Learning Joy

Today Jef, Jonathan & I were all sick. But inspite of the ickies, we have had an okay day. We are having a movie night right now, so I will make this quick. We’re watching “101 Dalmations”, the un-animated one with Glenn Close. She makes a terrific villian!!!! 🙂
Nicholas is really cute. He is responding a lot to the movie. “Oh no” he says. And “Yay! They saved the day!” (he was actually very clear on that one – we all understood him!)
We are getting ready for Nicholas’ birthday party. It is going to be an Elmo & Cookie Monster party. 🙂 He has been talking about this party FOREVER (well, since Daniel’s party in August). We are also planning on trick-or-treating this year. We did last year, and the boys had so much fun we figured we’d do it again. Their costumes from last year still fit!!! 🙂
Ok – have to get back to the movie. Will fill you in on the rest of our week later!

Today was a fun day all around. 🙂
Jef went out this morning to look for clients. He came home very happy – people were very responsive. 🙂 God is good!!!
We had some errands to run, so we ate lunch & went out. We stopped at Tostacaffe’ (Kamali & Tina’s coffee shop) because we were in the area & Kamali was working. We wanted to say “hi!”. Kamali made us some yummy drinks (my calorie count for the day was shot, though!) and we visited for a bit. Every time we come, though, the shop gets really busy! So we weren’t able to visit a ton, but it was fun. While we were there, some firemen came in. Daniel was just in awe of the firemen. He really wanted to talk to them (he wanted to invite them to come to our house & play Nintendo with him!), but he was shy. I talked to him & told him he could just say hi, or tell them he liked firemen. Daniel was very brave.
“Excuse me?” he said.
“Hey there” said the fireman, squatting down to Daniel’s eye-level.
“Hi. I think you are really cool.”
“Thank you! Would you like to come out and see my truck?” 😀
Once he started talking to them, Daniel was a chatterbox! He asked them all kinds of questions. The firemen (there were three) were VERY nice and took us all out to see their fire truck. The boys got to see the inside, where two guys ride, and keep their gear. They got to see all the gears & knobs and levers that make the fire truck spray water. They asked lots of questions & talked a lot. It was really neat.
After a while, we had to go back to the coffee shop. The boys were very excited. Daniel learned what happens when you are brave. 🙂
We left Tostacaffe’ and went to Fred Meyer. We needed a couple things & wanted to pick up Nicholas’ birthday presents. Daniel & Nicholas played in the playplace while Jonathan, Jef & I shopped. We found an Elmo cell phone for Nicholas & a plush Elmo that is about his size! 🙂 The toys were much cheaper than we thought, so that made us happy.
All in all, it was a banner day!

Beautiful Monet Jef found for me. 🙂
I love this garden! Someday I will have one just like it.

Good afternoon!
Since I haven’t blogged in a while, I thought I should. 🙂
We have been a little busy, but not too busy. Things are different with Jef home. We have actually been able to sit down at a reasonable hour & have supper together.
What is the deal with dinner and supper??? I have never been able to figure that out. At our house, we always had breakfast, lunch & supper. Then I learned about tea. Most people who had tea would have breakfast, lunch, tea & dinner (usually around 7 or 8). At our house we had dinner on Sunday. 🙂 So is dinner just a late supper? In Iowa, we would go to people’s homes after church on Sunday nights for “lunch”. Mom & I never got over that one. 🙂 Anyways – any clarification would be most welcome.
The boys have their very first dentist appointment on Tuesday. I am worried that their teeth are in horrible shape. They’ve never been to a dentist before, because I could never find one that would accept our insurance, and we couldn’t afford to just take them. So…. Tuesday we will see how they are.
We still haven’t found a home school co-op to join. However, we are doing better at having school each day. We have school now at least four times a week!
My friend Louise moved over to Gig Harbor. 🙂 Now I have someone to talk hang out with!!
Last Sunday our friends the Fowlers came over to visit. I was pretty nervous, having never met either Aaron or Aisha. Jef told me I was silly. Aisha was wonderful! We were kindred spirits from the start!! (she hugged me right off – that was when I *knew*, as Anne would say) We had a wonderful visit, and the children played together wonderfully. That was so nice. We’ve been praying for friends for the boys. 🙂 God is faithful! Our visit was so fun the Fowlers ended up staying until 10:30 p.m.!!! I couldn’t believe how fast time had gone!
Monday we went up to Burien to return some socks & a cell phone that had been left behind. 🙂 We had another good visit with Aisha & Aaron. Jef got to fix their computer. The kids played together again. I’ve never heard my boys laugh so heartily as they did that day. 🙂 After visiting the Fowlers, we went to IKEA. We haven’t been in a while, and we had some coupons for the kids. They are on the birthday list, so they get things free lunch coupons, free flashlight, free life vest, etc. IKEA has a really neat play place, so the boys always like to go there. Jef & I were surprised to realize we didn’t want a single thing from IKEA. Actually, that is not true – I did want this thing to hang from the ceiling & put stuffed animals in, but it wasn’t necessary. Usually we go to IKEA and think, “oh, that’s so great! We should get that!” This time we were content with all we have at home. (another prayer answered!!)
We were planning on spending the day in Southcenter shopping. After IKEA, though, we decided we were ready to come home. There wasn’t really anything else we wanted to do or see.
This week has been good. Jef was able to go out a couple times to look for jobs. It gets unnerving for him, though, when he doesn’t have a list. So I am working on a list of places for him to go. We got his brochures on Thursday. They look really nice. I think they will help a lot in the client-finding process. Brochures give Jef a way to get his information out without having to sell himself so much.
We picked up some party things for Nicholas’ birthday party. He is turning 3 in 15 days!!!!!!! That is coming up way too quick for me!!! He wants an Elmo & Cookie Monster party. I found plates with Elmo & Cookie on them (one plate, both characters). We’ve never really had a little kid be so interested in his party before. I don’t remember either Jonathan or Daniel talking about their birthday for so long. Nicholas has been talking about his party since Daniel’s in August!! We will have a full house. If everyone comes, there will be almost 30 people here!
I think that is all our news. I am learning a lot lately about cooking and how much cheaper & better tasting it is than store-bought. 🙂 That is a good thing. (thanks Martha)

