Baby steps

Today I danced around the kitchen with my Livi girl.  We like Adele. Benjamin came in and joined us very briefly.  I love to see him dance.  He is shy about it, but it makes me smile.

We had lunch with Kevin.  Benjamin called Kevin to tell him that he got a 100% on his spelling test, and then invited Kevin to lunch.  It was sweet.  I love that Olivia sticks her hand in the mouth of the lion statue in front of the restaurant and then hollers, "Daddy!  Help me!  Save me!"  

Olivia "helped" me mop.  She is actually really enjoying helping me clean as long as we're together.  I sort of like it.  She also hung out with me and chit chatted while I scrubbed the tub.  :oD

Benjamin spent the last part of the evening curled up in my bed reading on my Kindle.  I love that he is reading long chapter books now.  It's exciting to see him really get into a good book.  I can't wait to see what it is he likes.

Kevin came home from work feeling nice.  He wrote an important email and was very pleased with himself.  I am pleased with him too.  It's nice to see him shine.

Tamryn and the kids came for dinner tonight.  I made a cajun soup and biscuits.  Yum.  We played a game called Carcassonne.  It's a really fun strategy game (I only say that because I won. Otherwise I don't use strategy and fun in the same sentence.  The game was fun though!) and had a great time talking.  Dessert?  I got to watch Tam's little girl take her first steps.  That was special.  This is the kind of thing I love....dinner with friends, playing games, talking, enjoying the children. 

Kevin and I wrapped up the evening with an episode of Little House on the Prairie.  I love that show.  This one was about when Dr. Baker falls in love with a young woman named Kate, but decides that he can't marry her because he is old enough to be her father.  I didn't realize it until halfway through the show, but Kevin is a lot older than me, and I'm sure glad that he never changed his mind.  I don't know what I'd ever do without that man!

Ahhhhh....happy sigh.  Thank you, God, for this life.

Rice Krispies...not a treat!

If you ever wanted to know what an entire box of Rice Krispies would look like on your carpet, then this is the post for you!!

Caught red-handed!! (not that it would have been anyone else's doing but Olivia's. Kevin is trained now. LoL)

Trying to hide the evidence in her mouth?

I felt better after I could see the deep remorse in her little eyes...not to be confused with the little Rice Krispies on her lips.

I was on the phone with a friend who is the mother of James. Even though I was tempted to pick Livi up and smother her...in kisses...I realized that Olivia, like her friend James, is just having a good time!! And James' mother is such a good sport! So, I can be too!

We had James' siblings stay over for dinner tonight. They were playing Crossfire with Benjamin and Kevin and we just figured that we might as well make an evening out of it. It is nice to have them over. They are very well mannered! At one point during dinner Amara was telling me how she didn't really care for tomatoes. Josiah piped up and said, "I don't either, but I am going to make a choice to eat them anyway!" He had dinner with us another night this week and said the same thing then as well. That makes me feel very happy. I told Josiah that his mother would be very proud of him for saying such a thing!! Good job, Steph! Here's our dinner crowd:

Splash Pad Fun!

Wednesday was a fun day!! Laura, Stephanie, and I took the neighborhood kids (11 in all) out to the Splash Pad. We met Adriana and Jessi out there. That added 5 more kids! I didn't know if Olivia would like it because she hates to have water splashed on her face, but she enjoyed herself immensely. Everyone had a great time. All of the children played happily. Yes, it is the truth!! Here's the proof:

Olivia ran around everywhere!

Benjamin was acting like he was going to chase her. She'd get very excited!

Benjamin and Jasper sitting on the sprayers. All of the children thought that was the best thing to do!

Olivia cheerfully running away from the sprayer when it kicked on.

Benjamin "sitting" on a sprayer.

Benjamin taking a drink from the fountain. Gross!

Hanging out with the water dial.

Josiah enjoyed riding his scooter through the sprayers.

Olivia walked over the the swings and frantically made her "help" sign until I put her in the swing. She loves swinging!!

James does too! James is one of Stephanie's sons. He and Livi are very close in age and enjoy each other very much.

Stephanie is so much fun. Such a good mom!

