Don't call Bush to Baby-sit!

President Bush wasn't sure what to do when he couldn't calm down a baby that began screaming as soon as he was handed the infant. This is perhaps the funniest image I've ever seen of our president and gave me great laughter last night. Why am I posting it here? Just because I thought we could all enjoy the chuckle. I intend no disrespect by posting this picture... unless you count laughing at it! By the way, I'm pretty sure I've felt like a few times with my own children, just didn't make that face for a camera to catch.

Pet Peeves

• Weeds seem to be the only things that grow really well in extreme heat.
• The guys that mow our lawn keep cutting back plants I actually want to grow! Weeds, fine, plants planted intentionally in a flower bed, NOT fine.
• Missing shoes. Helena takes one shoe off in one part of the house and the other somewhere else. She's always missing a shoe.
• My missing shoes. She likes to play in my shoes and take them off in random places, usually under something.
• Malfunctioning blinkers- this happens a lot to the cars in Houston.
• Coming to a stop to make a right turn even when there is no signal that this is necessary. (I can't even pretend that this is a problem with the car... WHY ARE WE STOPPING?!)
• "I'm hungry!" 20 minutes after a great meal.
• The peanut butter jar being left out with the lid off (Jeremy doesn't do that any more)
• "You never...!" and "You always...!" Why do people ALWAYS say NEVER?
• Politicians.
• "Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy." Say my name once please.
  
• Cutting (as in just plain mean) comments in blogs.
  
• "Worship" meaning the music portion of a worship gathering.
• Our PC.

Random Photos

I have heard that photos are the best part of this blog- but then, this blog is for friends and family and grandparents tend to love pictures of their precious grandkids. Below are some random photos of the girls that I haven't shared here. Most of them are from a Crawfish festival Rebecca Wiechman and I took our kiddos to back in May. Enjoy!

Another composer in the family

Lavinia is "writing" music, surprisingly, in a very methodical way. Notice the tongue sticking slightly to the corner of her mouth? That is serious concentration.

All Aboard!

A little train ride around the festival: Rebecca and Jackson Wiechman, Helena, Ophelia, and Lavinia.

Little Lambs

Ophelia, Helena, and Lavinia May 2006- Doesn't Helena make a cute bunny?

Scary Animals

Helena displays her city girl roots with a reluctance to touch any of the animals. Ophelia tries to convince her that the animals are cute, not scary.

Up close and personal- with a sheep and a rabbit

Lavinia visits with a bunny and a sheep.

A Cow Kiss

Ophelia gets a soft kiss on her leg from a calf.

Helena pets a Goat

The city girl finally risks touching one of the farm animals... with a finger.

Bouncing

Helena had to work very hard to have fun bouncing and remain standing- she didn't think falling over was fun.

Bouncing, bouncing

Lavinia and Ophelia one random day in May on a moon walk.

Ouch!

Helena got attacked by fire ants yesterday at church. She has maybe a hundred bites on one leg (all below the knee), maybe 50 on the other foot with more bites up her leg and on her bottom. When Helena saw this picture of a fire ant she announced "Helena don't like ants!" I agree, I don't like these invasive imported fire ants either.

Ginkworld

Ginkworld.net has just published two of my articles; "The Lies We Tell" and "In Search of Easy Peace" as well as one of my stories. Check them out when you get the chance, thanks for the support!

They say an Apple a Day...

After playing hard outside in the heat, the girls cool down with fresh, crisp and cold apples. The girls love fruit and most veggies, eating foods a lot of kids won't touch. Not exactly sure how this happened, but we're glad it did! See the pictures below of the two younger ones eating some yummy veggies! Ophelia doesn't have anything she REALLY likes as the other two do but she is a big fan of Granny Smith Apples.

Mushrooms- YAY!

Consistently out-of-the-box, Lavinia's favorite treat to eat is a mushroom! She will sneak into the fridge, grab one, run to the bathroom to wash it off and stuff it in her mouth like candy. Why? Because mushrooms are yummy of course!

Helena loves Tomatoes!

Taking a break from playing hard (notice the dirt on her face), Helena devours a fresh Roma tomato- she likes them better than apples.

Sprinkler, Freezer Pops, and Dress Up

Yesterday We had about 2 hours that were sunny, still very hot but the humidity did seem lower and sunny before more dark clouds rolled in and broke loose again. You can imagine the irony I saw then when the girls rode their bikes for a bit and then asked to play in the sprinkler during the sunny break. They had a great time in the water and then eating freezer pops that turned their frozen lips and tongues shades of blue and green before they went running back into the spray of the sprinkler. It didn't seem to bother them that's it's been storming for days and at the first break to go run and play in the sprinkler. Ah well.

