Our visit with Nana and Papa

Before Nana and Papa came we made a list of things to do with them during their trip. I've posted them for you to enjoy--we accomplished them all! The kids LOVED having them here (and we did too!) It was such a treat. WE MISS YOU!!!

1. Visit Air Force Academy

The boys went to the AFA one afternoon while the girls went shopping!

2. Launch Rockets

Well, thank you Dr. Todd for the rockets for Christmas. We have been dying to shoot them off and decided that we should do it with Nana and Papa. So...off we went to Henry Park on a beautiful day only to find that the park was still covered in snow. We were not deterred.

This was taken after the first launch. He was THRILLED. The picture doesn't do it justice. The second launch sent that rocket all the way to the fence you see in the back. It broke into pieces, but G was still a very happy boy. Once the repairs have been made, I'm sure we'll be out there again.

3. Hang out at Home

We spent a lot of our time just hanging out at home. Really, we were all just content to BE with Nana and Papa. The kids don't need much, really. The boys had a great time in the snow.

Baby C discovered Dixie...who just loves to be touched by anyone. She is such the mama dog.

Nana and I discovered a RUG on our shopping excursions. You go out looking for curtains and you find an oriental rug--go figure. We brought it home for about 3 hours and then took it back because it was going to BREAK THE BANK. But I love it. I really love it. I just sit and look at the pictures. (It's a lot less stressful way to enjoy an oriental rug with 3 children under 4, really.)

And, we dyed Easter eggs. D-Struction got his hands on almost all of them, and I think only 2 have survived the massacre.

4. Airplane Restaurant

When you live in a military town, there are all kinds of fun things to do...like eat inside an airplane. This might not have been the place WE would have chosen to eat, but you can't beat the entertainment value for the little guys. They actually "flew" the plane for us, stopping for gas every once in a while. I think they took us to Kansas as well as to South Carolina.

SOLO's...What a hit!

Today

There were three on the bed

and the little one said, "I'm crowded, move over..."

so they all moved over and---I'm actually impressed she even got one of them all sitting still. They never stopped moving!Today we went to our friend's house so she could grab a shot of Sweet C for my wall. I have pictures of the boys at 7 mo and 9 mo taken outside by my other dear friend (who left me.) (But, she was called by God to where she is, so I can handle it.) SO...today, Emily got one of my girl to go on the wall. Thank you, Nana, for the dress. It's perfect. Thank you, Emily, for the pictures. They are perfect. All of you here in CO...you need to use this girl for your children's pictures. Those studios just can't catch them like this. Don't you just want to eat her up??

9 months already. It sure has flown by!

It's a shame I haven't blogged all month. Sorry to all you regulars. (??) lol. Let's see...here's a re-cap of February for you:

1. Sold 4-Runner
   
2. Bought a '93 Subaru Legacy. It's a great get-around town car that is PAID FOR and gets good gas mileage and is good in the snow and did I mention it is PAID FOR???
3. Traveled to NJ to see Grandma and Grandpa with Sweet C. I had a great time with Grandma and got to visit Grandpa in the nursing home. (We didn't think he would make it.) Bryan stayed here with the boys and held down the fort.
4. While I was gone, the "new" car broke down leaving Bryan and boys stranded. Uncle Todd came to the rescue.
5. Car was taken to the shop, repaired, and is still PAID FOR. (I'm being optimistic, here. We think it's problems are solved.)
6. Grandpa RALLIED and is doing better!!!
   
7. Baby C has mastered crawling and is working on pulling to standing. Her favorite place to practice this is the bottom step.
8. Baby C cut her first tooth, and then the second as well.
9. D-struction got CROUP.
10. D-Struction got an ear infection the same week as the croup.
11. G-Money has a cough that hurts me.
12. We all have it now. (Except C)
13. Bryan and I went on a Young Couples Retreat in the beautiful Wet Mountains. We left the boys with our dear friend, Janet. Baby Girl came with us and was sick the entire weekend. I love baby puke. They just have NO CONTROL over it. sigh.
14. Nana and Papa arrive TOMORROW!!!! We have been counting down the days for about 2 weeks now. The kids are SO excited, and so are we. Maybe I'll blog while they are here. Maybe. :)

I'm just jumping on the bandwagon...

