So ... to preface today's blog, you need to understand 3 things.
1. For the past week, Ellie has been inseparable with her green "purse" of sidewalk chalk - still shrink-wrapped. I bought it for her last Tuesday from the dollar section in Target, and for some reason, it has never left her side. She walks around the house with it, brings it in the car, on errands, to school (leaving it in daddy's office), she sleeps with it ... it is the first thing she thinks about in the morning and the last at night. I have no idea why, but she loves the thing!
2. For the past week, my ears have been blocked and have hurt a bit. I've been wondering if I have an ear infection, and finally decided to go to the doctor.
3. For the past week (ok, past month or so), Ellie has been telling us when she poops. "I POOOOPing!" This is good, except she uses the same phrase for any lower bodily function ... toots, pee ... you get the idea. So it has become a bit of a "cry wolf" thing for us. "Pooping?" we say. "Yeah right. You'll be fine for a few more hours."
So, now that you understand those 3 points, let's commence with today's story.
The day started out with Ellie waking up ... and her chalk is nowhere to be found. She fell asleep with it last night ... it is gone this morning. Honestly, where can a bright green plastic container of chalk go? But alas, it has escaped us! We've looked ... and cannot find it. Ellie cried and cried for her chalk and we tried reasoning with her ... it worked a bit ... but 2 year olds do not reason well. Anyways, Aaron took Caleb and Ellie to school and I stopped off at the bank before Ladies Bible Study. Sooooo, I had the bright idea of also stopping in Target to pick up ANOTHER purse of $1 chalk. YES, problem solves, right? No. Target has no more chalk. Apparently, many other 2 year old girls have a chalk fettish as well.
Well, I went to Ladies Bible Study and left early for my doctor's appointment. Our family practioner is right down the street so it's very convenient. I checked in for my 11:15am appointment ... and was finally seen at 12:45. Yes ... apparently, it was one of those days at the doctor's office! I read through 2 Martha Stewart magazines ... and I mean READ through them. It was that or Men's Health. I also half listened to Who Wants to Be a Millionaire because the contestant was from Eagan, MN ... where I grew up! She didn't win. Anyways, I was finally called, was weighed, blood pressured, ears checked out, got medicine and a prescription (I have fluid behind the ear drums and an infection which accounts for the pressure and pain) and drove home by 1pm. Sigh. Fortunately, Aaron was able to pick up the kids and watch them through lunch time!
Aaron left for work, and me and the kiddos trucked off to a different Target ... for my prescription and to see if there was any chalk! No chalk. And the pharmacy was closed for lunch. We walked around Target for awhile, looked at the toys - very annoying loud toys in my opinion - and the pharmacy was STILL closed. sigh. Soooo, we went across the street to ACMoore in hopes of spending some time there waiting for the pharmacy to open. Fortunately, what I wanted was 75% plus my 20% coupon so I was very happy. In ACMoore, Ellie announced, "I POOPing." "Yeah, right," I thought. I couldn't smell anything, so it's probably something else. We ended up leaving ACMoore for home (Aaron booked an eye appointment for himself this evening, and I need to drive him in case they do a eye-dilation-whatever-exam so we'll head back to Target then). It was good - it was past 2, and Ellie was in the beginning stages of a melt-down. She NEEDED a nap.
We got home, Ellie was so tired she didn't know what to do with herself, and Caleb wanted to play badmitton (don't ask). I carried Ellie up to her room to change her diaper before naptime ... only to discover she had the nastiest diaper I've seen in months! It was a 20-wet-wiper. Poor thing. She really DID poop this time! (For those of you counting, YES, this blog does contain another reference to poop. Huzzah!)
I'm tired. But I will praise the Lord anyhow ... I can praise God that ...
1. I live in a country where 2 hours is a long time to wait for the doctor, and I'm able to get medicine when I need it.
2. The biggest issue for my child is where is her favorite chalk and not something life-threatening.
3. Ellie's colon works very well. It could be worse. It could not work at all.
4. Someone invented wet wipes. Bless them.
~JG
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Sunday, May 17, 2009
"I want to love you!"
