News Report on Guiliani SWAMPED by Happy Ron Paul Supporters

this video made my day!!!

Snow

It's been snowing!!! I love it, although it'll probably be a long winter!!!

We put up our tree finally. We resorted to the fake one we bought a few years ago even though a few strands of lights are out. I didn't feel like spending the money on a new one. It still looks pretty. (Asa is apparently smiling in the picture....)

Today Asa and I went out to breakfast. This is the second time we have done this and it was a lot of fun! I also did a lot of christmas shopping on Amazon.com with free shipping! I was so happy, I found a bunch of great things for great deals! Asa needs a nap and I kind of missed it because I was on here shopping. Oh well!!!

Some people I know have said some things about The Golden Compass movie that has either just come out or is about to. Some people were very against it, and others (although a lot younger) seemed to like it. I decided after telling a few peers the negatives I had heard about it, that I should research it a bit before I go on. So apparently the movie is far from the book, and those who liked the book would probably not like the watered down version hacked up version. The book is the dangerous part anyway, at least for kids. I read about the athiest author who apparently wrote the series the book is from with an anti-god, anti-establishment flare in opposition to the Chronicles of Narnia which he hated(that is just one thing I read). The movie is supposedly pretty loose morally and maybe bad for children as it encourages the questioning of authority (and ultimately destroying it? in the later books) So I feel that even though it's pg-13 and still looks kiddish, it really shouldn't be for kids. I personally don't want to see it because of the author, but ultimately I think the book is more harmful than the movie, though I'll really only know if I have read and watched them both. We should be filling our heads with edifying things right?




Anyway a great website with all kind of info on Ron Paul: Library

A great video of an interview in July...covers EVERYTHING throroughly:
Google Interview


Making some sort of Chicken and Baby Bella maybe some zucchini with angel hair, for dinner..

we're gonna have a girl!

So my feelings were right! I am having a girl! We had the ultrasound today and everything looks perfect praise God! She was very active and it was alot of fun to see her. She is measuring at 18 weeks as opposed to the 20 weeks along we thought I was. So, the due date is now May 2, 2008.

i don't like that chicken

So yesterday when Mark got home from work and then left to run, I decided to take Asa outside. We planted the christmas trees in the pots and lit them up.(They look better at night lol) We also cleaned out the car! No more toys books and trash! YAY! I did find a library book that was due last week though. Oops.

Asa took that book from me and was reading it when my neighbors rooster decided to come over and visit. Asa started running toward it so I followed him thinking the bird would run away. It didn't though, and it started to scare me as it ran toward Ace. I yelled "Asa, come back!" I didn't want him to be afraid of the chicken(even though I was lol) So I kind of laughed and smiled while I whisked him away from the bird standing as few feet away from me. Asa dropped the book, in the driveway where we were standing. I couldn't bend down to get it because the chicken was standing right over it. It was making growling sounds and kept coming closer to us. LOL so we walked(cough cough..ran) away. I tried to look cool as we were leaving the chicken and our book in the driveway, but as that bird followed us over to my car(which was still being cleaned out with all the doors open) I threw Asa in the house laughing nervously, then I ran to the car to shut the doors and bring in the bags of stuff I took out of it. The rooster kept coming closer making it's weirdo chicken noises. I got all my stuff and ran inside. At this point Asa and I were standing in my kitchen with our front door cracked and peeking out at the crazed chicken.

He was standing on our retaining wall whining because he couldn't figure out how to get down to come over to our door. Mark subsequently pulled up and scared that chicken away as fast as lightening. I felt relieved. I ran up to the driveway and grabbed the library book. Then the rooster came back! I yelled "Now What?! You better run!" and it ran away again when Mark got out of the car. Thank goodness! I don't like that chicken! Asa thought it was funny though.
(That is Magic the neighbor's cat standing in place of the rooster)

yum

I was just looking at this website that gives you the calories per serving for almost any food you can think of. It even had restaurant's versions of different foods. Thats the reason I thought about a place in NYC where I worked as a temp, during a breakfast promotion. It was called Pret a Manger and it was a blast to work at just for a few days, during the coldest days of early 2003. I even had a cool uniform to wear(although I didn't dig the hat). My job was to walk around with samples from their breakfast menu from about 7:30 to noon a couple days a week. (One day I also had to stand outside in the insane blustery winds and angry crowds of running people to hand out coffee coupons)
ANYWAY!
The samples were breakfast wraps, some were southwestern eggs, one was like an Italian style one with sausage and THEN came the "Dulce de Leche" I don't know why it was called this considering that Dulce de Leche is an ingredient in it, but definitely not alone. It was a french baguette with thinly sliced banana pasted on with Crème fraîche and then the Dulce de leche. The baguette was sliced into a-little-larger-than bite sized pieces and it was delicious!

thanksgiving...

...came and went

My mom got some pictures, I'll ask her to email me then I'll post them(yeah right, like that ever happens!) We had a wonderful meal and time with family. I got to play with my cousin's baby, she is 3 months old and SOO sweet! Asa really loved her too, he asked to hold her several times and when I let him he was beaming and carressing her face and pressing his against hers, it was very precious!

