A Little Game With Lots of Laughing

This weekend we played a little game that had us all crying we were laughing so hard. Here's the jist of it. Each person has a stack of blank papers. One sheet for each person playing. So if 8 people are playing then each person has 8 blank sheets in their pile. Each person writes a simple sentence on the first sheet, then everyone passes their pile of paper to the next person. That person looks at the sentence written on the first sheet, and then draws a picture of that sentence on the next sheet. Everyone passes again. Now you look at the picture on the top sheet and write a sentence about that drawing. And you keep alternating like that until your original pile of papers comes back to you. You only are allowed to look at the sheet of paper that was written or drawn on by the person that is passing to you, you don't get to look at previous sentences or drawings. Then you each take turns reading through your pile of papers and show the pictures to the whole group. Ok, that was a horrible explanation but here, I'll show you some examples of three rounds of this game. Hill-air-e-us.


This was my original one. I wrote this and passed it to Noelle. She read my sentence and then drew this:


She put my sentence to the back of the pile and passed to Mariah who then looked at her picture and wrote this sentence:


After she wrote this, she passed to Shane who drew this little number:


Then Shane passed to Luke who looked at Shane's picture and wrote this sentence:


Then Luke passed to my Dad who read Luke's sentence and then drew this picture, note the guy holding the gas can....


Dad drew this and then passed to my Mom who looked at his picture and then wrote this sentence:


After writing, she passed to Camryn who read her sentence and then drew this picture of mean people and inasent (innocent) people:



After she drew this she passed to Tyler who looked at her picture and then wrote this sentence:


Then Tyler passed to Nate who read Tyler's sentence and drew this picture:



After that picture, it had gone all the way around the circle and was back to me. Does that make sense? It's like a game of telephone gone horribly wrong. Here are two other of our favorite rounds.

The end.


Here is another:

This is my new favorite game of all time ever.

Bookworm

These are the three books I'm reading right now.

Me, Myself, & Lies by Jennifer Rothschild is the study that our church's women's ministry is working through. Good stuff. It deals with our thoughts and the things we tell ourselves all day long. I liked the analogy she gave of our stream of constant thoughts being the "soundtrack" to our life. She challenges us as women to fill our minds with the truth about ourselves found in God's Word.

I'm about a quarter of the way through Boys Adrift by Leonard Sax. Wow. I can't say enough or even begin to do justice to this book. It has been amazing and I would recommend it to anyone who has a son or anyone who works in the educational system. It has been a real eye opener so far and I can't wait to keep reading.

I've just started Crazy Love by Francis Chan. Francis is the pastor of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, California. I have listened to a few of his podcasts and he doing some crazy things out there in California. I watched this You Tube video and was completely challenged. I liked this line from an online review of this book. "Chan writes with infectious exuberance, challenging Christians to take the Bible seriously. He describes at length the sorry state of lukewarm Christians who strive for a life characterized by control, safety and an absence of suffering." Ouch. I have a feeling this one is going to mess with me and I'm looking forward to it.

Have any of you read any of these? Thoughts? Reviews?

Making My Kids Eat Gross Stuff- My Life's Mission

I'm sure that my children truly believe that I sit around all day, cackling and plotting what kind of new nastiness I could possibly make for supper. That making their nightly dining experience miserable is my sole purpose for living.

They may be right.

Remember when I made the super colorful chili that was so beautiful? The one that they deeply despised? Another time I tried to serve them soup that had peanut butter in it. I know. I'm not sure what I was thinking either. But this time it wasn't soup.

This time it was black eyed peas and tortillas. I thought it sounded good but what do I know anyway? As they simmered on the stove and the aroma (if you can call it that) wafted across the room, I began questioning my own judgment. It smelled bad. Really bad. But we persevered. I dished everyone up a tortilla filled with beans, sour cream, salsa, and cheese and we dove in. Well, some of us did. Those of us who attempted a first bite were pleasantly surprised and continued eating. Others were in tears begging for chips. And for a couple of them, I'm sure breakfast and "ceeyo" can't come fast enough. I'll let you guess who that would be.

Final stats:
People who had seconds-2
People who had firsts and finished them-2
People who took one bite and were done-1
People who just ate the tortilla after dumping out the contents-3
People who didn't even attempt-1

Want to come over for dinner? It's risky.

Random Picture Challenge Debut

I've seen Brittney's random picture challenge on her blog for quite awhile now and have never participated. But I'm all for reminiscing so here we go. The pic she wanted was from the April 2008 folder, 42nd shot. Here is mine. My nephew Austin's baby shower before we knew he was a "he" and before we knew he was baby Austin. This is the chaos of trying to get a bunch of ladies and girls lined up for a group shot. Fun times.

iPod Meme

I couldn't resist. I haven't done a meme for awhile but this one was too intriguing to resist. Some of these came out so true. Others don't make any sense at all but whatev.


