Steve Wins BIG

Believe it or not, Steve was the lucky winner on a radio station the other day!

The question was:

"In the US, these take up more land than Delaware and Rhode Island combined.  What are they?"

Steve knew the answer right away. 
Do you?

(Golf Courses)

Alana's New Passion

Alana will never die down on her shoe fetish and still eats shoes and has graduated to the "reorganize-the-shoe-racks" stage of life (i.e., knock them all down).  BUT, we are happy to announce we have found her new passion in life:  DOGS!

Over at a friend's house, we were just about to put a very sleepy Alana to bed (hence the PJs in the pic) when she saw the dog and WOW was she excited!  She cuddled it like a giant stuffed animal!  What a trooper of a dog to let her hug and pull and hug and pull and kiss and hug and squeal!  And then, just a few weeks later, a BIG THANKS to Angelique and Diane who let us walk their dogs while out of town!  Alana had a BLAST!

Sleeping in Coffins

Halloween is my kids all time favorite holiday.  We act out "Pooh's Heffalump Halloween" year round (that means I was sick of watching the movie, so now we started acting it out last year, each taking a part, or two, and acting out the main events, including some word-for-word dialogue).  Carter brings me a new "BOO" picture home from preschool daily.  We love the off-season, because the library's Halloween section is FULL.  When we went camping and needed "ghost stories", we knew exactly where to look.

Taryn, Keara, and Addison waiting for me to read the Halloween Ghost Stories.

So yesterday Carter, Addison, and Alana wore Halloween shirts.  And last night, Addison and Carter got to wear there glow-in-the-dark Skeleton PJs.  Do I need to mention the excitement?  We played a Halloween trick on Daddy that had us all laughing.  I turned out the lights and they hid in the back of the room.  When Daddy walked in, they turned around and ALL you could see were 2 skeletons dancing, and it looked JUST like a cartoon or low budget movie.  All black except 2 skeletons moving their arms and legs.  Want to see the show???  We'll preform at anyone's request!

These PJs worked to my full advantage when Addison got out of bed.

"Oh no!  What is my littlest skeleton doing out of bed?  Do you know that skeletons sleep in coffins?  And once they're in the coffin, they never get out.  Do you want to be a skeleton tonight?  OK, then lie down in your coffin.  I'm going to close the lid.  Now I'll lock it.  There, nice and cozy.  Good night!" 

...worked like a charm.   Putting it in writing sounds a little spooky, but I promise it was all said in loving sweet tones.  For the record, I'd never lock my kids in a coffin.

Nurturing a testimony

A break away from the usual light humor on the blog:

Today was testimony meeting at church.  Today, just like all other testimony meetings, Carter urged us that he wanted to get up and bare his testimony.  

• Remember, he's 4.  
• Remember, he's Steve's son.  

So of course he loves the opportunity to get in front 200 people and talk into a microphone.  For specific reasons, we've never given into his requests (besides going to practice in the primary room -- see this post for that funny story).  

But something different happened today.  After saying a silent prayer, I felt the Spirit prompt me that this would be a spiritual experience for Carter, and would give him a chance to feel the Spirit and identify the Holy Ghost.  I pulled him close to me and said, 

Me: "Carter, if you were to stand up there, what would you say?"  

Carter: "I already know what I'm going to say, Mom.  I'm going to bare my testimony that I know this church is true and that Halloween is coming up."

Riiight, see, trying to avoid the Halloween references.  Trying to focus on the gospel here, is what I wanted to say.  But instead, I chose to be patient.  

Me: "Why don't you tell me what you want to say and I will write it down for you.  That way, you won't forget anything when you go up."

Carter: "Can I rip out the paper and take it up with me?"

Me: "Sure."

And what came next was really touching, sincere, and humbling for me.  I wrote down word for word what he said, then he went right up to the pulpit, with the biggest smile on his face.  He looked out into the congregation, smoothed out his paper, and very clearly said the following:

Hi.  My name is Carter.

And I know this church is true.

I know Heavenly Father listens.

We are taking cookies over to houses and we ring their doorbell, then we run.  And that is so funny, but I feel the Spirit when I do service.

