The brevity of life

'Twas the night before this morning

And all through the house

Not a creature was stirring

Not even a mouse,

At least that's how it started anyway...

As I sank into the cool sheets of our bed last night I quickly welcomed the thought of sweet sleep. It was 10:30 and I was very excited that everyone was in their own bed and in their own rooms. I quickly drifted off into dreamland but was startled soon after 1 am when Charis called out. I nudged Ben (I always do on the weekends) and he left to care for her. I must have fallen back asleep pretty quickly, that is until Emma cried out shortly after 3 am. I tried to nudge Ben again only to realize he wasn't there! I crept into Emma's room to try and give her paci to her and as I passed Charis' room I glanced in and saw poor Ben hanging off the edge of Charis' twin bed with her spread eagle in the center of the bed taking up most of the room. Both were sound asleep. I soon realized that Emma was not going to settle quickly so in an effort to not wake Ben or Charis, I scooped her up and brought her into bed with me. I laid her on her tummy next to me and she was quickly snoring as only babies can. As I laid there and watched her sleep I had these fleeting thoughts of her all grown up and going to school or asking to borrow money or getting her drivers license. In that dark room at 3:30 in the morning I wished this night could last forever. I didn't want to fall back asleep for fear that I would miss something. My mind quickly went back to about 3 years ago...2 years, 11 months, 3 weeks and 3 days ago to be exact when Charis was born. At that time the idea of a child sleeping in my bed was the simply not ok. I thought children should learn to sleep in their own beds, in their own rooms for at least 10 hours at a time. Then I wondered at how I've changed. I thought of a certain Alabama-in who once said something to the effect of, "Let your kids climb into bed with you in the middle of the night, before long they won't even want to!" I love my girls and I am so thankful to the Lord that He chose to bless me with them and to put them in my care. I can't believe that He would put these two precious lives under my guidance (& Ben of course). If you're a mommy give your kids an extra little kiss as you put them to bed tonight. Our lives here are short and we don't know what tomorrow will hold. I am just so thankful for the time I have today!

"It's my wedding!" -Charis

Tonight...tomorrow please pray for Adrienne & Dan & their baby Rachael.

First date

Charis went out on her first date tonight! And with a very handsome boy I might add! They went in true 3 year old style...the mall, ice cream, Fuzzwigs Candy Store & the children's section of Barnes & Noble. Hmmm...sounds like something I might enjoy as well!

Happy Friday!

The mind of a soon-to-be 3 year old...

After dinner Charis was sitting at the table eating an ice cream bar. I thought I would take that rare time of stillness to ask her a few questions and get to know her better. This is how it went:

Mommy- "What do you like better, chocolate or vanilla?"
Charis- "Choctat!"
M- "Ok, what do you like better, strawberries or grapes?"
C- "Choctat!"
M- "Ok, what do you like better, pink or purple?"
C- "Blue!"
M- "Ok, what do you like better, horses or pigs?"
C- "A green elephant!"
M- "Are we even having the same conversation here?"

Einstein

Not to boast or anything...but Charis is doing so well in preschool. This morning we practiced writing 2's. I helped her with the first row but then she wrote the second row all by herself! It may not look like much to you, but to me (and I'm sure to Mimi & Papa) it's just as though Charis discovered the Pythagorean theorem herself!

New to the blogroll!

Quiver of Arrows...check them out!

“What Happened Here Today?”

One afternoon a man came home from work to find total mayhem in his house. His three children were outside, still in their pajamas, playing in the mud, with empty food boxes and wrappers strewn all around the front yard. The door of his wife’s car was open, as was the front door to the house.
Proceeding into the entry, he found an even bigger mess. A lamp had been knocked over, and the throw rug was wadded against one wall. In the front room the TV was loudly blaring a cartoon channel, and the family room was strewn with toys and various items of clothing. In the kitchen, dishes filled the sink. Breakfast food was spilled on the counter, dog food was spilled on the floor, a broken glass lay under the table, and a small pile of sand was spread by the back door.
He quickly headed up the stairs, stepping over toys and more piles of clothes, looking for his wife. He was worried she may be ill, or that something serious had happened. He found her lounging in the bedroom, still curled in the bed in her pajamas, reading a novel. She looked up at him, smiled, and asked how his day went.
He looked at her bewildered and asked, “What happened here today?”
She again smiled and answered “You know every day when you come home from work and ask me what in the world I did today?”
“Yes,” was his incredulous reply.
She answered, “Well, today I didn’t do it.”

