Prosteletyzing

Armed with half-chewed Gideon Bibles and MIB shades, they are ready to get down to business.

He's One

Matthew arrived kicking and screaming a year ago. We are so thankful for this playful little boy and can't wait to see how he changes in the coming year.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Baby Borrower

It seems the only way to get a female baby around here is to beg, borrow, or steal.

Yesterday I watched a friend's nearly 1 month old baby for a few hours. When I told the boys, Stephen immediately declared he didn't want any girl babies in our house.

When she arrived, however, they were both enthralled with little Leia and talked to her and blew kisses to her. Matthew was curious, though I suspect a little jealous as well.

Andrew: I like "Lovely Leia."
Me: She's a sweet baby. Do you think we need a baby at our house?
Andrew: I just like her because she is visiting.

The boys were too excited to rest, and by 5 o'clock fatigue was
setting in. They watched their beloved CAT machine video while I made
dinner, and this is what I discovered:

Survey Says...

I'm a sucker for written surveys (I've stopped taking such phone calls after a 60+ minute ordeal a few years ago). Who wants to pass up the chance to win $2,500?

As I filled one out today, I had to laugh at the choices the category of BATHROOM TISSUE:

• Angel Soft
• Charmin
• Scott Extra Soft
• Other Bathroom Tissue
• Do Not Use

Friday Night

11 loads of clothes (folded)
1 bag of popcorn
4 episodes of 24

Construction Zone

Entertaining your children comes with a price, and this just happens to be a very large one.

After living here for over four years, we finally decided to complete our partially finished basement and add a bathroom. Actually, the decision was made long ago; the finances just had to catch up. They did, a friend-with-a-construction-business gave us a good price, and the crews were ready to start.

Jay: Well, this is fate! She's divorced, we don't want to redo the cabinets, and you need a wife. What do they call it when everything intersects?

Sam Baldwin: The Bermuda Triangle.

Quote on Tuesday. Contract on Wednesday. Start on Thursday. Pack on Friday & Saturday & Sunday.

The boys were sure there would be heavy equipment like bulldozers and excavators; they had to settle for a dumpster and port-a-potty. We watched as the latter was unloaded and the delivery man checked inside. Stephen commented, "And if the worker feels like he is going to pee in his pants he can go inside and use the potty." Always a good choice.

I've learned a lot.

1. I could never build a house. I could definitely never physically build a house but I couldn't even oversee the construction of my "dream home" - too many decisions to make.

2. Things never go as planned.
I made "Plan A" a couple of years ago which involved moving a door. The contractor proposed "Plan B" and I immediately fell in love with it (the plan, not the contractor). Upon implementation, "Plan B" hit the main supporting wall of the house and we were forced back to "Plan A."

3. Shortcuts can be more expensive in the long run.
I was approached one afternoon by a delivery driver asking to drive his knuckle-boom loader through the yard to deliver sheetrock. I said, "Sure. Let me get the boys. They'll be so excited."

They were asleep so I took pictures. The driver looked so manly operating his massive machine to unload a small stack of boards.

An hour later, he was still parked in the same spot. Stephen and Andrew awoke and we went to look. The plumber explained that the truck was stuck and a tow truck was on the way. You can imagine the excitement (at least on the part of two small boys).

The aforementioned driver/operator looked a little deflated as he was pulled up the hill.

The contractor was irate because he had specifically told the driver to unload in the driveway ("but using a hand truck is so uncool when you have a loader") which allowed me to share a very important lesson with the boys: "Do exactly what you are told!"

4. Make friends with your plumber. Our head plumber is not particularly warm and friendly, but it doesn't really matter as long as he knows a thing or two about plumbing. (Well, maybe more than that. I know a thing or two about plumbing, taught by my oh-so-wise-father: "Hot's on the left, cold's on the right; and poop don't run uphill" - but I don't think you'll call me to fix a broken pipe). His rough-mountain-man-looking sons, however, were a little more personable and hard-working to boot. They cut cement, dug holes, and worked in the bitter cold last week.

