the sorted tale of pizza head

a time travel post from 4/07

One day, Pizza Head was fallin' in love with his napkin,

and then he pooh-poohed

 ~to make room for more pitzi, of course~

And there on, 

refused to sit on his bumpus.

Later, that same day,

~with a shiny clean bottom~

Pizza Head watched his Mama replace the screen on their

sliding patio door, wherein he learned to do it himself.

His practice was cut short though, by dreamy thoughts of 

pizza cutting with his new mini pizza cutter.

"mmmmm...pitzi"

After day dreaming, nap time dreaming, and a quick tub time, 

Pizza Head was asked to hang his towel up.

His Mama always hangs his towel in his bedroom closet 

on the diaper bag hooks. 

She was sure that her baby Pizza Head didn't know this, 

but she was hoping to occupy him as she cleaned up from his bath.

Though he came up with his own hook in the closet, 

she was amazed how observant and skillful he was...

Pizza Head had some shaggy mowhawk left in his hair. 

So he went to see Cory, his Mama's hair guy, to get it fixed.

While in the salon, he tried to convince his chauffeur (mama) 

that he needed a new hair product.

She didn't give.

Shaggy Pizza Head was not very happy about all of 

Cory's salon contraptions.

He was particularly against having the clippers used on him!

He offered some terms and conditions 

to which his Mama and Cory agreed. 

Then he had his hair did while sitting on his Mama's lap, 

watching Pocoyo on her lap top, 

eating cereal from his Chucki Cheese snack dish.

Spoiled King Pizza Head landed with no more shaggy, 

in a hair style much like his Daddy's.

Way to go Cory!

Pizza Head loves looking like his Daddy,
and dragging him around the house by his shirt yelling,

"Daddy coming!"

He also loves giggling at his Mama for allowing him 

to sit on her lap to have his hair cut.

Pizza Head loves to get his way.

(a precious repost from the babyzeek.com archives)

Easter 2011

This Easter was really special. 

We began our trip to the cross with an Easter Devotional 
(a sort of easter advent) from Ann. 
Each reading, each day was filled with scripture, 
reflections, and activities to partake in. 
This was a beautiful daily reminder of what we were leading up to. 

I had a bit of an epiphany when I started to wonder why
I've struggled in the past so much with easter baskets, 
colored eggs, bunnies, and hunts... 
when left to plan our Easter myself for the first time ever 
I was allowing these things in without a second thought.  

Not only did I realized this year that Jesus is always here for the celebrating, 
I also learned that when the heart of our holiday is in the Hands of God 
-when we've intentionally made Him the center focus- 
all the fluff becomes icing rather than the threat of becoming the whole cake.
Although we enjoyed the "icing" this year, there was absolutely no confusion. 

I was blessed with the help of a blog I stumbled across 
(by no accident, I am sure). 
Lacy posted some great resources and even created and shared 
a resurrection story craft, which we LOVED.

We used this finished craft for a play we recorded.

We downloaded and read The Very First Easter for free. 

On Friday afternoon you and went to church. 
The service we attended was intended for "Good" Friday, 
to honor the day that Jesus died. 
We all parted in complete silence. 

It was perfect. 

On Saturday, I couldn't help but remember...

Even at the Easter Party with food, games,

and the great candy toss.

I was grateful for the grey and rainy sky.

For the first time in my life, I really felt like I was remembering what He went through during that week, reliving it in a way.

On Sunday, we celebrated! 

The heavy was lifted and the SUN FINALLY CAME OUT!!!

You got an Easter basket from your Daddy and I for the first time.

You and I made this with Daddy in the audience:

Our closest family/friends came over for 

a "bond"fire, 

egg hunt, 

and beautiful Easter dinner. 

I thought two holidays in a row was too good to hope for, but we were so blessed to have them, again. 

And these are the people who God has given us. Who know our lives, inside and out. 

Who we know, back. 

And the love never threatens to stop. 

Unconditional and always true. 

Blessings we hold dear and never take for granted.


Praise God for the Gift of His Life, 
and the Gift of eternal life In Him!

Zeek's Shops

This is from a couple of months ago, but I just pulled it off my camera. So cute! :)

of cats and pigeons

I am hosting an exciting first giveaway at ayesplace.com. 

Click here to check it out and enter to win!

This past week you were pretty sick Monday night through Thursday morning.

You had a terribly soar throat and ran a fever. 

On Wednesday you spiked a 104.5 (gave me a slight heart attack even though I know

they don't recommend bringing you in until nearing 106, at your age).

We were able to break the fever with a cool bath. 

Which, immediately following, I made you an appointment with your Doctor. 

The Doctor tested you for strep and the test was positive.

You were up and driving me crazy by Thursday. 

Now, your Daddy has it. :(

Since I have very little from the week to share here, the following will just

be some highlights from the week before.   

You came up with this silly, crazy idea of turning your stuffed cats into your arms.

