What's wrong with this picture?

What's wrong with this picture?


And no, I'm not talking about the gobs of cellulite spilling over the pink socks.

Some of you may just die from shock when you see this picture. I am having a really hard time looking at it myself. But it had to be done.

The Little Apple tore her feet up at the playground yesterday crawling all over creation. I had thought ahead and brought her Babylegs to protect her little knees, but didn't think about the fact that the tops of her feet drag the ground when she crawls.

She hates shoes, and I just don't think shoes belong on a baby. But sometimes compromises need to be made for the greater good.

Promoted. Again.

You might remember this post.

I am pleased to announce that The Big Apple has done it again. She's been promoted to the 2nd Grade.


Nope, she's not getting the summer off. Second grade learning starts tomorrow morning. Just as soon as I finish my cup of coffee.

Memorial Day....

Remembering those that have served in our wars of past and present. Honoring those who have defended our freedom, some paying the ultimate price. Praying for the families that have loved and lost, and given.

Thank you for all that you have given.

Counterstrike....

Something is eating my tomatoes. And it isn't worms or bugs.

I've been going out to the garden daily to pick tomatoes, only to find that I must share my bounty with some kind of creature that takes large bites out of my fruit and runs off. At first I thought it was squirrels, but then I staked out by the window and learned who the culprit actually was.

It was birds. Mockingbirds to be exact. They have been flying into my garden and pecking my tomatoes to death and then leaving them like that on the vine. Don't believe me? Check out this 'mater that I picked today.So the little Apples asked if they could try building a scarecrow. And build, we did. Meet Moe, the Scarecrow. Except, Moe isn't really all that scary.


As a matter of fact, I think the birds will all die laughing before they are afraid of Moe. Let's wait and see what happens.

The Miracle Unfolds....

We had the wonderful privilege of watching our caterpillars hatch out of their chrysalis, into beautiful butterflies. I also managed to take a couple of pretty decent pictures of them emerging. It was awesome to watch.
I thought that watching this experience unfold was more important than anything that The Big Apple would be learning in public school yesterday, so I called my husband to go pick her up early.


I'm glad I did. I would have been a bad mother had she gotten to miss this happening.


I mean, really! You just can't duplicate anything like this...The miracle of birth, or rebirth, I should say. What a testimony of God's miracles.

Presidential Sighting!

There was an Honor's Assembly at The Big Apple school today. The Big Apple, in spite of her behavior in school and dislike of the environment, has worked extremely hard. I am beyond proud of her. Even if she didn't get any awards in anything at all, I am proud of what she has accomplished and learned this year. But this post isn't about The Big Apple, nor the fact she took home 4 awards, including being one of only 11 kids in the entire school to make the Principal's List. No, this post isn't about that. This post is about The Middle Apple.

The funny moment of the day, occurred a few moments before the assembly began, when all of the students had filed in and were instructed to be quiet for the ceremony. I brought the Middle and the Little apples with me to the assembly, simply because I believed that they could handle it. *snicker* Think again.

It was at that moment that the Middle Apple, with her extremely boisterous voice, yells out "LOOK!!!! I see Barack Obama!"

So of course, every person in the entire room was looking wildly around for a glimpse of our President. For half a second, I believed that I would turn around and get clobbered by a Agent of the Secret Service. For just another fraction of a second, I imagined in my mind that the President had chosen this little school in our town to make a media appearance. Hey! It could happen!

Then my darling daughter exclaims, "There he is! On that shirt right there!"

Sure enough, on someone's shirt is a picture of the President of the United States. Kudos to the Middle Apple for being able to identify a picture of the President! Bonus points for being able to elevate your voice to speak to an entire room of people. But I have to subtract points for embarrassing me in front of a cafeteria full of teachers, parents and students.

My Middle Apple is always so full of life and impulsive things to say. It's part of that PDD-NOS thing. After I get past the initial shock and embarrassment of what she comes up with to say, I've find the humor in it. I just love my Middle Apple.

On the Wings of Change.....

A little while back, I mentioned that we had some visitors in our house. Of the creepy crawly variety...but of the cute kind of creepy crawly variety. The Middle Apple got her very own larvae to watch and observe.

And observe, we did. Those little caterpillars ate and ate, and weren't so little anymore. Eventually, they did this. It never ceases to amaze me every single time I do this project how the whole miracle happens. They start out as fuzzy little caterpillars, eating everything in sight, and then suddenly, they flip upsidedown and form a chrysalis around themselves.

So of course, we had to make our own little fuzzy friends. They started out as one pom pom (The Egg) sitting on a leaf. When it hatched, the caterpillar (Larvae) ate it's beautiful green leaf. Here you see The Big Apple's decorating her caterpillar's chrysalis.

And the Middle Apple working on a chrysalis for her fuzzy friend. And finally, they were hung in the window. The Middle Apple pointed out that they are supposed to be hanging upside down....but alas, no one could figure out how to do such a thing without the caterpillar falling out of the bottom.

Stay tuned to witness the miracle of transformation.....

Not Me Monday

It's been MANY MANY weeks since I have done a Not Me Monday post...Not familiar with Not Me Monday, you say? Well, put your coffee cup down and head on over to MckMama's Blog and read all about it. They are a hoot! These are my own real life confessions...hidden behind a "not me, I didn't do it, no way" attitude.

