Always wash your feet...

Because you never know when you will get a call from Pops on your foot phone!

What will she think of next?

This next one is especially for Pops. I imagine he will play these videos over and over. :)

She's the funniest girl I know!

More on Possums

Today Leah and I watched the Cat in the Hat together on PBS... and wouldn't you know it, there was a possum in the episode! Even in cartoon form it was still just a gigantic rat and I was still grossed out. The Cat and the kids put on icky possum noses so they could have a better sense of smell. It was gross... But Leah was pretty excited about it. You know she'll end up starting some kind of possum rescue or something one day. Uuug...

The morning after the incident she talked alot about the possum, but each time she says it it sounds funnier. See for yourself.

We also practiced our "surprised-to-see-a-possum-on-our-fence" faces. This one was my favorite because I think it most closely portrayed my own feeling of horror that evening.

She really liked the game... my little drama queen...

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are so thankful for God's love, mercy and sweet provision in our lives.

oh-possom... why did you come back?

Friday night Leah and I got home from visiting with friends just about her bedtime. (Kevin was out of town doing a little hunting.) When we got out of the car we heard Beans barking in the backyard, which is very unusual. Whining would not be strange, but barking, almost NEVER happens... except for when there is a rabbit or a cat (or worse) in the backyard. I knew what it was instinctively. I grabbed the flashlight and walked carefully (Leah up in my arms) around the side of the yard to shine the light on Beans.


Before I even turned the flashlight on... I saw it... the round shape atop the fence was back-lit, but I knew for sure what it was... Yes... there was a nasty (o)possum having a staring contest with Beans from it's perch high up on the fence. It was just in front of the gated dog-run area, Bean Arena. Beans stopped barking and just stared. None of us moved for what seemed like ages. My adrenaline was pumping like crazy...

(If you haven't been a reader of our blog since the beginning, you may not know of my hatred for these creatures. So be my guest and read all about it here.)

My pulse quickened when I turned on the flashlight and it shone on the 2 foot long rat tail hanging down the fence. But the rodent didn't move even then. So I did what made sense to me... I yelled at it. And then I banged on the fence (from at least 15 yards away.) All I wanted to do was get Beans out of Bean Arena and go inside away from the overgrown rat. But there it was... right between us... threatening to pounce if I dared walk by.

Leah and I retreated into the house where I began to run around like a lunatic. I am 100% sure that in 30 years when her therapist asks about her earliest memories, she will say "I remember it was dark and my mom look wild-eyed as she paced around the house turning off lights and opening blinds yelling through the windows to 'GET OFF MY FENCE!'"

Just as a quick side note.... I'm actually pretty calm and collected under pressure... unless the pressure is from giant rodents or a particular detestable insect. During those times, I probably need to be medicated. No, not probably...

Anyway, the only view I can get of this thing is out Leah's bedroom window so there we are, almost 9 pm now as we stare together out the window at the possum that taunts our Baby Beans. Kevin finally calls me back after I'd left a couple of messages for him. I explain the situation and he helpfully suggests that I "just walk by" the rodent-of-unusual-size and get Beans. I say something like, "Thank you for that suggestion. I hadn't thought of it. However, I probably will not. Where is the pellet gun?" (I'm just summarizing, you see, the adrenaline has clouded out the actual words spoken here.)

Beans begins to bark again. Leah says "Beans bark! Oooooh! Off.Fence.Possom!" I say, "That's right Leah, you tell that possum to get the HECK OFF OUR FENCE!" She giggles and goes back to staring at the possum and then follows me around the house as I make my next moves. Kevin is driving in the middle of no-where so his phone is breaking up and now he's calling me and texting me with 2-3 word helps at a time. Finally he says... "Don't get a gun, call one of the neighbors."

I call the neighbor that shares the fence in question and explain my situation asking them if they can try to help me shew the possum away from their side. They inform me that Beans had been barking a LONG time before we got home and that when they realized the problem they began pelting the critter with ice cubes to try and scare it off. So, for more than an hour now this thing has just been getting madder and madder at humans... EVEN BETTER!

I was on the phone with another friend about this time and she suggests I throw an apple at it. My neighbor thought this was a good idea too... along with trying to lure the critter away with an open can of tuna in the front yard. I discouraged feeding the evil pest and continued, at my friend's suggestion, to find something to throw at it. Looking back now I'm glad I didn't throw the apple because I would have most definitely overthrown due to the rush I was experiencing and the stray apple in the neighbor's yard would have attracted even more vermin to our yards. I did throw some dog toys at the fence below it... spiking it on the tail once and getting the heebie-geebies all over when I made it turn around... Uggg... now its headed at me and not Beans! Back inside...

Leah and I take up our post in her bedroom window again with the phones and flashlights. Buckets of ice seem to be coming over our fence now... the neighbors are trying to stone the thing to death I guess. Now back on the phone with Kevin he suggests we try to "scare it away" from the front yard. I guess he thought if we went to the front yard and made alot of racket it would run towards the back and get lost. He says to me "It's just scared to death... it's trapped between y'all and Beans and can't get away." Now... whether this is true or not... this is not what I need to hear right now.

