I survived my worst nightmare!

Wow, what a day! I think I packed maybe one too many things into the last 24 hours, beginning with last night, when I decided to stay up to watch Lady in the Water until midnight when I should have gone to bed around the time we started watching it. Oh well.

Anyway, today was full - I worked this morning. I left around 1:30 and got home in time to eat lunch (and watch 10 minutes of the E True Hollywood Story of NSYNC while I ate my microwave burritos - a ten minutes that just made my day complete, as I'm sure you can imagine). After that fulfilling 10 minutes of daytime television viewing, I started getting ready for our family pictures later this evening. First I threw a load of laundry in - the clothes we were going to wear for our pictures...white shirts and jeans...new jeans I might add...all in one load...I later discovered this wasn't the best decision I've ever made. Anyway, after starting the laundry, I cut Isaac's hair...with a broken set of clippers...so I nearly buzzed the side of his head down to nothing when the 1/4 inch shield fell off as I was getting ready to cut...that would have made a great family picture hair style! Then, while he was getting a bath after his haircut, I decided to dye my own hair...what phenomenal timing I have. So, I put the gunk on my head, and then washed him off, got him out and got him dressed while it sat. Then, I jumped in the shower to rinse the color out...in the process, I managed to somehow stain my bathroom door with hair dye??? I also managed to get dye splattered all over the inside of my shower...it looked like someone had been severely injured in my shower. But, I got all the color rinsed out and got my hair dried just in time to rush off to pick Sebastian up from school. Then off to the bank. Then back to the house to get dressed.

When I pulled the clothes out of the dryer, I noticed a blue spot on my shirt. Then I noticed one on Meagan's. AAAAAHHH! Did I really just turn our new white shirts blue? Yes, I think I did. Oh well, it's either wear blue/white shirts or go naked at this point. So I opted for the shirts. I don't think the discoloration actually showed up the in the pictures, so no harm done. White shirts are really for wearing underneath clothes anyway, right? (LOL - at least that's what I'm telling myself to make myself feel better. Maybe I'll try bleaching them tomorrow.)

Anyway...we got to pictures on time, and thank God we didn't have to wait very long before we went in. We started out with pictures of all 5 of us. Then pictures of just the 3 kids. The family pictures went fairly smoothly. The first picture of the 3 kids went okay. But we had been there for about a half hour by now, and Meagan was quickly approaching her limit. She was actually doing well. But the photographer would get her in position and then would say something to one of the boys - 'Isaac sit up straight,' or 'Sebastian put your hand on your knee.' Whatever instruction she gave to the boys, Meagan would follow also....totally undoing any position we had accomplished with Meagan just moments earlier. Aaaah! We tried. But the more we tried to get all 3 of them situated, the more Meagan lost interest. Then Isaac quickly followed. Then Sebastian's eyes started drooping. It was definitely time to wrap it up! So we called it quits on the kids' pictures. I gave them each a baggie of cereal to snack on while Lucas and I took a few quick pictures together. Then we were done....or so we thought.

I didn't get to actually see our pictures, let alone place the order, for another 20 minutes or so. So needless to say, it was a long night, and everyone was hungry and ready to go. As soon as we could, we headed down the street to Red Robin. Mmmmm, I love Red Robin burgers...usually.

We were so hungry, we didn't even look at our menus. When our waitress came to take our drink orders, we just went ahead and ordered....my mistake. The food came. I started eating. I checked for mayo, as always, and saw nothing but a BIG pile of lettuce...but it didn't register (at least not until later) that half of the lettuce stuck to the bun when I picked it up, while the other half stayed on the burger...hmmm, I wonder what's making that lettuce stick...nope, that didn't register at all. I started eating. Because I'm weird, I ate around the outside part of the sandwich first...just something I do...the middle part of the sandwich usually has all the good stuff, so I save the best for last. But tonight, the closer I got to the middle of the sandwich, the more I thought, 'Hmm, this tastes weird... Ew, that tastes kind of funky... Is the tomato bad?... Okay, I think I'm done eating.'

At that point, I sat the sandwich back down on the table. When I did, a piece of tomato rolled off of the sandwich, COVERED IN WHITE STUFF! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! I started cringing and shivering as the realization of what I had just done began to sink in. I was hit with this uncontrollable gag reflex like I could not begin to explain. Lucas about lost it laughing at me while I sat across the table from him trying not to be ill (I have such a compassionate husband). His suggestion was, 'Just think of chocolate.' What, chocolate mayonnaise?! EW! That's even worse! I downed half of the coke at the table. That didn't work. I ate another french fry. That really didn't work. Finally, I took a trip to the rest room and hacked and spit to try to get the gross residue out of my mouth. (Ew, I'm seriously starting to have issues again just retelling this story! I am such a basket case!) I think I spit a few more times as we walked through the parking lot. And as soon as I could, I rinsed with Listerine when we got home. Needless to say, I didn't get a box to bring home my left-overs. Lucas didn't even want it. He said it's hard to look at food the same once your wife has gagged on it so extensively. I guess I see his point. Anyway, I've survived my worst nightmare. I had family pictures taken at dinnertime in the middle of holiday picture season, and then followed it up by unknowingly eating mayonnaise, and I survived..... barely.

New versions of an old classic

I really need to get my act together - it's been over a week again since I've posted anything!

I emptied out my camera today, and I have pictures on there of soccer from way back in October. Yikes! I'm behind on all my archiving stuff! Some of the pics were of Thanksgiving, and I was reminded of something that I wanted to blog about but never got around to.

For Thanksgiving at Mom and Mikes, Missy and Brandon and their families came over, and we all had a nice dinner together. After dinner, while all the adults were ready to crash on the couches, Meagan and Carmen found a new burst of energy. They spent about forty-five minutes or so sprinting back and forth from one end of the room to the other. When that finally (FINALLY) got old, they moved on to 'Ring around the Rosie.' I must say, I've never seen or heard it played in quite that way. Each of them had their own funny little version.

Carmen just spun in circles saying 'Ashes ashes ashes ashes ashes' until someone (other than her) finally said 'We all fall down!' Then she would topple over (half from dizziness I think) and fall down like the song says.

Meagan, spun in circles singing the following:

Ring around the Roadies.

A pocket full of Ponies.

Ring around the roadies? Don't you wonder what she thinks that song is actually about? We were laughing so hard at the two of them! My mom had tears in her eyes, and I thought my side was going to burst. At any rate, they were 2 of the most interesting and entertaining versions of Ring around the Rosie I've ever witnessed!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We woke up this morning with snow covering everything outside. The kids were so excited that the first snow fell on Thanksgiving. We got up early, had breakfast and got ready to start our day. We went to Wal-Mart this morning, supposedly to buy the ingredients for wilted lettuce. But as we were getting ready, Sebastian's coat zipper busted. And Isaac's shoes wouldn't go on (they've been getting tight for a while). Plus, we still hadn't gotten Sebastian his gloves for winter. So, we added gloves, shoes, and a coat to our shopping list. Then, I remembered that I needed a new powder compact. So, we may as well add that to the list. Then, when we got into the glove area, we decided to get matching hats and scarves (plus Isaac got another pair of gloves to match his new hat and scarf). In short, I went for onion, bacon and lettuce, and I got out of there with $95 worth of stuff. (It's funny how that stuff happens, isn't it?)

We had our Thanksgiving for lunch - just the five of us. Lucas got out of work really early!!! I was so super excited when I heard the garage door opening at 9:30. I was bracing myself for him to be gone all day. Anyway, we had ham, homemade mac & cheese, broiled potatoes, peas, apple bread and apple crisp...plus wilted lettuce. We have tons left over, so I guess we don't have to worry about what we're having for dinner tonight. Tomorrow after Lucas gets home from work, we're heading to the families'. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone....the kids are counting down the minutes until we leave (as well as the days left until Christmas, but that's another story).

For the rest of the afternoon, I'm going to work on some layouts for Grandma's album, and maybe we'll watch a movie or something. Just chillin'. We're a just chillin' kind of family. I'm thankful for that.

Oh, one more thing. Lucas asked the kids today what they were thankful for. Sebastian's answer: the Mayflower. ??? Isaac's answer: I'm thankful for Jesus....and food. LOL! Our kids are too cool.

