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Welcome to A Day In The Life of Sarah
A Mom Saving Memories
This blog is all about my life as a Christian single mother of four young children, one of whom is autistic. I blog about everything from funny stories to serious inspirations. Check out "Sarah's Savvy Savings" to read my time and money saving tips! If you are hunting for something specific check out the labels list on the sidebar or you can browse through the archives. Feel free to leave comments! I'd love to hear your funny stories and advice!
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Friday, February 27, 2009
Funny Phone Fact
My children were discussing how the computer was another way for me to talk to people. Zach was explaining how it was like using the phone, but he preferred to use the phone. Jerry stated, "Yeah, I know they used to use computer's to talk before their were phones!"
Friday, February 20, 2009
Josiah is Sleeping in His Own Room!
Last Friday, I decided Josiah needed to start sleeping in his own room. He's been sleeping through the night since he was a few weeks old, but has had a lot of congestion and breathing issues so I've resisted moving him away from my room. Alas, I knew if I didn't do it soon before I knew it, I would have a toddler sleeping in my bed.
I picked the day and early on in the day, I moved all of his stuff out of my room. I was hoping this would solidify my decision in my mind. I also voiced my decision to my mom and sister. There would be no turning back now! Of course this move to his room would be very difficult! All day I prepared myself for the worst and before I knew it, it was time to put Josiah to bed. I put him in his bed and kissed him goodnight. I arranged everything in his bed just right. I gazed at his beautiful face for awhile then leaned down and kissed him again. He had gotten used to holding on to my fluffy bath robe while he fell asleep, then after he fell asleep I would slip it away from him. So I layed the bath robe up against his face just the way he liked it, and placed it in his little hands. Eventually, I was confident that I had everthing "just so". I kissed him one last time and whispered the words, "goodnight sweetie". I crept out of the room. A few minutes went by. I worried that he might have gotten the robe over his face so I creeped back into his room just to be sure he was still safe. All was well, so once again I left my little angel, all alone, to sleep by himself. I tried to busy myself around the house, but the nagging voice in my head was demanding that I check on Josiah. So, once again, back to his room I went. Josiah gave me one of his adorable grins as I peeked in his room. Of course he was fine. I left him again, surprised at how well he seemed to be handling sleeping all by himself. I got ready for bed, then thought I better check on him one last time. I was sure he must be missing me by now and totally frightened by my absence. So I peeked in again, stirring him from a very relaxed sleepy state. I tried to convince myself he would be fine and decided I should try to get some sleep of my own. I laid down in my bed. My bed seemed so big and empty without him in his bouncy seat, sleeping peacefully next to me. I made sure the baby monitor was on with the volume all the way up. I laid there for awhile, then I heard something! A small rustling noise came from the monitor. I thought, "This is it! He's waking up and realizing I'm not there. He'll start crying any minute!" I wanted to be sure I was there to comfort him and reassure him that he would be okay so I got up and crept into his room. His eyes were closed. He wasn't crying. I stayed for awhile admiring his sweet, angelic face. I thought about how peaceful he was and how totally oblivious he was to his momma's fretting! I went back to bed and after a good hour of lying there waiting for his frightened cry, I fell asleep. I woke early the next morning and immediately went to Josiah's room. There he was still sound asleep! Josiah had slept through the night in his own room! Yes, it sure was a difficult night but I did it! I put Josiah in his own room, now I just need to get myself sleeping through the night!
