Quotes Aug 22-27

Aug 27
Collin, holding up new toy dragon after emerging from Target with Grandma: Mommy! I have a new dragon!
Me: does your dragon have a name?
Collin, after some serious thought: Fleekam Meekam.
don't........ask.

Aug 23
Spencer: Mom, I saw a tree with globs like poop in it! I saw a poop tree!

Aug 22
Collin: Mommy, Junior Asparagus lied, and he got a really big fib!
Me: Really? That was a bad choice, wasn't it?
Collin: Yeah.
Me: What would have been a good choice?
Collin, after lots of thought: Catching frogs and lizards.
not quite what i had in mind.

Yippee-Do-Da! My First Award!

This is my first bloggy award!



I've never received an award before, and I'm so excited. It's a privilege and an honor. I never thought I'd be writing before you all like this today. I'd like to thank my husband, my mom and my dad, all my siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins - all 75of you (you know who you are! just be glad i don't list you by name!), my church, my literature prof., my eighth grade band teacher, and of course my dentist!

Ahem....Really, though, it's exciting and fun.

This award was given to me by my friend Melissa at Full Circle where she shares her journey of adoption through fostering. Melissa's two foster children made the transition back to their biological family this week, so they could all use prayer. Take a moment to wander over there and give Melissa a big hello.

Rules of the award:
3 Award Rules:
*Link back to person who gave it to you.
*Give the award to 10 fav peeps.
*List 10 things about yourself.

My 10 favorite bloggy peeps (That Melissa didn't already award):
Rebekah @ Two Cents
Heidi @ Poetic License
Tami @ Tami Paige Photography
Tara @ Adventures of Tyke
Sharlin @ In Practice
MckMama @ My Charming Kids
Rose @ Symington Adoption
Rachel @ XOXO From Phoenix
Whitney @ A Joyful Vision
Holli @ Nation to Nation

Ten Things About Me:
1. I like to read, and my most common subjects are parenting, interior design, and self-help.
2. I have no desire to travel to Asia, minus Russia, of course. (Well, you might be able to drag me to rural Japan).
3. I have every desire to travel to Ireland and Switzerland, and to live in England for at least one year.
4. It is my goal to publish at least one book.
5. I have a red belt in Tae Kwon Do and plan on working in the near future to get my black belt, and hopefully get in shape while doing so.
6. I have a degree in Spanish. Por que? No se!
7. My most recurring nightmare is of my children drowning. And I STILL haven't invested in Infant Swim classes!
8. I used to work in day care. I can't believe they let me!!!
9. I don't like to plant annuals. But I really like flowering bushes/trees.
10. A chalkboard painted on my wall will be a parmanent installment in my household.

Congratulations to my blog award winners!! You all are great. And thanks for setting me up, Melissa!

And the winner of today's Oscar is.....

(drumroll please).............Spencer Morgan!!

Call me crazy: I want to fix it when my kids have ouchies, sores, sickness, or any other ailment common or uncommon. Silly me.

So yesterday Spencer announced to the family that he had a sore in his mouth and pulled back his lip to reveal a canker sore. This is what happened next:

Spencer, looking at me with childish earnesty: Mommy, can you fix it?

Me, heart swelling with pity and mommy fixitiveness, along with a small amount of angst knowing that my solution wouldn't be well-loved: Yes, I can fix it.

Spencer, excited and hopeful: You can?

Me, heading for the salt shaker: Sure! Come over here, Buddy.

Spencer, hopeful expression giving way to wary sideways look: Why are you getting the salt?

Me, keeping a brave face and holding up a fingertip of salt: Because this is the way to fix it. Open your lip!

Spencer: Is it going to hurt?

Me, the truthteller: Yes, it will. But it will hurt worse if I don't fix it like this.

Spencer, shaking his head and whimpering with hand twitching with indecision by his lip: Oh, noooooo....this is not good! This is not good!

Me: open your lip, buddy.

Spencer: Oh, no! I don't want to do this! I don't want to do this!

Me: Come on, Spence. It's not a big deal. (keeping it light) Open up.

