A Big Thank You

Dear Secret Friend,

I hope you can get a sense of the excitement my dear boy felt in getting to poke holes in the cake, aka multilating the dessert.


There's even cake on the end!

It was scrumptious, it was quick and easy, it was a do-it-again-sometime. Thanks ever so much!

For those of you interested.

1) bake a chocolate cake

2) let the one most interested poke it all over with a wooden spoon handle

3) pour sweetened condensed milk all over the cake and fill up those holes

4) pour some caramel sauce over the s.c.milk

5) cool in fridge a while

6) spread cool whip over existing deliciousness

7) drizzle with more caramel sauce

8) sprinkle with skor bar bits.

Now that you're drooling go work on your grocery list.

You're so welcome. I'm just nice like that. :)

And Holly...?! Jeff might not be long, black haired by the time you get here but he might be roundish. He liked that cake.

And I really like sharing cake with Jeff, you know why? He does my dishes on Wednesday nights. And sweeps the floor. And finishes off with a neatly folded cloth beside the sink. I would post a picture but while Jeff does all he can for my dishes, he can't get rid of all the piles of this and that on the counter. And you'll see them soon enough!

Did you know that about Jeff, Holly? Next time he visits make sure your Mom knows that Jeff's really good at doing dishes. ;)

A Motherhood Post

Because I need to pretend that you care enough to wonder what I did all day :)

Here it is in all its frustrating laundry-ness. My babies - they tell me as soon as they wet or dirty their diaper. It goes something like this.

"Dirdy diaper, Mama, change it" "come, Mama, come right now!" And I figure if they're that desperate to have it changed they can figure out a better way.

My babies - they enjoy going on the toilet and do so often. I figure there's no use waiting until they're nearly 3 and then fighting them because they've suddenly gotten scared of the idea.

But, going on the toilet when Mom thinks about it when you're still wearing a diaper and going on the toilet when Mom thinks about it and you're wearing an underwear are two entirely different things. Worlds apart, really. Or, mountains apart. Mountains of laundry apart.

Never mind the wet puddles and stinky floors.

I do set the timer, I really do. But they can never go when the bell starts to ring. Always about 15 minutes later.

So, if you're not of the motherhood realm and I still haven't grossed you out yet, here's the tally.

Cody - 7 pairs of underwear
- 2 pairs of pants

Cara - 3 pairs of underwear
- 1 pair of pants.

The only reason there were so few pairs of pants is because I got a bit wiser after the 3rd pair and turned up the heat as opposed to wearing clothes to ward off the chill.

And the Cara to Cody difference? He pees about 32 times more per hour than she does.


And while there were victories along the way let me still add that much to my dismay those underwear are not all just wet.

Tomorrow, here we come!

a youtube video

Reaquainted myself with this one this morning.

It's a daddy's version of Pachebel's cannon in D and there are parts that still make me laugh out loud no matter how many times I watch it.

But the ending's the kicker. Those crazy moments are really moments, not the sum total.

She Watched, She Begged...

And I agreed.

And tried not to do too much of this. Like interfere. Or cringe. Or correct.And tried to remind myself she's not going to care if her first seam was straight. It's only gonna matter that she sewed it. Herself.

And this afternoon when one of my darlin's had trailed about 150 meters of elastic all about the kitchen it went kind of like this. "Darlin' (insert name of little sparkle eyed girl here) you are NOT allowed to touch anything off Mama's sewing table. That's Mama's stuff, okay?!" Then Leah added her two bits, "and it's my stuff too 'cause I also work there now, right Mom?"

So in about 3 years when Leah finishes her second seam and we get around to completing the jammies we'll show 'em off here and you'll see her smile of accomplishment yourself. And you'll see I'm a few hairs grayer.

Ps. Did anyone else's Mom make them pin the whole long seam before starting sewing? Next project we'll get a pattern so all the seams line up and it's a little less frustrating!

Thought for the Day

I read this on a fellow busy mom's blog and it struck me. Like between the eyes.

She was referring to a conversation with a precious friend about the different situations that come up in life.


"There are a lot of factors at play..."
Indeed there always are. And usually we don't know the half. When in doubt, apply grace.


That can apply to anything/everything. It can be the looking into the eyes of a naughty child while trying to get to the bottom of a screaming sibling. It can be listening to the struggle of a friend when we don't know all the details. It can be the glance at the person holding the "hungry, no work, please help" sign on the street corner. It can be much, much more.

I tend to be too harsh.

When in doubt, apply grace.

I hope I remember next time. Even if I'm trying to get supper done and my nerves are tingling.

Introducing...

Did you know Jeff wears a wig? Or wait is that a coonskin cap?

A what? A wig! Are you sure? Maybe that's natural.

Hey, Jeff, you have some hair in your face.

Holly are you sure you dare come out this way?!

I personally prefer the black version, go for it, Jeff!

An Update... on a few things

We did find the boys a bunk bed and these three have spent hours downstairs playing school, moms and dads, friends (an actual game here, you hear in the morning, "com'on, let's go play friends") and who knows what all else. I haven't decided on the how's and where's of the furniture down there yet but it'll come... sooner or later.



Yup, I'm one of those mom's who fills the dressup box with 75% off post Halloween costumes.

My two pretty princesses. Can you believe it?!! Leah's not wearing blue!

And I couldn't resist a couple of $1.24 wigs... way too much fun.

This is actually a long wig that I braided to somewhat preserve it. I do have a really great picture of Cam with the braid over his shoulder... :)

And here I just finished telling Sam to smile because I was going to print these up to give to his friends at school. I got this picture and then he wouldn't put another wig on.

Today was the kind of beautiful day that could only come into exsistence by way of a Divine Designer. It was incredible. Part of it's beauty was because yesterday was a very blustery fall day. The kind that has cold, driving rain and LOTS of it.

Yesterday we were in BFM and Cam spotted some umbrellas. He insisted we needed them so I caved and we got them. They wanted to play outside but I insisted it was TOO cold and rainy.

Today we went for a walk, we couldn't help BUT go for a walk. The boys insisted on taking the umbrellas. It was GREAT! The umbrellies already have given back their $1 value each on just this walk and we didn't even get wet or cold trying them out!

Cody's first thing to do is look out for helicopters and throw them up and watch them come swirling down. Wonderful, simple pleasures.

And then we made some leaf piles. If you notice the hill is kind of green. Well, if you had been walking YOUR dog in the park this afternoon you would have seen this crazy lady shovelling all the leaves on the hillside down to the bottom so the kids would have a great big pile... or two. I did it doggy fashion, faced uphill and sent leaves flying backwards through my legs. The kids' giggles were well worth the LOOKS.

Much of this running downhill and tumbling into the leaf piles was done with the umbrellas in hand. It's a good thing we didn't invest too much in them. This type of activity does little to retain the original shape.

This was a millisecond before Cam accidently munched Cara into the mud beneath the hill's surface.

God is so good! Not only do we have the blessing of gorgeous weather but also the blessings of health to run around, safety - no wars, peaceful neighborhood, cameras for recording, ability to be a stay-at-home mom and a bed to crash in when the day is done.

It's where I'm headed right now. Night all. May you also have the blessing of such a gorgeous day come tomorrow.