Student of the Week

Cooper was chosen to be the Student of the Week. This is one of those awards that every child will get a chance to win throughout the year. However, Cooper was chosen first!!! I am so proud of him. As Student of the Week, the child gets a yard sign for a week. Cooper insisted that we put it in the yard a mere 10 seconds after he got out of the car. He was convinced that the principal would drive by in the next 5 minutes or so to see where he had put it. He initially wanted to put it a few inches off of the curb, but I convinced him to put it closer to the house so she could see it if she was in a tall car. (I know that doesn't make a lot of sense, but he let me get away with saying it and not questioning me further.)

Congratulations to my SUPERSTAR!!!!

Natalie's Mini-Me

Natalie has Ms. Darcy this year. Ms. Darcy is, hands down, the MOST creative person I have every met. She can create binoculars out of toilet paper rolls, rocketships out of paper towel rolls, kipperstein out of cantaloupe! She is simply amazing! I was amazed and awed at the crafts that Cooper would bring home from school each day last year when he had Ms. Darcy. I'm sure this year will yield even more crafty collectibles!

Today, they made a self- portrait in class. I thought her mini-me turned out pretty adorable! I thought it was cute that she dressed the doll in a pink sweater and a black knee length skirt. Quite classy for her dressing this thing as she would dress herself. I do not, however, agree with the tenny shoes with the skirt. That's just a little beyond what I would allow Natalie to wear!!

Oh yeah, and the yellow yarn for hair is pretty cute!

Relief

Have you ever had to do something over and over and dread it worse each time? That is how I felt about my job. It started out great. I loved my job, it was easy! I have now learned that easy does not correlate with fun or exciting. Easy gets boring. Easy is, by definition, not challenging. I did not feel challenged in the least. I LIKE to be challenged! I did not feel like I was educating, training or helping anyone. Bottom line: what I was doing was not changing the world, some one's life, or anything. I felt like I was wasting my time doing this silly job. I felt like I could really be making an impact with my children by being there for them (volunteering, field trips, eating lunch with them, etc.) John knew how miserable I was and gave me the green light to dissolve the business relationship with my employer. He realizes the importance of me being involved and connected with the kids' schools.

I am so blessed to have John!

A loving husband and devoted dad to our children!

Luke's Evaluation

I took Luke in today for his speech evaluation. He has a slight articulation delay, meaning he has a lisp. He says 'yes' as 'yeth', and other substitutions or deletions of sounds. It is not as noticeable when he says one word at a time, but when he strings a slew of words together to make a sentence, then it is hard to understand him. I can understand most of what he is saying, but that does not count in the world of speech development. I will not be there to translate for him every step along the way. Therefore, we went to see exactly where he was at in his development and how we could intervene now to clear up his speech before it becomes an issue.

Luke did so good with the speech therapist! He did not want to make the funny faces at first, but after naming off 30 pictures, he was all warmed up to her. He knew what most of the objects were, and if he did not, he would turn around and look at me for the answer. This was more of a test to see how he says things versus if he knows what the objects are.

The therapist showed me his evaluation and how well he did. A lot of the sounds I was worried about are not supposed to be developed until he is 5 or 6 or 7. His main problem is his tongue. Basically, he does not know what to do with it. If in doubt, he pushes his tougue out to his teeth or even past his teeth, resulting in the 'th' sound. She said eventually (with as much as he does it) he will end up pushing his teeth out. YIKES! The good news is that he only needs 4-6 weeks of speech therapy and the problem should be resolved. As long as he is not still staying, "Yeth!" when he's a teenager, that'll be GREAT!*Trying to make the funny faces that Ms. Patricia wanted him to make*

Baby Lion Cubs and Other Zoo Characters

I heard that there were some lion cubs at the zoo, so I had to get there as fast as I could! I took Luke and Natalie and met my friend Jamie up there so we could investigate this rumor of some darling lion cubs.

