Trying To Be Positive.

I'm a pessimist.

There. I said it. I got it out there in the open. Now I typically like to wrap it up in a different package and call myself a "realist", but I'm pretty sure that's not a fair representation on the facts. Yesterday, our pastor gave a powerful sermon about how important attitude is in our spiritual lives. Ouch. Thank you to my husband for choosing seats in the front row so that everyone could clearly see me squirming in my seat during the conviction I was obviously wrestling with.

I'm sitting here this morning, feeling like my head is in a cold metal bucket, sinuses stuffed full as to make mouth breathing a necessity, watery eyes, scratchy voice, the whole shebang. The cold took a turn for the worse last night and this morning I am doing my best to keep my dirty Kleenex pile from engulfing the whole house. Trash can? Oh yeah, good idea. The arctic temperatures are not helping the situation and I'm trying not to let my glass half empty tendencies take over my day. So here is my meager attempt at optimism. Baby steps.

My first instinct when I woke up was to grumble to myself that if it was a little bit warmer, the kids could go outside to play. But we as moms all know that ends up being a whole lot more work than we bargain for. The endless trips in and out of the house. The wet puddles inside the front door. The pile of wet snow clothes in the middle of the living room. No. Maybe warmer weather isn't what I really need right now. And then I remembered a day in early December.........

On that morning I was busy moaning to myself that "Why can't we have snow." and "It's not going to feel like Christmas without snow" and " Is the temperature really in the forties in December? Where is our winter?" Again with the pessimism. So I got my attitude together and gave it a talking to and decided to send the little boys outside to play. After all, it was warm enough, they would be fine. They had a great time and I kept checking my posts, peeking out the windows in the front and back of the house to make sure everything was ok and that they weren't getting into any trouble and that trouble wasn't getting into them. And then I didn't see them for awhile. And then my mother's instinct kicked in. And then I knew that this was one of those pivotal moments. I needed to check on them RIGHT NOW. So I did. And once I found them, I wished that I wouldn't have.





It seems that the ground wasn't completely frozen yet. And that means that the garden wasn't frozen. And there was mud. Yes, Jack was putting the mud in his mouth. A healthy snack perhaps?

So see? I'm thankful that it's cold outside. I'm looking on the bright side. The ground is frozen solid and the garden is covered in snow. It's face shatteringly cold out there and the little buggers have to stay in where it's warm, and not muddy. I'm optimistic.

I told you. Baby steps.

Linky Love

If you aren't reading Julie over at mental tesserae, you are seriously missing out. One of her latest posts, The Best Medicine, is one of my all time Julie favorites, along with Who Needs absinthe?, and Husbands. But all of her posts are my favorite. Also? She is nominated for a couple awards over at the Share the Love blog awards. Go read her, she's fun.

A Cry for Help-*Updated*

*Updated below.

As I sat at the kitchen table this morning with my cup of coffee and my spread of cookbooks and my lists, lists, lists, I had shoppers block. It's kind of like writer's block except it's when you are trying to plan meals for your family for the next two weeks and trying to put together some sort of a grocery list that doesn't break the bank, and you just can't think of anything new. It happens to me every time. I end up just cycling through the same old dinners over and over. My family loves me. Now this morning, it wasn't necessarily the meals I was having a hard time with, but the snacks.

My kids are professional snackers. Jack especially. He doesn't even bother waiting until I have the table cleared from the meal we just finished, he's already on to "what's for a snack?" I have realized the past few weeks that the kid is surviving solely on carbs and sugar. It's really pretty pathetic. I don't want to cut him completely off from snacks, I believe in them. I too can snack like no body's business. It's just that I would like to have some more healthy choices around here. And that's where you all come in. Help me! I know you are full of ideas. Here is a list of some of the things we are doing now, both the healthy and the unhealthy. If you can think of some other options for me, I would love you forever. You just might save Jack from a life of diabetes.

Present Laundry Pile snacking options:

1. A small bowl or ziplock bag full of dry sugary cereal. This is the #1 hit around here, they love it. Their blood sugar levels do not.
2. Cut up carrots, broccoli and celery with dip. Caedmon would eat this all day long if I would let him. Jack, not so much.
3. Yogurt. I buy the big quart size, not the single servings, and still it doesn't last long.
4. Fruit. We love bananas, apples, oranges and grapes. It's just that they only last a few days or so and then we are as doomed as Vasco da Gama's crew to suffer the scurvy.
5. Crackers with cheese and meat.
6. Secret stashes of dessert. Oh wait, that's only me. The kids know nothing about that.

Ok people. Don't let me down. Don't let Jack down. He doesn't need to take insulin shots at age three....yet. Give me you best, kid friendly snacks.

*Updated to add: I knew you guys wouldn't let me down. Thanks so much for all the great ideas. I think I am going to make a master list that I can refer to on grocery list day. Awesome.

Remember

Did you ever notice how quickly memories fade? Or maybe they don't for everyone, maybe it's just me. I'm not a big rememberer. Nate remembers so many stories and details and adventures about growing up. He and his sister and his parents can sit for hours and reminisce about this and that and remember the time..... It's not that I had a traumatic childhood that I am repressing or anything. Completely the opposite. I grew up in am amazing family, we had so many fun times. But I'm kind of sad that my brain won't remember the little details of daily life.

I know we had lemon lime wallpaper in the kitchen of our first house because it was there behind me in a yellowed photograph of preschooler me stirring a pot on the stove. I kind of remember the floor plan of that house, but you would think I would remember more since I was in third grade or so when we moved. For me it takes a photograph to stir up the memories. Last night, Camryn was begging to finish a school project. She is the star student next week so we needed to do the classic " all about her". She needed photos and I kept putting it off because 1. She kept asking at the most inopportune times and 2. I hate taking pictures out of the albums, they never seem to get back in there. Finally I gave in and we sat on the bed together and flipped through pages of years gone by. I got all sentimental because I had forgotten so many things. I had forgotten how delightful Caedmon was when he was 2 years old, how me made us laugh and laugh when he wiggled he rear end and declared "my butt's singing." I had forgotten how long Tyler's hair was when he was in 2nd grade and how his teacher lovingly teased him about it. I had forgotten about the time that Noelle took a shower with her kitten, Striped. That wet, scrawny cat looked so pathetic cowering in the corner of the shower, as far away from the water as possible. I had forgotten about Jack's raggety green snow suit that I had tried to sew all by myself, and about the chipmunk that the kids fed out of an upside down Frisbee on a camping trip. I had forgotten about the time we painted pumpkins. Oh my goodness, it was pure joy to look through those albums and to stir up memories that had been tucked away somewhere in the back of my mind.

So all of that to say, I want to remember the little things, the details of my kids' daily lives. I want to remember more than what is in the photo albums, I want to remember the mannerisms and funny words that they outgrow way too quickly, the things that I don't take pictures of. And because I want to remember them by writing them down here, you all have to read about them too. Sorry, but it's my blog.

This week I want to remember Gemma's newly learned shoulder shrug. Her little shoulders, bouncing up and down as she silently answers "I don't know" with a little grin. I want to remember the pathertic little pony tail she wears in an attempt by her mother to make her hair look a little more girlie and a little less like a toddler mullet. I want to remember how she answers "No" to every question, even when she means yes. You can only tell the difference by the inflection in her voice. I want to remember that when I take her out of her crib in the morning she rubs my cheek with one hand while she sucks her thumb.

I want to remember how Noelle and Camryn sleep together in the top bunk almost every night. Even though I hate it, I want to remember how they toss their backpacks on the bench by the front door and throw their coats on top, disregarding the row of hooks right in front of them.

I want to remember Tyler's never ending showers. How he uses up all the hot water single handedly, because I'm hoping he outgrows that one and that soon it will be nothing more than a memory. I want to remember his laugh while it's still the laugh of a boy, not the crack of an awkward voice change that's just around the corner. I want to remember how he waits just inside the front door for the bus every morning, peeking through the glass to see it come down the street. How he runs across the street to the bus stop in the freezing snow with no hat or mittens and an unzipped coat.

