By the way...

...has anyone else tried the new Duetto and what did you think? I was surprised that I didn't like something from Turkey Hill. But I didn't. I guess I couldn't get past the Red #40 and artificial flavor. Which is no doubt in the real thing. But still. Duetto wasn't signing my music. I bought Cherry, because they were out of lemon...maybe that is better.

No worries...I have some real ice cream in the freezer as a backup! :)

A Toothless Wonder Once More

I remember when my first baby began what I thought was "teething." Oh that mystical phenomenon to a new mom's mind...and days and nights!! :) "Is she teething? Maybe?? She's starting to drool and chew on her fingers? Now she's not sleeping at night....and chomping on everything and anything..." But still no teeth! Teething is the most frustrating right before that first pearly white emerges. And then it comes and "Aahhh...I was right! She really WAS teething...that explains it!!"

Lily's first tooth made it's appearance in the Lowe's parking lot...what a place...when she was 4 months old! I remember, distinctly, the surprising feeling of pride and relief when that sharp, little ridge first poked through her pink gum! It kindof shocked me that I felt such excitement about it. Afterall, I suspected that it was coming, but still...when it finally came through...I was thrilled! It was like the first tangible milestone!

And alas...that first tangible milestone fell out during Lily's 6th birthday party! Like the teething process...we knew that wobbly thing was going to turn loose for weeks. And now it finally has...and thus begins the next stage in life.... de-teething. :)

I've shared my feelings on the matter before. However, I was surprised that the idea of keeping the tooth did not repulse me, when Scott said that we would be keeping it. By the way, we did not do the tooth fairy thing either. I had prepared her that it would bleed a little when it fell out and she would get a juice box! Whoo-wee...a juice box! :) It works! A juice box and a bunch of excitement...all about tangible proof that my baby is growing up.

One Down...

..."who knows" how many more to go!

Today, we finished, officially, our first year of homeschool with our final reading lesson.

Woo-hoo! May I repeat? Woo-hoo!!

Lily was so thrilled (and so was I)! We made it! And my girlie is a reader. And I taught her. (Mind you, I don't have quite the "warm fuzzies" that I expected, about this fact. Perhaps they will come, more fully, when I teach the second one to read.)

For now, I'm just glad it's over and I'm planning next year, now that I kindof have the "hang of things." I'm looking forward to our first curriculum fair in a few weeks, and we're going out to eat at Lily's choice of restaurant tomorrow in celebration. Although, we adults aren't all that excited, because I believe she's choosing somewhere with a playland. :)

New Creatures

II Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Well, our "babies" hatched on Saturday. Two were out by the time we woke up and the other three emerged, right when we left the room, mid-morning, so we didn't get to actually see them hatch, which would have been amazing. Next time...

I am amazed when I think about them, and when I was watching them in those few days before we let them go. They are a completely different creature! There is nothing about them, really, that is similar in any way, to their former stage. Their eyes, number of legs, mode of transportation, diet, habits, beauty and everything is different! Do you know that Painted Lady butterflies do not have jaws and teeth, but the larvae do? Their teeth are "passed away" in the pupal stage, and the new creature eats completely different than before! Radically different. Amazing!

I wonder if the apostle had this in mind when he was inspired to pen the above verse? We talked about this in Sunday School as we discussed the book of Philemon. Our little butterflies were an example. :) I think Philemon must have recognized Onesimus as the new creature that he was, when he returned as a repentant servant. Do you think Onesimus' life radiated the radical changes that had taken place during his time abroad? I wonder if things would be different if we viewed all converted Christians as the new creatures that they are?!

Anyhow, I failed to get a really great photo of our little babies in their habitat. It was great fun to see them fly off, one by one. We all joked at what they must have been thinking as we watched those tiny, little butterflies pumping their wings wildly and flying high up into the heavens..."woo-hoo...I'm FREE, I'm free, I'm free...look at me....I'm free...here I go!!!" :)

Good times!

Indication # 528 That a Little Boy Lives in your Home...

...multiple wounds. With multiple character bandages. :)

A Weekend for Memorial

On Saturday, we attended our small town's annual Memorial Day festivities, and it was very nice indeed! This was the first year that we took in the "full services." A parade with some marching bands and boy scouts started at the Legion, travelled to the town's cemetery and then back again.

