Out of the mouths of babes ....

My 2 year old has kept me VERY busy. Sometimes she keeps me busy with her questions on her own, and sometimes she has help from her 4 year old brother. The following are some conversations that we've had recently.


Easter Egg Hunt
Mom, Dad and I took the kids to the Easter egg hunt. The Easter Bunny was there. M insisted that she wanted to pick up the pink eggs. J & M had their pics taken with the Easter bunny. They had fun, but it bothers me that PARENTS get so competitive at these hunts. Older siblings and moms and dads were picking up the eggs and throwing them in their kids' baskets. You could hear parents frantically yelling for their kids to run to a different spot and quickly get eggs. I realize that the parents simply wanted the kids to get some eggs, but because of all the adult interference the eggs were gone in about two minutes. Sometimes I wish adults could just get out of the way and let kids have fun. There was also a little boy at the hunt with a walker. It broke my heart. M asked why he had the walker and I explained that it helped him walk. What I could NOT explain was why this little boy needed help walking.

Anyway, after the hunt we were walking to our car. M asked, "Where is the Easter Bunny's car?" I said I didn't know.

Here are some pics from the hunt:






Visiting with Gramma and Papa

We also went to visit my aunt. We drove by what used to be my granny's house. M looked out and said, "Does Granny live in her house or is she still died?" I told her that granny was dead. M said, "Why?" How do you answer that?

At the Japanese restaurant
J stayed with Gramma & Papa. Mike, M and I went to eat with our friends Brent, Kaylyn and Avenell at a local Japanese restaurant. We sat at our table. M was wearing her brand new pink Dora cowgirl hat and pink Dora sunglasses. She had already received a lot of stares and comments. She looked like this:




A man with long curly hair came and sat down at the table beside us. M looked at him and said, "Mommy, he has hair like you." I knew that this conversation could not be going in a good direction, so when the man looked our way, I tried to distract M by talking about her sunglasses and getting her to color. Then M looked at the man, and clearly and loudly asked, "Is that a daddy or a mama?" Kaylyn, Mike and Brent were no help, they were laughing and looking at the table. I again tried to distract M, who would not be distracted. As Mike accurately pointed out, M is used to seeing a mommy with long curly red hair and a daddy with no hair. She didn't know what to make of this guy.

Safari adventure
The kids have very active imaginations. M also LOVES crocodiles. Yes, you read that correctly - crocodiles. She tells me that a yellow crocodile comes to her room and jumps on her bed at night. When we went to the zoo, she wanted to see the crocodiles and ride on a crocodiles. She CRIED when we had to get off. I told her she could not ride again, and she insisted that she wanted to ride on a real crocodile. J wanted to ride a giraffe.

Here are some pics:











After the zoo adventure, the kids decided that they were going on a safari. They filled their Easter baskets with plastic play food and told us that after the safari they were giong on a picnic (note that when asked their favorite part about the zoo, M's favorite was riding the bus and J's favorite was having a picnic). As they walked off into the jungle of our dining room, M told us that she had the "pinoculars" (translation - binoculars).

A beautiful princess
Today, M looked especially cute. The kids and I went to eat with my mom and dad before church. Here are some pics of M.



I told the kids that if they were good, we would dye Easter eggs. They seemed very excited. However, about 10 minutes later, M asked, "Why do the Easter eggs have to die?" I had to explain that we were going to add COLOR to the eggs, not kill them.

One other note. J did some really sweet things. When I injured my back, I had to lay on the floor. J came up to me, put a blanket over me and gave me a big kiss. He also asked me often if my back was better. J also picked yellow daffodils for his daddy. He made it very clear to me that the flowers were "for daddy, NOT for you."

Below are some pics of the kids picking flowers for Daddy NOT Mommy, and there are some pics of my kids looking at my aunt's baby cow and goats.







NEVER a dull moment with these two!

I'm back

I was out of town for work for a few days and really busy. On Monday (last week), I injured my back. I went to my cycle class & then took my shower. I bent over and felt something catch in my back. I had a lot of back pain, especially when I moved or tried to sit. I called Mike and said, "I think I've done something terrible to my back." I described my symptoms. My ever supportive husband simply said, "You are getting old Beth." That made me feel really good. Having an injured back, being on muscle relaxers and having 2 small kids is also not a good combination. I will try to post some pictures to catch up.

A prayer covenant - anyone interested?

