P was here.
When P comes it's always a whirlwind with all her stuff and the animals. :) Twenty trips to the car and back to bring it all in. Well, I guess that is a bit of an exaggeration. She does try to pack light, but it is OK if she doesn't. Having her visit is fun. We play games and watch movies quite frequently, though not as frequently as she would like. With having two children and my weekly tasks, it is harder for me to spend as much time as I or she would like playing games and watching movies.

P also helps out with the children, for which I am quite grateful. J loves her and talks to her about his day, and lets her change him without fussing and wriggling, feed him, cuddle with him. E loves her too. She is very caring about P's recent loss of one of her birds. E also loves doing P's make up. She is not too bad at it, I think. E also likes going for walks with P and Kashi, and giving Kashi his bones. And every morning E wants to know if P is up and if she can go wake her up. Being quiet to let P sleep is hard for her. They each have a special place with her.

A note about the flush toilets. I now carry in my purse small post-it notes, for those stupid wall sensor flush toilets. They adequately cover the sensor, so no toilet flushing occurs while my daughter is sitting on it.

Upon our first encounter with the a fore mentioned flush toilet using the post-it notes, I had to cajole my daughter to use it.

Here I sit on couch with my lap top. It still has Window Millanium instead of the update to Windows XP. The tech friend at P's work had to leave to attend to his daughter's broken leg.

And among other things, P forgot to take the computer home with her. Oh well. Since she's coming at Christmas, we can do something about it than.

Obviously, the fellow who invented automatic flush toilets did not have young ones.

My girl, who's three, does not care for automatic flush toilets. In fact with our last encounter with one, she absolutely refused to use it. I tried to cover the sensor, but the paper fell. When the sensor's on the wall, it's rather hard to cover it up. The toilet flushed and she started to cry that she didn't have to go. We tried another toilet, but the stupid thing flushed on us too. We ended up leaving, no one having used a toilet, and me very annoyed. I didn't want to have to clean up an accident.

If there have to be automatic flush toilets, they should at least be the kind with the sensor away from the wall.

I had my first (and last) craft fair at Elm Terrace Gardens on Saturday. I sold nothing, save one note card to my 8 year old cousin for a $1.00. I had available to buy, plain and matted prints, some framed prints, note cards, and greeting cards. Many came by and said that I had beautiful photos, but no one felt led to buy anything.

I thought that at least something would sell. But no. I don't count the note card R bought. I did learn that craft fairs at retirement communities are not the place to sell prints. I should have had my photos printed on fabric and made into pillow covers. Then I would have made some money.

I need to find art venues. I want to try selling at local stores and online, too. We'll see how it goes.

I was reading in my Bible a couple of weeks ago and started to cry from conviction. E, who was in the room entertaining herself by lining up books on my bed, stopped, turned and asked, " Mommy why are you crying?" I replied, "Because I'm not doing what God wants me to do." As she went back to arranging, she simply said, "God will keep you safe."

I took her in my arms and thanked her for caring about Mommy. I got a big E hug, which can melt any heart.

I have been thinking lately about my faith and my walk with Christ. I have felt that something has been missing, and I didn’t know what to do about it. I finally decided that besides studying the Bible much better and more than I have been, I might try getting to know Jesus better. So I pulled my The Jesus I Never Knew book off my shelf. (P has asked me to read it with her, and I haven’t been ready to until now.)

Right now I was reading about the birth of Jesus and was quite taken aback by the account in Revelation 12:1-6. Yes, there is an account in that book.

" 1 A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. 4 His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. 6 The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days."

Now, I have never given a lot of thought to Revelation, for it is quite a different sort of book. I have read it but have never taken the time to understand it very well. That passage depicts Christ’s birth, but I am pretty sure that when I search through the Christmas cards this season, that is one scene I won’t find. Yancey writes “in daily life two parallel histories occur simultaneously, one on earth and one in heaven. Revelation, however, views them together, allowing a quick look behind the scenes.” It was quite amazing to learn that Revelation gave me a parallel look at the two worlds. I have always believed that Satan is at work in this world but never viewed it like that and didn’t realize that Revelation did.

If you go on to read in chapter 12, you come to this passage.

"13 When the dragon saw that he had been hurled to the earth, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male child. 14 The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place prepared for her in the desert, where she would be taken care of for a time, times and half a time, out of the serpent's reach. 15 Then from his mouth the serpent spewed water like a river, to overtake the woman and sweep her away with the torrent. 16 But the earth helped the woman by opening its mouth and swallowing the river that the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. 17 Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring—those who obey God's commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus."

Again, since I haven’t studied this book, I found a passage new to me. I was most taken with verse 17. I am counted among her offspring, which puts me at war with that dragon. I sat and thought on that for about 5 seconds, and decided I needed to share what I just
learned.

Now what have I just learned? And how will it help me to grow? That is something else I recently read. I learn and I grow. Learning is taking in new information, but growing is changing whom I am and becoming something more. Hopefully closer to whom God wants me to be. If we are Christians, we should always be striving to be more like Christ. We should not be stagnant. And I think that has been my problem. I have been stagnant. I haven’t been growing, and it has left me feeling dispassionate about my faith. That is certainly not how God wants me. What good am I than?

Back to what I learned. Revelation may be a strange book, but I still need to study it, for it is relevant to my life and very applicable. Christ entered this world with Satan chasing after Him, and since Satan has no sway over Jesus, he tries his wiles on us, Christ’s followers. And yes, he does find those who can be tempted into sin.

How will I grow? A starting point is to oil my armor and stand alert.

Right now I am sitting in my basement, our future family room, in front of our pellet stove in a recliner typing on my blog. The stove is kicking out some heat ,and my feet are getting toasty.

The "family room" is currently the middle portion of our basement and still looks like a basement. It has miscellaneous items that have no other home. It also presently has clothes hanging in it, which of course are dry and need my attention.

Did I mention that it's getting toasty? Well, I might actually need to back up. I'd say the stove is doing it's job.

I guess I'd better tackle the clothes. But I also can say that I added more clothesline so that I can hang all my clothes at once this winter down here instead of in shifts, like last year. More clothesline also means more space taken up on wash day. Which means less room in our family room, since that is the location of the new line.

E has done it. She has gone too far with ketchup. I had meatloaf for lunch, so I had the ketchup out. J is eating stew. E is having PB&J with apple slices. She claimed she needed ketchup. So, I gave her a blob. Do you want to guess what she dipped in that ketchup? Her apple. Yep, she just dipped it right in there. And then she did it again. And again. Apparently her taste buds don't find that offensive. Mine, however, have a problem with that.

