American as Apple Pie

Apple pie is Todd's fave, so Dawson and I made him one when he got home from Africa. There's nothing as American as apple pie right, so what better way to welcome him back to the good ole U.S. of A. I don't really care for 2 of Todd's favorite desserts - apple pie and oatmeal raisin cookies. I mean seriously, who ruins a perfectly good cookie with raisins? That's what they invented chocolate chips for, or butterscotch chips, or peanut butter chips, or white chocolate chips with craisins (this is all hypothetical of course). So I always tell him he knows I ReALLy love him if I'm willing to bake when I won't even eat the end result. Well, I guess that's not completely true, it is pie after all and you can pick the raisins out, but still...

Just because...

Just because he's mine
and because I could eat his little face.
Because he's so good to his Mama and sleeps through the night and I tell him "thank you sweet boy" every morning because he does.
And because when Todd is long gone to work and I have no one to lay next to me in bed, I have him - and he looks like Daddy and gives me french kisses.
And because he sucks his thumb like nobody's business and bats those crazy long lashes at me.
Just because he has blonde hair and blue eyes and perfect lips.
And because best of all, he's mine all mine.

Ouch

"I like your Christ, but I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ." - Ghandi

I saw this bumper sticker the other day and thought, ouch, that hurts. I hate to admit that all too often my life doesn't match my mouth. I say that I love God with all of my heart, that I want to follow Him, that I will live by His standards. But the truth is I find myself settling for the shallow distractions of this life. I trade happiness for joy, fleeting things for eternal things. I would rather be comfortable than be challenged. I spend more time worrying about what other people think of me than what God thinks of me. I'm afraid of what He will want from me, require of me, so I don't ask. How much of my time is spent on meaningless things that have no real value? I am always desperately reaching for some perspective, and still falling short. I guess that's where grace comes in; when I say I'm a Christian but I am so unlike my Christ.

A broken Hummer, what a bummer

We bought them this.......and they spent all day playing with this

The Hummer finally bit the dust. The kids tried to start it up and it started smoking and took it's last breath. Our family has a knack for breaking things just after the warranty expires, so we were out of luck again. When Todd got back from Africa he wanted to buy them a new car with some extra travel money he had, and they decided on this "Gator." But the battery had to charge so while Ella and Dawson waited, they had an absolute blast playing with the box it came in. If you look at the last picture, between the two of them you can kinda see that Ella poked holes in the side and stuck wild flowers through. Typical girl, has to decorate even though it's a card board box. Dawson is thrilled that it looks like the riding mower, and it has a dump truck bed to boot. They've been loading it up with all sorts of random stuff and hauling it around the yard. Last night Dawson put his bowl of ice cream in it and drove all the way out back to eat it. I would've thought I'd died and gone to heaven if I'd had a toy like that growing up. These two are spoiled rotten - we're working on the rotten part and hoping to cut it back to just plain spoiled.

Mean Green Cleaning Machine

I meant for this to post on Earth Day, but I don't know what happened? So it's a little late... I love using "green"stuff when I can, and when it works. One thing that doesn't work is that ridiculous dishwasher soap! I think it's ironic that we can only get the phosphate-free stuff here, and other parts of WA I think, because it's Eco-friendly (you can go to http://www.treehugger.com/ to read about phosphates), but I have to use the hottest wash cycle, and inevitably hand wash dishes and silverware after they come out of the dishwasher because it doesn't do the job. So I'm using more energy, more water, more soap! Doesn't seem very earth concious to me. I know God created our planet and our bodies and we're supposed to do the best we can to take care of them, so I'm all for it when it makes sense. I think I just get a bit of an attitude when our society worries more about fish and trees than the lives of unborn babies. Don't even get me started. Okay, back to cleaning: here are a few of my favorite Eco-friendly cleaning tips that I think work great and are easy on the lungs and our cute little planet. There are TONS are resources on this kind of stuff, these are just a few ideas for everyday chores.

Windows:
In a bucket, add 2 tsp white vinegar per quart of warm water, use a squeegee to clean outside windows (just not on a hot day or when sun in shining directly on them or it will streak). Saves on paper towels big time! You can use vinegar and water in a spray bottle for inside windows too.

Soft Scrub:
I make a paste out of baking soda and lemon juice to clean all sorts of things. And then I pop the lemon I used and some ice down the drain and give it a whirl to clean out the garbage disposal.

For showers:
Mix one part hydrogen peroxide with 2 parts water in a spray bottle, spray on moldy grout etc and let sit one hour before rinsing it off.

*Lemon, which I love in any way, shape or form, is actually a great bug-killer and is effective against most household bacteria, so squeeze away!

