This is what Elliot has been up to:

- Opening the trash and flinging coffee grounds across the kitchen (and eating a handful).

- Opening the cabinet and pulling out baking soda, sticking his hand in it and licking it off (while gagging between licks).

- Bouncing his sippy cup on the couch so it sprays all over the cushions and then wiping his hands in the juice.

- Reaching up to the table and grabbing my coffee mug and pouring it out all over the floor.

And this was all just this morning.

Needless to say, I have found myself doing a lot of cleaning lately. The worst part is that he does all of this while smiling. It makes it so hard to be mad. But I am pretty sure I know why people shake their children.

We are going to get out Christmas tree later this evening. We’ll see how that goes… I have a feeling we may have to tether it to the wall.

In the mood for Christmas (what were you thinking?). Yes, I’ve already started the Christmas music. I can’t help it. I was in the holiday mood before Halloween this year. It must be Alaska.

I love love love the Todd Agnew album, “Do You See What I See?”

I bought this a few years ago and have played the heck out of it (much longer than is seasonally appropriate) each year. I think one reason that I love it is because its not the traditional cheery, merry, Alvin-and-the-Chipmunks kind of album- so you can get away with it this early. Don’t get me wrong– I love the Chipmunks, too.

AND– it’s all about Jesus! Incredible!

Each track on the album is written from the perspective of a different character in the nativity story. I think it’s quite insightful.  “This is All I Have to Give” gives an account of Joseph wondering what he has to offer his new son:

I’d always hoped you’d have my eyes, maybe a little bit of the skill of my hands,
But, as I look into your eyes, I see your hands created mine.

This is all I have to give,
You can share my home and bear my name, but this is not how you should live,
The son of God has become the son of man – this is all I have to give.

“Did You Know” also got me thinking… Did Jesus always know that he was God? Did he look around and see the world he created? Or was it all new to him?

Were Mary’s the first eyes you saw
Or did You remember choosing that shade of brown?
Were You surprised at the shepherd’s crazy story
Or did You know You wrote the song the angels sang?

Did You know?
Did the cross cast its shadow o’er your cradle?
Did You know?
Did You shudder each time Your hammer struck a nail?
Did you know?
How much heaven and how much earth
Were in this baby at His birth?
Did you know? Or did you wonder?

I am enthusiastic about this album because I think it breathes new life into a story that we have heard over and over. It allows us to enter into the story from a perspective that perhaps we have not considered. And really, it can’t be too early for that, right?

• Feist singing the “1234″ song on Sesame Street
• My new found obsession with beatboxing.  I can’t really do it, but I have an image of myself that is much cooler and could do it. I think I’m more obsessed with the idea.
• Regina Spektor,  Counting Crows and Todd Agnew on my ipod
• Christmas crafting. I am planning to make stockings for E, Andy and me. I am also planning to make stuffed animals for E and other little friends. Then there will be aprons, fabric baskets and t-shirt stenciling… good thing I’m starting now.
• Elliot trying so hard to say new words
• The Electric Company
• Craftster.org
• Dreaming of a new teeny, tiny laptop
• Trying to come up with appropriate “material” for the funny festival this year
• Mulled wine
• “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown”
• Elliot’s first official word (see video)
• Wicked Good slippers
• Craft bazaar season is here!
• Recipe sharing with Kali

Life has been SO full lately.  It has been full of commitments that mean less family time.  Too many days of Andy walking in the door and me just getting ready to leave. Oye. Things will be different this month. Lots of good winter family time ahead. I am so looking forward to it. And then my parents are coming up for Christmas. It will be nice to be with family for Christmas, its been a long time. I hope they know what they are getting into– coming up to Fairbanks in December.

I love this time of year. Winter has just begun and there are parties to look forward to, gifts to make, recipes to find, and reasons to celebrate with friends.

I have had the same travel coffee mug for 9 years. I got it at Target when I used to work there in college. It was $18. I thought that was a very extravagant coffee mug purchase at the time. However– it lasted 9 years! The past few weeks it’s started to leak around the lid and I have had embarrassing coffee stains on my shirt… too many times.
So I’ve been searching for a replacement and found one I am very excited about.

JOEmo XL Time Capsule Mug = AWESOME

It’s double-wall vacuum sealed, stainless steel and it closes tight with a lid so you can throw it in your bag without spilling. AND… it keeps drinks hot for 6-8 hours. AMAZING. It even comes with a basket for loose tea. Versatile and functional! I love it!

Since last time:

- I had Vacation Bible School at church. A very crazy, and good week.

-  Elliot started walking along furniture.

- We traveled to Wisconsin & Iowa. We attended both State Fairs… and Iowa wins. They mostly have the same stuff, but ISF is just roomier and nicer. I feel like a traitor, but nothing will ever replace the nostalgia of the WSF for me.

