Taxes & Teeth

I was never really bothered by April 15th until we moved back to Ojai 3 years ago. It seems that every year we owe something to the tune of a couple 1k's ... I won't bore you with all of the details and I think (I think) that we have straightened everything out with our wonderful tax consultant, and might not have to pay out this year. But, you know what? There is always something else. And for us, it is teeth. Or better said, our bad teeth. Sage wracked in 4 cavities this year (okay - total parent guilt here), Ryan came in second with two cavities and 1 wisdom tooth that was so fargone that they opted to pull it, and me, I came in first with yet another cavity, and a possible root canal (although we are hoping and praying for only a crown). Amazingly God always provides for these unforeseen expenditures ... but my mind day dreams of all the other stuff we could have bought ... but then Ryan quickly interrupts my day dreaming to remind me that I wouldn't have spent the money anyway since I am a saver. "Oh, I guess you are right," I tell him. Oh well, it's all God's money anyway, right?

Endorphins & Caffeine

Before I go to the gym I usually guzzle some coffee to get my brain and body up to speed and up to the task. This makes for some pretty amazing thoughts while I am at the gym, pumping iron. During that short 45min. I have usually started a couple of businesses, mentally written all of my thank you notes and thought of a gazillion more things to put on my "to-do" list. Lately I have tried to remember a few of these great ideas and jot them down when I get in the car. Because, you guessed it, as soon as I get home and the endorphins fizzle and the caffeine wears off, those ideas seem, well, kind of silly. But, there was one idea that popped into my head last Friday and that was to take a sewing class at our local community college. I got the go-ahead from Ryan and I even have a friend who might take the class with me. I am actually pretty excited and it actually might even happen. All this to say, drink some coffee before your next workout. You never know what new ideas might pop into your head.

It's Official

Our summer bedtime, (and by "our" I mean our kids' bedtime) is officially now 9pm. What? How is that possible? I don't know ... maybe it's the late sunsets or the various activities we are attending ... or maybe it's just how it is in the summer. At least the kids are sleeping in later than normal so we get to "sleep-in" until 7:15 a.m.!

Nothing Cuter

There's nothing cuter than ....

... peeking into the living room and seeing the girls sitting around Ryan with their little toes reaching out to be painted ... and then Ryan painting them!

... peeking again into the living room to see Ryan and the girls playing baseball on the Wii. Sage was hitting homers and Aspen was running bases!

Busy Bees

I thought the summer was going to be slow and relaxing. I don't think we have stopped a second since a few weeks ago ... and the piles (4 of them) of clean clothes in my bedroom are the proof! At least we have clean clothes. Now off to have more fun in the sun.

Sippy Cups

What is the shelf-life of a sippy cup? I had a cupboard full of infant bottles that I could finally clear away and replace with all of our sippy cups (which usually dry and and sit on our counter). But as I was putting them away I was just wondering how long I should actually keep these things around. I admit that I have bleached the heck out of some of them in an attempt to revive them, I have scrubbed some with toothbrushes and others have been fated to the trashcan because there was no going back, if you know what I mean. I am feeling this itch to toss all the spill-proof cups we have and go out and buy new ones, but do I need to?

Death

As a child I used to fear and envision my parents dying. My heart would race, my ears would ring and my eyes would well up with tears over a death that hadn't even occurred and yet it felt so real.
Tonight Sage and I conversed about death, getting old and being buried under trees (dogs). Of course, it started out innocent -- well, innocent enough. But by the end of the conversation she was in tears, gripping me, pleading, "But, mommy, I don't want you to die because I love you so much and I would miss you!" She did tell me through her tears that at least I would be with Jesus. I tried to comfort her and explain that mommy is here now. Then, after 10 minutes or so, I gently steered the conversation toward a happier topic. That lasted a few seconds and then it was Aspen who was going to be sad when Sage died because Sage is going to get old and die because we die when we get old. I finally held her tightly and decided we needed to pray and have a conversation with Jesus about death.
Dear Jesus, thank you that we are living today and we pray that we get to be part of each others lives for a really long time. Please keep us safe and help us to sleep well tonight and not have bad dreams. Amen.

Sage's heart raced and the tears flowed over a death that has not yet occurred. And I held her tight and told her over and over again that mommy is here right now, and prayed, in my own quiet thoughts, for God to allow to be around to see her accept her high school diploma, see her walk down the aisle to the man she will marry and be around to cuddle the babies she might one day have. Heavy is the heart of a mom, especially on days like this one.

Fantastic!

I thought of some amazing things to write about today. So amazing that I forget all of them. At least I didn't forget that Sage's word of the day was Fantastic, and she said it two times and with much enthusiasm, I must add.

PK's

Sage and Aspen enjoyed themselves in their "doughnuts" tonight at youth group. It's great to be a PK.

Happy Birthday Sage!

The party was actually pretty perfect. And I am not even complimenting myself here -- although those double-decker cupcakes were pretty fabulous. The kids played well, the weather was great, everyone was mellow, no scrapes, no fighting over swings (no swings at the park - go figure). So ...Sage is now 3 and quite the big girl these days. Lately she is very into getting dolled up with her dress-up necklaces and earrings and announcing herself as "princess Sage" when she enters the room. All the while her hair is a crazy mess and she has lunch crumbs still stuck to her shirt. It's a beautiful sight. Enjoy the pictures from the party.

Change

I don't know why it took me so long to start using Google Reader (www.google.com/reader) It is an amazing tool that is free, highly efficient and easy to use. Ryan kept telling me to switch and I kept making excuses as to why I needed to waste time loading all of the blogsites that I frequent, only to find out that they (the authors) had not posted anything new. Now I just click on Google Reader and ... well, you need to sign up for yourself to get the full experience. Or wait 10 years like I did and miss out. Your choice.