Joel's First Haircut

Joel had his first haircut today! We go to a great barbershop nearby. They have toys on the side to play with if we have to wait and a tv with cartoons to distract during the haircut. The owner knows us and recognizes the boys when we come in. She was even careful to save some of Joel's hair for me. Best of all their prices are great.

We also planted Micah's vegetable garden this weekend. Tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, salad mix, onions, and peas were on the menu. We also planted strawberries in the backyard.

Jars Of Clay- Dead Man Carry Me

I have always thought this song sounded just like the OK GO song, Million Ways (posted below). What do you think?

Ok Go -Million Ways

From the guys who did the treadmill dance--this was their first video. I love the fact that they turn on the camera themselves. Try to catch the Matrix reference.

We're Back!

We just returned this week from spending 2 weeks in Hawaii! It was a great time with fun times had by all. We spent 10 days on Maui, then the boys and I went to Oahu for 4 days to visit Jodi and HER boys. =)



Highlights from the trip:

• The first day was spent in the ER because I suffered from severe dehydration. NOT fun, I would not recommend that for anyone. More on this later.


• snorkeling at Molokini, a crater off the coast of Maui and swimming with giant sea turtles


• Warren and Annabelles magic/comedy show in Lahaina


• Drive to Hana


• Swimming at "Big Beach" in Makena and Micah getting stung by bees 3 times!


• Relaxing and playing with Jodi's kids; Micah saying "I will miss Josh".


• Taking the kids on the Pineapple Express train.


• When the kids woke at 4:30 (b/c of the time change) having Grandma and Grandpa there who were already awake!!
• I got to get a Dole Whip TWICE! I love this pineapple soft-serve ice cream. The only place I've found it is in Hawaii and at the Tiki Room at Disneyland.
• Haleakala crater. At 10,000 feet, it looks like the moon up there! Its one of the steepest drives in the US going from sea level to 10,000 feet in just 2 hours.
• Dinner by ourselves (sans kids) at the beachfront restaurant, I'O in Lahaina. It was delicious food. Thai Curry Asparagus Soup---yum!
• I was so impressed with myself that I drove us from the airport to Jodi's house from memory with no wrong turns!

Here are a few pictures from Oahu. The Maui picts are on the other computer. I've done all the toursity things, so we just hung out and did mom things like take the kids on the train, McD's playland, and the park. Its so great to have a friend you haven't seen in a year and it feels like you live next door. Love you Jodi! I'm so bummed that I didn't get any picts of Daniel!! Head over here to see some cute ones.

Can you believe that Josh took this picture of us? He is quite talented!!

WOW!

If you know Daphne, you need to go here and find out the SHOCK of their lives! My jaw hit the floor!

Question of the Day

Today is a wonderful day. Why? Because today marked the official end of March Madness. WOOO HOOO! (ducking right now for pillows being thrown at me from a certain somebody) Every March my favorite shows are pre-empted or moved around for College Basketball. Basketball is a sport we have never learned to watch around here. Although Micah says he likes it. He is tall for his age....

On to the topic at hand. There is a new and much anticipated episode of The Office airing this Thursday. I thought I would throw this out there:

What is your favorite episode of The Office and why? If you mention an episode from Season 3, do Susan a favor and type SPOILER at the top for her, so she knows to skip it.

Here is my favorite:
Hands down, it is The Injury. Watching Michael wallow in self-pity is just too funny. The scene in the van when Jim drives Dwight and Michael to the hospital was hilarious!

Radical Reformission

We are reading the Radical Reformission by Mark Driscoll in a small group. This week a paragraph resonated with me.

"Arguably most Christians and churches prefer the past to the present or the future, because the past is over, while the present and the future still require a lot of work. A naive romanticism in each of us desperately wants to believe there was a time after Genesis 2 when the world was a wonderful place to live, when things were better and easier than they are today. This powerful delusion enables us to excuse our laziness and failure to be about reformission because of the difficult days we live in." pg 50

Recently, this idea that things were so much better 50 years ago has become so tiresome to me. I guess its because there is nothing you can do about the past, and like the quote says, it distracts us from what God has called us to do for the present and future. We live in a fallen world and we always will until God redeems the land. How do you expect fallen people to act?

Another irritating idea out there is that, and I'm paraphrasing, "we shouldn't let the culture into church, be in the world but not of the world." Would you say this to Hudson Taylor when he went to evangelize to the Chinese? Most misisonaries will tell you that before you can be effective in reaching those for Christ, you need to learn the stories of the culture and then relate the gospel in terms they will understand. This idea applies today to our American culture. You need all three: church + gospel + culture, to be relevant.

Random links

If you haven't seen I am Facing Foreclosure, you need to check that out. Wow! Take a page out of his book for "What Not to Do, Ever!" Aaron doesn't believe me that this guy is for real, but he even has his own Wikipedia page.

