Catching up

We've had a series of busy days in our little family! Here's a quick catch-up as to our doings the past few weeks . . .

Clive received yet another hair cut
Matt is an officer of the hair-cut police apparently. Clive's hair was getting squirrelly around the ears so Matt whipped out the clippers. He did a great job on the cut but Clive is looking too much like a big boy and not enough like a baby these days.























Yard sale success!
Though we didn't rake in mountains of profits, we DID succeed in getting rid of loads of stuff. Even after selling our unwanted possessions, our car was full of discarded items to donate to our local thrift store. Feels so good to have fewer stuff-filled-bins in our basement.

Chloe made about $10 in lemonade and cookie sales. She was SO ADORABLE that not many yard sale patrons could resist her. She even had a little friend over on Friday and they BOTH sold lemonade in their princess garb!!! Too cute!

And big thanks to all of you for the great yard sale tips!

My general observation is that I'm way too cheap a person to hold a yard sale. It was a nice way to purge our household of stuff but I am a horribly low-pricer. I firmly believe that yard sales should be cheap and hence most of our items were priced under $1. (Check out the cool display contraption Matt built!)

That being said, we still think it was a very positive experience. It was a beautiful weekend weather-wise and I got to chat with several neighbors both days. That in itself was a huge bonus! I don't know about your schedule, but ours seems rather hectic during the school year. We seem to flit here and there without spending much time invested in the lives of our neighbors and community.

Also interesting to see the various characters that attended our small sale. The funniest was a lady who haggled with me over every single item she bought. C'mon, as if my stuff wasn't cheap enough already! Of course I gave in. I'm no tough salesperson.














Pittsburgh zoo trip
In a word, the Pittsburgh zoo is AWESOME! I highly recommend it as a family and kid-friendly zoo. We did the zoo in two days and saw it all. They have your traditional zoo-ey animals including all the cool African ones but they also boast some unique zoo sights. The onsite aquarium was a definite highlight for us all. It's small enough to hold the attention of little ones and yet big enough to showcase a variety of sea creatures. Faves were the stingray pool with tunnel, the 2 story high fish tank with sharks, and the rockfish (ok, that was mainly just my fave).

The kids kingdom was fantastic! Well-planned with unique playground stops throughout it was like a mini-zoo in itself. Wide variety of animals too. We saw sea lions swimming, deer, owls, an alligator, kangaroos, a skunk, sheep, and a camel.

By far the best element of the zoo trip was the fact that we were all together and AWAY from home. Without the distractions of computer and work we were all fully engaged in the time together. We're already planning our next mini-family-getaway!

Check out all the pictures of our trip here.

























Website project completion
Not much to report here but after hours upon hours upon hours of work I finally completed and successfully published a website for a small church in Wisconsin. Whew! It was a frustrating and rewarding journey. I love the design process of website production but I'm such a hacker that it's always a long series of trial-and-error before I have a finished product.

With that disclaimer firmly in mind, check out the website for tree of life ministries here. I'd love your feedback and helpful comments!

Flowers and garden in bloom
No photos of the garden yet as it's really just unexciting seedlings right now. My ingenious hubby built me a unique raised garden bed that's perfecto for planting shallow-rooted veggies. So, we're doing cabbage, romaine and two other types of leaf lettuce. Also tomatoes, basil and mint in pots. All thanks to my wonderful master gardener friend! She provided me with the seeds and seedlings and is constantly available to answer my lame-o questions. :)

This year we have irises for the first time ever. What gorgeous blooms! The first batch is a deep purple; I can't get over how symmetrical and intricate the flower head is! As Chloe gets older we'll definitely do some informal study on flower anatomy and pollination as the iris is such a large visual for such things.

And our peonies are blooming! I can't tell you how much we love the ease of perennial flowers. It's especially exciting to anticipate how many more flowers we get each summer. This year we got 10-12!



What flowers are you growing this year?

I'm not supermom

Somedays I feel like I must be supermom. Today was not one of those days.

After a morning outing with the kids to the gym for a workout, I fell asleep on the couch while Chloe watched 2 episodes of Wonder Pets (gotta love those cute singing animals). I took a nap this afternoon and Matt gave me the night off from dinner-cooking. Dinner consisted of microwaved lean pockets accompanied by carrot sticks and orange slices. :)

We've had a series of busy days and today it all caught up with me. I'm so thankful that I don't HAVE to be supermom to be loved or accepted by my family (or by God for that matter).

