It's a beautiful morning here at the troops.

There is so much "ugly" going on in our nation and in the world right now. It's hard for me to not get discouraged thinking about what the future holds.

Those of us who believe in God and in a limited government and free enterprise are a minority.

On the horizon we see greater taxation, more powerful government and limited freedom - the very things our forefathers fought to free us from.

And as if that's not enough, it's Halloween today. We don't "do" Halloween at the troops. But you can't go in Wal-mart or anywhere else without being exposed to it.

For me, it's enough that everything about it is dark and frightening - so opposite of the Light of the World, who is Christ Jesus.

Phl 4:8
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Jhn 12:46
I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.

Rom 13:12
The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.

2Cr 6:14
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

Eph 5:8For ye were sometimes darkness, but now [are ye] light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

I'm so grateful for the beauty of creation that the Lord gives us. It's His reminder to us of His nature, His beauty, His great love for us.


May the Lord grant you His wisdom, His angels to watch over you and may he give you the grace to be His light in a dark and dying world.

Name that Smell

One of the greater challenges of my life is all of the odors that accompany eight children.

It all starts with diapers of various smells and consistencies when they are babies. Through the years it progresses to the "boy" smells that seem to permeate walls, carpets and entire rooms! This year we've added an entirely new smell to the mix - football gear. Fortunately, it has a new home in the garage.

I'm known to deal with this some what patiently - to a point. Then I lose it completely, strip all of the beds and run them through a hot wash, Febreeze the mattresses and carpets and FORCE my three young men to pull everything out from under the beds and dressers because that smell HAS to be coming from somewhere! Usually it's not anything particular, but the room looks great afterwards.

The girls have their own unique smells, as well. Fingernail polish, paints and markers, lotions and lip glosses, gum and mints. Although annoying, not nearly as repulsive.

For about three days, I've noticed a peculiar odor in the room that my three young daughters share. Truthfully, I haven't done a lot of searching for the source. There's been some kind of Bitty Baby/Polly Pocket convention going on in there and I was scared to look. I did take out the trash, but the smell was still there.

Today, my nephew came for lunch and playing after BSF with Grandmother. He and two of the girls (one home from school because of a fever yesterday) were playing in the girls' room. SO, I thought, perfect time for some sorting, putting away and general junk organizing.

Looking for shapes that fit in Bitty Baby's high chair (we only have two out of five, for some strange reason), I made a swipe under the dresser. To my amazement, out came a baby jar filled with blue liquid, sand and some kind of fish (I don't want to know). And the smell? The exact odor I'd been searching for for three days.

Ah Ha! (It was Daughter #7's from Sunday school)

Another mystery solved. I'm so glad I found it BEFORE I took all of the sheets off - those bunk beds are a pain to re-make!

Food Friday

So it's Friday. And with all of the election garbage going on (Yes, I said garbage.  And I mean it.), it seemed appropriate to post a delicious, decadent and comforting CHOCOLATE recipe. Yee haw!

A couple of weeks ago, we had my Grandma over for dinner. It was her 89th birthday. She's amazing! In planning the dinner, I pulled out a recipe from a local magazine to make for dessert. It is low-sugar and reduced-fat, so it seemed like a good choice. She can't have much sugar, I don't need the fat. HA!

Here is the cast of ingredients. The original recipe called for a chocolate graham cracker crust, but I couldn't find those anywhere (read: Target or Wal-mart), so I went with an Oreo crust. I'm sure it was an improvement!

I'm not sure why the cream cheese isn't in the picture.  Must have been in the fridge.  Sorry.

First, we'll make the crust. WAY easier with a food processor like this:

Now, you could certainly do this with a Ziploc baggie and rolling pin. But this is SO easy!

Then we mix in some melted butter (the Oreos really NEED that, of course) and pat it into a greased springform pan. 

The filling comes next. You start by creaming the cream cheese and slowly adding in the sugar substitute. Today we're using Splenda, but you could use the real thing, too.

The eggs go in, one at a time and then the sour cream and vanilla. It's already looking yummy, don't you think?