I go back in the backyard and see if I can come up with a strategic frontal attack... And now I'm having some moments of weakness. I am now SYMPATHIZING with the creature that might just be scared to death sitting on top of our fence post trying to get away. I really did begin to feel sorry for it... which didn't help the situation that was quickly heating up. I hear a strange noise... sounds like a bicycle pump... no... the neighbor says through the fence, "I borrowed a pellet gun." He's getting ready to shoot this animal that I all of the sudden have feelings of compassion for... THANKS KEVIN!

It was a clean head shot, though when it fell INTO MY SIDE OF THE YARD it took a few steps in attempt to escape before curling up and dying... right in the path that I need to walk through to get Beans... I mean smack dab in the middle of a 3 foot wide path that leads to Bean Arena. "It's dead... just walk by it" you say?? IT IS A POSSUM!!! THEY ARE MASTERS OF THE ART OF "PLAYING POSSUM!" How do I know its really dead? I'm going crazy here. Back we go to the post in Leah's room where I can keep an eye on the "dead" creature... which I now feel so very sorry for... and I'm wondering if she was a momma possum and are her baby possums going to be ok without her!?!? Oh Kevin is in BIG trouble for this.

The overgrown rodent is sort of curled up on its side... very still... very dead. I wait a few minutes more and then I tell Leah to come wait for mommy at the screen door to the back yard. I'm gonna go get Beans. As I sneak by it, moving ever-so-slowly, I notice the giant rat tail coiled up like a cinnamon roll. I almost cry, I almost throw up... all at the same time. I get to Beans and open her gate, now having to control an 80 lb, over-stimulated puppy and keep her from getting too close to this thing as we go back by it again.

We made it. As we came in the door, Leah was saying "GO WAY POSSUM!" I notified all parties who'd been involved of the final outcome. The next morning the animal control "lady" came by and picked it up in a black trash bag. I told Kevin I was really surprised by the trash bag... I expected something more official.

Most of my compassion for the critter has now worn off. Leah continues to wake up every morning talking about the possum on her fence. I am exceedingly careful outside in the dark now, in case there are hungry possom babies looking for their mama, I don't want to be caught off gaurd.

Here is a picture of some possum hair on our fence. It was an impressive 2.5 hours spent in one position.

And here is a picture of the bloody crime scene after the body had been taken away. R.I.P.

Ole MacCurley

If she had a farm, on that farm she'd have some sheep, chickens, bunnies and pigs for sure. On Halloween she was REALLY into the animals at the little petting zoo. Mostly the bunnies. She was headed for the chickens when they squawked really loudly at one another and after that she stayed a good distance from them. But she couldn't get enough of the bunnies. She liked the pig too, but wouldn't touch it. It was like she knew it wasn't as soft. (Maybe because I said "Oooh, that pig isn't very soft!")Aunt Leslie's farm would be full of goats. Or maybe if the goats had a farm, it would be full of Aunt Leslies! These goats were nibbling on her back and elbows... no one else, just her. Animals and kids love her!

A few weeks ago we stopped by a farm fest at Jacob's Reward Farm where my sister was working a booth. We had another engagement so we didn't get to stay long, but Leah pet a sheep and looked at lots of animals. She is quite fond of scarecrows. And she liked these chickens too.

She had her picture made with the sheep, I'll post as soon as I get have it.

Yes, I do!

A few weeks ago Leah suddenly began spewing forth complete sentences.

Her first one of consequence was "I want more ca-cas (crackers) peease, yes, I do!"

You can imagine our surprise since all we'd ever heard was 2-word combos.

Other notable sentences lately have been:

• "No, I wanna weed book mommy, yes, I do!"


• "I'm a naked Baby!" (this is at bath time or anytime she takes off an article of clothing)


• "I want more juice peease, yes, I do!"


• "I want more (insert any food or beverage here) peease, yes, I do!"

One of my favorites was one morning when we were playing with Beans and she said "I wuv you, Beah!" This was her first proclamation of love to another. She will not say "I love you" to anyone else. Only Beans. The other day at the mall I got her to say it on video.

Tonight when daddy came home she said "Daddy's here, Mommy's here, Leah's here, Beah's here!"

The casual bystander may not understand her language right off the bat... but if you hang around long enough you too will begin to think that L's and R's are totally overrated.

pig tails

Kevin and I think she looks so old with her piggy tails.
But she's only 21 months old!! When do I have to stop counting in months? I was fine with saying she was 1, but now she's almost 2 so it feels like a lie to say she's 1. And I can't bare saying she's almost 2!! I heard a mom the other day say her son was 31 months. I thought she was a little weird for doing that... plus I had a really hard time with the math it took to decide how old he was. I feel like 21 months is still reasonable to tell people... but I do find myself wondering if the receiver of the information is having a hard time with math that day, like I sometimes do... so sometimes I opt for "one and a half." (also a lie) Wow... do I sound neurotic or what?

