Spelling it out

Some Basic Rules around our house:

1) Use good table manners.

2) Treat others (including pets) with kindness.

3) Share your toys.


Some lately-formed Specific Rules:

1) Don't set your sippy cup on the edge of the table. Push it way in, so when you stretch or move your hand, you don't knock it onto the floor.

2) Don't lock the kitty in your cupboard for an hour and a half. Don't put her in there anymore, at all.

3) Let PawPaw watch your new combine video. He isn't feeling well, and he will enjoy it. Stop crying. Stop asking to watch your combine video when PawPaw has it. Go to bed. Stay in bed. Go back to bed--OK--go potty, then go back to bed.

Cleaning the Living Room

Yesterday I removed three nails from the trim above my living room window. They had held up a sheet in lieu of a more traditional window treatment, but the sheet had been down for, oh I don't know, maybe a year?

Last night we put up the Christmas tree. I found busy weevils snacking on a gold spray-painted pasta ornament I had made with my students 8 years ago. Because I'm sentimental, I:

a) air-hosed it off and hung it from a light fixture.
b) repaired it with glue and dried beans.
c) thanked God for the chance to get rid of it, and junked it along with the box.

You decide.

Aunt Brag

Check out the pictures of my new niece!

Playtime

Here's what's happening at our house:

Helen colors voraciously. She gets crayons out 2 or 3 times a day. Thank goodness for washable Crayola crayons!

Owen puts on concerts and leads worship. His microphone is the cat-shaped toilet paper holder made by Jason's grandpa. We borrowed that idea from a cousin.

Jack chills out. He is beginning to grab everything. He grabs my shirt when I'm changing his diaper. He grabs toys to chew on them. He grabbed the cat, and I put a stop to that.
We got our hands on a giant length of packing paper. It stretched all the way across the basement floor. It was a great place to run.


Owen plays Blue's Clues. Here's his handy-dandy notebook and his handy-dandy crayon. He even hops into his "thinkin' chair" when he has all of his clues.

Helen feeds her baby most nutritious lunches.
The cat complies. They have since stuffed her into a small cabinet and said she was going night-night. Daddy put a stop to that.


Helen chats to Grandma on an old cell phone they use as a toy.And these are a bunch of baby hats I made out of old t-shirts and an old jumper of Helen's. They were a lot of fun. They're on their way here.

Backyard Citrus

The satsuma trees are loaded again this year, and the ripening fruit is getting sweeter every day! Satsumas in the fall are our climate's peace offering for the grueling summer heat.
Helen loves them so much, she can eat at least two in one sitting. She peels them herself. Here she made sound effects as she threw the peels onto the ground.

Lessons in Chivalry

Fortunately, Owen has a little time before going on his first date.

Do you ever wake up early when the birds begin to chirp, and just wish you could roll back time for some more sleep? I am never ready to get up, and sometimes wish I could tuck the sun back in bed, below the horizon. I felt like that the other morning. But then I looked out the window.
The morning sun was so beautiful. I don't remember if it coaxed me out of my morning fog, but it sure improved my attitude.

Here's another thing that improves my attitude:
Jason's friend and Atmore's only coffee roaster, Mr. Joel, found a new espresso (not "expresso" Why does that bug me so much when it gets mispronounced?) machine at Goodwill. It took up space at his house for a while, and he never used it, so he gave it to us. We bought some of his espresso blend, and mornings never tasted so good.

Fortunately for our family, the kids like mornings. A house full of grumpy people in the morning would be less than ideal. Owen's first words are usually, "It's morning time!!! My tummy hurts. Mommy, make oatmeal!"