Saturday, January 31, 2009

jude 15 months (february 1)


uniquely jude
...

1. holds out his hands palms up when he wants you to hold him
2. likes frozen berries even though they make him pucker
3. can bark like a dog, growl like a lion, and moo like a cow
4. crawls still...
5. puckers up his lips and smacks kisses
6. touches his food and says "hot" before eating it (even the frozen berries)
7. loves cords, outlets, and switches
8. is obsessed with crawling into the bathroom and turning the bathtub faucet on
9. will sit on the couch and look at board books for 20 minutes! seriously!
10. starts dancing and bopping his head BEFORE turning on his musical toys

"look mom, i can crawl out of my chair and get the eggs off of your plate!"

Friday, January 30, 2009

the common sense question of the day

"Hey mom, is it alright if we paint flowers on the wall?"

Monday, January 26, 2009

books we have recently read or are currently reading

A Child's Garden of Verses
I love this illustrator. The poems in here are fun and whimsical. This book is on the Charlotte Mason reading list. Jeneva really enjoys poetry.


I am just starting this one and can't wait to get into it!

A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS

This is probably one of the best novels I have ever read. I couldn't put it down! Highly recommended.

Gladys Aylward: The Adventure of a Lifetime (Christian Heroes: Then & Now) (Christian Heroes, Then & Now)

We read these aloud to Jeneva. True story about the Adventures of Gladys Aylward: Lifetime missionary to China. Excellent!

Mary Slessor: Forward into Calabar (Christian Heroes: Then & Now)

Like the one listed above. Mary was a missionary in Africa. Hard to put down! Great for adults and kids.

Yummy Yucky (Leslie Patricelli board books)

Jude's FAVORITE!!! :)

This Momentary Marriage: A Parable of Permanence

One of Piper's new books. We've only just begun this one.

Samantha An American Girl Boxed Set

Jeneva received the Samantha set as a gift and is really enjoying them! (I'm enjoying them too:) I believe she will be entering the American Girl phase soon...



Good for a women's group study or personal growth.

The Well-Trained Mind.

I'm not planning to Homeschool.....but this book is very insightful and helps me to see some of the reasons people do. It has excellent ideas about how children learn.

The Calvary Road

Our latest small group book that we just finished. Powerful little book on repentance and revival.


Our most entertaining family book. LOVE IT. :)




I don't know anything about this book, but Steve has been reading it for awhile now and likes it.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

25 random things about me

1. I don't like the way my hands look when I'm wearing nail polish.

2. No to Cool Whip. Whipping Cream is better.

3. I really like my husbands bald head.

4. I don't like malls, but go there for the kids play gyms.

5. I prefer city over suburb. But city vs. country....it's a toss up.

6. I don't iron.

7. I don't like this culture always telling me to strive for more and bigger.

8. I get nervous when all the attention is on me (except when I'm teaching).

9. I loved teaching, but don't miss it one bit.

10. I procrastinate, but always end up getting it done on time.

11. I prefer to give unique/ homemade gifts or something from etsy.com (even though I don't always do this)

12. I hope to do short term mission trips with my family someday.

13. I have no desire to go to Disney World.

14. I drove a milk truck to my high school senior prom. That is how I learned to drive a stick shift.

15. I wish I were musical.

16. I don't wear heels.

17. I like order and organization, but don't always achieve it.

18. I enjoy garage sales and thrift stores.

19. I hate Trivial Pursuit. I love Dutch Blitz.

20. People used to call me Biff in high school and I also drove a really old Camaro.

21. People sometimes think I'm quiet. I am however, quite social.

22. I wish I could walk or bike everywhere I needed to go.

23. I was born with 6 fingers on one hand. I passed that gene to my son. (we have normal hands now)

24. I faint easily.

25. Whenever I get in my car, I automatically take out my cell phone. Bad bad habit.

Monday, January 19, 2009

i am a girl....of many styles

a little retro (the t-shirt), a little whimsical (the skirt), a little athletic (the tennis shoes), a little girlie (the flowered tights), a little gangsta (the bandana)


The t-shirt says "Washington Township" which is the name of the elementary school I attended back in the day. Previously worn by yours truly (either that or one of my brothers...not sure).

