diapers

For quite awhile we have used disposable diapers on Jamie, but now we are back to cloth. (We hope they make him more inclined to be potty trained!) I think that people are afraid of cloth diapers, but they aren't that hard to deal with... you don't even need to use diaper pins anymore. Granted, there is a big investment to be made up front, but after you buy your basic supplies you're done spending money on diapers. (Okay, yes, some people pay for a diaper service, and others pay for special detergent, but I wash my own with the detergent we use for our laundry. No extra expense.) Two other points in their favor - 1. What is cuter than a kid in a cloth diaper??? 2. Cloth diapers make the best rags when you're done potty training. Note: I don't expect others to do cloth diapering for me, and I don't do cloth diapers on the road or at night.

Anyway, last night I was washing diapers, and when I went to put them in the dryer I noticed something strange. Somehow a disposable diaper had made its way in the wash! (We think that Jamie was having fun with the diaper pail...) Ever seen a kid in a regular disposable diaper at the pool or beach? That diaper ends up 3 times its original size! All those little bits of stuff that soak up the moisture ended up in the washing machine... and our pipes. Thankfully they didn't clog anything! Yet...

Over Christmas vacation Dot took a trip downtown to visit Uncle Mike at the Statehouse. What a great field trip! Not only did they go all the way up into the cupola, but she also got a trip on the ferris wheel. Dot highly recommends making the trip if you are able to do so!

USPS

As you well know, the post office has raised its rates again. We had recently bought another roll of 100 37-cent stamps... about a week before they let everyone know the rates were going up! Thankfully there are plenty of 2-cent stamps to be bought, and now there are plenty of 2-cent stamps in our house.
If you ever send a letter to Linda, you will need to know that the postage is now set at 84-cents for an airmail letter weighing one ounce. (For peace of mind, sheets of office paper generally weigh 5 grams, or 0.176 ounces.)
Who can forget running ot the mailbox as a child, wondering if there was anything addressed to you? And the joy when you found that someone had written to you! Do your bills and junk mail bring you joy today? Cheer someone up, it's a bargain at 39 cents (or 84 cents for Linda)!

Polenta

Tonight my kids willingly tried something new at dinner. After all, anything fried is good, right? As I fried up the pieces of polenta I let them try a small bit. Jamie wanted more right then and there, but I told him he had to wait until dinner, "just a little bit." He ran to his chair and climbed in, ready for dinner!
Polenta, cooked cornmeal, can be creamy like mashed potatoes, fried or grilled. Some people use it as a "crust" for pizza. There are many recipes for different varieties of polenta - check it out on Recipesource.

Christmas pictures

Most Christmas pictures end up being shots of the living room full of people and gifts. These two turned out pretty well, don't you think?

Fredericksburg KOA

These are from our camping trip at the end of last summer. Note: the middle photo is Jamie, eating a s'more while standing in the "dishwasher." Just like his daddy...

Spring?

Actually, this photo was taken this past fall... but the kids are planning on playing in the sandbox this afternoon. The weather here is unseasonably warm - yesterday it was 62 degrees! I took full advantage of this and painted another wall in the living room. Dot went to gym class in shorts and a tee shirt, and didn't wear a coat! Wow! Is this January?

Art?

This week I took the kids ot the library. Not surprisingly, Jamie immediately headed for the videos (his favorite, Rolie Polie Ollie, is a "no check out fee" video, so I am happy to let him get it over and over and over again...), and Dot headed for the computer and then the Boxcar Children (She ended up checking out and reading three all in one afternoon!). I wondered around with Jamie, and found an interesting new book. Seen Art?, by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith (I love it when they team up!) is an eyecatching book. Not content to try to flip through it while chasing two children, I stuck in my bookbag. When we got home I sat down to lunch and started reading. The story follows a young boy in NYC as he tries to meet up with his friend Art... the adults misunderstand him and send him on a hunt through the Museum of Modern Art. It is a cute little story, with the pun "Have you seen Art?" making children laugh throughout the book. While I am not an enthusiastic fan of modern art, there is some that I like; this book gave a good overview of some of the art in MoMA (not that I've ever been!). I think this book is a good way to introduce children to modern art.

music to my ears?

Lately Jamie has been trying to talk more - but it is not always very clear. In fact, most of the time we can't understand him. Oh well. It will come in time. Hopefully...
Anyway, he is entertaining us now with a song - his own song... it goes something like this (no, it goes Exactly like this): "Na, na, naaa!" Imagine its tune being sort of superhero sounding and you probably have it right. Imagine it being sung loudly, in stores, over and over! Yup, toddler entertainment, there's nothing like it...

holidays

We are home again, and recovering from our trip. All of us have been sick in one form or another; when you get that many people together in one house someone is bound to get sick. Thankfully we are mending, and we hope to have a much healthier rest of the year.

It was very nice to see family, although we didn't get to see everyone this time around. Unk and Bean were much missed in Columbus (I think we might have been able to squeeze them into the attic???), and I wish we could've gotten together with the extended families. Hopefully next time! (Wouldn't it be so nice to live nearby?!!) It was nice to see friends, as well. Too bad that it is cold and flu season, or we would've visited more. I guess we have to make a trip in the summer!

Everyone seems to have enjoyed the holidays; we received wonderful presents and came away with too much to eat. God has blessed us greatly!