Conversations you could have never imagined before kids

After settling a little argument between the girls...

Me: Ok, listen to me. It is not nice and it is not OK to call someone poopy or pee pee. I know you weren't trying to be mean Catherine, but Ella does not like it and it just isn't a nice thing to call someone. So no calling anyone poopy or pee pee.

Catherine (dead serious, looking at me so sweetly): How about toot? (in our house that is equivalent to fart)

Me: (after trying to compose myself and failing): Toot is not something you should call people either, along with poopy and pee pee.

Weekend Thoughts

Just a few random thoughts for you...

Whoever coined the phrase "Rightie Tightie, Leftie Loosie" is a genius. Genius! I think I must say it to myself at least once a day.

Today I used it as I helped Matt put together a bracket brace type arm thing that we used to hang our new tv on the wall. Yeah, it's one of those TV's. I'm a bit embarrassed by it.

I almost had a heart attack as I helped him left the TV onto the bracket thingy do on the wall. I kept saying this "Why am I doing this? Why isn't Harvey (our neighbor) over here doing this." And then I was scared to let go.

We had a movie night at church tonight. It similar to what Greg AKA Agent Orange Records does at his church. Ok...it's the exact same thing, we even stole the name "Real Life". We watched one of my favorite movies that no one has ever seen "Lars and the Real Girl". Such a good movie. I've seen it three times now and never get tired of it.

How is everyone doing with Love Walked In? Anyone finished yet or getting close? I am almost done reading it for the second time. I started it either yesterday or the day before yesterday. That's just how I am with books. Don't be jealous, I guarantee that your houses are much cleaner than mine. That's just the sacrifice I make!

Speaking of sacrifices, I need to cut this short and go do some laundry and make up for the lack of cleaning I've done for the past two days.

Hope you're enjoying your weekend!

A Time to Weep and a Time to Laugh

That would describe the state of our house today.

I am rejoicing over the Steeler's big victory over the Raven's last night.

My husband is mourning the loss of the Eagles to the Arizona Cardinals.

To make it worse I can't get the tune "Pittsburgh's going to the Super Bowl" out of my head. Thankfully my husband is a much more gracious loser than I am and has not told me to "shut it", but he did ask nicely if I could contain my excitement until Wednesday at least, at which time he will be able to handle it better.

I can deal with that.

While a PA Super Bowl would have been really fun, I am glad that I can feel free to watch the game locally. I told Matt I couldn't handle being the only Steeler's fan in the room with a bunch of Eagles fans. I was planning on crashing the Milinovich home in New Jersey which would be the closest Steeler friendly home available to me. While I won't be leaving, I'm not sure if I'm up for a big party. Three years ago when they were in it against the Seahawks we had a bunch of friends over and I just assumed since none of them really cared, they would naturally root for the Steelers because they were my FRIENDS. It didn't happen that way. I'm not kidding you, at one point I snuck upstairs to watch by myself because I was getting frustrated. Not super mature I know, but I also cried when Franco Harris was traded. Granted I was seven at the time so perhaps that's not a good comparison.

Other exciting news - we got about five inches of snow today! I'm still kind of in shock, because anytime there is ANY chance of snow or potential winter weather the news teams really go nuts talking about it ad nauseum, giving you all the possible routes the storm will take, where the rain/ice/snow line will be, and on and on. Nine times out of ten, nothing happens. It's gotten to be a joke. So today it started snowing around noon and just never stopped. I got on one of the local news websites and read the latest weather forecast and it talked about how there would be a few flurries this morning, but the fog would be the real problem throughout the day. Beneath it they had the various snow tallies for the area. I love when the weather catches us off guard and I especially love finally getting some snow. All day long the kids waited until we could try sled riding and when we finally tried it wasn't happening. The snow was too wet. But we had a lot of fun just playing and chasing each other and making snow angels.

Here are a few pictures of our time outside. Not many and they aren't good, but I realize I haven't posted any pictures yet this year....

