DIY Decor for Katherine

I've been wanting to buy/make some things for Katherine's room. She really doesn't have much, except for some colorful paper lanterns I hung from the ceiling.  We recently watched Tangled and I was a bit inspired by Rapunzel's tower room.  So I searched Pinterest and found all kinds of murals and paintings.  There was one I really liked, and thought maybe I could recreate.  I believe it is a much like a painting that is featured in Rapunzel's room.  I didn't want to go full out Disney in her room, but I love the subtle things you can find around the internet.

I grabbed a piece of cardboard I had on hand, and some acrylic pants.  I used primary colors, plus white, black, and green.  I had so much fun mixing the paints to find the different hues.  It really turned out better than I thought it would.  I want to find/make a frame for it yet.  And really if I were to do it over, I would definitely have put it on something other than cardboard, but I think it's good for now.

I have another project for her room, but I'm not sure how that one will go.  I'll share when I have it finished.

A Harvey Korman Double Feature

Last night I suddenly remembered two movies from my childhood.

My parents were VHS kings.  We had scads of tapes filled with movies recorded off the television.  (Funny that they sometimes are thrown off by their DVR)  There was one that was filled with Christmas specials.  There was the one with Top Gun that we watched repeatedly one summer.  But there are two that I, for whatever reason, recalled last night.

The Longshot (1986) and a made for TV movie Crash Course (1988)

While I was looking up info for them, I realized that Harvey Korman is in both.  I knew he was in The Longshot, but had forgotten about his role in Crash Course.

The Longshot is a comedy starring Tim Conway and Harvey Korman.  It is currently available to watch on Netflix (which I may do soon).  The movie is about 4 guys down on their luck, that get an inside tip on a horse, and go to bet on said horse.  Much slapstick humor happens along the way, and some drama, of course. 
As a bonus, the opening credits roll to a rap by Tim Conway and Ice T.  Thank you You Tube!

Crash Course stars Alyssa Milano and Tina Yothers (the younger sister on Family Ties).  The story revolves around a group of students in driver's ed and their teacher and of course, the cranky vice principal (played by Harvey Korman)  There are the stereotypical characters, jock, nerd, spoiled rich girl, girl next door, tomboy.  And a rapping exchange student from Japan. (obviously) 
This one isn't on Netflix, but someone did upload it on YouTube.

I have to admit.  I have no idea if anyone would consider these good movies.  They are just a part of my childhood and bring back some fun summer memories of being at home with my brother, with not much to do.  Ah, the good old days before the internet.  We didn't have video games either.  So it was either outside, reading, watch what was on, or search through the tapes.  These may not be cinema gold, but they will always hold a special place in my heart.

Has anyone else seen these?

Telling Tales and Cake

 Sunday we celebrated Noah's 4th birthday.  We had a little lunch party with just us.  One of the gifts we gave him is a game called Tell Tale.  It is from blue orange, the same company that makes Spot-It, another favorite of our older boys.  The game comes in this great tin, with 60 two sided cards.  Each card has a picture.  An island, a monster, a toilet (a favorite of the boys... go figure), a ghost, etc.  There aren't any hard and fast rules, but they do give you several different varieties of ways to play.  So far we have just done the simple version.  Each person gets four cards.  Someone starts by flipping over their first card and making up a story including what ever is pictured on their card.  The next person flips their top card and adds to the story including what ever picture they have just flipped up. This continues until everyone is out of cards.  The boys are loving this game!!   I love that they are telling stories and stretching their imagination. 

 

Another part of his birthday celebration was his cake.  One of my favorite parts of my kids' birthdays is making them a cake, decorated as/with something they are into at the moment.  (Last year Noah's was a Where's My Water cake. )  He asked for chocolate cake, so that's what is under the frosting.  The frosting is a simple buttercream.  (Butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and a little milk)  For the blue I pureed some blueberries and mixed that with the frosting, but it was more purple than blue, so I added some food coloring.  It still had a hint of blueberry flavor to it, which was wonderful. 

I know all parents say this, but I really can't believe he is 4 already.  Time seems to slip by so fast.

Vanquished by baby William

The view around here

Not only have we added on to our family this year, we're also adding on top our house. This will be a garage, living room, guest room, and storage room. Can't wait for it to be finished.

William Daniel

I must break this 2 month blogging hiatus to announce our 4th child's entrance into this crazy family.

William "Liam" Daniel arrived Monday August 27th at 5:46am.  He weighed 7lbs 2oz and was 19inches long.