If You Give A Mom A Muffin

Original Author Unknown

If you give a mom a muffin,
She'll want a cup of coffee to go with it.
She'll pour herself some.
Her three-year-old will spill the coffee.
She'll wipe it up.
Wiping the floor,
she'll find dirty socks.
She'll remember she has to do laundry.
When she puts the laundry in the washer,
She'll trip over boots and bump into the freezer.
Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan for supper.
She will get out a pound of hamburger.
She'll look for her cookbook ("101 Things To Do With a Pound of Hamburger").
The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail.
She will see the phone bill,
which is due tomorrow.
She will look for her checkbook.
The check book is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two-year-old.
She'll smell something funny.
She'll change the two year old's diaper.
While she is changing the diaper,
the phone will ring.
Her five-year-old will answer and hang up.
She'll remember she wants to phone a friend for coffee.
Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup.
And chances are...
If she has a cup of coffee,
Her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.

A funny for you...

"After the long months of cold and winter, we will soon be coming up to summer and BBQ season. Therefore it is important to refresh your memory on the etiquette of this sublime outdoor cooking as it's the only type of cooking a real man will do, probably because there is an element of danger involved.
When a man volunteers to do the BBQ the following chain of events are put into motion:
Routine...
1) The woman buys the food.
2) The woman makes the salad, prepares the vegetables, and makes dessert.
3) The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray along with the necessary cooking utensils and sauces, and takes it to the man who is lounging beside the grill.

Here comes the important part:
4) THE MAN PLACES THE MEAT ON THE GRILL.

More routine....
5) The woman goes inside to organize the plates and cutlery.
6) The woman comes out to tell the man that the meat is burning. He thanks her and asks if she will bring him something to drink while he deals with the situation.
Important again:

7) THE MAN TAKES THE MEAT OFF THE GRILL AND HANDS IT TO THE WOMAN.

More routine...
8) The woman prepares the plates, salad, bread, utensils, napkins, sauces and brings them to the table.
9) After eating, the woman clears the table and does the dishes.

And most important of all:
10) Everyone PRAISES the MAN and THANKS HIM for his cooking efforts.11) The man asks the woman how she enjoyed "her night off." And, upon seeing her annoyed reaction, concludes that there's just no pleasing women..."

Yesterday...

WARNING!!!...Mommy talk....WARNING!!!

Yesterday in addition to about 7 Emma diapers I cleaned up one poopy blow-out (think clothes, diaper, legs, back, arms, hands, chair, carpet, etc.), 2 Charis potty accidents (think panties, legs, carpet, chair, toys, book, etc. twice) and Ben put Charis to bed last night and forgot to put a pull-up on her so at 1:30am she came waddling in soaked in her own pee. I'm so sick of bodily fluid!On another note...I bought the coolest thing today. A sound spa (it's made by Homedics). It's for Emma mostly but I think it will come in handy with all the guests we're having in our home this Summer (8 in 4 weeks...5 all at once!)

Tradgedy Strikes!

You're probably wondering why Charis has a band-aid across her chin, no shirt on, tears in her eyes and messy, messy hair...well, I'll tell you...she ate a piece of watermelon. Yup, that's it. She got naked to keep the juice off her clothes but as she was eating she couldn't bear that sticky feeling so she completely fell to pieces! (The band-aid is because she said her chin hurt from the watermelon.) She's napping now so in about 2 hours she should be all better.

Yum, Yum!

Veronica just tagged me for this food meme. Since we just moved here I probably don't have a great idea of good restaurants...but I'll list some of the ones I've been to and enjoyed.
——————–
So here are the rules:
1. Link to name of person that tagged you.

2. Include state and country you live in.

3. List top 5 favorite local restaurants.

4. Tag 5 other people and let them know they’ve been tagged.

I live in Arizona, USA.

In no particular order:
1. Wildflower Bread Company- Yum, yum! They have great salads, especially their Emerald Chicken. This was the first restaurant we went to after we moved here. Our pastor and his family took us there two days after we moved in.
2. Cheesecake Factory- All through my pregnancy with Emma I only had one craving...it was for the Luau Salad. I never got to eat it while I was pregnant, but we've been since then and it's never tasted better! (That's the picture above!) I was so excited to find out that there is a Cheesecake Factory at the mall about 1.5 away!
3. The Streets of New York- We went here after church one day with one of the elders and his wife and found out that there is yummy pizza in Arizona!
4. Rubios Fresh Mexican Grill- I know it's everywhere but I just love their fish tacos! Tuesday is $1 taco night too!
5. Rainforest Cafe- We don't go there much...at all...only on special occasions. But I love the atmosphere more then anything! We're going to be taking Charis there for her birthday too!
I tag…Lauren, Danielle, Megan, Randi, Cathy and anyone else that wants to do it!

