Christmas is coming

"Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat! please put a penny in the old man's hat. if you have no penny, a ha' penny will do. if you have no ha' penny then God bless you." that is the song that immediately pops into my head if i hear the words, "Christmas is coming." but, as silly as that is, i am happy to say, now, my brain quickly moves past the song to more serious things like advent. advent is a season of anticipating Christ's coming. not only remembering His coming to earth in bethlehem but in looking forward to His coming again to bring His kingdom to earth and reign forever - and ever, hallelujah, hallelujah! hallelujah... and He shall reign forever and ever! - right, you know you were singing it as you read along....

any-who, I hope you can take time this month to read God's word and dwell on what it means for us that He would humble himself and come to earth to dwell and redeem us all.

Merry Christmas

dear Lord...

i was reading my Bible today and told Jane to go play while I read. She wandered down the hall, singing some songs, and sat down. the next thing i hear is this sweet little prayer:

dear Lord, thank you for my day and for mommy to go to the dentist and for dad to go to work. thank you for me and ben dear Lord.... Jesus, amen.

it was so precious i had to stop my journaling and write this post before i forgot what she had said. i love that my little girl is learning to thank Jesus for her life and to talk with Him at any time.

so much yet so little

i enjoy talking to jane about the world. even though she is two and a bit years old she seems to know so much. compared to ben's knowledge of the world (his bed, and family) she knows so much more than him; but when compared to what we as her parents know, jane knows practically nothing. yesterday, i had a conversation that reminded me of how much she knows and yet how little all at the same time. here's what happened: pete went to san fransico for the day to attend a meeting. he left at 6am and arrived back in slc at 6:30pm. to me, the adult, i am amazed that we now fly to different states for a two hour meeting (all of which could have been complete via skype but pete's boss wanted to see the people and the place with his own eyes i guess.) 

lately pete has been working from home on thursday and every morning jane asks where dad is. thursday is also the night there is an elder's meeting at our church which plays into the conversation a bit. so thursday's conversation went this way: 

jane: where's dad?

mom: well, he's at work but today he went on an airplane to work

j: an airplane? 

m: yes, for a meeting

j: with pastor terry? 

m: no, with people from black diamond

m: he went to san fransico, it's a city in california

j: to see uncle craig? 

m: no, it's not near uncle craig, but uncle craig does live in california, just not san fransico

j: i go see dad? 

m: you can see him later tonight when he comes home

so that's what she knows. she knows that usually when i tell her, "dad is at a meeting" it means he is at church with pastor terry for elder's meeting. and when i mention california we are usually talking about where uncle craig lives in pasadena. so my baby girl is so smart but still has so far to go and I look forward to helping her learn as much as i can. 

the next time you see jane, ask her what country she lives in. we are starting to work on memorizing where we live and it is so cute to hear her say, "united states of america" 

the wedding time, she comes

it is the month of sarah and gerald's wedding so in honor of that event, i have changed the colors on my blog. sarah, i hope you like it! so september 24th, here we come!

ephesians

our church has been walking through the book of ephesians and we just finished chapter four. i have loved it and learned so much about myself, mostly, through applying God's teachings. i am excited for the rest of the book and am looking forward to further study when mark driscoll of mars hill church walks through it next year. his church has many more resources than we do and he actually just completed a trip to turkey and ephesus where he studied and preached in the same places paul did! how cool is that? so anyway, i will be following online when all that comes out.

so, my favorite ephesians verse right now (besides the 3.14-21 which is my very fav) is chapter 4.29 - let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

i hate earwigs

i had a creepy picture of an earwig on this post and had to take it off because i couldn't stand looking at my blog - that's how much i hate earwigs!

here is a list of places i have found or constantly find earwigs - which is why i hate them. they appear out of nowhere, like they say, "boo! gotcha" then run away as fast as they can. plus they have that terrible looking pincher thing on the back of them so that's just gross. i don't know what purpose they serve and i know we are to take care of God's creatures; but i'm sure they are part of "the curse" for sure.

