Update on the Maynard's

It has been a while since I have sent an update on the Maynard family. Well, let's see Drew told me yesterday that he doesn't want to poop on the potty, he wants to wear a diaper. He actually said, "No mommy, I wear di-per, I not poop in potty." We even bought him a new Gordon and it is sitting on top of the bookshelf just waiting for him to poop on the potty. This means I need to take some quick action and get to the bottom of this situation. Off to the library I will go!

Tyler, well, let's just say he is my early riser, still!! Drew is still sleeping at 8:40 am, and Tyler was awake at 5:15 am for the day. I am going to have to get to the bottom of that situation too. It would be nice for the boys to have their own rooms. Tyler likes to wake up and yell "Dew, Dew, Dew", at the top of his lungs, so of course, I have to get him out before he wakes Drew up. We will have to wait until Bill finishes school, then having their own rooms might become a possibility! About 3 more months to go! Yippee!

Bill is doing great, he has a heavy load these next 6-8 weeks with four classes. Then he will only have two the last half of this semester! It has gone fast now that I look back. We will be so excited when it is all over! His work is going good,and no word of any layoffs. PTL!! They have slowed down somewhat, but he still has a job and we are thankful for that.

And me, well, I am actually starting to enjoy staying at home. It took me about a year, but I am finally starting to love it. When we first moved here I have to admit I did go through some depression. It was probably a mix of moving, just had a baby, it was darn cold, a new birth control (Yaz, never again!!!), and not to mention a new job taking care of two boys! I am so thankful that the Lord took me through that. It was hard, but I learned that no matter where I am at in life, no matter where the Lord leads us, HE is always there and is always faithful! It took me some time to be content, but I can actually say that I am content where the Lord has me. I, of course, miss home, but the Lord has shown me that in not being content where the Lord has placed me is disobedience. Just how Jonah disobeyed the Lord, I guess you can say I have been in the belly of the whale and now I am spit out a more content and new person! This year has been a real adjustment, but I am so thankful that the Lord has taken me through this "life" experience to continue to mold me into what He wants me to be. I didn't realize I was going to go into all that, but I guess that was on my heart. Love you all!

We Joined a Small Group!

We have only been going to our new church for a couple weeks now, but we decided to join a small group. We really love our new church, it is full of young couples and it is full of excitement and life. Our small group meets on Tuesday nights, which was a sacrifice for Bill to make since he is really busy these next 6 weeks with 4 classes he is taking. We were both in agreement that we really needed to get involved somewhere and we really needed fellowship. The class is called "The Truth Project", by Focus on the Family. Not sure if you have heard about it, I hadn't heard it before the class. It is going to be some really deep topics we will cover. It is a DVD series that we will watch and then break into small groups for discussion. Last night talked about Truth, "What is Truth?", and got us to really question what we think truth is. We also talked about the battle of Spirit of Truth vs. Spirit of Falsehood. The question at the end really got me thinking, "Do you really believe that what you believe is really real?" It should be a great class.

We Have a Babysitter!

I must say I am blessed! I just went out with Bill and we didn't take our kids!! We found a babysitter! She is fifteen and goes to Dayspring, where we were going to church until we found a church closer to us in Okoboji. Anyway, she lives in Spirit Lake and is so sweet and down to earth, and just great! And she loves the Lord! She sort of reminds me of me when I was a teenager.

Anyway, after I picked her up and brought her back to the house, we walked in the door and I was surprised the boys literally attacked her! They both smiled at her and said "Hi" and Tyler walked over to her and buried his head in her legs. So sweet! I think she was a bit overwhelmed. I would have been too if two kids just attacked me! We showed her the house and gave her the instructions and Drew was literally saying, "Bye Mommy, Bye Daddy!", and pushing us out the door. It was hilarious! When we got back I thought for sure Drew would be up, but he wasn't. She said he went to bed at 8pm and she only had to tell him to lay down once and he was out! I told her she needed to come to my house every night and put them to bed!! I am so glad it went great! I asked her after tonight if she would like to babysit more and she said YES!!!! So we now have a babysitter. After being here 14 months and not being able to get out, this is just wonderful!!! Praise the Lord! Bill and I can now have date nights! YIPPEE!

