Entrepreneurship...

• Today Caleb got a bit irritated with me. I don't even remember why, but he did. At any rate, he announced, "I'm going to work" and headed for the front door... and the freezing cold. It was really funny... especially, because this is what he was wearing...
  
  

  
  

  I wonder what kind of job he has... hehehe... Just gotta love him...
  
  Lisa

  
  

Something Amazing Happened Today...

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  Not only did I manage to squeeze into my size 10 jeans... I also zipped them up, buttoned them, and wore them out in public! If you wear a size 2, no comment is necessary.
  
  This is not to say I don't have a long way to go... But maybe... just maybe... I will be able to fit in my summer clothes that haven't seen the light of day in years, when the time comes!
  
  In the meantime, I am getting closer to my "feast" at SBs when I am clear to eat regular food again! Funny thing is, I probably won't even be capable of eating as much as I wish I could. If anyone wants to come join the party, e-mail me or give me a call for the date, time, specific location, etc. We could have a contest. It might be fun...
  
  On to other things...
  
  Ian had his one month well child appointment today and is looking good... and big, I might add! At 23 inches, he is in the 90th percentile for height, and at 11 lbs. 12 1/2 oz., he is in the 95th for weight! Perhaps he will play football?
  
  Ah... on with the rest of the day...
  
  Lisa
  

  Comments (1)

  • 
    Stevie B's... mmm... I can't wait to see Ian!! Have I alos told you yet that I really like the new profile picture? It is really cute!

    • 1/29/2007 8:02 PM
    • Shanderific08 (message)
    • reply

It's 2 am... So, Who Needs An Alarm?

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  I hate being sick. I woke up thinking, "maybe it's late enough to get up and start my day"... and it's only 2 am ... did I mention that? Ian is up... Seth is up... I expect Caleb will probably burst through the door at any moment. Thankfully, Grace doesn't seem to get as sick as the rest of us... at least most of the time.
  
  So... I'm trying to think of something positive that comes from being fully awake at this hour...
  
  OK... at least when I'm upright all the snot isn't draining into my throat, so I can actually breathe. There it is... my positive thinking in the wee hours of the morning... I think I'll go steam up the bathroom now...
  
  Lisa
  

  Comments (1)

  • 
    very cute profile Pic!!!

    • 1/27/2007 12:57 PM
    • Shanderific08 (message)
    • reply

Ian's 2 Week Pics...

• Alright... I need to make this post before I go flush someone else down the toilet... Otherwise, this entire site will soon become an Ode to dead goldfish...
  
  So... anyway...
  
  I actually woke up with an alarm this morning! To tell you the truth, it was completely accidental. For those of you who don't know, I left my cell phone at Olan Mills a couple of weeks ago. I am pretty sure no one cares, because when I picked it up yesterday, there wasn't a single voice message... or even a missed call... But I am still glad to have it back, even though no one ever calls me. At any rate, the alarm was set. So... at 6:00 this morning I had to dig through the diaper bag to turn it off. And since Ian was already awake... and since I don't feel that great and would have had a hard time going back to sleep... I got up. I took a shower, crawled back into my PJs, and now here I am typing away...
  
  If my day goes well, maybe I'll set the alarm again for tomorrow and put my phone back in the diaper bag...
  
  

  So... the main attraction at Olan Mills was not really my phone, but the pictures... Here are a few of them...
  

  
  

  
  
  

  Gotta go... The gang just woke up.
  
  Lisa

  Comments (2)

  • 
    Hi How are you! I just wanted to let you know that I didn't mention you because I didn't want to make anyone Jealous! You know I love you the most!!! Don't tell Phil or Shandi! The pictures are really cute! Tell everyone I said Hey there y'all!
    ~Robby~

    • 1/25/2007 12:23 PM
    • Robmyster (message)
    • reply
  • 

    The pictures are SO cute! I can't wait to see him in person!

    Love, Shandi

    • 1/25/2007 1:59 PM
    • Shanderific08 (message)
    • reply

I Am Pathetic…

• Currently Watching Gilligan's Island - The Complete First Season see related

  
  

  This morning, I went into Seth's room to get his school work set up for the day. While I was at it, I thought I'd check on the fish. There was Bobby… swimming. There was Larry… swimming. And there was Gordon… floating at the top of the tank.

