The new year...

Do you make New Year's resolutions? What are you going to focus on this year?

Besides the usual lose weight and get healthy, I have 2 goals/ideas for the year.

1. Read more books
Instead of surfing the internet and playing bejeweled, I would like to read more at night. I feel better and sleep better when I read at night instead of playing on the computer.

2. Relax
I want to not stress so much about things I can't control. I thought about this as I took a nap this afternoon. There are so many times that I want to nap while Patrick is napping, but I feel guilty about "wasting" my time. So what if I take a nap? I think I will allow myself to relax more this year.

Throwing rocks in the water

 

I took this picture on Veteran's day. We went to Apple Hill. Patrick loved throwing the rocks in the water with Daddy. This is one of the last times that I have to put a picture of Patrick online without showing his face!

The Nutcracker

This is a video that Katelyn's dad made. Maggie is on the left hand side of the screen during most of the video.

Funny Maggie quotes from this week

Before I give you the Maggie quotes, I thought this was funny. It is from her BFF, Katelyn.

Katelyn's mom, Kirsten, was teasing Maggie about making a CD of all of the songs that Maggie doesn't like. Katelyn started teasing her and singing the DORA theme song and Justin Beiber songs and "some of Hannah Montana" songs. It was funny to watch them tease each other, kind of like a grown up relationship where you can pick on the other person.

1. After Maggie's nutcracker rehearsal. Maggie: I don't get it. Why do we wake up, leap around & dance with dolls? I don't get it.

2. From Maggie: Awww. I saw a worm. I love nature.(pause) I love nature when it's dead.

3. Not a funny one, but I went to her classroom to volunteer right after I learned that we would be adopting Patrick on Friday. I whispered the good news in her ear and she squealed with delight. Then, she told Katelyn and they were both very excited. It was such a sweet moment!

6 more days

Then, Patrick becomes a COLE!!

In honor of that, here are 2 of my favorite things that Patrick has done/said this week:

1. I was changing his diaper and he was fussing about it. I told him that he needed to be nice cause Santa Claus knows if he is good. Patrick looked at me and said, "uh-oh".

2. I hang up plastic grocery bags on the cabinet drawers in the kitchen to collect trash during the day. We keep the trash can in the laundry room, but that is also where the litter box is kept. That is too tempting for a certain little 17 month old in our house, so I just throw away trash in those plastic bags.

I had some diapers that I was taking to Patrick's day care. I put them in a grocery bag by the front door. Patrick picked up the bag and walked away with it. I followed him to the kitchen. He took the plastic bag and hung it up on the kitchen drawer. I guess he's been watching me pretty closely.

6 more days....6 more days!!

Good things

I feel like this last week has been a series of good things.

Here's the breakdown:

Sunday- Neil Hafley came to our church to serve us breakfast before the service. Our church has been actively helping the school this year and the staff/administration came over to thank our church with a breakfast. It was such a nice gesture for them to thank us.

Tuesday - The school presented Steven with an award for the help from the church to the school at a school assembly.

Thursday - Our social worker came over for us to sign adoption paperwork for Patrick. She told us that we could be adopting him as early as Christmas! What a shock. We were thinking March of next year. I started crying as I finished signing the paperwork with his new name on it.

A Thanksgiving poll

Pita Chips

It was a happy Friday around here. Maggie and Steven went on a date and let us tag along to dinner with them. Right before we left, I received a package!

I was chosen to participate in the Share Stacy’s Holiday Sweepstakes program. I received two bags of Stacy’s Pita Chips, in great flavors.

Steven and I have been trying to eat healthy again and these are so good. They are very healthy, too!


Stacy's pita chips is having a sweepstakes. It starts on Monday, November 8th and runs until November 17th. Go to http://www.stacyssnacks.com/promotions and share your favorite holiday Stacy's® snack idea. One lucky winner will win a one-year supply of Stacy's coupons and an awesome prize basket, valued at more than $750.


Good luck with the sweepstakes. I received 2 bags of the chips, but was not required to give a positive review. However, they were pretty stinkin' delicious!

Super family

Here's Maggie and Patrick dressed up in their Halloween costumes. Maggie and Steven made up a story about Patrick saving the world from bad guys. His name is Super P and Maggie is his side kick, Super Sissy. They fly around at night and make sure the bad guys don't steal all of the milk from babies who need it. He uses his sippy cup to get the bad guys to obey!

Steven made these costumes and matching ones for us, too!

Is it old age or California?

I am a different person than I was when we moved here in many ways. One of the most apparent ways is that I'm bolder than I was before.

I have gone out and yelled at kids in my pajamas because they knocked over my garbage cans. This is not normal Beth behavior.


Today, a kid was walking to school through my yard and he was carrying a red headboard from a bedframe.

Just kind of dragging it behind him. He got to the edge of my yard while I was loading kids and bookbags and flyers into the car. Then, he dropped it. So, I yelled to him to get that outta my yard.

He sheepishly picked it up and dragged it behind him to the other side of my driveway and dropped it.

I rolled down my window and yelled again that he needed to take that outta my yard.

He picked it up and put it on the bikepath. I guess that was better?

Maggie says: Mommy, if he drops it again, please don't say anything. Yelling twice at him is enough.

