More about our Miis

OK for those of you who don't have a Wii or otherwise have no clue what I'm talking about, a Mii is a digital representation of person. You can design your Mii however you want. You can have mulitple Miis. You get to pick everything from hair color to body size to clothing colors. You use the Miis when playing a game. For example, shen I play Rehm in golf we pick our Miis and they play each other.

While Michael and I were creating our Miis an interesting conversation took place with Rehm. I created my Mii first. When I got to the place to adjust my body size I made my Mii heavier, his comment to me was that my Mii was not fat enough.

Rehm has made comments like this before. It started after I had the twins and my body didn't immediatley go back to the way it looked before the twin pregnancy. Honestly it still isn't back there and so every 3 months or so Rehm will make a comment about my size. I use this as a time to talk about the appropriate way to say these things, or not say them, as the case may be. And he is right. I am fat. I need to lose weight. The twins are 2.5, I can't really call it baby weight anymore. I've had plenty of opportunity to lose it and I haven't. I want to but obviously not enough or I would have made progress by now. We make a point to not talk a much about body size and being fat. We talk about being healthy and making good food choices but we don't use words like fat or skinny or diet. We are trying very hard to raise our kids with healthy body images and healthy eating habits.

Anyway, the point here was simply that Rehm commented on the fact that I am overweight and I didn't make my Mii overweight enough.

Then Michael creates his Mii. When he gets to the part where he can adjust his body size he makes his Mii as tall as allowed and then starts to make his Mii heftier. Rehm pipes up with "Dad, why are you doing that? You're not fat!"

Michael and I at a wedding in October

At this point I am just amazed. My husband is just as overweight as I am. He has always been overweight. His son has never seen him when he was not overweight. But in his son's mind he is not overweight. He is normal sized to thin. But his mother is grossly overweight. I just don't get it. All I can figure out is that Rehm has seen my body size change dramatically over the course of two pregnancies and while his father has gained an lost weight over Rehm's life it has never been as dramatically as my weight change. Anyway, what's up with that? A boy sure does know how to make his mother feel bad.

This is the day before the twins were born. I should have cropped my head out. I look horrid. But hey, I was 37.5 weeks with twins. I was allowed to look bad, right?

See, I told you I needed the Wii Fit. And yes, my son agrees.
Jenn

We're Finally a Wii Family

Our Mii Family

Michael and I talked about getting the children a Wii for Christmas. After many rounds of debate we decided not to take the plunge. Then we received some cash as gifts for the holidays and decided to go for it after all.

Of course Nintendo quit shipping Wiis for a week or so after Christmas. Something about closing out their fiscal year. I don't know but you would think they would be able to close out the year and still ship product. Seems like a bit of a flaw in the business plan to me. Anyway, that lead us to have to wait a few extra weeks to get our Wii as no one had them in stock. Last week we found it.

We didn't unveil it until the weekend as we have instituted a "Wii is for Weekends" rule. If you know my son you understand the reason for this rule. He is addicted to all things with screens and if you don't have very clear rules about their usage he hounds you to death wanting to know if he is allowed to play. Every two minutes you have to have the following conversation:

Rehm: Can I play DS?

Me: No.

Rehm: Can I play computer?

Me: No.

Rehm: Can I play Wii?

Me: No.

Rehm: Can I watch TV?

Me: No

Rehm: What can I do?

Me: You can play with your sisters, you can get out a toy, you can read, you can go outside.

Usually he stomps off for a minute or two and then comes back and starts the whole thing over. This continues until you make a hard rule, like no screens between 8am and 4pm. Thus the neeed for the" Wii is for Weekends" rule.