Growing Up

Charis is growing up before my eyes...I can't believe it. Today when she woke up from her nap she came downstairs with a huge smile on her face. "I made my bed!" She said. And sure enough, I went upstairs and she had put her throw pillows back up on her bed and her nap blanket folded at the foot of her bed, just like I do every day.

First Day of School

Charis started her first day of preschool today. Since I taught preschool for four years, I felt pretty well prepared to teach Charis her numbers, letters, days of the week, months of the year, weather, states and capitols and so on. So today we began. She did great! We learned that today is Friday, June 22nd, 2007 and it is hot & sunny outside. Then we went around the house and counted all the pictures of Charis. There are 19! We read "10 Terrible Dinosaurs" and sang 10 Little Indians together. After that Charis did a number collage for her art project. I cut a bunch of numbers out of different magazines and she glued them on a 1234 paper cutout. Then we played a number matching game. If you haven't guessed yet, our theme for this week is numbers. It was very fun and she did a great job! When we finished she said, "I want to do more school tomorrow!" I am going to try to do it at least 3 times a week. I spent about 2 hours last night doing lesson plans so I am very excited! Those of you who are coming to visit this Summer (that's about 8 of you) can join us and we can do school together! Something I'm really jazzed about is this science book that I bought. It's all about the ocean. I'll have to have the master teacher (Mrs. Johnson) look at it and give her approval when she visits!

Baby Insurance

I think blogging has become a source of stress relief for me. Last night Emma woke up in the middle of the night and was up for almost an hour. But the whole time I was thinking about how I was going to blog about it. So even though I was exhausted I was still laughing at the situation! Now to completely understand this blog you have to know two things: Ben works in the insurance industry and he's a pretty deep sleeper. Here's what happened. Emma woke up at 2:45am and started to make some baby noises. I popped her paci in and went back to bed. She continued to make these noises except they got louder and louder and louder. I kept popping the paci in. Then she started rolling onto her back. Now Emma is completely unable to sleep on her back. She won't even sleep in her car seat. So as she is making these cute noises she rolls over then starts screaming! So I laid in bed and I said, "Oh, Ben, I'm so tired!" He said, "What are her damages?"
HUH????
I started to laugh! Damages? I asked him what he meant by that. He just chuckled and fell back asleep. It reminded me of the time Emma woke up in the middle of the night and Ben said, "She just needs more insurance!" Oh yeah, that must be what is keeping a five month up at night...she's worried that she might not have enough coverage!

Lunch conversation

Charis- "Mommy, what is this food?"
Mommy- "It's chicken and broccoli."
C- "But what's it's name?"
M- "It's Honey Mustard Chicken and Steamed Broccoli."
C- "But what was the chicken's name before it was our food?"
M- "Um...I'm not sure I know what you mean?"
C- "I wanna go fishin'."
M- "You should have warned me you were changing the subject...you caught be completely off guard."
C- "I'm sorry, where's your guard now?"

I overheard Charis singing today but I couldn't quite make out what she was singing. So I stopped what I was doing and tried to listen really carefully...this is what I heard (To the tune of "If You're Happy and You Know It":

"If you're happy nose, clap your hands,
If you're happy nose, stomp your feet,
If you're happy nose, tell yourself,
All through the town!"
_________________
Another new blog added to our long list of links...check it out...it's "ja blacks"!

Creative Charis

After dinner tonight I was in the kitchen washing dishes. Charis was still at the table eating some animal crackers and drinking milk. I said, "Charis, did you finish your milk?" This is what I heard..."No! If I drink it I'm gonna die!"

Later tonight...
I was in the kitchen playing with a ball with Emma and Charis came bounding in yelling, "Catch it to me Emma!" I said, "It's throw Charis...she will throw the ball to you." She quickly replied, "OK, then I catch it to she." (Throw it to her, Charis, throw it to her.)

My beautiful family!

Happy early 4th of July!

So last night went something like this:

Ben and I got into bed at 11 we talked a little then fell asleep. Emma woke at 12. Ben gave her paci to her then got back into bed. Charis woke at 2 and wanted to sleep with us. I brought her back to her bed and laid down with her. Emma woke at 3, I gave her paci to her and got back in my bed. Emma woke at 3:30 and started screaming. I got her out of her crib and brought her into bed with us. The screaming continued even after Tylenol and aspirating her nose. So the bottle came at 4am. Emma finally fell asleep in my arms around 4:30. Ben's alarm went off at 5:30, he hit snooze. Charis came in at 5:45. Good morning Arizona!

Our Father's

Daddy

Papa

Bahmpa

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to Ben (Daddy), Dad (Bill or Papa) and Bill (Dad or Bahmpa)!

