I am a FLAMING idiot! (LOL!)

Wow! What a morning it has been! Everything started off just fine... I slept until about 9:30 while the kids played Pokemon cards and watched TV. Meagan finally succeeded in bugging me enough to get me out of bed to make breakfast, so I got up and headed upstairs to make a special breakfast of cinnamon rolls.

Oh, it was special alright!

I got the rolls out of the refrigerator, got the baking sheets ready, and preheated the oven. While I was waiting for the oven to get up to temp, I went about my normal morning routine - you know, bathroom, face wash, all that good stuff. When I came back into the kitchen, the oven beeped, indicating it was up to temp. As I walked over to it to put the cinnamon rolls in, though, I noticed smoke rolling off the stove top. Well, there were a bunch of things sitting on the stove - a bag of potatoes, a container of dinner rolls, salt & pepper shakers, etc. I thought somehow one of them had overheated... the potatoes seemed to be the most likely candidate, so I grabbed the bag and moved it straight over to the sink... but it wasn't the potatoes. So I grabbed the container of dinner rolls... not that either. My process of elimination was not working, and the smoke continued to roll.

Thankfully, by this time, Guy had taken an interest in what I was doing, and he came over to help. But he went straight for the oven. He opened the door, and there we found a plastic storage container that had once been filled with tortilla chips... Now, however, the bottom of the container had melted out and oozed all over the oven racks and the bottom of the oven, and the tortilla chips were in a charred pile at the bottom of the oven.

Oh. Um. Ooops. I never even thought to look INSIDE the oven before preheating it. I had COMPLETELY forgotten that Jane used to (and apparently still does) store stuff inside her oven. I had successfully managed to start a house fire. Immediately, the smoke alarms started going off like dominoes all throughout the house. Guy took over with the plastic blob, while I tried to find hot pads or something that he could use to keep from burning himself. So, I ran down in the basement to see what I could find. While I was there, I made a stop at the bedroom to wake Lucas up. My poor husband was awakened today with, "Hey Luc, do you think you could help us? There's a fire in the kitchen." He SHOT UP out of bed (much faster than when I thought there was a dead cat in the bed, I might add), and came upstairs to help. We opened doors & windows & set up a gigantor fan in the kitchen to try to get the smoke to move out of the kitchen.

I then tried to just stay out of the way. I got the kids dressed in case we ended up having to move outside. Then I steered clear. They proceeded to get everything outside to the garage on the concrete floor... the molten plastic blob over oven rack, the pile of char-broiled chips - all of it. There was smoke rolling everywhere, but THANKFULLY everything stayed contained and was put out without incident. Uggh!

All I can say is I felt like a complete moron of epic proportions! Oh well... what's done is done. Thank God we saw it and the men were able to handle it well.

The house is now closed up, we're regaining the heat that we lost with all the cold winter air blasting in from every open door, and the kitchen is relatively smoke free. I even made the cinnamon rolls for breakfast (which I burned, by the way... no joke!).

Moving on...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, Thanksgiving was a success! We were able to travel to Ohio Wednesday evening to visit family, despite a potential set-back at Lucas' work earlier Wednesday morning. Yea - thankful we were still able to go!

As soon as we got to Grandma & Grandpa's, the kids were flooded with all kinds of exciting things to do. There were singing Christmas trees, snowmen and moose waiting for them, plus Grandpa's train sets...so much to do!

Thursday morning, my mom and I worked together to get Thanksgiving dinner put together, and then Mom, Guy, Jane, Shane, Tina, Lucas, the kids, and I all had dinner together in Guy & Jane's garage (the only place big enough to set up enough table space for everyone).

After dinner - and after a couple hours of clean up - we got the kids wound down in front of a movie (UP again), and the adults sat down for a hilarious game of Catch Phrase! We laughed so hard at some of the clues we were giving to each other. So funny!

All in all, it was a wonderful day! So much to be thankful for!

Christmas Tree Skirt

These pictures are from our Christmas clean-up this past January. Once we took the tree skirt out from under the tree, Meagan realized that it fit her perfectly as a real skirt. She wore it around the house for 2 days, claiming it was her princess ball dress.

Journaling: Meagan found a new use for the tree skirt this year. As soon as it was fastened around her waist, it transformed into a long, flowing ball gown, and she, a beautiful Christmas princess.'

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Write Me

A quick layout I put together the other day to tell the story of my 6th grade pen pal.

Journaling: My 6th grade teacher decided it would benefit us to do a pen pal project. We were to write one letter and see if we received a response. I was given a pen pal from Australia. Her name was Kylie Sedgers. Not only did she respond, but we ended up writing several letters to each other. She sent pictures of her family & of herself. I remember thinking it was so funny that it was sunny & warm at Christmas time! I always looked forward to her letters. I kept everything she ever sent & put it in an album. I was sad when the day came that I realized she wasn't going to respond this time. I never expected a pen pal project to mean so much to me!

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Hot Date Tonight!

Tonight we have a hot date... a family movie date to watch UP! The kids have been looking forward to it ALL WEEK, so we decided to make a big big deal of it. We are going to have a special dinner (hot dogs - since there are DOGS in the movie... plus they all just happen to LOVE hot dogs). We're going to set up their sleeping bags and pillows in the living room floor, turn on surround sound, and kick back! Plus, we'll do popcorn and balloon cookies for special snacks. Here's a peek at the cookies I made for our special event.

Just a bag mix of Betty Crocker sugar cookies, a can of white fluffy frosting, split 4 ways, some neon food coloring drops, and Twizzler strings. Simple, but it doesn't take much to make it a special thing for the kids! I only wish I would have had a balloon-shaped cookie cutter... would have sped things up a bit, and maybe made them look a little less lumpy! LOL! Oh well, they'll still taste yummy!

A few more layouts to share with you. The first:

TINK:



Favorite Thing About Daddy:

For the most recent digi dare: to ask the same question to a boy & a girl and record their answers. Of course, I couldn't just ask one of the boys, so I asked them both. I did think it was funny, though, how girly Meagan's answer was compared to the boys' answers.