Don't send a lame eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

Thanks, Becky & Steph. I just can't quit laughing.

8 Months Old

She started scooting across the carpet today!

NINE Chicken Pot Pies! (??) Wait a second...

Shin came over last week for some marathon cooking. On Wednesday we went to SAMS and bought 10 rotisserie chickens. That's right. TEN. After lunch, we pulled all the meat off the bones (while babies were sleeping.) It took us about an hour and a half. Not too bad.

We took 24 cups of that chicken and froze it in bags (4 cups per bag.) Each of us now has 3 bags of frozen, cooked chicken ready for soup or chicken salad or casseroles or whatever.

With the remainder of the chicken (I have no idea how much it was...) we made chicken pot pies! I got this great book last fall called, Don't Panic, Dinner's in the Freezer! and I've LOVED it. I use the cookbook all the time--the recipes are so good and everything has been tested over and over for freezing. So, the idea is you cook one day a week and whatever it is you are making, you should at least double it so you can freeze an additional meal for later. Now, for those of you who knew me in my previous life (before children), you probably remember I did that Once A Month cooking thing. Not anymore. This is way more efficient for my lifestyle.

So, we followed the Chicken Pot Pie recipe to a tee. We actually made it X9 so that I would have 4 pies, she would have 4 pies and we'd have one to give away. We knew something was terribly wrong when we had to bust out the COOLER to hold the chicken pot pie filling--we had so much I didn't have a pot big enough!! When we looked more carefully at the recipe, we noticed a key phrase...

"Each recipe makes enough for two pies."

HA. We just started laughing and bagging our 18 chicken pot pies. I guess we won't need to make this recipe any time soon. :)

Pie, anyone??

Happy Birthday, G Money!

Do you ever have a day that you just don't want to end? I realized last night as I was washing dishes that yesterday was one of those days. My boy turned FOUR. I used to think that sounded so old, but he still just seems like my little man. He is so proud of being four, though. The day before his birthday he kept saying, "I just can't believe I'm going to be FOUR tomorrow!" I love that serious side of him.

So, back to the dishes. I was cleaning up from the aftermath of the party and listening to G-Money and his Daddy building a model airplane (thanks, Shinny!) and just thought, I don't want to put him to bed yet. I don't want this day to end. It was such a fun day and he was so happy all day long. I didn't realize until Pops called to chat just how exhausted he was. He could hardly carry on a conversation and just kept drifting off into Garrison land. So...he and D-struction went off to bed. It was a big day for both of them.

My sweet friend gave ME a present for G's birthday. I think she likes to make me cry. I can't believe she has that many pictures of my boy. Crazy. You should check it out. It's a precious, precious gift for me. (G liked it, too.)

I'll try to post some pictures of the ROCKET SHIP BIRTHDAY PARTY!! Aunt Shinny has more on her camera, so you may have to wait on some of them. Here's one of the four friends eating their pizza together.

Don't be fooled by the picture. These kids all brought their younger siblings, so we had about 11 kids there. After pizza we ate rocket-ship cake and then played a rousing game of "Rocket, Rocket, BLAST OFF!" (which is duck, duck, goose...modified. :) everyone had to BLAST OFF at the same time, so that was fun.)

G opening his present from Daniel and Caroline.


They just grow way too fast. Everyone tells me that. I feel like I'm watching it happen right before my eyes.

G and I had a conversation a few weeks ago that went like this:
"I think I'm going to put a brick on your head."
"What? Why, Mommy?"
"Because I want you to stop growing and stay just the way you are."
"No, Mommy. You can't do that. I want to grow up to be a man just like Daddy."

