All I Want for Christmas...

Now Lars can sing the ever popular "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth" song as he lost another tooth today. We have been waiting for that darn tooth to come out forever. What perfect timing!

Christmas Decos on a Budget

My friend Steph Overman will be so proud!! Here are a couple of Christmas tree decorations I made this year and they look even better in *real life* than they do in the photos. They rock on so many levels, including the fact that I made each one for less than $0.30. Yes, 30 cents!! Also, they were so easy that even my 4 year old could do it, and so fast that they didn't even have time to get bored before they had a project completed right in front of them! As my friend Steph's daughters would say, "Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!"

Here are the how to's and the cost breakdown:
(all products were bought at Hobby Lobby during one of their MANY 50% off sales)

1- 12 pack of clear tree balls $2.00

3- 1 yard rolls of ribbon $1.00

1-pack of rub on transfers $2.00

For the ribbon filled balls, first take the top off of the ball. Cut about 1/8 of a yard of ribbon and push it down through the top of the ball. Replace top. Done! See, easy!

For the balls with rub on transfers, cut out the transfers you want to put on the ball and rub away! Done! Unfortunately the pics of these did not turn out well. If you want to see them you'll have to stop over and have some Christmas cookies with me ;)

This is such an easy way to let the kids help with Christmas decorations, and a way for them to let some of that craftiness show through!

Have fun!!

Tree Decorating

Well it is that time of year again--Christmas tree decorating. A few years ago we decided to buy an artificial tree because we (ok, Jamie) was sick of cleaning up pine needles and dealing with the mess of a real tree. After all, buy a few extra candles and it can still "smell" like you have a real tree. In an attempt to save money (i.e. be cheap) our new artificial tree left something to be desired. It made it through a few years ok, but each time we put it up we would groan about how miserable it looked.

Enter this year. Our basement (FINALLY) finished, we decided to let the kids use the artificial tree down there, and decorate it themselves. About 2 weeks ago we started a mission of creating ornaments using perler beads. (Those beads that fuse together when you iron them.) We got this idea from some friends of ours who did this a few years back. Unfortunately they don't live here anymore, but it was great to be able to think of them while we were making them. Thanks Hammetts!

So here are some pictures of the kids decorating the tree and then Drew just messing around with the camera taking silly pics of his sister. My favorite is the shot of Maddi's legs...?? Note, once again, the desire for long hair my daughter must have, as she wore that shirt on her head most of the day.

Miss Maddi

Just a photo of a typical afternoon of being home with Maddi. Skirt/dress of some sort, preferably also sporting a form of dance gear *note the footless tights*, Hannah Montana purse, long lost playdough found in said Hannah Montana purse, and some of mom's cooking utensils to use while playing with said playdough. Ahhh, a day in the life...

There's a Hole in My Rug

I can't possibly imagine what crumb/morsel/smell my dog was obsessing over when she felt the need to dig through my rug and create this big hole under my table. She was totally consumed by this *spot* and for days we would find her digging and licking away at this part of the rug. I hope whatever it was she was looking for was found. It has now been there for weeks (okay, months) and we have yet to replace the rug. (aka-I am too cheap) and see no rug purchase in the near future. I thought maybe writing about it would make me feel better, but, it doesn't. It still looks like a hole, it still looks sad, and I'm still not going to replace it anytime soon. Maybe it's growing on me. It is certainly a conversation starter. And I'm sure my dog didn't mean to actually make a hole, right?

cornbread in a can

Maddi got off her bus from preschool yesterday and ran in the house so excited she could hardly contain herself. She threw open her backpack and pulled out a baggie full of cornmeal and an old soup can that had been de-labeled and cleaned. What she showed me was a little recipe on how to make cornbread in a can. Now, the whole purpose was to make this can of cornbread and share it on Thanksgiving with your family, but Maddi wanted no part of that whole *waiting* thing. She insisted on making the cornbread NOW!

So, we followed the attached instructions and 25 minutes later, voila! we had cornbread. In a can. Weird. But it actually tasted pretty good. Not Jiffy good, but still good. She was thrilled. Does it really matter what it tasted like since she was so proud? Naaa...

