Randomness

This post is called Randomness because well, it's random and I'm too tired to think of anything clever.

*  Today I made a big ol' pot of vegetable beef soup for my friend who just had a baby boy last week (he was 4 weeks early)  I also made some chocolate chip cookies and sent frozen peaches from this summer and sweet Hawaiian bread.  I'm a huge advocate of bringing food to new mommies because it was heaven to have meals brought to me after having Benjamin and you're just so tired, sore, yada yada yada.  And oh my goodness, their little boy is soooo precious.  I wanted to steal him.

*  Yesterday, a young man whose family attends our church, overdosed for the third time.  My friend and I went to be with his sister and mom at the hospital and today Peter went with our pastor to take this gentleman to a Christian shelter where he can make decisions about his rehabilitation.  It is so hard to see the sin of this world grab hold of someone you care about, and I feel more burdened then ever to pray for the young people in our church and to encourage them to draw near to the Lord.

*  Tomorrow is our Girl's Night Community Babysitting Event.  I'm super excited.  It's been a bit of prep work but we're going to have some fun activities for the kids and we're going to have a packet of information sharing the Gospel, a cute bunch of verses to memorize as a family for a week, tips for handling conflict in marriage and a few other things.  I know we're having at least one family coming who most likely doesn't know Jesus and I'm loving that we'll be able to share Christ in this way to them!

*  Benjamin whined a lot today.  I was very glad to have bedtime so I didn't have to hear him whine.  Don't get me wrong, I love him like crazy, but the whine gets old sometimes.

*  Benjamin has been taking short morning naps and long afternoon naps.  I don's think he's transitioning out of no morning naps yet, but I think I've just been super busy with things that his schedule's been a bit ruffled.  After his long 3 hour naps though he has a hard time going to sleep later that night even with a bit later bedtime.  We just laugh because he's seriously crazy and goes around with tons of energy like a madman.

 just looking cute in his new pj's.....ready for bed right?

 that's what I think of going to bed Mama!

 I think that instead of bed, I want to play

 and crawl around every square inch of my crib

 what did you say Mom?  It's time to wind down now??

 HAHAHAHAHA, I have yet to begin my craziness.

 See?  I've started a new game called "let's chuck my Floppy's out of my crib as fast as I can so Mama has to get them back for me everytime."  Fabulous game!

 "My parents are my servants!  BWA HA HA HA.....I drop the dogs, and they pick them up like good peasants!"

What's that Mama?  Oh, okay....so you're not to be referred to as "my peasants."

 But could you please get me some milk peasant, I mean Daddy....all this craziness has made me thirsty

(and yes, he jumped the entire time he was drinking)

 I just gots so much energy, I can't help but JUMP and SQUEAL and LAUGH

 and wrestle poor defenseless dogs

 this is the best bedtime ever!

 oops, I have NO IDEA how this happened again Mama

 FINE, Mom.  WHATEVER.  I'll stop going crazy and go to bed.

or will I?  Bet you'll think twice before letting me sleep 3 hours again huh?????? :-)

*  My son has a healthy appetite.  And is a messy eater.  He's such a charmer don't you think?

*  Peter's been eating SpecialK for breakfast because I got it free at RiteAid awhile back.  Tonight as he's eating this frozen peanut butter pie with chocolate sauce on top he says "I don't understand why I'm not losing weight, I'm eating SpecialK"  Oh my poor husband, ha!

*  The other day my nose was telling me that Benjamin was due for a diaper change.  It stunk so bad that I went over to make sure he hadn't blown out (which hasn't happened in at least 4-5 months)  He hadn't, but it was soooo close and it was NASTY.  Oh my goodness.  So what do I do?  I go grab the camera to take a picture.  Yep, I did.  It'd been one of those mornings and I wanted to send a picture of it to my husband so he could see the "icing on the cake" to my "fabulous" morning.  Is that sick?  Regardless, I did it.  When Peter opened the email at work he said he almost barfed.  Don't worry, I'm not going to post the picture here because it really was gross.....but you betcha I sure did send it to my sister's email.  HA HA HA, love ya sis!!

*  Okay, enough blogging for tonight.  I need to finish my cup of peppermint tea and get some rest.  It's going to be a full day again tomorrow!

Bloggy Award!

 How funny is this!  My blog was given a blog award by a sweet gal who reads my blog.  Still blows my mind that anyone other than my mom and sister read about my everyday life, but it's fun anyway!!

Here's how the Stylish Blog Award works:

1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award.

2. Share 7 things about yourself.

3. Award other bloggers.

4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award!

So here goes, sorry if I completely botch it....I'm used to posting about naps, Wal-Mart and desserts :-)

First off, thank you to Joy for this award.  She just had the sweetest baby girl!

Now, 7 things about myself......well, let's see

1)  I confirmed today that I cannot cut a straight line to save my life.  Thank goodness for paper cutters or my crafts for our Friday night Girls Night would look terrible.  Let's hope Benjamin didn't get my genetics in this area so he can actually pass kindergarten.

