"As the distance from the problem increases, so does the stupidity of the solution legislated"
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
J-quote of the day
J speaks on the principle of a large and distant Government's inability to adequately provide for small, individual justices.
"As the distance from the problem increases, so does the stupidity of the solution legislated"
"As the distance from the problem increases, so does the stupidity of the solution legislated"
Monday, March 30, 2009
Somtimes I think blankies are a bad idea
This week I had to write an email to a friend to explain why I wasn't at her house when I said I would be. The worst thing is, she's a new friend and doesn't know that I do stuff like this all the time, completely unintentionally and without malice. I was very worried that she would think I had singled her out for such rude treatment and shot this email out as soon as I could get to the keyboard. Then I talked to her on the phone and she seemed to understand. I found out later that I never actually sent this email-- it got lost somewhere in my personal cyberspace. But it warrants paraphrasing here for your enjoyment.
My phone, although the drool dried, did not recover from it's drenching. Jeremiah bought me a new one on Ebay and for the most part refrained from saying anything above a mutter about women and electronics. But for now I am phoneless and bereft. Take pity on me and email instead.
P.S. No, it's not my policy to let Judah carry electronics around in his mouth. I really don't know how he got ahold of it...
M, I am so sorry and so embarrassed to have stood you up like this! I've been remembering and forgetting and remembering and forgetting all day. It's been a long and crazy day topped off by discovering right at bedtime that Judah had left his blanky, without which he will not sleep, at a friend's house earlier in the day. I had to jump in the car immediately and drive out and get it so he would stop sobbing heartbreakingly and go to sleep. I pulled my phone out to call you on the way and let you know I would be late, but then discovered that when Judah was carrying my phone around and sucking on it this afternoon he soaked it with drool and something had shorted out. I had to wait till I got home and got him in bed so I could use J's phone to call. At this point I discovered that J had fallen into exhausted sleep while reading to Sofi and I would have to wait around to put Sofi to bed. By that time it was already almost 8 and I was a bit past frazzled. I am so sorry... (etc. and so forth)
My phone, although the drool dried, did not recover from it's drenching. Jeremiah bought me a new one on Ebay and for the most part refrained from saying anything above a mutter about women and electronics. But for now I am phoneless and bereft. Take pity on me and email instead.
P.S. No, it's not my policy to let Judah carry electronics around in his mouth. I really don't know how he got ahold of it...
Sunday, March 29, 2009
You should see the other guy!
Once again we narrowly escaped a visit to the ER. Visions of Mike and his header off the kitchen trashcan and subsequent six (or whatever) toothless years were running through my head, but he's fine. And so are his teeth.
Oh yeah, it was the bike that did it. He fell off it. Typical.
Oh yeah, it was the bike that did it. He fell off it. Typical.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Friday, March 27, 2009
...aaaand we're back!
For a little while at least. We still have several weddings, but they much smaller and easier than this past weekend's wedding was. This one was a biggie. We were really pleased with the way it turned out and had a lot of fun with the bride's theme of pink roses/peonies and pineapples! First time we've ever used mini pineapples. Very classy. You can go here to see the wonderful photographs by Tim and Sasha Rothwell. They referred us to this bride (thanks guys!) and it's the first time we've seen them in action. They are great and I highly recommend them!
For now I am laying low and trying to catch up on housework. Judah is almost well--just a little snuffles-- thanks to the garlic oil/probiotics/colloidal silver/kefir/olive leaf/echinacea. Poor kid's been on quite a regime of meds... But at least he's finally well. This winter is going down in history as the The Year of the Great Forshey Sickness
In a side note, there are times when it's great to be in business for yourself; the freedom! the hours! the control! However, there's also a sucky side to it. There's no one else to refer to when things get sticky. The buck stops here, baby. blech. I think I might retire really, really early. Like, maybe tomorrow.
