Cyberchase Halloween

Are you a fan of PBS? We don't watch too many shows on it, but it was neat to be introduced to Cyberchase. We had the opportunity to preview the new Halloween episode of Cyberchase, which airs today and again on Friday.

I would say Cyberchase is a good mix of fun, learning, and now Halloween. Zachariah really enjoyed it too. I thought it might be a little above him, but he liked the funny characters and antics in this show. The learning things are a little too much for him for now.

That said I think this is a great show for kids of all ages. And this week on PBS Cyberchase is airing Halloween episodes. Be sure to check out your local listings. I think your kids will enjoy it.

Halloween DVD winner

Sorry, it's been a long few days. Good, but long. I am just now drawing a winner, and then I'll get the DVD mailed out first thing on Monday.

And the winner of the HIT Favorites: Halloween Spooktacular DVD is....

#4 Erica at All Dressed Up.

Congrats, Erica. I'm glad that you didn't buy it yet. Please send me an e-mail with your mailing address, and I'll get this out to you Monday morning. I hope that you and Maddie enjoy this!

My sweet love is an ocean away

I was able to talk to Matt again today. Really things are going fine here without him, but I miss him so much. Yes, we've been apart this long (to date) before, but just knowing how far away he is seems different somehow. He's not just a phone call away. He has limited Internet access and the time difference doesn't help either.

This is only the second time that we've been able to chat. But I will say thank goodness for the Internet and Skype. It's almost unimaginable to me that he's in the 5th poorest country in the world, yet he's able to connect to the Internet with WiFi there where he's staying. Amazing!

So, Matt is doing well. It was good for my heart to be able to see, hear, and talk to him for a while this morning. I really miss him. I think I just fell even harder in love with him today. Now I know why they say "absence makes the heart grow fonder". I truly believe it.

Only 8 more days until he's home. I'm very happy for what he's doing, and I know he's loving every minute of it. And I know that he's thinking of us.

He already bought a little trinket for Zachariah. He showed it to him this morning. Zachariah is thrilled. The only thing he wanted was "something for Zacky" when Daddy comes home. It's a carved lion thing. I'll post pictures when he gets home. He also ordered some drums that they are making for us. (How cool is that?) And he either has or is going to get some paintings. I can't wait to see everything.

The pictures he's taken and uploaded so far have been really neat to see. It's just fun knowing that I can get a small taste of what he's doing and seeing there. I will keep dreaming about going there some day. Since I was a little girl, I've always wanted to take a missions trip to Africa. And I've been happy to live out that dream through Matt for now.

If you are a long time reader and/or correspond with me semi-regularly, send me an e-mail if you're interested in seeing Matt's blog. I don't want to put it out there for everyone, because I'd like to protect my identity. He has everything posted under his name. But I have "known" some of you for a long time, and I'd be happy to share if you'd like to hear more or see more photos.

DVD Review: Goosebumps

Goosebumps by R.L. Stine, my sister loved these books as a kid. I remember her having a growing collection of them. Not me, I've never been into anything that might be horror-like or creepy or intense like that.

But a lot of the 3rd-5th grade students that I'm tutoring love these books. And I say anything that gets kids reading and enjoying themselves must be good. I will admit that I've never read one of the books before though.

Now I had the chance to review the Goosebumps movies. I thought they might be neat, but I knew it would not be appropriate for my toddler. The books are made for older elementary kids, so there is no way my toddler will watch.

I watched the three new DVDs: Monster Blood, A Night in Terror Tower, and One Day at Horrorland. They were really pretty good. They were a little strange and pretty goofy for an adult, but I think kids will love these.

I took them into our tutoring center. The K-3 crowd got to watch 2 of them so far. They LOVE them. The 3rd graders have been reading the Goosebumps books doing our reading times, so they were thrilled to be able to see the movies too.

I would recommend these for 2nd/3rd graders and up, but it just depends on how easily spooked your child will be. There is nothing gory or gross about these. And it will provide lots of Halloween fun!

These are available now, and can be found here.

**Unfortunately I don't have any extras of this set to give away, but go here to win the HIT Favorites: Halloween Spooktacular DVD.

What's going on in here?

That's the new question Zachariah has been asking. He does it in a silly voice, then waits for an answer. Then he'll run out of the room and come back later to ask again. Funny stuff.

So what is going on here? Well, I didn't fall of the face of the earth when my husband left for a 3rd world country. Nope, I'm still here, even though I haven't been around enough to blog.

Friday Matt stayed home with us, wrapped up a few last minute things, and took us out to a nice dinner. Then we headed out early Saturday morning to take Matt to his drop off point, so he could ride with the rest of the team to the airport.

We said our goodbyes and watched him leave. About an hour later, Zachariah said "Zacky miss Daddy" and that's the last I've heard that. He knows that Daddy is going to be in Africa for a while, and he took a BIG airplane to get there. Honestly, Zachariah is handling it really well. We blow a kiss each night towards Africa to Daddy, and he tells him to be safe and I love you.

Matt is now safely in Mali, West Africa. It took them 2 full days of traveling. 3 airplane flights, 1 5-hour bus trip, and a minor car accident later, they are safe and sound at their final destination. It was not fun waking up yesterday hearing that there had been an accident, but everyone and everything was fine. God was certainly in control.