Ninjas

Here's a layout of the boys playing ninjas this past June. I blogged about it (thankfully, because my journaling came almost directly from the blog entry), so the story may sound familiar, but I really wanted to do something with the pictures. They were sooooo seriously into their imaginations! I love that!



Journaling: What happens when Daddy falls asleep watching a movie while Mommy is in the basement scrapbooking? The boys watch the movie still playing on TV and begin to imitate it. Today the movie just happened to be House of Flying Daggers. The next thing I know, the boys are flying around the house babbling made-up Chinese, like 'hung chu ku do wa' and other such nonsense. Occasionally, English prevails in the form of 'OW' or 'Mom, he hit me!' or Isaac, no throwing swords!' It's great to be a kid - to be a boy growing up with a brother to play and imagine with. It's the best to play 'ninjas' with pirate swords that have blood colored on them with red crayon (very creative, I might say). But the best is knowing you've passed a warm day in june playing outside and having a grand adventure. You just can't beat that.

Grandma Jesus

This morning after breakfast, I turned noggin on in the living room for the kids, and I went upstairs to fold some laundry. While I was folding, I decided to watch a tivo'd episode of Joyce Meyer (for those of you who don' t know, she's a lady on TV that teaches about Jesus). I was about 1/2 way through the show when Meagan walked into my room. She looked at the TV and said, 'Aaawww, I don't want to watch Grandma Jesus. I want to watch Word World.' I almost couldn't believe my ears. Did she really just call her Grandma Jesus!?! That's the funniest thing I've ever heard! What makes it so funny is that Meagan picked it up all on her own. I've never told her what the show was about. She just figured it out...what an observant little girl we have!

Journey

One more layout done for Grandma's book. I'm getting down to the end! I had a bunch of miscellaneous pictures of Grandpa from his younger days. I thought it would be more effective to group them together than to scrap them individually.



The quote says, 'It is good to have an end to journey towards, but it is the journey that matters in the end.'

Pregnancy Prevention

This was a few weeks ago now, but I thought you might get a kick out of this glimpse into our daily lives. (This is one of those stories I meant to tell you, but then couldn't remember when I sat down to type.)

I think it was 2 Mondays ago...I went to pick the kids up from Nicole's, and in conversation I asked how the kids were that day. "Meagan was horrible," Nicole says. She went on to explain that at lunch she wouldn't eat her peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and in fact, she chewed it up and spit it out all over. She screamed and yelled. She woke the babies up at nap time, and she bucked all day about the potty. Lovely. It was a Meagan day, to put it mildly.

That night for dinner, I ordered Applebee's for Lucas and me. The kids all wanted PB&J, so I made them sandwiches instead of ordering them something (way cheaper that way anyway). Even though Meagan had made such a fuss at lunch about PBJ, she asked for one for dinner. So that's what I made her.

She started out good. She took a few bites of sandwich without incident. Somewhere along the way, however, she decided she wanted her sandwich cut into 4 pieces instead of 2. I explained it was already cut, but she insisted, so I cut her 2 rectangles into 4 squares. Oh, that's when it all started! She screamed at the top of her lungs, 'NO YOU BROKE IT!! FIX IT! PUT IT BACK!!' Are you kidding me?! She went on for a few seconds, until I got her attention and told her to knock it off. Clearly not in the mood for authority, she took her stand. In a matter of seconds, she had peeled her sandwich apart (so the peanut butter and the jelly were exposed), and threw both pieces across the room. They stuck flat on the kitchen floor. I whipped her up out of the chair and marched her straight over to pick them up. She bucked and threw herself backwards and screamed and yelled, and ultimately got herself a 'consequence.' Finally, she appeared to have given up her struggle. She bent down and reached for the sandwich. BUT, when her hand got about an inch from the bread, she froze. I could see the wheels turning in her two-year-old brain, and clearly, they were turning in the WRONG direction. She paused, stood up, turned and looked me straight in the eyes. And then she crossed her arms and STOMPED on her sandwich, smashing it onto the floor.

Needless to say, there were more consequences for her actions. When all was said and done, however, she picked up her sandwich, sat down, and actually ate the sandwich that she had just picked up off the floor (her idea, not mine...I just wanted her to pick it up). She finished dinner without another word or another step out of line. Lucas joked that I had tamed the beast, but, WOW, that child has a will about her! (I'm thinking of lending her to a pregnancy prevention program! I think she would be an effective tool! What do you think? LOL!)

Girls' night!

I've not forgotten about you! I don't know what my deal is, but lately every time I sit down with a free minute to blog, I can't think of anything to write about. During the day the kids will say and do funny things, but then I totally forget them by the time I get a chance to come downstairs to the computer. Sad, isn't it? My 7th grade history teacher used to say, 'You know, your memory is the second thing to go with old age ... I can't remember the first.' He was an interesting character. But right about now, I am starting to understand what he was talking about! LOL!

Here's one thing I can remember...

This past Friday I had a girly spa party. If you know me, you know that I DON'T do home party things. I tried once, and the only person that showed up was my mother (thanks Mom!). But I had gone to a spa party a few weeks ago, and it was really a lot of fun. I decided to give it a try, so I broke from the norm and scheduled a party at my house. I was hoping for at least 4 or 5 people to show up, since the lady was driving from an hour away to do the party. I was shocked...8 people came! It was a great time (although my living room was barely big enough for the demonstrator, myself, and 8 guests!)! And I even got to know some people that I don't know very well, and do some good ol' girly bonding with those that I do know.

During the party, Lucas took the kids to McDonald's to eat and play, and then they went Christmas wish list shopping through the isles of Wal-Mart. The next day, the boys had a list a mile long of things they saw that they just have to have! Now, if I can only remember them all when it comes time to buy Christmas gifts, I'll be good! I know there were several transformers on the list! And some video game from Isaac (no surprise there). The boys picked out 2 new chess sets - one Pirates (I think) and one Transformers. And Meagan wants one of everything Dora and Diego. We'll see....

When can we get a back yard like this?

Tonight the kids and I went to a bonfire at our children's pastor's house. She and her husband live about 15 minutes from us, way out in the country, on 3 acres of beautiful, wooded property. Well, when we showed up, it was about 7:00. We rang the doorbell, and no one answered, so we headed out to the back yard where the fire was. We walked around to the back of the house, which has a walk-out basement and gorgeous landscaping that backs up to a big wooded area. Isaac looked at me and said, "Mom I like this back yard. When can we get a back yard like this?" Funny, I think his daddy might feel the same...especially with the permanent tree stand about 50 feet from the back of the house.

The kids were great! They were the only kids there, but they were really well-behaved. They went back and forth between playing in the toy-furnished basement and playing in the big back yard. They had a ball and were bummed when it was time to go. But with all that energy they thought they had as we were leaving, by the time we got home, 2 out of 3 were asleep, and the 3rd was only minutes away. I had planned on giving them a bath tonight, but I just stuck them straight into bed. I guess they're gonna smell like camp fire for church tomorrow.

The Art of Word Use

I think it was yesterday that this happened...

While I was making dinner (or maybe lunch?), Sebastian got out one of those giant coloring books that's about 3 feet tall and started working on a dinosaur page. He was taking his time, being very detailed, as he typically does - that's just the Sebastian way. Well, about 10 minutes into his masterpiece, Meagan wanders into the kitchen and decides she would like to join her brother in his coloring adventures. Sebastian offers to share, but tells her in no uncertain terms that she can't color his page; she has to color the page opposite. So she starts scribbling all over some tree tops and whatever else is on the page to scribble up (although she really was giving it her best shot). Well, as I was finishing cooking, Lucas walks in. As I got plates together, the kids greeted Daddy, and the coloring book clean-up was neglected.

Well, our dinner conversation finds its way to what the kids had been doing that day, and Sebastian proudly announces that he has been working hard on coloring in the dinosaur book. 'I bet you can tell which page is mine,' he says, pointing to the book still laying open on the floor. Lucas, teasing, points to the other page - the one Meagan had been working on. 'You mean the one that's not scribbled, right Dad?' Lucas points again to the scribbled page of trees and says, 'Yeah, I mean that one.' Trying his best to be patient, Sebastian says, 'You mean the one with the big dinosaur, right?' 'No, the one with the trees,' Lucas says, somehow keeping a straight face.

With a hint of exasperation, and a notable amount of shock, Sebastian says, 'No Dad! That one's not mine. It's all scribbled. Mine's QUALITY!'