2)  Is it wrong that I feel like my territory is being marched on when Peter wants to help me coupon?  Yeah, I'm a bit of a control freak.

3)  I'm looking forward to seeing the movie version of "24" but I'm not sure if it'll ever come out.  Maybe Jack Bauer will die of the common cold, ha!

4)  I truly wish I could fly down to San Diego this weekend to see meet my newest niece Mandy Grace.  She is pretty stinkin adorable and this Auntie needs to hold her.

5)  Tonight I learned both the joy and horror of your child taking a 3 hour afternoon nap.  I'll post pictures later.

6)  I don't let my husband get the mail.  It is a small little daily enjoyment I get to have and I'm kinda possessive about it.  I just love getting the mail!

7)  I love receiving and writing thank you notes, something so fun and personal about a hand-written note.

I'm going to give this award to my friend Heather.  Heather is pretty much as close to Super Mom as you can get and let me tell you, it is a shame she is stopping with 4 because her kids are BEAUTIFUL.

So wow, there you have it.  My first "Blog Award"  I'd like to thank the Academy....and my mom....oh, nevermind.

Assertiveness

I think someone is teaching my child things behind my back.

Because today my ONE year old decided to be very assertive.

Dinnertime:  He ate great as usual but wouldn't finish his spaghetti.  We tried to get him to take more bites but he yelled clear as day "All done!"  That's the clearest he has ever said that.  We died laughing.

Pajama time:  He was NOT wanting his pajamas put on.  He was so mad he was almost blowing spit bubbles of madness (yes, I made up that term)  Oh, why could my child not have received my temper.

Bedtime:  He drank some milk then pushed it away.  And whined until he could wiggle his way out of my arms.  He did not want Daddy to pick him up, he wanted to crawl into the hallway to escape.  He cried when he was caught and cried when he was put into his crib after his song.  And he's just now going to sleep almost 45 minutes after being put down.

Suddenly my one year old has found some independence and he's learning to be, shall we say....assertive?

He may look cute in pictures (well, cause he is) but he is going to be a handful!!!!

 recognize the shirt Anita? :-)

 don't try to look innocent Mr. Benjamin! :-)

 no Benjamin, tell us how you really feel!

yes, this picture proves that my son is discovering he has an opinion that needs to be shared.  Oh mercy.

Some loooong days

This past week was full of some long days.  Good days, but long days.

Monday:  Babysat our friend's 3 children, Benjamin had a blast with his friends over!

Tuesday:  Normal day of household stuff, but we saw very little of Daddy since he worked until 7:45pm

Wednesday:  Daddy came home on time (5pm) but Mommy was busy most of the day cooking for her small group, running errands and well, Benjamin is an active one year old!

Thursday:  Peter went into work super early, wasn't able to come home for lunch, came home just before I had to leave for worship team practice but at least he was home for a bit in the evening.

Friday:  Peter couldn't come to Benjamin's doctor appointment so I took him by myself, no lunch break for Peter, and he wasn't able to come home until 8:30pm.  And I cooked a lot for some church activities.

That left a lot of evenings spent between Mama and Benjamin.  Especially when he decided that he didn't want to take great naps this week, go figure right?  That being said though, I seriously loved my evenings with him.  They were long because it's exhausting chasing around a crazy little boy, fighting with lightsabers, building towers, wrestling, playing football, etc....but there is something so amazing about receiving a genuine laugh and genuine smile from your child.  Nothing like it.

I worked hard to cook a bunch on Friday for potlucks and pie socials so we could have a free Saturday morning/afternoon to spend together.  Benjamin slept until 9 on Saturday!!!  What is with this child sleeping that late on a Saturday?  So Peter made breakfast again and we made a pie together for our church's pie social.  I had never made a pie and neither had Peter.  It definitely wasn't beautiful but it sure was tasty!!

We went to the Gap Outlet because we had 2 Buy One Get One Free coupons!!!  Peter got a couple shirts and I got a pair of jeans and khakis that were really needed.  Oh, and my amazing hubby also treated me to a 50 minute massage in Salem.  I hadn't been in so long that I was given their introductory rate and it was awesome to relax and enjoy the bliss of a massage for an amazing price.

Here's a few random pictures from the rest of the weekend:

 I had made a cake for Peter on Friday night, but thanks to his help putting it together this is what it looked like.  Pretty much the ugliest cake EVER.  But it tasted great!

 little boy fell asleep with Floppy on top of his head, love it!

 Yep, yep I love him

 Benjamin LOVES to have lightsaber fights....I think he's learned from his friends Elijah and Micah!

 I gave him a little cake after dinner yesterday....he didn't want it.  But he was ECSTATIC about the little baby cheetos I gave him.  Right now, he doesn't really like sweets.....I'm beginning to wonder if he's mine!