A Meme for your iPod

Instructions:
1. Put your iPod (or MP3 player) on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN AS YOUR ANSWER, NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!
4. Tag some Moms you admire who could use a laugh and a song.

Seriously, this is so funny! I could not have picked better songs if I had TRIED!

HOW DID YOU BECOME A MOM?
Teenage Heartbreak (Eleventyseven)

WHAT DID YOU THINK THE FIRST TIME YOU SAW YOUR BABY?
Exit Calypsan (Falling Up)

WHAT DID YOU DO THE FIRST MORNING AFTER A SLEEPLESS NIGHT?
Death To Traitors (Beloved)

WHAT DO YOU SAY WHEN SOMEONE COLORS ON THE WALL?
The Color Of My Eyes (Blindside)

HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH A TODDLER’S BODILY FLUID ISSUES?
Me (Plumb)

IF SOMEONE SAYS “Can I have a snack?” YOU SAY?
Favorite Disease (Thousand Foot Krutch)

IF SOMEONE LEAVES THEIR STUFF ON THE FLOOR, YOU SAY?
Bounce Back (Stacie Orrico)

IF SOMEONE ISN’T SICK TODAY, YOU SAY?
My Home (Thousand Foot Krutch)

HOW DO YOUR KIDS ENJOY YOUR COOKING?
Cascades (Falling Up)

HOW DID YOUR KIDS DO IN SCHOOL TODAY?
Security (Stacie Orrico )

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF WHILE SITTING IN CARPOOL LINE?
Move (Thousdand Foot Krutch)

HOMESCHOOLERS, WHAT IS THE FIRST SUBJECT TAUGHT OF THE DAY?
The Art Of Breaking (Thousand Foot Krutch)

WHAT DO YOUR KIDS WANT TO BE WHEN THEY GROW UP?
Sights And Sounds (Wrecking)

WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY AS A MOM?
Spiderwebs (No Doubt)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE AS A MOM?
A Stellar Sayonara (Eleventyseven )

WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO AS A MOM?
The Love We Had Before (Fireflight)

HOW DID YOU KNOW YOU WERE REALLY A MOM?
When I Remember (Blindside)

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT MOST OFTEN AS A MOM?
Ponytail Parades (Emery)

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY AS A MOM?
Monsoon (Tokio Hotel)

WHAT IS THE ONE THING YOU REGRET AS A MOM?
The Deep (Wrecking)

WHAT IS THE BEST THING YOU’VE EVER DONE AS A MOM?
In Your Eyes (Wrecking)

WHAT DO YOUR KIDS DO THAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Comatose (Skillet)

WHAT DO YOUR KIDS DO THAT MAKES YOU CRY?
Right There (Disciple)

WHAT DO YOUR KIDS DO THAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
After You're Gone (Blindside)

HOW DO YOUR KIDS DESCRIBE YOU AS THEIR MOM?
The Way You Dance (Blindside)

IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
Not Alone (Seabird)

WHAT WILL YOUR MOM OF THE YEAR CERTIFICATE SAY?
Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bob (Lionel Hampton)

Ok, so that was kind of creepy, in a really accurate kind of way. Play along if you want. It's easy blogging. Pretty much a freebie.

Things You Were Probably Dying To Know

To make it even more exciting, I give you bullet points. Not bullets like the slow motion scene in The Matrix, these are much less thrilling and suspenseful.

• Contrary to our predictions, Randall has survived the winter. Randall, you are the champ. Extra worms for you this spring to celebrate that you are still living.
  
• Speaking of spring, it has sprung. Along with all mothers everywhere, I am grinning and happily sending my children out to play as often as possible. They need fresh air. I need them to have fresh air.
  
• Winter coats are packed away. Hallelujah and amen.
• I bought a new swim suit because I'm planning on using the city pool as a second home this summer. A second home that I don't have to pay the water bill for.
• Also, the maxi dress may be my new best friend. It's like a muumuu taken to a cuter level. I'm all over it.

That is all.

Because The Mirror Needed To Be Moisturized

Why?

Easter Pictures.

The obligatory Day-After-A-Holiday picture.

You can just feel how excited they all were about having to pose on the couch for yet another sibling photo. They should just be glad I don't make them line up in green on St. Patrick's Day. Seriously. I could totally make them.

Actually, I think they were all starting to come down off of their sugar highs. I felt kind of guilty sending them to their Sunday morning classes with only Easter candy for breakfast. Their poor, poor teachers.

The Gospel Truth

This IS Easter.

Sneak Peek

Of our own choosing, we are still oblivious as to the gender of this wee babe. It's all about the surprise in the delivery room. Here is a preview of what's to come this August.