I wonder . . . do you all feel the supermom pressure too? I think stay-at-home mamas might feel that pressure more than others. Since we're at home all the time we think we should be doing lots of extra work. I reason that I should prove that I'm working just as hard as all those moms who "go to work". Do you agree or disagree?

Hello, caring for, feeding, clothing, and cleaning two children while maintaining a basic level of tidiness in my home is plenty of work for me! Why do I also endeavor to sew my own clothes, make homemade-everything from bread to yogurt to laundry detergent, and grow my own organically fertilized lettuce?

I'm sure a big part of this do more pressure is a part of my latent human nature. It's totally contrary to my nature to stop and rest. BUT I'm reminded on a slow-paced day like today that I can do NOTHING good in my own strength. Anything good that comes from me is straight from Jesus.

Today felt good. Slowing down and enjoying the kids and my hubby without worrying about all that I've accomplished or not accomplished was intoxicating. Ahhhh. I pray God gives me more non-supermom days like today!

Freedom

As Memorial Day weekend is upon is, tonight I find myself meditating on the idea of freedom. Admittedly I'm not much of an American patriot. Granted, like most folks I tear up when I sing God Bless America (which we did at church this morning) and I am deeply thankful for the incredible sacrifices our soldiers are making overseas. But I certainly don't think there is anything inherently special or magical out the U.S.A.

I'm pondering freedom. Not just the freedom to live in safety, speak without fear, and worship openly (though I am VERY thankful for those freedoms and the American lives cost in defense of those rights). But I'm thinking more tonight of the spiritual freedom I have in Jesus.

In our church the last two Sundays the pastors have hammered on this essential nature of the gospel of Jesus. That we can do NOTHING good enough to earn a place in heaven. Nothing. And though I'm certain most Christians would ardently agree with that simple truth, I'm not sure we live that way. I know I don't! I often trust in and even boast in the outward good works I do to serve and invest in my family. And then I find myself running fruitlessly like a hamster in a wheel thinking I must do more, be better, try harder. In the midst of those pressures I hear Jesus beckoning, "Rest, my child. Sit at my feet, stop your busy-ness and be here with me."

The gospel says I'm free -- not just from the penalty of sin (which I honestly don't think about most days) but also from the pressure of trying to be good enough. What a heavy burden it is to try and try all your life to be good enough when good enough can never be attained. For what is "enough" good to satisfy a totally perfect and holy God?

Pastor Begg this morning shared this paragraph written by Charles Spurgeon who sums up this idea powerfully:

The Psalmist was wise, he rested upon nothing short of the Lord's work. It is the Lord who has begun the good work within us; it is he who has carried it on; and if he does not finish it, it never will be complete. If there be one stitch in the celestial garment of our righteousness which we are to insert ourselves, then we are lost; but this is our confidence, the Lord who began will perfect. He has done it all, must do it all, and will do it all. Our confidence must not be in what we have done, nor in what we have resolved to do, but entirely in what the Lord will do. [Morning and Evening, May 23]

I'm so thankful that Jesus has freed me from the pressure of being good enough for heaven. Of course that doesn't mean I shouldn't try to do good (hello, Ephesians 2:10) and to make an impact on my family, my community and my world for Jesus' sake. BUT I can rest knowing that at the end of my life my eternity doesn't depend on whether the good stuff outweighs the bad stuff. Jesus died so that I get a free ticket in (and you KNOW how I like all-things-free).

And that freedom gets me excited!

In need of yard sale tips

For some strange reason the people of Ohio say "Yard Sale" and not "Rummage Sale". They also call "string cheese" cheese sticks and a "grilled cheese sandwich" here in Ohio is more commonly known as a toasted cheese sandwich. Weird.

Regardless of what it's called we're holding a get-rid-of-stuff sale in our front yard this Friday and Saturday.

We're all getting pumped about the experience but now that it's looming closer I'm slightly nervous. I've never held a yard sale before. Hence I call on you for . . .

HELP!

Chloe is primed to sell lemonade and cookies during the sale. And I'm sure Clive will try to wreak havoc wherever possible. Which might mean he'll have to be removed from the premises.

What vitally important tips would you share with me for my upcoming yard sale experience?

And we're off!

Matt is now officially done with his semester of teaching at Kent State University! Woo-hoo! I love being married to a teacher.

And tomorrow we're off on a much-needed mini-vacation to Pittsburgh to visit their highly-acclaimed zoo. Well, I don't know how highly-acclaimed it is but it was featured as one of the top ten zoos in the country in my last Parents mag. Supposedly they have an extraordinary kids area and an incredible aquarium.

