October

Hi! We're still here. I'm not sure what's happened over the last couple of weeks to make me forget about blogging, but we're still here. Probably we're simply enjoying my beloved fall season. The trees are blazing with color, the air is cooler and crispier, and I have been baking apple pies and pumpkin cookies like a mad woman!

Noah is enjoying the cooler weather, too. He even made sure to find a hat and jacket for his puppy before they went on a walk with Geary.

On Monday night, Noah made dinner for us. Pizza! I bought two of those premade Boboli type crusts and set Noah up with some tomato sauce, shredded cheese and pepperoni. He did everything by himself except put the pies in the oven. They turned out great!

The chef being rewarded by his work.

Little brother liked it, too.

Way to go, Noah!

32 Years!

Today is Geary's birthday. He's sleeping in right now and the kids and I just finished hanging this birthday banner we made for him yesterday. I did the cutting, Noah did the painting, and Toby did the ripping, hiding, and mess making. I was inspired by my friend Alison who got the idea from this blog.

Happy birthday, Geary!

I'm looking forward to

another precious year with you,

my amazing husband.

Little Daddy

Geary is a wonderful dad and one of the things he does that I just love is taking the boys out on walks. They'll walk to a park, or to get a treat like doughnuts or icecream. They'll walk to a bookstore or the library and read together. They have many adventures with the stroller. I know it's one of the special things that my sons will remember about their father when they are grown. And I know it's already special to them, because they already emulate him in this way.

Here is Toby putting a doll into his push car which has been transformed into a stroller.

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"Ready to go?"

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The proud little daddy.

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Off they go!

It's so fun to see my boys acting like their father. Sometimes we get strange looks when people find out our sons have a baby doll. But if the purpose of play is to learn how to be an adult by pretending to be one, I am all for my sons pretending to be good dads. And I pray that they will grow to be amazing fathers just like their own.

Great Hymn Titles

I've volunteered to help out with the Children's Christmas Musical at our church. On Sunday one of the kids approached me after practice with a confused look on his face.

Me: Is something wrong?

Him: I thought Jesus was Jewish.

Me: Yep, that's right.

Him: Then why is his name Swedish?

Me: Huh? Who told you his name was Swedish?

Him: That song we're singing, Jesus is the Swedish Name I Know.

Me (trying not to laugh): It's actually sweetest. Jesus is the Sweetest Name I Know.

Him: Oh...that makes more sense.
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I'm going to have to file this one away with the other great hymn titles I know, such as:

Gladly, the Cross-eyed Bear
Lead on, O Kinky Turtle
We Bring the Sacks of Rice on Trays
and of course, I am Salty (I Exalt Thee)

Do you know of other hymn titles that have been misheard? I'd love to add to my list.

A Chair For My Mother

(Actually, it's a chair for me. But I'm a mother so it totally counts.)



Yesterday, I was feeling better and just a bit cabin feverish. Besides dropping Noah off at school each day and seeing my doctor, I hadn't been out of the house for nearly three weeks! I was perusing Craigslist when I saw this chair:


The Jules chair had long been on my wish list from Ikea so when I saw that the price was less than half of what I would spend to buy it new, and that it was only 18 miles away, I quickly got dressed, threw the kids in the car, and went to go pick it up.


Before this chair we had been dragging one of the kitchen chairs back and forth to the desk. It was really too high for the desk, too. But my new Jules chair is perfect. I love its Mod sensibilities and it goes great with my "mod dots" themed kitchen. Also, the kids think it is their new spinning toy. Hooray for chairs! And hooray for being back in the land of the living!

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If you are not familiar with the title of this post, it's also the title of one of my favorite kids books. Check it out here.

Scrip Fundraiser

I'm feeling slightly better. Thank you for all the prayers and well wishes. Mostly, I'm still generally tired and still coughing, but the coughing isn't as violent as it used to be. Thankfully, no one else seems to be catching anything and we're still being lovingly supported by our church community and school community.

Speaking of school community, I have a very cool thing to point out to you. Veritas School participates in a Scrip program. Scrip is simply gift cards and gift certificates from various retailers who donate a portion of the sale to Veritas. So let's say you want to give your mom a gift card to Bath & Body Works. Well, if you buy a $10 gift card through Veritas, Bath & Body Works will give 7% (or 70 cents) to the school! I know 70 cents doesn't seem like a lot but those pennies add up to thousands of dollars every year if plenty people use Scrip. Some retailers donate as much as 28%!

Sooooo, I've made up a new blog site that has a list of every participating retailer--everywhere from Burger King to Pottery Barn--there are MANY stores and restaurants to choose from. If you're already planning on buying gift cards for Christmas gifts or birthdays or whatever, would you please consider buying them through Veritas so that they can benefit from the retailer's donations? I've made it really easy to do so. I'll even mail the cards to you so you don't have to brave the mall! You'll be saving gas money! The instructions are on this page.

So go check it out, and please take advantage of this opportunity to help out this school that has been such a blessing to our family. Also, if you have a blog or you know of friends who would be interested please consider spreading the word. Thank you!