Sauteed Swiss Chard over Pasta

This one is a new fav around here. Packed with all kinds of yummy, healthy goodness, and a ton of veggies, this has become one of Sam's most requested meals.

Swiss chard is a big, leafy green that looks a lot like mustard or collard greens. I get mine fresh every Friday from our wonderful Farmer's Market here in town, and now refuse to buy it from the store after having eaten it so fresh. It's very, very easy to grow, also. It is called 'summer spinach' and tastes like spinach, only slightly sweeter, and a little sturdier. The more ingredients you can find fresh, the better this meal will turn out. This also doubles well for a big family. As written below, this feeds all 4 of us, plus leftovers for at least one grown up lunch, or two kid lunches.

Sauteed Swiss Chard over Penne Pasta
by Brea!

1 large bunch swiss chard, well rinsed, well dried, and very roughly chopped, stems removed
2 raw strips good bacon, diced (optional)
6-8 cloves garlic, minced
white and light green of one leek, minced (you can also do 1/4 cup minced yellow onion)
one large head broccoli, cut into small florets
one large red bell pepper, diced
2/3 c diced or shredded chicken breast (optional)
good quality cold pressed extra virgin olive oil
Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
one pound whole wheat penne pasta, cooked al dente

In a large frying pan, cook bacon over medium heat. When bacon is almost done, add leeks (or onions), garlic, a lot of olive oil, and a good pinch of salt and pepper. (The leeks cook very fast, so you might want to wait a few seconds to add them if your garlic isn't finely minced.) As soon as your garlic starts to look soft, add all the swiss chard to the pan. Pour on more olive oil and add more salt to help bring out all the water from the chard, and carefully turn chard several times, making sure to move the garlic mix, too.

Add broccoli after chard has been cooking for about 2 minutes. Cook until chard is completely wilted, then add bell pepper and chicken. Cook 30 seconds more, adjust seasoning as needed, then pour over the pasta. Generously grate fresh Parmesan over the top, and serve immediately. Enjoy with a good garlic bread!

**This is a good meatless meal, and we sometimes add other veggies at the same time as the broccoli, like sugar snap peas or fresh green beans.

TAG!

Well, I done got myself tagged by Candi. Eight random or little know things about me ...

1. I love bad movies. I stayed up the other night until 2 in the bleeping morning watching the Breakfast Club. (Don't you, forget about me. Don't you, no, no, no, no ... Come on, you know you remember the song and are now singing it!!)

2. I hate people touching my feet. Or being in the same general vicinity of them. Or looking at them. Even John knows not to touch my feet. Other people's feet don't bother me, but heaven help the person who gets too close to mine. You might lose an eye.

3. I want to be a cowgirl when I grow up. I want a cattle ranch, maybe about 50,000 acres somewhere in Texas, with a river, and I want to get up every morning at 5 and go work my cows with my big ole' family (of course, in this dream, I have at least 7 kids, and extended family lives on the other side of the ranch). My horse would be the prettiest and the nicest, and everyone would envy me, and I could cry when she got really old and died.

4. I listen to music when I'm alone that would not be found in most homeschool moms' cars. I am extremely fond of punk and ska (I have the Deftones, Less Than Jake, the Clash, and AFI, to name a few), and some other random stuff (like the latest Justin Timberlake ... haven't you heard? He's bringing sexy back. For real, yo!) (and who could pass up the Garden State soundtrack? Also, Nick Drake, and some Toadies thrown in for good measure. Sometimes you just need to listen to some really loud stalker songs.). All of that is just what's in my car right now.

5. The real reason I run is because it's the only thing that is mine. All mine. No one goes with me, no one can talk to me, no one can ask me for milk or a snack or a video or where-are-my-clean-work-pants or mom-the-baby-wants-something-to-eat or anything else. I am all by myself, and love it! Of course, staying healthy and looking decent in a bathing suit don't hurt ...

