Domestic Goddess

Thankfulness

2009-11-24T18:08:00.001-08:00

This morning I stood in my mis-matched jammies in front of our enormous picture window, watching the early morning fog, staring at the coffee maker with ninja eyes hoping it would make the coffee come faster and wondered what Brody would ask for his breakfast food choice this morning. Yesterday is was mac and cheese, the day before that it was cookies (cookies maybe, mac and cheese, not so much) My two little blessings waiting patiently for me to throw something together for breakfast, playing with cars and dinosaurs at the table (they are frequent visitors at our table) Okay...I lied....they were not waiting patiently, in fact that were screaming for food, but I'd like to think they were waiting patiently. One can dream. So you're probably thinking what does this story have to do with thankfulness and I shall tell you.

First of all, they both slept through the night, and for that I am eternally grateful. Secondly, we walked downstairs into our kitchen, cold as it may be, with a roof over out heads and clothes on our backs. It amazes me how much I take for granted. True, we have lots and lots of snot and an occasional testicle problem, but we are healthy. We have a roof over our heads and we are healthy. God is good.

As Thanksgiving creeps up on us, I always try to make a point to list the things I am thankful for, and since I love lists....here you go.

1. Family of course! I love my boys....all three of them. I am a blessed woman.

2. My marriage. The man I love gets better looking everyday and I'm pretty glad he chose me.

3. Antibacterial hand soap. Take that Swine flu.

4. The energy and pure joy that Brody has. I'd be rich if I could bottle it and sell it.

5. Baylor's love to learn and read and explore new things.

6. The fact that I get to live close to my parents. I don't know what I'd do without them and I am truly blessed to have them a part of the boys' lives. They boys always come home with new nuggets of information and knowing that they can talk to God anytime. Priceless.

7. My steam mop. Did I tell you I got a steam mop? Revolutionary, I tell you. I mopped for fun today. Sad.

8. That I made enough money at my art show to get my husband the Christmas present he really wanted.....a flatscreen t.v. He's drooling as we speak. Merry Christmas sweet cheeks.

9. My band. I love the fact that I get to leave one evening a week to make beautiful music with extremely talented people. They are my second family and I love them deeply!

10. That gas prices went down this year. Maybe we'll be able to keep the house at 65! Wahoo!

11. Great friends. I have some pretty amazing friends who serve my by watching my dogs, kids and bringing me chocolate when I've had a bad day.

12. The arrows on the remote that show you which way the batteries go. Really.

13. Olivia, Franklin, Bob, Larry and Bambi. Thanks for keeping my children entertained while I use my steam mop.

13.5 Push up bras. Enough said.

14. Running. I was told as a little girl that I may be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life but God had other plans. I was able to run a marathon relay and will begin training for a triathlon and half marathon as soon as I can get my butt in gear. Don't take movement of your legs for granted!

15. The new coffee shop down the street.....I mean RIGHT down the street. Dangerous.

16. That Bill Clinton is constitutionally prohibited for running for president again.

17. Technology. Although slightly addicting and time sucking, I love it.

I could go on, but I will spare you. Just make sure to be thankful for the big and little things this year!

We're headed to Mount Vernon, Illinois for Thanksgiving tomorrow and will return on Saturday. Taking a sabbatical from blogging and Facebook....but only for a few days. I can't stay away that long.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Keeping up with the Joneses

2009-11-23T18:08:00.000-08:00

What is good for some, may not be good for another. As hard as I try to ignore the comments, there is always talk and the question of when we will be adding to our family. "oh, it's about time for you to have another isn't it? " The subject of procreation has been on my mind constantly and I can't seem to shake it. There are moments when I long to hold another baby in my arms and then there are moments when I want to lock myself in the bathroom and change my name from mommy to Achmididijadahoo. We seem to kick the idea around almost daily and review our financial situation, car situation and sanity.

I've prayed for a peace about a decision weather or not to add to our family but what I really want is a clear sign from God...maybe a post-it note with a yes or no on it? Maybe an email? Why does going from one to two seem so easy but two to three crazy hard?

I know children are a blessing from God and I count my blessings every day. I also know that I may not be able to handle one more. I want to focus my time and energy on the two blessings that God has already blessed me with. My only fear is to feel regret when both of my boys have left the house and we look at each other and wish we had another child.

