Musical Mondays: Hush Little Baby

Another lullaby I've taken to singing to Abby recently is the classic "Hush Little Baby." For some reason, one day it just popped into my head and I realized I actually remembered all of the words.

Then I got to thinking... that's a lot of stuff to buy. So, being the dork I am, I thought I would actually figure out how much the song cost (kind of along the lines of how much does my true love give me in the 12 Days of Christmas!).

Hush little baby, don't say a word, mama's gonna buy you...

• a mockingbird. So after some research, it looks like a mockingbird is illegal to have as a pet. It is a native, wild songbird, and apparently state, federal, and international laws prohibit keeping them as pets. They're not sold anywhere. Hmm. Birds as pets can cost $10-$10,000. Let's go with $100.

If that mockingbird won't sing, mama's gonna buy you...

• a diamond ring. Really? What parent would buy a diamond ring for their baby? Anyway... An article I found says that in 2005 the average diamond engagement ring cost $4146. 

If that diamond ring turns brass, mama's gonna buy you...

• a looking glass. When I think of a "looking glass" I think of "Alice Through the Looking Glass" so I"m going to assume this means a full-length mirror. Conservative average cost: $75 

If that looking glass gets broke, mama's gonna buy you...

• a billy goat. Here's something I actually know something about. I was in 4H and raised goats. This website shows an average cost of a breeding buck to be around $575. But I doubt a baby would have use for a breeding goat, so we'll go with the "commercial" bucks (read: fixed and just a pet) price of $130

If that billy goat won't pull, mama's gonna buy you...

• a cart and bull. This one's a little tricky. You typically wouldn't buy a bull for purposes of pulling a cart... they're too unpredictable. A steer would be a better fit. But most steers are sold for meat, so using some of the information found here I'm going to say he'll cost us $600. Then let's throw a couple hundred in for the cost of a cart, and you've got $800 into this one.

If that cart and bull turn over, mama's gonna buy you...

• a dog named Rover. Just like the birds above, dogs can cost $10-$10,000 depending on breed, etc. Let's say we get an average purebred dog for $500. 

If that dog named Rover won't bark, mama's gonna buy you...

• a horse and cart. Animals are tough to put an average price on. Horses can be $500-$XXXXXXX. But you can get a decent, unregistered horse for $2000. Add the cost of another cart... $2200.

And if that horse and cart fall down, you'll still be the sweetest little baby in town!

So what did we come up with? A grand total of $7951. And that doesn't include the cost to care for and feed all those animals...

Sorry Abby. I might sing this song to you to put you to sleep, but I'm not really going to spend $8000 on things that keep breaking...

The Ostrich

Did you know that ostriches are in the Bible?

Job 39:
 ¹³ “The wings of the ostrich flap joyfully,
   though they cannot compare
   with the wings and feathers of the stork.
¹⁴ She lays her eggs on the ground
   and lets them warm in the sand,
¹⁵ unmindful that a foot may crush them,
   that some wild animal may trample them.
¹⁶ She treats her young harshly, as if they were not hers;
   she cares not that her labor was in vain,
¹⁷ for God did not endow her with wisdom
   or give her a share of good sense.
¹⁸ Yet when she spreads her feathers to run,
   she laughs at horse and rider."


Ostriches might seem like stupid creatures. They're a bird that can't fly, they are horrible mothers, and they stick their heads in the sand when threatened. BUT she can outrun a horse and rider. And "she cares not" about those things in her life she can't do.

Why do we spend so much time thinking about the way we wished we looked, or the things we wished we could do? Why not enjoy the gifts we've been given and move on with our lives the way God created us?

Romans 12:
⁴ For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, ⁵ so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. ⁶ We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; ⁷ if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; ⁸ if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

A super-awesome cloth diaper giveaway

Anyone who's been anywhere near the cloth diapering industry has probably heard of the brand bumGenius. It is one of the most popular one-size cd's out there. It was definitely the first brand we heard about when we were considering cloth diapering a year ago, while I was pregnant with Abby.

