30 Days Hath September...

And the number one reason why it's a good idea to know how many days are in a month:

So you don't send out "Out of office" replies to everyone who e-mails you that say:

I will be out of the office the afternoon of April 30th. I will respond to any messages on Friday morning, April 31th.

It might also be a good idea to know that the proper abbreviation for "first" is "1st".

Hope this made your April!

'Cause it did mine :D

Wisconsin Weekend

As you know, we attended a pancake feed in Wisconsin this past weekend.

We got up at the crack of 3am on Saturday morning, after staying up until 11:30 the night before making sure the house was spic and span. We knew that we'd be gone until sometime Sunday afternoon, and we didn't want to have to worry about cleaning the house for Bible Study once we got home. As it turns out, we didn't even have Bible Study due to illness.

We were out the door by 4, and Seth drove the entire way.

While I slept.

And he rubbed my feet.

He is all mine.

We got to Peaceful Pines (As Grandpa Henry had named it) around 9am, had our breakfast and took the kids on a little hike through the property

As you can see, Peaceful Pines is a more than appropriate title for this property:

Isn't this beautiful? Seth's sister Maretta was married on that bank (just a smidge left of the center of the photo.) Seth and I had been dating about 2 months at the time. It really was a beautiful wedding: her bridesmaids walked down the hill barefoot and in black dresses, their hair spiraling down their backs. Maretta walked down the "aisle" to Enya's Only Time.

Anyway, although the ground was very wet, the kids had fun "skipping rocks" like daddy, and exploring the woods.

This is one of the little cabins of Peaceful Pines:

Here's a view of the inside:

And a view of the little creek behind the cabin:
Why am I the only one smiling in this picture?
Here is the bus that Grandpa slept in during the summers when he would be working the fields and processing his syrup:

Here is Uncle James' new Sugar Shanty. Uncle James took over the syrup making hobby when Grandpa Henry died.Seth's twin sister Sandy and her husband Davy also made the trip to WI, bringing with them their newly restored Mini Cooper. Upon Seth and My "test drive" of Sandy's new baby, we checked out Seth's family's former homestead:

This is (was) the barn. Seth said it was really cool because there was a silo in that part that juts out. And you can't really see in the picture, but there were high beams that the seven of them would run across.

They were a very cautious and boring family.

And here's the farmhouse:

When Seth's family moved to MN in 1988, the house stood vacant for a couple of years, then suffered a beating from various renters before being sold just a couple of years ago. So needless to say, the house has seen better days.

Unfortunately.

Now, for a couple of my favorite pictures:

Tune in tomorrow, same time, same channel, for some of the same randomness...

Our weekend in Wisconsin was interesting to say the least. Despite the fun time we had at the pancake feed, and the fact that it didn't rain, although the forecast predicted PLENTY of it, Madison and I both had some stomach upset.

Madison with carsickness, and I with the flu.

That's why I'm making this post brief, and promising to re-cap the weekend tomorrow, perhaps.

For the ride home from our hotel on Sunday morning, we stopped at a corner Walgreens (is there any other kind?) for some motion sickness tablets, a receptacle for bodily fluids, and miscellaneous other things, as you'll see below.

Because it's always good to be prepared. Like a boy scout, or whatever.

You know, for those times when you not only want to contain your stomach contents,

But you may also want to measure them.

Also, one can never have too many obnoxious screen tees:

I'll give you one guess as to who bought these. And you're not going to need it.

What is this thing called McDonald's Sweet Tea?

Yesterday afternoon/evening was uncharacteristically warm, with temperatures near 90 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT!

So I took my hot, hungry kids to Mickie D's for supper.

I ordered something new for a change: The Sweet Tea.

You need to take your hind end over to your friendly neighborhood McDonald's and order yourself a Sweet Tea.

It's only a dollar, and it's served in a Big Gulp (just ask for little to no ice...I think that's where they get you.)

Oh Sweet McTea, if loving you is wrong, I don't want to be right.

Just in case you wanted to know...

