It's Picture Time!!!

My goal this weekend is to take at least one good picture of Jonah for our Christmas cards. I've been browsing the card styles on Shutterfly for quite a while now. There are several I like, it really just depends on how many good pictures I can take.

If I get one great close up of Jonah, I may choose this retro card.

Here's another card I like, if I can get a good shot of just J as well as a family pic.

There are so many options, if I have trouble narrowing down my choices I could choose a card showcasing many different photos. Perhaps a card with several of the goofy shots I'm bound to take as well as the best photo of the day?

Shutterfly.com also has many lovely Hanukkah, New Year's, and holiday cards.

I have to say, I've been a Shutterfly customer for 5 years now. Back in 2005, for Christmas, I gave my mother-in-law a Shutterfly book of pictures of baby Jonah. She loved it, as did everyone else who saw it. I actually borrowed it from her to display at Jonah's first birthday party. Last Christmas, I made a photo book of our Florida vacation for my mom. Last May, I made a photo book of Jonah's preschool year, as a memory for him. I plan on making a Kindergarten book for him as well. So, as you can see, we are big fans of Shutterfly photo books!

But what about the quality of the cards? Well, I've ordered Shutterfly cards several times as well, and I've never been disappointed! Here's a cute one I ordered last Mother's Day:

***Attention, bloggers! Shutterfly currently has an amazing promotion going on. Click here to learn how you can earn 50 free cards for blogging about Shutterfly!

Stitches!

Well, we made it through 5.5 years of parenting without any major injuries requiring a trip to the Emergency Room. That ended yesterday. I was upstairs getting ready to take Jonah to Target to pick out birthday gifts for his cousins. The plan was that we'd go buy the gifts while Daddy watched the Ohio State game. We'd come home, wrap said gifts, and all 3 go to the party. I'd have to leave the party early to go babysit.

So, I was upstairs. Karl and Jonah were downstairs playing/watching tv in the living room. I heard the sound of glass breaking. I thought someone had broken a window because there was no cry, just "Jonah go to Mommy". I thought K wanted J out of the way of broken glass or something. So he came to me, hand out, bleeding. I had just put clean towels in the linen closet and we were right there so I grabbed one and wrapped his hand and held him. He really only cried a few tears. Took a look at the hand a few minutes later and saw that it wasn't bleeding much anymore but there was a huge gash and I thought I saw a tendon or something. Something just didn't look right. So I told Karl to get J's shoes and coat and get him in the car while I grabbed my coat, shoes, and purse.

We drove to Urgent Care, wondering if they'd still be open. They were. Only 3 cars in the parking lot. No one in the waiting room. GREAT, we thought, we'll be seen quickly and be home in no time. WRONG. The people at the desk asked what happened, took a quick look at J's hand, and said we should go to the ER. They didn't want to touch it because they thought he'd sliced a tendon.

Luckily, right next door was a new hospital. Tri Point. They signed him in right away, took his vitals, and put us in an ER room. The doctor came in a few minutes later, took a look at it, and the first thing she said was "Have you ever had stitches before?", Jonah said no, and she said "Well, we're gonna send you to x-ray to make sure there's no glass in there and then we'll stitch that cut up. It won't be easy."

So we went right to x-ray, where they found NO glass in his hand. Took him back, he got 5 stitches, bandaged him up, gave him a prescription for an antibiotic, and we were discharged. Everyone at the hospital was impressed at how great Jonah did...no tears, no yelling, no fighting. He just let them do what they needed to do. They said he did better than most adults. Tri Point staff was great and we weren't kept waiting much at all, the longest we waited was about 15 minutes for his discharge paperwork.

I may not have made it to my babysitting job last night, but we did still make it (an hour late) to the party! I am so proud of my big, brave boy. Pray it heals well and doesn't get infected. :-)

Rokenbok ROCKS!

Look what the FedEx man brought for Jonah a couple weeks ago!

It's the Rokenbok Get Rok'n Young Builder & Action Set. It consists of a dump truck, wireless remote control, red and blue balls (called Roks), blocks to build with, and an awesome conveyor belt.



Set up was fast and easy thanks to the large, full-color illustrations. Within minutes we were ready to go. The wireless controller "is fun and feels like a big kid toy", according to 5 year old Jonah. That's good because this set can be used with the sets Rokenbok makes for older children. With the "heirloom quality" construction and LIFETIME GUARANTEE on Rok Blocks, construction pieces, and Rok Star controllers, we will most likely be using this set years from now as a part of our family's collection, or as J calls it, our Rok'n World.


