Cheap Art

Evan played with Nolan's watercolors...Nolan helped. I was impressed with the outcome!

Avrie in a bag. Cheap fun. The first thing the kids do with an empty paper bag is put it on their heads.

I Need a Tanning Bed

Everytime I go to Ikea I swear I'll never go back again. I had a slightly better experience this time but I still don't want to return anytime soon. Am I the only one who hates, hates, hates their carts and can't figure out how to walk normally with them?

I bundled up the kids and froze halfway there until the heater finally kicked in. We ate breakfast #2, which I was actually impressed with being it was only $.99. Drug Avrie kicking and screaming from the kiddie area in the cafeteria. Everyone looked at me like I was pinching her...which I may have been just a little. Dropped Nolan off at the playland/daycare and carted Avrie off to find bowls. Found the bowls, which weren't as cheap as I remembered. Also found some art stuff for my husband* kids...paints, markers, paintbrushes. Picked Nolan up, checked out, bought the promised $1 yogurt cone (yeeeucck) and made our way back to the truck. The kids fell asleep 10 minutes from home. I thought I was home free when they stayed asleep as I carried them in. As soon as their heads hit the pillow they woke up. I left Avrie in her crib and told Nolan to stay in his room. I crawled in bed and ignored them for 45 minutes. I'm so depressed thinking about the mountain of laundry downstairs and the state of my cupboards and closets. And now I need to pack up the kids and go pick up our milk and eggs before they freeze.

I tried to have a hot bath last night but our hot water heater isn't hot enough for me. Evan actually brought me two boiling teapots full of water to warm it up. And it was his idea.

*The kids were painting last night and I discovered that my husband has quite the talent with the brush. I took a picture of it and will post it later. So, I'm jealous of that as well. Just feeds my lethargy.

I'm just so jolly and inspiring today. Is it okay that I'm still ignoring my kids and haven't fed them lunch and it's after 2? Hey, we did have 2 breakfasts today.

Random

• The secret to a quiet supper: No afternoon snack.
• Running out of diaper wipes always happens when you absolutely need them.
• Changing dirty diapers of children who are not mine makes me gag. It's disgusting.
• Being sick when you're a mom really, really sucks.
• I share everything because it's liberating and makes my mundane life a bit more interesting. Everyone should have one set of friends with who they can share EVERYTHING. Where you can pick up where you left off if you haven't seen each other for ages. Ours are Darren and Amy. There's not much left unsaid.
• My house is filthy. And we're having Cheri, Farron (who I always manage to call Charron and Ferry) and Elliot for the weekend.
• I've lost a few pounds this week and I'm elated. That's just a bit sick being I'm pregnant.
• Avrie went pee on the potty last night all by herself!!!!! I'm so taking advantage of this opportunity! She's fascinated with it. And she wore undies for part of today. Yipeeeeee. Except I didn't realize (dumb I know) until last night that you have to wipe little girls. Or at least dab, ya know.
• I made gingerbread pudding cake today. Mmmmmm. Thanks, Mom.
• And chicken noodle soup. I wish my Mom had been here to make it for me instead because she cleans up the dirty dishes right away.
• I'm so desperate for two peaceful minutes away from my kids that I'm dragging my sick butt out the door and going grocery shopping.
• This weekend is going to feel like summer.

Yawn, Itch, Curse, Itch...Repeat.

Yawn. I had a long night. So, it's like 10:30 and we are attempting to fall asleep. Evan had black tea after supper so he's wide awake. My foot starts to itch. And I mean itch. And once you start, you can't stop. I itched for about 40 minutes. Then I moved on to an ice pack to see if I could numb it enough. Didn't work. Then I rubbed Vaseline on it to see if I could soften the skin enough that it would stop. It made it worse. Then I discovered that I could peel off all the dead skin. So I peeled for 30 minutes. Ahhhhh! But it still itched. I dug around in the cupboard and found a tube of expired Benadryl cream that said it could be used on burns. It burned. So I washed that off and attempted to wrap my foot as tight as possible in ace bandage in hopes that this would stop the itch. It didn't. I then attempted to distract myself by reading a new book that I had had Evan pick up at the library for me earlier. He was embarrassed to pick it up, if that gives you any indication of the sort of literature it was! But even that wouldn't distract me from the horrible itching. I have no idea how I finally fell asleep but I did shortly before midnight. And then started the strange and disturbing Heath Ledger related preggo dream. My throat started hurting something crazy about 4 a.m. I did get up with Evan at 6:30 and had a shower, which made me feel .5% better. Klara came at 7:30 and my goal today is just to stay alive with three kids. And it's a preschool day. Ugh.

