Moving to a new house requires developing a whole new set of habits. These are just silly little things, but it's irritating to have to acquire new habits!
Where to I set my keys and purse?
Where should I take my shoes off?
Where on earth did I set my cell phone?
Where does the mail go?
Now I have to bring clothes into the bathroom with me (I do miss my Master Bath!)
Opening a door (to the pantry) and stepping on the garbage can lever to throw garbage away. My garbage has been under my sink my whole life, but it won't fit there anymore!
Putting the diaper in the Diaper Champ on the back porch instead of in the garage.
I can't get Titus's diapers out of his bottom drawer anymore because the kids are sharing a dresser.
These are just a few of the little things that change when you move. My favorite change of all, however, is a change to a new dishwasher. This means that I don't have to pre-rinse my dishes anymore! I used to have to rinse them completely clean but I now I throw them in caked with yesterdays spaghetti and they come out clean! Now, that's a new habit I don't mind getting used to!
Monday, April 21, 2008
Saturday, April 19, 2008
"Be Ready to Preach, Pray or Die on a Moments Notice."
These are words made famous by Pastor Denny. He's been known to tease my husband by calling him on Saturday nights asking him if he's ready to preach. I think he's actually had to call my husband to preach last minute only a time or two over the last 6 years. Tonight is one of those nights.
Denny's not feeling well and Rob got a 9:45 phone call to be ready to preach, so he's up studying. We've made kind of a crazy commitment to one another to go to bed together whenever possible, hence my 10:50 pm blogging!
Rob's been at Convergence for the last couple of days and was fighting with a blind he was trying to install when he got the call. He's a trooper though, and I'm excited to hear him preach. I know he really likes to pray through and practice his sermons, and he generally has them finished at least a couple days in advance so he can really let it work through him. It's fun to see him pull things together last minute too though, because it really is something that only God can do through him. Have I mentioned lately that I have an amazing husband?
He felt compelled today to stop by Lloyd Center on his way home and he picked up presents for us. I got cute hair clips, Leeann got a beautiful butterfly necklace with purple 'jewels' in it (her favorite color) and a car from the movie Cars, and Titus got 2 cars. Our gifts were wonderful! Titus was double fisting his cars all night, having a blast with them!
It's good to have Rob back. Even though he was only gone for a couple of days... it's still always hard. I'm usually sooo ready for him to be home by the time he gets back from work on an average day. I'm REALLY ready to have him home when it's been a couple of days. I'm glad that after 6 years of marriage that I'm still quite smitten. I love my husband.
I think I'm going to try to make some good use of my time this evening by putting away laundry. I did 7 loads at the laundry mat yesterday. That could be a whole other post in and of itself. Let's just say 2.5 hours and $21.50 later I was fried! I can't imagine doing that on a regular basis. Well, I suppose the laundry is calling my name. Good night!
Denny's not feeling well and Rob got a 9:45 phone call to be ready to preach, so he's up studying. We've made kind of a crazy commitment to one another to go to bed together whenever possible, hence my 10:50 pm blogging!
Rob's been at Convergence for the last couple of days and was fighting with a blind he was trying to install when he got the call. He's a trooper though, and I'm excited to hear him preach. I know he really likes to pray through and practice his sermons, and he generally has them finished at least a couple days in advance so he can really let it work through him. It's fun to see him pull things together last minute too though, because it really is something that only God can do through him. Have I mentioned lately that I have an amazing husband?
He felt compelled today to stop by Lloyd Center on his way home and he picked up presents for us. I got cute hair clips, Leeann got a beautiful butterfly necklace with purple 'jewels' in it (her favorite color) and a car from the movie Cars, and Titus got 2 cars. Our gifts were wonderful! Titus was double fisting his cars all night, having a blast with them!
It's good to have Rob back. Even though he was only gone for a couple of days... it's still always hard. I'm usually sooo ready for him to be home by the time he gets back from work on an average day. I'm REALLY ready to have him home when it's been a couple of days. I'm glad that after 6 years of marriage that I'm still quite smitten. I love my husband.
I think I'm going to try to make some good use of my time this evening by putting away laundry. I did 7 loads at the laundry mat yesterday. That could be a whole other post in and of itself. Let's just say 2.5 hours and $21.50 later I was fried! I can't imagine doing that on a regular basis. Well, I suppose the laundry is calling my name. Good night!
Just in case you were wondering...
A dwarf is defined as someone who has an adult height of 4'10" or less.
I'm 4'11.5"... or 1/2 inch taller than needed to be considered a dwarf. Or, would that be 1.5 inches? It depends on how you define 4'10" I suppose.
Anyway, when I get older and start shrinking do I go from not being a dwarf to being a dwarf? My Aunt Patty and Grandma B would probably fall into that category I think. My cousin Jenni might be one too I suppose! At least I'm in good company :0)
I was reading on the news the other day that there was a really tiny dwarf who wasn't diagnosed until she was 5. It got me wondering about my son who doesn't seem to grow, but his doctor doesn't seem to be concerned. I weighed him at a friends house the other day and he's up to 24.5 pounds :0)
In other strange news if I could self-diagnose myself I'd say I have Lyme Disease. Strange eh? Well, I should have another doctor's appointment in the next couple of weeks so hopefully I'll have some more answers. I can't definitively say this is what I have, but given how my symptoms match up, it wouldn't at all surprise me if this is what I have. I kind of hope it is, because it's mostly treatable. Granted, I'd be going on 5 years of having it so it would be a little more difficult to treat and I might not fully recover, but at least I wouldn't get worse. I'll certainly keep you updated.
Well, Rob's going to be home from school soon so the kids and I need to run around the house and try to reverse the tornado that seems to have come through here. That tends to happen any time that Rob's away for more than a couple of hours!
I'm 4'11.5"... or 1/2 inch taller than needed to be considered a dwarf. Or, would that be 1.5 inches? It depends on how you define 4'10" I suppose.
Anyway, when I get older and start shrinking do I go from not being a dwarf to being a dwarf? My Aunt Patty and Grandma B would probably fall into that category I think. My cousin Jenni might be one too I suppose! At least I'm in good company :0)
I was reading on the news the other day that there was a really tiny dwarf who wasn't diagnosed until she was 5. It got me wondering about my son who doesn't seem to grow, but his doctor doesn't seem to be concerned. I weighed him at a friends house the other day and he's up to 24.5 pounds :0)
In other strange news if I could self-diagnose myself I'd say I have Lyme Disease. Strange eh? Well, I should have another doctor's appointment in the next couple of weeks so hopefully I'll have some more answers. I can't definitively say this is what I have, but given how my symptoms match up, it wouldn't at all surprise me if this is what I have. I kind of hope it is, because it's mostly treatable. Granted, I'd be going on 5 years of having it so it would be a little more difficult to treat and I might not fully recover, but at least I wouldn't get worse. I'll certainly keep you updated.
Well, Rob's going to be home from school soon so the kids and I need to run around the house and try to reverse the tornado that seems to have come through here. That tends to happen any time that Rob's away for more than a couple of hours!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Titus's "Surgery"
The last couple of nights Rob has been preforming surgery on Titus before he gets his jammies on. The first night Rob put a car in his tummy, this night it was a shoe. Here is Rob making the incision to remove the shoe...
I think this is where Rob pulls the hidden shoe from underneath his legs.
Yay, Titus, there's no more shoe in your tummy!
The kid gets quite excited once the items are 'removed' from his tummy. He likes the game but I think it kind of freaks him out to have random objects in his tummy. But, hey, if Daddy says it, it must be true!
Our Bedroom
I took this picture to give the false impression that our room is clean and totally put together...
These pictures show a more distinct reality however!
Funny thing about this closet, it only fits my clothes. Rob's are in the playroom. He suspects I'll make room for his clothes in the next 6-8 months. He's probably right :0)
A Few House Pictures
Okay, now I know this one is ridiculous, but I had to blog it. One of the reasons I was quite excited about this place is that we would be getting new carpet that would actually leave lines to show when you've just vaccumed. Believe it or not, in all the places Rob and I have lived during our 6 years of marriage, we've never had carpet like this. I have fond memories of coming home from school to my mom working hard and a freshly cleaned house, with carpet streaks. There's something about carpet streaks and clean counters that make all the difference to me...
Monday, April 14, 2008
Book Worms
A Look on the Brighter Side
Last night Rob and I were finally able to wash the living room walls, mop the floor and make progress cutting through the dust. Today... our living room furniture gets to come in! Yay! I never would have known how much I'd miss having couches. It's hard to snuggle next to your husband on dining room chairs!
I've got some cute pictures, and I'll try to post them soon.
We made a list last night of all that we still have to do. Yikes! My goal is to have our whole house completely finished by the Summer Solstice so we can have a big reveal and lots of ice cream for everyone who helped out! That's 2 short months away, but I think we can do it!
I've got some cute pictures, and I'll try to post them soon.
We made a list last night of all that we still have to do. Yikes! My goal is to have our whole house completely finished by the Summer Solstice so we can have a big reveal and lots of ice cream for everyone who helped out! That's 2 short months away, but I think we can do it!
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Did I mention how much I dislike Dell?
After I cooled off last night I decided to call technical support since they are open 24 hours, to see if they could help me or at least add up the number of hours I've spent on the phone with them so I can document that.
Well, the first thing they ask for is your service tag number, which I entered (I now know the thing by memory!)... and it sent me straight to a recording telling me that my warranty has expired and I'll have to call the out-of-warranty department during regular business hours in order to get technical support. Minimum price, $39. ARGGGGG!!! I HATE DELL! I swear when the last customer service rep transferred me over to the already closed department she knew it would get rid of me for good because now I can no longer talk to a human without paying money.
As I remember it, these are just a few of the problems I've had in the past year: Vista is not compatible with ANYTHING, causing a failure to print for several months, inability to use a particular photo software that cost me many frustrating hours during VBS, and presumably some of the other issues mentioned below.
I've also had loud noises coming out of my speaker, making it impossible to work because the thing was screeching at me.
My computer has been unable to turn on past the point of obnoxious lines across the screen.
My C.D./DVD player randomly decides not to play certain disks.
My computer won't come out of a hibernation state causing me to turn off the computer, turn it back on and recover anything I was working on.
It wouldn't connect to the Internet in multiple locations, though Rob's was working just fine.
My screen randomly turns black on occasion, or has glitches in it.
My computer will act like it's out of battery even though the battery is full, and it won't turn on until it's plugged in... but then it shows that my battery is indeed full.
I'm trying to find my emails from Dell to see what else there has been, but my Yahoo filter search is not currently working... bummer.
I've personally torn the face off of my computer (the casing and keyboard) as instructed by a technician to do something with the power source. I have removed my battery and numerous occasions and unscrewed my C.D. drive, plugging it back in to fix the sound issues. I've let a technician take-over my computer numerous times, to allow them to try to fix my problems, and I've spent HOURS AND HOURS on the phone with them. I've spent even more hours re-formatting things because my laptop wasn't printing and I had to switch it over to other computers (which don't have Vista... requiring me to fix all the random things it messes up).
Anyway, none of these things are so severe that they haven't been able to be worked through, or done without... but it seems to me that a fully functioning computer wouldn't have so many problems. They're irritating! I feel like I've been unnecessarily patient... but now I'm obviously about to lose it!
The worst part is, we saved for this computer for a long time and it's been so useful. However, I don't know when we're going to be able to save that kind of money again or when we'll be able to move that to the top of our purchasing priority list. I was so excited to get this computer just one year ago... I'm sad it's causing me such a headache now, and I hate the fact that I know it'll putz out on me shortly.
Anyone want to take bets for how long it will take?
