Jess...last on the camera...

Now that we're home again, home again jiggity jig...I was cleaning off the brains of my camera...and realized I hadn't shared some funtimes from our visit...

We saw Uncle Aunt Jess...my brother's girlfriend.  The kid's called her Uncle Jess for a while...and it was funny...until we got to think about it...and since Jess can sound like a male name and we didn't want to call her Jessica...we thought it best to NOT have them saying..."We saw Uncle Dave and Uncle Jess..."  So, hence the change!  On a whim we decided to paint our nails.  It was fun...and nice hot pink.  I even left it on for a full day...which has to be some kind of record.  My brother even helped us out by blow drying them for faster drying and hardness!  Pretty funny!

Jess is busy with school (She's an El. Ed major...very perfect choice for her)...She had to go home and she and Emma played a game of tickle torture.  She'd say, "Give me a hug"...and Emma would say "No!"...and she'd tickle, tickle, tickle her...and then hold her arms out for a hug...

"Give me a hug"...."No!"...It was so cute!  She did hug her goodbye when she realized she was really leaving.

We love DadE...

I don't think these two look anything alike!  HAHAHA...sense the sarcasm!?  For those wondering about the sock...DadE is home safely from his latest adventures and was tickling toes...hence the removed sock!

Emma was pleased with her one present...a tiny Eiffel Tower keychain...from DadE's jaunt to Paris!

Isn't it cute!?

Reading With Grandpa...

Park & Ride...

Otherwise known as snack time...

Morning Snuggler Buddies

Modern Airport Art?

...the kids think these are jellyfish floating above the Indy airport terminal.  They do have the little legs dangling...I get it...Okay, maybe not. 

There were only two planes up close....

...Emmer was bummed out.  She did see one pretty blue and red plane though. 

Three Year-Olds...

Sickness Spreads...

Well, Lubby continues to bark with his pneumonia.  He seems to have a bit more energy today. 

Emmer-bean has pink eye...and is loving her eye drops...NOT! 

MomE has a cold that DadE shared with her.  Thanks a whole heaping lot.  I may have been slightly obstinate about my opinion that he had allergies and not a cold.  When I caught his cold, he was happy to point out that...He was right!  Thanks.

This is all happening on a VERY busy week for me.  God has cleared two days off that busy week so far.  I'm trying to keep a good attitude about it all.  He knows what he has planned for me to do...

I'm going whole hog for the bad-mom award today though...It's movie day...one right after the other...MomE is beat...pass the Kleenex and the Vick, please!  *sniffity-snork

She gets THAT from her DadE!

Emma wanted oyster crackers for breakfast....

...and practiced her mad math skills on the checkerboard tablecloth.  Yeah...she might LOOK just like me....but the interest in MATH comes from her DadE....

....definitely!

Cute but Sickly!

I took Emma in for her kindergarten booster shots.  She didn't even cry...although she's running a fever now and saying they hurt.  They got Dora Popsicles as a reward when they got home!

Caleb was coughing...so I asked the Dr. to look at him too.  Turns out he has pneumonia.  I feel like a bad Mom.  He's pretty tired and out of it.  Honestly, it's hard to tell with a three year old.  They are so cranky and obstinate 90% of the time anyway....Which is sick and which is defiance?  Have fun figuring that out without a good Dr. around.

Anyhoo...that's the news from here.  Cute...but sickly!

Calm & Peaceful...

...when he's sleeping!

Birdie in the Basket...

I read the other day about someone "basting" eggs.  SO, being the ever strangely eager mind that I am....I got several books from the library on making eggs in fun ways.  Never did find anything on basting....but...

It was then that I came across instructions for making Birdie in a Basket...You cut a hole in the buttered bread and then fry an egg in the hole.  My bread was too thin...so I used two slices.  It worked perfectly!

