Stylin' Monday

I follow quite a few blogs but one of the funniest by far is Tales from the Motherhood.  Wendy has a way of writing and telling her stories that makes me laugh almost everytime I check her blog.  I love her honesty about life and being a mom.  If you haven't read her blog before, I HIGHLY recommend it! 

So, onto my Stylin' Monday.  I know, its not as catchy as Wendy's Stylin' Saturday but since I wasn't organized enough to do this on Saturday, I've just got to work with what I've got.  No doubt there is some equally catchy fashion-related title that would work with Monday, but it's 9:30 at night and I'm all but brain dead.  Deal with it.

My girls' fashion tips for the week:

Fashion tip #1:  Baseball uniforms need sparkles.  And cowboy boots, too.

I know that for whatever reason not everyone in the world was as big of a Cyndi Lauper fan as I was.  That being the case, before the next tip, I need to familiarize you sad folks with this album cover:

Emilia's fashion tip #2:  If you're feeling out of sorts, and just not sure what to wear on any particular day, imitating Cyndi Lauper is a 100% failsafe way to go.

Fashion tip #3:  Don't be afraid to try something new.  And when in doubt--LAYER.  This applies to clothes as well as make-up.



Sucker your sister into it too, if you can.

Before you know it, she'll be a fashion diva, too!

Finally! I Posted!

Hello, everyone!

Did ya miss me?

Things have been so busy and crazy around here, not that I'm surprised by that, but sometimes I get lost in the busy-ness and craziness of life. So, just to try and catch you up, I'll give you a quick rundown of our recent lives.

Josiah and Micah have started up another season of soccer. They are on the same team this year, so at least that simplifies practices and games a bit! Micah really debated about playing soccer this fall. Part of him wanted to play baseball again. I was not for him playing baseball again (I needed a break from that bit of madness), so I may have encouraged soccer more, but even so, I think he's quite happy with his choice. They had their first game on Saturday and although they lost by one, they were both excited about how they played and how their team as a whole played, too.

The boys have also joined Cub scouts. Micah is a Tiger scout and Josiah is a Wolf scout. I can almost guarantee they are both going to have tons of fun being a part of that. They have only been to one meeting so far, but they both loved it! The tricky part of scouts is that the meetings are on the same night as soccer practice. This means that my stinky, smelly soccer boys are sent to scout meetings as is. I may have to start them on some deoderant. :)

We're in our 5th week of school for the year. In addition to what we do at home we're also going to a co-op on Tuesdays. The kids like being around other kids and having "class." I'm their teacher there, too, though so it can't be that much different from school at home, but they act like it is! I'm also teaching/watching my friends little girl during the week. I mean, I figured I already had 4 kids--what was one more?? Ha! Her little girl is 4 and I actually think the situation is going to be really good for all the kids involved. Emilia is sooooo thrilled to have another little girl to play with and Audra now has 3 people trying to mommy her, but we're figuring it out as we go. However, I am EXHAUSTED at the end of the day. Something about having an 8, 6, 4, 3, and 1 year old...

Audra is still trying to figure out the whole talking thing. She's started blabbering up a storm but I have a hard time understanding many words, but she's getting much better! Based on how much she jabbers incoherently now I'm pretty sure she's going to take after big brother Josiah and always have something to say...once she learns actual words! I'll have to move her carseat next to Josiah's and they can keep each other company on our car rides. :)

There's a big project going on in our backyard these days, too. This year I asked my mom and John's parents to put money toward a backyard playhouse instead of the usual birthday presents. All three of us pooled our money and now our labor (although really the majority of the labor is being done by my mom and Sue!) and are building THE MOST AWESOME PLAYHOUSE EVER. Seriously. It's that cool. There is (or will be) a playhouse, a deck, a gangplank, a slide, a sandbox, a rock climbing wall and a swingset. But wait! There's more! As if that weren't enough, Mom and Sue keep coming up with more totally awesome ideas to enhance it. I think they are going to add a pretend store front and jail! Oh, I would have LOVED this when I was a kid. Who am I kidding? I love it now! I haven't taken pictures since the first day of building, but this will give you some idea...

As if all of that weren't crazy and busy enough, John and I are in the middle of training for a half-marathon. A what?? Yes, you read that correctly. I'm trying to train this ole body to be able to run 13.1 miles. Am I insane? Well, maybe. I did wake up before the crack of dawn, before my children were even awake to be able to go out and run 4 miles this morning. In my book that qualifies me as insane, but hopefully you have different standards. Training is going really well, though! I've been running with my friend Stephanie and last weekend (end of our 4th week of training) we ran SEVEN miles. Without walking. We were/are ecstatic!! We feel like superheroes!

