Toothpaste on the Toilet Seat

watch this girl grow!

2011-06-14T22:05:00.001-05:00

I asked Anna to hold off on the whole growing thing for a while (at least until I had a chance to blog about her a bit), but so far she has not complied: every day she gets a little bigger and even sweeter. Of the four girls, I'm pretty sure she is the cuddliest baby we've had, and I'm trying to savor every cuddle and snuggle I can while she's tiny.

I took her to the pediatrician last week for her two-month checkup. She was up to 11 pounds, 10 ounces, and 22 1/2 inches. She started "sleeping through the night" at around 5 1/2 weeks old (going a good 6-7 hours), and the last few weeks she has been sleeping 8 hours pretty consistently. Anna smiles easily at her sisters, daddy, and mommy, and she loves to talk to us in sweet, earnest little coos. When I talk back to her, Audrey always wants to know what Anna said to me.

Here are week-by-week photos of sweet Anna, minus a current 10-week photo, which I'll post soon with further updates:

Just minutes after delivery

One week old

Two weeks old

Three weeks old

Four weeks old

Five weeks old

Six weeks old

Seven weeks old

Eight weeks old

Eight weeks old again--with a bow!

Nine weeks old

Anna Kristine

2011-05-02T21:48:00.000-05:00

I've been away from the blog for a long time! While there are many, many updates I could post, here is our most significant one:

Anna Kristine was born April 2nd!

We couldn't be happier with our newest little girl. It is a joy to be doing the "new baby" thing once again, with days full of newborn squeaks and snuggles. Of course, her big sisters are thrilled, and all three are determined to be big helpers.

I really do hope to get back into the blogging groove here soon, with more details about little Anna, as well as updates on her sisters. Until then, here is the verse we selected for her birth announcement:

Isaiah 25:1

LORD, you are my God;

I will exalt you and praise your name,

for in perfect faithfulness

you have done wonderful things,

things planned long ago.

just wondering...

2010-09-12T00:25:00.001-05:00

...how much easier (or harder?) it is to create a blog post on my new(ish) computer...

Hmm...I guess it's probably a bit easier. I'll have to try it again sometime...soon?

too many thoughts...

2010-01-21T20:43:00.005-06:00

I gave the girls baths tonight before tucking them into bed. While I was combing Eloise's wet hair, Evie asked me, "Are you always thinking about something?"

Have you been reading my blog? I thought, remembering this recent post. But instead I said, "What do you mean, honey?"

"Do you always think?"

"Well, I think so. Do you mean, do I always have some ideas or people or something going on in my head?"

"Yeah."

"Yep. I do! I really do. Do you?"

"Yeah. And I don't like it."

"You don't like it? Why not?"

"Well, sometimes there's just so much stuff up there, it kind of hurts."

"Hmmm. Like, you'd kind of like your head to just be empty for a while? With no thoughts?"

"Yeah. I have too many thoughts, and my head starts to feel heavy."

"Well, Babe, when your head starts to feel too heavy, ask God to take away some of those thoughts. He will. He really will." Then I wonder, And why don't I remember my own advice about this sometimes?!?

Maybe her head was too heavy when she took this picture of herself...

the princess party

2010-01-19T22:30:00.001-06:00

Well, after putting it off for nearly two months, I am finally blogging about Eloise's fourth birthday party. I'm not really sure why, but I've always avoided anything too princess-y with my girls. Cinderella is one of the probably four movies the girls have ever seen (Sound of Music, Mary Poppins, and White Christmas being the others), and they love it, and I've enjoyed watching it with them. But I just haven't pushed the whole princess thing...I think it can be a bit overdone, I guess. However, this year our preschool curriculum includes lots and lots of fairy tales, so Eloise has been exposed to "The Princess and the Pea" and "Sleeping Beauty" and "The Frog Prince," as well as many others. And, apparently, she likes them, because when it came time to plan her birthday party, she announced that she wanted a princess party, with a castle cake. So, I obliged:

Decorating princess hats

Goofy princesses (and a prince)

Evie explains "Pin the Kiss on the Frog Prince" to Tristan

Eloise tries her hand at pinning the kiss

The castle cake

Opening princess presents

The girls had fun dressing up in their princess garb. I didn't capture them in any of the photos, but Eloise also wore her yellow, sparkly, high-heeled (for real!) Minnie Mouse shoes. I think she really enjoyed herself, which is the most important thing!

Next up: Thanksgiving! (Unless I change my mind...)

checking in

2010-01-12T21:45:00.002-06:00

Man, I love my girls. I love to sit and watch their expressions, to see them thinking and understanding, to hear them laugh and sing. I love reading with Evie, and talking about what we've read. She rarely misses a detail, and her depth of understanding amazes me sometimes. I love talking with Eloise about life. Her four-year-old perspective of things is so honest, her compassion so genuine, and her zeal so pure. I love playing with Audrey. She pushes baby dolls in strollers, bringing them to me to hug and kiss and change their clothes. She dances dollhouse dolls through the dollhouse, turning to me from time to time to babble her explanation of what the characters of her play are saying and doing. She marches around blowing into a plastic recorder, pausing frequently to shove the slimy thing into my face for me to try. I just love them!

some thoughts about thinking (and blogging)

2010-01-07T21:32:00.004-06:00

I was just telling my sister, Molly, how I tend to think things through a lot, without saying anything until it's all thought out. A lot of times, I don't even say anything at all. Often I realize it was a silly thought to be thinking, or I am simply satisfied with my own conclusions and don't feel like anyone else would care much anyway (not in a "poor me, nobody likes me" way, but in a "that certainly isn't earth-shattering!" way). As I've been thinking about my thinking, I've realized that I fail to blog for a lot of the same reasons! When I was trying to keep up with the 25 Giveaways of Christmas--and I did better than I had expected!--it was easy to sit down and type up a quick post because I had a question to answer: Jill Savage wanted to know something, at least hypothetically, so I told her. (And no, so far I have not won anything in the Giveaways! She still hasn't posted a winner for the grand prize, so there's still a ray of hope, but I'm not holding my breath...) But over the past couple of weeks, it has occurred to me at some point each day, I really should blog today...maybe I'll write about such-and-such... And as I think through a potential post on "such-and-such," I eventually think myself out of posting it, because, really, who cares? I don't even know if I care! (And, yes, I do realize that I have failed to blog about anything related to Eloise's November birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years...I plan to do those things once I get things figured out with my camera and computer!) However, for the sake of posting something in the year 2010, here are a few thoughts that seem to surface frequently as of late:

It is a good and noble and right thing to do something for another out of Christian love, but when it is not truly a sacrifice--when it costs the giver nothing--is it really love? Am I really sacrificing for others, or simply giving what is convenient?
Or, if one does make a sacrifice of comfort or resources (time, money, energy) to do something for another, but proceeds to complain about the inconvenience of the act, whether aloud or to himself, can God be completely glorified? Am I at all turning the spotlight toward myself, that I might receive recognition or pity? Do I realize how wretched I look in the light designed to shine on my holy God?
Speaking of resources, am I ever mindful of the immense blessings that surround me, or do I always wish for more? Do I consider the wealth of resources my own, using them to make myself "happy," and giving God the leftovers? Or do I remember that everything I have is really His, and make every effort to put the time, money, and energy He has given to me into things that show His love and further His kingdom?

I guess if I made any New Years resolutions this year, they would probably have to do with these (and other) thoughts I've been contemplating...I truly hope 2010 is a God-Glorifying year of Great Gratitude and Giving!

25 Days of Christmas--Day Twenty-Six!!!

2009-12-27T23:54:00.002-06:00

It's a bonus! Jill Savage offered an extra day of her 25 Days of Giveaways! The question for Day 26: How do you take some time for yourself over the holiday season? One thing I love to do, that I very, very rarely allow myself to do, is to just sit and read! Some time between Christmas and shortly after New Year's (on a day when Mr. B is around to take care of the girls), I love to curl up with a good book and just read, read, read! I'm hoping to make time for that some time over the next week. I have a LOT of books to read...but I'll have to blog about that whole thing later! Stay tuned. :)

25 Days of Christmas--Day Twenty-Five

2009-12-27T23:36:00.002-06:00

Here we are at last--Day 25 of the 25 Days of Giveaways! Here's what Jill Savage asks for Day 25: What are your Christmas Day traditions? Well, the girls are usually up very late the night before, so one Christmas Day tradition is sleeping in a bit. I love that tradition. :) When we do get up, we check out our stockings. This year I was a little more generous than last year, I think (last year was the year of scotch tape and glue sticks!); the bigger girls each got a toothbrush, a kazoo, a little Polly Pocket set, and a tiny lotion/bodywash set. They were so pleased with their stockings that I asked them if it was okay if they didn't get any other presents, and they actually said, "Okay!". I'll have to remember that for next year! After stockings, we open the other gifts. The girls give gifts to each other, as well as to Mr. B and me. I really enjoy watching their excitement over the gifts they give. This year, Mr. B and I gave them each a new winter coat--Evie and Eloise's came with matching snowpants--and a hat and mittens set. Evie and Eloise got their very own ukuleles (not toys, but real instruments!), and Audrey got the Fisher Price nativity set. The big girls also got recorders from my sister Molly and her husband, so between the kazoos, ukuleles, and recorders, Christmas Day was a very musical day! Once the gifts are open, I usually begin making the big breakfast, including the traditional blueberry muffins. This year was fun because Molly helped me in the kitchen. The others relaxed, played, and watched White Christmas until breakfast was ready. After breakfast, we typically do some more relaxing, perhaps some cleaning up, the girls take naps, and then we head over to my mom's for Christmas with my family. That's pretty much exactly how things went this year, too! We had a great time at my mom's. I'll probably blog more about Christmas later, but for now I'll ask you: how do you celebrate Christmas Day?

25 Days of Christmas--Day Twenty-Four

2009-12-27T23:29:00.002-06:00

Welcome to the home stretch of the 25 Giveaways of Christmas, hosted by Jill Savage! This will be the first of three posts for tonight, as tonight is the deadline for my posts to count as entries for the Hearts at Home conference registration...I'm really hoping to win. :) For Day 24, Jill asked the following question: What does your family do on Christmas Eve? This Christmas Eve was very typical: we attended the candlelight service at church in the early evening, then went to Mr. B's parents' house to celebrate Christmas with his family. One thing that was not typical about the celebration at his parents' house, however, was that Mr. B's brother brought his girlfriend. If you know us, you know what a big deal this is. I may or may not blog about it later, but I will say now that she was very sweet! So, what about you? What's a typical Christmas Eve like in your family? Or what did you do this year?

25 Days of Christmas--Day Twenty-Three

2009-12-24T23:47:00.002-06:00

Continuing with the 25 Days of Giveaways, here's Day 23's question: What is your favorite part of the Christmas story? Although the entire story is so amazing, I really love how, when the shepherds have heard the "good news of great joy," and gone to Bethlehem "to see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about," they worship the Child, and then they spread the word about what they have seen, and everyone who hears it is amazed. It is such a good reminder that we are supposed to share the Good News of Christmas, not just go on with life as usual! What's your favorite part of the story?

25 Days of Christmas--Day Twenty-Two

2009-12-23T21:02:00.002-06:00

Well, we're nearing the end of the 25 Giveaways of Christmas. I'm having a lot of fun playing along (but I still haven't won anything...oh, well!), and I hope my answers to Jill's questions have been somewhat entertaining or at least informative. Here's Day 22's question: What are you doing during the holiday season to keep your marriage a priority? Or maybe the question is, what will you commit to doing during the next few weeks to invest in your marriage? I don't really have a very good answer...Mr. B and I have not been very deliberate about "scheduling" time together lately. However, between Christmas and New Years, things usually slow way down, and I anticipate several evenings where we can tuck the girls into bed and enjoy a quiet remainder of the evening, probably playing a game or watching a movie. If any of you have any suggestions for keeping marriage a priority, especially during a hectic season, I'm all ears (or, in the case of my blog, "all eyes"!). Mr. B's audit season begins in January, and if you were around, you know that last year's audit season was rough. You also know that I just made a huge understatement! So...any thoughts?

25 Days of Christmas--Day Twenty-One

2009-12-22T23:52:00.002-06:00

I just got in from some last-minute Christmas shopping, and I'm almost out of time for my 25 Days of Giveaways post! Here's the question for Day 21: Have you ever taken a fun, creative family picture? Short answer: no! We haven't ever really tried anything fun or creative. :) We're pretty traditional, with the picture of the girls in front of the tree. Maybe next year we'll try something fun, though! How about you? Any creative family picture ideas?

25 Days of Christmas--Days Nineteen and Twenty

2009-12-21T21:45:00.006-06:00

I missed my "deadline" yesterday for Day 19 of the 25 Days of Giveaways (I have good reason, though: my sister, Molly, arrived from Texas, and we stayed up late talking!), but I'll go ahead and answer the Day 19 question: What do you do during the holiday break? We don't really do anything, and it's nice! Between Christmas and New Years, we usually don't have very much going on in the evenings (most church activities are on "break," too), so we get some quiet family time. I have to admit that we're a little bit behind on our schoolwork right now, so we'll probably be doing a little catching up next week, too. Hopefully, I can get my office organized again. Overall, it's just a nice time to slow down, catch our breath, and get back on track! And before I miss the deadline for Day 20, too, I better answer that question: What do you do during the holiday season that has absolutely nothing to do with Christmas? I don't know! It feels like everything has to do with the holidays right now. Even Saturday morning, when I took Evie to her dance class, I took advantage of the "free" time to put my Christmas cards together. [Yes, I think I was later than ever with our cards this year...the first tree we bought was rotten and wouldn't stay standing up in the tree stand; after removing the lights and exchanging the tree, we finally got it decorated nearly a week later; however, Audrey had a fever of 103+ for several days and was not up to looking happy for a picture, so I had to wait until Tuesday (and of course I had a coupon for $10 that expired Monday!) to have the girls sit for their traditional picture in front of the Christmas tree; two hours and probably a billion pictures later, I still hadn't come up with the perfect photo, so I had to settle for one where all three were at least happy, even though they were looking in three different directions; I ordered the cards that night, and they arrived Friday...] I guess one thing this month that was not Christmas-related was my sister, Sarah's birthday. We celebrated here last weekend. Happy birthday, Aunt Sisi!

25 Days of Christmas--Day Eighteen

2009-12-19T22:04:00.004-06:00

Here we are at Day 18 of the 25 Days of Giveaways, hosted by Jill Savage! I have to admit, I wasn't sure I'd be able to keep up with the posts (and I have missed a couple of days and made them up late), but it's been fun reflecting on the season so far. I do hope to put up a "regular" post one of these days--the girls have been up to all kinds of craziness and cuteness--but for now, here's Day 18: Who does the Christmas shopping in your family? I do! I keep Mr. B informed as I go, and I ask for his input on pretty much everything (even though he usually has little to no input to offer). I really hate going out into the crowds, so I try to shop online as much as possible. As I alluded to in this post, I even buy several small gifts for Mr. B to have the girls give me for Christmas. It sounds a little rotten or selfish, but it really makes life easier for everyone--it spares us time, money, and stress! Does anyone else out there shop for themselves? Who does the Christmas shopping in your families??