I just read a great idea for a prayer covenant. I think this is a great idea for a church, a Bible study, or group of friends. What do you think?

Funny kids!

J & M have such active imaginations. When I came home from work yesterday, M ran to the door in a blue shirt and skirt and informed me that she was Wendy (from Peter Pan). J was crawling on all 4s in a dog costume. He could not answer questions about his day, he could only bark. He gave me a lick instead of a kiss.

M also tells us each day who is coming to visit her at night. Sometimes the yellow crocodile comes and jumps on her bed and tickles her under her chin. Last night the pink dinosaur was not coming to visit because he was sick with a headache and the hiccups. Sometimes a kitty visits and sleeps in her bed.

The kids also love to play with a toy nativity set. They take Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus to parades, car shows, and many other exciting activities.

A few nights ago, M wanted water (this happens every night - it is a stall tactic - when she is in bed she says she needs water). J said he would take her a cup of water. We have cups that have animals on them. J handed her a cup of water in bed and said, "Hold it with both hands so you won't spill it." Then he asked her what was on the cup. He asked if she was finished, and then she asked for more water. J said, "no, you don't need anymore." He sounded like an adult!

The Parting of the Red Sea According to a 2 year old

Mike bought a Bible book for the kids. Each night, we read a new story. A few nights ago, we read about the parting of the Red Sea. M asked why the people crossing the sea did not have on their "swimsoups" (translation: swim suits). I told her that they were not planning to go swimming and that God parted the waters so they could cross and stay dry.

The next morning at breakfast, M looked at me and said, "Will you part the waters of the pool please please please?" I explained that although I can do many things, I cannot part the seas, the waters of the pool, the waters of the bathtub, etc. Then she said, "only God can do that right?" I said yes.

Later M had the book in the living room and she was telling the story to J. She said, "All of the people forgot to wear their swimsoups so God made the wind blow really hard and parted the sea so that the people could walk through and not get wet."

Now you know what really happened. If the Israelites had worn swimsoups, we may have missed out on a miracle.

Pew Study

I heard a summary of this report on NPR. This is really interesting - you can search for numbers of people that affiliate with various denominations, or that are "unaffiliated". You can also look by map and in other ways. Check it out. However, be warned - the Pew survey seems to offer different numbers than some denominations currently advertise.

http://religions.pewforum.org/

NPR emphasized that the study found that many Americans are NOT affiliated with the same religion of their parents, and that Americans tend to change their religious affiliation.

Long Time No Post

I've been really sick. I'm not sure if I only had a cold or something worse, but I've been sick for well over a week. It has taken all of my energy to work and keep up with the kids.

I generally don't do surveys, but my friend Kaylyn tagged me so I promised her my comeback blog would be this.

Four jobs I have had in my life:
-Working in tobacco fields
-Taping packs of cigarettes together and inserting a coupon for RJR's buy one get one free promotion
-Chemist in a Biochemistry Lab
-Attorney (clerk for a federal judge, in private practice, and now in-house for a hospital)

Four movies I could watch over and over:
-Shawshank Redemption
-Little Miss Sunshine
-Pans Labyrinth
-Lord of the Rings

Four shows that I watch:
-LOST!
-The Office
-Scrubs
-48 Hours Mystery

Four Places I have been:
-Switzerland
-Chicago
-New York
-Boston

Four people who email me regularly:
-Mike
-Melissa-
-Anne
-Ann

Four of My Favorite Foods:
-Filet Mignon
-Sushi
-Dark chocolate
-Raspberries

Four Places I would rather be right now:
-Hanging out with girlfriends
-A spa
-Traveling with my hubby and kids
-Riding my mountain bike on a great trail

Four things I am looking forward to in the next 12 months:
-Trip with Mom
-10 year anniversary
-Vacation!
-Watching the kids change

Four Goals for the New Year:
-Keep exercising at least 4 days a week
-Pay off some debt
-Lose some weight
-Become more self-aware

Four Gifts I got for Christmas:
-sweater
-luggage
-new headphones (my old ones fell out of my ears at the gym)
-purse

Four places I want to visit: (traveling is one of my favorite things, so it is almost impossible to identify only 4)
-Australia/New Zealand
-Galapagos Islands
-Africa - for a safari
-Greece

Four Things you might not know about me:
-I am a real geek (I love to learn about everything)
-I would love to own a Harley
-I took dance lessons for 13 years (ballet, tap, jazz, and I even had break dancing lessons once)
-I am good at Air Hockey

