News: The Good and the Bad

Almost every class we have, I get a new giggle from my Littles. These past few days have been no exception, as we've color-coded and labelled sentence structures, simultaneously learning whatever tidbits about Martin Luther's life I can convey without prepositional phrases or too many adjectives. Upon being informed that they have a test tomorrow, Zachary and Madeline (hereafter called "The Wise Ones") asked for me to print off a couple practice sheets for them. Forgoing our reformer theme (because I couldn't think of new facts right away), I hastily typed out a couple pages and went about my merry way. On the way upstairs this evening, however, I spotted Maddy's practice page:

The good news is: some amount of information from her sentence analyses is getting through. The bad news is: it's all getting dreadfully tangled up with Jane Austen & Lady Catherine de Bourgh.

Watch-It Wednesday: Nothing!

I just got back from a fabulous day of babysitting some super-fun kiddos! What do you do for eight hours with five children, 10 & under? Oh, "Nothing!"

...which, of course, translates to "Have a Ball!"
Happy Wednesday!

Watch-It Wednesday: (Talent)? Night

I know ya'll are probably sick of hearing about how wonderful our church Family Camp is, but necessity demands that I bring it up {at least} one more time. One of the most hilarious, memory-making, quote-generating evenings of camp is Talent Night. "Hilarious," because, contrary to the delusive title, no talent is required to participate. "Memory-making," because whenever a whole group of people who love the LORD and each other get together to have fun, memories must be made. "Quote-generating," because, well, you will see that for yourself...

Imagine the dire consequences, then, if even two people are missing from the evening. They wouldn't know the jokes, they wouldn't know the laughs - in a word {or, rather, two} they miss out.

Thanks to Miss Reagan, preserved for all posterity are a few choice video selections from the evening to give a clue to the absentees of our time.

To begin with, there was some real, amazing talent present...

...and then there were the ever-abundant blonde jokes...

 

...followed by the set-ups...

...and the skits.

(part I)

(part II)

Have a talented Wednesday!

The Things They Say

Some of the biggest smiles in my life are Littles. My own three youngest siblings, the students who march through my door each week, and the cute kiddos I see at church and babysit ~ these are the ones that keep life hopping and happy. Besides the fun of teaching and playing with them, their constant stream of silliness (intentional, and otherwise) keeps me chuckling, no matter what the day has held. If you don't personally know the truth of this, here are some conversations that have taken place around here, lately...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

Zach: "I was just breathing through my ear!"

*Various Siblings*: "That's impossible."

Zach: "No, really! Air was coming in and going out!"

Gracie: "You have an eardrum there, you can't breath through it!"
 

Methinks it's time for a discussion on air flow & anatomy.
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

Meg: "If actions speak louder than words, then they also speak louder than words in 'Whack'! Shouldn't that be true??"
 

Thanks, Meg! Now I have a logical defense when I find myself tongue-tied & have to just point at someone.
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

Me: (Placing supper on the table) "Ok you guys, time to eat!"

Little #1: "But...but...but...where's my fork?!?"

Me: "You don't have one yet. Run and get it!"

Little #2: "I have to go get my fork, too!"

Me: "Yep! Go for it!"

Little #3: (while sliding his fork back & forth across the table, yet in dead earnest) "I need a fork, too!"
 

Ahh, peer pressure, how young you start.
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

You know that part in The Pacifier when Murney has to play Mother Superior for The Sound of Music skit? We were suffering through watching it w/the younger kids, when Zach suddenly blurted out, "Wow! I never knew Mother Superiors had such hairy legs!"
 

...which causes me to stop and consider: Do Mother Superiors shave their legs?

Oh the things I would never wonder if it wasn't for Zachary.
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

Me: "Meg, put this away."

Meg: "Ewww!"

Me: "Big whoop. It's just clean underwear."

Zachary: "And if your a girl, you wear it every day!"
 

"If you're a girl"?? I don't even want to ask.
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

Then there's the list of instructions I had to give Maddy, all in one afternoon of knitting.

Please tell me, are these instructions rocket science? 'Cause she seemed to think they were...

 

"Maddy, you may not put your knitting needle in your nose!"

"Maddy, don't scratch your face with your knitting needle!"

"Maddy, get your knitting needle out of the chip bag!"
 

Note to self: knitting needles are complicated tools of {apparently} ambiguous purpose. So much for the explained-by-the-name theory.
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

What would we do without Littles?



