Tips of the trade

I've been trying to think of some great tips that I've picked up as a mom/housewife. I don't think I probably have as many as I thought, but I did want to share one that has been working great for us this past week.

1. Teeth: I started playing a game with Zachariah while brushing his teeth at night. He opens right up and lets me brush them quickly this way with no fuss. He even laughs and plays along. I talk about how I'm brushing out all the food he's eaten that day. We started this after Easter because he'd had a lot of chocolate, and I told him I needed to brush all the chocolate away. I do something like this: "Oh, let me brush all the chocolate out of your teeth" brush, brush, brush, "What is that back there? Do I see cereal from breakfast?" brush, brush, brush, etc. When Matt brushed his teeth the other night, there were animals in there. :) But I don't know if that's helpful or just confusing. Anyway, we've had an easy teeth-brushing week.

2. Toys: I was having a headache with toys recently. Solution: buy some clear storage containers to help organize certain types of toys together. I still need more, but I'm doing a little at a time. I have one little box with a lid for his farm set. He'll get that one out when he wants to play with it. I have another for his smaller cars/trucks. Zachariah is pretty good about keeping things organized and in their place, so he knows which ones go back into which box. There are times when they all get dumped on the floor at the same time, but at least they get put away in an organized manner.

3. Crayons: This helps keep my sanity. When Zachariah colors we only give him 4 crayons at a time. When he's done, we put those 4 crayons up. It helps reduce the risk of any wall coloring. I know that we won't always be able to do that, but it's good for now.

OK, maybe my brain is on hold right now. I just wanted to get my last post done for March. More some other time maybe.

Getting sick...tired of lists

1. I'm not feeling well today. I woke up really tired and had a scratchy throat. Nothing has changed throughout the day. I think I'm getting sick. But I'm not sure with what yet. I've been really lucky lately. I haven't gotten any worse than this all winter. Let's hope I stay that way.

2. Matt was on toddler duty and I stayed in our bedroom ALL afternoon. I gave Zachariah lunch after church, then went straight to the bedroom. I came out after they'd had supper. I slept for quite a while, but I feel like I woke up a lot too.

3. I am so tired of lists! Thank goodness NaBloPoMo for March is almost over.

4. The theme for April is Letters. I was thinking about doing it (am I nuts?). There are more possibilities with that I think. We'll see. On one hand it drives me crazy trying to post each day, but I do like that it gives me some motivation to keep posting.

A Quiet Saturday

1. I'm not sure that it's possible, but we had a nice quiet Saturday.

2. Matt had a computer job in the morning that lasted a few hours. But it only took up a little playtime with Zachariah, then lunch and nap. Zachariah was getting up just as Matt was getting home, so they didn't miss each other too much.

3. We went to a flea market thing at the fairgrounds. We just needed to get out of the house together. There were a lot of neat things, but we didn't buy anything. The only thing we bought was a bag of kettle corn on the way out. Yummy, though.

4. A stop at another store for a few odds and ends, and then getting Subway to go. That's how we wrapped up our day. Not too exciting, but it was nice to not feel like we had tons going on.

5. Now we're relaxing and watching a movie on TV. Fun.

Choc-it

In the last month or so I've been taking showers while Zachariah is up. He's pretty well behaved and knows (for the most part) what he can and can't get into without Mommy's help or permission. Before I would get up before Zachariah to ensure I got a shower. It is essential that I get a shower every day. If I didn't get up before him, then I would wait until he took his nap to get my shower. Since he went down to one nap about 5-6 months ago, this made me wait until around noon to get a shower. Or I would make Zachariah come into the bathroom while I showered and shut him in. He would bring in a few books or a small toy. Usually he just sat there and waited, which must have been terribly boring. Anyway, I've been letting him watch "Wonder Pets" while I shower. It's enough to occupy him and I am nearby. I leave the bathroom door open, and he's not allowed to shut it. He will usually peek in the shower and tell me when the first episode it over. He says "More wonner pets, more", and I always reassure him that there's more coming on. Then he'll run off and wait for more. He plays with his toys and trucks too. I don't really know what got into him today.

Things Zachariah is allowed to do while I'm taking a shower:

1. Watch TV. I put it on an appropriate show (or sometimes DVD) before I get in the shower.

2. Play with HIS toys.

3. Wait for me in the bathroom as long as he doesn't get into things.

Things Zachariah is NOT allowed to do while I'm in the shower:

1. Close the bathroom door.

2. Play with MOMMY's or DADDY's "toys"- computer, books, puzzle books, pens, etc.

3. Get into the stash of Easter candy in the pantry. Get out the big Reese's bunny, take it to the table, take it out of the package, unwrap it from the foil, eat, eat, and eat some more.

Oh yes he did!

When I stepped out of the shower, Zachariah came running to greet me. He had a silly grin on his face, and I could see he'd been eating something (because it was all over his face). I asked him and he smiled and said "choc-it". Oh boy! I quickly wrapped a towel around me and made him show me where it was. He went running to the table and showed me proudly his "bunny- EAster bunny" that he was eating.

What was I supposed to do? It was so funny. I laughed and said "OK, just don't make a mess." I handed him a towel for his hands, then got my camera and snapped some photos.

