Stairs vs. Elevator

The other day we were at Isaiah's school for his preschool awards ceremony. We had the option of taking the stairs or the elevator. I was trying to convince him to take the stairs because that way was actually shorter and more direct. He responded with, "Mom, let's just take the elevator. Stairs are ruthless." I laughed so hard, I couldn't argue!

Graduation Day

Today was Eden's graduation. I pulled my hood out of the closet, and both boys wanted to wear it. They looked too cute.
The upper school band played several songs as a prelude to graduation. The kids played very well, and it was a great end to our school year. The keynote speaker was Dan Sepulveda, punter for the Pittsburgh Steelers. I had no idea he is such a solid Christian guy! He stuck around to sign autographs and get pictures afterward.

One of my students, Dan Sepulveda, and me

So congrats to Eden's class of 2009 - Oh the places you'll go!

What we've been up to...

On Tuesday, Isaiah's class had their preschool awards chapel. His teacher said so many nice things about him, and gave him the "pure in heart" award. It was so sweet to see how much the teacher really loves each student. The boys digging into their delicious grilled corn on the cob. Isaiah trying his bike. My two little helpers putting water bottles in the refrigerator.

Wildwood with the boys

On Sunday Dan and I took the boys to the indoor kiddie play area at Wildwood Highlands. They both loved the ball pit. Sam kept saying, "A ball, a ball, a ball" the whole time, because ball is one of the few words he can say. =)

Wedding in Lancaster

On Friday Dan and I headed out to Lancaster for the wedding of a younger sister of a close friend of mine. We stayed at the Tea Kettle Inn Bed & Breakfast. This was my view as I ate my breakfast of fresh fruit, lemon poppysead bread, and orange walnut waffles. This picture doesn't show it, but through the window I could see a lovely little fountain, and our hosts were playing relaxing George Winston piano music in the background. Just wonderful. On Saturday morning we had some time before the 2:00 wedding, so we walked around historic downtown Lititz, PA. The picture below is of a chocolate castle complete with Rapunzel at Wilbur's Chocolate Factory. I was expecting an assembly line room like on I Love Lucy (remember the chocolate episode where Lucy can't package the chocolate quickly enough, so she starts eating it and shoving it in her hat? Hilarious!) But the ladies stirring vats of chocolate in the background were as close as we got to anything like that. At a park in Lititz. My friend's two kids were the flower girl and ring bearer. They were so tired! They fell asleep right on their daddy!

Me with my friend, Charity. She's due with her third child on June 1. Everyone's prayers were answered, and the baby didn't make his or her debut before the wedding!
Carl, his wife Elizabeth, Crystal, Justin, Nate, and Charity Carl, Elizabeth, Carl Jr. (bride's dad), Glenda (bride's mom), Crystal, Justin, Nate and Charity and family

Between the wedding and reception we had some time to walk around historic downtown Lancaster.

The reception was in a beautiful Elk's Lodge in Lancaster. We assumed we'd sit at table 23 with the bridal party rejects (spouses, etc.). But we were shocked and honored to sit at the same table with the bride's parents and family! I've thought of these guys as family since we spent many weeks at summer family camp together. Their cabin was definitely the popular hang out and I practically lived there during camp. So we had a great time catching up on everyone's lives.

~

Sisters! (I just loved Crystal's halter-style wedding dress) Crystal and Justin - The table centerpieces were these unique glasses filled with dyed liquid. The candles in the center actually floated up as they burned. Very pretty and different!

Some pictures of the boys

Isaiah in the baby carrier

We had the baby carrier out for my neice Karis when she was here to visit last weekend. Somehow Isaiah thought it would be fun to strap himself into it. So like a good mom, instead of helping him out right away, I got it on video.

Frustration

Isaiah and Samuel both have ear infections. Isaiah's are much worse than Sam's. Isaiah's attitude is questionable on a good day. When he is sick he is just a beast... constant thumb sucking, whining, and refusing to obey anyone. No discipline method works, and everyone ends up frustrated.

