Sarah imitating Mommy

I had already submitted the previous post when I noticed Sarah playing across the room. When I teach online, I use a headset in order to hear and talk to the students (who are scattered all over the country). Sarah is sometimes in the room with me when I teach, so she will sometimes ask when I get my computer out if that is what I am going to do. Anyway, there is a spare set of headphones that Sarah plays with sometimes. Today she put them on and said, "I'm going to teach!" :)

Happy New Year!

Well, 2007 is drawing to a close! I hope everyone has a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year! We have no big celebrations planned for tonight. I am going to make cheese and chocolate fondue here at home, and we will probably tune in just in time to watch the ball drop at midnight. Exciting stuff, huh? :-D

We did have a bit of a scare last night. Sarah woke up bawling last night. She screamed and thrashed, and kicked, and nothing we did calmed her down. She wouldn't answer when we asked what was wrong. Finally after about ten or fifteen very long minutes, she calmed down. She still wouldn't tell us what was wrong--if she was sick, in pain, had a bad dream, or whatever. She held her Scooby Doo (thanks, Uncle Dave!) and chatted for a few minutes, then asked to go back to bed. She was sleeping peacefully after a few minutes, and she slept in late this morning.

Best we can figure, she had a night terror last night. A bit different from a nightmare, night terrors are more frightening for the person having to watch (I'll second that!). My mother says I had them frequently as a child, and they do seem to be somewhat hereditary. :-p But at any rate, we all survived, and Sarah is perfectly fine today. We are going to get out in a bit for some fresh air and gift card spending. Nelson is thinking of using his gift card to purchase a new camera to replace the broken one, so you may have fresh new blog pics real soon! :)

post-Christmas shopping and activities

Well, I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We spent Christmas Eve with my parents and brother in Greeneville. On Christmas Day, we headed to Erwin to celebrate with my paternal grandmother, aunt, uncle, and cousins. Unfortunately, we arrived at my grandmother's house only to receive the news that my maternal grandmother (who has been in a nursing home for several years now) was in the hospital emergency room due to a rise in her potassium levels. We spent part of the day with her there in the hospital.

Today we got news that she is doing a bit better now, which is a relief. But if you feel led, we would certainly appreciate your prayers.

We received some gift cards for Christmas, so we have been enjoying spending those. We used a gift card to eat a meal at Chili's, then headed to Bristol for Speedway in Lights. Bristol Motor Speedway decorates itself with thousands of Christmas lights every year (some of them animated) to raise money for charity. When we told Sarah we were going to look at the Christmas lights, she proclaimed, "Because Jesus is the Light of the world!" (At least something from the Advent study sank in!). We enjoyed looking at the many lights, then we stopped in the middle of the track at Christmas Village. This is basically a mini-carnival, with food and rides. Nothing fancy at all, but fun for the kids. Sarah rode the merry-go-round twice, then took a couple of train rides. We started to get really cold, so we also got some hot chocolate to drink. We will drive back to Bristol sometime soon to take Sarah to the ice-skating rink that is also set up at the Speedway. :)

We did some shopping today, still spending those gift cards. :) We may have them all spent before New Year! :-D

Merry Christmas!

Just wanted to say a quick Merry Christmas to all who are reading this! Have a blessed day celebrating Christ's birth with friends and family! :)

interesting read

The health site WebMD ranked the top 10 health news stories of 2007. It's an interesting, informative read. (Yes, much of the year featured recalls of toys and food!). :-p

Here the link: http://www.webmd.com/news/20071217/webmds-10-top-health-stories-of-2007

Christmas-y Sarah pic

Here is a picture of Sarah wearing a Santa hat. Enjoy!

feeling nostalgic

Ah, how fast children grow up! Sarah's only three, but already she is growing and changing so much. I'm starting to miss some of her "childish" behavior that she has outgrown...and some of the childish mispronunciations that she can now say correctly. Sarah, like her daddy, loves root beer. When she first started talking, she pronounced it "ree-boop." She said it this way for a long time, and I just loved it. But alas, now she says root beer properly. Yesterday, she asked her daddy to pour her a glass. Feeling nostalgic, I asked her if Daddy was bringing "ree-boop." She just looked at me and said, "No, I said root beer. That's what I wanted!" Sigh. My girl is definitely growing up!