Our Winter Wonderland

I thought I would send some pictures of our snowfall that we have received this year so far. It has not been that bad really. Well, I guess the good thing is that I haven't had to drive in it everyday. I can choose when I want to go out and brave the weather. I must say though it seems every time I have to go and take the boys to a doctor appt., it never fails, there is some sort of precipitation. It adds to the drama of just taking them out by myself! Here are the pictures. The nice thing is that we have a neighbor that has a snow blower and he dug our mailboxes out for us. What a nice guy!!! Well, his mailbox is right next to ours, so I guess he had to dig ours out too! Anyway, enjoy the pictures!

A Lesson Learned!

Drew and I had our first dentist appointment today at a dentist a picked out of the phone book. I will never do that again!!! When I arrived at the dental office, I should have had my first clue by the parking lot being virtually vacant!! I walk in and this overwhelming smell of cigarette smoke hits me. I should have just turned around right then. The lady at the desk greets me and I have a whole sheet to fill out for myself and then I had to ask her about filling one out for Drew, that should have been my second clue. Then before I even was able to finish the paperwork, they were taking Drew back with them to the room. I thought, wait a minute, that is my kid, don't take him back there without me!! Drew obviously freaked out and didn't want to go back. I said, I am almost done, we will come back once I am finished filling this paperwork out. Hello, he is 3!!!! Then this old man greeted us, I assumed he was the dentist. Drew of course, was a little on edge at that moment. He could of at least been kind enough to take his mask of to greet a 3 year old. Then we go into the room and it looked like a total 1970's dental office. It didn't look professional at all and it looked dirty. I thought to myself, "Lord Help ME!!!" I continued to look around and then I thought, do they clean these instruments???!!! I wanted to get out of there!! Drew of course did not want to sit in the chair so I sat in it and put him on my lap. The dentist wasn't that nice to him. He just said, "Open your mouth." I thought, "Oh, great here we go!" Drew at first didn't want to sit down, but then he did after I bribed him with a sucker, he opened his mouth and the dentist said it looked fine and asked if I was brushing his teeth and I said yes. They gave him a toothbrush and toothpaste. And that was it!! I was so surprised, I thought they were going to clean his teeth and all. Well, after my "cleaning" I found out that is probably what they call a cleaning for a kid. So then it was my turn. I go and get my teeth x-rayed and then I go and sit and wait for them to get my film and look at it. That didn't take too long, which was great, because I was about to walk out! The dentist came back in and was looking at my x-ray and said, "It looks like her wisdom teeth are out." I said yes, I had all four cut out. Then he said, "It looks like the upper ones might still be there." I thought, NO, Hello, I just told you I had all four cut out!! I think I would remember that!!! Then he did his so called, cleaning I guess. He picked at my teeth and checked them over and said I might have some decay but not enough to fill yet. Then the dental assistant/receptionist/dental hygeniest/who knows what else she does, said she was going to polish my teeth. From what I know polishing to be, there is actual polish and teeth cleaning agents that are put on my teeth and polished. That is what my old dentist office did and then they would floss my teeth and I would actually feel like my teeth were cleaned. Well, this lady, I was wondering if she even had a degree to do this, started "polishing" and then she put that water spout in my mouth and didn't suck it out!!!!! I actually started choking on the water!! Helloooooo, I am laying on my back!!!! All she said, "Oh, did ya get too much water!!" Yeah!!!!! Then I sat up and I was done. She said we will see you in 6 months. I thought, NO WAY!!!

So, a lesson was learned my friends!! Ask around to find a good dentist!! To make myself feel better after that crazy appointment, Drew and I went to "Good Cookies" and got a huge monster cookie for our treat!! YUMMY!!!

A New Baby Proof Invention?!

Just when I thought my house was baby proof, Tyler pulls a new one on me today. When I went into the kitchen this morning I saw some water on the floor thinking, oh must be from some ice that fell out of the ice machine, that happens sometimes, so I just cleaned it up. A little while later I found more water and thought, what is going on, am I going crazy, I thought I just picked up this water?!! Then here comes Tyler and he goes right up to the water dispenser on the fridge and pushes it! The little booger, I should have figured that out when I saw his shirt covered in water. What is a mother to do now? Do they make covers for the refrigerator water and ice machine? Huh, maybe I should invent something like that. Any thoughts from other mothers? This could be a million dollar invention!