look what i found

on my counter.

hmmmm..... i wonder which girl this belongs too?? after interrogation it turns out that brooke snipped a little bit of lily's hair. thankfully she had a little pony in at the time so this piece of hair came from underneath. when her hair is down you can't even tell it's been cut. i think that brooke has a future in hair design though because she is very fascinated with cutting hair. after cleaning up the infamous hair i stepped on this little guy.
he is very squishy so when i stepped on him i jumped and screamed providing everyone with some entertainment. it's good to start your day out with a laugh.

snow day part 2

the snow is done falling and this is the accumulation we received. not as much as i would have liked, but still enough to slow things down for a day or so. although i did feel really bad for larry who was in the springs yesterday and had to battle traffic for over 4 hours to get home. not a fun trip for him. since the sun is shinning this morning the kids are dying to go out and play in the snow, but it's bitter cold so i'm not sure that is going to work out so well for them! at the moment i am content to just bundle up inside. but i'm sure by later this morning cabin fever will hit and i'll be forging out into the snow.

snow day

apparently we are under a blizzard warning today so the schools are closed. wish i would have known it was a snow day BEFORE i woke brendan up for school. the funny part is that at the moment it's not snowing at all and it's just a light dusting on the ground. so i thought it would be fun to take a picture now and then one at the same angle later today to see how much we actually get. i have to say that i'm a little sad the schools are closed. brendan was invited to sing in a special choir and the concert was scheduled for tonight. we have all been really excited. oh well, they will reschedule it. maybe it will be while larry's parents are here next week. that would be really cool. anyway, stay tuned for a blizzard update!!

a trip back in time....

today brooke's preschool went on a field trip to the transportation museum and for once i was able to go (thanks angie and jami for helping me out). we had such a good time. it's amazing to look around and really ponder how much transportation has evolved in the last 100 years. i don't think that i would have enjoyed some of the earlier forms. such as the wooden train cars and the stage coach's that just looked so unbearably lacking in comfort and hot. the saddest thing we saw was a little white horse drawn hearse with small windows meant to carry children. i think the scariest was an early school bus fashioned much like an old milk truck. i can't even imagine sending my kiddos off to school in that thing!! i took a few pictures, but the lighting was pretty bad so only a few are really worth posting.

the kids enjoyed the museum so much! they couldn't climb\touch everything but they were able to climb onto a lot of it and push buttons without anyone telling them to stop!! every kids dream!! this was a model t and they had period clothing that the kids could put on and pretend to drive.
i love this picture because brooke and her friend torri are smiling at each other under the brims of their hats.


this old fire truck was amazing to me. i can't even imagine trying to fight a fire effectively with it. especially when you compare it to the modern day ones. huge difference!

and this sheriff's car was great!! it reminded me so much of the andy griffith show which i loved as a kid!

brooke and i standing by the wheel of a train. it's amazing how big and tall they are.

classic

sometimes i think i am losing my mind. this morning i had everyone ready to head out the door for a little errand but couldn't find my keys anywhere. i retraced my steps from coming home yesterday, looked in all the usual places but no luck. i grilled lily, the most likely key thief, but she insisted that she hadn't seen them. i was on the phone with a friend during this frantic search and she suggested i check the car. i was pretty sure that i locked it but hey, you never know. i went outside, opened the drivers door - ding, ding, ding. sure enough, there were my keys still in the ignition!!!! guess it's a good thing the car thieves weren't out looking for a new ride last night!

it's been awhile since i've downloaded pictures from the camera onto my pc. look what i found on the camera!!
BUSTED!!! climb on the counter much bella???

lesson learned

yesterday was not my day. and i'm still to upset from the day to say what happened. but i will say that an event occured that made me ponder my abilities as a parent and my overall abilities as a functioning adult. the situation itself was bad enough. it was one of those situations where as a mother you are instantly physically sick and your heart begins to bleed. and then i was met with anger, judgement and contempt from a renegade jury of my peers. who i must say i am still grateful to for the service they provided for my family. but, a situation that was already bad was made 100 times worse. i can't remember the last time i have felt so low about myself. and as the shock started to wear off it made me start to wonder. how many times have i jumped to judgement when i've seen or heard about a less than perfect situation that has occurred?? have i shown people love in their hour of need or have i looked upon them with judging eyes?? i hope that if i am in a similar situation again (on the other side next time please lord) that i will offer a supportive and comforting arm to the one in need. that i will help them to understand that no one is perfect and sometimes unfortunate things happen. that i will look upon them with eyes that show love and compassion rather than hate and anger. i hope i leave them in a better place than the one i found them in. that is my dearest and sincerest prayer on this sabbath day. and i am so eternally grateful to my heavenly father for the love and protection that i know he provides to me and my family.

