The House Guest...

We have a house guest for the weekend. He's hairy and he slobbers. He follows me around and begs for food and refuses to sleep in his own "bed." And despite all this, we are enjoying his company. Because...he is a little bit cute, don't you think?

This is Dakota, Bentley's half brother. The poor guy has been called Bentley quite frequently in the past two days, but he just smiles his goofy smile and wags his tail!

Kate professes her love to him at least three times an hour (as in, "Oh Dakota, I love you soooooo much.") She has even decided that he probably won't want to go home because he'll miss us too much.

I think that's not likely, after we dressed him in princess attire. Dakota lives in a testosterone dominated house, so we were just trying to get him in touch with his feminine side (sorry, Rodney)!

But don't worry, he's gotten to partake in many manly activities, such as football and BBQ grilling.


And we even introduced him to the cute, furry "ladies" who live in the house. He was scared and ran away from the "ladies." Now that was funny!

Notice that there are no pictures of Ellie with our house guest. She's afraid he's going to eat her. Seriously. I heard her crying last night and she told me that Dakota was trying to eat her. Of course, she was waving a slice of cheese in his face, so I suspect he might have been trying to eat her!

Sheila, Rodney, and Shawn...don't worry about Dakota, because we're taking good care of him. I think we may even paint his toenails later today : )

When you gotta go...

Dear Fellow Motorists,

It's me...the girl who frequently stands on the side of the country road (or interstate or turnpike or business parking lot or once...in the line at the car wash), with her car's hatch up in the air. And yes, that is a small child, sitting on a plastic potty, in the back of the car. No, we couldn't make it to the next gas station or fast food restaurant, hence the reason why I am standing on the side of the road (or loitering in your business parking lot). And yes...I will probably dump the contents of the potty nearby(unless it is a business parking lot, in which case I will firmly shut the potty lid and pray that nothing leaks out before I get home). Thank you, for kindly smiling (and only occassionally laughing) at the frustrated mama by the side of the road.

Sincerely,
The Frustrated Mama By the Side of the Road

A walk in the park...

I felt bad that I didn't have any pictures of Ellie in the aquarium post, so I thought I'd share some from last week's park adventure. The girls and I had so much fun. We explored and took pictures and collected rocks and leaves and flowers and bugs (Kate's idea...not mine)! We had a picnic and Ellie said, "Best picnic eber, mama." They even convinced me to let them take their shoes off and get in the stream. They were both soaked when we left, but we caught a crayfish and we searched for the elusive "speckled warbler" (a bird that Kate heard about on Diego and now she always asks if every bird is the speckled warbler). I just had the best day with my girls at the park, and I realized how blessed I am to work part-time and get to share these fun days with them!

Dolphins and Clown Fish and Sharks, Oh My...

We spent the day at the aquarium last week. I just love that place. Mostly, I love the sharks and the dolphins. They are so awesome and so enormous. Steve and I swam with dolphins a few years ago and we couldn't believe how big and powerful they are. It's definitely intimidating when you're in the water with them! The girls had a great time, but poor Ellie was feeling a little under the weather. In the middle of the shark exhibit she just looked at me with sad, tired eyes and said, "I want to go home...where's the door?" Poor thing. I found out the next day that she had strep throat and of course, I felt terrible for dragging her all over the aquarium. But she was a trooper. And Kate...well, that girl asks a million questions about every single fish, reptile, bird, etc. And heaven forbid that we try to skip an exhibit, because she wanted to see EVERYTHING! That girl is a sponge, just learning as much as she can. I love it!

Down Home Country Music...and some Sisterly Love

Have you ever heard that country song, "From My Front Porch Looking In?" I know it's country music people, but it's good...so you should listen. Go ahead...I'll wait (and I won't tell anyone that you're listening to country music).

Didn't I tell you? Good, down home music. I was reminded of that song last week, when I looked out my back window and saw this.

Everything that's important to me, right outside my window (if you click on the picture, you'll see Steve is in there, too. He just got chopped off on the blog. Didn't want you to think he wasn't important to me!). I am a lucky girl. And then I walked outside to take a few more pictures and I noticed some real, live sisterly love. Not the knock-down, drag-out, hair-pulling, full-body-tackling kind of sisterly love. Oh no. I saw the real thing, with my very own eyes and it's all right here, for you to witness.

