Caught on 'Film'

I had so many important things I wanted to tell you about in the past few days.

Let's see... on the 19th there was the give away and book review I never posted.

I'll have to get to that one later this week. Maybe tomorrow?



And on the 20th, there was my essay on the importance of reading aloud to your kids. It never got written. I doubt it will, so please take my advice and read aloud to your kids. K? Even if they already know how to read.

Instead of writing this important article, I read aloud to my own kids and we finished 'Carry On, Mr. Bowditch' in the car on the way to a birthday party in College Station yesterday.



We successfully snagged daddy's interest in the book because we had him as a captive audience in our vehicle. He always gives us a hard time about sitting down to read 'as a family'.

"That was a pretty good book," he admitted.



"You know, you really should read more with us. We read a lot of good books." I smiled at him from the passenger seat, wondering how he would respond.



"Oh, I only like navigation and sailing books," he said. (LIAR)



Yeah, right. He's never been sailing and wouldn't know how to navigate to save his life. He just wants a 'get out of jail free' card so he won't have to listen to our next read-aloud if he has something more interesting to do.



You can't fool a woman you have been married to for over 17 years.



He did tell us an interesting story about a guy he worked with in Houston, though. He was a Vietnamese guy that took classes in an American school on navigation in the 1970's in Vietnam. Everyone told him he was crazy to learn it because it really wasn't something he needed to learn for his chosen field of study. Months later, when he ended up fleeing for his life, the only thing that got him on the private boat headed for the states - full of rich Vietnamese people - was the fact that he knew how to sail by the sun, moon and stars.



God doesn't waste even a tiny detail of your life. It's all there for a reason. Each person, each class you take in college, each desire - even the strange obsessions you have with owls, dark chocolate and 3-ring binders. They are all there for a reason.

I'm sure of it.



Like the desire I had in my heart for this little dude. He happened for a reason.



Even though I already had two kids in Junior High... and I am closer to 40 than 20. By how much, I won't divulge. If I told you, I'd have to kill you.



He makes me feel a whole lot younger than I am.



I didn't plan on getting all deep and analytical. I just wanted to share some pictures of my tiniest sweetheart. Because you need more cuteness in your life. And I'm selfless enough to share. With most things, that is. Don't ask me to hand over the Milano Double Dark Chocolate cookies, though. It might get ugly.



He's the main reason I keep skipping days here at my blog. But even if he weren't, I would still use him as an excuse.



I mean, with a face that cute, and a laugh that contagious... it's amazing that I'm able to do anything at all but look at him and play with him 24/7.



Babies tend to do this to people, I hear.

It's kind of like mind control.

Johnson and Johnson Bedtime Baby Bath and Lotion is also a kind of mind control.

Mmmm. Just thinking about it makes me want to go throw the baby in the bath.



If you haven't noticed by now, these photos were all taken in order... during one of the little Viking's silliness episodes. He's such a distraction.



I captured a moment in time - one sunny afternoon, after church, on the couch talking to him. He was playing with his little hairdryer that actually has a working fan in it.

But there are no batteries to make the toy work. That seems to be the case with more than half of his toys.

He doesn't mind.



He was laughing and chatting with me. He kept tripping on his toys and falling down, only to right himself again and laugh.

It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt.

The shot above is when he finally fell and smacked his little chin on my boot. Poor baby.

Can you tell that he almost cried?

He's such a hard-head that he rarely cries when he gets hurt. After he looked at me and I smiled at him - he realized he was going to be OK and didn't cry.

Then he looked at the boot -as if to say, "Why did you hurt me?"



The boot said nothing.



So he was back to his mischievous self again.



Then the bugger started sneaking up on me. I hear babies tend to do that, too.



He had the nerve to try and get my camera. Which wasn't cool.



If anyone could get my camera away from me, it would be this guy.

My heart is mush. My brain, too.

So hard to function when all I want to do is squish on those cheeks.




Quick Links:
Memo From the New Blog Editor
Cilantro-Lime Rice, Chicken Tacos, Guacamole & Black Beans - it's what's for dinner!