Well, the first thing they ask for is your service tag number, which I entered (I now know the thing by memory!)... and it sent me straight to a recording telling me that my warranty has expired and I'll have to call the out-of-warranty department during regular business hours in order to get technical support. Minimum price, $39. ARGGGGG!!! I HATE DELL! I swear when the last customer service rep transferred me over to the already closed department she knew it would get rid of me for good because now I can no longer talk to a human without paying money.
As I remember it, these are just a few of the problems I've had in the past year: Vista is not compatible with ANYTHING, causing a failure to print for several months, inability to use a particular photo software that cost me many frustrating hours during VBS, and presumably some of the other issues mentioned below.
I've also had loud noises coming out of my speaker, making it impossible to work because the thing was screeching at me.
My computer has been unable to turn on past the point of obnoxious lines across the screen.
My C.D./DVD player randomly decides not to play certain disks.
My computer won't come out of a hibernation state causing me to turn off the computer, turn it back on and recover anything I was working on.
It wouldn't connect to the Internet in multiple locations, though Rob's was working just fine.
My screen randomly turns black on occasion, or has glitches in it.
My computer will act like it's out of battery even though the battery is full, and it won't turn on until it's plugged in... but then it shows that my battery is indeed full.
I'm trying to find my emails from Dell to see what else there has been, but my Yahoo filter search is not currently working... bummer.
I've personally torn the face off of my computer (the casing and keyboard) as instructed by a technician to do something with the power source. I have removed my battery and numerous occasions and unscrewed my C.D. drive, plugging it back in to fix the sound issues. I've let a technician take-over my computer numerous times, to allow them to try to fix my problems, and I've spent HOURS AND HOURS on the phone with them. I've spent even more hours re-formatting things because my laptop wasn't printing and I had to switch it over to other computers (which don't have Vista... requiring me to fix all the random things it messes up).
Anyway, none of these things are so severe that they haven't been able to be worked through, or done without... but it seems to me that a fully functioning computer wouldn't have so many problems. They're irritating! I feel like I've been unnecessarily patient... but now I'm obviously about to lose it!
The worst part is, we saved for this computer for a long time and it's been so useful. However, I don't know when we're going to be able to save that kind of money again or when we'll be able to move that to the top of our purchasing priority list. I was so excited to get this computer just one year ago... I'm sad it's causing me such a headache now, and I hate the fact that I know it'll putz out on me shortly.
Anyone want to take bets for how long it will take?
Saturday, April 12, 2008
I HATE DELL!!!
So, here's the deal... don't buy Dell. Period. I don't think it would be healthy for me to spout off to my faithful readers exactly why I hate Dell... at least not tonight because I have my angry eyes on and I know I have some younger blog readers.
So, what I'm proposing is that I back everything up on my computer frequently, wait for it to break again (which shouldn't be long given it's track-record), then make some hilarious video destroying the stupid thing that I can post on YouTube for the whole world to see.
So, what I'd like from you is some input on how to destroy a computer in a really funny manner--like throwing it off a tall building, running over it with my van, boiling it in a big pot. etc...
This $600+ investment on my part has been nothing but a waste of my time, money and energy and out of principle I REFUSE to put more money into this lemon that Dell refuses to stand behind. They want me to pay $100 for another year's worth of a warranty, and I'm not sure my computer is worth it. That $100 will be better spent saving up for my next NON-DELL computer. Okay, that's enough of my ranting, but I'll leave you with a copy of something that I posted on Dell's forum... which only minutely begins to explain the problems I've had with Dell.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My warranty runs out today, and I do not believe I should have to pay an additional $100 for an extended warranty. I say this because I have spent upwards of 20 hours on the phone with technical support over the past year and I continue to have problem after problem with my computer. I have a LEMON. We own 2 other Dell's and I've been happy with those, but I've been given the runaround with this one and I'm so frustrated!
I spoke with 3 customer support representatives in the past 24 hours, asking for an extended warranty at no cost, or a fix to my problems. I hung up on one after a fruitless conversation where he kept talking in circles refusing to help me.
The second HUNG UP ON ME, after I requested 10 times to speak to his manager, only to be told his manager was too busy to speak with me and wouldn't be able to help me anyway. I continued to ask him who could help me then, and he finally hung up on me!
I called back a third time and a lady again told me that there was NO ONE IN CUSTOMER SUPPORT WHO COULD HELP, but that I could speak to someone in the extended warranty department who may be able to. I asked her to confirm that they were still open because I knew customer support was closing soon. She confirmed that they were open and she transferred me over only to receive a recording that they were closed!
Now customer support is closed too and I tried to see if I could extend my warranty online only to be told that they can't help me because MY WARRANTY IS EXPIRED.
Is there anyone at Dell who actually has the authority to make customers happy? If so, how on earth do you get a hold of them, and how many more fruitless hours am I going to have to spend on the phone in order to get someone who can actually help me? Or does Dell actually refuse to stand behind their products and care less about customer retention and satisfaction? Am I fighting a losing battle?
Please help,
Robyn
So, what I'm proposing is that I back everything up on my computer frequently, wait for it to break again (which shouldn't be long given it's track-record), then make some hilarious video destroying the stupid thing that I can post on YouTube for the whole world to see.
So, what I'd like from you is some input on how to destroy a computer in a really funny manner--like throwing it off a tall building, running over it with my van, boiling it in a big pot. etc...
This $600+ investment on my part has been nothing but a waste of my time, money and energy and out of principle I REFUSE to put more money into this lemon that Dell refuses to stand behind. They want me to pay $100 for another year's worth of a warranty, and I'm not sure my computer is worth it. That $100 will be better spent saving up for my next NON-DELL computer. Okay, that's enough of my ranting, but I'll leave you with a copy of something that I posted on Dell's forum... which only minutely begins to explain the problems I've had with Dell.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My warranty runs out today, and I do not believe I should have to pay an additional $100 for an extended warranty. I say this because I have spent upwards of 20 hours on the phone with technical support over the past year and I continue to have problem after problem with my computer. I have a LEMON. We own 2 other Dell's and I've been happy with those, but I've been given the runaround with this one and I'm so frustrated!
I spoke with 3 customer support representatives in the past 24 hours, asking for an extended warranty at no cost, or a fix to my problems. I hung up on one after a fruitless conversation where he kept talking in circles refusing to help me.
The second HUNG UP ON ME, after I requested 10 times to speak to his manager, only to be told his manager was too busy to speak with me and wouldn't be able to help me anyway. I continued to ask him who could help me then, and he finally hung up on me!
I called back a third time and a lady again told me that there was NO ONE IN CUSTOMER SUPPORT WHO COULD HELP, but that I could speak to someone in the extended warranty department who may be able to. I asked her to confirm that they were still open because I knew customer support was closing soon. She confirmed that they were open and she transferred me over only to receive a recording that they were closed!
Now customer support is closed too and I tried to see if I could extend my warranty online only to be told that they can't help me because MY WARRANTY IS EXPIRED.
Is there anyone at Dell who actually has the authority to make customers happy? If so, how on earth do you get a hold of them, and how many more fruitless hours am I going to have to spend on the phone in order to get someone who can actually help me? Or does Dell actually refuse to stand behind their products and care less about customer retention and satisfaction? Am I fighting a losing battle?
Please help,
Robyn
Thursday, April 10, 2008
The Important Things...
We have one blind up in our bedroom, and the living room ceiling now has primer on it--meaning we can officially clean up the dusty white mess for good!
Most importantly Leeann went on a several hour date with Daddy today and I had a date with my handsome little man Titus. Leeann and Rob went to the library, the park, out to dinner at Applebees and enjoyed some snuggle time.
Titus and I went to the Dollar Tree, where he got a dollar to spend on a book for himself and one to buy a book for Leeann. He was so proud of himself and ran around the store clutching tightly to that dollar! Then we enjoyed dinner at Denny's. He had the smiley face alien pancakes... the face is made from whip cream and cherries... he was a little excited to say the least! It was so good to spend time with just him, I'm reminded of how important it is to do that more often.
Anyway, I'd say it's our most productive day yet... our kids really needed that time with us, and I think we needed it with them too! They've been troopers, but we've been up and at em and busy with projects for pretty much an entire month straight. I love my kiddos, they're so precious!
Most importantly Leeann went on a several hour date with Daddy today and I had a date with my handsome little man Titus. Leeann and Rob went to the library, the park, out to dinner at Applebees and enjoyed some snuggle time.
Titus and I went to the Dollar Tree, where he got a dollar to spend on a book for himself and one to buy a book for Leeann. He was so proud of himself and ran around the store clutching tightly to that dollar! Then we enjoyed dinner at Denny's. He had the smiley face alien pancakes... the face is made from whip cream and cherries... he was a little excited to say the least! It was so good to spend time with just him, I'm reminded of how important it is to do that more often.
Anyway, I'd say it's our most productive day yet... our kids really needed that time with us, and I think we needed it with them too! They've been troopers, but we've been up and at em and busy with projects for pretty much an entire month straight. I love my kiddos, they're so precious!
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Updates!
Popcorn ceiling is gone, dishwasher is in, toilet is complete, shower works... and the clean up and repairs continue!
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
I found my modem!
The modem has been MIA for several days now, but I found it! There are many, many other items still missing... but hey, that's okay!
We're all moved in, but far from unpacked and far from fully functioning! Rob and Tony are downstairs scraping the rest of the popcorn ceiling from the living room... which will allow us to finally move our living room furniture in from the garage. A massive clean-up effort will need to proceed that however!
The kitchen is mostly unpacked, but far from functioning also. Our plants are covering most of our very little counter space, making it hard to move around. Some kitchen items are yet to be unpacked because I just don't know where to put them! One half of our sink is not working because the dishwasher is part way pulled out and I think some sort of connection from the dishwasher to that side of the sink is disconnected. Cherish discovered this when she ran some water through that side of the sink and began flowing out the bottom of the dishwasher. Whoops!
It's okay I can't do my dishes anyway until I can clean the paint out of the sink. Deborah gave me some stuff today that should aid in that process. I'll do that as soon as I'm done posting. I'm looking forward to a new dishwasher, but I think that's pretty low on the priority list. We need to paint our kitchen and cabinets... but that's also pretty low on the list!
Highest on the list is getting our bathroom put back together. I'm happy to report that we are very close! In fact, I'm really hoping to get a shower tonight! The floor is in, the tub and surround are in, the paint is done (except cutting into the ceiling... thanks Julie!), the bottom half of the toilet is in and the flooring is in. The sink and vanity, the toilet tank, a little bit of painting and hanging the mirror are all that's left. I'm SOOO anxious to get this finished! Oh, we need moulding too, and a new fan... and to get the drain to un-lock, the cabinets painted, the washer and dryer installed and the door re-hung. Minor details!
Other than that there's still lots of painting and unpacking of boxes on the horizon. One step at a time friends, one step at a time! We're all in good spirits. It's taking longer than we might have hoped, but we knew what we were getting in to. We don't expect to have it fully finished for a while yet.
Well, I suppose I should help or something... yeah... that's a good idea! I'm sure I'll post again soon, hopefully with pictures too.
We're all moved in, but far from unpacked and far from fully functioning! Rob and Tony are downstairs scraping the rest of the popcorn ceiling from the living room... which will allow us to finally move our living room furniture in from the garage. A massive clean-up effort will need to proceed that however!
The kitchen is mostly unpacked, but far from functioning also. Our plants are covering most of our very little counter space, making it hard to move around. Some kitchen items are yet to be unpacked because I just don't know where to put them! One half of our sink is not working because the dishwasher is part way pulled out and I think some sort of connection from the dishwasher to that side of the sink is disconnected. Cherish discovered this when she ran some water through that side of the sink and began flowing out the bottom of the dishwasher. Whoops!
