Linzi's Big Night

Last night we got to go to Linzi's school music program. The program was all the kindergarten and 1st graders. it was called "3 of a kind" and was pretty cute. Linzi did a GREAT job singing.

(to watch this video, you will want to go down the side and pause the music playlist so you can listen to the singing ... Linzi is on the top row, on the very left hand side, maybe the 2nd or 3rd from the end ... she is wearing a yellow shirt)

Hello, My Name is Flippy Flopperson

Why is it, that one minute,

everyone is happy and playing nicely together,

the sun is shining ... all is well.

And then all of a sudden,

one person hits another,

the one is crying, the other is screaming,

the clouds roll in and I feel like I want to yell.

You'd think that they could tell

When minds start to rebel

Then angry music swells

No longer-all is well

How can I compel

These sweet little belles

To not want to yell?

a spell?

jail cell?

Then I say a quick prayer

and start to declare

That Brielle has great flair

and Linzi's nice hair

Tessa's smile is rare

Wouldn't it be nice to share?

They all shrug and say

Okay.

Book Review: Chosen

Chosen, Ted Dekker

I liked this book. It was kind of like a Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings type, where the author has created a completely different world. So that, in itself is interesting; just learning the things about this new world that make it work. Then, you mix in the battle of good versus evil ... and that adds good twists and turns.

The premise is the good vs. evil .... the good, being the Forest Dwellers, and the evil being the Horde. The Forest Dwellers are small in number, and live in the last 5 remaining forests ... the Horde, are evil, dirty, smelly creatures that live out in the desert. They are trying to destroy the Forest Dwellers and their way of life. The interesting part is, that the Forest Dwellers must bathe in the 5 remaining lakes everyday, or their skin starts drying and their eyes start greying, and this "disease" takes hold ... they become Horde. Pretty weird ...

Since the Forest Dwellers have such small numbers, the leader of the army must lower the recruiting age from 18 to 16. Here is where we start the story. We meet some of the new young recruits and things happen from there.

Aside from the odd parts of this world Ted Dekker has created, the story is good. It's interesting and full of adventure and anticipation ... and also magic, which is fun.

I liked it enough to get the rest of the series. I think there are 3 more books.

Daring Duo

When the big girls are at school, Tessa and Kate are less "entertained" ... so consequently, I find that during the week while the girls are gone they become little daredevils.

Tessa flips all over the house, and climbs on things and jumps off, she loves to sit in bins and baskets and be crazy.

Kate, with her new found freedom of standing and walking has discovered lots of new things to do. Today, she thinks it's so fun to climb up onto the rocking ottoman and stand up. Of course, I think it's scary and dangerous ... but what do I know?

32 Years Young!

Karen is one of my favorite people! Today is her 32nd birthday. Here are 10 things that I love about my sister Karen:

1. She is a great aunt to my daughters

2. She is a science teacher, which my girls just love ... they like to think of questions to ask her

3. She is always up for babysitting, which is so nice because I can trust her and my kids love it when she comes over

4. She has a nice laugh

5. I love the color of her hair

6. She's always had a really warm smile, the kind that when you see it, makes you smile too

7. She is always ready to have a talk about anything, and she always seems interested in what I want to talk about ... even if she isn't .... and if she's not, she's a great actress!

8. She has been a great sister and I have so many memories of fun things we did growing up

9. She is as messy as I am

10. She is a righteous example to not only me, but my girls ... she is faithful and good.

I love you a lot Karen, hope you have a fabulous birthday!

The Cost of Living

Well, we DO need to eat I guess ... so buying food isn't exactly optional. But seriously, I feel like the prices have been shooting up right before my eyes in the past few months. What's going on with this crazy world? We spent too much money at Costco today, and on absolutely nothing fun ... and then went to Safeway to get the stuff we couldn't find at Costco (Yobaby, broccoli, etc) and spent $78 on a few bags of groceries. I think it's CRAZY! I think my heart might be threatening to give out ... it's really horrid. I don't remember this happening just a few years ago. I really feel like it's been just the past little while. I don't like it one bit!

But, like I said, we do need to eat ... and the children seem adverse to eating only beans.

