State of the Family #25

 I always start off typing, not really knowing what I have to write about when I start these SOFs.  Then, by the time I am done, I felt like I have rambled on forever.  Yet, it seems you keep on reading. . . for this I thank you.  It makes me feel like my mundane life and very entertaining kids have a little to offer.  Or maybe you're just bored. . . . either way, I'm good with it!



Checking out my sister's new DVD



Miss Thumb Sucker has been a wet-chested running monster around our house the last week.  Her next few teeth are working their way in (FINALLY!) and she is drooling like crazy.  I usually have to change her shirt at least once, if not twice a day.  Then, while at my dad's this weekend, he put a bib on her. . .now why didn't I think of that.  I know that I should do that, my aunt even made her these adorable little crocheted soaker bibs when she was smaller and went through a drooling stage.  I totally forgot about them and just kept changing her clothes.  Duh!  Anyway, drooling away, she had a blast at my families "ThanksChristmas".  My family combined Thanksgiving and Christmas this year since my niece was here from Texas for 4 days.  Miss Thumb Sucker was not much into unwrapping things or even playing with the paper, but wanted to check out what everyone had and liked the tags.  She was scared to death of an over-sized stuffed puppy that she got, but loved her singing, bouncing, ride-on turtle once we got it opened and home. 

Miss Firecracker had a bout of pink-eye but was a trooper with taking the drops.  She then passed the pink-eye on to her brother and that story will go in his section.  She is growing up way too fast for my liking and remembers everything.  Many of her "ThanksChristmas" gifts revealed just how much older she is getting.  We are now in to the Barbie stage (which I love, because I still LOVE to play Barbies) and she also got many things 'just like her big brother', which shows she is growing up as well.  She motors around on her pink scooter like a pro and has mastered her new Leapster2 with such ease it is almost frightening.  It will be a great educational thing for her though as she bores quickly with coloring and matching and tracing, but the active screen and changing games hold her attention really well.  And with just a little bit of help she is already starting to recognize a lot of her letters.  I am really having a good time with her new toys as well!  Her new favorite phrase is "remember last year?" in which "last year" is her code for an hour ago, yesterday or last week.  But remember she does.  She knows exactly what we did, ate, and who it was with.  Cracks me up!

Noisy Man, like I said, also had a run in with pink eye.  The day it was discovered, he was quite tired and at the word 'drops', he freaked.  He ran to his room closed the door and hid under his covers.  Surprisingly (lol), daddy and I were able to find him and tried to administer the drops.  He was kicking, flailing and screaming like we were going to cut off his arm.  We should have just waited until he calmed down to give them to him, but at that point all rational thinking had gone out the window and we were just determined to get the job done.  So, daddy picked him up and put him on the floor and pinned down his arms.  I sat over his legs and held his head with one hand while putting the drops in his squeezed-shut eyes.  Then, pried them open one at a time to let the drops run in.  After this whole process it took him almost half an hour to calm down.  This will surly be a story we laugh at later.  He also raked it in at "ThanksChristmas" with a hunting set complete with a camo rigged pick-up, tent, hunter, and deer, a new Leapster2 (since his old one quit working), a fun box/playmat for his legos and some clothes.  His favorite thing at the moment however, plastic army men! An inexpensive stocking stuffer from Aunt S and Uncle M have created hours upon hours of entertainment for this boy.  It is adorable!  Thank you Aunt S and Uncle M!

Not much on Mommy and Daddy this week.  We had fun at "ThanksChristmas" as well and received great gifts.  Daddy's favorite probably being his new Wii hunting game that proves to be pretty challenging and entertaining.  They hunted a Mountain Lion probably around 15-20 times before they were actually able to kill the thing before it killed them (see pic).  Mommy went Black Friday shopping (no, not at 3 am, but at 6 am) and still got some great deals!  The longest line I had to wait in was about 20 minutes and it was behind an old college friend I hadn't seen in years so it was the most pleasant line-wait ever.  I am also in crazy week for our church's musical with dress rehearsals S,M,T and productions Th,F, St, Sn!  Only night free is W.  Poor daddy!  My other dilemma. . . someone evidently forgot to tell my skin that I turned 30 last week and not 13!  I think if you are going to have the zits of a 13-year-old at least the wrinkles of a 30-year-old should go away.  It only sounds like a good trade to me.  What the heck is up with that?!?!  Anyone have any suggestions as to where they came from and how to get rid of them?  I do not like them Sam I am!! 

And with that, once again I have rambled on forever!  Good day!

Halleluiah!!!

