good read

I'm looking for a good book. I've read a couple of stinkers lately and am getting frustrated. Clearly the book recommendations in People magazine are not for me!

I am currently working my way through Gone with the Wind and plan to read George Bush's book when I can wrestle the Kindle away from Jay. :)

Got any recommendations for me? I don't like overly sad books and I can't handle the kidnapping or killing of children. The Lovely Bones disturbed me for months. And I can't stand books about self-absorbed New England/New York women. Just my opinion.

So if you have a book you are in love with, tell me!

zumba!!!!

Okay, we've all seen the slightly cheesy Zumba infomercials on TV. It seemed to be another one of those gimmicky fitness products.

Well, I was wrong!!! My friend Jodi invited me to join her last night at Lifetime for a Zumba class. I had THE BEST time. Seriously! I told the instructor after class that it was the most fun I've had in a while.

I was very aware of the fact that I am a Midwestern, suburban white girl but surprisingly, it didn't really matter. Everyone was just trying to keep up--there wasn't any time to worry about what you looked like. Plus, I looked awesome in my head! :)

I will definitely be doing it again--anyone care to join me?

guest post from Jimbo

My dad sent this email back in 2003 about a traumatic event that occurred while on a walk one night. I had it posted on my cube wall and would crack up everytime I looked at it. Enjoy!

**Editor's Note: Waz is my mom!

Fam--bear with me as I work through my trauma. Last night I was walking around Staring Lake. Although it was late, the moon cast some light on the trail.

Deep in the south section, amongst the dense forest of that part, in the area I always suspect someone is lurking to attack me, all of a sudden something clobbers me on the top of my head, knocking my hat off!

Being the warrior that I am, I am spring loaded to the defense position. I look up and see a large hawk or owl flying off into the night. I continue to walk, wondering if the bird flew into me by accident. Seconds later, with my hat still off, I feel razor like talons tearing into my unprotected scalp--I am under attack! I look up and see the same bird alight in a tree nearby. Now I am incensed. I try to find a rock to throw at it. This is war! The owl (I think) flies off, no doubt preparing for another attack.

I put my hat back on my ravaged head, pull the arms of my coat over my ungloved hands so I can slug the beast, should it attack again, without endangering my hands. I walk the next half mile with my head on a swivel, looking forwards and backwards, waiting for the coward to attempt another attack. None comes.

As the adrenaline begins to slow, I realize how close I came to potential death or serious injury. Trauma starts to set in. I call Waz who is at quilting. She comforts me. When Waz gets home, she checks out my wounded head. She says she can see some "faint" scratches but can't verify an owl attack.

Whether Waz can verify it or not, I know I was under severe attack out there in the wilderness and I survived it because I am a Louwsma! Today I am going to buy an inexpensive football helment and paint "I am not a mouse!" on the top and wear it on future walks.

Love, YerDad and HB

The boy

Ethan lost his first tooth last Thursday! I took the kids swimming since Jay was working late. Ethan asked me to catch him when he jumped off the edge but I thought it would be funny to move away at the last second, which of course I did. He popped up out of the water screaming with a tooth sitting on his tongue! He was bleeding a little and kind of freaked out so we got a towel and got the blood off him. Some little girl came running up and kept saying "Hey, you are BLEEDING!!!" over and over--where were her parents? She was not helping the situation. Once the shock wore off he got kind of excited. And when I sent out a text about it and then posted it to Facebook he was super excited. He felt really special.

The tooth next to it is super loose now and might make an exit tonight. I am NOT pulling it but Jay will if it seems ready. He is having a hard time eating and is ready for it to be gone.

Speaking of eating, he is most definitely going through a growth spurt. He is always hungry and is putting away more food than I've ever seen him eat. He had three pieces of french toast the other day and was still hungry! Kind of feels like a preview of the teenage years. We are back in food therapy to make sure that the bottomless food pit includes some healthy options. :)

Ethan and I have been working on developing a positive attitude for 2011. We call it the PA and have a little handshake for it. It has made the biggest difference in our day! He wakes up trying to find things to be happy about instead of complaining about everything. He is more helpful around the house and is just so much more fun to be around. This had been a problem for a long time but I had never tried to join forces with him on it before. That seems to have made the difference.

One more thing about my boy....he is so affectionate. He still holds my hand, gives me a hug and kiss when the bus pulls up and wants a snuggle before bed. I know this probably won't last much longer and I have become painfully aware of that lately. He is just growing way too fast. Which is exciting but still, it has only been six years!

Looking for input

Next week I will be doing a brief talk at a MOPS meeting about being fashionably thrifty. I don't know why I was chosen but it sounded like fun so I said yes!

I need to talk about how to look nice and still work within a budget. I have some ideas but I wanted to see if any of you have any great tips on places to shop, time of week/month/year to shop for the best deals, items that you can't live without, etc. You get the picture!

I'm a little nervous because I don't consider myself stylish--I feel that I am more eclectic and tend to pick things that I like individually so that in turn forces me to be eclectic. There are a lot of gorgeous, super well-dressed ladies at MOPS so hopefully they don't roll their eyes at my ideas of a bargain! :)

So give me any tips you can, I appreciate it!

wiggle it

Ethan has his first loose tooth! It isn't ready to go yet but the wiggle has started. The strange thing is that the new tooth is already growing in rather far behind it. Is that normal and I just don't know it? He might have my teeth--better start saving for braces!!!

I am completely grossed out by loose teeth and kind of freaked out when I saw his tooth, which in turn made my prone-to-anxiety child freak out. I really had to do a lot of raving about how cool and exciting it was to make up for it. He is good for now but my guess is that pulling teeth will not be a fun thing in our house. Jay is in charge of that business.

I can't believe we are in the loose teeth phase. This time in my life is flying by although some days it feels interminable.

P.S. I can't believe I haven't blogged since November 7. What the crap?