Through My Lens Photo Project DAY # 6

Today is the final day for the photo project that Jenny brought us. I had first heard about this project on Chicka Schmica. I have enjoyed going on photo challenges each day.

The last picture we needed to post was "our favorite time of day". This was the easiest of all the challenges for me. I knew right away what was my favorite.

I love bedtime. The actual putting B to bed process. Hubby and I both put B to bed together (unless one of us is gone that evening obviously). B is in the middle and Hubby and I are on each side of him snuggled up in his bed. We read books, sing songs, and say our prayers. There is usually a bit of talking, laughing, and being silly involved as well. I have many memories of him reading the books for us that we have read to him over and over a million times and the songs that he requests we sing or that he sings to us. He also likes to do family kisses, where one person is the middle and the other two kiss their cheek and make a big smoochy sound. We always have to give every one a turn when we do these.

After we are done with this part of our "ritual", B picks one of us who he wants to lay with for a few minutes. We turn off the lights and this is the quiet time part where we get an extra few minutes of snuggling.

I know someday all too soon, he will be too big for us to all lay in his bed and he will start going to sleep on his own. But for now, I love this time of day!

Thanks for the fun Jenny!

14 WHAT?!?

Okay, really... now what is the deal with the lady having all those kids. A little hard for someone who can't have any and can't even get one out of two attempts with IVF.







When I first heard the story the day they were delivered I went to the mall with my friend Mandi. As we were walking in I was telling her that since they were surprised by the 8th baby, maybe we could just have that one. It's not like they knew they were having 8. She was just planning on 7 anyways.. Would she even miss one? And who needs 8 babies. But you know I was serious.





Okay, so then in the next few days more news comes out about this lady. More news that just makes me MAD! WHY!?!





Here is some of the things they are saying:





1st off..... she has 6 FRICKIN kids already! Is she just the baby hog devil or what?





2nd...she lives with her parents!





3rd... she is single!





4th... they live in a 3 bedroom home!





5th.. they were all done with IVF





6th... she used a sperm donor

7th... a neighbor reports that the grandma yells at the kids all the time for being so rambuctious. Well she looks old, how is she supposed to put up with living with 14 kids?

8th... the first 6 kids are from ages 2-7





Don't know how much of that is true since these reports are just preliminary, but geeze.





All I can do is shake my head and say "seriously" over and over. It is like this story is some kind of joke.





I do pray for the babies that they end up healthy. This is in no way their fault and they deserve the very best life.





Here are a few news stories that have been published lately to catch you up if you haven't been following the news (and living under a rock)


But first... a picture that is on the Mom.logic site that just cracks me up. This is exactly what I was picturing in my mind.




http://www.momlogic.com/2009/01/octuplets_mom_used_sperm_donor.php

http://www2.whittierdailynews.com/news/ci_11594473

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,485924,00.html

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Health/Story?id=6764771&page=1

http://www.nypost.com/seven/01302009/news/nationalnews/octuplet_having_single_mom_has_6_kids_al_152779.htm

Through My Lens Photo Project DAY # 5

Today's photo challenge was to show something that we love. I have many things that I love but to make it a little more challenging, I thought a bit more than the I love my family type thoughts.


I love the passion that my hubby has for his job as the Head Coach of the Glenwood. He went through the Glenwood Wrestling program himself and has followed in his dad's footsteps of coaching the Rams.

Coaching is a job that he loves. He is dedicated to helping the kids be their best. He thinks about wrestling all the time, not just during the season. Hubby is a great motivator for the kids and many of them look up to him as their coach. He works with kids all year round, as much as they are willing to put in the effort. Hubby loves the sport and it is truly his passion.

The Rams are currently number 2 in the conference. Hubby was named SWI coach of the year last year for 3A and has been nominated again this year. Good Job, Honey! I am so proud of you!

If you want to see more of what other people love, click here. Tomorrow is our final day of Jenny's photo challenge. Check back to see my favorite time of day!

I've been tagged

A local blogging buddy Annie at Junior Mints and Reeses tagged me for this fun meme!
Here are the rules of this tag game:
1. Link to the person who tagged you
2. Mention the rules.
3. Tell 6 things about yourself.
4. Tag 6 other bloggers by linking to them.
5. Go to each person's blog and leave them a comment to let them know they've been tagged. This is kind of a fun way to get to know people.
Here are my six things:

1. I used to be an elementary teacher. I loved teaching the kids but hated all of the paper work and extra crap that comes along with it. One of those things was some of the parents! I did have a few really great parents though. Being home with B now is such a blessing and we get to play "school" each day!

