Could people please stop complaining about misbehaving children on planes?! If you don't want to fly with kids, drive. And do these people think that parents ENJOY flying with their young children? Seven hours of being trapped on an airplane with your little ones is stressful and add that you had to show up early to the airport and possibly a long drive to the airport and probably had a "fun" layover for a couple of hours with sleep deprived kiddos... what do people expect from the parents and the kids? People often mention having an annoying child kick the back of their seat and that the parent LET the child do it. Really? I bet that kid's mom gave her a tutorial on how to kick the seat at just the right angle. Come on! Obviously, I don't want my children to annoy me or other passengers during a flight, but it's likely to happen given the unpleasant circumstances.
How about instead of offering nasty glares, rude blogs and "so annoyed" tweets, we offer assistance. Ask the parent if it's okay for the child to play with something from your bag, tell a story, offer your phone or some candy.... Ask the parents what you can do to help because you see that they have an energetic child who has nowhere to run and play! The parents are likely to say there is nothing you can do, but how much better they will feel knowing that someone was supportive instead of judgemental. Get over yourself- kids gotta fly too!
Thursday, October 2, 2014
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Assistance Dog
Check out this page to help a woman with Spastic Quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy. Brook and I went to high school together and she is working toward getting a dog trained to be her assistance dog. Please help her if you can and please pass this along to others who might be interested in helping her reach her goal.
http://www.gofundme.com/helpharperhelpme
http://www.gofundme.com/helpharperhelpme
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Best Winter Ever
This winter has been so wonderful! I love that there was snow on the ground every single day in January. Being cold is not my thing, but when we have such a beautiful snow covered landscape, I seem to be able to cope with the snow just fine. I know that a lot of people have had some major headaches caused by this harsh winter and they are looking forward to spring making an appearance. We've been blessed in our home and haven't lost power, had frozen pipes, missed vacation... Part of what makes this inclimate weather easier for me to enjoy is the fact that I'm a stay at home mom and don't have to leave the house every day. The bad roads aren't really getting in the way of my plans. I'm not having to scramble for child care because of school cancellations. Bundling up kids every single day would get annoying fast. I understand the frustrations that many are having. For me, this winter is what I wish we had every year. It's been great having the kids home from school! (I'm trying to not think about being in school half way through the summer.) I love that we've been able to do so much sledding! Most winters you have to go sledding as soon as it snows because you don't know how long it will stay cold. We usually seem to get snow, then get a warm up for a couple days and all the snow melts. I love snow and am grateful to live in a place where we have 4 wonderful seasons. Spring will come. I will welcome the blossoms and the green, but for now I am soaking up these snowed in days while watching the snowflakes fall so beautifully!
Friday, October 4, 2013
If I Lose 15 Pounds, I'll have so many More Friends!
Does this make me look fat? I hope women can learn to stop asking that question. It's something I'm working on. I struggled with my self image for a long time because of weight, my looks, and other issues. Today, I am at a much, much better place than I was many years ago. My husband is awesome and has only made me feel beautiful. Even when I was 9 months pregnant (all 4 times) he still wanted to snuggle with me and smack my behind and tell me how good I looked. He never expected me to lose the baby weight within a set period of time. He just loves me. I'm very blessed in that way!
As a kid I was a small to average sized girl until about age 16. Steadily, I gained weight and was much bigger than I wanted to be. Looking back, I now see that I wasn't huge, but I sure felt like I was. As a cheerleader, I was definitely bigger than the other girls on the squad. It really stunk when the super skinny girls would stand in front of the mirror and say, "I'm so fat." I'd think, "Wow, if you think your're fat, what are you thinking when you look at me?" You know they were just fishing for compliments and assurances that they weren't fat. I was a punk and would respond by telling them they could exercise more if they felt like they needed to lose weight. Rude! Anyhow... Aside from me having extra weight, I also was no head turner. My parents allowed me to date when I turned 16. My birthday couldn't come soon enough!!! Well, it turned out to not be so great. No boys asked me out. I finally went on my first date 3 months after turning 16, but it was just with one of my best friends, so it didn't really count. For the next 2 years I mostly just went on dates with guy friends and I didn't have any boys reciprocate my feelings of "like" toward them.
My Junior year of high school I attempted to lose weight by changing my diet. This probably went on for a year. Most days I ate Toasty Oats for breakfast, 1/2 of a plain bagel and some skim milk for lunch, and a snack after school. I generally didn't eat supper, or not much of it. I logged all of my calories and fat grams. Recently I read in my journal where I wrote, " I had 14 grams of fat today. I'm such a pig." I wish nobody ever felt this way. My obsession with all things Hollywood probably didn't help me build my self worth either! So, these are just some of the things that contributed to me feeling fat and ugly.