Spencer, breaking into full-blown wail with varying degrees between high-pitched wolf howl and low-toned dying moose: But you said it's gonna hurt! NOOOO!!! It's gonna hurt! NOOOOOO! I don't wanna do this. (Opens his eyes momentarily to look at me before contorting his face once again). Oh, Daddyyy........Daddyyyy....Where are you? I want Daddyyyy!!!!!! (Gasping for air while flailing arms and hands to prevent me from opening his lip myself). NOOO!!!!! Please, Mommy! Don't do this to me. Oh, Dadddyyyyy!!!! Don't do this to me!!!! Waaaaaaaaa! Don't hurt mee!!!!!!

Me, not really sure what to do: Oh, Spencer, for heaven's sake! Calm yourself down!

Spencer continues: Waaaaaaaaaa! Please, Mommy don't do this to me:
Me: Spencer, calm yourself or I'm going to put you in time out!
Spencer: "No, It's gonna burn! Why are you doing this to Me*sob*ee*sob*ee.....?" (Suddenly his eyes pop open, he clenches his fists at his side, and he glares at me accusingly). "I CAN'T BELIEVE MY EYES!!"

I've been properly chastised, and I can't help but burst into laughter and give him a squeeze. He's not nearly as amused.

We'll have to find another way to "fix" it.

Quotes Aug 2-20.

Aug 20
Collin, unable to hear Vlad's voice in the phone: "Mommy, Daddy's not in there!"

Aug 19
Spencer: "Holy Smackerel!"

Aug 13
Collin, looking at a candle wick trimmer: "Mom, why does this scissors have a bum?"

Aug 10
Spencer walked into our friend's house, expecting to find their daughter of his own age. But she was at school and all he found was her two year old sister who he didn't seem to remember. He looked at her for a few minutes before finally blurting out: "I can't believe she shrunk so small!"

Aug 2
Spencer: Mom, which store are you going to?
Me: Just the regular grocery store.
Spencer: Hmm......I hear they have popsicles there....

Thursdays with Carmen

Is it really Thursday again?! My, oh my! Time does fly!

Since I'm sitting on the computer while I'm supposed to be showering and getting ready to leave the house to run errands and visit a LEGO exhibit at the science center, I'm going to make this a quick one:

I am Thankful for....my kids still showing no signs of Hand Foot and Mouth Disease even after being exposed over the weekend. Also, for having had the chance to talk to Vlad several times this week although he's across the ocean! Also, for our wonderful neighbor, Kris who is checking our mail this week (Hi, Kris!)and who will do anything for anyone at the drop of a hat! I don't think she ever stops giving!



I'm listening to...an obnoxious cartoon dog who apparently has a rare disorder that makes him unable to stop singing opera.

Looking foward to....the LEGO exhibit. It will be awesome! It brings back memories of my brothers building LEGO pirate ships and the LEGO set I got for my 7th birthday that built a Disney Cinderella castle. And tomorrow night, I'm looking forward to GIRLS' NIGHT OUT! YAY!

Praying about...Vlad's citizenship interview decision, that my baby will stay healthy, and for Melissa and family who are going through the re-homing of their foster children. (I'm hoping thats the right wording).

What's for Dinner Tonight... Haven't thought that far. Probably pasta with zucchini and eggplant...and maybe feta cheese. Yeah! That sounds yummy.

Missing....Claire's crocs and a few dinosaur puzzle pieces.

Burning Question of the Week....How does a mother of seven manage to make it to a girls' night out?! Obviously, there are tricks of the trade I have yet to learn.... Wendy B., let me say in advance: You rock!

A pic of my favorite nephew, Owen. Isn't he beautiful?!

Bloggy Photography

I'm noticing a trend. I am surrounded by amazing photographers. Not only people who take good snapshots, but people who are serious about their lenses and natural lighting and aperture values.

You know who you are! Yes, you, the one reading this blog while wiping your camera's flash bulb with a lint-free cloth. You, the one who just asked the neighbor to help transplant the red maple tree behind the swingset so there is a more colorful backdrop while your kids are playing. You, the one who can pause your nighttime dreams to change the saturation level or remove red eyes from the boogie monster. You, the one who laid in dog poop without realizing it because you were so intent on getting the right angle. You, the one who turns the ordinary moments into the extraordinary.

