Sweet Friday

Sorry for the lack of posting- seems I can't get away from starting a post like that. But, we are, after all, still under construction in our house...

The kids are troopers thru it all. They have had some sweet moments lately that I thought would be fun to share...
So, Georgia got a Princess Easy Bake Oven from Uncle T a while ago... like almost 2 years ago, I think! It was a very thoughtful gift, but she was a little young for it at the time. So we put it in the closet, then we packed it in a box, moved it to Tampa, and finally, last weekend, happened to finally reopen that box. It was like Christmas all over again! I tried to put it back in the closet, as I didn't have time to supervise a baking project right then, but it found its way back out, then opened, then set up with a 3-year old trying to read the directions and do it herself. So we made some cupcakes!

Or I should say- "cupcakes"... ;) I tasted one. It was like a gooey lump of chocolate paste with sugar and sprinkles on top. Perfect for a 3-year old and her little brother! (At 9:30 on a Saturday morning!) And she was very proud! Thanks Uncle T! :)

So the kids are really loving being so close to Grammie. Especially when she flies back in town from a business trip and heads straight to our house with sparkly hats and bowties, and giant pink lollipops! (At 7pm on a school night! ;) The hats and ties are a great addition to the "shows" the kids have been putting on for us! Their imaginations are really coming out. And giant pink lollipops are fun anytime!

Georgia has been LOVING school! She heads off every school day with barely a glance back, ready for fun and learning. They are doing a Letter of the Week- what a great idea! ;) At least Georgia should be a little bit familiar with A-H, since that's as far as we made it in our Letter of the Week activities!

This week was D, and it was very exciting, as you can see. D is for Duck, and Dinosour...

and Donuts with Daddy! Daddies were invited to join their kiddo for a Donut this morning to finish off D-Week. Larry said he enjoyed getting to take Georgia to school, share a treat and see what she's been up to... which lasted about 5 minutes! Then she was off and running! No clinging to daddy's side, savoring the moment. This is one independent, school-loving girl we've got! At least she sat still long enough for one adorable picture!

Backyard Fun

The kids had a great time playing in the backyard last weekend while daddy and mommy worked on clearing out the garage. Our backyard here at our new house in Tampa isn't nearly as big as our one in Birmingham, but we're thankful to have as much as we have in this area of Tampa. And it's just less to mow! The kids really love it back there, running around under the shade of the huge oak.

The kids love to bring out the water table. (It's the gift that keeps on giving, Phelps'!!) And they always manage to do a great job watering the lawn, too! (Not that God hasn't been doing a great job of that Himself, with our daily afternoon showers.)

First thing Lincoln did when we opened the garage was find the Jeep, burrowed under boxes and stuff, and ask daddy to "Jeep. Out- peas." So, once we could clear a safe path, there were also Jeep rides.

Lincoln and The Jeep.
Like his daddy, he's smitten. Once he finally got his turn to drive, he didn't want to let go. He puts up a fight every time we have to come back inside and the Jeep has to "rest".

He likes to drive like this- one hand up, one across the back, none on the steering wheel, foot on the gas...

or like this- arm across the back, ready for the ladies!

Of course, he has to check out what's under the hood.

He tried driving from the passenger side for a bit... (foot is on the gas, mind you)

until he crashed into the "jungle". Hey buddy- how 'bout two hands on the wheel?!

Speaking of that jungle- we tackled that also that weekend. Our backyard was being taken over by vines and weeds, as you can notice in the background of these pictures. There's actually a fence behind Linc in the pic above. The jungle-look might be nice and green and tropical looking, but it was out of control! And now it's ALL gone. And our backyard actually got bigger when we were done!
And, finally, what would be a hot, summer day without popsicles...

And what were we up to while the kids had all the fun? This...

unearthing our garage! It may not look impressive to you, but we are very proud. (And tired!)You couldn't even see to the back wall before, with all our stuff that was piled up in there. A garage is another "bonus" in this area, as is the storage space that comes with it. Thank goodness, since we have so much stuff! Anyone need a range? We also have a dishwasher up for grabs... you come get it, it's yours.

Don't worry, there's lots of boxes- and popsicles!- for another weekend!

Lincoln is now in Time Out for the rest of his life.

Never, EVER, say- even to yourself- "I just have nothing to blog about". Like I did, just yesterday, before I pulled out that Fruit Salsa recipe. Because God has a sense of humor, and, thankfully, plenty of grace to share!

Today was supposed to be a nice, quiet day. Nothing planned to do, no school or Bible study or playdates. Just the kids and I, hanging around the house. (Well, actually we HAD to hang around the house b/c my car is once again in the shop, but don't get me started about that!)
I had been painting baseboards in Georgia's room- painting baseboards being one of the jobs around here that will probably drag on for years. Mom had called and asked if we wanted to go to lunch. We readily agreed since we'd been at home all morning, and while I was getting things done, the kids were getting wild and it was time to get out of the house. I closed up the paint, and went to my room to change out of my painting clothes, seeing the kids happily watching cartoons in the living room on my way by.
Three or four minutes later I came out of my room to make sure they were ready for lunch and noticed Lincoln was now missing from the living room. An immediate- UH-OH. I went straight to the kids' bathroom, b/c lately he's taken a liking to playing in the toilet (a boy thing I guess b/c Georgia never even tried that!), but he wasn't there.
I heard him... in Georgia's room... where I left... the PAINT!!!
Oh No Oh No Oh No Oh No Oh No!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh Yes.
He had found the paint.