It's okay I can't do my dishes anyway until I can clean the paint out of the sink. Deborah gave me some stuff today that should aid in that process. I'll do that as soon as I'm done posting. I'm looking forward to a new dishwasher, but I think that's pretty low on the priority list. We need to paint our kitchen and cabinets... but that's also pretty low on the list!
Highest on the list is getting our bathroom put back together. I'm happy to report that we are very close! In fact, I'm really hoping to get a shower tonight! The floor is in, the tub and surround are in, the paint is done (except cutting into the ceiling... thanks Julie!), the bottom half of the toilet is in and the flooring is in. The sink and vanity, the toilet tank, a little bit of painting and hanging the mirror are all that's left. I'm SOOO anxious to get this finished! Oh, we need moulding too, and a new fan... and to get the drain to un-lock, the cabinets painted, the washer and dryer installed and the door re-hung. Minor details!
Other than that there's still lots of painting and unpacking of boxes on the horizon. One step at a time friends, one step at a time! We're all in good spirits. It's taking longer than we might have hoped, but we knew what we were getting in to. We don't expect to have it fully finished for a while yet.
Well, I suppose I should help or something... yeah... that's a good idea! I'm sure I'll post again soon, hopefully with pictures too.
Friday, April 04, 2008
Our Last Night
Tonight is our last night in our beautiful home that I so dearly love! I'm sure I'll learn to love our new home too, but it will be hard to leave this place! We're mostly packed up with just a few things here and there that need to be boxed and moved over. A few of the men in our small group came by tonight and moved several things, including much of the garage stuff over into the new house. This was especially nice because a lot of it went straight into the monsterously huge attic at our new place, and it won't end up getting mixed in with the non-storage stuff we'll be moving tomorrow.
Toby and Eroica, and Megan, a girl in the youth group, came by for an hour or so tonight and cleaned the upstairs bathroom... so at least one portion of the house is completely ready to go. I know I've said it before, but my friends are such a blessing!
My pain has been manageable today. I've continued to feel a dull ache in my legs, but it isn't something that I couldn't get past. I've had better days, but I've also had worse days. I'm just grateful I could still function today... that was such a huge blessing!
Well, it's 10:30 and I best be getting to the last of the things on my to-do list. At least I'm confident that one way or another, I should be moved into my new home by tomorrow afternoon! Woo-hoo!
Toby and Eroica, and Megan, a girl in the youth group, came by for an hour or so tonight and cleaned the upstairs bathroom... so at least one portion of the house is completely ready to go. I know I've said it before, but my friends are such a blessing!
My pain has been manageable today. I've continued to feel a dull ache in my legs, but it isn't something that I couldn't get past. I've had better days, but I've also had worse days. I'm just grateful I could still function today... that was such a huge blessing!
Well, it's 10:30 and I best be getting to the last of the things on my to-do list. At least I'm confident that one way or another, I should be moved into my new home by tomorrow afternoon! Woo-hoo!
A bad way to start the day
We got SO much work done yesterday. I have some great friends who came over and packed up my kitchen, hauled everything over to my new house and unpacked it! I seriously have some of the coolest friends known to mankind :0)
I may have over-worked myself however. I fell into bed about midnight and woke up in terrible pain around 2:30. I don't usually have problems sleeping even when I'm dealing with my bouts of pain, but last night was an exception. My legs felt like they were throbbing dead weight. It kind of felt like those terrible growing pains I'd experience as a kid, where it feels like you have a giant charlie-horse up and down your legs. I couldn't get comfortable and I couldn't get back to sleep. I finally switched sides of the bed with Rob and managed to get a decent nights sleep all things considered.
I woke up this morning in tears though. My legs just hurt... and this is a bad day for my legs to hurt. I've had almost a whole week where I've been feeling relatively good so I thought I was getting over this stretch of pain. Arg! Of all days though... this is a bad one. The move crew should show up before 9:00 am tomorrow meaning everything I own needs to be boxed for tomorrow or moved today. Minor details! Oh, and I'm giving the keys to our renters tomorrow afternoon so this place needs a top to bottom cleaning before we hand over the keys. Did I mention I'm not feeling so hot?
Really, all things considered I'm in good spirits though. We've had a lot of help and we've actually gotten a lot done so I'm hoping the rest will just fall into place. I'm gonna take some Tylenol crank up the music and push through the pain. Once I do that I usually begin to feel better... it's just the pushing through part that's tough. Anyway, I should probably do that. It's 11:00 in the morning, and last I checked it's not getting any earlier! If you think about it, pray for me today, that my pain will decrease and that we'll get everything done in a timely manner! And soon, I'll post pictures of our house with the new carpet in. Yay for new carpet!
I may have over-worked myself however. I fell into bed about midnight and woke up in terrible pain around 2:30. I don't usually have problems sleeping even when I'm dealing with my bouts of pain, but last night was an exception. My legs felt like they were throbbing dead weight. It kind of felt like those terrible growing pains I'd experience as a kid, where it feels like you have a giant charlie-horse up and down your legs. I couldn't get comfortable and I couldn't get back to sleep. I finally switched sides of the bed with Rob and managed to get a decent nights sleep all things considered.
I woke up this morning in tears though. My legs just hurt... and this is a bad day for my legs to hurt. I've had almost a whole week where I've been feeling relatively good so I thought I was getting over this stretch of pain. Arg! Of all days though... this is a bad one. The move crew should show up before 9:00 am tomorrow meaning everything I own needs to be boxed for tomorrow or moved today. Minor details! Oh, and I'm giving the keys to our renters tomorrow afternoon so this place needs a top to bottom cleaning before we hand over the keys. Did I mention I'm not feeling so hot?
Really, all things considered I'm in good spirits though. We've had a lot of help and we've actually gotten a lot done so I'm hoping the rest will just fall into place. I'm gonna take some Tylenol crank up the music and push through the pain. Once I do that I usually begin to feel better... it's just the pushing through part that's tough. Anyway, I should probably do that. It's 11:00 in the morning, and last I checked it's not getting any earlier! If you think about it, pray for me today, that my pain will decrease and that we'll get everything done in a timely manner! And soon, I'll post pictures of our house with the new carpet in. Yay for new carpet!
Thursday, April 03, 2008
My Babies
A few months ago I was wondering where on earth my baby doll named Sissy might be. She's a doll I had as a girl and I know she's the one toy I would never have parted with... but I hadn't seen her in years. I found myself wishing I could find her so I could give her to Leeann, but I had NO idea where she might be or when the last time is that I saw her. I began to fear that I might have misplaced her at some point.
Then, as I was going through a box in the garage the other day...
I found her! And Leeann loves her which I'm very grateful for!
She seems to know that she's very important to me and she's doing her best to be a good mommy to Sissy.Tuesday, April 01, 2008
The Destroyer!
The man with the muscle... doing all the dirty work--Or... at least making everything dirty!
And his apprentice...
Mischevious Grin if you ask me!
So, Rob has proven he can destroy, but can he put it all back together? That question has yet to be answered! I'm doing all my laundry before we move just in case (the washer and dryer are in this bathroom).
These two have been hanging out and running amok in one of the rooms. We put Titus' mattress up there so they have something soft to sit on while they watch movies on my lap top.
Leeann loves to help daddy any chance she can get. These two make a good team!I can tease Rob all I want about making a mess and destroying things, but I made not only one, but TWO ridiculous mistakes today... it almost made me cry! A friend of ours named Dave came over to paint for a couple of hours today and I gave him the wrong paint for the wall above the stairwell. I thought it looked a little dark, but somehow it didn't click that it looked a little dark because it was the wrong paint. Duh! He was just following orders, it was totally my mistake. Arg...
Then, as if that wasn't bad enough he moved downstairs to the kitchen and dining room to use the rest of the oops paint on it's proper wall. I asked him to finish rolling out the primer for the dining room wall since he already had that color on his roller. So, I grabbed the primer, handed it to him and went back upstairs. 10 minutes later I came down and almost started to cry when I realized I gave him the primer for the dark brown wall. Are you kidding me? How on earth did I make two major mistakes within mere minutes? I'M LOSING MY MIND!
Detour
We left Friday morning to head over Ellensburg (Eastern WA) for Rob's grandparents birthday party. We got just east of Portland, about 2 hours away when we decided to check the pass just to make sure we were going to be able to get through. Lo and behold, the pass requires chains and the snow was slated to continue to fall. We weren't packed for snow, Rob and Titus didn't even have jackets. Also, we couldn't really risk getting stuck over there if the pass were to close while we were there. Anyway, the decision was tough but we opted to turn around. The party ended up being postponed because most of the party-goers needed to go over a pass to get there, so it all worked out. We missed getting to see Rob's aunt Barb and cousin Stacey and nephew Aiden who flew over from Indiana... so we're quite bummed about that! We'll try to make it over the see his grandparents in a couple of weeks though.
Anyway, since we were all packed up with no place to go we went to IKEA... which is always delightful. We also decided to stay in St. Helens for the night, which was wonderful as always. I realize it's been too long since I've seen most of my family. One night wasn't nearly enough, but I'll take what I can get!
Anyway, today is a super-paint day. We're supposed to get the carpet in tomorrow or Thursday (hopefully) so we need to bust out the painting today. We're having a party from 3 'til late tonight, bring a paint brush and stop on by if you're bored!
Anyway, since we were all packed up with no place to go we went to IKEA... which is always delightful. We also decided to stay in St. Helens for the night, which was wonderful as always. I realize it's been too long since I've seen most of my family. One night wasn't nearly enough, but I'll take what I can get!
Anyway, today is a super-paint day. We're supposed to get the carpet in tomorrow or Thursday (hopefully) so we need to bust out the painting today. We're having a party from 3 'til late tonight, bring a paint brush and stop on by if you're bored!
Monday, March 31, 2008
Aunt Pam Told Me...
... that if I just post a picture or two with a caption every day or two that my blog readers would be happy... so here it goes!
Pastor Denny and Titus at the High School Hoe Down a week or two ago.
Leeann and Titus dancing together. Or, rather, Leeann trying to make Titus dance because that's what everyone else was doing and she wanted in on the action!
Pastor Denny and Titus at the High School Hoe Down a week or two ago. 
Mrs. Pam (Denny's wife) and Leeann.
Leeann and Titus dancing together. Or, rather, Leeann trying to make Titus dance because that's what everyone else was doing and she wanted in on the action!Thursday, March 27, 2008
Good Friends, Good Fun!
I had a 9 am to 10:30 pm work day today thanks to some good friends! Deborah kept my kids from 9-4ish and I painted for that time. Cindy brought me lunch and painted with me for several hours, which was SO nice!
Then I took a hiatus to pick up a few things from Freddies and grab some dinner in the deli with my family. Rob brought the kids home and I headed back to the condo where Deborah did our contact paper while Eroica and I primed the kitchen walls with kind of a dark sage green paint :0)
My feet hurt!
While we were there Brenna stopped by to get some painting instructions. Rob and I are traveling tomorrow to for his Grandparent's 80th Birthday parties and we'll come back Saturday. The timing is difficult because we're losing to prime days to accomplish stuff at our condo (and there's a lot of work left to do!), but we really don't want to miss this party!
Anyway, Brenna is going to bring Kimmee and Kelli, who are a couple of high school girls over tomorrow to keep treking along on the painting. This is HUGE blessing because there's a lot of painting left to do. We're getting new carpet put in so it really makes sense to get the painting done now, while all of the old carpet is torn out. But yes folks, painting is a tedious job that takes a whole lot of time!
