Waiting Room

I'm not good at reading while I'm waiting. Especially in a hospital waiting room. I always take a book along thinking I'll get some reading done during these "quiet" minutes. But my heart is anxious so I watch.

There's a group of people sporting the same t-shirts. They're wrinkled like they're brand new. One woman is knitting, and two of the men are busy on their phones. They're chatting and look like they're glad to be together.

I read another paragraph.

There's a man sitting to my right. He's all by himself. He has a red purse with him. I'm assuming he's waiting for his wife. The purse looks heavy as he totes it to the front desk to check on his wife.

I re-read the same paragraph.

Starbucks is right across the hall to my left. The line never seems to end. It moves quickly but people just keep filing in for their $4.00 coffees. Several walk past me with their red cups looking like lizards. Their tongues barely touching the edge of the lid. And then not. And then trying again. They're all anxious to sip their fresh beverage but they know, the coffee's practically scalding. The sign at the front register says so. And most of them have been burned before and know they'll regret it.

There's a woman sitting in the coffee area. She's wearing a red turtleneck sweater and is talking really loudly into her phone. She's shouting about how she feels like hell and can't seem to get rid of her hacking cough. I reach for my hand sanitizer kind of wishing I'd brought a mask.

The women from the group of t-shirts join around a table. I wish I could see what their shirts say. Out comes a deck of cards. They shuffle and deal. No one gives directions as they've all played this game before. The cards snapping together as they are shuffled seems so loud in this anxious little room.

I read another paragraph. I dig through my purse to find a pen to underline something that I should remember. I look around waiting for the recovery door to open with a nurse telling me I can go back to see my baby. But it's just another delivery guy. They sure get a lot of packages back there.

There's a woman in a blue vest at another table. She's right next to the free waiting room coffee. She's on her phone, looking through a book, writing, then erasing, then writing again. She pops the top off her pink highlighter and makes some marks in her book. I can't tell if she's working or studying.

I read on. This book is really good and I should probably read it when I'm not so distracted. This is some good stuff that I'm going to need to process.

A man wearing black dress pants and black shoes walks by. He's supporting the Hawkeyes with his University of Iowa jacket. He sits right next to the woman studying at the table. She doesn't even look up to acknowledge him. He sits with his head in his hands. She puts her work away and takes out her phone. It doesn't look like they know each other but it seems strange that he would sit so close to someone he doesn't know. Maybe they do know each other but have nothing to say.

Finally, I take my turn in the Starbucks line. I'm thankful for the gift card in my pocket. I order my coffee and two pieces of pumpkin bread. My baby will be hungry when I see him in recovery. He loves food so I know he'll appreciate this treat.

I return to "my" seat, glad that someone didn't take it. Now I become a lizard as I wait for my coffee to cool-off enough to drink. But it smells so good and I can't resist, and I sip burning the tip of my tongue just like I have so many times before.

The group around the table are giving each other hugs as the nurse updates them on their loved one. "No bowel resection." There are tears of joy and looks of relief. They seem more energetic as they shuffle and deal their cards.

I read over the words I've underlined. I read the next page and the next.

I look up from my book and there's a little old woman about two feet away staring at me. She has a hospital badge on so I ask her if she's looking for Caleb's mom. She looks confused. She asks if he had an MRI and I answer yes. I'm the one she's looking for. She gives me instructions to Recovery II as if she's said them a million times. I don't hear half of what she says but say thank you as I grab my book and coffee. I look over at the man with the red purse. He looks slightly defeated that he hasn't been invited to go to recovery.

I'm thankful to see my baby smiling on the nurse's lap as she rocks with him. I'm glad he took his little blanket. She hands him over and says he handled the anesthesia well and that I should sit with him for a few minutes before heading to our next appointment.

I sit on the recliner with my boy in my lap. My feet don't touch the floor and I probably look younger than I feel. I offer small bites of pumpkin bread to chubby hands and the look of delight is priceless. He refuses the milk in his bottle as he claps for more bread. I sit thankful for this chubby-cheeked boy.

