Twirls 'n Curls

 I love magazines. I'm convinced that Good Housekeeping will one day publish an article that will solve all my organizational problems in 3 easy steps, and I fear that if I canceled my subscription to Family Fun , my family wouldn't have any fun. So when the magazine in question promised five "tried and true romance tactics," I eagerly read on. This article assured me that simply replacing the regular lightbulb near our bed with a red bulb would both create a sensuous ambience and cleverly conceal any personal flaws I might be self-conscious about. Just what I needed!! So on our next trip to Wal-Mart, I went all out and bought the party pack of red bulbs, feeling adventurous already. (I'm blushing, knowing that my mom is reading this right now!) The bulbs did their job, I suppose, but the real adventure came a few months later. I was watching a friend's three kiddos along with my three, and they were all quiet. You know, tooooo quiet. I realized something...

I know, I know, you'd think this was obvious. But recently, while at several different stores/restaurant (aka PUBLIC PLACES), my kiddos have taught me several new tricks: 10) Sing "Tinkle, Tinkle, Little Star" at the top of your lungs, followed by "It's Raining, It's Pouring." 9) Flush 5 times consecutively, while other people are seated on the potty. 8) Repeatedly wave your hand in front of the paper towel dispenser so that a l-o-n-g sheet comes out. Then leave it. 7) If there is a hand dryer rather than paper towels, stick your head under and yell as loudly as you can. 6) Offer to get other people in the stall toilet paper, but only give them one square. 5) Rummage through your mom's purse while she is unable to stop you. 4) Take out the toilet seat covers one by one and sit on them on the floor, to test them out before actually using them. 3) Strategically unlock the stall door and exit when your mom is extremely exposed. 2) L...

Today I felt a bit like this soda we found in our freezer...all stretched out and ready to burst. (and no, I'm not pregnant, mom!)  If you read my post last Thursday, you would think I had learned not to take all three of my kids out by myself...well, anywhere.  If nothing else, bathroom trips are horrendous to manage.  But my sister-in-law needed a ride to the airport, and I'm a softie.  On the way to the airport, we only got lost once or twice - I've been to the Ontario airport (near L.A.) just a few times alone, and it's about 90 miles from us.  The real fun started when we dropped my sis-in-law off.  I missed the "leaving the airport" exit, so we circled around.  The girls were getting antsy, so I promised them we'd stop for lunch since they had already eaten the lunch I'd packed.  I also told them we'd shop somewhere - visions of Ontario Mills Mall or even the Target we'd passed were dancing in my head.  Then I started seeing these detou...

   I knew it was gonna be "one of those days" when at precisely midnight, while lying in bed with a sore back, I heard two of my three kids crying.  Getting all of us settled took until well after 1am, and when my alarm went off at 7:15 so I could "Walk Away the Pounds" with Leslie Sansone on DVD, I politely declined.  I just lay in bed for awhile, then finally I got up and (thankfully) read my Bible, and I thought about what I had taught on last night at Bible study - having a cheerful attitude when things go wrong, and that's when it started.  My husband bellowed from the girls' room that I needed to get in there...fast.  There was...err...an explosion of some biological sort in the crib of which I will spare you the details.      Today was errand day, which is always long and tedious because we live about an hour from the nearest city.  Add a mom with little sleep taking three kids under 6 alone to a doctor's appointment and Wal...

Nattie - 8 months and still likes to be swaddled up Hannah - the cuddlebug, likes lots of pillows and buries herself in blankets Linsey - my mini-me, check out her reading material! Yea! Everyone is in bed and asleep after a family movie night, complete with coffee drinks. Of course, 2 of those drinks got knocked over before the movie started, but Natalie sure enjoyed her first taste of coffee!! It was a doozy of a day (do people still use that word??) Before noon, Hannah had fallen off the trampoline, sprayed Simple Green in her hair (and Linsey's, both were saturated!), and dumped yogurt on the one remaining spot with carpet in the front of the house. And things just went downhill from there...needless to say, I was thrilled when bedtime came!! I always get pictures of the girls doing random cute things, so I thought I'd give you a glimpse of the girls at the time they do the least amount of damage...and talking :) We love them so much!!

That was the theme of the day, in more ways than one. "Can I sleep in your bed with my big girl panties AND a pull up?" "Sure!" "Does it matter if Hannah likes to mix her bananas with her chicken noodle soup?" "That's fine!" "Can I drink a latte each morning instead of regular milk?" "No problem!" (for the record, a latte at our house is a cup of milk with about a tablespoon of coffee, but it tastes MUCH better to a sophisticated three year old!) As you can see, the empty laundry baskets (yea!) were the boats, terribly shaken before Jesus calmed the storm...I figure if I can't get any laundry done, we may as well make good use of the baskets! Happy Friday to everyone reading this... Liz