Here we are visiting Karen and her family. We’re having a BLAST!! The kids have set up the train tracks and have been playing with them almost non-stop:
Karen’s girls have especially taken to Junior. Here he is enjoying some attention from T:
They all dressed up Margie as “Pretty-Pretty Princess”:
And after dress-up they enjoyed some ice cream:
We’re all having such a GREAT time over here (although some of us aren’t getting much sleep–guess who!).
This afternoon as we drove to the library, Baba was studying the Catechism for Young Children for his KidQuest class at our church. I assume he hit upon Question 11 because from the back of the van he piped up, “Mom, I think I know why some people don’t believe in God. It’s because they can’t see Him, and He’s not in the news or on TV or anything.”
Last week we took the kiddos outside for long-overdue portraits:
Baba – 7 years
Margie – 3-1/2 years
Junior – 9 months
Haven’t you always wondered? Here’s mine:
(Edited for clarity: The following is the result of an online quiz I took. See link below)
You are ‘Gregg shorthand’. Originally designed to
enable people to write faster, it is also very
useful for writing things which one does not
want other people to read, inasmuch as almost
no one knows shorthand any more.
You know how important it is to do things
efficiently and on time. You also value your
privacy, and (unlike some people) you do not
pretend to be friends with just everyone; that
would be ridiculous. When you do make friends,
you take them seriously, and faithfully keep
what they confide in you to yourself.
Unfortunately, the work which you do (which is
very important, of course) sometimes keeps you
away from social activities, and you are often
lonely. Your problem is that Gregg shorthand
has been obsolete for a long time.
Yeah, that sounds just about right.
What obsolete skill are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
Junior was up an hour early this morning, so I’m using the mostly-quiet time before the others wake to get my blog caught up a little bit. I’ve been scolded (by someone who already knows everything that’s going on over here, no less!) about letting an entire week pass by without blogging. My apologies to everyone, and especially to you, Beejer! 
Part of the reason I’ve been so quiet is that I’ve been busy with a sick Daddy and Margie. When DH came home from his conference last week he brought a yuck chest cold with him. Margie picked it up, but so far the boys and I have managed to remain symptom-free. I’m praying we continue on the healthy path because I do not wish to be ill or have ill children for our trip to Michigan this week. The two sickies aren’t yet the picture of health, but they are on the mend.
In school we just finished a three-week unit study on Ancient Egypt. Baba’s especially enjoyed learning about the pyramids and could be seen with a book on the subject pasted to his hands during rest time for the past several days. He also enjoyed an online computer game called The Mummy Maker. Yes, I know it’s a bit disgusting, but these are real details, folks!
On Thursday I took Baba and Cousin Twiggy down to EC to see a production of Charlotte’s Web. After the closing curtain Twiggy said, “Is it over? That was short! I wish it was longer!”
Daddy’s awake now and it’s time for me to get ready for church. I’ll have to do more updating later.
Daddy’s away at a conference half of this week, and I will be thankful to have him back! I know there are thousands of women who have to live apart from their husbands for jobs or military service or what have you (not to mention all those single mothers!) and I just don’t know how they do it. Of course, my solo time would have been much easier had not Junior chosen this week to have a relapse. I mean relapse as in screaming-non-stop-30-minute-naps-waking-half-the-night-oh-yeah-I-remember-what-that-was-like! But, let me take this time to thank God for using that little fellow to stretch me because I was getting a little too much in my comfort zone. When I get too comfortable here, I forget to long for the place which is really my Home. I’ve been doing lots of longing this week. 
Another thing for which I’m thankful is that God brought Karen into my life. She lives a few hundred miles away, but thanks to the wonder of the internet and cell phones she was with me whenever I need someone this week. Karen, James and I are both grateful to you this week!
And now for some widdle-in-my-knickers exciting news!! DH knows how much I’ve been pining away for a visit from or to Karen, so he took off of work the first week in November so we can drive over to Michigan! Yes, I know, what did I ever do to deserve a man like that? Well, thank God nothing in my life is about what I deserve. This will be our first long-distance journey with Junior in tow, so we’re interested to know how it goes.
I just have so much to be thankful for!
Happy Brett Favre Day!
Much to the dismay of my grandfather (the Dallas Cowboys’ fan), he shares a birthday with The Cheesehead Legend. So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PEE-PAW!! We love you even if you are wearing the wrong colors.
In other news, this pretty much summarizes my baby food philosophy:
Experts Seek to Debunk Baby Food Myths
It’s always nice to hear that your “gut feelings” are backed up by science.
Karen shared this with me:
Ed was recently diagnosed with a rare form of lymphoma. Let’s take the time to bring his name before God!