For now I am laying low and trying to catch up on housework. Judah is almost well--just a little snuffles-- thanks to the garlic oil/probiotics/colloidal silver/kefir/olive leaf/echinacea. Poor kid's been on quite a regime of meds... But at least he's finally well. This winter is going down in history as the The Year of the Great Forshey Sickness
In a side note, there are times when it's great to be in business for yourself; the freedom! the hours! the control! However, there's also a sucky side to it. There's no one else to refer to when things get sticky. The buck stops here, baby. blech. I think I might retire really, really early. Like, maybe tomorrow.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Funniest thing EVER
Judah, stirring through his mexican casserole on a search for all the pinto beans and calling:
"Beeeans, wheah aaahhh yoooou??"
"Beeeans, wheah aaahhh yoooou??"
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Garden Therapy
(Originally published Sept, 2007. Although it's not yet gardening season around here, I get to spend lots of time this weekend putting my creative energies into some thing more immediately gratifying than mothering. It will be a nice break :)
Judah is in a rough stage right now. I'm pretty sure he's teething and he's getting a bit beyond two naps a day, but not quite ready for just one. So evenings are... tense, to say the least. And this evening was particularly bad-- partly because Jeremiah had to work late, so I ended up having to teach with both kids here. To illustrate, let me just say that the evening ended with Judah biting me just as I finished nursing him before bed. That was pretty much the culmination of the rest of things. So, because he is a wonderful husband and very understanding of this tendency of mine to fall apart at the end of a rough day, Jeremiah put Sofi to bed while I went out to water my garden.
I love gardening. I really do. Sitting on my bench in my pocket garden in the evenings, watching the sunset through the maple tree, and listening to the water trickling over the rocks of the pond calms my nerves and renews my spirit. This is partly because of the general effect that nature always has on me and partly because my gardening provides me with an opportunity to see permanent order and beauty as a result of my labor. Well, comparatively permanent, anyway.
See, I have this problem. I have a need to see some result from my daily labor. I don't do too well if a day goes by and all that I accomplish is the basic household chores and duties. I feel like I need to leave some sort of mark on the day-- a testament to the worth-while-ness of the time I spent in that day. This is a problem when you have children. Children tend not to be conducive to rewarding monuments of one's selfworth. Or rather, they are in and of themselves a veeery long-term monument and a rather shaky bet at that, considering all the variables of a life. Children are, in fact, black holes of a sort, that suck in all the labor of a day and return very little that you can, at the end of the day, point to and say "I have accomplished thus and so today".
I'm being brutally honest here, so no comments about how can I say such a thing about my own children and don't I find motherhood a rewarding life. The truth is that motherhood is very often exhausting and somewhat discouraging in the short-term. Don't get me wrong, there are moments of unparalleled delight and I wouldn't trade my life at home with my children for any high-paying, self-fulfilling career.
But the truth of the matter is that God didn't give us children for our own self-fulfillment. And technically, they're only on loan for a little while. Our calling while we have them with us is to sacrifice our desires and "fulfillment" for their good. Our goal is their good, not our own.
But I still have this need to justify my existence by creating something of beauty or use each day that will out-live the next days meals (washing dishes) and play outside (laundry) and muddy shoes (vacuuming) and clutter of life (tidying, putting away, etc).
So I garden. But then there's always weeds....
*sigh*
Judah is in a rough stage right now. I'm pretty sure he's teething and he's getting a bit beyond two naps a day, but not quite ready for just one. So evenings are... tense, to say the least. And this evening was particularly bad-- partly because Jeremiah had to work late, so I ended up having to teach with both kids here. To illustrate, let me just say that the evening ended with Judah biting me just as I finished nursing him before bed. That was pretty much the culmination of the rest of things. So, because he is a wonderful husband and very understanding of this tendency of mine to fall apart at the end of a rough day, Jeremiah put Sofi to bed while I went out to water my garden.
I love gardening. I really do. Sitting on my bench in my pocket garden in the evenings, watching the sunset through the maple tree, and listening to the water trickling over the rocks of the pond calms my nerves and renews my spirit. This is partly because of the general effect that nature always has on me and partly because my gardening provides me with an opportunity to see permanent order and beauty as a result of my labor. Well, comparatively permanent, anyway.
