Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Where did September go?

Holy Crayola! I just realized this morning that tomorrow is October! I am so behind, it is not even funny. Usually by now I have the kid's Halloween costumes started, Christmas card list done, my Christmas gift list done, and my Christmas letter started. I haven't done any of these things yet! Yes, I am insane and I make the kids' Halloween costumes, but it saves a ton of money in the long run, and they are much cuter and warmer than if we buy them. I was shopping online, and found that if I buy the costumes we want this year, I will spend $265 on costumes. My goal this year is to keep Halloween within a $50 budget. This includes costumes, candy, trick-or-treat buckets for the boys, and pumpkins. This would have been a lot easier if I had gotten a head start, but I will have to be a little more creative to accomplish it this year. I'll keep you posted!

Monday, September 29, 2008

Farewell, Summer! I'll miss you...








We live in a beautiful area of the world. For us, it is an eight minute drive to Birch Bay. Today was our annual Farewell to Summer picnic at the beach. The weather was beautiful, 72 degrees today, which is a miracle for us his time of year. Kiddos were thrilled with the evening, and I'm sure will sleep well tonight. Emma got to fly her kite in zero wind, but luckily, she can run fast, so it stayed in the air as long as she kept running! They all had a great time throwing rocks in the water, and Emma went wading a little too deep, as you can all see by the last picture. This is her pose that followed, "Who has two thumbs and is wet? This girl!" Did I bring her a change of clothes? Nope. Did she get to ride home naked? Oh, yeah. I love tinted windows, couldn't live without 'em. It was a perfect way to say "Goodbye summer, welcome, fall." After today, I am ready to say goodbye to summer, really this time, and move on. Tomorrow, we will decorate for Halloween. I can hardly wait!

The Corn Maze (AKA, fun in the mud)






We went to the Lynden FFA Corn Maze yesterday. It is amazing how long we have lived here and never gone, but we had such a good time that we have decided it is now a new tradition. We invited Holly and her kids to join us, and the weather was perfect. Sunny, beautiful, about 70 degrees, we couldn't ask for anything better. The older kids had a blast exploring the corn field, Emma kept wanting to pick the corn and bring it home for dinner. The twins, however, had some trouble with the mud. Ben, as usual, was gung-ho and just plowed through it, thinking that it was the coolest thing ever. We had a hard time keeping him out of it! Grant is so funny, he does not want to get dirty, he kept saying "owie" every time he touched dirt. We did get to try out their new backpack leashes which were perfect! I never thought I'd be the type of parent to put my kids on a leash, but these twins have not given me a choice. It was so nice to wander the corn maze relaxed, knowing the boys could not run away and get lost.
We had decided earlier that after the maze, we would go out to dinner as a family. Me being a city girl, did not think about how muddy the kids would be after the maze, but we ran home and changed clothes before going to Chihuahua's, the greatest Mexican Restaurant in all the world.
The last time we tried to go out to eat was about eight months ago. We had gone to IHOP, thinking that it was a loud, kid-filled place that our munchkins could not disrupt. The day that we went must have been an IHOP record, since we had the only kids in the entire restaurant. It was filled with quiet people, and they didn't even have any background music to block out the noise. It was a struggle to keep the boys quiet, we were being stared at and actually had people staring and shaking their heads at me. By the time our food came, all semblance of a normal family had broken and the boys decided to have a scream-at-the-top-of-your-lungs-and-throw-food-at-each-other contest. I got two bites of my dinner in and left to take the boys out to the car, Marty and Emma stayed behind and had a nice Daddy/Daughter dinner. I waited in the car with the screaming boys and cried. Needless to say, we were a little weary about trying to go out to eat again, but wanted to try it.
We chose Chihuahuas since Mexican food is notoriously fast service and relatively noisy atmosphere, so we thought it would be a good attempt. Also, I was craving Rice and Beans. Win Win! I must say, it went better than I ever imagined. Not a single fork, plate, or cup hit the floor, and the only food that went down there was accidentally dropped, not thrown for fun. The food was excellent, the service was fast and great, and the best part was at the end of the meal when Emma somehow accidentally spilled her entire glass of ice water down Marty's side. We still can't figure out how that one happened, but I sure got a good laugh! We successfully wore the kids out, Ben and Emma slept till 8:30 this morning, and Grant till 10. We will definitely be going again next year!




The Semi-Annual Family Swap Meet

Saturday was our family garage sale. We do these a few times a year, and have garage saling (sale-ing? If I make up the word, I can make up the spelling, right?) down to a science. This ain't your ordinary run of the mill Garage sale, with our experience and my mother-in-law's background in marketing, we go all out. The tables have tablecloths, we use spinning clothing racks, our signs have vinyl lettering instead of just marker, and we serve free coffee. You would think that we were set up to rake in the money, but it doesn't always work that way.

