Snow Day Take 2

The snow is almost gone....

It did stick around long enough for us to enjoy one more day in it though. Justin was working yesterday so I was flying solo. I think it must have taken me the better part of an hour - no joke - to get everyone's snow gear on. I didn't want either of the kids, or myself, to overheat in the process so I dressed them in phases. Long underwear on Steele, then on me, then on Adia. Fleece pants on me, then on Steele, blanket sleeper on Adia. Gloves on Adia, snow pants on Steele, snow pants on me... you get the picture. And you moms know how it goes - just as I had finished getting Adia dressed and she was rolling around quite distressed on the floor -

- I was putting my hat on and turned around to see that Steele had taken off his glove. The one I had just spent 15 minutes (ok, maybe 2) trying to get on him!! Admittedly, I was starting to lose my patience just a bit - but soon enough, we were out the door. I put the kids on the sled and began walking the 16 or so blocks downtown.

Our first stop? The dutch bakery! They have the best sandwiches and scones. Dutch scones, I have been informed, are much better than English scones. All I know is that I LOVE the raspberry white chocolate ones washed down with a cup of coffee. Justin and Steele always get a "num num" cookie (m&m) when they go out for walks so of course we had to pick up one of those as well. As is typical for my small town, I visited with a delightful older couple and Adia got her share of smiles and waves and "oh! those cheeks!"


We also picked up enough goodies to deliver to some friends of ours who just had their 3rd baby. When we got to their house no one was home so we dropped the treats in their mail box and were on our way again.

Now, here's a little known fact about my town: It has more churches per capita than any other city in the United States. One very special benefit of this fact is that there is a church in town with the most beautiful church bells you've ever heard. I'm not sure how often they ring but as I was walking, with my sweet children (quiet, red-nosed and bright-eyed by this time),


the snow crunching softly beneath my boots - it turned 12 o'clock and the bells rang out the most lovely hymn. It brought tears to my eyes as I listened and thanked God for moments like these. So much of life is filled with haste and hardship - I wanted to soak in every ounce of beauty that I could. I literally tried to focus on every detail of that moment and asked the Lord to let me experience it completely. They pass so quickly. All too often we pass by them too quickly - but it was refreshment to me. I wish you all could have been there.




* A note from the author: ok. I realized that I don't know where I ever heard that fact. So, being the manual-reading-clothes-washing-instruction-following person that I am I did a bit of research. And guess what? We were beat out by Wheaton, Illinois for most churches per capita. I guess if it had to be anywhere I'm glad it was Wheaton. I have a soft spot in my heart for Wheaton. Wheaton College, after all, did educate such greats as Elisabeth Elliot and the like.

Also, I recounted - it's only 12 blocks down to the bakery. Darn it. Those extra 4 blocks mighta' burned off the scone.

Snow Day!!

I love snow. I love to watch it come down. I love to play in it. I don't even mind driving in it.

BUT, we don't get a lot of snow around here (N.W. Washington) - and in my 31 years here I've learned that when we get snow we have to quickly take advantage of it before it melts. Which, around here, could be the very afternoon after the morning it arrived.

After waking up and seeing that about 5 inches had fallen I prepped Steele so he was revved to go out and play in it as soon as Justin got home from work. A quick call to our local consignment store for a snow suit for Adia and one flat Eurovan tire later - we were on our way over to the local middle school to go sledding. We live in a little bit of a valley so our town is oddly flat. The last time it snowed Justin saw some kids with sleds and chased them down to get the inside scoop on where the good hill was. And let me tell you - it was a HOT tip. When we arrived there were a good 50 people lined up along the hillside. It was perfect. Not too steep and enough room for everyone to have their own little spot.

After sledding we drove on over to a local hamburger joint (owned by a gal that goes to our church) and had a couple of deluxe cheeseburgers, a hot dog, a basket of fries and a cup of Navy Bean with Bacon soup. Dee-lish!

It's days like this that I can barely contain my joy over the sweet little family the Lord has blessed us with and the time I get to spend with them. What could be better?

I love this progression of pictures...
Click on them to get the full effect.

