Things That Make You Go- Hmm?

What am I suposed to do with this much chocolate????

P.S. I'm also in phase 1 of the South Beach Diet where chocolate and all things sugary are major no-nos.

Christmas is coming the geese are getting fat...oh wait it's over

I've wanted to post some of my "handy work". But I've heard of some lurkers so I was afraid my gifts would be found out. So without farther ado:
Rebekah's purse, it actually turned out a lot better than i thought it was going to. I think I should make one for myself next. Maggie's PJ's, kind of boring

Thia's hat, scarf, and mittens. Totally cute and never disappoint. Gaius looks totally cute modeling them too (we need another baby girl)

I have one more thing but it'll have to wait for another post because I need to take a picture of it. So I guess... to be continued.

oh and by the way Marc broke our "stockings only" rule and got me Guitar Hero world tour with the drums. So now I can fulfill my rock star dreams in the privacy of our living room. Yes it is romantic!!!

Merry Christmas to All and to All a Goodnight!

This is seriously the best I could get. You try getting 3 kids to stand still 4 days before Christmas, I dare you!

Words from The Backseat

Here's a conversation I got to ease drop on from the driver's seat.

Xavier- Brandon do you know what a crush is?

Brandon- it's when you break something into little pieces

Xavier- No not that kind of a crush, a crush like  when you like someone. I like Abby S...

Brandon- you mean you like to run around pretending to shoot her?

Xavier- no i mean when i see her i have to pinch my arm so that i don't look at her.

Brandon- i don't know what you are talking about

Xavier- Oh nevermind.

Xavier's 7th Birthday

Pie Eating Contest: $10
Before

During

After (the one in the red and white shirt, Xavier, and the one in the pink where the 3 winners)

"Chubby Bunny":$3

Birthday Cake: $10

Presents: $???

Watching a Movie on the big screen at church($4.79)

Make your own hotdog bar ($40)

Having no one throw up: Priceless

The Gingerbreads make gingerbread

Leia and i made this gingerbread house last week. It was a lot of fun! Leia decorated a snowflake cookie and one side of our house. While making her cookie she would take bites out of the candy and then add it. So we have a snowflake (lawn ornament) with half eaten Tootsie roll pillars on it. It made me laugh. She's such a character lately. Having kids is so entertaining!

The whirlwind to come

We're getting ready to start one crazy week.

Here take a peek.

monday- school, errands, normal monday stuff

tuesday- Xavier to speech, art class, the boys to grandma's, the girls to gingerbread house making night at church.

wednesday- school all day and wednesday night prayer meeting

thrusday- speech, school, get a christmas tree, lydia's birthday party

friday- school, marc and Xav out to bww and shopping for birthday supplies, korleen, leia, and gauis work at grandma's, then possibly dinner at grandma's

saterday- get ready for the coolest 6 year old's 7th birthday party! have the party (with make your own hot dog bar, pie eatting contest, homemade movie theater, and more), get ready for church the next morning, colapse at home.

So that's the schedule, I hope we all survive it.

mama files

SCARY!!!!

Gaius

What Sesame Street does to my baby:
Gaius has been hilarious lately. He keeps me laughing everyday. He's so wild and crazy with his little boy antics and energy. We were watching Peter pan a couple days ago and he was running around the room in circles with is arms out like he was flying. I keep trying to catch his craziness on film to show to our friends Justin and Tracey but every time i pull out the camera he just runs up to me smiling.

So much time with so little to do!

I'm so so SO excited because tomorrow we have absolutely nothing to do! It has been literally months since we have had nothing scheduled for a Saterday. I think it's going to be a day of laundry, cleaning, and playing in the snow. Wanna come over? It's going to be fun!

it's snowing again...

"it's not fair"

I drove one of our little friends home from Art class today. And guess what????? He doesn't have any SNOW!!!! He only lives about 10 miles from our house so imagine my surprise when i crossed the town line and saw barely a dusting. We on the other hand have a foot. Ridiculous! It's November people!

