The Prodigal Son- Win!

Christmas is magical for my girls. I love the anticipation, the excitement, and the joy they display when seeing the gifts Christmas morning. Of course opening gifts is also fun. They tend to love the cheap dollar store gifts as much as the expensive gifts. Matthew is just content looking at his hands.

I've included a picture of Erik's dad's train setup. It is multilevel and very cool. The girls get so excited they jump up and down when he runs the train. Sarah continually asks to see it, and Jenna likes to climb underneath the tables. Again, Matthew is more interested in eating his hands.

Because I love lists and this is the time we remember the birth of our Savior. I have composed a list of my top 10 favorite parables of Jesus.

1. The Prodigal Son. Luke 15:11-32. This is an amazing story. It really shows God's forgiveness. The song "When God Ran" by Benny Hester makes me cry every time I hear it.
2. The Persistent Widow. Luke 18:1-8. It tells me "keep praying." There are many things I've been praying for that I'm not sure will ever happen (ie, the end of abortion). But God says be persistent. So I will. Note: Erik empathizes with the judge in this one due to having a 3 and 6 year old (yes...you can have another snack just leave me alone).
3. The Pharisee and the Tax Collector. Luke 18:9-14. Pride can happen to anyone but a humble heart is what God desires. It is so easy to become prideful - we must constantly guard ourselves against it. (For those who read the Way of Kings - we need some humblespren).
4. The Good Samaritan. Luke 10:29-37. Not only is this a good story to show who is your neighbor, but it is a story telling us we should help those in need. Whether their car is broken on the side of the road or they are stranded somewhere. We can offer help.
5. The Lost Sheep. Matthew 18:10-14. This story is similar to the Prodigal Son in that it shows how much God cares for each of us. He is willing to go and find the lost sheep. He is the great shepherd.
6. The Sower. Matthew 13:1-23. Your heart must be open to hearing the Word when it is presented to you so that it can take root and flourish in your heart. Sometimes I think I need miracle grow.
7. Laborers in the Vineyard. Matthew 20:1-16. The laborers all receive the same salary even though some worked longer than others. This is good news for all of us - we are still valued by God even though we are not salting it up like Billy Graham.
8. Pearl of Great Price. Matthew 13:45-46. This parable is about the kingdom of Heaven. The pearl is worth far more than everything you own. Maybe you also need a bucket to carry the pearl. Hey I have one!
9. The Invited Guests. Luke 14:7-24. In this parable, Jesus tells his disciples to sit at a less honored spot when attending a dinner rather than taking the best place for themselves. Another parable about humility.
10. The Speck and the Log. Luke 6:37-42. This parable blasts all the hypocrites for their hypocrisy. I know I would be in that category too.

That's my list. Erik was dismayed to find that the parable of the Ten Talents was not on the list but I've never liked that one as much as other parables.

In a few days the brothers and their wives and Erik's parents will be here. I can't wait! Gaming and family and food! Mostly gaming!

45 points on Quiddler. I got stuck with the V and D!

McDonalds FTW!

Matthew is 6 months old. We took the obligatory baby/horse picture so you could notice his growth. He is HUGE! The outfit he is wearing is a 12 month outfit. The arms and legs are a little long but it is tight when snapping his onesie.

I also took some pictures of the girls in ballet. I'm amazed at the disparity between the classes. Sarah's class is doing basic jumps whereas Jenna's class does all these French-named moves (obviously Mommy doesn't know all the ballet words).

Erik and I have gone on an adventure the past two weeks. It has been a tough adventure - taste testing caramel mochas. We have gone to several places and bought a medium caramel mocha and rated them. Then we calculated the quality/price ratio to see which medium caramel mocha was the best. You will be surprised by the results (assuming you actually care).

McDonalds has the best taste/price ratio in both Erik and my opinion. What we were most surprised about is how good Caribou coffee is and how not good Tim Hortons was.

So now we have proof that if a cup of coffee is what you want McDonalds has the best deal in town.

I had been in the mood to do a taste test but all my ideas were shot down by Erik (really, what is wrong with getting a bunch of different apples and trying them to see which one is the best??)

81 points on Quiddler today.

My sheep and my angel

Unless you are ready for some SERIOUS cute do not click on this link: Christmas play featuring Sarah. Here is another one featuring Jenna. In this Christmas play Jenna was an angel and Sarah was a sheep. You will notice in the first video the only little kid dancing around and bouncing was Sarah. I laughed out loud! Jenna is way in the corner where it is a little dark. But you can see her singing in the second video.

