Moving On

Mom scolded me for not updating my blog more often. Too many other things to do, but I come up with some really good blog posts…in my head…right before falling asleep. Oh well.

Instead of blogging, I’ve entered the world of getting-things-for-free or getting coupons that make things almost free. I subscribe to at least five “money-saving” blogs and get at least five to seven emails a day from them. That takes time, you know! Speaking of savings, Once Upon a Child is having their $20 bag sale. Fit as much as you can in a bag and it’s yours for $20. Last year I walked out with a big bag and the medium-sized bag they give to fill because the girl just couldn’t cram everything I got back in the bag I filled. Yana and I are planning to go tomorrow and I’m looking forward to it! I’ll have to remember to tell Yana my roll-the-clothes strategy. It works well!

And I’ve been back into my food blogs lately. We’ve been keeping up our whole foods eating, but I needed new, yummy recipes to add to my stash. I made this creamy potato soup last night with the flounder we had and it was delish. M ate an entire bowl himself. Which isn’t saying much. Because he eats a massive amount of food all the time. But still, I enjoyed that he enjoyed his bowl of soup.

Speaking of Micah’s massive-eating skills, Mom and Dad took everyone (minus D, because apparently he’s the only one working on Wednesday mornings!) out to breakfast for Ry’s 26th birthday on Wednesday. We go to this place where two eggs, homefries, and toast are $1.50 (used to be $0.99, but inflation…). I ordered M the same meal as me (two eggs scrambled well done with wheat toast, in case you were wondering!) and he ate all the eggs, one and a half pieces of toast, and at least the four handfuls of homefries that I saw. Dad was amazed that he was eating so well. Why, I’m not sure because we eat over there quiet often and Dad has commented on the size of their food bill with only the two of them living there!

The 2010 Vancouver Olympics are just ONE WEEK away!!!!! Dad says he becomes an Olympic widow because Mom is obsessed with them. That’s not far from the truth. I might have to camp out over there myself because they get all these channels that have the various competitions on all day. I’m sure M will find them fascinating, too. He likes to watch woodworking videos with Grandpa and home improvements shows with Gpa and Grammy. Cartoons? Don’t think he knows they exist!

Mom and Dad’s 30th anniversary (whoa!) is coming up on Monday and all of their kids and grandkids are taking them out to J. Timothy’s on Tuesday night. They went there on their fifth anniversary while my grandparents watched Ry and me, so we thought it’d be fun to take them there these twenty-five years later. I tentatively reserved a room they have downstairs which has a fireplace in it. We’ll see if they have enough staff to make it possible because they usually only open it up on the weekends.

Micah is a little actor. Reminds me of my brother Nick. Dramatic and plays to the crowd. He’s also very goofy and will burst into a fit of giggles for the silliest reason. Last night it was because D was letting him turn the bathroom lights on and off and making it a funny noise to go along with it. I never heard him laugh so hard! We’re also making a conscious effort to teach sharing. It’s not something that comes naturally (to adults, even!) and when he’s around others, I’d like him to think of them first, so I’m starting on this character development now. I’m reading a book called Shepherding a Child’s Heart and it talks about addressing the heart attitude, not just the physical manifestations of the heart. Fascinating stuff. Charlotte Mason, whose teaching philosophy I really admire and hope to borrow from when homeschooling, has a list of more than 50 habits that children should exhibit and that parents can teach. Sharing is one of them, as are obedience, cleanliness, respect, etc. Poor kid doesn’t know what he’s in for! We’re making him “say” a lot words now instead of just pointing or grunting. For some reason his “please” is “daaa,” even though he can do the /p/ sound when prompted. It’s fun to hear him pronounce different things. His newest love is my Magic Bullet mixer. He’s fascinated with the noise it makes and how it spins whatever is inside around and around. He was doing pretend play with the little jungle animals I got him (noises and all!), until he remembered the mixer and then played with that during the rest of dinner prep. Overall, he’s such a joy to be around and watch. You know your kid can’t be too, too bad (although he can be!) when your mom and your brother both call this morning to ask if he could hang out (and me, too, I think).

Movie recommendation: D and I got a $5 credit to Amazon On Demand somewhere and we decided to use $3.99 of it last night and “rent” Whiteout. Wow, what a good movie! I was tense and on the edge of my seat most of the time; not something you want to be before bed. But it was worth it!

I invited Mom to Swagbucks because I was telling her about the ten dollars I got to Amazon.com just by using the Swagbucks search feature and she wanted in. Now every time a Swagbuck pops up on her computer screen she gets all excited. Embarrassing, I know.

Tonight is Ry’s bday party at Mom’s house and the rest of the month is filled with other fun activities. Mom sent out a mass text to everyone the other week with a list of events going on. Basically a where to be and when kind of thing. I went straight to my Google Calendar and added them :). D showed me that feature a year ago and I haven’t looked back since. Ok I think this is long enough! M is in the middle of his three or four hour nap, so I’ve got to get some things done!