What Do You Think?

A while ago I did a poll on what kind of flooring we should get to replace our super-ugly linoleum. And, we gave it considerable thought, because we need it so badly. BUT, a bigger need is there and we can't afford to do both. So, we decided to go with the greater of the two needs and that why we're looking now to replace our couches. We bought our couches right before we moved from NY. So, it's been nearly 9 yrs. They've gone through 3 babies, toddlers, and now small children and they just weren't able to survive the onslaught. I have taken them apart and stitched them back up again. They have actually seen many surgeries, but to no avail. It only slightly prolonged their deaths. The springs are poking through and making holes in the fabric. It's ripping in all the corners and they're sagging. They are in a sorry state. Not sorry enough to be thrown away, but sorry enough to become basement furniture. :-) Anyway, we went out and did a little price shopping - see what's out there, what we like, and how much it potentially could cost us. Egads!!! Not pretty. But here are our favorite options (keeping in mind the throw pillows will be changing no matter what they come with)....



MY favorite choice is this lovely sectional. I wouldn't be crazy enough to get it in cream. Not with 3 little kids who enjoy chocolate and greasy popcorn and all those fun, stainable items. We would get it in a dark sage green color. Probably. Anyway, the thing I like about it is it has recliners on each end and a lot of space for people to sit on. Plus, I like the clean lines of it. Just looks cozy. BUT, the big BUT is, it costs the most. Like twice what we considered paying. Sucks, but I still love it.

Next is PETE'S favorite. And, my second favorite. It's a chocolate brown leather couch and loveseat set. Each couch has 2 recliners, making it a total of 4, and it's super comfortable. Now, I didn't think going into this that recliners would be important, but honestly it gives us more seating and my dad, Pete's dad... let's just say "men in general" .... like recliners. So, I think that's a definite plus. Now, I'm not a HUGE fan of the bubbley backs, but I don't think it's ugly or anything. Just not the straight backs that I like. There are two downsides that we're concerned about - one being our psychotic cat who likes to dig her claws into the couches as she barrells up to bite us. And, secondly, it's the second most expensive. Being only $200 less than the sectional. So, that's another choice.

This is a fake leather (can't remember it's fancy name), but has the lines I like and the color I like. Plus, it's in our budget. But, again, we worry about the psycho cat issue. And, it's not as comfortable, though not bad. Oh, and NO recliners.

Both of these are similiar styles, just different colors and are very comfortable. They are pretty much in our price range as well and wouldn't have the cat issues that we're worried about. Just not as great as the sectional. And, again, NO recliners.

So, I pose this once again to you all - who helped so famously with our floor issues (though those results will be held for a later date when we have an extra couple thousand laying around or happen to find about 50 boxes of flooring laying at the side of the road sometime .... it could happen!). So, I will post a poll at the right and I ask that you vote with what you think is the best choice. We'll take that into consideration when we go to buy them. And, I HOPE that we'll buy them by the end of the month. I don't know how much longer our much-loved sofas will last with the state that they're in at the moment. Thanks for your help!!!

Pom-Pom Practice

Today Madie had her Ottawa Poms practice. Once a year the high school girls at Ottawa High School have a camp where girls from preschool up to 8th grade can come and learn a routine, then perform it during a high school basketball game. They give her a t-shirt and they have snacks and it's just a lot of fun! She did it last year for the first time and we all had a really great time watching her and enjoying the basketball game. It was funny for me last year, because it was the first time I had been to a HS b-ball game in probably 10-14 yrs. I used to go to every single basketball game - home or away - all through high school. But, once I was in college and married, well, I didn't go anymore. So, not only is it fun for me to be at a b-ball game again and enjoy the atmosphere of that, it's even better, because I get to enjoy Madie's performance as well! Today was just the practice, but after a few hours, we were allowed to come back and watch all the kids do their routines.





Here's a picture of her practicing. You can see there are lots of girls in her group. I circled her and put an arrow, so you can see where she is. She's the short one in pink work-out pants. :-)

Then the girls all sat and watched as all the other groups did their routines. Livie wants to be in it next year! Can't wait!

Here's a picture of Madie doing some of her moves. Not easy to catch from the balcony bleachers or while she's moving around, but here's what I got.

Then at the very end, the whole team of Pom-Pom girls led the whole group of girls in a silly little dance thing. Madie's hidden by the rockettes' line. ;-) All in all, it was a really fun morning and we're really looking forward to seeing her in action next Friday at the game!!

