Picture our dinner table with the noisy din of a preschooler’s chatter and the constant drone of a toddler’s babbling whine mixed with a fair amount of sassy words, giddiness and general loudness.

Are you there? Add yogurt to just about every surface, food being chewed with open mouths and a sippy cup being used without hands.

Sometimes I laugh, sometimes I cry. This time I tried to teach.

I looked Ryan square in the eye and said,

God says the wise man uses his ears and the foolish man lets his tongue run

The phrase was met with a head back laugh!

What!? Are you kidding me! How do you even do that?

He continued to open his food filled mouth and “run” on his tongue with his pointer and middle fingers.

You mean like this? (running on his tongue) Hahahhaeee-hahaha!

Well, so I had to laugh. Here are some of the scriptures I was trying to recall at the ruckus albeit educational dinner table.

• Words from a wise man’s mouth are gracious, but a fool is consumed by his own lips. Ecclesiastes 10:12
• Wise men store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool invites ruin. Proverbs 10:14
• The wise in heart accept commands, but a chattering fool comes to ruin. Proverbs 10:8

The cool air around here is unpredictable. One day is hot with rainy humidity and the next is crisp with forewarning wind. The season of autumn is in flux. As a Minnesota gal, I cling to the evenings of cool air and crickets out the windows like I’ll forever miss them come winter. My uniform: Jeans, tee shirt, sandals and a fleece. Yes, I love fall.

The kids are playing with warmer clothes too yet they always seem to get sweaty so fast from running, falling, jumping and chasing around the house and yard.

Molly can wear the pink Oshkosh bibs that I bought at a garage sale for my South Carolina gal pal Heather when she had her first baby over 5 years ago (pre- McWilliams babies). They cycled through her girls and now they can fit my daughter.

One blink! I swear it was just one blink and the bibs of a yesteryear garage sale purchased only to appease my baby fix are walking around my house, on my kid!

Sanctuary

Individuality

Motivating

Purposeful

Living

Imaginative

Connectivity

Intelligent

Teamwork

Yert (Yes well, yerts (hut-like structures) are simple anyway! What else was I going to type for Y?)

The Simplicity Project (TSP) is big. What I am finding is that TSP is not made up of one big idea or plan. It is, however, made up of a lot of little ideas, attitudes, and of course projects. I haven’t dumped out every toy in hopes of restructuring the whole house in one day…yet.

I did what every good perfectionist procrastinator does – crafts! I have so much do to it seems a bit daunting and the results so incredibly faraway. So, I gave myself permission to get a little thing done. It is only a teaspoon of completion in a lake full of life goals but the reward of completing a project that was over one year old is priceless.

I made the blue photo frame on the left at a Mother of Preschoolers (MOPS) meeting four years ago for my son Ryan. When Molly came along, I purchased a second blank frame from the MOPS leftover craft cupboard with intentions of making a similar frame for my darling daughter. Now she is already 15 months old!

Ryan as a newborn. Molly at 12 months.

Both frames are just paper mache-type cardboard and are cheaper than cheap, but I think they look pretty cute with the personalization.

3 Teaspoon Project Nuggets

1. Limits If it can be done in 1/2 hour – do it, but only once in a while. It is too easy for me to start digging out crafts and seasonal decorations and never stop! The goal is to simplify my life, not layer it so badly I can’t see where I am going.

2. Satisfaction This should be fun. Hey if organizing, planning, and simplifying get me tied up in knots of regret and dissatisfaction they are not working. It felt really good to get a little thing done. Insert pat on back here.

3. The Lily Effect There is a story of a crabby, messy hermit that one day receives a lily in a vase from a neighbor. The messy decides to clear off his table to set the lily on. He washes the table then stops to clean off the chairs so he can sit by the flower. Pretty soon he cleans the whole house and starts doing maintenance work. Somewhere along the way he changes his heart and opens his home to his neighborhood. Doing one small thing can change your outlook on the entirety of a project or idea.

My On the Six category features a guest artist each month. September’s artist was my son Ryan. He helped me do a giveaway for one of his paintings. We had four entries to win so…everybody wins! Why just pick one? Thank you to Elizabeth M., Grammy Lu, Mags and Lisa for commenting on our blog. You will each receive a token painting from Ryan.

Ryan is still working on how to pretend to smile. He is truly pleased with his giveaway.

We always love to hear from new and old friends alike. Keep the comments coming! Feel free to leave your blog address if you’d like. I like to network aka blog stalk! wink.

Monday: Dinner with Friends/ Enchiladas a-la Kelli

Tuesday: Beer Brats, green beans

Wednesday: Beef Cannelloni

Thursday: Frozen Pizza

Friday: Pork Roast, Caramel Apples for dessert

Saturday: Florentine Lasagna or make your own Mac -n-Cheese if you don’t like spinach

Sunday: Hamburger Soup, rolls

Loving

This is my new Archer Farms mug. It is tall, simple and easy to hold. It came with a bag of grounds at Super Target. Archer Farms is their house brand. Decent coffee. I bought a second mug on clearance so it can have a partner. I think it would be nice if I actually shopped at a place called Archer Farms. I have to hand it to Target Corp. for their marketing group – Generic never looked so good.

So what brand am I? God created me. Do I have a logo? What do I represent when people interact with me?

Can I be spotted for my house brand flavor? Like the house of the Lord is my logo. Peter always gives me a friendly sneer for my close-but-not-close enough analogies. So forgive my stretch to compare a mug brand to myself.

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.  Impress them on your children.

Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.

-Bible, Book of Deuteronomy, Chapter 6, Verses 5-8

So I am challenged today to teach my kids about how to love God and wear my faith like a God logo.  I strive to love God with all my soul, heart and strength in my home and beyond.

Look for giveaway below!

Today’s artist, 3 year old Ryan, is still in his formative years. He has been toying around with several types of art media such as: charcoal, pastels, watercolor and crayon. He is often found at his kitchen table studio doing “projects” with tape. Lots of tape. He prides himself with a rotating art gallery found at the coolest art gallery around, El Refrigerator.

His current collection features 3-D paint also known as fabric or puffy paint

Flower, Caterpillar and Friend, Spider by Ryan

Here is an inside look at McWilliams at work in his studio.

Giveaway Details

Everyone please join in! Make a comment on this post to enter a chance to win one small painting from today’s On the 6 artist.

I was the last one to eat. Not all that unusual for a mom I guess. However, I had an opportunity to eat sooner if I were to settle for cold cuts. But no, not I. I chose to broil my provolone cheese and tomato on wheat bread in the oven. Yum. It was totally worth the wait.

I was just recalling a great story about Ryan and it’s worth sharing.

I was in the bathroom this morning about to get in the shower before work. I heard the kids’ door open and in wonders a sleepy Ryan. He quietly greets me:

Hey Dad.

He drops “Blue & Baby”, his blanket and stuffed bear, on the floor and prepped himself for his morning pee. As he starts to relieve himself, he casually notices the elastic mark around his waist and says:

Whoa, Dad, see where my underware was?

“Yeah, you have a mark” I responded. Still going potty, he slowly looks over at the tub and finished up. He pulled his jammies up and states:

I had a bath last night and slip-ed in the tub. I feel it today!

He then grabbed his “guys”, the blanket and bear, turns around and slowly walks back into his room and shut the door. Meanwhile, I am just staring at the closed door wondering if I actually just experienced this conversation with my THREE year old! He is growing up fast.