101 Posts! Plus Some Funny Stuff

This is my 101st post! I didn't know I had written the 100th post or I would have announced it then instead of at 101! I really love having a blog even though I don't write nearly as much as I used to or would like to. Just so you know, I write about 4 times as many blogs in my head as actually get written! Maybe more. Then I forget about them or when I actually have a minute to write, I don't really want to use the brain capacity to do so. I'd rather read or snooze. Babies and toddlers seem to zap all creative writing ability and wherewithal.

So, now I'm posting something new but it isn't even mine! I've read a lot of other people's blogs lately so I thought I would share them with you in a few blogs. They are all about being moms.

These two are from a blog a friend told me about - she gets a lot of recipes from her blog, and now I do too. This blogger mom of 4 boys is really funny and down to earth. I would love to be able to love cooking like she does. Not that I hate it, but she LOVES it and does is ALL the time. I was just perusing her blog trying to find out more about her than just her recipes. I came upon these two entries. The first one is about being a real mom and what that means. SO encouraging! The second is just hilarious. I laughed so hard I cried! Maybe you won't think it is that funny. I've just done stuff like she describes, very recently - a brain lapse. In fact, the other day one of my friends said thanks to me for an email I had sent (only 2 days before!) and I couldn't for the life of me remember what I had emailed her about. She is the one who had been sick for 1 1/2 weeks, is 20 something weeks pregnant and with 3 girls under 5 who have also been sick! Not me! But I had totally forgotten and had to ask her! How ridiculous and embarrassing!

Hope you enjoy these!

http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/will-all-of-the-real-moms-please-stand-up

http://heavenlyhomemakers.com/the-story-of-my-sleeves

Raking Leaves

Last week, I really wanted to get outside! I've been holed up in our house trying to get unfinished projects finished and taking care of Wesley who had a bad stomach bug. The weather has gotten warmer so we took advantage. We raked up a big pile of leaves and Wes had a blast jumping in them. David sat on a blanking cleverly trying to find leaves and grass to eat. Despite all my efforts to keep the leaves and grass out of his mouth, every time I looked at him he had a stem or a blade hanging out of his mouth. One time I pull a full hard crunchy leaf out of his mouth! And happily, he went after another. Finally, he became contented with his toys. Here are some pics of the afternoon.

Pumpkin Day

This year, I decided to call Halloween Pumpkin Day. We don't really like all the scary stuff and Wes and David certainly don't but, I love all things pumpkin so we made it a day of pumpkins. Here is what Wes and I did while Papa was hard at work.

We've just introduced him to glue and he loves it! So I came up with lots of pasting activities. Wes colored paper pumpkin parts and then pasted them onto paper. Then, he sorted out big and little paper pumpkins and glued them in the appropriate box. Then he had to match up pumpkins and glue them in the matching box. Lastly, though not a glueing activity, he traced lines from the family to the pumpkin patch and did very well, on the first one at least. After that, the trace got worse and worse. Something to note later. Too much of something doesn't always mean better. He also colored the letter P and different things that start with P.

After that we read 4 library books about pumpkins. Our favorite was called Pumpkin Cat about a black cat and a mouse trying to grow a pumpkin. 

Then we moved into the kitchen. We placed our real pumpkin on the floor and sang "Ring around the Pumpkin, pocket full of seed, leaves, leaves, we all fall down" sung to the Ring around the Rosie song. Then we marched around, hopped around and stomped around. Again, I found that too much of something doesn't always mean better. Very surprisingly, Wes got tired of hopping and marching around the pumpkin! 

Next, we carved the pumpkin into a kitty cat face inspired by the Pumpkin Cat book. Sadly the pictures I took with Wesley in them didn't come out good. 

Then, we took the scooped out seeds and roasted them in the oven with a little olive oil, salt and pepper at 350 until they started turning a little brown. Yummy!

Lastly, we made Pumpkin Pecan Bites (Cookies) from a recipe I found in The Kid's Nature Book I found at a homeschool book sale for $1. :) They were delicious! They were crunchy on the outside, at least for a while, and soft on the inside. 

Later in the day we went to our church's neighborhood fall festival. Wes had a great time! We kind of lost track of all the candy he was eating which is a bad thing because he never eats any. We paid for it later, especially since it was the first day of really feeling better after a week long stomach bug. He lost all of it and then some. Yuck! We felt terrible. 

David didn't really know what was going on but just smiled at everyone. 

I guess this is a Tigger the Tiger costume. It fits his personality. He's happy and bouncy. Usually when he's sitting up at the table in his high chair he just happily bounces and smiles at us. 