I called my dad, since he puts ketchup on far more foods than most people I know. He said he would have to try that too.

I still say NO, THANK YOU!

An aside: My previous post and this post have been written at the kitchen table with nothing hooked to the computer. My dear friend P took pity on my attachment to electricity and bought me a battery.

Almost every morning I awaken to "The Call of The Elisabeth." It starts slow and quiet. As time progresses, it intensifies until I must ignore it no longer. MOM - MY can be heard for miles around.

My child has held fast to one rule, regardless that this one rule has been dissolved upon her being potty trained. "You must stay in bed when you wake up." It has never been a rule that needed enforcing, and now I can not convince her to give it up. Every morning and every nap time she wakes and sits in her bed and calls for me. If I don't appear, she calls for Daddy. Why she refuses to give up this rule is beyond me. Since she now wears underpants, the staying in bed rule has been done away with. When she wakes up and has to go potty, I want her to get up and go. But she hasn't quite caught on yet.

I will say, however, that although she called for me for probably a half hour this morning, she was dry when I took off her diaper.

Today I scanned in the remaining photos I wanted from my trip to Yellowstone National Park. I am desperately getting ready for my big debut at ETG's Christmas Craft Bazaar. I now have to finish editing my photos, upload them to Winkflash, and order them. Than decide how much I want to sell them for. I do have some other photos that I want to look for that would be good to have on display. I also need to go to a craft store to buy mattes for some of them.

I am also wondering who I may get to help in the threes room for MOPPETS on Tuesday. There still are no permanent workers in there. Is five hours a month too much to ask?

Oh, by the way, I was able to get all that scanning done, because E went to a friend's house to play and eat lunch. That was a fun treat for her and a blessing for me.

I am trying to be thankful for this laptop. Although I am very thankful for it, it hasn't quite lived up to my expectations yet. It can with a little help.

It's main problem is the archaic operating system, Windows Millennium Edition. It doesn't support much anymore. One thing I was hoping to do with it was watch online shows in the living room. FOX is not compatible with ME, and when I tried to watch CBS, the show kept jumping. I am hoping I just need to update the players on the laptop. I haven't tried NBC or ABC. Of course those channels have the dumb shows anyway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On a different topic I wholly believe that it should not be this humid on the 19th of October. I am ready for long sleeves, hot cocoa, fires and s'mores. Instead, I am in shorts, a t-shirt, and flip-lops, and all the fan are running! What's going on?

I am writing this post on my new laptop. If you go to P's blog, you will be able to read about some of my trying-to-log-onto-the-Internet-using-my-wireless-router woes.

I will say that I am very thankful for tech support person, Maria, at Verizon, because she saw what none of the other 5 tech people saw. The wrong setting checked on my router. Even the guy from D-Link didn't notice it. And I also have to say, she didn't ask me to configure my adapter one more time, since the last 15 times should have done the trick.

Anyway, I can now browse the Internet, watch online TV shows, or trounce P at scrabble all from the comfy spot on my couch or bed, or anywhere else I desire since I am now wireless, as long as it is near a power source. For although I am wireless in the Internet arena, I am still attached to the electricity source until I buy a battery.

Here's a funny story.

My friend P came a while ago for a visit. She brought along her laptop, which has wireless capability. She lamented that we don't have a wireless router, so she could use the Internet from our living room, instead of crawling in our computer cabinet to hook up to our router with an Ethernet cable. Not only is wireless good for when P visits, I acquired my sister's old laptop with wireless capability.

P offered to buy us a router. She was all set to, but was waiting for me to give her the OK. When I did, the site was idle for too long and closed. Just this morning we were discussing it again and decided I would call Verizon first.

Well, I finally got around to calling Verizon to see if the router she suggested was compatible with our system. The tech asked why I wanted one. I explained that I wanted wireless capability. He said that we probably already had a wireless router and asked when we got our service. he than did some checking and confirmed that indeed we had a wireless router. He than connected me with tech support, who proceeded to set up our wireless environment.

So, now with nothing but a phone call, we are wireless!

Now I just need a power cord and AC adaptor for the laptop.

Sometimes having children is a blessing, but sometimes it feels like a curse.

I think E is finally on the road to potty training. Earlier last week, underwear was the topic of conversation, and she wanted to wear some. I told her that she needed to use the toilet when she had to go potty. And if she kept her diaper dry, she could wear them.

She has consistently gone more times in the potty than her diaper in a day. She still has to have a diaper change now and then, but it has been better. We also bought her pull-ups, which is good too (more like underwear.) She can go to the bathroom and now pull her pull-up back on herself.

J continues to make his rounds doing his frog impression. He is an active little almost 10 month old. He still loudly insists on his food, likes his Cheerios, and still doesn't so much care to drink from a bottle or cup.

Today was our first day of MOPS. I felt it was quite chaotic. Probably because I wasn't as prepared as I should have been, I was late getting to church, and it was the first day and things crept up.

Hopefully, our next meeting will be better.

Tonight G and I are going to a Bible study. And I hope it is actually a Bible study and not just a time to get together and swap stories, or check out what the latest Christian author wrote, or ways that we can help ourselves get better at something. Because frankly, I can swap stories with other moms at MOPS, I can read a book on my own, and I just can't help myself. I need God and His word.

The word of God is unchanging, yet new every time I read it. It's a great mystery that I want to know better. I want to hear how God changes others when they read it. I have difficulty right now taking time to read on my own and want to be held accountable.

G and I and my parents are going to a Phillies game on Wednesday! I am very excited. Our seats are right behind the visiting dugout. I will be able to touch it. We have never had seats that good before. And to make it better, they are free. G got them from a client at work. We made sure to let him know that we would take any other tickets that he didn't need.

I am also looking forward to the game, because we haven't done much in the way of outings with my parents. So, I will enjoy going out with them.

We also have a VIP parking pass.

Alas, I was suppose to write more on my last post, but I never got around to it. And now I don't know what I was going to write.

Let's see in the past month . . . (in no particular order.)

I resigned from Creative Memories. I didn't have the required $500 is sales, and I wasn't going to charge it to my own credit card. And I decided it wasn't for me. I feel very relieved.

I am starting to print my photos as cards to sell. I have two done so far, one I just picked up today.