As I processed this, I realized that this was such unique behavior for me. I never would have yelled at a kid in Georgia for this. Twice.

So, today, I wonder is it because I'm getting old? Or is it the boldness of California?

Is it because I am getting older and more territorial and croutchity (is that a word? spellcheck doesn't like it>)?

Or is it the boldness of California? People are more vocal here and not as polite as they are in the south. They are quick to honk at ya if you are doing something that they don't agree with.

Math questions

I just want to remember this random conversation between Maggie and Steven that took place tonight.



Steven: What did you learn in school today?
Maggie: I learned a new math problem. I learned what 6 plus 7 is.
Steven: Oh yea, what is 6 plus 7?
Maggie: Um, I forgot.
Steven: Well, let's figure it out.
So, he starts going through easier problems to work up to 6 plus 7. She starts getting sillier and sillier with her answers.
Steven: So, Maggie. What is 6 plus 7?
Maggie: Um...a negative number?

(insert rim shot here)

Right now

Tonight, I was walking through the dining room with a load of laundry that I needed to load. As I walked through the room, I normally see all the things that need to be fixed. The random toys on the floor and art crafts everywhere are usually what catch my eye.

Tonight, I felt like God was telling me to slow down and enjoy this time in my life. This is a great time in my life and the life of my family.

Maggie and Patrick were playing chase in the hall. They have recently really begun playing with each other and it's amazing to watch that relationship happen. He chases and she screams. Then, she chases and he screams. It's a blast!

My kids are so fun and so sweet. I'm becoming more and more aware of how fast this time flies by. Since Maggie began 1st grade, our time is more precious. She's so busy.

So,in a fleeting ordinary moment, I was reminded to be happy and content where we are.

This baby

 

I was cleaning out my computer files and I found this picture of Maggie. She was a little older than Patrick is right now. How did my baby get so big? Gosh, she is so little and so stinkin' cute in this picture. She was on stage with Steven at New Community Church while he was doing announcements for a Sunday service. I wish I could go back in time and kiss this baby in the picture. Guess I'll go kiss my long legged six year instead!

Snuggly and snotty

Fall is coming and Patrick's body has noticed. It seems like Fall is a hard time on his lungs. The weather changes a little bit and changes back and he's hit hard.

He has asthma and is snotty and coughing a lot and his eyes are running like crazy.

During the day, it doesn't bother him a lot. He's a little more whiny, but he's still a crazy man. He's running around the house and pulling his sister's pink luggage around behind him and nothing slowly him down.

Last night, we were watching Law & Order and it was about a doctor who performed late term abortion. In the middle of this intense scene(I hate shows like this), Patrick starts really coughing and crying. We went to check on him and I stayed in his room and rocked him for a while.

He was sweating and had this deep cough. I snuggled him up in a blanket and rocked him in the rocking chair that had belonged to my great grandfather. He settled down looked up and smiled and sighed and put his head on my chest. I looked down at his curly blond head and started bawling.

I'm so sure that abortion was a thought that his biological mom contemplated. She knew that her relationship with his dad was in trouble and she was struggling with taking care of his older brother. But, she didn't. I'm forever grateful to her for that.

We have the most precious, crazy, giving kisses, talking on the cell phone to his imaginary friends, little boy and I'm grateful.

Wal*Mart stranger

Yesterday, I went to Wal*Mart to get some milk. As I walked down an aisle, I saw a lady that looked vaguely familiar. It's weird that people are starting to look familiar to me here. I guess I never thought that I would start to recognize people while I was out. In LaGrange, going to Wal*Mart ensured that you would see someone you knew!

As I came up to this lady, she looked like a girl that I knew from MOPS when we first moved here. I looked at her for a minute because this lady had darker hair than I remembered. As I walked by, she said, "HEY! How are you doing?".

So, I chatted with her for a minute because it must have been that girl from MOPS. I told her that she looked different and I almost didn't recognize her with her new hair do. It looked like a different color than I remembered. She said, "oh, cause it's longer?".

This was about 33.5 seconds into the conversation, I realized that I HAD NO IDEA WHO THIS LADY WAS!

I felt panicked. How was I going to get out of this conversation? I couldn't find the words to tell her that I just realized that I didn't know who she was. I mean, we had been talking for a few minutes.

She asked me what was new in my life. I mumbled something about Maggie and school and tried to gauge her reaction. Nothing. Did she know me?

Crap. I had to get outta there. I said it was nice to see her (again?) and walked away. Then, I started laughing. What a bizarre interaction.

So, if you see me at Wal*Mart, (why was I there anyway?)I may or may not talk to you. I'm a little gun shy now!

Possibly the best day ever

According to Maggie: This is possibly the best day ever.

A little back story. This week, our church is celebrating our 90th anniversary. We are having a big event in the park and a big church service on Sunday. To say that our family was busy this week is a slight understatement. We have been out or working on stuff every night this week.

While Maggie is excited about the movie in the park, she is more excited about what's happening tonight. About two months ago, Donna and I decided to take the girls to see the Jonas Brothers in concert with Camp Rock 2. Maggie and Jessica have been counting down the days for about a month.

Last night, Donna took the girls to her house to make posters. There was a great debate over whose sign should say "marry me, joe". In the end, this is Maggie's poster.