And new since two years ago at our last ultrasound, is the dvd they send you home with. Small midwest town is catching up with the times! Here is a 4 second clip of baby-in-utero. I am in awe that because of technology we can now peek at the actual "process" described in Psalms 139:13

"You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something." (The Message)

A Whole Bunch Of Nothing

It is still pretty dark in the mornings when I run. Normally I would be anxious for the sunrise and for running when I can actually see the ground in front of me. For the sake of humanity, it's probably a good thing that my running wardrobe is cloaked in darkness. You don't want to see it, believe me. As soon as it gets light out, I don't know what I am going to wear. Spandex doesn't quite fit the same way when you are sporting a 19 week belly.

Last weekend I ran a local 5k. It was super fun. I give you the sparkly, magical, blue tights that carried me through:



I promise you, this is my one presentable running outfit. When this ensemble is dirty, the random stuff comes out and it's not pretty. I had no idea what kind of a time to expect for this race and I was happy when I finished with a 25:55. When I was pregnant with Toby I was able to continue running until about 28 weeks or so. That puts me at the end of May, we'll see how I feel by then. So far, so good.

I have been one week without a coffee maker. These are desperate times. Just ask my poor family who is shouldering the weight of my lack of caffeine. Again, for the sake of humanity as a whole, I will purchase one today and get back on the drip.

Today I also promised my family that I would go buy groceries. It turns out they like to eat. Who knew? I guess it will be best for everyone in the long run. I'm getting kind of sick of the whole "It's 4:30, what in the world am I going to feed them?" thing.

Happy Friday Internet.

Treasure Hunter

Places you will find loose change laying around:

• Under the couch cushions
• In the fountain at the mall
• Laying on the sidewalk

Places you will not find a single coin:

• Our yard

Nate recently picked up a new hobby, one that is completely contradictory to his love for his perfectly green and manicured lawn. That love has been overridden by a lust. A lust for coinage. He has scoured every last inch of the grass surrounding our house and now has a little baggie filled with his plunder. Shhh, don't tell him but I'm going to buy him a fanny pack for Father's Day. It will complete "the look."


You know what would also complete "the look"? Shorts with tall black socks, but I'm not even going to entertain that thought.

Debate

I can argue with the best of them, and when I say "the best of them" I mean Nate. We aren't scared off by a little bit of healthy debate, as long as it stays civil and in the privacy of our own home. I don't enjoy watching political debate much at all. Boring. Internet debating gets a little crazy and out of hand sometimes. But last night I watched this debate. If it goes to the archives soon, I'm talking about the Nightline Face-0ff, topic? "Does Satan Exist"? Very interesting to watch.

Then I rabbit trailed and watched the previous debate, "America Addicted to Porn?" Wow. That was interesting too.

If you feel like watching a debate and not participating in one, click on over and check these out. They are pretty long, so block off a good hour of time. Again, I'm not into debating on the internet. things people type can be misunderstood and tone is hard to read. So lets not get into it, I'm just throwing out there for you to watch if you want to. Food for thought.

A New Chapter Of Parenthood. Driving.

If I'm looking a bit twitchy and you see extra wrinkles in my brow, it's because we have a new driver in our house. The driver's permit has been obtained and now begins the process of teaching the young lad how to navigate the road. His little plastic card shows a serious scowl much like a mug shot. Guess you've gotta look tough when you flash your id around.

He took his first spin up the block in his Grandma's car, turned around in the parking lot of the Mexican restaurant, and back down the street to our house. It was the most terrifying four minutes of my life. Talk about feeling out of control! I never stopped talking, giving the poor kid a non-stop running narrative of directions. Gas, gas, gas, brake, brake, slow down a little more, ok now take these turns nice and easy, easier, easier, get to the right a little bit, a little bit more, too much, now speed up a little, no, no, slow down, now signal, (he fumbles to find the turn signal) no, no, just forget it, go ahead and turn, slower, slower, turn, now stop, not that fast, ok now go, take it easy, easier, easier, now accelerate, now slow for the turns again, slower, now speed up just a bit, just a little more, not that much, now start braking for the driveway, brake, brake, turn, ok you did it. And then I thanked God that I was still alive and prayed for strength to make it through the next two years of instructions with out us killing each other. Bonding moments, I'm telling ya!

To his credit, he never stopped grinning despite my inadequate and never ending directions. It's good to be a driver, even with your mom riding shotgun.

Birthdays Birthdays Birthdays

Camryn's birthday was on Sunday. She's ten now and I'm not sure how exactly that happened.

There are two sides to Cam, the side most everyone knows:

And the Cam we get to know:

Oh to laugh like that every day.

FOURTEEN?!

I don't think he's the last eighth grader in the world to get a phone, pretty close though.