When We Have Something Nice To Share

When I was a Little, Mama had a whole set of "Rules of This House" coloring sheets that my siblings and I were habitually amused by coloring. Many of those pictures, and the rules they accompanied, are permanently stamped in my brain - "When we make a mess, we clean it up," "When someone is sorry, we forgive him," "When we open something, we close it" - that sort of thing. We said them while we colored. We said them when mama would quiz us on them. And we said them when they gave us authority to get something from another person {ugly sin nature, I'm afraid - just goes to show that rules without a renewed heart won't get you too far!}. Anyway, one of the most-repeated rules was "When we have something nice to share, we share it," and it is in the spirit of this well-learned rule, that I share these things with you today:

 

~ A Laugh ~

 This picture...it just...I mean...the longer you look at it, the funnier it is!



Photo Credit

 

~ An Article ~

I was really impressed and encouraged by this review of the the 'Hunger Games'. Most articles I've read before either angrily ranted against the story, or mindlessly defended the entertainment of the tale. Douglas Wilson sensibly analyzes the novel and it's moral implications ~ certainly worth reading!

~ A Song ~

This song is "The Megs'" favorite song at the moment. She roams the house singing it, requests to listen to it, and lip-sings along while it plays. Good thing it truly is beautiful! :)

 

A lovely weekend to you all!



Watch-It Wednesday: Yo!

Hello wonderful people! Have you realized just how many "Watch-It Wednesday"s I have in a row here? Yeah, well, I have too...suffice to say, it's been a crazy summer. The fair, family vacation, Les Miserables in San Fransisco, Family Camp...the list goes on - busy, busy summer, these last two months have been. Finally, however, we are settling down to normal life again next week, and I can safely promise you that there will begin to be at least one post between each of the videos to break up the monotony on this blog. :)

In the meantime...here's a funny commercial that Daddy was quoting to us the other day... Enjoy!

 

Yo, friends! Have a great Wednesday!! :)

 

30 Day Book Challenge! Day 21: Never Grow Up

"No book is really worth reading at the age of ten which is not equally (and often far more) worth reading at the age of fifty - except, of course, books of information. The only imaginative works we ought to grow out of are those which it would have been better not to have read at all." - C.S. Lewis On Stories: and Other Essays on Literature

Day 21: What is your favorite book from your childhood?

Confusing!!! Aren't I still a child? All my life, whenever I referred to "when I was younger" or "when I was little" I was greeted by grown-ups' smirks and chuckles. Then, suddenly, I'm being asked by my Little Friends to tell stories about "when you were a kid" and being asked question about my childhood - exactly when did the switch occur, please?

Anyway, I completely agree with C.S. Lewis in regards to "children's" books - and I was very blessed growing up to enjoy mostly good books which I have not yet outgrown and never plan to! That said, my first few answers would have been The Chronicles of Narnia and the Elsie Dinsmore series, but I've already mentioned those, so I shall instead answer:

Photo Credit

Derwood Inc. is hilarious story told in the first person by an oldest sister about the adventures she shares with her brother, Jack. The Derwoods are a family of 8 in which, to quote Penny, "It takes some figuring to work out just who is who." Penny and Jack are the oldest two, and barely knew their mother, who died shortly after Jack's birth. Later, their dad re-married a widow - with a daughter from her previous marriage - and then their parents had three more children together. Dubbed "Derwood Inc." by the dad, this is just a plain ol' sweet story about the lives, struggles, and love of a big Christian family. Join the side-splitting drama of hearing Jack's Fifty-Ton-Mile-Long-Giant-Killer-Octopus stories, serving unsweetened cherry pie at the Ladies' Auxiliary Luncheon, and being "caught" stealing some sweet old lady's silver! Oh yeah, and there's a big mystery as Penny - who dreams of being the next "Amy Belle" of her favorite detective series - and Jack accidentally stumble upon and break up a gang sending information to Russia...but see what I mean? Even the mystery is funny! This is just about the only book that, without fail, no matter how many times I've read it, I can't help laughing out loud when reading again. Jack is hilarious, and honestly, I think I liked it greatly because it reminded me of my relationship as the oldest sister with my bro, Ben. :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Jack, how did you get out of there?" I tried not to let on how scared I had been. "What took you so long?"