She is sleeping!!  I almost hesitate to write this, but for the last week Miss Thumb Sucker has been sleeping great!  Since so many of my posts have been about her sleeping habits I figured I'd better put in an update.  So, in the last week she has been waking up around 7 am, then still takes a bottle in her bed and sleeps for another hour.  This morning she slept until 9:15 am!  I had to check on her about 12 times in those 2 hours just to make sure she was still breathing.  We have even been putting her to bed at 7:30 pm and she still sleeps this long.  I am starting to make a recovery on my sleep lost over the last year.  I feel like a brand new woman!  I think my worst sleeper is going to turn into my best sleeper.  She has even been taking 2 1/2 - 3 hour naps in the afternoon.  I can hear angels singing!  OK, maybe that is a stretch, but I feel a heck of a lot better, and when mommy feels better, everyone feels better!  Now, if only I could figure out how to solve all of my laundry dilemmas. . . . but I think that is a personal issue that I will always dread. :)

Handy Hubby!

Who else can say they have a hubby like this?!?! He decided while running on Thursday night that our 'tv stand' (aka 5 gal bucket) in our treadmill room was not sufficient. Since it was too low and off to the side we would have to turn a bit to be able to see it (challenging while running) and we would have to turn the volume up so high to be able to hear it, you could hear it upstairs. So, he just whipped this up for a whopping $12 in just an hour!! No plans, no searching for designs, not a thing! He just got out his saw and screw gun and tape measure and went to town. Have I mentioned lately how much I love this man!?!

I'm . . . 30!

My baby turns one and 2 weeks later I turn 30. So far so good. I think I can handle this 30 stuff. My hubby and kids got me flowers, a great friend and mentor got me The Pioneer Woman's cookbook, my secret sis from playgroup got me a cute little wooden plaque, another great friend made me brownies, my sweetie just brought home a very yummy looking chocolate cake, and I am relaxing on the couch while I should be folding laundry and cleaning up my kitchen. And I don't feeling guilty about it at all (well maybe just a tiny bit cuz I know I'll just have to do it later anyway) because it is my birthday. I am feeling quite spoiled. I think birthdays are great! We are going 'Rolling Pins" (bowling) tonight for some fun. It should be interesting. I am a terrible bowler, but we will have bumper pads, so that should help me out a smidge at least. I'll add some pictures of the awesome fun later!
My twenties were amazing! I finished college (had a blast during college btw too!), got married, moved too many times to count, owned 3 homes, had 3 kids and am still able to fit in my High School cheerleader uniform. I'd say my twenties were pretty good to me. Now, here's to hoping my thirties are even better!

Update: I totally rocked at bowling tonight - even beat my hubby who is a decent bowler(. . . I won't tell on myself that the bumpers were up - I really only hit them twice!!) hehehe! These are a few pics. There are some of all of us bowling, but with my husband in charge of the camera while I am bowling. . . lets just say those are not pictures that I will ever post or print! Ornery men!! (Can't say I didn't take some of him the same way though, but I will be nice and not post those either.)

State of the Family #24

My last day to enjoy being a twenty-something. . . not that I really dread being 30. It doesn't really bother me. Like my blog title suggests, I am just where I want to be. I have done everything I wanted to do by the time I turned 30 and God has so richly blessed my life I almost feel guilty. Almost. He is awesome isn't He!

Miss Thumb Sucker has now become a toddler, no longer an infant. While this makes me quite sad that my baby is growing up, I am really enjoying the stage she is in. She is so much fun! She just giggles about anything and everything and wants so much to be able to keep up with her big brother and sister that it makes me laugh! She has become quite ornery lately though. The bathroom and my pantry being her favorite places to hang out. It has now become a house rule that the bathroom doors stay closed as in the past week we have had a pair of sunglasses, a Sunday School Paper, a shoe and a sock all tossed into the toilet. And with a 2 and a 4 year old using the toilet you can't always guarantee it is clean water and this totally grosses me out!! Needless to say this house has been purged of 3 out of those 4 items! Her other favorite hang out is the pantry. . . she finds all sorts of goodies here. Mostly the cereal and such on the bottom shelf and anything that has been dropped on the floor (as you can see in the picture, my pantry is anything but clean). Her favorite find though, was the Oreo container which I thought was still sealed shut so I didn't take it away from her the first time I saw her with it. I figured she would shake and have some fun with it, but after a few minutes I noticed it was awful quiet so I peeked around the corner and there she was. She thought she was hilarious! She also got her splint off on Sunday and is enjoying the freedom! The other adorable thing she did this past week was learn how to fold her hands for grace at suppertime. It was priceless!

