Our Life

Whew, it's been awhile!

2009-10-20T21:35:00.002-07:00

Hi there! It sure has been a while since I last posted. We had a big weekend, so I thought I'd fill you in. Bryan wanted to take a vacation, so we headed out for a 4-day trip to Woodland Park. It was wonderful! We stayed in a beautiful mountain house with a "hot pool" (or a hot tub, depending on your age). We took the kids to the North Pole, took a tour of the Cave of the Winds, visited with a great friend whom we hadn't seen for 2 years, went to church in Colorado Springs and just hung out and relaxed. I think everyone loved the entire trip. It was a much needed time away from home with the family.

Oh, we also have some prayer requests from this weekend. A dear, dear man, Bob Tweed, passed away this weekend. He is living in Heaven with his Heavenly Father, but he will be missed by his family and many friends. Please pray that God will comfort his family in the coming days. Also, my Dad will be starting Chemotherapy next week. We found out he had Cancer in the Spring of 2000 and he has maintained relatively good health since then with fairly minimal treatment, but now it is time to move forward. Please pray that the Chemo is effective and that each treatment doesn't make him too ill. Oh, and while I'm at it....please also pray for my Aunt Madlyn, who is also undergoing Chemo for Leukemia. I pray that God gives their doctors wisdom and them comfort and good health during these trying times.

2009-10-20T21:35:00.001-07:00

The Funnies

2009-08-27T10:34:00.000-07:00

Grady Quotes:
"cock-fruit tail" = fruit cocktail
"Bear Wilds" = either Bear Grylls or Man vs. Wild

Zetta Quotes:
At lunch today Grady asked when he got to go to school and I told him that maybe he could go to Preschool next year. Zetta told him that Preschool was "really, really fun" and that he should like that because when he got "really, really old like.....like Aunt Kymee, that school probably wouldn't be fun at all." (Kymee is a Freshman in High School...) We had to email this to Aunt Kymee and tell her to have a good day, and that we hoped school was fun today.

A Desire to be Domestic

2009-08-05T19:48:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention in the last post that I have also had an urge to dig out my sewing machine and start a few projects. How in the world do I find time to do that, though? There is always a small child around. I have no idea how the prairie women of "the olden days" did it. I guess necessity (and the lack of a Target just 15 miles away) made it a priority that ranked up there with cooking meals. Any suggestions? They are very welcome!

Today

2009-08-05T19:26:00.001-07:00

So, I've started working......a very little bit, but I'm working nonetheless. I provide speech therapy in the homes of 2, 2 year-olds each week. I was seeing them back-to-back, so it was great that I could drop my kids off for a few hours with a friend to play while I worked. My schedule had to change, so today I saw 1 child at 10am and the other at 3:30. I don't really like that! It did allow me to run some errands by myself, but honestly, I could barely function! I think I am so used to managing 3 kids AND doing whatever it is that I need to do that I wasn't stimulated enough today. I was in such a daze, I could barely carry on a conversation with the man at the tire store. That was a bit disturbing! I am thinking that it might be a good thing for me to be working a little bit now and getting out on my own, even if it is only a few hours a week. Hopefully it won't take me long to learn to function again in the absence of 3 children!

Zetta Pics

2009-08-04T22:39:00.000-07:00

Grady Pics

2009-08-04T22:36:00.001-07:00

Merrick Pics

2009-08-04T22:33:00.000-07:00

Kids

2009-08-04T14:34:00.002-07:00

Zetta and Grady in a pleasant moment together - "Their Club"

Getting Rides on Papa O's Fourwheeler

2009-08-04T14:34:00.001-07:00

It's Been Awhile

2009-08-04T13:58:00.000-07:00

So, this is not what I had intended to start this post with, but it has me perplexed. It's been way too long since I had an English class because when I typed the title for this post I thought, "Is it a while, or awhile?" So, I googled it and found this:

When “awhile” is spelled as a single word, it is an adverb meaning “for a time” (“stay awhile”); but when “while” is the object of a prepositional phrase, like “Lend me your monkey wrench for a while” the “while” must be separated from the “a.” (But if the preposition “for” were lacking in this sentence, “awhile” could be used in this way: “Lend me your monkey wrench awhile.”)

Sooooo, I typed what I thought it should be, but I'm still not positive! Feel free to correct me if you'd like to!

Back to the real meat of the post....It really has been a LONG TIME since I posted anything. We are having a great, busy summer. We've been skating some, hiking once, went to see "Walking With Dinosaurs," went to Water World and have been playing at Autumn and Judy's daycares quite a bit. I think the best parts of this summer have been visits from friends and family, though. Our friends the Stefans came out for church camp and the kids and I were able to spend most of the day with them before they headed down to Westcliffe. It was great to see Danielle and the boys and it was so nice that the kids fell right back in step with one another. Amazing after not seeing each other for a year! After that, my friend Jen visited with us for a day and then Aunt Suzy and Uncle Ryan came out for a great visit. We all love hanging out with them, but the kids especially think they are a super special treat!

In only 20 days, Zetta will start Kindergarten! We took a bike ride to the school this morning to "practice" riding safely. Zetta did great. I think Grady might be riding in the bike trailer w/ Merrick. I start to feel a little sadness mixed with excitement when I think about Kindergarten. She could really care less. I don't think she's really excited, but not upset by it either. Ooooh, just thought of a way to help her with her #'s from 1-20. We can count the days until school starts on the calendar. She has had a hang-up on the teens since the beginning of preschool! She messed up once and hasn't been willing to count past 11 ever since. She will occasionally try, but she mumbles through the teens and sometimes ends up crying.....ridiculous! I hope she doesn't try to pull that with her teacher! She also likes to act like she doesn't know her letters or sounds, but the other day I pulled out some letter cards and let her put some words together and she can read! Ok, not fluently, but she can sound out 3-letter combinations pretty easily. I didn't push her by trying 4 letters because she probably would have shut down for the year! This is the girl that convinced her teacher that she only knew 5 upper and 5 lower-case letters at the end of the year in preschool......and then when I sat her down and made her try at home, I got about 20 of each! Fun, fun. Should I warn her teacher about her when we go register tomorrow?

