No matter what age you are . . .

growing out your bangs is hard! She is not fond of leaving in barrettes and ponies either! It drives me crazy that I can't see her eyes.

Today is my birthday and I asked her a couple days ago how old she thought mommy would be. She thought for a while then excitedly said "Pink". So from now on that's what I'm going by . . . I'm pink!

ETA: Today I asked Addison how old I was and she said "You're number 1, Mommy". I like both answers a lot!

It's been a {productive} week!

Wow! I haven't blogged in a week again! We've been busy although because of this never ending winter we haven't left the house for a whole week until today. Aaron is working a temporary plumbing job at a nuclear power plant (safe, huh?) in Cordova. He's done it before and it pays well but he only works (along with several hundred other plumbers and pipefitters) while it is shut down like a maintenance thing I guess. He started 3 weeks ago and this week he went to 2nd shift which I am liking because I am accomplishing so much during the kids' naps and after they go to bed. Since he is home in the morning I hardly have time to get on the computer which explains my lack of blogging.

Lately I am concentrating on what I am getting done instead of what still needs to be done . . . seems to help me a ton!

In my quest to simplify I am in the process of decluttering my kitchen. I have to do it sections (about 6 to be exact) because I don't have the time or the attention span to do it all at once. I am getting rid of a lot and reorganizing so much. I have new-found cabinet space. I hope this project will spill over into other rooms and areas of my life. It's hard to appreciate these photos unless you have been to my house in the last year but I'm sure my sis, Keely, can attest to the fact that this is major improvement as normally every surface in my kitchen is cluttered and unclean -- should have take "before" photos too.

I have made 3 scrapbook layouts this week. At 10pm I quit doing "work" no matter how bad the house still looks and scrap until Aaron gets home around midnight. My goal was one layout a night and I'm behind one but oh well . . . (click on photos to see them larger) . . . Cowgirl one is my fav!

Even had time to work on a project for Reese's "room" (aka the corner of our bedroom) that we started before she was born. I have a little more to do but will be sure to share these later.

I'm so glad that American Idol has begun the regular competition (I hate that beginning audition stuff . . . too drawn out!). I am digging Michael and Daniel so far! Here' s how Addison decided we would participate with the show:

Too bad you can't see me singing into a broom . . . Ethan didn't want to participate in this band . . . maybe he didn't feel he had the right attire!

Happy Heart Day and Creative Juices

We have been busy around here creating! The kids made their own valentines for their school party . . . well, that was the plan until we went to buy the paper and Caden's ever-searching eyes for Spiderman Web discovered a box of Spiderman valentines so he had to get them. I wasn't going to give up on him "making" his valetines so I had him glue his store bought ones onto hearts I cut out. Addison stamped butterflies with hearts and Ethan made thumbprint hearts for his cards.

We made Kiss cookies too. They are getting quite good at helping me bake and cook. It was fun to unwrap the kisses but they would "forget" and put the kiss in their mouth instead of the bowl a lot. Addison even remembered some ingredients when we were telling Daddy later that night she said "flour and butter" which is right and pretty good. Of course, eating was the best part -- they don't eat the cookies they only eat the kiss off the top.

I made these valentines to give to the Grandpas and Grandmas.

I made this little book for Papa Ronn for taking them out in the snow.

We have been busy around here lately but now I must take the time to mop up all the creative juices -- they tend to overflow!

We have another thumbsucker!

At least I think we do. . . the last couple days I have "caught" Reese sucking her thumb while sleeping. Her paci falls out a lot while she's sleeping. It doesn't bother me if she sucks her thumb. Ethan still sucks his if he's really upset, sleepy, or sick but he doesn't do it constantly. I figure he will outgrow it and so will Reese. It's very cute!

Thanks, Papa!

Papa Ronn came to play in the snow today. These kids need to get out of the house and get rid of some of that energy -- we are all going stir crazy! None of us have gone anywhere since the weekend. They stayed out almost 1-1/2 hours! Too bad the snow wasn't good for making snowmen or snowballs but they kept picking up chunks of snow and throwing it. Papa made a "hill" for sledding and the boys thought it was funny to knock it down. They also wanted to swing which was tricky when they are wearing slick snowpants and sitting on an icy swing. They had a really good time! Papa was right about them being tired too I put them down for their nap and I haven't heard a peep from them. Usually Caden and Addison are up and down the stairs about 23 times each and I normally hear them running around too. They are worn out -- I just need to schedule play time like this everyday!

My Future Party Girl . . .

I swear Reese could sleep all day, every day. Keely is a little jealous of me because she said Reese sleeps 23.5 hours per day and Jeffrey sleeps .5 hours per day. That's not exactly true. Jeffrey did go through a non-sleeping time for quite a while but he is doing a lot better (easy for me to say since I'm not his mommy). Reese is starting to be up more. She is awake almost 1-1/2 whole hours in the morning then she sleeps from about 9-11:30 and wakes to eat but sort of sleeps through that feeding and then she will wake up around 2:30 and be up for about an hour and then go back to sleep. She finally wakes up about 5 and will be somewhat up (with several long catnaps here and there) until about 10:30. She sleeps through the night many times or only gets up once -- she's a great baby, actually I think she is lazy but I'm not complaining. She is beginning to play and loves smiling at all of us! I just keep telling Keely that because Jeffie is giving her such a hard time now that he will probably be a nice, sweet teenager and Reese will be some WILD CHILD!