So next, we have to make this a CHOCOLATE cheesecake (did I hear an "Amen"?). We'll start by melting our semi-sweet chips in the microwave.  You want to be careful to not melt it very long at a time.  The first one I made (don't ask!), the chocolate was a bit bitter - I think I over cooked it.  So this time I was more patient.  After 25 seconds, they look like this:

I thought about taking a picture of them IN the actual microwave, but I would be humiliated beyond belief. I mean it's GROSS, People. I'm embarrassed by that. So instead, while we're waiting for those to melt, would you like to see my spice cabinet, instead? Rather respectable, don't you think?

Note:  I'm just so THRILLED that the former owners of this house didn't just confine the green to the Formica counter tops.  They painted the insides of the cabinets, too!  Thank you, Former Owners!  I'll think of you when I someday get motivated to paint them WHITE and have to take every thing out and practice strange arm tangling positions to paint them.  In about 10 years.  Or when all my children are grown.  Or never.

But back to our chocolate.  Just keep melting for 15-20 seconds, stirring between times.  Here's our chocolate, all melted and creamy and good. My mouth is watering just looking at it!

We're going to add this to our cream cheese mixture. Then we'll have a chocolate cream cheese mixture. Mmmmmmmm.

This goes into our springform pan on top of our Oreo crumb crust. Spread it around a bit and it will look like this:

And although I should have mentioned it earlier, if you're anything like me, you better have some of this on hand to keep you occupied so that you don't eat all of the chocolate chips, Oreos or batter in the process.

I feel better, already!

Now the beautiful deliciousness has to bake. Unfortunately for quite some time. About an hour.

At least my oven is clean! Whew.  You can see I wrapped some foil around the bottom of the pan.  The first one I made dripped a bit on the oven.  Hence the clean oven.  Don't tell me you thought it was ALWAYS clean?  HA!

Now it has to cool for quite some time.  Over night is good.  I made it in the morning to serve that night and it was fine.  It just needs a bit of something, though.

So let's melt some more of those semi-sweet chips in the microwave.  And I'm sure you know this little trick, but if you want an easy way to decorate, just use a Ziploc bag (you can do this with buttercream frosting, too).  Put your topping in the bag, get as much of the air out as you can, seal, and cut the very bottom corner off, making a 1/4 inch opening.

Then you just use it like a pastry bag to decorate.  You can just throw it away when you're done!

Doesn't it look pretty?

But wait a minute!  You can't have JUST Chocolate Cheesecake!  You have to have dinner first.  How about some hot lasagna and crusty whole wheat bread?

I think we need a closer look, don't you?

MMMMMmmmmmm.  Now we just throw together a salad and we're good to go.  I didn't take a picture of the salad.  Oh well.

Looks like we're ready for Grandma.  The table is all set. . . 

But wait. . . that's not enough seats!

Oh.  There they are!  Keeps things from getting so crowded in the dining room.

After dinner, look what's for dessert!

Enjoy!

Light Chocolate Cheesecake

Crust:

1 C Oreo cookie crumbs (I used reduced fat)

2-3 T melted butter

Fold crumbs and butter together until mixed thoroughly.  Grease interior of nine-inch springform pan.  Pat bottom of pan with crumb mixture.  Set aside.

Filling:

3 - 8 oz packages low-fat cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 C Spenda

3 eggs

1 C light sour cream

1 t vanilla extract

12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate

Beat cream cheese in mixer and gradually add Splenda.  Add eggs, one at a time and continue mixing.  Add sour cream and vanilla and mix.  In microwave, melt chocolate, stirring frequently.  Fold melted chocolate into cream cheese batter, scraping down sides of bowl.  Pour batter into pan and bake 55-60 minutes at 350.  Cool completely, then remove from pan to a serving dish.  Refrigerate overnight or several hours.

Topping:

Melted chocolate drizzled over top

Fresh raspberries.

Happy Friday!!

Thankful Thursday

The weeks? They fly!

But it's Thursday, again, and I can't let the day go by without telling you how thankful I am! In no particular order. . .

~Healthy kids. So nice and so appreciated!

~Friends, Fellowship, Food and Happy Kids! We had dinner with the Zimm's Zoo last night and what FUN! Very brave of them to invite our family of ten. We had a wonderful time, good food and the kids played so well together. Thanks, Zimms!

~My Grandfather. He turned 95 two weeks ago and is nearing the end of his earthly life. I'm so grateful that he knows the Lord, has served Him faithfully all his life. He is such a blessing to our family. I'd appreciate your prayers for him and our family.

