Toy packaging

Have you heard the Sarah Groves song called "Toy Packaging"? I love it. We didn't spend a lot of money on our boys this year, but they didn't seem to notice. The favorite seems to be this Mr. Potato Head. I found it here (Amazon's movers and shakers) for $9.99. There are a lot of little pieces that could get lost, but the big container holds everything when we're not playing with them. When I say "we" I mean "we" the whole family (yes, even Jeremy and I) have spent time playing with this great toy. There are so many neat pieces. Isaiah loves it. The set came with one regular head and two babies. Nathan likes the babies.

Isaiah just walked up to me and said "If you eat your friends then you won't have any more friends". Hmmm... I think that came from a Bill Peat book I gave Jeremy for Christmas. (We're just a bunch of big kids over here. :)) Let me just say that I love Amazon.

Merry Christmas

I'm here today to wish you all a Merry Christmas. I'm listening to a song right now asking "Can you hear it? The song of peace on earth." There doesn't seem to be much peace or assurance in our world today, but isn't that the very reason we celebrate Christmas?

Because of Christ birth I'm anticipating a better place.

My parents were here for the day yesterday. It was so short, but a great day. As always after we say goodbye to family we won't see for awhile I shed a few tears. Isaiah looked at me and asked "why do you make your face like that?" The boys both enjoyed lots of play time from Thunder Bay Grandpa and Grandma.

I hope you are all enjoying a great day with friends or family.

Shop until you drop

I took Nate shopping with me the other day. He did alright, but fell asleep on the way home. I brought him in the house and laid him down. Still sleeping. Jeremy took his coat off. Still sleeping...

Isaiah even tried to help with some loud drumming. Still he slept.

Jeremy picked him up and moved him around. Finally he woke up. Poor kid. In other news, Isaiah is into changing his clothes about 20 times a day. Help!!! What do I do? It doesn't feel like a battle I want to fight, but it's driving me crazy. Any suggestions?

I'm in Love

Truth is, I've been in love for a long time. Way back in the day when I drove a red, Dodge shaped lemon that didn't like rainy days pour on a little Love and it would start right up. Fast forward a few years and once again I was overcome by the quality of this love when it eased a creaking nursery door allowing this over protective first-time mom to check on her baby without disturbing the wee one.

Now, once again, I've renewed my relationship with this Love. Oh the joyful glee that I felt when I realized that this Love also cleans my carpets! I'd take a picture of this new Love, but it's a little shy, but I will introduce you to it's wonders.

Before...

After...

I'm proud to introduce you to the wonder's of WD-40! P.S. I don't know what caused this stain, but it has also worked wonderfully to remove coffee and lipstick stains -incredible!

Chex Mix

Here is a great recipe for party mix. It's very easy! Check out Joy's great idea for something to take to your neighbor's this Christmas.

Chex Mix

1 box of Chex cereal
1 bag of pretzels
1 bag of bugles
1 bag of goldfish
1 container cashews
1 box wheat thins
1/2 cup oil
1 pkg. dry Ranch mix

Mix Ranch mix and oil. Pour oil mixture over ingredients. Put in sealed container. Let it sit overnight (do not stir until the next morning).

This stuff is great. It never lasts very long

List

I'm accomplishing some things on my list!

-Jeremy hung the lights on the porch (the same day I posted the list I think!)

-I've read the Christmas story once,

-Made two batches of cookies. Isaiah helped with one.

-Started decorating. Isaiah helped me put up the nativity (probably my favorite decoration)

-We put up the tree last night. It's one of those pre-lit deals. We knew when we bought it that it might not last real long, but for the price we paid we figured it was worth a try. Plus, Isaiah was only a couple weeks old so anything easy looked very inviting. When we pluged it in last night the middle section did not light up. Oh no. Have you heard the Christmas song about the guy trying to hang Christmas lights? My dear husband was very patient and eventually got them fixed. I haven't put any decorations on yet, but even just the lights look nice. Isaiah helped us and absolutly loved it. He kept jumping around he was so excited. Nate was already in bed, but he well, er, a, did something in his diaper so I had to get him up to fix the problem so we decided to see what he thought of the tree. He was thrilled to say the least. He kept grinning and of course wanting to touch it. I'm a little worried about what he'll do once it's decorated. Maybe I won't put any decorations on this year. We'll see. Anyway, here are a few pictures from the last few days.

It is so much fun to watch Nathan explore the sights of Christmas. On the picture above notice his right hand starting to reach for something. (do you think he needs a hair cut?)

This picture doesn't show much of the tree, but it captures Nathan's excitement and wonder.
Here's the cookie bake. Notice Nathan behind me. Jeremy gave him a taste of the dough and he begged for more until we finally gave him a baked cookie. He spent most of the rest of the evening standing by the table begging for more cookies. :(

Helpful

I have wanted to post something of what I feel like God has been trying to teach me about staying at home. Not so much not working, but actually staying at home instead of running around to different things. Even for a good sale -can you imagine!?? Hopefully one of these days I'll get it out, but for now here is a an interesting article about routine and scheduling for anyone with small children.

December 1

Tomorrow is December 1! Every year I hope for a relaxed Christmas season, but it seems like every year things still get busy and I spend way too much time rushing around trying to do one more thing and getting frustrated with myself for not planning better. I wonder if this year will be any different? I hope so. I hope we have many quiet evenings to enjoy the lights from the Christmas tree and listen to Christmas music and maybe even a cup of coffee. Here is a list of things I'd like to accomplish in the next weeks. I realize that probably this doesn't interest many people, but I'm hoping it will give me some vision and a plan. If you have any suggestions on how to keep Christmas simple and real I love to hear them. I have not really thought through this list yet so I'm sure it's not complete, but here's a start.

