F250, Anyone?

Much to my chagrin, my mom is selling her Ford F250. I love driving that truck.

My Dad was meticulous about cars (as he was about everything else he had). His theory (and I quite agree with him) was that, if you buy a good car, take care of it including getting the oil changed regularly, you'll have that car for 10+ years and drive it for 300k miles. This truck has been well taken care of! It's been taken to the dealership for everything, including oil changes. A few specs:

• 2006
• Turbo Diesel
• 54k miles
• Lariat package (leather, tint, CD, power everything, etc)
• towing package
• sprayed-in bed liner
• hard-wired radar detector

She's asking $26k, but also realizes that truck prices have come down since diesel prices have risen. If you're interested or know someone who is interested, let me know!

We're Going to the Promised Land

I have received a taste of the Promised Land, and it is called Kindergarten.

Cade started school (real school!) today!!!! I am so excited!!! Nary a tear drop was to be found in my eyes. Just excitement. Jubilation. Giddy delight. One down, two to go!

Of course that doesn't mean I was without emotion during this monumental event. I was a bundle of nerves yesterday. Will he meet any nice boys in his class? Will someone be mean to him? Will he ask to go to the bathroom and get there in time before a torrential flood hits? Will he be scared? Will he have a good time?

Totally normal questions. And totally normal worries. God has answered my prayer and set my heart at peace. I can't wait for Cade to get home today and tell us all about his day!

Of course we snapped a few pics (probably way more than Scott was comfortable with) before school.

We still can't get a normal smile out of our firstborn when it comes to taking posed pics. Here was attempt #1.


Attempt #2 is a little better...




Attempt #3... I think we're going in the wrong direction. The fake factor is pretty high in this pic.



After our walk to school, here is Cade, ready to start his education at the hands of public servants.
Go Marion!

I wasn't sure what to expect from Cade when we got into his classroom. He had already seen the room (we had Meet the Teacher last Thursday night). He knew where his seat was and went straight to it. He noticed that there was a boy next to him coloring a picture. "I want to color!" And down Cade sits, looking for crayons with which to create his next masterpiece. "Um, bye Cade!" I think he said goodbye to Scott and me. It was more of a mumble. He was way more into the picture he was creating than missing us! Hooray!

A Flurry of Activity

Who would have thought that life in a family with three small kids and two crazy parents would be busy? Man, there's something always going on in this house!

Claire's boots are made for walking. Yes, our princess is walking around the house!


She kind of has the Michael Jordan thing going on with her tongue. But hey. If it keeps her from being trampled by her brothers, then I'm all about the tongue! She's been trying to take some steps over the last two weeks, but it wasn't until Mawmaw came into town last Wednesday that Claire really started to toddle all over the place.

Not only is she walking... I am sad to report that Claire is also climbing up everything. Whereas the boys were cautious and scared of everything, Claire knows no fear. She's already climbed up the boys' ladder on their bunkbed and also onto the computer table. So I now have to watch my child like a hawk.

Excuse any gross grammatical errors; I was asleep all day Saturday and Sunday with the sorest throat ever (I thought I was coming down with strep; but since my throat doesn't hurt near as much as it did Friday-Sunday, I'm guessing it wasn't strep). My brain still hasn't fully woken up from the self-induced coma I put myself into this weekend.

Entry

I couldn't come up with a good title for the entry. So I named it was it is.

No pictures yet of Claire walking. Because she's still not walking. At most, she'll take two steps before she bends her knees and goes down to safe and familiar territory. She is happy to crawl around, even if it means getting trampled by her brothers and getting her knees and tops of her feet dirty from our dirty carpet.

Also can't get this girl to drink from a sippy cup (she's still guzzling milk from bottles) or eat table food. Not even cake! This girl won't even eat cake or icing! And I know she's not watching her figure (she's rotund and would have received lots of work as a model in the 20s). So, while we're not spending a fortune on formula anymore, we're spending 1/2 a fortune on whole milk and baby food. I'm too lazy and too busy (seems like a conflicting statement, eh? but I know moms out there understand me completely!) to make my own baby food.

Sorry for the grumbling tonight. It's been one of those days. I got the night off; we had Community Group (our couples' Bible study we've been a part of for 10+ years) at church tonight and Scott bravely took the circus to church, fed them Sonic, led the discussion, and then got everyone home. I took that alone time to decompress by working on an electrical project! I'm installing under-cabinet lighting in the kitchen and I needed to drill some fairly large holes to pass the conduit through (I have to take the wires over the microwave and stove to the other cabinets). The drilling noise scares Claire & Jack, so I couldn't do the work during the day. And I obviously can't do it at night. So this was perfect.

Now for pictures. Cade came up with his own train but was a little disappointed that it couldn't move. Never-the-less, I put Claire in the caboose, and we got pics.




Lisa graciously gave us some rain galoshes that were used as decor (I think) for VBS. Since our area is as barren as something that's really barren, the only time to wear the rain boots is obviously when we play in the hallway.

Jack, modeling the latest in rain wear fashion.


Cade trying to jump in the rain boots...



Cade trying to walk on his hands which are in the rain boots...


Claire not trying to walk at all...


Claire now sitting on me...


Jack attempting to sit on me as well...


An impromptu parade happened in our kitchen/living area the other day when a marching band began making rounds. Jack on recorder, which the boys call "the flute", and Cade on bass drum.


When Daddy got home from work (doesn't he look like a stud?!?), he got his groove on as well and joined the band on guitar (technically ukulele) .





Claire later got in on the action when she discovered the recorder and starting blowing on it. She surprised and delighted herself when she made noise!


Trying to get a normal smile on this kid's face is near impossible. You either get super cheesy smile (see below) or the kind of smile you put on when you shake hands with your urologist. Totally fake and kind of nervous looking (I don't have an example of this kind of smile).

The Writing Was on the Wall

The boys were taking a bath last night and barely had room in the bathtub because of the number of toys in there as well. Of the many items getting a bath were a set of rubber letters and numbers. When wet, these letters and numbers stick to the tub and surrounding tile. I walked backed into the bathroom after a few minutes to start washing the boys. Cade had just finished putting up his name (he put it up from right to left, and the "C" was backwards -- he does this consistently. Is this a symptom of anything). And Jack? Well. All I can say is that I'm hoping it was just a coincidence. Although it could be sheer genius.

On the wall in front of Jack was the word "poot."

Alas, the word had been knocked down by the time I got back to the bathroom with my camera. My disappointment knew no limit!

Pitter Patter

Claire took about 6 steps yesterday!!!

She usually only takes one step before going down to her knees to crawl. But yesterday she finally got brave! We'll see if she does anymore today. Pics to come if I can catch her in her glory.

Rock On!

Cade is turning out to be a very creative and ingenious little guy. The things that boy can build with tinker toys are amazing.

Yesterday we got the last tissue out of the Kleenex box (an ineffective trial run at getting Jack to blow his nose), and like a good little girl, I was about to throw the box in the recycling bin. Cade came tearing across the kitchen and said, "Mommy! No! Don't throw it away! Do you have any rubber bands?" Huh? I got Cade several rubber bands and then continued with whatever I had been doing. Minutes later, Cade produces a fabulous "guitar" made out of aforementioned Kleenex box, rubber bands, used toilet paper roll, and tape. He then proceeded over to the speaker out which was playing Caedmon's Call. He strummed for several minutes along to the music.



Rock on, Cade! Pawpaw would be so proud!