God Is An Artist, Part 5

Well, I have to start with some of the most amazing works of art ever to grace my blessed life...my babies. This is Ben and Clara before school one day this past week. I finished Clara's hair for her, she looked at herself in the mirror with a smile and said, "I think you'd better take a picture this morning...Ben and I look beautiful!"

I had to agree :)



I was picking raspberries in my garden yesterday, when I found this little guy sitting quietly on a zucchini leaf:



It was interesting to take his picture because the light kept changing, one second we were under cloud cover, the next full sun...then the breeze would blow and we'd have shade from the raspberries as they swayed. Sorry for the grainy pictures. I save them as pretty small files to use up less space here, but resolution suffered this time.



Look at that eye! And you can even see his nostrils if you look closely...



Sammy helped me water the flowers out front yesterday. She started spraying everything she could see, which irritated me a bit...since I was one of the things she could see. But then I saw what she'd done to this beautiful rose, and I ran off to get my camera. "What da matter, Mama?!", she said as I ran away :)



Have I mentioned how much I love my camera lately? And my 28-300 mm lens just gives me such amazing flexibility!


Look closely at the details around you today. I guarantee that you'll find some of God's handiwork too :)

Locks Of Love Donation Tip

Today's tip is for anyone who wants to donate hair to Locks Of Love, but does not want to (or is unable to) donate the 10" they require to make a wig from the hair.

My sweet Clara Rose was in desperate need of a new 'do, and she was hooked on the idea of donating her hair to help a sick little girl somewhere (she has such a heart of gold). But if we were to cut 10" off her hair, it would have been much shorter than either of us wanted her hair to be (she still wanted to be able to do "twists").

While I was researching LOL's frequently asked questions, I learned that hair that is shorter than 10" will NOT be thrown away. Short hair is usually sold to offset wig manufacturing costs, or for short hair wigs (boy wigs maybe).

So we had her hair cut with the pony-tail holder, and we got about 5 inches. We're donating her hair to help sick kids...even if it's not necessarily made into a wig. All Clara knows is that she's helping a sick child somewhere...and that worked for her (and me!).

Want to see my other WFMW posts?

Otherwise, head on back to Rocks In My Dryer. (UH-OH! I just realized that this is a "backwards edition" of WFMW. I won't be posting this one on Shannon's list this week...but head on over there anyway. There's a long list of people looking for advice. Maybe you can help!)

Thanks for stopping by!

Movies, Movies, Movies!

Well, technically, it should probably be "movie, movie, picture" :)

Grandma has been quite demanding lately...she wants more grandkids around here! Here you go, Yaya & Papa. We miss you.

This first video was taken because I was getting such a kick out of watching Thomas eating. He adores the tomatoes from our garden...you can tell by the way he's trying to lick his tray! Turns out, Sammy and Clara got in on the action too. "Camera shy" will never be a title any of my kids hold :)

This next video is of Thomas crawling around and playing. He's so much fun these days :)

And this last shot is one of Thomas getting out of the bath...just last night!

There Goes My Heart...

...Driving down the road in a big yellow school bus! Today was the first day of school for my "big kids". It was a flurry of excitement and nerves and joy and a bit of fear. But it was good.

We had a wonderful time getting all gussied up for the big day. Clara with her new haircut, and Ben with his beloved new "tie shoes" :) Here, I'll let you look at some pictures while I go wipe my eyes and blow my nose...




Headed out to wait for the bus, which (thankfully) stops right in front our our house.


Here are the kindergartners. Did I mention that when I brought Clara in for her checkup last week the doctor estimated her at 120% in height and weight? She's a beauty...


I'm so very thankful that my kids have such wonderful friends. It gives me amazing peace to know that they're not alone out there in the big world. Without me. Their Mommy. The one who gave birth to them and has cared for them every day of their little lives. Who loves them more than anyone else in the world does, has, or ever will.



Oh! The bus is here! I meant to get a shot of Ben getting on too, but he was too quick for me. Look at my baby girl on that big bus!



My little ones were pretty interested in all the hustle and bustle of getting ready for the bus. And when it actually pulled up in all it's loud, diesel spewing glory and they watched their big brother and sister climb on? Well, it must have been a sight to behold for them!

