It is 6 p.m. and still snowing! The day has been so fun....we love watching the snowflakes fall lazily to the ground. Therapeutic. I love seeing the world covered in a fresh, white blanket of snow!
Grandad with his boyz.
Tarin and Pres, looking adorable (not difficult to do...)
If you ask Pres if he is a little boy, he usually says, "No. I a MAN." However, it is now changed to, "I a COWBOY."
As we were sitting in the livingroom a few minutes ago doing some schoolwork, Kell began screaming, "SNOW! It's snowing!" Sure enough, we looked outside and the snow is falling. Being the first snow of the fall/winter, the kids are quite excited. Just try doing school after that. Also....it is 36 degrees outside. Colorado is the only place I have even been where it snows at less than 32 degrees. Heck, in Georgia it will be 30 degrees and raining.
Yesterday it was 70 degrees under clear, blue skys. We played outside all day....rode bikes....porch swing....the whole bit. The low last night was around 50 degrees....and today, the temp has been dropping.
I LOVE THIS PLACE!
Where else can one enjoy all both seasons....in a matter of a few hours?! :)
I love the snowflakes flying past.....
A small bit of snow building up....
I wonder how much snow will fall by tomorrow???? Maybe my dad (who is visiting from Georgia) will be stuck here! :)
My Dad is a Marine (once a Marine, always a Marine). So when my kids asked him to draw a picture for them to copy, he was happy to do so.
Ethan's drawing before Dad got involved. Fishing in a serene lake....la, la, la, la, la....
My Dad's picture that he drew for the boys to copy. Notice all the tanks, artillery, gunfire and airplanes dropping bombs.....
Ethan's attempt at warfare. At least everyone is smiling.
The MAKE WOMEN HAPPY Game
Make the Woman HAPPY.
Do something she likes, and you get points.
Do something she dislikes and points are subtracted.
You don't get any points for doing something she expects.........sorry, that's the way the game is played. Now for the GAME - Here is a guide to the point system - ENJOY!
SIMPLE DUTIES
-- You make the bed (+1)
-- You make the bed, but forget the decorative pillow (0)
-- You throw the bedspread over rumpled sheets (-1)
-- You go out to buy her what she wants (+5)
-- In the rain (+8)
-- But return with Beer (-5)
-- You check out a suspicious noise at night (0)
-- You check out a suspicious noise, and it is nothing (0)
-- You check out a suspicious noise and it is something (+5)
-- You pummel it with iron rod (+10)
-- It's her pet (-10)
SOCIAL ENGAGEMENTS
-- You stay by her side the entire party (0)
-- You stay by her side for a while, then leave to chat with a college buddy (-2)
-- Named Tina (-4)
-- Tina is a dancer (-10)
HER BIRTHDAY
-- You take her out to dinner (0)
-- You take her out to dinner and it's not a sports bar (+1)
-- Okay, it's a sports bar (-2)
-- And it's all-you-can-eat night (-3)
-- It's a sports bar, it's all-you-can-eat night, and your face is painted the colors of your favorite team (-10)
A NIGHT OUT
-- You take her to a movie (+2)
-- You take her to a movie she likes (+4)
-- You take her to a movie you hate (+6)
-- You take her to a movie you like (-2)
-- It's called 'DeathCop' (-3)
-- You lied and said it was a foreign film about orphans (-15)
YOUR PHYSIQUE
-- You develop a noticeable potbelly (-15)
-- You develop a noticeable potbelly and exercise to get rid of it (+10)
-- You develop a noticeable potbelly and resort to baggy jeans and baggy Hawaiian shirts (-30)
-- You say, "It doesn't matter, you ha ve one too." (-8000)
ENJOY THE 'BIG' QUESTION
-- She asks, "Do I look fat?" (-5) [Yes, you LOSE points no matter WHAT]
-- You hesitate in responding (-10)
-- You reply, "Where?" (-35)
-- Any other response (-20)
COMMUNICATION
-- When she wants to talk about a problem , you listen, displaying what looks like a concerned expression (0)
-- You listen, for over 30 minutes (+50)
-- You listen for more than 30 minutes without looking at the TV (+500)
-- She realizes this is because you have fallen asleep (-10000)
Okay.
