My post trumps your post

When the day started, I thought this was going to be the post of the day:

What do 80 and 104 look like? Well, it's a little if they are the amount of calories in a really yummy something. A lot if it involves the entertainment for 2 children while Mom is in the other room. Thank goodness for Gallon Storage Baggies that gathered up all the 80 wipes that Addison emptied out, and we got all 104 diapers back in the box.

But then, I had an event that TRUMPED that post...

When was the last time you had Fire Truck come to YOUR house? For us, it was Wednesday night at 7:45! We'd been wanting to take Carter to the fire station, but now they were coming to us!!! It was amazing!

We were telling Carter that the firefighters were going to come to our house with their truck and he was so excited! He ran to get his toy fire truck and waited with baited breath. As soon as he saw their lights coming towards our house, he immediately sounded his own siren and turned on his truck's lights. As the heroes entered our house, Carter invited them to see his truck and his firetruck blanket; he started searching for all his firetruck books, and he was wearing firetruck pajamas--so was Addison--we seemed like an obsessed family! One fireman offered Carter his coat (which smelled like REAL fire) but he turned it down...Out comes the 3 year old in Steve who didn't shy away at all to ask if he could wear it! Carter sure thought the walkie-talkie was cool! It was really working and he could hear dispatches the whole time!
Getting the fire dept to make a house visit isn't just for kicks and giggles of our kids. No, we actually did call 911 because as we were putting our kids to bed, Steve and I were smelling the most peculiar smell, like something was burning. We searched the house, all outlets unplugged, all light switches and walls felt cool, no clothes were over vents--esp since they are all on the ceiling--we were baffled, but the smell was getting stronger and stronger, and we could not ignore it. So, we enlisted the help of the professionals, and they determined it must be a probelm with our heater and the smell was traveling through the vents.
Later, Steve found this:No, it's not a dirty diaper. It's a diaper that must have fallen casualty as Carter and Addison were throwing 104 diapers over our balcony railing to the entryway below. So where I once thought my two posts were unrelated, as it turns out, they were both quite relevant to post!

P.S. Our heater is fine.

Announcements, Announcements, Announcements!

(Blog title from a Girl's Camp Song)
Ever had 5 sisters all having babies within a month of each other? We did last year, with a baby being born in September, November, December, January, and February. We didn't think that could be topped. Then the blogs started. This is what my family has discovered.

Cheri's Announcement posted January 29. She's due August 27:Tauna's announcement posted February 8. She's due on August 7.So, here's my announcement. Posting today. Due August 13.

Yep, that means 3 sisters having 3 babies now within 3 weeks of each other (yes, in 3 different states, Sorry Mom!). Maybe this is what happens when you're from the greatest family in the world!

Another ironic point about this pregnancy:

• Carter was born on Mine & Steve's anniversary.
• Addison was due on my birthday.
• This baby is due on Steve's birthday.

That just makes us laugh!!!! Are we really in charge here?

I had a BLAST announcing the news to my parents...I made an 8-9 foot wordsearch puzzle, with over 60 words to search for, with the remaining 203 letters spelling out a message for them. It was so fun and such a shocking surprise for them! And now for you, the rest of the family!

Carter's Happy Logic

Carter had watched a PBS show that emphasized Giving to Others. On Wed morning, he woke up and asked,

"What makes Jesus Happy?" (Must have come from nursery).

Me: Well, What do YOU think we can do to make Jesus Happy?
Carter: Hmmm..well...(his face lights up with an idea)...We could make Him cookies or Bread or Himph!! (he's into making up words now)
Me: Yum, those sound so good! Hey, what did the elephant learn about sharing?
Carter: We should GIVE to Others!
Me: Right

So later in the day we made muffins...I thought this plan was going oh so well.

On our way to bring a muffin to our friend Katie down the street, he decided this was no longer a great idea. He kept saying, "No, that would not be nice [to give her a muffin]. It will make her sad." I tried my hardest to teach him in all kinds of ways that YES, giving to others--a muffin to Katie--would make her soo happy, and that would make Jesus happy...not working...

Next tactic: "Well, maybe if we give Katie a muffin, then you could eat yours WITH her and see who could eat it fastest; wouldn't that be fun?" Nope, he kept saying, that was not a great idea, and it would not be nice.

So I turned the tables to him..."Well, what would be a nice thing to do, then?"

Carter: "Say, Thanks for having us over; we'll see you next time!"

Right, yes, that would be a nice thing to say...the discussion ended there.