This afternoon, while I laid on the couch trying to wake up from my nap, Caleb was chasing Ellie all over the downstairs trying to kiss her. At first, she ran away, giggling, and loved the attention and kisses. But after 10 minutes or so (yes, 10 minutes), she grew bored and wanted to watch the BOZ episode on TV instead. Caleb still wanted to kiss her. But Ellie would have none of it and said so sweetly, "No kiss me, pwease Cawub." So Caleb had to comply, but he was so disappointed. He replied, "But Ellie, I want to kiss you. I want to love you!" But for Ellie, BOZ won out over Caleb's kisses. He was so bummed. So I told him, "Honey, there's many ways to show someone you love them. You don't have to kiss them." Then it was time to get our shoes on to leave for CLC's leadership meeting. As I was putting Ellie's shoes on, Caleb stood nearby and held out the measuring spoons (from where he got them?) and happily informed us, "I love you with these measuring spoons!"
Moral of the story: there are MANY different ways to show someone you love them. Even with measuring spoons. What weird and wonderful thing can YOU do to show someone you love them? HA!
Moral of the story: there are MANY different ways to show someone you love them. Even with measuring spoons. What weird and wonderful thing can YOU do to show someone you love them? HA!
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Mother's Day Stuff - a little late
Yes, I know that Mother's Day has come and gone ... but this week has been busy, and I just learned how to add pictures and video to the blog ... so here's some Mother's Day stuff. Hey, at least it's of this year and not last year!
The Friday before Mother's Day, Caleb and Ellie's preschool put on a lovely presentation for us mommies! They had made gifts and practiced songs ... and here are some videos of the songs and pictures of how cute they were!
Caleb's class made pictures and answered the question, "Why I love my Mommy." Caleb's answer: "Because she makes food for me." And notice his picture - pretty sparse! He's not much into craft time - he'd rather play trains!
"Ahhhh, I'm tired of standing here ... when do we get to eat?"
Here is a video of the classes singing "Mommy loves me" to the tune of "Jesus loves me". Caleb was very intent on singing on doing the motions (I particularly like the "She even loves me when I'm mad" line) ... Ellie just looked around the entire time. But boy, did she look cute!
Caleb, Ellie and me ... I love my kids!
So Mother's Day was very nice! They actually understood the idea of a day just for mommy! Now, Caleb is informing me that "Daddy's Day" is coming up very soon ... and that is a day "just for daddy, not you! Not for Ellie, just daddy." Yes. And today, while in Target on the way to the cat litter aisle, we passed the card section. Caleb screamed out VERY loudly, "I SEE DORA!!!!!" Yes, there was a Dora the Explorer Father's Day card nestled in between cards of manly-looking oak trees and cards with tools and nails. Of course, Ellie had to examine said Dora card. And Caleb explained to Ellie, as only an older and wiser brother can, that the card was for daddy for "daddy's day." Then Ellie ran down the aisle, clutching the card to her chest, and shoved it in Aaron's hand, saying "Here daddy, here daddy! For YOU!" All in all, we ended up buying said Dora card. I don't think it will be a surprise for Aaron. But that is the nature of being a daddy!
Well, I hope this video uploads soon, because I'm going to bed. I need to recover from the "Girls Sleepover" at church last night into this morning. 40 girls, ages kindergarten through 6th grade, along with several moms and youth chaperones, spent a fun-filled night in the gym! We actually had a great time with no problems at all (except for a few complaints of belly aches ... due to too much junk food and running around. I wasn't very sympathetic.). They were really well behaved. I broke them up into groups, and they moved through different stations (the nail station, hair and make-up station, etc.). I led the "Church Tour" where we walk around the church in the "dark" and end up playing hide and seek in the dark sanctuary. It's always a winner. :-) But it does tend to get a little old by the 5th tour. Oh well - seeing the girls' reactions is always fun! After the stations, we had a bit of down time (where I received a "make-over" which really meant that my face became a piece of abstract art with ALL the colors of the rainbow on it), then movies and then bed. I fell asleep finally after the girls ... around 3am. Not too bad. Except I kept waking up at every sound - those "mommy ears"! And I had such wierd dreams! I dreamt that I didn't wake up in time to go and buy the doughnut holes from Dunkin' Donuts ... I dreamed that Aaron dropped off Caleb and Ellie at the sleep over for some reason, and that Zac Efron was there to babysit (no more watching High School Musical at 1am!). And those dreams seemed so real, so that it took me a few moments upon waking up to determine that I still did have time to get the munchkins, and that Zac Efron was not playing baby dolls with Ellie. So, now I will go to sleep and hopefully have much more normal dreams!