We've kept ourselves busy so far since Matt has been away. I think this week will be fine, it will be next week that we'll be bored and ready for him to get back. But we'll try to find some new things to do.

Saturday we went to a dairy farm where they were having fall festivities. I have a bunch of photos of that. (Matt was able to buy a new camera for his trip, so I could keep this one, yay!) I'll have to do another post soon with photos. We saw animals, pumpkins, rides, ice cream, and other neat things. We also had a picnic lunch and went shopping.

Sunday we had church all morning, then picked up paint supplies, ate lunch, took a nap, and had the small group over. (That involved a little drama from Zachariah too...juice spill while we were talking. Oops.)

And yesterday my sister and her husband came over and helped my paint. We got 2 coats on the living room, and one on the dining room. So today I'll be finishing the dining room, doing trim, and catching a few missed spots.

So, we're keeping busy. Either today or tomorrow Matt's mom is planning to come take us out to lunch. Thursday afternoon my mom is coming over, staying the night, then we're going shopping in Columbus and meeting up with some friends there.

Then I plan to go to my parents' house for the weekend. We have some fun things going on there too. And who knows what else next week will hold.

I just hope that I can actually talk to Matt soon. So far the only communication has been postings to his blog and little bits on Facebook. But we have Skype and I'm hoping we can video conference soon.

Stick around, I hope to post pictures soon. AND I have a Halloween DVD that I need to give away very soon. I will have a drawing, and I won't leave it open for long so the winner can enjoy it before Halloween. Watch for that later today.

This parenting journey...

It's time I step up and admit something. Hi, my name is Mommy Daisy, and I've been a really lazy parent lately.


I've been letting Zachariah watch way too much TV. I'll talk more about this later.


I've been too easy on making him clean up his messes during the day. He does it at night, but I just ignore the toys scattered around when we leave the house or before nap time.


This is not something I didn't know. I could see the laziness sneaking in on me. I knew I was to blame, but I didn't feel like fighting so many battles. I decided to just let some things slide by. But one thing slid by then another then another.


The first problem is my son has way too many toys. I've always had a hard time weeding through them. I don't want to get rid of things that we might be able to use in the future for other kids. And I'd hate to get rid of something that Zachariah would still play with or someone gave him as a gift or whatever. We don't have a lot of storage space in our house, so this is becoming a problem.


And I know with Christmas quickly approaching there will be lots of new toys that we'll need to find a place for. And just over 2 months after Christmas, Zachariah has a birthday and gets even more toys. It's been 2 years of this now, and I am on to the pattern.


I suppose it's easy for our family to buy him lots of things because he is the only "baby". There are still no other grandchildren on either side of the family. So if you want to hear about spoiled...let me tell you. Honestly Matt and I don't often buy him toys. And at holidays and birthdays we hold back, because we know that he'll be getting lots of other things.


The second issue I already mentioned is the television. 6 months ago Zachariah hardly watched TV. And 3 months before that he didn't even really notice if the TV was on. I blame my dad for my son's TV addiction. My parents started him on the Disney movies at their house. Then they bought some Bob the Builder DVDs. He's been hooked ever since. Now he's discovered a love for Dora, Diego, Curious George, Elmo, Barney, Thomas, and others. He goes in spurts as to what he likes to watch. And some of his favorite (and only watched) movies are Cars, Toy Story I & II, Lady & the Tramp (which he refers to as "Doggies"), and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.


Since I recently started reviewing children's DVDs, I've been letting Zachariah watch quite a bit of TV. He wakes up in the morning with a demand of what video he'd like to watch right now. And I've had to set a rule in place that once a movie is started, I'm not exchanging it for another. He doesn't always watch the whole thing, so sometimes its just parts and pieces.


In the last week or so (especially the last 2 days) I've been allowing the TV on all morning. And it's not on for my benefit, oh no, it's on for his. So he's watching television or movies off and on all morning. Now he doesn't sit there like a zombie the whole time, he does play while a movie is on too. But the fact that the television is on for his benefit so much is really starting to get to me.


So in the next few days we're going to instigate "Turn Off the TV Day". I'm playing this by ear. I think we might go cold turkey and say no TV during the day at all. Or I might allow one show in the AM while I'm getting a shower or something. We shall see. But I hope that helps.

I still don't know what to do about all of the toys. We had a nice chat this afternoon about how other kids didn't have as many nice things as he does, so he better start taking care of picking up his own toys. (He does pick up his toys, but he complains the whole time. Or he says "Mommy will do it". Oh no, Mommy won't.) But I think he's a bit too young to understand all of that.

Any ideas about toys? TV? What are your policies? I'd love to hear from you about these issues.

And in the meantime, I'm going to try to be a less lazy parent. I think I'll get plenty of work on that while Matt's away (2 more days) since I want to make sure we have things to keep our mind off missing Matt.

Thomas DVD Winner

I'm drawing a winner for the Thomas & Friends: The Great Discovery DVD.

And the winner is.................

#5 - Cherish at A Girl and Her Blog.

Congrats! That 2nd entry is what won you the prize, because it made you #4 & #5. That and the random number generator that pulled the number 5 for me. He he. Either way, you won and I will need an e-mail from you so I can get your address. Plus send me an e-mail at mommydaisy at blogspot dot com. Thanks.


