Muma Happenings

I MAN! I MAKE FIRE!

2008-12-14T13:12:00.000-08:00

We recently converted our fireplace from gas to regular ole' stack the logs and burn em' up type.

Dave was really pushing for this. We had our gas fireplace for a few years and used it a few times, but I always heard, "It uses gas! We're paying too much for it! We could use less energy!" You know... rants from a man who is obsessed with energy usage. He could even give you a good estimate at what gas prices will be and when and while he's at it, give his 2 cents on any given futures market. He probably knows the price of wheat per bushel in Nebraska's market. I'm not kidding.

Anyways... The fire

So we changed the deal over after I finally gave in:

"Sure! FINE! Change the fireplace over."

Little did I know, this was the start of a magnificent obsession.

Now, he comes home, kisses me, kisses Anna, kisses Asa and gets a smile out of him and runs down to be with his fire.

"I'm gonna go make a fire!" And with that, he is out the door to get the wood we had to buy for the new fireplace. But, really, it saves us money. Um, I think.

"Whew! That sucker's hot!" and "look at the fire honey! We got a good one going!" all the while looking at me with those approval loving eyes.

"Yes, hon, you made a good fire. It looks nice" are the things I say. And walk away and shake my head at this man who is in love with making fires.

Then I came to realize that this must be an instinct. Men make fire to keep family warm. Make fire to cook animals. Make fire to hone fire making skill.

The whole thing cracks me up. But he's got a thing for making a fire. But here's the best part. He used the energy thing multiple times to try to get his way - to get a wood burning fire place. The thing is, fires suck the hot air out your house. It makes your furnace work harder :-) I just laugh and chalk it up to "I MAN! MAKE FIRE"

Bottoms Up

2008-11-19T08:09:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago, I was washing up Anna's bottom before going to bed. This is an important step if she doesn't take a bath/shower. All you people with toddlers know about this. Toilet paper is very optional in toddler world. So, I get done and Anna puts her head between her legs to look. I said, "whatcha doin'? Looking at your bottom?"
She said yes and then said,
"mom, who makes bottoms?" (everything right now is, 'mom who makes... fill in the blank)
I said, "God makes bottoms!"
She looks at me like I just said the silliest thing ever. She says,

"No he didn't! God did not say, 'let the earth be filled with bottoms!'"

I laughed my butt off. And I ate.

2008-11-08T09:47:00.001-08:00

Girls night out. Its just a marvelous thing.

I had had one of those weeks. There was at least one major fit every day this past week. There was a lot of spanking and I had had enough. I called Jodi Friday morning and said, with a shaky voice, "Jodi, I have thoughts of killing my child. We HAVE to go out. TONIGHT." She IM'd me and said, "Leanne, I am crying! I Feel the same way! HAVE TO GET OUT!" So we decided to meet at Via Maria. We ordered our food and talked and talked and laughed and ATE and ATE and laughed and ATE some more. The poor waiter... he probably never had any experience with how much lactating women really do eat.

At one point, he brought our appetizer out and said, "Just to let you know, the dip can be really deceiving, but its is really filling, so save room for your dinner." Jodi and I just looked at him like, really? Did you really just challenge lactating women? Are you aware we feed children from our bodies every 3 hours?

So, we had an absolute riot and were some of the last people to leave. We even had another friend, Jen, come later after her grocery shopping with her 4 month old and she ate whatever we left! It was in true frazzled mother fashion. It was great times. We complained about Wal- Mart and the wierdos associated with it. We talked about our first mortgages and how small and cute they were, and we recharged our batteries.

Its been a great morning- lots of patience, understanding, even my child is better behaved today. Thanks Dave for being the stay at home dad last night. The poor guy, after the way I've been acting the past few days, he practically pushed me out of the house. JUST GO!! YOU GO NOW!