6. I love to cook for people. I love to have people over, just so I can cook for them. I don't enjoy going out to eat more than once a month, and I'm not crazy about going to other people's houses because that means that I'm not the one doing the cooking.

7. I absolutely cannot follow a recipe. Everything I cooked is always tweaked, to a certain extent. Just ask John. It drives him nuts.

8. Babies make me stoopid. When I am around them, I can no longer form sentences, I drool, I grin like an idiot ... Doesn't matter whose baby it is, and even if I am holding my own baby, I still act a fool. I just want to eat them all up!!!

So, there's me. Any questions? :)

This is not going to be good for my housework ...

Something bad has happened. Since our internet got fixed (got fixed? That sounded raawwwther Southern ...), I have discovered something the rest of the world has known about for a while. Something wonderful, something informative ... I am so happy!

Want to know what it is?

YOU TUBE!! Did you know they have cooking videos? I haven't had Food Network since we moved out here, and I can watch Alton Brown for the first time in almost 2 years!! My new favorite that I stumbled on is Cooking Up a Story. Love it!

And now, seeing how the baby is asleep, and the kids are outside with John cutting things down with machetes and the newly fixed chainsaw, I am going to watch and learn about artisan cheeses!!!

I am just so very happy!!!

Clowns in WHERE???

Amy, thank you so much for the comment! It's nice to meet you, too! :)

Candi, I saw your tag. I'll do that (hopefully!) tomorrow, or Monday.

Don't have much time, but here's something to chew on: clowns in church! I'm not kidding. And I'm not talking about entertainment for kids at a church fair. I'm talking about ministers dressing as clowns (face paint, horns, floppy shoes, and all!) and blessing Communion. Got the original link from Amy at Humble Musings, and Googled my way from there. I think I may sit down and cry in a minute. Check out these links, and please leave me some comments as to your thoughts ...

Amy's post
Todd Friel's thoughts
great blog post
Are you kidding me?

I know that God loves us, regardless of out appearance. However, we should still seek to honor Him with our appearance when we are in His home. Can you imagine sitting down to an actual supper with Our King, dressed like this? What kind of impression would this make on a family of unbelievers, visiting a church for the first time? Is this the way that Christ wants His Bride to act? What Bride in her right mind would want to look like this? I'm not kidding, I want to sit down and weep and the disrespect and dishonor shown here.

There are so many thoughts in my head about this, but the rest of the words kinda fail me. And those of you who know me, know what a big deal that is!!

Whew!!

Sorry about the MIA. We've been insane ... up to The Woodlands for a day trip last Saturday, then church Sunday, lots of errands Monday, library Tuesday, then we left for Katy Tuesday when John got home from work. Stayed at Mom's Tuesday night.

We woke up early and met Papa at the Town and Country Starbucks (mmm ... vanilla latte, how do I love the? Let me count the ways ...), then to Galveston! Went to the WWII airplane museum, then Fish Tails for lunch, then the Moody fish pyramid and rain forest pyramid, then supper with the Cauthens.

Went to the beach with the Cauthens Thursday morning, lunch on the road, visited my dad for a while, then over to Mom's to see Nanny and have Lasagna House for supper, then finally got home around 11:30m last night, only to find out the bio-wheel on the fish tank wasn't working, and the motor was making a funny sound and smell, and we have no idea how long it was out ... but it works now, and we all had a good night's sleep last night.

So. Pics later, when I can function on a higher level. Right now, I'm going to seek coffee.

And Candi is coming to visit me tomorrow!!! Yay!!!!!!!

Thought ...

Sarah,

You are my dearest friend. I don't know what I would do without you. You make me laugh, and you make me think when I get too upset about things and call to rant ot you. But we may have an issue soon. If I'm not allowed to have four kids before you have any, there is a very simple solution to our not-existant-as-of-yet problem:

HAVE SOME FRICKIN KIDS ALREADY!!!

Seriously, I want to play with them.

Love,
~Brea

WOOOOHOOOO!!!