**If you didn't win, stay tuned. I'm planning another give-away this week for a Halloween DVD that your kids will love.

Baptism, day away, and more

Matt's baptism went well on Sunday. I tried to snap a few pictures, but it was hard to get a good one from where I was sitting. The first one is just as Matt was entering the baptistery. (I'm hoping I can get the photo from the church, see the guy up there taking photos.) The second photo was right before Matt got dunked. And I tried to snap one after that, but I didn't get one. Oh well.





Our family was all there Sunday, so it was nice to spend the day with them. They all came back here for lunch and stayed for a few hours. Then we had cake and ice cream for Matt's birthday. All those people here and all I got was one photo of Zachariah reading books with Grandpa Chuck (Matt's dad). Then my camera informed me that my memory was full, so no more photos. Oh well.

Yesterday Matt and I went out on our own. My parents took Zachariah home with them, so we slept in a bit in the morning. Then we went to Ft. Wayne and shopped around the mall for a while. We ate at Matt's favorite, Red Robin. And we picked up some last minute trip needs at Target. (Oh Target, I love you. Why can't I have one closer to me?)

Only 4 days left until Matt leaves. He's just excited. I'm a bit nervous for him, but in a good way. We're prepared and good to go, and so is he. He is now on a no meat diet for the rest of the week (which is why he chose Red Robin), so I need to make sure I get some things to make quick meatless dinners. (Jana, I owe you a recipe too. I'll try to get that later.) Anyone else interested in seeing our meatless meals? I can post recipes here, I suppose.

So the only thing that deserves worry for Matt's departure is that he's still sick. He's been fighting something for almost a week now. He pointed out that he's had some sinus problems every fall about this time for the last few years. Just the changing weather or something. But his doctor was able to get him an appointment today. If it's something they can help, he'll be able to get medicine to get rid of it quickly.

If you'd like to help pray for Matt and his missions trip and preparation, here is what we're praying for now. 1) Pray that packing and preparations will go well and be done soon for him (pretty much ready) and the rest of the team going with him. 2) Pray away this illness for Matt. He needs to feel better to be able to be a good help to the team and for travelling. 3) Pray that the team will be uplifted and excited this week and have no doubts about what God is doing through them for this trip.

Big stuff

Today is a big day in our house.

First it is Matt's birthday! Happy Birthday Babe! He's approaching 30 quicker than me, and I keep reminding him of that. Ha.

Second, Matt is getting baptized at church. For years now he's talked about being baptized at our church. He was sprinkled as a baby at his parents' church, but it just didn't mean anything to him. He really wanted to do this. So today he will make his proclamation before our church body, friends, and family. I'm so proud of him. I remember my own baptism fondly, and I'm glad that he will have this memory too.

And last of all it is only 6 days until Matt leaves on his missions trip. For those of you who are new here, Matt is going with a team from our church to Mali, West Africa. He's been preparing for this trip for over a year. He is beyond thrilled for this opportunity to serve. He will be gone for 2 weeks. I know that Zachariah and I will miss him terribly, but we are sending him with our love and prayers. This is the experience of a lifetime for Matt, and we are so happy for him.

So today we celebrate. We honor a birthday, cherish a baptism, and say goodbye for a short while to a wonderful man whom we all love dearly. My parents, sister & her husband, and Matt's parents (possibly his sister if she surprises us) are coming to church with us. This is quite a feat since our families are very involved in their own churches. The only other time Matt's parents have been to our church was for the dedication of Zachariah when he was a baby. Matt knows his mom "might" be coming, but his dad is surprising him too. I know it will mean so much to him to have them here.

After church we're all coming back here for dinner. I have things ready to put Chicken Noodle Soup and Beef Stew in the crock pots, crackers, chips, Texas Sheet Cake, and my mom is bringing a Layer Salad. (Remind me to share recipes if you're interested.) I forgot the bread, but I'm going to get my sister to stop on the way back here to get some bread to have with the soup and Matt's favorite ice cream.

Maybe later I'll have some photos to share. I'm hoping I can get one of the baptism itself. And of course I need some family pictures while they are all here.

My parents are taking Zachariah home with them when they leave later. My mom offered to do that, so Matt and I could have a little alone time before he leaves on Saturday. He has Monday off for Columbus Day, so that works out nicely. All I know is he wants Red Robin for lunch. He has a certificate for a free burger, and he will soon be eating vegetarian to prepare his body for his trip. We'll probably just go walk around a mall or something since we'll be in a bigger city. Then we'll pick up Zachariah from my parents before heading home Monday evening.

The rest of this week will be spent finishing preparing Matt for his trip. And we're trying to spend as much time together as possible. I know we'll miss him, yet I'm at peace about it all and looking forward to the fun things Zachariah and I can do while he's away.

DVD Review & Giveaway - Thomas & Friends: The Great Discovery

A new Thomas the Tank Engine movie! Cool! Thomas & Friends: The Great Discovery is out on DVD now. Can you believe that this is Thomas's first full-length feature movie? I was surprised by that.

What better way to promote a new movie than have Pierce Brosnan provide the voice of the narrator. Adding a famous name to a show that many preschoolers already love. It has to be a hit.

Actually, my theory on having Pierce Brosnan on board (I'm hilarious, I know) is to make it more likable for the moms and grandmas who will be buying this video. Ha. If I hadn't known it was Brosnan narrating, I don't think I would have figured it out right away. I only mildly listen when Thomas is on, and the narrator is always a person with an English accent.