Every year we make a gingerbread house together. This year we had a fun time and made a big mess which = fun time. See picture. Matthew should participate next year :).

With Christmas approaching I obviously was thinking of my favorite spices/herbs. I didn't include salt or pepper as a spice but looking back - maybe they should be.

1. Basil. Need I say more. I love all types of basil and think I should add it to every dish.... pasta, cheesecake, chocolate chip cookies - anything
2. Cinnamon. There's something about cinnamon and sugar together that brings you back home.
3. Garlic. I'm not sure if it counts as a spice but pair it with basil and some parmesan cheese and I'm in heaven
4. Rosemary. Rosemary foccacia bread - really is there anything better?
5. Cayenne pepper. I put this on my pasta. It add just the right amount of kick to relatively bland pasta.
6. Nutmeg. Nothing is the same without nutmeg and you only need a little for it to spice up any recipe.
7. Cilantro. I've made salsa with and without cilantro. Cilantro makes salsa yum!
8. Mint. Fresh mint really enhances about any dish - it's not just for dessert.
9. Dill. I just finished making shallot dill bread. It was so good.
10. Oregano. Pair this with basil and you've got a fabulous combination. Definitely a winner!

80 points on quiddler today!

Party on Sarah!

Sarah's birthday party at Recreations Outlet was a success. Several kids came to the party (along with a surprising number of Daddies!) and the kids enjoyed playing on all the equipment. Sarah loves trampolines and here is an action shot of her jumping on one. She also had fun pushing Emmerich and Grant in the tire swing. Yes all 27 lbs of her - pushing the other two kids!

Matthew has been sick. Early November we took him to the ped for wheezing and he had a breathing treatment and was given amoxicillin. On Tuesday of this week I took him back because he was wheezing. He was given two breathing treatments. These take 20 minutes. So I was crammed in this little room with 3 kids for 2 hrs. AAAAAH!

I eventually had to leave before they gave him the third breathing treatment (had to teach) but I was sent home with a prescription for albuterol. Yesterday I went to the ped and he had two ear infections. The ped said if he comes back with wheezing he will be diagnosed with asthma. My poor little guy.

I'm worried about him although I'm not sure if Erik is worried. For example, I called Erik on the way home from teaching the other night. Erik said as he was holding Matthew and he got worried. I immediately thought, "oh no - he was breathing ragged, wheezing, coughing, what happened??!!??". Erik finished his sentence to say he heard rumbling down below and thought he'd have to change a really nasty diaper. Really?? The baby is wheezing and you care about diapers? Oh my!

In other news:

1. I finished the Conqueror's trilogy by Timothy Zahn. This was a fun sci-fi trilogy. The story is easy to read, not bloody or graphic and you began to care about the characters - even the aliens :).
2. I am in the fourth book of the Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone by Greg Keyes. I love this series and can't wait to find out how it comes together.
3. I am also reading Brisingr by Christopher Paolini. This book is something I've picked up numerous times but haven't finished. It starts out very bloody and the main character (Eragon) is a little whiney. However I do want to read it.
4. Besides reading we are also baking. I love holiday eating! The girls and I have been baking. Although when they bake mostly they eat the ingredients - yes they eat plain butter!
5. Erik bought me a new computer for Christmas. It is a wonderful gift - much better than the bucket I got him. However I have not copied over my data yet. In fact, I was looking at my data. I never copied it over from my previous computer. I just set up a mapped drive. Wow - that's laziness to the max. So rather than copying over all my data this time, I set up a mapped drive to my computer with its other mapped drive. I wonder how many times I'll do this.
6. 63 points on quiddler today - I lost the o and v.
   
   

Sock Money

Often I berate myself over stupid things I've said or done in the past. In fact, I go over these situations in my mind quite frequently. I'm not sure why I torture myself this way - you'd think I could let it go.

For example, in high school I was a nerd. Plain and simple. Glasses + braces + marching band + top academic student + spent nights reading sci-fi = nerd. Even so, I still wanted to impress the seniors especially the senior trombone player in marching band.

Well he was collecting money to give a gift to our band director. As he was collecting money I realized the only money I had was the money in my sock.

Let me explain something. Marching band uniforms are not absolutely flattering nor do they have a lot of pockets. So the only place I was able to store extra emergency money was my sock.

Oh yea....sexy!

