Signin' and Dancin'

Did you think that title was supposed to be "Singing and Dancing"? No, it was a deliberate choice ... check out this video of Lainey, captured moments after she "talked" to her mommy on the phone today.

All Alaina, all week!

OK I promised Shannon some happy pictures of Alaina after yesterday's "lip" post, so here you go!


These last two were taken yesterday at Christa's - both Lexi and Mason were loving on her all day! Very cute and fun to see the interaction between the three!

So much going on!!!!

Wow I have tons of stuff to write about, lots of great pictures, a sweet video ... and no time! My life is crazy right now! The best thing about this week is that Greg and I are getting to take care of my great-niece, Alaina ("Lainey"), while the rest of her family is in Hawaii! Thanks, Shannon and Alan!! We are loving every minute with her.
She's 14 months old, cute as can be, and getting spoiled rotten by the two of us! She can also stick her bottom lip out like no baby I've ever seen -
but isn't that the most darling thing you've ever seen?

We went to Christa's today and I think Lexi and Mason (mostly Mason) flat wore her out - I've got a few cute pictures on the camera that I'll try to post tomorrow.

I had a birthday last Saturday - I was literally so busy the week before I kept forgetting I had a birthday, and thought it would pass by virtually unnoticed (which would have been fine), but instead a group of women from my church blessed my socks off (ha ha keep reading) during our monthly "Kitchen Windows" meeting. We've been meeting since last fall, exchanging first kitchen tips, recipes, etc., and now have branched out into general household organization, how to keep your kids busy, etc. - we just love each other and love meeting together! :) Anyway, our "regularly scheduled" meeting was Saturday, my birthday, at my house, and unbeknownst to me they had been madly e-mailing each other about how to celebrate.
Rachel made me this beautiful cake - it was so good!

And they showered me with their cast-offs - white elephant gifts the likes of which you've never seen before!


The troll definitely freaks me out. The doll is "Angela" of the SPAWN line ... don't ask me. She's scary too.

After the gift exchange, these amazing women did the most amazing thing - they one at a time used the blue pitcher and wash bowl in the picture above and washed my feet, each thanking me for something. It was one of the most incredible things that's ever happened in my life -- like Jesus was ministering to me himself through these beautiful women. I have pictures of this too, but after looking at them again I decided to let you imagine it instead and keep them to myself. A birthday I won't soon forget!

Well I'm tired. I'll write more soon ... this is like a week's worth of posts all at once!

Five minutes

So I was watching the grandbabies the other day. They were seated nicely at my kitchen counter, Lexi painting and Mason coloring ... all was well. Mason seemed to have accepted the fact that I was NOT going to let him paint. My phone rang. Chaos ensued. I swear to you that I was only on the phone for FIVE minutes, and all this happened:

Lexi: I have to go potty NOW!

So I let her down from the barstool, and she made a beeline for the bathroom. Since the paints were still out, I had to stay with Mason, but I followed her to the stairs so I could watch and make sure she was getting herself "undone" (pajamas, onesie, underwear, a lot to deal with if you really have to GO). I turned back around and Mason had not only crawled from his stool onto Lexi's so as to get at the paints, but he was in the process of tipping it over and free-falling to the hardwood floor. I'm still on the phone but not talking or listening ... I rescue Mason from the worst of the fall, use my shoulder to hold the phone and get the chair upright. I walk back to the bottom of the stairs to check on Lexi, and somehow in this tiny amount of time, she had completely undressed herself except for her underwear, and was standing in front of the bathroom sink with the water running. Still on the phone, not talking or listening. Why didn't I just hang up?? I put Mason down, go up to the bathroom, and ask her what happened to her onesie? She said, "I was hot, I took 'em off and put my onesie and sockies in the waundry." Uh, ok. Phone's still on my shoulder, I am trying to turn the water off and get her to dry her hands so at least I can get her pajamas back on her, and while I'm doing that Mason slides in behind me and manages to unroll 45 feet of toilet paper and flush the toilet twice before I even really comprehend that he's in the room. FINALLY my brain engages ... I get off the phone before any real disaster strikes.

