Clogged Toilet

So, about two weeks after we moved into our new house, the downstairs toilet was getting clogged, like, all of the time. It was really annoying. We thought we were going to need to get a new toilet. Well, the other day Chad put the little snake thing down the toilet and pulled out one of our cookie cutters!!! Oh, the joys of having kids! The toilet is perfect working order now. Thanks, Chad!

NKOTB

Last weekend Macy and I drove up to Chicago for the New Kids on the Block concert. We had a blast!! It was so much fun singing all of the old songs. Everyone in the arena knew all of the words. They sounded good, and it was a really entertaining concert. Our seats were better than expected, so we got some really good pictures. Donnie was as nasty as ever. The girls behind us were Donnie fans. Macy and I kept laughing every time people screamed for him. We did a lot of screaming and singing along. We had so much FUN!!!!! Most of the songs from their new album are pretty good. Natasha Bedingfield opened for them and she was really good too. So, about half way through the concert this girl sitting next to me is not feeling well. She has her head down, covering her ears. I'm pretty sure she was drunk. I just kept thinking, Why don't you go out in the hall or the bathroom. Well, she started to look like she might get sick, so I move my purse and stuff and start moving away from her. At the end of the concert she puked. Nasty! It got on my shoe, purse and jeans. It wasn't a ton, but still.

How did she Know?

So, Chad was totally joking around with Heidi and asked if she did anything bad at school. She said no. He then told her that she better fess up because her teacher called and told him what she had done, which was a total lie. Heidi responded with a question, "How did she know?" At this point, Chad and I laughing so hard and wondering what she is going to fess up to. It ended up that she accidentally pulled some kids hair while she was trying to grab her chair. What a naguhty girl, huh? Chad told he was kidding, but thanked her for telling the truth. Funny kids!

I'm a new aunt

Ben's wife, Jocelyn, just had twins on Friday! They are so cute and they don't look alike, so it will be easy to tell them apart. I'm just so excited for them and wish I could see and hold the boys. I don't know when I will get the chance to see them.

I wanted to see the mailman

Macy was babysitting my kids today while we moved. I was informed that Noah walked in the street to follow the mail man. Macy said he was ready to climb into the mail truck when she saw him. He is obsessed with the mail man. He often gets upset if the mail LADY delivers our mail. I was explaining to him that you can't get into other people's cars. Macy told him that maybe the mail man would take him and he would never see his family again. His response was, "Maybe he would mail me to my mommy." He's a clever one.

Must Love Cats

I just won concert tickets to Dave Matthews Band bec. I knew that "Must love cats" is something that men don't want to read in a personal ad. I never win things! I'm super excited! I was washing dishes and heard the trivia question "What is the phrase women should not use in a personal ad", and at first thought the answer was "great personality", but as people were calling in their answers, the dj's said that it was not something that describes them, and I knew it had to be "must love cats". I didn't even know what the prize was-if I had known it was Dave Matthews tickets, I probably wouldn't have called. I don't really care for people who dump feces on people. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3597180.stm

Chad really likes them, so that's good. Thanks to good ol' Magic 95.1 !!

We went swimming last night

Yesterday morning Noah came running out of his room, all excited, and told me, with a big smile on his face, "My shorts are wet because we went swimming last night." He came closer, and his shorts were indeed soaked, and reeked of urine. I explained that he must have had a dream about swimming, but he was positive that he went swimming and that I was wrong. I asked where he went swimming. In a "duh, mom" voice he answered, "Indiana Beach." I told him we didn't go there yesterday and he looked very confused when he realized that I was right because he was just sure he had been swimming and that's why his shorts were wet. He's so cute.

Rain or Bugs?

You're driving down the road on a warm summer evening, you watch the lightning bugs light up over the fields and you hear what seems like the beginning of a rain shower. It sounds as if it is starting to sprinkle, yet there is not a cloud in the sky. What could it be? -- Bugs hitting your windshield-NASTY! There are so many bugs here! The mosquitoes have been so thick this summer. We are being eaten alive!

There's more than corn in Indiana...

At Indiana Beach. We had a blast at Indiana Beach last Friday. I love that place! I always feel a little nostalgic when there. Some great memories have been created for me at Indiana Beach.-- Being smashed by Ben on the Scrambler and Music Express bec. he lied to me about which side to sit on, Riding the orange Octopus, holding on so tight on the Tig'rr that marks were left on my arms every time, listening to Dad laugh his head off on the Double Shot because he was so scared, getting kicked off of the Antique Cars with Stephanie, and so many more. We went as a family when I was a kid, and it was always great. Just seeing the Tilt-A-Whirl makes me crack up and think of Stephanie yelling, "Do you have my glasses? and "I've gotta try." Unfortunately, two of my favorite rides were not there. Well, Chaos is no longer there and The Falling Star was out of service all day. The kids had a great time, and they went on some of the big rides, and neither one was scared. Brave little boogers. It was just a great day!

Ramack Obacka

Well, the media must be doing a good job... Heidi heard Barack Obama's name on the radio and recognized his name and knew that she had seen him on TV. She knew that he had something to do with being president. She couldn't quite say his name, though. It came out at Ramack Obacka. Crazy! I've got a couple of stories about the boys too. Owen has obviously seen his brother and sister spend a lot of time in the corner. My mom was joking around and told him to go to the corner, and he did it. It's pretty cute to see.
The other night I said something about how I received the Holy Ghost after baptism and Noah said he did too. I explained that he hadn't yet, bec. he hasn't been baptized. He got a little upset with me and said, "I can feel him in my heart!" They are great kids!

Christian Radio

On Saturday we went to Lafayette (about a two hour drive) for my great aunt and uncle's anniversary party. Mom and Dad went too. On the way the home, Dad rode with us. He told Chad and I that on the drive there he had the radio on a Christian station because they had hymns playing, and he said, "And I thought Car wouldn't yell at me if we were listening to hymns. It worked for a while." Dad always makes us laugh.

