In Honor of Tina.....

Which Jane Austen heroine are you?
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A happy happy holiday

This is my favorite holiday. I know it isn't really recognized as a holiday by the general public, but it is my most favoritest day of the whole year. Today is the day that we all fall back. One extra hour of sleep. Hooray! Forget St. Patrick's day and the whole "pinch me if I'm not wearing green" thing. Who cares about whether or not we are getting six more weeks of winter Mr. Groundhog. I can live with six more weeks of winter, what I am most interested in is one day where I get one more hour of sleep. Have I mentioned that I love to sleep? Earlier in my life, I loved this day and used the extra hour on the night side of the day. As in, staying up an hour later just because it was really an hour earlier. Now, I just go to bed and sleep IN an hour later. So what the heck am I doing wasting this time blogging? I don't know. Why am I awake at almost eleven o'clock pm? I'm not really sure. So then, I'm off to bed. Oh precious, precious extra hour of sleep. I LOVE YOU. I want to MARRY you. But my sweet little hour of sleep, let's please not talk about what happens in the spring. It's just about the WORST day of the whole year. A day that should be mourned. I don't want to think about it. Good night.

I'm back.....mostly

Sorry, my blogging activity has been a little bit...what's the word..pathetic the last week or so. It's not that I don't have anything to say, it's just that I'm too tired to say it. Well, and I guess I don't really have anything to say.

I have a condition that experts like to call, "sleep deprived". My little Precious still thinks she's a one month old and wakes up every three hours or so during the night. I just took her in for her four month well baby check on Monday. (Fourteen pounds, ten ounces, YAY Gemma!) I was sitting in the little exam room with her, skimming over the "info" they give you every appointment. That would be the same info that I usually just throw away on my way out the door. I've already read it all five times, good gracious, I have it memorized. So as I'm sitting there reading over this stuff, trying to kill time while we wait for the doctor, I come across an interesting concept that I must have missed the first five times. "At four months, your baby may be sleeping four to six hours during the day." I held it up, "GEMMA! Did you read that?!" Four to six hours, get your act together girl!

Gemma is basically a diva baby. A "HELLO people! I'm over here and I'm cute and I want your full attention." kind of a baby. She seriously cries and gets ticked when I break eye contact. She screams when I set her down, but immediately stops when I pick her back up. How did it come to this? I know my little ones have all been a little high maintenance, but this is getting ridiculous. I love how people always ask, and I'm sure I have been guilty of it too: "Is she a good baby?" What do you say? "No, she's pure evil." or "Actually, she cries a lot, so we are thinking of sending her back, do you know if the stork takes UPS deliveries?" She's a precious little thing, so happy and smiley when she first wakes up, she just wants full attention throughout the day. And who can blame her, I want undivided attention too, and I tend to feed myself on demand, as in, "I demand some form of refined sugar RIGHT NOW!" Sometimes I can accommodate her eye contact preferences, but mostly not. Sometimes she's happy being entertained by siblings, but a lot of the time, not. So I end up plopping her on my left hip, and I guess I will have to accept the fact that I can work on perfect posture someday when the kids are in college. And maybe if I tape the little "well baby" article in her crib, she will read it and understand that she needs to step up the napping a bit.

This was all a reflection on her day time sleeping habits, I don't want to talk about nights. Its just a little depressing. I have always loved my sleep, it is a precious, precious commodity to me. And I honestly don't mind getting up with the babies, they have all been really good about just eating, and then going back to bed. Especially Gemma, she really does just eat, and then go back to sleep, in her own crib even. But every three hours for four months is catching up with me. And I admit, I'm getting up at 5:30 to run. I know, that would be the first logical thing to scratch, but it really helps me feel better, just not about sleeping. If my schedule were more accommodating, I would run in the evenings, but it just seems to work best to get it done first thing. So three night feedings and up at the crack of dawn are sucking my life away, but I know it's temporary, she will not wake up to nurse when she is in first grade. Gosh, at least I HOPE not!

Monday is trick or treating. We have already been to two parties and the candy total so far is at 6.4 pounds. I am like a crazy woman who can not control herself, forsaking all other forms of food, except candy, candy, candy. Nate and I both admit to waiting until the kids go to bed, and then digging through the bowl (very big bowl) for all the good stuff. The chocolate stuff. We pass right by all the Smarties and suckers and fruity Tootsie Rolls. It's all about the Twix and the Snickers and the Butterfingers and the Reeses Peanut Butter Cups. Sweet chocolate heaven. Maybe Monday I'll have some pics of our little trick or treaters. Or maybe not, I don't have a digital camera.

