May is always so busy at school.  Tomorrow we’re taking our chapter of the NHS to work at the Million Smiles playground build.  It’s going to be tons of fun, but it has taken tons of work to put it together.  This Friday night is JSB…yep, I’m on that committee, too.  I can’t wait until JSB is over so I can focus on pulling the NHS banquet and fine arts outing together   Not to mention the tests I’ve given and the papers I’m collecting…I’m taking three grading days before the end of May.

I’m so ready for summer.

Peyton also talks often of Summer…when Gramma and Papa and Uncle Tyler will come visit us, when Mommy will be home every day, when berries are in season and available (and safe) for purchase on every corner…basically anything that Peyton considers Good is to him associated with Summer.

Why do extroverted children happen to introverted parents?

I’m kind of starting to think that it might be possible that Peyton could perhaps be an extrovert. 

Whether he’s extroverted or completely NOT SHY, he’s embarrassing, but we’re working on it.  Every time we cross paths with anyone or anything that draws breath, Peyton says “Hello!” or “Mommy, what’s ‘is name?” or “Mommy, where’s ‘e going?” or “Look, Mommy, my friend!”  For example, today we were playing at the park and he started pestering some fifth grader -

“What’s yer name?”

“Daniel.”

“My name is Peyton.  Are you Daniel in the Lion’s den?”

“No.”

“Mommy, his name is Daniel in the Lion’s den!”

On the way back from the park, I heard a few teenagers cursing at each other from their razor scooters.  Peyton pulled near them on his super-cool big wheel and called out, “Hello!  Where are you going?”

More embarrassing are his disscussions about other people when they are less than five feet away.  “Mommy, what is that guy drinking?”  Guy looks at Mommy.  “I don’t know; why don’t you ask him?”  Sometimes Peyton does get shy after that; other times he’ll ask the question. 

I suppose it could be worse – “Mommy, why does that lady have ugly hair?”  “Mommy, that guy said stupid.”  “Mommy, that guy is making a bad choice.”  “Mommy, that lady is stinky,” or “Hi, that’s a really ugly dress” or “You tooted!!!!”  I suppose we’ll count our blessings now and pray that it doesn’t come to supergluing his lips shut when we have to go out into public.

Family and Friends, make sure you check out our Guitar Hero post from a few days ago.

Naptime was a HUGE challenge for us once Peyton learned how to (a) keep himself awake and (b) climb out of his crib.  He didn’t want to nap anymore, but he always got grouchy and tired in the evening.  He needed naptime, and WE needed naptime!  What will I do without it?  Many people were telling me that he didn’t need naps anymore, but after teaching pre-school, where all kids, whether aged 2 or 5, were required to at least lie still for 1 1/2 hours each day, I knew he could do it.  Also, we weren’t sure what was going to happen this past 06-07 school year since we didn’t know if James would be able to stay home while I was teaching, as we had been doing for several years.  I knew he needed naps, I didn’t want Peyton to cause trouble during pre-school naptime, and I needed him to nap, so we “pressed on toward the goal,” to take Philipians 3 way out of context. 

And after today, I am reminded of how glad I am that we did stick with naptime.  Today Daddy had to be at work earlier than usual, so Peyton only napped for an hour today.  When I picked him up from the sitter three hours later, he was tired, cranky, and ready for bed.  We made a quick stop at the grocery store and he cried the whole time “I’m tired!  I’m tired!” 

So how did we do it?  Routine and blackout shades.  We eat, we read a book, we pray, we sing a song, then we shut the door and he goes to sleep.  We bought blackout fabric from JoAnn’s fabrics and the clip-style drapery rings from Target for a no-sew insta-dark bedroom.  At our old house I sewed a decorative curtain that hung in front of the plain white blackout curtain, but I left my sewing machine in California, and when I got a new one I broke it with super-heavy-duty bobbin thread, so a more decorate curtain is still in the works. 

What about when he fights?  Don’t give up!  The dark room and the routine remind him it’s time for nap, so he isn’t shocked when the door closes.  He did fight with all of his 28 pounds until he realized we weren’t giving up, so he eventually gave in.  It was a huge struggle for a while, but thanks to Nanny 911 or SuperNanny, most days he ended up falling asleep after being put back into his bed the 20 times that he’d come out.  Spanking would just escalate a situation that we were trying to calm down, so we just calmly, silently put him back in his bed every time he came out.  Eventually he quit coming out.  Another tactic that helped to wean him from being rocked or held to sleep (I know!  What were we thinking!) was sitting a little bit farther from him every night until I was in the doorway, then the door half closed, and then we were free. 