Four Things I wish I could be better at:
-Singing
-Being carefree (I wish I did not worry and feel guilty so often)
-Being selfless
-I'd love to be a better mom

Four things I can cook without a recipe: (this is nearly impossible for me to answer - cooking makes me break out in hives)
-Scrambled eggs
-Toast
-Pop Tarts
-Cereal

Musicians that I really like:
-Third Day
-Jack Johnson
-Dave Crowder Band
-STP

Drinks that I LOVE:
-coffee
-hot tea
-chai
-cream soda

Now, I need to tag four people:
Mike, Melissa, Mal, Kristie

A beutiful story

As many of you know, my friend Anne just had a kidney transplant this summer because her cousin donated a kidney to her. This story is beautiful and reminded me how grateful I am that my friend Anne is alive and well.

Stranger Donates Kidney to Atlanta Girl
By DORIE TURNER,AP
Posted: 2008-02-23 15:38:44
Filed Under: Health News, Nation News
ATLANTA (Feb. 22) - The picture of the smiling little girl on the flier was more than Laura Bolan could take. The 8-year-old on the pamphlet needed a kidney transplant, and Bolan knew she could help. She did a quick Web search on the surgery and talked it over with her husband. Then she made a phone call to offer one of her kidneys to Sarah Dickman.

The suburban Atlanta girl was born with the genetic disease juvenile nephronophthisis, which slowly destroys the kidneys. Without treatment, it can kill a child before the age of 15.

Bolan, 34, had never met Sarah when she agreed to donate the organ.

"It breaks your heart to know there's a little girl sick out there who you could help," Bolan said earlier this week.

The pair underwent successful surgeries Thursday at hospitals across the street from each other in Atlanta. Surgeon Dr. Thomas Pearson said both patients were doing well on Friday, and initial tests of Sarah's new kidney showed it was working normally.

Sarah was expected to be in intensive care for at least a day and then spend up to a week at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston. She said she was looking forward to being free from a dialysis machine so she can spend the night at her best friend's house.

And when doctors remove her catheter, she can take bubble baths again because there will no longer be the risk of infecting the skin around the tube.

Best of all, she can go to Kangaroo Bob's, a children's recreation center with inflatable slides, mazes and obstacle courses.

"I'll get to go there on my birthday because I won't have this anymore," she said, pointing to the catheter.

Bolan was expected to return home after a few days at Emory University Hospital.

She first saw a flier about Sarah in September at the elementary school where two of her children are students. Sarah attends the same school.

Bolan knew she had the same blood type as the little girl, so she called the number on the flier that evening.

Sarah's parents, Lori and Joe Dickman, had added Sarah's name to a national waiting list for transplant recipients after learning that neither parent was a match to donate a kidney. The flier was just a shot in the dark.

The Dickmans received two calls from people interested in donating a kidney. Both were tested, and Bolan was the better match. The Dickmans were relieved because Sarah's condition was quickly deteriorating.

She was put on dialysis in September, the same month the flier went up. She often left school early because her failing kidneys made her exhausted and irritable.

"We definitely need more people like Laura in the world," Lori Dickman said.

Joe Dickman wants to add his name to living donor lists so that he can help someone else. It's the least he can do to repay Bolan for saving his daughter, he said.

"A thank-you doesn't fit for what she's doing," Joe Dickman said of Bolan. "She can call me at four in the morning for a gallon of milk. I don't care. I'm indebted to her for life."


Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

Learning to say no and other random thoughts

I can't say no. However, I am learning. I've gotten myself involved in too many things. Of course, this was all done with the best of intentions. I've learned that it is easier to say no than it is to resign from activities that you've started and done for a while.

On another note, I am teaching the Salem Business Law class again this semester. However, part of this class is online. This is a new challenge - to try to have good discussions and interactions while using forums and chats.

We've been busy. It seems that we've had something to do every night for days now.

I wonder how a person stops worrying and feeling guilty? Most of my guilt and worry relates to my family, but I also worry about work, and other activities. I feel guilty sometimes because I feel pulled in so many directions, and I feel like work, kids, my husband, church, friends, etc. are all getting short changed because I am pulled in so many directions.