Happy Friday Internet! And it's "What Not to Wear" day, tonight at 9.....8 central, on TLC. Hooray! Oh how I love that show.

A saga

A few weeks ago, I posted a visual tribute to my husband's new car. I meant to write a little number about it too, but never got around to it. So now I am taking the lazy way out and I'll just link you to his blog. Happy reading.

Monday hodgepodge

1. There are seventeen jackets, coats and sweatshirts hanging from eight hooks by our front door. That doesn't include backpacks, purses and diaper bags.
2. Will Ferrell is hilarious in the movie Kicking and Screaming
3. I bought a great belt but I don't think it is THE belt.
4. Jack has a new fun phrase, "I'm super hungry."
5. Jack's new words are fun the first time he says them, and not so fun the next million times.
6. The shoes by the front door are multiplying as we speak.
7. I only have one load of laundry to do.
8. My husband is a greasemonkey who changes serpentine belts like a pro.
9. I love going to wedding dances with my brothers and sisters. They are a party waiting to happen.
10. I'm super excited to sleep in until seven tomorrow, let's hope the kids do.

Shopping for belts

Today I went belt shopping.

I was searching for something to hold up these low rise, dark wash beauties I picked up recently. I love jeans. I love new jeans. But I want a belt, a great belt. I would love a belt with a big old belt buckle, but I was pretty sure that I wasn't going to find that at our local NON-Super Walmart. I was right, no great belts. I guess I will just have to look for one on my next out-of-town shopping trip. And I'll just have to keep hitching up these pants.

So thenI went to the auto parts store, for another kind of belt. If you don't see our big old van barreling down the road, I'm pretty sure you will hear it. It's bad, really really bad. People turn and look. One of the belts in there is squeaking like crazy, and I was on a mission to fix it. So I bought a belt, a $30 belt. And it's not that cute, and it doesn't have a big old buckle. But it should take care of the little noise problem, that is if I can talk my own personal grease monkey into installing it for me.

Milk

Who ever coined the phrase "Don't cry over spilled milk" must have not had to clean it up. What a punk. Just so you know, Feb 11th is Don't-cry-over-spilled-milk day. I'll try not to cry on THAT day, but today, I'll cry.

I swear to you, we have had a glass of milk spilled everyday this week, a couple of times twice in a day. Today, it was Caedmon at lunch. It's getting a so old. They never spill plain old water.

Making me crazy

I'm going a little more serious today, so get ready. Here is a tidbit I bet you didn't know about me.

My to do lists are eating away at my soul.

Ok, maybe not really at my soul, but pretty close. I keep a running list in my mind of all the things that need to be done, and I'm figuring out that I judge my self worth by how many things are left to do. Isn't that stupid? Well, it's true. Here is a sample of some of the mental spam going on in this brain.

• repot the rootbound plant
• scrub the fingerprints off the walls
• eeew, clean the boys' bathroom
• mop the kitchen floor
• hello?! Bible study is tomorrow night, are you going to do your lesson?
• what about running?
• put clean sheets on beds
• dust, dust, dust, dust
• gotta run errands today
• how long has that toenail polish needed to come off those toes??!
• Etc.

The list is a mile long, there is so much more, but I don't want to bore you to death. I keep it running through my head all day long, and not in a positive way. In more of a "look at how much you aren't getting done, you SUCK!" kind of way. I read an interesting little quote over on Vashti's blog. She was talking about the Sabbath, and her pastor said that honoring the Sabbath lets us be "liberated from the need to be finished.". Ouch. The lightbulb came on for me when I read that. I realized that I have been trying to be finished. Now that I see it, I see how unattainable that is, especially in the profession that I am working in. I can count on one hand the times that the whole house has been perfectly clean. I am fully aware that the laundry will never be finished, as long as we aren't living in a nudist colony. (Wouldn't THAT be interesting?!) The thing is, look at what I have listed, both things have to do with the house. Am I a housekeeper? Well, kind of. But mainly I am hanging out around here during the day because I have chosen to be a MOM. There would sure be a lot less mess around here if no one was home during the day. So where is my Mom to do list? That is another post for another day. Back to your point Heather.

