New Toys for Maddox

Maddox has some new toys he has come in contact with. He got a trike from Grandma and Grandpa Sneck. At first he just loved to push it around, but now he likes to ride it and steer. He will steer from one end of the house to the other and often steers around the parking lot outside. He loves it, but he especially loved the box the trike came it. That was the best. I am sad I didn't get any pictures of him playing in it, but he would go in and hide and then come out and we would chase him around. It was a blast.

Maddox also loves to stir. He is obsessed with my kitchen spoons and whenever I am in the kitchen, he wants to be up on the counter stirring or watching whatever I am doing. If anyone ever needs to buy me a present someday, I am in need of more wooden spoons! They are quickly disappearing...maybe someday I will find his stash.

Maddox loves boxes right now. Any box at all. He tries to climb in them and put things in them. Here is Jeff climbing out of the giant trike box. Maddox also liked when he would go in there and then bust out and chase after him.
Maddox loves computers, especially Brian's laptop. He frequents the power button. Seriously, whoever invented computers should NOT have invented computer power buttons with pretty lights! That just shouts push me to a kid!
This in one of my favorite looks Maddox does. He loves the couch and loves to climb on it and jump. Then he will just sit there with this smug look on his face like, "I am the king of the world."

And he is the king of his world...and ours too. He loves the light switches and has learned which one turns on the fan. If you are ever at out house, please remember to bring a jacket because the fan is always going. If I turn it off, Maddox climbs back up onto the couch and turns it back on. He also loves to touch the fan blades (when it is off, of course!).The following pictures show Maddox's obsession with toilet paper. He loves to tear off pieces and distribute it throughout the house. He recently found a new use for toilet paper as a fashion statement. He would drape it around his neck and run around the house with it.
The bike pump. This toy it amazing! Every kid should have one. As you can tell, it gives them a workout and tires them out for a good nap later AND it entertains them!

Notice none of these new toys are really toys...

Phone in the toilet

This morning Maddox decided to drop my cell phone in the toilet. Never before have I put my hand in the toilet, but this time I didn't even think twice about putting my hand and wrist in it. I grabbed that thing out as quickly as I could, trying not to puke at the thought of what I just did. My quick action still didn't save my phone though. I am still crossing my fingers that it will dry out and work again, but so far it is a no go.

P.S. This means I have no phone and I am not sure when I will. It also means I lost all my phone numbers, again, so please email me your number or call or text my phone and leave a message. I will get them someday!

The best punishment ever!

Having my 19-year-old brother live with us has been interesting for all of us, probably most interesting for Brian. We have never "raised" a teenager and are still working out the kinks in our relationship and the "rules" of the house.

For example, now that Brian has a job and a few friends here, once in awhile he will go out to do something. This Friday he went out to see a movie with some friends. We had previously worked out the agreement that Brian would be home by midnight and call us if that was not going to happen. So there it was, two minutes before midnight and still no Brian. Jeff and I were sitting there fuming and deliberating about how we were going to "punish" him. My idea was for every minute he is late is a day he is grounded. Jeff thought that was a bit harsh. He thought we should take away the Wii or his laptop. I thought that would not work because then I have to entertain him throughout the day and I am just too tired and busy to do that. So we agreed that we would let Brian decide.

At exactly 12:00 midnight, Brian calls to tell us he is on his way home and should be there is ten minutes but had to drop someone off. During that ten minutes, Jeff and I fell asleep and I mean ASLEEP! I woke up around 4:30 a.m. and went into check on Brian and Maddox only to find Brian wasn't there. His bed was still a heap clean clothes that were waiting to be thrown onto the floor. To put it lightly, I was livid. I stormed back into my room and woke up Jeff and told him that I was going out to find him. As a side note, Brian has no phone out here. He just uses his friend's phones, so I could not just call him and get a hold of him.

As I got ready to go out into the freezing cold, I thought I should probably pray because something could actually be wrong with him. I knelt down and very un-humbly offerred a prayer that he would be okay and that I wouldn't kill him if he was still alive when I found him. I asked that I would know where to go.

I walked out to my car and had the impression that I should drive around the apartment parking lot. I was planning on driving over to his friend's houses, so a short detour around the parking lot shouldn't take long. I drove around and didn't see him. Then I had the thought to drive around again and look over in the back near the dumpsters, which I had previously just driven by quickly because it is dark and scary over there. Sure enough, his car was parked over near them. I drove over and peeked through the window. Brian was sitting in the driver's seat sleeping. He woke up and then I found out that he had gotten home and realized he forgot his house key inside the apartment. He knocked long and loud for nearly 45 minutes to no avail. The neighbors finally woke up and came out and he felt like an idiot and was getting cold so he just decided to sleep in his car. Well, apparently Jeff and I were out cold and there was no waking either of us. As we walked back in, we couldn't help but laugh and I realized that this was the best punishment ever...on accident!

A couple of firsts

Can I just say that I LOVE BEANS!!! After a year of being on this special diet to help me control a health issue and not having ANY complex carbs (yes, that means no bread, rice, sugar, or grain-based anything), yesterday was the first day I go to eat something that was filling...beans! I was in heaven and am in heaven still today. I actually look forward to eating! I made this delicious white bean chili. It was amazing!

Another first I experienced was forgetting about daylight savings time. No one in my little world even mentioned it to me, so this morning Jeff and I were getting ready for our 9 am church. At about 8:20 Brian, my brother, reminded us it was day light savings time. We both felt bad and hurried our way to church.

As we drove over a little hill we saw the church parking lot full. I told Jeff, "I guess we are the only people who forgot about day light savings time." We then drove into the parking lot and saw some familiar faces. Doug (Jeff's brother), Roz and the rest of the family had just pulled into the parking lot too. It looks like Day light saving got the best of all the Birds here in Lexington.

Jumping