E had her third birthday. We had family over for burgers and corn on the cob. E wanted to play with everything, so gift opening took awhile. I'd say her favorite was a dollar store purchase.

J does his frog impersonation quite well now. I think he will never actually crawl, just leap about.

E had her first dentist visit, at which she did very well. It was also discovered that her binkie sucking is narrowing her upper jaw, so it's bye bye binkie. I was thinking that she only sucks it at nap and bedtime, but then I thought about how long of a time that actually is. Yeah, it needs to go. She is three, now. She picked the day she will say goodbye to it forever - Saturday, August 25th. We also picked a day to say goodbye to binkie for naptime, too. That was last Thursday. She's not doing to bad without it, though she still asks for it.

We went to a local carnival. E rode the kiddie rides. She and I went on the carousel, where she rode the horse this time. Before when I'd take her on, we would have to sit on the nonmoving sled. This time she rode a moving horse, and I didn't even have to stand next to her. I sat on the sled behind her. She liked the giant slide the most I think, because as soon as we got to the bottom, she wanted to do it again. She also got to play the lollipop game. Pick a lollipop out of the board, if it has a mark on it the stick you get a prize. She was just happy with the lollipop. G and I saw one of our high school English teachers. We chatted for a bit. She liked seeing our children. For being out so late, the kids did great. They didn't get to bed until after 10:30, though it didn't seem to affect them too adversely the next day.

We have had stinking hot and humid weather for ever. But I can also say that it has finally rained off and on for over 24 hours. Mostly on yesterday and mostly misty today. I am tired of watering.

We may have found the trick to helping our daughter eat in a timely manner. We moved the bird clock to a spot that she can see. We pick a bird and tell her that she has until the big hand reaches that bird to finish her meal. It has been working. Yeah.

Now on the other hand, we have J who yells at you the second his food isn't making its way to his mouth. And the boy doesn't stop. We cut him off. He still won't take a bottle. He mostly chews on it. He won't take a sippy cup either. I am trying to teach him the sign for more, to save our eardrums.

I am working on MOPPETS stuff for September. We still need workers, and I am changing some things, so I need to get that organized. I spoke in church yesterday about MOPPETS and was nervous. I don't like feeling nervous. Apparently even thinking and writing about it brings back nervous feelings. Yuck.

I guess that does it for now.

We got back from the cabin on Sunday. In honor of P, here are photos of some moss I found.

















The kids and I went up Tuesday afternoon, and G came up after work.



He came home Thursday to do some window repairs.

We are having a fun summer. Here is a photo of the E from last night. We walked to a local ice cream place, and E sure did enjoy her "pink" ice cream.






















J is doing great. He is "crawling," which means he pulls himself with his arms and supplements with his toes, mostly just his right ones. He is slowly adding the use of his knees. He does get on his knees and rock. He has started to grab onto the side of his crib and pull himself up. He then proceeds to suck on it.

We don't belong to the local pool, but we have a baby pool that E enjoys greatly. Although I put my foot in gingerly, for the water is quite cold, she gets right in and starts playing.

It has been extremely humid yesterday and today. I am mighty glad for AC. On our street we are one of a few houses that has central air. I feel somewhat privileged.

J got his first two teeth today - bottom front. He also has become quite mobile for not really crawling. He has rather good upper body strength, since he is pulling himself around, with a little help from his feet. He does get on his knees and rock, though.

The three of us got ice cream tonight. E had three days with no time outs, so we went out for ice cream. She has been very compliant and helpful, too. While at the ice cream store, we also got to look at the animals. They have some fowl, pigs, sheep, goats, deer, bison, elk, ponies, a llama, and of course cows. We didn't see the ones that the farmers feed all the strawberries to that make the strawberry milk, though. E likes the animals.

We also bought 3 gallons of milk and a half & half. The milk will last us less than a week.

Today, I spent my morning with E. Just the two of us. J was sleeping. We played and were silly together. It was a special time. She is getting to be more and more independent. "I do it myself." Wanting to do things herself and being able to help around the house. She likes to hear music and has requested I sing some songs. She has a Bible song CD that she assumes is the music of choice for all in the car. She requests songs from it, too. "In my heart" = "I've got the Joy, Joy, Joy, Joy Down in My Heart"; "Children" = "Jesus Loves the Little Children"; "Bones" = "Dem Dry Bones"; "Noah" = "Who Built the Ark" to name a few. The sad part is I know the track number for each of her favorites songs. And although she hasn't requested it, she can be heard singing "happy day" over and over again from "Oh Happy Day," while she is playing. It is simply amazing how much repetition does not phase a child.

J has been eating solids (if you can call them that) for a while, now. Oatmeal, rice and mixed grain cereal, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, peas, green beans, applesauce, bananas, pears have all passed over his taste buds. Carrots will be next.

His favorites are applesauce and pears. They come in handy when trying to feed him his least favorites. Scoop a little squash, scoop a little applesauce, feed the boy. Scoop a little squash, scoop a little applesauce, feed the boy.

I make most of his food, but we do have some jars for the occasional ease-of-use feeding. I can't remember back to when E was 7 months and how often I was nursing her. I still nurse J four times a day, but I think we just decided to cut out the bedtime feeding. I am not sure who will miss it more, me or J. I am reluctant to cut back on the nursings, because I will miss that closeness with him, he is so adorable when he nurses, and he just loves to nurse. He doesn't really take a bottle from G or me, so we have to figure something out when he looses a nursing at a meal.

J has started scooting. He uses his arms to pull and sometimes uses his feet to push. He does get on his knees and rock. He can almost get himself into a half sitting position. But if he gets to upright, he isn't very stable.

After I nursed J this morning, I put him on the floor. Since he has become mobile, the bed is not a safe place for him. He likes to be on his belly, which I was hoping wouldn't be a problem. I was wrong. The boy spit up about four times. I can't sit him by himself yet, since he still flops over. He won't stay on his back.

So, I after number four, I decided he could sit in his swing while I finished gathering dirty clothes for laundry day. E likes to play with him and did so while he was in the swing. She started the swing swinging, got his some toys and a blanket. She turned on his music and left the room, shutting the door. She then informed me that J was taking a nap.

When I was finished gathering clothes and ready to head down stairs, I went to get J. He was, in fact, taking a nap. My plan was to give him some cereal, then put him down for a nap. E thought otherwise.

We did yard work today. I am becoming more pleased with the flower beds. They are becoming mine, instead of the former owners.

