They've been known to say some words

Pre-script: For this post, you have a choice of three songs: "Closer," by Jars of Clay, "Talk," by Coldplay, or "Stay For Awhile," by Amy Grant. pick one, go click on it, then come back to view this post. I'll wait... (...waiting...with the family in tow...Or should I say, "with the family in V.W. bus...")

Y'all are welcome to stop on by anytime...as long as you call ahead first and send the Merry Maids after you leave.*

Oh, I kid, I kid! We won't require any Merry Maids help until the next day, at least.* Besides, we are officially raising our own team of Merry Maids, right here in our house. Yeah, just give each of these kids a wet sponge, and they go gangbusters all over every surface 3 feet tall or shorter. They are sure to get the aforementioned surfaces halfway clean, and if not, then they will at least get the aforementioned surfaces wet. But I digress.

As I was saying, before I so rudely interrupted myself, please come and see us. When you are here, we will be sure to bounce you on our trampoline, feed you all the homemade cake you can stand, butcher Napoleon Dynomite quotes and Bon Jovi songs at the top of our lungs, all the while cracking ourselves up, and before you leave, we will inject your children with slap-happy juice,** so that they will be extra fun for you on your drive home and beyond.

Kidding folks, kidding again. Derek and I only use the slap happy juice** on our own children, and only before bedtime at the end of long, full days when we are terribly exhausted ourselves , so that they are sure to be too hyper and goofy to fall asleep for a very, very long time. But again, I digress...

Before you come over, you will need to purchase and study a very special thesaurus/dictionary if you want to understand our half of what is sure to be a thrilling and enlightening conversation. This is known as an "Our Family" thesaurus/dictionary,*** and it is made up of all of the words the 6 of us have adapted into our daily lives that are not typically spoken outside of our home. However since this particular book is still in the process of being published,*** you are in for a lucky treat. I'm about to give you a sneak peak of some of the words you will find therein. (One cannot be too prepared for an impromptu stop-by.)

1.)Opy-meal: Oatmeal.

2.)Frostache: What you get when eating your cupcake face-first.

3.)Pop-it: Stop it.

4.) Hop-hops: Flip-flops.

5.)Tuggle: Snuggling and Talking at the same time.

6.) Ho-dough: Soda. (As in when Natalie said "That Daddy's Ho-dough" as she pointed to the caffiene-free-but-not-diet can of Pepsi she saw on the counter last week...because she seemed to instinctively know that Mommy has no point of reference for even beginning to understand a drink like that.)

...but yet again, I digress.

(These words were all invented by our children. They are only a small smattering of the words that pepper our daily in house wordage. )

Peace and love to you and yours until we find you here,

-XOXO,

*The Merry Maids thing is just a joke, see, and our children could never be Merry Maids; they can't fit into the uniforms, and I refuse to let them drive one of those cars with cleaning supplies and vacuum cleaners in the trunk.

**Slap-Happy Juice is also just a joke...so it's nothing to lose your heads over.

***There is actually no such book in existance, even at the publisher's office. Dern.