Babble & Mischief

Toby doesn't cry when he wants to get up in the morning anymore. He simply calls out, "Maaaaaaaamaaaaa.....Maaaaaaaamaaaaaaa......Mama?" in a low tone. Sometimes he does the same thing with Dada. This morning he called out, "Waaaaadooooh (water) Mama! Waaaaadoooh!"

He likes to babble and sometimes it really seems like we're having a conversation. Here are all the words Toby can say at 17 months old:

1. Mama
2. Dada
3. Bubber (brother)
4. Hi
5. Bye-Bye
6. Ni-Ni (night, night)
7. Baba (bottle--which means milk)
8. Ball
9. Bubble
10. Eat
11. More
12. Awgun (all done)
13. Look
14. Me-Me (can either mean "mine" or "hear you go")
15. Whoa
16. Wow
17. Ow
18. Piggies
19. Badoh (spider)
20. Yippee
21. Yay
22. Yesh (yes)
23. No
24. Peas (please)
25. Dan Q (thank you)
26. Wadoh (water)
27. Whee
28. Boop (nose)
29. Dak (Jack)
30. Bob
31. Mamaw (pronounced like ma'am-MAW, means grandma)
32. Nanny (Granny)
33. Shoe
34. Bup (up)
35. Baby
36. Ducky
37. Fishy
38. Kiki (kitty)
39. Beep

That's all I can think of right now, but he seems to come out with a new word evey day. He can also click his tongue, blow zurberts, smooch, and blow hard enough into a flute to produce a sharp piercing tone. And he likes to sing.

Here are all the ways Toby has gotten into trouble in the last week (I'm really not a bad mother. He is just exceptionally skilled at wreaking havoc):

1. Turning on the dishwasher
2. Attempting to climb into the clothes dryer
3. Touching the fan
4. Finding and playing with scissors
5. Emptying the bookshelves
6. Emptying the cupboards
7. Throwing rocks (or anything, really)
8. Trying to pry the socket covers out the electrical outlets
9. Ramming his push car into his brother
10. Locking himself in to the bathroom
11. Pulling on the lamp cord
12. Attempting to push down the fake ficus tree
13. Spreading his teeth on Noah (that's how Noah described it--he meant biting)

I know some of you are surprised that Toby can be such a handful. And he can be, but he also continues to be a supreme cuddlebug. He fills our home with laughter. He is beyond cute. Despite what you read on the list above he is sensitive and charming and he seems to know that he can heal peoples hearts just by resting his head on their shoulder and staying that way for an hour or two (this really happens!). He has dirty, chubby knees, he can't get enough of patty-cake, itsy-bitsy spider, this little piggy, or this is the way the gentlemen ride. Sometimes I am compelled to rush over to him and swing him into the air just so I can hear his perfect giggles. Then I must hold him close to me and simply breathe him in and murmur into his neck, "I love you, you little punk."

There's something different about you...

Today Geary invited Noah to accompany him to the grocery store for some ice-cream. Noah was so excited about this outing that he hurriedly slipped his bare feet into his shoes. On the way to the store he must have realized something was missing because he commented, "I hope people can recognize me without my socks."

Summer Days Driftin' Away...

Is it really August 26th?? That means school starts in one week. And that means I will officially have a kindergartener! It also means I have to go through that transition of missing Geary at home. We've had a great summer. It seems like it's been a long one, too. Our trip to Black Butte feels like it happened a year ago. But maybe that's just because we're sleep deprived from watching the Olympics.

Yesterday we drove into Portland to the Dennis Uniform store. Now that was a crazy experience. Kids were tossed to into dressing rooms with their parents throwing navy and khaki and all manner of plaid to them and other parents as if it were a fish market. Two women fighting over the last pair of gray walking shorts size 14 husky. And an employee announcing over the loudspeaker that they only had 3 size small St. Vincent's P.E. shirts left. It was a circus. But we were able to find what we needed with only two quick trips to the dressing room frenzy area and now Noah is all set for school.

Our last week of summer has filled up quickly, too. Today we're having some new friends over for dinner. Tomorrow I'm meeting a friend for coffee and then our family is going over to the piece of land where Veritas will be building their new school building for an Excavation Celebration. Thursday is the Kindergarten Picnic. Friday I'm meeting up with a lady who was a mentor to me in highschool and her daughter who I used to babysit who is now a junior at George Fox (small world!) And this weekend we're helping out at the farm for a garage sale. I'm kind of tired just thinking about it all!

I guess our last days of summer are not so much "driftin'" as racing away. It's okay though, I'm looking forward to the next season.