We're back to the overcast threat of rain and oppressive humidity. It seems that at any moment the low-lying grey clouds, swollen with moisture are going to burst and dump on us again. The girls can't stand to be outside in the sticky atmosphere and I can't really blame them. We're inside and while I work the girls are watching The Wizard of Oz in full costume from Halloween (the pic above is from last Halloween), saying the lines, singing the songs and dancing as though the movie is the set for their stardom. Watching them makes me smile and brings back memories of my childhood and similar play time. I love dress-up! Days of rain can't keep us from having fun!

Watermelon ROCKS!

Helena Digs in...

mmmmmm....

Rain, Rain, Go Away

I didn't know until recently all the words for "Rain, Rain Go Away." One of the books the company I was working for used that rhyme and I had to set it to music, it goes like this:

Rain, Rain go away
Come again another day.
Little Jonny wants to play

Rain, rain go to Spain
Never show your face again.

I can't get this song out of my head now because it's been raining here in Houston; off and on for several days now and we've reached the point of cabin fever around here. It's like we're in the UK or something. The worst part is that it's overcast, raining, humid when it's not raining, and still very hot which isn't very much like the UK. I grew up in Florida so I should be able to handle this but rain in FL is very different than rain in Houston- there is a reason they call it liquid sunshine in the sunshine state. Rain there helps cool things down, lasts about 15-45 minutes even if it rains every day, and the sun still shines through the rain. In Houston rain causes the sauna effect so nothing cools down it just feels oppressive in the heat. We've had an ok time though, painted finger and toe nails, made stars, eaten some watermelon, (I've been working too), watched more movies than normally permitted, and found some cool websites including this great one from the San Francisco Symphony. Still, we're ready to go outside and play at the park which is more like a swamp at the moment. Hopefully soon.

Oh, and Steve in Scotland pointed out it's sunny there, sunny. Figures. We're going to eat more watermelon.

Along the Way

We've started another blog. This is crazy, we know but each of our blogs have been started for a specific reason and we want to keep each blog true to it's original purpose.

The Martin-Weber Chronicles was started to share our family stories with friends and family around the country. We wanted this blog to be the place that helped us stay connected with the many people we have been blessed to know and love. Pictures and facts about the girls plus our latest news fills the content of this blog.

On Our Faces was started as a place for an ongoing dialog about worship and though we're not great at posting there we enjoy the conversations we have there and get to practice our writing.

Along the Way is the new blog and is just about our journey as we prepare for the mission field in Europe. We'll update with information on our support progress, people and places we experience, and answer what questions we can.

Obviously there will be some over-lap but for the most part we'll keep each blog true to it's original intent. Some of you may only read one, we certainly understand that. Each blog will link to the other blogs so you can visit them when you'd like.

If you haven't already read the interview/survey with the girls below, take a moment to see what the girls are up to these days and thanks for taking the time to visit with us on our blogs. We love and appreciate comments and if you'll send us the link for your website or drop us an e-mail we'd love to hear what's going on in your lives as well.

A Few of Our Favorite Things...

This morning we interviewed the girls to tell us a few of their favorite things and what they are up to these days. Here you go!

Age: Ophelia- 7.5 yrs.; Lavinia- 5 yrs.; Helena- 3 yrs.

Favorite color: O- all colors; L- pink; H- yellow

Favorite food: O- chicken sandwich; L- peanut butter and honey sandwiches, mushrooms; H- mac and cheese and tomatoes

Favorite treat: O- mint chocolate chip ice cream; L- whipped cream; H- strawberry shortcake

Favorite candy: O- gum; L- candy bars; H- gum

What do you want to be when you grow up? O- Ballerina and artist; L- ballerina astronaut, H- mommy and musician

Hobbies: O- read, draw, dance, speak French, write stories, listen to music; L- arts and crafts, stickers, write songs; H- play in mommy's jewelry, organize items by size

For Fun: O- ride bike, scooter, dress-up, watch movies, play with sisters, draw, play computer games; L- play with sisters, ride bike and scooter, play computer games, watch movies; H- play princess, ride bike, play with sisters, color, read books, play with toys, take baths, cuddle, take pictures.

Planes, trains, boats, trucks, cars? O- planes; L- plane; H- train

Instruments: O- piano, violin and harp; L- piano and violin; H- piano, guitar

Favorite movie: O- Cars; L- Princess Diaries; H- Beauty and the Beast

Favorite TV show: O- Between the Lions; L- Dragon Tails; H- Dragon Tails

Favorite music: O- The Nutcracker Suite, L- The Nutcracker Suite; H- Beauty and the Beast

Favorite Toy: O- Sleeping Beauty; L- cars; H- Belle and baby

Learning: O- getting better at reading, French; L- piano, reading, and French; H- counting, letters and sounds, French.

Favorite Game: O- Tic-tac-toe; L- Hide and Seek; H- Caillou

Favorite Animal: O- bunnies; L- horses; H- Rosie

What should people know about you? O- I like doing fun tricks on my bike and scooter and I also like quiet time and playing alone; L- I'm crazy; H- Smiled and ran away.