Yesterday Tyler turned fourteen and we allowed him to play hookie for the afternoon to hang out with his dorky parents. It's worth it when you are hitting the Verizon store and getting a Chocolate out of the deal. I'm wondering how long it will be before it takes a ride in a pocket through the washing machine. We killed a little time at the park and let the little ones play. I love watching my teenager be so tender with his littlest siblings.

I see such big changes in you this year Tyler. More than just your hair turning curly. You are becoming quite an amazing young man and we are proud of you.

The Laundry Pile Goes Out To Eat

We went out to eat yesterday. Driving through the parking lot and realizing that IHOP was completely packed, we decided to head next door to Bonanza. None of our kids had ever been there before. We introduced them to the culinary genius that is buffet.

I quickly realized that although most of them complain about school lunch, this was no more than commercial grade food under heat lamps. Somehow they were wowed by the selection and took the cafeteria style meal on full force. They were convinced they were in heaven, if heaven includes unlimited soft serve ice cream covered in gummi worms. Here are some samples of their plates, the diverse eaters that they are. It just cracks me up. Especially the last one.

Oh Dear! I Mean OH DEER!

I officially have my very own, personal, almost-die-story as of this morning. Let me share.

This morning at 0'dark-thirty, I drug myself to the garage with my running shoes and water bottle in hand, heading to the gym. I pulled out of the driveway and out on to the highway. I was about 3/4 of a mile away from my house and then deer/explosion/panic.

That's the short version.

The long version is that suddenly, like it materialized from thin air, there was the face of a deer immediately to the right of my hood. I can still see it. Then within a split second, before I could understand what was happening, the noise like a loud explosion. It turns out that was my rear passenger window shattering. My heart leaped into my brain as I tried to process what had just happened. I looked back and the rear passenger window was gone. I looked into the back seat just to make sure the deer wasn't IN the back seat, ready to kick me in the head. No deer.

I pulled into a nearby parking lot and tried to catch my breath. First thought? "Should I keep going to the gym?" Uhhh, no. No window and you almost just died. Second thought? "Is the deer laying dead in the road?" I looked over in that direction and I saw the silhouette of legs and hooves twitching. Third thought? "Do I need to call the police?" No, you don't have your phone with you, dummy. So I turned around and started driving home. By the time I got to the spot where I had hit the deer, it was standing beside the road. Uninjured, I thought but in the daylight, the road tells another story. Ew.

The crying came on slowly. I started whimpering, processing what had just happened. I realized that if it would have hit a second earlier, the front passenger window would have blown out instead, all over me. By the time I got in my driveway I was crying out loud. I'm so glad the neighborhood was still asleep. Hey, I'm a cryer, and I'm not apologizing for it. Just say the word, and I will cry. I walked around in the dark and tried to assess the damage. It was then that I saw the deer hair everywhere, inside the backseat with the shattered glass. Something had flown across the back seat with enough force to shatter the glass on the other side of the car. If it would have been the front seat, my head would have been in the path of whatever that was.

I went into the house, sobbing by now (again with the crying) and woke up poor Nate. He was trying to figure out what in the world was going on and why his wife so upset. Was she attacked? No, but kind of...by a rogue deer. He threw on some clothes and we went out with a flashlight to check out the XB. Here are some pics of the damage:


The poor little Black Lego is in the shop, waiting to find out the extent of the damage and I am not crying any more, so that's good. And also, I'm alive. That's good too.

I'm Packin' Heat

Did you know that the cell phone pocket in a purse is just the right size for a Twinkie?
Just a coincidence? I think not.

In unrelated news, I have come to the conclusion that there are some items that are completely doomed with no chance of survival in our house. Here is a short list, by no means exhaustive:

• Board game boxes
• Remote control battery covers
• DVD's
• Child Safety Gates
• Scotch Tape
• The little plastic shoes box organizer thingys. WHY DO THEY INSIST ON FLIPPING THEM OVER AND STANDING ON THEM?

Thanks for letting me get that off my chest. Please tell me I'm not the only one who is raising destruct-o-bots.

Can't Hide The Fact That Kids Live Here

Yesterday it started snowing out of the blue. Huge chunks of fluff floated down from the sky. It didn't take long for the yard to turn white so the kids headed out to play.

Our neighbor's yard:

Our yard:

Geez Louise.

And Now, Back to the Superficial

This is the kind of stuff I'm up against:

• Kids filling squirt guns... straight from the toilet.
• Goodnight Moon, dying a waterlogged death in the tub
• And this:

Quotes, Lots and Lots of Quotes. And Deep Thoughts Too.

I don't think it's a secret that I've been listening to some podcasts. Lots and lots of podcasts. I've been just soaking them up. God using them to do some huge things in my life right now and I just can't get enough. The main podcast I've been listening to is Matt Chandler from The Village Church in Texas.

