My Literal Little Girl...

This made us laugh yesterday, but also made me realize I need to be careful what I say around Everlea because I think I mentioned it in an older post that she takes everything quite literally.

I was talking to Ran and told him to come to the computer to read something really funny... I said something like "Come here Ran, read this, you're gonna die (laughing is what I meant). Everlea was sitting at the table and whips her head around and says with wide eyes, "He's going to DIE!"

I then quickly had to explain that no Daddy was not going to die and what I meant to say was that daddy was going to find it really funny...I didn't think it would make sense to explain the expression"die laughing" either, cause she might think we are going to keel over the next time one of us laughs really hard! :)

OK, Ran's Weird List!

So a bunch of our friends tonight were all doing and laughing over our "weird" lists (see a previous post of mine), so I told Ran he was the only one left. The funny thing is, he (we) had a hard time coming up with stuff (maybe again it has to do with thinking about it too much) but after some brainstorming this is his list: (I'm typing what he's telling me, with a few comments thrown in from moi).



1) Extreme pain makes me laugh uncontrollably. (Note: which means when he accidently hurts himself really badly...not other people's pain...in case anyone wondered :)



2) I like snakes but am afraid of spiders. (I told Ran that I wanted to add to this that I actually witnessed him once scream like a girl when his friend hit a huge one off the wall and it flew at us) but he countered with, "I didn't scream, I may have made a high pitched noise and jumped away rather quickly." hee hee



3) I can sew, macrame, like to cook and can make moccasins out of leather. (I'm adding to this that this isn't really weird, just kind of interesting because you wouldn't necessarily know or guess this by looking at/knowing him.)



4) In bible school my friends and I had a secret literary group named after and based on "The Inklings" (a group that included C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien) and we had secret nicknames.



5) When I get overly tired I am emotionally affected by almost any silly thing (commercials, pieces of music etc.)



6) I have a spot on the back of my head that looks like the soft spot on a baby that never filled in. (Ok I'm laughing as I was typing this, so I had to have him keep repeating it to get it word for word. We usually just call it his crater, so when he desribed it that way, it struck me funny).

7) I like getting my blood drawn at the doctors, I think it's cool when they look for a vein etc. (He noted that he doesn't like getting them in his mouth at the dentist though). I'm fascinated with medical stuff. (He watched my entire C-section, his leg getting stitched up etc.)

So, that's all we got...

I'll have to add too that when he gets cravings he likes to make chocolate no-bake cookies, like tonight for example, at midnight.... ok, that's a little weird (I guess my experimental apple oatmeal and zucchini oatmeal cookies, just weren't cutting it... although he claimed they were delicious he was also slathering leftover carrot cake cream cheese icing all over them. :)

"The better part of one's life consists of his friendships." - Abraham Lincoln

I've been commenting to Ran recently on how well Everlea does now when I drop her off for school. She's come a long way from her first days/weeks/even months of her clinging to me and desperately saying "Don't leave me"... and I believe there is one main reason for this... She has a best friend.

At first she would come home and talk about this little girl she befriended but could never remember her name, and then the teachers started telling me that this girl and Everlea were really close and they'd even use that when I got to school...they'd say, "Everlea, Mikayla is here!" and off she'd go with the teacher.

But today was different and bittersweet for me. She and Mikayla happened to get there about the same time this morning and they were excited to see each other. I was getting all her stuff put away and looked around to see Ev had gone on her own into the classroom area with her friend. I didn't even get my usual kiss and hug goodbye! I started to leave, but looked in the room to get one last look at her before I left and she was walking hand in hand with Mikayla with their backs to me. Right before I turned to go, she turned around for a split second and gave me this huge smile. That smile spoke volumes to me. It made me teary thinking about it on my way home. I can relate to that happy, comfortable feeling when your with a friend(s) and I'm glad she is experiencing it at such a young age.

...I also got a glimpse into the future when our teenage daughter wants to go off with her friends and mom is no longer #1. I hope that day doesn't come too soon!! :)

So, here's to all my BFFs today! :) I'm glad you're in my life!