Now that we’ve put in the hours to make naptime successful we can enjoy the benefits.  Daddy handles naptime during the week while Mommy’s teaching, and Mommy handles bedtime in the evenings and nap on the weekends, and both truly appreciate the time to rest, read, grade, or clean, not to mention the happy little face that lasts the rest of the afternoon until 8:00 bedtime.  Also, his babysitters love him because he’s so complicit during bed and naptime, so they never have to fight him to go to sleep.

Holding onto naps through the terrible twos TOTALLY works for me!  For more Works for me Wednesday tips, visit Rocks in My Dryer!

Two Sidenotes – Here’s a pic of Peyton when one night he ventured forth from the bedroom after the hour of sleep time.  He dared not make his non-sleeping presence known to Mother and Father, and thus fell into his rest.  Amen.

Note #2: Family and friends should check the previous post so our church can enjoy properly tuned guitar music (church’s guitar falls out of tune between each song).

Hi, All – we’ve recently mailed out the following letter to some of our friends and family – if you wanna help, leave a comment or email us at djogle@yahoo.com and we’ll send you our address or a Paypal invoice or whatever will work best for you.

———– 

Hey, how is everyone doing?  Living in Washington has been awesome – it’s almost been a year seen we moved up here, and I still have no complaints (besides the snow!). We  got plugged into a local church and they have made us feel like family. Thanks to Laura’s Aunt, the Worship leader here found out that I play guitar and asked if I would help out on the Sunday morning praise team. I had been praying that God would use me and I know this is where He wants me to be.  

So here’s where you come in: I need a new guitar and I would hope that you would like to help me out.  I’m not asking for a lot, maybe just 10 or 20 dollars. Just think, with 20 dollars you could be helping people get to know the Lord. Pray about it, and if the Lord leads you to help out that would be great! If you do want to give and you know how to use computers, then you could write me an email and I can send you a Paypal invoice, or you could do it the old fashion way and write a check.

Guitars are a big purchase when one is saving up alone, but if we all pitch in, it will be a huge help to me as I try to help out with the Lord’s work.

Thanks so much!

James

djogle7@yahoo.com

We had an ant farm in our house.  It seems to be taking care of itself since I started using cornmeal instead of cornstarch.  There are still a few stragglers alive, but another day or two and they, too, will go the way of the buffalo.

Peyton and I noticed something else this afternoon, though, while we were gardening the strip of dirt along the street.  In color, it looked like a pile of overturned dirt , but apparently I need to get my eyes checked.  Something was strange about the pile, so I looked closer and found one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever seen before.  If our previous puny pile was considered a farm, then I stumbled upon “Antropolis,” also known as “A whole bunch a ants” according to Peyton.  I couldn’t figure out if they were eating eachother or the bark they were swarming on, I just knew I could come up with a thousand better ways to die than death by ants.  I should have scooped them up and sent them to Hollywood for use in the next disgusting horror film. 

With a shovel I pushed the dirt around a bit to see if they were eating something, but I didn’t notice anything unusual.  They looked hungry and I didn’t want to be a poor hostess, since they were in my dirt and all, so I brought out a special snack for them.  Hopefully they aren’t too hungry…I’m almost out of cornmeal.

It’s Works for me Wednesday at Rocks in My Dryer - this week’s episode:  The grocery game.

I played the Grocery game for a year before we moved from CA up to WA; when we moved I quit for a while because…I don’t know – maybe I like the punishment of paying a lot of money for groceries?  I started saving my coupons from the paper a few months ago, and last week I started playing the game again!  I did have a 10% off coupon for starting up a club card at Safeway, but combine that with my coupons and I saved 52%, plus I earned a $10 off my next visit coupon by buying $30 worth of “Living Well, Feeling Great” products, from cleaner to soap to lunchmeat to pasta sauce…you name it, it’s on the list. 

Grocery Game costs $1/week, plus the money you’ll spend on Sunday papers if you don’t already get the paper and coupons.  I use an accordion file, stick each week’s coupons in a separate slot, and when I check Teri’s shopping list for the week, it tells me what is at its lowest price and where I can find a coupon to get it for even cheaper. 

Not only do you save money, but shopping is so much more fun when it’s a game!  It works for me!

Make sure you remember Heather today! 

