Splish, splash I was takin' a bath...

All I can say is, when one has 4 kids, it is virtually impossible to know what all of them are up to at any given moment. Inevitably, there is always someone flying under the radar. When that someone happens to be the "motor-driven" 2-year-old boy, well... the results are rarely good.

Eric was upstairs supervising bedtime for the older two, Bella was playing happily in the kitchen at my feet while I did something on the computer, and suddenly I heard splashing and happy giggles coming from the bathroom on the other side of the wall...




By the way, the video does not do justice to the amount of water that was actually on the floor. There was a good 1/2 inch of water covering the ENTIRE floor... all the way to & beyond the toilet!

A Step in the right direction!

The video speaks for itself! Enjoy!

The Next "Coco Chanel"

It's amazing what a girl, desperate for a fashion update, can do with a T-Shirt!

P.S. - The styles and the poses were all Bella. They were not prompted by us at all!

Farewell, "Aunt" Uni

"Aunt" Uni died last night. She passed away from stomach cancer. I will miss her. The thing is, Uni wasn't my aunt. She wasn't actually related to me at all! You see, every once-in-a-while, you run across one of those people who you just want to adopt. Or else, you do adopt them, without even thinking about it, or realizing it, until later. Aunt Uni was one of those people for me.

I only saw her a few times a year, at Christmas, Thanksgiving, and the occasional birthday party; but I will miss her. She always made me smile. She was always as happy to see me as I was to see her, and she always greeted me with a warm hug. She was always surprised when I gave her a Christmas present, no matter how small. She was very humble and unassuming, and she made the best pecan pies in the world! Christmas will be a little emptier this year without her cheerful presence.

When I stop to think about it, it's actually remarkable that I ever even really had the privilege to know Aunt Uni at all. She was from another state. She was my Uncle Craig's aunt. Craig is, in actuality, only my uncle through marriage to my Aunt Anne. My Aunt Anne is actually my step-aunt (although I love her more like a big sister than anything else). Her dad, my Grandpa George, married my mom's mother when I was a baby. So really, technically, Uni should have been a complete stranger to me. But, she wasn't. If there's one thing that my mom's side of the family has taught me, it's that "family" isn't actually defined by bloodlines. Blood is not really thicker than water - It's love that matters. Love is what makes someone part of your family, not just genealogy.

I have several sisters, a brother or two, and even a twin that God didn't give me through my parents. But he did give them to me none-the-less; and I love them with all my heart. They are my children's "aunts" and "uncles" that cannot be traced through bloodlines, but they love them - and I would trust their lives to them. My Grandpa George was one of the most influential people in my life. His kids, my aunts and uncles all - I love dearly.

Today I am grateful for many things. I am grateful for having had Aunt Uni in my life. I am grateful that she is in a better place. I smile at the thought of my mom and Grandpa George being there to greet her and show her around. But most of all, I am grateful for all of the "family" God has blessed my life with - with or without bloodlines! My life is richer because they are in it.

Halloween Pictures - very late!

I'm finally getting around to posting our halloween pictures here. Of course, I realize that you may have already seen them on Facebook, Andrea... as I'm pretty sure you are my only reader! But, just in case you haven't, I'll put them here!

Trick-or-Treating was fun. Eric stayed home to pass out candy. Bella stayed with him for a while, but eventually came with us in her stroller after we stopped home for a candy drop. My dad (I say it this way in case anybody but you read this, Andrea) went with us too. It seems that every year we go further and further, and this year was no exception. Caleb walked, and walked! I kept asking him if he was ready to go home, and he kept saying "keep going!" So we did. From house to house, Caleb won every heart with his innocent cheekiness. If they handed him candy he would say "I need some more!" If they let him choose, he dug through the bowl in earnest and examined all of his options. Finally, when his lust for candy was satisfied, he turned and hollered back over his shoulder "Happy Howo-ween!" Until finally, when we were the furthest from home we had been all evening, The Cat in the Hat turned into "The Cat IS my Hat!" I had to carry him on my shoulders for quite a distance.

At one point, my Dad, who is considerably taller than me, offered to share the burden, so we transferred Caleb to his shoulders. Unfortunately, this lasted only a moment as Caleb began shouting "Papa is too high! Papa is too high!" So back he came. I carried him at least a block before I was able to put him down again. By then we were just about home.

My favorite thing that happened all evening was when the twins approached a door where ther was a skeleton holding the candy bowl. I was actually standing on the sidewalk, so this account is from Evan. He began to reach for the candy, but then got a good look at the skeleton and thought better of it. As he began to back away, the woman of the house said, "Don't worry, he's dead." So, greed getting the better of him, he reached his hand into the depths of the bowl. At that moment, the "dead" skeleton moved and shouted "BOO!" All I heard of this whole interaction was Evan shouting "AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!" I think most of the neighborhood heard him too! All I can say for my skeleton neighbor is, it's a very good thing Evan didn't have a full bladder at the time!

By the way, how do you like my halloween meatloaf?

Family Pumpkin Night!

So, at our house, we don't carve pumpkins... with 4 kids under the age of 8, it's simply too dangerous. Instead, I found these really cool things... kinda like Mr. Potato Head parts, only for pumpkins! Our new tradition goes like this: Each family member gets a pumpkin that is realtive in size to their age. Then, on pumpkin night, we all sit around the table with our pumpkins, all the pieces, and dice.

Everybody rolls the dice, and the highest roller gets to pick first. We roll once for each body part. For example, first we roll for mouths, then noses, etc... This makes things fair, because usually, whoever gets to pick first for one body part ends up picking last for another.

We all pick our parts and assemble our pumpkins then present them for a photo shoot. Afterwards, they all go out on the front porch to decorate our yard for the season. The best part about not carving pumpkins is that the pumpkins last much longer this way. After Halloween is over, we pull out the parts and turn the pumpkins around and leave them out for Thanksgiving!

My favorite pumpkin this year was Bella's. Mind you, I decorated it... she's a bit young. After putting in the mouth and the binkie, I gave it to her to play with, and turned away to decorate my pumpkin. When I looked back, she had the eyes in one hand, the pumpkin in the other, and the binkie in her own mouth!

Birthday Girl!

Ok, I know I'm very late posting this, but let's face it - I'm not good at posting anyway! Bella's first birthday was October 23rd, her party was on the 24th. Surprisingly, she really enjoyed the party! Most babies, I think, get a little overwhelmed by parties at this age... and don't really seem to care about their birthday much the first time. Bella, however, seemed to know it was all about her! She went through most of the evening with a huge grin on her face! She posed for pictures, grinned all through the happy birthday song, and paid attention to every gift! She was even interested in looking at the clothes... but then, she IS a girl after all!