Feed Me Books Friday: Books for Mom

The Prayers of Agnes Sparrow is the story of an unusual woman, Agnes Sparrow. No longer able or willing to leave her home, where she is cared for by her long-suffering sister Griselda, Agnes has committed her life to the one thing she can do besides eat. Agnes Sparrow prays and when Agnes prays things happen, including major miracles of the cancer, ulcer-healing variety along with various minor miracles not the least of which is the recovery of lost objects and a prize-winning pumpkin.  The rural residents of Bright's Pond are so enamored with Agnes they plan to have a sign erected on the interstate that reads, Welcome to Bright s Pond, Home of Agnes Sparrow. This is something Agnes doesn t want and sends Griselda to fight city hall. Griselda s petitions are shot down and the sign plans press forward until a stranger comes to town looking for his miracle from Agnes. After some tense days, everyone decides they all need to find their way back to the true source of the miracles -- God.

This story by Angie Smith is not unfamiliar to those of you blog readers like myself.  This is the story of Audrey Caroline.  I have just started this book, but so far it has not dissapointed me.  I was hesitant to read it because I already knew the story from reading her blog.  From Amazon -- "In 2008, Angie Smith and her husband Todd (lead singer of the group Selah) learned through ultrasound that their fourth daughter had conditions making her “incompatible with life.” Advised to terminate the pregnancy, the Smiths chose instead to carry this child and allow room for a miracle. That miracle came the day they met Audrey Caroline and got the chance to love her for the precious two-and-a-half hours she lived on earth.  Upon receiving the original diagnosis, Angie started a blog (Bring the Rain) to keep family and friends informed of their journey. Soon, the site exploded in popularity, connecting with thousands who were either experiencing their own heartbreaking situations or simply curious about how God could carry someone through something so tragic. I Will Carry You tells the powerful story of a parent losing her child, interwoven with the biblical story of Lazarus to help those who mourn to still have hope—to find grace and peace in the sacred dance of grief and joy.

I don't always take the time out to read for myself because it is hard to find those moments for yourself!  Laundry needs to be done, dishes put away, quality time with husband, etc.  However, I have found that I am so much happier when I can read and escape.  I have found that always keeping a book in my car works best for me.  I can always find 5-10 minutes in between appointments or stuck in traffic, or if someone stands me up for a visit, etc.  Reading calms me and helps me gain perspective.  What are you reading?

Sarah's 18 month Appointment

Here is Sarah this morning at her 18 month doctor's appointment.  She did very well.  She is in the 75% percentile for everything!  She is 32-1/4 inches long, 26.2 pounds, and her head circumference is 18.5 inches.  All in all, she is doing great! 
She is holding the doll that her "Aunt Beth" brought her back from Texas.  She loves her!!

Feed Me Books Friday: Summer Reading Club

Well, we have joined the summer reading club.  Yes, I did say "we".  We all joined as a family.  Sarah has her reading club log and Michael and I are sharing a log.  We'll see who gets the better rewards!  As a result ... here are Sarah's first books that she has checked out from the library.  She didn't get her card today, but we will be sure to get it next time.

This exciting little board book introduces the alphabet to infants in a humorous game of tag, "a told b, and b told c, I'll meet you at the top of the coconut tree. Whee! Said d to e f g, I'll beat you to the top of the coconut tree." The entire lowercase alphabet makes it to the top of the coconut tree and "chicka chicka boom boom," they all fall down! Colorful and eye-catching, the artwork bewitches little ones, while the sing-songy prose encourages listening and learning.

How could your child not love a book with characters such as Zachary Zebra, Orfo the Orangutan, Bismark the Buffalo, Igor the Egret and lots of funny underwear. Poor Bismark, he doesn't get to wear any underwear. Or does he? Lots of alliteration in this very funny little book that your pre-reader will just love for you to read to her.