Ext. Home Makeover: Manchester Edition

Last night my sister Lisa and I hooked up for dinner and then walked over to the Verizon Arena to watch the Extreme Home Makeover show on the jumbotron. It was a neat experience. It was hard to tell how many were there, but there had to be at least 350+ people to show their support and celebrate along with the Manchester family. It was fun to cheer with the crowd as the show went into commercial breaks, they did some raffles and threw footballs and t-shirts in the crowds too. It was also cool seeing a few clips throughout the program that Lis and I were only a few feet from when they taped it live and seeing the piece of furniture (the bleacher bed) that I helped to sand!

I felt really proud of our little state as so many rallied around this family (and a few other families) to help them. The father stated something at one point in the show, "My community helped my family when I couldn't." That to me epitomizes Matthew 22:35!

Polly Your Thing...

This really cracked us up...Ran's been polyurethaning the woodwork this past week and Everlea comes up to him and says "Daddy what are you doing?" He said "polyurethaning" she then said "you're doing your thing?" We laughed at that but then today as he was working in the main floor bedroom she asks him, "Daddy are you pollying your thing?"

You know when Christmas is "officially" done...

I think it's time to disassemble the gingerbread house. Santa's had it and is ready to jump!
(We came down the other morning and found him this way). :)

We are trying to come up with a funny way to get rid of it. Think Ex. Home Makeover demolition. Will keep you posted and will likely video it.

Domesticated Daddy

I told Ran the other day that he'd make a better stay at home mom than me... Here he is macrameing a bracelet for Everlea. I think he excels in almost all the domestic duties around here, although I'm sure he'd disagree with me on that statement to be nice. :) I know I'm a lucky girl to have a husband that can cook (and likes it), likes to clean the kitchen, can sew, macrame, make gingerbread houses and he told her when she gets a little older he'll show her how to make moccasins. He's also not too bad in the carpentry dept. too. :) hee hee.



This was cute, he told Everlea that macrame was just a series of knots, so this is her version.

Hmmm, how weird am I?

Well I was tagged by my friend Jen to say 7 "weird" things about myself...So here goes (with some contributions from Ran, but he was being too kind, I was like that's not weird enough, c'mon there has got to be more weirdness to me than that). I'm quite sure there are more than this (but I can't think too well when I'm focused on it) but here's what I came up with...

1) I'm a very ADD housecleaner. I could be doing the laundry and go upstairs to get some towels or something to add to the wash and see my bed isn't made and make it, then go to the bathroom and when I flush I notice the toilet needs scrubbing so do that and see some clothes on the floor, so go to hang those up and then realize oh yah, I was doing laundry, so go downstairs and realize the whole wash ran it's course and I'd forgotten to put soap in. (this is a generic example but hits the mark fairly closely) :)

2) I love the smell of Rogan's head, ears and neck. I could stick my face in his neck or top of his head and just inhale. haha. I don't like the smell of other people's dogs though (unless they are puppies) I'm partial to just my own.

3) I hate ladybugs. (This was kind of funny tonight at the dinner table I was trying to come up with things and I told Ran, "I know, I hate ladybugs!" Ev looked at me with wide eyes and said, "You HATE ladybugs"? She then said, "we don't say that word mama". I said "I'm sorry, you're right, I strongly dislike ladybugs").

4) I talk a fair amount in my sleep (or so I'm told) and Ran will wake up and be laughing and try to keep engaging me in conversation and try to tell me I'm not making sense...I'll get offended by this and argue with him I'm awake and coherent, even though I'm saying odd things and don't remember it in the morning.

5) I get small patches of grey on either side of my temples and I've been known to use mascara to cover it when I'm just too lazy to color my hair again. I'm guessing that's not too totally weird as others might do it?

6) I don't like the holes in drop ceilings. I can't look at them. It stems from when I was alone in a hospital when I was 5 at night and I pictured spiders coming out of them...

7) On my mom's side of the family, many of us are "afflicted" :) with this (and it's actually rubbed off on our spouses a bit) we grit our teeth and smack our lips (I'd have to show you in person as it's hard to describe) when we talk about cute things and to add to that, I say weird things at the same time. For some of us, it specifically pertains to animals. For example, I saw someone walking 3 goldens the other day, I just was a gritting and a smacking away and saying stuff like, "Oh, look at those big stinky beefs, I could just eat 'em to pieces." I know it sounds very bizarre, in fact my poor child will be so confused in life by it, cause she was like, "where are the stinky beefs mama"? I laugh as I type this just thinking about it.... :)

Thanks Jen, that was fun to think about and it's fun to read others too.

