Need a laugh??

So here are some things Noah has said lately that I keep forgetting to write down. I hope I remember them all:

Driving in the car.
Me: Noah, I love you so much. I mean, I could just kiss you all day. Orrrrr....I could hug you all day!
Noah: Or not.
--------------

Noah and I were driving in the car. He uses this opportunity since he knows I can't go anywhere to ask me a million random questions. It is usually aggrivating but atleast once a day he'll say something that just cracks me up. I usually duck my head and laugh so he won't see me in the rear view mirror.

Noah: Mama, are chips good for us?
Me: Nope, they aren't. They are fried, honey, and anything fried is bad for us.
Noah: Ya.
Me: Things that are fried have a lot of grease and so it hurts our heart.
Noah: Yep, chips are bad for us. (sigh) But I stiiiiiiillllll love em'!
--------------

Noah: Oh man, Mama, I passed my soccer game. It was at 35 minutes!
Me: What? What do you mean it was at 35 minutes? What soccer game?
Noah: My soccer game. I past it. I don't even have my hair wet!
Me: Huh? What are you talking about?
Noah: I need to look handsome and nice. I need to wet my hair for the soccer game. (Comes out of the bathroom with hair sopping wet dripping down his face.)
Me: Why does your hair have to be wet?
Noah: Because that's what THEY DO. That's what KIDS DO!!
--------------

I put Noah down for his "quiet time" and about 45 minutes later I decided to go check on him.
He had six puzzles laid out on his floor, 2 of them were not finished.
Me: Honey, you have done so well being quiet in here. What have you been doing?
Noah: We have been playing puzzles.
Me: Who is we?
Noah: Gavin, Carter, little buddy Jake and cousin Jake. See, look at what a great job little buddy Jake did. And Carter did this one........Gavin did this one....etc. I just have to finish mine.

Noah has really gotten into pretending his friends are there. The best was when we were out in the back yard and he told me he was playing a soccer game with Gavin. He kicked the ball and it rolled to a stop. Then he just sat there. I asked him why he didn't go get it and he told me it was Gavin's turn. He just sat on a step and stared at the stationary ball.

Noah is just growing so big. He is so smart and blows me away everyday. Right now he loves letters and numbers. He wants to practice addition and wants to know how to spell everything. At the dinner table tonight he asked how to spell pool. Then he told me B-O-O-K spells book, mama! It makes him so happy to learn. He melts my heart.

Grocery geek

Some of you know that grocery shopping is one of my favorite things to do---pretty much the opposite of most moms. Well, my friend Kristen has become quite the coupon queen recently and started to post her deals on her blog. While I have always clipped coupons and save tons each week at Kroger, I have kept my deals to myself. However, after finding some super deals online, in the paper, and in the store today, I feel very satisfied with posting my findings. Below is a sample but in total today I saved $77 with coupons and Kroger discounts ($37 in solid coupons). Aside from that, I bought 3 packages of Pampers Cruisers for $5.99 each. Hooray for April! It's ok, I don't mind being called a grocery geek.

In this picture, all the products cost me a total of $5. Now mind you, the shampoo and conditioner cost $3 of that. So I got the rest for $2. It was quite exciting. I have never bought seven out of the nine products shown here so we'll see what kind of bargain I really got. :)

Tuesday Update

Good morning friends. I feel like I haven't blogged about much lately and I would like to fix that. Times are busy and the unfortunate thing about BLOGS is that if you start to slip, it's very difficult to dig out and get back on top. So as much as I would love to say I have one profound topic for today, instead I've decided to just throw out some tidbits.

I love the backspace button. I can write a couple sentences of complete stupidity and then whooooop! I can just take it all away. Nice. Okay, well, let me start with the Psalm I just read to get my creative juices flowing.

Psalm 96
Sing a new song to the Lord! Let the whole earth sing to the Lord! Each day proclaim the good news that he saves. Publish his glorious deeds among the nations. Tell everyone about the amazing things he does. Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! He is to be feared above all gods. The gods of other nations are mere idols, but the Lord made the heavens! (Hello????) Honor and majesty surround him; strength and beauty fill his sanctuary. O nations of the world, recognize the Lord; recognize that the Lord is glorious and strong. Give to the Lord the glory he deserves! Bring your offering and come into his courts. Worship the Lord in all his holy splendor. Let all the earth tremble before him. Tell all the nations, "The Lord reigns!" The world stands firm and cannot be shaken. He will judge all peoples fairly. (now my favorite part) Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice! Let the sea and everything in it shout his praise! Let the fields and their crops burst out with joy! Let the trees of the forest rustle with praise before the Lord, for he is coming! He is coming to judge the earth. He will judge the world with justice, and the nations with his truth.