- My sister, Kali, moved back to the US. We got to visit with her in WI. Good to have her stateside.

- Elliot started (finally) crawling on all fours (instead of the army crawl).

- Andy and I got to go to a Packer’s pre-season game at Lambeau with Kali and Dad. It was pretty awesome. I’ve never been to a game there. Even if it was pre-season, it was exciting.

- Elliot got to visit with all of his aunts and uncles. He’s got a lot of people who love him.

- We celebrated Elliot’s first birthday. He had his first piece of cake. It was from Hyvee. I am a little sad that it wasn’t a homemade cupcake… but it was vacation. He just about swallowed the piece whole. It was very entertaining.

- Elliot went on his first “big boy” swing.

- The school year started– which means I have been VERY busy at work getting Sunday school, youth groups, bible studies, etc. all up and running. I am serving with WONDERFUL people this year and am excited about what the year will bring.

- I went on a Confirmation class retreat. It was, once again, a good time. Great kids this year. We’ll see what God’s gonna do.

- Elliot finally started getting his front two teeth so he doesn’t have fangs anymore:

- Our friends Heather & Cody had their twins! Cynara and Dalton… and they are perfect. Their baptism was last Sunday and I got to make the cake (white cake with raspberry filling & vanilla buttercream)!

- Andy and I went on a real date last night! We got tickets to see Natasha Leggero at the Blue Loon. Should was good. Funny and so not a Fairbanks girl, but she pulled it all together. Dinner and a little comedy. I like it.

Now that life is getting back into a more normal routine, I hope things slow down a bit. The past couple of months have been  a blur. I think the pace of life will become more regular now that we’re moving into fall… and then… gasp!… winter.

Normally I go to the gym in the morning and Andy feeds Elliot breakfast. Last Wednesday Andy wanted to get to work a little early and asked if I would feed E. He had already mixed up the cereal and it was all ready to go. Sounds good. I finish getting dressed and take E downstairs and put him in his highchair. I put on his bib and start shoveling cereal into his drooly little mouth. About halfway through the bowl I take a closer look at the cereal and wonder what it’s mixed with. (We usually mix in fruit of some kind.) I taste the cereal and it has an unusual (but not horrible) garlic-y taste.
I call Andy.

Me: “What did you mix into Elliot’s cereal?”

A: “Blueberries.”

Me: “Really? Because it has a weird garlic-y taste…”

A: “Yeah, the blueberries on the top shelf in the fridge.”

Me: “Oh, you mean the container full of bean dip?!”

So Elliot had his first taste of chipotle black bean dip. He really liked it and didn’t suffer any massive blow outs later.
I’ve since vowed to label everything in the fridge.

I am staring at a blank text box… having no idea what to write about. I could continue to bore you about how busy my life is– but so is yours! My life is no different. I’ve been given the same gift of 24 hours in a day. I get so frustrated when people feel that they are victims of their own schedules. So… here is me not complaining.

I asked Andy what I should write about and he said I should write about sex toys.

Imagine this scenario for a moment… There are 4 women at a table, enjoying a glass of wine and talking about the vintage and the fruity vanilla undertones of the wine and suddenly… BAM… the conversation takes a hairpin turn into comparisons of vibrators, bikini waxing, and buying batteries at Sam’s club. Imagine three women contributing to this conversation and exchanging advice. Now imagine me… the deer in the headlights. Smiling, wide-eyed, and praying that no one will ask me what I think.

WOW. What do you do in such a situation? I have no idea, obviously. I have found similar conversations happen when  certain groups of women get together. Needless to say, I have not encountered such conversations at women’s bible study at church. Ha.
The reason I am posting about this is because 1) It’s funny and 2) It’s a great example of how I feel “different” from a  lot of people. When I am with a group of people who aren’t Christians, I just feel… different. I know that’s sort of how it works but I feel like I have a hard time connecting. My life is so saturated in church that I find myself surprised when I see and hear what a lot of people are dealing with and talking about. But these relationships are important to me.  I love the time I spend with my friends “outside the walls”, but how do I balance being different and being with them.

What do you think Jesus did when he ate with Matthew and his buddies? I imagine that he met them where they were and did not compromise what he was about.

I’m working on that.

***Additional thought (7.20.09) This post is just one example of how lame I am.

I’m just sayin’

I think when you step back and examine your life, you call it “taking inventory”. Right? Well, that’s what I’m calling it. I’ve been taking inventory of my life. How much of me is there to go around? I just don’t want to be one of those women who try make everyone around them think that they are good moms because they just don’t have one single minute to themselves. That isn’t true. Even with kids– you make your own choices. I think we have a pretty good balance of time with E and grown-up time. But we’ve had to work at it. With some of my extra time, as you know, I’ve been doing a lot of baking.

