I went to Eroica's house last night and watched the season premier of 7th Heaven...
Smile...
...Good times had by all!
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Monday, September 25, 2006
aMAIZEing...
Leeann and I took Rob and Titus on a surprise date to a local corn 'maize' on Friday night. It was the first night they were open, and because it's early in the season there weren't many people there. We entered into the maze about 7 o'clock in the evening, just as it was starting to get dark. We wandered around for maybe 5 or 10 minutes and then ended up back where we started. We were both thinking it was kind of silly and that there had to be more to the maze than that--so we headed back in to see if we could get further into the maze. Their advertisement says it takes most people about an hour to get through it, and we were up for the challenge!
We got lost. Really lost. At the beginning of the evening it was still a little bit light out and we strolled through the tall stalks of corn. Rob had Titus in a carrier on his chest, and I was pushing Leeann in her jogging stroller. We were just moseying along having fun. As it got darker, and we got more and more disoriented; our strolling turned into a very fast-paced dire search for the exit. Rob and I were trying to keep calm, because at this point Leeann didn't realize there's anything frightening about being lost in a corn maze in the pitch dark with nobody around! At different points in time however, Rob and I were both panicking. We couldn't see more than a couple of feet in front of us and we had tried every feasible path we could find. At one point I walked through the stalks (off the trail) toward some light and I found a new set of paths that we hadn't seen in a while. We knew we needed to get there, we just didn' t know how. So we set off to find out how to get there. We got lost again and it was nearing 9:00. Eventually we opted to stop looking for the exit and start looking for that place that I had walked through the stalks again. We eventually found that place and I told Leeann to cover her face because we were going in! So with all of my might I forced the jogging stroller through the stalks and we emerged onto a well-lit, well worn path. About 30 seconds later we were out of the maze and I felt like I could breathe again! It sounds silly, but it was honestly scary! We met the owners at the exit; they were just about to go in the maze looking for us. The sweet lady informed us that they plow emergency exits into the maze right about the first time someone gets really lost in there! I assure you if there had been emergency exits, we would have taken them! We sweetly smiled and made a little bit of small talk, then Leeann got to pick out a pumpkin for her and one for Titus and we headed toward our car. We didn't bother to tell them that we had 'taken the road less traveled' to finally get out of the maze. I'm sure by seasons end, we won't be the only ones!
If you would like some of your own family fun, I recommend taking your little ones (or even just your spouse) to the Iverson Family Farm in Jefferson, Oregon. I will make a small recommendation though--do it in the daylight and leave yourself plenty of time!
We got lost. Really lost. At the beginning of the evening it was still a little bit light out and we strolled through the tall stalks of corn. Rob had Titus in a carrier on his chest, and I was pushing Leeann in her jogging stroller. We were just moseying along having fun. As it got darker, and we got more and more disoriented; our strolling turned into a very fast-paced dire search for the exit. Rob and I were trying to keep calm, because at this point Leeann didn't realize there's anything frightening about being lost in a corn maze in the pitch dark with nobody around! At different points in time however, Rob and I were both panicking. We couldn't see more than a couple of feet in front of us and we had tried every feasible path we could find. At one point I walked through the stalks (off the trail) toward some light and I found a new set of paths that we hadn't seen in a while. We knew we needed to get there, we just didn' t know how. So we set off to find out how to get there. We got lost again and it was nearing 9:00. Eventually we opted to stop looking for the exit and start looking for that place that I had walked through the stalks again. We eventually found that place and I told Leeann to cover her face because we were going in! So with all of my might I forced the jogging stroller through the stalks and we emerged onto a well-lit, well worn path. About 30 seconds later we were out of the maze and I felt like I could breathe again! It sounds silly, but it was honestly scary! We met the owners at the exit; they were just about to go in the maze looking for us. The sweet lady informed us that they plow emergency exits into the maze right about the first time someone gets really lost in there! I assure you if there had been emergency exits, we would have taken them! We sweetly smiled and made a little bit of small talk, then Leeann got to pick out a pumpkin for her and one for Titus and we headed toward our car. We didn't bother to tell them that we had 'taken the road less traveled' to finally get out of the maze. I'm sure by seasons end, we won't be the only ones!
