Another Update:

The lens just busted out of my old glasses and the frame is bent. It may or may not have been done by me....or Henry. Okay. I'm finally feeling justified in buying new ones!

Wednesday

Well, it's Wednesday and you know what that means. I really enjoy these days, but it's just the mental part of knowing I won't see RJ for a very....long....time.... So another post! Henry and I are upstairs playing away and having fun. I'm wearing some "new" glasses. Do you like? Yes or No? I wish I would have brought a couple more home to sample, but there's usually only a couple that fit my crooked ears and googly eyes well. I hate having to spend money on glasses/contacts and normally wouldn't buy new ones, but my others were in really bad shape and that was before Henry ripped off one of the sides. So they're kind of MIA and wearing my contacts from the second I wake up to the second I go to bed is rough on my sensitive eyes. Can you tell I've had a hard time justifying this??? I have. Boy, I have. RJ's been trying to get me to buy some for months and I'm just now giving in.

Okay, it was probably mean of me to put you in that type of suspense. Let's just say I'm not letting this exciting news out for another week and a half or so. And NO, the news is not completely about me.

Holy Canoli. We're thinking strongly about going to John Piper's conference at the end of Sept and I just read about it and who's going to be there. Forget about a "vacation" for us, this is SO what we are doing instead!!! Check it out here. Hopefully we'll be going with some couples from our church. It sounds amazing. And of course we'll squeeze in some fun time in my favorite city ever in my favorite state ever. I think it's one of those things, but the grass in Minnesota always seems so green. Though, I'm sure we'll forever stay in Iowa!

I found out the MOST exciting news last night!!! But.....it's a secret.....hehehhehehehe.

Happy Wednesday!

Insomnia?

Do you guys have trouble sleeping too?At different times in my life, I have some major insomnia issues. This morning, for example, a morning not too unlike many others these days, I've been up since 3:45 am. I'm not even exaggerating. I have no problem getting to sleep and I sleep well, but if I wake up anytime after 3, I'm usually up for the day. I hate it. It's not like I don't need as much sleep as some of you. I really do need sleep. I, for some reason can't help it! I've just learned to function well on a low level. I feel fine for the first half of the day and I get around to Henry's nap time and it's hard to resist a nap myself, but I know if I do I'll have a hard time sleeping again.
Yawn, yawn, yawn. No more about my stupid problems, unless you have som advice about how I could fix it!

We had a great weekend here with not much to do. We were on a mandatory no-eat-out kind of weekend so I made homemade pizza Saturday night. Super yummy. It's just a basic dough recipe I found on foodnetwork.com. It's best with fresh basil and fresh mozzarella, but I just used what I had and it was still good. We also played out by the amphitheatre behind the Art Center. Quite possibly one of the most beautiful areas in town. There was a wedding up by the rose garden. Beauty.

Henry is taking an early nap today, so I'm off to paint!

Friday Thoughts.....

I fear that if I had a tape recorder play back to me an entire day, that for every 20 "no", "stop" "you must obey", "stop NOW", "no", "no", "no" 's, there would only be a few "yes", "good job", "awesome" 's. I watched a bit of that Nanny 911 the other day and the mom was a complete nagger. I would hate for my children to grow up and remember my nagging characteristic. I don't want to lighten up on the discipline or redirecting by any means. He's well old enough to know his boundaries and knows very well what he is doing, but I'm going to try and squeeze in a lot more positive reinforcements so it evens out more. I am a natural nagger though, so it's going to be hard. Sometimes when I get together with other moms, I see how much more relaxed they are (in a good way) and it makes me feel like I'm too uptight about every little thing. I went to a friends the other day and her and I were sitting in her living room chatting and the kids were roaming around playing. A great thing! But the whole time I'm thinking in the back of my head that Henry is probably chewing on a knife somewhere, so I just can't relax unless I can constantly see him. You see, I need to lighten up a bit!

I just went to a garage sale close by. Didn't buy a thing. There were gobs of toys. Lots and lots of toys. Junky toys. Just like the junky toys we already have at home. On the way home, I had a thought to seriously consider getting rid of a majority of our toys and take seriously my "pledge" to buy handmade toys or make our own. I know this can be more expensive, but so much more exciting. It's just another idea that I might not do, but I'm seriously thinking about it. Etsy is a GREAT place to buy things and there's a ton of craft shows around too. And, hello?!? We can all be creative and make things, right?

That's all for today. Henry was up once overnight crying and woke up early so he's "resting" in his crib right now.

Could I USE anymore " " today?

Sticks!!