I'm It Again

There sure is a lot of tag playing going on in this bloggalicious world. So, my sister Emily tagged me.

This is what you do:
1. Pick up the nearest book (at least 123 pages).
2. Turn to page 123.
3. Find the 5th sentence
4. Post the 5th sentence on your blog.
5. Tag 5 people.

Well .... I'm reading Eclipse (again) by Stephenie Meyer ... page 123's 5th sentence reads...

"His dark eyes were critical of my reaction."

(that's not the most exciting sentence in the book ... Jacob is telling Bella about imprinting ... if you haven't read the Twilight series you really need to!)

So ... I tag Emily Hill, Becky, Tallie, Kara and ... um ...Bridget? (it's hard to think of 5 people when all your family has already been used ... I will COMPLETELY understand if you don't feel like playing tag)

Super Student

Linzi was nominated for student of the month this month! Yeah Linzi! We got to see her get the award in an assembly today. We are very proud of her and happy that she does a great job in school.

Baby Walk

Kate has gotten better and better everyday, and more brave! She tries to walk all the time ... it's fun to watch. We think she's pretty cute. I love this stage of baby development ... if only she would sleep through the night and quit nursing ... we'd feel pretty grown-up around here! (please pardon the mommy "baby talking" in the video ... you know you all do it too!)

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Oh Baby!

Welcome to our new nephew, Liam Asher Beecher.
He was born yesterday and weighed 8 lb. 13 oz.
Jessica is doing well, the labor went really fast!
He is very cute, and very tiny!
We're happy he's here.

Clean Streak

That is what I need to have. A clean streak. I really need to pick up around here! I don't think Tessa is in the sort of mood to be helpful, and Kate is extremely needy lately ... If I leave the room she cries. That's very frustrating. How can I get anything done with Kate screaming at my back? She just needs to get over it ... although I don't see that happening any time soon.

Oh well ... she's little, I guess I can understand her separation anxiety. I would love her to want to sit quietly and play! But alas, that is not happening .... at least today. I will have to settle for holding her and sporadically picking up when I get a random 5 minutes. No wonder this place is always messy.

Grrrrrr

We have a wireless mouse ...which, in general is fine.

But right now, it's threatening my sanity.

Is there such thing as a wireless mouse trap?

How can something so small, make me feel so crazy?

Humpback Sale

We were driving around Lacey yesterday and saw this sign. Now, it wasn't just this one, the neighborhood had probably 7 of these "speed hump" signs.

Generally, you see signs like these, but they say "speed bump."

The reason we found this odd, is because a few years ago, we were driving around downtown Puyallup and saw some speed hump signs, they were brand new. A few weeks later, we were driving in the same neighborhood, and the signs had been altered to have a sticker (the same exact color as the sign) put over the word "hump" to say instead, "bump." So people in downtown Puyallup had a problem with the word hump, but not bump. Interesting.

In general, I just think it's odd that these kinds of things aren't kept all the same. You'd think all signs like these would say either hump or all would say bump; not both. I wonder how a city chooses which phrase they'll use. Maybe the speed hump signs were on sale.

Cabela

So Cabela's is a sporting goods store. We went there today ... it's in Lacey (just north of Olympia ... 1/2 hour south of Tacoma) It was really huge, and in the middle of the store was an extremely large mountain covered in taxidermied animals. Mountain lions, bears, deer, elk, skunks, rams, prairie dogs ... a whole town of them, polar bear, seal, and others I cannot name because there were too many. (Linzi especially liked the fisher) They were standing all around with signs naming them, and the cold mountain animals were standing in snow, and the wolves were standing near a fallen deer with snarling faces, the polar bear was standing tall with it's paws and sharp claws out and a horrible look on it's face .... the girls LOVED it. Under the "mountain" was an aquarium "cave" with fish. Now this is all INSIDE this store. It was very interesting. Upstairs near the gun gallery (I'm smiling a sarcastic happy smile right now) was the safari taxidermied animals: zebra, elephant, lion, cheetah, rhino, baboon, and others .... There was also a restaurant, fudge factory (really good I might add!), clothes, shoes, tents, archery equipment, taxidermied geese hanging from the ceiling flying in a "V" formation ... (another smile) ... it was quite the place! The girls, luckily, didn't realize the guns and bows and other things were there, they were captivated by the carcasses.

