Colby's grand idea

This just in... Colby's grand idea! He was sitting at the table eating his pear, and formulating his plan. Since I didn't want his pear seed planted in our yard, he thought it would be good to give the seeds to homeless people, so they could plant them and have food. He would also tell the people about Jesus and about how God loves them, even people he doesn't know. And just in case they want to give him money in exchange for the seeds, he'll bring a little cup.

We're going to check the mail now, and he's bringing his seeds with him in case he runs into someone who needs them. Skipping down the hallway to get his shoes, he squealed, "I'm going to serve God!!!"

Such a bummer

Well, apparently enough people have complained about the musical road that they're taking it out. Seems the people nearby can hear the song all the time and it bothers them. We can hear it from our house too, but I actually enjoy it. It makes me smile. It's a real bummer that they're taking it out; it's one of only 2 or 3 roads like it in the world. Oh well; every party needs a pooper.

Looks like fun

I just came across this on snopes.com, where they said this is a true phenomenon which has been documented by people who study such things. Looks like a fun game to me!

Yes, the road makes music

I had no idea what my friend was talking about when she asked if I had driven on the musical road near my house. I was thinking that someone had brought out some speakers and was playing music by the road... I dunno. She said it was something about bumps in the road that make a song when you go 50mph. Ooook....

So today I decided to drive by after we picked Colby up from school and check it out. They had a sign up saying it was the "Honda Civic Musical Road." The sign even sported the City of Lancaster logo; very official. It was nothing like I was expecting. We got up to speed and then I saw big x's across the westbound lane. Sure enough, the road is quite musical! I didn't recognize the song, but it sounded like a horn was playing a tune as we drove by. Very clever.

Some of the comments on YouTube indicate that the road will only be like that for 2 weeks since people are complaining about the noise, but who knows. If you're local, you should go try it out, though! Even better- take your friends out for a drive and don't tell them about the road. And then act like you didn't hear anything.

In Review

I just spent about 30 minutes or so reading all of my old posts in this blog. Often I've thought to myself, "what's the point? Nobody's reading what I write anyway." But I just realized that I've captured some neat memories and occasions and even just some funny times over the past 18 months or so.

Maybe I don't have a lot of readers, but you know what? It's a mini-journal of the life of our family, and that makes it worthwhile after all.

PS- Remember my jump rope post? Yeah, haven't picked up the jump rope since. Glad I didn't pay much for it.

And I'm happy to update the March Forth entry. As of last Friday, we had totally paid off our debt... all $12,000. Even more importantly, we haven't accumulated any further debt, and we feel like we have a much better handle on our finances. Now we have some budget decisions to make, since we no longer have to send off large sums of money to the credit card company each month. We're praying for wisdom and self-control.

Oh, and I still never finished reading Heaven. I got much further than I ever have before, though!!! Anybody need a Christmas present idea for me?

Celebrate Good Times, Come On!

He's Three!

Today we celebrated Tyler's birthday... "Wall-E-ana Jones" style. Read on, you'll see.

So yesterday you read my post about birthday themes being the topic of discussion for the past several months, right? Well, fairly recently we came upon the idea for a Wall-E birthday. All of us being the Wall-E lovers we are, Tyler immediately decided that he would have a Wall-E birthday. As luck would have it, Wilton makes a Wall-E pan, so I was all set. Here's the cake I made:

Tyler is a big fan of Eve (or Eeeevah, as he affectionately calls her), so I made a chocolate Eve to include in the festivities.




And here are my three guys, looking stunning in their Wall-E masks. They're all the rage this Fall.

Now here's where the story takes a little turn. In the meantime between deciding on a Wall-E party and the actual party, a particular fondness for Indiana Jones started to devleop. So much so that both boys run around the house swinging old shoelaces for whips and wearing straw hats instead of fedoras. So Grandma and Papa decided that Tyler ought to have some "real" Indiana Jones attire. It's safe to say, the costume and whip were the stars of the birthday present parade.

The whip in action. It actually makes a cracking sound and plays the Indiana Jones theme when you whip it.

On with the party! Outside, Tyler wasn't too sure of the pinata until he saw that candy fell out of it.

Ready for cake!

Huff and puff and BLOW that last candle out!

I would never have given him this large a piece of cake, but he really really wanted Wall-E's eyes. I gave in... you're only 3 once, right?

He was serious about wanting the eyes... and only the eyes...

I mean, really serious...

And I think that about brings us to the end of our fabulous party. Happy Birthday, Mr. Tyler!

Birthdays

There was no better title for this post than simply..."Birthdays." This time of year is a virtual non-stop birthday celebration for our family. Both of the kids and I all have our birthdays within a three week span of each other's.

This year, the kids were thinking about their birthday themes months in advance. Of course along with that, they figured I should have a theme for mine as well. Who was I to argue? Although I told them I didn't want a Hannah Montana or Little Mermaid party, I did say I'd like my party to be something pink. Now mind you, I wasn't actually expecting a party. I was just playing along with the "what kind of birthday do you want?" game.

Apparently someone took me seriously. :) After we got back from dinner at Red Robin (yummmm, my fav), I arrived at my parents' house to find it all decked out in pink balloons and streamers!!

I had a couple helpers to open my pink presents with me.

I got a brick???

Birthday hugs :)

We finished off the party with pink rootbeer floats (made with strawberry soda). So cute!

My body thinks it's still summer

I've been having the toughest time getting into the school-year groove. In the summer, Brian and I were staying up until midnight or later, hanging out, watching TV, whatever. Now I need to be in bed by 10:30... bummer. I'm a lazy person in general, and I really nurture that side of me during the summer. :) Somehow I need to get myself in gear!!

First Day

Last week on vacation, Colby was adamant he didn't want to go back to school this year. He even pointed out that you *are* allowed to be absent. I couldn't blame him, though. Nobody wants to think about going back to the grind when you're on vacation.

I'm happy to report that yesterday and again today he was very excited about going back to school, even moreso when he saw lots of his buddies from Junior Kindergarten were in his class again this year.

Brian took the day off from work, not as much to support Colby as to support Mama. :) Last year I was a mess, and up until yesterday, this year I was fine. It hit me last night that he's growing up so fast, and I did shed a few tears.

Anyway, here are some pictures of my big boy going off to school:

Last year, for comparison

And this year