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spring chickens

"Mommy, I need to sing at the computer now"

Deacon and I figured how to use iSight on our Macbook to make videos.  Why did it take us so long?  The only problem is that he is always asking if he can sing at the computer.  Here's a video of him singing the first 3 (out of 9) verses of the metrical version of the 10 Commandments.  Andy has been teaching it to us during family devotions.  Can you tell that Deacon is enjoying watching himself on the screen?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD-Yk1_PPTU]

Here's the text incase you're not super skilled in interpreting 3 year old talk:

My soul, recall with reverent wonder how God amid the fire and smoke

Proclaimed His holy law with thunder from Sinai’s mountain when He spoke:

 

I am the Lord, your God and Sovereign, who out of bondage set you free,

Who saved you from the land of Egypt. Then serve no other gods but me.

You shall not bow to graven idols, for I, a jealous God, your Lord,

Shall punish sin in those who hate me, but love all those who keep my Word

As I look out the window

The boys have spent the majority of the day outside. Currently, Deacon is blowing bubbles and Owen has taken a seat on the driveway examining a collection of leaves and blades of grass. It's days like this that I'm so glad to be a stay-at-home mom. What a blessing it is to really enjoy this beautiful weather we are having. I'm going to go back outside and pull some weeds. I'm super excited about getting the yard under control.

Andy is picking me up a Compost Bin from the city today and I found a place that you can pick up as much free mulch as you can take. I spent about 2 hours pulling over-grown monkey grass but there's so much more to go.

Since Heidi asked, here's a picture of Andy's 1979 Vespa that was taken by Devona.  Lovely, isn't it?  Maybe Andy will let me take it for a spin this afternoon.

Despite my best intentions

to blog often enough to get a bit if inertia on this blog, I've been quite busy caring for and cleaning up after sick children this week. I'm exhausted and praying that I will not catch the bug.

Andy left my camera in Columbia, so the new blogs won't have my pictures, but I have some good ideas for posts for next week and possibly even sound clips from my most recent gig at the sylviatheater.

Some of the things I'd like to cover in the next few days are:
-Groceries: Budgeting, planning, and ways to cut the bill.
-The new easter coveralls I am (planning on) making for the boys.
-My new aqua trench coat and other great thrift store finds- I seriously made out like a bandit filling up a trash bag for $7!
-A new way of eating, and response to Heidi's quest for thinness diet.

Cheers.

now you are three

Yesterday, we celebrated your special day with pizza, noise makers and delicious cake.

You used to be frightened so easily, but you are becoming braver each day.

You love to sit on the toilet every morning and watch papa shave.

You love to make your brother laugh and teach him various animal sounds.

You remember Proverbs 20:11 and say, "I am known by good deeds".

The past four times you came home from preschool, you claimed to be a ballerina.

You have the biggest feet I've ever seen on a kid your age.

You should be napping right now, but you just snuck out of your room and turned on the TV.  Sneaky boy.

the end of a not-so-terrible year

Today, I had the rare treat os spending time with each of my children separately.  This morning, Deacon was in preschool and Owen and I ran around town together.  He slept in my arms while I made a quick trip to the grocery store to buy snacks for Deacon's preschool class.  Everyone who saw me said "Wow, you have your hands full, don't you?".  Being a mother of two toddlers, I hear that phrase all the time, but this time, I didn't even mind having my hands full.  I hardly ever get to hold Owen while he's sleeping anymore because he's such an active child.

Then this afternoon when Owen was napping, (still is) Deacon and I tried to take a nap together in my bed.  I usually have him nap in my bed these days because he tends to keep Owen from taking nice quality naps.  Today, Deacon didn't really sleep, he just poked me while I tried to sleep.  So eventually, I felt rested enough and we got up and I did some straightening up while he played with his preschool activities.  He can be really sweet when he knows that he's not fighting for attention.

I always get a bit emotional when a birthday approaches, Deacon turns three tomorrow.  With each new year comes a new revealing of who this little child really is.  However, with each new year, he loses more and more babyfat and that gleam in his eye when he's experiencing something for the first time.  Leaving me with chubby cheeks, long stocky legs and a whole lot of questions that he already knows the answer to.

maybe it will come to me

I signed on here so that I could post about something that Andy and I were talking about this morning. I can't remember what it is though. I thought that maybe if I signed on and started typing it would come to me. But I've got nothing.

So I guess I'll share with you some of the Joys I've been having lately in the kitchen and beyond.

Yesterday I was busy making large amounts of food for my Meal Swap group. We make lots of food at once and then swap with eachother. I made Sloppy Joes and Pizza Pasta. I was stirring up the 3 pounds of cooked beef when our vegan friend came over to do some repairs for us. I was flattered when he said it smelled good.  He was probably smelling the yummy spices in my pizza sauce.