Now I'm off to try to find a deal on winter boots for Xavier. I doubt his rubber rain boots will keep his piggies warm all winter.

You've got to be kidding me!

It's snowing again...

I'm starting to see a trend here and I don't like it. Snow in November isn't my idea of a good time. *sigh* oh well, gotta love NY.

Mama Physics

A baby without a diaper will always leave a puddle.

A perfectly cleaned house is only clean until the kids get home.

What goes in must come out...in various ways.

The only sure things in life: dishes and laundry

The car and house are never quite big enough.

All Santa leaves for mom on Christmas morning is more clutter.

The glass is neither half empty or half full, it's overflowing onto the floor.

One can never judge how many paper towels to buy.

Late to bed WAY too early to rise

When in doubt call Grandma.

Public temper tantrums are not easily avoided.

Quiet house equals trouble.

Children in footed pajamas put a smile on every face.

Someone wets the bed the night after the sheets are changed.

When the laundry is clean and fold it will always tumble onto the floor.

 

The Mama Files:

The Amazing Shrinking Woman


I'm super excited because I am now 21 pounds lighter than I was last spring! I'm doing "Biggest Loser" at church with some people. And my goal oriented, competitive nature is actually working for me. I did it with some of the teachers from Providence Christian School last April and won. But there really wasn't much competition considering I won with only losing 12 lbs. This time the competition isn't really any stiffer. But i have a goal weight in mind so I'm just going for that. And I think if I work really hard this last month then I can reach it. The only bummer is that thanksgiving and my birthday are the week before it's over. I guess I'll just have to work my butt off until then and the few days after.

So anyhow I'm feeling pretty good! Unfortunately if I lose too much more then I'm going to have to buy some new pants. I'm having a hard time keeping mine up now. Definitely a good problem!

The death match (why can't we all just get along?)

In one corner we have the peanut butter cookie. In the other corner we have Peanut butter's worthy opponent Chocolate Chip

I took Xavier with me to vote today. Since we have gotten home he's been making me vote for "the president cookie". How it works is; if you like chocolate chip cookies best you put a strip of paper in a blue hat. but if you like peanut butter best then you put your paper in a red hat. However, since Marc is working we have an even number. So I'm the lucky person who gets to cast 2 votes! OOOOhhhhh! Shhhhhhh! We're about to hear the results.... PEANUT BUTTER WINS! PEANUT BUTTER WINS!

In light of our recent election here's a great and easy peanut butter cookie recipe:

Ingredients:

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg

Directions:

PREHEAT oven to 325°F. Mix peanut butter, sugar and egg until well blended. Refrigerate 30 min. Roll peanut butter mixture into 18 balls. Place, 2 inches apart, on ungreased baking sheet. Flatten each ball, in criss-cross pattern, with fork.

BAKE 18 to 20 min. or until lightly browned. Cool 5 min. Remove from baking sheet to wire rack; cool completely.

Don't forget...

The Mama Files

This week's goal:

(Find bottom of hampers)

*Sigh*

It snowed the last 2 days. I didn't take any pictures because it was too depressing.

I found it quite interesting to see how all my friends reacted to it. Most everyone under the age of 20 thought it was great. Everyone over 20 groaned along with me.

Thankfully it has already started melting. I can't believe we're back to winter coats already.

Oh sweet summer I love thee.

The sun will come out tomorrow...

Leia and I had a girl's night out. We went to see a production of Annie Jr. at our local high school. It was so much fun taking her. She absolutely loved it. She also thought it was a big deal that we stopped at DD for coffee afterwards. It's so fun having a daughter! I've decided I'm going to try to take her to more kid appropriate high school plays.

Bonus: Leia got a hand shake and hug from Annie! It made her day!

When a real dog came out for Sandy she leaned over and asked if the dog was real or someone dressed up. That made me laugh. Before it started she could barely contain herself. From the second she woke up she had her outfit all planned out. She's definitely her mother's daughter.

1st Crush

Xavier has his first crush!

