Jack is in his BIG BOY BED!

Oh my goodness, how the time flies!

During nap time yesterday, Jack fell with a mighty thud, and thus a new task was added to our "to-do" list: get Jack in his big boy bed, and NOW!

Fortunately, we were mostly prepared, although we overlooked having a full sized mattress ready to go.

Jack's bed is the white crib we used with Lucy, which converts to a full sized bed. We had already purchased the conversion kit, and Jason assembled the bed quite quickly last night.

Barbara had given Jack the most adorable "robot" bedding for his birthday, so all I had to do was wash the sheets and febreeze the comforter, and that was good to go.

We got everything assembled, only to sheepishly realize we had no mattress! Duh! ;-)

But, not to worry, for I found an awesome mattress on ever-faithful Craigslist, and we picked it up today. An unfortunate situation for the husband and wife - they're going through a divorce and clearing out the house, splitting the money from selling off everything- but so fortunate for us, because we bought their Sealy mattress, which was in pristine shape, and boxsprings for just $75!

You may have seen me driving down Governor's this afternoon with the mattresses strapped atop my minivan! LOL!

It was easy going from there, and we gave Jack a good while to play on his bed before bedtime tonight.

He was positively and visibly giddy over this new addition to his room! He LOVED it! Here are some snapshots of him enjoying his new bed:



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And the most surprising thing of the night was that Jack never got out of his bed even ONCE! My sprightly little man was content to just go to bed, just like that. Amazing- we're so darn blessed to have such well-behaved kids, I tell ya!

Another cute part of the night was when Jack got uber excited when we put up his bed rail, which is adorned with a big "Elmo" and "Cookie Monster" on each side. Jack's current words of the week are: "bubble" and "elmo," and he loves saying them all the time. So, when he saw Elmo on the bed guard, he flipped!

"Elmo!" "Elmo!" "Elmo!"

And his articulation is actually quite good with this particular word, and he speaks it in a lower tone of voice; it's so precious!

Well, like my obedient child, I'm going straight to bed as well - night!

Little "Davids" vs. Goliath

I just have to share these precious pictures of the kids from Friday's Pray 'N Play. The lesson focused on David versus Goliath, and the kids learned that no matter how small they are, God has big plans for them and made them "to do good works."

They learned a cute song (to the tune of "Do You Know the Muffin Man?):

"God made us all to do good works, to do good works, to do good works,
God made us all to do good works, and help our friends each day!"

I'm not sure which the kids enjoyed more: making their "armor" or making food "stones" like the ones David pelted at Goliath.



The armor was a super fun craft, and the kids got really into it! Emma Kate's was super embellished - a girl after my own heart!



Our little warriors!


And here are the "stones:"

We created them using a mixture of crushed vanilla wafers, coconut, powdered sugar, and a bit of thawed OJ concentrate. They were delicious! I think Jason ate at least four "stones!"




Pray 'N Play has been going wonderfully, and I'm so impressed with how the kids are remembering what we talk about week to week.

The adults chuckled at how popular this lesson is for preschoolers, yet, it's quite violent. In the pictures from the children's bible we showed the kids, David is deliberately positioned so as to cover the fallen Goliath - minus his head, which had been chopped off by David.

Ah, what precious little blessings!

Monday Meals - Dessert: Dirt Cake

I'm making this for our Supper Club gathering this week. The Back's are hosting and doing a super-fun theme of cooling down in this heat with water toys, slip 'n slides, and COLD things to eat!

So, we're bringing Dirt Cake, a recipe I've been making for years - one I got from my multi-talented friend Casey Cooper (who makes the most wonderful desserts you've ever put in your mouth!).

Anyhow, check out Dirt Cake, and make it for your next get together. It's a perfect summertime dessert; I like to make it in a bucket with an attached shovel, and add gummy worms throughout the dessert, making sure a few stick out of the top layer. Very cute!

Things People Say...

Hello Blog of mine...It's been several days longer between posts lately than usual. The only explanation I can come up with is just how TIRED I feel - all the time! Growing a baby is tough work, and I'm feeling it!