Meagan: He likes to hug me & be crazy about me.

Isaac: He plays tackle with us.

Sebastian: He lets us play his PS3.

They gave these answers on Sunday, November 15.

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Update

We're all feeling much better. Life is busy. More of the same.... skating on Monday. Gymnastics & small group on Tuesday. Church on Wednesday. Gymnastics on Thursday. Free day (of cleaning and catching up) on Friday & Saturday. Church on Sunday. Start over.

That being said, there have been a few notable moments amid all the monotony of everyday life. Last Thursday we had parent-teacher conferences for the boys. We learned that Isaac is "probably the brightest kid in the class" and is reading a few levels above where they want them to be by the end of 1st grade, so he and one other little girl are actually being sent to another class for reading so that they can be challenged. I had no idea, so that was a pleasant surprise. (Truthfully, by the way Isaac made it sound, I kind of thought maybe they had put him in a remedial reading class, so I was not at all expecting to hear the total opposite, LOL ). However, he is having some troubles. He has been having trouble with little outbursts for the past few weeks. In a matter of 2 days of school, he managed to intentionally break several of the class crayons, and smash another little kids 3-D shapes project just because he felt like it. Hmmm... So, we had a long talk with Isaac, and he seems to be responding fairly well to it. I also wonder if a bit of his issues weren't because of the antibiotic he was on... just a little fishy to me that the trouble spiked up during the time he was on the medicine and has improved since he's been off of it. ??? Still, we're working on it with him.

Sebastian's teachers also said he is doing really well. They both said he is super smart, catches on easily, and so on. He talks too much in class (wonder who he might have gotten that from?), and that sometimes he has trouble staying on task. Yup, that's Sebastian. But he's doing really well, so yay!

One other highlight to mention... all of a sudden this week Isaac just took off in skating. He finally seems to have his feet about him, and he is picking up speed. This week was the first week since the very first week that I could visibly see that he was enjoying himself. Hopefully he keeps on improving. I just want him to enjoy what he's doing... so much better than being a grump!

Other than that, not too much out of the ordinary is happening right now. Tomorrow we are planning a family movie date to watch UP. Looking forward to that! So are the kids... not sure Lucas is so excited, but he'll manage.

Under the weather

It's been a rough couple of weeks, but we're slowly turning the corner. I told you the kids and I were in urgent care a few weeks ago. Well, Meagan recovered nicely from her junkity junk, and Isaac, although he still has a bit of a cough hanging out, seems to be doing much better. Sebastian, still hanging out like a champ! Go Buddy! Now Lucas and I have a bit of a stomach bug that we've decided to share with each other. Nothing major - just annoying enough to disrupt the day a bit here & there. But I am hoping & praying it will be short-lived and life will go on as usual!

A Girl & Her Shoes

This morning, as we were getting ready to head out the door, Meagan decided to be very selective in choosing which pair of shoes to wear for the day. She decided on a pair of brown leather clog-ish shoes that have an open back. Very cute. Not very easy to walk in.

As she was climbing into the van, one of her shoes fell off of her feet. She sort of grunted in frustration, got down, and retrieved her shoe. As she climbed in the van for the second time, her other shoe slid to the ground. A little louder with the protest.

"Are you having troubles?" I asked her.
She said yes.
"Shoe troubles?"
Her response, "Yes, these shoes are DUMB!"
"Well, did you want to go get different shoes on before we leave?"
"No. I want these. They make me look beautiful."

Aaah, the power of a cute pair of shoes! No matter how dumb they are! She is definitely MY daughter.

Layouts to Share

Today is Digital Scrapbook Day, and I've been plopped in front of the TV with my laptop on my lap for the past few hours (watching an UGLY Notre Dame football game). I've gotten 2 layouts done today, plus I have 2 from a day or so ago to share.

First, here are 2 Halloween costume pages... one of Meagan and one of the boys...

Fairy Wings

Journaling: The magic of a costume can only truly be appreciated through the wonder of a child. The moment the wings were put into place, your imagination took flight, and you were instantly transformed into a flying fairy.

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Who's Boba? Who's Jango?

Journaling: I can't keep it straight. I keep asking, and you keep giving me an answer, but I just can't remember.

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Breathe Deep

I did this layout is for a challenge at the LilyPad. It was really very cool - in the process I learned about a new tool that I'm sure I'll be using again - a color palette generator. Just upload any photo, and it will pull together a color palette from the photo. Here's the link to it if you want to give it a try. I uploaded the picture of Isaac (that's in the top left corner of this layout). Here's the color palette I was given, if you're interested in checking it out.

Journaling: I love to see you taking in your surroundings - enjoying the total beauty of nature. I hope you live your whole lives with this same awe & wonder.

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Perfect Apple

Another LilyPad challenge layout - this time for a template challenge. I downloaded a free template that they're giving away right now and used it to make this layout. These are pics of Meg picking apples on her field trip this year.

Journaling: Apple picking at the apple orchard for your preschool field trip. This year Grandma H. was able to go with us, so it was an extra special day. You picked the smallest apple on the tree, but didn't seem to be bothered by it at all. You said it was the 'cutest little apple' you've ever seen because it was so round & shiny & itty bitty. To you, it was the perfect apple. I'm glad you were happy! That's all that really matters. Although you adored your little apple, you didn't hesitate to eat it!!

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Costume Pictures

I told you I would do my best! I picked a few of the better photos. I didn't take nearly as many pics this year as last, but that's okay. We still got plenty to remember our evening!

I Promise...

... to TRY to come back in a little while to post pics from THIS YEAR's Halloween... I'll TRY. I do still have to get some work done today. And go to the pharmacy for scrips. And go to a lunch meeting. But I've got nothing else planned for the evening, so I should be able to... I think. I'll TRY. xoxoxo

3 1/2 hours later...