If that confused you a little bit I'm sorry. See Melissa is writing it so Ben is Ben to me but Daddy to Charis & Emma and Dad is Dad to me but Bill to Ben and Papa to Charis & Emma and Bill is Bill to me but Dad to Ben and Bahmpa to Charis & Emma!

Anyway, today we celebrated Father's Day with eggs and bagels for breakfast. In order to let Ben spend some special time alone with the girls, I slept in so I wouldn't bother them :) After breakfast we gave Ben's his gifts. He opened them being serenaded by Emma's mournful screams. (It was nap time...it's always nap time at 8:30 am when she's been up since 4:30am.) I gave Ben a t-shirt that says "Grill Sergeant" and a matching hat then Charis gave him what she picked out...a Transformer Mr. Potato Head to match her Star Wars Mr. Potato Head that Daddy gave her.

I said, "Smile for the camera and show me your Star Wars Potato Head and your Transformer Potato Head." Ben quickly corrected me and said, "It's Darth Tater and Optimash Prime!" Oh, my bad...

In other news...Ben and I started Weight Watchers this week and this morning was our first weigh in. The results are as follows:

Ben lost 6.5 lbs

&

Melissa lost 7 lbs

YAY for us!!!

We're potty trained! (I think)

I have been trying and sweating and praying and pleading and bribing Charis to go to the bathroom in the toilet for almost 6 months now. On Thursday it finally kicked in. She started going potty on the potty. I gathered a basket of incentives and put undies on her and not one accident since Thursday! (Except a little one tonight but we had friends over and things were a little crazy.) She is a pottying pro! I'm so proud of her. Now every time she goes she says, "Can I have my foy now?" ('Foy' is her way of saying toy.) Here is Charis sitting on her little potty with her basket. (I think this is the same potty that her Uncle Marc was potty trained on...cute huh?)

Sister love...(Sorry I couldn't choose just one...so you get them all)

Oh Boy!

We had some friends from church over for dinner tonight and we had such a great time. The kids really enjoyed themselves in the pool and playing on the swingset in the backyard. Charis and Isaiah really do get along quite well (other then a few selfish moments...on Charis' part). Eric and Sarah are a really neat couple that love the Lord and each other very much. Their little one, Nathan, is just too cute! Eric mentioned that we could discuss the weddings right now for all four kids. (We have 2 girls and they have 2 boys.) He even said he thought it was great because we (Ben & I) would pay for the whole thing! HA!! I didn't happen to mention that both girls have already been spoken for a few times (Mama Duhm and The Steinmeyer Family) but we can work around that when the time comes.

Isaiah lost one of his shoes in their car on the way over. (If you don't understand how that could happen then you must not have children.) So he borrowed some of Charis' filp flops for playing outside.

Yes, you may have noticed that everything in our house is pink...yes, everything.

Awwww....

Charis- "I love my mommy's kisses! I love my mommy's kisses more then bubble gum or lipstick!"

Yet again...

A new link!!!

The Four Martins have been added to our links...check them out! (They're some new friends here in AZ.)

Charis- Always thinking

"I want to be Mickey Mouse. I want Mickey Mouse ears and red pants and no shirt!"

Who in the world?

I always have fun trying to figure out who is looking at the blog. When I look at the 'Site Meter' I can see the location of the person but I don't always know who it is. I can figure some of them out like Australia...that's Happy Chatter, and South Africa...that's The Archery, and Massachusetts...that's my aunt (Hi!). But there are others that I don't know...so you know who you are but can I know who you are? (I'll write my guesses down)

Bellville, WA...Hitzeroth?
Bothell, WA
Lynwood, CA
Lakewood, WA...HobbsandBean?
Pico Rivera, CA
New Castle, CO...Phil & Megan
Whittier, CA
Sacramento, CA
Fullerton, CA
Wichita, KS...Hershpinkmeow?
St. Louis, MO
Newhall, CA (TMC)

That's all I could figure out for now. Help me out!!!

WARNING!!!! Mommy talk...

Charis pooped in the potty 2 times today!

(That is a very big deal for us since she is almost 3 and still says to me..."I want to wear a diaper! I don't want to wear underwear!")

There are no words...

Deidre & Jesse

May 2007

A few random things...

