Till death do us part

Well, it is official-Monty thinks I have completely lost it. When he got home from work last night I asked "Honey? I have to ask you a question. Are you ready and willing to revoke our state marriage license?"
"WHAT!?! So you want to get a divorce?!? I DON"T THINK SO!"
Let me explain....

I got my No Greater Joy magazine this week and it contained a very interesting article by Michael Pearl titled "Holy Matrimony". He talked about the history of marriage. Of course marriage is the oldest institution on earth having been created by God with Adam and Eve. There was no preacher to preform a ceremony and there sure wasn't a judge around. Marriage was a covenant between a man and a woman. As a matter of fact, judges and preachers were not a part of marriage for the first 5 centuries. It wasn't until the Catholic church, in their fight to stop protestants, ruled that only marriages performed by a priest in the church would be valid. This was the first transfer of marital authority from the hands of the people to the hands of the church. The next step was to transfer that authority to the state in the form of state issued marriage license. God is the one that brings 2 people together and no man is supposed to be able to put that union asunder. As Mr. Pearl points out "To receive from the state a license to marry is to acknowledge the state's supremacy over marriage. What it licenses, it can un-license." Now that the state has taken the authority to grant permission for couples to marry, they are in control of deciding who qualifies. Although marriage has been between a man and a women in every country, in every culture, and in every religion since the beginning of time the state is now redefining it to include homosexuals. Several states have already accomplished this and more will follow. Since their state issued license is the same as mine(except for the fact there are no longer signatures for the bride and groom but rather subject A and subject B) essentially they are saying that my marriage is the same-both legal and licensed. Only problem is God says no it is not! Mine is ordained by God and theirs is an abomination before God. We are not going to be able to stop the government from redefining marriage-just look at California, "we the people" said no but the government said yes and they are still in a heated battle-plus our president has said he is committed to overturning DOMA, Bush's act to protect marriage. Michael Pearl proposes that when your state does join in the same sex marriage parade, write to your state and revoke the state issued marriage license they issued. This is not a divorce but an acknowledgement that the state did not/does not/and will not have jurisdiction over your marriage. You can then write a document (or covenant) between you and your spouse including when and where your marriage took place ordained by God until death do you part and have it notarized and filed at the court house. Mr. Pearl has asked for any lawyer that may read his magazine and who is willing to draw up a private contract document that can be offered for free to contact him. He also shared that all but one of his children have been married by private contract instead of state issued license and they all have status of being legally married.

So I say-Makes perfect sense to me! We have been indoctrinated so heavily by the government our whole lives, we do not even question the fact that we essentially asked permission to get married. We asked the STATE if it was ok to marry the person that GOD had brought to us. God says it is not good for man to be alone. God says the man leaves his parents and cleaves to his wife. God says two shall become one. Why are we asking the state for permission to do what God has already ordained and has told us to do? Who's authority are we supposed to live our lives under? I know we must give to Caesar what is Caesar's but our marriage belongs to God not the government. Our children belong to God not the government. Our hearts belong to God not the government. Why are we so willing to hand our lives over to man but it is "radical" to give our life back to the One that gave it to us?


Monty is still pondering my newest "anti-government-pro Bible, extreme and unconventional" kinda thought but he is used to it. I have them quite often and love sharing them-hmmm I really should start carrying my camera when I first ask him these things-that's fun times:). I am not trying to change him(like I discussed earlier that I sometimes do) but advance both of our thoughts to be more centered on God and His plan for our family. Since I am the one with a little more time (and desire) for reading, I come across lots of different notions. I just plant the seeds and God does the rest and since we live in one of the most conservative states in the country he probably has a few years longer than others to contemplate before this one is an issue. I tell ya-between me and God-we'll make a fundamentalist outta that man yet-hehehe!

update:I have found several more articles concerning state issued licenses and the fact that we do not need them. Here is one of them.

New Game

Hey, anybody want to play a new game?




Well I didn't want to play either but I don't think we have a choice now.
(click on "new game" to view properties close up)

Happy fathers day Monty!!!

We love you!!!