We about rolled out of our chairs laughing. All Lucas could say was, 'That's a great use of that word, Buddy!' That kid cracks us up!

Updates

For those of you who are wondering, Sebastian is doing much better. Thursday he stayed home from school. He was still pretty lethargic and had a low fever. He didn't eat much, and he slept a little during the afternoon. We went to the doctor that afternoon (for me actually), and our doctor put all of us except Meagan (and Lucas, because he wasn't there) on medication. So we all took it pretty easy Thursday.

This morning when Sebastian woke up, he seemed much better. He had a lot more energy, and quite a big appetite. I still made him take it easy on what he ate...thankfully, because he got full a lot more quickly than I think he thought he would (after not eating for 2 days, he thought he could eat one of everything!). Anyway, there was no school today, so he stayed home again. We ended up going to motor development this morning. He seemed to do fine, and he ate a little more at lunch. I think we're on the road to recovery. So there's your update.

Speaking of updates...I can't seem to leave things alone! This layout was bugging me for some reason. It felt too harsh and empty for what I was trying to do. So I opened it back up and messed with it a little more tonight. I think I'll have to look at it for a little longer before I decide for sure if it's really an improvement or whether it's just the mood I'm in right now...LOL! I'm such a moody scrapper. Tomorrow I may like the older version better! But I thought the background of this one felt softer. Anyway...I'm gonna try to leave it alone now.

The Princess, the Recycled Storm Trooper, and the Poor Pirate

What a day this has been! The adventures started around 1:15 this afternoon when the school called me at work and asked me to come get Sebastian because he had just gotten sick. He had been sent to the office to lay down and rest for an hour or so until their class Halloween party. He hadn't been in the office for more than a few minutes when he got sick. Poor guy - they sent home a bag with treats from the party, but it's just not the same - no costume parade, no games, no party time with friends. Big bummer.

Well, I had left work in the middle of paying the bills, which can't be left undone, so we went home, got him some clean comfy clothes, grabbed some blankets and the DVD player and some movies, and headed back to the church. He laid on the floor in a little back room in my office and watched movies until I was finished. The whole time he was there, he did fine - no more getting sick, no complaining, nothing. He was very quiet, and he was warm, and I could tell he wasn't feeling his best, but he was a champ about it.

After dinner, Lucas and I talked, and we decided that since he seemed to be doing fairly okay, and in an effort to not completely ruin his day, we would take him trick or treating to a FEW houses. So, we got the kids all dressed up, and just as we were beginning to leave, it started raining - just a light misty rain, but it was WET nonetheless. So, we did a handful of houses and headed home. The kids got on dry cozy PJ's and watch Charlie Brown while I passed out candy. At about 7:00, Sebastian got sick again, and he was burning up - the thermometer read around 102.6. I gave him some Motrin and checked him again a half hour later. When I checked the second time, he was 103.8...um, isn't Motrin supposed to make it go down, not up? So, I left Lucas with the other 2, and Sebastian and I headed to urgent care. They never really told me what he has, just red ears and a red throat. He needed antibiotics, but they couldn't give it to him orally because his stomach was upset. So, on top of his already-pretty-rotten day, the poor guy had to get a shot.

Right now he's snoozing. I'm hoping he can get through the night without getting sick again - for his sake as well as mine. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Oh, and on top of all this, I had forgotten to charge the camera, so I didn't get many pictures. Here are a few that I took.

Neither of the boys were too cooperative with pics, so most of them are of Meagan... hehehe.... I wanted her to wear her pretty little crown/tiara/headband thing, but she didn't want to. So I told her it was her pretty princess magic candy hat, and she had to wear it to get candy. Can you believe it actually worked!! Once she even stopped and asked me to put it back on her when it started to slip off! But she looked so stinkin' cute in it! She even sat still while I french braided the top part of her hair! What a princess.

The boys were both going to be pirates, but at the last minute Isaac decided that he wanted to be a storm trooper AGAIN (same thing he was last year). So he put on last year's costume, and we were one pirate short... whatever makes him happy!

The stubble patch

This was a new one to me...

Two days ago I was getting Meagan dressed, and as she put her leg into her pants, she brushed her leg up against my arm. For a brief moment, I thought I noticed that her leg hair felt a little scratchy, but I blew it off as nothing and went on about my day, not giving it another thought. Well, yesterday when I picked the kids up from Nicole's, Nicole asked me if I had shaved Meagan's legs. Um, No, why would I have shaved her legs, she's TWO? 'Well someone has shaved a patch on the back of her right leg because it's starting to grow back and it's all stubbly,' she said. At that moment, I realized that I had noticed the same thing, but that it just hadn't registered to me at the time that someone might have possibly shaved her leg. WHY would I have thought that her legs would have been shaved??? Anyway, I asked Isaac about it, and, though he was reluctant to fess up to it at first, he did finally admit that he shaved the back of her leg. LOL! I couldn't even scold him, it was just entirely too funny to me at the moment. I just fell on the floor laughing. I never saw that one coming!

2 pages in 1 night!

I must have been on a roll tonight (a roll that is now coming to an end because I'm tired, and I'm gonna go to bed as soon as I'm done posting). Two pages in one night!! The quote says, 'I feel worthy of every kiss I laid upon you for in each of them went a part of my heart.'

All My Life

I am getting down to the end of my pages for Grandma's album. I've got a lot of miscellaneous pictures that are kind of hard to group together. These 3 pictures were just such pictures. At first I thought I would put the formal picture on a layout alone, but I finally decided to combine the formal and the casual - since that's more true-to-life. I'm down to the pictures taken in 2003-2005 mostly, with a few exceptions. Hopefully they'll all come together quickly and we can give her the second half of the album for Christmas this year!

Quote: I love thee with the breath, smiles, tears of all my life

My Husband the Cube-Head

Okay, can I just say I'm tempted to call Will Smith and ask him how to solve the Rubik's Cube so that he can give Lucas a few pointers!! For Halloween, Dad and Nancy sent the kids a box of goodies, and in it there was a Rubik's Cube. This is something Lucas has always wanted to try, but never has, so he snatched it up and has been holding it hostage. He won't let any of the kids touch it! LOL! For two straight days now he has been spending every free moment working on this cube.

Last night we were both down in the basement on our computers. I got tired around 10:00 or so, so I turned off my computer and headed up to bed. He had just finished his game on the computer, so I figured he would be up behind me. I watched some recorded shows while I waited for him. When I ran out of recorded shows, I tried to find something on TV. Ultimately, I feel asleep way before he ever came up. When I woke up this morning - I kid you not - I rolled over to find a CUBE in bed beside me! LOL! He worked on it so long he turned into a cube!!

...actually, he had brought it upstairs with him after finally giving up on it for the night, and he sat it on the dresser by our bed. Well, when Meagan got up this morning, she must have found it and been playing with it before I realized she was in the room. But it was just funny to find a cube where my husband should have been!

4 Generations

I got another layout done for Grandma's album last night. I'm not so sure how I feel about it, and would welcome any opinions / feedback / suggestions etc. Well, back to work (I'm posting on my lunch break)....

Weekend Review

Friday night I got to go to a friend's house for a spa party. What a great way to spend an evening. I usually don't get all the way into the home party scene. But it's hard not to enjoy pedicures, mini facials, hand rubs, back rubs and head massages, and time with friends. I usually don't do this kind of stuff (I've tried once before to have a home party, and my mom and I were the only 2 people that showed up...how embarrassing!), but I scheduled a party for Nov. 9th...so if any of you are interested in coming, you're all welcome! The more the merrier - it's a lot of fun!

Yesterday afternoon we went to watch a friend of ours' son play hockey. It was at a big sports complex that's about 15 minutes away from here. While we were there, we peeked into all the different arenas that had stuff going on - peewee flag football, gymnastics, travel hockey, indoor soccer, and high school hockey (at least that's all we could see). Meagan was FASCINATED by the gymnastics. She kept saying 'Look at them Mom. I can do it, see? I want to go there,' and on and on. And she figured out in the hockey game that if she told me she had to go potty, I would take her and she could see the gymnasts again...I caught on to it after her 3rd request to go potty in 10 minutes time. LOL! So, we got some info and I think I'm going to look into putting her into a toddler class. We'll see.

