The Fence

The below story just goes to show how powerful words can be. I know I've hurt others with my words and others have hurt me with their insults, whether it was intentional or not. Still trying to completely grasp God's grip of grace:

"There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper he must hammer a nail into the back of the fence.

The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence...

Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper.

The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone. The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, "You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one. You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound is still there. A verbal wound is as bad as a physical one."

Cheese!

Everytime we point the camera to him, he automatically says "Cheese!"

Dinner time for the kids! Gone are the days of formula, bottles & baby food.

Easter Sunday

Our Pebbles Ministry (2-5 yr old toddler group) did an Easter presentation this past Sunday. I was sooo proud of Nathan for smiling and not crying (he's wearing the orange and green sweater). The first time he was up front was for their Christmas presentation and he cried..he just joined the Pebbles group at that time and I had to hold him up front. But Sunday, as the little pitter patter of feet were walking towards the front, Nathan walked right by me and said, "Hi Mommy!" and participated very well. As you can see, he's the youngest one in the class. I almost got teary eyed as to how much he's matured and grown more independent from us in the past 4 months he's been in Sunday School. They even did an Easter egg hunt outside and he had so much fun picking out the plastic eggs from the field.

We're so thankful that he loves his teacher and that he's learning so much. It's funny because the teacher tells us he's always yelling his alphabets (thanks to Sesame Street) and all the other older kids don't even know their name or alphabet. She's quite impressed at how accurate he knows his letters when she points them out to him. On another note, every night when we read the Toddler Bible to him, he thinks everybody with a beard is Jesus!

Flyers

This past Saturday we got free tickets to the Flyers vs. NY Islanders game. Someone very generous at church couldn't make it, so he offered them to us. We got great seats 12 rows up from the floor right above the Flyer's bench. The last time and only time we went to a game we sat all the way at the top (compliments from my last company). Such a difference sitting on the first level! We can actually see the player's faces and see things much clearer. Nathan came with us as children under age 2 were free, but luckily there were 2 empty seats next to us, so he was able to sit in his own seat and roam between the 4 seats. He was so good and actually enjoyed watching the players as well as watching the huge TV screen. They even gave away free hockey sticks for all kids, so he was having so much fun playing with it as we were walking back to our car.

This was the 2nd to the last game of the season...I had no idea how bad the Flyers did this season. They are the lowest scoring team in the whole league. They lost 4-2 (this was the 5th game lost in a row). But it was nice to see some milestones of 2 players: Derian Hatcher reached the NHL milestone of 1,000 career games played and Simon Gagne scored his 200th goal of his career with the Flyers.

American Idol - Final 8

What, Gina got booted and Haley is safe AGAIN? This show is getting outrageous. Gina actually did well this week and I liked having a "rocker girl" in the competition. I'll have to admit Haley does have great legs, but she's looking desperate by wearing really short skirts every week.

At this point, I'm not surprised Sanjaya is still in. I vowed that if he somehow ends up winning the whole thing or is even in the final 2, I'm not going to watch AI ever again. Dan is hoping Sanjaya wins so that I stop watching and wasting my time. You should see him laughing and cheering every time he's not in the bottom 3.

Is anybody else bored with these final 10? It's not like the other years....Lakisha and Melinda are almost too good. It's too predictable and it takes away the suspense of how they'll do. I didn't think they allowed professional singers in the competition and I almost wish they didn't allow it as it gives a completely unfair advantage over everybody else.

Crib Escape!

Yikes! Nathan climbed out of his crib for the first time today. Daddy put him in there so he can take a shower. Next thing you know, he hears these little footsteps come in to the bathroom! He put him back in the crib to watch him escape and sure enough he found out a way to cautiously drape his body over one side of the crib and let himself down like a little gymnist. I'm reading we shouldn't be rushing out to move him to a big bed because he may not be ready, but we're not sure what to do. We already have a twin bed in his room and we would need to buy the railings. Or maybe we can put the mattress on the floor to transition him? Any suggestions?

I was dreading these last days of freedom. It was so nice to plop him in the crib at night and be able to sleep without any worries. Now he'll probably be wandering around the house or his room if we lock it. I really hope he doesn't make any habit of coming into our room. The past couple of days he's been in the habit of undressing himself and stripping his diaper. Dan came in and found him completely naked with pee all over the floor and mattress the other day....he's not even close to potty training! Ugh....anybody also have any suggestions with potty seats? We've tried to put him on the big toilet with a little cushion for him, but he absolutely hates it and cries.