Count Your Kids!

So, have you heard about the census coming up this month? Did you know it's only taken once every 10 years?

You should be receiving a census form by the end of March and guess what? It's super important that you fill it out! Not only for you, but for your kids sake.

Want to know why?

The US Government uses the number of kids counted on the census to determine where federal dollars go for many of your local programs. If your kids aren't counted then your state and city/county won't get money for your kid for things like Education Grants and Children's Health Insurance - among many other programs.

As a (stay-home) teacher with a husband who's a teacher I know that money comes in to our schools depending on the number of kids who live in the school district boundary. Direct funding for your school might not depend on census numbers, but many of the special programs and grants do use these numbers!

Children can't fill out their own forms and in the last census it was estimated that 1 million children under 10 went uncounted. Don't let your kid be one of these!

Fill out your census form and return it as soon as you can... so it doesn't get lost in the shuffle and neither do your kids!

This information was provided by the network Global Influence as a public service.

Weekend Exhaustion

My (very fabulous) in-laws came up last weekend to see our new house. I swear they brought the crazy rain that we had on Friday with them. It poured for 24 hours straight and has been nice and sunny every other day. Weird!

Anyway, Saturday was a baby shower that some friends put on for me so my mother-in-law got to come to this one! Very fun!

Not that I need a lot of stuff for this guy since he's the same season as Cory and we kept pretty much everything. But it will be nice to have a few new outfits just for him and of course we got diapers so they will come in handy for the first month or two until I'm ready to use my cloth ones!

My grandma, Mom, Annika, Patsy, Becca and Rayna, and Mee Sook -
only about half the guests.

You can see the diaper cake in the background of the above picture and this is a close-up.

My friend Leana did the shower and she had her mother-in-law Suzy help with the food since Suzy is seriously the hostess with the mostest when it comes to parties! I only know her through Leana, but she is so sweet! She created the diaper cake, did the lunch, and brought a little gift for Cory so he wouldn't feel left out!

Saturday night we went back to church for a Ken Davis show. I had never heard of him, but was signed up to work at the Compassion table. Awesomely funny! Afterwards we went out for a late dinner at Applebee's.

Cory then woke us up at 5am because he had peed in his bed... unfortunately the baby sitter hadn't managed to get him to go to the bathroom before he went to bed and this is usually what happens, the diaper doesn't hold it all. Also unfortunately the waterproof pad on his bed had slid down so the mattress got soaked. Lovely. Poor kid got to sleep on the floor the rest of the night!

Sunday was back to church for the 3rd time in 24 hours... and afterwards it was a quiet afternoon for the girls while Brian and his dad worked on cutting all our doors off with his Grandpa's tools they brought up.

They were all rubbing on the carpet. Cory was quite concerned when told his door was being cut off! Now I just have to get re-used to the fact that the doors open and close without major resistance against the carpet!


Sunday night we again went out to a yummy dinner for Annika's birthday. You can't really tell, but the place was packed and for 8 people the only thing they had was a high table with bar style chairs. Cory looked so cute just sitting there like a grown up, but barely over the table!

Of course, I might be a little bit biased...

They brought out this huge piece of chocolate mousse cake for Annika with tons of ice cream. We passed it around and then Brian ordered another piece of the cake for us it was so good!

The in-laws left Monday morning and Cory was quite sad to see them go until we told him they would be coming back in just a few weeks when Baby Brother is born!

He definitely wanted all my attention all day though. Here he's putting some coins into "his" new piggy bank. This was one of the shower games, but since I'd just been looking at these at Target last week I decided that he could have it and he loves it! He doesn't really get the concept of money yet, it's more of a toy.

The puppy book behind him was another adorable gift from the shower!

Now do you see why I said I was exhausted in my 35 weeks post? :) Four weeks to go and a million things left to do...

Book: Hearts Awakening

This week, the
Christian Fiction Blog Alliance
is introducing
Hearts Awakening
Bethany House (March 1, 2010)
by
Delia Parr

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Delia Parr, pen name for Mary Lechleidner, is the author of 10 historical novels and the winner of several awards, including the Laurel Wreath Award for Historical Romance and the Aspen Gold Award for Best Inspirational Book. She is a full-time high school teacher who spends her summer vacations writing and kayaking. The mother of three grown children, she lives in Collingswood, New Jersey.




ABOUT THE BOOK

Two people in desperate circumstances. Life has left few choices for Elvira Kilmer. Her hopes for marriage and a family of her own have long since passed her by, and her arrival on Dillon's Island, nestled in the Susquehanna River, is not of her choosing, either.

She needs work. And Jackson Smith needs a housekeeper. Yet Ellie never imagined the widower would be so young...so handsome. Jackson, on the other hand, has never met anyone quite so...plain. But he quickly comes to realize that Ellie's presence may solve his own problems--both the rearing of his young boys and the scandal that surrounds his first marriage.

When Jackson offers her something quite out of the ordinary, will Ellie look beyond mere necessity and risk opening her heart?

Yet what options does she have? To marry would mean a home and stability. So despite the rumors circling Jackson and his first wife, Ellie accepts this unlikely proposal...

***

It's awfully hard to read a book you haven't received... so I have no review for this one. Bummer. I'll be reading the first chapter posted below just like you...

If you would like to read the first chapter of Hearts Awakening, go HERE.

Wordless Wednesday: Signs of Spring

I love that our new house has all kinds of flowers popping up around it! Can't wait to see what some of them are!

