"the tree" part 2

I could not resist taking a picture of the house...with the lights on and the snow falling.
Aaaahhh....it is so peaceful. The whole street is glowing from the Christmas lights and the snow. :)




My husband, trying to put the lights on the enormous tree....while trying not to break his own neck.


Oh, my boys!!!





What am I doing while he is hanging by a thread?! Relaxing :) Usually the tree lighting is allll me. Nice to have some help....maybe next year we can get an even bigger tree!!!!




Whoa.......

The past week

Random Flamm happenings:


We got a Christmas tree!
A bit of background...
My dear hubby is Mr. Winter Wonderland. He loves Christmas and likes all the lights, etc. He also likes having a GI-NOR-MOUS Christmas tree. We usually get a Fraiser Fur tree because they are so lush and full....but they are SO expensive to get a tall one. SO....at the tree place this week, Josiah decided to branch out (ha ha ha! get it?! branch?! ooohh...) and get a different type of tree. He said we need to sacrifice fullness for height. Okay, whatever.

Apparently I did not fully understand his meaning. By height he meant skyscraper.

So below is the tree we got....and of course the kids LOVE it.




Nice tree....to bad it is so tall it will not fit into the picture.




Our tree....lights are going halfway up because I cannot reach the top. Notice the 8 FOOT ladder being dwarfed.
Yeah.
Testosterone has no season...it is always present.

I also noticed that our tree resembles an anchor. Yes, an anchor. Skinny at the top and full at the bottom.

Or maybe a tree out of the Grinch????

I will post some pictures (if and when) the tree decorations are complete.





Presley's words are SO cute. He begins most words with an "h" sound.

Example:
Hooperman=Superman
Howboy=Cowboy
Hoe=snow

So the other day as I was (for the 17th time) attempting to potty train, I told him he would get a surprise if he went potty.
(setting: he is sitting on the potty as we are talking)
He says, "A hurprise?!"
"Yes!" I respond. "What surprise would you like?" (thinking that bribery might work...)
"I want a heatbal."
*pause*
Me, "You want a meatball as your surprise?"
Presley, "Yes. A heatball."

Needless to say, he did not go potty and he did not get his heatball.
And speaking of mispronunciations....

Ethan asked me the other day what a "whore" was.
It went something like this....................

E, "Mom, what is a whore?"
Me, "Uummm, excuse me? A whore? Where did you hear that?"
E, "From a movie. "Curious George" What is it, Mom?"
Me, (desperately thinking of something to say to 3 kids who know nothing of the birds and the bees...not to mention a "whore") "Ah, er, uuummm, wellllll.....it is a person who has bad morals."
E, "Morals? Like how?"
Me, "Well....aaaahhhhh *cough, cough* you see, * sniff sniff*....I do not remember that word being in Curious George!!!" (beating around the bush....)
E, "Yeah Mom. It says, "the horror of it all!" in Curious George. I was just wondering what whore meant."
-At this moment I am dying. So I almost had to explain the meaning of "whore" to my 9, 6 and 5 year old....for nothing. I am eternally grateful at this point for decided to skirt the issue and not answer the question.
I did tell him the meaning of horror. And he did not ever ask again what I meant about an immoral person.
~WHEW~



Well, that is all for now. I will leave y'all with this little bit of information:

The very large, lazy snowflakes are falling to the ground as we prepare to launch ourselves to the top of our tree to complete the decor. Aaahh....

And....

My very good gal pal, Noelle, is pregnant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I am stoked :) August is the month....a day before my own dear birthday. Could that child have picked a better time to make an entrance?!

Thanksgiving

We found a new place to ski!!! AND it is cheaper than Breck. (umm, what isn't?!) A-Basin...below.














Thanksgiving was spent at our friend's Ron and Judy Troyer's home. They are the parents of Matt Troyer, who is the husband of Colleen Troyer, my dear frined. :) Whew! We had a wonderful day. The food was great and so was the company. All 8 kids got along rather well and they played allll day.


"Where's my food."




Getting ready to eat!



....still ready to eat....



The adults...ready to eat



Mama's little cowboy. Really, he only wants to be called cowboy. If I call for "Presley" he says, "No. Me cowboy."




Nope, not our kid....but just as adorable!!! This is Josiah holding little Phoenix...Colleen's baby boy.



Below are the boys being silly.....................................................................................................

Abraham Lincoln

Proclamation Establishing Thanksgiving Day

October 3, 1863

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle, or the ship; the axe had enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years, with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the city of Washington, this third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the independence of the United States the eighty-eighth.

