Versatility: an admirable quality in friendship

Maddy, our middle child, loves to have somebody to play with. The thing is, she's not real picky about who she plays with or what they play. Any willing soul with a half-way decent idea is just fine with her. She is, what I like to call, a "versatile friend." The following photos will demonstrate her versatility:

Here is Maddy and our friend Ethan. He's 7 and they get along just fine...as long as they're playing Star Wars or pirates as you'll see in the next photo:

Ahoy there, matey.

Here she is after John has made her play some sort of "guard" in a driveway drama he was producing.

Of course, what little girl doesn't like to play princesses? Here she is with a friend in just 2 of the many princess dresses they modeled that day.

Baseball? Even though I'm wearing sandals and a dress? Why of course!

When Art Imitates Life

Be careful what you wish for...

This is our friend Kevin. He has a knack for wearing a hospital gown to parties.

Imagine our shock when we got a call today saying he was at the hospital...wearing none other than an official hospital-grade hospital gown.

Now, before you panic, he's fine now, folks. Don't worry for one minute. Just an allergic reaction to some medicine, but he's going to be discharged this afternoon.

If I were the nurse, I'd be sure to check his bags before he leaves...he's quite liable to come home with a whole new party wardrobe...

First Day of Pre-K

Betcha can't guess what her favorite colors are...

Another year has officially begun. She walked into her class and didn't look back.

Hey! And first place goes to...Pepe Le Pew!

Tonight in the car:

MADDY:
That was freaking me out. [I can't remember the topic of discussion.]

ME:
"Freaking" is not a word that I want you to say, Maddy....bla bla bla...there's lots of words that you'll hear other people say that I'm not a fan of my children saying...for instance, "shut up"...bla bla bla bla....a good rule of thumb would be if you wouldn't say something to Jesus, you shouldn't say it...

JOHN:
Well, there are some words that I know are ok to say that I wouldn't say to Jesus. Like, I wouldn't say "Hey!" to Jesus.

[as a sidenote: John has the textbook "firstborn personality"--very rules-oriented.

ME:
Well, that wouldn't be the worst thing to say to Jesus.....

JOHN:
All I know is that I am not going to say "Hey" to the King of Kings.

Alrighty then...

*****************************
Later that night in the same car ride:

JOHN:
I really want to go to the state fair! I got a free ticket from school today & it looks so fun.

ME:
Bud, we are probably not going to go to the state fair. It's just so hot and all it is are a bunch of expensive carnival rides and smelly animals on display.

JOHN:
They have skunks on display at the state fair?

Various Asundry for September 3, 2008

Song stuck in my head: Magical Mister Mistophiles (CATS)

Most surprising: Seeing the Goodyear blimp AGAIN today flying over Walmart by my house. It's following me.

Most Giggle-worthy: The ease of "making dinner" tonight: pulling a meal out of my freezer from my entree exchange group. I think this means I'm getting old.

Most dreading: Knowing I have to drive to a meeting 35 minutes away during rush hour both tonight and tomorrow night.

Listening to: Maddy sing Alphabet song over and over and over...and then asking me in between "verses" when I can paint her toenails.

Addicted to: Facebook and Goodreads and Diet Coke

Thankful for: My mother-in-law for watching Will while I took Maddy out to lunch and shopping.

Impatient for: hardwood floors and new furniture downstairs

Bored by: this blog entry

Cinderella's Castle: A soap opera

There was a brief period of time last week in which my camera went missing. (You'll notice an absence of blog posts toward the end of the week).

Friday night (the night the Chocolate cake showed up), I mentioned that I wanted to take a picture. Madeline disappears and shows up just moments later with the missing camera. I was so glad to see it that I didn't question what she was doing with it.

Upon downloading the photos later, I discovered that I have a budding photographer under my roof.

She has a Cinderella castle in her room that is home to Troy & Gabriella from High School Musical, Cinderella, Prince, Belle, Prince, Barbie the Island Princess, Strawberry Shortcake, and the nun, Miss Clavel from the story Madeline. I always say that Miss Clavel is the "chaperone" or the house mother. Maddy plays with the castle a lot and always has the dolls arranged "just so".

So, when the camera went missing, I discovered she had decided to document the different moments of the dolls' lives. Here's what she captured on camera. I may provide a bit of commentary for some of the photos. These are just a FEW of the pictures--didn't want to overload your server with the actual amount of photos that she took.

First, you'll notice the self-portrait at the top of the blog entry.

Here's the whole group in two different poses. You'll notice Troy & Gabriella together in the top photo at the top of the staircase, but Troy has taken up with a scantily clad Belle in the photo on the bottom. Take note of Miss Clavel, the nun in the photo on the top as well.

In the photo on the top, Prince seems to be getting a footrub from Belle. Now look in the next photo and Miss Clavel has shown up so they are behaving more appropriately since his feet are now on the floor.

Is a wedding about to take place? The foot-rub couple are posed at the top of the staircase, ready to descend and make an entrance. Miss Clavel is the bridesmaid.

Troy seems to have broken up with Gabriella and is now courting Barbie, the Island Princess. Cinderella is consoling Gabriella in the photo on the top. In the next photo, Cinderella has asked for a moment alone with Troy to confront his carelessness in handling Gab's heart. He is ashamed of his behavior and cannot even meet her gaze.

If you see anything else happening in the backgrounds of the pictures that I missed, please post a comment and tell me what else is going on.

God's redemptive plan: a story told in chocolate

A little theological lesson for you today readers.

My parents came to town to visit this weekend. They were trying to find their way to Steinmart on their way into town and got a little lost and ended up in the Puffy Muffin bakery parking lot.

God does indeed guide our every step. Even our "mistakes" (in this case, taking the wrong turn) can be redeemed, readers! Here's the glorious way God redeemed dad's wrong turn:

If you'll remember my last post, one of my top 5 favorite desserts hails straight from their bakery.

My dad, an avid "welcometomyblog" reader, remembered the post and showed up at my house carrying a....

CHOCOLATE GANACHE CAKE FROM THE PUFFY MUFFIN!