My Backup Career

Saturday the kids and I (Jamie had to work--then ended up barfing all day Sunday) went to Ames to see our good friends the Overmans. They had invited us and a couple of other families from Iowa City to come over and see the Christmas production that their church puts on every year. (BTW--FABULOUS!!!)

Lars was tired and decided to fall asleep in my lap during the play. He woke up with 5 minutes left in the program, but was wimpering and saying his tooth hurt. Trying quietly to calm him and get him to stop, it was getting worse so I had to leave the auditorium. By the time the program was over a few minutes later, Lars was beside himself and in such pain that he couldn't stop crying. (He had mentioned to me on Friday that he thought his filling that was in that tooth had fallen out, so I was planning on calling the dentist on Monday.)

Well, as luck would have it, our friend Jacob (aka Dr. Overman) is a dentist and suggested we go to his office so he could take a look at it and make sure there wasn't an abscess. Luckily there wasn't, so he was nice enough to drill out the gunk and refill it with some white stuff. As it was after hours, Jacob had me be his assistant so I got to use the water squirter and the suction tube thingy, and I was pretty proud of my duties. Jacob said I did fine, but my guess is that he won't be offering me a job anytime soon. If the economy gets bad enough however, maybe I could moonlight a few days a month :)

Oops! He Did It Again

Here we are again, another photo of Drew with some sort of ailment...

So today after school the boys in our 'hood were all thinking it would be a blast to go find a steep, icy driveway on our street and slide down it on their bottoms, knees, backs, whatever they felt like. All was good for a while until they decided they were going to add a snowball fight to the mix. Well, I don't know about the rest of you reading this, but we really don't HAVE any snow here right now, it's all ice. Therefore, (you may sense where I am going with this) as one of these snow/iceballs was coming at Drew, he zigged when he should have zagged, and now his face looks like this!

Of course Dad was at the gym when it happened so I had to look at it and decide if it needed stitches (I called my neighbor Christi-also a nurse) and we decided that it would probably be ok. They say things happen in threes, wish me (or Drew) luck!

Superheroes

We went to Grandpa Jim and Grandma Irene's house for a belated Thanksgiving/early Christmas last weekend and the kids had a great time playing with their cousins and being silly. Irene's son Jim and his wife Dani are always so thoughtful and get the kids a little something for Christmas every year, this one being no exception. The kids were thrilled when they got to open their presents-pillowcases!! (even better because Dani actually made them herself)

Drew and Lars got Transformer pillowcases and Maddi got a pink Iowa Hawkeye one (they know her pretty well, eh?) The kids all wanted them tied around their necks after they opened them and wore them as capes for the rest of the night. They didn't even take them off to eat dessert! And of course the kids wanted their new pillowcases to be put on their pillows before they would go to bed!

Experimenting 101

So this morning as Drew was outside waiting for the bus to come, he decided to do a little experiment. You know, the one where you stick-your-tongue-to-a-frozen-metal-pole-just-to-see-if-it-REALLY-will-stick-to-the-pole-and-pull-your-skin-off? Well, what more could a good scientist want than for an experiment that gives results that can be proven time and time again! Here's Drew's proof! My guess is that he will lay that experiment to rest. On a side note, he did make the comment that he thought it was cool that he could still see the parts of his tongue that stuck to the pole. GROSS!

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?