This time, we had seven people contributing to the sale. The great thing about this is, we have a large sale with a wide variety of things. The bad part is, we have to look at everyone else's cool stuff while we are setting up, and we tend to spend our profits before we get them. Hence the nickname, the Family Swap Meet. We acquired a new air conditioner, a laundry basket, and I got a new leather coat. I made $45 at the sale this time, and spent $52. Not a real profitable day. However, our current air conditioner came out of the farmhouse that Marty grew up in, it is close to 30 years old. I'm sure the profits will be seen in next summer's power bill. Since it is our third garage sale this year, I won't complain too much. Now it's time to start the next round of boxes of stuff to sell next year!

Friday, September 26, 2008

One of the top ten greatest days of the year

OK, I'll be the first to admit it, I do not welcome fall. I enjoy the season, but it reminds me that cold weather is coming, and I detest January through early March. I am just not a fan of cold, dreary rain that does not stop and darkness at three o'clock in the afternoon. If I could have fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas, and then go straight into March, I would be totally fine. But that's not the way it works. So, I hang onto summer as long as I can, until fall slaps me upside the head and forces me to admit it is here.

It has gotten really cold in our house at night, and I, being the cheapskate that I am, refuse to crank up the furnace. So, yesterday, we put the fleece sheets on our bed. OH, I love fall. I gotta tell you, there is nothing quite like the first night of the year that you climb in those fuzzy, warm, fleece sheets that are like fuzzy socks for your whole body. I slept so well last night, well, except for both times the boys woke up for some unknown reason, but it was lovely.

I really do like fall. I love the colors, the decorations, the smell of baking, comfort foods, my crock pot, and fuzzy sweaters. I do not like wearing socks, having to wash, match, fold, and find socks for all the kids every day, and remembering coats. I swear, that adds a half hour to the morning routine every day, and with fleece sheets, I am NOT getting up any earlier!

So, today, I will admit, fall is here. I will welcome it with open arms, and pray that it leads into a shorter winter than last year. I will happily anticipate the holidays to come, and pretend that January and February will be warm and sunny. Don't ruin my delusion, OK?

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Why I have no cute home movies

This is a common occurrence in our house. Today, Grant and Ben decided to play and wrestle each other. Ben laid down on the floor, and Grant tackled him, Ben rolled over and they both ended up in a heap, giggling in that little toddler boy way that is the sweetest sound in the world. Then, Grant laid down and Ben tackled him. It was the cutest thing, them taking turns and playing so nicely, every time ending up in a heap of giggles. I decided to whip out the video camera. I hid in the kitchen, so as not to disrupt the game, and started to record, just as Grant laid down, and Ben smacked him in the face. I guess the game changed somehow? Why is it that every time I get out the video camera, stealthily as I can, and I swear they don't notice, everything turns to violence? These kids are going to grow up watching home movies, and thinking, "Wow, we sure beat each other a lot, why did Mom just record it all?"

Yep, I am getting old!

This morning, I was siting at the computer and Emma crawled into my lap. She started to spin the office chair around, and I decided to be really mean, um, I mean, fun and spin as fast as I could, thinking that I would freak her out a little. Here I am, pregnant, continually nauseous, and spinning in a circle as fast as the chair can go. Suddenly realizing what a bad idea it was, I stop, and Emma (giggling) wants to keep going. The room is still spinning and I tell her that we cannot keep going, because Mommy is going to throw up. She hops down and immediately runs off (in a straight line, no less) saying, "Well, don't throw up on me, that' s just gross!" She is completely fine, but I could not get out of the chair for about 15 minutes, and didn't really recover for an hour. I wonder if babies get dizzy in the womb? Or if he was thinking, "This is the coolest thing ever!"

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Welcome!

This has been on my mind a while, and there will never be a good time to start, so here it goes. I decided to start a blog a while back, I need to have a place to record my journey through motherhood. I have tried journals, but get bored too easily and forget about them. I am going to give this a go before I forget all the little wonderful and not-so-wonderful experiences as a mother of almost four children. Well, five, if you count my husband, and if you know him, you would. Love you, honey! Emma is four, the twins, Grant and Ben are 21 months, and baby number 4 is due in January. We are having another boy, and no, we don't have a name yet. Poor kid will be lucky to have a name by the time we leave the hospital. Why is it that girl's names are so easy, but boy's names are so hard?

Anywhoo, I will promise to be nothing less than honest as I blog. I intend this to be a record of my family and our journey through life, and I want nothing less than the complete truth in here. It may not always be pretty, but it will be my life. I look forward to this journey, and I hope you will enjoy the ride!