2009: Not the year of the blog

2009 was not a good year for blogging for me. Yet, it was still a wonderful year! So many great moments and memories in our family, which got me thinking: what are the best moments of this past year?

So here we are (in no particular order): The Top 10 Delaney family moments/memories of 2009...

10. Getting Netflix. Yep. I love good movies, and watching a good movie with Dan is always good time for cuddling.

9. The SC Children's Museum. One of the coolest places in SC, hands down.





8. Emma turning 4 and Ethan turning 1. Every birthday each child has is such a special reminder of the wonderful gifts God has given us.


7. Summer Dreams. Working with 5 teenage interns for a summer and having fun at church two days a week was AWESOME!
6. The DC trip with the interns. Ethan may not have done too well with the travelling, but DC is fun any time of the year.


5. Starting homeschool. Emma is a sponge who loves learning, so she has been the greatest little student.


4. Couponing. Who knew saving money could be so much fun? But we have enjoying the fruits of this labor!


3. Baking Christmas cookies. Emma and I have so much fun baking, and Dan and Ethan have so much fun eating. It's a win-win situation, really.

2. Finding our place at the Dream Center. That is one AWESOME place!

1. DC Trip #2. Five days on the road with the family and so many wonderful memories... stopping at rest stops for food/playtime... going to the zoo when it was 35 degrees outside... drinking cider on the couch and enjoying the Food Network... chasing Ethan up the steps about 50 times... Wouldn't trade any of it for the world.

Before and After...

I love 'before & after' posts/pictures...love seeing the way people can redesign frugally and creatively...love freshening up a space and feeling like it's a whole new space.

I guess we're in 'before & after' mode at the Delaney house. As some of you saw on FB, we're selling lots of stuff on Craigslist...some of it to just get rid of stuff (a little stuffitis sets in occasionally, and we always regret it later) and some of it to simplify and freshen up the look of our house.

It's a long process--selling, rearranging what we have, patching holes/scuffs, repainting where need be, etc, etc--but I cannot wait for the end result.

I'm sure everyone's waiting on baited breath for the 'after'. And I am learning a major lesson in patience :)

Tips on getting married...from a four-year-old

On Monday Emma and Dan looked through our wedding album. Emma was intrigued with the pretty dresses and seeing her family in pictures. After she was done, though, we had this great conversation:

Emma: I'm gonna get married when I'm a grown up.
Me: Really? What are you going to do when you get married?
Emma: Wear a white dress, and the other girls will wear blue dresses. And then you talk to each other.
Me: That's what you do at a wedding. What are you going to do when you're married?
Emma: You play games all the time. But when I get married, I'm going to have cake and ice cream and balloons.
Dan: I like that idea. What else?
Emma: Like some turkey sandwiches, too.
Dan: You heard it: a $100 wedding. I'm holding her to it!

I have a feeling it's not really going to work out like that. Dan's not getting off the hook that easily...

Little Miss Personality

At 9:30 this morning, I was finally getting myself ready to exercise. I had already told Emma that I would exercise (or "exersaucer" as she calls it) in the living room so that there would be enough room for both of us to do the workout together.

Emma said, "Mommy, I need to go get on my exersaucer clothes. I'll be right back!" And this is what she came back wearing:

No one could ever accuse her of being a tomboy! She brings so much joy to so many days. I love this girl!

July

Hard to believe July is winding down. I guess we've been pretty busy. Dan has gotten into the swing of things at his new job, Emma, Ethan, and I have been going to Summer Dreams (our church's summer camp) on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and we've been staying busy with family stuff. I think it's just a busy season for us!

And I've finally gotten my act together and started trying to get in better shape. I just reached a point where I was always tired and did not feel good about myself. I've been at it for 8 days now, and so far I've lost four pounds. I also have more energy and a better attitude in general. I know I can stick with it this time!

Emma is excited that she gets to start "school at [her] house after [her] birthday" (she has made this statement to several people now). We'll be doing two days of reading, one day of math, one day of science, and one day of educational games. We're certainly not going to do anything too intense, as she is still young and we're only starting homeschooling this year per her request. (I wanted to wait a year, but when a child says "I really want to have school now" you don't want to squelch that desire to learn!)

Our little Ethan is, of course, into EVERYTHING. It is almost a full-time job keeping up with him. He does stuff at his age that Emma never would have tried. Just this morning, I caught him standing on top of a box trying to pull something off of a shelf. Ha! He is all boy, and I am trying to get used to it. But when he gives me that sweet little grin, I cannot stay mad at him. Yes, I admit it: My little boy can melt my heart in a minute.

Finally, since it wouldn't be a good post without some pictures, here you are. Enjoy!

