The Only Guy she'll Ever Date

I overslept a little Tuesday morning but came downstairs just in time to see Daddy and Essie pulling in the driveway back from their Starbucks "date."

Ahhhh what this does to this mother's heart. Her in her little dress....and tennis shoes!

If you're seeing this and thinking how fortunate it is for Brian with all that extra time on his hands to dawdle at Starbucks, I would point out that this dedicated Father and employee wakes well before the crack of dawn to work several early hours so he can spend a little time with the kids before then hitting the (at least) hour commute and the full work day ahead. Most likely it is often after a late night helping sooth a teething baby...or listening to a talkative wife. Essie burst in with all the exciting details to tell her sisters who were waiting excitedly to hear.
"Gemma! Hannah! I had um, I got hot choclit meeeeeilk! And I got a bwownie...wif white and red little thingies on the bwownie...like the little canny cane tasty things!"

Back at home for some breakfast. Fleepin bleepin CUTENESS!!!!!

Special Times

There is this phenomena that frequently happens at our house during "quiet/nap time". While sisters are not too busy being "best friends" with their sisters....and brothers have a little free time from their "best friend" brothers.... they sneak away to brew a cup of hot tea and relish their "Special Time" with their special bud. These two....

stick together. We use to call them "Bonnie and Clyde" due to the fact that their best bonding was during their frequent toddler crime sprees together. People have commonly thought them to be twins and they might as well be. Now they have mellowed out into the most angelic little duo imaginable. With similar personality types, they are very into asthetics, are neat, orderly, thoughtful, tender little early birds. They make time every day for their "Special time" together. They are funny to listen to, so I caught a little random conversing...

And sometimes it's just really amusing to me to film people while they think they are posing for a still photo... I know. I have problems....

I got the First Belly Shot!

Isn't she cute?

Mom of Boys Dilemma:

Parenting is full of interesting dilemmas. There were two options. First, I could lecture him on how bad for him it would be to drink the pepperocinni juice. How it's not healthy (or generally socially acceptable), how it might pickle his insides and burn even more fiercely on the way out. But... I realized with this kid here that may be the whole point, ya know? And I think he knew it? After all, the kid wants to drink the fire juice to impress me. (You see the eye...carefully watching my reaction)... wondering if this means he'll ever graduate to whole jalapenos...

That first option seems most reasonable... to a mother. But then I hesitated and remembered that motherly tendency to coddle and reign-in the little men that need to stretch out a bit and I think maybe this is one of those trees I need to let him climb? So...like any good mother, would I started cheering and leading the chanting... "Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!" (option two?)
Who knows? Maybe I have just foolishly pickled my son to no avail, but when he proudly pulled up his shirt to show off his distended belly and I saw he had acquired his Father's old broken discarded cellphone from somewhere and was proudly wearing it just like a man would, I realized that this was indeed a day of mysterious manly experiments and that this time the Holy Spirit had led me aright. One of those things we females don't understand.) I wish I could add a fifth "wonder" to that verse in that Proverb from the female perspective... (wink)

There are three things which are too wonderful for me, four which I do not understand;
The way of an eagle in the sky,
The way of a serpent on a rock, The way of a ship in the middle of the sea,
And the way of a man with a maid.

[Um...and the way of boys and their self-inflicted pains?]

Proverbs 30:18