Two Peas in a Pod

I have had the privilege of having a little company lately ...

These two peas in a pod are together quite often. In the bright pink jacket (and purple sweater) is Gracelyn, my niece. She's almost two and has the spunk that typically goes along with that number! Or does that come from her mom? Hmm. Maybe her auntie. Well, anyway. Not only does she have spunk, but she also knows the sounds that every animal I can conceivably think of makes.

You say, "Gracie, how do dogs go?" and she will quickly follow with a "Woof! Woof!" etc.

Now Jocelyn, the blondie in the light pink jacket, is Gracie's friend that her mom babysits. She's also two ... and she also has spunk! I'm not sure if she knows her animal sounds or not, but as I was quizzing Gracelyn about how pigs, cows, and ducks go, one of Gracelyn's sisters said, "Ask Gracie how Daddy's go."

So I did.

"Gracie, how does Daddy go?"

Blank stare.

"How does Daddy go?"

Two blank stares.

Then Jocelyn threw her hands palm up and said in a voice that made me feel like I needed to go back to Kindergarten, "Daddy go work!"

Silly me. Of course Daddy goes to work!

We won't reveal what Gracie normally says when you ask her how Daddy goes, because, well ... that's a family secret. But at least one record has been set straight ....

Daddy. Go. Work! 

And now that we all have that down pat ... here are a few pics of the two peas.



Gracie wasn't sure how she felt about the snow sprinkles.

After we came in to warm up ...

Eenie Meenie Minie Moe. Which one is the sassy one?

My, what big teeeth you have!

My, what big eyes you have!

Play ball!!

The end.

where i've been

*peeks around corner

Hello! So nice to see you again!!

Yes, I've been away, for a very long time. The good news is that I am not deceased. The bad news is that ... well, there is no bad news! I've been away from home for the last (almost) three weeks, taking care of my mom-in-law while my dad-in-law was out of town on business. And while it's been a little bit crazy, I am home safe and sound, and catching up on rest, laundry, cleaning, and getting to know Jessie again. :-) We plan to reacquaint ourselves this evening, while we watch American Idol and just ... veg.

My refrigerator is chalk full of science projects, but I'm not dealing with that until tomorrow. And yes, I said that yesterday.

Other than that, there isn't a whole lot going on, other than normal everyday life. Baseball season has started for both the Rockies and Andrew. I'm soooo excited!! I can't wait until it gets warm enough to go to a game and get toasty fried in the warm sun! And yes, I know all about skin cancer. I just happen to not care. I'd rather remedy my low vitamin D than worry about something that may never happen. But I am kidding about getting toasty fried. I know that's not a good thing.

I'm also in the midst of starting a blog for the ladies at our church. Unfortunately, it won't be something that non-members will have access to, so I won't be able to point you to it. But I at least had to share, because I'm so excited!!! It's an opportunity to write more, encourage more, and get to know others at my church more. Nothing better than that! I can't wait to see what kind of input and feedback the ladies will give.

Bedee, bedee, that's about it, folks! Oh! Forgot to tell you that Andrew broke him wrist while we were gone. He went on a three day youth retreat, and got into a tubing pile up. Ha! He said all of them were going down the hill, and all of a sudden, the tube flipped and all three of his buddies had landed on his arm while it was twisted behind his back. He said he went face first, with his cheek bouncing up and down on the ground all the way down. And then he said, "And Mom! Michael landed right ON my face. I mean, like, ON IT." Michael weighs about 220, so ... ahem ... I can't imagine that was too pleasant, and it made me wonder how his nose didn't end up getting broken also. ;-)

So, he's in a cast for four weeks, and a splint for two. Baseball practice started the night he got the cast on, of course. Thankfully, it's just the start of the practice season, and he should be good to go as soon as the games start up. And thankfully, it wasn't his pitching arm. Thank you, Lord!

Thanks for stopping in again, assuming I'm not talking to thin air. I'm sure I've lost most of my readers by now. If you did stop in, leave me a little comment and let me know if you have any guesses as to what I said when I signed Andrew's cast (I'll reveal the answer in the next post).

Any guesses?

Anyone?





Anyone???

happy biptiday

Three years ago, I made Andrew a birthday cake and decorated it - all by myself! Only thing is ... it said "Happy Birtday."

H's are highly overrated anyway, right?

Pathetic little cake, isn't it?