Don't get any ideas, little ones. You're stuck with me for a while longer. Maybe I'll even home-school you. Or...not.



Yes, I am that mommy. That mommy who actually climbed ON the bus with the kids so I could get pictures. I figure I'd better do it now before the kids are too embarrassed by me. They're still hugging and kissing me in public...I'm hoping it lasts through this school year at least.

But the little love note I snuck in Ben's lunch box along with a surprise cookie? Hubby tells me that'll probably get my little Ben a beating from his buddies. I hope not...

(By the way, this is Ben waving...not him flipping me the bird!)

After we got them on the bus, we piled in the car and hustled on over to the school so we could be there to help them find their classes and get settled in. Here they are coming off the bus at school:

We got them all settled into their classrooms (Ben actually has a desk...a DESK!), and then we were off. Ben wanted me to stay for the whole day (awww, he loves me), but I knew I had to leave so he could spread his wings a little bit.

That, and the teacher was dragging me out of the classroom while I screamed "BEENNNN! I LOOOVE YOU! BE STRONG FOR MOMMY! BE A BIG BOY! I'LL MIIISSS YOU!"

Not really, but wouldn't that be funny? In sort of a sick, overbearing, my mom is a lunatic kind of way?

Oh boy, I sure hope I don't mess my kids up for good.


And here's my little Clara in her class. Oh, that girl. She's spunky and feisty and wild and she drives me absolutely nuts. But boy oh boy, do I ever love her.



So here I am...suddenly down to two kiddos at home with me (for half the day anyway). Hubby mentioned that maybe we should find a part time pre-preschool for little Sammy so she's not so bored without her sister and brother. Not a chance though. I'm not giving away this time with her for nothin'!

If there's one thing I've learned, it's that their pre-school years go by too quickly as it is. Before I know it, we'll be doing college graduations and weddings. But that won't be so bad, since then it will be time for them to move into that nice house across the street from us.

Right?...

So Much To Do, So Little Summer...

We're doing our best around here to soak up as much summer as we can in these last few days. School starts on Monday (sniff!). There's a lot to do yet! Like swing games to play...



Little girl secrets to tell...



Bars to monkey around on...



And new tricks to learn...



And I suppose I shouldn't forget: frogs to scare so badly that they pee all over the place...


He probably saw my Clara coming at him with this big stick. If I saw a giant Clara approaching with a big stick, I'd probably pee too! Here he is, checking out his "gift" (much to Clara's delighted squeals)...

He seems to approve. Mostly though, I'll bet he's trying to figure out if he can somehow hide under the stick. (Note: No frogs were harmed during the production of this summertime event. He was deposited safely in the long grass by the shed where 2 year olds with sticks and bored dogs could not find him.)


There's stuff to do inside too. Like play video games (I console myself with the fact that he at least has to be standing and moving to play this one)...



And eat snacks while charming Mama with a killer dimpled smile...


And when Mama pokes her head out from behind the camera and shouts "BOO!", there is lots of tray banging, giggling, and kicking of legs to do...


I thought I'd better grab this shot of summertime grass with a bit of morning dew on it...something to stare at when all that's outside is dead grass, brown trees, and snow (don't worry, I'm sure I'll still find great stuff to take photos of).

Awww, summer...sweet summer. Must you go so soon?

You Get What You Get, And You Don't Throw A Fit!

Happy weekend, everyone! I hope you're having a good one :)

This week, we're writing about a lesson we've learned recently. What has God been showing you...teaching you?

Personally, I learn a lot of God's lessons from my children. This week was no different. Clara, my 5 year old, taught me this important lesson.

For those of you with 5 year olds, you've probably heard, "It's not Faaaaair!" many times. I'm beginning to think it's about all she can say these days, and it is driving me positively crazy! I can't seem to do anything that's "fair" in her eyes. Someone always has more than her...more computer time, more snuggles, more ice cream, more books, more time with friends. Even I've begun to look at the world differently. As I'm dividing up the dessert into the kids' bowls, I'm thinking, "Okay, now will Clara think that this looks fair?"

