And now...the REST of the story

As a kid the only talk radio I actually enjoyed was Paul Harvey's "The rest of the story". It was the only segment I truly liked, and always hoped would be on. Because the rest was terrible and I had to just suffer through it while riding in Dad's car.

Many of you will remember this post where I discussed how upset, I think I used the word angry, I was with Caroline.

So now....the REST of the story.



That post is about an impromptu trip to the park, mainly to save my house from falling victim to my 3 yr. old--again. But I ended up getting taking some photos of Caroline that I love no matter how angry I was at her. (that stinker!)

Mental note: We went to the park on a Tuesday.

You see, I was (still) angry with her because on Sunday of that week, she'd sneaked a FULL *brand new* bottle of fingernail polish into her room during rest time. She proceeded to paint her fingernails, half of her fingers, toenails, half of her actual toes, the BOTTOMS of her feet, AND paint a nice size circle (puddle) of fingernail polish on our hardwood floors! Then, I bet because she'd run out of paint, she apparently tiptoed or danced or something'd around the hallway/entry way leaving cute little size 8 footprints of RED, blood red, fingernail polish all over the floor. Ticked would be a good way to describe me at the time. But half a bottle of fingernail polish remover later, I was started to calm down. (I was also a little high thanks to the smell.)

She didn't stop there.

Just when I thought that could be the worst thing she could do, she takes it one step further AND involves her sister.

On Tuesday morning, a mere 36 hrs. after the fingernail polish incident, I wake up to giggles coming from the laundry room. (Remember that my scrap space is in the laundry room.) Curious about why there's giggling in the laundry room, I quickly unfold closed the bi-fold doors to find my 2 lovelies finger painting ON THE WALLS of my newly painted scrap room in the most beatuiful (hideous) colors of maroon and orange. Someone (coughcoughCarolinecough) climbed up into my chair, found two colors of acrylic paint that suited her fancy, poured them out onto a plastic plate (just like Mommy does), and then painted the lower third of my wall. There's also intentional handprints reaching higher than that to see just how far they could reach.

That just about sent me over the edge. I'd cleaned up my scrap stuff from the night before, put it all away like I was supposed to, closed the doors to the laundry room, and she/they STILL got in to my stuff! Grrrrrr!

So in order to save my house from further damage, we went to the park. Anything to get them out of the house. That's where I ended up getting the photos I now love of her. Go figure.

But I'm over all of it now. I know she's curious, artsy (obviously), and wanting to explore new things. And I really do love those things about her. They're what make her HER. But I've also come up with a "schedule" to keep her busy (and out of the house) most days so she doesn't get bored and go exploring in the house any more. hehe!

And you know me, of course I've gotta scrap those photos, and journal a bit about it all. So I used Urban Anthology's August kit to make this LO. (I think I've made 5 or more layouts with it and a card or 2 too. Those kits just keep on going...) Oh, and I created it from the sketch I made. You can find it here.

Cutie Pie







The journaling reads, "Sassy, spunky, a little spirited with a glint of mischief in her eye. We love her...(she's our) Cutie Pie"

And that just about sums it up. As mischievious as she is, she's our cutie pie.

The Lord uses her to teach me about undconditional love. His for me. I've done WAY worse than tiptoe-ing through fingernail polish, or finger painting my mama's newly painted walls. And I still love her. Without a doubt. And thankfully, graciously and mercifully, He still loves me. Without a doubt.

And that's the rest of the story.