My first baby was born a year and half after my husband and I were married. As most pregnant women, I too, did not like gaining all of that weight. I was obsessed with losing the weight after she was born. By obsessed, I mean I complained about being fat, but did nothing productive to lose the weight. Somehow, I got back down to my pre-pregnancy weight, and then kept losing weight. I was skinnier than I had ever been. The lower weight was welcomed by me! I loved being skinny and having people tell me how good I looked. ( Now, I'm at a place where praise like that doesn't matter.) I had two more babies and the same thing happened. Then, I had baby #4 and I turned 30. I swear the day that I turned 30 my body changed in many ways! My baby is nearly 2 and I have yet to return to my skinny clothes. I never thought I'd be this way, but most of the time, I really don't care.
I used to feel the need to look my best, no matter where I was going or what activity I was doing. I needed makeup on and hair fixed. I was worried about what people thought about my double chin. What if someone saw me doing yard work with messy hair?! If my double chin was gone, how would that improve my life?! It took a long time, but in my late twenties, I came to the realization that most people are not looking at my hair, clothes, shoes, extra gut rolls or make up. And so what if they think I have on ugly shoes? I can't live my life with the goal of looking good so that others will think highly of me. Following Christ is my main goal. Clothes, weight, looks.. these things are so trivial when looking at the big picture. After I came to this realization, I did not gain 60 pounds, stop brushing my hair or stop wearing make up. I love cute clothes, jewelry, pretty shoes and looking good. I did however, come to a point where I now feel like it is okay to throw on a hat and some sweats to head to a garage sale. Bed head in the carpool line is just fine. In the past when I had bad hair days, it seriously frustrated me. Now, if it happens, I have an attitude of " oh well". It is so liberating to let go of those feelings. I don't want to constantly think about what someone else might think about me- good or bad. It's so UNimportant, not to mention exhausting!
I'm not at a perfect place, I still concentrate on looks more than I'd like. There are still days when I feel especially fat and let it get me down. I hate feeling this way. I couldn't care less if someone has frizzy hair or is obese, so why do I care if my thighs jiggle when I walk?!
As a kid I was a small to average sized girl until about age 16. Steadily, I gained weight and was much bigger than I wanted to be. Looking back, I now see that I wasn't huge, but I sure felt like I was. As a cheerleader, I was definitely bigger than the other girls on the squad. It really stunk when the super skinny girls would stand in front of the mirror and say, "I'm so fat." I'd think, "Wow, if you think your're fat, what are you thinking when you look at me?" You know they were just fishing for compliments and assurances that they weren't fat. I was a punk and would respond by telling them they could exercise more if they felt like they needed to lose weight. Rude! Anyhow... Aside from me having extra weight, I also was no head turner. My parents allowed me to date when I turned 16. My birthday couldn't come soon enough!!! Well, it turned out to not be so great. No boys asked me out. I finally went on my first date 3 months after turning 16, but it was just with one of my best friends, so it didn't really count. For the next 2 years I mostly just went on dates with guy friends and I didn't have any boys reciprocate my feelings of "like" toward them.
My Junior year of high school I attempted to lose weight by changing my diet. This probably went on for a year. Most days I ate Toasty Oats for breakfast, 1/2 of a plain bagel and some skim milk for lunch, and a snack after school. I generally didn't eat supper, or not much of it. I logged all of my calories and fat grams. Recently I read in my journal where I wrote, " I had 14 grams of fat today. I'm such a pig." I wish nobody ever felt this way. My obsession with all things Hollywood probably didn't help me build my self worth either! So, these are just some of the things that contributed to me feeling fat and ugly.
My first baby was born a year and half after my husband and I were married. As most pregnant women, I too, did not like gaining all of that weight. I was obsessed with losing the weight after she was born. By obsessed, I mean I complained about being fat, but did nothing productive to lose the weight. Somehow, I got back down to my pre-pregnancy weight, and then kept losing weight. I was skinnier than I had ever been. The lower weight was welcomed by me! I loved being skinny and having people tell me how good I looked. ( Now, I'm at a place where praise like that doesn't matter.) I had two more babies and the same thing happened. Then, I had baby #4 and I turned 30. I swear the day that I turned 30 my body changed in many ways! My baby is nearly 2 and I have yet to return to my skinny clothes. I never thought I'd be this way, but most of the time, I really don't care.
I used to feel the need to look my best, no matter where I was going or what activity I was doing. I needed makeup on and hair fixed. I was worried about what people thought about my double chin. What if someone saw me doing yard work with messy hair?! If my double chin was gone, how would that improve my life?! It took a long time, but in my late twenties, I came to the realization that most people are not looking at my hair, clothes, shoes, extra gut rolls or make up. And so what if they think I have on ugly shoes? I can't live my life with the goal of looking good so that others will think highly of me. Following Christ is my main goal. Clothes, weight, looks.. these things are so trivial when looking at the big picture. After I came to this realization, I did not gain 60 pounds, stop brushing my hair or stop wearing make up. I love cute clothes, jewelry, pretty shoes and looking good. I did however, come to a point where I now feel like it is okay to throw on a hat and some sweats to head to a garage sale. Bed head in the carpool line is just fine. In the past when I had bad hair days, it seriously frustrated me. Now, if it happens, I have an attitude of " oh well". It is so liberating to let go of those feelings. I don't want to constantly think about what someone else might think about me- good or bad. It's so UNimportant, not to mention exhausting!