Now I understand why doctors are so adamant about putting babies to sleep in their backs. Emma can now successfully roll over from her belly to back but is quite unable to go from her back to belly. So as she is falling asleep she tends to roll over in her fits of, "I can't believe my mommy is not holding me!" Then she gets stuck which makes her scream even more. She has this bewildered look on her face like, "Ahhh, I'm on my back!" She's like a little turtle that gets stuck. It's kind of funny!
----------
In other news...Emma ate peas and carrots for the first time this week (not together). She loved them! The doctor encouraged me to start Emma on food since she will be going off her Prilosec sometime this month. (I'm very nervous.)
----------
Today I was cleaning off the dining room table and Charis is flitting around my legs. This is what the conversation went like:

Charis- "What are you doing?"
Mommy- "I'm cleaning the table."
C- "Why?"
M- "It's dirty."
C- "Why?"
M- "Because we ate lunch here so there's crumbs and sticky applesauce all over."
C- "Why?"
M- "Because you ate here."
C- "Why?"
M- "I can't make you eat on the floor now can I?"
C- "What are you doing?"
M- "I'm cleaning the table."
C- "I think you missed a spot."
M- "Why don't you go find a book to look at."

Keeping cool!

Today we went over to our pastor's house and had a pool play date with his wife, Kim and their 3 kids. Another mom and her 2 kids joined us. It got up to a steamy 107 today so we were so thankful to have the opportunity to cool off in the pool!

Emma did great for her first time in a big pool. She endured the water for about 20 minutes then screamed to get out. So out we got and that was when I was able to get some pictures.

Charis had a blast! She swam with her floaties on and couldn't get enough of the water. Mrs. Maxwell helped Charis swim and kept a close eye on her just in case.

This was a very cool water toy that the kids loved playing in. Of course there was an adult in there at all times! It was hard to get a really good picture because it was constantly moving and all the moms were trying to get out of the picture, so this is the best I've got.

New Link

Check it out...I've added a new link...Adeline Mae!

Ben- "So Charis, what do you think we should eat for dinner tonight?"
Charis- "Manna!"

Poll

How many of you have gone to put your sweet little baby to bed only to find a toilet seat in her crib...that's right...a toilet seat?

"CHARIS!"

This clock ------> makes me anxious...I feel like I'm wasting time, like there aren't enough hours in my day...more hours in my day, I think there's a book by that title out there somewhere.

Things I learned from cleaning the bathrooms today

1. Always clean the mirror...if you don't have a clean mirror then you shouldn't bother cleaning the bathroom.
2. 24 hour old spilled infant tylenol does stain the counter top.
3. Scrub, scrub, scrub and if that doesn't work, scrub some more...that toothpaste is bound to come off.
and finally...
4. Don't clean the toilet with your mouth open, no matter how stuffy your nose is.

5 things I've learned from my mother & father

Mom:
1. Make your bed...your bed takes up 80% of your room, if you make your bed then you only have 20% more to do.
2. Don't say, "I'm not trying to." Rather, try not to.
3. Eat bran at least once a day.
4. If the barn don't need paintin' give it a good shellac anyway.
5. When in doubt...pray.

Dad:
1. If you feel overwhelmed start with the first thing.
2. The faster you drive...the safer you must be.
3. Crying just means you've got something in your eye. It must be an allergy!
4. The Yankees have no competition, they just sometimes let others win.
5. Sometimes sacrifices must be made...carbs are one of those sacrifices.

Dumb Chills

I just saw this ad in a local magazine and I had to share it with you:

Chandler Coalition for Civil and Human Rights, Inc. Presents:

10th Annual

Cinco de Mayo Celebration

& Chihuahua Races

Noon-8pm

Downtown Library

Courtyard

Music

Food

Dancing

Crowning of the King & Queen Chihuahua

As Heather would say...that gives me dumb chills!

Emma's sick!

Emma has been fighting this cold for almost a week now and she seems to be losing the battle! Ben took her into Urgent Care on Wednesday night and the Dr. said...it's just a cold. But then on Thursday she had her "well-baby" check up. (yeah right) She got four shots! Poor baby! Thankfully Charis didn't cry this time and Emma only cried a little. But last night she was running a fever and pretty miserable so I laid down with her to help her sleep. By holding her in my arms (the same way I did was she had really bad reflux) she was able to breathe a little better and get some rest. So I held her from 9:30pm until 6:30am this morning (yes, I did have to go potty REALLY bad). The funny thing was that when we woke up this morning Charis was asleep on the floor next to our bed. I don't know when she came but she was sound asleep on the floor. She eventually woke up when we started moving around and then joined me in bed with Emma. (Tell me why we bothered to buy a three bedroom...we could have saved a lot of money and bought a one bedroom...one really big bedroom!)

So today we're taking it easy...staying at home and letting Emma rest. Charis has been begging me for I don't know how long to wear make-up. So I thought today was as good a day as any. She dressed up and put makeup and high heels on. (The high heels are not unusual...we just have one rule...no heels on the stairs!)