It's a Marshmallow World in the Winter

December 15: It's Cookie Day!

One of our most favorite days of the year, although it's a lot of work...made into a lot more work by the fact that my 3 little men are helping. I have to put on the Christmas music and just be prepared for the imperfection that is the sweet perfection of having my guys want to bake with me.

There may have been half a batch of pumpkin bread that had to be thrown out because someone wasn't listening. There may have been dough-covered beaters flying through the air because someone wasn't paying attention. There may have been moments when I lost my temper about it all. But there were apologies and forgiveness all around, and I'm happy to have "helpers."

There may have been cookies flopped haphazardly onto the cookie sheet, resulting in several fusing together during baking. There may also have been snowmen that looked more like the Bride of Frankenstein. It was fun...once I decided to let it be.

There may have been some fingers in the sugar and possibly a squeeze or two of icing straight into the mouth. It was worth it.

There may have been (and may still be) a coating of sprinkles and flour across any and every flat surface...and my jeans. I wouldn't change it.

December 16: Cookie Delivery & Caroling!

It turned out to be just delivery. Even though we practiced a few songs and they said they wanted to sing, they got incredibly shy once they were put on the spot. My hopes of posting a video of the three of them singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" to the neighbors were dashed. Oh, well.

We had 8 tins of cookies to deliver. We hit up a few of the neighbors and then moved on to our "heroes." These included a state trooper who lives at the end of the street, the local firefighters, and the local librarians.

December 17: Christmastime in the City

I'm crazy. I really REALLY love big cities at this time of year. Although some folks around here might disagree with me, Wichita is NOT a big city. So we piled into the car to drive to Kansas City. Three hours to get there, 4 hours at Union Station, and 3+ hours to get back (in a blizzard, no less). Totally worth it.

A little train ride and an amazing model train display (with Legos and superheroes, too!) entertained the kiddos. The beautiful tree and lights entertained Mommy. And a sack full of 100 candy canes that we distributed to strangers with a wish of "Merry Christmas" kept the people around us entertained.

December 18: Christmas in Miniature at Exploration Place

More trains! This time at the local children's museum. Their display was set to Christmas music and is a nice little show that takes you from sunrise to sunset and through the night.

There was also a holiday movie we were planning to see at the theater, but they happened to be holding a charity event during the exact show time we were counting on. It's difficult to be angry at the Make a Wish Foundation. So this day wasn't as Christmas-y as I had hoped, but it was still a lot of fun!

December 19: Make a gingerbread treat

I found a cute kit that was an entire gingerbread village. There were a total of 5 buildings, so each of us was able to decorate his own with no competition from anyone else. We made them sit and look at it for a day before they were allowed to rip it to pieces, which is what they really wanted to do.

December 20: Carriage ride & lights display for our "Christmas Eve"

Well, it was supposed to be a carriage ride & lights display, anyway. The line for the carriage rides looked like it was going to last all night, so we drove on past, checking out the beautifully lit tree as we did.

Then we looked up other lights displays in the area. We found a drive through display that was highly rated and headed across town. Some of it left the hubby and I scratching our heads and giggling. While neither of us was blown away by the experience, and were perhaps feeling a bit of disappointment, Thing 1 piped up from the back, "That was the most WONDERFUL thing I've seen this Christmas! I LOVED IT!" The other two boys agreed and drew pictures of their favorite thing they had seen as soon as we got home.

I was reminded that things don't have to be fancy to be wonderful.

I am going to try to look at the world through the eyes of wonder my children still possess...and thank God every day that they haven't lost that vision yet.

December 21: "Christmas" in Kansas!

We have a lot of traveling to do this year, and the hubby has a pretty busy work schedule...the end of the year stinks...so we celebrated our first of several "Christmases."

The boys woke up early to full stockings and presents calling to them from around the tree. There weren't a lot, but the ones that were there were "big ticket" items that the hubs and I were pretty excited about. Particularly the hubs...gift giving is his favorite love language.

After the last gift was unwrapped, N looked at me and said, "Do you know what I was hoping for? I wish I had gotten an umbrella."

Hurt feelings, tears, apologies, hugs...followed by a discussion about (in)gratitude...followed by another discussion about our sinful hearts never being satisfied so long as we look to people, places, and things to do for us what only God can do: bring us peace and joy.