Adventurous Moms of the Year

Phone rings at 10:15...'What do you want to do today?" "I don't know...any thoughts?" "Whatever, I just have to get out of my house"...45 minutes later...5 kids, 5 carseats, 2 double strollers, 2 Moms, and packed lunches are headed out for our Grand Adventure!

With Carter, Addison and Leah in the back, Parker and Zach were thouroughly entertained.

Carter, Addison, and Leah enjoying the Jim Gill CD

And then Addison discovered he could chew on his toes :)

Carter, Addison and I went with Lindsay and her kids to the Shedd Aquarium. And for a free day at the museum, it was not busy at all, giving Carter and Leah PLENTY of space to see the fish, and do a lot of running around.

I'm so impressed with everything Carter learned and could tell his Daddy when we got home (especially because it looked like he was just running around and around)! He told him all about:

• the Jellyfish that changed colors,
• the Seahorses bobbing up and down,
• and the School of Fish we saw (his new favorite phrase...he even got his cars lined up..."Look, they're a school of fish!"),
• and his crackers during dinner were swimming like stingrays.
• When I thought he was only looking at the jetted waterfall at the Blue Iguana Exhibit, oh no, he apparently was paying attention becuase he told Steve all about what the iguanas were doing and could do quite the impression of them on the rocks!

And to top it off...I happened to run into Heather--My next door neighbor growing up who I've been friends with since I was 3. Why didn't we take a picture?

It was a FUN day! So much for the laundry and tubs that thought they'd be attended to, but it sure was FUN to be spontaneous!

Duck-Duck-Goose--I've been tagged

I got tagged. It made me laugh enough that I had to follow through:

The Rules:

1.go to the document/ my pictures site on your computer

2. go to your sixth file

3. go to your sixth picture

4. blog about it

5. tag 6 people

Approximate time of photo? 1987. Wow! Weren't we the stylish bunch!!!

This was taken while camping, after a Family Reunion, in Washington? (please clarify in comments). Perhaps this is when we went to the Worlds Fair. Perhaps this was the beginning of the Bowling Ball Tradition? Where's Shaun? The pic has: Mom, Heidi, Tauna, Cheri, Brent, Andrea (cousin), me, Uncle John, Aunt Katherine, Janae, David (cousin), and Dad.

• Heidi: Cute side pony-tail Heidi!
• Tauna: I haven't seen that haircut since the last Barbazon commercial (and as a side note, your right arm is BUFF)!
• Janae: Thanks for not poofing your bangs for this picture! But hey, what more could be done in our Green-with-electric-tape-holding-it-together Pop Up trailer?
• Dad: Thanks for pointing out the Continental Divide--again.
• Mom: Thanks for sending back the Peanut Butter and jelly sandwiches made in the front seat of our Oldsmobile Station Wagon all the way to the "Way Way Back" where Cheri and Heidi and I were sitting, or the cups of water from your thermos so Tauna could stick her head out and pour the water on her face.
• All: thanks for picking up the Pictionary Cards every time they flew off the top of the car roof after stopping at the side of the road...it taught me well, and contributed to my own blog post about it this summer.

Oh yeah, the tag: Who may have the most interesting stories/pictures to share?

Janae, Stefani, Holley, Roseanne, Heather, Brandi

Our Oh-So-Clever Valentine for Daddy

Yes, I thought of this myself, and Carter pulled it off oh so cute!

While Daddy was taking a shower, Carter and I snuck in.

Carter said: "Daddy, do you want a kiss?"

Daddy: "Well, Sure!"

Carter: "Then we are going to SHOWER YOU with kisses."

At which point we poured a whole bag of hershey kisses over the curtain to a very surprised--yet loved--Daddy!

Heart Attack

I can't leave my V-Day posts alone without blogging that I got Heart Attacked by the Young Women in the ward!!! Boy, do I miss them! I was released in December as the Beehive Teacher after being there for almost 3 years. We came home from our Valentines Trip (see below) to discover hearts all the way up the stairs, guiding me to my room where there were heart messages all over the bed and dresser!

Thank you Girls (and leaders!!!) You made me soo happy! And thanks, Katie, for letting them in my house!

Perfect Valentine's Getaway

When our friends, the Harmons, moved away we were all so sad! We've known them for 5 years, and moved together 7 times, in 4 different states. So how else should we spend our Valentine's Weekend than with them!

We met half way between our current lives in Wisconsin Dells and took advantage of a time share there! HOORAY! The boys reunited with a rousing round of Jumping on the Bed! (and surprisingly survived with no tears, bumps, or broken teeth!)

