"don't let fear control you"

spoken like a true adventurer. with passion. and conviction. his tone of voice was like he had just discovered true freedom. and shared it with those closest to him: brother and sister.

problem: fear of being hurt because you've jumped off the top bunk onto a bean bag is ACTUALLY a healthy fear.

try explaining "healthy fear" after spending so much time and energy saying that Scooby characters are nothing to be afraid of. just people in costume and not really living in our basement.

they may not understand "healthy fear" but, its going to have to be good enough that "Mom said 'no'"

"I never"...

I have definitely stayed up way past my bedtime, but I’ve been thinking about this post for several days.  It all started when I was fishing about 100 cotton swabs out of the toilet…in an effort to not get frustrated with a curious toddler who apparently just wanted to “see what would happen” I thought: “7 years ago I wouldn’t have been doing this” Then I thought of a ton of other things to add to the list.

7 years ago I never…

Had to fish q-tips out of the toilet

Had sand all over my house from kids tracking it in from the backyard sandbox

Had been able to buy so many bananas in one week and not have any go bad

Had to DO SO MUCH LAUNDRY!!

Gotten so many “I love you”’s

Pulled anyone around in a wagon

Found cereal on any of the seats in my vehicle

7 years ago I wouldn’t have needed a mini-van

Recognized stretch marks

Rocked anyone to sleep

Had any little snuggle buddies

Knew what “Backyardigans” were

Had a “playdate”

Needed coffee

Had children’s book laying all over the house

Kept children’s versions of medicines in stock

Needed to keep chemicals above the sink

Used child proofing supplies

Told SuperZeke, MightyJayden, UltraViolet, and AwesomeAJ stories

Owned any hooded towels

Had a problem with household storage

Found toys in the couch

Scrubbed crayon off the wall

Cut sandwiches into shapes

Had jr. sized silverware in the drawer

Owned a single bath-toy

Changed diapers

Received dandelion gifts for tucking behind my ear

Had to hire a babysitter

Bought 4 gallons of milk each week

Needed a giant grocery cart with seats for multiple children

Changed diapers

Cried when I saw sappy jewelry commercials

Got so many empathic looks and comments while shopping

Fixed supper before 6 or 7

Taught anyone to pray

Took more than 10 minutes to load up and leave the house

Had so much stuff to carry around church

Made play-dough 

Scrubbed squashed grapes off the floor under the dining room table

Knew life to be so meaningful

A day in the Sisk-life

 We had made it through the morning and lunch time. Abryhn was in attempting to take a nap and Momma was looking forward to a little respite starting soon.

 Violet started it all...she likes to think she's the baby and I play along in an attempt to not make it worse. When I was finished wrapping her up, Zeke wanted to get a blanket too. And Jayden had to join in. When all my burritos were wrapped, they promptly unwrapped themselves and pretended they were butterflies fresh out of their cocoons.

Zeke made me this little ring out of a twisty tie he found on the living room floor. Talk about killing with kindness. I had just hollered because nobody-would-stay-still-and-read-on-the-couch-so-mom-could-have-quiet-without-having-to-banish-them-to-their-room-since-Violet-was-already-banished-to-their-joint-room-and-besides-the-baby-was-sleeping.
And then up walks Zeke. with a sweet little gift. and a sweet little voice saying "I made this for you!" I hope I never forget this.

Once I got Zeke launched outside to play, I started working on snack.  I had clipped a recipe for a healthy snack from the paper. I thought it was a make-your-own-crackers thing.  It turned out to be baking powder biscuits with shredded cheese mixed into the dough and an excellent idea for rolling them out really thin, then twisting them. I made a double batch so I put the second half in the freezer for later. These will be great as breadsticks, maybe even with a little garlic salt and extra butter. OR! put cinnamon and sugar in them instead of cheese and bake them for breakfast! YUM!

 Violet took a nap while she was banished to her room, but not before playing a little dress up.  I'm not sure she has ever worn the same outfit all day. Atleast she left her initial clothes (including diaper) on under today's concoction. I peeked on her while she was sleeping and noticed the dressy dress she had gotten on. It wasn't until she got out of bed that i realized she had a swimming life jacket on underneath. When she came out to the kitchen I playfully suggested she put on her purple tu-tu and she went for it! So, in this photo she is demonstrating a different implentation for the idea of layering in cold weather. Sweat shirt and pants, life jacket, purple tu-tu, and dressy dress. Nice.

A short time later, she came back to the kitchen and said "I'm ready to go swimming!" Well, instead of the lifejacket, she had gotten into the swimming suit drawer. Yesterday, she wore her brother's trunks around so I guess its an improvement that she put on her own suit. With coordinating socks no less! (Albeit, different socks than she was wearing earlier...and different than the ones on her at bed time come to think of it) Now that they're all in bed, I've gathered up all the stray clothing, and tomorrow will hopefully (and probably in vain) put it back where it belongs so I won't run clean clothes through the laundry.



Its Wednesday, so a long day for Chris. I had everybody in bed by the time he got home. When he came in the door with the Frosty and french fries I requested as an attempt at recovering from the day, he also brought the mail...a box with MY name on it! No return address, but the postage was from Wentzville...hmmm. I wasn't expecting anything. What?!? Dost my eyes deceive me? CHOCOLATE! and other sugary treats. AHHhhhhh! It was a sweet surprise reminiscent of the bygone era of college care packages. Thanks Mom and Dad.

Someday...

I want to have enough apples and strawberries on the shelves/in the freezer to last ALL YEAR!

So, this year I'm going to plant strawberries and 2 apple trees...a jonathon and a golden delicious

YUM!