Let's see who I can tag that read my blog, have a blog themselves and haven't been tagged yet... Let's try Liane, Karena and Lis. I know I have more readers, but they don't fit the listed criteria.

My Food Review for the Week...

In our quest to eat better since after New Year's I've been experimenting with different things for supper. Some were hits, no real misses, and some were just OK. They included a very lightly breaded parmesan sliced eggplant, a recipe I half copied and half used what I had in my pantry. I really liked the flavor but had a harder time getting my mind around the mashed banana type texture of the inside, so I'd give it a B+. I also tried mashed garlic cauliflower. I guess with certain carb restricted diets, they use this to replace mashed potatoes. We are not on any such diet, but I thought I'd give it a try. We are trying to watch our sweets and refined carbs and keeping to as little processed foods as possible, so I've been adding to our vegetable repertoire. They were also not bad, as long as you don't have it in your mind that they are supposed to resemble the taste of yummy garlic mashed potatoes, because they don't. I also put a little cheese in them and all I had was monterey jack, so I think I'd prefer cheddar next time. Would give them a B- I think. I also tried a similar light breading (of the eggplant) with the addition of some lemon zest for cod fish for another meal, and that came out quite yummy. I'm not a big seafood girl, although we do do fresh fish at least 3-4 times a month and have gotten to enjoy it. It also was incredibly easy to make with only 4 ingredients, so I'll give that one an A.

That leads me to something I made for dessert tonight. Ev loves to bake with me, and since I haven't been doing alot of that lately with watching the sweets (besides a carrot cake I made last weekend, but also tried to "health that out" as much as possible), I figured there had to be a "healthy" cookie recipe out there. I was limited in what I had for ingredients, so I was looking for something with maybe oats & apples and I wanted it sweetened with something natural. I knew I did not want any white sugar or white flour in them. So, in scouring the Internet I came up with a recipe for Apple Oatmeal cookies. I thought they were really delish! The batter consistency seemed a little weird to me at first, but they came out soft and oh so yummy! I added to the recipe some raisins and chopped walnuts. I also used creamed honey (my favorite kind) which my mom brought from Canada this Christmas, I really don't know if that made a difference or not, but I'll definitely make these again. I'll give them an A+ as far as "healthy" cookies go! Everlea enjoyed them and also ate the eggplant, cauliflower and fish too. That is one thing she is pretty good about I must say, she still takes forever to eat but she does eat a huge variety of things. We've really tried to be diligent in having her try many types of food since she was a baby and so far so good for the most part. Anyways, here is the recipe. I apologize in advance if you make them and do not like them as much as I did, so make at your own risk. hee hee.

Apple Oatmeal Cookies Ingredients-
1/2 cup margarine, softened (I used butter was all I had on hand)
1/2 cup honey
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 apple, cored and chopped
(I also added raisins and chopped walnuts, but you can be creative)

Preparation-Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease cookie sheets. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine, honey, egg and vanilla until smooth. Combine the whole wheat flour, baking soda and cinnamon; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in oats and apple. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto the prepared cookie sheets. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Thought processes of a preschooler...

It's been fun for us to see the transitions that Everlea has undergone this past year, going from 3 to almost 4, we've seen a big change in everything from vocabulary to the way she processes information. I keep thinking of that verse, "When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things"...except in her case it's like when I was a toddler I used to speak like a toddler, think like a toddler, reason like a toddler, but now that I'm a preschooler I did away with toddlerish things.... hee hee... it really is interesting though having a front row seat to this little mind at work.



Here are some funny examples lately:


After watching an episode of Little House all about miracles, she asked what a miracle was. I told her it was something that God did that was wonderful and sometimes unexpected (or something along those lines) I said an example would be when a woman has a baby, that would be a miracle. She thought about that for a minute and said "is baby Emma a miracle?" I said yes she was, she then paused and said, "well, does that mean that I'm not a miracle because I'm a big girl" I assured her that yes she was still very much a miracle and we thought so when she was born too.


On another LHOTP, one of the characters was crying because they had rescued another loved one, so they were crying for joy. Ev asked why they were crying and I explained that sometimes when we are really happy about something, we cry, so crying is not always because we are sad. Later that day she looked at me and said "Mama, I'm really happy right now, but I'm not crying".