From June 2010

Notice where it says "it's me maggie". I guess that is so Joe will know which girl it was that sent him a letter in the mail about a month ago.

Maggie woke up this morning and screamed when she remembered that tonight was the concert. Fridays are an awesome day anyway because of fun school activities. I suggested that we count all the exciting things that today was going to bring. I started her off by saying that she "gets to have a spelling test today" and she said, "and it's pizza day on Friday and art class and Katelyn's coming over for a few minutes (cause her daddy's having his wisdom teeth removed) and we're going to Jonas and WE GET CHICK FIL A!"

She screamed that today was "possibly the best day ever".

While I wouldn't have normally been excited about seeing Nick, Joe and Kevin and I get them mixed up a lot. I'm very excited for Maggie tonight. We're going to have fun with Jessica and Donna and it's going to be a fun memory of her first concert.

Sometime later, I'll tell you about my first concert. Any guesses on who it was?

One time I tried to go to the bathroom by msyelf

If you have younger children, you know my dillemna.

I just want to go to the "potty" all by myself.

I don't want someone cheering for me for going to the potty or trying to stick his hands in the toilet while I am trying to wash my hands.

I just need to be alone.

As soon as I get in the bathroom, Maggie suddenly has to go "really, really, really bad" and starts saying things like, "can you hurry up, mama?" and doing the potty dance in front of me.

Since Patrick is so little, I can't really lock myself in the potty. I kinda need to know what he is doing and make sure that he is not standing on top of the coffee table in the living room by pushing up the new firetruck to the edge of the coffee table and climbing up to reach the buttons on the forbidden tv.

So, one night, after dinner, I made an announcement. I told everyone in the house that I was going to the potty. I said something like, "I am going to the potty cause I am a big girl and can go all by myself."

Nah, I think I threatened everyone in the house and made them promise not to come in the potty with me.

I repeated it to Maggie. I made her promise that she understood.

I repeated it to Steven and made him promise not to let Patrick wander into the bathroom.

I closed the door from the laundry room and from my closet. (Can you believe I am posting about going to the potty on the internet for anyone to read?)

I sat there and enjoyed the silence.

Then, I heard a scratch on the door. I thought about killing someone. Who didn't listen to me rant on and on?!

I heard another scratch.

I saw a paw.

Sparky stuck his tabby paw under the bathroom door and was trying to open it up and come in the bathroom with me.

Please tell me at some point I will miss having someone in the bathroom with me at all times.

Wee sing

When Maggie was 11 months old, we went away to Destin for the weekend. It was during a tough spot of our ministry life and we needed a break. It was a fun weekend, but definitely not relaxing. Maggie was a busy, busy little girl!

During our trip, we went to the outlets and wandered into a book store. There was a wee sing music tape. Do ya'll remember wee sing?We used to listen to it when I was little. It's little kids singing Sunday school songs.

So, we bought it or maybe Memaw bought it. I don't remember. But, I got the tape and there was a CD of the same songs, so Memaw took it. We listened to it a lot and it was fun to listen to Maggie sing along with songs.

Maggie always got the words to a song mixed up where it said, "that your joy maybe full". She would say, "that your joy is baby bull".

We put it away for a while so we could listen to "cooler music", but now Patrick loves it. He's at a stage where he HATES being in his car seat and Wee sing is sometimes the only thing that soothes the savage beast.

So, we have been listening to this tape (can you believe I have a tape player in my car?) a lot lately. We got in the car to go to Jamestown, CA this weekend and put the tape in the player. Right in the middle of "praise ye the Lord, hallelejuah", the unthinkable happened. My 6 year old tape broke.

I was already planning in my head how to download the songs onto my phone and we could listen to the music. But, Maggie and Steven had a different plan. They love to fix stuff and actually fixed the tape. I'm so glad to have it back. It really does calm Patrick down (at least for a few seconds).

So, thank you, wee sings. You have been a part of our lives for quite some time and I hope we keep you there a little longer.

And thank you for teaching my baby girl this.

Webkinz jr.

Recently, I was sent some Webkinz Jr. to try out and share with others. Webkinz Jr. are a new kind of Webkinz that are appropriate for younger kids.



Are you shocked that Maggie picked out a brown puppy to love? His new name is Duke.

We gave them to some friends. They were very excited to pose with their new pets!

We also received coloring books that we took to the Back to school night while everyone was setting up.

We have enjoyed playing online with the website. It seems to be appropriate for younger kids and not too frustrating like other online sites can be sometimes.

(I was given webkinz jr. to review for this post.)

An encounter with a grandma

This morning, Maggie asked me to get to school early so she could have extra time on the playground.

We got to school about 15 minutes early and I let Patrick hold my hand and walk with us after we crossed the street. Maggie held Patrick's hands for a few minutes, but couldn't contain her excitement and Patrick was toddling along, so she kissed us goodbye and ran towards the school.

We continued toddling towards the gate to make sure she got to the playground and several little boys stopped to talk to Patrick. He liked the attention and waved to them.

We turned around to go back to the car (cause I'm the slacker mom who drives to school even though we live a block away) and Patrick was watching the kids bounce a basketball and run towards the playground.

