Five Things on Friday {burt it's Tuesday}: Childhood edition

An oldie but goodie picture of Ainsley, it makes me smile.

I was reading Lauren's blog, Filing Jointly...finally, it's one of my favorite read.

Hello hilarious!

Inner ear infection/motion sickness reared it's ugly head this afternoon and this post made me smile so I thought I would join in.

My Favorite Childhood Toy was:

Oh the list of toys, immediately I think of Popples, Rainbow Brite, My Little Ponies, She-Ra, my list could go on and on. I think it must have been my Cabbage Patch Kids though. I had three of them. My first was a yarn-like curly headed little girl name Fredricka Zina, I cannot make this up, also, why do I remember that? I then had a baby one and when my little brother was born my parents gave me a newborn one. I still have them, or rather, my kids now play with them.

My Favorite Song was:

Anything by John Mellencamp...or John Cougar...or John Cougar Mellencamp. Does anyone else remember the weird name changes from the '80s? My favorite was Pink Houses, because when you are a little girl does anything sound more glamorous than having a pink house??? I remember singing the entire album on  a road trip that we took. I was raised in Texas so "pink" sounded like "pai-nk". I had a full on southern twang.
 

My Favorite Childhood Memory is:
Playing in my grandparent's backyard. We lived across the country from them so we only got to seem them about once a year. They had a massive backyard with big trees and my grandpa had a workshop out back. My brother and I used to make forts under the trees and play behind the workshop. I remember running out of the sliding glass door with the colorful sun catchers on them, running down the stairs on the deck and playing for hours. Plus, my Grandma was a fantastic cook and I knew that after our hours of playing there would be a delicious dinner. Man oh man, I really miss my grandparents.

My Childhood Crush was:
Jordan Knight, New Kids on the Block {NKOTB for the hardcore fans}.
I thought he was dreamy. I had a large poster of him on the wall, shirts, went to a NKOTB concert and wore out my cassette tapes. I was a devoted fan.

source

The Thing I was Most Afraid of as a Child:
Sharks. They terrified me and still do. Which is hysterical considering that I live in a land-locked state. In the 4th grade for science class we watched programs about sharks for a solid week. I remember keeping my eyes closed and sitting at the back of the classroom hoping to avoid making eye contact with the screen. Then it seemed like every time we visited my grandparents in Michigan there would be a Jaws marathon on and everyone else loved it. I would hide my head under the pillows to try to block out the duh-duh...duh of the music. To make matters worse, my shark-loving, terrify-my-sister-loving younger brother convinced me that sharks had been spotted in Lake Michigan where we would go swimming.

Head on over and check out Lauren's post, also read the comments, it is so much fun!

Insta-Friday

Hello lovelies!

How are you doing?
Me, eh, ok.

I think I have an inner ear infection, hello motion sickness.

Adison didn't have school yesterday or today, yay for lazy days.

Breakfast this morning, some more chocolate delight.

So good.

I've noticed over the last week or so that we seem to be having a major spoon shortage.

Where did they go?

Good 'ol Light Saber spoon has made more than one appearance this week.

If you see my spoon could you please let me know?

We were headed to Adison's parent/teacher conference Wednesday night and the sky was gorgeous.

This picture does not do it justice.

The sky was beautiful, pale blue, pink, orange with a touch of yellow.

The clouds were a purple-ish, grey color.

Simply breathtaking.

Last weekend, on our way out of town from visiting K's family we stopped by Trader Joe's.

We don't have one in our town and I love me some TJ's.

K loves himself some Indian food, the spicer the better.

Me, um, no thanks.

I stick to tandori chicken and nan.

The above pic is some of the nan that we picked up while there.

It was a new try and I think we will get some more.

We had it Wednesday night with some lentil soup.

So good.

Teaching my girl how to give some Eskimo kisses.

Homegirl was a pro.

Obviously.

Look at that little nose, it was made for some Eskimo kissing.

I burned some pancakes the other morning.

My pancake making mojo was off somehow.

This little guy was giving me the stink-eye about it.

Sorry dude.

You did get eaten though, you didn't make it with your other four friends into the gar-bage due to excessive burning.

I hardly ever burn pancakes, I blame it on my possible inner ear infection.

I don't know how, but lets just go with it.

I'm going to preface this by saying that my klutz-o-the year award is in the mail.

I somehow thighed {like kneed, but using your thigh} the brake handle on K's bike.

Holy bruise Batman.

It hurts to walk when I first get up in the morning.

The above pic was taken the evening after I did it, it looks much different now.

K is starting to cringe when he sees it.

It's starting to resemble this bad boy {pictured below} from four years ago, only it's smaller and on the front of my thigh.

