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Thursday, April 26, 2007

The Haircut

I know, I never reported back on the brave new haircut. It went really well. I took in a photo of a haircut I liked (it was a lady in a cholesterol medicine ad..pretty silly, but cute hair) and my hair looks pretty close to the picture. It felt weird when she got done and had styled it (my hair always feels weird when someone else styles it), but I have received several compliments on it and it doesn't feel so weird now that I'm styling it. I'll try to remember to have Colin take a picture of me on a day when it's looking pretty decent and try to post it.

A Tough Day

Yesterday was a tough day (for that matter, today is starting out that way, too). The morning started okay, we rode into town with Colin so I could grocery shop and go start my allergy shots. It wasn't too bad, just a little shot and a 30 minute wait to make sure I didn't have a reaction. Next week I'll go three times (MWF).
I think the toughest thing about yesterday (and today) was Ian's behavior. We had a hard time, he lied to me yesterday and he stole some toys from his cousin. He did "confess" that he had taken the toys (if you can call saying 'ha! ha! I snuck these toys out in my pocket and you didn't know' confessing). I suppose I could have said something like 'that was wrong Ian, you need to give those back' or 'that was bad', but I chose to call it what it was and I told him 'you stole those from L. You stole from your best friend. God HATES stealing'.
We had a big conversation on stealing and why it was wrong and what the consequences would be. First, he had to face his cousin and confess that he had stolen the toys, return the toys and ask for forgiveness. Second, he had to confess his sin to God and ask for forgiveness. Third, he had to talk to Daddy about what he'd done and fourth, there were consequences: no TV for Thursday and no trains for Thursday. We did tell him that the consequences would have been even bigger if we had not found out about his sin from his own mouth. I also promised him that if he ever pulled something like this again that I would invite his cousin over and let him pick any toy that Ian had and let him keep it.
Hopefully, our first time offender will be a one time only offender.

Saturday, April 21, 2007

The Evils of Corn Syrup

We are watching out for corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup around our house. I had read that it was an appetite stimulate and then my mom read that our brain doesn't recognize it as food and so our bodies don't process it like food, so we're gradually eliminating it from what we eat. Of course, Ian has noticed this and has made a few comments about it. Tonight he made a couple of comments that we thought were funny. The first comment was made at dinner as Colin and I were discussing that we hadn't been drinking much pop lately and that pop is full of corn syrup. I reminded Colin that the juice "sodas" found in the organic section don't have corn syrup and Ian immediately latched on to this idea and told us "Ah ha! You've solved the mystery of the pop!"
The second comment occurred when we were cleaning out the fridge tonight because it was too crowded. I was trying to decide what to keep and what to get rid of when I came to some Bacon/onion chip dip. I read on it and saw that it had corn syrup, so I decided to toss it. Ian made the horrible face and said "My favorite dip has high fruit corn syrup in it! BAH!"
He definitely notices what is going on around here!

The First T-ball Practice

This morning was Ian's first t-ball practice. The team had their first practice Wednesday night at 5:30, but we couldn't make that one because of my work schedule and Awana. We were met with a certain lack of enthusiasm this morning when we announced it was time to get ready for t-ball. "No t-ball, no t-ball, no t-ball. Please, no t-ball!" That's what we heard plus some whining and crying. We had to help him get dressed and I think we were 7 or 8 minutes late even though the ball field is one minute from our house.
Of course, once we got there it was a whole other story. Ian had a good time. He started hustling a little bit when they asked the boys to run to a part of the field and then come back. The first time they asked the boys to do that, Ian was way behind. The second time he was a little bit behind, but when the boys who were in front turned around and headed back, Ian just turned around and headed back with them (even though he hadn't made it to the tree that they were all running to!)
Ian hit the ball off the tee a couple of times and practiced running the bases. He got to practice throwing the ball, too. By the time we got him in the van to go home, he had decided that he LOVED t-ball and he couldn't wait until next week.

Thursday, April 19, 2007

The Answer to the Trivia Question

Well, I just realized that I never shared the answer to my trivia question. The question was: What was Charlie Brown's father's occupation? The answer: A barber. I got that from one of Ian's Charlie Brown books. I never knew that before reading that book, did you?
Today I am going to be brave and go get my haircut. I'm going here in town to someone I've never seen before. Hopefully, it will go well. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Perspective

Well, I wrote my last post before I heard about the horrible shooting in Virginia. It certainly shed a different perspective on my day. Yes, my morning was not going smoothly, but across the country people were facing a horrible situation. My heart goes out to those families and the friends of the students and teachers that were killed. My prayer is that God will use this to create something good. That might sound weird, but that's what God does. He takes these horrible things in life that we can see nothing positive about and then He uses it and something good emerges. A community rallies together, a family reunites, a lost soul reaches out and isn't lost anymore.
I've seen it happen first hand. It's real. It's called a miracle. May God work a miracle in the lives of those who survived at Virginia Tech.

