"Whats that 'mell ?"

Not the dogs (this time!).....

I guess the family is used to salon smells in the salon, but not so much in the kitchen. They now realize, like I do, how blessed I am to have a house with a separate salon area.

Ps.149:4 For the Lord taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.
I'm doing a little beautifying of my own. Can't help it really, straight baby hair is just too much work to get cute
S. totally looked like one of my beauty school victims at first, didn't hold as still as one though. Playdoh can only hold your attention for so long.
As you can tell chemically altering a 2 year old might create curls but wont create even one second of holding still, even for a camera(notice my grip on her arm).

I got the curl I was looking for, now if only I can get it to grow in a little on the sides!

Angels or Devils

Our cutie Thor had to apologize (in the form of mom baking cookies and kids writing sorry notes) to a neighbor for face nipping.
Again.
If he were mad he could probably cause some serious damage, this was just a little warning.
My issue with it has to do with Responsibility. As far as I believe(and as we will be discussing in Sunday School this week) we are given the gift of agency. We are held accountable for our choices but that was the deal we made to come here.
How about Thor? He isn't accountable, he's a dog.
I have to remind myself sometimes, okay lots of times(like when Z. refuses to wear socks) that forcing the kids is taking away their freedom "with a great chain".
Thor now has been off chain, and as much as I would like to say that he was obedient and kind, that wasn't his choice.
As much as I would like to say that he is the one responsible, I know better, it was our family that used our agency so the cookies and notes became our job to deliver.
Now, especially , it's our responsibility to keep the dogs on their leashes. We learned that it is the only way to give the dogs their share of agency, by force.
We also learned that giving cookies is a great way to brighten the day and shake off ugly feelings like embarrassment and fear. I'd highly suggest it although I would also suggest skipping the dog biting part!

ValenWhat?

Since its Love week, I'll tell you a few things I love.

Chocolate.
Free rose (and doughnuts on Saturdays!) from the Harley dealership on my pillow.
Cream cheese frosting.
Date night.
S.'s face when she got Valentines in the mail.

Its a lovely holiday but truthfully I'm ready to get rid of every trace of pink candy, cookie, glitter glue, kiddie tattoo(who thought of this Valentine tradition?!)sucker wrapper and all things with hearts. Fun Times, lets move on.

Wii won!!

Thursday of last week the XBOX burned up.

Devastated is the only way I can describe how N. felt.
You would never know he had a perfectly functioning GameCube.
" I can't play Lego StarWars on the GameCube (whining, moaning,waah, wahh)!"

Inconvenienced was how I felt, how can I have the kids home for a 4 day weekend high on Valentine treats without video games?!
I really am one of those moms now, "Who needs a sitter when you've got an XBOX?" .

Friday I got a call from the local grocery store, Lees Market, telling me I won a Wii Fit.
"Great, if only I had a Wii!", was my thought, still contemplating if I should pop open the XBOX and attempt to fix it myself.

Carrying the heavy boxes I had won out of the store a few hours later, something dawned on me, "This isn't just a Fit, this is a Wii also!!".

How much time do you think the winner of this awesome surprise got to spend playing? If less than 5 minutes was your answer, you win too! That doesn't really matter though, the important thing is that I hardly knew the kids were there.

Lucky me.

Wierdies

Sometimes I wonder just who these people are that I live with.
Where did they come from?
I heard outrageous laughter coming from an unusual spot the other night, kind of like the sound the kids make when they're "wrestling" with Dad. I knew it couldn't be that because Dad was busy with S. patiently sitting , waiting for her potty training attempts while I made dinner. Curiosity got the better of me and I found a whole bathload of kids. Dry, but loud ones.

Turns out Dad got tired of sitting on the uncomfortable tile and thought the tub would workout as a nice lounger. Too bad it attracted all the kids, and the dogs, might have been a nice resting spot. Actually when you are over 6 feet tall and a standard tub is like 2 foot something comfort is the last thing you'll find there.

Ingenuous or Ingenious?

N.'s glasses broke and a day at school ,blind, did not work at all.
I came up with a wire frame attached with duct tape, to keep everything temporarily together.
N. was not impressed.
Days blindly sitting at home(with fuzzy video games!) would be better, he thinks, than having to go to school with rigged up glasses.



I have been described as blunt, curt,frank,etc.
This week I have a new description:Ingenious.
Thank you to N.'s Opthamologist, but I think you meant Ingenuous(meaning artless,frank.) instead.
Daddy is the artist around here so I commissioned him to create something a little less noticeable although I didn't get a picture.
Another few days with the much better looking pair(!) and N. will get his real new frames.

"Snow-me" & I

Snow days are only good for one thing.....


(are those weapons or arms? Knowing N. they are sci-fi weapons of some kind)

(tried to claim the tallest "snow-me" 'till she noticed mom and dads were much smaller than their real selves, then it was okay)
(carrot nose for the dogs to chew off when we're not looking)
(can I give my glove to "snow-me"?)

Daddy even got in on the fun, he can't miss a good snowball fight.

Dad makes much better forts than mom, they don't even ask her anymore.