I picked the day and early on in the day, I moved all of his stuff out of my room. I was hoping this would solidify my decision in my mind. I also voiced my decision to my mom and sister. There would be no turning back now! Of course this move to his room would be very difficult! All day I prepared myself for the worst and before I knew it, it was time to put Josiah to bed. I put him in his bed and kissed him goodnight. I arranged everything in his bed just right. I gazed at his beautiful face for awhile then leaned down and kissed him again. He had gotten used to holding on to my fluffy bath robe while he fell asleep, then after he fell asleep I would slip it away from him. So I layed the bath robe up against his face just the way he liked it, and placed it in his little hands. Eventually, I was confident that I had everthing "just so". I kissed him one last time and whispered the words, "goodnight sweetie". I crept out of the room. A few minutes went by. I worried that he might have gotten the robe over his face so I creeped back into his room just to be sure he was still safe. All was well, so once again I left my little angel, all alone, to sleep by himself. I tried to busy myself around the house, but the nagging voice in my head was demanding that I check on Josiah. So, once again, back to his room I went. Josiah gave me one of his adorable grins as I peeked in his room. Of course he was fine. I left him again, surprised at how well he seemed to be handling sleeping all by himself. I got ready for bed, then thought I better check on him one last time. I was sure he must be missing me by now and totally frightened by my absence. So I peeked in again, stirring him from a very relaxed sleepy state. I tried to convince myself he would be fine and decided I should try to get some sleep of my own. I laid down in my bed. My bed seemed so big and empty without him in his bouncy seat, sleeping peacefully next to me. I made sure the baby monitor was on with the volume all the way up. I laid there for awhile, then I heard something! A small rustling noise came from the monitor. I thought, "This is it! He's waking up and realizing I'm not there. He'll start crying any minute!" I wanted to be sure I was there to comfort him and reassure him that he would be okay so I got up and crept into his room. His eyes were closed. He wasn't crying. I stayed for awhile admiring his sweet, angelic face. I thought about how peaceful he was and how totally oblivious he was to his momma's fretting! I went back to bed and after a good hour of lying there waiting for his frightened cry, I fell asleep. I woke early the next morning and immediately went to Josiah's room. There he was still sound asleep! Josiah had slept through the night in his own room! Yes, it sure was a difficult night but I did it! I put Josiah in his own room, now I just need to get myself sleeping through the night!
Zach is Recycling!
At Zach's last TigerScout meeting he learned all about recycling.
This past weekend, he took action and did some recyling of his own!
For Valentines Day, rather than waste paper making new cards he took pictures and cards he had already made and added some hearts and special notes to make them good as new!
He was so proud of himself, as he showed me how he had recycled his old cards.
But, he really outdid himself when he found the thank you note for his great Aunt and Uncle from Christmas (when I sent out the Christmas thank you's he had lost his and had to make a new one) and redid it for Valentines Day. He showed me how he was able to simply change "thank you for the gifts" to "thank you for the gift" by erasing the "s". He also added a fancy heart and put it in one of the envelopes he had just received. Hmmm, come to think of it, the envelope was from his Aunt and Uncle who are going to receive the thank you note. Perhaps, I should have a talk with Zach about how to appropriately regift!
This past weekend, he took action and did some recyling of his own!
For Valentines Day, rather than waste paper making new cards he took pictures and cards he had already made and added some hearts and special notes to make them good as new!
He was so proud of himself, as he showed me how he had recycled his old cards.
But, he really outdid himself when he found the thank you note for his great Aunt and Uncle from Christmas (when I sent out the Christmas thank you's he had lost his and had to make a new one) and redid it for Valentines Day. He showed me how he was able to simply change "thank you for the gifts" to "thank you for the gift" by erasing the "s". He also added a fancy heart and put it in one of the envelopes he had just received. Hmmm, come to think of it, the envelope was from his Aunt and Uncle who are going to receive the thank you note. Perhaps, I should have a talk with Zach about how to appropriately regift!
Labels:
Cub Scouts,
humor,
parenting,
recycling,
Zach
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Cute Mariah Quotes!
Mariah's baby brother had a bad cold that she caught from him.
Feeling totally miserable, she told me, "Mom I didn't want to take his cold from him! He can have it back!"
I've been giving the kids a lot of orange juice to drink. Mariah needed more and said, "More Vitamin C please, Mom."
Feeling totally miserable, she told me, "Mom I didn't want to take his cold from him! He can have it back!"
I've been giving the kids a lot of orange juice to drink. Mariah needed more and said, "More Vitamin C please, Mom."
Sunday, February 8, 2009
I Am Blocking, MOM! (That is blocking the ball from hitting me!)
