3 Russell Moose

Wednesday night I heard Jules making sad noises. Calling for her I searched the house, she answered but I couldn't find her, and the other kids did not seem to know where she was. I had been leaving the garage door open a little, and the door from the house to the garage propped open to let some air in. With a sudden thud in my heart, I realized she must be in the garage. If you know Jules, you know that's a bit dangerous. She is A Piece of Work.

The problem with Juliana is that she doesn't know she is Trouble. She doesn't seem to do things with malice in her heart. It's more like she lacks the sensor that my other kids have that lets a child know, "This might be wrong/dangerous/bad and get me hurt/dirty/in trouble." Nope she just doesn't have that one. 

For instance, at Joshua Tree she had sympathy on those poor clean tents--so she filled them with sand. The other day she filled a cup with dog food and then deposited it in piles around the house. When I saw her and said, "Juliana, stop! Bring me that cup," she dumped the remaining dog food on the floor and brought me the cup. When a DVD looks dirty to her (aka  covered in her own fingerprints) she finds something to get it wet with and wipes it with her shirt (aka scratches it).  If chalk is good on the sidewalk, it's better on the fence/wall/shirt/carpet, right? And if a little water helps clean the counters, then a whole cup of water will get them clean faster right?

Okay, back to the garage. I ran out the door to find this:

Being the good mommy that I am, rather than pull her out instantly I ran for the camera. She was ANGRY about that, hence her face in the picture.

Lest you think this is an isolated incident, how about the time she sat in a mixing bowl, eating someone else's french fries?

Or the time she devoured Ice Cream (Papa's treat for her birthday, I think), refused to take a picture with Papa and her siblings, but then posed, dirty face and all in front of the cows.

There was Scott and Cassie's wedding, where she danced with Scott more times than Cassie did (not joking)

And her regular stealing of Gabe's gloves at Karate, which leads to her attempting to mimic his punches.

And lastly, her interpretation of me reading. Look how serious her face is. 
Oh how we love this girl. We laugh a lot, hug a lot, shake our heads a lot, and worry--A LOT--about her teenage years.