I know not everyone is so keen on birth stories, but I promise this one will be short and sweet.  I woke up at 3am with contractions.  I timed them for about 45 minutes.  Called the Dr and my mom.  We were at the hospital around 4:30.  By the time I was in the bed and had an IV in, the contractions were coming right on top of each other.  Dr. walks in about 5:30, Liam was born at 5:46.  Crazy I tell you.  There was no time for any kind of pain medication what so ever.  Although, I have to say that looking back I don't think the IV drugs really did all that much to take away the pain.  Because of the blood thinners I was on, I wouldn't have been able to get an epidural until about 6am, so there was definitely no time for that either.  It was a pretty perfect delivery.  Super painful, but super fast.  Liam did great and came out healthy.  His blood sugar was slightly low, but after that first check it was up in normal range every other time they checked.

The hospital stay was quiet and peaceful.  Jonathan and I just chilled and read and watched tv and snuggled our new little guy.  The kids came and visited twice.  The boys can't get over just how cute they think he is.  Katherine loves giving him kisses.  She has really started playing with dolls since we came home.  It is adorable.

Now we are a week out.  I'm feeling really good.  Too good really, because I feel like I should be able to do a whole lot more than I should do.  I've been trying to take it easy and really limit myself to how much I do during the day.  I'm also not supposed to be lifting more than 10lbs.  That's quite frustrating when you have a 1 year old that really doesn't understand why mommy can't pick her up.  Considering how fast our first week went, I'm hoping the next 5 will go by just as fast so I can get back to the regular routine.

Liam is doing great.  He is such a blessing.  The kids all love him, and there really hasn't been any jealousy.  This transition has been really easy - except for the not being able to lift things.

It has hit me now that we are home, that I won't get to do this ever again.  There is some sadness in that.  I love being a mom, I love many parts of pregnancy, and when I'm holding our new little one, there is just no other feeling like it.  However, I'm at such a peace with it.  It feels right.  It's like Liam was the missing piece to our family.  I'm excited to move on to the next stage of life.  We'll cherish all the wonderful newborn moments one last time, and forge into the world of school, sports, schedules, and watching our kids grow into independent people.

Flynn and Max

We've added two new members to our crazy household over the past month.

Way back when, on Noah's birthday, we had a stray cat living in our neighbors garage, along with her new brood of kittens.  We promised Noah one of those kittens, but the mama cat must have sensed this, and moved her family before they were old enough.  A couple weeks later my husband's coworker had some kittens they wanted to give away.  So he brought home a little gray kitten for Noah.  We ran some names by Noah and he decided on Flynn.  

Flynn lived inside for a little while, but with Jonathan's allergies he couldn't stay there long.  He is now a happy outside cat, with a future of mouse chasing.  The kids love going outside and cuddling and playing with him. Flynn likes to attack Kaiser and Sophie when they go out to do their thing.  It is highly amusing.  He is definitely a good little kitten.

Two weeks ago Jonathan came home and mentioned that one of his coworkers lived near their county's Humane Society, and suggested that we check them out.  We had been talking about getting a big dog to be outside to roam the property and keep the varmints at bay.  I was really apprehensive about getting a dog that was not in the puppy stage.  With a puppy, you know their history and can train them from the beginning.  But we went to their website and checked it all out.  There were a couple dogs that we were interested in, but the one that really caught our eye was a german shepard/ coon hound mix called Popeye.  He was just a year old.  A large dog, and his description said he was really good with kids and other dogs.  He was also neutered and housebroken.  We filled out their short application and waited a couple days.  Jonathan got in touch with them and set out with Ohlen and Kaiser to meet him.  When he left, Jonathan commented that he really doubted he would come home with him, but thought it would just be a meeting.

An hour or so later they returned home, and Popeye was with them.  He is huge!  About 90 lbs with super long legs.  He was very friendly with everyone he met.   

The past two weeks have proven what a wonderful dog he really is.  He rarely jumps up on people now, unless he is very excited. Which happens every so often, he does still have some puppy in him.  He knows the boundaries of our property and stays around here.  He is still wonderful with the kids.  

Oh yes, his name.  Popeye was kind of a mouthful for the kids.  And it just didn't seem to suit him very well. Ohlen suggested Matt, but I reminded him that we know a lot of people named Matt, and that might be confusing, so I suggested Max, and he thought it was pretty awesome.  We think it suits him.  He knew his new name in a matter of days.   I've also wanted a dog that will come at a whistle.  My first dog, Mick, used to come running when I whistled.  Tonight I went to the back door, stuck my head out and whistled, a little later Max showed up at the door.  Love it.  

He spends much of his time outside, but we have him come in for the night.  He sleeps in the laundry room.  Jonathan has built him a nice dog house, but I don't think Max has really acknowledged its existence yet.

He has a few quirks.  He likes to chase/follow shadows.  It is bizarre.   He sheds like crazy.  And I found out last night that he is chasing the neighbors cats. (So sorry!!)  He eats a whole lot more than the wiener dogs... :)  Of course, he is also about 80 lbs heavier than they are.

Overall, it has been the best experience.  He is a wonderful dog!  We can't get over how great he is with the kids.  

