A twist...

Starting tomorrow, I will be subbing at the school for the afternoons. It will only be a week, but a change for us. I have tried to spread the joy of watching my girls to a few different willing babysitters so as not to burn any one person out. I mean, how much love can one person handle. It should be interesting to have a change of scenery. I just hope the scenery around my home doesn't end up looking like a national disaster.

Classic Amelia...

So, my darling little girl was at it again this morning. The picture says it all.
I had determined on Tuesday not to take any more pictures because that would mean I was enjoying her mischief. Today, I changed my mind. ( I have already taught Calla that girls are allowed to change their minds as many times as they want. That's what girls do!)
I need to take pictures of her in mischief for a few reasons.

1. Posterity - can we say blackmail. All together now.
2. Evidence - she really does get into trouble!
3. Joy - yep. I need to not let this get to me. She's a kid and is doing "kid" stuff.

Plus how can you not love a face like that? Well...

Valentine's treats...

This was the first year that Calla choose the craft for her Valentine's friends. Usually, I put together a little pack of cheapie things and have her hand them to her friends. This year, we dug through all the February "Family Fun" magazines and she picked the LOVEBUGS.

Smarties. YUM. Foam. Good. Easy to cut. Pipe cleaners. Even better. Should be so simple. Two and a half hours later we finished them. They were a hit, though. We had fun and a short lesson in "finish what you start."

The day after the storm...

Sometimes I feel like my life is a tornado. My emotions. My reactions. My self-confidence in a heap on the floor. Then the day ends and a new one takes it's place. I realize, unfortunately24 hours too late, that I am blessed. I get to experience children. Life. God has allowed me to be a mom. Tornadoes and all.
Thank you, Lord, for the greatest calling in the world. Thank you for my girls. Thank you for a hubby who provides for me to be a stay-at-home mom. Thank you for reminding me that I am feeble, but you are forever strong. My Rock in time of trouble. And thank you for the grace to get to the next day.
I am reminded of a song I learned at an old-fashioned camp meeting I attended in Georgia as a young teenager:

I just want to thank you Lord for every time you heard my prayer.
I just want to thank you Lord for every time you've been there.
When I was so down and out, You came along and made me want to shout.
I just want to thank you Lord. Thank you Lord.

Another jewel...

My friend and I have an ongoing joke that we are competing for Mother of the Year 2008. I called her today to tell her I put another jewel in my Mother of the Year crown. Amelia's mischief once again escalated to the point of severely frazzling this stay-at-home-mother-of-two. By 10:00, I was in tears. I even called Cory and gave him my two-week notice. He did say that I did not have that option, so I quickly asked for some vacation time instead. So for those who care to hear the details, I will continue the saga.
While I was folding laundry in my room, Amelia climbed to the second drawer of her dresser and found the Vaseline. By the time my every-three-minutes check came due, she had schmeared half the container onto everything she could reach while perched in the drawer. Such a vantage point for a small child. Look at all this fun stuff I have been missing! Unfortunately, she had also been playing dress-up earlier, and had on four layers of shirts, freshly laundered. No longer. Back to the laundry pile they go. And FYI, Vaseline leaves nasty grease marks on clothing. She takes yet another bath.
While I clean up from breakfast(at 9:30), Amelia and Calla color at the table. Amelia begins snatching markers away from Calla and the following chaos ensues. Amelia screams when Calla snatches them back. Calla says firmly, in her best Mommy voice, "No, Amelia, those aren't the markers for you to use." More screeching and a little more firm talk. Then Amelia's newest tactic. The smack. That's right, she's becoming a hitter. I pray it can be squelched quickly. After discipline, I send her to her room. My three-minute-check comes due again and I head upstairs. Mind you, I heard no footsteps in between and assumed she was still in her room. Well, wrong, of course. How naive. She never made it to her room, thus explaining the lack of footsteps. She had dumped Mr. Bubble all over herself and the bathroom floor. Another clean outfit to the laundry pile. I send her to her room while I clean up. Since she was almost nakey, she decided to finish the job and strip her diaper off. I luckily caught her before an accident was made.
One more outfit. A clip to hold back her soapy hair that I refuse to wash again this morning. Off to run errands. Please tell me that all moms have days like this. I would love to have someone to commiserate with.

Happy Birthday, Amelia!