Juvenile Comedy Relief

GOVERNMENT HEALTH WARNING

DO NOT SWALLOW YOUR BUBBLE GUM!

Parenting Advice Wanted....

There you go. I have opened up the door for you all to tell me how I should be parenting and what I'm doing wrong.

Please don't.

I'm not sure I could handle knowing that I am probably completely messing these two boys up.

What I am looking for is advice/input on how other families handle the "allowance" issue. Do you give it? Don't you give it? Is it tied to chores? Or just given for being a member of the family? How do you track the chores done?

I have had a system in place for about a year, but I do wonder if there is a better way. So please feel free to share what works for your family or what does not work.

Go Vote Now!

Yes, I'm bossy that way.

My little sister Gina entered a limerick contest. She wrote a cute little ditty about her husband, and now she needs all of us (including you) to go here to vote for her limerick. If she wins, she'll be the lucky recipient of some gift cards. And maybe, if you vote for her, she'll share her windfall with you. Well, probably not, but maybe she'll share her windfall with me for getting her the votes. Okay, probably not on that one either.

Please, oh please, go vote, please!

(that's me being a bossy beggar!)

Cyber Play Date

Ben wanted to have a "playdate" with his good friend Lauren today however, it ended up that she was not at school today. She was out sick with a fever and a sore throat.

He was very bummed that she wasn't able to come over, so on the way home from school I let him use my cell phone to call her.

It was a very sweet conversation.

He told her what she missed that day in class and that he hoped she felt better.

Then the conversation moved on to a more important seven year old topics.

Webkinz.

By the time we pulled in our driveway they had plans to meet in cyberspace.

Ben grabbed his backpack and was in the house almost before I had the car in park. By the time I was in the front door he was logged in and the cyber play date had begun.

Who knew that it would ever come to this?

My New Favorite Reads

It is fairly reasonable to say that I am addicted to these sites:

The Pioneer Woman and The Pioneer Woman Cooks

Now go check them out, and then decide that there are much worse things in the world that I could be addicted to!

Oh yeah, I made this last night for dinner! It was soooooo deliciously, fabulous. Probably more delicious and fabulous because both of my kids had dinner at a birthday party last night, and so I made it for just Dave and I after the boys were in bed, and we dined in the living room while watching American Idol. Now what could be more fabulousious than that? (other than having yummy leftovers to serve for dinner tonight!)

One more thing, if you have a few hours start by reading this. (yes I said hours, I started at 11pm and finished just before 2am. Dumb I know. You may want to start earlier or split it up into smaller sessions) You will laugh and you will cry. Well, I laughed and cried, maybe you won't.

Enjoy!

"I'm gonna win this battle"

Those were the exact words that were muttered out of my four year old's mouth as I put him to bed for the FOURTH time last night!

(We started at 8pm, those words escaped his lips at 10pm)

He didn't say it loud, just under his breath, but loud enough for me to hear.

I'm not sure where he has ever heard those words.

(hehehe, okay those are MY words!)

I was shocked!

Not by the statement itself, but rather by the fact that he has learned to mutter under his breath.

I mean this is my sweet, darling, loving, BABY.

The one that I still had HOPE for.

And he muttered under his breath at me!

By the way, I WON. He fell asleep, in his OWN bed.

We're not in Kansas anymore.......

Photo courtesy of KGW

A little unusual weather excitement today. We had a tornado touch down today in a neighborhood about three miles from our house and about 1/2 a mile from my office. I was sitting at my desk when I saw the BLACK clouds approach, and very quickly we were in a storm that eerily reminded me of my time spent in Georgia. It was over as fast as it started, and it was not until it was over that we heard the tornado warning on the radio. Thankfully there are no reports of injuries, but there are a lot of damaged houses and a commercial building that had an entire exterior brick wall sheered away.

Still Praying for Luke

I just wanted to remind all my readers (I know you're out there!) to please keep praying for our friend Luke. His story was front page news in The Columbian newspaper today. I am constantly amazed at how his family is using this trial in their life as an oppurtunity to bring glory to God. Please continue to pray for Luke as he prepares for his bone marrow transplant (his donor is his 9 year old brother Jake!), for wisdom for the doctors treating him, and continued strength for his family.

Another visit from the Tooth Fairy

Just one month shy of his eighth birthday and Ben has finally lost his second tooth! This time it was a top one. Tonight when the tooth fairy came by with her payment she called me to his room to show me what was under the pillow (other than the tooth):

See the tooth there between the soccer ball and baseball. Well the other thing there is a neatly folded note with an ink pen attached.........

It reads:

Dear tooth fairy,

Please circle the answer.

are you a boy?

Yes No

are you older than 10?

Yes No

Love, Ben

P.S. My tooth is over on the side

Funny note coming from a skeptic. I wonder if it is her exit interview?

This Warms a Mothers Soul.......

I Don't Make Resolutions

Happy New Year! My sister Gina tagged me to post my New Years resolutions. Apparantly she doesn't know that I don't make New Years resolutions. Never have, probably never will. I'm not against them or anything and I think it is great to see people who do make resolutions achieve them. I just can't put that kind of pressure on myself. Now granted there are a ton of things that I would like to try, do or achieve but if I list them as resolutions and then don't get around to doing them this year I will feel like I have failed myself. So instead I am making a list of things that I would like to do SOMEDAY. A Bucket List of sorts:

• Go on a missions trip
• Learn the art of photography
• Skydive
• Go to Europe
• Learn the art of cake decorating
• Become a runner
• Take my family on a Major League Baseball trip including stops at as many Major League Stadiums as possible and the Baseball Hall of Fame Museum in Cooperstown, New York
• Go to Hawaii
• Go back to school to become a nurse or a teacher

No pressure, just things I would like to do before I kick the bucket. This is just a start. I am sure that this list will grow.

A Little Fun Courtesy of my friend Melissa

THE TRICK IS TO FIND THE MAN IN THE COFFEE BEANS:

This is bizarre - after you find the guy - it's so obvious. Once you find him - it's embarrassing, and you think, Why didn't I see him immediately?







Doctors have concluded that if you find the man in the coffee beans in 3 seconds, the right half of your brain is better developed than most people. If you find the man between 3 seconds and 1 minute, the right half of the brain is developed normally. If you find the man between 1 minute and 3 minutes, then the right half of your brain is functioning slowly and you need to eat more protein If you have not found the man after 3 minutes, the advice is to look for more of this type of exercise to make that part of the brain stronger!!! And, yes, the man is really there!!!


I found him immediately, but I'm not sure what it means if your right brain is better developed.............maybe it means you're a little nuttier then the next person? Leave me a comment on how long it took you to see him.