Club IHOP

Very few good things can come from spending 3 hours in an IHOP.

UNLESS you spend it with 5 UH.MAZE.ING women who have the best sense of humor and love Christ with all their heart!!

So after the kiddos were in bed, we made the trek to the infamous place that serves buttermilk pancakes at 2 am, and had a blast laughing with one another until our jaws hurt and we laughed off enough calories to justify the Rooty Tooty Fresh N Fruity!

Fact #1:

Do NOT hire your local IHOP waiter to take your annual family photos. Because they just might come out looking a little like this:

Subtract the fuzziness and the yellow haze, and that's one priceless pic!

In the center is Atom (yes, I did spell that right) who moonlight's as IHOP's Employee of the Month! Right on, Atom! If he quits his night job, he might could make it in the comedian biz. Well, maybe. For a bunch of off-duty mommies eating pancakes at 10 pm, we thought he had a knack for entertaining us! "Hey, are ya'll feeling neglected back here in the corner?! Cuz, if so, you all just line up single file and I'll hand out EERRRRR-HOP hugs!!"

And then Lauren spotted Mexican Elvis.

IHOP is a hoppin place around 11 pm!!

Fact #2:

Chocolate chip chocolate pancakes don't go well with any flavor syrup that doesn't have "chocolate" in it's title. Trust me. I tried them all.

(note that Fact #1 still holds true)

The girls were so sweet to slip Atom 3 birthday candles to stick in my chocolate chip chocolate pancakes! One of THE best birthday presents EVER is spending time with sweet girlfriends eating, laughing, and building up one another in the Lord! Thank you sister friends! I had a BLAST!!

Birthday blessings continued today with a family jog (well, mommy/daddy jog with kiddos getting stroller-ed), Mellow Mushroom lunch/picnic at the park, Stracciatella gelato at our fav ice cream place, PeiWei dinner with Bek, Kev, Jacob, & Liz, and a cupcake from The Cupcake Shoppe!

annnnddd, I'm noticing a trend here. Yes, I'm not afraid to admit that sometimes I AM all about the food. :) Good thing we got that run in this morning!

Brandon got me some new earphones that are supposed to be great for running, a new book that I've been asking for, and is still pondering a Nike Fit. (I say still pondering because he wasn't sure I wanted it, and I'm still not sure I want it...the jury is still out. opinions?! experience, anyone?!)

Overall, a very blessed and fantabulous birthday (even if I did gain about 8 pounds in one day!) with great friends and wonderful family! And my mom and dad are flying into town tomorrow! yay!

And because I may be ignoring you, blog, I'll get a bit ahead of myself too...Have a very Happy Easter! Hunt and dye eggs, eat Cadbury creme eggs and peeps, and soak up some family time. But ultimately, remember Christ's death and resurrection! He's ALIVE!! He is Risen!!!

Wordless Wednesday

The Most Un-Easterly Easter Egg Hunt Ever

March 20th. We'll never forget this day...the day that we swore of mass Easter Egg Hunts forever. FOREVER!

Brandon spent a good portion of this morning "training" Eden proper Easter Egg Hunting 101 in preparation for her first egg hunt of the season. Little did we know that we should have been focusing on a different strategy. A number of strategies really. Maybe something more along the lines of this:

1. "Start running several seconds before they say "GO!" "

2. "Push and shove your way through the mass hysteria regardless of who you have to knock down!"

3. "Grab as many as possible, yes even if you have to scoop them away from another kid!"

4. "Here, Eden, don't forget your helmet."

Ok. Just kidding. Since we're NOT the worst parents in the world, we didn't give her the above advice. Actually, just the opposite. I was encouraging her to make sure she let other kids get eggs too. hmmmph, I should have been telling that to the 40 year old woman next to me scooping in eggs by the armful for her...oh wait...that's right, she didn't have a kid with her.

So can you get an idea of how the event played out? Or do I need to layer on the sarcasm a little thicker for you?

Oh but wait, did I forget the part about Eden crying? Who can blame her though after getting knocked around like a pinball and pushed down all just about 5 seconds after they said, "GO!"

Since we're not exactly hoping that the yearly remembering of the Resurrection of our Savior also be marred by traumatic egg hunting (with HUNDREDS of other children and 2,000 eggs up for grabs!), we pulled out of the race after those tears were shed.