I want to remember the inquiring mind of a five year old, who has so many questions about everything. I want to remember the sparkle in Caedmon's eye when he grins his baby toothed grin. He and Jack carry their little stuffed Curious George's all around the house and imagine all sorts of curious scenarios, some involving dinosaurs, some involving stormtroopers. I want to remember how we had to keep everything even remotely sweet on the very top shelf of the pantry as to prevent Jack from cleaning us out of desserts and eating sugar right out of the bowl. I want to remember how he flew under the radar most nights during supper, eating only the least possible amount of his food and then held out until breakfast and ate two or three bowls of his favorite cereal.

I want to forget the drips on the toilet seat and the globs of toothpaste in the sink.

Wordless Wednesday- Ready?

More Wordless Wednesdays here.

Randomness on Monday Afternoon

Whew!

Just peeking in from the sick house to throw some sort of an update out there. Last week Nate was struck with The Plague which resulted in him remaining unconscious for almost two days straight. (Sleeping, not a coma or anything) As his stomach bug passed, my sinuses began their biennial pregnancy induced revolt. It's so fun how this always happens when I'm NOT allowed to take Nyquil. I love the stuff and would drink it straight from the bottle and sleep through the whole ordeal if I could, but alas, unborn child and everything. So I toughed it out armed with only Kleenex and breathe-right nose strips and large spoonfuls of butter cream frosting straight from the can. Don't the old wives always say "starve a fever, feed sugar to a cold?" I thought so. I'm going with it.

Because she was feeling left out, Gemma, who was on antibiotics for an ear thing, decided to have an allergic reaction to the pink stuff. It runs in the family starting with big sister Noelle. The last two kids to react have waited until day seven or eight of their prescription. When it happened to Caedmon, we were just sure it was the chicken pox despite his vaccinations. This time we were a little older and a little wiser and I recognized what was happening right away. She looked terrible, her whole little body was covered in red spots. It has slowly faded, but she still looks like she has the hydra-phobie, which is what we call every illness in honor of poor Old Yeller.

I'm a little less sniffley today, which is a good thing since the frosting is long gone. I have spent the morning laundering. I just wrapped up the fifth load of regular clothes and I'm ready to move on to the bedding. Good times. I also did a great job of covering up how techno-impaired I am. This morning the internet was down. I did all the right nerdy things that a good techno nerd is supposed to do, unplugging the modem, unplugging the router, rebooting the computer. Nate has taught me well. I finally resorted to calling our cable provider and waited on hold for fifteen minutes. She then instructed me to do all the things I had already tried, unplugging everything blah, blah, blah. But this time I noticed that when she had me unplug just the modem, the lights were still on and flashing. All the previous times I had been unplugging something else that wasn't the modem, who knows what, just not the modem. Hey, it's a whole tangled mess of cords back there, how was I supposed to know! Lo and behold, once I found the correct cord, it worked and I was up and running in two short minutes. "Oh wow! Thanks!" I exclaimed into the phone. I never told her that I had been doing it wrong the whole entire time. Promise me you won't tell Nate. How embarrassing. I guess I'm just a techno poser.

Back to the laundry and also to finding a substitute for the frosting. There has to be something else equally healthy around here, and I am determined to find it.

The Countdown

Topping the charts this week on Laundry Pile radio are these hits:

#10. "Left Handed Girl in a Right Handed World" by Ambidextrous by Necessity

#9. "Boot Scootin' to the Ruggy" by Mom and the Wet Socks

#8. "Carbolicious" by Pan o' Brownies

#7. "Hips Don't Lie" by Trimester Two

#6. "How to Scrub the Toilet" by The Spray

#5. "It's Not Over" by Jammie Clad Toddlers

#4. "Blow That" by Puffs Featuring Lotion

#3. ""It Ends Tonight" by Just Two More Bites

#2. "Before He Cheats" by Study that Spelling

#1. "Wind it Up" by No More Caffeine at Bedtime

Wordless Wednesday-Dreaming of the Beach

Check Her Out

She's going to be famous and make tons of money soon. My friend Hannah took some photos of my kids recently and I love them. (The photos, not the kids. Wait, of course the kids. I love them both, the kids and the photos. There. ) I was so excited because I am getting really sick of dragging my kids to "portrait studios" who capture that cheesy posed look. Hannah captured my kids in thier own space. You can check out her photography site here. She's awesome.

Search Party of One

For a couple of years, we lived in North Dakota. It was a couple of years too long. Although I met dear friends there, and it was where we spent the first few precious years of our marriage, I do not understand why anyone would choose to live there. The sub-zero temperatures. Plugging your car in at night. The wind. Why? WHY?! I do have many fond memories of living in married student housing and then later, the ghetto. One of my not so fond memories was the year of all the blizzards.

Now there are plenty of blizzards in North Dakota every year, but this year was special. There were gobs and gobs and gobs of blizzards. During one particular blizzard, a college aged boy left a frat party and tried to walk home. He never made it. The newspapers and all of the tv channels covered the story non-stop and they put out search parties to find him. I'll never forget hearing them describe how the searchers walked all over campus with long steel poles, poking them into the snow drifts, trying to find the body. They ended up finding him the next spring, in a van that was in long-term parking for the winter.

Ok, that was really morbid and kind of a downer.

I was reminded of that story on Sunday morning before church. As I dressed and combed and fed and ironed everyone inside the warm house (I didn't actually iron anyone, I iron their clothes. You know what I meant.), I kept peeking out the window at Nate. It had snowed the night before and he had just finished using the snowblower on the driveway and was going to shovel off the sidewalk and steps and deck. He was going to. If he could find the shovels. The kids had played with them a few times the days before and had *cough* "forgotten" to put them away. No one remembered where in the yard they had last seen them. And so here was Nate, shuffling across the yard in a perfect grid pattern, in search of the missing shovels. The perfect blanket of snow, now permanently marred by his boots, hid his precious tools below. He searched and searched for over an hour, but in vain. He never found them. It was a Laundry Family mystery.

When we returned, there beside our garage was one of our beautiful orange shovels. We all shrieked with joy. It seems it had found it's way into our neighbor's driveway and when she cleared her snow, lo and behold, an extra shovel! Nate was so ecstatic, he did a belly flop, church clothes and all, into the nearest snowbank. He's a crazy man.

Now the kids are officially banned from playing with the shovels. Unless they are actually using them to shovel the driveway, which they just might find themselves doing for the rest of the winter as punishment. Because we are mean like that.

Wordless Wednesday-Gemma Takes the Wheel

More Wordless Wednesday's here.

Disposable Salvation

You know, I have come to realize how much I enjoy going to the doctor's office alone. It doesn't matter if the visit involves painful procedures, invasions of privacy, or *gasp* the scale. What matters is that I go there by myself. It is a retreat, a getaway. It is easy. It is worth getting a sitter for.

Today Gemma needed shots.We were overdue for her 15 month old immunization, not to mention the 18 month ones. She is now 19 months old. So I took the three littles and off we went. It's probably a good thing the visit wasn't for me because nothing raises my blood pressure quite like bringing my children to the doctor's office. No matter how I prepare them with discussions on obedience and manners, nothing can distract them from the wonder and awe of this medical establishment. From the moment the doors slide open and we walk through, it is a matter of survival for me. I must come out of that building sane.

So today I started out with distraction via books and cute posters on the wall. We talked about the cartoon fish with swords and hammers for noses. As we waited we read about puppets going to the doctor and that we didn't need to be afraid of the "s" word. Shot. But it wasn't enough. "What does this do? Where is the bathroom? How come when I stand here, the doors slide open? What is the rubber thing on the wall behind the door? What happens when I touch it? What's inside this door?" And on and on and on.

Finally the nurse came and called us back. I was relieved, containment was in sight. But alas, no. "What is this? What is that? What is in this drawer? Lets all climb on the exam table. What are these stirrup things for mom? Can I look in your ear with the little flash light? What are these gloves for? Why is this trash can red and why does it have needles inside?" I resorted to bribery with candy. We sat in silence as I ever so slowly handed out Sweetheart candies to each of them, one at a time. The only words were mine, reading the message on each heart before rationing it to it's doom. Be mine, first kiss, cool. These were the words of my temporary salvation. The doctor came and the partners in crime were distracted by all the poking and prodding happening to their sister. The doctor (who is the father of four children himself) could quickly tell that we needed reinforcements and he pulled out the disposable gloves. For the next few minutes he and I sat there, blowing them up into chicken shaped balloons for my three little monkeys. The thumb made a pretty good beak and all four fingers stuck straight up like a comb on the head of a rooster. We used pens and drew eyes to complete the fowls' faces. The poultry had brought peace. The end was in sight.