If you would like some of your own family fun, I recommend taking your little ones (or even just your spouse) to the Iverson Family Farm in Jefferson, Oregon. I will make a small recommendation though--do it in the daylight and leave yourself plenty of time!
Friday, September 22, 2006
Gonna Be a Bear
In this life I'm a woman. In my next life, I'd like to come back as a bear. When you're a bear, you get to Hibernate. You do nothing but sleep for six months. I could deal with that.
Before you hibernate, you're supposed to eat yourself stupid. I could deal with that, too.
When you're a girl bear, you birth your children (who are the size of walnuts) while you're sleeping and wake to partially grown, cute, cuddly cubs. I could definitely deal with that.
If you're a mama bear everyone knows you mean business. You swat anyone who bothers your cubs. If your cubs get out of line, you swat them, too. I could deal with that.
If you're a bear, your mate EXPECTS you to wake up growling. He EXPECTS that you will have hairy legs and excess body fat.
YEP, gonna be a bear!
I got this as a forward this morning in my inbox. If it makes you smile as much as it made me smile, it's gonna be a good day!
Before you hibernate, you're supposed to eat yourself stupid. I could deal with that, too.
When you're a girl bear, you birth your children (who are the size of walnuts) while you're sleeping and wake to partially grown, cute, cuddly cubs. I could definitely deal with that.
If you're a mama bear everyone knows you mean business. You swat anyone who bothers your cubs. If your cubs get out of line, you swat them, too. I could deal with that.
If you're a bear, your mate EXPECTS you to wake up growling. He EXPECTS that you will have hairy legs and excess body fat.
YEP, gonna be a bear!
I got this as a forward this morning in my inbox. If it makes you smile as much as it made me smile, it's gonna be a good day!
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Church Stuff
This week we split into three services at our church. It was a big week for us as a family because the Children's Ministry had to make a lot of adjustments to accomodate that change, and Rob is now preaching at the 3rd service each week! We've been anxiously awaiting the arrival of this week to see how the numbers would fall. There was actually a great showing in each of the 3 services, confirming that this was likely a good choice. The children fell pretty heavily into 2nd service though, so I'm scrambling trying to find some more teachers to meet the needs there. God is good though, too many kids is a great problem to have! We have lot's of exciting things going on at our church right now, I'm glad to get to be a part of what's going on. We continue to run around like chickens with our heads cut off, but life sure is fun these days!
Friday, September 15, 2006
A Tooth!
Yes folks, Titus has broken a tooth in! It's his bottom left tooth, and it's barely poked it's way through, but it's definately through because you can feel the sharp little guy.
It's funny how excited I got over a tooth, but I rejoice with each milestone I see in my kids, it's nice to see them growing healthy and happily! What an exciting day (for some odd reason!). I just wanted to share my joy and excitement with you!
It's funny how excited I got over a tooth, but I rejoice with each milestone I see in my kids, it's nice to see them growing healthy and happily! What an exciting day (for some odd reason!). I just wanted to share my joy and excitement with you!
She peed on my bed!
Yup, folks, the need for getting my daughter potty-trained is becoming more and more a matter of desperation. She came and crawled into my bed this morning to wake me up, but it was different than usual. She didn't climb all over me like normal and try to wake me up. She actually let me sleep for a while and I was thankful... until I realized it was because she had soaked through her pull-up and was leaking onto my bed. It's okay, I was really hoping I could spend the whole day doing laundry! In fact, I can't think of a better way to spend my Friday morning! Urggg. I'm getting desperate!
Monday, September 11, 2006
The Cure
Leeann discovered the cure for stretch-marks today! We were snuggling and she had her hands on my tummy. (side note: She has a fascination with tummies. Anytime she sees bare skin on someone’s tummy she’ll touch it, even if she doesn’t know you very well! This was all good and well when she was playing with baby brother in mommy’s tummy, but baby brother has been out of mommy’s tummy for 9 months now and the fascination is as strong as ever!) Well, anyway, she saw some of the stretch marks on my hip and asked me with a very worried look on her face, “Mommy, you got an owie?” “No, I have stretch marks.” I replied. “It hurts?” “No.” “What happened?” I explained where stretch marks come from and that seemed to appease her momentarily. “An owie?” she asked again. “I’m okay Leeann, it doesn’t hurt.”