Strangely, the pictures Justin took of me
didn't turn out as well as the ones I took of him. Hmm.
Ha haaa! Can you see my Ear Bag flying off in this one?
Steele calls them simply, "Mama's ears".
For some reason he's scared to try them on.

Little Adia is such a tough girl. She didn't cry or whine out there one bit. In fact, after naps Steele wanted to go back out and build a snow man. So we bundled him up and he and Justin went out while Adia and I stayed inside to cook dinner. At one point I held Adia up to our dining room window and the boys were waving to her. Later, I found her on tip toe trying as hard as she could for a little peek over the window sill. Just after that Justin and Steele came in to get something and left the front door open. Adia hurriedly crawled her way over to the screen and was desperately signing the word "please" over and over again. I mentioned to Justin that it seemed like she wanted to go outside and sure enough - the moment they walked back out the door she started crying. So, thinking it would satisfy her, I set her booster chair up in the front window where she could watch the action. Not good enough. Every time Justin and Steele would run by with the sled Adia would cry again. Finally.....

.... I bundled her up and out she went!

She was kicking and screeching excitedly
the whole time I was putting her snow suit on.
I was too lazy to attempt gloves again.
Papa's socks work just as well!

I'm Asking For Advice

I know. Amazing, huh.

As a rule, I generally don't ask people for advice. Except from people I know will give me wise advice. I mean, you know how it is - sometimes the advice you get from people is well.... well, let's just say sometimes it would have been better to leave that space in your brain open for something that was actually useful. But back to my point. I guess I'm actually asking for tips. Or stories. On potty training.

Now, this is the kind of mom I am. I don't ever read those books that tell you all about kids developmental stages. About the closest I get is the little computer hand-out at the doctor's office (when we actually go to the doctor, that is). I glance over them briefly sometimes - but otherwise, I really just believe in letting kids progress at their own pace and I choose to not stress over what they "should" be doing. That said, I do try to be aware of where they're at individually - I don't want to be blind to any true concerns - but I realize that stressing over it or comparing them or pushing them is not going to help. For example, Steele had a hard time eating (I'm realizing how hard of a time even more now that we have Adia). He would chew food up and then was not able to swallow it - it would just come right back out of his mouth. Thank goodness for this bib! I'm not totally anti-doctor, but I did ask the doctor about it a couple times and she didn't think he had a problem. Well, I researched on my own and found that he was having a hard time forming a "bolus" and swallowing it. He would gag easily and the mechanics of eating just weren't coming along. I considered taking him to an occupational therapist but decided to research "treatments" on my own and do them with him. Things like brushing his tongue, having him sit in the right position while he was eating, introducing different textures and temperatures of food purposely, using a metal spoon. And slowly, he began to eat. And now, especially lately, he could eat non-stop.

***I interrupt this post to tell you all that it is snowing so hard right now!! School's cancelled, Jazzercise is cancelled, and when Justin gets home we're going out to play in it. I love it!!***

So what I'm saying is that I really try not to freak out about stuff but choose instead to calmly and wisely handle concerns should they arise.

After all this - we get back to potty training. It's another thing I'm not stressing about - but it would be nice to have it done with. Especially the expensive diaper part. Also, who knows when we could get another baby - what a joy to not have 3 in diapers. I even realized yesterday that it doesn't really bother me to clean up poopy pants - or poopy brand-new-white-Ikea rugs which was the case yesterday. I just do it - it's part of my job. The thought did cross my mind that this might be due to the great training I got at Camp Horizon. (See the "4 Things" post)

The funny thing is - Steele was "potty trained" for like two weeks. I took him to Bible Study and everything in underwear. He never told me he had to go but he wasn't going in his pants. I'm just wondering if any of these "Potty Train Your Child In 2 Days" books actually work. I mean, I don't want to be missing out on some miracle method or anything.

So...... here goes. Any ideas?


I might try and post some pictures later. Just seems like posts should have pictures but I'm too lazy right now.

The Funny Thing About Me Is...

#4 I wash all my clothing according to what their labels say.

Well, if I'm being completely honest I sometimes don't "lay flat" but rather "drape over" the clothes line in my basement.

And if you get to wondering too much: yes, I wash all my Costco underwear in cold water and hang them to dry. I really do.

The Funny Thing About Me Is...