Well without thinking, I flagged down the senior trombone player to give him my money for the band director and reached into my sock to pull it out for him. I handed him my yucky sock money and watched in horror as he gingerly held it with a look of disgust and said "umm...thanks?".

Oops.

53 points - terrible!

Gift Fail

So I'm officially the worst wife in the world.

I had planned on getting Erik the Google tablet for Christmas. However all of the reviews I read said that the cheaper ones (the ones I was considering) didn't work well. I thought I'd wait a few years to get him a good one.

Next I thought about getting Erik a nice sword. He likes swords, knives and other sharp implements. I found a replica of one of Drizzt's scimitars but it was a little expensive. I was looking for a replica of the sword of truth since we just read that book(or even a shardblade!) but couldn't find one reasonably priced.

So I bought him a bucket.

Booyah!

I found it on Amazon listed under "gifts men would like". After it came in the mail I realized that I bought him a bucket. Epic fail.

Today my present came in the mail. The box said "ibuypower". Yes. Erik bought me a new computer! It is a dual core 64bit Windows 7 awesome to the max computer.

And I bought him a bucket.

I'll trade my good wife card in now!

Edit:
Happy to oblige Jon!

Thanksgiving foods

Matthew turned 5 months old Nov.20. So I had to snap the obligatory stuffed animal picture. He is starting to grab toys and play with rattles now. He's so adorable! The girls now (especially Sarah) shove toys in his hands for him to play with. Play with this...play...PLAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Poor Matthew.

Thanksgiving is coming up on Thursday and since it has been awhile since I've posted a top ten list, I've decided to write my top ten favorite Thanksgiving foods that we have at my parents house.

1. Sweet potato casserole - courtesy of Amanda - yum!

2. Rigatoni and meatballs - yes this is Thanksgiving food!!

3. Wedding soup - again, a staple at our house for Thanksgiving

4. hoho cake - duh

5. Stuffing - the only time of year I eat it

6. Turkey - surprisingly the side dishes beat the main event for me!

7. Rolls - my mom buys yummy rolls and I slather them with butter

8. Cranberry sauce - I am one of those people who does like the cranberry sauce in a can that you dump out and it is still in that shape

9. Mushrooms - my Mom has been sauteeing mushrooms for Thanksgiving. I just love them!

10. Salad - why is this on the list beating pumpkin pie? I like the salad and the dressing my parents have!

So that's my list. What is on your list?

I got -10 points today on Quiddler. I was left with QKDGZNR. There are NO words that can be made with that!

Yummy Oatmeal!

Matthew squeaks. We have come to this realization. Here is a video of him squeaking. In fact, he squeaks most of the time rather than crying. Erik thinks I might have spliced some pig DNA into him (he is rather chunky) but I assured him that no, Matthew's DNA came from us (whether or not that is a good thing....)

We fed Matthew his first taste of solid food.

Here is a picture of Matthew trying his first bite of oatmeal.















And that's what he thought of it:

















Tears. Screaming. Not quite so successful but we'll keep trying.

In other news:

1. Erik and I have decided to start P90X. This is a workout program in which you workout every day. Ummm....okay. We have 3 kids and I'm teaching 5 classes. We are trying but it isn't happening every day. Plus I like to shake it at my hip hop class.
2. Erik and I are really enjoying the Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson.
3. Jenna has been writing sentences like crazy. Just a few months of school has been amazing for her. She wrote "the prisess wor a long slevdress". She sounded it out herself and was able to determine the letters based on the sounds. I couldn't believe she did that. It was incredible! School has been great for her.
4. Jenis Ice Cream now has a location down the road from us. This will cancel out our P90x workouts.
5. I also have to post this video of Sarah and Matthew "talking". At least they get along!
6. 75 points on Quiddler today. I didn't realize SER was a word!
   

Abstract Art

The girls and I were playing games the other day and Jenna made a flower in the rain out of dominoes. I thought it was very creative so I took a picture of it. Then I said to Jenna, "great abstract art Jenna!" Her response, "it's not abstract Mommy because it is a picture of something." Right. Apparently the 5 year old knows more about art than me.

Next we started to play a game that I and I alone like. No one else seems to like this game so I tried to teach it to my girls. It's called Set. It's lots of fun if it doesn't give you a headache. The girls had more fun sorting the cards than playing set. Maybe someday I'll actually get to play....

We gave Matthew oatmeal to eat on Monday. He screamed. Sometime I'll snap a picture when he actually enjoys eating solid food. For the most part - he's the smiliest baby ever (unless you are giving him oatmeal).