Uggh! We have been so blessed to have avoided the yucky junkies that have been hitting everyone lately, but this week, we finally got a taste of it. Tuesday Isaac staid home from school because he was coughing really badly, and he was asking if he could go to bed and just sleep. By Tuesday evening, he had done nothing but rest all day, and he seemed to be feeling much better Wednesday morning. So he went back to school on Wednesday.

However.... yesterday at about 2:30, I got a call at work from Meg's preschool saying she was running a fever of 102. So, I packed up and went to pick her up. With her fever being what it was, our doctor's office recommended we head straight to Urgent Care. I knew that, if I was getting to urgent care at 3:00, there was very little chance I would be home by 4:00 to get the boys off the bus. So I went to the school & picked them up, and took all three of them to UC. My intention initially was just to have Meagan seen, but it was pretty clear after having Isaac in the van with me for all of about 30 seconds that his cough was still going strong. So I decided to have him seen too.

So now here's the picture: Three kids - 2 sick and 1 perfectly fine - sitting in urgent care with NOTHING to do... not the ideal circumstances, to say the least.

We waited... and waited... and waited. For almost an hour & 45 minutes before we were ever called back to be seen. Then a nurse practitioner student came in and checked them all over, after which a regular nurse practitioner would come in and redo all the same stuff all over again. Lovely. But whatever.

So she (the student) looked them over. She was really concerned about Isaac - thinking he might need to be on an inhaler or nebulizer. Then with Meagan, she was worried there might be a UTI or something, so she wanted to collect a pee sample... GREAT, seeing as Meagan had JUST gone to the bathroom about 5 minutes before that... which meant we had to wait until she had to go again! So we totally got held hostage by a 4-year-old's pee patterns. AAAAHHHH!!

Long story short, we were there from 3:10 until 7:50...more than 3 1/2 hours! No UTI or anything else pee-related, so that was all for nothing (but I guess at least we know what it's NOT, lol). Isaac has bronchitis and an ear infection. Meagan has a fever, so they called it the flu because there was nothing else to call it I guess.

So we're all hanging out at home today. Lovely. Meagan broke her fever in her sleep last night, so right now I'm having a hard time keeping her down and still. Isaac is still more than willing to lay on the couch and be a bum. Thankfully, there is no school tomorrow, so we have another day to just chill and recover.

Lesson learned... make a pit stop at home to gather several forms of entertainment before going to Urgent Care with 3 kids. Must remember that. Really.

Happy Halloween

These pictures are of the boys way back in 2003. Eeyore & Tigger... aren't they cute? Scrapping older pictures always makes me wonder where time goes.

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Just Because

Journaling: I looked out the window to check on you, and this is what I saw - you playing contently in the sandbox. You looked so beautiful sitting on the edge of the box, with the sun shining on you and the wind blowing your hair. I know it's just an ordinary moment in an ordinary day, but I had to take the pictures just because I wanted to capture the pure joy of this moment.

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Frosty Friend

Jouranling: The first snowman of the winter season. Sebastian & Meagan worked so hard to create this little guy... meanwhile, Isaac was busy forming huge snowballs so he could eat them. Nov 2008

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You Love Me

Journaling: In all that I am, and with all of my strengths and imperfections, I know that You love me.

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Last-minute Maneuver

Earlier in the month, Meagan had decided she wanted to be a mermaid for Halloween. I was at Meijer getting groceries one evening, and came across an XS mermaid costume, so I grabbed it for her. However, when she tried it on, it was about a foot & a half too long for her. I thought, "I can just pin it up, and it will be fine." So we went with it...

Until yesterday morning, when we got her all ready for her school party. We put the pin-up theory to the test, and it failed miserably! She spent the whole party stepping all over her 'tail' and pulling up the lower half so she could run & play. It was pretty clear that this particular costume just wasn't going to cut it for a night of costume play.

So, we pulled a last-minute costume maneuver... we went to Target and scoured what was left of their costumes to see if we could find something that would work for her. There were lots of yucky ones - if I would have wanted her to be a vampire devil, we would have been all set! Finally, though, I came across a Tinkerbell costume. It was technically too big for her (as it is a size 7-8, and she's 4), but we tried it on over her clothes (yes, right there in the middle of the aisle in Target), and it was just fine. At least she won't be walking all over it all night! Plus, she has WINGS, and what little girl doesn't dream of having fairy wings?! So we have averted a disaster, and we should be all set for this evening's costume endeavour!

I'm still here!

No, I did not disappear, although you would never know it from my blog! Sorry for the 18 day delay! Sheesh, what happened to me?! (FYI, the answer is "LIFE happened".)

We've had lots going on. Isaac started ice skating lessons, with the goal of HOCKEY in mind. His first day was Saturday, and then again this Monday. He will practice on Monday's for the next 7 weeks. So far, he really likes it, although the hockey skates have proven to be a bit tricky for learning. I think next Monday we're going to give figure skates a try until he can get the hang of balance and mechanics of skating. I guess figure skates are balanced a lot differently than hockey skates, and are much easier to skate in. Here's hoping for less time sprawled out on the ice! We'll see what Monday brings!

Other than that, Sebastian has been working on finishing his first science project. He was given a diagram of a plant, and he had to make a model of it using things he found around the house. It turned out really well... I'll try to remember to snap a picture of it before we ship it off to school tomorrow.

Friday we have 3 school parties and a costume parade. Then Saturday is Halloween - we are going to try something new this year, and we'll be going to a Light the Night party that our church is doing. We may slip out for a few minutes to take them trick or treating to a few homes around the party site...we'll see what the night brings! Should be fun though!

Enjoy Life, Every day

Journaling: Life is imperfect. Life is messy. Life is unpredictable. Life requires sacrifice. It requires compromise. Life is a blend of style & color & form. Life leads us where we never thought we'd go, and it goes where our thoughts & actions take it. Life is full of bends and turns, twists and surprises. Life is sometimes complicated, sometimes simple, but always a treasure that we should never take for granted. Of everything that life is, life is beautiful and it is meant to be enjoyed.