Last Saturday afternoon we decided it was time to get the Wii out. All the kids were playing in the family room. Rehm was playing his DS. We bring it downstairs and start unpacking it. Rehm keeps playing DS. Charlotte goes up to him and tells him we have a Wii. He ignores her. We are all laughing as Rehm has been asking for a Wii for months and he is sitting three feet away from one and is completely oblivious! Finally I pick up the box an wack him on the head with it. I get a "Mom!" and he keeps playing. So I wack him with the box again and then hold it up in front of his face. His eyes got big. His jaw dropped and he tossed the DS down.

Oblivion

Rehm's first question, "Why do you have a Wii box?" Brilliant, I know. That's my boy. "Because we have a Wii," I respond.

"No we don't."

"Um yeah, we do. Why else would I be holding a Wii box?"

"Where?"

"Right here" point at Micheal who is getting everything ready to hook up.

At this point the child looks like a fish out of water. His eyes are bugged and his mouth is working but nothing is happening. He is so beside himself with excitement he can't even form words. I wish I had a video of him but I was too busy laughing and enjoying his response to even think of recording it.

The children all checking out their Miis - this is the twins favorite part of the Wii

So far we all love the Wii. A lot of it is too advanced for the girls. But I do like that it is easy to help them in a way that make them still feel like they are doing something, not just watching others play. I'm sure part of that comes from my own memories as a child of never getting to play video games because I was the youngest and least coordinated so I always got relagated to observer instead of participant.

Rehm is already investigating any loop holes in the "Wii is for Weekends" rule. We have talked about holidays being exceptions and possibly bad weather days from school. This led to a discussion about why the rule would not be suspended for the summer. Duh!

So far we have Wii Sports, Wii Play and Madden. Somehow my dear, dear husband did not buy the Wii Fit, even though it was in stock when he bought the rest. Apparently even though I've said for six months I'd love to have it, we don't need it yet but of course we could not have a game system without having a football game. Don't you love that logic? Oh, he did offer to buy it for my birthday, in July...

Woohoo it is almost time for a Wii Weekend. I don't think we discussed if the weekend included Friday evenings or not. I guess I will be negotiating that detail later today.

Happy Friday y'all,
Jenn

An Aha Moment

Charlotte is home sick today. She threw up in the van on the way home from church last night. I was the lucky parent. I was at work and did not have to be the one to deal with the majority of the clean up! Yippee! There are some perks to working part time. She is still complaining that her head and tummy hurt but has not had any more incidents.

Since Charlotte is sick, she can't go to school. Since she can't go to school I can't go to work. Since we are sick the TV can be on all day and I don't have to feel guilty about it. Since we are not going anywhere today, it is OK for Charlotte to be in PJs and me in sweats. Since we aren't rushing around to get to school and work I've had time to work on laundry and pick up some toys. The girls have played happily or otherwise occupied themselves.

I realized that three to four years ago this is what many of my days looked like. Everyone was only in school two mornings a week and we had several mornings where we had no where we had to be and nothing we had to do. I felt a day was productive if I got the laundry done, picked up the clutter and maybe made dinner. I didn't feel guilty if I took an hour on the computer or sat down to read for a while.

Now it seems we are always rushing from one thing to the other. It seems that every morning we have to hurry and get ready. We have to be out of the house by a certain time. The to do list is much longer and the guilt when taking some time for myself is much greater.

No wonder I feel like I'm losing the battle of "getting it all done." The rules have changed. There is a lot more to get done these days. I work significantly more. I have twice as many chlildren. We have twice as many activities. My definition of a successful day now includes working outside the home 3-5 hours, getting four children where ever they need to be, laundry, straightening, cooking, etc. It all crept up on me and while I think, "I used to be able to do it all why can't I now?" Now I know, I didn't used to do all this!

Who knew sick days could be so relaxing? And hopefully I'll get a couple of hours of work done during nap time.

Off to fix lunch and hope everyone keeps it down.
Jenn

Icy Weather

Yep, a few icicles were all we got from the Winter Storm 2009! As usual, big build up, big let down. If you enlarge the last picture you can see the reflection of the ice on the grass and trees. It was a very minor amount on everything and all gone by 10:00am.