“I make it all better!” she excitedly proclaimed, and then she leaned down and kissed them. She immediately wiped her face, but she seemed pretty proud of herself for kissing mommy’s owie all better. Unfortunately, they didn’t go away upon the magical kiss, but I won’t tell her that just yet. I want those special owie-fixing kisses to remain magical for as long as humanly possible! But for now, the search for the cure still remains…
“I make it all better!” she excitedly proclaimed, and then she leaned down and kissed them. She immediately wiped her face, but she seemed pretty proud of herself for kissing mommy’s owie all better. Unfortunately, they didn’t go away upon the magical kiss, but I won’t tell her that just yet. I want those special owie-fixing kisses to remain magical for as long as humanly possible! But for now, the search for the cure still remains…
Saturday, September 09, 2006
Life
It seems like I've thought of several things worth blogging lately, but now that I have time to sit down and blog about them, I don't remember what they are. Weird eh?
One of them that I do remember is Leeann having a conversation with her daddy who was making muffins. They had been in the oven for several minutes when Leeann looked up and said, "Daddy, the muffins are crying." "Why are the muffins crying?" he asked. "Cause they want out!" It was cute.
For those 'keeping score' of our recent random string of stressing incidences, let it be known that garbage disposals and wash clothes do not get along well. Our xbox which doubles as our dvd player is having some issues, and our "carpenter ants" are just plain (big) ants, but they are nesting in a big patch of dry rot under our house. Good thing for good friends who are carpenters and are gracious enough to take a few hours out of their lives to help little peons like us! Do any of you know much about fixing broken garbage disposals or xboxes? Thought I'd ask!
The three of us with teeth went to the dentist this week. It's a new dentist for us and we liked it. Leeann got to go for the first time and was less-than-thrilled, but did well (at least that's daddy's report). Rob and I got our teeth cleaned for the first time in way too long. I've got a big cavity bordering on needing a root canal. I've got a small one also and some other minor issues. Rob's got a few minor issues too, but no cavities. Just in case you were wondering :0) He always wins!
Leeann has perfected a second language recently--whineeze. It's grating on my nerves! She's so sweet and helpful and polite most of the time, but she can be so stinking whiny at other times. Urg! She went to the doctor this week for her well-child check up and screamed at the top of her lungs when they put the plastic thing on her head to see how tall she is. She's perfectly average for her height and weight. That's encouraging. You should have seen her reaction to the shot, it was far worse. She's been milking her 'owie' for days though, showing her band-aid to anyone who will look (even if it means pulling her pants down in public, she's got a thing or two to learn about modesty:0)
In other news, we've resulted to full-fledged bribery. She now gets a jelly belly each time she goes to the bathroom. We just started tonight, and we'll see how this goes. Hopefully it will motivate her to begin recognizing that she needs to go? We had our second successful poo in the big girl potty today (before the jelly beans even). Of course it was immediately followed by the rest of the poo in her pull-up, but hey, progress is progress right?
Titus hasn't been much better in the whining area, he's had several boughts of fussiness lately. There have been many times that I've just let him cry and cry and cry. You can only do so much to appease a nine-month old! He's weighing in at a whopping 15 lbs, 5 oz. Still off the bottom of the charts! Yup, that's my son! I started putting him on some formula this week. He hasn't had any up to this point, but he's getting it once a day now. Hopefully that will help plump him up a little and it will help to make sure he's getting the nutrition and liquid he needs. Still no signs of teeth. He's started standing up on things though. Scary! He stood up in his crib this morning and cried bloody murder. I went up to get him and he was standing up and holding on for dear life. He didn't know how to get down! The more mobile he gets the more complicated life gets! Life is fun though!
Well, so much for having nothing to say. I'm falling asleep at the computer though, so I'm going to have to call it a night!
One of them that I do remember is Leeann having a conversation with her daddy who was making muffins. They had been in the oven for several minutes when Leeann looked up and said, "Daddy, the muffins are crying." "Why are the muffins crying?" he asked. "Cause they want out!" It was cute.