If that's the reasoning I am going with then Ethan should be the GREATEST TEENAGER EVER! He can wear me out. This morning I couldn't find him anywhere. He had gone upstairs and closed my bedroom door and was jumping on our bed with his rainboots over his footie PJs. You can tell him a thousand times to stop doing something but he won't. We have to remove him from the situation and then make it so he can't go back to what he wants to do which can be rather tricky -- like jumping on the couch although Aaron and I have considered throwing the couch and all the other furniture out the door many times.

The whole teenager thing is mind-boggling to me anyway! We will have 4 of them at once. I try not to think of it too much because it scares me. Driver's liscences, cars, jobs, sports, dating, and all the drama -- if we survive all that then we can survive anything!

Weekend Layouts

Here are the two layouts I finished while Keely was here last week. The first one is from our anniverary last year. The second one shows just how much of a character Addison can be. (Click on the photos to see them larger)

More Scrapbooking

Today Scrapaganza announced the winner to their January blog Challlenge. I won! I talked my sister, Monica, into entering also. Keely's been doing it all along with me. We all get $10 gift certificates to the store just for entering. If you are a scrapbooker or want to start scrapbooking, you should enter! It's fun! Click here to see "My Take Home Baby" layout.

I am still a member of "Not Your Ordinary Book Club" at Scrapaganza that I attend monthly. You receive a kit each month. A few months ago it was a calendar kit. I decided I would make my mom a little calendar for Christmas and I started but of course it didn't get finished. I finally finished it a month late but mailed it to her and she loved it. It is double sided so half the months are on one side and the other 6 are on back. It was cute just really long! Click on the photos to see them bigger.

Work, Work, Work it out, Baby!

The kids started showing interest in helping a little around the house so I decided it was time they had their own chores. Caden is in charge of cooking the meals. He's pretty good and as you can tell he's loving his new job!

I'm gonna miss this!

My house is a wreck! I got really behind when I was pregnant with cleaning. Now it seems I'll never get caught up. I knew it was bad but when Keely and her boys came to stay it seemed to really JUMP out at me. Plus Jeffrey is crawling so he is everywhere and stirring up the giant dust bunnies on the floor and continually picking up stuff to put in his mouth. I never really checked but Keely probably had to throw away the clothes he wore here because I imagine his knees were black by the end of the day. I was super embarrassed after all how hard is it to clean especially when the kids still go down for a daily nap and go to bed at 8:30? I feel so behind so I vowed the second she left I would begin scrubbing and cleaning like mad. One and half days later have I started? Of course not! I am way too hard on myself . . . I can't do it all . . . I can't even do half! My sister, Monica, read my "Blah . . . Butch . . . Birthday" entry the other day and asked me if I had heard the song, "You're Gonna Miss This". She told me I just needed to stop and enjoy the now because it's going to be gone soon. I had heard it on the radio a couple times and she was right I need to enjoy the moment. Then when Keely, Aaron, and I took all 6 kids in McDonald's the other day, my neighbor Marilyn was there. I don't exactly remembered what I said to her but I'm sure I was complaining about the craziness of the moment and she said "someday you'll wish you had all this back." Then I promised Addison we could make a cake today and Ethan decided he wanted to help and then Caden came in the kitchen too. I couldn't even get to the counter; I was getting annoyed and frustrated. Then that exact song Monica told me about came on the radio. What a wake up call! I need to ease up on myself and enjoy the moment instead of focusing on what needs to get done -- who cares! Here's the portion of the song that gave me the wake up call! Thanks, Monica!

"You're Gonna Miss This" by Trace Adkins

Five years later there's a plumber workin' on the water heater
Dog's barkin', phone's ringin'
One kid's cryin', one kid's screamin'
She keeps apologizin'
He says "They don't bother me.
I've got 2 babies of my own.
One's 36, one's 23.
Huh, it's hard to believe, but ...

You're gonna miss this
You're gonna want this back
You're gonna wish these days hadn't gone by so fast
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know it now
But you're gonna miss this"

A Nice Long Visit

My sister, Keely, came with her two boys, Jackson and Jeffrey, and her 2 dogs to stay with us on Tuesday. Her husband was out of town for work for the week and she planned on going home on Thursday night but because her town, Catlin, received about 12" of snow she ended up staying until Saturday morning. All went well. We had a great time! The kids got along really well for the most part and 9 month old Jeffrey slept pretty well while he was here. We went to playgroup, had our dad come visit, ate out at McDonald's, and even played in the snow. Aaron pulled all the kids around on the sled. This was Jackson's first time in the snow and he had fun. I think they stayed out almost 45 minutes and Keely's dogs loved the snow as much as the kids. Keely and I scrapped some. I got a couple pages finished that I had started previously. We had some rocky moments too. It seems like the witching hour is from about 5 to 7 here. For some reason, Aaron was always gone during this time and things just seemed out of control. We had kids crying, fighting, throwing fits, getting into stuff, telephones ringing, smoke alarm going off because I caught a oven mitt on fire, all the while Addison stuck a raisin WAY UP her nose and we were trying to remove it with tweezers -- and that was just one night like that -- there were more. But we survived. The funny thing was even with both of us here all day we both still didn't get showered every day and when we did it was like 3:00 and Reese never did get out of her jammies on Friday. We spent a few hours looking for Jeffrey's paci too and never did find it while they were still here. Keely thought she must have thrown it away. Luckily I had extra ones for Reese but you know paci's are a very personal thing and he didn't like hers as much as his own. Aaron and I finally found it today in the bed of Mac Truck from Cars. I think Jeffrey put it there himself. Here's some fun moments from their visit:

Jeffrey using Reese as an arm rest.

Jackson and Caden playing in the "snow" at playgroup.
Jeffrey, Reese, and Addison hanging out.

Snacktime for Ethan and Jackson.
Jeffrey and Ethan playing with the dog kennel.