To Accomplish List:
1. Read the Christmas story, several times
2. Maybe cookies to give to our neighbors. Have Isaiah help
3. Decorate the tree
4. Ask Jeremy to hang the Christmas lights outside
5. Finish buying gifts -7 or 8 (plus Jeremy)
6. Decide on something for Jeremy
7. Stay positive and smile for my family even when I'm feeling frustarted and busy
8. Say no to something that will just make our schedule too busy -even though it would be fun
9. Attend a live nativity
10. Plan a menu for Christmas day -something to be made ahead of time so I can relax. :)
11. Sit down with Jeremy and talk about our schedule for the next month.
12. Remember why we give and receive gifts. Be amazed.

Face Your Fear's -today!

Happy Thanksgiving to you all. I guess I should do a Thanksgiving post or something, but I decided to tackle a more difficult, but important issue. Fear.


Do you fear things? What are they? I don't feel like I fight much fear, but sometimes I do. We've all heard that it is a good thing to "face your fears". Why? If I'm scared of heights should I climb the tallest building I can find and look down? I could slip and fall! If I'm scared of needles should I walk into a lab and ask for "the works"? I could die!

I don't really have any answers, but the words "face your fear" are so strong and make me feel like maybe I could face my fear -some day. Now I know some of you out there do fear things. You've said as much right here on this blog. So, on this day of thankfulness. Why not be thankful that if you wanted to you could face your fears. Just in case you don't believe me. I'll get you started...

Oh, that was fun. I'm sitting here trying not to laugh out loud because Jeremy is in the next room and I'd hate to admit to him that I just wasted 10 minutes writing this morbid post. But I'm still laughing because I bet Rachel just fell of her chair. heehaheeheehahahah!

Dust

Hide and Seek is one of Isaiah's favorite games right now. Nathan even likes it. I found Nathan "hiding" behind a door the other day. He had his head between the open door and the wall, kind of like a horse in a stall. He'd sit like that for a few seconds than turn around and yell like he was surprising us. Anyway, usually he doesn't hide while we're playing, but sometimes Isaiah and I hide and wait for Nate to find us. I feel kind of mean doing it, but it's

such fun. Isaiah is actually a pretty good hider. Last time he hide he decided to hide under out bed. I had a hard time finding him, but when I finally did find him I almost had a heart attack. No wonder there are mice in this house!! How do you keep hardwood floors clean? I'm embarrassed to even post this picture, but oh well. My house is generally sort of clean. (He's wearing black pants)

Birthday Party

This evening we celebrated Isaiah's birthday (on the 12th), Jeremy's Dad's birthday (also on the 12th) and Jeremy's birthday (15th). My mom found these cool Curious George party favors. Isaiah thought they were great!

Get Away

Last week Jeremy and I were very blessed to be able to spend a night away -just the two of us. This was the first time that we went away over night just to be together since before I got pregnant with Isaiah. If you are married with children do not wait this long to be away from them! We hardly knew what to do with ourselves. (that sentence seems all wrong, but there are moms and grandmas that read this blog...) We stayed at a beautiful log cabin. I'd try to explain it to you, but I don't think I could do it justice. If you live in the area and are intersted let me know and I'll get you more information.

I made this fondue recipe while we were there. You don't need a log cabin to make this so why not try it tonight? Fondue's are so romantic.

1 c. choc. Chips

2/3 c. whipping cream

1/2 tap. Vanilla

Heat whipping cream, don't boil Add choc ships, and vanilla. Stir till chips are melted ! Keep warm

No Noise is Good Noise

So far I've heard no more scratching in the walls. I've also not found any dead Things either, but then the 5 days isn't up yet... I'm ready to post about something other than mice, but just in case any of you missed it you need to read Kristi's comment from a few posts ago. I always thought those laundry shoots were pretty neat... Kristi I hope you don't mind me sharing this. :)

Hope you don't mind, but I need to share my story with you. A couple of years ago we had a couple of mice in the basement. We did traps, but also rat poison. Well, my laundry is in the basement also. I was sorting laundry one day and what would you know! A dead mouse was laying in the pile!!! (we have a laundry chute which is why the dirty stuff would be down there for a few days) Oh, not only was it a dead mouse, but as it died it must have pooped or vomited b/c there were BLUE stains (from the poison) on one of MY white t-shirts. Gag, gag, gag. I still think about it nearly every time I'm sorting laundry...

Happy Birthday Isaiah!

To our dear Firstborn,

Where have 3 years gone? You are a passionate little boy. You love life so much that some days I think it hurts. You are insightful, determined and sensitive. You are a boy! And you love to tell us that often. You are so proud to be a boy just like your Daddy. If Daddy likes something you like it. You are starting to love music and will spend hours caring around a "drummer" stick banging on anything you can while dancing and singing. You are also learning about God. Yesterday you asked me out of the blue "Where is God?" At moments like that you help to put all that is important into prospective for your mommy. Several weeks ago on the way home from church you listen to your parents talking about church and leadership "stuff" and about life in general. Suddenly we heard you say "Nothing is impossible with God". Once again we were amazed at the incedible mind that God has given you and how he is using you to help us keep things in line. My prayer for you today:

Lord, I pray blessings on this child. I thank you because he is fearfully and wonderfully made. I pray that you would give him a heart for worship and truth. Teach him even now at this young age to understand the difference between right and wrong. Protect him from decisions or influences that would cause regret later in his life. Grow him to be a strong man of God that knows You and will stand for your church no matter what he faces. Give him wisdom. Give Jeremy and I wisdom to raise this son you've blessed us with. Give us patience. Let Isaiah see you in us. Help us to make our home a refuge and a place of laughter for Isaiah will always feel safe.