Well, just a few days ago, it really came to a head. I gave the kids bowls of grapes as a snack. Knowing that Clara would immediately look at her bowl and compare it to the contents of her siblings' bowls and bellow, "Hey! They have more than me, that's not fair!", I actually counted the grapes as they went in the bowls. Yes, I counted them. Each and every bowl got exactly 15 grapes. Exactly.

And what did Clara think? You guessed it...not fair. I'd had it. My blood began to boil a bit after all my effort to make it not only fair, but precisely and exactly fair. I took a deep breath and said (I wish more calmly),

"Clara, it IS fair. It's perfectly fair. I counted the grapes and you have exactly as many grapes as your brother and sister. It only looks unfair to you because you automatically assume that it's not fair and that you're getting the short stick.

And do you know what else? When you are always looking at what other people have and wanting it for yourself....do you know what that's called? It's called coveting, my dear, and it's no good. In fact, God even talks about it in the Bible. He says we shouldn't do it. Do you know why? Because when you're so busy looking at someone else's stuff, you're too busy to enjoy the blessings sitting right in front of you. Like that bowl of grapes...they're delicious. Why don't you just look at that bowl, and say "YUM!", thank me for giving them to you, an enjoy them?!

And that reminds me...I am your Mommy, Clara. I love you very very much, and I always do things fairly. And if I don't? Well, then there's a darn good reason for it, and you're just going to have to trust me. Sometimes you just get what you get, and you don't throw a fit. NOW EAT YOUR 15 GRAPES!"

As you can imagine, she looked at me with those beautiful, wide, green eyes of hers. Then she looked at her bowl. Then she said, "yummy, thank you Mommy", and enjoyed the heck out of those grapes!

Of course, I had to apologize to her for getting so upset...but the lesson, it seemed to sink in a bit! And even more importantly, I learned a thing or two about coveting.

Logically...intelectually...I've always understood that we "shall not covet". I understood what coveting was and I could recognize it in my own life. But until that moment with my precious girl, I had never really grasped what it must do to God's heart when we covet. What a blessing it was to be taught that lesson.

In the spirit of really Seeking The Lord this Sunday, I've done a search of the Bible for some scripture that talks about coveting and, it's opposite, contentment. I found some interesting passages. First, the obvious:

"You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor." Exodus 20:17

And then I found this one in Romans 13:9:
"The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself.""

This Romans passage really hit a nerve with me too, because it described another reason that Clara's coveting was so painful for me. Not only was she not enjoying her blessings and not trusting me...but she was wanting less for her brother and sister! As their Mommy, it always breaks my heart when they're not a team...when they're not rooting for each other....when they're not wanting the best for one another. And when Clara wanted what Ben had? She wanted more for herself and less for him. She was not loving him as herself.

And then there's Hebrews 13:5:
"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.""

And Philippians 4:11-12:
"I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength."

Now we're getting to the heart of it, aren't we? It all comes back to Him...it always does :) We are to avoid coveting, and choose contentment. But why? Because we have HIM. He will never leave us. He will never forsake us. And everything we need to do? We can do it through Him.

So really...what do we need to covet? We are complete in him. We are daughters and sons of the King of Kings...princesses and princes! So let's get to the business of enjoying our blessings and loving one another...really loving one another...even if it means that someone will end up with "more" and it won't be "fair".


P.S. I've written about contentment before. If you'd like to read that post, click HERE.

Seek The Lord Sunday Participants

1. Home with Amy 2. Untypically Jia 3. Amanda (my new blog)

4. Peggy@Mazes... 5. Mama Belle 6. Kimberly

7. Sheila @ The Faithful Follower 8. Andrea

Powered by... Mister Linky's Magical Widgets.

What To Do With All This Zucchini?!? (Lots Of Ideas At the Bottom Of Post)

Okay, I have a slight problem. It's the zucchini. The zucchini is threatening to take over my garden...yard...kitchen. Every time I turn around there's another one that's mysteriously grown to a crazy size.

So I got busy tonight. I pulled out the food processor, and started shredding it. I saved several reasonable sized zucchini to grill, fry, or steam. The rest all got shredded.

I had help. This beautiful, spunky, sweet, sassy little sweetie was my helper (I dare you to come up with another "s" descriptor! Well, I can think of one, but this is a family blog, gang):

Thomas was there too, but he didn't approve of the activity. He didn't like the sound of the food processor.