always in my kitchen - i wash them down the drain if i can - they fight against it though

they ate! yes ate the rubber valves from my breastpump. i no longer leave the small valves out to air dry over night because two pair have been ruined mysteriously and i have had to borrow a new set from a friend who owns the same pump while i wait for the new set i bought to arrive. yes, it looked like a leaf does when little bugs eat on it.

on the bananas - they like the small dark places

in my coffee mug - now i keep the lid closed on everything i can!

in jane's bib - anything in the kitchen is unsafe and i check everything now. my life should not be ruled by creepy bugs

in ben's carseat - multiple times (i always check now) once i arrived at my parents then the earwig crawled out! yikes!!!

in my shirt - yes, it was on the ground over night - but i can't pick everything up off the ground.

on our bedspread - because it falls off in the night and thus, is on the ground!

on jane's changing pad - scary because i didn't know if it was there before or if it was on jane or what

on the ceiling, walls, even smoke detector one night.

in the pack of gum IN my purse - yep, opened it up and HELLO earwig - i hate you

- the list will grow i'm sure, but there you have it.

slept in and feeling tired

you know that feeling when you sleep in too long and instead of feeling rested you are more tired? well, that's me today. i woke up to my alarm at 7 and ben was making a few squeaks in his room but i promptly turned the alarm off and ben fell back asleep too. so 8am rolls around and i can hear ben making little cries for help in his room. he slept for 10 hours! the problem with 8am, i could also hear jane talking in her room. so i jumped up and fed ben then 30min later went down to jane's room to get her up and ready. she also slept through the whole night - 11 hours! so this momma is happy and a bit over-rested. though i haven't showered yet because i slept through that part of the morning; i think it's okay to get my sleep in once in a while - hopefully it doesn't become a habit of mine to over-sleep.

exercise dilemma

i just finished a 30 minute workout with netflix. it was from a series by self magazine and worked my heart and butt for sure. lately (since ben was born) i have been struggling to get back into a workout routine that works for my schedule and motivates me to work hard.

old routine: once jane was older and i wasn't nursing her anymore i could go to gold's gym in the morning and attend a 1 hour aerobic class which usually worked me hard and i was actually in pretty good shape before my pregnancy with ben and even through the 1st and 2nd trimesters too. the nice thing about the gym was the child care. jane could go play and be supervised so i could exercise in peace. she liked the teachers - even got the nickname "super jane" - and didn't fuss too much about me leaving her there. the problem with the gym is the distance. i knew moving to the valley would be further away but the gym took a lot of time out of the day even when we lived on 1050 n so that wasn't much of an issue (though the new truck costs a bit more in gas.) but 3rd trimester came and i just couldn't do the classes anymore so the gym was only helpful in that they watched jane. i tried to take jane on walks but the weather this spring didn't cooperate. i froze my account at the gym until after ben was born and i felt good enough to exercise again.

new "routine": so ben was born and i actually felt good enough, physically, at 4 weeks postpartum to exercise but the thought of loading both kids in the car by myself all between ben's three hour eating schedule overwhelmed me. we started out going on walks in our neighborhood and thanks to our friends i had a few double strollers to use which was wonderful. even loading them both in the stroller with sunscreen and water and such was a big production so i didn't go walking very often and then it got very hot and i am not very happy in hot weather so it was even more reason to stay in. my freeze at the gym ended in july so i tried it out a few times. i think we have been 6 times in 3 weeks which is okay but the price has gone up because of ben so i'm not too excited.

the problem with the gym now: i have a hard time making it on time to a class because of nursing ben (which i often do in the car before or after the gym while jane colors in the front seat with me.) by the time i feed ben and get them to the nursery, put my stuff in a locker, go to the bathroom, i have about 30 min to work out before it's time for jane to eat or ben or whatever. then we are down in town and i feel like i need to do something else to make the trip worth the gas but that costs more money because i usually buy lunch and groceries or some other errand which might take me across town to my parents' house and be even more gas. anyway, long story short, i don't think the gym is worth it right now - especially because i could be using the nice weather outside.

