Free Samples and Liquidation Sale

My sister-in-law Amanda works for D&W Fresh Market, and today they were having free samples all over the store. And I mean these were some good samples - not merely dinky single meatballs on a toothpick, but also spare ribs, mini subs, chips, dip...Scotty, Micah and I had a good time hitting all the sample "stations" and got to see Amanda in action.

After indulging on samples and buying some goodies for SuperBowl tomorrow (our good friend Luke is coming in from Chicago for the game), we swung by Circuit City, per the prompts from several "Liquidation" signs we saw on a couple street corners (poor men holding them were probably freezing). Scott went up and down every aisle (at least once), and I followed Micah around the store as he sat on empty shelves, ran around displays and met other kids in the store. He discovered the water fountain in the very back corner of the store too (see video).

Raspberries, Part II

I actually meant to post this video clip (the one from the first post is only 12 seconds long).

To Facebook users: click "View Original Link" to watch video clip, or go to www.ruthreflections.com

Raspberries - the non-edible kind.

Micah has been fascinated by himself recently - especially when it comes to blowing a raspberry. He is so goofy.

To Facebook users: click "View Original Link" to watch video clip, or go to www.ruthreflections.com

Tunnels inside.

I made a blanket tunnel for Micah yesterday. It was fun. :-)

"If any of you lacks wisdom...

...let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him" (James 1:5).

Wednesday night a week ago was a rough evening with Micah before he went to bed (he usually gets cranky, clingy and whiney the hour or so before his bedtime). Scott and I were flabbergasted as to how we're supposed to raise him with appropriate discipline as he is exerting himself more and being extremely difficult at times.

After the little tike was down for the night and asleep, Scott and I started talking and trying to figure out what to do. We were fresh out of ideas, and had no clue what to do. I started thinking to myself, I need to find a copy of "Bringing Up Boys" and "What to Expect the Toddler Years" and read, read, read until I get it sorted out...but what if I don't?

Scott just started praying and being honest with God with our struggles as parents and really asked Him to give us wisdom. Help, God, show us what's best! And you know what? It was only a few minutes later that Scott and I started having some new ideas about how to deal with Micah in a loving but firm way. I grabbed a notepad and filled up several little pages on our brainstorming session. Ways that we want to instruct and teach, but not discipline or punish Micah as he grows.

Both Scott and I realized that God had turned around and answered our desperate cry for wisdom right away! He is so good like that! It was impressed on both of us that God heard and responded, and we are so thankful. The next day this verse from James came to mind, and I told Scott it's no wonder that God gave us wisdom - we asked Him, and He gave generously without making us feel stupid for not knowing the answers on our own.

We've spent the last week implementing these ways of instructing (not punishing) Micah, and you know what? It has caused less stress and anger in both Scott and I, and probably even Micah.

God's good. :-)

Lillyann Rose

My Saturday was spent talking to my family via phone calls and texts messages, getting updates during my sister's labor (in the same hospital that my mom birthed all 6 of her children in)! My brother-in-law Greg and sister Elizabeth welcomed their firstborn around 7:00 p.m. - little Lillyann Rose.

Scott's and my new niece:


The new family of three:


You can see more photos at my sister's Picasa account: http://picasaweb.google.com/rasovilla/Lilly#

Hair grows back

So today I cut Micah's hair for the first time. He's already had 2 haircuts, but Scott always did them (and did a great job). Today I thought I'd give it a try.

Yikes, here are the results:

Even with his thin spot on top (note to self, next time, don't do the "test patch" in front), and...


High and jagged neckline...


He's still as cute as can be.


I may have saved money today, but not humiliation. Good thing Micah is young enough, so he won't remember any teasing remarks. And, yes, it will grow back.

Bridge may be icy...

You know the road signs I'm talking about. I had always laughed at those in Southern California, because I don't think it's ever wet and cold enough to become icy. But Michigan is another story...

A couple weeks ago I was at the tail-end of my errands, and I mean the very end - I was on my way to the last store and then Micah and I were headed back home. I was taking a familiar turn while entering a familiar strip mall parking lot, when I glanced up and saw a "Bridge may be icy" and "15 mph" sign off to the side. At the same time, I realized there was a speed bump just over this little bridge, and I was going a little over 15 pmh, so I let off the gas.

Though I thought I was still driving, all of a sudden good ole Mr. Car took over. Within a matter of seconds, I swerved and hit a snowbank. I would've been out just as quickly as I had gotten in, if I didn't have front-wheel drive... The guy behind me came to see if he could push me out (he nearly slipped on the speed bump ice patch on his way over to my car), but to no avail.

