Cutie Pa-tooties

Several weeks back I was blessed to have some dear friends from Washington State visit.

Here is my precious friend, Maluhia and me with Chili C.

Maluhia and I have been friends since high school. Then after college, during what I refer to as "my quarter-life crisis" she and her husband Kurt took me in and let me live with them for several months when I was lost, and scared and believing a lot of lies about God and his plan for my life. I am forever grateful for the safe haven, counsel and encouragement they provided me during this difficult season.

Here are a couple of shots Kurt took of the kids. Dang if he didn't make them look even cuter than usual!

He even managed to get camera shy Sassy to smile!

This little ham poses much more willingly!

Kurt graciously took a family photo for us too, so finally we have something of all five of us where we are looking somewhat decent looking in somewhat the same direction. Brent has an extra cheesy smile on his face, but I think that might have had something to do with the crazy antics Kurt was performing to make Mr. Jenkins smile. Kurt is hilarious! Maluhia and Kurt's trip coincided with Chili C's baptism and it was really special that they were there to share this moment with us. Here we are all dressed up for the occasion.

As for this weekend, we had a wonderful Sabbath. We worshiped at the Saturday evening service and had the pleasure of hearing Steve Brown preach which is always wonderfully grace-filled, gospel-centered, and even potentially offensive experience as he shares about the scandalous freedom of Christ. As usual, I was convicted as I listened to the sermon. I feel my priorities are out of whack lately, and I don't seem to be having success in reorienting. I know that admitting that I am powerless to do this on my own is probably the first step in finding the "ability" to be faithful because it is only then that I can be filled with the Spirit and have the power to live in obedience. I'll never be able to "white-knuckle it" and succeed by trying in my own strength. However, if I am honest, I haven't felt very empowered by the Spirit and I am finding this discouraging and troublesome. I am so grateful that God loves me when I fail, but how I long to love him more. I pray I would hear "the soft sound of sandaled feet" as I go about my days this week. I hope that I will take the time to be still for a few moments each day just to experience the intimacy with Christ that I so desperately need.


Maranda

I almost forgot to mention that we have a new niece! We went to visit her at the hospital this afternoon, and she is such a precious little doll. Almost makes me want another one...

almost.
-mc

'Fess up Friday

So, I thought I'd join Kira's Fess up Friday...

You can check out her Kissing the Joy blog to read her weekly confessions and some other daily hilarity! 

So, here are a few confessions for the week here at the Curl household:

• There is a thong holding up one my tomato plants. What can I say? I ran out of pantyhose.

• I let my child do this.

• I actually captured it in video rather than stopping him from eating the carrot he offered the dog and then wiped on his filthy feet. 
• My poor, neglected dog cannot even see I have let her go so long without a groom. pitiful!

• I have still not cleaned my closet. In fact, it looks worse because Mr. Jenkins got into it again and this time, it really was his fault! I'm too embarrassed to show another picture. My shame has already been laid bare.
• I have recently become dependent upon having a sickeningly concentrated instant sweet tea mix with extra ice in a styrofoam cup. For those of you who do not know my mother... she has a bonified addiction to a "good ice" and tea concoction that she carries with her at all times. Someday I will share the extent of her addiction with you but let's just leave it at this... she has an industrial ice maker in her laundry room that produces ice in metric tons... (well maybe not metric tons... but certainly in a ridiculously large volume). I have always mocked her mercilessly for her "sludge" which she totes every where with her - most embarrassingly into restaurants where I am sure the servers think she is smuggling in her long island ice tea!! But now, I see that I should have never been so brazzen... I should have known that one day, I would in fact turn into my mother. 

        
          That day has come.

Well... That's all I'm copping to this week. I can't share all my dirty secrets!
Maranda

Crazy Candy Radar

It has been a long day. 

The naps were short and the whining felt constant.

I hope to go to bed early tonight, but before I do, let me leave you with a short tale from our dinner out last night. 

Have I ever shared with you Sassy's uncanny ability to sniff out a treat from great distances? Seriously, the kid has some kind of crazy candy radar. She's like a dog who hears the treat bag rattle and comes running from the far recesses of the house... except you don't have to rattle the bag and you don't have to even be in the house.

No matter where you might be in the world, if you are eating candy... she knows. 

So last night, Brent found a coupon for Cheeseburger Bobby's and due to its upcoming expiration, he suggested we go there for dinner. Of course Cheeseburger Bobby's is not on the weight watchers plan, but I took one for the team and agreed we should go. 

As we finished our low fat meal, Brent went back to the drink service area to get a refill before we left. Sassy trotted along behind him and as he was filling his drink she was looking up at him.... but kinda past him, her eyes fixed on something up high. She asked him to pick her up. He did. She then zeroed in on a shallow red basket that was on top of the sweet tea dispenser. You might be able to make it out in this picture... it is to the immediate right of the Coke machine on top of the tea maker.

The conversation that followed went something like this:

Sassy: Daddy, what's in that basket?

Brent: I don't know honey.

