God's pen

I'm up to Zechariah in my Bible reading.  Today I saw the above underlining which wasn't there yesterday, and it's not something I would underline.  No one has been in the house except Mike, Noah, and Sarah since yesterday.  I asked each of them if they did it, and they all said no.  What's left to conclude?  God must have underlined it. Noah said, "Can God really do that?"  I said, "Yes, He can do anything!  Remember when He wrote on the wall in the book of Daniel?  Why couldn't He underline in my Bible?"  I showed it to Noah, and he conducted a forensic investigation, comparing the ink to other places in the Bible that I had underlined.  He determined that the one in Zechariah was done with a different pen than the others.  Why is it so hard for our practical human minds to believe that God could do that? 

Breaking the boredom with bunnies

I'm not a fan of exercise, but I'm trying to get in shape to hike the Grand Canyon and the mountains of Colorado, so I've been walking.  Walking is very boring.  I'm thankful that Mike goes with me, so his company takes my mind of the boredom.  Another boredom buster is counting the bunnies I see while we're walking.  The record was 14 for a long time, but one night we saw 22.  Mike is not much into the bunnies, but he tolerates my counting, and will even point out the occasional one that I miss, but he doesn't get excited about them like I do. 

Last night, all  four of us went on the nightly bunny walk, and Sarah not only pointed out the bunnies, but made up names for them and told a little about their personalities. She would say things like, "Oh, look!  There's Annabelle!  She's very friendly and likes people."  and  "There's Mr. Wilson.  He likes to hop alone and never leaves his yard." and "Ooooooh, Matilda's out tonight!  She's a real bunny of the townspeople."  I don't know what that last one means, but it was entertaining. 

There are also several cats on our route.  I know some of their names, because I've talked to their owners.  I make up names for the others (I guess that's where Sarah gets it).  I carry catnip in my pockets, so I can lure the shy ones.  Last night we saw Nip (but not her brother Tuck), Snickers, Jason, Oreo, Oscar, and Marty's Boyfriend.  It was a good night.

More lawyer trouble

One of Noah's spelling words is orchid.  I asked him if he knows what an orchid is.  Sarah piped up, "I know!  It's a lawyer!"  (See previous lawyer trouble here).

Noah also cracked me up this morning. We were sitting together at the desk, when he got up and ran to the kitchen to fart.  I thanked him for his consideration, but he said, "What? The acoustics are better out there!"

Shiloh's favorite toy

 I bought the cats a new toy.  It's a mouse that squeaks every time it moves.  It drives Shiloh crazy.  That's Noah's toes in the picture.  He's starting to get into photography.  He took several of these pictures.

She caught the mouse and carried it off.

And here's an extreme closeup of beautiful Shadow, taken by Sarah.

Handstand contest

Chicken fajitas

 Grilling chicken, peppers, and onions (ran out of room on the grill, so did the onions separately)

 Everything chopped and ready to go on homemade wheat tortillas

Yum.

more language

Sarah and I were talking about where a particular family lives.
Me: I think they live in Georgia.
S: No, they couldn't possibly.
M: Why not?
S: Because they speak American!
M: What would they speak if they were from Georgia?
S: Southern.

Baby screech owls

One night, Mike and I were out for a walk after dark, and we heard a very strange noise that stopped us in our tracks.  We pinpointed it to a certain tree, expecting to find a raccoon or possum or something.  Instead, I spotted a little screech owl.  Mike took this picture of him with his phone.  We watched him for awhile and decided to come back earlier the next night so we could see him better.

So the next night, we arrived before dark and didn't see or hear a thing.  We hung around for awhile and watched the beautiful sunset.  When it got dark, the screeching began.  We saw three baby owls and heard a parent in another tree.  I decided to bring a good camera the next night. 

 

 

 

 

 

I hauled my good camera to the owl's nest the next night, and we saw the babies.  We also saw the parent dive and catch a cicada for the little ones to eat. 

Prankster

Sarah pulled off a good prank.  She put a bunch of red food coloring into the shampoo bottle.  Noah was lucky one who took a shower with it, and it made lots of pink suds. 

Reveille

I had to get the kids up early for an event this morning, so I stood in the hall between their rooms and tooted a military-style reveille on my invisible bugle and announced, "Time to rise and shine, troops!"  Noah came stumbling out and muttered sarcastically, "When I grow up, I wanna be just like you, Mom."  Sarah stayed in bed and yelled, "Be quiet!  I'm trying to sleep!"  She finally got up, and in the car on the way, she poked weirdly at her eyes and said she was putting in brown contacts today. 

No thanks, God

I was reading Zephaniah 3 this morning and telling the kids that one day we'll all speak the same language.  Sarah asked what language it would be.  I said maybe it would be Hebrew, or maybe God would give us some new language we've never heard before.  She looked disturbed and said, "I think I'll tell God 'no thanks' to the new language, because I just want to keep saying things in American."

Superpower lost

Sarah is doing schoolwork at the kitchen table while I'm washing dishes.  She's notorious for jacking around when she's supposed to be working, so I warned her that I would be watching her. 
S: You don't have eyes in the back of your head, Mom.
M: Oh yes, I do!
S: I can't see them....
M: Ah, but THEY can see YOU!
S: How?
M: They're hidden under my hair, so you can't see them, but they are super-eyes, so they can see you.
S: You don't have eyes in the back of your head.  We ALL know that.
I glance at Noah, who is loitering around, smirking.  He nods.  Bummer!  When did they stop believing that?

Can't trust the electronics! It's been a weird morning.

I use an app to keep track of my periods.  This morning, the thing went haywire and sent me a message that my period is 4,565 days late and suggested I might be pregnant.  Then I got on Wii Fit, and it told me that I lost 7 pounds since yesterday!  I was very excited about that since I did fast yesterday, so I celebrated by breaking the fast with a brownie.  In mid-brownie, my brain kicked back in and realized that I couldn't possibly have lost 7 pounds in one day, so I finished my brownie, reweighed, and sure enough, it was a fluke.  I only lost a pound.

It's also been a morning of strange dreams.  I dreamed I was working at CEFCU, and when people withdrew money, I gave them mouse steaks in Ziploc bags instead of money.  And everything in the office was made out of dried poop.  The floors, doors, desks, everything.

Then Noah woke up scowling at me. 
M: Good morning! Why are you mad at me already?
N: I had a dream that you came to my baseball game naked.
M: Do I embarrass you?
N: Yes!

To top it all off, Sarah drew a weird picture.  I asked her what it was, and she said it's an evil unicorn.

My daughter is housebroken!

Sarah was doing the laundry, and Noah asked her if she wanted to go outside with him. 
S:  I can't.  I'm housebroken.
N (rolling on the floor laughing) Do you know what housebroken means?
S (annoyed): Of course. It means I can't go outside.
N: No, it means you don't pee in the house!
S: Well then I'm grounded.
N: Why? What did you do?
S: I didn't do anything!  But Mom will get mad if I go out before I finish the laundry.
N: That's not grounded.  That's just doing your chores. 
S: Well then I'm doing my chores so I don't get grounded!