Daily pictures

I got this idea from a friend's blog -- I made a new blog for daily pictures only. You can see it here, and there is also a link on the right of the blog.

Pineapple Project, part 2

Time for the next step of our pineapple-growing experiment.

I let the crown dry for about 2 days, then I set it in this jar to let the roots grow. We should see some real growth in about 2 or 3 weeks, and then it will be time to plant!

Adventures in Toenail Painting

This afternoon, we were a little bored and Aunt Anna came up with a great idea -- she asked Oliver to paint her toenails. As you can imagine, he was very excited about this.


















At first he was very patient and gentle with the brush strokes . . .


















. . . but then his work got sloppier as he realized that he didn't have to keep the paint on her toenails.














Kind of reminds me of when Anna and I were little girls and would fix our Paw Paw's hair. He never once complained, and neither did Aunt Anna. :-)

H is for Hammer

This week's alphabet lesson is H is for Hammer. Why a hammer, you ask? Well, because Oliver is (still) obsessed with tools, and a hammer was the easiest thing I could think of. :-)




















I didn't have a template for this one either, but I'm pretty pleased with the end result! It was pretty easy -- the most difficult part was tracing Dennis' hammer for our craft. :-)


















Oliver was not interested in thinking of H words or writing on the board. So he wrote two Hs as quickly as he could so we could get started on making our hammer craft.




























Ta da! Looks pretty good, don't you think?


















And here's a cute picture of Tootie, giving me a guilty grin after I caught her writing all over her arm with the marker. Love these kids!

Stepping out of my comfort zone

As a Christian, I'm called to witness to others (Acts 1:8), but I've never felt comfortable doing so. I love talking about Jesus with other believers, but I don't feel comfortable witnessing to non-believers. Seems silly, doesn't it! But God knows all of that. ;-) And this morning He put me in a certain place at a certain time, in order to serve His purpose.

Oliver, Buttercup and I ended up in downtown Austin, at Waterloo Park. We stopped on the walkway underneath the bridge to feed the fish and throw rocks in the canal. I saw very few people there -- some state employees walking on their break, bicycle policemen patrolling the area, and a few homeless people. One of the homeless people, a woman, started walking back and forth near the kids and me. We made eye contact and smiled each time she passed, and I felt the need to say something to her, but kept quiet. Then, on her 3rd or 4th trip past us, she stopped and asked Oliver what he was doing. "Feeding the fish. What are you doing?" he said. She reached into her bag and pulled out a few bread crumbs and offered them to Oliver to feed the fish. I could sense that she needed some help, but that she was either afraid or unwilling to ask for it. She and Oliver talked for a little bit (surprisingly, he did not ask her what her favorite shark is!!), then she seemed to feel more comfortable around us, and started opening up about her story. Her name is "Dee" and she ended up losing her home and family after making a lot of bad choices. I said I would pray for her, and Oliver said that he would like to pray for her, too. She smiled and said that it would make her feel good to know that a sweet little boy was praying for her. :-)

I still wasn't quite sure what to say, but I invited her to our church and gave her some change to make a phone call and some cash for a meal. She thanked me, and said that I was one of the few people who acknowledged her presence, much less let my children brighten her day with their smiles and questions. I hope that my actions spoke louder than any words I could say, and I pray that the next chain of events will direct "Dee" to getting a job and a place to live.

It's really sad to me that so many people choose to ignore instead of trying to help others in need. Sure, it would have been easier to look the other way, but we are all created by God, in His image, and we are all fearfully and wonderfully made. No one on this earth is better than any other person. Any one of us could end up in "Dee's" situation -- on the street, without a roof over our heads. Oliver and I will be praying for her, and I hope you will, too!

Pineapple Project, part 1

I loooooooooove fresh pineapple. I bought 2 from the farmer's market the other day, and I thought that planting one in our yard would be a fun project for Oliver and Buttercup.

After I cut off the top, I soaked it in water overnight to make it easier to remove the lower layer of leaves and leftover pineapple flesh.


















This is what it looks like with the extra stuff trimmed away. I'm going to let it dry for a couple of days, and then we'll plant it. Stay tuned!

Baking with Granddaddy

My dad makes the best bread in the world, and we all eat it up as fast as we can. (Best served fresh out of the oven, topped with a drizzle of olive oil, salt, and pepper. Yum!)



















Oliver got to help out while Granddaddy made a batch of bread the other day. He had his own ball of dough to work with.
































Then he added cinnamon, sugar, raisins, and sprinkles to make cinnamon rolls for himself and Buttercup.














And finally, he added a drizzle of honey before baking. Mmmm!