Hand Sanitizer Poisoning?

I got a forward today from a friend about the dangers of using hand sanitizers with kids. It talked about kids getting alcohol poisoning from just licking a little sanitizer off their hands. Most of these type of forwards are scams, but Jesse checked it and told me it's valid. Here is the link for anyone interested in reading more about it: http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/sanitizer.asp

My Little Gentleman

Lately JG's been showing some signs of becoming a gentleman.

1. He's brought me silk flowers everyday for the last few days and says "Here mommy...tulips for you. Smell good. "

2. After tasting his whole wheat pancakes yesterday morning, he said "Umm! These are good! I like it."

3. He takes out the trash. Well, not really. Whenever he finds anything that could be trash, he takes it right to the trash can. If the kitchen gate is up, he even throws the trash as far as he can over the gate and toward the trash can. Maybe he'll be a garbage man...

4. He's always trying to share his food with me, even candy, and says "Mommy taste?"

5. Whenever he tries to squeeze past me in a small space, he says "Cuse me mama."

So, maybe some of these things are really just basic manners... but I'll take 'em, praise 'em, and hold on to them like they mean everything. In the midst of temper tantrum and whining, they really do.

My name is Amy...

... and I am a garage sale addict. I've always been someone who likes to find the best deal on everything I buy... from groceries to entertainment. This is a progressive disease. It started innocent enough: with shopping sales racks at the mall. Then it progressed to scouring the Internet, then shopping consignment sales, checking Craig's List multiple times a day, and now I'm a full blown garage sale junkie. On most Friday mornings, JG and I dash out of the door after a quick breakfast and start driving around our neighborhood in search of a sale. Over time, I have learned the inner workings of the industry, and I now have a proven plan of attack ... a strategic route that has yet to let me down.

I have a few people to thank for this enlightened perspective (known around here as "good stewardship"):

1. My grandfather, Dado: He contributed the genetic trait. He use to go to garage sales all the time. I, however, think of myself as more evolved...I buy things I "need." He bought things that he thought someone that he knew might someday possibly need. Needless to say his garage has always been quite a museum. Thanks Dado!! Long live the genetic trait.

2. Jesse: aah, my sweet husband. Some have been known to call him cheap, but I lovingly use the term "frugally inclined." His approach to shopping involves careful evaluation and analysis of every item in the cart to determine whether it is absolutely essential for survival. Now, I do the same thing. I end up in the checkout line at Target with a full cart and some nice sales clerk has to put everything back...except for the diapers.

3. Cathy & Janet: the garage saleing "masters" and my personal shopping mentors. My inspirations. I met these two gals at my MOMs group at church and we've been known to call each other when locating a great garage sale. They really got me started going to sales.

So how does one regress into such an addiction, you might ask? Well, just like all other addictions, there is usually some euphoria, or high associated with the motivation to go deeper. For me, it is the high of knowing how much money I saved and how proud of me Jesse would be. Just so you know what I'm talking about here, some of my best bargains include:

• Take Along Thomas Roundhouse- $22.99 at Toys'r'us $0.50 at garage sale (plus 6 additional trains, costing almost $20 each at Toys'r'us)

• Little Tykes wagon- $70 online (+tax and shipping) $15 at a garage sale

• Pacific Play Tent and Tunnel- $80 online (+ tax and shipping) $8 at garage sale
  
  

My friend recently told me that I have a "skewed" sense of what things should cost. After finding deals like this, it is hard to buy anything at regular price. For example, I'm appalled when Walmart has the gall to charge $3.50 for 1 toddler sized shirt, when the previous day I purchased a whole bag of name brand shirts for less than that.

Now, some may consider this type of shopping extra work. But when you consider how excited JG gets when I say those magic words "get your shoes, we're garage saleing today," it's worth all the effort. He immediately stops in his tracks, dashes to get his shoes and grab his sippy, and runs to the door, all the while chanting "Go to GA-RAWSH SA-LE" over and over! I laugh every time. It'll be interesting to see what kind of shopper he turns out to be.

So next time, when you pass this sign, maybe you will think price and pull over. Happy hunting.

1. Jesse, [on Music]

I have learned a lot about some of my aquaintences out there just from reading their blogs. I think that unless you know the person for a long time or spend a lot of time with them, there are certain things that you may never know about someone, unless you explicitely talk about it or they volunteer that information on their blog. In light of this, I think that I will try to share more about some of the parts of my life that don't come up as much in conversations (perhaps because it is boring). I like hearing this kind of stuff from people to get to know a little more about what makes them tick. If you are not this kind of person, then you may want to stop reading now as it may be boring for you.