We had Tyler an extra day this week so I had him while Mark was at work. I took Asa and Ty to the moonbounce gym nearby. It was so much fun for them!

I have been trying to be more creative with dinners lately! Yay! Tonight I am making Salmon for myself and Tilapia for Mark, with Apsaragus and Broccoli and baked potato seasoned with garlic and oregano...we'll see how that goes!

I have been sick still, and I'm almost 20 weeks!! Stink! This pregnancy is so much more lazy, like I am not anxious or nerv0us or scared, I just feel awful all the time. Apparently I hide it well too...which is good sometimes. In two days I find out the sex of the baby. AHHH!!! So happy to know, I really hope we can tell! I bought some trees for my pots beside my front door. Christmas trees, and I also bought some christmas lights to go on them. I still haven't planted them though, it's so cold out there--lol. My car is soooooooo dirty too. I need to clean it out and vaccuum it and take it to be washed. :( It needs it so bad, I hate getting into my nice car and feeling gross.(it's not all my fault either!!!!!)

We did a bunch of Polyanna's for christmas this year. We have 6 people so far, not including people who aren't doing it. Of those six, we have two gifts in mind so...

My brother turns 18 this week. I can't believe how time flies. I have to find a good gift for him too.
Mark is applying for a management position at his company. It will be managing his position now, so he feels confident about it. It will be more work and hours, but very worth it for us in this point and time. I am praying we get an answer soon especially since we've been house hunting.

This is an older pic(a couple weeks) of when Mark and I went away for the weekend. I thought it was cute.

18 weeks

only two more weeks till the ultrasound!

Asa is potty training himself. I say that because it's all done by his lead. He is taking his diaper off even while in his room for naptime, opening the door and using his little potty. He even cleans up after himself and washes his little potty out efficiently. He goes upstairs throughout the day and use the potty without my help. He just started doing it this week and I am so excited. I am hoping it really sticks. He seems pretty motivated. He enjoys the reward of Sweet Tarts! I give him two small ones.

I joined facebook and have been playing Scrabulous on it way too much. I enjoy it though!

I've been feeling some movements in my belly. But they feel much stronger than flutters, I was even able to feel a bump from the outside.

I need to wash the dishes, the kitchen floor and laundry. I would love to go to the Library too, before lunch. We'll see if I can accomplish any of that.

Interview with Ron Paul in Columbia

15 weeks

The morning sickness has yet to subside. I am fifteen weeks today and am feeling a bit more pregnant lately, which is nice. I almost think I felt the baby today yesterday and the day before. Just a few more weeks till I get my ultrasound! Can't wait!

We visited Asa's doctor this week after he began complaining that his ear hurt. The doctor said he had an ear infection and Asthma too. That was something I was thinking would come but hoping it wouldn't. So he's been having breathing treatments every 4-6 hours with the nebulizer. He's doing well with it. I bought the nebulizer back when he was an infant with RSV, he was wheezing pretty bad and Mark and I thought that since Asthma runs in his family so much that we should keep it in case. I'm glad we did. It's funny; the other night, well early morning around 5 Asa woke up crying. I went to see what was wrong and he asked to watch Sumo (veggie tales). I told him it was too early so he said "Mom, my treatment!" (Meaning his breathing treatment) but it was so cute because he was sad when he was asking for it. He took it perfectly too, laying in his bed the whole time. Then he went back to sleep.

Last Saturday was my dad's 50th birthday party. It was really nice. We had a fun time and it was nice to celebrate him. Here are some pics:

:)

So today was a bit different than what my normal day entails. I woke up around normal 8:30(Asa has been great as sleeping in with me) We both had Farina for breakfast, which is not normal but well worth the work! We watched a bit of children's shows and I worked on my budget and bills. It feels so great to get that stuff out of the way! So anyway, after all that around 1, Asa and I left for the Post Office. I asked the postman if they were going to be experiencing a power outage from 1-3 today, he said he didn't know. I told him that Peco called and let us know they would be shutting power off for maintenance today and that we lived just down the street from the post office. So I mailed my bills and bought some pretty stamps and as I was walking out of the post office all of the lights went out. I thought it was funny, even though I kind of knew it was going to happen.

After the post office we ventured to the BRAND STINKIN' NEW Target which opened up in my own town!! It was so nice and pretty and clean. They didn't have what I wanted though, a Wii game for my dad's 50th birthday this Friday. Since we didn't have any luck at Target I decided to go the traditional route and buy some clothes from Eddie Bauer for dad. It's kinda something I always do for him. So anyway they had an amazing sale and I got him some really great pants. Afterwards went into Borders and I bought a cute birthday card(they are so cheap and interesting and different there!!) I also got a book for Asa, a Fisher Price Little People book, they were all on sale for $4 and I usually pay twice that for them! So I am putting it aside for christmas, but I was happy about that great deal! Next we went to Arby's to get some chicken tenders and french fries for Ace, which he barely ate, he basically just drank all his lemonade. I did get some curly fries for myself, I love those things! After eating we ran to the bank drive-thru and then back home. We got home at about 3 and the electricity had been turned back on!