It seems like I painted forever today, yet we only did 1.5 rooms (and some of the kitchen too). Next week will be crazy for us because not only do we have a lot of work to do at the condo, but we need to pack and get this place cleaned and ready for the renters on next Saturday. Did I mention that I think we're in a little over our heads as far as time goes? We've both been working hard (though Rob's been working much harder than I have) and I'm looking forward to 12+ hours in the car over 2 days. I feel like Rob and I haven't gotten nearly enough time to just sit and relax and hang out lately. Of course, we'll have to do that between my naps in the car :0) And then we'll come home and we're off again!
Then I took a hiatus to pick up a few things from Freddies and grab some dinner in the deli with my family. Rob brought the kids home and I headed back to the condo where Deborah did our contact paper while Eroica and I primed the kitchen walls with kind of a dark sage green paint :0)
My feet hurt!
While we were there Brenna stopped by to get some painting instructions. Rob and I are traveling tomorrow to for his Grandparent's 80th Birthday parties and we'll come back Saturday. The timing is difficult because we're losing to prime days to accomplish stuff at our condo (and there's a lot of work left to do!), but we really don't want to miss this party!
Anyway, Brenna is going to bring Kimmee and Kelli, who are a couple of high school girls over tomorrow to keep treking along on the painting. This is HUGE blessing because there's a lot of painting left to do. We're getting new carpet put in so it really makes sense to get the painting done now, while all of the old carpet is torn out. But yes folks, painting is a tedious job that takes a whole lot of time!
It seems like I painted forever today, yet we only did 1.5 rooms (and some of the kitchen too). Next week will be crazy for us because not only do we have a lot of work to do at the condo, but we need to pack and get this place cleaned and ready for the renters on next Saturday. Did I mention that I think we're in a little over our heads as far as time goes? We've both been working hard (though Rob's been working much harder than I have) and I'm looking forward to 12+ hours in the car over 2 days. I feel like Rob and I haven't gotten nearly enough time to just sit and relax and hang out lately. Of course, we'll have to do that between my naps in the car :0) And then we'll come home and we're off again!
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
A Portrait of Compassion
Rob let the kids know yesterday before he left that mommy wasn't feeling great and that it was important for them to obey and be gentle with me. I am amazed at how well they both respond to this, but especially how Leeann responds.
I was laying in bed mid-morning yesterday and I had rolled Titus on top of me playing with him. I was smoochin and tickling him and he was giggling. Leeann looked at him and sternly said, "No, Titus, don't do that... you're going to hurt mommy!"
A little while later she asked if I needed a back rub and a snuggle. I happily obliged! Then after her breakfast she told me that she didn't feel well. I said, "Oh, that's too bad, do you need to lay down?" Dramatically she told me that it was probably a good idea so she headed into my bed to 'rest'. I went in to snuggle with her and talk to her about her 'pain'. I asked her where she hurt and she said everywhere as she rubbed her hands up and down her arms and legs. I said, "Oh, are your owies just like mommy's?" She said, "Yeah, they're just like yours mommy."
Then we were driving in the car yesterday and she inquisitively looked at me and said, "Mommy, will your owies hurt forever?" I told her that I didn't know, but reassured her that God would take care of me even if my owies don't go away.
Well, last night Rob was putting the kids to bed and without any prompting, Leeann asked if they could pray for mommy. So, she prayed that I would feel better and that my owies wouldn't last forever. Is she not the sweetest little girl ever? I'm so blessed by little princess!
I was laying in bed mid-morning yesterday and I had rolled Titus on top of me playing with him. I was smoochin and tickling him and he was giggling. Leeann looked at him and sternly said, "No, Titus, don't do that... you're going to hurt mommy!"
A little while later she asked if I needed a back rub and a snuggle. I happily obliged! Then after her breakfast she told me that she didn't feel well. I said, "Oh, that's too bad, do you need to lay down?" Dramatically she told me that it was probably a good idea so she headed into my bed to 'rest'. I went in to snuggle with her and talk to her about her 'pain'. I asked her where she hurt and she said everywhere as she rubbed her hands up and down her arms and legs. I said, "Oh, are your owies just like mommy's?" She said, "Yeah, they're just like yours mommy."
Then we were driving in the car yesterday and she inquisitively looked at me and said, "Mommy, will your owies hurt forever?" I told her that I didn't know, but reassured her that God would take care of me even if my owies don't go away.
Well, last night Rob was putting the kids to bed and without any prompting, Leeann asked if they could pray for mommy. So, she prayed that I would feel better and that my owies wouldn't last forever. Is she not the sweetest little girl ever? I'm so blessed by little princess!
One Step at a Time
We got the keys to our condo on Friday, and we weren't able to much with it until yesterday. Rob and Tony (a high school boy he mentors, I used to watch him and his siblings) tore out all of the carpet and tack strips and padding yesterday. They also demolished part of the bathroom, and they're working on the rest of it today. Rob has no concern about his ability to demolish things... putting them back together is a whole other issue!
Monday night and Tuesday during the day my pain was back with a vengence. Eroica came over on Tuesday and helped me do a few basic things around here like putting away laundry, doing the dishes and feeding the kiddos. It was wonderful! Then last night my friend Deborah and I went over and did some contact paper and disinfecting in our new kitchen.
I woke up this morning feeling okay, so I'm hopeful I can get some stuff done today. I haven't gotten anywhere on the packing, other than doing some organizing in the garage. It's really hard because I really can't plan to spend hours packing at any certain time... it just all depends on how I feel. Which... has been less-than-ideal lately.
Anyway, I keep trekin along, we still have a week and a half before we need to be out of our current place. Why did I think it would be fun to move? :0)
Actually, it has been fun to throw stuff away. Honestly, how much stuff do we really need? It's freeing to pick up an item, think to yourself, "Do I want (need/use/like) something enough to go through the hassle of packing it and finding a new home for it at our new place?" It's crazy how many useless things I've kept around here simply because we have room for it. Silly huh?
Hi-ho, hi-ho, off to work I go!
Monday night and Tuesday during the day my pain was back with a vengence. Eroica came over on Tuesday and helped me do a few basic things around here like putting away laundry, doing the dishes and feeding the kiddos. It was wonderful! Then last night my friend Deborah and I went over and did some contact paper and disinfecting in our new kitchen.
I woke up this morning feeling okay, so I'm hopeful I can get some stuff done today. I haven't gotten anywhere on the packing, other than doing some organizing in the garage. It's really hard because I really can't plan to spend hours packing at any certain time... it just all depends on how I feel. Which... has been less-than-ideal lately.
Anyway, I keep trekin along, we still have a week and a half before we need to be out of our current place. Why did I think it would be fun to move? :0)
Actually, it has been fun to throw stuff away. Honestly, how much stuff do we really need? It's freeing to pick up an item, think to yourself, "Do I want (need/use/like) something enough to go through the hassle of packing it and finding a new home for it at our new place?" It's crazy how many useless things I've kept around here simply because we have room for it. Silly huh?
Hi-ho, hi-ho, off to work I go!
Monday, March 24, 2008
Tom Sawyer Party
Hello there, dear blog readers! I realize most of you live in a far away land... but for those of you who are Albanians who are dying for some Spring Break fun, you are invited to my Tom Sawyer Party. This is where I somehow talk you into coming over to my new Condo to help me paint it just for fun! Get it, kind of like Tom talked his friends into painting his fence :0)
Yup, anyway, I'm thinking during the day on Thursday would be super... I'm optimistic enough to think it can all be done on Thursday. We'll see! Anyway, call, email or leave a comment if you're interested in joining the fun and I'll give you more details (like an address!)
Rob will be in the process of remodeling the bathroom and there might be a hole in the floor looking down into the dining room. There will also be wet paint, so kids are probably not safe in this environment. Not that I expect any of my blog readers to be sitting at home over Spring Break wishing and waiting to do grunt work for someone else... but hey, you never know unless you ask, right?
Yup, anyway, I'm thinking during the day on Thursday would be super... I'm optimistic enough to think it can all be done on Thursday. We'll see! Anyway, call, email or leave a comment if you're interested in joining the fun and I'll give you more details (like an address!)
Rob will be in the process of remodeling the bathroom and there might be a hole in the floor looking down into the dining room. There will also be wet paint, so kids are probably not safe in this environment. Not that I expect any of my blog readers to be sitting at home over Spring Break wishing and waiting to do grunt work for someone else... but hey, you never know unless you ask, right?
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Some Things in Life are Unfair
Our family went to the funeral today of a 47 year old man who was battling leukemia. We also received word today that Rob's former youth pastor passed away yesterday. Life truly is short. I hope I always live my life with the perspective that life is short and has no guarantees.
As unfair as premature death is, my heart especially goes out to kids who are suffering. The latest to really capture my heart is a girl in our church who already captured my heart long before she became sick. She loves to play with my kids and she and her sister would hang out with them while her mom and I would do ministry, or while we had small group at our house. She and her sister, Cierra would get paid for watching kids at our small group and turn around and donate that money to the Capital Campaign at our church. Their whole family shows up early, serves during, and stays late for almost anything our church is doing. Their family is an inspiration to me, and to so many. This little girl's name is Aspen. Please follow her journey at www.aspensjourney.blogspot.com. Most importantly, please pray for this beautiful little girl!
And, as I learned from Rebekah's daddy, hold your kids just a little bit tighter today. You just never know what the future holds!
As unfair as premature death is, my heart especially goes out to kids who are suffering. The latest to really capture my heart is a girl in our church who already captured my heart long before she became sick. She loves to play with my kids and she and her sister would hang out with them while her mom and I would do ministry, or while we had small group at our house. She and her sister, Cierra would get paid for watching kids at our small group and turn around and donate that money to the Capital Campaign at our church. Their whole family shows up early, serves during, and stays late for almost anything our church is doing. Their family is an inspiration to me, and to so many. This little girl's name is Aspen. Please follow her journey at www.aspensjourney.blogspot.com. Most importantly, please pray for this beautiful little girl!
And, as I learned from Rebekah's daddy, hold your kids just a little bit tighter today. You just never know what the future holds!
Thursday, March 13, 2008
The Scariest Moment of my Entire Life
Monday Leeann and Titus and I went to the church for a little while so I could catch up on a little bit of work. They hung out in daddy's office (he wasn't in the office for most of the day) watching a video and playing with the toys in his office.
Well, we were just about to leave when Pastor Denny stopped in and invited the kiddos to look at his fish. After a few minutes I asked Leeann to go clean up the toys in Rob's office. She left and I spent the next 3 or 4 minutes trying to coax Titus away from Denny and his fish.
After I plucked Titus away from Denny's fish, we went to help Leeann clean up they toys. She wasn't there. The toys were still scattered all over the floor, but she was no where to be found. I thought maybe she was hiding so I looked around his office, then my office, then Lauri's office and back to Denny's office, then back to Rob's, then the copy room. All the while I'm calling out her name thinking that maybe she's playing hide-n-go-seek. After all, I knew there was little chance she would leave the office on her own accord. It's just not like her.
When she didn't answer, and she obviously wasn't in the office I started to panic. Lauri (our secretary), Denny and Fayton (a member of our church who does handy-man stuff) all quickly went out in search. The four of us each went to every part of the church yelling out her name, looking in things, behind things, under things. After maybe 5 minutes had passed I started to bawl. I began imagining the worst. If she left the office area (which is a big if, it's not like her to do that), she certainly under no circumstance would have went outside on her own accord. If she went outside, she wouldn't have stepped foot on the pavement because she's paranoid of getting a swat for going out in the street without holding someones hand.
At this point though, we'd all 4 done a sweep of the inside of the church and she wasn't there. Denny called 911 and 3 of the four of us headed outside. I've never cried so hard in my life. At this point I was screaming for her at the top of my lungs, running around the outside of the church like a mad woman. I was looking in cars, under cars, in crawl spaces under the building, in the construction area (though it was fenced off, all the workers had gone home for the day). I looked in the dumpster, Lauri went up into the woods behind our church. I questioned the Qwest guy who was installing something at a house across the street to see if he'd seen anyone. I called Rob back and told him she was gone (I had called him about 5 minutes into it to see if he had seen her follow him when he'd left). He said he'd call the police, though I told him Denny already did.