25 Days of Christmas--Day Seventeen

2009-12-18T22:50:00.004-06:00

Day 17's question in the 25 Days of Giveaways is giving me some trouble. Here's the question: What is your favorite Christmas memory? Seriously? I have to choose one?!? I can't! Here are...several favorites:

The Christmas I was three we went out to California to visit my dad's family. We stayed at my Aunt Dana's house--a big, old Victorian, which probably influenced my love for old houses--and I remember having lots of fun with my older cousins. I got to hear my Grandma Rugh play her ukulele. Gift-wise, I received some owl binoculars that year, as well as my Baby Feels So Real doll, for whom my mom had sewn several outfits and a set of cloth diapers. My cousin, Grant, dressed up as Santa, which, as you already know from my last post, was silly to me; he passed out peanut brittle, and I didn't care for it; but it was still fun being part of the big family celebration that year. When we returned home from that trip, my other grandparents met us and had a little Christmas with us at our house, and my sister and I got the refrigerator for our Holly Hobbie kitchen set. I remember everything that season seeming so wonderful and special.
I remember lots of years just sitting in front of the Christmas tree, staring at the lights, listening to "The Christmas Tapes." My dad had put the cassettes together for our family from many different albums, some of which he had access to from the radio station where he worked (I think?). They truly were the best of all Christmas music...the real stuff! I remember wearing my tap shoes--I was probably four--and standing on what we called "the board" (not sure what it really was--a piece of countertop maybe?--but we kept it under our couch and slid it out to use as a hard surface for writing and such sometimes, and other times for tap dancing!), tap dancing to "The Little Drummer Boy." What's really cool is that in 2002, Daddy put most of "The Christmas Tapes" on CD for each of us. In fact, I'm listening to CD #3 right now! If only my tap shoes still fit...
I think I was in fourth grade the year that my grandparents stayed with us for Christmas, and my grandma got a stomach bug (that's not the good memory). Early in the morning Christmas day, someone asked me to get her some medicine from the downstairs bathroom. I was thrilled at the chance to peek at the tree and any gifts that had appeared since we had gone to bed the night before. As I reached the bottom of the stairs, I was startled to see little Molly, who would have been two, standing in front of the tree. I scolded her and told her to go upstairs, but she didn't move! I told her again, but as I spoke, I realized that it was a doll standing there--a doll the same height and with the same coloring as Molly. It was very exciting all four of us, and we named her Polly. Polly stuck around our house for many years, even after one of her arms fell off and her hair grew quite ratty!
The year after Polly showed up was even more special. Katie and I shared a bedroom, and in the middle of the night we woke up to a noise...it kind of sounded like a bird chirping. We stayed up the rest of the night listening for the noise, speculating what it could be. We already had a guinea pig, and we'd gone through a couple of hamsters, so it seemed unlikely that our parents might get us a bird. When morning finally came, we rushed downstairs and found a wrapped copy paper box (box and lid were wrapped separately). Out of the top of the lid were cut several holes, and poking out of one of the holes was a tiny paw! Our parents had gotten us a kitten! We'd never even dreamed that we'd ever have a cat. She was an adorable calico kitten, and we named her Ramona. In addition to Ramona, we received another life-sized doll that year: this time, a baby doll, probably 6-9 month sized. She came in a pretty Christmas dress, and we had fun dressing her up in real baby clothes. Seriously, I think Sarah was still taking care of Anna when she was in middle school!
When I was in college, I worked at a daycare center in the summers and over my Christmas break. On Christmas Eve one year, I was subbing in the five-year-old room. It had been a gray December, with minimal snow, but when I woke the kids from their nap/rest time and began opening the blinds that day, we all were delighted to see the most beautiful snow falling outside. It was such fun to spend the rest of the afternoon with the kids, as they were so full of joy, wonder, and anticipation. It was difficult driving to and from church for the candlelight service that night, but that Christmas snow made everything seem extra calm, extra bright.

I am leaving out lots of other special memories, mainly because I need to get back to making memories for the here and now! It is so fun to reflect on these precious things, though...Christmas can stir up many difficult and undesirable memories and emotions, but it is good to hold onto the purely lovely ones!

25 Days of Christmas--Day Sixteen

2009-12-17T22:35:00.002-06:00

To Santa or not to Santa...that is the question for Day Sixteen of the 25 Giveaways of Christmas: What about you? Santa Claus or no Santa Claus? For us, no Santa. We try to keep Christmas focused on Christ, and sometimes that's hard even without including that right jolly old elf. When I was little, my parents told us right off the bat that there was no Santa. They did tell us not to tell other kids, though, because it might make them sad. I remember one evening my mom's friend, Robin, stopped by with her daughter, Marcie, who was a year older than I. Marcie came in to talk with my sister and me. Our conversation went something like this: Katie: There is no such thing as Santa Claus. Me: Katie! Mommy said you're not supposed to tell people that. It might make them sad. Marcie: Yeah. And it did make me sad. You really hurt my feelings. (She did not, however, look very sad, and I suspect she already had known the truth.) It was a year or two later that my mom and I were walking through the mall, just the two of us. There was Santa, sitting in the middle of the mall, with a line of kids waiting to sit on his lap. I was shocked when my mom asked if I'd like to go sit on his lap! I reminded her that Santa wasn't real. She said maybe it would be fun to pretend, so I got in line. When it was my turn and Santa asked me what I would like for Christmas, I told him I wanted a "Make It and Bake It." (It was this little oven in which you could bake suncatchers. The heat of the light bulb inside the oven melted the little colored crystals you carefully put in the frame of the suncatcher. I had seen the commercial for it numerous times while watching the Smurfs on Saturday mornings, and it looked neat, but I'd never told anyone I actually wanted it.) I hopped down from Santa's lap, he handed me a little candy cane, and that was that. As I enjoyed the candy cane, my mom asked me what I'd said to Santa, so I told her about the Make It and Bake It. That Christmas morning, I was so puzzled when my grandparents gave me the Make It and Bake It. How did they know I wanted it? I looked questioningly at my mom, who responded, "Maybe Santa told them!" And then I realized that she had told them. (Much later, I realized that she had probably even bought it for them to give to me!) So, I probably almost believed in Santa Claus for about four seconds! I'm not sure when--I suppose it was when all four of us girls were definitely old enough for them to be completely certain we knew the real reason for Christmas--but my parents suddenly began giving us presents from "Santa." When we got even older, we started giving them presents from "Santa's Elves." It was fun, but not the focus for us. Anyway, I'm not totally against Santa Claus, but for our family, at least right now, we do not have Santa. What about you? Oh, and by the way, I still have that Make It and Bake It!

25 Days of Christmas--Day Fifteen

2009-12-16T22:35:00.002-06:00

Welcome back for Day 15 of the 25 Giveaways of Christmas! We've talked about movies, music, decorations, trees, cards, and food...so what's left?!? Gifts! Specifically, gift wrapping. Here's Jill's question: What gift wrapping traditions does your family have? Let's see...we are definitely wrapped-gift people (as opposed to gift bags). I do most of the wrapping, although the girls help with all of the gifts they each give to others (and it is for that reason that I always stock up on scotch tape!). I read about some moms who use a different wrapping paper print or color for each of their kids. I think it's kind of fun to open gifts wrapped in all different types of paper, though. Plus, I'm not sure I'm that organized. Plus, as I mentioned before, we don't really give our kids that many gifts anyway, so I'm not sure it would mean much to anyone if I tried to do this. When I was growing up, the first presents under the tree each year were "the white presents": a present for each of us from our parents, wrapped in white tissue paper, tied with pretty red plaid ribbon and a candy cane attached at the bow. The presents had our names written in my mom's fancy handwriting with a red Sharpie. When we were older, she started tying a special ornament to each gift, too, so I have quite a collection of "white present" ornaments. My mom still continues to do white presents for us, and she has added the tradition of them always being something from IKEA. Do you have any gift wrapping traditions you'd like to share? Leave me a comment!

25 Days of Christmas--Days Thirteen and Fourteen

2009-12-15T22:48:00.002-06:00

Yesterday was an unbelievably long day...I woke up at 4:30 a.m., was gone all day, and finally returned home after midnight. Needless to say, I missed my 25 Days of Giveaways post for Day 13. I'll go ahead and answer Jill Savage's question, even though it won't count for the fun drawing. Here's Day 13's question: Do you and your spouse have any "gift giving" traditions for the two of you? Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Nope. Sometimes we get each other biggish things, sometimes small, sometimes practically nothing at all. Last year, we remodeled our bathroom in the fall and decided to consider that our gift to one another. One thing I started doing a few years ago, though, is buying myself small gifts for Mr. B to have the girls give me. Because he doesn't have to come up with any ideas or take the kids out shopping, it makes things much less stressful for him, and I'm always very happy with my little presents. I also can watch prices and get good deals, which saves us money over the run-out-Christmas-Eve-and-try-to-find-something-nice-for-Mom routine we had going for a while there. Okay, that was easy! On to day 14: So what food does your family prepare on Christmas that is a part of a long tradition? I grew up having blueberry muffins for breakfast Christmas morning. As we came up on our first Christmas after we were married, I told Mr. B, "My family always has blueberry muffins on Christmas morning." He responded, "Well, my mom always makes a huge breakfast with eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes..." To this day, I'm not sure whether he was serious, or if he was just trying to start a new tradition, but I make a really big breakfast that includes blueberry muffins. Here we are last year, eating our traditional breakfast:

25 Days of Christmas--Day Twelve

2009-12-13T23:18:00.002-06:00

It's getting late, but I'm going to quickly squeeze in a post for Day 12 of the 25 Days of Giveaways. Here's Day 12's topic: What Christmas card traditions do you have? We send Christmas cards each year. Since Evie was born, we've sent photo cards. We use a photo of the girls in front of the tree; at least one of the girls sits in a rocking chair we have from my childhood. I don't do Christmas letters...I am intimidated by the thought of writing one...afraid of leaving out an important event, or gushing too much about how wonderful my kids are, or boring everyone to tears. Besides, I have a blog, which is kind of like my chance to do all of those things anyway, all year long! The girls really got into the Christmas cards we received from others last year, particularly photo cards. It is fun for them to put faces with names of far-away friends and relatives. Do any of you have any fun card traditions? Leave me a comment and tell me all about them!

25 Days of Christmas--Day Eleven

2009-12-12T22:06:00.002-06:00

Today's official question in Jill Savage's 25 Days of Giveaways: What is your favorite Christmas movie? As I already alluded to in this post, I do love a good Christmas movie. Among my top favorites (I used to call them my "must sees," but I'm letting them go, remember?!?) are It's a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street (both the classic and the remake), and White Christmas. I used to enjoy the Charlie Brown Christmas special when I was a kid, but I hadn't seen it for years until last year, when we let the girls watch it for the first time. They loved it, and they frequently request that we read the book of the movie to them, so hopefully we'll get an opportunity to watch that one again this year (but if not, it's okay, because I'm letting it go!). One Christmas movie I do not like is A Christmas Story. I know there are tons of people who consider it a classic, and if you are one of them, I do not mean to offend. But I just don't get it! What's even worse is that as a kid, Mr. B looked an awful lot like Ralphie. Even in high school, kids would come to school the day after that goofy movie aired, saying, "I saw you on T.V. last night!". Weird. All I can think of is that scene where the mother is letting both boys eat like pigs (literally, I think, right?!?), and she just sits there cracking up. And that leg lamp. Like I said, I just don't get it! Do you have any favorite--or not so favorite--Christmas movies??? Please share!

25 Days of Christmas--Day Ten

2009-12-11T23:24:00.002-06:00

Hopefully by now, you know the drill! Here's Jill Savage's question for Day Ten: What gift giving traditions do you have for your kids? I'm not sure we really have any real traditions for gift giving, except that we really don't give that much to our kids! Typically, we give them two gifts each, but there's nothing special about the number two. Last year, Evie and Eloise each got bed sheets (we were planning to get them bunkbeds, but not for Christmas). My sister and I made a whole bunch of silly sock puppets, and I found a small puppet theater, so that was the second gift for both girls to share. Two years ago, I made hooded towels for each of them, and a big wooden dollhouse was their second gift to share. We do fill stockings, but with pretty simple stuff. Last year, I think glue sticks were the biggest hit from the stockings; they also love getting toothbrushes in their stockings! It's been fun to see the girls get excited about giving gifts! A couple of years ago, my sister helped Evie make ornaments for Mr. B and me. They wrapped them, and Evie brought them home and put them under our tree. Christmas morning, there was a big red wagon under the tree, with two large gifts (one for each of the girls) inside. Evie ran right past the wagon and gifts to grab the box she'd wrapped for us; she was so excited to give us the ornaments she'd made that she didn't even notice the gifts for her! I've heard of several moms who give each of their children an ornament each year, and I think we are going to start that tradition this year. I feel a little bad for Evie, who will be missing ornaments from her first six Christmases, but I figure it's better to jump in where we are than to never start the tradition! Do any of you have any good gift-giving traditions to share?

25 Days of Christmas--Day Nine

2009-12-10T23:18:00.002-06:00

Hello, folks, and welcome back for Day Nine of Jill Savage's 25 Days of Giveaways. Here's Jill's question for Day Nine: What homemade gifts are your favorite to give or receive? I do try to make gifts sometimes...some times more successfully than others! We usually put together tins or plates of cookies for friends and neighbors. I've also made different "gifts in a jar," with cookie, brownie, and soup mixes. I've made aprons for a couple of my sisters, my mom, and my mother-in-law. I've also created photo calendars for my mother-in-law and brother-in-law, and a coupon book for Mr. B. I won't say what homemade gifts the girls and I have been working on this year, just in case a gift recipient is reading this post, but we do have a couple of projects in progress! I do love receiving homemade gifts. Last year, a friend gave me a little package of lovely cards she had created (she's so talented!). I have a "trivet" (actually, a painted six-inch tile) a former student once gave me. My sister, Molly, has painted me a couple of beautiful paintings (I still need to frame them!). Do you have any good homemade gift ideas? How about any homemade gifts you like to receive?

25 Days of Christmas--Day Eight

2009-12-09T21:28:00.001-06:00

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas," so it's probably time for me to "haul out the holly, put up the tree before my spirit falls again." "The weather outside is frightful," but the girls keep asking to go on a "sleigh ride," or at least "walking in a winter wonderland." Yes, this is a corny way to introduce Day Eight of Jill Savage's 25 Days of Giveaways. Here's Jill's question: What is your favorite Christmas song? It is so hard to choose just one! I love the Christmas hymns, particularly "O Little Town of Bethlehem," "Silent Night," and "O Holy Night." I remember learning "O Little Town" at church when I was in first grade. We were supposed to sing it for a Christmas service, but I got the flu and didn't get to sing...I was crushed! "Silent Night" has always been a special one to me. I might not have this right, but I think it was my Grandma Rugh's favorite Christmas song; either way it always reminds me of her (plus, her birthday was Christmas Eve!). We also sing "Silent Night" at our candlelight service at church every year once every candle has been lit...for a number of years, my sisters and I even got to lead the singing of "Silent Night." "O Holy Night" is such a beautiful song. I grew up listening to Evie's (the singer, not my daughter, although the singer was very much an inspiration for my daughter's name!) recording of the song. My sister, Katie, also sings it (and pretty much everything else) beautifully. There are also so many good, more contemporary Christmas songs! Right now, I think of Chris Rice's "Welcome to Our World." Several lines of the song are so beautiful: Fragile finger sent to heal us, Tender brow prepared for thorns, Tiny heart Whose blood will save us, Unto us is born, Unto us is born. So wrap our injured flesh around You, Breathe our air and walk our sod, Rob our sin and make us holy, Perfect Son of God, Perfect Son of God. Welcome to our world. I also love the words to "One King," sung by Point of Grace: One king held the frankincense, One king held the myrrh, One king held the purest gold, One King held the hope of the world." I guess the best answer to the question "What is your favorite Christmas song?" is probably simply yes, for me! I like 'em all. Or, at least, most of them!