My son, our family, and friends have already spent hours playing with our Get Rok'n Young Builder & Action Set. I asked Jonah what he liked about it and he said "the conveyor belt because it can sort the balls". He seems amazed every time he dumps a load of Roks into it and the conveyor starts automatically, lifts up the balls, and sorts them by color. Then he loves to drive the dump truck over to collect them, sometimes towing the trailer we made out of the included blocks.


Jonah's five year old cousin, Isabella, enjoys playing with it, too. She said "it's cool." We also have neighbors that ask to play with it, and they are seven and nine years old! It's a hit with all the kids that have seen it, and a hit with this mom, too. I knew that Jonah would love this toy, but I was surprised how much his Dad and I enjoy playing with it! In fact, we liked it so much that we went out last weekend and bought a few "big kid" Rokenbok sets: a monorail and the Power Chutes Start Set. We're trying to buy the older Rokenbok sets (with the white, corded controllers and number keys) while we can find them, and then we're planning to add the newer sets with the yellow, wireless Rok Star controllers. And what's on Jonah's Christmas list this year? A Rokenbok crane and Rokenbok forklift.

Happy Rok'n!

*******Rokenbok provided us with the Get Rok'n Young Builder & Action Set to review, but all opinions are our own*********

This Kid

This kid got up and cleared his own place at Qdoba the other day, and then cleared Mommy's and Daddy's without being asked. He simply informed me "I am taking the initiative!"


This kid was excited to serve with our church this past Sunday at a low-income development. He braved the cold for a couple hours so we could hand out winter gear, a hot lunch, and socialize with the residents. This wonderful kid took his new mittens off his own hands and gave them to a little boy there.


This kid painted animal bobbleheads with his cousin yesterday. There were 3 in the package and he insisted on sending the extra one home with his cousin, for her older sister so she wouldn't feel left out.


This kid found a Hot Topic bag at the mall this afternoon and knew right away that we should take it to the customer service desk.

This kid amazes me. If only he'd cooperate for pictures. ;-)

You don't say...

Here are a few funnies from this week, courtesy of Jonah and a 9 year old boy we were babysitting.

The boys were playing a game, in which they were pretending to turn each other to stone. (Think Freeze Tag). Later on, we went out to lunch at Bob Evans. While sitting there waiting for their food, the boys were talking about the game. My five year old ended up yelling “Nope. I’m not STONED!”

A bit later, the food arrived. The boys were counting their smiley face fries. Each time they ate one, they’d say how many were left. At one point, the boy I sit for, (we’ll call him R) announced he had twins left. Jonah looked at his own plate and announced that he had triplets. R ended up stating (LOUDLY) “I know how you get twins”. Of course I asked how, thinking he’d say something cute like you pray to God twice, or something cute and childlike. Wrong. He said (LOUDLY) “You do it twice in a row”.

O.M.G.
I ‘bout choked on my Wildfire Chicken Salad.
Kudos to his 12 year old sister for promptly changing the subject.

The kid is 9. I knew he had shown some curiousity on the subject. I knew his parents had gotten him a kid-friendly book to help explain things. I did NOT know he knew the term “do it” or that he’d bring up that subject IN A RESTAURANT. Oh my.

And, finally, that brings us to today. Jonah got on the school bus this morning and said to the driver “Hello, King of the Munchkins!”

School days, school days.....

Well, they've started. Our school days. Well, Jonah's, that is! He is now a big Kindergartener.



It's going great so far. We had been warned that his teacher was mean, but we think she's great! He is excited to go every morning and excited to come home and tell me what he has learned. We have slowly gotten into an earlier bedtime routine and a good morning routine. He loves riding the bus, loves gym and art, and was excited to take out his very first library book today (well, first from the SCHOOL library, that is!)...and I got to help him check his book out because I volunteered at the library today! Every week I will be there while his class is, it's pretty fun. We're looking forward to the Open House tonight!

It's that time of year again....

Hard to believe

I
now
have
a
KINDERGARTENER!!!

I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.....