You thought this was SO funny. 

EVERYTHING with your cats is SO funny to you!

It was kind of funny, though. 

And of course, Angry Cat looked like "a pigeon without ears".

That is your favorite thing to say about her.

We set up our bird feeders which are taking a beating from Mr. Squirrel.

But I don't have the heart to do anything about it but keep securing the rods

and adding the food to the feeders. 

You think this squirrel is Peanut Butter, from our old house.

And that makes you happier than any old bird ever could.

You watch Peanut Butter II for as long as he will stay. 

I still love to watch you watch him. 

One day you did see a bird on the feeder and you yelled.

"MOM! It's a black capped chickadee!"

All thanks to Gra's bird teachings. :)

You have been sleeping in your room through the nights and RIGHT straight

into the morning PAST the time I wake up. HEAVEN!!! 

(now don't go changing because I mentioned it here. i've been holding off in fear)

One morning I came out of my bedroom and found you sitting at the table

reading this book aloud, with a glass of juice with ice and a straw, 

the muffin jar from the kitchen counter,

and a lemon poppy seed muffin on a plate with a butter knife!

It was the cutest thing ever! 

So individual and self sufficient.

Adorable.

I'll never forget the morning I went down to see how the cats were doing

and you were already down there watching the Mom eat,

keeping her kittens away from her because you felt she should eat in peace.

I watched you watch her wondering how you can find SO much 

joy in just looking at animals... they make you smile and laugh the best!

You looked up at me and said surprised, 

"hey, you know I made sure all the animals ate this morning

and I forgot all about me!" 

Welcome to your first glimpse of parenthood beautiful. 

You are SUCH a good caretaker of all our pets!

Speaking of those rascals... the cat and kittens are doing VERY well.

We've still only named this one.

Boomer.

Because he DOES do the most climbing, 

therefore he does do the most booming.

He is my favorite of the kittens.

I had my work cut out for me this week trying to devise ways to keep 

those ever growing, oh so curious babies from getting out of their aquarium!

Oo, they are crafty fellows!

The Mom cat is SO polite.

She comes upstairs sometimes. 

She is VERY smart. Kind of creepy smart.

Like, somehow she knows not to go in the master bedroom, 

even though she's never gone in there to even be shooed out. 

Did she hear me and your Daddy talking about this rule?

She and Yuki have come to an understanding.

They do sit or walk near one another, 

but the Mom has complete mind control over the pug.

Not ONE indication to the naked eye or ear and that dog is putty! 

It's awesome. 

I do love, and am going to miss that "loco robo-gato"

as you lovingly refer to her as.  

We have had them for 2.5 weeks and we will have the pleasure 

of caring for them for another 2.5.

This week, we will have to take them all in to the shelter for their shots.

Should be fun!

the pleasures of being mommed to death

While I want my son (and his wife and children) to read this someday, 
I'm not going to write this one directly to him.

Preface: I do want to be a parent. I do really really love my son. I'm not being ungrateful. I'm just being honest.

There's this thing he's been doing. I'm sure a lot of kids do it. I remember specifically one other time where he went through the same phase. I remember it being among some of the most difficult times of motherhood for me.

I seriously want to just crawl under something and hide... or maybe lick a window.

If I had to give this phase a name I would call it The Incessant "mom" Stage.

This is where everything he says starts with a quick simple "mom?", which translates in no uncertain terms to:
PAY-COMPLETE-ATTENTION-TO-ME-OR-PAY-THE-PRICE.

I have a girlfriend, Emily, who is a police officer. She and I have been friends for 20+ years. She wishes we lived closer so we could sneak out for Mamas' nights, have bon-fires and smores with reese's peanut butter cups, and get our boys together to play more often...
And while all of that is true and lovely,
today...
I wish we lived closer so I could pay her to drive over here and take my kid away in the back of her squad car.

If I wrote down every current occurrence of this "mom"-ing within an hours time, I'm pretty sure I could convince any female cop to arrest him, or at least take him for a ride to save us both.

The charges:
Adapted Parental Chinese Torture Tactic with Attempt to Drive MOM Clinically Insane

Mom? Can I watch a show?


Mom? What is this?

Mom? You HAVE to see what the cats are doing!

Mom?  Can you come here a minute... something is happening with my arm.

Mom? Where is the pug?

Mom? How do I make this work?

Mom? What day is it?

Mom? Remember that time when...

Mom? What does this say?

Mom? Can I have a popsicle?

no.

Mom? Can I get a popsicle myself?

Mom? I can't set up coins on Touch Cats anymore!

Mom? Can I call Dad?

Mom? Have you ever had a feeling like something was pushing on you, but it wasn't?

Mom? I'm thirsty.

Mom? Did you get the mail yesterday?

Mom? Yesterday means the day before today.

Mom? Can I have my popsicle?

Oh, have mercy on my soul!

I'd change my name if it worked, but I already tried that the last time we went through this. I love the kid. I do.