Not one...

...Little...

...Bit...

Poor little guy. At least I only had to do something like FIFTEEN rounds! Now come on, he didn't scream the entire time...only while we shredded...he happily munched on his crackers while we measured, scooped, and sealed.

In the end we had all sorts of goodies to put in the freezer:

So what am I going to do with all of this zucchini (and there will be lots more too, I'm sure)?? Here's a run-down on some of the yummy ways I've found to use it so far:

1. Fry it - you cut it into sticks for this, not shredded.

2. Fry it with a tempura batter covering it (my favorite so far).

3. Make really yummy muffins. Go ahead, make a double batch...they freeze great.

4. Sneak the shredded stuff into the baby's food. Along with a little apple sauce or yogurt? He never notices.

5. Make the best zucchini bread on planet Earth. Go see Becky for the recipe :)

6. Make zucchini "cakes"...think crab cakes without the crab. Okay, maybe this is my favorite! I didn't have the seasoning that the recipe calls for, so I used Johnny's Seasoning Salt.

7. Steam - Slice and halve, and steam with some red onion. Be sure you don't over-cook, or it will turn to mush! Sprinkle generously with parmesan cheese, serve.

8. Grill - Slice and halve, put in foil packet along with carrots and onions of similar size. Add some olive oil, parmesan, and Johnny's Seasoning Salt (yes, we use a lot of the stuff around here). Seal up the packet, and put on the grill. YUM!

9. Fry - Slice thinly. Heat olive oil over medium high heat. Toss the zucchini in the pan with some red onion. Stir and heat until cooked through. I like a squeeze of lemon juice thrown in too.

Do you have a favorite zucchini recipe? Share, please! Leave a comment with your favorite way of fixing it...or blog about it, and leave a link in my comments section for me.

Heard Recently...

"Mom, for some reason I keep thinking about the time that Sammy wore my undies. That was weird, huh? I don't want anyone to know about that, okay?"

Uh-oh.

My friend Becky recently wrote a post about respecting her kids' privacy on her blog. What do you think?

My Clara...

"Mommy, what are these?"
"Those are little chocolate candies."
"There aren't very many."
"Why do you say that?"
"Well, the box is so small."
"Oh, well, the candies are small too."
(long pause as she considers)
"I see. The candies are small, so you can eat as many as you want!"

That's my girl.

The Importance Of A Girl's Daddy

My hubby took Clara to our church's Father Daughter dinner last Friday. We got her all spiffed up in a pretty dress. She looked forward to her special Daddy date for days!

She was especially proud of the pretty twist we put in her hair:



My girls love each other so much...something I'm very thankful for. They call each other "sissy", and are always looking out for one another (when they're not bickering, that is :) ).


Hubby surprised Clara with a wrist corsage. She'd never seen one before, and has no idea what he's doing in this picture:

Now she's starting to understand:)

I loved the look on her face as he put the flower on her wrist for her. She felt so precious and spoiled...just as every little girl should feel from time to time.


I always hoped that he would make a good Daddy, but I had no idea just how incredible he would be. They had a wonderful date, and Clara felt like a princess for the night.


Daddy's are so important in a little girl's life. There is so much that she learns from him...

Daddy is the first man to love her unconditionally.
Daddy is the first man to make her feel safe.
Daddy is the first man to make her feel cherished.
Daddy is the first man to tell her that she is beautiful.
Daddy is the one who will show her how a wife is to be loved.
Daddy is the one to whom she will compare all other men in her life.
Daddy is the disciplinarian who must be firm and loving at the same time.
Daddy's love can make her feel powerful and special. A lack of Daddy's love can make her feel helpless and without worth.
Daddy is who she will think of when she first hears God referred to as "Father".


I am so thankful that my daughters have such an incredible Daddy!


P.S. To my own Daddy...being born as your girl is one of my life's greatest blessings. I love you!

Wordless Wednesday: Summertime Sillies

Head on over HERE for more Wordless Wednesday fun. Thanks for dropping by :)

What? Huh?

