http://www.pleonast.com/user/smiley_beth recent pleonast.com entries by user smiley_beth en-us http://www.pleonast.com/user/smiley_beth?l=5&entryID=600218 Well, my little girl is now 2 years old. Where has the time gone? Her birthday was last Sunday, but we hadn't officially celebrated, so I thought I would wait until today to post. She has accomplished so much in these two short years of her little life. She can say a lot of the New Testament books, sings several songs, knows her ABC's, can recite Psalm 23 with some help and is currently practicing jumping. A friend asked me recently if she was talking yet and I had couldn't help but laugh. As my sister-in-law said, it's the not talking we are working on. She is so much fun and has developed an intense love for books. She spent the majority of her birthday party sitting on laps being read to. So here are some pics of our little girl through the years. The week of her birthday, someone asked her what her cake would be and I answered 'a ladybug'. Well, that got her excited. From then on when birthday was mentioned Hannah would pipe in with an excited "Ladybug ... 2008-11-17 http://www.pleonast.com/user/smiley_beth?l=5&entryID=598745 Beauty of Math! 1 x 8 + 1 = 9 12 x 8 + 2 = 98 123 x 8 + 3 = 987 1234 x 8 + 4 = 9876 12345 x 8 + 5 = 98765 123456 x 8 + 6 = 987654 1234567 x 8 + 7 = 9876543 12345678 x 8 + 8 = 98765432 123456789 x 8 + 9 = 987654321 1 x 9 + 2 = 11 12 x 9 + 3 = 111 123 x 9 + 4 = 1111 1234 x 9 + 5 = 11111 12345 x 9 + 6 = 111111 123456 x 9 + 7 = 1111111 1234567 x 9 + 8 = 11111111 12345678 x 9 + 9 = 111111111 123456789 x 9 +10= 1111111111 9 x 9 + 7 = 88 98 x 9 + 6 = 888 987 x 9 + 5 = 8888 9876 x 9 + 4 = 88888 98765 x 9 + 3 = 888888 987654 x 9 + 2 = 8888888 9876543 x 9 + 1 = 88888888 98765432 x 9 + 0 = 888888888 Brilliant, isn't it? And look at this symmetry: 1 x 1 = 1 11 x 11 = 121 111 x 111 = 12321 1111 x 1111 = 1234321 11111 x 11111 = 123454321 111111 x 111111 = 12345654321 1111111 x 1111111 = 1234567654321 11111111 x 11111111 = 123456787654321 111111111 x 111111111 = 12345678987654321 Now, take a look at this... 101% From a strictly mathematical viewpoint: What Equals 100%? What does it ... 2008-11-12 http://www.pleonast.com/user/smiley_beth?l=5&entryID=597264 Last night I had to say goodbye to a good friend that has been in our lives most of the time we have been married. We put our dog Lug down last night and it was harder than I expected. He had gotten off his chain and then we noticed he was not bearing weight on one of his legs or even moving much without crying. It broke my heart to see him in pain. He is old and already been exhibiting hip problems so it was time to say goodbye. I haven't been that close to an animal since I was a kid, and even though he wasn't recently as much a part of the family since children entered the picture, he was the first thing I practiced mothering skills on. Pre-children he traveled everywhere with us, lived indoors, and was doted on. He was such a good dog. I have several times today started to put food scraps out for him. I am just not used to him not being right outside the back door. It's going to be a little lonely without him greeting us at the door every time we leave or come home. Know... 2008-11-08 http://www.pleonast.com/user/smiley_beth?l=5&entryID=593636 Well, my little boy reminds me daily that he is growing up quickly by showing me new accomplishment. Two days ago it was, "Mom! I can hang the 4-wheeler key up now all by myself! I couldn't do that when I was three!" He was so proud of himself (and loves being 4). Yesterday I had the joy of helping my son learn to ride his bike without training wheels. He has been doing so well riding with them and as he rode through the yard I could tell he was not even using them the majority of the time. So I convinced him to let me take them off and try it out. The last time we tried he really showed a lack of confidence and we decided he wasn't ready yet. I saw a glimmer of that same attitude this time but not as strongly, so we worked past it. It was not very long at all before he was taking off and leaving me behind. His biggest struggle was getting started by himself but he quickly learned how to do that too. Once when he was having trouble and I offered to help, I was so... 2008-10-31 http://www.pleonast.com/user/smiley_beth?l=5&entryID=592627 I have been on the fence about doing or not doing the whole Halloween thing with our kids. I know that I do not want to venture into any of the scary, gory, ghoulish stuff, but also see the fun and innocence of just dressing up. Well, Caleb's story hour class did a dress up parade and I made some costumes for that. I had a lot of fun making them and gathering stuff to get them just right. The wigs were challenging but worth it since the kids comfortably wear them. I also took the kids to see my mom today at work. She really enjoyed getting to "show them off" as other grandmas can understand, I am sure. So here are Thing One and Thing Two. Caleb decided that since Hannah is one (for two more weeks) she should be Thing One. Our library had a Cat Hat that I could borrow so I thought it only fitting that the Cat in the Hat bring Thing One and Thing Two to the party. We had a good time. At the last