I was thinking about how different he is going to be to transition to school. He loves being around kids and I can see wanting to go to school next year when we drop off Maggie. Of course, he's too little and he won't like this. He is not a clingy child at all and loves new adventures and anything that he can climb!

I'm having this inner dialogue when a grandma stops me to tell me how cute Patrick is and how he will be ready to go to school soon. She is dropping off a child and says that it seems like just yesterday that she was dropping off her little boy. Her little boy is 41 years old now. She's telling me to cherish this time with Patrick and how fast it will go by.

I'm guessing she is about 65 years old. She is a sweet looking grandma with sensible tennis shoes on and I look down at her feet as she walks past me.

She has a tatoo on her ankle.

It shocked me. A grandma with a tatoo?

Is this what our generation is gonna look like in 20 years when we are dropping off our grandkids at school? Am I gonna be uncool since I am the only person in their 30s without a tatoo? Will all the other grandmas laugh at me?

5 years ago...

I will start this post by saying that I love New Orleans. I grew up in south Louisiana and lived there until I was 16 years old. My dad and stepmom live in a suburb of New Orleans and I love going to visit. I love the culture and the accents and the food there.

Five years ago, Hurricane Katrina hit. Here is my blog from the time. I can't get it to link tonight. http://coleminer.xanga.com/330837206/item/ This has been a popular news topic in the last week. I'm so glad that it's still on people's minds. I'm glad that it's not something that has been forgotten.

However, I can't watch the news coverage of it.

A week before Hurricane Katrina hit, my house was struck by lightning and burned down. It was such a shocking experience and while we were still living in at my mom's house before the insurance adjuster put us in a hotel, Katrina hit.

Even right after it happened, I couldn't watch the news coverage of it. It was so awful to watch people dealing with the loss of everything that they owned. We were dealing with it, but we had insurance to replace it all. I felt guilty. I was going to get all of my "stuff" back.

It was just such a mix of emotions. I was dealing with my own journey of grief/loss/thankfulness and I couldn't deal with the emotions of what others were dealing with at the same time.

Our home was completely rebuilt and it ended up being a blessing for our family. I'm so sorry for the people who lost everything and are still fighting to get it replaced.

Have any of you ever dealt with a disaster hitting you at the same time that something tragic happened in the world? How did you deal with it?

Happy Birthday, Steven!

Tomorrow is my husband's birthday. I was trying to think of a cute blog title and I kept remembering the nickname that my brother gave him before I even knew him. When Jonathan was a senior in high school, he got a new youth minister at his church. Jonathan really liked Anton, the last youth minister and thought that this new guy was kind of annoying.

So, he called him "Steve Cole, the fruit bowl".

I'm sure it was a term of endearment.

He brought "the fruit bowl" home one afternoon after church and this guy even helped me fix my computer.

11 years later, I'm married to that guy and he's still fixing everything that we break around the house.

I don't want to get too mushy on this blog. But, I'm amazed by all that he does and how well he does it. He's setting up for a Back to School night right now at Maggie's school. We'll join him after I pick up Maggie.

He's going camping this weekend and I'm afraid that because of our crazy week that we won't be able to truly celebrate him. He's not as big on birthdays as I am, but I think that we are going to take him out for breakfast before school tomorrow.

I love you, Steven, and I'm so glad that we get to celebrate you a little bit tomorrow.


P.S. I hope next year's blog has a big ol' picture of you and Patrick and Maggie!

Biscuit

Maggie begged for Biscuit for her Christmas present in 2008. It was ridiculously expensive, but Santa decided to get it for her and not get her much else for Christmas. She was so excited and loved him for about 10 minutes on Christmas morning. She made him a cute pink collar.

In case you don't know, Biscuit is a robotic dog that you can give commands to eat, sit and lay down. Biscuit looks A LOT like Willie.

After the first day of playing with him, Maggie decided that she was TERRIFIED of Biscuit. Like, she couldn't be in the same room with Biscuit. UGH. Stupid dog was at least 100 dollars.

So, Biscuit was shut in a room and didn't get to come out to play. I asked her if we should give her to Emma, so that Biscuit would get played with. She would start crying and tell me how much she loved Biscuit! I just kept him in Patrick's room in a corner.

Yesterday, out of the blue, Maggie asked us to get Biscuit out to play with him. 18 months after she got him for Christmas.

Biscuit happily came out to play on the living room floor. Maggie played with him and petted him and seemed to enjoy him.

Then, Patrick woke up from his nap. WoW! A new puppy on the floor. This was awesome!! He tackled Biscuit and petted him and played with him all afternoon.

Yea, Biscuit is finally being played with. Before Patrick left this morning, he ran to Biscuit and gave him a big hug around his neck. Then, he patted Biscuit's back.

Santa feels like the present was finally worth it.

Three things

Here are three things that Patrick is doing right now:

1. Maggie HATES Dora. She can't stand her and can't handle the way that she screams every word that she says. I suspect that she is really just still scared of Swiper, but she labels it as a baby show and there is nothing worse than a baby show. Last week, it was just Patrick and me at home. Dora came on tv and we snuggled for a minute on the sofa. Patrick looked at the tv when the theme song came on. He pointed at that blasted show and shouted "DORA" at the tv.