Poop Happens

Warning: This is going to be a very funny, gross post. If you don't like talking/reading about bodily functions, stop reading now. If you can appreciate a good toddler poop story then grab a cup of coffee and get ready for a good laugh

Eliza Claire insisted on wearing big girl panties after nap time today. I was hesitant and honestly didn't expect her to make it more than an hour without an accident. She surprised me as she is prone to do. By dinner time she was still accident free.

Due to my children being extremely crazy, emotional, loud, non-listening monsters this afternoon, I didn't get dinner made. We decided to go out to dinner instead. I was a bit concerned about how Eliza Claire would do with big girl panties on but decided to throw caution to the wind and give it a try. We went to the restroom when we first got there and again after we finished eating. Then she and Ruby went off to the game room to play.

Charlotte had basket ball practice and had to leave first. I told Michael to take her and I'd deal with the other three. Given my day, we were both a bit surprised with my decision. But I was trying to be nice since Michael will have complete kid duty for the next two nights.

I saw another parent at the restaurant that I knew and was catching up with him while the kids played. A few minutes later I walk back to the game room to collect the kids. As I approach I can smell poop. I assume this is just because the game room is next to the restroom. Then I see Eliza Claire. There is something brown on the back of her dress. I hope it is paint as I noticed a big spot of brown paint on the front of her dress when I picked her up from school earlier today. Then I remember the smell. Oh no!

I grab the girl and it is obvious she is the culprit of the smell. I take her and Ruby to the restroom where I find poop all down her legs, on her shoes, on her dress, everywhere! Oh my! I had no wipes. The change of clothes was in the van. It took me ten minutes to get her anywhere near clean. The whole time Ruby is talking about where all Eliza Claire has poop. Her prized Dora pants were a casualty. Now I have a pantyless girl with poop on her shoes and dress (I tried to get it off but wasn't having luck with my limited rest room resources) that I have to get out of the restaurant without contaminating anything else.

After I clean her up I go to look in the game room. I know there has to be poop in there given how much was on her. Yep sure enough it was on both the car racing games. I clean it off as best I can. Now I have to find someone who works there and tell them my daughter pooped on the video games. Man, there never is a dull moment when you are the mom of a toddler.

I find a guy and am trying to quietly tell him what has happened as I really don't want to ruin anyone's dinner. When I tell him, his eyes get big. Then he tells me the have cleaners that can take care of it. Then I have to tell him it was both car racing machines and his eyes get even bigger and he says "really!" I blush and apologize profusely. At this point I think he feels sorry for me and tells me it isn't the first time they've had an incident in the game room and that he has three kids of his own and knows what it is like. I thank him and leave as quickly as possible. Oh my, how embarrassing.

And it gets worse. Tonight was the fund raising night for our elementary school, so there were several families there we knew to witness my stellar parenting and to know that we were the ones responsible for the stench emanating from the game room.

What kills me is Rehm was in the game room. He knew that something happened to the car games. He and his friends were avoiding them but no one thought to actually get an adult! There was poop visible on both seats and no one thought it might be a good idea to tell someone. How crazy is that?

I do have to say I'm proud of myself because I didnt' lose it! I stayed calm and overall didn't over react to the situation. But it is definitely an experience I don't want to repeat, ever!

After I got the kids in the car and Eliza Claire's clothes changed, I called Michael to tell him he definitely chose the better job of the evening. He wholeheartedly agreed.

I guess the good news is that Eliza Claire finally seems ready to start the potty training process. The bad news is I'm sure we are now banned from said restaurant for the next year or so. Given it isn't really a favorite restaurant of ours I'm not so sure I mind being banned...

I'm sure for once that you are all very glad I don't have pictures to accompany a story :)
Jenn

Mommy's Big Helper

I came downstairs this morning to find Charlotte busily working in the kitchen. What was she doing? Making breakfast for herself and her sisters! Why? Well, apparently her Daddy left before making her breakfast and she was ready to eat. So instead of complaining/whining to me - I was upstairs getting her sisters dressed- she took it upon herself to make breakfast! What a great girl!