I called roadside assistance, knowing that I'd be stuck here for at least 45 minutes, even though all I needed was a little power to pull Mr. Car out. I put the flashers on, kept the car on for heat (it was in the 20's outside), and began to wait, seeing my last store on this errand run just off in the distance...

Cars started cautiously driving around me. I hadn't been waiting for long, when a sweet looking Ford truck drove up. Two young guys offered the power of their Ford, if I had any rope. I pulled out a dinky blue rope from the back of my car, and after attaching the ends to both vehicles, they were able to pull me out about a foot from the snow bank before the rope snapped. By this time, there was another nice man coming over from his SUV with a tow chain in hand to join the rescue mission. He actually had a kid in the backseat, but was still kind enough to help!

The three of them combined were able to push Mr. Car out of the snow the rest of the way, so the tow chain wasn't needed. After expressing my gratitude, all three vehicles were on their merry way, in three different directions. I was so, so thankful for them! Though it was frigid outside (and none of them had winter coats on), and they didn't know me, that didn't stop them from exercising compassion on my behalf.

I will always remember this familiar turn in that familiar strip mall parking lot when three gentlemen stopped to help me when I was in need.

Playing in the snow!!

I finally bundled Micah up and took his blue toboggan out into the snow today. He loved it (and I got quite the work-out).

Walking around in his snow pants for the first time:


Only thing left to put on are his coat and gloves:


Knee-deep in snow:


Loving it:

Penne with red sauce

Of course Micah loves pasta - he is 1/8 Italian after all! (The red sauce around his face kinda looks like a 5 o'clock shadow, doesn't it)?

Another Launch!

The creative genius of Scottyman Media! and Gurry Design (Scotty and his friend Pete) have a new site up and running on the world wide web! You can check it out at: www.beukematherapy.com

"Nana" (translation: banana)

To Facebook users: click "View Original Link" to watch video clip, or go to www.ruthreflections.com

Denty 3

This post is dedicated to my sister Hannah...


I received the name "Denty 1" and my sister Hannah received the name "Denty 2" back when we were children...

Growing up, our front bedroom consisted of two sets of bunk-beds, with a dresser in the middle (with pointy corners), where four of us slept. One night when my sisters and I were going to bed, I was goofing off from the bottom bunk by standing up and peeking over the edge of the top bunk where one of my sisters was, and dropping back down again real quick. During one of these stand-and-drop routines, I knocked my head on the corner of the dresser and started bleeding - real bad.

I dinged my head up pretty good - with a nice sized gash that wouldn't stop gushing. My parents made a makeshift butterfly band-aid and then sent me off to bed.

Shortly after that incident, I woke up in the middle of the night to find my sister Hannah on the floor. Goofy thing had rolled off the top bunk in her sleep. She looked up at me and wiped her face, smearing blood across her forehead. Ahh! She had knocked her head on that pointy dresser too. I quickly took her to mom and dad, and they bandaged her up real good (I think by this time we had invested in actual butterfly band-aids).

Soon after that, I was known as "Denty 1" and Hannah was known as "Denty 2."

A couple nights ago Micah did a face-plant into the back of his chair. When he woke up the next morning, I saw the real damage - a scabbed over gash across his forward. And it was then that I knew, he was Denty 3 (though he didn't have to endure a butterfly band-aid).

"Cucker"

The Target trip started out like any other - grab Micah and his diaper bag from the warm car and run through the cold parking lot into the warm store. Get him snapped in the grocery cart, and start checking things off my shopping list as the items in my cart began to multiply.

I hit the food section towards the end of the trip, and was locating my last few items when I pulled down the aisle of Pepperidge Farm packaged goodies - cookies, goldfish crackers, etc. During most of the Target trip, Micah was pretty chill, probably bored out of his mind as we went down aisle after aisle of cleaning goods, office supplies, etc. Every now and then I would give him something from his diaper bag or my growing cart of merchandise to keep him occupied. But the Pepperidge Farm aisle resonated with my son...

I was about halfway down the aisle when Micah piped up - "Cucker. Cucker" (translation: cracker). He had spotted the Pepperidge Farm goldfish cracker logo and knew what it was instantly - his snack item of choice. "Cucker. Cucker." So he wasn't completely bored out of his mind, and he was actually paying attention while shopping - at least when something familiar was seen.

I just thought it was the cutest thing.

Mid or upper, but not late, 20's.

Though Scotty's birthday was on December 29th, we celebrated it on the 27th before great grandpa and grandma Ruth headed back to PA after the holidays. Scotty and I had a whole discussion on what he is considered now at 26 years of age. He is considered mid our upper, but not late, 20's. There you have it, folks. :-)

Scotty got a Homedics heated back massager, which attaches to a chair, from his parents. He loves it!