In this newest Thomas video we meet a new train, Stanley. But of course the old favorites are present too. Zachariah's personal favorite is Percy (don't ask me why, it just is). Thomas and Stanley have to learn to work together to make life in Sodor better.

Any fan of Thomas will love this new movie. Full of fun, adventure, and new songs too. Of course Thomas is targeted at the preschool crowd, but Thomas has been around so long he has lots of fans.

I don't have much negative to say about Thomas in general. I get tired of it after a short while, because it seems like the same things over and over. But what preschool show doesn't do that, right? And the songs are a little dull, but otherwise Thomas rocks.

This movie is already out, so you can find it at any stores. And you can get it online here. Or you can stick around here, and I'll tell you how you can win your very own copy for free.

**I have a brand new copy of Thomas & Friends: The Great Discovery to give away to you one of my amazing readers. (This is not a Pay it Forward contest.)

All you have to do to enter is leave a comment (be sure your e-mail address is available or at least I have it from before). If you'd like a second entry, you can link to this post on your blog. Then come back here and leave another comment with the link to your blog post.

I will be drawing a winner on Tuesday, October 14th at 12:00 noon EST and announcing the winner here. Best of luck, and stay tuned for more DVD reviews and giveaway.

Quick six

Sarah at No Whey, Mama tagged me for a Twitter meme. I don't know what makes it Twitter-ish now that it's on our blogs, but I'll do it anyway.

I am on Twitter if you want to see me. Go here. I haven't updated in a while, and I should get back to it.

The idea of this meme is to post 6 things that you might not know about me. I share quite a bit here, so I'll try to think of something new.

1. I'm a very optimistic person.

2. I don't like coffee, despite the fact that I worked at a coffee shop for a year. I can make you anything you want, but don't ask me to drink it. (I did try things though, and I can tell a lot about it by the look and smell of it.)

3. One of my all time favorite shows is/was "Full House". I still watch reruns from time to time.

4. Other shows I loved as a kid and still occasionally watch are "Fresh Prince", "Family Matters", "Step By Step", and "Saved By the Bell".

5. I'm a night owl. I'd rather stay up late and sleep in. About half of the time I wake up when Zachariah does, then we start our day.

6. My pizza of choice would be a pan crust with pepperoni, mushroom, onions, olives, and banana peppers. I like other things on pizza too, but that would be my most ideal pizza.

I tag:
Devan at All D's
Clueless But Hopeful Mama
Jana at Dress-Up and Diaper Changes
Emily at Live with David and Katy
Jen at Never Melts
Shelly at Scenic Overlook
And YOU!


The Rules: If you’ve been tagged with the meme game from Twitter, you must post 6 things no one knows about you on your blog. Then you tag 6 more people. (don’t forget to let them know they’ve been tagged.) Leave me a message letting me know that you’ve accepted the tag. Let me know when you’ve posted your list. Have fun!!!

Weekend recap

Umm, OK. I didn't mean to disappear for a week. I'm here, and life is good. We had a really fun weekend. Here are some photos for proof of our excitement.

We attended a Renaissance Festival with some friends of ours. They were really into it and have gone for several years now. We did enjoy the experience and will probably go back again sometime.

Here is a dance that we enjoyed watching. Zachariah loved all the music.

Our friends who went with us.

Zachariah saw this knight statue and went crazy. He wanted out of his stroller right now to see it. Then he sat an posed for several pictures. I'll spare you and just show one.

The royal court...here comes the queen.

Our own little princess and knight in shining armor. Don't they make a cute couple?

I was harassed by a viking. I finally gave in and took a picture with him. Don't mind the goofy face, I couldn't stop laughing at him.

This was completely un-posed. We let the kiddos take a break, and Matt was snapping some photos. Zachariah slowly inched closer to Nadia then leaned in for a kiss. Her mom and I were standing off to the side near her. After he kissed her, she turned to us slowly with the world's biggest grin on her face. We totally cracked up! Priceless!

Zachariah enjoyed a little break to run around and check out the cool things.

Nadia finally gave up and took a bit of a nap. Poor girl couldn't get comfy in her stroller though.

Zachariah decided he was too big for a nap, so he resorted to running around and rolling in the grass to stay awake while a few of us shopped.

On the way home after all this we stopped at a farm stand with pumpkins and other things. I'll save those photos for another day.

My happy place

So, that last post was really a downer, wasn't it? Wow. Pretty heavy. Seriously, though, I appreciate all your advice and input on my situation. Most of you encouraged me to follow my gut/heart. That's what I'm trying to do. But right now I'm a little guarded.

You see, before she sent the e-mail the next day, I was going to wait until Monday and then sent an e-mail putting out some feelers. Well, after the e-mail she sent, I didn't feel like doing that. I still don't. And several of you mentioned waiting a few weeks. I thought I'd want to talk to her sooner than that, but as time goes on I'm leaning towards that anyway.

And yes, you are all right, it was very immature the way she acted. I don't know if I want that in my life. If I do make amends with her, I will always have a more guided approach with her. I know it won't ever be the same again. There is very little that I held back before, but I know now there will be a lot I don't discuss with her.

So, here is my plan of action for now. We'll see what happens. I will wait a week or so, then send my friend an e-mail. I will tell her that I'm upset that we're not talking, and I really miss her and want to know if there is anything I can do to mend things. Then I'll pretty much leave the ball in her court. We'll see where it goes from there.