Where is the Truck?

That hit me and then drove down my throat? I finally got the whopper cold that I've been avoiding since the beginning of the season. I had a 101 temp all day yesterday. I was functional today but hardly able to swallow. Drinking gobs of EmergenC and hoping for a speedy recovery.

I have felt very uninspired to blog recently. However, I am working on a gigantic essay about the way we eat and WHY. Look for it soon, hopefully.

Avrie learns 3-4 new words a day. She just blows me away in all her smartness! Her most recent are:

Turtle. Pizza. Juice. Raisin. Socks. Get it out. Lamb.

She can have entire conversations with just a 'yes' or 'no' shake of her head!

8 Days Later...

New Words I Forgot...

Evan took Nolan to preschool screening this morning so it's just Avrie and I (Klara is here too but she's sleeping). Avrie was impressed with her flower shirt and pony-tails and wanted a photo shoot.


Sleeping Beauty snuggled with us this morning.

Where's My Baby?!

Avrie has grown up so much in the last week. New words:

Paper (pay-pah), pencil (pen-suh), no-no, jump (ump).

It seems like they grow up overnight.

Child Labor in effect at our house. Avrie is dusting and Nolan is vacuuming. Ahhhh, this is the life.

I can't wait to go to the Y tonight and ditch the kids for 2 hours. It's been one of those days.

I'm craving steak so bad. Evan is working really late tonight. Maybe the kids and I will swing by Outback after the Y. It's right next door...how could I resist? The kids can eat a few bites of my steak and all my sides. I'll take a slab, medium-rare.

Happy Hump Day

• Blood oranges...yum.
• P-day for lunch: Phrozen Pizza and Plastic Packaged Peaches.
• Wanna know something dirty? Avrie's blanket after being drug through 3 stores.
• Making Aushuk for supper.
• Got skunked at the thrift store today.
• While I showered this morning Avrie unrolled the entire roll of toilet paper that I had just replaced. And it's the good Charmin stuff too...a gift from my parents. Toilet paper is never the same after it's been unrolled and rerolled.
• I'm getting sick of Nolan crawling in bed with us at 2:30 a.m. Every night for the last week or so. "Go back to bed Nolan". "But, I just wanna snuggle with you". How can I resist that? It's getting easier.
• I hate prenatal vitamins effect on my bowels.
• My burns are looking and feeling great.

Happy Birthday Aunt Sue!

Nolan wants to tell his Great Aunt Sue happy birthday! He's even wearing the appropriate shirt!

Random Pictures

A cookie thief.

Avrie and Grandpa sledding on the ice.

Mommy often feels like a monster.

Reading together in Avrie's bed.

Boiling Water + My Leg = Bad Night

Ignore unflattering picture of thigh.

Mom and Dad left this afternoon. I went to go make myself a cup of tea...which ended badly. Short story even shorter...the entire mug was dumped on my jean-clad leg. I held the freezing cold shower head on it for over an hour before I could tolerate ( tolerate: screaming bloody murder but no longer convinced I was dying) some aloe. It's 3 hours later and I'm finally able to function. The picture was taken a few minutes ago and doesn't do it justice. I have 2nd degree burns with blistering. The clump of stuff in the middle of my thigh is skin. Evan and Avrie went to the store to get me some gauze and more aloe. It also got my toes but they were too gooped with aloe to get a good picture. Ouch. To say the least. Worst pain of my life.

Money

Make money your god and it will plague you like the devil.

The rich are the scum of the earth in every country.

I have enough money to last me the rest of my life, unless I buy something.

The easiest way for your children to learn about money is for you not to have any.