Good night!
~JG
The Friday before Mother's Day, Caleb and Ellie's preschool put on a lovely presentation for us mommies! They had made gifts and practiced songs ... and here are some videos of the songs and pictures of how cute they were!
Caleb's class made pictures and answered the question, "Why I love my Mommy." Caleb's answer: "Because she makes food for me." And notice his picture - pretty sparse! He's not much into craft time - he'd rather play trains!
"Ahhhh, I'm tired of standing here ... when do we get to eat?"
Here is a video of the classes singing "Mommy loves me" to the tune of "Jesus loves me". Caleb was very intent on singing on doing the motions (I particularly like the "She even loves me when I'm mad" line) ... Ellie just looked around the entire time. But boy, did she look cute!
Caleb, Ellie and me ... I love my kids!
So Mother's Day was very nice! They actually understood the idea of a day just for mommy! Now, Caleb is informing me that "Daddy's Day" is coming up very soon ... and that is a day "just for daddy, not you! Not for Ellie, just daddy." Yes. And today, while in Target on the way to the cat litter aisle, we passed the card section. Caleb screamed out VERY loudly, "I SEE DORA!!!!!" Yes, there was a Dora the Explorer Father's Day card nestled in between cards of manly-looking oak trees and cards with tools and nails. Of course, Ellie had to examine said Dora card. And Caleb explained to Ellie, as only an older and wiser brother can, that the card was for daddy for "daddy's day." Then Ellie ran down the aisle, clutching the card to her chest, and shoved it in Aaron's hand, saying "Here daddy, here daddy! For YOU!" All in all, we ended up buying said Dora card. I don't think it will be a surprise for Aaron. But that is the nature of being a daddy!
Well, I hope this video uploads soon, because I'm going to bed. I need to recover from the "Girls Sleepover" at church last night into this morning. 40 girls, ages kindergarten through 6th grade, along with several moms and youth chaperones, spent a fun-filled night in the gym! We actually had a great time with no problems at all (except for a few complaints of belly aches ... due to too much junk food and running around. I wasn't very sympathetic.). They were really well behaved. I broke them up into groups, and they moved through different stations (the nail station, hair and make-up station, etc.). I led the "Church Tour" where we walk around the church in the "dark" and end up playing hide and seek in the dark sanctuary. It's always a winner. :-) But it does tend to get a little old by the 5th tour. Oh well - seeing the girls' reactions is always fun! After the stations, we had a bit of down time (where I received a "make-over" which really meant that my face became a piece of abstract art with ALL the colors of the rainbow on it), then movies and then bed. I fell asleep finally after the girls ... around 3am. Not too bad. Except I kept waking up at every sound - those "mommy ears"! And I had such wierd dreams! I dreamt that I didn't wake up in time to go and buy the doughnut holes from Dunkin' Donuts ... I dreamed that Aaron dropped off Caleb and Ellie at the sleep over for some reason, and that Zac Efron was there to babysit (no more watching High School Musical at 1am!). And those dreams seemed so real, so that it took me a few moments upon waking up to determine that I still did have time to get the munchkins, and that Zac Efron was not playing baby dolls with Ellie. So, now I will go to sleep and hopefully have much more normal dreams!
Good night!
~JG
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Friday, May 8, 2009
"Master" Dick Gruber
Well, he did it! My awesome dad has his Master's Degree in Christian Leadership...which just makes sense, cuz he's a great man of God and a great leader...and I'll tell you more about him closer to Father's Day...cuz I want to get the pictures and footage on here. Check it out:
We'll put all the pics up on Kodak Gallery soon...Here's the video of Dad's part in the Ceremony:
Love you all! Peace.