The rest of the time was spent at the Pool, where we fell in love with the Adventurous Carter going down all the slides by himself...

...we also played at a huge indoor Playground nearby

...and loved eating fantastically yummy food! (This is our V-day Candlelight Dinner with Cheese Fondue!)

We LOVED the adult time we shared after the kids went down for the night, too. I love all the friends I've made the past few years, but I value so much the friendships of those that knew Steve and I BEFORE we had kids. We were so much cooler back then, when we weren't so tired and our sense of humor revolved around making fools of ourselves over Kareoke instead of who has the funniest diaper changing story. Thank you to the friends I've made WITH our kids, for somehow thinking that we are still cool enough to hang out with! Still, It sure was nice to reminisce back to those times with Daniel & Heidi, including our trips together to Hawaii and our Cruise to Mexico!

Daniel & Heidi also shared a FANTASTIC movie with us that I highly recommend. It's called Fireproof and is a real and inspirational movie about making your marriage last and more meaningful, even when it's on the brink of breaking. It's a movie we watched for the message, not the acting.

Fly Lady's Got Nothin' on Me

Spring. Glorious Spring. It's what calls me to action! So when the temps soared to the 50's and 60's yesterday and today, I took FULL advantage!

1) Washed all the upstairs windows--inside and out (it rained last night, so now they are spotted again. Oh well, I still was ushering in the sunshine)
2) Vaccumed and Dusted all the upstairs
3) Did 4 loads of laundry
4) Went on 4 walks with my kids (Around the neighborhood with Carter's Tricycle twice, Around the lake once, around our block once with Carter's training wheel bike--during this walk at dusk, Carter said he wanted to go inside "Never Never Never, and just stay here and see all these beautiful stars"!)
5) Went to the Zoo (sorry, the pics with the animals, just didn't turn out so bloggable)
6) Went to the Park to play on slides with friends

7) Washed the car (even though it's going to rain all day tomorrow)

8) Washed the nasty salt/dirt/snowy grit off the garage floor (even though snow is forecasted later this week)

9) Had the Windows open and the heat OFF! (Take that Nicor Gas!)

And aside from the Zoo--which we did on Saturday--that was all within the last 36 hours and aside from all the other things I normally do! We got 2 days of spring and I was not going to waste it!

I'm going to bed now with soar muscles, but a rejuvinated spirit!

Don't think I can take the 30's and 40's again? Bring it on! I've soaked up the sun!

Ding Dong the Witch is Dead!

Or at least the SNOW is MELTING!!! Hooray! It's going to be a great day!

Admittedly, it is funny to see our 6-ft yet now-headless Frosty outside!

We're Having a Heat Wave...

...A tropical heat wave!

Well, not quite, but while the temps got up to 35 this weekend (WOW!) we took advantage of the outside sunshine!

And FINALLY the sun has melted a little snow to create enough moisture to make our first FROSTY!

Carter is actually very happy in this picture! He was saying "FROSTY!" and I guess I caught it at a wrong moment in the word...Next Time We'll stick with "CHEESE!"

Carter's Victory Dance

Yesterday, Mary and I took Carter, Addison, Madelyn and Leah to the bowling alley!

Addison was our cheering section!

It's always a blast, and I bring my camera along for that "just-in-case-words-can't-do-it-justice" moment. Well, in the middle of the game, that moment came. Carter was so thrilled that he set up the ramp, put the ball on the ramp by himself, AND knocked down pins, that he started running around the alley repeating this exciting chant:

"I just did it! I Just did it I...But My Mom Didn't Did it!.."

His song was cut short "Ooh...let's go in there" when he found a small locker room for bowling balls.
What a riot this video was!

Pop Pop Poppin' All Around

With 2 balloon-popping-phobic parents, we thought our children would be doomed to inherit this trait, like a kid with glasses...but alas, our recent birthday celebrations proved otherwise :)



Thanks for the help cleaning up, guys! And for all you balloon-popping-phobic friends out there, Carter and Addison are rentable for your party clean up needs!

Winter Adventure

So what do you do when you've promised your kids a day of adventure, and when they are all bundled up and getting in the carseats you discover that you can't find the keys because your husband accidently took them to work...

You Improvise! We turned a very chilly single-digit degree morning into a bundle-up-in-many layers morning to go on a walk around the block--TWICE! It was fun (and short), and Carter got to ride his Tricycle, the only toddler on our block to do so in January.

Smile Smile Smile!

Free smiles here...it is 15 minutes long, yet so worth it! So turn off my blog music and pull up a chair!