At six weeks along now, I'm grateful for no nausea, but the "tired" symptom this pregnancy is way more substantial than I remember feeling with Jack or Lucy. By 8 pm, I'm done, although I feel just as tired in the morning as I do in the evening.

I'm continuing to run with Tiffany and complete my "boot camp" exercises that Keisha sent to me, but that takes a lot out of me too! (after loosing 23 pounds before getting pregnant, I'm in no hurry to pack those back on quickly; I'd like to take the whole pregnancy to gain those back on, quite honestly, but we'll just have to see how it goes. (I gained about 25, 26 pounds with both prior pregnancies). I can certainly watch what I eat and make good food choices, but I do believe that during pregnancy, a woman's body is going to do quite a bit of what it wants regardless of what "mommy" does to it ;-)

But anyways, enough with the excuses for not posting...

Generally speaking, "People kill me," as the saying goes. At least once a day, I'd guess, my world stops revolving just long enough for me to get a kick out of something someone has said or done.

So my post today, it's inspired by something a stranger said to me yesterday when Tiffany and I were out running.

Toby loves to run with us, and a portion of our run takes place around the large, mostly still undeveloped land in a part of our neighborhood. For about ten minutes - the time it takes to do this partial loop - I let Toby off his leash, and he enjoys tromping across the land, chasing the random squirrel up a tree, basically just enjoying a little freedom. Life's too short...

Anyhow, while Toby is way off the path, Tiffany and I start to approach a man and woman, walking two dogs, one of which is a German Shepherd who is visibly upset about Toby way off in the distance, aggressively pulling his owner. As we get close enough while passing, this lady abruptly shouts while pointing, "Do you know whose dog THAT is?!?"

I smile and say, "Oh, that's mine."
(Translation: no need to worry lady, he's fine and he's with me.)

Well, she retorts, pointing to her own dog, "Well, mine will EAT him!"
(Translation: how dare you let your dog run free! that's so bothersome to me because it's making my dog difficult to handle, not to mention you're running the risk of dogs like mine EATING yours!)

Now, as for my response, "Kelly" five years ago would have been mortified, profusely apologized, and quickly run out to find Toby and put him back on the leash...

"Kelly" void of pregnancy hormones would have likely apologized, although not felt sincere about it, and went on my way, waiting to talk about this woman until she was out of earshot...

Well, "pregnant Kelly" just doesn't care as much, and I just burst out laughing in her face, right there!

What I wanted to say was, "Well, you've got a really mean-ass dog; I feel bad for you!"

So, frankly, between laughing in her face or saying that to her, I think I chose the more polite option. Not that I'm saying it was polite - clearly it wasn't. But then again, neither was her comment which started the interaction...

I do have to say though, I am quite glad Toby was way off in the distance, chasing who knows what, because that German Shepherd - it really was ready to tear Toby apart had he been closer to the road. My sweet, less-than-smart, gentle giant would have trotted up to this dog to say hello and met his death. And then we really would have had a problem.

So, Tiffany and I kept running down the road, I eventually composed myself, met up with Toby a little further down the road and leashed him back up, and continued our morning jog, thankfully not meeting up with "rude dog owners" again.

I will say, this lady has a point, and technically, I'm aware I'm not supposed to let my dog off his leash, but surely this woman could have found a bit nicer of a way to express her displeasure with me. That's what gets me. I don't fault people getting angry or upset or sad, or whatever it may be, but sometimes people are so careless in what they say (or do).

I feel a bit bad for this woman - she must be pretty unhappy in her life, for is this is how she chooses to interact with strangers - with such contempt - well, she has bigger problems than I!

For example, I was driving down Old Big Cove last week, and saw something that made me laugh out loud: some homeowner was growing a GIGANTIC cactus plant around - get ready...his MAILBOX! The mailbox was drowning in the middle of huge, round, prickly cactus projectiles that surrounded the mailbox!

What the heck are you trying to say to your postman?!?