I'm not at a perfect place, I still concentrate on looks more than I'd like. There are still days when I feel especially fat and let it get me down. I hate feeling this way. I couldn't care less if someone has frizzy hair or is obese, so why do I care if my thighs jiggle when I walk?!
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Salt in His Shoes
The kids have been doing some funny things that I wanted to write down. Owen has had a crush on a girl at church, who is now 22. He used to sit with her at church and get excited to see her. He says they are just buddies, but she recently got married and he had some interesting things to say about that. She moved to Arkansas, which is where her husband is from. When I told Owen that she was moving, he rolled his eyes and said, "Just as I knew it! They have to move to where HE is from." I had their wedding announcement on the fridge and when I took it down, he said, "Good, you took it down. Now I don't have to look at his face." What a punk! He said he was just kidding. Yeah, right!
Noah just told me that he had a tear in his eye when he finished his math test today because he was so happy that he finally passed the subtraction set he had been working on. Noah is my sensitive one. We were talking to him about how when he gets older he won't like stuffed animals anymore. That made him cry. He said he didn't want to to think about a time when he wouldn't like his stuffed toys because he just loves them so much.
Emmy has been barking. Yep, she stands at the door and barks because she wants to go outside to see the neighbor's dogs. She barks at dogs on TV, in photos and barks at her stuffed dog. We showed the kids pictures from our Barbados trip and there were tortoises in one photo. Heidi and Owen, separately, asked if we rode them. Goofs! Owen put salt in his tennis shoes this morning because his friend told him that he read in a book that Micheal Jordan could dunk because he put salt in his. Owen tested it and he came in excited, and said that he was really close to dunking, but not quite there. Heidi doesn't really too much silly stuff, she is a smart aleck, though. She makes some good jokes. She does get emotional when tired and usually laughs at herself the next day for being so ridiculous. Things have been busy, but getting better. I worked part time for 2 months at the Brownstone in South Whitley, but am done with that, and I'm now focusing on Rolling Pin Bakehouse. The kids are doing swim lessons, but no other sports this summer. I think it will be pretty enjoyable to have more free time. Things are coming together for my bakery. I have a hearing with the zoning board next week. Hopefully, I get approved and get some more customers in the future.
Noah just told me that he had a tear in his eye when he finished his math test today because he was so happy that he finally passed the subtraction set he had been working on. Noah is my sensitive one. We were talking to him about how when he gets older he won't like stuffed animals anymore. That made him cry. He said he didn't want to to think about a time when he wouldn't like his stuffed toys because he just loves them so much.
Emmy has been barking. Yep, she stands at the door and barks because she wants to go outside to see the neighbor's dogs. She barks at dogs on TV, in photos and barks at her stuffed dog. We showed the kids pictures from our Barbados trip and there were tortoises in one photo. Heidi and Owen, separately, asked if we rode them. Goofs! Owen put salt in his tennis shoes this morning because his friend told him that he read in a book that Micheal Jordan could dunk because he put salt in his. Owen tested it and he came in excited, and said that he was really close to dunking, but not quite there. Heidi doesn't really too much silly stuff, she is a smart aleck, though. She makes some good jokes. She does get emotional when tired and usually laughs at herself the next day for being so ridiculous. Things have been busy, but getting better. I worked part time for 2 months at the Brownstone in South Whitley, but am done with that, and I'm now focusing on Rolling Pin Bakehouse. The kids are doing swim lessons, but no other sports this summer. I think it will be pretty enjoyable to have more free time. Things are coming together for my bakery. I have a hearing with the zoning board next week. Hopefully, I get approved and get some more customers in the future.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Lots Goin' On
Emmy is cracking me up right now- she has a kleenex and keeps blowing her nose. So cute! She's doing better than her older brothers who use their sleeves! Owen lost his first tooth this morning at 6. Pretty exciting! So, our dryer has been on the fritz for about a week. We wanted to get it fixed before Chad and I leave on vacation, so Chad worked from home today and the repairman came. $88 and 15 min to find an old gift card, from some boy's pocket, stuck in the blower. I've got a guess as to which little boy forgot to empty his "credit card" from his pocket. Chad says we need to cut all of the pockets out of his jeans. Is there anything these kids won't break/ruin?! Heidi's school got to talk to the commander of the international space station. He got to choose one school out of the entire country! We just watched a video from the space station about a month ago and watched the space station zoom across the sky, before we knew that her school was going to talk to him. So, the boys were excited for her, but a bit jealous too. The commander is a Hoosier- gotta represent!! We've been busy trying to get things going with our businesses and get vacation stuff squared away and work. I'm ready to relax on the beaches of Barbados!!
