair here I'd be willing to sell...

Just a plain ol' day

Well, today we took the kids to Target to get their portraits taken.  All went well considering we had to have a 1, 2, and 3 year old wait an HOUR (they were way behind) before they could sit for pictures.  They managed not to lose their smiles and to keep their clothes relatively clean.  Wow.  After the big photo session we headed to Chic-fil-A where I ran into my 5th grade teacher.  I hope I age as well as she has.  She doesn't look a day older than she did when I was in trouble for talking too much and staring at her from my desk--right next to hers.  The kitchen project is coming along.  Today was pretty productive.  The entry way is done, the cabinets are being primed, and the walls in the hallway, dining room, and kitchen are painted.  The only hang up is that the "light" color seems to be the same color as the "dark" color that we painted on one wall last week.  We are thinking that the paint was given to us in the wrong amounts and labeled incorrectly.  Wouldn't it be great if that was the biggest problem we run into?  

Consequences

We talk a lot about consequences around here.  Today I began dealing with a consequence of my own.  In order to work out care for the kids/church and small group schedules/work schedules for Chris and me and still be able to take a couple of classes this fall I have to learn to drive a stick.  The consequence for not learning this when I learned to drive is that now I have to learn when my brain is not firing at high speed (after the kids go to bed).  Fortunately, after only one lesson (sorry, Jenny, I can't really count the mini-lesson 6 years ago in the micro-parking lot somewhere between Plumtree and Newland since I never got out of 1st gear) I'm doing well!  

Four days into the county 4-H fair and we've been four times.  The kids, needless to say, are in hog heaven.  Ha!

Samuel has started putting 2 words together in the last couple of days and I'm thinking the kids' first pet should be a llama (or really, a pack of them).  That's what's new here...

Cabin decor for the new kitchen?

The kitchen is under construction and I really need to figure out how to rotate the photos in here.  At any rate, these are for you, Laura!

Today's laugh came from Anna.  She has decided that pink pigs are girls and black ones are boys.  We've tried to tell her that the color of the pig doesn't determine if it's a girl or a boy.  She's set in her ways, however.  Taking that into consideration, imagine the look on her face when she saw a pig at the fair tonight that was black AND pink!  We also learned tonight that Samuel doesn't like goats...at all.  

Anna and McKenna insisted on visiting the elk one last time before going to the van to head home.  They were quite impressed with the large male (live) and baby elk.  They were curious about the elk head that was mounted and displayed for sale.  I allowed them to touch the fur, but that little McKenna is quick!  Before I could even open my mouth or reach out to stop her, she was hanging from the stuffed elk's antlers!  Needless to say, the gentleman who owned the elk was watching like a hawk and yelled (or hollered, since we were at the 4-H fair) at us not to touch.  I understand his concern and perhaps should have been more concerned.  I suppose there's the standard "you break it you buy it" policy.  How on earth would I have explained to Chris that we needed to pay for a $3000 damaged elk head.  I don't think the "but we'll get to take it home with us" argument would have done much good!  Thankfully McKenna didn't weigh enough to do any damage!  When we go back tomorrow I think we'll stick with looking at pillows and quilts.  Those would be harder to snap if you hang from them!

Up for discussion?

Today's material comes to you courtesy of my fantastic sister and brother-in-law!  Cheers to you both!  Tim and Rebekah were visiting for dinner after a long day of shopping (girls in the family) and picking up Tim's new-to-him car (Tim and my dad).  Since mom and dad went blueberry-crazy last weekend, purchasing FORTY POUNDS of blueberries, Tim and Rebekah were the lucky recipients of a hefty ten pounds of berries tonight.  Somehow this caught Tim by surprise as he commented, "Maybe that should have been up for discussion".  (Mind you, this anecdote is completely humorous and not at all critical!)  Maybe there's humor missing if you weren't at our dinner table, but it strikes me as funny that TIM made this comment about BLUEBERRIES and that it wasn't REBEKAH making the comment about a very cute (sorry, Tim), very fast, very Tim-ish CAR.

Mom, Rebekah, Anna and I all went on an outlet excursion today.  Anna was such a trooper!  I think the stop at Starbucks on the way helped all of us.  Anna was treated to her first Starbucks beverage--a tall (smallest size offered for a creme) strawberries and creme.  She was SO EXCITED about this yummy drink.  She changed her tune slightly and slowed down consumption after experiencing her first "brain freeze" about a mile down the road!   

One of those things

I said it today.  One of those things I never thought (as a child) that I would say.  

Stop blowing bubbles in your milk.

