Halloween

Our Halloween festivities were cold, but fun! On Friday we had our ward party. I was tired and cranky and wanted to skip Halloween altogether, but by the end I was less grumpy. Roy took the kids around the parking lot for the trunk-or-treat while I sat in the van and handed out candy (while nursing!) I got a lot of laughs for my costume - I'll have to get a picture of me in it and post it later. It was about 45 degrees and the wind chill probably made it about 40 degrees. We were all happy to get home and warm up and eat some candy!

At the ward party on Friday

No masks allowed


On Saturday there were a bunch of local businesses set up around the courthouse with candy, so we hit that first. Then we picked Roy up from his office where he had been all day grading papers - bleh. We went to the dorms (which was nice since it was SO cold again) The kids got some really good candy and Roy got a lot of laughs about his costume (same costume as mine - we didn't get a picture though, so I'll post more about that later) We got home by 7 and went to a few of our neighbors and tried to lure some kids to our house by turning on all the lights and lighting our pumpkins, but we only got two trick-or-treaters. Oh well, I'll send some candy to school with Roy and he can bribe his students. I'm letting the kids go crazy on candy this morning and then I'll put it away for a few days.



This is on Saturday before going out. He didn't wear the mask for very long because it was hard for him to see and he kept tripping. The gloves didn't last long either because they kept falling off.




She was a "fancy" cat

ERGH!

Okay, help me out here. I bought new muffin pans a few weeks ago. I made some cupcakes (I used paper liners) and they totally burned. I thought maybe it was because of the liners because they were from last Halloween. Well, today I tried again with nice new liners and they burned again! The bottoms are totally scorched! And I had set the timer for only 15 minutes even though the recipe said 18 minutes. The tops and middles are perfect - you can tell it is from the liners. What is the deal with that? Is there something about new muffin pans that you aren't supposed to use paper liners or something? I've made muffins several times without liners and they cooked fine.

The really frustrating thing is that I was going to just buy some cheesy cupcakes from Walmart so that I wouldn't have to make any. Now I have to buy them anyway!

Don't forget

Isn't it lovely that Daylight Savings ends the day after Halloween and we get an extra hour?! An extra hour to get ready for church....sleep off the sugar...eat more sugar...wash face paint off our kids. I'm excited.

Fuzzy brain

Isaac has decided that life is too short to sleep. The minute you put him down he wants to be up and playing. And apparently crawling around his crib isn't good enough. And he has also become aware of when we leave the room, which means he's been sleeping in our bed a lot. But that doesn't work so well because he likes to crawl onto daddy. Needless to say, we haven't been getting much sleep lately. I've had a few things I've wanted to blog about, but my brain feels all fuzzy and I can't come up with any insightful thoughts. Add a sore throat, allergies and crazy kids (I think they are really excited about Halloween!) and you've got a crazy mama that can't think!

Seriously, as I type, the kids are wrestling and squealing and our house just isn't big enough!! It's not a misbehaving crazy, just a wild , too loud kind of crazy! Ahhhh! I think I better get us out of the house. We are going to go find some beautiful fall leaves to jump in.

I spent way too long working on this, but it's cute!

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He's on the move!

It's time to teach the kids to keep their stuff off the floor! At less than 5½ months old - Isaac is crawling! His technique is sloppy, but it gets him where he wants to go. And he has started sitting up! This kid is crazy! Rae and Blaise both crawled before they started sitting up, and I thought they were early at 6 months old.








Speaking of Rae, let me brag a little bit more. We went to a parent teacher conference tonight and heard so many good things about how well Rae is doing. She's way above her classmates - especially in reading. I can't take credit for it though, I have no idea how she knows how to read so well! And her teacher said she is so nice to everyone and has never misbehaved. One weak area is following directions - which doesn't surprise me at all. She just doesn't pay attention and I don't think she realizes she needs to listen! So that is something we will have to work on (at home and at school).

And since I've mentioned the other kids, I should mention that Blaise is potty training and is doing pretty well. I'm not making too big of a deal out of it because he's been sick and I think he has allergies and he's a little grumpy lately. But he pooped on the potty twice and has been starting to recognize when it's time to go. Hopefully he'll be completely trained before we fly to Vegas for Christmas. I had given up and was going to wait till after Christmas, but he started to show more interest in it, so here we go, no turning back now! :)

I love my kids! They are all so fantastic and make me so proud!

