Who?

I am in love with this Owl. He's doesn't know it yet but he's getting framed and hung on the wall.

Preach

An excerpt from a sermon on The Shield of Faith by John Henry Jowett. 1864 - 1923

"Paul wanted a shield, not against failure; that might come or stay away. But he wanted a shield against the pessimism that may be born of failure, and which holds the soul in the fierce bondage of an Arctic winter. Paul wanted a shield, not against injury; that might come or stay away; but against the deadly thing that is born of injury, even the foul offspring of revenge. Paul wanted a shield, not against pain; that might come or might not come; he sought a shield against the spirit of murmuring which is so frequently born of pain, the deadly, deadening mood of complaint. Paul wanted a shield, not against disappointment, that might come or might not come ; but against the bitterness that is born of disappointment, the mood of cynicism which sours the milk of human kindness and perverts all the gentle currents of the soul. Paul wanted a shield, not against difficulty; that might come or might not come ; but against the fear that is born of difficulty, the cowardice and the disloyalty which are so often bred of stupendous tasks. Paul did not want a shield against success ; that might come or might not come; but against the pride that is born of success, the deadly vanity and self-conceit which scorch the fair and gracious things of the soul as a prairiefire snaps up a homestead or a farm. Paul did not want a shield against wealth ; that might come or might not come; but against the materialism that is born of wealth, the deadly petrifying influence which turns flesh into stone, spirituality into benumbment, and which makes a soul unconscious of God and of eternity. The apostle did not want a shield against any particular circumstance, but against every kind of circumstance, that in everything he might be defended against the fiery darts of the devil. He found the shield he needed in a vital faith in Christ."

Advanced Secret Stashing

Peekaboo.

It's a good thing my kids don't read my blog. For the record though, the Cinnabon Caramel Pecan Crunch isn't very good. I'd almost rather have the Crispy Rice, except for the box is empty, which is the whole point. Now throw a box of Reeses Puffs or Waffle Crisp in there and that's a different story. Those are two cereals worth hiding. But what can I say, I succombed to end cap display marketing once again. It's a weakness of mine.

They Weren't Kidding

Here is the answer:

Note the text at the top of the can. "Always wear gloves".

Nate was doing some home repairs and ended up with expandable foam all over his hands. It was starting to cure on his skin but he figured he could just get it off with some gasoline. Let me quote you the fine print on the can. "Uncured foam dissolves with acetone. For skin and solid surfaces, cured foam must be mechanically removed or allowed to wear off with time." It turns out, they weren't kidding. They were dead serious. He tried everything: washing with gasoline, rubbing his hands on the cement, exfoliating it off with sand from the sand box, scrubbing with a pumice stone, and manually picking it off. A quick google turned up a few more ideas, one of them being latex gloves filled with olive oil. No luck. We were able to cut the big chunks out of his arm hair with scissor and he just ended up having to pick at the rest of it for hours. It's much, much better now, two days later, but it's not all gone.

He looks like a leper.

Good Luck

Anyone want to guess what this is all about?

Isn't This Some Kind of Game Show?

I am flabbergasted. I mean, I knew it was bad but I had NO IDEA! You may have read my side bar. There's a little blip about socks and kids and blah blah blah. And the commas. I make my disclaimer about the commas.

Now I know I write how I speak. I'm pretty much ignoring all of the sentence structure and punctuation rules. Because I'm a grown up. Because I can. Because. I'm also completely aware that none of those are sentences. I just wing it. It's my blog and I'll fragment if I want to.

It's just that I had no idea how badly I have been butchering the English language until tonight. Tonight I had the humiliating revelation that I am, in fact, not smarter than a fifth grader. Camryn asked for help with her homework and we wrangled it. We wrestled it. We punched it in the face. It still beat us. It completely trashed a frustrated ten year old and a frazzled thirty two year old. Simile, metaphor, hyperbole, personification. Independent clauses, dependent clauses, John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt. I remember learning all of it somewhere in the past but it left my brain a long time ago along with the correct way to write in cursive. So I print with flair! Sue me!