update on Sarah's singing performance

There is video! To protect the privacy of the other children involved in the program, we opted NOT to post the video to the blog. I don't think anyone would have a problem with, but since I don't have express permission from the other parents' to post video with their children to the Internet, I'm not going to do it. But I knew several people would be interested in seeing the video, so here's what we did: we emailed the video to the people we were pretty sure would want a copy of it. So if you are reading this post and did NOT receive the video via email but would like to have a copy, either leave a message to that effect in the comment area, or email me at kehwie@hotmail.com I will be sure to get you one! Trust me, it's a hoot to watch! :-D

Sarah's first singing performance

At church on Sunday, we got a special treat--a singing performance by the children! They had been practicing for weeks and weeks, and Sunday was the big day. Sarah's class was to perform "Joy to the World" and "Away in a Manger." Being a group of 2-4 year olds, they sang very loudly and enthusiastically--and off-pitch and behind the beat. :) They forgot to do the motions they had learned and practiced. And two of the girls were duking it out over the microphone (more on that in a minute).

As a Kids' Community volunteer, I got to be backstage before the big event. Interestingly, even small children experience stage fright. One girl complained that her stomach hurt. Another had a mini meltdown. Sarah burst into tears for no apparent reason at one point. High stress for something that was supposed to be fun!

And then the big moment arrived. The children filed in single file--and one girl tripped on the stairs and lost a shoe. Brief moment of confusion, but she finally made it up onstage and the rest of the kids trooped up behind her. The director signalled the children to begin singing. They did, with one especially enthusiastic youngster singing louder than everyone else (and also a beat or two off from everyone else). :) Two girls on the front row began tussling over the same microphone. Sarah watched this for a few minutes (singing all the while) and decided that she too would like a microphone. She also decided that she would like her OWN microphone. Right in the middle of one of the songs, she waltzed past the other children and planted herself in front of a microphone at the end of the stage! I hope I am describing this adequately, but it was hysterical to watch in person!

Anyway, here are a couple of pictures from the big day. Later we will have some video. :)

Looks like you're not such a mean one after all, Mr. Grinch...

Hmm, I think the Grinch's reputation is shot! We went to breakfast with the Grinch this morning (a special Christmas event at the local mall), and the Grinch was quite friendly and accommodating! No sign of meanness or grouchiness present! Of course, his heart did grow three sizes at the end of the story, so I guess he is a reformed Grinch now. :)

Here is Sarah, dressed and ready for her special breakfast rendezvous:

Sarah thoroughly enjoyed the breakfast. In honor of the Grinch's creator, Dr. Seuss, the restaurant served green eggs and ham. Sarah not only ate the colorful meal, she created her own drawing of it! Here's her picture of green eggs and ham:

In addition to the Grinch, the Cat in the Hat attended the event. Here is Sarah posing with the Cat...

And finally, the guest of honor, Mr. Grinch himself. Sarah was so excited to be able to "meet" the Grinch. She loves the storybook, and we read it together most days. She loves the animated half-hour special and requests to watch it on pretty much a daily basis. So getting to meet the Grinch was a real treat for her!

One last picture before we left...

Since our "real" camera is dead, we used Nelson's cell phone to take these pictures. I think they turned out well, though, and hopefully they'll give you a good idea of our fun breakfast this morning! :)

adventures in vacuuming

For the most part, Sarah is pretty brave and fearless. She climbs up all kinds of play structures without batting an eye, and she didn't so much as whimper when the doctor cleaned her head wound and glued it closed. However, she is bothered by loud noises (the blender, the mixer, the hair dryer). And the thing that bothers her the most is the vacuum. She HATES the vacuum.

Unfortunately, though, vacuuming is a fact of life; you can only neglect it for so long. And today was vacuuming day. I warned Sarah that I would be vacuuming. She immediately covered her ears and bolted for her bedroom. This tactic worked great...until I was ready to vacuum in there. As soon as I entered her room with the vacuum, Sarah started screaming and crying hysterically. She was so distraught that Nelson could hear her all the way in the living room, even over the noise from the vacuum! I didn't make any attempt to vacuum the corner where Sarah was cowering in terror; I basically just did the "middles" in her room.

I finally finished the dreaded deed, and Sarah tearfully asked if I was done and if I had put the vacuum away. I told her I was indeed finished, and I sat and cuddled with her for a moment. I reminded her that the vacuum wouldn't hurt her. "It did a time or two ago," she responded.

"It did what?" I asked.

"It hurt my feelings," she replied.

"How did it do that?" I questioned.

"It doesn't when it's put away," she insisted.

"Does it scare you?" I probed further.

"The big one does," she confirmed. "The little one is okay!"

