Isn't any one tired yet?

Our granddaughter, Layla, has joined us for the weekend while her parents have a time away before the new baby comes. The other 3 toddlers are happy to have her over and it's very lively here. They have a limitless supply of energy and being in our 50's, James and I don't.
Yesterday after a full day of playing and eating and reading stories, only James and I were tired. So we put on every one's shoes and hiked around the block, hoping that it would run their little batteries down.
No such luck.

Pool Games

Summer is fast fading (I'm crying too Joanne) and everyone is sick of the pool.
You can only play Marco Polo so many times.
A friend Helen, gave us some noodles last week that she didn't want and the kids have come up with a unique game with them.
I think it's called "Blow the Other Person Up".

Here's how you play:
1. Fill the noodle with water
2. Each person places the noodle to their mouth and blows as hard as they can.
3. Loser is the person who runs out of breath first and therefore gets their mouth and entire face blown up.
It's fun to watch.
Here's Jessie taking Grace DOWN!

P.U.

I'm registering a fashion complaint. Or maybe a confession.
I have a few pairs of really cute flats that I've worn all summer. They're so easy...you just slip them on and off you go. Very comfortable too.
The thing is, that with all that slipping on and wearing everywhere....my feet stink. Really bad stink that other people around you can smell.
I found a can of odor spray in my husbands closet. I think it kills athletits feet too - just in case your feet get really gross. The smell went away for a day or two, but the stink showed back up when it got up to 90 degrees.
I'll be glad for winter and stink absorbing socks.

Eye on the Sparrow

Sometimes the sadness of what some of our little ones go through overwhelms me. Knowing the hurts and not being able to fix them. Dealing with behaviors that are driven by fear and insecurities and mistrust.
And thankful for a God that can heal all scars and renew broken hearts and who despite everything, preserves delight inside a child on a playground.

Baby Control

A few days after our daughter Kara had her baby, her husband had to go out of town on business. Kara needed some help and we really really wanted to be with her and the kids, so we brought them all out to West Virginia while he was gone.
The house is lively to say the least.
We have 3 adults and a 20 and 18 year old and two 15 year olds and a 4 and 3 year old and two 1 year olds and a newborn.
Everything has been running fairly smoothly except for the morning. The one year olds decided that they would wake the household up at around 6am by yelling loudly. That was not popular with the rest of the house surprisingly.
After several mornings of this, Kara and I agreed to just let them cry it out and even though it might wake everyone else, we wouldn't get them up. Kara's daughter Scarlett would lay on the floor and put her lips under the crack of the door and cry. Our one year old would alternate between yelling "Moooommmmie" and knocking as hard as he could on the door. We all lay awake listening to the racket for several days.
The pay off finally came and we now can count on quiet until after 7.
Next project....whining.

It Looks So Perfect

I was sitting here staring at the Back to School add from Target....looking at the adorable children in their perfect clothes with their new back packs and lunch bags....getting ready to run off to school and leave the house empty all day so that the mom has complete silence and she can start a project and work on it all day listening to her Ipod and sipping a cup of tea on the couch when she takes a break.

Okay......somebody remind me why I'm homeschooling.

I'm Just Saying

There are certain natural differences in people that no environment or culture affects. One of these is whether your belly button is an "innie" or an "outie". You don't pick it, you just have one or the other. Another one of these segregations is what I call "hard head" or "soft head". This is particularly observable in girls. I have had daughters who when I was brushing their hair and putting in pony tails had no reaction at all. I could brush hard enough to make their hair nice and smooth and use those tiny little rubber bands and their little head would snap back and forth and they would have no reaction at all. These are the hard head people. The soft head people on the other hand would react to the slightest combing as if you were killing them. They feel so much pain in their scalp you hate to touch their head. I had one daughter with a soft head and she drove me crazy when I brushed her hair. One day while trying to hurry with her hair I heard her mumbling something. Listening closely.....she was praying that I wouldn't get mad at her. I'm a naturally hard head person and I have to force myself to be tolerant of the softies.
So what can be done about all this? I've been told that you can tape a fifty cent piece to a baby's belly button to make their "outie" smaller and I would just steer clear of corn rows on a soft head person.

Little Ensley

Ensley Samuel Smith decided to show up this morning at 5:30am. He screamed as loud as I imagine a baby can….looked around at everyone and began to nurse like he’d been doing it for days. He promises to be a wild and fun grandchild – my favorite kind!

And his important statistics are: 6 lbs. 14oz. and 21 inches long. (I’m very glad the practice of announcing our weight and height ends with birth announcements.)

Check out the rest of his debut here.

Almost Time

After a few days of waiting...waiting...waiting interspersed with contractions, Kara was finally admitted to the hospital a few hours ago. Baby Ensley should be here soon! Kara is sailing through labor with grace and as beautiful as always. Nate is nervous about the "game plan" (relax Nate) but did find something funny on tv. And I'm ready to hold a new baby!!
I'll keep you posted.
(I was way happy to find wireless internet at the hospital!)

The Waiting Time

It's almost midnight and I'm laying on a couch in Baltimore waiting for my newest grandchild to be born. Kara was having some contractions earlier, but has now gone to bed to get some rest. Her mother-in-law is here also and her and I are having a nice sleep over together in Kara's living room. I'm thinking how lucky Scarlett and the new baby are to have a grandmother like her.
Time for us to sleep too. Maybe tomorrow the little guy will decide to come.

Little People Update

We ARE surviving the invasion of the toddler trio. (Thanks for asking Emily.) It does take all of us to pull it off. I told AnnaClaire and Grace that they have to go to the store with me when I take the" littles". That makes it one on one and it's almost doable. These 3 have been moved often and they are very dependent on each other and clingy to us. Getting them to sit and play anything for more than 5 minutes is difficult. All three are on hyper-alert to what the adults around them are doing. Kids raised in chaos have a hard time relaxing and concentrating. Our living room is decorated in Little Tyke and Playskool because they're afraid to go downstairs and play without us.

But wow...are they fun! We got to go to Toys R Us yesterday and is there anything cuter in the world than little kids wearing "swimmies" bobbing around in the pool? They smell so sweet after their baths and teaching them about Jesus and saying prayers is a heavenly privilege.
And where else but in toddler-ville do you have conversations like this -
"Mom"
"What honey?"
"Me-member that gum you gived me?"
"Yes" (I'm already worried at this point)
"When I got all done chewing it I put it in a paper and put it in my pocket."
"That's good sweetie."
"Yea, but when I went potty it fell out of my pocket and into my pants and now my underwear is stuck to my butt."
"Okey dokey."