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
Kickstarter and Rolling Pin Bakehouse
It was recently brought to my attention that I need to file an appeal to the zoning board in order to continue operating Rolling Pin Bakehouse. You can read more about it through the link below and find out how you can help! THANK YOU!!!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rollingpinbakehouse/rolling-pin-bakehouse
Friday, January 18, 2013
Rolling Pin Bakehouse
Rolling Pin Bakehouse is a new home based bakery I've started at my home near Roanoke, Indiana. As a home based bakery, l offer homemade deliciousness that customers can order by email or phone and then pick up by appointment at my roadside stand, located at 14401 Winters Rd- Roanoke. Pick-up is available Monday-Saturday, by appointment.
Our web address is www.rollingpinbakehouse.com and we can be found on Facebook and Google +
Our phone number is 260-918-3376
There was a short write up about the bakery in the Ft. Wayne Journal Gazette earlier this week. (Scroll down to NEW RESTAURANTS) http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20130116/FEAT/301169994/1011/FEAT
Hopefully, I am getting my name out there. I've had a couple of orders, but no booming business yet. We just got the website completed about 2 weeks ago. Chad did an EXCELLENT job with that! We'll see how things go!!
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
December has been a busy one. We start off with Chad's birthday, then there is all of the busyness that comes with Christmas time. I had a couple of baking orders. I actually made 21 dozen Raspberry Half Moons in one week. Yeah, I'm trying to start a home based bakery. We'll see if Rolling Pin Bakehouse takes off.
So, here are a few cute/funny things my stinkers have done lately. Heidi was trying to cut a tag off of a new shirt. She was wearing the shirt and the tag was hanging from the underarm. I look over to see her holding a large chef's knife, going toward her underarm. I don't know what goes through her head sometimes! That girl is book smart, but still needs to work on common sense stuff!!! The boys both wore their suits to school last Friday because they wanted to look nice for their school Christmas parties. Too cute! Christmas night Owen was having trouble going to bed. Hoping to calm him down, I told him he could pick a new toy to sleep with. Instead of choosing a toy, he asked if I would sleep with him. He's so sweet! I laid in bed with him and Noah for a little while, and he was pretty sad when I got out.
The kids did an awesome job today of helping get the house back in order. We are having a Surprise birthday party for Noah tomorrow, so I needed to do some major after-Christmas clean up. I can't wait to see his face. He's going to love it!!!! Little Emmy is still not walking. We got her a walker toy that will hopefully help her out. She has got the cutest toothy smile! She is such a joy! Heidi received about 20 books for Christmas. She is a happy girl! When we saw Santa, she asked for books, Owen asked for 100 bucks and Noah asked for, what else, Legos. Sadly, Owen did not get his Christmas wish! We gave Heidi a corner reading chair that I bought at a garage sale back in the summer. I think we'll get our money's worth on it! Chad got me a garbage disposal- I'm super duper excited to get it installed. My grandma gave us all family heirlooms. It was pretty awesome! All of the women got antique dishes that are really gorgeous. My dad got some tool used with flax that has been in our family since 1790!! Chad's grandma also gave us family heirloom items that are pretty cool. It was a great Christmas! Now we get to look forward to the annual New Year's Eve party with Knecht's!
So, here are a few cute/funny things my stinkers have done lately. Heidi was trying to cut a tag off of a new shirt. She was wearing the shirt and the tag was hanging from the underarm. I look over to see her holding a large chef's knife, going toward her underarm. I don't know what goes through her head sometimes! That girl is book smart, but still needs to work on common sense stuff!!! The boys both wore their suits to school last Friday because they wanted to look nice for their school Christmas parties. Too cute! Christmas night Owen was having trouble going to bed. Hoping to calm him down, I told him he could pick a new toy to sleep with. Instead of choosing a toy, he asked if I would sleep with him. He's so sweet! I laid in bed with him and Noah for a little while, and he was pretty sad when I got out.
The kids did an awesome job today of helping get the house back in order. We are having a Surprise birthday party for Noah tomorrow, so I needed to do some major after-Christmas clean up. I can't wait to see his face. He's going to love it!!!! Little Emmy is still not walking. We got her a walker toy that will hopefully help her out. She has got the cutest toothy smile! She is such a joy! Heidi received about 20 books for Christmas. She is a happy girl! When we saw Santa, she asked for books, Owen asked for 100 bucks and Noah asked for, what else, Legos. Sadly, Owen did not get his Christmas wish! We gave Heidi a corner reading chair that I bought at a garage sale back in the summer. I think we'll get our money's worth on it! Chad got me a garbage disposal- I'm super duper excited to get it installed. My grandma gave us all family heirlooms. It was pretty awesome! All of the women got antique dishes that are really gorgeous. My dad got some tool used with flax that has been in our family since 1790!! Chad's grandma also gave us family heirloom items that are pretty cool. It was a great Christmas! Now we get to look forward to the annual New Year's Eve party with Knecht's!
