Cake Plates, Face Plants, Snot, Turkey Rolls, Etc.

Before I share with you about that nasty runny nose, let me tell you what happened Tuesday night. I slipped out for a little breather and made my way down the "glass" aisle at TJMAXX, where I found THE PERFECT cake plate and dome lid! I've been looking for a plain, NOT multi use - just a plain, but with a hint of funkiness, cake plate and dome lid for about nine years. I finally found it. For $12.99. Loved the base. Loved the dome. Loved the exaggerated height of the dome. Loved the handle for lifting the dome. It was EVERYTHING I'd wanted.

I purchased said item. The clerk carefully wrapped it. As soon as I got home, I showed The Engineer, who argued that it wasn't really glass. It was, in fact, he claimed, most definitely acrylic. I argued that it was NOT acrylic. He argued back that it didn't feel like glass and therefore could NOT be glass. I reached for an acrylic ice bucket to let him feel something acrylic. As I was moving towards him with ice bucket in hand, he lifted the dome lid and squeezed it to his chest...AND SHATTERED IT.

I burst into tears...quickly followed by laughter.

He felt awful.

Sigh. There was only one. Oh well. We are still laughing hysterically about it.

Ok, about that snotty nose. She's under the weather. Again. She coughed through the night and woke this morning with a nasty mustache of green snot. Delish.

And she took a bit of a tumble. Okay, she face planted on the driveway. It took me a few seconds to gather my courage and lift her bloody upper lip. I was terrified of what I might find. Her teeth are just fine and there were no puncture wounds.

Yesterday Little Man got on Sister's bike and took off. Just like that. So I took the training wheels off his bike and away he went! Other than a head-on collision with a Camellia bush, he's done just fine.

A few nights ago I was getting the girls out of the tub when I noticed Sister eyeing Little Bit's thighs. Sister piped up and said, "Oh Little Bit! You just have the cutest turkey rolls!" (referring to her, albeit small, roll...)

I whole heartedly agreed at which time Sister piped up and said, "And Mama, you just have the cutest turkey rolls, too!"

Warrior continues to be a thorn in my flesh. I sent out an S.O.S. to The Engineer, requesting prayer this morning - it was a rough one - and the Holy Spirit brought calm to my heart where there had been a storm. I am so thankful for that!

During school this morning, Sister had to read a list of words and make a sentence with each one. She came to the word "ham" and said, "Ham. Ham, like when you kill a turkey. Ham happens."

 I LOVE this girl!

And this little dude (and Little Bit, too!)!

Yesterday afternoon he came in from playing outside. He made a bee line for the den, where he paced for a bit, and then came to me and said, "I accidentally poked a hole in the house and stuck sump-thin in der accidentally."

I'm not really sure how you accidentally poke a hole in the side of the house with a spring and then get it stuck in there accidentally.

But, somehow, it just happened. Accidentally.

He also accidentally broke an egg. An egg I told him NOT to touch. Hmm... accidents happen, huh?

I recently learned he and a friend of his spent their playground time chasing "Battlehorn."

After lengthy discussion, we've determined Little Man and said friend have bestowed the name "Battlehorn" upon some unsuspecting child, whom they are now chasing.

It's also been brought to my attention that Little Man and said friend like to sing "tee tee poo poo" at school. Uh-huh. What a little gentleman!

Last Week...This Week

So...last week was bad. It was just not a good week. One I am glad to have moved on from. It hit me sometime over the weekend that I'd taken on the week in my own strength - in my flesh. And I fell FLAT on my face. 

Homeschooling was a disaster. Oh, we got through the materials...but I was terrible to my children.

I was exhausted. Overwhelmed. Tired. Mad. 

I read Stacie's post about anger and I completely identified.

I picked the brains of a lot of homeschooling mamas - "How do you get it all done?"

The Engineer told me I was required to take an hour off every afternoon to do whatever I wanted to do. But I was already running like mad and barely making traction. How in the world would I take an hour off? I did it once. And it was fun. I enjoyed my time. But after that afternoon, I couldn't figure out how things would get done. And as you know, things must get done.

At some point during the weekend I realized that I'd taken on the week completely by myself. I hadn't yielded an ounce to the Holy Spirit. You know, I had a lot to get done.

Last night something startled me awake. As I lay in bed, trying to fall back asleep, it hit me that I have the greatest opportunity ever to teach my children about serving others - about loving with Christ's love - about laying our lives down - and it's in the way I live out the Gospel AT HOME. 

And something else occurred to me - you know how you get things done? You do them. You do the next thing. And you do the next thing to the glory of God. And that means you do it without grumbling or complaining.

And it is hard. (Let me be honest - I'd often rather sit around and complain about ALL I have to do, rather than just doing it.) But oh my, the peace that accompanies obedience is so worth it. 

Today (Monday) has gone so much smoother and that, my friends, is because God in His mercy, has worked in my heart. I am so thankful He didn't leave me to pout and stew. 

Speaking of things going better...out with the OLD...(oh goodness - THE SMELL when The Engineer hauled her out...sickening...dry-heave inducing - PUTRID!)

 

And in with the new!!! I have never been so happy to wash dishes...to load & unload!!! I am SO THANKFUL God provided!!!

This morning Sister handed me this...

I opened it to find her catechism question and answer copied...and a drawing of God (ok, not sure about that-need to make sure she understands it's God the Son, and not God the sun...) making Adam and Eve.

A sneak peek at progress...all the basic skeletons are up...there are two more walls not pictured...And. I. Am. So. Thankful!!!!