Feed Me Books Friday: Favorite Books

This week, I'm featuring books that we just love to read. For Sarah's first birthday, her "Aunt Beth" gave her this book by Betsy Snyder. At the time, Sarah enjoyed looking at it and feeling the different textures, but she now really likes to look at the book and gets the humor of it all. One of her favorite pages is "have you ever kissed a walrus?" She likes to kiss the walrus and feel the whiskers tickle her face.This is a recent new favorite book. This is a sweet story about a little duck (Dimity) and his frog friend (Frumity). This story tells about their day and the fun that they have playing together. We got this book a long time ago, but Sarah didn't care anything about it. Now, we have read it about 6 times in the past 2 days!

What child doesn't like Good Night, Gorilla??? Well, actually, I'm not a huge fan, but I think that is only because we have read it about a million times! Sarah loves to look at this book and she laughs at the zookeeper's wife's eyes when she realizes that she is not the only one awake in her bed!

Sweet Cousins

I feel that Sarah is very fortunate to have cousins that live nearby. When I was growing up, I obviously knew my cousins, but I don't feel that we were very close. We didn't see each other very much. Of course, I didn't know that I was missing out on anything until I met Michael.


Michael was very close with his cousins growing up. He still remains relatively close to some of them. They get together at family events and we've even had some of them over for dinner just because we like them -- shocker, right?! :)

Sarah loves her cousin Steven Riley. He was born 4 years before her almost to the day! She loves getting to play with him. Well, Steven Riley now has a little brother -- John Colton.

Sarah doesn't quite know what to think of him. She sees him in pictures and mostly just calls him baby, but she is starting to call him Toto. That is her version of John Colton. As you can see above, she's not really sure why Steven Riley is kissing John Colton instead of her!

She loves her cousins and I hope that they will always be good friends!

Fun with Rice and Beans

If there is one thing that I have learned in my job with Early Intervention, it is to try to access all areas of development. Enter the sensory bucket. In EI, many special instructors have a sensory bucket. Basically, it is a bucket with a variety of different textures inside. This are used for a variety of different reasons. I like to use mine to have a child talk about what they may find inside of the bucket. Other professionals may use their buckets with children who have various sensory processing needs. In my bucket, I have easter grass, rocks, rice, beans and a few sticky spiders, frogs and lizards. We use the shovels and rakes to find the bugs. Here's the results when I tried it out on Sarah ...

Fun with Friends

Friday night, we were pleasantly surprised to be invited over to a friend's house for dinner. We were excited because as "non-parents" we had all hung out regularly, but we just haven't been able to spend much time together since all of our little ones take up so much time.

Eveline was born in September, Sarah in November, and Audrey in March -- so you can tell that they are very close in age. However, they are all so different. It was so much fun to watch them play together. Of course, Sarah always has to have a baby doll; luckily, Audrey shared with her.

Thank you Lazenby's for opening your home to us and the whirlwind known as Sarah!

Claire's Birthday

Saturday, we went to our little friend Claire's first birthday party.

It was a wonderful time and Sarah enjoyed herself! Claire, and her parents, live two houses down from us. Annah and John threw a wonderful party. We had Donato's pizza (which was fantastic!) and pink champagne! Who cares if it was a kid's party -- Claire turned one and mommy and daddy lived through the first year! It was definitely cause to celebrate!!! Another thoughtful thing was that Annah had potted plants to give to each of the mothers because of Mother's Day. I thought that was super sweet. We are not really close with this family, but I would like to change that. We need each other as friends, neighbors and believers in Christ.

Happy Birthday Claire!

Tori and Dean ... for better or worse

Okay, I admit it. I am addicted to reality shows, well specifically Tori and Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood. This season has been really depressing! They have been married 4 years and have two beautiful children, Liam and Stella. However, there is some sort of disconnect going on between them. The past two episodes have had me almost in tears.

Michael and I have been married for 4 years and have Sarah and Gus (can't forget the dog-child). I don't want to feel a disconnect, but I feel that everyone has those fleeting moments from time to time. I think the most important thing is to take time for each other and come back together to being one! Don't forget what you wrote on your air-sick bags (T/D reference)!!!