See, I have this problem. I have a need to see some result from my daily labor. I don't do too well if a day goes by and all that I accomplish is the basic household chores and duties. I feel like I need to leave some sort of mark on the day-- a testament to the worth-while-ness of the time I spent in that day. This is a problem when you have children. Children tend not to be conducive to rewarding monuments of one's selfworth. Or rather, they are in and of themselves a veeery long-term monument and a rather shaky bet at that, considering all the variables of a life. Children are, in fact, black holes of a sort, that suck in all the labor of a day and return very little that you can, at the end of the day, point to and say "I have accomplished thus and so today".
I'm being brutally honest here, so no comments about how can I say such a thing about my own children and don't I find motherhood a rewarding life. The truth is that motherhood is very often exhausting and somewhat discouraging in the short-term. Don't get me wrong, there are moments of unparalleled delight and I wouldn't trade my life at home with my children for any high-paying, self-fulfilling career.
But the truth of the matter is that God didn't give us children for our own self-fulfillment. And technically, they're only on loan for a little while. Our calling while we have them with us is to sacrifice our desires and "fulfillment" for their good. Our goal is their good, not our own.
But I still have this need to justify my existence by creating something of beauty or use each day that will out-live the next days meals (washing dishes) and play outside (laundry) and muddy shoes (vacuuming) and clutter of life (tidying, putting away, etc).
So I garden. But then there's always weeds....
*sigh*
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Advice for new dads and dads-to-be (pass it on, ladies...)
(Originally posted in Sept, 2007. Re-posted now as part of "yikes-we-have-a-wedding-in-five-days-how-will-I-ever-find-time-to-blog!-week)
Having just gone through "new parenthood" again I wanted to give all my expectant friends a "heads up" about something that I wish someone had mentioned to us before Sofi was born. We were in a kind of difficult situation -- new town, school for hubby, home with baby for new mommy, still in the process of making friends and finding fellowship at church as well as being fairly newly married! But still, I think it's similar for all new moms. I totally wasn't expecting the emotional roller coaster caused by the post-partum hormones. It's pretty wild. This time, with Judah, it wasn't so bad--second time around, knew what to expect, more stable environment, etc. But with Sofi I ended up in a severe depression after months of struggling on my own. By the grace of God and through the intervention of a godly woman at Cov Pres I joined a women's bible study and discovered that what I was going through was totally normal and was given some help in managing all of it.
Now, you may have already heard all about this from your moms or other women in your family, and I'm sure you men have already noticed that your wives (whether still pregnant, or newly postpartum) are much more tender than usual. But I wanted to post about it and hope to reassure some of you who may feel like the baby ate all your wife's common sense and stability on the way out ;)
She's probably going to be doing a lot of crying in the next few months. Maybe even a LOT of crying. For totally dumb reasons, and sometimes for no reason at all!
I would sometimes sit down to nurse Sofi and as soon as she'd latch on, I'd burst into tears. Jeremiah would come rushing over and ask what was wrong and I'd say something like "Bwahahah... you left your socks on the floor again!!!!!" or "I"m a terrible mother and she hates me already, I just know it, look how she's glaring at me....!!!" or "I'm going to be fat and exhausted for the rest of my life and I hate being a mom....!!" or sometimes just, "I don't knoooooooowwww!!!!" A friend of mine says she would look at her daughter nursing and just sob over the fact that "someday she's going to grow up and go away and leave me and I'll never get over it!" Some days I'd alternate between euphoria and severe depression.
Another aspect of the emotional thing was feeling really vulnerable all the time. I went from being a fairly capable, responsible adult to being afraid to walk down the stairs holding the baby. It would take me all day to build up the nerve to face taking Sofi grocery shopping. With Judah we went over to a friend's house for supper when he was two weeks old and the effort required to just get two kids in the car and leave my home (!!!!) was tremendous. We got there (all of five minutes away) and I just had to sit down and cry for a few minutes. Minor violence in movies that I wouldn't have blinked at a year before left me with horrible nightmares and images in my mind that plagued me for days. Pain was something I could NOT handle. Even a paper cut would have me down on the floor doing the Bradley breathing! One day I caught my fingernail on a hook of my nursing bra and it bled a little and I almost passed out.