We really are not celebrity freaks. Perhaps if Brad Pitt came walking down the street I might let out a faint squeal before passing out...but any "normal" celebrity....I can handle.
Apparently, not Josiah.
He saw Julianne Moore today while out working.
And about freaked out. Picture him staring at her....pointing. For a full 60 seconds.
Yeah.
Thankfully, I was not there. That kind of mortification I can heap on myself...I do not need him to do so.
So poor Josiah. Well, not really. He is stoked. (maybe out of shear jealousy....he did not see Alias -Jennifer Garner- last summer like I did.) All he could say to me was, "Actress. Red hair. Plays in dramatic movies" and left me to find out her "real" name. Google "actress from dramatic movies with red hair" and see what happends. (ha)
So he saw Julianne Moore. It only took 5 hours to find her name and the movies she was in that we had seen. Then he was positive it was her.
Gosh....he could have made this SO much easier if he had said, "Actress. Dramatic movies. Red hair. Has homebirths." DUH.
Yesterday my Daddy flew in from Atlanta (home of humidity) for a week-long visit. YEAH!!! We have not seen him since last Christmas, so his visit has been much anticipated.
After a leisurely day, I put the kiddos to bed and Josiah and Dad ran some errands. Low and behold, they came home with....
....a brand spanking new bike for M-E!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have not had a bike since my wedded bliss took place (over 10 years) so I was VERY surprised and SO SO SO excited. I am admittedly sick of running after the boys as they fly down the trails. Now I can have them eat my dust. :)
The boys at the airport waiting for Grandad. Each kid made a sign picture and they held them up as Dad came up the escalator.
Me and my new bike!!!! And my messy garage......
Ah, that is better. No messy garage. And yes, I do wear a helmet. However, I look like a nerd (and a male since my recent hair choppage) so I choose only to wear it when actually moving on the bicycle.
Dad worked on everyone's bike to make then ship-shape.
He fixed any air leak that might have been there or occurred in the future :) oiled all chains, adjusted seats...etc.
Thanks Dad!!!!
So far, October has been a very busy month....which we have LOVED :)
Josiah's family came for 3-ish days on their way to California. Sarah (Josiah's sis) is moving to Cali to begin a new chapter in her life. With college finished and a ton of opportunity in front of her, she is heading west to find adventure. So with a truck full of her belongings (and her car) they drove through here on their way towards her new beginning.
The babe on the truck is Sarah :)
Aaaww....Aunt Sarah and little Presley
Grandpa (Poo-Pa) putting together Tarins' new bike!!!! Thanks Moo-Ma and Poo-Pa!!! :)
Grandma (Moo-Ma) and all her Grandsons
The guys. Josiah, David (his dad) and Ryan (his bro)
Tarin L-O-V-E-S his new bicycle and rides it allll the time.
Two days after the Flamm's left, our very good (great, wonderful) friends the Grigg's came for a few days! Jon, Noelle, Brennah and Maggie drove up from Ft. Worth, Tx to hang out for a while. We all had a blast and a half and already miss them.
Pres.....watching TV
All the other kids sitting on the couch watching TV.
Noelle and I decided to live on the wild side and take all 6 kids to the mall, shopping, and for cookies. Yeah. Fabulous idea.
Noelle, Dawn and myself took the kids to the corn maze. The weather was perfect and the kids had a blast. Notice how they all walked holding hands.....they are best buds.
The clan.....minus one. Pres was AWFUL that day and refused to do anything else besides hang on to my leg screaming. So these pictures were bravely taken by me while Pres was *literally* hanging on my leg hysterically crying. I held him for hours on end.
The kids would all put their hands in and them yell and throw them in the air....too cute!!!
"Oh. A dead end. Where do we go???"
Auntie Noelle calmed Pres down for a moment. Whew. And little Maggie was such a doll!!!
Brennah holding the ever so popular and coveted bag of popcorn.
Gorgeous, darling.