Eight years ago....

October 20,2001 was the first day that Roy and I met in real life. We had been chatting online for a month or so and he drove to Blythe that day for a visit. That Saturday and Sunday were two amazing days. I got to know my best friend and started falling in love with my future husband. I can't believe it's been 8 years! He just keeps getting better and better! Here are some pictures of us posing in the park where we shared our first kiss. These were taken in April of 2002 - we were trying to work on a pose for an engagement picture. I love you pumpky - thank you for 8 wonderful years!

They are back

Last year I blogged about the asian lady beetles. Well, today at the park I noticed there were a ton everywhere and when we got home they were all over our front door - outside and inside! It is totally creepy, but it is keeping the kids entertained! Rae has about 20 in her bug box already! It's a gorgeous day today. The bright colors on the trees make me happy, I'm feeling a lot better and Blaise has peed on the potty several times today! Too bad it is supposed to rain the rest of the week :(
I guess we better get back outside and enjoy the sun!


Here a couple of cute pictures I need to share:

At least he's inserting it in the right way!
Blaise got this little pumpkin at story time at the library and Roy thought it'd be fun to carve.


My mom sent us a package with this Bumbo chair that she got for a great deal at a yard sale - he likes it!

He also likes to make this face a lot.

And he likes to arch his back like this - it really freaks Rae out when he does it! She thinks he's going to fall out.

Blaise really likes the skeleton my mom sent him. He wanted me to take a picture of it.

It should be mandatory....

...that every husband should get to take at least one morning off every week! Roy doesn't have work today or tomorrow - woot woot! Blaise and I are sick and I think Isaac is getting a bit sicker, so we are just lounging around, enjoying the quiet morning with Rae at school. I have no voice, Blaise is losing his voice, it's cold and rainy and I just want to cuddle up to my two sleeping boys on the couch. But I guess that would wake them up. We were going to do something fun this weekend but it looks like we'll just stay home and get over our colds and maybe do some cleaning. I wish there could be days like this every week!

Mind your own business Walmart lady

Yesterday I bought a pack of three pregnancy tests. The check out lady had asked me how old Isaac was, and as she rang up the pregnancy tests she said "these aren't fun to buy right after having a baby". I wondered if she'd have the nerve to bring up the tests. But I've checked out with this lady several times before and she always has something slightly inappropriate to say.

Why did I buy the tests? Because I didn't trust the two Dollar Tree ones I had already taken. I know I am not pregnant. It'd be nearly impossible. But I'd an excuse for these facts:

-I can't seem to lose weight, and I've even gained a few pounds. I'm not being super strict with what I eat, but I've been worse in the past and haven't had this problem. And get this, the weight is all in my belly.

-I cry at the drop of a hat.

-I suddenly have the desire to watch Baby Story and Deliver Me.

-I'm always "craving" meat. Preferably in the form of bacon or ribs. Hmm, that could explain the weight gain.

But 3 tests later I have to accept the fact that it is all in my head and I need to get a grip or I'll be a big fatty watching TLC all day getting my steak wet from all my tears.

Have you ever been convinced you were pregnant when you weren't?

Dear Blaise,

I'm sorry I teased you with the sour candy, I won't do it again. But could you please do me a favor? Don't poop 5 minutes before it is time to leave! Could you do it before I put on your shoes and jacket? Or, better yet, do it before I change your morning diaper, because diapers are expensive and we need to get the most use out of them as we can. Wait, even better, how about you start using the toilet?! You do that, and I'll stop torturing you. Deal.

Love,
Mommy

He just doesn't learn

I know I've already posted twice today, but I just had to share this video. I guess Blaise didn't remember what we did to him last year and fell for the sour candy again! I like how he keeps tasting it when I tell him to -what an obedient kid!



We went to a parade this morning (and there was one last week) so the kids have a ton of candy. Even Isaac got into the action: (poor little guy has something going on with his eyes)

Take a guess

There is a freeze warning in effect for Kirksville this weekend. It's been about 38 degrees all day, and I've been thinking about when it might snow here. Last year the first snow was November 29th - what do you think it will be this year? Take a guess, and the person who is closest wins a surprise gift from me! My guess is November 14th. Two guesses per family (if both members of the couple read my blog!) And I'm counting snow that actually sticks, not just flurries.