  So I started thinking… Seth, although highly intelligent, is not always the most observant child. I wondered… briefly… if I could get away with simply removing Gordon from the tank… flushing him… and waiting to see how long it would take Seth to realize he only had two fish. I probably could have gotten away with it… especially realizing that Seth had fed the fish less than an hour earlier, and Gordon was probably already dead.

  At any rate, I decided that wasn't the best way to handle things. Having few other creative ideas, I did the only reasonable thing… I called Phil and left a message on his voice mail.

  When Phil called me back, we decided I had better tell Seth about his fish and then get the thing out of the aquarium. So, that's what I did…

  Seth's reaction was only slightly sad, and he insisted that he wanted to see Gordon (since he'd never seen him that way (dead) before), and that he wanted to be a part of flushing him, too. Of course, Grace and Caleb were now quite interested, as well. So… I let them all see the fish. Then I scooped Gordon out with the net while Seth said, "that fish won't be flapping around", and we made our way to the bathroom. Seth did the flushing, I closed the lid, and I thought that was that.

  The next notable comment of the day came from Grace, who said, "Caleb, did you know that Gordon the fish died and we flushed him in the potty. Isn't that funny?" Well… anyway… ahem… That's Grace for ya… Mixed with Seth's comments about how we could get more fish when Bobby and Larry died, I really figured we were through the whole event without any tough questions…

  But just a few minutes later, I realized I figured wrong. Grace headed back to Seth's room to console the other fish by explaining to them that they could see Gordon again when they died and went to live with him in the potty. And then Seth wondered if Gordon was going to stay dead forever. And we began to have a talk about death…

  I think I did a relatively miserable job overall… but I really tried…

  Somehow we got through it with my kids having a basic understanding about people's souls and how they go to Heaven. We even touched on the resurrection, since Seth wondered if the people's bodies would stay dead forever. Oh, brother… I hope I didn't botch it too badly. No one ever asked about whether animals have souls, and I was spared any reference to "fishy Heaven"… I have my own thoughts on all of this… controversial as they may be… and although I do not claim to have the absolute truth, I do think there will be animals in Heaven. God created them to live in a perfect world, and there are Biblical references to His care for them, so I can't figure why they wouldn't be there. But I guess I don't really want to start a philosophical debate over it, either.

  And I guess that's all there is to the story, as well…

  Lisa

More Randomness...

• ...from one who doesn't blog consistently enough...
  
  I have thought long and hard about how to respond to the comments about my talking fish. At last, it came to my attention that I have been lying all these years. It was completely unintentional, but the truth is, I never had a "talking" fish. What I had was a communicating fish. My fish did not say any words. However, as I though about this further, I realized that I know a whole lot of people who say many, many words and never communicate anything. With that in mind, I am glad that I had a communicating fish. "Luckey" (that was my fish, and yes, I spelled it right) would come to the side of the bowl and move his little fishy mouth to let me know when he was hungry. And, sometimes, it seemed like he was really talking. He also played with bouncy balls (by pushing them around the bowl with his nose) and did some amazing jumping (not exactly like a porpoise, mind you, but close)... There are many stories to accompany my "wonder-fish", and if you are ever really bored, I could probably keep you entertained for some time. By the way, when Luckey died we did not flush him. We buried him. And I still know where...
  
  On to other things...
  
  Have I ever shared that my most hated domestic task in all the world is doing laundry? I don't like dishes a whole lot, either, but they are at least manageable... most of the time. Laundry, on the other hand, never ends. Even if I accomplish my great goal of one day getting it ALL clean, folded, and put away, we will still be wearing clothes, so something will be dirty by the end of the day... Oh well, I guess it beats fig leaves...
  
  And on to other things...
  
  I resumed exercising this week. Ian is a good walking buddy in his front carrier! I am also doing some digital scrapbooking, which is really fun and not so messy! Add that to school (mine and the kids), sports (just the kids... I can't do that sports thing, as many of you know well), various appointments, and basic life stuff (see laundry paragraph above), and I think we've nearly established a new "normal"...
  
  And in the media today...
  
  Just wondering... Has anyone read Dee Henderson's newest book, "Before I Wake"? I have heard that the reviews weren't that great, but I just finished it, and I loved it... Also, has anyone seen "Thr3e"? I haven't been to the movies since 1995, but I'm tempted...
  
  Lisa
  

  
  

I Think We Bought Stupid Fish...

