Wordless Wednesday - tuckered out!

Spending Time with My Little Sweetie

On Friday, I had the rare opportunity to spend some quality time with this little munchkin: (who is proudly wearing her new dress from Grammy to show her - thanks Grammy and Pop!)

Chris was out of town at a computer programming conference, and I took the boys to the grandparents' to spend the night.  That left Gabi and me to go and do whatever we pleased.  She really wanted to go see a movie, but as usual, there weren't even any remotely appropriate movies in the theater for a little girl.  (love those websites that tell the parents all the potty humor and other ridiculous stuff that are in "kids' movies" so you don't have to watch it to find out).

Her second choice was to go to the mall, as any dear daughter of mine would. :)  It was the strangest thing to walk into the mall without 1) a stroller, 2) a diaper bag, and 3) sippy cups and bottles.  I found myself strangely enjoying the shopping experience, actually stopping to casually look at items and not rushing to get out of there.  At the mall, we experienced the following:

1) a glimpse of the Oscar Mayer Weiner Mobile, parked near our van

2) soft pretzel sticks with ooey gooey melty cheese

3) building a Lego tower as high as possible while politely telling the Lego store man that we weren't interested in buying anything

4) buying a set of sunglasses and matching flip-flops at the Disney store for $6  because Gabi "needed" sunglasses

5) stopping at Starbucks where the barista kindly put Gabi's chocolate milk in a grown-up cup so she could carry a coffee cup like Mommy

6) playing madly at the indoor play area and meeting a new friend, Ally, who followed Gabi around like a puppy.

We then considered our options.  Go home and go to bed, or go rent a movie and watch it in the comfort of our pj's?  Naturally we opted for the second one and rented "Madagascar 2" and bought chocolate chip cookie dough to make cookies.  The cookies were delicious, the pj's were oh-so-comfy, but I am disappointed to report that the movie was ridiculous, boring, and had too much body humor and subtle messages for my liking.  We didn't even finish it.

It was a blast however and I felt so refreshed having only one kid to deal with for a little while.  :)  

In other news, these LIttle Sweeties just made their appearance in my Etsy shop today:

Whatever you're craving, I've got a Little Sweetie to match!  

Gabi Theology

Driving to church usually takes us about 25 minutes or so. Thankfully the trip is mostly on the freeway, and we are blessed to see hundreds of beautiful pine and fir trees along the way here in scenic Oregon.

Last week, as I drove the familiar way to church, Gabi kept commenting on how much she loved the "palm" trees. At first, i didn't pay much attention to her, and then the teacher instinct kicked in as I hastened to correct her that those were not palm trees.
"Yes, they are palm trees," she insisted. "I know they are."
"No, sweetheart," I answered calmly. "We don't have palm trees around here. Those are pine trees. You know, like Christmas trees?"
She frowned at me. "They have to be palm trees! Jesus made them!"

(Haha - Gabi theology point one - Jesus likes to make palm trees. After some questioning, I theorize that she picked that one up from her Easter lessons in Sunday School. Apparently the palm branches stuck out in her memory.)

We continued to drive toward church. There was silence in the back seat - I figured it was satisfaction in winning the debate that those were indeed palm trees. Then Gabi spoke again.
"Mama, do you know why God made trees?"
"Well, honey, there are lots of reasons God gave us trees. For shade, for wood, for beauty.."
"No, Mama!" Gabi interrupted. "That's not why He made them. He made the trees so He could hide in them."

(Gabi theology point two - God likes to hide in trees. I have no idea where she got this one. Maybe her teacher has been emphasizing that God is everywhere, or maybe she got her Adam and Eve story a little askew.)

We were almost to church when Gabi asked one more question.
"Do you know why God made mamas?" she questioned me.
"Why?" I asked, not sure what reason I was going to hear.
"God made mamas to love me, that's why!" she said confidently.

A big smile spread across my face as I walked her to her Sunday School class. After watching her run in to play with her little friends, I paused at the door and looked at her teacher.
"Thank you for all you do, and thank you for teaching my daughter the Bible," I said. And I meant it.

Wordless Wednesday - Michael's faces and David's cake

for more wordless fun, go here!