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Rock Star

Journaling: Love your style, your spunk, and yes, even your attitude.

Remember these pics??? My sweet girl just makes me smile sometimes. I love her quirky, original style. She has such a great outlook on life and definitely knows how to enjoy herself!

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What I See

Journaling: What he sees is a man who is slowing down, whose steps are slower and whose body is tired. But what I see is a man full of rich history and wisdom marked by a life of experience. I see a life of meaning, passion, love. I see a man who has dedicated years to his family, to others, to God. I see a living treasure who has so much still to offer. A husband, a father, a grandfather, a friend.

This photo is of Grandpa H. It was taken next to the lake in Cadillac.

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Patch

Journaling: What started as an easy way for little fingers to create a funny pumpkin face has turned into a sort of halloween tradition. This year we added a few little pumpkins to our patch."

This photo is of our 2008 pumpkin patch!

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Float Your Boat

Photos are from our trip to Meijer Garden this summer.

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Fall Colors Tour

These are some of the photos I took from the window of the train. (I realized after I finished this that I spelled Cadillac wrong...I'll fix it before I print!)

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Save Your Money

A quick layout to document the boys' process of saving up their money for the DS.

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Just the Two of Us

This picture is from our train outing. It has been a LONG time since Lucas and I have had a good, intentional photo taken together. I thought that was worthy of having its own layout.

Credits: Platinum Dreams by Krystal Hartley

Isaac's Reward

Two weekends ago, we had quite the experience here in our house. For a few months now, we've been stressing to the kids the idea of cleaning up when you're done with something, putting your things away before you get anything else out, and so on. Well, needless to say, it's not a popular concept with the youngling's, and their room was A MESS! So, Saturday morning, I asked them to go up and clean their rooms. I had some chores to do, so I did my stuff while they did theirs. Occasionally, someone would come downstairs with a few toys and take them down to the basement, so it seemed they were making some progress. I asked them a few times, and was greeted with "we're doing good" style answers.

Well, nearly three hours had passed by the time I was finally done with all the stuff I had to do. So, I figured they must be almost finished, and I would go up to encourage them on the last few things. HOWEVER, when I got to the boys' room, it looked virtually the same as it had before they started. I was MAD! I had already told them several times before, "If I have to clean up your toys, they're going into a trash bag." So, I stayed true to my promise, and went straight back downstairs to get the Hefty's. I started cramming toys, books, cards, and whatever else that was not where it belonged into the trash bags. I had filled two kitchen size bags before the boys' floor was clear. Nice.

In the meantime, Isaac had realized that there was no saving his own toys, but that Meagan was also going to lose her toys if they were all over by the time I got into her room. So he took it upon himself to go into his sister's room and start cleaning it. He put away as much as he was able to before I got in there. He had even tried to focus on her favorite things first, so that she wouldn't lose those. What a sweetheart. Even so, I filled one and a half bags of toys (mostly big stuffed animals) out of Meg's room as well.

When I had hauled them all downstairs, I asked Isaac to come down. I thought, since he had gone out of his way to help his sister, then before I took the toys away, I would let him choose three of his own out of the bags to put back where they belonged. When I told him, he got a big smile of relief on his face, and he started looking through the bags. "There's my Star Wars computer." And "I really like my Pokemon cards." And "I don't want to lose my books." He looked and he looked. Then he got quiet and stopped. When I asked what was the matter, he looked at me and said, "Mommy, can I give three things to Sebastian and Meagan instead? I know Sebastian won't want to lose his stuff, and Meagan will be sad to lose all this." I thought for a moment, and then told him that if he wanted, he could choose 3 of Sebastian's things and 3 of Meagan's, but that would mean he was choosing not to take any of his own things back. He didn't even flinch. He immediately chose three things of his brother's and three of Meg's and ran up the stairs, excited to give them their toys back. I was so touched, and at the same time, it broke my heart.

Later, after we had had several talks about respect and obedience, I decided to try once more to reward Isaac for his thoughtful and unselfish behavior. I once more called him into the living room, and told him how proud I was of him for being so nice to his brother and sister. I told him that I wanted him to be able to choose 3 of his own things as well. Any 3 things he wanted out of the bag. He started digging and searching through the bags once more. Then he looked up and asked, "Any 3 things? It doesn't matter whose they are?"

I was almost in disbelief. Really? But I said, "You can choose only 3 things out. So they can be 3 of your own, 3 of your brother's, 3 of your sister's, whatever. But only 3 this time." I even tried to encourage him to choose 3 of his own, but in the end, he chose one of Sebastian's toys, one of Meagan's and only one of his own. So they had each gotten 4 things back, and he had gotten only one as a reward for his selfless acts. But that was the end of it. There was no more choosing toys out of the bags. He had made his decision, and that was that.

We stored the toys for about 4 or 5 days, and each day, we talked to them about respect - respect for Mommy by obeying the first time they are asked to do something, respect for each other by using kind words and actions, respect for their things by taking care of them and putting them away, and on and on. By the fifth day, they had definitely got the point. So, we then had a discussion about forgiveness and mercy - how they had done nothing to earn their toys back; how they had broken the rules, and the consequence should have been to loose all their toys; but that Mommy & Daddy had talked, and we had chosen to forgive them and be merciful on them by letting them have a chance to put all of their lost toys back where they belonged. So that night after dinner, they put all their toys away - and it only took them about 20 minutes instead of 3 hours. Hmmm....

Anyway, we still wanted to really honor Isaac for what he had done, so we decided to let him choose a special dinner date. He got to pick any restaurant for us to go enjoy dinner as a family. His choice.... CHUCK E. CHEESE. So tonight, we headed to Chuck E. Cheese for dinner. And they had a blast! And he understands how proud we are of him for his actions, for loving his brother and sister so much that he chose their happiness over even his most favorite toys. For a six-year-old that is a pretty big deal!