After about fifteen minutes, I gather our things and give the nurses my sincere thanks as we head out the door. To another waiting room.

Today I Will Choose Joy

I need to repeat this aloud to myself multiple times a day.

Like when I hear matchbox cars being scraped across my hardwood floor. That is such a grating sound. I want to take good care of the things God has given me. And when I hear that sound all I can think about is the scratches that are being left behind.

So I say to myself, "Today I will choose joy."

I think about the little boy that is "driving" those cars. I think about how tender his heart is and how much fun he's having while he plays. I take the time to listen to him singing "10,000 Reasons" while he races cars back and forth over the floor. I remind myself that people are more important than things.

I also add "purchase a rug for the bedroom" to my shopping list. ;)

Wood floors are pretty trivial around here with the babies and the monitors and the tanks of oxygen. But sometimes a pet peeve can be even more irritating when it seems like we can't even "control" the small things. I am thankful for all my little boys and all the "excitement" that they can cause. ;)

A Long Hiatus

Welcome back to you and to me! It's been a LONG time since I've written and there are very many reasons for that. I've been contemplating the best way to get back into it since I've been "missing in action" for so long. There have been many times where I've wanted to write about something but thought I first needed to explain why I haven't been writing.

Well, like I said there are numerous reasons but they all correlate to these two:

October 2012

That's right! :) Those are my babies. Twin boys that I carried and had cut out of me delivered on May 15, 2012. And they've caused quite a stir from the time we found out we were expecting to today when they're both asleep on the couch after their tummies were filled with milk.

After losing Elihu at 15 weeks and another baby at 10 weeks in 2010, we wondered if we would be able to have more children. We wondered if our two boys (now 6yrs and 4yrs) would complete our quiver. My husband and I spent a lot of time in prayer and discussion trying to decide if it was worth the possibility of having our hearts broken again if we lost another baby.

That's the main reason that I didn't blog about my pregnancy. Fear. It is a lot easier, albeit painful, to write about my grief after losing our two babies than to write about my fears. My "Type A" personality likes that there are stages of grief. I understand the process of denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. It even makes sense to me how you can bounce around between those stages in a day...or even in an hour. There's a documented process to grief, a "science". But fear/anxiety/worry is something that I've struggled with my whole life in one way or another. And I've never seemed to "master" it.

God calls us to "cast our worries on Him" which is something that is usually easier said than done. But 1 Peter continues "because He cares for you." And that's what I needed to focus on throughout my pregnancy. That God cares for me. During the summer of 2010, I learned to rely on God's sovereignty. I had to know that He was in control. That He had a plan for me. For Elihu. I had to cling to that promise. I couldn't grasp on to His goodness or His love or His mercy. But I could rely on His plan. I had to because there was nothing else.

And while facing my fears over this last year, I've learned that I still need to cling on to His sovereignty, but that I can enjoy His blessings, His goodness, His mercy. I can bask in His love and that through His plan, I can have joy. And joy does not equal happiness. Joy takes work. It takes choosing daily to live joyfully instead of in a state of worry or anxiety. And I am still working.

Over the next few weeks, I want to share with you my story of my newest blessings: Caleb Henry and Ezekiel Thomas. From the time we found out we were expecting, to today as I struggle to survive in this house of boys. :) Thanks for your patience during my absence and I hope you keep reading.
 

Planning a Superhero Birthday

This month my youngest turns four! He's been requesting a superhero birthday party for a few months (without changing his mind - a miracle) so we're going with that. He's requested a "Scooperhero" birthday cake since we received this as a gift from two former students:

He uses this delightful spoon to eat his breakfast every morning but I'm wondering how that's going to make it onto a cake. And he's also requesting that we change the colors to cardinal and gold for Iowa State (his favorite team). So I've been trying to accommodate his requests while not driving myself to the loony-bin.

Here's a few ideas I've been focusing on...