Miss Firecracker has had a pretty uneventful week. She has been a wonderful little girl and hasn't had many uproars at all. I wish I could figure this girl out, she is quite the roller coaster. Like I said last week, she is just too smart for her own good and sometimes I even forget that she is only 2 1/2! She had a blast at Grandma Susan's surprise birthday party last Friday and getting to spend the weekend at Grandpa Gary's. She has been a singing machine once again, turning any life situation into a Top 20's Hit!! Just the other day she added some great lyrics to Jesus Loves Me: "Yes, Jesus loves me, He doesn't like it when we're naughty, and He died on the Cross, the Bible tells me so." She likes to sing about her babies, and brother and sister and just about anything that can be made into a one-note-held-on-too-long-in-a-very-long-run-on-sentence song! I need to get it on video. She cracks me up! She decided to have a cowgirl day the other day as well and of course had to pose for a picture!

Noisy Man has calmed down this week too. I am realizing however that this poor boy needs some other boys to play with! He is surrounded by girls at home during the day, especially when my two daycare GIRLS are here as well. I now have one of his preschool classmates (a boy thankfully) coming on Tuesday mornings before school, so hopefully this will help. It did help me realize the play habits of my son. After about 10 minutes of playing farm, Noisy Man was ready to move on and color then was on to the kitchen and playing house. Oh dear, I think mommy needs to "boy it up" a little more. Don't get me wrong, he does enjoy his farm stuff and he is always up for a good "hunt", but even his preschool teacher says he spends most of his free time at school in the dramatic play area. What can I say? The boy loves to cook. His one saving "boy" grace is Legos. He will always trade playing anything to go play with his Legos. He was so excited the other night to FINALLY be able to ride his bike. Daddy took a look at it and realized that the brakes had been paritally engaged the entire time, which is why he wasn't strong enough to pedal it. He was thrilled to be able to do it all by himself! Too bad it will be too cold to be riding it much in the upcoming months!

Daddy got his deer. I don't have a pic of it on my computer yet, as he took the picture with his "hunting" camera and I have to find the cord to download them. It wasn't anything too impressive, but after sitting in a stand for 2 whole days not seeing much, he gets pretty bored and just shoots. The body of the deer was pretty good sized, he got 84 pounds of meat off of it (yippee, I get 60 lbs of ground meat for 80 cents/pound!) He always acts like it is such hard work and so boring sitting there, but he just loves every minute of it! Why else would you go sit in a tree for hours upon end, year after year? He is also loving that Noisy Man is getting older and can accompany him on parts of the process. He helped hang the deer and got too cold during the slicing it up part, but thought it was cool, nonetheless.

Mommy got 2 whole (well, almost whole) days to herself this last weekend. While the entire family was at my dad's for deer weekend, I had to be back at church for our Christmas Musical rehearsal most of the day Saturday and 2 different times on Sunday. So, I drove back Saturday morning and stayed here until Sunday night. It was so quiet and eery I wasn't sure what to do. Thankfully, a few friends saved me Saturday night by coming over to play some games and eat some good food. I am also thrilled at my new running shoes. After putting it off forever, I finally broke down and realized my knees were going to give out if I didn't get new shoes. I gritted my teeth and prepared myself to spend $100 for a pair of running shoes. I was thrilled to death when I went down to a local sports store and the shoes I wanted were on SALE, $20 off AND I found a coupon for that store where if I spent $75 or more I got $25 off! I got my running shoes for $55!!! I was jumping up and down (OK maybe just on the inside, but I saved $45!!!) and now I can run without limping around constantly. WOOO WHOOO!!

State of the Family #23

Hunker down folks, this ones a doozy. . .you might have to split up your reading time or just skip it altogether, we really aren't that interesting.

So it happened. The baby of the family turned one and we all survived. What else has been going on? Not sure I really remember. Where has the time gone? Halloween was in there somewhere.

Here are my cuties (and a couple of friends/cousins) in their costumes.

Miss Thumb Sucker continues to toddle about with her poor broken arm in a splint. It will be weird to see her without it (but oh so much easier to get her dressed!) come Sunday when we can finally take it off. But, oh the stories we will be able to tell her! She is completely on whole milk and doing quite well. Even only having a bottle in the morning most days! And that is only because she still insists that she needs to eat at 5:30 am and mommy is too lazy to sit and feed her so I just give her a bottle to drink in her crib and go back to sleep. She drinks the bottle better than a sippy cup, so I know she'll go back to sleep with the bottle better than a sippy cup as well. I know, its terrible of me, but you can throw stones later! Her birthday party was a blast and she did great! She hardly made a mess with her cake and it took her quite a while to dig into her birthday pudding. She was spoiled by all our family and friends! She is very in to babies and puppies and stuffed animals right now. Always loving on them and giving them kisses. Every single animal is a "puh puh" and everything else is a "ba ba". This includes babies, bottles, cups and balls. She also started saying "pa pa" for grandpa we think. Either that or she is calling grandpa's puppies too. Its hard to tell at this point.