****
Aaaand, on we go...

Today when getting lunch around for my son, I had a realization. I am pretty happy with my life the way things are. Of course there are things I want to change from time to time, but I'm just happy right where I am. I have a lovely husband who cares so much about me. My son is at a great age where he is learning so many things, is very helpful, and is funny as can be. I just love it. I love being a mom and wife to these two wonderful men. I'm glad that I have the opportunity to do the things that I do.

Every day things may not always be the most fun, but overall it's a good life for me. I'm just plain happy. What more could I ask for?

I'm determined that the rest of my posts this week will be happy happy things. Because that's what I want and need right now. If you know/knew me in real life, you'd see that I'm a very happy person. I usually have a smile on my face no matter what else is going on. That's who I am, and I just want to be me.

The Break Up?

I am feeling really blah. I want to talk about it, but I'm having a hard time forming enough thoughts to pull together that make sense. Does that ever happen to you? No, maybe it's just me.


Usually when I sit down to compose a blog, I do it rather quickly. (Duh, I'm sure you've gathered that from reading my posts.) But I think tonight the only way to share what I'd like to share is to start this post and work on it throughout my evening. Matt is away for the night, and I'll have the house to myself very soon after Zachariah goes to the bed for the night. It will give me plenty of time to think and form my thoughts into a readable blog post.


On Friday afternoon I had a bit of an argument with a close friend of mine. I thought it was just a bit of a disagreement, but she was so mad at me. She made it clear that she didn't want to talk to me again. And basically "broke up" with me, I guess you could say. All of that without me saying a thing. I felt like I was in the back of the room, not seeing anything, and saying "What in the world is going on here?"

We were chatting on IM and in the discussion we were having she started getting really upset with me. Defensive, really. So I told her I didn't want to argue about it right now. Maybe we could discuss it again later. Then I said goodbye and left the conversation. Apparently that pushed her over the edge.

Without any chance for me to explain, she acts as if she's washed her hands of me. She sent a hurtful message to me later when I wasn't around. I was upset, but I thought I'd let her cool off a bit then try to smooth things over. I didn't feel like I did anything wrong, but I didn't want to lose a good friend over such a minor issue. I thought about calling her, but honestly I was afraid she'd yell and scream at me or just hang up the phone. And that would just hurt me more.

So instead I decided to wait and see if we could both calm down and maybe talk about it in a few days. Maybe we could get together again and talk things out in person.

I guess that was not to be. The next afternoon she sent me a truly nasty e-mail telling me not to bother calling her (among other things).

And that's what I've done. I haven't even tried contacting her, because I think it will just make her madder. But I don't understand how she could throw away our 4 year friendship over such a minor thing. So so minor. I don't even understand why really.

There is a battle inside me. Part of my wants to be mean and nasty right back to her. I want to tell her about all the times I was there for her as a good friend, since she felt it was necessary to point out things in my life. I also want to say that she didn't display any sort of good character by being mean and saying all the things she's said to me.

Then my real self says, nope, you don't need to sink to her level. Be the bigger person. Repair the friendship. Apologize (for what I don't know) and try to work through this with her.

That is who I really am. That is what I should probably do. But for now I'm too hurt to even talk to her. I haven't signed into my IM for days. Just seeing her name pop up there once in a while upsets my stomach. I don't know if I want to repair a friendship with someone who could do this again. I'm better than that, and I deserve better than that.

Such a big conflict. So much drama. I'm not about drama. I think that's what's really getting me the most. She's being very dramatic, and I won't do that. It's just now who I am, and it's not who I want to be. We're adults here, let's act like it.

I don't really know what else to say about it. I guess those are my emotions in a nutshell. And I'm open to any advice you might have. Or just tell me what you would/have done in a situation like this.

For now I am praying for my friend. I still love her. I miss the relationship we have/had. I care abour her family, and I have great memories of things we've done together. So, I am praying for patience and guidance and wisdom in this situation.

Also, I have to say...I'm so glad I never told her about this blog. I almost did, because I tell just about everything to this girl. I just didn't know if I could bring myself to tell people about it, and I am very glad I didn't. Now I have somewhere to vent and talk about it and seek other advice.

Barney DVD Winner

Thank you those who signed up to win the free Best of Barney DVD. There weren't too many entries. The rest of you don't like Barney or what?

Anyway, I went to the random number generator and it picked lucky number...

...2! That is Emily at Live with David and Katy.

Congrats Emily! I'm checking now to see if I still have your address. I do, so I will be sending this to you very soon. Enjoy!

For the rest of you, I do have another DVD here to giveaway soon. And I'm also expecting some things before Christmas that I will be reviewing and hopefully a few giveaways too.

Funny stuff from the toddler

Zachariah cracks me up some days. Well, every day to be honest. And some days several times. I should keep better track of all the things he comes up with.

Yesterday he woke up telling me he wanted brothers or sisters RIGHT NOW. He told me that when I got him out of bed that morning. Then as soon as he came out into the living room, he said "Zacky wants brothers and sisters right here" and stuck his little finger on the floor in the middle of the room. Ha. Funny, because we haven't said a whole lot to him about us trying for another baby.