He looked embarrassed. "I - uh - got locked in a closet."

"They locked you in a closet?"

"N-no. I-I locked myself in there by accident." He was gathering up our shoe-shine stuff, trying to act calm.

"You've been in that store two hours. Do you mean you spent two hours in a closet?"

"Course not. I'm not that foolish. I only spent an hour and forty-five minutes in the closet. The first five minutes and the last ten minutes I was as free as a bird."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"No, Penny. They're shipping their mattresses to Alaska. Do you know what is up there?"

"What?"

"Russia."

"Really? Russia's up in Alaska? Doesn't that mean we own it?"

"No! If I knew as little about geography as you, I shouldn't let myself be seen in public, Penny Derwood."

"You could only do that if you were invisible. And you're the one who said Russia is in Alaska, not me. What did you mean by it?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and the one I quote all the time...

"Freddy!" I screamed. I ran in and snatched him back, but it was too late.

Jack and the girls heard me scream, and they came to see what was wrong. The tall bookcase wavered from the push it received. The topmost books plopped gracefully to the floor, and then the whole thing fell forward with a crash. Right across the bed.

"Oh no," Jack groaned.

As if in agreement, the bed suddenly broke.

...From downstairs, we heard the front door open. "Kids? Anybody home?"

It never fails. Things can go well for two solid hours, and the one minute when everything falls apart is the same minute that Mom and Dad walk through the door.

..."My hands have that itchy feeling that tells me I'm going to be holding a snow shovel soon," Jack said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I think this book deserves the #1 Book to Make You Smile and Laugh award!
 

A Typical Day of Caleigh

After cleaning off my bed of not just my music, books, and scarves but also Caleigh's giant monkey, puppet monkey, etc, I thought it fitting to do a post on what a day with my li'l cousin is like. However, I soon realized that this was nigh-impossible, as the day is made up of so many precious, different moments, it would take forever to tell them all. Thus, I am jotting down just a few. :) Goodness gracious, this girl makes me laugh! Caleigh-Bug and I have been pretty much inseparable since I got here, and I am so enjoying every minute with her! This morning she got up and requested that I fix her hair in the same chair I fix Hannah's in with "a LOT of hair-dos," which in Caleigh-speak means "hair clips." So we did! Here's the end result:

After lunch, we were off to the Bug's gymnastics class. Since we arrived a bit early, she got out of her car seat and came back to sit by me (buckled in like a big girl, of course) as we waited. Before leaving home, I had wanted to get as many pictures as possible of and with these girls, but this was rendered rather impossible when, a week before I came, my camera died. *moment of silence* Fortunately, Papa brought his, and since he and Grandma hardly use it any more now that they have their o-so-cool iPhones (can you believe that? My grandparents have iPhones), I am able to keep it by me always. All that to say, naturally, the first thing we did was snap a couple pictures. Caleigh always votes to do a goofy one. No surprises there.


blurry, but real :p



Then it was time for more serious things, like having Caleigh show and explain to me everything in her purse...

Yeah, we have snow on the ground and a howling, biting wind, and the Caleigh-Bug is hot. Go figure. :)

After shopping and getting home, Caleigh was left in front of a tv show (more on that later) while I went to practice my violin. That didn't last long. Soon, she was in my room, on my bed, playing with my little teaching helpers (Cocoa & friends), bouncy balls, and other random things to be found in my case; there she stayed for nearly an hour, happy as anything. (No pictures of that, since I was...you know...actually doing something).

Dinner came and went, and Caleigh was again on my bed, being amused by pictures on my blog. Once she saw the Three Little Pigs video, though, she was hooked. Patiently, she waited while I finished up a couple things, ("patiently" meaning, "wiggling around, playing with things on my bed, and begging to take a few more pictures") and finally, after getting ready for bed, we snuggled up on the couch and sat giggling up a storm over 3 or 4 Disney "Three Little Pigs" clips until bedtime. As I turned on her CD and called one last goodnight, she called out to me "I love you, cousin Sarah!"

I'm lovin' this time spent with my Caleigh-Bug. :)

"T" for Texas...Or Maybe Just For Lack of a Better Title

Greetings from the freezing planes of Texas! :) Yes, I really am in Texas right now. No, it really isn't the sunny, hot climate of which you are thinking. The weather is cold-cold-cold, and VERY windy, as you can see in the picture about. You know that black thing running across and "ruining" the picture? That's the camera handle-wrist-thingy, getting blown in front of the lens!