Amazing Banana Bread

This is my grandma's recipe. She was great about adding little extras to really finish off a great recipe and really making it her own. This is a family ALL TIME favorite. Our youth had a bake sale last week to help raise money for them to go to church camp and I made some of this bread to sell. My whole family was upset that they had to smell it baking but did not get to eat any of it so I thought I better make some more.

1/2 cup shortening

2 eggs

1 c sugar

3 smashed very ripe bananas

1 tsp baking soda

2 c flour

1/4 c chopped pecans

1/4c chocolate chips

1/4c maraschino cherries

cream shortening egg and sugar then add banana mix well add soda and flour mix well add nuts cherries and chocolate. pour into greased loaf pans. bake at 350* for 1 hour

I used 5 mini loaf pans and they were done in about 45 minutes

This stuff is soooo good that I will have trouble keeping it around very long.

Babies Babies everywhere!!

watching a little tv

My home contains 2 little mamas and umpteen babies. The girls started playing house several years ago and have never stopped. Keslee ALWAYS has at least one child with her at all times. Whether we are going to the store, the library or church, she has to bring a baby and a purse full of baby doll essentials. In the car the baby is seated in the seat(preferably the booster seat since we have 2 in the van and the girls don't always use them) with a seatbelt on. At church a blanket is laid out on the pew and the baby is set up on the blanket so she will not miss any of the preachin. My girlses families have been growing by leaps and bounds and now Keslee has 9 kids and Kalysa has 3. Keslee's babies range in age from 4 years old to 1 month (could you imagine having 9 kids under 5!?!) Two of Kalysa's babies were born yesterday but believe it or not they are not twins. Today I was given specific intructions for when I babysit-3 of the babies have ear problems so there is a tool(little toy gun) I have to put in their ears to squirt the medicine each night, the tiny babies are all on shots for I don't know what, and one of the babies has had botox shots and is in a cast. Here are a few photos from the day.

taking a nap on the floor

getting the newborn into the stroller(complete with folded blanket for protecting his head)

the make shift baby bed

20 years later I started learning

This past weekend we went to my husband's 20 year class reunion. TWENTY YEARS, YALL!!! When I was in high school, 20 years was like the most farthest away not even comprehendable time period there could ever be. Now I can't believe I can talk to someone and say "You remember back 20 years ago when we....". At graduation I felt like I had MADE IT! It was the greatest accomplishment ever. I knew that later in life more would come- like a family and jobs and such-but I could not imagine anything feeling as big as graduating did. Now I see what a baby I was at that time. How could I have felt sooo grown up yet knew NOTHING? I am not even close to being the same person I was that day I walked across a stage to get my diploma. I am nothing like I thought I wanted to be. My hopes and dreams at that time have not had much to do with who I have become. I know Monty would say the same thing. Our life is not what either of us would have expected it to be 20 years ago.
Monty graduated with about 22 people in his class from a small Oklahoma town so of course he knew everyone in his class-even in the entire school. These were the people he grew up with. The people that shared in most of his childhood experiences. He was very excited to see what everyone was up to. He had a great time listening to everyone's stories and the kids had a blast running around the elementary school that daddy went to. Little did I know that God was planning on using a 20 year class reunion to teach me a few things. When we went to the reunion I was expecting to see a different person in my husband. I thought that getting him around the people he has known most all his life would suddenly bring out the extrovert that I have always dreamed was living inside this quiet unassuming man. Well guess what folks-he is who he is and I love him for that. We are two totally different people and so often I get frustrated because my husband does not see things the way I do. I try so often to make him more like me instead of appreciate the differences we have. That is something I, with the Lord's help, have REALLY been trying to work on for the past few years and I thought I had come pretty far. Going to this reunion showed me that I have not done so great. I still have some crazy expectation that deep down he really is like me and can't get it through my thick skull that different doesn't always mean better. I am still secretly waiting for something to trigger a realization in Monty and witness the emergence of a louder more dominant personality. The Lord has shown me the truth again and I pray that this time I will listen better. I must cherish these qualities in my husband-the fact that he never wants to be in the spotlight which in turn means we will never have to fight for it; that he is content with his life the way it is so I never have to worry about him making unexpected changes that disrupt the family; even though we don't have a whirlwind lifestyle he loves me enough to walk to the store is a snow storm to buy a bag of ice because I hate to drink Dr. Pepper with no ice; his humble spirit ensures our home is not ruled by arrogance and tyranny; knowing that when I have a bad day and the dishes aren't done and you can't walk though he living room and there is no supper cooking doesn't make him upset but instead sympathetic to my trials. If I were ever able to change this man, I would loose the best things about him. God knows what we need even when we don't and he certainly knew when he brought Monty and I together. Thank you Lord for showing me once again what it is you have given me. Thank you for My Husband!

