And another thing

While I was typing, Little Miss said

Write down that I like to sing and dance and talk. Write that down Mom. I like to sing and dance and talk.

So there it is. And she's right; really does like to sing and dance and talk...especially that last one.

When I shrink...

Ella and I were peeling and cutting potatoes when she began to tell me a great little story.

I'm paraphrasing but here's the gist:
When you shrink mommy I'm going to get big and marry daddy and you will be our little daughter. Your name will be Serena because I like that name and it's pretty.

So I'm interested in this shrinking bit...I mean I wouldn't mind shrinking 15-20 pounds and Serena isn't a bad name. hmmmm

The River

Bill took the kids to the Machen compound Saturday night until Monday afternoon. He needed to help Grandpop and Uncle Mark-get set-go do some tree cutting and brush burning.

I drove down Sunday after church to watch the kids while they swam so the big guys could keep working. I made a point of having all 3 littles try their suits on a few weeks ago to be sure they still fit... and they did....then.

The elastic in the waist of Hank's trunks was totally stretched out. I had to turn the waist band under just so they'd stay up. If we had been at a public beach we wouldn't have been able to stay. Each big wave caused his bottoms to fall and he mooned us. He thought it was hysterical. Ella kept calling him an Ogre for being so uncivilized.

Ella must have grown because her suit was just too short so she had a chronic wedgie.

Shane's suit still fit but the water was too cold for him. He calls all liquid "juice." As soon as he got down to the water a wave took his feet out from under him and he landed on his bottom. He jumped right up shouting "juice! hot!" and trying to wipe his bottom and legs dry with his hands. I took him back to the house and changed him so he could get back to helping daddy.

As a result of my kids obscene bathing suits, you only get a picture of them in their towels! I did stop by Old Navy and picked up new suits for them so they're set for our next water adventure.

The Chair

The kids got Bill a massage chair for Father's Day last year and we've all enjoyed it quite a bit. I got it out recently because my back is tired from gardening.

Shane also worked hard with me so his back must have been hurting too...

Please pray for the Chapman family

You can read the story here and here.

A snake in a bush is worth what?

If a bird in your hand is worth two in a bush, what is one snake in a bush worth?

Below one of our bedroom windows is a huge evergreen bush that we intend - every year for the past 5 years actually - to cut out but never get to it.

I walked by that window earlier and glanced down to see what looked like a curly branch. A closer look revealed a small snake. Just typing the word snake gives me the heebie jeebies. I really, really don't like them and the only reason this one still alive is that Bill is at work right now. (Are you crazy??? ME get close enough to kill it myself??? No way Jose!)

Look in the middle of the picture. He's dark with a yellowish stripe. Hopefully he's not poisonous. If he is - don't tell me. Email Bill please. :)

Click on the picture to make it bigger and just hit the back button to get, well, back. :)

Here's my little cheeseball trying to help himself to something on the boys' desk. Such a cutie.

They flew the coop

The baby birds are babies no more. They have vacated their poopy nest and they won't be getting their security deposit back. One word - yuck!

If the world runs low on cement, we should explore bird poop as an option. It took some major scrubbing and lots of bleach to clean my door.

Since we were cleaning out there, I decided to take down the rest of the Christmas lights. I call it taking the trailer park out of our porch. All we need now is a couple of cars on blocks and maybe a pink flamingo or two standing gracefully next to some tractor-tire (painted white, of course) flower beds.

I love living in the country. Maybe next week we'll paint the house trim hunter's orange. :)

Bird update

Well it looks like we're down to 3 birds. They're fattening up a little and have more feathers. The nest is so small, I can't imagine how much bigger they can get and still live there. You'll notice they've pooped all over the front door so I'm not as in love with them as I was. Bird poop is pretty gross....on my front door, even grosser. I think next time I'll be a big meanie and get rid of any nests I find in my door wreaths.

Riding Big Kid Bikes

Ok, I'm a little scared....my 2 year can ride a big kid bike. He's 2 for pete's sake! I don't think Todd or I were able to ride a 2 wheeler at 2.

Is he extraordinary...or maybe my other kids and I are a bit slow??

We had to take an unscheduled trip to Dee's farm so daddy could fumigate our house and get rid of some ants in the kitchen. We got hand-me-down bikes for Ella and Hank from Mr R whose kids had outgrown them and they've been gathering dust in our basement for about a year. The weather was supposed to be nice and the kids are the right size for the bikes so I thought it would be a great weekend to break them out and give it a whirl. Even better is that Dee's driveway is looong and pretty flat and straight, perfect for learning to ride.

I really thought Hank would be off and running. I guess he's old enough to be cautious so he wasn't as thrilled about it.

Ella...oh my...she saw a pink bike and she was off to the races. She even learned how to skid...not on purpose, but she didn't crash so she thought it was cool.

Shane, my little dare devil...his bike has coaster brakes unlike his trike so he kept trying to pedal backwards. Didn't work so well. Once he figured out the forward pedaling, there was no stopping him. He and Ella rode for quite a while until we dragged them inside to eat.
After camera battery issues I only got a couple of pictures so here you go...

Aunt Cindy and Aunt Honey helping Dee with her garden...note Aunt Honey did get her hands dirty. :p

Babies!

Our little birds started hatching Saturday morning and by this morning, all 5 had hatched. And they aren't wrens afterall. Bill got a good look at both parents and they're Purple Finches.

The babies are currently kind of scraggly looking but I'm sure they'll cuten up as they get fluffier and fatter. We don't want to take too many pictures of them because we don't want to bother them too much, but we'll post updates as they grow.

New Kid Pix

I didn't feel like doing school this afternoon so I spent some time convincing my boys to comb their hair, wash their faces and put on clean shirts. Ella rarely needs convincing to change clothes or pose for pictures.

I know I should have fixed Hank's redeye but this one made me laugh, out loud even
A reasonably good picture...oh but that two year old! Good thing he is otherwise a cutie
Finally, a small success
Another shot that just made me laugh