SYTYCD* - Toddler Style

* - So You Think You Can Dance, a dance competition on Fox.
Remember when I was trying to get a video of Landon dancing and I ended up recording his first steps? Well, I finally have a video of Landon dancing - notice that "So You Think You Can Dance" is on in the background. And, yes, I'm asking Landon to do "The Robot." Alan's trying to teach him that in refernce to my Threadless tee.

In another nod to "So You Think You Can Dance," here is a video of Landon doing his Mary Murphy (one of the judges on the show) impersonation.

Stealing from the Grocery Store

For those of you that thought I actually stole from the grocery store, you are mistaken. But, it sure did feel like stealing when I bought the following groceries for $2.97!!!


4 boxes of Raisin Bran, 4 packages of Keebler Fudge Sticks, 1 Twix bar, 1 bottle of Hunt's Ketchup, 2 cans of Bush's baked beans, and 1 can of Dole pineapple chunks.

Here's how I did it:
Wednesdays is double coupon days at Rainbow Foods. In order to get your coupons doubled, you need to spend $25. They will only double up to 5 coupons in a transaction and the coupons can't have a face value of more than $1.00.

The cereal and cookies were on special - 4 packages for $10 and when your purchased $20 worth of selected Keebler/Kellogg's products, you automatically got $10 off your order. I was worried because this came off right away and brought my total at the register to $15.31. I didn't think it would work to double my coupons because it only showed my subtotal as $15.31 (with tax), but it did work!

Now to get up to the $25 level, I used several coupons for free items - the candy bar and the ketchup; I got 75 cents and $1.59 off, respectively, for those items (bringing total down to $12.97). I had a $1.00 of two coupon for the baked beans, which were 99 cents a piece. Coupon doubled to $2.00 so I got those for free, plus overage ($10.97). The pineapple was also 99 cents and I had a 50 cents off coupon for that, so I got $1.00 of my purchase($9.97). In addition, I had 2 $1.00 off coupons for the purchase of two Keebler Fudge Shoppe cookies. I got $4 off total for the 4 packages of cookies ($5.97). I then had two coupons for $1.50 off two packages of Raisin Bran. The woman at the register implied that I would get the $1.50 off and then $1.00 off for one of them (it would have been my 5th coupon), but it didn't work that way. So, I got $3 off the 4 boxes of cereal, bringing my total to $2.97.

I would have done even better had I found my other 3 Kellogg's coupons ($1.00 off 1 box, which would have been doubled to $2.00) and we would have had more variety in our cereal choices, but cereal is pretty shelf stable so I'm not too worried about that. : )

Minnesota Children's Museum

Well, Landon's 17 months old and we finally made it to the Children's Museum! I'm surprised we didn't make it there sooner, considering I've been there about 5 times sans child (as part of my former job working with teen parents in the St. Paul Public Schools). Landon loved it - as I knew he would. There was so much to see, touch, and play with I'm surprised that he didn't have a tantrum when we left. I'm guessing he must have just been too tired - he was yawning while waiting for lunch at McDonald's and conked out before we even got on the freeway on our way home. Enjoy the pics!

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On a different note: Yay for me for posting 3 new blog entries in less than a week, and they all included photos!

I'd Like a Table by the Window, Please

Landon has lately become fascinated with cars, trucks, buses, motorcycles, and bikes. Perhaps it is because our house is on the corner of a busy street and we've used our picture window as a good distraction.



Landon, at 3 months, with Daddy

I've come to find out, though, that distracting a 3 month old is not nearly as necessary as distracting a 17 month old who is grabbing at your legs, insisting "up, up" while you are trying to make lunch, do dishes, or get dressed. Such was the case yesterday while I was trying to make breakfast. Fortunately, the garbage truck was coming so I pointed it out to Landon. He perched his feet on the cover to our baseboard heat and watched excitedly as the garbage truck, then the recycling truck came.

Fast forward about 4 hours as it was nearing lunchtime. I heard some trucks out our front door and saw several trucks repaving our street. This had to be my lucky day! I opened the front door and Landon ran excitedly to get a good view. As I finished making lunch, I knew pulling him away from the door to eat was not going to work, so I just moved his chair to face the storm door. Granted he might have been too distracted, as he didn't finish his turkey dog (and this boy loves his turkey dogs!), but he certainly enjoyed the show!

A Spelunking We Will Go

Team W is spending this Monday recuperating from an adventure-filled weekend. As a combined birthday/Father's Day gift for Alan, I had arranged for us to spend the weekend in Preston, MN. Preston is home to two bike trails, one of which goes through Lanesboro - a quaint town on the Root River that I've always wanted to visit. Selfish, I know.

Anyway, we arrived to Preston on Saturday, where we enjoyed a picnic lunch and then took our first bike ride. We opted to do the Preston-Harmony State Trail (over 26 miles round trip from our hotel). The map warned that about a third of the trail is a series of steep hills that may not suitable for all riders. We figured we'd get the most difficult trail out of the way first. We didn't realize how difficult it was until talking with two seasoned riders (they biked 63 miles on Saturday in honor of their 63rd birthdays) that Preston to Harmony was the most difficult part of the trails in the area. This made us feel really good, but also explained why we were the only riders headed towards Harmony and why people going from Harmony to Preston gave us looks of shock, awe, and amazement (particularly Alan who was pulling Landon in the Burley Bee).