For those 'keeping score' of our recent random string of stressing incidences, let it be known that garbage disposals and wash clothes do not get along well. Our xbox which doubles as our dvd player is having some issues, and our "carpenter ants" are just plain (big) ants, but they are nesting in a big patch of dry rot under our house. Good thing for good friends who are carpenters and are gracious enough to take a few hours out of their lives to help little peons like us! Do any of you know much about fixing broken garbage disposals or xboxes? Thought I'd ask!
The three of us with teeth went to the dentist this week. It's a new dentist for us and we liked it. Leeann got to go for the first time and was less-than-thrilled, but did well (at least that's daddy's report). Rob and I got our teeth cleaned for the first time in way too long. I've got a big cavity bordering on needing a root canal. I've got a small one also and some other minor issues. Rob's got a few minor issues too, but no cavities. Just in case you were wondering :0) He always wins!
Leeann has perfected a second language recently--whineeze. It's grating on my nerves! She's so sweet and helpful and polite most of the time, but she can be so stinking whiny at other times. Urg! She went to the doctor this week for her well-child check up and screamed at the top of her lungs when they put the plastic thing on her head to see how tall she is. She's perfectly average for her height and weight. That's encouraging. You should have seen her reaction to the shot, it was far worse. She's been milking her 'owie' for days though, showing her band-aid to anyone who will look (even if it means pulling her pants down in public, she's got a thing or two to learn about modesty:0)
In other news, we've resulted to full-fledged bribery. She now gets a jelly belly each time she goes to the bathroom. We just started tonight, and we'll see how this goes. Hopefully it will motivate her to begin recognizing that she needs to go? We had our second successful poo in the big girl potty today (before the jelly beans even). Of course it was immediately followed by the rest of the poo in her pull-up, but hey, progress is progress right?
Titus hasn't been much better in the whining area, he's had several boughts of fussiness lately. There have been many times that I've just let him cry and cry and cry. You can only do so much to appease a nine-month old! He's weighing in at a whopping 15 lbs, 5 oz. Still off the bottom of the charts! Yup, that's my son! I started putting him on some formula this week. He hasn't had any up to this point, but he's getting it once a day now. Hopefully that will help plump him up a little and it will help to make sure he's getting the nutrition and liquid he needs. Still no signs of teeth. He's started standing up on things though. Scary! He stood up in his crib this morning and cried bloody murder. I went up to get him and he was standing up and holding on for dear life. He didn't know how to get down! The more mobile he gets the more complicated life gets! Life is fun though!
Well, so much for having nothing to say. I'm falling asleep at the computer though, so I'm going to have to call it a night!
Saturday, September 02, 2006
The Cousins!!!
These are some of Leeann & Titus's cousins, KayLee, Ashly, Amanda & Josh. We went to the park with them last week when we were on vacation and we had LOTS OF FUN! We wish we had family closer sometimes, but for now we'll have to settle for long visits on vacation. Below you'll find some pictures that highlight our day at the park!
More Pictures from Seaside
Our attempt at a family picture with a tripod
Rob and his buddy Craig displaying one of their bad habits!
(Just kidding, they are candy cigarettes from one of the candy shops that boasted the biggest selection of candy in the NW. I saw all sorts of my favorite candy as a kid, it was quite fun and a definate trip back through time!)
What can I say? He's cute!
Seaside
Fun in the sand
It's cold and squishy between my toes!
Fun on the boardwalk
More fun on the Boardwalk
More Seaside Pictures
This is Leeann in the candy shop. We let her pick out any candy she wanted and she chose Jelly Beans. She got 1/4 pound of them and she was in heaven! There's nothing quite like a kid in a candy shop!
She was just a little excited...
Daddy took her on a carousel ride
Come on Titus, just a little smooch?
Could it be?
Titus has slept all of the way through the night for a good week or so now! Needless to say, I'm quite happy about this (way over-due) development!