date with the phantom

i truly love the theatre. if i had unlimited resources i would attend every show with seats in the front row. but since i don't have unlimited resources i have a "must see" list, purchase seats in the first balcony and bring my binoculars for an occasional up close and personal view. "the phantom of the opera" ranks high up on the must see list. i have been in love with the music of "tpoto" since i was a teenager. i wanted the soundtrack forever and one saturday afternoon i had saved up enough babysitting money (back in those days babysitting wasn't as profitable as it is now so it took a little while) to purchase it. on the way home from said purchase i convinced my parents to put the tape in and my dad's prompt response was "that is what you couldn't wait to buy??" he just didn't appreciate the genius of the music the way i did. my dad is a pretty traditional kind of guy. not a fan of loud music and the minor tones just didn't appeal to him. but for me, it was the beginning of an obsession. the music for "tpoto" captures the intrigue, complexity and passion of the story so well. it courses through your veins and makes your blood sing. but to completely appreciate it you have to attend the theatre. there is nothing like experiencing the excitement, energy and total captivation that a live touring company performance creates. it's sheer magic. i can't wait for the next opportunity to see a show. i have seen "wicked' once, but once simply is not enough. so, come this fall, i am so there! and i know that once again i will be mesmerized and transformed to a different time and place for a few marvelous hours.

we are trading in our four wheelers for ....

this smokin new ride in 30 - 40 years.
a couple of things i love about this picture. first of all i think it shows total devotion for one another. i can imagine him gingerly helping his sweetie onto the trailer. assisting her as she gets herself situated into not any ol chair, but a comfy, padded one. he's careful to watch his speed and not hit too many bumps since the shocks on the trailer are not as good as his. SO sweet!! i also love her springy hat and the blanket that thwarts off any windchill factor. the picture also tells me that this lovely couple is not content to sit by and watch the world go by. they are out there enjoying life!!

m.u.s.t. have s.l.e.e.p.

for some reason, when lily finished potty training, she also stopped sleeping through the night. at first it was a couple times a week. now it's a regular occurrence. a few nights she has gotten up at 1 and decided it was time to be up for the day. the nice part for me is that she is attached at the hip to her dad. so in the middle of the night the only person she wants is him. larry of course is wishing that they weren't quite so bonded ;) last night was especially bad because we stayed up late, then lily came in a hour after we went to bed. it took about two hours or so to get her settled back in; which just means that she was asleep in our bed - bad parenting i know. we are getting soft in our old age. then a couple hours after that brooke gets up because she had a bad dream and won't go back to her bed. so larry moves one sleeping girl out only to be replaced by another one. so needless to say today i'm feeling like i haven't slept at all. i might need to get a caffeine iv just to make it through the day. and i am seriously at a loss as to how to solve the lily problem. believe it or not we didn't really have this problem with the rest of our kids. we don't want her to wake the rest of the kids with a screaming fit in the middle of the night so we appease her which just makes it worse but what to do!!! it's very frustrating and exhausting.

the two l's one afternoon after a long night together

be afraid - be very afraid!!

it's official. brendan can now legally carry a gun in the woods and hunt four legged creatures. he spent 12 hours last week in a hunter safety class and took his exam on saturday which he passed with flying colors. i still am not really sure how i am feeling about the whole thing. it's great that he has an interest in something that he and his dad can do together. however, those of you that know brendan have to agree that he still seems a little bit young to carry a gun and hunt prey. when i try to picture it in my head, all i can see is him at about the age of four, traipsing through the woods carrying a gun that is about 4 times his size. kind of like in "father of the bride" when the daughter tells her dad she is getting married and he visualizes her as a child the whole time. it's just really hard for me to believe that he is growing up so fast! the best part of this adventure is that when larry went to sign him up he asked me if I wanted to sign up as well! like i have any intention of hunting ever in this lifetime! that's an even funnier picture in my head. i am sure it would play out like the hunting scene from "new in town" - which is actually a pretty funny movie once you get past renee zellwegers plastic face that is no longer capable of moving. i should have larry watch that movie and then i'll bet he won't ever suggest that i go hunting with him again. besides, it will be a great father\ son - and i'm willing to bet someday a couple of girls will tag along as well - experiance.

the great debate

so larry and i are in the middle of a debate and i'm having a hard time being objective. part of me says that i am just being a sentimental old fool but the other part says i have a right to be that way. i'm not sure what to do so i'm looking for some objective input. here's the situation.

our neighbors are having a baby. they thought they were done (their youngest is in kindergarten). so they got rid of all their baby stuff. awhile ago they had told larry that they were interested in any baby stuff that we had. the other day, the dad asked larry about our crib. now on the surface our crib is nothing spectacular. but the emotional attachment i have to it makes it more precious than if it was made of gold. growing up, my parents had these friends that were like second parents to me. when larry and i found out we were expecting, they gave us the crib they had purchased for when their grandchildren came to visit. all four of our kids have used that crib. lily still uses that crib, even though she is far to big for it. i just can't seem to take it down because i know that when we do it will be put away forever. and while i don't foresee us having any more children the thought of taking it down makes me a little weepy. larry's side is that it needs to come down because lily needs to sleep on a regular bed; for the record i agree with this part. but he also thinks that since we won't be using it again we should give it to someone that will. our kids are not going to want it for their children so why should it sit in storage forever? again, i see where he is coming from but i just can't seem to give it up. am i being a silly sentimental pack rat?? maybe we should take a vote. yes means silly sentimental packrat - it needs to move on to another baby and no means keeping it is my prerogative even though it will set in storage for years to come. which ever way you vote won't hurt my feelers i promise. i just need some objectivity.