Do not disturb

She takes her art very, very seriously.

She cannot bother with noisy little brothers or a mom who wants to ask questions about what she's doing.

"I'm an artist, Mommy," she explained. "I just need to work on this right now."

I can barely draw stick people. And if you want to know how bad I am at drawing animals, you need only ask Jacob. When a 2-year-old criticizes the puppy you drew for him, you know it's bad. 

This art thing comes from her dad's side. Come to think of it, so do the math thing, the space thing, and the curly hair thing.

I guess I'll take credit for the sarcasm and the good grammar.

Ninja skills

What do you get when you combine one very heavy sleeper with one very stealthy mommy?

That moment of hilarity when Jacob wakes up with more than just stuffed animals in his crib.

It was totally worth the climb.

Pride of ownership

These brothers are going to be good buddies.

It's hard not to be, when you're forced to share everything from your room to your toys to daddy's lap.

There's no such thing as private property at our house.

Training for the future

Caleb likes to talk.

A lot.

Mostly about what he's going to do in a minute, or in ten years. Or about what Sharky had for lunch. Or about some trip he and Sharky took in his imagination. 

Most recently, he's found it necessary to remind me over and over again that he's going to be a scuba diver when he gets bigger. (He needs his back to get bigger, he says, so that the tanks will fit him.)

Scuba diving is not the goal, of course. Swimming with sharks is the goal. Scuba diving is the means to an end. 

Training for his future in shark diving began today at the neighborhood pool. 

So that brings our lofty goal tally to one astronaut ballerina and one scuba diving ichthyologist. (That's a zoologist who specializes in fish, in case you wondered.) Jacob, with his limited command of the English language, has communicated only that he may or may not want to be a puppy when he grows up. And Levi has yet to declare a major. 

We might want to start thinking about beefing up those college funds soon.

Keep 'em busy

I strapped markers to the backs of toy cars, and now my kids think I'm a genius.

Considering that this kept them occupied for a full half hour while I cleaned up breakfast, they might just be right.

Efficiency

"This way it doesn't take so long, because I can brush both sides at once," she explained.

Her reasoning skills are excellent.

Her dental hygiene, on the other hand, could use some work.

Proper motivation

We've found a great way to get the kids to get ready for church without dawdling.

Promise them they can go outside and check the squirrel trap as soon as they're dressed and their teeth are brushed.

Don't worry. We released all God's creatures back into the wild before driving away.

Eating out

You know all those moms who show up at Chick-fil-A in skirts and sundresses with one or two children and sit chatting or enjoying a calm meal while their kids play nicely on the playground?

I'm pretty sure we ruined their nice quiet dinner.

Abby was more than willing to give a boost to the toddlers who weren't quite tall enough so they could climb all the way to the top of the slide while Caleb reassured their moms, "It's okay, she's my sister."

Moments later, some big kid called Caleb a name and made him pretty upset. Jacob got in between his brother and the bully and shouted, "Stop yellin' at my Cay-wub!" in his loudest and most intimidating voice.

That might be the last time that nine year old messes with kids less than half his age.

Happy dining!

Firstborns

Neely is 17 months older than Abby. But Abby is almost an inch taller. 

Abby's going into first grade, but Neely already finished first grade.

Both have baby brothers. But Abby has three younger brothers, while Neely just has the one.

And both of them are really, really good readers.

This makes these two firstborns experts on a lot of things when they get together.

Tonight, that meant finally agreeing that they would read the book together, each taking a page at a time. And each girl would do her best not to correct her friend if she failed to sound out a word properly, or skipped one altogether.

It took a lot of self control on both their parts. But they seemed to enjoy every cooperative minute.

We moms couldn't be prouder.  

Linus and Lucy

Play us a song, Piano Man.

Don't worry....your big sister will help.