It's a Hard Knock Life....for them.

After much frustration David and I are trying a new form of punishment....Manual Labor. We have tried the spanking thing, time-outs (hahaha!) and taking away "bridge-ledges." None of those seemed to be making a difference in the negative behaviors (AKA: Bedtime battles) we are trying to correct. So last night as I lay those precious girls down to sleep, I threatened them with lots of big, ugly chores if they got out of bed. Well, 10 minutes later we heard pitter patter of 4 little feet into the living room. So they each got one chore added to the list. Over and over again they kept getting up and the list grew and grew.

After breakfast this morning it was time to begin our chores. Tatum got the joy of scrubbing toilets....and she did a pretty good job btw. Eden had to fold clothes and hang them up on the closet....she is our dawdler. :) Anyway, as I am walking down the hall "supervising" the slavehands, I hear the faint sound of singing coming from Eden's room. As I walked closer I was able to make out what she was singing......."It's a hard knock life for us.....It's a hard knock life for us....." It was all I could do to hold my laughter in until I was out of earshot.

We just recently watched to newest version of Annie...not quite as good as the original but still cute nonetheless. My kids were mesmerized by all the singing....and we are a singing family so it just comes naturally. But the orphans really plucked a heart string apparently because they have talked about those "girls that had no home," on several occations.

I guess my kids have it rough....or so they say.....but maybe they will stay in bed at night now.

Just call me Ms. Hannigan!!!

The English Language According to Tatum and Eden

I have been trying to compile a list of "cuteness" words that my kids have made up. I think I might have enough to make a post worth while.

"Pepper Coke" : This is probably not too hard to figure out. The funny thing is now David and I

Refer to Dr. Pepper as "pepper coke." (Courtesy of Tatum)

"Chicken Land": This refers to one of our favorite places to eat.....Kentucky Fried Chicken.

(Courtesy of Tatum)

"Glittering" : What you are doing when you throw trash (or cigarettes) out your window.

(Courtesy of Eden)

"Bridge-ledges": This is what is taken away when you don't finish your chores or throw a fit.

(Courtesy of Tatum....while "lecturing" Eden on the importance of cleaning.)

"Chunk-a-cheese": Again, not to hard to figure out. My favorite is when they refer to "Chunk"

himself. :) (They both use this one!)

""Puter": This is the computer. Favorite website is "nockin".com (Noggin).

(Tatum again.)

"Boobie-Bathingsuit": This is any bathing suit that has either a triangle-shaped top or a bikini.

We are pretty strict on bathing suits.....easy to say no now, than when

they are 16 and wanting to prance around in a string! :) This is great until

we are around other children who are allowed to wear such "boobie suits"

to swim....it can get embarrassing when my kids point it out. (Tatum!!)

"Favrick": This is what I use to make purses, drapes and sometimes their clothes! (Fabric)

(Courtesy of Eden.)

"Storm-ado": This is what has had us in hiding on a weekly basis the last 4 months.

(Courtesy of Eden) Actually a pretty accurate name for it! :)

:Hal-ley Dishelle": Our good friends baby girl. Her real name is Hadley Michelle.

(Courtesy of Eden)

"O-gur-rat": This actually has two definitions

1. Yogurt

2. Refers to the cartoon "Rugrats"

"to-ma-to": (Imagine in a very British accent) You guessed it...the red veggie/fruit that we eat.

(Tatum again.)

"Bammed": This is what happens when you play around at bedtime and fall out of bed...you bam

your head on the dresser.

(They both use it.)

"Mister-sippy": This would be the last state we lived in. (Mississippi...Just in case you didn't

know.) (Tatum again.)

"Lift-gloss": What you put on your lips to make them shiny. (Eden's!)

"Ober-awl": Another two definition word. ( I don't see the similarities at all! :))

1. bra

2. Overalls

"Boppie": The name of Eden's (very sad looking) stuffed rabbit.

"Wessilin Sizzlin": Western Sizzlin (Tatum!)

That's all for now...I will periodically update as new words are added to the repertoire.

What funny names do you have around your house??? Please share!

I almost forgot!!!