new equipment: pete found a nordic track at a garage sale for 15$ and i could use it while watching tv in the basement. i haven't quite got the hang of it, the rhythm is a bit tricky but it works while the kids are sleeping. also, we bought the trampoline from my parents and i could go jump on that for 30 min and get a pretty good workout while feeling young because i can still do a back tuck - which works all my muscles at once; but i have to do it when jane and ben are sleeping once again because i can't jump with jane on the tramp and that's what she would want to do if we were both outside.

morale of the story: i need some accountability in working out which is why i like going to the gym - even having strangers around seems to make me work harder. i also need a way to work out with my kids or commit to working hard when they are sleeping (which often is not at the same time yet.) i would like to run more but don't have a stroller that works for both kids until ben can sit on his own thus the need for childcare. i'm just not sure if the nursery is worth 70$ a month plus gas! yikes!

your job: i wrote this so some of you who read my blog can ask me how the exercising is going and maybe participate with me. i would love to go walking on the parkway - it's harder work than you think pushing a kid in the stroller and strapping one to my chest. or we could go on a hike (if someone would strap one of my kids to their back or a trail that accommodated the stroller.) so that's the deal - my gym membership is just not working out right now so solo i go for a while.

night time is stressful sometimes

- i'm going to start this post off by saying: "let's just pretend i didn't take two months off from blogging and get right back into it"

the Lord has blessed me with a wonderful, baby boy who sleeps; and for that i am more grateful every night. last night, ben slept 9.5 hours! go little man, go! jane on the other hand.... probably got a total of 10 hours (great for her health) but it was broken up into hour long sections from 2-5 am! i don't know what it is with her, but we just can't seem to fix her sleeping habits. i'm not asking for advice or sympathy, i'm simply recording this so i can have a laugh later. the past week she has been sleeping great. i put her to bed around 8 she usually falls right asleep - after some coaxing and a stuffed animal or two in bed with her - and might wake up at 10 or 11 for a usual, "change my diaper momma!" episode. because i am still awake, it doesn't bother me to change it for her. she also goes back to sleep fine - except for when she doesn't. then it becomes constant requests - and i, rather than listen to her scream for an hour if i don't fulfill them am more apt to give in. she says, "i don't like my bed" so i try to think of ways to make her feel better: "what if eeyore sleeps in your bed to help you sleep?" or "maybe you would like your baby to sleep with you too" which usually works and she falls back to sleep, sometimes for the rest of the night. well sometimes we pull out all the stops like last night....

i fell asleep on the couch, oops, till 2am. just as i was getting ready for bed i heard the monitor making noises and then the requests and whining came. "momma, change my diaper please!" (at least she said please) so i went down and changed it - it was both wet and poopy which is why i don't feel comfortable just letting her scream it out and not go change it. into her bed she went with little fuss - just a song to calm her down (she likes the lullaby song which i realized i don't know all the words and she is learning songs so quickly so i need to find the words soon) anyway, i hurried and went to sleep.

3:30am - "momma, change my diaper" which was again wet but this time she put up more of a fight to getting back in her bed. she asked for a book and a song which we did the shortest book and one song (mary had a little lamb, yes 4 verses) at least i have convinced her that sometimes it helps me to sing songs to myself to fall asleep and maybe she should try to sing to herself or her baby. it is so sweet to hear her singing on the monitor.

4:30am almost exactly an hour later - "momma, change my diaper!!!!" more insistently this time. so by now i am very annoyed and frustrated. pete has realized that i have been getting up more too and tells me to let her cry it out. i thought about it but because i fall right back to sleep when she is quiet rather than when she is screaming (yes we can hear her in our room without the monitor and i don't want her to wake ben) i decided to go down and check. pull up (i ran out of diapers) is dry which i thought it would be - but i pretended to change it because incessant screaming ensues if i don't at least "check it really quick, momma." so i put her back in her bed, this time she wanted to hold a pull up and a wipe in her bed. strange request but whatever, she likes to hold on to the wipe like a blanket and suck her thumb - i blame my mom for this habit when jane naps at their house.