I know that this weekend is mother's day, but you wouldn't be a mother without your husband ... therefore, do something special for the two of you. Reconnect with each other, love each other, cherish each other always!

Feed Me Books Friday: Books about Mothers

We have two books that we read on a regular basis that have to do with mothers. The first one is a favorite by Karen Katz. Actually, Sarah loves all of her books! This is a book that we often read before bedtime when we are cuddling. It goes through numbers 1-10 and everything that mommies do ... all the way from one nuzzle wuzzle wakeup hug, to five kiss it all better boo boo hugs, ending up with ten goodnight I love you hugs.

One of our other favorites is a relatively new favorite by Ezra Jack Keats. This book is about lots of different types of animals and their mothers. The mother provides instructions to their babies, such as "Dive said the mother, we dive said the one. So they dove and the played on the rocks in the sun." Reading books with Sarah is one of my most favorite activities. I love to read to her and never get tired of hearing her sweet baby voice "eed eed mama" (translated -- read read mama)!

This post is linked to Feed Me Books Friday at The Adventures of Motherhood.

Sunday Events

We had great friends visit with us at church yesterday. We were excited to have Beth and BJ come with us. Michael was excited too because he was teaching Sunday School. They seemed to have a good time and by the end of lunch, Sarah had warmed up to them ... FINALLY!!

Check out the day's events at Beth's blog.

Last night, in the middle of the storm, we had our friends Chris and Amanda come over for dinner. We have not gotten to hang out with them in a long time, so it was great fun! Although, thanks to Chris, Michael is even more obssessed with the potential harm and danger from Obama-care. Sarah eventually warmed up to Amanda, even though she refused to share a strawberry with her. However, she was scared of Chris. At one point, I think Sarah had even forgotten Chris was there, but then she bumped into his leg and ran straight back to mommy! That's okay little bug, mommy will always protect you!

All in all, a great Sunday!

Sarah loves to play outside!

Sarah is definitely an outside little girl. She loves to be outside. We have been on a mission lately to find the very best parks for her to play in. So far, our favorite is a "secret park" that not many other people know about located in Hoover. I can't tell you where it is because then more people would start to show up! :)



Anyway, we try to go to the park about once a week at least. I can definitely tell that she is growing up fast. When we first started going to the park, she was a bit apprehensive on the slides and swings. Not anymore! When we pull up she gets so excited and then goes running to the slides. She is doing much better and walking up the steps and loves to go down them by herself. The slide is "mine, mine"! "Mama, mine", she says, as she is waving her hand in protest as to say no help mama -- i'm a big girl! :)



Slow down growing up little girl. You're at the best age yet and I want to enjoy every minute of it! Besides, some days you outrun mommy and daddy!

Feed Me Books Friday: Books you can Sing

Okay, so I'm several days behind in my posting. Although some of you would say that I am months behind. However, I'm trying to do better! I saw this post today on another blog and decided to write about one of Sarah's new favorite books. Before she was even born, I saw a set of paperback Eric Carle books at a consignment store. I like his things, so I bought the set. I really haven't let her look at them because I didn't want them messed up, but she found them in her book basket the other night and ever since we have to read this book at least 4-5 times a day!

Basically, this book goes through each of the days of the week.

Monday, string beans. Tuesday, spagetti. Wednesday, zooop. Thursday, roast beef. Friday, fresh fish. Saturday, chicken. Sunday, ice cream. All you hungry children, come and eat it up! The book repeats all of the previous days each day. Each days food is presented by a different animal, like a porcupine, dog, cat, fox, etc. At the end of the book, there are the lyrics and the music for the song that goes along with the book.

Sarah loves to read and sing/sign with the book on the pages that she knows. I really recommend this book to anyone! Happy Reading!

