THE PHILLIES WON THE WORLD SERIES!!!!!!!

Choo-choo

Josh has taken a fancy to trains. But in his little world they are strictly known as Choo-choos. For example, the other day Josh had taken several items and was lining them up one behind the other. Gary noticed and asked Josh if he was making a train. Josh said "mm-mm" (or however you spell his form of "no") and said "choo-choo."

Josh as also been introduced to the world of choo-choo videos. Now all he wants to see are videos of trains. He'll open the computer cabinet and point to the screen and say "choo-choo." It will entertain him for quite awhile, and Ellie too. They both sit here and watch train videos. I try to find the longest playing ones, since it keeps their attention so well. I have some peace while fixing dinner. We have to be careful though, because once Ellie found a video of a train wreck with people involved.

Here's one of my favorites due to length of time playing. It is also of steam engines, which I prefer over diesel.

What do you know

Gary and I would like to go camping one more time this year. Elk Neck State Park in Maryland is an option. It is in walking distance of a lighthouse, so I asked Ellie if she'd like to see a lighthouse. With the enthusiasm of a child asked if she wants candy, she said "YES!" She also excitedly asked Josh if he wanted to see one too. My next question was if she even knew what a lighthouse was. No, she said. I find it humorous that she is all excited about something she knows nothing about. Her next question was even better. She asked "Which houses light up?"

Her question made perfect sense to her.

PHILLIES!!

In case anyone is unaware, the Phillies start the World Series tonight. I am very excited.

The boxelder beetle.













The boxelder beetles all over our window.








We have five windows that face the afternoon sun. We have five windows crowded with boxelder beetles. They find it a very desirable place to be. It's like a little bug sauna. Yesterday I closed the storm windows in the downstairs windows. The windows with the sun were not for the faint of heart or fear of insects. As I pushed up the screen and pulled down the storm window, it rained beetles. Not kidding - at least twenty of the things were crawling around in there. I just left them alone and quick shut the window. They just want a place that's warm.

See video below to witness the beetles.

I forgot to include these photos in my array from our trip to Colorado. This is what you can see of the entrance to Cheyenne Mountain Complex, the home of StarGate Command from the TV series "Stargate SG-1." Since we were in Colorado Springs, we thought we'd try to see it. You can't really see it, but we got as close as legally possible by road. I could have scaled up the side of the mountain, risking life and imprisonment, but decided against that option.

A rake: $23.00

A pack of paper leaf bags: $1.99

Watching my son enjoy a pile of leaves: Priceless

To the untrained eye it might appear that Ellie is investigating a cabinet and surveying kitchen gadgets on a table.

But no.

She is actually looking for something in the refrigerator and deciding what needs to be done at the counter.

The mind of a child is a wonderful thing.

Remembering

I find it interesting how a smell can remind you of things long ago.

Today, we are having bagels (Lender's) for lunch, Ellie's idea. [Lender's onion bagels the best onion bagels, in my opinion, because the onions are in the bagel not just on it.] Every time I have them, I am reminded of a time when I was a young girl. My mother gave us, my brother and sister and I, bagels for lunch, and we ate them in the family room while we watched "Swiss Family Robinson." I sat against the couch, probably on a blanket, with my little metal lap tray. Of course, it was a Lender's onion bagel with cream cheese. I think that when I watch "Swiss Family Robinson" I remember having a bagel while I watched.

The sound of a wood thrush also brings along memories. This one is not of a specific time, but a place. My grandparents' cabin in the Poconos. I'd sit on the porch swing with Grandpop and just listen to the sounds of the woods - the different songbirds, the rustling of leaves as squirrels and chipmunks scurried about, the trees swaying and creaking. Sometimes I think you could even hear the motor boats on the lake. All precious memories to me.

Where could they be?

There was a very important question in our household that needed to be solved. And it was of great import that it be answered. Where are our rally towels?

Thursday night we rallied our Phillies to their victory using our rally towels. [I shook mine more than Gary did.] At the end of the game, we folded them nicely and placed them on the table to await the next game, Friday night at 8:22 PM. Sometime during the day on Friday, I realized they were missing. Gone. Vanished. It was nap time so I couldn't consult my daughter of their whereabouts, since she likes to "acquire" things to herself. We didn't find them.