(the fudge was REALLY good, and they sell pretzels that are so good too .... Matt took us there to buy me a Mother's Day gift. No, not a gun or fishing pole .... he bought me a light weight spring Northface coat! Nice hubby)

House of Cute Repute

These little daughters of mine are pretty cute. Here are the pictures of them from Saturday. (of course, as we were getting ready on Saturday afternoon, I didn't realize there were going to be pictures taken, so I let the kids kind of dress themselves. Tessa pulled out her hair and wore mismatched socks, Brielle just put a headband in her hair, Linzi wore sweats .... it was one of those days. I guess it just shows each of their personalities.)

The Company, They Sleep

Saturday, as we were driving to my mom's house for my grandma's birthday, this is the sight we saw in the car. Can you believe they were such sleepy heads? It's only a 20 minute drive ... and this is about 5 minutes into it. They must have gotten up too early (always). I think it's pretty funny .... Kate was the only one who stayed awake, but she also looked kind of dazed.

If only they would do this during the day at home, I might be able to get a nap once in a while. (a mom can only dream!)

(Tessa put her socks on ... and I didn't realize until later that it was one black and one blue ... cute girl!)

Born in the 20s!

Today is my Grandma Locke's 87th birthday. She has had a lot of birthdays! Yesterday all the family that is here (sorry Siri and Damon) got together and had a birthday dinner .... we took tons of pictures with Grandma which was nice. She was happy. (she told my mom that it has been her best birthday) I feel blessed that my children have gotten to know their great grandma also.

Grandma Locke was our candy and cookie grandma. She would always make yummy desserts for our birthdays. She also bought me my first set of scriptures when I was baptized. I can remember being sick and having to stay home from school, and getting to lay on her couch and she would bring me cereal or cinnamon and sugar toast or whatever I wanted on a tv tray. Whenever we would go to her house, we would eat candy and Fudgsicles and cookies .... it was always exciting! (maybe that's why I have such a sweet tooth today!) She had a really cool mug collection, and she loved to collect ducks. Every year for my birthday she made me cherry cheesecake because she knew it was my favorite! I still remember how much I always loved her laugh.

She's been a great grandma and I hope she has a great birthday!!

Gotta Love Those Pearly Whites

Kate cut another tooth this week. That makes a total of ..... 3 teeth!!! (she's almost 13 months old and only 3 teeth.) She has become very good at using the ones she has though ... when she puts food in her mouth, she uses her big front tooth and "bites" it. Pretty clever for a little girl!

(seriously, getting a picture of Kate when she ISN'T moving is nearly impossible. Sorry it's so blurry)

Book Review: Song of the Sparrow

Song of the Sparrow, Lisa Ann Sandell

This is an interesting book as well. This story, written in verse, is about Elaine (Elaine of Ascolat, Lady of Shallot ... there are other tales told of her) ... a 16 year old girl who lives in a camp with her father, brothers, and about 350 other soldiers .... included in that group are Arthur, Lancelot, Tristan and others. She has lived there for many years, since her mother's tragic death, and has become a dear friend to everyone in the camp. She believes she is in love with Lancelot, but when Gwynivere arrives at the camp, and Lancelot seems entranced, she knows that love may never be returned. So she concocts a plan that not only gets herself into grave danger, but also Gwynivere.

This is a quick read, but it held me captivated until the very end. It is interesting how the author, Lisa Ann Sandell took this familiar tale of Arthur and the knights of the round table, and turned it into something different but still familiar. I really enjoyed reading it.

Get Out of Bed, Sleepyhead!

So my kids go to bed at 7:00. (well, Kate doesn't, and Tessa only half the time) ... but the big girls, who go to school, do. Last night we had dinner at my Dad's house with Cori and her girls. On the weeknights that we have to do things, the girls obviously don't go to bed at 7.

So this morning, they woke up and looked like this. They did NOT want to get moving for the day. It took a little prodding to help them get ready and get to school. (we were on time though) Linzi looks especially haggard. They told me that they were too hot in the middle of the night and kept waking up. Whatever the cause, they will need to go to bed on time tonight!

