Little Known Facts About Me

I was recently tagged to create a list of little known facts about me. I thought this would be a fun list to create so I started to think about it. It was harder than I thought it would be. What things do people not know about me? I gave it my best shot although many of you may already know these things...

1. Children: Eric and I feel our family is very complete with our two boys. Therefore, we are not planning on having anymore children. Sorry moms!

2. Laundry: I don't like my laundry to build up. As soon as I see enough to make a load, in it goes!

3. Ironing: I don't put any clothes in our closet until they are ironed. Sunday is usually my day to iron all the clothes from the past week's laundry.

4. Prolotherapy: I am undergoing a treatment on my back called prolotherapy. About every four weeks I go to the doctor for a series of about 24-32 shots!!

5. Marshmallows and Newsprint: I recently blogged about this one. The thought of eating raw marshmallows sends a tingling feel across the top of my mouth. I also can't stand the feeling of newsprint. Oh, just the thought of it makes me shiver.

6. Wet Feet: When my feet are wet I usually am wearing shoes! I don't like hair (especially someone elses-yikes) or other things to stick to my feet. An internal nightmare for me was P.E. class when we would have to shower and then walk through the locker room to our locker! Or when we would swim and have to walk around the swim pool BARE FEET! Oh my, thinking about this brings back a lot of horrible thoughts. I can remember just sitting in the stands waiting for the P.E. teacher to give swim instructions and all I could do was look around at all of the "things" on the ground that I would avoid stepping on when I started walking. This sounds really bad, huh! I still have this fear, but now I have more control...I can wear flip flops in those situations.

7. Mowing: I love to see our yard after it has been mowed. When I mow I like to have straight lines and the patterns of dark and light green. (Fortunately Eric likes the same thing. We both enjoy having our yard look nice.) I think this started from my summer job through college which some of you may not know either...mowing the IOOF cemetary!

8. Smell of Fiberglass: I love the smell of fiberglass. Those of you who live in my same city know the smell I am talking about. I love it!

9. House Cleaner: I have a house cleaner and I am so thankful for her. It is such a relief not to have to worry about cleaning when I am home. I can spend my weekend time doing much more enjoyable things.

10. Beer: I enjoy drinking a cold beer.

11. Bridal Consultant/Boutique Owner: Ever since planning my own wedding I have always thought it would be so much fun to be a part of other people's weddings, either in the form of planning it or helping them find that perfect dress.

12. Tootie Pants: My nickname in my household is Tootie Pants.

First Day of Preschool

Today was Cameron's first day of preschool. He was so excited to go. (He even posed for pictures!) His preschool is at my new school so it was also exciting for me to be able to take my son to school with me. (I remember having a friend in elementary school whose mom was a teacher and I thought that was so cool.) He wanted to walk into school a different route than me which I thought was a good sign. All signs leading up to this big day were good, but I just wasn't sure how it would go when I actually left him. To my surprise he did wonderful! He did even better than on some days at daycare. On a typical day at daycare I give him a kiss, a hug, a five, and one more five before leaving. This morning we did our routine, but the last five he gave me I felt like he gave me because I needed it, not because he needed it. Ms Good, his teacher, was playing at the sand table with him and off I went. I didn't want him to be sad that I was going, but the fact that he didn't seem to care was a little hard for his mommy to take. My boy is growing up! He goes back tomorrow and he is very excited to return. The day was big for him as you can tell by my last picture.

In Memory of Czar

January 22, 2001- August 23, 2008

Czar passed away some time last evening of unknown causes. This summer he had discovered a new favorite place to lay...under our weeping cherry tree. Eric found him there today and he had already passed. We believe he must have passed on last evening. Bye Czar! We love you!

Like Fingernails down a Chalkboard!

To me marshmallows are like the thought of fingernails being scraped down a chalkboard. The same tingly feeling obtained from that thought is the same feeling I get on the roof of my mouth when thinking about or watching someone eat marshmallows (newsprint also gives me this feeling). Once the powdery coating on the outside is gone, then I like them. So...I like them baked in foods and I love roasting marshmallows. I tell you all of this because I was getting ready to make rice crispy treats yesterday and Cade asked if he could have a marshmallow. As I sat with him while he ate it, I could hardly stand it! The tingle in my mouth was so strong that I had to distract myself...thus, I decided to take pictures of a little boy with a great big marshmallow filling his mouth!

Facebook

Wow, facebook is pretty cool! I recently joined facebook and have been in contact with people I haven't talked to in a long time. I got back in touch with an old college friend that I would have never been able to contact without facebook. What a cool technological advancement. I encourage you all to do it.

Oh My!

Oh, we have about 7 of these in just one section of our front landscaping...