We were resolved to watch our Phillies play Friday night without the support of the towels. They did win, however.

On Saturday I did some more looking. Upstairs, downstairs, in the basement, in all the little places a child might stick something. Nothing. Where in the world did they get to?

On Sunday I was really perplexed that they still hadn't turned up! Ellie was awake when I remembered they were still missing, so I asked about them. She said she put them in a bag to take to Aunt Sissy's house. That was no help, since the bags I looked in revealed no rally towels. I employed the children to help look through their toys more thoroughly, which they heartily agreed to, since it involved being able to empty the contents of the toy cabinet onto the floor. Especially great fun for Josh. Nothing. I was convinced that Ellie had a lot to do with their whereabouts, so I took another look into her things. I actually removed objects in bags instead of peering inside. And what to my wondering eyes should appear? Two rally towels waiting to be shaken in victory!

Unfortunately the Phillies outing on Sunday left all fans wondering how they ever even got to the NLCS. They couldn't hit a ball even if it was on a tee.

Now apparently they had a sound talking to, because last night Jimmy Rollins actually hit the ball and so did many other players, to take the Phillies to a win. Our rally towels were flying!

We might actually make it to the World Series.

I do have one comment: The 8:22 PM game times are really messing up our get to bed by 10:00 PM thing.

Oh yeah, one more thing: I am on the computer this morning due to MOPS stuff needing to be done, being up a little early, and Ellie having already eaten.

We aren't getting to bed at exactly 10:00, but we are doing way better than before. It's before 10:30, though. [Except for last night. If any of you follow baseball, than you'd know why. Our Fightin' Phils won the first game in the NLCS. Today's game is at 4:35, so bedtime won't be interrupted.]

My devotional time isn't happening every day in the morning, and I missed one day.

My computer time thing is going great. Interestingly, I get more done when I don't have kids underfoot. Who would have thought that! So, I get more done with less time spent on the computer. I'm practically giddy with all this extra time.

I am still reading the Shepherding book, and looking forward to implementing it's Biblical teachings. I still have to go through and memorize, or for right now, write down the Bible passages I want to use immediately. The two I am quoting to my children now are Ephesians 6:1 "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right," and Ephesians 4:32 "Be kind to one another." They need to know that I am not coming up with this, but it is from God.

I just love chocolate. Milk chocolate to be exact. My favorite is Hershey's. I don't care for dark chocolate, but it will do if that's all there is. And can white chocolate even be called chocolate? I don't think so. The U.S. FDA doesn't either.

Plain (dark) chocolate is made of cocoa powder, chocolate liquor, cocoa butter, and sugar. Milk chocolate, of course, has milk added. White chocolate is made of cocoa butter, milk, and sugar.

I don't like chocolate milk, though. But if you heat it, I'm there.

And many different chocolate covered things are tasty, too. Have you ever tried chocolate fondue?

I have to get me another KitKat, now. (I bought Halloween candy for me, not to give out.)

Gary and I are going to be more disciplined. At getting to bed by 10:00 pm, and reading our Bibles in the morning, for starters.

This past week we did quite well, with only one night closer to 11:00 than 10:00. The plan did not go as well over the weekend. I guess we tend to be more lenient with ourselves when there is a chance to sleep in. The earlier bedtime is key during the week, though. So we'll see how it goes.

The Bible reading is something I continually struggle with, especially being the mother of two preschoolers. Gary does better at it then I do.

[Speaking about sleeping in, we moved the clock radio to the opposite wall. We had it on the wall shared by Ellie's room. She'd hear it and wake up. The move has been helpful, since Ellie doesn't wake up as often now.]

My other discipline is using technology less, mostly the computer. I am on it way to much. I find the computer and Internet to very helpful tools. But like everything, too much of something isn't good. I turn the computer on before breakfast and sometimes spend the whole morning on it. Meanwhile the kids are getting into things, and I end up yelling at them. But really it's my fault, I wasn't watching them. So, I started my timeout from computers on Friday. I never turned it on, nor on Saturday. Not until tonight at dinner did we flip the switch. And once this baby was purring, I felt the call to check email, to check the Internet for something.

Really it's a problem. My plan is to not even turn it on until after lunch when the kids are napping, and then shut the cabinet doors once nap time is over. I may have to shut it down instead of just closing the cabinet doors, but we'll see.

