I tinkled on Grandma's leg!

Big sister and her buddy after a slip and slide adventure

"Call Me"

I wanted to get this down before I forgot, one of those funny moments...rarely in the mundane things of life like mowing the lawn, doing the laundry, dishes, cleaning toilets, etc. have I heard voices from beyond. Today, while gathering up the trash bag, I did. I opened the cupboard, reached for the ties to cinch the bag, and then, I heard it. A faint voice calling to me, at first, indistinguishable. I perked up my ears and listened harder. Was it coming from next to me? Above me? Was the Lord speaking to me? Not that he couldn't, but hardly here I realized. What was it saying? "Call me"? OK, now I was at a loss. Not only was I hearing things, but this disembodied voice was asking me out. Proof positive that SOMETHING was not right. I leaned toward the trash bag and the pleading grew louder. "Call me, Call me, Call me".

Alas, it truly was a voice from beyond the grave. Poor Burger King toy Barney was being eighty sixed with today's trash. His last plea before he succumbed to dismal burial in the local landfill... "call me". Bummer he could never come up with a better line. A faint wash of guilt momentarily threatened as I had visions of Toy Story dancing in my head. Then, I threw the bag away. Bye bye Barney. Say hi to Woody in that toy store in the sky.

A Day out with Mommy

Day out with Mommy began with my little 2 year old going pee pee in her potty. She literally jumped off the potty, waiving her hands and bouncing up and down yelling, "Me did it Mommy, me did it!" A mixture of pride and thanksgiving welled up in me; pride in her for being so independent and exuberant, thankful that I didn't have to pull out the carpet cleaner AGAIN because she's soiled the floor. Whew.

We moved on to Walmart searching out school supplies for sister. This little one was an angel, and as a reward, she got to ride on the Bob the Builder motorized digger before we left. She was ecstatic.

Finally, we hit Fred Meyer where she held out her good behavior for a ride on the "neigh". Her word for horse. She can say horse, but it's much more fun to whinny and then raspberry at the end. And a pink horse? Who could ask for more than that.

With big sister gone for the week, it has been such a joy to get to know this little monkey better. She is a ham and a spirit all her own. What a blessing to have two girls with such wonderful personalities. It certainly begs the question, "where did it all come from?"

Next Door on Cherry Tree

And so, yet again, new tenant seeks to make a home in 12345 Cherry Tree Ln. I assume they don't know that the house already has a sordid past in the little more than 2 years it's been resided in. This just happens to be the house next to me. From the peeping that I've done, it appears that it will be occupied by a young couple with no children. Personally, this grieved me for the little house. It has yet to know the joys of the pitter patter of little occupants or be initiated by their various odoriferous excretions. But more than that, no one has decorated its walls with crayola or sang twinkle twinkle at the top of her lungs to its rafters, or danced into the night to "High School Musical". What will be the next phase in this little house's life? Will there be puppies or kittens? Will there be beer and rioting? Will there be sadness and separation? So far, it's seen much of life. Maybe this time will be the time that a newborn baby is brought through its threshold. I'll have to peep and see.

We are Hungry

Family camp and Princess 2 turning 2

Here's the family at South Beach for Family Camp. Our church goes camping once a year and it's so much fun! Baby soap slip-n-slide, water balloon launching, raw chicken volleyball, prayer and worship at the camp site, going to the aquarium, crabbing, sharing Jesus with our camping neighbors. It's a great time. Annie turned two and had her cake and singing around a camp fire with all her church family around. We all got so dirty but at the end of the day, we slept well! I got chicken in my eye, Geoff got a raw egg smashed on his head, Nathalie slid 100 feet on Johnson's baby shampoo and Annie turned 2. Oh, and big old Max had the time of his life being the camp dog. Everyone loves him. Not a bad four days.