Today was a chillin' out kind of day. We just hung around this afternoon and played (and napped - at least Sebastian and Meagan did). A little boy from across the street came over and played for a while. And we cleaned up the basement. Not the most exciting day to report on, but I sometimes quite enjoy the not-so-eventful days.

Fall Flashbacks

Just finished 2 pages from our trip to the apple orchard/pumpkin patch last year. We had high hopes for our trip, but it turned out to be sort of a dud. The kids had a blast, though, which is all that matters in the grand scheme of things.

Journaling: When we lived in Toledo we had a special pumpkin-picking spot. This year we wanted to find a fun place like that where we could go and make a fun memory instead of getting our pumpkins out of a crate at Wal-Mart. So, we went to a nearby orchard. By the time we got there, the patches were already closed, so we still had to pick our pumpkins out of a crate. I was disappointed, but the 3 of you didn't seem to mind at all. You loved the fresh air, the wagon, and the wide open of the outdoors. Memories were made - crates and all.

Journaling: What an interesting experience this turned out to be. What started as a trip to the apple orchard ended up as quite the memorable day - for reasons both good and, well, shall we say, not-so-pleasant. The good...cool fall weather; our first apple-picking experience; the train ride through the orchard; the kids' faces filled with excitement and joy. The bad...lost keys; lost gloves; low supply of apples remaining on the trees; and, believe it or not, a rotten, dirty diaper that someone put in the tree and left for the next unsuspecting soul in search of apples - which was, of course, us...um, gross! While it may not have been the perfect fall day we were hoping for, it was, without question, one to remember.

I'm having a baby triceratops!!!!

Over the weekend Grandma H. came up to visit. While she was here, she gave each of the kids a magic egg to put in water and watch it hatch and grow. Each egg got its own container of water and we marked them so we would know whose was whose.

Sebastian's was first to hatch - a baby T-Rex. Very cute, and pretty much what everyone was expecting. Meagan's was next to hatch. Hers threw a kink into things, because while we were expecting a baby dinosaur of some sort, she hatched a baby crocodile (or maybe alligator - how do you tell the difference?). No sign of activity from Isaac's egg. I could tell he was feeling a little impatient. I could also tell he was slightly worried that he wouldn't get a dinosaur, but that he might get something else like Meagan did.

Well, this morning, we all got up, and I told the boys to go down and pick out what they wanted for breakfast while I put Meagan on the potty. As I was on my way down the stairs, I heard Isaac screaming at the top of his lungs. "Mom!!!! Mom!!!!' It was so frantic, I thought for sure that Sebastian had done something and Isaac was gearing up for a tattling. But when I came around the corner, Isaac yelled, "Mom, I'm having a baby triceratops!!!!" He was GIDDY he was so excited. He kept getting up from the breakfast table to go check on his baby and talk to it. "I knew you were a dinosaur. I just knew it."

He is just too cute.

Silence is golden...and so are dry undies!

Time for an update, since our successes are fluctuation from day to day (or minute by minute in some cases). Last night went MUCH better with Meagan. She got up once, and I sent her back to bed. When we went up later to go to bed, we checked on her. We found her laying on a blanket in the hallway between her room and the boys'. Neither one of us was about ready to pick her up and put her back in bed for fear of waking a sleeping giant. So, I covered her up with a second blanket, and she slept outside of the bathroom all night...but she SLEPT! LOL!

And today she was in the same pair of undies ALL DAY at Nicole's. She has been doing GREAT with potty training. It's about time I get an easy kid, after what I went through with the boys! For three days in a row now she has been in big girl pants...there's a light at the end of the tunnel!

Bubble trouble

Today must have been the first time Meagan had ever taken notice of someone blowing a bubble with gum. She saw me blow a bubble, and she asked me with a tone of fascinated interest, "Are you eating a balloon, Mommy?" She then proceeded to try to imitate me by first sticking her tongue out and then blowing spit bubbles.

I take that back...

I posted last night's scoop about the paci some time around 9:30, at which time, all was well. But, the storm was brewing under the surface, and it all erupted around 10:30. Meagan had been sound asleep from about 9:00 until 10:30, when she woke up hysterical. I think she woke up because she was coughing, but it doesn't matter WHY she woke up - just that she DID. It was all over from there. For the next 5 1/2 hours, she screamed almost non-stop. She was going full force for a while. Then she got exhausted, at which point she would fall asleep mid-scream. But the sleep never lasted more than a minute, which was about how long it took for her to start 'sucking' in her sleep, and realize she didn't have her paci, then the screaming started all over again.

I tried EVERYTHING I could think of. I stayed firm with her for a while - kept putting her back in bed every time she got up. Didn't talk to her. Didn't touch her (other than to put her back in bed). But she kept coming in and waking Lucas up, or her brothers occasionally. Finally, I thought, well, maybe if I laid in there with her it would comfort her. NOPE. NOT AT ALL. Well, that's not exactly true. She did fall asleep once sitting up on my lap (which means I was also sitting up - in the middle of her bed with nothing to rest against - at 2:00 in the morning - obviously could not be a permanent position for the remainder of the night.) Once she had been quiet for about 10 minutes (or what felt like ETERNITY because my back was quite uncomfortable), I took a change and laid her down (because, like I said, I couldn't sit there like that for the rest of the night). WRONG thing to do! The screaming started all over again within seconds. Nothing else I did had any ounce of a calming effect on her.

Somewhere around 3:30, I was desperate for just a few minutes of sleep. So desperate, in fact, that I found myself out in the van looking for her illusive purple paci (the same one she mentioned that I posted about yesterday). In my state of weakness and exhaustion, I thought up a tricky plan - LOL! I was going to wait until she fell asleep mid-scream, then slip the paci in her mouth, so she wouldn't know she had it, but so she could stay asleep long enough to get into a deep sleep...pretty tricky huh? But, I couldn't find the silly thing ANYWHERE! So I just had to let her scream it out.

I'm not sure when it was that she finally fell asleep because I think I crashed way before she did. When I checked on her this morning though, she was sprawled out on her back in the middle of her floor. Clearly it was a rough night for her.

Nap time, once she settled down and actually laid still, was great - no screaming and yelling, and she slept for 2 1/2 hours. Hoping tonight goes more nap time than like last night. (I might be raising the most determine and persistent child God ever created. We'll see how long it takes her to accept her new-found paci separation.)

Time to say Good-bye

It's been coming on for a while now. It started with a tiny crack in the pacifier that eventually grew into a hole about half the width of the paci. Today, I tore it in half - it was too torn and I couldn't let her use it any more because it would have been a choking hazard. So I tore it.

I showed her and I explained to her that paci is broken and we don't have any more. That means it's all gone and she has to go to bed with no paci. She didn't miss a beat - 'That's okay. I have purple paci.' She actually may have purple paci somewhere because it just sort of vanished. But I haven't seen it for weeks. 'No, sweety, sorry, purple paci is all gone too.' I explained to her that she's a big girl and doesn't need a paci. She seemed okay with it really - but that was at dinner, so who knew what bedtime would really bring.

Well, bedtime eventually came, and I was bracing for screaming and DRAMA. To my pleasant surprise, she asked for a drink of water and that was the end of it. We've had ZERO paci related drama so far. Not at all what I was expecting, but I'll take it!!

On top of saying goodbye to paci, she is getting lots closer to being potty trained. Over the weekend we had lots of success, and she was being quite cooperative. Today Nicole put her in potty pants (you know, those big puffy cloth undies) and she stayed dry all day (until, of course, I left here home alone with Daddy while I went to get dinner - then she pooped in her pants - just because she loves Daddy so much! LOL! But still, one accident for the whole day is a pretty big deal.) I got her some vinyl pants to try tomorrow, since I'll be home with her. We'll see how it goes. (Keeping my fingers crossed).

No paci. Going potty. Don't look now, but I think we are leaving the baby years behind. :o(

EEEEK!

