Ok, I didn't want to have to do this, but I'm starting to stress/freak out. I'm in charge of crafts for MOPS this year and I've hit a mental block. I need some ideas. Do you have any? Some of the ones I came up with are taking longer to figure out, are harder than I thought or have already been done in the last 2 years. Please, please, PLEASE let me know if you have any craft ideas that are inexpensive ($1-4.00) and quick!!!! I'm desperate!!!!!

Here's what the storm that went through here today did to my indestructable flowers. They are not uprooted, just literally blown sideways! When I bought them I thought they would be just some simple little flowers that would drape over the side of my pot, but to my surprise they completely took over and I had to pull out whatever else I'd planted in the pot with it and move it somewhere else. If you are looking for something that can tolerate lots of sun, heat and doesn't need to be watered regularly, Portulaca is the way to go! It has tons and tons of blooms that come and go daily. I was told that it was a ground cover, but I didn't know this when I bought it. It spreads. Alot! This pot is probably about 14" across and has 4 of the 6 pieces that came in the pack. Just to give you an idea. I know nothing about plants and so I just dove in head first figuring the only way to learn, and remember, is to just do it by myself.

Everyone knows that Christopher has an obbsession with anything and everything truck related. This love has kind of rubbed off on his sister. This is great b/c they love playing together, but I still have to introduce "girly" things just so she knows about them. At lunch today they were making truck horn sounds and pretending to pull to cord, you know, how you tell the truck driver next to you to honk the horn? I sat down to join them and Christopher asks Sophie, "You want to drive a dump truck and I drive an 18-wheeler?" She just keeps honking her horn. Christopher turns to me and tells me what he just asked her and says it will be so fun! We finish eating, they get down to go play and Sophie runs in the room to play trucks with Christopher. He excitedly sits up, puts his arms around her and asks her again, "You want to drive a dump truck and I drive an 18-wheeler?" She immediately responds with, "Uh-huh!!!!!" Big dreams these two.

I'm a little late putting these on here, but I haven't been able to find time to get to it. The first photos are of Christopher and his "truck wash" he created in the backyard. (I feel bad b/c I haven't been posting too many of Brandon's photos on here and they are better than mine!) I was going to put photos from our visit with Aunt Jenny, Uncle Trey and Anne Morgan on Saturday, but none of ours turned out. They came down for the weekend to relax and we were glad b/c that meant we got to see them! Here's the link to their blog so you can see her photos. They are much better than ours. Last, Christopher had so much fun fishing the other night that he wanted Sophie and I to come along. After church on Sunday we had to go to the BX and buy Sophie her first fishing pole. The only one they had was a Barbie one (could thing no boys were shopping for one!) and we got it. She loves it b/c it has flowers on it and right now that's her favorite thing to point out on things. She was really good and could push the button to drop the butterfly "hook" and can even reel it back in. She's had a lot of practice with her big brother's fishing poles. I don't know too many 18 month old little girls that know how to do that. (Sorry for the brag right there, but I'm proud of her!) There were some girls on the pier next to us that caught a crab and they brought it over for our kids to see. They were so sweet and having a blast fishing themselves. One of them caught two fish at once and it was so cute to see her all excited!

Don't lecture me about lying to your kids. We do it with Santa and the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy. So how is this any different? It's been a battle lately with Christopher doing anything I ask. He just looks at me all serious and says "No." I'm working really hard with him and some of it's paying off, but the one thing he doesn't want to do is clean up his toys. And he loves to dump the baskets out, never touch a toy and then walk away. I'm not sure if he's really looking for something or just likes doing that. But I was reading my latest issue of Parents magazine the other day and there was an article about a mom who was also fed up with the clutter on her floor and decided to tell her son about the Pickup Fairy. The other night I was trying to get him to pick up his toys and so I told him about the Clutter Fairy. (I couldn't remember the original name.) His first reaction when you try to tell him something like this, truth or not, he just smiles and says, "noooo" like he doesn't believe you. I started to go into more details, just like the other mom, but the clutter fairy is nice, her's was scary b/c her son likes things that are a little more scary. I told him that it makes her sad when children tell their parents they don't want to clean up and so she figures those children don't appreciate their toys and don't care to play with them anymore. She comes and takes all the toys off the floor and brings them back to her tree house in the woods and plays with the toys for a week and has so much fun! He's sitting there thinking about it and then as serious as he can be says, "Mommy, come help me clean up so the fairy won't take my toys." I said ok and we jumped up getting all the toys off the den floor. As soon as we are done he says, "where'd the clutter fairy go?" Next we went back to his bedroom and I told him we needed to clean that up too and he, out of breath, says, "Hurry Mommy! Where'd the fairy go?" It took all I had to not let him see me laugh. Last night we had the Ramages over for some ice cream since we haven't been able to get together with them for a while and I told them my latest trick. So, when it was time to go, matt asks Christopher about the cleanup fairy and the little guy went running down the hall yelling at William to help him clean up before the fairy comes. We loved it! So, if you think what I'm doing is wrong, just take a second look at your floor and think about how clean mine is and no yelling was involved to get there.