Friday, January 16, 2009

my daughter is so not like me!




Sometimes I feel like a bad mom because I hate playing in the snow. I remember playing in the snow as a child, and I think I liked it. I remember building big tunnels and forts with my brothers and cousins, but I don't think I liked playing in it for hours on end.

I want to be a playful mom who gets all fired up about going outside and playing, but I have to FORCE myself to do it and act like I'm excited about it....for her sake. I've been downhill skiing 3 times in my life (2x in Montana and 1x in Minnesota) and all I needed was about one hour of skiing (or in my case falling and getting bruises) and then just let me hang out in the lodge and drink some hot cocoa.

Jeneva is not like me. She begs to go outside and LOVES it. She was out for 2 hours the other day (it wasn't -30 that day....she's not THAT crazy.) These pictures were taken on the farm in Iowa (hence the tractor...you don't see many of those here in Minneapolis) and I think it was 0 outside with a brutal windchill. That didn't seem to bother her much. She has two winter coats which is good because one is always in the laundry. I'm glad she's an outdoors girl and I'm even more glad that Steve plays in the snow with her so I don't have to.

Because I dislike winter so much, one might wonder WHY I live in Minnesota. I don't HATE winter. I do like to watch it from my window. I like the white and I don't even mind driving in it. I also enjoy wearing boots and who can pass up a good excuse to sleep in?! I am, however, REALLY looking forward to spring.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

i refuse to talk about the weather today

I think the theory that only old folks talk about the weather is false. It's -22 degrees farenheit. Absurdity. Everyone in this part of the country is talking about it. WHY does anyone live here?

This morning when the weather was mentioned as being below zero, Jeneva thought it impossible. So we had a little math lesson on negative numbers.

If you ask me what the weather is like today, I will say (because I am *always* a glass-is-half-full type of person) that it is sunny and there is no wind. Lovely!

Didn't I just say I wasn't going to talk about the weather? I guess it means I'm getting old.

Monday, January 12, 2009

the great-grand kids

Roth (my mom's side) family Christmas and the GREAT grand-kids!

Saturday, January 10, 2009

danger baby

Mom's first heart attack: I'm at Steve's sister's house and I look over at the table and see Jude smiling and shaking his head with a very large knife sticking out of his mouth. It was the handle part of the knife that he was sucking on...but the blade was so long and sharp and.....scary!

Mom's second heart attack: Realizing that Jude is sucking on a container of Terro Ant Poisoning (adorned with a cross and skull picture on it's label of course) that was hidden underneath some furniture at a friend's house. The poison control center said that it is basically harmless for children. Whew!

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

i am alive

For those of you that bother to read this pithy little blog. Thank you. I've had a couple of people ask about my lack of posting over the past couple of months. I actually have a lot of things I want to post and some pictures too. My brain has been very blog-dead lately and I have barely thought about it.

It's been a whirlwind of activity around here. Nothing too earth-shattering or out-of-the-ordinary, just life. We actually just had some major computer problems and were have not had the internet in our home for a week! The result? I've gotten more housework done. Ha! I made a couple of trips to the library to check my e-mail, but that's about it.

Now I need to catch up on Facebook, others blogs, and doing a better job of keeping family and friends updated here. Life is settling in after the new year and I'm on day 7 of actually keeping my New Year's Resolutions. What are they you might ask? Maybe I'll post about it later. :)

The room where I am sitting now with my computer that's all nice and fixed and working smoothly is in major disarray. We are about to paint it, so it still may be a few days until I post anything besides this. Steve won't let me buy new paint for this room because we have so much paint left over from the other rooms....so alas, this room will be the same color as our bedroom. Ha! I'm totally okay with that. It's about being frugal this year.

Don't give up on me. I'll be back soon.