It really is hard for me sometimes explaining concepts in a way that she'd understand, because although examples are good, she is very literal. Many times we end up revisiting a subject over and over, and even then sometimes she could take hours to days processing it but then will randomly bring it up and we realize she kind of gets it, at least on some level. Some subjects I'd be just as happy keeping as simple and basic for as long as possible. :)

Out of the blue she asked at the supper table the other day where babies came from. I looked at Ran and we both laughed. I said "well, God puts babies in mommies tummies". Usually she'd be like "Oh Ok"...but she then asked, but how does he do it? I thought about starting to tell her when daddies love mommies...but Ran just told her how God starts them off really tiny and they grow and grow... she was happy with that answer...for now...


...and we figure she has plenty of years ahead of her for that one. :)

Undefeated and Superbowl Bound...

Oh.....Yah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! #1 New England Patriots...

What an awesome football season this has been! History is being made!!

I gotta say Ran and I have been loving the opening sequences right before the games began last week and this. They get us so pumped up for the game and it gives me goosebumps (tonight's was the big orchestra playing live with highlights from the game flashing across the screen, last week was the 0-17 count of each game and then they rewound them all and said, the season really begins NOW...but in the growly announcer type voice). Good stuff.

Right now Ran is putting Ev to bed as we have the Giants and Green Bay game paused...it just went into overtime because the kicker missed his 2nd field goal attempt. I felt horrible for the guy even though Ran is cheering for Green Bay. During the time out taken right before the kick I turned to Ran and said very seriously "Yep, that's why I don't play professional sports, I couldn't handle that kind of pressure." Ran just started laughing..."Yah hon, that's the main reason you probably aren't playing professional sports"... :)

Well, the game is back on and that same kicker just got his 3rd attempt FG while I type this, so I guess I can stop feeling sorry for him... See ya in 2 weeks, NY Giants!

It's Official...sort of...

Well our house is officially for sale. I say sort of because currently we only have it on Craigslist, a free buy and sell site that allows you to list real estate too. At first I was getting a little frustrated because the day after I listed it we started getting real estate solicitations in our email inbox, so I need to amend the ad a little to include something about that.


We didn't really expect to get much (if any) action with this site, but to our surprise before I went to bed last night I checked our email and we have our first real inquiry, so I sent the individual additional pics today... this is a day and a half after I listed it. So, we'll see what happens, we both feel this whole thing is in God's hands. I feel very confident that this is the right direction for us, but it doesn't make it any less scary (for me anyways)! :)


So here is our craigslist listing in case anyone wants to see it. My only disclaimer is that you don't think I'm being pretentious with my overly flowery adjectives in the listing, beautiful, amazing, etc. because I found with listing real estate by owner, I have to describe it from the perspective of an agent and not from a homeowner... if that makes sense. :)


http://nh.craigslist.org/rfs/543922978.html

The tummy made me do it...

Yesterday Everlea and I were playing up in the loft and she decided at one point to throw a toy down the stairs. This was the conversation that followed:

Me: Ev don't throw stuff over the railing or down the stairs.

Ev: Why?

Me: You don't always have to ask why, I just told you not to do it.

Ev: Well (pause) my tummy told me to do it.

Me: Well Mama's overrule what tummies say.

Ev: (Looking down at her tummy and talking in a slightly lecuring voice) Tummy, don't tell me to do that when mama says no.

My dream last night...

I had a funny dream last night mainly about Ran. Many of you know that in his "younger" years :) he did bike ramp freestyle jumping and tricks etc. (I think it was still in my brain from our last small group when my friend Jen brought it up). Parts of the dream were a little spotty but the jist of was this:

I was at the church for a Women's Monday Night Fellowship and was helping with the singing (I know why I dreamed about that cause Lucie called me about it yesterday). Anyways for some reason alot of the men and some kids etc. were all hanging out outside. After I sang I decided to leave instead of hanging around for the rest of it. When I went outside Ran was there and we were talking and I looked down the driveway (for those that go to our church the far end of the driveway where it goes downhill from the main road). We saw a kid there trying to do some bike tricks etc. so I pointed it out to Ran who was of course interested. I went back in the church I guess, cause I came out again and Ran was decked out in a red and white motocross type jumpsuit/leather jacket (can't remember if he was wearing a helmet, but knowing him probably not) :) I remember thinking that was funny and must have gone back into the church again because when I came out again he had backed up a truck and made this makeshift type ramp thing and a crowd was starting to gather. Someone came up to me and said an accident happened. I quickly made my way to the area and Ran came up to me and told me he was showing the kid a trick and the kid wiped out and knocked himself out or something. I was so scared and kept asking all sorts of questions. I was sure the church was going to get sued and it'd be Ran's fault. We were standing there talking and this guy comes over to us and said "Are you guys usually a bunch of hooligans here" I nervously laughed cause I thought it was a ridiculous question, but then said "no, but we worked with the youth group for a few years" (yah good answer I know), the man then explained that he asked us that question because he was trying to find out if we were going to sue the kid's family and he was part of the family... that's all I really remember...but that's my crazy brain at work during the night...