EEEEEEK! What an evening this has been! The day was going along well. And then I came home from work. I got home around 4:30, and ran into the house to go to the bathroom quick before I went to get the kids from Nicole's. But, when I went inside, the answering machine beeped, so I listened to the message. It was school calling (at 4:15) to let me know that Sebastian was at school and needed to be picked up. She would try my cell phone, blah blah blah. Well, I totally forgot about peeing, and ran next door to get the kids. They were eating snack when I got there. Isaac crammed his snack in his pockets and came with me...Meagan opted to stay and finish her snack in peace. So Isaac and I raced off to the school (on the other end of town - where I had just come from a few minutes before). The whole way there, I'm thinking to myself, 'You cannot go in there steaming mad. You have to settle down and be calm.' Well, I walked into the office, and the lady said Sebastian hadn't been feeling well, and was in the bathroom when the buses left, so he missed his bus...understandable, and a big bummer for him, so I wasn't mad...I guess you could say had been defused (LOL). Just to be safe, though, I covered with the office worker and the principle that, unless I call or send a specific note, he is to ride the bus home. That way he isn't stranded, and they don't have to stay an extra hour waiting on someone to get there to pick him up. I think I've now made myself quite clear, and I am REALLY hoping there will be no more issues.

So anyway, I realized that, in my rush to get to the school, I left my purse on the kitchen table. Which meant that I had to go back to the house before I could go get dinner (since I haven't been to the grocery for over a week and a half...we are OUT of food!). So I rushed home, loaded Meagan into the van with the boys and we headed to Wendy's. I got home from Wendy's and started getting everyone's food out and ready...only to realize they had left out Meagan's nuggets, and my sandwich was SLOPPED with mayo. No thanks. So Lucas pulled a Geico commercial and thought he could just wipe the mayo off and it would be okay...How long has he been married to me? Doesn't he know by now that once any part of the sandwich has been contaminated, the whole thing is shot? He should know that by now, shouldn't he? So, I donated my altered sandwich to my daughter since she didn't have anything to eat. And I ate fries and Mt. Dew for dinner.

We then rushed off to church to get there before the buses left. And believe it or not, the part of my night consisting of 50 kids from ages 4 to 14 was the easy, relaxing part of the night. Once we dropped the kids off, I headed back to Wendy's and got my sandwich remade. So, I had dinner at 9:30 at night. Love it!!

Hoping for a chance to do laundry and maybe get to the grocery in the next day or two. My house could use a little TLC. It's sorta been neglected this week (which only adds to the chaos when the house is messy and there are clothes mountains in the hall LOL).

this extra[ordinary] life

Journaling: Have I ever mentioned how much I love this life? I mean really LOVE it. Every day I live through at least one moment when I realize how totally blessed I am. This day was loaded with those kind of moments. It doesn't look like much I know, by I was so taken by it - watching the 2 of you pacing the yard with your 'mowers' like Daddy; the contrast of the sun and the shadows on the ground; the reflection of the light off of your hair. Just the easiness of it all - beautiful. But I got the most joy out of watching you be you. Hair in your eyes, as usual, dirt streaked across your face, and wearing Sebastian's shoes. Not a care in the world, you marched back and forth in those too-big-for-you shoes, pushing Home Depot, mowing the grass. Not an extraordinary moment by normal standards, but so worth taking notice of. I thank God that He puts these kind of moments into every-day life, and that He has taught me to see them for what they really are...priceless. Life is made up of far more ordinary moments than extraordinary ones, and it's the quality of the every day that makes a difference. 2007.

(This was a day earlier this summer. One of the stand-outs in my mind. It was simply a great day. Laid-back. Beautiful weather. Simple, good memories. Thought I'd try to capture it.)

We have a winner!

What a vast improvement in soccer playing from 2 weeks ago to today. Two weeks ago, Sebastian's team lost by more goals than we could keep track of. Today, they won 6-2. Sebastian did much better not falling down so much, and getting up quickly when he did fall. He even had an assist (if there is such a thing in soccer??) on one of the goals. He was excited about winning and playing well, but I think his favorite part of the game was having an extended audience since Grandma and Tina were both up to watch.


After the game, Sebastian and Isaac 'taught' Grandma how to play PlayStation (aka - they played and told her what they were doing while she watched). Then we went to Red Robin for lunch. Since all the girls were up talking until almost 1:00 last night, everyone was pretty tired afterward. When the kids laid down for nap, so did Grandma. I thought about it, but was afraid I would be groggy the rest of the evening, so I worked on another page for Grandma's book instead.



Tonight we're going to take it easy - get early baths and watch Ice Age the Meltdown. (And I'm looking forward to an early bedtime for myself.) It was a lot of fun having visitors for the evening yesterday and through the afternoon today. I don't always realize how much I miss family until they come to visit and then leave again.

Why didn't I think of this sooner?

Wow! This afternoon I had an idea that seemed to just fall from the sky, and this evening I ran with it. The toys and books and clothes and such were starting to take over the floors in nearly every room of the house, and I wanted the boys to help me out by cleaning up everything that was theirs (which was quite a bit of it). But, to curb the complaining and grumbling that usually comes with a request for cleaning, I put a spin on it. This is what we did:

We had four things to accomplish this evening. 1 - Clean up. 2 - Baths 3 - Story. 4 - Bedtime. So, I made up a 4-level video game that we were going to play. Each level had different tasks, and if they did them well, and did them quickly, they passed the level.

Well, the first level was clean-up. So I told them that all of the clothes and toys on the floor were hearts and legos that they had to get and put away in the right spots. If they got all the hearts and legos, they won (which Sebastian added his 2 cents and said that if they got it all then they would have a full lego bar. Isaac agreed, and I sorta kinda had an idea of what he meant, so I went along with it. Hey, they were willing to embrace cleaning up, I was willing to let them!) Anyway, while I finished the kitchen, they hurried and cleaned up the living room and their bedroom. I must say that by the time I was ready to give them baths, they had picked up and put away everything except for a book and 2 pair of shoes. They almost got a full lego bar, but since Mommy had to pick up a few of their things, they lost one. Maybe they would get all of their legos on level 2.

Determination set in to get all of their legos, and they were geared up for bath time. For level 2, they had to wash their bodies and their hair, and not spill water out of the tub. And they had to do it all before they ran out of time for the level. You should have heard them reminding and encouraging each other. They even worked together to wash each others' backs so they wouldn't lose legos if Mommy had to wash them any. How cute is that! So, they passed level 2 with flying colors.

Anyway, you get the idea. We had an awesome, rather cooperative, low stress, and quite imagination-filled bedtime routine. The boys were totally captivated by earning their imaginary legos. Isaac even asked if we could clean up the basement tomorrow. My kids requesting a chance to clean?! Why didn't I think of this sooner?

It has begun.

This is the general conversation I had with Sebastian the other day...

'Mom, all three Lauren's in my class think I'm cute. That's what they said. That I'm cute. And there's an Ashly and she think's I'm cute too.'

'Oh yeah?'

'Yup. And Lauren C. said I'm her.....what's that word? When you like someone but you don't tell them? what's that called?...... Oh yeah, I'm her crush. That's what she told me. And Abby said she would marry me if we were old enough because I'm smart and cute and funny.'

'I think you're a little young for marriage yet.' Realization sets in at this moment that for the next 16 years of my life (at least), this is what I will deal with. Girlfriends. Boyfriends (on Meagan's part). Phone calls. Drama. It has officially begun.

friendship

Here's a layout i did last night. Another page done for Grandma's book. I'm inching my way closer to being done!!! So maybe this Christmas she can get the second half of her album LOL! I really never intended it to take me this long, but it's a pretty big undertaking to scrap a man's entire life. I underestimated the job a little, I guess you could say.

Credits

Beautiful dreamer, beautiful boy

One of the high points of my day was buying some new digital scrapbook stuff to play with. I usually don't buy much stuff unless its SUPER discounted, so it was quite the break from the norm for me. But, I did have a coupon code, and the stuff I bought was all already on sale on top of my coupon, so it still wasn't all that big of a leap. Anyway... I got a bunch of stuff from designers I've never used before, and it's always fun to have a fresh style of fun stuff to play with.


Here's a page I did tonight of Isaac. I love this picture of him that was taken earlier this summer at Meijer Garden. One of my favorite things about him is, and will always be, the way his smile lights up his entire face. Even in black & white, you can see the sparkle in his eyes that comes whenever he smiles. One of the best things in the world is to hear and see him laugh - it's infectious. He definitely lives up to his name (Isaac means to laugh). Another thing I love so much about Isaac is that he is a dreamer. He isn't driven by facts and circumstances. He thrives on imagination, and is fueled by emotion. (Maybe the emotion part is a bit of a challenge at times now, but I know that once he learns how to direct his emotions, this is going to be an amazing quality in him). I wanted to capture that side of him in this layout. He is such a beautiful little boy.