Celebrating Jehovah Jireh today. Found this little excerpt online (isn't the internet grand sometimes?):

This name means "the God who provides" or "God will see to it". The Hebrew word transliterated jireh is actually a form of the common verb Ra'ah ('to see'). In Genesis 22:7 when Isaac asked Abraham where the lamb was for the burnt offering and Abraham replied, 'God himself will see to it,' he was declaring that God had everything under His control and would provide what was needed at the right time.

He is a God who meets EVERY need at HIS appointed time.

One more thing I was reading last week in my quiet time:

Our Father is not surprised by the events of our life nor is He unaware of our struggles. Each and every one of them must pass through His hands and came to us with His permission. Trust Him. Abandon yourself to Him in childlike faith, knowing that no matter how you feel, no matter what you see - He is in control.

I love the small reminders of who He is in my daily life!

Mars and Venus, Spaghetti and Waffles, and whatever else you want to call it.

Another entire month has gone by since I last blogged. June has been a wonderful month for us. So far we:

1. completed three weeks of Summer Dreams, our summer camp at the Dream Center. The kids and I are having a blast!
2. celebrated our fifth anniversary. I guess I'll eventually get around to posting some pictures of that fun evening on here.
3. had Ethan's nine-month check-up. He's 22 lbs. 10 oz. (75th percentile), 30.25 inches (95th percentile), and is otherwise growing into a healthy little boy.
4. have avoided the beach. Good thing, because it's been really hot.
5. got our budget set for the next three months as we prepare for Dan to transition to a new job. Five weeks of vacation/sick time a year plus a nice raise in pay. We are now preparing to hit our debt square in the gut. Praise God for providing!

But that's not quite the point of this post. I have just been noticing as I watch Ethan and Emma grow...what a HUGE difference between boys and girls. I just thought I'd list a few of those differences here. Some of the differences...

...girls can sit and watch a movie at a fairly young age. Ethan's only relationship with the television is that it's a great big drum on which he can bang his hand.

...girls just casually notice their surroundings, but boys have to explore their surroundings. And everything in their surroundings.

...girls like to be clean. Boys don't, unless it means they're naked in the bath tub splashing the water.

...girls like to see how high they can build their block towers. Boys have to see how quickly they can knock the block tower down.

...girls don't like to admit when they've passed gas. Boys laugh at themselves farting at such an early age. Seriously, he just laughed at himself two days ago after he passed gas.

Just a few things that I've learned. I am all-girl (as is Emma), so I imagine that she and I are in for a lot of learning with her 100% boy little brother.

Still, it's so amazing to me how God wired us so differently from the get-go. Just incredible...

Funny stuff

I used to love the show Kids Say the Darndest Things. Although, I always wondered what the parents thought. Were they embarassed? Proud? Wondering where their children heard the things they were saying?

I think Emma is in that stage now. She says things, and I am not sure if she's repeating something she's heard me say or if she's learning to express her own thoughts more eloquently. Either way, here are a few funny conversations we've had lately.

(While riding in the car to her grandparents' house)
Emma: Why we have to go to Papoo and Gigi's?
Me: We don't have to, but we want to go see our family.
Emma: Oh.

(Five minutes later...)
Emma: Why we have to go to Papoo and Gigi's?
Me: Because we love our family, and we want to spend time with them. Why, do you not want to go?
Emma: No, I wanna go.
Me: Okay.

(Two minutes later...)
Emma: Why we have to go to Papoo and Gigi's?
Me: We just do. Why do you have to ask so many questions?
Emma: (without a second thought) 'Cuz I a kid.

(And on another occasion in our bedroom, when Emma was obviously feeling a little jealous about the attention we were giving her brother)
Me: Emma, are you sad?
Emma: Yeah.
Me: Why? Do you not want a brother anymore?
Emma: No. I not want a brother.
Me: Why not?
Emma: I want a baby sister now.
Me: Oh.
Emma: Can we go get her tomorrow?

Don't you just love the way the three-year-olds look at the world?

Just because I love my husband

Dan asked me to post some pictures to the blog, just for those who don't have Facebook or can't access it on a regular basis. Here are some pictures from the last few weeks.

Emma decided to have a little fashion show in all of her princess costumes...In less than 10 minutes.

Ethan's first dip in the pool. He wasn't sure what to think at first, but eventually he really enjoyed it!

Emma DID NOT care for the pool last year. Of course this year, she was jumping in from the sides and doggie-paddling around the pool. Yay!

I love my babies. So sweet!

I love you, Dan!

Catching up is hard to do

I can't believe we're already more than half-way done with May. 2009 is flying by, and the kids are growing like crazy!