On being grateful - it can be tough. I think that focusing on my blessings is worthwhile, but sometimes it is hard to take the time to reflect. I guess that is a sign that I, like many other people, am too busy to really slow down and be mindful of my day to day life.

Getting What You've Always Got

My hubby is fond of saying, "If you do what you've always done, you will get what you've always got." I think this applies to exercise. I've been working out like a mad woman, but I fell into a routine of doing the same sprints, the same exercies, etc. each week.

I've been taking a cycle class that mixes things up. We've had a different instructor and he is a MACHINE! I've finally lost a few pounds. I guess the saying is right - if you keep exercising the way you always have you will get the same results.

My Guilty Pleasure

I was talking to a friend and she said something that struck me. She said, "You and your husband work so hard. You need to play more." For those that know me, you know that I am determined and focused. I generally work hard and try to use all of my time productively. I multitask, and I try to make the best use of every minute of my day. However, something about her statement made me want to play.

A few weeks ago, Mike bought a used guitar and the game Guitar Hero. He played all the time and begged me to play. I kept refusing (because I thought that I was "above" such immature games). One night Mike begged and I agreed. I generally stink at video games (our friend Jeremy has witnessed me go the wrong way in car races), but for some reason, this game came fairly easily to me. Plus it was FUN. We also got together with some friends and played Rock Band. I tried the drums (but they are hard), and I even sang. I got 99% on Vaseline and 100% on Interstate Love Song (I am a HUGE STP fan). It was fun to sing because I like to sing, but I am not good. I also love playing the guitar and bass.

The only drawback to these games is that you sometimes feel like you could actually be a rock star or play the guitar one day.

I may not become a famous rock band member, but in the meantime, I am playing and having fun. Isn't there some saying - the family that plays together stays together?

The Year of Living Biblically and other books

I just finished this months book club book - The Glass Castle. However, I am so excited about an upcoming book, The Year of Living Biblically, becaues an interview with the author reveals that my Lent commitment Gratitude in Action , may not be so crazy after all. An excerpt from the book:

******
Do you think many people are misguided in their “creed over deed” mentality?

[Note from Tim: “Creed over deed” refers to people who value religious belief more than moral behavior. “Deed over creed” would be the opposite.]

I wouldn't say misguided. But I'd say most of us do underestimate the power that behavior has to shape thought.

It's astounding. I watched it happen to myself. For instance, I forced myself to stop gossiping, and eventually I started to have fewer petty thoughts to gossip about. I forced myself to help the needy, and found myself becoming less self-absorbed. I never became Ghandi or Angelina Jolie, but I made some strides.

I even watched it happen with prayer. After a year of praying, I started to believe there's something to the idea of sacredness. It was remarkable. So if you want to become someone different, just start acting like the person you want to be. It's like that business motto "fake it till you make it" but it works on a spiritual and ethical level as well.

Even with my wardrobe, I saw how the outer affects the inner. There's a line in the Bible that says your "garments should always be white." I decided to take that literally, and walked around in white clothes. It affected my mood. I felt happier, lighter. Clothes make the man. I felt I couldn't be in a bad mood if I looked like I was about to play the semi-finals at Wimbledon.


What were some of the greatest benefits of following rules to the letter, and what are the things that have stuck with you since ending the experiment?

It was fascinating. I'd always loved freedom of choice. It's why I went to a loosey-goosey liberal arts college with no core requirements. But this experiment was all about freedom FROM choice. Or at least a minimal-choice lifestyle. I had a set structure: Should I read the gossip magazine about Cameron Diaz's latest sex romp? No. Should I give 10 percent of my money to the needy? Yes. Should I turn off my email on the Sabbath (as both the Bible and Tim Ferriss recommend)? Yes.

In fact, there was something Ferriss-esque about the entire way of living. It reminded me of your low-information diet, for instance. In some ways, it was a huge time-saver.
************

If you want to read the entire interview, you can see it here.

I love the idea of having control over some aspects of my life. Often, I feel so out of control, that it is nice to believe that through hard work and sheer force of will, I can at least control my attitude and my reaction to situations. Our old pastor, Jim Martin, would say "Act yourself into a new way of thinking." I am not naive, and I do not believe that I can simply wake up tomorrow and say, "I am going to be grateful today." However, I do believe that with lots of hard work and time, I can improve my attitude and become more grateful.

