Gardner Village

There's this cool place near Sandy called Gardner Village. Every October, the usual shops and things are swarmed with witches. Witches of every shape and type. Most are live, though there are some fun sculpted ones too. I don't really know if these ladies are hired, official vollunteers, or simply show up in costume. Probably a little of each. Anyway, it's a blast to visit, if you don't mind crowds, and a fun free way to get in the Halloweeny mood. :) They also have a hay bale maze for young kids, a petting zoo, and pony rides. Those all cost, but only between 1 and 3 dollars.

Heidi, Rudy and I went to check it out on one of those days that Jason was still feeling miserable with his (our) cold. Good thing, too, since Jason is very much so NOT a crowds person. The candy shop was literally body to body full of people. (But of course, we had to go in...that sweet aroma was tantalizing before it got so strong that it was a bit sickening. :) )

Any way, I reccommend it if you're up for an adventure-just be sure to plan ways to keep track of your kids. (like bringing an extra adult, or a kid harness thing, or both) :)

Pumpkin Cookies

These are Rudy's favorite cookies right now. They're so simple to make, and relatively healthful (for a cookie). All that goes into them is one 15 ounce can of pumpkin, one box (just the mix-don't add anything) spice cake mix, and about 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips. Bake at 350 for about 12 minutes. Ta Da! Even a toddler can do it. :)

I'm no good at holding on to good news.

This time around, I told myself, would be different. This time around, I'd actually keep my mouth shut and bask in the private joy of just Jason and I knowing that we're expecting.

HA!

That lasted 2 days, then I told my mom. (She asked me what I was doing, and I just happened to be pulling up to my Dr.'s to get a confirmation of the pregnancy...what was I supposed to do...lie?) :)

Next I told my in-laws, then a sibling here and there.

Then my neighbor, then a friend or two.

So, why not blog about it?

I'M PREGNANT!!!!

It's way more fun being pregnant when you can talk about it, don't you think?

We're looking at early June for a due date. We're calling our baby 'her' for now, until we find out otherwise. (We called Rudy 'he', and that worked out OK, so we thought, why not-it's better than calling the next member of our family 'it' for the next 5 months).

So, September turned out to be a really great month for me. I had my birthday, bought a house, planted my first tree in my very own land, and got pregnant. Wow. I'll have to remember that month whenever I'm feeling ignored or forgotten by God.

Sweet Rudy

So, a couple days ago, I lost my zen for a bit. I was glad to have something destructive on my to do list. As I was zealously ripping out carpet in our dining room, Rudy came toddling over. Despite my hardened face and flailing arms, he inched his way in for a hug. It was so disarmingly sweet, I cried. So he gave me another hug. And then he brought me his tractor to hold (just for a minute). What a sweetie.

p.s. This picture is Rudy posing after asking me to take his picture directly after a spaghetti lunch (he's not always so crusty). Crustiness aside, it's a sweet look into his little heart, which is why I put it here, with this post. :)

No Mirrors in My Nana's House

My current favorite children's book? No Mirrors in My Nana's House by Ysaye M. Barnwell. Besides writing this book, she is a member of an a capella group called Sweet Honey in the Rock.

I love a capella, so I was excited to notice that there was a cd included in the cover with her group performing a song based on the book. Unfortunately, I couldn't find Sweet Honey in the Rock performing this particular song on YouTube, but I found a different group covering it. Hopefully that'll give you a feeling for the song.

It's about a little girl's introduction to the world through her Nana's eyes. I love it for two reasons:

1) It reminds me of my early childhood. Yes, we had mirrors, but we had a simple lifestyle and my world revolved around my family. It was beautiful.

2) It reminds me of one of the most important gifts I can give Rudy. Far more important than providing everything I can imagine he would ever desire, is showing him how to be happy with what he has. To take joy in what life gives you. My mom has told me a story of one day when she was nursing her mother as a teenage girl. (Her mother died of heart problems when my mom was around 19.) Her mom was very ill in bed, and it was pouring outside. Instead of complaining and being bitter that God wouldn't even so much as send a cheery sun ray to brighten her day, her mother turned to my mom and said something to the effect of, "Isn't it lovely how the rain is playing a whole symphony on my window just for us?"

That's what this book is all about. Cherishing what we have.

Being reminded of this has helped me be happy even when most of my windows are missing window treatments, when my downstairs (and only) shower reveals itself to be a painted over mess of mildew. When my kitchen light goes out. When my fridge stops cooling and all my food goes bad. It helps me be thankful that I have windows to treat, and insanely intense chemicals (accompanied by an ambitious mother) to throw at even more intense mildew infestations, and a handy man husband to fix the kitchen light, and decent store of non perishable food items to feed to my family while we address the fridge issue. (It's up and running again- just needed some TLC and the expertise of an appliance repair dude.)

Anyway, the insight I have gained from this little children's book has helped me to be happy, cool and calm. It has helped me to be thankful. To be a better wife and mommy.

When's the last time a children's book did that for YOU?

Progress...

...is such messy business.

Rudy had abandoned his interest in using the potty when we moved. I expected as much. Today, he decided he was ready to experiment further. Right after dinner, he asked to use the potty. Of course, I obliged. I stripped him down to a t-shirt and sat him on our potty. Rudy promptly farted and announced he was done and ready to flush. Sigh. I put his diaper back on, neglecting to replace his pants since I thought he may be ready for second try at it in a few minutes.

I got busy with my after dinner dish washing, and was just wondering to myself what we should do with our post dinner, pre-bed time, when I heard a little voice behind our closed hallway door saying, "Boo boos, boo boos?" Hmm. He usually calls boo boos 'owies'. Still, I imagined him holding something dangerous and contemplating the chances of injury with this boo boos inquiry. I hurried to open the door, only to find an (ever so slightly) less alarming scene: Poo poos. On the carpet. Right in front of the closed bathroom door. And all through the hallway where my sweet little man had tracked them from a misstep into the mess at some point between doing the deed and announcing it to me.

I squelched a scold in my throat and replaced it with a question: "Where's your diaper?" Rudy proudly took me to the place he'd stripped his diaper off- right behind me in the kitchen. Maybe I should have been keeping a slightly more vigilant eye on him. I asked the next question while lowering him into the tub for a hose down, "Where are poo poos really supposed to go?" "In the POTTY!" Rudy replied with glee. "So, why did you poo on the floor instead?" To this, Rudy replied very seriously, "Owies, Mommy, owies."

Jason has drilled it into Rudy's head that the bathroom is a place full of potential owies. It's the drowning paranoia in him. Plus, right now we do have a laundry shoot in easy access to Rudy. A trip down that, or getting stuck in it, could cause some serious owies, so I guess it's good to give Rudy a healthy respect for the possibilities, but he's also got to see the everyday practicality of the place.

So. Rudy and I have agreed that next time he wants to try putting his poo poos somewhere other than his diaper, he should come get me, and we'll go to the potty together. That way, he won't get any owies, and I won't have to scrub the carpet.

That, and I've learned that I need to keep pants on him, or a onesie at least, so that he can't just rip his diaper off in a matter of seconds.

With Basements come...

SPIDERS.

I found this lady camped out near Rudy's toys downstairs in the basement. Pretty creepy, eh?

Here's a couple videos of Rudy's reaction to the venomous beast. You'll get a good feeling for the fog I've been operating under these last few days too. (I'm kinda loopy in these videos. ) :)