Leaning against the front door as I pulled up was a box of flowers from a friend at church! They are lovely roses and brightened my day! She sent them to cheer me up since I haven't been feeling well with this pregnancy! Talk about thoughtful! That seriously encouraged me!

I quickly brought Asa up for a nap with some strawberry milk. Just a few minutes after I thought he fell asleep I heard him coughing violently and then vomitting. So that was fun. I was able to clean it all up and then lay back down with him in his toddler bed(it was the only way I could get him to be in it and not cry). I soon drifted to sleep. The phone awoke me, (-0r maybe that was Asa telling me to get the phone) Whatever the case, I shut his door behind me when I went to answer it, but not closed enough. After only a few minutes of chatting in my room, I was joined by a sleepy toddler who said he needed to sleep in my bed. But he wasn't telling the truth, because he obviously wasn't trying to sleep, more like do gymnastics.

So soon after Mark got home from work and I talked him into taking me out to Bennigans for dinner(On wednesdays they have 4.99 burger meals--and boy are they good burgers) So we went, had good food. Came home, put Asa down, and now here I am. I feel like today was a whirlwind!

I think I am going to sit for a while and relax, maybe staring at my roses, and then I am going to go to sleep early.

Tomorrow, if I get my dishes and laundry done and feel up for it, I want to go to Bath and Bodyworks and buy the Pumpkin wallflowers and candle, they smell so great!

13 weeks and counting...

I am not feeling great still. This time is worse than the last with the whole pukey thing. My doctor prescribed an Anti-nausea medication but I never filled out the prescription. I wanted to look it up some before I started taking it and I found that it was developed for chemo therapy/radiation patients. The problem was that although a lot of women said it worked for them during pregnancy (about 80%) there were still not any significant studies done of the effects of the medicine on the baby. Then I came across a forum online where a mom was asking if any other moms had taken it and had children who seemed delayed. Her little boy was significantly delayed while her other children were fine(she didn't take it with them) I also read a study from New Zealand on it saying that there was not enough information on it's effects on pregnancies yet and they advised moms-to-be to avoid it.
It was also listed as a medication for women who have lost a significant amount of weight because of morning sickness (i haven't) and can't keep any food down ( I can keep about half down on bad days)
So anyway, I decided to go to my pharmacy and ask my pharmacist. He advised me not to take it. He said it was for drastic measures and that even if it made me feel better temporarily it could be having negative effects on the baby. He also said that the company who makes it has a lot of influence in the medical world. That made me decide right there and then not to take it! Plus the fact that 24 pills of the generic form was $500.00(although my insurance covers all but $6)
So now I just try and pretend that I am feeling better. I can't wait for this time to be over.
We were able to hear the baby's heart a bit ago. That was very fun...it was a fast beat.
In the beginning of November I have another appointment and will be given my Ultrasound script! Very excited about that! I'm still not showing at all, I know you show earlier in second pregnancies but I guess we still have a bit to go. I also haven't felt the little guy yet. Maybe it's a girl and that's why I am feeling so much worse this time, who knows! If it's a girl we think we are going with Evie, if it's a boy Jack Robert.....those are still up in the air as well. Evie wouldn't have a middle name just like I didn't. Evie is a variation of Eve, so it's Hebrew and has the same meaning "mother of many". I also like Ephraim and Reuben for a middle name of the boy, haven't convinced Mark on them yet though. If Asa had been a girl he would've been Sofia Avis. I like Sofie Avis better now, but I think Mark has changed his mind about the whole Sofie thing....we'll see what he thinks if it actually is a girl though.

Wolf Blitzer Interviews Ron Paul on CNN

Ron Paul is Bill Maher's New Hero

Bill Maher: Ron Paul

very interesting...

Ron Paul 2008

Maybe because I am young, or maybe because he is the radical new thing our country needs, but I am voting for Ron Paul.


You should definitely check him out! I posted a few videos, please take the time to watch them!

sea bands

wow, i don't remember feeling this under the weather when i was pregnant with Asa. I am going to keep this brief because I need sleep :) We had our first prenatal doctor's appointment today. Unfortunately we didn't hear the heart beat. I am 9 weeks as far as the doctor could tell though, so that is good news. I go back in two weeks to hear the heart beat. If we still can't hear it, then I'll get an ultrasound to determine how far along I actually am!

I bought sea bands for the acupressure...its supposed to alleviate some of the nausea, not sure if it works yet. Although I feel less like i am going to vomit but still a lot of indigestion. Oh well! Not like the whole world wants to know how my stomach is feeling LOL. (it's not like the whole world reads this blog either ;)


My house is a mess, but I feel motivated to do it....tomorrow! I will have to post after I am done with that! I've been buying ready-made dinners for the family since cooking makes me ill. It's worked out well this week. The first night we had some amazingly tasty frozen pizzas from Trader Joes. They were imported(at least one was) from Italy and you could tell it was hand tossed! It was completely organic and the veggies were sooo yummy. We also had one that had sausage and pepperoni, but they were uncured and all natural and good for you :) The best part...they only cost $4.99 each!! Which is less that I had budgeted for my shopping list with Giant. So thought I'd pass that on :)
GOODNIGHT!

nice weather

Yesterday and today have been just beautiful out! The temperature outside is great. Asa and I went to Struble Trail today with Liz. That was nice, we walked about 2.5 miles then had some lunch. On our way home I saw a blimp off in the distance. I was driving on 30 east and I could see it toward West Chester. When we got into W.C. I noticed that it said "For the IF in Life" and the other side had "Metlife" on it. So apparently that is the "Snoopy 2" blimp and I am assuming that it is on it's way to Baltimore for an NFL game this saturday. It was headed south, although it still has a few days, who knows!