Next time I'll remember to put the baby gate in front of the kitchen before I get into the shower. I was doing this for a while at first, but he seemed to stay out of the kitchen so I stopped messing with it. Now I can see that the Easter candy is way too tempting. In fact, I think I should also find a new hiding place (way up high where little arms can't reach) for the Easter candy.

What's on?

Our evenings are so very boring. Since Zachariah goes to bed between 7:30 and 8:00, we're stuck at home most evenings. Most nights are full of exciting TV viewing, surfing the Internet, and reading. Not all of our regular shows have come back on yet after the writer's strike. So, for your pleasure and possible discussion, here is what we're watching lately:
1. Big Brother 9
2. Survivor: Fans vs. Favorites
3. Lost
4. Jericho
5. Biggest Loser:Couples (some- it interferes with Big Brother, so we usually only see the first half)
6. Big Bang Theory (just came back on)

And I recently discovered:
1. Misguided
2. Lipstick Jungle
3. Real Housewives of New York City (so far not as good as Real Housewives of Orange County)
4. The Bachelor: London Calling

What have you been watching? Or is my life just more boring than the average person's?

Choir, dryer, friends and colds

1. Choir is over for the season! I will miss it, though. We had a really short season this year. But it will be a nice break to be away from it for a while. We had a little party to celebrate and reminisce tonight. It was a lot of fun.

2. I did make a new friend from choir. Matt's been pushing me to get together with her sometime. He says I make friends easily, but then I don't pursue them and we lose touch. He thinks I'm missing out on some good friendships. True to my friend finding form, this lady has some stark differences from me. I suppose we have a few things in common, but the biggest thing is she doesn't want/like children. She is married, works full-time, and is busy and happy with her life the way it is. She just knows she will not have kids. Then there is me who has one and can't wait to have more more more. Regardless of that we can still have fun conversations. I wonder if I can find something fun for us to do. It might be hard because I'm used to having my son with me a lot. About the only time I don't is when I'm at choir (which is when I'm with her). She has met Zachariah and doesn't have problems with him, but you can tell she's not into kids. But I guess that doesn't really bother me. She doesn't have to be totally into my kid, I'm OK with that. And maybe being around him a little bit, she'll change her mind about kids. ;)

3. Matt bought a new dryer tonight. We had looked for one the night before and only found a few things that might work for us. So I told him just to go get one. He seemed to like the same things that I did, so I was not worried about it. He did well. I like the one he got. It works nicely, and it seems to cut my drying time in half. It's just a simple model, because we have a hard time finding a size to fit in our small little laundry closet. But I'm happy with my new machine. Laundry is a chore I love to do, so it helps to have "tools" that work well for me.

4. Zachariah has a cold. The poor guy is all stuffed up today. Yesterday he woke up with a runny nose. It got snottier as the day went on, and now it's mostly stuffed. His eyes are watery, he is eating much, and he's really tired. We went and got him some lotion tissues, so it wouldn't hurt as bad on his nose. It's still really raw from all the blowing and wiping though. I hope he gets better soon.

More photos

We'll do some more photos of my darling boy!


1. Look what I found Mom!


2. A close up, because he's so sweet.

3. Zachariah hugging on Levi (Sam's baby brother, who is 4 months old). Ugh, this makes my heart burst.

4. Zachariah and my cousin Samantha. Another Sam (they were both named after my great-grandfather Samuel). (Oh, does this make her Zachariah's second cousin? Help me out here.) Zachariah and Samantha also share a birthday- March 3rd (hers in 2000 and his in 2006).

5. At the end of all the chocolate and other candy all the little kids (Zachariah, Samuel, and Samantha) had bananas. Because what else would say Easter like a banana? HA!

Easter photos

OK, here are the Easter photos (in "list" form of course). Unfortunately I don't have any great
posed photos of Zachariah in his Easter outfit. We got up so early that I didn't have time. And I
didn't get my camera out until later after he'd already napped and taken the jacket and shoes off. Maybe I'll make him wear the same outfit this Sunday and snap a few photos. :D Enjoy!


1. Zachariah's first Easter candy. My parents gave him his Easter present the night before, and my mom insisted that he be able to eat some of his chocolate/peanut butter bunny they gave him. To be fair that was the only chocolate he got from them. They also gave him raisins and a big toy dump truck and some little "Cars" cars (which he LOVES).

2. Zachariah hunting for Easter eggs. We spread them all over the living room for the little kids. There were 3 two-year-olds.

3. Zachariah finding more eggs with Daddy's help. He did really well gathering them all up. He'd go get arms full of eggs then bring them back to me to put in his basket. Then he started carrying around his basket for easier work.

4. Loving cousins. This is Zachariah with my second cousin's son, Sam. (Does that make Sam and Zachariah third cousins or second cousins once removed? I get so confused about all that.) They were hugging on each other. So cute.

5. Sam and Zachariah again. They were being so cute posing for photos. We love seeing them together especially at Easter, because it's neat to see how much they've grown. They are about the same age (Sam turns 2 on March 27th, and Zac's was March 3rd). And on their first Easter they were little babies with Zachariah being 6 weeks old and Sam being 3 weeks.

I have plenty more photos, but they won't load. I'll share some more tomorrow.

Happy Easter

He is risen! He is risen INDEED!

Happy Easter to you all. What a fun day we had with family and friends. Here are some things we did.

