Rangers Win! Rangers Win!

Not a phrase that Ranger fans get to see or hear very often, but today was glorious! A chilly 47 degrees glorious with a brisk north wind at the start of the game!


Izzie joined the older boys this year to another Texas Ranger Opening Day. We had a great day with Dr. Pepper, hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts, and some candy as well.

President George W. Bush tossed the first pitch, and even a liberal couldn't call this pitch a ball!

I bet the Cleveland Indian fans wished W. would have kept pitching, because the Ranger ace Millwood threw a great 7 innings and only allowed 1 run.

The scoreboard showed this:

That is Indians 1, Rangers 9!

You have to LOVE that flag!


A parting shot as we left this afternoon.


And after five minutes in traffic!

Science Experiments

Upon the recommendation of an old home school book, we have been attempting to grow "ferns" from the ends of some of our recent side dishes.

And so, to all those who doubted our little plate of water and carrot tops...

They have sprouted, and Peter and Isabelle are delighted!

We shall wait to see what happens to these little plants in the backyard.

Peter Pie, our eldest, takes his role in the family very seriously, and as one in a position of such obvious authority over the other three children must, has made use of his power to dictate their every move. He has found subjecting Doodle to his rule of particular interest recently, which, aside from causing a two year old to retreat into a mode of absolute opposition to all authority, has brought rise to new questions about the paradigm in which Peter lives. After all, how can you enforce the truth when you hardly understand it?

This week Doodle's insistence upon renaming practically everyone has prompted increasing concern for Peter as to why he and his subjects are not allowed to call certain adults by their first names and yet are allowed to use nothing but other people's first names, despite the explanation of the "Aunt" and "Uncle" preceding the latter set of names. Of equal concern, seems to be the fact that we use no part of some people's names at all, but rather, such obscure words as "mom" and "dad," or "grandmother" and "grandfather." We attempted an explanation of familial ties, and how certain people are closer to our family than others and assumed his world was set right.

Yesterday, after dropping some friends off at their house, Peter, bursting with frustration, demanded, "Why do we have to call them Mr. and Mrs. when they only live five minutes from our house?!"

Small Successes

Another week, another set of successes...

1. I tackled all four calendars this week by Monday morning and had our meals planned, breakfast, lunch and dinner, our school days sorted, my cleaning assigned and our social engagements slotted. Seemingly, this is no success, as I had planned to complete it by Saturday, but as history is a very accurate indicator of future actions, completion by Monday morning is almost miraculous.

2. I was the proud mother of FIVE children five and under for two and half days this week while my sister was busy relinquishing ownership of her intestinal appendage. Best of all, through the constant onslaught of dirty hands, toes, diapers, and noses, I shared some great cuddle time with a nephew who is usually too busy for a pause with his aunt.

3. For a moment this week, through grace alone, I managed to embrace an understanding about my life which I have been seeking for a very long time. My daily work, in this case that nasty kitchen floor, is not swept and mopped so that I can check it off the list for another week, or that I can smile with contentment as my feet squeak across its gleaming surface, but rather, it is primarily a means to my sanctification and the sanctification of those in my life. It is with this grace filled realization that I claim success in not losing my peace while witnessing my glistening floor be christened by two glasses of apple juice as I returned from putting the mop bucket away.