I can't believe the number of really talented people I know! Not just oh-that's-nice talented, but stop-and-drop-your-jaw talented to the point of being absolutely inpsiring and making me want to turn the bottom story of my house into a photo studio. Of course, that's AFTER I upgrade my camera to something that can catch kids in motion.

I love the fact that you all keep the world updated on what you're doing, and share your beautiful photos with us all. What's more, you manage to accomplish this even while juggling everything else. I'm amazed by you people. Yes, you!

MckMama's Blog

Tami's Blog

Heidi's Blog

Tiffani's Blog

Rebekah's Blog

little katya

I realized a few days ago that aside from the precious newborn photos and the one of Katya's electrified hair, I haven't really posted any of her as she shoots through these first few months of life. And boy, is she growing! At 5 1/2 weeks, Katya now weighs about 12 pounds. She is a little bundle of sweetness, always up for a cuddle, hardly ever crying, and even sleeping well. (Last night she did a seven hour stretch!! YAY for me! :) )This week she's started to smile a little bit, and it's so fun to see. It melts our hearts. She smiles like she thinks the world is the most fun and hilarious place and we're the silliest people here. And no wonder, after all the faces and voices we put on to coax smiles out of this teeny gal. She has a totally ornery grin, even at this age. Maybe she'll give her crazy older sister a run for her money! Which is quite the challenge, let me assure you.

So here are some photos of our darling Katya, and the family that surrounds her.





Aunt Rachel, getting her Katya cuddle time.




Our whole family in the hospital, together for the first time.


Overeager Big Sister climbing into swing to kiss Baby Katya.


Claire trying her hand at massage therapy....after which Rachel needed to visit the chiropractor. lol (no, not really!)


Too cute to pass up.

Advertisement:

Will trade cute, fun-loving, adorable, cuddly, sweet, child-proof, unaltered, vaccinated, house-trained, shitzu puppy



for digital SLR camera.


Enough said.

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to...



"Not Me! Monday" was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have "not" been doing this week.


This week we did NOT decide that it was time for Collin to enjoy solo swimming. I did NOT take him into the middle of the pool with plans of gently letting go. The smart little bugger did NOT figure out my plan and being screaming, "Mommyyyyyyyy! I'm drowning! I'm drowning! Don't let go! Don't let go!" all the while his head was above the water with nary a splash on his face, and his feet kicking ferociously enough to keep an elephant afloat, let alone a small boy. He did not scream loud enough for me to wonder if the neighbors would hear him and call either 911 or CPS. Or both. I did NOT finally decide that the only way to overcome his fears was to face them head-on, and throw him in. No, Not me! Once he'd had an up close and personal encounter and he realized he was not in mortal danger, Collin did NOT calm down fairly quickly and realize that he actually LIKED the water. He did NOT start to swim like a little fish all over the pool. The next day, he did NOT catch my attention with a peculiar look on his face as he worked hard to swim the length of the entire pool and pull up alongside Claire. He then did NOT spit a mouthful of water at her, which he had carried all that time. NO, NOT my child! All that work....hope it was worth it! Ah, the joys of new-found freedom.

Also, this week Spencer did NOT have a very lengthy prayer during which Collin did NOT reach over, completely straight-faced, and steal the breakfast right out from under Spencer's nose. Again, NOT my child! We're surely more reverent than that!

We did NOT have a bloody nose incident on Sunday morning, 5 minutes before departure time. Hearing the increasing intensity of Collin's screams, I did NOT think, "Oh, please dont' let that be blood! That's his only clean shirt!" NOPE, NOT me! I never think about laundry or other practical housey things when my child is bleeding, and I NEVER reach the end of a clean laundry pile. Collin did NOT go to church in play clothes.

Claire did NOT pull her earrings out about 50 times in 3 days, and demand for them to be put right back in again. This did NOT result in a slight infection in one of them, and me deciding to nix the earrings until she's older. No, NOT me! I'd never deprive my little girl of her favorite pretties, her "wee-was" ("earring" is "wee-wa" in Claireish). When she realized that I wasn't going to put them back in any more, she did NOT bang her little teeny 21 month old hand on the table, glare at me, and say, "HEY!!!" in a way that left me absolutely no doubt about the popularity of my decision.

