The Weekend

Randy surprised me for my thirtieth birthday (that is so weird to write that number out!) and took me to Big Cedar Lodge for the weekend. We took Addie with us and the kids shared time with Auntie Paula and Grandma and Grandpa. We had a great time, even in the bitter cold, just lounging around doing a little shopping.

The front of The Falls lodge where we stayed.

The Christmas tree in our lodge.

The lodge next to ours at night.

The view of the cabins along the river from our room, lit up night.

The beautiful fireplace.

Our view of the lake.

Our room, feels like home :-).

The tub with a view of the room.

The bathroom with a tree in it.

By the way...

I finally updated here.

Happy Birthday Grams!!!

(pictured here with her brother, my Uncle Jack)

Happy Birthday Grams!! Hope your day is filled with lots of goodies and many hugs and kisses from all of the family.

I love living so close to you and being able to spend such wonderful time visiting you. I love that you encourage me in all of my crazy sewing ideas and make me realize they are possible. I love when I get stumped, I can call or visit and you will help me figure it out. I love that you wake up early with my kids when we are at your house so I can sleep in (A treat indeed!). I love watching the kids curl up with you on the sofa to snuggle and read a book. I love that you can still spot good fashion from a mile away and can even sport your own cool jogging suit! I love the way you smell. I love the way you make my house smell when you visit-I never want to change the sheets when you go. I love that God has blessed me with you as a grandmother for almost thirty years, I treasure every moment with you! :-)Lizzie

xoxoxoxo Randy, Liz, Ashlynn, Ryder, Gage, and Addie

Yep, sure do buddy.

In the midst of this freezing weather and winter germ season, my nose is in constant drain mode. Hence Gage's comment to me this morning as I was blowing my nose. Again.

"You got boogers Momma?"

What more can I say?

No really, they don't need toys.

To be honest, if it were up to me, the kids would get very little for Christmas and it would all be second hand. I view new toys like new cars, the minute you open the package they depreciate. It sounds mean to some of you but let me make my case.

Tonight, due to some "behavior issues" they lost their privilege to play with toys in the bath. Instead they had to just sit there with nothing but the two rags I had put in the water to wash them up with.

You know what they did?

As I sat there nursing Adysen, I watched and listened as they turned those two little rags into pieces of seaweed that were floating in the ocean. Then they became dolphins and sharks and fishies and butterflies and crocodiles. After the "ocean scene" they turned it into a "snow scene" and they had an imaginary snowball fight giggling all the while.

Instead, the gift my kids need this year is more of my time. Not the time I spend cooking and cleaning and teaching and disciplining, I'm fresh out of that kind. Just laughing with them, imagining with them and asking them what they would like to do for the day. I'm pretty good and steering away from materialism and often take pride in it, but I can't say I've been as diligent in really engaging my kids and quietly listening to them lately.

That's all they really want and need for Christmas.

Look who's six months old:

Say what?

When moving furniture around the last thing you want to hear goes something like this:

"My teeth! I've been looking everywhere for those!"


When a certain child comes downstairs from being by themselves upstairs, you don't want to hear:

"It's just water momma, it's just water, it's just water momma."


When you have finished decorating the tree and house for Christmas and you are all ready to make those yummy carmel apples you've been waiting all day for, the last thing you want to meet when you ask where all the supplies went is:

A blank stare.


I'll let you guess which kid did what. Due to her age, Adysen has not joined this club quite yet.

Who needs pottery barn kids when you have this:

What you see is real creativity hard at work, well, before she was finished putting it together anyway. If you couldn't guess: that would be a diaper box transformed into her own personal chair.

Pottery Barn Kids has nothing on this girl.

Now all I need is to grab me a sharpie and write her name on it and, presto, it's personalized.

Who needs all these crazy expensive kid things, it's far more entertaining this way!

If you rake them, they will come......

In my attempts to rake the leaves, I couldn't help but let the kids have a go at it. They immediately starting making a pile to jump in.

Good times.

If you give a kid a snack.....

He'll take the kiwi, blackberries, apple juice and do this:

"Look at my pattern mommy!"

The wonderment of the little things they do, gotta love 'em!

A Bowl of What?

After baths, the older kids always giggle about their raisin fingers. Not that I'm leaving them in there for hours like *cough* some people I know, they're just little and it doesn't take long.

I think.

Anyway.

Gage has finally gotten into the fun now and last night, with great pride, he showed me his fingers and said "Look, my raisin bran, me raisin bran fingers."

Apparently his little world truly does revolve around food, especially his favorite meal of the day: breakfast.