Ahem ... well ... for Jessie's birthday this year, I wasn't sure what to do. She doesn't like cake, so that wasn't an option, but I wanted to make her something. So we decided on cheesecake. Cherry cheesecake, to be exact.

You can't very well ice a cheesecake, so I decided to buy some nifty letter candles that spelled Happy Birthday.

At least I thought that's what they spelled ...

Until I opened the package and saw that two of them were broke. They're wax, so I couldn't do much about it. The only thing left to do was to have one heckuva Biptiday. 

The good news?

Jessie did have a Heckuva Biptiday. 

See?

I guess she'd rather it be PAYDAY though ...

This is our good friend, Riley. After he ate a ton of turkey and mashed potatoes, he leaned back in his chair and moaned and said, "I'm sooo uncomfortable!! I can't even swallow!"

Snort! I love to feed people.

All in all ... a successful Biptiday! 

something to be thankful for

I'm thankful for people who come along and encourage when I'm having a rough week. Last weekend, and this entire past week has been challenging to say the least.

Sometimes God puts a friend in our path to lift us up, and sometimes He uses our own kids. Of course, He is not past using multiple methods to accomplish His will for us, whether it be people or Scripture, or .... fill in the blank. But my point is that for me, this past week, He placed just the right people at just the right times in my path.


Just like a good Daddy would do ... 

Sunday evening, a friend approached me at church to ask me how a certain situation in my life was going, and she assured me she had been praying, especially the last two weeks. I think I may know Who burdened her heart to do so.

Then on my 21st wedding anniversary, my daughter (Ashlee) wrote this on my facebook wall:
  
So. My parents have been married for 21 years today. And since I'm married now, I'm beginning to respect that more and more...and more. :) Thank you God, for giving my parents the strength to persevere, no matter how hard it got, and thank you Mom and Dad for being willing to defy all odds and still love each other deeply after 21 years. I love you two! :)

And since I serve a gracious God, I also received this pleasant surprise on our dry erase board when I went into the schoolroom to fetch my cell phone:

 

And my response was:

Good timing, indeed.

Thank you, Lord.

Decisions

My Facebook status yesterday:

Decisions, decisions. I hate 'em.

Jessie's comment on my status:

That's why they invented eenie meenie minie moe.

Not only did that make me smile, but maybe there's something to it! I think I'll try it next time! ;)

~Brenda

P.S. Speaking of decisions, I'll soon be announcing what type of book I'll be writing this next year, so stay tuned!

Eenie, meenie, minie, moe .....

Laughter Still Lives

Laughter, they say, is the best medicine.

Although we are hard pressed, perplexed, and struck down, we are not without joy - and even laughter. Each time I hear Jeanine chuckle, I find myself trying to forever etch the beautiful echo of it into my mind. I love her laugh, and if it's the best medicine, then I pray that she will be filled to the brim with it.

Here at our house, we've also tried to keep it as joyful as possible. When I find little things like this around the house, it helps to keep my pearly yellow's white's a flashin':





Nothing like a little teenage sibling torture to keep laughter alive out here on the Prairie where it seems, at this time, so desolate.

May laughter also live in your heart and home today ...

~Brenda

Farewell, Little Ones

As you may have guessed, we have had some guests!!

Guessed.

Guests.

Get it?

Ahem, anyway ...

We've had a few little guests this week. My brother's kids came for a week long visit. They were planning on staying two weeks, but a few of them were getting rather homesick, plus their dad was getting lonely. They had been at their mom's for four weeks prior to coming to my place, which is a long time for younguns - if you ask me. :-)

So here's a few favorite photos of them from our visit together. Emily told me she would "miss me sooooooooooo much," and Noah, when he found out he was going home said, "Awww, man. I kinda want to stay, but I really miss Dad." And Meghan, when she found out she was going home, said, "Yay! I miss Dad!"

So there you have it. I'm low man on the totem pole when Dad is in the picture.

And that's a good thing.

Together at the park:




Emily, on her way home, fully prepared and equipped with her video game to keep her entertained:




Emily ran from the camera until I told her it'd be such a nice gift to her dad to have some pretty photos of her. After that, it was all smiles and poses:




Noah was rather excited when we bought him his "headlight." He's been wearing it since the WalMart trip last night, and I can't say my eyes will miss it much. :-)




Meghan is really growing up, and becoming quite the young lady. Her and Andrew were inseparable, and were both looking a bit somber as they left his morning.