Thinking logically and in an orderly manner will also be a thing of the past. Your wife may normally be a model of organization and punctuality, but while she's nursing don't be surprised if you find the peanut butter in the freezer or get a raw potato in your lunchbox instead of the spaghetti you were promised (not telling...) Late will now be the new "on time" and the new late is "never". And don't stress over it, because even if your wife doesn't exhibit this particular symptom, odds are the little monkey is going to have a blowout five minutes before you leave for church anyway.
Of course all women are different, so your wife may not be quite as loopy as I was. But we're also all alike in many ways. And something along these lines is pretty common in all women. The intense experience of labor and the life-changing realizations that occur in those first few weeks of mommy-hood are probably going to leave your wife gasping. The best thing Jeremiah does for me is to allow me to work out all this emotional stuff without freaking out over it himself, and without taking my "freak outs" too seriously. He knows that even though one night I'm sobbing over my total inadequacies as a mom to two kids, the next morning I'll be delighted with my beautiful children again. And even if I go totally bonkers over the socks that have been on the floor every night for six years of married life, it's only "the hormones talking"-- although he's smart enough not to say that at the time ;) I highly recommend that you get a mental image of yourself as a padded room in which your slightly psychotic wife can safely hide away for a few months till her body chemicals level out a bit. (Which I promise will happen!!)
If you can have the grace to cover your wife's instabilities for a few short months, she will adore you for it forever--witness my feelings for Jeremiah. He has truly dealt with me "as with a weaker vessel" these four months since Judah's birth and been so patient with my weakness in this area. I wish the same for all my expectant friends!!
God Bless!!
Having just gone through "new parenthood" again I wanted to give all my expectant friends a "heads up" about something that I wish someone had mentioned to us before Sofi was born. We were in a kind of difficult situation -- new town, school for hubby, home with baby for new mommy, still in the process of making friends and finding fellowship at church as well as being fairly newly married! But still, I think it's similar for all new moms. I totally wasn't expecting the emotional roller coaster caused by the post-partum hormones. It's pretty wild. This time, with Judah, it wasn't so bad--second time around, knew what to expect, more stable environment, etc. But with Sofi I ended up in a severe depression after months of struggling on my own. By the grace of God and through the intervention of a godly woman at Cov Pres I joined a women's bible study and discovered that what I was going through was totally normal and was given some help in managing all of it.
Now, you may have already heard all about this from your moms or other women in your family, and I'm sure you men have already noticed that your wives (whether still pregnant, or newly postpartum) are much more tender than usual. But I wanted to post about it and hope to reassure some of you who may feel like the baby ate all your wife's common sense and stability on the way out ;)
She's probably going to be doing a lot of crying in the next few months. Maybe even a LOT of crying. For totally dumb reasons, and sometimes for no reason at all!
I would sometimes sit down to nurse Sofi and as soon as she'd latch on, I'd burst into tears. Jeremiah would come rushing over and ask what was wrong and I'd say something like "Bwahahah... you left your socks on the floor again!!!!!" or "I"m a terrible mother and she hates me already, I just know it, look how she's glaring at me....!!!" or "I'm going to be fat and exhausted for the rest of my life and I hate being a mom....!!" or sometimes just, "I don't knoooooooowwww!!!!" A friend of mine says she would look at her daughter nursing and just sob over the fact that "someday she's going to grow up and go away and leave me and I'll never get over it!" Some days I'd alternate between euphoria and severe depression.
Another aspect of the emotional thing was feeling really vulnerable all the time. I went from being a fairly capable, responsible adult to being afraid to walk down the stairs holding the baby. It would take me all day to build up the nerve to face taking Sofi grocery shopping. With Judah we went over to a friend's house for supper when he was two weeks old and the effort required to just get two kids in the car and leave my home (!!!!) was tremendous. We got there (all of five minutes away) and I just had to sit down and cry for a few minutes. Minor violence in movies that I wouldn't have blinked at a year before left me with horrible nightmares and images in my mind that plagued me for days. Pain was something I could NOT handle. Even a paper cut would have me down on the floor doing the Bradley breathing! One day I caught my fingernail on a hook of my nursing bra and it bled a little and I almost passed out.