Before and After

Thanks to an "inspirational" post over at the laundry pile, I decided to tackle this:




Note the two blenders. My good old Osterizer just plain pooped out on me and my fabulous cousin Lisa gave me her mom's Kitchen Aid blender. Now, I have been using the new one and, um, haven't had "the time" to clean up the old one and store it. You know, just in case the new one really dies and I really need an already sorta dead one that would work in a bind.

Also, I took the picture after I had moved the fax machine and a bunch of papers.

Yes, that would be Gage's head in the foreground foraging through the junk drawer.

And yes, the sign on the wall above the radio reads "Simplify, throw everything out".

My messy excuse goes something like this: "I've had company for five weeks straight and have been faxing papers just about every day for a week and who really has time to organize and pay bills stacked on the counter and....."


So I took the time and here are the amazing results (no, I am not submitting to you the picture of the kitchen table directly behind said area):



Whenever I need to look at the clean, I'll be sure to look up this post.

Happy Birthday Christopher!!!!

Happy Birthday to my fantastic brother-in-law Chris!!! I hope you know how happy we are to have you as part of our family, we all love you so much!!!!

Wish we lived closer....though I think the Midwest would be a great place for you guys.....hope to see you in February!!!

xoxoxoxo Randy, Liz, Ashlynn, Ryder, Gage and Addie

Aslynn, the Choreographer

Ashlynn has started back up with ballet this fall. Yesterday she called me outside to watch a dance she created. As you can see she drew out the moves on the patio with her sidewalk chalk. The large circles indicated a twirl the small oval circles were single leg kick/jump and the X's were curtsies.



Here she is taking it on:



It was really quite amazing, I even asked if that is what her teacher had taught. "No mommy, I made it up myself."

Wow.

Look who's five months old:

"Mooooom, I need some two part poxy!"

My kids ask a lot of questions. Especially Ryder. Personally, I think it's great and even encourage it. It's funny, whatever the question and whatever the answer, it always leads to more questions. I absolutely and thoroughly enjoy defining words they have never heard before or explain why and how something works.

Sometimes the answer lets me "off the hook" from things that would be impossible to take care of. Ryder has several plastic toys and occasionally these toys wind up broken. Now, anyone who knows my kids, knows all their toys are sacred. Meaning they actually play with them and enjoy them. If I try to get rid of some (no one seems to want to go along with my "one toy for every kid" rule?!?), they can name them, explain how they use them daily and hold them as if they were a best friend.

Ryder will come crying to me with a glue stick or tape dispenser holding an arm, a wheel or some random part to his beloved toy and ask me to reattach it. Now, growing up working at Alpine Lumber, I know that plastic cannot merely be glued back together with Elmer's, a glue stick or even super glue.

You must have a two part epoxy if you really want lasting power.

In an effort to deflect the pain of the broken toy and the fact that it will be a part short, I explain this to Ryder. The first few times he accepted this prognosis and went back to playing. Then he began to question.

Where is this two part epoxy?

If you know that is what will fix my toy, why don't we own this stuff?

Come on let's get in the car, go to the store and pick some up.

He hasn't exactly made these statements, but I can see it in his eyes. Just the other day he brought his plastic batman he bought for twenty-five cents at a garage sale this summer, with it's arm dangling and whining: "Moooom, I need some two part poxy!!"

Looks like we'll be heading to the hardware store.

Dump Fest 2008

Most of you know Gage has been quite busy lately. Here is a list, not necessarily exhaustive, of what he has dumped around the house lately:

• Quart size freezer bag of ground flaxseed on the dining room carpet.
• 32 oz. bag of popcorn kernels on the kitchen floor.
• Red, sparkly cookie sprinkles on the dining room carpet.
• Homemade chicken nugget coating, that raw chicken had already been dipped in, pulled from the trash and dumped on my bed and floor.
• Shampoo in not one, but both of Randy's shoes. The little guy even attempted to pour in more the same day.
  

I promise, I am not neglecting the poor boy, he's just the busiest kid in the house. Literally, if I take my eyes off of him for more than thirty seconds, something will be destroyed. I have officially put gates back up in the kitchen to cut down on some of the spillage.

We'll see if it works.

I'm not holding my breathe.

Gotta admire the determination.

The "eeevil" Water Bottle: I miss you.....

With the recent popularity of "going green" and all of the people jumping on the band wagon, I decided to do my part. Well, sorta.

Mainly, I'm just cheap. But, heck if that makes me an environmentalist, I'll take my brownie point thank you.