Food
We want to keep it simple so we're thinking cupcakes, a few snacks and some drinks.

chocolate cupcakes with toppers (from Fabulous Features)

other fun snacks with these "labels" (from 3 Sweet P's)

I thought about bottled pop so I can put a cute "FIZZZ" label on them, but we're dealing with preschoolers so we might be sticking to juice-boxes instead...or sippy cups. :)

Decor
Again, focusing on keeping it simple, we're going to have a few signs around and maybe a banner or two. And food is always a great way to decorate simply.

great signage (from Love the Day)

Party Favors
In our area it's customary to send home some treats/favors for each child attending the party. I don't want to spend a lot of money on this but I still want it to be fun.

a mask for each guest when they arrive, adults too? (from 3 Sweet P's)

a Superhero lollipop (from Zakka Life)

and maybe a Superhero bookmark and some Pop Rocks all in a cute Superhero bag.


And then I'll purchase some plates, napkins and cups and we'll call it good. That means I have some work to do.  :)

Have any great Superhero-party-planning advice for this Super Mama?

Five in a Row: Weeks 1-4

We've been having a great time schooling at home this fall. It's been such a blessing to watch my boys learn! And to see how God has created their brains to keep learning - takes a lot of pressure off of me.

We've been enjoying the Five in a Row (FIAR) series and will continue throughout this kindergarten year. It's been fun to include our 3 (almost 4) year-old in our activities each day. Some of the books are easier to get through than others but overall it's been great for us.

Our first book was The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack. Our boys loved hearing about Ping avoiding a "spank" and how he had to face his discipline in the end, but was just happy to be with his family again.

Social Studies: We looked up the Yangtze River online and read the blog of our friends who live right on the River. The boys had fun looking at the different landscapes that the River runs along.
Language Arts: We discussed the word "fiction" and tried to use it throughout the week. We practiced telling fiction (make-believe) stories to each other.
Fine Arts: In the book water is drawn in different ways and we practiced drawing the different types of water.
Math: We colored Ping's family (by Shari F.). It was fun to watch him count all the cousins.

The boys really enjoyed this book and learning about the yellow river. I'm glad we have it in our home collection.

The second week we watched the story of Lentil by Robert McCloskey (one of our favorite authors). Our library doesn't have it in print so we watched it on video. The boys thought it was pretty cool that they got to watch a movie everyday and they really enjoyed the music from the film.

Social Studies: We talked about Ohio being the friendly state O-hi-O. :) We talked about where we live in relation to Ohio and planned a road trip on Google to find out how long it would take for us to drive there and what cities we would go through to get there (we planned fun  things to do along the way).
Fine Arts: We listened to Blues Traveler - Hook online to hear some really good harmonica music. We loved dancing in the kitchen to the song as we played it over and over and over. We also picked up a harmonica at a toy store downtown and they have enjoyed playing it (and I have too). :)

The third book we read was Who Owns the Sun? by Stacy Chbosky. Miss Chbosky was fourteen when she wrote and illustrated the story. We thought that was pretty neat to have a book published when you're still a kid.  This book was a little heavy for us. I had a hard time explaining slavery in the South. It seems so far removed from our lives but I want them to know that it's a part of our American history. I related it to slavery in the Bible when Moses had to get the Israelites out of Egypt. But it was still a difficult subject for me to teach.

Social Studies: We talked about which states make up the South. I tried to talk about why the white people had black slaves but that raised a lot of questions that I was not prepared to answer. So we talked about how the slaves worked on the farms for very little to no pay and how some of the slave owners weren't very nice. We talked about how slavery is wrong and that God created all people in His image and how we need to love everyone - not just people who are like us.
Fine Arts: I introduced new colors - fuchsia, teal, melon, mauve, goldenrod, burnt sienna and forest green. My son picked forest green, fuchsia and goldenrod as his favorites and we use them on his seat work throughout the week.
Math: We counted different objects in the book - fence posts, flowers, tree stumps, stars...
Science: We talked about the seasons and how trees can help us tell what season we're in. We colored four trees for the four seasons.

Last week was our favorite book so far, Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans. I love a good illness story so this was great. I got to use my nursing skills to teach my boys about their digestive systems and their appendixes. We also enjoyed learning about France and praying for a former student who now lives in Paris. Crazy to think we really know people who live all around the world. :) This week we created our first lap book. We created different elements throughout the week and then on Friday put them all together into a book. They really enjoyed seeing their work displayed together.