A. Lincoln

Sarah and Brad

My dear, sweet, beautiful sister-in-law Sarah is now living in California. She is really enjoying it out there close to her family!! She has also met a nice guy named Brad. Brad is a Sheriff....gotta love a guy in uniform :)
And Brad is now known as "Brad the Hottie" Can you blame us?!
Oh, and apparently he is super sweet.

The Dentist

It is 7 a.m. Do you know where Tiffany is?
At her favorite place.
The dentists office.

As you may recall (I do....with perfect clarity) I had a dentist visit a few months back that was....shall we say....overflowing with drama.

Welcome to part two.

I must say that this visit was far less traumatizing than last time, which is good for my nerves. I only had one major adrenaline rush this time...and I managed to get through the entire appointment without biting the guy or panting like I was in labor.

I could not ever get an epidural. Even if I wanted to have a doctor awaken out of a deep sleep to fill the dura space of my spinal cord with a narcotic...I couldn't. Why? Because my body does not metabolize drugs well at all. I know this for a fact. It is now 4 hours AFTER my dental visit and my head it still numb. Yes, I said my head. The shot (singular, ONE, uno) numbed not only my bottom tooth that was filled, but the entire right side of my face, neck, ear, eyebrow...and all the way around my chin to the left side of my face. Yeah. One shot.
I could never be a druggie.

So the main drama that happened this time was the nurse/helper person. She was SO sweet. And brand spanking new. First day. So instead of one small x-ray for one tooth, I got 4 (FOUR) x-rays on several teeth and some un-named objects. So my radiation level right now is shocking....I am not going to hold my kids for a week. Ms. Sweet is also new at handling the dental instruments. When she began rinsing my mouth, she literally FOR REAL sprayed the jet stream of frigid water down my shirt. Ms. Sweet felt awful (especially since I flew off the chair in shock and a small scream escaped my lips) and Dr. Grout (yeah, his real name) let out a barely audible grunt and managed to need an instrument at the far table while she was cleaning me off.
Such a fun way to begin the day.
Later, when the filling procedure was complete, she sat my chair up (after pushing the wrong button and laying my head lower than my body) and water poured, again, from my upper half down to my lower half...soaking me again.
And did I mention that Ms. Sweet basically suctioned my tongue down that sucker thing at least 17 times? And I got hit in the face with a small piece of filling when the dentist was drilling out the old one...and she missed it with the sucker thing (cause my tongue was still in there).

And there you have it. Other than the exorbitant amount I was charged for such a traumatizing hour, it went fairly well. Maybe the remainder of my fillings (3) from when I was a teen will hold up and I will not need to go in there ever again. Is it to late to send a bill to my former dentist that apparently had no clue what he was doing??? His fillings have come out (in small chunks in my food....yummmm) and I have had to pay to replace them. Not fair.

A Sad Subject

Death.
A subject that we all cringe to talk about and hate to hear. Yes, the promise of Heaven is enough to make the subject bearable, however, the pain of losing someone you love is so strong that it is hard to imagine anything good.

A gal who I knew growing up in the church youth group, has died. She is a year younger than me. I have not seen her in at least 5 years...we were not close by any means...just acquaintances. I feel connected to her through motherhood...she has a little girl Ethan's age. She and I spoke about our births and about our kids.

She was gorgeous....perfect in every way. We used to call her "Barbie!"

She is survived by her parents, two sisters, Grandparents and, of course, Madison, her daughter. What will Madison say when she starts back to school? How will she cope? Who will raise her?

Suicide. Another touchy, less than enjoyable subject.
What drives a person to such? How can one so loved loose all hope enough to do this? What could have been done to stop this tragedy? How will this be explained to her relatives...her daughter?
I am at a loss. Feeling numb...all day...I have continued....teaching, cleaning, cooking, washing. All the while wondering.....and feeling sadness, anger, helplessness....

There was nothing I could have done.
But was there?
There was nothing I could have said.
But was there?
There is nothing I can do to help.
But is there?

I want to hold her daughter. I want to show her daughter how much she is loved. I want her daughter to know that there is God that created her, loves her and knows every hair on her head.

How is it that only when someone dies do all of the long lost friends, family, acquaintances,etc come out of the woodwork and tell about how much they loved that person? Where are they when we are alive? It would be nice for people to know how much they are loved and appreciated BEFORE they are gone. How did they touch someone else's life? Tell them NOW.

I went to a funeral several years ago where there were over 1,000 people in attendance. One Thousand people. This man had touched so many lives...helped so many people...was so giving. But....did he know that before he died? Did those 1,000 people tell him on a consistent basis how much they loved him and appreciated him? I hope so. I hope he knew.