The Pittsburgh zoo website gave some terrific tips for planning a visit. Lesson plans and activities are linked and broken down by age bracket. The teacher in me got vvvvvvvvvery excited. I highly recommend their resources for summer zoo trips with your kiddos. Also check out enchanted learning's website for a huge assortment of printable worksheets. I've got several coloring pages attached to a clipboard for Chloe to use as we walk through the zoo tomorrow.

We're pumped! And exhausted from the packing and planning. Can it be that we have a trunk full of stuff to take for just ONE night away from home?!? It's slightly ridiculous. But I don't think we've packed anything superfluous.

I'm ansy to see the polar bear exhibit tomorrow. According to the website, there's an underwater tunnel visitors walk through and you see the bears swimming above you. Now that's something you don't see every day!

What animals do you and your kids enjoy seeing at the zoo?

Blackberry smoothies

Today started out slowly for me. I was weary and unmotivated. (I'd blame my thyroiditis but it could very well have just been that I'm weary from chasing after two kids. I don't know HOW moms of more than two do it!)

After coloring with the kids awhile this morning, I loaded Clive up in the stroller and we all took a walk. The Vitamin-D filled sunshine always helps lift my mood. We had a nice walk to the drug store and then we stopped at Dairy Queen to share an ice cream cone between the three of us. On the way home we even snagged a kid-sized plastic table someone had left curb-side. I'm sure we were quite a sight to see. Me struggling to carry the table while pushing Clive's stroller and Chloe walking beside us with a new-found walking stick about 5 feet tall. :)

We then had a simple lunch and I tried out a new blackberry smoothie recipe. Clive went crazy on his smoothie and resorted to chugging it instead of using his spoon. He's such a cute and messy eater! Chloe ate her smoothie a bit more slowly and I warned her sternly NOT to let Clive get a hold of her cup. He's snatchy and quick when it comes to grabbing what he wants. I'm not usually a huge stickler about keeping clean at the lunch table but this particular smoothie was blackberry heavy and a VERY dark purple.

While they finished up their lunches, I ran upstairs to use the bathroom (am I the only mom who completely neglects her own bladder until it's an emergency?) and was gone for a few minutes. Suddenly I heard Chloe's panic-filled voice calling for me as she raced up the steps.

When I came down I discovered the reason for her panic. Chloe had left the table to play and Clive reached her smoothie cup and DUMPED it all over the carpet below. I sat down on the floor and cried. It was one of those moments that struck a raw nerve. I cried for awhile and scolded Chloe angrily. Poor girl. I apologized to her later and spent some extra-snuggly time with her tonight. I'm so thankful little kids are such quick-forgivers!

Clive didn't know how to handle my crying. He stared for a few moments and then when he saw Chloe jump in my lap to hug me he came racing over too. That was an incredibly sweet moment. His darling little smile and whole-bodied hug melted my heart immediately.

Anyways, I scrubbed and scrubbed and scrubbed some more using first water and then two different carpet cleaners. And surprisingly the dark purple blotch is almost completely gone!

After some much-needed naps for everyone the day got much better. Now I'm looking forward to a bath, Bible reading, and an early bedtime. Whew. This is one day I'm glad is almost over.

What's your worst stain story?

Is googling considered cheating?

Hope you all had a swell mother's day!

We celebrated as we usually do on holidays -- with special food. Somehow food is always the centerpiece of our family traditions. :)

After a tiring but fun morning serving in the church nursery (sixteen 13-18 month olds sure kept me busy!), we all napped and then Matt grilled some t-bone steaks for dinner. I told myself I wasn't going to cook but I did. I made homemade bread, diced buttery potatoes, spinach/blue cheese salad, and peach cobbler to round out the special meal. Chloe and Clive DEVOURED the steak and Chloe declared, "this is the best supper I've ever had, mama!" Can you tell we don't eat steak much?

The kids both were in bed by 7 and I enjoyed another kind of treat while they rested and Matt worked. I sat on the porch and worked the Sunday crossword puzzle all by myself! What joy and bliss! And thankfully the puzzle wasn't that hard this week (did you try it yet, ma?) so I nearly finished it on my own. Finally, I had to google 4 or 5 clues in desperation to complete the puzzle.

C'mon, I had to use google! There's no way I would have learned that Perth is a city located on the Swan River or that asahi is a Japanese brew without my faithful friend, google! And it isn't truly cheating because I didn't look up the answers in the newspaper. Right?