#3 I Read Manuals From Cover to Cover

When my husband asks me how something in our home works I usually say to him, "Did you read the manual? 'Cause if you had read the manual you would know that. Here give it to me... I read the manual."


*Just to assure you - my husband and I joke around with each other a lot. I say this in the most tongue-in-cheek, jovial way possible. Even though it is true. Long live manual readers!! (And they will live longer. 'Cause they'll be the only ones who'll actually know how the defibrillator works.)

Just So You Know...

....I only do these for Martha.

4 Jobs I've Had
First of all, I should tell you that I have had SO many jobs! I don't know why. The longest job I've ever had (except for my current one which I don't really consider a job) lasted for 2 years. Before that it was six months.

1. Counselor at a camp for physically and mentally disabled people: Among my favorite memories are the time when the 250 lb woman who was the mental age of a 6 month old rolled off the bed (while I was diapering her) and on top of me and pinned me to the floor. Another camper would swear at me for an hour every morning while I was joking around with her and tickling her just so I could convince her to get up, get dressed and go to breakfast. Or my first day (I was 15) when I had to help a 14 year old camper in a wheelchair change her diaper because she had "the squirts" which are worse than "the runs" (at least that's what she informed me). She was becoming a woman and had had corn for dinner the night before - ask me how I know..... I quickly learned that the best way to handle these situations was to just laugh and find the sincere humor in it. A good lesson for all of life.

2. Caregiver for an 80? 90? year old woman during the summer: I was in high school for this one also. The medication she was on would make her hallucinate and she would talk to people on the light fixture. I made her tv dinners (not my choice, that's what her family left for her) and put rollers in her hair. She died at the end of the summer.

3. Sales Associate/Dock Assistant at a Resort Marina: Part of my job was to go down to the dock and fuel up big yachts and sail boats. I also met rich young guys that would take me out on their sail boats. Ok - it only happened once. But it happened, ok? I got sick. Hot.

4. Private Viola Lesson Teacher: This one's not too exciting but I wanted to throw in some diversity.

Other jobs include, but are not limited to: retail associate (Woolrich, Welcome Home, Body Shop), deli worker, barrista, Jazzercise instructor, dental receptionist, summer enrichment program teacher, ballet teacher, Spanish teacher, data (enterer?), Snack Bar attendant, babysitter.... you get the idea.

4 Movies I Would Watch Over and Over Again
As a rule, I don't generally watch movies over and over again. But here are 4 I've watched more than once. They're lame - just a forewarning.

1. Napoleon Dynamite
2. Empire Records
3. Bugsy Malone
4. Hitch

4 Places I Have Lived

1. Washington
2. Mexico
3. Gazelle
4. Washington, again.

4 People Who E-mail Daily
Maybe not daily, but frequently.

1. My mom
2. Amy
3. My instructors
4. My Class Managers

(I know, the last two aren't a "person" but I was reaching a bit...)

4 Favorite Things To Eat

1. Steak
2. Shrimp
3. Artichokes
4. Tacos from the taco truck

4 Places I Would Rather Be

1. Curled up with my little Steelio in bed. He's such a good cuddler - but you gotta be fast to catch him.
2. Yachats, OR
3. Whistler in the snow.
4. Making Polish Christmas cookies with my grandma.

and one more 'cause I just thought of it.
5. In my cozy little church hearing everyone's beautiful voices singing behind me. Makes me cry almost every time.

4 Things I'm Looking Forward to This Year

1. Vacation to Yachats
2. A New Baby? (we're hoping so!)
3. Both my sisters-in-law having their babies!
4. Painting my cabinets (at the encouragement of Martha!)

Happy Birthday Adia Moon!

January 19, 2007. The day the Lord brought us Miss Adia Moon. The day which marks the anniversary of our quiet footsteps into Steele's room to say, "God's bringing us Adia tonight. Time to go to Grammy's." Emotion fills me even now as I consider the awesome creativity with which the Lord has given us our children. They are gifts. Adia is our gift. Nothing I was ever entitled to or deserved to receive. Nothing that the Lord ever promised to me as a human, a woman or even a Christian. It is with this understanding that I express my thankfulness to the Lord each day by raising Steele and Adia to know and love Him. To know Him genuinely, humbly and with the knowledge of how He has planned their lives. From the very moment He knit them together in their birth-mothers' wombs to the moment they were placed in their Mama's arms and for as long as they live - He has a plan for them.

