14 Years

Then

Now

Happy Anniversary Nate.

Christmas is Over. Wow, That Was Fun.

Here is my Christmas recap, four days later.

We celebrated with Nate's parents a week early. They were the guilty party who bestowed upon us the new love of my life, Guitar Hero World Tour. And also, try not to be jealous but we all got these:

The only thing better than actually going to Treasure City, is reliving that experience everyday by wearing the shirt.

On Christmas Eve morning, we had our own Christmas at our house. Gemma's dreams came true and she donned the makings of a "pink princess". We weren't really sure what that entailed but we were happy that she was pleased with our interpretation. An interpretation that slightly resembles a square-dancer waving a wand.


The girls took their gaming to a whole new level with DS for each that matches their pajamas. Because if we are going to game, we are going to do it with style.


Don't worry, the boys got presents too, and I promise they didn't open lumps of coal. It was tempting though...

That night we continued the family tradition of sleeping over at my parents' along with all of my siblings. There are 18 of us in that house. Let that sink in for a little bit. Actually, despite what you would think, it's really, really fun. We look forward to it all year. On Christmas morning, we all get up early and Dad shares his Christmas letter to us. There are usually lots of tears. Then the chaos begins. So much wrapping paper. I mean, check it out.


Please forgive me for that dark, nasty photo. It was before I got MY NEW LENS. I love, love, love it. Same lighting conditions, different lens:


Notice his sweet hat. My sister Holly knitted it. She may have Lyme's disease, but she is turning lemons into lemonade and using this down time to knit like no other. She even learned mittens and I am sporting some pretty cute ones thanks to her.

Ok, so then we headed down to my Grandparent's house and had one more Christmas there. This is where the annual wrapping paper war happens. Man, that is some serious stuff. Nate even suited up in homemade armor, hoping to survive unharmed.


Since then, we have had fun game nights and snacks. The kids are off until next week and we are spending a whole lot of time with the Wii. I'm really excited about getting this house put back together. It looks like someone opened the front door, threw in a bunch of presents, and then shook the place like a snow globe. It's that bad.

I'll leave you with this picture of the crew. It's a Christmas miracle, no one blinked, everyone is looking at the camera, and no one is crying.

Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Hello Guitar Hero

We are a little behind the times. We finally got Guitar Hero. Thanks Jim and Yvonne! That game is genius, genius I tell you. Where has it been all my life? So my Christmas cards are all sitting here in a stack, none addressed or stamped. Guitar Hero is to blame. Even the kids are in love with it.

But we play with our own rules. Style points. None of this standing still, glassy eyed at the screen. And don't you dare sit on the couch and play. You will get zero style points. You had BETTER rock out, and I am not afraid to rock out. Either is Gemma. Or my mom.



So Merry Christmas everyone.

If you need me, I'll be dancing around my living room with a guitar strapped to my shoulder rocking out to "Spiderwebs" until the wee hours of the morning.

One Week Out

My Christmas/Winter observations and ponderings so far:

Number one: Wherever the socks went, the gloves and mittens have joined them. I must be missing something here because even the new gray gloves I just bought for a certain child (that will remain unnamed) didn't even last a week. The remaining lonely glove has now joined the three other right handed mittens without mates in the top drawer of the hat and mitten bins.

Number two: It has become readily apparent that my kids have a different interpretation of the nativity story:


Number three: The lights on the Christmas tree are sticky and covered in finger prints. Look closely. I tired to capture it.


Number four: Last night the kids had their last practice for the Christmas program coming up on Sunday night. I'm hoping that this year none of my kids feel the need to make a performance that stands out. Let me set this up for you. What we have here is last year's video. Initially it appears that the culprit is Caedmon, the squirrely kid in the striped sweater. Not so. Jack strikes again.

Ringing Bell

Last Saturday I had the privilege of doing something I have never done before. I rang the Salvation Army bell. At the last minute, they needed someone to step in and fill an empty slot so I went along with Noelle and one of her friends. We had a two hour time slot outside of Walmart on a fairly warm but windy day. As soon as the sun started to set, my toes started to lose feeling. We kept warm with cocoa purchased at the little cafe right inside the door.

The two hours passed fairly quickly, people coming and going constantly, some with a couple bags, others with carts piled high. Many people stopped and smiled as they put in some change or some bills. We sang for awhile. Well, the girls did. We repeated jingle bells about a hundred thousand times.

There was one moment that I will remember fondly. I watched a family approach from across the parking lot, a mom and her friend and a few kids. When they were about a stone's throw away, one of the boys picked up the pace and practically ran, pulling away from the rest of his family. I'd say he was about 9 years old or so. I thought he was just trying to get inside sooner where it was nice and warm. Nope. He ran straight towards us and our bucket. With a shy smile he reached in his pocket and pulled out a little black wallet. As he opened it I could see four or five bills all in a row. He pulled out a dollar and stuffed it into the bucket and then turned and ran back to his mom as we thanked him and called out Merry Christmas. His mom smiled at me and as they walked into the store I heard her ask him, "Did you use one of the dollars in your wallet? Good job buddy."