Social Studies: We took a "Tour of France" and matched the pictures in the project to pictures in the book. They had a lot of fun matching and gluing.
Language Arts: I made a rhyming page for him to complete. There were three picture (rhymes) and the first picture had the whole word written, the second was missing the first letter and the third he had to complete on his own. He doesn't particularly care for writing so this wasn't his favorite project.
Fine Arts: We colored two pictures of the Eiffel Tower - one monochromatic (in blue) and the other in full color.
Math: We talked about symmetry and looked at all the symmetrical pictures in the book. I had him create symmetry by drawing the missing half of different shapes (circle, square, etc).
Science: We colored a picture of the digestive system and talked about the other systems in the body and how they each had an important job to do. We then watched The Magic School Bus as they take a trip through Arnold's body. They liked that a lot.


Update:

* It's easier for us to have "Bible" together as a family at breakfast. That's when we will read our weekly story and spend time in prayer together. I'm a night owl and so getting up early enough to plan for "Bible" has been difficult so you can pray for discipline for me to get to bed on time so I can get up on time and not feel rushed in the mornings. :)
* Last week our kindergartner started his first PE class on Mondays and had so much fun. The instructor is great and so are the students that help out in the class. We are blessed to have this as an option for our home school.
* We decided to not have school at home on Fridays as we are involved in our local home school enrichment program and he is taking a class on Friday mornings for two hours. We'll do some handwriting on Friday afternoons and also a lot of reading but we won't do much with seat work and workbooks. It's a nice break for me too and he really enjoys the time he spends with other students.

I Like to Move It, Move It...

Some of you may have wondered where I've been for the last month, but we finally bought our house. And we've been working our tails off to make it home. It's a long process - that will probably last until we sell it in 20 years. But it seems as though we mark one thing off our "to do" list and add three more things. :) I've heard that's the way it goes with home ownership.

Today I thought I'd give you the "before" tour. I really don't want to give the "after" tour until all our projects are complete, but that may be until Christmas. :) So, I will work on some "in the process" pictures to show you some time next week.

 

 

 

  

  

   

  

That's the end of the "before" tour. :) We are so thankful and blessed to have a home!! We've also been blessed with very hospitable neighbors that have brought over cookies, lemonade and their phone numbers. We are so thankful that God led us to this home and we pray that He will continue to bless our ministry efforts while we live here. 

Oh, and I don't have any pictures of the backyard to show you yet, but I will soon. It's great to say "go play outside" and they can. :)

Disarray

My house is in complete.disarray. I guess that's natural when you're moving in less than two weeks but still, it kills me. I even ran out to McDonald's this morning (at 5:30a) to get some coffee since our coffeemaker is packed.

The packing has been getting horrible. We're down to the bones but there are things that I'm unsure of when to pack. Like clothes. I'm planning on getting the laundry completely caught up so I can pack bags for everyone for 1-2 weeks of clothes. Then I'm going to box up the rest and we'll live out of our bags (doing laundry along the way) for those few weeks we have left in this house.

And then food/dishes. I really don't want to use disposable dishes for two weeks but I'm thinking at the end of this week I'll probably pack my dishes. It's hard with little people but we'll make due. The silverware is another thing. Not sure when to pack that or to buy disposable and then wash them as we go. That way, at least the "real" stuff is packed and ready to move. And I think we'll be having a lot of frozen pizzas so I can pack my pots, pans and baking dishes. :) It's crazy!! :) I should make some freezer meals this week in disposable pans so that I can pack my real stuff.

Then there's the officey stuff. Our phone books, stationary, pens, pencils, calendar, bills, stamps, computer items, printer paper, etc. And tupperware. When do I pack all of that? After I go through and make sure everything has a lid and get rid of my "Dutch" tupperware (ie. yogurt, butter, cottage cheese, cool-whip containers).

We've been packing since last August and I'm sick of it. I want things to be put away. I want everything to be in their homes. I want to have a clean, noncluttered home so I can drink my coffee in peace.