Warming Up

About a month ago my friend D asked if I wanted to run a 1/2 marathon with her and some other buddies in May. I was beyond flattered that she thought I was capable of walking, let alone running that far - but I wouldn't be able to if my life depended on it. But it did get me thinking about exercise. Unfortunately I don't make it a priority, heck it doesn't even make it on the list. But it's time, I need to do something. I think I'm pretty active, but I hate intentional exercise so I have to trick myself into working out by pretending it's something fun. A few months after I had Dawson I signed up to do water aerobics at Whitworth a night or two a week. I love swimming, so what a great idea! Problem #1 was that I didn't own a one piece bathing suit, so there I was, 4 months post-partum in all my glory, in a bikini - not good. The second problem was I thought I loved swimming, but what I really love is to bob around the lake in my life jacket sipping on a cold drink. Or holding on to the kids' floaties and kicking them around, or diving into Aunt Julie's pool and then gliding over to the edge to drink some lemonade and eat a cookie. Apparently they were serious about the aerobics part, so it wasn't near as fun as I was hoping. So here I am, no real excuse not to be exercising at least once in a while. I promised myself I wouldn't work out until I was having regular quiet time, but now I have a time I can carve out for that too. It's still tricky trying to fit it in during the twins' naptime, but after Dawson and I get our time together, but while Ella is still in school, and after I have dinner figured out and the house work done and....But I stopped working out a month before I got prego with the twins, and haven't since so that's, let see....10, 11, 12... 19 months! Yikes! So I did it, I dusted off the ole treadmill and actually got on it, typically I just dust it off in the literal sense. I hate that thing, just staring at me, all dusty and judgemental. I only jogged about 2 miles and don't know when I'll do it again exactly, but that's okay, as long as I try. I am determined not to let my heart get all crusty and rusty before I get a chance to nibble on some grandbabies. Oh and Steph, for your information I didn't have licorice in the cup-holder this time, so there. And at least I'm not like your old neighbor that jogged with a diet Pepsi in one hand and a cigarette in the other.

PG-13

Someone who shall remain anonymous texted me this joke and it's a little bit naughty, but I couldn't resist. And it's my blog after all, so I can do what I want. So don't read this ye pure ones, cover thy virgin eyes.

What's the difference between Santa Claus and Tiger Woods?

Santa stops at 3 Ho's.

Come on, that's funny. I'm still laughing about it a day later, but then again I laugh at a lot of inappropriate things.

Making a Spectacle of Myself

A house full of kids and I'm the one breaking glasses around here. I was washing my glasses and oops, I snapped them right in half. Seriously, who does that? I called Costco and sure enough, they weren't under warranty any more. So I dug my back-up pair out of my night stand and was wearing them until I could get in to the optometrist. I was on the floor Ruff housing with the babies and took them off because the boys kept grabbing at them, just as I was setting them down Dawson ran by to join in the fun and CrUnCh, there went the back-ups. The song "Oops, I did it again" should be the soundtrack to my life, I've turned into such a klutz. He felt so bad, he almost started crying - my sweet, sensitive boy. I told him it was my fault for setting them on the ground, but he was worried about it for days. So luckily I don't really need glasses to see, but you may want to steer clear of me on the roads until my new ones come in.

Snow White and the Lesser Known 8th Dwarf

Ella's school has an annual Daddy/Daughter date night, and wouldn't you know, it was planned for one of the nights Todd was out of town. They've been sending home fliers for a month, but I did my best to quickly intercept them and get them out of sight before Ella could see the sparkly, pink paper. I thought we were in the clear, until they made an announcement at school. Ella didn't stop talking about the "ball" all day, all night... So I told Todd we had to tell her. He held her in his arms and explained that he wouldn't be home to take her, and our sweet girl cried and cried. She asked "can Uncle Shane be my Daddy for the night?" It broke our hearts that she was so disappointed, so we enlisted Grandpa R., and magically "The Disney Princess Daddy/Daughter Dance" became "The Grandpa/Grand Daughter Ball." The daughters were supposed to dress up as a Disney princess, but the only gown she had was her Cinderella dress that we took to Disneyland over a year ago. And it's been in the dress-up drawer ever since, so it's beginning to look like the wicked step-sisters got a hold of it. The top was shredded and wouldn't even close, so we had to think fast...I ran to Target, well I drove to Target, and the only gown left was Snow White. But that was perfect because I'd found a Snow White tiara for her last year for 3 bucks on clearance, so voila, princess attire complete. She looked so cute, I love it, a platinum blonde Snow White. We dashed home from school, got Ella into a quick bath, ate an early dinner and she was off to the ball. Grandpa came to pick her up in his carriage and when they had to make a quick stop on the way, Ella told him "come on Grandpa, let's get this show on the road!" Apparently they learned the waltz, and she came home with another sparkly, home made tiara, and heavy eyelids. Even princesses need their sleep.