"So do you want me to use the little one?" I wanted to know.

"No, you've already used the big one!" she immediately protested, obviously not wanting to take the chance that I might continue the vacuum torture.

Sigh. So now I am left with two choices...leave the house in dusty, unvacuumed shambles, or send my daughter into terrified conniption fits. Neither option works that well for me, if you want to know the truth!

pictures!

Since our camera is dead, it may be awhile until we get new pictures posted. But to tide you over in the meantime, here are some photos taken just before the camera bit the dust...



Sarah playing (bet you didn't know that laundry was so much fun, did you?)








Like father, like daughter...






Sarah looking sharp...(she LOVES these boots).






Sarah trying Mommy's pajamas on for size...





We have some video captured on the camera as well, but we'll have to figure out how to convert it to a format that the blog will accept. Stay tuned for that!

missing in action

Sorry for being somewhat AWOL for awhile. Many of you may already know about Nelson's job situation. Not the Christmas present we wanted, I must say! We appreciate everyone's prayers and support.

I haven't forgotten my promise to post pictures of our home, all decorated for Christmas. Unfortunately, our camera has died, so I can't take any pictures to post! :-p I have tried taking pictures with my cell phone, but they didn't really come out that great. :( So just use your imaginations for now! :-p

Guess what! On Sunday at church, Sarah's Sunday school class will be singing during the service! They will sing "Away in a Manger" (motions included) and "Joy to the World." I can't wait--I know it will be sooo cute. My parents will be attending, and my dad has promised to bring a camera, so hopefully we will be able to post pictures of that. :)

Sarah continues to enjoy our Advent study and "talking about God." She is always enjoying the toy bird my dad got her for Christmas. It's one of those that echoes back what you say to it. She is having the best time talking to the bird and hearing the bird squawk her words back to her. I personally am starting to find the darn thing a bit annoying, but toymakers don't have parents in mind when they come up with these things. Fortunately, it DOES have an off switch. ;) And I have to admit, it's fun to watch her get such a kick out of it. :)

Love me all together!

I hugged Sarah today and quoted a line from Looney Tunes: "I'm going to hug you and kiss you and love you all to pieces!" Sarah immediately protested, "No, Mommy! Don't love me all to pieces! Love me all together!" She's said this before, but it always tickles me. :)

She continues to enjoy our Advent study time. "Let's talk about God," she said first thing this morning. And later this afternoon, while she was watching an episode of Curious George, she burst out with, "Jesus is the light of the world!" So some of it must be sinking in!

This weekend, I will try to post some pictures of our house all decorated up for Christmas! Including our Christmas tree, all lit up because "Jesus is the light of the world!" :)

Invitation

Normally I reserve this blog for family stuff and especially Sarah stories. But today I am going to include a quick notice about my Mary Kay business. This Saturday (Dec. 1), I am hosting a holiday open house. I am offering a 10% discount to all who attend. So for those of you too far away to be able to come, I will offer a 10% discount on all web orders placed that day. So check out www.marykay.com/karenbutterworth and see if there's something that you want! Also lipsticks are on sale: buy 1, get the second for 50% off. Have a great day!

Advent

A few days ago, via another blog that I regularly read, I came across an Advent Bible study for families. It had the study itself for the adults, questions to discuss as a family, and pictures for the kiddies to color. I went ahead and printed the study, and Sarah and I have been working through it in the morning. She loves coloring the pages and "talking about Jesus." I don't have any traditional Advent candles, so we plug in the lights on the Christmas tree, and read John 8:12. "Jesus said to the people, 'I am the light of the world. If you follow Me, you won't be stumbling through the darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.'" I told Sarah that we decorate with lights at Christmastime because Jesus is the light of the world. Sarah got very excited...and confused. "Those lights are Jesus!" she proclaimed. Um, no, not exactly. But how do you explain symbolism to a three year old? I settled for, "The lights aren't Jesus, because Jesus is with God in heaven, but they help us think about and remember Jesus." She seemed satisfied with that.

On a completely different note, I got my new glasses yesterday. Ugh. It's been 16 years since I've worn glasses; I like my contacts, thank you very much. I'm having a really hard time to adjusting to this whole glasses thing. Everything looks weird to me right now, and I keep bumping into things because they're a bit distorted. I hope my new contacts arrive soon!!!

