New

Walking, stumbling
On these shadowfeet
Toward home, a land that I've never seen...

I am changing
Less and less asleep
Made of different stuff than when I began...

When the world has fallen out from under me
I'll be found in You, still standing...

There's distraction
Buzzing in my head
Saying in the shadows it's easier to stay...

But I've heard rumors
Of true reality
Whispers of a well-lit way...

When the sky rolls up and mountains fall on their knees
When time and space are through
I'll be found in you, still standing...

You make all things new.

Shadowfeet :: Brooke Fraser

This week's theme at YouCapture was *Spring*.

Check out the link for more shots and blogs!

Dental Work

Merrick get his teeth brushed regularly. We even take special care of his dog tooth just to be safe. I try not to feed him much sugar, key word being try...and yet another key word being Grandma. From this picture you couldn't tell that we actually brush teeth around here, or have ever heard of a dentist. This shot was taken at Grandma's house...where Merrick thought it would be funny to wear his mouthful of chocolate in his teeth.

I'm so glad that's not permanent. I thought giving birth to this goofball was expensive...I'd hate to think how much it would cost to fix those choppers if they really looked like that. ;)

Call Monday's Bluff

Monday's seem to be bad days. Monday is synonymous with stink, stank, and stunk. "I've got a case of the Monday's" can be seen all over facebook and twitter. But I think it's all about perspective. Monday can be the start of a fresh new week where we get things done, make things happen, love, live and learn like we didn't last week.

I know it's easier said than done, but just wanted to encourage all you fellow Monday-inflicted people out there. This can be a good day. Especially when you have some heart-shaped shades to at least bluff your way through it...

Really...can it be a bad day when you look this great? ;) Wishing everyone a great Monday, and a great week!

This is the day that the Lord has made.
Let us rejoice and be glad in it!
:: Psalm 118:24 ::

This week at i ♥ faces the theme is "Smiles". Check out their link for more shots and blogs!

Pull Ups

Seems like we've been hitting a lot of milestones around here lately. Merrick is in a big bed, Tirzah is actually crawling, and now she is pulling up...when she is supposed to be sleeping. ;)

I remember this phase with Merrick. The sleepless in the crib phase..because there is just better things to do. It's cute to find her standing up. She seems to know that she's got to get busy, and walking, because another of her aunties is getting married in October and expects her to participate in the usual flower girl mayhem.

I just wish, during nap time, she would be a little quieter about the standing in the crib like Merrick was. But Tirzah does everything with flair. And by flair I mean, screaming and yelling with a good chance of a full blown tantrum. Whether it be happy or mad...we aren't always sure. *I didn't realize 9 month olds threw tantrums...but this one does. Any pointers on what to do with a tantruming 9 month old please let me know. ;)* But I'm looking forward to that new house I'm going to get when she gets a record deal with those lungs of hers. ;)

Tirzah Cullen

While this title most likely makes no sense, it will in a second.

We had Tirzah's 9 month check up recently. The only thing that saved us from the usual screaming was letting Tirzah play with a tongue depressor, which she proceeded to wave and point at everyone like it was a scepter. She handled the shots and finger prick pretty well, which was also the usual. Give her a shot, but don't you dare measure her head circumference. Are you crazy? Everyone knows having your head measured is torture.

I thought all was well. She was band-aided up and we headed home. I went to get her out of the car and gasped. My sweet girl had blood all over her face. It was so sad, and I was really confused. I then realized she was so quiet on the way home because she was busily biting her band-aid off her pricked finger, which was still bleeding a little bit. That, along with how much she is drooling, smeared it all over her face until she looked like she had a blood mustache/beard.

While you can't really see the blood in this picture, you can see her band-aid that she had been gnawing on, and you can tell she wasn't bothered by it. Hence the title of this post. I told Billy about what had happened and he was really upset, saying it was "so sad" like I had at first. But you can't help but laugh at the things that go on around here. I mean, we are ridiculous. Really. But we love it.

Schweeet!

Lately Billy and I have really been making it a priority to go out on a date night once a week. It doesn't have to be anything fancy...Monday night we just went to get tacos and then walked around the mall a little bit.

You can't really walk around the mall without smelling these. So while we are usually really good and don't blow money on a gigantic sugar coma, but just merely drool on the glass at Cinnabon, we actually bought two soccer ball sized cinnamon roles and both ate the whole thing.

I am glad that we've been able to make a priority of date night recently. It's been really good for both of us to get away from the kids, and all that needs to be done around the house, for a little bit and just hang out together. I highly recommend it if you don't have a date night.

