Overheard: More Grace

Grace: Do you know what's good about feet? You don't have to wash them.

Of course, I questioned her on this, and what she really meant was that the good thing about feet was that, after your mom clips your toenails, you don't have to wash them. She is terribly inconvenienced every time I clip her fingernails because I make her wash her hands afterward.

~~~~~

Grace: Do you know what's good about taking gifts to someone? You don't have to take as much stuff home.

Can you tell she has the consignment sale on her mind? She has been hearing me talk about how much stuff we have everywhere in the house...and my repeated threats of "if you don't pick it up, I'm getting rid of it in the sale." That works, by the way...one way or another, it is out of sight, and you might get some money for it, too. :)

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I had Grace try on the few winter clothes that were still in her drawer from last year so I could sell any that didn't fit in the consignment sale...some clothes received a warmer reception than others.

Grace [gleefully]: Ooooohhh! Snuggle Bunny! Oh, how I've missed this shirt! I love you, Snuggle Bunny! [hugs and kisses the bunny on the shirt]

And, yes, the shirt really does say "Snuggle Bunny" on it. And Grace wanted to wear it that day, despite the fact that it was 92 degrees.

~~~~~

As I was helping Grace try on some pants, she counted as she put her feet in the pants legs:

Grace: One...two...[pause] three...[giggles at her joke] four... [giggles even more]

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Grace [in the car, talking to Josiah]: Do you want to hear my best burp?

And this reminds me how I need to apologize to Andrew's mom. The last time they were in the car together, she spent some time trying to teach him how to burp. (I'm so sorry, Kim!) The scary thing was that she knew really knew how to burp...and she was determined to teach him.

There's a lot of personality in that little body


and also a whole lot of sweetness.

You Capture: Flowers

Our morning glories are starting to bloom, just in time for the You Capture theme of flowers!




I'm excited because the appearance of morning glories in our yard usually brings cooler weather (we're still hitting 90 degrees most days this week)...

And Grace is excited because she gets to pick beautiful flowers for me every day.


Check out other You Capture entries at I Should Be Folding Laundry, and join in on the fun!

Serving suggestion?

See "Serving Suggestion" above the back of the truck?

So...fill up a truck this the ice cream and grab a spoon?

Giveaway winner

The winner of the business card giveaway is Pastor John! Congratulations!

P.S. Click over to see Pastor John's blog for daily devotionals. You can also sign up to receive his posts by email.

When I have nothing else to say, I show you old photos of a praying mantis

It has been a looooooong week. It has been such a long week, I can't even begin to compose anything you would want to read. So, with that in mind, I decided to post something that has been sitting in my drafts folder for nearly a year.

~~~~~

Mid-November 2009

Earlier this week I decided it was finally time to cut down the morning glory vines we have in several places in our back yard…even though there are occasionally some blooms because the weather is still warming up as though it’s not November. As I was hacking away at one of the thicker sections, I saw something eying me warily…a praying mantis!

Grace, the fearless one, immediately wanted to know if she could “pet” him.

Then, of course, we both took pictures of him. And she kept trying to pet him.

The praying mantis kindly let Grace "pet" him gently for a few minutes, and all the while Grace was saying, "He likes me! He knows I'm his friend!" (She also plays with rollie pollies, ladybugs, crickets--just about anything except ants and spiders...and crickets.)

With the praying mantis being so large, it was just a little creepy to me when he would turn his head to look at me. You just don't see many bugs looking right at you.

After he’d had enough of the paparazzi, especially the touchy-feely one with a princess crown on her head, he began casually walking his way across our patio and played on the Tonka truck

and with a little pink poodle Grace had brought out.

When he ran out of toys, he walked over to the grass and tried to be invisible again. (I think I heard him muttering something about camouflage...) He wasn't as tolerant of Grace's petting anymore, and Grace, being the sweetie she is, left him alone.

You Capture: Flamingos

OK, so the actual challenge for this week is photographer's choice--we get to decide whatever we want to capture. This was harder than I thought it would be, simply because I took a LOT of photos of a LOT of interesting things. The weeding out process was the hardest. ;)

All of these photos are from one person's home. I promised to let the person remain anonymous, but you still get the pleasure of touring her home. Enjoy!

There's a lot of character

Why, yes, that is a real chamber pot!

The "face vase"

Slightly creepy but interesting lamp

The owner says it looks like an Addams family lamp...what do you think?

a lot of paperweights

So many interesting pieces

Prince Poppycock?

Small "piano babies"

Please note the tiny glass rooster at the far right. Impostor?

and a lot of flamingos!







This last shot captures the eclectic nature of my anonymous friend/relative and her home...a basket of fruit.


But this is not just any basket of fruit, of course--this has plastic fruit, glass fruit, cloth onions, and plastic veggies!

Check out other You Capture entries at I Should Be Folding Laundry, and join in on the fun!

Check out my giveaway for 250 die cut business cards! These business cards are a great way to promote your blog or business! Leave a comment on that post by September 20th for a chance to win.

Wordless Wednesday: At the new park

Visit 5 Minutes for Mom for more Wordless Wednesday participants.

Check out my giveaway for 250 die cut business cards! Leave a comment on that post by September 20th for a chance to win.

You Capture: Signs

This week's You Capture photo challenge is signs.

When Jason and I went on a date for our 15th anniversary, we told the kids we went to Chuck E. Cheese...


(We didn't. We gleefully drove right by it just to take the picture of the sign.)

The sign we see each week when I go grocery shopping with the kids...


I seriously love ALDI. They have a standard layout of the store that doesn't change often; I have a standard weekly shopping list ("laminated" with packing tape, so I can cross off what we don't need with a dry erase marker). I give the list to Josiah and he does the majority of the shopping while Robert pushes the cart while Grace helps me get the items I don't put on Josiah's list. The best part? We are in and out in around 20 minutes, even if there is a line to check out! And even with an 8 year old boy doing the majority of the shopping. How cool is that?

We have these signs everywhere around here. There are sooo many four way stops in this area.



Three signs for one school...



Signs appear everywhere...even inside your car.


And, sometimes, with a smiley face.

Signs that the days are getting shorter. (That means cooler weather, right? Just checking...'cause we're still hitting 90 degrees.)

This is how dark it was as we left church last night.

Last but not least...signs that you are a homeschooler and/or a geek: You come home from your anniversary date at Red Lobster with this in the to go box for the kids to see


and you get really excited that you won this book in a giveaway on another blog...and that it came in the mail today.


Check out other You Capture entries at I Should Be Folding Laundry, and join in on the fun!

Check out my giveaway for 250 die cut business cards! Leave a comment on that post by September 20th for a chance to win.