The reoccurring theme for me right now is community. Authentic relationships. Letting other people deep into your life, good, bad, and ugly to help to spur you on. But it's so easy to pull away and be fake. To put on a happy face and not let anyone in. Here is a quote the jumped out of my ear buds at me.

"The most common illustration given to what we’re in is a body. If you cut off a finger and throw it aside, it doesn’t keep growing or moving or playing its part; it shrivels up and dies. You cannot remove yourself. The more you isolate yourself from deep, authentic, real Christian community, the more damage you do to your own joy."

While I eluded to the fact that the last few months have been difficult and that I was struggling in my early pregnancy and feeling like crap and wrestling with God, I don't think that's how it should be the majority of the time. He was pulling me away from the "people supports" I had but just for a short time. He showed me how to rely on Him alone for that season but I don't think that's what He has in mind for the everyday, every week, every month of life. He gave us each other. He wants us to be real and open and honest with each other.

Here is another one to chew on. (Del was a mentor of his who had passed away earlier that week.)

"See how shallow our relationships are. See how hollow they are that no one’s willing to engage us at that level when everyone in this room knows that we’ve got areas that we’re blind in, that we’ve got issues in, that we’ve got trouble in. No one loves enough to go, “How are you really doing with your relationship with Christ?” I mean, this isn’t some game. Hey, you’re going to die. Are you tracking with that? Del’s time was Wednesday. We’re all an hour closer. This isn’t a game. Eternity hangs in the balance, joy hangs in the balance, and it seems like we talk about the same lame junk as everyone else. “Hurray, the Cowboys got what they needed in the 1st round!” That’s not a bad point of conversation, but it’s got to go farther than that for us. It’s got to go
farther than that. And it’s not easy. It’s not easy because most people don’t want to get there. They want to hide, they want to protect themselves. I call it “fine-itis.” “How are you doing?” “Fine.” We all want to look a certain part, despite the fact that that we’re not.

Dude. This is kicking my butt on so many levels. It's scary to let people in that closely. What if? What if they see who I really am and they reject me? What if they see my junk and tell everyone else? I'm not saying we should be broadcasting our issues out there for the whole world to see, this is about deep relationships. It's about letting some people in closer than we are necessarily comfortable with. For our own good. For their own good. For the good of the Church as a whole.

I've been challenged to let myself be known a little more to those in my life who I have deep relationship with. To take some of my surface level relationships to a little bit deeper level, a level past talking about changing diapers and what the weather is like. I want to grow closer to the people God has put into my life so that we can encourage each other to change, to grow, to be who He wants us to be. I don't think it's going to be easy. Actually it could get quite messy, but I'm willing to go there if it's going to result in true joy and maturity. Growth hurts sometimes.

How about you? How much do you put yourself out there? Do you suffer from "fine-itis?" Do you have people in your life who can ask the hard questions of you?

Escape From Alcatraz

Yesterday the sun was out and the temps peaked at 50 degrees. Eager for spring to arrive, we donned our rubber boots and pretended it wasn't February 25th. I was hoping a little sunshine and fresh air would solve my end of winter eye twitch.

Within 30 seconds of leaving the front door, Toby was sitting in a puddle, completely waterlogged. Back into the house, new boots, new socks, new pants. Off to the park.


When you aren't even two years old yet, walking in rubber boots up to your hips can be a bit of a problem. It didn't take long to see that it wasn't going to work so little buddy ended up running down the street in his wet socks. I've said it once and I'll say it again. Infact I might as well make it my life's motto. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

A little fresh air. A lot of mud. A warm bath. No more eye twitch. Life is good.

Grocery Day

Putting groceries away is a lot more "interesting" with help.

Follow Up

You can't imagine what a sense of relief yesterday's post brought. It seems like when there is something huge, whether good or bad, going on in my life and I'm not at liberty to talk about it, I just don't say anything at all. Thus the blog silence for the past little while.

So we found out just a couple days after Christmas that number eight was on it's way. I'm not kidding when I say that the second I laid eyes on the pink line, I gained ten pounds. Not kidding one bit. A lot of people have said, "I thought you had that special glow." That special glow is called extra weight. There's just no way to sugar coat it. And I'm not complaining about it. It's all part of the master plan to grow a baby.

One of the other reasons I was so quiet around the internet and around real life too, is I was miserable. Oh my gosh, the morning sickness and exhaustion totally kicked my butt. Badly. It's a good thing I had the excuse of freezing cold midwestern weather because even if it was sunny and eighty degrees, I wouldn't have been leaving my house. Or my couch. The house was a mess, even more than normal, and I just couldn't get anything done. But it's better now. Much much better. The morning sickness has subsided and I've got some energy back. Now about the messy house....

