There's a "Mouse" About the House

Here's a recent story about our little "mouse", Mary Claire, and her exploration in the pantry...

The other day as I was preparing lunch for the boys, I heard a strange noise coming from behind the pantry door. I had to put Mary Claire down on the floor (due to the fact that God didn't give 2 more hands and arms for each of the 3 small children I have), and she had proceeded to pull herself across the floor into the open pantry door where I am guessing she spied the "treasured" box of Diet Coke cans resting in their place with the other sodas we keep stashed out of quick sight! She must have moved much faster than I have ever witnessed her moving because I didn't have my back turned for very long!!!

Ah ha! That's what it was! She saw her moment and quickly tried her best to get to the Diet Coke before I could stop her! So what I heard was her little hand finding the hole in the box already made by a much bigger "mouse" (named Daddy) who had no doubtedly fished out a can before leaving for work earlier that morning.

I thought it would be funny to play it up for the boys, so I said, "Boys! Do you hear something? Something coming from the pantry? I think there's a mouse in our pantry! Do you wanna see if you can find it?!" Well, you know they did!! They dropped their food, jumped down from their chairs and ran to the pantry door. The look on their faces was priceless as they turned to me and said, "It's ONLY baby sister!" Then Jonah added, "I think she wants a Coke, Momma!" "Can I have a Coke, Momma?" "Me, too, Momma!" John Owen said. (You see why I keep those things in there? Out of sight, out of mind.) Yeah, right!

Caught ya!

Day at the Museum

(OK...so I haven't posted in a while. Things and people have needed my attention, I guess.) We enjoyed the snow a few weeks ago, but we have certainly enjoyed the recent nice weather much more.

Last Friday, with both boys out of preschool, we decided to go to the museum. I was very excited because I knew that the boys would love the dinosaurs that awaited them in large, lifelike form! I coerced my parents into going with us. Thank goodness for their help! Having them there with me evened up the playing field--3 on 3 is much better than 1 on 3 as it usually is! We had a great time! We walked through the historical exhibits, and I tried my very best to quickly explain the many things that their eyes and minds took in. I know that we didn't get to truly absorb everything, and that's alright. The museum is like a painting or picture to me...no matter how many times you look at it, you're bound to see something different and new each time.

Jonah loved the skeleton of the monkey!

Daddy Nick explains the COOL skeleton of the pythonOOH...look at that polar bear!This is what your bones look like!One of our favorites...the Mastedon!

I thought this was REALLY cool! In the section with the "411" on different types of birds, there was this "Tree Top View" so that you could imagine that you were a bird perched in the top of a tree and looking down. COOL!

Primate skeleton

We are looking forward to our next visit to the museum! Funny thing...There is a temporary exhibit at the Pink Palace right now called "The Scoop on Poop." That's right, I said "POOP." (As if my life is not already surrounded by too much of the stuff!) :-) You gotta see it! It's all about how scientists use animal feces matter to study and learn more about a particular animal. It is quite interesting to say the least! :-) We didn't spend too much time in there, but if you get the chance to go, try the "Dung Beetle Derby." It was the hightlight of one son's experience in there! My other son couldn't quite get past the video of the hippo "shoo-shooing" and wanted to know why he was making such a mess with it! I hope he doesn't get any ideas! hehe The exhibit's there 'til May, I think. Check it out!

Peaceful Snow

If ever there were a time that we needed it...

It was this past weekend that I admired the beautiful reminder of God's grace in the snow that fell and covered the ground. I felt a great sense of peace as I looked on at the thick, untouched snow in my yard and surrounding areas. It was so unexpected, I thought! It took me by surprise. I couldn't help but parallel this surprisingly beautiful work of nature with the wonderful news we received Friday afternoon of my dad's BENIGN mass on his lung. And as the snowflakes fell heavier and heavier Saturday afternoon and evening, I let it say to me, "Find peace, rest and give thanks for My works in and for everything."

It seems as though since January 7th I have been caught up in somewhat of a "snowstorm" with TWO boys sick with strep, double tonsillectomies, closely monitoring the activities of two boys recovering from surgery and ALL of the meds and dosages that went along with it, nursing a 9 month old baby girl, and then, of course, worrying about my dad and his diagnosis. I have found myself asking my husband on several occasions..."What day is it?" "Have I been out of the house in the last two or three days?"

So you see, the snow came at just the right time! I sat still and watched it fall. I cannot describe how I felt as I sat there and just took a deep breath as I relaxed for probably the first time in a few weeks. I cannot deny that it is a part of my nature to long to sit still and just take in the things around me. When sitting on the beach, my favorite thing to do is watch the ocean and listen to the waves or the wind blowing. In rainstorms, I like to watch as the clouds move in and the rain begins. I like to sit in public places and watch people from different walks of life and wonder about who they are and what their life is like. Sitting still and taking things in around me has become more difficult with this season of life I am presently in, so you see why this peaceful snow was just what I needed. I needed peace, and God gave it to me.

Well, the peaceful, restful moment lasted as long as it could and then reality set in! Hey, with three children and two of them rarin' to go out in the snow, I couldn't sit still for long! We have spent the last few days playing in the wonderful record amounts of snow and here's a brief synopsis of what we've done...

The snow began Sat. and we joined our friends, Lisa and Zac, for dinner at a local restuarant. No rain nor sleet nor snow could keep us away from "LiLi" and Zac! We were all a little bummed that we didn't get to go to our favorite place in Memphis, but it didn't really matter as long as we were together! (They will go back to Germany next weekend, so we were glad to get to spend some time with them before they leave!)
Sunday morning we measured 14 inches in our backyard! Wow!

What do you do with so much snow that it's hard for little legs and feet to trudge through it? You start diggin' and haulin' snow to make yourself a path, that's what! My little man, John Owen, at work here with his wheelbarrow!

Jonah had a hard time making his way through the snow...bless his heart! I ended up carrying him around in all his snow gear when I had lost count of how many times he fell. He did manage to make a snow angel with a little help from Mommy. The only other pictures I have of him are him eating the white stuff!

Sunday night we lived life like the eskimos as we cooked our hots dogs on the fire and then roasted some marshmallows for dessert! It was so nice. I think we spent more time outside around the fire than we did playing in the snow earlier that day.

Mary Claire loves roasting marshmallows with Daddy!

School was called off on Monday, so we made snow cream after breakfast! It was yummy! And after we went to two doctor visits(a 9 month check-up for sister and post-op tonsillectomy appts. for brothers) in Memphis Monday morning, we teamed up with our good friends, the Dawsons, and took our snow sledding to the extreme! We tied a boogie board and inflatable boat to the back of the 4 wheeler and really had some fun! John Owen got the award for Most Extreme Rider since he proved he could hold on for dear life as Daddy dragged him on the boogie board! Way to go, John Owen!

Bo and Jonah in the boat and John Owen on the boogie board!

Even Mrs. Laura and I got in on the action and took the last ride before the sunset! Let's just say a picture of what we looked like probably wouldn't do it justice! Jan ran us through somewhat of a slushy, snowy mud puddle at the end, and poor Laura got the most of the mud! YUCK!

It was great fun! I am so thankful for this snow and the time it has given us to have fun together!