Bite your Tongue

I bet Jim (o.k. I forgot his real name) would never say this to his wife when he gets home from work and she has been stuck inside all day with her three kids because it's another snow day:

"Paige didn't practice her piano yet?" (Implied meaning: what the heck have you been doing all day?)

"Ummm, no."

"You know, I would really like to come home and just have fun with the kids, not practice piano or help them with their homework." (Yeah, sorry honey. I guess moms have all the FUN!)

I'm happy to report that I bit my tongue. Now if I didn't just blog about it, I'd really be a saint! :)

Helpful Heloise/Laurie

Alright, in my checking in on everyones lives/blogs after my vacation I came across a fun blog about being a hip mom via Brenda's blog. O.K. after five attempts, the link is not working and so I am just going to give you my helpful mothering/cleaning/cooking/exercising advice. Oh man, it must be another snow day and I'm bored! :)

1. If you buy the mega-three pound bag of Kirkland tortilla chips at Costco (and why wouldn't you, they're just so yummy) freeze the ones you can't consume in a week. I put them in gallon size ziplocs, take them out of the freezer, and they are instantly ready to eat and are as fresh as the day you bought them.
2. If you get a fruit stain on your clothes, use boiling water right out of your tea kettle and pour those stains away. (Strawberry and blueberry stains are no match for scalding hot water.)
3. Get more than one laundry hamper/basket and separate your clothes into darks and lights right away. It saves time and let's face it, any time saved when doing this dreaded job is welcomed.
4. Buy a Wii (or get your neighbor to find one for you while she's out shopping, thanks Patti) and burn a few calories after dinner while kicking your hubby's butt in tennis or boxing. We did however experience two downsides to the Wii this morning, a Wii whine by Paige who kept getting beat in tennis, and a Wii wipe-out by Zoey as she was executing a killer forehand shot.

I am also including "some blogs to read" ... kind of like t.v. shows you should be watching but you're not. Patti, new blogger/great neighbor looking for readers, Amanda, Dutch girl in Spain, and Dana, witty pastor's wife who's vocabulary puts mine to shame. Happy reading and don't be a lurker on these girls' blogs!

St. Louie

Since the kids had Thursday and Friday off of school last week, we headed down to St. Louis to visit my sister Deb, her husband Daniel, and their three very adorable kids. We headed to the Arch on Friday and rode the capsule up to the top. Paige kept saying, "I'm not so sure about this" and as our stomachs did flips Jeff & I were both thinking, "either are we!" We also went to the Science Museum (forgot the camera), a fun mall, a late movie (just my sister & I), and Jeff & Daniel put in two new vanities in their upstairs bathrooms. All in all, a busy, productive, and fun weekend with family! I also got to rock baby Owen to sleep a couple times before his nap and I think we may need one more of those little babies! ;) (Oh that's right, that's ship has sailed, and by sailed of course I mean snipped.) Thanks for hosting us Daniel & Debbie.

This is How I Roll At Home

Dude, where'd my tan go?

As you can see, I'm all about fashion when I'm hanging out at home!

You're Welcome

To the future Mrs. Zach Guikema, you're welcome. This boy loves to clean toilets.


Alright, so these frigid temps. have me (and just a few others) feeling a bit crabby lately. So, I thought I would come up with a list of all the great things about winter. Hang on to your long johns ... here we go.

• Unlike summer, you don't have to put on a bathing suit every day. (Or get sand in your unmentionable areas.)
• Your towel is always dry in the morning because the heat's been running all night.
• Soup tastes better.
• The kids can find another use for their Easter eggs --- eyes for their snowman.
• Hot chocolate is appropriate to drink anytime.
• You get to wear cute hats, scarves, and mittens.
• You can watch football all day and not feel guilty that you aren't playing outside.

That's it. If you have any others, comment below. And if you want to give a smug blogger a hard time, check out Amanda's blog.

Hi, my name is Laurie ...

And I'm addicted to checking email. I've decided that if I'm going to go check my computer so often, I am going to stick prayer requests on the screen so I'm talking to God when I'm checking to see if others are talking to me. Let's just say, the current requests on my list have been thoroughly prayed over. ;)

Random Pics 'Cause I'm Random

Hmmmm

Over dinner Zach reported, "I have a rocket in my pants."

(Hmmm ... apparently boys think this from a very early age.)

New Glasses ... More Teeth

So, I wanted to change up the 'ole blog and the best pic of the family is one with Paige with her old glasses and missing her two front teeth. So when you view my blog, try to picture Paige more like this. :)

Picture of the entire family by Steph.

Book Club

Does anyone else think that by the end of this book Ms. Gilbert gave up meditation for sex?

Come and Listen

I may have mentioned this before, but I got a holy crush on Mr. David Crowder. My crush is not in the least bit romantic. ( I mean he's cute in that Where's Waldo with a kickin' goatee kind of way but ...) I just love his music and how I always feel closer to God each time I listen to one of his songs. So, to kick off the new year I wanted to share the lyrics of one of his songs & ask you to "tell me what he has done for you."

COME AND LISTEN
Come and listen/Come to the water's edge/All you who know and fear the Lord
Come and listen/Come to the water's edge/All you who are thirsty come
Let me tell you what he has done for me
Let me tell you what he has done for me
He has done for you/He has done for us
Come and listen/Come and listen to what He's done
Praise our God for He is good

Like any good host, I'll go first. This is what God has done for me. God gave me a wonderful Christian husband when the highest requirement I had in college for my future mate was that he was able to make me laugh. (Can you say naive and so blessed?) God gave me a healthy son when every medical professional and book told me his life would be one filled with disabilities. For these, and for so many other reasons, I know that our God is profoundly good. I want to listen to what God has done for you in your life. Let this meager blog be a praise offering to God.

Downtown Fun

Rosa Parks Circle has been our new form of cheap entertainment. Ice-skating with the family for $1/piece. Oh Rosa, you're speaking our Dutch language. I don't believe you were Dutch however. ;)

Time with our cousins from Pennsylvania.
My men in orange.