25 Days of Christmas--Day Seven

2009-12-08T22:49:00.002-06:00

Here we are at Day 7 of Jill Savage's 25 Days of Giveaways. For Day 7, Jill talks about giving gifts that give back, listing several examples. The Day 7 question: What about you...have you ever given or received a gift that gives back? Do you have any to add to our list? Since last year, Evie's Sunday school class has been collecting money to purchase animals for families, last year in China, and this year in Africa. Last year, I believe they began by raising money for a pig, then they moved on to chickens, a duck, and bags of seed. It's been very cool watching her get excited about doing extra jobs around the house to earn money to put toward the animals for these family. Then yesterday I checked out Angie Smith's blog, Bring the Rain, and she was promoting a ministry called Sweet Sleep. Sweet Sleep provides beds, bedding, and Bibles to orphans and abandoned children all around the world, and they are gearing up for a big trip to Uganda, where they hope to provide beds and Bibles to 450 children! You can donate money for beds ($88), mosquito nets ($8), mattresses ($50), bedding ($30), and Bibles ($10). Isn't that an awesome gift that gives back???

25 Days of Christmas--Day Six

2009-12-07T23:42:00.003-06:00

For the 6th day of her 25 Days of Giveaways, Jill Savage shared a special version of I Corinthians 13, and then encouraged us to add our own line. Here's the poem: I Corinthians 13: Christmas Style by Sharon Jaynes If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights and shiny bells, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another decorator. If I slave away in the kitchen, baking dozens of Christmas cookies, preparing gourmet meals and arranging a beautifully adorned table at mealtime, but do not show love to my family, I'm just another cook. If I work at the soup kitchen, carol in the nursing home, and give all that I have to charity, but do not show love to my family, it profits me nothing. If I trim the spruce with shimmering angels and crocheted snowflakes, attend a myriad of holiday parties and sing in the choir's cantata, but do not focus on Christ; I have missed the point. Love stops the cooking to hug the child Love sets aside decorating to kiss the husband. Love is kind, though harried and tired, Love doesn't envy another's home that has coordinated Christmas china and table linens. Love doesn't yell at the kids to get out of the way, but is thankful they are there to be in the way. Love doesn't give only to those who are able to give in return but rejoices in giving to those who can't. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. Video games will break; pearl necklaces will be lost, golf clubs will rust. But giving the gift of love will endure. Jill's question: What about you? What would you add to personalize this for you? My answer: If I spend hours baking Christmas goodies, but won't break down and let my kids enjoy a few as a special treat because it will spoil their dinner or make them too crazy (and trust me--it will!), I am more worried about breaking rules than making memories.

25 Days of Christmas--Day Five

2009-12-06T22:16:00.002-06:00

Welcome to the 25 Days of Giveaways, hosted by Jill Savage! I'm really having fun responding to Jill's daily questions (and it'll be even more fun if I win something!). Day five's question: What's your easiest favorite holiday treat? We make a lot of goodies at Christmas, but one of the easiest--and tastiest--are Oreo truffles. Stick a block of softened cream cheese and a package of somewhat-broken-up Oreos (just the regular size package) into a food processor and process until well combined. With your hands, form the mixture into small balls. Dip balls into melted white chocolate and place on waxed paper. Drizzle with melted semi-sweet chocolate. Chill, then enjoy! I'm always looking for quick, yummy treats to whip up, so feel free to leave ideas in my comments. And, hey--if you'd like a bunch more ideas (and the chance to win something!), hop on over to Jill's blog.

25 Days of Christmas--Days Three and Four

2009-12-05T22:56:00.002-06:00

Life's been crazy (hmm...it's December...go figure!), and I missed blogging on Day Three of the 25 Days of Giveaways, but I'll go ahead and make up for it in this post (even though it won't count as an entry for the Day 3 prize). Day Three's question: How does your personality show up in your Christmas tree? Our Christmas tree is usually a bit on the scrappy side, and so am I. I'm kind of kidding, but not really! We use the bigger, colorful light bulbs (C7, maybe?) like I grew up with, so I guess that shows my bent toward tradition and even nostalgia. I mentioned before that we have ornaments from many places we've been, as well as many we've received as gifts, so I guess they reflect the value I place on people and experiences. But mostly, it's kind of scrappy, like me. :) Okay, on to Day Four! What are you choosing to let go of to simplify Christmas this year? I love this question. I was just thinking about this the other day, and I decided that--as silly as it may seem--I am going to give up Christmas movies. I realized that each December, I have a desire--an expectation, even--to see a small handfull of Christmas movies: It's a Wonderful Life, Miracle on 34th Street (I love both the classic black-and-white and the newer remake), and White Christmas. Each year, I wait for evenings when Mr. B and I are both home, not busy, not exhausted...and when Christmas comes and I have not yet seen a single Christmas movie, I get annoyed. Seriously! Isn't that dumb? So this year, I'm giving up my Christmas movies, or at least the need to see them. I will not get upset with anyone when the season passes by and I have not had my fill of George Bailey or Kris Kringle, and this Christmas will be that much sweeter because I am eliminating something that nearly always creates frustration. Jill Savage talked about singing "Let it go, let it go, let it go!". What are you going to let go this year?

25 Days of Christmas--Day Two

2009-12-03T07:40:00.003-06:00

In case you missed yesterday's post, I've decided to join Jill Savage for her 25 Days of Christmas Giveaways! I forgot to explain on "Day One," though, that Jill is giving away a separate prize each day, but all entries qualify for a free Hearts at Home conference registration! I've been to four Hearts conferences; they are amazing, and I think it would be even more amazing to go for FREE. Anyway, on to today's topic: Random acts of Christmas Kindness...Have you ever been the recipient of someone else's random act of kindness? Have you been prompted to bless someone in a special way? I've definitely been the recipient of random acts of kindness...I can think of numerous times that friends have picked up my kids so I could work on a project at home without the extra little "helping" hands. When we've had babies, friends have brought meals so I didn't have to worry about anything but loving on the baby. Probably some of the most meaningful random acts of kindness, though, are cards or notes of encouragement I've received from friends at different times. The thought and time it takes to sit down, write a note, and then actually mail it, when an e-mail or even e-card would be so much quicker, make these special notes valuable blessings to me. What about you? Have you received (or given) any random acts of kindness? Leave me a comment! Or, better yet, head on over to Jill Savage's blog and leave her a comment--you could win!

25 Days of Christmas--Day One

2009-12-02T21:59:00.004-06:00

I haven't even blogged about Thanksgiving yet, nor about Eloise's fourth birthday party (I think I'm still recovering from all the festivities!). However, those things will have to wait, because I love to win stuff, and Hearts at Home's Jill Savage is hosting a 25 Days of Christmas Giveaway, and I get more chances to win if I blog about her daily topics. That's right, folks: because of my competitive nature, I may actually blog 25 days in a row. Or not. We'll see how it goes! So here's the first day's topic: What traditions do you and your family have for decorating for Christmas? When it's time to decorate the tree, we pop some popcorn, turn up the Christmas music, and get to work! It's always fun to unwrap each ornament and remember where or from whom we got it. The first year Mr. B and I were married, I made a bunch of ornaments. We've also tried to purchase an ornament each place to which we've travelled. There are ornaments from my former students. We have special ornaments from family and friends. A couple of years ago, Evie began making up her own "history" of different ornaments so that she could play along with the game. The girls definitely enjoy hanging the ornaments, but they probably love munching on popcorn best!

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

What about you? Any special holiday decorating traditions?

filling in some gaps

2009-11-18T21:43:00.000-06:00

Well, here I am again after another nearly-two-week hiatus from the ol' blog. I'm sitting here with a literal mound of paperwork (and stickers, packages of balloons, two spools of thread, a roll of masking tape, a pacifier, three suckers, and a Target bag of things to return to the store) surrounding my laptop on my desk. I probably shouldn't even be taking the time to blog right now, but I thought I'd post a few odds and ends, filling in some of the gaps that I seem to leave when I fail to blog for long stretches of time.

I can't remember if I ever mentioned that Eloise is taking ballet class this fall, but, in case I did fail to mention it, Eloise is taking ballet class this fall. She loves it! She loves interacting with her teacher and classmates, and she adores wearing leotards. Here are a few photos from her first day of class back in September:

Eloise is in white.

Getting some help with her jumping (she's already gotten much better!)...

They learned the YMCA (or Y-C-M-A, depending on whose version you're singing...)!

The day before we left for Texas last month, I took the "big girls" for haircuts. Evie decided to cut off 10 inches of her hair and donate it to Locks of Love. I had donated my hair a few months ago, and I think she really loved the idea. So, we went from this:

to this:

Cute picture, huh? It was "drawn" in one of those photo booth things!

I was nervous about it being so short, but I think it's adorable. It really suits her, and she loves it!

We don't do Halloween in our family; neither Mr. B nor I grew up celebrating it, so it feels pretty normal to us to just ignore the holiday. Our friends from across the street are not Halloween people, either; they've always gone to Chuck E. Cheese that night. We've been joining them in their tradition for the last several years, and I can tell you that Chuck E. Cheese is very quiet on October 31st when most of the rest of the world is out trick-or-treating! Here are a few photos:

The whole gang: some of those "kids" are not very little anymore, but they still love their annual Chuck E. Cheese visit!

Crammed in the climbing tubes!

Taking a spin with Chuck E.

So, nothing terribly thrilling in this post, but consider yourself a little more "caught up" on our ever-exciting lives. Doesn't it feel good?

the tickle in my tummy

2009-11-04T16:30:00.004-06:00

We were having a rough morning the other day, and we hadn't even had breakfast yet. I woke up with a tickle in my throat, unsure whether or not it was going to turn into a full-blown sore throat. I heard Evie and Eloise squabbling about something, and Evie switched into her bossy voice and said, "You just lost Cinderella." (The Cinderella doll belongs to Evie, and sometimes she sort of lords it over Eloise, taking away the privilege of playing with the doll if Eloise won't cooperate with Evie's plans or ideas.) Mr. B and I quickly jumped in and told Evie she couldn't play with any dolls or the dollhouse all day. This is a major punishment in our house. Anyway, Mr. B left for work, and I was getting breakfast ready for the girls. Evie began telling Eloise that the Little People (Fisher Price) are not dolls. I wasn't sure the point of the conversation, but I continued to listen. Evie continued to explain that Little People are not dolls, because they are fat, and Eloise echoed that statement. I quickly explained that Little People really are dolls, that they are not fat (they just have super short legs), and that calling people or things fat is unkind and can be hurtful. Breakfast was ready, so I brought it to the table, and we bowed our heads to pray. This was Eloise's prayer:

Dear Father, Thank you for the wonderful day. And help us to be kind and show others how to be kind. And Evie lost dolls for the whole life. And we were talking about Little People. And they are not fat. In Jesus' Name, Amen

I definitely had to stifle a laugh. But then I suddenly realized why Evie was insisting that Little People were not dolls: she wanted to play Little People, even though she'd lost dolls and dollhouse for the day. I was soft, and I let them play Little People off and on for the rest of the day. Eloise had another cute prayer at lunch time:

Dear Heavenly Father,

Lord, please be with all the people in the whole...the whole...the whole...states. All the states...Because some of the people in the states are sick. And my mom has a tickle in her tummy.

Amen

So, the tickle was in my throat, rather than in my tummy, but I thought it was sweet of her to pray for me nonetheless. If I had a Cinderella doll, I'd let her play with it.

canner kids and other adventures in Texas

2009-11-03T17:30:00.001-06:00

So, we've been home from our trip for almost a week, and I'm just now sitting down to blog about it!

We really did have a great time visiting Matt and Molly. Saturday, we drove out to Caddo Lake. I guess there's a whole Cyprus forest growing in the middle of the lake, all hung with Spanish moss and everything, and it's amazing. They had taken Matt's folks on a boat tour of the lake when they had visited a few weeks prior to our visit, and they thought we might like it. When we arrived, however, we discovered that everything around the lake was flooded from all the rain they've been having down there, and some of the "houses" for the boat tours were totally under water. Most of the docks were covered. Basically, there was too much water for boats.

This picture is of a parking lot. You can kind of see an information sign a ways out, probably about two-thirds covered with water.

So, instead instead of taking a boat tour of the lake, we hiked a trail right there in the state park, and it was a fun little adventure.

We all used bug spray, but somehow we all still got bitten. Poor Eloise had it the worst: her little eye was nearly swollen shut the next morning!

The park also had a nice playground area where we sat and enjoyed some snacks and, of course, played. Evie and Eloise impressed me with their fearless trips down a rather old, very long metal slide.

Sunday, we visited Fellowship Bible Church, where Matt and Molly have been attending. Molly even played cello with the praise team during the service! While we were in "big church," all three girls went to their separate classes/nursery. After church, I was asking Evie how Children's Church went (we call it Children's Church where we attend), but then I tried to remember I'd heard it called when I'd dropped her off...finally, I remembered: Kinder Kids!

So, I restated my question, "How was Kinder Kids?"

She looked at me like I was nuts. "It wasn't Kinder Kids!"

Me: "Yeah, honey, I think that's what it was called."

Evie: "No. Our teacher told us what it was called. It was...it was...CANNER Kids."

Me: "Canner Kids? Like, did you work in a cannery?" (Yes, I am silly and slightly sarcastic with my kids a lot.)

Evie: "For real, Mom. The teacher said it was called Canner Kids."

And then it dawned on me. We were in TEXAS. Of course the lady told her it was called Canner Kids. That's exactly how an East-Texan would sound, pronouncing Kinder Kids. Molly and I had a good laugh about it, but Evie asked me not to talk about it anymore. So I'm not. I'm just typing.*

Sunday night, we had a bonfire at Stonehouse, where Matt and Molly live and serve as house parents for people who come to serve at Missionary Tech in a somewhat short-term capacity (I think?). We roasted hot dogs and s'mores. The girls call marshmallows "marsh-a-moles," and when they roast one, they say they "marsh a marsh-a-mole." We even had some live music--Molly played guitar, and their friend, Joel, played mandolin. Except for more blasted mosquitoes, it was great!

Monday morning, we woke up (at Stonehouse--we slept there Saturday night) to a birthday party! Molly wanted to celebrate all three girls' birthdays, because they had been gone for Audrey and Evie's birthdays, and Eloise's is coming up quickly. They had filled the hallway outside our bedroom with balloons.

Molly made muffins with candles in them, and yummy French toast. There were presents for all three girls: Evie and Eloise got homemade paper dolls (so, so cute!), sparkly batons with streamers, cowboy hats, feather boas, jump ropes, and a neat book; Audrey got a stuffed dog, some hair clips, and a cloth book with clear plastic windows for photos, and Molly inserted pictures she printed off my blog.

Everything was delightful, and the girls were so excited! As part of the party, Molly also tuned their ukulele to a major chord and let the girls take turns playing it.

