Garage Sales

I have just recently discovered the joy of garage sales. In the past week I have spent $20.00 and have added the following items to our "play and learn" collection:

• Leap pad with 3 books - great for playing with in the vehicle
• 2 arts and crafts book by Judy Press - gives lots of great ideas with simple instructions and pictures to follow
• Winnie the Pooh set of books 
• Caterpillar with fine-motor activities - buttoning, doing up a zipper, belt loop, snaps and velcro
• Progressive puzzle set from Discovery toys - 6 puzzles which range from 4 pieces to 12 pieces

That's the bet $20.00 that I've spent for a long time.

New countertops

So eventually after saving up for a long time as well as long deliberations we eventually had new countertops installed in our kitchen and bathrooms. The old ones were "salmon" in colour (read "pink") and so we really needed to update them. So here is the finished look:

Fireman Fred !!

Jed is at the age where he likes to dress up and play "make believe". His favorite roles to play include being a pirate and a fireman. Here are some pictures of him dressed up as a fireman. He even went to the playground this afternoon dressed with his winter boots, gloves, fireman coat and helmet so that he could slide down the "fireman's pole". He is quite good at doing it independently but this afternoon there were other kids there and he was so busy watching them that he almost stepped off the landing - thank goodness he caught himself in time as he was 8 ft. high. I don't think that his fireman helmet would've helped.

Birthdays

In the past month we have celebrated two birthdays. Jed turned three years old on 27 January and we celebrated by having some friends over. Darryl made a "pirate ship" cake and Jed was really proud of it. When it came to eat the cake, all the pirates had to walk the plank and land in the ocean. Here are some pictures:

Joshua's birthday was on 21 February and he turned one year old. He also celebrated his birthday with a novelty cake. He really seems to love all types of dogs and will always point them out in books. He especially loves our dog, Emma and always gets excited and says "ma" when he sees her. So Darryl made Joshua a "puppy dog" cake.

Where were you born ?

Yesterday, Jed and I were talking about Joshua's upcoming first birthday. We spoke about the fact that Joshua he was born in the hospital. Then I asked Jed where he was born. He said, "I was  born in a stable."
I think that he still remembers the nativity story quite well but is getting confused with some details ...
Another example of this confusion is when he said to me on the weekend that he disobeyed God. I thought that he would say something about a normal childish misdemeanor but instead he said: "I didn't go to Ninevah". Obviously we have read the Jonah bible story and the the Veggietales Jonah movie too many times.

Fight back with love...

I really been having a hard week this past week in terms of parenting and discipline issues. But yesterday, I read this blog entry and it has really made me think about how to love unconditionally.  Loving unconditionally is hard and I'm struggling with it. The results of fighting sin with love are however much better than than fighting sin with sin.

A little tabasco sauce !

Recently our family has been having some trouble. A little individual in our family has just developed some 3 year old "attitude". He will often answer instructions by saying "okaaaay" with a rather cheeky tone of voice. He also will tell adults "Don't look at me !!!" for no reason at all apart from being 3 years old. We have explained that it is not kind to talk "ugly" to people and we have said that it makes people's hearts sad when they hear children talking ugly. We have also implemented time-outs but with no avail. Then today I thought that maybe a little tabasco sauce might help a 3 year old remember not to talk ugly to people. So after he shouted at me for an arbitrary shortcoming, I said that I had something that would help him not to talk ugly. He was all keen to try the tabasco sauce but after tasting it he immediatly rinsed his mouth. The attitude has diminished greatly already but this next week will see if Tabasco will help cure our little issue.

What to post ?

It's been quite a while since I've posted on my blog as I've lacked some inspiration. Still don't have any inspiration but just thought that it's time to write again. Today at "Mom's & Munchkins" (a mom's group at a local church) a lady read a very thought provoking quote. Some one asked Mother Theresa what she suggested would contribute to world peace and she answered: "Everyone should go home and love their family". I really love this outlook. It's so simple. So my family is getting a whole lot of loving today ...