To kiss a boy...

What happens when you try to get two little sisters to kiss one big brother on each cheek? Especially when you are in public?! Oh yea, and you also want to get a picture of it?!!!?



NOPE!!! NOT GONNA HAPPEN!!! AND JUST FOR EVEN MENTIONING IT, DON'T THINK YOUR GONNA GET ANOTHER SMILE OUT OF HIM!

Good thing this was the last picture we took in our family picture session and I have to say it is my absolute favorite! It so captures the feelings of an 11 year old boy surrounded by 2 sweet and loving sisters that were(and always are) more than happy to plant a big smooch on their brother for the camera.

My girls are just NOT normal!!!

Besides some serious hockey players, do you know anyone that has knocked out any of their teeth? I grew up with a sister and 2 brothers and we had our crazy childhood moments with bicycle wrecks, wrestling matches, jumping off various things(porches, backs of trucks, fences, hay stacks, homemade bike ramps etc.). We all played backyard football and baseball, you know the kind with NO RULES. We even played baseball using a metal bat and a flat basketball a few times-ok, that one did result in 7 stitches above my right eye-boy those bats really ricochet fast off basketballs, trust me!! My point it that we were typical rowdy, rough and tumble kids that took too many risks and sometimes felt invincible but not one of us ever had a tooth knocked out. I had stitches twice-once during the baseball game and once at girl scout camp when I was helping move a large sheet of tin so the younger girls did not get hurt on it-go figure. I broke my ankle my sophomore year of college on some ice and my brother broke his ankle during a high school football game but never did we knock out teeth. My little brother Chris even got hit by a car once but he kept all his teeth. I remember one girl I went to school with getting a tooth knocked out. We had an all night lock-in at the skating rink with girl scouts or church one and there was a collision between a couple of girls and a tooth came out then. I have always thought of knocking out teeth as an exception and not the rule of a normal childhood. Well apparently my girls are not normal!

Not too long ago, I told you about our trip to the ER when Kalysa knocked out her front tooth in a skateboard incident. I alluded to the fact that Keslee had only lost one tooth to date and it was also knocked out. Hers happened when she was about 2 years old. Jacinta (my sister) was playing with the cutest little 2 year old and was having her jump off the cedar chest/coffee table into her arms. Keslee was having a grand ole time until Jacinta missed or dropped or something and Keslee hit her mouth right on the wooden handle to the recliner. Her tooth (bottom left side) was knocked out and hanging by a string. I rushed home (I had been at work, Monty called me) and then rushed her to the dentist where they put the tooth back in hoping that it would tighten up and come out again a few years later. Well that did not happen-she was TWO-it ended up falling back out that night and so she has had a hole there for 5 years still waiting on the permanent tooth. Luckily it is on the side and not the front so most people never notice and it has never bothered her. She now has her first official loose tooth now-and it is loose naturally:).
Well, a few days ago, Keslee and Kalysa were playing cowgirls and riding stick horses all around the house. Since we do not officially have any stick horses, they made their own with golf clubs tied to a belt for the reins. We have a few golf clubs that the kids are allowed to play with and then we have daddy's clubs. They know which ones they can play with-although I don't have a clue-so I assumed they had "their" clubs. Apparently I was wrong and when daddy saw what was transpiring he told them to put his clubs up instantly. Knowing that they were in trouble, they were both quick to obey. Kalysa had ahold of the reins and as she tried to hurriedly dismount her stead, the head of that horse/club swung up and popped her in the mouth effectively knocking out her bottom front tooth. I have mentioned before that we are not a family of early tooth losers. I did not loose my first tooth until I was seven and Kenyon was the same way. Keslee just turned 7 in April and now has her first loose tooth. Kalysa has never mentioned a tooth feeling loose or hurting when she eats an apple of anything so I never considered checking hers. When I first looked in her mouth to check out the damage, I thought that she had knocked her tooth back because there was a tooth there but upon closer inspection I noticed that the tooth was quiet a bit larger than any of her baby teeth-By George-her permanent tooth was already taking it's place. That baby tooth was ready to come out anyway and a new tooth was well on it way into that space! It was a relief to know that she was not gonna be toothless (at least in one hole) for a year or more waiting on the arrival of a tooth that was not prepared to appear yet but I really would like her to try the normal way from now on. You know...discover a loose tooth...feel so grown up because your baby teeth are ready to come out...spend days wiggling it with your fingers...finally it is loose enough that you constantly wiggle it with your tongue... finally it is just hanging on by a string but still be terrified to just pull it....daddy threaten to yank it the rest of the way out...scream and cry with dread...have dad come at ya with the pliers...not open her mouth around dad at all for fear he will grab...to finally feel something floating around in your mouth and discover that the last tiny string finally broke and freed you tooth. Yeah! Why can't my girls do something like that like us normal people?

