Kids...

I swear I have some of the

craziest

kids around.

They leave me completely

exasperated

on a daily basis.

They also keep life fun

and very exciting.

I love the ages the kids are at...

all the exploration, wonder and freedom.

James is still the wild one in the family.

Oh, how every quiet our

house would be without him!

{and very boring too!}

James is seriously crazy.

and wild.

ans sweet.

and oh, such a two year old!

I love his random kisses several times a day.

I love that he needs to cuddle

every time i sit on the rocker.

I love the deep

love he has for his sisters.

His stubbornness is hard to deal with...

but i know someday it will make him a strong man.

His creativity gets a little much at times...

but i know he will always know how to be resourceful.

His constant bugging his sister is just plain annoying...

I cant come up with a positive for that one!

Lately James has had a thing for taking

a daily bath.

If i tell him no to a bath,

he always smells his arms, wrinkles his nose

and says, 'ewww, stink!'

{he thinks if he can convince me he smells, he will get a bath!}

Gotta love this guy...

Even though he just took a pair of

scissors

to his hair!

Always something with this boy!

And then there is

Elsie Jane...

I don't think Elsie and James

could possibly be more

opposite!

Makes me wonder what kind of

personality Angelina will have!

~

While James is off being wild,

Elsie is being calm,

quiet and creative.

When she is bored she can always be

found curled up

on the chair with a

notebook and a pen...

writing words!
And now reading simple books all on her own!!

Elsie still has a major love

for the Dugger family...

so when I ordered her a new swimsuit

a few weeks ago,

there were tears.

She wants a Modest Wear swimsuit!

{I say no way!}

~

One day she was explaining to me

about how to dress

appropriately...

and that skirts above the knee are not okay...

then her brother walked in

completely naked!

So, see what I mean...

my children are quite

opposite!

~

I am glad though that Elsie has

her own opinions...

I hope she will always be strong

enough to express her

opinions no matter

what others are doing!

For the most part,

Elsie and James have a very

special relationship.

They need each other.

James is lost when Elsie goes on an outing without him.

He sobs if she spends the night away

without him!

On the other hand,

they can fight worse than

cats and dogs!

I swear on a daily basis,

all I do is referee fights!

One day...

James was running naked through the house

chasing his sister with a butter knife,

and Elsie yelled to him...

"you better stop chasing me

or I will cut your penis off with that knife!"

Needless to say,

I did intervene,

took the knife away, put clothes on the boy,

had a talk about having a kind heart towards one another

and sat down to read

some nice quiet stories!

Elsie has become such an

excellent

big sister...

Almost every morning,

it's Elsie's job to put Angelina down for a nap.

Elsie rocks baby while watching

the Brady Bunch

and baby falls right to sleep.

Win, win for all...

baby gets her nap, Elsie gets to watch a show

and I get to put my makeup

on in peace!

For lent this year,

I gave up some of my nightly Internet time...

with the intention of journaling for the kids

in that time instead.

I was sad to discover that I have not kept very good

journals for them.

While the intention of this blog is to be

our Life Journal...

I need to be better about keeping a

handwritten journal for each of the kids.

So, my blog posts might not be

quiet as often.

I usually pre-write all my posts in one evening,

but I might skip a day or two a week

to have more journal time!

{or sewing time!}