Sorry to whine, vent and think aloud, but I'm about to my breaking point with the packing. I just want to throw stuff in boxes and move already. :)

How do you feel about packing, moving and unpacking? Any helpful tips for this weary soul?

Toes Like Pearls

Tonight I'm missing little toes.

My baby is three years-old. And his feet are not little anymore. He has boy feet, not baby feet, not even toddler feet. He has little boy feet. I rocked him tonight and was really sad that his feet are getting big. :) That may sound ridiculous because he still has pretty little feet in the scheme of things. But his little toes are gone. And I'm sad about that. I wonder if I'll ever again kiss tiny toes that are my baby's. My heart aches for those toes, those feet. It's a small thing but still it's a reminder of what we lost a little over a year ago.

Anyway, that's what's been on my mind tonight after rocking my little man to sleep. So, for those of you that have little toes to kiss, do that. Kiss them. Enjoy them. And be thankful for all those little things - especially those 10 little things.

What Day is It?

That's a question I find myself asking a lot since we returned home from Florida. We were there for several days with the youth pastors and their wives from the nation's Evangelical Free Church - Rebound. And it was a much needed trip. I had time to process through some stuff about Elihu, my husband was refreshed from ministry, he also learned a lot during the first part of the trip (Momentum), we reconnected through the speaker at Rebound, I enjoyed some wonderful girl time, we had our 2nd annual TimTam Party, and we enjoyed the warm Florida sun, beaches and the swimming pool. It was wonderful.

And now we're back to reality. ;) And I keep forgetting what day it is. I think i will finally be back to "normal" after Sunday and I start a new week.

And while we're asking questions..."What time is it?" I don't know why this hour time change has made such a huge difference but it has. It's dark earlier which makes me tired earlier and my boys crabby earlier. We really struggled at home with them after they were at Grandma's house but I think we figured out it's the time change more than anything. Last night and tonight we fed them at 4:30p (which to their little bodies is more like 5:30p) and they went to bed by 5:45p and were asleep by 6:30p. Crazy!! We hardly know what to do with ourselves. Tonight we started a movie at 7p and were done with it before 9p. Now, I'm getting ready for bed. ;) That hour makes a big difference.

Random

Does anyone have any tips to get red fingernail polish out of carpet? I'd appreciate any suggestions: do's or don'ts. Thanks!

Funny Things They Say

Who: our 4-year-old
When: Jan. 18, 2010
Where: Home, when lying in bed
What he said:
Son: “When I get 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, no 10, then I will eat a lot and [my little brother] will stay home and I will go on a date, like you and mom.”
Dad: “Oh, so when you turn 10, then you will go on a date like mom and dad? Who will you go on a date with?
Son: “You and mom. And when I am 10, then [my little brother] will go on a date too.”
Dad: “So, when you are 10, [your brother] will be 8, and then both of you will go on dates?”
Son: “Yeah.”
Dad: “Well, you and [your brother] can’t go on dates until you are 16.”
Son: (laughs at me like I am joking with him)

Who: our 4-year-old
When: March 10
Where: in the kitchen
What he said: “Mom, this is a perfect sandwich.” About his PB sandwich for lunch.

Who: our 4-year-old
When: March, 2010
Where: Usually at home
What he said: When [he] is disappointed about something, sometimes he goes “Stinkers!”

We've been keeping track of these funny little things on a Word Document all the while looking for a book to record them in. We thought about a generic notebook, but I wanted something special. I found a book by Amy K. Rosenthal, she's one of my favorite memory-keeper-authors, so I went with her book, Words to Remember, and I really love it. We'll have to remember to put the Who, When, Where (and Age) down but I like her style. Another great book that we checked out was, My Quotable Kid, another great way to record your child's funny thoughts, sayings, and ideas.

How do you record the funny things your children say?

I Heart Amoxacillin

About 2:30am on Monday I woke with horrible pain and pressure in my left ear. It hurt so bad I wanted to jab and ink pen in my ear to relieve the pressure. Knowing that was not the thought of a sane person I got up, took some Tylenol, and proceeded to try and sleep until 8am when I could call the clinic.