The movie "Manic" was pretty good. There was alot of cursing though, and violence. It was definitely indie, i thought it was filmed well.
I think I am going to go take a nap!

this time around

So today was not eventful...or was it.

I did sleep in for once, which was nice. I haven't been able to take a nap lately. Though I am not quite sure why--my housework isn't done either. I've been busy all week but, you'd think I'd have done more things considering the time I used doing nothing when I could've been sleeping.

I feel jittery inside. I don't think it's morning sickness, but I definitely have much food aversion. I also have a LOT of indigestion :( Asa has been working on getting his eye teeth to pop through, so he's been absolutely miserable all day. I babysat his cousin this morning and Asa was so terrible the whole time. It's really not like him, so I know it's because of the teeth. But I still have to deal with it! He didn't take a nap, but rather trashed his room. Then when I let him out he did nothing but whine and SCREAM all day. I felt too out of sorts to make dinner, so Mark ordered some sandwiches. It was very helpful but I feel guilty considering our budget overages. YIKES i am complaining incessantly. Some other things happened today that were good.

Tomorrow we are going with my Aunt and her family to the Bowers Chili Pepper Festival. I think it will be fun I am interested in purchasing some neat-o peppers and pepper-related prepared foods :)

I hopefully will get to go to bed early. If I can get off of the computer, get the dishes washed, and do a load of laundry :)....and I CAN do it :) I just need to encourage myself over and over and think about how good I'll feel when I'm done!

Asa has his allergist appointment on Monday. It'll be the appointment where he gets stuck on the back with many needles. I have this numbing cream I am to rub on his back before we go and then cover with plastic wrap.
That should definitely be an interesting morning.

My brother is vacationing in California this week and it reminds me of when I went out there for a couple weeks. I told him to visit this place called the Huntington. If you ever go to the L.A. area you must visit this art museum/botanical garden it's so beautiful! I really hope my brother gets to visit it!

Oh, this whole week I was basically without a car. The low oil pressure light came on and the dealership told me not to drive it. We eventually had it towed yesterday and it turned out to be a failing battery only! For some reason when batteries die they sometimes trip the circuit to the main computer system to the car(i know i've used the wrong terminolgy) and it was switching the oil pressure light on. It was barely starting either so we had originally thought that their was something very seriously wrong with the engine. BUT....it was really nothing :) and it cost me nothing !!!!! Best part!


We're about to watch Manic I'll let you know how it is.
Goodnight

Tyler is Seven today!

Tyler's birthday celebration went really well! First we took him to two toy stores and let him pick out some toys. Then we went to his favorite restaurant "Red Robin" and had lunch with some other family members. It was very nice. They brought out a huge piece of ice cream cake and sang to him! Today is his actual birthday though, he is seven. I got some pictures, but I have to buy a universal card reader so I can put them on here. Hopefully I can get one today.

Labor day was quiet...except for the news of a new little one!!

Our car is broken so I will be with out it for who knows how long, on Thursday i am getting a loaner car. Thankfully it's under warranty so it's not going to be that bad for us!

Tonight for dinner I am going to make Chipotle Shrimp Taco with Avocado Salsa Verde

Asa is doing well. Chatting up a storm and always asking questions. When we went to the toy store the other day it was really funny because he gasped when we walked through the door then started pointing to many things and saying very emphatically "I Like That!! I Like That!"

He's also been looking at the papers that came with Tyler's action figures which show other characters to collect. He tells us which ones he wants. "Mom, I want this one. Mom I buy this one!"


I really need to start with seriously potty training him. I guess we have a bout 7 months to do this:)
At the bottom of this page you can see a little count down graphic YAY!

I better go get the day started!

catching up

I wish I could be more consistant with my blogging! We have been doing so much lately. I haven't been able to upload pictures because the cable for my camera is missing. I wish this laptop had a memory card slot like our pc--either that or Mark would let me hook our pc up to the internet!