Train Ride

Saturday morning we did something we've never done before... we headed out of town on an all-day train ride fall color tour. Our morning started at about 3:30 (at least mine did...others were up before I was, but 3:30 was pushing it for me, LOL). We got up and headed out by 5:00, to make sure we were at the boarding location in plenty of time to see the train come in. We got there by about 6:30. At about 6:50 we could hear the whistle in the distance, and the train came into view just before 7:00 am.

It was dark - pitch dark - and it was raining a very steady, cold rain. The train was obscured by a bend in the track and surrounding trees and buildings, so all we could see was the steam in the rain and moonlight. Then, the big bright headlight started to come into view, first reflecting off of the trees and buildings, then in full view. Even still, the train was hard to see, with only the silhouette really visible in the darkness. When the train let off its loud low whistle, I got chills. It was so eerie, especially in the darkness and the rain. It felt like we had been picked up and dropped back in time. Awesome is really the only word I can think of. Really. Awe inspiring. Awesome.

Anyway, we didn't actually board the train until about 8:30, and we departed at 9:00. We had a 4 hour ride to our destination, where we had a bit of a break, then a 4 hour trip back. Lucas' dad and grandpa went with us, and it was just nice to be able to sit together, with no distractions, and talk and enjoy each other. It was fun to get to have that experience with people who were genuinely enjoying themselves. It was a great day - even if there were a few hiccups in the timing and the schedule (and the rainy cold weather)!

I, OF COURSE, took a TON of pictures, and a few videos. Here are a few of them... it may take a while to preview them - I put about 25 pics up.

Just as a cool little side note, I found out after our train ride was over, that when my dad worked on the railroad, he actually used to be a part of the 765 crew for special excursions. That, for me, just made it that much more of an amazing experience. Definitely glad we did this!

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The Dead Cat Story

Three nights ago....

At about 1:30 in the morning, I woke up as I tried to roll over in my sleep. I woke up because the blankets were tight around my legs, and I couldn't move them very well. I glanced down and saw a dark, round blob laying at my knees. Well, this is where Lilly usually sleeps when she chooses to hop in bed with us, so I assumed it was her. I pushed against her, which is typically sufficient to send her the message to move. She did not move. I pushed a little harder, bending my knees slightly and shoving her toward the size of the bed. No response. I reached my hand down and patted her to get her to move. Something was wrong. She not only did not move, but she was hard and stiff and not breathing. Crap. The cat was dead.

So, I poked at Lucas, who was sound asleep, because I was tangled up in the blankets with a dead cat. He grumbled and rolled over, but showed no signs of really responding, soI persisted. "Lucas, you have to wake up. There's a dead cat in the bed beside me."

"Hmm."

Again, "Lucas, there's a dead cat in the bed beside me."

Pause.... buffering.... buffering.... "What bed beside you? We have a bed beside you?"

"NO!! THE CAT IS DEAD BESIDE ME IN THE BED!" Surely this would prompt a coherent response. Right? This is what I got....

"Then go get a bag and throw it away."

"WHAT! No, get up. You have to get up."

So, he reluctantly and slowly got up out of bed, making a pit stop in the bathroom before taking further action. While he was in the bathroom, however, something interesting happened. The 'dead cat' MOVED! It popped straight up in the air, and went flying across my legs and moved up toward the pillows. It was MEAGAN! The 'dead cat' was her head. Oops.... I had been kneeing her in the head, and smacking at her trying to get her to move.

"Never mind, Luc. It moved."

Now, keep in mind that, by this time, Meagan was now laying on the pillows in the middle. So when Lucas came back to bed, there was a new lump on his side of the bed that had not been there before. So, not knowing it was his daughter, he starts shoving the lump, and smacking at it and poking at it trying to get it to move.

"Why is my blanket lumpy?"

"It's Meagan. She was the cat." We cracked up laughing for a few minutes, then went back to bed. Poor Meagan slept through the whole thing and never knew she had been so poked and prodded. As for the cat, she is doing just fine.

Sale - Shanmomto4 Designs at ahhh scraps!

Digital Artist Magazine

I was notified today that a layout of mine has been published in the September '09 issue of Digital Artist Magazine! I am in disbelief actually! This magazine is always crammed full of GORGEOUS layouts, and it seems surreal to have my layout be in the mix this month. If you're interested, it might be worth the purchase... the $6 includes not only the magazine with lots of amazing inspiration, but also 2 kits, a template and a brag book that you can download as part of your purchase.

Here's the layout I did that has been included in this month's issue... it's a few pictures from our trip to Meijer Garden. In the Story Telling Garden, they had this BEAUTIFUL display of a scene from Alice in Wonderland.

Journaling: 'Down the path in the story-telling garden, we came upon a beautiful table, set with ornate detail, beautiful dishes, and fantastic attendants straight out of Wonderland. It was magical, and I was captivated.'

After School Checklist

Yup. I'm tired of finding 2-day-old leftovers in the book bags when I got to get their bags ready on Sunday night. I'm tired of hounding them about homework. I'm tired of telling them to put their stuff away. This is my reminder to them, so maybe I can help them develop good habits.

First

Today was Sebastian's first hunting trip with Daddy. He got all decked out in his camo shirt and orange everything we could find to put on him! LOL! They went out to sit in the tree stand and see what they could see. When they got back, I asked him if he had fun. "About 50%," he said. He was being bugged by bees, it was hot, and he couldn't see any animals. But I think he liked being with his Daddy.

Making Bugs

Lucas asked me if I ever do layouts of the boys any more. Yes!!! I do! I love my boys! It's just that lately the kits that have been coming out have tended to be a bit more on the girly side. Here's a layout I just finished yesterday that has all 3 of the kids in it. That's better than nothing, right? It's just a bunch of pics from this past March (ooops... will have to update the date to '09 before printing...LOL) of the kids playing with their bug maker. The kit is a brand new one called Play by Sahlin Studio.

I got my hair cut...

Monday I got my hair cut. I told Cassie she could basically do whatever she felt like doing... this was the result. It was shockingly short, but it's one of those hair cuts I have always admired on others but have never been brave enough to try. She just helped me get past being a scaredy cat I guess!

