I have a friend that wrote a post called Schitzophrenic Post

That how I feel my mind is today. It's running in all kinds of circles. Used to...I'd just have to deal with it. However, my blog has become my place to lay it all down on "paper."

So, this post is really just for me to get it all off of my mind...feel free to come back tomorrow or the next day for something more interesting (hopefully!).

First...a few "Emma-isms."

Yesterday, she and I had quite the funny day. It seems like everything she said

had me busting up laughing.

During lunch, the radio was on in the background, and a song came on that mentioned God.

She looked at me very seriously and asked, "Is there really a God?"

I told her that there was. She asked where God lived. I told her that God lived in Heaven.

She asked me to show her where Heaven was. I told her that it really isn't a place you can see and then told her that God also lives in each of us. She thought about it for a minute and then asked, "Am I Heaven?"

I talked to her for a minute about her soul. She sat up straight, put her shoulders back and asked, "Mom, show me where my soul is." I explained that it's not a body part that you can point to or see. She leaned over, put her cheek to mine and asked very quietly, "Is it something you can hear?"

A few minutes later, she started to pound on her chest with her fist. I asked what she was doing and she told me that she was "knocking for God."

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Later in the day, I was busy tickling her and decided to pretend to "eat" her tummy. It is quite irresistable. She started to laugh and told me no. I said to her, "Tummies aren't for eating, are they?" Emma replied, "No, Mom, and life's full of hard knocks, too." I have no idea where she

heard that phrase!

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Lastly, for now anyway, we were on the way to the grocery store this morning and passed by the library. I pointed it out to her. She said, "Yeah, Mom, but where's Easy Street?" Oh, if only I knew the answer to that one!

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Another friend has been very open about her goal of saving money...even fessing up on her blog when she came across something that she couldn't pass up (gotta love those sale prices!). I'm a firm believer that it's a great incentive to keep at something if your are accountable to others for it. It is sometimes hard to admit when you've fallen off of the wagon, but that's o.k.

Many of you know that I removed 60 pounds in 2006. Sorry...can't stand the word "lost" in relation to weight. To me, lost is somthing that I want to find again. Not so with extra weight! Anyway, it is my goal to remove 15 pounds by the end of March. This past week, I began again my "must exercise at least 5 times a week" workout schedule and am eating healthier again. Sorry, Max, I mean anonymous, no more cookies from my kitchen! Well, maybe once in a while.

I plan on posting my progress each weekend.

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Bob and I made the decision to put Emma in preschool two days a week after moving here in August. She became very attached to me...in Portland, I could leave her with any of our friends for playdates and she'd have no problems. The experience has been great for her. Her friend

is in the same class, and they just have a great time. However, it costs $140 a month. We are in the process of trying to boost our savings, so we are looking for places to cut back. Since Emma has a December birthday, she cannot start school until August of 2010. So, we've decided to not send Emma back to preschool next year. We are so lucky to live where we do...just down the road is the Ada County library. It is wonderful! Every Wedensday morning, we head to the library for new books and story time. Storytime is led by Miss Erin. I don't know how Emma even tolerates my story reading after hearing Miss Erin. She is so expressive with her reading, and she brings her friend along. She has a monkey (only some of the kids believe that he's a monkey) that she calls Monkey. She incorporates him into the theme of the day...the kids love it! Today, there were over 60 kids from age 6 months to 5 years and all of them were enthralled. Also, the same library has preschool art twice a week.

We joined the YMCA, and they have a variety of classes that Emma can take for $28 a month. Between the library (free), one class per month at the "Y" ($28), play dates, and trips to the zoo, botantical gardens, parks, etc...we can just has much fun without paying the

huge fee each month. She loves to do homework here at home, so we'll sit down for a while each day and work on letters, numbers, etc. If she continues as she is, we might even get her reading by the time she starts school.

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One last topic. My going back to work. After reading my post about the short amount of time it took me to read 4 large books, some members of my loving family have mentioned that it might be time for me to go back to work. Apparently, they think that I have just too much fun!

These same people were very vocal about the fact that I should not be working back when Ryan wasin daycare from age 2 months to 20 months. Because I've been on both sides, I have so much respect for those moms that do have to work and are able to still spend meaningful time with their children. It's a hard balance to find.

However, at this time, there is no need for me to return to work. If it comes to that, I will have no problem putting out those applications and rejoining the work force. Neither Bob nor I see any need to put Emma in daycare while I work to pay for said daycare.

Besides...I have a job. A 24-hour a day, no monetary gain job. And I love it!

I have the wonderful responsibility of raising two kids, making sure our house is liveable, meals are nutricious and on the table with the breadwinner gets home. I also have the priviledge of being able to some time reading or crafting or writing on my blog. On a normal day, it's not much time...but it's important to me. I love to lose myself in a book (yep, still have to do the housework when I stop reading), I love to make things for people (almost always wait until the housework is done and the kids are in bed), and I thoroughly enjoy blogging. I enjoy sharing our lives and getting to know others better through their written words and photos. I love to logon and see comments waiting for me. I'd love to see who my lurkers are (feel free to leave an anonymous comment if you don't have a blogger account...just make sure you sign your name so I know who you are!).

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See...pretty boring post today for everyone but me. It's all out of my head now...written down somewhere...and now I'm off to work on some birthday gifts. Happy day to all.