It was a sweet moment. A little boy giving out of his own wallet, on his own. No one putting change in his hand, no one coaxing him to the bucket.

Just precious.

Why I Haven't Been Blogging

There is a reason I haven't been blogging much. I'm about seven years behind the times on this one.


I discovered podcasts.

I remember a friend talking about podcasts about three years ago and I was like..."whatever, I don't even know what that is." My sister has been telling for a few months now about some amazing messages she has been listening to and I finally succumbed to the peer pressure. And that was it, I was sucked in. Deeply.

I loaded up my iPod with about 50 some podcasts. I can't stop listening to them. I always used to make fun of people who would walk through public places with headphones wedged in their ears. People shopping at Walmart and while listening to their iPod? Really? Can't you just shut it off for a half an hour? I'm on the verge of becoming one of them. I drive through town with my coat collar pulled up to my chin to hide the cords attached to my earbuds. It's a great way to drown out the fighting in the back seat. Turn the volume up on high and ignore your children while listening to a preacher talk about the grace of God. Am I the only one who sees the irony in that?

The two podcasts that I'm subscribed to and working my way through right now are Mark Driscoll at Mars Hill Church in Seattle. The other is Matt Chandler at The Village somewhere in Texas. Mark Driscoll just finished up a series called The Peasant Princess teaching on the Song of Solomon. Oh my goodness. I was blown away. Loved it.

So if you see me around town and try to talk to me and I don't answer you, it's not that I don't like you or am trying to be rude. Most likely I'm listening to a podcast. Sorry.

Someone Stole the Frankencense

Jack is giving the baby Jesus some shelf supports to celebrate His birth. I'm sure He'll be thrilled, what with His carpentry skills and all.

Everyone Needs a Match

I just got done sorting socks.

I ended up just dumping the sock basket in the middle of the floor and started matching. I am not exaggerating when I say that I ended up with 70 socks that did not have a match.

70.

Not seventeen, seventy.

Good gracious.

I Dare To Wear

Mama Belle is hosting a little fashion challenge over at her place. She is daring us to wear that one thing that takes us out of our comfort zone. Well, I'm always up for a fashion challenge. Fashion challenge is my middle name. In fact, I was such an over achiever that I went a day early. (Either that or I'm breaking the rules.)


I went for it. I wore my new high waisted skirt to church. It was scary but I did it and I came out alive. High waisted skirts are all over Hollywood but they haven't quite made it to the rural Midwest yet. Well actually, they have been around here for a long time but they go by another name. High waisted skirts are closely related to the "mom jean". I guess that would technically make it a "mom skirt".

Mom jeans and mullets. I'm trying to bring it all back.

I'm Thankful That I'm Royalty

Yes, it's official. I have a crown.

After a bit of a delay, I finally got a real, white, pretty, eye tooth. Or as I like to call it, my iTooth. It ended up being quite the experience. The first appointment was a slam dunk. Everything went well and she put a temporary on and sent me on my way with instructions to carry toothpaste in my pocket in case it came off. Very reassuring. The second appointment didn't go so well. The tooth came back from the lab and she wasn't happy with how it looked, with the shape of it. I laid there in the chair as she put it in place and I watched her and the assistant exchange a curious but knowing look. I knew right away something was wrong. She didn't end up using it because, in her words, "it looked like a snaggletooth." Snaggletooth is not the look I am going for here. So she put the temporary back on and told the lab they needed to try again.

I cried. Because I'm mature like that. But I waited until I got home to cry, crying at the dentist's office is reserved for novocaine needles but even then it's just silent tears that escape the corners of your eyes against your will. So I had two more weeks with a temporary. Then on Monday I went in for my coronation. No novocaine was needed. She popped that baby in and did a little tweaking. Mostly painless. She did mess with my gums a lot and after doing so she made the most interesting comment. "Your tissues are going to be upset." All I could picture was being chased down by an angry box of Kleenex.

So number one on my Thankful list this year is a very superficial, very cosmetic, "I'm thankful for my smile." Since I was 14 years old I've dealt with an iTooth that didn't fit with the rest of my teeth. Now it finally does.

I have all of the typical things to be Thankful for. All the things I take for granted on regular old days. God forgive me for being so dismissive of huge blessings in my life.

My kids haven't gotten the thankfulness memo yet. Not ten minutes into Thanksgiving Eve and they were at each other's throats. There is no school today and it is very, very clear that they are not at all thankful for each other's presence. Or for the selection of cereal. Or for one t.v. to be shared by all. Looks like a crash course in Thankfulness is on the agenda for the day. Thankfulness boot camp.