I woke in a daze this morning. I was very confused. My eyes were still closed, yet I knew something wasn't quite right. I open my eyes slowly to see my sweet Clara Rose's nose approximately 2 centimeters from mine...eyes wide and bright...staring at me and willing me to wake.

As soon as my eyes opened, she said...as if holding her breath and letting it all out in one long, gushing burst of a sentence..., "Mommy-do-you-know-what-tomorrow-is?-Tomorrow-we-go-to-ASCONSIN!-We-hafta-pack-I-wanna-pack-NOW-can-we?!"

So I'm off to do laundry, clean house, and pack. I can't wait to be in "Asconsin"!

Hope you all have a great holiday...stop by even though I'll be gone. I've scheduled a few fun posts to go up when I'm away :)

Family Resemblance

Hubby and I were chatting the other day, when he said something like "It just goes so fast! I can hardly remember Sammy at Thomas' age."

It was then that I was so happy that I've been such a "picture Nazi" all these years! I have an album for each year that we've been married. Photos are in rough chronological order, and the outside of the album is labeled with the year. I know it's hard to imagine someone so crazed with photo-organization. It drives even me nuts sometimes.

This a good place for a disclaimer...since getting my DSLR, my photo organization has gone totally to the birds. I've been busy taking so dang MANY pictures, I'm just overwhelmed with the idea of sorting and printing and organizing. So they're on my computer. It gives me nightmares sometimes, and I'm not kidding. I know, I need help.

Anyway, I went to the shelf and pulled down the album for 2006 - the year that Sammy was 8 months old. Wow. What a year...for so many good and terrible reasons! I'll stick to telling you about the good for now.

It was so fun to look at my sweet Sammy's first year! Someone once told me that, "With kids the days are long, and the years are short." I couldn't say it better than that!

I pulled down a couple more albums, and scanned in pictures of Ben and Clara too. Just look at how they all resemble one another! These are my kids at 8 months old...every sweet, spunky, drooly, toothy, chubby, smiley one of them! Man I love these children. I just can't believe that God entrusted little ol' me with such precious gifts!

Clockwise from upper left: Benjamin, Clara, Thomas, Samantha

P.S. I'm sure enjoying your input on The Hair Decision Of 2008! I made an appointment for Wednesday...I hope I don't lose my nerve!

Summer Time & The Livin' Is Easy

Here's "Summertime" by Ella Fitzgerald...a classic! This song will forever be etched in my memory as a song my Daddy sang. I couldn't even count the times he whistled, hummed, or sang this song as I was growing up. Dad has a beautiful voice.

Anyway...click play on the video, and then scroll down to see some fun summertime pictures while you listen to the sweet song :)
***********************************************

We had a daydream kind of summer day a few days ago. It was about 87 degrees, with a little breeze. Perfect for playing in the sun and water for the kids, and perfect for sitting in the shade for us moms.

It was the kind of day I fantasized about when I thought "I want to be a stay at home mom some day"...easy, relaxed, peaceful, fun. A little bit of Heaven on earth.

The kids romped around in the pool, sun, and mud puddles while us moms sat and chatted several hours away. We munched on carrots and pita chips dipped in hummus and fresh salsa. We sipped raspberry tea. I never wanted my friends to leave! Just think, in Heaven some day, we'll be able to visit and munch and just bask in never ending sunshine (or should I say son-shine?) forever and ever. Amen!

(BTW, is it coincidence that the one thing in our entire universe that brings light and life to this world of ours is called a "sun", pronounced just like "Son"? Interesting...)

I had some fun teasing one of my friends' girls. She came down to our house before I'd had a chance to get the hose going. I was bustling around cleaning up dog poop, gathering toys, brushing off the table, etc. She went and sat in the dry kiddie pool I had sitting out in the grass, and she said, "Hey! Where's the water?!" I said, "Listen, I promised a pool party, not a water party. There's your pool - have fun!" I thought it would be obvious that I was kidding, but she looked at me in horror and burst into tears! I wish I could say I felt badly, but it was too funny for me to regret teasing her :)

Of course, I couldn't let the perfect afternoon slip by without getting a few fun pictures.

Here they are getting the pool filled:


They like to run down the hill screaming "Cannon Baaaaal!", and then jump into the pool. Here's Sammy doing her little 2 year old version:

Uh oh, the candid shots are over. She's spied me taking her picture, and she's feeling silly.

