What's in a Name?

Jeana: Toby, can you say No. Uh.

Toby: No. Uh.

Noah: Yay! Can you say Toby? Toe. Bee.

Toby: Toe. Bee.

Noah: Say Gee. Nah.

Toby: She. Nah.

Noah: Now try Gare. Eee.

Toby: ...

Toby: Sue!

And they come from the same mother

This is what Noah looks like during dinner on most nights. He says stuff like, "I don't like that" or "What is that green thing?" or "Do I really have to eat this?" or "Why did you give me that?" He is truly a joy to cook for. So rather than getting mad I decided to take my friends advice and take a picture. Noah had no idea that this was the face we were privileged to see most nights. From the way he squealed and pushed the camera away I'm guessing he didn't like his expression either.



On the flip side, this is the way Toby looks at dinner most nights. He dives into his food and usually ends up wearing most of it. He says things like, "Mmm-mmm" or "More, please!" or "Want that." It's a refreshing change. Even if I do have to hose him down three times a day.
I'm thinking that both of these pictures will be great for a wedding slide show someday in the future. Don't you agree?

Speaking of New Looks...

I did a little blog rearranging today. I still need to update our blogroll and add that back in but it's after midnight and I've been on the computer WAY too much today. Do you notice anything especially exciting in the right hand sidebar?

Neglected No More

I just posted something new over at Frugally Green. Check it out here. Then come back here and tell me what you think of the new look over there.

All in one morning

This morning between the hours of 9 and 11 Toby did all of the following:

• Unlocked the child safety latch under the kitchen sink. (???)
• Emptied out Noah's piggy bank. (I have no idea how did this since I can't even remove that little plug on the bottom)
• Took all the books out of the bookcase in his room.
• Took all the books off the bottom three shelves on two of the bookcases in the living room.
• Reached into the knife drawer and took out a knife. (I caught him right away--though I'm still amazed he can reach the drawer)
• Emptied out the silverware drawer.
• Dumped an entire box of Legos out on the stairs.
• Got into my makeup drawer and put lipgloss on his forehead
• Put three plates into the trashcan.
• Pulled a button off of my coat.
• Wrote on one wall (in pencil).
• Unrolled an entire roll of toilet paper.

Where was I, you ask? Mostly cleaning up the previouses messes. As soon as I would finish putting one thing away I would catch Toby in the middle of of a new mess. I am thinking of recording myself saying, "No touch!" and just letting that play all day long in an endless cycle. Right now I'm just praising God that it's nap time!

Team Member

Last night went really well. I was nervous, but the team was really relaxed which put me at ease. I was honest about my limitations and my desire to learn more. And in the end, the Worship and Arts Pastor gave me a high five and said, "Good job. See you at 7:45 Sunday morning." I'm singing in both services. I have a feeling God is going to use this to grow and stretch me in many, many ways. I'm excited for it. And ultimately I hope he will use me in this to motivate people toward a deeper relationship with himself. What a privilege!

Oh, Noah...

At the dinner table...

Geary: Noah would you like to pray tonight?

Noah: Yeah.

(we all join hands)

Noah: Dear Jesus, please help Toby to stop being a brat. In Jesus name, Amen.

(crickets chirping)

Noah: Oh! I mean...uh...thank you for this good food. Amen!

Geeks in Love

Geary: On the blog when you said I was a good budgeter...

Jeana: Oh yeah, did you like that?

Geary: Yeah, but I think you typed 'budgetEER'.

Jeana: Ha ha, that's kind of funny.

Geary: Like Mouseketeer.

Jeana: Or...we're the Budgeteers! And you can be one, too. 'Cause savin' our money is the thing to do. Spending and consuming is not the way. Here's what Captain Budget has to say!*

Geary: You're a geek.

Jeana: I'm gonna call you Captain Budget from now on.


____________________________________________
*a gold star for you if you know the real song to my parody.

Overflowing

Last month our power bill was $120. This month it was $260. We don't make a lot of money but my husband is an amazing budgeter and we are pretty frugal. But that power bill...wow. It kind of threw us for a loop. And then our vacuum cleaner decided to quit working.

So what did we do? Well, first we had to confess and apologize to each other for freaking out about money. Then we prayed and and asked God to meet all our needs. We also told our Small Group at church and asked them to pray for us as well.

The next day I went for a jog with a friend and she gave me a gift card to Fred Meyer. Groceries for the week taken care of!

For a couple days I looked on Craigslist to see if I could find a nice used vacuum cleaner. What I really wanted was an Oreck. There were a couple listings but they were too far away or still too much money. I tried sweeping the carpet but it didn't really work.

Then my mother-in-law came over to see the boys before she left for Hawaii. We asked about borrowing her vacuum cleaner while she was gone and made arrangements to pick it up the next day. It was an Oreck! And she said we could keep it!

In addition, my wonderful mother-in-law bought one of my pieces of jewelry. And then her sister bought two more pieces. That means I am currently sold out of all my inventory!

Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks
for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know
how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in
heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! Matthew 7:9-11

God has never ever given us stones or snakes. His gifts to us are good and he meets our needs before we even know we have them. If we need bread, he gives us bread (in this case it was in the form of a Fred Meyer gift card). And sometimes...sometimes...he even gives us cake!