Monday, April 16, 2007

What a Monday

It's only 9:35 in the morning and already I know, it is one of those Mondays. I got to sleep in a little so that was good. I think it was the only good thing so far. I feel like Alexander from the children's book. I am having a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. I took my shower and went to blow dry my hair and the motor in my blow dryer blew up. I hate blow dryers going out. I thought I'd check my email and found that the Airedale rescue lady had forwarded a recall on my dog's food (not the same as that scary recall). I hate recalled dog food. So now I have a wet head and will eventually have some very funky hair, I have to go to buy a blow dryer and new dog food after work. What else will Monday bring??
Okay, that was good, I got it out. So now to switch gears from Alexander and to look at it from the positive side. I know God is in control of my day, so perhaps the blow dryer blew up so it wouldn't cause a fire in my house at a time when I might not notice it. My dog has been itching a lot and I was thinking it was time to switch her food, now I get to do that and probably won't cost me anything, or very little. That's better. Count your many blessings, name them one by one. Count your many blessings see what God has done!
Oh- a little side note: On Saturday Colin got his haircut at the place he's been going to with Ian, Ernie's. They think Ian is pretty neat. I hadn't been in there before. They're a husband and wife team who have a grown-up son named Ian. The wife was talking to me about Ian and telling me little things he had done and she told me they had been talking to Ian and it must have been when Colin and Ian were getting ready to leave, I think, they told Ian to have a good day and he told them 'Every day's a blessing.' I love to hear that coming from my child!

Thursday, April 12, 2007

The Visit

This week is spring break for Ian's cousin's, which means that I worked two full days this week instead of two half-days. Monday was a little grumpy. The boys had a hard time getting along. They did play "camping" in the living room and that helped them get along together. I told Ian's cousin L that we would go to his Aunt's house on Wednesday to visit while Ian's grandma was watching his aunt's kiddos. He responded by saying 'hooray! We get to go swimming." I found this highly amusing as, at the time, it was about 45 degrees outside.
Wednesday morning came and I announced to Ian that this was the day of the big visit and he said 'hooray! We get to go swimming." Which I found even more amusing as it was 41 degrees outside. We're going to visit, I told him, you'll have to wait for summer to go swimming in the pool.
They had a great time playing and riding horses. I had a great time after they all stopped playing sword fighting. Someone always gets banged up even though the swords are plastic- they still hurt!
Today I had an appointment with my allergist...trying to find a solution for what Colin kindly called "demon eyes". I must agree they were pretty hideous. Red, itchy, swollen, even the clear part of my eye was swollen and kind of sticking out...yech! Of course, they look somewhat better today because I had a Dr. appointment. I am now going to be getting allergy shots once a week for 5 months and then once a month. Oh boy. My enthusiasm is underwhelming. Hopefully, it will help.
Just for fun: Here's a little trivia question: What was Charlie Brown's father's occupation? I'll give the answer next time I blog!

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

The Rhetorical Question

The end of last week we had some beautiful weather, which is why I haven't blogged, I was enjoying the sunshine. Friday it was 72 degrees at our house. We went outside and Ian blew some bubbles, it was great! Saturday it was rainy, but we were cleaning and cooking for Easter, so it really didn't matter. Colin cleaned up our garage. We could almost park both vans in there now!
Sunday was Easter. Hooray! Jesus lives! We went to the 8:00 service...yes, really. Okay, those of you who know us well can pick yourselves up off the floor (I know you fainted from shock). There wasn't any childcare for Ian at the 8:00 service so he went into the service with us. His Grandma O found us and sat with us, so Ian was sitting in between his grandma and me. Ian did very well during the singing and pretty well during the service, with only a couple of minor exceptions. The pastor was starting the sermon and he said something to this effect: Today is Easter. The day we celebrate Jesus' resurrection. Jesus died and rose again for our sins. Do you know what that means?
As soon as the pastor asked that rhetorical question Ian decided to reply. He got as far as saying 'It means that..' before my hand went over his mouth to stop him. Grandma was having a silent giggle-fest at this, but most of the congregation failed to notice this. There was one other time, but it was an even smaller event, as I was watching for it.
After the service we had breakfast at church and headed home to work on our Easter lunch. Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Sean and cousin K came over for Easter and to help build Ian's outdoor play set. They worked on that for hours and while it's not finished, there isn't too much left to finish.
When got home last night Ian had to go play on his slide before we could go in. I have the feeling I know where a lot of my summer is going to be spent.

