Over the weekend..

Ahhh Anabelle, what a sweet smile on that darling little face. Now picture that little face shrieking and screaming. Add to that picture flailing arms and stomping feet and noodly little body being thrown about every which way. And then crying- unstoppable irrational crying. For those of you who missed Lila's blessing on Sunday, don't feel bad, so did I. I heard the first sentence. It was a lovely sentence. And then came the hysterics. I was trying desperatley to get her to calm down and be quiet. I was doing everything I could think of short of beating her right there in church. I did briefly consider it. I even thought of a scripture to justify it. Finally a friend realized that Anabelle was the screeching load of fun and took her out. So I heard the last sentence too. Oh the anger. Luckily Braden's mom was there and took notes so I got to read it. But oh the anger. I told her a few minutes later that she was not to talk and yell in church. "Why not"? This is what the congregation heard her chant about 12 times as I carried her out. An untimely tantrum to say the least. Such displays of behavior are what give poor two year olds such a bad rap. So to all those toddlers who sat quietly coloring or thumbing through a book, I apologize on her behalf. She's usually delightful and quite hilarious. I have since vowed to move back a few rows. Like 30 rows. Like we will now take up Sunday residence against the back wall. And if a similiar event ever occurs I could perhaps duct tape her to the wall. A solution that was unavailable to me this week. Just trying to keep my options open.

Moving on to less painful stories...Lila had her first party on Saturday. Friends from church threw a little celebration party for her. It was so nice. I mean stuffed grape leaves and shrimp sort of nice. I felt so overwhelmed while I was opening presents. I started crying. I mean really, who cries at a party? I guess if the party is really lame and your boyfriend leaves you there to walk home or something. It was just another moment of realization that our family is being taken care of and that the Lord is aware of us and meeting our needs through the generosity of others.

Additionally, yet completely unrelated, I have a bowl of overripe bananas on my counter waiting to be made into something great. Something more than just a substantial dose of iron and potassium. If you have a recipe for something banana that will be so delicious that Braden will make terribly stupid deals with me if I will just make him another batch, please consider yourself morally obligated to post it here.