Never thought I would do this...

I dreaded each and every time I had to do the mile run test in school.  Every year I barely passed.  Maybe some years I didn't pass.  I didn't really care.  I just tried to survive the dumb thing!  My lungs would never keep up, and I just dreaded any time I had to run. 

One year in middle school, my dear friend Rachel, who was a pretty good runner, blew her chance at getting a good time and ran with me so I would pass the test.  We ran the 1/4 mile track at the school, and she encouraged me all the way, setting marks to run to, and then we would take a walking break.  I felt like death at the end of that!  I don't even remember if I passed the required time or not, but what she did has always stuck with me. 

Today I did something I never thought I would do.  I ran a mile without stopping!  Granted, I was practically doing the old man shuffle on a "dreadmill," completing the mile in 11:54.  But I did it, and didn't feel like death at the end.  :)

Catching up...

Some highlights from the last few days...

• Last Friday we had a fabulous double date night with Dan's brother and his wife at The Melting Pot in Station Square.  They hadn't been there before, so it was fun helping them order and watching them try and enjoy the food.  Kid-free, quality time like that with them is rare. 
• Dan, the boys, and I enjoyed a performance of Charlotte's Web on Sunday.  Phil and Claire had given us tickets for Christmas, which we thought was a great idea.  We were walking into the play, and Sam was holding my hand when he said, "What if someone is already the spider?"  We had tried to explain what a play is, but he clearly didn't understand.  HE wanted to be the spider.  When I told him that someone already is the spider and we were just going to be watching, he stopped walking and tried to go back to the car.  When I scooped him up, he was crying.  Poor kid! He was so disappointed.  He got over it, though, and both boys enjoyed the show. 
• I had a great dentist appointment today.  For several months, I've had problems with painful and sensitive teeth.  Sensodyne toothpaste has helped immensely.  But lately, I've still had pain even with Sensodyne.  I finally made an appointment to get it all taken care of.  Since I am a new patient, I had to get full xrays, cleaning and exam before I could get the pain taken care of.  I was amazed that the xrays showed no major problems!  I only have root surface sensitivity.  I was really shocked.  I thought I was going to need a root canal or something serious (which equals expensive!).  So happy about that!  So they gave the sensitive areas a fluoride treatment that will last a few months.  I also got a prescription strength sensitivity toothpaste to help the problem.  Now I'll be able to eat sweets again!  Wait... maybe that's not a good thing.  Hahaha!
• My cousin's wife is in the hospital in labor RIGHT NOW!  After they lost baby Joshua during a miscarriage last year, and we are all so excited to welcome their baby, Rebecca, into our family!  All prenatal tests show that she has spina bifida and will need surgery shortly after birth.  We're praying for a healthy delivery and sucessful surgery.  We're hoping to get to meet her later in the week or next week.

• My Houghton College sweatshirt came in the mail today!!  It's a Christmas gift from my mom.  I originally got it for Christmas but decided to exchange the size.  So the right size finally came!!! Any day you get a new hoodie is a good day, let alone a sweatshirt that boldly proclaims the name of the greatest college ever.  :)

No more thumb!

Sam has been sucking his thumb since he was in the delivery room.  Actually, we have an ultrasound picture of him sucking his thumb. 

At his 4 year old check up last week, the doctor took both of Sam's hands in hers, looked him in the eye, and told him, "Sam, you need to stop putting your fingers in your mouth.  It's making your teeth come in wrong and making it hard for you to talk."  And just like that, he quit!  I put a band aid on his thumb for the first two nights.  But he quit cold turkey, just because the doctor told him to!  I guess he really was ready to quit.  I'm so proud of my little guy! 

In fact, for these pictures, it took a lot of convincing just for him to pose in his "sucking thumb" position. 

No more thumb!

I'm a sucker for infomercial products

Although I have never actually ordered a product from an infomercial, I am fascinated by many of them.  When you see something work on tv, it seems amazing!  You may have seen ads for pajama jeans.  They've been out for a few years now.  These jeans fit perfectly into one of my philosophies on life:  look decent and be confortable.  :) After all, their slogan is "Jeans you sleep in.  Pajamas you live in."  I've eyed them up at the 'as seen on tv' end cap at Giant Eagle for months now.  But the price never went down to what I considered acceptable. 

When I was working at the toy drive just before Christmas, I complimented a fellow volunteer on her dark wash, well-fitting jeans.  She whispered back, "They're pajama jeans."  She raved about how comfortable they are, and I was convinced. 

I needed to appease my dear husband who kept hounding asking me about what I wanted for Christmas, so I settled on the pajama jeans. 

Now that I've been wearing them for ten days, I have to say they are the jeans I've been waiting for.  They feel like soft inside like a comfy pair of sweat pants, but, when I tell people they are pajama jeans, they are surprised, thinking they were regular jeans.  They haven't shrunk a bit when I washed them.  I did have Dan get a size up from what the size chart on the package said I should have according to my pants size.  I'd rather have them on the looser side, and they fit just perfectly. 

Words

Words of affirmation make a world of difference at the end of the day.  I don't know about your house, but it seems that, on these long winter evenings, behavior and attitudes degenerate as the evening goes on.  By bedtime it's easy to focus on the rude thing this one said to that one, or the way this one rolled his eyes when I asked him to...

The other day, Groupon had a 50% off coupon for the i like book.  I checked it out and was intrigued.  I ordered one for each boy, and the books shipped quickly.  The book is put together as a quasi-scrapbook, with spaces for your pictures of your child, pages for your child to draw on, and pages for your child to share his/her thoughts/likes.  But mainly, the book leaves space for two people (mom and dad or whoever) to write something they like about the child each day of the year.  The way it's organized, you can start on any day of any month.  If you don't want to spend the money for the bound book, you could easily grab any notebook and go for it.  Just take a minute or two each day to write one thing you like about your child. 

We've added this to our nighttime routine, and the loving words have sparked many smiles at bed time.  Today, I wrote for Isaiah, "I like it when you make my bed for me when I'm in the shower."  For Sam, I wrote, "I like how you blow up a balloon like no other four year old."  It's kind of fun to write something specific about the day, rather than something general, like, "I like your hugs." Although there's nothing wrong with that.  :) 

There's also an i like book for couples, in case you want to spice things up with your honey.  :)

Looking back at 2011

I will remember 2011 as the year that:

• I forgot how to blog. :p
• We paid off our mortgage.  We got a 30 year, 50K loan in April 2004 and paid it off in October 2011.  God blessed us with a foreclosed, four bedroom house north of Pittsburgh where it's difficult to find a small three-bedroom for 100K.  The house needed some work when we first bought it (and we're not done fixing it up!), but with the help of family and church friends, we were able to move in two months after purchasing it. 
• I got serious about homeschooling.  We've been teaching the boys at home since birth, really.  I had been working with Isaiah informally for the past two years.  But starting in September, we have had school every weekday, starting at approximately the same time (give or take an hour... haha!), and cover all the major subjects.  I have realized that if you want to be confronted with every one of your flaws and shortcomings on a daily basis, then become a homeschooling mom.  I struggle with patience.  Plus, Isaiah's and my personalities are very similar, which makes us sometimes have a hard time working together.  However, we're improving as the school year goes along and finding our groove. 
• I read through the whole bible for the first time.  Thanks to bible reading schedules provided to our church by one of our church members, I was able to stay on track and finish on December 27.    Reading large quantities of scripture helped me understand the timeline of Israel's history more than I have before.  I feel now that bible reading is an essential part of my day.  Consistency and self-discipline are areas I stuggle with, so I'm thankful to God for leading me through the bible this year and helping me stick with it.