2. Being a nanny in NJ was one of my best experiences I had before getting married. We went on so many trips to different places and I was able to experience so many things that I would not have normally been able to.

3. Today I took the kiddos to the train museum and I made a big step. My son threw a fit in the gift shop and I ........ you are not going to believe it........ left the store without buying anything. My husband and I both love to buy things for him and it was harder on me to walk away with out buying those things.

4. I am married to my high school crush! I always had the hots for him in high school but we didn't start dating until I was 24. We were married 9 months later. We have been married for 5 1/2 years.

5. Not being able to have another baby is the very hardest thing I have ever been through. I think about it every day and wish I had more people around me who understand exactly what I am going through.

6. I graduated when I was 16 from high school and graduated with honors from college. Really though, I'm not a brain or anything... just a smart ass!

Now I'm to tag six people!
1. Hollie
2. Monica
3. Laura
4. Rebekah
5. Ashley
6. Ashley L.

I can't wait to read your 6 things!

Through My Lens Photo Project DAY # 4

Today I had to look for something to photograph on my walls. I couldn't decide on anything in particular so I had to walk around the house and look at everything. I took 3 pictures in B's room of stuff that I really like, but as I am typing this, I looked up and changed my mind with what I wanted to post.

This picture was taken by our friend Ashley when B was 2 and his great great grandpa was 91. Grandpa lived with us for about 2 1/2 years. They were the best of friends.

Check out what everyone else has on their walls here: Through Jenny's Lens

Through My Lens Photo Project DAY # 3

Today's assignment was "something we are working on". I needed to get some VERY overdue thank you notes written so I pulled out everything, set up shop at my table, and got to work while the kiddos were playing. We had also just picked up new pics of B that were ready so I also stuck them in with the cards.





Check out some other work people are doing here.

Through My Lens Photo Project DAY # 2

The assignment for today from Jenny was to post a pic of something in our town. I thought and thought about what I wanted to get a picture of. I want my posts to be new pics that I go get just for this project so I was a little limited due to the fact that 1- I had several kids here today for daycare and 2- it is cold and snowy out.

I decided on a picture of our library. It is a nice red brick building but I think we could benefit from a larger one in the future. Most of the people who work in our library know us by name and can recogonize my voice when I call in to ask them if they have a book I am looking for. B knows Phyliss who works upstairs and we often see her at church or out and about in town. He also knows Teresa, the children's librarian and is preschool friends with her grandson.
One thing I really find interesting is a display case they have inside the main doors. Different people from the community lend their collections to the library of various items to display. I always enjoy looking at the variety of items and like to see whose collection it is. There have been things such as nutcrackers, horse figurines, tea pots, etc. B has so many trains with his Thomas collection I thought it would be cool if he brought that in to display. We inquired about it and they like to have things on display for about 6 weeks and at this point.... I don't think he could go anywhere near that long without them!
The children's department is located downstairs. They have a nice bulletin board wall that is always nicely done with some book theme. (That is the teacher in me, talking about the bulletin boards!) The board book selection for wee little ones is very small and I would like to see this expanded. I think the library does a good job with keeping up to date on several of the newest books for kids however. There are movies and books on tape that you can check out, as well as Backpacks with a large variety of themes. This was a project started by my MOPS group. The library purchased the clear plastic backpacks and MOPS donated books and coordinating activities on topics such as dinosaurs, penguins, Valentine's Day, the dentist, etc. These bags are lots of fun for little ones to check out becuase they have 4-6 books inside and a learning game or something similar to go along with the topic. There are puzzles and games on many of the tables in the children's department too. Many of them I can remember playing with when I used to visit as a little girl.
Phyliss is retiring soon and Teresa is moving upstairs to take her spot. This leaves the children's position open. Am I interested, yes! I could SO love a job as a children's librarian. I LOVE to read books aloud to kids and have such fun with it. I would get to do story hour, preschool visits each week, summer reading club, junior book clubs and more! Oh, imagine all of the fun! Is it something I would want to do right now? Hesitantly no. Being home with B is the best job ever, even on days when I want to scream (and sometimes do). If it was open in a few years it is something I could look into at that point with serious determination.

Check back tomorrow for a photo of "something I am working on" hhmmmm.... don't know what that will be yet. You can check Jenny's blog to see photos from some others.

Through My Lens Photo Project DAY # 1

Today's assignment was to post something that makes you smile.

After we ate dinner tonight B was putting a puzzle together at the table. This is a picture of the very moment he looks up with such pride when he completes a task on his own. That proud little smile of accomplishment makes me smile to see how excited he is.

Click here for more

*Stay tuned for tomorrow's assignment: Something in my town!