So I wrote in my last post about driving by the set of "the Happening" at Cheyney U. Funny, but I kind of happened upon another set this past wednesday. I was visiting my baby cousin Chase for the first time, he has an older sister who is Asa's age so we took the kids to the park near his house. On our way over my Aunt said "Oh, guess what!? They are filming a movie in my neighborhood!" so I blurted out..."Is it the Happening?!" It was. We were walking across the street it was on when she said, "Do you want to check it out?" She mentioned that normally it was much more crowded and you couldn't get anywhere near it. (I SO WISH I TOOK PICTURES!) So there were a few cops sitting around the huge set. It was a crash scene where a red jeep hits a tree in a fork in the road. It's supposed to be set in Princeton NJ.--there was a lareg sign welcoming us-- it was so cool to see about 6 red jeeps all very similar looking in a row. The last two were semi-crashed, and very-crashed, one had a strange camera contraption built on top. I guess I didn't mention that we were allowed to walk right up to everything. They weren't filming at the moment so the actors and film crew were gone. The set was all ours!!!! There were some people washing a car and fixing road signs and moving superficial things around. It was really cool. The main crash tree was actually fake and we could tell from the back of it that it had bolts holding it together! There was also lighting apparatus in the large "real" tree behind it. My aunt said that her neighbor who's house would be seen in the movie was asked if they could plant a hedge around their front yard....it looked so natural, but I guess it had just been put in. The grass was also fake.

I'll add more later, it's time to go celebrate Tyler's birthday!

thoughts

Today I was thinking about a place I once was a few years back. I haven't ever felt like the way I did today about it. I always used to think I was cool because I had been to this place. I was driving down 100 reminiscing about that time and feeling my confidence build--"I was so cool". Anyway, I was thinking about how my car model wasn't even in existence back then. I felt my coolness melt away some.:) The coolness of course gaged by myself only. Time flies, life is so much better now than it was back then, but I couldn't have gotten to where I am today without going through all I did. It's amazing how much I learned and grew when I lived in the city. I was there for barely 3 months but I learned things that probably would have taken more many years to learn anywhere else. I grew up very fast. ANYWAY!(this was written wednesday 8/15)

Asa turned 2 on Sunday! We had a fun little family party I will post pictures soon.

Yesterday I drove past Cheyney University(which I basically pass when ever I drive anywhere west of here.) and noticed the overflow parking lot was full of trailers trucks and a huge tent....not to mention a huge tent. Usually there is about 5 cars in the big open lot. So it made me pretty curious. Today I drove by it again and saw even more cars and lots of people walking around. I saw a sign that read "Extras Parking" with an arrow. I figured it must be a movie...then the trailers made sense. So when I passed the scene yet again on my way home I saw a huge catering truck from California "Tony's" pull out in front of me with a paper on the dash that looked like a computer print out of a tree and the name "The Happening". Pretty exciting that it was happening literally 5 minutes from my house! WOO HOO! YAY

VBS is over

What a crazy good week that was. Lots of driving and getting up early, but very worth it. We had a great time, Tyler learned so many new songs and even practiced the hand motions in the car every day on our way to the church. I think I took some pictures: I'll post them when I get my reader and batteries charged. The theme for VBS was Avalanche Ranch, a wild ride through God's word. It was really cute. I didn't have a crew like I thought I would but I tried to stay busy helping other people. Asa actually participated in a few classes, so that was nice. It was fun getting to know people better seeing them every day all week.


Mark and I also celebrated year no. 3 last Tuesday. We didn't do much, in fact we did nothing. Mark did buy me an amazingly beautiful hot air balloon Hummingbird feeder. It was nothing I would've ever expected, but I loved it. Then he explained that the third anniversary is glass...and it meant even more to me!! He also got me a beautiful purple Lisianthus(sp) and a cactus planter with different cacti and succulants...very cool. I went out and got him a cool reading lamp with a glass shade. Then we went out for lunch on Sunday.....and that was fun :)

This week should be interesting....nothing much planned. Going to my aunts on Friday which should be nice, we're going to some farmer's market that I've been looking forward to visiting since she moved up to where she is and found it. Right now I have about 4 rooms of my tiny house to vaccuum fruity pebbles out of.

Asa is turning 2 this Sunday. We are going to have a small party for him at my parents. I really haven't planned much for it. Thank goodness mom likes to cook for crowds! I think I am going to go to party city and buy a few Nemo decorations.

Mark said he wants to go camping one weekend before the summer ends. I have to plan that too. We want to go to Elk Neck State Park, it's so much fun!

I better go vaccuum.

back

It's been a while since I've last posted because a lot has happened. We returned from our beach vacation. We bought a new car ~!! Oh and our computer crashed.


Thats of course the real reason I haven't written in a while. All is well though, we are all healthy except for a recovering double ear infection in Asa. Unfortunately he was sick throughout the vacation and let everyone know how he felt. The weather was wonderful, we all got very tan and had a very relaxing time.


The new car is awesome, it's a Honda Pilot and it's silver, we fit so well now. The friday before we left for Ocean City I was driving around doing last minute errands when my car started making a strange noise. I just started thinking about how I needed to make the long(ish) drive to the shore in it and then I started to think about how squished we would be. So I drove home and told Mark(who had the day off for school) that I would really love a new CRV. I asked him if we could run over to the Honda dealership and shop around just in case we see something to take on vacation. Well it was a crazy time but we did it! Then our trip to the beach was so LONG but comfortable. it took us 4.5 hours when it normally takes 1.5!!

Anyway we're home. Mark turned 30 last week and we surprised him with a family and close friend party at his parents. It went so nicely! After barely any notice so many of his childhood friends were able to make it for burgers and dogs and a great cake!

