Friday, September 29, 2006

Spinning Plus Some

Okay, so here's my quick update for my blog. A few things going on that don't require long posts, but deserve something. For whatever reason I sometimes feel that if I don't have a lot to write then I won't write at all, but not everyone wants to read a novel everytime they log on right?

So, first, I started what I hope is the beginning of a consistent workout routine today. It's early morning 5:15, but if I can stick with it I know it'll be worth it. I'm starting to try Spinning. Or cycling for those who don't know the term Spinning... well now you do I guess. I've heard great things about this class. It's low impact of course cause your on a stationary bike, but it includes all kinds of movements to get a full body work out and the best part is that you burn up to 600 calories in an hour. Not bad! Okay, but here's the worst part, the dang seat hurt my butt so bad I was about to die. The seats are like regular cycle seats... think Lance Armstrong, definitely not your cushey padded seat like a regular stationary bike. The instructor who knew I was a freshman spinner told me that my butt would hurt at first but I'd get used to it. I really hope so. I have to say that i saw some people in the class that were heavier than me and much less in shape than me, so if they can do it, surely I can. How bad am I to compare? I think I was just looking for some hope actually. If I sound like I'm down on the class, I'm not, I'm actually really pumped to give this a go.

The second thing is my most recent discovery with Andrew's potty training. I am encouraged cause he's doing so well, but there are some days when I just think, "What is the point?" Like today, I am finding that he occasionally seems to have accidents on purpose so that he can try a new pair of underwear. The incentive of cute underwear for kids is so they'll want to potty like big kids, but for my son, it's turning out to be, "Let's try every pair I own in one day-- they're so fun!"

The last thing that I can think of now is the best news of the week for sure, we just found out that Eric's brother Paul and his wife Beth are expecting their first child in May! Woo Hoo! How great is that? We really are so thrilled for them. I know for certain that they will be fabulous parents. They are so great with our kids. The only down side is that after their baby is born we have no more aunt and uncle all to ourselves. I think we'll be alright!

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

10 Years Gone

It's so hard to believe that 10 years have gone by since I graduated from high school. I can remember thinking way back then, "What if I don't get an invitation to my high school reunion?" I didn't really have a reason to think that I wouldn't. I knew almost everyone in my class and had quite literally grown up with many of them from the time we were in kindergarten. Well, I did get an invitation.

Last weekend we went back to IN to see how far (or not so far) everyone had come in 10 years. I had the most fun! I surprised myself with my social-ness. I guess, like most eveyone else, there is something about 10 years that just makes you release all the grudges and bitterness if you ever had it to begin with. I loved seeing my old classmates and sharing about my life. This was the true test, "are you proud of where you are in your life or not?" I was so proud to be there with my husband and to be able to share about my children and my career. It really felt good to be where I am and to share that.

There were a handful of people who I really hoped that I'd see and when I did I was so happy. My friends Shaun, Sean and Scott were all there. These are the guys that I felt the strongest friendships with (as guys go) in high school. What a thrill to see them all. It's so funny to be in such a different place in life, not worried about impressing anyone for the sake of anything too significant. Even funnier was being able to share the "feelings" that once existed for one or more of these guys without any hesitation. Crystal was so funny sharing her crush and then I didn't feel like I could let the night end without getting my crush out in the open. Thankfully, my crush on Sean, first, never amounted to anything and second, was much less significant than the friendship we shared.

These weren't the only people that I was happy to see. There were many others who I'd grown up with that I was so happy to see. Of course, Angie and I showed up in tandum with our husbands. When we walked in, Angie said, "I'm sure that people fully expected us to show up together. Nothing has changed." So funny! In high school Angie, Crystal and I were attached at the hip and you know we left together and went to hang out together afterward. I am so proud of these friendships though. God has been so good me. I would never change my friendships for anything.

Here's what I hope for the next 10 years: I hope that when I show up for our 20 year reuinon, I am again in tandum with my dearest friends and their husbands, that I am still as proud or more so of the life that God has blessed me with, that I can be more open about to whom I owe my blessings-- God, that more than half our class will be there and that Sean and Shaun show up with the women of their dreams.

10 years gone!

Thursday, September 21, 2006

Seasons

How much do I love Fall? Everyone that I know says that Fall is their favorite season. It must be because it falls in between the roughest of the four seasons. Summer can be brutel with the heat... though I will say that a midwest summer doesn't compare to say, an Arizona summer. Winter in the midwest, however, can be horrible. We're due for a rough winter I think. It's been fairly mild the last couple years. So, all of that being said, who wouldn't love fall?