Other, significantly less dramatic examples, but nonetheless, make me smile and shake my head in slight confusion:

-99.9% of the time my mom calls me, the very first words out of her mouth are, "Hey Kell, quick question..."

At first it was quirky, but now I'm beginning to wonder why I'm not worth carving out at least five minutes of time for an "unstructured discussion."

I know she probably doesn't even realize she does it (and if she reads this post, will surely find a new greeting when we talk ;-), but nonetheless, it's still curious to me..."Quick question" every time.

My dad has a similar way about him...when we talk on the phone, his question is always, "Anything exciting going on?" I really wish I had responses that would fit "exciting," like, "Yes! We just won the lottery!" or "I'm having TWINS!" or "Lucy just promised me that she'll never again, ever in her life, whine in my face!"

But, sadly, I can usually only respond with a report of the goings-on of a stay-at-home-mom's life: enjoying the kids and their "highs" and "lows," changing diapers, doing laundry, unloading the dishwasher, breaking up fights, drying up tears, scheduling doctor's visits, and occasionally getting away with the husband or the girls.

Anyhow, just a fun question to throw out there for any of you who are reading and feel like making a comment: what do people do or say that really gets you? ;-)

America's Funniest Home Videos

Oh boy, it's been a day with Jack.

He got cream cheese all over his hair during breakfast this morning, and he was going to be photographed wearing an adorable, hand sewn outfit at 11am for the magazine Sew Beautiful, so I had to get him clean.

I decided to just take him in the shower with me. Realizing if I brought him in as soon as I got in, he'd be clean and then be stuck waiting for me to take my shower, so I decided the best course of action was to strip him down and let him play in the bathroom while I took my shower; then I'd bring him in with me to get him clean. Fortunately for me, Super Why was keeping Lucy entertained on my bed...

It was a fine plan until Jack decided to squat like a dog and have diarrhea -runny, chunky diarrhea - all over the bathroom rug and tile floor (the rug in front of Jason's sink thank goodness ;-) while I was putting conditioner in my hair.

UGH!...It's all down his leg, and he's looking at me unsure what to do, pointing and grunting at the crap all over the floor. So, my naked self lysol'ed the floor with wipes, and then cleaned both of us off in the shower. Nasty, nasty, nasty; the shower didn't really help me feel any cleaner.

These little events are the low points in a SAHM's given day... ;-)

Anyhow, the photo shoot went great, and Jack's been a doll - if not a bit rowdy - all day.

Well, fast forward to after dinner. Lucy and I were doing a follow-up art activity to Friday's Pray 'N Play lesson, and Jack and Jason were playing around on the floor. Jason happened to be videotaping bits of their play, and I'm so very glad he got this bit on camera as well:

*You should know that although you can't see Jack, he's standing on the couch above Jason, who's lying down on the floor. When Jason calls, "Toby," note how Toby looks up (to locate where Jack is) before he locks eyes with Jason. And then, well, you'll be able to figure out what happens...so hilarious!

(If you can't figure out what happens, read below the video link...)




Our rowdy, rough Jack leaped off the couch and onto Jason's stomach. And since Jack was behind Jason on the couch, and Jason was filming Toby, he had no idea what Jack was about to do... ;-0

Monday Meals: Flank Steak

Turns out Lucy and Jack both love steak - cool!

We enjoyed a treat tonight and had some steak: very yummy! It's a weight watchers recipe, although from the taste, you'd never know it was so healthy!

http://www.weightwatchers.com/food/rcp/index.aspx?recipeId=76481

VIDEOS, VIDEOS, VIDEOS

Thank you, thank you Jason for showing me a way to share videos on my blog! Now, finally, I can share parts of my day, without having to describe it all in words.

So, the next three or so posts are videos of some recent happenings in the Martin Family.

Enjoy!

I'm hooked...there will be more to come, no doubt! I've just spent about 40 minutes going through old video clips, and seeing the kids little just breaks my heart...I watched one of Jack learning to crawl...crazy to watch now.