I finally fell asleep and woke at 8am to call the clinic. Then I had a total breakdown. After waiting5 1/2 hours through the night to call the doctor (and not go to the ER like I really wanted to) I was told that my doctor's schedule was full. I told them I didn't care who it was I just wanted to get in as soon as possible...which turned out to be 3pm. I said a polite thank you and took the appointment. Only to get off the phone and cry and cry and cry. I didn't want to have to wait another 7 hours to get in...but I did.

I got to the clinic at 2:55p like a good little patient and waited 25 minutes to get into my room. After being weighed, having my temp, B/P, pulse and O2 checked I waited another 15 minutes to see the doctor. At which point he looked in my ear and told me that I indeed have ear infection. At 3:45p I walked out the clinic door and headed to the pharmacy.

There I had to wait 25 minutes for my prescription to be filled. They want you to walk around the store and shop a bit so they tell you have to wait...even though I'm sure it was filled and sitting on the counter. ;)

I got home and took my pills with a big glass of water and some yogurt (I dont' want a certain complication that can come from antibiotics so I'm doing my best to prevent that). And even 12 hours later, I feel better. I've so far taken 2 doses and wish I would have been able to take my first dose on Monday morning instead of afternoon, but alas I'm following orders. Anyway, when you really need an antibiotic you can tell because it works SO well and I'm so thankful for modern medicine and a little thing called Amoxacillin!!

Hopefully I'll be myself in a few days since this is Easter week and there's so much exciting and fun things going on. I don't want to miss anything and I don't want my kids to have to miss out on stuff either. ;)

Kissing the TV Good-bye *Update

This week has been a lot better without the TV because my husband's home and I think I'm getting used to it. ;)

We've been listening to CD's of Adventures in Odyssey by Focus on the Family. They're really good! Sometimes they're a little over the head of my 3 1/2-year-old but I can tell he's picking some good info up because he'll raise his eyebrows and smile at me. Kinda cute. And they're easy for me to listen to as well. They keep me interested and they have great morals at the end along with Bible verses. We've been getting them from the library, but I may have to put it on our wish list so we have some for car rides, etc.

The only thing that is still really hard for me is the news. I have a hard time remembering to check it online and when I listen to the radio I only get bits and pieces. Like the earthquake in Haiti. I heard about it on Facebook (my husband's because I don't have one). Big stuff like that is hard to hear about through something like Facebook. I'd rather hear the news and watch it on TV. But, I'm working on it.

**********************

By the way, my small group went well last night so thanks for all of you who lifted us up. I also made some Microwave Caramel Corn and No-bake Cookies. They ate all of the cookies and about half of the popcorn - good thing I made a double-batch. ;)

Kissing the TV Good-bye *Update

I miss my tv.

There are many reasons why this has been a particularly hard week:

1. My husband is gone to seminary this week. I've been lonely in the evenings. If he were home we could talk or play games. But he's not home so there has been no game-playing or talking. For the most part my evenings have been filled with cleaning and other household tasks. That is not relaxing for me. And reading still uses up brain-power that I don't have much left of by the end of the day. I just get tired and decide that 7:30p is a little early to hit the sack so I go about cleaning and organizing.

2. The weather has been awful here and I'm going crazy with all this boy-energy. The beginning of the week was filled with terribly cold weather. -27 for the low and 4 above for the high. Not particularly good weather for my boys to run around in. In fact, my youngest cried from the door to the van on Tuesday so we could run some errands. And yesterday we had another snowstorm. I think this is the 3rd of the season. And it continues today. After 5+ inches of snow, we're having 35mph winds with gusts up to 40mph. Our house is really small and there is no basement so I have no where to send the boys to run. It's tiring for them and for me. I wish I could put a video on and have them sit for a while, but that's not an option.