See this pretty, albeit blurry face?
She's been following me around even more lately.

She's such a talkative little thing.

Hi Lily!

How has your week been going?

The Good, the Bad and the Funny

The Good: We had a really nice weekend visiting K's family. It had been way too long since our last visit and we had all been looking forward to getting together again.

Friday night Grandpa helped the girls build the Marble Works tower.

Abby was so excited that she just kept jumping up and down and screaming, it was awesome.

K got me some cotton candy milk.

It tasted like Easter, I don't know how to explain that one, so let's just go with it.

I sent my mom a text message with my picture.

Yes, I'm still geeking out over my new phone.

I was feeling a bit tired {not that you can tell or anything, grin }

Speaking of geeking out, this is K.

The force is strong with this one.

Saturday evening we had a birthday/Halloween party.

The littles dressed up as princesses, you're shocked I can tell.

They were so cute and girly with their princess dresses, tiaras and fancy shoes.

Adison was a vampire or as I liked calling her "the vampiress carpenter".

She was in the process of building a fort.

She spent most of the weekend working on it, her carpentry skills are awesome.

Cousins playing with dolls.

Kicking leaves while on a walk with Grandpa and cousins.

After saying good-bye to the cousins Abby came around with a hammer and nails.

She was so proud of herself.

Unfortunately they are not a toddler appropriate toy, she handled her disappointment well.

The Bad: I got a phone call that someone has tried to use my social security number. Sigh. In the grand scheme of things I know that this is totally fixable but it's annoying.

The Funny: A sugared up, overly tired, super excited two year old plus a Light Saber {please ignore the pacifier, we're working on it} and this is what you get.

Welcome inside the randomness that is my brain

: I checked today and Abby's birthday is in 30 days. I asked Siri, she makes finding out things so easy. Ainsley likes to ask her what her favorite color is.

: I have come to the conclusion that black beans are a staple food in our house. I eat them pretty frequently, like once a day.

: I have also been eating the chocolate delight Special K cereal lately. I've always liked eating cereal, Grape Nuts is one of my favs. {Such interesting randomness, huh?}

: I have been getting a lot of headaches lately. It normally takes a nap to get them to go away. I don't do well with headaches.

: We watched Madagascar 3 last night, my kids {who am I kidding, me as well} find this part hysterical and I cannot get it out of my head.

 

: I heard on the radio yesterday that we are supposed to have a mild Winter, let me tell you how excited I am about that!

: I'm not even remotely prepared for Halloween, we did some minor decorating. I just don't have much in the way of Halloween decorations, Christmas is more than covered. K has made it abundantly clear that I am not to buy any more Christmas decorations, I can't seem to help myself though.

: We got rid of our cable several months ago and have been thrilled to not have it. We have Netflix for the kids, but I don't use it for watching shows for me. I have never been more happy to not have cable than during this election season. I've shared my thoughts on this before, but I'm ready for the snarkiness and name calling to be over. Look, the majority of us already know who we are going to vote for and I'm pretty sure that verbally thrashing someone for thinking differently has never changed minds. Okay, I'm stepping off of that soapbox...again.

: Oh my goodness, did I tell you that I tried a new flavor of cupcake? I don't think I have. It was called an Almond Joy cupcake. White cake with coconut in it, coconut icing drizzled with chocolate and sprinkled with some baked coconut on top. De-lic-ious. Seriously.

: Share some blogs that you have been reading lately, I'm always on the look-out for some more to read.

: The picture above was from our outing on Sunday. Abby was showing me her "spoooooooky shadow" complete with growling noises.

: Okay lovelies, I'm off to figure out what to make for dinner. I really need to start meal planning.

Trying to break the cranky

When: Sunday afternoon.

Where: local park and rose garden

Who: K, Adison, Ainsley, Abigail and yours truly

Why: Super cranky, feisty kids needed a break in atmosphere and physical exercise 

Every once in a while a bad mood, cabin fever mood runs through our house.

It appears to be contagious.

When such an event occurs the usual prescription is a change in scenery.

Every Autumn and Spring I get a bit twitchy.

I know that our frolics in the sun and the cool wind on our faces will come to an end.

Why you ask?

Because we have the pure joy of experiencing the extremes of the desert and the tundra.

{Note: some sarcasm and over-exaggeration being used}

The reality though is that we have some pretty wicked Summers and Winters.

It's just a fact of living in the Midwest.

It comes with the territory.

We have very few weeks of mild, outdoorsy weather and when they show up we try to embrace it.

Sunday afternoon.

Beautiful day outside, a storm inside.

K and I knew what had to be done.