It all started with the book I started reading, "Shepherding a Child's Heart," by Tedd Tripp. It was in the chapter about goals I have for my children. The main goal I should have for my children is that they glorify God and enjoy him forever. The other stuff comes when that goal is met. So, I starting thinking . . . do I glorify God in all areas of my life? Not hardly. I have become like the Israelites. Instead of forcing the Canaanites out like God told them to do, they lived among them. And they were influenced by them. They took up idols and turned from God. I have let things that are ungodly influence me.

So, back to computers. My computer has become an idol in my life. I hadn't really thought of it that way before typing this post, but it's true and hard to admit. I used to think that I never really had idols in my life. Obviously not a big golden statue. But anything, ANYTHING, that takes over God's place in my life is an idol.

And I want it to stop! There are other things that will be changing, too. But right now, that is the biggest.

What are your idols?

It has been nearly two weeks since Ellie started her Potty Chart. She receives a star each time she uses the toilet and has dry pants. A girl at church whom Ellie has taken a liking to made a chart to help her get over this wetting her pants thing.

Ellie is to get at least one star each day and at least three stars five days in one week. She has done fairly well. I believe it is working. In addition to receiving stars when she is dry, she receives negative consequences when she is wet. I try to make them very negative and severe. So far she has lost reading/rocky time at nap or bedtime, she's eaten by herself, she's lost her music at nap time, and she gets a ten minute timeout, while sitting in her wet pants. She also is in charge of cleaning herself up after she wets. I will not help her. Once we were out of plastic pants, so I made her put a diaper on herself. No pull-ups, they are too easy.

She isn't doing too bad.

"It is Well with my Soul" is one of my favorite hymns. It comforts me in times of sadness.

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain:
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

But, Lord, ’tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul!

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

I wrote this before I found out I wasn't pregnant, but I am posting it after.

Progesterone is something they have us IVF patients take. I don't like taking it. I won't go into why. But I thought I'd have a look-see as to what it does for me.

Progesterone-like steroid medication has a variety of effects on the immune system. This type of medication:

1. Blocks inflammation that can lead to scarring and damage to the placenta


2. Blocks the T cells and the B cells (lymphocytes) that can cause rejection of the placenta


3. Blocks the natural killer cells from releasing factors such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF) that can damage the placenta and the lining of the uterus


4. Prevents lymphocytes from wandering into the placenta, sticking there and doing damage


5. Causes an increase in hCG production by the placenta, and hCG and progesterone block the killing power of NK cells


6. Prevents prostaglandin production by the uterus and stops contractions from occurring


7. Causes the cervix to produce a cervical plug that is rich in antibodies, which prevent germs and viruses from gaining access to the baby and the placenta

Looks like I'll take the progesterone when they tell me. It's my little army in there getting the place ready.

Not happy about not being pregnant. I was very distraught yesterday and will be sad about it forever.

We are going to the cabin this afternoon. Besides home, it is my most favorite place to be. I wrote about the cabin in my very first post, click here and scroll to the bottom to read it. Wednesday, May 11th, 2005.

I an looking forward to being with my family at the cabin. Just the four of us. With no distractions.

I am not pregnant.

I am still enjoying catching a glimpse of my airbrush tattoo on my upper arm. I feel somehow empowered to have it. It is the Chinese symbol for Truth. I want two real tattoos. One where this one is now and one on the back of my neck. If I didn't have the ugliest spider veins on my legs, I'd want one on the side of my leg as well.

The one on my arm would be the Chinese symbol for Patience, reminding me to show patience in all I do, especially right now as a mother. The one on my neck would be the Greek letters for ixthus, ΙΧΘΥΣ, written inside the fish symbol. It identifies me as a Christian.

I - Iesus (Jesus)
X or CH - Christos (Christ)
TH - Theou (God)
U - Uios (Son)
S - Soter (Savior)

Well, that was a long explanation for me and my want of tattoos. And I didn't even get to the part about how my airbrush one got on my arm in the first place.

My dear friend P loves Sugarland. Although I like their music, I am not as big a fan as she is. And she just loves going to their concerts even though it is hazardous for her health. For some people, the crush of bodies jumping up and down, clapping furiously, singing at the top of their lungs, clamoring to see the stage is quite appealing. For me, it is not. But I accompanied her to the concert anyway. I went mostly for company with P and the before and after of the evening, than the actual concert itself, truth be told.