I hope she knew.

Did the hundreds at her funeral tell her that week before....the month before...the day before...the hour before....

She was special. She was loved. She was appreciated. She was cherished.
Did she know it?



Obviously, she did not.

I wish I could tell her now...............................

Pajama Day

Today is Pajama Day (or "Ja-mama" if you are Presley) at the boys homeschool co-op. Ethan and Kell were VERY excited to wear PJ's all day....we even did their hair all crazy so they would have "bed head."

A Big Thanks!!!

Josiah and I are sending out a GREAT BIG THANK YOU to Ben and Stephanie for all their help on Josiah's office....thanks for helping in the design, layout, purchasing, curtains, paint and all the lies we told. :) I could NOT have done it without y'all!!!





Ben and his beautiful artwork






Stephanie, Ben and Presley....these curtains are a Stephanie original! :)

Shock and Awe

Sunday was Josiah's 29th birthday. He had NO idea, but I (along with some wonderful friends of ours!) planned a total office makeover as a SURPRISE!!!
Every Sunday afternoon we load up the kiddos and drive to the high country (that's Coloradian for the Mountains) so I can teach a childbirth class. SO....about 2 weeks ago, I hatched a plan to surprise Josiah on his birthday with a "While You Were Out" office makeover. I enlisted two of our friends, Ben and Stephanie (and Ronnie, Ben's brother) to help. We have all been buying things for the past two weeks and planning the office...hard to do with a hubby that works from home and has a "gift" of guessing surprises (no kidding....it's a gift). The rest of the out-of-town family helped to chip in and we got a ton of cool things to complete the office.
Sunday morning we went to the mountains earlier than usual to "hang out". In reality, I had to get him out of the house for a loooong period of time so that Steph and Ben could work their magic. Alllll day I was sweating bullets.....hoping Josiah would not notice all the odd "yes. no. uh-hu." conversations I was having on the phone. He didn't. :)
After class we drove home. All our friends were waiting in the living room when he walked in....surprise!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He was shocked. It was great!!!

Below are the pictures of the office before and the office after.........





BEFORE the makeover. Anyone who decorates with wallpaper should be shot. Okay, that was harsh. They should be put in a 18,000 square foot home covered in 3 layers of triple glued wallpaper and be required to peel it ALL off within 24 hours.
Peeling that stupid border off was the worst thing EVER. The largest piece to come off all at the same time was 1 inch squared. Yeah.















SHOCK of the surprise party!!!! :)




"What?!" He just kept saying, "I just have so many questions...."





His logo along with a hand drawn "old world" mural. Thanks Ben!!! It is awesome!!! :)






The green looks "lime" from the pictures, but in reality it is more of a darker "army" green.






His new desk. Those curtains were HAND SEWN by Stephanie!!!




A new shelf.....and that painting was done by Ethan at art class......








One wall is covered in a leather fabric. Nice. manly. Testosterone filled.






Having a new office makes it SO much easier to work!!! :)

the Mac (intosh...not Daddy)

Below are some of the pictures we have taken on Josiah's Mac. It has a picture program thingy (that being the technical term) that does all sorts of fun stuff. And literally....we will spend HOURS on it! The kids love it....and as you will see, so do Josiah and I :)

Adventures in Babysitting

Josiah's birthday is on Sunday.
He will be accepting gifts till the end of the month :)

He and I went out last night for the birthday date....dinner and a movie. Carrabba's (umm, the BEST salmon ever!) and "The Prestige"...good flick.

Our babysitter is a gal from our church named Noren. (cool name)
There is that slight desire to have well behaved kids because:
A. Her dad is a former pastor
B. She is a homeschooler from the church
C. I want her to come back another time

So on the way to our house from picking her up. Kellen and I are talking. I am asking him if he plans to obey Miss Noren while daddy and I are on our date....

Me: "Kell.....I hope you plan to obey while we are gone."

Kell: (pause)..............................."Yes"

Me: "Umm, I hope you are sure about that!"

Kell: "I was about to say a REALLY bad word but I changed my mind"

Me: "Oh really. What word was that?"

Kell: "A REALLY bad word, Mom....but I decided not to say it"

Me: "Well, what word was it?" (hoping Noren wasn't taking notes...)

Kell: "It started with a D."

Me: (*mortified* and wondering where he heard that word) "What?!"

Kell: "I was going to say DUH but I know it is a VERY mean word so I did not say it. It means you are stupid so I did not say it."

Me: (completely relieved) "You were right Kell, not to say that word. It IS a very bad and mean word"

Only the first of many close calls that night.............................here's to praying she will return another time! :)