Another one... They just keep on comin'

Wednesday morning, getting ready for co-op, in my bathroom:

Melia: Mommy, can I put this on? (makeup)

Me: No honey.

Melia: Why, because we never look tired?

... she gave my secret away...

Happy 4th Birthday Kiera!

Happy Birthday to our second child, Kiera! You are certainly our spunky darling, with a quick wit and even quicker tongue! The funny things you say keep me on my toes, such as calling your Daddy a "redneck" even though you don't know what it means! I adore your little legs, and grieve the loss of your baby chub. I love to watch you run and exert yourself, admiring that you try so hard to keep up with your lanky sister. Your hair is like your momma's, only more blond. I wish it didn't get tangles because then you'd let me brush it more! Your eyes sparkle with your fiesty spirit trying to escape! You know almost as many numbers as your sister, and pick up things quickly as you watch her learn. You love to get up in Isaac's face, loving on him and expressing your enthusaism. He can't wait to see you first thing in the morning, and I love how you will sit in his room, reading and singing to him. He will soon give you a run for your money, so it's good you are up to the challenge! Your smile is contagious, full of mischief and fun! You love to sing in a soft and high pitched voice, especially "the song that Faith sang last night..." (When I'm feeling sad...) You are a challenge for me because you always seem to be a step ahead, cleverly thinking of how to get your way. But you are loving as well, cuddling on the couch and telling me how much you love me. You can't live without your sister, though you try to be as onery as you can! You love to watch me cook, do dishes yourself, play with the water and dirt. You and Melia play puppy and owner; you are almost always the owner!

While I'm afraid for you to grow too fast, I cannot wait to see what God does with your spicy personality! I hope to train you up in His Word, with a servant's heart for His Kingdom work. I pray you will learn to submit to authority with a smile on your face and joy in your heart, but without letting go of the spunk that is uniquely yours. I'm thankful God gave us you, such a colorful and exciting soul. You are a special splash of delight in our family, with an exuberant laugh that tickles our ears.

Happy Fourth Birthday, my sweet and spicy Kiera!

So Gross I Have to Share....

Since you all get a kick out of laughing at my distress... just kidding :-) I'll be laughing at you gagging as you read this!!!

Background: Kerzon is our Bengal male that we kept as a pet because he is one in a million. We adore him. He even lets Isaac pull and tug on him. Anyway, recently he has taken to puking after he eats. Not often, but when you hear him holler, you'd better run.

The other day Mom was over and he started yowling on the back of the couch. I grabbed one of Isaac's stacking bowls on my dash to save the couch, and deftly caught the puke in the bowl. Impressed? I was :-)

So this morning, Kerzon starts howling again (the girls know exactly what it means!) and we started the mad dash to find him. He's on the edge of the couch, I have no bowl, so I grabbed him and swung towards the vinyl (is that the right word? Or laminate?) floor in front of the door. But I was too late. As I swung, up it all came, and sprayed all over the couch, the carpet, and me. YUCK- but at least it was mostly still chunks of food... I sent Melia to get some wipes while I tried to stand perfectly still so as not to make a bigger mess. She brought me 3 (only 3?) wipes and I tried cleaning it up... then gave up... and called Ziva. She loves cat food... even the second time around. ;-) She made quick work (probably thought she was getting dessert before breakfast!) of the barf, and with a little encouraging even cleaned off the couch. I then was able to use the wipes and scrub off the stain. Here's some snippets of the girls as I was working:

Melia: It's sure good that we have Ziva!
Kiera: Yeah, she's such a nice dog!
Me (in my head): Yep, she cleans up the messes I don't want to! (ie. under Isaac's highchair, cat puke, broken eggs..) She's a great dog!

Kiera: Whoa, I almost threw up! But I pushed it back down. That was a good catch!
Me: That was a VERY good catch! Thank you Kiera! :-)
(I'm wondering if she'll be the one who's sensitive to throw-up smell...)

All this was before breakfast. For some reason, I'm just not hungry.... I think I'll go take a shower.