Aaaawww......best friends. This picture will be SO CUTE to display at their wedding! :)
On Sunday we all went up to....Breckenridge, of course!!!! I have a class up there that I teach so it is a great excuse for a weekly trip to the high country. Here we are at our famous Starbucks. We go there every time we go to Breck. It is the most photographed Starbucks in the USA.
Aaawww....look at Brennah staring at Ethan. Another cute on for their wedding :)
Eating in Frisco at a yummy little Italian place.
The day they left for home Noelle and I went to lunch at Maggianno's. Yummmmmmmy.
The kids last lunch together for a while :(
Goodbye, Griggs family. We love you!!!!
Noelle and I met Dawn at Earl's for dinner tonight. We had a very trying day with all the kiddies (pictures of that to come soon) so we dropped them off with the men and headed out for a relaxing evening. We had a blast.
Until.
Until we went to see a movie. Unfortunately......we sat through the worst movie of all time. "Employee of the Month." Please, for the love of all that is good in the world....do NOT go see it. I swear...it was written by government educated idiots who aspire for nothing more than a cashier job at Costco. It was awful.
On a lighter note....Illuminations is having a huge sale so Noelle and I got to stock up on some lovely candles for the upcoming holiday season. :)
Below are the photos from our evening....and...."the hair."
I told you it was WAY short!!!
Oh....and have I mentioned that my brother and his wife are having a GIRL?! :)
Noelle is on her way
Noelle is on her way
High-Ho! The dairy-O
Noelle is on her way!!
Jon, Noelle Brennah and Maggie are in the car, as we speak, on the way up here to Paradise.
I am SO happy to see them again...it has been far to long since we all got together.
I am picturing side splitting laughs, Starbucks, snow covered mountains and shopping.
What are best friends for?! :)
Oh................................................
The hair. I am getting a lot of hate e-mail regarding the hair. Apparently people are mad at me for not posting pictures of my new "do" on the blog. Well, don't get your panties in a wad....pictures will be coming soon....as soon as I take some. :) I have GREAT intentions everyday of taking some, but them reality hits and photos get put off till another time. Heck, by the time I get them taken my hair will be long again. :)
Well...maybe not. It is pretty darn short.
And did I mention the newest addition to the family is a GIRL?!
I am stoked.
So are Courtney and Nate....and my mom....and her mom....and my dad....etc.
I am glad they could produce a female offspring for all the Grandparents!!!! I could not be any more excited!!!!!! :)
Sugar and spice
And everything nice
That's what little GIRLS are made of!!!
Courtney and Nathan are having a little girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Needless to say, this is quite exciting for our family.
No name has been chosen...but that is okay....they have another 5 months to come up with something!
Girl
girl Girl
girl girl
Girl
GIRL
G-I-R-L
Yeah!! :)
Is the baby a boy?
Is the baby a girl?
Well in 12 hours (that includes the time change) my little Courtney and Nate find out what is in her tiny belly!!! :)
I will keep you posted. (get it?! POSTed?! Ha! Oh....)
The next few weeks will be quite hectic...so I may be a bit lax in my postings.
Josiah's family is here till Tuesday afternoon....
The Griggs will be coming on Thursday till Tuesday....
The me dear ole Dad will be here Wednesday through Wednesday.
Woo- Hoo!!! :) I really love company, so this is going to be fun!!!
Oh.
And I think I am going to go get ALL my hair chopped off. No, not like a boy....but pretty darn short. I feel like doing something wild and crazy....and cutting hair is about as wild and crazy as a mom of 4 should get. :) And I want to color it red. Yikes. My husband is cringing.
Oh.
And what do you think about a nose ring?! :)
My friend Tiffany called me at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday morning to tell me she was in labor!!! She had been having contractions since 3 a.m. and was doing fine. On and on this went through the day....her and her hubby (and her little girl, Alana) went out to breakfast, went on walks and just hung out at home.
I went to her house around 4 p.m. to check and see how things were going. The contractions were getting more intense, but she was handling them just fine. She enjoyed laboring while walking, leaning over and being in her bathtub.
She decided she was ready to head for the hospital around 9 p.m. Her plan was to get there pretty late in labor so they could not mess with her. Attempting a VBAC (vaginal birth after c-section) is not easy, and she did not want any staff interference.