Good deal!

PYP Blog: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Blu- Ray AND DVD Combo pack $9.99 after coupon!


This coupon expires TODAY, but who doesn't love a Saturday trip to Walmart?! This movie is 19.99 at Walmart, and this coupon is for $10 off. I just went and got a copy for the kids for Christmas. Such a good deal I had to pass it on!

Just let me get this out of my system

I'll try not to whine about the weather so much this winter, but let me get a few moans out real quick! Brrr! We haven't had to turn our heater on yet, but I have a feeling we will have to very soon. The problem is that, once you turn it on it's hard to turn it off! I went shopping yesterday for winter clothes. I decided I'm going to be comfy and warm this winter instead of fashionable. And I actually bought myself a pair of winter boots because last winter my feet would always get wet and cold when we walked out to the car in the snow. Living in a cold climate is expensive!

I want to wear my sweats all day. I want to sit on the couch with blankets and watch tv. I want to drink really sweet, rich, thick hot chocolate. But I can't do any of those, so maybe I better turn on the heater so it's warm enough for me to take a shower. I wish the sun would come out. Cold weather doesn't seem as bad when the sun is shining. Bleh. Okay, I'm done. I won't whine about the cold anymore. Suck it up Ashley, it is time for winter.

P.S. I cried watching The Office - anyone else?

I do have a point

I stink at taking pictures. I found something cool at Walmart today and tried to take a picture of it for my blog. I couldn't get a good shot, so decided to just find a picture of it online. When I was looking I found something even cooler.

I can't find what I got, but this is now what I want:



I got the Dr.Pepper one at Walmart. Totally cute and tasty. I really want the Diet Cherry Vanilla one - that is my FAVORITE type of Dr. Pepper. Too bad I already gave my MIL my Christmas list! Aren't these adorable? And with the wind and cold weather we've been having, my lips need constant protection. (Although, this isn't exactly top quality lip balm. I prefer Carmex or Blistex for real protection) Maybe I'll tell Roy to get this for my birthday. The kids are gonna need to wear chapstick this winter and I bet they'd love to use these! But I guess they'd probably lick it off! Man oh man, I totally gotta have this! Anyone else as in love as me or am I just crazy?

Oh no! I just looked at the website of the makers http://www.lottaluv.com/ and I want everything on that site!

Isaac will crawl some day...

More action shots of Isaac's vain attempts to crawl:

Successful morning session

Since we've had kids we haven't been very good about watching/listening to General Conference. Usually we'll listen to it later or read it in the Ensign later. But this year I knew Rae was old enough to have higher expectations for her. So I decided that we'd sit through at least one session as a family. I didn't bother planning to go to the church building, because Isaac does not nap well anywhere but his crib. So this morning we cleaned the house up, ate lunch, set the DVR and prepared to watch the morning session. We started it about an hour late, but it worked out perfectly because Isaac went down for a nap after the first speaker and slept the whole time! Lovely! And how did we get the kids to be reverent? One word. Cookies.

I put this paper on the wall and when they were too loud I crossed off a letter. Totally worked. They also played BINGO with tootsie rolls and got to eat the tootsie rolls when they got 5 in a row. The rest of the time Blaise played in the playroom and Rae worked on a word search, listened a little bit, and looked over her shoulder to check the cookie paper. Now I'm going start some pizza dough in the bread machine, and I think our special word for the next session will be PIZZA. (We just barely finished the morning session, so we might start the afternoon session late) And then sometime tonight and this week I'll have to watch yesterday's sessions. Maybe I'll listen to them on my mp3 player while I exercise this week!
Yes Katie, I copied you.

Roy needed something to keep him awake, so he painted this bank that the kids made at the Home Depot Workshop yesterday. Turned out really nice. (on the front are stickers - he didn't paint that part - he just painted the edges and top silver and the sides and back black)

Chilly morning

It was a nippy 45 degrees when we took Rae to school this morning - time to pull out the winter hats! Isaac looked so cute and cozy, I just had to take a picture



And here's a video of Isaac trying to get himself to sleep on a typical morning in our house. When he wakes up in the morning I change him, feed him and put him on the floor so I can get everyone ready for the day. On some mornings he's ready for a nap before it is even time to take Rae to school. The video is kind of long, so skip to the end where Roy puts his hand on Isaac's head - it is really cute.

