Martha vs. Mary

Exactly three times in the past week, the Biblical story of Martha and Mary has been presented to me in one way or another. I knew I had read this story before (it is very short!), but I had never really given it very much thought. But just now, after the third time in one week that it has crossed my consciousness, I am beginning to wonder if God is trying to tell me something.

Am I being too much like Martha and not enough like Mary? Of course I am! That's obvious. But how do I switch that around? I know I should expend more time and effort on developing relationships with others, spending time in the Word, and hearing God's message for me, than on cleaning my bathroom (which I should be doing right now), preparing meals, and paying the bills. BUT, those latter things all need to be done, too. Today, I am searching my heart to find a way to balance the "Mary" and "Martha" aspects of my life. Suggestions are welcome. :)

Sharing Cheerios with Kinnick

Owen has learned to share. Kinnick is eating it up, literally.

Wedding in Vegas

Admittedly, I am not a big fan of Las Vegas. It's just not really my scene. But, I was happy to leave Owen home with Grandma and Grandpa Peterson last weekend as Ryan and I traveled with the Betts family to "Sin City" to support my big brother Chuck as he married the love of his life, Randi. And we had a BLAST!

First on the itinerary (which Ryan painstakingly set up), was a trip to the Hoover Dam. Pretty interesting stuff. (I'm skipping over all of Ryan's very lovely photos of the dam because we all know we'd rather see pictures of people than landscapes, right?)

From left to right: Todd, Rachel, Jeff, Dad, me, Ryan

At the state line: Ryan standing in Nevada, me in Arizona.

Looking over the new bypass bridge (Todd, Rachel, and me).

Then, back to the strip to see the sights. Here are a couple amazing "scenery" photos (kudos to Ryan) that were worth sharing.

Paris Hotel

New York, New York Hotel (and some sunset!)

Sunday night was the wedding and reception. The beautiful couple (and I mean to tell you, Randi looked gorgeous!) were married in a small, but elegant chapel in the Mandalay Bay (where we all stayed) with a dinner reception afterward. Unfortunately, I didn't get very many photos of all of that (I was having too much fun, I think!), but here are a few...

Sisters!! We are absolutely thrilled to have a new, fourth sister! We LOVE you, Randi!

Not sure what we were laughing about (there was a LOT of laughter – and a few tears of joy – that evening), but I though this was a fun snapshot of the amazing bond the Betts kids have and always will have. I love you, Chuckie! And I wish you and Randi a lifetime of happiness!!!

Holiday Recap

Ok, so it's been about a month since my last post (despite the fact that blogger is dating this post Jan. 3, which I think is when I started to draft it). Oops! Lots of stuff has been going on. Stuff that I've been wanting to blog about (like Christmas, New Years [also Ryan and my 5th anniversary], and Chuck and Randi's wedding in Vegas), but that same stuff has prevented me from finding the time! So, here's a recap of Christmas, and I'll try to capture some of the other stuff in future posts...

This holiday, I felt very inspired (once again having my own kitchen, I'm sure had something to do with it) to do some baking and crafting. One of my projects was something I learned through a friend's blog – making homemade laundry detergent. It was super easy (see the link to her instructions) and I love it! Here are the ingredients...

See the fun soap shavings? Shredding a bar of soap with a cheese grater was a little hard on the ol' upper arms, but totally worth it.

I even gave some of it away as gifts. Too cute!

I had been craving macaroons for a while, so I found an excellent recipe in one of my many, many cookbooks and am pretty proud of how they turned out.

My new friend Teri made these Snickers cookies for a MOPS cookie exchange and I just knew my family would love them. Delish!

Christmas was fun this year because Owen sort of started to "get" it. I still don't think he knows who Santa is – maybe because I never took him to see Santa, which I feel terrible about. 2010 (age 18 months) will be a big, gaping hole in the series of Santa photos throughout his life. Sorry, buddy! But, we did teach him to say "ho, ho," which he dutifully recited whenever anyone asked him "what does Santa say?"

And after three different present-opening events, he eventually figured that concept out.

A surprise hit was the rocking cow that I bought on a whim months ago. We almost didn't even give it to him because after it resurfaced from the closet it's been hiding in, I didn't think he would care much for it. But it turned out to be a lot of fun! He immediately climbed right on it and started rocking without any prompting. He was squealing and clapping in this shot – too cute!

Another favorite – a mini vacuum cleaner. It lights up and makes noise just like the real thing. Unfortunately, I couldn't find one that actually cleaned because, believe me, I would have been all over that!

A brief video of his vacuuming skills...

And one of Owen's VERY favorite presents was this Brobee doll (from Yo Gabba Gabba). I was delighted to capture his pure glee in this 2-part video.

Reduce, reuse, recycle

Owen's current favorite "toy" is this empty tissue box. I showed him how to put his blocks in it yesterday and he's been carrying it around with him, searching for other small objects to put in it, ever since. He also enjoys all manner of empty containers. Currently, we have one cleaned out peanut butter and one applesauce jar lying around the house (he's playing with one of them as I type this). I'm glad he finds creative ways to entertain himself with items from the recycle bin, but it kind of makes the closet full of unwrapped Christmas gifts we've bought for him seem a little pointless.

Wheel...of...FORTUNE!

Is it odd for a 17-month-old to enjoy Wheel of Fortune? Owen will stop whatever he is doing when it comes on at 6:30 every night and check it out. Tonight, he even sat down in the middle of the living room to follow along. Maybe it's all the applause (he loves to clap along with any and all applause on TV, radio, etc.), or maybe the colors and clicking sound of the wheel. Or maybe he just enjoys learning his letters by shouting them out after the contestants call them, which is way cute! Who knows???

SNOW!

We've got it! By my estimation (which is based solely on looking out the window), I'd say we got about 3 or 4 inches last night and this morning. It is 2:00 P.M. now and ours is still the only driveway in the cul-de-sac that hasn't been cleared. I did manage to shovel a path 2 shovel-widths wide from the garage to the street (which is a loooong distance, and steep, too!) so I could get the garbage can down to the curb this morning. Initially, Owen was out there with me. I got him all bundled up in two layers of pants, two jackets, hat, mittens, and new snow boots that I can't quite get his feet all the way into. Maybe it was the boots, but he did not want to leave the garage. So I just kept an eye on him while I shoveled until I got about half-way down and heard him screaming. He somehow tumbled over, face-first into the cold, wet stuff. I'm sure it was stinging his little face, so I whisked him inside right away and...after peeling off all those layers...he was fine. Not a scratch on him. But I'm thinking now, "those boots were a waste of money!"

Ryan just touched down in Moline. He's been in Boston on business for the past few days. I'm sure he'll be excited to try out his new snow plow attachment for the riding lawn mower. He told me over the phone earlier that I was welcome to try it out. HA! I'm certain that I would crash into something; that is, if I could even figure out how to get it started! That thing is a total mystery to me and I'm fine with it that way. That's his domain. I'll stay inside and make my grocery list for the extensive baking I'm planning for the next few days. Once I can get out of our driveway, that is!

We've been working on getting Owen to understand that "no" means NO and have started implementing time-outs as punishment when he doesn't listen. Sometimes I think he's getting it, but then other times, I think he thinks time-out is just another form of playtime. The other night, I threatened him with a time-out if he didn't stop doing whatever it was he was doing. He did stop, so I started to praise/thank him, but then I realized that he only stopped to walk over to the time-out rug and put himself in time-out. He just sat there and smiled at me like he was having the best time! So, I counted to 10 (which is how long I make him sit there when we are doing it for real) and then he got up and went back to his toys. Hmmmm. I guess we'll keep trying and hope that he gets it eventually.