I thought of it in particular this morning cause I woke up to the crispness of the morning filling our bedroom. I left the windows cracked all night. I love that I had to get our quilt made of love by my mother-in-law back out to keep us warm during the fall nights. Nothing is better than pulling out sweaters and sweatshirts and moving our jackets to the front of the closet. Right now, when I sit in the glider rocker that we got when we had Alissa, I can look out our bedroom window and see our one tree with its leaves starting to change. What a thrill to teach Andrew about the seasons and have him witness it. When we walk out to get the mail, he says, "Ooh, mommy, it's very windy and chilly out." "Yeah, buddy, that means it's getting to be fall." I reminded him about the summer when we got our little pool out and it was sooo hot trying to help him learn the difference in the seasons.

I mostly want to dwell on what I love about this great season, but lets be honest, fall allergies really stink and how great would it be if it would stay light longer in the fall? Those are my only two issues with the changing season.

So, if your favorite season is fall, lets give a big shout out to God for being so creative!

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Knowing His Character

If you have kids I know you can relate to this. And if you don't have kids... just imagine...
It's such an amazing act of kindness when people offer their willingness to keep an eye on my kids while I have some "me" time. Whether its dropping the kids off at their classes during church or it's our amazing sitter, Jenny, who comes to play with the kids while we go to our small group, it doesn't matter, it's all me time and these people have my gratitude. I used to be the one watching other people's kids. I did it a lot in high school. But, I have to say no one ever made me really feel appreciated like I hope those who do this favor for me feel.

But here's the real thing... while I love the time that the kids are in someone else's hands, of course there is a part of me that can't wait to see them again. Maybe it's partially a control thing, it could be that I hope the kids aren't causing their gracious volunteer too much grief, and it could be that I just miss them a bit. Whatever the reason, when I walk into that room or walk in the door from being gone, I can't wait for my eyes to meet their's. What a thrill! I feel like the luckiest person alive when they reach out their arms for me to pick them up. That is, unless they are screaming, poopy, or whining-- in which case I feel like I'm the one doing the caregiver a favor! I love when Andrew starts to go on and on about what he did in his class or with Jenny. He tells me that he had cheerios, colored a picture, played tag with the other kids, dressed up in costumes or watched a movie, and all I can do is be thrilled!

This feeling of joy when I see my kids after being away for a time must again just be a drop in the bucket compared to how God must feel when we are in communion with Him. I love this visual: imagine God sitting on His throne waiting, even longing to meet with YOU! And when your knees hit that floor in prayer (figuritively speaking--please don't think that I only pray while kneeling) or you open up His Word for Him to speak to you, he says,"Yes, what a thrill when your eyes meet mine, let me pick you up and hold you." Isn't that awesome?!

I find it amazing that at this time in my life, God is starting to (or else I'm just starting to listen) reveal his character through my experiences with my kids. Oh, I just pray that I will listen hard so that these types of visuals will last.

Today started a women's study at church where the kids go to their classes for the morning and I get to fellowship with other women and get into God's Word. I was a little nervous about the kids and how they'd do given the amount of time, but God is good and the kids did fabulous! The study is Beth Moore's Beloved Disciple. Now, I've done Beth Moore studies before and I am so eager to learn again from her awesome teaching. What a gift she has!
For the intro to this study our challenge is to compose a letter to Christ telling him the desires of my heart. Not the church answer, but the deep longings and desires that are truly in my heart.
So, now I'll go search my heart!

Monday, September 18, 2006

Our Rebellion

I think that the way our children's behavior can make us feel can often be a good representation of how we, as God's children, can make Him feel. I mean this both positive and negative. Of course from the positive side, we rejoice when our children make the right choices and follow the directions that we set for them, especially when they do it without havign to be reminded. What a joy! But, I set out to write this blog because of the negative.

Okay, so Andrew has really nailed potty training. I would even go as far as saying he's potty trained! There was a time when I had my doubts. But every once in a while, he goes through a little rebellion. Like this morning. He peed in his underwear twice before noon. The first time, I offered grace without hesitation because he had just gotten up and I forgot to remind him to go. Then he was just a little too late. The second time though, I really felt that he should have known better. His pulling at his crotch was a sign that I should find out what was going on. So I said, "Andrew, did you have an accident?" Then, point blank, he just said, "No". Then he quickly climbed up on the couch to hide the evidence since he knew I couldn't reach him from where I was sitting in the rocker feeding Alissa a bottle. He's pretty sneaky. So, I said, "Are you telling mommy the truth? If you are lying to me, then you will be disciplined." He knows what telling the truth is, what lying is and what it means to be disciplined, so with his head hung very low, he said, "Yes, I had an accident." So, I said, "Thank you for telling me the truth. Please get up and go potty and take your unders off." And off he went to follow my directions promptly.