A while ago we had some of our youth come over as hired workers - they are raising money for their mission trip this summer. There was brick standing on end as an edge for the flower beds. They removed the brick and relaid it long ways slightly lower than the sidewalk. And they moved the one end of the garden, also lined with brick, in two feet. They worked hard.

So, today I dug out plants I didn't want in those beds, took out two bushes, and edged the flower bed with stones. It looks much better. I'll add photos later.

G weeded, mowed and edged. Our yard is lookin' good. My friend P has always said how satisfying a nicely manicured yard is.

E just came to me nearly in tears and on the verge of a breakdown because she couldn't put her hood up. She said, "My hood's not working!"

Like I said, my visit to my friend's was quite an experience:


My daughter got her hand stuck to a sticky mouse trap, and trying to get it off was an effort.

The bed rail came off while I was on the bed getting ready to nurse my son. Got around to fixing it a while later.

Instead of outpatient, P ended up being inpatient.

I turned on the oven to bake something, pizza left there burned, dripped, set off the smoke alarms, alerted the security company and the fire department. I got to speak with a real, live fireman.

Visited my friend while managing a 2 1/2 year old and a 5 month old, driving back and forth for naps and not having a needed schedule, resulting in cranky children and haggard mother.

I did some laundry, went to dry it, found a not so clean rug in a dirty dryer. Lugged the broken vacuum down, and wrestled with it to vacuum out the dirt.

My children didn't sleep very well (though that's not unusual) and robbed me of sleep.

My husband came to give me relief from children. (Another reason I love him.)

Argued with Kashi about going upstairs or coming down, going outside or coming in.

Became increasingly disgusted with the treatment P received from that hospital. And I thought she'd be safer there. What a misconception that was.

P and I got to see our favorite movie, "Independence Day," and played a few games of Phase Ten Dice.

I was there to be with P and give her support. And it was worth it. I'd do it all again. Except I'd bring my own vacuum.

My son felt the need to eat at midnight, the exact time I decided to go to bed. I don't really like to be interrupted from my plans for slumber. And really not by a crying baby, who has quite a piercing cry.

So, I gave in and fed him, and then I got to go to sleep.

This trip to my friend P's house has not been a typical trip. It wasn't suppose to be. I came to be a support for her during surgery. No plans for movies, games, or our normal fun.

It started out at 11:30 pm last night. I had a Get Together and left after it was over. It was a late drive. I wasn't sure how it would go, but I made it. I had a book on tape, but it didn't really help me to stay wake. I had to stop twice to take a break.

When I got to her house last night at 2:30 pm, the children were both awake. They believed it to be time to stay awake. After nursing my son a bonus feeding, he proceeded to cry and carry on when I put him in the travel crib. I ended up going out to my car to get the bouncy seat. J loves it. He finally quit crying. E still had wide eyes. She fussed and didn't want to go to sleep. I gave her two books and told her she didn't have to go to sleep, but she needed to stay in bed. I, however, felt quite strongly about sleeping and closed my eyes and was out. A while later, I roused to see both children sleeping. Since they had finally succumbed to sleep, I continued on in my slumber.

The children were gracious enough to sleep until 8:30. Then while I was getting ready to nurse J on the bed, the bed rail came off and the mattress and box spring fell to the floor. I pried myself off the crooked bed and proceeded with nursing my son on the other bed. Just as I was finishing up with my son, I noticed my daughter fooling around with something. She took it to the bathroom, and I heard rustling. When she came to where I was - upon my request, I saw she had a pest trap stuck to her hand. After I wrestled the thing off, I had to go figure out how to get the sticky stuff off her hand. It was quite coated. Four cleaners later - soap, alcohol, nail polish remover, and mineral spirits - her hand was glue free, and she was admonished to not touch things she finds on the floor.

Some time that morning, I hefted the mattress and box spring off the frame, reattached the side rail, and hefted it all back together.

I wanted to have us all ready to leave by 10:00. I got E some Cheerios and milk to start her off, while I began gathering everything we would need. I put together a bag for E and a bag for J and a bag for me. I made E oatmeal and fed it to her, so I didn't have the big clean up job as when she eats on her own. I had put off getting my own oatmeal and had to shovel it down my throat so we could get going.

We made it to the P's house with time for my daughter to become acclimated before I left her there. She really wouldn't do well at sitting in a waiting room for a couple of hours. So, she got to play while I got to sit.

I was there for support for my friend, as this surgery was very hard for her to allow. But she made it there. She walked through those doors and stayed.

She was suppose to come home today, yet I sit at home while she is still there. She made it through the surgery just fine, but it was the waking up and recovery that was the problem. It took her longer than normal to come around and understand where she was and why she was there. She also had trouble staying awake, even if she in the middle of a conversation. She ended up staying over night. As much as she might want to come home, she just might be safer at the hospital.

After I thought my friend was good hands, I collected my children from their caregivers and headed back to P's house. It was past dinner time and we still needed to eat. McDonald's it was. And finally the kids were in bed, and I could take a moment for myself.

This is it. If I can't get $500 worth of sales for Creative Memories by the end of April, I am deactivated. I have two Get Togethers scheduled. I hopefully will have enough sales. If my sales don't get to $500, I think I may end up making up the difference myself. I don't want to be deactivated.

I am having trouble getting beck into since my son was born. It's been 5 months. I didn't anticiapte in taking this long. But I am not giving up.

We bought our "new" car. It's a 2003 Honda CR-V. I like it very much. I went shopping today and had no trouble fitting everything in the back. Getting the kids in and out is a snap, too.

Now G needs to sell his Del sol. He is rather heart broken over that. He likes his little two seater. But it is an unpracticle family car.

I have traveled to North Carolina. My aunt lives there, and since my sister had off the week before Easter, we decided to head on down and see her. We also took a jaunt of to Wilmington to see my cousin.

We had a long drive down and back. The visit was nice. We went to two parks. The weather was nice (80s) for two of the days and then grew a bit colder.

J rolled over (back to front) for the first time. I have some video footage (which unfortunately was over top part of my daughter nursing her baby.) Yes, I forgot to check where the video tape was until I already started taping.

My aunt had hidden several plastic eggs for E to find. In the eggs were coins. E made a good bit of money for a 2 and a half year old. Especially when she found the change in my aunt's car, which she helped herself to.

