who am I and whose invention?

Ok, showing off here a little. I'm not the best Mom at helping my kids be "great" at something...maybe because I'm not particularly "great" at anything. I tend to encourage them to do little bits of everything. But Molly tends to order her life according to current obsessions, and here is her latest. She has been drawing horses intently for about 6 months now, and this is her latest attempt. This is freehand!!! Maybe I'm so amazed because I cannot draw ANYTHING at all, but I think she's done a smashing job. Some of Grandpa Slaughter's genes are running through that girl, and I'm counting on her to make us rich someday (kidding). She asked me if I thought anyone would buy her pictures so she could raise money for our Tennessee trip in August...she said she'd make it a bargain at 10 cents per picture :-)

only happy endings, this we guarantee

Most Friday nights, assuming we don't have big plans (such as date night or an invite to a poker group), it's Family Movie Night at the SlaughterHouse. We try to pick a movie that will appeal to all or most ages, which can be quite a challenge. Dave makes homemade popcorn (no microwave garbage for us, nosirree!) and we hunker down with pillows and blankets for the feature film. Liam generally only lasts through 1/2 of the movie (if that) and then we put him to bed so we can relax. It's a fun family tradition that our kids look forward to, and remind us of throughout the week. From a recent FMN:

Liam being "one of the brothers".
Princess gets the most comfy spot.
Pretty sure she's faking. Drama, drama.

think of me fondly

Liam loves to kiss Judah. From the look on Judah's face, I'm not convinced that the affection is mutual, but we'll give it some time. When L sees J, he says, "Ooooooooh!" and then proceeds to poke him.

hit me with your best shot

This one is overdue, but I'm always a bit behind :-) So now you can see CJ's favorite job while she was here visiting us in December. She's a saboteur.

baby, baby, baby, baby, oh baby!

I went to see one of my bestest friends, Janelle (one of the Posse), in the hospital tonight. She just had her first baby, Elijah William, early this morning. I told Janelle that she is my hero....her water broke to begin her labor, and she delivered little Eli 49 hours later, with no c-section!! I'm so proud of her and know that she and Craig will be great parents to the new wee Banta. And I'm thankful that she lives close enough for play dates :-) Congrats to Janelle and Craig, and may God pour out His blessing on this new covenant child!

Eli was awake and wide-eyed the whole time I was there.
The happy Banta fam -- I love you guys!!
Despite lack of blood ties, I am Eli's favorite Auntie already. I can tell.