Another big sign that something was up was that I had no desire for coffee at all. None. I KNOW! I can't believe it either. I didn't brew a single pot of coffee from late December until just a week ago or so. I drank a Starbucks here and there or had a cup at someone else's house, but never made it here. Again, I'm glad that has passed. Bring it on.

The kids had to have known something was up. Either Mom was pregnant or she was losing her mind. And the crying. All the crying. Let's just say that in the first trimester, my emotions are a little...how can I say this...all over the place. Nate might argue that it isn't just the first trimester but whatever.

During these long couple of months God has been doing some heart renovations in me. It seemed like such a lonely time, going it alone, no one to lean on. But He was there. And we worked some stuff out together. I'm not saying I believe in complete solitude and not surrounding yourself with friends and family who can bear your burdens with you. In no way am I saying I believe in Lone Rangerdom. God has given us each other to share our lives with and I whole heartedly believe that. But for this short season, He was showing me some stuff. And it hurt and it was hard, but we got through it.

And now I can share my excitement with the whole internet. YAY! Another little soul to join us in this crazy, crazy life.

I've Been Keeping A Secret

If our life were a tv show, what would it be called?

How about:

Heth and Nate Plus Eight

Yep, exciting news around here. In August the Laundry Pile will expand by one more. We will attempt to answer the question "Is Eight really Enough?"

Flaming Onions

A couple weeks ago we took the kids to a Japanese Hibachi grill for Sunday dinner. The food was delicious but watching the kids was the best part.

Jack, Caedmon....Stay away from the knife drawer and DO NOT try this at home.

First you add the magic mustard...

Can you believe it? Jack ate it.

It was delish.

If You Have A Weak Stomach, Do Not Proceed

Sound asleep in bed at 3:30 am, I awake to a child standing beside my bed. There are two possible sentences this child will utter:

1: "Mom, I think I'm going to barf."

or

2:"Mom, I barfed."

Scenario 1 is a good scenario. I can now steer said child to the toilet and then easily flush away anything...offensive. Scenario 2 is a little more iffy. If the child is old enough, there is glimmer of hope that they made it to the toilet themselves. On the other hand, this one just might not turn out very pretty.

Last night was scenario 2 part B. And to make it even worse, in the child's own words..."Mom, it's BAD." Turns out it was the top bunk of the triple bunk, the loft. The loft that takes me 20 minutes and various contortionist moves just to make the bed. Here we have a middle of the night emergency with three sleeping brothers in the other beds. Happily, I managed to remove the sheets without waking anyone up or spraining my back. Sadly, he was right. It was BAD.

These are the moments that go unrecognized. No one is standing by your bedside applauding you as you return to sleep after a half an hour of cleaning up vomit. No one to thank you for providing middle of the night laundry and sanitizing services. So I would like to take this opportunity to thank all you moms everywhere. "GOOD JOB!", "You cleaned that up like a pro!", "If there were medals for this kind of thing, you get a gold.", "That was some amazing use of bleach skills."

There.

Consider yourselves cheered on.

It's The Little Things

I have a neglected journal I keep on top of the microwave. I intended to write down little notes about the kids here are there, the funny things they say, the quirky things they do. That way when I'm old and senile, I can remember life as it was when the kids were little. Not the general overall memories, but the specific day to day memories. It was a good idea, I just need to get back on it.

Here is what I am going to write in it as soon as I'm done here.

This week, Toby went from calling me "MOM!" to sweet, sweet "Mommy." I love it. I noticed the exact day he started doing it. His tiny little voice, the subtle inflection when he says the "ee". I could eat him up.

He also spits out all of his food. Last week I gave him an apple and he ate the whole thing. If you count chewing it. When he was done he was surrounded by a mess of spit out apple pieces. Ew. I think it's because he's getting molars.

Jack cracks me up when he goes to the linen closet, grabs a fitted sheet, and puts the fitted corner over his head like a hood. He wraps himself up and walks around the house looking like a mini monk.

Caedmon has been talking a lot about wanting to visit his cousins in Spensylvania.


This is a habit I really want to get back in the swing of. I already love looking back at some of the things the kids did and said just a couple years ago. Things I wouldn't have otherwise remembered. Yeah, I know a blog fulfills some of the same purposes as the journal does, but there are some things you just don't want to write down for the whole internet to read. If you don't already do this, I challenge you to pick up a cheap spiral note book and set it somewhere you can access it easily. Every so often, pick it up and write down some of the details of your day to day "boring" life. I'm sure in just a couple years you won't find it so boring.

Do They Shove It Through The Cable Lines?