The lions are not the only animal procreating at the zoo! WOW! There are young animals everywhere! The monkeys had some little ones, the giraffes had 3 adolescents, the tigers had 2 cubs and the lions had 4 baby cubs. They are so cute! Kind of hard to see in the picture, but they were either walking around to find their momma cat or just sleeping on each other.
The last time the zoo had lion cubs, was around the spring of 2004. As a family, we went to check out the new cubs...along with every photographer in the county! We were all standing there watching the triplet kitties frolic around when all of a sudden, the mom cat ROARED and lunged at us. She was all sorts of mad at all the flashes and attention I guess. I was ready to depart, because I do not like to be scared. Even if there is a 50 footditch in between me and a very angry 300 lb. mother lion!

Nice COMB OVER, Mr. WARTHOG!!!

Tale of Two Pebbles

Many years ago in a small Indian village, a farmer had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to a village moneylender. The moneylender, who was old and ugly, fancied the farmer's beautiful daughter. So he proposed a bargain. He said he would forgo the farmer's debt if he could marry his daughter. Both the farmer and his daughter were horrified by the proposal. So the cunning money-lender suggested that they let providence decide the matter. He told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty money bag. Then the girl would have to pick one pebble from the bag.

1) If she picked the black pebble, she would become his wife and her father's debt would be forgiven.

2) If she picked the white pebble she need not marry him and her father's debt would still be forgiven.

3) If she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail.

They were standing on a pebble strewn path in the farmer's field. As they talked, the moneylender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then asked the girl to pick a pebble from the bag. Now, imagine that you were standing in the field. What would you have done if you were the girl? If you had to advise her, what would you have told her?

Careful analysis would produce three possibilities:

1. The girl should refuse to take a pebble.

2. The girl should show that there were two black pebbles in the bag and expose the money-lender as a cheat.

3. The girl should pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in order to save her father from his debt and imprisonment.

Take a moment to ponder over the story. The above story is used with the hope that it will make us appreciate the difference between lateral and logical thinking. The girl's dilemma cannot be solved with traditional logical thinking. Think of the consequences if she chooses the above logical answers. What would you recommend to the girl to do?

well, here is what she did .... The girl put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles. 'Oh, how clumsy of me,' she said. 'But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked.' Since the remaining pebble is black, it must be assumed that she had picked the white one. And since the money-lender dared not admit his dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into an extremely advantageous one.

MORAL OF THE STORY? Most complex problems do have a solution. It is only that we don't attempt to think. May God grant us the wisdom to think outside the box. True wisdom comes only from Him, no matter how learned we think we are.

(Yes, this was another e-mail. I need to credit Mary for sending me 90% of the funny, interesting, laugh-out-loud and even thought-provoking emails. Thank you Mary!)

A Flippin' Good Birthday Party!

I took Natalie and Luke to a birthday party at a gymnastics place. We have never been o this place before and I almost wish it was closer because I would love to come back. What a fun place! Nearly every surface you walked on was either springy, jumpy or bouncy. The spring floor, numerous trampolines and soft foam pits to land in when you jumped off of a trampoline. The girl who was facilitating the party allowed the kids to go anywhere, climb on anything, hang on any bar and jump on any horizontal surface that they could find! (Unlike another place I went for a party, ASI, where the kids could only do 2 or 3 activities and as parents, we were not allowed to jump, play or have fun in any way.)

My friend's husband was doing a little (OK A LOT) of flipping, so I just had to join in the fun. He was doing double back flips, gainers and double front flips off this smaller trampoline that allowed you to land in a pit of foam cushions. I tried to do a double back, but fear kicked in and I could only do a back and a half. After I got my nerve up again, I tried a double front flip. WHOO-HOO! I DID IT! I did a double front flip! I have not done one of those in at least 20 years...wow, did I really just say that? It was so fun that I wanted to do it again. I thought that I should have a picture of it, you know, just to document that after the age of 30, I was able to do this little feat. Well, I got a picture all right. I will not be posting it because it is a little scary. I am tucked up tight and have my eyes closed tight and it is just not a pretty picture. I will post a picture of me doing a back flip though! I could do those all day! Back tucks, back layouts, back with a half twist, back pike, you name it!
Natalie and Luke had a lot of fun. I am thinking we really need to get Natalie into gymnastics soon because she is a natural. She can jump pretty high on the trampoline, flip around on the parallel bars like no big deal and walk on the beam confidently. She also has lean muscles that could eventually look like Nastasia Liukin if she were to pursue this sport.