This morning the family enjoyed the pancakes with fresh pineapple and coolwhip.  Quite the treat indeed.  I like to use a master pancake mix that I found in my More with Less cookbook:

• 3 c. ww flour
• 3 c. white flour
• 6T. baking powder
• 6T. sugar
• 2 c. powdered milk
• 1 c. wheat germ (optional)

Then when you make the pancakes, you use 1 1/2 cups of the master pancake mix with 1 c. water, 1 egg and 1 T. oil.  Yummy yummy yummy.

YAY!!! I just remembered what I wanted to say.  I knew it would come to me.  I was so tickled this morning when I realized that Deacon has asked to call my mother every day since my grandma (her mother) died.  This morning before we had gotten him out of his crib, I could hear him in his room talking about her.  He said "Judy, love talking grandma Judy".  It's so neat how the Lord has used him to bring her joy during her grief of losing both of her parents this past week.  Oh what wonderful therapy little ones can be.

tomorrow, we get to try it all over again

Yesterday I got pretty exhausted with mothering. It was just one of those days where things keep happening one after another. As much as I love having an infant, there are times that can be really trying on me. Owen was so run down from being over tired yesterday that he had quite the meltdown. Deacon, too, was acting very much his age when I tried to take him (and Owen) shopping. That was a bad idea. One should never attempt shopping with a grumpy two year old and two month old.

When we were at the store, Deacon saw a soccer ball on the ground and insisted on me bouncing it. Well, soccer balls don't bounce very well. D didn't really like that. Then he wanted to get out of the cart (or buggy as they say in SC) and hold the ball. He held the ball and started pacing around the store saying "find basket". I found a real basket and told him to put the ball inside the basket. But D said "scared basket". For some reason the basket frightened him. Then I had to go to the grocery store to buy some beer for Andy's birthday. It's special beer you can only get in Ohio. I must have looked so strange with a toddler in the cart (but trying very hard to climb out) and a baby in the sling and my 12 pack of beer. But we made it through the check-out. They didn't even card me, I must be getting old!

This morning the boys were back to their joyful selves. Smiling and playing like two sweet, normal children. They are both taking naps now and the house is eerily quiet. I'm thankful for good nights of sleep and new mornings. When they smile at me, I seem to forget all about the stress they put me through the day before.

Love was in the air

On Saturday night, we had the privilege of attending the wedding of our friends Luke and Kira.  It was a great time filled with so much love and laughter.  I just love how much fun people had at the reception.  Here in the south, they know how to do a wedding reception up right.  I think it's all about the appetizers and just floating around from table to table to visit with all the guests.  Everyone seemed so very joyful there.  We were all happy for the couple too.  We were able to watch their love grow basically from the beginning.

I was filled with pure glee on Sunday afternoon when I made the boys matching elephant shirts.  The house was really quiet so I found some time to spend at the sewing machine.  I took a cue from an Etsy seller that I found and embellished some white T-shirts.  I thought they turned out pretty good for an amateur sewer.   Having two boys is going to be so very much fun!

This evening I am playing a house show at a dear friend's house in Ohio.  I'm really excited about it.  Since our car is so small, we opted to not bring up my guitar.  I get to borrow a friend's Taylor though and I'm really enjoying playing it.  I'm also borrowing a digital recorder so I'm going to try to get a recording that I can post on here.  Andy is going to play some percussion with me also.  I think it will sound really nice.

you see colors differently than me

My son is a genius. Of course, I believe this because I am his mother. But it is true. Deacon always amazes Andy and me with how quickly he can pick up new concepts. He has all his letters and numbers down cold. But there's one area that he isn't so bright with and that is colors. Deacon has quite a few books on colors and even though he loves to read them, he just can't grasp which color is which. Then it started to make me wonder, what if he is colorblind. So Andy and I started to watch him closely as he interacts with crayons, paints, and books. We were always quizzing him on colors and he was always getting them wrong -especially red and green. He often says that the red crayon is green.

My father is colorblind. So is just about every male in his family. So I knew it was a possibility. Actually, I came to find out that my sons have a 50% chance of being colorblind. I don't see this as a disability though, my father is an accomplished chemical engineer who usually had no problems with his colorblindness. Occasionally, he would ask for our advice when dressing himself.

So here's something interesting: new research suggests that women who carry the colorblindness gene but aren't colorblind actually have an extra cone in their eye. This could mean that I actually see more colors than the average person. The funny thing is that I would never know what normal is to compare it with. And likewise, colorblind people won't know how normal people see things either.

I found this post by a guy who is red/green colorblind like my dad and possibly Deacon. There are more picture comparisons on there. I found it quite interesting.

I think there may be a song in here somewhere.