Riding tricycles on the highway

2008-11-04T21:27:00.000-08:00

Sure honey- you're right you can ride your trike on the highway.
Let me back up
Ok, so the whole marijuana thing- being legalized in Mi for medicinal purposes- here's my take: The whole thing is a little wompus b/c it was an illegal drug. Finding out it helped people like cancer patients took an illegal action in the first place: possession of an illegal substance. The whole thing is messy. Implications, the whole cotton pickin' premise...judas priest people! Its like my little girl coming to me telling me she has been going out into the street for the past month, so I should now tell her its ok. Sorry Anna. I don't want you to get hooked on the street, or graduate to a liking of tricycling across the highway.

Now all this said, I do understand why people voted yes. Why would I not want to make it legal for people to get pain relief? BUT I just see there being too many potential problems linked with making it legal. And Dave runs a driver ed company. We just can't be involved in making any sort of a drug such as MJ legal. There's too many implications.

Family Photos

2008-11-04T21:24:00.000-08:00

Hi All- My awesome friend Jodi, whom I sing praises to and want to stroke her face (inside joke), came over and took pics of us- some of them are posted here

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jodimichelle/sets/72157608609415343/

She did them in our backyard- it was fun. Thanks Jod.

What Really Matters?

2008-10-14T17:57:00.000-07:00

So recently, I read a transcript of Obama in his senate committee hearing a bill to protect a child born alive after an induced labor abortion. He heard nurse Jill Stanek talk about how she held one such child who survived an induced labor. The induced labor method is used for late-term abortions, but many of the babies were strong enough to survive- for a while. The assertion is that the babies will simply not be strong enough to handle it.

This particular baby had down syndrome and the parents didn't want to see him after he was born. The nurse who was present at the delivery was too busy so she put him in a soiled utility room and he was left there to die. Jill, the nurse testifying before a senate committee, had pity on the child and held him until he died. He was 22 weeks I believe.

This apparently was not a new thing. Jill blew the whistle and legislation was drawn up. Even such abortion proponents like Barbara Boxer went along with it. But Obama voted against it, in the end, to save doctors from being legally liable. His last statement in the transcript was quite telling.

"I think it’s important to understand that this issue ultimately is about abortion and not live births. Because if these are children who are being born alive, I, at least, have confidence that a doctor who is in that room is going to make sure that they’re looked after."

The nurse said that as many as 1 in 5 babies was left to die. I find this interesting that Obama puts so much moral confidence in the doctor or doctors that tried to abort the baby in the first place. Why would they try to kill and then try to save? Maybe sometimes they did. I don't know the story behind that. But its an interesting that Obama thinks they have such moral high ground as to have confidence in the doctors to make a moral judgement to save the baby they just tried to kill. Have I said it enough times now? The Dr who performed the abortion wants to now save the baby?

Here's what I want to get at: There are lots of issues in the election.
-economy
-housing crises
-health care
-social security
-national security
And somehow, we are all overlooking basic issues like abortion, in this case, INFANTICIDE, homosexual rights or marriage, etc. Things most christians look at that make a difference who they vote for. But, I think for many christians now, they have lost hope in the issue of abortion, of homosexual rights. "We're not going to change it" they think, and move on to the long list of pressing questions about economic woes.

But here's the thing. "Seek first the Kingdom of God, and being right with God. And all these things will be added unto you" The economy, while important, I don't think applies to the Kingdom of God. In fact, in this chapter (matt 6) it talks about not worrying. Who hasn't worried about their retirement?!? Their jobs?! I think we just got our answer. Seek first His Kingdom and being right with Him and He'll take care of our needs.

I believe that writing this legislation to protect live babies is seeking his kingdom first. Its caring for the least of us, isn't it? But, its not just about the legislation, its about a worldview.

I'm really not a huge McCain fan, but at least they believe in protecting human life. Our country is one of the VERY FEW who actually believes human life really matters. This is a whole other blog entry, in which I may, very soon write. But, man was the best of all God's creation. I think it matters the most to Him.

Asa poses for a quick pic

2008-09-29T06:26:00.000-07:00

Asa hanging out with me- watching me do my hair

2008-09-29T06:17:00.000-07:00

La Voz (The Voice)

2008-09-28T17:53:00.000-07:00

He's kind and generous with his time and talents. He's cute and I like his shoes. He's thoughtful and caring with his employees, the tools. He is bilingual and always teaching us new words in spanish. And if Mr. Lopart was my neighbor, I think I would've offered to cut the comb-over myself. But not him. His name rolls easily off of my tongue- heck it even rhymes! Come on people, you know who I'm talking about. Handy Manny is his name. If you have ever seen his show on playhouse disney, you understand.