Wow. What a tremendous psalm. I LOVE this picture of creation. I always love the thought of all creation---plant, animal, rock knowing the Lord and worshiping him! Isn't that powerful? So the next time you walk through a forest, or even down the street and you hear the trees rustle, think of them praising the Lord. And as this psalm encourages, PUBLISH his glorious deeds. We need to do that more often don't we? Instead we have weirdo books that Oprah pushes all over us. That's one thing I love about a blog I became attached to over a year ago. Adrienne does indeed publish the Lord's deeds.

A few weeks ago I joined LA Fitness. May not seem like the smartest investment since I am moving, right? Well, I'm sick of using the term, "I'm moving" to delay any sort of productive action I can take. So I felt the Lord nudge me and tell me to go ahead and do it. Needless to say, I am so glad I did. While I don't go nearly as often as I'd like, I already believe it's been worth the money. Monday nights at 8pm they have a yoga class that I've been going to. Mind you, it was only my 2nd class last night, but wow, I love it. Now if you have a picture in your mind of the "yoga type", I am not it. However, I think that is the beauty of it. It really works! And you don't have to be some leotard wearing vegan to get it. It's the ultimate paradox----wearing every muscle in your body out in the midst of achieving ultimate relaxation. I slept like a baby last night from 10:45pm to 6am. Yessssssssssssss. I told Brian that I could easily become addicted. We shall see. :)

We made some crazy plans yesterday and all 4 of us will be spending some time in California around Easter. This is weird to blog about because the original reason for Wesley and me going is to attend my cousin's memorial service. And that fact remains. My cousin, Shelley Schuhmann died a tragic and untimely death on February 28th. I only have 2 first cousins and she is one of them. She was 44 and a wife and mother. My little cousin Missy is only 10 and can really use your prayers. As well as her dad, Eddie. While there are some questions regarding what exactly happened and how it all went downhill so fast, her body was having lung complications and dealing with a deadly fungus. It's all still hard to believe and I ask the Lord right now to comfort everyone in the Gordon/Schuhmann family as they continue to heal from this loss.
Wesley and I were going out alone (I'm still nursing him) and that was going to be fine. My sisters and parents will be there too. But we changed things around and now Brian and Noah will be joining us for part of the trip and we'll get to spend Easter with family as well as visit our dear friends, Paul and Brooke Begin up in Malibu. I feel a deep satisfaction with these plans and feel myself counting the days, almost.

This post has shaped up to be a tad bit longer than I had planned. :) Sorry bout that. I'll give you some more tidbits later. Ciao.

Too much fun

Take a close look at their shirts. Too funny. These guys have given us many smiles this weekend and we are SO thankful to have them in our lives. They simply love eachother so much. The minute Wesley wakes up, he looks for Noah and isn't content till he finds him. Noah takes so much joy in letting Wesley "chase" him and is constantly helping Wes avoid danger at every turn. He is the best big brother I've ever seen. I am so proud to call them my own.

Ahhhhhhhh

So Brian's and my date was awesome. I hate to admit that I took NO pictures (some of you are relieved). I can't believe I forgot! But you know, I had other priorities. :) Everything went according to plan and it was utterly relaxing and perfect. Here was our itinerary:

1:00--Meet my sister to drop the kiddos off with her. She's the best!

2:30--Arrive at Gaylord Texan to the Relache Spa for our couple's massage. It was awesome. We got the aromatherapy massage and the male and female masseuse' were amazing. Then we spent about 2 and a half hours just milling around the spa enjoying all the amenities. I have to admit my favorite feature of this spa was on the women's side, they have a "slumber room". This room is very very quiet with dim lighting. There are comfy lounges and chairs with heavy blankets all over to take a nappy. Add one serene waterfall to this place and it was a match made in heaven.

5:30--We met each other in the co-ed lounge dressed and ready to go. We walked around the hotel for awhile and went to the margarita bar at Ama Lur. I confess this was a low point of our day....we were starving. They offer NO chips or salsa and their drinks bit the dust. So we carried on to our next appointment.

