Jesus and the Devil by Ben Brown

This afternoon, Ben and I were drawing pictures, and he wanted to draw one of Jesus. So I asked him to tell me about Jesus...I was interested in what type of concept he had in his head. I was wondering if we had gotten good concepts of Jesus across to Ben. Here are some of the things he said.

Jesus usually gets wonderful food.
Jesus gives toys to people.
He lives in Heaven
Jesus usually comes down to us.
He goes to people's houses everyday and gives wonderful bread to people.
Jesus loves Me, you, daddy and Collin very much.
Jesus wears a white coat and has brown hair and a beard.
Ummm...what about the Devil, what does he look like?
Does the Devil look like a storm or a snake? I think a monster.
The devil scares people...he lives in a cave and there are people walking around outside of the cave and he gets them and eats them for lunch and for dinner.
Jesus is the good guy and the Devil is the bad guy.
Jesus wants to rain on the Devil
Jesus rains on the devil and gets him wet and makes him run back to his cave.


I thought this was pretty funny! Oh what a comes from the mouth of a four year old!

Carrie's Favorite Things 2009

Okay, I decided to post a favorite things mostly because I really would like to know what you like and what are your favorite things. When deciding what to put on here, I decided it had to be all about me...what was easy, practical and made my days a little easier. I thought about putting kid stuff on here, but the list may have been a little long. So here are some of my favorite things this year...and some have been my favorite things for many years. If you feel inclined to do so, please post your favorite things!!

My Snowboots: These are newly one of my favorite things since we moved here a couple of months ago. I never have to worry about getting them dirty or my feet being warm because they do the trick! They are insulated and I think I got them at Wal-mart. I am sure you could find a much nicer, fancier pair, but these work for me.

The Straw Bowl: This is all about me because it helps cut down on soup and cereal spilt everywhere. I just tell Collin and Ben to drink their soup and eat out the chunks...and cereal is the same! I love whoever invented this!
Insulated Starbucks Cold Cup: This is an insulated plastic cup with a plastic straw that I purchased last summer when I got Frap.'s at Starbucks everyday. They do give you a discount if you use it, it fits a grande size but looks like a venti. I actually use this all day at home for water, iced tea, or really anything. It was well worth the $15.00. It also fits nicely in my car cup holder so I can take my beverage on the go. I don't know why I love it as much as I do, but I just do.Beverage System and Pods: I am pretty sure I have mentioned this before, but it is the Tassimo beverage system by Bosch. It makes single servings of Cappuccino's, Lattes, Chai Tea, Coffee, Hot Choc....etc. And they are really tasty. The Cappuccino's are only 70 calories and they are so good. Anyone who has come over and tried one really likes them. You do have to buy the pods, which are about $5.00 for about 8 to 16 depending on what you get, but it has saved us money and I still feel like I can indulge on something really tasty everyday!! The Cappuccinos are my favorite one. My sister has one too and loves it, so do a few other people I know. You can get these at Target for $100.00 or at Bed Bath and Beyond for way more than that. If you like coffee and having people over for coffee, it is worth the investment! In Canada you can get them at Wal-mart.
5 Big Fat Hot Rollers: These give my hair the look of being fixed. My hair is wavy and frizzy naturally, but these smooth it out and only take about a minute to put in my hair and about 10 minutes later, pull them out, run a brush through and go. So I can go to bed with wet hair, put these in in the mornings and all is okay. They are much quicker than using a straightener, even though I do do that occasionally. They also don't make tight curls, just a loose fixed look. Huge time saver! I got them at Sally Hansen Beauty Supply.
Black & Decker Dust Buster thing:


My mother-in-law gave me this. I really like it ! It often keeps our car from being a crumb, snack, pretzel disaster. It works really well and the nozzle is skinny and can get into the cracks of a car seat. It also folds up and you can just slide it under the drink console or underneath one of the front seats. You do have to charge it occasionally, but I could probably go a week or more without charging it. I am not sure where she got it, but I would think Target or Wal-mart.