Pretty Please with Sugar on Top

The Easter candy has dwindled to a sad, pathetic little pile so I demoted the stash to a little bowl. Dawson asked if he could pleeeease have a treat and I told him to wait a sec while I put the babies down for nap, then I would get him one. So I came downstairs and he had slid a chair over to the counter, grabbed the bowl, and set himself down at the dining room table to wait... As I came down the stairs I saw him sitting there, but snuck around the hutch and grabbed my camera, then zoomed in on him. I only got a couple of shots in before he saw me, but he was so mesmerized by the sugar that he quickly tuned me out and continued to gaze and stare longingly into that bowl. Poor guy, he inherited his Mommy's sick obsession with num-nums. At least he doesn't go on automatic freak-out mode as soon as the sugar hits his system, something I can't say about a certain little blonde I know.

You're there, I'm here...

...this sucks. Todd is in Africa right now on business and even though I think I'm a pretty independent girl, I miss having my Honey around. Travel has always been a part of his job so I'm used to in that sense. But having kids changes things. Dawson is especially wigged out this time, he's old enough to really miss Daddy, but not old enough to really understand that he'll be back in 8 days. He just knows Dad's gone and that he's ticked off about that fact. The first few days were the hardest, sometimes it would be 3 minutes between asking if Daddy was home yet. He left on a Saturday before the kids got up after working all week, so I think that made it feel like an eternity before they'd see him again. I don't like that he's so far away, if someone ruptures a spleen or the house burns down, he's literally a world away. Poor guy spent 23 hours on a plane besides layovers. It didn't help my nerves that his office printed out the number of the U.S. Embassy and a security specialist "just in case." When he calls at bed time, we are just waking up - it's weird. But they say absence makes the heart grow fonder, and on the other hand, it seems his absence makes my brain crazier. Whose idea was it to have all these kids? :) THANK GOODNESS my Mom could come and rescue me after 4 days and I will only have one more day alone at the end. I've never been happier to see her in my life. I got a nasty chest cold about half way through the week and lost my voice. A few days later I had a dentist appointment and Ella told the dentist "I can't wait til she loses her voice ALL the way." I bet, that would be like a dream come true - Dad gone, Mom can't talk... I'm counting down the hours at this point and can't wait to hear all of his stories. He started telling me a cheery one about an Asian couple getting eaten by lions last year right where he is staying. I said that as fabulous as that sounded, maybe he could save his "stories" until he got home, safe and sound. I have a few wild animal stories of my own to share...

Mansters

I got Ella and Dawson these cute little hampsters for their Easter basket. Apparently EVERYONE at school has one but Ella, so I was hearing about them a lot. At first Dawson thought they were monsters, I told him they were hampsters and he's still confused because he calls them mansters. On Easter I asked the kids what they wanted to name them and Ella named hers "Prettyness" and Dawson named his "Rock-Rock Mr. Chubby-Chubby." I told you my kids were weird. As the week went on, Dawson shortened his hampster's name to simply "Mr. Chubby-Chubby" - that is until he couldn't resist his wickedness any longer and named him something very inappropriate. Let's just say it was still a mister, but it started with "p" and ended with "enis." I definitely had to use the skills I've developed and not laugh but pretend to be very disappointed in his behavior (I've had plenty of opportunities to practice this over the years thanks to Ella). I thought the babies would like them too since they scurry around the house, chatter and spin in circles. Charlie goes nuts when the kids start the hampsters up, he is hell bent on nabbing one and will crawl like he's on crack to get his hands on them. Mitch is the ultimate opportunist, he just waits patiently, sucking his thumb, for them to scurry by, then with lightening reflexes he snatches one and stuffs in into his mouth. Ella wanted to sleep with hers, but I'm afraid the wheels will wrap around her hair while she's sleeping if she accidentally starts it up by rolling over it. So I made the hampsters a little bed since she was worried they'd get cold, and now it's a nightly routine. So now I have to tuck Ella, Dawson, Mitch, Charlie and 2 hampsters in at night, oh and Todd too.

