Things I've Heard Lately

Ella:  Aidan, do you like cub scouts?
Aidan:  Yeah, you should be in girl scouts.
Ella:  No
Aidan:  You get to sell cookies.  And, if you sell the most you get a prize.
Ella:  Oh!  I hope it's a machine gun.

Heaven help the girl scouts.  :-/

Anna:  Ella!!  (when they are supposed to be going to sleep)
Ella: Yes baby?
Anna:  gobbledy gobbledy blah goo gah
Ella:  Look!  Listen to me!  I know you want to play, but I am TIRED.  My legs hurt and I need to get some sleep.  You may not want to go to sleep but I do!
Anna:  Ella!!
Ella:  (Sigh)

For All the Single Ladies...

So, this whole mess in Ohio has been making me sick all week.  I just can't comprehend it.    And it's not just Ohio---women and little girls are victimized all over the world.  All. The. Time.  If you really want to be sad and angry, start reading about the sex trade of little girls.  Do you think this is a 3rd world problem?  Americans are the largest consumers in this trade.  Disgusting.  According to the International Rescue Committee , one in three women will suffer some kind of abuse in their life time.  That's a third of all women. I've got two little girls.  This is unacceptable.  So, what I've been trying to think about all week is, how do we fix it?  What is to be done?

Well, I'm sure all the politicians out there can think of a million ways to throw billions of dollars at this problem.  Maybe that would work, but I've learned to never wait for the government to fix anything.  Seems they can't work on a problem without creating a million more.  I'm sure we could legislate it into the ground---stiffer penalties for offenders, more laws and on and on and on.  But, you know what?  We could execute the 3 men in the Ohio case right now and it wouldn't do those women a bit of good.  It would not take away the pain they suffered.  Don't get me wrong.  I do think some changes need to be made in the laws.  I mean, one of those brothers severely abused his wife.  And I don't know all of the details, but it appears to me that he walked away from that with little to no consequence.  That's a problem.

But, what can we do?  The average, "I don't have a gazillion dollars to run for Congress" person.  There is plenty I could say to men on this subject.  For starters, if I had a captive audience of young men, I would say, "the world needs you to grow up.  Like right now.  People are suffering and God has blessed you with the strength to be their protectors and defenders.  So, turn off the video games.  Get off the couch.  Stop working on your six pack and get out there and start helping.  Stop being a part of the problem and be a man and a leader.  Stop watching movies about heroes and start being a hero."

But, since only about 3 men read my blog, and two of those are my dad and my husband...and they are already good men (hey, what do you know, if you read my blog, you have a 66% chance of being a good man) I will address the women instead. If I had to guess, I would say most of the women that read my blog are already married, and I hope the man you married is amazing.  So, please pass this on to all the single ladies you know.

Girls:  Stop marrying jerks.  Stop reproducing with jerks.  Because that jerk will be the father of your children.  And that jerk will make your little girls feel like they have to do unspeakable things to gain the favor and attention of men.  That jerk will model for your little boy how to be a jerk.  If he treats you badly, he will teach your precious little boy to treat women badly.  He will teach your little girl that they deserve to be treated badly as well.  The influence of a father, for the good or the bad, is immeasurable.

So, who do you marry?  I'm no expert here, but I've done it the wrong way, and I've done it the right way, and this is what I've learned.

1. Marry a man that respects his mother.  Not just loves her, but respects her...treats her with respect, no matter what.
2. Marry a man that wants to please God above all else.  The man that wants to please God will know that he must be willing to lay down his life for his wife.
3. If a man yells at you, intimidates you, belittles you in anyway, dump him.  Did you hear me?  Dump him, do not marry him.  There is no excuse.
4.  If a man utters the words, "boys will be boys," or you find yourself uttering these words to excuse a behavior in a man, dump him.  Boys will be boys, but you're not marrying a "boy" (hopefully).  And you don't want a "boy" helping you raise a family.  Dump him and find a man.  Because our culture has been telling us for a long time now that boys will be boys and sleep around, look at pornography, go to strip clubs, etc.  Like they can't help it or something.  Yes they can.  This is a lie that we have been buying into for far too long.  You need a man that can practice some self control.  Furthermore, you're going to have kids someday and you need a man that will stand in the gap for your sons and encourage them to be pure...to turn their eyes from all the filth in this world.  Trust me---no matter how cute or cool he is, don't tolerate this behavior. Dump him.
5.  Marry a servant leader.  Think about Jesus.  He possessed all the power in the universe and could have made anyone do anything he wanted them to do.  But what did he do?  He healed.  He loved children.  He washed feet.  His heart was broken by the suffering of others.  He reached out to those no one else was willing to be near.  He loved.  We have got to change what our image of manhood looks like.  It is not weak to serve others.  If you are dating a man who talks/thinks only about himself...never concerned with lifting others up, dump him.
6.  When you are considering marrying someone, ask yourself, "If they never change from who they are today, will I be okay with that?"  Marrying you will not change someone's character.  I know you are amazing, but marrying you will not change someone's character.

