a pocket full of rye and then some

We have a gigantic map on our dining room wall. It is the topic of many dinner conversations, tonight included. After answering many "Is this a country or a state?" questions, the kids noticed that Russia was rather large. This got us discussing how a country's size doesn't always match how powerful and rich it is.

"Mom, does the United States of America have a lot of money?"

"Yes, we're considered a rich country and that's one of the main reasons we're so powerful."

"Is England rich?"

"Yes, England is considered one of the rich countries."

"...and portable!"

"What? Portable?"

"Yeah, it is so small you could just drop it in your pocket."


Kids...Where do they come up with this stuff?

God, Himself, would want some

Biscuits and gravy is my most favoritest breakfast on the planet. With that as a base, you can take it for granted that we love biscuits and gravy in this house. LOVE it. I make it about once or twice a month for specials. (kids term) Today was one of those days. We had gone to the pool at 8am (no need for sunblock, the pool water hasn't heated up to a simmer yet, and the only other soul we see there is Mr. Bill  from Long Island on occasion). Soooo, we were there and my oldest jumps in and almost immediately jumps back out again. It was along the lines of watching a jump in rewind it was so impressive.

Apparently a snake of unknown venom-capacity had decided that he loved the pool in the morning as well. After chasing him around with the long hook thing that you use to pull drowned people to safety, I finally managed to flip him out and crush his head with the handle. I'm usually not one to kill snakes, especially when I'm not sure they're poisonous. They are highly beneficial animals, buuuuuut I couldn't run the risk of him finding his way to my little one year-old's chubby little foot. Not when we've got water moccasins, diamond backs and coral snakes to deal with here. Sorry snake. All of this to say that our normally fun time was a bit overshadowed with tension. Every shadow now had to be investigated and "ok'd" by mom.

On our walk back we talked about what to have for breakfast and we all agreed on biscuits and gravy. It was just that kind of day. My oldest took his first bite and after the unavoidable "Mmmmmmm!" he said, "Mom, this is Heaven's Breakfast."

I couldn't agree more.

oh, the possibilities...

My kids are in the back of the Sienna one-upping each other on "What God could do if He wanted to."

"You could grow to be as tall as a tree if God wanted you to."

"You could shoot fireballs out your hands if God wanted you to."

My youngest son, Tank, not to be outdone, pipes in, "You could live to be a million but still be a baby and learn to say "hello" if God wanted you to, and grow a beard."

Silence.
Then eruptions of laughter.
Hmmmm, methinks we've got a winner.

Jokers Wild.

PCPops: Mommy, everyone wants the Joker in Go Fish.
Me: Why?
PCPops: Because we love little men riding bicycles.

Of course. Why would a kid love a card for anything other than aesthetic reasons? Wait a minute, do you even use Jokers in Go Fish?

Anatomical discrepencies...or not

PCPops comes walking up to me..."Mom! These are my kidneys." (pointing to her knees)

I'm just about to correct her when she says, "I'm a kid and these are my knees. Kid knees!"

Oh the pun of it!

Night of the Doughnut

8 kids + 2 types of melted chocolate + powdered sugar + sprinkles + dozens of doughnuts = one messy, fun and delicious time

When Dug was traveling, I decided (I still have no idea why) to have our friends come over and eat doughnuts with us. Don't get me wrong, it was super-duper yummy and way too much fun, but I was sweeping multicolored sprinkles off my kitchen floor for weeks!

In this picture, you'll notice Dodge has apparently become side-tracked from his job. Yashel is more nose-to-the-grindstone while still enjoying a mouthful of freshly deep-fried yumminess.

PCPops and Woozy aren't quite as careful as their siblings. I think their plan goes something like this: one finger of chocolate spread on doughnut...one for my tummy...one for the doughnut...

If Fuzzy Bee wasn't so covered in chocolate, you'd think he was posing for the children's version of GQ.

Realizing there's no prettifying a powdered-sugar-face, Scoochy fully embraces her inner doughnut monster.

Sally, my co-conspirator, enjoying the fruits of our labor. (Actually the labor part -i.e. cleanup- hasn't even started yet in this picture.)

PC Pops and the sixth year.

Princess Cutie Pops turned six on her last birthday. (Which just happened to be four months ago in December, but you'll forgive me right?)

I don't know if a birthday girl could look cuter.