I noticed on Tuesday while he was playing with Leia that he kept referring to this one girl. He kept saying things like: "everyone can live over there. But me and Abby S..will live over here." And "blah, blah, blah Abby..." Then today while I was making copies at our local christian school. I noticed that he was starring at her in the lunch room. I actually find this kind of cute and endearing, but a little bit scary. When I asked him about it he got all embarrassed and told me he couldn't talk about it. It's too funny. Oh and by the way Abby is 2 years ahead of him in school (an older woman). However, she is super cute, with freckles and a lisp!

TNL News Update

here's an update on a few of my former posts.

1. It's not snowing yet *whew!*

2. It turns out that the dog DIDN'T scare away all of the mice from our house. We've caught 3 so far.

3. My bruised arm is healing nicely. It's starting to turn a lovely yellow.

4. Dr. Holstein is still alive but much more cautious about the dog. I guess you can teach an old rooster new tricks.

And last but not not least:

5. School is going well. I actually don't hate homeschooling yet this year! Xavier is trying to read everything sight.


Goodnight from the Gingerbread House

Snow?!?!

There's snow in the forecast for tonight. I'm not thrilled....The kids are ready to pull out the snow clothes and have a party.

1 dog + 2 chickens = 1 nasty bruise

Our dog broke his chain (again) and got one of the chickens on Wednesday. Now his life's mission is to get the rest of our scrawny little flock.  

Last winter we (a.k.a. Marc) had 5 hens and a rooster. Their run collapsed last spring from the snow. And 3 of the hens went missing. For the past 7 or 8 months they have been strutting around free range, tantalizing the dog. 

 Now our dog is a Pharaoh hound so he is FAST and his manners have much to be desired (which is partly my fault but we won't go there today).  Generally when he gets out he hightails it to the neighbors house to visit their little pugs. I've always wondered why he never chased the chickens before. Since he has a heyday barking at them from the living room window.  Well needless to say he will be ignore them no more.

 Fast Forward to Wednesday. I let the dog out and we get down to business with school. Because the 2 boys have flu shots in the afternoon. Everything seems normal Roo's barking every so often....nothing out to the ordinary. Marc wakes up and goes in to take a shower. After which he he hears the dog barking outside the bathroom window which is odd since his tie out is out back. He looks out the window and there's Roo all puffed up and proud of himself dancing around a chicken carcass he severely mangled. We clean up the mess, catch the dog (which was surprisingly easy since he came right in).  And i sigh a sigh of relief that I now have one less bird to dig up my newly plainted tulip bulbs.Now comes Thursday morning. 

I wake up to workout for an hour before the kids get up and I have to get 1 child on the bus and the other 2 loaded to go work at my mom's daycare for 2 days straight. Roo starts begging to go out in the pouring rain. So i think okay I'll just quickly take him out and then come back in and get to business. Since it's pouring rain I decide to use this really long training lead I picked up at the $1 store (1st mistake), Well we go out the front door and Roo spots Dr. Holstein (the rooster) perched atop the grill.  Roo goes tearing off after him, the clasp on the leash instantly pulls apart sending the half I'm holding into my forearm leaving a gash and a very large, painful bruise. Now Roo has no trouble catching the chicken but looses him with all the commotion of me yelling and the roaster squirming.  Dr. Holstein being a smart little rooster darts behind me where Roo knows better than to come near.  So Roo ends up turns the other way and runs full speed down the road and the rooster runs off to hide.  Now another thing Roo loves to do when he gets loose is to run full speed by who ever is trying to catch him as if to say "come on you know you can't catch me".  So  the remainder of my "workout" Marc ( who also was woken up by the commotion) and i spent chasing the dog up and down our road in the pouring rain. After about a half hour he tired of the chase game and decided to just walk up to the front door to be let in. OY! What a way to start the day. 

Today i went out and bought a chain that is supposed to be able to hold a Mastiff. Tomorrow I'm buying a chain leash and a harness.  I've threatened my children that if they let the dog out there will be serious consequences. So if Roo can break through those lines of defence he deserves a chicken dinner. 

