Beth, what do you do all day?

1. Remove Silas from top of dishwasher door.

2. Hold my breath as Silas climbs on top and over stool, nearly breaking his neck (he's on the way down in this pic).

3. Have a panic attack when I realize that Silas is climbing on shelving.

4. Attemp household chores while Silas tries his best to climb my leg

5. And last but not least, make sure nothing dangerous is in the way when Silas attemps his newest skill- STANDING ON HIS OWN!

Any quesions?? *smile*

Breakfast with Silas

Hope you enjoy this little video of Silas and I's breakfast time this morning. You'll notice he's quite skilled at feeding himself finger foods. You'll also notice that he's learning how to wave bye-bye.

He's growing so fast!

P.S. Please ignore the overflowing trash can in the background! Its since been taken to the dumpster!

Hope you're as inspired as I was...

Song for a Fifth Child

by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

(written in 1958)

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,

Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,

Hang out the washing, make up the bed,

Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,

Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due

Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew

And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo

But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo

Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?

Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow

But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!

I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

P.S. If you haven't read about Silas' 8 month birthday, keep reading... =)

Happy 8 Months, Silas!

Well, the 20th has rolled around again, which means that my little pumpkin is yet ANOTHER month old! When did the time start flying by so fast?! It's been amazing to see Silas grow and develop over the past 8 months. These days, each new day brings a new skill or a new funny face or a new awareness, and the list goes on. I wouldn't trade anything for the opportunity that the Lord has given me to be with Silas everyday watching him grow and learn. Praise you, Jesus, for Your mercy and grace!

So, I asked Silas to write a little something about his 8 Month Birthday for the blog...

Dear Mama's blog readers,
Today was a great day. In fact, my Mama would call it a BEST day. Papa took the day off and we spent the whole day together as a family. When I got up (after a FULL night's sleep, which I'm getting better at!) I went to Mama and Papa's room to play in their big bed. They always let me play in their bed in the morning. It is our special time. After we played upstairs for about an hour we came downstairs to eat breakfast and to do some more playing. Mama opened up all the windows and let the fresh cool air fill the house. It felt so good. My breakfast was fruit and bread. I prefer eating with my fingers so Mama is finding creative ways to feed me. This morning she put applesauce on lightly toasted bread and broke it up into big pieces so that I could feed myself. I really enjoyed that meal, and I hope Mama makes it again. After breakfast I played on the floor with Mama and Papa.  We read books, played pee-a-boo, and played with my toys. My nap was a little later than usual, but we were having so much fun together as a family that I didn't want to sleep. I finally took a nap though- a 2 1/2 hour one. Mama was proud. After my nap we decided to have a late lunch at Olive Garden. I enjoy going to restaurants a little more now than I did when I was a tiny baby. We had a really fun time today. Here are some pictures from our lunch at Olive Garden...

I like chewing on straws

I think Papa does to

We had a straw fight

This is what I had to eat... peaches (from Mama and Papa's peach tea), breadsticks (only the soft inside though, not the salty outside), and my new favorite food-Little Puffs that disolve in my mouth). Most of the food made it into my mouth, but there were a few leftovers on the floor. Mama told Papa that my pincer grasp is developing really well. I think that means that I'm good at picking things up between by forefinger and thumb. Mama also said that she thinks she feels some teeth coming in. I wonder what it will feel like to have teeth?

I wanted dessert, but Mama and Papa didn't let me have any sugar. It looked like they really enjoyed the Zeppoli though. I can't wait to try that some day.

Here's Mama enjoying dessert and coffee.

Here's my family. I love spending time with them.

We had SUCH a fun day. In fact, all the fun wore me out. On the way home I fell asleep so hard that Mama and Papa could hear my little snores from the front seat. I didn't even wake up when they brought me into the house. I took a nice little afternoon nap in my car seat. Mama was scared to wake me.

Tonight I spent time with Papa while Mama went to Bible study. She really likes her Bible study. She always sings to me about Jesus. Do you know that He made me and loves me? I am glad that Mama and Papa teach me about Jesus even though I don't really understand everything right now.

Well, I hope you enjoyed hearing about my day! It's so fun being 8 months old!

~Silas

Japanese Birthday Celebration

I celebrated my 28th birthday yesterday, and it could not have been a more perfect day. Hot breakfast, bouquet of flowers, and homemade birthday card delivered to me by my wonderful husband and son in the morning... beautiful weather in the afternoon (thank you, Jesus!)... lunch with my mom, Silas, and a friend... shopping! (thanks for the gift card, Mom and Dad! I used up every last penny :-)... and finally, delicious dinner, an evening game of putt-putt golf, and latenight Starbucks with friends... aaahhhh, great day!

 The highlight was definitely my Japanese Birthday Celebration though. I decided I wanted to have dinner at Ichiban (pronounced "itchy-bon") Japanese Steakhouse. It's new to our area and everyone's been giving it rave reviews. It was our first time there, and, for the record, it was every bit as good as I had been told it would be.

Well, not long after the waiter was informed that it was my birthday, I heard the sounds of a marching band making their way to our table...

First they put this birthday hat on me and took my picture (this is the original, by the way)....

Then they lit my Japaneses Birthday cake, which consisted of a pineapple boat topped with an orange...

 All the while the drums and clapping and singing had all eyes on us...

There I am standing and clapping (as they had encouraged me to do) as the "band" sang the Japanese version of Happy Birthday... too bad they didn't let me keep that cool hat, huh? (Haha)

And here's the group that made it all possible!

Thanks, wonderful friends, for a great night of celebration!

P.S. After 28 years, I'm still not good at putt-putt golf, but Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks makes it all better!

Thrifty Thursday

Oooh, Treasure Chest, how I love thee. Thou providest me with thrifty treasures that makest my heart happy. Are there any other thrifters out there?? I'm definitely a thrift store junkie. I see treasures in your trash! The Treasure Chest is a local thrift store that I've been visiting at LEAST weekly. They have lots of treasures inside, and when the weather is nice they put some of the treasures outside so you can see them when you pass by. I always drive about 3 mph when I pass by to check out the goodies. Well, today on my way past I spotted this:

Isn't it cute? And the cool part is that it turns into this:

Now that Silas is starting to scale things, I figured this would be a great way to start practicing steps with him. So I picked this up along with the Baby Mozart tape all for $3! Yes, $3! I figure, babies grow out of things so quickly, why spend a ton on brand new toys? I'm really excited about my thrifty Thursday deal! Other things I've gotten there are a filing cabinet, a set of dishes, and a Little Tikes swing for Silas. It's truly a Treasure Chest!

What's your favorite thrift store find??

Back By Popular Demand

Several family members have requested at least weekly videos of Silas, and perhaps got a little fearful when the blog took a more serious turn recently (aka "The Best Days" post with NO pictures of Silas.. *GASP*.. hehe) Well, I'd like to put everyone's mind at ease. Silas is still the star of this blog.. haha. In fact, he motivates me to live in the BEST days everyday because he's watching every move I make and he's learning from me what is means to be godly and content. Such a huge responsibility and a great motivation to deepen my relationship with God. So, with no further delay, he's little Si muffin gettin' his praise on... 


What can I say? The boy loves praise music!