So sweet! I came downstairs to find the girls watching The Princess Diaries II. Tali and Ellie were sitting together on the couch and Tali was absent-mindedly rubbing Ellie's back for her.  Since these are the two that fight the most lately, I was especially blessed to see it!

Ben is Eon's biggest cheerleader! He is always praising him for something. "Mom, Simeon's holding his head up! Good job, Simeon!" or "Mom, Simeon's kicking his legs! Go, Simeon! You can do it!"  I think he'll be an excellent therapist some day.

Zak is our wild child and confirmed Daddy's boy. He is livid if I try to keep him in the house and Dad is out working.  If allowed to help, he will silently mimick every move Shawn makes. Shawn kicks a tire...Zak kicks a tire; Shawn looks under the truck...Zak looks under the truck. It is so cute!  Recently, he discovered the show "American Choppers" about motorcycles.  He shrieked and started jabbering unintelligibly, pointing outside, saying, "Daddy varoom, varoom! Daddy varoom, varoom!" and then pointing to the TV.  It was if he were saying, "They have a whole show about motorcycles?!? Dad has a motorcycle! How come no one told me?" He sat on the couch (with Shawn) and watched it for a half hour. This is the kid that won't even watch the Wiggles for more than five minutes. Amazingly scary!

I have a confession to make.  I stumbled across a new-to-me TV show and now I am hooked.  Last weekend, on A&E, they were having a "Dog, The Bounty Hunter" marathon.  I discovered it while channel surfing late one night.  "What is this?" I asked Shawn.  He'd seen it a few times and filled me in. It is a reality, documentary-type show.  Duane Chapman, aka "Dog", his wife, oldest sons, and daughter own a few bail bonds places in Hawaii.  When someone misses a court date or "jumps bond", they hunt him down and arrest him.

That is interesting enough, but what really adds color to the show are the bounty hunters themselves. Dog has a long, blonde mullet, wears his shirts open to the naval, has long earrings and lots of tattoos.  His wife has platinum blonde hair, wears her shirts open to almost the naval, and wears stiletto heels...with everything.  When they are chasing someone, they let the bleeped-out expletives fly. 

Here's the really interesting part:  They claim to be born-again Christians. Before they leave on a hunt, they gather in a circle and pray for wisdom and protection. Once caught, a fugitive can expect for them to offer him a cigarette and tell him how to get his life together, usually by finding God.  Often, right before they turn him in, they will gather around in another circle, hold hands, and pray for him...in Jesus' name.  The first time I saw it I literally laughed out loud!!!  What a hoot!

But here's the deal.  I think God is pleased.  I really do!  They are very sincere in their love for the Lord.  He saved Dog out of a life of crime and prison.  They are reaching people for Jesus that I never could.  Even if I came in contact with the fugitives on the show, they would never receive from me, my life is too clean and neat.  They have a strong familial bond which is another testimony, given that the children are from different marriages and used to be estranged from their dad.  They love people unconditionally, even while handcuffing them and hauling them to jail.  While watching that first show, I was blessed.  Here is a picture of the grace of God and an amazing reminder that He is so much more interested in our hearts than our behavior.

I want to be like Dog.  I don't plan to get any tats or wear my shirts down to my naval, but I do want the fruit of the Holy Spirit to be evident in my life, in spite of my faults.  I don't want my struggles with sin or addictions to get in the way of my sharing about Jesus, and I want to extend grace to people in every situation. 

Seriously, everyone should see this show once, for sheer entertainment if nothing else! :) 

So, I've been exclusively pumping for five weeks now. I really don't mind though, as I have the pump set up behind my little computer table so I can surf the net while I do it.  I recently discovered an on-line support group for moms of kids with Down syndrome and it has been neat to glean some information and receive support.

While exploring that group, I found a debate forum on the same site. If you know me, you know that I love a good debate. The topic du jour was large families. The gal who started the "discussion" was quite inflammatory about people "needing an excessive number of children". Immediately sucked in, I found myself reading the pages and pages of responses and rebuttals everytime I pumped. I was dertermined to read all the pages before responding myself. I made it through 22 pages and still had about 15 to go. When not on the computer, I was busy formulating my response, eager to jump into the fray.

Sunday night, I went to Panera for my weekly date with God.  On the way, I continued thinking about my defense of large families and how desperately they needed to hear from those with a biblical worldview, as it's a secular board.  At Panera, I sat down with my Bible and began looking for a Scripture I have the body of memorized, but not the reference (I'm really terrible about that).  Suddenly, some words jumped off the page and convicted me to my core, before making me laugh out loud. The words?

"Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels." II Timothy 2:23

Needless to say, I've not been back to the debate board.