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

The Birthday

There has been much anticipation at our house over Ian's 6th birthday, most of it coming from Ian. For a month (at least) we've heard, 'Boy I can't til my birthday', 'Is it my birthday yet?' and 'my birthday is taking too long to get here!' Saturday night Ian was so excited for his birthday party the next day. He told me 'I can't wait for my party, because there'll be presents and I LOOVE presents!"
The big day arrived and I got up early to make Ian a special breakfast and so we could make it to church on time (the first part worked, being on time didn't). I made pancakes and turkey bacon (that was Ian's choice, he picked it over sausage or regular bacon) and orange juice.
We made it to church a little late, but in time to hear the lesson in Sunday school. After church, we picked up Ian's cake which he had already correctly guessed was a Thomas cake. It was pretty funny, when we went to the bakery in Safeway, Ian saw a cake that had a couple of toy cars on it and what sort of looked like a dirt track. He told me that he wanted that cake. I explained that I ordered a cake and I thought he might like the one I ordered better. Just wait and see, I told him. The girl at the counter brought out the cake which had a little Thomas "track" and a Thomas train to go on the track. When Ian saw it he said' OOOoo, THOMAS!' I asked him if he still wanted the other cake and he told me 'NO!'
We headed over to McDonald's after paying for the much loved Thomas cake. Once there, we got in the little birthday room. Boy if we could have bottled the energy and excitement Ian had at that moment, I think we could have used it to power our home for at least a year!
The kids arrived and a cute McDonald's worker came to help host our party. She took the kid's Happy Meal orders and then took us on a tour of their store. We had no idea it had a basement! The kids had a blast on the tour and then Ian got to stay behind in the kitchen to help take up the orders and he even got to carry all the fries for the kid's lunches. The kids all got to play on the big inside toy and just had a blast. It was a great birthday party!

Friday and Saturday

Friday was a busy day. I met up with Colin's mom at Home Depot to drop off Ian so he could spend the night with Grandma and Grandpa. We also priced backyard play equipment. We're planning on doing that for Ian's birthday. I'm sure Ian had no clue when we left Home Depot that he might be getting play equipment for his birthday (we were there for an hour looking at everything) ha ha ha.
After dropping off Ian, I ran some very important errands. I bought things for the birthday goodie bags for Ian's guests and then I did some personal shopping for the Easter Bunny. I think I'd like to sign up for the Easter Bunny to come visit me again- he's got some pretty cool stuff! I also ordered Ian's birthday cake- Thomas the Tank Engine, of course.
I finished my errands in time to go pick up Colin from work and head to dinner at the Mayan. We had a gift certificate that I won last June in a Salsa taste competition at Colin's work. I had yummy Mexican food, Colin had a cheese burger and fries. I'm still chuckling over the waitress' shock at his order. She did a small double take and asked in her cute accent if he was sure he wanted a cheese burger.
After dinner we went to our MOPS and POPS night and played Spoons and Hearts. We had a lot of fun.
Saturday morning we dragged ourselves out of bed and headed back to town to sign Ian up for swimming lessons. Sign-up started at 10:00 am, we got there at 9:40 and we still waited in a huge line! Next year we aim for 9:15 and bring a book! Finally, we finished the sign-up process. We went to a late breakfast and ran a few errands (yes, they were birthday related errands) and then headed down to pick up Ian's at his Grandma and Grandpa's. When we got there he was having a great time playing with the train set that Grandma has. We visited for a little while and then headed home. On the way home, Ian was telling us all about what he had done with Grandma and Grandpa. He told us that they'd gone to McDonald's for dinner and he'd gotten a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle for his toy, but the girl's toys were from the Lizard of Oz. "Lizard of Oz?" I questioned. "Do you mean the WIZARD of Oz?" I asked him. 'No', he said 'the LIZARD of Oz and after that comes Oz of LIZARDS!' Considering that it was McDonald's toys and you never know what they might come up with, I let it drop. I checked when we were at Ian's birthday party on Sunday, they had very cute Madame Alexander Wizard of Oz dolls! Silly boy!