Roy says I should blog...

.....but I don't have anything on my mind. I made the most delicious chicken tortilla soup for dinner. The other day Walmart had some soon-to-expire chicken breasts marked way down so I got a package and of course didn't get around to doing anything to it till yesterday, it's expiration date. I threw most of it in the crock pot to be shredded. Then today I took about 4 cups of the shredded chicken, two cans of chicken broth, a can of tomato sauce, a can of diced green chilies, a can of black beans and a package of McCormick Chicken Taco Seasoning Mix (I use the packaged mixes because I am lame-o with getting the seasoning right) and threw it all together in the crock pot. Actually, I took half of it and threw it in the freezer and the rest went into the crock pot. Then, when I'm in the mood for it again I can take the frozen stuff and let it thaw/cook in the crock pot. I cooked it on low for about 5 hours. I'm sure you could put the chicken in raw, let it cook with everything else and then take it out and shredded it. And it'd probably be good with corn or diced tomatoes too, but I don't like too many different things in my soup. I topped it off with "tortilla chips" which were actually strips of egg roll wrappers leftover from this project. I cut them up, sprayed 'em with cooking spray, sprinkled a little salt on them and crisped them up in the oven. Delicious. And of course topped it all with sour cream, cheese and salsa. So good. Even the kids liked it. I have a little bit leftover for tomorrow and another batch in the freezer. Perfect for the fall weather we've been having.

Next I'm gonna try my cousin Olivia's zuppa toscana. (If I can find kale in stinky K-Ville)

The decorated playroom

Since Ashley isn't blogging today, I figured I'd post this:

The kids' playroom

Rae and Blaise are constantly asking for tape -- I think Rae mainly uses it to stick her pictures and notes to the walls as you can see, while Blaise uses it to build random objects out of paper.

Broaden my horizons

I don't consider myself a picky eater, but I eat very basic foods and eat the same thing all the time. Our week usually consists of tacos, some kind of italian meal, grilled meat, leftovers and maybe some chicken stir-fry or meat and potato type meal. On nights when I have a meeting or activity I'll usually just make chicken nuggets or mac & cheese for the kids and I'll eat something of my own. I want my kids to have exposure to different foods. And I want to start now before they get used to the same things I grew up eating! So I am enlisting the help of my dear readers. Instead of just asking for ideas, I'm going to pick an ingredient every few days that I'd like to incorporate into our lives. This week: fresh baby spinach. I like to buy a bag to eat with lettuce, but there's so much of it and I want use it in some sort of recipe. Also, I cannot seem to find frozen spinach at our Walmart and I think the canned stuff is gross. So if I wanted to put some spinach in manicotti what would I need to do with it first? Last time I just added it to the sauce, but I'd like to add it to the cheese mixture instead. What else do you do with spinach? I want spinach to be something we eat more often!

And I know there are a million websites out there to get recipes from, but I want recipes from people I know and trust that know and trust their recipes.

Oooh, while I'm at it - I got some egg roll wrappers to do this project and now I need to do something with the rest of them. Anyone have a good egg roll recipe? I'm counting on you guys!

Silly boy

I took this video this morning to show Isaac's crawling progress. He's learned how to push himself forward, but as you can see in the video, he lands on his face! But he's definitely further along than Rae and Blaise were at this age. Crazy kid just wants to move! Unfortunately, he always wants to be on his belly, which is making it difficult to go for walks in the morning. He tries to get himself to sleep in the stroller, but he wants to sleep on his side or tummy. Hopefully he'll get used to it!

Some stats *Edited to add a few more pictures*

I've gotta write this down somewhere and this is the only place where I won't lose it! Isaac had his four month check up today. He weighs 16lbs and 9.6 ounces and is 27 1/2 inches long (BIG GUY!) I also want to note that he has been getting himself up on his hands and knees and pushing himself backwards. He can get himself all over the place. Well, you can see for yourself - I just had to get a video of it. Seriously guys, this guy is the sweetest, most easy-going, happy baby (at least this week!) and he keeps amazing me with his developments!

Oh, and I wanted to mention that I've been working on the way I speak to my kids and acting as if there is always someone watching and things have really improved! I took all three kids to Aldi today (HATE doing that!) and it actually went really well. The bishop's wife was there and she is totally one of those women that I want to be, so I decided I'm going pretend that the bishop's wife is always watching.