Yesterday we went to see some really beautiful model homes in Northern Phoenix. The very kind man who was showing us around took us into the sales office and promptly handed each of my children a fabric frizbee thing. Yes, he did. All three kids did NOT immediately begin throwing them around the room. With frisbees flying overhead and whizzing past our ears, and children running to avoid capture and containment, I did NOT spring into action and confiscate the frisbees and threaten time outs to all children throwing them. Two seconds later they had NOT found the drawer where the frisbees were kept, and were NOT unwrapping several more with plans to unleash an entire frisbee arsenal on the poor unsuspecting people who just wanted to talk about houses. I did NOT narrowly avoid a catastrophe by grabbing the frisbees, putting them back while hissing something about getting in other people's drawers (no pun intended) and then making a beeline outside.

What have you all "NOT" been doing this week?

Thursdays with Carmen

It's time for "Thursdays with Carmen." And not only that, I remembered it was time for "Thursdays with Carmen"! I love it when those two coincide.

Today.....

I am Thankful for....Vlad arriving safely in Moscow, and the quickly arriving closing date for the sale of our condo. Good luck at your conference, honey! I know you'll do great!

I'm listening to...the air conditioner spilling cool air into my parent's family room, a court show on tv with money-hungry people yelling unprovable accusations at each other, my dad breathing heavily in the armchair where he fell asleep watching the court show, and Katya grunting from the swing chair. She can't be hungry again...she just can't! It's not babily possible!

Looking foward to....taking a good, long nap (haha), and having Vlad back home and all of our family together again, GIRL'S NIGHT OUT!!! Woo-hoo!

Praying about...Vlad's citizenship interview decision. He had his interview on Tuesday, but because he has a job in Canada they wouldn't make an immediate decision on affirming his citizenship application. They are currently discussing that decision with a supervisor and will let us know by the end of August or beginning of September. We really appreciate prayers.

What's for Dinner Tonight...Organ Stop Pizza! Puppets, an organ that rises out of the floor, and songs that kids know. Hopefully my kids will love it as much as I did when I was a kid.

Missing....*sigh* *sigh* *deeper sigh* The ongoing saga: Claire's flower earring, her two green stud earrings, and one pink stud earring. She went from HATING it if I ever touched her ears, to thinking that her earrings are really beautiful and now she's take to pulling out her earrings all the time. I mean many times each day. If I'm close by, she'll ask me to put them back in right away. If I'm not nearby, she drops them. Thus, all the missing earrings. This is starting to get expensive. Anyone with ideas on how to keep a baby girl from pulling her earrings out, I'm ALL EARS!

XOXO to Vlad. We're planning a trip to the airport so we can blow kisses in front of a jet engine so they'll reach all the way across the ocean. ;) Love you!

Adventures of SuperMama

So in the past week we've been enjoying my parents' pool. Spencer has gone from rock to fish this summer. All it took was a pair of goggles to get him interested in doing anything other that floating in his lifejacket. Lifejacket came off, Spencer set goals, and before I know it he's diving and dog paddling everywhere, has learned to come up for air on longer swims, and is now stroking. I'm so proud of him! He's got this adventurous spirit and does everything with such gusto that it's a lot of fun to watch him.

Collin has been boldly going where every child has gone before: the pool steps. He's been too afraid to venture further than the poolside even in a lifejacket, and only slightly less afraid in a baby boat (like a pool ring). Try taking him out into the vast open waters of the Pool Ocean and he'd scream to let the whole neighborhood know he was drowning.... with floaties...and a water-paranoid mother holding onto him. Amazing. LOL

But we've discovered a true water-lover in Claire. All it took to get her in the water was to put floaties on her! (Actually, I should say that was all it took to keep her afloat. I think she would have jumped in the water anyway). So put floaties on Claire, and she didn't want to be touched. Didn't want to be pulled or moved anywhere. She wanted to do it all on her own. And she carried on a very happy monologue that went something like this: "Weeeeee!" "Weeeee!" *Gulp, gulp, sputter, gulp* "Weeeeeee!" *burp* (after swallowing that much water, you would too!) "Weeeeee!" as she rode the waves all over the pool.