Malachi and Mathias share a bunk bed. Mathias sleeps on the bottom, for obvious reasons, and Malachi, the top. One of the reasons we feel safe having Mathias in his own big-boy bed, is that his is full size, so there's plenty of room to roll. Another reason, is that he has this huge, oversized duck that we strategically place between him and the edge of his bed. Think the movie Click, only without a horny dog.



Anyway, every morning, while Malachi still sleeps, I walk into Malachi and Mathias' room, and Mathias greets me with a "hi".



This morning was no different. However, when I went over his bed to lift him off of it, he smelled horrible! Since he had a dirty diaper yesterday morning, I figured this was the case. And since Malachi was still sleeping and I didn't want to wake him just yet, I took a diaper and the wipes into my room to change Mathias.



It wasn't until I brought Mathias into the light that I noticed that he was covered in (dry) puke!



What in the world?



And it was as if Mathias himself was totally unfazed by the whole situation.



I took him into the bathroom, where the mess could be better contained, and discovered that he also had a poopy diaper. And that his poopy diaper was pure liquid.



Okay, there was no way I was bringing him to Angie's. But what was completely bewildering to me, was that he showed no other symptoms of the flu...there was no fever, no chills, nothing. And other than another runny diaper, he hasn't had any symptoms since.



Bizarre.



Anyway, I'm pretty sure a couple of us will be missing our Incredible Years class tonight.



Bummer.



Hopefully this is the end of it (the vomit, not the class), because I've already missed a lot of work this week, and we're leaving early Saturday morning for Wisconsin.



When Seth's grandpa Henry was alive, he'd harvest and process his own maple syrup. Then he'd have all of his rellies over and have a big ole pancake breakfast for everyone. Since his death in 2005, there have been efforts to keep the tradition alive. The kids and I have never been able to go, so when we found out they were doing it again this year, there was much begging and whining.

Seth told me to pull myself together, but ultimately agreed to take us! We've even booked a hotel in the area for Saturday night. We're all really looking forward to it!



And, to top off our weekend in another state, we've offered to host our Bible Study group this Sunday night. So naturally I'm grateful to have been able to stay home today to get some things done before we leave. Aside from the never ending laundry, I've been able to get everything done today except the washing of the floors and some finishing touches on the bathroom.

I'll keep you posted.

It's all I can do not to watch Idol and DWTS without him...

Seth's working late tonight. Word has it that he'll be working until 10 or later, and with his hour-long drive home, it may be close to midnight when he finally gets in! And have I mentioned that he gets out of bed around 4 every morning?


Say a prayer for him, if you think of it.

Meanwhile, the kids are currently enjoying a little "Campout" in the living room, while they watch Finding Nemo, and I watch the robin on my front porch.


It's been a really nice evening; For once, when we finally got home, I wasn't super-crabby, and the kids weren't A: bouncing off of the walls, or B: super-crabby themselves. It was a recipe for a nice evening.


Madison asked if she could go to Grandma's, so Grandma and Grandpa invited her and Malachi to join them for supper at Pizza Ranch! Since I am a domestic goddess and a gourmet cook, and I already had a pizza in the oven, Mat and I stayed behind to do some laundry and some mommy-son bonding.


I was actually able to give him some one-on-one playtime! It was the first time since starting our Incredible years class that we've had the opportunity to have playtime, just the two of us.

Surprisingly, I've actually been enjoying our class. Well, if you don't think about those awful videos. Videos which feature little families where the dad wears glasses you would otherwise find on Nicole Richie, and excessive facial hair. (The dad, not Ms. Richie.) A dad who wears super short-shorts and tube socks up to his knees and says cheesy things to his children like, "You're pretty handy with those fingers, Sunshine."

Anyway, Mat and I had a great time together; It was divine. There was much laughter and singing and intellectual conversation.

Or just laughter and singing.

I don't know why I said that, other than that it sounded good in my head.

