Happy Blogoversary To Us!

One year ago today, I wrote my first post.

As an anniversary post, I thought I'd list some of my favorite entries of the year.  I had fun looking through them all and chose ten.  For my three avid readers, this might not be much fun. If you're new to my sock-filled world, this will give you a glimpse of life in our four walls.   

By far, my favorite was taking the time to document my family's legacy of service to our country.

My first, and I think only, Works for Me Wednesday post.

Why I really blog.

Or, my other reason to blog.

Chase's favorite super hero: Hot Girl.

When Brian joined the blog and began making this blog thing a family affair.

I found a place to showcase my beautiful babies on Father's Day.

Some important firsts in A Big Week for the Arnolds.

Getting to tell Grandaddy tales.

Writing down memories so my kids will have a glimpse of their other Grandad.

Who knows what great adventures this next year will bring?  Some might be worthy of a read. Some won't matter until my own kids are 30-something and want to remember life as little ones.  

Right now, this blog probably matters more to me than anyone else, but I'm glad you're along for the ride!

I'd Rather a Roll in the Hay!

Funny comments from my last post.  My mind wasn't even going in that direction, you naughty girls.  Though I must tell you that it's felt a little like having a newborn lately.

The last few weeks we've had some weird thing I like to call Pop Up Fever.  You never know when, where or from whom this fever is going to pop up.  Each of the three kids has had it.  A day at a time.  Three days in a row, then nothing, then for another day.

The other night I noticed that 3 was the only hour I didn't see on the clock throughout the night.  

"I'm hot." 

"I need medicine."

"My legs hurt, will you rub them?"

"Can I sleep with you?"

"I need to go paaaahhhhhty!"

"Can I sleep on the couch?"

"I want a drink."

"I fell out of the bed, will you walk me back?"

"I just wanted to tell you I went potty."

And, every time I crawl into bed next to my lovely lump of a husband, I think to myself, "And, HE wants more children."

In all fairness, he gets up with the kids, too, but that's hardly the point when it's MY turn.  

So, your comments give me a good thought:  If I could be promised a solid five or six hours of sleep in a row, then I'd rather go for a roll in the hay!  

Don't Ask Me

Never ask a woman between the hours of midnight and 7 a.m. if she'd like to have more children.

At least, don't ask me.

That's Loud!

Ava is frightened of loud noises.  The blender, the juicer, the vacuum cleaner.  They all send her crying to her momma with hands covering her ears.

She jumped from her bed last week during the thunderstorm and ran to our room for safety. We have a little couch in our room for just such occasions and this is how quickly she went back to sleep:

OUCH!

Another sign that Spring is here:  bare feet outdoors.  Since she's constantly telling my children to put their shoes on, my mother would scream, "I told you so!" if she read this story, so I'm hoping she doesn't.

We were all playing on the deck the other day and I heard Chase start yelling, "I need a band-aid! GET A BAND-AAAAAAID!"  It was strange, because there was no cry of pain or screaming or anything, just immediately shrieking for a bandage.  

Can you see this thing?

Wicked, wicked splinter.  

After he realized what it was, of course, and remembering the pain of removing an equally giant-sized one last summer, the bawling began.  I tried only once to pull it out, and being the wuss that I am, I called Brian to come home and get it.  While the sympathetic Mom was taking pictures, Grandaddy came over, grabbed a hold of his foot with one hand and the splinter with the other and with one big yank, out it came.

Of course, Chase was screaming at the trauma and I was laughing internally at the fact that Grandaddy can't grip the coke bottle to get it open, but he did this heroic thing for his great-grandbaby.

Chase sulked in the chair for a long time trying to pull himself together.  Grandaddy kept asking, "You ain't mad at your ol' Grandaddy, are you, boy?"  

He just shook his head no.  I snuck a sucker over to Grandaddy to give to Chase as a peace offering and it was definitely the best medicine.  About ten minutes after, I found Chase on the couch.  Such trauma can sure take it out of you.

I was just getting ready to hit "publish" when Ava started crying from the deck. You guessed it...she needed a band-aid for the splinter.  I really hate it when my mom is right.

Ava's Body Art

Grandaddy and Ava were so proud to show me a new pastime they'd discovered together a few weeks ago.  They had taken turns drawing on eachother's hands in ink.  Grandaddy's drawings were some what recognizeable -- can't read his handwriting, but I made out a man in the moon sketch.  

It's hard to scold a 95-year old, but I did try to tell him that probably wasn't a good idea.  He was apologetic and said he'd never done it if he'd known I had a problem with it.  I tried to tell him she was still trying to learn the rules of using pens, pencils, markers, etc.  I found it hard to articulate without sounding like a mean ol' meanie.

I was able to show him the next day why it wasn't a good idea.

Winter to Spring in 4 Short Weeks

About four weeks ago we got 13 inches of snow and this is what our deck looked like.

Then Spring popped up on us in a flash and with the temps hitting a whopping 73 degrees yesterday, the kids begged to go to the pool!  I wasn't ready to tackle the storage closet to dig out the swimsuits, so Sammie was stuck wearing what we found in the beach towel bag.  Chase and Ava donned his "new" trunks recently acquired from a consignment shop a couple of weeks ago.

Here's Ava stirring the hot lava soup that Chase created.  That boy has some imagination!

Looks like a bat...