Lucy sings at church

Today at church, all the preschoolers sang the "Grow 'N Grow" theme song. This was Lucy's first "public appearance," and we weren't sure what to expect.

Unfortunately for your viewing pleasure, there's not actually much to view. She just stands there, a bit dazed, her attention held at times watching the large movie screen behind her. There are a few moments, however, where she makes slight movements. Bless her heart, she almost got the "shoulder shrug" part... LOL!

If you're looking to see what the dance moves really were, don't watch her; watch the kids all around her! There's a little girl in orange who's really good ;-).

But she sure looked darling, and had the most adorable shoes to match her dress, thanks to Audrey and her ever fashionable and coordinated mom, Tiffany, who loaned us some shoes! ;-)

Lucy Reading "The Very Hungry Caterpillar"

I love reading books to the kids, and I'm grateful for my training in education, for through that I've discovered so many wonderful children's book authors, some well known outside the world of teachers - like Eric Carle - and others less notorious, but no less wonderful, like Cynthia Rylant.

Despite my consistency reading to Lucy, she actually never quite took to liking books until she was about 18 months old. She didn't care so much for hearing the story told, but she did like to flip through the pages as fast as possible. For a time, I thought she'd never get into books, and my heart broke just a tiny little bit.

But that little heart fracture was all for nothing, for now Lucy LOVES reading books, and I'll often catch her spending her independent play time tucked away in a chair on in the reading corner of the office.

In this video, I heard her reading one of Jack's and her current favorite stories, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, by Eric Carle. His illustrations are fantastic, so it's no wonder she chooses this book to look at when she's alone, but in this clip, you'll hear her reciting the story. She does a pretty good job sticking to the original words, and if you're familiar with the story, I think you'll follow along just fine.

And if you're not familiar with the story, head over to the bookstore, read the story for yourself and give it as a gift to a special little person in your life!

This clip begins with Lucy reading near the end of the story, the part when the Hungry Caterpillar eats through a wide-variety of food on one single day...it's cute when she gets tripped up on the word, "salami."

The next page she references a "coocoon" (it can be hard to tell), and my favorite part is when she pauses after she's read the last page, and then declares, "Okay, the end!"

Linebacker Jack

Lucy and Jack have been playing really well together for the past few months, but recently their "play" has taken a "rough" turn.

They LOVE barreling over each other, knocking each other down, giggling themselves silly.

And FINALLY, finally - thanks to Jason taking some time to show me how - I've learned a way to share the large video files.

Check this out: Jack gets Lucy pretty good about a minute into the video...










More videos to come!

Lucy's Go 'N Grow Experience

Lucy finished her first "Grow 'n Grow" this week at our chuch's Vacation Bible School. I was volunteering with the older kids, but I got to catch her in action during the opening and closing session each day, which was held in the worship center with everyone together.

The main lessons taught throughout each activity were:

*Take it in and live it out

*Live my life on what really counts

*Choose to see you the way that God sees me (I really like this one!)

*Live my life unselfishly


Here she is sitting with her group of three-year-olds:





Leah did a great job with the worship team!


Making her craft: "Mom!...I'm a big girl now, stop checking on me!" (and I wasn't checking on her; I was just greedy for photos for a blog post ;-)


Goofy girl during circle time:


And this was the memory verse that the kids learned and repeated several times each day:


Great verse, for sure! And here's the coolest part of this Go 'N Grow experience for me as Lucy's parent...

So, yesterday's breakfast reading book was "This is the House that Jack Built", and Lucy made a connection that tickled my heart for sure:

I was reading aloud the first page:


Lucy focused in on this part of the illustration - where the house is on a slab of rock - and said:

"Look Mommy, he built his house on the rock!"

Pretty cool, huh? All I had done was read aloud the words; I didn't mention anything about the illustration; quite honestly, I never even noticed the foundation of the house to begin with ;-).