5am - all was quiet and then i hear it - noises and stirring on the monitor. pete said, "just let her be and go to sleep" but then i heard her request.... "momma, there's something in my nose!" yes, you heard right so i went downstairs and she looked so panicked it was sad. the wipe i had given her had been torn into pieces and apparently she thought it would be good to push it up her nostril (yes, we've hit that stage i just didn't think it would be in the middle of the night.) long story (which this already is) - i pulled out the wipe with my finger and she said, "no, it's not all gone" sure enough there was another piece. so i got her out of bed and looked to see if i could get it. she doesn't know how to blow her nose yet so i wasn't sure if having her try to do that was working - she could have been sucking it back in for all i knew. i went and got the tweezers (i was not about to go to the er at 5 in the morning for them to do the same thing. with jane in a headlock, i pulled out the other piece. there was in fact, one more way up there and that's when i started to panic a bit. so i got my reinforcements - pete, and we went to work. headlamp, jane, tweezers and all, we were ready. i held her head and arm while pete worked the tweezers. bam! out. she did very well too - much less screaming than if a stranger had done it.

after that craziness she went right back to bed (sans wipe and pull up or anything that could be put in her nose) without even changing her diaper. sleep at last - then ben started making noises. yikes! not him too. so i let him be and he fell back asleep, thankfully.

that's the end of our night of craziness. i wish it happened less often but it's an every two or every week thing. now you know why i am so thankful for a baby that consistently sleeps because my toddler doesn't.

sweet prayers

today while i was changing jane's diaper for nap time she said, "pay time, mom" which either means play time or prayer time. we usually pray before bed at night but not at nap time so i covered my bases by saying, "it's not time to play right now, it's nap time. do you want to pray before your nap?" and she said, "pay for friends." now that i knew which "pay" we were talking about the conversation went like this:

me: "okay, which friends should we pray for?"

j: "uh, for... bryson"

me: "okay, we'll pray for bryson"

j: "and wanie (lanie)"

me: "oh, good. for lanie"

i was a bit surprised by these first two responses because bryson is the older brother of jane's friend kael and the last time she saw bryson was on a walk the day before ben was born, 6 weeks ago. lanie is our friend who just moved with her family to colorado so it was interesting that jane would choose to pray for an adult "friend" (she calls everyone friend, even grandma and grandpa) over her kid friends. anyway, we continued on....

j: "and josh, luke, anasten" - the rest of lanie's family - luke is about 9 months older than jane. me: "okay, let's pray for those friends"

i'm sure if i would let her, she would name everyone she knows. so i prayed for our friends and their new house and for bryson and his family and his dad (in afghanistan) to be safe. in Jesus name, amen. instead of saying amen, jane said, "and tank you por aba" ava is probably her closest friend as far as little kids are concerned. i said, "okay, thanks for ava" but jane said, "no, pay for aba!" so i prayed for ava and we said amen and off to nap time she went.

i love the caring heart of my little girl. i pray for myself that i can teach her to always pray for others and to continue to love everyone as her friends. amen.

sleeper

it's 4:10 am and i finished feeding benjamin. now he is wide awake and i am waiting for him to get drowsy enough to sleep. he seems to be bothered by the dark; he fusses more in his crib if the light is off than if i leave the lamp on. he likes to stare at the circle designs on his bedding as he falls asleep so maybe he gets frustrated that they go away once the light is off.

he is a great sleeper. at a week old we took him to the pediatrician and he was already past his birth weight (from 9lb 2oz to 9lb 6oz) so she said i could start letting him sleep through the night and no longer wake him up to feed at night. he had two nights that he slept 8 hours! usually his average is a five hour stretch - which is about four hours of sleep for me.