3. I miss my alone time. I would use PBS Kids as a distraction so I could at least take a shower and not worry about my house being destroyed by my little boys. In fact, when I took a shower on Tuesday, I was thinking to myself that there's nothing that they could do that they would really get in trouble for. But they found the one thing to break that would make me the most annoyed - the plastic on the windows!! AARG!! By the way, my alone time in the evening isn't as great as a shower in the morning.

4. I miss the news. Yes, I could check online for my information or even listen to the radio. But I know that at 12noon and at 5p I can watch the news and get it in it's entirety. I didn't even know about the storm until someone mentioned it at a meeting I had on Tuesday evening. And I just like knowing what's going on the world. It feels like I'm part of it even though I'm trapped in my house with another snowstorm whipping around outside.

So, there are many factors that play into my missing the tv - my husband being gone, the weather, my alone-time, and feeling like I'm part of this big world. Oh, and the boy-energy is quite excessive today. Please pray for me. ;)

Kissing the TV Good-bye

Well, the TV isn't really gone but the power strip to the TV, DVD player, stereo receiver, the VCR and the digital antennae is off.

My husband and I have been wanting to fast from the TV for several months, but we were selfish and wanted to wait until The Amazing Race was over for this season. ;) So, starting today and lasting through the entire month of January, we will be fasting from our TV.

I think it will go pretty well for most of the day, but it has been nice to have PBS Kids as an option throughout the day. We especially like Sesame Street at 9am after we're finished with our school work. And Curious George is on at 5pm and distracts them long enough for me to get dinner ready for our 5:30p meal time. I'm the most nervous about the last one - 5pm dinner time.

I plan on borrowing lots of books on CD for the boys for use in the afternoon while we're playing or at 5pm when I'm trying to get dinner ready. Also, my husband and I like to watch movies and we have already said that if we "need" to, we can use our portable DVD player for a date night and watch a movie together in bed. ;) Kind of fun to be sneaky sometimes. But this will be a once a week (if that) treat for ourselves.

And I'll have to find a good radio station to listen to the news since we don't get the paper. I'll also just have to make it a habit to check the news online in the morning and then let it go. ;) I'm ready for this and so is my husband. We've talked about it for a while so it won't be so bad...and hopefully the kids will adjust. ;)

I'll keep you posted on how our TV fast is going.

Oh, the Weather Outside is Frightful...

Current Status (8am)
Temp: 9 degrees
Wind Chill: -14 degrees
Amount of Snowfall: 12 inches
Sustained Winds: 35 mph
Wind Gusts: 49 mph
Drifts: HUGE - I haven't been out to measure but some look taller than me (5 ft 3 in)

I probably won't post any pictures of the great outdoors until the wind dies down (I really don't want to go outside today) but I will get some before our boys tear into those drifts. ;)

Goals for Today
(in no particular order, although the workout and housework should come first)
* workout
* make gingerbread houses with the family
* sew a blanket for my son's Christmas present
* sew scarves for my boys
* wrap gifts
* clean my bedroom (mostly it's picking up and putting things away, but still it's a big job)
* bake these bars
* drink some hot chai tea and watch Home Alone (yes, that can be considered a goal)
* read my library book, Shepherds Abiding
* housework: vacuum, sweep, mop, clean both bathrooms, dust, laundry
* put together our new stroller (arrived yesterday while we were running errands; the box was on our front deck covered with 3 inches of snow)

My husband is working from home today so I'm sure he'll be joining in with the fun, even the housework. ;) We'll also see if we have school today. Since the whole city is shutdown and no one else is having school, maybe we won't either, although making gingerbread houses should count. ;)

Best Friends Take a Bath

This all started as an emergency rescue before bed last night. Our oldest son dropped Peanut or Squirrel (TY Beanie Babies Nuts) into the toilet during our bedtime ritual.

We (dad) left him out overnight to dry but I wasn't satisfied with the cleanliness and so this morning I washed him with some Johnson's Head-to-Toe Baby Wash and put him in the dryer (on warm) and he came out fine. (Phew!!!)

Then our youngest was enjoying his Advent chocolate after breakfast this morning and proceeded to get chocolate all over Doggy (TY Classic Roscoe). After removing most of the chocolate with a washcloth I noticed that Doggy had a urine-smell to him (yuck!!). So, I washed him in a little bath with some Johnson's and put him in the dryer. (I was very, very afraid at how this would end up.)