Poor Little Man...we had a very hard Saturday night. This little fella has croup. I've never heard him struggle to breathe like he did Saturday night. We logged a lot of time in the steam from the shower...breathing in the freezer's cool air...sipping water...and holding him in my arms. 

Today is day two of prednisone. He's. Crawling. The. Walls! 

Oh the Places We Go, II

We headed out Sunday morning... 

via the Metro...


and this ad was posted just above our seats. Kind of scary.

We headed for the Washington Monument...

and caught the tail end of the worship service...and gathered for the Taxpayers March on DC 2010.

We hung towards the back, as a good friend had flown in to join us, and was, I believe, literally running from the Metro to the Washington Monument in an attempt to meet up so we could march together!

And for the second year in a row, we joined my cousin's family and it was wonderful!

It is an incredibly emotional thing for me to stand on the lawn of the Capitol and look out over a crowd of conservative Americans...to see them making the time and effort to be there...reading their signs, talking with them...I had a lump in my throat often, and had to blink back tears. I was so encouraged - there ARE Americans out there who CARE. Americans who have read the Constitution and The Declaration of Independence. There are Americans all over the United States who are committed to upholding the Constitution, and many of them gathered together on that lawn. Y'all, I'm telling you, it was powerful. And encouraging.

I don't think I'd read either the Constitution or The Declaration of Independence until I married The Engineer. It just didn't seem so important. And once we had kids, I was so not interested. And then it began to dawn on me, that my lack of interest would impact my children's future...and not in a good way.  

My Little Man is going to have a chunk of his paycheck taken away to cover the payments on the junk on which our country is currently wasting money. 

Hey Mamas - are you ready to see your spending money CUT? Do you remember those Bush tax cuts? Did you know they expire in 2011. That's three months from now. Do you know what that means? It means, according to the Associated Press (a liberal source), the "typical family of four with a household income of $50,000 a year would have to pay $2,900 more in taxes in 2011."Let's see girls, that's $241 MORE A MONTH that is being taken from your family's paycheck. Think things are tight now? Where are you going to pull that from? Groceries? Oh, you already coupon. Hmm... Hey - maybe you could start using cloth diapers? Oh yeah, that is a lot of work, just to save $35-40 a month, and many of us already do that. Hmmm...Gonna cut ballet for your daughter? And karate for your son? And not eat out, EVER? Or maybe you're going to trade in your car payment and drive a beater? Where are YOU going to come up with that money? Because the Obama administration is going to confiscate it starting January 1, 2011. Oh, by the way, your per child tax credit will go from $1000 per child, to $500 per child. OUCH.

See YOU at the polls

That's just ONE of the many reasons we marched and rallied!

Pretzels for lunch. This put Jesus feeding the five thousand into a little better perspective for me. I guess, technically we need another pretzel and two fish. (5 loaves and 2 fish)

Cute lady with the camera and Little Man had a "shoot-off."

And sweet little Andrew! He is a delight and a precious, precious little guy with an infectious smile! He and Little Man played and played and played. I never dreamed we'd all make it to the very end of the rally...but thanks to constant entertainment between the children, making it to the very end was easy.

I've got to quote and agree with my cousin on this one:

The Very Official Family Snodgrass Speaker of the Day Award goes to Mr. Tito Munoz.  Wow!  If you'd like to listen, click here.

Spending the day with Elizabeth was like a breath of fresh air! She is beautiful on the outside, and beautiful on the inside...and it radiates from within and is obvious in her countenance and speech...in the way she loves on and tends to her children, her "go with the flow" take on mothering such little ones in the midst of such a large crowd, her grin and the understanding look she gave me when Little Man PLOWED DOWN her brand new double stroller - wow. She is an amazing and precious example to me. We were so thankful to get to hang out with them and would do it again in a heartbeat!

And Dr. S! Our friend who ran all the way to march with us!

Meet John Fletcher. He's the newest conservative in the Snodgrass Family. He marched and rallied with all he had! He was such a trooper! And Sister delighted in caring for him! 

Blocking baby from the sun...

Little Man was enthralled, too. 

Here we are at the very end of the day...

thankful for having made the journey, and prayerful that God might continue in His mercy to our country...that He might change the hearts of those in authority and place in authority men who fear Him.

Post March, we stopped by the White House. Little Man thought "dose guys on de woof" were pretty cool.

And, DARE I admit this online??? Our friends offered to pick us up in front of the Washington Monument. We were almost there when one our our precious children announced they had to potty and it COULD. NOT. WAIT. There wasn't an open building or bathroom/port-a-potty within sight. What does an enterprising young couple do in such a situation? They sit said child in a near empty planter and pray no one notices, knowing they need only fear the judging eye of one without children. Because if you have children, you know how humbling life can be.

So we um, finished up, and were whisked away by our friends, to the Gravelly Point Park. Y'all, it was AWESOME!!! The planes take off and land a mere 400 FEET away. You can scream, as they take off and soar slightly above your head, and you cannot hear your own voice for the rumble of the engines!!! It was heart racing CRAZY. I hear landing times are an even bigger rush. 

We enjoyed another fabulous dinner and hit the sack early, as we pulled out of DC (technically, Virginia) at 6am our time...and pulled into our driveway at 11:30pm. We stopped for gas, dinner, and Little Bit. (Yes, our children have mastered the fine art of tee-teeing in a cup...and Sister says "I will NEVER make my children tee tee in a cup!!!)

And to our sweet friends who put up with us - THANK YOU!!! What a blessing you were to us. We love you both and appreciate your kindness to us. I can't stand it that we FORGOT to get a picture together! Love you both, and THANK YOU!!!