And I couldn't resist posting this picture. That's my yogurt thermometer sticking out from Noah's arm. They decided it'd be a fun experiment to put it in the freezer, then stick it under their arm and watch the temperature rise. Apparently, Noah's temp was rather fascinating.



All three kids are very well behaved, and I thoroughly enjoyed having them.

Emily and I were two peas in a pod the whole week. I'll miss her telling me "I wuv you, Aunt Bwenna," and "You're jus' kiddin', right?" when I would tease her.

I'll miss having a friend for Andrew, and I'll miss Noah's funny little quips.

Like when I asked him what he'd like to have for a snack, he saw the Cheese crackers and said, "Yeah! I'll have some Cheese Nipples!"

I said, "Uhm, I think you mean Cheese Nips."

And after his splurge of two sugar cookies, he said, "Aunt Brenda, I accidentally got rowdy because of those sugar cookies!!!"

Not sure how ones gets "accidentally rowdy" ... but I suppose we'll go easy on the sugar cookies next time.

Farewell, Little Ones. I love each of you and will miss you sooooooooo much!!!!

~Aunt Bwenna

Meet Emily

She's a tiny bit shy ...




Sweeter than pie ...

>

And cheesier than I ...




She calls me "Aunt Bwenna," loves every kind of snack I possess, and sings a darn good O Come, O Come Emmanuel - vibrato style.

Don't you wish you had an Emily?

~Brenda

Kids Say

Ashlee and I teach a children's class at church each Sunday, ages three to five. Tonight, we had a new little boy, Caleb, who was age five. After the Bible story, I was coloring with him, and we got to talking about how many siblings he had.

"Do you have brothers and sisters?" I asked.

"Well," he started. "I just have one brother. His name is Evan."

"Oh ... well, that's a nice name."

"Uh huh."

"How 'bout sisters?"

"No," he said, shaking his head. "No sisters."

Silence.

"But I do have two mothers."

Prying the gum from the back of my throat with my tongue, I said, "Oooooooohhhh!! Really?"

I looked at him, his ornery smile and sparkly pupils staring back at me.

"Nah ... I'm jus' kiddin'."

And that's what little boys are made of.

Nothin' but trouble.

----------------------------------------------

Same night, same kid:

"While miss Ashlee gets the story ready, how about each of you say your name out loud so we all know everyone a little better?" I started.

Everyone was more than willing to reveal their name. We came to the last little girl, and I said, "Okay, and what's your name, honey?"

"My name is Sophia!" she said proudly.

Caleb's eyes got big, his chest expanded, and he began singing in his best opera voice, "Ooooh, Sophia!! I just love the name Sophia! Soooo romantic and beeeeeaaauuutiful!!"

So far, the child has two mothers and is sweet talking the other little girls in the class. I'm afraid to think what might happen if the child attended each week.

~Brenda

Sister For Sale

I'm so glad my children love one another. And I've got proof.

See?





After Jessie penned those loving words, she came in the house and said to Ashlee, "Sorry Ashlee. I really need a car."

Sick humor is what we're all about in this household.

And I think we've got it down pat.

~Brenda

Psalms, and Critters, and Spiritual Songs

Conversation on the way home from church Sunday morning:

Jessie: Did Ashlee sleep at home last night?

Me: Uhhh, yes .... why do you ask (giving hubby that oh my word, now what look)?

Jessie: No reason. I'll tell you later.

Me: Andrew, why did YOU sleep on the couch last night?

Andrew: Oh ... no reason.

When we got home, I asked Jessie if it was "later" enough, but she said she would maybe tell me in a couple of hours why all the bed shuffling took place.

Then I got a text from Ashlee telling me to come up to her room.

I knew I was in for it. Or Ashlee was in for it. Or SOMEONE was in for it.

I tiptoed up the stairs, reached for the doorknob on Ashlee's door, and barely cracked it open, as if there was a hibernating grizzly on the other side, and found all three of my children staring at me with their little angelic faces.

My skin crawled. My heart beat a little quicker.

And out jumped this little critter (okay, so she didn't jump ... she slithered her body against the edge of the bed):





Next comes, "Can I keep 'er, Mom?"

Yeah ... you know the drill.

