We don't always see eye to eye.

Something you don't want to hear while eating lunch with your two year old:

I tan't bweathe thwu my nose betuz I put a tarrot up there.

A cooked carrot cube up the nostril. Nice. I looked with a flashlight, and thought I could see it. I tried for a short second to get it with tweezers and then I decided I could just be making things worse.

I called the doctor's office, but they were closed for lunch. The answering service wasn't supposed to give out advice. While I was on the phone with her, I had to laugh at the absurdity of it all. Aviana told me, "Don't laugh, Mama! Dis is serious!"

I decided to page our doctor, who never did call back. I spoke to my aunt, who's a nurse. She said we'd shouldWhen Kevin got in for lunch I explained what had happened, and he didn't seem to be at all concerned. She was breathing fine and acting normally.

I was worried she would end up with a carrot rotting in her sinus cavity.

He scoffed at me, and said I was just bored and looking for some excitement.

After the doctors got back from lunch, Kevin spoke with the nurse who said they couldn't get her in today anyway. We'd have to take her to a walk-in clinic. Kevin talked me out of going, partly because we don't have insurance, partly because she didn't seem to be bothered by it, partly because, since I didn't see her do it (and um, do you really think a carrot would even be in her nose if I had seen her do it?), he didn't believe there was really a carrot in her nose.

He said if the carrot starts rotting in her head in a week, I can say "I told you so."

Small consolation.

I do think the carrot affected her brain, because that child could not make a wise choice all the rest of the day to save her life.

This morning at breakfast, Aviana told me, "Brielle got that carrot out of her nose. She just stuck her finger up dere, and it tame wight out."

Kevin had put it on the counter for me to see. Thoughtful of him.

Aviana told me, "Better put that tarrot in the twash betuz it isn't dood to eat any wonger."

Important Announcement about Swine Flu

Fiction v. Reality

I think I've read too many end of the world/conspiracy novels. I know God did not give us a spirit of fear, but I am a little more freaked out by this swine flu "not pandemic" than I ought to be.

I'm not afraid for my family, but more in a what does this mean in the larger scheme of things type of way. I checked the CDC website and as of this morning, there have only been 64 cases in the U.S. and one death. But that's just in the U.S. There have been 20 confirmed deaths in Mexico, and over 60 more unconfirmed deaths.

I've read criticisms of how the Mexican government is handling this situation; as in the families of the confirmed dead don't even have medicine yet; the doctors still don't know how it's being spread.

Could this have been genetically engineered? Could there be a governmental conspiracy to control population?

The one U.S. death was that of a 23 month old toddler.I can't imagine the pain of losing a child; the torture of watching your child die of something like the flu, that shouldn't even be fatal. I can't imagine living a hundred years ago during the Spanish flu outbreak, and seeing your baby get so sick and not be able to do anything about it. We were close enough to death as I ever want to get when Aviana had appendicitis.

I don't know what I really want to say with this post, other than God has it under control, just like everything.

Ode to my clothesline

Oh really.

My clothesline is a testament of love. Really.

First, it's a testament of Kevin's love for me. I mentioned that I wanted a clothesline when we first moved over to the farm. He immediately went to work scouring the ads in obscure farm community papers for a good (cheap) set. We bought some from an old lady's son, after we walked 3/4 of a mile into her field to find the cross bars in a pile of refuse. Kevin lovingly dug deep holes and put cement in them and created my wonderful line.

And also, he's been known to go out in the dark to retrieve clothes I have forgotten on the line.

Second, it's a testament of my love for my family. I love to hang the clothes out there, to let them dry in the breeze. I love how they still smell like God when I take them out of the basket and finally get the clothes put away five days later. I love to be out in the fresh air, having some peace and feeling warmly domestic.

And finally, it's a testament of God's love for me. I truly connect best with my God when I'm out in His creation. Invariably, He reminds me of Him while I'm doing my favorite little chore. I've been known to belt out some How Great Thou Art, or simply pray, or to talk over whatever it is I've been learning in my quiet time. Sometimes I even look like I'm dancing.

I am truly truly thankful for this love line.

Oops.

So I took some silly pictures of Cadrian for this post and for my Facebook, and of course to embarrass him at his wedding.

Tonight I was going through my pictures and tagging them, editing, deleting, organizing...

Just look what I never noticed until just now. Oh yeah. Look closely.

If it helps, you can click on the picture and make it bigger...


That, my friends, is the story of my life. OR so it seems some days.

Easters Past

Easter 1976

Easter 1984

Easter 1989

My mom used to sew a lot of our clothes.

1967
1968This really isn't Easter, but it's the closest I could find. How cute are my hubby's fat little thighs?
1969 This is a slide! Remember those?
1970

1974

I like how Aunt Connie could care less about the picture, and just wants to see what's in the basket! :-)

2006 at Aunt Connie's church in St. Louis

Easter 2007

peeps

Aviana has named them Snowbelle, Cottontail, and Josh. I guess all 11 are named that.

It doesn't get much better than this

Easter

Due to serious technical difficulties, this is the only picture I have of my little man's first Easter. There might be some on my MIL's camera; I'll have to see. How disappointed am I?!
And here are my sweet girls.

We got to church super early because I was on nursery duty, so I didn't actually get to attend services. Then we went over to my in-laws for Easter day. They had planned a 1 o'clock dinner, so the girls couldn't have quiet time. It was all good until we got home again, then it was basically one non-stop tear fest, until we got them in bed. At 6:30. They were both asleep by 7, thank God.

Kevin and I watched Harper's Island last night on the 'net...I think I might be addicted already. And then I got sick. I took two naps today and even the soles of my feet ache. Ugh.