And I know that Jesus loves little children.

I felt the Spirit during Family Home Evening.

 In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

When he came down from the pulpit, he was glowing with happiness.  I had told him to pay attention to what he felt in his heart as he was up there, and if he felt good, that was Heavenly Father's way of telling Carter that he was doing the right thing.  When he came back to our seat, he said he felt "Goody Goody Good!  SOO good!  Like when I shared my candy jar."  That's so right, Carter.  That was another time the Spirit touched his heart so strong.

I am so thankful for the times that Heavenly Father intervenes to pick up the pieces and make sense of my parenting.  I am thankful for the Spirit that can touch a heart beyond what I can do.  And I am thankful to have trusted the Lord more than myself in that moment, granting Carter an incredible stepping stone in his own personal and spiritual growth.

The other moral of the story:
If you get cookies on your doorstep and no one is there when the doorbell rings:
It wasn't us.

Good to know...

You know the temperature gauge on your dashboard that you ignore because it always hovers around the middle.  That's good.  But once ours got up to the red.  That's bad.

We were glad to have heard this little tip which actually saved our car from overheating.  First thing to do is refill the coolant.  (that wasn't the tip...that was just the obvious thing to do, so while Steve and the kids waited in the car on the on-ramp to 294, I drove the other car to a nearby service station.  Such a hero, I am). 

Now, here was the tip that I want you to remember if this happens to you:  Turn on your heater.  It pulls heat from the engine and makes that white needle go down significantly.  Roll your windows down so you don't overheat too much.  Sing to your children who hate the wind, especially the highway-loud-fast-strong wind at 9:00 at night.  Then make it home and be glad you are okay.

So just remember that.  If it happens to you, turn on your heater.  It works.

Minute To Win It Fame

Remember that my awesome fun family played Minute To Win It at our family reunion last month?

My sister in law posted her videos on her Family Channel on YouTube.  A fun way for us to see them and laugh at ourselves.  Of course, it's only her family's channel, so how in the world would anyone see it.  No biggie, we thought. 

Two of the Many Highlights

Retrieve a penny from each toe of nylons without using any other body part except your arms and hands.

Stick your nose in vaseline, then in a bowl of cotton balls.  Make the cotton ball stick to your nose and drop it across the table on a paper plate. 

Shortly after she posted her videos, she received an email from Minute to Win It themselves, who loved our videos and that we did it as a family, and wanted us to send them all of our videos for them to use on their show :)

HA HA!  So much for keeping the "make a fool of yourself since no one will see it" mentality at bay :)  So, for a few minutes of fame, we'll all get free Tshirts. 

Year of the Frog

OK, if there is something worse than finding a dead frog carcass in my garage then it is having to pick up the said dead frog carcass and put it in the garbage can.  Ugh...blugh...I had to use the longest shovel I could find...ew gross.

Thank goodness it was garbage day.

Then yesterday I found the hugest frog of all time on the way to preschool.  Big. Fat. Green.  A perfect frog, just like this image...and probably looked just like that before it got hit by the car.  Of all things to hit while driving, I've heard of cats, dogs, possums, raccoons, but a frog?  I have to ask, was it slippery?  And no, it wasn't me who hit the frog.  Remember the story of the carcass?  I wouldn't be so cruel.

I got my fill-a Chick-Fil-A

The setting: 

3 months ago.  Girls night out. We're surrounded by chocolate, sharing our deepest moments when:

Did you hear?  There's a new Chick-Fil-A coming?  

What?  Squeal! WOW!  When!

Having observed me staying quiet...

"What, Kerri?  You've never had Chick-Fil-A?"

And that was the deep-confessing share-your-truest-secrets moment.

No, I hadn't.  And while we didn't camp out all night as we vowed to do 3 months ago, I DID, in fact, attend the grand opening this week. 

Only 5 of the 11 kids that came with us!
Ollie, Addison, Carter, Jared, and Jolie; missing are Alana, Amelie, Rachael, Alicia, Abby, and Noah

And I took advantage of their soft opening last week and drove got 3 free sandwiches for my kids.  And I got free coupons for free sandwiches this week (which we've used).  And they're giving free breakfasts next week.