Isaac was doing a hula dance on the sprayer. It was hilarious!

Lucy, Beth Rose, Ethan, and Olivia. The big kids mostly played on the playground and just came to the water to cool off.

The always beautiful, always smiling, Amara Grace!

Adriana's boys and Josiah.

Good times, good times.

For Stephanie and Laura

A "Real" Friend

"What is real?" asked the rabbit one day. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you, and a stick out handle?"

"Real isn't how you were made," said the Skin Horse, "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long time, not just to play with, but really loves you, then you become Real. It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time...Generally, by the time you are real, most of your hair has been rubbed off and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real, you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

Margery Williams
From The Velveteen Rabbit

I know that this is an excerpt from a kid book, but it is meaningful to me. I love this book. I was especially reminded of you both when I read the part about "when a child loves you...not just to play with, but really loves you." It is nice that, even though we can play, that our friendship is more than that There is something deeper there that is far more important than the surface garbage that today's world seems so obsessed with.

Thank you, Stephanie and Laura, for loving me even though my "hair has been rubbed off and my eyes drop out" It's nice to have people who want to be friends through it all! You are a blessing to me and I just wanted you to know it.

Easter doings

Well, this post if obviously late, but better late than never, right?

Easter was a very relaxing day for us...once we figured out what time church started. I was wondering why Kevin bolted out of bed promptly at 7:15. I told him to lay back down and relax with me...for Pete's sake, the kids were still asleep! I was under the impression that we didn't have to be to church until 10 (the time regular service starts). Kevin said that they were having our Sunday School class (that is at 9). He was right! I guess I am used to our old church. They usually cancelled Sunday School when there was a special service.

So I took my time getting the children ready. I was thinking about how nice it was to have everything set out and calm. HA! At 8:53 (yes, I remember) Kevin comments, very nicely, that we really should get to going. I tell him that we've got time. It's not even 9 yet. Then he drops the Sunday School bomb on me. 8-)

This is one of those times I am glad we had 2 cars. I sent him and the children on their way and I finished getting ready. On the way to church, the sky was BLACK. It looked like it was night time at 9:30 in the morning. The roads were also very empty. It was a really creepy sort of morning. The sky exploded right as I made it to church.

The service was interesting. It wasn't the message that you would expect to hear preached on Easter Sunday. The pastor (one of the two) actually spoke about the crucifixion instead of the resurrection. I guess it all goes together anyway, huh? I also found it odd that they really didn't do anything special for Easter. But, this is a new church and we are just learning how they do things.

When we got home I hid some plastic eggs for Benjamin and Olivia.

Olivia's were very stealthily hidden...right on the coffee table and on the seats of the gliders.


Benjamin had a great time finding his eggs. However, once Olivia realized that there were goldfish crackers in her eggs, she was DONE. She stood by Kevin and said, "BA BA BA!" until he opened hers. It was cute!

We then took the obligatory Easter photo...complete with the children in their Easter attire.
Or something like that!!

We had dinner (or whatever you call a meal at 2pm. Dinupper?) with the Forringers, Meltons, and several college students. After "dinupper" we played games. I will humbly (read AMAZINGLY, AWESOMELY, HAPPILY, IN-YOUR-FACE-ABLY) announce that Stephanie and I beat the Engineer and the Physicist in a probability game that involved dice. But, I don't want to brag. ;-)

It was a really great day!! When we went to bed, we all felt like this...


P.S. I am seriously considering putting up the Christmas pictures!!

Outside fun with friends!

Today was a fantastic day! I am not much of an outdoorsy kind of girl, but I spent almost the whole day outside.

This morning I went to McWhorter park with Ruth Anne, Laura, and Chelsea. I hadn't ever been there before, but I really liked it. Lois Jackson is my favorite, but they don't have bathrooms.

Anyway, Benjamin, Isaac, and Ethan had fun riding their bikes and sliding Hot Wheels down the slide. Isaac was all Evil Knievel and flying down the hill. At one point Isaac slid down the metal pole from the top of one of the play things and declared, "I did it, but I almost died." We laughed a lot at this!! Luckily, all children managed to leave without breaking any body parts...or dying. I consider that a successful day out! Olivia and Benji (Ruth Anne's) did a lot of swinging and hangin' with the Mommies.