We returned home from church to find that a joint in the water line to our washer had come loose. Thankfully the guys were, in their words, "looking for something to do." They restored water to the house (we didn't have the port-a-potty yet) and stopped the cascade from our porch.

There will probably be many more lessons to glean before its over.

Back Online

Now I know I'm an addict.

Some mean techno geek out there infected us with an nasty bug thus disengaging me from the blogging scene. I have been suffering from withdrawal ever since.

But thanks to a nice techno geek from church (and several technicians from McAfee), I am once again connected to the cyber world.

Who Needs Toys

It's now 11 days post Christmas (I'm listening for the 12 drummers drumming that my true love is supposed to bestow tomorrow) and the boys have put aside their prized new toys in lieu of something so much more exciting: the contents of our pantry.

Struck with the "urge to purge" I set out to organize our hall closet/pantry only to discover mice had been feasting and left behind some unpleasant remnants of their eclectic meals (tortilla strips, marshmallows, buckwheat flour, puffed rice, pressed wood, broom bristles).

The boys were eager to be forklifts and haul away the items one by one to the kitchen. While I vacuumed, they constructed tunnels and bridges which Matthew immediately destroyed.


They moved to higher ground where Andrew spent at least 30 minutes playing with a wooden train and a box of sandwich bags. The only disagreement was over the cardboard wrapper of a 6-pack of applesauce, but the fun ended when I had to play Pick-Up-Sticks with angel hair pasta.

Next they played out a Busytown story in which Huckle Cat was sent to the grocery store for his mother but returned with all the wrong items. This occupied another full hour, filling shopping bags (paper, of course) and dumping them out.

What great helpers now; I only hope they are this eager in another 12 years!

Added picture bonus:

He never ceases to make us laugh!

Black Dot Deals

I can only take so much football so I escaped tonight to check out clearance deals at Target.

I hit the jackpot!

You know the dollar section at the front? There was a sign announcing 75% off black dot items. Even a poor math scholar like me can calculate that: $.25!

There wasn't much I needed personally (a couple of pens, some stickers, a couple of gifts for my favorite niece); but I racked up on shoebox items for Operation Christmas Child (I keep plastic boxes on hand to fill throughout the year as I stumble upon deals). Here's what I got:

For two boy boxes:

• (2) set of two card games - Go Fish and Crazy Eights
• (2) wood ambulance
• (2) metal ball puzzles
• (2) wood tic-tac-toe game

For two girl boxes:

• (2) set of two card games - Matching and Old Maid
• (2) reusable Hello Kitty shopping bag
• (2) wood tic-tac-toe game
• (2) set of 4 Hello Kitty hair clips
• (2) Hello Kitty headbands and pony tail holders
• (2) mini Hello Kitty picture frame

Grand Total: $5.00

Definitely don't discount the possibilities of clearance items, especially holiday discounts. I found a bunch of CARS stuff in the Christmas section at Wal-mart for 75% off, thus inspiring the party for Andrew's 5th birthday.

Happy New Year, Baby

I've made a collection of some of my favorite shots of last year. (By the way, the music is from a Christmas cd I bought at Big Lots for $1 - there's just nothing like the threat of physical violence to start off a new year!)

Holiday Happenings

We spent the past ten days celebrating the season with friends and family. With so many wonderful memories, it is hard to choose a favorite.

Maybe it was Andrew igniting Stephen's hair during the Christmas Eve service.

Then there were the inappropriate comments Stephen made to several family members during one get-together.
Who can forget the three sleepless nights in Fredericksburg as I tended to an ill baby?

Or the human plank Stephen who slid down the basement steps at a high speed.

What about the 10 hour drive home from NOVA to the 'Nooga?


All of these and more created one of the best holidays I can remember, but I think most of all I will remember Matthew's first steps on New Year's Eve.

From non-existence to walking in 2008. What does this new year hold?