The real tale

First of all, if you read me in a reader, please click over and see the new design! Same old blog, fancy new updated look!  A HUGE thank-you to Barbie for designing the header and framed pics of the kids over there to the right. I love it!!

By the way, this is totally the look I'm going after for my home. That robin's egg blue (or whatever we might call it) really makes me happy.  Add in some red and some pink and it just feels so me!

So what I really came here to tell you is the real story behind the amazing pictures Davi took.  I have known Davi online for some time now, but hadn't met her in person. Well. Miss Davi was every bit as sweet and fun in person as I knew she would be, but I really could not have made a worse first impression if I had tried to.

The first thing was the money. It was tucked neatly into a zippered pocket in my purse that morning, but when I reached for it to pay Davi, it was gone. I panicked. Big time. Where in the *world* could that money have gone? I called Alif to see if any of the kids at home knew about the money, and he was quiet. Very quiet. Finally, he sheepishly admitted to having taken it out himself. "What? WHY??" He really had no explanation - I guess it was just kind of a joke, he said. A joke. Huh.

Davi wasn't worried about the money, thankfully, and we went ahead and got started. My precious Canaan, Mister Very Sweet Somebody, was awful. I mean, there just aren't words to describe how ridiculously obnoxious he was. I will try.

~ He ran away from us. I don't think I've had a child run from me anywhere ever, but Canaan ran.
~ He was completely contrary. If Davi said for him to show her his cute smile, he'd cover it with his hands. If she told him to peek through the boards, he dropped to the ground so we couldn't see him at all. Etc.
~ He was obsessed with a big (and not very photogenic) hole and simply would not leave it alone.

Oh friends, it was just mortifying. There was basically nothing I could do. My hands were tied, and boy did he know it. He took full advantage of the situation.

It was one of those moments in parenthood when you just know God is teaching you something. Can you guess what he was teaching me? Yeah - pride. It's not a good thing. My kids are really awesome people. They really are. I get comments everywhere I go with them about what wonderful children they are, and every time someone says something I'm so thankful. I know that in the blink of an eye it could all go horribly wrong. One child might say something annoying to another, or someone might interrupt me 10x in 30 seconds - you know what I mean. Kids are just unpredictable. But generally speaking, they're just really good kids. This situation with Canaan and the Pictures was humbling. So, so humbling.

But despite his insanity that day, the pictures are just adorable. Even the "outtakes" are pretty darn cute.

I should have seen from the start that we were in for Trouble! Look at that rascally smile.

Ooooh! A hole! What lives in there, Mommy? Is it big? Will it bite me?

A high-five to the person who guesses what nasty thing was going on here. A mother of boys will guess it, I'm betting. And yeah, he learned this from a certain older brother. Nice.

Can you smell it? Hee hee hee! (Oh, I just gave you a clue to the previous photo's basis)

No really, I want to get IN that hole. I just know there's something fantastic in there.

See this dirt clod, Mommy? I'm going to pelt it at you from above so you have dirt in places the public isn't privy to.

See those two scars on his bottom lip? He rolled off my bed when he was littler. There was a lot of blood.

So. I'm not even going to tell you the moral of the story. I think you already know.

And thank you again, Davi, for your extreme patience.