Then later in the day he told me "Brothers and sisters will play wiff Zacky". Aha, so that's why he wants brother and sisters. BUT, I have no idea where he got that idea. We only ever talk about having a BABY brother or sister. We've never talked to him about them being able to play with him. He has come up with that all on his own, and I don't know where he came to that conclusion. Maybe he saw something on TV or heard people talking about that. I don't know.

That evening he told Matt the same thing "Zacky wants brother and sisters now". Funny kid! Little does he know that we're working on it.

Which brings me to an interesting question. When did you tell your children that you were expecting again? Did you let them know right away? Did you wait until after you'd announced it to other people? Or did you not tell them until you started showing and everyone else had known for a while? I have a feeling we may have to wait and be careful what we say around Zachariah once we are expecting. If we don't want other people to know quite yet, he would surely tell everyone. Then they'd all know before we had a chance to tell them. Not sure we want that happening.

OK, and the other story I wanted to tell you was something funny he did tonight. He literally cracked me up. I laughed so hard I was almost crying. He was giggling and doing it over and over to see me laugh. First he wanted me to play my trumpet. Matt just recently showed him our trumpets, and it was the first we've had them out in years. Well, Zachariah was very interested in them. He loves "playing" piano already. So he told me to get out my trumpet and he'd play piano. So I did. I got out my trumpet and played a little for him. And I showed him how to make sounds in it. He tried and tried and did get a few squeaks out of it.

Then I put the trumpet away and I got out my Veggie Tales piano book. I played the theme song for him and sang too. He loved that. So then he'd turn the page and say "Next". I kept playing bits of things here and there and singing. He was thoroughly enjoying himself. Then I got to the "Water Buffalo Song". I asked if he remembered this song (he's been listening to the CD), and he said "uh huh". So I started playing it. Then he says "water buffaloooooooooo" and does that part perfectly. He kept doing it. I didn't know he knew that much of it even! It was so cute and hilarious. For those of you who don't know the song, you have to go listen to it. You'll know what part I mean. I will have to get it on video. Hi-lar-ious! I'm telling you.


***Don't forget to sign up for a free DVD giveaway. This is NOT a pay it forward contests, so there are no strings attached. Not too many signed up yet, so get your name in there.

Please pray with me

Matt's cousin notified us recently about a terrible accident that happened to her friends' young son. I will just cut and paste the message she posted. There is a little here from Matt's cousin, and a message from the father of this little boy. Please pray with me that this boy will be healed. I can't imagine what these parents are going through. They will be waiting in the next few hours to find out if their son still has a chance at life.


****The rest of this is a message from H (Matt's cousin):

One of our very closest friends from **** has a 16 mo old son, Owen, who was involved in a terribly tragic accident this weekend. M*****, Owen's dad, was outside playing at his sister's home with his sons (Owen 16 mo and W**** 4 yrs.) and 3 nieces and nephews. His brother in law was outside with them as well. Little Owen was literally sitting right behind M***** playing with rocks, and M**** was turned toward his oldest son helping him with something else. M**** literally turned around and noticed Owen was gone. It took less than 1 minute for him to "disappear"...but unfortunately over 15 minutes to find him. He had walked around the corner of the house and fallen into a decorative yard pond...that was empty...but had accumulated 3 inches of rain water. They had run past it 20 times looking for him, but somehow didn't see him. When they found him, he was not breathing and totally unresponsive. The doctors told them that medically there is nothing to be done...that it will take a miracle for him to survive. I am asking you to pray for that miracle. Here is copy of an email I sent out to my friends and family this am....

I just wanted to ask you if you would be willing to pray for little Owen again today. Last night I traveled up to **** to be with my friends M**** and J** and visit with Owen. The family is in such need of prayers. Today will be a very critical day. From what I gathered from the doctor's explanation, around noon today will be what is typically considered "the maximum swell period" for Owen's brain. When a near drowning patient has gone without oxygen for as long as Owen did, it obviously deeply effects the brain. When the brain is actually working to heal itself, it tends to swell. Some swelling means things may be healing....too much healing pushed the brain into the skull. If this happens, the brain is signaled to start shutting down the body's organs. To this point, no one knows how much Owen's brain is swelling. The only way to find that out is through a CAT scan, which puts radiation on the brain.... and that radiation causes more swelling. So... needless to say, the doctors didn't want to do a scan until the perfect, critical moment. That will come at about noon today. I am asking that you pray with all your heart specifically for Owen's brain to heal without too much swelling. This is the hurdle to try and cross today. There were times yesterday when he tried to wake up, which could be a positive sign...however, it could be a negative sign as well. The doctor's goal at this point is to keep Owen completely sedated so that his brain does not have to do any "work" at all....because ANY kind of work, even if it seems to be progress, will cause additional swelling. Owen is such a beautiful boy. Looking at him last night, he just looked like he was peacefully taking a nap. Talk about putting my life into perspective....wow.

Please also pray for W****, Owen's 4 year old brother. Unbelievably, yesterday when he was playing outside he stepped on a bee's nest and was stung over 20 times. He is in much pain and very swollen. This family is dealing with so much, any prayers of protection and healing for them ALL would be so appreciated. I will do my best to keep you updated as to how Owen and his family are doing. Below is an email I got from M****, our close friend and Owen's father late last night after I got home. I hope that by sharing it with you, you may see how God is so good...even in hardships...and that He is in total control. Please keep praying that it is in God's will for Owen to recover. Words can not express how thankful I am for you to be praying for our friends. --H****

First, I want to let everyone know how much you mean to me and my family.
We have heard from people across the Country that state that they, their
church, or both are praying for Owen. Today, both J** and I felt a little
peace and hope that Owen was going to make it.

