i started listening at:

bennett: "why?"

ella (in a very motherly, grown up voice): "because God made boys and girls differently."

bennett: "oh."

ella: "that's why you have a 'peanut' and i don't."

bennett: "oh."

ella: "little boys and grown ups have peanuts. but girls don't have one."

bennett: "oh."

ella begins a song: "you have a peanut and i don't... you have a peanut and i don't..."

lovely.

maybe its time for them to not use the bathroom at the same time.

(here's the thing. years ago, when ella asked what "it" was called, i told her the correct word. but she heard "peanut." i did not correct her. because "peanut" is a far less embarrassing word to be repeated with giggles in public. and also, i find it hilarious when someone says, "i just had peanuts on the airplane" and my children look at each other and burst out laughing. equally as funny, when someone said, "i put peanuts in the cookies." ella looked very, very confused and couldn't wait to tell bennett, who laughed hysterically.)

summing it up

2: number of times i sweep the sandy floor each day (ok, most days)
1: number of birds anthony has had to chase out of our house
1: number of times seaweed has been wrapped around ella's legs while playing in the ocean (just ask her. she's definitely keeping track.)
98: ella's estimate of how many dogs we've seen this month without a leash (quite accurate, i believe)
2: times i've retrieved dog poop from mason's hands
4: number of times mason has actually slept all the way through the night
4: books i've read (best by far: Crazy Love by Francis Chan. read it and let your world be changed)
2: number of donuts the kids have had. one on ella's birthday. one after memorizing psalm 23.
1: pictures of topless mermaids above our bed
9: number of dear family members who have visited
2: days of stuck-inside weather. happened to be the 2 days my parents visited.
5: days left at the beach house
3: number of bedrooms for our family of 5 at our new home (which is still a reminder we are in the wealthiest bracket of people on this earth)
29: number of days we've been here
0: number of days i have wished i still live in phoenix
29: number of days i've missed family and friends

some serious gratitude

after jesus dying on the cross for his sins... anthony just experienced the greatest act of love from another.

his dear friend curt just took him golfing at pebble beach. he's been in heaven the last couple days.

as have i, living it up for 2 more weeks at the beach shack.

and we had a wonderful visit from my parents. they came to see our little slice of paradise. unfortunately, the sun never actually made an appearance. not until one hour after then drove away. such a bummer. we were stuck indoors pretty much the whole time.

and, to celebrate their visit someone decided to have a scream-fest from 2 to 4 am.
today, this special someone also shoved sand up his nose, peeled paint off the door, and tried to flush bennett's shirt down the toilet. just another day in paradise.

dear dog owner,

hi. how are you? lovely day today, isn't it?

ok. um, i don't care how "friendly" you say your dog is. really, i don't.

do you see that look on my daughter's face? its called sheer terror. there is no reasoning with it. its a valid emotion.

be responsible. put your dog on a leash.

because pretty soon, in response to you saying, "its ok, he's friendly," when he runs full force into my 13 month old and knocks him face first into the sand, i'm going to say, "well, i'm not."

because you don't mess with a mother protecting her children.

alrighty then, thank you. have a great day!

the end of a good year

is there a better place to celebrate your last day as a 4 year-old?i think not.

we made it

and the journey here was mostly carefree and uneventful.

for me, that is.

because i was driving the car without the kids. the car in which the air conditioning did not in fact go out in the middle of the desert. i was not one of the poor members of my family soaking in sweat when we stopped at that jack in the box where the people had pity on us and gave my kids cool little halloween buckets.

life was good. for me. and for all of us. even with that whole tsunami warning scheduled for the approximate time we were pulling up at our beach house.

but we are here. and we are blessed. we have the wonderful opportunity to stay in a place similar to this:

and by "similar to" i actually mean "not at all like" this. because aside from running water and electricity, there are very few similarities.

but again, its on the beach. and what more could we ask for?

well, ok, a lot, but we are more than content and happy we can temporarily afford a place close enough for anthony to drive to work and also close enough to paradise outside our back door.

yep, life is good.