Cleaning machine...

In lieu of us putting our house on the market soon, I decided I finally needed to tackle some of the not so glamorous and seldom (if ever) gotten to jobs, the ones that most people don't see but almost audibly heckle me whenever I pass them by. So instead of being overwhelmed by them all in one day, most of last week was spent tackling some of them job by job. I'd make a goal for that day, sometimes small sometimes big. So here is a list of some of them, most of which didn't turn out as yucky or horrible as I thought...

cleaning in and around our pull-out garbage can (I actually had to disassemble the whole thing because it's amazing all the little crevices, that my little vacuum nozzle can't reach, that dried food can accumulate)


cleaning on top of the fridge (I didn't know dust could get that thick)


cleaning out my laundry room (oh so that's where that shirt was)


wiping around the bottoms and around back of the toilets (I donned rubber gloves for this wonderful task)


cleaning out the pantry (how do we end up with 4 bag of craisins?) (Ok, can blame my mom for that one :)

wiping down all the kitchen cupboards and appliances...



just to name a few...



This week I haven't been as productive, but a few more closets I think will be on my completed list by at least the end of the weekend. Our biggest project, that lies dauntingly ahead, will be polyurethaning almost ALL the woodwork, (baseboard, trim and doors), which we are hoping to maybe tackle on Friday. Ev has school and then I'm utilizing "You Get a Break" day at her school for a few hours in the afternoon, so I'm hoping in those 5-6 hours we can at least make a good dent in that project.


Ran has also tackled a bunch of projects too, that just got put off for awhile, mainly some tile grouting and finally getting the surround tile done around the jacuzzi tub in our bathroom and a coat closet shelf in (yay a spot for our coats, mitts, hats etc. now)...so it's getting there, slowly but surely.



One thing I found helpful too is having Everlea participate in some of the cleaning with me (which she enjoys), giving her a cloth or the little vacuum etc., it keeps her occupied and in my sights, so that way I don't just clean a room only to go back in a few moments to find the whole area once again covered in toys (which is usually what happens). So below is my little leopard (her costume of choice for that day) helping out.



Sometimes the tasks seem endless, but boy, when even one gets completed, it's so rewarding!

On our way home from church on Sunday...

Me: Hey Everlea, did you talk about sharing in Sunday School today?

Ev: Yep (slight pause) Who's Shari?

I love this stuff...

The other member of our family that loves the snow just about as much as Everlea...maybe more?

I guess if you look at it that way...

....."Hallo, Eeyore," said Christopher Robin, as he opened the door and came out. "How are you?"
"It's snowing still," said Eeyore gloomily.
"So it is."
"And freezing.""Is it?"
"Yes," said Eeyore. "However," he said, brightening up a little, "we haven't had an earthquake lately."















Yep another almost foot of snow today... in case you were wondering... :)

A Family First

We had a family first today, the 3 of us enjoying a movie at a local theatre together. A friend called us up to go see the new Veggie Tales movie: 'The Pirates That Don't Do Anything' this afternoon. It was very cute and Everlea (and us too) really enjoyed it. It was nice to have a very family friendly movie to take her too that had a great message for kids and adults! It had themes that I was telling Ran we've been hearing alot lately. Life is an adventure... God will equip us with what we need to accomplish the plan he has for us, no matter how scary or out of our comfort zone it might be... and sometimes the most unlikely people are called to fulfill that purpose. All good things! It was fun to see Ev glued to the screen and partway through the movie she and her little friend shared one seat and laughed along with all the funny parts while munching on popcorn. It was a great little outing for us all...I have good memories of going to the movies with my parents, so I foresee us doing it more in the future as long as they continue to make decent movies to go to!

Was he talking to me?

