That's what he said:
"My teeth are broken!"
"Oh?"
"Yep.  I need to get new teeth."
"Hmmm...new teeth?"
"Uh huh; and new lips too."

Sadly, another post without pictures.  These days, if I find the time to post, it is usually not enough time to upload pictures and post!  Here is what we've been up to lately.  (Pictures to follow later)

Yesterday we made Rice Krispy Treats.  Caleb got a real kick out of it!  Since I've never actually made rice krispy treats before, I learned a few things the hard way.  (chefs beware-  you must grease your hands before pressing the mixture into the pan!  Quite a sticky mess otherwise   Puffed rice and puffed sugar....mmm.  We then ran a few errands; we went to the grocery store and dry cleaners and then  home again all by 9am.  Finally at 10am we were able to go to the resale shop. (It's such a pain waiting for all the stores to open at 10!  I mean, if you're going to be awake at 5:30am anyway, why not get something done??!!  Besides, by the time the stores open at 10, you only have one hour before you have to be home to make lunch at 11 and have the kiddos in bed by 12.  Sigh.  )  After the resale shop, we went bowling....which is free all summer long for kids.  Apparently you have to throw the ball with a great deal of momentum to keep it from stalling out halfway down.  And I'm pretty sure we broke a few floorboards from all the times the ball was dropped!  And I do sincerely apologize to the people next to us...Caleb accidentally bowled on their lane a few times.  I offered to let them have a turn on ours, but they looked at us like we were nuts.  What's the difference anyhow?

Today we went in for Jackson's one year checkup (ahem...14 month checkup....better late than never!) He got a DTaP, a good thing too since he had just sliced his finger open on a rusty toy at Paw Paws house.  He weighed in at 23lbs 2oz and 30 1/2" long (75th percentile for height and 50th for weight)  He is STILL not walking!  Quite a surprise after Caleb walked so young.  But in the Jackson family, we kids always walked at around 14 months, so I guess he takes after his namesake   While I was there, our pediatrician noted the dark mark on my hand...a large circular shape that looks something like a bad burn.  He asked what it was and I told him I thought it was a spider bite and that I had gotten it while in Honduras.  He informed me that I was a very lucky girl because it was a Brown Recluse spider bite.  He said I was very fortunate that it wasn't much much worse.  Well, I guess that was an answered prayer for God's protection!

So, speaking of Honduras, Aaron and I went there for one week with a group from our church.  We went to dig a well for an indigenous people group without access to any clean water.  Their living conditions were terrible and every bit as bad as you can imagine.  Some of the children had bellies swollen from malnutrition and many had strange diseases.  We could tell that polio had hit the village at some point, because there were 3 or 4 that still had partial paralysis.  There were about 50 families that we saw.  The girls marry very young (about 11 or 12!) so it is not uncommon to see girls 14 or 17 with a couple of kids.  Their homes they build with sticks, leaves and mud.  One room huts.  The people were so short that we had to bend down while walking through their homes.  Horses, cows, pigs and chickens roam freely everywhere (even in the houses)  The people are so poor and yet they don't seem to realize it.  They kept giving us things!  I guess it made them feel wealthy to give something away.  Most of them had never seen Americans and were very curious about them.  Their water source was a tiny dirty creek.  They washed clothes and bathed and drank, all from the same stagnant creek.  We were successful and by God's grace, managed to dig the well.  So that village now has access to running water.  I will post pictures when I get them developed (yes, they are in film!  We took disposable cameras)

After we got back from Honduras, we went straight to Louisiana to spend a few days with Aaron's family and pick up the boys.  Then we came back to our own house for 48 hours, and left again to fly to Kentucky for my cousins wedding.  (Jackson and I flew, Aaron and Caleb went to Louisiana again)  Jackson was a dream baby for the whole trip!  He accepted everything in stride and seemed to actually enjoy all of the alone time he had with me.  He did extremely well during our flights (despite delays on our connecting flights and six hours spent waiting in the Atlanta airport)  He handled it beautifully.  What a joy he is!  He brings us such delight and I love him dearly.