6:00--We arrived at Su Vino Winery in Grapevine. We did a wine tasting and enjoyed conversation with their very knowledgeable employee, Bobby. If you haven't had it, their Cocoa Port is worth the visit.

7:15--We pull up to Via Real restaurant in Las Colinas. Brian and I adore this restaurant and have spent many Valentine's Days here. We didn't get to go this year as we spent our first V-day at home. So I had to make sure we came here atleast one last time before we move to Indi. The food was scrumptious, the service is always outstanding, and there are always fun people to look at. :)

9:00--Park at our final destination: The Hilton Anatole. We got a wonderful corner suite (much to my surprise. As a Hilton Honors member, Brian never knows what he will get till he checks in...yipee!) The hotel is huuuuuge. It goes on and on forever. It has a beautiful courtyard and like 5 miles in walking trails. But we skipped all that and just stayed in our room. It was great. We even went to bed pretty early and got a whoppin' 9 hours of sleep! That's what I'm talking about.

10am on Saturday---Oops, I forgot. We did have one more stop. We had breakfast at Breadwinners. It was glorious. They have the best food and best atmosphere. It's usually very busy and of course on a late Saturday morning, we had about a 20 minute wait. But that was ok. Lots of even more fun people to look at. :) ha! In some ways people go there to see and be seen. Brian and I are definitely not interested in the "be seen" part. But in that part of town, there are definitely some hoity toity people to gaze at. And a lot of those that want to be hoity toity but instead are kinda nerdy.

Okay folks, that was our rendevous! It was great. It should tide me over for a while now. Back to my life on the home front.

How Sweet It Is.........

....come on....you know the rest. Sing along! My honey and I are off to a "how sweet it is" weekend with eachother. I cannot divulge the details yet because most of it is a surprise to him. The only reason he knows anything is because the dumb hotel emailed him when I booked it. LAME! But we look forward to some nice relaxing time, plenty of luxury, and a solid supply of good food. Woo hoo! That is about the only redeeming factor of a traveling husband is that he builds up the motherload of hotel points. So my kiddos are off to play at Aunt Kimmy's house (my parents are joining them up there to help watch) and we are off to play all over DFW! I am bringing my camera to try to grab some shots so I'll post more soon. Don't worry, no indecent exposure. :) I'm a lucky gal "to be loved by you", Brian!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Good morning all. I hope your day got started off right and you are enjoying the love of your family and friends today. Here is a precious pic of my littlest Valentine. Please click on the link below to see what my other little Valentine has been up to!

Valentine's link

Rational of a 3 year old

I had just put Noah to sleep and about 15 minutes later, I hear him crying...hard. This was our conversation that followed as I entered his room:

Me: "Noah, what is wrong?? Why are you crying??"

Noah: still crying.

Me: "Noah, it's time to stop. You are going to wake up your brother and be in big trouble. Do you need another kiss and hug?"

Noah: Shrugs his head "no".

Me: I go over and hug him anyway and kiss him. "Noah, it's time to go to sleep. Listen, I will not come in this room again. Not again."

Noah: Noah thinks. "Well, if I keep crying really hard, then I will throw up, and then you would have to come back in my room to clean it up."


By the way, if you know Noah at all, you know that throwing up comes very, very easy to him. Much to my chagrin.

My Noah

This picture is of Noah 2 years ago.

I started to post this on the boys' blog, but I really prefer to keep that one mostly devoted to pictures of Noah and Wes. However, these days most of the pictures that get posted are of Wesley so I feel like I neglect Noah. Well, today was a Noah day. A fabulous day in fact. I am completely blown away by the cuteness, sincereness (? had to stick with a 'ness), thoughtfulness, and awareness that Noah beholds. I'm just going to jot down a few things that happened. My heart is overflowing with love for him right now as I type.

-Everytime Noah wakes up, he wants to see Wesley immediately. Upon seeing him, he says in the cutest voice really loud and squeaky, "Weeeesssssleeeeeey!! Hiiiiii!!!!" And tilts his head all over so that Wesley will look him in the eyes.

-Noah is a creature of habit. Once he gets into a pattern of eating something, singing something, playing something, etc, he wishes to continue the pattern for days, weeks, months even. So he is in a pattern right now of immediate breakfast. He wakes up and wants it now. But not any breakfast will do, right now it is pumpkin bread. And even though he knows exactly how it is going to taste, after the first bite he rubs his tummy and says, "Mmmmmm. Thanks Mama. I haven't had pumpkin bread in a looong looong time!"

