Goliath and the Bean Stalk

I'm not sure if I helped butcher one of the Bible's most exciting tales, but I guess I aided and abetted my kids while they did tonight. We were playing after dinner and the girls were really starting to get imaginative, starting with Sarah...
Sarah: "Mommy, the giant Goliath stoled my stuff and ran away!"
Mommy: "Where did he go?"
Sarah: "I can't find him! Help!"
Mommy: "Maybe he went up the beanstalk with the other giants!"
Sarah: "But how will I get my stuff back?"
Mommy: "Well, I've got a few magic beans... here take these (handing over imaginary beans)"
Sarah: "Thanks! I'll go up there, but what do I do then?"
Mommy: "You climb up and defeat the giant... if a little guy like David did it, you can too... remember... with God's help little guys can do big things, too (shameless Veggie Tales quote)"
Sarah: Oh... (climbing stairs) I'm up here!! He's chasing me!!!"
Hannah: "I'll save you!"
Mommy: "Quick Hannah, get 5 smooth stones from the Jordan river, and bring your sling!"
Sarah: "Hannah, shoot him in his four heads!"
(Hannah pretends to shoot a stone in a sling)
Hannah: "Got em, he falled right over Mommy... here's your stuff Sarah (pronounced Say-wah)."
Sarah: "Look! He's getting up, Run!"
(Mommy, Sarah, Hannah, and Caleb run to Caleb's room, where Mommy begins conveniently dressing and diapering Caleb for bed)
Sarah: "He can't get in because our friends are helping"
Mommy: "Oh yeah? Who?"
Sarah: "Mickey (Mouse) and Klooto (Pluto... the dog). I'm David"
Hannah: "And I'm God"
Mommy: speechless.

I love the world of imagination... I just hope I can get them to remeber the real story the right way now! :)

More Garden Pictures

Just posting a few more nice pictures from the gardens...Ryan put on a rousing puppet show for the kids in the frontier house there, and needless to say, Caleb was too pooped to party by the end of the day. Thank goodness we got a new stroller he can nap in! We were sad that Aunt Holly, Uncle Dave, and the cousins couldn't visit, but it was nice to have a family bonding day with Daddy all to ourselves. We're praying for you all to feel better soon, Green family!

Family Day at the Gardens

We finally got Ryan to go to the Botanical Gardens on Saturday. The girls have been clamoring to get us to go on a day when Ryan could go, too. It was such a lovely day. We played in the fountains, explored the children's garden, and had a relaxing picnic under a huge tree that made an enormous canopy of shade all around us. We topped off the day with family movie night, featuring their first screening of "Lady and the Tramp." It's been a WONDERFUL weekend!!

A lovely summer day...

On Friday the kids and I had an incredibly fun time just hanging out in the back yard together. I dragged out their baby pool, which was ridiculously small for them now, though they didn't seem to notice. I also put up a tent in the backyard for them to play in and to shade Caleb while he hung out outside. Poor little guy, stuck in a pink princess tent most of the day. He doesn't stand a chance, hanging out with three women all day. We were out for all but a couple of hours while the kids napped... an idyllic day. Everyone behaved and got along well, too... someone remind me, isn't this a sign of the apocalypse?

The Science Lesson

As many of you know, I love to make bread from scratch with the girls. There are so many great lessons to learn while making bread, including how to measure and count out ingredients, how to follow a recipe, and safety lessons about cooking in the kitchen. Today I decided to try to teach them a little about why bread rises, in simple form. I told them about yeast, and described it as little teensy animals that eat up all the sugar from our honey, and then when they're full, they toot and it makes bubbles in the bread, and that those bubbles make the dough get bigger and bigger over time. Of course, they're three, so I'm not expecting them to "get it" but I figured maybe a picture of yeast under a microscope might help them understand what it really looks like, so I googled "yeast" and this is what they saw:

Needless to say, they were unimpressed, and began wandering off and asking to see the cute puppy and kitty pictures on the lolcats website. So I thought about it, and I figured out this is what they probably expected to see:

No wonder they were dissappointed. I think I'll leave the microbiology lessons till they get a little older. Can't hurt to try, though!

