Hair Wars

Hannah - 1, Mommy - 0

Hannah - 0, Mommy - 1 (Do I still win if I had to give her a snack?)

Birthdays In Pictures

First there was Josiah on Dec. 31…

The marble roller that Daddy made was waiting when he got up in the morning. He was impressed, obviously.

Birthday breakfast. Still pretty pleased with this birthday business...

Where have four years gone? (It's an elephant, in case you can't tell.)

Cousins make great playmates and friends!

We decorated with Wikki Stix. Those things are so cool!

And then Hannah on Jan. 12…

I got to make a "girlie" cake. What fun!

Grandma G. made her a scarf on the knitting machine. Pretty cool!

Modeling the scarf...

Presents, presents.

All of the "monkeys" that helped us celebrate.

The Days Go Flying By

If only the posts that roll around in my head would magically transfer to the computer, I’d be a prolific blogger.  But they don’t and I’m not.  I’d like to shift my thinking a little and see if more posts come rolling out.  Being the perfectionist that I am, I think I can’t blog until I can post all the pictures or say everything just right, etc.  I’d like to try to just post more often and just a little bit of this and that – however it comes out.  I’m not sure if I can manage that, but we’ll see.

My days have been so busy and somewhat overwhelming at times.  School is going pretty well, but I’m back at the place of feeling like that’s all I do.  I know it’s not true, and I have a few completed projects to prove it. However…  I think one problem right now is that I’m having to spend too much time cooking.  I haven’t done a cooking day for awhile, and there’s not too much in the freezer.  :-(  And when I do cook, I feel like I should cook a big quantity and freeze several meals.  I’m going to try to do that when we get back from our big trip.

Oh, “big trip?” you say?  Why yes!  With destinations in Virginia and Florida!  Too bad we have to drive the whole way, but we’ll be armed once again with a bajillion Odessey CDs. I’ll tell you more about it soon – maybe.

A few other things I want to blog about:  Josiah’s and Hannah’s birthdays with pictures to show their amazing growth and cuteness, my determination and plans for losing weight (so far this year, about 4-5 pounds!), my newfound excitement for scrapbooking and my new plan to make it manageable, our journey with Hannah and her fear issues and food sensitivies (and healing!) and whatever else crosses my cranium.  But that’s all for now, because I’m not being a perfectionist and now I have to go cook supper (a couple hundred chimichangas – well, maybe a couple dozen).

A Stitch In Time…

I used to like sewing.  I was even pretty good at it.  I still almost shake my head when I think of some of the intricate things I used to sew and how for awhile as a teenager I sewed for Mom, Rachel and myself (not that we sewed all our clothes. I just did most of the sewing that we did do.)  I pieced a single quilt before I went to Bible School, and even sewed my own cosmetic bags one time.

As time went on and kids began to arrive in my life one by one, sewing took a definite back seat.  There just isn’t time to do it all, you know.  But what I’ve learned is that when you don’t sew a lot, you get rusty and forget how to do it!  I’ve found it very frustrating when I want to make something and find myself making stupid mistakes – the kind I wouldn’t have made years ago when I was sewing all the time.  But once in awhile I still take the risk and sew something for myself or someone else.

In the past 6 months or so, I’ve actually been doing a bit more sewing again, and I’m almost starting to like it.  But, oh, the anquish when I make dumb mistakes.  Here’s a little gallery of my recent adventures.

I made a bridesmaid dress for my niece, Sara (second from left). It turned out great, but I made some mistakes in the process. We used a different sleeve pattern and I had to cut out two or three sets before I got it right. Then, the first time she tried it on with the skirt, it didn't even come close to the floor. Way, way too short. Ugh. Thankfully, Alicia had a lot of extra fabric, but it really bugged me that I wasted that fabric that she could have used for decorating. By the way, aren't the colors, flowers, wedding dress, etc. really pretty? It was a beautiful wedding.