At this point it had been 25 or 30 minutes. I gave up. I didn't know where else to look. She was gone. I was bawling. I was imaging every terrible scenario. I was cursing my decision to bring the kids to the church that day. I was beating myself up for taking my eyes off of her. I was wondering why I'd been so trusting that the church was a safe place (even though it was in the office area, which really is as safe a place as any!). After so much time had passed I was sure she was going to be on the evening news. I was recalling in my mind that she was wearing a black shirt with a frog on it that says "I didn't ask to be a princess." She was wearing jeans and her little white and pink shoes. She had a pony tail in her hair...
I walked back into the church not knowing what else to do and I heard Denny call out, "We found her!" Those were the happiest words I ever heard! I didn't know whether to laugh, cry or scream. I cried. I bawled even worse than I had bawled before. I held her tighter than I'd ever held her before! I asked her what happened.
"I was playing hide-n-go-seek mommy but then you started yelling really loud and I didn't want you to be so loud." she said as she showed me how she was covering her ears. She's always been sensitive to loud noises, so I think all of us yelling for her was just too much. She was hiding under Rob's desk behind his chair. I still don't know how I missed her being that each of us looked in his office several times. I even looked in some of the cupboards I thought she would fit in. Anyway, I held her and cried with her, and held her some more. My legs were shaking and I could barely catch my breath! I did manage, however to describe to her the rules of hide-n-go-seek. Namely, it's only a game if the other person knows you are playing, and when mommy yells for you, you answer right away!
Needless to say Leeann has apologized on her own accord several times since then. Even yesterday morning she looked up at me as I was getting ready in the bathroom and said, "Mommy, I really am so sorry I scared you so much at the church the other day!" Then she piped in, "Please say you forgive me mommy!" I told her I forgive her, but that is a day I'm not going to forget any time soon!
Well, we were just about to leave when Pastor Denny stopped in and invited the kiddos to look at his fish. After a few minutes I asked Leeann to go clean up the toys in Rob's office. She left and I spent the next 3 or 4 minutes trying to coax Titus away from Denny and his fish.
After I plucked Titus away from Denny's fish, we went to help Leeann clean up they toys. She wasn't there. The toys were still scattered all over the floor, but she was no where to be found. I thought maybe she was hiding so I looked around his office, then my office, then Lauri's office and back to Denny's office, then back to Rob's, then the copy room. All the while I'm calling out her name thinking that maybe she's playing hide-n-go-seek. After all, I knew there was little chance she would leave the office on her own accord. It's just not like her.
When she didn't answer, and she obviously wasn't in the office I started to panic. Lauri (our secretary), Denny and Fayton (a member of our church who does handy-man stuff) all quickly went out in search. The four of us each went to every part of the church yelling out her name, looking in things, behind things, under things. After maybe 5 minutes had passed I started to bawl. I began imagining the worst. If she left the office area (which is a big if, it's not like her to do that), she certainly under no circumstance would have went outside on her own accord. If she went outside, she wouldn't have stepped foot on the pavement because she's paranoid of getting a swat for going out in the street without holding someones hand.
At this point though, we'd all 4 done a sweep of the inside of the church and she wasn't there. Denny called 911 and 3 of the four of us headed outside. I've never cried so hard in my life. At this point I was screaming for her at the top of my lungs, running around the outside of the church like a mad woman. I was looking in cars, under cars, in crawl spaces under the building, in the construction area (though it was fenced off, all the workers had gone home for the day). I looked in the dumpster, Lauri went up into the woods behind our church. I questioned the Qwest guy who was installing something at a house across the street to see if he'd seen anyone. I called Rob back and told him she was gone (I had called him about 5 minutes into it to see if he had seen her follow him when he'd left). He said he'd call the police, though I told him Denny already did.
At this point it had been 25 or 30 minutes. I gave up. I didn't know where else to look. She was gone. I was bawling. I was imaging every terrible scenario. I was cursing my decision to bring the kids to the church that day. I was beating myself up for taking my eyes off of her. I was wondering why I'd been so trusting that the church was a safe place (even though it was in the office area, which really is as safe a place as any!). After so much time had passed I was sure she was going to be on the evening news. I was recalling in my mind that she was wearing a black shirt with a frog on it that says "I didn't ask to be a princess." She was wearing jeans and her little white and pink shoes. She had a pony tail in her hair...
I walked back into the church not knowing what else to do and I heard Denny call out, "We found her!" Those were the happiest words I ever heard! I didn't know whether to laugh, cry or scream. I cried. I bawled even worse than I had bawled before. I held her tighter than I'd ever held her before! I asked her what happened.
"I was playing hide-n-go-seek mommy but then you started yelling really loud and I didn't want you to be so loud." she said as she showed me how she was covering her ears. She's always been sensitive to loud noises, so I think all of us yelling for her was just too much. She was hiding under Rob's desk behind his chair. I still don't know how I missed her being that each of us looked in his office several times. I even looked in some of the cupboards I thought she would fit in. Anyway, I held her and cried with her, and held her some more. My legs were shaking and I could barely catch my breath! I did manage, however to describe to her the rules of hide-n-go-seek. Namely, it's only a game if the other person knows you are playing, and when mommy yells for you, you answer right away!
Needless to say Leeann has apologized on her own accord several times since then. Even yesterday morning she looked up at me as I was getting ready in the bathroom and said, "Mommy, I really am so sorry I scared you so much at the church the other day!" Then she piped in, "Please say you forgive me mommy!" I told her I forgive her, but that is a day I'm not going to forget any time soon!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
The Pain is Back
I imagine I've shared on this blog before about my random aches and pains. But, I'm not sure what I've shared so I'll give you a little recap:
About 4.5 years ago I woke up on a camping trip one morning with an intense pain in my right shoulder. For the next year and a half it came and went with varying intensity and for random lengths of time. I'd have good days and bad days, good months and bad months. At it's worse it was tough for me to do such things as brush my hair or pick up the frying pan. Lifting a gallon of milk from the refrigerator always seemed to be tough too.
Anyway, part way through my pregnancy the pain in my shoulder went away but that same pain appeared in my lower back. Then it spread to my hips and my knees, most notably in my left knee. I've even felt it just briefly in my left wrist. It usually only affects an area or two of my body at a time and it's something I can typically work through.
Well, right now it's back, and it's back with a vengeance. For almost a week now I've been in pain and it just seems to be getting worse. My joints feel stiff and swollen and my legs and lower back are just in a lot of pain. I didn't drag myself out of bed until 11:00 this morning and I've been trying to move as little as possible since then. The kid's have been quite good today after a little talk with daddy today about mommy feeling icky and how they need to obey and be helpful today. Titus doesn't quite get that he needs to be gentle with me... but hey, he's trying!
So, for the last week I've been looking around at all of things I need to be packing and cleaning... wishing this pain would go away. I'm optimistic that it will go away soon, since it doesn't typically have any rhyme or reason to when it comes and goes. I went to the chiropractor yesterday and got a massage too, but it only seemed to have shifted the pain. I'll put the kids down for a nap shortly and try to get a little housework done (we have small group at our house tonight). Hopefully just getting up and around will maybe loosen me up a little? Or it could make it worse...
Such is life. I'm enjoying spending time with my kiddos watching them run and jump and play today. It's almost as good as joining them! They are currently jumping on my bed wrestling each other talking about silly things. I tell you what... these kids are cute! It's past 1, I should probably go make them lunch? Or maybe put clothes on Titus? Yep, that's what I'll do! Ciao!
About 4.5 years ago I woke up on a camping trip one morning with an intense pain in my right shoulder. For the next year and a half it came and went with varying intensity and for random lengths of time. I'd have good days and bad days, good months and bad months. At it's worse it was tough for me to do such things as brush my hair or pick up the frying pan. Lifting a gallon of milk from the refrigerator always seemed to be tough too.
Anyway, part way through my pregnancy the pain in my shoulder went away but that same pain appeared in my lower back. Then it spread to my hips and my knees, most notably in my left knee. I've even felt it just briefly in my left wrist. It usually only affects an area or two of my body at a time and it's something I can typically work through.
Well, right now it's back, and it's back with a vengeance. For almost a week now I've been in pain and it just seems to be getting worse. My joints feel stiff and swollen and my legs and lower back are just in a lot of pain. I didn't drag myself out of bed until 11:00 this morning and I've been trying to move as little as possible since then. The kid's have been quite good today after a little talk with daddy today about mommy feeling icky and how they need to obey and be helpful today. Titus doesn't quite get that he needs to be gentle with me... but hey, he's trying!
So, for the last week I've been looking around at all of things I need to be packing and cleaning... wishing this pain would go away. I'm optimistic that it will go away soon, since it doesn't typically have any rhyme or reason to when it comes and goes. I went to the chiropractor yesterday and got a massage too, but it only seemed to have shifted the pain. I'll put the kids down for a nap shortly and try to get a little housework done (we have small group at our house tonight). Hopefully just getting up and around will maybe loosen me up a little? Or it could make it worse...
Such is life. I'm enjoying spending time with my kiddos watching them run and jump and play today. It's almost as good as joining them! They are currently jumping on my bed wrestling each other talking about silly things. I tell you what... these kids are cute! It's past 1, I should probably go make them lunch? Or maybe put clothes on Titus? Yep, that's what I'll do! Ciao!
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
Remembering Titus
This is virtually the only picture I have of Titus since Christmas. Yikes, I think I need to take more pictures of my kiddos! In this particular picture we put a movie on for the kids upstairs and when Rob went to check on them he was sitting on Leeann's lap in a little chair and they were watching a movie together. It was so cute!
I recently wrote about the things I want to remember about Leeann at this stage in life. Tonight, it's Titus's turn.
He's got a smile so big it melts my heart on a daily basis! He's always laughing and giggling and having a grand ole' time in life. Occasionally he gives this adorable scowl, which is almost as cute as his smile! He lives life without a care in the world. I have the feeling he'll fly through life in a whirlwind of fun!
These days you can see him with a car, tractor, truck, motorcycle, airplane or train in his hand at any given moment. He's currently enjoying playing with them on the windowsills, and no about of admonishment seems to be deterring him.
When he's in trouble he hides behind something, buries his head or simply covers his eyes. He knows he's getting in trouble "but it's just so much fun mama!"
He really enjoys climbing on things. The other day I caught him on Leeann's dresser, throwing Cd's onto the bed. He would have had to climb up the side of her bed then take a leap of faith onto the dresser. Hey, he made it! He's quite gifted in the motor skills department. He's got a great arm, he can jump, hit, kick and wrestle with the best of them. He's only got one speed: Run, run, run, run, run.
He hops out of bed bright eyed and bushy tailed and doesn't stop until nap time. He usually goes down for his naps pretty easily. If he gets up from his nap on his own accord he'll bounce right back and he's up and running in no time. If he's prematurely awoken from his slumber, he's a cranky mess! Of course, those are the times I get my best snuggles, so I don't mind so much :0)
Some of Titus's Favorites:
Color: John Deere Green of course!
Movie: Titus also loves movies, Cars is his personal favorite.
Object: The blanket of course!
Pastime: Playing outside or taking a bath.
Game: Wrestling with daddy, or hide and seek with the family. Of course, he and Leeann usually hide under blankets on a bed, under the bed itself or in some other really obvious spot. But hey, it's loads of fun and laughter!
Animal: Pastor Denny's fish. He runs straight to Pastor Denny's office any time he's at the church and they have a little ritual where they talk to the fish and find 'big fish' and 'spot fish' and 'little fish'. Sometimes Titus gets to feed them too. He looks forward to this with great anticipation!