That's me. I apologize for my little rant yesterday. I found out that afternoon why I was feeling so "moody." It explained a lot! Once the kids and I had our naps we were all happier people. Last night was an adventure that I hope to not experience again. We took Brick for a walk and had borrowed a shock collar from a friend. He's done amazingly well on a leash and, like any dog would, he starts to pull when he sees a squirrel or a bird, but never bolts. He likes to creep. He's smart, he doesn't want to frighten them away, he wants to kill them with no warning. No, he hasn't killed anything on our watch, but that's not to say it will never happen in his life. (Focus, focus...) Ok, so we get back from our walk, which was very short b/c you could cut the humidity with a knife and I decided to try the shock collar out on his love to run away. He stayed around for a minute or two, then must have realized he was free and bolted. I took off running. In flip flops. Rubber, cheap, flip flops. With both kids still standing in the driveway. Alone. I don't think I've run that fast since field day in grade school. He typically runs around the three houses closest to us, but yesterday decided to try the house down and across the street. The one with the water behind it. He found our friend Sarah's house and her little dog. They chased each other along the fence. Then he found the water. The one with the tall grass surrounding it so that you can't just get in unless you are a dog. He did a little swimming along the shore, but since I couldn't see him, don't know if he was just walking in the water or submerged in it. (Wendi, if he's ruined your collar we will buy you a new one!) I couldn't reach him and he knew it. He always comes home fairly soon after escaping, so I decided I better run back and check on the kids. I heard Christopher yelling for me, in a "where-did-you-go" kind of way, and thankfully they decided to walk through the backyards to follow me instead of along the sidewalk. I told him to stay there and watch Sophie while I ran back to get the leash. Did I mention that thanks to having children I'm now peeing in my pants a little? Yup. Chasing a dog, losing a flip flop and wetting my pants. Good thing I'm already married b/c nobody would want that! I grab the leash, run back towards the chaos to find Brick all wet and playing with the kids right where I left them. The owner of the house is out with his kids and I just went ahead and introduced myself. Thankfully I knew his wife (he's back from deployment) and she could tell him the crazy lady he met wasn't as crazy as he'd described. I hope. I drag the dog and Sophie, b/c she didn't want to go home either, back to the house and we all take a shower. Well, Brick didn't.

Now, I'm not sure who had it rougher, me or Brandon. He got home about 11:45 last night and I assume ate cereal while watching a little tv (saw the tray and spoon on the counter and pillows on the floor) to unwind and then came to bed after midnight. His pager went off at 3:30 and it was a patient of his that had gone into labor. (They have to deliver a certain number of babies before graduating from residency.) He'd been asleep about 2 hours at this point. He got dressed, left the house and didn't get back until after 8:00 this morning. He said things went really well and fast and everyone did fine, so at least he had that going for him. Glad that prayer I said for them worked. He called Pensacola and didn't have to come in today.

On a side note, I've been wanting to get a new bag (purse sounds old) b/c I don't have to carry loads of diapers and sippy cups and snacks with me everywhere and showed the one I liked to Brandon the other morning. It's a hipster style and yes, I know, you don't see them in fashion magazines or on the red carpet, but I've never been that fashionable anyway. This is how the conversation went:

Me: "I really like this purse."

Brandon: "Don't you have one like that?"

Me: "No." (I really don't. I'd use it if I did!)

Brandon: "Are you sure?"

Me: "Yes. I don't have one like this." (I have 2 purses to my name and I bought one of them when I was pregnant with Sophie.)

Brandon: "Yes you do, it's hanging up."

Me: "You mean the diaper bag hanging on the back door?"

Brandon: "Yeah, that one."

Me: "It's a diaper bag."

Brandon: "So. What's wrong with that?"

The conversation ended and I remembered why I don't share girly thoughts or ideas with my husband. That's what your girlfriends are for.