“May be Vader someday later - now he's just a small fry”

On cleaning days, I like to crank up the tunes! The louder and faster the song, the harder and faster I work. Dustin has proven himself a great D.J. when it comes to knowing which songs will get us all working faster. (His knowledge of bands and all their songs is staggering!) He queues them up and the girls and I head in our separate directions to get to work. All seems to be going well as I rush through the bathrooms at break-neck speed, until I hear loud peals of laughter coming from upstairs. “Oh, no, no No!” There is no time for messing around! We are on a tight schedule today and I can’t have the girls slacking. I take the stairs two at a time to deliver my stern warning but what do I encounter? Ellie, red-faced and belly laughing squeaks, “Play it again dad, please!” Lainie, nodding her head in agreement exclaims “This is gold, pure gold!” Dustin turns to me with a twinkle of pride in his eye (looking as if he’s just bestowed the secret of eternal happiness on our beloved offspring) and explains, “Oh, the sheer genius of Weird Al!”

'cuz you lub dem!

This handful of gorgeous strawberries was a peace offering from Jace. I had repeatedly told him to stay out of the mud and he had repeatedly chosen to ignore me. He is a smart boy, much smarter than he may appear at times, and he knows how much I love strawberries. So as to avoid a "time-out" he grabbed some berries and proceeded to explain that the mud all over his pants was really from picking strawberries "special for you mom, cuz you lub dem so, so much!" How can I be mad at that? It's true, I love strawberries! I love running out to pick a few to put on top of my morning cereal. I love to eat them when I take a break from playing with the kids in the backyard. (We just sit out in the sunshine and fill our bellies full of those juicy berries.) They are my reward when I've finished weeding the flower beds but my most favorite thing is strawberry freezer jam! It's like a scoop of decadent ice cream melting on top of a hot, buttered piece of toast! Divine!! When I was taking my first Lamaze class, the instructor asked us to picture one of our most favorite and strongest memories to focus on during labor. Mine included strawberries! It was a bright summer morning and Sarah and I were out to Grandma Steel's (in Plano) picking berries. I can still feel the sun on our heads, smell the musk of that gritty, black sand and see our hands covered in that sweet red juice! Oh yes, I lub dem!