Credits

Dear Santa,

I would really like a football helmet for Christmas. A gold one if you have one because Notre Dame is my favorite football players. And I like the Lions, but the Buffalo's are stinky. Love, Isaac

blow-outs and wipe-outs

It all started yesterday when Meagan asked me if we could take a bike ride. Lucas got the bikes down and ready, only to find that I had a flat rear tire. So, not wanting to break my promise to her, I went to Wal-Mart and got a new inner tube. Lucas repaired the bike, and we were good as new.........we thought. We headed off. Thankfully, Lucas had switched Meagan's carrier to his bike so he could take the back wheel off of mine. We got to the end of our road, stopped at the stop sign, and looked for cars. No cars were coming, so we headed out onto the main road. I took about two pedals away from the stop sign when, all at the same time, I (a) heard a loud noise like a car backfiring and (b) felt my rear end drop an inch or so with quite a thud. It took me a second to realize that the two events were related. I looked down, and the tire was completely off the rim, shreds of the new tube were flopping out the sides, and a white cloud of baby powder was just starting to clear...I blew a tire!! It may have taken a minute for me to register what had happened, but Lucas, who was behind me, was laughing hysterically. He said when the thing blew, there was a big puff of powder that burst out everywhere like gun smoke. LOL! So, we busted a U-y (how on earth do you spell that?), and I had to hoof it back to the house. Thankfully we weren't all that far because I don't think I could have carried the back end much further than I did. Really, you don't see that every day!

So, that was yesterday's attempt at family fun. Tonight, we kept it local, and we hung out front-yard style. We had 2-on-2 (with a third floating randomly between teams, and in and out of the game all together) football - of sorts. It started boys against parents. We had hockey nets set up at either end of the front yard as goals. And it was some morphed form of football, which included lots of passing back and forth, running the wrong way, and tackles and blocks that I'm SURE would have drawn penalties had there been ref's around. Man, those boys are scrappy. I wiped out a few times, because they latch on around the knees and hang on until they've twisted and wound in and out of legs and you can do nothing but fall and hope you don't squish them. We had lots of wipe outs, and we all had grass-stained feet, but it was fun. I was the first to bow out of the game. Isaac took me down pretty hard once (I know, go ahead and laugh), and I banged up my hip and leg a bit (the same leg that had taken more than its fair share of helmet blows to the thigh). Ah, well. I was a girl, an only child, and a gymnast - all factors working against me when it comes to growing up playing football and taking beatings. LOL. But, clearly, I've got some practicing to do because I have a few more years of having boys around!

Got 1 more for ya

I finished one more layout tonight. Lucas was playing on-line, so we recorded Survivor, which pretty much left me with an evening of nothing-much to do. So, other than re-putting the kids to bed a few times (nap time was too long today I think, so no one is sleeping tonight), I just scrapped. (I got more RAM in my computer, so now it's quicker and more fun to scrap with.) Mike took this picture of me at Meagan's birthday party this summer. I don't have many pages with pictures of me, so this seems weird to me.


Journaling: so many elements of this picture capture who i am... casual clothes, sitting outside, camera in-hand, watching the kids play in the yard. i'm not used to seeing pictures of myself, but this time i've been caught.



In my journaling I left out the fact that no matter how happy I am, I typically don't look like it (as you can see in this picture). My neutral face (you know, when I'm not laughing or whatever) is a little grumpy looking - I think because my mouth turns down at the corners, so I always look like I'm scowling. This is at least a 4th generation trait, because my great-grandmother, my grandmother, and my mom all have the same turned down mouth, and we all tend to look ... hmm, how to say it nicely... sometimes maybe a little less-than-happy?? Oh well...just know that I really am happy in this picture. (wink)


Okay, off to start watching Survivor until I fall asleep (which I've been doing rather quickly lately). Have a good night!

FLORIDA 1979

Just think...I was a year and a half old when these pictures were taken - December 1979. I struggled with this page some because it's my style of scrapping, but I was afraid it was too busy for Grandma...??? Hopefully she'll like it. If not, I can make her a new layout. These are some great pics - I especially love the one of Grandpa being eaten by the alligator...reminds me of something my father-in-law might do...wonder where he gets it? LOL! The only problem with the pictures is that they aren't very crisp, so I couldn't make them very big on the page because of blurriness. Hopefully they will print large enough for Grandma to be able to see and enjoy.

Day Off

Today is my first day off this week. I have decided to work on Monday's and Wednesday's every week, and then just go in as-needed beyond that. Well, Tuesday I had to go in because we had to take care of some bank paperwork, and yesterday I worked longer than I normally would on Wednesday. Pastor Mark is leaving today for a mission trip to Kenya, and I hung around a little into the afternoon so we could get some last-minute things squared away. All in all, though, the dust starting to settle from the transition, and I think soon I'll be able to really only go in on Monday and Wednesday, and work from home the rest of the time.

So anyway, I had a surprise this morning on my day off - Lucas took the day off too. So we get to hang out today, which we don't often get to do. Unfortunately, somewhere in the midst of hanging out, I need to do laundry and clean the bathrooms and pay bills. But we should still get some time to have fun with the kids and just chill a little.....if he ever gets out of bed LOL!

Oh! While I'm thinking of it, CONGRATULATIONS to Tony and Laura! They had a beautiful baby girl not so very long ago (although I can't tell you exactly when because I'm getting my info from Lucas, who got his from Tony...guys don't really give too much detail *LOL*). Her name is Amelia (like that name, Mom?!) We just wanted you to know we're thinking of you and we love you guys! CONGRATS and send us some pictures when you get a chance!

3 More Layouts

I got a few more layouts done last night. These all came together pretty quickly, which doesn't happen often for me. It usually takes me a couple hours on each layout, but I did all three of these in about 2 1/2 hours total.

These two are not meant to be a 2-page layout, but they are meant to sort of coordinate, since they'll be side-by-side in the album. These are pictures from our trip to the butterfly exhibit at Meijer Garden this past spring. One of these butterflies was actually in a little room because it had just hatched from its cacoon and wasn't strong enough to fly yet. But the little room made for an ugly picture, so I put him on a leaf instead...can you find the butterfly that was photoshoped into the picture? (I'll give you a hint...it's the green one LOL)





Wasn't Isaac a cute baby! I love the expressions on their faces in these pictures. My journaling says, 'One wants to be like his daddy...the other, to be a man worthy of such an aspiration.'

All three of these layouts were made using Sweet Genevieve products, as well as Paint the Moon designs. Click here for credits.

1st Soccer Game

This morning was Sebastian's first soccer game - SO CUTE! It was freezing, but the sun was out at least. We went armed with blankets and hooded sweatshirts (Sebastian wore a winter hat and a long sleeved t-shirt under his jersey).

It was maybe the cutest thing I've seen in a while. Mass running and kicking and legs flying. Sebastian was his scrappy self and did a good job getting through people and right into the middle of the action. If they would have been calling for holding, I'm pretty sure he would have been called for it. A few times I saw him grab a guy by the shoulder and pull him backwards to give himself the advantage (wrong sport, kid).

He did a good job breaking up a few plays by getting into the middle of everything, although I'm not so sure he actually knew that's what he had done. LOL. But because he was in the middle of flying legs all the time, he was constantly falling down. Once, while he was down he got kicked in the thigh, and was taken out of the game for a few minutes to recover. The coach gave him a choice to sit out and take it easy or go back in. He chose to go back in - I was proud of him for that. So every time he fell, we (myself on one side of the field, the coaches on the other) all started yelling 'Get up Sebastian!' I think toward the end of the game he was getting a little tired of picking himself up off the ground because he got slower and slower to get up with each fall.

He scored one goal, but it didn't count because he kicked it a second or two after they blew the whistle. Oh well...he still did good. He might be the tiniest guy on his team, but he held his own.

Can you do that?!