And finally, a reminder that a gift is a way for someone to say "I love you." Even if we are not thankful for the gift, we can be thankful for the love.

What was that Sound?

Warning: This post may contain explicit content and have a high gross-out factor.

After the kids were tucked in and soundly sleeping, the hubby and I were sitting around and chatting when we heard a strange sound. It sounded a little bit like the cough/barf keyboard from Ferris Bueller's Day Off. You know the one I'm talking about.

We listened carefully to see if we could identify its origin or cause, but didn't hear anything else. We dismissed it. Figuring that if it had been anything important, we would have heard some sort of follow-up noises.

Roughly 20 minutes later, we discovered what had happened. Are you ready for this?

Shorty had apparently loudly pooped his pants while sleeping.

I know, I know. Don't ask me how one does that. All I know is that it happened. He awoke, uncomfortable due to the mess in his pants. Naturally. Then he reached in and removed the solid mass that he found, placing it in the center of his bed. Why wouldn't he? Who can walk with a large turd weighing him down? He decided to head to the bathroom to get cleaned up, as it was quite a messy bowel movement. As he reached the door to his room, he was faced with a dilemma. His hands were covered in excrement, yet he needed to turn the knob to get out. He tried to open the door with his elbows, because they were clean. That didn't work. He didn't want to call out loudly, since his brothers were sleeping, so he tried softly knocking on the door to see if we could hear him. We didn't.

We still don't know how long he was standing there before Daddy's Spidey Sense told him to check on the boys.

There he was, poo smeared in unlikely and unpleasant places, devastated at the state of things. And we had our answer to the question, "What was that sound?"

beyond compare

This is the Square Beyond Compare. Delicious.

We are having it tonight in honor of this guy. He is also beyond compare.

He can manage to look incredibly hot while sporting a silly, mid-shave mustache and soul patch.

He is silly, and funny, and the best husband I could ever have asked for. After nearly 12 years, I still love to spend time with him. 

He never fails to stop and absorb the amazing things he sees, and inspires me to do the same.

He is an amazing daddy; his boys adore him. He can be crazy, sporty, outdoorsy, scholarly, literary. He is a chameleon. He meets their needs. I love watching him in the act.

photo credit jill heupel photography

Tonight our hats are off to him for all of those things and more. He works incredibly hard for our family. He also takes care of our family by working outside the home. He works hard. He takes pride in doing it well. He takes to heart Colossians 3:23, which says, "Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men."

Tonight he was recognized by his company for the hard work he puts in. Based on his performance this past year, he has won awards at a district, area, and national level. And we are proud.

Love you, B. You are truly beyond compare.

"I'm having a party. . .and you're not invited!"

There is a lot of testosterone in this house.

And the males are starting to bond.

The only other female is the cat.

And she really doesn't like me very much.

I guess I should get used to being on my own more when whatever activity says "No Girls Allowed."

But, I have to admit, it was a little odd last Friday night when the hubby came home from work & announced that he was putting into action a plan he had been formulating in his mind for quite some time:

The First Ever -- Boys Only -- Family Room Camp Out

After dinner, all the extra sheets in the house were located, furniture was rearranged, sleeping bags opened up, and a pile of books and movies chosen. Then a fort was constructed that pretty much encompassed the entirety of the family room. I got four kisses "goodnight," and was banished from sight.

I am either a control freak or just very curious, depending upon whom you are asking, so I sat at my upstairs desk eavesdropping working on the computer, and I could clearly hear what was going on. It was pretty cute.

I also sneaked downstairs on several occasions to spy check up on them, without being seen.

W was the first one to crash. He still likes an afternoon nap if he can get one, and he hadn't had one that day. So he didn't even make it beyond the opening credits of the movie. 

The hubby was the second one out. tee hee.

N and L watched most of the movie before giving in. 

Here's what I found right before I turned off the TV for them:

I did a bit more sneaking in the morning, and headed out to grab us all some Dunkin Donuts to celebrate their survival.

When I came back, all 3 kiddos were awake, but Daddy was still zonked. They were all staring at him, as if they could wake him up with the force and not get blamed for it. As soon as they saw me, they asked if they could "please come out."