It will involve cleaning for sure.

We Put Ketchup On Our Ketchup

Ketchup runs through our veins, not blood. It's genetic. I submit exhibit A. My Dad. Ketchuping his eggs while wearing the very appropriate shirt I bought him for Father's Day.

Nate's condiment of choice is Cookies Bar "B" "Q" sauce. No other barbecue sauce counts. Pity the wife who tries to buy a different brand.

So if a little is a good thing, then more must be awesome.

There is no such thing as "too much condiment".


.

Shattered Expectations

Nate really had his heart set on trying the new Gourmet Mushroom Swissburger from a certain fast food chain.




False advertising?

I Hope This Doesn't Mean She Has Been Feeding Him Worms

This morning, an ever chipper and enthusiastic Gemma told me, with many exclamation marks, that: "Mom! Mom! I like Toby! and Lizzy! (grandma's dog) and Randall! and all our pets!"

Two things:

1. Randall the salamander is our only pet...that I am aware of.
   
2. Toby is her little brother.
   

But whatever.

Quick, Before Someone Puts Something Down

For Posterity's Sake

It's no secret that I tend to be a little...cluttery. Every flat surface in this house is fair game and everyone, myself included, puts things down where it is most convenient, not where the item necessarily belongs. Yesterday something came over me, I'm not sure what, but I got on a roll and tackled my kitchen counter. You know that I don't mean I literally tackled it don't you? That would be an interesting battle. And an unevenly matched battle, me being inferior.

Let me just give you a cross sampling of the various things I found on the kitchen counter. Keep that in mind, this was the kitchen counter.

• A VHS tape
• A tree!! Similar to the ones they give the kids at school on arbor day.
• A flashlight
• 16 Magnetix balls
• hydrocortisone cream, Desitin, and three tubes of carmex
• tattoo sleeves
• all the hardware for a wardrobe that still isn't assembled

Do I need to keep going? Because I can. For a long, long time.

It took me over four hours to clean that much counter space. FOUR HOURS PEOPLE! That is just not right. Notice I didn't post a picture of the before. It was just to shocking, too horrific. I'm really hoping that now that it is cleared off, it will last for more than just a couple hours or even a couple days. This must be apalling to those of you who manage to keep you counters this organzized all of the time. I have these two things to say to you:

1. You must be an alien.
2. You don't live with my family.

It's not me. I swear. I am not the cuplrit here. I have nothing to do with it. If I had no children or husband, my house would be eternally spotless and all counters sparkling at all times.

I'm gonna just keep telling myself that.

Breathing. It's A Good Thing To Be Able To Do Well

Whew!

What day is it? Wednesday?

I have spent the last four days at the hospital with Noelle. Bronchitis gone bad, really bad. She had been fighting a cough for few weeks. On Sunday morning she was struggling to get a deep breath at all, her breathing was rapid and shallow so I took her in to the ER. I didn't expect that they would keep her there until today. We are home now and she is doing much better.

Bless her sweet, sweet heart.

What Not To Wear Would Say No.

(Disclaimer: this post is not for men. Or for the faint of heart. I'm just warning you.)

It has turned cold. Suddenly.

Earlier this week I ran in capris but for this morning's run I pulled out all of the cold weather clothes. The temperature was right at freezing, 32 degrees, so I wore running tights, a long sleeved shirt, a vest, a hat, and gloves. The tights are something new for me. In the past we have gone inside to the treadmill at the first sign of cold weather but this year we are tough. This year Kelsey and I have decided to stay out as long as possible until there is ice on the ground ready to slip us up or the threat of frostbite. Thus the tights. And they live up to their name. They are tiiiiight. But we run in the morning, in the dark and no one is ever around to be traumatized by my tights.

This morning we ran 8 miles. It was beautiful out on the trail. We were pretty much the only ones out there, the snow was falling softly and all was silent except for our constant stream of conversation. The trees have all shed their leaves now and the fields were dusted with a sprinkling of white powder. Serene.

We finished up at our cars and stood and stretched for a bit. It was still fairly early but light out. We parted ways and I jumped in my car and started it up, trying to get warm. I pulled out of the parking lot and was about to make a right to head home when I remembered that I needed a few things at the grocery store. I went left instead. I was feeling pretty good about how much I was going to accomplish before 9 am, a good run, getting the fridge stocked back up, yay! I grabbed my purse off of the passenger seat and headed in to the store. It was as I came up to the door that I caught a glimpse of myself in the reflection and abruptly remembered. I was wearing tights. Tight tights.