-He thanks me for everything. Now yes, this type of behavior comes and goes, but we are in a "come" pattern right now. When I say everything, I mean, everything. Here is an example, "Mommy, thank you for getting my breakfast."

me: Sure Noah, no problem. Thank you for getting the plates to eat our breakfast on.

Noah: "Thanks for saying thank you to me."

The thank yous range from big things to little things, but it is so precious to see what he chooses to thank me for. Sometimes it's for something that happened the day before and he is so thoughtful to remember it!

-He gives the greatest hugs. He can be a real lover bug when he wants to. And right now, with daddy gone, he wants to. He kisses me and rubs my back and touches my hand. I LOVE IT!!

-This one was so adorable and yet a tear jerker at the same time. Brian has been working in Indiana and Noah is very aware of it. So we are getting ready to say prayers tonight and I started saying, "Dear God, thank you for--" and Noah said, "Wait, Mom. Um, can you ask Him to bring daddy home?" I paused, and couldn't believe he said that. It meant that he was actually understanding what we are doing at prayer time. It made me sad and happy all at once.

-I thought Noah was asleep and about 40 minutes after I put him to bed tonight he called my name. I have to admit I was excited to see him again and he was all tucked perfectly in his bed. He said, "I need some more friends, please." He has never said this EVER at bedtime. Oh, friends are his stuffed animals. So I found a couple of his favorites and tucked them all around his head and shoulders. He seemed so content after that and I said, "Noah, I sure love you" while kissing his face. He said, "Mom, I sure love you" with the most serious of tones.

Thankful Monday

LOTS of things to be thankful for today, guys. Here it goes:

1) A very warm house on a very cold day.

2) Seeing my hubbie wear his very plush robe and love every inch of it. I got him it for Christmas and he didn't think he was a robe person. Ha!

3) Public libraries. The ability to check out books, videos, DVDs, play on computers, and browse around all for FREE is quite ingenious I must say. However, my "browsing" time these days is about .15 seconds due to the fact that my 8 month old does not tolerate anything about a quiet, hands-off environment. So I not so patiently await the day that he will sit and read a book......even if only for a couple minutes. Sigh.....


4) Naps. They don't come often, but when they do they can be quite glorious. I think I only got about 20 minutes today...not sure. I'm pretty much in another land when I take a nap and so I'm totally out of it no matter how short it was. Either way, the chance at laying down in my oh so cozy bed with silence in the house is genuinely priceless.


5) My husband is home. Kind of a funny statement because in general you kind of expect your husband to be "home". But this phase of our life is an unusual one in which he is gone about every other week, so I am enjoying his presence thoroughly. He is so helpful, patient, and full of energy for my 3 year old, Noah.


6) A good dinner. I love it when you decide to make something that ends up tasting so much better than you initially thought. Tonight we had mashed potatoes; which I only make on holidays except for maybe 3 other times. Tonight was one of those three. Mini-meatloaves; which sound maybe a little scary but they are YUMMY. Crunchy, gooey, cheesy, saucy, and again, yummy. And then green beans. Not much by themselves, but when mixed with buttery mashed potatoes and meatloaves, they are the perfect fit! Then for dessert, vanilla pudding with fresh blueberries on top. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm


7) Turbotax. I love it. I'm a faithful user for now the 6th year and it is just lovely. Never lets me down and we are due this year for the biggest refund we've ever had! Woo Hoo! Couldn't be a better time.


8) My sisters. They are very unique individuals but at the end of the day, we can tell eachother anything (probably) and still love eachother (probably). Ha. We would do anything for one another and I'm going to miss them so much when we move. I had so much fun just hanging out, making dinner and watching American Idol last week at Kim's house. This week we're going to have a sleepover. I'm very blessed to have such a great family.


9) Wesley. There are so many things I simply love about the little guy but for whatever reason this one thing is a curse but also a blessing. I love how he needs me. I love snuggling with him, nursing him, making him laugh, feeding him new foods, cheering him on when he crawls, and just looking at his utterly perfect face. He needs me like Noah never did and I don't know why that is, but for now, I like it. :)


10) Coffee. The friend who will always be there, always energize you, always keep you warm, and give you that "all is right in the world" kind of feeling. It is how I start each day and it is indeed the perfect start. Right along side my bible study which the combination ensures that I start my morning off right. I may have to reheat it about 10 times, but it is always worth it.