Luke, my fearless one, played in the ball pit almost half of the time. After that he palled around with Natalie, tackling every piece of apparatus that they had by climbing over, under and through all of them. It is just so cute to see them hold hands and run together, jump on the trampoline together and just be nice to each other. This was one of the FUNNEST birthday parties that we have ever been to!

Tim Hawkins Show

Mary invited me and John to a comedy show 2 months ago. Since we have discontinued using the babysitter that cannot put our children to sleep and my mom is out of town, we were kind of fresh out of possibilities for being able to go. John, graciously, told me that I could go and he would stay home with the kiddos. Quite an undertaking after the crazy, hectic day we had between soccer games, a birthday party and me being in a leadership training course.

Mary came to pick me up and we went to eat at Mijo's. What a great little place to eat Mexican food! They do not really have a good system for dispersing the food, but aside from that it was really good. (Especially the queso!) After an hour or so there, we headed to the Metrocenter for the show.

We were promised that our abs would hurt and we may even bruise our spleen laughing at this guy. Let me tell you, they were right! Not only did my abs hurt, but my head was pounding and my jaw hurt from laughing. I have not laughed that hard in a long time. I think my hair even hurts from laughing...just kidding. At one point, he said, "I'm not a rock star. There is nothing different between me and you. Except I have a microphone. . . . And talent." OK, maybe it is all in the delivery, but this guy was simply hilarious.

On GodTube.com, he has had over 1 million hits and is the most highly requested name. Also, here's a link to his website: http://www.timhawkins.net/index.php. I would highly recommend watching "Cletus take the wheel" and "Homeschool Family". You might just bruise your spleen laughing so hard!

Goal!

Cooper started soccer this season and today was his 2nd game. John and I have to divide and conquer when it comes to the scheduling of all these games and activities. I went to Natalie's game last week, and John went to Cooper's game. This week, John took Natalie and I got to see Cooper play. It is a rarity that we ever get to show up to a game together.

Cooper played goalie in the first quarter. Not one goal passed him! Not many were shot, but that is insignificant. The second quarter he was a forward and that is the position he needs to be playing! He was all over the field. There are 3 boys on his team that 'get it'. Cooper and 2 others can dribble, turn the ball around and shoot the goal. All the other boys are just trying to figure things out, like which way the goal is, how to kick AND run, how to get up from falling and not cry. You know, minor things! They are all so preciously cute in how they play you cannot help but cheer for every one of them!

The third quarter, Cooper played defender. That means he stands a little in front of the goalie and does nothing. Really, he only kicked the ball once the whole quarter! After that, the coach put him back in at forward. He was dribbling down the field (he is FAST!) and came in at an angle and kicked it right in. WHOO-HOO!! My son scored a goal!!! I'm doing the victory dance for him on the sideline and he looks at me like, " Did you see that? How about me?!?" I was thrilled that he scored a goal! He played good after that, but I could tell he was getting tired. It was at least 112 degrees outside today and those poor boys were getting so wore out! By the 4th quarter, all the little boys were barely walking fast and everyone had lost their aggressiveness. I was ready for the last quarter to be over so I could hug my awesome soccer boy!!!

Right after scoring the goal!

The Ant Farm

John bought Cooper an ant farm earlier in the year, in January. Well, the truth is, he bought the 'farm', but you have to send in a portcard to get the actual ants that go in it. After 6 months of the postcard sitting in the windowsill (and Cooper asking every so often), I took the initaive to send in the card. I received an e-mail a few weeks later telling me that it was too hot where we lived to mail the ants. (Imagine that! The ants that live around here do not seem to have a problem with the temperature!)