(Matt has to teach .... maybe I can convince them to go to bed early! But that would be like 6:45 ... can you imagine sending your kids to bed before 7? I think it would be funny! They probably think it would be horrible) Just these faces prove to me that they do need lots of sleep.

(I'm pretty sure they're going to hate me in a few years for posting these here ... sorry girls!!)

Book Review: Wildwood Dancing

Wildwood Dancing, Juliet Marillier

This was a very INTERESTING book. Set in Transylvania, it is about a family of 5 daughters who live in a castle next to a wooded area. Each night of full moon, they open a portal to the other world where they dance the night away with fairies, gnomes, dwarfs, and all other kind of mystical creature. No one knows they go on this adventure every full moon, and they have done it for a long time, 9 years I think. Jenica, the 2nd oldest, is telling this story. She found a frog when they first started going to the dancing glade, and Gogu has become her best friend.

When their father becomes ill, and must spend the winter in a milder climate, Jenica takes charge of the family's merchant business, the family estate, and anything else that arises; but the overbearing power hungry cousin Cezar decides that he must be the one to take over and challenges Jenica's ability to do anything .... he believes women aren't capable of making rational decisions (which infuriates Jenica ... and Gogu for that matter). As the story progresses, several real problems arise, and Jenica is forced to try to figure out how to save her sister from a doomed true love, how to save the family castle and land from a power hungry cousin, and how to save her own best friend Gogu.

This book was good. I thought it was interesting how the author wove a story around the Transylvanian folklore and at times, couldn't put the book down. (it took me a while to read this though, because I got side tracked re-reading Twilight) I would definitely recommend this book ... it has no bad language or anything that wouldn't be acceptable for even teenagers to read.

Oh, What a Difference a Day Makes

This is what the entrance to our family room looks like this evening. Different, eh?

This is what it looked like before ... (ignoring, or course, the table with sewing stuff all over it)

Hopefully, soon, it will be back to having the wood on the walls and will look more "done," but for today, it's way different and exciting to think of what it will be when it's finished. (it's amazing how different it seems just having the sheet rock up .... we're used to the Craftsman style dark wood panelling and molding ... the sheet rock makes it look a lot "lighter." We're bringing back the original dark wood though ... this house needs to keep that character)

This and That

Last night we got to go and visit with our friends the Johnsons and Brooke and Sherm Stanley and their 2 boys. Brooke and Sherm are visiting from Utah. We had a really good time! The kids all played and we got to chat. It's funny when you haven't seen someone for a while, I actually forgot how much I liked them (I knew I liked them, I just forgot I liked them so much) Anyway, it was a nice evening.

Thanks Stanleys for letting us have a great visit!

Today my goal is to clean ... a lot. We'll see how I do. (the laundry is out of control, so I need to try to focus my attention in that area .... like I've said before, the laundry is my nemesis)

I'm Strawberry Cake?

You Are Strawberry Cake

Fresh, sassy, and romantic. You're a total flirt, who never would turn down a sugary treat. Occasionally you're a bit moody - but you usually stay sweet!

What Kind of Cake Are You?

Well I do love cake!!!

Let's Sleep On It

Well, apparently Kate has inherited Tessa's (and Matt's) ability to sleep anywhere. I think it's so weird how they can just fall asleep standing up. You would think that her little legs would get so relaxed that she would fall ...

Tessa did it, not that long ago (see Mr. Sandman, Bring Me a Bed) ... and today, I came out of the bathroom from washing my face and Kate was in this position, sound asleep.

It's pretty cute if you ask me. After I took the picture I picked her up and of course, she woke up ... but it was sweet while it lasted.

(we have the ottoman and bin in the doorway to keep Kate in the family room .... she was whining at me to come out when I was washing my face, and I guess got so tired that she had to just fall asleep ... she has been feeling yucky these past few days, so I guess that would make any baby feel especially tired!)

Everyone Loves a Good Date

Thanks to Aunt Karen ... Matt and I were able to go out of the house, for 4 hours, by ourselves! It was amazingly quiet. We told the girls we were going on a "date," and they thought that was funny. So we went to Costco, Olive Garden, and then to a movie. Costco, was just Costco. Olive Garden was very yummy (and the people in the table near us had 4 daughters around the ages of ours .... we thought that was funny). And the movie, 10,000 BC was just so-so. It was a movie I don't care to see again, and I feel like they probably wasted money making it ... but we did get out of the house without the kids, which was the main objective.