I'm here staying with the people in the pic...Grandma, Grandpa, and cousins Hannah and Caleigh! While Aunt Robin and Uncle Steve are off on an awesome vacation, I got to come play with these dear girls (the cousins that is...). It has been a full two years since I've seen them, and we are having so much fun together! Hannah-Bell is an always-smiling, make-everyone-around-her-happy, 8-year-old living with Rhett syndrome. Caleigh-Bug (or "Caleigh-Mon'ter", depending on her mood) is a 3-year-old bundle of energy, following me around, donning all my jewelry, clomping in my shoes, and helping me with any and EVERY task I turn to.

Hannah and me - her hair stayed put better in the wind than mine did!

Caleigh-Bug, showing her pretty nails and impersonating Mr. T
with all my necklaces!

Arriving Wednesday afternoon, I had a day and a half to spend with the whole family (which was good, bad, and wonderful: I worked out twice with my aunt at the gym, and was completely schooled by her = embarrassing! = bad (hehehe), got a manicure with same aunt = incredibly relaxing = good, and got to go watch a Beth Moore Bible study on Revelation = very cool (especially having just completed her Daniel study) = wonderful :), before the early-morning departure of my aunt and uncle on Friday. Since then, it's been breakfast, play with Hannah, play with Caleigh, lunch, play with Caleigh, play with Hannah, dinner, play with Hannah, play with Caleigh. Aye, it's a tough life I'm leading right now, don't you think? You will even more so when I tell you that, after dropping the girls off at school yesterday, Grandma had an errand to run. Papa obligingly took us to Dillards (the southern version of Nordstroms, but with better sales) to get socks. So, of course, Grandma and I tried on shoes. Isn't that what you do when you need to buy socks?

We found all sorts of wonderful on-sale shoes, including a grand selection of what Papa termed "happy shoes", such as those pictured above. They certainly made us laugh and smile - pink and sparkles, how can you go wrong?

 --Excuse me? No! I don't need to buy new socks. What do you mean mine don't match? I assure you, they do, one of my dear friends has a pair just like it! Don't worry, mama - I was wearing my boots. Nobody saw my killer sense of style except for those in the shoe aisle!

In the end, we left the store with a few pairs of socks for Grandma, and a new pair of shoes for the two of us! Though not necessarily an amazingly descriptive shot of our purchases, here they are being tried on!

And here's the Caleigh-Bug who slipped into my new shoes the moment she returned home and saw them!

I afraid this post has absolutely no potential to be anything besides random. And maybe a little loopy...but it's late, so I can't even tell for sure. What do you expect of someone who spends her day crafting "cookiemanders" (beaded salamanders, thus retitled because of a 3-year-old's confusion between crafts and cookies - I mean, they're similar, right??), watching "Strawberry Shortcake", and re-organizing an entire closet in search of a purple baby-doll slipper? Maybe this whole post should have been in list format, since you would be scandalized to know how long it has taken me to sit here and formulate complete sentences.

Ok, ignore everything above. I think I'll start over.

Things That Make Me Smile:
- Flying
- Hannah
- Caleigh
- Grandparents
- Hearing Caleigh ask Grandma where her "new cousin Sarah is" in the morning
- Hannah's laugh
- Hannah's smile
- Making cookies with Caleigh...and having her dump half the flour on the floor
- Making enchiladas with Caleigh...and having her drop all the "innards" of an enchilada on the floor
- Sweeping with Caleigh...and having her empty the dustpan contents back onto the floor by putting it away BEFORE dumping it in the trash
- Having Hannah pause during her walk to look me straight in the eyes...and just feeling all the love that little girl has
- Seeing "coincidental" themes in almost everything...blog posts, emails, Scripture, and sermons - do you ever just laugh and think "God's trying to tell me something"?
- orange juice
- bed

Oh, bed. There's an idea. Maybe sleep will clear the mind? Not that you can count on anything, but it's worth a shot... I promise am pretty sure hope more flowing, coherent posts will follow soon - and if worst come to worst, I could always just have Caleigh write something. What am I saying? I really do need sleep...

Watch-It Wednesday: The Justice of King Charles II

Methinks there were, perhaps, some moral flaws in this gentleman?

Have a laughing Wednesday - tell a good joke!