Scenes from this week

We were able to capture one of our critters in living color...He canvassed the garage for anything interesting and came up dry. Poor guy, should've tried the neighbors. I've always said if anyone or anything ever picks our house to burglarize, I think they'll be sorely disappointed with the lack of good loot to run off with.

The drama continues with Macy and bedtime, although we have seen some improvement. I had what I believe was revelation on how to handle this issue. I hate spanking and didn't want to do it, but admittedly, on a few nights of exasperation, we resorted to that tactic. It was ineffective. Probably because I didn't want to hurt her, so I tried real hard to seem as if I was lowering the iron hand while deliberately not inflicting pain. She's too bright for that nonsense. Anyway, I decided one late night, to set up the port a crib in the guest room across the hall. I decided that big girl beds are for big girls who follow the rules. If Macy was going to be a rule breaker, she was going back to the baby bed. She didn't like that idea at all. To my horror, she was able to scale the wall and get out of the crib herself, but she also disliked the experience enough to exercise a little self-discipline and stay put in her big girl bed. It's a little early to declare a victory, but I'm sure hoping this is the magic button. The above picture is typical of any given night around here. Macy and Kennedy play and giggle until they pass out in one or the other bed, together.

Macy, stylin' and profilin'

Last week Jonathan taught the FHE lesson on service. He found a cute object lesson online where you affix spoons to long sticks (i.e. shish kabob skewers and a lot of duct tape) and demonstrate that while it is frustrating and difficult to feed yourself in such a manner, it is easy and fun to reach across the table and feed your neighbor. The girls really enjoyed this lesson. We all enjoyed feeding our neighbors and getting messy while we ate daddy's chocolate pudding. He's the best daddy!

Sometimes I get so bothered that we have a playroom of toys that often goes neglected while the girls sit around bored stiff. I often threaten to give the toys to children who don't have any and might be more appreciative. On this particular afternoon, while they still weren't playing with their toys, they DID manage to find their own source of entertainment...the laundry. I had just folded this load of laundry and left it neatly stacked on the coffee table with the intent to put it away later that evening. Apparently it was a new-found source for dress-up. The girls delighted in putting on and taking off mommy and daddy's clothes for almost an hour. I was a little perturbed I had to fold the load again, but at the same time, happy to see some ingenuity in finding their own means of amusement.