SOMEBODY SAVE ME

Sarita

As much as I want to be an amazingly original blogger of great documentation, I just can't "re-write" what I've already written someplace else. It's too tedious and unnecessary. So, I'll begin with a little preface, a set up to where this is leading, and then I'm just going to copy and paste from a word document...

Before you were born your Dad and I hosted a foreign exchange student 

named Isabel, from Spain. We really enjoyed having her for a school year 

and still communicate with her six years later. Our experience with Isabel 

was blessed both ways, and we have very fond memories of our time with her.

(Isabel, today)

Back in December, your Dad and I began to discuss hosting a 

Foreign Exchange Student again. We felt like the idea came out of nowhere 

and would not go away (usually a good indicator that God is involved).

When we agreed that we were comfortable to proceed, 

we asked what you thought of the idea. 

You haven't been a fan of adding anyone to our life since...

pretty much the day you could say, "no babies, Mama!" :) 

For this reason we expected you to need a little persuading 

at the idea of bringing another child into this house. 

We were surprised when you accepted it with open arms. 

You were very excited about having a host sister live with us for a school year. 

In the first weeks of our search for an agency we explained to you 

what the journey would look like and the time frame things would work within. 

It is kind of a long process and you are more of a now or never kind of kid 

(I wonder where you got that from?) 

Once we selected the agency, AFS, we were connected with a rep., Kim. 

Then we were able to begin the paperwork. The application was a small book

and only took us a couple of DAYS to fill out. 

We also got to include an essay about our family, friends, life style, 

activities, community, etc... 

as well as photos of every nook and cranny of our home. 

That was the fun part. ;) 

Once accepted we had our back ground checks done and finally 

a one on one meeting and house study. 

Then it was time to wait. 

Our referrals would come in as soon as Kim felt that a student enrolled 

might be a match for our family.

The following is directly out of the word document journal 

that I have been keeping for our student:

March 28, 2011

Today, we received our first referral!!!

Her name is Sarita. We are not allowed to see any photos 
of the students before we decide, so we do not know what 
she looks like. We are only to read a letter from her and one 
from her parent/s. Both letters have given us a good idea 
of what she is like.

She sounds SO sweet. She is 15 years old, a good student 
(top in her class), loves swimming, handball, and tennis. 
She is the middle child of two other siblings. She gets along 
well with them.

Sarita loves her parents and views them as her greatest guides 
and counselors. She writes that she likes to read, 
listen to music and watch movies. She is interested in studying
Biochemistry. She likes fashion and creates her own clothing
(which Greg is very happy about). She also writes that she 
likes to camp because she likes the fresh air.

Her Mother shares that Sarita is very responsible and independent, 
a good sibling friend, and is not only her daughter but also 
her friend.

She has only been away from her home for a four day summer camp
experience and otherwise enjoys spending time at home, 
weekends with extended family visits, etc…

I hate to jump the gun and just say we love her and want her 
being that she is the first student we have looked at… 
but quite frankly, we love her and want her.

We are waiting for a Spanish student who is on hold with another
family. If the family does not choose her then we will have 
a hold placed on her for three days. We will know this before 
our hold on Sarita is expired.

I’m sure the Spanish girl is lovely, however, I would be sad to
lose Sarita right now, so I can’t imagine us choosing the Spanish
student no matter what. We’ll see!!! It’s all so exciting!!

March 30, 2011

Today we received the letters from the Spanish student. 
We read them as more of a formality. We are too in love with Sarita to consider a different student.

After receiving and reading the letters we called Kim to tell 
her she could remove the hold on the Spanish girl and move 
forward in securing Sarita’s placement with us!

We’re very excited. Kim informed us that we will get to 
see our first photos of Sarita and her family when we meet with 
Kim in DePere for an FES gathering on Sunday. 
We can hardly wait! We’re SO grateful!!!

April 3, 2011

Today we were able to look at Sarita’s entire application with photos! 
She is stunningly beautiful, and I assure that is not just 
a host mommy's bias speaking. :)

I loved seeing her handwriting and the notes she made for us 
on her photos. Her family is so sweet. I feel anxious and sad 
for her to have to leave them for so long. On the other hand, 
I’m SO excited that she is coming HERE to live with US!!! 
Whooooo-hooooooo!

Now, we have to wait up to three weeks for the school to receive
her paper work and approve of her placement at the high school 
we chose for her. We are not allowed to use her name or share 
her photos on the internet until we get the invitation to contact her. 
Sarita and her family will not know that a family has chosen her
until the papers are signed, received, and approved of by 
both agencies. It’s hard to think of her NOT KNOWING yet.

Once everything is final we will be allowed to contact her and
begin communicating with her before she arrives in August!!!! 
Too exciting. I need to go jump up and down a little.

As of yesterday everything has been finalized and we have been given 

the go-ahead to contact Sarita and her family. 

We are excited to receive her response!:)

Our Sarita