Fun and games...

It's all fun and games, until someone barfs in the car!

On our way home from a recent vacation, the kids were finishing up a red slushee...it was hot, the road was a winding, country one, and we were cruising @ the speed of light to get home. I had confiscated the remainder of the slushee, thinking the kids had had their share of sugar and hoping to encourage a nap:) All of a sudden I hear a gurgle in the back seat and my heart sank as I turned around to find Kayla vomiting a chunkier version of the red slushee. We pull over, strip her down, line her car seat with a towel and garbage bag, then hit the road again.

As the sun beamed down on me, I looked over at the once tempting leftover cherry slushee with disgust, lol! Thank God this was a short trip, only two hours to go, suffering through the fragrance of slushee revisited!

Busy, busy...

So, Olivia did marvelous in her 1st gymnastics recital ever! It was Monday night and she was brave and did all her moves, breaking line several times in the excitement. I must mention this is the first time she has ever really did what she was supposed to anytime she has been on stage for something...we even have the $35 DVD to prove it:)

Olivia also got her 3rd set of tubes placed in her ears yesterday, with the promise of the doctors "this will hopefully be the last set". Supposedly most ear issues are outgrown by age 5. We'll see if these tubes last the next 5 months...

Kayla is busier than ever! She walks, runs, climbs...you name it. The funny thing, she is such a daredevil...but the only thing she HATES is being made to ride with Olivia in the Princess Jeep. Instead of standing up, holding on, and letting her hair blow in the wind, she squats down in the floorboard and screams to get out when Olivia finally stops, lol!

Love my kiddos:)

Olivia-ism...

When we go for walks in the neighborhood, we live on a busy street so I am "strictly business" until we get to the cove area. We had been running and racing in the cove, then as we approached the main street Olivia wanted to run again.

Me: "No, we are not going to run beside the busy street. Someone might fall or get hurt."

O: "I am not going to fall."

Me: "I know, but just in case. Mommy's job is to protect you."

O: "I don't need protecting. I am 4 now and I am a big girl."

LOL!

This city...

As I was driving to see a client yesterday in South Memphis (Kansas/South Parkway), I was really hit with such a deep burden in my heart for the impoverished and un-reached people of Memphis. I was listening to K-Love and ironically a familiar song came on, but at that moment it meant more than it ever has. I was singing along, "greater things have yet to come, greater things are still to be done in this CITY." I really feel that is true, and I was short of crying in the car as I was driving along. There is something greater out there, something bigger than the crime and racism we deal with daily...Jesus.

In reading my Bible study lesson, Herb Hodges states in his book about discipleship, "People with no vision will perish." Wow, how true that is. So many people can only focus on today, how to stay alive, how to feed their families for today...they are focused on today that they lack vision. They lack worldly vision on how to do better and want better, how to achieve better, but they also lack spiritual vision. These people are so lost, in all sense of the word. God loves them, as should we. Please pray for the church in Memphis to step up and minister to these people.

Organic

Again, back to edible things...Olivia and I planted a small greenhouse of tomato seeds. Kevin got the notion to put the carton in the front window sill to allow it to get more sunlight. Good idea, but he forgot to tell me:) He left for work, I go into the bathroom and come out to Kayla carrying one of the small pots and her mouth is covered with dirt. Not sure how much she ate, but hopefully not enough dirt ingested to help any tomato seeds grow inside her, lol! (Like when we were little and we were afraid to eat watermelon seeds...)

Nonetheless, I agree with being green for most things and have moved in that direction the past few years. Never so much do I advocate for it as now, having kids. Now we need organic potting soil so even when the kids eat dirt, it is pure, LOL!

This too shall pass...

Olivia does not claim her favorite color to be blue, yet she has a preference for blue when it comes to food coloring. When she was about 3, we were cooking together and she picked blue to color whatever it was. She was holding the plastic tube of blue, I turned to get a spoon and turned back around to a blue child. I had no idea they do not put plastic seals under the lids of food coloring, so Olivia had opened it with her teeth, thus spilling the blue all into her mouth and down her chin, clothes, and onto the floor. I panicked and rinsed her mouth for about 2 minutes with water, until it began to run clear. I was so afraid she was going to have blue teeth until those fell out and were replaced. The floor and her mouth cleaned up better than her clothes, but at least she did not have blue teeth for longer than a day!

So, here we are at 4 1/2 years old...we have been stuck in the house for days because it's winter, cold, and both kids are running fevers, coughing, the works. To change up, we made pancakes for dinner. I suggest adding a color, Olivia picks blue. Blue pancakes it is. She holds the blue, I (inevitably) go get a spoon, turn around and she has poured the entire contents of the food coloring tube into the pancake mix. So, we do not have pastel pancakes, no we have ROYAL blue pancakes. I proceed to cook them, we eat them and they taste fine. Kayla and Olivia eat them again for breakfast the next morning. Then, they proceed to poop bright blue. Olivia and daddy check with mommy to make sure that is ok...and it is:) I guess if that is the only casualty we have from cooking in this household, we are doing well. No burns, no flames, just blue poop! This too shall pass, literally!

On and on, my friends...

Olivia is a lover of repetition. She has insisted upon singing "He's got the whole world in his hands" EVERY night for at least 6 months. She loves music, and she loves singing, but refuses to entertain the idea of singing anything else. I used to actually like the song, lol. I am sure she likes it because you can keep adding verses as long as you can to prevent actually going to sleep. I feel like it is that song from the old show with Lamb Chop the puppet, "The song that never ends, yes it goes on and on my friends..." Maybe I will find something more enticing to sing soon, but for now, we are in a bedtime rut:(