What did we do before google?!?

Today Chloe drew me a sweet card, Clive was his usual darling snuggly self, and Matt bought me a lovely lilac bush in lieu of the traditional mother's-day-flowers. Yay!

Wish I could have delivered hugs and kisses to my mom, grandma, and mother-in-law today! Oh well, good thing I have 364 more days in the year to demonstrate my love and appreciation of these amazing ladies.

How did you celebrate the ocassion and honor the mothers in your life?

Stupid choices

Since becoming a mom I've become much less impulsive in my decision-making. I usually consider the options and try to make the wisest, safest, cheapest choice possible.

Not so in the past few days. I abhor the word stupid. It's so harsh-sounding and mean. Lately I've earned the stupid label for my rash choices.

On our way to Bible study Thursday morning we were running a little late (we're almost always running late) and I sighed when I saw the last light in our journey turn red just as I reached it. I stopped and waited. I finished applying my lipstick and we waited some more. It felt like ages for the light to turn and since the road is under construction I reasoned that maybe the traffic light was broken. I inched forward and once the traffic cleared I proceeded through the intersection. As I coasted across the street out of the corner of my eye I saw the light change to green. No biggie I thought, I drove the last block to church and then I saw a very different set of lights. And they were flashing. Arrggh! Yup, I earned myself a traffic citation for running a red light. Even though I cried (the tears were very sincere, believe me!) the kind officer still issued me a ticket. That was stupid choice #1. And of course then I was upset and blubbery all through Bible study. The worst part though was explaining to Chloe that I broke the law. Talk about feeling like a rotten mama! In the moment it was trying but of course I realize now the value in it. I got to modeling in front of Chloe how to apologize and take consequences when I made a bad choice.

Stupid choice #2 came yesterday afternoon when I hastily searched priceline for a cheap hotel rate for our upcoming family mini-vacation to Pittsburgh. After seeing some higher-than-desirable prices I decided to go the "name my own price" route. I should have listened to my inner warnings as I read the non-refundable no cancellations policy but instead I dashed ahead. I was pumped to see the results come back - a classy downtown hotel room for only 50 bucks! My heart sank however when I realized that parking isn't included. And there's no complimentary breakfast or swimming pool. Arrggh again! Thankfully, Pittsburgh is not Chicago and overnight parking will only cost $10. And there's a McD's nearby so we can score a cheap kid-friendly breakfast there.

I'm thankful God shows me my stupidity and reminds me of His unfailing love and waiting forgiveness. I'm still His child and He'll always gather me into His arms with comfort even when I fail. I certainly need to be humbled before realizing the depth of my need for Jesus!

What foolish decisions/choices have you made of late? Have any of you been pulled over with your kiddos?

Online travel tips

My dear wise blogging friends, do you have suggestions for me on booking hotels online? We're trying to plan a short mother's day family rendezvous in Pittsburgh and I'm not having much success. As usual, we're doing it all on the cheap. We're planning to visit the amazing-sounding Pittsburgh zoo (we can get in for free with our Cleveland zoo membership card) and we hope to score a cheap hotel room for the night. With free breakfast and indoor pool of course. :)

Specifically . . .
1. What website/s do you use most often for travel planning?
2. Are there particular days of the week to search online for the best deals?

Thanks for your help!

Picking kay-boos

Since today was a lovely spring day, I packed up the kids in the sit-n-stand stroller and we embarked on a monster walk. We went to the drug store, library, post office, and park before heading home. Quite the outing.

Several times I asked myself, "Why did I do this again?" Like when Clive stunk up the children's dept. at the library (which has NO changing table or baby-friendly changing area) and I decided to change him on the floor amidst the nonfiction stacks. That was fun. Especially when I went to wrap up the diaper and in that millisecond he found the dvds and proceeded to knock 10 of them down in one blow. And while I cleaned that up he went like a homing pigeon for the junior mints in my purse and dumped them all out. Really fun.

On the way home from the park I enjoyed the breeze and as is our usual habit Chloe and I admired and talked about flowers. As we strolled past a vacant office building and noticed several lilac bushes in bloom. We snagged a few to take home and Chloe said to me, "Mommy, are we making a kay boo?" After questioning her repeatedly I finally realized she was trying to say bouquet. Some words must sound so strange to a three year-old brain!

Hope you're enjoying the springy flowers and making your own kay-boos! What flowers are blooming where you live?