Mama's Wishlist (cont.'d)

Some of these things i'll get someday and some i won't. But I'm actually okay with it. I'm just a window shopper at heart.

Pinkafied

We've been remodeling our spare room for Leia. We just finished putting in the lights for the final touch! Check out the difference.

Before:

After:

Now that's pink!

Dogs, Donuts...Don't ask

"Good bye donuts, i love you" ~Leia (while leaving the bakery at our local supermarket)

The dog is still being annoying....i'm going to kill him.

pros vs. cons

Since our dog is being challenging lately I thought I should try focusing on the reasons I like him.

So here they are;

1. I never have to clean up food scraps from the kitchen floor

2. I am comforted in the fact that we have a big dog every night I'm home alone with the kids

3. My kids love dogs because they've grown up with one

4. He's kind of fun to show off

5. He scares the mice out of the house (I don't actually have proof of this, but that's what i tell myself)

6. He forced me to meet the neighbors (they can catch him within 10 minutes now! yes that is an accomplishment)

The [not so] terrible twos

Why does one of my favorite ages get such a bad wrap? Now since this will be my 3rd time going through this phase I obviously know all about the tantrums and curiosity and general busy-ness that goes along with it. but yet I still find myself loving the silly antics and reckless abandon that my (close to) 2 year old partakes in everyday.

I love that Gaius is becoming aware of the world around him and remembering things. Today he came up to me with our Annie DVD in hand and started sing "Tomorrow" to me. `Also 2 days ago he started calling me "mommy" instead of just ma. I know these aren't all that amazing to the normal person. But I know that's showing some major cognitive development (uh-oh my child psychology classes are showing).

I adore when my kids start becoming slightly more independent (and consistently sleeping through the night), but still want to cuddle some everyday. At 2 everything is so new and exciting, but a kiss from mom can heal all kinds of ailments. At 2 you don't have to sit and entertain them either. Because lets face it the coolest toy they've ever seen is a stick that could potentially poke out an eye. You do have to run around after them since they have no fear yet, but don't we all want to get fit anyway? I wonder how many calories toddler chasing burns?


Hello my name is Korleen and I'm a mom who loves the twos

The Mama Files

Wish List:

1. know how to change the oil on the lawn mower

2. know how to landscape my yard (I have no vision for landscaping)

3. know how to teach my kids to be thankful in this country of selfishness.

4. travel to Africa, Italy, Paris, and Hawaii

5. Learn how to surf

6. Fit into jeans 3 sizes smaller then I can now

7. Go to bed 2 hours earlier every night

8. know how to put up drywall

9. see all of my children accept Jesus as their Savior

10. That chips and salsa had no calories

11. adopt a child

12. live in an old victorian house

to be continued...

Only at youth soccer....

...is it more important to wave to mom than watch the ball.

... do the white lines on the field mean absolutely nothing

...can someone take a ball to the face, knock out a tooth, make a goal, stop the game search the field, and find the tooth (all in 3 minutes flat).

...can you spend the whole game fighting for the ball with a player from your own team.

Whoever said soccer was boring obviously hasn't watched 6 and 7 year olds play.

I Double Dare you....

To spend a day in a mother's shoes.

here's a run down of my day:

8:00- wake up to 3 children yelling at the top of their lungs from upstairs
8:05- reprimand 3 children for yelling while the rest of the house is asleep
8:06- make breakfast for 3 children & 1 dog
8:30- clean up from breakfast
8:35- tell older 2 children to get dressed
8:38- get baby dressed & tell older 2 children to get dressed
8:40- take dog out (outside, not on a date)
8:42- tell older 2 children to "hurry up and get dressed. this is the last time I'm telling you"
9:00- start school
9:03- baby is sick of coloring and wants to climb all over mommy/teacher
9:05- teach phonics while baby cries at the teacher's feet
9:15- turn on Dora the explorer to entertain the younger 2 so we can get at least phonics and math done this morning.
9:45- finish phonics and math *whew*
9:48- check on younger 2 (the living room is WAY too quiet)
9:50- set up oldest with handwriting
paper
9:51- take a shower
10:06- take out trash
10: 10- throw in a load of laundry
10:18- hose off/clean a toy outside

okay so this is where I start losing track of time.