I also made the flowergirl dress which was kind of fun. Little girls are easy to fit since they don't have any curves. I only made a few little mistakes that didn't make any difference in the end. In the background you can see me in my cute little red dress that I made for the wedding. It went okay, except that it ended up being too tight on top. Since I was wearing a shrug on top it didn't look bad, but it wasn't the most comfortable. Maybe it will help motivate me to lose weight??

I've finally done my first-ever sewing for Hannah - two little skirts. I think this one is pretty cute and I actually came up with the design myself. The ruffle is supposed to be worn more on the side.

Just before Christmas I got inspired to make pjs for my kids.  I took a reality pill and didn’t get them done before Christmas.  But, I had fun sewing them between Christmas and New Year’s.  The pattern sizes were odd and and some of them turned out to be ginormous.  I eventually re-did Logan’s to make them smaller.  Here they are:

(Hannah wasn't feeling very cooperative at the time.) I later made a top for Logan too.

Caleb and Logan had a blast wearing Caleb's pjs. I offered to make them smaller, but he didn't want me to.

Josiah had fun too!

My next project is a tote/church bag for me!  I’m pretty excited about that one.  It’s going to have some cool features – if all goes well.  And it will be red.  I’m hoping to do it this week, so I’ll let you know how it goes.

Today

Today was a little gift from heaven.  And from Keith too.  This weekend was somewhat less than restful for all of us.  Well, Keith got some spiritual refreshment, if not physical at a Pastor’s retreat on Friday and Saturday.  Of course that meant that things were a little more stressful here.  Then Sunday was a really good day, but pretty busy most of the day.  Keith invited people for lunch on a whim and then we had small group at our house in the evening.  So.

Last night we decided to take today as a day of rest.  Wheeeee!  I wish we could do that every Monday.  We played games with the kids, made stuff with Perler beads, did some shopping, found some “us time” for Keith and me, and generally didn’t feel pressured about life.  Well, not until just before supper anyway, which is pretty good, really.  Oh, and Keith made supper – his idea!

Then tonight I got to go dancing, so that was a pretty good end to the day.  Have I mentioned my dance group that I’m in?  I don’t think so.  A friend has started a Jewish dancing group, and it’s so much fun!  I had done a little bit of it years ago and always wished I could do more.  Right now we’re doing something different – choreographing our own dance to the song “Grace Like Rain.”  Our leader is doing more than the rest of us, but it’s definitely a collaboration.

Unfortunately, dancing wasn’t quite the end of my day.  Keith is working a night shift, so I got to do bed-time by myself.  Sigh.  Does anyone else strongly dislike bedtime?  I wish it was a wonderful time of connecting, softly ending the day, gently tucking in little cherubs, etc.  But alas, it’s rarely easy or cherubic around here.  Tonight after the first “tuck-in” there was talking and “he keeps kicking me”, then someone couldn’t sleep (and probably hadn’t held still for even 30 seconds) and was still hungry, and another one had to go poop.  By the grace of God, I made it through without losing my temper this time and now the house is blissfully peaceful.

And that was our Monday.

In Which I Grovel

My dear sister pointed out in her last comment that I forgot to mention a certain visit this month from some certain important people.  Oh, the shame.  How could I forget, in my frantic, random blogging, to mention that my SISTER (this is her right here):

was here, along with her fine husband Dave.  (This is the two of ‘em from few years back):

So, Rachel and Dave were here before Christmas for about 4 days.  Not nearly long enough, I assure you.  But that’s just the way their schedules worked this year.  We had fun hanging out and making and eating food.  We had our little gift exchange because that’s what we do.  And it was fun as usual.  And if I took any pictures of it (I don’t think I did) they’re still in my camera which has dead batteries.

The one sad thing is that they (my sister, see this is her at her wedding.  Isn’t she beautiful?):

Um, where was I?  Oh yes.  My dear sister was here before Christmas, so it was kind of busy still with all the preparations.  We didn’t have enough time to just hang out and relax.  Sigh.  It was fun to be around her when she’s pregnant and go through kids clothes together.