This just struck me really funny as I was typing the previous post. I was by myself in a quiet house (Ran had Everlea in town with him) and I was sitting on the couch and had the TV news on. The weatherman came on and was forcasting our next few days of weather. I wasn't watching the TV, just listening to it in the background, but then I heard the weatherman say something about a foot of snow...my head instantly popped up from the computer screen to the TV and at that exact moment he said "that got your attention now didn't it?" ...it was a little funny and freaky all at the same time. lol :)

Good consequences

Earlier today Everlea had done something that was mildly naughty but nothing serious or disrespectful etc. so I was trying to figure out a milder punishment that fit the little crime. Ran was coming up from working in the basement right at that point so I told her I was going to ask daddy what he thought would be appropriate. I reminded her again that there are consequences for our actions and that she needed to wait a minute while I talked with daddy. She sat there nervously waiting for the outcome and was kind of talking partly to herself and to us (see below) and then she said to us, "Consequences aren't a good thing, but talking about it is a good thing" :) ...then we asked her what she thought was an appropriate punishment and she said "How bout watching Little House on the Prairie?" (something she loves to do with me). We then explained that consequences aren't supposed to be a positive thing when it came to discipline.

Needless to say while she served out her 2 minute time out sentence on the couch (she hates t/o's so they are very effective for her), Ran and I quietly chuckled in the bathroom.

Wouldn't it be nice though if sometimes we could choose our own consequences!! I can picture my conversation with God and it would probably sound alot like what Everlea was saying as we were trying to decide on her consequence..."well, um, well, you see, um, I didn't know, (shrugs shoulders), um, it's Ok daddy, it was an accident...(continues to shrug shoulders) it's Ok, I'm really sorry"...now can I just watch Little House on the Prairie!

The hat

Same hat, same little girl....sniff...where did time go?




I've been doing a little "spring cleaning" lately and ran across this knitted hat of Everlea's in a laundry basket I rarely use. I washed it and Ev discovered it and tried it on. I took out my camera and it instantly became a photo shoot for her. She's been asking me to take her picture alot lately and does all sorts of silly poses. Anyways, it instantly brought me back to the day she was born. The hospital she was born in gave all new babies a knitted hat and a beautiful knitted blanket (which I thought was so sweet) and we got more than one because they had an overabundance and because the green and white one wasn't especially "girly" but had significance because she was born on St. Patrick's Day. They were made and donated by a group of older ladies that did this as a volunteer type "ministry." As I was thinking about it, I thought what a great ministry that would be for a crisis pregnancy type place... handmade little hats or blankets knitted with love. It almost makes me want to take up knitting!

Wildlife Encounters

Today for an in-school "field trip" Everlea's pre-school had Wildlife Encounters Educational Traveling Zoo come in with some unique and more exotic type animals. The kids were able to learn about and have a hands-on experience with most of them by touching and/or petting them. The parents were able to enjoy the time also, and I did! I found the presenter (who I also learned was the zoo director) to be very funny, very knowledgeable, and great with the kids. They had an Amazon boa constrictor, a chinchilla, a big black millipede, a cockatoo, a red-eyed tree frog and what I thought was a porcupine, but seeing it's small size (and then double checked their website) missed that it was a pygmy hedgehog. Way to pay attention in class, I know... :)

I also heard that he (the director) is going to be on Martha Stewart this week too with some of his animals so I thought that was kind of cool.

Anyways, I think I enjoyed it as much as the kids and it was fun recalling with Ev to daddy all the neat animals we encountered and experienced today.

A princess in a box with a book...

It was all quiet in the house the other day, so Ran peeked behind the couch to find Everlea in her princess dress, sitting in her toybox, flipping through her book.

Longing for Spring...

Now that we got some good sledding behind us and Christmas is over I find myself looking forward to spring...especially after the tease of almost 60 deg. weather for the past 2 days. I actually took Rogan for a walk today and didn't have to bundle up from head to toe.

Sigh, I know, it's a long way off...oh well...I'll enjoy it while I can... 20 deg. temps are right around the corner.

Ok, I know...we're crazy...

yes, the video is supposed to be pitch black...it's night...

Tuesdays with Murray

Now that she is back in the state again, Great Grandma Murray spends Tuesdays with us. We enjoy her company and Everlea has someone else to play with. :) We usually have a relaxing morning watching the news and playing the card game Golf and then we pick up Ev from pre-school and we continue the afternoon playing games, doing activities with Ev (today it was playdough) and we usually fit in a few episodes of Little House on the Prairie. Everlea usually takes her outside for awhile too and today she demonstrated her sledding tricks for her.