~Fall. I love Fall. Don't you? The crisp air, the falling leaves. It's delightful. Busy, but delightful.

~Clothes - as in seasonal. As in all sorted and switched out for Winter. As in my least favorite job in the world. As in DONE!

~The last week of Jr. High football. We've had fun, but we're tired. And we get a short break before basketball starts! Although I have a feeling that it may be even more hectic -at least I'll have the Coach to help out.

~Family. Parents who love us. Siblings to spend time with. Cousins for the kids to have as their best friends. I know we are abundantly blessed in this category and I don't want to forget that. And so much family so close by! All of our grandparents, parents and 9 of 11 siblings are nearby. That's a lot of fun!

~New Shoes! (and you thought all of these would be deep! HA!) I've fallen in love with these.

~Treadmill and MP3 player. We are becoming fast friends. And it's about time! Little Dude is 19 months old - it's taken awhile to get back to "normal".

~A niece who brings my kids home from school sometimes. Yeah! Like today! There's nothing like a whole day at home. Ahhhhhh.

~Laundry that is all caught up. I should take a picture of THAT!

Happy Thursday!

Be sure and leave me a comment to tell me what YOU are thankful for!

How the Coach Won My Heart - Part 8

If you are just joining us, you can read the previous chapters here.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He'd done it. He'd asked me to marry him. After 3 weeks of courtship. Just when I thought I'd figured out that there was no way for us to be engaged anytime soon.

I was very surprised.

OH. And I said yes. Actually, I think I kind of hollered "YES!"

Of course. I had been waiting to hear those words since I was a little girl. To be loved by this amazing guy. The blessing of our families made it sweeter, still.

There was no embrace, no kiss. He had made a commitment to wait until his wedding to kiss his bride. And we weren't there, yet. In spite of the fact that I had dreamed it that way, it was a beautiful moment, nonetheless.

I was still in shock as he sat back down beside me, while we looked more carefully at the ring he had place on my finger. It was beautiful. I was amazed.

And then, before I had a chance to catch my breath, he said, "I've been thinking about a date. How about December 17th?"

I think that surprised me even more than the actual proposal. After all, when he asked me to marry him, I just immediately assumed he had changed his mind about the long engagement. But THIS? THIS date? It was only eight and a half weeks away.

Eight weeks. To plan a wedding. To find a place to live. That wasn't a lot of time. And a DRESS! Oh my!

We only had a few more minutes to talk alone before all of the family started showing up. First my parents, back from dinner I'm not sure they ate. Then his parents, younger brother and little sister arrived. Soon after, my brother and sister-in-law and baby nephew. It was a party! All wanting to see the ring, all asking if we'd talked about a date. I said (not believing it when I heard myself speak), "December 17th." As if I'd really had time to think about it.

The truth was, I had no idea when it actually was or how it would work out. But I had said yes to the Coach. And if he had wanted me to marry him the next day, I would have.

He had thought about it. He'd thought about his classes, his basketball team, his Christmas break from school. If we married that particular weekend, he'd only miss a couple of days of work. We could have a one week honeymoon and be back for Christmas. Then a week to settle in before school started, again. He had it planned perfectly. I, on the other hand, had no clue. But it sounded just fine. And truthfully, I didn't care. All I knew was that I wanted to be his wife.

We all sat around in the living room, he and I beaming, the family asking questions. We sat close together, but not holding hands. The phone began to ring as those who knew "it" was going to happen started to call. The news was shared all around with lots of laughter and a few tears.

I couldn't believe it.

We were getting married! I didn't know him well, really. We hadn't spent a lot of time together or talked through every subject and what we thought about it. I didn't know his likes and dislikes, what his favorite meal was, his favorite song or much about his childhood or college years.

But I knew he was the one.

We had followed the Lord and walked through the open doors with the blessing of our families.

I had never been more sure of anything.

Because I'm starting to realize that this won't last forever.

Something changes when you're oldest child is on the threshold of his teenage years.

I know, now, that they won't actually stay little. After all, he's taller than I am.

They won't always need me to do everything for them.

Or to tuck them in every night.

And someday, they won't be living here anymore. Or all be around the table with us.