After the visit was over and I was gathering our things and putting on coats, I noticed the standard "well child care for this age" sheet sitting out for me. Despite the fact that she was now 19 months old, they had laid out the 15 month old sheet for me to take home. I did what I do with all of those papers, I stuck it in my purse to be thrown away as soon as I walked in my door. It seems wrong to throw it away there in the office, but blah blah blah, I've read it all before. As I grabbed it from the countertop, one particular line jumped off the page at me. In bold letters: Avoid Choking and Suffocation and the first bullet point underneath was "keep all plastic bags, balloons, and small hard objects out of reach." And then I laughed out loud at the irony.

It was the chicken balloons that had saved me.

I Am From

Thank you everyone for all of your sweet birthday wishes. You know, I have been feeling a little reflective as I turn 30 this year. I did this "I Am From" writing exercise awhile back. Nothing is as precious as fond memories, so I wrote another as a birthday present to myself. The true gift was the smile that came to my face as I relived my childhood in my mind.

I Am From.

I am from worn hardwood floors, from Astro vans, and homemade granola stored in Tupperware containers.
I am from knee deep alfalfa wet with dew and the obsolete outhouse, covered in wild roses.
I am from a coveted asparagus patch growing in our ditch, from straight lines of sweet corn and the dust that billowed behind me as I ran barefoot down the rows. From a barrel full of oats and the delicious smell of my horse after he had been brushed down. From baby kittens born among the hay bales.
I am from cutting a Christmas tree from the woods and a deep love for dessert, from Keith and Chris.
I am from artists and homesteaders. From "What does the music tell you?" and "It's time for sleepy time".
I am from Methodist and Lutheran church pews. From baptisms in the river and Dad silently reading his bible over a bowl of cereal.
I am from a bitter cold January morning the day I entered the world, from the frequently requested candy covered train cake, from cookbooks with recipes marked with a star to be made again.
I am from the mischievous pony who hijacked it's small riders and took them to the lowest tree branch to be clotheslined. From the family baseball games behind the shed, bases one through three being nothing more than the trunks of apple and plum trees. From terrifying sledrides down the icy driveway and from miniature dachshunds.
I am from black and white photos of my stunning Grandmothers with their tiny waists. From senior portraits hung proudly on the dining room wall and yellowed pictures of toothless kindergarteners lining the staircase.

If you would like to write an I Am From of your own, you can find the form here.

Hijacked!

Disclaimer: The following post is brought to you by Heth's husband. Heth's husband...because when you really need a dorky husband, Heth's husband is here.

So, why did I hijack my wife's blog you ask? Because today, January 15th, is her

BIRTHDAY!!!

That's right, on this day in 1977, my wife was born. Today she leaves the 20's in the dust and bravely trods onward into her 30's!

Chime in and wish her a happy birthday...and wish me luck because I know I am in huge trouble for this.

The Book One.... A Meme

This one has been floating around for awhile and I don't think I've ever done it. Chris tagged me, and I'm always game for a meme. Good times.

1) Grab the book closest to you
2) Open to page 123, go down to the fourth sentence
3) Post the text of the following 3 sentences on your blog
4) Name the author and book title
5) Tag three people to do the same

Ok, the closest book to me is "Men's Ministry in the 21st Century". It kind of reminds me of Duck Dodgers in the 24theth Century. Ok, get serious Heth. Here is what the book says.

"Someone has said the best things to invest your life in are the things that will outlast it. People certainly fit that category. So how will you spend your time?"

I guess that doesn't just apply to men now does it? Wisdom for both genders. Chew on it for a little while.

I'm tagging three people who need to get back to the old blog thing. Come on, this is as easy as it gets:
Andrea, Natalie, and Haleigh.

Household Tip #52

If you have boys, and if one or more of them is potty training, you might just want to go ahead and by a yellow bathroom rug. Because the "standing up thing"? That takes a while to learn. Just so you know.

Wordless Wednesday- "Someone's Feeling Angry...."

Just Humor Me Ok?

It's national delurking week. I know this is going to stretch some of you waaaaay beyond your comfort zones, but please? It can be your little gift to me and you don't even have to wrap it. I would love to know who is reading and how you found me. If you don't have a blogger account, just choose "other" and tell me who you are. I swear, it's not going to hurt. Just poke your head in a give a little wave.

*edited to add: This goes for all you regular commenters too. Don't think you are off the hook for this one. It's like a mini roll call and I want to hear from everyone.

Schooled by Toddlers

You know life is good when the worst news of the day is that you got your butt kicked by a three year old and a five year old in a cut-throat game of Cootie. I just couldn't roll a three for the life of me. I think the die was loaded.

Ninja

So far today Jack has been caught smuggling from the kitchen:

• A chocolate truffle with a bite out of it, in his fist
• A bottle of sprinkles, wrapped tightly in his shirt
• A box of pistachio pudding, tucked away in a lunch box

There was also the incident in the church parking lot this morning. Picture me, holding a toddler and three bags containing various crafts, in a dead sprint chasing Mr. Defiant around the building. It seems that "everyone to the van" really means, "run as fast as possible the opposite direction while laughing".

Three is the new Two. As in Terrible.

Further Explanation

I just never feel right about actually typing words on Wordless Wednesday, wouldn't that be breaking the rules? But I suppose the photos in the previous post need a little commentary.

We were actually trying to put a huge pop up tent back in the teeny little bag that it came in. The directions make it look easy, fold here and here and then just twist your wrists and voila!, it's in the bag, but actually executing those same moves results in nothing but frustration. You can see that I strategically manned the directions sheet and I put Nate in the "hands on" role, because bossing someone around is a whole lot more fun. You can also see that I did actually end up getting involved for a bit, but that didn't go well. My mom could feel the love, so she captured those precious moments for us to remember forever.

The tent eventually made it back into the bag and then into the box that it came in. We hesitate to bring it up from the basement where we are hiding it from the kids. Once we pop that baby open, we need to be ready for it to be a permanent fixture in our house. And let me just emphasize that it is a very, very large tent. I can stand up in it. I think maybe all of our kids could sleep in it. I'm pretty sure it will take up all available floor space in which ever bedroom we put it up in. But gosh, it's going to be a lot of fun. If it looks that big to me at 5' 7", I wonder how it looks to our littlest anklebiters. Probably like a mansion.

Wordless Wednesday-Some Assembly Required

Ten

A decade. How can it seem so short and so long all at the same time?

Noelle turned ten years old this morning, the only one of our kids that wasn't born at night. All legs and arms with a big toothy grin, she has changed so much this year. She's looking older and less like a little girl. When I measured her today, I wasn't surprised at all that she had grown a full two inches since she last stood against the growth chart. Her jeans have been telling me that all year. They scream "high water". It's tricky to find a size twelve in length but a size six around the belly button. Thank heaven for adjustable waist.

A couple of days ago, out of the blue, Noelle told me that she had decided what her birthday wish would be. No amount of pleading could get it out of her. "If I tell, it won't come true." Last night as we sat around the table playing Battleship, Camryn announced that it was snowing. We had suffered through a brown Christmas, never getting the white we had hoped for. But now here it was, the magical kind with big flakes that float slowly to the ground as silent as can be. It had snuck up on us, unexpected. Noelle grinned. "I guess I get to think of a new wish for when I blow out my candles tomorrow, my first one already came true."

And she does have an in with the Big Guy Upstairs. The prayers of our little ten year old are powerful. Since she was very small, we have marveled at her spiritual maturity that goes far beyond her actual years. She soaks up scripture and grasps deep concepts more than we expect that she should. Her heart is in tune with His.

Happy Birthday Noelle.

End of the Year Meme, Round Two

Last year I did this meme to wrap up the year. I thought it would be fun to pull it out again and see how 2006 was differed from 2005. Watch out, it's gonna be long a boring. Surf on if you can't hang.