• Currently Watching Hogan's Heroes - The Complete Fifth Season By Bob Crane, Werner Klemperer, John Banner, Robert Clary, Richard Dawson, Ivan Dixon, Larry Hovis, Kenneth Washington, Leon Askin, Sigrid Valdis, Jon Cedar, Cynthia Lynn, Howard Caine see related

  I had one, once, that could talk, but I'll spare you the details since no one ever believes me anyway... Does anyone know if it's normal for goldfish to change colors, and aren't aquariums with filters supposed to be self-cleaning? I don't think I'm a pet person...
  
  Lisa
  

  Comments (3)

  • 

    Goldfish are dirty fish... That is a fact... ONes that change color, That is diferent...

    • 1/13/2007 5:45 PM
    • Shanderific08 (message)
    • reply
  • 

    It's possible for them to change colors. Did you use tap water? When we had fish the Fotown tap water ate them alive. It was gross. But the water wasn't the correct ph balance and the fish literally fell apart in the tank. And, there is no such thing as a self cleaning tank. The filter is a phychological item. Knowing that you have a filter tricks your brain into actually seeing some fish floating among the other [things] in the tank. And if you are lucky, they won't be floating upside down.

    OK, I'm curious enough to ask... What exactly did your fish say?

    • 1/14/2007 1:59 PM
    • momkat4 (message)
    • reply
  • 
    Yeah, right, and you had a talking DOG, too....
    
    ...I had a talking dog...he said "woof." Really.

    • 1/14/2007 6:13 PM
    • pomohoro1212 (message)
    • reply

Oh... My... Goodness...

• 
  
  There have been SO many things that I have wanted to sit down and write about in the last week, but there has been no time! Truthfully, I don't have time now, but I am going to make a short post, anyway!
  
  This will be random...
  
  Seth and Grace had a great conversation last week...
  
  Seth, "When's moving day?"
  Grace, "I don't know. Should've been here by now."
  
  How's that for kids who move too much... and really like to listen to VeggieTales CDs...?
  
  We had our first family shopping trip with 4 kids. Uh... I don't think we're going to do that too often. We really just had to look at each other and laugh near the end. We now require two carts! On our trip, we added several more new "family members"... Seth finally got his fish! We did, however, have to give up on the bubble-eyed golfish... for now... because we simply can't find any. So, we bought the 28 cent variety... Here is a pic. of Seth with Bobby, Larry, and Gordon:
  
  

  
  

  
  Grace's first gymnastics class went alright, although she is really a lot younger/smaller than the other girls, and I'm still wondering if I should've signed up for a different class. We'll see how it goes...
  
  We may be out of luck with swimming this session, because last I knew, Seth and Grace were the only kids in their class, and the other classes were full... ugh... Guess we'll be going to a whole lot of "open swims" if that's the case...
  
  And, today, it's time to take Ian for his 2 week pictures (yeah... a day late... I'm slipping... hehehe. Actually, Olan Mills was closed yesterday!)
  
  Better go... I have four kids to give baths to, and we all have to look really presentable in just a few hours!
  
  Lisa

  Comments (1)

  • 
    Awwe. They are so cute?

    • 1/11/2007 4:54 PM
    • Shanderific08 (message)
    • reply

Happy New Year!!!

• 
  
  I just scanned (really quickly) a few posts from this past year, and I have to say I am extremely glad I started blogging! I have wanted, for years, to keep a journal, but I've never been able to do it, consistently, for more than a few weeks at a time. For some reason this is more appealing, and I am exceptionally pleased that I now have this record of life's most important events! And just in case you wonder... I do save everything I write to a word file... yeah... I know... dork! I save my e-mail, too... hehehe...
  
  Like last year, I don't really have any "resolutions" this time around. Truth told, even if I did, I probably would have broken most of them by now...
  
  I am thinking toward the things I need to get done in the next few weeks in order to get back into a "normal" routine... not that anything in our lives is ever really normal... and I guess I wouldn't have it any other way...
  
  In the coming month... Homeschooling will resume... I will begin my second semester of school (this time around)... Phil will begin another session of school, as he works toward his Master's degree... Grace will return to gymnastics... Seth will start playing basketball... Everyone will swim again... Caleb and Ian will grow and continue to amaze us...
  
  And by February, I'll probably be asking when it's time for another break...
  
  And who knows (well, except for God) what 2007 will hold... But I'm looking forward to it...
  
  Lisa
  
  P.S. For the first time in many years, Phil wasn't my first kiss of the New Year... I guess that's what happens when you have a new baby in late December. Ian is a very snuggly, wonderful, kissable baby...