Pictures of Flo's Room

Here are some pictures of our Extreme Makeover - Flo Style! :)

The Lovelady Center is actually housed in an old hospital, so imagine living in a hospital room for an extended period of time with all of your belongings ...

Jennifer is pulling some nails out of the wall before starting to paint.

This is a sink that is in Flo's room and a mini-refrigerator. She also has her own bathroom.

This is looking from her bed towards the door. She has two very small closets in her room.

This is Flo in her new room ... she likes it!

Here we all are with Flo (from L-R: Jennifer, Michael, Flo, Cathy and Jeff)

Blessings, Convictions and Contentment

Disclaimer ... this may be a post with lots of ramblings. I am writing to myself, primarily, to clarify my thoughts and views to myself. If you benefit or enjoy what you read, well ... that's just a bonus!

As I alluded to in a previous post ... I've been doing a lot of thinking and reflection lately. Maybe it is the holiday season, maybe it is the current sermon series from church about Hope, maybe it is just life in general. There is a lot of discontentment in life, my own life included from time to time. I'm unhappy with the way I look, my clothes don't fit the way I would like, my hair doesn't do the things i would like. Unhappiness with my job from time to time just dealing with the stress of working with others! :) and yes, if we are all honest with ourselves, we are even unhappy with our marriages and children from time to time. does that mean that we want to throw it all away -- NO!!! i love everything about my life so much ... that is where the convictions come. as a christian, we know that we will face struggles. perhaps we even face the greatest struggles and hurdles when we are walking closest with the Lord because satan wants to pull us away from Him.

i've been struggling a lot with material possessions. i want new kitchen floors, i would love a new sofa, michael wants us to have iphones, we want to go eat at the newest restaurants and buy the latest fashions. specifically, i want sarah to have the cutest clothes, the newest toys, the best of everything. are those things necessary? absolutely not. is it wrong for us to have those desires? absolutely not. however, it can become wrong when we let those things become our focus and we lose sight of the more important things.

in my job, i go out to work with children in some pretty bad parts of town. i've been in homes where the floor consists of a piece of plywood covering up holes in the flooring. i've been in homes without heat or air. i've seen families wear the same clothes day after day because they don't have anymore, or a child so excited about my bag of toys because all they have to "play" with are momma's pots, pans and spoons. how dare i go to the mall and buy hundreds of dollars worth of stuff to clutter up my home when i already have so much?! but yet, we do it ... all the time.

how can i sit back and watch the biggest loser week after week with michael and think, wow. i wish i could do that. i wish i could work out like they do and lose that weight. how can i sit back and think those things when my body works perfectly fine -- its my mind that doesn't do so well in the weight loss world. how can i complain about health when others are on oxygen, with heart problems, amputees, etc, etc, etc. i am blessed to have a body, although much bigger than is "healthy", that can do pretty much whatever i want it to do. but am i honoring God with my body? my body should be a temple for Him, would you really want to worship in a dilapidated temple?

I've been thinking a lot about others recently. Last night, Michael and I, along with another couple, had the chance to go to the Lovelady Center in Birmingham. We met Flo. Flo was a good kid when her father was murdered. To cope, she started using drugs. Several years later, her sister was killed. Shortly after the birth of her first son, she suffered a stroke as a result of using drugs. She had another son and was still using drugs. When she found out that she was pregnant with her daughter, she decided to get clean. She came to the lovelady house and got clean. She graduated from the program and left, but apparently she was not truly ready to leave. So she came back and she is still currently living there with her daughter. her 2 sons are being raised by family members and she sees them on weekends. She is working there in the accounting department. We redid her room for her last night. We painted and provided her with new bedding. How simple -- yet how huge for her. We were able to show her that Jesus loves her enough to send us down to inner city Bham on a Friday night with paint brushes to paint her bedroom.

She was appreciative, I was blessed. Such an easy thing to do, yet so hard to sometimes step out of our comfort zone and do something for someone else. Let someone else open the gift, let someone else experience the joy and happiness, let someone else see Christ in you.