TUESDAY
Our neighborhood is, well, interesting to say the least.
The other day, the teenage neighbor of ours asked me for a ride. It wasn't far, so I gave him one, even though I didn't really want to. I told him I'd get my keys and be right out. I came outside...and he was IN MY CAR. Umm...I didn't like that. J had just been out there a minute earlier and apparently hadn't locked the doors. So I drive the guy, and go to get gas...and ALL THE CASH IN MY WALLET WAS GONE. I knew I had exactly $27 in there. I was fuming.

SO, I told our other neighbors, who are friends with this guy and his family. They confronted his uncle, and the uncle didn't believe it but threw $20 at the lady's feet. SO, at midnight that night, we were awakened by pounding on our door, incessant doorbell ringing. Karl answered and it was the kid, wanting to talk to me. At midnight. So I go out there in my pj's, and ask what was up.

Him: Um..first I wanna say sorry. Second, here. (and he gave me the $20)
Me: Um...I believe you took more than that?
Him: NO I only took $20.
Me: That's funny because exactly $27 was missing...
Him: (laughing) nah, I only took $20 and I only took it to get something to eat.
Me: whatever

I just wanted to get back to sleep. So this kids asks for a favor, steals from me while I do the favor, then lies to my face while apologizing? I know he only did it because our neighbor guy made him, but at least I got $20 back...better than none. No more favors for him!

*************************************************************************************
Wednesday

I went to Target. I let J pick a new water squirter, because the day before, we had a HUGE neighborhood water war. All the kids fight over these 2 animal squirters he has. So, he picked a monster one, it was supposed to be $8. It rang up $1. Whoa...so I went back to get more...and ALL the other ones rang up $8 still. Even the ones that were identical to the one we bought for $1...same UPC and everything! The Target workers were stumped. Interesting....$27 was stolen from me...and only $20 was paid back...and then I mysteriously saved $7 at Target...so, in a way, I got my $7 back...granted, not the way it SHOULD have happened, but still really cool!

*************************************************************************************
Wednesday night
It was a nice evening and a lot of people were outside. While I was in for a few minutes, 2 teenage boys came along with lighter fluid and a lighter and started a fire by our woods. Thankfully, not at the end near my house, and thankfully a couple people stomped it out. We kept smelling lighter fluid near the pond, and in different parts of the woods. One kid here knew the kids who did it, so of course we called the police. The cutest cop EVER came and you should have seen the neighbor girls falling all over him. One couldn't even say her name...it came out "Come on and moo me". ;-)

What is this?

Oh yes, it's a flower that Jonah brought me.
Well, *two* flowers, actually.

How sweet is he, bringing flowers to Mommy?!
He certainly doesn't get that from his dad!

As nice as they are...

I can't help but feel bad...

for the neighbor whose yard he picked them from!

Chapin Forest

I took Jonah to Chapin Forest the other day.


We had a great time throwing rocks into Quarry Pond, eating our picnic lunch, and talking/walking with a pleasant older couple. When we parted ways with the couple (whose names I immediately forgot), Jonah and I headed to the Lucky Stone Loop trail.

The view was amazing.


We could even see Lake Erie and the Cleveland skyline, which is 18 miles away.


We saw many beautiful trees.


It was an enjoyable 1.5 mile walk.
Well, for us, we made it about a 2 mile walk because Jonah wanted to go down a different path at one point.

Jonah did great. He walked for quite some time without stopping. Then I carried him piggyback for a short time. He walked again. I piggybacked him again. All in all, I would say he walked a mile and a half by himself.

Little boys do get tired, though.


So we took a rest and listened to the birds.

Jonah was a bit disappointed that Chapin doesn't have a real working quarry, but he soon got over it and enjoyed our day.


After our hike, we played on the playground at Chapin. Then our neighbors called and asked us to meet at Garfield Park, so Jonah got to play there for 2 hours. THEN, he played outside at home for another 2 hours or so, and the ice cream truck came. I had one happy, worn out boy.

Green Grass

They say that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.

Frankly, I have felt that way often. That I’m on the less green side. Everyone else seems to have more and/or better things than we do. We don’t own our house, we don’t have the newest cars, and we don’t take fancy vacations. In this materialistic society, it is so easy to get caught up on what we *don’t* have and forget about the blessings we do have. If I choose to focus on everything we don’t have, then yes the grass is way greener over there. Ours would be looking dull and brown.