Flashback Friday

Well, it is Flashback Friday again and I found a picture of Madie and Noah when they were 4 and 2. It was with pictures of me when I was pregnant with Olivia, so that should be about their right ages. Anyway, this was the first year after we had our yard redone. When we moved into our house, it was newly built, so there was no landscaping at all. In fact with had 16 spindly, old trees in our yard that had poison ivy and the patio slab had a big drop-off on one side that poor Madie fell off of a few times. It was a disaster. So one fall we had a tree service come and cut down all our trees. Then the next summer, we had a guy come and completely redo our yard. Levelled it out, brought in black dirt and we did some landscaping. The following year (the year of this picture) we planted our first garden. And, in that garden we planted a bunch of sunflowers. They were beautiful!!! Haven't gotten them to grow like that since. There were 10 giant sunflowers - taller than Pete even - and when the time came to cut them down, we saved all the heads and the kids helped us get out all the seeds. You can see they're wearing their little garden gloves and we filled up an entire large popcorn bowl with them. I wanted to find a picture that would remind me of summer and warm weather, since we're surrounded by snow and cold. And, I remember this afternoon being a really fun one for us. Weren't they cuties?!!! :-)

The Conspiracy Continues

Exhibit A:







As I said in the "Gymnastics" post, I had a bit more to tell you about the little green ball in the corner of her picture there. You will see in Exhibit A why I was so distressed about that inconspicuous blob. Out of all their plastic veggies, they chose the worst possible one they could think of......broccoli. My radar senses zoned into it as soon as I entered the room. I looked around, trying to figure out if I could somehow leap for it, knocking it off the bar and under a mat when no one was looking, but unfortunately all the other children and parents had already entered the room and, I'm sad to say, my ninja skills are lacking, so I had to let it be. When Coach Nancy explained how they were to step over the veggies and walk across to the next bar, I thought, "maybe I could just bipass the bar all together". That way Livie wouldn't see it and wouldn't be tempted to get near it. But, as soon as she got the opportunity, she ran over and spotted it! And, not only did she spot it, but as you'll see above, she picked it up and tried to eat it! "NOOOOOOO!!!!" I shouted!!! Trying to scare her into dropping it. The broccoli just turned and gave me a smirk. It knew it was winning. I tried to render it impotent by giving it a glare, but it wouldn't stop. Then as the parents nearby and the coach heard my cries against the broccoli, they turned to me with looks of confusion. "Don't you like broccoli" they asked. I gathered my strength and told them that we do not allow that weed in our house. I told them about how I've spoken out against it since they were born, only to see it pull my kids in more and more. They all looked me with disdain. "How could I not let them eat broccoli? It's so good for them." they spewed. Again, the broccoli sat in Livie's hand mocking me. Smiling now and growing bigger and stronger with each word spoken by them, I used my telepathic abilities to speak directly to the vile green sprout. "I know you think you have won, you little plastic piece of crap, but you will not win. You can smirk and laugh all you want, but I will have my victory. Just you wait." The broccoli, not daunted, turned from me and continued on with it's evil plan. After the conspiritors stopped with their exclamations of devotion, I slid into the corner, waiting for my moment of glory. Livie had moved on to the beams by now and still I sat in wait. I would have my revenge. As they moved into the next room, "I'm going to go put Livie's sweatshirt away," I called. My time to strike was now! I grabbed at the broccoli, pulling it towards me, it's evil burning into my skin. We wrestled and fought! He was not going to go down without a fight! But upon finding a clear opening, I shoved it under a mat, far away from the watchful eyes of the innocent. There its powers remain useless and it cannot unleash its fury to those around it. It may have gotten to my daughter, but by God it wouldn't destroy any more children - at least not on my watch. So, I waltzed back in, still hearing the faint hissing noise it was still making under the large blue mat. But, I knew that it was gone. But, as I watched my sweet little girl continue playing in the big room, I wondered, if the broccoli can influltrate a building of that size where young, impressionable children come to play, IN knowing support of the adults under its watch, where else will it turn up? Their classrooms? Church?! Are there no safe places left? All I can say to those out there, don't shy away from their evil. Face it head on. The future of our children....of, dare I say, our world, is at stake here. Do I have scars from our encounter today? Yes. But, in the end, it's worth it. Worth it if I saved but one person from the deadly wrath of a weed betrayed.

Gymnastics

I haven't taken pictures of Olivia in her gymnastics class since she first started back in Sept, so I thought I'd show you some of the things she's learned since that first time. As you can see in the picture above, she is super-excited to be there! She loves gymnastics so much!

We usually meet for group time at the beginning and do stretches and dance to a couple songs before we move into the "beam and bars" room. This is one of the beams where she has to step over stuff. This week they stepped over vegetables. You'll notice in the far left corner something green. Yeah, well, let's just say I have a post coming all about that green ball there. Not enjoyable!!!!

Here's another beam she crawled on. She had to step over the orange cones, then crawl through the hula hoop. It was a little more difficult, but she's really gotten her balance down now after these past few months. She did a good job. :-)

After they spend about 5-10 min in the b&b room, they go to the tumbling room. She had to jump off a spring board onto the yellow thingy and then jump down to the yellow mat and say "TaDa!". She's so little, that the spring board doesn't really move when she jumps on it, but she still liked it and did it several times.

After they finish in those rooms, they move into the big, giant room full of adult-sized trampolines and tumble track and beams and bars. They don't use the big stuff, but they can jump on the trampolines. This one is called the tumble track. It's really long and they practice their jumps on it.

Here she is hanging on the side of an adult bar thing. You can see all the chalk leftover from the teenagers and bigger kids. :-)

Then they get to do an obstacle course on the big floor. They make these up all different ways each week. It's fun for all of them.