Looks like a toy bucket....

Actually, it's a sword and a secret hideout for the Pirate King!

I took one photo I decided not to publish.  After a while Ava got tired of her swimsuit and was caught raking leaves al fresco!

Such a sweet glimpse into the fun summer ahead.  Come take a dip with us!

Do Nothing

I read a book a few weeks ago.  The scenario was a middle-aged man and woman getting to know one another.  She was asking about his relationship with his grown son. The man said they didn't have much of one and when she asked what happened, he came out with that pat answer about growing apart.

So, what's the one thing you must do to ensure your garden will have weeds? 

Nothing.  No one ever has to work hard to have a garden full of weeds.  No special spray or composte necessary.  Simply do nothing and the weeds will take over, choking out everything fruitful.

It's the same with relationships.  The one sure-fire way to make sure a marriage falls apart is to neglect it.  To make sure your children stop talking to you, just stop talking to them.  If you wonder what ever happened to your best friend from college, ask yourself who stopped calling.

It's easier to do nothing sometimes.  But a regular habit of it will ensure everything fruitful will die.

Got any garden work to do?

Sniff (A.K.A., A Moment Worthy of Tears)

When Kristin sees or experiences an emotional moment of some sort she often times turns to me and simply says, "Sniff."

Well, I recently had one of th0se sniff moments. Chase and I were sitting on the couch in our bedroom while Kristin and the girls were doing some girlie things in the bathroom. He reached over and gave me a big, unannounced hug. I looked at him and said, "Why'd you give me a hug?" Without even a moment of hesitation, he replied, "Because you're my best friend." Then, he gave me a kiss.

Sniff.

Moments later, as I was thinking about Chase's heartfelt expression, Sammie came around the corner and said something like, "How do I look, Dad?" I'm not kidding. She looked 16 with eye shadow, blush and lip stick ... all self-applied, I might add.

Double sniff.

Riddle

What's the one thing you must do to ensure your garden will have weeds?

I Do Not Believe A Man Should Marry More Than One Woman, HOWEVER...

I'm a stay-at-home Mom.  Which doesn't mean I stay at home all the time, but it does mean that I have more conversations with pre-schoolers than adults.  Which, in turn, means that I have to be diligent about keeping up with current events, so my world doesn't turn upside down just when PBS has a change in children's programming.

So, you probably saw about three months ago when the Sheriff's department raided a gated ranch in Texas where about 400 children were taken into custody by men with machine guns in full body armor.  I even saw the armored car shot....looked like a tank to me. There had been reports of child abuse.  In this case, not beatings, but teenage-girls being married to much older men.  

As I watched this report, I saw happy children playing on a mound of dirt, schooled in classrooms, doing chores in the afternoon.  I saw contented wives (old and young) who genuinely respected their husbands and soft-spoken husbands who genuinely cared for their families and wanted to protect them. Parents were in tears wanting their children back and once they were back the younger children were terrified when a grown up left the room because they thought they might be taken again.

I get it. I do.  15-year old children should not get married.  Period.  I get it.  I do.  Until a few years ago, the age limit for marriage in Texas was 14.  That's crazy enough in itself!

The whole thing made me start thinkin' about plural marriage. What bothers me is that our culture is aghast at one man having several wives.  Does anyone else think that's ironic?

Our country turns a blind eye to killing millions of babies.  Our country wants to make it okay for men to marry men and women to marry women. Our country has no problem with one man having many babies with several women, whether they are married or not.  They want to make them financially responsible for every child, not emotionally, spiritually or morally, just financially.  In our country you can choose a spouse and divorce them as fast as the courts can process the paperwork.  There is no limit to how many times you can be married in this country.  None.

There are all kinds of things backward about plural marriage. And, I know there are some creepos who just want a young wife. Please hear this: I DO NOT BELIEVE A MAN SHOULD BE MARRIED TO MORE THAN ONE WOMAN. However, it bugs me that these people are singled out only when they want to make a commitment for a lifetime to take care of them -- all of them.  The husbands provide a safe and secure home for their wives.  You don't read about them going bankrupt or being homeless. They raise their children to work hard, respect their faith, be kind to one another, serve one another.   You don't read about them being neglected or dropping out of school.

If they didn't bother to actually get married, they would be left alone, because it's okay in our country to have many children with many women.

Of all the things to get bent out of shape about, THAT's at the top of the list?

People are weird.

Who're You Talking To?

When we say our prayers, there are constant reminders about being quiet and respectful because whoever is praying at the moment is talking to God.

I didn't realize that Ava wanted to pray after Samantha the other day and she looked and me and said, "Shhhh.  Be quiet Mama.  I'm talking to Moses."

Dutch Blitz – A Vonderful Goot Game!

Tracy Adcock – one of Kristin's best pals, and the matriarch of a family near and dear to the Arnold family – headed home to Little Rock, Arkansas today following a whirlwind visit. Dutch Blitz is customary any time there's an Arnold–Adcock reunion, so, naturally, we dusted off the game and got down to a little card playing while she was here. Kristin took top honors this go-around as she won the best-of-seven series over the course of her birthday weekend.

Thanks to Tracy for the visit ... and, along with her hubby (Darrell), for introducing us to the game. Sammie is on the verge of picking it up, and we're looking forward to playing with her, and any other friends here in Bloomington that we can introduce to the game, soon.