Go now!  Donate!  Pray!  Give!  Buy!  This link will describe who Heather is, why she needs us, and at the bottom, there’s a link to donate as little as a dollar or as much as you like, and it’s all in a completely safe Paypal atmosphere.

My Mary Kay store is also open 24/7 for internet shopping- stock up now, while 40% of sales go to helping Heather get to the Mayo clinic. 

  I’m jumping on the rally-wagon for Heather (not my cousin – don’t be confused!), who could definitely use some help.  She and her family have been through so much (click the links on Heather’s site to learn about their daughter, Emma Grace), and now she’s got a brain tumor.  Click over to BooMama’s to learn more about what she’s trying to do for Heather and her family, and for more information on Heather as well.  To summarize for you – BooMama is organizing an offering for Heather’s family to help them pay for their trip to the Mayo clinic. 

How can you help? 

1) Pray for Heather and her family.  God can do anything, whether it’s bringing comfort and peace, or healing.

2)  Give of yourself on April 18th (the minimum donation is only $1.00)

3) Spread the word by adding the “for heather” button to your website and register here to  win a prize , one of which is a $40 gift certificate to my Mary Kay website.  

4)  Buy Mary Kay – I’m donating 40% of any Mary Kay purchases made between now and 8 pm PDT on April 18 - if they extend the length of time that we can give, I’ll extend the deadline.  Now’s the time to stock up, whether you need mascara or Miracle Sets, lip gloss or a whole new look – get your order in so we can bless Heather!  Click here to start shopping at my Mary Kay website (www.marykay.com/lauraogle) or email me with questions at lauraogle@marykay.com.  FYI, shipping is free, and I do accept credit/debit.

Keep Heather and her family in your prayers – she could really use it!

We have an ant farm.  Those little creatures are pretty amazing – Peyton and I could stare at them for hours, watching their movements, discovering their little trails, trying to figure out where they are going to go and why they are going there.  Are they carrying food, or just walking around? 

Why haven’t they discovered the mess under Peyton’s chair on the dining room floor?

Yes, as you may have inferred, a small section of our house has become an ant farm.  We don’t mind so much – we’re waiting for them to die off from a poison that we didn’t really give them. 

You may have noticed my Works for Me Wednesday posts, and you may have even clicked the link to Shannon’s other WFMW bloggers.  One post I read seemed to solve our ant problem, only I sort of misread it.  I was so excited that we were going to kill off our ants and I could make good use of a WFMW post!  I poured a small pile of cornstarch over the hole our ants had been coming from and watched.  And watched.  And watched.  The pile slowly shrunk as the ants carried it back to the nest.  According to the poster, ants can’t digest it, so they die.  I watched the ants sluggishly climb the wall, then fall off.  I have never seen an ant fall off of something, so I thought our plan was working.  The number of ants also diminished, so I thought all was going according to plan.

For some reason I began to doubt the starch…maybe she had said cornmeal?  I double-checked the original WFMW post.  If my cornstarch is working, it’s a new find.  According to the original post, I was supposed to use cornmeal.  I suppose my middle school science experiment didn’t work very well – perhaps now is the time to make up for it.  I’ll let you know how it turns out.

Peyton has been quite the little daddy this week that we’ve been home together.  He’s constantly concerned for his baby “Dylan,” who, for some unclear reason, seems to have the same name as his babysitter’s new baby.  When Peyton wakes up, he “wakes up” baby Dylan and carries him into our bedroom.  He feeds Dylan at breakfast and washes Dylan’s face and hands afterwards.  He takes Dylan outside with us and tells me to “hold him very carefully” while the little daddy rides his new scooter (new to us – it was $.99 at LC’s thrift store!) or his big wheel.  He puts Dylan into a special bed (blanket on his bookshelf) and reads Dylan a book and sings Dylan a song at nap time, right before I tuck Peyton into bed and read him a book and sing him a song.  Then Peyton reminds me that I “gotta say g’night to baby Dylan!”  So I do, then I sing one more song before I leave and await the awakening.  When Dylan is lost, Peyton grows distressed until we find him, then we celebrate!  Dylan needs hugs and kisses just like Peyton, and Dylan had a birthday today, just like Peyton.  I asked Peyton if he was Dylan’s daddy, and he said “No, I’m Dylan’s big brother.”  He’s going to be a great big brother some day, and in the mean time, baby Dylan is probably the best kept baby doll ever loved by a 3 year old.