For anyone who questions whether Obama is an abortion extremist, please read “Infants who survive abortions” by Mona Charen, which appeared in The Washington Times on Monday: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/sep/22/infants-who-survive-abortions/ and watch the video below featuring Jill Stanek.

<P>[Edited to add 10/15/08: More from Robert George: <a href="http://townhall.com/columnists/RobertGeorge/2008/10/15/obamas_abortion_extremism">Obama's Abortion Extremism</a>].

Everything is about being eco-friendly these days. While I do think it’s important to care for the earth God gave us, I have never taken the new trends too seriously. However, it was pointed out to me by a good friend who visited from Wisconsin yesterday that our new kitchen plan, which places the refrigerator on the other side of the room from the other appliances, on two inner walls, is actually more energy efficient (not affected as much by heat and the outside temp). So, here we are being trendy and we didn’t even know it! I am glad to find this out though, just helps confirm that our plan makes sense from another perspective. While it feels less than ideal functionally, it is more flexible and better looking design-wise (plus we don’t have to buy a new fridge immediately).

If you have a Kerasotes movie theater in your area (there’s several in the Chicago area, as well as a few other states), you could be going for only $5. I know, that’s a steal, right? Movies haven’t been $5 since high school. If you go to the Kerasotes Web site and sign up for the Five Buck Club, within a couple days you will receive a card in the mail. Each week, you will then receive a list of movies via e-mail that you can go to for only $5. I’m loving this deal. Just got my card today. Of course, only movies that are at least 2 weeks old will be on that list. But, seeing as how we generally barely seem to squeeze in a movie before it leaves the theater, I don’t think that will be a problem for us.

“I don’t like you you.” Have you ever had your little one say this to you? Thankfully, my kids haven’t yet, but I get a lot of “Grrrrr” and stomping feet when things don’t go their way so I am sure those days aren’t in the too distant future. I remember once when I was about 7 months pregnant with my first baby, my niece, who was maybe 3 at the time, said “I don’t like you” to my sister. Being the emotional, hormone-crazy prego that I was, I cried. What a devastating thing to hear from your child! It was even more powerful than if she had said “hate” I think, because she seemed to really mean it. My sister, unfazed, scooped her up (mostly to remove her from the video game at Best Buy that she wanted to play) and nose-to-nose said, “Well, I like you. I love you. I decided a long time ago to love you.” I couldn’t believe it! What a perfect response. Even though she brought me to tears, she got no emotional reaction from her mom.

Well, I’m telling you this because I am throwing one of these tantrums myself right now. I am fuming in the corner with my arms crossed, saying “I don’t like you” to God. I know it’s because I am being immature and selfish, things just aren’t going my way the way that I think they should. It’s especially frustrating when you can’t see the whole picture. I want to know the whys and the hows. How is everything going to work out for the best? In my limited view of the world, my past, present and future, all I know is how and why I would like things to happen. My niece didn’t understand that the game was too advanced for her and she would get frustrated with it, and that we had other fun things to do. All she knew was that there was a fun game with characters she recognized on a computer and she wanted to play, play, play!

So, here I am, waiting, peeking ever-so-slightly out of the corner of my eye, waiting for His reassuring hug and an “I love you.”

Charlie learned to blow his first bubbles last week! He had a blast and now it’s his favorite thing to do. Thankfully, the weather’s been nice so we’ve been outside blowing bubbles quite a bit lately.

For more Wordless Wednesday entries: WordlessWednesday.com and 5 Minutes for Mom.

We finally took care of the carpentry conundrum. The dry rot that had taken over the back corner where the sink used to be seemed to get worse every time we as much as looked at it! So, after many games of phone tag, we had Steve Wood, a local carpenter recommended by a friend, come take care of it. He was quick! He was cutting wood within 5 minutes of his arrival, and he sawed and glued and pounded away, finishing in less than 3 hours. It doesn’t look pretty, but it’s rock solid. We are relieved to have taken care of it properly, so we never have to think of it again! We hope now that we can make some real progress as the past couple weeks have been rather discouraging. The cost of our peace of mind? $400.

Before	After

And after Matt finished the sub-floor, covering the whole thing up … for good:

For more Wordless Wednesday entries: WordlessWednesday.com and 5 Minutes for Mom.

I have been meaning to post this for a while, it’s from last Saturday I think. I had the most intense dream I’ve had in a while, and it was a weird one.