Amen.

Update

Since so many of you seem interested in the recent invasion that has occurred at our house I guess I'll continue the story.

Last night Someone went to Wal-mart for a couple of things. One of which was mouse traps. At least that is what the Other Someone thought, but forgot to remind Someone. So Someone forgot the traps. The forgetting isn't really a bad thing. It simply means that Someone isn't living in fear of Things that like to scamper up your legs and get tangled in your hair. The no traps part was a bad thing for the Other Someone. So, Someone, being very resourceful remembered that we had some rat (RAT!) poisoning left over from our apartment in Gettysburg. (who would think that a cool place like Gettysburg, PA would have mice?)

Someone placed the "food" in the basement then came upstairs to explain to the Other Someone what would happen.


Someone: "Rodents will eat the poison then you will start to see them in about 5 days" (something like that)

Other Someone (thinking) Hmmm. Eat Poison. Sounds good. "See" them in 5 days?

OS: "What does that mean?" (picturing drunk mice slouching around the kitchen)

S: Well, in about 5 days they'll come out and just die right here on the kitchen floor. Nathan will probably play with them.

OS: Not available for comment.

Can we fix it?

Yesterday morning I pulled a bag of granola out of the cupboard and noticed a nice little round hole in the side of the bag. Hmmm, almost looks like a mouse could have done that. Immediately little chills ran all over my body and I became very jumpy. Then I decided maybe the bag got caught on something. Yes, that must be it. We've never had a mouse problem since we've lived in this house.

Fast forward to sometime in the middle of the night last night. I woke up to the sound of something. Sounded like one of the boys had snuck a toy into bed with them. So I went to investigate. Nope, both boys are sound asleep and that's when I realized that the sound was coming from somewhere in the kitchen. Now, most of you wise people would calmly walk into the kitchen and hunt down the noise. Not me. I was in my bare feet! "Jeremy, what's that noise?" In a loud whisper so as not to wake of the boys or scare the Thing. Jeremy stumbled out of bed and decided that the sound was coming from the ceiling! He bangs on it a few times, the noise stops and he goes back to bed. I run back to bed. I was in my bare feet! Jeremy assures me that we'll set some traps and catch the Thing and then he falls back to sleep. Not me. Are you kidding??!! My mind works the best at night.

There is a hole in the ceiling of MY closet. The hole was made before we moved in. It has something to do with the plumbing from the upstairs bathroom. Now if your mind works as well as mine does you will be picturing little creepy mice crawling from the ceiling through that hole -into my clothes!! Into my shoes! I'm home all day I'll wear what I wore yesterday and didn't put away. Thankfully I didn't put my shoes away either. Everyone knows you ALWAYS wear shoes if there are mice in the house.

Next thought. I really should have something to protect myself and my young if one of these Things should make an appearance. Isaiah thinks I'm scared of spiders. I'm not scared of spiders. I dislike spiders. If he sees me around a mouse he'll need counseling. Maybe I need counseling. Yes, I need to protect us. Tools. Maybe a hammer, or a broom, of a shovel. Yes a big heavy snow shovel. It's in the basement.

Next thought. If they're in the ceiling on the main floor then they most certainly are in the basement. What if they are in the ceiling of the basement?? I need a hat. It's in my closet. Won't work. If they're in the ceiling they have to be on the floor. Boots. Big rubber boots. I'd have to dump them upside down while standing on my bed so that if any of the dozens of little Things crawled into the boots they would fall out and run away. This could work. I don't own rubber boots. Won't work. Note to self, have Jeremy get me a sledge hammer when he is home for lunch.

Speaking of tools, here's a picture of Isaiah in his Bob the Builder outfit that he wore to Story hour on "dress like your favorite story character" day. Just a little reward for anyone still reading this nonsense. All together now "Boooob, the builder, YES WE CAN!"

I'm off to find away to keep Think 1, 2 or 3 from escaping out of my closet.

Bad Hair Day

I'm tempted to write about the election yesterday, but I think I'll refrain. :) (Did you vote?) Instead I'll just post a picture of Nathan. He finally took several steps last Saturday. I know he can do it, but just doesn't feel like it. He is a very good crawler so I think he figures why waste the time to learn to walk. Instead he spends most of his time crawling on things like the kitchen table. :( What a boy. He is still a sweet, sweet child, but is learning to yell rather loudly whenever things don't go his way or if Isaiah gets to close to him.

Applesauce

I love watching cooking shows. My favorite part is when they use those little glass bowls full of premeasured ingredients. Doesn't that make cooking look so easy? Sometimes I wonder where the minimum wage, overworked, probably starved, frazzled haired worker is that is measuring out 2 Tbsp. of sugar, a pinch of salt and an "eyeball it" of whatever. You never see them. Just Martha, or Rachel or whomever. Anyway. I can't watch cooking shows, but I do get a kick out of some of the blogs out there that show pictures of all of the ingredients for a recipe. It just looks so neat and organized. Sometimes I like to feel neat and organized too. So on Saturday when I made applesauce I took pictures! Aren't you thrilled? Just humor me or find another site. :)

Step 1: I love apples. Take away the brown spots and don't you just smile?

Part II: I also love the smell of apples cooking. I like this picture because it just looks domestic. The big pot, the wooden spoon. I can still smell it.

Section C: The Machine. This thing is incredible. It belongs to my grandma, but maybe I'll get one for Christmas. I can't help but wonder what would happen if I ran something other than apples thru it. Hummm...

Finally: The finished product. (or part of it) Success. Sorry no picture of the canning process, which I think might be my favorite part. Oh well.

So much for Cooking with Sabrina. Be sure to watch my next show when I tell you about the Cream of Celery soup I made for supper. It's titled "What was I thinking?!"