So we get the bill one day last week for Avrie's little urgent care/emergency room visit. $1,778.90. Needless to say we're a little ticked. She had NOTHING wrong with her. NOTHING. They gave her fluids before they even tested her for dehydration. Had they not gotten their cart ahead of their horse she wouldn't have needed the fluids and it would have saved us $1,074.00. Granted we ONLY have to pay 20% we'll ONLY have to pay about $400. Well, that's $400 we could have spent on airfare. Grrrr. So I'm trying to be positive about money because that's how it comes to you, right? I always hated people with that philosophy. Like, don't worry, be happy. Until the bank comes and takes your house. Then you can just be happy you have a big enough cardboard box.

Does anyone know if we can dispute this bill because of services that weren't needed?

100 Things About Me - Round 2

Round 1 is in December 2007 if you missed it.

1. I don't decorate for the seasons. At all.
2. I want to learn to embroider rockin' pillowcases.
3. If I could adopt a new style it would be punk rocker-pink hair-big boots-pierced-chick. Also fitting for this number: we have number 3 in the oven.
4. Evan and I caught a drumstick from a Collective Soul concert way back when. Some guy offered us $100 for it and we turned him down! Why in the world?!
5. I never met my maternal grandma.
6. I loved oyster soup when I was little. One time my parents told me to chew the oysters very well. I got a sandy one. It was a long time before I tried oysters again.
7. My brother locked me in a trunk once (not a car trunk, a blanket trunk) and I could hardly breathe by the time he let me out.
8. I once fed a litter of kittens with a syringe after their mother got hit by a car.
9. I've had my amalgams replaced with composites. I have a healthy, beautiful mouth now!
10. New socks are such a simple pleasure.
11. It's kind of embarrassing how little I wash our sheets. I'm getting better.
12. When I was little my Dad had to store corn in the shed. We would climb the walls to the rafters and jump into the corn below. Wheeeeeeee. We got filthy.
13. We would also slide down the metal roofs in the winter into the snow pile below. And occasionally rip a hole in our snowpants from nail heads.
14. I hate chocolate ice cream. Ewee.
15. I don't get PMS.
16. I helped castrate pigs as a kid.
17. I also helped butcher chickens.
18. I grew up right next door to my Grandpa and Grandma and don't feel like know them at all.
19. I need help finding my passion in life. So far nothing has revealed itself. I have a closet full of yarn. I have paints and canvases. It hasn't been touched for ages. Maybe making lists and blogging is my niche. How boring.
20. I love me a good spider roll. Yum.
21. I hope I'm raising my kids to be adventurous eaters. Meat and potato people slightly annoy me.
22. I once threw a scale down a trash chute from the 3rd floor. I listened to it smash to smithereens on the concrete floor. It was awesome. Then a couple years later I bought another one. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
23. I don't like smelly candles.
24. I hate Bath & Body Works products. They stink to high heaven.
25. I want my blonde hair back.
26. I walked in front of a kid swinging in 3rd grade. His feet kicked me in the chest and tossed me back almost 10 feet. I bit through my tongue. I can still taste the blood.
27. I won the chin-hang contest in elementary school. I hung for almost 3 minutes. I tried to do it at the playground this summer and lasted almost 5 seconds!
28. I got my period in 4th grade and my "best friend" told the entire playground. Except nobody knew what she was talking about. I cannot believe they waited until 5th grade for Sex Education. I sure hope this has changed.
29. I can't stand it when Evan spins donuts and fishtails. We fight about it every single winter. It's so irritating that he doesn't just listen to me and STOP DOING IT. I don't get why making girls mad is a turn-on for guys. Just plain don't get it. If we're mad at them they won't get what they really want...so what's the point? I doubt any men besides my Dad read my blog but maybe someone can enlighten me.
30. I wish I could run.
31. We went parking once near Fort Snelling so we could watch (haha) the airplanes fly overhead. We got the ol' flashlight knock on the window.
32. I failed my driver's test the 1st time. I couldn't parallel park. I still can't. At least not without jumping the curb or parking two feet away from it.
33. I write better than I talk. Is that the case for most people?
34. My stomach is vertically two-tone.