Caleb's first photos

Caleb had his first photo session at Portrait Innovations on Friday. If he got any cuter, I'd have to beat other Mommies off with a stick. At least that's how I think of it in my brain. The girls came along, too, and though we hadn't planned on taking their pictures this time, we just couldn't resist getting at least one shot of the three of them. We have lots more, but these are just a few highlights. Enjoy!

Mommy confessions...

I guess I felt the need to get a few things off my chest, so here goes...

I eat junk food after telling my kids "no" by hiding in the pantry while I do it.
I throw away toys because I get sick of stepping on them.
I have no problem skipping baths when they're due if I have been too busy, too tired, or having too much fun with my kids to stop and do baths.
I stay in my pjs till 4:30 most days and change into "real clothes" only when it's getting close to time for Ryan to come home
The house is awful till about 4:30, too.
Most of the time my laundry never makes it to the drawers and just ends up getting used up from the laundry baskets where it ends up after coming out of the dryer.
I love Veggie Tales more than my kids do, so when Hannah wants Barney and Sarah wants Veggie Tales on at the same time, I always say it's "Sarah's turn" so I can watch the one I like.
My kids' potty seats get disenfected woefully infrequently because I hate touching them that much and I'm just so busy.
I like to mow the lawn to get out of the house for a bit.
If Ryan didn't encourage me to branch out when cooking, this family would be eating scrambled eggs, peas, and microwaved sweet potatos every night (what? it's got all the right vitamins, and can be made and at the table in 10 mins... the perfect meal!).
I fear the day I can't eat like a pig based on the excuse that "I'm eating for two" (because I'm still nursing)
I also fear the day when I have to work out again because I have no more excuses about the kids needing all my attention.
I observe the 5 second rule way too often.
I should be waking the baby to nurse right now but I can't drag myself off the computer to do it!!

Now it's your turn... anything you'd like to get off your chest?

Sitting!... and falling.

Caleb has started sitting up. Sorry for the sideways picture, but I didn't have time to re-orient it. It's a cute one, though, as just after he plopped right over onto the carpet again. But he can go about 10-15 seconds now unsupported, which sounds like very little but is so long in the mind of his Mommy. It's great... his world is opening up to him now and he can explore so many new things from this position. My little man is growing so fast!

If Mommies Named Paint Colors

I was rolling a coat of "Toasted Cashew" on my wall when I began thinking about the names people give to paint colors. For instance, in addition to "toasted Cashew" I've also recently rolled on "Egyptian Nile", and "Pumpkin Butter," among others I can't really recall. They always sound either yummy or exotic, so I got to thinking then about what kind of names we Mommies would give our paint colors. For me, "Toasted Cashew" would be "Breast Milk," "Egyptian Nile" would be "Strained Peas," etc. Reds would be named for hues of Elmo and Clifford, Browns would be named after Curious George and the color my kids turn after playing in various types of turf and mud, Greens would bring to mind the lovely shades of spit up and nasal discharges I find when my kids are sick, Yellows would would be hues of rubber duckies and swim floaties, and Purples would relate to bruises, grapes, and raisins. Yep, while "Toasted Cashew" sounds romantic, if Ryan told me he was bringing home "Clifford Red" or "Grass Stain" I'd definitely know better what I was getting.
p.s. Almost done with the renovations!!! T-minus three days till we're finished with the major work!

A three treatment day

Around Hannah's world, the quality of days are measured by the no. of breathing treatments she requires in a day. Most days, its none, but when recovering from a (flu?), the no. usually goes up. Today was a three treatment day. Sarah is almost fully over it, but Hannah and Caleb, though they seemed to be getting better on Mon. and Tues, still seem to be battling the afteraffects. Caleb has been sleeping really poorly, running a low fever, and eating alot, so maybe it's just teething. I just wish I could give Hannah a little of my strength to fight this. Good thing, though, is she doesn't seem to notice the wheezing, and goes on about her day as normal. She's still my baby, so it's just hard to watch her sit and wheeze :(.