Muddy summer days...

Oh, to be a kid again... and not having to worry about getting mud under your fingernails or in your hair (and having to blow-dry it again after another wash), or wondering what kind of living things are floating around in there. Kids seem to not care about any of those things. They just live in the moment. Guess we could all take a lesson from them.

How ya carryin'?

Check this out!! Two pregnant mamma's- and both smiling!! Jenny, my sis-in-law on my husband's side, is due about 3 weeks after I am. As the wives-tale goes, if you carry like a basketball, all out in front, it means you're having a boy, and if you carry all around the sides, it means you're having a girl. For Jen, it totally looks like she's hiding a perfectly formed basketball under her shirt (which would make sense, cuz she knows she's having her second boy). But what is the explanation for the watermelon on steroids that I have hidden under my tank?? What does that mean? Boy? Girl? Ya got me...

Oops! I did it again...

Alright...not cool! Ellie decided to be the barber on herself again and this time the damage is obvious. What is going on in that little head?? I had just come home from the salon, and Paul, my hubby, was commenting on how my side layers were cut a little short, and made an off-the-cuff remark about me "wanting to look like Ellie" (since she cut her sides a week ago). I saw her standing there when he said it, and then about 5 minutes later she comes back looking like someone took a hacksaw to her bangs!! Yikes! After mamma's reaction, she took the hint on how I didn't like her new do, and she refuses to look it in the mirror. Worse yet, we had church the next day, and everyone noticed and asked her who cut her hair, and she said "Mommy did it."!! Now I look like the blind barber!! Like I said, life goes on, right? (as long as she doesn't try it on her baby sister...)

Creativity??

Ellie, our 3 and 1/2 year old, has been quite the artist lately... I love her long, blondish hair, and haven't cut it (except for small trims) since she was born. It's around her lower back now, and since all of our other kids have tried cutting their own hair at some point, I have been working hard trying to convince her that she'd look like her brothers if her hair was short. As girly as she is, that thought makes her cringe! Well, last Monday, right as my parents were arriving for dinner, she comes downstairs and turns her back to me and says, "Look, it's still long." Then she turned toward me, and I knew what she meant. She had cut both sides of her hair (and part of her bangs) without cutting the back! I was really sad and insisted that we could glue it back on, but she seemed to be really proud of her handiwork. Oh, well, life goes on (As long as she doesn't try it on her baby sister)... As you can see, her artistic abilities haven't stopped there. Yesterday, she decided to play in mommy's makeup drawer. As I was scolding her about using my eyeliner before she's 18, I was really quite impressed with the work of art on her face. I think I see face-painting in her future...

Got Milk??

We got goats!! We've been wanting to get some milking goats for a while now, so they're finally here! We have fresh milk daily. A lot of people have misconceptions about the taste of goat's milk, but we've had people take taste tests of raw goat vs. raw cow's milk, and guess which one won? Yep, everyone either chose the goat's milk over the cow's milk, or thought the goat's milk was cow's milk. Our kids all request the goat's milk by name (even though we don't have cow milk anymore).