Still rewinding Christmas

My oh my how quickly these kiddos are changing! I remember Christmas 2007...vaguely. It is a foggy memory. We had moved, had 8 month old twins, my sister had 2.5 month old twins along with her 23 month old son and Taylor was 8. I remember a lot of crying. Maybe by me??

But, now I remember how that was our last Christmas season with my Grandpa Warren and Jereme's dad. And, we'd only have 1 more Christmas left with Grandpa Harvey. Oh how I wish all three of those men were here to see these kids. How they would delight in how full of personality each and every one of them is.

Long cousins...


House cousins


All my handsome boys!! Blessed indeed!

What we've been up to this week...

*Getting too big too quick. The little boys told me they didn't need me to go back with them at the dentist office. So, I had to sit out in the lobby as one-by-one they went back for a full check-up, x-rays, cleaning, etc. Wasn't it just yesterday I was convincing them at any doctor's office that they didn't need to cling to me like a wet cat?

*Apparently Jereme and I aren't even close to figuring this parent-thing out. For about 1 full week, Luke refused naps, wouldn't sleep at night, ran a low-grade fever and was just flat fussy. We chalked it up to the sweet boy finally entering "toddlerhood". But, after the suggestion of a wise friend to get his ears checked, I took him in. Lo and behold he had a RAGING ear infection in each ear, which had progressed so far that eventually his ear drums burst (which FYI is completely disgusting during an infection). After 2 days of meds, he was already almost back to being our sweet, easy-going boy.


*Boys being great helpers and doing chores! Earning their commissions for the week!

Jorden cleaning the bath:



Isaac unloading the dishwasher:



*Breathing treatments, breathing treatments and more breathing treatments



*And, a surprise visit from Poppa and Mimi! Made 3 little boys and one isolated momma's day!

It was just that kinda day...

*Woke up. Eyed the heaping mounds of laundry. Wonder how it seems to go from oh I have a load or two to a mountain.

*Put on my fave unders. That would be MY fave, not Jereme's. Awhile back, alright fine a few YEARS back, Target had these awesome black hipster Hanes unders. I bought a 3-pack and loved them dearly. I was down to one final pair. Noticed a slight tear in the seam as I pulled them on. No biggie, right? Right.

*Broke up 599 fights.

*Continued on with my decluttering of our house event. Emptied out all the spices in the cabinet. The picture below shows all the expired items in my cabinet. And by expired I mean several of them had "Use by April 2002" on them. Contemplated that. Huh. I would've bought that probably when we lived in KC. Soooo, essentially that means, I moved them from KC to the rental house in Pratt then to the home we bought in Pratt then to Salina and now to Clay Center. Neato.



*Husband says at 4 pm, "we're going to the game (KSU) tonight still, right?" We've had a boy on a horrendous (and expensive I might add) breathing treatment schedule. Me, "Um, yes, of course, I totally planned on that." Race back to my room, put some make-up on. Realize I didn't get very far on the laundry but dang that spice cabinet looks good! Throw on some old jeans and a ball cap. We are good to go!

*Beg hubs to let me run into super nice store in Manhattan for a couple things. Stand behind a mom asking her approx 5 year old if she can borrow $2 and pay him back on Friday when she gets her paycheck. Work hard to not be judgmental. Hey, I don't know their situation. Conjure up all sorts of hardships they must be facing and contemplate offering her the $2 myself. Watch as her son reluctantly hands over the $2 and she purchases her one item. A pack of cigs. Yep, you got it. She borrowed $2 from her son for 3 days to get her smokes. Neato again.

*Think about telling Jereme about the bottle of lemon juice I found crammed in the cabinet that expired in 2006 and resembled moldy, chunky, cottage cheese. Decide against it.

*Take my sweet toddler to the bathroom for at least the 23rd time during the game. Of course we have to cram ourselves into one stall not made for a mother and her son. Luke tinkles. Momma tinkles. Luke opens door. I quickly and apparently roughly reach to pull up my unders. Remember the ones I picked this morning? Well, wouldn't you know it, my thumb catches it and rips out approx 5 inches of my underwear from my waistband.

*Stand in stall. What's a girl to do now? Attempt to rip the underwear completely apart and off. Doesn't work. Try to carefully put half off underwear all tucked back into my pants.

*Step out and truly look in mirror for first time since we left home. Are those "mom jeans" I am wearing? Really?? Try to remember when I bought them. 2001 possibly. Turn in mirror. Are they faded out denim? Check. Do they go almost up to my belly button? Check. Are they cute in any way? No. Do they fit more like mens jeans of the late 90s? Check. Oh holy crap, I AM wearing mom jeans.

*Crawl into bed that night. Feel something jabbing my shoulder. Find a naked Cinderella doll. Look at it. Think, "that's the least unusual thing about today" and toss her on to a nice soft mountain of laundry.

THE END.

Definitely not my strength

Anyone who knows me well, knows I do NOT excel in the arts and crafts department. My former fellow teacher friends will attest to the fact that I rarely did art and usually had to do self-talk all week long to make it happen.

Sooooooooo, I was setting myself up in a big way when one cold afternoon I decided it was time for an impromptu gingerbread house making. Let's just leave it at this:

*I yelled.
*Candy was flung (not by me) from one end of the kitchen to the dining room by over anxious children.
*A repeat trip was made to the store where I may or may not have locked my kids in the car to go grab another box of graham crackers without it having to take 25 minutes with 3 little boys in tow.
*Some of the participants cried.
*One of the participants got a spanking.
*It's possible I made myself ill over eating INSANE amounts of candy to cope with the stress.
*I don't recall tasting any of it. I do recall thinking I would be mortified if anyone saw the huge handfuls I continually shoveled in while hiding behind a cabinet door.
*I had to have a drink at the end of the project.

But, the gingerbread houses were completed. Everyone appears to not have any lasting emotional scars. I will probably never do another impromptu craft. I may never do another craft in general. As the saying goes around here, "Fun times. Fun times."




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Christmas Rewind

I took a pretty big computer hiatus right along with my man. He shut off the "Monsanto Man" the night of December 22nd and he didn't reappear till January 3rd. BLISSFUL! On that same note, I don't know what happened over the holiday but as my man walked out the door, looking mighty cute I should add, I wondered what the heck had happened.

I texted a few close friends to find out if I should be concerned. He is now sporting a goatee. A goatee!? He did not shave for 13 straight days. Please, if you have EVER known Jereme to have facial hair, tell me! And, he also had on some boot cut jeans!! I felt compelled to ask him if he had a new girlfriend!?

Anyways, we had a fabulous holiday break!

Isaac and Jorden intently watching their individualized message from Santa on the computer



Luke-bean pretty excited about preparing Santa's plate


Speaking of Santa...here is his "helper" getting busy assembling gifts at 830 pm