What about me? Will "I" ever be finished? Not my work, but me as a person, my growth emotionally and spiritually. I don't think so, not as long as I am breathing air. God will always have "one more thing" for me to work on. I don't think He is sitting up there with His list thinking, "Only 752 more things to change about Heather before I can fully love her." I think He fully loves me NOW, just the way I am. I need to fully love this life I have NOW and the people in it, in the middle of my lists.

I hope this lightbulb moment can carry over into how I actually live. Maybe my perspective on these daily chores will change. Maybe I will pour more time into these little souls entrusted to me, instead of worrying about mmediately wiping their sticky fingerprints off of the wall. I hope I can learn to see my self worth as more than jobs checked off of a list.

Cooking....Kid style

This evening I had some help in the kitchen. Tyler soloed his first batch of chocolate chip cookies. I figured, he's ten years old, he needs to learn how to cook alone. Someday, his wife will thank me, he will prepare gourmet meals for his family, just like his father. Nate is a great cook and I am completely confidant that whenever he takes over the kitchen, I eat well. There is usually cream of mushroom soup involved, but it is mostly yummy none the less. Back to my story. Tyler was cooking alone. I gave him "the rules" and talked him through the recipe a bit and then I pulled a Stacy and Clinton on him. I left him alone for awhile, to fend for himself, and then I came busting into the kitchen to save him from himself. And lo and behold, we had baking soda issues. It seems that he used a TABLESPOON of soda instead of a teaspoon. We decided to continue on with the recipe and see how they came out. I am proud to annonce that they are completely edible, but a little weird in the texture category. Eight out of ten Tyler. Good Job.

Noelle helped me make the main course. Egg, cheese and bacon on English muffins. While frying the bacon, she named each strip. Bob, Billy Bob, Billy, McKenna, and Monahagn were among them. As she gently laid each slice of cheese on each egg, she tucked them in and cooed, "sleep well my little angels".

What a well rested, heavenly feast we had tonight. With a dessert full of texture.

A third grade paper

This is a paper Noelle brought home from school last week. I used bold print to get the effect of third grade pencil pressure. I wish I had a scanner so you could see her handwriting and eraser marks, I just love reading their work.

My Not really good, horible, bad day! by Noelle #1

My bad day was a few days ago when I got home from school, my, purse was gone. But then I found it in my bothers room and all my fosils were all over the ground then I looked for my shark tooth I found in 2th grade, and my poleshed rock, and my meixacan $. But they were gone. So I asked him were they went. He said they were under the deck. So I made him come under with me then when we got there they were not there. I was so mad I was going to skream so loud it would heart your ears. But he said they were down stairs so I went there and I found them.

Six

Six reasons why I can't seem to lose these last six pounds.

1. The pumpkin bar I had for breakfast yesterday.
2. The other pumpkin bar I had for breakfast yesterday.
3. The pumpkin bar I had for lunch yesterday.
4. The creme brulee I had for dessert last night.
5. The caramel corn I had for breakfast this morning.
6. The apple caramel cake just took out of the oven.
   

I knew it.

You Are A: Monkey!

Monkeys are intelligent and agile, well-adapted for jungle life as they swing happily from tree to tree. As a monkey, you are a social animal who prefers a warm climate, eats a wide range of food and is quick to learn new things. A monkey's tiny primate features are irresistable, as is her gregarious personality!

You were almost a: Pony or a Puppy
You are least like a: Turtle or a Bear CubDiscover What Cute Animal You Are!

YAY! I'm tagged!

I have been tagged by Mopsy at Lifenut, and I am so excited about it. Hello Heather...you are a LOSER!! I'll admit, I've been wanting to do one of these meme thingies for a long time. Here it is, my meme debut.

This meme is a little like a chain letter, in that you put your blog on the bottom of the list and bump the other blogs up.


1. Today’s Lessons
2. Hind’s Feet
3. Dandelions & Roses
4. Lifenut
5. From Under the Laundry Pile

What were you doing 10 years ago?

I was stranded (living) in North Dakota with a seven month old baby boy, and a husband who was attending college and who was also working seven jobs. (ok, not seven, but it sure felt like it) I didn't know anyone and I missed my family terribly. And it was cold, very, very cold.

What were you doing 5 years ago?