Sunday

Sarah loves her children's class at church. She's always excited to go there and play with her friends. She has two wonderful teachers, a husband and wife team, whom she adores as well. Yesterday as we got ready to leave she chattered happily about how she was going to dress up as a pirate and play with the other girls. She also reminded me that God made the world! :) Alas, however, when we got to church, there were no children's classes. Kid's Community had been cancelled in honor of Thanksgiving weekend. Sarah would have to attend the worship service with us.

I must confess I experienced a moment of panic. Sarah is fairly well-behaved, but she is also an active three-year-old. Because I had forgotten that there were no children's classes, I had not come prepared with books, or paper and pens, or ANYthing. Oops! How were we going to make it through the sermon?

Ah, but it's the beloved Sunday School teachers to the rescue! Sarah decided she wanted to sit with Mr. Kirk and Ms. Heidi and their daughters. (One daughter, Lydia, is in Sarah's class). And Ms. Heidi HAD come prepared--books, coloring books, crayons, and Apple Jacks! Sarah danced enthusiastically to the music during the singing portion of the service, then colored and ate Apple Jacks through the sermon. She did a fantastic job, thanks to Ms. Heidi's foresight. :) Whew! And to be fair, ALL of the kids in the service did great. I don't think most of the adults in attendance were even aware of the fact that all the children were present.

Moving on now, I HAVE to tell this story from yesterday evening. However, I feel it will lose its impact, being told via text. You just won't get the full effect without hearing Sarah's voice. But unfortunately, it was one of those spontaneous moments that no one ever knows to record, so I'll just do the best I can here. Use your imagination, and hopefully you'll be able to see the humor.

We were getting Sarah ready for her bath last night. Sarah was not happy at the prospect of bathtime; she had other things she wanted to do. She got quite defiant in her resistance, even covering her ears with her hands so that she couldn't "hear" what Daddy was telling her to do. A quick swat to the rear, and Sarah tearfully put her clothes into the laundry basket and headed toward the bathroom. Discipline over, Nelson switched to "comfort the crying child" mode. Sarah, however, continued to sob miserably. Nelson did a game that my dad used to do with me and "shook the meanness out." (Please don't get upset; of course the shaking is very, very gentle--it won't hurt her). Sarah cracked a small smile, but didn't stop crying. Giving up, Nelson started running the bathwater. Once the water was run, he realized that Sarah was trying to tell him something through her tears. He asked her what was wrong. And here is where it gets hard to adequately describe, but here goes. In the most pathetic, tearful voice you can imagine, Sarah whimpered, "I need you to shake the meanness out of me again!" I still laugh thinking about it!

Sarah Speaks!

Karen and I thought it might be neat to post a short recording of Sarah speaking. This was from last night, and has a couple samples of her singing as well as speaking. Enjoy!

sarah talking 2.mp3

various stuff from this week

Hmm, I guess it's been a few days since I've updated this! Oops! Oh, well, I'm sure everyone has been too busy with Thanksgiving preparations to even notice! :) Anyway, I'll just take a quick minute to summarize some of the highlights from the week.

We'll start with Sunday (good place to start, huh?). We went to church as usual. During Sunday school, when storytime was over and the kids were just playing freely, Sarah was a pirate! She had a hat, an eyepatch, and a toy sword, and she went around saying "Arrr!" I wish I'd had a camera with me, but I don't usually take it to church. So you'll just have to use your imaginations!

After church she summarized the Sunday school lesson with "God made everything. He made the grass and trees and the Lord!" I never could quite explain to her that God IS the Lord. God made everything; therefore, He must have made the Lord! She was quite insistent. Ah, the theological ramifications of this....

Monday Nelson had a paper he had to do for school. Sarah tried unsuccessfully a few times that evening to get her daddy to play with her, but he kept telling her he had to do his homework. Finally, Sarah went to go get her markers and her big drawing book. She settled down next to Nelson and told him that she was going to do her homework as well. She continued this the next morning; the first thing she told me when she woke up was that she needed to get her homework done. What a studious family I have!

Sarah is very particular about certain things. She has a good bit of those firstborn perfectionist tendencies. She has a pair of pink and purple bedroom slippers that she had not worn in quite some time. Tuesday evening she was trying to use a pair of red shoes as her slippers, but they were too small. Her toes were getting squished. I told her she ought to wear her pink slippers instead. She said disdainfully, "I can't wear those! They have a string!" Well, I went to look at the offending slippers and sure enough, a purple string hung loose from one. Nelson cut the string, and Sarah declared the slippers fit to wear! She's been happily wearing them every since!