So the family has been having loads of fun in the pool, but Collin was the one child that wouldn't really join. Enter SuperMama to save the day!! With my ultra-intuitive vision goggles I saw my boy was on the sidelines, held captive by his fears and the coziness of his comfort zone. With my lightning-quick deductive reasoning I realized there was only one way to be rid of this problem once and for all: I scooped him up into my loving SuperMama arms and tossed him in.

Yes, I did. I threw my adorable, trusting little boy into the pool. With floaties, of course! He threw a tantrum the whole way doggie paddling to the stairs. Im sure it was quite the interesting commotion, Collin screaming and crying, Mom and I clapping and cheering the whole time, Claire calling "Weeeee! Weeeee!" and Spencer yelling, "Did you see that? Watch, Mommy and Grandma!" Once at the stairs, Collin stood up, locked his arms to his sides, and screamed for all he was worth just to make sure we knew how very much he'd enjoyed it. It didnt look to me like the villain had quite been vanquished, so I threw him in again. He was still wailing but trying not to smile as he reached the steps for the second time. Once more he sailed through the air and by time he reached the steps for the third time he was grinning, he was so proud of himself. I carried him out in a bear hug to the middle of the pool and let go. This time he was making happy noises during his solo swim, and immediatly wanted to go again. By the fifth time....well, there was no fifth time because suddenly Collin could swim all by himself and didnt need SuperMama to help. He was pretty resilient, really, and an exceptionally good sport. Twenty minutes later he grinned at me sweetly and said, "Thank you for helping me swim, Mommy!"
"Aw," *sniff, sniff*, "You're welcome, Pumpkin!" Secret: we SuperMamas have to be strong, but sometimes we melt into puddles.

So now we have two little fish and one little dinosaur....because Collin says he swims like a dino, and I dont want this swimming dino to go extinct!

Einstein & Co.

Proof that we've descended from Einstein:

Missing: Sidebar

Missing: Sidebar
Born: March, 2009
Date Missing: Unknown

Sidebar was last seen on or around the time of the "Coolest 6 Yr Old #1" post. It was wearing four photos of beautiful children, one photo of an adorable couple, a bunch of colorful text, plus lots of other fun links and gadgets.

Sidebar's creator, Carmen, is pulling her hair out since discovering Sidebar's disappearance. She says, "I'm just trying to figure out what happened! Where did I go wrong as a sidebar creator that it would decide to leave us like that? Does our blog mean nothing to him? It's all my fault, really. I should have given it more one-on-one attention. Sidebar, we miss you. We'll never give up hope. Please come back soon!"

One of Sidebar's blog readers described him this way: "Sidebar was colorful, you know? Friendly. Like, it really gave life to the blog and gave us a face to connect with the names. I really miss it.....I just hope they find it soon!"

Anyone with any information regarding Sidebar's whereabouts, or how to retrieve it from the black abyss, please contact Carmen IMMEDIATELY!! She will be forever grateful.

Update: The mystery deepens. Sidebar will evidently show its lovely face when we click on individual post titles, but when we click on the blog icon, i.e., the home page with all the posts on one page, it will go into hiding once again. It's not a fan of large crowds. Anyone have any clue what to do?

Update: MYSTERY SOLVED!!!!!! HOORAAAAAY!!!!!
Carmen was overjoyed to find the reason for Sidebar's disappearance. Evidently when separating the html for the photos in the "Coolest 6 Yr Old #2" post, Carmen unknowingly deleted a ">" after the "div" at the end of the code for the last photo. Add it back in, and Sidebar reappeared. Picky, picky. Evidently every jot and tittle matters in html. Who knew?

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to...



"Not Me! Monday" was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have "not" been doing this week.

This week I did NOT get the scare of my mothering life.