1. We got up early for a sunrise service at Matt's family's church. They started the service in darkness, then it gradually got brighter. Very neat. When the second candle got lit, Zachariah saw his grandma and wanted to go get her. I wouldn't let him, because she was at the front of the church participating in the service (reading and singing). He cried so loudly that I had to walk him out for a few minutes. (It's a small church, so no one missed it.)

2. We had breakfast at Matt's family's church, then we headed to my parents' church. Zachariah was pretty good there. He enjoyed all the music. I had to take him out for the last 10-15 minutes. I let him play in the nursery and kept a few other restless girls back there too.

3. Back at my parents house, I fed Zachariah a little bit then made him take a nap before everyone else came over.

4. My family, my mom's extended family, my dad's extended family, and Matt's parents all came for a big Easter dinner. There were close to 50 people there! But it was so great to see family and spend time with every one. Plus I got to cuddle a little baby for a while.

5. The kids all hunted Easter eggs (inside, because there is still about 2 inches of snow on the ground there). They all loved it.

6. We headed for home, and now I'm unpacked and relaxing. I'm sure we'll go to bed early tonight. Whew.

Party time

1. Today was my jewelry party. I did this as a favor to a friend who is starting her own business. I've done other home shows in the past, and they usually turn out pretty well.

2. They (my friend and her sister) came 1 1/2 hours early to set up. (I thought this was REALLY early, but it took them that long to set up.) I finished lunch, did laundry, and washed dishes while they were busy.

3. The jewelry is pretty, but it's very similar to a party I had last year with a different company.

4. 1:00 and no one showed up. NO ONE! Not even the few people that said they would come. I knew a lot had said no, most because of preparations for Easter (this weekend date was not my choice). I I felt bad that no one came and they spent all the time here. They stayed until 4:00 when the show was supposed to end, then they packed it up and left. I'm hoping to get more catalog orders from it. I wish there was a website I could post you, my readers, to if you were interested. I guess if you really like jewelry and are interested in seeing a catalog, you can e-mail me and I'll mail you a catalog.

5. We're packing up, and now we're heading out to my parents' house. They're going to meet us for supper first. Yum! Have a Hoppy Easter tomorrow. We'll be up early.

Good Friday

1. It's a beautiful day here. Sunshine sure does cheer me up. It's a motivation to do so much (or sometimes just sit on a chair in front of the window).

2. Matt has to work today. Bummer. I hate that they're open on Good Friday every year. Most times I forget and think he has the day off. He get so many other holidays off (like Veteran's Day and Columbus Day, etc.). Oh well, I guess I'll have to go on with my normal Friday.

3. So...much...cleaning...to...do. My house isn't too bad, but I know I have people coming over tomorrow, so I feel like I have to do all the deep cleaning around here. I'm going to be tired by the time this day is over.

4. Good Friday community church service tonight. Several churches in the area around ours join together for 2 services every year, and it takes place at a different church each time. We do a combined choir too. Each church's choir gets the music a few months in advance and practices it on their own. Then we get together for about an hour before the service and practice it together. It usually turns out pretty well. There is a lot of pressure on my choir though. Our church is by far the largest, and we have a music director/pastor on staff. He usually chooses the music and directs the group choir. But it's fun. We see familiar faces over the years. The services is a combination of all the pastors from these churches. It's always neat.

Maundy Thursday

1. The last supper.
2. Communion.
3. Washing the disciples' feet.

We had an amazing Maundy Thursday service at church last night. This commemorates Jesus' last meal with his disciples before he died on the cross. So we shared a meal with friends, and we served each other communion at our tables in honor of Christ serving his disciples. Then we had an opportunity to wash each other's feet to show respect and service. It was very touching and moving seeing the people who washed someone else's feet. Matt and I washed each other's feet and our son's as well to shown our love and devotion for one another.

If you'd like to read more about this holy day, you can see some information here.

Praise Be

1. Choir practice went very well tonight. We had a rough practice last week, so I was concerned. Tonight's was longer than last night, but it went so well.

2. I have decided to go home for Easter. We will leave Saturday evening after my party. I started thinking how much I would miss the sunrise service at Matt's parents' church. And I would miss seeing our families. (We are sacrificing a few things here though: singing with my choir Sunday morning on songs I've worked so hard on, we'll miss the video testimony being shown of one of our friends, and we'll miss small group that night.)

3. The money for the plane ticket for Matt's Mali Mission's Trip (which is most of the trip cost) was originally due at the end of April. He has been slowly earning money, but we thought it would be cutting it close to get enough by then. A week or so ago we found out that they could get a better deal on plane tickets. It reduced the cost by almost half. But the payment would be due at the beginning on next week.

We've been praying that the money would come in this week in time for his payment. We were expecting a donation from one friend. And one of the couple's in our small group gave us a good amount to help cover expenses. Matt knew he had a computer job this week so that would help out too.

On Monday, a check came from a family (who Matt knew well growing up) that we'd sent a letter to with a check for a little bit of money. Then today Matt's cousin sent an e-mail letting us know that she and her husband sent a large check to our church for Matt's Mission's Trip. Talk about God providing. We didn't expect anything, especially an amount this sizable. Wow! And just in time for his money was due. God is paving the way for Matt to go minister in Mali.