Hi Everyone!
Guess today is a day for short & silly entries. I found a map where we (all those who read My Op Pic) can add our locations. We can see how close or far we are from each other!!
Go here ~ My Op Pic Readers ~ and add yourself!

How Boyish or Girlish Are You?

Well, this weekend has been busy & full of surprises. I think I should start from the beginning. 🙂

Ok, so you all know about Jef’s job – how he’s been working there 5+ years, just got a drastic pay cut, and all that. Thursday night Jef decided to quit. We talked about it (I’ve been wanting him to quit for a while. I didn’t like how they were treating him at all) and decided it was time to stop living in fear. We want to trust God, but we kept falling back on the fact that Jef had that job. It didn’t matter how miserable he was or how little money we were receiving, it was easier to trust that than to trust God. Silly, huh?? Now Jef is unemployed. We have brochures being printed (500 of them!!) and he has his business cards. Now he just needs to get out there & let himself be known. You all can pray that God sends lots of jobs his way. He has a guy who gave his brochure to the Puyallup Indian Tribe already. 🙂 They haven’t called yet, though.
So that is what happened on Thursday night. We immediately felt released. Jef has been much more relaxed and confident.
Friday we didn’t do a whole lot. It was a nice day, though.
Saturday I did laundry in the morning. God is good. Since it had been such a long time since I had gone to do laundry, I thought it would cost a lot. But it only took the usual three big (quad loaders) washers!! That meant I saved $4!!
We were invited to our nephew Jacob’s birthday party. So we got ready, headed out to Borders. We found the books we wanted (Jacob likes reading a lot, so we thought some books would be a good gift). We got Jacob a book of Poe mysteries, A Tale of Two Cities & Undaunted Courage. We still had some time before the party, so we wandered around a bit. The boys were really antsy, so Jef took them out to the car while I paid. I asked for the books to be wrapped, since they were presents and all. IF YOU LIVE IN THE TACOMA AREA, DO NOT HAVE THE GUY AT BORDERS WRAP YOUR PRESENTS!!!!! HOLY COW!!!! I have never seen anyone do something SO slowly!! It took that guy fifteen minutes to wrap three presents – NO JOKE! Jef called me twice trying to find out what was taking so long!! It was incredible. He was so slow. However, the long line behind me was served by the other three cashiers. By the time he was done wrapping, there wasn’t anyone left to help. I was astounded.
We would have been on time for the party, except that guy took so long. We ended up getting there just at four p.m. (we were supposed to be there at 3:30). Amazing.
The party was great. Jonathan, Daniel & Nicholas all had a blast. Doug & Marie have a trampoline, so they love going over there. 🙂 At the end of the night Nicholas came to me bouncing up & down and asking “mommy (jump) may (jump) I (jump)please (jump) go (jump) on (jump) the (jump) trampoline?” 🙂 He’s so cute.
Jacob & Matthew were really nice to our boys. They all went out to play football in the street (there were five other kids there, too) and Matthew & Jacob made sure the boys got to catch the ball & throw the ball & stuff like that. Both Jonathan & Daniel did really well. 🙂 They did get pretty tired by night’s end, though. So after cake, we went home. 🙂 Daniel almost fell asleep in the car. All in all it was a good night! Marie made a wonderful dinner of Pizza Hut pizzas & a really yummy cake from Fred Meyer (it was chocolate with raspberry filling). 🙂 And Jacob liked all his presents. He told me he planned to read the Poe book first. 🙂
Sunday we were going to go to our friend Adam’s house in Bellevue, but the car didn’t sound too great. Jef found out this morning that she’s leaking oil pretty quick. 🙁 Please, Lord, not another car problem.
Instead of going to Adam’s, I went grocery shopping with Nicholas and then Kamali & Tina came over. We played Mario Power Tennis. Tina & I got beaten very badly. It was a fun time.
Today, Jef is off at a job and I need to stop typing because my fingers are freezing! Our house is very cold! We need to weatherize so we can turn on the heat!! I actually need to go do dishes & then make something to take with me to a friend’s house.

You Are Chinese Food

Exotic yet ordinary.People think they’ve had enough of you, but they’re back for more in an hour.

What Kind of Food Are You?“>

Here is an article on a dog flu. This is true, and very sad. Just wanted to get the word out.

Urban Legends Reference Pages: Critters (Dog Flu)