Miss Firecracker has become quite the artist the last couple weeks and thus has been banned from any type of writing or coloring utensil for quite a while. In the last two weeks she has taken a crayon to the carpet and our tile kitchen floor, a pencil to our bathroom tile floor, a colored pencil to our kitchen table and an ink pen to our banister wall. . . every time the crime has been followed by a spanking, a time out and her having to help in the clean up process. You'd think she would figure it out, but she continues to find random things and color away on something new, none of which seem to be paper. Heaven help me! On a positive note for my fiery red-head. She had her 2 1/2 yr check up (finally) and quite impressed our new pediatrician. When she asked if Miss Firecracker could count to three for her. . . I asked her to count to ten. Although Miss Firecracker was being shy and would not comply the Dr was quite impressed with the fact that she was able to do so (truth is she can really count to 12 without help!). She was also blown away by her knowledge of her ABC's, body parts, shapes, colors, ability to copy a circle and x mark, to dress herself and attempts to skip and hop. My ornery little girl is functioning closer to a 4-yr-old than a 2 1/2-yr-old (could this be why is is such a trouble-maker?). Thus concludes my bragging-on-my-babies section. :)

She was not impressed with carving pumpkins, but liked the end product!

Noisy Man has been quite the comedian the last couple weeks. A few of his comical quotes include "I just want what I want!" (during one of his own little fits in which he wasn't allowed to have yet another piece of Halloween candy), "Mom, we should have another baby so we can name him the Muffin Man" (yeah, good luck with that one honey!), and "We don't want the animals to get hurt and die, Mommy. We want to get to hunt them down!" (this one came from a conversation about litter, and a book we had read about how animals can try to eat litter and it can hurt them.) He has also had his fair share of fits lately as well. He has started yelling at the top of his lungs about how unfair his punishment for disobedience is and/or how he should be able to have something he has been denied. Not sure where this is coming from as he is usually my even-tempered, soft-hearted one. I am guessing from a lack of sleep mostly as he has still only had about 2-3 naps in the last month. It isn't for a lack of trying, but with preschool in the afternoons he doesn't take naps those days and on his non-school days I make him lay down for a nap, but he will not fall asleep. Either way I need to figure out how to end these rantings from both of my older children before they teach their baby sister how to do it as well.

He thought digging out the guts of the pumpkin was a great time!

Duck hunting has gone down hill for daddy the last few weeks. Not shooting much, but he still considers this one of the best seasons he has had in over 5 years, so I guess not all is lost. I just have to figure out a good way to cook up some of this new meat that has now entered my freezer. Most of the time it just sits there and we end up throwing it out. Now we move on to deer season. I like deer season best. It is much shorter than duck season and daddy isn't very patient with it. He usually shoots his deer by the end of opening weekend because he is already tired of sitting still for so long. I do like getting the very cheap meat as well since we have the majority of it made into ground meat to use in place of hamburger. It is also a much healthier alternative. If anyone is interested, he has two tags to fill, so if you want to process the meat, he would gladly shoot a 2nd deer for you!

I am on cloud nine today as I am no longer nursing and am not pregnant. Like I said in a previous post, this is a first in a little over 5 years for me! I am ready for the break, but I do miss the quiet time with my baby. Luckily, she is a cuddle bug so I still get in some good snuggles. Also on cloud nine as I am wearing a pair of my pre-pregnancy, "skinny" jeans (I put this in quotes since I would never consider my thighs to be skinny, but this is almost as small as they get). They are still a bit snug around the thighs, but with my legs I am accustomed to this. I am just thrilled to be able to wear them and not look like I had to jump off a building to get in them! We'll see if they still fit in a couple of months after no nursing and the holidays!! Speaking of holidays, Christmas #1 for us is just around the corner as we are celebrating it at Thanksgiving since my niece will be here from TX. I can proudly say I only have one more gift to buy for this one! It is nice to have almost 1/2 my shopping done! It will also be nice to take a little of the gift getting/giving pressure off my kids so we can focus a little more on Jesus. Speaking of Jesus, I am currently reading an awesome book that I highly recommend. It is called "A Modern Girls Guide to Bible Study" by Jen Hatmaker. If you have ever felt (or always felt) a little stuck in your personal Bible reading time or like you don't get much out of it, this book is great! I am only in the 5th chapter. I have already learned so much and have a new view on my quiet times and personal Bible Study. Read it!

I'm One!

I turn one today!






I have a splint on my arm and a buggery, stuffy nose, but it is still my birthday and I am going to enjoy it.

Not quite sure where the time went! As I sit here and type my baby girl has transformed before my eyes. She is no longer the tiny little thing we are just bringing home from the hospital, but instead she is standing by my knees playing peek-a-boo with me from behind my laptop. Time flies. uiiko'











7421