That being said, I’ve sort of struck out into unknown waters for myself. I am selling cupcakes. Who knew? I’ve completed a few orders already and have been working on ways to get my name out in the community. I had a meeting last week with a woman from the university. She has great ideas, advice, and insight about small business in Fairbanks. She hooked me up with another small business woman and I am going to be selling at the farmer’s market this Saturday. That is exciting stuff! However… back to the inventory thing…

I don’t have enough room in my life right now to take on a small business that has weekly committments. I can’t do a booth at the market yet. I have a full time  (+) job, and a family that I actually like to hang out with. So… I am working at the market this Saturday and I will see how it goes. I would like to just take orders now and then, but I need a way to get people to taste these little guys. Maybe a holiday bazaar or two this Fall. That will be enough, for now.

However exciting all of this is, I have other committments in my life that come first. Family. Ministry Stuff. My own sanity.

I know there are things that I need to get done in ministry at Zion. Even after 6 years, those things remain unclear, but I just know that I’m not finished there. So I need to focus. I can still do the baking that I love… I just need to be careful about how much I take on at once.

My hope is that no one else takes over the cupcake market before I’m ready to really run with it.

(E discovered teething biscuits– disgusting and delicious)

I am prepared with a rather long list of excuses as to why I haven’t posted in a while. Get ready…

• Last weekend was Solstice in Fairbanks, which means a lot of fun stuff to do around town- including the Midnight Sun Festival where we got some good fair food and enjoyed the awesome sunshine (all night).
• I officially named the cupcake business “yum”.
• I set up a meeting with a woman at the Cooperative Extension, they have a division that helps small businesses get started. We will meet to talk about what can happen next.
• I baked for the Bolz’s Bake Sale/Garage Sale.
• I now have three more orders. Whoo!
• Elliot is still trying to crawl… he just won’t pick up his belly off the floor. He is making it so much harder for himself.
• I started working out 4 days a week and I’m feeling GREAT! (granted, it’s only week two).
• I applied for a job that I was WAY under qualified for. It felt good just to beef up my resume.
• I did a cupcake decorating birthday party for my now 11-year-old friend, Maddie. It was fun! The girls were so intense about their cupcake designs.
• We also swear E said “Daddy” the other morning when Andy woke him up. He said “Mama” long ago… more like “Mamamamama”. I’ll take it.
• Our vacuum cleaner died a slow painful death & we have a shedding dog. Ewww…
• We are still trying to plant grass around the yard. It’s a slow process, mostly because we are lazy.
• Andy got a new (and awesome) grill for father’s day and it took both of us to put it together.
• I added a “yum” page to the blog (did you see it?). It has photos of cupcakes that have been good and will soon have a menu & price sheet.
• “So You Think You Can Dance” is on TWO nights a week.

I think those are all of my reasons. I’m back to posting (we’ve heard that before).

Last weekend was BEAUTIFUL in Fairbanks. On Saturday I got up early and brought cupcakes over to our friends’ bake sale and then I got coffee and went to the farmer’s market. It was so packed! It was great to be out in the morning, enjoying the sunshine, the people and the great stuff at the FM. I got to have a great little conversation with Gretchen from “Gretchen’s Confections” about starting a business. I picked up some lettuce from our CSA farm and had a lovely morning. E and Andy were at home playing and sleeping. Flying solo feels good every now and again.

I am missing riding my scooter this summer. I am still really upset that it’s socially unacceptable (or illegal) to carry your baby on your back on a motorized vehicle. Andy said I should get one of those bike trailers and throw E in the back… I still think that’s frowned upon.

I have been feeling particularly… restless. Not in the active, get things done kind of way. More like in the cranky, depressed, unsatisfied with my life kind of way. I know I have not been a fun person to be around. I find myself taking inventory of my life and just not really being happy with the sum of the parts. Not that I’m doing any addition, I just get this weird feeling like there is so much more and I’m somehow missing out. I am not sure what I’m missing out on, though. I love my family, I love my friends, most days I love my job. I just feel so… average. Does that sound crazy? I think it sounds childish and spoiled.

I’m thinking and praying about what this might mean for me. (I know, you’ve all heard that before). But because of this I do have a reignited fire for getting a cupcake business rolling. I stalled for a while because I realized that I need to get quite a few permits and find a commercial kitchen before I can do regular  sale to the public. But for now, I can operate on word-of-mouth publicity. I have an order for 50 (!) cupcakes in July. I just did a birthday party with seven lovely girls. It was a blast. They were surprisingly so intense about their cupcake designs. I loved every minute! SO…

The next task is finalizing a name. Here are some that I’ve narrowed it down to:

• abundance
• a cake of your own
• yum
• sugar rush
• lick the spoon
• eighty nine

Let me know what you think.