When we got home from the doctor today, we made homemade ice cream-in-a-bag.  It turned out more like soft serve but was a lot of fun to make!  Caleb loved it.  After all, it's not about the finished product...it's about the experience    Here is the recipe:

Ice Cream in a Bag
1 Sandwich size zipper bag
1/2 c whole milk
1T sugar
1/2tsp vanilla
Gallon size zipper bag
Ice
6T rock salt

Directions:
Combine milk, sugar and vanilla in small zipper bag and seal tightly.  Fill Gallon bag with Add the rock salt to the large bag of ice.  Add the small baggie to the large bag of ice and fill to the top with more ice.  Seal the bag and shake occasionally for about 15-20 minutes.  Enjoy your single serving of homemade ice cream

We had planned to go to the Zoo this afternoon (and see the dinosaur exhibit again) but I think I'm out of energy.  Anyone want to go to the beach with us tomorrow?

Do you remember Jochebed?  Her name is only mentioned briefly in the Bible, yet her faith changed the course of many nations.  She had a son who was taken away from her, probably by the age of two.  But in those few short months, almost two years, she so thoroughly imparted her faith to her son that he was faithful to walk in it for 120 years.  He was taken from his people, poor and persecuted as they were, and was raised in the wealthiest palace in the world of that time.  He received the education of a prince and was instructed in the worship of pagan gods.  But when he came of age, it was not those gods that he feared.  All the training in the courts of Egypt could not undo the first 24 months of faithful teaching by his mother.  Moses chose to cast in his lot with the Israelites, rather than live as the wealthy of Egypt.  He chose the faith of his parents, though he barely knew them.  I wonder if we were suddenly taken out of our children's lives, would they would remember the faith of their parents?  If we have done our job faithfully, God promises that they will:  "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6  "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." Psalm 90:12  If you really do this, you just might change the world.

Our son, the chatterbox. Sigh.  In our 50 minute drive to Granny's house yesterday, he didn't stop talking...not even for 5 seconds.  He just jabbered on the whole way!  What does he talk about?  Here's a few excerpts:

"All these cars honking!  It's driving me BONKERS! I'm thinking this is, like, ridiculous.  I'm, like, oooh my GOODness! That sign is red! That car is red.  There's a red truck Mommy!  You see it mommy?  See the red truck?  MOMMY!!  There's a red truck!!!  That light is red.  You see that red picture?  There's a red surfboard.  You see, I know ALL mine colors Mommy!"(heavy sigh)"I'm so tired that I'm just gonna go crazy."

Every Mother of toddlers knows that anything you say can (and will) be used against you. 

"I don't have time for this!" He said, with a loud sigh and hands spread wide in exasperation
"Well, you're just gonna have to Deal with it Mommy!!"  (do I really say that?)
"That's inappropriate Mommy!"
"I'm getting really really frustrated!"
"Don't touch that Mommy!  It's Dangerous!!" (I was touching a scuff mark on the wall)
"I'm like TOTALLY exhausted!!" (Yep;  he learned that one from me!)
"Good job!  You're a big boy Mommy!"

Aaron LOVES popcorn!  Unfortunately, corn is one of the most genetically modified foods out there.  Plus, the 'movie' popcorn bags usually contain all sorts of added ingredients that clog your arteries and shorten your life   So we have begun purchasing Organic popcorn kernels in bulk from Bethlehem Harvest www.bethlehemharvest.com .  We also purchase brown paper lunch bags (super cheap!).  We loosely cover the bottom of the brown paper bag with corn kernels and fold it over.  Set the bag on it's side in the microwave and zap it for 3 minutes.  Voila!  Just as good as 'movie' popcorn and yet it's fat free (and a lot cheaper!) There are those who object to the use of the microwave too...but we fight one battle at a time in our house