Oh my...what fun!!! There were even a couple of party games with prizes!

Once we finally finished partying, we headed over to Missionary Tech to see the building and meet some of the team. Unfortunately, we arrived just as they were calling people in for chapel, so we really didn't get to meet very many people (although, the ones we did meet were very nice!), but we did get to tour the building, in its present, in-the-middle-of-remodeling state, and it's going to be great.

From Tech, we headed to a nearby town to visit an oil museum. Of course, when we arrived, we discovered that the oil museum is closed on Mondays, so we just peeked in some windows and piled back into the van. I had it in my head that one must eat some good Mexican food while visiting Texas, so we took Molly out to lunch and did, indeed, enjoy some good Mexican food.

It was hard to hit the road for Missouri after lunch--Molly and I had a teary goodbye--but I just keep reminding myself that Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and she and Matt will be here! Of course, thinking of Thanksgiving also makes me think of all the things I need to do before then, so I should get off the computer. I'll post later about the rest of our trip!

*Seriously, while I was working on this post, Evie came up alongside me and said, "Mom! Why are you typing about Canner Kids?!?" She proceeded to read that whole section aloud, including the part that said, "...but Evie asked me not to talk about it anymore. So I'm not. I'm just typing." Let's just say, she was not amused. But I was!

don't mess with Texas...

2009-10-23T21:37:00.002-05:00

...or something like that! We are in Texas right now, visiting my sister and her husband. We left home Wednesday night and drove non-stop until we got here. Well, non-stop except for two stops to fill up with gas. And except for three potty breaks. The girls did great in the car. They all fell asleep right when we hit the road. It was a little disconcerting when Audrey woke up at 2 a.m., chattering and laughing away. Despite my numerous attempts to lull her back to sleep, she remained awake until about 5 a.m. She slept quite a bit of the remainder of the drive, though, so I think she probably came out close to even. We were slowed down a bit by some pretty major rain, but at long last, we arrived. It's been so good to see my sister; the girls have really missed their Aunt Molly! Tonight was a big event for the missions organization with which they are serving--the 40th anniversary--so everyone has been very busy preparing for that, as well as board meetings and such things, but we look forward to a full weekend with them both! It seems like with every other thing that happens with the girls, Molly turns to me and says, "Oh, you have to put that in the blog!". She is motivating me to become a little better devoted to keeping up with this thing...so we'll see if it sticks. One thing I don't think I've mentioned at all here is that Audrey is a toddler. She is quite proud of her newish ambulation ability, and she does not get discouraged when she falls (she has a number of bruises on her little head, though!). I had forgotten how quickly a new walker develops speed...one day she's wobbling around, and the next day she's running from the waiting area into Eloise's dance class before I even realize what has happened! My camera is still giving me fits, and I haven't taken the time to force it into submission so I can get a good walking photo or two, but perhaps tomorrow while we're enjoying the Lone Star State and two awesome people who live there. Until then, bye y'all!

mrs. murphy's * cheesy chowder

2009-10-06T21:13:00.004-05:00

This recipe is a slightly altered from one in the low-carb menu plan I follow (and it even has potatoes in it--go figure!). I made it a few weeks ago and YUM. So good. The only thing I'm changing for next time is doubling the recipe because my girls couldn't get enough of it, so I barely got a single portion! So, here you go! If you live near me, I imagine you could use something to warm you up right about now, and this recipe is easy and delicious!

Cheesy Chowder

(Serves 4)

Ingredients

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, pressed

1 14.5 oz can low sodium chicken broth

1 tablespoon whole wheat flour

2 large russet potatoes, peeled and cooked

2/3 cup milk

salt and pepper to taste

1 1/2 cups low fat Cheddar cheese, shredded

1 cup turkey ham, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

Instructions

In a large saucepan, melt the butter; add onion and garlic; saute until onion is translucent. Combine 1 tablespoon of the chicken broth and the flour and stir into a think paste; set aside. Add the remaining broth and the potatoes to the onion mixture in the saucepan; bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for five minutes; add flour/broth mixture and cook for an additional five minutes, stirring frequently. Add milk and salt and pepper to taste; cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes, or until mixture thickens. Gradually stir in cheese; reduce heat to low; stir until cheese melts; add ham and heat through.

*Does anyone know that song? "Mrs. Murphy's Chowder"? Mr. B does...and a bunch of kids to whom I used to teach music, who aren't really kids any more...

our little party on the prairie

2009-10-05T21:11:00.011-05:00

Before I embark upon this long-overdue post about Evie's birthday party last month, I thought I'd update you on all things flu-related. Evie and Eloise have both turned the corner and are feeling much better. Unfortunately, Mr. B woke up this morning not feeling well; although he never did throw up, he had some of the other symptoms, so he retreated to bed where he slept the day away. I, on the other hand, spent a lot of the day washing sheets, towels, pajamas, and rags, and disinfecting the house from top to bottom. It certainly feels good to be this clean, but I'm exhausted all over again! Thankfully, Audrey has avoided everything so far (except for her herpangina thing, which seems to be disappearing slowly but surely).

But onto happier things...like parties!

Evie and I had a good time planning her first-ever friend party. Evie allowed my dad to attend, but mostly because he was our event photographer (so thanks, Dad, for the great photos!).

As the guests arrived, we gave sunbonnets (made out of wallpaper) and pinafores to the girls who wanted to wear them, and we had a brown paper "farmer's hat" for our sole boy guest. Then we had everyone sit on a quilt to make butter (shaking cream in a canning jar) while I read a couple of the "Little House" picture books aloud. It took a while, but we finally got a good chunk of butter in the jar, which we later tasted on a biscuit.

After the "churning," it was time to do laundry.

We had each child wash one of Pa's handkerchiefs (bandannas) at the washboard and then hang it up to dry.

[I've never seen laundry seem so fun!]

Next, we made simple corncob dolls. I'm pretty sure Laura Ingalls didn't draw a face on her corncob doll with a Sharpie or Marks-a-Lot marker, but they still were fairly authentic-looking.

Everyone had a blast when Mr. B started up a rousing game of "Blind Man's Bluff."

I don't think any of the kids had ever run a three-legged race before...

it was definitely a challenge for most of them, but everyone was a great sport!

Everyone was so thirsty after the race that we headed inside for some lemonade--and the cake and ice cream. The cake was a log home. When Eloise first saw it, she said, "Mom, are those hot dog logs?" Interesting concept, but no: everything was icing...big globs of very heavy icing...so heavy that some of the logs kept trying to roll right off the cake...

and the chimney was definitely bowed...

but it worked!

We lit the candles and sang to the birthday girl.

Would you believe it took her many, many tries to get any candles out? Seriously...hasn't her musician mother taught her anything about air support yet?!? (She was so cute trying, though!)

It appeared that the cake was every bit as yummy as it should have been, considering it was covered in a double recipe of chocolate buttercream!

Evie received tons of wonderful gifts. [We're still working on the thank you notes...please don't talk to me about this.] Once the gifts were opened and the cake had settled enough to induce a massive sugar high, Mr. B attempted to lead them in one more game involving balloons...instead, the kids decided to play their own game...I think it was called LET'S GO CRAZY!!! Just before the party ended, we gathered the kids for a group photo. Much to my delight, each and every girl (except Evie) decided to wear a sunbonnet and pinafore for the picture, and Tristan agreed to hold his hat.

Evie definitely had a great time, and I think everyone else did, too.

sick

2009-10-03T14:13:00.005-05:00

A couple of days ago I noticed a little white bump on the tip of Audrey's tongue. At first I thought it was just a piece of food, but she never seemed to swallow it, and it was there all day, even after a record five-hour afternoon nap. Yesterday, the bump had spread (or multiplied, I'm not sure which!), and when she failed to finish her beloved banana at breakfast--she normally inhales it!--I suspected something was wrong. My suspicions were confirmed when, while I was "doing school" with the bigger girls, Audrey laid down on the floor and fell fast asleep. I called her doctor and took the only available appointment, which was at 4:15 that afternoon. I cannot tell you how excited I was to sit in the doctor's office at the end of the day, at the end of the week, especially after waiting for two hours to be seen for our 10 am appointment (one-year and six-year checkups for Audrey and Evie) on Tuesday (which, of course, I was convinced was probably where Audrey picked up whatever was ailing her). Anyway, we went to the appointment, and much to my delight, we only had to wait a half hour. The doctor looked her over and determined she has hand, foot, and mouth disease, minus the hand and foot (I think she called it "herpangina"?). Basically, we can just give her pain relievers, push the fluids, make sure she gets plenty of rest, and keep her away from other kids until the blisters are gone. The "keep her away from other kids" thing meant she couldn't go to small group with us last night, so I stayed home with her and Evie--who needed to go to bed on time or even early, if you get my drift!--and Mr. B and Eloise headed to small group. I caught myself falling asleep while reading to Evie, and again while praying with her, but after tucking in the girls, I decided to call my sister, with whom I hadn't really talked for quite awhile. She and I chatted for a more than a couple of hours, and Mr. B and Eloise came home while I was still on the phone. When we finally got off the phone, I went in to talk with Mr. B about the evening, and suddenly I didn't feel well. Within about five minutes, I was vomiting. It was so bizarre, because I seriously had felt fine while talking with Molly (just tired, but that's normal). I continued to be sick pretty much all night long with what is definitely the worst flu I've had in years. (Of course, I haven't even had the stomach flu for almost three years, but this truly was terrible. Yuck.) I'm doing better now, although I can tell I'm very dehydrated. Mr. B has been a good sport: he ran out fairly early this morning to get some gatorade to help replace my electrolytes, and he took Evie to her dance class. However, when they returned from dance, Evie announced that her stomach hurt, and she's been throwing up for the last couple of hours. Eloise has diarrhea. We're a regular three-ring circus around here... I have two prayers right now. First, I pray that Audrey doesn't get the stomach thing. It's so heartbreaking when little ones get it, and it's also so messy (I know, that's very selfish!). Secondly, I pray that Mr. B doesn't get it either. He doesn't handle being sick very well, and I don't handle him not handling being sick very well, very well. I have hope, though, since he is the only one in the household who's had a flu shot! Does anyone know how long it takes for those to be effective (assuming, of course, that they guessed right on the strain of flu for which they're immunizing this year)? He had the shot on Tuesday...hmmm...I hope it works!

school!

2009-09-27T20:42:00.003-05:00

The Monday after Audrey's birthday party, we started homeschooling! I felt like I should commemorate the day with a "first day of school" photo in front of the house...it just seemed so first-day-of-schoolish. So I had Evie and Eloise stand on the porch and pose for a picture, but my camera wouldn't take the picture; it just kept shutting off. Even though I took it right from the charger, where it had been "charging" overnight, it kept saying the battery was dead. After five or so attempts, resetting the date and time each time, and monkeying with the clear packing tape I've been using to hold the battery compartment closed (have I ever mentioned that I could really use a new camera?), I finally gave up and sent the girls inside.

We tackled our studies with much gusto. Or something. Both Evie and Eloise were excited to get started, and they loved the little "schoolroom" I had set up the night before. Audrey hung out in her pack-n-play right by us for quite a while, playing with a bunch of the new toys she'd received from her party.

At the end of the day, before we sat down to dinner, I decided to try taking a picture one more time, and it worked!

Evie and Eloise's first day of Kindergarten and preschool

She kept insisting on striking different poses...

Yes, she wore this all day. No, I will never admit to being glad that she wasn't actually leaving the house like this...

We've been going strong for four weeks now, and we're still enjoying it. Each day is a little different, depending on what other activities we have (dance classes, piano lessons, storytime at the library, and homeschool gym and swim class), but we're in a routine, and we're learning a lot! I was a little bit surprised by how much material is considered "Kindergarten"--some things I don't remember learning until 3rd or 4th grade!--but Evie is soaking it all up, and Eloise is, too, actually! (The other day Eloise asked me if I noticed the simile in the book we were reading...probably not a question uttered by most three year olds, I'd wager...)

quiet blog equals crazy life, part one

2009-09-19T20:48:00.005-05:00

Wow--life's been a whirlwind lately, and my blog...um...hasn't! Basically for me, a quiet blog equals a crazy life. Of course, a frequently-updated blog also equals a crazy life, most likely with at least four things that aren't getting done because I'm taking time to blog.

Anyway, my lull in blogging began right around Audrey's birthday party, I think. I also think that I hesitated to blog about the party because I had blogged about parties and/or cake for like five blog posts in a row, but I'm totally over that now, so here are a few snapshots from our little barnyard party.

We had a down-home meal of barbeque beef sandwiches, baked beans, and fruit for dinner. Evie distributed bandanas for all of our guests to wear. My mom came in her own "costume;" here she is with Eloise, saying "cowgirls!".

Evie and Eloise helped me pull out some of our farm animal books and puzzles, my sister lent me an "Old MacDonald" feltboard set, and we put out our Little People farm. The kids seemed to have fun playing with these things, but probably even more fun batting balloons around the family room! We tried to get a group shot of all the kids, but they were pretty wound up and wanting to be anywhere doing anything except sitting in front of the posterboard barn smiling for a picture. Oh well!

I tried to dress the girls according to the theme. I had a pair of hand-me-down overalls in each of their sizes, and I'm pretty sure Audrey's pair was at least ten years old (and they are Guess?). That, paired with her crazy hair that she refused to keep in a ponytail, pretty much made her the scrappiest birthday girl ever, but we love her!

I ended up making both the sheep and cow cakes. The sheep turned out pretty well. Mr. B and I decided it's kind of like one of those perception puzzles, because he saw a sheep waving its front hooves, while I meant it to be a sheep with big ol' ears. Either way, it's a sheep, right?

The cow cake I nicknamed Picasso. I also learned that I'm getting too old to stay up late decorating cakes...I seriously didn't realize how off-kilter the poor guy's ears were until the next morning. (It didn't help that they were so heavy with frosting that they kept falling off the rest of the cake. And little did I know that this was only a taste of things to come with making Evie's birthday cake--stay tuned for that blog post, coming soon!)

Anyway, regardless of how the cakes looked, Audrey thought they tasted great. She was actually rather nonchalant about her first taste of refined sugar, but she definitely enjoyed it.

All in all, it was a pretty fun party (I think)!

more birthday fun

2009-08-27T23:26:00.003-05:00

We've been in quite a birthday party mode the past week or so, what with working up to Audrey's first birthday party this Saturday, and then Evie's sixth birthday party (and first ever friend party) coming up a couple of weeks after that. My brain is a mess of invitations, party games, cake ideas (thanks, Jodie, by the way for finding that link--those were some cute ideas!), goody bags, and more.

On the topic of goody bags, is it just me, or does anyone else feel guilty putting together bags of stuff that will probably make parents crazy? Or am I the only mom who feels crazed by the bags loaded with pure sugar in the form of candy (or disguised as fruit snacks) begging to be consumed, and the chintzy toys that quickly become strewn all around our house? I get it that it's nice to send your guests home with something, but I'm always hoping to come up with something more creative than the bag-o-junk I've been known to put together for these little shindigs. If you have any ideas for a barnyard party happening in less than two days, please leave a comment!