If babysitting and money is an issue *thankfully I do have free auntie-powered babysitting*, I heard some great advice somewhere that said to do a trade off with another couple for free babysitting. Great idea...I'll have to remember that when all my single sisters are married and grown up. ;)

Speaking of said children, I think one thing that makes date night even better is that "I missed you so much" reunion with the kiddos when we get home. Sometimes it only takes a few minutes of their antics to get over that...but it is a nice side effect. ;) They even let me have a little bathtub photo shoot of them this time.

I think they might have missed us a little bit too. Ok...it could have been all the Hershey kisses they sampled just put them in a really good mood. ;)

This week at You Capture the theme was "Sweet". Check out the link for more shots!

Multi-tasking

He's got skills. He can repel from the counter, remove his shoes, cheese for the camera, and attempt to talk me into giving him cheez-its for his nature hike on the back deck all at the same time.

I guess it's all in a days work for such a busy man.

Shelter

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
-Psalm 91:1-

This week at i ♥ faces the theme was collages. Check out their site for more shots!

Family Circus

Peanut butter and jelly, salt and pepper, Jack and Jill, Merrick and the circus. Some thing just seem to be made for each other. :) We found out a few months ago that Barnum and Bailey was going to be in town, and decided Wild needed to take a trip back to his roots.

Lately he has been obsessed with elephants, particularly if they hail from "The Jungle Book". So these guys were definitely his favorite part of the circus...

He was very upset when they left for a bit, but was able to console himself with the 7 dirt bikes driving at high speeds around this giant golf ball looking thing pictured below. With the way he watched these stunt men, I think he was getting ideas for later. So I will be very reluctant to get him a tricycle. ;)

My mom swears I've been to the circus myself, but can't seem to remember it. I know Merrick may be a little young to remember the circus this time around, but hey...our house is like the circus every day, so I don't think he's missing out too much.

I hope we can do lots of family trips like this, since we plan on homeschooling. We always did interesting field trips with mom when I was growing up, and hope to do the same for my kiddos. *The llama farm we went to growing up always sticks out in my mind...I don't really like llamas and think they're kind of creepy so maybe we'll skip that field trip. ;)*

We did have one minor incident, which is totally normal around here and I wouldn't feel like we had a family outing without one. We got up to the front doors and Billy turned ghostly white, dropped Merrick at my feet, and took off running back to where we'd come from. I was standing there trying to remember if there was a circus phobia that I had missed, when he quickly returned carrying our tickets. He had dropped them out of his pocket on the trip from the parking lot. Like I said...incident is our middle name. All is well.

We all had a great time, and Merrick only kicked the lady in front of us in the head several times. She was very gracious...I think it was mostly because her many kids were standing in their seats dancing and jumping. When we asked Merrick if he was ready to go he screamed, "no!". I considered letting him stay, but don't think he'd be able to survive without Cheez-its, and I don't think the circus serves those. And I'd kind of miss him. ;)

No Shame.

I feel like I've been leading a double life. That may be a bit drastic, but I realize I have never blogged about a very important part of our life: Chipotle. Yes, I know that sounds drastic, like I said. But around here, we love Chipotle in a way that can only be compared to the way we love Chick-Fil-A, and um, possibly oxygen.

My husband, Billy, especially loves Chipotle. I think he would be happy to eat their newborn sized burritos for every meal. The way to that man's heart is definitely through infant sized burritos. I think these things weight more than our 2 year old...who by the way loves their quesadillas. We used to get him refried beans when we ate there, but realized that refried beans = us asking for a broom before we leave the restaurant because he made such a mess with them.

The first time I ate at Chipotle, I took one look at their menu and turned up my nose. There was hardly anything on it, I thought. What's the big deal? But the simplicity grew on me, as well as how fresh and tasty their food is. Their claim about their food is that its: "unprocessed, seasonal, family-farmed, sustainable, nutritious, naturally raised, added hormone free, organic, and artisanal". I just call it delish.

I also realize in writing this that I sound like a Chipotle commercial. That's alright with me. Billy was so excited earlier today when I told him I should do a blog post about Chipotle, and was all too willing to run out and get the necessary props for our photo shoot. ;) We have no shame, I know.

Tirzah is also realizing what she is missing, and is working hard at her chewing skills so she can participate in the family Chipotle-eating festivities. The family that prays, and eats Chipotle, together stays together...that's what I always say. Well I've never said that before, but makes sense to me. ;)

This weeks You Capture theme was "Fresh", which totally applies to Chipotle in my humble opinion. Check out the site for more Freshness.