We walked in the hospital about 10 o'clock p.m. She was checked in and had all the "stuff" done upon admission. The doctor said she was 5 cm and the baby was pretty low.
I went out in the hall to put my cat in the microwave (my lavender filled cat...used for a hot compress on the shoulders/back) and I heard some nurses talking. One was telling the other, "There is a VBAC in room 2....which means another C-section, of course."
I was livid. How dare she?! Her client is trying to give birth naturally instead of having major abdominal surgery. She should be thrilled. In fact, medical research says that a mom has a three-fold risk of death from a c-section verses a vaginal birth. Gee wiz. Don't they read their own literature?
Fast forward a few hours...and a few run-ins with the THREE doctors that were in our room alllll the time....around 1 a.m. Tiff felt a little pushy. I told her to go with what her body was saying...so she did. A loud POP resonated around the room (her bag of waters that she would not let the doc break...it broke on it's own) and the baby fell out. Literally. Right there on the bed. Tiff was on her knees leaning over and had that baby right then and there. Nate (her dear hubby) reached down and picked up his baby and started talking to her...and she began screaming. The docs were saying (and I am not being sarcastic nor am I exaggerating), "What do we do? What do you want to do? What should we do?" That upped my confidence in the medical staff. Yeah. Thankfully the civilian dad knew just what to do...and his little girl was fine.
All this to say....Tiff went against all odds and gave birth on her own!!!!!!!!!!!! She was fantastic and the baby (Briana) is perfect in every way.
Briana was born at 1...ish in the morning on Thursday after 22 hours of labor. We say 1...ish because she came so fast no one saw what time it was till later. :)
Below are a few labor pictures. The baby was born so fast that we have no pictures of the birth or right after....but that is okay. At least she was not pulled on or even touched by anyone at her birth except the two people that love her the most...her mom and dad.
Oh. Her first C-section was for "failure to progress"....which, of course, means failure to progress fast enough for the doctor. She had been on pitocin for many hours...as high of a dose as is allowed...and did not get past 6 cm. Slice and dice. But this time.....her body apparently CAN work! Uuumm....wonder what would have happened in her fist birth if they had let her body work...uuummmm.
Oh. (again) I missed the field trip this morning to pick all the fresh veggies and tomatoes to make and can salsa and marinara sauce. Sniff...sniff. Oh well. There is always next year!
Tiff laboring in her tub.
Nate helping Tiff through a contraction. He did great! (oh yes, so did she!)
Walking around the living room.....
Mom and baby Briana!!!
The New Matthews Family...Nate, Tiffany, Alana and Briana :)
I have a saying...a theory, really. Kids should not be forced to go "big boy potty" until they are ready...AND, (I say this to those people that make negative comments about my 2 1/2 year old who is still in diapers)..he will not go on his honeymoon in diapers.
Well, until now. My child will be the first in history to need diapers when packing for college.
He will also be the first man to hide diapers in his suitcase when preparing for his honeymoon.
WHY?
It is all my fault.
I got a brilliant idea the other day. "Let's potty train Presley!" To the onlooker it seems quite ingenious. Potty training a 2 year old cannot be THAT difficult, right? Who cares if none of his brothers were potty trained that young. He has above average intelligence, right?
Out came the little potty. The bain of every parent...Traipsing through our nightmares as we dream of toddlerhood. The little plastic "big boy potty". (fully equipped with the shield that guards against flying urine)
I set the potty on a large beach towel in the middle of the entry hall. My thinking around this idea was, if I do say so myself, quite brilliant. Pres will not want to miss anything that is going on...so I will put the potty where he can sit on it at will and still be in the middle of the action (and the large towel...on a hard wood floor)
Initially, Presley was thrilled with his new potty. He was more than obliged to get naked and sit there for 10 minutes straight.
At first.
Those 10 minutes were spent with his brothers cheering him on....telling him how to "go"...and with his mother (yours truly) force feeding him gallons of water to, uh, aid in the situation. After the first 10 minutes (still no pee) the older boys get bored and wander off to find their own interests elsewhere. I mosey on into the kitchen to start breakfast. And Pres looses his audience.