That's What Friends Are For

So, the other night, we had our friends the Cupps over for dinner. Nothing unusual about that. The boys were off playing the Wii and the little girls were playing a various assortment of all things *girly* up in Maddi's bedroom. Dinner had came and went, and Vicki was trying to find Abby to let her know it was about time to go home. She found her alright, sitting on a stepstool in our bathroom, just hanging out with Maddi as she was doin' her business. Yep, that's right, they were talkin' the whole time. We were cracking up of course (no pun intended) and Vicki said that this was certainly blog worthy and we needed a photo. This photo is actually a re-creation of the *original* as Maddi was already done by the time I grabbed my camera, and this way we keep it G-rated.

As for the shirt on her head, you ask? That is Maddi's attempt at having long hair. Someday girlfriend, someday...

Squire Point

Just some pics taken out at Squire Point when we were taking a hike one Saturday afternoon. Dad had to work so the kids and I loaded up Dakota and headed for the trails. We had a great time and everyone did pretty good on the hike. Due to the gorgeous weather we were having there were tons of people out so Dakota had to stay on leash, but still managed to burn off a little excess energy. (Always a good thing in her case!) Maddi's legs got a little tired so big brother Drew came to the rescue and carried her for part of the way. (AWWW...)

Drew has found a new passion--photo taking! and wants my camera whenever he thinks of it. He actually took most of the pics posted here because holding on to Dakota with one hand and trying to take pics with the other is not the most convenient method, nor does it lend to many great photos, unless of course you are going for that *blurry/hazy/my-hand-must-have-jerked because it hurts my eyes to look at it* kind of photo. You know the ones I mean...

Anyway, enjoy!

Just Goofin'

The other day grandma Connie came in to town for a quick visit and we jumped at the opportunity to grab a few pics of the kids! The raindrops proved courteous enough to hold off from becoming a major downpour and it wasn't too freezing out there...

Oh, and BTW--I realize there is a picture turned sideways but I didn't KNOW it would turn sideways until I published this post. You must also realize that I am too stupid to figure out how to delete just that picture without deleting the whole post. It was easier to leave the picture in. Just turn your head and it will be fine.

Happy Halloween

Here are some pics from our Trick-or-Treating adventure......

Maddi is an Iowa Hawkeye cheerleader and we did our best to get one of those pony tail holders with Iowa Hawkeye ribbons in her hair. Pretty it wasn't, but she was thrilled and kept whipping her head around to make sure everyone could see it.

Lars' story is not so simple. Lars originally wanted to be Jango Fett. For all of you *non* Star Wars people (me included) I was told he was part of the dark side who helped with the rise of the "Empire". That certainly clears things up, right? Anyway, by the time we went to go buy costumes, all of the Jango Fett ones in Lars' size were gone. There were Boba Fett costumes (Jango Fett's son) but that would simply not do. Being the good mom (or sucker) that I am, I ordered a Jango Fett costume online, paid $20 more for it than Target sold it for, and all was good, right? Wrong. The costume was too small! Bummer. After a long discussion of our options, we decided to box it up, send Jango Fett back, and go to Target and buy Boba Fett. Yes, the same costume that he refused to get just a few weeks earlier was now good enough for our beloved costume wearing extravaganza. Whew. Perfect, right? Wrong again.

Enter the Clone Trooper. A few weeks earlier before all of the costume ordering/returning even began, a good friend of ours bought Lars a Clone Trooper outfit for his birthday. Even then I tried to convince him he should be that for Halloween, but no, that was not Lars' plan so the above mentioned story was put into play. What a surprise I was in for when Lars came downstairs for trick-or-treating wearing his Clone Trooper outfit! He did wear Boba Fett that day for his school "festivities", but apparently he was bored with Boba Fett by this time and decided to change costumes. So, to make a long story short, Lars was a Clone Trooper for Halloween night.

Drew was a gladiator and he was very happy that we had such beautiful weather as his costume did not have a lot of warm clothing pieces in it. Not that we couldn't have improvised, but how many gladiators have you seen wearing a black turtleneck and long underwear??

Overall we had a great night and ended it with a fire pit at a neighbors house. The kids actually were exhausted by 9:30 so off to bed they went, perfect for mom to *sort through* their candy!! Only a few pieces were missing the next morning....