Sassy: Will you let me look in it?

Brent: Sure baby. 

He then lifted her up on his shoulders so she could look inside the basket. And quick as lightning, that girl reached into the basket and pulled out a peppermint! How in the world did she know that there was a piece of candy in her proximity? 

I'm telling you, it is a freaky sixth sense.

Maranda

Something is hiding in my closet

What I am about to share with you is embarrassing.

It's distrurbing.

It's ugly.

It's...

my closet.


Honestly, I am not quite sure what has possessed me to share this horror, but I am hoping that perhaps it will serve as a "before" picture for the work I hope to endeavor this week in cleaning it. Embarrassment can be an effective motivator for me.

I haven't shared the most embarrassing element of this picture yet. As you view the stacks of clothes, piles of discarded garments, boxes from our recent move, etc... perhaps you will notice the chubby little white legs of Mr. Jenkins poking out of that box turned on its side. It's like a Bad Mommy's Where's Waldo Game!

I guess I could have blamed the whole mess on him seeing that he is in the middle of it all. And since he is the source of many of our domestic disasters, this would be a fairly believable lie . However, this one is totally on me. I hope I can get it cleaned up and show you an "after" picture later this week.

Maranda

To nap or not to nap...

... that is the question.

We are at this point with Sassy where she still really needs a nap because she is an bear in the late afternoon if she doesn't get one, but if she does take a nap, then she is awake until late at night crying out for all manner of things in an effort to draw out inevitable... another book, another song, another prayer, more water... (with ice from the kitchen, mind you)... it's not the best stage, but as with most things, I am sure this too shall pass.

Sassy did not take a nap today, and so she was in bed asleep at about 6:15 this evening. I hope that she will not wake up at 6:15 tomorrow morning, but if she does... it's Brent's morning to get up with the kids! Praise the Lamb! :)

She had a busy day today, so it is no surprise that she is tired. Gittum (my dad - whose name by the way is actually "Randy" but I realized in a previous post that it may have appeared that his given name was Gittum... this is not the case). Anywho, Gittum took her to the movies this morning. I think they may have watched about 10 minutes of Kung Fu Panda II... Sassy likes the movies and all, but her true love in life is candy. I can't imagine where she gets that!?

Ahem.

So, as I understand it from Gittum, she placed her order for popcorn and gummy bears and when those ran out, she was ready to go. Seems like kinda a waste from my perspective, but I promise you, that she had a blast and will be talking about going to the show with Gittum for weeks!

While Sassy was at the movies, Chili C. and Mr. Jenkins went with Brent and me to run some errands. Chili slept the whole time (have I mentioned that she is awesome!) and Eli thoroughly loved being the "only child".

Tomorrow Jenkie will get to be an only child once again ... but this time with a single dad! Chili, Sassy and I are going to visit my granddad to celebrate his 95th birthday! Isn't that amazing! My mom has been a little frantic trying to get things ready for the celebration. She tends to stress out over such things, but who am I to judge... I do the same thing. GeeGee will love the fact that she is putting a party together for him and he is going to be touched by her efforts to collect 95 birthday cards from friends and relatives to commemorate this special occasion. It should be a fun day. And GeeGee is coming back with us to visit for a few days. I hope he approves of my veggie garden. Afterall, he helped me plant it and has given me lots (and I mean LOTS) of gardening advice!

This is a rather boring post, but like I said when I started this thing. I just wanted to record some snippits from life. I want to be a bit more reflective. Baby steps people! Baby steps.

Maranda

Spontaneous Road Trip

When I woke up this morning, I had an ambitious idea. It had been a long time since I had taken the kids out to visit Brent's family and I decided I'd like to try to get over there today. It is a good hour and half drive (not quite that long, but I always have to stop somewhere for a beverage or sustenance so that adds a few minutes!). However, I was not optimistic about my ability to get myself and the 3 kids ready for a 9 am departure so that we could get sufficient visiting time in before we'd have to leave for naps. So, I kept my desire to myself and just went about the normal business of the morning. Breakfast, diaper changes, dressing (and re-dressing) children, checking email, getting myself somewhat presentable, packing snacks and food, extra clothes and diapers in the diaper bag, etc. At 9:10 we were all sitting in the garage in the mini van, and as I backed out of the drive, I called Grandmom and Granddad to see if we could come for a short visit.

I hated to be so non-committal about my plans, but I just didn't have confidence that I could pull it off until I was literally in the car. 

All this to say, we had a great day. We loved seeing Grandmommy and Granddaddy (Sassy A. in particular had been asking to see them) and as a bonus we got time with Debbie (my mother-in-law) and with my sister-in-law, Gretchen and her son. Gretchen is super prego and looks amazing. I hate her a little bit because I can guarantee that I did not "glow" as she is still managing to do despite this late date in her pregnancy. We stayed and had lunch with everyone - chicken salad made by Grandmom is a deliciously tasty delight!

We headed out around 2:00 so the kids could nap in the car. Now under most circumstances when I plan for the "car nap" to occur, it will not happen, so imagine my delight when there was nothing but the sound of Eli's snoring. All three kids napped... heck even the dog slept!