If I wasn't teaching 5 classes and had free time, I would be reading A LOT. Towers of Midnight by Brandon Sanderson/Robert Jordan just came out. I also have the Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, the Blood Knight by Greg Keyes, Conquerors Legacy by Timothy Zahn, and Percy Jackson the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan that I'm reading now. I'm excited about all of the books since they are all good.

89 points on Quiddler today and I made the word "nothing"!

The Healthy Team

One of my kids didn't want to eat any candy because she wants to be on the "healthy team." The other one didn't want to eat dinner, just candy. Can you guess which one is which? Yes - Sarah is a girl after my own heart. Mmmm....candy.

I took the girls trick-or-treating tonight and left Matthew and Daddy at home so Erik could watch football pass out candy to the kids.

I started teaching last week. I have 5 classes this semester and it is rough. I've been up until 1am every night and I think it will be like that this entire 8 weeks. I'm not sure why my first semester back had to be so rough. I hope I survive!

Fortunately I have a wonderful husband who supports my job and helps me as much as possible. He has let me sleep in Friday and Saturday while he got all three kids breakfast and dressed. Something as small as that makes me happy.

Which brings me to an idea. I would like to buy him a Google Tablet for Christmas. I've been thinking about it for awhile and since he has been so awesome I thought for sure it would be a great present. But then, he never goes anywhere (literally...nowhere) so would it be useful for him? Would he really benefit from it or would I use it more? He sits in front of his computer all day. I'm not sure if I should get it or not. What do you think my vast readership?

78 points on quiddler today!

Hi Ho Hi Ho It's Off to Work I go!

Today was my first day back to work. It was bittersweet. While I taught two online classes last semester, this semester I am teaching two online and three onsite classes. It's really a lot for me and I hope I survive.

The first thing I noticed about going back to work is that my shoes don't fit anymore. My feet must have swollen big time when I was pregnant with Matthew.

Now that my feet are more normal size my shoes are falling off of them. Bummer. I'm not into shopping, especially for shoes. I may have to turn in my girl card because I will probably just have Erik pick up a pair of black flats at Meijer.

Probably the saddest part of going back to work is that Erik and I will not be able to play Agricola every night. We play so often that our 2 year old asks us at random times who is starting player. Back to regular hobbies I guess.

The girls dressed up for ballet today. These pictures I took with my fancy new droid phone. Sarah is in the yellow duck costume and Jenna is Cinderella in the pictures. The pictures didn't come out that great but you can see some of the other kids in the class too. Both of them absolutely LOVE ballet! If I could - I would enroll in the hip hop class they offer :).

We just finished week 5 of our 6 week Go Fish Bible study by Andy Stanley. I think he's a great speaker and his studies always spark good discussion. After the new year we will start another study. Erik and I discussed doing one of these two: Seven Pillars of Healthy Living or Christianity, Cults, and Religion. The first study sounds like it will make me feel guilty for eating chocolate and not exercising enough and the second sounds like I'll learn about all different religions of the world. They both sound good - so we'll see what the rest of the small group wants to do.

75 points on Quiddler today!

Beauty and the Beast

Our friends Aaron and Michele had their little girl 5 days ago. Her name is Vina and Matthew and I wanted to visit her (well mostly I wanted to visit her - Matthew just goes where I go). As you can see from the picture of Matthew and Vina he is about 20 times her size! Yesterday he turned 4 months old and I snapped his picture with the horse.

He's so big that I missed his feet in the picture. I might have to get Erik to help with the pictures.

Matthew has been smiling and laughing ALL the time. Here is a video of Sarah and Matthew smiling. The girls absolutely adore him!


Yesterday Erik and I played squash, came home and put the kids to bed. Then we played agricola (I lost), next we read and discussed Gardens of the Moon. What a cool husband! We both like the same things and have so much fun together!

I did terrible on quiddler today: 60 pts, but they let me use pern. How cool is that?

Sparkly October

Happy 4th of July...or October? We had some sparklers left over from the 4th of July so the girls played with them in October. The house is still standing and no one suffered any burns so it was successful. Even Matthew enjoyed it. I snapped a picture of him smiling at Jenna.




Our garden hasn't produced very many veggies for us this year. It has been rather disappointing. One of the problems is that we see deer almost every day eating our garden. Erik took a picture of the deer but usually they run away before we can get a picture of them eating our garden. They must have amazing hearing since they can hear us get the camera inside our house!