There was a prayer at the cemetery, as well as an "address" by a minister and a gun salute, as well as some other honoraries. It was sad to hear our kind neighbor's name read along with the names of the other Legion members who died in the last year. Norm served in Europe during World War II. He was a very nice man...he claimed to know the Lord, and was just a pleasant neighbor. We miss him and his wife on this block.

There is almost nothing quite like the national anthem to send chills down your spine and tears to your eyes....I especially enjoy hearing it played by a marching band. I am proud to be an American!!!

The whole "Garden of Honor" portion of the service back at the Legion was cut short by an impending thunder storm. We raced home, as fast as possible with a red wagon and a jogger :) ...and felt the first gigantic drops as we reached our door!

Yesterday, was a special Memorial Day picnic and morning and afternoon services at church. We had lots of fun, and GG was there, too! We finally got to see her. Her flights on Friday got delayed so they couldn't come to Lily's party. We are so glad that she is here, probably for good!

Here are my three goofies:

Mimi & Pop-Pop with their patriotic grandkids

And then tonight, we had un-traditional Memorial Day picnic. We are currently grill-less, so we got Tony's instead! Gracie's adorable little pronunciation for "pizza" is "beepa"...so we had "beepa" and wings tonight! Then Daddy treated us to a few short fireworks. Lots of fun! We need to pay a visit to our local fireworks man soon to stock up!

My little "beepa"-eater!

And here is the other beepa-eater...six-month old Noah! Can you believe that he's already eating pizza?? I guess he's just following in his big brother's footsteps! What a cutie!!

Happy Memorial Day, all!

Six

My baby girl is SIX!! I can't believe it! Six years ago we sat in our tiny apartment on a soggy, Memorial Day weekend holding our brand-new baby girl. And here she is getting all grown-up WAY too quickly!

Isn't she pretty?!

What's a birthday without presents?

...or a cake?

...or balloons?

She got this flower sprinkler as a gift. Of course, we had to try it out RIGHT! AWAY! But it was only the boys who were brave enough to go in it that night. Of course, they got completely soaked, from top to bottom. Even Noah, if he was mobile enough, would have gotten into it all by himself...he was sooo excited!

Here is our attempt at a picture of us in our matching dresses...

And here is one last, little miscellaneous picture of Mimi and Gracie...aww!!

Nighty-Night!

Classroom Celebration

We took cupcakes for Lily to share with her class, last night. Auntie Michelle and Titi Lucy were her teachers, which made it extra fun!

This class is "slightly" hormonally-imbalanced: eleven girls - two boys! Poor Zach and Jordan are going to be so glad when Promotion Sunday rolls around. :)

My Birthday Girl...so happy!

Because I am beginning to bond with the butterflies...

...now that they are in their pupal stage, here is a photo of them in their butterfly "habitat." Scott transferred them, last night.

And look what else I can keep alive (besides children)...plants! Our little seedlings are ready to be planted outside. Woo-hoo, we didn't kill them! :)

Birthday Stuff

Last night, my Hubs came home and insisted that I open this present...

I asked the kids, who were wild-eyed and squealing at the prospect of ANYONE opening a present, what they thought it was. Their guesses: TOOTHBRUSHES!, a fork and spoon!, BUTTER!! :) Eventually, Lily did guess "jewelry."

Scott let me "sleep in" this morning (as much as someone with three children can). At some (early) point, Lily came in and nonchalantly included in her monologue that "Daddy set your breakfast bowl out and he left a little present wrapped in the same wrapping paper as your other present, by your bowl." :) Needless to say, I wasn't sleeping in any longer. I HAD to find out if she was right.

She was. What a Sweet Hubs!! (You can't have him, he's all mine!)

Lily set the breakfast out for me, and poured my cereal (including milk!) while I was getting ready for the day. (Mmmmm!) How thoughtful of her!

And Joey picked these for me. Awww!


Also, I got a vacuum for my birthday. An upgrade on the one that we have been beating to death...uh, I mean..."using" these last few years. In an effort to maintain transparency, I am posting a picture of what this beast picked up off of my living and dining room carpet alone.

See, I'm not proud. :) The thing is already winning a place in my heart. I think I'm going to have to name him.