2. He is huge. He regularly is assumed to be an 18 month old by strangers in the grocery store. He has ginormous hands, too. Maggie's handprints (when she was 2.5 years old) are on the wall in a frame in the hallway. Tonight, after his bath, I put Patrick's hands on top of the handprints in the frame. His 13 month old hands are the same size as Maggie's in the frame.

3. He loves to "count". He will take any object and put it above his hand and say, "ooohhhnnn, oooooooo, eeeeeeeeeee" and throw the object on the ground. He's so smart.

He has also stopped squealing quite as much. I feel like a switch has gone off in his brain and he is able to communicate just a little bit more so he is not as frustrated with our lack of understanding him.

And, he is sleeping and I miss that guy!

Tomato Basil Soup

I tried out a new recipe today. I used a recipe that I found online and tweaked it a little bit. It was very good and I thought I should share it with ya'll (and remember it myself).

Tomato Basil Soup

* 4 cups chopped fresh tomatoes (I used a mixture of the tomatoes in my garden. It was about 15 tomatoes of different sizes)
* 1 onion, sliced
* 1 tablespoon of dried basil
* 4 whole cloves of garlic, peeled
* 2 cups chicken broth
* 2 tablespoons butter
* 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 teaspoons cinnamon (the original called for sugar, but I like cinnamon!)


In a stockpot, over medium heat, combine the tomatoes, onion, basil, cloves of garlic and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, and simmer for about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and run the mixture through a food processor or use your mixer. Leave the mixture in the food processor or mixer while you get the roux ready.

In the stockpot, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the flour until it thickens, cooking until medium brown like a roux. Gradually whisk in a bit of the tomato mixture, so that no lumps form, then stir in the rest. Season with cinnamon (or sugar) and salt.

A circus

Today, we had to sit outside of the courtroom and wait for our case to be called. It was quite an interesting scene.

There were lots of cases all being heard at the exact same time in the same court room. I don't understand the logic, but it means that you sit out on hard benches with a bunch of other people. You wonder if somehow they are related to your case or just there for another case. You hear a lot as you wait on the benches.

There was another normal looking couple there. Blonde, young. I figured they were foster parents for another case. But, they kept staring at us. Not just politely checking us out. Staring at us. Like boring holes in us. It was creepy. Patrick's grandma started to become concerned that they were related to our case and they were a surprise witness who would want to take our kids away from us. I told her that they were just paranoid that we were surprises witnesses who wanted to take their kids away from them.

Then, there was a dad who came in from prison. He was handcuffed and wearing a bright orange suit. When he came into the area, a police officer yelled for everyone to get out of the way. He was there for his children's case and had to be escorted in to a side door. Then, he came out and the officer yelled for us to get out of the way. That didn't feel very safe, to say the least.

Then, a younger woman came in for her case. She was talking to her friend about some program that she was being forced to enter. She learned from her friend that you get fed there and can bring a DVD player, but if you want snacks that you have to pay for them with your own money.

This was shocking to the young woman. Pay for your own snacks?

She literally kept saying this over and over. She said, "So, we have to pay for our food with our cash? With our own money? We have to pay for our own snacks?".

When her wise, experienced friend told her that it was true that she would have to pay for her own snacks, she was shocked. She told him that she would get back on her food stamps, but she couldn't even believe that she "had to pay for her food with cash".

While we didn't get the outcome that we wanted, we received quite an education today. The most important lesson I learned was that sometimes you gotta pay for your own food with cash.

Wednesday

On Wednesday, we have a court hearing for Patrick. It's a hearing regarding his mom's rights. If the judge decides to terminate her rights, we could proceed with adopting him and he could be "officially" ours by the end of this year. What will probably happen is that the judge will continue our case and we will wait for the next hearing before a real decision is made.

I feel more at peace about this court hearing than I have ever felt before. I don't really mind if it's continued, because I feel like it's just a waiting game now. However, it would be really awesome, if the judge ruled in our favor on Wednesday.

Termination of rights sounds painful, doesn't it? I feel bad for his biological mother. She has had a rough time and doesn't really have a fighting chance of getting these boys back. That doesn't make me want to give up my Pat Pat at all,but I do feel bad for her.

We spoke to a foster class on Saturday. All of the parents there were so cute and excited and I hope we didn't scare them away from the process of fostering. They asked us if we would consider fostering again. We stuttered and ummmmm'ed our way to "we don't know".

It's been a relatively easy roller coaster ride and there are so many more babies out there who need homes. But, who knows what God has in store for us next? Maybe a break? Maybe more? I don't know. Steven is getting pretty old! :)

I'm so grateful for our Patrick. He's a mess and crazy and so active and I couldn't love him more than a baby that I carried for 9 months.

So, please pray for our judge on Wednesday. I'm praying for a fast, easy ruling and a HUGE celebration for Patrick becoming part of our family.

Lunch ideas

Maggie starts school in about a week and a half. This is the first year that she will be taking her lunch to school everyday. I need help!

She is not a huge fan of sandwiches. So, I need some creative ideas about what to fix for lunch. My mom used to put soup and spaghetti in my Strawberry Shortcake thermos, so we bought a cute short thermos for hot foods.

What are some things that are good for lunch? I'm trying to get it organized before school starts.

