Lately

• Cooper has been saying more and more words lately. He also has been doing some funny things. On Monday we went to lunch with a friend and while we were eating, Cooper pointed his straw at each of us and said "Pow". It's pretty obvious that he has an older brother.
• Tonight, Keith chose to read "Love You Forever" to the boys for their bedtime story. I wanted to strangle him by the time he was done. That book is emotional, especially when you have sons. Garrett asked me if I come into his room and rock him and sing to him when he's asleep (this is what takes place in the book, in case you haven't read it.) Keith actually got choked up at the end when the son sings to his mom. The sweet part of the story is that the book he was reading from was dated Christmas of '89 with a very sweet note inside from Keith's mom to Keith. That would have been the year he turned 13. I'm sure he wasn't thrilled to get that book back then, but it's pretty neat to have that as a part of our kids' library now.
• About a month ago, Keith ripped out the shower in our master bathroom. The fiberglass pan in the bottom of it had cracked and it was going to cause a lot of mold issues if we didn't replace it. We've always had problems with the corners leaking anyway, so he has completely ripped out all the tile, sheetrock, floor pan and even chiseled up some concrete in the foundation because the drain pipe was installed crooked causing more leaking. It's kind of been a mess, but it looks like we're on our way to getting it back to normal. He's bought some special stuff that will help to seal up the shower extra tight so we won't have any more problems with leaking and mold. Some of the sheetrock and even 2x4's had mold on it, so it's good we're doing this. It's just not so fun having 4 people sharing 1 shower (not at the same time!) Stepping over tub toys is always a fun experience when you're showering.
• Since we're about 7 months away from Garrett starting kindergarten, I've started telling him different things that he will need to know once he gets there. I'm afraid I'm making the principal out to be a monster, but I want him to know that he doesn't ever want to be sent to the principal's office. So when he does stuff that he shouldn't be doing here at home, I tell him that if he were to do that in kindergarten, he would be sent to the principal's office. I'm not sure if I should be doing this, but at the same time, I want to be sure he knows what will be acceptable and what won't be. Manners will be acceptable, loud burps and farting will not.
• I spoke with our insurance company today. We have our house and vehicles insured at the same place. Somehow we were able to save $500 a year AND increase our coverage. If you haven't spoken with your insurance company in the past few years, you may try calling them and just ask for a new quote to see what you would get. You never know!
• I'm back at my attempts to eat healthy and exercise like I started last year. I lost 25 pounds last year, so I'm hopeful I'll be able to atleast do that much this year. I went to weigh on Monday to see if I lost anything last week and the batteries on my scale are dead. Of course Walmart didn't have the replacement kind, so I have no idea if I've lost anything yet this year, but I'm trying. I didn't exercise tonight because I have felt exhausted all day. I hope I'm not getting sick because my throat is a little sore too. But I took some extra vitamin C this evening, so I'm in hopes that I'll feel better tomorrow if I get a good night's sleep tonight.
• I've never been big on taking vitamins though I've always made sure the boys take theirs every morning. When I went for a check-up last fall, my doctor specifically told me some vitamins that she would encourage me to take. I've actually never had a doctor tell me that before. Keith has always been big into taking vitamins, so I decided to buy what my doctor recommended and I've been taking them for a couple of months now. I honestly haven't noticed any changes, but I "think" I'm healthier, so I guess that counts, right?
• Just in case you care, I've been taking the following on my doctor's advice: Omega 3 Fish Oil (She said this is just an all-around good vitamin to take and it does a lot of good for the body, including helping brain function.), a multi-vitamin-specifically one with D3 not just plain old D (D3 is supposed to be a better form of vitamin D. I accidentally bought a multi-vitamin for women over 50, so if I start getting more wrinkles and gray hair, I'm going to kick myself.), CoQ10 (This is supposed to be good for your heart.), Cayenne Fruit (this is supposed to help lower cholesterol and up metabolism), and during cold and flu season I'm taking an additional vitamin C.
• On Wednesdays for the next 8 weeks or so, I'm teaching a class on Claymation to our 4th-6th graders at church. It's been awhile since I taught that back in my teaching days, so it's been fun pulling out some old materials and brushing up on classroom management. I've also already discovered different ways of doing things than when I taught this years ago. It really is true that with age, comes wisdom. I have about 20 kids in my class, so I'm hopeful that 8 weeks from now, we'll have a few really great Bible Stories turned into awesome Claymation movies. If I can figure out how to, I'll post some on here once they're finished. As of last Wednesday, the Bible stories that will be turned into movies are: Jonah, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednago, the birth of Jesus, and one more that I'm drawing a blank on. It should be really fun to walk them through this process.