I tried to get a picture of the back, but it is incredibly difficult to photograph the back of your head, apparently. LOL!

Album Additions

It's been a while since I've posted any layouts... I sort of took a break from scrapping for a bit so I could try to keep up with life in general! But I have been accumulating layouts here and there, and have six new ones to share!

Apple Orchard - From our October 2008 trip to the orchard for Meagan's preschool field trip. Still today, these are some of my favorite pictures. Maybe because it was such a fun memory! Maybe because I got 2 good shots her she and I together. Maybe it's just her cute black & white coat against the crisp fall colors. Who knows... I was just happy to finally get them scrapped to my satisfaction. I used a new kit by Sahlin Studios called Explore.Learn.Grow.


Today is Friday - I posted the guts of this layout last week. I took my Friday experiment and stuck it on a layout to document it visually. I used a cute kit by Roben-Marie at The DigiChick and some Sahlin Studio templates that she did based on a few of my own layouts... that was definitely something new for me! I swear the templates look better than my layouts did! LOL!



You - I LOVE these photos of Meagan. I snapped them the first day I had my new camera at one of Sebastian's baseball games. I swear I did NOT touch up her eyes to make them look like that. They really, truly photographed that blue! I did this layout, oddly enough, using a kit called BROWN-Eyed Girl, LOL! I have been holding these for a while to find something that I really liked to show them off.

All Dressed Up - A few pics of Meagan all dolled up for her very fancy tea party she had at Grandma H.'s house during the 2008 summer vacation. She might not always ACT very girly, but that girl sure does love herself some fancy dresses! She is such a contradiction sometimes! Again, oddly enough, the name of the kit I used was 'Contradiction'.... which is how I ended up with these pictures, because the name of the kit immediately made me think of my daughter!

Sunshine - This picture is of Isaac when he was only about 3 days old. He had jaundice after he was born, and the CRAZY doctor at the hospital went nutso on me and was NOT going to let me bring Isaac home because she said I would just sit him in a corner and let him get brain damage... someone should have jerked her license right out from under her... anyhow, she finally agreed to let me take my child home with me if I PROMISED to keep him in direct sunlight as much as possible - a tricky thing to do in the middle of December/January, some of the gloomiest months of the year. So this is our little corncob baby basking in what little sunlight we could find.

I used Dreaming of You by Shanmomto4 Designs

New Crayons - I swear one of the best 'little things' about childhood was a fresh box of crayons and a new coloring book! That was always such a treat! I remember opening the box and just admiring all of the fresh, sharp, colorful points, imagining all of the beautiful things I could create with them. Something about fresh art supplies.... anyway, Meagan apparently has the same fascination. We went to Wal-Mart one day for a few things & came home with a new box of crayons & coloring book. She was in 7th heaven all afternoon! Eventually every crayon was dumped out on the floor so she could see the colors better. LOL

For this layout I used Colors of Life by Cardamome and Everyday Play Alpha by Krystal Hartley

Inspiration Lane

One of the things I LOVE to do **WHEN*** I have some free time is to sit and browse through online galleries to see what others are doing. There are some amazingly talented ladies out there, and so many of them inspire me! But sometimes there is just something specific - or maybe something I can't quite quantify - about a layout that really triggers my creativity. Those layouts I like to tuck away for safe keeping, to draw from when I need a creative boost. I thought it would be fun to post a few such layouts from time to time so that I can look back later to see what has inspired me over time. And too, you can get a peek into some of the things I weigh into the whole process of making a layout.


So, here are a few layouts I found tonight that I really really like for one reason or another.

Handle with Care by SeattleSheri:

Holy buckets! This is just beautiful! I am so completely drawn to neutral backgrounds with vivid colors layered on top! This layout is full of stuff I love - gorgeous shadows, lots of brush work, and fantastic color combination!

All I need is Love by prisalles:

I love the way she used the same photo and cropped it 3 different ways. Love the black & white photos with the fun, bright colors. And I love the arrangement within the heart shape.

Sweet Candy Shoppe by JenJ:

I really like the paper & color she chose for the background. I think I am so drawn to it because it is something way outside of my comfort zone. I struggle to put patterns as the base of a layout, but she has done it so seamlessly. And the whole layout just oozes with the feel of her candy shoppe experience. I love that when the whole layout comes together to convey the memory.

First Day of Drama

The first 2 days of school went off without so much as a tiny little hiccup. We were on time. Everyone was happy. Everyone was cooperative. No rushing. No problem!

Today, we had our first morning with any hint of stress. Maybe it was from the entire bowl of cereal & milk that was spilled all over the kitchen floor, requiring 1/2 a roll of paper towels to clean it up. Maybe it was the food squished & smeared all over the lunch box (that had been left in the book bag instead of taken out & put away properly). Or maybe it was something else... like the fact that the kids left the breakfast table at 8:00, with a good 20 minutes left to get dressed & brush teeth, yet when I went up to check on Isaac (who had yet to come back downstairs) at 8:16, I found him in his room with his PJ shirt on and his bare bottom hanging out.... clearly had NOT been getting dressed or brushing teeth for the last 16 minutes.... I suspect a Pokemon Card distraction (which is often the case when the boys get sidetracked)! Since the bus is schedule to pick them up at 8:20, we had 4 minutes to throw his clothes on, scrub his teeth, and rush down to grab shoes and his backpack.

I told him that if it happens again, he is losing his Pokemon cards for 3 days, among other things. If it continues to be an issue, I suppose their bedroom will have to be gutted and left completely void of all toys and books. I don't want to have to do that (mostly because it will cause a serious crowding problem in the basement), but I would rather do that than have to rush to beat the bus in the mornings!

Now, moving on with the day..... here's hoping for a stress-free morning from this point forward!

So How'd It Go?

Isn't that the question of the day on the 1st day of school? Especially being in a new school, with new classmates and teachers that are completely unfamiliar? I know I was eager to find out, as I'm sure you are!