God has given me another child that sleeps well (though he is a lazy eater like jane was) and for that i am very grateful.

hearing her sing

one of my greatest joys as a mother is listening to jane sing. she actually knows quite a few songs and surprises me almost every day with a new song she starts singing - usually in the car or while playing with her baby dolls. i try to record her singing but it is so difficult to catch because if i ask her to sing she says "no" or asks me to "help, mom" so i often have recorded her singing off of the baby monitor or without her really knowing. she sings all or part of these songs: Jesus, loves me; twinkle, twinkle little star; abcs; rock-a-bye baby; muffin man; 5 little monkeys jumping on the bed; and from veggie tales: the bunny song; stand up; and think of me (or whatever it's really called). i'm sure there are more, i just can't remember them right now.

today she was singing at breakfast: "think every day, hold to what i say, even from par (far) away" which is part of the veggie tales song on a cd we have. i also sing it to her at night sometimes. i didn't think she knew it but she knows almost the whole song and i caught it on video finally- in the car on the way to my parent's house. the video isn't very good because it's just me holding the phone as close to her as i can (she sometimes sings quietly) while still watching the road as i drove. sorry about the turn signal in the back ground and the shot of the ceiling. here are the real words so you can compare to jane's version.

think of me everyday

hold tight to what i say

and i'll be close to you

even from far away

know that wherever you are

it is never too far

if you think of me

i'll be with you

it's from the "rack, shack, and benny" episode about standing up for what is right and the song reminds them of what their parents taught them.

this video of her singing the abc's. it's not the most complete version but it's one that i recorded about a month or so ago:

Good Friday to you

When I Survey The Wondrous Cross

"When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

His dying crimson, like a robe,
Spreads o’er His body on the tree;
Then I am dead to all the globe,
And all the globe is dead to me.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all."

-Issac Watts (1707)

"oodalally, oodalally, golly what a day!"

the title of this post kept running through my mind last saturday the 16th because it was quite a busy but fun day. if you get where it is from you were probably a disney movie kid like i was. saturday i attended two baby showers and one was in honor of me and little boy.

the first was a shower for ashley and her soon to be little boy. they are adopting a baby in may and have known about it for not very long - which is amazing and exciting and also a little scary. i decided there is a reason behind God's decision to make pregnancy last as long as it does - well besides the biological stuff that goes on like growing a baby - but it's to prepare our hearts and minds for the little bundle. i am very excited for them and they will be wonderful parents. jane was also able to meet some people from my youth group/college years and that was good too.

i was going to drive home and eat lunch with jane and pete then drive to lanie's for the other shower but it was going to be a tight squeeze. luckily, pete had made a trip to i.f.a. and was still on 12th street. after i gassed up the civic (part of the reason it would be a stretch to make it home and back) we met pete at i.f.a. and switched cars. jane road home with pete - ate lunch and thankfully slept three hours for him! woohoo. i knew i would eat a lot at the shower so i didn't stop for lunch. instead i went to the local hastings coffee shop (it was on the way) and wrote frantically in my baby journal in attempts to catch up to present day. surprisingly, i did! my journal for little boy and this pregnancy journey so far is all caught up, or was. now i need to write about the shower and my latest dr. appointment. jane's journal that i have been writing since pregnant with her is way back in january still so i need to catch up on that too.

so i arrived at the shower early (a rare event for me when i'm with jane but i am better at being early/on time when it's just me) and was greeted by anasten who's special job was to take the purses to a location that was out of the way of the front door. she did a wonderful job of helping host the party along with her mom and kaytee. the shower was a joint celebration for me and my friend sarah. we are both having our second child and both babies are boys so we thought it would be perfect to share and it was so much fun. i was only two weeks away from my due date and she is due the middle of july so it was a bit early for her and cutting it close for me but we made it work.