1. What did you do in 2006 that you had never done before? I ran a half marathon. Woo Hoo! I was really really proud of myself and I plan do do more in the future.

2.Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don't believe in them, so no.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? My sister-in-law Andrea had a baby girl, who I just want to gobble up.

4. Did anyone close to you die? Nate's Grandma Margaret

5. What countries did you visit? Stayed the good old USA. Again.

6. What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006? More self discipline.

7. What dates will remain etched in your memory and why? I really have a hard time remembering dates. Nothing really sticks out in my mind.

8. What's your biggest achievement of the year? Again, the running. I feel pretty proud that I set some goals for myself and then accomplished them. Measuring success in motherhood is such an intangible thing. Unless I want to count success in potty training. So running 13 miles was something I could "measure" and it sure felt good!

9. What was your biggest failure? I can't think of one big failure. Of course I have many moments where I was disappointed in my self or in the way I reacted to situations, but no big moment of failure. At least I don't think so......let's not ask my family.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Gosh, this is turning into a running meme. Yes, I injured my IT band and was unable to run the second half marathon I had planned this fall. I ended up doing the 5k instead and it's probably a good thing, because I was 2 weeks pregnant and didn't know it yet.

11.What was the best thing you bought? I didn't buy it, but Nate got a new PDA, so I got his old one. I didn't think I would be into the whole "electronic planner" thing, but I am really liking it.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? I am doing the happy dance because Jack has recently potty trained himself. I think that deserves celebration, don't you?!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and disgusted? Pretty much all of the main stream media. It's just getting ridiculous.

14. Where did most of your money go? Groceries.

15. What did you get really really excited about? Finding out I am pregnant again. Yippee for #7!

16. What song will always remind you of 2006? "White and Nerdy".

17. Compared to this time last year are you? a)happier or sadder? Happier b)fatter or thinner? Fatter, I am PREGNANT! c)richer or poorer? Richer

18. What do you wish you had done more of? More smiling and laughing and hugging. (same as last year)

19. What do you wish you had done less of? Less scowling and worrying, and criticizing. (again, same as last year)

20. How will you be spending New Year's Eve? Not sure yet, but probably playing games and eating with my husband and kids.

21. Did you fall in love in 2006? Yes, with Nate. Again.

22. What was your favorite TV program? Lost

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? I don't think so

24. What was the best book you read? The three books "A Thorn in My Heart", "Fair is the Rose", and "Whence Came a Prince" by Liz Curtis Higgs

25. What was your greatest musical discovery? Pandora.

26. What did you want and get? I wanted to meet Gretchen from Lifenut, and I did! I feel so blessed to know her and her family. Here's to online friends becoming real life friends. *cheers* I also got to meet Joanne and Vashti which I wasn't expecting. It was wonderful. Vashti was so bubbly, it's too bad she isn't around much anymore. Joanne was delightful. Conversation was easy and I felt like I had known her forever. You can read about it all here.

27. What did you not want and not get? Gosh, I don't know. A new, bigger house? But we are just fine, and we will be just fine until the right house appears. Our motto: just stack 'em up.

28. What was your favorite film this year? Ice Age 2. I know, I have very mature taste. Madagascar is still at the top of my list too.

29. What did you do on your birthday and how old were you? We ate pancakes. I was 29.

30. What one thing would have made your year measurably more satisfying? Self discipline.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion in 2006? Funky clearance rack finds.

32. What kept you sane? Nate. And he also drove me crazy. But in a good way.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Blah, blah, famous people, blah, blah. I just don't care about Hollywood.

34. What political issue stirred you the most? None. I suppose I should care more. This year I did, but just a little bit.

35. Who did you miss? Andrea, Eric, and their kids.

36. Who was the best new person you met? The new and improved potty trained version of Jack.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006. God continues to teach me to let go and to let Him be in control in every area of my life. Some areas are easier for me than others.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year. "Oops we did it again". *grin*

So that sums it up. 2006 was a wonderful year. We are healthy, happy, and completely blessed.

I don't usually like to do an "open" tag. I like to tag specific people to play along, but this time I will let you tag yourself. Go ahead and try it. It's very thought provoking and HARD. Happy end of 2006.

Christmas Recap

Whew! What a whirlwind that was. We had six Christmases in a span of three days. Two Christmases a day. Craziness I tell you, but wonderful and worth it.

I went into this Christmas thing feeling very unprepared this year. It seemed like I just never got one step ahead. Gifts were bought at the last minute and wrapped at the last minute. Food pantry donations went to the schools the day after the deadlines. Teacher gifts were bought the day before. We were wrapping just hours before piling in the car for the next gift exchange. It was exhausting. But there were oh so many highlights for me this year.

Watching the kids open their gifts from us was just priceless. They were delighted with what we had bought them and they all took turns playing with each other's gifts, even the little kitchen set that Gemma received. I'm sure the big ones wouldn't admit it now, but I witnessed each of them, taking their turn making imaginary pancakes.

We had a magical time with Nate's family. It was bittersweet. We have so many wonderful memories of Christmas with his Grandma Margaret. It seems like Christmas every year was her shining moment. She went all out and the traditions were set in stone and loved by all. I feel so blessed to have been able to join in those traditions for the few short years that I did. I too got to experience Christmas in Grandma Margaret's basement and all that it entailed.

And then there was new baby Emily, two weeks old. My newest little niece was an angel. I completely hogged her and held her every minute that I could. Andrea, Eric, and their kids are enroute to Ohio today. So Christmas was our last goodbye. I couldn't help but weep to see them go. The grief of having them live so very far away snuck up behind me. But oh what a special time we had together before they left.

So as I write this, I see that Christmas this year was just one big cry-fest. And also, there should be rules about church service on Christmas Eve. No tear jerking services when there are pregnant women present in the congregation. We dressed all the kids up in their cutest clothes and I even wore massive amounts of jewelry. Come on, it's Christmas, when else can a girl get away with that many bangles? But the one thing I neglected was waterproof mascara. When they showed the scene of Christ's birth from the new movie the Nativity, it was all over. Wow. That was amazing. And as I sat there surrounded by my beautiful children and my steady husband and every single one of my siblings and my amazing parents, I was completely overwhelmed with love. I felt so unbelievably unworthy. What a sacred blessing my family is. And then my makeup was completely gone as I sat there and sobbed. And Mom announced that we were taking Christmas pictures after service. GAH!

There were so many more moments, but I think the one that stands out most was the holy time we spent on Christmas morning at my parents' house. Every year it is tradition to sleep over. All sixteen of us. Then we all drag down to the living room at the urging of my brothers, the self declared "Christmas Council". I think Nate is an official member too. We all sit around the living room in the low light with Christmas music playing lightly. One of the grandkids reads an excerpt of the Christmas story from the Bible and then my Dad passes around his Christmas letter. Every year he writes a beautiful letter to his family and we read it on Christmas morning. But this year we added something new. This year we took communion as a family. I can't even begin to explain to you how special that moment was. I hope it is a tradition we continue every year.

Now all the gifts are put away. The train set and the swords come out multiple times a day from their respective Rubbermaid tubs. Noelle has been crafting away for the past few days and we have the homemade pot holders to prove it. I spent the whole morning playing Digi-makeover. By myself. Caedmon wasn't very happy about the afro I gave him. Nate has the week off from Christmas to New Year's so this whole week feels very festive, despite the fact that the tree is long gone. It had become very crunchy, kind of like shredded wheat, and was a potential fire hazard, so I sent it packing December 26th. Now if we could just get some snow around here. Nate and Tyler took off to go snowboarding on man made snow. Iowa in December is so very unpredictable. But even without the white stuff, what a wonderful Christmas this was.

Even though I didn't feel prepared, Christmas came anyway. And even though the world wasn't ready, You came anyway. I'm so very grateful that you did. Thank you Jesus.

Wordless Wednesday-Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from the whole Laundry Pile family.

A Christmas Conversation

This morning Jack (3) was up to no good and dumped a baggie full of chips on to the living room carpet. He then proceeded to stomp all over them. I thought I would try a more festive approach to discipline. Despite the fact that we don't play the Santa Clause game, I told him that Santa has a nice and a naughty list and that he better watch out because "Santa Claus is coming to town".