A Great Trip

2009-06-16T13:01:00.001-07:00

We are back at home in Colorado after a great trip home (and yes, we still think of KS as home) to visit family. We had so much fun! The week started off with a wedding, then meeting Eiley Grace/#19, then a family reunion, a volleyball game, a little swimming, a trip to the airport to pick up Daddy and there was also some relaxing with family and visiting with friends. It was packed, but it couldn't have been better. The best part was that the kids got to play with their cousins. (Sorry Kymee and Kyle, they actually lump you guys into the cousins group.) Seriously, I barely see the kids when we are back there. If cousins or aunts and uncles are around, they disappear and kind of fend for themselves. It does always take a while to adjust to our regular life when we return to CO, but they have behaved better today than they did yesterday, so I guess that's all I can ask of them.

We always have some funny moments when we are there. The one that comes to mind right now is a conversation between Zetta, Grady and myself.
Z: "Grandma Kristy said that Dominique and Divante are DYYYING to see me."
M: "Oh, yeah? I bet they are pretty excited. They haven't seen you in a long time."
G: "I can't WAIT to see Dominique and Buh-dan-tay!.......But, why is they dying?!"

Dominique and Divante are twins that belong to Bryan's cousin, Heather. Poor Divante (duh-von-tay). His name must be hard for everyone to say because Great Grandma Mary said that when the babysitter's son talks about them, he refers to them both as "the Dominique brothers!" ;) Very funny! I love kid talk!

The Dreaded Dr.

2009-06-01T14:49:00.000-07:00

Merrick had his 9-month check up today. I can't believe it! The receptionist needed to give me some paperwork and asked how old he was and I told her he was 8 months. Then I realized, nope, he's 9 today. Where did the last 9 months go? I have no idea. It's all a blur. Well, back to the Dr. Grady has been worried since last night that Merrick would have to get a shot. He was even crying this morning before we had to leave saying, "I'm not going! I don't want Merrick to get a shot!" He is so protective of his siblings. It's very funny and very sweet! I prepared him for the appt. and said I didn't know if there would be a shot or not, and that if there was he would not throw a fit or bother the Dr. or nurse while it was happening. He was sure to ask everyone in the office if Merrick was getting a shot, and luckily he didn't have to. Whew! He did have to get a finger stick, though. Grady was pretty leary of that, but Merrick didn't even flinch, so everything was great. The test he had was to check for an iron deficiency but, probably thanks to the liver Bryan fed him the other day, he was just fine!

3 year-old wisdom

2009-05-29T06:28:00.000-07:00

Grady said to Zetta, "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit."
Z said, "I'm not throwing a fit about the cereal, I'm throwing a fit about the sugar." (She didn't get any on her already sugary cereal and Grady did on his Cheerios.)
Grady replies in his most matter of fact manner, "Well, big girls don't cry!"

Cute

2009-05-19T08:58:00.001-07:00

Today is Zetta's last day of Preschool. She wore her light blue cherry dress and I curled her hair a little (nothing too fancy, just enough to make her look a little less like an orphan on the street). She looked pretty cute. When it was time to go I said, "You could wear your sandals. That would look cute." To which she replied, "I don't wanna look cute, I wanna look cool." So she put on her tennies. :)

Grady is wearing his Army helmet and carrying around his wooden Cabella's rifle saying, "I'm gonna shoot some animals....right there....in kaw-luh-wayado (translation: Colorado)." :)

Merrick just spit up on the floor and growled at it. :) (That's just what I wanted to do when I saw it!)

Grady's Birthday - Present

2009-05-06T21:26:00.000-07:00

Good morning and happy birthday, Grady! He woke up and got to open one present right away. He was very pleased.

Oh, yeah!!! A light-up Spiderman shirt. He saw it in the store and HAD to have it, so I snuck it into the cart without him noticing. (I don't think I'll be able to pull that off much longer.)

And here is the John Deere cake with Papa in it. I cut out a picture of Grady and Papa O in the real tractor and just stuck it on with some icing. He loved it! I'm so glad, because it was A LOT of work and next year I'm going to do what my Mom did and say, "It's your birthday! Are you ready to decorate your cake?!" I think the kids will love that, too. ;)

Checking out his new Deere Gear

"Is this the last picture, Mom?"

"What are you two doing? The present is in here, not the car!" They had to run past it to get to the car. Silly kids.
We got a good deal on a trampoline, so Grady and Zetta got to split this present. They've done great with it...so far no injuries.....from the tramp. A day or so after we put the trampoline up, Grady did fall head first off of the roof of the playhouse that Grandma Kristy and Grandma Mary bought for Zetta 3 years ago, though. It knocked him silly for a while, but overall the injuries were fairly superficial. Whew!!

Grady and Jenna loving the kittens after a fun night and bellies full of cake and ice cream.