Wild Eyes

Just a silly pic of Drew and Maddi with some cookies that look like eyeballs. Go figure, eh?

Reminder...

I have been feeling a little anxious and nervous about the upcoming election as I find myself struggling with how to do the right thing. I am very unsure of what the outcome of this election will mean for me on many levels, and selfishly that includes personally and professionally. I also feel like this is one of the more important elections we have had in recent history with so many important issues at stake. Not that the issues of past elections weren't as important, but there just seems to be a tenseness around this election that feels different than those in my past. Maybe I am just a little older and care more because I have more at stake, maybe I sense an urgency about the world my kids grow up in as they get a little older and test their independence. Maybe I feel the candidates both have a little to offer and can't figure out why they can't put it all together into one big package. Maybe I feel that voting for the wrong person will make me a bad person, maybe I feel like voting for the right person won't matter anyway, maybe I feel I should write in the name of the person I REALLY want to win, even though they clearly won't. I'm not sure why this time I have been feeling so unsettled about it all...but then my answer came.

No, not in the form of a *robocall*, not in the form of someone knocking at my door, and not by listening to some skewed media channel bashing the other side. It came by the way of a piece of scripture. Actually, that shouldn't surprise me, because nothing surprises Him. He knows it all, how it will turn out, and what that will mean for all of us. Reminding myself of that, even as I write it here on this page, makes me feel safer. At the end of the day, He is all who matters. He will protect us, and what will be here on earth, will be. He never said life on earth would be easy, so for us to feel like we won't struggle at times isn't realistic. He does, however, command us as in the verse that has helped me so much these past few days...

"...Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9

It amazes me that God put these words in a place for me to hear them at exactly the time I needed to hear them. Somehow my fears are important enough to Him to let me be in the right place at the right time, to hear His words that can comfort me in an unsettling time. Because at the end of the day, it doesn't matter who my president is, or who my congressman is, or even who my neighbor is; it matters who my king is, and that is Him.

Fall Fun

Recently we met Grandpa Jim and Grandma Irene at Kroul's Farm to do some pumpkin picking. The kids enjoyed playing on the huge hay bales and picking their own pumpkins (which we have yet to carve by the way...). When it was time to do the corn maze, Maddi decided to sit it out with Grandma and Grandpa, so Lars, Drew, and I headed off. Down the row we went, winding our way around, and found our first dead end. To make the maze more exciting, the Kroul family has added scarecrows at the dead ends, but they are not just any scarecrows, they are SCARY scarecrows--at least to a 6 year old. Lars wants so much to be brave and like scary things but he is still unsure if those things could really be real or not. Drew is old enough to understand it is all for fun, but for Lars there is just that little hint of doubt holding him back. We kept going but after about 8 different dead ends, Lars was done. Ready to pack it up and get the heck outta there. (Of course after we got out of the maze Lars talked the big talk about how cool it all was.)

All in all, it was a fun afternoon topped off with a treat from Dairy Queen. What more could you ask for??

I've Been Tagged...Again

Okay, so this time I have to tell you 5 things I hate to admit about myself, so here goes...

1. I am a MAJOR procrastinator, and it is getting worse. I really do start off with good intentions, but somehow I just can't bring myself around to having the motivation to follow through. Oh, I eventually get the task done, but I think to myself, "if I would have just done that when I first thought about it, I wouldn't have wasted so much time thinking about it and it could have been done by now." Do you see the horrible cycle of it all? It is so bad, that it even leads me to my next thing I hate to admit...

2. I am addicted to sticky notes. I possibly even have a sticky note problem. My biggest fear is that something will come up that I need to remember and if I don't write it down, I will forget. I make at least one list on a sticky note everyday. (**see point 3 below**) Now, does that sticky note help me not to procrastinate since what I need to do is written down and I can just go down my list, or does it in fact make my procrastination worse, knowing that I have my list to fall back on? hmmmm...point to ponder.