In other news:

1. I am reading the Blood Knight, book 3 of Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone by Greg Keyes. This is an excellent series. I love the story, the writing, and the characters. He ends his chapters like Martin - always tantalizing you for more.
2. Erik and I are still trudging through Gardens of the Moon. It is starting to get pretty good but since we read it together, it's been hard to find time for both of us to read without kids.
3. I start back to work next week.
4. It looks like I'll be teaching 3 onsite classes and 2 online classes. This to me is a lot even if I wasn't just coming back from maternity leave. It will be a tough semester but hopefully I will survive.
5. To help myself get organized I've started listing what I will accomplish everyday in three areas: cooking, cleaning, and work. It has helped me somewhat organize myself. I need all the help I can get.
6. 65 on quiddler today - no bonuses!

10-10-10

Today is 10-10-10! How cool is this? We should celebrate - I'm not sure how. But definitely celebrate (there is always a reason to celebrate!!). Maybe we can go out for ice cream or something. That is definitely a celebration!

Even though I got a new camera, the two pictures I'm posting don't look that great. The girls were outside playing in the leaves. The backyard is resplendent with fall colors. Yet my camera did not capture it well. The girls had great fun though.

I also posted a picture of the green beans and peppers I made. The dish doesn't look great but I promise it was colorful and yummyful! I adapted a recipe from taste of home to make pepper butter. I used:

Half a red pepper, half an orange pepper and half a yellow pepper diced. I sauteed them in butter until tender. Then in a food processor I put two softened sticks of butter, 3 tblsp of lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste, 1/4 cup pine nuts, and the sauteed peppers. It made a delicious pepper butter.

Then I cooked up some green beans and sliced red, yellow, and orange peppers and tossed them with the pepper butter. It was fantastic! It actually was very pretty even though you can't tell from the picture.
I served this dish at Bible study last Tuesday night along with cheesy mashed potatoes and brats. Delicious!

The other day I was singing "what if his people prayed" by Casting Crowns. Erik mentioned to me that the song is inaccurate and should actually be "what if his people prayed 10% more" since his people do pray, but not enough. Fortunately though, the majority of the people listening to the song are not my husband and can actually understand the message :).

Erik and I are still playing Agricola every night. It hasn't gotten old. In fact, we are always trying to do better. Last night we scored 103 points between us (53-50) which is a pretty high scoring Agricola game!

40 points on Quiddler today!

My princess' thrones

The girls decided they wanted thrones. Since they are princesses - obviously! At first I suggested the toilet (thinking...throne, haha).

Erik quickly helped me see the error of my ways. So I left the room. When I came back to the playroom, they had constructed their own thrones on the couch. OSHA would not be pleased.

They are definitely princesses.

And they are also great Mommies to Matthew. He LOVES them! He is so alert now and smiling all the time. Check out this awesome video of him smiling:

He however seems to prefer Mommy. Today I was at Walmart and Erik frantically called because Matthew would not drink his bottle. He calmed down when I got there and picked him up.

I also posted a picture of the salted dark chocolate chip cookies I made. Yum! I made my regular nestle toll house cookie recipe (on the back of the bag + 1/4 cup flour) and added 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1 tsp of vanilla. Then I sprinkled sea salt over the cookies before baking. They were delicious but could have used more sea salt. I will need to experiment (and eat the results!).

88 points on Quiddler today. The last word I made was "ending". What a perfect ending!!

My child has no fear.

Sarah is now in swimming lessons at the Worthington Rec Center. She loves it but Mommy is a little stressed out.


Let's just say Sarah had to be rescued from the deep end by a life guard. The girl has NO FEAR!

She loves it though and that's the most important thing.

In other news:

1. I got my new Droid. It's so wonderful. I've had it for a week and I can't go back. A data plan is just too awesome. I can search the internet from anywhere. Because it is too much work to walk to my computer sometimes.
2. I just finished the Thorn by Beverly Lewis and am reading the Charnel Prince by Greg Keyes and Gardens of the Moon (still...this book does not move fast) by Stephen Erikson and the third book of the Conquerors trilogy by Timothy Zahn. I stopped reading Searoad by Ursula K. Leguin. It was good but I needed to take it back to the library.
3. Our Bible study started up again on Tuesday nights. We are doing the Go Fish study by Andy Stanley and the first week talked about the verse where Jesus says he will make us "fishers of men". Thinking about it now, I wonder why they just dropped everything to follow him. It's pretty cool - I wish I did that.
4. I went to the Pregnancy Decision Health Center fundraiser on Thursday night. Carol Everett spoke and she was incredible. She was a former abortionist who God called out of the industry. She also had an abortion several years ago and talked about the effects it had on her whole family. Everyone missed that child. It's very hard to hear stories like that. I'm still not sure why our country allows the torture and murder of unborn children.
5. I was left with i,z,j,c,u,i,u in Quiddler. Now how am I supposed to make any words out of that? I made the word "cuz" and that was it. I only got 61 points today.
   

