Baseball Town

This city is crazy for their Cardinals. Which is cool unless if you're a Cubs fan (me) because they detest the Cubbies. I read this in the paper this morning from the Sound Off section where anyone can just call in and complain about whatever they want.

Not from Chicago

Who would possibly vote for a presidential candidate from Chicago? People from Chicago are horrible and vicious to we Cardinals fans. We allow Cubs fans to come here, and we don't throw eggs, beer and food at them like they do to us. I would never vote for anyone from Chicago. No way.

Pretty interesting how baseball fans' behavior dictates this person's voting decisions...

Thirty....one

Yesterday was my 31st birthday. I was just getting used to being 30, too. Oh well...

After church our family went to the St. Louis Science Center down in Forest Park. This is one of many FREE museums in this city! Yes, FREE!!! (Doesn't that inspire you to come visit now?) We had a lot of fun and then came home and enjoyed a delicious german chocolate birthday cake lovingly made by Mark & Lucy. I am so blessed!

Poor Nate wishing he was having a nap but still having fun watching Lucy:



This was a musical hopscotch:



Mark & Lucy testing their balance:

11 months

Nate turned 11 months on Friday. I can't believe this boy is almost one...

He is so curious and into everything especially cords, wires, buttons, remotes and anything else that causes us to say "No, Nate." His response is a big smile as he turns around and begins to do the same thing once again. We are going to have a challenging time with this boy!

He also ADORES his big sister and she is enjoying the reaction she gets from him now. She can make him laugh like no other and they play together all the time.

Gardening & the Mystery Plant

I finally finished planting today. I have had a lot of fun making something out of nothing and investing in our landscape! There was just one big fern type plant in the back and nothing else. Now there are hostas, hydrangeas, azaleas:



I also unearthed this mystery plant. I wasn't sure if it was a weed or not but it seems to come from a bulb and I don't think weeds do that... Can anyone verify what this plant is (if it indeed is a plant and not a weed)?

Say What?

Lucy has consistently kept us entertained these past few years with amusing conversation. For example, she has recently developed a British accent when saying words that have -er in them. "Slippah" instead of slipper, "Dessaht" instead of dessert, "Mothah" instead of Mom, etc.

Today we had a discussion about her outfit for school (a usual occurence around here) and I agreed with her that she could wear a skirt instead of pants since it was no longer cool and rainy but sunny and warm.

Right when I changed my mind to agree with her, her eyes got real big and she said, "You obeyed me!" Which led to another long discussion about kids obeying parents and not the other way around. :)

Earthquake

Mark woke me up around 4:30 am this morning and said very sleepily "Are we having an earthquake?" I almost laughed and said, "No, it's just wind and rain."

Uh, no. It was an EARTHQUAKE!!!

Returning to the outdoors...

Look who enjoys his new swing!

Tagged

I feel like an official blogger now that I've been tagged by Rebecca! Here goes:

4 Jobs I have had in my life:

1. Ticket Seller at Baseball Museum in Arlington
2. Sports Writer for Texas A&M Newspaper
3. Summer Day Camp Counselor
4. 7th Grade Teacher

4 Movies I’ve Watched More Than Once:

1. Pride & Prejudice (A&E version, not Keira Knightley version)
2. Sense & Sensibility
3. 13 Going on 30
4. The Power of One

4 Places I’ve Lived:

1. St. Louis, MO
2. Mission Viejo, CA
3. Fort Worth, TX
4. Annandale, NJ

4 TV Shows I Watch:

1. Lost
2. American Idol (Go Michael Johns!)
3. Smallville
4. The Office

4 Places I have Been:

1. Wisconsin
2. New York City
3. Disney World
4. Boston

4 People who email me regularly:

1. Amy R.
2. Janet D.
3. Mom
4. Jennifer M.

4 of my favorite foods:

1. Bread
2. Brownies (from the center of the pan)
3. Anything with ranch dressing
4. Egg Salad

4 Places I Would Like to Visit:

1. London
2. San Francisco
3. India :)
4. Disney World (over and over again)

Things I am Looking Forward to in the Coming Year:

1. SPRING - will it ever come for good?
2. Getting further along in the adoption process
3. Gardening for the first time
4. Mark finishing his curriculum

4 Friends who I’m Tagging:

1. Amy M.
2. Mary Ellen
3. Mark
4. Craig

Frustrated!!!

I don't know anything about the ministry group that produced this video but it speaks for itself. Her show is not a neutral source of simple entertainment. She has an agenda with a capital A and that agenda is not in accordance with the will of the one true God.

I'm not saying I'm better than others because I don't watch Oprah. I'm sure there are lots of stupid anti-Christian TV programs that I waste time on as well. But something about her just really, really upsets me.

Anyways, just a little rantin' and ravin' for the week.

Thinking

It is generally not a good idea for a mother of two young kids to be addicted to reading. Because reading does not easily allow for full attention to the two young kids. I love to read and have been able to keep the habit due to nursing but that is soon going out the window (yeah!) and I will have to find other ways to read and not totally ignore lucy & nate.

I just read a book that has me thinking long after I finished the last page. I love these kinds! This one was Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer and it was a true story (the movie came out last fall). A young college graduate wants to sow his oats type of thing, goes into the Alaska wilderness and finds he can not get out when he finally wants to. It was tragic and I'm amazed at the press it's gotten and am hopeful it will be used for God's glory, in the end. This man was seeking something, like we all are, and that fulfillment only comes in the person of Christ. But he likely rejected that (not sure of course) and died in the end. Sad, sad, sad.

Other books that keep me going after they are already back in the library slot (I never buy books!) are ones by Angela Hunt. She is a Christian author but not fluffy like a lot of them. The Justice was a great book as well as The Truth Teller, The Awakening and The Debt.

On the movie end of the spectrum, Mark & I just watched Gone, Baby, Gone. We "discussed" the ending of this movie for days. It was so troubling that I had to concoct a whole new scenario of what I thought should have happened to be able to let it go!

Yeah for great entertainment...