A Much Needed Break

We ran out of inventory for our family business and I think we just kind of hit a slump as far as working on it. The heat didn't help and back to school activities are starting up which take up a lot of time. We had a bunch of excuses for not doing anything and frankly, we just needed a break! This all bled over into my blogging as I'm sure you've noticed a lack of posts lately. However, today we decided to get back in the swing of things so we took $40 and went to all the garage sales we could find in Newberg. We now have 3 dressers, 1 desk, 2 rocking chairs, and 1 night stand. Yep, the Linhart Furniture Flippers are back in business! And I should be back to blogging several times a week now, too.

Untitled Hymn

I'm a little ashamed for thinking our lives were in a boring phase last week. If I stop navel gazing it becomes clear that the happenings of life and death are swirling all around us. By simply reaching out beyond the walls of our house we can touch grief and celebration, pain and healing, loss and discovery. It's all happening at the same time. And in every situation there is always one appropriate response that is never stupid or too small--turning to Jesus.

My Little Cousin

I have a beautiful cousin, Carine, who has two beautiful daughters, Savannah and Luna. Savannah is only 4 years old and she's very close to meeting Jesus. She has a form of cancer called neuroblastoma and after a year of chemotherapy the cancer has only spread. She's living her last days at my aunt's house in Bakersfield, CA.


Click here to see a video* about an awesome gift the Make A Wish Foundation provided for my little cousin. And please pray with me for my family. I can't think of anything to write that doesn't sound stupid or too small. My heart is breaking for Carine and for Luna and for my Tia Laura and for all my family in California. Not for Savannah, I know she'll be fine in the arms of Jesus. But for everyone else...I know they need to be in His arms, too.

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*The video of Savnnah is at the end of the news article under the heading: Related Video

Hi.

It's Thursday. Our last post was Sunday. Everyday between Sunday and today I have sat down at the computer to blog only stare at a blank screen. I just can't think of anything to write about.

Should I regale you with tales of our adventures in...laundry?

Should I impress you with the amazing drama that unfolded while we...watered our lawn? Okay, ready? The grass...got wet! And, you'll never believe this. So did the soil!!!

How about some cute stories about the boys...watching TV while we planned out our budget?

What can I say, we are in the throes of the mundane. But we are doing well and I'm sure something more exciting will happen sooner or later.

So...hi! What have you been up to?

Play Kitchen Makeover

Here's our latest project for the Family Business. We saw this play kitchen in some one's driveway by their trashcans. When we asked the owners if they were trying to get rid of it they said, "Yes! Please take it!" and gave it to us for free!

I immediately saw the potential for what a cute play kitchen this could be. A little cleaning, some fresh paint, and a few new accessories and tah-dah!

We love how it turned out--especially the "stainless steel" appliances. What do you think?

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I have to give a special thanks to the Watson family for delivering the kitchen to us in their trailer and for donating the sink--thanks guys! Your generosity has a been a huge blessing to us!

Headache

Noah: I have a head-ick.



Jeana: A headache?



Noah: Oh, I thought it was head-ick. Because your head feels icky.



Jeana: What does your head feel like?



Noah: It's like my brain is beeping at me.

Car Lockdown Update

Well, we lasted 6 days. On Saturday we had to free our car in order to run a group of errands for the Family Business in the next town over. And on Sunday we drove it to a wedding near Salem. We figure we saved at least $40 worth of gas by not driving it for nearly a week.

Not driving helped us save money in other areas, too. For one, we didn't use any fast food drive throughs. Haven't you had those days when you've been shopping and you're stuck in traffic and the kids are whining that they're hungry and you spot a McDonalds and suddenly you've blown $10 and are now the proud owner of two horrid plastic kids meal toys?

Or how about this scenario: You're in Target getting toilet paper, dental floss, and a garden hose and your child sees some little trinket and it's only $2 so you let him get it. And oh look, this completely unecessary candle holder is so cute and its on clearance for only $4! So you throw it in your cart. You know what I'm talking about right?

Well, walking everywhere forced us to plan better. Since we were always close to home and there isn't really such a thing as pedestrian traffic jams, there was no excuse for fast food. (They were too far to walk to anyway.) Anything we might have purchased that was uncessary wasn't even a temptation because we knew would have to carry it home. When you've got to fit all your purchases into a backpack or a stroller basket you tend to only buy the things you really need.

We enjoyed walking everywhere so much than on Sunday night we locked the car up again. We know we'll have to use it on Tuesday and possibly Thursday, but it would be awesome to save another $40+ this week. How did you do? Want to join us for another week