As I waited for Doggy to finish drying, I searched online to find out if I could buy a replacement...and I'm in trouble. All of my boys' beloved friends are RETIRED. I can't find them anywhere, except on the TY website saying they're retired. So hopefully they won't be ruined by me...or themselves because they're going to be hard to replace.

Now, I'm just hoping that Bunny or Outside (TY Classic Brambles) doesn't have an accident and he has to take a bath and venture a trip through the dryer.

**Update: Doggy made it!! And he smells great. I don't know how often I can do this without ruining our poor furry friends, but I'm glad I tried it this time. I'm just glad that TY products are well-made.

Walking to the Pool

I didn't Shred today. I took the boys on a big trip to Wal-Mart with promises of treats at the end for good behavior. There were no treats.

After the boys napped and I cleaned/packed/folded laundry I thought we needed to get out of the house because the boys were really squirrely. So I got out the sunscreen and the swimming suits. At first I thought I would drive the 8 blocks to the pool and thought that was ridiculous. Besides the gas, I needed the exercise since there was no one Shredding at my house this morning. I grabbed some water, towels and snacks (for the walk home) and put the boys in the wagon.

I think walking was a mistake. It was about 94 degrees out and the heat index was 103 degrees. Yuck!! It was so humid that the grass I walked on (cutting through an empty lot) got my flip-flops all wet. First I thought my feet were sweating profusely, but it was just the dewy grass...at 3:30 in the afternoon.

We made it to the pool (after two breaks for mom) and had a glorious time splashing in the water. I was dreading the walk home but it went way better than the way there. Partly because it's downhill and partly because we were wet. The pool is so refreshing. I think we may venture there tomorrow, but I'd rather not walk the 8 blocks. ;)

PS. Current temperature (10:30pm) 88 degrees and the heat index is 99 degrees. At 10:30pm!! Yuck. Iowa is such a crummy great place to live with the summer heat index and the winter wind chill. ;)

Mother's Day Bouquet

I know it's way past Mother's Day, but I'm just getting around to posting about the gift we gave to my mother-in-law. I saw this idea somewhere and thought it would be perfect for my MIL. She loves flowers but doesn't really enjoy the idea of a bouquet of flowers dying on her dining room table. We've gotten her a plants before, but she has a hard time keeping them alive. I thought it would be great to give her a bouquet where the flowers won't die.

I emailed my sister-in-laws and they all said they were in. Each family made their own flowers and sent them to the sister-in-law that would see our mother-in-law on Mother's Day. She arranged the flowers when she received them and delivered the gift. It turned out really cute and our mother-in-law really enjoyed them!

Here's what you need if you want to make a picture bouquet:
pictures of your family members
flower templates
Popsicle sticks OR long skewers
green paint
pencil
scissors
round object for tracing circles (I used a baby bottle lid)
ribbon (optional)
buttons (optional)
green foam (the kind you use for flower arrangements)
a small pot
artificial moss
hot glue gun
school glue
Start by painting your wooden sticks (skewers or Popsicle sticks) green. Don't forget to paint both sides.
Cut out your flower templates. I just used clip-art flowers from Microsoft Office. Trace them onto some colorful paper. I used scraps of paper from scrapbooking.
Trace circles around your pictures and cut out.
Glue your pictures onto your colorful flowers. Glue your flowers onto your painted sticks. You can add some ribbon to your flowers or even cut out leaves to glue on. (Pictures of me and my dear husband.)
After my sister-in-law received all the flowers she placed the green foam into the pot and arranged all the flowers. She placed the moss over the green foam for it's finishing touch. We made a few extra flowers for the front of the pot as filler. They were just small flowers with buttons for the center.

Wedding in the Backyard

Here are some pictures from my sister's wedding. My parents' backyard looked beautiful. And after having rain all week, we just prayed for some sunshine, and praise God we got it. ;) Enjoy the pictures. (I hope to post more pictures later from the wedding photographer).