I am such a blessed girl! Now, off to go finish these before Scott comes home with dinner! I'm soooo blessed...the day had better end soon, because I don't think my heart can handle anymore blessings!!

Birthday Thoughts

Today is my birthday. As the Lord would have it, on my "Read through the Bible" list for today was my favorite Psalm...the 103rd. These verses stood out to me today:

(15-18) As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more. But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children; To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.

I realize that the odd, 20-something number that hangs precipitously close to that big number that starts with a "3" is not a terribly old age. Though some are trying to convince me of the contrary. :)

But the older I get, I realize that our lives are like a flower...here today and gone the next. Will the earth "know me no more" when I'm gone? As a mother, I realize that the greatest "long-lasting" impact I can have is on the lives of my children. And what a precious promise these verses hold for me! If I keep His covenant, and remember and do His commandments- teaching them to and modeling them before my children, God's everlasting mercy and righteousness can have a lasting impact on my children's children. What a tremendous thought!

It's been a great day already...and my Hubs hasn't even come home yet and we haven't even gone to church. :) Happy Wednesday!

A Friday Night Birthday

As is our family's custom, we celebrated my birthday with them last Friday night at my parent's house. My Mom babysat my kids (and cousin Sophia) there that day, so I could have the day "off." Lily and her cousin, Sophia were busy preparing for my "party"...the little event-planners-in-training. :)

They set the table and made these cute placecards for everyone,

and hung balloons,

and picked flowers for me,

and made games for us to play! What little sweeties!

My customary birthday "cake" is always strawberry shortcake...which they helped Mimi prepare, also. So we played "Pin the Strawberry on the Cake."

Lots of fun!!

Lily's Prayer

This is what Lily sincerely prayed today, just before eating her snack:

Dear Lord,

Please bless this yogurt to my body. And PLEASE help me not to want this yogurt in a way that would make me not care about my soul, or pleasing God, or being a princess, and would make me just WANT this yogurt more than anything else. Please just bless it to my body.

In Jesus' Name, Amen.

I was astonished! I wonder if I can honestly pray those same words prior to indulging in my dark chocolate? Ouch!

And where did she learn to be so wise, anyhow??!!

Reason #7,932...

...to jump for joy when you are told, "It's a Boy!"...

Future Gas-Pumpers of America

Isn't he cute?! Maybe one day I will have enough time to do my nails while he fills our big, honking gastank. :) Hooray for boys!!

Just like ours...

Here is a neat video (if you have 3 minutes) of the transformation from caterpillar to painted lady butterfly, exactly like ours!

Pretty neat...how can anyone believe that creatures evolved?!

I'm Happy to Report...

...that as of this morning, all of the "worms" are now dangling from the top of their cup, and spinning themselves into chrysalides!

I suspected this was going to be the case, yesterday, as they began to congregate near the top of the cup. But every now and again during the day, they would wander around and eat more food. I urged them, and I'm so happy that they obliged.

Now, I'm going to have to get them out and into the butterfly "garden" without injuring them. Ick! :)

The Worms, They're Grossin' Mama Out!

We have worms in our kitchen. On purpose. Technically they are Painted Lady Butterfly "larvae" not worms. But they look like worms to me, and I am officially grossed out.

Granddaddy sent a little kit (like this) for the kids a few weeks ago. I thought, "Oh cool! A neat, little homeschool project!" (I try to work everything into a homeschool project. It keeps the homeschool gnomes in my head quiet.) "I've always wanted to do this with the kids anyway." I envisioned us, one day, going out into the wild and finding our own larvae. But since our kids are still so young (and I'm still an insect-wimp) this seemed like a nice little surprise! Plus, a nice, ENCLOSED butterfly garden was included...what could be better?!

So Lily filled out the little card to mail away for our "worms," as she calls them.

And on Saturday, this came...

With this in it...

OK, nothing too out of the ordinary here. A few, little squiggly black "larvae" in a plastic cup. I can handle this. This will be FUN!

WRONG. They are mutant, monstrous, carnivorous worms! They have morphed into these incredible, gross "big" worms in just four days.

