Schedules for kids are a good thing.  You know that when the kids get off the schedule, especially for sleep, things just go crazy.  Yesterday, Amy took our 9 month old Bekah with her to work at the church office.  While Bekah had fun, she didn’t get her regular nap schedule in.  Instead, she and Mom crashed out on the couch when they got home.  And later that evening, Amy put her to bed.  The problem was the an hour and half later, she woke up, thinking her nap was over.  This wasn’t just confusion; she was convinced and wide awake.  So while Amy and I were just crawling into bed and tired, we hung out with Bekah and read some books.  She was full of energy and fun, laughing, playing, and crawling over everything.  So while I was frustrated that I wasn’t asleep, I couldn’t be mad at her.  This doesn’t bode well.

Posted: August 20th, 2009 under Life at the Lansers', Show Notes.
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Have you made a really dumb mistake today?  Maybe you did something out of character, or did something and immediately stopped to ask, “Why did I do that?”  If you did, it’s ok, because my wife and I are convinced that it’s Stupid Day.  The reason for that, is because my wife and I have both made dumb errors today.  For example, this morning at my desk here, I spent almost a half hour correcting a mistake caused by my not reading an instruction sheet thoroughly enough and instead assuming I knew what to do.  Not so much.  Then earlier this afternoon, my wife called me.  She was loading up the baby to run get a few copies done at church and the head out to the pool.  Instead, she locked her and the baby outside of the house, with the car keys still inside.  So I had to run back to let them in.  Well, I guess there’s always hope for tomorrow.

Posted: August 12th, 2009 under Crazy Stuff, Life at the Lansers', Show Notes.
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I think one of thing you really don’t expect when it comes to having children is the sticker shock.  It all starts when you get the bill from the hospital, and it just continues as you go to each doctor visit, dentist visit, grocery stop, and clothes shopping for each season.  But as much as some of the bills can look big, let’s all be glad we don’t have to pay the cost up front.  According to the latest stats, my daughter Rebekah, who was born last year, will, on average, cost me $221,190 since she was born until she’s 18, which means that probably doesn’t include college tuition.  Of course, that doesn’t include probably inflation, which boosts the number to $291,570.  Whatever you do, don’t share this information with your checkbook, or it might clam up and never let you spend anything ever again!

Posted: August 5th, 2009 under Crazy Stuff, Life at the Lansers', Show Notes.
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My sister’s getting married this weekend.  As you can imagine, there’s a lot going on, and I’m not even that involved.  While we’re excited for my sister and her future husband, there’s always that sense of trepidation going into a family wedding.  I was nervous for my wedding, but this is completely different.  It’s mainly different because rather than worrying about how the day will go, I’m just hoping no one has a meltdown.  Thankfully, we have a backup in place.  If anyone (or multiple people) get too cranky, I’ll just pack up all the people who are still attempting to remain sane into my car and head into town to the local coffee shop.   Coffee and ice cream are important ingredients of any recipe for sanity.

Posted: August 4th, 2009 under Life at the Lansers', Show Notes.
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I’d like to add a word to your vocabulary: Daycation.  A Daycation is basically taking a day trip somewhere.  It’s not too expensive, you end up at home at the end of the day, and you get to see something cool in the area near you.  That was what I was doing yesterday: my wife Amy, daughter Bekah, our friend from Great Britain, Leah, and I, all loaded the car and headed to Dubuque to visit the Mississippi River museum.  Plus on the way on a whim, we stopped by the Field of Dreams.  It was a lot of fun and we only left the state so that we could say we were in three states in one day.  It turns out there are a lot of fun things to do in the great state of Iowa for a day with your family.  I shared my Daycation with you, now what do you suggest for the next Daycation in Iowa?  Where’s your favorite spot?

Posted: July 29th, 2009 under Helpful Info, Life at the Lansers', Show Notes.
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