It was too late, I was past the point of no return. I have never been so self conscience while grocery shopping in my whole life. I was aware of every step I took and where every other customer was in relation to my backside. I strategically maneuvered my way to the broccoli, to the Mayo, to the pasta. I spent as little time as possible at the meat counter, feeling very aware of the rump roast staring at me from the other side of the glass. It seemed that there were a lot more teenage boys working this Saturday morning shift than usual. As I bent over into the freezer case and reached for a bag of mixed veggies, I closed my eyes and sent up a prayer beseeching God to strike all shoppers in aisle six with temporary blindness for just a few seconds. I paid quickly and me and my panty lines exited the store as fast as humanly possible. It was the fastest grocery shopping I have ever done.

A sprint.

Records were broken.

I am a much humbler person than I was just hours ago.

I Surprised Her Real Good

For a couple weeks Nate and I were keeping a secret, we had plane tickets to the East side of the country. We had hopes of surprising Nate's sister Ann and her husband Eric. They moved out there last year and had resigned themselves to the fact that it was just too far away for us to drag the whole crew out for a visit. Driving would take us weeks at the pace we travel, with bathroom breaks every five miles. Can you imagine how angry the people behind us in the security line at the airport would be if we flew out there with the whole crew? Taking off four hundred pairs of shoes and jamming up the x-ray machine with all of our carry-ons? What a nightmare.

But what if somehow, someway, just Nate and I could sneak away for a couple days? They would never see that one coming. My parents were more than willing to take the kids so that we could complete this mission of secrecy. Nate's parents were in on the plan, they were out there visiting Ann and Eric themselves and quickly came up with a great story that would allow them to sneak away and pick us up at the airport.

Saturday morning, the plan commenced. We boarded a plane and began our kidless journey. We were both giddy with anticipation, and also with copious amounts of Starbucks purchased along the way. Send me on any kind of a trip and I will order a venti caramel macchiato at every Starbucks I see. Nate's parents picked us up right on time and the four of us giggled practically all the way back to the house. About a block away they dropped us off and they went ahead without us. We waited a few minutes and then walked right up the sidewalk and rang the door bell. Here is what took place next.

It was awesome.

(Her perspective of the whole thing is here.)

Victim Number Two

The Great White strikes again.
It's dangerous business living in our driveway.
Skateboard now joins tricycle up in toy heaven.

Trick Or Treat Aftermath

Look what I found when I went to roll the trundle bed away. Half eaten secret stashes. Are they my kids or what?!


Tonight we trick or treated. Not sure why our town decided not to trick or treat on the actual night of the 31st, but whatever.

After school we carved pumpkins. Might as well try to cram as much craziness into one day as possible. It's a good motto to live by. You can tell from the expressions how they felt about pumpkin guts. Poor, poor, traumatized Camryn.


Please don't judge me by my kitchen walls. So I filled some nail holes and never painted over them. Does that make me a bad person?

"I get to use a knife and touch this awesome slimy stuff inside this pumpkin? Awesome. This is the best day ever."

More pictures of my kids dressed up . Because it's my blog. Notice that Gemma and Jack have decided to wear something different than they did last night. The hulk costume is a classic around here. It will never die.

The jack o' lanterns, all lit up.


And finally, the loot. Oh good gracious, I can feel my blood sugar levels rising just looking at that pile. If we make it out of the next couple days without slipping into a sugar induced coma, it's going to be a miracle.


I'm going to have to run a marathon every day to burn off the amount of chocolate I'm consuming. I'm not even kidding.

Costumes Revealed

Good guesses, good guesses. But sorry, none of you guessed right.

Last night was our church's Harvest party and we pulled all the costumes together just in time.

Here we have Noelle, the garden gnome, making her most garden gnome-ish type face:


Then there was Camryn, the Geisha:


Caedmon was a caveman. See how warm he is in this photo, all bare chested and barefooted? This photo was taken before he had his messy caveman hair and mascaraed uni-brow and beard. Gemma threw on one of the many princess dresses from the dress up box. Lay-Zee Heth.




Poor Tyler, Jack, and Toby. The three kids who don't exist in photo form. Ty was some sort of an escaped convict complete with dreadlock wig, sparkly bling, orange jumpsuit, and tattooed arms. Jack wore Tyler's old Link costume. Toby wore a dragon costume. Pull it over his head and voila, dragon. Again, hooray for the kids who make it easy on Mom.

I made a couple of cakes for the cake walk. These were fun. And time consuming.


We scored on the candy again. I had my own little stash of Reeses in my shirt pocket all night, just incase. Incase what? I don't know, but just in case. The big green popcorn bowl is full of candy once again and we haven't even trick or treated yet. That's tonight.

I am fully aware that as I type this, the littlest hooligans are up in their room gorgeing themselves with candy they secretly stole from the kitchen. Am I stopping them? No, I am not. Go ahead, make yourselves sick. I've tried to hide it and this is what happens. (That is one of my most favorite photos ever.)

Now excuse me while I go pour another cup of coffee with a couple mini Snickers on the side.