the toilet talk is overflowing...

If I had a dollar for every time I've heard the words "poop," "tee-tee," and "toot" (followed by rounds of giggling) from the mouths of my little ladies in the past month alone, I could afford to send them to a real live etiquette school. Cause they're obviously not getting the kind of home-training they need in that department. My own lady-like discretion is simply not enough to balance the free-speaking ways of their father. Yes, I blame it on him.

He asks me, "Why do they talk about potty stuff so much. Why do they think it's so funny? I don't talk about it that much. What? I don't." Hmm-mm.

Since Rafe assumed, when he first saw it, that this shirt was for adults, I should call attention here: I'm pretty sure it's intended for the 4-and-under crowd. Which makes it pretty funny to me. The other way, not so funny. Tho I think he was better amused with his first impression. (See what I'm up against here?)

Ladies, do your sweet angels enjoy talk of this nature? Or just mine?

Make a Meez pleez

LAUREN AS ELINOR

I was introduced to Meez.com today via Jen's blog. You have to try it. Make your own "3-D ID" and if you want, email me your code and I'll post it here with mine, or put it on your own page--I want to see it...oooh, fun!

MEEZ AGAIN

ANNA KATE

RACHEL (designed by Lindsey)

MIKE (designed by Lindsey)

LINDSEY, self-meez

SUSAN (designed by Lauren)

BEKAH (by Lauren)

BEKAH w/ a Route44 (by Lauren)

CHERISH, self-meez

SIC, self-meez

CALLIE, by Lauren and Cherish

The novelty of this meezness is wearing off, even for me. But this post wouldn't be complete without a meez Rafe. When I asked him if he wanted me to make him one, he looked at me like this:

Guess he was never really intrigued in the first place. Love you, Honey! :)

Last, but not least, a self-meez by our friend ARTHUR, pretending to be a weirdo. (But he's completely harmless. This image of himself probably makes him want to hide under the covers.)

Elinor Dashwood? Me? (blush, blush)

This purely scientific quiz just told me which Austen heroine I'm most like. Really? Elinor? Hmmm...yeah, right. I certainly wish I had the noble qualities of Sense and Sensibility's Miss Dashwood here but ohhh...how they often escape me. "Constantly placing other people before her own needs? Gentle? Reserved?" I need a little (quite a bit) more sanctification for those qualities to be consistently borne out of me. I do attempt rational thinking (see description below) in my more mature years, but I've been known to have some craaaazy, irrational thoughts in my day...ugh. Does Elinor ever? Yeah, I'm sure, from time to time, but she handles them with the utmost prudence and virtue. She's certainly a Christian (at least in my mind). And my hero. And she probably wouldn't be wasting the morning away at a computer, writing silly posts on her silly blog, while her cottage is a dreadful disaster. So I better be off...

Take the Quiz here!

As Marianne's older sister, Elinor lives at the other end of the emotional spectrum. She rarely reveals her intense feelings and is more concerned with being honest and loyal than having what she deserves. Even though her intentions are pure, she sets herself up for loss by constantly placing other people before her own needs. Overall, Elinor is gentle and rational but is just as capable of radical emotions (despite her withholding them) as her sister.

WHICH JANE AUSTEN CHARACTER ARE YOU? (This is a different quiz--longer but better.)

p.s. If you haven't seen Sense and Sensibility, slap yourself on the hand and please go watch it! If for Edward alone, you must see this film. btw, this post is way lamer than "snack-time," Bek. At least yours is uh, relevant. But humor me here, friends and Jane Austen lovers if you're out there! Which Austen heroine are you?

Oh, Bro. !

If, for some reason, my family were to be uprooted from this great city of Shreveport, one thing I know for sure: I'd be missing me some Bro. Rex. (That's "Bubba" to AK and E. In fact, Elle overheard me talking the other day and asked, "Who is Bruder Rex?") So for all you who have known and loved him, this is for you. Out of context, I know, but maybe these will mean something to you today, feed your soul so to speak. Here are your fairly recent Rex quotes to sample and digest. Mmmmm...yummy!


"The goodness that God has given to you is not about you, but about you being a blessing to other people."

"Devotion demands diligence--the maximum, relentless pursuit of fellowship with the Lord."

"God never puts you in a place where he cannot work things out for your greater good."

"God had a bigger and bettter plan for Joseph--as he does for us--than to just avoid suffering and painful feelings. "

"Little sins are deadly serious--they are filled with unimaginable horror. Little sins inevitably lead to bigger sins."

"God doesn't mess up lives and He doesn't give up on us when we do things to mess up our lives...God's work keeps us from self-destruction--instead of a mess, you can have a blessing--but you must repent."

"Sin is the suicidal exchange of the glory of God for broken cisterns of worldliness."

"While you're waiting for God to do something big in your life, he's waiting for some small change in your character development."

"There is never reason to panic, fear, hide, or worry. God is not to be questioned. He is always with you; He will never forsake you."