Some families choose no children, others one or two or even nine. I have to realize that making babies isn't a contest and realize what is best for our family. I am thankful that I can have children and I don't take that gift for granted. That's not to say that we won't change our minds in a few months when Brody decides to stop licking shopping cart handles and streaking. I know God has a way of letting his will be known and a peace soon to follow. You know the saying, "walk by faith, not by sight?" It just goes to prove if we walked by sight we would be done for sure.....and so is anyone who meets Brody the energizer bunny. The door is not closed for good, but I am enjoying the time I have with my two boys.

What do you think?

2009-11-23T12:09:00.003-08:00

Here is a sample of the Christmas card I threw together today for our family. Accompanying the card will be a Speidel Family Newsletter with a year in review. Now, when you get this in the mail....act surprised okay? What do you think? Too many photos? Too cute? Too red? Too Green? Not cute enough? Your input is greatly appreciated!

Where's Brody?

2009-11-22T18:44:00.000-08:00

It's like one of those Where's Waldo pictures, except for a tall skinny dude in red and white stripes you're searching for a naked two year old hiding on a very dangerous rolling cart.

The art of booger smearing

2009-11-20T12:50:00.001-08:00

My little poo flinger (Baylor) has decided that poo flinging is no longer a sport in which he will participate in. Instead he has focused all of his efforts on booger smearing. I'm sure he has passed all knowledge of poo flinging on to his little bro for future reference.

Now the art of booger smearing takes a keen mind and a stealth hand. Here are a few tips from Baylor:

1. Act like you're giving mom a hug and then ever so gently smear a booger on her pants where she can't find it until the lady behind her in the checkout line politely points out the mass of goo on her leg.

2. Pretend like you're really interested in the pictures in a book and point....with a booger on the end of your finger, then promptly smear. Repeat if necessary.

3. When laying in your bed when you are supposed to be sleeping, use boogers as magic markers on the wall. Although they don't show up very well, the texture is perfect.

4. My all time favorite....brother booger smearing. Little brothers make great moving targets for boogers. Extra points if you pretend to hug them and wipe it in their hair.

Now that I have completely gross all of you out.....I bid you adieu. Here's to a fun and booger free weekend!

Here we go again...

2009-11-18T08:00:00.001-08:00

I hate germs. I also hate the fact that my children are sick 87.6% of the "cold and flu" season. We had about four days of health and BAM! Brody is sick again. I'm thinking it's a fluke....I'm HOPING it's a fluke. We had a slight fever and a random puke this morning. He's hungry and thirsty and just acting clingy and tired, but so far no more puke. Did I mention how much I hate puke.....

I do.

Tons.

Here's to fluke puke.

I wanted him to be quiet...

2009-11-16T13:55:00.000-08:00

I mean, C'mon....this is totally what I would do if I wanted my little brother to shut his trap. Baylor looks so proud....Brody on the other hand has other thoughts running through his head. I love these boys.

Distracted

2009-11-13T12:23:00.000-08:00

As a mother, wife and fabulous lady (tooting my own horn here, deal with it) I have to admit that I think I have a slight case of ADD.....really. I walk into a room and.....oooohhh something shiny!

Wait, where was I?

This week I have once again failed to be a good mother according to my scale because I have been so distracted by getting ready for the art open house (tomorrow at Diane's house by the way!) and playing in two different bands. I'm doing what I love both music and art are high on my list but I am ignoring what I love most, my children and husband. The housework and cleaning is always distracting as well and the ever so popular what to have for dinner! I wouldn't classify it as ignoring, there are a few different types of ignoring:

1. Tuning out....like when your children say your name 1359 times in the course of one hour and you tune them out...intentionally. This also might work for husbands, but they catch on pretty quickly!

2. Ignoring by choice. I do this one a lot and pretend I didn't hear it (often because I really didn't hear it, I'm going deaf) Lonnie can attest to this as well.

3. Attention deficit ignoring...this I can't help, I just do it. I walk into a room with the intent to do something and come out doing five other things that caught my attention while I walked into that room.

So after the chaos of one week is over and we start with another, my goal is to quit intentionally ignoring and start spending some intentional play time with my kids!