Get outside IMMEDIATELY.

This need was so necessary that we even had Abby skip her nap.

Skipping a nap for a two-year old is some pretty serious business.

It was a blast.

The kids ran around, playing hide-and-go-seek in the rose garden.

Balance beamed around the koi pond.

Ainsley even managed to score some bread off of a nice couple there to feed the ducks and some fish.

{She even shared some with Abby, Adison was too busy running around.}

Then we got home, ate some food and shuffled the children off to bed.

Sigh.

It was a good day.

National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day

Today, October 15ths is National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day.

A day to remember the precious babies that we have lost.

The sonogram picture above is from our 7th baby.

Sadly we lost this little one, he or she is up in Heaven.

Just like so many other babies.

The loss of your child is one of the worst experiences.

The loss of life, of hope, of a future that you envisioned.

I know so many women that have lost their babies.

Their lives as well as the lives of their spouses and children are forever changed.

It is absolutely heartbreaking.

If you have lost a baby, please let me know so I can be praying for you.

5

Holy smokes Ainsley, the years have flown by. 

This girl, well, she turned 5 today.

Without even asking, the nerve!

She told me that Jesus told her that she could turn 5, so I'm okay with it...sort of.

This girl, who I prayed daily, hourly and sometimes by the minute for is 5.

It seems surreal to me that:

A: she stayed in my bell until full term

B: she's here, real and not some figment of my imagination

C: that K and I were chosen to be her parents.

Regarding item C, I have to tell you that this kid rocks.

She's got compassion and nurturing in spades, she is a major goofball, has a wicked sense of humor, has a will that tests mine like crazy and is just all around awesome.

In the words of K "She's a goober pants."
One of her nicknames is goofball supreme.

She is super goofy, it's awesome.

Have I mentioned before that Lee is obsessed with the movie Pocahontas?
She is, big time.

K and I decided that for her birthday we would try to get her Pocahontas and John Smith.

{She has always asked for the boy to the princess.}

Did you know that they don't sell the Pocahontas/John Smith dolls in stores?

Plus, we don't have a Disney store here.

wah wah wah

K found an awesome deal online.

The above picture was her excitement at getting P & JS.

The below picture is her posing them, she's a hopeless romantic already.

Happy Birthday Lee, we love you more than words could express.

She up and decided to turn 10 on me

Adison's first picture as a 10 year old.

Double digits.

Yikes.

K was so kind to point out that she will be gone, at college, in 8 years.

I didn't appreciate that reminder, at all.

This girl.
Sigh.

She slays me.

She is so kind, intelligent, witty, insanely goofy, talented, artistic, athletic, creative and thoughtful.

My mom came in town this past weekend to celebrate all four girls' birthdays, my niece's plus our three girls.

She also watched my brother and I run in The Color Run, yes, I did it again.

I'll do a post about that tomorrow.

Neither one of us look very excited in this picture, but we were.

We had just finished Adison's dinner choice, Pasta Bake AKA Baked Ziti.

She's not a fan of cake so we made sundae's for dessert.

The girls loved picking their own toppings, girls love choices.

My Dad got Adison a Barnes & Noble gift card, she is an avid reader.

She perused the shelves several times, carefully choosing which books she wished to purchase.

It was funny watching her pick out books, then declaring that she was only going to get paperback because they were cheaper.

Then, we needed to tally up the prices because she wanted to have some money left on her gift card.

It was awesome.

Happy Birthday baby girl!

Dear Mom,

I am so looking forward to seeing you this weekend.

Knowing that you will be cheering Joe {my brother, lovelies} and me on at The Color Run on Saturday is exciting.

I have to tell you though that I've caught the girls' cold and hope I can run the whole thing.

::cough cough::

I know that you say that you come to see us and not check on how clean my house is, but Mom, it's a mess right now.

Abby's sleep issues have driven me to the brink of insanity.

In an attempt to get her to sleep before 11:00 I have kept her from napping the last two days.

Mom, I can tell you this because you love me unconditionally, but she is driving absolutely batty.

The temper tantrums and the attitude of an overly tired two year old are starting to wear on me.

She is totally worth the exhaustion, she is after all my baby {smirk}, I would stay up forever for her.

Back to the clean house thing.

Trying to keep my house picked up while having three kids, two of which are still so young and close together in age is impossible.

I feel like I am attempting to herd cats amidst a tornado.

There's just no winning in this situation.

Yes, Mom, I know that I can complain to you at any time and you listen, but I'm sorry for being such a whiner.

I am so looking forward to seeing you and celebrating Adison and Ainsley's birthdays with you.

Can you believe that Adison is going to be 10 and Ainsley 5?