While at the second park we rode a carousel and a miniature train. We walked through a mini zoo. E got to see snakes, turtles, deer, bear, foxes, a donkey, chickens. She also spent some hard earned cash (collected from my aunt's change in the car) on a very small piece of python skin.

We also fed some ducks and geese. We didn't care much for the geese. They tend to be a bit too aggressive for youngsters. I had a duck eat out of my hand.

On Wednesday, we went to visit our cousin. My sister got a speeding ticket. We walked on the beach, and J got to touch the ocean for the first time. He cried - it was cold. Once accustomed to the sand, E had a blast. She ran to and fro, not venturing much into the surf. Like I said, it was cold. But if the water moving back and forth wasn't a bit daunting to her, I think she may have gotten wetter. She did manage to acquire a seashell from a lady and had a conversation with some mothers laying on the beach just within reach of the surf. She tried to join them, but I stopped her. We didn't have a change of clothes. I missed capturing all of this, because when we left S's apartment, I thought to myself, we are only going to lunch, I won't need my camera. Lesson learned? A mother shouldn't go anywhere on vacation without her camera.

Heading back to my aunt's at 11:45 PM was foolish. I was driving, while everybody else slept. I had a very hard time staying awake. Very hard. My eyes were only half open sometimes. A dangerous way to travel. But we did make it back with no incidents.

All in all, it was a good visit.

E and I play the "Who loves E?" game. She has a grand time with it. She answers with Mommy, Daddy, Sissy, Mommom, Poppop, and has included Jesus now.

As a Christian parent, I want my children to become Christians. To hear my child say that Jesus loves her and lives in her heart is a beautiful thing. I know that she doesn't really know what it means to have Jesus live in her heart, but as she grows we will teach her.

Again E told me that Jesus loves her. This week she has also told me that Jesus lives in her heart. I have told her the Easter story and that Jesus wants to live in her heart like he lives in Mommy and Daddy's hearts. I didn't realize she was actually absorbing everything I said. She is always amazing me.

That she would keep this knowledge with her in her heart and hold to it throughout her life.

This morning my daughter was keeping herself occupied. (She does quite well at this.) After a bit, she called to me, "Mommy, look me." Once she had my attention, she said "Jesus loves me," while pointing to herself. I immediately got up and went to where she was. She had found my Bible on the coffee table, opened it, and was "reading" it. I gave her a big hug and confirmed that Jesus did indeed love her.

She is connecting what we have been teaching her about Jesus. She knows that Jesus and God wrote the Bible and that Jesus lives in Mommy's heart and Daddy's heart. I also told her that someday maybe she would let Jesus live in her heart, too.

As an aside, she also found my gel pen and inked her clothing and some pages in my Bible. She received a clean shirt.

We were asked today at MOPS if we have ever felt hopeless. I thought on that for a bit and came to the conclusion that I have never felt truly hopeless. I know that things aren't hopeless. They may be hard, and I might not like the situation I am in, but God is always there to bring me through. He has always been faithful, and I know he always will be. There is no reason for me to be or feel hopeless.

What did give me pause was this passage from Romans 5:3-5: (and try as I might, when looking in the concordance, I will never find Romans in the S's, or patience when I am looking up Romans) "Not only so, but we rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."

We go through our suffering and come out on the other side with patience or perseverance, character and hope. And the Holy Spirit is right there with us, helping us along. Jesus never promised us we would have it easy. In fact, he promised us we would have it hard. Sin does that. What he did promise was to be there with us.

As we drifted off to sleep, we rested with the knowledge that the dining room light was working using the switch. Yeah for G and my dad!

It was a frustrating road of hit and miss. Using an older home improvement book, G and my dad mapped out the wiring and figured out what was going on with the mess in the wall and ceiling. It really was a mess. The switch, as it turned out, was a three way switch, with one being at the bottom of the stairs and one in the upstairs hallway. When we moved in, we had no idea what the one switch upstairs worked. Nothing happened when we flipped it. We discovered, when talking to our neighbor, that it is suppose to work the dining room light. When we moved in the dining room light was attached to a ceiling fan that you worked by pulling the chain - no switches. In fact the place where the switch was suppose to be, didn't even have a switch, just a hole. The wires are still cloth covered, and it was very hard to tell what was what.

However, after 3 more hours, G and my dad finally got it working. And what's funny is that while the light worked before all the wires were put back into the wall, after G taped them and shoved them back in, when he flipped the circuit breaker and came up to try the light, it didn't work. There were so many wires in that little space that when he was shoving them back in, some came apart. He pulled them out, retaped them, and while gently pushed them back in, different lights (not involved in the project) went out. Frustrated and sick of electricity, he had to figure out which wires were now being affected. He did however discover the error, and ever so gently coaxed the stupid wires back in and flipped the breaker. Ta da! All lights worked, no sparks flying. He was done.

Well, here we are again. Sunday with sick children. Yes, E got my cold. Maybe she got J's cold, not mine.

G stayed home with the kiddos, while I went to church. With the time change and staying up too late (a problem of ours that has yet to be corrected,) we decided not to get up for the first service, and only one of us would go to the second.

In the afternoon, we had a lovely family time celebrating my sister's birthday. My mom did the cooking.

My dad and G worked to get the light working, to no avail, yet. An aside: G starting working on the dining room light project yesterday around 10:30. Hanging the thing was not the issue. Using the light switch to turn it on and off was. Previous to the light was a ceiling fan. Since we had central air installed we decided to do away with a ceiling fan in the dining room. Problem was the light switch didn't work. I'd say G worked on the project over 9 hours on Saturday by himself and maybe 4 hours with my dad today. Still no light at the end of the tunnel. (Ha ha.)

G is quite frustrated but not ready to give up. My dad is coming over tomorrow night to work on it again.

I think I am on the mend, but I still am blowing my nose more frequently than I'd like. J is still snuffly, E has now caught the cold, but G is putting up a good fight. Today, I went to our early service, and G went to the later one, while the kiddos stayed home. E was a bit upset about that. She wanted to go to church. Instead, she had a big tantrum.

G has a big project due at work and has been working long hours, so he really cares not to get sick just now. Though with his lack of sleep, he is more prone. The project's due on Tuesday, so you know he'll wake up Wednesday unable to breath, with a sore throat. He's at work now, and I should be in bed. But I have the chance to write, so I am.