I'm so grateful for all the staff and volunteers who helped make Go 'N Grow a success this year, for making it special for my child, and clearly, making an impact on her three-year-old little mind. It just warmed my heart. And I'm just so proud of her, silly as that sounds, not because she understands the metaphor of what it means to "build your house on the rock" -because obviously she has no concept of what a metaphor even is, and clearly no understanding of what that even means :-), but that she remembered something from her experience and connected it with something totally unrelated.

Brings to mind this verse:

"And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourself wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up." -Deuteronomy 6:5-7

And this is why we 'repeat them again and again to our children,' and why it's so worth it to pour our energy into things like this. Because they do listen, and when you least expect it, they might just surprise you with what they're learning! So delightful!

An announcement...if you can figure it out, that is...

Jack: "I've got a secret!"


"And even though I ate some of these letters on my shirt, I think you should be able to get the picture..."


"This yellow "H" is particularly tasty..."



If you got the message by now, you're quicker than the room full of engineers on Saturday when I sent Jack into the Rainoldi's house (they were having a World Cup party) to surprise Jason and everyone with the news! It's actually quite hilarious - Jack was wearing this onesie, socks, and his sneakers. I didn't put shorts on him because, obviously, I wanted the shirt to be the focus.

As it turns out, the only thing people could focus on was how silly Jack looked. People kept shouting, "Where are your pants, buddy?!" And then I had to explain why he was wearing sneakers with long socks. I'm waiting with baited breath for someone to catch on...these engineers are too smart for their own damn good! ;-)

Still nothing...

I had to say, "PEOPLE, WHAT DOES HIS SHIRT SAY?!?"

"OOOHHH..." Finally!

Geez! But they weren't the only ones...we "skyped" my parents and Jason's folks later that night, showing them what Jack was wearing. (It worked out well because Lucy really wanted to show everyone her shirt she was wearing - which was mine from age 3). Lucy got to show everyone her shirt, and then we said, "And Jack wants to show you his shirt too!"

(Here's the shirt that was mine...)



Jack's on screen, and the grandparents say, "Aww, big brother, that's cute..." then nothing.

Okay, what is the problem here!?! This is not that hard to figure out!

Jason had to say, "Mom, why would Jack be wearing a shirt that says 'big brother'?"

It took my parents a few seconds to catch on too...

Oh well, despite the lag time, we're thrilled to announce that we're expecting another baby! It's very early - I'm just 4 weeks along - and the due date is Feb. 21st!

And I know lots of people are probably thinking I'm crazy for announcing this so early - I know it's not recommended due to the risk of miscarriage, but I am just not wired to keep this quiet. My friends know much of my business on a regular basis - a baby is just way too exciting!


I'd literally have to wear duct tape on my mouth every day, and that would be a long 12 or so weeks of keeping this blessed little secret to ourselves. And if God forbid we did loose this child, I'd actually prefer the support of my friends rather than being able to say, "Phew, well at least no one knew..."

But that's just me; obviously, everyone has to decide for them when it's right to share the news. I do realize the reasons why it can be a good idea to wait. Jason actually laughed out loud the other night when he found the due date predictor on his computer screen. In the time line it offered, at 14 weeks it said: "Announce your pregnancy!" I'm sure people shake their heads at me all the time; this should not be surprising!

I've tested positive early with each of my kids so far, known before my missed period, and found out "boy" or "girl" ahead of time, picked the name, the whole shebang!

BUT, this time, we are going to change it up a little...we're NOT going to find out the sex of the baby, and probably not announce our name choices. We're not actually sure what the boy or girl name would be anyway, although we do have some top contenders already.

We're blessed with one of each so far, so there are clothes (and in the right season as well, fortunately) for either sex, we're not going to do a complete "nursery theme" (third one always gets the shaft - it starts early, I guess ;-), and we really do want to experience that thrill of pushing that kid out, anticipating the doctor saying, "It's a ..."

And of course all we want is a healthy baby, but if it happened to be a healthy baby GIRL, well, that'd be icing on the cake! Jason and I both would LOVE another girl in the family. And there are just too many adorable Lucy outfits in storage; sure would be a waste not to get to use those again.