Anyway, in the midst of all my birthday party plans, Eloise was invited to attend a party for Abby and Anna, the twins with whom she played during Evie's weekly ballet lessons last spring. (You may remember me mentioning them in this post.) Eloise was so tickled to get invited to what was supposed to be a pool party. She had great fun making cards for the girls and wrapping their gifts. Unfortunately, we've been having the strangest weather lately, and the pool party was forced to change to lunch at McDonald's and then cupcakes and presents at the birthday girls' house, but I think it is safe to say that a good time was still had by all!

The Happy Meals are living up to their name

Here's Eloise with the famous Tucker

Climbing through the tubes in the Playplace

The birthday girls--such cuties!

Checking out birthday presents

It seriously was a great party. And guess what? The "goody bags"? Sand buckets with shovels, a sand mold, and a package of goldfish crackers. So cute!

happy birthday, Audrey!

2009-08-24T21:21:00.003-05:00

We enjoyed a low-key, "regular" kind of day today. I don't think Audrey had any idea it was her birthday, but I enjoyed reflecting on the past year and what a blessing I have in this little girl.

Not MY CHILD! Monday

2009-08-24T08:18:00.005-05:00

My baby does not turn one year old today. A year has not flown by, and she is still a tiny little infant, certainly not on the brink of toddlerhood. (So don't check back for the birthday video I've been working on for her!) Yesterday Eloise did not hand me something, saying, "Here you go, Mom." The item did not appear to be the tip of a fingernail, and when I asked her where she got it, she did not tell me, "From my foot. I bit it off." That would be disgusting! My little Evie is not about to start kindergarten. Just as Audrey is still a tiny baby, Evie has to be barely a preschooler, not a big girl who can read! Please play along! This week MckMama is running Not My Child! Monday, or you can simply do a Not Me! Monday. Have fun! ***UPDATE*** Audrey's video is up and running, and you can check it out here!

another post about cake...

2009-08-20T22:31:00.002-05:00

After writing about all the birthday cakes I've made for my girls and looking at those pictures, I really had a taste for some cake. Actually, I had a taste for some good buttercream frosting!

Needless to say, when I found out later that same day that it happened to be National Cupcake Day, it didn't take a lot to convince me that it was imperative for us to celebrate this holiday! Much to my girls' delight, I mixed up and baked some cupcakes while I cooked dinner. Then after dinner, while everyone helped clean up, I made a batch of buttercream and got out some decorating supplies. We each selected one color to tint the icing (we opted for a cool color scheme), I filled three decorator bags, and we went to town!

This was their first time using decorating bags, and they actually did quite well!

(I'm thinking that if we ever do a unit on Greek mythology, we have a perfect Medusa-inspired snack!)

Now that we've had our fun, and we've each enjoyed a cupcake slathered in blue, green, and/or purple buttercream, we sure do have a lot of leftovers...anyone interested???

let them eat cake

2009-08-18T07:14:00.005-05:00

After seeing the picture of Evie's first birthday cake in my last post, my sister asked me--in my comments, and I love getting comments, guys!--to share the other cakes I've made my girls (I think she's looking for some ideas for one of her sweet kiddos who is turning three soon!).

So what can I say? I aim to please! Here are the cakes:

For Evie's first birthday, I had found these cute and colorful first birthday invitations and paper products at a party store that was going out of business and I couldn't resist them. For the cake, I scanned the invitation, enlarged the image of this little...bear? I think it's a bear. Anyway, then I traced the image onto waxed paper, cut out each individual piece from the waxed paper, and traced each piece onto a white-iced sheet cake with a toothpick. Next, I carefully died icing to match each portion of the invitation and used a tiny star tip to decorate most of the sections (a few were just piped and smoothed into their areas, I think). It was a long process, and by the end I was exhausted. I think that might help explain that random yellow strip piped around the bottom. Hmmm...

When Evie turned two, I had this idea to do a ladybug party. I combed the internet for ladybug cake ideas, and eventually I combined several ideas to create this cake. I was really, really pleased with how it came out! I think my favorite detail is the black candles (two of them, because she was two) as antennae.

For her third birthday, I was excited to make her this Cookie Monster cake in the same Wilton cake pan my mom used to make birthday cakes for me and all of my sisters. The decorating was actually so quick for this cake that I had time to make some Elmo and Big Bird cookies. I also created some fun Sesame Street games for the party, including Pin the Nose on Elmo, Cookie Monster bean bag toss (with cookie beanbags), and Oscar's Trash Cleanup. (I can't just simply go to bed early before a birthday party, you know!)

Birthday number four: Strawberry Shortcake. Now, I'm usually not into characters at all. The Cookie Monster thing was totally a nostalgia thing for me, but Evie totally used it as leverage to have a Strawberry Shortcake party, which meant a Strawberry Shortcake cake. This one wasn't really hard, but it seriously took hours--partly because it was warm and my icing kept getting too soft to work with, and partly because I only had one decorating bag at the time, so I had to clean it out after each and every little step. I've since invested in a few more bags, just in case.

Evie turned five just eleven days after Audrey was born. We waited about a month to have her party, but it probably wasn't long enough for me, because everything is a big blur in my mind. We went with a flower/garden theme, and she and I had decided on this "window box" cake. I think it was a great idea, but I took a few shortcuts, including using refrigerated cookie dough for the flowers and butterflies. Believe me, that cookie dough tasted awesome, but I think it was more dense than the sugar cookie recipe I usually use, so the cookies themselves, which we baked on sticks, were too heavy. As they sat in the cake, the weight of the cookies caused them to either fall forward or backward in the cake, or fall off their sticks, or both. It was definitely a cute idea, and I was so thankful to my sisters who helped me by icing all the cookies, because I was totally busy making these fruit and veggie bouquets, which--in my postpartum mind--were extremely, extremely critical for a five-year-old's party:

Okay, on to Eloise! When Eloise turned one, I didn't have any great theme in mind, but I made these super cute invitations with lavender and yellow scrapbooking papers, with a yellow birthday candle tied to the front of each. I was so excited about them, but I didn't even think about having them hand-cancelled by the post office, so the candle was completely demolished by the time the guests received them. My mom actually thought there was some kind of strange, waxy confetti in the envelope, but she couldn't figure out why I'd tied the thick string (the wick) to the card. Bummer.

Anyway, I just made some lavender-iced cupcakes for the party. I printed pictures of Eloise from throughout her first year in little circles, mounted them on lavender and yellow paper, and stuck them in the cupcakes (my sister, Molly, created the little picture holders for me). It was pretty quick and easy, and it looked cute. Plus, Eloise will never remember either way!

By the time she turned two, Eloise definitely loved kitties and the color orange, so I tried to combine them to make this cat cake. My mom had made me a kitty cake for my second birthday, and I looked at pictures to get ideas for Eloise's, but my mom's was definitely cuter. Fortunately, it had been a long, long time since my second birthday, so not many people remembered the cake to compare...

Keeping with tradition, I made Cookie Monster again for Eloise's third birthday. I think I got the "fur" effect a little better this time. This party was pretty easy, because I had saved all the games from Evie's party. I wonder if they've held up well enough for Audrey's third birthday...but now I'm getting ahead of myself.

This year, Audrey's birthday is going to be a farm theme. It's hard when they're turning one, because what can a one-year-old really "be into," you know? But she really does like trying to imitate animal sounds, and she loves playing with the little Leap Frog Fridge Farm while I work in the kitchen, so it seemed like a good choice. Plus, I found a cute idea for a cow cake, and even a sheep cake if I get ambitious and feel like making two, or if the cow doesn't work out and I need to transform it into a sheep or something.

Evie is going to have her first-ever friend party. It's a really, really big deal, and you should see the "plans" she has made. I've had to remind her a number of times that we will not be able to do everything on her list...it might be a bit much to go swimming, go to Chuck E Cheese, have a sleepover, and make a plethora of craft projects. She has chosen to have a "Little House on the Prairie" themed party, so I'm not sure how most of those things tie into "Little House" anyway. I don't recall Pa and Ma loading the girls into the wagon and making the journey to Chuck E Cheese, do you? I'm not really sure yet what I'm doing for her "Little House" cake. Any ideas? Leave me a comment!

Not Me! Monday

2009-08-17T10:03:00.004-05:00

It's been months since I've posted a Not Me! Monday, but here we go!

I did not allow Evie to jump in a huge puddle with her friends at the very rainy church picnic yesterday. She was not the only one in the group wearing socks and tennis shoes (as opposed to sandalls), so she did not have to ride home with very, very soggy feet. She did not have a blast doing it.
While grocery shopping the other night, I did not tear up as I put a number "1" birthday candle in the shopping cart, remembering how not-so-very long ago it seemed that I placed an identical candle in my cart for my soon-to-be six year old. Audrey cannot be nearly a year old already, and there is no way Evie is days away from six (and I have not contemplated the fact that six years is already one third of the way to eighteen).

I did not spend a good part of an entire day cleaning out the ~~jungle~~ area on the far side of our driveway. We do not have nine yard watse bags of proof of this treacherous project.

Care to play along? Hop on over to My Charming Kids and join the blog carnival!

keepin' my eyes on Jesus

2009-08-16T23:56:00.003-05:00

So much to blog about, so little time! And instead of blogging about anything, I'm just going to share this little video. VBS has been over for weeks, but we're still hearing the songs (with a few variations and/or interpretations of the lyrics) around here every day...

Perhaps I'll get around to a "real" post tomorrow...

it's not about me

2009-08-08T11:09:00.004-05:00

I'm planning to blog about our fun, albeit wet, trip to a little amusement park yesterday. For now, though, here's a little thought I came across last night, good for me to remember:

God's goal is not to make sure you're happy. No matter how hard it is for you to believe this, it's time to do so. Life is not about you being comfortable and happy and successful and pain free. It is about becoming the man or woman God has called you to be.
Life's not about you! It's about God.
-Charles R. Swindoll Paul: A Man of Grace and Grit

déjà vu

2009-08-04T07:41:00.010-05:00

Audrey is definitely her own person, but sometimes when I look at her I experience some major déjà vu. See what I mean?

Baby Eloise, around 5 months old

Baby Audrey, around 5 months old

Baby Evie (on right), around 11 months old

Baby Audrey, 11 months old

Baby Evie with a messy face

Baby Audrey with a messy face

zoo day

2009-07-30T22:59:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, we took advantage of a beautiful day and headed to the zoo! Mr. B was able to take a rare day off, and it was extra fun to spend some time with Daddy. I think the girls were especially excited, remembering the ice cream treats they got the last time we made a family zoo trip. Sadly, Mr. B has chosen to fast from ice cream after our pastor's message Sunday, so I had to explain to Evie and Eloise, as they sat so expectantly after lunch, that there would be no special dessert this time. I did my best to explain fasting to both girls. A couple of minutes later, Evie approached me and said, "I am fascinating from ice cream, too. For three days. How many days is Daddy fascinating?" Despite the lack of dripping, cold treats on sticks, we had a wonderful time. See for yourself! In case you're wondering, I just completed day five without Diet Coke. In other words, I'm still fascinating. Also, in case you're wondering, Evie decided to stop fascinating when the VBS snack last night was root beer floats (she had hers without the root beer).

praying and fasting (and praying really fast)

2009-07-27T23:44:00.003-05:00

Yesterday at church, our pastor spoke on praying and fasting in order to discern God's will. He challenged each of us to begin our own "fast" by giving up something to which we are somewhat (or very much) addicted. Now, over the last couple of weeks, I have been much more careful about limiting my carb intake. I know from past experience that my body feels better when I eat this way, even though I am forced to deny myself many guilty pleasures. When Pastor asked us to give something up, my first thought was, "What's left??? I already gave up all my carbs!". But then I knew: I needed to let go of Diet Coke. I've given up Diet Coke multiple times in the past, including before and during my pregnancies. I even gave it up last month and was doing just fine until the time came to help my sister pack for her move to Texas. Getting only three or four hours of sleep each night for a good week, my body insisted that it needed caffeine, and I don't do coffee, tea, or anything but Diet Coke. So I started up again. As I've denied myself potatoes and desserts while doing the low-carb thing, I've reasoned that I still can have Diet Coke, and that has kept me going. I left church yesterday determined to let go of my final vice. Pastor explained that when we wanted the thing from which we were fasting, we would be reminded to pray. I knew it would not be easy, but I also knew how spiritually powerful this could be, and I was excited. Unfortunately, I think Audrey heard about the fasting challenge from down the hall in the church nursery. She decided last night to give up something to which she is typically addicted: sleep. She woke up at 2:30 am and would not go back to sleep! She was awake, and she was mad, and nothing I did for a long, long time seemed to help her at all. We walked and rocked and sang for more than two hours. I can count on one hand the number of times I've had to work so hard to soothe that baby since she was born eleven months ago. Want to know something kind of amazing about Audrey? The very first night after her birth, she was a little bit fussy, so I was singing softly and rocking my new little swaddled bundle. She continued to squirm off and on until I sang the old hymn "Great is Thy Faithfulness." I'm not sure what even inspired me to sing it, but as soon as I began, she completely relaxed. Part of the song says, "Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow," and as I sang, it struck me that the name Audrey means strength, and her middle name is Hope. So often I feel like I have neither strength nor hope in different situations, but Audrey has been such a great reminder of Where my strength and hope really lie. Anyway, Audrey finally allowed herself to calm down and relax last night (and yes, it was while I sang "Great is Thy Faithfulness"; it still works!), and I was able to go back to sleep around 5 am. When my alarm went off an hour and a half later, one of the first thoughts that ran through my head was, "How am I going to do this day with no Diet Coke???". To make matters worse, Audrey also refused her morning nap today. As I longed for that beautiful, silver 12 oz can, I definitely remembered to pray. Of course, some of my prayers were not very deep...a number of them were fast, desperate pleas, such as, "Lord, please help me stay sane!" or, "God, please don't let me yell right now!". The day is over now, though, and, by God's grace, I made it. Although I am very tired, I really cherished the time I was able to spend rocking my sweet baby girl, as well as the time I spent talking to my Creator. I am excited to see what He reveals to me over these next days and weeks as I turn to Him, my Strength for today and bright Hope for tomorrow.

it's official

2009-07-22T09:12:00.002-05:00

This won't be much of a post, but I wanted to let you know that after months of contemplation, discussion, and prayer (not in that order!), Mr. B and I have made a decision. We are going to homeschool Evie in the fall. Poor Evie missed the Kindergarten cut-off by three days last year, and around these parts, those Kindergarten cut-offs are pretty strict and serious. (Except, of course, at the private school where my sister was teaching; but I didn't discover that until the third month of school or something.) Because she was so ready for school despite her actual birth date, we went ahead and did some school at home: I called it preschool, but used Kindergarten material. I was really down on myself because I wasn't as structured or scheduled as I'd originally hoped; but looking back, I realize she has learned a lot! Mr. B and I are not choosing homeschool this year because we want to hide Evie from anything. Rather, we feel led to homeschool for what we can give her at home. Believe me, I see and know the merits of public and private school. This has not been a simple decision! But for us--at least for this year!--it is the right decision. So, that's all the official news I have for now. Oh--except it looks like my sister, Molly, has been reading my blog. Yay! (Howdy, Molly!) I'm hoping to start updating more regularly again. My sister, Sarah, is really good about keeping her blog current. You should check her out...she's so good that my dad even follows her blog! Maybe one day I'll be as worthy, but I don't want to make him be one of my followers... (Molly, was that passive-aggressive enough???)