So what did she make? Cheddar sandwiches with mayo. Seem like a strange breakfast? Not so much if you know that is what her mom eats every morning for breakfast herself. When the little sisters came down they asked her to make their breakfast too. Instead of being snotty and telling them no, I know Charlotte would never be snotty, she made them a sandwich also! She even cut theirs in half for them.

The funny part of this is we didn't have any cheese sliced. So she got out the huge, from Sams, block of cheddar and sliced it herself. The slice on her sandwich was extra thick - I think she was having some technical difficulties, and the block looked a bit worse for the wear, but she did it! She even cleaned up the mayo she spilled on the floor without being asked and before I got downstairs.

I'm so proud of my girl! She did a great job!

Jenn

Do unto Others

Yes, we are going to talk about The Golden Rule. My children love to quote The Golden Rule. Unfortunately, their interpretation is a bit off making The Golden Rule something more along the lines of The Lead Rule.

At my house, something will happen, you never know what. And one child will hit/push/bite or otherwise injure a sibling. The injured sibling will proceed to hit/push/bite or otherwise injure the original offender. At which point I will hear screaming and someone saying in a very self-righteous, justified tone "Do unto others!"

It seems that they have gotten a bit confused between "do unto others" and "an eye for an eye." They think that The Golden Rule gives them license to retaliate for any injustice, perceived or otherwise, done to them. If someone hits them, The Golden Rule says, in their world, they are justified and even entitled to hit back. They think that since this is The Golden Rule in action there will be no punishment.

I'm all for them settling their own disputes. If they want to duke it out or otherwise have a WWF throw down to settle their problems I really don't mind. Well, as long as the fight is fair (not a big kid versus a little kid) and they don't involve me. I want them to learn to solve their own disputes and I hope they will chose to use their words but that isn't always going to happen. But, I draw the line at justifying decking someone with The Golden Rule.

We had a chat on the way to dinner about this tonight due to a conflict that erupted this afternoon. I explained The Golden Rule and then gave them a scenario and asked what The Golden Rule says they should do.

Me: If someone hits you, and you are following The Golden Rule what should you do? Should you hit them back or should you walk away from them.

Charlotte: You should walk away.

Me: What if they follow you and hit you again.

Rehm: Then you should hit them back!

Me: Why?

Rehm: Well, because you already walked away and they did it again!

Me: According to The Golden Rule you should still walk away, well unless you want people to hit you, then you should hit them.

Charlotte: But now you should go tell a grown up.

Me: Yes, now it would be appropriate to tell a grown up. (We also have a no tattling rule at our house that says if someone hits you or otherwise does something they shouldn't you can't tattle. We won't punish the offender if someone tattles on them as we don't encourage tattling.)

Me: So today when you to were arguing what happened?

Rehm: Charlotte hit me!

Me: So you hit her back?

Rehm: Yes!

Me: Charlotte what was Rehm doing to annoy you enough to make you hit him?

Charlotte told me but at the moment I don't remember what he did.

Me: Charlotte when Rehm is being annoying should you hit him?

Charlotte: No!

Me: The next time Rehm is being annoying, instead of hitting him, why don't you give him a big hug?

Rehm: Ew! No Charlotte don't do that!

Me: See Charlotte if you did that I bet Rehm would stop annoying you. And if he decided to treat you the way you are treating him the worst thing that would happen is he would hug you back!

Rehm: I'm never going to hug her.

Charlotte: You do some nights when I come get hugs and kisses!

Rehm: No I don't!

Me: Charlotte if you really want to stop him when he is being annoying give him a hug and a kiss.

Rehm is now making gagging noises and pretending to die. I think our teachable moment has passed.