I thought about saying "no" just to see how long they could be contained.

Instead I fed them sugar.

life in the desert (so far)

We've been here for almost a month and it seems like we are busy all the time. Doing what? I don't really know. But here are a few things I hear from the mouths of my babes nearly every day:

• The men with trucks will bring all our toys and then we will be so so happy!
• Are we going to our old house or our new house?
• In-N-Out is Daddy's favorite.
• Can we drive on the bumpy road?
• Let's go to the frozen yogurt shop. I want worms and butterflies.
• We made cards for our friends. The mail man took them in an airplane. Maybe our friends will say "thank you" to us.
• I-K-E-A! What's it spell? IKEA!
• You don't hug a cactus.

happy 8 years

in just a few short hours, i'll be kid-free and happily celebrating my 8th anniversary with a trip here, oh yes, i will:

and, just like mr. billy joel, i am in a New York state of mind.

La Copa de la Vida

It only happens every four years.

And to be honest, this is only the 3rd time I've even given it any thought.

But the World Cup has invaded my house. And just like the other 2 times, it has taken over everything.

The first time I ever thought about it was 8 years ago when I was trying to plan a wedding date with this cute guy I used to know:
Anyway, I believe I was aiming somewhere around the beginning of June for the Big Day. He told me "no way" because that was the first round of something called the World Cup.
I was willing to be flexible. So I suggested the next week. And then the week after that.
That was when the handsome fella really started to push his luck. He told me that the competition lasted ONE MONTH and that we would have to wait until it was finished to get married.
It was either agree with him or spend the honeymoon watching futbol on the tele.
And that, my friends, is why we got married the 2nd week in July. In case you were wondering.
That memory makes me smile. And here are a few other things about the World Cup (a.k.a. the best sports tournament ever) that make me smile.
Shakira's song isn't doing it for me this year, but the official song of '98 always makes me happy.

I know some folks out there have complained about the noise, but, honestly, vuvuzelas don't bother me. Mini ones keep little boys happy for hours at a time. GOOOOOL!


And if cuteness could get you into the next World Cup, W would be in Brazil in 2014. Check out that skill!

ole, ole, ole, ole...ole...ole

One Little Speckled Frog...

sitting on a speckled log, eating a most delicious fly-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay-ay!

The boys love this song. We sing it all day long. Frogs are pretty much an obsession around here. We sing about them. We search every drop of water in the hopes that we will find one. We pretend to be them.

Ribbit.

So when the hubby found one while helping to dig a trampoline pit (how cool is that) for a friend of ours, he decided without hesitation to bring it home and show the boys.

He put it in an empty planter.

In the sun.

Without water.

For several hours while they napped.

When they awoke, he immediately told them he had a surprise for them outside. They ran with him down stairs, out the back door, and into the back yard where they peered over the side of the planter and saw:

a very, very dead frog.

Did you know that rigormortis could set in in just an hour or so? It can. This poor little speckled frog was stiff as can be.

B even gave the planter a nice shake and a bang on the patio just in case the little guy was just sleeping so soundly he was unable to move (which, in fact, is pretty much what he told the boys the frog was doing).

What's funny is that seeing this dead frog didn't just make their day -- it made their week. They are still talking about the frog that Daddy surprised them with & how it was sleeping & that then it went to live at its new house, a.k.a the trash can.

Truly Rad

The hubby got all nostalgic with his Christmas gifts this year & insisted that for his brother's present we find a copy of their favorite movie from when they were kids.

This is a "classic" BMX movie from the 80s starring Lori Loughlin of Full House fame. It's name? Rad.

Sounds like a winner, eh?

Well, the boys decided that they needed to watch said movie -- and that their wives should see this movie that shaped their youth.