Pumpkin Bars

I love fall. I love the cooler weather, the leaves, sweatshirts, apples, pumpkins, brown, orange, red. You get the idea. One of the best things about fall is the food. I love it. Here is a favorite from the RL Mennonite cookbook (for those of you that have it). I've made it a lot and people love it. Sorry I don't have any pictures. I thought about making it just for the pictures, but then I'd eat it, and when I start eating these things it's very hard to stop.

Pumpkin Bars

3 eggs
2 c. sugar
1 c. oil
1 - 2 c. pumpkin
2 c. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
Nutmeg if desired (I don't use it)
1 c. raisins or nuts, optional (I don't use these either)

Beat eggs. Add sugar, oil and pumpkin; then add dry ingredients. Pour into a greased 11 x 15 pan. Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Icing:
3 oz. cream cheese (soft)
1/2 c margarine (soft)
2 Tbs. milk
1 1/2 c. powdered sugar
Vanilla -just guess :)

Beat cream cheese. Add margarine, milk, vanilla and powdered sugar. Beat. Spread over warm bars.

Pictures

Here are some random pictures. There are so many more I'd like to post, but who has the time?!

I really like this picture of Isaiah, but I wish it wasn't so light.

This picture is just to make my mom's heart skip a beat. :) He didn't fall out this night, but of course we forgot to put the mattress down and he did fall out a couple nights later -I saw him go -scared the wits out of me. The mattress got put down that night. 10:30 at night and the whole family is in the boy's room watching Daddy work. Note the blinds to the right of the crib. This one looks almost new compared to the one on the other window between their beds. They like to play peak-a-boo with them.

Mom bought Nathan this Monkey and he loves it!

Helping Grandma wash apples for applesause

Crock and Pot

After my rather depressing post this morning I thought I'd come back with a new subject. By the way, Jo and Joy, I like your suggestions, just ignore it. I'm considering a news free fast!

On to better things. Food! I found this site the other day. I spent very little time on the site and I have no idea if I will ever use any of her recipes. However, it did get my excited about using my crockpot again. Why is it that fall and winter are crockpot seasons? I've always thought that summer would be a better time to use a crockpot because you could have a hot supper without making your kitchen hot. Oh well.

Here's the question, what is your favorite crock recipe? I have the Fix it and Forget it cookbook, but it has been a hit or miss for me and the misses are very painful when the end of supper comes and no one liked it and I have TONS of leftovers. I usually freeze it and try to bring it out another time with an innocent look on my face. (note: this rarely works -unless we have company. evil chuckle, evil chuckle)

If you have the Fix it and Forget it book, what is your favorite recipes? I'm in a cooking slump and could use some get-up-and-go.

Economy

Yesterday I had a new post rolling around in my head, but never got to the computer to type it out. Now it feels old and I don't feel like writing it out. So I'm posting just to say I'm here. Thank you for all your comments on my previous post! I would like to respond to each one, but seriously just don't feel like taking the time.

Are any of you following our economy? Stock market? I don't want to depress anyone, but this morning I'm just feeling a little low so I thought I'd blog about it. I know I am to trust God in all things, I know, from experience, that God does provide, but I can't help feeling a little sober too. Not long ago we watched the movie "Cinderella Man". It was recommend to us. I'll say this, the story line was good and based on a true story, but the language was not good. For that reason I will not recommend it and highly doubt we will ever watch it again. I keep seeing scenes from the movie. I'm not even sure why I am writing all this. Maybe just to get it off my chest. On a better note, I just saw gas for $2.99 a gallon! Not bad, not bad.

How are you feeling? Are you optimistic? Scared? Ignoring it?

Monday Morning

I thought I'd post about what I am doing right now. I'm drinking coffee and reading blogs. It's 8:21 on Monday morning and I'm drinking coffee and reading blogs.

My kids are eating Alphabits. No good mother would feed her kids Alphabits for breakfast on a Monday morning. I'm trying not to think about the 12 (groan) grams for sugar per serving. Why do I even buy this junk? Because it was cheap. And because the boys are happy and quiet and I'm drinking coffee and reading blogs.

My mom was hear last week and it was a great week. I'll post some pictures of that later. But for now I'm drinking coffee and reading blogs.

We are have guests for supper and I have a huge pile of laundry to tackle and a house that needs at least a surface clean, but I'm drinking coffee and reading blogs.

Well, I'm leaving to make my to do list for today. My coffee is cold and I think I'm caught up on the the interesting blogs.

Seen

Isaiah picking his nose, with Nathan's finger. :(

Sunday Night

It's been a good day. Church this morning. Relaxing afternoon. Rollerblading, tricycle riding and stroller cruising at the park this evening. Andy Griffith and snacks with Isaiah after Nathan went to bed. Now a quiet house. God is Good.

I just read about how much we celebrate the firsts in our lives, but rarely do we celebrate the lasts because we don't usually know when they are the lasts. Not so much in relation to death, but more so with simple, everyday things like in the life of a child. Isaiah often says "Sit in my lap" (translate: Mommy hold me) while crying when he's upset about something or, like he just did a few minutes ago, when he's in bed, but doesn't want to go to sleep. I'll probably never know when he asks to sit on my lap for the last time, or read "Sergeant Murphy's Busy Day" for the last time, or pick up Nate's sippy cup that he threw on the floor AGAIN, or smear Orajel on a sore gum, because someday, mom's lap won't be the place to run when comfort is needed, or the book of choice will be want to be read BY MYSELF, or table manners will finally make sense, and all those teeth will be in. There will be a last time for all of these things and many more, but I'll never know when they happen. Just something to think about. Treasure every moment.