Chinese New Year

Happy Chinese New Year. Not that we have celebrated it here before, but today we had a cute craft to make. We got our idea for the Chinese lanterns at No Time for Flashcards. The kids painted and used glitter glue on some red construction paper and then I made my first ever lanterns after they were dry. We also did a Chinese New Year coloring sheet after nap that had a picture of two children with some lanterns similar to the ones we made. I hung some yarn across our dining room and hung the lanterns up for the rest of the day. They turned out really cute I think.

Inauguration Day Fun

In honor of the special day in history we had on Inauguration Day, the kids at my daycare and I watched the tv most of the morning and talked about all of the people we were seeing. The kids stood up during the oath when they said please stand and we enjoyed a picnic lunch on our American blanket and put our little flag up by the tv. During carpet time, we read 3 presidental books before sending them to school with B to share with his class that afternoon. After nap, we colored pictures of President Obama.

Des Moines Trip

This weekend B and I made a trip to Des Moines to visit some friends and meet B's new cousin and Hubby and I's neice.

We visited with Hollie and her family for a while, hung out with Krista, and snuggled on the new baby girl.

Check out the scarf selection of the day:

Scarf Ramblings

2 quick things about scarves tonight.

1st- I'm all set to go to a Mom's Night Out with my MOPS group tonight, wearing my new black scarf and grey t shirt and my husband walks in the door from work.

"What's with the scarves? I read your blog" He is not into them, but what does he know right?

2nd- At our MNO tonight one of the girls (who was at book club the other night when I wore my new pink scarf) asked me for a fashion tip with scarves! At first I thought she was joking and that she had read my post about them! But she hadn't seen my blog! Whoopieee! I am a scarf fashionista! So, of course I had to show her (my blog and how to tie it!) So, we can soon look for Tanis to be joining the cool scarf club! Hopefully she sports one at our next MOPS meeting in Feb. I will be sure to share a picture with you!

Through My Lens Photo Project

I am going to participate next week in a photo project that I heard about from Chrissy at ChicaSchmica. It is a week full of challenges where you can post a picture to go along with a daily theme. Chrissy got the idea Through Jenny's Lens. I think it looks like likes of fun and you can join in if you want to play too!

Here are the themes:

Monday (1/26) ~ Something that makes you smile
Tuesday (1/27) ~ Something in your town
Wednesday (1/28) ~ Something you are working on
Thursday (1/29) ~ Something on your wall
Friday (1/30) ~ Something you love
Saturday (1/31) ~ Your favorite time of day

Oh, yeah, I'm hip.

Thanks to Angie for declaring 2009 the year of the scarf and the lovely instructions and tips from these two ladies here and here, I am hip with the scarf thing. After a stop at the Walmart in Papillion, (this could be a whole seperate post- talk about a nice Walmart, not like the one that is closest to us) I picked up 4 colors of the famous $5 scarf. I got hot pink, black, rose pink, and white.

When I first got to the scarf section, I found some $5 ones, but they didn't look like the ones that were in the scarf video blogs I had watched. But, they were $5 and the only ones I saw so I thought that must be what they were talking about. After trying several on to decide what color I looked hottest in, I made a few selections. Then as we went to walk away, I saw the NICE ones. Oh, yeah, baby thats what I'm talking about. These are soft and yummy and I about died right there. I was so going to be cool now. Those first ones were all crinkly and scruncy (hence the tag said Crinkly scarf)

I'm in scaft heaven with these soft nice ones! I just wish I would have had more colors to choose from!

I was so excited about them I had to put one on in the car and wear it to our play date that afternoon. Now, no one told me I was hip, but I just declared myself that I was "in".

I texted this picture (taken at a red light) to Ashley because I knew SHE would understand my new cool status. Even though I have yet to see Ashley in a scarf. I'll let you know when she joins in. In this picture I am modeling the double knot.

This was after the playdate at the mall. I had "switched it up a little in the mall bathroom" and am now modeling the classic look. My favorite.

I also discovered while at the playdate that there was a stranger across the playland who obviously got the same memo I did.

and yes, since I know you are wondering, it is wierd to try to sneak pictures of strangers and have them not think you are a weird o taking pictures of them. But I just acted like I was taking a picture of the kiddos.

I don't know a name for this one right now on this look that I am modeling. I have to watch the video again to get the names. I was just SO proud of my new fashion status that I had to have B take a picture of me with one more look before I took it off.

Photo Friday

What are you so grumpy about?