More to come later ... including pictures of Flo and her new room!!!

Jesus Has AIDS

Jesus Has AIDS

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Things I am Thankful For ...

I've seen on FB all of the people writing one thing each day for what they are thankful for. However, I have so much to be thankful for ... how can I choose just one thing per day?! I have decided to do my November thankfulness list today -- the day after Thanksgiving.

I have been fairly reflective lately. I think part of it has a lot to do with being a mom, but I also think a lot of it has to do with personal growth - both mentally and spiritually. Our church has been doing a series of sermons on hope and finding your hope in Christ. It has forced me to look at life in a new way and evaluate how I would handle some very difficult circumstances. I hope that I would approach problems and trials in a manner that would be worthy of my Lord, but most days I am not so sure. However, I know that He still loves me even when I screw up, and that gives me the hope and confidence to go on and try again!

So ... in no particular order ... I am thankful for ...

• parents that love me, my husband and my child. Parents that have tried to give me the world, and I now know that feeling as I try to give the world to Sarah.
• friends that are supportive, make me laugh and always know what to say to motivate, encourage, or kick my butt into gear!
• a job that I enjoy (for the most part) and co-workers that have become much more than just someone to share office space with.
• a husband that I love more than life and that loves me back. a husband that i can be silly and crazy and cry and laugh and every emotion in between with. a husband who after almost 4 years of marriage, i love more than the day we married and cherish our time together
• a daughter that brings me more happiness than i deserve. a little girl that says mama and reaches out to me, a smile that can bring more joy than i can ever describe
• the opportunity to see friendships grow and develop into mature relationships - and not petty aquaintances
• the opportunity to share with another one about what is going on in my life and know that they will respect what is said and not judge
• little lives that ended way too early, but still had a life-changing impact on me and many others
• in-laws that accepted me into their family and love me as if I were one of their own
• seeing my grandmother on thanksgiving, even though i am secretly fearful that it may be the last. having my grandmother see and know Sarah Mae (part of her name).
• my church family and how i am challenged by what my pastor preaches
• my small group from church and how our relationships have grown over the past year.
• the families that i work with and how they teach me to appreciate simple things and to not allow myself to get caught up in materialism and wealth

These are just a few of the things I am thankful for today. The HOPE staff are the only ones at work today, so it is much more laid back. Therefore, I may actually make more than one post in a day ... shocker!!! :) Enjoy your black Friday and get busy wrapping my gifts!! :)

United States -- 50 or 52?

You may think that I'm being crazy. But, unfortunately I'm not. I learned something this week that has totally rocked my world and i don't know how to handle the information. Therefore, I'm turning to you ... all 2-3 of my faithful readers ... please help me figure out this information.

As a child, I learned that there were 50 states in the United States. Granted, I'm not sure that I could name them or write them all in correctly on a map. But i learned that there were 50 states. There were 48 states on the mainland and then alaska and hawaii were also included. 48 + 2 = 50. Right?

This week, I was at the Hope Child Development Center in the greater Birmingham area (hold the comments on that one!). The teacher was teaching her 4 year olds about our country.

Teacher: How many states are in the United States?

The class was quiet.

Teacher: Well, there used to be 50 states, but now there are 52.

This was repeated multiple times. The class then sang our country's song ... no, not the star spangled banner as you might have assumed ... it was "Our Country Tis of Thee".

Hmmm ... what are the other two states? Where was I when these states were added? Did Obama add in some extra states? Does Chicago now qualify as a state because the 2 Big O's (Obama/Oprah) are from there? Is there a North/South California that I missed? What about East/West Virginia or Old/New Jersey? Or whatabout the states of Illiterate and Uneducated?? I think that might be more appropriate.

What made me sad is that the parents chose to send their child to school to get more "Hope" ... what they are getting is a hope-less education.

Remembering Brayden

This is a post all about my friend Brayden. Yesterday, October 15, was Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remberance Day. While I have not experience either of these losses on my own, I have felt some of the pain of infant loss.