3. I am a list maker. Now, that is not a bad thing, but the fact that I make lists (on my sticky notes, of course) and rewrite them several times a day is where the *humor* lies in this. I have been known to make a list in the morning, rewrite it in the order I want to do it, and then actually add to the list if I do anything extra. If I have lots to do and can't do it all in one day, I will organize my list into separate days. Now, the best part about "the list" is that you get to cross things off when they are done, making me think I really have accomplished something. So, if I do something extra that is not on my list, I want credit for it so I write it in, then cross it off. It is very liberating. Or I am very wierd. Very possibly the latter...

4. I love reading People magazine. No explanation, I just do.

5. I had a big crush on Bobby Brown when I was in high school. HUGE! I actually got to see him in concert down in Dallas, TX and thought I was the coolest person EVER! Of course all my dreams came crashing down when he went and married Whitney, became a drug addict, and decided to choose a life less than appealing to me. Even his music stopped being good. (Maybe it never was good?) Oh well, thank goodness I wised up and was able to marry someone even better!! He may not sing as good, but hey, I'll take him!

Lars' 6th Birthday

Ok, I suck. Lars' birthday was last week and through all of the "festivities" we had for his birthday, do you think I remembered my camera just once?? Nope-not even once! (If it makes Lars feel better someday, I did the same thing the year we let Drew have his very first friend birthday party when he turned 5).

Anyhoo--I can at least recap for you all and you can use your imagination as to what the pictures might have looked like.

As you might have guessed, Lars started counting down the days until his birthday for about 8 days prior (a trait I think he may have inherited from me). Every morning he would wake up and announce how many more days until he turned 6. On the actual day of his birthday he went to school and I brought in some Star Wars cookies made by the infamous Cookie Mom Cookies lady. She rocks! After school, big brother Drew had a birthday party to attend for a friend but Lars was grown up enough to wait until Drew got home from his friend's party before digging into his presents. Awww...how sweet. But hold on--back to that in a minute.

Lars decided that on his birthday he wanted to have his dad take him to the park so they could play baseball together. Perfect thing to do to kill some time until Drew gets home from the party. Then we let him pick what he wants to eat for dinner-McDonald's, of course! (I was somehow able to convince him that an actual restaurant was more of what we had in mind, so we ended up at Okoboji Grill)

Ok, so several hours have gone by and the kid has done so well with not asking about his presents and such, but at dinner, Uncle Matt and Aunt Diana bring him a present. Opening one did it for him--he had gotten a taste of opening gifts, and he was done with waiting. We got home about 8:30pm and we were expecting Drew any minute. By this time, Lars was so over the whole waiting thing that he was staring out the window just watching for the car that was going to be dropping Drew off. The minute it pulled into our driveway, Lars sprinted to the kitchen and started tearing open presents. He was literally on his third one before Drew even walked in the door. Enough of this "waiting for big brother stuff" already.

It only took him about four minutes to open all of his gifts, but he was thrilled with all his stuff. So thrilled in fact, that he was up at 5:30 the next morning putting together some of his new Star Wars Lego sets. When asked if he was following all the directions for his legos, he said, "I only skipped one page because it was too hard." At this point I thought, "oh well, we can fix it later-I'm going back to bed!"

So now it is Saturday, the day of the big party. We invited his whole kindergarten class (21 kids) to the Iowa Gym Nest (a gymnastics studio) for the best type of party...one that tires them all out!!! It was perfect for busy little people of this age and they had a great time. When we told Lars that we were inviting his whole class to the party, he looked at me funny and said, "even Ann Marie?" and I said, "Yeah, everyone. Why?" His response was, "Well she's mean and she gets in trouble in class all the time. She'll probably steal all of my toys." I reassured him that this would not happen so he felt a little better, and was even happier when she didn't actually come to the party. I'm not sure what his big beef with her is except that he is very annoyed that she always gets in trouble and disrupts class at school. I think it makes him even more mad that she has never had to go to the principal's office because of her behavior. We had always told him that you have to behave in school or you'll get sent to Mr. Laures' office and be in big trouble. (I love the rigidity of rules in this age group). I'm sure he just can't comprehend why she keeps getting away with being naughty.

So anyway, we survived the party and the ridiculous amount of gifts he got, and Lars is thrilled to be 6. He had a great birthday weekend. And then, three days later he asked, "How many more days until I turn 7?"