Here's a clip for your viewing pleasure. The scene, a dance in the high school gym:



What can I say? The cinematography...the stunts...the man in a wig doing Lori Loughlin's bike riding for her...truly rad, I tell you.

eviction notice

some of you may know the details, others may not care...but in case there is anyone out there who is curious about little l's entrance into the world, a-bloggin' i will go.

i love my darling husband to death, but as the we got closer & closer to my due date, it really began to annoy me when he didn't answer the phone when i called him while at work. what if it were TIME? i kept saying. he was pretty good about getting back to me as soon as he could, but in my mind that wasn't good enough.

then there was the issue of limon.

he has to travel to limon once or twice a month. the possibility of his being a little more than an hour away (and possibly under a dish machine somewhere) when i went into labor didn't please me too much.

on top of that, there's this big prison out there. and he's responsible for keeping all those inmates sanitized and germ-free. this is a task which requires several hours every time he visits.

no cell phones allowed.

for hours at a time.

this was my recurring nightmare: the hubby, in limon, shuts & locks his car (cell phone inside), gives his hair a passing glance in the car window (and tweaks it just a bit), and turns to walk inside limon correctional facility. at that moment, his cell phone rings. i have just gone into labor & am headed to the hospital. nearly 4 hours later, he comes out to the car and checks his messages, he immediately starts for denver, but with rush-hour traffic it takes nearly 2 hours to arrive. by this point in time, i have already given birth and called him names which cannot be printed here.

so, when my doctor mentioned an elective induction at 39 weeks, i jumped on it.

we checked in on 9.9.09 at 9p.m. and i was already contracting regularly (unbeknownst to me). apparently, this caused some sort of last-minute change of plan. it was 11p.m. before the started the pitocin. all night long, i kept hearing the same thing, "your contractions are looking pretty impressive, on a scale of 1-10, how's your discomfort." they would look at me, a bit perplexed, when i responded over and over again, "maybe a 1." each time i was told they were increasing the pitocin because we wanted it to hurt.

sure we did.

at around 8 in the morning, i finally felt uncomfortable so i asked for my bff to pay me a visit -- the man with that glorious creation, the epidural. by noon my doctor arrived. at quarter past i started pushing, and the little guy made his appearence at 12.38.

his big brothers are adjusting. acting out a bit,

and watching too much tv,
but adjusting (and learning the alphabet to boot -- thank you cookie monster, thank you big bird) to this little sweet pea.

the name game

since we still don't get to use either of the girls' names we had picked out when the twins were still little bean pods, we have been playing the name game again. we find naming little boys to be arduous.

here's the way it works around my house: i come up with a list of about 50 names that i think would work -- usually with about 2-3 that i actually love. i give the list to my darling hubby who, without hesitation or much thought, begins to cross off every single name from the list.

yay.

needless to say, i love this process.

so, today as i was searching an internet database for boy names, i began a list to present to b this evening as we are sitting down to dinner. i don't think it will take him very long at all to notice that this list is different.

at the risk of offending some of you (although i doubt it), here is my list of names that i would absolutely never under no circumstances consider naming my little boy, although someone must have, since they were on a very prominent baby naming site:

Banjo - not even sure i like it as an instrument, let alone a name
Cactus
Calico
Cannon - the camera or the weapon?
Chilli - delicious, but not for a child's name
Clever - i'm all about names with meaning, but, really?
Cocoa - for a BOY?
Columbo - why not? his brother magnum p.i. thought it was a great name!
Curry - again, the food thing, yummy though
Darth - vadar?
Dong - um...
Durable
Fell
Flan - a tasty mexican dessert...
Gattaca - as in the movie with ethan hawke & jude law?
Gizmo
Hades - seriously, people, who does this to her child?
Heinz - admittedly, the best ketchup, but...
Humvee - who loves a car this much?
Hyman - hymen? nice
Ice - ice, baby...
Jedi - some sci-fi lovers out there, i guess...
Kevork - ian, as in dr. jack the dr. of death?
Lavender - really? for a little boy?
Lucifer - why, oh why would someone do that?
Oma - german for grandma?
Oscosh - b'gosh
Peanut
Philander - look up "philanderer" in the dictionary...
Phuc - um...
Pooh
Pooky
Rad - very 80s, dude
Rong - i agree, it is rong, very very rong
Satchel
Scoop
Shrek - he was a green monster, for goodness sake!
Starbuck - has the world really come to this? how about caramel macchiato?
Suave - rrrrrico.......suuuuaaaveeee
Torn
Uzi - automatic weapons, fantastic
Yogi - bear
Zero - you've got to give your kid a little something more than this to live up to, people

so...do you have a favorite?

a little randomness

videos are so much fun -- except that it's nearly impossible for me to take them without the boys just attacking the camera. but i have managed to catch a few recently!