Opinion on Current (the catalog company)

I recently placed an order through Current. All of the items I received were fine, but one little coupon organizer was waayyy too small. (Gabe says I'm just not the average couponer...)

Anyway, I called to get a refund authorization like I'm supposed to before I send it back... The gal on the phone was friendly enough, but spoke awfully fast :-) The impressive thing was that she told me to give the one that I'd ordered "to my favorite charity," while they would send out the one I wanted to exchange it for. (a bit bigger... more my size)

I thought this was pretty neat- that instead of sending it back, they just wanted me to donate it and they'd send out the new one. And coincidentally, I just happen to know of a nice Spring Clean Giveaway coming to a Valley Community Church near you on May 8th!

(By the way, if you have items you like to donate, our church's Spring Clean Giveaway is a great place to do it. All items are free- it's our blessing to our community. Please only donate things which are in good working order and would be a Christ-honoring gift. Drop-offs can occur anytime between May 2nd, after church, until Friday.)

Apple Blossom Fun

Melia has a butterfly, Kiera a dolphin, and I am a "Celtic Princess."

:-)

A few more funnies

'Cause Melia was just crackin' me up today!

Melia and Kiera, sitting at the table playing fox and bunny. (That's what they call it. Or dog and owner... or horse and person...) Anyway, Melia says "If I push this button, it means we want us to be married. *PUSH* Oh good, we want to get married! Don't you want to kiss?" and the conversation goes on and on... "Did your mom get the message that we want to get married? Are you happy we are going to be married?...Wait, don't go, don't you want us to be married?"

Melia and Kiera, sitting at the table sharing goldfish crackers.
Melia: "Here you go puppy. These doggy treats will give you exercise (I think to myself- hey can I have some of those?) and these will give you extra slobber..."(uh. wait. never mind...)

Oh those words...

Kiera's not holding still, Melia's trying to get her to stop...

Melia: Puppy! No! You're not all prettied up yet!

Our Newest Invaders

The carpet beetles are awful this year! They keep flying in through Ziva's dog door- blech.

But the worst are these hairy black spiders! They are HUGE! They crawl around, watching you. Even though they're on the ceiling, I nearly always gasp with fear when I spot one because they are just so big! Then, when I suck them up in the vacuum, I can feel them go through the hose! EEWWWW!

The Dirt Monster

Seriously- This made my day...

Annie is a cleaning machine. And Isabel gives wonderful hugs.

Thanks you two :-)

I think we're doing better...

This week was a hard one. Isaac was extra moody :-) and was taking lots of naps. Or lots of quiet time in his room. I was full to the brim of screaming cranky boy, so he spent some alone time in his crib :-)

I think he's better today. He actually was up for a while before going back down this morning.

On the positive note, I was able to hit Joann's sale and got enough fabric for a dress and three skirts for each little lady for $20! I'm gonna try to drag the kiddos back in today to see if any of their $.99 patterns inspire me. If not, I definitely need more elastic.

I need to feel like I've at least accomplished something this week! (You know, other than working two days, co-op one day, cleaning and laundry. It's just all so "normal" that it doesn't seem to count!)

Needing Suggestions

I need help. Or rather, we need help. We have yellow jackets, wasps, earwigs, and spiders in excess. I can deal with them on my tomatoes and raspberries, but I can't handle them on the kids' yard toys.

Does anyone know of anything "safe" we can use to repell insects off the toys?

I've used peppermint spray in the house before, but I don't know if it would effective where it would be washed off...

Birthday Lists

With all the kids' birthdays coming up, I'm trying to update their wish lists. Under the "Gift Wish Lists" link on the right side you will find them, and I will add things as we find them.

Kiera (4/28)
Isaac (5/18)
Melia (6/28)

Oh, and Gabe (5/23) But he doesn't have anything on his list. :-)

Look what I made!

Skirts! My first skirts!

I even did my first RUFFLE! Isn't that amazing?!!?