Thinking logically and in an orderly manner will also be a thing of the past. Your wife may normally be a model of organization and punctuality, but while she's nursing don't be surprised if you find the peanut butter in the freezer or get a raw potato in your lunchbox instead of the spaghetti you were promised (not telling...) Late will now be the new "on time" and the new late is "never". And don't stress over it, because even if your wife doesn't exhibit this particular symptom, odds are the little monkey is going to have a blowout five minutes before you leave for church anyway.
Of course all women are different, so your wife may not be quite as loopy as I was. But we're also all alike in many ways. And something along these lines is pretty common in all women. The intense experience of labor and the life-changing realizations that occur in those first few weeks of mommy-hood are probably going to leave your wife gasping. The best thing Jeremiah does for me is to allow me to work out all this emotional stuff without freaking out over it himself, and without taking my "freak outs" too seriously. He knows that even though one night I'm sobbing over my total inadequacies as a mom to two kids, the next morning I'll be delighted with my beautiful children again. And even if I go totally bonkers over the socks that have been on the floor every night for six years of married life, it's only "the hormones talking"-- although he's smart enough not to say that at the time ;) I highly recommend that you get a mental image of yourself as a padded room in which your slightly psychotic wife can safely hide away for a few months till her body chemicals level out a bit. (Which I promise will happen!!)
If you can have the grace to cover your wife's instabilities for a few short months, she will adore you for it forever--witness my feelings for Jeremiah. He has truly dealt with me "as with a weaker vessel" these four months since Judah's birth and been so patient with my weakness in this area. I wish the same for all my expectant friends!!
God Bless!!
Monday, March 16, 2009
Not Me Monday-- the Flu edition
Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.
This is all for Laurie!
No way did I take (only slightly) wet pants out of the hamper to put on a toddler who'd pooped out his last clean pair of pjs at 3 am. Not me. And it certainly wasn't me who'd looked at the pile of dirty laundry at 11:00 the evening before and decided that it could wait till tomorrow. Decided that sleep was more important than clean clothes. As were the hours of blog-surfing that led to this 11th hour realization. Huh-uh. That was not me.
I totally did not feed my children fish sticks one day and hotdogs the next because I was too sick and tired to cook. And no way, No Way, did I tell my daughter that yes, pickles and saurkraut count as vegetables. I would NEVER. Especially not me, because they were sick too, and really needed good nutrition and my mama taught me better than that. Uh-HUH.
I absolutely washed my dishes more than twice in the last three days. Absolutely.
There is not a small spot of blueberry-colored poop on my couch that I am ignoring because it basically the same color as the couch and who can tell? It's not blueberry-colored because that's the only thing poor leaky-hiney over here will eat right now. Nope. Not my couch.
I am totally not typing this while wearing the clothes I wore yesterday. And slept in. Maybe even two nights. I wear sexy-mama pjs to bed every night. Because I am just that kind of woman. The kind of woman who can changes blueberry diarrhea diapers at 3 am in sexy-mama pjs.
I could go on. But I imagine you'd rather I didn't.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Wedding Season is Upon Us
This is wedding week 1 for our little design business (no, the site's still not finished-- we've been too busy doing weddings! and having babies... and such) and I know that blogging will have to take a backseat to all the panic and stress that usually accompanies wedding week. I've been browsing through my archives and picking out my favorite Mommy-Posts-- the ones where I talk about being a mom and what it means to me and the things I'm learning about being a better mom. I'm going to post some of them to cover these busy days and keep my place marked in all y'all's Google Readers and such. It's good for me to re-read them and remember the things the Lord has been teaching me, and perhaps there are some moms reading that might enjoy a chance to Empathize :) If you've read them all already, bear with me. I'll be posting pics of the weddings and the whole process for the first time on our new My Sisters' Weddings blog! I know, I know!! I can hardly wait either!!!
Friday, March 13, 2009
Romance, JJF style
Perhaps those of you married to programmers, computer geeks or just a certain personality type can identify with this tale...
Last night while doing dishes:
me: You should try the lemon tea, you might like it.
J: I'll just have the vanilla.
me: Are you sure? Don't you want to try something new? It's really good.
J: No, I'll just take the lemon.
me: *sigh* Okay.
the sound of dishes clinking in the sink
J: I'm the kind of guy who likes to find a good thing and then stick to it.
me: I know.
pause for more dish washing and counter wiping
J: That's why I married you.
longer pause
J: You're my ***#32, Chef's Special Chicken.