Quotes of the Day

Emilia: I love you, Mommy....but not when you spank me. Then, I just love you a little bit.

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Josiah: SMELL MY FEET--FEAR MY WRATH!!

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Micah: I'm never going to learn to read.

Daddy: Then it will be difficult for you to find a job.

Micah: That's fine with me. I'll just get money out of my bank account.

Daddy: You won't have money in your bank account if you don't work. Plus, you won't be able to drive.

Micah: That's fine. I'll just walk everywhere. Or ride my bike.

Daddy: Do you know how long it would take you to ride your bike to Iowa to see great grandma and grandpa? It would take you about 7 to 10 DAYS.

Micah: That's fine with me. I'm never going to read. I'm just going to be a super spy.

Iowa 2011 - Day 4

How did I ever let the last day recap end without putting a picture of the sunset on here? My grandparents live on a lake in Iowa and for as long as I can remember I have loved watching the sun set on the other side of the lake. It's so beautiful. Here is the sunset from our 3rd day:





The next morning we went to the fish hatchery.


The boys were most impressed with the albino catfish,



but Emilia was quite taken with the turtles. She stood up on the rail and watched them most of the time we were in there! She even had them all named. There was the momma turtle, the baby turtle and the daddy turtle.


Here she is holding her baby up so she can see the turtles, and I quote, "Look, baby. Look at the turtles. Do you see the turtles?"

This is my fantastic grandpa, playing along and pointing something out to the baby.


She was particularly excited when the momma turtle gave the baby turtle a piggy back ride!


Audra just had fun being cute :)


After hanging out with the big fish for awhile, we went to see all of the tiny, hatched fish. There were a LOT of them! The kids were all very impressed by how many little fish they had to be put in the lakes.




On the way home from the fish hatchery, we stopped at the store to get some night crawlers for fishing. I'm not much for fishing...too much patience required for that! But the kids and John had fun out there, even if they didn't catch any fish. I'm actually not sure if Emilia had more fun fishing or playing with the night crawlers, but either way, I know she had fun. :)








And then, that night--that's when it happened. The moment the kids had been counting down to the whole time. The moment we'd all been waiting for:

THE COUSINS ARRIVED!!!

Audra though Preston and Grammie (my Aunt Pam, but all the kids called her Grammie) were worth checking out. Turns out they're pretty fun to play with!


Poor Grandpa had so many more people from whom to defend himself



Emilia LOVED having GIRLS to play with! She latched on to Rylee almost immediately and wasn't far from her side for the rest of the time.


Audra enjoyed my cousins' girls, too. :)


That night Emily and Grammie took the kids to the park. We wish YOU had been there, too!







Grammie led all the kids in an obstacle course!


Time to calm down! Hanging out with Grandpa and cousins before bed.




What a wonderful day that was. So much fun. So much laughter. So much excitement. So much love. It just doesn't get much better than that. <3

Iowa 2011 - Day 3

Sorry for that longish hiatus...I've been attempting to plan for our upcoming school year and I've been bogged down by all of the choices!

My girls love to color. You should see all of the BEAUTIFUL artwork they create for me. (Really, you should. Send me your address...I'm all about sharing!) :) Almost every day that we were in Iowa one or more of my kids colored a picture or two or ten for my grandma.



I'm sure she kept them all. ;)

Later that morning, the girls went out shopping. And would you know I got the FRONT DOOR SPOT at the Emporium BOTH times we stopped there? (Yes, we went back to the first place we stopped at the end of our shopping. Ha! Makes me think of the first--and last--time my dad took me shopping. Seems I haven't changed too much.) Well, the girls had a great time out and about and it would seem the boys had a great time at home without us as this is what we found when we got back:




And here's little miss sassy pants and her new necklace...she picked it out herself and of course it's purple, her favorite color. Much to her dismay, mommy wouldn't buy her the hot pink, sequinned, heart cut out shoes. They were cute...they were also expensive!


After lunch we had some more time just foolin around. John fixed grandma's computer and the kids typed more letters to their cousins. Emily worked on her online class and I edited pictures to print for Grandma and Grandpa's wall.

That evening, however, there was no foolin' around as Grandma and I dominated the card games...AGAIN.

'Cause we're awesome like that. :)