The fabric from Kiera's was left over from Andrea's cart cover. Isn't it cute?

LOL'd "I have to go blog that right now..."

Melia, finishing coloring a zebra...
"Now THAT is a sweet ride...."


cracked me up!

Jonah Revelation

This is more for my own record than anything else. I hope it makes sense, but I want to get it down before I lose it :-)

This morning we're discussing Jonah 2 in Sunday School. I find the line of thinking that Jonah actually died in the belly of the fish to probably be more accurate, even though it is contrary to traditional teaching. In his prayer in Jonah 2, he refers to being in Sheol and being brought up from the "pit," and if we look at this literally, he was probably in Sheol. This is both possible and probable due to the story of Lazarus and the rich man told by Jesus (Luke 16) which provides an example of the awareness of one's existence in the afterlife (Sheol being the realm of the dead). In addition, Jesus makes reference to Jonah being in the belly of the fish three days and nights as a type of Himself being in the heart of the earth three days and three nights (Matt 12:40). Note that Jesus is referring to the length of His death- if we consider Jonah as a type, it would be safe to assume that he was dead for three days and nights.

As expected when one explores outside the traditional thought, most disagreed with me. Which is fine- we're all supposed to be as Bereans and see what the Spirit shows us!

I pondered this understanding for a while, and during the beginning of service, I jolted in my seat and asked Gabe for my Bible. In Matthew 12:41, Jesus makes a second reference to Himself and Jonah:
"The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here."
I didn't understand what this meant. In class we discussed how the stories from the other men on the boat probably preceded Jonah, possibly all the way to Nineveh, and that Jonah's "survival" had an impact on why Nineveh repented at Jonah's message. But all of the sudden it hit me- this statement makes sense if I consider it in light of pattern (Hebraic prophetic interpretation): Jonah being a physical type of Christ, in that his death and resurrection solidified the testimony of his word, and Christ's resurrection proved His power over death. The difference being that Jonah glorified God for his return from Sheol while Christ was Himself glorified.

I'm not going to say that I'm for sure right, but I will say that I am even more comfortable with this theory because of my experience this morning. I love it when I offer up my confusion, and in return receive a little glimpse of understanding. He is Good and Faithful!!

(If you have any comments, I'd love to hear them. We grow through challenging our assumptions, and Jonah is an example of how we've built doctrine out of tradition, instead of tradition out of doctrine. :-)

More randomness

Kiera: Mommy- stop the car! My heart stopped beeping!

Melia (while buttering her toast): Mommy, this is the good butter. I didn't like the bad butter.
Me: Who has bad butter?
Melia: We do. When I got some out of the fridge, I saw it. It's the white butter. I tried it and it tasted kind of wierd.
(I have no idea. We always use salted butter.)

And then, yesterday, at Andrea and Jayden's shower... Kiera was thoroughly enjoying her free access to the goodies. Olives, carrots, bread, and punch. To my utter horror, someone caught her sipping from the ladle instead of her cup. Oh dear.... But, what do I do? The damage is already done! Blech! Thankfully it was at the end of the party and not the beginning.

Easter Fun

Terrified Melia making Daddy rethink his decision to help her find the high eggs...

Mark and Annie holding Isabel and Isaac

Papa Randy hiding their eyes...

Isaac cracking Papa Marvin up :-)

A minor miracle... sleeping during church...

Dapper darlin' Isaac

Papa Randy and Isabel

Annie and Isabel

It's getting increasingly difficult to get a good shot... ;-)

My two men. Be still my heart...


And this was Isaac... playing "Chubby Bunny" with Melia's Easter candy... I couldn't get a good shot because he was on the run. There was rainbow drool all down his front :-)

It's safe to say he has a sweet tooth.

My coming Monday

Guess which one I'm more excited about?

** Our new KI class is starting... Joel/Israeli Eschatology

or

** Going to the dentist for the first time in five years?

What are the odds....

In the mail today, BOTH Gabe and I received Jury Duty notices for the whole month of May.