Easy Bean Burritos

MMMmmm, I made my mom's yummy bean burritos tonight. This recipe is super easy and everyone loves it.

1. Ingredients:
Large can on refried beans (I get fat free)
Jar of salsa
16 oz. bag of shredded cheese (I like Mexican blend, but you can use cheddar or anything else)
10 Flour tortillas (I used the larger burrito-sized ones here, but my mom uses small ones)

That's it. Sounds easy already, huh?

2. Mix ingredients together (minus the tortillas; also save a little cheese and salsa to sprinkle on top) in a large bowl.

3. Spoon mixture into tortillas and roll/fold. I do the burrito fold, but my mom just rolls them when she does them.

4. Place burritos into 9x13 baking pan (this will make 2 pans worth). Sprinkle leftover salsa and cheese over top of burritos.

5. Cover with foil and bake at 400 for 25-30 minutes. Eat and enjoy! Yummy!

6. We all love this. My mom has made it since I was a child. She used to leave the salsa off the top of one pan for my picky sisters (she just didn't tell them there were icky veggies inside with the salsa). You will probably have plenty of left-overs (unless you're feeding a crowd, which you can do with this) and they reheat well.

7. The clean-up is super easy. Look at that. That's all that was left of dishes to do! Woo Hoo!

Terrible Twos

Who knew the Terrible Twos would hit so soon? Why didn't you people warn me? Well, they are here, and I'm afraid here to stay.

Zachariah has had so many tantrums in the past two weeks. And lately his tantrums are going to another level. When he wants something, he wants it now. When he doesn't get it, he cries. When that doesn't work, he throws himself on the floor. He does this so often now. It helps if I try to ask him to use his words to get something. Then at least he can explain to me what he wants, and this sometimes will help avoid a tantrum all together. I wish it worked more. I've seen other kids worse, but man, this is no fun at all!

My boys

Tonight everyone was hilarious. I think it was something we ate for dinner. Not really, but who knows.

Zachariah:
1. We were watching Rachael Ray on the Food Network, and when her show was over Emeril Live comes on. Zachariah, before even seeing the TV, heard the show coming on and said "Bam!". Then he went on to tell me it was "Emel Emel".
2. I cut a piece of sausage patty from my plate and put it on his when he requested more. He smiled and pointed to his pieces of food and said "Two, Free...cut". He was telling me I'd cut some for him. That is the first time he's counted on his own, and he always refused to count one. He will not say it. Strange. Still I was excited to see him counting.
3. He thinks every time we go into a store now we're looking for a new TV. "TV TV!" he'll shout. Guess he knows we've been seriously looking.


Matt:
1. Had the serious giggles tonight. Serious! It was annoying, but yet I couldn't help laughing along with him most of the time.
2. Was wound up and practically bouncing off the walls. Why didn't he expel his energy playing with Zachariah? He was like this after Zac had already been put to bed.
3. We realized later that his burst of energy was probably from this candy bar that he ate after dinner. (I will hide the rest if there are any left.)
4. Thank goodness he crashed fast and went to bed about 10:00. He was really starting to get on my nerves.
5. Has been snoring in his sleep. He woke me out of a dead sleep the night before with this crazy sounding noise. I thought someone was breaking into our house (or at least trying to tear it down). I woke in a panic and was about to wake Matt to see what the sound was, then heard it again and thought maybe it was something else. The third time I heard the noise, I figured out it was coming from him.

Chip:
1. Is our dog. (Since so many of you asked about him from my last post.)
2. He is a black and white cocker spaniel.
3. We adopted him when he was 1 1/2 years old. He is currently 8 years old.
4. He's lazy and likes to lay on the top of the couch.
5. He sorta likes Zachariah. He's not mean to him, but he doesn't really want to play with him yet either. He's always been very gentle and tolerant, but Zachariah would really like him to play. I think as Zac gets older, it will be better for Chip.
6. Chip's name is funny/ironic sounding when paired with our last name. That's how he got his name. So if you know my last name you can see how funny it is.

I must be crazy

1. I have a home-party (jewelry--a favor for a friend) next weekend, and I haven't invited too many people yet. I just keep forgetting that it's coming up. This also means I NEED to clean my house.

2. Easter is next weekend! How did that happen? I don't have an Easter basket for Zachariah. (Is it necessary?) I don't even know if we'll be at our church or not. I feel obligated to sing with the choir, but I'd like to be with family for the holiday.

3. Busy, busy week ahead. I have choir practice Wednesday night, there is a special service at church Thursday night, Friday night is a community service that I must be at. Matt has a computer job either Mon or Tues night.

4. I haven't even scheduled Zachariah's two year check-up yet. I don't see why I should be in a big hurry. I take my perfectly healthy son to the pediatrician, so she can say he's normal and everything is fine.

5. The dog need to go to the groomer (he's needed to go for 3 months now). It's almost beyond need at this point. Matt gave in and trimmed his bangs last night...poor dog.

6. This is turning into a To-Do List. I should go make one.

No luck AND Yeah!

1. No luck finding a new television today. We have a few options. We went to so many stores that when we left one Zachariah would ask "more TVs?" and when we stopped at the next place he said "TV TV more TVs". Ha ha!