And, lately, the coach has been inflating their giant slide each week. To say that the kids get excited when this happens is an understatement. It's got an inflatable obstacle course that's in back of it, so they go through there and they up the slide and down the slide. They do that for as long as they can, pushing it closer and closer to the end of class as possible. Livie always seem to want to go on her tummy.

Lastly, we do a parachute. Sometimes they put balls on it and sometimes they make a tent out of it. Livie always wants to make the tent and they did today, so she was excited. She also ALWAYS has to hold a handle on the blue triangle. Since, blue is her favorite color, of course. Her group has changed kids several times. Little Zach, who's only 2 1/2 has been there the whole time with her. He comes with his grandma. Then we had Lana who started coming in Dec and we have 2 new little girls who just started last week - Addison and Hailey. Lana just turned 3 like Livie and then Hailey isn't even 2 and Addison just turned 2. So, lots of ages, but sooooo much fun! Anyway, thought I'd share a little bit of Livie's fun gymnastics time with you all. This will probably be her only year in it, since she wants to start dance in the fall. But, we might put all 3 kids in the summer program. I think they'd love it!

Favorite Books

I haven't done an interview with the kids lately, so I decided I'd see what their favorite book was and why. Granted, it changes frequently, but this is their favorite book as of right now. Madie's favorite book is her giant dinosaur book. Noah's is his giant planet book. And, Olivia's is her touch-and-feel dinosaur book. Here are their interviews....



Me: So, Madie, why is this your favorite book?
Madie: Because I love learning about the history of dinosaurs and what they hunt and eat and stuff.
Me: Do you like any particular dinosaur in the book?
Madie: I like the Spinosaurus and the Allosaurus and the Tyrannosaurus Rex.
Me: Why?
Madie: Because (sigh) I don't know. NO! Wait, I know! Because they hunt and I think it's cool.
Me: What do they hunt?
Madie: They hunt other dinosaurs.
Me: Isn't it gross to see them hunt and kill other dinosaurs?
Madie: It's not gross. To me, it's not gross.
Me: What IS gross then? (as I whisper to her...'say broccoli!')
Madie: When you get to see the other dinosaurs' blood. 'Cause THAT'S gross.
Me: Thank you Madie for your time.

Me: Noah, why is this your favorite book?
Noah: 'Cause it has cool pictures in it. Oh! And, because I love planets.

Me: Why do you like this page so much?

Noah: 'Cause I like the BIG one.

Me: What IS the big one?
Noah: (points).. THAT one! The big red space.

Me: Do you know what that is?

Noah: It's a red giant.

Me: What's a red giant?

Noah: It's a, well, ok, ok, a red giant is really a dying sun.

Me: Really?!

Noah: Yeah! I like red giants. I just like it.

Me: Anything else you want to tell me about your book?
Noah: Red Giants are big too.

Me: Doesn't the word "giant" kind of explain that they're big? What if they were called "Red Babies"? What would that mean?

Noah: Well, it might mean that they are baby, tiny ones.

Me: Cool. Anything else to add to our interview?

Noah: My second favorite page is the one with the, hmmm, here, I'll show you. (runs back to his room) .... (he's back) Here I'll show you. (many minutes pass.............) Here it is! Mira.

Me: What is MIRA?

Noah: It's a type of star. And, that's it.

Me: I appreciate you talking with me. :-)

Me: Livie, why is this your favorite book?

Livie: 'Cause, "Where Dave".

Me: What do you like about the book?
Livie: Baby purple Ra-tor.

Me: Why?

Livie: 'Cause nice guy. (starts to run away)

Me: Wait! I have more questions

Livie: No. Bye, mommy. (and, she leaves. But, Noah gets her to come back)

Livie: What mommy? (but as I type this, she gets bored waiting for me to answer and once again, leaves) .....(wait! she's back once again. I'd better type faster!)

Livie: What mommy?!!
Me: I'm glad you're back. Can you find Dave in every picture?

Livie: Um, no.

Me: Why not?

Livie: 'Cause you not read that book.

Me: What color is he?
Livie: Green.

Me: Any other colors?
Livie: Yellow. Not me know. Bye guys! (and, she's gone)

Well, I thank all my kids for their in-depth look at their favorite books. I try to get to the heart of the matter in any and all interviews I have. Really try and probe the minds of those sitting across from me. So, I hope this has been insightful and educational for my viewing audience. All 4 of you should be quite enthralled. :-)