I went to the school to pick the boys up today. We had to be at gymnastics by 4:30, and I just don't trust the busing system to run on-time the first day! Isaac came running out with a great big smile on his face. He told me he has the best room ever in the whole building because it's the newest room (apparently an addition?). He said he doesn't know anyone in his class, and he forgot to eat the snack I sent (so he ate class graham crackers instead), but he had fun. Lunch was good (hot dog). His special was Music. Generally good report.

Sebastian, on the other hand, walked out with a kind of sulky look on his face. He got in the van & didn't say much. When I asked about his day, he answered with a nonchalant "good." Hmmm... Mom's suspicions are up. He really didn't offer up much info, even when I asked specific questions. I did find out that he remembers the name of one classmate he met today; it was kind of weird to have 2 different teachers (they switch teachers mid-day... one teaches a few subjects & the other teaches the rest); the ceilings are lower than they are at his old school (leave that one to Sebastian to observe); and he tried carrots with lunch but didn't really like them (he prefers crunchy, uncooked carrots). That was about it from him.

I suspect that he is missing his friends, some of whom he had been in class with for 3 straight years. I suspect he is missing the familiar and feeling a bit displaced. Please keep both of the boys in your thoughts & prayers over the next few weeks of adjustment. Things that seem so small and insignificant to us as adults can seem insurmountable as a child. All in all, though, I think they'll do just fine. It will just take some time to settle in.

School Pictures!

We had a great morning! The kids got up bright and early, ready to get back to school! They got themselves dressed before breakfast (although Isaac had to change pants twice, once because he 100% did not match, and once because his 2nd choice didn't even fit him). During breakfast Sebastian lost his front tooth (he lost his other front tooth a few days ago, so now he has a big giant gap in the front of his face!! lol!).

As we were finishing getting ready, Isaac started acting really funny - being very quiet and moody. I talked to him for a minute and realized he was getting nervous. Honestly, I had expected this from him, but I had expected it would have happened much earlier than this. We talked, and he asked me to pray with him, so we prayed. He seemed to settle, and he perked up quite a bit. Then we rushed outdoors to wait.

We did the picture thing, of course! LOL! Have you ever known me to pass up a photo-op?! The bus was actually on time, surprisingly! And I, of course, got choked up as I watched my big boys climb up the steps and onto the bus, on their way to a new year in a new school.

Back

Back to waking up before 7:00.
Back to a morning routine.
Back to back packs and packed lunches.
Back to bus routes.
Back to school.

I'll be back later to post some pictures & details of the morning. We have a busy morning ahead of us still. Have a great day!

Bald Spot

Tonight Lucas gave the boys hair cuts to get ready for their first day of school tomorrow. To keep it clean, they did it out on the back porch. At dinner, Lucas said something about how the birds can use the hair for their nests, or something like that.

Sebastian made a funny face, rubbed his head, and said, "I can't imagine the birds taking all my hair. Then I would have a bald spot."

Isaac laughed.

"Then I would need a wig" Sebastian continued.

Isaac laughed harder.

Then silence.

"What's a wig?" Isaac asked. Apparently after laughing, he realized he didn't know what he was laughing at.

"A wig is fake hair for people who don't have their own,"answers Sebastian-the-know-it-all. "Like Grandpa. He could use a wig."

That was it. Isaac lost it! Clearly, the jokes are funnier when he actually understands what they mean!

C'mon October!!

I am beyond excited!! Last night we officially made plans to do something we've never done before! On October 3, Lucas and I are going with his dad & his grandpa on a fall colors train ride!! It's an all-day event, from 9:00 in the morning until 7:00 at night. I am just SOOO super happy to be able to do this! The only bummer is that his mom has to work, so she won't be able to be with us. But she has made me swear to take lots and lots of pictures and video!! Now we just have to figure out arrangements for someone to watch the kids... not spending $125 per child to have them couped up on a train all day complaining that they're bored! Eeek! I'm sure we'll figure something out!!

Less than a month to go!

...

So I thought that after eating virtually nothing for dinner last night, Meagan would be HUNGRY for breakfast. We had a special McDonald's family breakfast. She ate about 1/2 of her sandwich, gave Isaac the rest of her sausage and threw the remainder away. What are we going to do with that girl?!

You may be excused.

Again tonight Meagan was sent away from the dinner table for complaining and being disrespectful. She didn't like what we were having, and made it known in about ten different ways, from "I hate this" to "this is gross" to "I can't eat this." The list goes on. After a few moments of trying to redirect her and encourage her to try it, I gave her a warning. She continued, so I did what I told her I would do. She was simply excused from the table to go sit on her bed until everyone else was finished. No other food. No desert. No snack. She quickly started in with promises of "I won't complain...I won't whine anymore." But it was too late. So, her collective dinner consisted of about 4 bites of salad, one bite of baked potato, and a bite of garlic bread. She will be hungry for breakfast tomorrow!

From Start to Finish

I woke up today, and before ever getting out of bed, realized that there were about a million things I could possibly do today. I also realized that I had absolutely no plan. I think because I have so many open items on my list of things to do, lately I've been getting to the end of the day feeling as though I've done nothing. I know I've been busy doing something for almost every waking minute, but if I were to try to articulate where my time had gone, my explanation is most unimpressive. And at the end of each day, there is still a list that feels like it's a mile long of things yet to be done.

This morning, I decided to try something. I thought, If I am going to get to the end of my day and wonder if I've even done anything, I should at least be able to give myself an answer. So, I grabbed a fresh, never-been-used spiral notebook and a pen, and began. I jotted down everything I did today, just to see what my day actually entails. I realized a few things very quickly... 1) I get interrupted a lot, which pulls me off task, or gets me distracted... this is part of being a mom I think, but it's also a weakness of mine; 2) I do a lot of things automatically without even giving them a second thought. In the end, this was a fun, eye-opening exercise. I think what I liked the most about it, though, was that it shifted my perspective to what I WAS doing rather than what was still left to be done. That little shift can make all the difference in a day!