After we got home, we enjoyed time outside playing in the kiddie pool, which by the way was a lot less stressful than it was the other day! And yes, that is my basil plant by the pool... I was letting the sprinkler water it... I was conserving water, or multitasking, or something... you know, no sense in letting that water go to waste! Save the whales! Oh, and yes, Sassy A. is eating basil leaves. Basil counts as a veggie, right?

Right.

I knew I was doing my part to ensure that she had a well balanced diet. 

Oh, and by the way, if you are wondering what Chili C. was doing whilst all this wetness was occurring? Well, she was just being her chill little self! Love that girl!

Maranda

On my way to Crazy

The attention span of my children must be equivalent to that of a gnat. 

I am exhausted from the sheer speed at which we have moved from one disastrous activity to the next while in the process systematically destroying the house, yard, porch, car, etc... Let me share an example with you:

Around 3:00 this afternoon, Sassy A. asked if she could get in the "pool"(an inflatable blow-fish kiddie pool). 

I wish I had responded with a gleeful - "YES! Absolutely, I'd been hoping you would ask me if you could get in the pool, because I have been really wanting to help you strip naked, squeeze you into a swim suit, spray you with sunscreen while you shreik loudly, listen to you whine because you forgot your shoes and the deck is burning your feet, search to retrieve the designated pool toys that have be relocated to the various nether regions of the yard. Yes, Sassy A... the pool sounds like a great idea."

This however, was not my sentiment.

Alas, in an attempt to not be a total lame-o and encourage my daughter's desire to enjoy time playing outside, etc... I agreed and began the above process for Sassy A. and Mr. Jenkins who informed me via screeching that he too wanted to have some "pool time". 

Did I mention that Chili C. wasn't being particularly chill at that moment and was requiring me to hold her whilst all this was occurring?

Anywho... So, we get all geared up for the event and as I go to turn on the hose to fill the baby pool, I notice that the hose is conspicuously missing. CURSES!! My lovely husband has moved it to the front yard to water our weeds grass! So, I go around to the front yard where I have to shimmy down the side of the house between our front steps, side of the house and prickly bushes to unscrew the hose from the faucet. 

It is then that I realize that I am stuck ... 

Yes, stuck down between the prickly bushes and the side of my house. The steps are at chin height. Hearing Chili C crying from the baby swing I left her in and wondering what mischief those other two were getting into, I grab the side of the steps and heave myself onto our front stoop...my torso is flat on the stoop now, but my legs are still hanging down in the abyss. I manage to pull my knees up under myself and there I perched for a good 5 seconds regaining my balance and trying to stand up the rest of the way. I was just praying that no neighbors were witnessing this. So, after yanking the hose out of the prickly bushes and unscrewing the sprinkler head, I then drag the hose through our house, pick up Chili C, go out to the back porch where my kids are both still alive. I then go down off the porch around the side of the house and hook up the hose. I drag the other end of the hose back to the kids where Sassy A. fills the pool. They are having a grand time but the hose has no stop nozzle on it because lovely husband has apparently broken my sprayer nozzle as I found it sadly discarded by the sprinkler attachment in the front yard. Water is gushing everywhere and I do what I can to have Sassy direct it towards my garden. At this point, the pool is full, the plants are watered, the deck is wet, and the dog is hiding. I decide to turn off the water and just let them splash around. I walk back around to the side of the house and turn off the water and come back inside to nurse the baby at the kitchen table where I can still watch the kids play. I sit down, start to feed Chili C and within moments I have wet dripping children at the door banging to come in. Seriously?

Seriously.

I truly do want to foster a love for playing outside, for getting dirty and wet and just being a kid. I don't want to say no just because it is inconvenient for me, but why LORD, why can they not just stick with an activity for an extended period of time!? Why must I expend such fruitless effort?

So now in addition to getting them dried off, re-dressed, etc. I have to clean up the pool stuff, put away suits and towels, etc... and of course while I am doing this, Mr. Jenkins has brought the bubbles into the house and is blowing bubbles in the living room and Sassy is begging for a snack.

I really, really love my kids. Please know that I don't consider them a burden... I delight in them so much... but I am a tired momma today, and I am definitely on my way to crazy! I also fear greatly that my gymnastic maneuvers on the front steps may have proved that to my neighbors as well!

I will leave you with a short exchange between Sassy and me this evening right before bed. 

Scene: Forbidden office room, in front of media cabinet that contains assorted board, card and dice games.

Me: What are you guys doing in here?

Sassy: Just getting a game mommy.

Me: No, sweetie, we cannot get a game out right now. It is almost bedtime. Plus, when you guys get out the games and drag the pieces all over the house, it makes me crazy.

Sassy: But mommy!!! I want you to feel crazy! Crazy!! Craaaazy!! (with increased feeling and intensity and tears brimming) Please be Craaaaazzzy!!!

Me: Done. 

Goodnight!

Maranda