I don't mean to sound harsh or unforgiving.  There is no perfect man, so of course you have to be willing to overlook some flaws.  But, let's overlook flaws like:  "he leaves his dirty socks on the floor", or "he's a little overly obsessed with baseball."  Let's stop overlooking flaws like: "he treats me like dirt," or "he makes me feel bad about myself."  Come on ladies.  Let's up our standards.  I promise you there are good men out there.  Don't get in a hurry.  If we start setting our expectations a little higher, men will learn real quick that they've got to step up or be alone.  Otherwise, they're going to keep getting away with it.  And maybe, just maybe, in a generation or two we will find that all the sick/twisted/abusive men have died sad and alone.  Maybe we can raise a generation of real men and help end the cycle of abuse.  We can at least make that stand for our own family and our own children.  I pray that we will.  For the sake of my little girls.

Anna Speaks

Anna will turn 18 months old this month.  It's hard to believe how fast it is going!  She is at that age where her language is exploding.  I love all the little things she is starting to say.  Here are her top 10 favorite phrases right now:

1.  Outside!  We hear this about a gazillion times a day.  Outside is the only place Anna wants to be...

2. Bye-Bye Car!  ...except when she wants to be in the car...the girl loves to go for a ride in the car.  And, she says Car like she's from Jersey.

3.  Daddy!  She walks around the house looking for her daddy when he's not here.  It's so cute to hear her calling for him.

4. Tovey!  Lovey is the stuffed giraffe that she sleeps with.  When she gets tired, she will walk around saying   "Tovey!" (She can't say the beginning L sound).

5.  Ella! She loves her big sister, but she usually yells her name like she's in trouble.

6.  Good Boy!  She says this every time she sees Ranger. She likes to lay her head on his tummy.

7. Bubba!  She loves her big brother too.

8.  That!  The girl knows what she wants, and when she wants something, she points and says, "that!"

9. Mommy.  Melts my heart every time.  

10.  Gone-gone.  This is what she says when her milk is all gone---and she wants more.  Now.

Recently, she has also learned to give kisses.  She gives Aidan and Ella about a hundred kisses a day.  It is so sweet to see her with them.
We are having so much fun watching this little one grow and learn.  Love her so much.

Ranger

This may be old news for some of you, but about a month ago, we adopted a dog from the local shelter.  I was REALLY nervous about this.  Let's just say, we haven't had great luck with dogs in the past.  But, Mark found this dog that was part Border Collie, part something else (maybe Golden Retriever?) and he was sweet.  He kept going back to visit him, and after a few visits we took the kids up to see how he did with them.  A few days later, Mark brought him home.  I was still skeptical.  But, he has been the best and sweetest dog I have ever had.  He wasn't house broken when we got him.  But, that only took about 2 days of working with him.  He is very obedient and a gentle dog.  He loves belly rubs and treats.  All in all, it's been a great experience.  Look at him:

He was very underweight when we got him--you could feel his ribs and hip bones jutting out.  But, he has quickly fattened up.  :)  The vet thinks he's anywhere from 6-10 mos. old.  

So, things have been going great with Ranger...except for this morning.  Our neighbors left their water running in their yard all night...which ran into our yard...which made a giant mud puddle around the peach trees.  Ranger decided he was part pig and went rolling in the mud.  I started to suspect something when he was outside for a long time this morning and we didn't hear anything out of him.  So, I opened the door, called for Ranger and he came running.  It took me a while to realize he was covered head to toe...back to belly...tail and all in mud.  He ran about 5 circles around the living room before I could catch him and get him back outside.  My family room looked like a dirt track.  

The funniest part of the story is that I discovered Ranger hates baths.  In fact, he hates them so much that whenever I tried to get him to take a bath, he rolled over on his back, paws up, tongue out to the side, stared off into the distance and played dead.  If I hadn't been so frustrated with him, I would have taken his picture.  It was so cute...and he did it every time I tried to bathe him.  I swear he's the sweetest dog ever...which just might have saved his life after his mud fiasco this morning.  I could only imagine what was going through his mind..."Sorry, can't take a bath right now, because I died."  Cutest. Dog. Ever.

Ella's Fake Life

Ella has a great imagination.  I've mentioned before, that I love to sit and listen to her play with her toys.  The stuff she says, cracks me up.
For instance, tonight, she was pretending that she was making donuts.  She was talking to an imaginary person about the donuts and said, "this is so romantically weird."
Romantically weird?  That's a new one...now, I will have to try to think of some other things that I can describe as "romantically weird."

While she was playing this game, she turned to me and said, "Mommy, I've found a boy I want to marry!"

I said, "You have?  Who is it?"

Ella:  "Well, in real life, I want to marry Aidan.  But in fake life, I want to marry Sun Slice."

Me:  "Wow, what an interesting name."

Ella:  "Yes, it's because he's like scissors."  (Huh?)

Me:  "Well, what is it about Sun Slice that makes you want to marry him?"

Ella:  "He eats wildly.  Just like me.  Moon Slice is nice but he eats all calmly, so I don't want to marry him."