It looks like I have internet again!!! I am so happy!!!! My very, very nice cable man Mike came out today, and gave me a new cable router, and free HBO and Cinemax (yeah, like I'm going to watch those. Are the 'Stros on HBO? No? Why bother ...), and then clicked on a lot of things on the computer, and said, 'Hmmm,' a lot of times, and said that David is really cute, and now my internet works!! I don't have to hit the refresh button 87 times to get a page to load!! It took me over an hour to get that last blog post up, which made me rather cranky, and now I don't have to do that anymore!! YAYYYYYYY!!!!

So, an update ... John graduated from his Dale Carinage class. I'm so proud of you, baby!! I know you really didn't want to do this, but I'm so glad you did, and I know you got a lot out of it. Congrats!! Also, when you accidentally mostly shaved your head, I found that very, very hot. I'm loving the short hair, you sexy beast. Seriously. I almost jumped on you when I first saw it, but I probably would have dropped the baby, not to mention the fact that Sam and Evie were still awake and standing right beside us, and that would have all just been very damaging to their little minds ...

Sorry, I got a little distracted there. But his short hair really does look great.

Sam and Evie are doing really well with their reading, and we're probably starting math next month. They rule!! Sam is slowly starting to grasp money, because he's my Money Man at the Farmer's Market. Sweet boy.

David is still perfect, and has mastered intentional forward motion. Not quite what I'd call crawling, but it will happen oh so soon ... oy!

And I'm ready for another baby!! Well, I know I'm not allowed to get pregnant right now, because 1) Candi has laid claim to all my maternity clothes (congrats, dear!!), and 2) something about a skiing trip next January, and I am going to be forced to go ... blah, blah, family vacation, blah, snow, blah, blah. I don't like snow, or being cold, or the idea of skiing (maybe snowboarding ... we'll see). But maybe I can just make to cocoa and be the food gal. Hmm ..

And now, I'm off to veg with a good book and hot cup of my fab tea that I mix. I love tea ...

More Issues ... and Prayer Requests

Still having tech problems. But I do have a few prayer requests ...

My dear friend, Melanie, lost her mom in a car accident two weeks ago today. Her mom, Nancy, was a dear, wonderful, sweet, funny person, who I'm told didn't have an enemy in the world. She was part of the book club I'm (occasionally) part of, and she was always a delight to be around. Melanie was very close to her mom, so please pray the the Lord would help her to properly grieve, and that He would give her peace and rest in Him.

My bro is going to a camp in Missouri (or somewhere not Texas, I don't remember ...) and is very excited. Pray that he can would get into one of the carpools going up there, so my mom doesn't have to take too much time off from work.

PLEASE pray for the staffing situation at John's store. They are having an awful time keeping people there for more than a month, let alone longer term! That's not because it's a bad place to work; that's just the nature of a small town with no anchor (like a college or something like that). John has been very stressed about that, which brings me to my fourth request ...

Pray that I can get my act together around the house!! I do so well sometimes, but then I just get lazy for a little while, then I'm overwhelmed by everything that has piled up, and instead of deciding to work hard and get everything knocked out, I panic and do nothing. Which really doesn't help the mess, and it really stresses John out, then I feel guilty, because I know it's just pure laziness ... OY!! Are you seeing the cycle I get myself into?!?!?

And I still have no email, so call me if you need to get a hold of me.

Thank you all!!

pics, while I can!

Well, I thought I'd try to get some pics up while I can ... if I can ...

Trying to take pictures with all three kids is like pulling teeth! Here they are with my Papa on Easter.

Here's Sam at the Round Rock game a while back, on the climbing wall. Maybe it's in his blood?

David at the table. Right after this pic, he tried (frantically) to eat the actual table. Have you ever seen anything so cute???? I spend most of my days trying not to eat him, he's so durned cute!!
All in all, I would just like to say how much I love my babies!!!

All is (mostly) well on the homefront!