Truce

Not sure what they could be plotting...a mutiny no doubt. But if mutiny is this cute so be it. ;)

Let them eat cake.

I know there are some people who don't eat dessert every night...we are not those people. I am not really sure if it's healthy to eat dessert every single night. *Billy and I should own part of Nestle of something for all the cookie dough, cooked or not, we consume. I guess it's a good thing that we are both into running. *And for the record, I do eat healthy during the day...but just can't resist a little something after dinner.*

So in the spirit of, ahem, healthy eating...I made a carrot cake the other night. Ok, ok...I made a boxed carrot cake. But, FYI it has real raisins and carrots in it. Which are healthy thankyouverymuch. We are practically health freaks now. Pass the fruit. We might just happen to dip it in chocolate before we eat it. ;)


I'm curious about other people's dessert eating habits now that I've done my confessing. Do you eat dessert every night? Once a week? Every hour? *The last would be my preference, but I'm trying to set a good example for the kids...who are already going to be seriously affected I'm afraid by my mutant sweet tooth gene.*

Hopefully they will also inherit my cavity-free gene. Yes, I think I did hit the jackpot with that one. If I've gotta be addicted to sweets at least God is smiling down on me and not letting it rot out my teeth. ;)

This week at i ♥ faces the theme was "desserts". Check out their link for more blogs and shots!

Car Child Wash

Looking back on it, washing my car was kind of an exercise in futility. Because it is officially green now. It was a pretty little shiny blue car, which is now covered in yellow pollen, making it a nice shade of puke green.
I did have a lot of, ahem, help, though. Merrick had his first car washing experience. He very effectively washed one square foot of my passenger side door about 156 times. It was so clean. Squeaky. I don't know how I ever managed to wash a car door without this guy:

It definitely was more entertaining this time around. He ran from the hose, ran into the hose, flung soap everywhere, and completely drenched himself and me. By the time we were finished I had to take everything off of him but his diaper and just start over he was so soaked. It was like church fund raising in high school all over again.

I'm hiring him out, by the way, in case anyone has a dirty square foot of their passenger side door that they really need washed. ;)

Weed Killers

I'm not into gardening. Sometimes I have visions in my head of myself, up to my elbows in dirt ...reaping the benefits with fresh veggies and a colorful yard. Then I laugh cuz I realize this will most likely never happen. I am way too squeamish when it comes to things that live in dirt.

Thankfully, no one is living next door to us. Because Merrick beheaded all of their pretty yellow flowers I do not know the name of. I love to take pictures of other people's hard work, and also the random things that are growing in my yard that I had nothing to do with. Obviously, cuz they're growing and not dead. *I have such a notgreen thumb that I can kill weeds, people, just by watering them. It's a skill I've worked hard to cultivate.* Merrick, however, apparently likes to pick other people's hard work.

Photographing other people's gardening is what I was doing when he took care of these flowers. To quote him, he "take 'em off". I was really sad, actually, and fussed at him for it just a bit. Even though I suppose he had no idea what he was doing. I need to teach him, for future reference, not to pick the flowers or weeds growing in our yard. Or other people's yards, either.

If he really wants them dead I just need to water them, and they'll be long gone. ;)

Chillin in the Bucket

I know I should invest in a pack-n-play or something. My mom has offered to let me borrow hers. I should take her up on that. But I haven't gotten my hands on it yet, and we have been spending so much time outside lately, that we have relegated Tirzah to sitting in "the bucket" as Merrick calls it until we can get something else.

I started off letting her sit on a blanket...but she rolls/scoots off of it and across the wooden, potentially splinter-inducing deck. The bucket isn't fool-proof, because she often tries to pull up/tip it over and has also rolled out of it. *Shame on me, I know.* It actually seems pretty comfortable, and other than just wanting to be free she doesn't mind.

I guess if you have to hang out on the back deck so that your brother can "run off his energy"...a laundry basket is a good place to do it. It keeps all your toys from getting away from you, at least. Especially when you are Queen Tirzah, and do not like to crawl to get them because you'd rather sit still and yell for mom to get them for you.

This morning I asked Merrick what we were doing on the deck. He said, "chillin". Not sure who taught him that...but it sounds like a good idea. I think Tirzah agrees. If you need us we'll be chilling in the bucket on the deck. ;)



This week at YouCapture the theme was "comfort". Check out the link for more shots and blogs!