Usually we always have a case of bottled water in the outside fridge mainly used for road trips, hot summer days when the tap water is just to darn yucky to drink and sitting on the nightstand in our room.

You know, it's the middle of the night, you wake up thirsty as all get out and you reach for that glorious bottle. So refreshing and wonderful to quench that all powerful 2am thirst. Dramatic? Yes. True? Even more.

We've been out of water bottles for about three weeks now. Yes, I am frugal. Yes, I am perfectly willing to drink tap water. Yes, I keep forgetting it at Costco.

The other night as I was climbing in to bed Randy asked if we were still out. "Oh honey, I'll go get you a nice big cup of ice water, much more refreshing than those awful environmental hazards". Maybe if I play the green card he won't question my miserly ways or memory problems.

After taking a few sips out of the cup he tried to decide where to set it down for the 2am swig. Well, first you have to hope no flies land in it, that would be a real bummer. Or spiders. We splat at least two a night running across the ceiling right over our bed. Bet that cup of ice water seems refreshing to them too. Hmmm.

"Babe, when my pager goes off in the morning I'll knock the thing all over". Do I four or five children? "I'll take it and put it on my nighstand, you always say you're like a bull in china shop". We giggle, I put the water on a towel on my side.

I proceed to turn off the light, take the clip out of my hair, set it down on the nightstand and listen to water pouring down the sides and back of the nightstand and all over my books. The sound of the water literally pouring off the dresser was quite noisy in the dark room; I ran to get a towel and mopped up the mess.

I'm still not sure which is worse on the environment. Adding to greenhouse gas effect from cleaning up the mess and washing the towel I used (the dresser was a little dusty, so I couldn't exactly reuse the thing) or the measly plastic bottle I should have had.

Happy Birthday Piper!!!!

*****Disclaimer*****
My head is pounding, my nose is running and my entire body aches.
That being said, my mental capacity for clever, thoughtful, sweet or really anything that would make sense is limited.
*****Disclaimer*****

Happy birthday to my life long BFF, from the first meeting in the drinking fountain line at Alpine Christian to life changing events like kiddos and hubbys, we have managed to stay in contact through it all. So glad you are now my "blogging buddy" too, I look forward to enjoying your work as the amazing author that you are!

The big 3-0, woohoo!!!!!!!!!

Lizzie's Ghetto Daycare: Now Enrolling

Last week we had our house appraised and it became evident the appraiser lacked some much needed social skills. Here, I'll let you decide.

Not only did I clean my house from top to bottom, including every closet and corner, but it smelled good too. There are two kids wearing diapers in a house that could use some new carpet, so the "smell good" factor it is a great accomplishment.

After walking through the house and inspecting the outside, we sat down to go over a few things. Ashlynn and Ryder were watching cartoons in the family room and I was sitting holding Adysen while Gage watched Baby Noah in the living room. Everyone was behaving amazingly well. He looked at the kids and back to me: "You obviously run a daycare I see."

Me: "Nope."
Appraiser: "These are all your kids?!?"
Me: "Yep."
Appraiser: "No really, what are there ages?"
Me: "6,4,2 and four months."

He continued to stare while writing on his paper. Just a guess, but it was probably something like 'homeowner operating illegal daycare saying they are "her kids"'. Seriously, I don't think he believed me, that or he was looking to see if I had any openings for his kid.

He then informed me if we were ever to sell the house we would need to install a railing down to the basement. "I'm not saying they are going to make you do it now, but if you sold it, you would definitely need to install one. Well, I mean if the loan was FHA it would be required. They require that sort of thing."

He then looked around my nicely cleaned house and continued on.

"I mean this house would definitely go FHA, so you would have to take care of that. Yeah, definitely FHA. Now I see you have painted inside, you haven't done anything to the outside I assume?"

"Well, we are aware we need a new roof, and would love the luxury of new siding and windows and as soon as we can pay for these items with cash, we will replace all of it. Did you notice the landscaping? I planted all of that when I was nine months pregnant with my fourth child." So maybe I left off the last part of that comment, but I whispered it to myself.

He finished the rest of his paperwork and I showed him to the door. I immediately went back inside and decided to make a sign for the front lawn:

"Lizzie's Ghetto Daycare: Openings Available Soon"

Happy Birthday Linda!!!!

Happy Birthday to the world's greatest Mother-in-Law!!!

Many people have told horror stories of their "in-laws", but Linda, you are the best! Whenever I am describing you to people I tell them: "She is always well intentioned, thoughtful, and kind. She is always looking out for the best interest of her family and the people she cares for."