Landon getting ready to ride on Saturday. Poor guy had a fever, but did really well!


Day two we took a much flatter route and biked Preston to Lanesboro (a little over 20 miles round trip). Before making our way back to the Cities, we headed back to Harmony (in our car this time) to go to the Niagra Cave. It was Landon's first spelunking experience (spelunking is just a fancy word for the practice of exploring caves). Alan argues that we weren't really spelunking - we just paid to take a tour of the cave. It was very cool (literally and figuratively). Niagra Cave is home to a 60 foot waterfall and at the furthest we could go, we were 200 feet below surface level and 1/2 mile from the Minnesota/Iowa border. But, you won't see pictures here. Not because we couldn't take them, but because our camera battery died on Saturday and Alan (not to point any fingers) didn't pack the charger. Just click on the link above to Niagra Cave and you'll get a slight glimpse of what we experienced.

To Eat or Not to Eat?

Landon has acquired a taste for a new food - and I use the term "food" loosely. Listed below is the ingredients in the aforementioned food:

2 cups flour
1 cup salt
4 teaspoons cream of tartar
2 tablespoons oil
2 cups water

These ingredients make up the best homemade play-dough recipe you will ever find.

As we were playing with play-dough yesterday, which I made several weeks ago and still was soft, he grabbed a small piece and put it in in his mouth.

"No, no Landon. Icky," I said.

He put a little more in his mouth.

"No, no Landon. Icky," and I took it away for a little while.

I gave it back and he put more into his mouth. I repeat, "No, no Landon. Icky," as I made an icky looking face and shook my head no. I took it away again.

Now, I know it's not harmful to him, but I still don't want my kid to be the one labelled "The One Who Eats Play-dough." Or perhaps, he will now be labelled that as a result of this blog - oh well. I sat there wondering, "How much play-dough could he really eat (or could I consciously let him eat), before he decides he doesn't like it?" I made a Baby Bop out of play-dough (not by hand, I had a mold) and plopped her on his tray.

He bit her head off.

Sigh. Play-dough goes away again. It's about a half-hour before lunch and I grabbed a chocolate chip cookie and gave that to him.

"Oooh, a cookie. Yummy Landon! Play-dough: icky. Cookie: good," I relayed while nodding my head as he stuffed the cookie in his mouth. I gave him milk to wash the cookie down and considered giving him back the play-dough to see if my point got across. I opted not to since I think his tummy gave him the message - he spit up milky play-dough with a few chocolate chips in there. I guess I'll have to wait until next time to see if he retained my "Play-dough: icky" rants.

Here's the instructions for making the play-dough. I hope your children like it enough to play with it and not enough to eat it.

Combine all the ingredients in a large saucepan over medium heat, stirring until it forms a ball (about 2-3 minutes). Knead in food coloring (I mix my food coloring in with the water, because it can get a little messy if you knead it in at the end.) Store in a plastic bag (zipper sealed) or in an airtight container. It keeps for a looooooong time.

I Thessalonians 5:17

This verse simply states, "Pray continually," and Landon has been giving us a lesson into what this means and it is such a joy to experience as his mother!

We, as a family, pray before our meals. Not just, "Bless this food to our body," but prayers for our family and friends; things going on in our world; our requests, needs, desires; etc. When Landon was younger, I would extend my hand to him, but he would usually be more engaged with his spoon or cup. Alan and I would then hold hands, keeping our eyes open to make sure Landon wouldn't topple his plate to the floor (we learned that one the hard way!). As Landon has gotten older, he's become more proficient at knowing the drill - we tell Landon that we are going to pray, I hold out my hand, Alan holds out his hand, and Landon grabs each of our hands as we bow our heads. When we say our "Amen," Landon nods his head satisfyingly and utters his own version of "Amen." We begin eating and as I'm shoveling the food in, Landon will look at me and hold out his hand. "Do you want to pray again?," I ask, as Landon thrusts his hand into mine. He then extends his hand to Alan while we are giving each other a look over Landon's head as if to say, "It's your turn this time." We say our "Amens" and begin eating. I get about 3 bites in before a chubby, little hand reaches out to mine. Landon is, once again, declaring that it is time to pray. At each meal, we pray no less than 3 times at Landon's prompting.

As I stated earlier, it is such a joy to see his enthusiasm for this conversation that we have with our Heavenly Father. But, it's also a challenge because sometimes I'll sit there and have no idea what to say. Or I'll shorten my earlier prayer knowing that Landon will ask us to pray again and 'save' what I was going to say for when that time comes. But mostly it's humbling that my 16 month-old son is teaching me what it means to "pray continually." I know that as I make it more of a habit - to pray for the person in the ambulance rushing to the hospital down the street; to pray as I'm watching the news or reading the newspaper; to pray for the people whose houses I pass by; to thank the Lord for the blessings (and struggles!) in my life - that the words will become easier and flow from my lips as the Lord has intended. One thing that I know I will "pray continually" for will be Landon - it's my prayer that his desire to pray will not wane, that he will grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, and that he will be a man of God who honors the Lord in his thoughts, words, and actions.