Speaking of my head, lately I've seemed to have broken out into some pepperoni pizza-like acne. Well, more now than usual. It seems, that since I was blessed with a good complexion throughout Jr. High and High School, that this is some sort of remuneration. Right now it is so bad that I'm seriously considering going to my MD tomorrow to find out what's going on. I blame hormones, although you would think that there would be some sort of pattern from month to month if that were the case.

OOH! I totally forgot to tell you; This past Friday, Mathias went potty on the potty chair! It's not like I can throw away the diapers any time soon, but I am so proud! He's only 19 months old!

As is the ritual after Seth and the kids come home from the farm on Fridays, we plopped the kids directly into the bathtub. Mathias had been in there no longer than 5 minutes, when he grabbed his little behind and said, "poopy". I dried him off as best I could and set him on his little potty. I covered him with a towel, so he wouldn't get too cold, and went back to shampooing Malachi's hair. Seth came into the bathroom a couple of minutes later and discovered pee pee in the potty!

We lavished on the praise, as we should do throughout these incredible years. (See? I'm such a good pupil...)

Well, my little robin friend has long since flown away, Nemo has been found, and although Seth is still working, I'm going to have to save some of this randomness for him.

Have a good night!

You Likey?

Hi All!

Check out my new digs, courtesy of thecutestblogontheblock.com.

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Faux Pas

As is often the case in the steel industry, or at least in my office, certain material is acquired almost later than it is needed by the customer. That is to say, "the customer needed this material yesterday!"

When this is the case, it is part of my job to be a bug in the ear of the salesperson we bought the steel from, trying to get our material ready to ship and released NOW, as it is HOTT!

All the while using all of my God-given grace and poise so as not to offend our suppliers.

The following story is no exception:

We bought a coil in Alabama and needed it to ship to Texas. Yesterday. Because I am always bugging these same suppliers for all of the different sales divisions that I work with, I thought I'd change it up a little. You know, make it not quite seem as annoying the 33rd time today that our steel is hot.

Here's what I meant to say:

Hi Liz,

Could you tell me when the two coils on this PO will be ready to ship? We are UBBER hot for this material.

Thanks Liz,
Rachel

There. I threw in a hip word meaning "Super-duper". That ought to take the annoyance level down a notch.

However, since Spell Check is my arch-nemesis, what was actually sent to Liz, was a request for our steel, which was "RUBBER" hot!

As if I were trying to peel out of the plant with 45 thousand pounds of steel!

Of course, this whole fiasco could've been avoided if I'd actually known how to spell "ubber" in the first place. Because, in fact, the proper spelling is "uber", bearing little resemblance to the word "rubber".

Furthermore, when I typed in "ubber" on urbandictionary.com, (far too late to avoid this faux pas, I might add,) I was given this definition:


ubber

It is the product of poor spelling and ignorance, the actual word is uber.

So I did what any good Purchasing Assistant with a trace of her God-given grace and poise remaining: I put my poor spelling, ignorant tail between my legs, and sent this e-mail:

Dear Liz,

I'm sorry, we are not "rubber" hot for anything.

I meant to say Ubber...but my computer had a meltdown, and wouldn't allow it.

Have a nice day!

Geez, Lady

Our church, like may other churches, has Wednesday night activities for kids.

Madison has only begun going to these activities a week ago with her friend Jaedyn.

Now it's all she cares to talk about!

So naturally, at about 6:20 tonight, she and I jumped into the car and headed to church.

"Will Jaedyn already be there, Mommy?"

"Will I get to sit with my friends, Mommy?"

"What time are you coming to get me, Mommy?"

Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!

Obviously we are making her go to church, and she doesn't have any fun at all.

Anyway, we entered the church with a dad and his kids right behind us. I steered my over-excited little girl in the direction of the auditorium.

But alas, as we entered the auditorium, she suddenly became shy. She attached herself to me and wimpered a little.

"Come on, Madison," I said. "If you do that, we're going right home."

My voice was firm.

The dad behind me passed me down the aisle and cranked his head to look at me like I had three heads or something!

Madison and I walked a few more steps down the aisle, and once she spotted Jaedyn, she practically forgot about me, in fact, I had to practically beg her for a hug and a kiss before I left.