Imagine my surprise today when, low and behold, on our porch was a package from Uncle Miltons. (The company that makes the ant farms.) I left it out there so Cooper would get to retrieve it. Oddly enough, he asked when he got home if his ants were ever going to be here. I explained how I sent off for them, they could not send them because of how hot it was here and that any day they should be here.

• Me: Do you want to see if they are here?
• Cooper: SURE mommy!Where would they be?
• Me: Check the porch, then the mailbox.
• Cooper: HEY! LOOK MOMMY! THERE IS A BOX FOR ME- ME!!!! Is it the ants??
• Me: Let's open it and see! :>)

After we opened them, Cooper wanted me to read ALL of the directions out loud. You would think that putting ants into an ant farm would require a lot of instructions? Nope, I guess not. There were 2 instructions. The first one was to put the ants in the refrigerator (not the freezer) for 15 minutes. This would calm them down and make it easier to get them into the container. We must have had some Alaskan ants, because they needed 20 minutes to calm down! Once they all seemed to be asleep, I tried to pour them into the container. It was not as easy as I thought it should have been! I dropped over half of them on the floor and my leg. At this point the kids are screaming, yelling, ducking for cover and trying to crawl up to the ceiling. You would think I had dropped cobras all over the floor they way they were carrying on. After I finally got all of the ants in the farm (without killing any), I earned the Cool Mom of the Day award. Cooper could not believe that I had actually touched the ants and lived to tell about it.

He is quite proud of his now-complete ant farm!

Recycle IT!

We love to recycle! We recycle more than we throw away. The kids love to recycle, throw things in the bins out in the garage or the special trashcan that holds our indoor recycles. Currently we have 5 bins that we fill up once a week. We still have a trash bag or two, but it really is minimal.

I love to recycle. Even before recycling was 'cool', I loved to take my cans to the collection point when I lived in Huntsville for grad school. When I lived in an apartment there was no where to recycle and that really bummed me out! I could not wait to own a house, so I could have recycles picked up from my curb. In the city that we live in, we can throw all the recyclables in the same bin, mixing them. I like to think when I accidentally throw the wrong thing in one of the bins, that I am preserving some one's job...

United States Map

A father wanted to read a magazine but was being bothered by his little girl. She wanted to know what the United States looked like. He tore a sheet out of his new magazine on which was printed the map of the country. Tearing it into small pieces, he gave it to Shelby, and said, 'Go into the other room and see if you can put this together. This will show you our whole country.' After a few minutes, Shelby returned and handed him the map, correctly fitted and taped together. The father was surprised and asked how she had finished so quickly. 'Oh,' she said, 'on the other side of the paper is a picture of Jesus. When I got Jesus back where He belonged, then our country just came together.'

Nothing

I had nothing planned for the day. How wonderful is that? When is the last time that happened? My mom actually sounded concerned, "What? You do not have anything planned? You always have something planned for the kids. What are you going to do?!?" So, after taking Gram and Grandad to the airport, we stopped by Quiktrip to potty and get a slushie for Luke and Natalie to share. How cute is this sharing? ->

After calling 2 friends to see if they wanted to get together and that not panning out, I thought we would just have an outdoor day. It was so beautiful outside! As soon as we got home, we unloaded and did not even go inside. The kids were digging in the dirt (not my favorite, but I'm trying to lighten up), playing lacrosse, coloring on the driveway with chalk and then a marathon game of baseball. Really, a game of me throw the ball, they would swing and miss it, then go chase it to do it all over again. Natalie nailed a few of them, so she got to 'run' the bases: run to the chair, touch the tree, tag the bike and run into my car. LOADS of fun! After 88 at-bats, Luke finally got a hit and we celebrated like he had hit the winning homerun of the World Series! After 45 minutes of baseball, we headed out on an adventure walk. They both got to take a lollipop and Natalie brought the water. We walked all the way down to the pool and the long way home. We walked, skipped, tripped, hopped and ran over 2 miles! I was so proud of them that there was minimal crying! Luke dislikes the sun, so after a while he would fuss when he was in between shade trees too long. We stopped briefly at Jennifer's to climb a tree (and snap a picture of it) and continue home. Once we got back, Natalie exclaims, "WOW! I am EXHAUSTED! Luke do you know what exhausted means?"