Book: The Bible, his Chuck the Truck book or anything by Dr. Seuss, but especially Green Eggs and Ham.
Rob reads the Bible to the kids most night, and now they ask for it with big ole' grins on their faces. Titus usually asks to sit on daddy's lap while he reads.
He's picking up more and more words everyday. I'm pretty sure he'll learn to speak in full sentences some day even!
One day he flipped a laundry basket upside down and crawled under it meowing like a kitty. We fed him kitty food (cheerios) through the holes and he had a blast. He's pretended to be a kitty several times since then also.
I tell you what, I think cute best describes him at this stage. It's all I can do not to follow him around all day giving him hugs and kisses. He's just one fun bundle of joy and energy. He's such a blessing to be around and he always lights up my day! Oh, how I love that kiddo! He's all I ever dreamed of in a little boy and even more. I'm so excited to watch him grow into the man God desires him to be.
So, here it is... things I want to remember about 2 year-old Titus. God knew what he was doing when he created this little boy. I hoped he would come much sooner than he did, but I'm so grateful that God made me wait. He knew we needed Titus, and Titus wouldn't be Titus if I had gotten pregnant when I wanted to. How could I have known God would answer my prayers so perfectly? Albeit I had to wait on Him. God is sooo good! I love you little man, you're mommy's favorite!
I'd Be Lost Without You!
Rob left for work at 8 this morning. It is currently past 6:30 and I'm going stir-crazy! He went to work then went straight to a Blazer's game tonight and I'm getting a small glimpse into what my life would be like without Rob.
I have done no housework today. NONE! Well, except for cleaning up after meals.
We ate cereal for dinner.
I just now took a bath. And put my jammies straight back on!
The kids got baths today, but I never did put clothes on Titus. He's been running around in his diaper all day. I wonder if he got cold? Hmm.
The kids have watched more t.v. today than they probably have in the last two weeks combined.
I have dishes on my dresser. We rarely eat in our bedroom and if we do we certainly don't leave dishes in here!
The light bulb burned out in the playroom. Funny, the light in the kids bedroom doesn't work anymore either. It's okay, it makes for better movie watching!
I've blogged twice today.
Other than getting utilities transferred over, going through some paper work and cleaning out the bathroom cupboards, oh, and making the bed... I have been more-or-less unproductive today.
I let Leeann play in the sink 'doing dishes' for an hour while Titus napped.
The corner kitchen cabinet snapped, and I'm clueless as to how to fix it. Seriously, the hinge (because it's a lower corner cabinet where there are two doors that swing out) broke in half. It didn't just loose a screw, the metal seriously BROKE in half!
I'm going to put the kiddos to bed right at 7 and watch a chick flick because I can!
I don't think I've brushed my teeth today. Gross.
I haven't washed my face either.
So, yes, this is a tiny glimpse into my Robless world. I have an amazing husband who makes me want to be a better woman. He gives me a reason to not be lazy and messy and unkempt like I am today. He motivates me to clean up my dishes and put clothes on my children! What would I do without him?
As an added bonus he does stuff like fix cabinets and change light bulbs. He helps with the housework and get this... he even does the grocery shopping with the kids! Yup, my husband is amazing and I am blessed. Now if I could only find a way that he could stay home with us everyday I'd be on cloud nine! I love you Rob, I'd be lost without you!
I have done no housework today. NONE! Well, except for cleaning up after meals.
We ate cereal for dinner.
I just now took a bath. And put my jammies straight back on!
The kids got baths today, but I never did put clothes on Titus. He's been running around in his diaper all day. I wonder if he got cold? Hmm.
The kids have watched more t.v. today than they probably have in the last two weeks combined.
I have dishes on my dresser. We rarely eat in our bedroom and if we do we certainly don't leave dishes in here!
The light bulb burned out in the playroom. Funny, the light in the kids bedroom doesn't work anymore either. It's okay, it makes for better movie watching!
I've blogged twice today.
Other than getting utilities transferred over, going through some paper work and cleaning out the bathroom cupboards, oh, and making the bed... I have been more-or-less unproductive today.
I let Leeann play in the sink 'doing dishes' for an hour while Titus napped.
The corner kitchen cabinet snapped, and I'm clueless as to how to fix it. Seriously, the hinge (because it's a lower corner cabinet where there are two doors that swing out) broke in half. It didn't just loose a screw, the metal seriously BROKE in half!
I'm going to put the kiddos to bed right at 7 and watch a chick flick because I can!
I don't think I've brushed my teeth today. Gross.
I haven't washed my face either.
So, yes, this is a tiny glimpse into my Robless world. I have an amazing husband who makes me want to be a better woman. He gives me a reason to not be lazy and messy and unkempt like I am today. He motivates me to clean up my dishes and put clothes on my children! What would I do without him?
As an added bonus he does stuff like fix cabinets and change light bulbs. He helps with the housework and get this... he even does the grocery shopping with the kids! Yup, my husband is amazing and I am blessed. Now if I could only find a way that he could stay home with us everyday I'd be on cloud nine! I love you Rob, I'd be lost without you!
A Warning to Parents Everywhere
Don't leave your two year-old son alone with red Jello even if he's strapped in his chair and you're only on the phone in the other room for 3 minutes. It stains.... even freshly bathed baby skin. And, it's a huge mess to clean up because it can aparently be flung quite far!
Monday, March 03, 2008
Our Current Home
Below is our blog for our rental unit, slightly changed to eliminate the rental details. Anyway, I thought you might like to see the pictures of our house before we say good-bye. This shows our paint job, though it's hard to really see the color. Maybe I'll try to find some of the pictures I took before we moved in so you can see the difference.
http://beavercourtrental.blogspot.com/
We've loved this place and I'm sad to see it go for a period of time, but I'm also excited about the adventures ahead.
http://beavercourtrental.blogspot.com/
We've loved this place and I'm sad to see it go for a period of time, but I'm also excited about the adventures ahead.
New House Pictures
These are some pictures I snapped of our new house the other day while we were getting inspections done.
Notice the pretty 1970 something pink bathtub!
You might be able to see here that I snapped off part of the front of the top right drawer when I was trying to close it. The floor is warped from water damage and it's in general disrepair. Needless to say, we'll gut the whole thing and start from scratch!
The floors are quite bad too, and the paint is chipping throughout. This is the master bedroom, but I think we're going to use it as the play room. Gotta love the mirrors!
This is part of the kitchen, I didn't want to post the other part of the kitchen because the inspector guy was in the pictures. We'll paint the cabinet fronts and replace the dishwasher, but other than that we'll keep the kitchen the same.
This is our outside. It's Titus and Leeann's new cage! It's completely fenced in without a hint of grass... go play, run and be free...
Here's the living and dining room, looking into the kitchen through the little window.
This is the downstairs bath. Yup, it's a beautiful color of Salmon. It is only accentuated by the bright red heat lamp. Who thought to do such a thing? Seriously!
These are my cute kids. I'd really like to replace the rickety rail, but I've heard it's quite expensive to do, so we'll probably refrain. We've got a little amount of money that we're trying to stretch really far. We'll do the best we can!
And this is Leeann and Titus's new room. Yes, it too will get a paint job!Chuggin Along
Applications, credit checks, references oh my! I'm spending my day spinning my wheels to get stuff verified for our renters, getting our taxes done, signing loan documents etc. I swear to you, I would have no problem going back to the practice of having maid servants. It's biblical right? What I wouldn't do for another set of eyes and ears and hands around to help me get through feeding kids, entertaining kids, packing boxes, and cleaning and fixing and painting...
Oh wait, MeeMaw is coming to visit--that takes care of the kids for a couple of days! Now if I could only hire a maid. And a chef, and a moving crew and a handyman...
Oh wait, MeeMaw is coming to visit--that takes care of the kids for a couple of days! Now if I could only hire a maid. And a chef, and a moving crew and a handyman...
Thursday, February 28, 2008
The anatomy of... anatomy...
Caution: Below is a story about the kinds of things my kids will kill me for writing about when they get old enough. But, it's too funny not to share it!
A couple of weeks ago I was changing Titus's diaper. Little 'nurse' Leeann loves to be around and scope things out whenever something gross is happening (like poo or vomit) or when she sees an owie (a rash or scratch etc.) So, she was kind of hovering over me as I was trying to clean a particularly stubborn diaper mess. Leeann looked up at me and ever-so-matter-of-factly asked, "Why does Titus have poo poo on his tail?"
I laughed so hard I almost cried and she laughed with me though she didn't quite understand why she was laughing. I didn't correct her then and there because I wanted to chat with Rob about it first, so I half answered the question and went on with our day.
As Rob and I were talking about it later we both recalled hearing at both our foster care training classes, and at a child abuse protection class how important it is to help your children understand the correct terminology for anatomy so that they can accurately and clearly describe what happened if an abuse were to take place. Anyway, we agreed it was time to have a chat with Leeann to help her understand, but we just kind of left it at that.
Well, this morning Leeann and Titus took a bath and as I was putting lotion on him, she began commenting about his tail again. I told her it wasn't a tail, and described to her, with appropriate terminology, the difference between a boy and a girl. After a few minutes of questions and comments it finally seemed to click with her and then she looked up at me and said. "I have a _________!" Then she proceeded to rattle off a list of her friends and associated their anatomy to their name.
It's cute enough in her bedroom, but I'm just imagining her prancing around the store asking people what they have, or worse yet, stating for them what they have. So, we ended the conversation talking about how God made some things private and personal and who it's appropriate to talk to about private things. Of course, here I am blogging about it... hmm...
A couple of weeks ago I was changing Titus's diaper. Little 'nurse' Leeann loves to be around and scope things out whenever something gross is happening (like poo or vomit) or when she sees an owie (a rash or scratch etc.) So, she was kind of hovering over me as I was trying to clean a particularly stubborn diaper mess. Leeann looked up at me and ever-so-matter-of-factly asked, "Why does Titus have poo poo on his tail?"
I laughed so hard I almost cried and she laughed with me though she didn't quite understand why she was laughing. I didn't correct her then and there because I wanted to chat with Rob about it first, so I half answered the question and went on with our day.
As Rob and I were talking about it later we both recalled hearing at both our foster care training classes, and at a child abuse protection class how important it is to help your children understand the correct terminology for anatomy so that they can accurately and clearly describe what happened if an abuse were to take place. Anyway, we agreed it was time to have a chat with Leeann to help her understand, but we just kind of left it at that.
Well, this morning Leeann and Titus took a bath and as I was putting lotion on him, she began commenting about his tail again. I told her it wasn't a tail, and described to her, with appropriate terminology, the difference between a boy and a girl. After a few minutes of questions and comments it finally seemed to click with her and then she looked up at me and said. "I have a _________!" Then she proceeded to rattle off a list of her friends and associated their anatomy to their name.
It's cute enough in her bedroom, but I'm just imagining her prancing around the store asking people what they have, or worse yet, stating for them what they have. So, we ended the conversation talking about how God made some things private and personal and who it's appropriate to talk to about private things. Of course, here I am blogging about it... hmm...
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Big News On the Horizon
No we're not having another baby, we're not getting a pet and we're not moving to some far off land. We are moving however!
Without getting into too many of the nitty gritty details... here's my 30 second scoop:
Rob and I are always looking at Real Estate. It's a sick hobby of ours. Some people paint, some people play golf. We look at houses. Well, several weeks ago we found a condo that had been foreclosed on at an irresistible price. It's a fixer-upper, but we could move into it, and keep our current place since it can rent for enough to cover the mortgage. So, we decided to test the waters, put in an offer and put our place for rent on Craigslist.