Grady's Birthday - Past

2009-04-30T13:21:00.000-07:00

Grady on his birthday - May 1, 2006

One year old and about to fall asleep at his birthday lunch - May 1, 2007

With that sweet little smile....2 years old - May 1, 2008

Grady's birthday is tomorrow, "May Thuth" (as he would say it). I love all of my kids equally, but it is funny how their personalities affect you differently. I was very strict with Zetta and didn't bend my rules very often.....if I said no about something, that was that, no bargaining, whining, etc....and that worked for us. And then came Grady! He has had this way about him since he was born, a sweetness and innocence (hahah!) that just makes you melt and want to cuddle and squeeze him no matter what he just did. If he asks for something that I surely would have told Zetta no for, he can just look at me with wide eyes and his cute little face and I'll let him have his way! I try not to take him grocery shopping with me because I usually end up buying things without even realizing that he has sweetly conned me into it (mainly Little Debbies, gum and candy). I love my Grady-boy and the arrival of his birthday has made me a bit sentimental. I'll be sure to put up some 3rd birthday pictures as soon as possible. Zetta wanted a butterfly cake. Grady.....wants a tractor, a John Deere tractor......with Papa in it! Oh, that sweet little boy!

The Love of a Sister

2009-04-29T19:36:00.000-07:00

Zetta has affectionately nicknamed Grady "Pigsty"! I have no idea where that came from. If you ask me, they are equally pigsty-ish!!!

The Boys

2009-04-27T15:32:00.000-07:00

Grady - March 2009

Merrick - April 2009
"Yup, I eat dirt!"

Bryan always says my posting is feast or famine....and it is, but I do it when I can. And....all of the kids were napping at once today, so I thought I'd take the time to share. Enjoy!

Z's Birthday - Past

2009-04-27T15:08:00.000-07:00

April 22, 2004 - Fresh Picked

April 2005 - At a friend's party a one week before Z's 1st birthday. Anya, Gracen, Jack, and Zetta (in the denim dress). (Bryan, why don't we have pictures from her birthday on our computer? Hmmm. I don't remember what happened to them.)

April 22, 2006 - 2 yrs. old; Bryan, Zetta and Lydia

April 22, 2007 - 3 yrs. old

April 22, 2008 - A big 4-year-old

Z's Birthday - Present

2009-04-27T14:50:00.000-07:00

She talked me into letting her open some presents the morning of her birthday, since we weren't going to have her party until the next night. Here's the birthday girl loving her new jewels...

...and also loving the nail polish that Grady picked out for her.

Z with her butterfly birthday cake. She helped me decorate it. Since she'll be 6 next year, she'll be able to do the whole thing by herself! (Right Mom? Isn't that how we did it!)

Grady, Zachary, Kayla and Zetta waiting for the candles to be lit.

Zetta crying (shrieking at the top of her lungs) because Grady blew out her candles before she could. (I'm laughing out loud! I thought this picture was hilarious!)

Kayla and Zetta showing off the kitties Zetta and Grady got for their birthdays.

Zachary and Kayla gave the kids kitty gear for their birthdays. They loved it! (The kids....not so much the kittens.)

This Morning's Snow

2009-04-27T14:48:00.000-07:00

Spring Snow

2009-04-27T14:27:00.000-07:00

It snowed today! Can you believe it? April 27th and I woke up to white grass. Huge snowflakes fell for a few more hours, but now it's 40 degrees and almost all of it is gone. It shouldn't surprise me too much. 5 years ago on April 22nd, I woke up around 4 a.m. to rush to the hospital in the snow to have Zetta and by the time I got to see the outdoors that evening, all of the snow was gone. Sweet memories.....I'll have to post some baby pictures and this year's birthday pictures soon.

Whew!

2009-03-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

Somebody take some of this wind away, please! I don't know if 16 mph winds with 30 mph gusts are really ALL that bad, but they have been blowing this way since yesterday and it's wearing me out! I'm also feeling really bad for Zetta's little friend. We had planned on going to her birthday party, but we've had a change of plans. Instead, we are going to head home to KS to see our family and go to Uncle Anthony's birthday party. When we got to school today Zetta told Wy that she won't be at her birthday party this Saturday and she started sobbing. I think it broke her heart! It was SO sad that I almost cried! Hopefully we can make it up to her. I don't know why it is bothering me so much. Usually I'd just move on with the day thinking, "Eh, she'll get over it." But, not today! It must be the wind. Not much else going on today. I think we'll stay inside most of the day, though.

Get Well Soon, Ms. Juanita

2009-03-13T10:43:00.000-07:00

Miss Juanita is sick today, so playgroup was cancelled. This is a big disappointment in our family because we all really love and look forward to playgroup on Fridays. In anticipation of a long day, I began searching for fun things for the kids to do. They've been outside already and are now back in, so I had the crafts and games ready for them.

Grady got out and picked up every last piece of Memory without even being asked. WOW!!! I'm impressed. That has never happened before. He then went on to improvise with Hungry, Hungry Hippos. Since we lost all of the marbles to it, he went in search of Zetta's beads. (You know the little plastic ones that you can make a necklace/bracelet with. The kind of jewelry only suitable for a young girl.) ;) She went into immediate panic mode when she realized what he was doing, but joined in on the game when she gave in and realized that it might actually work! They were actually having fun together! And they've been so patient with one another today. It's so nice!

Zetta is more of a crafter, so she's been stringing beads for bracelets and cutting and glueing and putting collages of stickers together. Her favorites today were foam Easter stickers with bunnies and letters. She wanted to spell her name, but I didn't think we had any Z's left. So, when I told her that, she said, "That's OK! We can call me Gloria, now." Whew! I found a Z....it was brown, but it was a Z. (If anyone has any extras, I'll take them.....I don't really want a Gloria in the family.)

So, all in all it's been a good day for us! Can't wait to see what the rest of the day brings. Grady wants to make Chocolate Chip Cookies.......for lunch!

What's Going on with You?

2009-03-12T14:24:00.000-07:00

We can sum up our week like this: (think the Pepto song)
***Laundry, crying, ear infections, upset stomachs, diarrhea!*** (This chant has been running through my head for days. Ugh.) No, really the kids have behaved pretty well for being sick, but I'm definitely ready to be rid of all germs.