They sat down to watch Magic School Bus and have a floor picnic before I tucked them in for a good long nap...

Grey's Night for the Girls

We resumed our regularly scheduled get-together time tonight. We had some good food and drinks: Mexican salad, margaritas, sangria, spinach dip, guac and chips. We also had a 25th birthday to celebrate! (SIDENOTE: Every birthday after the age of 30 is an anniversary of your 25th birthday!) We typically meet on Thursdays, after we put our little ones down. Between all 5 of us, we have 17 kids! Is that amazing? THAT is why we need to break away one night a week and get together to lament, vent and just TALK.

We watched the whole 2 hours of the season premiere. Wow, what a let-down. I kept wondering, "when is this going to be over?" I sure hope the writers get back into the swing of writing some quality material and quit showing blood squirting and someone stapling his own wound shut. This is not ER! This is Grey's Anatomy where we want to do a little laughing, oohing and ahhing. (Not hear Meredith obsess about the same thing over and over and over again.)

At least we had a good time getting together to catch up from a hectic summer!

A Ride in a Stagecoach

My sister, Autumn, was invited to be in a parade tonight. She (of course) rode a horse, but ALSO rented a stagecoach to be in this parade. She calls me yesterday to invite all of us to be in this parade and ride in the stagecoach! How quickly do I need to say YES?!? We had some scheduling issues to work out, but in the end I rode with Gram and Grandad and took Natalie and Cooper all dressed up in their cowboy/cowgirl gear. We all drove together to the Stockyards and hung around the stables waiting for Autumn to get her horse all suited up. After that, we walked to where the stagecoach was waiting for us. We passed some American Indians with war painted faces riding horses bareback, a group of mounted police officers, a few Buffalo Bill characters, a band completely contained in a float, a military honor guard and many other sights that you just don't get to see every day. Overall? A lot of fun for the kids and a very bumpy ride! Plus, how many other kindergarteners can tell their friends that they got to ride in a parade, IN A STAGECOACH?!?

An Inspirational Story

In 1986, Peter Davies was on holiday in Kenya after graduating from Northwestern University. On a hike through the bush, he came across a young bull elephant standing with one leg raised in the air. The elephant seemed distressed, so Peter approached it very carefully. He got down on one knee, inspected the elephant's foot, and found a large piece of wood deeply embedded in it. As carefully and as gently as he could, Peter worked the wood out with his knife, after which the elephant gingerly put down its foot. The elephant turned to face the man, and with a rather curious look on its face, stared at him for several tense moments. Peter stood frozen, thinking of nothing else but being trampled. Eventually the elephant trumpeted loudly, turned, and walked away. Peter never forgot that elephant or the events of that day.

Twenty years later, Peter was walking through the Chicago Zoo with his teenage son. As they approached the elephant enclosure, one of the creatures turned and walked over to near where Peter and his son Cameron were standing. The large bull elephant stared at Peter, lifted its front foot off the ground, then put it down. The elephant did that several times then trumpeted loudly, all the while staring at the man.

Remembering the encounter in 1986, Peter could not help wondering if this was the same elephant. Peter summoned up his courage, climbed over the railing, and made his way into the enclosure. He walked right up to the elephant and stared back in wonder. The elephant trumpeted again, wrapped its trunk around one of Peter legs and slammed him against the railing, killing him instantly. Probably wasn't the same elephant.

