Confession

I am going to take a nap.  Me. Right now. At 12:23 PM. I'm heading upstairs to take a nap while my kids are also napping (Sawyer only naps when he's going to be up late, and since it is Halloween, that qualifies).

I'm ignoring a sink full of overflowing dishes, two full baskets of clean laundry, an e-mail box full of work stuff, and the path of destruction left by Hurricane Chloe that hit my living room this morning......... to sleep. 

It's a gift really. (Although Scot might disagree, but that's be cause he doesn't HAVE the gift. He's just jealous.)

It's ok. I wasn't going to win "Wife of the Year" or "Housekeeper of the Year" or anything of that sort anyway. So, why not just take a nap? Sawyer isn't the only one who will be up late tonight! 

Anyway, I felt as though I should confess. Now, off to bed with me.

Skip Starbucks and Bring a Little Boy Home!

OK, if there was ever a reason to skip Starbucks, forget renting a DVD, or eat in instead of out, this is IT. My dear friend, Rebecca, is hosting a fundraiser to help them raise the money they need to travel to China to bring their super-adorable son, Owen home (see sidebar for a glimpse of his adorable-ness, but visit the site for more pictures to melt your heart).

The prizes are amazing, and the cause? Well, you'd be hard pressed to find a better one. You can quite literally be part of bringing this little guy home from an orphanage in China to his family who simply cannot WAIT to meet him!

That's more than worth any sacrifice you will make to enter and maybe you'll win a REALLY COOL prize for being so generous! Please visit their fundraising site, enter to win.......and to help this family bring their son HOME!

Soup Anyone?

I wish I had something to offer you all on this topic, but alas, I don't.

Once again, I'm hoping that you all have something to offer on this topic. It's cold here, and I'm looking for some new soup recipes to warm us up. They just have to be really yummy and (preferably) easy. Anyone have any great suggestions?

Anyone have a nice, thick, home-made beef stew recipe? I LOVE beef stew, but don't know how to make it!

Love This Book!

Chloe came home from my mom's house the other day with this book, A Country Far Away. I had never seen it before, and I LOVE it. It is a great read, and the perfect book to spark discussions about how blessed we are here in America and to teach kids about other cultures.

The text is very simple, but the real richness in the book is the pictures. Each 2 page spread of the book has just one short line of text with a split illustration just like you see on the cover: the picture of a young boy in "a country far away" ( a rural African village) on top and a picture showing a typical American boy on the bottom. Whenever we read the book, we read the text first, but then we spend quite awhile looking at the pictures one the page- talking about what we see, what things are the same, and what things are different.

It is probably no surprise to anyone that, in my opinion, if we don't want to raise "soft kids", reading to them as a means of educating them about other cultures is key. This is a great book to start that discussion, even at the earliest ages. Chloe asks for it every day and she points out everything in the pictures too, and she's only two and a half. Both she and Sawyer say they want to go to Africa someday every time they read this book. ) It is the simplest book with a really powerful (though unstated) message that while we are all so different, we are also so much the same. It is also the perfect opportunity to point out to your kids the very specific ways we have been blessed here in America- from running water to electricity to grocery stores. It will really help your kids see and understand this on a basic level.

***As an added note, I tried to find this book to purchase, and it is HARD to find. Amazon was actually the best price and almost the only place I could even find it. Here's the link. Maybe you can find it at the local library?***

Everything but the Kitchen Sink

This is what happens when you haven't been keeping up with your blog very well......you get an evening to yourself and you suddenly have TOO much to say and you decide to just throw it all out there in one very jumbled post. Sorry.

Why, oh, why does taking a picture with your children have to be so painful? If I were to die today, I think these very bad pictures taken yesterday at the park would be the only evidence that my children had a mother. Unfortunately, they would grow up thinking that they didn't like me very much judging from the looks on their faces. No amount of bribing or cajoling could get a decent smile out of either one of them. Just thinking about trying to take a family picture for Christmas makes me grouchy!

PS- I got the worst case of motion sickness EVER after spinning with the kids on this tire swing. I was flat out on the couch for an hour. I must be getting old because I usually have a stomach of steel.
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Got this fun book this week- Don't Mess With Moses! It is a book of goofy poems in a Jack Prelutsky style that teach or reinforce Bible stories. Many of the poems tell just the beginning of the story or just a part of the story, and then you are sent to the Bible to find out the rest. This is a FUN way of getting kids to spend time reading God's word. I would highly recommend it. You can check it out here.
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Here is the neighborhood as it is looking now. This fall isn't all that bright here- none of the gorgeous, vibrant oranges and reds that you'd see way up north. But, we're loving it just the same. Maybe we haven't quite hit peak yet.

Sunday Morning Smile

Warming up before church........

(Yes, we're the only wimpy New Englanders we know who have turned on our heat already. If living in New England was a game of Survivor, we'd be voted off the island for sure for not being "good New England stock"!)

Need a calendar?

Tami over at Sea Glass and Jade is giving away a great National Geographic calendar of China. Just head on over to her blog and leave a comment.

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

I've been MIA- I've just been crabby and busy. Both good reasons I've not been blogging. I'll be back soon.

In the meanwhile, here is a picture of my clever daughter finding a way to solve the Rubik's Cube in her own creative way.