Lubby had fried ham...since he's allergic to eggs.  Poor thing...he doesn't seem to mind...he's too busy being obstinate to care about much of anything else these days.  Example: I asked if he wanted sausage or ham...he said ham...I made ham...he flipped out cuz the ham was warm...and refused to eat it...he was spoken to by hand...he ate the ham...funtimes.

This is also called Toad in the Hole...which I think is gross and hilarious in a quirky British kind of way.  The kids talk about it in Bedknobs and Broomsticks...If you've never watched that Angela Lansbury classic you really need to...now!

He told me he was only going to eat three pieces....I told him that was fine...and then cut up the rest and said and six more pieces after that...humph!  I'm glad God makes them cute...and makes them look like their Father...sigh!

An egg-y success!  A fun and healthy way to eat your eggs. 

The3LittlePigs!

...an Emmer-bean/Lubby Production!

Sorry if this makes ya'll sea-sick...but it's hard to hold the camera steady while aiding the actors.  Originally, Lubby didn't want to participate (he's been rather rotten lately) but he jumped in with the wolf's brother at the end.  Enjoy!

Mama's Heart: The WHY...I do what I do...

Duet. 4:9, "Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them."

My children recite Eph. 6:1...A LOT...and it occurred to me, that sometimes even as good Christian parents...we forget WHY we are training and disciplining our children.  The catalyst for this post comes from a comment I heard the other day...A sweet friend said, "I was reading how the Lord was patient with the Israelites and repeated himself over and over...and I think I shouldn't really be so hard on the kids about obeying and listening to me...because God is so forgiving to me."  Well...wait a minute...

True...I could (and should) work on being more patient with my kids.  And True...God perseveres to bring His people into redemption....BUT...why do I teach my children Eph. 6:1..."Children OBEY your parents, for this is right."  Why do I teach...demand...obedience be shown to me and my husband?? 

 Well, it's because GOD is the goal.  NOT me.  He is the perfect parent.  NOT me.  I want them to have a understanding of how to relate to GOD.  NOT me.  If it was about me...I'd be training them because I don't want to be embarrassed...or inconvenienced.  Or I "wouldn't be so hard on them" cuz I'm tired and it's easier to let it go.

Prov. 19:18, "Discipline your son, for there is hope; do not set your heart on putting him to death."

I cannot let them get away with disobedience because GOD IS JUST AND HOLY.  They need relational understanding of authority.  They need to know that I'm teaching them about Heaven and Hell...two VERY real places!  My discipline of them (perfect and imperfect) needs to point to GOD.  When I mess up...I need to point out how it's not like GOD the perfect Father would do it.  When I do it right (PTL) I need to point out how it's like God the Father...
Hebrews 12:5-6, 11  “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him.  For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.”  "For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it."

I want my kids to know that to willfully ignore is to have no peace at all.  Is. 48:18, "Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea;" 

Like a river glorious, is God’s perfect peace,
Over all victorious, in its bright increase;
Perfect, yet it floweth, fuller every day,
Perfect, yet it groweth, deeper all the way. 
   Stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blest
Finding, as He promised, perfect peace and rest.

I need to keep focused...on WHY I do...WHAT I do...each day!  "OBEDIENCE is the very best way to show that you believe."  And...as a MomE...my obedience to train and discipline is the very best way to point to Christ for my Sweet Boobahs!

It's Grace

Happy Birthday, Dr. Suess!

We woke bright and early

my Sweet Boobahs and I

To wish a favorite author

Happy Birthday, "Say Hi..."

Dr. Suess...how we love him

we sigh and we giggle

To read Cat in the Hat

Why, we don't even wiggle.

We made lots of fun stuff...

striped hats...counted legs

Why we even ate green ham and eggs!!

We made some oobleck and 

scrambled eggs super

rhymed yertle with turtle

(and girdle)--a blooper.

MomE's creative juices are flowing

ABC's, rhyming and knowing

Dr. Suess is fun, fantastic and good...

Have you read one today?  If you haven't....

...you should!