Never a dull moment.

Living with Miles is a laugh-a-minute. When he's not pondering on the friendship of Santa Claus and Jesus, he's singing Primary songs to himself or leading an attack as Captain Underpants. Yes, those books are popular over here too.



Weapon of Choice: Toilet Scrubber x 2.

Sobbing

Abbie's been having a tearful month or so. Not sure what's going on with her. She seems to be even more prone to crying jags when Matt's around (and I'm even more prone to them when he's not.) But we're working on getting it under control.

I wish I could remember how the conversation came up, but we started talking about college and all the cool stuff you do at college. No, not partying... the cool stuff like living with your friends and making your own food.

Abbie was really not fond of that idea. She never wants to leave my side. And so the crying began.



1. This must be documented. Because in 11 years when she's DYING to get out from under my tyrannical thumb, I will show her this picture and tell this story.
2. I'm evil.

What I got for Valentine's Day

Um, ignore Anna. Also ignore the fact that I don't actually have a picture of the entire house from the front... I was holding a very cranky Lucas.

We don't close til March, so keep your fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly.

You can see more bad pictures here with some explanations.

Headfirst into 7

Dear Seven,
I have to admit, I'm a bit scared by you. But I'm more scared for you. You're wise beyond your 2555 days.

Yet you're still my baby, as evidenced by the fact that you let me cradle you in my arms and snuggle into your neck.

You're fiercely independent in one moment and desperately needing mom the next.

You're a very intelligent girl, Seven. I want you to keep learning and growing. Gain as much knowledge as you possibly can. But never forget to rely on the arm of the Lord. Do not discount faith. It's importance and prevalence in your life is where your happiness will truly come from.

Seven, I need you to listen...

This world is only gonna get harder, and scarier, and meaner. Always, always remember that I love you. Never forget the things that your Father and I are trying to teach you: compassion, sincerity, patience, & a willingness to clean up after your own darn self.

But please, don't be afraid to be a kid. Don't be afraid to show your goofy side.

Seven, you seem so much older than I would have thought possible. We have the ability to trust you to make good decisions (most of the time).

Keep doing that. We like that. Don't get sidetracked by all the meaningless fluff this world has to offer, Seven. Keep smiling. Keep hugging. Keep us close.


Love,
Your mom.

A funny thing happened.

I learned how to use chopsticks when Matt and I were dating. He's obviously Chinese (or at least some Asian ethnicity, right?). I'd always wanted to learn, and he taught me. I'm actually quite good, if I do say so myself.

Tonight, because we had free babysitting provided by the Husband's Employer, we decided to go out to eat. We appreciate Asian foods of all kind: Chinese, Thai, Korean (oh the Beef Bulgogi!), and Vietnamese (I'm less of a fan of Japanese, though I do like me some Yakisoba Noodles).

Tonight was a Vietnamese night. We headed to our favorite place. We were seated very quickly, and then proceeded to hem and haw about what to order. While we sat around deciding, our waiter brought us some water. And some Spring Rolls.

And a single napkin with a fork. And set it down right next to me.

What?!

No, he didn't bring Matt a fork. Just me. No, I hadn't asked for a fork and yes, we already had chopsticks at our table. I sat there for a moment, appalled. I looked up at Matt. We were both a bit in shock! Did that just happen?!

I really wanted to be offended, but instead it just kept sending me into fits of giggles. One fork for the whitey!

I think I was just discriminated against!? Or maybe Matt was!

In which I earn the title "Cruelest Mom Ever"

You know you're my kind of "mean mom" if you've ever taken pictures like these.

You know. Just for posterity's sake.

So I can attest to how dirty he can get while eating his breakfast.

That mixture of yogurt, crusted snot and last night's dinner is really attractive.

But wait. What's this face?

Oh no. It's definitely THAT face. But instead of having some decency...

You just keep shooting.

You know, for posterity's sake.
Oh, come on! You know you look like this while pooping too!)

Don't we all feel better afterwards? I know I do.

Lavish me with praise.

Sometimes, you just need to be honest about what you need, right?

While I didn't slave over the girls' Valentines like some people, I did make them myself.



It was as simple as getting a picture of the girls with their hand in a fist outstretched. Overlaying some "Happy Valentine's Day" text in Photoshop and having them printed as a 4x6.



Then I simply cut with some sharp-pointed scissors, a slit at the top and bottom of their hand and slid the sucker in. I also used a piece of scotch tape on the back to make sure the Tootsie Pop didn't fall out.

Done. Total time spent, maybe one hour?

The Devil Inside.

Yes. A cute kid. Keep in mind, we've truly hit mobility here.

Now. Let's zoom out.


That would be the entire contents of 95% full Kleenex box. Thanks for "keeping an eye on him", Abbie!

They're here too.

My husband was wondering if I ever take pictures of the other kids. Um.

No?

Maybe?

Okay,I did take this one last Sunday.

Yes, Anna's wearing a sweater under her dress. I try not to micromanage.

This was taken during our Post-Church tradition of tuna fish sandwiches. What's that? You think that's gross? After almost 2 years, I think so too.

Some Scrappy Fun.

Recently, I won a copy of Quick & Easy Photo Albums from this amazing blogger.

No. Let me back up. In June of 2004, we flew to Maui, Hawaii for Matt's high school best friend's wedding. Best vacation we've ever taken. We took Anna along with us (still nursing), but left Abbie at home with my mom. We took a ton of pictures, and about 2+ years ago, I had a good handful of them printed. I didn't really want to incorporate them into my regular scrapbooks because I wanted to do something special with them.

Enter the above magazine.

It shows how you can take regular 1up or 2up or 6up or whatever photo albums and turn them into fabulously fun scrapbooks. And so I did. I purchased the cheapest 1up album I could find for $1.99 at Target and went to town. I completed the entire album in two evenings.








I just wanted to throw this out there as an option for those of you who might like to scrapbook, but are too afraid to delve deeply into the mysterious and evil world of scrapbook supplies.

I used about 6 sheets of 12x12 paper, some paper flowers, some letter stickers and some other random stuff. The album has 15 spreads. I love it. I highly recommend it.