Our little football player Ethan is ON THE MOVE! He's got the army crawl down to a sport, and with our slick, wood floors he is superfast. I was telling someone today that having a little boy as a second child is a huge adjustment. Even as an infant, Emma was fairly content most of the time to sit still and play with her toys. Not Ethan. And for some reason, he is always after the power cords. He's our super-adventurous little man, and I have realized that as much as Emma is all prissy girl, he is rough-and-tumble boy. Just how God designed them to be...

And our sweet little princess is learning and growing so much. She's just gone through a huge growth spurt and put on about three inches. Makes those summer shorts we bought in March a little too short, so we had to get some new ones. She's getting really excited that she gets to have her "own school" at her "own house" starting this fall. I was going to wait another year to start homeschooling, but she really wants to learn about her "A-B-C"s and her "alphabets".

Here are a few pictures of what May has looked like so far for "Team Delaney" (that's what we call our family when we're talking to the kids).

Daddy and Ethan showing off his muscles. Grrrrrrr!

Emma and her pal playing in the inflatable pool. The great part is, we didn't even have to put on sunscreen because they were under the patio!

Hopefully May will bring lots more excitement and we'll be able to post some new pictures soon...

Eat your heart out, Dave Ramsey!

Anyone who's been friends with us for long enough knows that we are trying really hard to GET OUT OF DEBT. Thanks to the wisdom of Dave Ramsey and by the grace of God, we are well on our way with a long way to go.

We have been trying to save money in so many ways: we've cut cable, gone to one cell phone, and don't often see the inside of a restaurant--even if it's just for fast food. Well, we just had the brilliant idea to take our frugality a step farther by cutting Dan's hair at home instead of paying for it. And here are two little words that we learned: BAD and IDEA!

Take a look at these:

I am not sure what I was thinking or doing. Thank goodness my wonderful husband has a good sense of humor and that the lady at SportsClips could fix this. We may have taken a lot of things out of the budget, but from now on we'll always leave money for a professional hair cut!

Spring is in Full Swing!

Anybody else loving this weather? Even the rain in the springtime is wonderful, because it makes the grass greener and the flowers fuller. We have certainly been enjoying it!

We've had a noneventful April thus far. Our biggest excitement was going to Edgemoor for a few days to visit with my Dad and family. Other than that, not too much to report.

Here are some great pictures we snapped before we had to come back home last week.

Going to enjoy the calm while it's here. There are busy seasons ahead...

Ta Da!

"Cleanliness is next to godliness." That's somewhere in the Bible, right? Like in 2 Genesis...

I know, it's not. But I have to admit that it does feel really good to have a better-organized house. When one area of my life is chaotic (i.e., my house is a mess), that carries over into every other area of my life.

That being said, here is the finished product of weeks of work.

1. The medicine drawer. Pills, First Aid, and Bandages are all separated out so they're easier to find.


2. The bathroom counter. I threw out almost two bags of old make-up and medicine from our bathroom. Yuck! That makes it so much easier to see what we have and to keep our countertop clutter-free.

3. Gift bags and wrapping. One of my favorite changes. I bought some of the oversized Ziploc bags and separated out Christmas gift bags, other special occasion gift bags, tissue paper, and other wrapping supplies. Now, instead of trying to find the needle in the haystack (or the gift bag in the big pile of bags) I can easily find what I'm looking for.


4. The linen closet. Long was this closet the keep-all for our junk. No longer. Now it holds our toilet paper/paper towels, extra cleaning supplies and toiletries, and of course, the linens. I even made it easier by separating the separate sheet sets into the oversized Ziploc bags and labeling what is in each bag.

5. The laundry/utility room. We used to keep all of Dan's tools and 1,000 other things in here. Since he finished organizing the storage room, though, we can now use the laundry room to hold our laundry stuff and a few other items we need around the house (light bulbs, furniture movers, and child-proofing supplies). I would get a picture of the great job Dan did in the storage room, but it is raining and I am not going out in that mess right now!

6. The pantry. I got rid of old food and organized the shelves. Each shelf holds similar items: the top shelf is for pastas/rice, then the next shelf is for sauces/condiments/cans, then snack and breakfast foods, and then baking supplies. And I also finally organized all of our plastic utensils and party supplies (plates and cups).

I have to make one more run to Goodwill and finish weeding the last 1/3 of the flowerbed (again, the rain has been holding me back) and it will 100%, officially complete.

And my house feels peaceful once again...

Spring Cleaning: Jennifer Delaney Style

Those who know me best would say I am a Type-A personality. I am driven to perfection when it comes to almost any task. Lately, that task has been spring cleaning. I cannot stop myself! And unfortunately for Dan, I seem to have dragged him into my project. That seems to happen to him a lot. Being the wonderful man he is, however, he just goes along and does what he can.