Wednesday we did make it to Kindermusik (yay!). I didn't manage to get there with the camera though. :( But Sarah had a great time singing, dancing, and playing the handbells.

Once Kindermusik was over, we visited with my parents for awhile. My dad took us out to lunch, then treated us to coffee and hot chocolate from the coffee shop. Sarah LOVES hot chocolate. She tolerates the hot liquid better than any child I have ever seen. Starbucks actually sells a child-size cup of hot chocolate, and she is just delighted to have her own cup to drink while I have coffee and Nelson has chai. The coffee shop we visited on Wednesday didn't have a child-size cup, so she wasn't able to finish it all, but she still really enjoyed it.

For Thanksgiving, we headed back to Greeneville for lunch with my parents, then drove to Erwin to see my grandmothers. It was a damp, dreary day, and the weather is really getting colder, but we did have a lovely Thanksgiving celebration. :)

One last little story before I close this epic-length post (I shouldn't try to do a whole week at once!): as we drove to Greeneville yesterday, Nelson quoted something and said, "Thanks to Charles Schultz." Sarah responded, "Thanks to Charlie Brown!" I have NO idea how she knew to associate Charles Schultz with Charlie Brown--maybe it was just a coincidence. But it was pretty funny!

I have a friend who posts video clips on her blog, and maybe one of these days I'll figure out a way to do that as well. Until then, you'll just have to be content with text and occasional pictures. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! :)

play imitates life

Sarah loves Curious George. She loves the books; she loves the TV show on PBS. In this picture she is holding a Curious George bubble-blowing toy. There is a small compartment on his head where you pour bubble solution in, then he blows bubbles out of his mouth. Sarah actually isn't too crazy about bubble-blowing George; it tends to freak her out a bit when he starts spewing bubbles out of his mouth! So she usually just plays with him in house like a doll. Well, today she was taking very good care of George, pretending that his little head compartment was a head wound. She proclaimed that he had a hole in his head, and she tried to do all of the comfort and first aid measures that I had done with her when the iron fell on her. She said SHE no longer had a hole in her head, just a bump since the doctor had glued her shut. I think she was trying to figure out how to do the same for poor George! But given her excellent care, I predict that our little monkey friend will make a full recovery very soon... :)

kids and pancakes

This is going to seem like a VERY random post. But Sarah wanted pancakes for breakfast this morning, and the name of this blog is the Pancake Chronicles, and that got me thinking. Awhile back, I read a quote from Kelly Ripa, comparing kids to pancakes. At the time, she had just given birth to her third child. I'm going to paraphrase here, because this was quite some time ago, and I don't remember the quote exactly. But she basically said that when you're making pancakes, you usually flip the first one too soon and make a bit of a mess. With the second pancake, you do a little bit better, but you still don't get it exactly right. But by the time you get to the third pancake, you've got it all down pat and it's pretty much perfect. And kids, according to her, are the same way.

Sarah is still very young, but I already have a multitude of things I would like to do differently--times I "flipped her too soon," if you will. But as yet, I have no subsequent children to see if the rest of the pancake analogy holds true. I don't know if Lauri or Bill are reading this, but if so, here's a question for you: since you are third and fourth children, respectively, do you feel like "perfect pancakes?" How about you, TJ? ;) Any "perfect pancakes" out there who want to chime in on this? ;)

On a completely different note, Sarah is STILL mourning the lost Kindermusik class. :( I hope she can make it to next Wednesday!

Christmas and curious three year olds

Well, the Christmas season will certainly be interesting this year! I will have to come up with some place where Sarah's gifts will stay safely HIDDEN! Quite the challenge...

A couple of days ago a package arrived from Grandma and Grandpa Butterworth, addressed to Sarah. We opened the box, and inside found a beautifully wrapped Christmas present for Sarah. So I put it on top of Sarah's dresser and told her that we couldn't open it until Christmas. For the next two mornings, Sarah woke up saying, "It's Christmas!" and I would tell her, no, not yet. She would be kind of bummed for a few minutes, but then go on her way. I figured everything was fine. Silly me...

Yesterday Sarah waltzed into the living room holding a lovely purple sweater and proclaiming, "What a beautiful Christmas sweater!" (It is, by the way. Grandma's skills are amazing). She had grabbed my two aerobic steps, stacked them to give her the added height that she needed, and climbed up to grab the present from the dresser top and unwrap it! She's incredibly clever--not to mention determined!