'Day of Rest' Rememberances

While wrapped up in my love for Twilight, I completely forgot to do "Flashback Friday"!! So, I thought I'd catch back up and do it today. Though, I couldn't quite figure out what sounded good with "Sunday". So, I thought maybe Day of Rest would work. ;-) Kinda goofy, but my mind still isn't in true working order yet, so that's all you can get. Anyway, I decided to post a picture out of Madie's scrapbook about her grandparents. When the kids are in kindergarten, they have a special week that's all about them. Typically the week of their birthday. They make a poster about themselves. They have a guest come to their class. And, they can bring their favorite toy or something that's special to them too. When Madie was in kindergarten, I decided she and I would make a scrapbook all about her to take to class as her special toy. We went and picked out the paper together and got stickers to decorate it with. It was a really fun project for us. Noah and I will do it just in a couple weeks for his birthday. So fun! Anyway, we did a page about her grandparents. My kids have terrific grandparents. They love them completely and are always asking when they'll come visit us or when we'll go out there. Nana and Papa Trolinger and Nana and Papa Drexler, as they're known, are special in their unique ways. First of all, Nana and Papa Trolinger have cats. Where as Nana and Papa Drexler have a super-old, humpbacked dog. Nana and Papa Trolinger have a play room with tons of legos! They LOVE that! They play with them everytime they there and spend enormous amounts of time making inventions. Nana and Papa Drexler have beanies and star wars figures. Papa D's office is called "The Teddy Bear Workshop", because it's so full of bears and beanies that he selflessly allows them to carry around and throw down the stairs (actually not sure if he knows they throw them down the stairs....but I digress). Nana and Papa Trolinger have a fun backyard with an inflatable pool that they can splash around in every summer. I swear, they would spend hours in there if we let them. Sooo exciting for them when that's up. Plus, their backyard is fenced in and great for collecting rocks and looking for fossils, which Nana T takes them out to look for every time we're there and they're not covered in snow. ;-) Nana and Papa Drexler have a fenced in patio area, so they can ride the push cars and play in the sandbox. And, Nana has a great ramp for her wheelchair that they use to race down. Oh, and I can't forget to mention Nana D's lift chairs, which are called "rocket chairs", since the kids get in them and push them to the highest they can go. Great fun! So, you see, each of their grandparents have special and wonderful things that they can do and play with. But, the one thing they have in common is their love for my kids. They love them completely and even though they may be used to living quiet, peaceful lives, they don't hesitate to enjoy us when we come barging in their homes with loud, crazy kids that run around and mess up their house and their towels and their beds, not to mention, eat all their food. Yes, I'm sure they nap for days after we leave, but they love to share things with the kids and hear all about their new adventures and accomplishments and give them hugs whenever they're needed. I'm so thankful that my kids don't just see them once a year like we did growing up, but are able to see them many times and build on that amazing relationship that occurs between grandparents and their grandchildren. So, Nana and Papa Trolinger AND Drexler, thank you for loving our kids so endlessly and for doing all the little things you do to make them feel special. It means the world to them and makes us as parents so blessed to know we have such a great extended family!

Twilight

You may have noticed I haven't posted in a few days. Typically I post new entries almost daily, but this week has been a full one....though I never really left the house. You see, I read the series "Twilight" and was sucked in completely all week long!!! My sister was the one who told me to read it. So, I asked for it for Christmas, knowing that Em and my tastes are pretty simliar. I got several books for Christmas, so I decided to wait and read this last. I got busy though and just finally got around to reading it on Sunday. I spent every possible minute that day reading it and finished it that night. WOW! It was FANTASTIC!!!! I couldn't stand the thought of not knowing how the story ends. So, I immediantely went onto amazon.com and ordered the other 3 books. They were supposed to come sometime on Wed. WEDNESDAY?!!! I didn't know how the world I was going to make it two full days not having those books!!! I re-read the first book a bit on Mon and Tues just to give me some bit of Edward and Bella. But, Wed, I literally paced the floor the whole morning, looking out the door 4-5 times to see if they had been dropped off yet. Finally, at about 1pm, I saw that glorious box sitting on our step!! I cheered and danced (Livie thought I had lost my mind) and ripped the box open, starting into book 2 within a matter of moments. I read and read until my head hurt! I read until I had to pick the kids up. Read as I was sitting in the van waiting for them to come out of school. Read after I got their coats and backpacks put away. And, read as much during dinner as I could too. I finished that up sometime that night and decided to start ahead into book 3. Read part of that until after midnight - not wanting to put it down - then hit the sack. First thing in the morning, got the kids some breakfast AND started reading!!! I get a little OCD when I start reading a book. I don't want to stop for anything. And, with a series that I'm sucked into, it's extra hard to put down! Needless to say, with the exception of taking the kids to and from school, feeding them dinner, and answering their questions/breaking up fights, I was reading. The housework didn't get done. The laundry sat in a huge pile in our laundry room. And, the beds weren't made for 2 days. But, on Thurs night, I finished book 4 - reading the rest of book 3 that day, as well as all of book 4. Thank goodness I have cooperative children and I read quickly (oh, and let's not forget the full benefits of owning a Wii!!)! Though, like I said, I was fairly exhausted from using my brain that intensely for so many days like that. But, that's why I wasn't on here posting about our daily lives. Because MY life was fully and completely focused on Edward and Bella and their beautiful love story. Yes, the love story was full of vampires and werewolves, but still ..... beautiful! Now, I get this obsession the media was going through a couple months ago when the movie came out. I now count myself in with the legions of teenage girls who are hopelessly in love with Edward Cullen. I too have fallen for this 17 yr old vegetarian vampire (you'll know what that means if you read the book). I don't think it's arrestable to fall in love with a fictional teenager when I'm 34. But, it's probably borderline crazy. ;-) I went out last night with my friend Jackie, who unbeknowst to me, ALSO has read Twlight. We talked and talked and swooned! over it and have made plans to possibly drive over and see the movie in the next week or so. Hopefully we'll find a theater that still has it running. If not, we'll have to wait until Mar 21st when it's released on DVD. Two months! Eeek!! So, if you're curious as to why I haven't posted, it's because I've been out of commission for a few days and well, there just really wasn't much to report on. Pete worked a lot. The kids played Wii Music a lot. And, that's about it. I am now back to the land of the living though. Pete's quite happy to see I've reemerged. I did every stitch of laundry that I left pile up all those days. I made all the beds, did the dishes, and picked up the toys. You'd never know that I was in Forks, WA battling bloodsuckers and a really deadly italian coven all those days. There really is nothing like a good book! or..... in this case, books. :-)