He was really not sure about the computer that first night.

Gestational Diabetes

So I have a new little purse to carry with me for the next several weeks.

About 2 weeks ago I took the 3 hour glucose tolerance test.  This was after failing the 1 hour test the week before.  I had failed the 1 hour test with my last two pregnancies too, so I really wasn't that concerned.  Unfortunately, I got a call from my Dr's office telling me that this time I wasn't so lucky, and I have gestational diabetes.  I wasn't scheduled to meet with a dietitian for a week, so I consulted the internets.  I didn't want to just keep eating like usual for the week.  I was also scheduled to meet with an RN for training on how to use the meter and about the diabetes in general on the same day.  So, with the help of info online and from a message board of other women dealing with the same thing, I started a new diet and started checking my blood sugar to get a start on things.   

In case you aren't familiar with gestational diabetes, it is basically diabetes during pregnancy.  Most women will stop being diabetic as soon as the baby is born.  It has something to do with all the hormones.  Most women can control their blood sugar numbers with diet and exercise.  If it isn't controlled it can lead to the baby gaining more weight than they need and being big at birth.  ( I think there are some other risks too, but I think that is the most common one.)

The diet.  I was pretty intimidated at first.  I would have to really watch what and when I ate.  The week before I met with the dietitian I ate a whole lot of the same thing.  Instead of a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, I am eating eggs.  Instead of eating whenever I feel like it, I'm sticking to a schedule.  Plus, I was eating quite a bit of sugary, carb filled things, so that was quite the change.  However, after I met with the dietitian things seem a whole lot more doable.  She laid out a meal plan that was easy to understand.  It seems the biggest thing is that I need to pair carbs with proteins.  I can have all kinds of non starchy vegetables.  Nuts and cheese are ok.  I do have to watch how much fruit and milk I consume.

I bought some Stevia (Truvia brand) and I use that to add some sweetness to my tea.  That has made things a bit easier. 

So far I haven't been having any trouble keeping my blood sugar numbers low.  9 1/2 weeks to go (or less). I can't wait to meet this little guy.  Now he just needs a name. :)

What's This?

Last night at around 9:30 I finally put the last stitch into the comforter I have been making for Ohlen.  I can't remember exactly when I started it, but I know it was at our old house, so it's been at least a year, probably two...
 

 I snapped some quick (not great) pictures and took it in to him.  He wasn't quite asleep, so I exchanged his current blanket for the new one.  He said, "Thanks mom.  This is more comfy than all our other blankets!!"  I think he approved. :)

It's made of entirely of flannels.  So yes, it is very comfy.  Maybe too warm for late spring, but our house is air conditioned, so I think it will work.  

Now it's on to finish Noah's.  His needs to be knotted and bound yet.  Then he will have his own super comfy comforter.

10

10 years ago, at this very moment (or you know, close) of 10:38 pm I was getting into bed, thinking about all that the next day held.  I was going to be marrying the man that I felt was the perfect match for me.

Now 10 years later, I would tell myself that I still feel the same way.  I still feel like I married the man that is a perfect match for me.

I'm having a really hard time thinking of what to write here.  There are just so many things that I could write about.  The past 10 years have been so full.  We've both changed and grown, but it feels like we did that together.  We are still on the same page.  Which is, I think, part of what has made the past 10 years so great.

As I sit and look around I can't help but just be completely content and happy with where I am in life right now.  I love and respect my husband so much.  I think we really work well together.  We share many of the same dreams.  We are usually on the same page when it comes to raising our kids and finances and other important things.

I thank God for setting our paths to cross and blessing me with such a perfect match.

And now for some blast from the past pictures.  The first is from early 2000 when we were dating.as seniors in high school.  The rest are from our wedding.  Definitely dates us, looking at our posed wedding pictures, decor, and such.  lol  But it was a nice simple wedding.  We have 4 left feet between us, so we opted for just a meal for the reception, and then off we went to our honeymoon.  We just left town for a bigger city for a couple nights.  We were 19 and 20 and in the middle of college, there was no budget for anything else.  But it was great.  We went to the zoo, a science center, saw a movie (Star Wars ep. 2 - we did get married on the 25th anniversary of the release of A New Hope. :) ), and just enjoyed some down time before we went back and had to start working for the summer. (and I apologize for the poor picture quality.  We were married predigital camera (at least for us) and I don't have the scanner here, so I just took a picture of a picture, and that just always turns out great... especially when you do it at night by the light of the ceiling light...)

So very young.

Off to our honeymoon, as soon as we rid the car of about a dozen balloons.

It's been an amazing 10 years, and I can't wait to see what the next 10, 20, 30, etc. years hold for us and our family.

I'm still wonderfully, eternally, completely, 100 percently in love with this man.

The enemy

Any one else fighting the laundry mountain?