I was in a building with elevators, trying to get my dishwasher to the bottom floor. But I wasn’t the one maneuvering the dishwasher, so I was trying to communicate how and where it should go. I could not seem to clearly get across the plan. So, in the confusion, the dishwasher ended up in a different elevator than me. And, it turns, out, the car wasn’t even there! So, it went crashing down the elevator shaft. I panicked! By the time we figured out what had happened and went to retrieve it, it was gone. Someone had stolen my banged-up dishwasher! I was hysterical! I knew we couldn’t afford to buy another one, and my future dreams of a dishwasher were crushed. In the midst of my tears, still dreaming, I kept thinking: This can’t be real. This can’t be real. Then I started to focus on one detail. Who was it who was bumbling my dishwasher from the very beginning? None other than: Curious George, the monkey! Chattering away with a sad, confused look the entire time. Oooohh-ah-ha-ha. Hoa?

When I remembered this dream the next day and went through all the details, I thought it was hilarious. Have you been dreaming of Curious George lately?

Where’s WaldoCharlie?

For more Wordless Wednesday entries: WordlessWednesday.com and 5 Minutes for Mom.

So, with the help of a friend who owns a truck, we acquired a twin-size mattress, frame and headboard from a couple that is downsizing. We gave the mattresses to Charlie, and Avery got the frame and headboard so she can finally be off the floor. They were both ECSTATIC. Charlie loves the new cars and trucks sheets we got him, and Avery was having a blast putting her babies in the shelves of the headboard.

All this required a lot of moving around because, well, it just did. Both kids were switching sides of the room. Anyway, I did all this while Matt was at an Indy car race (with pit passes, cool!) in Joliet. The room was a total disaster with books from the bookshelf–which had to be moved to make space–in the middle of the room, the two twin beds, plus Charlie’s toddler bed strewn about. I was getting frustrated so I thew my hands in the air and declared, “I give up!” and took the kids downstairs. While the kids were playing, I snuck back upstairs to try to work it out again. I ended up putting the toddler bed in the hallway, still in one piece, and went to work on getting the bed frame and headboard assembled and piecing the room back together. I thought I might have an easier time if Avery wasn’t hovering over me with her arms crossed: “I’m wai-aiting!” and Charlie wasn’t pulling out every toy that had more than 10 pieces. I was right.

So, when I finishing up more than an hour later, Avery came to her room (and Matt had been home like 5 minutes). She exclaimed, “Daddy got it together! Yay!” So, I corrected her. She said, “Then who helped you? But who?” Sigh. I had to explain that after a break, I was able to go back and do it. I was just getting frustrated. If only that would be what she remembers and not that I gave up! I’ll have to be a little less dramatic next time. A little.

Anyway, she was full of pure joy having her new bed. She was literally dancing (not jumping, of course!) for about 5 minutes on the bed when it was all done. She was quite organized with her babies, too. I think this girl would faint of happiness if I ever took her to the Container Store!

[Edited 9/9 to add: Avery said this morning in a sing-song voice: "I love my new bed! Because Charlie can't mess up my babies when I have a high bed!"]

We went outside to play yesterday afternoon and Avery wanted to ride the “new” bike without training wheels again. Once I got her started, she was able to pedal fast all on her own. Wow! NOW, there goes my baby!

Avery did so great today! I am so proud of her. She was so excited getting ready this morning. She even let me take her picture! She was so disappointed when she found out that she wasn’t riding the bus so she was mad for a couple of minutes, but she quickly recovered. She did get a little nervous when we approached her classroom, so I had to give her a little shove into the room. She hesitated, then ran to the craft table. She gave me a nervous smile before she sat down, then I left. That was it! I think Charlie had the hardest time with it. As we left the building, he turned to me, “AV?” As in, “We left Avery, mom!” Then when I downloaded the pics from this morning on the computer, he got increasingly excited with each one: AV! AV! AV! And he started calling her name when we pulled into the parking lot to pick her up. We were a bit early and I couldn’t keep him from peeking into her room. She saw him so we crashed the last few minutes as they wrapped up the counting lesson on apples. It was fun to see her. She was even excited when I asked her questions about what she did, so I know she had a good time.

Meanwhile, Charlie and I ran errands. We were easily able to fill the time with a neighborhood garage sale where I picked up a Hello Kitty bracelet for a quarter for Avery and a new bike for Charlie (which Avery promptly wanted to ride and did pretty well without training wheels)! There goes my baby!

Today is Avery’s first day of Preschool! I signed her up for one day a week at a local church. They have free play, learning time and a Bible study. It’s over the lunch hour so yesterday I told Avery to get out her lunch bag (it was in her room probably packed full of little stuffed babies). She got all excited and started packing a lunch. She grabbed a bottle of water and an apple to put in there, then asked “What else can I pack mama?” We bagged some pretzels then I suggested a sandwich. She got out the bread (though she needed help with the twisty tie) and she started spreading peanut butter on it. When I finished the job, she zipped up the bag and put it in the fridge.