A Rock Star or a President?

It seems this country has Obama Fever! It's like he's more of a rock star than a president it seems. Now, I haven't been around for many inaugurations in my life. At least, not many since I've been of voting age. The first presidental election I was a part of was in '96 and have voted each year since, but I can't remember a time when there was so much excitement and anticipation AND MEMORABILIA! surrounding a president. I think that's the part that's blowing me away. I've seen more commercials and internet ads about buying the next big "obama thing" than I even saw of campaign ads! Scarfs, water bottles, t-shirts, etc..... I've even seen boxer briefs with his picture on them. Who would buy that? "C'mon baby, I've got Obama on my thigh..." What? The picture above is a belt buckle made in his honor. I mean, what is going on?! I'm guessing if I look further, I might even find Obama tp and maybe even Obama blow-up dolls. Crazy! I don't remember there ever being Reagan boxers or belt buckles of Bill Clinton - though there might have been Clinton underwear at some point. ;-) I've never seen the kind of hoopla surrounding an election in my life! I'm glad to know that our country is excited. I really am. I love seeing that so many people have gathered together in support of our govt. Unfortunately, I haven't seen that happen in a LONG time. But, millions of people have put him on this pedistal as our "savior" and that every wrong that has been committed will be righted again with this man. I will admit, it makes me nervous. Now, I'm not saying all this because I'm a republican. I'm not saying this as a christian. I'm saying this as an american. I want more than anything to see President Obama succeed. I'm just afraid we've set him up so high, that we'll miss the real intentions. I've said this before and I'll say it again. I pray for him. I pray for his cabinet and for the whole of his administration. I just hope that he's able to somehow live up to the ideals that so many have set before him. Now, I joke about all the crazy gadgets they've come up with. I understand that a lot of the excitement goes along with him being the first african-american president. That alone is a truly historic and momentous thing to celebrate. I too was moved when watching him in the park in Chicago accept the presidency of the US. And, today, when watching him get sworn in, I understood why this was a special moment. The tears in people's eyes as they saw someone the same color as they are, swearing into the highest office in the land was amazing. But, what I'm saying is, behind the "Obama Mama" shirts, behind the race issues, is a man who - more than anything - needs our prayers as he leads our nation. So, I hope as the weeks go on, that E! News and Entertainment Tonight will stop running the "Look who's going to the Inauguration...it's BONO!" stuff and will let us as Americans look to our president for guidance and leadership and not to see what new celebrity will be visiting him. Let's let the "celebrity factor" of Barrack Obama die down and let's let him lead the nation, keeping a watchful eye on his decisions, so that we know he's doing the job the way we want him to. OK, that's all I'll say.... I'm off my soapbox now. ;-)

Flashback Friday

Today is Flashback Friday once again. I found this picture I had taken back in early 2005. Back before I was even pregnant with Olivia. Noah wasn't quite 2 and Madie wasn't quite 4. We were playing hide-and-seek and they hid behind the shower curtain in their bathroom. When I saw them, I remember quietly leaving, so I could grab the camera. Seeing their little slippers sticking out underneath the curtain was so cute to me. Still is. Seems like such a long time ago that they were that age. But, it's only been about 4 yrs. Time goes by so quickly though and I'm thankful I've saved such sweet reminders of those very early years with them.

To Daddy, With Love :-)

We have another snow day today. Well, more like a "wind chill is -33 day", so the kids are home again. Since Pete is in Toronto this week, they wanted to make a painting for him. I got out a long sheet of white paper and let them go to town. So, Daddy, this is for you. :-) They love you and miss you lots! In fact, when I went to take the trash out and came back in, Livie started running for the door saying "Daddy Home!!". Then she saw it was me and stopped running and was like "oh.". Guess I wasn't nearly as exciting as you. Can't wait to see you tomorrow!!! Here are messages from the kids.....

Madie: I got three DOLLERS from the tooth fairy!! YAY!! I love you.Hey watch the new Star Wars the Clone Wars with us. P.S. I am sooo exited that you are coming home tomorow.

