Sometimes life is challenging

Like Mother, Like Daughter...  They say that research shows that if you have a wide, open smile as a child, your chances of having a long and successful marriaage are increased.  Twenty-three years and counting for us!  This smile bodes well for the little one if she decides to get married someday!

Running around during the graduation ceremony--way more fun than sitting during those boring speeches...

At her sissy's barbeque...

I heard this fakey crying, "uhn-uhn, uhn-uhn..." and turned around to see the girls playing with their dolls.  "Have your babies been naughty?"  I asked, because they were holding them in the corner.  They both looked sheepish at getting caught, which is just how my older kids used to look when they'd get caught playing like this.  Little Girl was willing to re-create the scene for me, but Big Girl suddenly got shy.

"I'm embarrassed!"

This is my way of encouraging pooping on the potty.  A nice warm drink helps, too...

"I got a mosquito bite on my eyelid!"

Hey!  There's another one of those wide, open smiles!

This girl loves to joke around.  She put the dump truck bucket on her head for a pretend hat, and that was funny, but when I wanted to take a picture of it, it was even funnier to run away, and make me chase her to get the picture.  Hysterical :)

Things have been a bit challenging around here, because I broke my little pinkie toe last week. I thought it was only dislocated (which was bad enough, because it was sticking out at a right angle to my foot) but the swelling hasn't gone down, so I got x-rayed, and it's really broken. They gave me the x-ray on a disc, so I got to take it home to show the kids. It's very easy to see, even for us lay-people. David said I should have taken a picture of it when it was all cockeyed, and I wish I had, because it was impressive, and I had lots of bruising, too, but I never thought of it. My mom came over, took hold of the wayward toe, and gave it a yank, and it popped back into line. It's slowed me down quite a bit, and I've had to miss work. Needless to say, it hasn't slowed the munchkins down any, and they've been just as busy as ever.

By "just as busy," I mean that they've torn all the screen off the sliding glass door (just a little at a time, though, not in a destructive way at all -wink, wink!) They have also taken every book, magazine, card or piece of paper from its shelf, drawer, etc, and crumpled, torn, or maimed it. They are very busy being underfoot, as well. I enjoy entering a room with an armful of something that requires me to set it down, open the door or drawer to the cabinet, turn to pick up my armful of whatever, and turn back just in time to have the door or drawer slammed closed before I can deposit my armload. It's also fun to have all doors, including the refrigerator door closed on me, as I'm attempting to do whatever. Did I mention that even though I had righted the vacuum cleaner approximately ten times as I walked by, it was the eleventh time that I kicked it, and caught my toe on the underside of it, as it lay across the walkway? And, no, I hadn't finished cleaning, and vacuuming was the last step, which is why I hadn't put it safely back in its closet.