2. It appears that we'll be buying a smaller television than we had before. It's hard to find TVs in the size we'd like unless they are the flat screen LCD models. And unless you're willing to shell out a boatload that's not really an option. We're thinking we'll either end up with a smaller, cheaper television, or we'll wait for a few more weeks to save up and buy a nicer one.

3. Zachariah's potty training has been pretty poor for the last month. He was doing decent before, even with a few successes. Then for some reason he did a 180 and was not interested in going potty at all. But this week he seemed interested again when I asked. He's sat on the potty a few random times, but nothing has happened. Tonight before bath time he looked like he needed to poop, so I asked him. And he said he wanted to sit on the potty, so I let him. He didn't do anything, so I got him ready for his bath. He was playing in the potty and then stood up and asked for my attention. When I asked what he wanted he said "potty potty" and had a very anxious look on his face. I acted quickly and got him on the potty. And he went! Poor guy, though, it hurt and he cried. So, I had him stand up right away and turn around to see what he'd done in the potty! He was instantly soothed and very excited. He ran out to tell Daddy, helped my flush it, and then got a reward! YEAH!

TGIF, indeed

1. Zachariah refused to nap today. I can't remember him ever doing this. He wasn't mad, but he just couldn't fall asleep. He would be talking or singing quietly, then he would get louder or call for me. So I would go in and try to lay him back down. I did this several times. After almost an hour and a half, I gave up and decided just to let him be and see if he would sleep on his own. He didn't sleep, so I got him up after about 2 hours.

2. I'd wanted to go to the mall in the morning, but Zachariah was only interested in playing with toys. I was not interested in fighting him to leave, so we stayed home. Since he didn't nap, I figured we may as well go to the mall after all that. I bribed him with a cookie.

3. I found a new short-sleeved top for him. Only one. But I bought 3 winter shirt for next year on a great clearance sale. I was able to look a few other places, but while looking in one store Zachariah got really crabby, really quick. I told him we were leaving, and I high-tailed it through the mall with a crying toddler the whole way. He cried out of the mall, into the car, and all the way home. Luckily it is only a few miles away.

4. When we got home from shopping I told Zachariah he WAS going to take a nap. I laid him down and then went out to unload the car and get the mail. When I got back in he was crying already. I went in to check on him, and he was really mad. I picked him up and instantly knew the problem. He had a gigantic hard poop in his diaper. Poor little guy. He said it hurt, and I'm sure it did. After changing him and laying him back down, he went right to sleep. I had to wake him when Matt got home for dinner.

5. When I turned on the television in the afternoon to relax a bit, it turned itself back off. OK, it had done this to me last weekend but came back on, and it did it the day before but came back on. This time it didn't come back on. We tried everything, but our TV is dead. Right now we have a little 13-inch television sitting in a whole meant for a 30-inch TV in our entertainment center. It looks really funny, and it sucks. We can't hook it up to our DVD or sound system (and not to the VCR right now either). No TV for us. We're going shopping for one tomorrow, but we'll probably do without one for a while.

6. A good thing is I got Zachariah's closet cleaned out like I've been wanting to for a while now. It looks much better. And with KatieBug's suggestion, I put his little dresser inside his closet. It clears up more space in his room to play, and then I don't have to worry about him knocking it over.

Friends again

I was really intrigued by your comments on my last friends post. I've been thinking a lot about our/my relationships with other people. It is very interesting, but I can't seem to get a coherent thought together. So instead, here is a question for you. Would it/is it hard to make/be friends with someone who is
1. fat?
2. skinny?
3. old?
4. young?
5. different race than you?
6. different political views that you?
7. different marital status than you?
8. different parental status than you?
9. different religious or spiritual views than you?
10. rich?
11. poor?
12. from a different background from you?

Are any of those issues HUGE issues when you think about making friends or meeting new people? Are there certain things you look for in a friend (for instance-moms who are very similar to you and attend your church- or something like that)? Are there certain people you are intrigued by? or drawn to? Are there people you're turned away by because of one of these things? I'd love to hear your thoughts/views on this.

Ooga Booga

1. I finally got to go shopping with my friend today! Yeah! I didn't buy much, but it was good to see her and her youngest boy. We had a fun lunch with them. And Zachariah wants to play more with her little boy, who is about to turn 4. We'll have to invite them here for lunch sometime, so they can play together.

2. We had a good choir practice tonight, but it was grueling. The director (music pastor) was focused and made us work hard. We did parts over and over again. He made us put our music away and sing from memory. That was difficult, but we did well.

3. I found out today we might have a house guest for a couple of days in about two weeks. I hope that goes well. It also freaks me out a bit and makes me want to scrub and clean every part of my house. I don't think I have enough time before then. Oh well.

4. I cannot decide what to do for Easter. My family always has a big dinner (both of my parents families, and maybe Matt's parents and sister). But I also need to sing at church, and we have two services. To go to the dinner too, means we'd have to drive about an hour and a half after a long morning and drive back home in the evening. My cousin would like to see us (it's been since Christmas), but she'd have to drive about 2 hours after her church service (she works at a church) to get there too. Ugh. It just seems like a lot of work for one day. I'm considering inviting my cousin and her husband here (we're a bit closer) and make a small dinner for just us.

