Potpourri

Things around here have been less than exciting. With the holidays over we're settling back into real life. Here's a general recap of each of us.

Tj: Turned 32 last week. Man he's getting old. It's a good thing he has such a young wife to keep him from being too much of an old geezer. =) We celebrated with his favorites; beef stroganoff and banana cream cream puffs. He was recently asked to help with the young men of our church (again!) so Wednesday nights- if work doesn't keep him- he's off to play with the 12-14 year old boys (in a totally non-creepy way).

Manda: Well you mom's know how your days go?! Yeah, just assume my life is about the same (except for those of you who are pregnant- then it's totally not the same).

Joel: Is getting so grown up. I'm already starting to get a bit sentimental for him starting school next year because I can tell that he's really ready for it. He got a Leapster Explorer for Christmas and I'm AMAZED at the things he does on it. He's really a smart cookie (he must take after his dad). It's fun to see the way his mind is constantly working. The other day I was listening to a song where they say "Calling me sugar". He listened to it and then said "Mom, I would never call you Sugar 'cause that would just be silly." He likes to explain why things are called what they are. As in a tree house is called a tree house because it's a house in a tree. It's funny when things are quite what they sound and yet he uses the literal explanation. He's getting really good at writing his name and has started to draw stick pictures lately. Unfortunately he's been a little under the weather. He had a really bad ear infection that has taken a long time (two rounds of antibiotics) to clear up. The infection finally cleared but there's still fluid in there so we may have to go see an ENT if it doesn't clear out on it's own. There's a million things that I have meant to post but now that I'm actually posting I don't remember them.

Vance: Is also growing (as noted by my clearing out of all the 2T stuff in his closet). He's quite the character. He loves to give kisses- I may have to worry about him once he becomes a teen (he must take after his dad). =) He's getting really good on his bike and would ride it constantly if he had free reign. I would not be the least surprised if he's ready to have his training wheels off by his birthday. He is our inventive child. He loves to see how things work and make his own inventions. He's big into the why stage now. After watching a movie he'll often ask, "mom why did -insert part of the plot- happen?" or "Why does -insert character- do -insert plot-?" It's very interesting to see how he's trying to figure life out. Mix that with Joel's interest in explaining life and it makes for some pretty interesting discussions. He also LOVES to learn. He loves to say "I'm learning my letters" as he plays with his leapfrog toys.

As you can tell there are no pictures. I'm lame- I readily accept this.

Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam

So this year should be an adventurous (and if today was any indication- exhausting) year. Vance and I both are Sunbeams! For those of you who may not know in our church children who are 3 as of January 1st are part of a class known as the Sunbeams. I was asked to be one of two teachers for this class of 8 children. It will be fun. Vance is excited to have me in there and I was pleasantly surprised to see how well behaved he can be! He sat so nicely and wanted to answer questions and did a great job!

That being said I have a feeling that my limited bag of tricks will be running low before too long. So anyone who has any good tips or suggestions, please feel free to share!