Connections Made

Background:

a) Sometimes Steve works the night shift so there is some shushing around here if he is asleep during the day.

b) Ethan has been getting a dime every time he does his jobs around the house (putting away the silverware, Tupperware and pots).

So onto today:

Ethan: :being loud:
Me: Ethan, that is too loud for inside.
Ethan: Shh, Dad's seeping.
Me: No, Dad's not sleeping it is just too loud.
Ethan: Dad's seeping.
Me: No, Dad's at work. Dad's doing his job.
Ethan: Dad gets dimes. Dad's getting dimes.
Me: ...

2010

I remember when I was a kid thinking that 2010 was the future. I mean, of course it was the future, but I mean The Future. Like we'd all be wearing silver jumpsuits and eating our meals in pill form and living in space. Fortunately none of those things have yet to be realized by the human race, unless you are on some crazy diet plan.

I don't make New Year's resolutions. I know that I can't keep resolutions, so I don't make them! Real disciplined of me, huh? But I do have some goals for myself and the kids this year, and here they are:

Me:
--more self-discipline. This one covers pretty much everything else in my life. But, specifically:
--get up before the kids. This is so hard for me, I love love love my sleep. But I think I need the time to wake up before they do so I can respond to their needs better in the morning.
--go to bed earlier. I'm a night owl. I love how quiet it is around here when everyone goes to sleep and I tend to binge on my quiet time to the detriment of the next day.
--be able to do three pull-ups. Steve got a pull-up bar for Christmas. I'm using it sporadically.


Ethan:
--prompt, cheerful obedience. We're in the thick of this. It is going to get harder before it gets easier, but he is showing promise.
--saying, "Yes, Mama" or "Yes, Dad" when he is asked to do something. He does say it now. He can say it. Sometimes he just doesn't want to say it.
--potty training. ugh.
--recognizing all of his numbers, letters, and shapes.
--memorizing the following: Psalm 23, the Lord's Prayer, 20 catechism questions, and the Apostles Creed. This probably seems like a lot, but he's already got some of Psalm 23 and a few catechism questions down (it is just a children's catechism, like "Who made you?" that sort of thing). I'm finding that little toddler brains are just ripe for memorization. I had a hard time believing i when I saw my friends posting YouTube videos of their kids reciting stuff at 2 and 3 years old, but here we are and it is amazing what they can absorb. And it is a whole year, after all.

The most important things are the first two on the list. All of the others (with maybe the exception of potty training) I'm okay with him not doing if he's not there yet.

Matthew:
--growing out of babyhood into toddlerhood. :'(
--not thwarting any of my plans with Ethan.
--sleeping through the whole night reliably. He is one finicky sleeper, this one.
--learning where he is and isn't allowed to go.
--learning how to play with his big brother.

I think that's it for us for 2010.

Happy New Year!

Picture Post

Some fun patchwork that is making me happy!

Play Kitchens

I know there are at least a few people who read my blog that will appreciate these:

So cool!

I want to make one for the boys!

I mean, how many junky old entertainment centers can you find just sitting on Craigslist or Freecycle for nearly nothing?! Project of 2010!

HT: The Common Room

Quilting!

So, what have I been doing lately?

Well other than general wife-ing and mommy-ing, I've been quilting!

Here's the thing: I've always loved fabric and I've owned a sewing machine for going on 5 years and I've done absolutely nothing about with it. But something about having two under two inspired me to start some quilting projects. I think the basic thinking behind this is craziness, or madness, or the idea that I'm already up to my ears in busyness, so adding another hobby can't make that much difference, right?

Anyway, I signed up for a quilting class and in less than two months finished my first quilt. It is rough. There are a lot of bobbles. But I learned so much from making it and my next one (already in progress) is going to be loads better. But I'm not going to point out the flaws because I'm told that's just not done, but here it is all finished and happy.

Two!

Ethan
Originally uploaded by Steve Bremer

So, as it turns out, I really stink at blogging lately. I'm finding short updates on Facebook to be much easier to manage at this point in my life, but I have been remiss in not putting up a post for my birthday boy.

Last month, on the 23rd, Ethan turned the big oh-two. He is my funny, funny guy who repeats everything I say (so be careful with your tongue, Mama!) and loves to be in on whatever his dad is working on. He has learned to sing the Doxology and "Come Thou Fount", and even if some of the words aren't exactly clear it is such a blessing for us to hear those melodies coming out of his heart. (I should say that yesterday we ran to Baja Fresh for a taco dinner and in his excitement Ethan sang the tune of Come Thou Fount, but every single word in the song was substituted with the word "taco".)

My oldest baby is turning into a little boy. It is fun for me to see, and yet I look at his newborn pictures and I wonder how I am going to send him off to college someday without bawling my eyes out!

Happy Birthday, Little Man!! We love you so much and can't wait to see you grow into the man God is shaping you to be.

We Marched on Washington!

Yes, you read that right. Now that we live in the DC area I couldn't pass up the chance to express some of my displeasure with our current government. And since the Ultimate Tea Party was being held today, I got out the doublewide, packed up the kiddos and headed out to see about the hubbub.

I was very nervous about going out there -- huge crowds, a politically charged occasion, and two kiddos to tote around. But, I felt it was important for me to go and represent, and I was excited about doing so in the very place where all these decisions are being made. Corny? Perhaps. But off we went, cheesiness and all.

I have to say that hearing hundreds of thousands of people (maybe a million or more? I'm not sure what the final count was) cheering as we were walking up to the capitol building really gave me chills. I know that sounds corny, but if you have never heard that many people clapping and cheering at one time, let me tell you it is sort of surreal. It sounded like thunder. And this was before we could even see anyone.

But once we got there, it was a lot less intimidating. Everyone around us was so nice. Steve had to stay home because he was sleeping for the night shift, but I was there with a friend. All told, there were two mommies, a teenage boy, a single stroller with a toddler, and my double stroller with Ethan and Matthew. And everyone was so accomodating. Helping me manuever the stroller, making room for us to get through, smiling at the babies. It was just nice...in a loud, shouting, protesting sort of way.

I saw a few people having lively discussions with Obama supporters, but nothing ever got out of hand that I could see. And I loved the creativity some people had with their slogans and signs.

It was a good day, and fun to be a part of something so huge.

Clapping along with everyone else.

A common sight

Your typical right-wing extremist, a.k.a the angry mob.