Yet if I focus on the positives, it’s not hard to see that I have a few many blessings. A husband, a son…all of us healthy. Friends and family that love us despite our many flaws quirks. A great church-well, technically TWO great churches, as we are in the process of switching from a great one to another great one closer to home. A too small home that is just enough for our small family. Two cars that run, jobs, insurance, enough income to pay our bills and provide our needs. Above all else, a God that loves us and forgives us. When we choose to focus on the blessings, it’s obvious we’re very blessed people. When I look at life this way, our grass is very green.

And still…sometimes I just don’t see it that way. The blessings are often clouded by the selfish desires. Until recently.

Until *Casey.

Casey is our 8 year old neighbor. We have known her for over a year now. She comes over to play with Jonah. Often. Every day during Spring Break, she was here. Every day after school and on weekends? She’s here. All. Day. LONG. In our yard. In our house. Helping herself to Jonah’s outside toys and bikes. Right up in my face, asking us where we were going, if she could come with. Not getting the hint when she is told no. She has asked to come to Jonah’s family birthday dinner, invited herself to his birthday party, asked to come grocery shopping with us, and asked us to take her to Chick Fil A and the park, to name just a few. Sometimes I say yes. Sometimes I say no. Sometimes I get extremely frustrated with this child that won’t leave our family alone.

Recently I’ve been thinking about the Casey situation. Realizing she doesn’t have a wonderful home life. Lots of yelling, not much attention otherwise. The girl is lonely. Yes she has a mom, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents…all in our development. Yes, I’m sure they love her. But she is a lonely little girl. She is looking for love and attention, wanting to be a part of what we are and what we have. She is just eight years old, but she can see that Jonah’s home life is different… has a home filled with love. She can tell that we love spending time with Jonah and enjoy taking him places. Casey sees something in our family that she wants. And that humbles me, puts things into perspective. I never thought anyone else would desire the life our family lives. To me, our life is average. Perfect for us…but nothing others would covet. And yet, Casey wants in. So, even though it’s frustrating at times, we’ve chosen to focus on the positives in life. We’ve chosen to focus on the positives of Casey, too, and how God has put her in our lives for a reason. We’ve chosen to include her more, show her more grace and mercy, and show her God’s love.

To at least one person, we are on the side of the fence that has the greener grass. And we’re opening the gate.

*not her real name

Never Heard a Prayer Quite Like This Before

The ice cream truck decided not to show up today (apparently it comes on the COLD days??), so Jonah and I made a quick trip to Wal*Mart to pick up some treats.

We started driving out of our development, and two teenagers on bikes were in the road ahead. One turned right and rode off. The other was waiting to turn left, and was in front of my car, so we were stuck there waiting behind him.

Jonah is very observant these days.

He said to me "Mommy, are those his BOXERS?!"

I looked again.
Well, he was wearing jeans.
But I don't think one inch of denim actually covered the young man's rear end.

I couldn't lie, so I agreed that yes, they *are* his boxers.

My son promptly bowed his head, folded his hands, and prayed:

Dear God,
Please make him take off his underwear.
Amen.

Eggshell Land

Yesterday I took Jonah to Eggshell Land.


Every year, for the past 50-some years, a man & wife set up a display in their front yard. Each year has a theme, and takes thousands and thousands of eggshells. Over 32,000 eggshells this year!


It is so cool. J loved it (but loved the old 1950's car in their driveway even more!)



Hope you had a HOPPY Easter!

Ch Ch Changes...

For starters, this blog is a change. I figured the Batman Blog was a bit outdated since I hadn't posted there in 4 months and especially since Jonah doesn't care a bit about Batman or being called Batman anymore. Hence the new blog name. Old posts can still be read on the other blog.

Secondly, another huge change in our lives...we are leaving our church. As much as we love FBC, the long drive is proving to be too much for us. It makes it hard to get to church on time, hard to get involved in mid-week events, and hard to get to know people. We've gone there for years...but don't really KNOW people. Of course it's nobody's fault, it is just how it is when you live 40 minutes from your church. We're looking forward to finding something closer to home, getting more involved in MOPS, Youth Ministry, Bible studies, etc....but we'll definitely be back to visit FBC on occasion.

We are also thinking about moving. Not just to somewhere else in this town. Something bigger. More on that one later, though, since we're not sure if and when it will work out. Definitely something to pray about!