Zooish Happenings with Grammy and Pop

On the last day that my parents were here for their visit, we planned a trip to the Oregon zoo. It was the usual unpredictable Oregon weather - one half of the sky looked like rain and the other half looked sunny and bright. We decided to take our chances and go anyway. It was definitely on the chilly side when we began our explorations that day, but as you can see in the above photo, my two little munchkins are oblivious to the cold and dampness (being true Oregonians and all!)

This is Pop's excited face. Seriously, it is. It's the same as his angry face and his happy face. I promise you, he was having a good time. He's just terrible when it comes to taking pictures. . .

David raced headlong through most of the zoo. His favorite sightings? Rocks, dirt, grass, and mud. We could have saved ourselves some money and taken that kid on a free nature hike for the same thrills. Note how David runs with his head down. His head actually wobbles around when he runs, earning him the nickname "Bobblehead" and "Chickenneck." (ha ha, we're saving money to pay his therapist some day!)

Michael's favorite moment at the zoo was experiencing pickles for the first time at the Zoo food court. He loves them! i'm not sure he was quite as happy that we lost his bottle at the zoo, but that's another story.

We got to see the baby elephant for the first time. Samudra was actually born just a few days before Michael - I remember all the hype in the news while i was in the hospital delivering Michael. Gabi loved the elephants, and the penguins, and the monkeys, and the giraffes, and pretty much all the animals she saw.

Aww, a sweet moment with Pop. Too bad Pop looks like he just ate a pickle himself. :)

We were able to go into the Lorikeet house and get incredibly close to the brightly-colored birds. Chris bought some nectar to feed the birds, and amazingly enough, my normally timid daughter was in birdy heaven. I wonder if the fact that the birds are green with rainbow accents had anything to do with it. . .

As soon as we entered the Lorikeet House, one of the friendly birds landed right on Mom's arm, much to her surprise.

I was only inches away from this lorikeet when I took his picture with my new camera.

Even David got in on the feeding action. He saw how much the bird loved the nectar and decided to try some for himself. Before we could stop him, he had drunk some of the nectar and gotten quite a bit of it on his hands and face. Poor David was now a target for hungry birds, and one of the eager lorikeets bit his finger, trying to get at the nectar.

Grammy's girl. . .

And of course we had to get a final shot in front of the cheesy partying bears in front of the gift shop. Big smiles everyone!

Easter Fun!

There has been a flurry of activity in the Frogster household as of late, and I just uploaded almost 400 pictures to my computer as proof! I have much to share but for today, I'll focus on some shots we got for Easter. The wild child in the photo above is getting ready to dye some Easter eggs - hence the "I-don't-care-what-happens-to-it" T-shirt. Gabi (below)is slightly less excited in her facial expression, although don't let that fool you. She sobbed bitter tears when the whole process was done.


David had a very steady approach to the art of dyeing eggs, and he did not waver from it. He simply dabbed on tiny patches of dye and then got bored, wanting another egg to color.

Gabi's method was quite different, as evidenced in this photo. Apparently an egg should be painted by sticking out your tongue in fierce concentration and sponging on exorbitant amounts of dye.(which excess Momma later had to remove with a paper towel).

Unfortunately this method is not good to the hand, but the eggs turned out so pretty. And thanks to Momma's watchful eye, not all of Gabi's eggs were colored green. (her only favorite color as of late!)

Here the charming bunch poses in their Easter outfits. The tie T-shirts and T-shirt dress turned out nicely, and you can find the instructions on making these cute outfits at The Scrappy Frog.



The kiddies all greatly enjoyed their Easter buckets from Momma and Daddy. No Easter bunny visited us as we wanted to take all the credit for all the cool things they got. :)

Michael mostly enjoyed the Easter grass in the bottom of his bucket.

Here Gabi is showing off the adorable crocheted bear bonbons that I purchased for the kiddies at StarSapphire's Etsy shop. She loved the bubbles, slinky, and other fun toys in her bucket - we mostly avoided giving any candy this year.