Our offer was accepted, as of this morning our house has new renters and we're moving in the next month (assuming that all of the financing goes through and the inspection doesn't show any additional surprises).
We feel like this is a great opportunity for us for many reasons, so we're quite excited! We'll get to try our hand at some home repairs, like gutting the bathroom and replacing a chunk of ceiling, and hopefully some carpet too. In theory once we get it fixed up we could rent out that place and move back in here after a year or two. Someone else will be paying our mortgage on our current home (I won't complain!) and we'll be saving several hundred dollars a month in the meantime. Yup, that's the BIG bonus!
It's only a little bit smaller (1220 square feet verses the 1442 we currently have and 3 bedroom 1.5 bath instead of 3 and 2.5). The neighborhood is not as nice, but we've lived in that same neighborhood twice before and have no complaints. We won't have a yard which some might see as a negative but we don't have a problem with. These small sacrifices are worth it to us to pursue a life long dream of owning a rental.
Who knows, maybe this is my first step to being a self-made millionaire by the time I'm 27? Yup, surely this condo is going to increase in value enough over the next year to make me millions. That's what all those infomercials say, right? And that diet pill is going to make me skinny overnight, and that knife they want me to buy is the only knife I'll ever need again, and there's only one of those perfect bracelets in stock so I better act fast!
I'll keep you updated!
Without getting into too many of the nitty gritty details... here's my 30 second scoop:
Rob and I are always looking at Real Estate. It's a sick hobby of ours. Some people paint, some people play golf. We look at houses. Well, several weeks ago we found a condo that had been foreclosed on at an irresistible price. It's a fixer-upper, but we could move into it, and keep our current place since it can rent for enough to cover the mortgage. So, we decided to test the waters, put in an offer and put our place for rent on Craigslist.
Our offer was accepted, as of this morning our house has new renters and we're moving in the next month (assuming that all of the financing goes through and the inspection doesn't show any additional surprises).
We feel like this is a great opportunity for us for many reasons, so we're quite excited! We'll get to try our hand at some home repairs, like gutting the bathroom and replacing a chunk of ceiling, and hopefully some carpet too. In theory once we get it fixed up we could rent out that place and move back in here after a year or two. Someone else will be paying our mortgage on our current home (I won't complain!) and we'll be saving several hundred dollars a month in the meantime. Yup, that's the BIG bonus!
It's only a little bit smaller (1220 square feet verses the 1442 we currently have and 3 bedroom 1.5 bath instead of 3 and 2.5). The neighborhood is not as nice, but we've lived in that same neighborhood twice before and have no complaints. We won't have a yard which some might see as a negative but we don't have a problem with. These small sacrifices are worth it to us to pursue a life long dream of owning a rental.
Who knows, maybe this is my first step to being a self-made millionaire by the time I'm 27? Yup, surely this condo is going to increase in value enough over the next year to make me millions. That's what all those infomercials say, right? And that diet pill is going to make me skinny overnight, and that knife they want me to buy is the only knife I'll ever need again, and there's only one of those perfect bracelets in stock so I better act fast!
I'll keep you updated!
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Another Year Flies By
I turned 26 yesterday. Yup, I got my license 10 years ago... how crazy is that? In so many ways I still feel like I'm 16. It seems like just yesterday I was driving around my '88 Ford Festiva imagining where I would go to college, what would I be when I grow up, what my husband would be like, and how many kids I would have...
Wow, how time flies!
Yesterday I enjoyed some French Toast for breakfast, made by my 3 wonderful chefs! We went to the Y to workout, did some house projects then got ready for our fancy Olive Garden date with some friends. Yummy! I even bought myself a new dress and some heels for the occassion :0)
Afterward we came home and played a few hands of Poker before our friends had to rescue their babysitters! Man, life changes when you have kiddos... no more staying up til wee hours of the morning playing games. It's probably better that way, Joel and Brenna skunked all of us. It's a good thing we weren't playing for money or else I would have had a bad birthday! Oh, and we enjoyed some yummy mud pie ice cream cake. Oh boy--it was D-elicious!
I got a blender for my birthday. And yes, I asked for it! In fact I had to convince Rob it was really what I wanted. "What kind of woman wants a blender for her birthday?" he asked. The answer? One who likes blended mochas and has a barely functioning blender!
All in all, day 9490 (and year 26) was a great day!
Wow, how time flies!
Yesterday I enjoyed some French Toast for breakfast, made by my 3 wonderful chefs! We went to the Y to workout, did some house projects then got ready for our fancy Olive Garden date with some friends. Yummy! I even bought myself a new dress and some heels for the occassion :0)
Afterward we came home and played a few hands of Poker before our friends had to rescue their babysitters! Man, life changes when you have kiddos... no more staying up til wee hours of the morning playing games. It's probably better that way, Joel and Brenna skunked all of us. It's a good thing we weren't playing for money or else I would have had a bad birthday! Oh, and we enjoyed some yummy mud pie ice cream cake. Oh boy--it was D-elicious!
I got a blender for my birthday. And yes, I asked for it! In fact I had to convince Rob it was really what I wanted. "What kind of woman wants a blender for her birthday?" he asked. The answer? One who likes blended mochas and has a barely functioning blender!
All in all, day 9490 (and year 26) was a great day!
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
South Beach?
Just in case you are wondering, I fell off the phase 1 wagon on Sunday. We haven't bagged the South Beach Diet all together, we're just moving on to phase 2. I looked at my breakfast of eggs (again) on Sunday and couldn't bring myself to eat it. And Salad? Not a chance! I decided since I could no longer bring myself to eat anything on phase 1, that moving on to phase 2 might be a healthier choice :0)
The other day we had eggs, chicken and salad for dinner and Leeann excitedly bounced to the table for dinner until she saw what we were having. She looked up and said, "Oh, not again!" Seriously, I don't know if I'll ever be able to eat eggs or salad again!
Anyway, that's where we're at just in case any of you were dying to know. For whatever it's worth, we both feel like we're seeing a little bit of a difference after only a week. We've also discovered how many everyday foods are loaded with sugar, and we're vowing to make some subtle changes to our everyday food choices.
I'll let you know how phase 2 goes for us!
The other day we had eggs, chicken and salad for dinner and Leeann excitedly bounced to the table for dinner until she saw what we were having. She looked up and said, "Oh, not again!" Seriously, I don't know if I'll ever be able to eat eggs or salad again!
Anyway, that's where we're at just in case any of you were dying to know. For whatever it's worth, we both feel like we're seeing a little bit of a difference after only a week. We've also discovered how many everyday foods are loaded with sugar, and we're vowing to make some subtle changes to our everyday food choices.
I'll let you know how phase 2 goes for us!
Thursday, February 14, 2008
BIG Titus News!
Today, I was making breakfast and the kiddos were at the table and I was explaining to Leeann what Valentine's Day is. I told her it's a day that we take extra time to the people that we love how much we love them. So Leeann and I got into a go-round of who loves who more. In the middle of this go-round Titus looked up at me and chimed in, "I louth ew". Aw, my first I love you from my little guy on Valentine's Day... how sweet is that? I'm such a proud mommy!
In other new, Titus bit through his last binki on Tuesday night. I didn't realize it was his last one until it was already too late at night to go to the store and get more. Besides, I don't really want to get more because he chews on them and breaks them within a month or so. And yes, he's getting too old for them anyway. So, he's now had 2 nights of sleep and 3 naps with relatively few problems considering he's kicking a life long habit!
Oh, and I forgot to update you a few weeks ago about taking my kiddos to the eye doctor. Leeann checks out wonderfully, but Titus on the other hand has inhereited my astigmatism and will need glasses within the next year or two. His isn't as bad as mine, but it exists all the same. I'm sure he'll look cute in glasses, but it's hard as a mommy to think about your 3 or 4 year old needing them. It's hard for me to think about a 3 or 4 year old taking care of them!
In other new, Titus bit through his last binki on Tuesday night. I didn't realize it was his last one until it was already too late at night to go to the store and get more. Besides, I don't really want to get more because he chews on them and breaks them within a month or so. And yes, he's getting too old for them anyway. So, he's now had 2 nights of sleep and 3 naps with relatively few problems considering he's kicking a life long habit!
Oh, and I forgot to update you a few weeks ago about taking my kiddos to the eye doctor. Leeann checks out wonderfully, but Titus on the other hand has inhereited my astigmatism and will need glasses within the next year or two. His isn't as bad as mine, but it exists all the same. I'm sure he'll look cute in glasses, but it's hard as a mommy to think about your 3 or 4 year old needing them. It's hard for me to think about a 3 or 4 year old taking care of them!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Ugh!
All right, so it's day 5 of the South Beach Diet. I have 9 days left to go in the first strict phase where ALL sugar is cut from your diet. I haven't had fruit, cereal, bread or anything processed for 5 days now. For the first time in 5 days I'm truly wondering if I'm going to see the finish line.
See, the thing is, you are told to eat until you are full. It's not depriving you of food, it's just encouraging you to eat the right foods. The problem? I'm not a big fan of the foods you can eat. I'm getting along okay, but I can't eat until I'm full because it's all I can do to eat enough to keep me going. As of this morning, I'm hungry. I'm hungry and I'm craving everything that's NOT part of South Beach.
We had small group at our house last night and I successfully avoid the frosted animal cookies and nachos, but it was SO HARD! Everyone was drinking hot cocoa too... oh how I'd like a cup!
Well I just thought I'd let the world know that I'm a weak, weak woman! My self-control is small to begin with and deminishing rapidly. However, I have lost a few pounds, which is the only thing making me think that maybe, just maybe I'll perservere!
See, the thing is, you are told to eat until you are full. It's not depriving you of food, it's just encouraging you to eat the right foods. The problem? I'm not a big fan of the foods you can eat. I'm getting along okay, but I can't eat until I'm full because it's all I can do to eat enough to keep me going. As of this morning, I'm hungry. I'm hungry and I'm craving everything that's NOT part of South Beach.
We had small group at our house last night and I successfully avoid the frosted animal cookies and nachos, but it was SO HARD! Everyone was drinking hot cocoa too... oh how I'd like a cup!
Well I just thought I'd let the world know that I'm a weak, weak woman! My self-control is small to begin with and deminishing rapidly. However, I have lost a few pounds, which is the only thing making me think that maybe, just maybe I'll perservere!
Monday, February 11, 2008
Some Things I Want to Remember
I just finished watching a video about the untold stories of Columbine. Most of you have probably heard of a young girl named Rachel who was shot after telling the shooters that she still believes in God. The video was of her dad sharing her story, her diary entries and her life. It was quite touching... a remarkable story.
It sparked a desire in me to write down some things about my kiddos that I never want to forget. I hope I will never lose them, like this man lost his daughter. He is sad, yet he rejoices because tens of thousands of people gave their lives to Christ in response to his daughters testimony. I really hope I will never know he feels, though I pray my kids have an amazing impact on the world for Jesus Christ. But, whatever happens, I know that life is short. Even if my children grow to be old, I hope I can always remember the days when they were young. My kids will only be 2 and 4 for a few short months. Soon they will be 2 and 5. Then 3 and 5, then 3 and 6...
At four years old, Leeann is the sweetest, most concerned and helpful child I know. She wants to fix owies, she wants to make people happy and she loves to help in any way she can. She rubs my shoulders when I'm in pain, she kisses owies and she's the first to give hugs if she sees that someone is sad. She seems to have a genuine care and concern for those around her. Rob and I think she may be a nurse or a medical missionary, though it's cerainly too soon to tell. She compliments people and always has something nice to say.