Noah: I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Olivia: opuityrewhjpoiuytrewqkjiuytpoiuytrewq (translation..) baby blue hop. Watch Wii with me. Say, Noah hug daddy. Yeah, and me. And, Madie. And, mommy. And, daddy. Buy loose tooth. All done. That all. And, cat.

Snow....snow....and MORE SNOW!

Pete's gone this week to Toronto, so I've been the one to take over his job of shoveling the snow. Now I know why this is HIS job and not mine. It's because it absolutely and completely sucks!! Especially when you're trying to go super fast in time to get the kids off to school. Granted, today was a snow day, so thankfully I wasn't in a rush to get it done. Instead today I had to deal with the fact that it's in the negatives and stinkin' cold. We've gotten about 9-10" of snow since Pete left. I swear that's more snow collectively than we've gotten since we moved here! I told Pete last night I expect to receive a snowblower for Mother's Day now. ;-) It's not really all THAT bad. Livie and Noah came out and helped a bit while I was snowing today. Though, it was way more fun for them to jump into the snow banks, thus knocking the snow DOWN and back into the drivewayI had just shoveled, but I can't blame them. They're becoming pretty high mountains around the driveway! Here are a couple pics so you can see how much we've gotten...

It's hard to gauge the depth, I know, but you can kind of see what we've gotten if you look at their playset. The step there in orange shows how much snow we've gotten this week. And, the sides of the driveway are past my waist. Anyway, to make the snow not seem quite so annoying (for me at least), we decided to make snow ice cream. A friend of mine from church, Kim, gave me the ingredients the other day and we decided to try it. First I scooped up a bunch of snow from our backyard step.

Then we added sugar, milk, and vanilla and mixed it up. Since there's no real measurement to it, we just added it a bit slowly to make sure we had the right amount.

Then we sat down and tried it to see if we did a good job.

It was a success!!!! In fact, it was delicious!!!! Tasted like real homemade ice cream. Yum!!! Can't wait for Pete to get back and try it. We were just talking last night about how yummy it would be to make homemade ice cream and buy one of those makers to do it. Well heck! Now, we know how to do without some fancy mixer. I want to figure out a way to make chocolate. I think that would be fabulous! Oooh.. Or maybe add some mint flavoring with choc chips!! Now, that WOULD be fabulous!!!! We might have another batch after supper. ;-)

So, maybe all this snow isn't quite THAT bad. Yes, the shoveling still and will always suck, but sledding, making snow angels, climbing the snow mountains, and - most of all - making snow ice cream makes it all worth it! :-) ......I still want a snow blower though.

She Finally Did It!!

Madie finally lost her tooth!! We went to the dentist on Monday and I think Cindy, the dental asst., kind of helped the process along. So, when we left that day, it was so wiggly, it was nearly ready to come out. When she got home from school yesterday it wouldn't even stay standing up. It was constantly bent backwards. So, this morning, just about 15 min after she woke up, she came running in with her tooth in her hand. :-) It had finally fallen out!! She's soooooo excited! We put it in a baggy, so we don't lose it before she's able to stick it under her pillow tonight. Madie keeps wondering how much money the tooth fairy will bring her. So, we'll have to wait and see. :-) And, she's got another loose one as well. So, looks like my little girl is finally on her way to getting her permanent teeth. We were beginning to wonder if it would ever happen!! Oh, and the reason we were able to be home for her to lose it, instead of at school, is because school was cancelled today due to snow. Perfect timing!

What?!

We were sitting around the dinner table chatting and Madie says, "You're a little, old lady!" out of no where. This causes her and Noah to start laughing hysterically. "A little, old lady?!!!" I said. "I'm not old!"(insert Monty Python accent here). They then began taunting me with "You're a little, old lady. You're a little, old lady! hahahaha". After a couple minutes of the taunting, Madie decides to explain herself and says, "Mommy, you're a little, old lady, because you're little, you're very, very old in your age, and you're a lady". Very, very old, huh? So, I look at Livie, hoping for some kindness from my youngest child, and say, "Livie, you don't think I'm a little, old lady do you?". She said, "Nope. Nice inchworm.". And, there you have it. :-)