Fortunately, for your entertainment, and since my wonderful sarcastic blog-ified attitude might not be enough to prove to you exactly how we felt about it all....we have a 6 second video for you. In the mass hysteria, Brandon mis-punched the buttons on our recorder and actually didn't capture The Official Worst Egg Hunt Ever on camera, but DID capture our immediate reaction to it all. (It was a little cut-off. at the beginning I say, "aaannnddd, we're stopping." and then I think it's perfectly clear how Brandon felt :)

Take a gander:

Eden at 2.5

Nobody told me that those first few weeks with a newborn...Sleepless nights. Round the clock feedings. Spit up. Poop. Crying. Colic....would seem like cake compared to parenting a 2.5 year old. Nonetheless, here we are, at 2.5 years into Eden's life and having battles of epic proportions at the dinner table.

Yes, Monday night, she and I squared off in a battle of will-power over a plate of chicken. Would I budge? No. Would she budge? No. So there we were for two hours testing each other's limits. And when bedtime rolled around and I'd had enough, she got up from the table, kissed me goodnight, and went straight to bed without even changing into jammies.

And then I sat down and cried. Not because I felt like I'd given in. And not because I was exhausted, even though I was. But because I think I was finally getting it.

We, as parents, MUST make our children obey. Not because we delight in power and like to rule their little lives, but because it's the foundation of our faith in Christ. Without obedience, we have no relationship with Christ. And without obedience, our children will flounder without NEEDED parental guidance, and then ultimately will not understand obedience to Christ.

So people, teach your children to obey and eat their chicken. :)

Moving on...

Eden is also very very awesome. And actually is a very sweet girl (despite what my above story might lead you to believe!) She's developed quite an imagination and likes to pretend to do "grown-up" things. So the other day she decided she wanted to go to the grocery store. So she gets some shoes on. Puts on her jacket. Grabs her purse. Throws in her pretend cell phone. Grabs a set of keys and announces, "I'm going grocery story. Buy daddy cereal."

So then a person that may or may not have been her mother stupidly thinks 'oh this is cute...lets keep this up' and decides to open the front door. Down the steps they go hand in hand, cute Eden and the crazy person that may or may not have been her mother. Crazy person opens the driver door, hoists Eden into the driver's seat, kisses her farewell and says, "Have Fun!"

Then Eden looks at the person that may or may not have been her mother in expectation to shut the driver's door, to which she doesn't but laughs at how cute Eden is being. Then she says, "Eden, sweetie, this was fun!" Eden confused, says, "I go all by myself." (common words these days)

To make a long story... not quite so long, the crazy person that may or may not have been her mother learned the hard way that building up children's fantasies and imagination does have repercussions, that can include crying, screaming, and confusion on behalf of the child.

So people, teach your parents to think things through a little better.

Lastly, but maybe most importantly... :)

Eden is a finalist in our local Chick-Fil-A Top Fan contest! woohoo!!

Our local Chick-Fil-A has a facebook fan page and is hosting a competition to see who is top fan. I nominated Eden, wrote a short spiel about her, and she's in the top five! So in the next week or so, the facebook fans of our CFA get to vote for her story. If she wins, she gets 52 coupons for free chick-fil-a combos (the equivalent of "Chick-Fil-A for a Year!") So if you are reading this, are a fan of our local CFA, go "like" Eden's story! :)

9 Months!

Salem is 9 months old today!

He has 3 teeth, and does not want anymore as they tend to wake him up 4 times at night.

He would live off of pears and sweet potatoes if we'd let him.

His favored mode of transportation is in his mama's arms, but will settle for an army crawl.

He loves his jumper. (as you'll see)

He smiles almost constantly, but saves his laughs for very special times. (oh, how I LOVE those times!

His favorite person is probably his sister.

He likes to rub his blanket (yes he has a preference) on his cheek as he falls asleep.

He's weighing in at 21 pounds. OU called the other day. They want him as their 2027 linebacker.

He's the best cuddler ever.

He's saying "mama" ... even if he's not quite sure what it means yet. :)

He would prefer not to have anything to do with green beans. ever.

and

He's absolutely, positively, adorable and makes his mommy, daddy, and sister giddy over how much we love him!

enjoy the video! it's pretty short...stick around for the laughs at the end! CONTAGIOUS!

Spring Break?

This past week was Brandon's Spring Break.

He doesn't get much of a break when his reading for one semester consists of this:

That's approx 3,500 pages.

eeeeesh.

See you in May, Brandon. :)