I'm way pumped right now because we just came up with the most genius idea. After having success selling a small Sticks piece on Craigslist, we decided to sell the big activity board I bought when I worked there. I have it in Henry's room above his changing station and nearly every day he grabs for it and I fear it's going to fall on him constantly. This thing weighs a ton, and I'm a little tired of it. SO we thought if we could sell it for some good money we could go on a fun vacation this fall! We were already planning on doing something in Minnesota so we could leave Henry at RJ's parents house, but this way we could really have fun. Maybe Minneapolis AND Duluth!!! I guess I should see if it actually sells before I get too excited, huh. Yeah, wish me luck.

I'm starting it at $950. Don't you all want to buy it?? :) The prices for Sticks pieces is pretty incredible, but once you realize how many people work on each piece and how many hours are spent on each piece, it makes sense. The crazy thing is, is that $950 would still be a pretty good deal!

This week went incredibly fast and I really excited for this weekend. Nothing really planned, but that will be nice. Have a great Friday!

Skittles

Last night I wanted Skittles so badly. The ones that come in the purple bag. You know what I'm talking about. Oh, I used to love Skittles. I could eat a 1 lb bag in 1 day. I hardly ever eat them anymore because I'm more into chocolate, but last night all I wanted was Skittles! RJ wisely encouraged me not to run to the store because it's silly to spend money on stuff like that so I decided to make something instead. Blondies. Yes, blondies sounded delightful. So I went to make them and realized we were out of brown sugar. Now what! Banana bars. Yes, banana bars. So that's what I made, with cream cheese frosting and all. And that's what I'm going to go eat right now.

(why do these pictures end up blurry????)

Curtains! It's not the best picture and my supplies are still all over the place, but they're done and I'm happy. All the black on the edge was blue and I painted it black (the worst part!), I glued the "curtain" to a dowel that I painted black, painted those little wooden circle do-dads and glued them on, and tied the ribbon around to hold them up. The end!

I was a little nervous going back to my babysitting job watching 2 older kids and an 8 week old because I wasn't sure how Henry would handle me holding a baby. Well, it's been great. He doesn't seem to care a bit. Today he helped me hold the baby's bottle and "pet" the baby's hair and was really incredibly sweet. I love the stage he's in right now. He's repeating more and more words and putting a couple of words together though keeps his talking to home. He makes me out to be a liar in public. Oh well! He's also more and more independent. Often when I ask him if he wants help or for me to hold him, he just nicely says, "no". Where did my baby go?

I'm getting more and more excited for the art show in Waukee next weekend. The guy in charge spoke the last 2 Sundays at our church and it was awesome. We had a great conversation with them afterwards on Sunday and will hopefully be in touch with them and are praying they will be able to use us somehow in the their ministry. Their mission is to reach creative people for Christ through creative arts. How cool is that? Maybe nothing will come of it, or maybe we'll just do a little bit, or maybe a lot, but either way I'm excited to see what the Lord has in store for us.

Speaking of, I have a lot of painting to do while Henry is napping. I'm off!

Concert: A+. One of the cooler things about Jonny is that he is a Christian and I feel pretty safe in saying that not everyone there was a Christian. I think it's pretty great that he is reaching people on all sides. He's done this at other concerts, but for his encore, he plays "I love you, Lord, and I lift my voice..." on his guitar. He doesn't sing, but just plays it amazingly.

The bottom picture is from Smitty's on the southside. RJ and I had a little date on Saturday and went there for the 1st time. We love finding good tenderloins and it did not disappoint! It's totally like a small town cafe which made me love it even more. I am obsessed with those kinds of places. We were the youngest ones in there by a good 30 years. It was great. We also went to Menard's and grocery shopping and picked up Henry in time for his 7:00 bedtime. It was a great time. We had just had 2 dates over the 4th in Galena so we weren't as desperate as we are sometimes to get out alone, but I still loved every second of it.

I finished my curtains in the porch-finally! I'll post photos tomorrow. I don't ever, ever, triple-negative, never, want to do that again. I only needed 9 of them and I did them for under $2 a piece so it was worth it, just no fun at all. Sometimes it'd just be nice to go out and buy the real thing. No, I don't mean that, but that project just wore me out!

Later, folks.

Good Saturday!

Good times. Great day. I love it when I can enjoy a Saturday without feeling like there's something I need to do. There's lots to be done, of course, but I'm very content today not doing it and enjoying my boys. Henry took a huge nap and RJ and I sat out in the porch and talked and then laughed so hard we cried at Arrested Development season 2. Literally. I cried. Why, oh why, did that show have to leave? For comedy shows on now, I enjoy The Office and REALLY enjoy 30 Rock, but nothing quite compares to A.D. Ah well.

Hope you're all having great Saturdays as well!