So, praise God- here we go again!

What we've been up to lately...

Our nieghb0rhood pool is open - and has been for a while, actually - and on Saturday morning, we finally made it up there to play and swim!



Jack is absolutely FEARLESS in the water...his favorite thing to do was walk all the way down the shallow end, and when the water got to his nose, he'd just keep on walkin'...jeez!

Lucy and Jack continue to love jumping to us off the edge. Jack even does this little bouncy thing before jumping in - so stinkin' cute!!!!!




Last night, we had some fun with fingerpaints! This was Jack's first time playing with finger paints, and much to our surprise, didn't try to eat the paint!





Lucy started VBS (Vacation Bible School) today, or "Go 'N Grow" as it's called at our Church (Cove Church). I was volunteering with the older groups, so I only got to see her in the opening and closing section when everyone was together. It was so sweet - she just kept waving to me from across the room, and flashed me her big beautiful smile several times! She was so excited to go! When we were going back home, she kept telling me she wanted to go back to church! ;-) Lucky for her, there are two more days of go 'n grow!

Monday Meals

I'm feeling a bit uninspired to post a particular recipe, but the hodge-podge pasta dish that I made for dinner tonight was so yummy - and easy - it's worth sharing:


First of all, I'm on this huge kick with Ronzoni's Smart Taste Pasta because it's lower in points on WW, and if your kids won't eat "brown" pasta (which mine would shovel brown dirt in their mouth, so it's a bit of a non issue for us, but...), this is great because it is white. And Parents magazine has a dollar off coupon in every issue, so I can always get it pretty cheap.

Anyhow, I cooked the spiral smart taste noodles, and made a sauce that consisted of Costco's chicken sausages with spinach and cheese in the links, cooked up with artichoke hearts and lots of sun-dried tomatoes (soaked in EVOO with spices, so the flavoring is done for you ;-). I added a can of diced tomatoes with juice, and voilia, there was a yummy sauce to go along with it.

Not anything worth of being on Food Network or anything, but it was so quick and easy and yummy!

First Pray 'n Play

About a month ago, I blogged (at the end of post) about an idea I had for a summer activity called Pray 'n Play.

The first one took place two days ago, on Friday. Lots of families were out of town or busy with VBS, so we only had 5 kids and mommies who were able to come, but that actually turned out to be a nice sized group. I can't imagine how it will be different when we have a full house with the 11 families that are interested in participating - whew!

Our first lesson focused on teaching the kids that everything God made is good, learning about Creation, and thanking God for everything that he made.


In this first pic, the kids were finding examples of things outside that God made, and then we sang a song.




This is what they looked like when I began singing to teach them the song: LOL!



The craft involved them making their favorite animal...Gavin's was really good ;-)


They had snacks cut out in the shape of the moon, oranges and apples to symbolize the sun and the stars (the star-like shape you'd find in the center of an apple, although I forgot to tell Jason to cut the apple leaving the star, so we missed that point - hehe)

It was great having an hour after the lesson to talk with other moms and have quiet time to focus on what we can do to strengthen our marriages, to be even better mommies, and pray specifically for our kids and some of the things they're struggling with.

I can't wait for next Friday's!

I'll never look at meatballs the same again...

At dinnertime, when Jason asks me how my day went, I never will be able to respond with the word "dull"...when people ask me what is it like being a stay at home mom, I will always be able to report that at times, it's truly more entertaining than a Broadway show.

I LOVE that Lucy is able to talk, (most of the time ;-) and I think you'll love these two stories from this week:

(I'll begin with my personal favorite):

Thursday, I toted Jack and Lucy along with me to my weekly weight watchers meeting (I've lost 23 lbs so far!), and I stopped in the bathroom (one that has several stalls) before entering the meeting (Hey, they weigh to the tenth, so every last little bit counts ;-).

And this is what my daughter shouts, with such enthusiasm it's nearly heart-breaking:

"Mommy! YOUR POOP LOOKS LIKE MEATBALLS!"