I love hate technology

2009-07-13T23:35:00.003-05:00

Evie had her first dance recital last month. I've been meaning to post the (illegally recorded!!!) video of her tap group, but I could not for the life of me figure out how to convert the video file to something compatible with Blogger. Thanks to my brother-in-law down in Texas--Howdy, Uncle Matt!--I think I finally got it! So here's "Kansas City" (also interpreted as "Pass the City" by a certain little tap dancer), featuring Miss Evalin--she's the third from the left. Enjoy!

new wheels

2009-06-17T22:20:00.005-05:00

When Evie turned five last September, we got her a bike helmet and told her we would take her soon to get a new bike.

Does nine months count for soon?

Well, after her long exercise in patience--and a good deal of shopping, both online and on-site--Evie has her new bike: a Schwinn Stardust. She is such hot stuff.

We'd planned to get her a 16" bike, but she would have outgrown a 16", probably by next month at the rate she seems to be growing lately, so the owner of the bike shop showed us how to make a 20" work just fine. Better yet, he had a 20" used Stardust in the back, upon which he put new training wheels, handle grips with streamers, and a big basket, and we made out at about a third of the cost of the new 16".

My mom didn't want Eloise to feel left out with Evie getting a new bike and all, so she brought over one of her latest garage sale finds: a Flexible Flyer tricycle, just enough smaller than Evie's old Radio Flyer trike that Eloise can easily reach the pedals.

(Because, you know, we needed another child's riding/pedalling toy around here...seven just wasn't enough!)

Eloise is equally as proud of her trike as Evie is of her bike.

I was starting to worry about keeping up with them on our walks, when I stumbled across a great garage sale deal on a jogging stroller. (Because, you know, we needed another stroller, too: an umbrella, single, double, and triple is simply not enough for one family!) Now even Audrey and I have some new wheels!

a fantastically fun family day

2009-06-16T19:50:00.006-05:00

My friend, Amy, and I were on the phone today, talking about possibly taking our kids to a little amusement park. I asked her if it was even open for the season yet, and when she told me that it was, I told her that for some reason, I thought it was only open June, July, and August. After pausing for a minute, she said something like, "Uh, it is June, right?".

Duh.

Not only is it June, but it's more than halfway through June.

Can you say "mommy brain"?!?

Seeing as it is halfway through June, I figured it's high time I updated my blog. And since I'm all messed up anyway, I might as well post about something that actually happened even more than a month ago, right? Right.

We took the girls to Sesame Street Live! We had gone last year and had a blast, so we made sure to get tickets again this time. We sat in the first row of the balcony where the view was great. The characters (pronounced char-AC-ters if you're Evie, by the way...not sure why!) were getting ready to put on a pageant about what they wanted to be when they grew up. Elmo wanted to be everything everyone else wanted to be, and Big Bird couldn't pick anything to be. In his big, yellow, whiny way, Big Bird became very sad when the pageant was about to begin and he still hadn't determined a career path for himself. Fortunately, Prairie Dawn gave him a very peppy pep talk, he felt better, and they all lived happily ever after (or something like that).

The girls were mesmerized by the singing, dancing, acting, and lights. It appeared that a good time was being had by all...which is why I was stunned when, as we walked out of the theater and asked Eloise if she liked the show, she burst into tears, crying, "I just feel really sad that Big Bird was really sad!". When we reminded her that he wasn't sad anymore at the end, she calmed down and admitted that she really did like the show. Poor thing...she's so sensitive!

All tears were definitely long forgotten when we had lunch afterward at Sweet Tomatoes. We all ate way too much, and then polished it all off with ice cream cones. Yum.

It was a fantastically fun family day.

And what did Audrey think of her first show? I'll let her tell you herself:

I will never catch up...

2009-05-26T21:37:00.004-05:00

Nothing like the power of positive thinking, right???

I haven't blogged for three weeks.

I'm still in the process of switching the girls' sizes and seasons of clothing (the bins have been out for a couple of weeks!).

I made what seemed like a very reasonable to-do list this morning, and only made it through two-thirds of the jobs.

I hung a load of clothes on the line on this warm and sunny afternoon, only for it to start raining just when the laundry was almost dry.

Speaking of laundry, Mr. B seems to wear clothes faster than I can keep them ironed for him.

Our "vegetable garden" is not sporting any vegetable plants as of yet.

No, I will never catch up! But I'm okay with that...I'll just keep plugging along, loving on my babies that are not going to be babies forever!

In fact, Audrey turned 9 months old on Sunday! She amazes us daily at what a good baby she really is: she eats well (rice, oatmeal, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, green beans, peas, pears, bananas, applesauce, and just recently: Cheerios!), sleeps well (somewhere between 10 and 12 hours each night, with two good naps during the day), and is generally happy all the time. She doesn't crawl yet, but she gets around, primarily by rolling and "scootching."

Miss Eloise is a character. Perhaps you remember Joanie? She's still around. We buckle her into the van, help her out of the van, hold her hand in parking lots...she's a wonderful comrade (and cohort in crime) for Eloise. Last week our newly-three-and-a-half-year-old surprised us by climbing up on Evie's tricycle (a feat in and of itself for the little peanut), s-t-r-e-t-c-h-ing to reach the pedals, and proceeding to pedal the trike around the block by means of a cute little hip-shifting maneuver she somehow managed.

Evie seems to become more precocious by the minute. I've noticed her saying, "I have no clue," about different things. I've been trying to figure out where she got that, but ~~I have no clue~~ I'm not really sure...Anyway, the other day she and Eloise had been swimming in the neighbor's pool, and when we got home, they both went upstairs to change out of their wet swimsuits. Evie came into my bedroom and announced, "I know this is not appropriate, but I'm going to wear it for now because we're not really going anywhere." I quickly spun around to see what "inappropriate" clothing item(s) she had found (you know, in the bins of clothes that were still lying around, waiting for me to finish loading and unloading???). The inappropriate outfit: a skirted leotard, tucked into her silky pajama pants, and a velour hoodie (because sometimes you're chilly after swimming, even when it's 85 degrees outside!).

Eloise took off her swimsuit, put on her Elmo panties, discovered Evie was wearing the only clean skirted leotard and she really, really wanted to wear a leotard, too. What's a girl to do? Why, put the wet swimsuit back on, over the Elmo panties, of course. Oh, and add a nice warm cardigan, just in case the wet swimsuit makes you cold.

This is the pose she struck when I asked her to put her hands on her hips (so I could be sure to see the Elmo underpants). I guess we need to work on body part identification...

And yes, those are some of the infamous clothes bins in each of those pictures. And other stuff all over the place. I will never catch up, remember? And it's okay, remember???

Excuse This House

Some houses try to hide the fact

That children shelter there;

Ours boasts of it quite openly,

The signs are everywhere.

For smears are on the windows,

Little smudges on the doors;

I should apologize, I guess

For toys strewn on the floor.

But I sat down with the children

And we played and laughed and read,

And if the doorbell doesn't shine,

Their eyes will shine instead.

For when I have to choose between

The one job or the other,

Though I need to cook and clean,

First I'll be a

Mother.

--Unknown

a dandelion for Tucker

2009-05-05T11:46:00.002-05:00

On the way out the door to dance class this morning, Evie picked a dandelion for her teacher. Obviously, Scott's Lawn Service is having a hard time keeping up with the power of all these spring rains, because we still seem to have an abundance of dandelions and other weeds despite the costly lawn treatments. Eloise decided to follow suit and picked a dandelion herself. Now, Evie's dance class is a built in play-date for Eloise each week: another girl in the class has twin sisters right around Eloise's age, and they have fun playing together while the big sisters dance. As Eloise held her freshly-plucked ~~weed~~ flower, she told me it was for "Abby-and-Anna, no Anna-and-Abby, no..." Clearly, there was a problem. Two friends, and one flower. The obvious solution? No, not pick another dandelion to even things out. Nope. Suddenly, the dandelion was for Tucker, the three-year-old brother of another dance student. As we drove to class, I silently hoped Eloise would just give the flower to Miss Heather (or, Miss FEATHER, as Eloise says) along with Evie. Or--better yet--that she would forget the already-wilting thing in the van. But, of course, she proudly presented it to Tucker as soon as we arrived. I admit, I was a little bit embarrassed, especially when all the other moms were giggling. But when I looked at Eloise, and the sweetness and purity of her kind gesture, my embarrassment faded and was replaced, instead, with gratitude. I was so thankful she had taken off those RED SNOWMAN tights she'd had on earlier...they really clashed with that purple jumper!

mom jobs

2009-05-01T10:04:00.002-05:00

Lately--like, for the past three years or so--we've been working with Evie to help her stop BOSSING her little sister all day long. The poor girl must come by it very naturally, as the firstborn of two firstborns (although I admit that I haven't spent a great deal of time studying up on the whole "birth order" thing, despite having heard Kevin Leman as the keynote speaker at the conference I attended last month...if you haven't heard or read Dr. Leman, he's full of wit and wisdom!). Anyway, I'm sure that one day Evie will grow up to be a wonderful leader and use her assertive qualities for the Kingdom in some mighty way, but as a five-year-old, sometimes she seems somewhat out of control! "Eloise, I don't ever want to see you do that again!" "Look at me, Eloise! Look at me! Do it this way! Eloise, look at me!" "Now you are going to play with this, and I am going to play with that, and I am the Mom, and you are the kid, but you're not a baby, but you're not a very big kid..." Yikes. A couple of mornings ago, it started up at the breakfast table. Evie moved a little toy out of Eloise's reach and said she could have it back when she was done eating. Of course, Eloise should not have had the toy at the table, but I was right there; she didn't need her "second mother" enforcing the rules. So, I told Evie that, since she wanted to do my job of taking care of Eloise, that she would do my jobs (with me) all day long. No playing. Just "mom jobs." All day. She did her regular chores, and then she spent the rest of the day helping me with mine. We cleaned up after her sisters, did laundry, made lunch, swept floors. While Eloise and Audrey napped in the afternoon, Evie helped me weed one of the gardens along our driveway. (Of course, she spent a lot of that time picking worms out of the soil and keeping them in piles on the rocks.) About five minutes into the job, Evie declared that she was so tired that she might need to go in for a nap, too, but I insisted that we needed to get the area weeded. "The whole thing???" she asked, desperately. I gently explained that "mom jobs" take a long time, sometimes, and you can't just stop doing them when you're tired. I am not sure how effectively this little exercise in discipline worked, but I do know Evie fell asleep the instant her head hit the pillow that night (a feeling I know all too well!).

pray for Stellan

2009-04-21T00:42:00.001-05:00

Baby Stellan is in Boston, scheduled to have heart surgery Tuesday morning at 8:30 am, if not sooner. Please pray for his doctors and family!

I just noticed something...

2009-04-15T23:27:00.004-05:00

(Watch Eloise)

Monkey see...

...monkey do. And, since I'm posting more snow pictures in April anyway, don't you think Evie takes sweet pictures with snowmen?

Five and a half years old

Two and a half years old

catching up

2009-04-15T21:44:00.006-05:00

Pretty much, I stink at blogging lately. [If you actually read this, don't take it personally: I stink at almost everything lately! I'm in a funk...but I'll get over it.] I had even forgotten what my blog looked like! Anyway, I thought I'd backtrack a bit so I can post a ~~couple~~ bunch of pictures from last month.

March.

It came in like a lamb...

...and went out like a lion (or at least a friendly snow leopard).

Mr. B worked a lot of hours during March, but he still found time to spend time with his girls.

(Here they are reading a favorite, There's a Wocket in My Pocket.)

The big girls were invited to a birthday party at the fire house (the birthday girl's daddy is a fireman)!

It was fun and educational!

And we got to ride on the firetruck!

And the cake had a rainbow made of gumballs, so Eloise chewed gum for the first time (and she didn't swallow it!).

It was a great day.

a song about bug repellant

2009-03-26T17:16:00.003-05:00

Eloise was just singing me a song from Sunday school: "Deet and wide, deet and wide, there's a fountain flowing deet and wide!"

pray for Stellan

2009-03-25T18:30:00.002-05:00

Please pray for MckMama's baby, Stellan. You can click the button on the right to get all the details, but the poor little guy is having a very rough time!

they're watching me...

2009-03-20T23:47:00.004-05:00

Almost a year ago, Eloise and I were chatting while I was applying my makeup. A few minutes later, she came back in looking like this:

First, I scrambled to take this (blurry) photo to remind myself of the influence I have on these three little lives, lest I ever forget that they're watching--and imitating--everything I do! Kind of scary, eh? Then I helped her wash the marker off her face. Thank goodness for the super wash-ability of those Crayola Pip Squeaks! (And no, I was not wearing blue eyeliner.)

from the kitchen of...Evie

2009-03-19T22:45:00.003-05:00

Banana Cake by Evie Ingredients (also sometimes called recipes):

1 cup milk
4 bananas [quantity based on the number of bananas in our house at time of recipe composition (3); she wanted to make sure Mom had to run to the store for one banana]
pinch of salt
3 eggs
pinch of brown sugar
1/2 of 2 cups of white sugar [she did know that 1/2 of 2 is 1, but she liked the way the longer version sounded]
1 cup white flour
1 cup wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder [quantity determined after much thoughtful inspection of measuring spoons]
6 tablespoons melted butter or Grandma-safe butter

Mix wet ingredients together in one bowl. Mix dry ingredients in another bowl. The bananas are dry on the outside, but kind of wet on the inside, so they can go in the wet ingredient bowl. Melt the butter before putting it in with the wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Pour into a pan [we ended up using a 9" square pan after much deliberation]. Bake at 350 degrees for half an hour. Let cool. Serve with cool whip, sliced bananas, and sprinkles on top.

We made the cake this afternoon, and it turned out quite well! My grandma (Evie's great-grandma) helped, per Evie's request, and we all had a good time. However, you know that saying, "Too many cooks spoil the broth"? Well, somehow we all forgot to add the white sugar (you know, the 1/2 of 2 cups of white sugar). The finished product was not terribly sweet, but definitely palatable--especially topped with cool whip (sugar-free) and bananas--and totally diabetic-friendly! Maybe next time we'll try it with the sugar...

just humbling...

2009-03-17T23:01:00.004-05:00

Evie: Mom, I wasn't bothering Eloise. I wasn't even talking to her. I was just humbling to myself. [Was she mumbling? Humming? Both?]

Not Me! Monday

2009-03-16T08:33:00.002-05:00

Wow...when I titled my last post "So Long, Darewell," I didn't realize I'd be taking a little break from my blog! I'm back now, though, and it's Monday, so you know what that means: Not Me! Monday.

Part of my lack of "blogginess" had nothing to do with Evie having scarlet fever. No, she didn't have scarlet fever, so she couldn't get excited to have the disease that made Mary Ingalls (from Little House on the Prairie) go blind. My children would never be excited about being sick.
I did not lose my car key some time between arriving at the grocery store (and using it to lock the van) and coming back to the van to load the groceries I'd just purchased. This did not happen a mere hour after a conversation I had with my dad where he told me how expensive it is to replace or copy that type of key. I did not work myself up into a near-frenzy looking for the key, dragging along my screaming infant and whiny preschoolers. I am not at a loss for words to describe the relief and gratitude I felt when a man found the key and brought it to a cashier!
I have not had only three headache-free days in the past six months, and all three were not this past week.
I did not leave my six-month-old, nursing baby--and my other two girls--for 30+ hours to attend a conference this weekend. I don't have an awesome husband who would allow me to get away for some encouragement, and I certainly wasn't in dire need of the break! If I had gotten away, I would not have been absolutely tickled to see how thrilled Audrey was to see me again.
Since I didn't go to that super conference, I won't be posting a lot of the great insights and ideas I took from it in the near future, so don't watch for them!