Today was a bit of a hectic day at work - not bad, just crazy. I'm still getting adjusted to where things are and how things have been done in the past, etc. So I'm working a little slower than I would hope. It doesn't speed things up any when you lock yourself out of your office LOL!! We have the kind of doors that stay locked and you just open them with a key. Well, I had my door propped open all day, so had completely forgotten about it being a 'locked' door. Well, I got a phone call and pushed the door shut for some privacy....still not a big deal because I was IN the office on the phone. After I hung up though, I decided to take a potty break. I opened the door, walked out and left the door (I thought) standing about half-way open. Well, apparently they not only are the kind of doors that stay locked, but they are also the kind that shut behind you if they're not propped open. So when I got back from the bathroom, I was locked out. My keys (and every spare key to the door, I might add) were in the locked office where they were of absolutely no use to me. Luckily, another of the ladies whose office is off of mine was only out to lunch and had plans to return to the office. So, I waited for her to get back, and she let me in, and all was well again... I only lost about an hour and fifteen minutes of my day doing absolutely NOTHING!!! LOL! I got a good laugh at myself - lesson learned...let's see if I can NOT do that again!

Since I was running behind after my lock-out, I asked Lucas if he could get home in time to get Sebastian off of the bus - about 4:45. Well, at about 4:35 my office phone rings. It's Lucas. "Hey, there's a message from the school saying that Sebastian never got on the bus today and is waiting here for someone to pick him up." So, he gets back in the truck, heads to the school and gets our goofy kid. When he asked Sebastian why he didn't ride the bus, his response was, "Well, I've never been picked up from school before, and I thought today would be a good day for it." CAN YOU DO THAT? Can you just decide that without sharing the information with anyone else? Apparently you can. Because he did. What a goofball. Really, though, I think I'm going to have to call the school and talk with them. They have three contact numbers for me, and three for Lucas, yet they only called one number and left a message. And why, when you have no indication in writing or otherwise, from an adult saying that Sebastian would be picked up would you NOT make him get on the bus. Why do you just take the word of a 6-year-old when it comes to matters of finding a way for him to get home? That's what I would like to know. Seems the situation could have been handled a little better, so he would have only been waiting about 10 minutes for me to leave work and get to school, which is a lot better than an hour. Anyway....

Well, now that my crazy day has ended, my kids are in bed, and I'm on strike for the rest of the night, I'm gonna go veg in front of the TV until its time to crash. Later.

3 More Layouts

Here are 3 more layouts I did this week (or last, I can't remember LOL). These pictures were all taken at Mom & Mike's house when we were down at the end of August for a visit. This was the night that all of the kids went into the pond fully-dressed (as did Grandma once to rescue Meagan).

The first one is not my usual style - I'm not usually a graphic layout kinda girl. But there were SOOOO many good pictures of Meagan that I wanted to use, and I thought this simple, graphic layout would be the cleanest and easiest way to display them all. I don't think the quote is from anyone - I just sort of made it up, although I'm sure I'm not the first person to ever think/write/say it, so I can't really take the credit. Anyway, it says, "The fullness of life is lived moment by moment."

Second pond picture layout....

I love this picture of Sebastian and Meagan. When I sat down to scrap it, a conversation came to mind that I had just recently had with Sebastian. So, I used that conversation for my journaling.

Finally...

This layout may look familiar to some of you, since I posted on my other blog the other day. But I thought I'd share it here too. The journaling is a verse from the Bible - Jeremiah 17:6-7 - 'Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. He shall be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green; it has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.

Last day of K

No journaling - just a picture of Sebastian and me on his last day of kindergarten. I wanted to scrap it because there aren't a lot of pictures that include me, and I don't want my kids to some day wonder why I'm not in any of their pictures. LOL!

Rewriting the Food Pyramid

Isaac has said a few funny things in the past few days that make me think he's got plans to rewrite the food pyramid to better suit his tastes. Yesterday, out of the blue, he said, "Mom, jelly beans are my favorite kind of beans. I think they're a vegetable." Then today at lunch he told me that goldfish (you know - the little fish-shaped crackers) are his favorite kind of fish. Nice. I got a chuckle out of it, so I thought I'd share.

FINALLY I can post some layouts!

I've done a few layouts over the course of the past two-ish weeks, but I haven't been able to post any of them because of the release dates of some of the products. Well, the products release next Sunday, but we have permission to start posting on message boards tomorrow. So I'm gonna go ahead and post a few here tonight. I'll post the rest of them over the course of the next few days.

Here's the first one - 'I TRIED.' I used stuff from Sweet Genevieve's new kit - Be Dreamy. These pictures are from my attempt at getting Meagan's 2-year pictures.

Journaling: I tried to get one good picture of you that would capture 'you' at 2. One worthy of framing and giving to grandparents. Instead, I got this. A series of pictures of you looking away, making faces, or running off. Well, I didn't succeed in getting that one good picture, but I surely captured the real you.

This one was inspired by an I SPY page that I am all-too-familiar with, since the boys and I have done this page about 200 times at bed time (or whenever the mood for I SPY should strike). It's in the School Days I SPY book, and it's a big explosion of art supplies, paper projects, and just a plain mess. So, I figured since I had pictures from a paint project that made quite the mess, it was only fitting.

Journaling: I spy a grandma, three eager kids, a round tablecloth and open paint lids; a paint smock, a paint brush, a project that's neat; petals of hands and leaves made of feet.

What are little sisters for?

If I could go back in time about 4 hours, I would queue up the camcorder and have it on-hand for the night's upcoming dinner conversation. Meagan had us laughing so hard we were nearly in tears tonight. Here's the whole story...

Tonight for dinner we had chicken fingers, peas, and macaroni. A pretty kid-friendly meal, by most kid standards... but not Isaac's. About a month ago he declared an absolute, uncompromising hatred for macaroni and cheese (he's not my kid!). So when macaroni comes up as one of the elements of a meal, we have issues with Isaac. Tonight we heard, my tummy hurts, I'm full, and I just want to eat the BBQ sauce. Finally, he simply resorted to the stall tactic of pretending to forget that the food was there and simply not taking any more bites of anything. Well, Sebastian and Meagan had finished their meals, and had waited long enough. So I went ahead and gave them their desert - cupcakes with chocolate icing (left over from the first day of school).

Before I go any further, note that Isaac and Meagan were sitting by each other at dinner, so Meagan had direct access to her bother.

Isaac was still sitting and staring at the four or five macaroni noodles I had put on his plate that he still had not touched, along with 2 of the 3 little tiny chunks of chicken (so basically all he had eaten up to this point were his peas and BBQ sauce). Meanwhile Meagan was thoroughly enjoying her chocolate icing. Not 30 seconds prior, she heard me prompt Isaac to take a bite of his chicken or macaroni. Apparently she was displeased with his lack of action, so she leans over to him, cupcake in hand.

Meagan (in the sweetest, most sincere, soft little voice imaginable): 'Eat your chicken Isaac.'
Isaac (in a voice a little 'less' sweet): 'Don't tell me what I have to eat.'
Meagan: Okay, sorry Isaac.......Meagan is eating. See it? I'm eating cupcake. See my cupcake Isaac?'
(Isaac gives her a 'look')

A few moments pass...

Meagan: 'Are you finished? Are you having desert?'
Isaac: 'No, I'm not finished yet.'
Meagan: 'Okay..... Meagan is eating a cupcake. See it? It's a good cupcake. Do you want to eat a cupcake Isaac? Meagan is eating a cupcake. It's yummy.'

We tried. We tried to conceal our laughter. We tried not to laugh out loud, or let them see us smiling behind our hands. We tried looking away, covering our faces, biting our cheeks...but nothing could stop it. We couldn't help but laugh at her seemingly innocent, yet knowingly antagonistic banter with her big brother. But the cutest thing was that when he had finally eaten his required amounts for dinner, and he finally got his cupcake, she congratulated him. 'Are you eating a cupcake now Isaac? Good job.' Those two may go at each other, but they are 2 peas in a pod. And they're good for some comic relief at dinner from time to time.

REWIND - Soccer Practice

Well, this past Thursday was Sebastian's first soccer practice. Not surprisingly, he was the smallest little guy on his team - also the youngest...I think all the other boys are 7 or 8. He seemed to have a really good time. He even actually looked like he kinda knew what he was doing. I think soccer seems to be holding his attention a little more than t-ball did - not so much standing around and waiting, I think.

They had a team meeting with all the kids and coaches to pick out their team name. They are the 'Stingers.' Fittingly, while they were having this team meeting, Lucas was on the playground with Isaac and Meagan, where he was being stung by bees that had made their home in some of the playground equipment. LOL!