My First Homeschool Graduate!!

I am so happy to announce that we have officially graduated our first homeschool graduate!! Kenyon and Keslee were both in public school during kindergarten and they had a whole graduation ceremony. We have their graduation pictures hanging in our hallway. One of the girls from our church is now a homeschool high school graduate and she is really interested in photography. She got a job at the Target portrait studio and gave us a coupon to come in and have her take our pictures to help her with her training. We still have Keslee's cap from her graduation and the church has blue baptism robes so we took the opportunity to get Kalysa's graduation pictures done and complete our hall wall art.

She was soooo proud-she even wore her cap to church on Sunday night!

We've made it this far!! Only 3 more graduations to go!

Hillbilly Hands-Free

I really love having this blog as a place to express myself and share tid-bits about our life. I especially love to share the funny moments that having children automatically provides. Anytime something funny is said or done, the first thing I hear is "Oh no, mom. Are you gonna put that on your blog?" Well I never want to be accused of not being fair so I have to post this one-besides, my husband took the photo and instructed me he was taking it specifically for my blog. I figured I better get it up before he decided to do it for me so here goes...

If you have browsed around at some of my past posts, you probably know that my mom and I do a paper route everyday from about 430am to 630am. We share a route, she starts on one end and I start on the other and we meet in the middle-which really would make it the end since when we meet we have both finished our half- but anyway. It can get kinda boring out on the country roads with no one to talk to but the animals and since the time that we are on the route falls in the free nights period, mom and I are usually on the cell phone with each other-and another paper carrier-and my brother the over night truck driver-and anyone that needs an early morning wake up call. Neither of us has a blue tooth and the hands free ear piece is really impractical when you are driving while folding papers with a sleeve of newspaper bags dangling from a string around your neck, reaching out the passenger window, throwing papers out both windows at the same time, grabbing papers from the floorboard or the back seat or whatever...the little cord that connects the earpiece to the phone could really become a potential hazard! They always say that necessity is the mother of invention so mom and I invented the Hillbilly Hands-Free. My mom and I have a matching pair and they really work great! So now that you have the background information, back to how Monty got the picture...



So I was cooking dinner and thought "I haven't talked to Amy in like two days so we are really overdue for a phone call but it is so hard to talk on the phone and cook dinner plus I really need to finish loading the dishwasher but...oh-wait! I have my hillbilly hands-free laying right here!" Problem solved! I call Amy, hook up my hands free and continue with my wifely duties in the kitchen. It is about that time that my loving husband walks in and says "OH NO! It is one thing to wear that crazy thing on the paper route in the middle of the night but now your gonna wear it around the house too!?!?" and he picked up my camera snapped a few photos and instructed me I can post THAT on my blog so...

here is the debut of the HILLBILLY HANDS-FREE.....