Brayden was born to my friends Beth and BJ on November 26, 2006. He was born under some pretty dramatic circumstances. Beth was at home and had some sort of a seizure. Her family found her unconscious in the bathroom. They rushed her to the hospital where Brayden was delivered by emergency C-section. It took them approximately 10 minutes to revive him. It turned out that Beth had suffered a stroke. It affected her hands and her speech. She under went dialysis for several weeks as well. During this time, we all prayed for Beth's recovery. We were unsure of how we needed to pray for Brayden because he was so sick. In addition to the problems which presented at birth, Brayden was also born with a cleft lip and palate.

I wanted so badly to pray for Brayden's full recovery, yet I was torn as to how to pray. Was his recovery to be God's will? Would Beth and BJ be able to cope and care for Brayden's multiple needs? I began to pray for God's will to be done, whatever the circumstance and to equip Beth and BJ to be able to handle whatever the outcome would ultimately be. I prayed that pray for some time, until I met Brayden and got to hold him. I then had a hard time praying for God's will -- I wanted Brayden to live -- and live a long life!!!

Beth was/ is an excellent mom. She enrolled him in early intervention the day he came home from the hospital! I remember her bringing him by the office and telling us to do the paperwork and get him started with services! I remember many mornings with Beth and I sitting in our office and her feeding Brayden through his G-tube before he went to his class. One of my favorite memories of that is she fed him and then he projectile vomited all over me. Why is that a favorite memory? Because I was sitting almost 4 feet away, yet I was covered!! Somehow it never seemed to matter to me when he spit up on me because it was Brayden. I almost think in some way, in dealing with Brayden, I started to realize how ready I was for a child. I loved Brayden with all my heart and he wasn't even mine!! Beth and BJ did so many things with him. They gave him every possible opportunity. They never took for granted their little boy. He went to the McWane Center, Bham Zoo, trips all over town. He went to the playground and went on the swings and slide.

One of the saddest nights in my memory came around 11:00 pm on November 6th, 2007. I received a phone call from our friend Donna telling me that Brayden had passed away. My heart physically hurt for my friend and for Brayden. I knew in my heart that this was God's will. But, how could that be? He was so small, so innocent, so perfect. He had no sin -- why was he taken away from us. However, his time had come. His purpose on this earth had been fulfilled. I went to the hospital that night to be with my friend. She didn't really know that we were there, but it just felt right that I was. It was very hard for me to tell the rest of my staff the next day. The funeral was very emotional for us all. Looking back, almost 2 years later ... I can see purpose in Brayden's death. I feel that Brayden has brought his mom and dad even closer together and made their marriage even stronger. I believe that he has made them both question God and begin to search for real truth and relationship with Him. I know that Brayden's life impacted a countless number of people, and if even one of those comes to know the Father as a result -- then wasn't it worth it? It will never be a pleasant memory, but I have so many happy memories, I cannot dwell on the sadness of his death. I choose to remember him in life, with his squeaky breathing and cuddly hugs.

Brayden -- on Alabama/Auburn Day at the daycare

Brayden and Beth meeting Bessie the Cow from Barber's milk.

Quatar and Brayden at the pool enjoying pool therapy.

Beth and Brayden on Halloween trick or treating at the daycare.

Toys

Toys"R"Us Wish List a gift registry for Birthdays, Holidays & special occasions

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The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Well, in honor of Jumpstart's Read for the Record day, we participated at home! Sarah has her own copy of the book and she also has her own caterpillar, Hungry.

Daddy read the book to Sarah and Hungry. Sarah is learning to turn the pages when she reads a book, so she was a big help to Daddy. She also liked putting her fingers in the foods that Hungry was eating in the book.

When Daddy was finished reading to Sarah, Mommy helped Sarah to paint her very own caterpillar. She did a great job! She actually did much better than I thought she would do. She enjoyed playing in the paint. Daddy looked a little nervous, but he thought it was fun too!