Date night suggestions?

Matt and I get a date night this Friday night!!!!

My girlfriends and I have recently organized a babysitting swap service. Since we don't have family in the area and we can't afford babysitters Matt and I very rarely get date nights.

Through our swapping system we'll watch each other's kiddos for credit and then cash in for some much-needed couple time. A win-win situation for all of us!

Our date night is approaching fast and Matt and I still don't have a gameplan. We hoped to go putt-putt golfing but the weather forecast is calling for thunderstorms. We'll most likely eat dinner at home with the kids and then sneak away for 3-4 hours.

We're thinking a movie and then maybe dessert somewhere. Any recommendations for movies? I am so out of touch with movies that I don't know what's playing besides Wolverine. Which we might end up seeing. :) Romantic, eh? We're weird that way. We like a good action-packed movie if we're going to shell out the money to see a flick on the big screen.

Any other suggestions for an on-the-cheap date?

A love hate relationship

I admit it. I have a love hate relationship with my kitchen. Tonight I'm verging on hate . . .

After the kids went down this afternoon I embarked on a marathon cooking spree. In 3 hours I whipped up peanut butter cheesecake brownie babies (for a pal's bday treat), honey mustard oatmeal bread, spinach cheese rice, spinach feta pie (for dinner tomorrow night), and now a turkey is roasting. Most of those entrees are for a needy friend's family. I volunteered to make a meal for them this week.

I truly enjoy cooking and experimenting with new recipes. Usually I thrive on the challenge of creating a weekly menu that's within our limited budget, maximizes fresh produce, provides the nutrients we need, and is tasty and appealing to all. And I'm learning that's a very tricky thing to do.

But tonight after hours of coordinating dishes, preparing ingredients, washing dirty bowls, and reading recipe instructions I'm beat.

My husband took one look at the messy kitchen (despite my efforts to continually keep washing dishes the dirty pots and pans inevitably conquered my counter space) and said, "Let's order pizza tonight." I love my husband. :)

What recipes have you enjoyed cooking and eating lately?

Some silly questions

My frazzled brain has been going in several directions lately. (I have a feeling that's the new normal for my thinking patterns. My reading habits are following suit. I have 4 books going right now and I hop from one to another during my nightly reading time.) Blog post ideas often pop into my head but then they just as quickly pop out again. :)

Instead of the usual blog post, I feel like asking you some random life questions. Just an informal query on what you all do, think, and live to satisfy my strange and curious mind.

1. Does everyone have a Wii but me? What's the big deal with those contraptions? I've never even seen one but I hear about them constantly.
   
2. How in the world do you cook with tomatillos? I tried and failed disastrously this week.
3. What food is your personal weakness? Mine is without a doubt cheese. I must eat it daily.
   
4. Do you paint your toenails?
5. HOW do you make time for mending?!? I have an immense mountain (not merely a pile) of small mending projects that are just not getting done.
   

All right, I've ignored my chattering son long enough so that's all the questions you get. I look forward to reading your answers, dear blogging friends!

Chloe at "school"

It really is astonishing to see the natural leanings and tendencies these children of ours possess. Chloe is extremely into drawing, imagining, singing, and telling stories. Clive is extraordinarily social, curious, destructive and mechanical. Maybe he'll grow up and operate a wrecking ball. :)

Chloe has a myriad of pretending games in which she plays various roles. "Mary" is a popular character for mimic at our house. At Christmas time Chloe donned a towel on her head and stuffed a pillow under her shirt to travel to Bethlehem. More recently she played Mary weeping at the empty tomb of Jesus. Sometimes she is Mary who had a little lamb and brings her pet to school. I think in her 3 year old mind Mary is all of those characters wrapped into one. :)

Other pretending scenarios have come and gone. Rescuing animals ala WonderPets style; planting and tending her garden; getting married and caring for babies; and playing Snow White in which she enlists me as her housekeeper (ironic, isn't it?) are all options in Chloe's pretending games.

By far though, her favorite imagining game involves school and teaching. When we came across an old-school metal desk at a yard sale this weekend I KNEW we had to have it. The new desk has jumpstarted Chloe's motivation! I had begun a simple phonics program with Chloe last fall but quickly backed off when I saw her love for learning turn sour. At the time it was obvious I was putting too much pressure on her.

