Oops* I Did It Again!!! (AKA the scissor meister)

She did it again (No, I do not listen to Brittany!) Claire has now given herself 3 haircuts. All 3 have been severely bad (Is that an adjective?). She now has a boy cut and has been identified as a boy twice and as Benjamin once since last week. She was initially very embarassed about her cut - but I am not sure that it will stop her from doing it again. Prior to the haircut she had lost her scissor privileges for cutting up something else. I asked her why she cut it. She replied "because Jessie left scissors in my room." Interesting. I have noticed a direct correlation between her haircuts and her professional haircuts. I had just gotten her haircut 4 days before "the incident" where it was finally evened out from her last cut (in March) into a cute bob - oh well - maybe she will look like a girl by next summer. PS: I have gotten several comments on how cute her new cut is - please do not tell her that - I don't want to encourage her!

Festive Fall Photos - Enjoy the Silence

First Day of School

First Day of Preschool!! (Ready at 8 am for school at 12 pm!)

First Day of Allergy Season generally coincides with the first day of school for Wesley - He is so lucky!


Wesley, Jessie, Benjamin, and Lynn - ready for the bus.

Powell Gardens flower photo - you knew you were going to get at least one - I have a lot more if you are missing them!

Apple to climb in the orchard area at Powell Gardens.

Someone could have mentioned the fountain when I packed for the day - I almost sent them in naked - but I assume this is a no no in the big city - so we just took some shoes and shirts off - and then tried to line dry the rest on their bodies.

Benjamin and I at Worlds of Fun (a self portrait) on a ride that spins and make you nauseated. How fun!

These are my extremely smily kids - who said when we got out of the car "Oh no, we have to go look at flowers!" - I think they were actually having a good time (except Jessie-she didn't want to stand in the photo).


The first day of school has come and gone. The first day of school has been the only day since school started in which all of the children got themselves out of bed without assistance. Claire has had 2 days of preschool and was very excited to be in charge of snack for today. Right before school started we took a little mini vacation to Kansas City. We went to Powell Gardens and World's of Fun. The kids had a good time and Kendell and I are paying the price for our respite from work by taking call every other weekend - Oh it is good to be home. We have big plans for the upcoming weekend - I am on call and going to finish up nursing home rounds, then I may deal with my green swimming pool (I have decided that there are not enough chemicals in the world to make my pool clear again - so I am pulling the plug!), and we will find somewhere to put the dumptruck load of mulch that was delivered today while I was gone - Our life is so exciting - Of note - the teenager in our first day of school photo is Lynn - she is our foreign exchange student from Hangzhou, China - she is here until next June. We like her a lot and the kids absolutely LOVE her - Sorry Lynn - you will have no peace and quiet while you are at our house!

Summer Update

Last weekend we hiked a trail around Noblett Lake. I didn't realize just how far 6 miles was when you are hiking with 4 kids through the Ozarks. It is actually quite far. The hike took about 5 hours (I had planned for 2 hours). Claire was able to comfortably take her afternoon nap during the hike - while we carried her up the cliffs and through the streams. Everyone did well (AKA - no one was eaten by a bear, went into renal failure from dehydration since I didn't pack enough water, or started bleeding profusely - since I didn't bring any first aid supplies).



Jessie has lost both of her front teeth in the last 2 weeks - and Claire has learned to ride her bike without training wheels in the last 2 days.



I love the front porch on our house. We have been eating out there fairly frequently. We have not had any bug problems (weird!). If we could keep the rogue kittens off of the table things would be perfect.



The kittens have nearly been loved to death this summer.



In honor of mixing things up a bit I will include a bug photo (rather than my normal flower photo!)



Wesley - Super fisherkid



We have fished at out lake - It isn't really fun to fish there unless you are a child since they catch a fish every 30 seconds or so - so Kendell and I spend the entire time running around freeing fish and installing worms - you are jealous aren't you!

Women of Faith

I attended the Women of Faith conference in St. Louis a couple of weeks ago - It was a phenomenal event - I was so happy I could attend. The last one I was at was 7 years ago. This year I was so excited because the music at the event was Mandisa and Stephen Curtis Chapman, the newest speakers for the year were Lisa Welchel (yes, I am a child of the 80's and wanted to live with the Facts of Life girls!) and the CEO of World Vision (I have a soft spot for orphans - If you couldn't tell). I had such a good time - even though I was forced to stay up well past my normal bedtime by my rowdy roomates - I would encourage all women to go if they have the opportunity - you will not regret it - and I guarantee you will learn something and be very entertained (except by the last speaker - where I fell asleep - because of the aforementioned rowdy roomates keeping me up past my bedtime!). I have included a little video clip for your viewing pleasure - sorry but I am not all that great with the camera - and I only had a 512 mb card and could not record the whole song!!!

"Don't Play With the Ketchup!"

On the way home from vacation we had lunch at a Chili's. Wesley immediately found the squeezy bottle of ketchup and started playing with it. I took it away from him - set it on the table and went back to my conversation. A couple minutes later I hear Wesley say "I shouldn't play with the ketchup." Then - Squirt - And as you can see, he managed to make a mess - even though he thought the lid was shut. A little comic relief is always welcome when you are driving home for 16 hours. We couldn't stop laughing - Thanks, Wesley for making a long day a little more fun!

Dollar Days

We are enjoying a week in Hilton Head, South Carolina. We are riding bikes everywhere and enjoying visiting with the alligators and other assorted wildlife. The kids love the ocean and Jessie is great at the boogey board (?sp). Today we took a boat to Daufuskie Island - we saw lots of Dolphins - and the kids found several sand dollars and a starfish on the beach. We are planning on going to Savannah and having more ocean time this week. We are also having a daily nap and getting some important novel reading done. As you can tell our vacations are full of excitement!!! The pictures today are in black and white - I don't know why - I am sure Claire has managed to adjust my camera settings.