We went in for Merrick's "well baby" check-up yesterday and I knew that he had a nasty cold, but the Dr. took a quick look in his ears and said, "Oh, did you know this ear is infected......oh, and this one, too!" Nope, the bad mommy did not know that. I really saw no sign of it.

Grady had been in for an ear infection in his left ear about a week before Merrick's visit. Despite being on antibiotics, he started complaining about his other ear hurting on Tuesday evening, so I had the Dr. look in his ears, too. Not so bad there, yet! No infection, but definitely bulging and the left one had not completely cleared up.

What am I going to do with these kids? I know. I'm going to pray that their Daddy's flight makes it in safely tonight and dump them on him when he arrives. (Just joking!) I am going to have a good time with some friends on Friday evening, though. (I'm definitely looking forward to it even more than usual.)
____________________________
Hah! I checked my email after publishing this post and saw this message from Bryan:
"I was gonna call you. Our flight is delayed slightly, it was supposed to leave at 5PM and Frontier is saying it won't leave until 5:40. That means it's 6:40 your time + the 2 hrs of flight time, so I'll be landing about 8:40 and get home as soon as I can after that."

He must have felt my desperation!

3:33 pm Fast and Funny Conversation

2009-03-12T13:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday: Stopped at Sonic after Merrick's Dr.'s appt.; looked at the clock and it was 3:33 pm
Zetta: Mom, how do you make slushies?
Me: With sugary water and ice.
Grady: How do you know?
Me: (Thinking that I really don't know how...) Because Aunt Carrie and Aunt Gretchen used to work at Sonic.
Both Kids: Whoaaaaa! (Like they had the absolute best job in the world.)
Zetta: Where does Aunt Carrie work now?
Me: (smiling and thinking..."Ironically") With a dentist.
Both Kids: Ohhhhhh. (Like that's maybe the worst job in the world.)

....(no real pause)....
Grady: How do you make gum?
Me: I don't know.....with sticky stuff.
Zetta: Maybe with "to-food", Grady. (Have we had tofu lately? I'm thinkin' not.)

...(no pause at all)
What do pilots do?.....Why do cows eat grass?.....What do ducks eat?......
Grady screams: Mommy, mommy don't go in the water, we will drown!!!!!
Me: Grady, there isn't any water over there.
Grady: It's right there! (It's melting snow that has started to run onto the street.)
Me: Grady, it's OK. That's not dangerous.
Grady: (In his most convincing tone) MmmmmHmmmmmm!

My brain about to overload, I look at the clock again. It's just turning 3:35. Can you guys fit that much fun into under 2 minutes? :) I hope so! Have a good day and laugh with your kids.

Grady

2009-03-10T15:20:00.001-07:00

Cheese!

What?

Check out THESE moves!

Merrick

2009-03-10T15:15:00.001-07:00

Check out these pearly whites!

Look, I'm sitting.

Whoa! I'm SITTING!

Fun Lovin'

2009-03-10T15:10:00.001-07:00

She's such a proud big sister. She takes care of the boys whenever she can. I love to see her with Merrick and I love to see her sweet little happy face.

Daddy likes to dance with the kids before bedtime. I think he must have been in a hurry to get them in bed this night.

Poor Boy

2009-03-10T14:41:00.000-07:00

Poor Merrick! He's been sick since Friday. Today he seems to be feeling a little better. This was a few days ago after a bath, in hopes that it might make him feel better. I think it helped for a little while.

Hmmmm....

2009-03-09T22:04:00.000-07:00

Kleenex Anti-Viral tissues......will they kill the germs that we already have pulsing through our veins? I'd eat them if that would actually work. It's only a cold, but poor Merrick has had it worst and has had it for 4 days now and it's only getting worse. The other kids started coughing yesterday and it hit me today, along with a few complaints of ear aches this evening. Yuck! Bryan leaves tomorrow for LA. Hopefully he doesn't get in on the fun.

Free Time

2009-02-17T10:11:00.000-08:00

Zetta is at school, Grady is upstairs watching the NASA channel (he chose that over cartoons.....weird, I know) and Merrick is finally napping, so I decided to check my email and clear the camera of pictures. Here is what I found:

The 3 little sweeties on Valentines Day with the balloons that Grandma Kristy sent them.

Hmmmm.....I just called them sweeties. Now why would they stick a picture of their mom here?!? Should I be concerned about what they think of me?

Don't Leave Them Alone

2009-02-10T21:13:00.001-08:00

For anyone who may ever watch my kids.......you can never leave them alone. Seriously, don't let them out of your sight! They can mess up any situation in seconds. Today we were only home for about half of the day and they dirtied the living room so horribly that you couldn't even walk through it without tripping on something, covered their bedroom floor with toys, spilled juice on the kitchen floor/stairs up to the living room 3 times, soaked the bathroom floor during a bath and the BIG one......while I answered the phone and talked to Bryan for about three minutes (don't worry, I could hear them yelling and laughing so I knew they were alive), they brought a baseball bat into the tub with them and emptied 5 bottles of soap, bath bubbles, shampoo and conditioner into their bath water. Yep, we're busy around here!

Oh, and I told them that we were going to have to sell some of their toys to replace all of the soap, etc... that they wasted. SO, if you're looking for something just give us a call!

Random Photos

2009-01-31T22:50:00.001-08:00

Santa comes every year to Great-Grandma Mary's on Christmas Eve! They're looking like they aren't too sure about him, but I think they liked him.

The best Christmas picture we got......seriously.

Good, clean fun! (Well, Zetta was pretty clean, anyway.)

Zetta making Peanutty Dip from her new cook book. (No, that is not a wig....unfortunately she got her Momma's big hair.)

Cute, right?