Can I just take this moment to tell you that our kids get an embarrassing amount of song and dance from me every single day. I never thought I'd be such a goof-ball mom, but I am. I make a song and goofy dance out of everything. Our poor kids. Are they going to be singing "Pee Pee On The Potty" and "Macaroni, Macaroni, Macaroni Cheese Please" in their little heads for the rest of their lives?

So I guess it's shouldn't be a surprise that when she's feeling silly, she decides to bust a move. Here she is, revving up:




Oh, she's getting into the swing of things now:

Go Sammy...just don't dislocate that shoulder, girl!

This one totally cracks me up! What a little spunky punk she is! I love her so much!

Oh boy, here come the silly faces. We do quite a few silly faces around here too. I'm glad to see that I'm teaching them such valuable life skills...

...like how to nearly rip your lips off while making a goofy face :)

And just like that, her performance is over. The water awaits. And she's off...

Why, oh why, is it not cute when my thighs have those little dimples, but on Samantha they're adorable? No fair.

I just love how she still looks like a baby. Her little baby tummy. Her little baby toes and fingers. Her little baby cheeks. I know I'll wake up one day and there will be a young lady where my baby once stood so I'm trying to soak up all her babyness now.

By the way, my friends have some pretty dang adorable kiddos too. Here's one now!

And here's one of her big sisters. I kept wishing the breeze would blow the hair OUT of her face, but when I saw the pictures I was happy it didn't. This little sweet pea is a bit timid (at least around me)...hiding behind a few wisps of hair seems to suit her.



Ahhh, summer...friends...does it get any better?

Well, actually, I think maybe it does. We got a giant slip and slide yesterday, and when Daddy comes home today we're going to set it up to go down the big hill in our back yard. Hubby and I will have to "test" it for safety before we let the kids go down...of course!

I hope you're having as much fun this summer as we are :)

And Who Says Being A Mom Isn't Exciting?

Happy Friday, everyone! I'm not sure why this story came to my mind recently, but I thought I'd share it with you...

This happened before I was blogging, or you can be sure I would have told it right away! It's one of those "I can't believe that just happened" kind of things.

Thomas was about 2 months old, so it was November last year. I took the kids to the health department for their flu vaccinations because I wanted to do the "flu mist" instead of the shot, and our doc's office only did the shot. Normally, taking four children ages 2 months, 2 years, 4 years, and 5 years old would definitely be something I'd do WITH my hubby. I don't remember why he couldn't be there that day...and I have no idea what I was thinking doing it by myself.

Sometimes I like to think of myself as Super Mom. "Hey, these are my children, there's no reason I can't take care of them all by my Super Mom self!" These episodes of extreme confidence and nerve are usually quickly followed by me throwing myself on my bed and crying until my eyes puff up for the next two days. Anyhoo...

So we were all in the waiting room, patiently waiting our turn. They had a fun little play center there for the kids, and Thomas was being his sleepy little 2 month old self. Life was easy. It was easy for 5 minutes at least. And then Sammy got that look on her face. You know the look...the look that is evidence that I will be changing an unpleasant diaper sometime in the very near future.

I wanted my few moments of peace to last a bit longer, so I looked away and pretended that I didn't see THE FACE. Maybe if I could just ignore her, we could get out of here and home before I actually had to change her. Or maybe it would just go away...maybe it was a false alarm? Hey, a mom can hope.

But "the face" moment was soon followed by my oldest child using his favorite word, "Oh, VOMITROTIOUS. Mo-ooom...you have to change Sammy NOW!"

I wasn't about to leave my kids in the waiting room while I changed a diaper, so I dragged myself and all 4 kids into the bathroom with me. Luckily, the bathroom was roughly the size of a postage stamp, so we fit just fine.

I started to dig through the diaper bag for the necessary stuff...changing pad, check...wipes, check...diaper...diaper...diaper...please Lord, a size 6 diaper...no that's a size 2...diaper...diaper?! DIAPER?! No diaper for Sammy. Only about 15 size two diapers.

