I’m sorry to say I believe this is a thing of the past. Miriam is in our bed yelling out any sort of problem that she might be having simply to get out of resting.

“I can’t look at my books, I’m too tired!”

“I can’t be quiet, I don’t remember!”

“Mommy, my bum hurts! my bum hurts, my bum hurts, my bum hurts, really, really!”

And my personal favorite of the day - 

“I’m trying to be madder than Daddy, but I just can’t… sigh… I just can’t!”

Overheard from the backseat on the drive home tonight.

Simon – “I spy something beautiful”

Miriam – “Me!”

Simon – “Ummmm….Yeeeessss”

Miriam – “I spy something handsome”

Simon – “Me!”

Miriam – “Yes!”

I just love these beautiful handsome kiddos o’mine.

If you had to guess what season we were in just by the weather you might think these pictures were right on time.

Seriously, I am missing summer and the heat already and it’s the beginning of August. I kept thinking all through the month of July that the heat was right around the corner, now I’m worried that it’s just not coming. So depressing. We had one week of heat. Not even a full week really, it was about 4 days. That is not anywhere close to filling a Virginia girls reserves. I did not get enough sun to last me through a winter. And what sort of a winter are we going to have? If it was this chilly in July…. I shudder to think of the possibilities.

And of course I picked this year to try a garden. Nothing is growing. There are no tomatoes at the Farmer’s Markets so I know it’s not just because I don’t know what I’m doing. This was to be my trial year so that I would know what to plant and when next year. Sigh. All for nothing.

Where is my Summer??!!!!

Went to the mall with JoAnna this weekend, which is really weird. I go to the mall maybe once a year – usually the month before Christmas. For some odd reason that was the plan that popped into my head. It was fun. Our diamonds are gorgeous once again thanks to Rogers&Hollands. And Bath&Body Works was having a wonderful sale on hand soaps – 7 for $20. That should last us a year or so. We also stopped to get Auntie Anne’s. I think this may have been Miriam’s first experience with those yummy pretzels. I got her the cinnamon&sugar sticks – much easier to eat although not as good as a whole pretzel (We decided that’s because there’s too many ends). Miriam has been asking for another pretzel and since she’s been stuffy nosed and coughing and I’m over tired from 24-7 with a sick child I said we’d go this week. I told her today that we were ready to go to the mall and get….(letting her finish the sentence)

She replied “Oh! Oh! Those little strips of crispy!”

For holding a lollipop during a potty break.

“Look, the more you talk about the Kingdom, the more I’m going to miss GoBob with the big fat tummy.”

“When the Kingdom starts will it ever end? Ever? So I’ll get to see GoBob with the big fat tummy for the rest of my life? Forever?”

“Cool”

- Simon

Miriam popped up next to me today. I simply asked “Where did you come from?”

And she replied.

“Monty and Jane.”

“Simon, did you check for maggots in the bowl this morning?”

Ugh.

Explanation:

Simon has started a bug collection. One of his favorite finds so far is a ‘Giant Stag Beetle’. Most of our finds are already dead (we have not advanced to the tracking and capturing stage yet). The stag beetle was no exception, so the day after we found it Simon showed Aunt Lori who asked why there was a live white worm crawling around? The Mom in me surfaced and I pulled it out and disposed of it. So disgusting. We figured out it came from the stag beetle and since that’s Simon’s favorite find so far I couldn’t throw that away.  Thus we have the resulting morning maggot check.

On the way to Mom’s pool today Miriam saw some really tall lillies standing above the rest of the flowers in a garden.

“Mom! Look at those! They are HARMORNOUS!”

His prayer for dinner last night - 

“O Lord you are so strong and mighty.

You can do things we cannot do and things that we can do.

You can do everything without complaining or arguing.

(pause)

We’ll try that too.

(pause)

And remember, please bring our Lord Jesus back soon.

Amen.”