I know I am. And I love it! Wouldn't trade places with anyone :)
***his favorite dish-- the one he orders every time-- for eight years. Every. Single. Time.
Last night while doing dishes:
me: You should try the lemon tea, you might like it.
J: I'll just have the vanilla.
me: Are you sure? Don't you want to try something new? It's really good.
J: No, I'll just take the lemon.
me: *sigh* Okay.
the sound of dishes clinking in the sink
J: I'm the kind of guy who likes to find a good thing and then stick to it.
me: I know.
pause for more dish washing and counter wiping
J: That's why I married you.
longer pause
J: You're my ***#32, Chef's Special Chicken.
I know I am. And I love it! Wouldn't trade places with anyone :)
***his favorite dish-- the one he orders every time-- for eight years. Every. Single. Time.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Create It Forward
The first five people to respond to this post will get something handmade by me.
This offer does have some restrictions and limitations so please read carefully:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make.
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It'll be done this year (2009).
4. You have no clue what it's going to be.
5. It will be something made in the real world and not something over the internet.
Here's the fine print:
In return, all you need to do is post this text into a blog of your own and make 5 things for 5 others. No cheating; if you want something from me you have to post this on your site and follow through. You do not have to be particularly artsy-fartsy to do this. Really. Just be creative.
This offer does have some restrictions and limitations so please read carefully:
1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make.
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It'll be done this year (2009).
4. You have no clue what it's going to be.
5. It will be something made in the real world and not something over the internet.
Here's the fine print:
In return, all you need to do is post this text into a blog of your own and make 5 things for 5 others. No cheating; if you want something from me you have to post this on your site and follow through. You do not have to be particularly artsy-fartsy to do this. Really. Just be creative.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
And another one down, and another one down and another one bites the dust!
This refrain has been ringing in my ear all day. That's right, folks, the F. family is on the mat again and the fourth round goes to... the Flu again!
*ding, ding, ding*
Judah is out cold with diarrhea, ear infection, coughing up bloody mucus, fever. Jeremiah is just coming around after two days of coughing, fever and congestion. Sofi is bloodied but unbowed with merely a runny nose. I am down for the count with mild fever, chills, congestion, wracking cough (wracking, people, I feel like my chest is in a vise grip held by a giant who occasionally gives me a good hard shake, just for kicks) and sore back due to propping myself up every night so I can breathe.
I know, I know. Enough with the corny and ridiculously incorrect sports metaphors. Sorry. Gotta get my laughs anywhere I can these days. Seriously though, can you believe this? In nearly eight years of marriage we have NEVER, I repeat, NEVER been this sick. Not even the time J almost died while I was busy giving birth to Sofi. (ah yes, there's a story there I may tell one day...)
This time I'm trying out Rachel's Olive Leaf treatments. I'll let you know how it goes and I'll link to her post about it if she let's me know that's ok. (*hint, hint* Rachel?) Sue said it worked wonders for Violet last time, so we're gonna give it a whirl.
For now I leave you with this thousand-word representation of what we all feel like today:
*ding, ding, ding*
Judah is out cold with diarrhea, ear infection, coughing up bloody mucus, fever. Jeremiah is just coming around after two days of coughing, fever and congestion. Sofi is bloodied but unbowed with merely a runny nose. I am down for the count with mild fever, chills, congestion, wracking cough (wracking, people, I feel like my chest is in a vise grip held by a giant who occasionally gives me a good hard shake, just for kicks) and sore back due to propping myself up every night so I can breathe.
I know, I know. Enough with the corny and ridiculously incorrect sports metaphors. Sorry. Gotta get my laughs anywhere I can these days. Seriously though, can you believe this? In nearly eight years of marriage we have NEVER, I repeat, NEVER been this sick. Not even the time J almost died while I was busy giving birth to Sofi. (ah yes, there's a story there I may tell one day...)
This time I'm trying out Rachel's Olive Leaf treatments. I'll let you know how it goes and I'll link to her post about it if she let's me know that's ok. (*hint, hint* Rachel?) Sue said it worked wonders for Violet last time, so we're gonna give it a whirl.