Would you like to play along? It's fun! Check out MckMama's blog to see what she and a lot of others haven't been doing, and then add your own!

So Long, Darewell

2009-03-01T21:34:00.003-06:00

My house is alive with The Sound of Music: we let the girls see the movie a couple of months ago, and they LOVED it. I checked out the soundtrack CD from the library, and we listened to it in the van every time we drove somewhere for four straight weeks. We let them watch the movie again this week while Evie was sick, and they sang along with all the songs. Their own versions of the songs, of course. For example: "So long, darewell, and you and you and you. [Voice goes up one full octave] Goodbyeeeeeeeeee!" "How do you solve a problem like Maria? How do you catch a cow and pin it down?" "IIIIIIIII'm ev'ry mountain!" And neither Evie nor Eloise seems to be able to go straight up the stairs these days...no, instead they must sit on the stairs and slowly go up while sitting, all the while singing like little Gretel, "The suuuuun has gooooooone to bed and so must I-I." (If you are not familiar with the music or the movie, none of this will make much sense or be very funny. Sorry!) Because they have been so intrigued with the vonTrapp family, I also checked out from the library a neat pictorial biography of the actual Trapp Family Singers, as well as Maria Augusta Trapp's book The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, which served as the inspiration for The Sound of Music. We have enjoyed studying the pictures together, and I'm very much enjoying reading Maria's biography and sharing many tidbits from the story with the girls. Maria shared her story with such enthusiasm, and you cannot help but catch some of her spirit while reading it. The other day I read part of a chapter that really resonated with me and the particular stage of life in which I seem to find myself right now:

It will be very interesting one day to follow the pattern of our life as it is spread out like a beautiful tapestry. As long as we live here we see only the reverse side of the weaving, and very often the pattern, with its threads running wildly, doesn't seem to make sense. Some day, however, we shall understand.
In looking back over the years we can discover how a red thread goes through the pattern of our life: the Will of God.

I really do look forward to the day when I shall understand so many things. Until that time, I cling to Ecclesiastes 3:11--"He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end."

Sick, Susan Salidor, and Six Months...

2009-02-26T13:50:00.008-06:00

Mr. B's grandmother passed away last week, so Saturday was a long day of funeral, interment, luncheon, and extended time with extended family. The girls really rose to the occasion and were especially well-behaved, and it seemed like they were a genuine blessing and joy among the sorrow.

Unfortunately, Evie was coming down with something, and by the end of the day, it was obvious she was definitely sick: fever, glassy eyes, and the beginning of a cough. Sunday morning she said, "My throat feels funny, but it's not very funny to me."

Sadly, she had to miss the Susan Salidor concert we'd been looking forward to attending as a family on Sunday. I took Eloise to the concert at the library, and she had a blast! (If you're not familiar with Susan Salidor, check her out--she is great fun!) Before we left for the concert, Eloise told me, "Susan Salidor will be so happy to see me. She will say, 'Oh, Eloise, you look so pretty!'" I was thinking how sad it is that our middle child has absolutely no self esteem, but guess what? Susan actually approached Eloise after the concert, praised her for singing and dancing along the whole time, and told her she was "just the cutest thing ever." Oh, boy. (At least Eloise said "thank you"?)

Evie's fever continued to hover around 103 or so, even with ibuprofin, so I decided to take her to the doctor first thing Monday morning. As she dressed for the appointment, she came in while I was changing Audrey's diaper and said, "Mom, look at my legs: they're in really bad shape." I examined her bare legs, not sure what she meant...they looked okay to me. She bent her knees slightly, straightened them, and said, "See?". I didn't see, but I just said we'd have the doctor check it out.

Unfortunately, the doctor did not have any answers for us regarding the legs, throat, cough, or fever. She said it was probably a virus, and we were sent home to drink lots of fluids, rest, and watch movies. The poor, pathetic little thing broke my heart, laying there so listlessly.

I was so thankful when she woke up this morning and was almost fever-free. Of course, she is also very used to me waiting on her hand and foot, a fact that I quickly realized when she told me, "I think I will have an early lunch today, Mom. I'd like it now." She and Eloise have been making eachother (and their Mommy) pretty crazy all day. Oh, the whining. You can only imagine.

On a happier note, Audrey turned six months old two days ago! She is sitting up fairly well on her own now, and I think tooth #2 is on its way. Can you see it?

Not Me! Monday

2009-02-22T21:47:00.005-06:00

I did not wear my workout clothes to bed in hopes that I would feel more motivated to go to the gym early in the morning if I was already dressed to do so. If I had worn them overnight, though, I never would have gone back to bed when my alarm went off before sunrise, instead of heading straight to the gym. Additionally, even if I had worn them overnight and skipped going to the gym in the morning, I totally didn't just wear them all day since I wasn't really going anywhere. Gross.
I was not secretly disappointed that Mr. B's grandmother's funeral was not going to be out of state as we originally had expected. I am not so desperate for a get-away that a funeral seemed like a good (albeit very sad) opportunity, and Mr. B did not express the same exact sentiment.
I did not eat an entire box of Reduced Fat Wheat Thins in two days. By myself.
I did not take a Tylenol PM at 4:00 am after trying, unsuccessfully, to fall asleep for three hours.
I also did not drink a can of Diet Coke for breakfast in hopes of countering the eventual effects of the Tylenol PM.
Remember this post, when I didn't let Evie play computer games so I could take a nap? I totally didn't do that this week, either.
I always keep our diaper bag well-stocked and ready for any situation, so I definitely did not leave Audrey with dried-out baby wipes and no change of clothes, and she surely didn't have a blow-out diaper while I was away. I have not been disqualified (yet another time!) for the "Mom of the Year" award...

Want to play, too? Join MckMama's Not Me! Monday blog carnival! It's great fun and kind of therapeutic to admit some of the silly things you may--or may not *wink, wink*--have done this week.

my week in numbers

2009-02-22T21:07:00.003-06:00

1: Times I've posted on my blog. 2: Funerals I attended. 103: Evie's temperature right now (she's miserable!). 7: Nights I stayed up past midnight. 11: Loads of laundry I washed. 25: Years my sister Molly's been around, as of Wednesday. 47: Children's books I read. 17: Squares I completed in the baby afghan I'm making. 32: Squares (out of 88) left to complete in the baby afghan I'm making. 5: Weeks since the baby, for whom I am making the afghan, was born. Seems that, aside from the recognition of Molly's recent birthday and my girls' obvious love of good books, the numbers of my week are ~~somewhat~~ really discouraging! I vow right now to have a better week this week...hope yours is great, too!

an Eloise-ism

2009-02-17T08:27:00.004-06:00

"Mom, my stomach is in my cheek because that's his bedroom."

Well, okay!

Not Me! Monday

2009-02-15T22:12:00.003-06:00

I can't believe it's Monday again! Time really flies when you're ~~scrambling to keep up with three girls and two grandparents and one husband~~ having fun! And speaking of fun, it's time for Not Me! Monday.

This week, I did not check out four books from the library and begin reading all four. It would be crazy for me to start four new books in the same week, because a) I am already reading two other books, and b) I DON'T HAVE TIME TO READ, so I certainly did not intentionally add a bunch more things to the ever-growing "Things I Cannot Possibly Finish" list.
I did not purchase a new quilt for my bed, mainly because it was 75% off. I am not an impulse buyer, so I would never buy something just because it was a good deal. I am fully aware of the other quilt I bought for my bed (also on a great clearance, by the way) months ago that is sitting in my closet until I make time to paint my bedroom a color that will not clash with said great-deal quilt; I would not buy another quilt this week that will likely sit in the closet with the first one, until I come up with shams, bed skirt, etc. to match...
Knowing that I am not an impulse buyer, I am sure you will believe me when I say that I did not give in to my little girls' pleas for pink leopard-print-lined imitation crocs this week. The facts that they were $3.50, and that the girls had been extremely well-behaved all morning, did not persuade me to give in and purchase the hideous footwear. I definitely did not buy Eloise's pair three sizes too big because 7 was the smallest size available, and she really, really wanted them.
Mr. B and I did not go on our first date in months this week. Naturally, we make regular time for our relationship and would never go months between dates. If we had gone months between dates, though, we definitely would have done something very exciting and special, and not just hit Target and a couple of furniture stores after dinner and called it a night.

And what about you? What didn't you do this week? Hop on over to MckMama's blog and join the Not Me! Monday blog carnival!

huh?

2009-02-15T21:15:00.010-06:00

My sister ran a post the other day called "What They're REALLY Saying..." which inspired me to write this post (which may very well be the first in a series of posts about misunderstood song lyrics):

Have you seen this movie? We haven't. Which is probably why, when we got this toy at McDonald's a couple of months ago (in one of my weak moments where "Happy Meal" translated "Happy Mom"), Evie was not familiar with the song it sang.

Real words: I like to move it, move it! I like to move it, move it!

Evie's words: Mr. Guy an' homen, homen! Mr. Guy an' homen, homen!

We tried to tell her what the guy (I think he's a raccoon? Or a lemur?) really sings, and she told us we were wrong. Hmm... Of course, she can offer no explanation of what "Mr Guy an' homen" actually means, but she's sure that's what he says.

*************

In other news, Audrey rolled from back to tummy twice this evening, both times when I was out of the room. I decided to sit by her, determined to watch it happen. I sat and sat and sat and sat and she just laughed at me. She's probably done it a bunch of times before, too, and just rolled back to her back before I've noticed...that stinker!

Audrey also started eating rice cereal yesterday! She loved it, and acted as if she'd been eating "solids" for months.

We had a very low-key Valentines day. Mr. B had to work, so the big girls and I made some cookies for him while he was gone. They loved the baking, and he loved the cookies, so it was a love-filled day!

From never lasting to everlasting

2009-02-11T22:54:00.005-06:00

Tonight's Cubbies verse: "...I have loved thee with an everlasting love..." (Jeremiah 31:3 ) Evie's initial version: "...I have loved thee with a never lasting love..." Say 'em both out loud: they pretty much sound the same, right? It made me smile. I explained the actual verse, and what it means when God says He has loved us "with an everlasting love." Evie got it, and it felt good as we both reflected on the eternal quality of God's love. Later, I started thinking about the never lasting love again, though. Pretty much, that's me: the giver of a never-lasting love. Of course, I always love my husband, my kids, my family, my friends, in my mind. But my actions often prove the conditional quality of my love. Sometimes I demonstrate love when I feel like it: if I'm not too busy (unfortunately, I seem to be busy a lot, so my love tends to be "never lasting"). Sometimes I demonstrate love if I feel like it: if it seems "deserved" (and quite often, I don't deem people deserving, so again my love is "never lasting"). Sometimes I demonstrate love only after I've been shown love first (and sometimes people are much less than loving to me, so my love is also "never lasting"). I am called to love others with the love of Christ--the everlasting love with which He loves us. Tonight I am feeling challenged to put aside my never lasting love, and take up His everlasting love. I am struck by the opportunity I have to show Christ to the world, and saddened by how many times I have forsaken this opportunity. I am holding onto the lyrics of a song as a prayer: "Lord empty me of me so I can be filled with You." Specifically, I long to be filled with His love--His everlasting, unconditional love--so that nothing but His love flows out of me. Speaking of loving, do you know what happened fifteen years ago tonight? Mr. B asked me to be his girlfriend. He also asked me to the prom. I said "yes" to both. And do you know what happened ten years ago tonight? Mr. B asked me to marry him! I said "yes" then, too.

will you marry to me?

2009-02-10T23:40:00.005-06:00

Since Valentine's Day is approaching and love is in the air, I thought this might be a good time to share a little tidbit Evie recently shared with me: Evie: Mom, I know who I'm going to marry to. [Yes, this girl is a preposition-dangling queen (or at least princess)!]

Me: You do? Who?

Evie: I'm going to marry to Tristan. The next time I see him, I'm going to ask him if he wants to marry to me.

Tristan (around 6 months?) and Evie (around 2 years), scowling about their forced western wear

Me: You're going to marry him the next time you see him??? Evie: No! I'm just going to ask him if he wants to marry to me. When we're grownups. When we're thirteen. Me: Ah. Thirteen. Evie: Yeah. I know where we're going to live, too. Me: You do? Where?

Tristan (around 1 year) and Evie (around 2 1/2 years) snackin' outside

Evie: In Minnesota. I mean, if we don't have kids we're going to live in Minnesota. If we do have kids, we're going to live in...where's that place where they lived in The Sound of Music? Me: Austria? Evie: Yeah. Austria. If we have kids, we're going to live in the house where Maria and the Captain and all those kids lived in Austria. We're going to need a big house if we have kids. Me: Hmmm. That was a big house. Evie: Yeah. Can I have a snack? I'm not sure if I should be worried or not about Evie proposing marriage. The first time we had a talk along these lines was when we were reading the Little House on the Prairie series, and the book talked about Laura Ingalls having a beau. Evie was curious about what "having a beau" meant, and after I explained, she told me she thought she knew who she was going to marry (or, of course, "marry to"): Peyton. Her cousin. Before I go on, you must know that when I was around Evie's age, I was pretty sure I was going to marry my cousin, Matt, and when I told my mom about it, I distinctly remember her laughing. She laughed pretty hard, in fact. I wasn't scarred for life or anything, but I really didn't like feeling ridiculous. So, when Evie told me she was going to marry her cousin, I forced myself to keep a straight face, and said something nondescript, like, "Oh. Yes, Peyton is a nice boy." "Yes," she replied, "I was going to marry to Laurel,"--Laurel is Peyton's sister, by the way--"but she is a girl, so I picked Peyton because he is a boy and I have to marry to a boy." At least she has that part figured out, right? Anyway, Tristan is a non-female, non-blood relation, so we're on the right track. He's also a sweet little boy and the son of a very dear and long-time friend, so that's a definite plus. But can't we wait a few years before we start thinking about these things???

Evie (4 1/2), Mr. B, and Tristan (3) at the beach

Not Me! Monday

2009-02-08T22:08:00.007-06:00

Here we go again...it's time for Not Me! Monday, my opportunity to share some of the things I did not do this week (and certainly would never admit if I had done them!)

Upon returning home from Walmart this week, I did not neglect to bring in the bottle of fabric softener I'd just purchased, instead leaving it in the van for a day or two of freezing temperatures before realizing where it was. I am not now softening my laundry loads with Downy the consistency of that nasty vending machine slime...
Even if I had left the Downy in the van, I definitely did not leave the case of Diet Coke in the back of the van, too. The 24 pack was not reduced to a 19 pack due to five cans freezing and bursting (and I was not forced to be very thankful that the mess was contained to the unopened case and the paper grocery bags on which it was sitting!).
I did not accept a challenge from my sister, Molly, on Tuesday night to do at least 20 miles of cardio before Saturday. If I had accepted such a challenge, I would not have gone back to bed on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings instead of going to the gym, even if I had a sore throat. I did not have to admit to Molly that I did absolutely zero cardio since Tuesday morning.
I did not let Evie play games on my computer Thursday afternoon so I could try to take a little nap: I never would even think of using a "screen" as a babysitter.
I am pretty careful about how my kids look, especially when they go out of the house. I like their clothes to be clean and matching, and their hair combed. That said, you can be sure that I never let Eloise go over to her Aunt Sisi's house looking like this:

What about you? What didn't you do this week? Check out MckMama's blog carnival to see what she--and a whole host of others--didn't do, either!