Along the same lines, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately on what it means to be a stay-at-home mom. More on that at another time.

Here are a few treasures from our last week or so...

For some reason Nathan thinks sitting in this tub is the best way to play with the trains. I guess he likes to be in the middle of the action.
Here's Isaiah asking his Great-Grandma why her feet have wrinkles on them and telling her that his feet don't have "inkles"

Our library had a fund raising day on Friday. Isaiah asked for a balloon for himself and a football for Nathan. Nathan moved while the lady was trying to paint the football so she had to get creative. We decided is was some kind of bug or turtle. :)

Redneck Etiquette

A friend sent us the following in an email. If you consider yourself a redneck, please do not be offended. :)

PERSONAL HYGIENE >
1. While ears need to be cleaned regularly, this is a job that should be > done in private using one's OWN truck keys >
2. Dirt and grease under the fingernails is a social no-no, as they tend > to detract from a woman's jewelry and alter the tastes of finger foods. > >

ENTERTAINING IN YOUR HOME >
1. A centerpiece for the table should never be anything prepared by a > taxidermist. >
2. Do not allow the dog to eat at the table...no matter how good his > manners are. > >

THEATER ETIQUETTE >
1. Crying babies should be taken to the lobby and picked up immediately > after the movie has ended. >
2. Refrain from talking to characters on the screen. Tests have proven > they can't hear you. > >

WEDDINGS >
1. Livestock, usually, is a poor choice for a wedding gift. >
2. Kissing the bride for more than 5 seconds may get you shot. >
3. For the groom, at least rent a tux. A leisure suit with a cummerbund > and a clean bowling shirt can create a tacky appearance. >
4. Though uncomfortable, say "yes" to socks and shoes for this special > occasion. > >

DRIVING ETIQUETTE >
1. Dim your headlights for approaching vehicles - even if the gun is > loaded, and the deer is in sight. >
2. When approaching a four-way stop, the vehicle with the largest tires > always has the right of way. >
3. Never tow another car using pantyhose and duct tape. >
4. When sending your wife down the road with a gas can, it is impolite to > ask her to bring back a coffee. >
5. Do not lay rubber while traveling in a funeral procession. > >

TIPS FOR ALL OCCASIONS >
1. Always identify people in your yard before shooting at them. >
2. It's considered tacky to take a cooler to church.
3. If you have to vacuum the bed, it is time to change the sheets.

Meltdown

I know I've mentioned that Isaiah is an intense child. Here's an example. Last night Jeremy read Richard Scarry's "Sergeant Murphy's Busy Day" to him. Isaiah had a complete meltdown when he he saw that Sophie Pig's mother lost her hat and emptied her purse while running to meet Sophie. We finally showed him the next page where Mrs. Pig is wearing her hat and carrying her purse. I thought girls were supposed to be the emotional ones! Is this a first born thing?

P.S. Note on the spider post. Yes, I did kill it myself, but it wasn't pretty. I screamed like a girl. I had serious thoughts of calling to see if my uncle that lives across the street was home, but decided I needed to deal with it myself. Jeanette and Crystal, I'll have to look for the stuff you mentioned!

Lazy

It's Saturday afternoon and I have so many things I should be doing, but I am being very lazy instead. I'm so lazy I don't even feel like writing anything. So here's one of my new favorites of the boys.

Why God?

I don't often ask this question, but several days ago I wanted to ask it, shout it...

Story Hour

Yesterday I took Isaiah too his first Story Hour at the library. As parents, do you ever have those moments where life stands still and for a few seconds you grasp what life is all about and that it is moving very quickly and all you want to do is hold the moment? I had one of those moments watching Isaiah enjoy the Story Hour. He goes to Sunday School, but I don't often get to see him interacting with other children in a class room setting like this. It just amazes me how grown up he is becoming. He pretty much to just watched took it in, but I think he enjoyed it. He must have because at 6:15 this morning he was standing by our bed saying "Library, library!".

I had another "life keeps moving" moment last night when we were at Kmart looking for shoes for Isaiah. He looked so grown up and was very excited to have new shoes. We did find a pair of shoes. I'm not totally sold on them, but they were the right price so I'll adjust. I'm a little worried about what he will do when I try to pitch his old shoes. He calls them his "motorcycle" shoes. (Not sure why other than that he loves motorcycles) They have a hole in the bottom of one of the shoes that leaves a lovely brown spot on his socks whenever he wears them, and the seams are starting to pop, but he loves them. In fact he sleeps with them on for most of his naps. He doesn't like to take them off. Enough about shoes.

We saw a bumper sticker today that said "DRIVE CAREFULLY; 90% of people are caused by accident. " Think about it... :)

Pizza Crust Recipe

Some of you have asked me for this recipe so here it is. My sister-in-law, Cindy, gave it to me and I love it!

Pizza Hut Dough

Mix well in a small bowl:
1 T. yeast
1 tsp. sugar
1/3 c. warm water

In large bowl combine and mix well:
1 T. oil
1 c. cold water
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp. oregano
1/8 tsp. garlic salt
3 1/4 - 3 1/2 cups flour.

Add yeast mixture. Knead. Cover and let rise until doubled. Roll out on buttered (I use cooking spray) pizza pan and let set 10 minutes while you prepare toppings. Bake at 400 degrees until golden brown.

I use instant yeast so I adjust this recipe a little.

Birthday Boy

Here are a couple pictures from Nathan's party.
He LOVES this truck he got from Pappy and Grandma Flo. If you listen real close you might hear the truck noises he's making.

He also enjoyed his cake. One of these years I'll learn not to put candy on the cakes. Somehow they know that the candy is much better than the frosting.

