Der Grimmimutz

So this is a catch-up from the last day of July.  We went to this trail that was especially for kids because it had lots of dwarves and fun things.  We went with our friends from church.  We had lunch and had lots of time to play.  It was a good time.

Brett with 8 kids.  :)  (My kids borrowed coats from our friends because it was really sunny and warm when we left home, and then it got fairly chilly and a tad bit rainy.  That is why Talmage is in a salmon-pink colored jacket.  :) )

Jethro picked up a snake.

 

Ahhhhhh!

David, Sarah, Noe, Dinah, Janice and Josephine.

We even came across a real dwarf!

 

Hazel and Dinah.

 

 

 

 

 

Slugs are EVERYWHERE here.  Talmage is terrified of them.  Once when we were walking up from the garage after church or something, Talmage and the other kids were in front of me, and I heard Talmage suddenly start screaming like he was going to die.  I honestly thought I’d see blood when I got to him.  Nope—he had just accidently stepped on a slug.  Ha ha.

Lovely day.  The end.

Pretty amazing pictures.

So today Brett and Jethro went on a hike with Brett’s boss and his two kids Rufus and Linus (I adore those names. More how they’re said in German than in English. They sound like Roofoos and Leenoos. Awesome.) Anyhoo, so that left me at home, on a cold half-rainy day, with no car and not a whole lot to do besides the laundry and cleaning the house. But as we all know, housecleaning was made to be procrastinated! Therefore, I give you the following:

He’s happy in this picture, but don’t let that look of content fool you.

See what I’m saying??? He’s FEROCIOUS!!!

He pretty much adored himself. He was so tickled when he saw himself in the mirror. I wanted to make him an Indian with war paint and a feather, but he insisted on being a Rarrr. So he was. And it was awesome.

And a kitty cat with a cute nose. Except I think I should have done the whiskers closer to the middle of her nose. Still cute though.

Not terribly interested in having her picture taken, however.

And the AMAZING AMAZING spotted kindof-leopard girl. (I had a lot of fun editing these.)

So beautiful. Actually kindof sad she’s spotted in this picture, because she’s so pretty. Also, I should have either had her put a shirt on, or spotted her shoulders. Oh well.

Oh Talmage the Tiger cracks me up. And Hazel looks a little ill. Ha ha!

The end.

Oh, p.s. This is the picture I saw that was the inspiration.

Before School.

So, my philosophy is that life is like a bell-curve.

In almost all facets of your life, you’ve got the good times, the bad times, and the just-normal times.  Like with your spouse or your kids or your job (whether it’s being the homemaker or a outside job) your spirituality, everything - they all cycle through the highs and lows, but mostly it’s just normal life.  For instance, with your spouse- sometimes you are angry or annoyed with him and you fight and get really frustrated, and sometimes you are so enraptured and appreciative and attracted and whatnot, but most of the time you are happy to be married to him but don’t think too much about it and maybe take them slightly for granted and it’s just life.  (Though I would hope that you normally are on the high/positive side of the picture.)  And with your kids, sometimes you look at them and can’t believe how wonderful they are and beautiful and smart and amazing and you’re filled with love and are incredulous that you get to be their parent, and other times you want to pull your hair out because they’re driving you CRAZY and wish you could lock them in a closet but most of the time it fluctuates more in the middle and it’s life with them being cute but also annoying and you have to remind them to do their chores and stop bothering their siblings and they say funny things and give you hugs and get tired and whiny and you have to continually do things for them but they look cute in their pajamas and, and, and.   –Life.

Anyway, that’s my theory and I’m sticking to it. 

So, what brought this up?  I was just thinking about it because I was on kindof the positive end of the scale with my kids the morning I took these pictures.  My kids were just so adorable in their cute little outfits with their hair done for school (I’m not a strict every-day hair-doer)  ) and getting ready to walk together and being so excited and I just loved them so much.   It was a really pleasant morning.  Then when I picked Ethne up from kindergarten on Friday I watched her through the door and she was skipping and jumping around in excitement and she saw me and gave me the hugest smile and it was just so cute to see her in that environment, giving her teacher a handshake goodbye and rushing out to give me a hug.  So sweet.

In this video I looooove watching Hazel be “mom” to Ethne and keep turning her around and trying to get her to talk but she’s still looking at me while she does it.  I just love it.  I think all oldest sisters are destined to be really good moms.  It's certainly true in my family and Brett’s. 

The end.