So, if you're interested, here are the results:

• I woke up, started my day off with a good-morning prayer, which quickly got interrupted by Isaac & Meagan, who were fighting about who-knows-what. I helped them regain peace & composure, then got out of bed.
• Headed downstairs, quickly checked emails & CT forums. I did a quick post on Facebook, then, determined NOT to waste my day on the computer, I moved on.
• Next was breakfast. The kids and I talked about the day while I made a general to-do list & picked a few things to try to focus on. After breakfast I took a few minutes to flip through a new magazine.
• On to bath time. Ran bath water for Meg & plopped her in for a good long soak. While she was decontaminating, I sorted kids' clothes and started the 1st load of laundry for the day. At one point during laundry, I had to stop and smile, as Meagan was humming Zippity doo dah. Love that. After getting laundry rolling, I scrubbed Meg, got her out of the tub & dried off. Added some fresh water to the tub for Isaac's turn. Then, another switch, as Isaac got out & Sebastian got in (since I don't have to do much for them during bath time anymore, I took that time to comb & dry Meagan's hair...always an experience).
• On to the kids' rooms. I sorted through Meagan's mess, putting it into piles for her to clean up. Then did the same for the boys.
• Next, helped Meg vacuum her bedroom.
• Switch laundry, start a new load (stopping mid-stream to get Sebastian a band-aid to cover a puncture wound on his palm from one of his toys).
• After giving the boys some encouragement on finishing their room, I started my own shower water. While I waited for the water to get hot, I straightened up the bathroom. Hurried through the shower, and short-cut the hair & make-up... it was time for lunch by then.
• Lucas was already home from work for lunch, so I threw some shoes on, loaded Meg in the van, and we headed to Taco Bell to get lunch. Lunch with the family - lots of laughing... our kids are funny stuff!
• Quick clean-up of sorts in the kitchen...left most of the mess for later, whenever that might be. Quick check of email and a quick blog post, then off to switch laundry & start the last load of kids' clothes....note by now my pile of things to fold is growing!
• Throw some socks & shoes on & head outside to start planting some mums we got the other day. First, transplant a few existing plants to make room. Pull weeds. Plant mums (Meagan helped for a while, but lost interest when I wouldn't let her dig wherever she wanted with the big shovel). Brief pause to answer the phone & get a drink, then back to planting (it's 2:00 by this time... and I had made the choice to ignore the laundry for the time being... it could wait, right?)
• After the mums were in the ground, into the kitchen to do a better job of clean-up - wipe down the table & chairs, sweep, load the dishwasher, clear off recycling. By now, it was snack time - hate to mess up the kitchen I just cleaned, but this is life w/ 3 kids at home I guess.
• Quick straightening of the downstairs bathroom. Then the living room - more piles of toys in the middle of the floor for the kids to put away.
• Decided I better run errands before it was too late - back into the van. Then to the bank. Then to Wal-Mart for a few groceries for dinner.
• Unloaded the groceries while the kids cleaned their things out of the van -- oops, got sidetracked by email & Facebook again (lost about 20 minutes there)
• Back to unloading groceries, and getting a start on dinner - made homemade pizzas & fresh fruit & veggies.
• Cleared off recycling (again)
• Loaded dishwasher (again)
• Changed laundry to dryer (again)
• Made our bed while I was up there
• Waiting for Lucas to get home from work, I took a minute to download some new scrapping supplies to be put to use this evening.
• Dinner - more funny stuff from the kids.
• Then clean up (again)

It was then 6:45. I could see the light at the end of the tunnel! Almost done with my stuff for the day. Just another quick shower (to wash off the dirt & grass from planting). Then we got to chill with the kids for a few before getting them ready for bed. They laid down to watch a movie around 8:00, and I officially went off-duty. Plopped my butt in the recliner with my laptop and played.

It was a good day. And even though my to-do list is still a mile long, I have come to the end of this day knowing that I used my time well. It was a good balance of working, playing & talking with the kids, and taking a few breaks here & there. Plus, now I have one very-specifically documented day that I can look back on years from now. It may seem very trivial today, but in 10 years, I know I will cherish being able to peek into this day, near the end of summer break, when my kids were 8, 6, and 4, and see what I did from start to finish.

Experiment

Doing an experiment today. Will share later. Maybe I'm the only one who will have gained anything from it, but I guess at least that is something. I'll check back later.

more and more

More and more I am noticing a fork in the direction of Meagan and the boys. More and more they are playing together and leaving her out. More and more they are unwilling to play girly games, and require her to play their "boy" games if she wants to play with them. More and more she is feeling the effects of being the only girl, and she is desperately wanting someone to play with her. Until this time, the boys have been very patient, very willing play mates. She has had very little trouble finding someone to play with her. Lately though, she has come to me to be her playmate. The only thing is, she keeps coming to me right at the time that I'm getting ready to do something or I am right in the middle of something. Sometimes it is something I can't put on hold. Other times, I have been able to make the choice to stop what I am doing and give her my time and attention. I feel bad, though, because I can only give her bits and pieces, or nothing would ever get done around here. What she really wants is for me to play at her side from sun up 'til sun down. What she really wants is a sister. Poor girl. She just needs to find a friend who can come over and play... a lot. (Just a note, I notice that her behavior gets most difficult to deal with when she is feeling the most frustrated about having to play alone. Interesting the way we have such a need for relationship and companionship even at such a young age, and how, even at four, that has such an impact on her mood and attitude. Amazing what can be learned about human nature by being a mommy.)

Bonus Food

Just a fun little thing. Yesterday for lunch, I ran through Arby's and got a bunch of sandwiches for us. When I got home and started unpacking the bags, I realized that they had given us 5 extra roast beef sandwiches and an extra box of fries. For a second, I thought of taking it back, but then realized they would just throw it out anyway. So we stuck it in the fridge and had them for dinner! Love a free meal every now & then!