Nathan's Party

We had Nathan's birthday party last Sunday night. I think we had 27 people here -all family (I guess one was a boyfriend, but he seems like family :)). Thankfully it was a beautiful evening so we mostly stayed on the porch and in the back yard. Nathan didn't seem to have a clue what was going on, but very much enjoyed his cake, ice cream cone and the gifts.

I had him to the doctor on Friday for his one year check up. He weighs 23 lb 9 oz and is 30.5 inches long. He weighed 23 lb at his nine month check up also. He is ALWAYS on the move. He's still not walking, but that hasn't slowed him down at all. Several of us went together and bought him a child's size picnic table for his birthday. Great idea, except that he climbs on top of it instead of sitting on the benches. Tonight I found him standing on a toy reaching behind our stereo playing with the speaker wires. He also loves the lap top and phone. He's always been pretty cuddly, but lately he puts his head on my shoulder and reaches his arm around my neck -I love it. I think it might be an attempt to keep me from putting him to bed because I usually end up holding him longer when he does that. :) I'm trying to post pictures, but it's not working. I'll try again another day.

Happy 1st Nathan!

Today is Nathan's first birthday. I can not believe how fast this year has gone. Nathan is such a sweet little boy. He is always ready with a quick smile and has an incredible sense of humor already. He brings so much joy and laughter to our home. He also knows how to make his requests known. He does not appreciate Isaiah taking anything from him or even hinting at it and has developed a very sad, pity me face that is cute, but we're on to him! Happy Birthday Nate!

His birthday party isn't until next week. I thought we had to do something so I made some chocolate chip muffins and we had a mini celebration.

Small Talk

This is a post to help me remember a few things Isaiah has said lately.

-These shorts make my butt look dirty

-Puppy's Daddy's name is Rufus

-"Mommy, come up here right now!" Daddy didn't like the sound of this one so Isaiah got a time out. After his time out was over he came looking for me and said "I'm sorry for yelling at you Mommy". So sweet, and he did it with no prompting from Dad.

-To my cousin and one of Isaiah's favorite people: "Are you special Dylan?"

I'm sitting her thinking of Dave and Rachel and wishing I could be celebrating their wedding day with them. I think probably a good 75% or people that read this blog are at the wedding so I'm not sure who I'm writing too. Don't have much to say, but here's a picture just because I haven't posted any for awhile.

Owimpics

We use our TV for videos and PS2. We don't miss TV except for every two years when the Olympics are on. Tonight Jeremy rigged up an "antena" with some kind of wire. We are now watching the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Olympics. I love watching the Olympics. I find it inspiring to see that kind of determination, drive and discipline. The human body is incredible and even more so it's Creator. I also have found memories of watching them as a kid and of course dreaming that I was one of the athelits. (don't laugh!:))

We told Isaiah he could watch the Olympics. I think we confused the boy. He asked me if they were outside. Me, not thinking what he was asking said, yes. I found him looking out the front door looking for the Owimipics. When they finally came on we had to convince him that the show we were watching was what he was looking for. Then a commercial came on, more confusions. Maybe we should allow him to watch more TV.

Interesting note: 87 of the 204 nations represented at this years Olympics have never won a medal.

What did he say?

I look forward to the day when Isaiah's speech will be clear enough to understand everything he says. Today is not one of those days.

I took the boys to Wal-mart this evening. An elderly lady stopped us to say just how cute the boys were and how she wished her children were that small again. I told her the boys names and she told Isaiah she loved his name. Isaiah smiled and then said "I poop in potty I get Hershey!" Thankfully the lady didn't have a clue what he was saying. I just smiled and acted like he had just quoted the 23rd Psalm.

What do you do?! I once thought that MY children would never walk around saying things like "Mom, I need to poop!" Why couldn't we train them to say things like, Mother, I am going to use the restroom, or Mother, I am going to have a bowel movement. No, poop just fits doesn't it? I do here Jeremy trying to tell him "number one" or "number two" which is a little better I guess. I don't think Isaiah gets it though. The other day I asked him if he needed to go potty. His responce sounded something like "after that (new way of saying NO!) I'll go one and two and three and four" while trying to count his fingers.

We're still having some bad days when it comes to potty training. I get so frustrated. I try not to let him see it, but I do get frustrated. I think we'll let Nathan's wife train him. Doesn't every wife try to mother her husband? Wow, I'll be a great mother-in-law. Here, marry my son, he needs a mother.

I think I'd better get off. I'm tired.

Crustless Zucchini Pie

My Mother-in-law gave me this recipe last summer. We love it!

1 large onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 eggs, beaten
1 T. minced fresh parsley
3 cups grated zucchini
1 cup Bisquick baking mix
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

In a bowl, combine the first 5 ingredients. Stir in zucchini, Bisquick mix and cheese. Pour into two greased 9 inch pie plates. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until golden brown. Yield: 2 pies, six servings each.

I saw a quote today: If they like it, it serves 4, otherwise, 6.

Thunder Bay Trip

Ready to go (I think Daddy needs new shoes!)
The boys slept the entire 22 hour trip. I wish. They really did do pretty good. The trip home was worse than the ride to Thunder Bay, but they made it.

Nathan getting his bath.

We woke Isaiah up at 10:30 to watch the fireworks on Canada Day. He was thrilled. I don't think he stopped talking at all through the 15 minute show or the walk home. Thankfully he went right back to sleep without any problems.

Jeremy, Dad and Isaiah hiked the top part of Mt. Mckay. (you drive up the first half)

Dad took us on a boat ride on Lake Superior. It was a highlight of our week. I love this picture of Isaiah because it reminds me of reaching over the side of the boat to feel the water when I was a kid. Anyone remember the old NLGM boats?

Nathan wasn't sure about the life jacket, but he sure was cute!

