Did You Know...

Did you know that if you're a 12-year old, and you decide to play in a 2-year old's car, you may get stuck?



Did you know that if you bring home refrigerator "crescent rolls-in-a-can" from the grocery store--and you forget to put them in the refrigerator--two hours later you may hear an explosion and find a mess on your kitchen floor?



Did you know that if you pour out all of your pop into a cup and then turn the plastic pop bottle upside-down and squeeze, you may be able to suction the pop back into the bottle?



Did you know that if you buy gum for a 2-year old at the grocery store, he may chew it all up in one day--just for the flavor?

Wordless Wednesday: Warm, Sunny Memories from 2007

Pet Peeve

Jack.
Good old Jack.

He really is a good dog, but the holes all over our yard really drive me crazy.

I think I mentioned before that Jack has not been blessed with the gift of hunting.

Well, maybe that statement wasn't quite accurate.

He does plenty of hunting--all over the yard. It's the catching that's not his strong suit.




One of these days, maybe he will actually catch a mole.

Maybe then I will appreciate all the holes in our yard.

But I doubt it.

I Got Pizza!

Pizza is one of Joshua's favorite meals.
O.K., pizza is one of everyone's favorite meals!

Last week, we got one of our favorites...Papa Murphy's.
Josh sat there singing, "I got pizza! I got pizza!"



I found out that pizza sauce is also one of Joshua's favorite meals.
Warning: Don't leave a 2-year old alone with an open jar of pizza sauce.



The fork worked for awhile, but he soon became impatient with that method.



The finger ended up being much more affective.



At least he's tidy.



And if the napkin gets too messy, use the table.

Wordless Wednesday: Pillow People

Fun with Grandma, Part 2

Funny story.

Grandma told Joshua a month or so ago that the next time he came and stayed the night with her, he could paint. He asked, "Blue paint?" She said, "Yes!" He said, "Paint a blue car?" She said, "Of course!" I heard it all. I'm imagining him sitting there at the table, painting a picture of a blue car--after all, every time that I sit down to color with him, he asks me to draw a car.

About a week later, I agreed to get out the blue paint so that he could paint a blue car. I had him all set up at the table...blue paint, paintbrush, and a blank piece of paper. Josh looks at the materials in front of him, picks up the paper, and says, "No need that." Then he proceeds to go to his car box, he picks out a car, and he brings it back to the table and says, "I paint blue car."

Oh! You see, I thought that he wanted to paint a blue car. I didn't realize that he wanted to paint a car blue! Word order makes all the difference.

Well, after some tears and lots of talking on my part, he decided that he would paint a blue car. Later that day, I shared this funny story with Judy (Grandma).

This past Friday I had a doctor's appointment. Guess what Grandma and Joshua did while I was away...








That's right! Josh got to paint a car blue! That car was actually a wooden car that Grandpa had made many years before for his little boys.

He also painted a beautiful card for me that said, "I love you!" signed by Joshua himself. Inspired by Grandma, I'm sure!

These pictures were taken in a room in Judy's basement that she calls her craft room. William is looking on lovingly at the table that, in his words, "...holds so many special memories."

A funny side note...Joshua did not want to wear this paint smock! I am thankful that he did!

Fun with Grandma, Part 1

Paul's mom is very crafty. Crafty in a good way.
I am not crafty at all.
The kids enjoy being crafty.
Can you see where this is going?

If left with only me, the kids might never know the joy of creating something with their hands. If left with only me, there might be only English and math.

I am so thankful that Judy loves to create and loves to involve the kids in her creativity. Carrie and William--and now Joshua--know that an afternoon project with Grandma is going to turn out to be an afternoon of fun. They've also learned that with Grandma, it's O.K. to make a mess--something that they haven't learned from me.

Hanging in Judy's craft room was a sign that read, "Creative Minds are Rarely Tidy." That is Carrie's motto to a tee. It now hangs in Carrie's studio (which is what the pink playhouse is now called).

Here are some pictures taken the Wednesday afternoon before Easter. Judy came over to make Easter candy with the kids. Not just one-colored chocolates--but bunnies with pink noses and white eyes.







Thank you, Grandma, for spending time with us and making memories.

Nesting

I'll bet that if you read my post from yesterday, you thought--from the title--that this was an update on my nest-building robin.

Well, today I want to share with you what has been happening in our home since January...

Around the fifth month of pregnancy, the "nesting" instinct can set in. This is an uncontrollable urge to clean one's house brought on by a desire to prepare a nest for the new baby, to tie up loose ends of old projects and to organize your world.

Females of the animal kingdom are all equipped with this same need. It is a primal instinct. Just as you see birds making their nests, mothers-to-be do exactly the same thing. The act of nesting puts you in control and gives a sense of accomplishment toward birth. You may become a homebody and want to retreat into the comfort of home and familiar company, like a brooding hen. The nesting urge can also be seen as a sign of the onset of labor when it occurs close to 40 weeks of pregnancy.