I had a one year old, a three year old, and a kindergartener. I was trying to adjust to an actual "schedule". (having a kid in school) We had been in this house for a year and loved it. We were in our hometown again, and NOT in North Dakota.

What were you doing one year ago?

Keeping the secret that I was newly pregnant. Yay Gemma!

What were you doing yesterday?

Massive amounts of laundry in my new DREAM MACHINES!

5 snacks you enjoy

frosting on graham crackers
whipped cream straight out of the nozzle
Reese Puffs cereal, or any cereal for that matter
caramel corn
peanut butter M&M's

5 songs you know all the words to

"When You Say You Love Me" Josh Groban

"Pitiful" Blindside (ok, almost anything Blindside)

"The Secret" Emery

"Imaginary" Evanescence

"To Know You" Nichole Nordeman

5 things you would do if you had a million dollars

Buy a bigger house
Go to India to visit Krunal, our child we sponsor through World Vision
Pay off student loans and car loans
Buy lots of new shoes. Lots and lots and lots.
Take my whole extended family on vacation somewhere warm

5 things you like doing

sleeping
running
looking at family photo albums
eating dessert
spending Sunday afternoons at my parent's house

5 bad habits

I don't floss
Biting my nails while watching intense movies
Putting empty eggshells back in the carton
Eating cereal before going to bed
Weeding my flowerbeds but leaving little piles of pulled weeds on the lawn

5 things you would never wear again

A two piece swimming suit
legwarmers
braces/retainers
slouch socks
daisy dukes

5 favorite toys

My camera
my "large van"
mp3 player
my new washer and dryer
Gemma's wrap



Now I'm tagging, so I tag:

Bliggity.
T.
Angela.
Liese.

If you decide to participate, put your blog on the bottom of the list and bump #1 off the top.

Oooh, that was so much fun.

Bruce

My little brother Gabe's birthday was September 13th, and I didn't write a tribute post. So here it is, almost a whole month late. Gabe, may this whole next year be filled with Grumblecakes and Scrumpledumple. You deserve it, because you can grow a beard like a champ.

Laundry Status 10/11/05

We survived 2001, the year of the defective washing machines. Our carpeted family room was flooded, not once, but TWICE by two separate washing machines in a two month time span.

We survived the 2003-2005 dryer strike. Heating elements were going out on us left and right. We exhausted every for-sale add and swap sheet in the area. One dryer was burned up by *gasp* rocks put down the dryer vent from the outside. Blast those neighbor kids....oh wait, it couldn't have been OUR kids could it?

Today, October 11th, 2005, we entered the heavenly realm of laundry appliances. Tonight, behind my bi-fold laundry doors, sit a Whirlpool Duet washer and dryer set WITH the pedestals. Could we please observe a moment of silence........
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They rinse, they spin, and I'm pretty sure they make a mean peanut butter and jelly. There is nothing that these machines can't do. So BRING IT ON FAMILY! Go ahead, wear those jeans for half a day and throw them in the dirty clothes basket. Go ahead, have a couple more glasses of water before bed, I'm ready for ya. Pee on the comforter too! I can handle it. Hit me with your grass stained knees and bloody noses. I don't mind if you spill your chocolate milk down the front of you shirt either. I am ready for some serious laundry.

Thank you laundry fairies, thank you.

Lessons on success

It's a funny thing how a day goes down. I go in spurts of productiveness. Take today for example, I started out strong, up at the butt-crack-of-dawn for a quick run before the rest of the household awakens. I then simultaneously helped kids get ready for school while cleaning up the kitchen and picking up the living room. Look at me! I'm awesome! I can multi-task and my exercise for the day is out of the way. Wait, I spoke too soon, the middle of the night Gemmafest is catching up with me and I am feeling a mid morning drowsiness come over me. While Gemma naps and the two little boys stare at the TV screen, I doze on the couch. What happened to my adrenaline? I think it is napping too. And now I'm up, and I have plans of getting supper started in the middle of the day. Remember the lasagna day? I'm going for it, but this time I will step it up a notch and make HOMEMADE chicken and noodles. As in make-your-own-noodles, homemade. WOW! I'm a super star again! But it seems that supper's main-dish has hijacked my day. I ran out of flour and ended up at the noodle ER (my mom's). I spent two hours of my afternoon watching noodles dry. But all was not lost, in fact, the boys had a lot of fun playing with my sister Holly who is home for a week. They played with grasshoppers together, Bubba, if you are on a first name basis with the bug. Four to seven was it's usual chaotic whirlwind of homework and spelling lists and babies who want their Mama to hold them. But seven to nine turned out to be quite a fascinating two hours for me. I turned it on and knocked out some major house work. Laundry was put away, rooms were picked up, dishes were done. Camryn and I even pulled off a school project in the middle of it all.