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Little Owey
Owen can be such a sweetheart. He is sometimes very helpful and skips around asking what he can help with next. He will say I love you out of the blue. He loves to snuggle. He is often frustrating to me also. I commonly hear "I don't have to if I don't want to. No, I'm not going to...."
He started Kindergarten this year and I figured he would do fine because he has been going to church his whole life and is always good for teachers there. Kindergarten has been the same. His teacher says he's a joy. He follows all of the rules, works hard... He's just so up and down at home. I know that he understands our rules and why we have them. He just has a hard time controlling his emotions and making good choices at home. He sometimes shocks me! Yesterday he was asking everyone what their biggest dream is. Heidi said she wants to go to every amusement park in the world. Noah said he wants to be Anakin Skywalker. Owen said, " My biggest dream is to be with my whole family and Heavenly Father and Jesus." What a sweet, sweet boy I have. I need to remember this next time I want to ring his little neck because he's refusing to put clothes on for school.
He started Kindergarten this year and I figured he would do fine because he has been going to church his whole life and is always good for teachers there. Kindergarten has been the same. His teacher says he's a joy. He follows all of the rules, works hard... He's just so up and down at home. I know that he understands our rules and why we have them. He just has a hard time controlling his emotions and making good choices at home. He sometimes shocks me! Yesterday he was asking everyone what their biggest dream is. Heidi said she wants to go to every amusement park in the world. Noah said he wants to be Anakin Skywalker. Owen said, " My biggest dream is to be with my whole family and Heavenly Father and Jesus." What a sweet, sweet boy I have. I need to remember this next time I want to ring his little neck because he's refusing to put clothes on for school.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Revelations
So, I've grown up hearing stories from my grandma, aunt and uncles about the mean things my dad did as a kid . I've known him for 30 years and I know that he is a little mean spirited at times. We all laugh when someone trips or falls, but with my dad it's a little more sinister when he's laughing at others misfortunes. Like the time he laughed hysterically after nailing me in the jaw with a softball when I was 10. The stories I've heard are usually about normal mean brother things, like putting a spinning propeller in his little sister's hair. BUT today there were new revelations into the mind of Ross. My dad, his brother and their friends were hanging out in a friend's barn -and as any good barn has, there was a rope hanging down. Well, my dad decided to tie a noose. I'd like to know how and why my dad knew how to tie a noose! He then convinced his OLDER brother to step up on the crate and put the noose around his neck. All of the boys were just laughing and laughing as my uncle's face turned red. Thankfully, the one boy's father came out and rescued him. After hearing this, all I could say was,Wow!
Monday, August 13, 2012
New York, Niagara and Ninjas
We recently took a trip to Western New York to visit Niagara Falls and church historical sites in Palmyra. We drove to Rochester, about an eight hour drive, without incident. The kids only needed restroom breaks twice-when we ate lunch and when we got gas. Easy enough. The drive back was not so nice. Noah is obsessed with bathrooms. It's really weird. If he hears the word bathroom, he suddenly must empty his bladder. We were at a building that had nice, clean bathrooms inside, but also had port a potties outside. He saw the port -a- potty first, so he ran to it. GROSS!!! The hotel was nice. There was a pool and a hot tub, so we hung out there for a while, then headed to bed. The next morning, we headed to the Peter Whitmer farm and church building in Waterloo, which was an adorable town! Then it was off to Palmyra for a full day of sights. It was 100 degrees, and HUMID. We hung out in the Book of Mormon publishing building for a while because it was air conditioned. We had lunch at a pavillion by the stake center, then went to the Smith family homes and Sacred Grove. The kids were so wild, I wasn't sure if they were listening to anything that was said. They have been talking about it, though, and get excited when they see pictures in the back of their Book of Mormon from the places that we visited. We set up camp in the stinkin' hot weather, then drove out to save our seats at the Pageant on Hill Cumorah. We bought supper there and ate outside, then hung out at the Visitor's center and enjoyed the air conditioning before the start of the Pageant. It was a great presentation.
Our camp site was interesting. There wasn't anyone there when we arrived. It was just an open field at the 4-H Fair grounds. The website said they had showers. So, Wednesday morning I headed to the showers with my clean clothes and towel. The first shower I turned on had no hot water, neither did the other two! When you turned the hot water knob, no water even came out! I was an unhappy camper. It had been so hot the day before-there was no way I could skip a shower. BRRRRRR! We drove to the top of Hill Cumorah Wednesday morning. The time spent in Palmyra was really great.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Time?
Summer is approaching, and our calendar is not lacking. With all of the outside work that comes with warm weather, and all of the fun stuff there is to do during the summer, it makes it hard to keep up with everyday inside chores. How do people live in warm climates year round? I rather enjoy when Jan/Feb come and we have a bit of a lull in extra activities.