But now the desk has worked some learning magic! Chloe sat at her desk and did workbook pages all afternoon! I simply read the instructions on each page to her and then gave her time to work. We are whizzing through that preschool workbook! And yesterday she uncharacteristically let Clive sit in her desk so she could be the teacher. (See video below - be sure to notice how the inattentive student tries to eat the crayon.)

In her unique cute way, Chloe reminded me when she'd had enough. After several workbook pages that involved tracing and writing numbers (a difficult task for her motor skills) she flipped the page to see yet another section of tracing. She looked at the page, looked back at me and then . . .

"Ding-a-ling-a-ling!" Chloe chimed loudly.
"What's that?" I asked quizically.
"School's over! Time for lunch!" Chloe replied and hopped down from the desk.




What tools and tricks get your kids excited about learning?

Happy birthday, Shauna!

I'm feeling rather old today. Today my little sister turns 30!

Happy Happy Birthday, Shauna!

My sister lives in one of the most beautiful places on earth - New Zealand. But right now I'm wishing she were stateside so we could celebrate with her. I'd give her 30 spankings. Followed by 30 loving sisterly hugs. And then 30 pinches in the rear. :)

In honor of your milestone, Shauna, I've made a list of 30 traits and memories of you that I love. (These are not in order of priority. They just popped into my frazzled brain in this weird order.)

1. Your spunkiness
2. Watching Back to the Future II with you over and over and over again (MUCK-FRY!). That will always be my favorite one in the trilogy because of the fun times we had watching that together.
3. Your infectious laugh
4. How you go out of your way to get to know Matt and include him wholly in our family.
5. Your thoughtfulness of others
6. Your silly blow-fish face
7. Watching you shine as the witch in Into the Woods. You stole the show!
8. Your hard work ethic
9. Playing cribbage with you and grandpa
10. Your crafty creative spark
11. Your willingness to play with Chloe & Clive and throw them around like monkeys
12. Your ability to look cute in ANYTHING you put on - especially hats (I'm more than a little envious of that one)
13. Thrift-store shopping at Value Village with you for hours on end
14. Your creative and adventurous cooking
15. Enjoying crumbled blue cheese over sour cream on a crisp salad with you. Where in the world did we cultivate a taste for blue cheese?!
16. Your acceptance and respect for our family and home
17. Jumping out to surprise you at the Auckland airport. The look on your face was priceless!
18. Singing with you in high-school musicals. Being in the barbershop with you in Music Man is my favorite musical memory. We kept those harmonies tight.
19. Your mad carpenter-skillz (Do you know how many people compliment the pedastals you made for us when they walk in our home?!?)
20. The time you got mad at me for something and you put all the glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling of our room but purposely left the quadrant above my bed empty. Ha!
21. Cooking and making guacamole with you
22. Watching the LOTR trilogy with bonus features on my teensy weensy tv. Yikes, that was torturous but fun. :)
23. Hearing you sing I Dreamed a Dream while I accompanied you on the piano
24. Doing a DIY wedding with you - thanks for your work on the bridesmaids' necklaces, my tiara thing, and the invites. You were a splendid maid of honor. You almost upstaged me. Good thing I had my faux tan to keep me looking cute. :)
25. Clothes-swaps in college. I vividly remember the mountains of clothes in our room and Aaron prodding us to wrestle.
26. Your travel guiding and planning ability (Our NZ vacation was incredible! I still can't believe how many sights we saw in such a short amount of time.)
27. Jumping on the bed with you to Green Day music
28. Soaking up the sun together with ma on our graduation cruise. Ahhh. Though I should have listened to you and worn sunscreen. My face is paying the price today.
29. Your extreme list-making and organization (Do you still make lists of lists?)
30. Your genuineness and honesty

Love you, Shauna and happy birthday. Welcome to the next age bracket! :)

New car for Chloe?

Chloe has been progressively waking up earlier as the sun shows it's cheery face earlier in these spring mornings.

Since both Matt and I like to get up before the kids (he's way more consistent about that than I am - I blame that on my thyroiditis but it could just as easily be my laziness) we NEED Chloe to stay put until at least 7:30 to make the most of the morning time.

Matt came up with the brilliant idea of getting Chloe her own alarm clock. He set the alarm for 7:30 and until she hears that alarm bell she is not allowed to get out of bed.

I was skeptical at first but we are talking about Chloe here and not your average preschooler. Chloe is the girl who didn't realize she COULD get out of bed without permission until she was 3 years old. (Don't worry, I'm positive Clive will make up for his sister in that area.)