On the bright side, Aviana told me she loves me more than she loves the zoo.

Happy Monday.

I mean, Easter.

Finally!

We finally had a day where it didn't seem like playing outside seemed like a punishment.

Familial Status Updates

Jessica: I'm eternally grateful when I wake up in the morning and realize I only woke up once in the night. Cadrian usually just nurses at midnight and around 5 and then we both go back to sleep.
I'm working on simplifying my life with the 80/20 rule--you know, you wear 20% of your clothes 80% of the time, use 20% of your recipes 80% of the time, use 80% of your free time in the same 20% way...trying to get maximum return from the least amount. I have been spending a lot of my free time reading or working on scrapbooking. I get more satisfaction from that in the end than I do blogging and cruising the blogs. I've been designing journaling cards for Project 365 which I will start on my birthday, unless I can't wait that long.

I got a new hair straightener that I just love in the mail today.

I am tossing around the idea of actually attending a home school conference this year or putting it off another year. I've been working on reaching out and making new friends, and practicing hospitality. And I joined a Bunco group and had a fantabulous night!

Kevin: He's playing electric bass in his worship band, and just got an acoustic bass that he is working on perfecting.
He is anxious to get out in the fields. He's been stymied by the weather lately--last night we got sleet! It needs to be dry for about a week to be able to get much field work done. The first project will be to work on the water ways that got all washed out from last year's heavy rains.

We've had several calves, and all our heifers have calved. It's good to get that out of the way, because they are usually the ones who need help birthin' their babies. A heifer is a female who has never had a baby; a cow has calved at least once. Our baby chicks come in on Wednesday!

This is our first calf of the year in 2005--that is baby Aviana.

Aviana: She is busy working on her pre-reading skills. Right now she likes to copy a few words from one of her books and ask me what she wrote. Her memory is amazing--she can "read" just about any book we have read at least once. I wonder why she can't remember to do her laundry at night and put her jammas away in the morning.

She loves to dance, and dress up like a dancer. The other night she wanted to sleep in her leotard, so I let her. The next morning she said, referring to the leotard, "I HAVE DOT to det this tiara off of me! It teeps doe-ing up my bummie and that is NOT tumfterble!" She is also convinced she'll be ready to dance on stage with Michael Flatley by next year.

She is planning her wedding as well, and at this very moment, is making a list of the names of her children.

I love to hear her pray (it's super cute how she usually goes into a corner or behind a curtain) and sing praise songs as she goes about her day. She has a great many verses memorized, and even corrected me this morning as I quoted one wrong!

Brielle: She is currently obsessed with purple. Anything purple. I should have seen this coming! She recognizes the logos of Target and Casey's (a gas station we must stop at a lot) and points them out to me without fail.

She is a planner--we're going to the zoo next week, and she showed me the outfit she wants to wear, down to the shoes.

I think I can safely say she is potty trained. She "got" it for about a month before Cadrian came, when she was not quite two. She completely regressed after he was born, except for going poo. I'm thankful for that at least--I have only had to change the babies dirty diapers these past seven months! She's been a week in bundies with only a couple of accidents.

She is full of energy and seems to be a trouble magnet. The other day she was outside playing and got her boot stuck in a mud puddle and Belle (the mischievous yellow lab) knocked her over. It would have been hilarious if it hadn't been so pathetic.

Cadrian: He's got a head cold that hit him all of a sudden yesterday. He's a typical (little) man, complaining vigorously and not allowing anything less than the most ardent coddling. (re--the typical man--I'm just kidding, mostly) Last night was NOT one of the nights he slept well. He seems to be more compliant personality than either of the girls were, and will go to sleep on his own, rather than needed to be rocked or nursed to sleep.

He will also play independently for a lot longer than they ever did. When he wants attention though, you had better believe he will get it! He is securely attached and being left in child care is not one of his favorite things.

He is doing pretty well eating solids if he can feed himself; he generally eschews anything on a spoon. He just started cruising along the couch.

He's been pulling himself up on anything that holds still for a couple of months, but hasn't really been moving his feet until now. He is doing stairs, so due to the odd nature of our newel post we have this makeshift gate rigged up. Brielle didn't close the door to the other stairs after her the other day and Baby Boy followed her right up the steps. All was well until he tried to sit down--and tails over teacups, down he came. Too bad I was in the other room not being a Vigilant Mother. He's perfectly fine (I guess there's a reason they say 'bouncy baby boy, right?), and I'm used to seeing bruises on his little noggin anyway.

It made sense in context

Four year old: It's sometimes really hard to tell the difference between a house and a volcano.
EDITED TO ADD:
The context:

From our Sonlight curriculum--Hill of Fire is based on a true story of a Mexican farmer whose field suddenly erupts into a volcano
Wagon Wheels is based on a true story of a pioneer family who start off their journey living in a dugout town on the Kansas prairie

April Fools!

Oh the fun I have!

We called my mom; Brielle told her "There's a big bwack bear in your yard!" And before my mom could even really react, she said delightedly, "Happy Fools Day!"

We put food coloring under the cereal so when we poured the milk on, it turned purple!



I said on my Facebook Status: I'm Pregnant! I got a lot of mileage with that, even though after about four comments, I capitulated and admitted the joke.

I made "cake" for supper. (It was really like a big calzone.)

I made "juice" which was really jello.

I put carrots into the packages of cheese crackers.


I made "pizza" for dessert. (Cake with red frosting, shredded white chocolate and coconut dyed yellow cheese, and fruitabu pepperoni)

Many thanks to Tasteofhome.com and Family Fun!

And this is my two year old nephew Titus and my eight month old son Cadrian. They weigh about the same.

No foolin'.