Quick Prayer Request

Just wanted to put out a quick prayer request before we leave. We got a call late yesterday afternoon that Doodle could have her first dental visit (1 root canal/crown, 1 filling, and 1 seal) this afternoon at 2:00. We were supposed to go to Back to School night at the school this evening, but decided we probably wouldn't be up for it and might not be back in time to get there, so we took our school supplies out this morning. While I'm thrilled to get at least one visit under our belt before school starts, I'm a little anxious about it all. I'm taking all three girls, but Jonathan came up to give me another set of grown-up arms for the day. I'm so thankful he was available and willing! :) Hopefully she'll come through the day without a hitch and will be up and ready to go tomorrow morning. I'm just a little nervous because I don't know what will happen or how things will go. It's the unknown that is a little scary! :) Please keep us in your prayers. Thanks!

Practice for School - Day 1

So this is our first morning really practicing our morning school routine. I am pretty pleased with our results! :) Eating breakfast so soon after getting out of bed is our biggest hurdle. I know how they feel. I don't like to eat for at least a couple hours after getting out of bed. They start first grade Wednesday and are cautiously excited about it. I really think they'll love it once they get into the swing of things.

On a totally different subject, my devotion this morning was absolutely fantastic. The scripture was the last two chapters of Joshua (maybe not the most profound info available), but the devotion that went along with it was phenomenal and well-timed. It discussed the necessity of depending on God and how our tendency is to depend on ourselves until things get really bad. I see that in myself so often, and it's something I've been making a conscious effort to change. It's amazing (although it shouldn't be surprising) that when I pray prior to beginning anything I have significantly better results than when I wing it until things make a downward spiral and then pray. I've even blogged about it before: Pray first, then act. Back to the devotion, though... It basically stated that as long as things are going great, it's easy to be complacent and lose our dependency on God. It's true. I see it in my own life. So today I'm thankful for all the struggles I have, because although I certainly do not enjoy them, they do improve my dependency on God. It's definitely worth the trouble.

Wild Thing

Does every family have a "wild thing?" In our house it's Doodle. I know, you'd probably never expect that. She puts on a very timid, quiet, well-behaved show, but get to know her and you'll be shocked (and sometimes embarrassed) by what she says and does. She is ornery with a capital O! Having an identical twin doesn't help matters, either. They can create HUGE messes together, but they do it with such innocent smiles...

I took Hanny to the dentist this morning for her first filling (which, incidentally, turned out just fine). When I returned and took her to Meme's house, I traded her in for her slightly younger sister. Doodle rather enjoys being at home by herself (obviously not TOTALLY by herself). We spent time playing Connect Four and Dominoes, which she loved. We also spent time in a wrestling/tickling match. She gets hilarious during these things. The same little demure child who wouldn't think of talking out of turn in public tells me that my breath smells like "skunk and cow poop together" and then settles in with many "big boob" references. I know, I can't believe I'm telling you this either. I'll give her credit though, she is one quick-witted kiddo. She is an absolute hoot! :) It might be best that she only shows this side of herself around our house...

Doodle's Update

Before I take the time to write about our weekend in Branson, I think I'll post about Doodle's trip to the dentist yesterday. On the positive side, he was wonderful with her and is very concerned about making it all a good experience so that she is not scared to go to the dentist (like her mother...) in the future. That's huge, as far as I'm concerned. On the negative side, however, she's going to have lots of practice going to the dentist because she has two root canals/crowns to do along with a few minor cavities to fill and some seals to put on her permanent teeth. She's got a couple thousand dollars worth of dental work to be done. That was a shock, to say the least. I'm just sorry the poor girl ended up with my teeth! Our first appointment to get started on things is set for September 9, but we're on the list to be called if a cancellation should arise. I'm not sure whether to hope for that or not! :)

Bad, Bad News...