Linky Love

How is everyone doing this cold January afternoon? In the NE we are bracing ourselves for the frigid temps that are heading this way. I actually planned my weekly meals around the idea of keeping warm. I think it will be a topic of my next post (not the meals, but keeping warm).

I just wanted to pass along a few things to you. As usual, no theme, but a bunch of random things to check out....

1. This post by Angie from Bring the Rain. She posted a video sharing the time she and the rest of her family was able to spend with her baby Audrey Caroline in the few short hours of her life. It was very hard for me to watch - I think I waited a few days before I found the right time. But as usual, Angie doesn't share just for the sake of sharing, it's always about pointing us to Jesus and allowing us a glimpse of how God was at work in midst of their personal tragedy.

2. This post by Shannon from Rocks in My Dryer. It is about the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) which will go into effect in February 2009. It is a billed designed to provide safety standards for children's products (it seems to be focusing on lead content). Safety is something we all want for our children, but it seems like this bill is too vague and broad and could potentially be devastating for small business owners, home business, web businesses, thrift stores, consignment shops, etc. There is even a question of how it will effect libraries! Basically all products need to be tested for lead, which costs thousands of dollars and really only the major retailers and manufacturers can afford that. It's a shame because it seems like the real reform needs to happen in our imports from China where the lead issues are steming from. I am probably not getting all of this right, that's why you should go to Shannon's blog and read more about it, and read the comments and check out the websites she gives (in today's post, not the one linked). I hope that there can be some revision so that, especially in this economy, hundreds and thousands aren't put out of business because they can no longer sell their handmade baby products and toys.

3. This recipe for sweet and sour chicken. I found it on Crafty P's blog and this is the second time I've made it since then. It is just that good! So I'm posting it now in case you didn't catch it when she first posted it. Hint. Make sure you actually read the recipe the whole way through. I didn't the first time and hadn't allotted enough cooking time. That happens to me more often than you think, just ask Matt how many times I've had to change dinner plans at the last minute because, oops that chicken/stew/casserole etc needs to cook for three hours once it's all put together. But don't worry, this one isn't three hours worth of cooking - only one! See now, you know. Also, the chicken turns out just like the picture posted on the blog.

4. Lastly, I've created a group on facebook for our Blogging Book Club. There is still time to start reading so please don't hesitate to join! The group is closed, so you must be invited to join and only members can see the discussions. I figured that it will better enable us to have discussions and make sure we know who we're talking with and to! I will send invites to everyone I have so far and if you decide to do it, just let me know by leaving a comments or emailing me (in my profile). If you don't blog, but stop by here to read it, you are more than welcome to be a part of this. Again, just let me know and make sure you check back here because I will probably post stuff here before I do on facebook. I am going to post some discussion questions on the facebook page - I would defintely recommending waiting until you are done reading before looking at them. It's mostly stuff to think about, I don't think we need to frame our discussion around them.

I think that's all. I'm getting ready to work on one of my resolutions and go get on the treadmill for the first time in a loooooong time. So far I've done really well at making my bed and that's about it. No big risks in the last week.

Goals, resolutions and fun stuff like that

I don't know if I've ever really made New Year's resolutions. Probably because I know it's a lost cause. I am one of the most undisciplined persons I know. If I don't feel like doing something I don't do it or I procrastinate and do all sorts of other things instead. This is not something I am proud of, I am just being honest! But rather than just make a blanket statement like "I need to be more disciplined" or "I need to stop procrastinating" I figured I could throw out a few things I really want to work on this year as well.

So here are a few goals for me this year;

Make my bed every day (ok, every day might be pushing it, but hey, I want to keep the bar high!)

Work on going to bed at a reasonable time (lights out no later than 11:30) and getting out of bed earlier than I absolutely have to a few days a week (I was purposefully vague there - I need a little wiggle room with this one. I hate getting out of bed in the morning. Based on my statement above you have to realize that means I put it off as long as possible.)