Often when I have her here, and we are alone, I try to ask her a few questions from the past. This morning I asked her if she was ever overwhelmed with 6 children...she didn't recall being so, but her kids were fairly spread apart too. She's a little bit slower in her thought processes, but really does well considering she had a stroke in the past 6+ mos. It amazes me when she can occasionally remember an event that happened more than 80 years ago (I don't even remember what I ate for breakfast half the time). :)

I'm thankful that Everlea is able to cultivate some memories of/with her. We lived in 2 different countries til I was 18, so I don't have too many memories of her when I was a child, so I hope Ev does. I enjoy watching their interaction too, she played hide and seek with Everlea a few months ago and she was hiding behind the couch on her hands and knees. I had to help her back up! She's such a good sport and we love her quiet spirit.

From the mouth of my little babe...

Everlea has been making us laugh alot these days in some of the things she's been saying...we've been amused by her ever since she started talking, but lately some of the stuff she says and words she uses makes me see how grown up she's becoming (and how in trouble we are in her teenage years, lol). Here are a few tidbits...

Taking my mom's hand at our house last week..."Come On Grandma, let's go in your room and talk"...she then closes the door, once inside we overheard "grandma, we can do whatever we want to do"

Talking about upcoming sledding with her friends to my mom last week..."Big grandmas can't sled with little kids, only Grandpas can. When you get as big as me then you can go sledding with kids."

We did some more sledding today and Randy was doing something she didn't want him to do. (She likes to dictate who can sled and when and who's turn it is) "Daddy I don't want you to do that" Randy said, "Ev, you don't tell Daddy what he can and can't do" Everlea then turns to me and says, "Mommy tell Daddy he can't do that."

In the car a few days ago...Ran was playing his music and Ev wanted her kids music on...she said "Daddy your music is making my ears scared"

This last one is a little gross but anyone with kids can relate to potty talk...I didn't laugh in front of her so she wouldn't continue...but internally I was cracking up!

After going #2 in the potty she always comments on what they look like, how big they are etc. Well the other day she did one big one and one little pebble looking one, she looks down into the potty and says "Look at that little tiny poopy mommy, isn't he soooo cute!"

Political Ramblings..

This political year is an interesting one...to me there is not one candidate that encompasses all the qualities/character/stand on issues I'd like to see in a president. Even though I'm unable to vote due to my Canadian status I still feel the weight of the voter's decision and it still affects me now that the U.S. is my home now, and is a country I've come to love very much. One thing that interests me, is that many of my friends are divided on who they think should be the next R candidate (not party, that's clearly identified by all of us) so it brings up alot of discussion. There's a quote out there that says you shouldn't discuss politics and religion among friends, but I disagree...I think it's very important and enlightening to discuss both subjects and if nothing else it gets us thinking. We had a friend over last night to watch the debates with us and he and Ran have similar views on political stuff but they still like to debate the nuances of political strategy. I found the conversation last night very stimulating as I've tried to stay up on most of the issues at hand and can contribute at least partially reasonably. I don't begin to understand it all, but at least I'm not naive or oblivious as I've been in years past. Whatever happens, I feel the burden more to pray for the next leader of this country and I do hope the voters get it right.

One last thought, is it illegal to plaster a huge H__ LL___Y political sign with paintballs :) (it just appeared at the corner of our subdivision and it screams at me every time I pull out of my driveway)?? lol JJ

That is one thing all my friends agree on...who we DON'T want as president!

Can you see a common post theme...

Ok, so another sledding post...but that seems to be our theme for this winter and we are having lots of fun doing it. Actually, I didn't get hardly any pics cause I was so caught up watching everyone and then doing some myself. This morning we had our good friends the Boisverts and Steels over. We were joking that the adults were having more fun than the kids, especially on the Boisvert's big tube. Funny story with our good tube, Randy popped it yesterday while testing out his sledding run that he continues to work on and perfect. So, as a family we piled into the car last night on a quest for another tube. Not one to be found, at least not the adult/bigger kid sized ones...it was pretty frustrating after our like 8th stop, so we decided we'd see what we needed this morning, and if we wanted more tubes our local hardware store had some cheap small ones (which Ran did end out going out to get). By the end of our time outside all the kids had made their way inside and it was just some of the adult "big kids" left. :) We were getting more daring in the things we were trying by then and I had a great wipe out as a result (I'm sure my back is going to be feeling it in the morning as I bounced a few times on my tailbone). I was laughing so hard Jen was asking "are you laughing or crying"?? Then she dove on the tube for her last run with her eyes closed the whole way, which is very disorienting...hilarious! It was the perfect weather day and I could have stayed out for hours (that tells you how nice it was as I'm usually pretty wussy in the cold). I'm guessing the Boisverts will have alot better pics on their blog, as Jen got some good ones.

