Look at this...

Do you see this cute baby?  He wants to meet his aunt.  My own sweet babies, my superman Dad, and I are heading out to see him starting tomorrow, so there will be a short hiatus in posting.  I plan on being back a week from Thursday, so be on the lookout for a new post then.  Thanks so much to everyone who is a regular reader of my blogs...it means a lot to me to have people appreciate my odd sense of humor!

On another, more important note...my oldest baby is six today.  I'm still in shock.  Sure, she's started in school and she's in ballet and she likes to write and try to read and can make her own bed and fold her own clothes and brush her own teeth and clear the table, but she's not really ready to be six...I'm sure of it!

She has a thing for getting her picture taken with flowers.

Happy birthday to you, my sweet flower princess girl!  May life always be as magical and full of excitement as it is today!

Boo!

I think for Halloween this year, I'll just try to turn on the vacuum.  That's terrifying enough to get my kids screaming and jumping up on furniture.  Practical, too.  My floors always need a good cleaning.

****Editor's Note: Getting me to scream and jump on furniture isn't hard, either.  All it takes is one small mouse.

"The Turnip Lantern" by William Henry Hunt

The Last limerick, I promise...

There once were a few readers dear,
Who did not think this blog was queer.
They got terribly sick
Reading each limerick
every week for what seemed like a year!

The Mystery of the Blue Train

I finished another book this week.  It was an Agatha Christie--The Mystery of the Blue Train.

Doesn't it look exciting?  It was.  Poirot mysteries are one of those things I return to on a regular basis when I've overwhelmed myself with too much non-fiction reading.  I've read many of them in my time, but I have to say, I can still never guess who did it!  It's part exciting and part shocking.  I am honing my skills, however, to be able to identify who the killer is not...I was able to successfully eliminate two of the candidates fairly quickly, but was still horrified when I discovered the real killer plus accomplice.  Seriously?  That's what makes her mysteries so timeless!

For those of you who have never read an Agatha Christie novel, you definitely should.  They're easy to read, and very suspenseful without being dark or dwelling on evil too much.  It's all a very civilized type of villiany.  The real charm, however, lies in the sub-plots of the stories.  This one had a paid companion, just turned rich, who stumbled into love.  The books always have a good share of good virtues also.  For every dastardly villian, there is usually a loyal and kind character as well.

And now, for the most important bit...if you're reading an Agatha Christie for the first time, start with an Hercule Poirot novel.  I sometimes wish I knew him in real life...although he would be entirely horrified at the state of my housekeeping.  He's intelligent, tries to be modest, a neat freak, Belgian (not French), and has a magnificent mustache.  He's everything a private investigator should be.  Miss Marple is pretty good, too, but in more of a Cranford meets crime sort of way.  I enjoy her adventures, but I LOVE Poirot's.  You'll probably find copies of Agatha Christie novels in any used book store or library...try one out and let me know what you think.

What can $100 do for you?

I had a recent makeover of sorts.  For me it was a real game-changer.  I got my hair cut...the same way I always do, then the next week, I had an eye exam.  My hubby got me contact lenses again after a five year-baby stage hiatus. (If your eyes freak out during pregnancy, you'll know why I didn't bother for a while.) 

Then the next day, I looked in the mirror and had a startling recollection...I have a really interesting eye color.  Is that completely pathetic, or what?  I had forgotten all about one of my most unique and attractive features!

To make a long story short, that $100 made me mentally go from this...



(No, I don't usually have an axe handy when watching the children)

To this...



Yes, that is a chocolate cake! 

In other words, it got things back to where they should be.  


Word of the Week

Here's a fun one.  It adds a little gusto to an every day problem for many of us.

Paunch: noun. stomach, pot belly

Where to start, where to start...there are so many pleasant alternatives when you're thinking up sentences about a pot belly...  How about this...

Grandma Jessie was tired of the backhanded insults; when the boy bagging groceries snickered at her bladder leakage supplies, she punched him right in the paunch.


OR...

The speedy toddler stumbled through the room, fat cheeks jiggling with every step, paunch bared to the world, dismantling all sense of order the mother had so strategically worked to achieve.

Hurricane Season is Here...

Yes, I know those of you on the coastlines are hunkering down to survive a few months of suddenly horrifying weather.  In our family, we have reached the season of hunkering down as well...but not because of Mother Nature.  Our baby is almost sixteen months old.  Those of you who have had children know what I mean when I call her Hurricane Allison.

The MoonPie girl can successfully whirl through any room in the house leaving it in shambles in a mere matter of minutes.  She loves to unwind toilet paper and splash in the toilet.  She unloads and tries to eat the trash.  She pulls dirty dishes out of the dishwasher and throws them on the floor.  She loves to eat crayons and color on furniture.  She basically leaves us in a perpetual state of terror from the moment we release her from her bed to the time she returns.

The thing about having a baby this age, though, is that she's so cute and cheerful about it all.  You can't really be angry...what a mystery it is!  She's exhausting, but when she toddles over with her fat cheeks smiling, holding out a dirty diaper she just fished out of the trash like it is some great treasure she found just for you, you can't be mad.  God really knew what He was doing making them cute.

This stage will pass.  In a few months, she'll remember all the no-nos.  I can't say I'll miss the messes...we have plenty as it is, but it's still a precious time.  Each child has their own special biggest mess they made during Hurricane season...it's fun to think of when it's over!