So this past Saturday found us at Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City. Before we entered the arena, we stopped off at the boardwalk and Steel Pier, walking up and down a bit taking in the sites, and eating much boardwalk food (the pizza being the best.) Along the way the sun went down and the wind was quite chilling. Even though I had on my new hip jacket, I froze myself to near Popsicle status. P was loving it. Next we went back to the hotel and checked out the gambling scene. Since most bets were eye popping high, and slot machines are a waste of money, we held onto our cash and headed to the arena. And P's legs were needing a break from all the walking we did.

The opening act for Sugarland could have stayed home in my opinion. Her music was fine, but her concert appearance was lacking. And people stood in line to meet her. I was a bit flummoxed by this. When Sugarland came on the stage, people stood up and then never sat down. That also flummoxed me. Didn't they get tired of standing? Apparently my head was at the right height to get hit no less than four times by the fan behind me. He stood, while I sat. He also consumed a few too many adult beverages. I didn't know they even sold them at concerts. I also believe the couple next to him was being a bit inappropriate for a public location.

Since we didn't care for Ashton Shepherd, we took the opportunity to look at Sugarland t-shirts. We each got one, and P says she lives in it when she's not in her work attire. She now has a rainbow collection of 5 Sugarland t-shirts.

P only had to use her two inhalers twice each and two cough pills. We didn't even need to visit the local hospital, though we took note of its location. Our ride home was interrupted by much traffic backup on the rode out. I decided to ignore Maggie, the GPS directions thing, and go around. P thought we needed to stay put, but I didn't and we saved at least 20 minutes. We also stopped off at the rest area to get some TCBY, but the time was late and the only place open was Burger King. So we got more greasy food and headed home.

Did I mention that the entire outing was wrapped in Sugarland music? Car rides included. However, so that I could sing too, we were allowed to listen to Chris Rice instead of Sugarland after a while on the way home.

I love you, P!

We've been having bank problems. Stupid us decided that we would open a Wachovia checking account to access our money while we were on vacation without any fees. [We hate paying bank fees.] We thought it a splendid idea, since we would be across the country and our regular bank is local. Mistake number one was thinking we would automatically get a check card. We had to do some last minute calling to get it before we left. Mistake number two was figuring it would be fairly easy to transfer money online. Mistake number three was not realizing we would be charged a fee to transfer money from a Wachovia account to a non-Wachovia account.

We had planned for Gary's boss (who also banks at Wachovia, so it would be one trip) to deposit Gary's paycheck into our Wachovia account, then we would transfer it into our Univest account via the internet. That would happen two times. What actually happened was no money was ever transfer and major fees were incurred when our scheduled payments went through at Univest and there was no money in our account to cover it. While Wachovia wanted about four days to process our request to transfer, our account went farther in the red. We ended up borrowing several hundred dollars from my aunt (still in PA,) who deposited it into our Univest account. When we realized what was going on, we asked her to pick up Gary's second check and deposit it right into our Univest account, but his boss had already taken it to Wachovia.

We also took out all that one is allowed to at an ATM and gave it to my mom to deposit when they got home, since they flew and would be home sooner than us.

We should have just stayed with our local bank, used an ATM when we needed and paid about a hundredth of the fees that we actually paid.

But the story has a part two.

We somehow managed to keep the bad bank history going. A friend of ours gave us a significant portion of the fee for IVF. She gave us a check. We deposited it. Well, would you know it bounces. Her funds were on hold because she used her debit card to rent a card. [She won't ever to that again, by the way.] So, she went to her bank and made a fuss. She told us that it was OK to redeposit the check, at least that was what I thought she said. But yet again the check bounced. Foolishly I believed the check would clear and already put the money towards the credit card bill. So again our account went in the red. We were told she'd give us cash this time around but have yet to receive it. We borrowed more money from my parents, enough I thought to cover everything that would need to be covered. But no, the stupid oil company decided to finally cash the check we gave them nearly three weeks ago, and I missed seeing it hadn't cleared yet. Red again. There it stays until Friday when Gary gets paid.

We really need to pay better attention.

And we will never do business with Wachovia again.