This morning the alarm-clock-method worked perfectly! Just like clockwork (sorry, couldn't resist the pun) I heard Chloe wake up near 7 and then she talked and sang until the alarm rang. Then she hopped out of bed and came downstairs.

As Matt left for school yesterday he told Chloe that he was going to buy her a special mystery gift.

Chloe: "What gift will you buy me, Daddy?"
Matt: "It's a surprise! Here's a hint. It goes 'beep, beep, beep!'"
Chloe: (after thinking a while) "A new car for me, Daddy?"

I don't think so. :)

How do you regulate your kids' waking times?

We made it!

Whew! Today was quite a busy day for our little family. Believe it or not I only got two photos of our adorable Easter-dudded darlings this morning. (Don't worry ma, I'm going to dress them up again and do an Easter reshoot.) Both the kids looked extra sweet this morning and the nursery workers uttered a unified "Awwww" when they saw Clive in his blue striped tie and pants.

As we scrambled to get out the door this morning on time I thought to myself, "No biggie. I can snap their pictures after church." No way that was happening! Our church was bursting at the seams today and we made a mad dash for the car after picking Clive up from nursery.

The title of this post refers to our endeavors with Chloe in church this morning. I expected our church worship service to be exceptional this morning as they planned a full orchestra, choir, and special soloists (the Gettys) to celebrate Resurrection Sunday. I REALLY wanted Chloe to experience the special music so we let her sit in the service with us. I prepped her with what to expect and we even practiced the Getty Easter hymn See, What a Morning for the past two weeks so she would be able to sing along. Chloe did fine through the singing and even the first 20 minutes of preaching. Then she got restless. But she made it through!

How many of you keep your kids with you through the service?

Our pastor did a great job this morning addressing the evidence of the resurrection of Jesus. He pointed out that there is an abundance of historical, rational and empirical evidence showing that Jesus did indeed rise from the dead. But, our pastor noted, the radical change in the disciples' lives affirm that Jesus was truly who He claimed to be. They began as confused cowards and became bold proclaimers of Jesus. (Pastor Begg said it way better than I'm summarizing here and honestly I didn't hear that much since I was focused on keeping Chloe occupied and quiet.)

I invite you to listen to our service this morning via this link. The music was stirring and the atmosphere was joyful as we celebrated the hope we have in Jesus!

A happy happy Easter to all of you!

Egg-stravaganza

I got a bit snap-happy today as the kids hunted for Easter eggs. There's just something indescribably adorable about little ones discovering eggs and I delightfully strove to capture their cuteness on camera.

After a yummy breakfast of pancakes (you have GOT to try this overnight pancake recipe), sausage, and fruit Matt sneaked outside to hide eggs in our yard. Matt excels at hiding things creatively and did a smashing job making the kids really search for their eggs.

As in everything Chloe and Clive approach things from completely different perspectives. At first Clive excitedly grabbed the eggs and put them in his purple basket. After three eggs, that got old. He then decided the eggs looked very much like balls and wanted to be thrown. And then he stepped on his eggs. What a BOY.

Chloe enthusiastically galloped around the yard looking and snatching up eggs. She ran as fast her little legs could carry her towards egg after egg. Apparently she was too excited to notice that she wasn't competing with anyone else for the treasured eggs. :)

The cutest part was when she found the one egg I had purposely left empty. We've been listening to the cd A Very Veggie Easter all week and doing lots of other Easter teaching activities so she knows exactly what that empty egg signifies. She opened it and cried out, "Mommy, look! He is not here, he has risen!"

Then after lunch Chloe and I ventured out to our city's annual Easter egg hunt at a local park. What mayhem! I've never been to a community egg hunt before and though it was well organized the zillions of kids present made me dizzy. Thankfully there was a fantastic (if not crowded) playground nearby where we could play a bit before the egg hunt began.

So misleading to call it an egg hunt. More like an egg free-for-all. They split up the age groups by year and then drew a large circle in an open field. When the announcer said go, the three year olds all clamored inside the circle to pick up the goodies. In a matter of seconds all the Easter loot was collected by grabby preschoolers. Surprisingly, no one was injured and Chloe gathered a good haul of candy.

Because of the egg-stra excitement today and added sugar intake Chloe didn't nap this afternoon. And this mama is TIRED out. I'm off to bed early so I can be prepared for the big celebration tomorrow. Don't want to be left with egg on my face. I'm no spring chicken you know. :)

(Sorry, the more tired I get the funnier dumb puns seem to be.)