Oh, and I gave up sugar. Go me.




Just for the heck of it, here are some pictures I've been meaning to post:

Roy left this screen up the other day and when Rae saw it she said "ooh, it's math, I better go find my calculator!" Then she sat down and did some "math".



Awww, so sweet. But so glad Rae doesn't really suck her thumb! I'm already worried about how long Isaac will keep it up! This is coming from a gal who would still suck her thumb if it wasn't considered weird!

Quote of the day

Blaise was trying to get a drink from his water bottle and was having trouble getting any water out. He said "It's broken! Put some new batteries in it!"

I posted this earlier today but I just have to add this other funny Blaise quote.

Blaise's feet fall asleep quite often (should I be concerned?) and when he complains that his foot hurts we will say "it's okay, just move it around and it will wake up and feel better". Well, Rae has been complaining today that her head hurts and Blaise said "I think Rae's head fell asleep!"

It's been a good day :)

A couple more pictures from the trip

Blaise and Dale hanging out

Isaac fell into a box of oversized stuffed animals at Costco.
We barely pulled him out in time!

Weekend Trip

Roy's mom and Dale flew into St Louis on Friday and we met them there to spend the weekend with them. We didn't get there till 6 Friday night, so we just went and got some dinner and then went to bed. In the morning we got ready as fast as we could and headed over to the Gateway Arch so we could be there when it opened and beat the crowds. It worked! We got to ride to the top of the arch and check out the view - very cool!

We rode in an incredibly small, futuristic-looking bucket

At least we didn't take the stairs...

Western view from the Gateway Arch

The ground under us

There were no level surfaces for the camera, so Roy took this

There's a similar picture of Blaise, but he's not happy

The kids loved it and now we can check that off our list of things to do in St Louis. :) That day they happened to have a "Park Palooza" going on outside the arch with lots of demonstrations of things you can do in the Missouri State Parks. I'm glad we came early because the palooza brought extra crowds to the arch and when we left the lines were getting longer and longer!

Rae in a tipi

We went to Olive Garden for lunch - YUMMY and then went back to the hotel to let Isaac get a decent nap. Then we headed back out to look at a few vans (I just wanted to get an idea of what kind we wanted next and there aren't any good dealerships in Kirksville) and we ended up buying one! It's a 2008 Hyundai Entourage and it has 850 miles on it (so, pretty much brand new) It's got power everything and a DVD player. We are really excited. We didn't want to trade in our van and we also didn't want to drive both vans home, so the dealership delivered it to us yesterday. (They had to come this direction anyway.) I'll post pictures of it soon.

(Oh, we also went to Costco and the mall.)

One of those bouncy bungee mall things

Rae and Blaise rode a carousel while poor Isaac watched with interest

Happy Birthday Mom!

I already called her, she already got a present from me, she already had her birthday party....but I can't resist posting a big:


HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE GREATEST MOM EVER!!

Sounds like life to me.....

I heard this for the first time on the radio the other day and really liked it. For some reason sometimes I get caught up in this idea that sick kids, busy husband and a messy house should be less common in my household and that things are "just too hard". Oh brother Ashley, it's just life. I guess I better get used to the fact that this is what real life is like, it could be worse, and I need to enjoy things a little more! Even if you don't like country you should listen to this song! So, now when I write about bleh stuff, I don't mean it as "poor me" and I'll try to make it sound a little more upbeat.



We are heading to St.Louis this afternoon to meet my in-laws for a quick visit. Be back Sunday night!

Should have kept my big mouth shut

Every time I brag about one of my kids sleeping well it comes back to bite me in the butt. Isaac was awake SO much last night! He didn't really want to nurse, but he just couldn't get comfortable or something and was squirming all night! Then around 5:30 I noticed he was wet all over. I tried to get him to sleep one more time but it wasn't happening, so I woke up Roy and made him get up. Around 6 Isaac had a big poop blowout diaper and I woke up when Roy came in to change him. Then Roy brought him back to nurse around 7. He finally went to sleep but I had to get up and get Rae ready for school. Now it is 9 and he's STILL asleep. Must be tired from all of that restlessness last night!! Ugh! Hopefully it was just a one-time occurrence and he'll go back to sleeping well tonight! The nice thing is that even though he was awake a lot last night he never cried or anything, he just couldn't sleep. Maybe it was all that poop that was in him! No more blogging about my kids' sleeping habits :)

