a car- less weekend

Seth and Marcus know there are to be no toys in their beds at bedtime. One night they ignored the rule, snuck out of bed, and piled every single car, truck, and airplane in bed with them. When they were discovered, mama bear declared there would be no more toys in their bedroom, period. The next day we emptied the room completely. It is working quite well, truth be told. The entire upstairs now seems more peaceful.

A few nights later daddy put them to bed--- daddy, who has not established mom's new habit of nighttime toy inspection. So again, they crept out of bed and found a few stray toys to cuddle and lovingly bash into the wall while they waited for sleep to overtake them. When the sounds of traffic reached the living room, spankings ensued, and papa bear declared they would play with no cars, none at all, for two entire days.

Mama bear was stealing a few minutes peace in the shower when she overheard daddy's declaration. Her eyes bugged out as she pondered a car-free weekend. A fitting punishment, to be sure, but what in the world will we do with these boys?

Idea number one this morning: scrubbing the kitchen floor!

Note to self: when you elist small boys for floor scubbing, you are also committing to cleaning the walls, the cupboards, and all major appliances in sight.

squeezing in summer fun!

School is quickly approaching, so we are trying to squeeze in some last-minute summer fun!

Last night we had a bonfire!

The kids loved watching daddy burn the brush pile!

(Which daddy made a month or more ago when

he got his cool new chainsaw!)

The wood was still a bit green so we will probably have

another bonfire next month to finish it off!

I got the following idea from Family Fun magazine-

of course my artsy girls appreciated it the most!

Our dining room table is covered in craft paper and beautiful pictures for as
long as they will last- what fun!

An unexpected side benefit- the kids, even the boys, are motived to

be significantly neater when eating their meals

so that they don't ruin the pictures!

We have actually gone two entire meals without spilled milk!

White creek is bursting with wildlife! Lorraine played with this injured butterfly for awhile before relasing it (she realized it needed to be free to stay safe from little Eldon!)

Other visitors to the yard lately include lizards and frogs (also caught and relased by the kids), fawns, raccoons, and even a skunk that wound up in the racoon trap!

small potatoes!

Aggie had a bit of a scooter wreck this morning! Small potatoes really, but still sad! She is a tough cookie though- after ten minutes she was right back on the monkey bars, trying her hardest to make me gasp!

Fun at the fair!

Cute, cute baby! Enjoy these days when fat cheeks just make you cuter!

I love Seth's look of pure joy!

He and Marcus have been in mechanical heaven this week: they got to climb on all these tractors, got a ride on a gator, and ride on a lawnmower, AND they got to watch the "worker-men" install a new air conditioner!

While the girls see tractors as opportunities to practice their modeling...

This is the first year we actually let them go on rides. In the past they were easily distracted and didn't really know what they were missing..but this year, they were ready!

We went on kids day, stood there with them during the hot, hot afternoon

(I think it was over 90) while they had a ball.

I never really realized what "fun" carnival rides are for the waiting parents

(especially exhausted pregnant ones!)

A belated thank you mom and dad, for all those summer carnivals!

Jesus' little lamb celebrates one year of seizure freedom

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good.

His love endures forever!

The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you;

He will never leave you nor forsake you.

Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.

(Deut 31:8)

If I go up to the heavens, You are there;

If I make my bed in the depths, You are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea,

even there Your hand will guide me,

Your right ahdn will hold me fast.

If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me,

and the light around me become night."

Even the darkness will not be dark to you;

the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

Psalm 139:8-12

He reached down from on high and took hold of me;

He drew me out of deep waters.

Psalm 18:16

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted

and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

The righteous may have many troubles,

but the Lord delivers them from them all.

Psalm 34:18-19

To the One who remembered us in our low estate

His love endures forever!

and freed us from our enemies,

His love endures forever!

and who gives food to every creature,

His love endures forever!

Give thanks to the God of heaven!

His love endures forever!

Psalm 136:23-26

organizing

We are safely home again from vacation, and I have been spending most of my time moving stuff around the house. By which I mean emptying suitcases, throwing laundry down the stairs, bringing it back up the stairs, putting stuff in, taking it out, moving it to this room, putting it out of that room, throwing stuff away, and reorganizing, and always asking "how could I arrange this part of the house so things would work a little better?" Sometimes this looks a bit like running around in circles. This nesting (?) compulsion has spilled over into my blog, hence the new format. I will post pictures of our wonderful vacation as soon as I can relocate them :)

Online nesting is quite a bit easier, because there are no toys to step on or boys to mess things up again once I put things where I want them!