Treadmill: Okay I usually have a gym membership, but here it is a little less practical to get out and a little more expensive because you have to pay by the hour for childcare even if you have a family membership. This is about 6 or 7 years old and I bought it at a place that sold used fitness equipment. It cost me half of what my year membership would have cost me. It is right by my side of the bed and right in front of the Television...and I use it when Collin is down for a nap and Ben is having quiet time. It is all about practically fitting exercise into my day, or I don't do it. The Last Resort Bra: (click on the title)
To go along with the exercising, this has been one of my favorite things for a few years. I used to have a really hard time finding a sports bra that would do the trick. Sometimes I would have to wear 2 , one on top of the other. This is so worth the money if you ever have had that problem! I still use them so check out the link!

Cute Little Red Rhinestone Reading Glasses: I got these at a bookstore. I recently realized my eyes were getting harder to focus on reading. I was not happy because that means I am getting old!! But these were cute and made me happy!

That is all I could think of today!! Enjoy and tell me yours!! And Yay....this is my 100th post!!
CB

Dinosaur Museum in Drumheller, Alberta

The entrance into the dinosaurs....

A T-Rex Replica
Real Fossil of T-Rex head

Jawbone fossils...

Screaming child that we tried to let walk on his leash, but he fell on the floor screaming because he wanted to be free of the leash.

Hiding his face from pictures....

Ben is still angry because he cannot get out again....and run away again....

Climbing on the exhibits...because Ben seems to think that it is a play land.... Ben trying to look like the dinosaur is chasing him... How you doin...The spoils...

Today, we went to the Dinosaur Museum in Drumheller, Alberta. It is about an hour and a half away, in the middle of nowhere. Earle has really been wanting to go. So I decided that we would try it. It was a neat place, but I had had my doubts about our children's behavior. I knew they would want to get down and run, but that this was no play land, it was a museum. We ended up having some serious meltdowns....but it was good family time. Earle still enjoyed taking pics and looking at everything. Maybe when the kids are about 3 yrs. older this will be a little easier!! It was not terrible. On the way home, Earle told me thanks because he knew I was not terribly excited about the idea of going. We watched "fireproof" last night...and he told me that today, I was fireproofing. It kind of cracked me up. I am glad he had a great time! Hope everyone has a great weekend!!

CB

Pictures are worth a thousand words!

Okay, I was able to take a few pics this week and I have to admit that the pics say it all.
Here are Collin and Ben on a subdued afternoon, eating popcorn and watching a movie.We went to a play place today, to let them run wild. Ben never does things the traditional way....

Ben wanted to teach Collin how to do the big slides.....

But for some reason felt the Lord telling him that he must always "catch" his brother...even it it means mid-slide.....

And catch his brother....

And catch his brother....

I hope he always wants to catch him....Collin was a good sport!:)

We tried to get them to pose for a good picture....they all turned out funny.

This picture totally captures both of their personalities perfectly!


Monkey see, monkey do...but the copy cat here is actually Ben, letting his brother take the lead.

I sure love my boys!

How Much Do you Tip your Hair Dresser?????

Okay, I need some advice. I want to know how much you tip your hairdresser. I am always confused. I used to be the kind of person that just handed them a $10.00 bill and thought that was pretty good. In the past couple of years, my stylists have charged more and I have paid more for the tip...but then again, don't stylists set their own prices?? Today I went to a great place that I thoroughly enjoyed...and I got a cut/trim and had my highlights and low lights done. It had been quite a while in coming and had to be done! The total cost was about $148.00 ...keep in mind that is in Canadian dollars, so it is actually a little less than that in US dollars...but I went ahead and tipped $20.00. Was that enough? Went I went to pick up my kids at a friends house, she said that her sister told her that during the holidays it is a general practice to tip the entire amount of the service. Is this truth or myth??? How much do you tip? I would greatly appreciate your advice!! I cut the boys and Earle's hair so I guess that saves us a bit of money on "hair" in the budget. So maybe I don't feel as guilty about doing what needs to be done when it comes to my own hair....and I probably go about every 3 months...anyway, what do you do? What are your thoughts????
CB