Happy Life

On Monday,Wednesdays and Fridays we pick Rae up from school at noon and head over to the park for a picnic lunch. The weather has been so great lately that we've been doing it almost every MWF. (We'd do it on Tuesdays and Thursdays too, but I babysit in the afternoon) It's so relaxing, the kids gobble up the lunch without any whining, and then when we get home they are happy to leave me alone for a bit. Today was a little warmer than usual and we went to a different park that didn't have much shade, so we didn't stay out as long, but it was still fun. The park we usually go to has a ton of shade, a nice play structure, swings, and Rae's favorite - a merry-go-round. I thought we'd try something new today, but I think we'll go back to our regular park next time.


Another thing that makes me happy lately is this little guy:

He has been sleeping so well at night (usually 7pm-4am) and he's so tolerate and happy. He does have a high-pitched scream that he likes to do when he's bored, but it's not an angry scream, just something to do to hear his voice. When I'm busy in the mornings and evenings he often gets put on the floor of the living room on his back. He'll immediately roll over and is usually content on his belly. If he's really tired he'll just pop his thumb into his mouth and go to sleep. This morning he was struggling to stay awake and Rae put the blanket on him and said "it's okay, just go to sleep". I thought it was so sweet. Too bad I had to wake him up to take Rae to school. :( Sometimes he'll sleep in till 7 or so and doesn't need a nap till after we get home from taking Rae to school, but sometimes he wakes up earlier and is too sleepy to wait for his regular nap. He's just such a precious little guy - he's the kind of baby people always brag about but you don't think really exists :) I think 30% of it is that I know better what I'm doing and other 70% is just his personality. I nurse on demand like I did with Rae and Blaise but he usually only nurses when he's hungry, not so much for comfort. So I don't feel like a human pacifier like I did with Rae and Blaise. And I was better this time at putting him down before he was totally conked out, so he has learned to get himself to sleep. Plus the benefit of him liking to suck his thumb!

At the park today there were several other families there and I found myself being extremely calm and patient with the kids. Do you ever find yourself doing that? If Rae were to hit Blaise at the park I probably would have said "Honey, we do not hit. Please tell your brother you are sorry and go sit on the blanket". If we were at home and she hit Blaise I'd probably say "Rae, what the heck is wrong with you!? Do YOU want ME to hit you like that?? Go to your room NOW!" (What? You don't talk to your kids like that? Oh, oops.) So, my new goal is to talk to my children in a way that I wouldn't be embarrassed if someone heard me. I'm noticing that Rae is starting to yell at Blaise more often and I know it's because of my bad example. I know I'll slip up sometimes, but if the majority of my words are calm and gentle then maybe Rae will treat Blaise better too. Basically, I want to be as calm as Michelle Duggar (whoa, when I googled her to get a link I saw that she is pregnant with #19- wowza!)

Um, I got busy with the kids and lost my train of thought and don't know how to end this now! So, um, THE END. :)

Sigh

I started a big long post about how grumpy I've been feeling lately. But I was rambling on and on and not making any sense. So I'll talk about this instead: Rae got her first book order from school. I LOVE book orders! I want everything in there! I loved them when I was a kid too. I'm going to have to restrain myself from ordering too much! How often do they usually get them anyway? If it's monthly then I'm in big trouble :)

Don't worry - I'm just grumpy because:

-Kids have colds
-My back hurts
-I want to eat whatever I want and still lose weight OR not care about being fat
-Roy is back at work and is busy :(
-Isaac enjoys listening to himself scream. Not in anger, just for the heck of it.
-I can't keep up on the housework
-I want a cool new van, just for the heck of it

So, nothing serious, just minor annoyances. I'm going to bed early in hopes that my back will feel better and sleep will help me be less annoyed. And then maybe I'll have something more interesting and upbeat to blog about :) For the most part, life is good:



PS: A few weeks ago, Blaise got a little paper cup full of dirt in nursery (no pun intended), with some cosmos flowers planted in it. They sprouted almost right away and have been growing. Yesterday Roy took Rae and Blaise out to do some stuff and picked up a bigger pot for them:


Hopefully they'll bloom someday...

Does this happen to you?