New Year's Tree

Since my camera was broken I was not able to share my New Year's Tree with you. My idea is that I am going to try to decorate this tree on the landing area of our stairs (out of the way so it can't get on my nerves that much) for some different holidays. I just hated to take my Christmas tree down this year, so I am going to try it with this little one. We decorated it for New Year's with some blue, turquoise, and green balls and I left the white snow flake lights on it. I added a quick cardstock topper that says 2009 with silver embossing. I also just threw the snow blanket at the bottom for the skirt. We'll see how long I can leave this tree up, I have never had one past the Christmas season.

In Today's Technology News...

This past weekend I went shopping with my grandma for their first computer. My grandma just retired at the end of December and her and my grandpa have never had a computer at home. She used one at work but my grandpa never has. My grandma's knowledge is fairly limited, but she can get around with one a little bit. My grandpa however, has no idea what to do when we try to tell him about all of the things he will be able to use it for. We have tried explaining to him all of the things he can look up on the internet etc. One of the things we were telling him about was that he could find driving directions for their upcoming trip to FL. As we are telling him he wants to know if it costs to look those up using google. He just isn't understanding the www thing. I think once he gets to using it he is really going to like have access to anything he could want to know about and more. So.... we decided a notebook would be the best style for them and we got them all set up with the computer and a printer. I have called the two options for high speed in their area for them and we need to call back this week to confirm a time for them to switch some of their current utilities to a bundle package and set up a date/ time for installation.
Even more exciting is that a few more friends have joined the blogging world. I am happy to introduce to you Hollie, Monica, and Ashley.
Hollie is my good friend who I used to teach with. She moved away about 2 years ago and is expecting her 4th child.
Monica is my co-coordinator in our MOPS group and is raising 4 boys. She is married to one and has 3. She has lots of crazy stuff that goes on in her house!
Ashley has a private blog so you can leave a comment for her on this post and wish her luck with her blogging experience. She has 2 girls and just had a little boy just over a month ago.

Great job girls! Now, get to posting!
Stop on over to check out their blogs and introduce yourself to them! I am so proud of them for trying to be like me. Just kidding. But I am happy they have blogs now! I hope they get on the ball with their posting however!

Inauguration Bling

Are you ready for a quick and easy craft to show your pride on the big day in history Tuesday? We crafted these cute little Obama neclaces to wear after being inspired by the Amazing Moms website. I used card stock to layer red, white, and blue and glued a picture I printed off the web to the top. I used my star hole punch to cut the hole and saved the 3 cut-outs to glue onto the bottom under the picture. After I had everything in place, I Mod Podged over the top of the front and back. Once dry, we used white yarn and a red, white, and blue pony bead on each side of the neclace. Presto! Wala! Beautiful little spirit badge! You can also check out some more Inauguration fun ideas at One Pretty Thing.

Look who's back!

Yeah, I'm so excited.

Date Night and a few new books

Hubby left at 5 am on Friday morning to go to Kansas for a wrestling tournament. B and I had a little "date" that evening. We went to my favorite Sandwich shop Jimmy Johns for dinner. While we were eating we took some sillly pictures on the camera phone and sent them to daddy. This one is an "I love you" picture he sent to dad. All of us are always doing this sign to each other. Matt was due to get back the following night.

After dinner we made a quick stop at Target and then headed to Barnes and Noble. B loves to play at the train table there and I love to look at books so spending time there is always fun for both of us. We ended up staying there for about an hour or so before heading home. The new books I picked up were:



The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss and pictures by Crockett Johnson, illustrator of the Harold books which we love.


Martin's Dream to read to the little ones tomorrow on MLK day.


My Own Very Hungry Caterpillar Coloring Book- I had never seen this one! We love the Very Hungry Caterpillar and this looks like so much fun!

Too Many Toys by David Shannon. We are big David Shannon fans and when I saw this book I had to grab it. I know another little boy with too many toys!
Too Many Toys: David Shannon - The most popular videos are a click away
Also on the subject of books: Here are two other suggestions for you for the next few days:
An old favorite: Martin's Big Words. I LOVE to read this book aloud. I used it in my classroom and the kids really enjoyed listening to it. It is by Dorreen Rappaport. Wonderful book.


And a new favorite: Barack by Jonah Winter. Great book for kids about our new President-Elect and we will definately be enjoying these two over the next few days.

Adventures as a wife and mom

On Thursday my friend Ashley and I ventured up the road to LC highschool to watch our hubby's coach the wrestling dual. This is her hubby's first year to be helping Matt coach and they are both Glenwood Alumni so they have a lot of fun coaching the Rams together.

Where should I start to explain how *wonderful* our night was?

