Say What?!

Yesterday as we drove somewhere, Marian asked about the flowers along the road. Right now there are a lot of pink flowers on bare stalks just growing in the middle of nowhere. I told Marian how flowers grow, and then added that that particular flower happens to be called a "naked lady" because of the way it looks right now in its lifespan- bare, naked stalk with a lovely flower on top.

My mother was not present for this conversation. So she was slightly alarmed when Marian came to her and asked "Why are there so many Naked Ladies in Arkansas?"

Grandpa's new Zip Line

Yesterday Grandpa installed a Zip Line. Joshua had decided last summer that we needed one. There were grand plans about it, such as maybe it should run from the porch to the tree house, or we should build another tree house and run the zip line to it. It took this long to think about it, plan it, and then to purchase and install it. Joshua was quite pleased. Unfortunately, I am not sure it came out like anyone (except Grandpa) had envisioned. It SOUNDED like a great idea to have it zip from the tree house. Um.... the tree house floor is 7 feet up, so the zip line ended up being quite a bit higher than I expected. The kids were a little intimidated to say the least.





During the trying-to-see-if-the-kids-could-sit-on-it phase they were hesitant to even try. Look at the concern on Callie's face. Even getting her to sit and hold on was a feat here.

Here Grandpa is showing them its not so hard. Look how unconvinced they are! Marian actually got on it, then cried and backed off. Joshua didn't even get his legs wrapped around it before he chickened out. (I don't blame them! It is pretty high up!!)

Fine, Grandpa said, I'll show you how it works.

Whoops!!!!

And now Mom shows us all how its done.

Joshua got on, but only so he could be pulled from the bottom up. He's still not sure if this is fun or not!

Callie didn't start off at the top either. She just zipped back and forth from the bottom. But she's on it now, at least.

Marian is a lot braver. And she's pretty daring. It didn't take her long to graduate from sedentary rides from the bottom, to jumping off the top and flying down the line.

And now Joshua is feeling braver. It's starting to feel like fun!

It took the afternoon, but by last night, the 2 older kids had figured it out and were flying down the zip line from the top of the tree house. They have a pretty good technique going on which requires some sharing, which is pretty cool for me to see. And after church today, Dan helped Callie climb on and go down from the top. What adventurous and brave children I have!! Although I admit to having a small concern that we may have a trip to the ER in our future!

Faces!

This is my parents. this is them looking at their Mission Call! Yep, after waaay too long a wait, they received their call to....... Kenya, Nairobi! We are really excited. They will get to be in the MTC the same time as my aunt and uncle who will be going to Zurich, Switzerland! Hooray for Senior Missions!

Here is Joshua. It is pretty hard to get a serious picture out of him. I try to rise to the challenge anyway!

You may have been so distracted by his silliness that you missed his missing tooth! Yes! Finally!
A mere 2 months from his 8th birthday and he has FINALLY lost his first tooth. Whew! He discovered it wiggled and had the thing out in about a week, much to his satisfaction and my surprise.

This is my silly Marian. The child is feral. She really is. She goes outside and isn't seen or heard from till she comes in to forage for food. That may sound like this: "Mimi want ham-ham." She did not want her picture taken here.

Here is Callie. She was sad because she missed Grandpa's birthday cake. Well, she didn't really miss it, she just missed the singing. So we sang "Happy Birthday" again and all was well. How can it not be well when you have chocolate cake?!

Delaney thought Daddy's sunglasses were sooo cool. She put them on and pranced around the house. Look how pleased she is with herself!

Wasp Sting!

Poor Delaney. She was outside and some black wasps had decided to make a nest in the area she was playing in. One landed on her face and stung her. I didn't know she'd been stung- she cried, but it wasn't the "I'm dying" cry I would have expected. She didn't really even sound hurt! She's a tough cookie!

Here she is. You can see the sting there above her lip. She held the little freezer "boo-boo bunny" (fabric bag filled with rice that you keep in the freezer for times like this) on her lip and stopped crying quickly.

Shortly after, her lip started to swell impressively. She decided she was feeling self conscious about it and did not want a picture taken. This is her, avoiding a picture. But you can still see that her one cheek is a little swollen and red.

I admit, I was in stitches over her poor little face. She looked so funny, all distorted like that. She was a tough kid though. She never cried again, and was ready to go back outside. Grandpa took the wasp spray outside and took care of the overabundance of wasps. When I asked if her lip hurt, she would say "Bugga hurt my lip! Bugga hurt my lip!"

Here is another look at that fat lip. It went down again pretty quickly too. Thank goodness for my essential oils! By bedtime she looked normal, and only had a little puffiness around her cheek and eye. She didn't complain at all. She just repeated "Bugga hurt my lip!"

Differences in Military Branches Explained

I had planned to post some great pix of the kids today, but someone has run off with the camera they are on. So, I shall make do with this amusing bit instead. For those of you who have not seen this, I hope you enjoy it!



Marine Corps Rules:

1. Be courteous to everyone, friendly to no one.

2. Decide to be aggressive enough, quickly enough.

3. Have a plan.

4. Have a back-up plan, because the first one probably won't work.

5. Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet.

6. Do not attend a gunfight with a handgun whose caliber does not start with a '4.'

7. Anything worth shooting is worth shooting twice. Ammo is cheap. Life is expensive.

8. Move away from your attacker. Distance is your friend. (Lateral & diagonal preferred.)

9. Use cover and concealment as much as possible.

10. Flank your adversary when possible. Protect yours.

11. Always cheat; always win. The only unfair fight is the one you lose.

12. In ten years nobody will remember the details of caliber, stance, or tactics. They will only remember who lived.

13. If you are not shooting, you should be communicating your intention to shoot.



Navy SEALS Rules:

1. Look very cool in sunglasses.

2. Kill every living thing within view.

3. Adjust speedo.

4. Check hair in mirror.



US Army Rangers Rules:

1. Walk 50 miles wearing 75 pound rucksack while starving.

2. Locate individuals requiring killing.

3. Request permission via radio from 'Higher' to perform killing.

4. Curse bitterly when mission is aborted.

5. Walk out 50 miles wearing a 75 pound rucksack while starving.



US Army Rules:

1. Curse bitterly when receiving operational order.

2. Make sure there is extra ammo and extra coffee.

3. Curse bitterly.

4. Curse bitterly.

5. Do not listen to 2nd LTs; it can get you killed.



US Air Force Rules:

1. Have a cocktail.

2. Adjust temperature on air-conditioner..

3. See what's on HBO.

4. Ask 'What is a gunfight?'

5. Request more funding from Congress with a 'killer' Power Point presentation.

6. Wine & dine ''key' Congressmen, invite DOD & defense industry executives.

7. Receive funding, set up new command and assemble assets.

8. Declare the assets 'strategic' and never deploy them operationally.

9. Hurry to make 13:45 tee-time.

10. Make sure the base is as far as possible from the conflict but close enough to have tax exemption.



US Navy Rules:

1. Go to Sea.

2. Drink Coffee.

3. Deploy Marines

3. Deploy Marines