Since Daddy did the Easter bucket shopping, a few interesting items worked their way in. I don't suppose Momma would have thought that a carrot-shaped baseball bat and a rubber baseball would be appropriate for a 2-year-old who spends most of his playtime in our condo's living room. Ah, well, the bat will most likely "disappear" within a few days...
Unfortunately I forgot to take the camera to church and so missed a host of photo opportunities as a helicopter dropped 25,000 candy-filled eggs on the church property for the kiddies to grab. Both Gabi and David were sufficiently impressed and managed to get an impressive haul of eggs, most of which were relegated to the laundry room (aka "Mommy and Daddy's secret treat stash").

After church, we got to visit Grandma and Grandpa Frogster and partake of some yummy ham, turkey, yams, and various other delectable goodies. I love this pic of Michael with his grandma - what a face!

I Need Your Help!

Hey readers!

One of the items in my Etsy shop has been chosen as a finalist in the 3D artisan contest at Blockhead Radio. My Felt Birthday Cake Picture Centerpiece is waiting for your votes! Please go and vote here at Blockhead Radio for my felt cake - if I win, I get a free audio commercial and banner ad on the site. And I can use all the advertising I can get!

I recently purchased a Nikon D60 SLR camera to take better pics of my artwork, and while I feel it was a necessary business purchase, I need to sell more of my artwork to pay off that camera. I love my new toy, so please help me out! Vote vote vote and spread the word - thanks!

Almost in Stitches

You know how this blog is called "Temporary Insanity"?  Well, I'm claiming some of that insanity right now.  It seems our family has been going through some particularly crazy times lately, most of it being the good kind of craziness, if you know what I mean.

I have been lax in my blogging as of late due to being very busy and also due to my parents' visit this past week.  I rarely get to see my parents any more - they live across the country in PA and visits are too few and far between.  Unfortunately for them, their brood spread out all over the world, and visiting us all frequently is tough, with the little vacation time Dad gets and of course the great expenses of such travels.  Besides me here in Oregon, my older brother and his family reside in South Korea. (here's his blog!)  My younger-by-one-year brother and his family live about an hour away from my parents in good old Pennsylvania, and my only sister lives with her husband in Ontario. (here's her blog!)  My youngest brother just recently got married and is now living in Indiana.  

So, Mom and Dad were able to get a trip together to travel across the country and the Pacific Ocean to see their oldest son and his family of six (yep, six!) daughters ranging in age from newborn to nine years old.  It was a great blessing to them to be able to see their son in action at the church he pastors there as well as spend as much time possible with six of their eleven grandchildren.  On the way home from Korea, they stopped in Oregon to spend a few short days with us.  

My parents were supposed to arrive on Tuesday at 3:40 pm (PST), but their flight from San Francisco kept getting pushed further and further back.  Poor Mom and Dad had already had a 12-hour flight from Korea to San Francisco and now were spending a ridiculous amount of time in the San Francisco airport, trying to fight off the jet lag that threatened to totally consume them.  At last we got the call from Mom that she and Dad had been transferred to another flight and would be arriving in Portland around 6:00 pm.  We rushed around doing last-minute things, and I set about getting the kiddies ready to head out to the airport.  I made a quick decision to redo Gabi's hair since it had suffered some frizzing during the day.  I took out her hair bows and was startled to see the one side of her hair all stiff and goopy with blood.  Okay, "startled" is a mild word for how I reacted when I saw that gruesome sight!

Apparently, a few hours earlier, Gabi had flipped off the recliner in the living room(the chair she is not allowed to play on) and fearing punishment, did not tell us that she had hurt her head.  Upon washing her hair and assessing the damage, it was clear from all the blood and the width of the wound that she was going to have to go to the hospital.  I decided to take her to the hospital while Chris picked my parents up from the airport.  Joy, joy - I was praying that it would be slow in the ER and that we would be able to be seen by a doctor quickly.

God answered my prayers, and we were in to see a doctor within minutes of arrival.  Gabi was terrified of everything - the thermometer, the blood pressure machine, the nurses - and when the second nurse mentioned that she might need stitches, I was terrified too.  Then the doctor came in - a very tall gentle man with a bit of an accent.  He informed me that he had four daughters of his own that were constantly getting into scrapes.  I felt immediately at ease.  He examined the wound and gave me the treatment options.  I chose the most unorthodox option - that of tying her hair in knots over the wound to pull the sides of the wound together.  He said he had done it with his daughters before, and I trusted him.  Plus, it meant no stitches!