Tomorrow is the start of our church VBS. We have Tyler this week so it will be really nice. I am a crew leader(supposedly) but I might be doing other things instead. Hopefully Asa will do well. I am pretty excited, our church theme is Avalanche Ranch. The funny thing about that is almost every church with a VBS is doing the same theme...even in Ocean City!!

We're at my parents now after a nice church service and sunday school class. It's sunny and warm and we're probably going to swim.

The Joy of Peanut Butter

Ever since Asa turned one, and maybe even a little before, people around me have been moved to curiosity over why I won't let him have peanut butter. When I say peanut butter, I mean peanut butter crackers, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and other candies with peanuts, or any foods with the nut it in. The reason I stayed away from it though, was because I was convinced that children should wait till they're three to have peanuts, especially if they have other allergies.

Until recently I stuck to my guns about it. Today I was feeding my nephew peanut butter on toast(one of his favorite foods) and I was feeling kind of weak as to how other people around me affect me so that I change my mind on things, basically just to please them. He certainly was loving the toast though. Asa made his way over to it as well, he grabbed a piece and smeared it on his face. I told him to put it back, and that it was not his.

He has had crackers in the past few weeks with PB in them at relatives(on both sides lol) homes. I kind of just let him have it as to not make me look crazy, and also to make other people happy. (Very sad, I know)

So after Luke is done his food and I am done cleaning up the mess, I notice that Asa's face is red super bumpy with his upper lip all swollen. I freak out! I grab him and hold him, he probably thinks I am crazy. I grab my purse and dump out all the millions of business cards from the pocket of my wallet. I search through them frantically yet come out empty handed. I run over to the phone book cabinet, my hands shaking wildly. I keep thinking his throat is going to close up I won't be able to do anything about it. I find the book, and the doctor's number and quickly dial it. A busy signal?! For a doctor's office? Something is not right! I set him down on the table while I run around in aimless circles trying to think of what it is I should do. I decide to call them back, and this time it ends up victorious. "May I speak to a Nurse, or Doctor please?" I say in my most calm and sweet/cheerful voice. What's wrong with me?! Am I afraid I'll offend the receptionist if I act more emotional? After what seemed like way too much time I was answered by a nurse. She told me to give him Benedryl, call and Allergist and that if he has any breathing problems to go and pick up the Epi-pen Jr she was about to call in for me. It seems so simple in one sentence, but it actually was complicated to get those directions when the boys were both screaming bloody murder at each other and I am getting a call on the other line blocking out her speech. I also realize I don't have enough medicine. After scribbling down some allergist's numbers and hoping I got them right(especially since I completely missed their names) I realized that I had to drag two almost-two -year-old boys into the car and down to the pharmacy. I call my hubby and start to cry.


I obviously survived the ordeal. Thank God Asa's reaction mellowed out and I was able to give him Benedryl and pick up his Epi Pen. He's sleeping right now, and I feel like doing the same.

The Moral of the story: Don't be easily moved from what you think is right, just to make other people happy, comfortable or even for your own appearance.

humidity

It's amazing how a beautiful sunny day with temperatures perfectly warm can be spoiled by high humidity. I have two little toddlers today instead of just one. Maybe that's also a reason why I am sweating. Luke got here around 6:45 am and although it was earlier than expected, I was happy to have such a spontaneous start to my day. I got most of my "chores" done while he was playing with cars and Asa was sleeping. It was nice because I had more time to play with them. They did this funny thing this morning; while I was taking socks off of Asa, Luke pulled his toes to his nose, sniffed and said "EW STINKY!!" Then Asa did it and they both started laughing hysterically. It was really cute. Later on they did something else, (I think it was another bodily odor) and Luke said " EW Yucky!" then Asa and he started laughing their heads off and saying "Ew, Stinky, Yucky". It just made me think about how inherently male or female we are made...without being taught.


Is it bad for me to be using other people's photo's on my blog? If so, I won't hesitate to stop. I just figured that since it's actually a link to the original site, I have sited it enough. (that was almost a pun) I am planning on going to Wissahickon again and taking pics myself to redeem myself. Wissahickon is actually part of Fairmount Park in the city limits of Philadelphia.

I have to go food shopping today. I really dislike food shopping. Asa is usually good company though--as odd as that may seem.

I better get back to tending the boys.
Lauren

Monday

Today is Monday, Asa and my "try to get work down" day. So far it hasn't been a very efficient day though. That's my fault.
So,big surprise, we went to Wissahickon again on Saturday. This time exploring new places and witnessing to car break-ins (after the fact). That was scary. We brought my brother John with us and hiked about 9 miles. I forgot to unload my camera so we didn't get any pictures :(

I got these pictures from the Internet, someones Flikr page, but these are some things we saw on our hike. The Indian is a Lenape and the bridge is the only covered bridge in any major city in our country(Wissahickon is in city limits).

Mark's car also broke down this weekend. I am so ready to trade it in. We need to get it fixed though and then try and sell it on our own so we can get more for it. We were looking at the a new Honda CR-V then some used Honda Pilots and a Toyota Highlander. I would prefer a larger car to a smaller one, but we'll see how it goes when we go shopping this week.