Today brought many gifts - as birthdays often do. And so it seems fitting that I should give you a gift as well. My gift to you today is a brief glimpse into God's sweet path for our Adia. (Please let me know if it doesn't work and I'll send you a copy if you'd like)

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Here are some scenes from our day. I'll post a lot because it will probably be the last that I (or anyone else) will ever see them. Anybody else's photos get abandoned in computerland forever? (Sorry Rachel - I just am not a scrapbooker.) I need to print the good ones out and put them in albums. Yah, I'll get on that.

Miss Moon and Grammy


Miss Moon and Grandma Gail
Adia has a fair amount of
stranger (anybody but mama and papa) anxiety lately...

...and Grandpa Jerry

Cinnamon Rolls pre-frosting

Waiting for my mom to arrive so we could eat.
HA HA! Sorry Mom - couldn't resist.

With our friend Faith

Still a little nervous about everyone.

From Janie and Jack via Auntie Meghan
Yes! That's snow you see!

Ethan was especially excited about it.

Baby Abigail
(1 month old)

I couldn't figure out how to get the blocks in the shape sorter.

Mee Mee, Uncle Gabe & Aunt Abbey

And finally, a very timely belated Christmas gift
from Mike and Amy's family.
He's pretty happy with it if you couldn't tell.

A Few New Pictures...

...with my brand new camera!!!

(that's ketchup on his face)

Not too exciting, I know, but I wanted to see how they turned out.

Oh.....

...not many, Major....Sir.

Heh Heh.

* Also - if you haven't kept up with all the comments on the ironing post you have to go back and read them. Who would have thought I'd get the most comments ever about IRONING?! Also - I read the post and the comments to my grandma today and she was cracking up. Seriously. She's fun that way.

I Totally Jipped Myself!

No joke - just tonight I figured out that Steele and Adia are actually 17 months apart. This whole time - ONE WHOLE YEAR NOW - I've said that they were 19 months apart!

All I have to say about that is that's why I was a Spanish major.

Also - Justin told me to "be sure and tell the blog world hi" from him (he didn't say this exactly but I'm sure he would have given a special little shout-out to Martha after I read him her HA-larious blog tonight). He also told me to be sure and tell you I had to count out the months on my fingers.

In defense of myself - my mom has been a teacher for like 20 years and she was the one that taught me to count on my fingers. She says it doesn't matter how you get to right answer as long as you get there. As long as you get there, that is.

Steele and Adia @ 17 months apart


Here they are again @ 17 months apart
(Adia wasn't very photogenic back then)


And let's see... here...
they must have been like....
17 months apart.

OH!! I keep forgetting this: HI WILLIAM!

Sort of Like a M*th Lab

Welp, I decided to go ahead and try my hand at Stacy's homemade laundry soap tonight. Besides the fact that I wondered to myself if my kitchen was starting to seem sort of like a m*th lab (especially after I looked on the Borax box and read in big letters "DO NOT USE FOR DRUGS) - I'm kind of excited about it. (I surely don't need anyone googling that and coming up with my blog - no sirree!!)

It sounded kind of fun to me and I was also intrigued by the ingredients. I have been a Queen of Clean fan for years and 2 out of the 3 products I already had on my laundry shelf at her recommendation. Borax is the only thing I have found that can take the sweat smell out of the crotch of my workout pants (yes, I did just say/type that - I hope you're not shocked). Isn't that a terrible word? But it's accurate - that's right where the seamstress would measure from if she were going to hem your pants. Right where your mom would pull to see if the millionth pair of school jeans you tried on really fit. Right where your pants start to ride up a little bit after you buy the big box of toaster pastries from Costco (hey! at least they were organic.) Anyhow........

I decided to take a tip from Mrs. Meyers and added orange and lavender essential oil to it. Only 1/2 an oz. But note to self: lavender is very potent. Next time? Add less lavender, more orange.

So we'll see how it turns out.

And just for fun - here's who's been playing on my ipod most often lately. I'm loving them.