I'll get on the computer to look something up real quick (recipe, phone number, etc) and then notice that I have an email (I have a gmail notification thingy). Oooh, a comment from someone on my blog. Hmmm, I wonder if anyone commented after me on Katie's blog - lemme go check. Oh, Lindsey commented on Katie's blog....maybe Lindsey updated her blog - lemme go check. Nope, well, maybe Christie updated her blog. Nope. Well, maybe someone updated their facebook status. Then I spend a good 10 minutes wasting time on facebook. But before I can get off the computer lemme check my email (yahoo this time). Then I usually find myself getting into something else (just "real quick" of course) and 40 minutes later I'm finally off the computer and then realize I never even looked up the thing I got on the computer to look up!! Ugh. So, I'm going to start turning my computer OFF more often so that it takes more effort to pop on real quick. And maybe I should set a timer or something? Sigh, I've gotta get less attached to technology!

My sister Katie blogged about whether carrots (raw) give you the hiccups. Do they? They give me the hiccups. So does bread and sometimes apples. I can't find a reason for either one. Another question I have - when you go from dark to light do you sneeze? It's called photic sneeze reflex and it's genetic. Roy does it and Rae and Isaac do it. Do you? At least there's a reason for this weird trait!

Learning to camp

We've never been camping with the kids (aside from on our back lawn) and I've really been wanting to lately. Well, Friday morning I noticed that weather.com was predicting cool weather and 0% chance of rain (a rare occurrence) so I decided that it was time to go camping! I called Roy at work and got the okay from him and after I picked Rae up from school we headed to Walmart to get supplies. Now, I really do mean supplies. The tent we got when we got married wasn't big enough for all of us, so I had to get a new tent. And a lantern. And those little stick thingies to cook hotdogs and marshmallows. Oh, and chairs to sit in around the fire. It was a big purchase, but now we have all of those things and will use them for many many years!

I decided to do everything as basic as possible. The kids don't like their hot dogs on a bun and Roy is doing Atkins, so I didn't bother buying buns. And I didn't bother packing condiments for the hot dogs either! I got a bag of chips and some baby carrots and that was our dinner. For breakfast we had doughnuts and chocolate milk. Simple, simple, simple - that was my plan!

The campsite was at Thousand Hills State Park, which is just 10 minutes away. We got there around 4pm and set up camp, bought firewood and attempted to start a fire. It took a while to get it going, but eventually we had good enough of a fire to roast some hot dogs and marshmallows. The kids kept asking "what are we going to do now" and we had to explain that camping doesn't involve much - just sitting around and enjoying nature! We told some "scary" stories and when it finally got dark enough we put the kids to bed and enjoyed a few minutes alone around the campfire before we put it out and put ourselves to bed. And then I had one of the very worse nights of my life.

Roy had pitched the tent on a slope. He didn't have much of a choice and I didn't realize how much of a slope it was until Rae got into her sleeping bag and slid to the bottom of the tent! Roy and Blaise were on the other side of the tent and I don't think it was as sloped over there. But Rae had a really hard time going to sleep until she finally just smooshed herself against the bottom of the tent. I fell asleep okay but Isaac kept waking up because he was sliding too. Ugh. Every time I would wake up it would take me longer and longer to fall asleep because of the slope and the stupid noisy bugs. And then it got pretty cold and I was worried about the kids being cold. I tried putting Isaac into my sleeping bag to keep him warm (and to keep myself warm while I nursed him) but he kept sliding to the bottom of my bag! It was a LONG night. I kept looking out the window waiting for a glimmer of sunlight so I could wake up Roy and go home! Morning finally came and Roy made a nice fire and we sat around it enjoying its warmth. It was perfectly nippy outside and we enjoyed our breakfast around the fire. Then we packed up and headed out. We stopped by the lake and let the kids play in the mud and then got home around 10am. Roy was nice and let me sleep till 1pm! I really needed it! Then he had to go to work and I spent the day doing a ton of laundry and trying to find space in the house for all of our new camping gear.

So we all survived our first camping trip! Next time we camp I want to do more than one night because it's so much work and you have to make it worth the effort! But I'll only do it if we can find a flat spot to pitch our tent! Here are some pictures of our trip:

Panorama of our campsite

Isaac is so flippin' adorable in this picture




Rae wanted her doughnut warmed up!


Ugh, there were so many creepy spiders


And caterpillars also creep me out.