It was a great day! I hope next year to invite a few people over and do much the same thing - celebrating Pumpkin Day with lots of fun crafts and baking. I would have done it this year but I thought up the idea literally the night before! 

This is our friend Jamie (sorry her face is so blurred!) holding David and his friend Logan the Lion at the Fall Festival. Logan is just 4 weeks older than David. 

Playground Olympics

There is a point to all this eventually, so keep reading. I'm wordy and like giving background info. :)

I am so inspired by the Olympics! Part of me wishes I had pursued some sport a little more than I did, which was not at all, in my growing up years. I'm not much for team sports or even watching that much but I love individual sports. I think I might have enjoyed and maybe even been good at either swimming, track or gymnastics though not of Olympic caliber of course! Some of the other individual sports I like to watch are diving, syncronized swimming, figure skating, snow skiing, ski jumping and snowboarding. One team sport I enjoy is bobsledding.

So back to being inspired. I've been working really hard this summer to get the bed rest/pregnancy weight off that seems to cling to me like a 2 year old. :) I thought I was doing so well. I could get into more and more of my pants and looked much thinner. I'd been walking about 2 miles with my boys (around 60+ lbs with stroller) 3-4 times a week purposely hitting the hills around here, and unlike Oklahoma, there are some doozies around our neighborhood! Plus my sister had shown me some stretches/exercises that I tried from time to time. However, I was greatly disappointed when I went for my well-woman exam! How could it be that with all that hard work I'd barely lost 7 lbs since my post partum exam?? So, now I'm more instpired.

Also, Eric is going to hike a 14,000 ft mountain in Colorado over Labor day weekend while I'm basking in the rays on the beach with my sister and the rest of the family. :) He's been training for that doing stairs, going for runs and bike rides. So I want to do more of the same.

However, I am finding it more and more difficult even to get the walks in. David sleeps so much!! I am a nap nazi so I don't want to sacrifice his naps for my exercise. Plus, since the weather has been somewhat cooler (95 instead of 105!), I've been walking straight to the school playground in the mornings and letting Wes slide and swing a lot before school starts when we wont be able to use the playground anymore. So my walks are a lot shorter.

So how can I maximize my time and use the inspiration from the Olympics, my hubby and my lack of weight loss? It has been coming to me slowly over the last few days. Stay with me! As I said, this does have a point!

I was in Costco the other day and saw a cook book designed for Paleo diets which I had only vaguely knew about. I came home and googled about it because some of there recipes sounded good. While perusing, one sight had a link to a type of fitness method and business called Crossfit. We just so happen to know someone who has opened a Crossfit gym in Oklahoma. So I knew a little about that. It uses medicine balls, running, squats, pulls up, rings, rope climbing, gymnastics, jump roping, handstands, etc. with lots of variation. (This is a very bad summary!) I like it because it does have so much variation. I googled the links they had and googled some more because I obviously don't have the time to fit in a gym membership! I found lots of Crossfit-like exercises that I can do at home with no weights. Then I googled Calisthenics and came up with lots of good stuff. I wrote down a list of things I could do late last night.

So while I was at the playground with Wes today it came to me. Why don't I do these exercises while I'm out here with Wes. For instance, pull-ups. I don't have a place in my house to do those so I tried to do them on the monkey bars. Ha! In one of the 50 free Crossfit routines that I found, one of the options was something like 50 pull-ups, 50 sit-ups, 50 push-ups, 3 times! Well, I couldn't even do one pull up! How sad! So I decided just to cross the monkey bars. That was hard too but I managed to do it 3 times! I think I could have done more but my hands were rubbing blisters. Then I just tried climbing on the various climbing things on the playground, like up the sliding pole. Then I did some swinging which can really be a leg and arm workout if you do it long enough. However, since I've had David my stomach gets queasy if I swing to hard and high. Then I did some jumping jacks. I strapped the boys in and tried to sprint (while pushing the stroller) for a little ways. Then I did it again, two more times. When I got home I did some ab exercises, attempted some somersaults and I wanted to do some push-ups but David wanted his bottle more. I had a great time!

It gave me the idea that I can do this all the time wherever I am, in the backyard, at the playground, on vacation, etc and most I can do in the house during winter. So I made a list of a lot of exercises that appealed to me below. Maybe I'll see you on the playground! :)

Calisthenics 

Push ups 

Dips

Pull ups

Arm circles

Crunches

Bridge

Front plank

V sit

Hula hoop

Leg lifts

Sprints

Jumping

Elevated jumping

Squats

Squat jump

Split squat jump

Calf raises

Stairs

Upside down bicycle

Cycling

Swimming

Lunges

Jumping jacks

Hand stands

Somersaults

Jump rope

Back extension 

Addendum to a Previous Entry

Earlier I wrote a blog entry entitled "I'm Just Wondering" kind of as a vent of my frustration over the lack of availability of quality, simple toys. I just want to write to say that I have found some great toy stores that do sell quality toys.