Rib America Festival

Oh yes. We will be here. For the food? No. I'm sure it's delicious, but I'm not wasting my money on it because I'm sure it's all over priced. But for only $4 you can get in and hear.....Jonny Lang! You see, it all started when RJ won tickets to a concert in Minneapolis. I had never heard his music even though RJ had a cd of his. We went and it was amazing. It's not the kind of music I would normally like, but his concerts are amazing and I now really enjoy his tunes.

He is a gui-tar phenom.

Well, after that concert we saw Jonny at the Hoyt Sherman and then at the Simon Estes theatre while Henry was still in my tummy. We're not big concert-goers except when this guy is in town. Even if you don't like his music, I can guarantee you'd enjoy the concert. Unless you're someone who doesn't like to have any fun, I guess.
The concert is at 7 on Sunday. See you there??

Wednesday

Today's a little gloomy, no?

Henry is taking a killer nap right now. I took one too and I always feel out of sorts after taking one. It sounds so enticing beforehand and I love jumping into bed to take a nap, but usually regret it a bit afterwards. I'm also really bummed that I won't see RJ for a long time today. I guess I woke up on the wrong side of the bed!

Henry went to the dentist this morning and did really well. He had some build-up on his bottom teeth that I couldn't get off. They got it off and said his teeth look great, but are a little close together. Hopefully when his jaw grows he'll get some space between, otherwise he may have a little crooked problem. Not a big deal, of course, but I'm hoping he won't need braces. I had them and hated them. Oh well.

I have a recipe for RJ's grandma's caramel rolls and I'm going to give them a try today. It looks like a long process, but they will be so worth it. It will be really worth it to see RJ's face when he takes a bite--that is, if I can get them anywhere close to how his grandma makes them. They are probably in his top 3 favorite foods of all time. Yummy.
I'll be bringing some your way too, Alisa.:)

Doctor

Some of you have heard me gush over my doctor before and let me just say it again, but not for the last time, that...I LOVE my doctor. Fo' shizzle. I'm not talking "love" love, but only the appropriate kind of love a patient might have for a doctor who could not be more kind, helpful, honest, and good at what he does. I don't want to put his name down (but I know some of you know exactly who I am talking about) in fear that in googling his name my blog would come up and I would have a restraining order put on me. But I just got to say, he's the best! If you're dying to know, email me.:)

Me, Me, ME!

I am….child of God. Wifey to RJ. Mommy to Henry. Daughter to Arly and Barb, sister to Erica and Aaron, etc, etc,

I want…to sleep an entire night without waking up.

I wish…gas were cheaper

I hate…iced tea

I miss…RJ all day long

I feel...a bit tired, excited for time with RJ after Henry goes to bed EARLY tonight, content.

I fear…things I have no control over, but am working on that!

I hear…Henry goofing off while RJ gives him his bath.

I smell…the usual smell an old house has.

I crave…pop and candy.

I search…craigslist.

I wonder…who will win the election?

I regret…not making reading a habit when I was younger.

I love…Hello?!?! Jesus, RJ, Henry, and all my family and friends. Of course!

I ache…when I sleep poorly.

I care…about you.

I always…like going out to eat, but don't always get to do it.

I am not…book smart.

I believe…i can fly.....

I dance…like no one is watching. Barf! There is no phrase I dislike more than that one. Sorry folks.

I sing...in the shower, in the car, at home...

I cry…more than I used to and once I start I can't stop.

I don’t always...have a clean house.

I fight…uh, never? More like disagreements and even those are few and far between.

I write…on my blog.

I never…want to eat a grapefruit.

I listen…to our new record player. We've inherited a killer record collection from grandparents. I love it! I love that scratchy sound it makes.

I need…haircut. My bangs are in my eyes.

I am happy…quite often. Why waste our time being all bent out of shape?

Last night I was in the mood to look at every single picture we have of Henry on the computer. I'm sure like the rest of you, it's a lot! Here's my all time favorite video. I could watch this a bazillion times and never get sick of it. He was 14 months old at the time, and has only gotten crazier.

Here's to a happy Monday...

I had to feed 3 kids breakfast this morning and give a baby a bottle and then get everyone dressed by 9 and I did it! I feel like I could conquer the world right now. I know many, many, moms do this on a regular basis, but going from a 1 1/2 yr old to watching 4 kids under 5 is quite a change! Baby T is so sweet and has a head FULL of dark hair. He hardly cries and when he does it doesn't bother or stress me out a bit. It's just cute. I like babies.

I am way pumped for this weekend. We have a party with the young marrieds tomorrow night and the rest of the weekend is pretty wide open. I have so many projects I want to get started, but I'm sure those will be put off like usual.

