Some forgotten shout-outs

Joe read my blog and wanted to make sure I mentioned some other people who helped out with my party. My in-laws, Bill and Sandy, had a big hand in the decorating, as did my good friends Michael and Joanna. It was all so wonderful...did I mention that? :)

We had our first showing the morning after the house went on the market. The people loved the house, and said the only thing they would change would be the ceilings (in that they are not vaulted). Well, shy of removing entire rooms upstairs, that ain't gonna happen. I felt good about the showing, though. I have a hard time not taking those comments personally. I know when I look at listings, I'm very critical. In other words, I can dish it out but I can't take it. Well, actually, I knew that about myself. :)

Hope y'all have a lovely Valentine's Day. I have Valentines for the loves in my life....my hubby and 5 kids. I wish I had been more creative...the last thing we need is more chocolate after the mass consumption of birthday cake over the last month. C'est la vie.

For Joe's and my first Valentine's Day together, he took me to a restaurant in Phoenix at the top of the Marriott Hotel. Over the course of an hour, the restaurant revolves 360 degrees, revealing the Phoenix skyline, the surrounding desert, and distant city lights. We went at sunset, so you can imagine how wonderful it was. I was hooked...I knew he was a keeper! We went back for our fifth wedding anniversary (this time I was old enough to have a glass of wine) and it was still wonderful. But I think nothing matches the first time you spend a truly romantic evening with the one you love...am I right?

Did I just imply that I think it's all downhill from here? If I did, I didn't mean to. I love being a wife and a mother...and I fall more in love with Joe everyday.

Ok, I'll stop. Stop making gag noises and get back to what you were doing. :)

Long time no blog...

Well, it's been almost a month, and it's been a doozy! Several of us celebrated birthdays (all 7 of us have birthdays between Oct. and February...how's that for planning?)

Brad turned 12. TWELVE? Seriously? If not for the sarcastic wit, hair that hangs in his eyes, and an appetite that doubles my grocery budget, I'd never believe it. He's a great kid. He's a lot like Joe...he's very laid back and very diplomatic. He also has very little sense of urgency. :) His motto in life? "Why do today what you can ignore until someone else does it or it just goes away?" He has no malicious intent...just very few things spur him to quick action.

As a baby, he was a mover and a shaker. The kid crawled at 6 months, cruised at 7 months, and walked at 9 months. He was into everything! He was a very happy baby, and we're thankful he's still a sweet, loving boy. Here's a little before and after. In the first photo, he is 9 months old. In the second, he's 12. To be honest, it feels like it went just that fast.



On the 31st Hannah turned four. I can't believe that, either. She's not a baby anymore...really not even a toddler! Her greatest accomplishments this year would have to be (in no particular order)
Learning her ABC song
Being able to remain, and participate in her ballet class. Whenever she is acting up, all we have to do is threaten to make her stay home from ballet and she's instantly sugar and spice.
Self-control...we're down to four or five tantrums a week now. That's down from four or five an hour.
Manners. Though we're not in the clear, I hear "thank you" more often than I hear "hurry up!" when I'm pouring the apple juice.
Eating. Now she can eat as many as 3 chicken nuggets in one sitting. We're up from licking one and then feeding it to the dog.
Sleeping. Though naps are a thing of the past, she no longer visits me at 3 a.m.
Social grace. She still speaks her mind, often at the expense of tact, but she is less likely to say "go away" and more likely to say "ok, I'll share." This is often accompanied by a bit of a "hmph" that she thinks we can't hear. We're working on that, too.
She's busy and sweet and cute as a bug. She's a bundle of fun, and we love her to pieces! Here are two pics of her. In the first, she is 9 months (thanks to eosinophilic disease, she is a whopping 10 lbs or so...). In the second, she is four. She and Kaylee had just gotten hair cuts. We are so thankful the e.d. is under control and she is a healthy, happy girl!






Four days after Hannah's birthday, I turned 36. Holy cow...for real? Despite my being on the downhill slide to 40 now, it was a GREAT birthday. Mom was here for two weeks and we did all sorts of preparations for putting the house on the market. Then on Saturday the 2nd, we did a little shopping , supposedly some relaxing "girls' night out" for my birthday. I should have clued in when suddenly mom was rushing me along like we had a plane to catch. We ran through J Jill, zipped through Dillard's and flew through the Gap. Still, I managed to find some fabulous things, all on sale. LOVE the end-of-season sales. But I digress...
When we arrived home, my home was filled with over 30 people! They yelled "surprise!" and sang, and I cried. I'm a serious boob anyway, but if you really want to turn on the waterworks, this is the way to do it. It was a wonderful night, and I still get giddy when I think about it. Joe spent weeks planning, and he and my friend Chris did the food (it was YUMMY). Amy did a bunch of the decor (including transporting 30 helium-filled balloons!) and the whole thing was wonderful. It's very humbling to know all those people set aside an evening for me. I still get weepy... My friend Joey and I tied for third place in the Wii bowling tournament. Eileen (my bunco buddy...she's quite competitive!) took second and CR got first place. It was great fun. I can't say it enough...the greatest people live here in AZ. Glad I'm married to the greatest, so I can take him with me. :) All of the rest of you...come along, won't you?

The house goes on the market tomorrow. Eeeek! Please pray for our sanity during this process. I have no idea how we are going to keep our house continually tidy for showings. Yeah, right! Did I mention I have 5 kids? Gimme a break. Only by the grace of God will we get through this move. I get nauseous sometimes thinking about it! :)

Thanks for reading...hopefully I'll be more faithful to post regularly!

Well, thanks for that...

My daughter Hannah has become quite the fashionista....