Because of the crazy weather we had last Saturday, I almost forgot to write about my Mother's Day. (Again, sorry for no pictures...USB cord is still missing.) But I did add some color with a really neat painting from art.com. :)

Sunday morning, I was greeted by two short, but very cute, girls complete with flowers, cards and mini-cupcakes. (These are my favorite...nevermind there were 24 and I have been trying desperatly to get back to my size 4!!) :) There was a card from the girls that told me how fabulous I was and then David gave me a card that talked to me. The girls found this one rather entertaining because it said the word "poop." Now, why would he give me a card that talks and says "poop" you ask? Well, it was a man giving me permission to take a day to myself and go to the spa...where I can talk to other woman about things other than...you guessed it....POOP! :) So yes, my Mother's Day gift was a trip to Lindsay's spa to get the works! I can't wait. I go on Tuesday! This is the 4th time David has tried to "give" me the spa treatment. However, he never actually paid for the services...just gave me permission. When it came down to it I wouldn't go because we could use the money for something else. (He always got mad at me for it too!) This time he has taken care of all of that, so all I have to do is GO and BE PAMPERED. Ahhhhh........

I am so blessed to have such a wonderful hubby that knows I need a day away to recharge! (Thanks, Lord for sending him my way.)

Death Defying House.....What????

As you have heard, we are in the midst of building a house. (No easy feat for those of you pondering this idea!) Anyhoo, I was googling Craftsman style houses because that is my favorite style of home. I ran across thousands....maybe millions....of wonderful hits. And then I ran across this......

http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/garden/20080403_DESTINY_FEATURE/index.html

This architect couple claims to have designed a home that won't let you die. It is the craziest "thing"....home......I have ever seen. They say that a home is supposed to make you UNcomfortable and therefore make you press on to live longer. To me it looks like something I pay good money to take my kids to for an afternoon of energy burning so they will sleep good that night. But, what do I know! :) I DO know that I prefer flat floors and a normal chairs. And I am a huge fan of color, but maybe not these.

David's New Job.

Now before everyone panics, David is STILL preaching in Choctaw! :) However, he is getting to fulfull one of his dreams. Coaching football. Because of the cut backs in our school system, many of the coaches had to be let go. This left one high school football coach with a lot of work ahead of him. Enter David. He has agreed to help our football coach for the upcoming season. I am excited for him and I know he will LOVE it. Now we have someone we know on the field at the football games. Go Yellowjackets!!!

More "Severe Weather."

I feel like all the posts lately have been about some natural disaster. Well, here is another one. :)

Saturday afternoon, we decided to do our Mother's Day dinner with my mom, because Sunday's are rather difficult in the life of a minister. We went to Searcy to meet up with the rest of the family. We were at Lindsay ( my sister) and Steve's house trying to decide where to eat. After lots of back and forth and no decisions.....it was late so we decided to stay and eat in Searcy. (Partly because the weather was looking a little rough, and we didn't want to drive in it.) We decided to eat at Roma's. As we were finishing up our dinner, David's phone rang. It was our friend, Dale. (If you recall the flood post.....he is the same one who told us about the water! We would be in a world of hurt if not for Dale and his meteorologist skills! :)) Anyway, Dale told David that we should watch the weather because a "tornado like" storm was headed towards Searcy. My dad went out to the car to get his weather scanner so we could keep tabs on the storm. A few minutes later, Dale called back and mentioned that we should be seeking shelter in 4 minutes. Luckily, we had already decided that we needed to go.

When we got out to the cars, my dad told us to follow him. We were headed to Harding's Admin building. It didn't take but 3 minutes to get to Harding, but it seemed like an eternity. When we turned down the road to Harding, there sat 2 funnel clouds in the sky. I promise they weren't 100 yards away. It was then that they bottom fell out of the sky and we could hardly see the road. We DID make it to Harding, but we could already tell the pressure in the air had changed a little.....and the sky was BLACK. ( A little too familiar from the February 5th tornado.)

Needless to say, we hauled it into the basement of the admin building and ended up soaking wet and nauseous. But, okay. Fortunately, no tornadoes touched down in Searcy.

I think that I could handle all the weather issues if it weren't for my kids. They have really taken this weather the hardest. The slightest drizzle or wind, and they are at the door with shoes on ready to head for shelter. I hate that I can't control this for them. Goodness knows I would. I know mine aren't the only ones that are traumatized by the recent storms. My prayer is that God would grant peace to all those children out there who have seen, and lived through, the destruction that is caused by tornadoes.

We are here!!!!

Just a quick post..... we are alive. The tornados that came through hit 10 miles south of us. We haven't been able to get online because lightening hit the computer modem. please pray for those families that lost loved ones. Once again, it has hit (literally) close to home. Clean up still wasn't done from the first tornado, now there are two more to add to it. Thanks for all the concern and prayers! I promise to post a real post later!