The Funny Thing About Me Is...

#2 I like to watch People's Court.

Especially while I'm eating lunch since it comes on right at 12. I've never been one for Soap Operas (except for Days of Our Lives for a couple months when I was 16) or dumb talk shows. But I love Judge Marilyn. She rocks.

The Funny Thing About Me Is...

#1: I iron all my kids' clothes before I put them on them.

Even Steele's little white undershirts. And his jeans.

Just like my mother did. And her mother before that. My grandma ironed my grandpa's "undershorts."

I Ordered My Camera!!

And I got such a sweet deal on it!

I had searched around on the internet a bit and found the best deal (by about $50) on Dell's small business site. I wanted to be sure and buy it from a reputable company - not just on ebay or something - in case something should go wrong with it. Late last night I was looking over it, seeing what accessories I needed to buy, and decided to call Dell and make sure it came with a battery charger. So I call them up and tell them I'm about to order it and she says, "Well, since you called - I can give you a better deal. We like to drop the price if people call..." Go figure!

I wasn't about to argue with her so I graciously accepted her price of $236. This baby retails for $299 - even at Walmart it's like $271. On the Dell site they had it for $254 or something. With free shipping and handling they basically comped my tax. Isn't that cool!? And it does come with a battery charger - check that off the list.

I'm so excited for it to get here. And I feel like I will be more inspired to blog if I have some decent pictures to go with it. At least I hope so. I think of a million things a day that I want to write about but always talk myself out of it. And after reading this poor lady's blog - I sometimes hesitate to write about anything the least bit controversial. Although, have you noticed that nobody usually comments on the serious posts? It's just the shallow fun ones that get like 15 comments. (fifteen comments is a good day for me - not like this blog that I read religiously and love but am too nervous to put on my blogroll. Kind of like when you were a freshman trying to talk to a senior at the pop machine in the cafeteria) She gets a bazillion comments. My friend Martha's not doin' so bad either these days. ;-)

In a strange coincidence (especially since we never watch it) - they're currently talking about cameras on Sesame Street today.....Elmo's singing, "Camera, camera, camera, camera, camera, camera, camera, camera"..... (yes, you do hear Twilight Zone music playing in your head).

The Randomness of My Days..

• 7:00 am - Woke up with Steele, put on Veggietales and started work on this breakfast casserole for our brunch at church. (the first breakfast casserole I've ever made - not much for casseroles - but it actually turned out really well)
  

• 9:40 am - Arrived at church 10 minutes late as Justin was getting off work this morning and I was flying sola.

• Sometime during church Justin arrived and boy, was I glad. Steele was extra squirmy today and Adia was continuing on with Screamfest '08. She and I have been butting heads lately. She's only 1 you ask? Trust me.
  

• 1:00 pm - Kids went down for naps. I wrote paychecks for my employees. I'm sure they'll appreciate that. They better.... Oh yah... I also did a couple days of Bible study since BSF starts back up again this week.
  

• 3:00 pm - Justin took the kids over to my mom's house to drop off her leftover breakfast casserole. My poor mom threw her back out again so Justin had picked it up and brought it to church for her. (since she already made it and everything). And what a hub - he also went to Home Depot and picked up a fluorescent light for the studio which has been out since early Christmas week but I was off and nobody told me - we were rockin' it out Club Style at Jazzercise. (well, at least in the front left corner) He also dropped off pay checks.

• While he was gone I practiced my Jazzercise routines for tomorrow and prepared flyers, posters and postcards for all our current and upcoming promotions that I should have finished before January. E-mailed them off to the printer. I called Justin when I was done and asked him to pick up Haggen-ese for dinner. So bad for me. I guess I'll start the "You" diet tomorrow....

• 6:00 pm - Justin got home and we fed the kids and put them to bed. Adia continuing with Screamfest...
  

• Sometime between 6 and 7 Amy called and we talked for a bit. Then she informed me that while we were at her daughter's 1st birthday party last night the kids and I were exposed (unknowingly, of course) to both roseola and a probable stomach virus. Woo Hoo. Here's praying with everything in me that we contract neither of them. She also gave me the recipe for this yummy soup that we had at her house on New Year's Eve. I've made it a personal goal to have more soup in my life. In fact, I have designated Sundays as "Sunday Soup" days. It's easy, yummy and I can usually put it in the crock pot so I can rest as much as possible on Sundays. Pay no attention to the highly rest-less activities I spoke of earlier. I'm thinking forward to putting a stop to that.... I digress.....
  