All in all, I am glad that Karen was able to waste a whole Saturday evening so we could go out on a "date!"

Thanks Karen!

Get to the Point

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Today we took an impromptu trip to Point Defiance with Cori and her girls, and Aunt Karen. It was so nice outside, so after school I called Cori and asked if they wanted to meet us there, and they did! It was so fun. The girls saw crabs, starfish, tons of rocks and shells, mussels, seaweed, sand shrimp, barnacles, boats, kites, ferries, and a rusty nail with a piece of wood (Brielle especially wanted me to add that one), and lots of lovely water. It was a good time!

I had a nice experience with a woman .... I had Kate on my back in the backpack, and was holding Tessa and Callie's hands and was walking toward everyone else who were up a ways ... an older woman ... (70-75 maybe) was sitting down on the rocks and asked if they were all mine ... I said 2 of them were. So she got very gushy and said oh that's so great, so sweet (she had some sort of an accent) and she said that her mother had 6 daughters. Then I told her I actually have 4 girls myself, and she jumped up and almost started crying and said that is so great, and gave me a huge hug (you all know how much I love hugs from strangers) and just kept telling me, "God bless you..." over and over, and then said, "you're Christian ..." and just kept blessing me ... and then I walked away (well, I waited until it was polite), and when I turned around she was gone.

Now I am not saying she just disappeared, but she kind of just did. It was really weird. Nice though, that she was happy about all the sweet girls!

All in all, we had a pleasant time at Owens Beach ... a tiny bit cold, but nice.

My Fair Katie

I just really love Kate today ... she's so cute! She has been standing all the time, and now has started to take steps. She's so tiny and is starting to walk ... it's so cute. I really love this girl.

Breaking Down the House

Last night Matt started on tearing down the facade between the family and dining rooms to be able to frame in the new french doors we're putting up. This is what it looks like right now. As he was pulling and things were cracking and breaking Tessa came up to me and said, "Mom, Dad's breaking the house." ... I thought that was cute. Now she's scared to walk between the two rooms because she thinks it's "scary" ... I guess the unfinished look of it makes her nervous. Hopefully by the end of Saturday it will look different!

Exciting! (Happy Birthday Jack!!)

Keep the Good Times Coming ... 100 Strong!

Well, there it is. The new couches, table, curtains, and lamp. I guess it's a whole "new" room. I really love it, but am still getting used to the difference. It's completely changed. Nice though. Now we just need to rip down the wood panelling and put in new insulation and sheet rock. And add the new windows and french doors to the entrance. That will take a little bit of time (and $$), but eventually it will be COMPLETELY new.

Man, redoing an old house is tiring, and I'm not even doing the work. Imagine how Matt must feel. (I think it's tiring on my part just dealing with it all)

Anyway ....

This is my 100th post!! That is exciting. I didn't even realize this until Cori pointed it out to me yesterday. So .... what do you do for a hundredth post? I'm not sure. I am definitely NOT going to list 100 things. I am not going to do 100 jumping jacks. I am not going to say "hoorah" 100 times. I will not post 100 pictures. I will not bake 100 cupcakes.

I guess I am just going to say, "yeah!" Hooray for the blog! I must be a big poster, because I've only just started this blog in February. So, here's to 100 more!

Pinkerooney

(Brielle chose that title ....) These girls just wanted you all to see them ready for bed. Cute I think! (they posed especially for this picture to be posted to the blog)

Deal of the Century!

Okay ... that may be overstating it, just a little bit, but it was a really good deal. I think it ended up being something like 85% off the original retail price. I can at least call it the deal of the week!

So we went to Mor Furniture last night in Renton, never been there before, and they had the perfect side table to go between the couches. It was WAY marked down because it had been a floor model. No scratches or anything wrong with it.