lanie and kaytee did a fantastic job with planning the whole thing, sending out invites, decorations, and food. the lanterns were a good touch and the little sandwiches and fruit was delicious; of course i loved the cookies and cakes. as the guests arrived we put the gifts in separate locations and mingled while eating the food. i was surprised by how many people came and very loved too. we truly have a special group of family and friends and i am so grateful to all who showed their support even without the gifts - but wow! thanks for the gifts too.

we had the guests write a birthday card for the little boys for every birthday year up to 15 years old so they can open one every year on their birthday. as long as i can keep track of the cards it will be fun to open them every year to see what people wrote. we also took a picture of "all" the pregnant ladies at the party - my pictures didn't turn out great so i only put one on here. from most pregnant, me, to least: me, katie (due july), sarah (due july), kaytee (due sept.) and meg (due oct.). stacy, due sept., left before i remembered to get the pictures and diana just had her baby two weeks prior.

i told myself all i had to do was make it to saturday and then the baby could come. well, we made it and still no baby. i am actually relieved and we'll see how long he decides to wait but i have already made a few more "make it till this day" goals because i would like to be part of sarah's (sister's) graduation festivities and maybe easter sunday too. if not, it's not like i will be disappointed but those are one more thing on my list. i guess there will always be "one more thing" on my list which is why people say you are never really ready for the baby to come.

i had a dr. appointment monday and she said everything looks good and she'll "see me next week unless she sees me before that" so we are waiting and my next appointment is tuesday morning. the baby room is mostly ready, i have to buy hangers for all his cute clothes and organize a few more things. i packed my hospital bag but i am constantly remembering things i should put in there. i need to pack a bag for jane for whomever takes care of her in my absence and that's about it. i am supposed to be cleaning the house right now (my brother is coming over for dinner tonight) but instead i am blogging which is a nice way of avoiding cleaning. well, good bye. sorry i am so long winded; and once again, thank you all who made saturday so wonderful!

my new eye glasses

i have been wanting new glasses for a while. my old glasses were from high school, i think, and my prescription has changed since then but not enough to warrant new glasses because i usually wear contacts. i like the idea of glasses but sometimes contacts are more practical. i have stopped wearing my glasses out of the house because jane got hold of them one day and bent the arm quite a bit and they have never fit the same again. so, i use them in the morning and at night when i don't have contacts in.

i found out about a company called coastal contacts and they were giving away "free" glasses on a certain day if you had a special code. if you live out of state you may be able to get some where you live because they do a different group of states every week. check them out on facebook to find out when your state gets a turn! so i got a code and started looking at the glasses i would want (it took me literally three days to decide) but i found a pair that i really liked - then i found out they didn't qualify for the coupon. so i picked another pair i really liked and i'm glad i got these instead of the other. my glasses/lenses/shipping only cost 60.40! i think i like them and the new prescription is definitely different (worse on the scale but at least i can see better.)

my mom also told me about a site called zennioptical.com and they have glasses for super cheap (i found a pair i liked for 40.00 total!) so maybe next year i'll geta funky purple pair - like the original kind i wanted. now i get why some people buy glasses like they are shoes or something; such a fun accessory!

they are more rectangle shaped than my last oval pair. they are plastic rims with a brown stripped design and thicker sides. the sides also have some bedazzled half-moons for extra pizazz!

oh, and having new glasses makes me want a new hair cut so that's in the works now too.

laundry room makeover

we moved into our house in october 2009 and the only unfinished area of the house was the laundry room/entry from the garage. it wasn't a reason not to buy the house because the rest was finished so nicely. we knew someday we would finish the laundry room but i did not expect it to be so "soon" - in my book anyway. pete just decided he needed a project and now was as good a time as any to work on the room. i don't deal well with change, especially when it is thrust upon me so i had a little selfish "i'm not ready for you to do that yet" pity party then got over it and remembered that my husband is wonderful and actually knows how to finish the whole room by himself which means we don't have to pay someone else to do the labor! i am so blessed that way and i always forget. may i never forget again!