So let me ask you: was I too "hard" on her?

Or should "dad" mind his own business?

As promised, more Easter

We spent Friday evening at Seth's brother Michael's. Michael and Cara are re-doing their main floor bathroom and needed Seth's electrical expertise.

On Saturday, we had our Easter meal at Seth's sister Maretta's. There were about 25 of us there, and only 8 pies for us to share!

I'm kidding.

Subtract one of the pies for me, preferably Sandy's Coconut Creme, and there were only 7 pies for the other 24 to share.

After the yummy lunch, and Maretta's son Jack's birthday cake, (Did anyone even eat any cake after all that pie?) The adults went outside to hide the tote full of Easter eggs for the kids to find.

Every year, Seth's twin sister Sandy, and her husband Davy who elect to remain childless for the time-being, bring candy-filled eggs for all of the nieces and nephews. Sandy says it's because she wants to get the rest of us fat so that she can be the skinniest.

Do you see what I married into?

It's a wonder I have any self-esteem left at all.

Between the three of my children, we usually bring home at least a quarter of a grocery sack full of candy.

But I'm not complaining.

After our sugar-filled afternoon, we headed back to Michael and Cara's for Seth and Michael to finish up the wiring in the bathroom. We wanted to go to Herberger's for some last minute additions to our Easter ensembles, but weren't sure we were going to make it. As it stood, we had to get home, feed the kids, and at the very least get them bathed before bed.

So we opted for plan B. I called my amazing, thoughtful, extremely helpful sister Brittany and bribed her with McDonald's in exchange for the afore mentioned duties.

She happily (I think) obliged!

Sunday morning began bright and early, as I had to be at church at 7am for Choir. But an hour long afternoon nap made up for it.

By the time the kids and I had finished drooling on our pillows, David and Paul and Amy were already at my folks' house.

Becca's boyfriend Trevor also joined in the (loud) festivities, and lucky for him, we were able to refrain from breaking out into anything remotely resembling 4 part harmony while he was there.

I'd say that's a new record.

Anyway, after lunch, we girls were finally able to take our "sister pic":

My brother Paul, our world renown photographer, tried (sometimes unsuccessfully) to get us all to pose for the camera. In this one, "You're tigers, you're ferocious tigers!"...Apparently Amy and I didn't get the memo.

In this one, I think we're supposed to be monkeys, or begging dogs, or praying mantises, or dopey seals...I'm not sure which.

This is our impression of someone who had the winning lottery ticket, and lost it.

And this, purely for your viewing pleasure: Our impression of Liz's face as she's thinking: "What's a lottery ticket?"

Finally, we got a keeper:

We hope you all had a Blessed Easter 2009!

Easter, Etc.

Since both sets of families live within 40 miles of us, we had two Easter celebrations this weekend.

But before I divulge the details of the weekend, let me tell you what this Easter has meant to me.

For the past couple of months, Seth and I have been involved in a small group Bible study. Last week, we watched a Louie Giglio video from his Indescribable tour.





Louie talks about the size of the Universe we live in, and pointed out how incredibly small we are. (Duh.)


We who think the world revolves around us, who think things like weight loss and American Idol even matter.


But God, the omnipotent Creator of this Universe, loved little old me so much that he sent his only son Jesus to DIE an unimagineable death, so that I wouldn't have to suffer forever in hell because of the many mistakes I've made in my life.


But the best part is, this tragic and violent death wasn't the end of our Savior. Three days after his brutal crucifixion, he ROSE from the DEAD!

The promise of Salvation is that we may now spend ETERNITY (that's a long time) with HIM!!

Kinda makes a girl feel unworthy sometimes.

I've really been reflecting this past week on the ginormity of God's indescribable creation. I start to think of him as WAY out there- further than I can even imagine. Then I see Him zoom way in to that hill at Calvary, where three lone crosses stood.

I see him weeping, just as I might weep if it were one of my sons hanging there. Maybe even harder, seeing the weight of my sins on his shoulders.