I guess it's a little surprising that it took this long to have to say it.  It could have happened a year ago.  But I got the double whammy--I got to say it for the first time to two kids at once!  Anna and McKenna were both quite impressed that McKenna accidently discovered this grand trick.  Then there was a period of silence where I suppose they were pondering how many opportunities they have missed when they used straws and didn't blow bubbles in the milk.  

Anna told me today that she didn't want to get old because she didn't want "old hair".  She kept touching her head saying, "it's curly, it's... it's old, it's..., it's...it's like the Tea Room."  My mom took her to the Tea Room last week and according to mom, she and Anna were the only people there under age 70.  Anna remembered their hair.  

Two-fer

Today is a two-fer (as in two-fer-the-price-of-one), not to be confused with 'Topher (as in my husband).  

Some favorite things:

A good book, especially when read with a good cup of coffee

An honest friend

The rise and fall of a sleeping baby's (or toddler's or preschooler's) chest

Clean, crisp sheets 

Fresh-squeezed orange juice

Watching vibrantly colored leaves fall in autumn

A completed project

A hug from one of my children, even if they have sticky fingers

Worship

Wiggling my toes in the sand right after a wave laps over my feet

Waking up and realizing that the house is quiet and I get to fall back asleep

A handwritten note from someone I love

Fresh, fragrant flowers

The state cross country meet

Sky the color of a robin's egg, dotted with puffy white clouds

Looking at old family pictures

Making new family pictures that will one day become old treasures

Board games

Baby fingers and toes

Dirty bath water indicating the kids had fun outside

Pink

A warm fire

A good football or basketball game, especially if "my" team wins

Aw, rats!

OK, sorry about the flipped image.  Rookie mistake.  But is there anything better than watermelon that is bigger than your head?  

Tonight Anna ditched her baby doll at bed time in favor of some of her "small animals" (beanie babies).  The first one she chose was a rat.  A rat!  A rat?  Seriously.  A rat.  Why would any three year old girl choose to sleep with a stuffed rat?  Perhaps the bigger question is why would any mother provide her daughter the option of sleeping with a rat?

We had quite the productive day today.  The kids all had fun eating popsicles and then helping Chris and I clean up the yard a little bit.  We trimmed the trees with monster-size clippers which must have been quite a sight.  Since most of that work was over my head, literally, Chris had a good laugh while I muscled some dead limbs down.  Well, muscled is perhaps a little bit of an exaggeration.  Really, I got the clippers stuck in the branches and was able to hang from them.  I think my body weight helped more than my muscles themselves.  Of course once we got started on this project, there was no stopping us!  We fired up the chain saw and tackled a fallen tree that was hanging into the yard.  We filled up the trailer with debris (yes, FILLED) but then couldn't take it to the brush pile in the back because it wasn't attached to the van, we didn't have a van key, and all our friends with trucks were busy.  It was quite fun to watch Chris with the chain saw.  It took me back to the ol' camp days when I got to watch him moving rocks (big ones) from the pasture to the trailer.  You'll note that I was just watching that day.  Today I actually did some work. 

Update:  Anna was thrilled to find a dead locust in pristine condition in the yard last night.  It's still in the bug box right next to the front door so than any and all visitors can share in her joy.  What a kid!

Best 180

So the best 180 degree turn I've seen lately is this:

My mom bought Anna a "bug box" to use when catching lightning bugs (which we've still yet to do).  Anna...our little one has for months been TERRIFIED of any sort of creepy crawly critter.  Somehow, this $1.00 bug box has changed her perspective.  She's now SEEKING all sorts of creepy crawly critters!  She's so excited now to see and capture a spider or June bug or worm. Who knew?

I wonder...

Chris is watching Friends (season 6).  It gets me thinking...not that I would change anything about my family, but I wonder what it would be like to be able to just hang out at the local coffee house at all hours of the day and night.  As funny as the show is, it's nothing compared to the funny things that happen around here every day!

Speaking of Chris, I should have the record state that he has an amazing ability.  His "human sundial" is incredibly accurate.  Every time.  How does he do that?

The Jury is Out

Who is more tired after such a fun day, the kiddos or the parents?  Cleaning the toy closet, feeding the cousins' cat, grocery shopping with the entire family, taking in the local parade, hot dogs on the porch, s'mores over the fire pit, duck-duck-goose, and fireworks WAY after bedtime.  Who is more tired?  Doesn't matter.  It was worth it.

Observations from the swing

A couple of observations I made today while I was on the porch swing and the kids played in the yard...

It's really funny to watch two people play "Duck Duck Goose."  The premise of the game changes a little. :)

Samuel really wanted to swim.  He drug the hose across the yard, put it in the giraffe pool, climbed in and sat down.  Very funny.