Jack's response "To hurt me?"

Yes Jack, Santa sometimes resorts to spanking in lieu of the lump of coal. But just for the reeeally naughty kids.

Wordless Wednesday-Bathtime

More Wordless Wednesdays here.

Time for another Meme.

Chilihead did the Christmas meme and I tagged myself. I don't usually do that, but whatever. It doesn't even matter. Since I'm in denial that Christmas is eleven days away, maybe writing about it will bring me a little closer to reality. And some snow would help too.

1. Egg nog or hot chocolate? Hot Chocolate. Here's my famous recipe: 3/4 mug hot cocoa and 1/4 mug mini marshmallows. Enjoy.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa? Who is that? Nate and I wrap them. I mean I wrap them, and usually the night before. See how I carry that procrastination thing into every aspect of my life?

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? White on the house, colored on the tree.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? Yep. Sure do. Hello?! Six kids and one on the way!

5. When do you put your decorations up? After December first. It's the rule.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? What do you mean "excluding dessert"? Ok, I'll play along. Ham.

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child: The year that the big, odd shaped present under Grandpa and Grandma's tree was for ME! And it was a gerbil cage with a real live gerbil inside. It was like a dream come true.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? I've always known. We didn't ever do Santa when I was growing up.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? We do, usually at Nate's parents' house. With the Christmas schedule we keep, we pretty much open presents twice a day for about four days in a row at various relatives' houses. It varies a little bit from year to year.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? I put the lights on and then the kids have a free for all with the rest. Colored lights and a smorgasbord of all sorts of ornaments. The top half of the tree looks great. The bottom half......well, it looks like a Gemma attacked it. And she did.

11. Snow! Love it or dread it? Love it.

12. Can you ice skate? Sure can. Even backwards. Woo Hoo!

13. Do you remember your favorite gift? Yeah, the gerbil. It's long dead.

14. What's the most important thing about the holidays for you? Cheesy answer, but being with family. I just eat it up.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert? How about my top three? Pecan Pie. Homemade fudge sauce. And Pecan Pie.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? The nativity scenes that my kids paint/draw every year. So precious.

17. What tops your tree? A St. Nicholas that probably came from the Dollar Store. Who knows, Ithink we won it at the company "Holiday/Winter/AnythingbutChristmas" Party.

18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving? Giving. I can't WAIT!

19. What is your favorite Christmas song? Carol of the Bells. I don't know, maybe not. I like most all of it.

20. Candy canes: I'm indifferent, but I hate how my kids REFUSE to eat a broken one. WHAT IS UP?!

21. Favorite Christmas movie? Right now? Elf. I love smiling! Smiling's my favorite!

22. What do you leave for Santa? Nothing. But if he feels like dropping by the night before Christmas to help me wrap gifts, I'm sure I could come up with a candy cane or something.

I tag Nate, Chris, and Sara.

Wordless Wednesday-Fingerpainting

More Wordless Wednesdays here.

The "Other" Twelve Days of Christmas

While singing the famous Christmas carol, my five year old Caedmon took the Twelve days of Christmas to a whole new level. He was convinced that the words are "two turtle dumps" and a partridge in a pear tree. Reluctantly, I corrected him. And then I laughed really, really hard.

New Glasses Anyone?

Hindsight is twenty-twenty, I'm sure glad that foresight isn't.

When I was sixteen years old, I had a lot of ideas about what my life would hold. Some of my hopes and dreams involved very fancy dinner parties that would require me to wear fabulous gowns everynight. Fast forward to a few days ago.....

How could I have known that on that day I would be in a bathroom stall in a women's restroom of a local pizza joint? How could I have known that I would be unsuccessfully wrangling a very wiggly eighteen month old while trying to assist a partially potty trained three year old with his accident. And with out going into too much detail about the details, I was trying to prevent his accident from dropping out of the pant leg of his pants and onto the floor. I was also sending up prayers that my five year old would still be playing arcade games when I came out of the bathroom and that he had not been abducted by a psycho.

Fast forward to later that afternoon. Now I am dragging my three littles through a Super-Store trying to stock back up on diapers, groceries, and various essential paper products. It was announced that a bathroom break was needed, so we abandoned our half full cart and headed once again for the bacteria cesspool, I mean public restroom. Before I could stop him, partially potty trained child was attempting the ever advanced "standing to urine" position. It didn't end well. Again, I was tying to keep little miss eighteen month old and her grasping hands from touching anything, while wiping up the spray that was now on the walls, toilet, and floor.

The third detail in this adventure was the fact that it was a very cold day and my children were all wearing boots. Well, at least they were when we went into the store. At some point, (before the second bathroom event) while riding in the semi truck version of a shopping cart, (you know, the one with the molded seats that face each other but make for more trouble than they are worth and the seatbelt straps are always broken and even if they aren't, they never prevent the children from escaping the confines of the cart) one small child decided that he didn't need his boots any more. Off they came and a very gracious employee chased me down and returned them to me. I could see that the boots weren't going to stay on those little tootsies and by now the child had decided that socks were optional also. I proudly pushed my cart full of groceries, diapers, paper products, a non-abducted, still here, five year old, and a barefoot three year old. Still wrangling the baby.

You know, it's probably a really good thing that my sixteen year old self couldn't see this coming. She would have probably mourned the loss of her dinner parties and dresses and maybe even ran screaming from the room. But this twenty nine year old version of myself isn't mourning anything. As much as I dislike shopping with barefoot partially potty trained squirmy video gamers, I am eating up every minute of it. Because know what? I have no idea what is coming next, but it can't get much better than this.

This morning one phone call brought news, both joyful and sad. In one call I learned that Nate's Grandma Margaret had left this world and has gone to be with Jesus. I also learned that his sister Andrea is in labor this morning and is about to bring her third child into this world.

Grandma Margaret was a very classy woman who I had the privilege of knowing for a very short twelve years. She always looked wonderful adorned with jewelry whether she was dressed up or just wearing a sweatshirt. She showed her love and concern by making sure that the kids finished their milk and that they weren't cold, they needed socks on those little toes. She would sit at the table or on the couch and watch as her great-grandchildren played around her, quietly observing as they scampered around her feet. She was ninety-six year old. I only knew her for the last few years of her life. I would love to know the stories of her twenties, of the styles she wore and the things she did with her time. Did she wear pigtails and bows when she was eight? Did she like to play with dolls? Ninety-six years. Countless moments of joy and sorrow. I believe she knew that as she was leaving, someone new was coming.

I think of my dear sister-in-law Andrea today. As her body takes over and instinctively does what it was designed to do, may she soak in every last moment. May she remember every feeling and every emotion as she sacredly brings another little soul into this world. Was the ultrasound right? Will this be a little girl? Will she wear pigtails and bows when she is 8? Will she like to play with dolls? What kind of woman will she be in her twenties? Will she see ninety-six years on this earth? What sorrows and joys await her in this life she is about to embark on? Who will this little soul be?

It is a day that cannot be described within the limits of words. We have lost, but we are gaining. We sigh with sadness, but we look forward with anticipation. We do not know what a day will hold, but He does. And He knew what he was doing when he orchestrated this day.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die........... a time to weep and a time to laugh..........a time to mourn and a time to dance.

Excerpts from Ecclesiastes 3.

Wordless Wednesday-Not Quite Awake Yet

More Wordless Wednesday here.

It's No Luis Vuitton

I once heard a story about what the world was like for women back in the 30's, 40's, and 50's. It was something like this. When a woman went to interview for a job such as a secretary or some sort of desk job, she would usually be asked, at some point during the interview, for an item from her purse. This could be something like a pen, or maybe an item that would be found in her billfold inside her purse. I'm not really sure what exactly they would ask for, but that's not what matters. What matters was the interviewer's motives. He wanted to see how tidy her purse was and how long it would take her to retrieve the item. Would she open it up, go right to it and pull the item right out? Or would she have to dig around in there for hours eventually having to dump the whole mess onto her lap just to find a pen? I guess this was their way to determine how "together" she had it. Was she an organized woman or was her desk soon going to look like a larger version of the mess that was in her purse. It could very well be an urban legend but I believe it, it sounds like the kind of thing that would happen back then.


