Sleep? Who needs sleep?

Not Ryan! We are visiting my parents and last night it was 10:30 p.m. before Ryan finally conked out. 2 hours of crying and it really just seemed like he was playing us, because once we went in there, he would start happily chatting to us about the dogs, or the birds outside. And, true to his nature, he was up at 5:45 this morning, ready to go!
We went on a trolley ride, and Ryan fell asleep on the way home. We get him out of the car and of course, he wakes up! So, we feed him lunch, play for a bit and put him back down at noon. I laid in the room and rested until 1. Still not asleep! But, we did get a messy diaper and he grabbed my mascara off the dresser and covered his face and hands with it! (I dozed off!) I had enough at that point, and my mom and I went shopping.
After we left, Ryan was crying HARD and just screaming until Jamie laid down with him. It was after 2 by the time he finally fell asleep! Seriously???
So, we are going to have to wake him up at some point (4?), so we can go to Jamie's mom's house and so Ryan will hopefully fall asleep tonight. Not really looking forward to another night of this!

Ruth

Meet Ruth......

(I tried to get a real pic, but that fish is fast and the glare from the tank made it blurry!)

Ruth is one of Ryan's fish that we got him at Christmas. Until two days ago, all five fish were simply nameless fishies. Ryan loves his fish, loves to watch them, feed them and play trucks near their tank. Well, a few days ago, Ryan started pointing at this fish and calling it Ruth! Now, don't get me wrong, Ruth is a very nice name, but where in the world did he pick that name up? We don't know anyone named Ruth and I don't think he's been reading his Bible lately. Wherever he got it, Ruth is the name of the fish now! Wonder what he will name the other fish?

Where have all the bloggers gone?

Seriously, not much new to report around here and it seems like that is the theme on many of the other blogs that I follow. It has been weeks since some of my very faithful bloggers have updated! I think it is simply the season--we have just had so much going on that there hasn't been time! I kept thinking that once AWANA was over, I would have more time and it just hasn't seemed that way!
Today was a great day--I got to get out for a bit, which was much needed! Jamie is back to working normal hours--thank goodness! So, he was home, which meant I got out to get a haircut, I hit the Nordstrom sale armed with birthday money and stopped at Starbucks!
Ryan and I had a fun morning playing some pretending game. You know the kind of game where you really aren't sure what you are doing, but you just follow along with whatever they tell you to do? That's what we did. We were pretending to drive, then we hid, then we had to take a nap, etc. It was especially fun because we had no agenda for the morning. We didn't have to be anywhere or get ready or do anything in particular. We just hung out and played in our jammies! Being a working mom doesn't allow us to do this every day, and it makes me really look forward to this summer!
Oh, and Ryan has discovered baseball--which probably needs to be its own post, so I promise to blog with pictures this week!

Interesting...(at least to me!)

It is an interesting place to be when you realize God is changing your heart. I have been struggling with a situation for awhile now and it is still not resolved. I had a PLAN--and boy, it was going to be my way or the highway! I was riled up about it and was determined to do something about it. And being completely honest, I would probably be justified to respond this way.
But, there are two little words: grace and compassion. Not my strong points, I will admit. I haven't had much of these in this situation. But, when I was talking with Jamie yesterday, I realized that my attitude has completely changed. I no longer want to storm in and take over the situation, instead, I thought about how that would affect the situation and those involved. My heart has softened towards those who are involved and now I have no idea what to do!!! Pray for me as I seek God's wisdom in this situation and that it will be resolved in a way that is glorifying to Him.

A Birthday and Mother's Day!

We had such a great weekend! We started off on Friday by celebrating my birthday. Ryan and I had a fun afternoon together and then went out to Willamette Noodle Company for dinner. YUM! On Saturday, Ryan and I went out ran errands and did some shopping. After we got home, we raced around a bit and left for Portland. We went to a beautiful wedding--(Congratulations Cheree and D'Arcy!) and then hit 5 Guys Burgers for a late lunch! Seriously--BEST burgers anywhere! Check them out in West Linn!
After we got home, I raced over to Debbie's for her annual Naked Lady Party. I was late, but still made it! For those of you imagining something scandalous--get your mind out of the gutter! It is a great clothing swap where we all bring clothes we don't wear anymore and trade. All the leftovers go to the local women's shelter, so everyone benefits!
I am not into a huge hoopla for Mother's Day, so sleeping in and some flowers were great for me! We went to church and really just had a low-key day at home! I made a yummy dinner and Ryan and I made cupcakes.
It has been a great weekend and I'm going to have a hard time going back to work tomorrow!

Balloons...

Have you ever found yourself doing something and wonder how in the world you got into this situation?
I had a plan of attack today--pick up Ryan, go and get balloons for Cubbies tonight and drop them off at the church. So, I got Ryan, went to the party store and got a dozen helium balloons. Then, the problem arose.
How in the world am I getting these in the car? (This is the ONE and only time I have ever longed for a minivan!!!)
So, I jam them in the car and try to pull out. Problem: I can't see out of any windows!
I re-park, maneuver all the balloons in the backseat with Ryan and continue on my way. We go maybe 20 yards and I hear, "Ow, balloons!" One of the balloons keeps bouncing off Ryan's head and he is not happy about it. So, I park again.
I get out, and move the stroller and umbrella and anything that looks poky out of the trunk. Open the car door and it literally takes me 5 minutes just to get all the balloons out of the car! I get them out and untangled from the seats and start the process of trying to shove the balloons in the trunk.
Oh, and did I mention that it is rainy and very windy?

Not kidding, this is maybe one of the hardest things I have ever tried to do! I get a few in, and the others try to fly out, I get a few more in and realize that I have to shift them and a few more fly out. Balloons are blowing every where and they would not stay in the trunk!
Seriously--this probably took a good 10-15 minutes! And I'm just hoping that someone walking to their car will take pity on my and offer to help! Nope! And this is when I start to wonder why I'm doing this in the first place.....Cubbies, AWANA, serving Jesus.

So, if I'm trying to put these balloons in the trunk for Jesus, maybe I should stop saying bad words in my head?
Sometimes, I get so involved in the busy work of a task that I forget why I'm doing it! It is easy to remember that you are serving God when you are teaching Sunday school. Not so easy when you are trying to shove a dozen helium balloons in a trunk. Anyway, it is all for Jesus and I did get the balloons to church--all intact! (and I stopped thinking the bad words!)

This makes sense to me!

I know that many of you follow Teresa's blog, and read about her new system for keeping her house clean. Well, I am on the bandwagon and am trying my best to use the system and keep my house clean too! I have done Fly Lady and am so overwhelmed by the whole system and it never really worked for me. I would spend time cleaning the outside of my fridge, but the rest of the house would be a pit!

Anyway, the system Teresa is using, asks you to list everything that needs to be done in your house (daily, weekly, etc) and put chores into days of the week. So, it is Tuesday, which means I am changing the sheets and vacuuming today. (Of course, I still have to clean the kitchen and pick up the living room every day!) Really, this makes sense to me! Before, I used to simply wander around and clean random things. Or, the "I have to clean my house" thing? What part of it do I clean? And lately, it has been just crisis cleaning, so none of the non-visible areas were getting touched!

Now, is my house immaculate? No. But is it okay enough that I would let someone in the door? Yes! Doing just a few things every day eliminates the frantic house cleaning and I have organized the chores in a way that works for me! For example, it seems like people are always over on the weekend, so I plan to clean the main bathroom on Friday, so it is guest ready on Saturdays.

This is an area where I really do struggle, but this is making my life a LOT easier and less stressful! I have tried to do similar things over the years and they have never worked--or I didn't stick to them, but this is working!