It's still undecided as to whether this Prairie Mama will allow the cat to stay. Let's just say I'm giving it a trial period. And Ashlee is contemplating a possible move, which obviously means that cat wouldn't be staying.

But she already named it. And we all know what that means.

Actually, several of us have named it.

Ashlee named it Lily.

Andrew named it Kiki.

Jessie named it Harvey Dent (the evil man on Dark Knight - apparently they have the same facial markings).

And I named it Ratatouille. Because she's about the size of a rat, same color as a rat, and well ... she kinda smells like a rat.

Kitty names are really for the owners anyway. Pray tell, when have any of us ever called a cat by it's name - and actually had the cat respond? Hmmm?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

On a more serious note ... here's my recitation of Psalm 1.

Psalm 1

Blessed is the man that walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
nor standeth in the path of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And in His law he meditates day and night.

He will be like a tree, planted by the rivers of water,
That brings forth its fruit in its season,
Whose leaf also shall not wither,
And whatever he does, shall prosper.

The ungodly are not so,
But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.

I cheated and looked on that very last line.

Just so ya' know.

I'm pretty close to getting it exactly perfect, but it looks as though the KJV is somehow in the back of my mind. I'm saying sitteth instead of sits, etc.

Maybe I need to relax a little, huh?

And ... I wanted to share with you a song we sang in church on Sunday morning. It's entitled Psalm 1 (how fitting!). :-) I wish I could post the music to it also, but I can't find it anywhere on the internet. So the words will have to do. It's basically Psalm 1, in words that make the meaning a little clearer. I hope you enjoy, and I hope it helps you in your memorization. Understanding what I'm memorizing always helps me.

Psalm 1

How blest are they who turn to God,
Forsaking sinful ways;
Renouncing haunts of worldly minds,
And unbelieving days.

They make the teaching of the Lord
Their quest and great delight;
And to its guidance daily turn,
With ever clearer sight.

Like trees they stand, so full of life,
The living stream beside;
They yield their fruit and strong endure,
No matter what betide.

But those who to this boasting world
Commit their hope and trust,
The coming Day shall drive away,
Like worthless chaff, or dust.

O might grace, that we may stand
Among the sons of love!
When Christ the Lord, our coming King,
Shall life our souls above.

I really, really, really want to have clearer sight, and yield fruit no matter what betide.

I hope you do to, and renewing our minds with Scripture will most assuredly get us on that path.

God bless all Lovely Lurkers as you go through your week,

~Brenda

P.S. I've enabled the pop-up comment box, in the hopes that Lovely Lurkers will not have as much trouble commenting. I hope it works better for you. Please email me if you still have trouble.

Yzmama

Ashlee: You have really big eyes, Mom.

Me (making eyes even bigger): I do?

Ashlee: You look like that girl.

Me: What girl?

Andrew: What girl?

Ashlee: You know, that girl?

Andrew: Oh yeah, that girl.

Me (looking quite confused): WHAT GIRL???!!!

Ashlee: The one off of Emperors New Groove

Me: What's that?

Ashlee: It's a movie.

Me: Oh...I've never seen it. Let's look it up.

And that, folks, is where I should have shut my mouth. And this ... THIS is why!!!!

Yzma:





Or Yzmama?

Country vs. Red Neck

I love family gatherings. We had a big one last night, and I learned something new about red necks while listening to a conversation between Jessie and her Grandma Frasier.

Went something like this:

Grandma: Well I never knew the difference between a red neck and a country girl. What exactly is the difference?

Jessie (in her matter of fact tone): Country girls have hygiene.

Lol. I'm fer sure a country girl. No hairy armpits or tobacco teeth for me.

~Brenda, the country girl who vows to never cross over to red neck

Teenager Talk

Me (bummin' around with Jessie): Do you still have those scars on your toes from when you were a baby? You know ... because a few strands of my hair were stuck in the footy of your PJ's and got wrapped around them too tightly?

Jessie (bummin' around with me): Yep, they're right there.

Me: Hmmm ... Sure enough!

Silence.

Me: Did you know I also dropped you in your car seat when you were a baby?

Silence.

Me: And there was of course that curling iron accident when it fell off the counter and landed on your chubby little bare leg.

Blank stare.

Jessie: And I still turned out the best of all three kids!!

Chuckle, cough, snort ...

Don't ya' just love teenagers?

I do. They may be the most entertaining people in the whole world.

~Brenda, the kid lovin' Prairie Mama