because pete's name is gompert he got right to it and by the time i thought to document the process with before and after shots he was already on the framing. so i don't have a picture of just the empty room with all our junk strewn on the floor, ugly sump pump right when you walk in the door, and the pipe on the floor going from the furnace into the drain. but i did manage to get the good after pictures, which is what everyone wants to see anyway:

tom and pete working on the framing. plus deciding how to move the gas pipe above their heads into the closeted area so it can be hidden.

more framing of the walls

before picture of the sump pump - actually it is an "after the new pipes" were in. the old pipes were rusted and went straight up in the air then over to the wall, it's much better this way.

insulation on the two outside walls - it helped a lot with the coldness of the room. also, my dryer vent goes outside now! woohoo

framing in the pipes and such

drywall getting close to completion

pete working on more drywall. the small areas were the worst (so he said) i didn't take any pictures of the mud/texture step, i just forgot. also the paint/floors was quick in one day or two and i forgot then too. the fumes of the floor weren't good for me to be around so jane and i left the house during that time anyway.

paint and floors all finished! it looks so bright and cheery now!

almost complete, just need doors, shelves, and a faucet for the sink

drying rods for my delicate type clothes or shelves for the laundry baskets. also, the sump pump is under there, no more ugly pipes!

the doors are in just in time to hide all our stuff and the furnace

finished look from the garage door looking in

washer/dryer area complete with shelf and window sill.

so that's the end of the project (almost) and it looks great!

now the tour of our house will include the laundry room too!

thank you so much pete for working so hard and helping me have a nice laundry room and not a dungeon. thanks also to anne, tom, and mike for helping. oh, and if jane is along for the tour of the room she can show you the spot she helped paint. she points it out all the time!

blogging while making lunch

my computer is sitting on my kitchen counter and i am "cooking" lunch for jane and myself. it has been snowing here most of the morning so i decided on comfort food for lunch - whole grain mac'n'cheese (yes from a box), leftover tomato soup, strawberries, hard-boiled egg, and whatever else i decide. today is a day at home. normally on thursdays we have a mom's Bible study at my house and Bible study that night but jane has been sick this week so we are staying home today just to be nice. she is feeling much better the past two days and only gets a slight fever right before bed but the dr. said we should probably stay away from others until she has been fever free for 24 hours.

so, lunch has been made and we are currently eating. i don't remember what time it was when i started writing but there have been many distractions in between and that is partly why i don't blog unless jane is sleeping. next post (hopefully tonight) will be pictures of our remodeled laundry room!

book list - 2010

this is an update on my new year's resolution from 2010 to read 12 books in a year (one a month.) this may not seem like a big goal, but for me it was because i have never been a great reader. i mean, i can read but wasn't given the gift of loving reading. plus, i fall asleep when reading if i read for more than 20 minutes at a time; yes, even sitting straight up in an uncomfortable chair at the kitchen table. so, i met my goal of 12 books. i didn't, however, read one a month. there were a few months i read more than one and a few months (nov. and dec.) that i didn't read any books. this is my list and yes, i recommend all of them. i am not going to give a full review of each book but if you want to know more, just ask.

~last 4 "left behind" books (the remnant, armageddon, the glorious appearing, the kingdom)

january started off with a bang. mostly because i was reading super easy reads from a series i had started in high school and never finished. i loved these books, even though they are a bit cheesy and of course fiction. i get that the rapture and following events may not be anything like these books but they were interesting and fun to read.

~culture shift -al mohler

a shorter book that is a collection of essays written by al mohler about various topics that are hot issues in our society today like abortion, birth control, education, and many others. it got me thinking about what i believe and in one instance even led me to research more and make a big life decision for our family.