Lesson Learned in Bible Class....:)

If you are looking for a deep and meaningful post I am not sure you will get what you set out for. I am only saying that because Earle and I went to a different class on Sunday morning at church. It was actually really good. It is going to be on parenting..which is something that I think would be great for us to be a part of. As part of the intro, the teacher was describing how the commitment to the marriage relationship is so vital to our successful parenting. The teacher went over some of the His Needs/Her Needs literature that Earle and I had taken about 7 or so years ago. The whole idea of the Love Bank and withdrawals and deposits...etc. While going over this, we discussed the "Top 5" collective emotional needs for the man and the woman....I have heard all of this before...but somehow today what I saw looked different on the note paper I was writing....here is what the teacher said were the men's top 5 emotional needs in pretty much this order:

5. Admiration
4. Family Support
3. Attractive Spouse
2. Recreational Companionship
1. Sex

This is what my brain interpreted the list as:

5. Tell him he's great at everything and rub his feet.
4. Clean his house, do his clothes and make him dinner, and take care of the children.
3. Work out, fix hair, don't wear frumpy clothes even when you are tired and have cramps
2. Always let him watch football..and make sure I am enthusiastically watching with him..
1. Make sure you always have enough sex to keep him satiated.


Come on People!!! Sometimes a woman gets tired!
Yes, this was meant to be funny!! Yes, I am blessed to have a wonderful man as my husband...but Yes, absolutely, the author of the Love Bank and His Needs/Her Needs is a MAN!!! Does anyone share in the same sentiment??? :):):)

Happenings this Week?!!

Just a typical week really! I woke up yesterday morning and both Ben and Molly were laying next to me...Molly virtually on top of Ben, accept for his head...I thought it was funny, because Molly never goes near Ben...so, I ran downstairs to get my camera, when I came back Molly was wagging her tail across Ben's face and tickling him and waking up....Ben was surprised by the situation! I thought it was funny. Ben said he didn't like it.

Last night we decided to try the kids out at a family skate night...the whole family for $10.00. Ben has been talking non-stop about wanting to be a Hockey Goalie..so I figured we needed to start with roller skating first before ice skating! Ben was excited but had never been skating before. When we got there, we realized that his last year's Christmas skates did not even go over his shoe...so he had to wear the real deal or we just had to go home. I was SOOO proud of him. He was very wobbly and fell at least 50 times, but he just kept getting back up and trying again. He really improved over the course of the hour and a half we were there. He was still clinging to the side for dear life, but he could keep himself up, so that was really good! I will say that my muscles are really sore in the arms and shoulders today!! I was the one who kept pulling him up! Earle did go around with him a couple of times!! I think we'll keep going!

Not to be outdone by his big brother, at the end of the night I decided to see if those little skates would fit someone else...he was actually really sturdy on them! I even took him out on the rink like a little pro.

One of Ben's ultimate pass-times is Lego Star Wars on the Wii....this week, Collin and Ben have made it a bonding experience. Collin digs his non-working controller out of the toy box and sits there with Ben thinking he is playing too...it is hilarious, but they love playing the Wii together now!! Ben is good to keep Collin thinking he is actually playing!
This last picture is something that I thought was really fun. I have been stalking Craigslist for a few weeks for a "basement" couch. I just did not want to pay full price for one, so I saw a picture of this couch and the matching chair. They were asking $325 for both, so I thought I would have a look. The photographs are really grainy and do not do it justice...but it is really cute and in great condition. The people were simply, "re-modeling" so the man wanted to get something else. When I got there they offered me the other chair and ottoman for a grand total of $400 for everything!! I thought it was so cute that our old couch is now the basement couch!! I was excited and thought it was a great deal! So you should totally try out Craigslist if you need something..just beware of crazy people and scams!! Have a good weekend!!! CB