Lately we have been busy with Noah's baseball games and practices. The other night Chad told him to throw the ball quicker during the game and he asked, "Won't that make the game go by faster?" He finally got to be catcher tonight. He has been talking about it since the season started. I was pretty excited for him! Owen is going to play soccer later in the Summer. He has been practicing at home. He has never played before, so we'll see if he enjoys it. Heidi is also going to play soccer for the first time. Heidi was tested and recommended for a special school program that is for kids that learn faster. So, she will be going to a different school in the Fall. She is kind of sad to leave her friends, but she is good at making friends, so I'm not too worried. I think she will benefit from this schooling. If it doesn't seem to be a good fit, we can pull her out of the program. Emmy is about 7 months old and almost ready to crawl. She scoots everywhere and grabs at cords and anything on the floor. I've had to do some redecorating, and move decor from the floor to a higher plane. Emmy has the biggest, open mouthed smile. It's so cute and funny. She has been an easy baby and this has been the easiest time in my life to have a baby. The other kids are pretty independent. They all get themselves dressed, brush their own teeth, strap themselves in... They are good helpers and they enjoy helping. They all love Emmy and want to sit by her and want to make her laugh.
The kids have been making me laugh. The other day at the zoo Owen asked how orangutans protect themselves against carnivores. Crazy! Noah, told me that he read a book where a wheelchair went 1,000 miles per hour. He then added, very informatively, "It was fiction, of course." That horrible Red Solo cup song was on, and Heidi thought it was about hot chocolate. I'm not sure what led her to that conclusion. Heidi gets to spend a week with Ben and Jocelyn. Jake and Zach adore her, so that will be great for them and her. We get to visit our friends, Blair and Kendra Shumard, in Ohio. I'm excited to hang out with them!!!
We did 2 joint garage sales recently. The South Whitley one made much more money than the one at Vanessa's. For about an hour, we had the kids holding up free signs, just so we could get rid of stuff. Some people cleaned up pretty well! We gave away our dining table and chairs. I really think they should have just been added to the burn pile in the back yard. We gave away our 10 year old tube TV that had a missing button, so we had to change the channel by inserting something into the void- we chose a plastic fork. We are eating on our card table for the time being. We ordered a table a while ago, but it won't be done until the middle of June. Chad and I are busy with church stuff too.
Lately we have been busy with Noah's baseball games and practices. The other night Chad told him to throw the ball quicker during the game and he asked, "Won't that make the game go by faster?" He finally got to be catcher tonight. He has been talking about it since the season started. I was pretty excited for him! Owen is going to play soccer later in the Summer. He has been practicing at home. He has never played before, so we'll see if he enjoys it. Heidi is also going to play soccer for the first time. Heidi was tested and recommended for a special school program that is for kids that learn faster. So, she will be going to a different school in the Fall. She is kind of sad to leave her friends, but she is good at making friends, so I'm not too worried. I think she will benefit from this schooling. If it doesn't seem to be a good fit, we can pull her out of the program. Emmy is about 7 months old and almost ready to crawl. She scoots everywhere and grabs at cords and anything on the floor. I've had to do some redecorating, and move decor from the floor to a higher plane. Emmy has the biggest, open mouthed smile. It's so cute and funny. She has been an easy baby and this has been the easiest time in my life to have a baby. The other kids are pretty independent. They all get themselves dressed, brush their own teeth, strap themselves in... They are good helpers and they enjoy helping. They all love Emmy and want to sit by her and want to make her laugh.
The kids have been making me laugh. The other day at the zoo Owen asked how orangutans protect themselves against carnivores. Crazy! Noah, told me that he read a book where a wheelchair went 1,000 miles per hour. He then added, very informatively, "It was fiction, of course." That horrible Red Solo cup song was on, and Heidi thought it was about hot chocolate. I'm not sure what led her to that conclusion. Heidi gets to spend a week with Ben and Jocelyn. Jake and Zach adore her, so that will be great for them and her. We get to visit our friends, Blair and Kendra Shumard, in Ohio. I'm excited to hang out with them!!!
We did 2 joint garage sales recently. The South Whitley one made much more money than the one at Vanessa's. For about an hour, we had the kids holding up free signs, just so we could get rid of stuff. Some people cleaned up pretty well! We gave away our dining table and chairs. I really think they should have just been added to the burn pile in the back yard. We gave away our 10 year old tube TV that had a missing button, so we had to change the channel by inserting something into the void- we chose a plastic fork. We are eating on our card table for the time being. We ordered a table a while ago, but it won't be done until the middle of June. Chad and I are busy with church stuff too.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
I Know the Recipe for Cinnamon Toast
Heidi had two friends over for a sleepover last night. Oh, the things I heard!!! These girls are so funny. They are in third grade. One of them told us about her boyfriend who proposed to her. The other girls gasped and couldn't believe that she accepted his proposal. Her response to them?- "Of course I did! He's cute, honest and smart." WOW! They wanted to pretend to be princesses and Heidi said, "Yeah, but we'll be reality princesses, not cartoon ones." I heard someone say, "That looks so old. It looks like it's from the 80's and belongs in a museum of natural history."