• After dinner Justin and I sat down to watch the last part of Amazing Race (which I used to love but haven't watched for last 2 or so seasons) while he tried to massage a huge knot out of my back. SUCH a good hub.

• And now? Well, now we get to pretty much the whole point of this entire post. Now? We are watching American Gladiators!! And in some strange, entertaining, unexplainable, wish-I-was-buff-like-that way... I am thoroughly enjoying it! Isn't that so weird? Go figure. Amy will think I'm a crazy loon. (who uses words like "loon", anyway?)
  

(of course, I checked a few blogs in between all of this but that's a given right?)

And, I would like to apologize for the lack of pictures in this odd post. I would have ordered our new Sony camera today but I'm waiting for my friend O.Shane to give his experienced opinion on that one. (hint hint)

After Watching This...

I think I shall move to the countryside and buy myself a farm.

Presents!

Ok - since I went on and on about how much I love presents I figured I'd better post some of my favorite presents. Received... and given!

First of all, though, I have to say that I didn't get a lot of great pictures from Christmas since our camera is kind of on the fritz. It's a hand-me-down from Justin's sister that replaced the one Steele dropped on the floor and broke by accident. Neither were very good BUT, we got a nice money gift from Justin's parents so we'll be buying a new camera very soon (which I will then add to my list of favorite gifts received). You can't very well have two cute kids and a crummy camera now can you? We're considering these two cameras. I'd love any opinions you can offer. I'm leaning toward the Sony mainly because the reviews I've read on the Canon say that the flash takes a long time which, as those of you with children know, you cannot be sitting there forever with your children smiling away waiting for the flash to prepare. It just doesn't work.

Anyway, back to the presents. I gave some really good gifts this year, including a tank from Downeast for my mom and gift certificates to a cool book store and cafe that I'm sure she'll use quickly as she is a very avid reader. I also got my grandma this book


I got her the North American one last year. She likes them (I think) - she loves birds and they're really cool books. They include hundreds of pictures of birds and you can hear each of their individual songs. If you haven't seen them you should definitely take a look. Steele also loves them when we go over to her house to visit.

I got my little brother and sister these books. My sister, especially, is eating hers up.

Sorry - you can't actually "search inside."

But the best gift I/We gave was this gift for Steele.


I took him to Pottery Barn Kids before Christmas to see if he would actually play with it. He loves any kind of machine and we were constantly stepping over our vacuum at home since he had it out of the closet all day long playing with it. He LOVED it! And after we left the store I was pushing him along in the stroller and every time somebody would pass us in the mall he would say, "I was vacuumin'"..... "I was vacuumin" It was pretty funny. Here's a picture that he very graciously let me take of him this morning as he was watching VeggieTales. Notice the fake smile.

This one cracked me up too because he's still smiling
but couldn't resist turning his head to watch his show.

I received some very nice gifts as well. Honorable mention will go to these two.


I'm a big Dr. Oz fan and this completed my set. I've been enjoying reading it. His books are easy to read and are chock full of good information. You should definitely go on Amazon right now and buy them.

I also got some Lucky jeans from Justin which I picked out myself a couple months ago. I was good and didn't wear them until Christmas. But I have been enjoying them since Christmas morning when I opened them up.


But the prize for BEST GIFT RECEIVED 2007 goes to these babies....



Aren't they cute?! My mom got them for me and she was so nervous I wouldn't like them. But I LOVED them! Who wouldn't? Ok, well, my little 19 year old Russian gal that teaches for me gave me a raised eyebrow... but she wears spiked heeled boots that put holes in my fir floors so her opinion doesn't count.... But don't you LOVE them!? I've worn them a ton already - even with a cute brown skirt. Have I mentioned that I LOVE them?

So there they are, my favorite gifts of 2007. Oh wait, these ones are pretty special too...

Especially the nose-picking version


This one stands up all by herself!
With cute new jeans that her aunt picked out for her.