The boys and I did NOT go to hang out with my brother and sister-in-law, Kory and Rachel, and their cute little pumpkin, Owen. As soon as we were there, Spencer did NOT decide to liven things up with a not-so-rousing game of hide-and-seek. Rachel and I were NOT chatting over freshly baked brownies (YUMMY!) and did NOT stay somewhat oblivious as Kory and Spencer took turns hiding and counting. After several rounds, Spencer did NOT completely disapear. Kory did NOT walk around the house checking everywhere. He did NOT check the dishwasher. He did NOT check the refrigerator, at Collin's suggestion. He did NOT check the oven, at Rachel's suggestion. He did NOT check in shoes and closet and nooks and crannies. He did NOT finally give up and sit back on the couch to watch baseball. It was NOT a few minutes until Rachel and I realized that Spencer was still missing. We did NOT immediately jump up and begin an all-out search that had none of the playfulness of a game of hide-and-seek. We did NOT re-search all the closets, the bureau, the showers, and every hiding place available to a small boy. We were NOT yelling, "Spencer, come out now! This isn't funny! Spencer, where are you? Spencer! Spencer?! Spencer Morgan you come out right now!!!!" We did NOT then find the front door open and immediately start to panic. We did NOT search the sweltering van. We did NOT search the sweltering car. We did NOT search the yard. We did NOT search the garage. We did NOT search the storage room. Rachel did NOT search up the street. I did NOT get the most horrible sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach when she came back wide-eyed and empty-handed. I did NOT go in the house and decide to call the cops after one more round in the house when we heard his delighted little voice call from somewhere in the house, "Alright, alright, I'll come out!" I did NOT immediately burst into tears of relief. Spencer did NOT get a tongue-lashing for his antics and have to apologize for aging us all a few years. You have never seen a boy so proud of his super-duper hiding spot: under the crib where the baby was sleeping!

(We did NOT check that spot, but evidently missed him. Skinny little bugger!)

What have you all "NOT" been doing this week?

Quotes July 10-31

July 31
Spencer: Mom, you have so many kids you cant even take care of all of us!
Me: Of course I can! Whats not taken care of?
Spencer: Well, when youre feeding Baby Katya you cant discipline us!
(It took them less than two weeks to figure that one out!)

Spencer, when Lizzie the weiner dog nipped at his finger: Mom, Lizzie bit me!! She just turned around with her Amazing jaws and Snapped me like a wild animal!

Spencer: We are the three stoogents! Claire is a stoogent, Collin is a stoogent, and I am a stoogent!

Grandma: Spencer, you are being so sweet and gentle with Claire. I'm really proud of you!
Spencer: Why, thank you! It was my finest hour!

July 21
Me: Spencer, will you bring an extra chair to the table?
Spencer: Why do you always give me jobs all the time? Here I am playing hard all day outside with my friends and you guys are inside having a relaxing time! So why do I always have to do the work you give me?

(If you don't laugh, you'll cry! This comment was promptly followed by a sentencing to a "slave day" - his term, not ours - to teach him the difference between working, playing, and relaxing).

July 20
Spencer: How about Mommy calls the baby "Katya" and I'll call her "Sleeping Beauty?"

Collin (to whom nose-pinching is a form of adoration): "I think Baby Katya wants me to pinch her nose!"

Fabulous Family Thanksgiving

I came across this letter on a blog celebrating the outrageous, and laughed so hard I had to share with you all.

Have fun reading!

From: Marney
As you all know a fabulous Thanksgiving Dinner does not make itself. I need to ask each of you to help by bringing something to complete the meal. I truly appreciate your offers to assist with the meal preparation.

Now, while I do have quite a sense of humor and joke around all the time, I COULD NOT BE MORE SERIOUS when I am providing you with your Thanksgiving instructions and orders. I am very particular, so please perform your task EXACTLY as I have requested and read your portion very carefully. If I ask you to bring your offering in a container that has a lid, bring your offering in a container WITH A LID, NOT ALUMINUM FOIL! If I ask you to bring a serving spoon for your dish, BRING A SERVING SPOON, NOT A SOUP SPOON! And please do not forget anything.

All food that is to be cooked should already be prepared, bring it hot and ready to serve, warm or room temp. These are your ONLY THREE options. Anything meant to be served cold should, of course, already be cold.

HJB—Dinner wine

The Mike Byron Family
1. Turnips in a casserole with a lid and a serving spoon. Please do not fill the casserole all the way up to the top, it gets too messy. I know this may come as a bit of a surprise to you, but most of us hate turnips so don’t feel like you a have to feed an army.
2. Two half gallons of ice cream, one must be VANILLA, I don’t care what the other one is. No store brands please. I did see an ad this morning for Hagan Daz Peppermint Bark Ice Cream, yum!! (no pressure here, though).
3. Toppings for the ice cream.
4. A case of bottled water, NOT gallons, any brand is ok.