I realize that this has got to drive some of you crazy. I do my best to keep my they're, there, and theirs straight. I try not to confuse two, to, and too. But if you came here expecting a literary masterpiece, you've come to the wrong place. All you're gonna find here are awkward phrasing, a whole slew of incorrect punctuation, and the occasional dangling modifier.

How embarrassing.

Another Photo Post. Surprised?

It's always fun to look back at old picures. By "old" I mean a year ago. I was looking back at last fall's photos on my hard drive and I came across some fun stuff. Let me share.

Last labor day, Jack was stung my a bee that flew up his nose. Here, let me show you.

(last year)

Poor kid. It doesn't even look like him. That was taken the day AFTER the traumatic incident.

Ok, so just the other day we were driving from school to school to school, doing the daily afternoon pick up and lo and behold, there was a bee in our van. I assured the kids, just leave it alone and it will leave you alone. Not ten seconds later Toby is sobbing hysterically. It stung him on the right ear. This picture makes me chuckle.

(This year)



Remember this?

(Last Year)

(Last Year)

It was one year ago that Gemma, through difficult circumstances, found her perfect haircut. We've kept the bob-with-bangs all year and it suits her. The hair on the side is completely grown back out, she can even do mini-pigtails now. And we keep the scissors on top of the fridge.

(This year)

And then there's Randall.

Oh Randall, you have become a beast of a salamander. I never thought you would survive a year in our home, and yet here you are. You've grown so much on your diet of whateverthekidsdigupforyou. Here you are the first day we met you, practically a baby and here you are today.


But the biggest difference between last fall and this fall is this little girl. Most photographed child in Sept-Oct '09. Sorry other kids.

A Year

It was one year ago yesterday that I ran a marathon. Today I can't even run one mile.

I'm not bitter. Okay, maybe just a little bit. I really, really miss running but I know it's because of cute little Everly that I was sidelined for awhile. I've got one year to get myself back up to 26.2 again. October 2010 here I come!

But for tonight, I think I'll eat a spoonful of marshmallow creme while I snuggle a bald baby girl.

Priorities.

Boochies

Almost all of my kids have been blankie kids. Except they don't call them blankies, they call the boochies. Not sure exactly which one couldn't pronounce blankie when they were little but boochie stuck and that's what we all call them now. A big throw for an adult to snuggle up on the couch with while watching tv? Blanket. A big fleece for on the kids' bed? Blanket. Anything made of flannel that can be held in one hand while sucking your other thumb? Boochie. Many boochies have come and gone over the years. The ones that last become unrecognizable as their former self after much love. We have had "square boochie", "kissy boochie", "car boochie", "circle boochie" and many more.

Today I received a package in the mail and this is what was inside.


I may have giggled out loud. Aren't those the cutest fabrics ever?! These are sure to become "bird boochie", "yellow boochie", and "flower boochie". My friend Jenn stared up an Etsy shop selling these receiving blankets and she sent Everly three of them as a gift. They are incredible.

I love the description she wrote up:

These are great for swaddling squirmy newborns, of course. But beyond that, they're great as nursing cover-ups and for covering carseats to protect baby from sun or bugs. They're nice, sanitary surfaces for tummy-time or changes, they protect furniture from crummy cracker-eaters, and they can mop up those improbably-huge "glurps." Keep one in your diaper bag at all times!

As baby gets older, they will find new life as Superman capes, picnic blankets, and coffee-table tents, and later still, they can be re-purposed for buffing cars and polishing violins. (They also roll into a nice whip!)

To show you how big they are, I took a picture of Everly chilling on one of them in the middle of the living room floor.


I defiantly recommend checking these out if you've got a little newbie. If you don't, they would make great gifts. Her Etsy shop is called "Shoe Dweller". With a whole bunch of kids of her own, you can believe she knows what she's talking about when it comes to babies and blankies.

I know my kids are going to be fighting over them. Sorry guys, these belong to The Everly.

Thanks Jenn!