Tomorrow at 11:35 will be
72 hours from the accident. The Dr. and nurses have said that this is a
critical time because if the brain has swollen too much, Owen's organs could
start to deteriorate and things could go downhill quickly. He did wake up
several times today, which is hopeful, but we were told that this could also go
away very quickly. Nobody knows how much his brain is swelling. I
will try my best to update everyone. This is the best way to do it for me
or I would be on the phone for hours. Continue to pray for Owen and our
family.

I want to share something that happened to me today. I spent last
night with W**** as he was still hurting from over 20 bee stings. On the
way to the hospital today, I was thinking that nobody that we had talked to on
the phone or in the hospital knows exactly what we are going through.
Steven Curtis Chapman came to my mind because he lost his 5 year old daughter in
a accident in his driveway. I was wishing that I could talk to him or
someone that had been through this, but ultimately thought it wouldn't happen.
Several hours later, at the hospital, a nurse brought a note to me with a
man's name and telephone number on it. She told me that he called and had
been through a similar accident and would like to talk to me. Not 30
minutes later, another note with the same thing on it was delivered to me.
I put the notes down and had every intention of calling them when I had a
chance. Some time passed and the nurse came in and told me we had another
visitor and his name was D*****. I saw the man walk in, but hadn't a clue
who he was. I went out to greet him and he told me that God had told him
to come to the hospital and pray for Owen and our family. He had lost his
daughter in a drowning accident and was in the room next to ours. We
talked, I shared this story with him, and we prayed. I called the other
man later in the evening and talked to him for over 30 minutes. His story
was almost exactly like Owens and their Grandson survived and is doing well.
They were also in the room next to Owens.

I share this because I used to
look at this and say, it must be a coincidence, but I can honestly say that God
knew I needed these men to come and talk to me. It brought a peace over
me that I have not felt during this ordeal.

Please believe that a miracle will
happen. Please continue to pray for Owen and his recovery. Know
that you are giving us the strength to believe that a miracle WILL happen and
Owen will be back with us in the future.Keep Praying. M****

More about TTC

*What brought all of this up was that I finally had my period last week. Well, we'd been talking about it for a while and planning to start trying to have a baby soon. But my period is very irregular (always has been), and I hadn't had one since June.

*I can still get pregnant with an irregular period...this I know. I hadn't had my period for 2 months when I got pregnant for Zachariah. So, can you ovulate without a period? For me the answer is obviously, yes.

*Matt is really getting excited about me being pregnant again. He talks about it a lot at home now. He thinks a pregnant woman is one of the most beautiful things. And he treated me like a queen when I was pregnant. (Not that he doesn't now, but he really spoiled me. Come to think of it, that will be nice again.)

*Ashley mentioned that her biggest worry while trying to conceive was miscarriage. I agree with that. It took us a while to get pregnant the first time, but one of the things I prayed about was not having a miscarriage. I knew that I could wait longer if I had to, but I didn't want to go through a miscarriage. I know many of you have been through this, and you are stronger women because of it.

*Ashley, Bananafana, Sarah, Kelsey, I'm also right there with the relaxing and chilling out. That's what worked for us the first time. I feel like when I finally relaxed and realized that things would happen on there own, is when I got pregnant. So that is our primary approach this time.

*Jen, Jana, actually I'm not too concerned about ruining things for Zachariah. I don't know if I came across that way, but I'm not worried about that at all. I just know things will change, but I think change is a good thing. In fact, there have been times in my life when I have craved change, and I'm there again.

*And thanks for the idea of reading "Waiting for Birdie". I think I will try to get a hold of a copy of that.

*And thanks to everyone else (wanted to link you all fairly) who encouraged me: Devan, Heidi, Pam, Erica, Mommy Brain, Alli, Kel, Ohio Mom Musings, Shelly, and Jen. All the advice everyone gave to me means so much. And I love all the support of other mothers through this time.

*This could be a long journey. It may be short. I decided to write about it here before it kills me. I know that I will share with you all rather quickly when I am expecting. I just won't be able to keep a secret for long. And I really do appreciate your support so much.

Where there's a will, there's a way.

So in all my blatherings about our weekend things, I remembered something I wanted to write about later. We just signed our wills this weekend.

The main reason we did it (other than just needing it done anyway) is that Matt will be leaving in a month for Africa for two weeks. We want to have all that stuff settled before he leaves...just in case.

Fortunately I have a sister who cares about my son almost as much as I do. We feel very confident in leaving him in her care should something happen to Matt and I. And we know that he would be loved, cared for, and provided for properly by her. That gives us some peace of mind.

OK, now can I tell you that I'm getting terribly nervous that in less than 4 weeks now, my husband will be headed out to a third-world country for two whole weeks? I am. The closer we get, the more nervous I get.

Yet, there is a calm about me. I know that there are plenty of people around to help me out if need be. My parents are only a phone call away, and so are Matt's. And we have many friends here in town that I know I could call upon.

Also, I know my husband will only be gone two weeks. Even though it's the longest that we've ever been apart, I know that many other women are without their husbands for much much longer (like my cousin's wife who is here with their son while my cousin is serving in Iraq right now).