"Persevere means to remain under pressure withouth complaint until God accomplishes what He wants. God gives grace to endure as we submit to His control."

"Trying to not disobey very much is like trying not to get hit by too many bullets in battle."

"Misery intensifies until we entrust it all to him--then we have rest for our souls. Our problems won't go away, but they then become God's problems to work out."

"God always meets us at the place of honesty--when we face up to who we really are."

"God takes the darkness of our lives and brings in light, inch by inch, moment by moment."

"Thinking about our sin and how sinful we are will never get us to stop sinning--it is the goodness of God that motivates..."

"Nothing is too difficult for the Lord."

Praise God for Christ-exalting, Bible-teaching, people-loving pastors everywhere!

p.s. one more: "Every heart has a K-Neb." hehe

Anna Kate hits Elle

If you can get through Anna Kate's ramblings about *squash*, this is actually pretty funny. (Sorry baby Elle. Now that I see it on video, you were right.)

Elle likes the park

Elle and I went to the park today. The slides and swings were wet from rain and the ducks did not like our flour tortillas...go figure. But the sky was right for picture-taking! I sneaked some good ones of her, but there are more of the little one being uncooperative... (and basically mocking me.) That's my Ellie!

A Post with the Most...graphics you've ever seen

So I picked Elinor Dashwood for my Literary Ball character, Jen picked Elizabeth Bennet (though Hester Prynne was her first choice back in October), and Anna Kate picked Angelina Ballerina. (What can I say, the girls in my family really like to dress up as Angelinas.) I have to admit, I was quite pleased when she picked this character...not because these books are outstanding (although they are fun) but because I thought..."Hey, that should be easy. A tutu and some mouse ears and we're good to go." I cannot sew a stitch so I was happy to attempt something like this. I think it turned out fine. I even constructed a cute little mouse tail for the costume's rear end. When she found out I was shopping for furry tail-fabric, Mrs. Linda Boyd made sure to inform me via Mother-in-Love that mouse tails are NOT furry, but I figured the less realistic the better when it comes to mouse tails. So--though not true to nature--our mouse tail is furry and pretty cute, I must say. (Oh, but rigged with a safety pin if you look close...but if it weren't rigged up in some way, it wouldn't be mine.) So here's the little ballerina mouse on her special day:

The ball was great...the kids loved it. Here are some pics of the decorated auditorium:

I didn't help with the decorating so can't take credit for that. But I DID stay up til 1 AM making 83 fruit kabobs. And rice krispie treats for AK's class birthday snack. And I WILL take credit for that--there are even photos for proof of my labors. But it was worth it for my little valentine. Even a heart-shaped French toast birthday breakfast to coax her out of bed.

Now for the dancing. Angelina didn't seem overly thrilled to be dancing with the Biggest, Baddest looking Wolf EVER.... I don't think it was him though--I think she was just bored. If you're totally bored yourself, check her out...brought to you by Dropshots:

And a few more pics of the birthday girl and her cute friends. And one of me with Aunt Kim 'cause she loves her little niece. There's one of Rafe and me but he's making the "I can't believe you're making me take this picture right now" face so it's being omitted from the bunch.


We had a good day. AK had tons-o-fun and racked up on some rockin' gifts. I overheard her tell Grandma that she doesn't "even feel six...I still feel 5!" I got to tuck her sweet, clean body into a warm bed and pray with her for the coming year. God is so good. I feel overwhelmingly blessed to have 2 precious children in my life; I know you parents do, too. May He give us grace to shepherd them with wisdom, patience, and real love.....Now, here's a picture of Elle (with the cutest, littlest Copeland!) 'cause we love her, too.

All About AK!

Happy Monday everyone!........... This week is one that will probably be remembered forever in the brain of our soon-to-be-6-year-old. For starters, she is Student of the Week in her class. So, we (mostly I) got to make a poster over the weekend and she will share it with her class today, plus have all the benefits of being student of the week (lots of attention, mainly.) Wednesday is not only Valentine's Day, but her BIRTHDAY (!) AND the very special Literary Ball at school: the Kindergarteners pick a literary character and dress up...then attend a very fancy "ball" where they dance their version of the Waltz (they've been practicing all month!) and feast on fanciful treats courtesy of us room moms. I will post pictures Wednesday. And if any of you can tell me how the heck to put a video on here, I'll do that too.

Came across these today...

Can you guess who these babies are?

Look at those bellies! So cute...

And they're 6 and almost 6 now...WAH!

Girls! Girls! Girls!

I really had a great time this weekend with all of you, especially Saturday night! I didn't want it to be over... right when it was getting good! :) I can't believe I didn't take ANY pictures. How sad. (So if you have some, please send them my way and I'll stick 'em on here.) It really wasn't enough time with you Ashley, Bekah, Elizabeth, Emily, Shannon, and Lin, but I had much fun!! Love you girls!

Oh, and Rach...you were truly missed by all! :(