I forgot to mention that last night G and I had a chance to actually sit, play a game, and have a meaningful conversation. It was really nice. It has not happened in a while, and I assuredly miss it. Sometimes I feel unconnected with him, like we co-habitat, but our relationship is hiding from us. Caring for kids drains energy and time. Our marriage and our parenting needs to be in balance.

Today was a yummy day. The K Family decided to join the B parents for a pancake breakfast at John James Audubon Center at Mill Grove. Little did we know that we would be tasters of pure maple syrup on our pancakes and privy to three ways of gathering maple sap - Native American, Colonial, and modern. I vote for modern.

In fact, we have a maple tree, and we bought a tap. This is the maple sap season, so we are going to give it a whirl. I believe to get 1 litre of syrup, one needs to gather around 40 litres of sap (sorry the site I looked at is in metric.) And a mature maple tree produces about 40 litres of sap in a season. It will definitely only be a hobby, probably a short one.

Our tongues did smile this day. E got to run around and release some pent up energy. She had a grand time. It was a beautiful day for an outing, even an impromptu one. And we thought all we were doing was getting pancakes.

We also took a 2 and a 1/2 year old's attention span tour of the Audubon house. I perused the museum shop, purchasing three booklets - Bird Finder, Flower Finder, and Berry Finder to help me keep up on my environmental prowess. I am set for my outdoor expedition. Really, what I want to do is teach my young one about God's awesome creation. I already have some other "Finder" booklets. Happy identifying.

My cold has not relented. I have passed it on to my son. My husband and daughter have not, as of yet, taken ill.

No new upsets from the cat, though I fear for the plant my friend P gave to me. I do like seeing its green fullness gracing the floor of our dining room. But my cat has practically no wits about her. I had it up on the radiator to keep it safer, but really with Patches there is no safe spot. She likes to sit on the radiator to view the outside world through the window. So, I figured the plant would look better on the floor, and I put it there.

I am still sick, by the way and have managed to pass on my germs to my son. E and G have yet to show signs. Tylenol Cold works great at night for a good night sleep, but their daytime version was not worth the many pennies spent. My nose is quite sore, and I would have done better to buy Puffs Plus with Aloe instead of that daytime elixir.

Does anyone want a cat? We have one that I would pay someone to take. I am quite tired of her going to the bathroom else wheres than in her litter box. And while I was gone, she took to throwing up. Six times on our bed, twice in the living room, and twice in the upstairs hallway. Both cats are banned from bedrooms for a while.

I am afraid to say it, but I wonder if she might benefit from some of the techniques used on children. I don't really feel like giving her the time of day, but I don't really want to be cleaning up any more messes.

What does she need that we aren't giving her? I don't really want to find out. I'd rather get a dog.

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Today at MOPS a man spoke about anger, and he opened my eyes to my anger issues.

Why am I so angry at my daughter sometimes? And why does it seem to burst out of me? He said that some people have simmering anger. I don't want to admit it, but I think that's me. He also posed this question - What might be the issues that lead you to have simmering anger as a default setting? I still can't answer it. But I need to.

Another question to think about - Do I have a good reason to be angry? During his talk he spoke about Jonah. Jonah was angry with God and never really settled that. He didn't want God to forgive the people of Nineveh, and so he ran away. And after being spat upon the sand, he drug his feet all the way to Nineveh to tell them about God's impending wrath if there was no repentance, and Jonah continued to be angry when God forgave them. Jonah did not have a good reason to be angry.

I need to understand my anger to rid myself of it.

In my visit with my friend P, she has helped me see how I can better handle my daughter's fits and tantrums. Realizing what her personality is and working with it, instead of forcing my will on her will go a long way. E wants a measure of control, which I can give her. Of course she can not be in total control, because that would just make for an unsafe and destructive environment.

An example, is binkies at nap and bed time. I'd like her to only have one, but does the world come crashing down if she has two? [P started that, by the way. She was fine with one before our visit. But what are aunts for, but spoiling and such?] And I will definitely take my cue from P about eating. E has lately gone hungry at many meals, because she simply won't eat or would sit there all night before she finished. Try one bite, P says. Than, try another bite. And bite by bite her meal is gone or close to it. I have recently also implemented another method where you tell your child to eat a certain number of bites, like you need to eat three more bites of green beans and two more bites of ham. This number method works much better than just saying you need to eat more green beans and ham. They want concrete not arbitrary. I need to remember this in other areas.

I have said how E is a little helper. An example of this is how she felt that J needed his diaper changed. She dragged him over to where she had set up the changing pad. She took his pants and socks off, unsnapped his onesie, and took off his diaper. She got out the wipes and a clean diaper. She wiped off his little parts, than lovingly used that same wipe to dry his tears (much to my dismay, but I let her go, thinking it wouldn't really hurt him.) I did tell her that she shouldn't use a wipe on his eyes, because it might hurt them. Well, little brain that she is, tested the wipe on her own eyes and feeling no pain continued to wipe J's eyes. Again I told her, and again she tested. I had to take the wipe from her. Then she put on a clean diaper and snapped his onesie. In the process of snapping, she felt he had a poopy, so she undid the snaps and wanted to change his diaper again. I told her he was still clean, and we got him back together again. All the while, P is video taping.

I am so thankful for P's insight into the whys of my daughter. Now, if she could only help me with the issues of our cat.

I do so enjoy spending time with my best friend P. She is always open for a visit. We talk and share, watch movies, play games (we are lax in this area right now,) and take care of my kids. We used to do a whole lot of each of the former three things on this list, but with the addition of my kids to the list, the former things have all been cut back. Taking care of kids is a time warp activity.

Even going out has been a task in itself. We had a grand list to tackle on Thursday. But going out twice, the list is still not finished. Really, the best time to go out is in the morning, because afternoon is nap time. But getting ready to leave with plenty of time to complete anything by lunch is near impossible, as P and I well know, since we still have a few stores to get to.

Getting to these stores is important. My husband and I are helping P out with purchasing her everyday needs, since her unemployment has been looming and weighing heavy on her heart. We have been blessed, so we want to pass it on to our friend. After all she has always been generous to us. Whenever we would visit, P would generously share with us. Now we can be generous back.

She continues to be generous to me, even if it isn't monetary. She thought of me and my children in her preparations for our coming - what we might like to eat and do, which games we might play. She thoroughly cleaned her house for our impending visit, staying up way to late to do it. She washed all linens that might touch our fair skin, she vacuumed and mopped her floors to their cleanest shine, she scrubbed the bathrooms free of all insects, dust and grime. Her floors are as clean as it's ever been. It's her way of saying "I love you."