Manny's a handyman and routinely fixes random things in his town that break with his talking tools. One of my favorite episodes was when he was called to the city's Christmas tree and had to check all the bulbs one by one. Pretty realistic, I'd say. But what I really want to get at here is his Voice.

I LOVE IT.

When I first saw the show I actually sat down and would watch it with Anna because I was completely taken with the voice. I am not kidding- I would sit down and analyze what it was I liked so much about it. I like its tone- midrange-y with a little rasp. And hey, I'd learn a little spanish along the way. So would Anna. AND AND AND she would learn how to use tools and fix things. Sort of.

But really, lets be honest here... I'd watch a kids show because I was hung up on a voice, basking in the slight accent and silky tone. Secretly, which now is not secret, I'd wonder who it was that did the voice. Did he like his job? Did he do other voice work?? And if so, where could I find it! Did he realize he had the sexiest voice in kids TV programming? It could very well be that I love it so much just because its not your typical high pitched squeaky kids show voice. Or maybe I like the mystery of not knowing the person behind the voice. I don't know. But what I do know is that Anna and I watch Handy Manny most mornings and we both enjoy it. But I'm certain that our reasons for liking the show are quite different.

Need a laugh at politics??

2008-09-22T16:55:00.000-07:00

http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/palin-hillary-open/656281/

Keep in mind my love for Palin- but you just can't help but love this video!

Creaky House Saves the Day

2008-09-22T16:42:00.000-07:00

I once was frustrated by the squeaky floors in our house and Anna's door that creaks every time you open it. When we redid her room, we even tried screwing down the subfloor to keep spots in the floor from squeaking. It didn't work. I wasn't really happy about that- especially because I spent a while on my hands and knees trying to make it work.

However, what I thought was a rickety house has now become my most prized possession and ally in the fight to raise my child the right way. Let me explain:

The door, oh the magnificent door... I send the child to her room and I can hear her shut the door as per my instructions-0r not. I can hear when she opens it and she's supposed to be up on her bed being disciplined. I can also hear when she gets off her bed to play in her room. Thank you oh my once despised subfloor! Today was a thank you-rickety floor and door day. Lots of time spent in the room around 5:30 and while trying to juggle the fussy infant, I was able to monitor my child's misbehavior- coming into her room when she got off the bed to tell her she would now be spending more time there, and giving a nice swift swat if necessary. I'm not really a tyrant-really! But some things need to be corrected.

So you see, what was once a major annoyance of mine has become a wonderful child monitor.
Now, for the day I have eyes in the back of my head... Science may not be far off.

Up at Night

2008-09-19T05:43:00.000-07:00

Well, I am back to nursing an infant 2-4 times a night now. This also means I have to deal with that half sleeping state. Everyone with small children- you know what I mean. The state in which your body rests, but your mind does not turn off and sometimes goes on hyper mode. This, to me, would be defined as cleaning out old items you have not thought of in a while or have been meaning to do but not done. What better time to think of it than when you can't totally function as a normal person! HA HA! Says your brain and body. Its a sick joke I think. I have come to have a love hate relationship with the half sleep and the dead of night. But here are some of their redeeming qualities:
1. Its quiet. There are no other voices except for the cry of your baby. And that usually doesn't last too long.
2.You are alone. Sometimes I'd rather not be, I'd rather Dave take over. But there's something very basic about the job. Feed hungry child. And I'm not doing formula, so I am the only solution. I have a love hate relationship with that fact too, but I think deep down every woman loves it most of the time.
3. God can bring things up to you that you haven't thought of in awhile. I think he uses hyper mode in your brain. And it's here that I had an interesting experience.
I had a falling out with my roommate from my first year of college. We had a great first semester and were fast friends, but second semester I did something in response to something she did and that wrecked everything. I basically tattled on her for something, and that was the end of us. I have occasionally thought of her over the past 9 years, and wrote her a note once but never heard anything back. And then I had my newborn and was up feeding him at 4 am. There I was -half sleeping-mind on hyper mode- and this roommate issue started surfacing again. I got this idea out of nowhere: I bet she is on facebook! So I took my little guy who wasn't falling asleep, and went to the computer. There she was-and I wasted no time in writing her another apology note and sending it on its way. To my surprise I had a response the next night! We managed to mend our relationship and have been talking via email ever since. Its been fun to catch up, but to be honest its been better to have the weight of that incident off of me. Something from so long ago, still weighing on me. And I didn't realize it until it was all over.
So, the next time you find yourself up and don't know why or are getting up in the middle of the night to feed a baby, maybe you'll have a similar experience. Maybe if I started to think of those middle of the night killers as middle of the night opportunities to be alone with my thoughts- with my God, I'd have a better attitude.