So are my kids the only ones that grossly misinterpret The Golden Rule? Please tell me what your kids take on it is. I used to feel proud of the fact they knew what The Golden Rule was and could recite it. Obviously, it really doesn't matter if their interpretation is flawed.

Jenn

My Little Diva

Could she be any cuter? She is just such a sassy girl. She has her very own fashion sense and sometimes I just don't understand. And man, does she have personality! And let me tell you while personality is a really good thing and will take her far in life it will definitely give her mother plenty of gray hairs over the years.

I love this sweet girl so much!

Incentive or Bribery, Is there really a Difference?

Today Charlotte and I took Ruby and Eliza Claire on a little field trip. We went to the mall to visit Build A Bear. We didn't purchase anything, we just looked.

Michael and I have been talking to the girls for a couple of weeks about giving up their pacis. We have told them that when they are ready to throw them in the trash we can go to BAB and make a new animal.

They both have BAB animals that were gifts from their siblings when they were born. Eliza has a monkey named Zap and Ruby has a frog named Zip. While they know what comes out of BAB they have never been inside the store.

We decided seeing it with their own eyes might help motivate them to get rid of the pacis a bit earlier.

They were almost overwhelmed by all the choices. Ruby kept going from outfit to outfit saying "I get that for my bear!" They changed their minds several times on what animal they would chose if they got to get one today.

Eliza's final choice today

Ruby's choice of the day

Charlotte enjoyed being the experienced big sister and showing them around the store.

When we got home they had this conversation with Micheal:

Michael: Where did you go this afternoon?

Twins: Shopping. To the mall.

Michael: What store did you go to?

Twins: Build A Bear

Michael: Did you buy an animal today?

Twins: No!

Michael: Why not?

Twins: I have to throw my paci in the trash before I get an animal

Michael: Will you get another paci after that?

Twins (in unison): YES!

We obviously still have some work to do. But the seeds were definitely planted.

When Michael asked what animal they would have gotten today, Ruby said "Hello Kitty" and Eliza Claire said "Hello Kitty or a doggie." You notice that none of these are in the pictures above. I think when someone is ready to go get their animal it will be a long shopping trip.

Is this bribery or an incentive? I don't really care. Either way, if it helps them decide they are ready to give up their pacis, I'm all for it.

Jenn

PS The pictures are from my phone as I left my camera at work today. It really stresses me out to not have a camera. I'll have to go pick it up in the morning.

The Blue Ghost's Madien Voyage

The Pinewood Derby was today -or as Ruby and Eliza say it the "Pinewood Dirty." The whole family was in attendance. Everyone seemed to enjoy the event. Rehm and Michael arrived before the rest of us to get officially weighed and entered. The Blue Ghost weighed in at exactly five ounces. Good thing it wasn't more as five is the limit. At home it weighed in at 4.9, glad we gave it a bit of wiggle room.



Rehm won two of his four runs and had great times on all four. Definitely not the fastest car there but in the middle of the pack.




And here is the video of one of the runs as well. Remember you can click on any of the pictures to see them larger.

I do have to say it was obvious which cars were primarily done by their parents and which were done by the children. Some of the cars there had very in depth mulit page blue prints for making them and were very sleek and cool. Others looked like a kid drew a simple design had their parents cut it out and then decorated it themselves. Looking at Rehm's car I think you can all guess at our philosophy on this topic.

I didn't know until the Derby was over that siblings and parents can also design their own cars to race after the official event. Another year we might help Charlotte with a car of her own. Then again given how close to the wire we were on getting Rehm's done I'm not sure we would actually get two cars completed.

Basket Ball Game2 - Rehm

Rehm had is first basket ball game of the season today. Michael has taken him to both of his practices so far so this was my first chance to see him play. I was really impressed. He hustled and he paid attention to the game! He can now dribble and run and in general this year it is starting to look more like real basket ball. I think this may be his sport! At this point he is definitely built for it.