Short story: Basically Casey Serin was making about $50K /year as a website designer. He decided that his true calling in life was to be a real estate mogul. So he fudged a bit (alot??) on some loan docs and bought 8 houses in 8 months with no money down, looking to fix and flip. Well, if you don't sell the house within 30 days, then guess what? The mortgage payments comes due. Now he is about $2-3 million in debt. Go here to read the full background. The funniest thing about this site are the comments. After all that has happened to him he still does not have a real job and continues to think he can "get into" real estate.

*****
We have recently checked out the Highlights (kid's magazine) website. Lots of games, stories and crafts. The best part so far are the interactive hidden pictures. They are addicting, even for me!

Now I know why...

Have you come to the point in your life when you realize why ... your mom made stir fry? I reached that point tonight. Don't know what's for dinner? Hmmm, lets see what I have in the fridge and toss it in the frying pan. What do you call it? Dinner!

(I think only Jodi and Richard will find this mildly amusing, but maybe Daphne too)

Glimpses

We had some friends over to play the other day, Josiah (age 5) and Luke (age 3 1/2). They also have 2 younger brothers which makes for a busy momma!

They dressed up as cowboys and ran around with the stick horses. I gave them sheriff badges which were left over from Micah's birthday party. Too cute! The had a good time together and I had a good time catching up with my friend.

When it was time to go home Josiah mentioned the he wanted a stick horse too. His mom said that he could save his money to get one. Micah ran to his room and got down his frog bank (it is NOT a piggy bank, don't try to call it one) and told me he was getting money for Josiah so he could buy a stick horse. How could I say no to that? He gave Josiah two nickels, one for him and his brother.

Micah's generosity reminded me of my mom because that is something she would do. If she heard of a need she would think of a way that she could help. And sometimes if Micah looks at me in just the right way I catch a glimpse of my mom; something I just noticed a few months ago.

Prayer Gratefully Accepted **UPDATE**

UPDATE:
I talked to Jodi this evening and they are all home from the hospital. No one really knows what is wrong, BUT there is nothing they can do for him at the hospital. His oxygen levels are at 100 and there is nothing wrong with his heart or lungs. They are under orders to just watch him. He continues to have labored breathing and an accelerated heart rate. Please pray for REST for the whole family and that Daniel's respiratory system would mature so the scary breathing noises would cease.
************************
Would you take a minute and pray for Jodi's new baby Daniel? I talked to her on Sunday when she told me that he was laboring to breathe and his heartbeat was elevated. The took him to the ER where they admitted him and ran all the usual tests which came back normal. They are still at the hospital and they haven't figured it out yet.

You can check her blog (link at the right) for more info.

In Wonder

Written by Ric Knott, Steve Taylor and Peter Furler

So much wonder carved in your coral seas
So much wonder shaded by ancient trees
I consider all that your hands have made
Every newborn’s eyes, every new sunrise
No power can tame your presence
No light can match your radiance

LET ALL CREATION SING IN WONDER
EVERY SEA, EVERY CREATURE, EVERY STAR
YOU OPENED UP MY EYES TO WONDER
WHAT A VISION, WHAT A WONDER YOU ARE

Such a wonder, ordering time and tide
Such a wonder, bridging the great divide
I consider all that you had, all you gave
And all that you endured from this rebel world
What a wondrous cross you chose to bear
What a wonder you would even care

LET EVERY ROCK CRY OUT
LET EVERY KNEE BOW DOWN
YOU OPENED UP MY HEART TO WONDER
WHAT LOVE, WHAT A WONDER YOU ARE

No power can tame your presence
No light can match your radiance
Such a wonder... Such a wonder...

LET EVERY ROCK CRY OUT
LET EVERY KNEE BOW DOWN
YOU OPENED UP MY HEART TO WONDER
WHAT LOVE, WHAT A WONDER YOU ARE

Weowna Park

We have a beautiful old growth forest with trails that is a city park and is just outside our neighborhood. Not in the sense of a park with a playground, more like a national forest, but smaller and the city maintains the trails. There is a waterfall there too. When we first moved here, I was so impressed that we lived down the street from a waterfall. Last summer while doing training for the 3-Day walk, I learned that it was not a "real" waterfall, but a man-made waterfall. I was crest-fallen. The City of Bellevue even won an award from the American Society of Civil Engineers for the waterfall. Instead of paving over the ditch and making an ugly, normal drainage ditch, they made it into a stream with a waterfall. It looks very real!

Try saying Weowna Park out loud to yourself. Once I was telling a friend about the park down the street from us. She had this strange look on her face. Then she said, you own your own park?

Yesterday the boys and I went on a walk to the waterfall. I took pepper spray with me, just in case. Micah saw me get it out and wanted to know what it was and what it was for. I explained that it was called pepper spray and that it was in case any bad men came along. On the walk down there, Micah says "I think all the bad men are sleeping", because he was expecting to use the pepper spray since we were taking it along. We walked along the trail in the woods and an older man came running by us. Micah saw him and was scared. "Mama! Where is the pepper spray?" I was very embarassed until I heard the man laugh. At least he has a sense of humor!