Hello! Still here, but having major computer issues. Apparently, my dear desktop has decided to grace me with a small window of working internet this evening. After frantically paying all the bills (we don't even get paper statements for most things anymore!), and checking my email (there were only like 500), it appears I still have a few minutes left before it all goes to hell. So I thought I'd pop in here. :)

We started having computer issues right after Easter. Easter went wonderfully! Had a lovely time with everyone. On Wednesday (a week ago), I drove to Katy with the critters. We got to see the lovely Mrs Lyon, also known as Sarah or Molly, Wendnesday evening, and then went to lunch with Papa Thursday. We had a great time with him!! I pretty much have the best grandfather, ever. He's just peachy!! Then, I left the big critters and came back home with David. I watched the Astros game with John Thursday night, and then we had coffee and breakfast the next morning. At 9:00!! Just because we could! (I should add that breakfast is very rarely eaten after 7:30 around here ...) Ha!! So this is how the other half lives ...

We had a great few days of not doing much of anything, and I picked the kids up late Saturday evening. I missed them, and have had a great week so far with them. Sam and John went fishing yesterday, and Sam caught a fish!! It was a bass. I forgot what kind (because I don't care what kind!), but both boys were very excited. Evie is going with John tomorrow. Should be fun!

I'm reading A Tale of Two Cities right now, and forgot how wonderful it is!! Everyone, buy this book right away, and start reading.

Hopefully, this post will stick, and I'll be able to post again soon and let y'all know my new schedule ...

Checkin' in!

Happy Easter to everyone!!!! We're fixing to have all kinds of craziness around here, so I'll be back Monday for an update. If I'm not curled up at the foot of my bed in the fetal position, sucking my thumb, and cursing my whole family, blood or not ...

:)

Jesus has risen!!! REJOICE!!!

NOT yay. And an apron.

Stoopid Astros. (grumble, grumble, curse word, grumble) Frickin' baseball. I hate how much I love this sport. Roy O pitched an amazing 8 innings last night, then Brad Lidge got himself on my hitlist. So not cool. (Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.)

Anyway, I have a thought for you all. Let's talk about aprons! I got one yesterday, and I just love it. It's purple, too. :) Do we realy have a need for aprons in the modern era we live in? We have all kinds of things now, like multiple sets of clothes, washing machines and dryers, laundry detergent that doesn't have to be made by hand from lye, and wonderful things to treat stains. Aprons were originally intended to keep you one weekday work dress looking decent in case someone came visiting. In the age of cell phones, email, and cheap long distance, people don't really visit anymore, and we don't really have to worry about keeping our only skirt clean, because we've got more than one. So I pose the question again: Do we really need aprons?

Yes!!! I don't know about your apron, but mine has magic powers. I talked to Candi last night, and so does hers. There is something very satisfying about tying those strings around your back and getting to work. I'll probably use my apron for everything except cooking, because I make such a mess in my kitchen that no apron could ever save me. But I find myself wanting to do more when I wear the apron, and sitting down or stopping less. (Read the newspaper in my apron? E gads!! Never!)

I struggle with being lazy. It's probably something that I will never 'fix,' but at least I know its there and can work actively to beat it. Proverbs 31 tells of the wife of noble character, also known as the virtuous wife. Her husband lacks nothing, she rises before the rest of her house, and she does not eat the bread of idleness. Every time I read this passage, I think 'uh oh.' Am I able to say that my hands are never idle? Am I able to say that my hands are only occasionally idle? Would John ever tell me 'Many daughters have done well, but you excel them all'?

In talking with the different women I admire and look up to, I am learning that no one, if they are truly honest, will ever tell you that they have it all together. Every woman has her strengths, and some days are definately better than others. We all have days that we're just 'on.' It's how you handle the off days, and how you face and deal with your weaknesses, that sets some peole apart from the rest.

I wake up every morning and say a prayer. I thank God that I woke up, and I thank Him for the day, and I ask Him to give me strength, grace, and wisdom. Strength to face whatever comes my way, grace that not too many things will come my way at once, and wisdom to know how to handle the things that are laid at my feet.