All's fair in love and real estate

This spring... ....Last summer

We were this close to selling our house this week, I mean so, SO close! I got home from dropping Ella off at school, got the boys settled and fed, dumped a load of clean laundry on the couch to fold and we got a call that someone was on their way to see the house. Yikes! Luckily the house is usually pretty clean, but still, it takes time just to get us all out of the house again, let alone get rid of that pile of laundry, sparkle 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 3 living rooms, a laundry room, the kitchen, the front yard, the back yard, the dining room.... (sheesh, no wonder I want to move, who wants to clean that many rooms?!). But we made it, and thank goodness my niece Rachel could come over and help me entertain the babies while I did this, because I was literally just laying them down for nap when I got the call, so they were a tad on the crabby side. So we made it out of here in time and the couple loved our house, and the best part, they had just sold their house and were ready to buy. So after roaming around in the car waiting for them to leave we made it back home again and the phone rang, their realtor said they wanted to come back again in the morning and just "make sure" but that we were their pick! So...in the mean time, our neighbors put their house on the market and the sign went up in their yard. When the couple came back the next morning they thought they better check it out, I don't blame them, I would too. And sure enough, John and Joyce's extra square footage, gas fire pit and giant kitchen talked fancy to them and they bought their house. No fair! Actually, the saddest part is that if we wind up staying, we will miss them terribly. They have been the sweetest neighbors to us. Joyce bought a gift for each of our kids when they were born, I bring over a loaf of beer bread or zucchini bread. They bring us fudge at Christmas, we bring them caramel corn and sugar cookies. "Mitter" John loves the kids and is always teasing Ella. He'll stick his head out the door and honk like a goose just to make them laugh. He always tells Ella she has the most beautiful brown eyes, just so he can watch her giggle and remind him that her eyes are blue. He makes fun of me for pulling microscopic weeds, he throws Bailey's ball when she drops it by the fence....They are just the cat's meow and I don't want them to leave us. Apparently they want to move closer to their grand kids. Whatever! But I guess it was meant to be and even though we were disappointed, I know it wasn't a coincidence and God has this all under control. I just wish He'd relinquish some control to me once in a while:)

Bringin' Sexy Back

The babies are 9 months old now and I don't really wanna talk about it - I'm in denial. They are newborn infant babes in my mind and I'm just happy that they indulge me in my dilusions by letting me snuggle them tight, sleep next to them, rock them to sleep, carry them close to me in a sling.... I used to strip down Ella and Dawson every time they hit a new month mark, just to document their chub, their expressions, what they were up to physically. I haven't been as faithful with the twins, but here they are at officially 9 months old in all their naked glory. It was almost impossible to get pictures of Charlie, he kept exiting our little photo shoot in search of Dawson's weed eater. I can't get enough of these boys, I could eat 'em up. Actually, speaking of that, the other night as I was getting Mitchy out of the bath and into his jammies, I nibbled on his cheek (the southern hemisphere) and Todd walked in and startled me. We both cracked up because he was surprised that I actually bite their buns, and I was surprised because I got caught. My only rule for this sort of nibbling is that it's reserved for after tubby time, but that is my only rule.

Resurrection Day!

We had a great Easter, low-key which was a refreshing change of pace! We went through our resurrection eggs all week which brought up a lot of good conversation, and some bizarre ones as well. One night when I was laying with Dawson at bedtime he said "those soldiers put pokey-pines in Jesus' hair, I'm gonna get those out for Him." so I had to remind him that Jesus isn't hurt right now, that it was a long time ago and now He lives in our hearts. Then he said "I'm gonna get my chainsaw and chop the soldiers' heads off." Clearly we have some work to do on loving people like Jesus does. We colored eggs on Saturday, the kids had a blast and I love arts & crafts so I had fun too:) They kept re-dyeing them over and over and over...Sunday morning we decided to go to Life Center, since our church meets in the evening, on holidays it's nice to go to church in the morning so we can have the rest of the day to celebrate and relax. Plus, I'm hoping to get connected in a Moms group somewhere until our church starts one up. We went there years ago and it was a big church, but holy cow, it's HUGE now! The message was great, the only part Todd didn't like was when the pastor showed pictures of his new grandbabies who were adopted from Ethiopia. I could hear his silent screams next to me as he heard the wheels turning in my brain - maybe we could adopt one more baby?? So we headed home for lunch, egg salad sandwiches for obvious reasons. I tried to snap some pictures of all of the kids together, and I always think they're hilarious because we can never get a good one and I've grown to love the "bad" ones even more over the years. I let them open up their little Easter gifts and then we went outside to hunt for eggs. The weather held out so we were all grateful for the sunshine. We roasted hot dogs over the fire for dinner, and ended the day by watching Princess and the Frog, which was one of Ella's Easter gifts. Even though we have fun with all the Easter hoopla, candy being the main source of excitement for me, honestly I am just amazed at sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross, and the depth of His love - which is something I will never be able to wrap my head around. He knows me inside and out and still chose to lay down his life for me, regardless of whether I would ever choose to love Him back. Sometimes I can't believe that the passion of the Christ was me.