Sometime between about 10:30am and right now (11pm) I've:

Taught Reading, Health, & Bible
made a skirt
cooked dinner
made lunch
washed dishes
took apart and put away the crib *wipes a tear*
did 3 loads of laundry
got groceries (with 3 kids in tow)
took care of groceries
prepared a crock pot meal for tomorrow
got 3 kids ready and tucked into bed
watched an episode of Party of Five
checked out face book

and now.....(drum roll please)......wrote a blog

*sigh* no wonder i'm tired

So what'd you do today?

Wednesday part 2

Well look at me, blogging twice in one day! I just had to write down some silly things my kids were doing today.

Xavier figured out how to make farting noises with his armpit yesterday. So all of today he's been doing it. Well now Gaius is trying. He gets the arm action he just doesn't get that you have to us your other hand to make the noise. Now any normal mother would nip this in the bud, since it is kind of gross. But I've always been intrigued by this talent and have never been able to figure it out. So instead of reprimanding him I've been getting lessons in the art. My mother is going to be horrified.

So my mothering skills may be a little unconventional. But I live for moments like today when Leia came to me and said "mommy, you're the best mommy ever". I think it had more to do with the fact that she was excited to go to the duck pond. But hey I'll take it however i can get it.

P.S. We only saw 1 duck, and it wasn't really a pond. More a lake harbor. I love our area!

Adventures in Homeschooling (Part 1)

We started school yesterday. It went surprisingly smooth, and i got a lot of laundry done! Both major pluses in my life. Today might be a little trickier since Marc won't really be around at all to help keep the little monster out of EVERYTHING (as I write this the monster is emptying the tissue box onto the livingroom floor). I think if I can keep myself organized than hopefully everyday will be fine. Well time to get everyone going. School this morning, visiting the duck pond this afternoon! It should be fun!

Tales OF the Gingerbread House

Five years ago we bought our house for back taxes. Marc's great aunt and uncle owned it before us. Apparently the woman was an obsessive painter because all of the wood work in the entire house has at least 10 coats of paint on it.


I've come to realize since starting the renovations in Leia's future bedroom that paint wasn't the only thing she used in excess. I have pulled out 100's of nails from the walls and floor. I am so not exagerating either. Just when I think I got them all I find 3 more. I think instead of hanging up the wallpaper the conventional way (with paste) they just nailed it on and just let time adhere it to the wall. I never in a million years would have considered this an option, but man is it stuck good. Anytime i try to peel any off all i get is pieces about the size of a quarter. Good thing I already suspected this and opted to wallpaper over it instead of painting it.



Marc has been spending sometime in our attic crawl spaces lately rewiring the upstairs. Yesterday he brought down this tiny little child's boot that he found. It wouldn't be THAT unusual except for the fact that his Aunt and Uncle (who built the house and lived in it until us) never had any children. His Aunt wasn't the most sane person, so I can only guess what it's doing up there. Shortly after we moved in we found this crazy letter in the basement. I can't remember what all it said but it was basically a letter to her dead husband's ghost to leave her alone. This might have freaked me out more if I didn't have to deal with mice constantly....now those are scary.

Post #1

So here's my first post on my new blog. I usually blog on myspace but I thought I'd give a real blogging site a try. Unfortunately I don't always have time to post so you'll see my blogs being few and far between.

Someone (you know who you are) keeps telling me that she thinks my blogs are hilarious. So with that in mind I will do my best to keep you all peeing your pants with laughter. Hey, it shouldn't be too hard with 3 kids, and a hyper dog and husband. Life around here is usually pretty entertaining.

I feel I should give everyone fair warning that my keyboard sucks and any typos that appear are it's fault and not my own. Now with that said, shall we begin?