And patience, for not yelling at my television when my fav baseball team blows a game. :)

Yay!!

Something wonderful happens today. Something I have been looking forward to for a very long time. Something I have dearly missed over the last few months. Something that breaks my heart every single time I get involved, but something I still will always come back to, no matter how tough things get.

Any guesses??

BASEBALL IS BACK!!!!!! I've missed the Astros so much the past few months. We went to the game that they played against the Round Rock Express (one of the 'Stros' farm teams) last week, and Brad 'Lights Out' Lidge looked at me!! Then he smiled!! (Insert swoon here!!) Their season opener is this evening, against the Pirates.

Oh baseball, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways ...

Brad Ausmus loves me. He just doesn't know it yet.

I'm just so happy ...

My Dad

My dad is a wonderful guy. I am crazy about him, and I will always be Daddy's Little Girl to him. He loves my kids, is fond of my husband, and loves the heck out of my brothers and me.

Now that we've established that, let me throw this in there: my dad is a little crazy. And unpredictable. And he does things that nobody understands. When my brother Kevin was three or four, and I was seven or eight, Dad decided that we needed the experience of riding public transportation. So he took us to the bus station, the ride the bus that went to downtown Houston. Doesn't sound so bad, you say? Well, he didn't ride with us! Nope, he followed the bus in the car so we could leave downtown at our leisure. A small kink was thrown into the plans when the bus got onto the HOV lane, and Dad couldn't follow. So he's the kind of guy who can roll with the flow, and he drives beside the bus. There was no traffic at that point.

But then ...

The bus broke down. In the HOV lane. Where Dad couldn't get to us. Yeah. Kevin got really upset and cried a lot, it took them at least a few hours to fix the bus, and a very nice lady looked out for us. Totally not kidding about this.

Then one time, Dad met a lady online through Yahoo!Chat, and went to visit her , and the next thing you know, they're getting married. That's great for him, you say? Well, I wouldn't have had any problem, either, except that the lady was from Russia. And didn't speak English all that well. (Well, she could write it, but wasn't so great at the verbal part.) Her driving was awful, she wasn't very nice to us, and her daughter was a borderline major bee-otch. Seriously. And she kept sending money back to her family, and then she went home to visit and just never came back. So they got a divorce. And Dad missed my 18th birthday because he was in stoopid Russia, so yeah, I have some issues.

Then Dad met another lady online, and surprisingly enough, she was from Russia! But this time they didn't get married. She just visited a few times and Dad visited her, and it was over when he offended her (or figured out her game) by saying that he wasn't going to pay for her to visit anymore. Haven't heard from her since them.

Then one time Dad dated a girl that was abut 10 months older than me, and that was just really strange.

And this is all just the tip of the iceberg. Maybe I'll post one of the funnier stories another time.

I'm reminded of all of this because he just came to visit, which was great. We had a wonderful time, and chatted a lot because John is on a retreat right now, and he's jsut a character. I love him. He's my Dad!! :)

Action/Reaction

We all learned about cause and effect in school, right? Same general principal as 'every action has an equal, if not greater, reaction.'

Action: hand 4-year-old a camera, and teach him how to take pictures. Make sure this is a digital camera, so as to not waste all film ever made. Also, teach him how to check the picture right after he takes it.

Reaction: 4-year-old takes picture of Dad when Dad isn't looking and really isn't all that awake yet and is picking his teeth.(Ladies, now you understand why I have a problem keeping my hands to myself!! What's not to love about this sexy beast??)

Action: Above-mentioned adorable kid keeps practicing with the camera.

Reaction: Camera skills drastically improve!
If this was a slightly larger picture, you could see that I have on a very cute toe ring (which I haven't taken off in over 3 years) and fabulously painted toenails. Light pink. Works very well on my feet.

Action: Just ignore the amature photog, and pretend like you are looking each and every time he takes a picture, flips the function over, and shows you the picure on the screen.