She likes to snuggle and tickle and wrestle and kiss. Any physical contact she can get, she'll take. She'll snuggle with Rob or I for hours on end. She thrives off of skin to skin contact. She's never had a blanket that she's been particularly attached to, but she's always liked tummy's. Yep, she'll stick her hand up your shirt for a little skin to skin on your tummy and she's happy as a clam. It's been a great tool to help her fall asleep. For some reason it's quite comforting to her. It started when I was pregnant with Titus, but it's stuck around for years after. We've had to limit it because it's turning kind of weird, but it's still cute. It's Leeann!
Titus is her best friend. She enjoys playing with him, helping him and teaching him. She's so good with him that it amazes me. These two even sleep together on most nights... by choice! Though she did inform us the other day that Titus went to his own bed one night because she was 'getting his tummy' and tickling him and he apparently wasn't in the mood!
She likes to do chores around the house. She loves to wipe off the table with a wet sponge, to 'sweep', to pick up the clothes I 'accidently' drop on the way to the wash. She loves to push the clothes into the dryer when I put them on the door of the dryer. She folds the wash cloths and has recently graduated to towels and some jeans even. She especially loves to help daddy do anything that he can let her. They've painted together, washed the cars and fixed all sorts of things around the house. She's very good at handing daddy his tools, dusting and picking up garbage. Oh, and she loves to help him garden.
She's always had an amazing sense of direction. She knows where we're going, and could probably tell you how to get there. She knows when we've gone too far and she knows what else is near. It's quite crazy, but was especially crazy when she was doing it at 2!
She is wildly addicted to movies. If something is on a screen her attention is drawn to whatever it is in full force! She must ask 20 times a day if she can watch a movie. Her favorite right now is Cinderella, Leap Frog Letter Factory and Cars. She likes Meet the Robinsons and Ratatouille, though we don't own those ones yet.
Here are some of her favorites:
Color- Purple
Character- Princesses, especially Cinderella
Clothing- Anything that's a dress or a skirt, especially if it comes with tights and fancy shoes!
Food- Macaroni and Cheese, though she'll eat just about anything! Seriously.
Places- Church, YMCA, Starbucks and Costco.
Book- Her Bible, the Cinderella Story and Green Eggs and Ham.
Song- B-I-B-L-E and Jesus Loves Me.
She also lights up at anything to do with friends, or with Disneyland... she can't wait to go back! She loves to learn and loves to be complimented. Her eyes light up every time you say something sweet to her or about her. She loves attention and loves knowing that she's done something well.
She has an INCREDIBLE memory. She'll memorize songs and books the first time she hears them. She's can recite most of her favorite stories word for word from cover to cover.
She can buckle her booster seat all by herself and she's pretty proud of that. She tells me often that she's growing up, but that it's going to be okay. "I'm going to grow up and get married and have a baby in my tummy." she likes to tell me. She's going to marry, "a boy who loves Jesus!" Right now she thinks that's going to be her friend Hamish, but Hamish doesn't know that and I'm not sure how he'd feel about that at 5 (or 6?) years old. Besides, she hasn't seen him in more than a year, and there's a lot of living left to do before she makes that kind of comittment! It was cute to talk about when she was 3, but now that she's almost 5 it's getting kind of weird!
She loves to dance, especially with her prince "daddy". Oh, how she loves her daddy! She adores him so much and lights up when he comes home from work, or even walks into the room. Those two have something special going on :0) I love to tease her that I'm going to hug daddy, or kiss daddy. She says, "No, I'm going to kiss him." and she runs full force at him trying to kiss him before I can. He means everything to her. Oh, how I wish she could be 4 forever!
Well, I'll have to save Titus for another day, but here are the first things that come to my mind that I never want to forget about Leeann at 4 years old. When 16 year-old Leeann is reading my blog I hope she knows how special she is, how loved and adored she is... and how grateful we are to have her in our lives! I love you 16 year-old Leeann, you're my favorite!
Love,
Mommy
Saturday, February 09, 2008
Not again!
It's 10:30 and this is diaper #5 or 6 for Titus this morning. Yup, it's back. Of course it's back on a Saturday because then I can't leave him in the nursery at church. That's quite difficult when both of the sick child's parents work at a church and their biggest day is Sunday!
It's amazing how quickly a sick kiddo can turn what was planned to be a great day into a not so great day! Oh well, such is life. Such seems to be a lot of my life lately!
So, Rob and I bit the bullet and we started phase I of the South Beach Diet today. Basically, you get NO SUGAR for two weeks. It's trying to rid your body of it's sugar addiction, so you are limited to foods that don't quickly turn into sugar in your blood stream. We had scrambled eggs with peppers and turkey bacon this morning. I'm hoping it's something I can do since it's only two weeks. It's only two weeks. It's only two weeks...
We are in need of some new blinds for our windows since we painted last week. I think that's on our list today though I think we'll end up needing to special order them due to the size of our windows. We've got other post-painting home projects to do, like hanging up pictures and touching up some of the paint etc.
Oh, head over to Aunt Suzy's blog for the big gender reveal of Baby Molen! I'm going to be an auntie!
It's amazing how quickly a sick kiddo can turn what was planned to be a great day into a not so great day! Oh well, such is life. Such seems to be a lot of my life lately!
So, Rob and I bit the bullet and we started phase I of the South Beach Diet today. Basically, you get NO SUGAR for two weeks. It's trying to rid your body of it's sugar addiction, so you are limited to foods that don't quickly turn into sugar in your blood stream. We had scrambled eggs with peppers and turkey bacon this morning. I'm hoping it's something I can do since it's only two weeks. It's only two weeks. It's only two weeks...
We are in need of some new blinds for our windows since we painted last week. I think that's on our list today though I think we'll end up needing to special order them due to the size of our windows. We've got other post-painting home projects to do, like hanging up pictures and touching up some of the paint etc.
Oh, head over to Aunt Suzy's blog for the big gender reveal of Baby Molen! I'm going to be an auntie!
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Zoom Zoom Zoom
We are officially a mutli-mazda vehicle driving family! We said good-bye to the '95 Windstar yesterday, and after WAY too many hours in the dealership with my husband and children we returned home with a 2001 Mazda MPV (it's a smaller sized mini van for those of you who are like me and don't know one car from another).
We actually picked it up on Monday and took it home Monday night but decided to take it back to the lot and spend the day looking for something else instead. However, when we took it back to the lot they knocked the price down an additional $600 (it was listed at $3500 above what we walked away with it for).
It's a great car, with great mileage (75K) and it's rated really well. It's an amazing value, considering our payment is nearly $4000 below retail Kelly Blue Book and we were able to trade in a van that we know is virtually worth nothing, being that the cost of upcoming repairs exceeds the value of the van...
However, there's a reason it's such a cheap van. It has a fairly significant amount of body damage. There is damage to both bumpers and each door of the van. A lot of the damage is little scratches, though there's a big gouge, a small dent and the bumper damage. It kind of looks like someone played bumper cars with it, or drove it into blackberry bushes, or tried to squeeze between 2 trees unsuccessfully. Really, it's hard to fathom what might have happened. You can't necessarily tell until you get up-close and personal with the van, but the damage is there.
Anyway, that's why we were willing to walk away from the van and why they continued to drive down the price. They finally got it to a point that my common sense out did my vanity and we decided to buy the car even though it means I have a scratched and dented vehicle. We would be looking at spending several thousand more dollars for a car that isn't as well rated with at least 25K more miles on it if we were to continue our search. So, we bit the bullet. We bought the van.
We could get many or even most of the scratches out for about $500 (unless I have any secret blog readers who fix body damage?), but it would be costly to replace the bumpers. So, hopefully at some point we can get the majority of the scratches out and just have to contend with the bumper damage.... (unless we can find some bumpers at a scrap yard and I have any blog readers who can do that too!)
So, the good news is that we're done car shopping and we got something that seems like it might not be a money pit. We got it for less than were looking at spending on anything else. We really wanted something built in the 21st century and less than 100K.
The bad news is that for the first time in our lives we had to take out a car payment. We just bought Rob's car last summer, and had no means to pay cash for this one (unless we wanted another money-pit car). We have totally mixed feelings about this. We don't want to have any debt, especially not on a depreciating asset. However, the monthly payment is less than the amount that we've been putting into repairs of our older vehicles. So, financially it made sense... but it goes against our philosophy and goals of being debt-free. In fact, just before the latest car woes we were making plans to scrape to pay Rob's student loans off more quickly, so we could roll that over into paying off my loans more quickly so we could be debt-free. Now, we've added more money to that never-ending debt snowball but such is life. We'll continue to make meager efforts toward being debt-free no matter how long and painful that process is!
Bottom-line? I'm done. No more dealerships, no more Craigslist, no more AutoTrader. No more Consumer Reports, no more how to shop for used car articles, no more dragging the kids in and out of vehicles and dealerships. No more wasted time. No more loan shopping. No more wondering what we should get. No more worrying that the van would die before we found a new car thus making our trade in worth nothing. No more car vs. van questioning, no more car stress. Until one of our cars breaks down that is :0)
We actually picked it up on Monday and took it home Monday night but decided to take it back to the lot and spend the day looking for something else instead. However, when we took it back to the lot they knocked the price down an additional $600 (it was listed at $3500 above what we walked away with it for).
It's a great car, with great mileage (75K) and it's rated really well. It's an amazing value, considering our payment is nearly $4000 below retail Kelly Blue Book and we were able to trade in a van that we know is virtually worth nothing, being that the cost of upcoming repairs exceeds the value of the van...
However, there's a reason it's such a cheap van. It has a fairly significant amount of body damage. There is damage to both bumpers and each door of the van. A lot of the damage is little scratches, though there's a big gouge, a small dent and the bumper damage. It kind of looks like someone played bumper cars with it, or drove it into blackberry bushes, or tried to squeeze between 2 trees unsuccessfully. Really, it's hard to fathom what might have happened. You can't necessarily tell until you get up-close and personal with the van, but the damage is there.
Anyway, that's why we were willing to walk away from the van and why they continued to drive down the price. They finally got it to a point that my common sense out did my vanity and we decided to buy the car even though it means I have a scratched and dented vehicle. We would be looking at spending several thousand more dollars for a car that isn't as well rated with at least 25K more miles on it if we were to continue our search. So, we bit the bullet. We bought the van.
We could get many or even most of the scratches out for about $500 (unless I have any secret blog readers who fix body damage?), but it would be costly to replace the bumpers. So, hopefully at some point we can get the majority of the scratches out and just have to contend with the bumper damage.... (unless we can find some bumpers at a scrap yard and I have any blog readers who can do that too!)
So, the good news is that we're done car shopping and we got something that seems like it might not be a money pit. We got it for less than were looking at spending on anything else. We really wanted something built in the 21st century and less than 100K.
The bad news is that for the first time in our lives we had to take out a car payment. We just bought Rob's car last summer, and had no means to pay cash for this one (unless we wanted another money-pit car). We have totally mixed feelings about this. We don't want to have any debt, especially not on a depreciating asset. However, the monthly payment is less than the amount that we've been putting into repairs of our older vehicles. So, financially it made sense... but it goes against our philosophy and goals of being debt-free. In fact, just before the latest car woes we were making plans to scrape to pay Rob's student loans off more quickly, so we could roll that over into paying off my loans more quickly so we could be debt-free. Now, we've added more money to that never-ending debt snowball but such is life. We'll continue to make meager efforts toward being debt-free no matter how long and painful that process is!
Bottom-line? I'm done. No more dealerships, no more Craigslist, no more AutoTrader. No more Consumer Reports, no more how to shop for used car articles, no more dragging the kids in and out of vehicles and dealerships. No more wasted time. No more loan shopping. No more wondering what we should get. No more worrying that the van would die before we found a new car thus making our trade in worth nothing. No more car vs. van questioning, no more car stress. Until one of our cars breaks down that is :0)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