Then we decided to go pick out what she was going to wear. When she selected a cotton dress, she wanted to hang it on her dresser so she could reach it and find it. And she was insistent on this purple dress. She was so cute! I am so proud of her!

I am really nervous. I hadn’t thought about it much until we went to bed last night, of course. Then I couldn’t sleep! She did alright with AWANA last year, but this is different. It’s SCHOOL, even if it is PREschool! She even told me flat out: “I won’t be happy if you’re not there, mom.” I have so many prayers as she begins this new journey. Not the least of which is that she will learn to make new friends, or at least make nice with other kids who talk to her, especially those who may be different from her. She is so shy. I know this will be a hard experience for her.

Lord, please watch over my baby doll! Keep her safe in this new environment, and help her to obey authority but also speak out and be bold when she should. I pray she finds her passions and gifts you’ve given her and that the teachers would be encouraging and not misleading in their teaching. Help her to learn the value of hard work, creativity and putting others first. Most of all, teach her about You, and give me the patience and wisdom to be a spiritual teacher at home. Thank you for Avery! Never let me forget what a beautiful blessing and miracle she is.

“Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always.” Deuteronomy 5:29

We went to a local zoo while I was visiting my family in MN. It was a great little free zoo, very park-like and very nice. Anyway, there were snakes, river otters, bobcats and farm animals … oh my! Some preschoolers were in front of us and crowded around a goat to feed it grass and leaves. Charlie wanted to get in on the action but every time the goat came in to eat whatever he was holding, Charlie would throw it. My niece even tried to put a leaf on a stick so Charlie could keep his distance but he just threw the stick at the poor goat who just wanted to eat. But he would try over and over again! This shot is about the closest he got before dropping the treat.

For more Wordless Wednesday entries: WordlessWednesday.com and 5 Minutes for Mom.

Oh, we also had a birthday party for Charlie’s birthday this weekend! He turned two last Sunday and we finally had everybody (and I do mean everybody) over for a Hot Wheels themed BBQ. We tried to keep it simple, but I still had fun with some of the decorations.

Colors
Black, white and red

Decor/supplies
Hot Wheels banner (I made this, imitating the Hot Wheels logo and my husband was able to print it at work)
Hot Wheels cake plates and napkins from the party store
Red dinner plates, napkins and bowls
Black table cover (with yellow construction paper for lane lines)
Black and white streamers with a few red curly ribbon bunches
Pit stop (bathroom), fuel (food and drink) and weight limit (on trampoline) street signs, as well as caution: construction and “no thru entry” for the kitchen remodel (I just printed on 8.5×11 paper)
Hot wheels and other car toys and car mat
Oh, and one orange cone on the cake table, which I bought at the dollar store

Food
Lemonade mixed with generic Sprite
Cheese Ritz sandwich crackers
Generic oreo cookies
Wheels macaroni
Hamburgers (with checkered flag toothpicks I made with label stickers)
Hot dogs (I saw cute race cars online made with the buns but I didn’t do this)
Hot Wheels fruit snacks
Veggie tray and chips
Hot tamales

Cake
I made the cake totally last minute so I was disappointed in it but it was still cute. It was hot so the frosting was melting. I recommend making the cake the day before and frosting it in the evening, so you can put it in the fridge, if you make something like this when it is warm.

I made two cakes with 9×11 cake pans. Putting the flatter one on the bottom, I frosted them together. Then I carved just enough to make a spoiler in the back and a lower hood in the front. Round off the front a bit, too. I frosted the windows white and the rest of the car yellow (I did a red car last year for Lightning McQueen and it was rather pink and I used A LOT of dye, so I decided to try something else, but a darker color would be better. On second thought, I should have just used chocolate frosting and made it brown). I used a black gel writer to put Charlie’s name on the hood and the number 2 on the top and sides, like a race car. Added Oreos for wheels, although they were a bit small for the size of the cake.

Activities
Since we invited our friends, we mostly made it a BBQ social. We also had the trampoline we acquired this summer. I did make red, yellow and green flags for a greenlight/redlight kind of game but we never got around to that. I had the cars out for little ones to play with and a basket with balls for kids and adults.

Goody bags
I found race car goody bags at the dollar store, as well as race cars filled with pez-type candies. I also included tootsie rolls, chocolate candy and Hot Wheels stickers.