Olivia loves swinging!

Benji does too!

After the park we had lunch at Mazzio's. Livi was a wee bit tired.

She ended up laying on her tummy in the stroller with her rear end poking up. She slept through getting in the car, out of the car at the restaurant, into the stroller, and a good amount of time at the restaurant This is VERY unlike her! Trying, unsuccessfully, to eat wood chips all morning is tiring work!!

When we got home, I let Benjamin play with the the neighborhood kids and Olivia went down for her nap. I felt all excited so I decided to tackle the (small) flowerbed that I have been neglecting for about 2 years now. I weeded it, raked the leaves out and bagged them, dug up the Oleander and transplanted it elsewhere, turned the soil, planted a red bud tree in the center, flattened the soil back, and then planted Heather. I told the lady at Lowe's that I needed a plant that "wasn't going to go down without a fight." To say that I am bad with plants is being kind!

Here is Oleander in it's new location

The red bud tree has been living in a pot since my sister-in-law gave it to me 2.5 years ago. I have not watered it, or even looked at it, since. I have thought that it was dead several times now, but it miraculously comes back every year. However, now that I have touched it, it will most certainly die!!

And this is the finished flowerbed.

Stephanie showed up right before I put the heather in. Then Laura came...then Sherene. They all dropped right down and helped me put the plants in. It was greatly appreciated!! (thanks guys!!) Then Ted, Chad, and Steve came over too. It was a regular ole' reunion at my house. I love that sort of thing!! I always wanted to live in a neighborhood where your neighbors were also your friends instead of strangers you try to avoid.

I love when the neighbors feel free to come over whenever they want. That sort of thing has never bothered me. Sherene has shown up on her own twice in the past few weeks. Once to play in the rain, and then today. A few weeks after Laura moved in she walked over one afternoon and we spent about 2 hours just chitchatting. I felt very blessed that she felt comfortable enough to do that. Stephanie and I frequent each other's homes several times a week. Linda opens her home monthly for chai parties. Perhaps I'll invite her here for tea! Jan and Lew keep up with neighborhood safety issues. And all of the children play every afternoon at every house in the neighborhood!! The children here are kind, honest, intelligent, and fun!! This is huge to me!! So, if you're reading this and you live here, thanks for being a part of making this possible.

There have been people who think it is very frightening that we live "on the south side" and can't see what it is that keeps us here. Neighbors like these are what keep us here!! We trust God for our safety, and he has provided, and then we enjoy the rest.

And, heck, who wouldn't want to live in a place where your afternoon ends like this...
A man rode by on a horse.


I channelled my inner Stephanie and yelled to him, "May the children see your horse?" He rode right over into the yard, told me he didn't speak English, and motioned for Benjamin to come to him. He put Benjamin up on his horse and walked him around the front of the yard. Then he put Jasper up on there with Benjamin. They were two VERY happy boys. At this point, Stephanie and her family came over again. The man also gave rides to Lucy, Brandon (new kid in neighborhood), Amara, and Beth Rose.


The neighborhood together again!
The children tried to feed the horse some raw carrots, but clearly the horse feels the same way I do about raw carrots...YUCK!! So, the children all begged for carrots. Yes, you read that right!!

Benjamin really enjoyed his...as you can tell by his orange mouth!

And Olivia was not about to be left out!!!

Olivia enjoyed her outside time immensely!! Here's an outside picture just for fun!

Oh, and my plums are growing again this year. Last year, being the kind animal lover that I am (HA!!), I sacrificed all of my plums to the birds. I'm a giver! Here is what they look like now.
While in the backyard, I noticed two things: my dog runs three paths in the yard and the clover that we hand dug out of the yard a couple of years ago is all back. Clover is the one plant that I cannot kill!! Argh!

Well, that was my long, rambling post for today. It was such a great day. I enjoyed all of the wonderful weather....however, my skin is quite pink. So, tomorrow I may be singing a different tune!!! Either way, I love my outside day!!