I think I'm getting old ... how do 40-somethings manage having little kids? I seriously could NOT do this every day anymore!! I did get a good laugh a couple of days later when I sorted my laundry and definitely found her onesie and socks in the basket - I had completely forgotten about them but she was right, she had put them in the waundry!!

Good medicine

I had a free hour today (a RARE thing these last couple of weeks!) and ran over to spend it with the at-home Kuchtas. Nothing better than having babies loving on you and your daughter to talk to when the rest of my world is unusually unsettled right now. Nothing going on in my own personal life that is unsettling, but I'm having the opportunity (privilege really) to walk through some tough seasons with some dear friends.

That's why you have been seeing more pictures and videos than commentary from me - those are better anyway - but my "mastery" of the English language seems to have deserted me for the time being and I'm not feeling inspired to write much!!

Thankfully, I was given some GREAT material by the little ones this morning - hopefully these two videos that will make you laugh like they make me laugh!

Mason obviously has a shoe fetish at the moment ... Christa's in the background, stirring up a six-family batch of something gooey and cheesy and hard to stir - you'll understand why you need to know that when you hear her talking in the background, and my response, forever the MOM!! It just pops out when you're not expecting it, even after your kids are grown.



And Lexi ... well, she's just Lexi, making her usual fashion statement. At least she didn't have her watermelon boots on.

Spring blossoms

This beautiful tree is blooming right outside our front door ... in spite of the hard freezes we've had the last few nights! Too bad we had to spray it with stuff that kills the little (red) berries those blooms are expecting to produce, because the berries drop on the driveway, then get squashed into your shoes when you come to visit us, and then we get little red berry tracks all over our carpet in the house ... so instead of banning visitors while the tree is producing fruit we decided to kill the fruit. Nice huh? But the tree is pretty for now! :)

Anticipation ...

OK I admit this last one was not taken in this series, but I PROMISE he smiled like this when he got that bite devoured!!

Tribute

Yesterday afternoon, Merle Phillips, a dear saint and friend of ours went home to be with the Lord after an 18 month battle with cancer. As his wife Charlene put it so perfectly, "At 2:25 p.m., Good Friday got better for Merle." What a joy it will be for him to spend Easter with Jesus, face to face!

This man was a true gentleman, to the very end. Merle was created in God's own image - we all were - but he especially resembled God in this way. One of God's character qualities is that He is the "ultimate gentleman" - in other words, He will never force you to accept the gift of salvation He is offering you, and He will never make you even acknowledge His existence, but He quietly loves you and yearns for a relationship with you just the same, and continues to hold the gift out to you each day of your life until you accept it ... NO STRINGS ATTACHED! Forgiveness is instant and complete, and your eternity with the God who loves you is guaranteed.

Charlene told me recently that one of the verses Merle quoted often is Proverbs 16:7: "When a man's ways are pleasing to the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him." Merle didn't just quote this, he LIVED IT!

Wish I had a picture of him to post, but I don't so it must not matter. I know Charlene covets the prayers of the saints as she walks through her grief ... but her tears are mingled with joy because Merle is out of pain and at home with the Lord.

Happy Easter - HE IS RISEN INDEED!!!

I wish ...

This video makes me laugh and laugh and laugh ....



Edit: 4/11/07 - I FINALLY figured out what she is saying towards the end, when I get her to repeat that same phrase over and over - she's saying "I imagined it away" - ok yes that's weird, but I promise that's what it is - I got the little guy for her today because it's been driving me crazy trying to figure out what she was saying, and asked her where his underwear was. She said that same phrase, and I said, "You imagined it away?" and she said "YES! I imagined it away" ... like, it's about time you understood me, ya do-do! So now I could go into a dissertation about whether it makes her smart or a pervert that she at three years old she thinks she "imagined" away his underwear, but I'll just let that go I guess.