~AG
Baby Blues
Dad sent a Baby Blues comic strip in the mail a week or so, and Aaron ended up reading one to the kids at breakfast that morning. They just loved it and asked him to read it over and over again. It went as follows:
Mom is holding baby Wren while older sister Zoe walks by. Zoe calmly says, "Today, I'm going to finish reading my book and then draw a picture of a horse." Middle brother dashes by holding 2 toilet plungers. He says, "Today, I'm going to see if I can hang from the ceiling using suction cups!" Mom looks down at Wren and says, "Have I told you today that I'm glad you're a girl?"
Well, today at breakfast, Caleb looks up from his MiniWheats and asks Aaron, "Dad, will you do dat ... dat ... dat ... toilet ... do dat toilet ... hanging fwom da toilet ... da hanging reflective cups ... do dat ... wiff da hanging reflective cups ..." Needless to say, we did NOT get the message. It had been a full week since that comic strip episode, with no mention of it since! It took us awhile until we finally understood he was asking for Aaron to read the comic strip again, about hanging from the ceiling with suction cups!
Sometimes, when our kids seem to make no sense at all, they really do. Will we take the time to listen?
~JG
Mom is holding baby Wren while older sister Zoe walks by. Zoe calmly says, "Today, I'm going to finish reading my book and then draw a picture of a horse." Middle brother dashes by holding 2 toilet plungers. He says, "Today, I'm going to see if I can hang from the ceiling using suction cups!" Mom looks down at Wren and says, "Have I told you today that I'm glad you're a girl?"
Well, today at breakfast, Caleb looks up from his MiniWheats and asks Aaron, "Dad, will you do dat ... dat ... dat ... toilet ... do dat toilet ... hanging fwom da toilet ... da hanging reflective cups ... do dat ... wiff da hanging reflective cups ..." Needless to say, we did NOT get the message. It had been a full week since that comic strip episode, with no mention of it since! It took us awhile until we finally understood he was asking for Aaron to read the comic strip again, about hanging from the ceiling with suction cups!
Sometimes, when our kids seem to make no sense at all, they really do. Will we take the time to listen?
~JG
Friday, May 1, 2009
Amazing Grace was...AMAZING!
Good evening, everyone!
We went to the church tonight to see the free concert of selections from a new musical called Amazing Grace. It was...AMAZING...and awesome...and gripping. The music was absolutely beautiful and stunning, sung by some world-class actors (one of the men has played Jean Val Jean in Les Miserables over 2900 times!). But the most amazing thing was the story of John Newton who wrote Amazing Grace.
The evening was hosted by Chris Smith, who wrote the show - he narrated parts of the show, introduced scenes and songs, which were then performed by the ensemble. It was very well done!
The show is scheduled to get a four week 'workshop' in New York in the Fall (which means they assemble a cast, rehearse the show, change a lot of things over and over, then perform for people with money to see if they can get some sponsors), and we soooo hope it goes onto Broadway so we can see the whole thing someday!
So...if you are around and free tomorrow night (Saturday, May 2), the concert starts at 8:00pm and it'll get over around 9:45. You should go see it! I think we've already said how AWESOME we think it was!
God bless!
~AG
We went to the church tonight to see the free concert of selections from a new musical called Amazing Grace. It was...AMAZING...and awesome...and gripping. The music was absolutely beautiful and stunning, sung by some world-class actors (one of the men has played Jean Val Jean in Les Miserables over 2900 times!). But the most amazing thing was the story of John Newton who wrote Amazing Grace.
The evening was hosted by Chris Smith, who wrote the show - he narrated parts of the show, introduced scenes and songs, which were then performed by the ensemble. It was very well done!
The show is scheduled to get a four week 'workshop' in New York in the Fall (which means they assemble a cast, rehearse the show, change a lot of things over and over, then perform for people with money to see if they can get some sponsors), and we soooo hope it goes onto Broadway so we can see the whole thing someday!
So...if you are around and free tomorrow night (Saturday, May 2), the concert starts at 8:00pm and it'll get over around 9:45. You should go see it! I think we've already said how AWESOME we think it was!
God bless!
~AG
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