Some of them are local to this area, just little shops in the villages tucked in and around the big trees and big houses of this great city. Another great store is called The Learning Tree that I also found tucked here and there around our area. I think it is more of a nationwide chain but it is still not one of those mega toy stores. It was quite a pleasure to look around in there. So, I don't feel quite so frustrated with the toy selection out there. Check out the Learning Tree and/or look up local toy shops in your area for a better selection than you will find at Target, Walmart and Babies R Us/Toy R Us.

January & February at the Taylors

Just thought I'd give an update of what's been going on here, not in chronological order.

The greatest news is that we were finally able to bring Wesley's adoption to a close. Unexpectedly, but to our greatest joy, we were able to bring Wesley home on Thursday, February 24, 2011 from the courthouse as our forever son with all the full rights and privileges of a son by birth. Praise God for His mighty intervention and mercy! Thank you all so much for your prayers, love, phone calls, visits, letters and emails, hugs, tears and gifts of support and encouragement in this journey. We couldn't have done it without you! God has taught us many wonderful things in this process and so we are thankful for this exercise in trusting the Lord. (More about this in another post!) Precious Wesley Joseph, what a gift you are! We love you forever.

My sister came to visit and we had a great time. Sadly, the weather was kind of yucky - cold, snow, mist and fog but we were able to get out and do a little bit and just veg out. And above all, she got to share in our adoption shock and excitement! We are so glad she was here with us.

We've had a blizzard and piles of snow!!!

We celebrated Wesley's first birthday with family and lots of friends!

Also, we finally finished our bathroom! Hurray! It took 4 months and twice as much money as expected but we love it! Come and visit so you can enjoy it too! I still have to make the shower curtain. It is on my huge project list. But we do have one that works fine for now.

Before:

After:

We've also joined a small group at our church that we've really enjoyed and it is so close to our house even though our church is almost 30 minutes away. No pictures though.

And, this isn't that exciting but it has been good for us - We've been purging our house room by room, one weekend at a time, of what we really don't use or need, unless it has some real sentimental value. You wouldn't believe the pile we've accumulated just by cleaning out the basement, garage and attic. It is amazing to us that just three years ago we could fit all of what we needed or wanted in 4 suitcases and a couple of carry-ons and yet had plenty for a two bedroom apartment in a rural village in Lebanon, where for the better part of our 8 months there we really only lived in the living room, kitchen and bathroom (barely). How could we have so much now? And what is crazier is that we had a garage sale just before we left for Lebanon. And one the year before that as well. What is all this stuff!!!??? Where did it come from? Why did we think we would need what we didn't get rid of it before? I encourage you to do something like this. I think you might be amazed. Several things inspired this. I'll write another blog post about that, too. :) No pictures of this, yet. I will post one of all of our purge pile when we finish in a few weeks.

This Year in Pictures

I hardly ever post pictures or write about my everyday life so I thought I would make up for it today!

Enjoy a walk through our year in pictures.

We did a ton of work on the house this year!

The insulation monster tried to eat me!

Eric being the handyman. We had to take up all these boards in the attic to put down more insulation so we would be warmer this winter. It is working so far! It was worth the clogged up lungs and furry bodies.

I have painted almost every room in the house! Pardon my backside!

Eric's parents helped us a lot. Here, Doug is examining his work in our closet. It turned out great!

Which color do I choose? I picked one of these colors for one of our bedrooms.

Some great friends came to visit! Here I'm trying to ice skate with Jen and Lily.

It snowed & snowed!

I tried some gardening... from this to ....

this... to....

THIS!!! I had no idea these things could get so big!!! And they got even bigger!!! I grew all kinds of peppers, broccoli, brussels sprouts, peas, green beans, lettuce, squash & zucchini. I planted a lot of herbs in pots as well. It was so much fun!

Also, I visited with friends in Beaufort, South Carolina.

I love live oaks!!! Beaufort is teeming with them!

Then, my sister got married!! :) It was a gorgeous wedding! Welcome to the family, Joey! :)

In November, we went to Arizona to visit a friend who has a ministry for refugees. We helped with an English camp that weekend. It was great fun! Thanks, Cherie!!!

We enjoyed the beauty of our area and discovered some great parks.