Yes, it's good.  Yes, the fries are better than everywhere else (except Red Robin).  And yes, they have a dancing cow.  But it's just fast food people.  Granted, I've still been there 3 times in the past 8 days.   Hmmm...

Daddy Pep Rally

We all know those days when our kids have a harder time saying goodbye to Daddy as he goes to work.

Last week we had one of those days. 

Steve carpools to the train with Brian, so Ollie came over and together we all made this big "WE {heart} OUR DADS" sign and delicious Peanut Butter Cookies. 

Then we snuck over to the train station parking lot, found his car (after some circling) and deposited the goods!  We all felt so sneaky and had that giddy happy feeling that comes from doing a secret something for someone you love.

Back to School

Back to Life.  Back to Reality.

Song stuck in your head?

We love Carter's Preschool Teacher, though he has observed on several occasions that "She's not my Mom's Age.  She's Older.  A LOT older.  Like a Grandma...but that's ok."  It's MORE than okay!  His teacher is so gentle and kind.  3 other friends are in his same class, and he has been genuinely happy since the first day of school.

Our favorite thing about it is that he gets to ride his bike to school! It's about a mile away, and he smiles the whole way.  Mostly I walk with him, but on busier days (or the days I was flu-ridden) I drove in the car next to him.  He feels like such a rock star!

He's sure growing up and becoming more independent :)

And in the meantime, we're still having fun on the homestead, going to parks, going to the story time, and on occassion, yes, letting Alana take her morning naps while we get things done around home.

Passing Notes in Junior High

When Cheri was visiting, we raided our old bedrooms for memoirs of the past.  Amongst the art projects and A+ papers we swore we would want to keep forever {...toss...}, we found boxes of old notes from friends back from JUNIOR HIGH! 

Why we felt the need to keep these for 17 years, we're not sure.  Why she had hers sorted into little separate boxes according to who wrote them, still don't know.  Why I felt a twinge of "I got more notes than you did", wait...no I didn't. but it would have been funny. 

But it was HILARIOUS to read these notes!  I'm talkin' laugh so hard your sides ache and oops...maybe wet your pants.

We came across phrases from boys like, "I have demanded a featherbed from just one goose" from a boy who wanted to be "more than friends" with Cheri, but mostly it was drama drama drama and people being bored in class.

And how in the world did we fold our notes that way, anyways!

In the end, we used the notes for kindling to roast hotdogs and marshmallows.

No hard feelings, we'll still be BFFs 4ever.

I'm Back

Hey, if Disney can store away their movies and re-release them as a smashing success, then I suppose I can come out of my blogging "vault" and re-release me, as well!

Sorry about the 1-week hiatus. 

Partly to be blamed on the Hunger Games series. 

But mostly to be blamed on not living a very bloggable life lately.

Which is probably to be blamed on the Hunger Games series.

But anyway {I'm} back, everything's fine, all's well that ends well, huh, my little scissors legs?

*bonus points if you can name the quote and note just roll your eyes at me*

The Silver Lining

What is the perk to waking up with a 102 fever, body aches, and chills? 

Finding this waiting for you on the couch:

and not having to feel guilty about spending every minute reading it (or sleeping) because, I'm sick after all!

I'm finding I'm getting better the closer I get to the end of the book...strategic or ironic, I'm not sure, but I'm pretty sure I'll be out of commission until I'm through.

THANK YOU THANK YOU to all of you who found out I was sick and offered to help!  I love you for it!  And THANK YOU to all of you who would have if you'd known.

Our Weekend Motto

9:30 pm.  10:30.  11:30.

Boggle. Therapy (a game).  Sequence.  Trans America.
Camping.  Beach.  Train Rides.  Chicago Blues Fest. 

Giordanos Pizza.  Ice Cream Sundaes.  S'Mores.  Burritos.

To which my sister advised:

Let's Eat, Drink, and Be Merry, 

For Tomorrow 

We'll Diet

Ahhh...it's a good holiday weekend.

Endure to the End

Whether it's hard or if it's not,

I will do it until I'm done.

~Carter Madura
age 4 1/2