Daddy Did It First

2009-01-31T22:10:00.001-08:00

Bryan decided it was time for Merrick to try some cereal, so he whipped it up and Merrick loved it! The other kids took a turn, too and fun was had by all. You should have heard the giggles from Zetta and Grady. I don't think I was quite ready for him to eat, but it worked out just fine. Where have the last 5 months gone? Time has flown by so fast!

Hmmm....a little pasty, yet somehow tasty!

Stolen

2009-01-27T22:01:00.000-08:00

OK, so I stole this from Julie (a friend from church), but I hadn't seen it before and I thought it was pretty good - and very true. Thanks, Julie!

You're from Colorado if ...

You have no accent at all, but can hear other people's. And then you make fun of them.

'Humid' is over 25%.

Your sense of direction is: Toward the mountains and Away from the mountains.

You say 'the interstate' and everybody knows which one.

You think that April is a totally normal month for a blizzard. (And that snow in September and May is not that weird, either.)

You grew up planning your Halloween costumes around your coat. (And snow boots!)

You know what the Continental Divide is.

You've gone off-roading in a vehicle that was never intended for such activities.

You always know the elevation of where you are.

You wake up to a beautiful, 80 degree day and you check to see if it's going to snow tomorrow.

Everybody wears jeans to church.

You actually know that "South Park" is a real place not just a show on TV.

Your two favorite teams are the Broncos and whoever is beating the crap out of the Raiders.

When people out East tell you they have mountains in their state too, you just laugh.

You go anywhere else on the planet and the air feels 'sticky' (I usually think 'sticky' and 'thick') and you notice the sky is no longer quite the same blue.

They Make Me Smile

2009-01-27T21:48:00.000-08:00

Z was just about to fall asleep tonight when she called me into her room and said, "Momma, can we please go to Disney World..." And after a short pause she finished "...or to see Rachael Ray?"

She loves cooking shows, but could Rachael Ray be better than Disney World? Maybe we'll find out some day! Sweet dreams, Z.

My Friend Lu

2009-01-27T21:30:00.000-08:00

I just watched the greatest video!! It was an interview of my friend Luann Pavlu who is this months recipient of the 9 News Teachers Who Care award. I have worked with her here in Keenesburg since I started my career and I definitely agree that she is deserving of this award. She is intelligent, creative, caring and so much fun! She is an inspiration to me and I'm sure she would be to many of you, too. Watching this video actually made me miss school for the first time this year! Read the article and watch her interview. She is amazing.

Oh, and those are "my kids" in the video. I've worked with all of them. They are great, too! Enjoy:

http://www.9news.com/news/local/article.aspx?storyid=107363&catid=346

#18

2009-01-19T09:12:00.000-08:00

#18 arrived this morning! Does anyone wonder who/what #18 might be?

That would be my 18th niece/nephew......well this one wasn't a combo, it was just a nephew, but he is the 18th grandchild for my parents. His name is Cash Wesley Perry and he was born this morning at 7:19 a.m. to my sister Carrie (yes, Carrie Perry!) and her husband Nathan. He was a mini one at 20 inches long and weighing only 7 lb. 8 oz. His 3 brothers: Cord, Coy and Colsen welcomed him home this morning. They called me on their way home while they were in the drive through at McDonalds to let me know he had been born and it was only about 10/10:30 their time! (Only 3 hours after you delivered, what a trooper you are, Carrie!)

18, can that be right? I think it is, but I'll do the run-down just to make sure:
Jeremy - 5
Jill - 6
Meaghen - 3
Gretchen - 0 (but 1 on the way)
Kelby - 0
Carrie - 4

Yup, that's right! Well, that's all for now. #19 is expected to arrive in June, so stay posted. Hopefully they send pictures soon. I wish we could be around to see him, but I don't know that we'll be able to make that happen real soon.

The Fun Never Ends

2009-01-08T15:57:00.000-08:00

Grady just woke up and says in his sweet, sleepy voice, "Mommy, I'm wet." (The boy didn't have any sleep-time accidents for about 3-4 months, so this is a new occurrence at our house.) I went about business as usual, cleaning him up and taking care of the wet clothes when I asked him, "Why do you think this is happening lately?" He replied, "It's good to potty in your pants. It is!" Hmmm. I'm thinking the 2 year-old and I may just have to agree to disagree on this one.

Funnies

2009-01-08T15:40:00.000-08:00

Zetta and Grady frequently (every day!) fight taking a nap and today was no different. Grady wanted to play with toys and Zetta wanted to make a poster and some cards for people. I did win. After a bit of a struggle, they both fell fast asleep and had a good nap. Zetta was the first to come down so cute with tired eyes and a sleepy voice and asked if she could please finish her poster. That sounded fine with me, so I sent her to the kitchen table to do her crafting. 5 minutes later she came up to the living room with a pan and a plastic baggie filled with water and other mysterious substances asking me if I could put a rubber band on the bag while she went out to get some dirt. Yes, dirt! I let her know that I didn't think she needed to be filling bags with mystery liquids and making messes in the house, to which she responded, "But you said that I could!!!" I reminded her that she had asked to do cards and a poster and she sheepishly said, "Oh, I guess I got the words kind of mixed up.......I meant potion."

She was so cute (and I think she was actually innocent in the mislabeling of her activity), that I let her go ahead with it. After all, my Mom probably would have let me do that type of thing! She's still working on the potion 30 minutes later. We'll see if it ends up a disaster or a success!

_______________________________

Doing "j" homework with Zetta: "OK, Zetta. What words start with the 'j' sound?"
"J-Jaclynn" (A girl in her class)
"OK, what other words?"
"J-J-Jaclynn......Lynn......Lin-DA......Linda helping hand!!!!"

Pictures of Us

2008-12-21T17:16:00.000-08:00

Girly Fun

2008-12-21T15:59:00.000-08:00

I had an appointment with my manicurist the other day. She did a wonderful job didn't she?

Oh, and here she is!

More Narnia

2008-12-21T15:07:00.001-08:00

The kids....and Bryan are Narnia fanatics. They read about Narnia every night, they watch "Narnia" (The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe) every chance they get and they play Narnia all day long. (I am hoping we get some good Christmas toys so that Zetta and Grady learn to play something else!)

Zetta prefers to play Lucy or sometimes Susan and Grady likes to be Peter, but will play anyone.
A few days ago, as far as I could tell, Grady took the part of the White Witch and I, unknowingly, was supposed to be playing Aslan. I was putting laundry away in their bedroom and he came at me with his dagger drawn and in his best wicked, growly voice said, "I am going to cut you on the hard couch!" Thinking I had not understood him, I asked, "On the what?" To which he replied, "Get on the hard couch and I will cut you!" I know I hurt his feelings, but I could not stop laughing when I realized what he was trying to say. If you've read "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe," the White Witch kills Aslan on the stone table. Grady had set the scene perfectly, but had the vocabulary a little mixed up!

He is such a funny boy. Maybe I'm a language-development nerd, but I love seeing how a 2-year-old develops - the concepts he picks up, the words he mixes up and his blossoming imagination! I wish you all could see him!

O Christmas Tree

2008-12-19T07:32:00.001-08:00

We have a Christmas Tree. For those of you who know our history, this is a BIG thing! Bryan and I have been married for 8 years and I don't think we bought a tree until 2 years ago. I've always been a real tree girl, but I settled for this poor $16 fake tree because I would have been on my own purchasing, setting up and decorating a real tree every year. I think we made this poor thing look pretty good this time! Thank you for helping this time, Bryan. Oh, and as you may have noticed, it is on the floor this year, not on the landing above the closet (we have a very small living room and very high ceilings.) We'll see if it is still up in June again this year! Since it's accessible and I'm not pregnant, it had better not be. I think I'll shoot for taking it down 2 weeks after Christmas so we can enjoy it for a while after we get back from Kansas. We'll see. It did provide a little comedy for all of our visitors this past year!

Aaaahhh!

2008-12-19T07:25:00.000-08:00

Another full night's sleep! I actually woke this morning and felt rested. I love it! This is probably good night #4 for Merrick. By "good night," I mean at least 7 hours. Don't get me wrong, he's never been a bad sleeper. He's been the, go to bed at 10:00 and wake at 2:30 and 6:30 just to eat and fall right back to sleep baby. So, even though he's had a pretty good schedule, I am still very thankful for the excellent nights of sleeping.

Sounds good to me!

2008-12-18T17:03:00.001-08:00

Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing is like shoveling the sidewalk while it's still snowing...

The toy gun in the van and the wolves.

2008-12-08T15:46:00.000-08:00

This is Bryan posting for the first time in the existence of this blog. I thought I'd relay a couple of funny stories.

Grady has this little toy shot gun that he likes to play with. He likes it so much that, whenever he happens to be thinking of it, he begs us to let him take it with him in the van wherever we go. This is harmless enough (he just holds it on his lap - we don't let him take it into stores or restaurants obviously) so we let him do it. Yesterday evening, Grady was piddling around the house playing and the shotgun popped into his head - he said he wanted it. Meg and I had just settled in to some show on the television, so I just told him he could go out to the van where it still was and get it himself, the van was in the driveway and all the snow was melted, so he should've been able to quickly run out there, open one of the sliding doors, get it, then close the sliding door with the fancy button our van has that closes it and run back in. He made it a few steps out the front door, but it was dark and cold, and he came right back in, saying he was scared and cold. I ridiculed him briefly for saying he was scared, then asked Zetta to go help him.

Zetta went outside with him and all seemed well and then she came back a minute or so later... without him. Meg and I obviously noticed he wasn't with her so we sent her back outside to see what the problem was and tell/help him to get inside. She came back a minute or so later and said... "Daddy... he says he wants you." Arghh... so I get up and go outside. He's stranded, just hanging out in the mini van, side door wide open... looking a bit aloof, and maybe like he had cried a little bit - not full on meltdown, but genuinely concerned about something. He proceeds to tell me that he's afraid of the wolves outside. He does have a bit of an imagination, so it didn't surprise me that he came up with something like that, particularly since he was outside alone in the cold and dark (except for the van light that is). So, I tell him there are no wolves to be scared of... and then tell him that even if there were he'd be good to go because he has his shotgun to shoot them with. At this his face - without words - says... "Listen dude, I know enough to know this chinky little plastic toy shotgun isn't gonna do anything against a pack of real wolves, so why don't you just..." - you get the point.

So, Grady and I head back in. I tell Meg he said he was afraid to get out of the van because of the wolves. Grady tells her he was afraid and that he cried because of the wolves. All the while, a devilish little grin is taking form on Zetta's face... and as soon as Grady spits out that he cried because he was afraid of the wolves, Zetta starts jumping up and down and laughing (not so much in a devious, demonic way... more a ornery, mischievous way) and saying... "I told him there were wolves outside when I went out to help him. Ha-ha!" She was totally proud of the fact that she A) got him to believe there were actually wolves outside B) that belief caused him to be paralyzed with fear and strand himself in the car and C) that she left him out there all alone once she had made it far enough out there to ensure that he successfully got to his gun. All of this - Zetta's devious role in the whole episode - was lost on Grady, he was just glad to be inside and away from the wolves.

Also, I'm pretty sure wolves being the animal of choice resulted from the fact that Zetta had watched The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe earlier that day. The wolves are the evil White Witch's secret police.

To end the whole story, I told Zetta - for the Nth time, I've lost count - that Grady will actually be bigger and stronger than her some day, so she better watch out.

Comment...

2008-11-01T22:21:00.000-07:00

I just noticed that two of my children are shooting people in the group picture at church.....hmm....maybe we should work on that, Bryan!