I really want that, too, G. Grow up to be just like your Daddy. He's a great man.
We LOVE you, G. Happy Birthday!!

Wanna Laugh?

Go here and vote. :)
Nothing funnier than babies in speedos.

Just thought I'd share

Things I'm looking forward to this week:

1. Church tomorrow. (I'm not just saying that. I'm really looking forward to it.)
2. Sunday night television. A quiet night with my husband and Jane Austen. And lots of popcorn.
3. Monday's child swap. A friend of mine in town (who also has 3 under 3) and I watch each other's children each Monday so we can have time to grocery shop ALONE. It's a sweet deal all around. We're having some fun friends over for dinner Monday night, too. That'll be fun. Wonder what to cook...?
4. MOPS on Tuesday. Lunch with a friend afterwards.
5. We have our staff wives lunch on Wednesday. I like that time. It's very refreshing for me. Also...Wednesday night supper at church--I don't have to cook.
6. Thursday morning Bible Study. Emily and I actually said we would memorize Colossians. Anyone else up for the challenge? So far, I've got 1:1-2 down. :)
7. Friday is Hubby's day off. Always nice to have him home. I get my hair cut. Ummmmm...that's relaxing.
8. lia sophia show on Saturday. I love my new job. I always said I'd "NEVER be one of those direct sales people." Now I am. And I unashamedly LOVE it. It's a great outlet for me.
9. Listening to D-Struction sing "jingle bells" and "Joy to the world" before bed. (this happens nightly.)
10. Listening to G Money sing "Rudolph" AND hearing D-Struction chime in from the bottom bunk.
11. Snuggling this baby. She's growing up too fast.

(Yes, she is sitting in a laundry basket. It is full of her toys and she is protected on all sides from her brothers and the exuberant "mama" dog. She is so happy. She sits in her basket most of her awake time happily chewing on her things.)

It's going to be a good week. God is good to give me so many things to look forward to.

D-Struction's Birthday

My boy's "Dump Trunk" cake. He didn't eat too much of it...

G Money wanted to take a bite right out of it. I think he did.

Still not feeling so well. He puked the cake up in his bed later that evening. But don't worry, he didn't let go of those balloons. :)

So, what do you do with those boxes that Christmas gifts come in? We made cars...complete with doors and windows. It was a beautiful afternoon for momma. Next year, y'all can just send us empty boxes. ;) They are so FUN.

We've had this snow in our backyard for weeks. It's been too cold to go out, so when we had a semi-warm day earlier this month, we went out to dig. D-Struction loves his hat so much he sleeps in it sometimes. By the way, he is now sleeping in the bottom bunk--he loves his "big boy bed."

This retro hat belonged to his Daddy once upon a time...he loves it!

Christmas Morning

Look at these kiddos! They are wearing the same Christmas pjs as last year! I'm so glad we got to use them again.

This little monkey was with us for Christmas Eve. He loves being at our house with his cousins. (Shin's little boy for those of you who haven't seen him in a while...)

Nana found a pair of Christmas Jammies for Miss Priss as well--complete with the headband that we both "love." This one's for you, Nana.

And, guess who decided to perfect sitting up on Christmas Day?? What a great gift for mommy, Caroline. Thank you! :)

Some of my favorites...

I thought I'd post some of my favorite Christmas decorations. I don't really think any of you care, I'm really just posting them so I can look back and remember. You know, for posterity's sake (or whatever...)

I found the "red church" at a garage sale last spring for $3!! It is one of my favorite Dicken's Village pieces and I was so glad to get it at such a steal. I'm sure the person who put it at the MOPS garage sale had no idea what it was really worth. Bummer for them.

Mary was pregnant at our house until Christmas morning. :) Shout out to Oma for that idea...great visual lesson for G Money.

Speaking of Oma, these are the stockings she made for the kids last year. I love them. I also love our downstairs room this time of year. the lighted garland against that red wall is so festive. You'd think I planned that.