I may or may not have had a piece of pie and a piece of cake yesterday.  Weekend calories don't count right?

 he's pretty much a ladies man

just a little Praise baby time before bed....I just want to kiss him!

And, I know today is Valentine's Day.  We're not doing anything really special because we're going away for a night in early March, but I still like that there's a day I can especially celebrate my husband.

Peter, I love you the mostest.  I'm so proud of how hard you work....I have to brag on my hubby for a bit because he's been in charge of a big project at work and has now successfully implemented wireless internet services at all of the various schools in our town.  SO PROUD of you sweetheart.

You make me laugh when you shimmy, you have the most loving and strong arms, you love Jesus and His Word, you eat my food without complaining, you let me have the remote, you always drop me off at Wal-Mart when it's raining, you have a really cute bum (sorry if that's TMI) and you are the most amazing Daddy.  I absolutely love how our little boy loves you.
So yeah, you're pretty much amazing and I love being your wife.  Mmmmppphhh!

A good deal of pride

I love being a SAHM to Benjamin.  I absolutely love it and really do know it is a blessing to do so.

I also know that only having one income does require tighter control on our expenses.  Without my extra paycheck there's much less "extra money" at the end of the month that can be blown on toffee nut lattes, Friday night take-out and that adorable-gotta-have-it sweater. 

I do most of the spending in our family (shocker!)  By spending, I don't mean those extravagant, frivolous items, but I mean the groceries, the diapers, the new socks, the toilet paper....you know, the essentials.  As the primary caretaker of our home, I take care of those things during the day throughout the week.  I use our receipts to keep track of our budget, trying to align meal menus, weekend plans, and date night ideas to stay within our allotted amount for each category.

Enter coupons.

The whole idea that I can take about 2 hours of my week to organize or print coupons, do a bit of online research, drive to the store and purchase discounted items to get an amazing deal is awesome.  I really do LOVE a good deal, it's such a weird high.  And feeling like I'm excelling at my job of taking care of my family and my household is satisfying.  Here's the breakdown of this month's good deals:

ITEMS BOUGHT:
* 2 Stayfree Maxi pads
* 2 bottles contact solution
* 2 Bounty paper towel rolls
* 2 boxes Ritz crackers
* 4 containers Dreyers ice cream
* 1 tub Wet Ones wipes
* 1 box Motrin PM
* 2 Finish Dishwasher detergent kits
* 2 bags Halls cough drops
* 1 Milky Way
* 2 bottles Dawn dish detergent
* 2 jars Jif peanut butter
* 11 tubes Colgate toothpaste
* 2 gallons of milk
* 1 adult coldcalm flu medicine
* 1 child coldcalm flu medicine
* 2 Mentos
* 1 box Excedrin
* 2 Gillette deodorants
* 2 Old Spice deodorants
* 2 packages Dixie paper plates
* 1 Skittles
* 1 package elastic ponytail holders
* 1 package hair contour clips
* 1 2pk large hair clips
* 1 bottle Dayquil
* 1 bottle Nyquil
* 1 Starburst
* 1 Conair 1" hair straightener/flat iron
Total # of items: 55
Total cost: $19.46
Total cost per item: $0.35

I mean, really?  It's insane that all the above items averaged 35 cents.  The flat iron alone cost $24.99?!?!  So, in seeing these good deals, I was really proud.  And it got me thinking....why am I proud?  Should I be proud?  Is it wrong to be proud for working out these great buys?

We've been studying what God's Word says about money in our small group class and I've been challenged to become a better steward with what God has blessed us with (why I wanted to start "couponing" more seriously).  Money is such a touchy subject for everyone because when we really break it down, we love money.  We love what it gets us because we struggle with selfishness.  At least I do.  So realizing what great deals I got (90% of items were things I was going to buy anyway) made me think to myself "Sweet, now I get to go to Starbucks because I saved so much money, and now I can justify eating out more, and guess who's going back to the Old Navy clearance with a big ol' bag now?"  In an instant, my initial desire to become a better steward with God's money, once again became about me.  My thoughts weren't consumed with "Lord, please keep my eyes open to a need we can now reach with this little bit of savings this month" or "Thank you Jesus for the extra savings we'll have to put away now, I know it's your way of meeting our needs the next time an emergency happens."  Nope.  I wanted my latte and an 8th pair of cozy sweatpants. 

I don't think it's wrong to be proud of the deals I got this month.  It's okay to find satisfaction in doing so.  Because right now, shopping for our household is a part of my job and I should delight and find satisfaction in it.  But my purpose shouldn't be to find deals so I can gain more.  I should want to find deals so our family is even more equipped to be used of God.  It's all His anyway, I don't know why I continually try to bring it all back to me.

I know this is a random post, but I guess I just needed to sort of my thoughts "out loud" on my blog. 

Lord, please help me use the resources you've blessed us with for Your glory.  Help me not to seek my own advancement or pleasure, but to be used by You to bring others to You.