Use your words not your hands

2009-11-10T18:09:00.000-08:00

We have entered into a new stage with Baylor and it involves throwing punches. Every time I turn around or leave the boys to play by themselves, the punches start flying. Not just punches mind you, there are scratches and pile drivers and full nelsons. Our hopes and dream of raising a runner have quickly turned towards professional wrestling. We are trying to teach him that he needs to use his words first, rather than his fists. He prefers the fists. He has a temper like his dear mother, feisty and furious. Now Brody man doesn't get off that easy. He too, has developed quite the love for screaming and punching but most of the time it is out of self defense. Some of the time I let them duke it out but more often than none, it was Baylor who threw the first punch and needs to be disciplined. I can't say that I was a calm child, just ask my brother. I used him for a punching bag more often than I'm sure he'd like to remember. Sorry buddy.

A wha? Huh?

2009-11-09T13:52:00.000-08:00

What a marvelous weekend I had! I left on Friday for the US Open brass band championships in St.Charles. A few band members and myself hopped in the Suburban pulling our trailer and followed a very brave handful of people in a 1970 Starcraft RV. The RV was older than half the people inside and we strapped a pair of horns on the font for added hilarity. The RV has been a brass band tradition for longer than I have been a member and will continue to get strange looks and laughs until it dies....which could be any day now.

Here are a few of the band members that braved riding and hanging out in the RV over the weekend.

We played our hearts out but had a disappointing finish. It only makes us want to work harder next year. I was sick, lost my voice and cashed in early that night....just call me party pooper. I did however get a little taste of the good stuff. My friend Jen from Cary, IL took me on a wine tasting, cupcake eating culture experience. She taught my redneck self about different wines and we window shopped around Geneva. It was marvelous.

Brody man is better but Baylor has a cold now. I am still recovering with a nasty cough and pubescent male sounding voice....it's excellent. I'm sure this will be the first of many bouts with crud this winter.

Surgery Smergery

2009-11-05T12:11:00.000-08:00

We finished out our week of Dr's visits today with the urologist to confirm that Brody probably has a small hernia and will need a two hour surgery to fix the hydroceles in his little testes (there's that word again...I guess I can't avoid it, I live with three males) The surgery is scheduled for December 16th and was the earliest we could get in. It's an outpatient procedure and he said it was tougher on the parents than the child. I'm not thrilled but I hope this will fix things! We are not traveling for Christmas this year either, so that will make it a bit easier and less stressful! The Doctor also questioned why the sent us to the ER (I do too!) and why the heck they tried to put a catheter in his wee wee. That is probably the source of all the pain, rather than the ping pong ball sized testes.

The poor little dude still has some weird virus and isn't tolerating his antibiotics very well as he spewed all over me, the chair and the floor this morning. He was put on a very strong antibiotic so I'm certain is was because he didn't have any food in his stomach yet. He's still very tired and whiney but the fever has broken (as of this morning!) All of this mess comes at the most inconvenience time as well....like any time is convenient! I am leaving for the weekend for our big brass band competition in St. Charles, Illinois. We have been working so hard on this music and I hate leaving behind a sick little boy. I'm hoping he will continue to get better as the weekend goes on. It's supposed to be beautiful out so my dream is to come home to a clean house, healthy kids and lawn free of leaves (are you reading this honey? :) No, I'm just thankful to be able to get away for a while....alone, even though it makes me sad to leave!

Pizzzza party....

2009-11-04T14:49:00.001-08:00

So we had some marvelous friends drop off a pizza a few nights ago when we were recovering from our day in the ER and Lonnie was still gone. I was trying to get these tired boys ready for bed and decided to throw them in the tub before the pizza arrived (after thinking this over, I realized that it wasn't the greatest judgement call on my part...duh!) but the pizza arrived while they were mid bath. So what do you do when you get pizza and you're in the tub? Why you have a pizza party in the tub of course. So that is what we did. Poor Brody wasn't hungry for pizza but Baylor and I destroyed a few pieces. I only found one pepperoni floating in the tub afterwards.

