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!