This Week in Review

- We had three parties at our house in one week.  Two were "grill outs" for the two youth groups. The other was a surprise b-day party for one of our young adults.

- Shaylee started crawling at 9 months.  But she has been pulling up to a stand and cruising (little bit) for a few weeks now.  She crawls using her hands and feet instead of her knees.  She would really just rather walk.  I thought she just might skip crawling altogether, but she decided it was worth the stop over.

- I finally bought new clothes (well, new to me).  Last Monday as I was walking home my pants fell down around my thighs, right in front to two passers-by. So I decided it was time for properly fitting clothes.  See I've lost 25 pounds in the last two months, and had not yet begun to replace my wardrobe. But I visited the second hand clothing market and began stocking the closet.

- I think perhaps gluten was not the root of my eczema, so as of last Wednesday I am dairy free now.  Here's hoping something works!

- Shaylee and I have both had little colds today and yesterday, at least I think.  She also recently got her top two teeth, which could be behind her runny nose.  And I think I mine could be seasonal allergies to something here.  Time will tell.

- I have really enjoyed reading Kelly Thomas' blog, even the older posts I had not previously read.  She and I have almost identical boy stories.  Sometimes you make my sides hurt, Kelly.

- Last night I gave the talk at young adult youth group.  I was slotted to talk about budgeting, what the Bible says about it, and take them through step-by-step to developing a personal one.  It went really well.

- In anticipation for the next year, I have been wading through homeschool curriculum.  I am slowly narrowing the prospects so when we are in the States next year I will know which ones I want to look at in person and which don't interest me.

- This week I have been reading "The Strong-Willed Child" by Dobson.  I swear some of the stories are about Micaiah.  He is a wonderfully sweet child, but is he ever strong willed!  This book is giving me insight to understanding his behavior, and ideas on how to handle it.

- I tired to Bree Van de Camp it this week by taking up gardening.  Last week we sodded the front yard, so I bought a gardenia bush, hydrangeas, azaleas, impatients, zinnias,  some other flowers and pretty little plants and spent the afternoon playing in the dirt.  I'll post pics soon.

Dinner tonight: rice, black beans, Coca-Cola chicken

On the tube: American Idol (very different schedule for us)

Listening to: Ingrid Michaelson (current fave: Fisherman's Wife)

Evening project: cleaning the kitchen