Scotty also received a Target gift card and a "Believe" desk decor piece from great grandpa and grandma Ruth. Micah loved it! :-)

Amanda and I waited to give Scotty our gifts on his actual birthday, 2 days later (we didn't have them on the 27th)! :-)

Christmastime Photos!

Sorry for the delay, CA family, but here are the long-awaited Christmas photos!

Birthday buddies Jesus (12/25) and Scotty (12/29) sharing their birthday cake on Christmas Eve:


Opening the first gift, Christmas Eve:


Micah "helping" daddy get the camcorder ready on Christmas day:


Scotty, reading Luke 2:


Micah really likes the toys and clothes from his cousin Anne, auntie Hannah and g'pa and g'ma Sovilla:


Micah, enjoying disturbing mom's organized trash pile, rather than opening more gifts or actually playing with his new toys:


Great grandpa and grandpa Ruth, enjoying their new "toys":


Great grandma and Auntie Amanda working hard on supper - yay for scalloped potatoes:


Great grandpa "bowling" on the Wii:


Micah touching the "no-no puppy" (Abby is 10 years old and has arthritis):


Micah reading one of his new books:


Grandma, Micah and mom:


I was so proud of my sweet potatoes - first time I made them, just like my mom (only the Ruth ladies ate them, but we sure did enjoy them, those Ruth men missed out):


The end of Christmas dinner, yummy:

A Rifle and a Chainsaw

Scott and I hope to be homeowners by the end of 2009. That being the case, we've begun looking at prices of homes in local areas, and even driven by a few different houses. We found some houses online in our price range with a decent amount of land as well, about 40 minutes away. So, on Saturday, we loaded up Micah, ourselves, and even Lisa to drive by some of these homes.

It soon became apparent that these homes with a good amount of land come with something else too - greater seclusion and um, unique neighbors. At one of the homes we went to, the driveway was a steep incline, and since it had not been snowplowed, Scotty and I left Micah and Lisa in the car while we jogged up to the house. As we came to the back of the house, the next door neighbors came outside and we saw each other. One of them hollered over, "I have to unload by gun, do you mind?" We said that would be fine, and then without skipping a beat, he picked up his shotgun and fired it straight into his backyard. I quickly ran down to the car to let Lisa know that we were okay. :-) Hmm, nice neighbors, but not sure how we feel about them shooting guns off in their backyard.

Another house we came to had a similar driveway problem, though this one was a dirt road and had deep slope, so we were afraid our 4-door sedan wouldn't be able to get back out of the neighborhood. Once again, Scott and I were going to investigate the house closer while Micah chilled out in the backseat with grandma. As Scotty opened his door, we all heard a chainsaw. I looked up and found a bearded man a little ways off, chainsaw in hand, looking at us, without a smile. Startled, I said, "Scotty, lets go, I think we're on his property!" Scotty paid no heed to my comment, and shouted over, "We're here to look at that house down there." "Okay," the man replied, and started sawing away at a fallen tree.

As we approached the chainsaw man's neighbor's house (the one for sale), we found it vacant and in disorder. The advertised "spa" had the lid half open and was filled with snow, there was a high chair strewn in the front yard, and there was a Kawasaki motorcycle on it's side in front of the garage. Clutter can be picked up, but that's not all we would have to change if we were to move here. We'd have to add on the expense of a truck or SUV which could handle hilly, dirt roads in the dead of winter.

It was a fun family "adventure," and we all had a good laugh on the way back to suburbia.

"Auntie Julie"

Jules is a good friend. We met at college. She was the candlelighter in my wedding, and I was a pregnant bridesmaid in hers. Since college graduation and marriage, we've only seen each other about half a dozen times, but each time has been wonderful. Conversing with Julie is refreshing - she's just one of those friends where you can pick up where you left off, talk about anything and everything under the sun, have a good laugh, or sometimes a good cry together.

Julie happened to be an hour away in Michigan for the weekend, so she drove out to see me (yay)! I hadn't seen her since her birthday in March. We enjoyed lunch at Panera Bread (thanks for the gift card for Christmas, Scott and Lisa!), and then came back home and just talked and talked and talked...Micah really enjoyed playing with her too. By the end of the day, he was reaching for her to pick him up; I think that means we can call her "Auntie Julie." :-)

A taste for fashion

Micah's looking pretty snazzy these days - thanks to some clothes he got for Christmas (and this is only half of it).

Pants and jacket from auntie Hannah...


P.J.'s from grandpa and grandma Sovilla...


Grandpa Ruth's Santa hat...