And there is no sign of them stopping. It turns out that caterpillars really are very hungry. I couldn't even post the closer photo of them, because it makes me feel all creepy crawly! What was supposed to be a sweet, little, fun project is grossing Mama out! I had to set the cup of the creatures on a high shelf so they would "not be disturbed" and I also wanted it to be somewhere where the children could, you know, SEE their project (or I surely would banish the thing to the great out-of-doors, or the basement at the very least.) Alas, everytime I look at my kitchen clock, I see the "things." And I try to encourage them to quickly spin themselves into chrysalides. So far they aren't listening. They're running out of space in that little cup, so I'm hoping the larvae stage is almost over. I'll keep you posted. (That's a threat, not a promise.)

Take Time

We sang this hymn last week, and it was a good reminder to us "do-er" rather than "be-er" types.

Here is the second verse, although they are all good...

Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;

Spend much time in secret, with Jesus alone.

By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be;

Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.

Jude 1:21

Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

Ephesians 5:16

Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

"All I Want for Christmas...

...is a shiny fingernail, a shiny fingernail, a shiny..." You get the picture! :)

The doctor said it would take 6-9 months to lose my fingernail and/or grow a new one. SIX to NINE MONTHS?!! Now, I don't normally keep my fingernails polished, but still...six to nine months?? I would like a nicer nail a leeeetle sooner than that! I mean, purple is a lovely color, and all, but not for my nail, not to mention my actual finger. (For the record, the same can be said of red, black, and green.)

Suffice it to say, smashing your finger on day three of a raging sinus infection is nothing if not un-glamorous. As if a large splint (which my husband mistakes for a cookie cutter) on my finger is any more attractive.

Oh well, at least I won't have to do dishes, bathe children, or any other chores which require both hands being submersed in water, for several weeks. :)

How about a Sneak Peek...

...into the plans for Lily's "Princess Party"? Since she's not old enough yet to read my blog on her own (though the day is fast approaching, I'm afraid), I'll show you what I have in the works.

Lily is very interested in Princesses these days. And I am having quite a time finding things that aren't related to these princesses. But I am a diligent shopper, after all ;) and so I have come up with a few things.

One of the big problems we have with the current obsession for all-things-princess-related in the little girl world these days, is the "princess" mentality, not to mention dress standards, attitudes, and magic. But since, a Christian girl really IS a princess (aka daughter of the King), Lily's interest has been a great way for us to reinforce godly habits, attitudes, speech, and a multitude of other things. You would be amazed at what I can turn into a "princess" lesson!

One of our two favorite "princess books" is The True Princess. (The other, I have already mentioned.) So I selected her gifts along the lines of the lessons that the King's daughter learned in this sweet story. For example, the princess learned to bake, so we are giving Lily a personalized apron set, and in the story, the little girl's true inner-princess attitude shined through by cheering other people up. So I made these little notecards for Princess Lily, so she can be a blessing to others.

I found these cute "brightish pink" (as Lily would say) invitations at Walmart on clearance.

We are only having a family gathering, but it ends up being almost 20 people, so it counts as a "party" in a child's mind! We don't have to send invitations, but I knew Lily would have fun writing these out, and mailing them (and doesn't that count as homeschool... understanding the postal system and handwriting??).

I would show you the rest of the invitation with Lily's adorable little printing and backwards letters, but then the whole internet would have access to the address and phone number of our "castle"...and you know, that might not be a good thing!

Event-planning is a personal "hobby" of mine, so I tend to get into it for my kids' birthdays. I will post more later about some of the other details!

You know it's time for a T-ball stand...

...when the "marshmallow shooter" with blue tennisball propped up in little boy sandals just isn't doing the job.

My Little Slugger :)

Organizing Tid-bits

I have found time to re-organize at least a few things, recently. One was Gracie's changing table. I wish I had done this one years ago. I replaced some mismatched baskets with these cute wicker baskets with pink liners. I love the streamlined look, and we can use these under her toddler bed (when she moves into it later) for toy storage.

And I just implemented a new system to keep my digital photos organized on my computer. I think it's a decent plan and should work, but I suppose we shall see in a few weeks. Now to go upload, oh, maybe a few hundred photos to order prints! :)

Let's see...

...what should I "test-post" about?? How about a few photos?

Nothing says "Yee-haw" like riding a giraffe, in the church nursery, while wearing your PJ's. "Ride 'em Giraffeboy!"

I guess the auditorium is a rather distracting place at photo-time.

Who are these loiterers on the front steps, anyhow?!

And one more of the "Snow Queen."