I am personally offended by that story. I would have never been able to get a job and would have remained unemployed for all of my years. Remember how I told you I can't get my purse zipped? It was one of my weird things. Well, I'm not sure if it's normal to keep unpaid bills in your purse or not, but sometimes I do.

And I know it doesn't really look that bad, but believe me, this is a small purse. Especially for a mother of six whose children can not seem to carry any of their own things: Sunday school papers/crafts and the books and toys that they just HAD to bring along with them but now can no longer hold. None of them have figured out that mom's purse is not the trash can for their gum wrappers or any other small pieces of garbage that need to be disposed of. It's pretty embarrassing when you set your purse down and all of this dumps out. Again, it's much worse in real life than in this picture. Trust me.

Now don't get me wrong. I LOVE purses. I have an unhealthy passion for them. I like to buy them cheap and often. Cheap as in less than ten bucks. I have tried big, small, and everything in between. It doesn't matter what size, I fill it to the brim. So in order to save my back, I am keeping it small lately.

How about you? What kind of purse do you carry? Are you brave enough to show us a photo of the contents as-is? Would you be hired, fired, or just laughed at like me?

A Few Pressing Questions

So say it came time to bake the Amish Friendship Bread and spilt the starter and share it with four friends. Only, what if you didn't share it? What if you kept it all for yourself? Would it be called Amish Selfish Bread? Isn't that kind of an oxymoron?

Wordless Wednesday- 4th Grade Science Experiment

More Wordless Wednesdays here.

Standing Ovation

I was shocked, truly shocked.

Tonight we watched the Charlie Brown Christmas Special. Popcorn and apple cider and a couch full of kids. I laughed as Snoopy danced on the piano, much to Lucy's dismay. I empathized with Charlie as everyone dogged him about his choice of tree. We all giggled at the various dance styles of all the Peanuts kids.

And right in the middle of Linus Van Pelt's spotlight speech, my jaw dropped. Did he just say "For unto you this day is born in the City of Bethlehem, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord." on national TV? Wow. Seriously, wow. I was so impressed with ABC's bravery. They didn't cave to the typical politically correct holiday phrases. They could have done some editing. They could have just ditched Charlie and his religious little friend in favor of a more tolerant cartoon. But they didn't.

Good for them.

*edited to add:
I was so pleased with them, that I let them know. How many times do we boycott and complain about all the things our society is doing wrong? Let's thank them for doing something right. If you feel like giving ABC some positive feedback, go here and do so.

Go Web Go

Did you see Spiderman-2? We watched it again this weekend. Boy did I feel like I could relate to Mr. Web himself! Except that I don't look good in spandex, but let's not talk about that.

Poor Peter Parker finds that he is losing his spider powers. While swinging through the air above the city, he flicks his wrist and nothing happens. His eyesight goes bad. He can't climb up the walls anymore. Oh the horror! What will happen to the world without it's hero?

I'll tell you what will happen. The dirty dishes will sit in the sink and the laundry will pile up to the ceiling. The house will fall apart around the family and it will be misery for all involved. That's pretty much how my first trimester went. I was Spiderman. I had super powers. I had the power to launder very large amounts of dirty clothes. The power to stop a mischievous toddler in their tracks. The power to cook actual real meals for my family. With one little pink line, the powers started to disappear. I was suddenly struggling to get myself off of the couch to toss in a frozen pizza. The kitchen floor wasn't mopped in....well, let's not talk about that either. Throw that in the spandex category.

It wasn't pretty people. The kids looked at me with sad eyes that said "Where is our Hero?" Actually I think it was something more like "When are we going to eat something other than frozen pizza and why don't we have any clean socks?" Chaos prevailed and I wondered what had happened to me. Where was my spider-sense?

And then one day, out of the blue, my powers started to return. I was back. The coming of the second trimester has saved our family. I can shoot webs, climb buildings, and crush pop cans on my forehead. The nausea is gone, the fatigue only hits after six at night, and I am only mildly hormonal compared to a couple of weeks ago. We are eating things that I cook with utensils other than an oven rack. I even scrubbed the kitchen floor. Once. Hey, whose counting? I am my family's hero again. But the only spandex going on around here is in my waistband. Bring it on bad guys. Spidey is back.

Nothing Says Thanksgiving Like Halloween Pictures

Thanksgiving was great. I ate my share of pecan pie, and probably your share too. Elastic waist pants sure come in handy on holidays.

Guess what?! I finally got my film developed from Halloween. Now you can see the crew and also the cluttered top of my fridge.

Jack was sleeping on the living room floor, so he missed the photo.

Here are closeups of some of the costumes.

"Smartie Pants"

"Penguin"

"Alien Abduction"

"Paul Bunyan"

Um, I guess I didn't take any photos of the littlest two. Sorry, there is no evidence of the ninja with a broken arm. But I guess that's just the way of the ninja......

Wordless Wednesday- Cords

More Wordless Wednesdays here.

Just Call Me Yoder.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret.

I wish I was Amish.

When we were little, sometimes Dad would take us over to visit a nearby Amish community. I think he bought horse stuff from them or something, I don't really remember. But I do remember standing in a hazy dusty barn, intrigued by the barefoot kids out in the yard, peeking in at us Englishers.

Recently I have been reading a fictional book series about the Amish. I stinking love them. I wish I was one. Let's weigh the pros and cons.

Pros:

• bonnets
• barefeet
• black is slimming
• no bad hair days
• bacon, butter, whole milk

Cons:

• butchering chickens
• no internet

That's enough cons for me right there. Nevermind, I don't want to be Amish. But then I start thinking about the ultimate pro for being Amish: friendship bread. My neighbor just dropped by two loaves. I ate one myself just now. At the bottom of the directions there is a little note about the Amish: they and they alone know the starter recipe. I may still convert.

It's like Deja Vu

I hate to post this without photos, but you will just have to forgive me. This morning I dressed my girls up again, it's like having two Halloweens in three weeks. Except with no Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. (oh yeah, the secret stash......shhhh.)

Their school was doing a storybook day where kids were encouraged to come to school dressed as their favorite storybook character. Last night we dug through the dressup box. "How about a clown? Do you have any books that have a clown in them?", "A pumpkin? How about Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater?" No takers. And I think that was just a nursery rhyme anyway. We finally pulled together some outfits resembling two very different leading ladies.

Camryn, adorned with a big floppy bow on top of her messy hair, left the house as Junie B. Jones. This was a huge stretch for Cam, who always like to have her hair brushed perfectly straight with "no bumps". She embodied Junie B. I had to laugh. Those books just crack me up, I love, love, love reading them.

Noelle on the other hand, paraded out the door dressed as a beautiful princess with eleven sisters, all of whom had holes in their shoes from dancing the night away. We don't need to tell the teacher that we just read this story for the first time just the other night and that it was pretty much the only costume we could come up with the night before the big day. She looked great, complete with at aluminum foil crown, taped together as the bus rolled down the street.

Again, sorry, no photos. But maybe I will take some tonight when they get home, providing the bow is still on and the crown is not in the trash.

You know what is even better than a baked potato at nine in the morning? A bean burrito at ten.

Wordless Wednesday- Lunch with Gemma

More Wordless Wednesdays here.

Follow Up

Thank you for all of your well wishes and congratulations yesterday. You guys are great.

We are very excited. Nate and I have been keeping this secret for quite awhile now and we just told the kids this weekend. We knew that once the kids knew, the world would know. My unofficial due date (that I calculated myself using the many tools available on the internet) is May 28th. I am leaning more towards the beginning of June since my babies seem to take a little longer to bake. So that puts me at twelve weeks along. The magic number. The number where morning sickness is supposed to disappear. And I think it is, slowly.

I must say, the first trimester has kicked my butt. The fatigue, the nausea, the piled up laundry. Bleh. I am thinking of making myself a shirt with the words "I survived the first trimester." across my chest. Better yet, I should have them made for my whole family. They have been troopers and they didn't even know why mom had taken up permanent residence on the couch. So bring on the wave of energy that belongs to trimester two. I am ready, and so is my house.

We are absolutely thrilled at this addition to our family. The van has plenty of room for whoever he/she is. And so do our hearts. Pregnancy is such a mysterious thing, the feelings it brings to the surface of your heart. And for what other reason would you want to eat a baked potato at nine in the morning?

