oh My!

It has been ashamedly TOO long since I've last posted! And, I have so much to tell!

First, I have become quite a Jane Austen addict. I watch pride & Prejudice as often as possible...with Persuasion, Sense & Sensibility, and Miss Austen's Regrets trailing close behind. And, I cannot wait to write my OWN Story! I've been mulling over several ideas...time period, type of people, story-line, etc. to get a good feel for it...and then will be scouting local competitions once I get a few hundred pages under my wing.

In the meantime, I've been illustrating a children's book, which has been going quite well...and I'm looking forward to seeing it published this year (come Christmas I hope!!) Ad, of course, a few other odd jobs like, working full time, being a mother, cooking, cleaning, organizing, LAUNDRY, you know...just upkeep :)

And as for those lovely kiddies, Romeo LOVES the new LOWE'S that is being built in our town, and each morning on our way to Nana's, he shouts "the Yooooes!!!" We've all come to love & expect his excitement...and when he is somehow distracted by a bug or balloon, his brother will say, "hey Romeo...loook overrr therrre" and then of course, the inevitable happens. THE YOOOOOES!!

And, speaking of Dash, he is dong quite well. His maturity kills me. Some days he can act so grown up I don't know what to do with myself! This past Saturday we went out for a fancy lunch without Wilder...just me & the boys, and they were ANGELS! God was DEFINITELY shining down on our table. Dash even took himself to the bathroom, and returned with washed hands. AND, Romeo ate a FULL BOWL of Egg Drop Soup, a rice ball, chicken, and a fortune cookie! Talk about hungry! And afterward, we had an amazing time at a science museum until daddy could join us for evening fun at yet another restaurant! Talk about a treat! It really was a great day!

And more testimony to how big Dash is getting...he can dress himself, is learning to write his letters, LOVES to tell knock-knock jokes, LOVES to read about animals...mainly dinosaurs and other extinct mammals, and let's not forget matchbox cars (which his daddy especially promotes). As for Romeo...we bought him a weeks worth of big-boy underwear...and it worked the first day. But today, and yesterday, he has decided that underwear is just one step closer to naked or "nakie" as he likes to say. So, back to pull-ups for this week...and we'll try again soon. Another cute thing that Romeo says is "kee-cause" for because. As in, "Romeo, why did you pee in my closet?" "Kee-cause." Niiiice.

Romeo also loves to laugh REALLY REALLY hard...almost like he is crying he laughs so hard. It is a hoot. And he'll put it on too. I'm thinking I need to post a sound byte so you can hear it.

Anyway, I'm going to try & write more often b/c there are so many things they do each day that make me say, "oooh! I should write that down, b/c if I don't, I'll forget!" It is so true. When teaching pre-school at church yesterday, I thought, how could the Israelites possibly forget that God parted the Red Sea and allowed them to safely pass, sparing their lives...yet, we say to each other, "Oh God, if you'll just heal me, I'll tell everyone it was You who did it," and then the next minute we say, "what cancer?" just as the Israelites said, "what Red Sea?" or as I'll soon say, "When were my boys in diapers? I must have missed that." The time passes sooo quickly! Make your 24 hours count today!

Love, Violet <><