1. Jesse, [on Music]

So, a lot has changed since the last time I bought a CD about 7 years ago. I think that the last CD that I bought for myself was a worship album from University Baptist Chuch in Waco: "All I Can Say" by the then-named "UBC Worship Band." This has been my favorite CD ever since college. Since then, my car cd player has basically been playing the same worship CDs that I had accumulated in college.

[Side note about worship music] That is the beautiful thing about good worship CDs. If they are written properly and resonate well with your heart, they will never get old to you. I am generally not an emotional person, but this music will bring me to tears of joy and encouragement at times, and breaks me down and puts me in my place at others. Outside of this genra of music, there have been only a few songs that have the same effect on me ... i.e. leading me to focus on the true satisfaction of my heart being met in Jesus Christ. I haven't really listened to much anything else. It has been a great blessing that Amy feels the same way about this and this is one of our common points that we have shared since before we met. When I think of the people who have influenced my thinking about worship through music (one of many conduits of worship) it probably started with the influence of a good friend of mine, Paul Patterson. He introduced me in high school to a band named DC Talk. I remember laughing the first time I heard the song "Jesus Freak" in his car. Especially since he was headbanging to the bridge in the song while sitting at a stop light. I had never before associated songs about Jesus with anything other than hymns and hippy "light" acoustic praise songs. That is a good memory. From there, Paul introduced me to more "Christian" artists like "Jars of Clay" and "Third Day" that had great messages and sometime moved my heart to worship. Then, when I went on to college I experienced a more focused worship time using non-hymn or traditional praise music in my college group at church and at concerts given on the Baylor campus. It seems like more and more artists are challenging the notion that worship has to look or sound a certain way. I see more people expressing themselves in worship to God through song, art, conversation, and service to one another. Now it seems like more mainstream worship songs are led by a band for students people in my generation. I know several churches have at least 2 different types of music led services. One for those who prefer traditional forms of worship music including a choir, and another with a band which draws mainly teens and twenty-somethings. Anyway, I digress from my original post. (FYI. some of the artists that I am referring to are: "Third Day", "David Crowder Band", "Chris Tomlin", "Shane Barnard", "Shawn Groves", "Bebo Norman", "Matt Redman", "Jeremy Courtney").

I'm generally not a big music listener so the radio has been enough for me. I hate buying a whole CD for just a couple of songs I like ... I feel like it is such a waste. That is why I like the idea of downloding music, but I don't have an IPOD or other compressed audio player yet, so I generally don't download a bunch of songs.

Finally, I recently broke down and joined one of those music clubs, just to catch up on some 12 or so CDs that we wanted for like 10 bucks, and then I can quit. You know, CDs like "Action Toddler Songs", "Best of Veggie Tales", etc, that keep JG occupied on road trips :) He seems to like that kind of thing. Oh yeah, additionally, I was able to catch up on CDs from my favorite band, the now called "David Crowder Band". I bought, "Illuminate" and "A Collisison". I have to say that I have a new favorite CD ... Illuminate + the first few songs from A Collision (I made a combo CD, so it is okay that this is one CD for me). I find it rare that I like every song on a CD, but so far 2 of David Crowders CDs are like this for me ("All I can Say" and "Illuminate") ... which is very impressive and why I have reaffirmed them as my favorite band. Now I find myself searching the internet to find out when their next CD is going to be released. It looks like they are working on "Remedy" now, so I am saving up for that one. I also found out that they are going to be in concert in October, but I don't see myself going to that ... it looked pretty expensive ... plus we need to find babysitters ... I guess I'm just getting to old for that kind of thing, which is sad since I can remember a time when that used to be fun.

Anyway, that is just what I have been listening to. Just so you know, I consider myself a novice in keeping up with music, so let me know what you are listening to.

Maestro JG

Alright, I've got a new video of my favorite person to record. In this installment, we will explore the musical talents of JG, in his own style. Not only does he play the instruments, but he finds new ways of playing WITH them. This has to be my favorite age for him so far. He is constantly making us laugh and is so fun to play with. I love his personality. What a joy!

Maestro JG

Cleanliness is next to Godliness

Have any of you ever heard that statement? What's that all about? Today, I was madly cleaning the kitchen in preparation for hosting Bible study when that saying came to mind. I can tell you that I can't think of a time when the cleanliness of my house has had any impact on my godliness, or vice versa. So, I think for now, that I'll work on godliness, and when that's accomplished, I'll worry about cleanliness....

WARNING: For those of you coming over to the house.... that means that you ought to leave your shoes on.