I Am Short

I was at church yesterday getting inducted as a new elder. And I tell you this only because it reminded me of how short I really am. See I was standing up there with 4 other people. The person that stood next to me is super tall. I don't know exactly how tall she is, because when you're always looking up at people, you don't really have a way to gauge how tall they are. But, she's tall. Then, when the rest of the elders came up to pray with us, yet another very tall person stood beside me. I felt a little like I did in that picture above. That was taken at a friend's wedding a month after we got married, so nearly 10 yrs ago. Both Chad and Tracey are 6' tall and Pete's 6'2", so I looked a bit like an 8 yr old with boobies. Now for those of you who don't know, I'm 4'10". Yes, I am a 4'-er. And, I've always embraced me 4'edness. It's something that makes me unique and there have been many benefits to being short. First, I always got to be in the front for everything. You know "short people up front", well that meant if we were doing an art project at school or singing in the choir, I was right there by the teacher. Front and center, getting to see everything up close. When I graduated from high school, our high school was small enough that they didn't seat us alphabetically, they sat us in order of height. So, I was right in the front row, first in line after the class officers. Sweet!!! Plus, I already get an "in" with little kids. I'm short like they are and they seem to respond well to that. There are lots of things to be happy about when being short. Ya know, I don't really know what my true shortness is though. When you live it, you just get used to looking up at things. Very rarely I am reminded of it. Like when I see the picture above. Or when I say to Pete "put this candy up high so I can't reach it or I'll eat it all" and he puts it on the second shelf in the cupboard. Ya know, things like that. There are a couple things that frustrate me about being short. I HATE when a sock gets stuck at the bottom of the washing machine. I have to prop myself up and practically throw myself into the washer to reach it. I also hate that dancing with my husband is nearly impossible. I could pull off standing on a stool or a chair to dance with someone when I was in high school (my prom date was 6'4"), but I was silly and it was ok. Seeing a 34 yr old on a chair just isn't as cute anymore. But, those are really the only things that sometimes bother me. Oh, and trying to find shoes that are a size 3 and don't have velcro and Little Mermaid on the side is hard to do! But, I just go up a few sizes and get something cuter. :-) I guess the reason that my shortness has never bothered me is because it's part of me. It's who I am. I've been called every short name out there and been used as an arm rest more times than I can count, but all my life people have known that of me and it's fun! I fully enjoy and embrace it! I remember someone actually asking me once if I was considered a midget. Not just calling me that to be funny, but seriously curious if I was one. I said, "Um, no, I have like 2" on a little person thank you!". ;-) But, yesterday, as I was standing there between super tall people like I was at that wedding all those years ago, I wonder what it looks like to other people when they see me. I wonder if I really AM extremely short or just like average. I guess I probably already know the answer to that one. And, I know that the only changes coming in regards to my height at this point will be shrinking. So, maybe in 30 yrs or so, that guy can find me again, ask me about being a little person and I'll be able to answer, "Yes. Yes, I am".

Winter Fun

Yesterday we got a few inches of snow with another inch or so today. We took the kids out and played for about an hour and a half or so. It was a lot of fun! Typically if Pete takes them out, then I stay inside and get the hot cocoa ready, but we all decided to go out. Pete pulled Livie in her little sled. She loved it!!!



Noah got a snow painting set for Christmas, so he was excited to break those puppies out! They were really fun! Though the red paint looked like we had killed the skunk and he had bled all over the yard. I think that actually made Pete feel better. ;-) Noah decided to write his name. He did a WAY better job than I did trying to write mine. Guess they're best when used by kids.

Livie made a few snow angels. She had trouble getting up though, so after she'd make them, she'd call for us to come over and help her. Pete would just lift her completely up by her coat. It was really funny!

Madie and I posed for a quick pic together. She was so busy sledding, she didn't stop for many.

Along with the snow paint, Noah got a few snow molds. Unfortunately the snow is so powdery that it didn't make very good snow blocks. He was a bit disappointed that he wasn't able to build his fort. But, it wasn't for lack of trying! He got his snow shovel out and was scooping up the snow and pouring it in the mold to try and make the blocks.

Here's Pete pulling Livie on the sled. He actually pulled each of the kids on it like 3 or 4 times each. He was worn out! I took over and gave them each a turn, but he's WAY better at it than I. My legs aren't as long, so I can't run fast like he can.

Then they decided to have a snow feast and ate all the snow on top of the sandbox. I'm always telling them NOT to eat the snow, because they always seem to find snow that's been walked over 100 times and dirty and gross. This was clean, fresh snow, so they ate it up!!

Even Pete got in on the action. ;-)

After that they played for a while longer and our neighbor Rod came out to start his grill. Pete talked to him and he offered to let us use his hill to sled down. Oh my gosh was that fun for them!!!!! They kept trying to slide down our poor excuse for a hill, which is basically just a bump at the edge of our yard. They have a full-fledged hill in their yard. So, I stood at the bottom and Pete stood at the top and we helped them slide on down. I was the tree blocker. That way no one actually went straight into a tree. I did that once as a kid and nearly broke my leg! We had a couple close calls, but no one hit it. It was really fun for them, because it's really the first time they've ever truly been sledding. They did that for a long time. I told Rod how much we appreciated him letting us do that. His nice yard will freshly fallen snow is now covered in boots prints and sledding trails. :-)

Flashback Friday

One of the blogs I check out is done by friends of ours that we met when we all lived in NY. She has had a little thing called "Flashback Friday" and I think it's such a fun idea! Nearly every friday, she posts a picture from the past and tells us about it. Kristen, I hope you don't mind me stealing your idea. But, they say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right? :-)