Gratitude in Action

This month we've been doing a sermon series at Church, 2008: A Year To Give Up! We have studied the disfunctional family of Isaac & Jacob. Today Mike preached a sermon in the series- "2008: A year to Give Up Bad Habits." We looked at Jacob's bad habits: lying, blaming others, favoritism, and running from problems. Mike then shared the steps that we can take to break our bad habits: (1) recognize you have a problem, (2) realize your weakness, (3) refocus your attention on something else,(4) Reveal your plan to others who can help hold you accountable.

This sermon blew me away because I've been thinking about what I will do for Lent, and this sermon fit perfectly with what I was considering. I figured why wait, I will start now.

1. My problem(s):
I struggle often with my attitude. Often I tend to think the worst, worry, and be pessimistic. I take my blessings forgranted, which leads to jealousy, comparison with others, and a bad attitude.

2. Realize your weakness:
Like many people, I become negative when I am stressed, overworked, tired, etc. Often these emotions stem from living a hurried life with no time to slow down and appreciate the life that I have. Additionally, I stuggle with selfishness. I tend to feel these negative emotions when I am focused on myself and everything that I want and do not have.

3. Refocus your attention on something else:
This is where my plans for Lent come in. During the season of Lent, I had planned to take on an attitude of gratitude. This sounds wonderful in the abstract, but I believe that you cannot just tell yourself, "I am going to be grateful" and then you will become grateful. Instead, changing my attitude will take diligent hard work that will only be accomplished by small steps taken each day. Thus, I plan to refocus my attention by finding one thing or person that I am grateful or thankful for each day. This will address one of my weaknesses, which is being too frazzled to slow down. In order to identify one thing or person that I am grateful for, I will have to slow down long enough to consider my life and what I am truly thankful for that day. I will address my second weakness, selfishness, with my "action step". Once I've identified the person or thing that I am grateful for, I plan to take action - hence "gratitude in action." For example, if I am thankful or grateful for someone, I will take action to show my gratitude by writing a short thank you note or doing something thoughtful directed at that person. Sometimes I will do this anonymously in order to serve without expecting something in return. If I am thankful for something that God has done (like a beautiful sunset), I will show my gratitude to God by serving or doing something considerate for someone. This may be someone that I do not even know.

4. Reveal your plan so that others can hold you accountable.
I plan to try to be thankful and take action each day. I will share some of my experiences here. I may not give names or share the exact details of I do (because I may do things for someone anonymously), however, I will try to share what I learn and some of my experiences here.

I believe that this will honor God because I will be loving God (I will be thankful and slowing down to recognize and ponder the blessings in my life), I will be loving others (again, I will slow down and recognize the people and things that make my life so special), and finally, I will be loving myself (I will be slowing down, focusing on others, taking steps to better myself along the way).

As my fortune from my fortune cookie said today, "Your happiness is intertwined with your outlook on life." I hope to begin to recognize how richly blessed I am, and perhaps I can bless a few other people along the way.

Computer crash and burn

A few nights ago, our computer stopped working. Without going into a lot of detail, we found out we had a number of viruses and adware, despite having antivirus software (regularly updated) and firewall protection. We had to do a recovery, and when we recovered the computer and got rid of the viruses and adware, we had to reload programs. Problem: all of my adobe pictures are no longer there. The thumbnails show up, but the photos are missing. I had almost all of them backed up, but that is over 7000 photos that are now not connected to adobe and that just disappeared from the computer. It is so frustrating! Plus, I have no idea how we picked up all of these viruses when we supposedly had virus protection. We do not download lots of items or open email attachments.

"I'm a model."

My good friend Kaylyn is selling hairbows and other cute things on etsy. You can see her stuff and the link to her etsy store at http://dunlaplove.blogspot.com/

Kaylyn needed a girl to model some of her bows. She asked Maria. The night that we put the bows in and took pictures, we joked that Maria was a model.

When Maria wore her bows again, Maria told me all morning, "I'm a model mommy because Kaylyn said so." Kaylyn is happy to be building self esteem in young girls early!

These are some pictures of Maria as a model.