Owie Pee Pee

2009-11-04T10:30:00.000-08:00

Poor Brody man. This is day four of his fever and chills and walking around the house grabbing his little boys parts crying, "Pee pee owie!" I finally got him in to his pediatrician this morning to make sure he didn't have a urinary tract infection or anything else. The Dr. put him on antibiotics just in case, to cover a UTI and a suspicious looking ear. He also said he would like a urine sample and handed me two cups. I laughed and thought this might be a fun game at home. I have also come down with something icky with a low fever and nasty sore throat, I'm sure it's a cold but I don't get the luxury of laying on the couch watching t.v and sipping hot tea. *sigh* So today our fun game is try to pee in the cup! So far it's not working....but maybe this will be a prelude to potty training. Pray for a good night of sleep for mom, Baylor and Brody....both boys were up again at 5 a.m and it's getting old quite fast. We will see the urologist tomorrow morning to see what the next step is.

Testes, testes one two...

2009-11-02T17:15:00.000-08:00

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

James 1:2-3

If you have been following this blog or know our family, you know that there is an unwritten rule that when my husband is gone that one or more people in the family will fall ill. Lonnie left Sunday and is gone recruiting until Tuesday and as to be expected, Brody man is ill to say the least. I don't know how single mothers do it, but I am glad we don't have to deal with this too often. Bear with me as I tell you the story of our Great Testicular Adventure.

It all started with Brody's second cold in three weeks, snot coming out of everywhere and lots of coughing. Brody has viral asthma so whenever he gets a cold or virus it goes right to his breathing apparatuses. We spent Saturday morning in the Dr's office getting a shot of steroids to help with his croup after being up all night coughing his little lungs out. Sunday he spiked a fever and had chills so I automatically freaked out thinking swine flu or pneumonia....or swine pneumonia. We spent the night at my parents house just in case I had to take him to the ER to get another steroid shot. I'm not sure if it was the daylight savings (which sucks by the way) or a new bed, but nobody got any sleep and my kids were rearing to go at 4:45am....and I was not. Still feverish and wheezing at this point I'm using my webmd license to diagnose a few things and figured I should leave this to the professionals? Call Dr's office and get an appointment. In the meantime I go to change Brody's diaper and we have been having issues with him not wanting us to wipe him (sorry TMI) and crying. I thought it was a "dude, this wipe is too cold" issue or a terrible two issue, but I was mistaken.

(I'm sure he'll thank me for this later when he's engaged and I show it to his future wife) I see that his testicles (not a big fan of that word, but for this marvelous saga's sake I'll suck it up) are swollen up like ping pong balls. Hmmmmm, ping pong balls......this can't be normal (I am also not up to date in my testicular sizing)....and he wouldn't let me come near them with a ten foot pole. Now touching my son's man parts isn't what I call fun, but I had to make sure he was okay. So in the name of medicine I did a little maneuvering of the family jewels. He writhed in pain and so after a quick phone call and finding an amazing neighbor to drop Baylor off with, we high tailed it to the ER.

We get to the ER and with one mention of the evil word, "fever" the 89 year old check in dude hands me a child size mask. I actually laughed out loud...he did not find this amusing. No way is my kid keeping that on. I tried. I tried and tried and decided that rather than fighting, we'd hide far far away where no one could see or hear us. So we stared outside at the parked helicopter. After explaining to four different people that he was wheezy, had a fever and had testicles the size of marshmallows he was then subject to crazy tests to see what was wrong. A chest x-ray (negative) ultrasound and catheter (try to get a two year old to pee on command...ha!) later, we have 1. Upper respiratory infection, hence the wheezing, coughing and sputtering and 2. Hydrocele in both testicles. I know...that's what I said at first too. Hydo wha? To get a full detailed description of this click here. I ain't no doctor, but apparently the Internet has a medical licence. Basically lots of fluid in his little testes that causes uncomfortable feelings and pain. They think it may be caused by a hernia and we have an appointment with the urologist on Thursday. He was a trooper and kept his humor by announcing loudly to the nurse that he just made a bubble with his nose and was the first child to ever laugh while being squeezed by a plastic tube for a chest x-ray. That's my Brody!

It was a long day but I am so blessed to have such amazing friends who brought me a pizza, cookies, watched Baylor and called to see how we were holding up. Keep little Brody man in your prayers.

I GOT CANDY!!