Isaiah has been on an antibiotic since Monday, which makes me think that by now he would have some relief. So then I wonder if his attitude is just horrible. It makes me question my ability to parent my boys. It makes me wonder if I am teaching them anything useful. I want to teach them how to be considerate and kind to other people. I want to teach them to think of others before themselves. I realize my expectations are too high (like usual), and that they are only eighteen months and almost four.

It's just been a frustrating day, and I'm so looking forward to getting away with Dan to Lancaster tomorrow!

Jon and Lacy's Wedding

We had a great time at my cousin Jonathan's wedding today. Here are a few thoughts and a few pics:

• My kids need to get out more. They were so excited to stay in a hotel room last night that they didn't know what to do with themselves. They were amazed at the little fridge and the lights that came out from the wall. Sam was so excited he climbed up on the couch and stood on its arm. Little 18 month old monkey.
• The wedding was beautiful! Their colors were white and blue. I decided that royal blue is is flattering on most people. The wedding went off without any problems, as far as I know.
• I really like playing for weddings.
• A Christian marriage is a sacred thing.

Sam and my Aunt Janet (mother of the groom) Sam and my dad Jon and Lacy cutting their cake. They fed it to each other very nicely. Way to love each other! Me with Grandma

Three sexy ladies - We tried to convince my mom to go catch the garter with the single ladies, but she blatantly refused. Isaiah was NOT cooperating. It was a long day for the boys and they were exhausted. Had to have a picture of me with my honey. Sisters Katherine and me with Dad

Cousins! Katherine and me with the Groom

Things you should hide when company comes over

For all you moms out there... I came across this this morning and was laughing out loud, so I thought I would share.

by Linda Vujnov

• 101 recipes for a can of soup and a stick of butter
• Dog hair sculpture created by your children
• Parenting for Dummies and The Idiot's Guide to Parenting
• The pacifier your six-year-old still uses
• Sears Photo Studio 8 X 10 of yourself and your pet guinea pig from the early 90’s
• Pile of wet laundry that reeks of mildew from sitting for five days (maybe just run it through the washer again)
• The math homework you helped your sixth grader do that has a “D” clearly marked in red
• 14 cans of Spaghetti O’s marked “Dinner Monday, Dinner Tuesday, Dinner Wednesday ...”
• Residual goo in the microwave from a tomato soup explosion
• Stained throw rug you use to cover your stained carpeting (on second thought, maybe you should just leave it there)
• Dark circles under your eyes from falling asleep in your daughter’s toddler bed after she took over yours
• Treadmill that is currently a clothesline for your unmentionables
• Traffic violation you received for talking on phone while sipping hot coffee, applying blush and yelling at your kids
• The brown Christmas tree still sitting in your side yard
• Maternity shirt you still wear to the gym because it’s comfy The block of cheese in your refrigerator with holes where you dug out the mold
• The empty box of hair dye in the bathroom trashcan - that’s your secret
• Postcard from your dentist which states “We miss you! Five years is just too long.”
  
  Linda lives in Orange County, CA with her four children, husband, and dog. Her humorous book for moms, Spilt Milk, is now available at www.Zondervan.com and www.Amazon.com. Please visit her website at www.lindavujnov.com.

Underwear

I was about to post about something deep, but it just wasn't coming out right. Basically I felt that God gave me an extra measure of grace to deal with a difficult person the other day, and I was really grateful for that. But I didn't know what else to say about it. This is a person that all you local people know... who talks a lot... and has some other problems... but somehow God gave me the grace to sit down and talk to her for about an hour. And I wasn't even frustrated or annoyed. But that post wasn't coming out right.

So instead I'll write about underwear. It's amazing how important underwear is to a three-year-old. We bought Isaiah some new underwear the other day because he just didn't have enough pairs to get him through the week. It was a Disney character combo pack. There are Wall-E underwear, the Incredibles, etc. The funny thing is that now Isaiah wants to wear a certain pair of underwear. He's not ok with picking just any pair out of his drawer. So this has not exactly helped the laundry situation! If it was up to him, the would all be clean every day. Unfortunately, this is just not possible.

The other thing that cracks me up is that Isaiah feels the need to tell people about his underwear and show them (occasionally). He just gets very excited about it and is completely uninhibited about talking about it.

So we get some good laughs out of Isaiah's underwear adventures.