Miss Ruby's chemo went well this week. It may be her last one or she may have 2-4 more rounds. They will do a scan in a few weeks to see, but either way God is in control. What a trooper she has been! It has been so obvious that God is working in this situation and we are all so thankful for it!!

Have a great Thursday!

Our happy little family at the reunion. You can't really tell, but Henry is sporting a new mo-hawk.
3 beautiful ladies: Alice, Dorothy (the one who just turned 90!!!) and Betty. Alice also brought her boyfriend, Elmer. So cute!




After deciding not to do any craft shows this year, I've changed my mind. It's going to be at the Waukee Centennial Park on August 2nd from 3-8. There will be inflatables, food, live music, kid's crafts, games, and art or course! It's free for me to get into, I'm borrowing a tent setup from an artist friend, and most importantly, RJ thought it sounded like a great idea. One of those, "it's a small world" moments....I was emailing the guy in charge and I mentioned where I go to church and he wrote back and said he's speaking at our church the next 2 Sundays! He's all artsy so I'm excited to hear him speak. I found his website and it sounds really neat. If you've got some time, check it out! http://nightmayer.com/

Henry has his 18 month appt today. I always like to hear how he's doing and ask questions, but I hate those shots!

Yes, I'll admit it.

I watched the season finale of The Bachelorette.

I had only caught 5 minutes of it here and there so I didn't know anything about the final guys. Jason seemed like the obvious choice, so naturally I wanted Jessie to "win". That's just how I roll. So since I wasted 2 hours of my life, at least the guy I was rooting for got the girl.

Yes, I love my new background too!
Just go to www.pyzam.com and pick yours out. I could have spent hours looking through the hundreds they have so just picked one of the first ones I liked. I'm not sure if it's always the case, but it erased all the links I had so if you've got a lot it may take a while.

I got a beautiful bouquet of flowers today from RJ.

It was a good day.

Bum! I just realized I didn't get the camera bag out of my mom's car before she left for home. Argh. I had such great pictures of our fantastic family reunion. Yes, it was a great time. I love my family. There were a lot of people there and a lot of them I hadn't seen in years. Henry did really well considering he was up way past his 7:00 bedtime and didn't get the best naps in. We celebrated my great-aunt Doe-Doe's (Dorothy) 90th birthday, and let me tell you, that lady acts younger than some 50 year olds I know. Her and her sister Alice and cousin Betty were there to represent the older generation. They are beautiful women and it was so good to see them.

Here's a fun/weird fact about this family that makes it a little tiny:

2 sisters: Verle (my grandma who has passed), and Dorothy, and their cousin Betty, married:

3 boys who happened to all be brothers: Stan (my grandpa who has passed), Howard, and Bob.

Make sense? Strange, huh? Makes for a small family tree!

Hopefully I'll get some pictures emailed to me so I can share. It'd be much more fun to talk about if I had the images to show.

Another exciting thing to share is that I was the recipient of a new purse before I left!! That's right, the purse that I purchased a few months ago at the Mall of America and returned because of all the guilt I had, is now mine! Thanks to my dear friend, Londa. The most thoughtful lady I know. And she's so sneaky! I was so excited to get it.

The last exciting thing is that I'm reading the book, Blue Like Jazz. I often start books and never finish, but I got half way through it in the car and am excited to read the rest. So many thoughts going on in my head right now. How about you read it and we can discuss it over some coffee? :)

Alright, too many words. Not enough pictures. I'll try to get on that.....

The countdown is on. We're leaving Friday morning for Galena and I just can't wait! It's going to be one of those busy vacations, but I'm still looking forward to it. My mom said she'd stay at the hotel with Henry after he falls asleep so hopefully RJ and I can sneak away for a date or 2 at night, which is what I'm most excited for! Of course I'm looking forward to seeing family, but seriously? Nothing beats a date with my honey.

Today is my last day watching Zach and it's going really well. We ventured to the mall and had the playland all to ourselves and then the boys did great while I looked around the stores. Now they're laying down and I'm going to clean. Excellent.

I went to a really nice baby shower last night at church and it made me excited for a baby again. I'm always saying I don't like newborns and blah-blah-blah, but I'm ready now. Really, newborns are sweet and sleepy and cuddly and sweet, sweet, sweet.
What's not to like about that?

I had the most enjoyable time with my little Henry this morning. We had a couple of hours before Zach got here and he was in the greatest mood. He's gradually gotten cuddly later and is in kind of a clingy stage, which has taken some getting used to, but in a way I really enjoy it. I love his goofiness. His crazy, wild, where-in-the-world-did-you-come-from, goofiness. And I love how he'll take a break from being crazy to come give me a hug and then go right back to what he was doing. He's going to be exactly 18 months on the 4th. Crazy!