Ellie was afraid of the sprinkler (which is strange, considering that the girl scales the side of the bathroom vanity and performs a dance show on top, carefully side stepping the bathroom sink as she arabesques a full four feet off the ground). This girl seems to have no fear, so I'm not sure why she got tripped up by the sprinkler, but I guess everyone has her own issues (and apparently, Ellie's is the sprinkler). So Kate (being the sweet and kind big sister that she is) tried to calmly coax Ellie in, before running through and demonstrating the safety and fun of the sprinkler.

Ellie wasn't buying it. So Kate offered to hold her hand and gently walk her through the sprinkler (didn't I tell you...that is some serious sisterly love right there).

But when Ellie refused to get close, Kate decided to put her whole body into it (all 35 lbs, which didn't seem to be doing much to move all 32 lbs. of Ellie).

Finally, after much discussion and encouragement, Ellie took the plunge, with Kate right by her side to "watch over her."

And boy, was that little girl proud of herself.


If I was going to write a county music song, I think I'd write about sisterly love, because it doesn't get much better than that!

Empty Nesters...

Steve and I have been feeling like empty nesters this week. The butterflies have come...and gone, all in a matter of days. The "kids" as Kate referred to them, all "hatched" last week and were released into our backyard over the weekend. They haven't called. They haven't stopped in to visit. They haven't even fluttered by the window. I was sad for a day or two, worrying about little Fairywell, Maddie, Lucy, Shoo, and Molly. But I guess the "kids" have to grow up sometime.




Kate's favorite butterfly was Fairywell. He (or she?) was the first "born" and he had two malformed wings (he's in the top right picture in the first collage). Kate prayed for that butterfly every night, asking God to fix his wings so he could fly. She even told strangers that she was praying for Fairywell's wing (and they looked at her like she was nuts). God chose not to heal poor Fairywell and honestly, I was a little bummed about our sad, mishapen butterfly. That is, until the day of release. Since he couldn't fly away from her, Kate got the chance to really hold him and love him. And then we put him in one of our hanging baskets and got to stop by to visit him from time to time. He's gone now, and Kate is pretty sure that God healed his wings and allowed him to fly away. God Speed, little Fairywell.

Note: All butterflies were named by Kate.

A Wedding Story...

Long before the Royal Wedding took over the headlines, there was a quieter, simpler, sweeter ceremony right here in our home. My girls decided to get married...to each other. There was much discussion about who would play the part of the groom. Kate finally gave in and agreed to take that role, because she's taller and the groom is always taller (or so she tells me). But she did insist on selecting all of the outfits for the grand affair.

The bride (who was battling a case of strep throat at the time, hence the less than rosy glow on her face), wore a vintage floral gown. The ensemble was completed with ruby red "farkly" shoes, a veil designed by dress and dazzle, and a bouquet of everlasting red roses.

The groom chose dark denimn pants with subtle gold sparkles in them, a designer Gap shirt, and black, calf-height vintage boots.

The ceremony was lovely, laidback. The couple managed to contain their excitement, looking focused and sincere.

And when all was said and done, they drove off into the sunset walked down the hallway, arm in arm...and lived happily ever after (until the groom wanted to try on the wedding dress and sparkly shoes, but that's another story).

The Royal Wedding had nothing on our splendid affair!

Ramblings...

Just a little randomness to make you smile...

***I discovered a new talent…I have the amazing ability to lie peacefully on the couch and watch a scary lifetime movie, while simultaneously ignoring the ginormous pile of laundry just inches from me that threatens to overtake the room. Impressive, isn’t it? Well, Steve is not impressed, even though I told him it takes jedhi-like focus to ignore such a large laundry pile.

***Our family is about to grow. Steve and I are seriously giddy about it. We hope to welcome the newest additions (yes, plural) this week. We’re adding…are you ready?…five beautiful butterflies to our family. Steve and I call each other just to get updates and we run to the cage to check our cocoons every hour or so. I don’t want to miss the big moment! We’re pathetic, aren’t we? (That's a rhetorical question...no need to answer).

***My friend (who shall remain nameless, but let’s just say she has worn a headlamp in the past), gave me a bag full of hand-me-down sports bras. You see, the Lord has blessed her with two beautiful babies and a larger bra size in the past two years. Unfortunately, when the Lord blessed me with two beautiful babies, he completely forgot about increasing my bra size. I’m not complaining (except, I kind of am). And now, I stare at a bag of hand-me-down sports bras, which I am afraid to try on, for fear that they may still be too big. It’s not fair, ladies!

***And, finally, I told Steve that we needed to hire someone to clean the house. He laughed and said, “We have two little someones who can help clean the house…put them to work.” So I did. And they enjoyed it. But, between you and I, you get what you pay for.

So, no photos today…just my witty ramblings. Hope you were entertained : )