And in that moment, when Christ breathes his last breath, my Father turns his tear stained face from his only, dearly loved son, not able to face the impurity he carries. Impurities he doesn't deserve to carry.

Not only did Jesus endure a violent, torturous death, but he endured the shame of my sins.

God sacrificed His son. For me.

For you.

Jesus' body lay in a cold, empty tomb for three days. His spirit resided in Hell for as long.

But on that third day, Christ's prophesy was fulfilled!

He arose!

Now I can spend forever and ever with him!

I'm still trying to wrap my head around it.

Rental Cars and Other Things of that Random Nature.

I really don't have a lot to say today, other than to fill you in on the pure, unimaginable fun that is a Preschool Easter Party.

So that is what I will do.

This morning was, in fact, one such party at Malachi's school. A classmate's mother had committed to bring a dozen hard-boiled eggs for dye-ing. (His class consists of only 6 students, so last time I checked, that's two eggs per child. I know, I'm a genius.)

The kids had a blast fighting over the 5 coffee cups full of different colors, and breaking every last egg shell.

When they were good and stained, Mrs. B. took the kids to their carpet square circle and told them the REAL meaning of Easter while I took our pre-packaged, candy-filled eggs out to the playground to "hide" them.

About halfway between the preschool door and the swingsets, there was a lone traffic cone. I thought this would be a great place to "hide" an egg for a group of 4 and 5 year olds; Not too challenging- in fact, just at their eye level. But wouldn't you know, every single one of them walked right by it on their quest to find sugar.

It was the best part of the whole morning! See? It doesn't get any better than this.

Then everyone went home. The End.

I only wish Malachi's genius mother had remembered to check the batteries in her digital camera before the party. Because what good is a brand new memory card without the power to focus and flash? I tell you, pictures would've made this post a lot more interesting. My apologies to the other 5 mothers. Your room parent has failed you.

In other news, yesterday I was asked to book a rental car on priceline. Of course I said that I would, and I also happened to mention that I'd never booked a rental car before.

I have never seen such a blank look! I'm talking crickets here. He even called his wife to tell her that he had, in fact, found someone who had never entered an online bidding contest for a car before! "Hey, come look at what I've found! I've never seen anything like it!"

In my own defense, I've only been able to legally rent a car for 4 1/2 months. But combine that with the fact that I travel about as often as I change my own oil, and you've basically got yourself a bona fide science experiment!

Thanks for stopping by.

My Drug of Choice

First of all, I wanted to give credit to my sis-in-law Amy for the title!

Tonight, it begins: Possibly the last season of The Hills.


Don't judge me.


Okay, I'd judge me.


But every mommy needs herself a little DRAMA! And The Hills is like crack to me.


I blame Allison R. Sweet, bubbly little Allison. She lured me in with her cute, exciting re-caps of prior seasons. So much so that I had to go out and start renting them from the very beginning. She twisted my arm, I tell ya!


Now, I can hardly go a week without a dose of the dramatic lives of Audrina, Lauren, Heidi and Whitney.


As if I could even begin to relate?!


I know they call it "Reality TV" But who are we kidding? That "reality" is the farthest thing from my life as one could possibly get.

I mean really, who wants sticky fingers on their new Marc Jacobs?

To be completely frank, the only way I'll ever own an MJ is if I myself had "sticky fingers."

But you get the idea.

Share and Share Alike

A couple of months ago, our church offered an Incredible Years class. I held on to the brochure for a couple of weeks, pondering whether or not to commit myself and my family to 8 weeks of anything. When I finally decided, "why not", and called the church office to sign up:

"Pastor B. has just informed us that the class is completely full," the church secretary told me.

For some reason, even after my indecision on even joining the class in the first place, this was a disappointment to me.

So when an e-mail was circulated among our MOPS group that another class was being offered, I am pretty sure I was the first to sign up.

Last night was the first chapter in what may prove to be a waste of 16 hours of our entire lives, not to mention, a delay on all of the other important things we have to do on Thursday nights, such as watch Survivor.