I'm still trying to learn how to measure my success.It's a battle I have been fighting since my first day as a mother. With my head, feel like checking off to-do lists and having a tidy house, free of dust means I have accomplished what was needed, and that I'm good at what I do. My heart knows that it's the conversations at bedtime, the sitting down and explaining a math problem (I admit, that wasn't me, I referred him directly to Nate. 5th grade math is HARD!). It's the hugs and kisses and cleaning up after a bloody nose. It's the time spent admiring a bug named Bubba, the 15 diaper changes a day, the time just sitting there while the baby nurses. I don't always have to mulitask to be successful. Sometimes I just shouldn't. Sometimes they just need to know that they have Mom's full attention, and THAT is when I am a success. Frozen pizzas for supper tomorrow night, I promise.

Laundry 10/8

Today was a big laundry day

I am tallying them up in my head and I think I did over ten loads, give or take. But all the kids' sheets and comforters are clean and back on their beds. Go Me. I'm running a bit low on detergent, I expect it to run dry after 5 or 6 more loads. The fabric softener is still going strong though. I have another load of colors and two loads of blankets/rugs to go. Putting it all away, not that's another job for another day.

I know it's these laundry posts that keep you coming back. Isn't it just so exciting?
WOO HOO!

Answer revealed

I know the suspense must be killing you all, and that you have been thinking about it night and day since I posted. Here is the answer. On Thursday, I did not "make an elaborate dessert for my family". I really threw you with that one didn't I??!!

Yes, we did play in a haymow when we went to the pumpkin farm. Can you say "freezing?" It was very very cold out. The hayride was particularly cold, what with the 50 mile an hour winds. (ok, I may be exaggerating a bit) It was very cozy in the barn though, they had a nice little wood burning stove and we played in the haymow and the kids played on the rope swings. Fun, fun, fun. And we brought home pumpkins.

Yes, I did disassemble a wash a peed carseat. I guess a certain someone who is four, consumed a bit too much hot cocoa at the pumpkin farm and just couldn't hold it on the way home.

Yes, I did talk on the phone to a man from Pakistan for over an hour. We are having a bit of trouble with our internet phone. The sound quality is very choppy and broken lately so we needed to talk to technical support. It was a very interesting three way call between me, Nate, and a man I could not understand. I was really having to concentrate and think about every thing that was coming out of his mouth. It hurt my brain. And no, we did not get it fixed. So if you call me, you will be forwarded to my cell phone.

No, I did not make an elaborate dessert for my family. I wish I would have though. I would have easily traded a dessert for the peed carseat or the bilingual phone conversation without even thinking twice.

I wish I had more time, I would tell you about the half an hour checkout incident I had at Old Navy yesterday. I'm not complaining, the clothes I purchased are totally worth it. (YAY! New jeans!) They are even worth the Jack/Gemma meltdown in the van. Even though it was my poor Mom who had to deal with those two. Thanks Mom, you are a SuperStar grandma.

Alas, there are floors to be mopped*, off to my bucket and sponge.

*Last night we went to Nate's parents' for a birthday party. The kids were having a great time sliding around on the hardwood floors in their socks. I was baffled as to why that was such a new experience for them until I realized that it's because there is no sliding on our orange vinyl kitchen floor, only trying to sliding and screeching to a sticky halt. Oomah's floors are clean and slippery. What a new concept!

I watch too much PBS kids

Three of these things belong together
Three of these things are kind of the same
Can you guess which one of these doesn't belong here?
Now it's time to play our game (time to play our game).

Guess which of of these things did I NOT do today:

1. Disassemble and wash a peed car seat.
2. Talk on the phone to a man from Pakistan for an hour
3. Make an elaborate dessert for my family
4. Play in a haymow

Oh, and on a different note, I discovered a tooth coming through in little Gemma's gums. I am not even kidding, the girl is sprouting teeth. I'm so proud of her, what an early bloomer she is turning out to be. Do I hear an awwwwww?

Is it just me?