The fourth of July is coming up, two days away, and less then two weeks till our family vacation to the beach, I am so excited. I believe we are going to my parents for a BBQ on the fourth.
The weather has been absolutely amazing the past two days. Very comfortable and clear. The humidity is almost non-exist ant.

I am so upset. Our basement is gross. I don't even want to go down there. It's very moldy and there are these flying bugs down there--a bunch of them swarm the lights when I go down to get my laundry. I can't wait for these problems to be fixed, it's very disgusting. Hopefully the landlord will take it seriously.


Well Asa is doing well, yesterday he heard Tyler ask for drink and then he said "I...Have....Juice...mom?" I was very impressed :)Usually he just says "More Juice..please"


Well I am going to go now and make this inefficient day of mine do a 360 :)


Lauren

wifehood

It's interesting to think about how much our life has changed since I stopped working. Although I really liked my job, I couldn't imagine running this household while working outside of it! I don't know how I did it. Except things weren't as organized, and we weren't as happy. Sometimes people ask me if I am bored or unhappy staying at home with Asa full time, but I feel the complete opposite. I love being here with him and keeping the house in good order and having dinner ready for Mark when he gets home.
I remember in college a class I took about life, honestly I don't know what the point of it was. I do remember one class when we looked at how the history of women's jobs has changed in the past century. My class was all women students and the teacher was a middle-aged woman who was just finding herself after divorcing her husband, moving in with her new "lover",getting a tattoo and a "real" job. She was very nice, very sweet to everyone, but the class in particular about persuaded and thinking, "I can't believe what society expected of women---it was so degrading and unequal, to think that people lived to run a household only!" Even after having Asa I still wanted to keep working and having "worth" in this society, and more "equality" with my husband. (Although in my heart all I wanted to do was be with my baby all day). Little bits her point of view rubbed off on me and only recently have I written them off as false.

This job is so valid and important and challenging and rewarding and wonderful! I love it. I think it's equally important to making money outside the home. Some of the things in the past weren't great but history gets progressively better and more civilized, right? I guess I'll just try not to repeat the bad things.

I am honestly blessed not to HAVE to work outside the home. I know many women can't and that's just the way their lives turned out and that's ok but I feel that ultimately it's best for me to be here.

Anyway, we've had a busy 10 days swimming and having fun. Asa has really started to feel more independent when swimming, and potty training has been going well. Last Saturday we went back to Wissahickon and started at the North end, we walked about 3.5 miles before we had to head back. My birthday was on Sunday, I'm 23. We had a nice weekend celebrating and I feel so blessed to have so many loving people in my life. I believe we will be swimming again today, it's been in the high 90's the past couple days.

Tai Chi on a dead tree

Our family had a wonderful time on Saturday at Wissahickon Creek part of Fairmount Park. We hiked for about 3 hours. It was great weather, warm but the trees created shade and a cool breeze. We started at Valley Green Restaurant and headed south down to the Walnut Lane bridge, which is a historical 157foot tall bridge that was opened in 1908. It's made out of concrete and very marvelous to look at! The creek is in a gorge with tall trees on either side. It's windy and interesting the entire way down. The area used to be industrial back in the 1800's but is now just ruins of beautiful stone walls and wagon paths. It's definitely a must-see for hikers. On our way back we crossed over the creek and took a different path. It was beautiful and easy going until we got to a huge rock that jetted out into the creek. It was very slanted and scary to climb over, but what was even worse was when we got to the top we realized we had to cross a finger suspension bridge that crossed a gap between the rock and another about 18 feet away. It was cool because we weren't expecting that kind of adventure. The nice thing about the park is that it's 450 acres and though we've been there twice and spent hours, we have seen only a small percentage of all the attractions and secrets the valley holds. The reason for the title of this blog is while we were walking along "Forbidden Drive" we saw a big old tree laying across 95% of it. Apparently it had just fallen(before we arrived at the park though) and the Park Ranger was in front of it with his bike calling in people to clear it. But the strange thing about the ordeal was the three people standing on the tree. They were in sunbeams and moving at the pace of snails with branches in their arms. I thought it was some pagan naturist thing but it also seemed like they were dancing. The best way to describe it was some sort of Tai Chi, but it could have been a joke. After we passed we saw a video camera sitting on a fence toward them. Very strange.

A very unconventional Fathers Day: Mark went fishing down at Long Port, NJ last night from 4:30, and he came home around 4am. We did have a nice time while he was home though, first at church and then at home relaxing.

Since I had the boys for a few hours last night I took them to another park down the street, we call it "wooden park" but it has another name. It's just so much fun for the kids because the play set goes on and on and on with so many different things to climb, slide, jump on and more. Mark has off today and we are looking for something fun to do today as well.

