the castle, and the people, and the carriage

For the past month, Abigail has developed a new routine. Every morning after breakfast is finished and the Backyardigans are over, Abigail says, "Mommy, its time to play! Want the castle and the people and the carriage and the big castle and the tunnel". We bring everything into the living room and she proceeds to meticulously set up her castle and people and carriage and play with them. She also has a bigger play castle with a tunnel that goes next to the coffee table where her other toys are. She entertains herself for at least an hour playing "castle" and showing me all of the things that her people are doing. It is so fun to see her little personality develop.

Le Jardin

Okay, so it doesn't look like much at first, but that's the great thing about gardens. You put these tiny little plants in the ground and water them and hope that something grows. This year I planted tomatoes, bell peppers, beets, cucumbers, onions, garlic, cilantro, and basil. We had a slight frost about a week after everything went into the ground, but I think the plants are going to be okay. Hopefully I will have some fun pictures of vegetables early this summer.

Daylight Savings Time

Yeah - we totally missed it. I woke up at 7:00 to begin the process of getting a two-year-old, a five-month-old, and myself ready for church. We don't leave until 8:45, and the kids were still asleep, so I got my morning cup of coffee and leisurely sat down to check my email. My computer said that it was 8:00 instead of 7:00. Strange - but I thought it was just a glitch. I fed Micah and got him ready for church and down for a short nap. When Abigail awoke (she is not a morning person) we embarked on our daily routine of cereal, banana, and Dora the Explorer. Panic! Dora was not on and Direct TV said it was 9:00. Church STARTS at 9:00. Still in disbelief, I found Gene and asked him if it was Daylight Savings. He looked it up online and - sure enough - it was. Fortunately, we go to the 9:00 service and the class Gene teaches is at 11:00. Although I was sad to miss church, that meant we had extra time to get everyone ready. So we enjoyed a fun, laid-back Sunday morning. How refreshing!

Freedom from Quiet Time Guilt

Last month at my college roommate reunion, I mentioned an article I had read about "Quite Time Guilt". I have been struggling with that lately, and decided to post the link to the article. I am someone who struggles with feeling like I have to do the right things to earn God's love and favor. However, He has already given these things to me for free through Christ. I think this article is great for anyone who struggles with the same thing. The link to the article is below. I'd love to hear your thoughts...

http://gregscouch.homestead.com/files/quiet_time_guilt.htm

Cereal Time

Yesterday, Micah got to eat rice cereal for the first time. I had forgotten how messy that can be and why bibs are a must have. He seemed to enjoy the experience. Also, three nights ago Micah slept from 7:00 pm to 7:00 am. This is a cause for great rejoicing and celebration in our home. He has earned his first ice cream cone (to be redeemed after his first birthday).

King Tut

Yesterday we went to the Dallas Museum of Art to see the King Tut Exhibit. Two of the college students in our Bible study needed to go to the museum for a class, so we decided to make it a field trip.



Unfortunately, no cameras were allowed in the exhibit. It was amazing to see so many artifacts that came from ancient Egypt and were preserved for so many years. Abigail's favorite item was a small chair that King Tut probably used to sit on as a little boy. I did not know this before going, but King Tut is not actually there. It makes sense that his body cannot be carted around the world - but we were still a little disappointed. We did get a picture with his mural.



We all had the most fun in the children's area of the museum. They had an area where we could make rubbings over different texture plates. They also had an assortment of different types of boxes to arrange. We liked making a tall tower and knocking it over.





Abby and Kari played really hard so they fell asleep on the way home. What a fun way to spend an afternoon!

Neti Pot

I got a really bad cold last week and decided to try out a sinus cleansing system. I thought about using the neti pot, but then decided on the bottle. The neti pot uses gravity, but, with the bottle, you can squeeze the water, which gives it more pressure. I found the NeilMed bottle along with fifty salt packets at CVS for about $13. I thought about making it myself, but I could not find sodium chloride by itself at CVS. I only had iodized salt at home - and that would really burn. Basically, I poured a salt packet into the bottle and filled it with warm water. I leaned my head over the sink and squeezed the water into my nose. All of the water came out of the other side - it was a really weird feeling. However, it didn't hurt like when I get water in my nose at the swimming pool. I can't say that my cold is any better, but it hasn't gotten any worse, either. I've been able to at least breath out of one side of my nose. I'm not sure if it was worth $13, but I don't regret buying it. In the future I think I'd make my own at home with some Kosher salt and a water bottle with a squirt lid.