Randomess, Because it's Been Awhile

Last year we inadvertently missed most of the Christmas specials on TV. Not this year. I pulled out a piece of poster board and made a master list including date, channel, and time. We have a date with The Grinch on Monday night at seven.

In other news, Everly rolled over for the first time. And not just a fluke, "How did that happen?" type roll. She actually did it again and again and again. So that's fun.

What else? I haven't blogged for so long, I don't even know where I left off.

Nate and I were able to get away together for a few days at a Youth Leader's Retreat. It was really fun. We had a great speaker and good times with the other youth leaders in our denomination. One of the nights we went to see the movie 2012. Yeah, it was pretty funny but I don't think it was supposed to be. Let me give you a summary: It's the end of the world and you meet a group of people who will miraculously survive all sorts of natural disasters and manage to escape by the skin of their teeth every. single. time.

The retreat was held only a couple hours from where our friends live now. We decided to make a quick trip to visit them and two other families that are dear to us. It went way too fast but we had lots of laughs with good friends.


I love the interaction going on in this picture, there may or may not have been fighting over the baby.

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving. Nate's Mom really outdid herself making dinner for a houseful. It was delish. Also, there were four different kinds of pie and they were all fantastic. Believe me, I know. I ate a piece of each. And so this morning I felt obligated to go for a run. A run the day after a holiday can be labeled a guilt driven run. It was pretty darn cold out there and I wasn't quite dressed for it. By the end I couldn't feel my thighs. But who needs thighs anyway? Oh wait...

Does anyone else have a running list of Christmas song that drive them crazy? I tend to be drawn to the classics lately, all the sappy emotional ones just kind of tick me off. Wow. I really am the Grinch. Geez.

If Only They Were ALL This Comfortable

A girl has to start her shoe collection right from the get go.

I Love Her More Than Cream Cheese Frosting

You know you really love someone when you want to buy ALL the sappy Hallmark cards for them. It was hard to narrow it down to just one when I bought my Mom her birthday card this year. There are so many things I wanted to tell her about how much I love her and what she means to me, it's impossible for one little card to sum it all up. So in addition to her card and gift, I made her a heavenly carrot cake and I slathered it (and I mean slathered) in cream cheese frosting.
Dessert is our family's love language. I talked to her this morning and she was eating the leftovers for breakfast. See where I get it? It's in my blood. Love you Mom.

Welcome to My Couch

So you want to sit on the couch? Beware of chewed up hot dogs and remnants of Oreo cookies, creme filling long gone. It's like a buffet in the living room. And also a calculator. Seriously?

One Of These Things Is Not Like The Others

Can you tell which caramel apple was made by a 2 year old?

The Census, Revisited

I knew it was only a matter of time. The Census Bureau called. I knew they were going to. Our statistics were just too big for the 30 page booklet and they needed to verify. (if you have no idea what I'm talking about, you might want to catch up here before reading on)

The call showed up on the caller I.d. and I didn't recognize the number. So I did like I do with all unidentifiable numbers, I ignored it and waited to see if what they needed was important enough to leave a message. You know, like a recorded message from a congressman about a "Town Hall meeting" or a credit company letting me know that I can CONSOLIDATE MY LOANS TODAY! The minute I heard the voice on the other end, I knew I was doomed. It was the government. They wanted me to call them back.

I waited until nap time when all three of the littles were sound asleep. I figured the government didn't want to hear Gemma asking repeatedly for a snack, since she reacts to me being on the phone like Pavlov's Dog at the dinging of a bell. All things off limits suddenly become fair game when mom has the phone to her ear. It's a good thing I waited because I needed all the focus I could get to understand the woman on the other end of the line. She had a very strong Asian accent and I had a hard time understanding much of what she said. Hopefully my answers made sense. My children's names were like vocal obstacles for the poor lady and I'm not sure who exactly I was answering the questions about. If only she would have stuck to their code of numeric people. Person 1-10.

I did my civil duty and I reported all of our stats to the government, hopefully correctly. I am thoroughly convinced of this though and I would make it into a bumper sticker if I could. "Big families. Stumping the government, one file at a time."

I sure hope that's the last time I hear from them.

Halloween 09 Report

Trick or Treat this year was a "raid the dress up box" theme. We re-costumed. Road kill made another appearance, so did Tyler's old Karate uniform. (Not sure what you even call them, I'm sure there's something official) Jack threw on an eye patch and a bandanna and called himself a pirate, and Gemma went as a mommy complete with a purse to put her candy in. Not a bad idea... note to self: a traveling secret stash could be convenient. Toby went as The Two Year Old Boy Who Refused To Wear A Costume. Whatever. The big two stayed back and passed out candy. Nate grilled steaks while we were out and tortured all the parents with grill aroma as they came near our house. Everly slept in the wrap, oblivious. It was so much fun to trick or treat with Andrea. She was visiting from out East. We ate more candy than we should have. The bonus is that the only thing left the Monday morning after Halloween is a handful of Tootsie Rolls. We are all about The Binge.

I give you costume photos: