Sunday afternoon and caramel popcorn!

Since the start of the year, we've been going to church at 9 a.m., which means that we have the entire afternoon and evening to spend as a family. We've started a new tradition of making caramel popcorn every Sunday afternoon and enjoying either a football game or a movie. It has been a great way to build family ties and to laugh together. Everyone gets involved in helping make the popcorn and the recipe is easy. Here is the link if you want to make some yourself... www.ourbestbites.com/2008/09/caramel-corn.html

I discovered this blog a few months back and have made a number of the recipes and found that I enjoy cooking more than I ever have and I'm better than I ever thought! I make a mean Creamy Tomato Basil Soup and breadsticks! Yeah me!

Then our duties as the stand in parents for the three extra boys ended about 6 tonight. I have to say it really was a good weekend, although tiring at times. The boys each have a friend in our boys and so they pair off and entertain themselves. All eight of us enjoyed the caramel popcorn today as we watched MJ's This Is it. What a wonderful way to end a Sabbath day! I wish the weekend were longer, but I'm feeling rested and relaxed and ready for February...bring it on...!

banana bread and more

When my 4 year old crawled in my bed at 6:30, it basically woke me from my deep sleep and I was awake for the day. I decided to enjoy the quiet of the house, and start the banana bread that I intended to bake. And then I may as throw in the first of many loads of laundry too. And before I knew it, I was in deep with cleaning the kitchen. Soon, boys started waking up and coming up for breakfast. We have 3 extra boys this weekend (our best friends took a weekend away! Hopefully, they are enjoying the time together sans kiddos!), so there were 5 boys around the table and lots of chatter too. My littlest guy stayed asleep somehow and I had the good fortune of the Chief going into work late this morning so he offered to drive the 4 boys to school so I didn't have to wake up Seth. AJ curled up on the couch and watched Toy Story while I was a whirlwind of energy cleaning my abode. After the kitchen, I tackled the tile and mopped til it shined! Then off to the main bathroom where too many boys left too much mess behind! Finally, at 9 a.m., I decided to take break and let myself enjoy a still warm slice of banana bread. It was a productive morning and I still had many more hours ahead of me! I love days like this...I can enjoy the clean house, play with the kids, and savor the sweet banana bread! This is the life!

Growing up

My youngest turned 4 last month. He can spell his name: S-E-T-H and is learning to write the letters, although unless you are his mom or preschool teacher, you likely won't recognize them. A few months back, when we would go to church on Sundays, Seth would cry and refuse to stay in sharing time (which is like a Children's Sunday School). I would have to stay in there with him, and even sit in the row for him to stay. When it came time to go to his class with the other 3 and 4 year olds, Seth was fine, and actually welcomed doing that and would send me away. But sometime this past November, Seth decided that I didn't need to stay with him in Sharing Time either. He would stay in the room, and I would stay in the hall, peeking in the little window, not quite believing that he wasn't going to come running out in tears in the next 30 seconds. But each week, it went the same, and soon, I wasn't loitering in the hallway and could go to my own Sunday School class.

Today, I looked at my baby boy, as he ran down the hall, waving good-bye, not needing me to accompany him anymore to the Sharing time room. He didn't even look back.

Growing up is hard to do for this mommy!

P.S. GO VIKINGS GO! You can do it!

Homework...does it ever end?

When I was a kid, homework was minimal by my recollection, until I hit high school. When I think of High School, vivid memories of sitting at the kitchen table attempting to understand chemistry and then physics problems stand out! Listening to my dad explain chemistry (that was his major in college) for hours, and still not being closer to any kind of understanding was usually par for the course. Somehow, I made it through those days. Then came college, and homework multiplied! Oh, the nights of little sleep as I somehow attempted to learn 250 German vocab words, along with American Heritage assignments and Zoology. Then the endless research papers on mulptiple psychology subjects. It is all a blur now. With only a summer off between graduation and graduate school, I didn't really have time to appreciate the "no homework" and hours of studying. Then Graduate School came and took me to a whole new level. Then finally, the big day came...when I thought I was done. No more homework ever! What a delusion that was!

Within months of getting married, I found myself up to my elbows in homework again...not my own mind you, but the Chief had decided to go to college, and needed support and so I became the resident editor of all papers and the research assistant and the flash card maker. I actually got to learn some cool stuff, and suffer through another history class and anthropology. But then, that big day came and I breathed a sigh of relief...homework was over, so I thought. But again, this educated girl was wrong.

See, I have kids...and they have homework, which means...you guessed it, I have homework AGAIN. Now, some may say, "what's the big deal? It's only 4th grade!" But the time that I spend with my children coaching, cheerleading, and supporting are countless. Last night was one of the longest nights of homework....we spent 6 hours at the kitchen table. And guess what? We're back there again tonight. And I only see years and years ahead of me of doing homework.

I better be smart at the end of all this.

Don't blink

I blinked. And when I opened my eyes again, a week had passed. How does that happen? It amazes me when I look at my 10 year old, who is growing, growing, growing, and I see the 5 lb 13 oz. baby he once was just a few blinks ago. This last week is a blur. A good blur, but still a blur. Between work, homework with the boys, Enrichment meeting, bookclub, bowling, fhe, homework with the boys, preparing my lesson for church today, making dinner, grocery shopping, picking up the house, and spending time with my family the week flew by. We're getting closer and closer to my big 4-0 Birthday. But first my middle man celebrates his 8th birthday next week. We've been talking about that as it is a big one. He has chosen to get baptized, and so we are making preparations for that. He is a good boy. He makes us all laugh.

On another note, The Minnesota Vikings played really well today and beat the Cowboys. The Chief is ecstatic about that. We all had our jerseys on. Okay, I don't have a jersey, but the Chief respectfully asked if I would wear one of his to support his Vikes. Of course, I said yes. Afterall, they've become my team too.

So, back to the blinking part. I recommend against it. Keep your eyes open so you can see all of your life and not let one second of it get by you. Life is good...you don't want to miss any of it.

Can you blame a girl?

Today I got to experience a real treat! One of the speakers today at church was Br. Smith. Now, you might be thinking that Smith sounds like a common American name, and you would be right, but not this Smith! He has the genuine sound of a formal Englishman. I'm immediately taken in by the accent...I'm a sucker for it. I could listen to him speak for hours and not grow tired of it. In fact, he spoke for 30 minutes and I was fascinated the whole time. He even told the story of the 3 Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf, and I was engaged (as well as the boys). He actually made it relate to the need to be spiritually prepared (with the brick house) from Satan's temptations (the huffing and puffing of the Big Bad Wolf). It was inspiring and I am glad I made the effort to get out of bed and get my kiddos dressed in their Sunday best and be where I needed to be on this Sunday morning.

Wondering when the relaxation starts...

I don't know when the relaxation part of the weekend is supposed to happen amidst all the many things that are scheduled on the calendar over the course of an average weekend at our household. Maybe it stems from how I grew up...my parents were both up at the crack of dawn, and my dad thought we were slothful if we slept in til 7:30 on a Saturday morning. He would have been a good dairy farmer...up, milking those 100 cows at 4 in the morning, and coming in at 6 a.m. for breakfast. His mid-day was 10 a.m. so if I ever chose to sleep in that late, he would chastise me for wasting a perfectly good day. So, I learned early to get up and get moving. My dad groomed dogs in the basement when I was a kid as a side job. He liked it and he was pretty good at it too. My sister and I would go down there and help him out. I liked being down there...it was where I was introduced to 70's music. Dancing and lip synching with my sister was a good trade-off for shampooing the dogs and dealing with "wet dog" smell. Some of my favorite Saturday morning memories include belting out "Copacabana" alongside Barry Manilow. My dad would laugh at my sister and I.

So, fast forward to now...I rarely have the luxury of sleeping in because I work on Saturday mornings, and usually need to leave the house by 7:30 a.m. I have a weekly tradition of calling my parents on the way to work. I can usually catch at least one of them doing "Saturday morning chores" around the house and it is fun to chat for a few minutes. Meanwhile, the Chief is in charge at home. During the winter months, that means getting the boys to Noah's Basketball games. Today they had to be out the door at 8:30, and it was hectic here this morning. Someone (no names, but it rhymes with Boah) left the front door open and Mousse and Penny took the opportunity to go for a stroll. I think it was only a few minutes before we noticed their disappearance. I had to go out driving the neighborhood and thankfully found them really close, and opened the door and they hopped right in. That crisis averted, I could head to work. So, then I come home at 1:30 and there is laundry and grocery shopping, and the rest of the housecleaning that I didn't get to finish yesterday, and on and on. So you can see what I mean about no relaxation time.

I did the "Saturday is the day we get ready for Sunday" chores, ie: ironed the boys' church clothes and gathered all the shoes so there is no last minute shoe crisis at 8:45 in the morning.

So, here we are with Saturday evening approaching...and I've taken a few moments to write about how I don't have time to relax, and I realize that I've been able to relax as I sat here to blog...so maybe that's the secret...relaxation comes when you least expect it, as you're going about doing all the things that you "have to" do! hmmmmmmm, I'm so calm now!

What a week!

It is stressful returning back to the day to day routine after a 2 week holiday. Now, that doesn't mean that the Chief and I had 2 weeks off of work...I don't think we could make ourselves go back if we gave ourselves that long a break, but we had 2 weeks off of the carpooling, lunchmaking, spelling tests, and getting up at 6 a.m. in order to get the boys out the door on time! All of us have felt the pain of the alarm clock this week! Hopefully, we'll adjust and next week will be smoother!