Yesterday, as I was ready to fly out the door to begin my hour and a half of shuffling kids to and fro (I loathe the first Wednesday of the month...) Hannah looks at me with what I detected to be a bit of disgust and says, "Mommy, your hair is FUNKY!"

Well, first of all, THANKS... and second- "funky?" Where does she get this stuff?

A few days before this, she came into my bathroom as I was getting ready and said, "Oh, mommy, your hair is beautiful!" As I was about to thank her for her generous compliment, she followed up with, "But put some makeup on. You look prettier with makeup."

Again, thanks. :)

Happy New Year!

We had so much fun this Christmas, and it would take me hours to write about it all! The highlight would be the time we were able to spend with our extended family, especially Joe's sister Theresa, her husband Eric and their girls Katelyn and Bethany. Kaylee and Hannah were in heaven with constant playmates. Though the girls hadn't been together for two years, (Eric & Theresa live in Alaska) they picked up right where they left off. We never heard a single argument out of them, which made it heavenly for all of us. :)
Our sweet niece Juliette was also here from Virginia. We were blessed to celebrate her 13th birthday with her on Christmas day. She is a charming young lady and we enjoy her so much.
We shared hosting responsibilities with Joe's parents- they hosted Christmas Eve and we hosted Christmas day. Joe's brother Kenny and his wife Celia were also here (the kids love Uncle Kenny- he spent Saturday with them at the park and a comic store!) as was Annette, Joe's younger sister who lives in Tucson, and Joe's grandmother "Gaga" (Merle) who is 96 and lives in Sun City. It was full, fun, busy, loud, and wonderful. Joe's parents also treated us to a night of theater...we saw "Annie" at Gammage Auditorium. So many fabulous memories!
We also had some very funny moments. Here are some funnies overheard in our home over the holidays:

• When I tore the edge of the wrapping paper on my last gift, and I saw the word "Dyson" I screamed. Nathan, who had known all along what was in the package, watched me jump up and down shrieking, and said, "I don't think she knows it's a vacuum."
• Hannah, enjoying pulling gifts from her stocking and marveling at the candy and goodies, asked, "What else do I have in my mitten?"
• After a particularly rough episode with Hannah, Brad noticed I was a bit ruffled and said, "Mom, I think you need a vacation."
• Kaylee, not realizing the reason behind our limiting video game time, had just finished her 30 minutes on her Gameboy. She pulled out a 10-piece puzzle, dumped it over, hurriedly put all the pieces back in and said, "Okay, I played with toys that don't turn on. Now can I play Xbox?"
• Lindsay, in a moment of political aloofness, asks, "Mom, who is the president of California?"

We wish you a most wonderful 2008!

And we're back...

The Christmas season has swept us away in recitals, class parties, baking, Christmas cards, decorating, caroling, and celebrating with good friends and family. I love this time of year! Of course, we have also recently experienced stolen mail, a broken digital camera, and a creepy cold virus, but c'est la vie. On to the festivities...

Here are some pics of us celebrating with the Oldhams, Torlas and Trudgens. We decorated cookies and went caroling. It was just the right amount of chilly outside to make it fun! Ginger played the guitar and lead the singing (she has a beautiful voice) and the rest of us joined in. What a great way to ring in the season!






























We have no fireplace mantle, so we have to get creative!

Here is a video of Brad's and Kaylee's piano duet. Brad was so patient and really did a good job following Kaylee's lead so far as timing.







Here's a video of Nathan shooting a free throw (and missing) and then getting the rebound (and swishing it!)




Well, that's all I will post for now. I'm sure you're on the edge of your seats for our next installment. :)

Merry, Merry Christmas to you!

The Tooth Fairy Blows It...Again

Kaylee lost her first tooth this week. With each of our kids, we have made somewhat of a big deal about the first tooth. With much pomp and circumstance, we put the tooth in a baggie and place it under the toothless child's pillow, and then give our Great Tooth Fairy Speech of 2001 (when it was first composed for a then 5-year-old Brad) and each child has been elated with the idea of waking up to a little monetary goodie under his/her pillow. This first tooth is always a success...we've never forgotten to leave money for that first tooth...until now.
The next morning, Kaylee came downstairs and, with huge tiger tears in her eyes, proclaimed the misdeeds of the tooth fairy. In a moment of quick thinking (I only have one or two of those a week now, so I'm thankful one came that day) I told her that the tooth fairy might have mistaken her top bunk for Brad's top bunk and maybe that's where her money was. Nathan, catching my cue, darted to the allowance bag, valiantly dashed upstairs to his room and placed the money under Brad's pillow, all while Kaylee was blowing her nose. Kaylee ran down the stairs moments later, saying, "The tooth fairy did put the money in the wrong bed! And I got a dollar coin, not a quarter!" Apparently Nathan felt the reward needed padding in light of the circumstances. :)

Winter Fun

Last Sunday we continued with a tradition we started when Lindsay was 4 or so, and we took the kids to see The Nutcracker ballet. When Lindsay was little, it was just the two of us who joined several of our friends for this fun event. Eventually the boys reluctantly joined in (though now they look forward to it- perhaps mostly for the cannon shot and the intermission goodies) and last year I took all 4 older children. This year Joe got dragged along, as I didn't think I wanted to try to manage all 5 kiddos on my own in this setting. Joe spent a lot of time looking at the ceiling and muttered more than once that "men should not wear tights." While I enjoy the Nutcracker very much, I concede him this point. If nothing else, why can't the men's shirts be longer, just so we don't have to see everything? Has no one in wardrobe ever thought of that? Joe can just be thankful he missed the performance last year...let's just say that Nutcracker needed to shed a pound or two...ick.