My big scare

Today started off as a normal day. Maria did something really sweet - out of the blue she said, "Mommy I love you SOOOOOO much." She and Jacob spent the morning playing. Mike was not home, and as I was getting dressed I heard the kids jumping on the bed. I told them to stop. Then, a second later I heard Maria screaming. I ran in her room and there was blood all over her eye. I have no problem with blood(remember I observed an autopsy and pulled the brain out), but I immediately thought the worst (she may have seriously injured her eye, scratched her cornea, etc.) I ran and put a cold cloth on her eye and tried to call Mike. He said he was coming home and I tried to call the doctor. I was a crying mess. Jacob told me she fell off the bed. Then he hugged me and told me Maria would be ok. I later learned Maria had fallen on a plastic toy, hit her eye, and then her "eye cracked open" (in the words of Jacob). She had a cut on her eyelid that had caused her to bleed.

She is fine now (except for a swollen eye and cut eyelid). However, I was a wreck. I guess I am still so overprotective and worried since the seizure scare.

Traveling and Who's Looking

I have this link on the side of my blog that shows who is looking (the city and country where they live is shown on the map). It is fascinating to me because people are looking from all over the world. How do they even find this blog? What do they want to read about?

The other fascinating thing is that many of these people are from places that I would love to visit. I just saw a visitor from New Zealand. I've always wanted to go to Australia and New Zealand. I became even more fascinated with New Zealand after Lord of the Rinds was filmed there. Maybe one day .....

My Idea of Success

A few days ago, I posted a blog about success. After thinking about success for a while, I think my idea of success is being comfortable in my own skin. If you ask me about areas of success in my life, I would say that I am fairly successful as an attorney (I would always like to be better), that I try to be a good and successful mother (I have a LONG way to go in this area - I do the best I can), that I work to be a good PW. However, all of these are things that I do. I do not want to simply be satisfied with things that I do, I want to be comfortable and satisfied with who I am.

For those of you that know me well, you know that I have a very hard time saying no. I get involved in far too many activities, and then I get tired and burn out. I think that I often fill my time with so many activities because I am gaining my self worth and vision of success based on what I do (doing the right things as a mom, doing enough service and church activities, etc.) I feel that I am only useful in God's eyes (and sometimes my own eyes) when I am being productive. I want to be comfortable being alone with myself. However, I often do not have the time to be alone with myself to gain this comfort.

Thus, as I begin to focus on achieving "success", I want to focus on loving myself, becoming comfortable with who I am, and most importantly, gaining my self worth for the person I am, not for the things that I do. I think this is especially important for me as a Christian. I think I work so hard to "do" things in the hope that by doing many praiseworthy things, God will love me. I want to feel God's love for me in my heart - a love that loves me for who I am, not for the works that I do.

The Games We Play

As many of you know, a favorite activity to do with friends is have game night. Game night usually includes food (everyone brings a dish, baked ziti from Brick Oven, or Pizza), lots of games, and friends. It is harder to have game night now that we have kids, but we still manage to have game night fairly regularly. We are always interested to hear about fun games, so let us know if you have suggestions.

Some of our favorites that we highly recommend:

1. Settlers of Catan - this takes skill, strategy and can be addictive. Thanks to Brent and Kaylyn for introducing us to this game!
2. Cranium Pop 5 - anything that gives me the opportunity to hum old Madonna songs is a favorite
3. Catch Phrase - I get very competitive when I play this game!
4. Loaded Questions - this game is great to get to know people. It also makes you laugh when silly friends have crazy answers to the questions!
5. Monopoly - I always win
6. Chess - Mike and I used to play this often, but I've found that I am often tired and do not enjoy playing as much when I cannot focus all of my attention on the game.
7. Checkers
8. Scrabble - when I was in the hospital on bed rest Mike and I played this daily
9. Phase 10 - this is a very fun card game; one of our former youth introduced us to this game.
10. Rummy
11. Rook - my family (in laws and my parents love to play this)
12. Battle of the Sexes - this game is fun, but the men's questions tend to be easier than the questions that the women have to answer!

Hugs, Hair, Friends, Good Times

We had dinner at Red Robin for the first time with friends. The kids loved it!




I had my hair cut. My hair dresser can blow my hair out straight. I always leave it wavy in the back (I just pretend that there is no hair back there) and I only work with the front when I style it. Mike loves it straight.





The kids had fun playing with Avenell. J carried around a doll (formerly baby Jesus) - now the baby doll is Avenell.



We made Gingerbread cookies. It was a mix that I bought 90% off at Target after Christmas. As most of you know, I have very few abilities in the kitchen. The mix said I needed honey (which I thought we had, but we were out). I substituted pancake syrup. I did the best I could to help the kids make the cookies. They had fun squeezing the tube of icing into their mouths.