Do you think he knows he's in trouble?

Saying "MESS". Yes, son, MESS! Big BIG Mess!!

I honestly think I just froze for a minute, staring at him like I couldn't believe my eyes. And I think he could tell by that stare that he had done WRONG. Finally, he started to walk towards me and I snapped out of it, saying Don't Move! and grabbing him. I took him to the tub and washed his hands, legs, and little white-covered feet and toes, the whole time thinking about that MESS on the floor.

Our beautiful, newly varnished and restored wood floors. Our expensive floors! Yes, did I mention the first thing we did when we moved into this house was restore and refinish the 60-year old floors in the front of the house. Sigh.

But the Lord gives us grace and teaches us to give grace. I was as upset at myself as I was at Lincoln because I had left the paint out. Only for 3 minutes, but I still did it. With a Lincoln in the house, you can never leave anything out for 3 minutes that is not 100% childproof, and I shoulda known!

So I rinsed him off and put him in Time Out -for the rest of his life- and started cleaning. The Lord also showed Lincoln and I both grace by sending my mom in the door right at that time. The whole time I was cleaning him off, and thinking about that Big Mess, I was also telling myself- Grammie is coming! She will help! She'll be here soon!

So we scrubbed, and scoured, and mopped, and picked paint out of cracks with safety pins, and the floors look great. Thank goodness for that shiny new varnish that kept the paint from soaking in! Mom may have sacrificed a cute pair of pants for the cause by getting paint on them, but she said it's a small price to pay for saving Lincoln's life!

And Lincoln tried to get out of it by falling off the back of the couch onto his head on the tile floor. So then I was more worried about him having a concussion than him being in Time Out for the rest of his life. (He's ok, just has a new bruise on his noggin.)

This kid... what am I going to do with him!

Thank you for saving me today, Grammie! :)

And, yes, of course I took pictures! I very quickly took a few- AFTER my son was safely scrubbed clean and in Time Out -for the rest of his life!

Banana Daughter

Georgia has her first imaginary friend. Her name is Banana Daughter and she is, as the name implies, Georgia's {pretend} daughter. Banana Daughter does all sorts of fun things like play, swim, go to school, take naps, but lately she's been 'working on her house' a lot. Hmmm- wonder where she got that idea? Maybe she wants a new kitchen like in Georgia's house! ;)

Sometimes Banana Daughter disobeys, and, like mommies have to do, Georgia disciplines her. She's even had to give Banana Daughter 5 or 6 spankings before! Whew! Good thing she has a mommy that loves her enough to teach her how to obey!

Georgia plays with Banana Daughter sometimes, but usually she just gives us updates on what Banana Daughter is up to, and how her house is coming. I think Georgia is excited about the construction phase being over soon (on Banana Daughter's house, of course)... or maybe she just thinks that's what you do when you have a house- work on 'fixing it'?!

I must say, I am a tad bit proud that Georgia's first imaginary friend is a "daughter". Maybe that means she likes being a daughter, so she wants her own? Or maybe she likes to be like her mommy? (Big proud grin for that one!) Or... maybe she just wants to be the one handing out the discipline?? Hmmm- I'll go with one of the first two!

Did you ever have an imaginary friend? I did- a family of little pink mice played with me and followed me around, sometimes causing mischief! Childhood is so fun!

Fruit Salsa

For those of you who started reading this post and thought you were going to see some kind of crazy, fun dance- sorry to disappoint! It's just a recipe post! But it's super yummy and easy and will be loved by ALL who eat it, so don't stop reading now!

I got this recipe from another mom, who got it from someone else, and now you'll be sharing it with everyone you make it for... it's that good. I've served it 3 times and shared it about 50 times! Even my kids like it. It's pretty healthy, being mainly fruit, IF you don't eat too many chips. And you can mix up the fruit selections to your liking or what's in season. Last time I made it I did a double batch and then froze some in baggies- then it was all ready to go for the next potluck and was still delicious. Enjoy!!

Fruit Salsa

2 apples peeled and diced

3 kiwis peeled and diced

1 lb strawberries

8 oz raspberries

2 T. sugar (I used Splenda)

1 T brown sugar

3 T perserves (any flavor - I used blackberry)

Use a food chopper or processor for the apples and strawberries, but recommend doing the kiwi and raspberries by hand or else they get to mushy! (I actually did the kiwi in the processor too, since they were fairly firm and ripe, and they were fine.) Stir all together and then refrigerate. For cinnamon chips, take tortillas and spray with cooking oil and then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Cut with pizza cutter and lay on cookie sheet and bake around 400 for about 10 minutes. Or Stacy's Pita Chips sells a cinnamon variety as well!