This is Zachariah's first year participating in Upwards Basketball, a non-competitive way to learn how to play the sport. Having never played any sports before, Zach is really struggling to learn the rules of the game. Every week after his practice and game I try to just pick one thing that he can really concentrate on for the next week. The first couple weeks, I had him concentrate on staying with his team as they ran from one side of the court to the other. The third week, he was out sick with a horrible cold! I'm thinking, of all the kids to have to miss a game and practice night Zach was the one that couldn't afford it! The fourth week, I explained to him the importance of staying right on the guy he's supposed to be guarding. At the next game, it was apparent Zach was following my advice. He was glued to his guy the whole time and even had his arms out just like he'd been taught! I found it odd, though, that he was staying right behind the person he was guarding. Like a little shadow he followed them with his arms out. Several times I yelled out to him, "In front! You need to be in front of him". But Zach just gave me this look that said, "I have it under control mom!" I gave up shaking my head in despair. I knew what my bit of advice would be this week! On the way home, I praised Zach for staying with his guy with such tenacity. Then I carefully told him that when you are guarding someone you really should be in front of them. I went on to explain why it was so important to block the other guy from getting the ball. Zach informed me that he understood all of this. Then he went on to tell me that he was "blocking the ball!" That is, he was staying behind the other guy so they would block the ball from hitting him! Being short in stature, Zach had figured out that if he guarded from behind his person there was no chance of the ball hitting him!
Labels:
humor,
parenting,
Upward basketball,
Zach
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Where's My Baby Boy, Jerry?!
My first grader, Zach, often comes home from school and tells me his "bad" news. Most are horrid injustices in the eyes of a six year old. Things such as not being able to go outside for recess or running out of toothpicks for his art project. The worst "bad" news ever was not being able to do math activities! Math activity time is Zach's favorite thing at school!
I was totally unprepared when Zach came home to my mom's house, Wednesday, with "bad" news. Zach came in, ran down to the basement and washed his hands as he does every day. Then he casually came in the living room were Iwas watching TV and said, rather calmy, "Mom, I have some bad news." I was tempted to brush him off until the next comercial but trying to be a good listener asked him what his "bad" news was today. Imagine my shock when he informed me Jerry, his 5 year old brother, hadn't come home with him. In fact, he hadn't seen Jerry get on the bus at all! I quizzed Zach a bit to be sure what I was hearing was correct. Sure enough Jerry was lost!
The first few weeks of school, Jerry was having trouble remembering to get off at his bus stop so I figured he probably was still on his bus and decided not to panic, yet. I immediately called the school and let them know Jerry didn't come home with Zach. They were about as surprised as I was and said they would make a few calls and track him down. I ever so patiently waited for my phone to ring. Fifteen minutes later, it finally rang! Jerry was nowhere to be found! They checked the bus and he wasn't on it. With relief, we figured out they had checked the wrong bus. So again I left things in there hands as they made more calls.
The minutes slowly ticked by. With each passing minute my heart started beating faster. My mind began wandering. It shouldn't be taking so long to call the right bus! What if they didn't find him, then what! Finally, I got the call I'd been anxiously awaiting for! They found him!!! He was on the wrong bus! Two of the drivers were substitutes resulting in the buses getting out of order. Jerry was used to getting on the last bus in the line and hadn't noticed that it wasn't his until after he got on. My poor little boy had tried to tell the bus driver he was on the wrong bus, but he was sitting too far in the back to be heard. When all the other children were dropped off he moved to the front of the bus and made another attempt to be heard. By then the driver had gotten the call from the school and was bringing my Jerry home!
As soon as I heard the bus pull up in front of the house I went out to meet Jerry. My brave little guy came running up to the house with a relieved look on his face. Then he completely lost all that bravery. The tears came streaming down his face as he tried to tell me who was responsible for putting him on the wrong bus. Fighting back tears, I held him in my arms. I hugged him over and over not wanting to let go...but my job as a parent is to let go. We constantly need to "let go" of our little ones as they grow up. All the while, trusting that God will protect our babies as He protected Jerry. Today, when you find yourself resisting letting your little one go remember that God is with them, watching over them and protecting them and although we cannot be forever by their side, God can!
I was totally unprepared when Zach came home to my mom's house, Wednesday, with "bad" news. Zach came in, ran down to the basement and washed his hands as he does every day. Then he casually came in the living room were Iwas watching TV and said, rather calmy, "Mom, I have some bad news." I was tempted to brush him off until the next comercial but trying to be a good listener asked him what his "bad" news was today. Imagine my shock when he informed me Jerry, his 5 year old brother, hadn't come home with him. In fact, he hadn't seen Jerry get on the bus at all! I quizzed Zach a bit to be sure what I was hearing was correct. Sure enough Jerry was lost!