The Bob Byron Family
1. Green beans or asparagus (not both) in a casserole with a lid and a serving spoon. If you are making the green beans, please prepare FOUR pounds, if you are making asparagus please prepare FIVE pounds. It is up to you how you wish to prepare them, no soupy sauces, no cheese (you know how Mike is), a light sprinkling of toasted nuts, or pancetta, or some EVOO would be a nice way to jazz them up.
2. A case of beer of your choice (I have Coors Light and Corona) or a bottle of clos du bois chardonnay (you will have to let me know which you will bring prior to 11/22).

The Lisa Byron Chesterford Family
1. Lisa as a married woman you are now required to contribute at the adult level. You can bring an hors d’ouvres. A few helpful hints/suggestions. Keep it very light, and non-filling, NO COCKTAIL SAUCE, no beans of any kind. I think your best bet would be a platter of fresh veggies and dip. Not a huge platter mind you (i.e., not the plastic platter from the supermarket).

The Michelle Bobble Family
1. Stuffing in a casserole with a serving spoon. Please make the stuffing sans meat.
2. 2.5-3 qts. of mashed squash in a casserole with a lid and serving spoon
3. Proscuitto pin wheel - please stick to the recipe, no need to bring a plate.
4. A pie knife

The June Davis Family
1. 15 LBS of mashed potatoes in a casserole with a serving spoon. Please do not use the over-size blue serving dish you used last year. Because you are making such a large batch you can do one of two things: put half the mash in a regulation size casserole with lid and put the other half in a plastic container and we can just replenish with that or use two regulation size casserole dishes with lids. Only one serving spoon is needed.
2. A bottle of clos du bois chardonnay

The Amy Misto Family (why do I even bother she will never read this)
1. A pumpkin pie in a pie dish (please use my silver palate recipe) no knife needed.
2. An apple pie in a pie dish, you can use your own recipe, no knife needed.

Looking forward to the 28th!!

Marney

When My Kids Play...

This is what it looks like when my kids have to get creative because the toys are still packed away. (No, they're not STILL packed away, but when this photo was taken, they were still packed away!!)

A "Claire Sandwich"

 

Spencer, doing his best impression of a "Chinese statue" on top a stack of 8 floor pillows.

 

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to...



A place where we can confess our (im)perfections and get away with it!

This week I did NOT lost track of time so badly that I did NOT fail to realize that today was Monday.

I did NOT set off on a road trip with a six year old, a four year old, a 1.5 yr old, a newborn, and two small dogs...and my mother. Each stop for a meal did NOT take us at least an hour and a half. We did NOT stop at least every two hours to feed the baby. We did NOT keep the DVD player running almost nonstop when the van was running. I did NOT start the DVD player in order to keep my boys on the back seat from killing each other for being in each other's breathing space. I did NOT have mom pull over the van to the side of the road to give my bored 20 month old a time out for a tantrum. Nope! NOT ME! I'd never make my 20 month old sit on the shoulder of the freeway for two minutes just to gain some sanity inside the van. As we neared Mt. Rushmore, we did NOT realize that we were driving straight toward the Harley Davidson convention and did NOT share the road, and the gas stations, and the restaurants, and the rest areas with thousands of motorcylists from every corner of the earth. We did NOT realize after visiting Mt. Rushmore that because of the convention, hotels were twice the price we expected. At 11pm in a small town in South Dakota we did NOT decide to keep driving and find the next hotel over the border of Wyoming in hopes of finding a cheaper hotel. We did NOT realize once we were at the border that there was nothing in Wyoming except pasture and fences. We did NOT drive until 1:30am and finally come upon a small town that looked to us like an oasis in the desert. We did NOT save only $40 because evidently even podunk towns raised their prices because of the Harley convention. On the third day of driving, we did NOT pull over to burp the baby only to realize that she didn't need to burp, but was simply sick and tired of being in the car seat and wanted to be held. I did NOT decide to get the baby a pacifier in order to plug the hole that the crying was coming out of. I did NOT drink a Starbucks that afternoon, and the baby was NOT up every hour that night. That night in Santa Fe we did NOT realize that because of a trade show, there were only two rooms available in the whole town. By time we got to the hotel where they were, there was NOT only one left. By the fourth day I did NOT consider leaving the dogs in the mountains somewhere. The vet would never know..... I was NOT counting the miles until Phoenix, and our kids did NOT scream with delight when the Phoenix Valley came into view. The things we don't do for a little family time..... :) We are NOT going to thoroughly enjoy our well-earned time here with those we love.