I'm being a little dramatic, if you couldn't tell.

After picking up the kids from Angie's, I barely had time to feed them, so we ordered happy meals in the drive-thru at McDonald's and parked the van in the parking lot for some fancy, gourmet dining. Ketchup packets optional.

Since I'm trying a new "diet", (I'll fill you in later.) I gave them their McNuggets and McFries, and sat back to observe.

Malachi, it turns out, is a "Soaker". He dunks his nuggets in his Sweet and Sour Sauce for no less than 15 minutes, then proceeds to bite off only the portion of the "chicken" that has been drowned in high fructose corn syrup. (It is no wonder we're going to have to sell all of our earthly belongings to pay for the work that is needed to fix his teeth.)

Madison couldn't care less whether or not she gets a Nickelodeon Slime Sprayer in her happy meal. She'd rather dabble in the finer, more mature things in life, like the Snack Wrap. *Sigh* Gone are the days of cheap Barbie and Polly Pocket wannabes. My little girl has grown up.

And Mathias, well he's the "Hoarder". He sat in his car seat, pulled all of his food as close to himself as he could, stuffed as much of it into his mouth as he could, and said, (as far as I can tell) "Mine".

He knows his Mommy well.

My name is Rachel and I am a closet fry stealer.

That's right, you heard it first here. No one's fries are safe around me (well, unless you happen to be a non-member of my family...because that's just wierd.)

So I decided, in the best interest of my son (and my growling stomach) to give Mat a lesson in sharing.

It started out like any other lesson we give Mat on a regular basis, whether it be signing the word "please" or throwing away a kleenex: One of the older kids would demonstrate, in this case giving me a bite of their snack wrap, or a sauce-drenched french fry, and then be lavishly praised and/or rewarded. Simple. Works every time.

Just not this time.

Mathias defiantly looked at me and said, clear 19 month old dialect, "Uh Uh."

This went on for 5 minutes before Madison, Malachi and I gave up for the night.

Does anyone have any easy tips to teach toddlers the art of sharing? If so, I'm all ears.

We finished eating, cleaned up as best we could using only baby wipes, and headed to our class.

After a half hour of introductions and another half hour of the class syllabus, we had the joy of watching several video segments of parents at play with their children. They showed a couple of examples not to follow, and then some examples to follow.

The fact that the videos were filmed sometime in the early eighties, combined with the cheesy acting, was enough to put me to sleep.

I have to admit though, that I for one am in need of some encouragement and accountability when it comes to playing with my children. I'm not talking play as in, "Let's see who can pick up their room the fastest" or "You want to play Operation? Let Mommy show you how it's done", but actual, one-on-one, child led play. But let's be honest, as a busy mommy of three, there are enough other things that demand my time to be concerned with dressing up as Snow White and racing Matchbox cars across the coffee table.

But I realize the error of my ways and am committing myself to child-led play this week. Even if my feet are ten times bigger than Snow White's.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Who's Your Favorite Idol?

This is the first season that I've actually been able to watch every episode of American Idol. I know that this is only possible thanks to the geniuses who invented the DVR, and I am thoroughly enjoying myself.

Let me just say, that I was not even the least bit sad or surprised that Megan Joy Corkery was the eliminated contestant last night. And, to be honest, I don't think she was either.

Seth can attest to the fact that on any given viewing of the show, I could be heard stating, "she is so weird."

If flapping your arms up and down while cawing like a bird on national television isn't weird, then I don't know what is. In fact, I've started calling her Megan Joy Quirkey.

But nothing can bring me to tears faster than a Mommy who's arms ache for her child. As Megan said "goodbye" last night, she picked up the dog-tag pictures of her son from around her neck, kissed them and said, "I'm comin' home, baby, I'm comin' home!"

Another comment I'd like to make in regards to this week's contest: Kara DioGuardi, (I still don't really know who you are or why you're here), just because Scott MacIntyre is blind, doesn't mean you need to lie about his hideous hairstyle. Between last week's pink polyester pants and this week's lack of hair styling product, I'd say that Scott's stylist needs to be fired and sent back to rehab. Sheesh! I think they gave him Sanjaya's leftovers!