Bananas on my feet

Patrick is obsessed with bananas. He would like to eat about 3 of them a day. I have to ration his consumption to about 1 or 2 a day. Cause, you know, I believe in moderation.

He eats them in his high chair in the kitchen. He has also recently discovered the fun of feeding Willie from his high chair. Patrick throws down a piece of cheese or meat from his chair and Willie gobbles it up. Willie thinks this is an awesome new game and Patrick laughs and laughs!

Patrick usually has 1 or 2 chunks of banana left on his high chair tray. He tries to throw it down to Willie, but Willie's not a big fan of bananas. So, they sit under the high chair.

So, about 2 times a day, I step on a piece of gooey banana. It's a disgusting feeling. You would think that I would clean up the banana off the floor as soon as I saw it. But, I forget. I forget that there is banana on the floor and I'm moving the high chair to get to the living room and I do it again.

Stupid bananas on my feet.

Our first chick flick

A few weeks ago, I saw that Ramona and Beezus was going to be a movie. I squealed with delight! Yay! Something to share with Maggie from my childhood.

I was a huge Ramona fan when I was little. I remember coming home and finding "Ramona Quimby, Age 8" on my bed after school as a surprise from my mom. I read all of the Ramona books over and over again. I have a lot of them committed to memory.

So, I went to Amazon and got Ramona and Beezus so Maggie and I could read it before we went to see the movie. We had fun reading it and I saw a lot of Maggie in Ramona. She's got a huge imagination, but she's more reserved in some ways like Beezus.

Last night, we went to see Ramona and Beezus. We loved it. They combined all of the books together but included the important parts like slamming an egg on her head and squeezing a whole tube of toothpaste in the sink.

They also included her dad losing her job, which hits home to a lot of people right now. Right before the end of the movie, her dad loses his job, Picky Picky died and they are about to move. Maggie looked up at me with big tears in her eyes and said, "I'm about done with this movie." I assured her that we had to keep going.

It was tied up neatly at the end of the movie. It was the perfect chick flick for a 6 year old!

Squealing with Joy

We were out of town last week. Patrick went to his first foster mom's house for the week. He stayed with 2 other little boys around the same age. She had 3 boys who were all around 13 months old. She didn't seem to mind adding one more little guy to the mix. When we dropped him off, she was feeding all 3 of them. They were lined up in their high chairs and had their mouths open like little baby birds waiting to be fed.

When we came back, he looked at me like he knew who I might be. Maggie got a little more in response. Daddy got a big ole grin and he jumped into Steven's arms. This has been a long time isssue in our house. Maggie and Steven act crazy and scream and make silly faces at Patrick. He responds well to this. He likes the silly people in our house. I'll admit that I wish I would get the same response sometimes.

He's slowly getting back into the swing of things around this house. He was definitely at "grandma's house" last week and is struggling to be back on our schedule.

So, tonight, I went down the hallway at church to pick up Patrick. He came walking down the hall. He saw me and put his hands up in the air. Then, he started squeeling until I picked him up. I picked him up and he put his head on my shoulder. Awwwww....he missed me.

24 hours a day

My daughter can read. This is most evident in the car. She is constantly sounding out road signs and billboards.

Most of our conversations go like this:

Maggie: Mommy, what does S-P-E-E-D say?
Mommy: I don't know. Why don't you sound it out?
Maggie: Sp-eed. Speed. Cool. What does that mean? Why do we need speed limits? Why would people want to go faster than they should?Etc.

When I worked with Pre-K, I got to go to some of the teaching training workshops. I remember that one of the first ways that children learn how to read is from reading "environmental print". This is why children from an early age know that the word under the golden arches says McDonald's.

My daughter is embarrassingly good at environmental print from fast food restaurants.

So, we passed Walgreens on Sunday. She calls it "wal-grees" and I am not going to correct her on that because it's kind of cute.




She said, "Walgrees. Open 24 hours". Then, she paused. She said, "Wow, I feel sorry for the wagrees workers. They have to stay there for 24 hours. I bet they get really tired."

Then, we passed Steven running and she said, "Hurry up and get to him and roll down the window so I can cheer for Daddy!"

Electrolux contest/gift card giveaway.

Kelly Ripa and Electrolux are joining forces once again to celebrate the launch of Electrolux Appliance's new stand-alone refrigerator and freezer - that's right, the familiar duo has split up. And to sweeten the celebration, they're bringing in the "Emperor of Ice Cream" Stephen Bruce, owner and founder of Serendipity 3, the landmark New York City restaurant and dessert spot, into the mix.

Here's some information about a contest that I wanted to share with ya'll.

Kelly Ripa and Bruce teamed up earlier today to make banana splits for a cause. And now we want you to dig in, with your virtual spoon! Starting today, at www.Kelly-Confidential.com, you can build your ultimate banana split using virtual ingredients from classic whipped cream to caramel sauce to rainbow sprinkles. For each "split", Electrolux will donate $1 to the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund as part of its $750,000 commitment to help fight ovarian cancer.

As usual, Electrolux and Kelly find new and fun ways to say thank you to those who support this great cause. Everyone who logs on to the site and builds a split will be automatically entered for a chance to win the daily prize - $50 towards sweet summer treats - and the grand prize: the new stand-alone refrigerator and freezer from Electrolux.