Economy

1. Gas prices! What's up? It's up to $3.45 here. I can't afford to drive too far.

2. Eggs, milk, and soon bread/flour are up! Yikes! How will I continue to feed my family if this keeps up?

3. Despite the high prices of our every day expenses, I still feel like people buy, buy, buy.

4. People also seem to get everything they want: MP3s, flat screen TVs, new cell phones, etc.

5. I hear about big businesses/factories discussing closing their doors.

6. How can our economy continue like this?

I've worried about this a lot lately. I worry that if things get any worse, I will be forced to work just to feed and clothe our family. I know I'm not the only one concerned about it, but people seem to be living life the same as before. I don't understand how some people make ends meet.

Unlikely Friends

Some of my favorite/best friendships were ones that seemed so unlikely from the outside. Here are some reasons why.

1. Age gap/generation gap

2. She was a mom, I wasn't/I'm a mom, she's not/I'm a mom, she's a grandma

3. Cultural gap

4. Ethnic gap

5. Different financial status

I've had a lot of different friends over the years. Some I've kept up with, and the rest I miss dearly. I'd have to say that I'm much more likely to be great friends with someone who is different than me. I don't really have any friends who are my age with young children. There are a few people who I talk to now and then that are similar to me. For the most part I think I'm drawn to people who are different than me.

I have learned to love those people who are different from me. We share stories, and we have great perspectives for advice for one another. I enjoy learning new things and expanding my horizons. I think that's why I love meeting new people and making new friends.

How about you? What type of people are you drawn to? Similar to or different from you?

Baby Love

Kelsey had her baby! Go congratulate her. I think the name Michael Jefferson it great. I can't wait to see more photos and hear more about him, but I know they are all resting now after such an ordeal.

Woo Woo

Zachariah sometimes calls firetrucks "woo woo trucks". It's so cute. And he says "woo woo" every time an ambulance, firetruck, or police car has its lights/sirens on. Today he got to see the police car lights up close. So much excitement just before bedtime. Without further ado, my lists.

Times you don't want to see police lights come on:
1. When you're speeding.
2. When you're in an accident.
3. When you run a stop sign.
4. Insert your options here.

Times when you DO want to see police lights on:
1. When you were in an accident (preferably not our fault) and need help.
2. When you see a crime about to occur.
3. When you can't turn the alarm off at 6:00AM when you open up where you work
4. When your husband tried to back into the snowy driveway, so he doesn't have to worry about getting stuck leaving in the morning. But he tries to back off the road in a hurry, because there is another car coming (ha, a police officer) a short distance away. Then said husband backs into the snowy yard beside the mostly-clear drive and finds out he can't move the truck, and the truck is blocking half of the road with on-coming traffic. Oh yes, that's when it's good to have a nice police officer who turns around, blocks off traffic (although there isn't much), puts on his lights (surely just to entertain the child in the backseat of the truck), and walks around with a flashlight making sure the husband has dug enough snow out from under the tires to move the truck. Yep, that's when it's nice to see lights. And the wife may have mentioned something to the kind officer thanking him for stopping, and I guess that's what husband gets for trying to hurry and back in the drive when it's snowy. Police officer just responds, "Yeah, that happens." and goes on his merry way.


Guess what which one happened to us tonight?

Blah

That's what today was...just blah.

1. We got 6 inches of snow. The roads are a mess.

2. I didn't get to go shopping with my friend, boo. :(

3. It took us about 45 minutes to shovel our driveway/front walk.

4. We lose an hour of sleep tonight. Ugh.

5. A car wrecked into a pole near our house this afternoon. It looked pretty banged up.

6. My house is a mess, because...it's the weekend. I really should use Swistle's technique.

7. I guess that's it, because it's blah and there it nothing exciting happening here.
Not today anyway.

Friday evening

1. My friend invited me to go shopping and to lunch. We haven't seen each other since our little overnight getaway in September.

2. We're getting a lot of snow right now that might just prevent my plans for tomorrow.

3. I've made some progress on organizing Zachariah's things this week.

4. I rearrange Zachariah's room earlier this week. My plan is to make enough room for most of his toys, so he can use it as a playroom too.

5. I bought a few storage containers to start getting his clothes stored in the attic instead of taking up room in his closet. I got two 25 gallon containers. They are both filled to the brim. And I only got newborn/0-3 month sized clothes and 3-6 month sized clothes. This kid has so many clothes! I hope we have another boy to wear these things some day.

6. I feel more settled tonight. It helped to make some progress on organizing. And tomorrow should be fun. (If we don't get to go because of weather, I'll get some more done around here.) Time to relax and unwind.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

Since I bragged **ahem** shared about Zachariah earlier, I figured I should share about my husband now. He does deserve equal time, if not more. But I seem to give him the smallest amount of time here...especially for the good things.

1. Tonight Matt had a meeting at church. He had to leave just a few minutes after I got home from tutoring. When I walked in the door, he had supper already made. He made an awesome stir-fry. And the clincher is...he didn't have time to eat any of it. He'd done it just for Zachariah and I, so we didn't have to worry about finding something to eat. And it was super yummy.

2. He plans great little get-aways like this.

3. Matt has been getting more into his Bible.

4. He is becoming a better husband. I see him caring more about things that he's ignored before. He does what he can to make things better for me and show me he treasures me.

5. He may not clean on a regular basis, but he makes an effort to do little things. And they mean so much to me. (Like putting away a pile of folded towels one morning. It was a pleasant surprise to see those towels already put away when I got up. It made my day.)