Today I thought about posting this picture of me when we were in Haiti. I got to see my Aunt Phyl and Uncle David over Christmas vacation and we talked about our time there all those years ago. I was 3, I think, same age as Livie is now, when I went. The picture above is of my brother Micah, me, my cousin Karen, and my cousin Amy. Mom and my grandma took us and I don't really remember a whole about my time there. I was just a little kid afterall. :-) But, I do have very distinct memories of (1) sleeping under the mosquito netting when we slept and (2) catching a starfish in the ocean. The net, I thought, was the coolest thing ever! Like a big giant tent. I didn't at the time know it was used to keep tarantulas and other scary, nasty things from creeping into our beds. I just thought it was really cool! Aunt Phyl told me that Micah didn't enjoy it quite as much. He apparently screamed and cried when they tried putting him it in. Guess he didn't enjoy the adventure quite as much as I did. ;-) The starfish I remember finding and putting in a little pail that I brought with me to the beach. I remember Uncle David helping me with it. I also remember that it ended up dying and stinking to high heaven! Guess that was a lesson I should have learned, because as I got older, I also caught frogs and crawdads and tried keeping them in buckets of water, but they also died and stunk up the place. So many had to die in my quest to perserve sea creatures. Or, at the very least creek creatures. So, it might not be much of flashback, since I can't really remember a bunch of my time there, but those few memories I have are fun ones. Oh, and notice my curls in that picture? Guess some of my girls' curls came from me afterall. :-)

My Funny Boy

Madie was talking to us in the van on the way home from school about the basketball she bought in the Pride Store today. She said she bought it because it had blue stripes and grey stripes and black stripes. This was our conversation....

I said - "That's great! It has Livie's favorite color blue, Noah's favorite color black, and Olive's (our cat) favorite color grey".

Madie said - "Grey is Olive's favorite color? How do you know that?"

I said - "Noah told me."

Madie said to Noah - "Noah, how do you know that grey is Olive's favorite color?"

to which Noah replied - "Um, because I'm a genius."

Hilarious! :-)

We Must Keep Up The Fight!

Tonight at dinner Livie decided she didn't want to eat her roast beef out of the beef and noodles I made. We were telling her how yummy it was. How it was just like Nana roast beef that she had eaten a hundred times before. But, she still wasn't persuaded. Then I thought, why not ask her if she would rather eat the delicious beef or the worst possible food ever created in the universe (do you even have to ask what it is?) instead. Surely THEN she would concede and eat my wonderfully made roast. So, I asked her. Which would she choose? As she answered, it was like the world was spinning in slow motion. I could hear the word come out "bbbbbrrrrooooccccoooollllliiii", but it just wasn't registering in my brain. Was my daughter REALLY saying what I think she was saying? That she would rather eat a detestable growth from the underworld instead of my lovingly cooked roast? I couldn't believe what I was hearing. After many weeks of pounding into the kids' heads that broccoli is vile, I thought I was making progress. Noah has recounted his earlier claim of liking the stuff. And, Madie was on the fence about it. Saying she would rather eat it that the dreaded mushrooms, but that it isn't her favorite. The dark skies above our house were starting to clear. I could finally see that small light at the end of the tunnel. Pete and I began to feel whole again, that our family might survive this. Then, that one simple statement from Olivia threw us back into oblivion. I wasn't going to settle for that answer. No! I wasn't going to let all our progress go to waste! I started throwing every sweet, savory food name I could think of at her, just to see if she would continue to chose the broccoli over things like donuts and ravioli. As the questions were asked, she kept spewing the word "brcc-e" at me as if she was possessed by the awful weed. It's like the sweet, innocent little girl was no longer able to think on her own. She was this deranged, possessed crazy person who laughed maniacly as she answered my questions. Olivia had ceased to be and now she was this person consumed with the drug that science has referred to as "Brassica Aleracea". Doesn't that sound like a flesh-eating virus or something? And, this is what my child wants to eat ABOVE SNOW CONES!!!! This is Olivia just a few days ago, before she had fully given herself over to the dark side..





This was her tonight....




I seriously thought her head was going to spin around and she was going to spit pea soup out all over the table. I didn't know what to do. How to handle this sudden turn of events. Pete was no help. At the first sign of her broccoli possesion, he ran from the room. Madie and Noah were beginning to laugh along with her. She was pulling them in! I yelled to Pete to look online for some broccoli interventionists. Maybe a priest. "GRAB THE YELLOW PAGES!" I shouted!!! I didn't know what else to do. I was pulling at straws. I had to stop this from continuing before it destroyed her and my other two children. They're so small and can't resist the pull that this tripe has on them. Finally, thinking all was lost, I lunged for the beef and shoved it in her mouth. As the juices flowed and the tenderness of the meat sunk in, her demeanor changed. She calmed and the shaking began to stop. The meat was winning! It was pushing the thoughts and impulses of the broccoli away. It was ridding her system of the organism that had so quickly taken hold. She was saved!! We cheered and hugged. We hadn't lost our daughter to the broccoli after all. She was going to be ok.

Now, I know the struggle isn't over. I know that something as hideous as broccoli won't give up that easily. We must keep up the fight. I mean, we almost lost her tonight. We came close. But, now we know what to look for. So, again, parents, I want to remind you to keep up the good fight. We will one day overcome. I tell you this story tonight, not to scare you, but to prepare you for what might happen in your home. We can succeed. But, it's going to take hard work. Broccoli WILL be destroyed in our lifetime. Dollars and quarters from all over a small part of Rhode Island are being donated right now to research that will bring about the end to this volitile vegetable. We CAN do it!