Is this real enough?

This morning when I got out of the shower I decided that one of my tasks for the day should be some bathroom spiffying so I got out a couple handy-dandy Clorox wipes and tidied up the toilet and its environs and the sink. I planned to do the same in the other (hall) restroom shortly. First though I sent Caleb in there to go potty while I headed for the computer to check emails.

I was reading away at some Reece's Rainbow digests when Steven comes up with a wet hand-towel saying "See. See." Yipes! He led me to the hall bathroom where to my wondering eyes there appeared a stool full to the brim of brown chunky water (and a big wad of white toilet paper) and a floor covered with same water at least half way to the hall door. Caleb had his pants pulled up and was edged up against the bathtub on an island of towels. How dare he have a smile on his face! There was a drippy trail clearly evident on the carpet leading out of that bathroom, through our bedroom and into the other bathroom where evidence of same brown chunky water was evident in my recently spit-shined sink. I can only assume that Steven who was holding the drippy hand-towel had been trying to help clean up the mess before calling me to the scene. "Ca-ca-ca-ca." This is one of Caleb and Steven's expressions for something that is cucky and yucky and I find myself using it quite often.

It's kind of funny now but it wasn't then. I sent my merry helpers on their way and waded into the mess in my bare feet trying to throw down towels over the standing-water part and stay on my towel islands as much as possible as I scrunched up my nose and tried to reach across the distance with the toilet plunger. Thankfully the potty contents went down fairly easily so I could proceed with placing soggy, gloppy towels in the laundry basket, scrubbing the toilet, the floor and the bottoms of the waste basket, the stool, and the laundry basket with Lysol cleaner. I even had to take down the shower curtain because it drags on the floor a bit. I finished up with the counter, the sink, the scummy soap dish and my feet, put the stinky laundry in the washing machine with hot water and extra detergent and now the bathroom is CLEAN--actually cleaner than I had intended on making it today.

I wonder why it takes puke or poo-poo to really inspire this cleaning lady sometimes?

Miss C's Birthday

January 12 was the 7th birthday of a very special little girl. I baked a cake-strawberry with whipped strawberry frosting and we sang Happy Birthday to a sweetie far away in an Eastern European institution

Life at our House

Here are Caleb and Steven trying out their new shaving kit from Christmas
Dr. Caleb giving Steven the once-over
Steven crashed out on Daddy's lap
A very perseverant S proving that she successfully finished B's new shaped horse puzzle. What makes this especially sweet is that one of the little boys tipped the temporary table the puzzle had been on the night before and she had to start again nearly from scratch. I helped but she's the one who stuck with it until she got it done.
Do you ever just have one of those days?? We won't mention which one of our family members this reminds me of--but she and I are very close :) :) :)


B and T with the lovely gifts they received from their birth dad.
This picture of Caleb and Steven just cracks me up.
I know this is fuzzy but I was so impressed with Steven's attentiveness to his new ABC book.
This was New Year's Eve--or maybe it was actually right after midnight: J posing with his freshly baked loaf of banana bread

Stuffed-cheek B showing off the new Remote Control backhoe he purchased with his chore money and Christmas money.



T's brand-new Tomagotchi drying out on the heat vent after accidently going through a dishwasher cycle. (Note: it did work again after Kevin took it apart)
Steven and Caleb had a wonderful time playing in the box that their new shelves had come in.

B helping Daddy put the shelves together
I could not believe this: I drew the S and we were talking about the 'sss' sound and Steven said "T" and promptly drew one!!


T playing a relaxing game of Solitaire--no this photo was not staged.



J got Caleb and Steven recruited in his couch cushion-fort

Kevin proudly showing the completed (finally) copies of his annual water/waste water report. He'd started it early in January but then our computer crashed--what a mess.
Our kitty Jade selected Kevin's partially open sock drawer as the spot to get a cat-nap.





Now it's the girls' closet. What a silly, silly feline.
Steven curled up in the top of the laundry basket. He was looking up at Grandma to check out her reaction to his escapade.

Sorry for the long interval between entries here. How is it that during the Christmas holidays when I didn't have TIME to post and later when our computer basically crashed and I COULDN'T post, I could think of all sorts of enlightening, encouraging,and/or entertaining tidbits to share but now that I have a block of time available all my words of wisdom seem to have escaped from my head??

It seems with our blog title that I should include at least some entries on daily life with our children. The problem is that everyday life often seems way too boring to share or else a bit too real. How I would love for you to imagine that I go about each and every day with a smile on my face and a song in my heart and I always speak sweetly, gently, and encouragingly; that our children always conduct themselves in an orderly and respectful manner and their rooms and persons are always ship-shape . . . . I could go on an on in this daydream but that is all it is. The truth is that life is very real. It is not perfect. I am not perfect. My children are not perfect. The house is not perfect. And yet I have been incredibly blessed--I have a husband who loves me and our kids, who works hard at two jobs to support us, who is faithful and strong. And I have 6 children who can be incredibly sweet and compassionate and insightful.

So I'm just including some random shots of "life at our house"