SHINER

Eli came a-croppa two nights ago, taking a spectacular stage dive off the couch and landing face first onto a small chest of drawers. Of course, like the good, concered parent I am, I made sure I'd cuddled him and made sure his eye still worked etc etc...

And then tried to get photos, because it had already come up bruised, the foretaste of a wikid black eye.

Adam thought it sick, but I know you all know better.

Anyway, we here round these parts know how hard it is to get Eli to sit still for anything. Especially photos.

So today, two days after he did it, I finally decided to hold him down.

This is the best of two seperate attempts.

Please notice the strategy of Food as Bribery.

Please do not notice the self art.

Then, I had a stroke of genius.

I strapped him into his car seat.

It still took about eleventy three photos to get this one.

I'd say this is the first of many...

But it isn't.

He's already had at least 3.

Eli...

Never sits still.

Ever.

He has attitude.

He is determined.

He's silly.

Into everything.

But sometimes, he'll stop, give you attention

(I get a kiss every morning)

And then, sometimes, as an added bonus, he'll give me...

...this

to keep forever.

My Kid is Awesome.

Adam started Operation: Skinny-Up on Monday, and yesterday was his first work out session with my brother, who is a trained PT for the Navy.


He's a bit buff.

Adam called me on the way home and said three words

"He's a bastard."

Anyway, he got home and went promptly to the shower, sitting down in it with the stream of water flowing over him.

Eli, thinking that Daddy was having a bath, figured he wasn't doing it right, after seeing me have a few, and bought him a book.

How is that for awesomesauce?

Be near me, Lord Jesus

The Christmas School holidays have begun.

Otherwise known as The Ultimate Test of Sanity.

One has bled profusely. Already.

It's going to be a long six weeks.

Have you ever wondered if God looks at us and thinks to himself that we're perpetually like kids on an extended holiday?

For example, today, the very. first. day, my children have been
*Argumentative
*Bored
*Fidgety
*Testing
*Loud
*Unhelpful
*Disobedient

They've hit each other, lied, yelled, broken things and thrown tantrums.

Isn't it great to know that our Father God doesn't get snappy like I do, or shrill, fed up, short tempered or longing for the day when "they'll be gone all day".

My kids are a handful. I will be relying on Him a lot.

Oh my gosh, You will not believe what has been happening around here.

I got some photos of the kids. That's the good news.

Eli is now walking around the furniture. That's.... ok news.

Amy did a faceplant off the top bunk, split her bottom lip from end to end and all the way through and knocked out her top front left tooth.

That's the BAD news.

Did you know that the human head bleeds profusely when broken?

Also, I've been mad busy trying to squeeze all our possessions into this tiny house without it looking like we live in a thrift store, Adam is studying like a crazed person to get his diplomas (yes, plural) finished in two weeks, so we agreed I'd be a 'single parent' for a fortnight or so, and to top it all off, I went away for the weekend with the ladies from church for a retreat.

Oh! But I finished Adam's next hundred off. The link is to the side. Also, because I don't have the time to post pictures here on Blogger at the moment, here are the ones I posted on Xanga

*sigh* I promise, really, to put more of an effort into here. And thank you all, for your comments so far... and please accept my apologies for being rude and not responding to the last few.