6. Matt is helping more with Zachariah. He gets him ready for bed after I've done bath time and helps clean up all the toys.

7. He tells me how much he loves me. And out of the blue he'll mention something about me that he adores. (That melts me. For instance one day after church he'd been in the back, and he said he thanked God for a Godly wife who can freely worship.)

8. Even though he's not quite there, he's willing to talk about and soon start trying for another baby.

9. He's encouraging of me doing new things and stepping out of my comfort-zone.

10. Matt is my best friend...what more can I say? I love this man.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with a passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints, --- I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! --- and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)

The way you do the things you do

Cute things my new 2 year old is doing/has done lately/has said lately:

1. He charms all the workers in the church nursery every week.

2. Next week he'll move up to the 2 year old nursery. I think he's ready, but he'll really miss the babies. Although he can play with Addy now. ;)

3. Zachariah has been stringing 2-3 words together to form "sentences" now. Like when we were getting ready to leave church last night, he wanted my hand and said "Mommy...hand".

4. He's saying "Mommy" instead of "Mama" now. Matt got him started on this, but it's stuck. And when he wants to be really annoying he shouts "Moooooom meeeeeee".

5. He will spend a long time building towers with blocks. When they get to tall, he'll knock them over and start all over again. This provides a lot of entertainment.

6. Zachariah has discovered the joy of television. So far he's watched (and liked) little bits of Sesame Street, Clifford, Curious George, Dora, Diego, Wonder Pets, Thomas and Friends, Mickey Mouse, and a few others we've shown him bits of. He doesn't sit still to watch TV though. He'll watch bits in between playing or running around. So, really it's easy to limit what he's watching.

7. He likes to help "make" his meals and pick out what he's having.

8. Zac is really good at pretending. He plays with his pizza set and serves us pieces to eat. He likes to pretend to be a baby.

9. Zachariah recently discovered "over", "under", "around", "through". When I first noticed this, I led him on an adventure through the house. We went over certain things, crawled under tables, went around toys on the floor, and through doors.

10. There are so many new things I'm sure I could list here, but I can't think of them. I need to start jotting down the cute things he does/says and post them occasionally.

Quick election update

After yesterday's post, I just wanted to give you a quick update. As of right now the school levy I voted on passed by merely 92 votes (out of 6026 votes total on that issue). Wow, am I glad I did vote for that. I'm excited about the outcome, but I hope the school recognizes that 49% of the voters are still not on board with this issue. I hope that they are cautious and provide lots of information to the community during this process of building a new high school.

Matt knew were I stood on this issue (which is where I stand for all school issues), but he was still undecided in his vote. He'd done the research and knew what this would ultimately cost us. He knew why they wanted the money and that a new high school is needed in this school distract. But it was nevertheless a tough issue for him to decide on. He called me yesterday after he'd voted to let me know that he decided to vote FOR the issue. He knew I would be happy. I told him to be proud that if our son goes to that school some day, he can say he helped to "build" it. I think that made him feel better about it.

Primaries

How much do I like to vote? Let me count the ways.

1. We have a school levy on the ballot that I must help pass.

2. Presidential election and a hot one at that.

3. Nothing else imperative, but I still vote on every little thing that only has one person running.

4. Ice! Ice! Ice! It's horrible outside, and I still drag the kid out to vote.

5. My tutoring center cancelled for this afternoon, and I still got out to vote when I didn't need to leave the house.

6. It took me 20 minutes to sort of scrap the ice off my car, and I still couldn't open the door by my son's car seat. BUT I WENT TO VOTE ANYWAY. It was just harder getting the kid in.

7. I had to carry my 2 year old son across the parking lot to vote.


This was the first election since I turned 18 that I even thought about not voting. I had planned yesterday and all day today to go. But the weather turned bad quickly. Then when I found out I didn't have to tutor, it made it even more desirable not to leave the house today. I came this close (just picture me showing you a teeny tiny space between my thumb and finger) to not going to vote. Then I instantly thought of the school issue that I wanted to vote YES on. Our school distract is having a hard time passing a levy, and I always vote yes on school issues. I would have kicked my own butt if it failed by 1 little vote. So, I pulled my act together and headed out in this horrible weather to drive 1/2 mile down the road and vote. Thank goodness it's not far, or I probably wouldn't have gone. I ran in, quickly voted, ran back out, and got us safe and sound here at home. Zachariah and I are here to stay for the rest of the night. Matt has a function at church, that unlike every other church/school/daycare/other functions, has not cancelled. And he is really looking forward to it. He's a safe driver, so I'm not worried too much about him. So let's hope it's a nice, quiet evening at home. And we'll also hope that this attitude I've gotten from Zachariah lately isn't just the start of his Terrible Twos already. And we'll hope he's an angel for me tonight.

Happy Birthday, Baby!

Today is/was the big birthday. (I say was, because Zachariah is already in bed for the night now.) We had a fun time and did many things. Here's what our day entailed.

1. Pancakes for breakfast. (Luckily I still had a few in the freezer when he requested them. When I make pancakes, I always make plenty extra then freeze them and pop them in the toaster. Easy.)

2. Watching almost 2 hours straight of Wonder Pets. (I bought him a video for his birthday. What was I thinking? Well, I know what I was thinking. He loves this show and we hardly catch it when it's on. He was one happy boy.)