I DID NOT totally abandon my blog for many weeks under the pretense that I was too busy to post. I would never sit and spend countless hours on Facebook, when I could be writing in my blog.

Last Friday, I most certainly DID NOT jump fully clothed into a swimming pool . And I didn't pull my own child coughing and sputtering out of the water....oh no. I am a good Coast Guard wife, and all of my children know how to swim *cough* Where is that phone number for the public pool again? I need to sign someone up for lessons.

I DID NOT pay $1 to my 7 year old to sit inside the baby's play yard in the dining room and keep the baby company so that I could take a shower. And I didn't get my money's worth either by taking time out to shave my legs and condition my hair.

I DID NOT literally do a happy dance in the street when I had to drop my daughter off to school and were informed that school had been cancelled because of a bomb threat. I didn't look foolish high fiving my 1st grader, while the other parents scrambled to find childcare for the day. I was a good mother and shushed my child's jubilation immediately.

When my girls got new shoes from Singapore this week, I really DID NOT let them sleep in them when they insisted on wearing them to bed. Responsible moms make their children wear pajamas and barefeets to bed. NEVER gorgeous sequined and beaded shoes. And everyone knows that I am THE MOST RESPONSIBLE mom ever. Really.

Finally, I would NEVER intentionally link MckMama's blog back to my entire blog and not just the Not Me post because I think that you all will be bless to read about my Mother's Day present. It didn't make me bawl my eyes out or anything. I would NEVER do something so shameless and selfish as to want to share that blessing.

If you liked this Not Me post, if it made you grin even a little bit, visit My Charming Kids and join in the blog carnival! It's a blast!

Happy Mother's Day.....late, but extremly blogworthy.

Yes, I know it's a week late. But I had to post this because of it's amazing significance.

It was Mother's Day, and I received the greatest of all gifts...no, it wasn't diamonds or pearls. It wasn't a fancy car, or even a dozen roses. No, one of my most treasured items that now hangs on my mirror above my dresser was a simple handmade card.

The Middle Apple had worked on it in secret, asking the Big Apple for help with the spelling. She handed me her card that morning, with a huge smile on her sweet face. I made a big deal about reading the front, how nice and neat all of her printed letters were, the shape she had cut the edges,....the perfect punctuation at the end of the sentence.

And then I opened the card and looked inside. And this is what I saw.....
The Middle Apple explained to me, "It's Jesus dying on the cross for you. It was the best gift I could think of."

Sometimes I struggle as a mom/teacher with feelings that whatever I am teaching them isn't sinking in at all. Are they absorbing anything that I am trying to pour out on them?

Apparently, I'm doing something right. And what's really important is absorbing afterall.

My poor little neglected blog....I am so sorry!

My dear little blog,

I have neglected you. I took you for granted. I knew that you would always be here for me, and figured that I would just update you when I felt like it. And now, I have had multiple people comment about how much they enjoy our family antics and miss us. Little did I know that soooooo many weeks would slip by so fast before I realized that I had abandoned you. So I apologize for the neglect, I really do! I will try harder!

So....here is a little wrap up in a nutshell of us. I will try to update with some pics too, just a little reward for my being so neglectful.

My last post was about The Little Apple, and my fears about her not crawling. We took her to the Children's Hospital to see a specialist. She had x rays, and multiple doctors poking, twisting, pulling, and examining her chubby little legs. It was declare that she indeed, DID NOT have any hip dysplacia and that she was developing normally. We rejoiced in God's goodness and over the weeks that passed...My baby started to crawl. First she started pulling forward on her belly. Then she began performing perfect military push-ups. Her first actual crawling steps occurred when we were at my parent's house in Florida over spring break. It was definitly something to praise God about.

She gets therapy about once a week, and it has helped the Little Apple out alot. I learn exercises to do with her, and we have a great time playing. This week, she learned about pulling up to standing...so it won't be long now before her legs are strong enough to cruise. She is doing so well...she talks up a storm...much more than any other 13 month old children that I know.

The Big Apple is wrapping up her first (and probably last!) year in public school. She has had a miserable time at the school here, and is acting out in class out of sheer bordom. One bright spot that she did have occured last week when the school hosted a Vocabulary Parade. Each student that participated chose a vocabulary word and dressed up as that word. She chose "Mysterious", and this is what we came up with.....
She placed Second and is so proud. The little man next to her is the word "Explosive" and his costume was just awesome!

The Big Apple has begged me to homeschool her for 2nd Grade, and I have gladdly excepted her back to our little Academy. It's going to be a busy year for all of us come autumn, but can you imagine all the fun that we will have?

The Middle Apple COMPLETED every single page in her Kindergarten Curriculum. The tremendous feeling of satisfaction and completion we both got that day when we simply closed the curriculum guide and said "We're done." I wish I had taken a picture of her face when we did that. I am so stinking proud of all that The Middle Apple has accomplished in spite of what she is challenged with. She is more than an overcomer...I call her my champion!

We are finishing the school year with a special unit on the lifecycle of the butterfly. Here is the Middle Apple on the day that the caterpillars first arrived in the mail.
I will keep you all posted as I get the chance on the growth and change of these beautiful little ladies when I get the chance. But for now, I must wrap up this post and get my family ready for church. But not before I post one final picture....one that I simply adore.
I got a new camera. Can you tell?