I scolded her for opening the package when she was supposed to wait until Christmas, causing her to promptly burst into tears. She asked if we could rewrap the present and wait until Christmas. So I put it back into the wrapping paper, stuck it down into a gift bag I had, and put it on top of her armoire. Surely there is NO way she can get anything down from the top of that! (Knocking on wood here...)

So, Grandma and Grandpa, you have my apologies that the Christmas gift was opened a bit early. But it is back in its packaging to be opened again when Christmas actually gets here! Meanwhile, I will have to think of some way to keep all the Christmas presents out of Sarah's reach. I have a feeling that the top of the armoire may get very, very crowded....

miscellaneous stuff from today

Well, I had a completely different blog planned for today than what I am actually going to be able to write! Life's funny that way, I guess. :-p Anyway, as I'm sure you all know, today is Wednesday. Wednesday is a highlight of Sarah's week. We have to get up earlier today than any other day of the week, but that's okay because it's for a good cause. :) We head for Greeneville on Wednesdays for Sarah's weekly Kindermusik class! It's approximately a 45-minute class, and Sarah LOVES it. We are on our fourth semester-long class, and we've done two short summer classes as well. The program is extremely developmentally appropriate (all my early childhood education training coming out there), but it's also fun! Sarah gets to sing, dance, learn fingerplays, listen to stories, and play musical instruments. We also get a package of take-home materials with each class that includes a CD, an instrument, a book, and some other things.

So I had planned to take my camera today, and take pictures of Sarah enjoying her class. But alas, I wasn't able to do that. I mentioned in Monday's post having some eye trouble. I've been to the doctor, I have new glasses and a new set of contacts ordered, but they are not here yet, and I canNOT get my left contact in for anything. My left eye is just too irritated. And trying to drive to Greeneville half-blind didn't seem like a very good idea! So we stayed home today. :( Sarah is quite bummed about this and keeps insisting that it's not too late to go to Kindermusik. She has a second reason that she is saddened too; since Kindermusik is in Greeneville, we always go visit my parents once class is over. So she's also asking about her "Mike and Mumsy." (I'm sure that they are a little blue over the missed class/visit this week as well, truth be told).

Anyway, as she's played today, she built a tower of Legos that she has named Garrett (one of the kids she plays with at my mom's house). She has fed "Garrett" spaghetti and ice cream, and at one point put the Legos on the couch next to her and told me that Garrett was driving her to Mike and Mumsy's and that they had both buckled their seatbelts. She also had to "fix" Garrett's eyes at one point, because they were "broken." I think she's been paying attention to my eye trouble and our trips to the eye doctor! Lol.

So here's hoping that on some other Wednesday I will be able to take pictures of the beloved Kindermusik class! Until then, here's an older picture from a class a couple of semesters back. Hope you enjoy it! :) And check out http://www.kindermusik.com/ if you want more info about the program and its available products. :)

more doctor visits

Sarah's yearly checkup was today, so we headed back to the doctor this morning. All is well. She's healthy and growing, a perfectly normal three-year-old. Height is 34.25 inches; weight is 26 pounds. Her head wound is healing as it should be. The doctor did up her daily dose of Zantac, to adjust for the fact that Sarah has grown since the prescription was first written, but all told it was the fastest doctor visit we've ever had. Pretty much just in and back out. :)

I have an appointment myself this afternoon, witih the eye doctor. It's time for my yearly eye exam anyway, but my left eye is giving me problems so I am going to have him look to make sure I don't have some kind of infection or anything. After this, I am hoping to be done with doctor visits for awhile! :-p

and now, for something a bit different...

Well, Sarah did fine last night, although she was a bit irritated with me for waking her up! But she roused normally, was coherent, etc. Her wound is looking MUCH better today; in fact, if you didn't know to look for it, I doubt you would notice it. :) So much to our relief, all is well. She even joined me in my workout this morning! Sarah LOVES to help me exercise! :)

Other than that update, I don't really have anecdotes or anything to post today. So I thought I would do something a bit different and just share some "resources" that I have found helpful and would recommend. Check them out; some may be useful for you, some not, but they're all worthy of at least taking a look! :)

