Babies, babies everywhere and a shower every week.  Here are my top gift picks:

1. Diaper Cake -

Sooo easy to make and who with a new baby doesn’t need diapers.

2. Anything from Earth Mama, Angel Baby but especially this:

Diaper rash doesn’t stand a chance.

3. This book

For the new parent who doesn’t have a clue what’s coming.

What are your favorite baby shower gifts?

Currently I’m thinking that online shopping is the greatest thing since sliced bread.  I’ve been an Amazon shopper for a long while now and an Amazon Grocery shopper since they’ve had the program but recently I discovered that my local market finally, FINALLY offers its own online experience.  Tonight while the children took baths and brushed teeth and got into their pajamas I did my shopping for the week.  Tomorrow morning my “personal shopper” will transfer the order from computer to cart and by tomorrow noon I’ll have picked up my stash and be back home putting things away having never set foot in the grocery store.  I love it. … I think.  Any new experience carries with it some trepidation.  This is no different.  Will my eggs be cracked? Will my bread be squashed?  We shall see.

Has anyone else done the online grocery store thing?  What did you think?

   It looks random but it’s not.

   Horse.

Surfing Man.

BTW, a stainless steel fridge make a great dry erase board for short people and big people that don’t want their notes erased can write with wet erase markers on the freezer.

Really a person should ask for help every day because there is just no way of knowing what the day might throw at you.  Or in my case what might come flying off the back of some truck in the midst of five o’clock traffic, bounce directly in front of you, fly to the other lane, hit another car and bounce back to the exact middle of your lane leaving you no room avoid it and, clipping along at a good 60mph, no chance of stopping in time.  Did I mention there were 3 small children in the car with me?  And yet … and yet … help came. Despite the lack of room and the speed, somehow this thing only managed to hit my side view mirror and somehow the big steel pole that was part of the apparatus did not come through my windshield and somehow my car does not have a scratch on it.  Somehow.

¹⁴ The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me.
      I will protect those who trust in my name.
¹⁵ When they call on me, I will answer …

Psalm 91:14-15 (New Living Translation)

.

Dear Lord,

Yesterday, I tried to do it all without you.  Clearly that doesn’t work so well.  Can I try again?  Will you please help?

Toni

²⁰ . . . my soul is downcast within me.

²¹ Yet this I call to mind
       and therefore I have hope:

²² Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
       for his compassions never fail.

²³ They are new every morning;
       great is your faithfulness.

²⁴ I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion;
       therefore I will wait for him.”

²⁵ The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him,
       to the one who seeks him;

Lamentations 3:20-25 (NIV)

A local museum hosts a free family art class every other Saturday.  Today’s theme was the art, particularly sculpture of Ancient Mesoamerica.  Sister surprised us (and our tour guide) by correctly defining “effigy” (in the representation of a god sense) and then later refused to make one because, “They don’t look real and what’s the point in making something that’s not real.”  Instead she chose to produce a candle holder/birthday cake and a snake.  Will made a totem, “because it’s easy.” 

I paid homage to the God of Naptime - because napping is a thing near and dear to my heart and there has been far to little of it around here lately.

I was most impressed with Brother’s creation as he truly seemed to grasp the Aztec artistic style.

1. Pool table base

2. Very thick bedspread to protect the pool table (Nobody can say we don’t have our priorities straight around here.)

3. Plywood previously used as a bed support for the recent time in our lives when we had no box spring.   Take special note of the duct taped edges — to prevent splinters - because we care.

4. Vinyl tablecloth from two Easters gone.

5. Queen sized bed sheet - slightly wrinkled.

6. Eight classy blue folding chairs

I’m not certain what’s funnier: that we actually cobbled together a dining table from these materials or that no one in my family thought it at all strange.

Do school buses every get stopped for speeding?

Apparently.

**************

If I perceived one of my children to be in danger would some Mommy reflex kick in prompting me to save them with no thought for my own safety?

Given that I recently killed a spider (I’m not saying it was a recluse but it was brown and scary looking) about to crawl from the wall to Sister’s shoulder with my. bare. hand. I’m going to say, “yes.”  (Either that or I was too lazy to jump up quickly and find a shoe.)

**************

Do pregnancy hormones really cause women to cry at the drop of a hat?

*sob” I can’t answer that one …. there must be a hat dropping somewhere. *sniff*

I may have gone a little bit overboard.

We made and sent approximately 35 Valentine’s all over the US and even some to France in a pen pal type exchange.  Then, one week later, we made another 30 or so cards for our local homeschool group.

With a boat load of candy to choose from each child made “Love-bugs”.  Too cute.