Reformation Day Celebration

2008-11-01T22:15:00.000-07:00

The Whole Group at the Reformation Day Celebration

Merrick the Carrot

Zetta the Cowgirl

Grady the Soldier
(complete with wings and stripes, compliments of "Uncle Allen", the Marine)

October Fun

2008-11-01T21:50:00.000-07:00

The kids before heading off to "Trick-or Treat Street" at the Jr. High

We have had so much fun dressing up in our costumes this last week. We started off the fun by attending Trick-or-Treat Street, hosted by the local 4-H group. Zetta then had a Halloween party at school, followed by a visit to Judy and Allen's on Halloween evening and then a Reformation Day party at our church. The kids, including Merrick, had a blast in costume. Oh, and Merrick dressed as a cow for his first appearance (Thanks, Aunt Carrie!) and a carrot for his second, thanks to our friend Judy, who made that costume just for him.

A BIG Hit

2008-10-27T10:35:00.000-07:00

Spinach is not a popular thing at our house, but boots are! I was thinking about getting the kids boots for Christmas this year, but when we decided to make them a cowboy and cowgirl for Halloween, they got their presents a bit early. They have them on every second they can. Here they are in their jammies....and boots. (I told Z to hold her nightgown up a little so we could see her boots in the picture and Grady followed suit. He's a riot!) Grady is now going to be a soldier, but I think the cowboy boots are still going to be used.

Not a Hit

2008-10-27T10:17:00.001-07:00

I sat my crazy kids down to watch some TV while I was making lunch the other day. I don't usually make them watch TV, but it was an attempt to get them to stop fighting and be quiet for a while. (It worked pretty well.) Amazingly, they both agreed on the show they wanted to watch: Popeye! I figured that this was the perfect time to introduce a new food. (Wouldn't you think the same?) Grady can't watch more than about a minute of TV at a time (both a blessing and a curse) so he was in the kitchen in no time. I presented this beautiful can of spinach to him as his vegetable for the meal. He was a bit skeptical. I didn't give up, though. When I showed it to Zetta, she was so excited to be eating like Popeye! A short time later, lunch was ready and both kids were perched at the table ready to eat. Grady still skeptical and Zetta as excited as she's ever been to eat lunch. When I presented them their plates of Mac-n-Cheese and Popeye Spinach, Zetta's excitement faded. She was trying her hardest not to be rude, but I could see she was uncomfortable with something. So I asked her what was wrong, to which she replied, "What is that green stuff?"

I told her it was yummy spinach just like Popeye eats and she said, "But why does it look disgusting?"

To this I had to laugh and told both of them that they had to take one bite to see if they liked it. They did so without even being forced, however I think that will be the last bite of canned spinach any of us will ever eat! (Mine went into the trash, too.) Oh well, at least I tried.

Trike-a-Thon

2008-10-27T09:54:00.000-07:00

Zetta's school participated in a fund raising Trike-a-Thon to support pediatric cancer research at the St. Jude's Children's Research Center. She took this very seriously, as you can see. She really wanted to "win" so she could help sick kids. I had to explain that no one was going to actually win, since it wasn't a race, but that she just had to keep riding and do her best. She didn't really get that it wasn't a race, but she and her classmates had fun anyway.

Can you see that her front tire was as flat as a pancake? I didn't notice it until about half way through the event! Sorry, Z.

Oh, and yes, this is at her preschool. She goes to school in the country, on the farm of one of her teachers, so you can see Ms. Beth's house and yard in the background....oh and maybe a little bit of Kansas off in the distance (that's for all of you who like to get those jabs in when you drive out here from your big city homes)!

Aunt Suzy's Wedding

2008-10-27T09:49:00.001-07:00

So, people keep asking to see pictures of Aunt Suzy's wedding. The truth is, I think my hands were a little full that weekend because this is the only picture I took (other than a matching one with some serious red-eye)! I snapped this one at the end of the reception at Suzy's request. If anyone has any they want to share, please let me know! The kids looked very cute and Suzy and Ryan were definitely a handsome looking couple.

What a Sweetie

2008-10-27T09:30:00.000-07:00

Grady came after me with this spatula the other day when I was changing Merrick's diaper. His current toys of choice are kitchen utensils. He usually has a pretend purpose for whatever he has in hand. Any guesses at what this one was?

He walked up behind me making a growling noise and scraped this up the back of my head! Then he said, "Sit still like a statue, it just tickles! I give you a haircut, Mommy."

Grady and His Brother

2008-10-27T09:20:00.000-07:00

Can you tell that Grady adores his baby "bwudduh"?

Another funny thing...

2008-10-27T09:13:00.000-07:00

Zetta says: "Does Barack Obama think he's more powerfuller than God? 'Cuz that is not good."

The Things Kids Say

2008-10-09T12:38:00.000-07:00

I think my kids are funny! For some reason I have been noticing lately that they say some of the funniest things. Making note of these things is how I get through the day some times. Here are just a few:

-While I was yelling at the big kids to get their shoes on so we could get Z to school on time, Grady came up to me and in his most stressed out manner said, "So much times I don't want to go to school...ezuh, ezuh!" (translation: ever, ever)

-In a disgusted reference to Merrick - "Again? Again he's stinky?"

-Grady has decided to challenge me quite a few times lately. This one in particular echos in my mind. It wasn't so funny at the time, but I'm softening! Grady said, "You not a boss, Mommy! Only big kids is a boss. So we da' boss!" (Let me tell ya' sometimes it does feel that way!)

-Grady code:
ezuh = ever; buzuh = brother; buhjean = Jeanine; buhzert = dessert; luz = love

-Zetta, Grady and Bryan were watching Bear Grylls (Man vs. Wild) climb up out of a rocky canyon in the Badlands of South Dakota and Z says, "Wow! That looks hard........do you think he has to double knot his shoes for that?" (Ah, the mind of a preschooler!)