Book meme

Hardback or trade paperback or mass market paperback? I don't think I care too much

Amazon or brick and mortar? Brick and Mortar... when I have time to get there.

Barnes & Noble or Borders? I would have to say library. I guess B&N (ducking from Jodi) since I don't know where Borders is here.

Bookmark or dogear? Depends on what you define as bookmark. I use random pieces of paper lying around.

Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random? Okay, anyone that knows me at all would know the answer to this question. RAndom!

Keep, throw away, or sell? I keep it if it is written by Jane Austen. Most books I get from the library. I would never throw a book away, however. I would give it away.

Keep dustjacket or toss it? Toss it. Definitely. Especially for kids books

Read with dustjacket or remove it? I would read with it until it gets lost or torn. It makes a good bookmark! Then throw away.

Short story or novel? Novel. Short Stories are too short for me. I always want more detail. =)

Collection (short stories by same author) or anthology (short stories by different authors)? see above.

Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket? I'm proud to say i've never read a Harry Potter book. (gasp!) (Now I'm ducking from Julie) I've actually never read Lemony Snicket either. Not interested. Is that kind of like saying you've never seen Star Wars ?

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks? tired.

“It was a dark and stormy night” or “Once upon a time”? Once upon a time. I used to like mysteries but haven't read any in awhile.

Buy or Borrow? Borrow, see above comments about library.

New or used? Used, whenever possible. Preferably from the library.

Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation or browse? recommendation

Tidy ending or cliffhanger? Tidy ending. Cliffhanger if it is a series.
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Morning reading, afternoon reading or nighttime reading?Afternoon and Nighttime. I try to read the Bible in the morning but usually by the time I'm awake enough my kids are awake.

Stand-alone or series? I think series because I don't like a good book to end. I tend to read one book from an author I like then reading everything that author has written.

Favorite series? Chronicles of Narnia

Favorite children's book? Goodnight Moon-I remember reading this before bed when I was a child. Miss Nelson is Missing--this is a hoot! I love you Forever--always makes me cry. Dr. Seuss, because I remember learning to read with Green Eggs and Ham. Micah loves Dr. Seuss now.

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard? hmmmm...

Favorite books read last year? The Radical Reformission by Mark Driscoll, one of the few non-fiction books that I have read. I highly recommend it. A Grief Observed by CS Lewis was also a good one.

Favorite books of all time? Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe

Least favorite book you finished last year? If I don't like it I don't finish it, or really start it. I can't remember any that I didn't like.

What are you reading right now? Maui Revealed. We're going to Maui next month, woo hoo! If you ever go to the islands, I would highly recommend this series. They have some sights in their books that even the locals didn't know about. Their candor about different things have led to their books being pulled from shelves at some island bookstores. The author throws in humor, local legend and history which makes it very interesting to read.

Movie adapted from a book that you enjoyed more than the book? I'd have to say the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I don't know how many times I've tried to read them. So many. I could never get into it at all. I loved the movies, however.

Consider yourself tagged!

We have a winner!

So Daphne was correct and she is now crowned Queen of the Blog for today. Aren't you honored?

Our state does not have state income tax. yay!
But since Aaron earned $63 for "being" on The Office, (for standing around a convention hall and taking picts with John Krasinski), we had to pay $1 in state income tax to California. It cost $1.10 to mail the paper work in!

Cookie Anyone?

Remember this? Well it has come back to haunt us. I'll give a cookie for the first person to guess how. Well, not really, but you'll get praises and lauds and be crowned "King of the blog" for today.

I'll give you a hint. It involves a dollar.

Here's another hint:

Maybe "haunt" is too strong of a word. A better description is "annoyance". Its not really a big deal, just wanted to see if anyone could figure it out.

Happy Birthday!!

And another round of congratulations goes to Jodi!

Happy Birthday!

I hope that you find rest soon from your little baby birthday present. I wish I was there to hold and rock him for you!

Another 2boysmama!

Congratulations to Jodi and Jay, proud parents of a new little boy!!



Can't wait to meet him!

Chinese Broccoli Slaw

I couldn't resist posting this recipe because EVERYONE in our family inhaled it. Joel (1 year old) had 2nd and 3rd helpings. I couldn't believe how big of a hit it was. It called for chopped cabbage (coleslaw), but I substitued a premixed bag of broccoli slaw. This is a great way to get those green veggies in!

1/2 T soy sauce
2 t fresh ginger, grated (or you can use the powdered ginger)
1 1/2 T rice wine vinegar
1 t chopped garlic
2 t sesame oil
2 t lime juice
2 T mayonnaise

Mix all the ingredients well. Toss together with :

10 oz bag of broccoli slaw or shredded cabbage or coleslaw mix
2 green onions, chopped

Cover and refrigerate (30min-1 hour) to let flavors meld.
Optional: before serving toss in some toasted almonds.

(source: Saving Dinner)

At Bedtime

"Do you want me to rub it in (my goodnight kiss) so I can keep it in my heart and then I will remember you love me?"