The Angry Voice

I'll be honest. I'm a little tired. My attitude is poor. There's not been a whole lot of joy radiating from my face. But I'm trying to hang in there. I've felt really burdened by some personal things in addition to our 3 1/2 week sickness stint and I think the Lord doesn't want to work them out the way I am asking Him to. Not my will, but yours. Right? Right.

These kids keep me laughing even when they make me want to pull my hair out. Elle told me that for her birthday she wanted her "eyelids painted." I asked her who had their eyelids painted {because I don't wear eyeshadow}, and she said nobody. She also wants a pocket knife and a wallet. Her birthday is 3 1/2 months away, but she's already planning.

Grady also told me that the reason he loves me is because I have a funny angry voice that goes like this, "Aaaaaaagggghhhhhhh!!" This would be in reference to the loud, heavy, frustrated sighs I give off every now and then to alleviate some stress. At least he loves it. And thinks it's funny.

A worthy cause

If you've been reading for any time, then you might remember me mentioning the Byrne triplets {They are my sister's uncle, aunt and cousins}. They recently celebrated their 2nd birthday. Olivia, George and Samuel have come a very, very long way. I never thought much about the March of Dimes, but a little perspective makes all the difference. Now that I know a family who was impacted and helped tremendously by this organization, I want to help. They are gearing up for their local March of Dimes walk, and the Byrne family is the Ambassador family this year. Click on the link to read her post and watch their video. Grap a tissue first. Then get your wallet:).

The Band's Forming

Steven found someone else to play with. He's quite possibly as good as me, if not better. Steven might have a fiddle in Elle's hands before too long. Not sure yet what Reese will contribute.

I spoke too soon about the sickness. I think the boys must have gotten a new viral cold during the week that the antibiotics won't touch. I am ready for some health for these kids. I know there are lots of parents out there who wish all they were doing was wiping snotty noses and holding cranky, coughy babies, and I am certainly not complaining. It could always be worse. But I'm sure they can emphathize with feeling like there's nothing you can do to make them feel better. And I just want them to feel better.

More Painting & Oral Hygiene

This is what Reese likes to do while I make dinner. He gets every plastic cup, bowl, plate, and utensil out of the cabinets and tries to set them up on the 12 inches of counter space I have to work with. When he runs out of space {which is usually about 2 bowls in}, he just places them strategically around the floor. He's such a big help:).

Once my helper went to bed, Elle and Grady painted some birdhouses. Earlier in the week, we played the "obedience game" and the birdhouses were their rewards. The game went like this: I hid the houses in a very secret location {the storage shed}, then I gave them a set of specific instructions they had to follow in order to find their reward. If they didn't listen and obey the instructions as they were given, then there would be no reward! We can't wait to get some seed this weekend and hang them up. We already have tons of birds around our yard and trees, but I think they will love the new additions!

Grady really loves painting. So does Elle. But I didn't know this about Grady until recently.


Steven was out of town last night. As I got ready for bed, I noticed I had no toothpaste. Fortunately {for him!}, I bought a new tube earlier in the day. But I texted him and he was very remorseful:

"Oh. Didn't even think about it. Sorry!"

Then I got one right after that said:

"Unbelievable. I have two tubes of toothpaste and no toothbrush."

February Goals

I thought I'd do an experiment where I tried to write everyday for the month of February. So far, I've missed one day and it's the second. Goal unrealistic. New goal is to write every other day. Goal possibly attainable. My other February goal is to routinely study the Bible every morning. I have not done this, routinely, since Elle was born. I am looking forward to the benefits of this routine. I have homeschool to thank for reminding me of the need for this as we learned last week that "God's word helps me grow."

Everybody is finally feeling better after my new favorite pediatrician prescribed an antibiotic for all 3 kids on Monday. I took Elle in for what I thought was a sinus infection. I am definitley not an antibiotic-seeker by any means, but if they are still sick after 10 days with no sign of improvement, it's more than a cold. And they need a little something to help them get well. Elle is significantly better {it was a sinus infection}, and the boys are too.

I got gas 3 weeks ago and have gone 200 miles. Things in Dothan are more condensed than Birmingham. Or maybe it was because I lived in Calera and usually drove at least 14 miles one way to get to anything. Now I drive on average 1.5 miles to get anywhere.

Grady keeps telling me I'm making him angry. This is usually after I've asked him to do something, or clean up, or am reminding him of some expected behavior that is not being exhibited. I just keep telling him I'm sorry and maybe he should think about all the things I do that make him happy.

I bought a banjo

Did I mention I bought Steven a banjo for Christmas? I did. And I'm not sure I thought the whole thing through before I did. I knew he really wanted one and although he had the means, had not bought one for himself. He handed over all of the "means" to me to buy Christmas presents. And so I bought a banjo for him.

But I will be honest. I don't think I'm a big fan of the banjo. In music I listen to on the radio: yes. In my living room live: not as much. Maybe because it's a bit loud. Or maybe it's because I'm used to his mad skills on the guitar. I am a big fan of the guitar. The guitar is one of the reasons we met. Steven's first words to me after English class one day were, "So, I hear you play the guitar?" And I replied, "Who did you hear that from?" {Because the term "play" was being a bit generous.} He went on to invite me to, among other things, a campus bible study. Maybe in an effort to be modest, he left out the part about how he helped lead the praise and worship for the campus ministry. And that he was pretty impressive. Or at least I was impressed:).

So now he tries to get me to play the guitar while he plays the banjo. And I think the reason I don't is the same reason I stopped playing after I met him. He's just so good. And I'm so not good. I don't feel adequate to even play with him. I'm a bit of a perfectionist too, so it's hard for me to do something when I know I'm not very good at it. I can't sing either. But he can. Really well. I miss the hours of our praise and worship nights and our Friday morning prayer times when we were in Troy. Maybe, if I'd get over some of these silly selfish insecurities, we could have some good praise and worship right here. With a guitar and a banjo.

Today

Today was one of those days. One of the "good" days. Or maybe one of the "easy parenting" days. The days where my kids play together without fighting. And they have fun together and enjoy each other. I hear them laughing and making up stories, games and adventures. There's not a lot of complaining, whining, or bad attitudes. And my name isn't being called every three minutes. I mean, how can you not have a good time with an outfit like this on:

One part butterfly, one part bumblebee, one part dancer, one part super hero. Complete with high heels and pearls. And the sidekick:

I'm really not sure what to say about this. But in his defense, {and I do feel like he needs defending in this case} he refers to himself as "Super boy". Even though Super boy's costume consists of my old competition gymnastics leotard and tights, a red sequin skirt, purple gloves and a pink plaid cape.

After lunch, we moved on from the land of make believe to the land of books. We read and then listened to the story of Ferdinand on CD while we painted pictures of Ferdinand sitting under his tree, smelling his flowers.




While the boys napped {and coughed}, Elle and I continued on our journey of Magic Tree House books. These are such great books and have inspired such creativity, curiosity and adventure in both Elle and Grady. And they are great beginning chapter books for Elle to challenge herself in reading. Now, most days, the tree house out back is the Magic Tree House and they are Jack and Annie. I love listening to them act out their adventures.

I think more days would be like this if I would let them.