Sterling got a new look.

Little Man has the roundest head possible, needed a haircut, and I was curious. So...




I think he pulls it off quite nicely. At age two. And when I'm sick of it, we'll 1/4" the rest of it. I did get a "rebellious" comment - never occurred to me that it is rebellious, but maybe. Either way, I cut it like this:And Blaine took it even shorter, to this:


So if it is rebellious, I'm not the only one.

Used up the last of my carpet spray cleaner Monday. Started potty training Ruby Tuesday. (Wow, did that come out funny. Leaving it.) Wondered Wednesday if she's too young. Put a diaper on her before bed after no accidents all day (that I found...). She drenched her diaper just minutes later. I think she might actually understand. The holler from Eden when she headed for bed said she gets it all right. Dear Miss Ruby climbed onto Eden's bed to pee. Oh, she gets it. Started Friday out with a definite need for carpet cleaner. Right outside the bathroom. A trip to Walmart for carpet cleaner just got added to the days' plans. I hate potty training.

Grand revelations of what I really don't know.

Went to MOPS today. The speaker talked about the 5 love languages, then we each took a "quiz" to name our own love languages. Turns out, your love language changes when you have kids. Somewhere along the line "Acts of Service" hit the top of my list, when it was at the bottom before. Seemed odd to me.

Even odder was when I explained the five possibilities and asked my girls to choose theirs, after making my own choices for them. Eden, without hesitation, declared "Hugs!" - not a real big shocker for that lover girl. Liberty paused a second and named my own choice for her. "Gifts." Yep, glad to know I know my kids. But a bit disturbed they both could name theirs without a doubt, when "Acts of Service" topping my own list shocked me.

Ruby, during the two hours at MOPS, serenaded Grandma Jean with her powerful vocal chords, all the while displaying her impressive temper and anger at being left there, again. I then displayed that I really don't know as much as I think I do on the way home. My normal route was closed due to an accident, and I decided to take a road that headed in the right direction, ignoring my chances to get back on track once I'd passed the accident section. Twice. Then I turned the wrong way. Twice. Almost landed back where I'd started. Apparently my little "I'm getting to know Springfield" moment I'd had last week with Blaine was one big fat lie. I didn't know it at the time, but today proves me wrong. Wow. Sterling and Ruby got good long naps on the way home though, if you want a bright side. The trip home took a long time.

We didn't get the house we made the offer on. We didn't want to pay what they wanted for it. Nine properties later, we've seen most of the options currently on the market. Found a perfect one Saturday. Perfect until mold and rotten floor joists in the crawlspace. Jacking up the entire backside of the house, cutting out rotted wood, replacing it, setting the house back to rights and hoping the walls didn't crack and the doors still close properly... oh, nevermind.

"Mom! There's Dr. Grasshopper's dentist clinic!" Dr. Snodgrass is a dentist from church - but Liberty was a little confused.

Our internet is sketchy. Our phone is out all together. Yes, I paid the bill. No, I'm not quite sure why. If you've tried to call... well, the cell phone might be a better option. We're on month two of this... or thereabouts.

Liberty finished her math for 1st grade! Ah, the excitement this morning when she was done with school in two hours instead of the typical 4 or so. Math is her enemy. The look on her face when she asked if she has to do math in 2nd grade and was informed she has to do math for another 11 grades, plus college, was pitiful. She might have cried if I hadn't changed the subject. Poor girl - but she's really good at math!

I ordered the curriculum for next year this morning! We're all set. I'm excited. Liberty... not so much. Thinking we'll do one math lesson a week all summer, keep her fresh and give her a four day math week this fall. Ask me in July how that's going.

We put an offer on a house... and still haven't heard. The offer expired Friday night, but I was told a decision hadn't been made yet. Not sure what's going on, but it would be nice to know something - even if it wasn't ours.

Laundry load number six, calling buzzing my name.

It's been a rough couple days. I thought the morning (ha!) sickness thing was done, and it's back with a vengeance. Last night after supper it snuck up on me, I made it as far as the bathroom sink... and plugged it up royally. Blaine, valiant knight that he is, ended up (without complaint!) using the shop vac on the drain. Seriously. Insult to injury, I assure you. Um, honey? I can't get the drain to go down... good grief. Next time I'll just keep going and clean up the floor later.

Still reading? I'm impressed.

Ruby likes to empty her dresser drawers. She tries each piece of clothing "on" (around her neck, usually, although some things end up over her head) and then casts them aside for the next thing. This is a discipline issue at this point. I'm tired of cleaning up and refolding her clothes. So last night, when Sterling hollers that Ruby's making a mess with her clothes yet again, I called her to me. She came out with her fists covering her eyes, not wanting to look at me, moving them minutes later only to cover her behind as I got up to deal with her disobedience. Try not to laugh at that one!

We made an offer on a house! After a long and ridiculously difficult day getting the banker to get the papers to me that we needed to make the offer, it's been submitted. Keep you posted on that one. It's 3 bedrooms/2 bathrooms on 7 acres near Strafford, MO - a 12 mile commute for Blaine to work and about 20 minutes to shopping, etc in Springfield. I'll get excited when we're under contract...

We're down to one box of cereal in the house. The kids don't know, but I'm doing it rather on purpose. If I don't "run out" every so often, that box of cereal they begged for that turned out to have better marketing than flavor will never get eaten. Poor children, forced to dine without options, I know.

News... good news.

I had my first OB appointment today. Ultrasound reveals: one baby! While some people (Thank you, Sister.) might be disappointed, I was waiting with baited breath for one image to arrive onscreen.

In other news: All this sickness that is going around my house isn't getting better. Found out Mom has pneumonia and all the same symptoms of dear Sterling. Time to find a pediatrician???

One nose, running away...

Sterling: "Daddy, can you blow up my nose?"

After trying to catch his runaway nose all day, apparently he's fed up with it. :)