There's More Than One Way to ...Lick the Bowl???????????

"We" made brownies for church the other day. As I was putting up the oven mitts, I turn around to this scene-Clark has taken "you may clean the bowl" to a new level. His WHOLE head was in the bowl! I am so thankful my camera was in arm's reach so I could catch this precious memory. I'm also thankful that the brownies were already cooking in the oven :-).
Unfortunately, you cannot see the brownie mix ALL over his hair. He also proceded to stick that tongue out and clean his chin, too.
Monkey see, Monkey do! Of course Foster had to join in on the fun! Much faster than the ol' spoon to mouth technique.

Foster in all of his brownie glory!

Popscicles!

We spent part of the HOT afternoon chomping down on popscicles. You see that I strip my kids clothes off (when possible :) ) during popscicle time, because often more goes ON them, than IN them. Once again, quite difficult to get all three looking in the same direction!
Foster was quite proud of his messy face. He actually had it dripping off of his chin, but his sweet brother wiped it all off for him. (Much to his displeasure might I add.)
"Is my tongue orange?" We played this game for at least five minutes as she had great opportunity to stick her tongue out without getting in trouble.




Check out the orange sticky down her belly, arms, and even on her feet! Oh well! :-)

The Snows Go Hiking

Getting ready to start our hike at Oak Mountain State Park. We had a great time, and all three kids were quite the hikers. Foster was Mr. Adventure and couldn't get places fast enough, Clark was Mr. Rock Climber, and Elizabeth was the Bug Lady-not a bug or butterfly went by without her spotting it. Even though it's the HOT, MIDDLE OF AUGUST ALABAMA HEAT (around 98+), we all managed to keep our cool.:-)

Foster, you are such a cutie AND a ham!

We even had a visit from "Robin Hood" during our Sherwood Forest visit.




Looking down at the critters. Clark and Foster used this rock as "Pride Rock" and took turns being Mufassa and Cymba.

Insects 101. Elizabeth was so excited to find a "cat-a-pil-wer"that she summoned us all over. It was really a huge millipede, so Daddy was "teaching" with a stick.

Isn't mud glorious!!!!! They had a great time scooping up handfulls of mud and throwing it into the creek. I really wanted to go to the other side to get their facial expressions, but mud isn't a great color on me. :-)

Two friends from church came over to play yesterday. I heard "ANNA" and "WUUUTH" (Ruth) all day as each of my children wanted to play with them at all times. They are a precious example of gentleness, kindness, and respect. And you better believe that I use their example of treating each other kindly and sharing OFTEN. We had a great day at the pool then at their house playing with their animals (feeding hens and geese, and playing with puppies!). I am so thankful for great friends!


Anna brought over a mixture for playdough and we made some homemade playdough. The boys were fascinated that we could actually make some. Clark wouldn't quite cooperate for the pic----he was working on making a "hugest snake!" Robin Hood (aka Ruth)was quite talented in molding the playdough into characters for the boys.
Anna has 6 puppies that we got to play with for a while. Clark was in hog heaven, as they look like his treasured "Dog" stuffed animal. He was so gentle and absolutely precious talking baby talk to each puppy. Foster is not pictured during this event because he spent a lot of the time saying, "I'm facing my fears. I'm facing my fears. I'll be okay." By the end of the visit, he was much more comfortable and relaxed. Clark even brought a little puppy to Foster and said, "It's okay, Fos. I won't let anything happen to you. You can pet him and I'll protect you." Even though Foster looked at him like he was crazy, it was still tender nonetheless.

Elizabeth is totally in love! I'm still stickin' by my rule about dogs, though. The rule is this: "When EVERYONE can wipe themselves by themself, then we'll talk. Until then, not up for discussion." That's why our friends have dogs, right?!

Out of the Mouths of Babes...(or Are They Grown?)

Elizabeth came to me to ask for a "wipie." When I asked her why she needed one, she replied, "Don't worry about it. I just need to clean up my mess. It's fine." I tried to hide my smile/laughter as I thanked her for her honesty and for being so responsible, and followed her to the crime scene. The boys followed, too, (probably b/c someone else besides them had made a true mess) and were quite eager to assist during the discussion. Before I could open my mouth at all of the "yogurt drink" on the floor (not just spilled, but in a very obvious "shaken" pattern) my twin "holier-than-thous" chimed in.
Clark: "E-LIZ-A-BETH! You know better than to bring this into the living room."
Foster:" I don't appreciate this. I just cleaned the floor yesterday, young lady." He even had the furrow in his brow that is quite genetic :). (Oh really? I don't seem to recall my 3 yr old with a mop. Hmmmm?)
Elizabeth-"You woo-wy about you. I woo-wy about me."
And in her best/cutest face, with hands in the air-she clapped for herself as she cleaned up her mess. "YEAH! I cweaned up to help the fam-i-ly!" All we could do is smile and hug one another! Too funny!

Rhino Wrestling?

Yep! That's what they're doing. "RHINO WRESTLING!" I've never heard of such a thing, but within one minute, Clark and Foster quickly move from hats on the head to "rhino horns." My boys totally crack us up with their imagination! Believe it or not, this episode ended without a big brawl. I can hear them giggling even now!

The Many Faces of Elizabeth

Hmmm? Do we have some gender issues going on? Check out Mama's high heels, Robin Hood's belt, her sword, all the while caring for her tacky little rabbit. "I can bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan,......" Very surprising to see Elizabeth asleep while listening to a book. She would rather be read to than almost ANYTHING else on the planet. This was way past naptime, though, and there had been a lot of excitement with our buddy Cameron coming over. Too precious! Notice Clark's willingness to be photographed.
She loves to try on shoes. Even the slippers for her "Build a Bear" are worth trying on :)
"My sword!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" "You can't have my treasure!" "Neb-er!" Not in most 2 year old girl's vocabularies, but hey..."When in Rome.....". She truly can back her brothers up into a corner during a sword fight. Mainly b/c they actually use some restraint and she goes full force, but she will back them up saying, "Take that, and that, you scurvy pi-wate."

Small Victories Encourage My Heart

How is it that even at young ages (3 1/2 and 2) children know how to irritate one another? Where do they learn it? My husband and I don't model that. Yes, we tease one another, but not just flat out IRRITATE one another. I often look at my children in action and have to laugh. They are such a sweet reminder of original sin at its best, and why each of us are in desperate need of a Savior.
Yesterday, Clark and Foster were playing Robin Hood (surprise, surprise!) and got quite "physical" in their sword fighting. I was tempted to get involved and nip the whole thing in the bud, but I'm so glad that I just let them work it out themselves. Tears came to my eyes as I heard my diplomatic Foster say "Let's not get really mad at each other. We really ARE just playing." Clark replied with, " Yeah! We're on the same team. We're best buddies. Let's go fight the bad guys." " I melted. It's the little victories, that often go unrecognized, that so encourage my heart.
Little by little, step by step, day by day-it is our prayer that our precious ones know how much they are loved and following His example, love others.