They were so sweet and made breakfast in bed for us. The one girl who "knew the recipe" for cinnamon toast asked if we liked it. When we said yes, she replied, "Good, I need a critic, other than my family, if I'm going to open a restaurant." It was a fun night for them. The boys were gone on their own sleepover, so that was nice to not have bothersome little brothers around.
They were so sweet and made breakfast in bed for us. The one girl who "knew the recipe" for cinnamon toast asked if we liked it. When we said yes, she replied, "Good, I need a critic, other than my family, if I'm going to open a restaurant." It was a fun night for them. The boys were gone on their own sleepover, so that was nice to not have bothersome little brothers around.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
My Political Rant
Politics have my blood boiling once again. I'm not a political person, so I'm not going to rant about any one person or party. It is totally annoying that we have a 2 party system. Really? There are only two views that can solve the problems of our country?! I don't feel like I can totally commit to all that the Republicans stand for or all that the Democrats stand for. Also, I feel like all politicians are either liars or naive. They don't ever seem to do what they said they would during their campaigning.
I'm sick of the mayoral campaign ads that I've been seeing. Why don't candidates campaign with their goals, views and plans instead of just saying-My opponent stinks, don't vote for him/her. Another thing that bothers me is what the voters will base their decision on. People will vote for a candidate because of name recognition. They may know nothing about the person's political plans, but they've heard the name on the news, so they vote for them. People will vote or NOT vote for someone because of their religion or race. How does religion affect your ability to be a good government leader? And race?-Don't even get me started. I don't know the religion of Congress members. I don't know what religion Barack Obama is part of. There are mostly Christians in our nation. I am one of them. I believe a person of the Islamic faith or Jewish faith could be just as good of a government leader as a Christian. I've heard other Christians say they would ONLY vote for a Christian. I just can't identify with that. Why don't we start voting based on political plans and views instead of our personal judgements?!
I'm sick of the mayoral campaign ads that I've been seeing. Why don't candidates campaign with their goals, views and plans instead of just saying-My opponent stinks, don't vote for him/her. Another thing that bothers me is what the voters will base their decision on. People will vote for a candidate because of name recognition. They may know nothing about the person's political plans, but they've heard the name on the news, so they vote for them. People will vote or NOT vote for someone because of their religion or race. How does religion affect your ability to be a good government leader? And race?-Don't even get me started. I don't know the religion of Congress members. I don't know what religion Barack Obama is part of. There are mostly Christians in our nation. I am one of them. I believe a person of the Islamic faith or Jewish faith could be just as good of a government leader as a Christian. I've heard other Christians say they would ONLY vote for a Christian. I just can't identify with that. Why don't we start voting based on political plans and views instead of our personal judgements?!
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
The Kiddos
So, Owen has been saying "sayings" that he obviously does not get the meaning of. I heard him yell at Noah, " I don't like you! If it's the last thing I do!" He understands that people say that when mad, but not quite getting the full meaning. Also, the other day he left some stuff in the van and then only brought in part of it. I asked why he didn't bring in all of it and he shrugged his shoulders and sighed, then told me it was a long story. Goofy kid!
Noah lost his FIRST tooth tonight. It has been hanging in there forever. He has been super afraid to pull it. I'm glad it's finally out. Noah really doesn't enjoy learning or studying. He almost always cries when it's time for homework. Tonight he spelled a word without crying and excitedly said, "I didn't even have to cry to spell that one right!"-Because crying always enhances the learning experience!
Heidi won a lip-sync contest last week at our local festival. She did Taylor Swift's You Belong with Me. There were only two acts that showed up. I don't know if more signed up and just didn't show up or what. The elementary school division prize was an iPod shuffle and the middle/high school prize was a step up from the that, the Nano. Well, the other entry was a couple of elementary aged girls too. So, Heidi ended up winning the Nano and they got the Shuffle. Not bad. So far she has Taylor Swift and Justin Beiber and one Beach Boys song. She has been listening to it tons. Noah thinks he should enter next year to try to win one. Heck, I might enter. The adult division prize was an iPod Touch!
Noah lost his FIRST tooth tonight. It has been hanging in there forever. He has been super afraid to pull it. I'm glad it's finally out. Noah really doesn't enjoy learning or studying. He almost always cries when it's time for homework. Tonight he spelled a word without crying and excitedly said, "I didn't even have to cry to spell that one right!"-Because crying always enhances the learning experience!