One of her biggest "I love yous" is her willingness to change a long string of wet and dirty diapers. I have no problem letting her change any diaper that needs changing. I find that task to be a stinky one that I just as soon pass off to another. Her latest "I love you" is giving me a chance to take a nap this morning. When I came up from our basement home away from home, there was a note in her beautiful script telling me to wake her after I finished nursing my son. She would watch the bobbins so I could go back to sleep. And really, what more could a sick mother of two small children, who's been sleep deprived, want? Besides a back rub. But hey, she's done that too!

This morning was better. Getting E to bed at a decent time and spending quality time doing so, I think, were key. When I laid her down to sleep, she hardly fussed or cried. I also think she didn't take long to fall asleep, which is also key.

And guess what! She didn't wake up until 7:45. I got to sleep in, sort of. For some reason, J still decided to awake early. He thought he would have a snack at 4:30, than breakfast at 7:30. I even tried taking him upstairs for breakfast, but E still woke up. So I got a little more sleep, but it would also behoove me to get to bed earlier. Though it is hard when the time P and I have while children are sleeping is precious little. We end up staying up way too late for having to get a 2 and a half year old and a 3 month old ready in the morning.

P introduced me to a new game late last night - Up For Grabs. I think she planned it so I would be too tired to play, because I didn't do too well, which didn't sit very well with me. I definitely do NOT like losing.

I am not getting as much sleep as I had hoped to on this vacation trip to my friend's. Apparently my daughter does not sleep well in her basement guest room. It is taking her way too long to fall asleep, and she is not sleeping as long in the morning. So, we are not getting the sleep we need, causing us both to be a bit irritable.

I was especially irritable this morning, when again both children woke at 6:15. After feeding my son, my daughter wanted to be in the pack-n-play. I reminded her that she wasn't getting out for while. She wanted to stay put. So, for an hour I tried to sleep, while hearing my daughter fussing and crying.

I had quite enough of it and spoke out of frustration when she wanted to get down off the bed. I told her I didn't care what she did, she could go play with knives. She responded very seriously, "They are dangerous. No play." I know, I know. Those words should never have been thought, let alone left my lips. My daughter's words diffused my ire. I took her in my arms, apologized, told her she was right and that I didn't mean what I said. I got up, and we came upstairs.

Last night P had some good words of wisdom about dealing with E's strong will. And not seven hours later, her words are lost and my frustration takes hold. I continually fail at keeping my frustration from getting in the way of disciplining my daughter.

I spent Wednesday on the move. I originally planned to leave for my best friend P's house soon after breakfast. That changed to right after lunch when I remembered that on the third Wednesdays of every month is MOTS, and I am working in childcare. I took off three months due to the birth of my son, and now it's time to start up again.

I also realized that my tooth which had a crown put on a few weeks ago just wasn't feeling any better, so I called the dentist. With the morning already full, my only option was the afternoon. They had a 1:00 appointment. My husband was coming home to eat lunch with us before we left, but he ended up watching the kids for me while I visited the dentist instead.

And to top it all off, I really wasn't packed. I had wanted to pack early, but that didn't happen. I kid myself all the time when it comes to time factors. While packing the car, it was made more real to me that a Honda Civic is really not the car for a family of four. (I had that car packed to the top, and my husband wasn't even coming.)

I didn't actually leave until 4:00. I had to stop twice - a crying episode through Wawa with my daughter, and a feeding session with my son. We finally arrived a little after 8:00. Traffic matters didn't help much either.

But we are finally safe and sound in her comfortable cozy home.

This morning I made for the second time Malt-O-Meal hot wheat cereal for breakfast. But unlike previously, I only made one serving. Tried as I might, I could not consume my bowl full. Even while cooking it, I thought the smell of it was a bit too much for me. My daughter, however ate her bowl clean. This morning she pulled the box out of the cabinet and requested it for breakfast. I was happy to oblige her and made her a bowl. She is currently eating it. I am having Corn Chex.

My friend P loves the stuff. I thought about mailing her the box, because she has been unable to find it in stores near her. It was because of her I put the box in my cart, when I came across it at the grocery store. I thought I'd try it. But because my daughter likes it ans even requests it, I will keep the opened box and buy a new one for my friend for next time I see her. I'll stick with Cream of Wheat. (Yes, there is a difference.)

My husband and I didn't really do much for Valentine's Day. We wished each other "Happy Valentine's Day!" but there were no exchange of gifts or cards. We did however get a night out the Saturday before 2-14-07 instead.

Our church sponsored a MOPS and Pops night out. It was for our MOPS moms and their spouses and other members of church who wanted to participate. We signed right up. My mom signed up to babysit. The evening babysitting was from 6-9:30. My mom came over early, so we could have more time together. Then she took the kids to church for us.

I had mentioned to G that I didn't expect him to come up with romantic outings on his own, but he could go on line to get some instead. Apparently he did. He planned our evening as a surprise for me. I love surprises. I was to pick a number, and he would start driving. As we drove we counted restaurants. We would stop and eat at the restaurant corresponding to the number I picked. Since we had some standards, I did change my number to a higher one once. Another idea he found was to find an historic area tour for a date. For some this may be boring, but not for us. My husband found Graeme Park, home of the only colonial home of a Governor still standing. They were holding Valentine's Day tours on Saturday night. My husband reserved us two spots.

It was a nice tour. The house was quite lovely and we saw it by candle and flash light, and in the words of our tour guide, "Much the way it would have been in the 1700s." (You know, with no electricity - except for the very bright spot light illuminating the entire side of the house.) Interestingly, even though the house is hailed as "the only surviving residence of a Colonial Pennsylvania Governor," our tour informed us not about the governor, but about Elizabeth Graeme Fergusson, whose father acquired the house sometime after the Governor Keith lived there.

The tour was a play of sorts. We were invited into glimpses of Elizabeth's life from a young girl through to her later adult life. We saw her as a young girl in love with William Franklin, Ben Franklin's son. This match was looked down upon by her father and other folks close to her family. We saw her accept a marriage proposal by William anyway. But with him going away to school, they would wait to wed until his return. Their marriage never came to be, for when William did return to the states he came with a bride. She wed Henry Hugh Fergusson much later in life. That turned out to be a sorry match, for he was a Tory and had an illegitimate child while married to Elizabeth. With her husband's traitorous ways, Elizabeth lost her house, but was allowed to live there provided she pay rent. I think she reclaimed ownership several years later, but I'm not sure.