Coming Soon to the Laundry Pile

Wordless Wednesday-Trail Ride

More Wordless Wednesdays.

Revelation

Tonight I was watching the deal show with the numbered suitcases, you know the one. I was going crazy because Howie Mandel reminds me of someone and I haven't been able to pin it down. And then it came to me.

Pharaoh. As in ancient Egypt.

Howie Mandel is Ramses.

I Knew This Day Was Coming

Sob.

It's official. The Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are all gone. I just ate the last four.

Well, except for the one that I put away as a secret stash for later. And then the other one that I put away as a back up secret stash for when the first secret stash is gone.

Like I was saying, the Reese's Peanut Butter Cups are all gone.

I Approved This Message

I am so excited. I just want to take a big red marker and circle November 7th on the calendar. Woo HOO! It's almost here.

It's not because I'm a particularly political person, far from it. I should probably be a whole lot more of an involved citizen. blah blah blah. But I am thrilled that the elections are almost here because it means that the campaigning will be OVER. Oh I am so sick of checking the mail, only to find that the box is stuffed with flyers promoting this candidate and that candidate. It's almost worse than a mail box full of bills. Almost. Then there are the phone calls. Is anyone else getting insane amounts of phone calls from recorded voices telling us that such and such candidate hates puppies and taxed his own grandmother straight into the poor house? I have never been more thankful for caller id. The person who invented caller id is right up there with the person who invented Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. The really frustrating thing is that they are leaving me voice mails now. I come home from wherever I have been and my little red light is flashing on my phone and I am thinking, hooray! someone called me. Oh the disappointment to hear the recorded voice on the other end of the line.

You know, if I was to be honest, sometimes I go into the voting booth so unbelievably ignorant about which candidates believe what about what. I approach the ballot with the thought that THIS time I won't necessarily vote straight down the party lines, I'll go person by person and make a decision. But then I look at the names and it ends up that I might have well just checked the little box at the top that would make it a whole lot easier. And the judges?! Who in the world knows anything about any of the judges? I leave feeling like a third grader who just filled in the boxes on her test to make a pretty design.

But not this year. This year I found a website that informs me. This year I did some research. This year I am a responsible citizen. I checked out vote-smart.org and looked up the people running in my area. This year I am going to know what the heck is going on. I am going to be an informed voter and then I am going to do a happy dance because the campaign commercials will be over. Yippee!

Halloween Report 2006

I'm skipping wordless Wednesday this week. I don't have photos of all the kids in their costumes. Well, I do, but they are on the roll of film that is IN my camera right now so, sorry.

I am convinced that holidays bring out the best in the procrastinators of the world. Just as you will find me wrapping Christmas presents on Christmas Eve, you can be sure we are assembling costumes the night before Halloween. Would that be Halloween Eve? That just seems wrong.

And sure enough we were. Noelle chose a particularly difficult costume this year that involved ribbon and a balloon and a robe and latex gloves. She decided to be Alien Abduction and I was the lucky girl who got to assemble the thing. It came together quite nice and only required repairs about three times.

Tyler was Smarty Pants. Smarties taped to his pants. He won the prize from his mother for easiest costume. Thank you Tyler. We did slick his hair down and added glasses and suspenders for that extra nerdy effect.

Cam was a penguin. Craft foam is my new best friend. I was happy with how it turned out. She loves penguins so much. She draws them quite well.

Caedmon cracked me up when he said he wanted to be Paul Bunyan. Random? My favorite part was his five o'clock shadow.

We pulled a ninja costume out of the dress up box and threw it on Jack. It was pretty ironic with his arm in a sling.

Gemma wore a bumblebee costume around the house, shoving Smarties into her mouth and crushed Smarties into the carpet.

We didn't score as big as last year, but came in with a roughly 10 pounds of loot. Well, and then there was all the candy left over from what I bought to hand out. God bless the person who invented Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Sorry kids, you might not see any of those this year.

I cracked up as I tried to balance the ten pound of candy on top of the fridge. Why on the fridge you ask? Here, this ought to explain it. It's a futile attempt but we try our best to keep it out of their hands. As I tried to shuffle things around to accommodate the candy, I took mental note of all of the things on top of the fridge. It is seriously ridiculous.

• The toaster
• The food processor
• the flour sifter thingy
• a loaf of bread
• two bags of chips
• a box full of the kids' markers (makes sense doesn't it?)
• all of the scissors we own
• a small can of chalkboard paint
• two jars of Play Doh (mixed colors in case you were wondering)
• ten pounds of candy

This makes for a very dangerous and top heavy situation. Approach the refrigerator with caution. Eat Halloween candy at your own risk. It could be the death of you.

I Love Emo

Although she's no Ninja, Hope is pretty darn funny. I feel like this video is especially relevant for us bloggers who should appreciate the value of words. In fact, I might start bawling right now.

A Quick Note

Make sure you don't miss this post by Mary from Owlhaven. It is absolutely beautiful.

Why I Am weird Part 2- A Meme

Wow, it's been a long time since a good old meme went around these parts. I think I did a different version of this awhile ago but there are plenty of things to add to the list. Thanks for tagging me PastorMac's Ann.

Nine weird things about Heth:

• I have a PDA to keep track of appointments and such, but that doesn't keep me from writing reminders on the back of my hand with an ink pen. I know, it's so seventh grade of me, but whatEVAH!
• When I eat M&M's, I sort them by color and then eat them one little batch at a time.
• I rarely finish a beverage. Whenever I go to my parents' house, I leave an almost full glass of ice water sitting on the counter. Rootbeer? Now that's a different story.
• Milk needs to be cold. VERY cold.
• I am so very proud of myself, excessively proud, for re-learning how to drive a stick. Sometimes I can even talk on my cell phone without a hands-fee device and shift at the same time. If you see me while I am doing this, you may want to move to the far lane.
• When I load the dishwasher, I leave the water running almost the whole time. Sorry environment!
• My purse is very small and is so crammed full of stuff that it cannot even be zipped shut. But this does not bother me enough to get a bigger purse, because I will then fill it with more junk and I won't be able to zip it either. So I will continue to pick up everything that spills out when it gets knocked over.
• Sometimes when I read, I mispronounce names and words in my head. Then when I have to say the word or name outloud, I realize that I am no where near the right pronunciation.
• I CANNOT start my day without breakfast. If for some reason I miss it, I have to eat something breakfasty for lunch. I love breakfast oh so very much.

Tagging Melanie of are they aLL yours? , Goslyn of Wishful Thinking , and Super Mom of What Makes a Housewife Desperate?

A Survey

Keeping with my past history of procrastination, I have an assignment that is due for a class that meets tonight at six thirty. ACK!

The assignment is to take a survey of at least 5 people asking them their opinions. If any of you want to help me out, you can answer these questions in the comments section or email me privately at:

laundrylady (at) mchsi (dot) com

On to the questions:

Do you believe there was a universal flood thousands of years ago? Yes/No
If no, what has kept you from believing the Genesis 6-9 account of the flood?
If yes, What caused the flood?

and question number two:

Do you believe Jesus Christ is coming again? Yes/No
If no, why don't you believe He is coming?
If yes, what do you think His coming will bring? Are you prepared to see Him? How have you prepared for His coming?


If you are game and want to help me out, send me an email or leave your answers in the comments. THANK YOU for bailing out a last minute lady.

*edited to add: PHEW! Got it done on time! Thanks everyone for your help.

Humiliating Myself on the World Wide Web

My friend Karen over at the Big Trade Off is very close to having a brand new little baby. We all have begged for pictures and she has very graciously obliged, giving us beautiful pictures of her glowing self. But now she has turned the tables on her readers. She is asking for pictures of US when we were pregnant. So Karen, I will give you the good and the UGLY.

This first picture is me at 34 weeks with little Gemma. (baby number 6)

Now, this next one is a big stretch for me. (Deep breathing Heth) It is I think maybe the day before I had Jack. (number 5) I can't believe I am about to do this, but I give you possibly THE ugliest photo ever. And here I am, posting it on the internet?! Karen, you said even your nose was swelling, well how about your eyelids? Feel free to burst into uncontrollable laughter. Here goes nothing......



