Sad

Missing church two weeks in a row makes my heart sad... :-(

On a Positive Note...

The good thing about being forced to stay home... I completed my first whole week of our Genesis 2 class! Starting off on the right foot!

Interesting Night

Melia came into our room last night a little before 1 am. She was on the verge of breaking down, but she said "Daddy, I needed to tell you that I just can't sleep because something is hurting me inside my ear.... sobbbbbb" She was obviously in a LOT of pain, writhing and sobbing. She didn't have a fever, but we gave her some Tylenol right off. I put some oil around her ear and tried to get her to settle down, but it just wasn't happening. We had one ear candle left, having used the second of the pair on my own ear just the night prior. I was glad we hadn't used both!

It helped immediately. By the time it was done, she was in zero pain! Thank you LORD! What a change, from crying and writhing in pain to able to go straight to sleep~ amazing. I took her in this morning, and sure enough, her ear drum is bulging. I'm calling Gabe to have him pick up more candles on his way home from work! (yes, she did get some antibiotics as well)

If you want to know what I'm talking about... check these. You stick them in your ear, light it on fire, and hopefully it'll suck out any nasties. For Melia and I, it not only pulled out the wax, but also relieved the pressure somehow. We love them.

I SO Appreciate My Husband..

I was reading today about a really good deal on boneless, skinless chicken at $1.59/lb. You have to purchase a 40 lb box, and you have to pick it up at one of the drop places. Unfortunately, the closest drop points are in Ellensburg and Moses Lake. I seriously considering it, but thought I should absolutely ask Gabe first.


I explained it to him, and he responded with "Well, what you'll save on the meat you'll spend on gas getting there..." I totally hadn't calculated that in! And when I did, I would have spent more on gas traveling than I had saved!


If any of you who are close to a drop point, this would be a GREAT deal. You can read more about it here, and a review of it here.

BTW, if you want it soon, today is the last day, and while the review says $1.48/lb, it's now $1.59/lb. :-)

Another laugh

Last night I was rubbing oils on the girls and tried a new one called Palo Santo. It smells like black licorice, only better! I told Melia this as I began rubbing it on. She breathed deeply and said,
"Hmmmm, I just want to eat myself...."

Kiera looked up at her with wide eyes...
"That's not good!"

I think I actually found it...

For those of you who know how much I love the Created to be His Helpmeet book, you also know how I've desired to see one written for men. Because marriage is a journey of growing together and we always both have issues that God wants to fine tune with us. Plus, in raising children, I always want to have in mind that I am training little wives, husbands, mommies and daddies. Boy, is that a daunting thought!

Anyway, I think I found it. All along, I've expect Mike Pearl to write one, but it still hasn't come out, and I haven't read anything more about their plans for it. (He had a heart attack, so that certainly is a good reason for slowing up production!) If it does get finished, I will of course read it, but for now I'm pleased with this resource.

I heard Voddie Baucham Jr. on Family Life Today's radio program along with his daughter. The show was about how he and his wife are very involved in their daughter's consideration of potential husbands. And how she deeply desires this! I thought, now that's what I'd like to accomplish- working together as a team to produce the best possible result! They inspired me as to what a father/daughter relationship should look like. And, like most FMT shows, the guests had a book I could order. So I did.

It's called What He Must Be... if He wants to Marry my Daughter.

In one word: Fabulous. Inspiring. Encouraging. Daunting. Overwhelming. Terrifying.

Does that make you want to read it? I understand if not! But trust me- I've been reading this book for about 2-3 weeks, and several times Gabe's heard me say "I think everyone should have this book!!!" It's a guide for what we should train our daughters to look for in a potential suitor. It's a guide for men on what the Bible says about husbands and fathers. It's a guide for parents raising those young suitors. Plus, it's also a guide for men who are blessed with the opportunity to mentor young men.

I loved it. It's definitely one I'm encouraging Gabe to read, and one I will have my girls read when they are at an appropriate age. And I'm encouraging you to read it too!

Uhhh....Gross.

See? This is how you get me to blog. You lock me at home with three actively sick children who do a great job of providing entertainment, and you get to read about my day.

For dinner, I made some fish sticks I had in the freezer. For some reason, this company (yellow box...) doesn't wrap the fish inside the box to keep it fresh.... it was probably freezer burned. I cooked it up anyway (since you can't tell how bad it is when it's frozen!) and the girls did not like it. I tried it, thought it was edible, but not very good. So, I broke up a piece to give to Esther and the rest went to Ziva. In between all this, I got Isaac up. He saw that fish on the plate that Esther was enjoying... and yes, he grabbed up two pieces and stuffed them in his mouth.

Apparently, he doesn't mind freezer burn.

Another Amazing Kiera Moment...

I know! Two in one day! Not long after the math moment, I was writing words on the white board for Melia to read. I tried to stump her by writing "Kerzon, Esther, Ziva, Isaac." I had to help with Kerzon and Esther, but pushed her to sound out Ziva. KIERA piped up and said "Ziva!"

I thought "OK, she got that one by guessing, but she'll never get Isaac."

Guess what she did... I know- long shot, but yes...

she said Isaac.

Wow.

So, I erased all of them and just wrote Ziva on the board. I showed it to her and asked her to read it. She guessed Leo, (I'm assuming because he's another pet) and then wouldn't give it another shot. I told her it said Ziva and she says "I thought that was it, but..." So she is really paying attention to more than I thought...

Just to test me I'm sure, not long after that episode, her work was to trace the alphabet and write each letter one time. We had TEARS people! Because, in her words, "she's just a little four year old who can't write her letters yet!" HA!