A few minutes later I peek my head around the corner to check the progress....and notice that the entire area around his potty and towel are soaked. WITH WHAT? Oh, just water. He had been pouring out the cup of water -that I had supplied him with- all over the floor and into the potty.
"Ook! Mom! Pee-pee bgboy potty!"
*translation*
"Look Mom! I went pee-pee in the big boy potty!"
It was my job to explain that pouring water from a cup into the potty did not count as going pee-pee.
On and on this goes....for at least 15 more minutes. Poor little guy was so bored he was dancing on the potty while sitting there. Unfortunately, this became his downfall.
The dancing on the potty while sitting dislodged the potty insert (that some genius parent got millions for....but that actually is a pain) and the movement caused Presley's baby fat legs to get pinched in between the insert and the potty.
OUCH.
He had a huge bruise and bleeding...and was VERY traumatized. He kept crying "No-no Bah!! No-No bah!!! Potty!!!"
*translation*
"No-no STOP! No-No- STOP! Potty!"
No more potty.
Fast forward about 2 weeks later. No more potty time has happened since "the incident". I have decided to wait a bit longer.
Until the fateful day at hand.
Pres picked up a stomach bug from church on Sunday. "Stomach bug" in this case meant diarrhea like water. Poor little guy. He had this tummy ache and a high fever AND his bottom was red and sore from the burning poopie.
After one such blowout I put him in the bathtub to ease his burning little bottom. He was sitting in the tub playing with his toys when he said "uh oh". I know what that means.
Sure enough, the poor guy was "going" in the tub.
#2
I said "hold it! hold it!" and grabbing him out of the tub I ran him to the toilet to finish.
Oh, the trauma that ensued.
As he is trying to hold in water-diarrhea and his mom is racing him across the bathroom, wet and naked, to...the potty...he is screaming, "No Mommy! Potty Bite Me!!! POTTY BITE ME!!!!!"
Watching him try and flex is body around the impending hole of doom was heart wrenching.
So you see?????????????
He is warped for life with the whole potty thing. He is scared to death. He will be the first grown man in history to worry if his diaper is leaking during a long business meeting.
Jam! Glorious Jam! (sing this to the tune from Oliver and you will have it right)
Homemade-fresh-Raspberry Jam and homemade-hot-out-of-the-oven bread. The aroma weaving through my house right now is edible...literally.
Isn't it pretty?! It pains me to consume such beautiful looking preserves.
Okay, I am over it.
So.........canning. Never attempted this aspect of homemaking before...out of fear, really. So, in order to conquer my fear of canning......I asked my neighbor to help me. :)
Yesterday was spend washing, smashing, cooking and canning fresh raspberries. (for the picking story, see the post below)
Things went relatively well (despite burning ourselves numerous times) until we began to actually "can". In order to get an airtight seal on the jar, one must fill it full of the desired substance (raspberry jam) and put the lid on....and the completely submerge the jar in boiling water. (those of you that know me are cringing right about now. You know how accident prone I am). The jar then boils for about 11 minutes and then the lid is supposed to pop down and create a seal. Yeah, well, in theory it is a fabulous idea. But here in Highlands Ranch other powers are at work.
One jar made a POP sound as soon as we put it in the boiling water...and we noticed dark red raspberry jam beginning to fill the pot...yep, the jar had broken. The bottom was totally sheared off. ooooddddd.
Jars that had boiled for the required 11 minutes were taken out to cool. The lids had popped down. However....about 7-8 minutes later....we hear the lids...popping back UP again!!!!!! No kidding.
So on and on this went.
Finally....after 3 hours of canning (while simultaneously refereeing 7 children), one broken jar, several burned arms, stained shirts and jeans and a LOT of homemade salsa (we HAD to pass the time...) our homemade, naturally sweetened, organic raspberry jam preserves were finished. :)
And I plan to attempt it again next week.
Yes folks, I am going to can (or jar, really) some homemade tomato marinara sauce with my fresh picked tomatoes we will be picking next week. :)