In the video Rehm starts out up toward the door you can see in the background by the score keeper's table. He is on the green team and is number 14. Watch how he keeps hustling.

Basket Ball Game 1 - Charlotte

Do I really have to wear burnt orange?

We started the morning with an 8am game for Charlotte. This was her debut in to the world of basketball.


She had a great time and scored a basket. She did a good job of paying attention and keeping her focus on the game. She hustled, she ran, she guarded, she did it all. She didn't get frustrated and over all seemed to have fun.

Play Ground Break

After Charlotte's game and while waiting for Rehm's game we took a break on the playground. Do you know we went to three different elementary schools today? And actually needed to be at each, unlike my tour earlier this month that was completely unintentional.

Slide Surfing

Hum, I think I can do it

Rehm don't push me!

Yeah, I pushed her.

Monkey Charlotte

Concentration

Whee! Faster Charlotte!

Moravian Chicken Pie and Potato Pancakes

I've had requests for my recipe for Moravian Chicken Pie so here it is.

Moravian Chicken Pie
3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast
2 onions
10-15 baby carrots
2-3 cloves garlic- smashed with the side of knife
4-6 cups water
1 box of Pillsbury pie crusts (the ones that are in the refrigerated section that contain two rolled up crusts)
Gravy (recipe to follow)

Quarter onions and place in the bottom of a six quart crock pot. Add carrots and garlic. Place chicken on top. Add water until about half covering everything. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook for 4 hours on high or 6-8 on low. When done, remove the chicken and shred or dice. Strain the broth and set aside.

Place one crust in the bottom of a deep dish 10 inch pie plate. Add chicken. Then add gravy until it comes up to the top of the chicken. Top with other crust. Cut 2-4 slits in the top crust for venting. Cook at 350 for 45-60 minutes - until crust is golden and filling is bubbling out of vents. You may have to cover the edges part way through to keep them from getting overdone.

Gravy
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1/2 cup flour
4-6 cups broth from cooking chicken
Milk
Salt and pepper to taste.

In a sauce pan combine butter and flour and bring to a boil. Boil for a couple of minutes. Add broth all at once. Stir and heat through. Add milk and stir until consistence you like is reached (usually 1/2- 1 cup of milk). Salt and pepper to taste.

You will have more gravy than will fit in the pie. This is a good thing as it yummy served with the pie or on your mashed potatoes.

You can stew a whole chicken or whatever parts you like and you don't have to do it in the crock pot - I just find it easier that way.

You can follow the directions through assembly and not bake it and freeze it. When ready let thaw in the refrigerator for 24-48 hours. A lot of times I'll make two and freeze one.

Mashed Potatoes
5 lbs potatoes - I usually use yukon gold or another thin skinned potato (not red).
1/2 cup butter
16 oz container of french onion dip
salt and pepper

Wash and cut up potatoes. Add water just to cover. Bring to a boil and cook until fork tender. Drain. Put back in the pot. Mash with butter. Stir in dip and salt and pepper to taste.

Potato Pancakes
4-6 cups of left over mashed potatoes
2 eggs
1/2-3/4cup flour

Mix all ingredients to make batter. Drop by spoonfuls into hot skillet. Brown on both sides. Serve with gravy.

Growing up Potato Pancakes were always served with a bit of vinegar on them and salt. YUM!

Since Several of You have Asked

Here is a review of the new camera.

I ended up purchasing the Nikon CoolPix S550 because it had the same megapixels as the old camera, more optical zoom, and the price point was very reasonable ($150). This is only my second non Canon camera ever.



My very first Canon was the Snappy. It was a very simple automatic 35mm with no zoom but included flash. I got it when I was 14 so I would have a decent camera to take with me on my trip to Europe that my parents were nice enough to allow me to go on. Thanks Mom and Dad!



