Just Checking In

I've been in bed for the past 3 days with Strep throat. Haven't seen my kids much at all during that time, but they have impressed me to no end. Maya and Elena have been running the house by themselves. Maya has cooked all the meals and Elena has taken charge of getting homeschooling, or at least chores done. (The second day, Kyle said: Gimme a break, Ginger, they don't have to do school for a couple of days! lol He doesn't share my obsession with structure and productivity.)
Will be back soon to share how I got over Strep without antibiotics.

Earrings

Maya has been wanting to get her ears pierced for quite awhile, but I didn't really know that because Maya doesn't talk about her wishes. One day, Chloe started talking about it, because Chloe talks about everything. I turned to Maya and said, "Do you want your ears pierced?"

She got a huge grin on her face as she gave me an affirmative nod. (When Maya nods her head, it's very dramatic; locs flying everywhere. You just have to see it.) So I said, "Ok, sure, maybe we can go get your ears pierced this weekend!' That was a couple of weeks ago.
As it turns out, Kyle had a different opinion. When she asked him, he said, "Why do you want to get your ears pierced?" That stopped her dead in her tracks, so he told her she needed to be able to give him a good reason.

Finally, Friday night, Maya went up to Kyle and said she had thought of a good reason. "When I was in Liberia, my mom and aunt were going to pierce my ears, but then it was farming season, so I had to wait, and then it was time for me to go to the orphanage. Getting my ears pierced was one of the last things I remember wanting to do with my mom while I was still in Liberia."
That pretty much broke Kyle and he immediately pulled me aside to say that he would like to have it done the very next day.
So, early Saturday morning (and when I say "early" it is a relative term, given that it was Saturday), we all marched up to the mall (a place I almost never go, and I certainly don't ever take my kids there!) and we had Maya's ears pierced.

She is extremely happy about it and very proud of herself.

In Case You Haven't Heard

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I Did It! I Really Did It!

You have no idea what a huge step this was for me! I have transitioned from traditional scrapbooker to digital scrapper. Whew! Actually it was really easy once I commited to it.
Here's my first scrapblog:

This Made Me Cry

. . . and you all know I don't cry easily.



Enjoy!

They're So Angelic

. . . when they're sleeping. This cracks me up. You'd think they were twins. In fact, just yesterday, Elena & Chloe asked me why people sometimes think they are twins. "We don't look alike at all!" It's true, they don't. I have no idea why anyone would think that.

I always go into the kids' rooms before heading to bed. (Actually I don't go in the boys' room. They're light sleepers; not worth the risk.) This is how I found Liddy a few hours after I'd put her to bed (without boots on!) I'm glad she had on those modesty shorts, or she'd really look like a little hussy! Sheesh.

I keep trying to get a shot of Maya while I'm in there, but she's always covered head to toe with her comforter. Regardless of the weather.

A Money Meme

They say that what's in your wallet reveals your priorities. Let's test that theory. List 12 cards you find in your wallet, then tag 12 people.

A Dozen Cards in My Wallet:

1. My debit card
2. library card
3. different library card
4. Zoo membership card
5. Health Savings Account card
6. Target gift card
7. Barnes & Noble gift card
8. My other debit card
9. Bakery "frequent flyer" card
10.
That's it. I don't have 12 cards.

I tag: MommaofMany, Vicki M, Stacy, Mommy4, The Herd, Janelle, Heartchild, Jody, KidCraze, Jane, Gretchen, Faith

Easiest Geography Ever

I used to be really concerned about geography. It was an important subject to me as I didn't retain much that I learned in school.
Here's what I do: When we're reading a book about artist John Singer Sargent, and it says he was born in Florence, I tell them that's in Italy and have one of the kids point out Italy on the map, telling them it's shaped like a boot and north of Africa (which they know very well). When we're reading Marco Polo and I say that he traveled to the area of China just north of India, I have a kid point out India on the map and another to point out that area of China. Easy shmeasy! And even the 3 yo's can now point out: the US, Africa, England, India, China, and Australia. (and several others, but didn't want to bore you.)

Finally!

I've been looking for a new phone for awhile. Now, I can finally have everything I want on one device! You have to check this baby out. Amazing what all it can do. This will leave iPhones in the dust!

What I Think About the Octuplets

There's been an awful lot of debate over Ms. Suleman's octuplets and her so-called obsession with babies. I don't typically like to weigh in on popular stories like this one, but I've received several emails asking my opinion.

Since someone has already written my opinion, I'll just point you to it. Here ya go.

Bottom line: I believe this is another scheme of the enemy's to convince the world that children are a burden.

5-10 Fling

Once a week, I get an email reminder telling me to have the kids do a 5-10 fling. They each get two grocery bags, one in each hand. One bag is for 5 things to give away; one bag is for 10 things to throw away. And while they're on a mad hunt for things to part with, I do the same. I hate clutter and this has been a great solution.

The other way I get rid of clutter is by collecting all the trash in the car whenever I get gas. (And believe me, we collect plenty. And by "we", I mean them.) I keep a little bag for trash in the car, but I don't usually go digging for it in the kids area of the van. I let them do that. So, while gas is pumping into the van, we're all throwing out all the little bits of trash that seem to come out of nowhere.
What do you do to live clutter-free? (or clutter-less)

Prayer

Billy Graham's Prayer For Our Nation

'Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem. We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and Set us free. Amen!'

The Winners. . . Finally!!

I've put this off long enough. It's time to announce some winners. The winner of theis Nancy (aka my mom). Way to go, Mom! You deserve to have your creativity rewarded. You have won a $10 gift card to Barnes & Noble.

And the winner of this Vision Forum CD:

is . . . Congrats, Judy! I hope you enjoy it! (Email me your address and I'll ship it to you pronto.)

Kid Food

My kids were recently questioned as to why their loving parents (who were on a date at the time) cook adult food for them, instead of "food they like". See, I don't cook made-to-order meals. Once in awhile, we have mac n cheese or hot dogs, but chicken nuggets and fish sticks are not regular Clark fare. This is really what we eat on a regular basis. And there's a good reason for that.

When Kyle and I were dating, we got in quite a bit of babysitting experience together. We have seen what becomes of kids who eat "kid food" on a regular basis. A friend invites them over for dinner and said kid complains that he doesn't like what's being served and can he please have a pb&j sammy instead. We didn't want to grow ungrateful kids like what we had seen. We wanted our kids to be able to eat anything and just be thankful to have food.

This comes much easier for our African children, than our American-born children. Go figure.

Generosity

Hilarious Marketing Ploys

My friend, Stacy, and I were at the zoo this afternoon and saw this weird stroller. Stacy was so entertained by the website, she blogged about it here. This is just too ridiculous not to share.

Seriously,