Super Why!

Nathaniel isn't normally allowed to watch a lot of t.v. There's quite a few reasons behind this (one being that on a tight budget we don't have cable nor do we have the extra cash to drop 15$ per kids movie, so there just aren't a lot of opportunities for him to watch t.v.). The major reason though is because I like having a kid who is able to entertain himself by looking at books, playing with his little people and just rummaging around our cabinets "cooking".

With that said...there are a few shows that Nathaniel gets to watch regularly. One of those is Sesame Street, because he's a bear in the morning if he doesn't get his milk and t.v. time. The other one is a fairly new show on PBS called 'Super Why'. It's a great show that is geared for preschoolers but still manages to mesmorize my kid. It introduces the alphabet and works on reading skills, all while telling a story. Nathaniel loves standing in front of the t.v. calling out random letters while the show is on (similar to the way he was when Wheel of Fortune happened to be on one day...). I really enjoy shows that are entertaining and educational, so I'm happy my kid likes this one.

However, he also discovered Toy Story and often stands in front of the t.v. saying "Woo-wee!" because he wants to watch it...I'm trying to figure out how we can return the movie to our friends without scarring the poor boy. I'm sure he'll be fine.

That's our regular update for Nathaniel. He threw up yesterday which made me wonder if he was getting the flu that's been floating around. But he only threw up once (poor Sam, I was at work when it all went down--or came up!) and didn't run a fever at all so...maybe it was just something he ate. We made it to Disneyland as a family on Monday evening. That was nice. The hours are later during the week now due to spring and there are flowers all over the park. The area by the Haunted Mansion wasn't too crowded so we just had a nice little evening as a family.

So, even in the midst of the stresses of school (7 weeks left, then 6 weeks of summer school) and work and scheduling we are managing to have family time. It's nice.

Gossip...

Proverbs 11:13 A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy man keeps a secret.

Proverbs 16:28 A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends.

Proverbs 26:20 Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down.

Lately I've been wishing that gossip wasn't so prevalant in society. And although I'm wishing that I could get on my own high horse and say I never gossip, or that I'm simply talking about my non-church friends, I'm not. I am the first one to readily admit that at times there is nothing I would rather do than share my frustrations concerning individuals with the world. But, luckily common sense has stopped me quite a bit (recently) and I have learned to shut my trap.

However, there are times where I wonder about others...let's just say that as of late certain things that I thought were private issues between two people have been mentioned to me in passing by a third party (or many third parties...). It's even worse when it's mentioned in a rude, snide manner that just shows how skewed a person becomes when only hearing one side of a story. So, I encourage all of us (myself first and foremost) to remind ourselves of the Proverbs. And, if you just can't bring yourself to believe something written in the Bible, perhaps remind yourself of something your mother might have told you when you were younger. "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." I'm sure it will help a lot of people in the long run (and save yourself from being dragged in the middle of something that just might not be your business).

I can't believe I can get excited about this, but I about peed my pants!

Yup, that's right. Good old NKOTB are reuniting! I was just thinking this morning about how some of my jr. high girls like some really awful "musicians" and then I realized that I too liked my fair share of terrible groups when I was younger. My mind immediately jumped to New Kids On The Block, and now they are reuniting...
Anyone game to see if we can get to a concert?!

Vacation slide show

Enjoy our vacation pictures.

p.s. I got an honest to goodness A on my apologetics midterm!! Woo Hoo!!! (That means I probably won't have to take the final!)

I'm a thief...but this is hilarious!

I found this on a link on a friend's blog. It's pretty funny, and sad that I've actually heard some of these (and used a couple...eep!!). My personal favorite, 27.

Christianese Translated
The following is a list of phrases in the impenetrable language of "Christianese." For those unfamiliar with this strange dialect, below you'll find a helpful Christianese-English Dictionary so that you can find out what your Christian friend is really saying to you. Whoever created it - well done.
1. I'll pray about it = NO!
2. We need to pray for so and so = Guess what I just heard?!
3. I'm waiting for God to open some doors = I'm living in my parent's basement.
4. God gave me a word for you = I have advice to help you with your disaster of a life.
5. I'm going to have my quiet time = Leave me the heck alone!
6. God is good = My life sucks.
7. Bless his/her heart = What an idiot.
8. I have the gift of discernment = I can judge people without even talking to them.
9. I was having fellowship with them = We had beer and pizza and watched the game instead of going to church.
10. I'm saved by grace, not works = I can do whatever the heck I want.
11. She caused me to stumble = What a skank.
12. I kissed dating goodbye = I couldn't get a blind date, literally.
13. Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouth = I can't believe you said the real curse word!
14. I don't mean to judge but... = I'm going to judge.
15. I'm dating Jesus right now = Are you kidding? I'm way out of your league.
16. God wants me to take some time off from this relationship = I met someone else and I'm too coward to break up with you.
17. I'll pray about marrying you = NO!
18. God told me that we are supposed to get married = Maybe you'll say yes if God is behind this.
19. I'm fasting = Your spiritual life is miniscule compared to mine. Try to keep up.
20. God has called me to minister to her = She's really hot.
21. I think you should pray about it = You'll see that I'm right.
22. We've decided to court, not date = My parents have a death grip on my life.
23. Courting = Homeschool dating.
24. Lord willing = My plans are His plans.
25. Take this with a grain of salt = I'm about to really offend you.
26. I'm feeling convicted about this = One day my actions might change too!
27. Have I offended you? = Why are you treating my like garbage?
28. Who wants to pray? = I don't want to pray right now.
29. Jesus turned water into wine = Jesus turned water into grape juice. (Southern Baptist Dialect)
30. Jesus turned water into wine = I can drink whatever I want. (Presbyterian Dialect)

Yosemite Vacation

Hooray, we had an awesome time up in Yosemite. It was just what our family needed to reconnect and actually have face to face conversations (as opposed to, "Hi honey, here's the kid, see you later..."). We hiked all over the place, enjoyed cooking over the open fire, and froze our butts off from about 6:30pm-7:30am when the sun moved away from our little campsite (let's just say there was snow on half of our site!). It was really nice. I will post a couple of pictures, but since I can't figure out how to do a picture slide show I will wait to put the majority of them up.

Here I am at about mile 9 of our 14 mile hike. I am exhausted...

Our camp site with half dome in the background (and if you look closely, there is snow!)

Nathaniel just had fun playing in the dirt!

The Business of Being Born

I just watched this documentary (I know, instead of sleeping, cleaning or packing...I'm a slacker!) and it was amazing! It really opened my eyes to the whole hospital birth thing (I'm not anti ob/gyn practitioner or hospital, it just opened my eyes). I may do my next pregnancy/delivery differently...who knows.

p.s. This is not me announcing a pregnancy, or a delivery. I just wanted people to see an interesting movie, especially those moms out there (or moms to be). I am not pregnant.

p.p.s. click on the title to see the website.