(Sorry, I couldn't help it! Another e-mail pass along that just had to be shared!)

Pictures for Cooper

Cooper turns 6 soon, so I headed in to have his 6 year old pictures taken. It is amazing how different he reacts to different photographers. The first girl was definitely an amateur. Today must have been her first day on the job. I guess after sitting through countless photo sessions in the past 6 years, I feel like can tell the difference between someone who knows how to communicate with a 6 year old vs. a 2 year old. This girl didn't have that figured out just yet. Therefore Cooper was giving her this goofy, silly, ridiculous grin that is not really all that cute. The manager stepped in after a few minutes and Cooper's all-American smile came out. He gave her the best natural smiles! He is so photogenic (when he wants to be) and he did a great job today.

Since I had all three at the picture place, I went ahead and did a group shot. These are probably going to get fewer and further between, but I figure if I have all three in the same room, I should get them all taken together. What you see in the picture was really pretty easy to get. It is the after-the-picture time that the kids start to lose all their good behavior ability. After 45 minutes of waiting, looking at proofs and ordering, they are fresh out of cooperation. Sometimes, I just have to cut my losses and be all done for the benefit of all within earshot of Natalie's latest fit. I cannot stand being that mother that has a screaming child, or two, or three...

Boot Camp Stories

• 

• On the third day at boot camp, we had to stand in formation, in front of the infirmary, for 2 hours...in the rain. I have never felt more insignificant in my whole life. I felt lower than ant poo.
• I remember standing in the sun (sun torture) at parade rest, staring at a brick wall for 4 hours. Please don't ask why, because in boot camp there is not an answer to why for most things they made us do. I fell asleep standing up, without swaying. I was quite proud of myself that I could make the most out of such a pointless exercise.
• Another time that we were standing in formation waiting to file into our squadbay and as I was double-timing up the steps a bird flew right past my head. Right into the glass door! I guess it hit so hard that it sustained a concussion or brain injury, because it fell straight down in a crumbled heap. I had to step over it and for some reason that made me very sad.
• I combat loaded my thumb in a shotgun once. They had to shut down the whole range to dismantle my shotgun and get my thumb safely out.
• In my second week of basic training, I received 5 demerits for skylarking. (A major crime that is described as 'looking out the window for no apparent purpose'.) Yes, I had to endure 2 hours of I.T., intensive training, for that one.
• I could disassemble and reassemble an M-16, in the dark, in less than 5 minutes.
• I am an expert with an M-16 and a 9mm. I am qualified to shoot a .45 and a shotgun.
• I held the record for the most sit ups during the basic training test at Cape May for 3 years. 109 sit ups in 2 minutes.
• I once was dropped (for an unknown infraction) and ordered to do push ups. The Company Commander walked away. Once I got to 80 push ups, I thought he had left the building, forgot about me, went on vacation, something. Nope. As soon as I took a 10 second pause, he materialized out of nowhere! I finally got to get up after 140 push ups and continue on with whatever I was supposed to be doing. All the while I was wondering what I did to deserve 140 push ups?
• In boot camp, I made my bed, ironed it and starched the sheets and pillowcase. I spent 8 weeks sleeping on top of my covers, fully dressed, at the foot of the bed, with no pillow.
• I gained 6 pounds in boot camp, but my pants had to be tailored smaller at the end of the 8 weeks.
• During seamanship week, I could tie 8 different knots in less than 4 minutes. (Now I am good for a square knot. I also follow the old saying: if you can't tie a know, tie a lot!)
• My company's name was Sierra-133. We probably only said it 4,685 times in that 8 week period.
• There were recruits who actually joined the Coast Guard not knowing how to swim!
• I love walking on grass, even to this day. After being forbidden to touch grass for 8 weeks, I still relish in stepping on perfectly manicured lawns.
• When we were in our 4th week of basic training, a company of sea cadets came to our base for a week of summer training. These were 8th and 9th grade students. We were in formation and told to get down and start doing push ups. We saw a sea cadet company march by and within a few minutes we heard sirens. As they got closer (we are still doing push ups) and louder we were all looking around wondering where they could be going...HONK!!!! The ambulance was right up on us and we had to scatter to each side to let it through. It ran over our binders and sea bags, but it had somewhere to go! After if passed us, we were ordered to pick up our gear and file into the building. The next day, we were in aircraft recognition class and a courageous recruit stood up to ask what happened with the ambulance the day before. In perfect monotone, the instructor said, "Oh, a sea cadet died yesterday. The next aircraft you see is a C-130." What? Some parent sent their almost teenager off to a week camp and the kid dies?!? I still can not get it out of my head and that was 18 years ago...

