Grace Like Rain: June 2009

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Slow Week, Perfect for Fishing

Nothing big going on this week for us. It's just a very busy four-day work week. At least the temperature is cooler than it was last week. I think we're in the low to mid 90's this week with some showers this evening.

We got a couple new Wii games last weekend. Our favorite is Rapala's Fishing Frenzy. It's a fishing tournament game. We spent A LOT of time trying to clear some of the levels. One big bummer is that only one person can play at a time. The other person is left to watch and offer encouragement.

Mike is good at picking lures and I'm good at moving them through the water. He gets a big kick out of how I make the frog lures hop across the water from lily pad to lily pad. Mike is good at picking hot fishing locations, but he's a dangerous boat driver. I'm a good boat driver, but I have a hard time finding the fish.

We had a good time trying to figure out how to beat the levels. We got stuck on one of them though. We're supposed to get 10,000 points in 20 minutes and we have not been able to do it yet. We're probably tried it a dozen times between the two of us. I can't wait to try it again.

The Bank Sign

The bank sign read - 104 degrees.

Not fun.

Edited: When I was driving home from work this afternoon, the bank sign read - 112 degrees!

Ouch!

I'm glad I didn't get pulled over by the policeman this afternoon because I would have said "I was driving fast to help the A/C keep up with the sweltering HEAT!" Somehow, I don't think he would have let that one fly.

Emily's Allergy

Poor Emily! For the last four years, she's been an itchy, red girl in the summertime. For the longest time, I didn't know what was causing her face and arms to break out every time we went swimming. Eventually, I figured out that she was having a reaction to the sunscreen.

I tried lots of different kinds of sunscreen products. Most of them said they were for sensitive skin, but she would still break out and her face would get very red and itchy.

Several weeks ago, Emily's preschool had a "Water Fun Day". The teachers asked that we put her swimsuit and sunscreen on before she got to school so that they would have an easier time getting the kids outside to the water play area later in the day. I had bought a new "sensitive skin" sunscreen and Nanny put that on her before she went to school. Emily was fine all day until they went outside to play. Then her face turned bright red and she started complaining that it was itching. By the time she got home, her face and arms were red hot and painful.

I did a little research online and found that some sunscreen allergies only react when you're out in the sun. It's not the sunscreen sitting on the skin that is the problem. It's when the ingredients in the sunscreen are activated by the sun.

Another thing I learned is that there are two general types of sunscreens - chemical blockers and physical blockers. Chemical blockers work by soaking into your skin and breaking down the sun's harmful rays. Physical blockers sit on top of the skin and reflect the sun's rays. Physical blockers are generally more gentle than chemical blockers.

So I went to sunscreen aisle at Wal-mart and read the labels on all the products that they had. I finally found one that contained only physical blockers. It's made by Neutrogena and contains titanium dioxide and zinc oxide.

Finally! Something that worked for us! I put this on Emily the other week when we were at Tyler's birthday party. She stayed out in the sun for quite a while, but experienced no itching or redness. Now I'm looking forward to a fun summer in the sun.

Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter Update - 2 months

It's been about two months since Emily and I planted our Topsy Turvy Tomato Planter.

We water the tomato plant every day or two now and we fertilize with Miracle Gro about every week or two. The plant is growing, but it's not as big as I thought it would be at this point. I think it looks a bit unhealthy too. Sometimes I find yellow or brown leaves on it.

My mother-in-law says that she pours coffee or coke on her plants every day. Maybe I should try this?

Day One

Day 39

Day 52

So what do you think? Have you tried anything on your tomato plants that seemed to work?

Happy Father's Day - Dad's Great Advice

Happy Father's Day to the three fathers in my life. This year I get to celebrate with two out of the three and I will miss the third one (my dad) very much!

To Mike, my husband - Honey, thank you for being an awesome father to Emily! She loves you so much and you are so good with her. I love to watch you reading stories to her. She really responds to your style and she learns the stories so well. You are always the first one to get down on the floor with her to play Barbies or CandyLand. Happy Father's Day from me and Emily.

To Joe, my dad - Happy Father's Day, Dad! I can't wait until you are retired so that we will get to see you more often. We're excited about coming down to visit in a few weeks. I hope you have a great Father's Day.