Why does he lie? That was the question that I had. Then I thought, why do I lie and do a hundered other things that grieve God's heart? The way that I feel when Andrew lies to me must just be a scratch on the very surface of what God feels every time I disobey him. Certainly, I have understood that God has placed these children in my life to teach me a little something about His character. And once again, I am reminded.

Of course, I extend grace to my kids when they disobey or don't follow directions. Isn't it the least that I can do for all the Grace that has been extended to me through the death and resurrection of my Savior, Jesus.

Monday, September 11, 2006

Back To Work

Last weekend was my first weekend on my floor-- Cancer Care-- in nearly 3 months of getting called off or floated to other units due to low patient volume on my floor. It really felt good to be back. I love taking care of patients and it's clear to me again and again that I am in the right profession for me. I really love it. The nicest thing about being back though was how kind my co-workers were to me. Everyone made sure to tell me how happy they were to see me and work with me again. That creates a feeling that words can't describe.

I am happy that starting in October I'll be part of the permanent staff therefore getting called off much less frequently.

For most going to work is just what they do as part of their every day, for me, going to work is getting away. I love going to work to take care of my patients and to interact with my co-workers. I thank God for this opportunity and I thank my husband for taking on 3 kids for whole weekends at time... single handedly.

Where Were You...

September 11, 2001
Where were you that dreadful day? It's the same question that everyone asks about when JFK was shot, when the Challenger exploded and now when the World Trade Center was hit. It's crazy to be a part of such history. This was the day that literally changed the world and life as we knew it. It's hard to say that my life in particular has changed all that much as a result of this day, but the world around me that indeed has an effect on my life certianly has changed.

Where was I? In bed actually. Eric and I had been married for one month. I was still in nursing school and this was one of my late days for class, so I was in bed asleep. Eric got up and went to work as usual. On his way to work he was listening to NPR and heard that a bomb had hit the World Trade Center in New York. He called me as soon as he got to work and I jumped out of bed and was glued to the TV the rest of the morning with the phone in one hand giving Eric updates.

What I remember about that day... first of all, there's an eerie feeling for Eric and I cause just one month prior we had flown into Logan airport in Boston for our honeymoon, the same airport that the terrorist hijacked planes from. Something about the proximity of time makes us count our blessings. Other things I remember are how unsure everyone was about what was going on. Was it a bomb? Was it a plane? Was it 2 planes? Are there more? It just felt like everything was falling apart! I remember watching Fox News all day and seeing the second tower fall... live, in real time. The journalist reporting live did not know what hit him. He and everyone else just ran as the smoke rose up behind them. Being that I was working toward becoming a nurse, I took a particular interest in the healthcare scene so I remember hearing that the hospitals were gearing up for thousands of injuries and fatalities. As I recall there were far fewer injuries and many more deaths than anyone could anticipate.

Watching the commemoration today causes one to think about that day for sure. I loved hearing what Bill Krystal (Fox News) said when he talked about how those on Flight 93 that crashed in PA were the ones who epitomize the resolve of America to defeat terrorism. USA!!!

Other things I remember:
- Meeting Eric at the church we were married in for a prayer service on his lunch hour.
- Toby Keith's "Angry American" song
- "Let's Roll"- the words from a passenger leading the effort on flight 93 to take the plane back
- The repeated footage on every news station. One would have thought we got attacked a million more times than we did.
- All planes grounded. Would every major city in American be attacked this very day?
- Who is Osama Bin Laden? What is the Taliban?
- Proud to be an American and proud to be a Bush supporter... and I still am!!!

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Picture Mayhem

We've always had the pictures of our kids done at The Picture People. When Andrew was born we purchased a Portrait Club membership and have renewed with each consecutive child. The key to getting good pictures there (or anywhere I suppose) is choosing the right time of day and not freaking your kid out once your there. I know that the photographers there have the right heart, but sometimes they don't see that using the dreaded feather duster doesn't work on every kid. Andrew really hated that thing and so we finally learned to just tell the person not to use it before we ever started the sitting.

Getting pictures from the ages of 1 month to about 9 months is a piece of cake as long as we bring our kids fed and changed and rested. Once they become comfortable with their mobility, the process got more challenging simply because it's hard to keep them in once spot, but still, they liked to smile and respond to the silly noises and faces with a great picturesque smile.

Andrew has always cooperated with getting pictures taken and therefore we have some super shots of him at every age. (do you believe that for the first year, I took him for pictures every 2 months! YIKES!) Alissa still falls into that "easy" category and so far we have great pics of her.
Naturally, I've saved Anna for last cause she moved quickly from the "easy" category to the "we might have to skip this age (for pictures)" category.

Here's the most recent experience... 2 weeks ago when the kids and I went to IN to visit, we thought we'd get the pics done and my mom would come along. Picture People wound up being booked the day we went so we opted for a sitting at JCPenny. What a nightmare! Not because it was JCPenny, but because Anna wanted nothing to do with the camera or her brother and sister, which was the whole point of the photo shoot. I mean to tell you, she screamed the whole time! We ended up with decent shots of Alissa alone.