...drum roll please...





here is a little closer shot so that you can see that a cell phone fits perfectly and the tie under the chin holds it snugly in place!



Now I know you are all wondering why in the world I would post this on the internet without even going through the proper channels to secure a patten yet, but I just really trust yall not to steal our invention before we are able to properly market it. If you would like to place your orders now, we will do our best to fill them promptly but please specify what color of dangely thingies you would like hanging off each side.

-all sales are final-please add $5.99 shipping and handling-not available in Alaska or Hawaii-

Are they old enough to stay home alone?

As I mentioned before, we had a fun library day last week. We had made plans to hit the library and then run to wal-mart to pick up a few things and then head back home. Well, we had some unexpected fun at the library (you can read about that here) so it took us an extra long time. Since we have completed our curriculum and school is out for the summer-YEA! that is if school is ever really out which I don't believe it really is when you homeschool. you just may not do curriculum type work everyday but the learning never stops:) -we checked out some extra movies(our library has several feature films for families and if you have never seen Summer of the Monkeys we ALL recommend it). So anyway, as we are leaving the library and the kids are discussing which movie we are gonna watch first, Kalysa says "Mom, I really don't feel like going to wal-mart now. Can you just drop me off at the house on your way?" My six year old asks me to drop her off at the house-which is empty, mind you, since we are all together and daddy is still at work- and she says it like it is an everyday thing. Like she just totally expected me to say "sure honey" and drop her off. Could someone please tell me when my baby grew up and where was I exactly when it happened?!

Being the mother of a boy

Being the mother of a boy is a unique and puzzling experience. If you are lucky enough to have at least one boy and one girl, it takes about 2 minutes tops to realize that they are made to think and act completely different. I have been the mother of a boy for 11 years now and I am really no closer to understanding the way he thinks than I was the day he was born. I believe God gave me 1 boy for a couple of reasons...1.to really challenge my own way of thinking on just about every aspect of life and 2.because he knew one was all I could deal with! I stand in awe of mother's of numerous boys and especially mothers of all boys. I really don't know how you ladies do it (yes Angela and Deborah-I mean you!)! There are so many times when I really just have no idea where he comes from. They other day, I jumped in the shower after Kenyon had gotten out. He takes really quick showers and could not have been in the bathroom any longer than 10 minutes total. As I am washing my hair, I lean my head back and happen to see this...

YES!-that is my ceiling and YES! it is covered with bubbles!?!? After I finished my shower, I got my camera and took this photo and showed the picture to the girls. Both of them were completely puzzled and could not figure out what I had taken a photo of. I showed the photo to my dear son and he giggled and said "oh yeah, I was playing." and just went on like that is perfectly normal. What!?! How does "playing" all of a sudden equal bubbles covering the ceiling of the bathroom? How is that any fun and why did he not assume I would ever question this? I guess I really just don't understand boys.