So how do you like our finished product? I think it's a great caterpillar! Mommy and Sarah had a fun time painting together and Daddy had a great time reading to his little girl! A successful "Read for the Record" night!!

Jumpstart for the Record

Will you read with me?

This simple question is an invitation to share the joy of reading with a child in your life. We all know that reading aloud with preschool children lays the groundwork for strong literacy skills and future success in school and in life. In 2006, an initiative began caleld Jumpstart’s Read for the Record This is an international campaign to bring preschool children together with valued grownups in their lives to read the same book, on the same day, in communities all over the world. In 2008, I participated and read a book to our daycare and EI kids. The world record was broken as nearly 700,000 readers shared the classic children’s tale, Corduroy.

On October 8, 2009, Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar was read aloud in classrooms, libraries and homes from Japan, Germany and Brazil to cities and rural communities across America. Hushed with wonder and tickled with giggles, children around the world simultaneously experienced the joy of reading.

In addition, this year was the 40th anniversary of The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

The Fruit of Our Labor

This past summer, we attempted a garden. We planted sweet potato, basil, cilantro, oregano, lettuce, corn, cucumbers, cantelope, watermelon and tomatoes. Out of all of that, we really didn't harvest much of anything. We used some of the herbs and produced a few cucumbers. We did grow corn, but it only grew ears that were about 3 inches long. But ... that all changed the other night. I was at a child's house this week and the mom was talking about digging up her sweet potatoes. I wasn't sure when it was time to dig ours up, but she encouraged me to dig into the dirt and see if there was anything there. I was pretty sure nothing had grown, seeing as how nothing else had really produced anything. Well ... look at what we found ...

I started to dig and I hit a potato. Well, I kept digging and found more. I told Michael to go and get a bucket. This is a standard size mop bucket and it was almost full!!! The two green things are supposed to be watermelons -- very small! We'll see how those are when I cut into them this weekend. I was so excited! I ended up just sitting down in the muddy dirt and continuing to dig and dig. Of course, they were covered in mud (me too!) so I had to rinse them off in the yard.

By the time I had finished washing them off, I was shocked to find that I had grown 12 sweet potatoes!! Some of them are really big. I can't wait to use them this weekend!! What are your favorite ways to use sweet potatoes?

Which of these things is not like the other?

Look closely at the above picture ... hmmm, strangely enough it looks very familiar to me. Oh wait, i know why ... they are all MY toys! My parents had Sarah stay with them last weekend and they went and got all my favorite toys out for Sarah to play with.

I would like to introduce some of my favorite friends ...

From left to right -- Mr. Bear (actually is Sarah's panda bear), the ears sticking up behind Mr. Bear is Bun Bun (my childhood bunny), the dog is a random new addition, Pooh (my first Winnie the Pooh), Hunny (my first baby doll) and GroundNut (my first bear).

An interesting story about Groundnut ... wonder where he got that name? Well, you may have a stuffed animal in your past with the same ancestry ... just look at the tag. Mine says groundnuts. Hence the name! Granted, I now understand that Groundnut is actually MADE of ground nuts -- but as a child I didn't get that. I just thought it was nice that the people told me his name so that he would be happy living with a new family.

Who/What are some of your favorite childhood friends? Where are they now?

My little musical prodigy ...

Little Miss Sarah -- She's gotten sucked in! All through my childhood I took piano lessons. My mom tried to teach me -- not a good idea! I took from several different teachers, some good/some bad. Well, it appears that through some combination of Sarah and my mother - Sarah is now playing piano! The scary thing is, it really isn't terrible. Can you sing a song to it? Not really. It would fall under more of an abstract composition, but she's only 10 months! How old was Beethoven and Bach when they started to play? :)

She does seem to enjoy music. She loves her kindermusik class and enjoys playing and singing at home with mommy's crazy funny made-up songs. Who knows? Maybe music is definitely in her future. For now, I'm content with her banging around on whatever she can find!!