In the mind of Sharonie:

I wonder:
* When will Blake stop taking an afternoon nap
* What new recipes I will learn this summer
* What the next three months hold for the Sidell clan
* If there will be a major world disaster in America
* What ministry Jason and I will get involved in
* How our summer will be with storms
* Will we have good weather on vacations coming up?
* If I will impact someone's life
* If Jason's job is secure
* Will gas keep going up this summer
* Will I make a new friend in the next couple months...will old friends fade away?

Oh the mind of Sharonie never stops...it keeps going and going and wondering and wondering.......

8:01 am

Blakers.....today we get to sing to you your favorite song for real..."Happy Birthday" Yepo at 8:01 today you were born to us two years ago. I will never forget the details of that day. And to think you are about 21 pounds more than what you were two years ago and so much taller too. You amaze me in your vocabulary for a two year old and how smart you are! I hope soon you will know more of who Jesus is and his love for you!

I love you dearly and can't wait for your Elmo Party on Saturday. Daddy and I bought you a Car (much like the red and yellow ones) that you sit in....but this one plays music, and a home depot drill saw. I can't wait to go to Chucky Cheese with you and daddy tonight! You are a big boy now and so independent. I love you and am so blessed to be your mommy!

Replay

Oh little one...sometimes when you are in bed, I replay things you say through out the day and then I miss you!

Changes

Blake turns two in a few weeks and ALL of the sudden we have encountered new territory. He has fought to go to bed...when before we would rock him for two min. and he would tell us "night night momma" He has now started to throw tantrums. I know it's normal and part of learning for a child to control themselves, but again new territory for us as parents.

We have decided a few things since we have encountered these new happenings with Blake.

1) Bedtime is now 8:30 instead of 8. We read a few books before bed instead of snuggling in bed watching TV. Nap time is also moved a half hour ahead to 1:45 instead of 2:15. With these changes...he has gone to bed a bit smoother for us. It wasn't easy at first and he cried for 15 -20 min the first three nights...but now he has adjusted to the changes.

2) Throwing tantrums...we put him in a safe place and we let him do his deal and remind him mommy and daddy are ready to talk to him when he stops.

With Blake changing...our routines change...and hopefully mommy and daddy can be in tuned to the Lord and have wisdom in how to deal with the new happenings of a two year old!

Biggest Debate

Lately I have wondered what to do about Blake's 2nd birthday. Do we have just family or do we have friends and family? I have decided that I am going to have just family. I love the big birthdays for the sole reason that Blake LOVES PEOPLE and he LOVES KIDS...therefore to have lots of his friends and family together at once he would so enjoy. The reason I am going just family is because down the road there will be plenty of years to have a friends party. This way by just having family, they can steal all the hugs and kisses they want from him!

Blessing in the delay

I have talked to many of you on the phone about this, but I wanted to journal it and not forget what I learned.

Jason and I have been buying furniture for our home. We had seen chairs at Pier One that we loved and thought would really go well in our dining room. I had eyed them one day and told Jason we needed to purchase them. We ended up getting two initially to see if they worked...and they did! We love them. We had decided we would go back and purchase six more chairs. I was so anxious to get all six chairs around the table and wanted it so bad! I just wanted a complete set. My husband had decided he wanted to order new Chase cards that had some benifts to it when spending so much money. He wanted us to purchase the chairs and put it on the cardt. So I had to wait and wait for the Chase card to come in the mail. It finally came, I called Jason that day and said, we can get our chairs now. But then I looked closer and the envelope the card came in was opened and showed the account number. I was so annoyed because we had to order a new card, leaving us to wait longer to get our chairs. Ugh! Well needless to say, a few days later came our Chase card and then we were able to get the chairs for our dining room table.

On to this past Tuesday night (about two weeks after we ordered our chairs). Jason was searching Pier One's website to find captain chairs for the dining room table. He turns to me and suddenly says...oh my goodness, would you believe this....Pier One has our dining room chairs on sale for $40 less than what we paid for them. I was kind of sick over it. Thinking that stinks chunks! We just paid full price for each chair and now they are on sale! Ugh! Jason told me to call in the morning and ask if we could have a price adjustment.

With the suggestion from my cousin, I went on their website to see what the policy was for a price adjustment. It said that you had to buy the product within in two weeks to be able to get the money back. Well I look at the receipt and wouldn't you know we had one more day to do it!

Thank God we got the money adjustment for the chairs. And with what we were given back, it paid for one of the chairs and then some.

Here is my lesson: I was so annoyed that the Chase card took so long to come to the house and that we were having to wait to order the chairs I had my heart set on. However, if we would have bought those chairs anytime sooner, we would not have made the two week mark for the price adjustment. It was the Lord who had Jason find the chairs on sale on their website with a day to spare....and it was the Lord who delayed the Chase card....so that we could be blessed and get a chair basically free.

***** There are blessings in the delays....and God is still working on our behalf!

I know crazy lesson for me to learn over furniture and a Chase card....but grateful for me to be reminded of God's perfect plan for my life in ALL area!

Overnight with my husband

Jason and I had a gift given to us for a night in a hotel in the city. We were so blessed to have had a night to ourselves in a hotel right by Mag mile. Weber grill was our choice for restaurant for the night. The food was wonderful! Then we walked along the mag mile to look for some winter hats. We found some hats for $3!!! We walked along the city streets. It wasn't cold at all, but so freeing for some reason. I had always wanted to go ice skating with Jason because he was a big hockey stud in high school and wanted to see him strut his stuff on the ice and teach me a few things. We decided to walk to skate on State street. A good mile or so walk from our restaurant. We get there and it was PACKED! However no one was on the ice. Everyone was standing on the ice watching ice dancers. We thought we missed the open skate. However...two min after that they opened the ice for the public. We quickly got in line to rent skates, and were fifth in line. Suddenly while waiting a man tapped Jason and asked if we were in line to rent skates...of course our answer was YES! He very nicely said the line was outside around the corner...there were several hundred people in line. We decided that we could wait to sake on State. But then my wonderful husband saw a sign for more outside skating just a few blocks away. We walked there and were able to enjoy a not so crowded skating rank. It was so fun!!! Jason pulled me around several times, he skated and showed off for me a bit, and then I skated arm in arm with him very slowly. I didn't fall once!

We enjoyed our night out and feel blessed to have had the chance for an overnight together in such a wonderful city.

More winter:

Some more winter activities in the Sidell house is cooking, throwing the ball over the edge of the staircase, and playing with snow in the house.