Gamaw and Gampa from Under Ay!

On our way home we stopped at Agawa Bay. It's about 1 1/2 hours before you get to Sault St. Marie. It's always hard to stop for things like this when you have such a long trip ahead, but Jeremy humored me and stopped. It's always hard to leave my parents. Jeremy tells me I'm always emotional the 8 hours until we hit Sault St. Marie. The drive there is along Lake Superior, and on a nice day it's a beautiful drive. After we hit SSM we cross the border and then we're in Michigan and boring 75. Once we're on 75 I start looking forward to getting back to our little house and life and usual. All that to say, Agawa Bay was one last look at the lake. The boys loved it.

We're Back

I've tried twice to post pictures from our trip, but for some reason it's not working. So, I am posting simply to say that I will be back soon with more details. We had a great trip, but now we're back to normal (?) life. We have VBS every night this week at our church. It's making us very busy, but it is going well. More later.

Home Alone, Chocolate Smiles and Bloody Ears

This is old news, but I decided to post about it anyway. Last weekend Jeremy went camping with is brothers. Aside from the trip I took to Thunder Bay in 2006, I think I can count on one hand the number of times Jeremy and I have been away from each other overnight. (maybe one hand and a thumb, but not many) I know some of you have husbands that go out of town a lot for work. I've decided that I am very glad that Jeremy doesn't have to do that! It was a good weekend, but being a single parent is not an easy job.

I decided that I would concentrate on just spending time with the boys. I maintained the house and did some laundry, but nothing more than necessary. I watched a Barney DVD with Isaiah. That was an experience. I also played outside with Isaiah for awhile. That is something I should do a lot more of. We had a great time. I was struck at one point at how few of times Isaiah and I really laugh during our days. We laugh at Nathan and Nathan and Isaiah laugh at each other, but not often do Isaiah and I share a laugh. It was a very sobering thought for me. I feel like right now all I do is correct or respond to whining. I'm not sure of the exact wording, but I was reminded of the verse in Proverbs that talks about a merry heart being like good medicine. I wonder how much less crying and stubbornness would happen if Mommy had a smile on her face all day (or most of it -I am human!) Just a thought. How do you make your kids laugh? I remember my dad telling me a story of one of his aunts. Her son opened a can of chocolate syrup using an electric can opener, but forgot to hold onto the can. Chocolate syrup spilled all over the floor. My dad told me his aunt sat down and laughed!! I've never forgotten that story.

I'm way off track. Back to the weekend. Saturday morning I did decide to do something productive so I cut Isaiah's hair. I was almost finished, just trimming around his ears with a scissors and I chopped a piece off the top of his ear!!! I felt horrible! He has a nasty scab now. He keeps telling me his ear is feeling better. :( Nice reminder to me that I made it hurt.

I was going to go into more details, but we really didn't do a lot more the rest of the weekend. I wanted to rent a movie, but redbox didn't have what I wanted. I really missed Jeremy in the evenings. Especially when it was time to put the boys to bed, and then once they were in bed. Suddenly I had free time, but no one to share it with. Jeremy had a great time with his brothers. In case you're wondering, they played 54 holes of disk golf! The boys and I also had a good weekend, but we were all happy to be back together again.

P.S. We leave tomorrow evening for Thunder Bay. We will be driving through the night. We'd appreciate your prayers! I'll try to update some while we're there. I am looking forward to some Canadian summer weather!

Grateful Child

This evening at supper Jeremy asked Isaiah to pray.


Isaiah:
Dear Jesus,
Thank you for the food.
Thank you for Pappy,
Thank you for Pappy's food,
Thank you for Grandma's Flo's food
Thank you for disks
Thank you for carrots (while peaking at the table)
Thank you for dip
Thank you for forks and spoons
Thank you for knives and forks and spoons
Thank you for that dip
Thank you for tennis balls
Thank you for Daddy's tennis balls
Thank you for my tennis balls
Thank you for my bouncy balls
Thank you for water
Thank you for juice
Mommy: "in Jesus Name..."
Isaiah: Thank you for juice
Thank you for water
Daddy: "In Jesus Name..
Isaiah: "In Jesus name, Amen!"

Could it be?

I hesitate to post this, but I think, I can say that Isaiah is pretty much potty trained. He has worn one pair of underwear for the last three days. Stop. Rewind. Not the SAME pair. One pair per day instead of 3 or 4. He's still waking up wet in the morning, but the first thing out of his mouth in the morning is usually "Go Potty!!". Two weeks ago Jeremy and I woke up on a Monday morning and talked seriously about giving up on potty training for at least a little longer. Maybe it was just Monday morning blues, but we were getting sick of cleaning up "stuff". We had already invested so much time in it that I decided to keep going a little longer. For awhile he would go if we reminded him and took him, but he if forgot, everyone was sorry. I guess something clicked in the last few days because he has started to tell us now. I hope it lasts!

10 Months

Nathan was 10 months old on Monday. He is growing up so quickly. He has traded in his army crawl for the real deal on all fours, and can he move! He's also pulling himself up to anything that will hold still. The other day I caught him trying to climb the steps. He is very interested in anything that Isaiah has or is doing. As you can imagine, Isaiah usually does not appreciate this. Isaiah screams and Nathan growls. Nathan growls anytime he wants something. I hear it the most when he's hungry and I'm taking too long to get the food into his mouth or when Isaiah takes something from him. Other fun facts:

• He loves to laugh
• He loves to chase Isaiah, but never catches him because Isaiah is usually running or on his bike while Nathan is crawling.
• He now has two stuffed moose because he sucked on the antlers of the first one so much that we decided to buy a second one so the first could be socked in oxy clean.
• He doesn't seem to be "thinning out" yet
• Claps his hands
• Drinks from a sippy cup if I hold it for him
• Has 7 teeth and I think he's working on the 8th
• Takes afternoon naps upstairs in the pack 'n play because he and Isaiah goof off so much in their room that they never fall asleep.
• Sleeps in the same room as Isaiah at night (and morning naps). Has great fun standing at the edge of his crib laughing at Isaiah. Bedtime is hard at times. See previous point.
• Generally is a very happy baby, but is showing signs that there is a strong will in there somewhere.