Have more planned in house activities for the girls. Crafts, cooking, etc organized ahead of time so that I don't have to rummage around to see if we have the needed materials/ingredients on hand.

Spend less time in front of the computer looking at pointless things (and by pointless, I don't mean your blogs. I mean playing word games, reading celebrity gossip, facebook)

Get back on the exercise wagon for the right reason. Of course I desperately want to be more toned and have a great (or just OK) bathing suit bod, but most importantly I want to stay healthy and fit. My motivation is usually how I look, but I hope that I can work on my mindset.

Start swimming. Our high school has a lap swim time and I really want to try it out. I know how good swimming is for your cardiovascular fitness and it's good on your joints. I just have to work up the courage to go on my own.

Read the Bible more consistently. Not even with a study or guide, but just read and take it in. Mostly I feel like I read to fill in the answers to a Bible study and not to just soak in God's word. I need to soak a bit.

Take a risk. I am not a risk taker. I don't like to do things on my own. I often think of things I like to do and how I could turn that into a career or just a little part time job. But the idea of putting myself out there freaks me out! Also, I'm much better at assessing other's skills and encouraging them to put them to use - not so much with myself.

What an exciting list! I am just that exciting of a person that the first thing I put out there is "make my bed".

I hope that putting this on the web will help keep me accountable. If I totally bomb, you might find that this post mysteriously disappears! :)

Also, totally unrelated...I am so glad so many of you are doing the bookclub. I like the suggestion of a facebook group that is invitation only. I think the only one of us not on facebook is Rebecca (AKA Happy). Could this be the push needed to get her on board!? Happy I'll find out if there is a way (I think there is) for you to join the group but not join facebook. Has anyone started it already?

Blogging Book Club

Crafty P suggested that I started a blogging book club. Because I am easily persuaded and I love to read I decide that I would.

I honestly have no idea how this will work. I really haven't thought through it too much. But I think I'm just going to throw it out there and see who is interested. I don't know if anyone is like me, but when I read or watch something really good, I immediately want to talk about it or share it with someone else (this is a recap of our conversation this afternoon Courtney). Perhaps this reveals some aspect of my personality, but I'm sure many have been at the receiving end of my attempts to get you to watch or read something. I know it can be annoying - but just so you know, it's all done out of love. I love knowing someone and being able to pass along something that I think they'll enjoy.

If you didn't notice, this time last year I created two lists on my sidebars of books and shows/movies that I had read or watched. Some of you have told me that you've actually used it to find a book or a movie. That made me so happy! I must also apologize for giving it up pretty quickly. Maybe one of these days I'll start updating them again.

Is a month long enough? I don't think I would do this every month so don't worry that you'll be sucked into something that you don't have time for, but I want to make sure that allowing a month to get the book (Libraries are a wonderful thing. If you don't have one yet, get a library card!) and read it is long enough.



Also, I'm not sure how we would do the discussion? I might try and a find a list of questions to help you process it when you're done or I could just leave it totally up to you to share what you thought and let everyone bounce ideas and thoughts off of one another. Or I could get really crazy and we could do some sort of live chat. Lots of time to think about that and I hope those who are interested give some feedback.

Now, the moment you've all been waiting for. The first book for the blogging book club (completely lame name - any ideas?) is ......drumroll please.....

Love Walked in by Marisa de los Santos

I actually read this book last year, but I am one of those who don't mind reading a really good book again so I will read it right along with you. This book is an easy read, but well written/narrated. It's not chick lit fluff (not that there's anything wrong with that - I read it!) and you'll be drawn into it pretty quickly. My suggestion is to borrow it/buy it but don't read anything about it - even the back/inside cover if you can help it. I think sometimes the general synopsis gives away too much.

Now it's up to you. Leave a comment and let me know if you are interested in participating. I'll iron out the details soon - don't worry I won't be too much of a stickler with the end date. The whole point is to enjoy the book and discussing it (however that happens) friends.

Looking forward to reading with you!