Stop Laughing!

Anybody catch Wife Swap? Embarassingly enough, this is one of my family's favorite shows.

I think we like it for two reasons.

First, we really do discuss the different families featured on the show each week. During the commercials, we mute it and spend the entire time talking about the family we most resemble or what we think the other family should be learning to do differently.

Second, it makes us feel, ummmm, normal. And I mean that in a good way.

To even be considered for the show, your family has to have some sort of hangup. For example, they might pair a family with no rules and no boundaries with a family who thrives on rules and schedules. Then the mothers switch places.

Tonight's show was interesting to say the least. Extremely and intensely annoying, but interesting.

I had never heard of laughter yoga until tonight's show. I googled it and there are laughter yoga clubs all over the United States. Try it. You'll see. There might even be one near you. Ha ha.

My mother-in-law arrived for a visit today. She brought the kids some new spring clothes, and she brought me this bag of M&M's. I love her.

20, 40, 60, 80,........

Have you ever wondered just how much money is in the game of Monopoly? I guess my son did, and he decided to find out.

The hardest part was not the counting, it was keeping his sister from "disturbing" the process.

I'm sure this says something about his personality, I'm just not sure what yet.

Keep Singing

Recently my 4-year-old class did a two-week unit study on Space. It was really fun, and I learned things about each planet that I had either never known or had just forgotten.


We enjoyed learning about each of the planets, but Earth was our sentimental favorite. Because Earth, of course, is our home.


Space is, well, spacious. And with a 4-year-old it's smart to try to bring it a little closer to home.


So during our next unit we learned about the United States, our great country.


We begin each day in my class with the Pledge of Allegiance. After the pledge, we sing the chorus to America the Beautiful.

"America! America! God shed his grace on thee, And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea."


I have been in a stadium full of adults singing the National Anthem, and it gives me goosebumps, but hearing my class of little kids say the pledge and sing "America, America" has choked me up more than once.


They may not can tell you their exact address or even the name of the city they live in, but every one of them knows they are an American.


I think back to when I was growing up, a teenager, and even into young adulthood. I never really thought about the government that much. And I certainly did not feel that any decision made in Washington, D.C. would affect my life in any way. Maybe I was naive, too young to care, but that has changed.


Things are bad here. People are losing their jobs. Maybe you have lost yours. Maybe your husband has lost his. Mine did.


Perhaps this is God's way of shaking this country loose from its materialistic hold. Getting us back to what is important in life. The things money cannot buy.

Our family, our friends, and 4-year-olds in a small preschool classroom singing, "America, America, God shed his grace on thee......."

So Long, Shoes!

The other day when I went to the library, I saw a big box. The Salvation Army is partnering with a local organization to hold a shoe drive. You bring your old shoes in and put them in the box. This shoe drive benefits kids who need shoes, but there is a twist. The kids do not get the old shoes.

This is how it works: You bring your old shoes in, as many as you can find, because the weight matters. The old shoes are weighed and sold for recycling. The proceeds from the recycling will purchase Payless gift cards and be distributed to the children.

So the kids get to buy new shoes! I thought that was pretty cool!

My daughter and I went through our closets and found several pair we wanted to give away. We ended up with a bag full of shoes and cleaner closets!

I Would Never!

It's Monday, and I've decided to join in MckMama's "Not Me Monday" blog carnival!

What is "Not Me Monday" you ask? It's a chance to look back through the last week of your life, think of all the things you did you are not proud of, and then vehemently deny each and every one of them. Think of it as free, albeit twisted, therapy. I suggest you try it!

Here goes:

I did not check out the entire 1st season of "Remington Steele" from the library, come home and watch four episodes back to back. That would have been a huge waste of time-and I don't waste time, ever.


I did not find a half-dollar sized piece of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich under my dining room table. And when I picked it up, it was not hard as a rock. A piece of food could never hide from my good housekeeping eye for that long. No way.


I did not forget to buy toilet paper during my last trip to the store. We were not having to share the last pitiful roll of toilet paper between our two bathrooms.


I did not take the long way home from the library for a few more precious moments alone. I would never do that, because I love being in the presence of my family. Always.


I did not show up for a haircut appointment (for me and both kids) 30 minutes late because I forgot to write down the time of the appointment. I did not feel bad for throwing off her whole afternoon schedule, and I certainly did not insist the people who showed up on time for their appointment go ahead of us just because we were a little late and had totally missed our appointment. No, I would never be so careless.


I did not tell my daughter that if she kept leaving her brand new scooter at the end of our driveway, the garbage men would think it garbage and crush it in their big truck. No, that would just be mean.


And speaking of my daughter and her recreational vehicles, I definitely did not back over her bicycle and totally crush a training wheel. I certainly did not do that.

Simple Summary of Sunday's Sermon

"Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes." Ephesians 6:11 NIV




(I would like to dedicate the title of this post to our son, who takes speech classes to work on his "S" sounds.)

Lazy Day

Lazy doesn't even really describe the huge amount of lounging we have been doing today. But that is what Saturdays are for, right? Anyway, we have been out on one small excursion...around town. Or if you ask the kids- we went around the world. One hour out of the house and they were begging to return home (or at least take them to Wendy's). They got the cheaper of the two choices.

We are definately home bodies. We love hanging out at home doing nothing. Well, almost nothing. This blog, gameboy games, tv and other things have taken up most of the time spent doing nothing today. But it has been a fun and relaxing lazy day. Thank God for lazy days!

I Feel Like I've Given Birth

Good grief, this blog has been like labor. It seems like I have been trying to birth this thing for 9 months already. Let's just hope now that it is here, it is a healthy, vibrant, kickin' blog!

I feel like this first post needs to be poetic, inspirational, or at least interesting, but to be honest, I'm all out of interesting. Did you feel like being interesting after you gave birth? I didn't think so. I'm so tired of HTML codes, "blinkees," fonts, settings, and layouts that I could scream. Whatever happened to writing this "life" stuff down in a diary? Now I feel obligated to blog, twitter, and facebook. (The latter of which I haven't given into yet.)

I suffer much "blog envy" as well. I have constantly been comparing my "new baby" to everyone else's much older, much more established babies, and it is gettin' me down. 581 followers? I'll never have that! But I keep going 'cuz my baby is my baby. And I think my baby is beautiful.