Now, if you have any sense of humor, you're likely laughing, but let me share more with you:

I HADN'T EVEN POOPED! I just went pee!

What the heck!?! Why did she say that!?!... She's three years old, I guess that's the answer. (At the time I did not realize the reference she was using, but I did realize two days later, and will tell you where she got that in closing after the second story.)

I'll be honest, I was laughing, along with the lady in the stall next door (of course someone else would have to be in there - of course! And I wish you could have seen Jason laugh when I relayed that story to him ;-)

Okay, second story:

So, Tiffany (a.k.a. Audrey's mom ;-) and I have recently begun noticing particular comments that our girls are making that make us stop and often say, "Oh boy, can you imagine what the teenage years are going to be like?!?"

After Tiffany kindly watched my kids for me for an hour the other day, I went over to pick them up. Lucy got herself all upset because Audrey decided there was one toy she didn't want to share. I told Lucy it was time to go anyway, and that maybe next time she could play with it. Well, Lucy's emotions and temper got the best of her and she snapped!

She screams and shakes out her words: "I NEVER GET TO DO ANYTHING AT AUDREY'S HOUSE!"

Tiffany and I both have to turn away and laugh. I've never heard Lucy say that particular phrase before, and it wasn't until I heard Jason reading to the kids yesterday, that I figured out where she learned it.

Mo Willems writes delightful children's books. One of my kids' favorite is Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus.

In it, the pigeon really, really, really wants to drive the bus, and after he's told several time that he can't, there is a two-page spread where he really looses his temper and shouts all kinds of things. One of which is, "I never get to do what I want!"

So, bingo, when I heard Jason read the story, I realized where she got that. So, then I got to thinking about her "meatball" comment, and realized that in the story Olivia, the scene after she gets in trouble for trying to recreate the Picasso picture she saw at the museum and after her bath, her mom gives her a big plate of spaghetti and meatballs. So, voila! There's the meatball reference...

As a teacher, I'm positively tickled that she's making such good connections between what she's reading and applying it to her life, and on the other hand, as a mother, I will now be on guard for whatever else she may take away from what we read - and be on guard!

"Too Cool For Shoes"

Just a fun picture I meant to post a few weeks ago...this was at our playgroup's picnic at Willow Park, and all the girls had ventured off to the opposite bench and removed their shoes.

After they had enough of not wearing shoes, they all decided to wear each other's shoes! (And of course there were a few hurt feelings when someone took a pair of shoes that owner was not particularly wanting to share ;-)

Poor Cameron - the only boy in our playgroup, well, other than Jack - he probably thinks these girls are SO silly! ;-)

Colorado Sunset

My dad lives and works in Denver now - he's the new morning man at Kool 105! - and he snapped this BEAUTIFUL sunset picture.

I think this may actually beat the Key West sunsets...

Funny Lucy Comment and Jack's 18-month photos

LOVED this dialogue I had with Lucy this morning:

Jack, Lucy, and I were sitting on her mattress (because an accident means morning laundry ;-( and I was clipping their fingernails. I finished Jack's right hand, and of course he tried to get away as soon as that was done. I sat him back down on my lap, and said, "Nope, buddy, we've got one more hand to do. God gave us two hands..."

Lucy - who was jumping near the end of the daybed, piped into the conversation, saying, "Yes, and two legs too!"

Me: "That's right, Lucy, two legs..."

Lucy: "And God gave us a butt too!"

Me: (ROFL!) "Where did you learn that, Lucy?"

Lucy: very thoughtful and quiet for about five or six seconds, then, "From Jesus."

Love it!

So, here are Jack's 18 month pictures my friend Ashley Turnbull took. We were at the Church of the Nativity on the downtown square - love the setting! Now, which ones for frames!?!




thumb and rubbing nose...SOOOO Jack!


I LOVE this one!




"Weeeeee!"





Sweet little people!


My parents will say this looks JUST like me when I was a kid!




I love this one!



Fun pic!



love the effect in this one!


Jack was waving at a plane!







LOL! He was not diggin' this setting!