Our latest and greatest projects have been...

...shelving for our outdoor storage room. Dan put the shelves up and did a GREAT job! We have been able to organize and inventory all of our home improvement stuff. Who knew we had so much?

...getting rid of old college books. Seriously, why did I keep them, especially after I stopped teaching? I kept a few that would help me as I prepare for homeschooling, but everything else is gone!

...tossing the old unmentionables. Why do we keep that stuff anyway?

...getting our DONATE/THROW AWAY piles from every room. A great way to keep yourself from having TOO MUCH STUFF is to go through every room with a trash bag and a storage bin. Find 10 things to put in the trash bag, and find 10 things to put in the storage bin and donate to charity.

...weeding the flowerbed. Sure is hard work, but it is worth it. I am almost 2/3 done. I have to wait for the trash pick-up tomorrow before I can resume this project because we have generated way too much trash with cleaning during the last week.

...organizing our utility room, pantry, closets, and office. Now I actually know what I have and where it is.

And I think that finishes off our list. It sure does feel good to get all of this stuff done. I am going to have to post some pictures when we're all done. I cannot wait!

What do you say to that?

As Emma has been growing more and more in her understanding of God and who He is, we've been slowly trying to teach her that there are things that make God/Jesus REALLY HAPPY (when we share, when we're nice to people who are sad, when we help others), and there are things that make God SAD (sins).

And just like many complex concepts you try to explain to three-year-olds, we're not always sure how much she's understanding. For instance, after telling her that Ethan came out of Mommy's belly, she told our friend Amy that her little white Care Bear came out of her big white Care Bear's belly. I guess she got the basic idea.

Anyway, Emma was asking for a snack out of the pantry today. As she was looking at her options, she looked down and noticed that we had a Sierra Mist (which she calls Ginger Ale) sitting on the pantry floor. She then said, "Mommy, you say-ed we not have Ginger Ale. That make Jesus sad." To be honest, I had totally forgotten it was there. But otherwise, I was BUSTED by my preschooler.

Wow...

More goings-on in the Delaney house...

I know it's time to blog when my anti-blog husband says I need to blog! Here is some of the latest and greatest from our family:

Our big boy Ethan is now rolling over, AND he ate cereal for the first time last night. I am not kidding, but that boy acted like he was born to eat from a spoon. He didn't do the thing that most babies do at first when they push the food back out with their tongues (because that's what they have to do to get milk from a bottle or Mommy). He scarfed it down and I had to make more. So cute!

Emma has also learned to write her name. I need to post a picture of it--it's super cute. Sometimes she makes five or seven horizontal lines on her "E" instead of three, and she usually puts the line on the "a" on the wrong side, but otherwise she's got it. She loves to learn to do new things, and she is so proud of herself for every accomplishment. She's also been working on spelling some new words. So far, she can spell STOP, DOG, and EMMA.

Other than that, life is life as usual. I found a great website for those, like me, who are SO STINKIN' TIRED of all of the depressing news: www.happynews.com. It's just nice to see happy stories in the news instead of stories about the recession, political corruption, and the like. And just as I was starting to get depressed this morning, I saw this verse in my Inbox:

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Romans 8:35, 37

Amen.

So now that January is over...

I guess it's about time for me to get back to blogging. For a while, I had a hard time getting around to blogging because I was so busy "Facebooking", but I haven't been on FB for almost three weeks now. I have to admit that I'm not missing it too much, but we'll see if that changes next week.

We added a wonderful new addition to our family this month. My brother is a proud daddy of little Ella (picture below). She is absolutely beautiful! We got to meet her on Saturday for the first time, and it was a little weird seeing her next to Ethan. It reminded me how quickly they grow up.

And here's a great picture from our dinner Saturday night. It captured the mood of the whole evening. Ella was sleeping, Ethan was squirming, Emma was being a silly three-year-old, and my Mom was laughing at the whole thing. Sadly, we tried to take this picture about eight times, and this is the best one we got. Love it!

Other than that, it's been pretty quiet around the Delaney house. We've been busy last week and will continue to be busy this week with doctor/dentist appointments and car issues/shop visits, but there are otherwise no complaints. Just taking it one day at a time.

Back to reality...

Phew! The craziness of the holidays is over. I feel like I barely rested between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. We had a wonderful Christmas with our families and were blessed to see my grandfather get married just two days after Christmas. Then, I had the opportunity of seeing my sweet friend Angela get married on New Year's Eve.

We are slowly getting into to groove with 2009. We've worked on our budget, talked about some family goals, and spent some time in prayer. I felt there was one verse (actually, two verses) that God was leading me to as I learn and grow this year.

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalm 139:23-24

So, Happy New Year! And here are my two favorite Christmas pictures...