The first few weeks of school, Jerry was having trouble remembering to get off at his bus stop so I figured he probably was still on his bus and decided not to panic, yet. I immediately called the school and let them know Jerry didn't come home with Zach. They were about as surprised as I was and said they would make a few calls and track him down. I ever so patiently waited for my phone to ring. Fifteen minutes later, it finally rang! Jerry was nowhere to be found! They checked the bus and he wasn't on it. With relief, we figured out they had checked the wrong bus. So again I left things in there hands as they made more calls.
The minutes slowly ticked by. With each passing minute my heart started beating faster. My mind began wandering. It shouldn't be taking so long to call the right bus! What if they didn't find him, then what! Finally, I got the call I'd been anxiously awaiting for! They found him!!! He was on the wrong bus! Two of the drivers were substitutes resulting in the buses getting out of order. Jerry was used to getting on the last bus in the line and hadn't noticed that it wasn't his until after he got on. My poor little boy had tried to tell the bus driver he was on the wrong bus, but he was sitting too far in the back to be heard. When all the other children were dropped off he moved to the front of the bus and made another attempt to be heard. By then the driver had gotten the call from the school and was bringing my Jerry home!
As soon as I heard the bus pull up in front of the house I went out to meet Jerry. My brave little guy came running up to the house with a relieved look on his face. Then he completely lost all that bravery. The tears came streaming down his face as he tried to tell me who was responsible for putting him on the wrong bus. Fighting back tears, I held him in my arms. I hugged him over and over not wanting to let go...but my job as a parent is to let go. We constantly need to "let go" of our little ones as they grow up. All the while, trusting that God will protect our babies as He protected Jerry. Today, when you find yourself resisting letting your little one go remember that God is with them, watching over them and protecting them and although we cannot be forever by their side, God can!
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Today, From Front to Finish!
Today I woke up way too early so I could take the kids to Sunday School and 11am church service.
We got home around 1:00pm.
Ate lunch, then my mom and dad came over.
My dad is helping Zach make his PineWood Derby Car for the big race with Boyscouts!
I sorted through some "papers" in my never-ending/always-growing stack and put my furniture back were it belongs from cleaning the carpets.
Around 3:30 I started making dinner.
By the time we finished eating and the baby was fed it was time to leave for Zach's choir practice.
So at 5ish we headed back to church.
Came home from church at about 7:30.
Kids got ready for bed, I read to them and tucked them in.
I've spent the rest of my evening making bread, cleaning the oven, separating laundry(I got 3 loads washed and dryed; they still need folded), emptying and refilling the dishwasher, emptying the dish rack and washing the dishes that don't go or didn't fit in the dishwasher, fed the baby a few times, got the kids lunches and snacks ready for tomorrow, set out their breakfast, finished sorting and putting away all the "papers" and kids school-work type stuff, finished putting the steam vac away, put the fans away from drying the carpet, vacuumed the enterance room, fixed the towel rack in the bathroom and on and on and on. Now it is five till 1am and I'm wondering why in the world I started the oven on it self-clean because I really don't want to go to bed with it still on. I have 25 minutes until it's done so I think I'll fold the four baskets of clothing that are staring at me!
We got home around 1:00pm.
Ate lunch, then my mom and dad came over.
My dad is helping Zach make his PineWood Derby Car for the big race with Boyscouts!
I sorted through some "papers" in my never-ending/always-growing stack and put my furniture back were it belongs from cleaning the carpets.
Around 3:30 I started making dinner.
By the time we finished eating and the baby was fed it was time to leave for Zach's choir practice.
So at 5ish we headed back to church.
Came home from church at about 7:30.
Kids got ready for bed, I read to them and tucked them in.
I've spent the rest of my evening making bread, cleaning the oven, separating laundry(I got 3 loads washed and dryed; they still need folded), emptying and refilling the dishwasher, emptying the dish rack and washing the dishes that don't go or didn't fit in the dishwasher, fed the baby a few times, got the kids lunches and snacks ready for tomorrow, set out their breakfast, finished sorting and putting away all the "papers" and kids school-work type stuff, finished putting the steam vac away, put the fans away from drying the carpet, vacuumed the enterance room, fixed the towel rack in the bathroom and on and on and on. Now it is five till 1am and I'm wondering why in the world I started the oven on it self-clean because I really don't want to go to bed with it still on. I have 25 minutes until it's done so I think I'll fold the four baskets of clothing that are staring at me!
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