The Prayer

Tonight at dinner Robbie wanted to say the prayer. He's been really getting into praying...we don't think he actually believes in Jesus or has a relationship or is a "new creation" yet, but he sure is pretty dang adorable praying. This is not an exact quote, but pretty close to what he prayed. I just had to get it down before I forgot.

"Dear God. Thank you for the body. Thank you for the body. Bless the body. Thank you Mommy, Daddy, Baby Lise, Zacky. Oh, and Heather and Wayne and Sarah. Thank you food. And one, two, phree, four, nine, ten, weven, twelve, firteen. Amen."

Precious. I just love him. Especially when he isn't throwing a bag of groceries at me because he's mad. After dinner he was walking to the door to go outside and I said, "Hey buddy where are you going?" He answered, "Disneyland." Then just walked out the door and shut it and played with his shovel. He's a "character".

Baby Dedication

We got Elise (Elizabeth Joyce Laizure) dedicated at church a few Sunday's ago. A baby dedication is really nothing at all like a baby baptism. We don't beleive that she is "saved" now that she's been dedicated, and she didn't get baptized--that will be her choice someday as a profession of her own faith in Christ. BUT, what it really is ...is for us, the parents. We stated before our church family (and God) that she is His baby, His daughter and that we are responsible to pray for her and be godly, Christ-like examples to her, and to teach her what the Bible says about how she should live her life. In essence, to raise "Elise up in the way that she should go."

We chose to do the dedication on Sunday night at the 6:00 service because that's the service we've been going to most of the time. Of course, we were running late which is somewhat of a comedy of errors in that we had a full 12 hours of wake-time to prepare for the service...but still were late. If it had been the 8:30 am service tardiness would've been understandable. Because of our tardiness Robbie's Sunday School class was full to ratio and was "closed"(of course!). On a normal day if that were to happen I would turn around and leave, take my wild toddler home and listen to the sermon online later in the week. This time I had to take the risk of taking my very active 3 year-old into big church. Luckily Uncle Micah and Aunt Shayla and Aunt Margaret were sitting in the back and he sat there with them like a little angel the entire baby dedication. (While eating 2 packs of fruit snacks and a granola bar--but hey, small price to pay for a quiet toddler in church) Oh, and Elise behaved like an angel as well.

Milestones

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Well, I haven't blogged in a while, but there is much to write about!

Elise has started "eating" cereal (eating is a very loose interpretation of what actually takes place). She typically pushes the majority of it straight out of her mouth but I guess it's training her to get used to food. I hope. I got some plastic bibs which are great because I can rinse them off, there's even a nice little pocket at the bottom to catch the excess! Elise continues to be a delight, she is so happy and smiley and puts up with a lot of "love" from her brother.

Robbie started "playing" soccer (which is also a loose interpretation of what takes place). It's really a class that the parents have to help supervise. His "coach" is this cute British high school boy who wears red shorts, a red Manchester United jersey, and red soccer socks. It's a pretty hilarious thing to watch. Rob insisted that Robbie wear soccer cleats, to which I countered that he would be the only child dressed for actual soccer play and that the other kids would be in their light-up velcro shoes. Still, Rob insisted. So--as you can see from the pics Robbie was the only child dressed for soccer, but Rob was happy and we were able to borrow the shoes so it all worked out. Twenty minutes into his practice Robbie had come to get ten drinks of water... thirty minutes into it, he told Rob he was sick and had to stop playing. (In his defense, his face was red). However, he somehow wasn't too sick to go to the neighbor's birthday party afterward. He's a pretty funny kid.

A Day in the Life

Robbie had to soak his feet because he got a thorn. He ended up giving himself a bath in that bucket.

My life is oh so--not exciting. To prove to you how un-exciting it is, the highlight of my day today is cooking a 4 lb bag of dried pinto beans. I got 4 lbs for $2.47 which equals at least 8-10 cans of pinto beans which would be $.88/each. You do the math. I'm freezing them in ziplocs to save for tacos, taco salad, refried beans, chili, bbq baked beans...that's my highlight. I'm also dividing up food service sized cans of tomato sauce, tomatoes, and ketchup for the freezer. I'm pretty sure when it's all said and done today I will have saved about $40.

But it's the little things that really get you by. And a lot of times I think that todders are God's punishment....for something. But a lot of times, he is the biggest blessing ever when I look over and he is sitting in the bouncy seat with Elise in his Spiderman underpants. So just a post of a couple pics of my cute-and-strange kids. I'd like to think Robbie gets his strange-ness from his dad....but I may have to take the credit.

A Day at the Races

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Grandma and Grandpa came to visit and took Robbie to PIR for the day to see one of their friends race. He loved it. I'm afraid they've created a monster and forever Robbie will be dreaming of being the next Lightning McQueen...in real life. And also forever giving me nightmares of being the mother of a race car driver. BUT--really, God is in control of all of that and He answers prayer so hopefully Robbie will go to college and get a nice, safe job in business somewhere... so I'll get off my rabbit trail.
He had the time of his life! He sat in the car, wore the helmet, the gloves, the glasses, and said to Grandma and Grandpa, "I can drive this car." Funny little guy. In the meantime Rob and I had a day almost kid-free. Elise is an angel so we practically were alone! So, we did what every parent with a free day would do. Ate lunch at Culver's, Rob got a haircut while I read a book, took a nap...the usual exciting happenings of tired parents.

Another One Bites the Dust

One less single, available Laizure boy. So sad for so many! Micah and Shayla got married March 5th at the Castle at Ashley Manor. It was a georgeous location, a beautiful day, a perfect couple....Rob and I and Robbie were all in the wedding. It was a busy week but it turned out great and Robbie was an ANGEL! He was supposed to walk down the aisle, sit with Mona Lee and Papa Rob and eat his bag of gummy bears like a good boy. BUT, Robbie was a bit offended that he couldn't stand up there with the big guys...so he did. Silently. Like an Angel. He stood up there the entire ceremony and didn't make a peep. Up next...pigs fly.

Elise sat with Aunt Margaret and was a little angel too. Until she peed on Patty's leg. That was a downer, but poor girl needed a dry diaper! (don't tell CPS)

The Zoo...Vol. 1

You've got to read the sign. Funny.

Well, it turns out that it's close to a million dollars just to get into the Wildlife World Zoo for the day, but for the bargain price of $150.00 Robbie and I could have an annual pass and go as often as we want and Rob could get in free...once. So--we did it. We acted like we were rich and broke the bank and swiped the card and bought that annual pass. So--this is the first of probably many posts about the zoo. Because of the frugal in me, I must get well more than my moneys worth out of that pass!

Robbie LOVED the zoo--he ran from animal to animal, I think my favorite moment was at the Wild Dog exhibit. They were sleeping and Robbie just stood there yelling, "Wild Gogs"... "Hey, Wild Gogs! Come Here!" Pretty cute. We had a fun time and were home in time for naps. Elise loved the zoo too--she slept nearly the entire time.

Zoo Passes: $150. Broken Sunglasses: $18. 3 Large Diet Cokes: $12. Packed Lunches: $4. Rob Taking the Day Off: Priceless.