Happy New Year!

Isaac lost his 3rd tooth a few minutes ago, so here I am blogging about it. It's one of his top front teeth. He's so excited about getting a quarter from the tooth fairy tonight.

I gave both kids haircuts today. Allie's is much shorter than usual and really cute!

By the way, I think I figured out where the burning smell (see previous post) was coming from. I discovered two books of matches in the silverware drawer that were unused but had burn marks on the flap. Every time the drawer was opened and closed, the contents of the drawer were shoved back and forth. My theory is that it caused friction and nearly started a fire. So if you store matches in a drawer where the contents slide around every time it's opened or closed, better move those matches to a shelf. Lesson learned. Thank the Lord that it didn't cause a disaster!!!

Have you hugged a firefighter today?

Allison did! She hugged a police officer too! The kids and I were eating lunch in the kitchen when we smelled something burning. The smoke alarms didn't go off (we know they work) and there was no smoke to be seen. My mind went through a mental checklist: I hadn't been burning any candles, I keep the matches out of reach of the kids, we were in the kitchen/family room all morning playing games on the Wii. Would could it be? It smelled like it was coming from under the kitchen sink. I walked around and sniffed all the rooms and found the same smell in Allison's room, which is right above the kitchen. Should I call the fire department? Nah, I'll call Shane. So I called Shane at work (duh! what could he do from there?). Then I swallowed my jitters and called 911. A friendly police officer met us outside. She took a look around and talked to us while we waited for the fire trucks to come. It was cool to hear the sirens from a long way off and know that they were coming right to our house. There were two fire trucks and an ambulance -- I guess the ambulance typically comes as a precaution. The firefighters went in and used their thermal camera to see inside the walls and found everything to be okay. They also used a "sniffer" to check for a gas leak. I appreciated their coming out and checking things out. I sure have a huge respect for everyone who came today. One of firefighters emphasized that it's okay to call them again if I need to and it would be no trouble at all for them to come out again.
So, about 30 minutes after I called 911, we went back in and finished our lunches. I still smelled the smell but it was less. I'm glad to say it was a fun adventure.

School Pictures

We finally got Allison's preschool portraits today. Here it is, alongside Isaac's Kindergarten portrait. My two precious babies...my, how they're growing! Click on the picture for a larger image.

A Few Things I'm Thankful For

1. A safe trip to Indiana and back. We just got back this evening.
2. Shane put Allie on the potty when we got home tonight and she actually pooped in it!!! I made a huge deal of it and even took a picture of it, which Allie was excited about. (Her pooping on the potty has been a rare thing so far.) Don't worry, I won't post the picture. :)
3. We got our car fixed the day after Thanksgiving and were able to drive to New Castle, IN and Fremont, IN on Saturday with no problems! It nearly broke down on Wednesday only half an hour from Shane's mom's. I thought it was the transmission but it was only an ignition coil. It wasn't cheap but it's better than paying for a new transmission!
4. A wonderful time with Shane's mom Kay and her husband Bill; Shane's dad Bob, wife Jo, and sister Reba; Aunt Shirley, Uncle Bill, and extended family on the Bentz side; my Grandma and Grandad Sieber and extended family on my mother's side; my dad, wife Diane, and brother Chris and sister Kayla.
5. The life of my uncle Don Mapes, who passed away Saturday after a long illness.
6. Those of you in Indiana who faithfully read my blog. I'm grateful you're there and I'm flattered you come back again and again.
7. The new Newsboys greatest hits CD. We listened to 900 miles worth of it this weekend!
8. Zicam!!! I felt yet another cold virus coming on yesterday. I've been taking Zicam, which is Zinc, and my symptoms are much less severe. Oh, praise God. I have a lot of work to do this week, including babysitting, and I was wondering if I'd be up for it.
9. My gym membership starts this week. Now that the Thanksgiving dinners are over, I'm more than ready to slim down. My current body shape is a lot like my Grandma Mapes': normal arms and legs but a round belly and a double chin. I don't actually mind that too much. When I was a skinny teenager, I wanted to be a homemaker like Grandma and I decided I wanted to look matronly like her too. Now that I'm a homemaker, I'm finding it not necessary or healthy to be (even a little) overweight.
10. Christmas is coming!! I'm looking forward to putting up the tree again with the kids and experiencing the wonder of the season through their eyes. I'm making a nativity advent calendar for them. I'll post pictures of it when it's done.
11. God's watching over us and providing for us and speaking into our hearts through His word and for fellowship with other believers and for contemporary Christian music.