Disney Moos

2008-09-15T07:05:00.000-07:00

They make milk now. Am I sure? Yes. How do I know? I saw a 'vignette' on it between disney shows this morning. No I'm not lying. They had a little girl be the newscaster and she went out to the farm and watched them milk cows, and then watched as the milk was put into cartons with the disney logo. Yes I'm sure! Stop asking! I'm not lying!
Okay, lets see what disney has their hands in...
1. kids
2.Milk
3.gay people
4.theme parks
Hmmm....

Jo Jo on Disney. It is the devil

2008-09-14T12:23:00.000-07:00

I'm talking about Jo Jo here. Jo Jo on playhouse disney. One of the little 2 minute or so segments they do in between shows. My blood pressure rises when it comes on. And I say IT because WHO THE HECK KNOWS WHAT JO JO IS?! Male? Female?? Its like SNL's "Pat" for kids TV. So, Jo Jo or I may just call it IT for short, has a pet Lion. A lion with a little squeaky voice. Why? I don't know. But this I do know- they do YOGA. You heard me right, the squeaky lion and IT roll out their gay little yoga mats and try to tell kids things like this:
"Hey Kids! When you're feeling like you're getting angry, do the upward facing dog!" And then they show you step by step how to do the yoga pose. If you ask me, its a rogue show - the programmers randomly put it on so the parents never know when its scheduled. If I miss it and Anna ends up watching it, she is mesmerized, which makes me so mad at IT. I usually end up interrupting IT when it says "when you're feeling angry... " and say something very loud like, "we ask JESUS TO HELP US!" which is usually my generic answer to anything Jo Jo says. Because I am always caught off guard. Because its a rogue show. Mind control. I'm convinced they are trying to do mind control. So the other day I walk in the room and IT is on and I come in right when IT says, "so when you're afraid of the dark, all you have to do is..." and I yell, "JESUS IS WITH ME I WON'T BE AFRAID!!" and Anna turns and looks and me and I say, "right honey?" "mmhmm" she says.

SNOW MACHINE RACER!

2008-09-05T06:19:00.000-07:00

Ok, first of all, let me say that I really like Sarah Palin and she makes me tolerate John McCain more. I like that she has a whole mess of kids and they all have wierd names like Trigg Traxson Van Palin. It sounds a bit like Van Halen, doesn't it? And you can't help but stand in awe of someone who has a baby and goes back to work 3 days later. Anyways, that's neither here nor there. My point in this whole rant is that when she talks about her husband, she mentions his job and this and that, but then she mentions that he is a world champion 'snow machine racer.' I don't know if its an Alaska thing or what, but what they call snow machines we call snow mobiles down here in the main 48. I can't help but laugh about it. Its just all a little bizarre. Keep in mind I like sarah palin. I just have never given a regular person a thought before- as in running for the second highest office in the US. Its always been career politicians and people who smile and wink and wave. And then make us pay taxes thru the nose. But that's another rant. Snow machine racer husband and vice president have NEVER gone together in my mind. But, hey, I'm open to it I guess. Its just that whenever I see her speaking and they put the camera on her husband, I start yelling "THERE'S THE SNOW MACHINE RACER!" Kudos to Sarah Palin. Stick it to em' girl.