Cute Story

A funny little story from an e-mail:

On the outskirts of a small town, there was a big, old pecan tree just inside the cemetery fence. One day, two boys filled up a bucketful of nuts and sat down by the tree, out of sight, and began dividing the nuts.'One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me,' said one boy. Several dropped and rolled down toward the fence.

Another boy came riding along the road on his bicycle. As he passed, he thought he heard voices from inside the cemetery. He slowed down to investigate. Sure enough, he heard, 'One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me.' He just knew what it was. He jumped back on his bike and rode off. Just around the bend he met an old man with a cane, hobbling along. 'Come here quick,' said the boy, 'you won't believe what I heard! Satan and the Lord are down at the cemetery dividing up the souls.' The man said, 'Beat it kid, can't you see it's hard for me to walk?' When the boy insisted though, the man hobbled slowly to the cemetery. Standing by the fence they heard, 'One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me.' The old man whispered, 'Boy, you've been tellin' me the truth. Let's see if we can see the Lord.' Shaking with fear, they peered through the fence, yet were still unable to see anything. The old man and the boy gripped the wrought iron bars of the fence tighter and tighter as they tried to get a glimpse of the Lord. At last they heard, 'One for you, one for me. That's all. Now let's go get those nuts by the fence and we'll be done.'

They say the old man made it back to town a full 5 minutes ahead of the kid on the bike.

SMILE, God Loves You!

Natalie and Gram

Natalie spent the night with Gram last night. She has the best time over there. She has tea parties, entertains herself with the treasure box, draws with Grandad, occupies herself with the vacuum cleaner, watches football and plays the Wii with Gram. She gets as much or as little attention as she desires. She does not throw fits, she does not act out. She is just a sweet, peaceful, loving little girl. (Which is how she always is, right?)

How is it that the evening, bedtime and the morning routine can go so easy with only 2 children? I am superwoman with only 2 kids! When my mom takes just ONE child, it does not matter which one, I can get anything done! Everything is exponentially easier. There is more cooperation, less quarrelling, less fits, less crying and less negative behavior to get attention. There is just something about throwing the 3rd child in the mix that spins peace into chaos...but I wouldn't trade my chaos for anything else.

Luke's Doctor Visit

I took Luke in for his well-child checkup today. He did so good! He let the nurse look in his ears, take his blood pressure and take his temperature. This may seem like a minor accomplishment, but the other two children would not let the nurse, or Dr. Raine for that matter, measure these vital signs when they were 3 years old. Luke just sat there like a big boy and watched curiously. He answered their questions and exceeded in the looking cute department. It was one of the shorter durations that I have ever spent in that office. We were in and out within an hour. (I have sat in the waiting room over 2 hours before even getting in a room to wait some more.) NICE!

Luke was at the 75th %ile for height and weight. He weighed in right at 34.25 lbs. and measured 38.5 inches for his height. Dr. Raine reaffirmed that yes, he would indeed be much taller than Cooper in years to come. He says that every time, along with the tag line: "It will start wars between them!" Gee,thanks. Like I have not had enough warnings about the adolescent years, on top of that I get to worry about the boys fighting for dominance. For now I need to take it one day at a time, one stage at a time, one battle at a time. If I think too far into the future, I get overwhelmed and that gets me nowhere...