So, there you have it.  The girl's got standards!  It's a start anyway.

On another note---you maybe, just maybe, have a strong willed, controlling child if she spends half the day telling your dog that he is panting the wrong way.  (Apparently, Ranger likes to pant with his tongue hanging out to the side of his mouth.  Ella thinks he should only pant with his tongue hanging out the front of his mouth.)  She finds it completely exasperating that we cannot get this dog to pant the right way.  Maybe he's just too romantically weird for front of the mouth panting.

Easter Cookies---again

I posted this recipe a few years ago.  It has become one of our favorite family traditions.  We do this the night before Easter.  I thought it was worth re-posting.  :)

Ingredients:
1 c. whole pecans (or chocolate chips if you don't like nuts)
1 tsp. vinegar
3 egg whites
a pinch of salt
1 c. sugar
a zipper baggy
1 wooden spoon
scotch tape
Bible

**Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.  This is very important to do before you make the cookies.  It will not work if you wait until you are half way done with the recipe.
1. Place the pecans in the zipper baggy.  Let the children beat them with the wooden spoon to break into small pieces.  Explain that after Jesus was arrested he was beaten by the Roman soldiers.  Read:  John 19: 1-3

2. Let each child smell the vinegar.  Put 1 tsp. vinegar into mixing bowl.  Explain that when Jesus was thirsty on the cross He was given vinegar to drink.  Read John 19:28-30

3. Add egg whites to vinegar.  Eggs represent life.  Explain that Jesus gave his life to give us life.  Read: John 10: 10-11

4. Sprinkle a little salt into each child's hand.  Let them taste it and brush the rest into the bowl.  Explain that this represents the salty tears shed by Jesus' followers, and the bitterness of our own sin.  Read Luke 23:27.

5. So far the ingredients are not very appetizing.  Add 1 cup sugar.  Explain that the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus died because he loves us.  He wants us to know and belong to Him.  Read Psalm 34:8 and John 3:16.

6. Beat with a mixer on high speed for 12-15 minutes until stiff peaks are formed.  Explain that the color white represents the purity in God's eyes of those whose sins have been cleansed by Jesus.  Read Isaiah 1:18 and John 3:1-3.

7.  Fold in broken nuts.  Drop by teaspoon onto waxed paper covered cookie sheet.  Explain that each mound represents the rocky tomb where Jesus' body was laid.  Read Matthew 27: 57-60.

8.  Put the cookie sheet in the oven, close the door and turn the oven OFF.

9.  Give each child a piece of tape and seal the oven door.  Explain that Jesus' tomb was sealed.  Read:  Matthew 27: 65-66

10.  Go to Bed!  Explain that they may feel sad to leave the cookies in the oven overnight.  Jesus' followers were in despair when the tomb was sealed.  Read John 16: 20-22

11.  On Easter morning, open the oven and give everyone a cookie.  Notice the cracked surface and take a bite.  The cookies are hollow!  On the first Easter, Jesus' followers were amazed to find the tomb open and empty.  Read Matthew 28:1-9

Ella's Noah Complex and My Hairless Belly

Before you can fully appreciate the story I am about to tell you, I need to explain 2 things about Ella.

1.  You may already know that Ella is obsessed with animals.  She loves all animals.  What you may not know, is that Ella loves animals in pairs.  She never wants just one of an animal toy.  She has to have 2 of the same animal.  They have to have family.  Like Noah, she prefers her animals two by two, and really has a hard time if she only has one of a particular type of animal.

2.  Ella has always been somewhat of a daddy's girl.  You may remember this story from when she was younger.  She loves me for sure...it's me that she wants at bedtime or when she doesn't feel well...she loves to have "girl time."  But daddy...well, he's on a pedestal.  You're about to see why.  :)

Now for the story:

We were at the museum and Ella wanted to buy a dinosaur.  She had enough allowance to buy just one.  I carefully explained to her that if she spent all of her allowance on this one thing, she would not have any money for the rest of the month and wouldn't be able to buy anything else.  But, she really wanted it, so she bought it.  Almost immediately, she was upset that she couldn't buy two.  She pouted the rest of the time that we were at the museum, because her dinosaur was lonely and missed his friend.

The next morning, she woke up and immediately asked to go to the museum again to buy another dinosaur.  I reminded her that she was out of money and couldn't get the other dinosaur until next month.  She was very upset at this point, and this is the tirade she unleashed on me:

"You think you're so strong, but you're not.  You can't even drive the tractor and you don't have a furry belly.  You don't even have those hairs in your nose to keep you from getting germs!  Alls you can do is have babies and get snacks!"   (translation--you're not daddy!)

Seriously?  I had to walk away.  Quickly.  So she didn't see me laugh.  I have never had a harder time trying to discipline a child for being rude while desperately trying not to crack up.  Where does she get this stuff?  When Mark got home from work that day, he was very sure to point out how thankful we should all be that I do NOT have a furry belly.  On the bright side, I can get snacks like nobody's business.  :)