Can you believe that 10 years ago today I was already past my due date with Adison?

Do you remember how gigantic I was and how I had all but given up on her ever coming out?

Mom, I miss you like crazy and I'm ready to hug you and share a cup of coffee while the house erupts into chaos.

Love you Mamacita, DD

I thought she was going to eat my brain or something

I don't like scary movies, at all.

K loves scary movies, a lot.

Normally K will watch a scary movie in the living room while I lounge in the bedroom before falling asleep.

Noticed how I said "Normally"???

Occasionally {read: to be a punk} K will decide to watch a scary movie in the bedroom when I am trying to go to sleep.

For me it's as painful and awful as you can imagine.

It normally ends with me begging, pleading and threatening him to turn off the movie or turn down the sound which ends with him taunting me.

No, honey, this part is totally not scary at all. Said while the girl is climbing the wall like a spider.

Yes, it's done in good fun, it's what makes our marriage work.

In response I will tease him with horrible medical facts which makes him want to puke or pass out.

See, marriage is about compromise AND freaking each other out.

Back story {because you know I love them and pretend that you do as well}:

We were spending the weekend at K's parent's house.

I went to bed early {shocking} and K was going to stay up watching some shows.

I'm at the blissful spot between awake and asleep where you start to feel all floaty and rainbow-y.

All of a sudden that blissful feeling is interrupted by someone wearing a mask from Scream and menacingly standing over me.

source

Cue freak out, major freak out, screaming and I am sure some choice four letter words.

K laughing like a loon.

Not fun.

I know for a fact that there was retribution, I just don't remember what form it came in.
Probably something along the lines of me asking him to come into the bedroom while some weird medical show is on and freaking him out completely.

Payback my love, payback.

Anyways, I hate scary movies.

I have way too active of an imagination and my nerves just can't handle them, at all.

{Which is why it is so humorous that I took a class in college called: Psychological Profiling of Serial Killers. For real. The class was even at night. For real. As life would have it we were studying the BTK killer WHEN he reappeared in Wichita again WHILE we were living a couple of hours away AND going to visit friends in Wichita.}

Monday night K and I were catching up on our shows {Castle and The Mentalist} when we hear a boom from upstairs.

Someone fell out of bed.

I went upstairs to investigate, K stood at the bottom of the stairs waiting for a report.

At the top of the landing I find Ainsley.

Crouched down, hair hanging limply around her face, not saying or doing anything.

I sit down next to her, thinking that she's still out of it from sleep, and try to talk to her.

No response.

Nada.

Lee? Are you alright?

Nothing...

She starts doing these creepy giggle.

I looked down at K, Honey, she is seriously freaking me out.

Danna, just pick her up, she's probably still sleeping or something.

Lee?

Maniacal giggle.

No way. I'm NOT picking her up. You can pick her up.

Ugh, don't be such a baby. K muttered as he came upstairs and picked her up.

She starts doing the creepy giggle again.

No verbal response to anything until K gets her downstairs and they sit on the couch together.

She told him that she was okay.

All is well, I take Lee back to bed, I came back downstairs to finish The Mentalist.

I look over at K, Dude, she was totally freaking me out.

K finally admitted, Yeah, she was pretty creepy, I thought she was going to eat my brain or something.

Zombie Mermaid sighting

Happy Monday lovelies!

How was your weekend?

Can you believe that it's October already!?!

Adison and Ainsley will both be having birthdays NEXT week.

I will officially have a 10 and 5 year old children.

This weekend went by in some weird super fast painfully slow manner.

Fast:

Sharefest on Saturday morning.
K was still feeling ill so I went by myself.

We had a blast sprucing up one of the local high schools.

Ivory painted handrails were the name of the game for us that morning.

After I got home I got a call from one of my friends at church asking if I could help out in the nursery that evening.

We were crazy busy and the night went by so quickly, I love spending time with the precious kiddos.

On Sunday we celebrated our niece, Cameron's, birthday.

The party was a-maz-ing.

When my sister-in-law, Betsy, post her pics I will let you know.

Slow:
Cranky, messy kids.

I swear I vacuumed the house 8 times in 2 days.

I don't know what was going on, oh well.

I was able to redirect Lee's attention towards making Halloween pics like the one above.

She makes an awesome Day of the Dead/zombie mermaid.

Her father and I are so proud :)

This is one of the pics that Lee made, she was so proud of herself and loved being about to make it herself.

She even figured out how to change the color and sizes of different things.
When I would try to help her with something she would say I know how to do it Mama!

I'm thinking we might do some Halloween decorating today.

I don't have much in the way of Halloween decorations, but we'll see what we can come up with.