In other news: We've been keeping super-busy around here as always. Rob is working on a virtual tour DVD for our new building project at church, and he's been putting in long hours for that. In fact, he's at the church right now even and it's Saturday! They are hoping to have it done this weekend though, so that will be good. He starts preaching every week beginning September 10th. He'll preach the 3rd service. They're calling it the "Red Line" service, because the music will be a bit louder than our other 2 services. I'm excited for all of the exciting changes taking place at our church.
I'm LOVING my job as Children's Ministry Director. It's honestly a dream job for me! Right now I'm knee deep in all sorts of stuff preparing to launch our Fall ministries, it's all quite exciting! The church bumped me up to 20 hours per week, which will be a little bit of a stretch in regards to me balancing my time at home and work... but the added pay is a huge blessing beyond words! One day at a time :0)
Speaking of, we ransomed our car from the shop yesterday. It was quite trying to only have one car for the week. Would anybody like to buy a Buick?!?!? Just teasin, I don't know if I'd wish that kind of evil on anyone! God continues to provide for us in amazing ways. We recently received a generous gift from some very special people *thanks* that covered all but $6.84 of our mechanic bill. The best part is, they gave us this money before we even knew our car was broken again. God knew, and God used them--God is good! I've said before that God is always faithful to give us what we need, and to make sure any extra doesn't stay around very long! It's our lot in life :0)
The kids are growing quite quickly. Leeann is a full-fledged beautiful little girl. There seems to be very little about her that remains from the baby stages (except the diaper thing, but don't get me started!) Titus is pulling himself up on things, clapping and otherwise mimicking others' behavior. He's getting up to the sitting position all by himself and he likes to chant "da-da-da-da-da". Why wouldn't he chant "ma-ma-ma-ma" when I'm the one that does the majority of the feeding, changing, bathing, cooing etc.? Because daddy's cooler, that's all there is to it!
It's fun to see Leeann and Titus play. He pulls her hair and she talks to him and snuggles with him. She tries to play with him just like daddy plays with her (chasing, tickling, roaring). Life is fun around here! They're both growing up so fast. Titus is 9 months old today. I swear I just brought him home from the hospital yesterday, where does time go?
In other news: We've been keeping super-busy around here as always. Rob is working on a virtual tour DVD for our new building project at church, and he's been putting in long hours for that. In fact, he's at the church right now even and it's Saturday! They are hoping to have it done this weekend though, so that will be good. He starts preaching every week beginning September 10th. He'll preach the 3rd service. They're calling it the "Red Line" service, because the music will be a bit louder than our other 2 services. I'm excited for all of the exciting changes taking place at our church.
I'm LOVING my job as Children's Ministry Director. It's honestly a dream job for me! Right now I'm knee deep in all sorts of stuff preparing to launch our Fall ministries, it's all quite exciting! The church bumped me up to 20 hours per week, which will be a little bit of a stretch in regards to me balancing my time at home and work... but the added pay is a huge blessing beyond words! One day at a time :0)
Speaking of, we ransomed our car from the shop yesterday. It was quite trying to only have one car for the week. Would anybody like to buy a Buick?!?!? Just teasin, I don't know if I'd wish that kind of evil on anyone! God continues to provide for us in amazing ways. We recently received a generous gift from some very special people *thanks* that covered all but $6.84 of our mechanic bill. The best part is, they gave us this money before we even knew our car was broken again. God knew, and God used them--God is good! I've said before that God is always faithful to give us what we need, and to make sure any extra doesn't stay around very long! It's our lot in life :0)
The kids are growing quite quickly. Leeann is a full-fledged beautiful little girl. There seems to be very little about her that remains from the baby stages (except the diaper thing, but don't get me started!) Titus is pulling himself up on things, clapping and otherwise mimicking others' behavior. He's getting up to the sitting position all by himself and he likes to chant "da-da-da-da-da". Why wouldn't he chant "ma-ma-ma-ma" when I'm the one that does the majority of the feeding, changing, bathing, cooing etc.? Because daddy's cooler, that's all there is to it!
It's fun to see Leeann and Titus play. He pulls her hair and she talks to him and snuggles with him. She tries to play with him just like daddy plays with her (chasing, tickling, roaring). Life is fun around here! They're both growing up so fast. Titus is 9 months old today. I swear I just brought him home from the hospital yesterday, where does time go?
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