Photo Fun

I took a few other pictures of the girlies and played around with Picasa 3- a FREE photo dealie (I know that's not a word). Anyway I had lots of fun playing with color and other alterations or whatever you call them. These are of Kinley and Shea.

Marriage Advice from an Eight Year-Old

So today at lunch we were having a little family discussion and some encouragement from poppa. We were sitting around the table and Kurt launched into a little "thankful for my wife" moment. He looked at Reilly and said, "Reilly, if you want to have a productive life on earth, you need to follow Christ with all of your might and find and marry someone like your mom." I thought I'd add my two cents. "Reilly, you should not look for the prettiest girl." Shea felt moved to add her two cents at this point. "Yeah, or a Goth." ................................................................................................................................ Goth??? First of all, where in the world had she heard that term? Second of all, was she making the link that "Goth" girls were attractive? Because they're not. Third of all, WHAT IN THE WORLD?? Okay, it was a little strange, but she was very serious with her advice. It was precious, especially when she elaborated. "Yeah. She would lead you down a bad path. Because they have their belly buttons pierced, they have lots of tattoos, they wear black clothes and sometimes have their noses pierced." He listened intently, and I'm confident he's taking that advice to the bank.

Wishes Come True

Well, we returned from our awesome trip to California with six completely exhausted but happy kids (it's 11:30 a.m. and Macy is still sleeping, 2 days after our return!). We had a great time! I'd have to say that one of the highlights happened at a pretty random moment. We were leaving Disneyland, and had parked in a far off lot which meant a late evening stroll through Downtown Disney. The kids were in relatively good spirits after three days of Disney thrills. Kurt led the pack with the double stroller, and the rest of us trailed behind. Downtown Disney was relatively quiet, being midweek, though there are always kids and parents around. Kurt approached a small round two-tiered fountain and in usual "Kurt" fashion, began to circle the fountain again and again (as he does the round-about at the front of our housing development, much to the kids' delight). The kids happily followed, and I eventually reached the fountain. As I approached, the kids were beginning to slow down in their circling, and they were gazing into the fountain with fixed eyes. I leaned over to see what the deal was, and realized that the fountain was dried out (for the most part), and there were glittering coins at the bottom, nearly within the kids' reach... I glanced at Reilly as I felt his gaze turn to me. He had the ten-year-old "wow" eyes, and I also picked up on his thought pattern that was so clearly displayed by his expression. I knew exactly what he was thinking. It went something like this. "Mom, I know this is probably imprudent of me to even think of this, but I would really like to see if I can't extend my reach into that fountain and grab a few coins??" I'm not sure what came over me, but with three pairs of eyes now looking at me, I took two seconds to think about it. Kurt had walked a few feet away by this point, so the decision was mine. Here's my thought pattern. "Hmmm. It's not stealing. There's not too many people around. I think they'd remember this the rest of their lives. I wish I got to do this when I was a kid. This opportunity will likely never present itself again. And, the final thought that sealed the deal was this: Susie Muxlow would certainly have let her kids do it!!" Decision made. "GO FOR IT!!" (I really said it??) They were so stunned they didn't move. I actually had to repeat myself. "GO FOR IT! GET THE MONEY!" Without further ado, three pairs of hands reached as far as they could, and three pairs of feet came off the ground and into the air as they teetered with their hips on the edge of the fountain. The three big kids frantically scooped up as much coins as their hands could hold, then started dumping into their pockets. I think I was having more fun watching than they were having actually doing it! What happened next will forever be etched in my mind. All of the sudden, a fourth pair of small hands and feet joined in the madness. However, this prudent parent couldn't handle the fun...as I stood and watched (and listened), the mother grabbed the back of the kids sweatshirt and tugged him out of the fountain. "Honey! Honey! You can't take those!" She was sort-of "shout-whispering" as she leaned in close to him. "Honey, you can't take those. Those are people's wishes!" After I got over the moment of slight embarrassment over my kids' silly and excited display (and after that sweet mother was out of range to hear me!), I nearly cried tears with laughter!! Kurt stopped the kids after a minute or two (when the fountain was a little less glittery) and as the kids were counting their money, we just had the best laugh over it!! Wishes do come true at Disneyland!!!

Shea-ism

"Mom, for some reason sometimes my spine feels a little crusty..."
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A Poem by Shea

Shea wrote a letter to our old next door neighbor Kaylee (9) today. Our kids were best of friends with their four kids, and we miss them dearly! On the back of her letter, I found this poem that I knew had to be posted. Too precious!
We are friends no matter what
did you get a hair-cut?
Or get 200 dollars
cause I can here your hollars
I can here your shout
so get out
We're friends forever!