Okay, this calls for some creativity. The poor child stunk to high heaven, so she had to be changed. It could not wait until we got home. My plan was to take of the diaper, shake off the smelly lump in her diaper, clean her and the diaper to the best of my ability, and then strap the diaper back on her until we got home and I could do it properly.

So I got her up on the changing table, got the pants off, got the diaper off...and uh-oh. There's no lump. There will be no shaking this gooey mess into the toilet and getting on with life. The diaper was a total loss, and oh so smelly.

It was really helpful when Ben, discovering the amazing echo resulting in screeching "VOMITROTIOUS!" at the top of his lungs, decided to do so repeatedly. My ears still ring.

Got Ben quieted down.
Got the offensive diaper sealed in a garbage bag and thrown away.
Decided to squeeze Sammy's size 6 hiney into a size 2 diaper.... squeeze.... squirm... grunt... groan...sweat...whimper. It's no use. Ain't gonna happen.

WHAT am I going to do?! I certainly wasn't going to let her go without a diaper. She hadn't even begun potty training, and after the diaper I just threw out - there was no way I was going to risk one of those without a diaper in place!

And...have I told you that I have a degree in engineering? I'm pretty sure that my superior problem solving and design skills were all meant for that very moment in time. Never mind the high tech world...it's all about the poopy diapers.

So, I looked at my sweet and ever-helpful Clara (then 4), and said, "Clara, sweetie, let me have your undies."

"My undies?"

"Yes, your undies."

"But why?"

"I need them for Sammy."

"But...no! They're my princess undies!"

"Clara, I really need them."

"But what about me? What will I wear?"

"You'll wear your pants. With no undies."

"I will?!?"

By this time, Ben was giggling hysterically in the background.

"Ben, would you like to donate your undies here?"

Instant...and I mean INSTANT silence from the boy.

So Clara, bless her little heart, took off her precious princess undies and handed them over. I put them on Sammy, stuffed a size 2 diaper in there like a giant, ill fitting maxi pad...and we were off!

We got out of the bathroom in just enough time for them to call our name, and no one was wise to what was going on... My Sammy with a maxi pad, and my Clara going commando.

When we finally got back to the office for the immunizations, the nurse was concerned that they'd never had the Flu Mist version before, especially with Sammy being so young. She wanted to give her, and maybe Clara too the shot instead of the Flu Mist.

"All we'll have to do is pull their pants down a bit, and poke them in the thigh."

"Um, no. We will be doing the Flu Mist. There will be no pulling down of pants and no shots. Really...I think it's in everyone's best interest."

I was ready to fight to the death. Ben had started giggling into his hand again...but a swift look out of the corner of my eye let him know that his life was on the line, and he quieted again.

Everyone got the Flu Mist that day.

We finally got home, got Samantha into a proper diaper, got Clara a clean pair of undies...and Super Mom had a good laugh...and then a cry...and then another laugh.

Next time Daddy's coming with us. Maybe he can donate HIS undies...

A Glimpse Of Summer To Come?

Let Us In!!

Sometimes I think I have a vision of the future. I'm dead and gone, and my kids are sitting around the dinner table together reminiscing. One of them says, "My most vivid memory of Mom is her constantly saying 'Go play...outside or upstairs!", and the rest of them will all go, "YEAH! Me too!"

I hope they remember lots of hugs and kisses too...

A Little Cousin Love

Okay, I just realized how wrong that title sounds...but I'm going to leave it because it keeps making me giggle. Some days you just have to put up with me!

We had some fun company visiting us recently...meet my kids' cousin, Sydney. Isn't she beautiful?! Look that those big blue eyes. And yes, those curls are her natural curls. I should add that I'm a bit embarrassed that I'm envious of a 2 year old's hair!



Here she is again in all her cutie-pie glory. Wouldn't you just love to pinch those cheeks?!



Here's Sydney's mom reading a Dora book to the girls. Sammy is pretty pleased with herself :)



You can see now where little Sydney gets her beautiful curls...



Here are my girls with their beloved cousin. How cute, eh? I have a question though...what makes cheeks red? My kids have the rosiest cheeks I've ever seen. Seriously...anyone know what causes this?




And then this handsome fellow happened by, so we dragged him into the picture too. My oh my. I don't know if it's because he