For now I leave you with this thousand-word representation of what we all feel like today:
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
He enjoys putting me in my place
Me: Guess what? I have thirteen followers on my blog now!
J, with a cynical look and tone: Ah.... then you're more popular than Jesus...
(and later, laughing, "Ahhh, the cleverness of me...")
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Looking for some help again
I'm wanting to read and review some children's/teen's devotionals for Blissfully Domestic. I'm not really looking for Bibles, or Bible stories, but rather specifically devotionals that are more topically arranged and include teaching and admonition, as well as Bible stories. Do any of you remember ones from your childhood to recommend, or ones that your children are reading now that you like?
Children
*sigh*
Judah is outside, walking around the front yard in his socks. He also just dumped his entire bottle of bubbles into my flower beds.
Sofi has taken her pillowcase out of her room and into the bed of J's truck, spread it out and cuddled up on it with her stuffed bunny.
Yesterday, Sofi begged to carry one of the bags of groceries home (we walk to a local shop). Somewhere along the way she set it down, a fact which we did not discover until we arrived home. She had no memory of where, how or why she set it down, or even that she was at some point in the last ten minutes carrying groceries. This is the child that also frequently drives her bike straight into telephone poles. I promise to give you fair warning when she starts to drive so you can move out of the state.
Immediately after discovering that she had done this, I discovered that Judah had...um...well, it involves diapers and bodily substances in the stroller. Let's just leave it at that. Keep in mind that he's almost potty-trained for poops now and usually asks to go. Not this time. Oh no. We were at the park! No time for pooping on the potty!
I had to change him and then stick them both in the car and drive the three block route back to the store, necks craning out of windows all the way, looking for the lost bag of groceries. We discovered it lying beside the candy vending machines at the front of the store.
*sigh*
Judah is outside, walking around the front yard in his socks. He also just dumped his entire bottle of bubbles into my flower beds.
Sofi has taken her pillowcase out of her room and into the bed of J's truck, spread it out and cuddled up on it with her stuffed bunny.
Yesterday, Sofi begged to carry one of the bags of groceries home (we walk to a local shop). Somewhere along the way she set it down, a fact which we did not discover until we arrived home. She had no memory of where, how or why she set it down, or even that she was at some point in the last ten minutes carrying groceries. This is the child that also frequently drives her bike straight into telephone poles. I promise to give you fair warning when she starts to drive so you can move out of the state.
Immediately after discovering that she had done this, I discovered that Judah had...um...well, it involves diapers and bodily substances in the stroller. Let's just leave it at that. Keep in mind that he's almost potty-trained for poops now and usually asks to go. Not this time. Oh no. We were at the park! No time for pooping on the potty!
I had to change him and then stick them both in the car and drive the three block route back to the store, necks craning out of windows all the way, looking for the lost bag of groceries. We discovered it lying beside the candy vending machines at the front of the store.
*sigh*
New Review up at Blissfully Domestic
And once again, I'm up on the Inspired Bliss channel at Blissfully Domestic. This week I'm reminiscing about some books I loved as a child and the fun of watching Sofi discover them. Stop by and tell me about some of your favorites!
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Friday, March 6, 2009
New Review Up At Blissfully Domestic!
I forgot to post a link to my newest post at Blissfully Domestic! Here it is :) I'm talking about woman and relationships-- a topic dear to every woman's heart. Tell me what you think!
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Judah and the Paparazzi
Laurie B, please note; this is his "Hey baby, what's shakin'" face.
(Sofi still remembers you saying that...)
"Put away the camera, Mama!"
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Chat-versation with my business partner
(Just to give you an idea of what life's been like around here lately... I've changed the names to protect the innocent. And the guilty.)
me: hey
L: k
me: I'm worried she may have sent it to the PO box
L: k
L: Yep. I'll check for sure
me: no
L: okay...then maybe mention how inundated we were with this current wedding?
me: yes
L: I feel so bad...I totally forgot we were doing that....bad processing on my part after the meeting.
L: Well....at least between the two of us!
me: photos for what?
L: For Bride 1?
me: ah
L: you are a tornado....it's the only way to keep that many balls in the air!
me: yep
L: he he he
me: it's a caffeine powered tornado
me: hey
you there?