My sister is very dear to my heart and I’m so glad she – and her cool hubby – were here, even if it was only for four days.  I don’t know how I could have missed mentioning that in my previous posts.  Because she’s my sister and I love her! (Oh, and here’s a picture of her, in case you don’t know her):

Brain Dump, Continued

I’m just going to continue on with the random bits of info as they come to my mind.

Keith is working a night shift tonight and some of the kiddos are having a hard time settling down.  :-(  Josiah refused to eat anything except his enchilada tonight (leaving the veggies and salad) and still refuses to eat them, though I’m pretty sure he’s hungry.  Hannah and her Daddy threw her bottles in the garbage this morning (yes, I’m so embarrassed to admit that she still had a bottle).  Afterwards, we remembered that Keith was working nights tonight, so I’m on my own with whatever tonight holds for her.  :-(  It’s 10:00 and she isn’t asleep yet.  She just now drank some from a sippy cup so hopefully she’ll go to sleep soon!

On Sunday I had yet another little Christmas Treat Binge.  And then, feeling too full and very fat, I declared that I wouldn’t eat any more sugar (well, no desserts) until Josiah’s birthday cake on Thursday.  It’s insane how much junk I’ve eaten this month!   Last night we were at a birthday party and there was home-made ice cream!  And I didn’t eat any!

Speaking of birthdays, our family is involved in 4 (!) birthday parties this week.  Isn’t that a little crazy?  Tomorrow night we have two that overlap.  One is just for the Caleb and Logan.  Josiah’s birthday is Thursday and he wants an elephant cake.  That’s one of tomorrow’s projects.  We’re just having his two little cousins over to play.  Today Caleb was “working” in the shop and he made wooden swords for all of the boys for Thursday.  Does that sound like a good idea to you?  Two four-year-olds and one three-year-old with swords, indoors?  I expressed my hesitations to Caleb and he thought maybe we could give the swords to them just before they go home.  How’s that for party favors?

I wrote about my best Christmas present ever.  Well, it got even a little better!  Ever since Keith has been pastor, there is a family in our church that gives our family a big box or basket of Christmas presents.  I’m always humbled and amazed by it.  She has really good tastes and finds very interesting things for everyone.  Well, this year was no exception.  For me there was a gift certificate for a three-month membership in our local scrap-booking club!  They meet once a month and get a kit each time with a new technique and supplies for it or a new product.  Plus there’s time to just scrap-book.  So, I guess I’m all set for some great scrappin’ this year!

One more thing about this club.  It’s called Scrapaholix and there are clubs all over the world who do these same kits.  And would you believe, our little town has the biggest club in the world!  Last quarter there were 69 ladies in it!  Apparently, there’s nothing else to do here!

Two days or so before Christmas, I had the not-so-brainy idea to sew pj bottoms for the kids.  I got them cut out, and a top for Hannah too, but I didn’t sew them. (Duh!  What was I thinking!)  So I started yesterday and got most of them done (while the boys watched movies!)  Fun, fun!  I just have a bit of Josiah’s pants to do, and then cut out and sew a pj top for him.  That shouldn’t take long.  I might even do it yet tonight since Keith is working and it would just be wrong to go to bed at a decent hour.

On Christmas Eve morning, Hannah accidentally shut the bathroom door on my fingers. (The hinge side of the door!)  I haven’t experienced pain like that for a long time.  Maybe not since the last time I gave birth.  It almost made me light-headed and nauseous.  I had to call Keith to come home from the church since Hannah had also just filled her diaper.  I was supposed to play piano at church that night.  They couldn’t find anyone else, so I went at 4:30 to practice and see if I could do it.  It still hurt, but the more I played the better it felt!  It ended up not bothering me hardly at all.  Praise the Lord!

After the Christmas Eve service, we had a bunch of people over for snacks, games, etc.  It was a fun evening!  Christmas morning we had our usual pancake feast.  Mike D. joined us for that and gifts.  Then we hung out, started a game of Blokus, I made a pie…  Dad and Dru stopped in for awhile, then Derek too.  Our friends Todd and Deanna came over for dinner.  It was a wonderful ham dinner.  I didn’t feel like I worked hard at all since most of it was prepared ahead of time, and Todd and Deanna brought some too.  It was a good, relaxing day!