And thus my parents' visit here started off with a bang! :)  Gabi is doing fine now, and I have many more stories to share of Mom and Dad's visit. (Which I will, in the near future!)

And for now?  I am praising God for His goodness and protection, and ultimately thanking Him for His greatest gift to mankind - His only Son.  May all of you have a most blessed Easter tomorrow!

The Beast Turns Two!

Dear David,

   My sweet first little boy!  I cannot believe you are two years old already!  When you proudly marched into your new class at church yesterday, you didn't see me wiping away the tears because you were so busy with your new toys and friends.  There is something about the relationship between a mother and her son, and I am so proud and glad to be your momma!

   I look at these pictures and think about my big little boy.  Thanks for still being willing to give and receive lots of kisses and hugs from your momma.  I love all our snuggle times but am so pleased that you are a happy and independent little boy.

   You are so smart, David!  Just yesterday you were telling me this long story of a cartoon you had seen on TV, and I marveled at how well you remembered the story and how well you were able to tell it.  Even more importantly, I am thrilled at the scripture you are hiding away in your heart.  When I hear your sweet little voice echoing your sister's as she recites John 3:16, my heart is full of joy, looking forward to the day when you realize your need for that Saviour and accept Him into your heart.

   I have so many dreams for you, my little man.  I know that God has greater plans for you, and I pray each day that He will help me to be a better momma to you so that these plans can become reality.  

    And, for now, I will relish all the days of your third year here on earth.  Please do me a favor and skip the "terrible two's" - momma would really appreciate that. :)  Also if you could potty-train yourself soon - I am hoping that is not too much to ask.  

    I love you so much, my Davester!  Happy Birthday!

        xoxoxo, love, Momma

Gabi Reinvents Fashion

   We decided not to find out the gender of our first child before birth.  Everyone was so sure that we were having a boy, and I must admit, I was almost certain of that fact also.  When our beautiful baby girl was born, we were so surprised and thrilled!  I immediately started thinking of all the wonderful girly dresses and socks and hair bows and hats and shoes; and of course, everything had to match.  I was convinced that my darling little girl would be the epitome of a fashion model at all times, with hair band, dress, sweater, tights, and shoes matching.

And for a while, I succeeded:

I mean, what was she going to do about it?  She just laid there and cooed and smiled at me while I gussied her up in the sweetest outfits and prayed that her hair would grow long enough for more hair accessories!

As you can see, I even got that girl all dolled up in a Kenneth Cole tweed blazer.  Sigh. . . she was beyond adorable. . . 

Note also the matching hair bows - always!

And then things started to change.  Little Miss Agreeable suddenly had a penchant for crazy ball caps and pants that were too small for her.  Not to mention that she started to refuse to wear socks. . . 

I'd manage to pull together a cute outfit for her, and she always wanted some crazy accessory.

Ah, here she is, back on track.  Not smiling though.

Blissfully, she was still mostly unaware of what went on her body.  She was perfectly happy in this outfit because it "had a doggy on it;"  I was happy because it all coordinated.

Awwww.......

At an outdoor wedding......

Being cute and adorable.

But now, things have changed.  Matching outfits are pretty much reserved for Sunday church only.  On any given day during the week, you will find Gabi happily attired in a rainbow of colors.  Bright shirts, even more colorful skirts, and rainbow tennis shoes are in residence in her closet.  No hair bow or three crazy non-matching ones is the norm now, and the wilder the colors, the better!  The hubby and I were at a consignment sale last weekend, and I found this Barbie raincoat that I knew she would love:

She has been basically living in that coat since we got it.  She's bright;  she's bold.  She's definitely an attention-getter wherever we go.

And I smile, remembering not so long ago when another little girl wore neon colors and "did her own hair", happily making her own fashion statement.  I'm not about to take that joy away from my sweet little girl, and if wearing the same rainbow tie-dyed shirt every week makes her happy, so be it.