The actors did rather well, especially the teens. In fact they did better than some of the adults. There was a scene where two men portrayed an officer in the army and a family friend. They used common language from the present, words and phrases that I am quite sure were not used in the 1700s. I didn't like that. If they are portraying the 1700s, than speak like they did, not they way do now.

When we got back to the visitor's center, there were snackies and some hot chocolate. We both took advantage of the food and warm drink to help warm our cold bodies (the house wasn't really heated, and it was a cold evening.)

Our tour was over and we still had time before we had to pick up the kids. So, we headed over to Borders. We wandered through the store, perusing books and stopped off at the cafe for some coffee (G) and iced tea (me).

We had a very nice date night together.

At least three weeks ago, I managed to gather, sort, wash, dry, fold, and put away laundry in one day. It doesn’t happen often, believe me, so it’s worth mentioning. Last week I had to take down laundry from the week before so I could hang the newly washed clothes.

Let’s see . . . what else. Usually what prompts me to clean the tub is not wanting my children to bathe in crud. (My husband and I don’t count, because we just stand in the tub. Actually, my daughter usually stands throughout her time in the tub, but that’s a different story.) And I don’t even want to think about how I am going to keep the toilets clean enough to let my daughter near them for potty training. She doesn’t seem to realize the importance of NOT touching a toilet anywhere but the lid and the flusher.

My girl is very helpful around the house. E likes to help me vacuum. We have a canister vacuum, and she likes to sit on it like it’s a horse. She also helps by pushing the button to retract the cord. She thinks it’s great fun.

She likes to dust with me. She pushes the “on” button for the dryer, turns on the water when I am ready to use the sink. E will help set the table and then help clean it off. She hangs up her coat and puts away her hat, scarf, and mittens.

She also helps with her brother. She picks out his clothes, helps hook him into his car seat and helps unhook him. She is his binkie bearer, fetching it form him and making sure it is safe to suck, by sucking it first. (She is even thoughtful enough to suck it in secret so his doesn’t get jealous.)

My girl is a great help for me, and I enjoy teaching her. It teaches me patients.

I believe that God has called us to be good stewards of our Earth. I also believe that most people fall seriously short of fulfilling this command, including Christians. There are so many things one can do to help our environment.

Recycle, reuse, and cut back.
Put trash in one container, paper in one container and plastic, glass, and steel into another container. Compost food and yard waste.

Use cloth bags at the store or reuse old plastic bags. Don’t throw out “disposable” containers, wash them. Use washcloths or towels instead of paper towels.

Turn off lights not used. Use energy saving appliances and light bulbs. Hang clothes instead of using a dryer. Keep the thermostat at a lower temperature and put on more clothes.

These are just some ideas among the myriad ways one can be a good steward.

I feel overwhelmed. I feel stuck. I can't seem to accomplish much in one day, but clothe, feed, change, and clean up after my children. Some people say that's OK. Raising your children is the most important thing. But it isn't the only thing I have to do in a day.

There are piles of dirty clothes surrounding my washing machine, crusty dishes abounding on my counter and in my sink, who knows what's growing in our toilets, the poor plants are wilting away, dust and cat hair swirl around on the wood floor, every surface is cluttered with papers, projects are left half done, MOPPETS paperwork is yet to be finished, Creative Memories calls are not made, my Bible sits upon my shelf, my blog remains lonely. The list goes on and on.

But God is good and continues to bless me even while my home is left unkempt. In the middle of writing this, I received a call from a friend (also a mother of two) from church and MOPS. She gave me encouragement. She made me smile.

She mentioned that she loses her joy sometimes. I thought on that and wondered if I have lost my joy. Maybe I have, but I did not realize it.

In thinking about joy, I know I saw it today in the smile of my daughter as we sat looking at ourselves in the mirror. I heard it in the giggle of my son, as I played and talked with him. I savor the feel of my daughter's arms hugging me tight, and the cuddle of my son's cheek against my own. I smile at the antics of my daughter in her animated play, and the constant pumping motion of my son's arms and legs. (If one could harness his little bouts of energy, it could probably power an appliance in my house.)

I still have joy as a mother. I just forget it sometimes and need to be reminded. I know all the other things are not as important as my children, but I do think I need to find a balance between the two.

What good is a spiritual gift, if you don't use it? At my sisters group, we have been looking into what our spiritual gifts are and how to use it.

My problem isn't knowing what mine are, or how to use them. My problem is actually using them. I have great ideas, but I apparently lack the impetuous to doing anything about them.

I have become a linguist. It is not a job I aspired to, but nonetheless here I am.

I am not quite sure when I started in this position, I more or less just fell into it. This language is only a spoken language, and there is no written form anywhere. As far as I know there is no name for it. It is not an easy language to decipher, for it changes periodically. The word for water has changed twice, and several words in English are the same one word in this language.
Another problem is trying to repeat the words. For when I say them as the native does, I am corrected. There are others who study this language and can understand it some, but I am the most fluent since I am immersed in it constantly.

There is only one person who speaks this language - my daughter.

My toilet seat is warm.

Why, you might ask, am I sharing about the temperature of my toilet seat?

Well, let me tell you. You see, we have a powder room that is in the back corner of our house. It was put in many years after the house was built, so unlike the rest of the house it only has baseboard heat. It is really quite ineffective and inefficient. Hence the room is rather cold. The toilet seat takes after cold-blooded animals, by being the temperature of the surroundings. Which means that it also is rather chilly.

My husband had a great idea of putting our portable radiator heater in the adjoining "mud" room. The powder room warmed up some, but that toilet seat was being stubborn. I decided to put the heater in the powder room, even if it took up a fair piece of space.

Well, let me just say that after using the powder room just now, my toilet seat was warm.

This afternoon my son and I had a conversation. While nestled in my arms for a feeding, he thought he would take a break and talk to me. I asked him questions, and he cooed and smiled in response. We talked for a while. I warmed my heart.

My daughter is very into doing what we do. While putting my daughter down for her nap, she had a little dance session. She turned up her music and danced around her room, including the dips. When G or I dance holding her, every so often we bend over while saying "You dip 'em." She apparently caught on and repeats the motion while she dances.

Last night she found a stuffed animal at my parents' house. She held it up to her chest and said it was eating. She than burped the animal, switched to the other side, and burped it again.

It is wonderful to watch her.