2009-11-01T10:18:00.000-08:00

When you don't let your children have candy on a daily basis, the thought of having a bag full of sweet things could quite possibly send the over the edge. Brody was in heaven. He spent most of the night with his head in the trick or treat bag yelling, "I GOT CANDY! I GOT CANDY!!" Like he had found the spring of eternal youth. Later he realized that when you say, "trick or treat," it usually means someone will give you candy. So he kept running up to anyone and everyone yelling, "trick or treat!" and then putting out his cute little lion paws. He got a few, "oh look at the cute little lion, " and one, "dude, I don't have any candy." So if you see Brody in the next few days and you're carrying a bag, watch out or he'll ask you for candy.

Can you guess what my mom is?

She went as the H1N1 virus....hilarious. Some guy thought she was one of those carnival games that you throw a dart at and a handful of children tried to steal her balloons. You can see where I get my weirdness from.

Here they are. Little lion and Dragon. Even though we don't technically celebrate Halloween, they loved the dressing up and getting free candy....who wouldn't? Baylor is already planning for next year.

Friday 15

2009-10-30T12:04:00.000-07:00

15 things I learned this week....in no particular order:

1. Taking care of a sick husband can be equated to having another child.

2. Halloween candy 2, Keri 0. Crap.

3. Snot doubles as hair gel and does some awesome things with your eyebrows.

4. Do not forget to check your clothing for snot wipes and random boogers before leaving the house.

5. I have an anger management problem. Grrrrrrr

6. My son thinks he can marry me (cute) and that I should be a princess for Halloween (also cute) but told me again that my boobs were small (not cute at all)

7. I get really grumpy when I don't get to work out. REALLY GRUMPY.

8. That no matter how many times you tell them not to, dancing on the table seems to be the activity of choice.

9. Never ever try to slip a vegetable into a child's mouth without telling them, this will result in gagging, choking and possible vomit on the kitchen table.

10. Lots of deep breaths will help from wanting to inflict pain upon a certain two year old hiney when faced with a tantrum in a public place.

11. Brody is going to have "what doctors call a little bit of a weight problem." The dude never stops eating.

12. That if I were to fall ill for a day, I'm sure the entire house would crumble and all heck would break loose.

13. The new coffee shop less than a block away from my house is going to be very very dangerous.

14. I love listening to Brody sing to his cereal and Baylor talk to his army dudes.

15. I've really got to quit caring what other people think. Really.

Smushy pumpkins

2009-10-29T11:29:00.000-07:00

Okay, this photo has nothing to do with pumpkin carving but I thought I'd show you this cute little rascal all dressed up with no place to go. Doesn't he look so grown up? Wish he acted all grown up.....as in not throwing major knock down drag out tantrums in public places.
Brody is trying soooo hard to blow out the candle in the pumpkin, but he just ended up spraying a mixture of snot and spit instead. Mmmmm.

Give a man a camera and he'll take a photo of his love.

That's right....those are shoes. Stop laughing.

The lovely pumpkins named "Maddy" and "Happy" ready for display.

This was the first sad attempt at a pumpkin, he picked out this pumpkin about a month ago. It was love at first sight, the smallest pumpkin there. Unfortunately it was nasty smelly moldy inside and I had to convince him to go with the gigantic surprise green pumpkin that we grew in the backyard this year. He quickly realized that his pumpkin would be much bigger than Brody's and agreed. End of story.

Almost as big as he was.

Bendy straw syndrome

2009-10-27T12:53:00.001-07:00

So my insane attempts to find the H1N1 vaccine for our family have failed...kind of. I called around and found that our Physician had the mist and made a family appointment. It turns out however, that since Brody is mister breathing problem (he is the one I am most worried about) and Lonnie has a cold (but claims he is dying) they both could not get it. Baylor and I however, had the little mist up our noses. I know, I know some of you are adamantly opposed to vaccines and I'm not sure how I feel either, I do know that being a parent makes me worry a whole heck of a lot more. I am still searching for an inactivated shot for Brody, just in case. Since I am a germ freak, I did make my family wait in the car until we got called in.....I know, I'm a freak. It took all of my power to try to keep Brody from licking the chairs...really, he tried.

