What. You Didn't Understand That?

"Mommy, ay awh ewe?"
"Wee do ewe?"
"Teh-wee ewe?"
"Yizzy? Ep...ep!"
"Yuff ewe!"
"Bee-bye!"
"Soos on?"

These are the most common phrases heard from this lips of this babe. Surely, you can decipher every word she makes, right? We occasionally struggle with whatever point she is trying to get across, but we have these down pat.

"Mommy, where are you?"
"Read to you?" (which really means 'read to me')
"Carry you?" (which really means 'carry me')
"Lizzy, help...help!"
"Love you!"
"Pee-pie!" (said anytime she thinks she might have surprised you, or when you get her out of bed!)
"Shoes on?" (which means 'let's go!')

Mercy, she's a cutie, y'all!

He Is Such A Boy

Boys. They just innately know the things that are gross.

Whats more, they find them hilarious.


How? We never taught our son to laugh like a hyena when he *cough, cough* passed gas. Nor did we teach him to grin after he belched, giggle when someone said 'panties', or squeal with glee when we told him he was filthy.

He just does.


So it should have been beyond me to be shocked when he put his nose right over the pumpkin stem when I was snapping pictures that he requested be taken.


Then announced the pumpkin was a giant booger from his nose. And laughed like a maniac.

We Got A Package!!

My friend Joanna was on top of things when I sent out the plea for help. A package arrived in the mail today, much to the excitement of one particular little boy we know.


Once he made it through the tape (he refused help in all forms), he surprisingly reached for the card first.


And showed off his reading skills! Thankfully, Joanna is brilliant and wrote in print. Thanks, girl!

Then he unwrapped the three tags she had shipped to him! He was SO excited!!! Much more so than that fake grin leads you to believe.

Joanna and I go back to the birth of this little blog. Several kids ago, we started emailing back and forth about things, and have formed a sweet friendship over the course of the last several years. One day, I am going to see her face to face and hug her neck like we're long lost sisters.

Thank you so much, Joanna, for sharing! Your license plates, but more importantly, your friendship!

The Reason We Have To Have Our Outfits Mommy Approved

Almost flew under the radar.

Almost.

On Decorating The Boys Room...

It is, really, just another blue and red boys room. They are pretty much a dime a dozen, right?

Except my boy wants wall art something akin to this:

Photo Credit

We have Alabama covered. And Georgia. And, well...that's about it. Soooo, kind bloggy readers, would you be willing to help us out? It takes any old license plate you might be willing to part with, a big envelope, and four stamps. Or a smaller envelope and fewer stamps if you have a motorcycle tag your willing to part with! I will be posting pictures of the plates as they come in and keep everyone updated on our progress.

Can you help us??!??! If so, just email me at

nesting at our place (at) gmail (dot) com

Alabama
Alaska
Arizona
Arkansas
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
Nebraska
Nevada
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New Mexico
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Ohio
Oklahoma
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Vermont
Virginia
Washington
West Virginia
Wisconsin
Wyoming
**Share our search with others, please! Tweet, repost, or word of mouth! Thomas is excited to start seeing license plates in the mail and take pictures to share with you all!!!**

Picture Compliance

We've been in the house for about five-ish months. I finally started hanging stuff up on the walls. I'm slow like that.

Or maybe meticulous.

That makes me sound better. Let's go with meticulous, m-kay?

So, I have this wall of pictures of our little family that I will post about at some point in the vague future. Today, we're here to talk about a recent stroke of genius.


That little wall right there with the picture frames hung at eye level for the kids? That is happiness in a dollar store frame, y'all.

Each one of those frames holds a listing of each day's household tasks. The older three children all have their very own picture frame full of house blessings to be performed.

I wish I could remember which blog I saw that featured this idea as a memo board (or was it a menu?), but I can't find it. If you know what I am talking about and you know where to find that post, please let me know so I can give credit where credit is due. *** UPDATED *** Found it!

I'm a realist by nature. I would love to have lovely frames for these, but the fact is, they are going to get knocked off that wall. It's only a matter of time. Actually, I managed to break one of the pieces of glass just putting the things together. I may or may not ever replace it.



After a little time spent in Excel, a passion of mine, I managed to create three lists that rotated the responsibilities between the kids as well as list out their individual daily tasks. I picked a pretty, but still readable to my young readers, font and printed it all out. These sheets of paper were cut down to better frame the printed words and to insure that the background would show. I then mounted them onto pretty pieces of scrap-booking paper that had been cut to fit the frames.

My frames are seriously from the dollar store. I spray painted them black to match more with the decor of what is going on in our house. Then I pulled out the level (just to make my Daddy proud) and centered up where I wanted the frames to hang, made my marks, and pounded in some nails.

Then I took those nails out and tried again. And didn't patch the old holes because they are neatly covered by the frames.

I thrive on functional beauty, not perfection.

Now, if you need a checklist style list, then make sure you have glass in each frame. Kids can use a dry erase marker to check tasks off as they complete them. Then a quick swipe at the end of the week cleans it off and they're ready to go again next week!

So as we were leaving church the other day, I reminded the kids that they needed to finish up their house blessings for the day. Sarah Grace clapped her hands and excitedly said, "Oh boy! I get to clean the bathroom today!"

Dude, if all it takes is pretty paper and a frame to get kids that kind of excited about helping in the house, then I figured I had better share!

Quick! Go get yours made!!!

Anna Joy - 21 Months

No really! It's true. This kid is closing in on two years of age. My baby is not so much a baby anymore, but a full-blown toddler.

Course, by some standards, she's been a toddler for quite some time. I don't count toddler-hood until the word 'no' is heard issuing forth from those sweet baby lips. She finally found her No.

She's found quite a few words and there aren't many of them that I don't love hearing coming out of her mouth.

Coo-koo or Kan-coo - Thank You
Gihkey - Blanket
Taaaaaaaagiieeeeeeee (long and drawn out like that) - Another word for her beloved Blanket
Thom - Thomas
Zizzy - Lizzie
Zayzie- Gracie
Waf-Ooo - Love you
Men! - Amen
Daow - Down
Ow-sie - Outside
Up, up, up! - Pick me up!
I in awmy, Achoo! - I'm in the Lord's Army, Yes Sir! (you know, the song)
Y'em - Yes, ma'am
Key-key - Cookie
Ishie - Fishie (goldfish)
nym - M&M's
Gink-Gink - Drink (frequently confused with her word for Blanket, resulting in NO!)

She sings her own adorable version of 'Jesus Loves Me'. She has a weakness for shoes and anybody's will do in a pinch. She is extremely territorial (my lap, her toys, their toys, her drinkk cup, just to name a few) And no child has ever loved being read to the way this one does!

She is not perfect, mind you. There are frequent melt downs and temper fits, but she is highly entertained, and we certainly love her to bits!

Lost?

Why yes, I am. Just a bit.

I keep thinking of things that I could blog about, but then either I forget them, or I see something incredibly similar over at a friend's blog. Which makes sense, since several of my friends are in the same place in life as I am and we tend to have children round about the same ages.

And obviously if I read it on another blog, I can't write about my own experience with it here. That would be copying.

Don't ask me where I got that idea. It's a weird and warped sense of bloggy ethics I live by.

We are busy finding our new groove, with a nearly two week hiatus from said groove because Mommy was sick.

And a bit of a break from it this week because I have the supreme privilege of adding two boys to my brigade for several days. It is an enlightening experience. I am loving it!

I'll do my best to get over my issues and get back to sharing our lives with you, oh loyal readers. (Hi, Mom, LL!)