I am thankful that God has planted this instinct into "moms-to-be." There are just some things around the house that are better put off until tomorrow...and have been!

Like cleaning the mini blinds. I don't know how others do it, but I get out the box of baby wipes and start cleaning. I have one more window to tackle--my goal is to have it done by sunset! Today's sunset!
















Oh--and if you have any suggestions on a different way to keep the mini blinds clean, please let me know! I really don't like this job.


O.K. See all those tins up there on top of the cabinet? I couldn't tell you the last time that I got up there to clean. It's a real mess. I had a couple of close-ups of the tins but decided that the amount of dust up there was just too embarrassing to post. I'll let you use your imagination. This job has not been tackled yet. Hopefully sometime in the next week I will be able to cross this one off the list.


Our bedroom was the big job this week. The ceiling fan was a mess. Paul got up on a ladder to clean it--and when he got down from the ladder, he had these huge dust bunnies all over him. They were so big and scary that I don't even know if I could call them "bunnies." The last time that the ceiling fan had been cleaned was when I was pregnant with Joshua. I told Paul that we would either have to get on a yearly schedule of deep-cleaning the ceiling fan or have our babies closer together. He decided on the yearly plan.

My wonderful mother-in-law came over on Tuesday and helped me wash curtains, dust, and sweep in my bedroom. It took all day--and I think we were both exhausted--but the results were well worth it! Thank you so much, Judy!




Here is William and Joshua's bedroom.





And this is Carrie's bedroom.








These rooms have been cleaned since February. Maybe you remember the pictures that showed how we cleaned Carrie's room.



All right...I won't leave you wondering.
Here is a true inspiration! She did it! She took bits and pieces of all sorts of things and created her nest! In the rain!



I'm sure that she is feeling quite pleased and content--ready to place her eggs in the nest.

There's also one other thing she is feeling--very protective.
As I came close to take the picture, I could hear her chirping at me from the branches of the nearest maple tree.
I know how you feel, Mama Robin! Isn't that the same sound that I emit when my nice clean rooms are tampered with?!

Feeding the Birds--and Other Such Delights

I love birds.

You wouldn't know it by the way I treat them, though. I have multiple bird feeders around our house, but I don't keep them filled. I start out in the spring with good intentions--in fact, there's a bag of birdseed in the back of my truck right now--but after a few weeks, I run out of the food and leave the birds to fend for themselves.

And I don't feed the birds when they most need it--in the winter.

So, what's the excuse? Laziness? The cost of food? Forgetfulness? Too busy?

Whatever my excuse, I really do love birds.

I even let Nicky talk me into trying out this Uppercase Living wall decoration in my living room. I absolutely love it!




Yesterday, as I was reading to Josh on our couch in the living room, I happened to look up and see a robin collecting things off the ground for a nest.



He would collect all he could and then try to make it stick to the top bend of the downspout bedside our porch--with little success.



Back and forth he would fly, trying to construct the perfect nest. He would even seem to be throwing his body down on it to make it stay. As soon as he would fly away, though, it would fall.



Poor thing. He seemed to be watching all of the other robins in the yard collecting things for their own nests. It was almost as if he was saying, "A little help here?" Carrie even took out a couple of balls of dryer lint and scattered them on the ground, hoping that the lint would have some magical sticking power.



We all set up camp in the living room for awhile, silently encouraging the robin. Finally, he flew away and didn't return.

This morning, as I was saying goodbye to Paul, I looked over at the "nest" and thought that it looked a little more shapely than it did yesterday morning. Maybe it's just wishful thinking.

We're all hoping that the nest will be successfully built right there--on the bend of the downspout--so that we can witness babies sometime this spring. Josh is already talking about the eggs that will go in nest, comparing them to the plastic Easter eggs that we still have out. He even wants to "feed birdies."

Maybe Joshua's desire to feed the birds will be the encouragement I need to take better care of my feathered friends.

Wordless Wednesday on Thursday

Scowly Faces...

Our Almost Favorite Day of the Week

Ah! Piano lesson day!

This is the day when we get to go to our church and run free in the Family Life Center! Just run and run and run!



With a trash can!



It has proven to be a great "energy releaser" during the winter months.



Carrie chooses not to run with a trash can. She usually practices basketball while William has his lessons.



And while Carrie has her lessons, William likes to play with Josh and our piano teacher's little boy. He gets a kick out of how they play together--especially when they are carrying on conversations with each other.

By the way, what do you think of that cheesy smile Josh has painted on his face? I remember Carrie and William going through the "cheesy smile" phase.

My mother-in-law just asked me a few days ago if he was going to use that smile for the church directory picture that we have taken in about a week...

Speaking of church directory pictures, I have yet to get a picture taken for our church's directory when I am not pregnant. Funny timing, huh?



And what do I do during piano lessons?
I clean out my purse. It's amazing what can be collected in a purse in just a week!