No matter your age, the fountain at Northpark mall is a crowd-pleaser. LC wanted to get in that water so bad!! I think I've loved Northpark and its fountain since I was 21 months old...

things that make you go mmMMmm...

Diet Dr. Pepper - Cherry

Pitiful Pearl

...is what my mom used to call us when we were pouting a bit more than was probably necessary. (Although, this almost never happened!) I wonder if this is what my sister and I looked like when we were having our pity parties...

I think that is THE SADDEST face I've EVER seen!! I had the camera sitting on the dashboard as I drove because she had been saying something really funny... can't remember what was so funny now.

Urban Cowgirl

I like to get as much use out of costume as possible... which is why I bought this one about 2 months before Halloween. Leah has been wearing pieces of it around the house from time to time. She also got to wear it to a costume event last Friday night... we took Aunt Leslie with us, had dinner and looked at crazy folks. Speaking of...
Leah doesn't do crowds... so it took her a while to loosen up... or smile

When she first laid eyes on the fire hydrant...
She spent LOTS of time with this fire hydrant... I think if the Hamburgler idea falls through, she will be a fireman next year.

We saw a couple of good friends but didn't get many great pictures except for this one of Blakely the Butterfly, which I think is priceless...
Waiting for dinner = grumpy girl


After dinner and 5 - 7 M&Ms = happy, silly girl

Once her tummy was full (and the millions of people had cleared off the square) all the real fun began... She gave this frog a good talking to...
They kissed and made up...

In the window of an antique shop she saw this family praying and immediately said some prayers of her own...
As we were leaving, she saw this flag, screamed "FLAG!!" then she flung her hat to the ground and began the Pledge of Allegiance... according to Leah. (Her best word is America.... the rest is sort of just humming and gibberish to the cadence of the pledge)

Later in the weekend... All 4 of Leah's grandparents were serving with their church at the Fall Festival in Firewheel. So with one stop we got to see everyone, including Aunt Leslie again!

For this event we tried pig tails for the first time. She didn't like them until Daddy told her how much HE liked them. Then she was happy.
Daddy showed Leah how to pull a wagon through throngs of candy seekers...


Big Britches... pulling her buddy "RAR" the lion. (Leah named him... not ROAR, to be sure, it's RAAAAR)

Night yall!

The Bible is True

One of the greatest blessings in my entire life has been to be involved in Bible Study Fellowship. For many, many reasons. I began last year with the study of the gospel of John. This year, for the study of Isaiah, I have had the EXTRA SUPER AWESOME blessing of getting to be a children's leader in BSF. I had no idea how much God wanted to teach ME through serving in a pre-school class! I get to help a class full of 4-year-olds learn to sing hymns and hear God's truth through Bible stories. And I'm telling you, little miracles happen every single week in this children's program. God is at work in a BIG way.

One of the other children's leaders shared a new rhythmic activity with our group. She said it was a favorite of her school-aged kiddos from their BSF class. (Another cool thing about BSF... there are now classes for every single person in the family! Leah is in the new "Under 2" program that just started last spring.) Anyway, we have been doing this little chant in our 4-year-old class, but I had no idea they were teaching the littlest ones! You pat/clap to the rhythm and it goes like this: The Bible is True - - Absolutely True - - Everything the Bible Says Is Absolutely True.

After BSF yesterday we visited with Bibby, Pops and Aunt Les at the office. And Aunt Leslie got this on video...

The Truth is on her lips. And I pray it makes a way into her heart.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

a turkey and... dressing

So the Curley family entry in this year's Pumpkin Carving Contest was less than impressive. We just didn't have it in us this year. On our way out the door (LATE, thanks to a Saturday afternoon family nap) I grabbed a pumpkin and some turkey parts off the breakfast table and asked Kevin to throw an arrow in the car so we could go to the party. Our entry wasn't spectacular, but it was original... Thanksgiving DinnerBut it did win 3rd place in the props category! Here are some of the other, more impressive entries:

Octo-mom and Babies
The Pumpkin Pie Factory
Pumpkittin (with real live goldfish in his belly!)



Duck or Goose?

The Whole World in His Hands
PacMan (And Galaga on the back) -- My favorite of the night


Scary punk-uhs (Leah kept saying "teeth??" to the guy on the bottom of the picture)


Chilean Miners

Freestyle and Freehand (The Alamo looked awesome up close)


Check out the comb...




After the carving, Leah had some other activities to get to.... like bouncing!

Making music...

Heavy drinking...

Mommy is fixing Leah's first S'MORES! She was giddy when she saw the chocolate.

Leah's friend Ella, just 3 weeks older. Click here to see the girls at the same party for the last 2 years.

Visiting with the pups. These doggies are Beans' sisters, Dixie (brown) and Bella (yellow)

Leah hopped up on this chair to have her picture made with a scary punk-uh.....Notice anything weird about her boots? THEY ARE ON THE WRONG FEET! I didn't notice until looking at the pictures. Who dresses that girl??