Age of Greed

Did anyone catch the Today show this morning? Matt Lauer did a segment on the greed of Wall Street. It was so fascinating. Unfortunately, I don't think this "humbling time", as one analyst called it, will be what gives people in our nation heart change.  The other analyst kind of points a finger at the Clinton administration as if  to say "Thanks a lot for the mess we're in!", and I think it is so interesting that we try and place blame on individuals and groups of people. I do agree that the greed of a few has affected many, and those who were educated took advantage of the general public's insatiable desire for more. Even though crisis after crisis seems to have our country's head spinning, am have peace in knowing that God is not surprised by 2008.

Gross

This is why we don't play in the backyard. If left to their own vices, the girls get absolutely filthy. It's really cute and funny when I have put them in their grubby clothes and we are all outside doing yardwork on a Saturday. It is not cute and funny when it is 4:45 in the afternoon on a weekday and I have to wash their clothes immediately so the dirt won't set and bathe them both and redress them (can kids eat in their pjs? mine get theirs so crusty with food at suppertime) and then corral them so I can start dinner 30 minutes late because of said dirt and baths. Instead of the swingset they usually end up playing in the dirt, raking it and making bigger holes in our already eroding yard. We can't grow grass b/c of the trees and the huge hickory nuts that fall from them - Belle has often been knocked in the head while napping on the porch by falling hickory nuts, and it's gotten to the point where she doesn't even bother moving after a pummeling.

At any rate, we were ready for them to get dirty today. Stuck them in the sandbox and even gave them each a bucketful of water. Once they ran out of that, Kate kept coming back to the hose for more - she one day got tired of waiting for me and can turn it on by herself. Nancy literally stuck her head in the sand. They decided they were done with the sandbox and eventually just played with the hose. Actually, Kate sprayed Nancy with the hose and they both loved every minute of it.

Oh, and one more thing. This morning I left for the farmers market around 7:45, and in addition to the rotting squirrel carcass in the street is a possum, who, I kid you not, lifts his head up at me as I drive by as if asking for rescue. I am starting to think one of our neighbors has waged war with local varmints and sits in their car at daybreak for a chance to play chicken with them. Later, as I am stripping down the girls in the backyard to hose the sand out of their hair, watching the water pool into mud around them in our family-friendly backyard full of mushrooms, dog poop and hickory nuts, I hear the clang of Ryan's shovel as he tries to decapitate the large rodent suffering in the street from a hit and run. Could we be more white trash?

"Why, that's grass!" you may say. I put them in the small green spot we do have to avoid eroding the yard more.

Date with Daddy

We have been learning about the moon this week in school, and my friend Greta told us about the "moon show" at Roper Mountain Science Center. Four daddies and little girls went on a group date to Pizza Inn (where Ryan ate enough food to feed a small country) and then to see Starry Nights. Kate was so excited about her date with Daddy! Hopefully it will be my turn soon!

This picture makes me laugh! Ryan said she made a face and was trying to look like someone else. 

Kate, Abby Fowler, Ella Fuller and Hannah Espinosa. The dads sat in the back and goofed off while the girls tried to understand how the stars were formed by bears and horsemen arguing over seven sisters. Might have to do some damage control....

Jesus Is a Friend of Mine

I can't believe this is real. Tonya posted this on her Facebook page and I just had to give everyone a good laugh. Even Kate said she did not like the song, and this from a kid who thinks the song "Poop in the Potty" is a jaunty little tune. Plus, I finally figured out how to put the videos directly on the blog, all by myself!! Yeah me!

The Day Goes to Pot(ty)

Coconut Lime Verbena lotion from Bath and Body Works is one of my favorite scents. Not because I am the type of girl that dreams of sunny days on a tropical island in the middle of nowhere drinking a lime-y girl drink on the beach - if they could put Florence (Italy, not SC) in a bottle I'd buy it); it's mainly because I don't encounter coconut or lime or verbena during the day, and it's nice to smell something besides dirty diapers, dirty dishes or a dirty dog. It also comes in handy for keeping me from smelling like a dirty dog. 

Apparently Nancy thought that not enough of my stuff is covered in spit up, kitchen, or doggy smells and stains. Isn't anything sacred? I wonder if she's trying to tell me something. 

At least I don't fit in the potty. 

Belated Disclaimer

After a few raised eyebrows and a phone call from DSS (who sounded a lot like my mom), we decided assure everyone that yes, Kate really loves the beanbag game, asks to play it all the time, and laughs wildly when she bounces off the sofa onto the floor. This video was not previously rehearsed. Really. (Nancy is crying in the background because she only understands "ice cream", not "let's go get some ice cream", and she likes to watch herself on the camera, eg. "baybeee")

And for those of you who have created your own version of the Beanbag Game, we'd love to see some video!

Why??

Why in the world do they make the packaging on kids stuff so impossible to get into?? Little parts, I understand to an extent: gotta make the Princess Polly Pockets look as exciting as possible in the bag! (even though mom will get it home, untie all the twisties holding Sleeping Beauty's hair still, cut through plastic as thick as acrylic and bend cardboard until it shreds all over the carpet only to have the toy dumped into the huge and cumbersome "convenient carry bag" where the parts get tossed around inside and all jumbled up and eventually lost every time said bag is opened...have you seen Polly Pocket's shoes??)

Tiny stuff, fine. Chalk it up to a choking hazard prevention. But sippy cups?!? The kids are going to put the things IN THEIR MOUTHS! There is no place to pull apart the plastic and the circumference of paper around the cup is so narrow that I can't even get the scissors to grip it and cut it! Why do they even need plastic around it anyway??? Just so they can hang it on the hook at the store? The hook that is eye level with my 5 year old, who conveniently chooses the cup that is $6.99? It should not take me 4 minutes to open up just one Dora sippy cup. I bought 5 today. That's 20 minutes. That's another nap!