Short Story

A Child is for Molding {Anonymous}

I took a piece of plastic clay,

And idly fashioned it one day,

And as my fingers pressed it still,

It bent and yielded to my will.

I came again when days were past,

The bit of clay was hard at last.

The form I gave it still it bore,

But I could change that form no more.

I took a piece of living clay,

And gently formed it day by day.

And molded it with power and art,

A young child's soft and yielded heart.

I came again when years were gone,

He was a man I looked upon.

The early imprint still he bore,

But I could change him then no more.

Spring Baking

The first of the Spring/Easter baking has begun. We have lots of great plans this year, I'll share with you as we go along, for sure. We are on snack duty for Cubbies tomorrow, so I thought these would be fun for the kids...little birds nests (in case you couldn't tell:-). Of course we made a few extra for snack for the kids this morning to test them out. Everyone ate one (but not Sonny, he doesn't like "real food", and not Ardyn, she doesn't like food at all:-), you should'a seen Grey go at those jellybeans! Kenna declared me to be the best mom ever for having such a great snack, and marveled at *how* I could make these without a recipe :-)

I actually like to make these using corn flakes for a more realistic messy birds nest look...but when I did this last year, the kids objected and wouldn't eat them. They really taste the same though, in my opinion. Whatever. I decided to be safe this year, and go with the 'mass appeal', just in case. I certainly hate to waste jellybeans, that's for sure!

The trickiest part is avoiding the temptation to eat them all!

Sweetest Ever

There is just something about baby girls and their Daddy's that is absolutely priceless. Take a look at my precious little niece Kayla (2 weeks old), and my brother in law Mark. I love Kayla's face, you can just tell she is soaking up the love! It's these itty bitty ones, and awesome loving pics like this that keep maternity wards in business I think! It just makes you want to cuddle a fresh little baby!!

Summer's Here!

Seeing as it's over 80 degrees today, we're making it official! Lots of outdoor playtime!

Pine needles are a fascination. And an inescapable truth in our little yard!

Is this the cutest one yet? Kenna and Brooks think so, but they don't fully realize what that means:-)

He is a captivating little boy. I think it's those Baby Blues!

Nothing better than a dirty face on a sunny day!

The shaggy haired one

Best Friends "For-ether" as Brooks says

Pretty girl

Collectors!

I was summoned...I just *had* to see the piles of collections they had going on.

In order of appearance...Bean bags. Chalk. Pine needles. Rocks. Flowers. Pinecones. Sticks.

No idea what is going to happen from here. I kinda doubt there is any method to the madness. Random collections that will be forgot about soon enough!

Big Boy!

On Saturday we switched Grey's carseat to forward facing. He's definitely no longer a baby! His trip to church was his first "big boy ride" and he seemed to enjoy it very much!

And now a funny little story from yesterday...in the afternoon we headed out to Costco to get more milk. Along the way I encountered two very terrible drivers. The first one almost caused me to hit them. I said something like "Idiot!"

Then, there was another driver, although not accident-causing, just incredibly annoying. Again,

Me: Idiot! Drive it like you stole it dude. Good Night! Where are all these people coming from?
Kenna: Why do you say that? and simultaneously Brooks: Those are bery bery rude words Mom
Me: Because all these crappy drivers are making me mad. They are going to wreck our car
Kenna: Well, there was this one time, {launches into a very detailed story about the last time she said "crap"}...and then Daddy told me that *we* do *not* say crap.
Me: True, it is not a very polite word, so we really shouldn't say it
Kenna: Is it a swear word? (Note: The only swear word she is aware of at this point is "Oh my g-d")
Me: No, it's not a swear word, it's just not a very polite word
We talked about polite & kind words for a minute, and I said (big mistake)...
Me: Well, it's my job to teach you what are the good words to say
Kenna: Oh!...so your mom never taught you what are rude words or not? (Because how else would I know them or say them, right?)
Me: uhhh, well, no....she did....I just...
Kenna: You just didn't obey her?
Brooks: When you get to grown up then you can decide to obey

Oh boy. This little "teachable moment" is going downhill, fast. This is a terrible suggestion really, that you can be grown up and then do whatever you want...but I wasn't really seeing any other way OUT of this conversation. So we went with that option, since I have 15 more years to change that little opinion:-)

Me: Sure, but for now you are little and you can't say rude things, because it makes Jesus sad

Saying anything makes Jesus sad is usually a conversation ender. They hate to make Jesus sad.

So guess who can't make Jesus sad by saying Idiot, or Crap anymore. The reputation of my poor mother is even at stake, lol!

I told Brian this story at home (after they were asleep!) And he died laughing, so I thought it was a blog worthy, terrible way to teach your children moment worth sharing:-)

Don't do as I do people, seriously. I'm a cr-ppy Mom. :-D

Loving his new view!

So comfy, he even fell asleep on the way!

Heart Songs

This video (which is actually a song/comedy routine by Christian comedian Tim Hawkins), pretty much describes Brian's relationship to kids music:-) If only such a CD really existed! This comedian is pretty hilarious if you've never heard of him, you can find some youtube clips of his other songs (Hey There Delilah is a fave of the kids). It's pretty cute, because when they hear these real songs on the radio (or pandora), they sing the "fake" lyrics!!...Kids Rock!!