L: oh hey there
yep...about to go eat real fast then get on the phone....I had to get organized first...
me: Yay! 
L: for the moment. but I will relish it.
me: We got an email from Bride 1
I will forward it to you
L: ooooo
me: it came to my gmail address
L: still looking for the Bride 1 e-mail...
me: coming now
(the bride had emailed us asking about some info we were supposed to have sent her last week)
(the bride had emailed us asking about some info we were supposed to have sent her last week)
L: oh crap!
I forgot about that!
me: yeppers
L: I was thinking we were waiting for her!
me: Hey
when you call Bride 2
ask her what address she sent the check to
L: k
me: I'm worried she may have sent it to the PO box
L: k
me: despite instructions to the contrary
L: Yep. I'll check for sure
So...for Bride 1...can we reply with the same exact e-mail we sent last night to Bride 3?
me: no
I've got to get her the info today
I've got it almost ready
L: okay...then maybe mention how inundated we were with this current wedding?
me: yes
I will
L: I feel so bad...I totally forgot we were doing that....bad processing on my part after the meeting.
me: yeah
I remembered it in the back of my brain somewhere
but never got around to actually doing anything about it
L: Well....at least between the two of us!
Should I throw some photos together?
me: photos for what?
L: For Bride 1?
me: ah
well
I suppose
if you have time
I feel like a tornado
I am writing a blog post
responding to comments
chatting with you
reviewing emails
answering emails
eating lunch
reading my bloglist
and trying to finish up the doc for Bride 1 and Bride 3
ALL AT THE SAME TIME
and ALL BEFORE THE KIDS GET UP
bleh
it's exhausting to be me
L: you are a tornado....it's the only way to keep that many balls in the air!
me: yep
you said it
*looks at weird mental picture of self whirling around juggling fifteen balls while riding a unicycle*
don't ask where the unicycle came from
I don't know
L: he he he
me: it's a caffeine powered tornado
so far I'm on my third cup
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Dang, she's done it again
I've been convicted severely yet again by Conversion Diary's latest post about overcommitment. Wow. It's like she knows me and is writing right at me. Please someone go and read it and tell me if it hit you as hard as it did me.
Sunday afternoon musings
Proverbs 14:4 Where no oxen are, the manger is clean,
But much profit comes by the strength of the ox.
Some of you may have heard me say that this is one of my favorite Bible verses. Why, you ask? I will tell you.
I like clean floors. A lot. Matter of fact, grit on a hardwood floor is like fingernails on a chalkboard to me. We have all hardwood floors. We also have two children. One of them is a toddler. You do the math. The worst of it is that our dining room is smack-dab in the center of the house, so crumbs, goop and Cheerios get tracked from yin to yang all day long.
When Sofi was a baby and we lived in a tiny apartment (with hardwood floors) I vacuumed every day. Yes, I was obsessed. I freely confess it. Since Judah was born I've gone through some personal therapy and reduce my vacuuming habit to twice a week. And then I just broom sweep the bad spots each day. But one thing I've had a really hard time letting go of is my regular Saturday clean-the-house-from-top-to-bottom, so that all day Sunday I can walk around barefoot on my grit-free floors and be thankful for my lovely children and the marvels of modern inventions like the vacuum.
Yesterday Sofi and I spent the afternoon dusting and cleaning and vacuuming and organizing to prepare for my barefoot Sunday. I swept a quick swipe across the major traffic areas again right before bed. And again this morning on the way out the door to church. My toes tingled in anticipation of the afternoon's barefoot rambles. We had lunch at church. Chili and cornbread.
The kids ate leftover cornbread in the car on the way home.
It's been snowing all night and all morning.
J set Judah down on my beautifully swept and shiny floors and as he walked toward me with his arms out for a hug I lifted my eyes to the heavens and let out a wail of anguish because of the shower of cornbread chunks and puddles of melted snow-prints that followed in his wake. And then, by the grace of God, I scooped him up for a hug muttering this verse over and over and over as I took him to bed and then vacuumed. Again.
Where there are no toddlers, the floor is clean. But much joy comes from the laughter of children.
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