2008-10-09T12:37:00.000-07:00

We're Still Here!

2008-10-09T12:20:00.000-07:00

OK, I had made it my personal goal to do a post each week. It was a good thought! Sorry I haven't made one in a while. I don't have any pictures to put up right away, but I'll fill you in on what we've been up to.

Let's see:
We left September 23rd to go to Kansas for about a week. Zetta did well as a flower girl and Grady was a great ring bearer in Aunt Suzy's wedding. After the wedding we spent the rest of the time visiting with our families, letting everyone meet Merrick and playing with the cousins. It was a busy time. It is amazing, but aside from meal times, I pretty much don't see my kids when we are back there! I think the trip home was good for all of us. Bryan enjoyed a day of golf and a little time away from work. Also, the post-partum "fog" has seemed to lift from my head. I can now actually plan out my day, remember who I just dialed on the phone (before they answer) and most of the time I can come up with ideas for what to eat for supper.

Since we've returned...hmm....we've tried to rest up and I've done laundry. (Ha!) No, really we've just been getting back in the swing of things at home, taking Zetta to school and playing at home (and still not resting, I'll have to figure out how to work that out pretty soon).

I hope you all are doing well! Hope to hear from you soon.

For Aunt Gretchen

2008-09-10T09:59:00.000-07:00

One pretty picture of Mr. Merrick and one of Zetta's attempt to make him look like he's smiling.

The whole family ready for church.

Aunt Gretchen wants daily pictures of the kids, so we'll play catch-up today. (I don't think I'll be able to do it daily, Gretch, but we'll try to give you a weekly post!)

Photo Shoot

2008-09-10T09:48:00.000-07:00

Grady's picture of Zetta

Zetta's picture of Grady

Zetta's shot of Mommy and Merrick

2008-09-10T09:34:00.000-07:00

More Baby Pics

2008-09-04T07:32:00.001-07:00

The end of a very long day!

Baby Pics

2008-09-04T07:21:00.000-07:00

Labor Day...

2008-09-04T07:18:00.001-07:00

...A good day to have a baby! We had Merrick Keith at 8:41 on Sept. 1st, Labor Day. (I thought that was fitting.) He is 20 inches long and weighed in at 8 lbs. 15 3/4 oz. and is a very happy, mellow guy. Everything went very well and we got to come home Tuesday night for a good night's rest.

For some reason, I can't get pictures to load right now, but I'll keep trying and get back with you all soon.

-Meaghen

Grady Rides a Bike

2008-08-30T15:33:00.001-07:00

Our friends just gave Grady the littlest bike I've ever seen. It is so cute watching him ride (unless you're 9 months pregnant and you end up having to push him around the block when he decides he's too tired and quits pedaling). Zetta got a Princess helmet set for her birthday, so we geared Grady up in Spider Man. I'm glad we did, because he's not that good at steering yet and has flipped off of the curb a few times already. (We'll have to get a pic of him in action soon.)

Zetta Goes to School

2008-08-30T15:23:00.000-07:00

Z. had her first day of Preschool this past Tuesday. She loves it! She was a little unsure about it a few days prior, so I showed her some pictures of me in the building and told her about working with kids there, thinking that I could fix her anxiety, which didn't really work at all. She did start to soften a little when I told her they had dress-up clothes.....and when she got there she expected to see them. She came up to me before I left and said, "Mommy, they don't have dress-up clothes.....but that's OK." Her teacher noticed her talking to me about it and was nice enough to go get them out of the storage room for her. The second day there were no problems!

My Kids

2008-08-21T21:14:00.000-07:00

Oh, maybe you would actually like to see some pictures of the kids! It seems I can never get a pretty picture of both of them at once, so they may provide laughter more often than a tug at the strings of your heart. None-the-less, ENJOY!

Saying goodbye to our good buddy, Luke.

Grady, playing ball in the front yard, of all places! (A few weeks ago, just before jumping on the "Potty Train")

A happy little Z, wet from playing in the runoff from the neighbor's sprinkler.

Out With the Old, In With the New

2008-08-21T20:47:00.001-07:00

We had a slightly sad occasion this last month when we sold the 1st vehicle Bryan and I bought as a married couple. We said goodbye to the ol' Rodeo for no reason other than it had too little room to accommodate our growing family. We said hello to the nicest vehicle we've purchased by far.....a minivan. Yes, a Dodge Grand Caravan. It's a beauty and, although I miss our Rodeo still, I am fine in admitting that not only was I excited to buy a more family-friendly automobile, I have also loved every minute of driving I've had in it for the last week and a half! Anyone who wants to try to knock me off of my "I'm proud to drive a minivan" pedestal can just hold your tongue! You will not convince me that a bigger SUV would have been a better option, because it is just not true. Minivans were made for people with kids! This thing has enough room to easily fit my double stroller in the back, it has more than enough seating for a soon-to-be family of 5 w/ friends, the kids can maneuver from front to back without smearing mud all over the middle row of seats, and it has storage compartments in the floor for kid gear/seats that are not in use/those children who choose to not listen to or obey the driver of the car! I love my minivan. Some of you may understand and others of you probably will some day!

Hello to Family and Friends

2008-08-21T20:36:00.000-07:00

My husband has been trying to get me to start a blog for a while now, so I thought I'd give it a shot! He thought it would be a good way to share what's going on in our lives with our family and friends and I agree. We don't do a good enough job of calling all of you who live far away and it seems like in the rush of our day-to-day lives we don't always take the time to share with those of you who are close. So, to begin we say hello to all of you and we hope you enjoy reading up on our life no matter how dull or exciting it may be in the moment!