Another cute video from last month

Sergio had just pulled up onto his knees in bed for the first time, and is bouncing and smiling. So cute!

(I had saved this as a draft back in April, and hated to delete it tonight. So enjoy.)

Apples of Gold

"A word aptly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver." Proverbs 25:11

I had been having a hard time seeing through the onslaught of naughty behaviors to my sweet children's hearts last week, and decided to refocus on the good. I remembered how my old pastor Keith Moore in Georgia keeps a file folder in his office with kind and encouraging notes and cards he has received from people, to lift his spirits when needed. And I remembered reading in Florence Littauer's book "Silver Boxes" about how our kind words are like little gifts we give to others, which they can treasure for a lifetime.

So the children and I sat around the breakfast table last week and took turns telling nice things about what we appreciate in each other. Here are the lists we made:

It just so happened that McKenna and I were to lead the character trait activity on "kindness" at our next Keepers at Home meeting a few days later. I thought the list idea would be a great way for the girls to show kindness to one another, as well as being special for each girl to keep. So I bought some pretty paper and sparkly pens, and had the Keepers girls go in turn saying nice things about each other that I wrote down for them. Here is what they had to say about McKenna:

(The part at the bottom that's hard to see reads "Is very pretty/ Is very playful/ Has a great laugh".)

The activity was a big hit with the moms as well as the daughters. The girls also made gorgeous faux porcelain Christmas ornaments, but until next January, I cannot post a picture of those!

Backyard Egg Hunt & More

We've had some fun things going on around here... Aside from the incessant need for retraining my children NOT to whine and yell and argue. This weekend we stumbled upon a neighborhood picnic where we ended up bringing home many jelly-bean-filled eggs. So Monday the kids ended up having their annual Family Egg Hunt in our back yard. Nicolas loves to hide the eggs for the twins. They all had a blast, and decided to do it once more indoors, which was also a hit. This was great for me, because I was able to get a lot of housework done in the meantime. =O)

Sergio was also very excited to discover how fun colorful, plastic eggs are. While I was making dinner that night, the twins were laughing hysterically over and over for at least 15 minutes straight -- they would place an egg under Sergio's chest when he was on his tummy propped up with his hands, then he would put his weight down on the egg and send it careening across the floor and then crawl after it. Good times.

The three bigger kids all helped set the table Monday night, and I just had to show you the hilarious way William set out napkins. Usually I will tear the big paper towels in half and leave them in a stack for someone to set out, but this night I wanted to see if William would figure out how to tear them in half by himself. I don't know if you can really see, but each setting's napkin is basically shredded and crumpled almost into a ball. (I think he tried to tear them all at once, and they are not perforated.) I actually had three separate tiny pieces of "napkin" at my place. It was good for a private laugh.

(I have no idea why this blogger won't let me upload the picture horizontally, even after half a dozen tries! Grrrr.)

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Here's another funny:

Saturday afternoon I was EXHAUSTED and had fallen asleep for a few minutes nursing the baby. Matt was out golfing and buying a new truck (!!!!). Now I realize my 4-year-olds don't have a real grasp of time concepts yet, but this really tickled my funny bone...

McKenna came in to wake me, saying William was calling me from the bathroom.

William: "Mom, I neeeeeeeed you!"

Mom: "How long have you been calling for me?"

William: "For twenty years!"

Bed of Nails!

Today we met up with the cousins at the AZ Science Center and had a great time. The buzz at the dinner table this evening was how all three of my "big" kids were brave enough to lie on the Bed of Nails! We have pictures and video to prove it. (Didn't think to get a video of Nicolas until after closing time, sorry...)

Nicolas was first. He ended up doing it 11 times!

Then William was ready. No fear! He also tried it more than once, and was an encouragement to other, more timid folks who were thinking about doing it.

McKenna wanted to be daring, too!

They were all so cute today. We stayed in this one room (a hodgepodge of info and exhibits about magnets, electricity, motion, sound waves and more) for a really long time!

Oh, and I did lie on that bed of nails, too. I had to help Nicolas gather his courage in the beginning...
Nicolas got to walk through the Star Trek exhibit, too. He and Dad have watched a few episodes from Netflix, and he's a fan. We have to go back soon, though. William didn't get enough of the water & sand table, and we didn't even visit the cool first floor.

McKenna took this cute picture of us cousins. She tried really hard to get Sergio to look at the camera, but he was too interested in my bracelet. We had her go ahead and take it anyway. (Sergio isn't used to Mommy wearing jewelry!)

Video of William:

and of McKenna:

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Yesterday's funnies:

McKenna, 4: "Is the little red spot on my chin gone?" (referring to her scab)

Mom: "I think so."

McKenna: "Good, because I want my skin back."

William invented all kinds of crazy verses for this song, which I really wish I could have recorded or at least remembered. But I loved how he changed the main chorus:

"Hush little baby, don't say a word, Mama's gonna buy you a knocking bird."