Maybe it's on my mind because I sorted thought EVERY PIECE of their clothing last weekend. And put away some things that are too small for everyone in our house.

Which makes me sad.

But then there are mornings like Friday, when the kids were out of school. When everyone wants to cook breakfast - instead of our usual cereal. And 18 scrambled eggs, a loaf of bread, toasted, a bag of bagels and 40 slices of bacon later, we were sitting down to breakfast. Oh. And hot chocolate. I forgot the hot chocolate.

Being together. Laughing. Having fun.

And yes, lots of trips to the grocery store.

But moments like these find my heart filled with gratefulness and joy. And maybe a little sadness that it won't last forever.

Life is good.

Betcha Didn't Know. . .

The other day I was walking on the treadmill while Baby Boy, uh, I mean, Little Dude, was taking his morning nap. Daughter #7 was coloring at the table in the sunroom with me. She was talking non-stop, while I half paid attention.

Finally she came over to the side of the treadmill and said, "Mom! When you're done treadmilling, can you get me some apple juice?"

Treadmilling? I thought I was sweating profusely and trying to breathe while focusing intently on losing this baby weight (the "baby" is 19 months old, by the way), walking my way to 4 miles.

Why not walk outside, you say? Well, I love walking outside. But not if I have to push a double stroller with an incessantly talking four year old and a 19 month old boy. And not early in the morning (my usual time on the treadmill), when it's pitch black, cold, and too, too quiet in our wooded neighborhood where most people own big dogs. No siree.

I like treadmilling better.

Thankful Thursday - Extreme Home Makeover Edition

Are you ready?

Because I have something AMAZING to show you! I'm thankful for so much today, but I've been wanting to show you our NEW master bedroom. It's finally done. Well, I still have one pillow to make, but I'm calling it done.

I know you're excited!

Or, at least, you will be! Here's what our bedroom looked like before:

Please don't email and tell me how awful it looks. First of all, the bedding looked just fine in our first two homes. With white walls. And secondly, I had to get these pictures taken while sorting Summer clothes for the boys. Ugh. It's not usually a MESS like this.

For about two years, I had been looking for new bedding that I liked. Problem was, I couldn't find anything. You won't be surprised to know that I wanted it to be red. Duh. But Coach was adamant that we could have nothing with flowers. Have you ever seen red bedding without flowers? Besides that, I'm a pretty simple kind of girl. I don't like formal (we have eight children, for heaven's sake) or fancy (have I mentioned that I married a football coach?). Classic, is more my style. Impossible to find.

Sometime during the Spring, I found a picture in a magazine that I LOVED. But it was WAY too expensive for my budget. Did I say budget? More like "what food can we do without so that I can buy a new comforter?" Anyway, I loved it, so I decided I'd look into buying the quilt and making the dust-ruffle and drapery panels. I began fabric shopping.

Yeah, I had lost my mind.

Then my Nana found another magazine with a similar print and it was much cheaper then the first one I saw. I debated, tried to think how I could justify it, etc.

Right about then, my Mom called. Said she and Dad would like to get us the new bedding for my birthday! Wow. It still makes me smile, every time I see it. I'm sure she was thinking she'd rather buy the bedding than care for my eight children after I went completely crazy while sewing. Thanks, Mom!

It wasn't just the bedding, though. Check OUT that wallpaper. What were they thinking? I'm not really sure, but it was awful. The whole bathroom and shower area had it, too. Whew.

So we stripped wallpaper, textured, painted, took up the carpet in the bathroom and put tile down. I painted our brass candlestick lamps RED (of course) and our mirror frame (in the bath) BROWN. Got a couple of new shades. Made a new cover for our side table. And a new picture over the bed finished it off.

I'm so very happy with it. Enjoy:

And that, my Friends, is a WHOLE lot to be thankful for.

How the Coach Won My Heart - Part 7

As those of you who come around rather often know, I've been working for some time on documenting the story of How the Coach Won My Heart. For about a year. Seriously - quiet moments are few and far between at the Troops. And my memory? Not so good.

However, at the moment, over at Owlhaven, there's a lot of love story posting going on. How fun! You can find many of them here.

If you haven't read the beginning of our story, start with Part 1, here. And in the meantime. . .


