Funny boy

What?? Haven't YOU ever felt like just pinning clothes-pins to your hair and nose and cheeks? ;)

Guess who!

Can anybody guess who is the guilty one responsible for this mess? Ahhhhh.....I heard several 'Eli's!' Bingo. This has happened before on a much, much smaller scale, and I thought he had learned his lesson. Apparently not. The whole room was covered in baby powder---from the floor to the furniture, to the legos ON the floor, to...well, everything! It was actually just laying in mounds in a few different places. You could hardly breathe when you walked in, that's how much baby powder was just 'floating around' in the air! I actually had to scoop up legos, put them in a kitchen collinder, and rinse them out in the bath-tub. That's alot of legos, folks! Let's just say his Mama was none too happy after having to scrub down his entire room. I really do love my Eli-guy just the way he is, I wouldn't change him for the world----but where in the world does he come up with such crazy ideas??!!!

Oh, how I wish I'd taken a picture!

But I didn't. So I'll have to describe it to you instead.

This morning when Cosette got up, I helped her to pick out seasonally appropriate, matching clothes---nice blue sweat-pants, white socks, and a matching shirt. Good outfit for being around the house, yet decent enough if someone happened to stop by.

However, after lunch, I remembered that I was supposed to run to the bank this afternoon, and we were also almost out of milk. So, I decided to make a quick errand run before the kids nap-time. Cosette had been playing in her room, and I called her and Eli to come to the living room. As my little girl ran out, this is what I saw:


She was now wearing a yellow and orange summer sun-dress, black tights, bright pink shoes, a fall purple jacket over her dress, a pink Easter hat, and white dress-up gloves. There could have been more, but that's all I can remember at the moment.


I almost cried out in shock and to ask her to go change clothes, but I caught myself just in time. She was obviously warm enough with all of those layers on, and she was 100 percent convinced that she looked 'beautiful'. So, I let her wear that outfit on our errands. You almost had to shield your eyes to look at her, but her happiness made it worth it :)

My poor husband..

• ....If it's 66 degrees in the house, I'm shivering and wiping my runny nose. "Joel, it's freezing in here!" If it's 71 degrees in the house, I'm roasting, opening windows, turning on fans, and telling him how the heat gives me a head-ache. If it's 68-70 degrees in the house, it's just about perfect . I don't know why he can't keep this straight ;)

• .....I gave him, as side-dishes in his lunch the other day, a kiwi cut in two to scoop out, and yogurt. And what utensil did I send with him? A fork, of course!

• .....Poor guy, his wife can't even get her 'catch phrases' correct! I know it's very embarrassing to him! I jokingly told Eli the other day to stop trying to 'smooch food' off of my plate. Joel groaned and said "The word is 'mooch' Jaime, not 'smooch!' Smooching is what you do when you kiss someone." Me: "Oh yeah! I knew that, it just came out of my mouth wrong....."

• He surprises his wife by bringing home one of her favorite kinds of ice-cream, and she gripes at him because he was only supposed to pick up this one other thing, and there was no grocery money budgeted for extra ice-cream. Then, when she realizes later that he did it for her, and he also has the extra money to cover it, she feels like a rat.....

• He has to listen from the kitchen while his wife tells their daughter that the Leaning Tower of Pisa is in Paris. (Audible Groan from the kitchen) "Um, love, that's the Eiffel Tower in Paris!" *Sigh*! (I really DID know that, by the way, I'm not stupid, it's just my brain is not working properly lately.....)

All this to say that I really do love my man, and he puts up with a lot from me, although most of it is un-intentional on my part! (Although I suppose I could work a little harder on tolerating a house that is 67 degrees, and perhaps my brain cells will return after the baby is born......) Thanks Love!

Life with boys

I'm sure some of you will find be strange for posting some of these stories, but hey, this is life with kids (especially boys), and I'm sure you need a good laugh anyway ;)

• So, I've always said that it's hard as parents of three little kids to really 'relax' while the kids are up. This may sound a bit far out to some of you, but I have a very recent story to prove my point. Joel and I were sitting at the table tonight after dinner while Noah finished his food. The big kids were running around playing, and we were just enjoying a few moments of quiet and peace at the table, a very rare occurance. Big no-no. Because just a few minutes later, Eli comes running out from the hall-way, face and hair dripping water. "Guess what Daddy! I put my head in the potty water and it was really fun!" Oh brother. See my point? Five minutes at the table, and my son has his entire head in the toilet. (Don't worry, he was placed directly into a tub of hot, soapy water and scrubbed down hard. But, if he comes up with hipocapedus anytime in the near future, I guess we'll all know why!")

• Joel had a small leaf pile smoldering in the back yard today for some yard clean-up. He came up to the house eventually, laughing. 'Well, at least Eli had a 'good' reason for why he was poking at the fire with a long stick. He said "Daddy, I'm poking the fire with a long stick so I can get fire on the end of the stick and hit the neighbors cat with it!" Well, if that's not a good excuse, I don't know what is..... ;)

• And finally, a story from my Noah-boy. He has had yet to say any understandable words. Not even 'Mama' or 'Dada' has ever left his lips. It's all 'ungh, ungh', and so forth. However, tonight, my sister walked in the front door, and Noah looked at her in delight, pointed his little finger and said "Kristin!", as plain as day! A whole room full of adults heard it. Go figure :)

'Peat and Re-peat'

As a lady at church likes to call my boys. Hmm....I wonder what will happen if the next baby is a boy? Will he be 'Repeat the II?' ;)

Sometimes I forget

I'm running around, taking care of children, teaching school work, fixing food, getting Sunday School lessons ready....and I wonder why I feel so worn out. I wonder why my stomach is turning upside down, and my hips are starting to ache........and then, I see a wonderful, God-glorifying story like this, and suddenly, I'm reminded. Reminded of the absolute joy of a newborn. Reminded of their sweet smell and their soft skin. And then I remember....oh yeah, we're gonna have one of those in a few months :) And suddenly, I don't feel quite so guilty about the afternoon naps.....the occasional frozen dinner......the topsy-turvy stomach that requires snacks 'round the clock......or the clothes that are fitting more snugly every day. We're going to have a baby, and nothing else really matters :)

If you have time, go over and see Beka's Blog and her new little bundle of joy. We have been praying for them for a long time now, and are rejoicing with their new little family!! God is good, ALL the time :)