So, it turns out the Internet is a pretty convenient thing. I just did something new. I ordered my pizza online. Extra cheese? Click. Pepperoni, of course (thank you very much children and husband). Click. And so on and so forth until I had created our supper using bandwidth instead of actual ingredients.

I am easily impressed.

And also lazy.

And to make it even MORE appealing than the traditional call-on-the-phone-to-order-a-pizza, I didn't have to talk to a single other human being. One step closer to a completely impersonal society. Just doing my part to thrust us into the cold, cold future.

The best part is I'm sitting here watching the status of my order via the "Pizza Tracker". It appears my pizzas are done being prepped and are now baking in the oven. Or so the screen tells me. I believe the screen.

This will be the mantra for the cold, impersonal, online future:

"Believe the screen."

I leave you with some facts from the pizza Fact-O-Matic that keeps supplying me with pizza facts while I wait. Isn't that nice?

"Americans eat an average of 46 slices of pizza a year."

"Pepperoni is the most popular U.S. pizza topping, then mushrooms, sausage, ham, and green peppers."

"Americans eat approximately 100 acres of pizza a day or 350 slices per second."

Good to know, good to know.


(Oooh it's so exciting, it's out of the oven and on it's way! I better go!)

January. Brrr.

You see all the bloggers doing the 365 thing, you know, a photo every day for a year? I like the idea, but only in theory. If I participated, most of the pictures from January would be of Jack playing Wii, Gemma climbing over the gate into the kitchen to sneak into food, and Toby still in his jammies long after lunch. It's pretty much the same thing every day around here with me wearing differing versions of warm and comforable clothes. What can you do? It's January in the midwest and it is cooooold.

Today we had a variation on our January theme. Gemma decided that it should be summer and that the couch makes a great swimming pool. I think she's on to something.

Nudity Might Be A Good Idea

The answer to the question: "What are you doing today Heth?"

My Own Goodnight Moon

What is it about the book Goodnight Moon? It's magical, I swear. I just can't figure it out, there isn't really anything special about it. The gaudy green and red illustrations aren't that impressive, but every time I start to read, "In the great green room, there was a telephone..." I suddenly have every one's attention. Weird.

So here is my experiment. What if I change the words? What if I personalize it? Will it still have the same power over my children or will it lose it's magic? Let's try it.

In the tiny green house
There was a salamander
And a possible mouse
And a picture of-

A girl with her future spouse

And there were remotes for the Wii all without batteries

And two triple bunks
And seven kids with spunk

And a big string bass
And not much space

And a desk and a drawer and a broke bi-fold door.

And a mom with a mullet who was scrubbing the floor

Goodnight house

Goodnight spouse

Goodnight girl with her future spouse

Goodnight laundry
And the possible mouse

Goodnight Wii
Goodnight batteries

Goodnight bunks

And goodnight spunk

Goodnight pile of boots
Goodnight all Jack's loot

Goodnight bass
Goodnight space

Goodnight desk
And goodnight drawer

Goodnight everybody

Goodnight door

And goodnight to the mom who was scrubbing the floor

Good night snow

Goodnight cold

Goodnight children who are getting too old

Confession

I still have Christmas decorations up. Don't judge me.

I took down the tree and that was as far as I got, but according to my Christmas Cactus, I've still got time.

I Guess I Really Am 32

Today was my birthday. I still have 35 minutes left. Some highlights:

• A new laptop bag for my The Golden Laptop
• BK french toast sticks and ciniminis for breakfast
  
• It ended up being a good hair day. (You never know with a mullet)
• Tiramisu
• Starbucks
• Wii
• Mom taking the kids for the afternoon and evening
• Dinner out
• Monster cookies (see a theme?)
  
• Packages in the mail
• Facebook birthday wishes
• Another year marked by God's faithfulness

It was perfect.

It's Wednesday.

Is that a profound title or what? So edgy. You'll have to forgive me, we are on our hundred and fifteenth snow day this winter and my right eye is starting to twitch a little bit. The girls just went out to play in the latest round of snow. The very snow that keeps sealing our housebound fate. And just to let you know why I'm not up for mother of the year...it's negative one outside. Negative one. Have fun girls. Happy frostbite to you. Desperate times people, desperate times....

No, they are fine. They have on so many layers they look like marshmallows. They have very specific directions to come back in after three minutes. They also tanked up on hot cocoa before they went out. Preventative measures and all of that. (Side note, do you ever get sick of my not-sentences? Too bad.)

Just a minute, I smell a very ripe diaper that needs to be taken care of immediately.

Ok, I'm back. That was fun.

I never told you about my new Golden Laptop did I? Nate found an amazing deal and hooked me up with my very own laptop. And guess what? No games allowed. I will not allow any games to be installed on this bad boy. No WarCraft. No Enemy Territory. No Star Wars Galaxies. Sorry boys, this one is game free. There has been a bit of controversy as to the color of the laptop. Nate says its mocha. I say gold.