On Boxing Day we spent the day with Keith’s parents.  Gifts, snacks, sliding, reading, relaxing, and dinner.  Ned made the most amazing beef ribs I’ve ever tasted.  They practically melted in your mouth!  I ate too much! (As if that’s a newsflash!)

My family was together the weekend before Christmas.  We went to MN where my bro lives and got pool-side rooms at the Holiday Inn.  We sat around for a couple of days and ate and played games.  The kids swam and swam and swam in the pool.  Hannah threw up early one morning and again on the way home.   I don’t know if it was car-sickness (she’s done that before) or leftover “bug” from the weekend.  Either way, puking in the van is pretty disgusting!

Yesterday morning I got the kids dressed up and took them over to AnneJisca’s to have their picture taken.  Bad idea!  Hannah was totally uncooperative.  She rarely put down her bag of cheerios and raisins and cried a lot of the time.  And I had the beginning of a very stiff neck/back that just got worse and worse as the day went on.  So, it wasn’t exactly a happy experience.  Here are a few of the results. (Please excuse the weird captions.  It isn’t cooperating at all.  Just like Hannah.

See her stuffing her face?!?

She smiled for about two of over 100 shots.  And Josiah didn’t those two times!

This might be as good as it gets. I don't like the pose as well in this one, but at this point, who wants to be picky!

We tried to interest her in joining the fun, but no way!

It took a lot of shots to get this one! And I was holding her on my lap.

“Hi, my name is Josiah and I’m going to have a birthday SOON!”

Keith is making a marble roller for Josiah for his birthday!  I’m excited about that!  Only two more sleeps.

Well, That Was A Month!

Christmas 2009 is history.  It was a really good Christmas.  Oh, we had our rough spots for sure, but as I look back over the month and just this week, I feel satisfied and blessed.

Warning:  I’m going to throw my perfectionist tendencies to the wind and write a truly random post here.  My goal is to see how much I can type before I fall asleep in 15.2 minutes!  ha!

I got one of the best Christmas presents ever!  Keith gave me 10 coupons for a day of scrap-booking in which he takes care of meals and child-care.  I can use one a month all year except for July and August.  I’m starting by using two of them in Jan. to go to a scrap-booking weekend here in town.  I assured him I wouldn’t be able to use one in Feb. since we’ll be going on a big trip.  So he agreed to my scheme.  I’m really glad because I’ve really been in a scrap-booking slump.  It’s so hard to just get at it, and then when I do have a chance, once or twice a year, I feel like I have no creativity left.  So, I’ve been getting a few new supplies and I hope this gives me the oomph I need to get started again.

I returned the favor to my sweetie by totally blowing his gift.  I’m so sad.  I ordered custom-made leather mitts for him – with no fur or beadwork, since that’s what he wanted.  They have fur.  And they’re way too big.  The fur is the fault of the person who made them, but the size is my fault, I’m afraid.  I guess I’ll have to go back to her and see if she can re-make them.  I HATE doing stuff like that.  Shoot!

The first two weeks of December were insane.  At one point I counted five events I was either in charge of or had a major responsibility in.  I remember bringing my stress and frustration to God one morning and praying through each of the activities.  I was also specifically wanting to know if I was doing things that were not in God’s plan for me.  The answer seemed to be that I was in Gods’ will for me, but the one thing I could change at that point was moving the location of a shower from my house to someone else’s.  That helped!  And God really did help me and bless the things we were doing.

One of the projects was doing a little Christmas program with the Sunday School kids at church.  I thought we’d do a simple little thing with a few songs, a poem and them reading the Christmas story and dressing up as the manger scene.  But there are always a hundred small details and people to coordinate, etc.  I was also helping lead worship, which was a mistake.  At least I found someone else to play piano.  Lots of details, last minute scrambling/mis-communications/sickness…  But, in the end, the kids did a great job and people really enjoyed it.  I was really proud of the kids.  They stood up and sang enthusiastically and spoke clearly.  Josiah was a bit of a clown for the crowd.  Oh brother.  In the end, it was worth the struggle and work.