To Gary, my father-in-law - Happy Father's Day! Thank you for raising a wonderful son. You do so much for our family and for that we will always be grateful. Hope you have a nice (and restful) Father's Day.

Dad's Great Advice
It seems like dads always give such great advice. You hear everything from car repair advice to marriage advice. Here are a few of my favorite pieces of fatherly advice:

"righty-tighty, lefty-loosey" to help us remember which way to turn a screw
"Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime."
"Keep your eye on the ball."
"Turn off the lights when you leave a room."
And make sure you know how to change a flat tire. You never know when you'll need to do it.

Now it's your turn. What advice did your dad give you? Post a comment and let us all in on the great advice.

Our New Addition

Goodbye 19 inches

Hello 57 inches

(sorry about the glare on the screen)

This week, we got this big new TV from Mike's parents. Theirs was replaced under warranty and the MFG did not want the old one back. Turns out it would cost more to fix it than to replace it. It has a tiny imperfection in the screen, but that's okay with us. We're very grateful to have it. Thank you Nanny and Pops!

Last weekend, Mike and Emily and I went to several stores looking for a TV stand/hutch for it. I really want a hutch so that I can have a place for my knick knacks, but it does not look like that is going to happen. It was very hard to find something that the TV would fit in AND that would fit in our space. I think I have finally resigned myself to picking out a stand instead of a hutch although we will probably wait a while until we go back and pick one out.

I want to re-do the decorations in my living room anyway so maybe I will incorporate some wall shelves/ledges into the room. Mike has offered to get me a cabinet or curio for my decorative pieces, but I don't know if I want to give up the floor space for something like that. I definitely need a place to put up some pictures and some of my other pretties though. My Mom and my sister Heather are my shopping buddies so I'll have to invite them up/over soon.

This weekend, we're supposed to get our HD receiver installed by our satellite provider. Mike tried to sell me on the deal by telling me that I would be able to watch Big Brother in HD this summer. Sorry, but I saw right through that little gig. ha!

I will be excited to try out the Wii on the big television. It was quite hard to see what was going on with that very small TV. Obviously, most Wii games were made for bigger screens. And I think I have said it, but I will said it again ... I would really like it if someone would make a Wii Step (Step Aerobics) game/workout. Call me crazy, but I think step aerobics is a lot of fun. Okay, and it's good for you too!

Spectacular Summer Showing

Emily and I have been busy with our nightly gardening chores.

Emily will often go outside with me to "help".

But sometimes she prefers to hang out inside and watch "Phineas and Ferb" ...

Or "Zack and Cody".

When she comes out with me, I spend a lot of time telling her the names of all the plants ... such as these lovely "Little Grapette" daylilys.

And we talk about how some of the flowers are different than the others ..

Different colors ...

Different shapes ...

Different sizes ...

Different "visitors"

As you can see, we have LOTS of work to do in the evenings.

But it is SO worth it

To be outside enjoying the sunshine ...

Warmth ...

And God's beautiful creations.

Thank you, God, for all the beautiful flowers that You made for us to enjoy. Thank you for giving me a perfect hobby to share with my wonderful daughter. Please show me opportunities to teach her more about You.

In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

Diet Coke Floats

After the birthday party last weekend, we had a big cooler of cokes (remember, I'm from Arkansas and it's always coke no matter what variety it may be) and bottled waters left over.

Did you notice anything in the picture? Well, I sure did! All the diet coke products (Diet Coke, Diet 7-up) were floating and the regular cokes (Pepsi, Dr. Pepper) were sunk to the bottom of the cooler.

Why does Diet Coke float?

Well, the answer to this question is related to density and water displacement. Density is the relationship of an object's mass to its volume. (Is it heavy or light? Big or small?) Water displacement describes how an object pushes aside a liquid when it's placed into the liquid. An object that is more dense will push aside more liquid and the object will sink. An object that is less dense will push aside less liquid and the object will float.

The regular coke contains ingredients that are more dense ... like sugar. The diet coke contains ingredients that are less dense ... like artificial sweetners. This is why regular coke sinks and diet coke floats.

Now you know.

Berry Good

Last night when we got home, Emily and I went to check on all of our flowers. One of the "flowers" that we planted last year actually turned out to be a strawberry plant. I knew the plant looked familiar, but I couldn't place it at the time. I believe the plant tag said something about a geranium, but I knew what it was the instant I planted it.

