Falling off the wagon

Yep, thats right, Liam has fallen off the potty training band wagon.

He started treating his underwear like pull-ups 2 weeks ago. He started treating his pull-ups like diapers a week ago. We are officially starting potty training over.

"They" always say that you shouldn't potty train in the midst of big changes. Well in this case "They" were right. We knew it, but how do you stop a kid that's ready to potty train from potty training? I have initiated a return of the canny. That's right, bribery has once again reared it's ugly head.

The good news is that he is doing better about making it to the toilet.

The bad news is- well at this point I'm starting to imagine his wife having to give him canny...

That was so wrong.

In even better news - We are on night 2 of Liam keeping us up until all hours. He is having some serious breathing issues again. The first night was almost ER worthy. He's doing breathing treatments every 2 hours. So on top of him not being able to breathe he's all hopped up on albuterol.

To end on a happy note though, we took the kids to the dollar theater (love it!) to see National Treasure: Book of Secrets. Kids* loved it. Jon and I loved it. Friend E. loved it. (After watching the beginning of Enchanted with us last week she wasn't so sure of our movie picking capabilities.)

*In the interest of honesty - Liam wasn't that impressed. After he had spent most of the movie downing red vines and climbing from lap to lap he fell asleep. He whole heartedly endorses red vines though.

The best part...

Our family made the short trek to Family "A"s house this weekend. We went with them to church Saturday night at High Desert Church. Pastor Tom was amazing and they did a song that I hadn't ever heard - but loved. When I find it I'll share it with you all. It's been a few years since I've had the opportunity to visit - and it has only gotten better. (I have to admit though, that we really missed Grace.)

My sister and her family attend the Saturday night service - so our Easter morning was pretty laid back - even the Easter Bunny was slow on delivery. Jon smoked tri-tip and it was delicious! I know - not that big of a surprise. He has definitely developed a new passion for smoking stuff. (That sounds so bad upon re-reading. I'm totally leaving it though.) I can't really complain though, since I will most assuredly benefit.

We had the prerequisite Easter egg hunt in the back yard. We had a number system in place considering we had 7 kids hunting. Liam was supposed to be looking for eggs with a smiley face on them. Emphasis on supposed. He pretty much snagged any egg he could find. Uncle "A" had his job cut out for him trying to help Liam head in the right direction.

The kids had a great day and we enjoyed being with our family. My niece, A-3, prayed for our Easter lunch. After thanking God for a number of things and saying Amen with a flourish her daddy reminded her Jesus had risen. She said "Jesus has risen - that's the best part".

That truly is the best part.

Mark 16:1-8
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?"

But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

"Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.' "

Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid. (NIV)

The title of this post isn't here... or is it?

I want to write so very badly but my kids won't cut me any slack. They are yelling, beating each other up, flushing Mr. Incredible down the toilet... you get the picture.

I was going to write up my super exciting visit to the Doc yesterday - but 1) see previous two sentences, and 2) I am still debating whether or not I want to share with the vast internets about a "female visit" to the doctor. It was a great (please read "great" with a great deal of sarcasm or false excitement for true Janelle flavor) appointment. Parking wars, old men gumming their lips, and office workers trying to catch birds. This is the stuff of greatness!

I've had the pleasure of renewing a friendship this last week or so. The good thing is - hey! good friends are hard to come by(and don't I know it!)! The bummer of it though is that our friendship is being rekindled because of mutual yuckiness. I'm not saying that it isn't or won't be a good friendship. It's just that I'm sad that we even have that in common to talk about and deal with. I am so excited for her though! God is doing great things in her and in the life of her family. God is so faithful.

Lifes a (Newport) Beach

A few pictures from our afternoon at the beach.

Yes. My husband is a deep thinker.

Take Me Away

Jon and I were given a chance to get away for the weekend. For the cost of gas. (I just found out that we are being reimbursed for even that.) How awesome is that? It was a couples retreat down in the O.C. We had a picnic on the beach, stayed at a very nice hotel and had some fabulous food.

We also got to sleep in a real bed in our very own room! I will repeat myself - how awesome is that?

We also got a chance to have a good time hanging out with my sister and her husband and the cutest baby niece you would ever set eyes on. I'm allowed to say that because the next youngest niece is 5 - very much not a baby!

Jeff and Eugenie Lilley from Hume Lake Christian Camps spoke to about 40 couples about becoming subversive romantics. Making our marriage a light in a dark world.

We also had music led by Timothy James Meaney. I wish I could come up with a better descriptive word but... awesome, amazing, wonderful, worshipful, just great. He and his wife are the genuine thing. They were fun to be around and I think Jon and I were blessed just getting to hang out around them.

It was definitely what we needed. We were encouraged and refreshed. We were reminded of how much we love each other and how great our marriage really is.

(I guess all those accusations of acting like teenagers weren't that far off.)