Reaction: You are really surprised when you realize that he hit the money shot of the baby, his favorite subject!
Awwww!! Ain't that the cutest little critter you'd ever seen?? He looks as surprised to see me as I am to see him.

Action: You are very, very attracted to the man that will one day become your husband.

Reaction: Babies!!!! Yay!!!!!!
Sam really is reading to David; this time its out of his favorite Calvin and Hobbes book. Both Sam and Evie love to read and sing to David, as often as possible.

Well, the garden is done. I had to pull out all the spinach, because I planted it a little too late this year, then the rain came and killed all the seeds that had just started to grow. I can live with that, because we need the rain!! I had to replant all but two of my garlic, but that takes so long to grow anyway that a few weeks won't make a difference. Pepper plants are in, as are all the herbs. I'm growing two kinds od spearmint, peppermint, lemon balm, lavander, lots of rosemary, stevia, orageno, parsley, and cilantro. And lots of basil. And probably others that I forgot.

We've got most of the flowers in, too. All the verbena and lantana is starting to come back, and some others we didn't expect, like the daisies and dianthus. And of course, it's wildflower time!! Yay!!! I'll try to post some pics from around this place soon ... and now, I need to take a nap to sleep off the huge Mexican lunch I had!

my organic aunt would get a kick out of this

We went to the Farmers' Market this afternoon when we were in town, and got some great stuff! I can't wait for supper this evening. Swiss chard, a salad mix, fresh garlic (you have not lived until you've cooked with real fresh garlic!) a thing for the birds, eggs, asparagus, some goodies for the kids, and spinach. However, I am much lighter on spinach now than when we first bought it. We were walking to another booth, when I heard people laughing. I thought, 'Great, what have my kids done now??' I tunred around, and they were following behind me, polite as could be, eating spinach straight out of the bag.

Oh, well. At least I don't have to worry about chemicals on the food ...

Only my children, I tell you that. I'm just glad David isn't any bigger, cause I know I wouldn't have made it home with anything!

the things we take for granted ...

The Pioneer Woman has inspired me to write down my thankfulness for something I used to really take for granted ... RAIN!! She is thankful for rain because she and her husband have a cattle ranch, and need rain to keep things alive. We love it when we get rain for vegatation around here, like all the veggies we grow, our flowers, our grass, and our trees. Because of the prolonged drought in Central Texas, we've lost several oaks and pines since we've been here, and we've only been here a little over a year!

When we lived in Austin, I was kind of aware when we needed rain, but my think was more along the lines of, 'Man, I wish it would hurry up and rain, because Bull Creek is starting to smell funny and it needs a good washing out.' Things like that. I'm sorry to say, it really never had crossed my mind before that there are a lot of things out there that need rain to survive. Many of the local farms out here (like a good little gal, I shop at the farmers' market and know most of the vendors pretty well) are really getting into a bind because of the drought, and this year has been predicted to be just as dry as the last!

But here's the real, deep down reason I was so glad when we got almost 10 inches last week: fires. We live in the middle of a LOT of pine trees, with the accumulation of years' worth of pine needles under them. Add in the oaks out here (mostly live oaks that drop their many, many leaves every year) and various other things, and this is a dangerous place to live in a drought. We've been under a burn ban longer, much longer, than we've been allowed to burn since we moved, and we have had several scares. Three times we've had to toss what we could in the cars, try to remember the kids, and high-tail it out of here beause the fires have been so close. The most recent one was started by my next door neighbor, the Bird Lady. We were all lucky with that one, because the fire department out here is so great. Only 10 acres was burned up, and there was no structural damage on anyone's property. We really do live in a tinderbox.