Smile! You're the greatest!

Dinner update...

So,  it wasn't a complete flop, but definitely not worth any hurrahs.  I ended up making a "lasagna casserole" by combining all the saucy stuff with Penne noodles (which WAY TOO MANY, so we'll be eating pasta until March), and the pie was tasty yet soupy.  Oh well.  Maybe that's how President Benson likes it.

Not my day in the kitchen...

So I was inspired by Maryle's Lemon Meringue pie she made over the holidays.

So I determined that I would attempt to make one today....and then it all began.

• I have to go to the store for eggs. I pass the sugar and think, "No, I have enough."
• I was supposed to cook during naptime, but something else needed my attention, so I didn't get started until Carter woke up from his nap...not good timing.
• The pie called for 3 cups sugar...open the sugar--YIKES!--good thing it measured JUST ENOUGH, until I later found 3 more teaspoons needed at the end to add to the meringue...YIKES! (I ended up svangering enough out of the bag in the pantry.)
• I started mixing everything in a medium mixing bowl, then realized it would have to be bigger, so moved it to the kitchenaid, then realized I had to cook it on the stove, so 3 bowls later, I finally put it in a saucepan which I now had to wash by hand.
• I followed the recipe EXACTLY, it's from the Lion House Cookbook, it's President Ezra Taft Benson's wife, it HAS to be good....THEN WHY, after hours of cooking, is the pie resembling a lemon soup????? Completely liquidy, wiggly, jiggly? Could it be that it called for 4 CUPS OF WATER?????? yeah, way too much in my opinion, but no way would it be published there if it wasn't going to work. Grrr...

So my intent was to invite you over for some pie. So sorry. The pie didn't work out. That's why I didn't call.

then came dinner prep--we were going to have lasgna. I had the cheeses, sauces, everything all ready and just had to lay out the noodles. So I opened the box of noodles to find that somehow--IT WASN'T FULL and there were only 4 noodles in there!!! WHAT!!!

So now, after dirtying WAY too many dishes, letting the kids pull out WAY too many toys, and watch a few too many Baby Einsteins, I have very little to show for it but a messy house.

It's not my day to cook.

If anyone wanted to invite us over for dinner or dessert, today would have been a good day.

Rice Krispies it is.

What's Your Flavor?

What's your favorite kind of ice cream? Apparently, it says something about you:Double Chocolate:You tend to be lively, creative and dramatic. Always the life of the party, you charm everyone you meet with your enthusiasm and sense of style. You enjoy being in the spotlight and prefer to be in the company of friends rather than left alone to reflect on life. You prefer passion and excitement in your romantic relationships, and require a lot of attention from your mate.Vanilla: There is nothing plain about Vanilla. In fact, if you love Vanilla, you are actually a colorful, dramatic ris taker who relies more on intuition than logic. Emotionally expressive and idealistic, you ten to set high goals for yourself, and push yourself to meet and exceed them. On the romantic front, you tend to rely on secure romantic relationship that fulfill your emotional needs while working toward future objectives.
Butter Pecan: You might be characterized as the perfect worker. You are devoted, conscientious, respectful and fiscally conservative. You hold high standards for right and wrong and show integrity in all of your actions. This includes an extreme sensitivity for others' feelings. You aren't one to wear your heart on your sleeve; it takes a little encouragement from close friends and family to share your deepest thoughts.

Strawberry: A love for strawberry reveals a thoughtful, logical person who carefully weighs each option before making decisions. More a follower than a leader, you are content and effective working behind the scenes and out of the limelight. In relationships, you are often characterized as shy and reserved. Although you don't fall head-over-heels in love at first sight, once you commit to a relationship, you are loyal and supportive.

Rocky Road: You tend to be a balanced mixture of charm and practicality. While you are outgoing and engaging in social situations, in the business world you tend to be more aggressive and goal-oriented. You enjoy being catered to, and appreciate the finer things in life. You are very sensitive to minor slights and respond best to encouragement rather than criticism.

Chocolate Chip: You are competitive and accomplished; no victory is sweet without a little hard work. Although you are competent and ambitious in love and work, you are generous with your time and money, never taking your blessings for granted. Your captivating personality makes you a shining star in social situations.

Mint Chocolate Chip: You tend to be ambitious and confident...yet a little skeptical about life. You are a realist who prepares for the future, needing a solid plan to feel secure. While your stubbornness is a business asset, it can add a challenging element to your relationships. Nonetheless, your loyalty, honesty, and dependability create lasting friendships and close family ties.