I hope that you will take this chance to make a virtual banana split. Every dessert that you make goes to earn money to fight ovarian cancer. And, you might get a chance to win 50 dollars or a new frig/freezer from electrolux.

If you enter the contest, leave me a comment and let me know. On Monday of next week, I will let Maggie pick a lucky winner from the comments that I have received. Then, Electrolux will send a 25 dollar gift card to the lucky winner for me!

Happy birthday to Pat-Pat!

Patrick, you are the most wonderful little boy.
You look like a little man in a tiny little body.
When I look at you, I am reminded of God's love.
You were created in someone else's body, but you were made for our family.
You like to do a roll call to check everyone's location, so you yell , "Mama, da da" until we answer.
Your sissy wants you to say her name so badly.
She practices with you a lot.
You hug her fiercely.
I want to shelter you from every bad thing out there.
You look like your big sissy.
You have huge hands and feet.
I love your chubby leg rolls.
You walk like an old cowboy.
You have never met a stranger.
When we walked through the airport, you pointed and waved to strangers like a king.
You are so laid back.
You need your naps and can't wait to stretch out in your bed with a bottle.
You are so wiggly.
You ate a lot of fried okra today at lunch.
You are being celebrated in two states with two birthday parties.
You love Willie and try to kiss him.
You love Mickey and grabbed his fur.
You love Sparky, but he's not a big fan of you.
You say "bay-uh" like a southerner when you wave your backwards goodbye.
I love you fiercely and I'm so thankful that you are in our family.
Your daddy growls at you and you laugh and pull his goatee.
You reach for me when you fall down.
You laugh a big ol' gutteral laugh when your big sis does something silly.

Happy first birthday, sweet boy.

The view from the back seat

Today, I was in the back seat on my mom's van. Patrick was in the middle row in his car seat and Maggie was in the seat next to him. Maggie was listening to music on my old phone and Patrick was swinging his legs and babbling. They weren't really interacting with each other.

Maggie reached out her finger to Patrick without saying a word. Patrick grabbed on to her finger with his chubby little hand and they just stayed like that for a few minutes. He looked over at her and grinned a big grin.

I wonder how many times things like that happen and I miss them from my view in the driver's seat.

Blogger's block

I haven't really blogged in a while. I mean, a real blog with my real feelings in it. I just don't "feel it" right now.

Have you ever felt this way? What got you over the writer's block? How did you start again? Do you keep a schedule with it?

awww....

This is a video from Maggie's 3rd birthday party.

And one more xanga goodie....

Maggie's imagination
Maggie's imaginary friend is named Johnnie. He is from Oklahoma. He has been coming to our house a lot more lately. I think Maggie is bored! I took some pics of Maggie today...





And maybe I shouldn't be encouraging this by taking pictures, but it's so funny. This is Maggie and Johnnie.





Maggie started laughing when she looked at the picture. "Look at that face that Johnnie is making in this picture!!". He is so funny. He also likes girly girl stuff like cinderella. Maggie told me that last night.

Another oldie from xanga...

originally posted on 4/10/2008



Watch out groundhogs
If you are a groundhog in my backyard, I'm only telling you this to be nice. RUN. Dig your little hole far, far away from my backyard. I don't really care that you are there. It's kind of cute. My husband doesn't like you, but he's not going to hurt you or anything. However, you should watch out for this guy.



Not the cute little girl. Although, she might try to dress you up and put pink fingernail polish on your little claws. It's the cat pretending to be asleep. Oh and watch out for his accomplice.




I know, he looks dumb. But, together, they have killed 2 of your little friends. Your friend that I found today was being destroyed by the cat. He had pounced and he won. Please be careful. They are a duo. One sits by a hole and the other stalks the other holes, so as soon as you pop your cute little head up, you are a goner.

An oldie from Xanga..

4 years ago
Four years ago,on April 13th, Maggie made her grand entrance into the world. I can honestly say that my world has never been the same again. I felt like I knew you so well. Thinking back on it, your personality was coming through while you were still in the womb. You were so active. You hated getting the hiccups. You would kick and kick when Daddy would talk to my tummy at night.

You came into the world with the nurse yelling,"Hi, Maggie. She has red hair."
This is you at a few hours old.





You were not a very content baby. You cried a lot and just seemed frustrated. Thinking about it now, it seems to make sense. You had so much to tell us and you couldn't communicate it.

You started talking so quickly. You said Dada and Mama at 6 months old. You needed to get these things out so that you could move on to telling us how to handle life. How did we survive without you?

You are such a compassionate child. You want to love and baby everything. I remember you picking up flowers in the yard and rocking them and loving them like a baby.




You love things that are soft and fluffy. Kitties, puppies, anything that is small and fluffy will be named something unique and talked about for days. Your favorites change on a daily basis.




You are so curious about life and what is going on in the world around you. Your questions never stop. I love being in the car with you while you fire questions at me. I could never pull one over on you, because you ask so many questions that I have a hard time answering all of the questions.





I love your questions about God. You ask pretty deep questions about resurrection and heaven and God. You are starting to try to share your faith with your friends. That makes me so proud of you. We pray together and I love to hear your heart for each of your stuffed friends and real friends.