Thoughts for your Good Friday

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. - 1 John 4:10 [NASB]

How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory




Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

How Deep the Fathers Love for Us - Fernando Ortega

A big huge chocolate bunny

We're not normally big on candy in Easter baskets but this year Chloe is getting a humongous chocolate bunny thanks to her mad coloring skills! This is the SECOND year Chloe has taken home the big prize in the world-renowned Discount DrugMart Easter coloring contest.

Discount DrugMart is literally around the corner from our home. We walk there several times a week and as my mom says, we spend our money there to help stimulate the economy and support local business. :) We know the DrugMart worker ladies by name and they in turn have enjoyed watching both Chloe and Clive grow.

Apparently the judges really liked the green sun Chloe drew in the background. :) I was impressed that she wrote her name so nicely at the bottom of the page and that she stayed in the lines so well.

The DrugMart ladies assured me they covered up all the names so they would choose fairly. But those ladies sure were excited that they had chosen Chloe's picture to win! They were all giddy when we went to retrieve the chocolate rabbit. Several workers came to congratulate Chloe and offered compliments on her superb coloring. They even had Chloe pose with her bunny for a digital photo shoot. What fun!

Back in 2007 Chloe won the same Easter coloring contest as a mere 19 month old. It does NOT seem like two whole years ago that I blogged about her 2007 coloring win. Look how my baby has changed!

Edible arrangement

Yesterday I received this cool looking edible arrangement from two thankful instructors I work with in my online job. Isn't it yummy looking?

As all of us love fruit (who doesn't?) I'm sure we'll devour this basket of skewered fruit quickly. The bonus in the arrangement was the two chocolate covered pineapple bunnies nestled inside. YUM! I never would have guessed chocolate + pineapple would be such a delicious combination!

Have you ever received an edible arrangement or cookie bouquet? I have no clue how much these fruity concoctions cost but I sure feel like a special gal for receiving one!

My poor tulips!

In northeast Ohio it has been SNOWING all day long!

It's actually been a lovely snow. Big wet flakes have fluttered down gently (but steadily) and covering everything in pristine whiteness. And of course Chloe is pumped about some unexpected snow playing time.

But my poor tulips just popped their heads through the soil yesterday! Pobrecitos!*

My gardener friend extraordinaire assured me the tulips should be fine as long as the flowers are still low to the ground. We also have some hyacinths that are sadly bent over from the weight of the recent snowfall. They were a beautiful vibrant blue while they lasted!

I'm hoping our front-yard flower bed will bounce back from this inclement weather. Slowly we've been adding perennials to our property. We began with 40 tulip bulbs in the front and now we also have a few lilies, parrot tulips, hyacinths, gladioloas, irises, a fledgling peony bush, and mums. We are ALL about perennials because of their low maintenance.

Are you experiencing springtime snow too? What flowers/plants do you grow?





*Pobrecitos means poor little ones in Spanish in case you were wondering. :)

What is it about white shoes on Easter Sunday?

I have been horribly delinquent in my blogging of late. And I feel like I always begin my posts by apologizing for that delinquency . . . SO I make a pledge to you (and myself) that I will post every day this week. Yup, you heard right. One post each day for the next seven days. I hope I can live up to my own challenge!

As Easter Sunday rapidly approaches, I've found myself getting nervous about Chloe's shoes. Her dress and Clive's outfit have been planned for awhile now but the shoes were the one missing facet. What is it about Easter Sunday that says little girls MUST wear white shoes? As I picture Chloe in her lavender Easter dress I can't imagine her wearing any shoes other than white. Black or brown does not compute.

Breezing through the Target shoe aisles I was unimpressed with their selection and value in white shoes. The cheapest shoes I found were $9 and had a 1/2 inch heel. C'mon! My dear Chloe is already so tall and oft-times awkward she certainly doesn't need a heel to induce more tripping (wait until you see the injuries she acquired when she tripped during a recent park outing).

This deep-seated cheapskate gene in me will not allow me to spend $9 on shoes. I can't do it. The old wisdom rings true in Chloe's case; why buy expensive shoes when you know she'll outgrow them in a few mere months?

Tonight I decided to make one last attempt at finding the elusive white shoes. I swung by my local thrift store and lo and behold -- $4 white shoes!!! And they're only a 1/2 size bigger than what Chloe wears now so I know they'll last us through the summer. YAY!

I'm definitely not as gung-ho about white for boys (Clive will sport his brown loafers on Sunday). What's your take on the whole white shoe thing?