minute last night I decided to make them each a kite to carry as a... 2008-10-28 http://www.pleonast.com/user/smiley_beth?l=5&entryID=591995 We have been so busy lately. It started back in September and doesn't look like it will stop until mid-November. Every weekend we have had events that keep us away from home an entire day or sometimes two or three. I love the fact that there have been so man opportunities to spend time with Christian brothers and sisters. All this activity though sets us up for a bigger downer during the inactive, lonely winter months. Wayne and I both thrive on being with people. However, my house is suffering. A friend called me the other day and said that every time she talks to me I am either on my way somewhere or on the way home from some event. She asked, "Do you even know what your house looks like?" Well, unfortunately I am all too aware of the mountain of clean laundry waiting to be put into drawers. Where is the machine for that? Have you ever had a day when you think about all you have accomplished and felt good- but then you look around you and think 'It doesn't even s... 2008-10-27 http://www.pleonast.com/user/smiley_beth?l=5&entryID=587958 This past Saturday we took a group and went rock climbing near Owensboro, KY in Dawson Springs. We all survived with minimal scrapes, blood shed and some limped away with twisted ankles. There were ten of us all together and we had a great time. I haven't been real rock climbing (i.e. outdoors) in a long time and was pleased with how well I fared. I still got it- so to speak. I do however, realize that I am getting older and am getting worse about heights. I usually have no fear regarding heights and looking out over high cliff edges, especially when I am attached to a harness and rope. This time though we made a climb/hike that was a lot higher than I am comfortable with unharnessed or top-roped. It really shook me up. I think part of my unease was that in this group of ten I was number three when listing us according to experience and I was being entrusted with other people's teenagers. Over all we had a blast and now it is back in my blood and making me long for the experi... 2008-10-15 http://www.pleonast.com/user/smiley_beth?l=5&entryID=584370 We had Caleb's family birthday party on Saturday. He is really loving this birthday thing. He was interested in having a rattlesnake as his cake this time, so although I dislike snakes, I obliged. He loved it so that's what counts. Wayne's dad (Papa), Caleb and I shared the honors in blowing out the candles since we were celebrating all three birthdays. We had a good time and volleyball to follow that afternoon. Caleb got a lot of paint supplies this year and is asking every day to paint. He also got a baseball mit and a box of small Legos that he is enjoying immensely, along with several other generous and fun gifts. He is mostly proud though of being four years old. He told me the other day that he can now buckle his seat belt because he is four, when he was three he was still too little. He, however, is already looking to age five. He told the utility man the other day that he would be five soon. Funny kid. 2008-10-07 http://www.pleonast.com/user/smiley_beth?l=5&entryID=582865 I was tagged awhile back and thought I would post that. There's not too much people do not know about me. I am quite the open book. I often wish I were a little more reserved and mysterious like some, but it's too hard to change my wiring. I am a sharer and A talker. So here are my eight, such as they are. 1) I really get into the novels I read. If they have a certain accent or speech characteristic I find myself talking and thinking in that manner. I also mourn the ending of a book. I want it to keep going and just about "miss" the characters when I am not reading about their lives every day. That's why I love series books. 2) I, like several, of my friends am a horrible eater. I am not necessarily picky, I will eat quite a bit, but I fail to cook them and they just don't appeal to me. I make sure my children eat healthy but more often than not I just don't make the good-for-me veggies to eat myself. I have even prayed that I could crave the good foods rather ... 2008-10-02 http://www.pleonast.com/user/smiley_beth?l=5&entryID=578459 I cannot believe our little boy is now four years old. He has gone from a typical 21 inches at birth to an off-the-charts 46 inches at age four. His latest accomplishment is learning the entire 23rd Psalm. He loves to ride his bike and is daily working on being a good big brother:) Here are a few snap shots of Caleb in the past four years. September 20, 2004 Our new baby boy September of 2005 Caleb took a liking to tools very early September of 2006 Caleb was "born to drive" At age two he was a very capable driver of Daddy's four wheeler. September of 2007 Caleb's love for anything with wheels has just continued to grow. September of 2008 One of Caleb's favorite things to do is to go bike riding with us. We celebrated his fourth birthday Saturday at a neighborhood park with 10 of his friends from our congregation. He chose a crocodile cake this year so I ran with the theme. I think everyone enjoyed themselves and the day was beautiful. We will be celeb... 2008-09-22