Sometimes I think that you are more like your Daddy than you are like me. You love to be the center of attention. You like to entertain everyone around you. You are both pretty stubborn, too. He is your Prince Charming and wants to protect you from those boys!



You are such a goofy goober. Your favorite thing in the whole world is to make someone laugh. This usually involves your trade mark "booty dance". I admit that I probably am the reason that you continue to do this because it cracks me up! You are so silly.




I am so glad that God placed you in our lives. He knew just the right little girl for our lives. One to challenge us and teach us about life and love. You are going to do great things in your life. God has such plans for you. I love you, baby girl.

Maggie reading her book

This was after her end of the year program. She is reading her book that she made to me.

She's a first grader

Friday was Maggie's last day of Kindergarten. Didn't I just drop her off at school for her first day of Kindergarten?

She was very excited but very sad about leaving her favorite teacher. There's a chance that she will have her teacher again next year since her teacher was moved to a Kindergarten/1st grade combination class.

I couldn't have asked for a better year or a better teacher. I prayed for her teacher and her class most of last summer. I just knew how important it was for her to have a good first impression of school.

It was beyond what I asked for. I hope that her teacher knows how much what she does for Maggie and her classmates means to them.

Science Adventure Summer Camp

Are you looking for something fun for your kids to do this summer? I know that I am always looking for ways to keep Maggie from getting "bored" during the summer.

I heard about this great science summer camp. Science is not my strong suit, so I try to encourage Maggie to explore science activities.

Here's some information about this great camp that I heard about. This year, two new exciting camps have been added, including: Mystery of the Pharaoh’s Treasure and Go Wild! In these camps, children help to solve an Egyptian mystery and investigate amazing wildlife and plants. Plus, two popular camps – Gizmo’s Robot Factory and Space and Rocketry – return.

Each camp is one-week long with half-day and full-day options. Parents can enroll online athttp://www.scienceadventures.com and have the option to register their children for all four camps, or just one program. Camp program fees and schedules vary by location.

I've included a webisode that is linked below about Champions Summer Science Adventure Camps. Here's a promotional code “summerscience10” so you can save $50 on a week of summer camp.


Go Wild Champions Adventure: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvk3CsYk2B4

Convertible driving

 

 

 

Bill came to the California Brethren Conference last weekend. He "thought" he was getting a cool Mustang convertible. Guess what he got instead? A gold Sebring convertible.

Maggie thought it was awesome. It's the same kind of car that Steven and I took on our honeymoon adventure up the east coast.

I begged Bill to take Maggie on a little trip in his convertible. She thought it rocked and she was a super cool chick in a convertible.

I guess it's all in our perspective of what we think is cool!

Flat Daddy at Steven's ordination

 

 

 

 

So, my daughter got my camera on Saturday night at Steven's ordination. I downloaded the pictures tonight and I guess Maggie REALLY, REALLY thought that Noah's flat daddy was super cool. I downloaded approximately 15 pictures of a flat Noah. Here are the better ones. Enjoy.

Winner of the Marble Racer

Maggie just randomly selected between the entries listed. I gave her a choice between 1 and 4. She chose........4! Noah won the cars!

So, send me an email with your address and I'll submit it. I don't think your kids can swallow a car. Can they?!

Thanks for all the entries!

Light Up Marble Racers

We have entered a new phase of toys in our home. I never thought that I would play into gender roles and what toys my kids choose. However, our house is being overtaken by a new breed of toys.

Patrick LOVES cars. He loves things with wheels and cars. He flips over Maggie's baby doll stroller and plays with the wheels. He's obsessed.

So, I was asked to review a new kind of car and I jumped on. I knew that we had a good tester in our home for this review. They are a little old for Patrick, but it's the perfect age for Maggie.

Here's some info about them:

· Combines the racing excitement of mini-toy sports cars and the classic amusement of marbles

· Customize Marble Racers with themed racing decals

· Race on standard tracks

• Available in 6 exciting styles – Police Racer, Fire Chief Racer, Cat's Eye Racer, Cyclone Racer, Confetti Racer, and Volcano Racer Crack & peel decals are fun, promote creativity, and are easy to use

• Watch as marble rolls to keep pace with their speeding car

There is nothing like it on the market. There are racing cars. There are marbles. But nothing else that combines these 2 classic stand-bys into 1 unique, fun "do it yourself" toy. Available in 6 electrifying styles – Police Racer, Fire Racer, Cats’ Eye Racer, Cyclone Racer, Confetti Racer, and Volcano Racer – this unique, colorful, new toy makes a great birthday gift or party favor.

Light up Marble Racers are only available at CVS stores.

Here's the best part:

You could win 6-car set! Leave me a comment by Wednesday, May 19th! Here's the even better part. I won't be in charge of getting the cars to you. I suck at getting the giveaway stuff to people. I don't have to handle it this time. It's handled by MomSelect. Yippee!

So, leave me a comment. Leave me your email address if I don't have it. I will contact you after Wednesday if you win and MomSelect will mail you a 6 car set.


We tried them out last night. Maggie loved decorating them. Helpful hint: don't put the stickers on top of the marble ball because it stops them from lighting up!