last, but not least

Well, Gabe can say a few words about himself, but we'll have to elaborate to help you understand.

1) "book"- Gabe's favorite books are Snuggle Puppy and Blue Hat, Green Hat both by Sandra Boynton.
2) "nose" "hair" "eye" etc. - Gabe knows a lot of body parts, but his favorite one to show you is his teeth. He also likes to find your teeth which means he'll shove his hand in your mouth when you least expect it.
3) "guys" or "bwovers" (brothers) - Gabe loves his brothers and especially enjoys bossing them around.
4) "on-n-on-n-on" Gabe loves to sing. My favorite is when he sings the "on and on and on. . ." part in "Forever God" with Noah in the bathtub.
5) "eat"and "nak" - Gabe loves to eat, especially fruit snacks ("nak").

Thanks Alison, Grant, Ethan, and Trevor! You guys are super fun!

Here Comes Another

Five things about Noah:
1) I snored so loud once that my brothers said I shook the bed.
2) I'm the only person in my family who can stand on my head.
3) I like baseball.
4) I've had eight stitches in my head.
5) My favorite food is corndogs.

I tag Trevor!

Another Guy

Okay, now five, nope six random things about Josh:

1) I've lost six baby teeth.
2) I like to play sports. I play baseball on a team. My favorite is football and I like to wrestle, too.
3) I play the piano.
4) One of my favorite foods is brownies.
5) I like Star Wars.
6) I'm funny and a smart-alec.

(Actually, #6 made this process very long!!)

I tag Grant!

The Guys

I did not tag anyone after my last post. I didn't want to put that kind of pressure on anyone!
But I did think that it would be fun to hear what my guys would say about themselves so I've changed my mind: I tag Samuel, Joshua, Noah and Gabriel. I guess I don't mind putting pressure on my own kids ;)

Samuel first!
Five random things about Samuel:
1. I like sports. Baseball is my favorite.
2. Some of my favorite foods are mashed potatoes, chicken casserole, and fish sticks. Not all in the same meal though.
3. I like to draw houses.
4. I like to do math.
5. I like to read the Bible. It's the best thing for me.

I tag my buddy, Ethan.
(Hey, Alison, Ethan can put his 5 things in the comments if you don't mind.)

Tag, I'm it?

I've been tagged by Suzanne to post 5 random things about myself. I'm not a very "random" person, but I'll try.

Okay, here goes:
1) I enjoy visiting cemetaries. I find the art beautiful; I like reading the epitaphs and imagining what the people were like; and it reminds me that life here is temporary and my eternal home awaits.
2) I enjoy thunderstorms. I think this is because when I was young it was not uncommon for a bad storm to knock the power out which would send mom around the house lighting candles and would mean that we would cook hotdogs on our wood stove.
3) I don't enjoy visiting cemetaries in a thunderstorm. Self-explanatory, I'm sure.
4) I have a bunion on my right foot and a very narrow heel which makes it hard to find shoes to fit unless of course I buy clogs or mules or slides or whatever shoes like that are called which is what you'll see me in most of the time. (but they are hard to run in if a thunderstorm is coming.)
5) I had to look up how to spell "bunion" because I'm a poor speller. (I hope whoever writes my epitaph is a good speller.)

Happy Anniversary (sort of)

In January of 1996, Matt and I had a little wager on the Colts/ Steelers game - a free dinner. Fortunately, the Steelers won that year and headed off to the Super Bowl while we headed to Grady's for what was to become our first date!

Matt - Thanks for 10 years of adventure, laughter, patience, affection, loyalty, compassion and sacrifice. You are my best friend!

P.S. Go Colts! (Sorry Jenn, I've turned in my terrible towel!)

More Before and After

These photos are for those of you who might be worried that Gabriel gets bored while I am homeschooling the other three.

Before - Gabe's room at 10:25 am:

After - Gabe's room at 11:10 am:

Before and After Shots

Nope, these are not hair photos. These are spiritual snapshots.

Kristie (over 16 years ago): "[She] has a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For, being ignorant of the righteousness that comes from God and seeking to establish [her] own, [she] did not submit to God's righteousness. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes." (Rom. 10:2b-4)

Kristie (now): "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." (Rom. 6:1-4)

Kristie (future): "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the first born among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified." (Rom. 8:28-30)

Anybody know where I can get a groovy photo album?

"Hairy" Situations

Yes, I'm still here. It's not that there are no new things to blog about; it's that there are too many new things to stop and blog about them.

Two of the funniest (and humbling) things that have happened recently have to do with hair.

I am a 34 year old with significant amounts of gray hair. And by significant I mean more than my mother-in-law who is . . . well, I won't tell you how old she is. I have been graying since my freshman year of college and although I like to pretend that it makes me look wise, it really just makes me look like I'm babysitting my grandchildren instead of taking my own kids to the park.
So I've started coloring my hair recently. I was doing a half-way decent job until I decided to go a shade darker. (Yes, I hear you moaning) Anyway, I have since discovered that "black bordering on purple" hair does not look good with "olive bordering on yellow skin." Well, I spent Wednesday with Christine at Trade Secrets and she fixed it. It actually looks better than it has in years! (Hey, can I get a discount for a plug like this?)

Next hair story, actually more embarrassing than the first. Most of the time I give my boys haircuts (again "half-way decent job"), but occasionally we "splurge" and take them over to Glen, the singing barber. Glen's whole purpose for cutting hair is to hang out with his buddies. It's the closest thing to Floyd's barber shop that I have ever experienced. Therefore, Glen is intent on getting us in and out of there as quickly as possible. That leaves us with one of two options: 1) he'll shave them bald, or 2) I'll have to fix all the spots he missed when we get home. So before Christmas, Matt took the boys to Glen while I was getting ready for all the relatives. And as usual I grabbed the scissors to trim the spots that were missed when they got home. What was unusual this time was that Noah had no missed spots. It was a perfect hair cut - for about 4 days.

Later that week we went to lunch at a restaurant and there it was - the missed spot. Why I didn't see it earlier I will never know, but Noah kept pushing a section of 4-inch long bangs out of his face while he tried to eat. I tried repositioning it, combing it over, combing it back, but nothing worked. I felt for him. He kept scratching his nose because it tickled. I didn't have anything that would work - no scissors, nail clippers, nothing. So I did what any loving mother (who is a true hick) would do. I glanced around to make sure no one was looking at us, held his hair in one hand and grabbed a steak knife with the other and before you could say "What is that crazy lady doing with a knife?!" I cut his bangs. Well, Noah was grateful although everyone else at the table was quite shocked.

Yeah, I don't expect any tea invitations after this!