Ok, now I am going to go crawl into a hole and die.

Wordless Wednesday- You Never Know What A Day Will Bring

More Wordless Wednesdays at Five Minutes for Mom.

Warning: Extreme Boringness Ahead

Continuing on with the laundry saga, I knew you were all waiting on the edge of your seat to know how it was coming. I'm working on it, slowly. Today was a breakthrough. As soon as the dryer beeped, I ran to it, threw open the door and announced to my family at the top of my lungs: "WE HAVE TOWELS!" It the little things in life.

One thing that is very much hindering the laundry process is two little words, packed with much negative connotation.

potty training

Really, I don't want to talk about it.

So there you have it, world's most boring post. Also, just to add more content, Tyler is home sick today after his teacher told him yesterday that he might want to stay home tomorrow. I suppose the fact that he and his friend went through a new box of Kleenex in one day was enough to tip her off that he might not be feeling well. Or that he is a single use Kleenex kind of a guy. The poor thing is missing "sock day" at school. In honor of Red Ribbon week, the kids have specific ways to dress each day. I am proud to say that neither of the girls wore dirty socks today. Clean towels, clean socks, what more could a family want?

Fairweather Friend

We have been having a particularly crabby day around the Laundry Pile (which by the way is huge and never ending this week). Let me just say it for posterity's sake.

I. Hate. Laundry.

It just never stops. Tyler was asking for clean socks this morning and know what I told him? Go look in the dirty laundry pile. Can you believe I have stooped so low? Ah well, it's not gonna kill him.

Annnnnyway. Jack and Caedmon are up to their cold weather antics and they are mentoring Gemma quite well. Today they pulled couch cushions off, snuck into the fridge, tried to make forts out of the sheets that were on the beds but now aren't. *grumble* It has been one thing after another and I am just grouchy about it. But one thing made me smile. Jack. He could see that I was having a bit of a bad day so he just let me know: "You're my best friend Mom." Awwww. Isn't that just precious? I won't tell you that he uses it for evil as well as good. Sometimes, when he is in trouble or being scolded, he makes sure to tell me that "I'm not gonna be your friend Mom." Ok, whatever, but I'm still your mom and you still aren't going to sneak spoonfuls of sugar straight out of the sugar bowl.

Wordless Wednesday - Toes

A New Internet Time Killer.

Sorry, nothing to say. I'm having too much fun listening to this site. Go try it.

Sandbox

Previously, our back yard was graced with a sandbox that was intended for 1.2 children. The 2x2 Ft square was just big enough for Jack and 20% of Gemma. That didn't go over well with the children, especially considering that most of the sand was busy constructing a mini hill surrounding the box. That didn't go over so well with the Lawn Nazi Nate. So we pulled the old sandbox out and grew some grass there instead. It's now a lovely little hill in the middle of our backyard.

A new sandbox was in the planning stages. I was trying to figure out a way to make it a win-win situation for the kids and the dad. How could we make something big enough for a small army of kids that also met the standards of Mr. Lawn care and his grass obsession. Lawn+sand=bad. While browsing through an artsy-fartsy kid's garden catalog, I found my answer.

We asked some farming friends if we could raid their rock pile. Let me tell you, there were some serious boulders in that corner of their field. I was like a kid in a candy store, who knew I loved rocks so much?! I was barking orders, "Nate, I want this one and this one and this one. Your back? Eh, you'll be fine" While I was cracking the whip, the poor guy had to carry out all the labor, and he did an amazing job.

We put the whole thing together inside the landscaping and outside of the lawn, thus no need to mow around it. The sandbox consists of a bunch of rocks in an odd shaped circle with a few plants thrown in around the edges to make it look natural. The artsy fartsy magazine would be proud. We now have a sandbox big enough for all of our little diggers and any neighbor kids who drop by.

*grumble*

Last night we were dusted with a powdered sugar sprinkling of snow. The grass is poking it's little green spikes out from under the white stuff. And boy oh boy am I crabby about it.

I love having a big family. These six little kiddos are amazing. Winter, however, takes everything to a whole new level. I can no longer throw a pair of flip flops on a toddler and run out the door. We can't get by with whatever hoodie is hanging by the front door. No siree. When winter comes, we have to bring out from the basement the equivalent of a sporting goods store's youth section and try to find places to hang everything. This little burst of winter caught me a bit off guard and this morning was a chaotic scramble for hats and mittens and winter coats. I gave up on boots and just sent them in shoes, I don't even want to think about trying to figure out which pair fits who.

Caedmon and Jack were thrilled of course and after fifteen minutes of bundling up, they spent a whole four minutes outside. Little red noses pressed up against the storm doors as they poked repeatedly on the door bell and begged for cocoa. Now that I write that down, it seems a whole lot more endearing than it felt when it was happening. Maybe I don't want to ditch this joint and move to the equator just yet. I'm not sure why this little glimpse of winter sent me into a grumbling downward spiral. It could be the reality that I will soon be wading through knee high outerwear everytime I come through the front door. Oh Indian summer, wherefore art thou?

Wordless Wednesday- Lunch:The Aftermath

More Wordless Wednesdays here.

Theology according to a five year old.

Last night at the dinner table:

Caedmon: "Do we have to beat the end guy of this world?"

A little too much gaming do you think?

This morning as I was laying in bed I heard little voices on the baby monitor. Gemma had just woken up and was crying and Caedmon was comforting her. "You don't have to be scared Gemma, God is in your heart. Don't be afraid, God is in your heart, God is in your heart."

Cracks me up.

Mystery Boxes

So I have some organizational issues. I've admitted it. It's nothing new.

Sometimes when we are doing a whirlwind clean for company and I know I just can't get it all done, I have a top secret cleaning method. Wanna know it? Huh? Do ya? Ok, I'll reveal. I throw random stuff in boxes and containers and then put it downstairs. Genius isn't it?

The other day, we were trying to make some progress on some of the clutter around here and I pulled out a cardboard box with a bunch of stuff in it. When I looked inside I just stood there and shook my head. I could tell immediately that it was one of those "secret cleaning method" boxes. And I'm almost positive it was from quite awhile ago. Like a year ago while ago. Here are some of the very important things I found in that box.

• 4 toothbrushes
• a key to who knows what
• a pacifier
• a hairbrush
• a tooth
• a receipt for $248.75 worth of car repairs
• an eyeglass repair kit
• a ziplock baggie full of Christmas ornament hooks

What. The. Heck?

So you can see that I really missed some of those things. My lifestyle was completely altered because the pacifier and tooth were in a box in the basement for a year. Lesson learned. THROW AWAY THE JUNK HETH!

(I'm not going to give you a list of all the stuff on the top of the microwave. Trust me, you don't have enough time to read a list that long)

Wordless Wednesday- "Trampoline"

More Wordless Wednesdays at Five Minutes for Mom.

From the Mouths of Babes.

I sorted through my inbox the other day. It was a job long overdue. To combat the power of the paper piles that multiply on all flat surfaces in our home, I have implemented a little, tiny, small attempt at organization. Baby steps Heth, baby steps. So we have this inbox type thing and when the kids come home from school, their number one task is to empty their backpacks of all papers and put them in the inbox for me to sort through. This helps so that I don't lose any important papers and end up scrambling around on the morning of a field trip: "You need a sack lunch, bug spray, and fifteen dollars? Today? Ack! The bus will be here in three minutes! Why didn't you tell me?" The inbox rescues me from these types of scenarios.

It's the kids' job to get their papers into the box, and it's my job to go through the box everynight. Well, that doesn't always happen. This past week, the pile was getting higher, and higher, and starting to lean a little bit. On Saturday, I finally sorted through everything. No field trips missed, phew! But I did run across this little writing assignment by Noelle. I wish I had a scanner so that you could experience the genius of fourth grade handwriting.

Gemma and her dangerous teeth.

Gemma is a very dangerous baby. She bites at church, and if you put your
finger in her face she will bite it. (It feels like your finger is being bitten
off.) She crys at night she is very loud, and that's who my sister is.

Yes. It's true. Gemma is a little piranha. But I don't think I would base her whole identity on this one aspect of her little life. She might grow out of it. Or she might grow up and get a scholarship to vampire school.