the first is ALL BOY!

that is mr. w with his face pressed to a piece of seldom-used exercise equipment making fart noises -- something that it seems boys never grow out of. mr. n showed him how, but was more interested in the camera. he gets in on the act for just a second. and so it begins...

we have also reached a turning point with mr. n -- he is FINALLY starting to walk (although only about 40% of the time & with many stumbles). he was having so much fun on saturday that i thought for sure he would never crawl again. i was wrong. he didn't walk once on sunday.


mr. w is starting to come around, too, but is staying true to form & letting his bro figure it out first. i don't think he'll be far behind, though!

because i thought it would be fun

just so that we are all clear that i'm not the only one around here with quirks, i thought it would be fun to share with you the 6 quirkiest things about my darling hubby. of course, they are going to be the quirks i love about him, the quirks that make him b. the quirks that irritate me . . . those are for another day.

and probably it's better not to hang dirty laundry out for the whole blogging universe to look at. nobody needs to take a close look at somebody else's skivvies, as far as i'm concerned -- even if they are Calvin Klein.

so, here they are in the order they come to mind:

The 6 Quirkiest Things About B:

1. his closet is immaculate. a place for everything, and everything in its place. each hanger, evenly spaced. he can sense as soon as he opens the closet door if some other less tidy creature (me) has invaded and attempted to put something away.

2. he is the clean-up man. this is highly related to #1, but he will literally follow me around the kitchen with a sponge, cleaning the mess i make as i am making it. my baking style is his nightmare.

3. sometimes he'll say, "i'm looking for a brown argyle sweater this season." however, more often it comes out something like, "i would like a Paul Smith shirt. i don't have one of those." (!) this is a language i don't speak. i fill in my wardrobe by color & style. apparently, this other method works, too.

4. he cannot play a game "for fun." it must be to win. and it must be highly competitive. if it's a board game, he'll even stoop to cheating (WARNING: do not play scattergories with him unless you are willing to challenge answers). chess, he won't even play with me -- i don't take the game seriously enough (and, thus, stink). scrabble -- he seeks out his true competition, my mother. bowling -- don't even think about crazy bowling. it's serious business. and soccer? we're working on getting him to a point where he can play anything below semi-pro. we'll see.

5. he has had the same haircut for 5 years. attempts to branch out, in his opinion, just didn't work as well as what he has now. he has found a style he likes, and he is sticking to it. (i think he's hot regardless)

6. he can read books and books of philosophy, theology, and whatever other -ology seems to strike his fancy. but he can't seem to make it through a novel. we even tried Of Mice and Men. no dice (AND IT'S 80 PAGES, PEOPLE).

so, that's him. i hope it was as fun for you to read about the silly things that make him special as it was for me to write about them. woo-hoo.

happy birthday to my hottie of a hubby!

28 years ago today (gasp, he's an 80s baby -- if you didn't gasp, don't tell me, i don't want to feel old) this adorable creature was born:



brian edward mitchell -- isn't he cute?

check him out a year later. he's already got awesome fashion sense, doesn't he?



being such a manly man, he had to learn to shave that wicked beard at just 2 years old:



at just 3 years of age, we could see where much of his life focus would be -- lookin good for the ladies!



somehow, even at a mere 6 years old, he knew that he would one day get to repair things in kitchens:



time does fly when you are having fun, and soon brian was turning 11. does everyone remember hypercolor? yes, that is a 100% authentic hypercolor t-shirt brian's brother is pressing his face into. ah, arpits and crotches that turn different colors from body heat. what a brilliant idea!



the teenage years are interesting ones for all of us. brian was 1 part nerd and 2 parts jock. he got to travel all over the country (and also to england) for soccer camps and such. doesn't he look like a friendly kid, though?



at 14 he moved to spain & came back in the summers to visit his family. check out his uber-stylish bowl cut here:



now, i know you all are wondering how to snag such a looker for yourselves. but just hold on, things did start looking better after puberty and all its bizarre effects wore off.

this is what brian looked like when i met him in barcelona. if i may say so, i certainly got myself my own mc steamy -- who needs grey's anatomy?



and he's still just as handsome 6 years later!





happy birthday, sweetie, and thanks for making me one lucky woman!