1st Hair Cut

I finally decided to cut Nathan's hair last week. This before picture doesn't show very well how much hair he has on top of his head, but believe me, there was a lot.

Before...

After...

Humidity and Sweet Potatoes

We are in the middle of the first hot and humid spell of weather for the summer. To say I dislike it would be way to mild of a word to describe my true feelings. Honestly, it makes me grumpy. I know I shouldn't complain because we've had a very cool spring, but unfortunately my body doesn't store "cool spring" to pull out when it gets hot. I don't mind the heat, it's the humidity that is hard to handle.

Now that I have that off my mind I'll move to more uplifting things. Friday night we took the boys for ice cream. (Nathan of course only had Cheerios, but he was happy) Then we went in search of a little pool for them. Everyone else must have had the same idea because they were out of them at Wally World. Saturday we found one at Kmart. Both boys love it. As you can see from Nathan's dry hair, this was one of the first pictures I took. Poor Nathan. Things like getting water dumped on his head seem to happen to him alot lately. Like I said Isaiah loved it. I heard him get up this morning and run to the door. It was locked of course. Jeremy and I were still in bed. Next think I knew there was a little face about two inches from mine saying "swimming pool?" Hopefully this excitement lasts all summer.
Sweet potatoes are one of the easiest things to feed a baby. I buy a bunch of them, stick them in the crock pot for a few hours and they're done. Then all I have to do is peel them and blend them up and we have baby food. Nathan is eating a lot of other foods now, but I still like to have sweet potatoes around to mix in with whatever. All of that to say I have a hard time looking at these things. Don't they look odd? Kind of reminds me of the groundhog, George, that used to live under our shed. Or maybe some kind of rat. I usually cut off the nose part first so I don't have to look at it while I peel it.
And lastly, does anyone recognize this cupboard?

Do I look that bad?

I was home all day today with the boys so I spent most of the day in shorts and a t-shirt. Because I was teaching piano, and because I like to look somewhat alright for my husband when he gets home from work, I changed clothes late afternoon. When I walked out of our bedroom Isaiah looked at me and said "You going bye-bye Mommy?" :( And we think he isn't paying attention!

Memorial Day and Potty training

Weird title I know, but I didn't know what else to call it. We had a pretty good Memorial Day weekend. (by the way I know this is late, but I wanted to post about the long weekend mostly for my records and my mom). Jeremy preached on Sunday so that pretty much shot Friday night and Saturday. We also had a wedding Saturday evening. Sunday after church we drove to Jeremy's Grandma's farm. He's Dad's family was together for the weekend. We had a very nice time. The guys did a round of disc golf while the ladies stayed home and visited and ate some awesome chocolate. :) Isaiah had a blast playing with the marble roller and playing outside. He also took a walk down the lane with Aunt Angela. For those of you that have been to the farm you know how long the lane is. He walked the whole way to the end and back. I was amazed. Nathan did great and loved all the attention he got. He even took several naps. In the evening we hiked back to the woods and enjoyed a camp fire. It was already getting pretty late so we didn't stay long. Jeremy's aunt and uncle make awesome home grown popcorn over the fire. There were also rumors of S'mores, but we left too early to enjoy them. :( It was a great day.

Because of our big day on Sunday I was hoping maybe Isaiah would maybe sleep in a little longer than normal, but oh no. At 7:00 he walked into our room. He is in a bad habit of waking up in a bad mood and it was even worse that morning because he needed more sleep. He also woke up Nathan. So at 7:00 on a holiday Monday morning we had two crying kids already. In an attempt to catch a few more moments of peace I told Isaiah to go talk to Nathan and tell him to be happy. This is what we heard:

Isaiah (in a frustrated, I need more sleep tone) Na'an, be pappy (happy).

Nate: still crying

Isaiah: No, Na'an, be pappy!

Nate: Not happy at all

Isaiah NO, NA'AN, BE PAPPY!!!!

I could go on, because it went on for a few mintues, but you get the picture. Neither were very "pappy". So started our day, which wasn't too bad, just started not real well.

Several weeks ago I started potty training Isaiah. We're still at it. I know they say the mom has to be trained first, and I'm starting to know what they mean. I feel like I do pretty well, but then I'll forget about it and we have a set back. Or things will be going really well, but then we leave home for an evening or a morning and then what do you do? This week looks pretty open so I'm going to hit it hard again. First thing tomorrow I'll start by washing all the underwear that we went through this weekend. All in all, I feel like it's going alright. I didn't expect it to happen overnight.

I recently got my hair cut. I think the lady did a good job as far as an even cut etc, but I'm not real happy with the turnout. Anyway, hair grows. After I got it cut I came home and headed upstairs to find Jeremy and Isaiah. On my way up the stairs Isaiah met me coming down. He looked at me, smiled, and said "you have nice hair". What could I say?

I need to get off. It's Sunday night and the boys are in bed. I actually look forward to Monday's when I know I'm going to be home all day. I enjoy getting life back on track after the weekend. Have a good week!

Isaiah on the tractor at the farm. He told me he was picking corn...I doubt he came up with that one on his own.

Not a great picture, but here's Ivan making popcorn while Jeremy and Alex watch, deep in thought.