No real incidents during practice. Only once, one little boy who is more than a head taller than Sebastian tried to cut in front of him for a turn to do the drill they were doing. First, Sebastian just kinda stepped back around in front of him. When the kid tried again to get in front of him, Sebastian turned to face the kid and squared off against him. Again, the kid tried to get around him to cut...that was it. Sebastian, stepped back in front of him to block him, and pushed him back into his place. So I'd say even though he's the youngest and the smallest on his team, he has every intention of standing up for himself...makes his daddy proud! One of the other dad's saw all of this happen, and said, 'Ooo, he looks like he's a scrappy little guy, huh?' SCRAPPY. What a perfect way to describe him. I couldn't help of thinking of some of the stories my dad has told me about his childhood days having to stand up for himself...Sebastian definitely has a little of his grandpa in him.

REWIND - 1st day of school pics

What kind of mother am I if I don't post pictures from the first day of school? Plus, I thought I'd give you all an update. As of yesterday, Friday of his first week of school, he has decided that he likes first grade. The only bad thing, he says, is that they don't give them snack anymore...he said first-graders don't get snack. So he'll have to adjust to that, which may take a bit. Other than that, he has requested that I pick him up from school whenever I can because the bus ride home takes too long (an hour and 15 minutes...I agree). But, all in all, he is liking school now. Cool.

So here are the pictures from his first day of school:

Rewind - Meijer Garden

Admittedly, I am WAY behind on posting - especially when it comes to pictures. I've been taking the pictures, but have had no free time to do much with them. So, I have decided to put my every-expanding pile of laundry on hold and post pictures for all of you (and for me too, really...I love looking at the pics when I look back at old blog posts).

So, I'm going all the way back to the end of August. I don't think I even blogged about this, so better late than never, I guess! Friday the 31st, I took the kids up to Meijer Garden. We stopped by and picked up Kelli and her 2 boys and all went together...5 kids ranging from 1 to 6...but it actually went pretty well. They all had tons of fun - especially in the water and the sand! And it was so nice to get to talk to Kelli face-to-face. She and I used to know everything about each other. We did everything together that we could get away with, finished each other's sentences, (made up goofy contracts!), and were basically inseparable. Many of my favorite childhood memories include her - gymnastics, forever watching Grease in her living room, playing in the 'fort' under her basement stairs LOL. But, like with many childhood friends, we slowly started growing apart as we got older, and now we keep in touch through email and blog posts. So it was WONDERFUL to get to have a real conversation with her again, just to get caught up. Not surprisingly, it was just as easy as ever to fall into comfortable conversation, and I think we stayed longer than we may have planned at the sand pit just because we were talking (plus, we had found a bit of shade to hide in and were in no hurry to leave it). Anyway, it was a great day all around, and a great way to end our summer break.

Anyway, here are a few pictures from our day there.

My defender!

You may have heard me mention a time or two Lucas's after-dinner-madness that usually ends up in a family-wide wrestling/brawl of some sort. Well, tonight, I was the victim. It was one of our more memorable wrestling bouts...

At dinner I made the mistake of sitting by my dear darling husband. At some point near the end of our meal, he leaned over and did some something-or-other to my shoulder, which left a mark (it didn't hurt, just left a mark). So while Iwas clearing dishes, he started teasing me that I had a hickey on my shoulder, so I (silly me, what was I thinking) starting swinging my dish towel at him. Apparently, this was cause for retaliation, because he soon bear-hugged me at the knees and picked me up over his shoulders (or at least that's what he meant to do)...but somewhere in the process of all of this, he lost his balance and started falling back and to the side, which made my left foot slide up under his knee (as it was hitting the ground). My toenail on my big toe bent right in half - didn't rip all the way off, just bent and bled. And if that wasn't enough, we both went crashing into the cabinets. You know those 'fake drawer' faces on cabinets - the ones that aren't supposed to move? Well, I somehow managed to dislodge one of those on my way crashing to the ground. Smooth, huh? It was actually fixable, but it made a loud noise. Well, I think between the loud noise and my howling about my toe, Isaac decided that I needed saving...so he hopped up from the table and ran over and cracked Lucas right in the eye. LOL! I have a defender!! It's nice to know I don't have to face the crazy man alone! Still some days I marvel at the fact that I married him on purpose!

1st day of 1st grade (minus the pictures...sorry)

I know the grandma's were waiting for calls from Sebastian to hear about his first day of school...
But the poor kid is crashed. The whole 'full-day-of-school' thing must have taken it out of him.

His bus was supposed to get here at 8:05 this morning, and they say to be ready 10 minutes early. So, at 10 'til, we went out and took a few pictures (which I'm too tired to post tonight...maybe tomorrow). At about 8:00, he started watching for his bus. At 8:25, we were beginning to wonder a little. At 8:30 we were beginning to wonder a lot. Then finally, at 8:45, the bus came rollin' down the street. Thing #1 that didn't go quite right.

Well, fast forward to school (which I'm POSITIVE they were late for)... His school combines 1st and 2nd graders in the same classroom - they have 2 teachers that share teaching duties, and he will have the same teachers for 1st and 2nd grade. I'm not sure why they do it this way, they just do. So Sebastian, who doesn't do exceptionally well in large groups of unfamiliar people, was in a classroom full of way more kids than he's used to - most of them whom he does not know. Thing #2 that was a little tough.

Now, here's where my 'oops' comes in. Last year on the first day the school provided the snack. I thought (based on what I can no longer remember, but I swear I thought I got a note about it or something...anyway I was wrong so it doesn't really matter) that they were providing snack for them today, so I didn't pack one. Well, they didn't, so the poor kid had to go without afternoon snack while the rest of his class ate. That's a tough one! Thing #3 that didn't go as planned.

Now, fast forward to the part where he comes home after a long and tiring day. His bus was scheduled to drop off at 4:45, which is late enough as is. He didn't get home until 5:40...almost an hour late! He said the bus driver didn't know where he was going and got lost and had to turn around on some weird road (which I'm a little confused about since the same guy drove the SAME route this morning...oh well). At least he got home safely, even if he did have a rough start to first grade. Luckily, I was able to slightly redeem myself by having cupcakes with chocolate icing waiting for him for an after-school (or almost bedtime, since they got home so late) snack.

Bedtime tonight was ROUGH. He was overly tired, and feeling frustrated, and still having trouble settling down. Every time Isaac moved or made a noise Sebastian got more and more worked up, until it finally turned into a trip to the basement to tell me (through tears and sobs) that Isaac was the one who ruined his whole day because he just can't sleep very well when Isaac is noisy. That was followed a few minutes later by a trip to the basement by Isaac, who was crying and sobbing saying, "I'm sorry Mommy that I ruined Sebastian's day. I didn't mean to." Sheesh - so I can only imagine that somewhere in between Sebastian's trip to the basement and Isaac's trip to the basement, some accusations and nasties were passed between the two boys. I was just praying that Sebastian would hurry up and fall asleep so it would end, at least for the night. I haven't heard anything for at least 45 minutes, so I think they must finally be asleep.

On the bright side, at dinner, Sebastian determined that he thinks tomorrow is going to be a better day. I hope he's right, or at this rate, it's going to be a long school year.

Last Day of Summer Vacation!

Well, we've officially come to the close of the last day of summer vacation. Tomorrow, Sebastian starts 1st grade. He's so excited, he can hardly lay still. He has already come out of his room once to make sure I will wake him up in the morning, and once to tell me he 'can't really sleep very well.' How cute is that? I can remember being so super excited and nervous the night before the first day of school. I guess these are things we sort of forget about once we're all grown up. That's the best part of having kids - they remind me what it was like to be young.

So how did we spend our last day of no school? With a little bit of not very much. We played I SPY, the boys played play station for a while (Oh yea, over the weekend, they worked together to clean up the basement and their room, and Lucas took them to get a new PlayStation. It was like Christmas morning...they were so giddy!), I paid bills, and Lucas mowed after work. But we did go out to eat at Logan's for dinner, which is always a bonus.

Tomorrow I have my first real day of work. While I was on vacation with the kids our Pastor called and asked if I would be willing to do the bookwork for the church. About 15 hours a week, and once I figure out the details, I should be able to do at least half of that from home. Sweet set up, and I couldn't ask to work with better people. I'm super excited about it, actually, even though I wasn't looking for work when it came up. I went in last week one day to get familiar with the office and such, and one day to do a little bit of stuff with the man who is training me. This week, we're hoping to get in the rest of my training (or at least the bulk of it). Should be an interesting week...wish me luck!