Review: Veggie Tales - Pistachio

Story Synopsis:
Once upon a time in the small town of Bologna-Salami, there lived a lonely toymaker named Gelato and his assistant Cricket. Gelato had no children of his own, so one day he decided to carve a little boy out of wood. Imagine Gelato’s surprise when he learned this little boy could walk…and talk…and definitely had a mind of his own! When Pistachio tries to do things his way, he lands in a “whale” of a situation! Will he decide to listen to the wisdom of a loving father in time to save his whole family from becoming fish food? Find out in this all-new adventure with a lesson about the importance of family and learning to listen.

My Review:
I have enjoyed Veggie Tales as long as they've been out. I watched this with my little guy last week and he loved it. He was a bit scared at one part, but he's not quite three and it wasn't bad.

Probably at his age the message of listening to your parents went over his head a bit, but the timing couldn't have been better because that's exactly what we've been struggling with. The movie doesn't leave out that the reason you should listen to your parents is because they LOVE you!

And of course there is the traditional Veggie Tales humor that keeps parents entertained while they watch along with their kids!

About the Movie:
This March, Big Idea, Inc. presents an all-new family adventure featuring a helpful lesson in listening to your parents with VeggieTales®: Pistachio – The Little Boy That Woodn’t. In this creative parody of the beloved story of Pinocchio, VeggieTales follows its unique tradition of retelling classic adventures like Lord of the Beans, Wizard of Ha’s and Minnesota Cuke! The DVD, priced at $14.99 SRP, includes the brand new Silly Song, “Where Have All The Staplers Gone,” and lots of family friendly bonus features. Pistachio comes to DVD in stores February 27 and March 2, 2010 in Christian and general market stores respectively.

“The storyline of Pistachio created the perfect opportunity to teach children the importance of family and listening to their parents,” said Greg Fritz, SVP of Sales and Marketing at Big Idea. “Everyone knows the story of Pinocchio and how he became a ‘real boy’, but Pistachio has a clever VeggieTales twist that incorporates elements of truth from the classic tale, while emphasizing the father-son relationship and the strength of family. Parents will resonate with the desire of ‘Gelato,’ who only wants to do what’s best for his child, while kids will see that there’s ultimately great reward in listening to them.”

Bonus Features:
• Obscure Broadway Showtunes with Larry (Silly Song) “Where Have All The Staplers Gone?”
• Art Gallery
• Audio Commentary
• Discussion Guide
• Larry Visits a Marionette Theater
• Staplers Sing-Along
• Studio Store

VeggieTales: Pistachio—The Little Boy That Woodn’t
Not Rated-50 minutes-Color-5.1 Surround Sound-English and Spanish Subtitles
Close-Captioned
$14.99 SRP


About Big Idea, Inc.
Big Idea, Inc. is the leading faith-based studio and producer of children’s and family programming, characters and brands. Since 1993, Big Idea’s best-selling animated series VeggieTales has sold 53+ million videos, 13 million books and more than 7 million CDs. VeggieTales and Big Idea’s property, 3-2-1 Penguins!, enjoyed four seasons as top-rated series on NBC Saturday mornings, Telemundo and ION TV via the qubo children’s programming block. The studio's two theatrical releases, Jonah-A VeggieTales Movie (2002), and Universal Pictures' and Big Idea's The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything-A VeggieTales Movie (2008), are distinguished among the top ten most successful faith-based films of all time. Big Idea also maintains an extensive presence in publishing, licensing and live entertainment arenas. For more information on Big Idea, visit: www.bigidea.com.

I received a promotional DVD for the purposes of this review.

35 Weeks

It seems unreal that I basically have a month left. I'm not sure I'm ready for this! I have been so focused on moving and unpacking and cleaning that other than being slower than normal and more uncomfortable I'm not really thinking about being pregnant. Uh oh!

This picture was taken on Saturday before an insanely packed weekend. Probably a good thing it wasn't taken today as I'm all puffy with water weight. My midwife appointment said I'd gained 8 pounds in 2 weeks, but I'm pretty sure according to my home scale that 6 of that was this week alone. It better be water or I'm in trouble! My ankles are all swelled up too.

I don't have any pictures to compare when I was pregnant with Cory, but I might be bigger now than I was with him. At least I don't remember it being this hard to shave my legs even at the end! And it feels like my stomach is always stretching if I'm not in just a couple of positions.

I'm glad it's spring so I can have the windows open. My thermostat has gone up about 10 degrees I think, to the point that I can be hot when Brian is cold. That's a switch!

I'll hopefully post one more picture at 39 weeks... if we make it that far!

Book: Double Trouble

Back in May I reviewed Nothing But Trouble and now the second book in the series about PJ Sugar is out: Double Trouble. It's a great addition to the series, but I really wouldn't recommend reading it alone. Even having read the first one some months back I was having a hard time following the story sometimes. I highly recommend this book, it's funny and keeps you guessing til the end, but I'd definitely suggest reading the first one just before reading this one!

Book description: PJ Sugar has finally found something she's good at. Now she's trying not to mess it up. Her first official case as a private investigator - well, technically a PI's assistant - is house-sitting for a witness in protective custody. No danger involved, assures her boss Jeremy Kane, much to PJ's disappointment.

At least PJ can take the next ten days to figure out the rest of her life... especially whether or not she should accept Detective Boone Buckam's marriage proposal. But one break-in by a late-night prowler is enough to put Boone's request on hold and send PJ's sleuthing skills into overdrive. Clearly this witness is hiding something... and it may cost PJ her life.

***

I really like the PJ's character. She's real and seems to never be able to do things right. This is a Christian book, but it never seems over done to me. Just a girl making mistakes and trying to figure out how to do life right.

I always think Susan May Warren's books look interesting and these are no exception!