3. Trying to leave without tantrums. (The terrible twos already? He wanted to leave, but wouldn't get ready. He wouldn't let me and threw fits. It took me 10 minutes to talk him into getting his shoes and coat on in order to leave.)

4. Trip to Toys 'R Us. (Zachariah got a birthday crown and balloon. They he got to push a little cart around the store. I let him pick out a small gift. He got a Thomas and Percy book. Then I let him play with the little train table for about 20 minutes.)

5. Lunch with Daddy. (When he got up in the morning, I asked him what he wanted to do for lunch. He wanted pizza...with Daddy...and Mommy. Ha. So that's what we did. We met Matt for pizza. Yum.)

6. Shopping with Mom. (I stopped to get a few things at the store and got him a little snack/treat he doesn't normally get.)

7. Nap. (He needed this, but didn't get enough. He kept waking up, which is unusual, but he had messy diapers. At least he got a little rest.)

8. Tutor with Mommy. (The kids had a little birthday party just for Zachariah. He got a few little toys and had more cupcakes.)

9. Home to eat a sugary snack and play in the tub for a long time. (We let him get away with a bit more today. But he's been good about it.)

10. Bed. (He was exhausted and went right to sleep. What a fun birthday.)

My baby is 2 now. (That sound you hear is my sobbing.)

Birthday bash

1. The cake that I finally made. I think it turned out great. It says "Zachariah - Since 2006" and "Happy Birthday" on the silo.

2. The cupcakes that went with the cake. You can see the "haystack" ones I created in the photo above. These are just topped with marshmallow barnyard animals (bunny, chick, cow) that I found with the Easter candy.

3. New friends. My sister brought her nephew over. He was born exactly a month before Zachariah. This was taken right after Zac got up from his nap and met Kaden. They got along really well.

4. Presents! Zachariah got lots of great things. If there were clothes involved, he quickly threw them to the side and went for the toys. The toys are now spread all over my living room...guess I need to get back to my organizing.

5. Grandparents, great-grandmas, aunts, uncles, great-uncle, second cousins, and parents. There were lots of people there to celebrate Zachariah's birthday with us. There could have been about 10 more people there, but they weren't able to make it at the last minute. I think it was just right the way it was. (In the photo are my grandmother- who you can hardly see, and Matt's parents with Zachariah.)

6. The cake! Zachariah was happy to finally get his cake. He's been after it all day. And he knew we bought that tractor for the cake and couldn't wait to get his hands on it. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of him blowing out his candles, but he did well (I'll have to get the photo from my mom). And it was cute to watch him looking around at everyone as we sang "Happy Birthday". We caught him later in the day trying to sing it.

7. The sledding. Notice there are no kids around. I think most of them had gone in by the time I took the photo. I didn't get any pictures of Zachariah going down the hill, because I was using the video camera to tape it. Pictured here are my dad, Matt's dad, and Matt.

8. My sister, Rachel, sledding down the hill. Rachel and our dad got involved in a contest seeing who could sled the farthest. I guess they talked my uncle into trying too, and he ended up going over the drop into the creek. Luckily the creek was frozen, so he just slid right across to the other side. The bad part was the 6-8 foot drop down into the creek. It was hilarious though, as I just happened too look out the window when he did it. Wish I'd had my video camera on then. BTW, my uncle is fine and thought it was hilarious (he claims they didn't tell him about the drop into the creek and it's hard to see). They declared him the winner.

9. Relaxing and playing after sledding. Zachariah came in for some hot cocoa and decided to check out his new toys again. Pictured here with Zachariah are Matt's sister, Carol, and his mom.

10. It was a fun birthday party. Tomorrow my baby will be 2.

One

Today is the first day of March's NaBloPoMo. Even though I'm busy and not at home, I wanted to start the month off right. So, without further ado, my list for today:

1. We're ready to party, and Zachariah is wound up. (I don't think he realized he have 3 1/2 more hours to wait with a nap expected in between.)

2. I'm so glad to have a few free minutes to myself while my sweet mother is entertaining my son while she'd making a fruit salad. She's awesome. (Plus I just got out of a nice quiet shower.)

3. Our taxes are done. That was our other reason for coming up here. My dad always updates TurboTax and lets us use it too. Even though my Schedule C gives Matt headaches every year, we still do it this way.

4. Speaking of taxes, it drives me nuts that Matt stresses out so much about doing them. The years that I've told him to "buzz off" and did them myself, it took less than half of the time. Silly man. The other irritating thing is we're getting back about $700 less than last year. Yuck. We made more and they're always changing things, but it still stinks.

5. My son will be 2 in 2 days. I can't get over that. Seriously, I'm having a hard time getting my mind around this. How? I keep going back to what I was doing this day 2 years ago. (For the record I skipped choir because I wasn't feeling great [warning without realizing it]. And I went to tutor like normal in the afternoon [I'm sure after taking a leisurely nap]. Then I told them when I left work that I'd see them the next day unless I had the baby before them [ha, little did I know...I didn't work the next day]. And they all told me I looked like I had dropped.)

OK, that's enough listing for today. I'll be back tomorrow with photographic evidence of this awesome party we're having in a few short hours. Enjoy your Saturday.