Homeschool-my newest baby

I have only been a homeschool mom for a short time, we just finished our second homeschool year, but I have to say the way homeschooling has captured my heart can only be described as the same type of feeling you get when your new born baby is first placed in your arms-your heart instantly swells with love and all of a sudden all seems right with the world(at least your world!). You know immediately that nothing could take that love from you and you would go to the ends of the earth doing whatever necessary to protect this infant. These feelings come over you and you realize "This is it! This is what I was created for!". Your purpose in life becomes a little more clear. Yeah, that's about how homeschooling feels-like my newest baby. Just like in child rearing, homeschooling starts off with family members, friends and even strangers that really believe they know better than you and like to tell you exactly what you should be doing. Spunky shares a great example of this and adds her own rebuttal to each argument(be sure to read everyones comements as well). Just like in raising my children, I know that I know them-I know what homeschool is and why we do it and why it is the only way. That is one that all mothers/homeschoolers experience pretty early on and each new piece of "advice" strengthens your convictions and confirms that, even though you will make mistakes, you are doing it the right way when you are making God guided decisions with motherly love so you quietly listen to each person rattle off the reasons you should be doing this and definitely not do that and you let their rants slide right out your other ear and go home and raise your baby the way you know is best. That issue has never been too tough for me, I've never been one to crumble easily and follow the crowd doing what others say I should just assuming that they must know more than me. It is the second big issue that has really gotten to me now. Like every new mother, you have those moments when you feel so inadequate. How will you know what to do when this new baby gets sick? How will you ever be able to see that this child makes it all the way to adulthood? What do you do when the road gets REALLY rough and you feel so unprepared and inexperienced? Those are the feelings I am having now with homeschooling. Again I must go back to another recent post by Spunky about one more way the government is trying to take the state's rights away, gain complete federal control over educating American children, and create an even BIGGER government.(if you are not already a spunky reader-I highly recommend it! she is great!!) As we all know, America has recently elected a new president-Barack Obama. The thing I am surprised so many people do not know(or worse, know it but don't care) is that we are heading straight towards becoming a socialist/communist country fast. I really should not be surprised that others don't understand that. After graduating from public high school and attending 2 years of college, I never really knew the ingredients that make up socialism until I decided to homeschool and in turn started reading and researching everything from laws to learning styles to history to public school statistics to what socialization really is and the list goes on. So like a new mother that watches children all around her getting sicker and sicker and trys to learn how to ward off this disease and protect her child at the same time trying to learn everything about the disease and preparing to fight it because all signs point to the probability that her child will eventually get sick as well, I feel inadequate and unprepared. How can I ward of this disease of socialism and keep it as far away from my homeschool as possible? If prevention is not possible, how will I be able to do what I know I must and prevent sure death of my precious homeschool? How do I prepare for something I have never seen first hand, something no one else I know has personally experienced? Like the first sign of fever in your tiny infant, all the most extreme horrible possibilities are rolling through my head but that is something we have all been through. Full on socialism and government control of every aspect of our lives is not. You can call on any number of friends for advice on what they did and how they got through that first fever. I feel totally in the dark with no one on earth to call on to save and protect my homeschool. Again, like my own children, I must place my homeschool in the Lord's hands knowing that He does have a plan and all though He never promises that it will be easy, He does promise that He will always be with us and equip us to endure whatever may come. He is the only comfort available for these unknown waters. I know He is gonna be there and I just wanted to be sure that you would be too.

Proof kids do live here!

Yes, kids really do live here. There is proof everywhere you look. As I was out in the yard the other day, I decided to gather some photographic evidence of that fact.

LIKE...

soccer ball kicked beneath a bush...

Dora doll house kitchen chair...

Dora tent...

Skateboard embedded in mud...

basketball left among the twigs...

missing church shoes...

little kitchen dinner plate...

one lonely croc...

sagging backyard pool complete with dirt from a full days swimming and missing 3/4 water used to make mud for skateboard...

HEY! Why isn't that in the dishwasher?!?...

sponge bob soccer ball...

one rain boot of someone with soggy feet

ice chest perfect for that little extra boost to climb a tree...

Dora's horse drawn carriage minus one horse...

and of course one portable washer/dryer/ironing board on the sidewalk...

I have to work at thanking God like I should for the trails my children leave behind them. I have to remember to be thankful because those trails leave with them a message. They say we have been blessed with children. They say that this is the home of a FAMILY. They say we are fortunate and have toys to play with and shoes to wear and cups to drink from. They say the children here are healthy and happy and always on the go. They say imaginations are in use. I must remind myself that my house is not messy it is lived in....my yard is not messy it is played in!

A little fun at the library

Last Thursday we had a library day. We always have a good time at the library and end up spending at least 2 hours for the 4 of us searching through books and movies trying to find just the right ones to bring home for the week. Well it just so happened that there was extra fun at the library and we happened to get there just in time for an ice cream social (who's gonna pass up free ice cream?!) and face painting. Keslee was all for the face painting and even choose to have her face painted BEFORE she got ice cream.

She got 2 big pink butterflies-one on each cheek-photo was taken post accidental rubbing with the back of her hand.
Now Kenyon is pretty shy-ok, that is a lie-Kenyon is VERY shy and does not like to do anything that may draw extra attention to him and cause him to momentarily become the center of attention so it took some convincing-sorry...another lie...I don't know what my problem is today-it took some bribery to get him to sit in that chair and get paint put on his face,

but when the lady said she could do a fire breathing dragon-he was all about it!

