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.