Don't look at me, Dad!

2009-02-07T00:17:00.004-06:00

We had a good laugh when Evie found this video on the computer the other day, and, although it is nearly five years old, I thought it was blog-worthy. Enjoy!

PLEASE NOTE: No children were harmed in the filming of this video; the distressed baby was picked up and given lots of love from her mommy promptly at the close of the recording.

A day in the life

2009-02-06T00:01:00.004-06:00

In the past day (or so), we...

...threw a few more pitiful fits (this is almost the savage beast look...not quite). ...discovered how to use a spoon (if Mommy would put something on the spoon, it would be even more fun!).

...had fun at Awana!

...ate an extra-special lunch of sandwiches on white bread!

...reminded Mommy so many times why she loves being our mom.

Picture this...

2009-02-04T12:43:00.003-06:00

I wish I could tell you about the huge fit Eloise threw yesterday. Recently, she has begun--on occasion, not all the time--to tell me "NO!" very forcefully when I ask her to do something. She knows she is not allowed to talk to me like this, but she's testing the boundaries. Yesterday she began the "NO!" thing, and I calmly repeated what I was asking her to do. Again, "NO!". This time, she pulled a bunch of her long blond hair over her face, as if to make the statement, "I am going to act like a savage beast AND look like a savage beast." I reminded her that she needed to say, "Yes, Mommy," with a smile. Result: another "NO!" and more hair over her face. This time I said, "What happens if you talk to me like that?" and she responded, somewhere from behind all that hair, "Spanking." I repeated my request once more. The hair was pushed away from her face to reveal a big, sweet smile, and she said, "Yes, Mommy," as if she had been compliant all along. I wish I could tell you about it, but it would best be told with a picture of ~~the savage beast~~ Eloise standing there obstinately with her hair over her face, and, alas, I have not learned to have my camera handy at all times. Had I kept the camera handy at all times, I also would be able to tell you about Evie and Eloise slowly walking around the upstairs with blankets over their heads and hands clasped together, humming "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" from The Sound of Music. They were supposed to be nuns, I think... And if I kept my camera handy at all times, I also would tell you about Miss Audrey's stunt yesterday. I set her in her bouncy seat in the kitchen and not more that three seconds later I glanced back at her and saw her sitting straight up. When I leaned her back into the seat, she immediately sat up again. Yikes! I think our bouncy seat days are ending!

Not Me! Monday

2009-02-01T21:27:00.009-06:00

It's Not Me! Monday again: time to share with tons of people (or at least a few...) everything I did not do this week:

I did not just move baby Audrey out of her cradle in our room and into a crib this week. She is five months old, for Pete's sake, and ~~should have been~~ totally has been sleeping in her own room for a long time.
When straightening up the kitchen the other night, I definitely didn't throw away the Christmas cookies from the tin we had put together for our next door neighbor. Those cookies were delivered before the holidays just as they should have been: we did not keep putting it off due to inclement weather, because she lives right next door.
I am not planning to have the girls bake some Valentine cookies for the neighbor to make up for the fact she never got our Christmas cookies, because, of course, she, um, did.
Taking my three girls and my friend's twins out and about was a piece of cake. I did not panic about not having enough time to feed them all lunch between our library excursion and getting one of the girls to preschool, so I for sure did not run through the McDonald's drive-thru and feed the girls in the van down by the river, (Matt Foley, anyone?) to be sure we made it to preschool on time. I don't feed my kids McDonald's, and we don't eat in the van, so you know that never could have happened.

And what about you? Anything you didn't do this week? Hop on over to MckMama's blog to see what she and a whole host of others haven't been doing, and play along!

UPDATE: If you arrived here thru the blog carnival, please visit this week's Not Me! Monday (February 9); I'm pretty new at this and somehow linked to last week's with Mr. Linky.

7 delights from the day

2009-01-31T21:32:00.004-06:00

Accepting a pretty picture lovingly drawn by Evie: birds in the sky, flowers growing in the grass, and a shirt hung (?) to dry.
Seeing Sarah and her little friend, Ella, for a few minutes this morning.
Waking Eloise from her nap: through her sleepy smile, the first thing she said was, "My favorite color is yellow. I like that one."
Watching Mr. B hold and adore Audrey after dinner.
Receiving a funny, made-me-laugh phone call from Molly.
Cuddling my freshly-bathed, freshly-nursed baby until she fell asleep.
Remembering--and eating--the sugar cookies I hid in the cupboard last night. Yum.

It's great being a superhero

2009-01-30T14:27:00.005-06:00

Today, my grandma said to Evie, "There's nothing your mother cannot do!" (This was after Evie came in flaunting the scrappy little pigtails I'd just put in her hair.)

Evie's immediate reply? "Yes there is. She can't get to heaven by herself, and she can't touch the ceiling without a ladder."

Amen and amen.

A lil' bit of sunshine

2009-01-29T22:27:00.006-06:00

Winter is starting to wear on me. We were out and about today, and by the time we got home, the van, our coats and pants, and the kitchen floor were a salty-muddy mess. I miss the sun. Oh, how I long to be here again: Except not 7 months pregnant. I really do love being pregnant, but waking up to this smile is ever so much better: Actually, it kind of warms me up a bit, too...

(Thanks so much to my sweet friend, Amy, and her husband for the great beach photo! It was my favorite Christmas present this year. And don't you love Eloise's goggles?)

A bellybutton named Ankle

2009-01-28T21:19:00.006-06:00

This morning, Evie said she didn't feel well. Great, I thought, didn't we just get over practically an entire month of sickness?!? The following conversation ensued:

Me: How don't you feel good?

Evie: I just don't feel good.

Me: Like what? What feels bad?

Evie: Mmmm...my tubes.

Me: Your tubes?

Evie: Yeah, my tubes. I think my food went down the wrong tube.

Me: Your food? You haven't had breakfast, silly!

Evie: I know. It was my supper. My supper went down my breakfast tube last night. Now I can't eat breakfast, because my supper is in there.

Me: Hmmm...maybe you could try to eat breakfast. Maybe there is room in the tube.

Evie: No, there's not. I think I'm pretty sick now. So I'm going to have to watch movies today.

Aha.

Our kids don't get to watch movies very often--could you tell? In fact, I remember one night when Evie was three, the stomach flu hit her hard in the middle of the night. I brought her into the bathroom to clean her up, worried that she was going to be traumatized by the experience of waking up to the awful feeling, smell, taste, and sight of vomit. But, nope: she stood in the bathroom smiling, saying excitedly, "Do I get to watch movies? Do I get to eat jello?"! (We don't let them eat sugary treats much, either.) Yep, sickness is a celebration at our house, because we get to watch movies.

Apparently, Evie, at the age of five, already knows how to fake sickness. Fortunately, when I told her there would be no movies today regardless of her "tube" situation, her condition rapidly improved, and she proceeded to eat two big bowls of oatmeal, two pieces of whole wheat toast, a banana, and a small handful of raisins.

Eloise's tummy/tubes seemed to be just fine, although she did ask if I wanted to see her bellybutton. When I declined, she said, "Look at my bellybutton, Mom! Its name is Ankle." A bellybutton named Ankle. How 'bout that?

A little Truth for Tuesday

2009-01-27T22:48:00.003-06:00

I Corinthians 10:31--"Whether, then, you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." While checking my favorite "mommy blogs" today, I stumbled--via a link from another link--across a post from Conversion Diary (which I've never read before, but may have to check out again soon!) and was struck by the following:

I can't tell you how many times I've been engrossed in some great spiritual book, only to be interrupted by some unexpected chaos with the kids. And my immediate reaction is to think, "Would you kids be quiet! I'm trying to seek God's will here!" sighing that if only I wasn't so bogged down with my household responsibilities that I could really start getting in tune with God. If only I didn't have to change this diaper and deal with that temper tantrum and clear all those dishes off the table I could get closer to finding out what it is that God wills for me!
It's been quite stunning, then, for me to realize that changing that diaper and dealing with the temper tantrum and clearing those dishes are God's will. These are the situations that God puts in front of me every day. If I see them through my eyes alone, holding out for God to reveal to me that "his" will is all about me writing that bestselling book or the lottery win (that just so happen to be big fantasies of mine), I grumble through the mundane tasks of my day. And when I do this, when I apathetically plop a dish into the sink or huff and puff about having to sweep the kitchen floor for the second time today, I am essentially saying, "I will not serve." I'm refusing to accept that these humdrum tasks just might be the answers to all my questions about what God wants me to do.
But to see all these diapers and temper tantrums and dishes through God's eyes, to humbly go about my day executing each task with love, appreciating every moment and every little thing around me as a precious gift, is to know and serve God, to do his will. I don't need to analyze it beyond that. I have my answer.

Wow. I think I needed that reminder. Today. Probably yesterday. That post had a link to another of her posts where she quotes St. Escriva:

Conquer yourself each day from the very first moment, getting up on the dot, at a set time, without granting a single minute to laziness. If with the help of God, you conquer yourself in the moment, you have accomplished a great deal for the rest of the day. It's so discouraging to find yourself beaten in the first skirmish.

I know absolutely nothing about St. Escriva, but it seems St. Escriva knew me and presented this admonition specifically for me! My moms' group is going through Cindy Dagnan's book, Who Got Peanut Butter on My Daily Planner?, and I was particularly convicted by our discussion of chapter 2: "Kryptonite and the Supermom." I am so very often "beaten in the first skirmish." But I want to win! I want to be Supermom, but I am overcome by the kryptonite of my to-do list. Actually, not so much my to-do list, as my snooze button. If I got up "on the dot, at a set time, without granting a single minute to laziness," I could joyfully offer up my entire day to God, and begin to take care of so many things on that to-do list before my girls were even awake. Then, I could spend my precious minutes with them as their mommy, without being distracted by everything else that has to get done. Instead, I often lay in bed in the morning until the last possible minute. Of course, I have a whole barrage of excuses, the main one being I stay up way too late. And I often stay up way too late because Mr. B is up working, and I like to think that sitting next to him while he works somehow constitutes spending time with him. Silly, eh? If you're reading this, will you pray for me? Please pray that I will go to bed earlier, so I can get up"on the dot" and tackle each day this way? And, while you are at it, please also pray that I will remember that the tasks I encounter throughout the day are my opportunities to serve, they are God's will for me, and that I might do them "all to the glory of God." I would feel privileged to pray the same for you, too; simply leave me a comment! Here's I Corinthians 10:31 one more time, my own version: "Whether, then, you eat or drink, wash lights or darks, scrub toilets or floors, work puzzles or read books, tickle tummies or soothe tears, wipe bottoms or wash hands, do all to the glory of God."

Not Me! Monday

2009-01-25T15:54:00.008-06:00

One big reason why I've contemplated starting a blog over the past several months is MckMama's Not Me! Monday blog carnival: I've been aching to play along, and now I can! Stay tuned for a list of things I definitely did not do this week (and certainly would never admit to doing them, even if I did do them, which, of course, I didn't...). When you're done reading, hop on over to MckMama's site to see what she and a whole lot of others didn't do this week. If you like, you can even play along!

When Mr. B was out of town this week, I did not neglect to put away the five loads of laundry I'd washed, dried, and folded on my bed before the girls went to sleep for the night. I did not move the piles of clean clothes to his side of the bed, crawl in on my side, and sleep next to them all night long. That would have been so lazy, and I would never have done it!
Speaking of lazy, it would have been very lazy--not to mention disgusting--to leave a dead goldfish floating at the top of the little plastic portable aquarium for several days, while the remaining two fish continued to swim around their deceased friend. I would not have waited until the water was totally murky and stinky before flushing said goldfish.
If, by some small chance, number two above had actually happened, I never would have forgotten to de-chlorinate the clean tap water I used to refill the aquarium after cleaning it out, so the remaining two goldfish did not die within an hour of their return home. And, of course, I did not leave the two of them floating at the top of the aquarium for another couple of days, waiting for Mr. B to return from his trip and take care of them.
I did not lose my cell phone this week. I did not forget it on the bike at the gym. I don't think you're even supposed to have cell phones in the fitness center, so I would never even think about having it in there with me, and I certainly would never be irresponsible enough to leave it there.
My eyes did not well with tears when Mr. B had to replace my awesome red slider phone with the most basic cell phone available. It's a phone: I would not get close to crying about it.
I did not find it ironic that Mr. B's work upgraded him to a Blackberry this week, just one day before I was required to downgrade to a boring, basic phone. I do not despise the Blackberry already, because it will not provide one more way for Mr. B to be connected to his job at all times.
Finally, in reference to number 6, I am sure Mr. B did not use his Blackberry to check his email while going to the bathroom. He would never do that, and I would never be married to a silly someone who would. [I so love that guy...]

How about you? What didn't you do this week???

UPDATE: I did not accidentally link to last week's Not Me! Monday post...but if I did, then this week's post (February 2) would be here.

Guess who

2009-01-24T21:46:00.002-06:00

Guess who is five months old today?

Guess who is sleeping in a big crib for the first time tonight? Guess who has her Mommy and Daddy wrapped around her little finger? Guess who is the cutest ever?

Don't touch my Diet Coke...

2009-01-23T13:43:00.008-06:00

The other day, when Evie spent some time at her Aunt Sisi's house, Eloise had the rare opportunity to play whatever she wanted. She decided to be a schoolteacher for much of the morning. Apparently, part of playing schoolteacher means wearing a pink button that says "It's a Girl" from the hospital where my niece was born...you know, ya gotta accessorize... Anyway, I digress. A little while into her school day, Eloise came to the laundry room to inform me that Thomas and Joanie--my "children"--had to come home because they had touched her Diet Coke. The horror! She watched with smug satisfaction as I scolded both Thomas and Joanie for their soft drink handling offense. Later, both children were invited back to the classroom, although they were forced to stand next to the easel for the remainder of the day. Here is the little schoolteacher. At least her head would have been protected if Thomas or Joanie had decided to, say, throw the Diet Coke at her. Oh, and the Diet Coke was really a flip-straw bottle of water. Now that I've figured out the insert-an-image thing, here's one of Audrey and the new tooth:

The tooth is very new and very small, but it's there. Believe me. She chomped down while eating earlier. It's also very sharp.

First Blog, First Post, First Tooth

2009-01-22T16:51:00.005-06:00

Well, here we go! I've tossed around the idea of starting a blog long enough, and I'm jumping in with both feet...er, hands. I'm not particularly witty or insightful, but a blog seems like a good place to jot down some glimpses of our little family. If people want to share them with us, great; otherwise, at least I can keep track for myself. That said, Audrey cut her first tooth today! I'm not sure what possessed me to even check her little gums, as I hadn't even thought she was going through any true teething, but there it is: a tiny, sharp white line in her bottom gum. She seemed genuinely proud of her latest achievement, and her sisters and I cheered as she laughed with her big, wide-open, not-so-toothless-anymore smile. In addition to her latest advances in dental development (??), she's rolling from tummy to back like a pro and I think she'll be sitting independently in no time. Would it be too cliche to say they grow up too quickly?