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

. . . our courtship began. As defined by our parents, this time was for us to get to know one another, with the end goal being marriage. We spent time together with each other's families. The Coach took me to meet his grandparents, we spent time with our siblings and their families and I went to football games! Of course, the Coach was. . . well, coaching them. But I sat with his family, met their friends at school, watched his little brother play football. Such a fun time. We had a lot of questions from people about "courtship", but we weren't following any steps or some kind of plan. We were just following the Lord's leading, under our parent's authority and with their blessing and counsel. It was amazing.

And hard.

There were a lot of things we didn't say to each other. Purposely. But I wanted to. In just a few short days I had already began to realize that I was beginning to love him. I didn't SAY that, of course, but I began to feel it. It caught me off guard, really, that it happened so fast.

I suppose it was a long time coming, though. Watching him in church all of those months. Knowing he was meeting with my dad (and impressing him!). Knowing that he cared for me at some level during that time. Getting to know his family and loving them, too. My love for him was coming quickly, but it was months in the making.

Except now, we could actually sit together in church, talk on the phone, spend more time together. Reservedly, of course. But it was fun to actually be able to admit that something was going on. That we were heading in some sort of direction together. To look at him and not look away when he met my gaze. To hear him say that he enjoyed being with me, that I looked nice. Things that made my heart began to give way.

In conversation with my parents, friends and some of his family, it began to be discussed that as a teacher, it would probably be Summer before we could marry. The Coach and I never talked about this, but we talked about it with others. It was early October. Summer seemed a LONG way away. We had set very high standards for our relationship (we hadn't even held hands) and it seemed impossible for it to go on that long.

However, after two weeks I began to accept the fact that Summer it would be. After all, Christmas was the only other time he would be off - and it was too close. I knew he wouldn't tell me he loved me until he asked me to marry him (and it was getting harder and harder NOT to say it). I knew he didn't want a long engagement. We were having fun and enjoying the time together. But it was growing into something more.

The Coach had been telling his students (5 classes worth of high school kids) all about me. Telling them about meeting with my dad, our courtship, etc. He even did a bonus question on a geometry quiz that asked what my name was! I think there were a few heart broken high school girls - he was quite a catch!

Two weeks after our courtship began, the Coach invited me to have lunch with him after church. Usually he came to lunch with my parents and me, so this was a strange invitation. As of yet, we hadn't gone anywhere "alone". We either went with others or met other people somewhere. Never just us.

I remember exactly where we went (it's not there, anymore) and even what we both had to eat. We talked about all kinds of things. Football (that meant something - if I'd only known! HA!), our families. He told me this whole experience had really been amazing for him. It was sweet. He took me home with the plan of having dinner together (alone) at my house the next Wednesday. During football season, Wednesday is the only night they get out a bit earlier and don't have a game (to allow the kids to go to church), so it made sense. I was going to cook dinner for us. Whew!

We didn't talk every day. I know that seems amazing in today's world, but we didn't have cell phones, he worked all day and coached until early evening. Two nights each week he had football games and sometimes we'd talk after that. But we spent relatively little time on the phone. His mother was right there (he lived at home) and would tell him it was time to get off the phone. She always said if you talk long enough you'll say something you shouldn't. It definitely made us cautious. I'm so grateful for that, now.

He came to dinner that Wednesday with his very first gifts for me. 6 red roses. Beautiful! A CD of the soundtrack from "Last of the Mohicans." A movie he liked and music we had listened to in his car. For the first time, I fixed dinner for us. I think it was grilled chicken, salad, something like that. It was simple. And I thought, tasted good.

But he hardly ate! I couldn't believe it. And before I really had a chance to finish, either, he wanted to go sit on the back porch. Odd.

We sat down on the porch swing (the one we had made a habit of sitting in and talking on Sunday afternoons) and he began to talk. He told me about what led to that "first call" he made to my dad. His shock when my dad told him he really couldn't get to know me until he was sure I was "the one" (what he must have thought!). About the studies he did all those months with Daddy and seeing me at church. About time with each other's families. About our courtship and how God led every step of the way and gave peace.

And then he said he had to go get something out of the car for me.

When he came back, he had a large (8 1/2" by 11") sized card. He handed it to me and I opened it.

Inside it had three words.

"I love you."