Gold.
No question about it.

In other shocking news, Randall is still alive. I know! I can't believe it either. He's probably unaware as to the wonderful conditions in which he lives compared to what is going on outside right now. Being a salamander harassed by small children is much better than being a frozen salamandercicle. At least I think so. I guess if you ask him, he might welcome death if it means not suffering under the hands of Toby. Toby likes to put things in Randall's aquarium. Poor, poor Randall.

That's all for now. I know. What an exciting post. Hey, it's Wednesday, and a snow day at that. It's all I got.

Let's Meme!

The 2008 meme.

It's been while since I memed. But I might as well, this one looks easy enough and interesting in a reflective kind of way. The deal is that you take the first sentence of the first post of each month in 2008 and see if you notice any pattern or common theme. I saw it over at Joanne's. For added fun, I've thrown in a little commentary. And links, just because.

January: "We celebrated a little early this year, having family over for tacos and cake." (Good old Noelle and her New Year's Day birthday. She gets first post of the year, every year.)

February: "This is what is for dinner tonight."' (When I saw this again, it looked so good. I think I might just have to revisit this on my family soon. *evil laugh*)

March: "What do these words have in common?"

April: "I love watching The Biggest Loser." (Haven't been watching it this year, I kind of miss it.)

May: "People. Don't even try to tell me that this isn't the awesomest thing you have seen all day." (It is. It really, really is. Maybe even the awesomest thing of all time. And so is my sentence structure. People. is not a sentence.)

June: "It begins." (This began four months of running posts. All running, all the time.)

July: "Another reason I love The Great White." (There is Starbucks involved. Of course.)

August: "We are halfway through our marathon training."

September: "What a fun time that was."

October: "As soon as I shut off the video camera yesterday I ran upstairs to the kids' room to asses the damage." (This is the infamous misspelling post. And look, it's even in the first sentence! Way to start a post off right Heth!)

November: "For a couple weeks Nate and I were keeping a secret, we had plane tickets to the East side of the country." (Miss you Ann!)

December: "I just got done sorting socks." (This sure is a thrilling place isn't it?)

So that was fun. Reoccurring theme? Probably food. The majority of those posts have something to do with food. I wonder what the theme of '09 will be?

Go ahead and try it. It's a great way to perfect your cut and paste skills. Oh, and to reflect.

No. Not in the House.

It snowed last night, a fresh blanket of about a inch and a half. The wind drifted it a bit in some places but not in others. I got up early to head to the gym for a run and peeked out the front window, I could see that they hadn't plowed our street yet. Two lines of tire tracks ran straight down the middle of the road. An ambitious dog owner had already walked their dog, leaving big boot marks and frisky dog prints along the curb. The cat that we do not own but that lives in our garage left telling marks as to where he has been sleeping at night.

And then the most disturbing tracks of all.

A tiny perforated line from the garage, straight under our deck. Where it went from there, I can only dread. Dear Lord, not into our house I pray. A mouse. Could it be the same mouse that scared me last summer, hiding in the recycling pile in the corner of our garage? I hope so, and not his brother, cousin, or *shudder* offspring.

Please. No.

Quiet

Shhhhh. Do you hear that? Me neither.

The kids have gone back to school. No one is fighting over the Wii. Jack has free reign. Gemma has my full attention and can read her Sandra Boynton books to me uninterrupted. Toby slept in. Of course I miss the crew, but that was the longest Christmas break ever. They got out early in December for bad weather, they stayed here a day later for bad weather.

It was just time.

She's 12

She turned 12 and we took her out, alone. Noelle's birthday was on New Year's day so she kind of gets hosed every year. Usually everyone is dragging after a late New Year's Eve night and her birthday is spent with tired, grouchy people. We celebrated with family that evening and then last night Nate and I took her out for dinner and a movie.

She chose a Japanese Hibachi grill. You know, the kind where you all sit around the grill and the guy with the crazy knife skills lights a flaming onion volcano right in front of your face. Now wouldn't that be fun to see pictures of? I thought so too but apparently the company I was keeping wasn't too excited about me pulling out my camera and drawing attention to ourselves while the people around us were just trying to enjoy their noodles and whatnot. So no pictures. Then we headed to the movies. We had a bit of a wait until the next show so we killed time at Best Buy. Good times. Who do you suppose chose that store? Let me give you a hint.



It appears she takes after him, she hacked into some games on the demo netbook. Good work Welly.



We saw the movie Seven Pounds and then headed home. It was a really fun night with our new twelve year old. Happy Birthday Noelle. And keep up the growing just a little bit more. Only about a half a shoe size more and we can share and that will be a happy birthday present for both of us. Double the shoe choices. Wheee!