And I know that Matt is going for a good reason. For those of you who don't know, Matt is going with a group from our church on a mission's trip to Mali, West Africa. He's been planning for this trip for over a year now. They will be doing some construction work for a women's and children's hospital there.

I know this will be the experience of a lifetime for him. I know that it will be a growing experience for us both.

I am looking forward to spending some time with my son doing some fun things. I'm hoping to do some outings that we normally wouldn't do. And just a little bit, I'm looking forward to having some alone time in the house when Zachariah's napping or sleeping at night. I know two weeks of that might get boring, but I do appreciate a little extra alone time.

I plan to take a week off from tutoring, so that Zachariah and I can just have time to do things without worrying about getting back for me to tutor. My mom and I want to go shopping in Columbus for a day. Then I'm thinking about spending a weekend at my parents' house. It would be nice to spend time with my family (and we'll visit Matt's parents while we're there) and have a few extra hands to wrangle the toddler.

And lastly I have a worry that Matt will want to return to Africa full time. I'm not saying it would be out of the question for us to go into full time missions work sometime, but it would be a huge change. I know that Matt will come back with a heart for Africa and the people there. (And I won't be surprised if he wants to adopt the adorable triplet girl babies they have in the hospital there right now either.)

I'm sure I'll be talking more about his upcoming trip in the next several weeks. If you're the praying type, we'd really appreciate your prayers now too. Please pray that the group has safe travels over and back. Pray that they are well prepared as they leave. Pray that they will be productive while in Mali. And pray for the families of those traveling.

Something for the weekend

My parents came to visit this morning. It's been several weeks since we've seen them, so it was nice to get together. Then they spoiled us by taking us out to breakfast. (Mmm, I have pumpkin pancakes at IHOP.) And they bought a few fall clothes for Zachariah. Guess that's what happens when you walk into The Children's Place with generous grandparents. All in all a fun morning.

They left early in the afternoon. We watched the end of the Ohio State football game and were happy that our Buckeyes won. Zachariah and Matt both got naps in. While they were napping, Matt's father called. He was on his way home and passing by our house in a few hours. So he ended up coming over and taking us out for dinner. The good news is that I finally got to eat at our new Panera Bread. (I love that place and just hadn't gotten there yet.) The better news is that I'd already had something in the crock pot, so we'll have an easy lunch tomorrow after church. And the best is we got some bagels for breakfast in the morning too.

What made my weekend, though, was a big milestone we had with Zachariah. He has always taken a pacifier since he was a teeny little one. He got his first one when he was in the special care nursery at a few days old. (I would have waited a little to introduce one, but the nurses gave it to him.) Anyway, at about 9 months old I had him down to only using the pacifier at night. I had every intention to take it away at about 1 year. But I knew it soothed him to sleep for naps and bedtime, so I let him keep it. He was such a good sleeper, and I was really afraid to ruin that. Our doctor said he should be rid of it by 2 years old. I was hoping that he'd give it up on his own before then. But he continued to use it at bedtime and nap time.

We've tried so many times to convince him to give it up. We've even offered to trade it to things. Or we've asked him if he'd like to give his pacifiers to babies. Nope, never worked. This has gone on for over a year. We keep trying every once in a while. He always gets really upset about it, so we give in and give it back. I knew he wouldn't still have a pacifier when he was in school.

Last night we were getting Zachariah into bed and couldn't find his pacifier. I lifted up his blankets, and he searched all over his crib. I said, "Uh oh, I don't know where it is." He didn't seem too alarmed by that, which was surprising. Then I spotted it all the way under his bed (where he couldn't see it). But I thought Let's try this. "I know what happened to your paci. I bet the Paci Fairy came and took them to the babies who needed them. You're not a baby anymore are you?"

"No," he says with big wide eyes.

"Well, I guess she needed more for the babies. But that's OK. You don't need a paci anymore. You're such a big boy."

"Zacky, Big Boy!"

"I know. And you know what? It's time to go to sleep. We'll have to be quiet so the babies can sleep too. Good night, love."

With that I laid him down in his bed and snuggled him in with all his blankies and stuffed animals as always. Just no pacifier in his mouth. He did ask for music, so I turned on the radio. A fair compromise I think.

Would you believe he never shed a tear? No whimper. No protests. Just went to sleep. I couldn't believe I just pulled that off! I thought it was too good to be true. My baby really is growing up.

I think we had an advantage, because it was already a late bedtime and he was tired anyway. I thought he'd probably wake up in the night looking for his pacifier, but he never did. So after he'd been asleep for a while and no protesting took place, I made him a little card with stickers and confetti from the "Paci Fairy". Then there were 2 sheets of stickers for his reward.

He loved getting that this morning. He was so proud of his stickers and he stuck them all over the card. I made a big deal about what a big boy he was. He kept talking about the babies that took his pacifiers. Ha ha. He didn't quiet get all the reasoning, but the idea worked.

He took a nap this afternoon with no problem and again went to bed tonight. It only takes him a minute to remember that his pacifiers are for the babies, and then he's done looking. (Oh and I snuck in there this morning and cleared them all out of his room. I think in the morning I'll throw them away.)

I am proud of my Big Boy and tonight when I put him to bed he looked so grown up to me. There was no baby there. My baby has been replaced.