Lets see... First we always make quite an entrance with her 3 and my Brock. Of course we were late getting there. So we have to walk through a huge crowd of fans as we find our way to a spot that looks big enough to accommodate our big clan. It was a mini family reunion for me so we squeezed into section surrounded by several of my relatives. Once we were seated, we moved on to getting hats, coats, gloves, blankets, etc. off of the 6 of us. Next on the plan was discussing what we needed for dinner from the concession stand. We leave right after I get off work so it is always time for dinner when we get to a dual. This time it was Ashley's turn to go get the food so she went down with our order while I stayed with the kiddos. On her list was: 3 hot dogs, a pretzel with cheese, cheeseburger, nachos, pepsi, and 2 gatorades. She calls me from the concession stand to tell me they are out of pretzels (for me so I was totally bummed. They are my favorite!) so I have to switch to the old standby of a hot dog for myself. B and E enjoyed sitting nicely together while they waited for their dinner as I played with C.

As I look over and see her coming back through the crowd in the stands I have to bust out laughing because for the first time, they sent her back with a BOX! I couldn't find my phone to take a picture fast enough (camera still broke). Of course we have to get the kids their food asap to get them settled down so there was no time to take a photo while the food was still in the box, but here it is after we served dinner to the kids.

B, E, and C all enjoyed cheering for the Rams while they yelled out "There's my dad!" and drank their gatorade.

Hubby's mom took a turn holding Ashley's new baby N while we ate. He was sporting his Rams shirt just like his big sisters.

Then it was baby N's time to eat. Ashley spent some time feeding him in the posh surroundings of the ladies restroom. I am at least hoping she used the handicap stall so she has some extra room. During this time, the kids began to get silly. B, E, and C all had fun laying on each other and squeezing into the small space between each bleacher. Usually C was laying on top of them but for some reason she was not in this picture.

I think Ashley asked the question when she came back "Is it even worth leaving the house for this?" I would have to say yes, but I do think she plans on getting a babysitter next time.

We lost the dual to LC that night which is always a bummer, but as we bundled up to go home, I still had fun. B got to ride the bus home with his dad again which he really enjoys. I wanted to go to Target since I had a little time to myself but as I got in the car it was 9:58 and Target closes at 10. Bummer. I headed home and took this picture to show how cold it was that night.

One more thing I forgot to mention. I said that we squeezed into a spot when we arrived with a little space around us. At the end of the night we had a quite a large area around us. Ashely and I said we should have counted the number of people who moved away from us. I wonder why. :) Next time we are going to sit on the visitor side I think, if Ashley doesn't get a babysitter!

Photo Friday

6-11-08

Don't you wish it was warm enough out today that we could go out and blow some bubbles?

Super Cool Giveaway

One of my very favorite blogs where I get super cute crafty ideas to do with my little ones around here is No Time for Flashcards. They are having a GREAT giveaway right now of a Melissa and Doug stack and sort board. B would totally love this. They have something similar at the library that he always goes for. I can't say enough about how much I love Melissa and Doug products. We have several of them and you can always count on quality with their products.

You can click here to visit the blog and enter yourself to win the stack and sort board if I don't win it first! But while you are there, spend some time looking through all of her way cool ideas!

Photo Friday

One of the prettiest animals at our zoo, the Peacock. Or as B likes to call it, the he-hocks. He is scared to death of them. He thinks they are going to bite him. I don't know why he is so scared, they have not chased him or tried to bite him ever. I even fed one some popcorn one time while waiting for the train trying to show him they were okay.

When I was little we had a house down the road from us that raised peacocks. I can remember we always could hear them mewing.

titleless

So tonight B and I went with my MIL to hubby's wrestling meet. I believe this was held tonight at the capitol of high school girl's with babies. I wanted to follow them in to the bathroom and offer to take their babies if they didn't want them. I know, crazy right? But sometimes I just can't stand seeing all of them with babies and not me with one. It's. not. fair.

In other news... B got to ride the school bus home with his dad, the other coaches, and the team. He was so excited to do this. I was almost teary because my little boy is growing up! It was only about a 25 minute ride home, but he was such a big boy. He wanted to do this last year and we told him he could when he was older, and now that he is 4 he has informed us that he is OLDER. Don't we know it.

TGIF in 34 minutes. Hooray. I love Fridays.

Congratulations Dan and Tara!

Kaia Joy
8 lb. 8 oz.

21 in.

January 6, 2009

9:55 p.m.

Big brother Charlie now has a beautiful new sister! My blog world friend Tara who is my bff in the surrogate world delivered a cutie pie baby girl. I am so happy for them. If you have not read about Tara and Dan's amazing story, check them out here. Be sure to tell them congratulations while you are there!