But I digress.

At this point, the ones I'd like to see make it through to the end are, in no particular order: Kris Allen, Danny Gokey, Allison Iraheta and Lil Rounds.

Oh, Lil Rounds. I'm going to go ahead and agree with the judges, and say that Sister needs to pick better songs! She can sing anything, and I'm just waiting for her to prove everybody right! It pains me to see her take the stage every night and then take the beating that is the judges' feedback!

How sweet is her little girl? Ryan Seacrest asked Lil's little girls if they'd like to punch Randy Jackson for the criticism he'd just dished their mother. The older one politely said "No, sir", but the second one nodded and started scooting off her chair. Ryan brought her up to Randy, and instead of popping him a big one, she and Randy folded into a sweet embrace!

Now who, pray tell, is your favorite Idol contestant? Can be anyone, past or present. GO!

Cavities and Vacuum Cleaners

Before I begin, I feel the need to apologize for the incredibly long blogging hiatus I have put you through. I know I don't need to apologize- for one thing, as my good friend Jeannie would say, "It's your blog", and I can do with it as I please. Or don't please. Secondly, I realize that you're not sitting there, day after day, just waiting for an update on my boring life. But I'm a type A, and I want to apologize, okay?

Well, now that that's out of the way, let me give you a little glimse of what's been happening in my life as of late:

I've been working nearly full time since the end of December, nothing's changed there. Other than the fact that I thought when I signed up for this gig that I would be working for a month, month and a half, tops.

I can't complain, not everyone's company keeps an open door policy for one of their employees, especially not companies as great as this one.

But if you were to stop by unexpectedly, and be invited in (which you would be), you'd see that two full-time working parents with three children are no match for our housework. I honestly don't know what I'd do without my amazing husband. I know my family and I would be walking around undergarment-less.

You won't believe me when I tell you this, because you all know what a domestic goddess I am, but my husband does more laundry than I do.

*gasp!*

I know, but it's true. And no, he's not for sale.

In other news, I also am fully aware that I have failed to, as yet, post pictures of Madison post-surgery. My only excuse is that my camera's memory card is full, and it's WAY too hard to remember to pick one up during one of my numerous trips to Wal Mart for random necessities like diapers and deodorant. But now that I've admitted that to you all, you can be sure it's up there on my list of priorities. After all, I aim to please.

Madison is doing wonderfully, though, so thank you for all of your prayers for her before, during and after her surgery! God is so good! And she is so thrilled with the results as well. She's constantly asking me to pull her hair back to show off her ears.

Malachi went to the dentist today, for only the second time in his life! (I know, he's almost 5.) The first was because a fall from a kitchen chair when he was 3 turned one of his front teeth gray, and because I was FREAKING OUT, the receptionist at the dental clinic permitted me to bring him in although she assured me that he was "probably fine." I just knew she was wrong. After all, she's not a dentist. So I brought him in.

Guess what? He was fine.

Well, apparently you're supposed to get your kids in to see the dentist more than every 2 years, (I know, who knew?) and since his mother is totally oblivious to this, and the fact that he's inherited his father's soft teeth, the boy's mouth is chalk full of cavities.

What? I'm supposed to floss his teeth for him? And provide food and shelter and other things he can't do for himself? I must've been out to lunch for this chapter of "What to Expect".

In my own defense, my kids aren't allowed to eat much candy, and they're only offered milk or juice twice a day because of the sugar content. (Don't worry, they get their dairy in other forms, and where I come from, water is plentiful, so they're not dehydrated.) So it's not that his teeth have been sugar-rotted away, he really does just have soft teeth.

I am very proud of him, though. Seth was the one to take him to Dr. F. today, and he gave a glowing report of Mal's behavior and attitude about the whole situation. When I met the two of them for lunch, Malachi couldn't stop talking about his new Sponge Bob toothbrush and toothpaste, so apparently the prospect of a mouth full of fillings didn't put too much of a damper on his day.