It's true! You have done nothing but put others first and be one of the most selfless people I know. You love your family (especially loving me like I was one of your own) and are consistently dependable. I know at the drop of a hat you are there to help and it means THE WORLD to me.

Thanks for being such a great friend, mom and grandma. I am so incredibly blessed to have you in my life and I pray that my kids will be so blessed to one day have a mother-in-law as wonderful, beautiful, happy, kind and fun as you are!!!!!!!!

The Toad: Part Two

They've abandoned the little froggies for this big guy. He has a little home by the trampoline, unfortunately for him, and Gage was the first one to discover it. They loved on him (though I don't know that he necessarily "felt" it in that way) and let him go late in the evening. The dude hopped right back to where you know who will find him tomorrow.

Look who's four months old today:

Four Months already!!!

She even rolled over for the first time today, it's going by way too fast!

Growing Up.

Now that Ashlynn is in first grade it really hits home how fast time moves. She has been working on addition and subtraction this week and it's just amazing what their little minds can grasp in such a short period of time.

Last Friday we hit a couple of garage sales and she found a headband she couldn't "live without". She only had a certain amount of change, which wasn't enough, so in her garage sale wisdom, she offered what she had and made a deal. She's braver than I am at these things!

Now, to feel old.

Monday, we were loading up into the car from the grocery store and Ashlynn pointed out a car: "Look at that green car mommy. It must be really old, like, from the eighties or something."

Really old. Eighties.

Wow, sixteen will be here way too soon.

Frog Days

Apparently fall and frogs are synonymous around here. Every time I step outside, I almost step on one of the little guys.

The kids LOVE it.

Here they are with some of their "catch". They do make good little homes for them, check on them often and get sad when they "jump the coup".

It's really ok though, there are plenty more to be caught.

What two do.........

So Gage has randomly done the big job on the potty five or six times. What in the world should I do?? I don't really think he gets the whole concept, but is it workable or ignorable??



(Hence the pun in the title.........)

Never, Never, Never Forget

Today marks seven years since the attacks of 9/11 on America by terrorists. For most of us, it's hard to imagine that so many years have passed since then, how so much has changed.

Since 9/11/01 Randy and I have had four children. Randy became a Fire Captain, we moved once, had two siblings get married and welcomed three nieces and one nephew into the family.

Life did not stop, it kept moving forward. For me.

My heart hurts for the lives that were lost on that day, but even more for the families that lost the moments we have had. New babies, giggles, weddings, crying, vacations, bad days, good days and everything in between.

We can't forget. We must press on, though the enemy would desire the opposite, and strive to hold to to the amazing gift of freedom. Let's not be passive and ignore the real and present threat that continues to exist. The people that would love nothing more that to stop all of our lives as we know them.

A big thanks to our nation's firefighters, police officers and especially our US Military for their continued protection. My husband, I know, would have been among those who ran in and not out of those towers seven years ago. I am also aware of the danger that our Armed Forces face each moment in their pursuit to let us maintain "life as we know it".

To all of the families who have lost and sacrificed so much for me: WE WILL NEVER FORGET!

Why is it?

Why is it, even though I make Gage his own milk every morning, he tries to steal Ryder's any chance he can get?

Why is it, the moment you decide to exercise, all of the kids wake up?

Why is it, the day you must leave at a certain time, the kids sleep in or take extra long naps?

Why is it, you never seem to have the ingredients on hand for something you really want to make?

Why is it, that it never fails the day you don't shower or get dressed, someone rings your doorbell?

Why is it, you can start the day so excited for what you will do after the kids are in bed and then lose all motivation when you actually get them all in bed at night?


Just wondering if anyone else has any "Why is it?" moments..............

Maybe they are jealous.

So anybody who is anybody has heard all of the talk surrounding the pick for the VP spot on the Republican ticket. It ranges from 'how great she is' to 'who does she think she is' and quite frankly, it amazes me that she is being scrutinized for having children and a career. I mean, how dare that woman.

Today I was in the midst of a group of women who all agreed there was no way Sarah could accomplish the job of VP and have a family. They actually said: "You can't have it all". Funny thing was, the conversation started when they found out I had four kids and began comparing that to Sarah's five. Quickly, I jumped in and stated I could handle the position and my family.

Funny thing, I don't think they even heard me.

On and on these women went about her "poor" children who be raised by numerous nannies (not sure why they think there would be so many??). And that even though they were working moms, the demand of her job would be much greater and therefore was not acceptable.

Let me ask, since when did we measure each person to the same degree? I would assert to say some people are just more capable than others. We are are all created equal, but are all very, very different from one another.