The Cubbies at Wrigley Field

Yesterday Chad and I had an awesome day in Chicago. We drove up and parked on the north side of town and got on the L and headed toward Wrigley Field. We had a great walk to the staduim. We ate at a pizza place before the Cubs game started. It was my first Cubs game. Chad went to a couple of games as a kid, when they were on vacation, visiting his grandparents in Chicago. We bought Cubs shirts for each other, so we were all set. It was just tons of fun! It was a nice relaxing day, just enjoying each other's company. The Cubs even won! I didn't know they ever did that. I'll get some pictures posted later-we had really good seats. Go Cubbies!!

Bellagio Bread

Last month I took a trip to Las Vegas/Salt Lake with all of my sisters to go wedding dress shopping with Whitley. We ate at the Bellagio buffet one night and it was super good. I ate more than I've ever eaten in my life. Macy was kind of enough to pay for me, and it was expensive, so I wanted her to get her moneys worth. I got this bread every time I got a new plate. They all made fun of me, but it was delicious! I love bread!!!!!

Warm weather and Sanity

I'm so happy that it is nice enough for the kids to play outside. It keeps me sane. Today, while they played outside, I was able to make a batch of cookies without any interruptions. It was great!

My baby sister is Engaged!

Whitley got engaged over the weekend! His name is Brent and he's from Grand Rapids. They are getting married in Chicago in August. Crazy, stuff. When she moved in August, she said that she didn't want to get married for a long time, and that she wanted to date a bunch. So, I didn't figure she would be making wedding plans so soon. All of us girls are going out to Utah to go wedding dress shopping with her. It should be fun. We leave early Wednesday morning. Heidi is going too and she is going to stay with Chad's parents in Sandy. She is really excited!

What can I say? I'm a slut

Yep, that's what Heidi said during Family Home Evening tonight. Chad asked where she heard it and she said on Arthur. I told her that I didn't think they said that on there and she said it was a commercial that was on before Arthur. What she meant to say was, SLOTH. It was an ad for a show with a sloth on it-Big Tree or Big World, something like that.

First Crush

My little Heidi girl is getting too big!! She has a crush on my cousin's fiance. She has this little planner that she uses as a "journal" and she tells me what she writes about. The other day she told me that she wrote "Eric is so cute" in her journal. Too funny. Then, she said, "Next time we go to Great Grandma's house, if Eric is there, I'm going to dress really pretty." My first crush was either Don Johnson or Bo Duke. I still love Dukes of Hazzard. That is some great television programming!

Silverware Engineer

The other day the kids were getting anxious for Chad to get home from work. Heidi said," Sometimes he has to make a lot of silverware and he has to work late." I said," WHAT?" Then, she goes," Dad told me that's what his job is. He makes silverware." It was pretty funny. Chad is a software engineer, not a silverware engineer.

End of the Parade

Today has been stressful. Owen kept getting into things, Heidi and Noah have been fighting, I dumped pumpkin pie on the floor, and then there is all the "poopiness" that seems to happen when you have three small children. Without going into details, today I felt like the pooper scoopers at the end of a parade.
Valentine's day was fun. We spent the evening prepping the kitchen for painting. Chad got me little pizza pans, but we used them to make cookie monsters-like what you get at Cheddar's. It was fabulous!

Bedroom or Bathroom?

I wish I had a picture to show all of you. Mom and I went and looked at a house in Zanesville, which turned out to be a more decent town than expected. Anyhow, this house we looked at had a shower in the bedroom-yes just a freestanding bathtub/shower in the corner. It was so bizarre!!

I just burpied

Okay, so this is kind of gross, but pretty funny. That's how I preface a lot of stories that I tell about my kids. Noah brought his diaper to me. It had "skidmarks" in it. I asked if he pooped in his diaper and his reply was, "No, I just burpied." YUCK! He's a little confused about his bodily functions.

Adoption

So, some of you know that we are going to adopt our next child. We did all of the paper work and had our profile available to birth mothers for about a month, and then we found out that I was pregnant with Owen. So, we had to put everything on hold. When Owen turns 1 ( in March) we can resume with the process. I just thought I would try to explain our desire for adopting. It's hard to put into words why, exactly, we want to do this.
The more I read and understand adoption, the reason I want to adopt is becoming as much for the birth mother as it is for the child. We want to adopt a child that is not as likely to be adopted by someone else. Most people adopting want a white infant. We are open to a child of any race and one that might be a little bit older. The older a child gets, the less likely they are to be adopted. I think foster care is one of the saddest things. Children want a permanent home. I would love to adopt a teenager or sibling group (because those are the least likely to be adopted), but we were counseled that if you have children already, it doesn't create a good situation to adopt children older than the children you have. Also, we don't have the finances to adopt more than one child right now. As I hear birth mother stories I realize how tough and truly gut wrenching it must be to decide to allow someone else to raise the child that you carry for nine months and give birth to. I've heard them say that of course they wanted to keep their babies, but they also realized that they didn't have the resources to raise the child-whether that means money, maturity, a stable home... Most of the birth mothers that I've heard speak, say, in the end, they didn't feel like it was their child.
And on the other end-adoptive fathers. Most are hesitant. They don't think they could love a child that isn't biologically created by them. That's pretty understandable. BUT I've heard them say, as soon as they held the baby, they knew that was THEIR child. Adoption is so amazing. I know there will be challenges, but I'm excited. I truly believe that adoption is brought to us from God. I believe that some children are born into their families and others are adopted into their families. People think that being blood related is so important, but I'll tell you what -there are plenty of people who are blood related who just plain don't like each other.