(And yes, she did get around to writing those very letters because the only way she was going to get to paint was if she finished her schoolwork!)

A Real Laugh Out Loud Moment

Today, while doing school:

Me: Melia, you got one wrong.

Melia: What!?! Which one? (she's not often wrong with math :-)

Me: 23+4 is not 26

Kiera: It's 27, I think.


I couldn't believe she knew that. Although, I have noticed that she is definitely picking up what we are teaching Melia, but math? That suprised me!

Home Days

We're home today. We planned on going to Bellevue for a meeting, but all three kids got sick yesterday. Not bad, probably the RSV thing that's going around, but just an unpleasant cough and some fevers. So, Gabe headed out this morning, and we're missing out on our fun family day :-( I hate it when this happens. Right when we planned something fun.

The good part is that I was home to see a Seattle groupon on FB for the Children's Museum, so we can now plan another fun day... hopefully, nobody will get sick!

Now, to get started on something productive while the kids are still in good spirits!

Impressive Blond Moments

We were burning "stuff" in our fire pit, but it wasn't working very well, so I took an axe to our Christmas tree (which yes, was still lying in our yard... so, so classy...). My eye began twitching. And wouldn't stop. I started to worry that I was having a stroke or something bizzarre caused by the abundance of smoke and hacking away with my right hand... Finally I had the mind to go look in the mirror and watch it twitch~ where I noticed that I had somehow gotten sap on my eyelid, which then caused it to stick every time I blinked. (twitch...twitch)

While getting ready for bed, I noticed I really needed to clean my glasses. So I did. I tried putting them on again, only to think that something was really wrong-- my vision was terribly blurry. So I went to work on them once more because it looked like a little hand with little fingerprints left lots of smudges all over my lenses. After cleaning them twice, I realized my problem was that I had not yet taken out my contacts....

Adoration

I ADORE what the girls call their "kids" while they play "house" or "family" or "dogs."

In fact, I think we should all adopt this term for our darlings....

"Little Honeys"

Important Parenting Lessons

Don't just go whippin' the diaper off for a bath, no matter how good the kid smells.

Thought from Sunday School this Morning

Anytime I choose something over God, I am setting up an idol. Anytime I prioritize my will and wants over His will and desire for my life, I am setting myself up as an idol.

It's important to look deeper than my wants, to the desires of my heart. Is my desire to choose my way in life, or to choose to follow God's way for my life? Isn't the answer always that I struggle with choosing His way or my way, doing things in His strength or my own? But it helps to LOOK at the choices I make from this objective standpoint. Not from my viewpoint, but from HIS.

LOVE IT!!!

Novilhos Restaurant

So, my extended friends and familia... Anyone been to Novilhos? It sounds like Gabe's dream come true! But what I haven't heard is a price tag.... Care to share?

Novilhos Brazilian Steakhouse

Kiera's Awesomeness

We made biscuits for breakfast today, since we were out of bread and I was too sick to shop yesterday. (Not bad sick, but bad migraine..)Kiera helped me mix and cut, then when we were finished with the dough, she wanted to play with the leftovers.

She is very serious about her baking.

Finally, a smile for the camera.... :-) At one point, she came to me saying "I has my own recipe. I need cinnamon and flour." I said "Cinnamon and sugar?" Yep, that's it. And sure enough, she made some little cinnamon/sugar biscuits!
I had to include this pic- it was the first one I took and thought it was so funny :-)

Nostalgia...

Just in case you can't tell, it's Jello :-)

Isaac's Awesome Moments Today

Isaac was eating oatmeal for breakfast, and he sneezed. The look on his face when all the oatmeal came flying out was priceless!

He also said "water" this morning for the first time. Yea! He's finally learning to talk, and the new words each day are so exciting :-)

We got a Wii

Over the holidays the kids went out for some fun time at the Beaty's house. It evenutally turned into Wii "Just Dance" fun, and we quickly discovered just how well Melia can shake it. :-) Unfortunately, I don't have pictures, only videos (which I'll post at some point in the distant future when I have time) (unless said Beaty's forward me some pics... ;-). After nursing some sore abs from laughing so hard, we decided that it might be ok to get a Wii. We've played with them before at friends' and families' homes, but this was the first time I've considered actually owning one. After a little over a week of watching Craigslist, Gabe found a great deal.

These pics are from when he FIRST brought it home...

Literally. He walks in, puts it on the ground, and Isaac picks up the sticks and starts banging away...

...which was quickly followed by "how do I turn this thing on???"

Not even kidding.

And if anyone wants to buy the rock band stuff, I still maintain that we're going to be selling it... Except it appears that I'm the only person that doesn't like it much! Even the one person we could NEVER drag to a concert was over at our house, drumming and picking away... Annie!!!

We've since purchased the "Just Dance Kids" for the kiddos, which involves a "bit" less shaking that the adult version, but only a bit... :-)

Not often do I actually impress myself...

I decorated this cupcake this week in my cake decorating class at co-op! How cool is that? I don't mean this to sound like I'm bragging, 'cause I'm not.... I really did shock myself that this turned out as well as it did. When it comes to drawing critters, an artist I am NOT. Plus, when I initially drew the horse, all the girls in my class tipped their heads sideways and said "What is that supposed to be?"

(Literally. Cocked their heads and looked at it cross-eyed. "Huh?")

But when I added the "grass" and then the suggested "grapes," it actually turned out really good. I was very proud. Too proud to eat it actually. It's still sitting on the counter :-)

Two down...And out.

I helped with this one... EW EW EW! Blech!

(What an awful picture... she'll hate me someday for this one... :-)