So we took the girls to the dentist today. I knew Doodle had a cavity, so I was relatively prepared for the bad news. Well, it's worse than I thought. She is being referred to a pediatric dentist to have the equivalent of a root canal and crown. We have an appointment Monday at 2:00. We hadn't planned to come home from Branson until Monday, but those plans have obviously been changed. I am a nervous wreck - but only on the inside where she can't see it - and am thankful we have a fun weekend planned to keep both our minds off of everything. She's such a nervous kiddo anyway, this isn't going to help that. I've already told her there will be a trip to Toys 'R Us involved. That'll take care of her, but what do I get to convince me that everything is going to be fine? Again, thank goodness for the weekend plans. I'll be taking my Bible with me (I almost always do anyway) to keep me grounded. I have a feeling I'm going to need it.

Hanny also has a cavity but will have it filled Thursday at our dentist's office. She handles things much more calmly, and with it only being a small cavity we thought it would be easier for her to have it done there. Add to that that Gary & I have appointments Wednesday for our dental check-ups, and we'll be spending lots of time (and money) at the dentist. Have I mentioned how much I despise going to the dentist? He's a great guy, but I'd rather see him at Wal-Mart or something. It's just a major hang-up of mine. That doesn't help when it comes to having to take the kiddos to have things done. Do you know how much energy it takes to look calm and collected on the outside while being a ball of nerves ready to throw up on the inside?

There it is. That's the news of the day. We've decided to leave a little earlier than we had planned to go to Branson tomorrow due to the change of plans. We're going to eat lunch down there and do some shopping (Doodle wants a bikini to wear) before we get to the condo. Works for me.

Baldness in the Family...

I really wasn't sure what to title this one. It's another of last weekend's highlights, and one I had to put in writing.

Last Friday afternoon/evening the girls spent the majority of their free time playing with the season's crop of barn cats. During her shower that evening, Hanny asked Meme if they had to wash hair. Here's a recap of the conversation. Hanny's words are in blue, Meme's are in red.

"Yes, we have to wash it. You've been playing with the cats and I don't want you to catch something from them."
"You mean like worms?"
"Well, sometimes you can catch something from them called ringworms that make a circular crusty spot on your skin. If you get them in your hair it can leave a bald spot there."
"You mean like Papa?" (If you don't know Papa, he's totally bald...)
"No, not quite like that..."
"Like Dad?" (If you don't know Dad, he's got a bald spot in the back - not totally bald, just significantly balding there...)
"Well, maybe, but I don't think he had a ringworm."
"Oh."

These little minds are always working and making connections between the things they know and the things they don't quite understand. It's always something! :)

Weekend Update - Episode 1

As for the title, it'll be "Episode 1" if I actually get around to writing another post about the weekend. It'll probably happen, but it won't happen tonight. This will be considered a highlight of the weekend post and one that I've wanted to write since Friday night but couldn't because I couldn't, for the life of me, remember my password. Figures...

We went south Thursday for the weekend. We went to visit Peter to see his new house Friday (we also included a trip to the Mall Deli - YUM!) and got home early that afternoon. But the real story didn't occur until I finally convinced the twinks to at least crawl into the bed Friday night. For lack of anything else to watch, and because I consider it my favorite movie ever, I turned on "Dumb & Dumber." I knew that I would get a chuckle out of it, but I had no idea that the three of us would enjoy it to the extent that we did. I'm relatively certain that we didn't stop laughing to some degree for the hour we were watching it. I have seen it many, many times, but never have I enjoyed it like I did Friday night. For those of you who share my sense of humor (and therefore know exactly what happens throughout this movie), we began watching just before they began singing "Mockingbird." It was a good time to draw the girls in. They loved watching Harry sing and, incidentally, made me find that scene on YouTube Saturday morning. They were full of belly laughs during the scene where they ate the peppers and then put some on the unsuspecting ulcer-sufferer's hamburger. Doodle's favorite line during that part was, "How's your burger?" Who knew those three words could be so funny?! Probably their favorite scene in the hour that we watched, though, was after Lloyd had driven the wrong direction for 5 hours. Harry sat down in the middle of an empty field with a plumber's pants problem, if you know what I mean... I had honestly never really noticed (or had totally forgotten) it before. I'll never forget it now. It was so much fun to spend an hour laughing with those two little goofballs! It was a memory-making evening for all of us. There's just nothing better.