Seldom

I was teaching Tralee some new vocab words the other day. We were working on frequently and seldom. Later on, as we were skyping with Jim, who's away on business, I asked Tralee, "Why don't you tell Daddy about seldom and frequently." Tralee looked at me as said, "I don't remember." So, I explained, "frequently is when you do something a lot. Like, do you smile a lot?" She nodded, so I continued, "Okay, so you smile frequently. Seldom is when you don't do something very often. Like, do you ever pick your nose?" Tralee shook her head no. I explained that since she doesn't pick her nose very often she does it seldomly. I know it wasn't the greatest explanation, but it was all I could come up with at the moment. Anyways, I then said, "Okay, why don't you tell Daddy what those words mean now." I was pretty sure she got it, but what Tralee said next threw us for a loop and made me realize I shouldn't have gone with the nose-picking explanation.

"Daddy," Tralee began. "When you pick your boogers then you can SELL them. That's what sell 'dem (I can only assume that's how she heard it) means."

Needless to say, Jim and I were in stitches while Tralee looked confused and kept asking, "Why are you laughing at me?" I guess we still have some work to do on our vocab lessons or maybe I just need to enunciate better.

Zero

The other day I asked Tralee a question like, "What are you doing?" Her response was, "Zero." I wasn't sure she heard me correctly so I asked again, "What are you up to?" Again Tralee replied, "Zero."

"What do you mean you're doing zero?" I inquired. My little love nugget matter-of-factly explained, "You know, zero means nothing. I'm doing nothing. . . zero."

So there you go.

If You Can Spare A Prayer. . .

My friend Necha posted the following story on her blog. It was so moving, I needed to share it as well. There is a family trying to adopt a little boy with Down Syndrome from Russia. The judge denied their request due to the fact that the boy is "socially unadaptable due to his medical condition." Apparently in Russia it's very common for special needs children to be institutionalized and deemed "unadaptable." This couple is now appealing and taking their case to the supreme court in Russia. They need prayers and positive thoughts sent their way. If their case has the positive outcome they're hoping for it may open up the doors for more adoptions of these precious little spirits who, as you can see from the video below, are in need and completely capable of adapting to a loving forever home.

Here's a video of the mom and the son she wants to adopt. The last bit of the video where they embrace is so touching:

Here's the family's blog with more info on the story:

http://oureyesopened.blogspot.com/

And here's an article with more details:

http://www.examiner.com/adoptive-families-in-atlanta/adoption-family-fights-to-adopt-son-despite-judge-who-says-no?fb_comment=31236631

I'm sure this family would be thankful for any prayers and positive thoughts you can send their way.

Projects!

I've been keeping myself busy with a few projects lately. First, I found a shelf at a garage sale last summer for $3. It was that ugly 80's golf leaf-looking color, so I painted and distressed it to my liking. Now this little shelf is hanging above our loveseat and has been deemed my "seasonal shelf." My goal is to decorate it according to the holiday/season coming up. Here's what I did for St. Paddy's day. Those four-leaf-clovers in the frame are REAL! Not only that, they're actually from IRELAND! Jim found them when he lived there for two years serving a mission for our church. Besides the frames and clovers, I made everything on the shelf.

Below is my spring look. Most on this stuff is from the dollar store, and then re-painted to my liking, and the plate is from a thrift store. I just cut out the pink vinyl on my silhouette to put on the plate. I painted the frame, and used some scrapbook paper for the mat. Then I cut out "Lil' Chickadees" with some vinyl. The chickadees I'm speaking of are my own two lil' birds. See them there in the pictures looking all sorts of cute? I'm still not sure what to put in the small circular frame. Something spring-ish. Until I figure it out, that cheesy model couple will be there.
So, I felt bad that I haven't done anything for Hunter's room, and I've painted a lot of fun little things for Tralee's. So. . . I went to a favorite craft store, picked up a $10 canvas, and started to paint. I knew I wanted a dinosaur, so this is what I came up with.

Close up:

Not to toot my own horn, but I really like how the "sky" turned out in the triceratops painting. Everything is hand painted, except for the grass and flowers. I cut out the grass and flowers with different scrapbook paper using my trusty silhouette, then modge-podged them down.

Moving right along. . .

I've been thinking an "EAT" sign would look good in the dinning area, so I used some square canvases, paint, paintbrushes stain, sandpaper, soap (yes, I said soap. . .use it between layers of paint, then sand it off, and it causes a cool antique effect), antique crackle, scrapbook paper, and my silhouette and came up with this:
I DID NOT paint the picture below. It was in a frame I bought at a thrift store (used in a different project) but I didn't want to throw away the painting. Someone obviously used their time and talent to paint it, so I proudly hang it in my kitchen next to a funky jar (also found at a thrift store) filled with candy, and a can full of straws. The overripe bananas will be turned into a delish whole-wheat, low-fat, refined sugar-free loaf of banana bread. Seriously, SOOOO good for you and my kids gobble it right up like it's the bee's knees! I also just realized I was talking about a healthy loaf of bread right after showing you a picture of a jar filled with candy. Yeah. . . I'm awesome.
The last two pictures are of my kitchen and living room. I had just cleaned, and we all know how long a clean house lasts around here, so I thought I better capture it.

I recently put the pictures of my lil' chickadees on top of the entertainment center. Not sure if I like them there yet. They might be flying off to a new local soon.

That's all. Hope you enjoyed this little tour of my projects and house.

Until next time. . .

Remember when?

Remember when you were little and piled up all the pillows and blankets to watch a movie? Tralee and her friends, Jovie and Oakley did it the other night. Looks comfy.

They look pretty cute too.

New Tricks

Tralee has really been into hula hooping. She's been trying and trying to figure it out, and this morning it all came together. We're so proud. Check out the video, but don't mind our appearance, we were all still in our jammies.

Hunter also surprised us with a new trick today. He walked up to Jim, pointed at his own nose, and started whimpering. Upon further investigation Jim discovered Hunter shoved a little Russian stacking doll (the tiniest one) all the way up his nose. Lovely. Luckily, Jim was able to maneuver the little doll right back out. Ah. . . so proud of both our children today. :)

I love my little chickadees.

I'll Walk with You