I had the Snappy until after I got married. So about 10 years. I finally replaced it as I wanted something that zoomed. When I took the plunge to go digital I bought a Canon Digital Elph Power Shot S100. It actually still works but the zoom doesn't and at this point the battery doesn't hold a charge for more than a picture or two.


When the zoom went on the Digital Elph, I replaced it with the Canon Digital Elph Power Shot SD 1000. Loved this camera. It did everything I wanted and more. It had lots of settings and features. It took video. It had 10 megapixels which was a huge improvement from the 2.1 the old one had. I truly had no complaints about this camera. Well until I dropped it just right and killed it.

Not wanting to spend $250+ on another digital point and shoot that was likely to be dropped. I looked at severa options and dicided on the Nikon. Overall it is a good camara. It takes a great picture. It is small and very easy to use. It does not have all the bells and whistles of the old camera.

So far I have found that it won't allow me to zoom in and out while shooting video, my old one did. When viewing pictures, it doesn't self orient - meaning if I turn the camera it doesn't adust the picture to face the direction I turned the camera, my old one did. I also seem to have more pictures come out blurry than I did with either of the canon ones.


The accessories are far inferior to the old camera. The Canon used a mini USB cord to connect to the computer. The new one uses a proprietary cord and has the USB and A/V cords all connected together which makes for a bulky mess of cording to store and carry. It also means I have to have this cord to get pictures off the camera where as with a mini USB port any mini USB cord works. The battery charger is much more cluncky as well. It is a box the battery pops into plus a cord that plugs into the wall. My old one was just the box, it plugged in directly needing no cord. Again, much more bulky to store and travel with.



I have noticed that the new camera seems to do a better job with red eye. And, it pops up a message warning you when it detects someone blinking when the picture was taken.



I do have to say I haven't sat down with the user's guide yet. I'm hoping once I do some of my issues with the camera will be solved...

All in all, it is fine. But next time I'll be asking to see all the accessories before making my choice. Oh, and I'll probably buy another Canon.

Playing Baby Jesus

On the way home from school today the girls decided to play "Baby Jesus." What amazed me was that even Ruby and Eliza Claire knew they needed the following characters:

Mary
Baby Jesus
Joseph
The Shepherds
The Three Wisemen
The Animals
An Angel

We haven't talked about this story in a couple of weeks. But they know it. They know the order, they know the characters, they know plot. They know it all. They even interject songs appropriately.

At one point Mary (Charlotte) called Baby Jesus (Eliza Claire) "the Lord." Eliza Claire told her she wasn't the Lord she was Baby Jesus. So Charlotte started explaining to her that Baby Jesus had lots of names including Lord, Son of God and Prince of Peace. She went on to tell her that Jesus didn't have a princess because he never got married.

Ruby at one point, while playing the part of the angel, asked me to hand her the Bible so she could read it to Baby Jesus.

I am so glad that between home, church and preschool they are getting a firm foundation in God's Word.

Oops!

This is what the lid to my rinse aid dispenser looks like today. This is not what it looked like 24 hours ago. Last night when Rehm was helping load the dishwasher he saw said lid and was curious. Being curious he took it off and looked inside. He asked me about what it was and I told him and told him to put the lid back on. Apparently he didn't get it on all the way as this morning I found it stuck to the heating element in the bottom of the dishwasher. This is my new, 6 month old dishwasher, ugh!

Why is it impossible for anything to stay nice at my house. Hazel and Alice are already dented and they've only been here about five months and now the dishwasher has issues too. Is it too much to expect something to survive my family?

I told Rehm that he would be responsible for half the cost of a new lid and I would pay the other half as I should have checked that he got the lid on properly and didn't. He is very concerned that we will not be able to find a replacement part and he will have to buy a new dishwasher. I assured him I would not expect that! At his current allowance rate his half of the current dishwasher would be six years of allowance :)

Jenn

PS Camera is here. Review to come tomorrow or the next day. I'm too tired to do it now and want to play with it a bit more first.