Another highlight of Christmas was seeing our children enjoying making, buying, wrapping gifts for others in the family.  They really put their hearts into it and opening gifts had a different feel to it this year.  We tried to focus on “giving” gifts rather than “who’s getting one now.”  We also scaled back in our gifts and they really didn’t seem to notice a bit.  They seem to be enjoying what they did get.

Which brings me to this:  I found the most cool toy/craft item for our kids this year.  They’re called Wikki Stix and I bought them here.  They are so neat!  Wax-covered pieces of yarn that stick to almost anything, including each other, are nearly indestructible, and have endless craft/play/educational possibilities.  I highly recommend them.  Oh, and the web-site where I got them has lots of other amazing stuff.  I got a bunch of art supplies from them and Hannah’s birthday present too.

My niece got married Nov. 21.  That was fun – and so strange that my niecesa re starting to get married.  Another one gets married in June.  I helped with a unch of decorating and was wedding coordinator.  That felt rather stressful at times.  I haven’t done that for a long time and I was out of practice.  But it was a beautiful wedding anyway!

For the last month or so, Hannah has rarely been sleeping through the night.  And some nights it takes hours before she’s completely settled down again.  We’re going kinda crazy with that.  I keep sorting through ideas and praying to know what’s going on with her.

Incidentally, I don’t think Hannah is going to be a quiet, shy, wall-flower kind of girl.  She’s giving me a run for my money.  Sometimes I call her a firecracker with a bow in her hair.  Oh, and speaking of hair (I told you this would be random!), I finally cut her bangs.  She had a nice little crop of hair in the front that was too short to keep back, but it hung in her eyes.  So I trimmed just a little bit of bangs.  I think it makes her look even more like my pictures at that age.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how we celebrate Christmas and what things I might like to change/add/eliminate.  It’s a journey I’ve been on for a few years.  I came through this year with a few new things/traditions, a thing or two dropped, and more thoughts on how I want to continue to change it.  Maybe I’ll post more of my thoughts on that later.

And now I can barely stay awake!  I’ll try not to stay away so long next time.  And I hope the things I’ve just written in this mental fog will make sense!

Merry Christmas!

Tooth Tales, Etc.

Some of you might be wondering how Hannah’s tooth is doing.  It’s just fine!  It’s still amazing to me that you can just stick a tooth back in like that.  So far it hasn’t turned dark, but I suppose it still could.  I talked to a dentist the morning after it happened and he assured me I had done the right thing.  He told me how to watch for infection, etc. and was generally very helpful.   He also said that it’s normal for a tooth to not go back in all the way or be crooked.  Obviously, he won’t put braces on her to pull it back in place, but he said he could grind down the tooth so that it isn’t longer than the others.  I think we’ll try to have that done.

This has been a real journey for Keith and me.  Has anyone seen the movie, “Nanny McPhee”?  Her tooth reminds me of Nanny McPhee’s awful snaggle tooth.  (But obviously not as bad.)  At first it just wrenched our hearts every time she smiled and we saw The Tooth.  I shed some tears over it.  It really helped when a friend said it’s okay if I go through a grieving process.  Another friend said she totally understood why I felt that way.  I know it’s just a tooth and it will come out in a few years.  But for now, her appearance is changed and not for the better.  I think it bothers me partly because I had such awful teeth as a child and really was a homely child for a number of years.  Teeth are a big deal to me!

I feel like I’m mostly used to it by now and it doesn’t twist my heart to see it.  I even cheerfully call her “Hanny McPhee” sometimes.  But, we are going to take her to the dentist to see if he can at least improve it somewhat!