Well... or should I say "Wels"... hehe... Kelly Wels, founder of DiaperShops.com and KellysCloset.com, not to mention the amazing TheClothDiaperWhisperer.com blog, is having a super-awesome giveaway of bumGenius cloth diapers! How awesome? It's worth $370.

• 18- bumGenius 4.0 One Size with inserts
• 1 –bumGenius Sprayer
• 1 – bumGenius Pail Liner 

All you need to do to enter is Like her on Facebook, then follow the link on that page to enter the sweepstakes. It's that easy! The sweepstakes runs until the morning of March 11. Ooo, a week before my birthday!!

So what are you waiting for?! Join the cloth diaper revolution today, or add to your current stash! :)

Visit this post for more info: http://www.kellywels.com/kellywels-com-bumgenius-4-0-sweepstakes-kick-off

Musical Mondays (belated): May I Have This Dance

So with Valentine's Day falling on a Monday, I suppose I should make a sweet, romantic Musical Monday post. :) (even if it's a day late -- see my Facebook status for my busy day yesterday!)



Maybe it's your laughter
Maybe it's the magic of your smile
Maybe you're an angel
'Cause hope is always dancing in your eyes
I can't imagine a more beautiful girl than you
May I have the honor of sharing a melody or two

May I have this dance
May I lead you across the floor
May I take your hand
And spin you around and round once more
May I hold you close
Before this evening is through
May I have this dance with you

Do you hear the music
Do you like the way they play our song
Do you know how much I love you?
Baby, I could hold you all night long
So close to heaven
My dreams have already come true
I'll treasure this moment
'Cause I'm making a memory with you

It was August of 2002, and Rocky had just gotten home from 11 weeks in Boulder Colorado on a Student Venture Summer Project (I went on the same Project the following summer!). We had been dating since February, so we had spent 4 months together followed by 3 months apart. Our group of college friends planned a get-together at my roommate Mandy's home near Frankenmuth, where a 2-night Christian music concert was happening. I honestly can't remember if Relient K was the first night or the second... but the other night featured Selah and Scott Krippayne (quite a variety, huh? yep, this is my taste in music!). Scott introduced this song, which I had never heard before, and Rocky reached over to take my hand. I knew right then that even though we had only been dating a little less than 7 months, if we were to get married, this would be our first dance song.

And, three years later, it was.

----------------------------------------------
Musical Mondays -- Pick a song, post the song, tell why you love the song -- idea yoinked from cheap wine and cookies

One month in...

Ok so one month into our new year's resolutions... how have we done??

1. Daily Devotions - C - This one started out well, but slowly I started doing other things at the beginning of my day instead of being in the Word (aka Facebook...). I'm on a roll this week though, both yesterday and today I started out with some of my "homework" for the Esther Bible study I'm doing with some gals at church.

2. Exercise every day - B - I actually haven't been doing too bad with this one. I found out about the 100 pushups challenge and started working on it a few weeks ago. And I've been trying to do some situps/ab exercises every day. I'd like to do more with this one, but most will have to wait until it warms up outside enough to take Abby out for walks. In the meantime, I'm just trying to stay consistent with doing something - especially since Abby really likes watching me and laughing at me doing pushups and situps. :)

3. Read to Abby every day - A - This is probably the one I've done the best at. There has rarely been a day all month that I did not read to Abby. Sometimes we'll read in the mornings, sometimes in the afternoon before a nap, sometimes it's a bedtime story. She likes to try and close the book on me before I'm done. But at least we're making an effort.

4. Meal plan - B+ - Not too bad. Some weeks have been better than others. Some weeks are much easier to plan than others. I'm working on meal planning over the weekend so I can grocery shop accordingly on Saturday mornings or Monday evenings.

5. Keep track of finances - I - (that's an I for Incomplete...) With trying to organize my schedule into a routine and work on all of my other resolutions, this one got put on the back-burner. And I'm ok with that. Two days ago I put in the time to create a new Excel file to track our income and out-go, so this resolution is really starting in February.


So there we go. Definite room for improvement, but it's only been one month. I realized I did NOT make a resolution to blog every day (and I thought I had!) so that's a relief... since in the past 31 days I've blogged 8 times. Sheesh.