So, today, everyone was in a great mood this morning and I thought we'd give it a shot first thing when the mall opened. I made the appointment and the kids were in fabulous spirits. The ideal situation. We got there, they got us right in and to my surprise, Anna took an interest in the props that they offer. She flashed her gorgeous smile a few times before she fell apart crying and the pictures were taken... we thought. My theory about Anna is that she does not like to be told what to do. That means, if you can capture a good picture of her doing her own thing then lucky you, but if you start to tell her what to do and where to sit, forget it!

If you've ever used Picture People for photos, you know that they develop them in an hour. So we walked around and played in the play area for an hour...breaking right into our usual nap time, but we survived. I walked back into the store to see our pictures and was promptly told that there was a cord not connected right and none of the pictures were actually taken. RAAAAAAAH! I was not a happy customer. I now have 2 weeks to get Anna back in there for more drama just to recieve a free sheet. I'll let you know how it all turns out...

Krikey...he's really gone :(



Here we are dressed up as Steve and Terry Irwin (and Andrew is our Croc) for Halloween in 2003. Okay, so we're not exactly what you would call die hard fans of animal planet and sure we respect wildlife, but I wouldn't put either of in the category of wildlife conservationists. We did, however, get a kick out of watching the Croc Hunter get dangerously close to crazy animals like crocs, komodo dragons, rhinos and many more. We used to literally just sit there and laugh at how rediculous he was for trying such stunts. In my heart of hearts, I believe this man really loved what he was doing. He loved the learning that was associated with his job. He had a job that literally only a few people have in the world. It's so sad that the education that he was able to give by doing what he did can no longer be done by him.

I was so surprised to see that he had died. I mean of all people, for some reason, he just seemed the least likely. He really knew what he was doing. Even more surprising is how he died. I mean, come on... a stingray. There have only been like 10 people that have ever died by a stingray. And what are the odds that he was in exactly the right spot to get stabbed directly in the heart? I mean if he had gotten stabbed in the leg or the shoulder, it wouldn't have killed him. They say that the poison that a stingray produces is unlikely to kill a human. Here's a guy who takes all kinds of risks with other much more dangerous animals and he dies from a stingray barbing him in the heart!!! It would be like a lion tamer getting killed by a domestic cat!

Well, needless to say, I was so sad that he had died. I know it sounds silly, but if only for entertainment, we really enjoyed Steve Irwin. We even taught Andrew to say, "Krikey, it's dingo." when we read his book about different deserts. Perhaps we'll watch the reruns of The Croc Hunter on Animal Planet and remember the good times!

Saturday, September 02, 2006

Football Basics

Ahhhhh, Fall! What a pure delight to wake up this morning and turn on ESPN College Game Day. That's right, most Saturdays we bear the annoyance of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse several times in a row for the sake of content kids, but today the season opener of Game Day took precedence. We watched all of College Game Day amid cleaning the bathroom and folding laundry. Then there was kick off...

The first televised game of the day was Michigan vs. Vanderbilt. I loved just having the game on even as background noise (being that I don't have a particular interest in either team...except maybe Michigan for the sake of the Big Ten). I found it entertaining that Andrew-3 showed some level of interest this year.

I was trying to remember how I ever learned about football... or any sport for that matter. I don't have any memories of my mom or dad or even my brother sitting down with me and teaching me about the whole point of each sport. Perhaps I learned the same way that Andrew is starting to learn. This morning as he and Anna sat together in our green upholstered rocker and I sat on the couch, all of us watching the game or at least pointed toward it (the watching of it is debatable for a 1 1/2 year old and a 3 year old), Andrew asked me, "Mom, why do those boys have helmets on?" I said, "Cause they like to tackle each other." Then he said, "Why do they tackle each other?" "Wow" I thought, "he really wants to know." So, then I figured I should come up with an answer that was more than just words to get him to stop asking.

"The blue team wants to run with the ball to make a touch down and the white team is trying to stop them, so they tackle them." I said. Andrew said, "Why the blue team runs with the ball?" My response was just a repeat of what I said before. "So then the white team tackles them?" He said. Ahhh, he got it. Most of my conversations with Andrew these days include about 20 "why's" and my attempt to truthfully answer each question so that it's understandable to him and he STOPS ASKING WHY!!!

Hopefully, if this is how Andrew learns about sports and all other things for that matter, then we will teach him well and he will learn quickly. Whether he is ever an athlete himself, we want him to have an appreciation of the sports we love and look forward to with each new season.
Of course we'll raise kids who love the big ten! GO BOILERS!!!