I just called the Christmas Tree Shop and they have one left and they are holding it for me, it's a big double snow tube, so guess where we are headed this afternoon! A dangerous venture for me though, I'll have to put blinders on when we get there. :)

All Good Things...

tree is down, decorations packed up, mom and dad headed on the highway, Everlea back at school...

all signs that the 2007 Christmas/Holiday season

... has come to an end.

today has been a melancholy day for me...not sure why...not sad really just melancholy. Ran has taken Everlea this afternoon on some errands...so it's been a quiet house (she had school this a.m. too) today. That probably partly contributes to my pensive mood, going from lots of holiday activity to a quiet day focused on my least favorite thing to do, cleaning and de-holidizing (my new made up word) my house. It's been good for me to have a little quiet reflective time though and it'll be nice to get things back in order around here.

Maybe I'll rent a comedy tonight, I feel the need to laugh! :)

The Tree that keeps on giving...

So this is what our tree looked like when I took all our ornaments and garland off....

























Ha Ha, Ok, not really... Ran decided that instead of dragging the tree, with all the needles falling off, outside, he'd cut off branches and burn them. We had a huge fire going for quite awhile from it, making the whole house toasty as a result (on this very chilly night). We were proud of our $20 tree that looked beautiful all of Dec. and then gave us $10 in firewood. :)

Something that made my day...

Ran had a tool on craigslist for the past couple of weeks and we got 4-5 hits on it, most in the first week. Every single one of the different people that emailed about it offered the same amount for it without even coming to look at it. Every time we thanked them for the offer but told them we were holding out for the full amount as Ran already was offering it for what he felt was a deal, considering what the item was worth. It's a tool he rarely uses (now that our house is finished, it only had a few specific purposes), but he also wasn't hard pressed to sell it either, so we held out.

Yesterday someone emailed about it, called this morning to get directions and came at exactly the time he said he would. He liked the tool, didn't bother making a lowball offer as he told Ran he knew what the item was worth, and paid full price.

This is the best part though...he had a big plow on his truck and told Ran, hey I'll plow your driveway too (he owns a landscaping co.)... for free!! How awesome is that...

More Snow means more Sledding...

Can't resist posting a few more sledding/tubing videos from yesterday... Ran made a great run down the hill in the front yard. It's deceptive on the videos but you go down the hill pretty fast and the tube flies, and half the time you get turned around backwards and can't see where you are going! :)We all had fun with it yesterday...can you see how much snow is coming down too?? Crazy!

Anyone that wants some good cheap fun, come on over and bring your tubes/sleds!

Snow, Snow and MORE snow...

Wow, another snowfall today...we are definitely entering into a New Year with plenty of the white stuff!

Happy 2008!

Trusting all our family and friends have a New Year that is filled with many blessings! May it be a year of joy, good health and safety, deeper relationships with loved ones and most of all a year of drawing closer to our Savior! I hope that when trials come our way that God will give us the strength to handle each one with His grace and that we never lose our joy along the way. I pray that when we are given "God moments" that we will use it as a chance to reflect Christ's love whether it be in word or actions.
Ran and I were talking yesterday and we both feel like this is going to be a big year of change again for us. We are not sure what this year is going to hold but we are trusting it will be a great adventure engineered by the hand of God. I found the following prayer online and thought it summed up a few more things that I hope/pray for.

A New Year's Prayer

Dear Lord, please give me
A few friends who understand me and remain my friends;
A work to do which has real value, without which the world would be the poorer;
A mind unafraid to travel, even though the trail be not blazed;
An understanding heart;
A sense of humor;
Time for quiet, silent meditation;
A feeling of the presence of God;
The patience to wait for the coming of these things,
With the wisdom to recognize them when they come.
Amen.
- Unknown writer