In the last 14 months, there have been 5 fires that the department has responded to on our street alone. It can kind of get to you, especially on the very dry, very windy days. John used to tease me about my tendancy to be over-prepared for emergencies, but he now understands why I always have three things in easy reach in my closet: 1) a box with copies of all our important documents (birth certificates, marriage license, house paperwork, insurance info, etc), 2) a bag with a change of clothes (day clothes and jammies) for eveyone, and 3) a bag with kid things like the kids' fav stuffed animals (yes, we originally bought three of each animal in case one got lost), some toys that will keep them occupied if need be, etc. This last bag also has several bottles of water and lots of munchies. Both bags have $100 in cash.

Ok, I know I can replace almost everything in my house, and I can certianly buy everything in each of the two bags at WalMart. But if my house burns down, do I really want to go to the store that night?? If we have to go stay with someone, or at a hotel, do I want to be worrying about what everyone will wear to bed? No, I don't think so. And the snacks are there because we live an hour from Austin, which is where we'd probably end up, and I just don't like ot be hungry in the car. I've found that you can gt through just about anything if you have a few good snacks. Stress on an empty stomach is hard.

Have I gone a little overboard? Probably, and I pray that John is right, and that we'll never have to use any of this stuff. But it doesn't hurt, that's for sure ...

All that to say, I now have a new appreciation of rain, and a new love for it. Here's to the chance of more this weekend!

I love babies!!!

Congrats to Ralph and Becky Garcia on the birth of their beautiful new little boy, Ari!!!! I saw this little critter this morning, and he is just too adorable. And you wouldn't believe the hair on this kid!!!

So congrats, and may God bless this new little angel!

Zzzzzz ...

Oh! Sorry! I was asleep there for a minute. Won't happen again. Sorry.

I am sleepy, though. But, to make up for lack of posts, I present to you something special, wonderful, that I love with all my heart. My babies!!! First, we have Evie and David with Evie's bear, Emily:

Here's Sam and David before church a few weeks ago. You can't see all of it, but both of them have on khakis and long-sleeved button downs, Sam has on a sweater, and David has on a sweater vest. I wanted to eat both of them right then and there.

Here's just David, my ever-so-sad and discontent baby.

Sam and David really do get along well. Sam thinks his little brother is the bee's knees, and David already looks up to Sam. How sweet are they? Right after John took this picture, David reached out and pinched Sam's nise, which made Sam laugh really hard!

For those who were skeptical about the idea of potty-training infants, HA on you. :) David thinks it's funny when he has an audience to do his thing.

And last, but certianly not least, this is what happens when you give Sam a camera and teach him how to take pictures.
Actually, Sam really is becoming quite the little photographer. He brings a very interesting perspective to things. I'll post some of his stuff when I can get the camera working again.

And now, seeing how it's Monday, I am off to mop my floors!! New post tomorrow.

I know my mom is laughing right now ...

... because my daughter is so much like ME!! Grandchildren really are a parent's best revenge. I tell you what, that girl is killing me. She is just such a fireball, with so much energy, and she wears every emotion on her sleeve!! She amazes me every day. She can go from belly laughing, to sobbing, back to laughing, all in the space of about 2 minutes. And each emotion is genuine ... she very rarely fakes anything! Although, she did come up to me the other day, telling me her throat hurt. I asked her why it hurt, and she looked me square in the eye and said, 'Because Dr Conally took my tonsils out, and he told me I could have ice cream.' I said, 'Are you sure that Sam didn't have his out? Because I thought is was him in the hospital, not you.' She would not be persuaded, and tried for several more minutes to convince me that she was lacking tonsils. Finally, she just gave up and said, 'Well, maybe it was Sam. But could I have some ice cream anyway?'

How can you say no to that???

She shot John a look the other day, and he actually had to leave the room because he was laughing so hard. I asked him what was so funny, and he informed me that Evie had just given him the hundred-yard stare that I give him occasionally. (Me? What hundred-yard stare? I'm sure I haven't the faintest idea of what he's talking about, really ...) She really is like a Little Brea in some ways.

And I'll tell you what, I love every single minute of it. Praise God for His blessings ... I have four of the best ones He's ever given out right here under my roof as I type this!!