Heidi won a lip-sync contest last week at our local festival. She did Taylor Swift's You Belong with Me. There were only two acts that showed up. I don't know if more signed up and just didn't show up or what. The elementary school division prize was an iPod shuffle and the middle/high school prize was a step up from the that, the Nano. Well, the other entry was a couple of elementary aged girls too. So, Heidi ended up winning the Nano and they got the Shuffle. Not bad. So far she has Taylor Swift and Justin Beiber and one Beach Boys song. She has been listening to it tons. Noah thinks he should enter next year to try to win one. Heck, I might enter. The adult division prize was an iPod Touch!
Sunday, August 7, 2011
Staller Family Lake Vacation
All of the Staller's spent a week together at a Lake house on Stone Lake in Cassopolis MI. We had lots of laughs,fun and good food. It was a little crazy at first. The kids were all so excited and wanted to check out everything. The guys went fishing at 6 every morning. Some even went at 4:30 one morning. They then fished more throughout the day and evening. We had some yummy fish to fry come Friday night. Heidi is a good little fisherman. She caught 4 one time and one or two the other times she went fishing. She said that catching fish by herself was her favorite part of the vacation. 
We went swimming off of the pontoon most days. It took a while to find a good spot with no seaweed. Owen was pretty scared about going in the water, but by the end of the week, he was a bit more comfortable. We went to Silver Beach on Lake Michigan one day. There were some decent sized waves and we all enjoyed that.
Dad seemed to disappear a lot and the most asked question during the week was, "Has anyone seen Dad?" We had a trick played on us by Ryan and Brent. Brent typed up a fake news article about the house being haunted. We spent much time Googling it, but soon discovered it must be a farce. It was not until the end of the week that we found out that it was the work of Brent, and Ryan was in on it too.
We played Beyond Balderdash one night. If you have never played, you are missing out. It is hilarious. There was one where you had to tell why this guy with the last name of Leotard was famous. Dad's answer was: A burlesque comedian billed as Leotard the Reotard." We were all laughing so hard! I liked my movie synopsis of "The story of two rival gangs in Miami. Will Eduardo make it out alive?" I only got one vote for it, though. I also enjoyed Chad's movie synopsis of the Woopie Boys: "3 Half brothers steal a card and sail it down the Mississippi on a homemade raft." There were tons of funny ones and it was hard to read through the answers without busting up. It was great that all of us kids got to be there.
Dad seemed to disappear a lot and the most asked question during the week was, "Has anyone seen Dad?" We had a trick played on us by Ryan and Brent. Brent typed up a fake news article about the house being haunted. We spent much time Googling it, but soon discovered it must be a farce. It was not until the end of the week that we found out that it was the work of Brent, and Ryan was in on it too.
We played Beyond Balderdash one night. If you have never played, you are missing out. It is hilarious. There was one where you had to tell why this guy with the last name of Leotard was famous. Dad's answer was: A burlesque comedian billed as Leotard the Reotard." We were all laughing so hard! I liked my movie synopsis of "The story of two rival gangs in Miami. Will Eduardo make it out alive?" I only got one vote for it, though. I also enjoyed Chad's movie synopsis of the Woopie Boys: "3 Half brothers steal a card and sail it down the Mississippi on a homemade raft." There were tons of funny ones and it was hard to read through the answers without busting up. It was great that all of us kids got to be there.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Oh no, All the girls will Like me!
After graduating from high school, Chad worked at Target for the summer. I was informed by my sister in law, who worked with him, that all of the girls at Target liked him. It's fun to tease him about it. He was quite the stud. Tonight Chad was showing the kids his old pictures and there was one with his Target name tag, so I shared with them that the girls he worked with liked him. Owen hung his head and said, "I don't want to work at Target. All the girls will like me!" It was pretty funny!
Thursday, February 10, 2011
King George
I won!!! I have been listening to US 93.3 for a couple of weeks straight, trying to win George Strait and Reba McEntire tickets. The concert is in Indianapolis next week. If the radio station plays a George Strait song, followed by a Reba song and you're the 93rd caller, you win. Usually I just get a busy signal. Yesterday when I called, they actually answered, but said to call back. So, this morning when they answered I was expecting the same thing. I was so happy when they asked if I wanted to go see George and Reba!! Finally, I can listen to something other than country music. I like country, but two weeks of nothing but country is tooooo much for me. I don't want to hear about anyone being stuck like glue or about your hillbilly bone, and definitely don't want to hear the term trailerhood. Chad and I went to a George Strait concert 4 years ago and it was soooo much fun. We are pretty excited to see King George!
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Absolute Kindness
On a day when I was feeling especially crappy about my mothering skills, I received a little assurance that I'm not completely failing with my children. While at the grocery store, the woman in front of us left money with the cashier to pay for my groceries because she said that I seemed like a good mother. How nice?! I couldn't believe it! I was able to catch up to her in the parking lot and thank her. She said that my boys were just so cute and she has 5 grown boys. So, maybe it wasn't so much my mothering skills as it was the cuteness of my little stinkers. They are pretty darn adorable!
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