Rainbow Cake!

Matthew is 3 months old! These three months were a blur for all of us except Matthew. He is huge; at 3 months he is in size 3 diapers, the same diapers Sarah can wear at 2 1/2 years old. He is smiling now and there's nothing better than his toothless smiles.

On Tuesday our small group started up again. To celebrate the new Bible study year I made a rainbow cake (pictured). I used two white cake mixes and added some food coloring for the rainbow colors. Then I frosted it with cream cheese frosting. Yum. It was cute and fun. I've also included a picture of Sarah "helping" by making a huge mess with the cake.

Since we are still playing Agricola every night, we've decided to purchase our own copy so we don't bend up Tim and Jen's cards and all that. It's something we look forward to like fall or Christmas or pumpkin muffins from Starbucks.

56 points on Quiddler today - terrible!

Carrots and Renovation

I have not posted in a few weeks. One may assume it is because I have started teaching online again, or because I am busy with three kids, or because I am diligently cleaning my house, or that I am looking for additions to my rock collection.

None of these assumptions are correct.

Every night, sometimes twice a night, Erik and I are playing Agricola. We are addicted to this game. We try new strategies every time we play and haven't gotten bored with it yet. Tonight I beat Erik 52-48 (although the one pictured was a different game that I won). I highly recommend this for any gamers!


Last weekend Erik took the girls to the renaissance festival. For some reason, Jon has a carrot in his nose. Fortunately the girls are not following the nose - carrot tradition. They had a great time riding ponies, riding rides, and general renaissance merriment.

I took a video of Matthew squealing and it is posted here. He has an interesting cry. It sounds more like a squeak or squeal. What do you think?

97 points on Quiddler today!

Shake your money maker!

My sisters are dancing queens. Missy and Amanda both do country line dancing. Missy even writes her own dances and Amanda has done belly dancing!

Considering I come from a family of movers and shakers, what kind of dancing should I aspire to? Obviously hip hop!

I went to a hip hop class on Tuesday and LOVED it!
This is how I imagine myself dancing hip hop:


This is how I actually hip hop:

I'm not really shaking my pompom just yet.

In more important news. I beat Erik at Agricola tonight. Agricola is a strategy game we both like quite a bit but do not own. Erik wins a high percentage of the time at this game, just like Railroad Tycoon. We have played it every night since we borrowed it and I finally won. That doesn't mean we'll stop playing, It just means we are going to the Cheesecake Factory the next time we have a chance to go on a date! Yipee!

81 points on Quiddler today!

Football Season Begins!

Erik has been talking constantly about the beginning of football season. It is his favorite time of year. Fall brings cooler weather, beautiful colors, and football. Obviously we had to get a picture of the kids in their scarlet and gray.

Yes - the big chunk in the middle is Matthew. Yes he is only 2 1/2 months old. No I'm not feeding him fried chicken and potatoes.

The other day Sarah said "I am ugly." I said "no Sarah you are beautiful. Why do you think you are ugly?" She said "because I'm sinny" (translation: skinny). I'm not sure where she got this idea. Yes she is a little skinny (in the 5th percentile for weight) but we have always told her she is beautiful. Hopefully she believes it!

Tomorrow is our 13 year anniversary. Yea Us! Since it is actually more work to pack up all the kids, diaper bags, bibs, milk, etc and go out to eat than it is to just make some pb&j sandwiches we won't be going out to dinner. Hiring a babysitter around dinner time is scary too. Dinner time is fussy time for Matthew and usually someone has an opinion about what we are eating and wants toast instead. (sometimes I just want toast).

I just finished The Briar King by Greg Keyes and can't wait to get the next book in the series from the library. I also reserved the next Beverly Lewis book called The Thorn. I'm 36 on the list for that book. Since I'm not allowed to read The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson until we finish Gardens of the Moon, I had to find some other books to occupy my time (I only read Gardens of the Moon with Erik).

53 points on Quiddler today. Couldn't find a word to make with C,O,A,I. Bummer!