Now back to Lonnie....my wonderful husband whom I love dearly....but when any sort of illness hits.....he gets, "bendy straw syndrome." What is that, you ask? Well a friend once told me a story of this usually very healthy, masculine and burly husband was sick and being waited on hand and foot and when his wife brought out juice with a straw, he asked if they had a bendy one. Thus turning this phenomenon that seems to strike the males of the family, into the bendy straw syndrome. They suddenly can't move off of the couch, the remote control becomes fused to their hand, juice must be served from the couch, Kleenex, Tylenol and tea must be at arms reach....and oh yea, they're dying. Don't get me wrong, I have sympathy and I know he doesn't feel well, but what happens when mom gets sick? I must suffer in silence, go about the daily activities pretending that I don't feel like I got hit by a mack truck. I'm fine however and I will take care of my husband until he feels better. Get well soon, babe.

Pink eye, stink eye

2009-10-23T08:25:00.001-07:00

So we have managed to avoid swine flu (for this week at least!) and after bathing my children in sanitizer before, after and during any trips outside the house, I am the one who ended up with some cool funk. I have pink eye in not one, but both of my eyes. I thought it was inevitable last night at band when I kept blinking goo from my eyes trying to read the music. I woke up this morning caked shut, swollen and looking like I had just smoked the ganja with Bob Marley. Duuuuuuuuuddddeeeee. It's not a big deal at all, in fact I would rather have this all winter than any other illness. Despite my freakish appearance and lack of makeup, my friend and I decided that we needed to get out of the house and braved taking the boys out for breakfast at Na-Nanold's (McDonalds) Two tantrums, one lost boot, a thrown salt shaker and a table dance later....I was kicking myself in the head. That's right! How could I forget...I wasn't going to take Brody in public until he's 25. Apparently the pink eye had settled into my brain cells because I thought a short jaunt to Goodwill to drop off some junk and pick more up, would be a marvelous idea. In the first seconds I had lost both children amongst the racks of clothing but managed to find them because I followed the trail of boots (Brody's boots were tad on the loose side) I found a bunch of great art ideas (frames are half off today, wahoo!) and a sweet desk that would look great painted, but couldn't stay in the store long enough to even check out the price. *Sigh* someday.

Now don't get me wrong. I know what you're thinking. This lady can't even handle two children. Oh, I can handle them just fine and they bring my joy every day. The only issue I have is that they need to learn how to behave in public and need to be disciplined when they disobey in these public places....and the hard part is actually following through with that when we're in public. This is why I think I'm just going to stay in my house until they turn 25. Besides, this blog wouldn't be any fun if my children wore clothes, didn't like getting dirty or behaved perfectly. They have kept my dream of writing a book about raising two monkeys in captivity alive and well.

It's been raining for two days straight here. We had a few beautiful days where we spent every second we could outside raking leaves, then the rain came. Yesterday we had a pajama party and watched movies (found a bunch of new Disney videos at the library for .25 each! Yes, we still have a VCR) Right now Baylor seems to be stuck on Dumbo and The Wizard of Oz and Brody has taken a liking to A Bug's Life and Mary Poppins. We also had a manly tea party.....with the emphasis on manly. Today is game and tent in the living room day.

Do you ever feel like....

2009-10-21T11:20:00.000-07:00

1. Your head is spinning and not so much attached to your body? As in, you have too many things to do and you are pulled in about thirteen different directions? The laundry is sitting in major piles all over the house and the dishes are screaming your name but all you want to do is run and hide?

2. You have no deep friends. I'm talking about best friends, the ones that tell you if you have a booger in your nose and then give you a pat on the back because you hate hugs. The ones that get your humor and aren't afraid to dish it right back.

3. You can't say no. That you sit at home to watch Oprah and eat bon bons and since you have so much extra time on your hands you can help out. You risk being called lazy or not helping, you always say yes to everyone....except your husband.

4. You are not taken seriously. That people think that just because you stay at home with your kids that your intelligence level drops significantly, you can't drive and you have no opinion what so ever? and when you use a word like auspicious or ramification , they look at you like you have a third eye.

5. Secretly you wonder why "they" didn't accept your friend request on Facebook. Are they too busy or did their computer just burst into flames or do you smell funny? Really.