1. I know we all get a lot of our news these days online. The Internet contains a wealth of news and information sites! I bet we all have several news sources that we like to read on a regular basis, right? Wouldn't it be easier to have all those resources in one place? Well, you can. Go to http://www.crayon.net/ and create your own newspaper! It's great; it offers all the sections that a "real" newspaper would (U.S. news, world news, politics, etc.), but you choose the sources under each heading. They have lots to choose from as you set up each section, and you can even add your own. But once you've finished, you have all of your favorite news sources at one handy site! Cool!
2. http://www.literaturepage.com/ and http://www.bartleby.com/ Both of these sites enable you to read classic works in their entirety online. I have read Sherlock Holmes and Agatha Christie books, and there are ton more that I can't wait to read! Yeah, the library will have a lot of the books available here, but probably not all of them, so these are pretty great resources. Happy reading! :)
3. Moving to offline resources now, I am currently reading the book Three Views on the Millennium and Beyond. Craig A. Blaising, Kenneth L. Gentry Jr., and Robert B. Strimple are the contributing writers, and Darrell L. Bock is the general editor. It is part of a series called Counterpoints by Zondervan. It is a really fascinating read. It covers all three major views (premillennial, postmillenial, and amillenial) of the millenium. A leading theologian makes the case for each viewpoint, and then the other two respond with their critiques. Will it change whatever viewpoint you currently hold about the millennium? Probably not; after all, none of the writers convinced the other two! But it is still worth reading, and it gives you a great overview of all three beliefs and the foundation upon which all are built. You can purchase it at http://www.amazon.com/ or http://www.christianbook.com/ if you are interested.
4. Finally, My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult is an incredible read. It is the first novel I have read by Picoult, and she is an amazing writer. You empathize for all of the characters and become so involved in the story. The ending took me completely by surprise, and it is now on my list of all-time favorite reads. I will definitely be looking into other books by this author!

Well, that's probably enough for one day! :) Have fun browsing these if you're interested, and if not, I will try to have something to suit your fancy some other time! Have a great weekend, everyone!!! :)

Back from the doctor!

Whew! What a day! It seemed like such a normal day. Sarah was playing happily (wearing her Cinderella dress, of course). She has a game she plays quite frequently using either the linen closet or our bedroom closet. She likes to either open the door and say, "I'm going to work now! Have a good day!" and shut herself inside, or she will knock on the door so that I will ask, "Who is it?" Then she responds, "It's me! Sarah Elizabeth Butterworth!" Well, today she was playing in the linen closet, as she has so many times before. I was in the living room working, when suddenly I heard a thunk and a scream and Sarah's hysterical crying. The iron (like you use to iron clothes) had fallen from the top shelf of the closet and hit her in the head! We put an ice pack on it right away, but I couldn't get the bleeding to stop. So we headed to the pediatric after-hours clinic when Nelson got home to get her checked. She seems to be fine, and her head is now sporting Dermabond. (Sarah says, "They're going to glue me!"). I do have to wake her up a couple of times during the night tonight to make sure that she's okay--wakes up, is responsive, is coherent, etc. And I'm to keep an eye out for any changes in speech or motor skills or anything like that. But the doctor seemed quite positive that everything's okay. When she examined the wound, she said it all looked good. Head wounds just bleed a lot. It's quite a relief that all is well.

Sarah, meanwhile, has not been nearly as upset over this whole event as I have been. She cried quite hard for a few minutes, then got over it. She's been playing happily and seems to be her normal, cheerful self. She's a tough girl!

Happy Anniversary, Grandma and Grandpa!

I sure hate that we couldn't be there for the celebration this weekend. I hope you had a wonderful time!!! Apparently, 1947 was a great year for marriages--this year would have been my grandparents' 60th anniversary as well! It's too bad that the web cam idea didn't end up working out so well. Sarah was sooooo excited about seeing everyone. She insisted on wearing her Cinderella dress so that everyone could see it. Even long after we had finally given up on trying to get it to work, Sarah was looking forward to seeing "Grandma and Grandpa, and Uncle Nick and Aunt Tara, and Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa..." She just wouldn't believe that this great get-together we had promised would not happen. We left later to go the town's brand-new Super Target, and Sarah was just sure we were going to see you all!

Anyway, we do wish you a very sincere (albeit belated) happy anniversary. I hope you enjoyed your special celebration, and may you have many more to come! :)

Love, Karen and Nelson and Sarah

Cinderelli, Cinderelli, all day long it's Cinderelli...

For those who have seen Disney's Cinderella, you will recognize the song referenced above. Some days that song represents my life, because Sarah is obsessed with Cinderella right now. She has seen the movie about 147 times and has not gotten tired of it yet. She has a Cinderella Barbie doll. Her favorite shirt is a blue t-shirt with Cinderella on the front. She frequently will take off whatever outfit she is wearing, wrap herself in her red blanket, and say that she is in "raggedy clothes" (like Cinderella wears in the movie before the fairy godmother shows up). She talks about going to the ball to dance with the prince. It really is "Cinderelli" all day long around here.