He had flames shooting across his forehead and he thought that was about the coolest thing possible. I thought she did a great job and it was so fun to see him loosen up and make a spectacle of himself and really enjoy it.
Kalysa takes after her big brother in a lot of ways and the whole shyness thing is one of them. I had to pull out the ol' bribery trick once again-I ain't gonna lie no more...she got extra computer time when we got home-and she finally decided to get some balloons.

The strings wrapped across her chin and ended with a big bow tying them together at the base of her other cheek-so cute!

Being thirty-blahblah years old, I don't ever remember having my face painted as a child-unless you want to count a few times I dressed as a clown for halloween-but I mean never anything as cool as butterflies and dragons. It just wasn't something that we did way back in the eighties, so...

WHAT? You didn't really think I was gonna miss out on all the fun did ya? NO WAY! I got my own little bouquet of flowers to sport for the rest of the day! and yes!-we did have to go to Wal-mart after the library and EVERYBODY loved my flowers!

Butterfly Wings and Fairy Dust

Kalysa hates bugs. No I mean she really HATES bugs. Any thing that could ever be counted as a bug-those are the ones that Kalysa really hates. She will pass up playing outside with a neighborhood full of kids if she sees too many bugs near by. Running through the sprinkler or playing on the slip and slide will be abandoned in a second if a little bee happens to stop for a drink of nectar from a near by flower. That's it-it's over-she's is in the house for the day! She is perfectly content to stay inside and pull out the Dora house furniture and all the dolls and play by herself. When the glass front door is covered with moths and June bugs and any number of other little flying insects (especially now that summer is here and we are out past dark more often ), Kalysa will not walk up the steps of the porch to go inside. She will wait at the bottom of the steps keeping a close eye on every move made be every flying creature making quick calculations of just how close is TOO close and preparing to run for cover until Kenyon comes back outside(just realizing she never made it in the house and instantly knowing why) and picks her up and carries her in the house. She does not seem to have a problem going through the same insect infested area she was avoiding as long as she is in her big brother's arms. It drives me crazy that she hates bugs so much. I don't like my kids to have irrational fears(scared of the dark-scared of ghost-scared of bugs-scared of dogs-scared of their shadow...). I would go so far as to say that I don't allow my kids to have irrational fears. I do every thing I can to make them face their fears, see how silly the fear really is, get over it and move along. So why does Kalysa still have this fear? Well it is like this-She is the baby of the family. She has 4 other people that want to take care of her and she takes full advantage of it. Even more than the fact that she is her mama's baby or her daddy's baby...she is a BABY SISTER to 2(refer back to bug on porch story). So that would explain why Keslee was jumping and running ALL over the living room. She looked like some little ninja girl in the heat of a serious battle because a moth had found it's way into the house and was minding it's own business flying around the light fixture BUT Kalysa wanted it GONE. Keslee would jump with arms wailing and legs flying trying every trick in her little pink book to catch this one lonely moth to save her baby sister from the terrible possibility of.?.?.of?.?of what exactly???...oh yea-Being in the same room as a moth. That little moth put up quit a fight to. He used all eight feet of available space between the floor and the ceiling trying to escape the wrath of a 4 foot BIG sister. It took Keslee a good ten minutes but she finally got that little guy tuckered out enough that he lost his concentration-or he got a little arrogant from having avoided her reach for so long-and accidentally landed within her reach and she caught him (much to Kalysa's delight!). After she disposed of him outside, she came to the kitchen to wash her hands.....

Kes:Mom I got dust on my fingers from that moth's wings. What is it?
Me:It is some kind of powder. Butterflies and moths have it on their wings. They can't fly if you wipe it off.
Kes:But what is it?
Me:I guess it is their own type of fairy dust.
Kes:Since it is on my fingers...does that mean I could fly right now?
Kalysa:TRY IT KES!! TRY IT!!!
Keslee begins frantically flapping arms-to no avail:(