don’t ask…

I’ve got a little girl who’s been experimenting with body graffiti.


Yep.  That’s right. 


We’re talking all over doodles with any kind of marker she can find. 



Here she was proudly showing me her drawings, in the buff, after her 2nd bath of the morning. 


No luck.  When they say “permanent”, they really mean it.

Don’t even ask me about the walls. 


Or my nightstands.  Or her nightgown and blankie. 


Especially don’t ask me about my beautiful {white} king sized Apt. 9 bedspread.  No.  Please don’t ask.  No need to keep bringing it up. 



You see, I was fast asleep along with the rest of the house, when she crept out of bed, and went down to the school room, and discovered the markers her sister left out, and then proceeded to color everything and anything she could find.  And then brought the marker up to our room to color on the nightstand, the blanket, the sheet, and her nightgown. 




She was sweet enough to snuggle in between Saul and I and fall back to sleep before waking us up.

That way, her innocence would be secure when she woke up and said, “What happened momma?”


Oh this girl has me on my toes…..

Serious Silliness

If you’ve spent any amount of time with me,

you’d know that I always have a crazy story to tell.
A house full of wild and rambunctious kids is the perfect recipe for some kind of disaster,
and a funny story is likely to follow it.

  I’ve kept a journal of these funny events,
and cute things that the kids have said since the boys were just toddlers
and Elaina was a babe in my belly.
Call me loony, but I’d much rather remember these crazy events
than all the hard ones that have turned my hair (ahem) gray!

I’m going to add this new meme to my blog:
Serious Silliness!

It will be a collection of funny telling's, past and/or present,
 straight from my journal
of what’s been going on ‘round these parts.
Hope you all enjoy them.
 And appreciate what I’m going through around here…haha!

1.  Overheard: Nate telling Isaac jokes, his giggles just make me smile!
"Hey Isaac, why does an elephant use his trunk for a bookmark?"
"I dunno.  Why?"
"So he NOSE where he left off!"
Followed by a belly rolling, fall to the ground, hysterical laughing,
while Isaac just stood there trying to "get" the joke...
(ages 7 and 7 1/2)

2.  Isaac, who is ALWAYS creating a new invention,
came into my room this evening while I was folding clothes. 
"Look at my new invention Mom!
It's an ant catcher, but it also grows the brains of the ants." 
Wondering why we would ever need ants with bigger brains,
I asked him why he thought to make this new machine.
  "Because Mom.  Ants are going extinct."
They Are? 
"Yes Mom.  They are being eaten alive by anteaters! 
We must do something to save them! 
Making their brains bigger will help the ants know how to fight back." 
Oh boy!
(age 7 1/2)

3.  I found Elaina sitting on the toilet and reading her Bible.
"What are you doing Missy?" I asked.
"I'm reading the 10 Command-blets.
It's the best book ever! 
Doh!"
I love that girl!
(age 3 1/2)


4.  "How can you hear me with all that hair in your ears?"
(Isaac, age 5)


5. "Ipsey, ipsey spider, up the water thing.
Down is the rain and do dee da dada.
Up to the sun and doo de dadada,
And the ipsey, ipsey spider
doo de dada daaa."
(Elaina, singing to Olivia, ages 3, and 5 months)


6.  Nate: "What is sunscreen for?"
Dad: "It protects your skin."
Nate: "Oh. So it's like a force-field."
(age 5)



7.  I asked Elaina one day during Tot School,
"How'd you get so smart?"
To which she pointed to her head and said,
"I've got a lot of ingredients in here!"
.....you sure do sweetheart!
(age 3 1/2)



8. "Mom, your better than chocolate cake!"
(Nate, age 6)



9.  Isaac recently graduated to Kids Jam in church (Children's Church).
He LOVES it!  He talks about it all the time.
When Saul asked him today about it, Isaac said,
"It's called Kids Jam, but don't worry Dad. 
They don't actually turn kids into Jam.  That would be sick."
I think I'm understanding his initial hesitation to going there....
(age 5)



10.  Elaina announced to her brothers today,
while she was pushing them out of her room,
"No humans allowed in here!"
When Isaac told her that she was a human, she yelled back,
"I'm not a human!  I'm a LADY!"
ROFL
(age 3)




Hope you had a few good laughs!  Until next time....
Do you have any funny memories you can share?

"Dirt is matter out of place."

Oliver Lodge

Our house has a sand box in the back yard, just under the swing set.
Our summer days are full of sand.  And mud.  And water.  Lots and lots of water. 
I really do love watching the kids play and work together.  Just wish it wasn't so messy....

I have a love/hate relationship with sand. 
I love how it keeps my children occupied for such a long time. 
I hate how messy it is. 
How it seems to linger, for days after you think you have cleaned it. 
How it finds it's way into things it has no business being in...
in our food, on our beds, in the baby's hair.

My eldest son, Isaac dreams in sand. 

He can think of nothing better to occupy his day with than
digging, smooshing, burying, covering, stirring, scooping,
and anything else he can think of, with sand. 
He has been this way forever, born with a specific desire to touch all things messy.

I set aside certain times during the week for such activities,
hoping that it might prevent him from getting into trouble. 
His curiosity gets the better of him.  It seems though he can not help himself.

I watch as he pours water to moisten the sand.
 He smooths it and pulls it into a hallow. 
He pours more water, just enough to make the sand workable. 
He pats his brow to wipe sweat from his head, leaving behind a smear of mud.
 Before long, his hands and feet are covered in mud, his thoughts are deep into his newest creation. 
He seems oblivious to his siblings running, playing in the warm sun,
only lifting his arm to shield it from stray fingers or a soccer ball kicked by his brother. 

My life is echoed here.  It resonates in these thoughts.
Drawn by my sinful nature, I fill my days with my own dreams,
my own desires, my own messes...

My Heavenly Father prompts me, leads me, yearns for me. 
Reaching out to shield me, He whispers, "Just Me." 

To be full of Christ, and empty of myself.
To pour out, so that He alone can fill.
To be cleansed. Washed new.

"Yet you, LORD, are our Father.
   We are the clay, you are the potter;
   we are all the work of Your hand."
Isaiah 64:8

My Redeemer takes my messes, my sins.
I am made new every morning...

"For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
   so great is His love for those who fear Him;
as far as the east is from the west,
   so far has He removed our transgressions from us."
Psalm 103:11-12