Archives for 2008

For all you moms of boys, I have a great website for you to check out. Actually, Tia loves these videos too. It’s called littlehardhats.com The videos are awesome!!! They are a little pricey on that website, but you can find them for half the price on Amazon. I think we may have all of them at this point. They are shorter, which is nice so the kids aren’t plastered to the TV for an hour and a half and they are so informative! We have Where the Garbage Goes, which shows you everything about how garbage is recycled and processed. Just beware, you’ll probably be convicted on how much we consume as a nation – it’s disgusting. Another favorite is Farm Country Ahead, which shows the kids how corn is grown, how bread and peanut butter are made and how milk is processed. Did you know that one cow poops an average of 150 pounds per day! That’s a lot of s*@#! There’s also some poor guy that has to get in a little Bobcat and scoop all that manure up and shovel it into a dump truck so it can be sprayed over the crops to help them grow. When we wathced it for the first time I commented that these videos are great advertisements for a college education. Now, every time Sloan watches the poor guy scooping up the poop, he says, “I don’t want to do that when I grow up. I better go to college!” That’s right my boy! Tia loves the airplane one called Cleared for Takeoff and they both love the fire fighter video. Seriously, these videos are fun. Check them out. They’d be great birthday presents. What kid wouldn’t like to sit and watch garbage trucks, tractors and fire trucks!

I don’t know why my stories of Tia always involve her doing gross things. No dainty little girls for us! So, while this isn’t nearly as disgusting as her chewing on Landon’s umbilical cord, it’s still pretty yuck (if you’ve not heard the story, click the link. Just don’t eat while you read). Yesterday it was a whopping 40 degrees out. Not warm enough for shorts and a t-shirt, of course, but still seemed balmy and pleasant after several days in the 20’s. Anyway, because it was so warm, all the ice is melting into a nasty, slushy mess. While I was busy getting Landon and other things out of the car, Tia went to splash around in the muck on the driveway. When I looked over at her, she was sitting in the garage, scraping the slush from the grooves of her shoes and eating it. Why on earth she felt the need to eat the ice off the bottm of her shoes and not just pick it up off the driveway is hard to say…

I went to Target today to buy a new swimsuit. Guess what I came home with? Two cases of SlimFast. *sigh*

Hey everyone,
A friend of ours just released a new CD and it’s awesome! His name is Jerod Starkey. Jerod and I sang together in college – go BRH!!! Jerod also sang in our wedding. He’s got an amazing voice and he’s a very gifted songwriter and musician. I highly recommend you click over to his website and purchase his CD.

If you guys get a chance, I wouls highly recommend you click over to my sister-in-law, Becke’s site and read her latest post. It will encourage you greatly and move you and hopefully spur you on to a deeper knowlege of God’s grace. I’ve always admired Becke’ for the way that she so deeply seeks to know and understand who God is. So many times when I talk with her on the phone she is on the internet researching some aspect of God or the Bible that she wants to know more about. While I find myself reading the latest celebrity gossip, she is seeking God’s face. Plus, Becke’ is just good fun to be around. It has been a really hard week for her and for her family, yet she has been gracious and strong, not on her own, but through the strength of the Lord upon whom she so faithfully leans. I am so honored that she is a part of my family and that I get to learn from her.

We went to the mall today and went to St. Louis Bread Company for lunch. While waiting for our food, an older gentleman walked by using a wooden cane. Sloan, in his highest decible voice, points and says, “Look, it’s Moses. It’s Moses from the Bible.” Sheesh. Poor guy.

We were iced in yesterday due to an ugly winter storm. Lee got up at 5:00 to leave for a breakfast meeting then catch a flight to Reno for four days. More on that later. The kids, naturally were up at 6:40 because why would they want to sleep in when they could wake mommy up and torment, er, love on her all day long! Anyway, by 10:00, we were all stir crazy. The kids had already plyed Ply-Doh for an hour, had a snack and watched a movie. Of course they picked the shortest movie we own, only 30 minutes and our rule is only one movie per day…most days anyway. So, what else to do? I must confess, I considered telling them it was noon anf feeding them and putting them down for naps, but I resisted. So, we built a fort. A stroke of genius on my part as that occupied them until lunch! And, Lee’s flight and trip got cancelled due to the ice and my desperate prayers so he came home at 3:00. Today it’s not so bad so we’re leaving the house and going to the mall because we’re stir crazy. Oh, and kudos to my friend Nicole for all she got done yesterday. While I had the opportunity to be just as productive, I was not because I was tired and felt like a slug. I did get the laundry done and folded but not yet put away because I hate doing that. Ah well….

I’ve been meaning to post about this for awhile but keep forgetting. Lee and I went to the best play last Sunday. Actually, I saw it a couple of weeks ago and liked it so much I took Lee back to see it with me and he loved it. It’s called Parenting 101: A Musical Guide to Raising Parents. For all you St. Louis people, you should really go see it. It’s at the Westport Playhouse, which is an awesome theater. It’s really small so there’s not a bad seat in the house. You can get tickets through MetroTix. Anyway, the play is made up of four actors, two guys and two girls and they sing songs about parenthood to the tunes of popular songs. Sample lyrics that I can remember:
(This is a girl singing about labor to the tune of Somewhere Over the Rainbow)
Oh God, when will the pain end?
Wish I were high.
Natural childbirth was clearly
Thought up by some dumb guy.

She later sings “It’s My Potty and I’ll Try if I want to” about potty training and “I Will Always Hate You,” as a bratty ten year old who is mad at her mother. They sing Stayin’ Alive as they attempt to teach a sixteen year old to drive a car and We will Rock you to a newborn that won’t stop crying. They cover every topic imaginable from puberty (a hilarious number) to the death of a pet (Another Pet Bites the Dust) to finding out Santa Clause isn’t real. The singing is awesome, the actors’ comedic timing is perfect and it’s all around a great show. I want to go see it a third time!
Here’s another link that actually lets you watch a little of it. You have to click on the watch vidoe button. It’s not the exact same show they do at Westport but it’s close.

I took Sloan to the dentist yesterday to have his teeth cleaned. He walked right into her office and hopped up in the chair, informing her that he didn’t like the spicy toothpaste so could they please give him something sweeter.
“Will bubble gum do?” she asked.
“Oh sure!” Sloan said. “Go on ahead.”
Looking at me with an amused smile she asked Sloan, “How old are you?”
“Well, I’m just four,” Sloan said with exasperation. “I’m still four. I’m four everyday!”
“Are you ready to be five?” she asked.
“No,” he said. “I just want to be six.”
Why are they alwasy in a rush to grow up?