6. That no matter how hard you clean, scrub, organize or polish, your house is never clean enough...never ever ever.

7. You are a bad mom because you have mold growing in the caulk on the bathtub.

8. You will be judged for eating Wendy's, drinking wine, reading the Bible and watching Ghost Hunters.

9. You're not doing enough....ever. Enough cleaning, playing with your kids, eating spinach, sharing the Gospel or getting enough fiber.

9.5 Some people deserve a good flick in the ear. God love them, but they simply deserve a good flick.

10. Despite all the facts you've heard about the H1N1 virus, it still totally freaks you out.

Fall Photos

2009-10-19T13:14:00.001-07:00

They were running to jump into a huge pile of leaves....okay, maybe not huge since all of our trees are still clinging to their leaves.

I LOVE fall colors. This is the tree just outside of our house....the one that hasn't been cut down yet.

Look at this innocent face....ha!

Gotcha mom! (later to find leaves stuck in the camera...and my bra...hmmmm)

Marathon relay

2009-10-17T14:59:00.000-07:00

Well folks, the time is here! I'm headed to Des Moines in a few hours with my lovely husband and teammate. We will be running the Des Moines marathon....okay, so just part of it. I've been training since early summer and have loved it. I've lost some pounds, gained some muscle tone and have turned myself into a long distance runner. Five miles is nothing now! The next goal is half marathon!

Lonnie and I run the second leg of the race, which is the hardest with lots of hills. Sweet. The weather is supposed to cooperate as well, but I must bust out the spandex and re-live my college sprinting years. Both of our teams have worked so hard and I'm very proud of all of them! I can't wait to cheer everyone on to the finish line. Wish us luck!

Friday Photos

2009-10-16T12:12:00.000-07:00

This is a beautiful Iowa sunset at Palisades Park in Mount Vernon. I like it. It reminds me of the blue and pink cotton candy you get at the fair.

GET ME OUT OF HERE MOOOOMMMMM!!! Well, you did climb in the clean laundry all by yourself so why can't you get out? C'mon kid, use some of that two year old energy that you seem to find when in the aisles of any store.

Our "first snow" of the year. It's the earliest I can remember! Nothing stuck, but Baylor thought that since it was snowing Christmas was just around the corner. I had to calm him down and remind him that just because Wal-mart has Christmas trees up and it's snowing in October, doesn't mean Christmas is tomorrow. I thought he was going to punch me.

...and nothing tops this photo...one of my most favorite. Caught in the act (he's watching his reflection in the mirror) and doing some sort of aerobic activity. Where have I seen this before.....never mind. Have a naked er, I mean great Friday.

YouTube Giggles

2009-10-15T13:08:00.000-07:00

So my sister in law Christina showed both of the boys funny videos of dogs and cats doing stupid things like dancing or running into walls. Now, everytime we turn on the computer, they ask to, "watch the funny dogs." Here is a short snippet of Brody man watching (and laughing in the most fake laugh I've ever heard) his funny dogs.

P.S He's not saluting Hitler, I promise...that's the way he points. We're working on it, trust me.

Dude, is it Thursday already?

2009-10-15T06:33:00.000-07:00

Where has this week gone?

So Mike and Lila and Christina (sister in law) came to our house last Monday and stayed a week. The boys (and us of course) ate it all up, loved all the extra play time and attention! They helped us tremendously around the house by sealing windows, fixing lights, putting storm windows in, doing dishes, washing my floor! (yes, she rocks!) and even hemming my pants. We truly were blessed and weren't expecting all of this help and are very thankful. We laid low and ate lots of not healthy baked items (my baking ban was lifted since we had company and I went a little crazy....) They helped with groceries and most of all, they got to be with us for a whole week. The boys were asking for them to come back five minutes after they left. Hopefully we'll see them at Thanksgiving! Unfortunately they left being exhausted and with colds...what can I say...we are giving people.

Brody was up all night with a sore throat (at least that's what I think, he was crying and coughing) so I got about two hours of sleep...total. Doing surprisingly well this morning, just waiting to hit a wall this afternoon. The snot factory has begun and I'm just praying that Lonnie and I don't get it before our big race on Sunday. Four days until the marathon relay, can't wait!

Working on some artwork for an art open house on November 14th. It's so much harder to get things done now that the weather is nasty and the boys can't go outside. It's time to get creative with entertainment! So that is my question of the day to you? How do you entertain when the weather is bad and the t.v is not an option?