My heart stopped. I knew he wouldn't say that unless it was followed with. . .

And then he was down on one knee, in front of me, holding out a beautiful diamond ring and asking me those amazing, unbelievable words.

"Will you marry me?"

14 years ago. Today.

I hear you!

What? What's that you say?

You'd like to read the next installment of How the Coach Won My Heart?

You would?

Are you sure?



Well. OK.

Look for it very soon. Maybe even later today. I'm working on it right now and wishing the Coach were here so I could kiss him. I certainly didn't back then!

What a guy!

See you soon - if I can pull myself away from the journal and scrapbook to finish writing it.

Thankful Thursday

I think I missed Thursday completely, last week.  Was there a Thursday last week?  Because I don't remember it.

OH.  Yes, I do.  Had two kids home with fevers on Thursday and Friday.  That's why I don't remember.  I'm blocking it out.

So much to be thankful for.  I'll start with last week:

1.  Tylenol and Motrin.  I should buy stock.

2.  Repaired cook top.  Special thanks to my Daddy - the electrical engineer extraordinaire - who can replace a switch under my stove WITH a 4 year old granddaughter "helping" and singing in his ear.

3.  Finally getting a ride on the new Harley.  Thanks, Dad!

4.  Good report on both fevers - no strep!

5.  A very productive Saturday - Sam's, Wal-mart and the car wash TWICE.

6.  Quiet Sunday morning, at home, with the sickies.

7.  Everyone healthy and back at school.

8.  Son #1 winning his football game, Tuesday night - you should have seen him!  He made some GREAT blocks and carried the ball THREE times.  Or so I hear.  Try as I might, it's hard to watch the game while watching Baby Boy, I mean, Little Dude, climb up and down the bleachers.

  

9.   Sweet Friends who will give up an evening to come watch a Jr. High football game with us - making all of my kids VERY happy to have their friends there.  Me, too!

10.  A new cheesecake recipe, which I am going to post about, later!  Yum!

11.  Dinner last night with my Grandma and uncle to celebrate her 89th birthday!  There's something about all of the kids sitting there (quietly, even!) listening to Grandma's stories.  Makes me happy!  We love you, Grandma!

12.  Getting a hair cut, yesterday.  Ahhhh.

13.  For some of the most beautiful weather EVER - and for several weeks, now.  It's hard to be grumpy when it's so pretty outside!

14.  For the Coach.  The most kind, content, Lord-loving AND strikingly handsome guy that ever was.  I love that man!  Can't wait to see him in November!  (just kidding)

Happy Thursday!  Be sure and leave me a comment and tell me what YOU are thankful for today!

Pioneers we're not!

Our power went out this morning. Not sure why. No big storm. Just a nice soft rain. Odd.

When our power goes out, everyone starts screaming. Something about all of those Sound Screens, fans and night-lights going out all at once.

It was 5:20.

We almost got everyone settled down before it was time to get up, again, at 6:20.

For the most part, everyone got ready by candlelight. Showers were taken in the dark (thank heavens for gas water heaters!) and everyone ate cereal in the kitchen while I made lunches.

All in all quite the adventure.

However, our garage (where the Coach's car is) is difficult to open without power, so we were trying to figure all of that out, when the electricity came back on!

Everyone was out the door, a bit more tired, but ready to go.

Although I'm pretty sure I'll never get that red wax out of the girl's carpet.

Around here (and I'm sure at your house, too) it's "always something". Good thing the Coach is always telling me, "Embrace the chaos, Sweetie!" - because there is a lot of it.

Happy Monday!

Not intended for this use. . .

Awhile back I showed you our "Baby in a Bucket" - something the older kids found amusing to do to, uh, I mean with Baby Boy.

Then it occurred to me . . . they are always doing something to him. Like this:

And this:

Or this, which occurred when someone (who was older and taller, for heaven's sake) was supposed to be vacuuming.

Then sometimes, he gets himself into predicaments all on his own. Like dumping all of the neatly folded piles of laundry on the floor and then lying down in them.

Or deciding that he's really DONE with his breakfast.

I suppose he'll survive, in spite of it all. Maybe even be more easy going and fun because of it.

Even if they have decided he's too big to be "Baby Boy", anymore. Now they are calling him "Little Dude."

I wonder how much therapy will cost us?