What have you all "NOT" been doing this week?

The Coolest 6 Yr Old #2

Today Spencer decided to try hurdling. He did surprisingly well. The living room fun quickly turned into training for the 2020 Olympics. lol

Here he is, jetting through the living room like a streak of lightning, toward his home-made hurdle.

 

Wild Child, clearing the hurdle with room to spare.

 

Better add some height to that hurdle! It ended up between waist and chest high on him.

 

Piece of cake! Soaring like an eagle!

 

Very cool.

The Coolest 6 Yr Old

I am living with the coolest 6 yr old in the world. Spencer is a boy with big ambitions. Here he is, practicing to be a weather man. There is no umbrella like a sunny yellow umbrella. And a warm summer shower is just what he needed for demonstrating its perfection!

 

Practicing to ride bucking broncos in the rodeo!

 

The champion yee-hawing and tipping his hat to the audience.

 

Extreme sports also have an extreme pull. Spencer told me he wants to learn to skate, because he will be the best skater in the whole world. Unfortunately, this is one of those learning pains in progress. Looks kind of like breakdancing on wheels.

 

Beyond Understanding

Today at church some visiting musicians sang a piece that was really moving and spoke to a deep place. Right now I have friends and family who are dealing with difficult situations. Some have health problems that are life-threatening, some have health problems that are not life threatening but would steal their peace and joy, a cousin has had two of her children diagnosed with developmental disorders, a friend is preparing her two dear foster children for return to their biological mother and going through the emotional uproar that brings to them all...and so many others are dealing simply with the daily grind and the normal fluctuations of life. We all go through those times when words are just not enough...All too often I don't have the answers, or even the words of encouragement I'd like to be able to give. But this chorus speaks such peace into those situations that I wanted to share it with you all:

Bow the knee
Trust the heart of your Father
When the answer goes beyond what you can see
Bow the knee
Lift your eyes toward heaven
And believe the one who holds eternity
And when you don't understand
The purpose of his plan,
In the presence of the King,
Bow the knee.

Not Me! Monday

Welcome to ...



"Not Me! Monday" was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have "not" been doing this week.

Okay, Okay, so it's not Monday! But as I anticipate being on the road on Monday, and having limited internet connection while we travel, I've decided to get a jump start on my "Not Me! Monday" and post it this weekend instead.

This week I did NOT go to the store when Collin ran out of “nighttime pants” and realize that the pink shorts pull-ups for girls were half as expensive as the blue shorts for boys. I did NOT immediately put pocketbook above my son’s pride and buy the pink shorts, wracking my brain for a creative explanation. At home I did NOT warn my mother against mentioning the fact that the new “very cool shorts” were flamingo pink. When Collin put on his new shorts that he didn’t like despite the fact of how very cool they were, I had NOT neglected to recruit Vlad to the conspiracy, and he did NOT immediately call out in a mix of righteous outrage and amusement, “Pink Underwear?!?” He did NOT immediately get nasty looks and shushing from the women in the room. When Collin subsequently shredded the shorts part of the pink contraption, I did NOT cut off everything except the diaper part and the waistband so they resembled something akin to a loincloth and then tell him they were “Tarzan pants.” At this point, I’d settle for him swinging from the vines...if he’d just wear those pants!

While we were at our house in Canada, Vlad did NOT order transcripts of all of our taxes since 2004, without telling us. We did NOT come back to our house in Minnesota and find 20 envelopes from the IRS sitting stacked in a neat pile in our mailbox. Mom did NOT immediately count them and proclaim, "You haven't been paying your taxes. You'd better get on top of that! You could go to jail!" I did NOT give her a nasty look and say, "Mom, we DO pay our taxes. We're not going to jail!" I did NOT then grab a few envelopes and open them, just to make sure I was right.

What have you all "NOT" been doing this week? :)