Soooo...guess what Sarah wanted to be for Halloween! Yep, that's right, my little princess dressed up as one of the original Disney princesses on Halloween night. And yes, I have pictures. :) I even have included a bonus pic of Sarah in her Cinderella t-shirt holding her Barbie doll! Enjoy! :)

the house itself

The house from the front (we got a package today! You can see it on the porch!)

And, the house from the back...

Howdy!

This is my first ever post on a blog! Well, I've posted hundreds of comments on other blogs, but never had one that I was part of.

Well, time to bathe Sarah and go to bed! More to come...

views from our house

Since most of the people reading this blog don't live near us and probably won't be able to visit soon, I thought I'd post some pictures of our house, yard, etc. This first group of pictures shows the views that we see from the house. Hopefully tomorrow I'll be able to post the house itself and later on the various rooms. Just be patient with me! ;)

Here is the view looking to the right off our front porch. You can see a bit of the huge Baptist church down the road from us. :)

Ok, I cheated a little on this next shot and used the zoom to close in on the tree. You CAN see the tree when you look to the left off of our front porch...but the picture comes out much better with the help of the zoom! :) I love East TN in autumn!

Another view of the beautiful fall colors....

Looking straight ahead off the front porch...you can see the mountains in the distance.

This is our backyard. Sarah loves playing back here. The house you can see behind us belongs to our wonderful neighbors Skye and Drew.

The garage...

A quick view of Sarah's sand and water table on the back deck...

Last one for today--this is the view off to the right of our back deck. You can see some of the mountains here as well...

language

For those who expected a recap of Halloween today, don't worry; it's coming. But I don't want to ruin the effect by typing up the entry about it before I have the pictures to post! So that will be coming soon...just not today. :)

Anyway, the English language is crazy and inconsistant. So for a toddler learning all the rules and such of grammar, it gets confusing sometimes! Her mind processes that adding "ed" to a word puts it past tense. So when we're tossing a plush pumpkin back and forth today, she excitedly proclaims, "I catched it!" After all, that's the rule, right? Add an "ed" to make it past tense? Too bad English has as many exceptions as it does rules!

Another example of her incorrectly applying the rules: a reader reads. A runner runs. An eater eats. So what does a doctor do? To Sarah, he docs! She frequently brings her "tools" to me and says, "I'm going to doc you, Mommy!" The last time we visited the doctor's office, she told me that she didn't want to be "docked."

Then there are the words that she has heard and wants to use but has NO idea what they mean. So when she doesn't want something she disdainfully says, "That's too clumsy for me!" It makes no sense whatsoever in the context, but she loves the word clumsy! (Maybe her mommy having the nickname of Grace has something to do with that? Hmmm...) Then there was a couple of days ago when the collar of her pajamas was causing her discomfort and she tearfully said, "The neck is cooperating me!" What?! I'm not sure exactly what she thinks clumsy or cooperating mean, but obviously something got confused in there somewhere!

Sarah also enjoys using the word "indeed." And this is one that she actually gets right! It is so funny to hear "Yes, indeed" or "we will indeed" coming out of the mouth of a 3-year-old though. It makes her sound so grown up! Until the next time she says she "catched" something anyway. :)

one of my favorite Sarah pics

It just shows her attitude so well! :) She is having so much fun just striking a pose! :)

The First Entry

Ah, how historic! My very first attempt at a blog entry. :-p So let's all imagine that trumpets are blaring and banners waving to mark the moment. ;)

Okay, seriously, my sister-in-law (love you, Tara!) suggested that a blog might be a good way to stay in touch with all our out-of-state family and friends. So even though I have NO clue what I am doing, here is my feeble attempt to give those who would like to be "in the know" a glimpse of our daily lives.

As a SAHM, most of my days revolve around home and Sarah, so of course the first entry would have to be about her. ;) To set the scene, I was doing my morning Bible study on the living room couch. I finished up and set the Bible down next to me. Sarah started flipping through the Bible, "reading" it. She said, "God made the world, and trees, and flowers, and fish, and cookies, and flowers, and grass, and shirt!" (God making the world has been the subject of her Sunday School class for a few weeks now). I agreed with her that yes, God did indeed make everything. "He even made you!" I told her. "Yes," she said, "that makes us happy!" And I had to agree that I was very happy that God had made her! ;)