An unrelated side note... I learned today not to leave Sam unattended with mashed sweet potatoes. We were finishing up lunch when I checked Facebook to see if my one friend's wife had a baby yet (she did). But while I was away from the table, Sam smeared mashed sweet potatoes all over the table and his clothes including in between his overalls and his shirt. So Sam went straight to the bath after lunch.

Sam's first bubble bath

Isaiah slept over at Vern and Lorrie's on Sunday night. Since we just had Sam, when it was bath time we decided to give him a bubble bath. His reaction was mixed because he wasn't feeling that great. (He just had a runny nose and slight cough.) He kept trying to eat the bubbles and didn't like how they tasted. He also got freaked out when the bubbles covered his hands. He loved covering the toys with bubbles and washing them off. Anyway, here are some pictures.

My first mani/pedi

For Christmas my brother-in-law and sister-in-law gave me a gift certificate for a manicure and pedicure at Nails by Diane in Evans City. I finally got around to using it yesterday. When Saturday morning rolled around, I wondered what possessed me to make an appointment for 8:30 on Saturday morning, but Dan made me some coffee, and I headed out. I was a little worried about the pedicure because my feet are kind of ticklish and I am kind of uncomfortable having strangers touch me.

But I got there, met the Thai couple that runs it, and chose my color: red. Then I sat down and put my feet in this wonderful jacuzzi bath with some sort of sea salt in it. She rubbed an exfoliating gel all over my feet and buffed them smooth. My eyes bugged out a little when she pulled out some metal tools like you'd see in a dentist office. They were in a sterilized bag, so that made me feel a little better. And the cuticule treatment and nail filing, etc really wasn't too painful.

The manicure went by pretty quickly. I feel silly even getting a manicure because I keep my nails so short. But I play piano nearly every day and just can't have long nails.

It was a very relaxing start to my Saturday, and I think I'll go back. =)

Mother's Day Tea

The tables looked so cute. This was my place. Isaiah decorated the bag that was filled with chocolate. Yum!

This was Isaiah's seat. They used the kids' fingerprints to decorate the flower pot. Inside two muffin liners was a picture of Isaiah. There was also some potting soil and flower seeds. Cute idea. Isaiah did NOT want to get his picture taken! Finally, a decent one (although I have an exasperated smile...)

They put together a class video, where the teacher asked them some questions. The first one was, "What makes your mommy special?" Most of the kids' answers related to their mom's cooking for them, playing with them, or something like that.

Teacher: What makes your mommy special?

Isaiah: God.

Teacher: God made Mommy special? Yeah. You're right.

Teacher: If you could give your mommy anything you wanted to, what would you give Mommy for Mother's Day?

Isaiah: Ooh. I know. A stuffed animal bear.

Teacher: Would she love that?

Isaiah: Yeah. She already has one from Daddy.

We had a fun time, and it's very sweet that he actually wants to have me at school with him. =)

Morning at the zoo

Today I took the boys to the zoo. I was a little concerned about the chance of rain in the forecast, but we so desperately needed to do something fun that I was willing to take the chance. The weather turned out to be beautiful, and not too many people were there. Couldn't have asked for a nicer day at the zoo.

We ate our snack with the gorillas - literally. We sat on the bench and ate grapes and cheese-nips and the gorilla was snacking on lettuce just a few feet away. The gorillas are one of my favorites because they seem so human. We also loved the baby orangutan and the two baby elephants.

By the polar bears they now have tiger sharks. That tank also has the tunnel underneath like the polar bears. Today there was a scuba diver following the sharks around. The kids in the tunnel seemed more enthralled with the diver than the sharks!

One funny story - At the lower sea lion viewing area, we were dangling our keys to get their attention. Isaiah just loved actually playing with the sea lions! But while we were down there, Isaiah was holding two cheese-nips and one grape. He showed me his hand and said, "Mommy, click on the one that's different." A man standing near us laughed out loud and said, "This is the computer age!"

Isaiah in the polar bear trap Sam was so happy I finally let him out of the stroller

Sam crawling out of the meerkat tunnels.

Being goofy

Isaiah dangling his keys, playing with the sea lion