~why we’re not emergent by two guys who should be - cluck and deyoung

a funny yet thoughtful book about the "christian emergent" movement and why it is not biblical nor helpful

~shepherding a child’s heart -tripp

one of the only parenting type books i have read so far but definitely one of the best written approaches to loving and disciplining your kids that i have heard. if you are a parent (no matter the age of your kid) or going to be a parent i recommend this book highly. he explains what he believes to be biblical discipline and getting to the heart of your child's behavior, not just addressing the action but the why behind it. i plan to read this again soon (as i didn't retain as much as i would have liked)

~treasuring God in our traditions -noel piper

i guess this book would count as another parenting/family book. my mom gave it to me for mother's day and i loved it. noel addresses different traditions in our culture (and some of their families own traditions) and talks about the need to have the things we do and why we do them point to God and His greatness. it really got me thinking, especially about christmas and easter, and hopefully our family will benefit from me reading this book and being more intentional about our traditions we celebrate.

~till we have faces -c.s. lewis

i had read this book once before and this was the second time. i still love it. it is a mythological story set in perhaps the middle ages. it has characters that everyone can identify with and is a fast read that really hits you in the face with the "punch line" of the story. great book

~forgotten God -francis chan

the women of our church read this together during the summer and met once a month to discuss. i really like his approach to how we as a culture think about God and why we need to break out of our normal habits and let God lead us.

~the hiding place -corrie ten boom

this is another book i had read before but i think it was in high school

. i have learned so much more about the holocaust since then that i believe the book was even better this time. i love reading about people's stories of struggle, bravery, and survival during that time. i recommend this book highly. the movie is good too, but read the book first :)

~the toddler owner's manual -kuhn and borgenicht

this last one was because i needed one last book and had already read part of it. mike bought it for us when jane was born and it is a funny book. it talks of toddlers as if they are a piece of equipment like a vacuum or computer. they are referred to as a "unit" and the book talks about upgrades from baby to toddler. it actually has helpful information for first time parents because it talks about things you might not have thought much about like travel, nutrition, and moving from a crib to bed or potty training.

so that's my year's list. i hope you enjoy and this year (2011) i am focusing on reading more of the Bible and maybe a parenting or wifey type book here and there. thanks for reading!

1st Shaving Cream/ Messy Experience

jane was able to play with shaving cream at discovery time. it was martin luther king jr day so only jane and a boy showed up. this video is complete with my strange "mom voice" i sometimes get, mostly in public; and jane's learning to share. once she knows something is off limits she often points to it and says, "no!" which is what she does in the video. just a glimpse of our monday mornings.

february blogging

quick blog update before jane wakes up from her nap (which could be at any moment.) i only blogged once in january and i want to write about things more often - at least to share them with you.

i like the month of february. it is shorter, usually we get some snow, and it has valentine's day. with the month being shorter (though by a few days) i feel like more can be accomplished. this might come from being a teacher because february was an in-between month. the students were back from Christmas break long enough and the end of the quarter/spring fever blues hadn't hit yet. i taught so much in february; it was like my A game month when other teachers dread it for some reason (i was that way with march - not enough breaks and spring comes back.)

anyway, i am not a fan of super cold temps but i do like to watch the snow come down. i hope it snows soon or spring really does come early this year (thanks little groundhog.) valentine's day is not a crazy big holiday but i feel like it is a "girly" holiday and i celebrate on my own for about 2 weeks. i seem to dress up more, paint my nails, jane and i have socks with hearts... things like that. when jane is older i am going to enjoy making cards with her for our friends and family. i would also like a date night out of the whole thing (hint, hint) but i'll talk with pete about that soon :)

spiritually, february is usually a down month for me. i think because january usually is still going strong from my "new years" high. this year is different because i slacked off quite a bit the last weeks of january so i am in need of more depth in february. i hope to read and study more of acts to coincide with the sermons and go back to previous chapters to study them again. i hope your month can be spiritually uplifting and you will leave february stronger than you came in. well, jane is still not awake, woohoo! i bid you good bye, until my next post. i'll put up some fun videos of jane's craziness lately.

jane's first sledding adventure

tom and anne bought a sled for jane (complete with "seatbelt") and we tried it out the other night. jane had a great time being pulled around and going down the hill papa tom made for her. the video is short but you get the idea.