Toddler Talk III

While the kids and I waited in the van for Jay to return from a quick trip inside our local pharmacy, the kids noticed an employee come outside for a smoke break. Being a fly by the seat of my pants conscientious parent, I decided this could be a teaching moment about the perils of smoking.


W: Wuzzy doin' Mama?


making frowny face for the toddler's sake...

Me: He's smoking. That's yucky.


W: It's yucky?


Me: Yes, baby, it makes your body sick, and it's stinky.


W: It's stinky?


Me: Yes. Smoking is yucky and stinky, and you should not do it. Ever.


W: Ok. I not smote. It's yucky. And stinky.


thinking this lesson was successful for now and ready to move on...

Me: That's right. Look! Here comes Daddy.


as soon as the door clicks shut...

W: I smote.


* uncontrollable giggles and snorts from the backseat *


confused...

J: What did he say?


flustered...

Me: What did you say?


looking rather smug...

W: I say I smote.


* muffled laughs *


trying to save face, through clenched teeth and the stare of death into the rearview mirror at the big kids...

Me: No you don't. Remember? SWEETIE? SMOKING IS YUCKY AND STINKY.


W: NO! IT'S NOT! I SAY I TWY SMOTE!


Jay, trying not to let crazed toddler see him laughing, says to me under his breath...

J: What did you do? I was gone for three minutes, and now our two year old wants to smoke? Maybe you should go in next time.


completely dumbfounded and defeated

Me: Yeah. Okay. *sigh*

wordless wednesday

happy birthday to me

wordless wednesday

"dirt devil" holding a Dirt Devil

my first cookie

Elijah had to start on an antibiotic and breathing treatments again and has been feeling a little yucky.


So what does a good mama do?


She gives him his first cookie. Obviously.


Because what else besides a little chocolate-y goodness will make him feel better?



Hmmm...this looks kinda funny.




Mmmm...this doesn't taste like fruit puffies.




Yumm...mmm...mmm...let me throw my head back and take a bite.




I think I feel better already! Thanks Mommy!



Did you get a load of that face? Kind of reminds me of this...

Big prayers for little Luke

This is not a normal post for me, but I have felt for two days that I am supposed to do it. So here it goes.

Some very close friends of ours have a brand-new nephew, Luke, in Georgia who needs our prayers. His little body is fighting for life, and I am asking that you join us in praying for his healing and for continued peace and encouragement for his parents, Eric and Susan, and his big brother and sister, Hogan and Sydney.

You don't have to comment here. Rather, please go on over and leave a word of encouragement or prayer for Eric and Susan. Please tell them how you got there so they don't suddenly feel stalked, but supported and encouraged.


"Each of *them was surrounded by numbers of others who were also willing to pray big prayers and believe God would physically heal them until He said or proved otherwise. Each of them received the treatment prescribed to them by wise physicians. I most commonly hear those who have been physically healed say that they believe each person should allow doctors to do what they can do and then invite God to do what only He can do. Beloved, believe that God can do anything He says He can do."

taken from Beth Moore's "Believing God" Bible Study

*referring to three people who received miraculous healing

happy anniversary

Today, Jay and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary. Sound like a really long time? Yup, it is. We have been through a lot together which I told you about here so I won't go through it all again.

I decided to just post some pictures. A "through the years" sort of deal which turned out to be way more difficult and frustrating than I had imagined. We lost the bulk of our pictures in Hurricane Katrina, so there are no wedding photographs, and very few of the two of us together. Here is what I found.




Ignorance is Bliss



Engaged? Newly Married? Can't rightly say because I don't remember.

What I see?

Two people in love who really have no idea what they are doing or what "adventures" lay ahead... The expression on my face? I dunno. Looks like he's trying to be funny.




Brand-new Baby...Brand-new Parents



Fast-forward 2 1/2 years to the birth of our first child who is a week old in the picture.

What I see?

Two people who are in love with this tiny being, who again have really no idea what they are doing. Are you sensing a pattern?




On the go...



Baby Ryan "walking" with Mommy and Daddy.

What I see?

A kid in the center of the picture who rightly was, at the time, the center of our world. As for the faceless parents? Isn't that how it really is anyway...




Christmas of 1997



Relaxing Christmas morning in Wytheville, Virginia, with a cousin palooza goin' on. I have such fond memories of this year. We got snowed in, but no one cared.

What I see?

A couple whose lives are about to change again, as we were expecting our second child and didn't know it yet.




What 15 years of marriage looks like...






What 15 years of marriage feels like...




What I know:

That we are still in love after all these years.

That we still like each other. Most of the time.

That a sense of humor does not just come in handy in marriage; it is vital.

That we have weathered storms and have come through them stronger and a little more determined.

That when we said "till death" we meant it. (We did not know at the time, however, that having children would speed up the process.)

That each stage in life, no matter what is going on, needs to be valued, appreciated and never taken for granted because it passes too quickly.

That I love him more now than the day we married.

That God has a sense of humor. Because after reviewing these photos, I realize that wrinkles and zits on the same face is not only sad, it jus' ain't right.

Here's to the next 15!

bucket list? heh, I got your bucket list right here

Here are some things I'd like to do before I die.

Of frustration.


* Go to the bathroom by myself. Without the usual banging and kicking of the door and the trying to peek underneath for fear I've entered another dimension or something.


* Hear a hearty, "Thanks Mom; that was a delicious meal you made for us." Instead of, "Ugh. Why did you make that?" As if I've scavenged the surrounding fields, scooped up a variety of dung and disguised it as dinner.


* Have a quiet time. That's QUIET. Without some short person thinking that because Mom happens to be sitting still that she must surely need something important to do like find the tiny missing piece of the toy he has been slinging around the house all day which has surely landed behind a large piece of furniture or been eaten by the crawling mini-marauder.


* Be able to walk across the living room floor that's been booby-trapped by randomly tossed toys with sharp corners without amputating my pinky toe or having a spontaneous vocabulary lesson.


* Get through a day of homeschool without a single complaint of boredom, mean teacher or stupid assignment; or threatening to put the kids on whatever school bus happens to drive by our house the next morning.


* Have the kids do their chores willingly, without hissy fits and spinning heads, as if I have asked them to lick the floor clean rather than mop it or to scrub behind the toilet with their very own toothbrush.


* Get the little one potty trained and weaned from the "potty candy" so he doesn't grow up and wonder why M&M's don't fall from the sky every time he makes 'peeps' or 'poops' and so he isn't 37 and still using this juvenile potty vernacular with his colleagues. And asking them for potty candy.

wordless wednesday

put on the full armor

Me: Hey li'l buddy, wanna help Mama do the laundry?

W: I help you, Mama. Jussa minute.

He takes off toward his sister's room (which he is currently sharing) and is gone for several minutes. I think he's gotten distracted so I go ahead and get started by myself.

This is what shows up next...








Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor so that you can take your stand against the devil's washer's schemes. For our struggle is not against normal household appliances, but against rigged-up, jack-legged, redneck ones of this dark laundry room and against the washer's forces of evil in the cleanliness realms. Therefore put on the full armor, so that when the day of evil laundry comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have washed, dried, folded and put away, to stand. Stand firm then with the helmet of safety, and hold tight to the hose, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gush of water. In addition to all this, take up the shield of the back door with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows spouting water of the evil one washer.

Amen.

Obviously, our laundry woes have not been lost on the 2 year old. Bless his little heart.

(Taken oh so loosely from Ephesians 6:10-16) Please go read it for yourself.