So last night, we noticed that one of the stawberries was getting ripe and we decided to go ahead and pick it before the yard bunnies got it.

Emily was so excited. She picked it herself and we took it inside and washed it.

Then she ate it in tiny little bites.

All the way down to the stem. Nothing left but the green stem.

I don't like strawberries. At all. But I tried it anyway and I didn't think it was very sweet. Honestly, I'm not exactly sure if strawberries are supposed to be sweet or not. I can't get past all the little seeds.

Poor little Stephanie was a dirty girl. (Somehow) I convinced Emily to help me give her a bath today after lunch. Well, convincing her to help me with the bath was not hard. Convincing her to leave Stephanie in the tub while Emily went to take a nap was the hard part. In case you wanna know, I used Tide laundry detergent and Oxyclean and a lot of elbow grease.

And then after Emily got in bed for her nap, I put Stephanie in the washing machine with a load of bed sheets. And then after she was done spinning in the washer, I put her in the dryer on low. But she was making too much of a racket thumping around in there so I took her out and wrapped her in a towel.

When Emily got up from her nap, she immediately went to the sink to look for Stephanie. She was a little concerned about why I took her out of the bath and I said I took her out because she was crying. Why? Because she was not expecting her mama to take such a long nap.

Sweeter

Tonight, we were driving in the car and listening to Emily's current favorite song - Sweeter (aka Every Day with You Lord). Not familiar with that song? Here's a video.

Then after the song was over, Mike and Emily started making up their own silly verses and lauuuuuuuughing.

"Every day, every day with Stephanie ... Every day, Stephanie drinks a bottle!"

"Every day, every day with Stephanie ... Every day, Stephanie plays with Barbies!"

"Every day, every day with Stephanie ... Every day, Stephanie takes a shower!"

And on .. and on ... and on .. and on :)

Oh, to be four and imaginitive and silly!

Did you hear that Six Flags filed for bankruptcy?

Six Flags is such an icon in the theme park world. What does it mean that they filed for bankruptcy? Will all the Six Flags theme parks shut down?

I sure hope not. That would really be a big loss in the entertainment industry.

Ride, Baby, Ride!

Last week for Emily's birthday, she received a bicycle from her Nanny and Pops. Pops put it together for her and she was ready to ride.

Now ... a couple years ago, she got a tricycle for her birthday but she never really got the hang of how to pedal the thing. I know that part of the problem was the tricycle itself. It was one of those with the push handle for the parents, but that made the pedals turn backward very easily.

So I was sorta expecting her to have a difficult time with the bike. But that was not to be. She hopped on and was off and going in no time.

She and Madison love to ride around the neighborhood. "Only on the sidewalk, not on the street!"

Cruising Together

On Sunday, we went downtown to ride the Water Taxis on the Oklahoma City Bricktown Canal. We were the first customers at the water taxi stand and so we got a boat all to ourselves. Well, except for the driver/tour guide, of course.

One of a long group of bronze statues depicting the land run .. the boomers and the sooners.

Carter liked the boat ride too.

Largest waterfall in Oklahoma City ... or was it in Oklahoma? And the second largest waterfall is also on the Bricktown Canal.

The Devon Energy Mosaic .. thousands of little tiles

Emily and Grandmother checking out the sights

Heather caught me trying to take her picture

The fam

After we looked around Bricktown for a bit, we checked out Bass Pro Shop before we headed to lunch at Texas Roadhouse. I ordered a sirloin and loaded sweet potato ... caramel sauce and toasted marshmallows. Ohhh yum!

Then after a little more playing and a short nap for the littlest kid, everyone was on their way back home. And we were on our way to a nice long nap.

It was a busy weekend, but very fun. And now it's over ... at least until next year.

Party Like You're Four!

After Emily's party on Saturday, we loaded up and headed out to our house with some of our family.

We got out the Power Wheels and rode around for a while.

We played on the swing set.

We ate some sand.

We ate some sloppy joes, baked beans, chips and dip, fruit, cookies, cake and more! Mike's Mom and Dad came over to hang out with us for a while. His mom brought a lot of goodies for us and even made some chocolate dipped strawberries. Yum! Thank you SO much, Wanda!