There may be men who can't handle a wife or let alone children. There may be a man who puts in his forty hours and desires nothing more out of life. There may be a mother who can't imagine trying to raise more than one child and run a house. There may be a women who has seven children and is the CEO of her own company.

Are you getting the point? Every person has their own degree of comfortable and that includes how comfortable they are with the challenges in their life. Having four kids and "handling" them has made me feel like I am capable of many things. Being a mom is an occupation that, more than any other, requires selflessness and learning to put others and their needs before your own.

God gives us strength and also provides us opportunities to use it.

Don't short change someone based on their gender and family size. Just because some people may not be capable of the duty doesn't mean someone else is not. Let's not let lack of personal self confidence and jealousy get in the way of another individual's accomplishments.

Notice: The following is a re-dramatization.......

Randy and I were running some errands with the kids the other day. As often happens in the car, a little fight broke out between Ashlynn and Ryder. In attempts to figure out what happened, I was asking each one what was going on. Ryder sits in the way back so sometimes it's really hard to hear him so Ashlynn usually interprets for me.

This time I got more than I bargained for.

Ashlynn started to whisper to Ryder, turned to me and said "Ok mom, just watch us, we'll show you what happened."

Suddenly the fight started again and I could see what was going on, only it wasn't the real thing. It was merely a re-enactment of what took place.

Now you have it, my four year old and six year old can "act out" scenarios that have taken place so we can determine who was at fault. All I ask is: "What next?"

Something to think about.

Last night I was reading a book to Ashlynn that Aunt Betty gave to her several years ago titled "God's Wisdom for Little Girls". It is a sweet book that breaks down Proverbs 31 and applies it to her life.

Can I say, it really hit home for me too.

Page 5 read:

Being good to others is so hard to do!
But this is exactly what God asks of you.
So do what you can to be kind to others,
And that includes your sisters and brothers!

"Her husband trusts her completely.
With her, he has everything he needs.
She does him good and not harm
for as long as she lives.

Proverbs 31:11,12 (The International Children's Bible, New Century Version)

(Here's the NIV Version also:

"Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value,
She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life."

Proverbs 31:11,12)

How often, I wonder, am I good to others? Is it for my personal gain or from my heart with the love of Christ and His commands? Also, am I truly a wife that is bringing only good and not harm into our family life?

Thankfully, I know Randy trusts me completely, but I want to strive to do more. To give up what I want and think of others first (especially Randy). To bring joy, peace and love to my household (not the goofy "la la land type" of stuff), but true goodness from following God's Word.

To lack nothing of value in Christ, yes, that's what I want.

The bug kit.

Grandma Linda gave the kids an insect kit with all kinds of molded critters that are a larger and very authentic looking version of the real thing.

The kit is supposed to teach and inspire kids about the lives of various insects. Here is what my kids were inspired to do with it:




Makes you want to whip a salad, doesn't it?

Look who's three months old today:

Evidently her age is getting to her already.

Attempting.

To get things back to "normal" that is.

I keep staying up until the wee hours of the night cleaning and organizing, only to have it seemingly all undone the next day. Why do I even bother??

The basement was the major project, seeingashow that's where Ashlynn does her schoolwork. What's a few cobwebs across the desk or some dead spiders in the corner? Surely we could use them as some sort of science experiment as evidence of radon gas in the basement.

Ashlynn and Ryder are keeping careful count of their toys. In my clean-up craze I announced that we would be eliminating 80% of their stuff. They have absolutely no concept of what that means except mom was "real serious" when she said it and she really likes to throw *cough* give things away.

Thankfully Addie is still averaging ten hours a night, so if I don't get a full night's sleep, it's really my own fault. No wait, I blaming that on the Olympics. The good stuff doesn't even start until ten and it's not as if you can just walk away from 'no commercial interruption live gold medal match beach volleyball'. Maybe next week........

Photo, photo

Here are some pictures of our trip!


The kids in the car, gotta love road food paraphernalia:




Havin' some fun in the lake:



My little fisherman:



Walking with Uncle Reuben to check out the awesome ships:






The kids with Grandma Larson (Gigi):



My little monkey boy:



The fam:



Gage hamming it up:




Sunroofs, gotta love 'em (and the country roads you can actually do this on!):




Addie's first campfire at the lake:




No, Ryde is not on fire, just the crazy way the picture came out (I'm sure James could explain why):



Gage and Daddy by the fire:



A favorite hang out:




Jeff's gi-normous fish:



The kids and I playing in the lake:



Baby wearing at its finest (and pretty much how Addie spent her vaca)





Gage having a seat in the lake:


What we woke up to early one morning: