I'm not one to sing in the shower....

What do you do when your babysitters go back to school?

What do you do when the next-most-responsible person in the house is almost-six-going-on-twenty-six?

How does a mom exercise? Let alone, shower?

I'll tell you what you do....

You improvise.

And because your 8 month-old is experiencing separation anxiety, you belt out, "I Am A Child of God," "Popcorn Popping," and "Does My Baby Want Some Milky?" (an as of yet-unpublished, but sure to be smash hit) all while playing "peek-a-boo" out the shower door.

Works like a charm.

Or maybe not.

Just for fun

Brynnley and Kenzie were "doing hair" the other day. This is what Brynnley came up with. Gotta give her points for creativity.

Conversations with Kenzie

Today is the first day of school for Cannon and Addysen. They had been gone all of about 17 minutes when Kenzie said, "How soon are the kids going to be home?" Missing them already? You can bet I will be missing them when I need someone to keep track of Cambrie while I shower. (Pictures to come later...) (For the record, I just re-read that sentence. In case you are worried, the pictures that will be coming will be of the kids getting ready for school -- not pictures of me showering. Gotta love the English language and my lack of grammatical eloquence.)
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Kenzie also likes to "work out" with me. This morning as I did some ab exercises, Kenzie said, "Ok, I'm done. That one hurts my tummy." Way to push through the pain.

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When Kenzie was finished with prayer the other night, the kids said, "You forgot to say you were thankful for Cambrie." We were getting ready to do, "Sure Love Ya!" (A Purcell family tradition...I'll show you sometime if you want a demo). Just as we were about to say it, Kenzie quickly bowed her head and said, "Oh yeah, Heavenly Father, and please bless Cambrie."

Going private

I've debated for a long time...and am finally taking the plunge.
We'll be making our blog private soon.
Please leave a comment with your email address if you'd like to continue to read.

Infectious

Despite mom's best efforts to keep me little, I am growing fast. I've mastered sitting up and can scoot across the floor with the greatest of ease -- especially if I am after a toy. My personality continues to explode as I babble and jabber and grab (and pinch) people's faces. I'm particularly sensitive to when mom is around (making her feel loved, although somewhat frustrated at times when she really just wants to go to the bathroom alone.) I've experimented with many new foods, and have yet to find one that I don't like. My happiness is contagious and you'll often find my siblings kissing and hugging me for no reason except to say, "she is just SO cute." Mom sometimes postpones putting me in bed after the other kids have gone, simply because I am so much fun to play with. (Not that the other kids aren't fun....) My family is truly blessed to have me.

There's just something about Kenzie

I don't know what to call it - but I wish I had more of it in me...any suggestions?

We love you, Granny

Greg's "granny," Norma Alice Rannels, passed away at 6:20pm last night at the age of 88. (We share our anniversary with her birthday.) She fought a hard battle against the cancer which invaded her body several years ago.
What a privilege it was for us to get to spend these last few weeks with her. She was so sweet and maintained her kindness, lively spirit and sense of humor until the very end.
She leaves behind a legacy of 6 children, 21 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.
She will be buried in Maryland next weekend, beside her beloved husband (and as she told me Tuesday night, her buddy), Morris.
We will miss her.

All things considered...

Today, Kenzie watched as I ran on the treadmill. After a few minutes of looking back and forth from the treadmill to me, she asked with all sincerity, "How does THAT make your face sweaty?"
I laughed and said, "the treadmill makes my body work and when my body has to work hard, it makes me sweat."
She said, "Even your eyes?"
"Yes, even my eyes. Running is a challenge for me."
With that, she grabbed her dolls and her stroller and left the room.

It made me think though.

It reminded me of the quote (Sister Hinckley? President Hinckley?) about how we all need to show a little more kindness because each of us is fighting a hard battle.

How true that is.

Just like Kenzie didn't quite grasp how the the turning belt on the treadmill caused my face to turn bright red and break out into a sweat...I don't know all of the details of people lives, the inward and outward challenges, which cause them to react or behave the way they do.

And should it really matter whether or not I know their circumstances? No.
I should be kind to everyone -- whether or not I perceive their lives as going well...or not so well.

Do I know that the young mother behind me in the check-out stand, the one who's kids are seemingly out of control, just had a miscarriage last week? No. (Quite frankly, I wouldn't even notice noisy kids because I am too distracted by my own.)

Do I know that my daughter's preschool teacher is struggling with the fact that her husband just lost his job? No.

Do I know that the lady at the gas station is distracted by the fact that her mother is dying of cancer? No.

Do I know that the man who just cut me off on the freeway is sad because he and his wife are getting divorced? No.

Do I know that my neighbor down the street, the one who hasn't cut his grass in two weeks, is pondering how he's going to keep his house? No.

But does it matter whether or not I know these things? It shouldn't. And yet, sometimes, I let it matter.
Everyone is fighting a hard battle. Everyone has something.

Just like the turning belt on the treadmill, the one that makes my three-year-old ask, "How does THAT make your face sweaty?" I need to remember that things are not always as they seem.

Challenges exist.
Things are not always obvious.

I need to remember that for other people.

And I hope they'll do the same for me.

NOT a typical summer

We recently returned from a very relaxing and enjoyable trip to Florida and North Carolina. We are very grateful to all of Greg's family for helping to create wonderful memories and a really fun trip. Blogger takes too long to post pictures - so I put the majority of them on our Facebook page.
This has definitely NOT been a typical summer for us -- WAY more traveling than usual. Now it's really hard to believe that school starts in 3 short weeks.