A great Christmas picture!

Sick at Christmas. :( We got this recliner and its match at a garage sale for $10 total! We need to do a bit of work on them as you can tell and they don't match our walls but they are comfy. Cricket especially likes them!

And... it snowed some more! We had a very, very white Christmas and in fact, it's snowing right now! :)

So this ends the photo tour. There are so many more pictures that I had to leave out! I will try to post more throughout the year instead of putting them all up on one day. There are two big things we couldn't really take pictures of that we want to celebrate!

1) We finally found a church that we are excited to join!

2) We've finished all the paperwork for adoption and are now just waiting for a phone call that says, "We have a baby for you!" So you could say we are "expecting" or that we are "paper pregnant." We are very excited!

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and we wish you all a very Happy New Year!

A Cup of Hot Tea

I just finished listening on CD to “Blue Shoes and Happiness” by Alexander McCall Smith. It is the 7th book in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency about the “traditionally built” Mme Precious Ramotse who, after the death of her dear father, has opened the only detective agency in Botswana, southern Africa. Though the books have a slow pace, they are so pleasant to read because they represent, through her life, family and friends, the culture of Botswana and the issues that the people of Africa deal with like drought, famine, poverty, AIDS, witch-craft, etc, but not in a heavy way, just as a context or background in African life. Mme Ramotse loves her country and always speaks praises for the country’s first president, Seretse Khama. Even though she has her ‘busy’ times (definitely not comparable to anything we would call busy here), there is always time for cake with friends, conversations filled with bits of old Botswana wisdom, people-watching (she is a detective after all), talking about cattle and pumpkin-eating. I don’t agree with all that is written about men. Men are rather degraded in the books - at least the bad men are, but in her view and the view of most of the women in the books, most men are bad (lazy, adulterous and/or abusive). However you may really be lucky and find a good man as did Mme Ramotse and Mme Makutsi, Mme Ramotse’s assistant,. The books give high praise for ‘good’ men. Anyway, sometimes these things make me laugh or just roll my eyes, but so much of these books are rich in other things.

In the last book, and more and more as I read each book, I am struck by, as I mentioned above, the simple, slow pace of life and the priority given to friends and family. At the beginning of the book she was sitting on her veranda on Zebra Drive “thoughtfully” drinking a cup of tea. In a conversation with the director of an orphanage they say one to another over large pieces of cake, “We are not born to work, work, work all the time. It is important to just be able to sit and think... It is quite unnatural to work like that. There should be time for work and play. And some time for sitting and watching the sun go up and down and some for listening to cattle bells in the bush.” Doesn’t that sound refreshing? I am definitely not opposed to putting in a good day of hard work whether it be at home or the office, as a volunteer or in a ministry, pouring our life out for Christ, but doesn’t listening to cattle bells sound appealing in some way? I realized that I fill my day from sun up to sun down with something to do almost every minute. When I eat breakfast, I’m reviewing scripture memory or listening to a sermon or reading the Bible. When I eat lunch I am looking at recipes for dinner or making a grocery list or reading the news. In the afternoons, I sometimes sit down for a cup of hot tea but again, I am still doing something. My mind and body never really rest until my head hits the pillow - oh, but there I also read. For weeks I was having the worst time ever sleeping and decided to try resting for a while in the afternoon along with a couple of other things to maybe help me sleep better. I read for a little while and then just laid there. It really worked to help calm my thoughts down and just rest my body. I recommend it to anyone! Maybe you have kids. I know plenty of families where everyone in the family has a quiet time in the afternoon, even if some of the kids are too old to take a nap. They read or color or listen to tapes or draw, etc. It seems to refresh everyone and everyone’s mood is much better. I cannot tell you the last time I “sat on my veranda” and drank my tea “thoughtfully,” not doing something and if I have, I feel guilty. I felt guilty to for laying down for a rest in the afternoons lately but not anymore. I have seen the benefits of it to my mind, emotions and body. Back to the cup of tea... I am challenging myself and I challenge you to try sitting down for just 10 minutes a day with your favorite beverage and drink it “thoughtfully” not doing anything else. NOTHING ELSE! Don’t listen to the radio. Don’t watch tv. Don’t read. Don’t work a puzzle. Don’t surf the net. Go outside and listen to the wind and birds or the cattle bells if you happen to live in a place where that is possible. I think you will be amazed how clear your thoughts will become and how refreshed you will feel. Or, why not have a cup of tea and cake with a friend, just because... just because.

If you’re interested in the Botswana, check out these sites:

http://www.botswanatourism.co.bw/index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botswana