We like it. It has some sort of root wood inlaid in it .... it happened to be the perfect color too. It's always nice when you find just what you need and the perfect price too! (inexpensive is always the perfect price)

Free to be Me

Linzi has decided that she is a unique person. That's a good thing I think. Each day she chooses a specific outfit to wear, and each day has a different reason for wearing that outfit. Some of the choices I would rather not have her wear (like really big outdated overalls with the legs tucked into her shoes ... that was a couple weeks ago), but in general, I try to let her choose, because she is so specific with her style.

Today I found especially cute. She is wearing the skinny jeans, with Vans, and the coat was specifically put that way, not zipped, off the shoulders. The lunch bag had to be just the right length so it would hang that certain way.

I find it so interesting. Linzi is so far from what I am, that I often don't understand her. However, I do think it's good for her to be her own person. So I let her wear her outfits, I usually tell her she looks great, and once in a while, I exercise my authority as the parent and refuse to let her wear certain things. (like the dirty jacket that she had worn for days and days at home, and slept in)

I wonder what she'll choose to be when she's a teenager. (I cringe at the thought)

Emily, Happy to be 33!

(sorry, this isn't a great picture. it's from 2005 at my baby shower ... I was pregnant with Tess)

Happy happy birthday Emily dear

Happy days will come to you all year! (I hope)

If I had one wish that it would be

A happy happy birthday to you from me!

Emily, dear sister, I hope you have a great birthday! (Even though you're in Utah and not here ... so you may not even see this) Happy birthday! I love you!

Tessa's been Tagged!!

Well Tessa has been tagged by her cousin Eliza .... so here are 7 fun facts about Tessa Rose:

*She has a "fire" about her, and it shows through her eyes. She is always on the look out for something ... whether she knows what it is or not. And when she finds that special something, the fire in her burns and causes her to ignite whatever she found. (example: when she found yesterday that the new place for the rocking chair rocks into the window, she proceeded to rock and rock until the chair was banging the window with loud bangs and reverberated loudly throughout the room. )

*She is a natural born teaser. She bugs her sisters mercilessly, but when someone does something back to her, her tender heart is broken. (unfortunately, I think I did that when I was younger)

*She is very tender hearted. She is sweet and loving, and wears her emotions very close to the surface. She loves to be comforted when she has even a tiny scratch, she says she's "sick" when she wants attention so I'll hug her and ask her what's wrong, and she loves to sit in our laps.

*She is funny and makes the cutest faces. She loves to laugh and will say or do something she thinks is funny, and then looks around the room waiting for us all to laugh ... assuming everything she does is cute and worth the chuckle. Luckily, mostly it is ... she is very cute and always worth giggling over!

*She wants to be included in everything the big girls do, always. Whether it's reading or getting ready for school, she wants to be included. Most of the time, the big girls are kind enough to include her, and she is always pleased.

*She has particular taste about what she wears. I never know what that taste will be, day to day, but no matter what, everyday she wants specific things. I wonder what forms her opinions each day? And heaven forbid I try to get her to wear something she doesn't want to ... she will have a major fit!

*She loves to sing and dance. She will only dance if I am holding her or her hand, but wants to do it every time we hear music. She loves to sing too ... it's so cute how we'll be in the car and she will sing songs on our cd's that I didn't think she'd know ... (she'll be singing.."under my umbrella, ella, ella, ella, a, a, a, under my umbrella, ella, ella, a, a, a..." it's really adorable)

So that's Tessa Rose in a small nutshell. She is sweet and cute and we just love her!!

Now we tag Callie and Jack (again!)

Quietly Quilting

Well, the big girls have school today. We just got back from delivering them safely to a full day of fun! Tessa, Kate, and I will have a quiet day. I feel happy. Don't get me wrong, I love Brielle and Linzi, and they make the day fun and exciting, but when they are at school, it is quieter and less busy.

So now we're sitting here, wondering what we should do with our new found peace and quiet. I would love a nap. But I don't think Tess and Kate are quite ready for that. So we are going to get dressed and go to Joann's.

I've been working on a quilt that is almost done. I have done it completely in scraps. I didn't buy anything, but I decided that I need to buy a nice piece of flannel for the back. So we will go to Joann's to discover the lucky specimen.

It hasn't been ironed, and is obviously not finished, but I hope to finish it this week.