On another note…  I had a special treat this week.  My dear friend Debby who lives about three hours away had a birthday this week.  Keith graciously gave up a day of hunting so I could go help her celebrate.  Kendra H. and I zipped down there yesterday afternoon, hit Wal-Mart for a bit and then picked Debby up and took her out for supper.  We had a great time just sitting and talking and eating great food – and I left my take-out box in Debby’s fridge.  When we got home we ate pumpkin cheesecake that Kendra had made.  It was amazing!!!  Debby and I soaked our feet in her new foot spa and I fell asleep a couple of times (I’m gettin’ old, y’all!).  At about 11:00, Debby suggested we play a game of Settlers.  I tried, I really did, but I just couldn’t stay awake.  So we decided to hit the hay and finish it in the morning.

After a great sleep (I was informed that I do snore !  Huh!) we had some wonderful veggie/cheese omelets, and then a piece of pumpkin cheesecake while we finished the Settlers games.  After praying for each other and singing a couple of songs, we hit the road.  It was a short and sweet trip, and very refreshing.

Thanks you, Jesus and Keith!!

What a Day!

I want to go to bed and sleep for 12 hours.  It was a nutty day. A real mixture of good and bad.  Let me try to sort it all out here…

Good: Keith and I stayed in bed sorta long this morning talking and praying.

Bad: We got a late start.

Good: Caleb and Logan got to go to Grandma G’s today.

Bad: Since I had a late start and maybe some more excuses, I was scatter-brained and impatient this morning.

Good: Josiah, Hannah and I got to go to “lunch bunch” with a bunch of other ladies.

Bad:  I stayed about 10 minutes too long and Hannah had a melt-down.

Good:  Keith had part of the afternoon off and I had a massage at 2:30.

Bad: The massage hurt like the dickens.  She’s working hard to loosen up my enormously tight shoulders, pecs, upper back, neck, etc.  She used a different technique today that was very painful but is supposed to be very beneficial.  I sure hope so!  Apparently I have really poor posture.

Good:  I got to go for a bit of leisurely shopping after the massage.  The new True Value was having a grand opening and I had a donut.

Bad: November and December are starting to look rather busy already.  There are a few things hanging over my head right now that I need to plan.  I’m feeling sort of stressed about all that.

Good:  I had a little bit of time to sew this afternoon and evening.  I didn’t make any more mistakes.  I finished a skirt for Hannah and the flower-girl dress for Alicia’s wedding.  Their both stinkin’ cute!

BAD:  Just before supper, Hannah slipped on the floor, hit her face and knocked her top front/right tooth right out of her little head!!!!!!!  Oh my.  I think Keith and I were in shock.  He called the hospital and a friend of ours was working in the ER.  She talked to the Dr. and called us back.  The Dr. recommended not trying to put it back in because it could be a choking hazard and there’s a risk of infection.  But our friend also added that she and another nurse thought that putting it back in would be the right thing to do (unofficially, of course.)  I can’t believe we did this.  I held on to her and Keith stuck it back in place!  I HATE stuff like that and it’s probably even worse with my kids.  I squeezed my eyes shut and just hung on to her.  There’s a reason I never wanted to be a nurse!

Good:  The tooth went in and she left it there.

Bad:  Maybe an hour later I googled “put tooth back”.  In the heat of the moment, it never occurred to me to do it before we put it in.  Bummer.  I found out we did a few things wrong such as disinfecting the tooth instead of just rinsing it with milk, and we should have put pressure on it for 15 minutes after.  I don’t know if she would have let me anyway.  Shoot.

Good:  Hannah was much happier after the tooth was back in and even ate a mostly normal supper.  I had yogurt and applesauce for her but she wanted to eat meatballs and rice!

Bad:  The silly tooth is sticking out and down a bit more than the one beside it – and her teeth kind of stick out to begin with.  Double shoot.    I thought I’d wait until she’s asleep and try to put some pressure on it for awhile.  I snuck into her room to do that, and when I moved her arm, she woke up.  I think she’s asleep again now, so maybe I can do that before I go to bed.  Time will tell if this all works.  I’m afraid it might stay in, but turn dark.  I had a tooth like that when I was little.  Sheldon did too.  Maybe it’s a generational curse. :-/

Good:  The day is almost over and I can go to bed soon.