Commonly known as the Black and Yellow Garden Spider this female of the species is striking in appearance with distinct yellow and black markings. The female of the species grows much larger than the male. Females have large rounded bodies that may grow to 1 1/2 inches, excluding the legs. If the length of the legs is added, the female can reach 3" in diameter.

Interesting mating ritual...

Yellow garden spiders breed once a year. The males roam in search of a female, building a small web near or actually in the female's web, then court the females by plucking strands on her web. Often, when the male approaches the female, he has a safety drop line ready, in case she attacks him. After mating, the male dies, and is sometimes then eaten by the female.

I don't think it is necessary to say, but these things creep me out!!

All Boys!

Mom and Dad have 5 grandsons! Just look at them! They all have their unique personalities and we love them all. Connor (8 years old), Carson (6 years old), Cameron (4 years old), Davis (3 years old), and Cade (2 years old). No, the C's were not planned.

Connor, Carson, and Davis were at Mama and Papa's this week and Cameron and Cade had fun seeing them. We love to try to capture fun pictures with them when we have them altogether, but that is not usually an easy task (typically thanks to Cameron who hates to have his picture taken). But these pictures turned out pretty cute.

The Birds and the Bees

Tonight I was working on some lesson plans as Eric was putting Cameron to bed and I heard Cameron ask daddy THE QUESTION. "How do you make babies?" Eric replied by saying mommy's and daddy's make babies and that Cameron was too young to make babies. While I thought that was a pretty good answer, Cameron was not satisfied. "But how do you make babies?" Cameron repeated. And then I heard, "Mom!" This was not Cameron hollering for mom, it was Eric! He had been stumped by our four year old. We had not prepared ourselves for answering this question yet. I knew some day we would need to agree on our plan for explaining this to the boys, but now?

Fly Like an Eagle

"I want to fly like an eagle

To the sea

Fly like an eagle

Let my spirit carry me

I want to fly like an eagle

Till Im free"

-Steve Miller

I remember when my dad used to play this with me and my brothers when we were kids. Now my own munchkins enjoy "flying."

Giving does the heart good

Giving frees us from the familiar territory of our own needs by opening our mind to the unexplained worlds occupied by the needs of others. -Barbara Bush


I love giving things away to people who can use them! This summer I was ready to begin purging my baby stuff since Eric and I are not "planning" on having any more children. Granted, there are some things I am not quite ready to give up (all of my favorite toys and adorable clothes), but when I started going through it all, to my surprise there was a lot of stuff I was ready to get rid of. So I asked my daycare provider if she knew of anyone who could use clothes...and I got a name! This was a wonderful opportunity!! I gave away 5 bags of clothes and this family was so appreciative. Yes! Then, I got another name! Just today I went through some of my infant items and clothes and I have the back of my vehicle packed with 3 bags of clothes, 2 bags of toys, and 3 bigger ticket items ready to give to a young mother of a 1 month old son. She will be so happy! I can't wait to make her day. It kind of became addictive...I started roaming through the house looking in baskets, drawers, and closets looking for items that are too young for my boys that I could bag up.

Beach Bums

Last weekend Eric and I took the boys to the beach at Warren Dunes State Park in Michigan. The boys had a lot of fun playing in the sand and water. It was funny to watch Cade try to walk in the sand for the first time; he moved very slowly. And thank goodness for sunscreen. I missed a patch on both boys and by evening it was very noticeable--I can't imagine summers without it.

Living Green

I will admit that Eric and I have not been concerned with living green the past 10 years. We recycled our pop cans for a couple of years, but that fizzled out when we moved. I will also admit that it is not that I didn't find it important, but rather that my extremely organized way of thinking made the task seem too overwhelming without having a plan and creating an organized way of executing. However, this summer we have made several changes toward living green. 1. With some kindly reminders from my dad that we need to recycle, I finally organized a section in our garage with tubs (thanks to my mom's help) and we started recycling. Eric and I are completely amazed at the amount of trash reduction this simple behavior change has created. We used to take two garbage cans out for trash pick up each week. Now we take one and many times it isn't even full! 2. We covered all vents in our basement to be more energy efficient. 3. We had our water heater re-plumbed to run more efficiently. We by no means have exhausted our possibilities of being more earth friendly, but we have made attempts. I once saw a guest on Oprah who talked about the impact of everyone just making one change. In fact, she challenged everyone viewer to reduce the number of napkins used each day by just one. Wow, can't we all do that? I also watch the Green channel where they discuss people's Ecological Footprint (amount of land and ocean area required to sustain your consumption patterns and absorb your wastes). It can be quite frightening! I would like to challenge each of my readers to make one change today. It can be as simple as using one less napkins or establishing a recycling routine. And please let me know what changes you've made! Live Green!