Adding to the crazy schedule of a family of 5, the Chief began playing Bball again with the guys from church. He had his first game tonight, so I met him there, as I was late getting off of work. Now, it is close to 8:30 (bedtime for the boys) and we are still working on hw, and getting showers taken care of. But Thursdays are like Fridays to me, and I tend to be more laid back, knowing I don't have to go to work tomorrow. I still have to get up by 7 (unless the dog wakes me earlier to put him out) and drive the boys to school. And then I begin the work at home...the laundry, cleaning, organizing, shopping, and sometimes even baking cookies to be that fantasy mom that has warm cookies waiting when the kids come in the door from school. Every once in awhile, I try to be that mom...and the rest of the time, my kiddos love me just the same! And the Chief doesn't mind either that I throw together some ravioli with jarred sauce for dinner or grilled cheese and tomato soup most of the time. Although he does really make a big deal when I actually make meat loaf or homemade rolls!

Okay, off to get the bedtime routine in action...only 30 minutes late...not bad for a week of getting back in the groove!

Our dogs

Since I don't have a lot of time to write today, I thought I would just post pics of our cute dogs! Mousse is the chocolate lab and Penny is the Vizsla/Boxer mix. They are good friends and we are so glad they are a part of our family!

Sunday Sounds

As excited as I was (and am) for 9 a.m. church this year, it was still difficult to make myself get out of my warm blankets this morning. Even harder to get my 4 guys up and going. The older two have been enjoying staying up late and sleeping in during the 2.5 weeks they have been off of school. We had them go to bed earlier last night and it was still hard at 8 a.m. to get them going. I wonder what they are going to think of 7:15 a.m. tomorrow! I started the day with soft Sunday music...hoping that the boys would get motivated by that...then we were off to church....with no temper tantrums this morning...they were all too tired probably!

After church...it was Vikings Football...their last game of the regular season! So, it was the sounds of popcorn popping as I made some delish caramel popcorn (you can find the recipe at www.ourbestbites.com which is an awesome site btw) and football and lots of cheering as the Vikings pounded the Giants! Purple jerseys were the fashion at our place.

Then came dinnertime and the sounds of laughter and fun filled the air as the boys told about their new teachers from primary and their highs and lows of the day! The Chiefs high was definitely the Vikes win!

Then we finished the day with our family scripture study. Even though Setheroo can't read, he follows along and randomly repeats words that are read. It lets us know he is listening at least most of the time.

And now, the sounds I look forward to most...the sound of silence as my kiddos are all in bed! I hope they stay there til 7 tomorrow morning! and I'll continue to enjoy the sounds...

New Day, New Year!

Children and Dogs are no Respector of Time, let me tell you! After staying up to ring in the New Year properly with a toast with Sparling Apple cider, an awesome kiss and some Firework Poppers and Confetti, we got home close to 1 a.m., and it was after 1 before all the teeth were brushed and all of us were in bed with eyes closed. Yet, didn't stop the dogs from coming up at 7:45 a.m. to be let out to do their thing! And almost as soon as I let them out, here comes Setheroo, and he wants to watch Dora. In sheer desperation for just a few more moments (read: hours) of sleep, I put one of our standby Dora episodes on and pulled a blanket over me on the couch as I tried to sneak a few more minutes of sleep in. It seemed every 15 minutes, Seth was telling me it was over or it was a commercial, but at least I squeezed another 45 minutes of rest in. It was enough, along with a Diet coke, to help me get through the day!

It really has been a terrific day, with that mild exception. I was able to spend time with my big sis, Suzanne, at Taipan (is that one word or two? I never can recall!) and then I moved some furniture in my new office at work. And then the Chief wanted to start a new family tradition of having Chinese food on New Year's, so we took the boys out to eat. Seth decided he doesn't like any of the things they serve there, because afterall, they don't have Mac and Cheese. But then he spotted a fried shrimp, which looked a little like a chicken nugget, I guess, because he wanted it. And he thought my hot sauce looked like ketchup and he wanted to dip it. We tried to warn him, all four of us really did, but to no avail...he wanted to dip it. And you know what? He loved it! He loved it so much that he politely requested that I "get the guy back here so I can have some more of this stuff!" so when I didn't flag the guy fast enough, he took matters into his own hands and got him to our table. We ordered Seth 2 more fried shrimp with hot sauce, and he ate it all! Who knew that my picky eater would chose that of all things?!

Anyhow, after that, the Chief and I went on a date with our good friends, C & S. We decided to go bowling. Afterall, what would be a better thing to do with friends after all of us have been sleep deprived?! It proved to be a good evening for the 3 of them, but I realized once again that bowling is just not the sport for me. Unless of course, it is the wii version...that I can do and all those bowling lessons I had back when I was 12 really do pay off...but I find that only is the case when it is the wii version! And Finally we finished the evening off with a fun game of cards, which I did excel in tonight, claiming the first Victory of the year! Yeah me!

Anyhow, now it is late...later than I had planned for tomorrow I have to return to work...people are counting on me...thankfully not to knock down pins. Hope your 2010 is the start of a wonderful decade for you and for me too!