Right before lunch, Seth and Malachi met me at a vacuum cleaner store in town. As some of you know, we've been "working" vacuum-less for quite some time now, and have been borrowing my mom and dad's about every other day (or so it seems) just to keep some level of sanity (and sanitation) about our living quarters. I often wonder what the people who drive by our house are thinking when they see me, or any other member of my family carrying a big ol' vacuum across the street on any given day.

You know, I've heard many women complain about their husbands getting them random appliances, dishwashers and vacuum cleaners, lawnmowers and leaf blowers, for various holidays such as Valentine's Day or Mother's Day, but I would have shed tears of joy to see a brand new upright in my living room any day of the year! Just slap a gigantic bow on that sucker, (no pun intended...okay, intended.) and make my day!

So today, my wish came true. My fabulous better half bought me a brand new Riccar! Nevermind that we had to take out a second mortgage on our house to buy the thing, at least said house will be dust and dander free!

Scarf Giveaway!!

Wanna see the cutest blog in central MN? Go HERE!!

My good friend Alison has her own little scarf boutique, and she's doing her very first GIVEAWAY!! To enter, send a picture of yourself in your favorite scarf, tied in a fun, unique way to alij@alijboutique.com! Deadline is March 13th!

Ready? GO!!

Little Genius?

I've always know my kids are smart-and friends who spend any amount of time with them re-iterate that to me from time to time, but today Malachi was proving his math skills to me. Here is the conversation I had this morning with my 4 1/2 year old:

Mal: "Mommy, 1+2+3+4 is 10."
Me: (After running the math in my head), "Wow, Malachi, you're right!"
Mal: (Without missing a beat), "And 1+2+3+4+5 is 15!
Me: "That's right!"
Mal: "And 1+2+3+4+5+6 is 21."
Me: "Malachi, who told you this?"
Mal: "I learned it myself. And 1+2+3+4+5+6+7 is 28!"
Me: "Stop it, just stop it! You're too young to be doing MATH!!"
Mal: "And 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8 is 36!"

So what do you think?

Tenderness...

It was a tender moment...

As I was kissing my baby boy "goodnight", our eyes met. In the last light of the day, we just lay there, taking each other in.

I took advantage of our 'moment':


"I love you, Mathias." I said.


He gently took his chubby little hand, placed it on my face...


...and pushed me away.

Whoa...

Well, as promised, I'm going to spend a minute updating you on Madison's condition.

She's been doing remarkably well, in my opinion. Aside from the occasional soreness, and, as of last night, extreme itchiness, she's been a very bright, positive young girl.

I picked the kids up from my friend Angie's last night after work, and Madison was already almost in tears over her itchy ears. I tried to get home as quickly as I could, but by the time I got home, she was practically screaming! So I caved and gave her two teaspoons of Tylenol with Codeine. I don't know if it was psychological, or what, but that seemed to calm her almost instantly. (That and the Disney Channel).

Then last night as I was kissing her "goodnight", (she was already sleeping) I couldn't help but notice that her bandage was down over her eyes, and the tops of her little ears were poking out the top! I called (quietly) for Seth to come help me pull it up, but we woke her in the process. I don't know if she was hurt, or just scared, but she did NOT like that! Finally, with Seth holding her arms, and I-very gingerly trying to pull up the gauze, we did get it back up to about halfway as far as the Dr. had it to begin with. Then we wrapped her entire head with an ACE Bandage. That seemed to hold it enough for her to go back to sleep.

Seth took the day off today since I took off Monday and Tuesday, and took her back in to see Dr. J. We wanted to know that her ears were still where they were supposed to be, and that our makeshift bandage would hold up until next Monday afternoon. Their appointment with the Dr. took all of 10 minutes, and they were cleared to go! I think we'll all be a little more careful about that thing falling too far down from now on!

Just pray for patience for us, and especially for Madison. Pray also that she will be comfortable these last 4 1/2 days until she can be free from all that gauze!

Thank you for all of your prayers and support!