I got an early birthday present last night Guitar Hero for 360. I already beat the game in Medium and boy am I loving it!

perfect temperature

It's a perfect temperature out right now. Crazy that I don't have the windows open. I've spent way too much time on the internet today trying to figure out how to tweak my blog. Sadly, it's been wasted time as I still haven't found what I wanted.
Lately I've been feeling dull. I want to spice up my life. I think we need to go away for an adventure, far enough away that you'd need to fly. Hopefully for our 3rd anniversary (July 31st) we'll be able to go away. Our family vacation is just a few weeks away. We'll be going to Ocean City NJ. I am very excited about that! Hopefully the weather will be perfect. This was us last year on the boardwalk.

still new

Today Asa's Cousin came over for a playdate. It's so cute watching them interact, although Asa can get kinda grabby. We had a nice time and had lunch too. Afterwards we went down the street to a shopping center. We went into Pottery Barn and had a hard time maneuvering around with a double stroller, a sales associate said, "Oh no, double trouble" I retorted back, "Double-Stroller trouble" I moved a couple pieces of furniture out of the way so that Christy could get down the side aisle and it worked. We took our time looking in that aisle and Christy picked up a metal-like decorative ball and said "Luke broke one of these last time we were here" and I kid you not, as she was still finishing her sentence Asa had reached over to the boxes holding glass jars of scented oil and knocked one to the floor. I didn't even realize it was leaking out until after I said, "Asa broke one of these today" It was kinda funny, in a bad way. The sales associate who I called for help was very nice and understanding. I still smell like that Wisteria scented oil now.


At the end of last winter Tyler started playing Hockey on Saturdays. Although he hasn't been for maybe two months he's still planning on doing more this summer. It's so adorable to watch him and all the other little guys (and girls) out on the ice. He's fortunate to have lots of family member who play and come with us and help out. Grandma and Grandpa are always there. He's improved substantially throughout these few months.
He's the one in the orange blocking the goal on the first picture and skating toward it in the second.

today

Asa needs to go for a nap. I need to turn Keane off. I need a haircut. I am making meatloaf and mashed potatoes for dinner. I wish I had the Green with Envy frozen veggie mix from Trader Joe's to go with our meal.

I've gotten to Ruth in my reading so far this year. I am behind in schedule of reading the entire bible in one year but I am still plowing ahead nonetheless. At first I tried to go by a chronological schedule on
but then I fell behind and almost gave up, feeling overwhelmed. Somehow I decided to change who I am and keep going anyway even though I am behind. It's feels great now, not like a chore, and I get more out of reading!

Real quickly, whoever thinks the God of the old testament is harsh and scary and unforgiving...hasn't really read the old testament. I find him a fair loving and graceful God. He gave his people more than enough chances even though they all deserved death! It only makes sense that Christ would come from(and be) this kind of God. Before I read the old testament(or some of it) thoroughly I always felt that the God of the old testament really was scary and irrational. It was a thorn in my side when I tried to make sense of my faith sometimes. I feel so blessed and happy and spoken to through these few months of studying.

Here are some pictures of my boys at a recent church picnic!

victoree24

#1 I know this is silly, especially for someone who dislikes beer(except for one specific kind "Old Horizontal") But if anyone knows me well, they know I am associated closely with the name Victoree24. The Victory Brew Company is pretty local and I want the owner to name a new brew after me. I think it would be so cool, not necessary but cool.

#2 I googled Victoree24 and found an old message board that I started back in 1999. It was for poetry and has a few of my early poems on it. Still with my old profile attached. It's untouched after all these years and it was like a time capsule. It intrigued me to see it. I totally didn't expect or remember it! Check it out.

#1 Car Ride

Hi, I am pretty sure I had a blogspot page before, be it got lost in the world of people stealing passwords and accounts getting deleted and money being transferred from paypal...blah blah blah..anyway I love to read blogs, so I figured I would start one up. Once in a while I blog on myspace, but this is something I'd like to use more frequently and keep up to date! I will be trying to figure out how I can format this and use HTML etc. Hopefully it will keep me more inclined to take photo's off of my camera to keep pictures I post current! Hopefully it will keep my brain challenged and keep me writing things whether poetry, essays or journal entries. I love to write and am going to use this outlet, YAY!
When I was driving today I put together thoughts that were racing through my mind I decided then that I would form them into a poem because they meant something to me. The following is an extremely rough and first copy of them as I get them from my head to anything else. Enjoy.


I am driving down the beautiful roads leading from my house to a friends.
I have the music blaring, Mat Kearney sharing, and my son is content.
I think deeply when I drive longer-than-than-normal trips.
I was lost in the beauty of the trees and hills and flowers and sunniness.
Then I saw a brand new car, that looked so incredibly modern
It reminded me of the future in my mind when I was a child.
I was surrounded by homes, way too close together.
They were too big and too adorned with decor that was just for status.
I wondered how much per square foot each home around me cost
Then I wondered how much less someone would need to live comfortably
and what good someone could do with the difference.
I felt kinda down, kinda sad that people are so wasteful.
Everything we have is so of the future, the cars the toys--everything
Then I saw a boy, and my face lit up
My heart felt light and I came to a stop
He was hopping over a guardrail with a fishing pole in hand
He was dressed oversized boys clothes and cap
he made me so happy to see he could be happy in this modern age with simple fun
something people have done since the beginning of time.


That's what I got. I'll fix it eventually. I will also keep adding to my movie's to watch list.
Goodnight!