35. The last time I went down-hill skiing I accidentally went down a black-diamond. I got about half way down before I lost it and hit a few moguls. I still have bruised muscle tissue on my left thigh and it's been almost 10 years.
36. I don't agree with Dr. Laura's philosophy on marriage. I don't think wives should be rugs. We have needs too.
37. I can't handle scented laundry soap or dryer sheets. Who wants their clothes to smell like a meadow?
38. I wear my pajamas all day 4 out of 7 days a week. The same ones I slept in. I need to stop doing this...it makes me feel frumpy and grumpy and lumpy.
39. Not much beats a trashy novel and a bubble bath.
40. I love Dr. Seuss. I could read them over and over again to the kids. I love Mr. Brown Can Moo!
41. I've been to Alcatraz. San Fransisco is so fun. I love the Wharf and Chinatown. I've walked across the Golden Gate.
42. I have been on 5 or 6 cruises.
43. I don't like the beach. I hate getting all sandy and salty.
44. One time I thought I'd get an ocean spa treatment and scrubbed myself down with sand in the surf. Then I got back in my lounge chair and the sun dried me out and I ITCHED LIKE CRAZY. I itched so bad we had to go back to the boat. It was miserable. I'd recommend spending hundreds at the real spa.
45. In high school I would steal my brother's cigarettes out of his truck and throw them away. I wonder where he thought they went!!
46. I would love to be a food critic.
47. Or an editor. Which is strange since I happen to LOVE ellipsis's.
48. I find typos in almost every book I read.
49. I loved Lord of the Rings.
50. I got married and graduated from college before I graduated from high school. Talk about being in a hurry.
51. Patterns created by man are interesting. Patterns created in nature freak me out (like spores on the backs of ferns).
52. I can't stand wearing shorts.
53. I love sitting around campfires.
54. I think fireworks are a waste of money.
55. We have a Sleep Number bed and aren't too happy with it.
56. I've driven/ridden to Oklahoma straight through 3 times. To visit an inmate.
57. I can't mini-golf to save my life.
58. I worked as a dye-spotter at Herff Jones throughout High School. I fixed zits and scars.
59. I have to eat breakfast. Most important meal of the day. I judge you if you eat a bowl of sugar cereal. I usually eat eggs or greek yogurt with fruit and/or granola and some type of meat.
60. They know me by name at the library.
61. I don't really care for cake.
62. I can't stand it when people feed my kids junk food behind my back. Seriously. It's rude.
63. People who prefer one gender of children annoy me.
64. I make amazing scrambled eggs. They should be soft and creamy...not seperated into rubbery chunks!!
65. I don't know how I lived without ice and water in my fridge.
66. There are so many things I'm unsure about.
67. Politics go over my head. I'll trust that God will appoint who is best to allow His will to be done. End of story.
68. My dad made us breakfast every morning before school until we were old enough to drive and didn't wake up early enough to do much more than shower. Thanks Dad!
69. I overdry our clothes. This is mostly because I forget about them and they get all wrinkly and need to tumble with heat to unwrinkle. And because there's nothing worse than damp clothes that get folded and put away. Ewweee mildew. I airdry the important ones.
70. Someone who has no children is not qualified to tell others how to raise theirs.
71. Hot tubs are really, really gross. I realize this isn't something about me. Just a thought I had today. I'm running out of personality!
72. I crack my eggs and put the empty shells back in the carton because I'm too lazy to throw them away. It would drive me crazy if someone other than myself did this.
73. I feel sorry for people who think Red Delicious are apples. Visit an orchard.
74. Five things always in my fridge: butter, raw milk, yogurt, assorted nuts, eggs.
75. Five things always in my freezer: ground beef, TJ's naan, ice, ice cream, veggies.
76. Ten things always in my pantry: herbs and spices, tea, dried fruit, assorted canned tomatoes, sardines and/or tuna, assorted canned beans, flour, sugar, cornmeal, chocolate.
77. I hope to get back into creating soon. I need some art for my walls. I've got several collages in mind.
78. Eat a raw egg already. An organic, free-range one of course. It will not kill you. I mix raw egg yolks into juice for the kids. Gives them an extra boost of nutrition and slows down the sugar absorption. And they don't know it's there.
79. I have a birthmark on the back of my right calf.
80. 5 kitchen things I couldn't function without: crockpot, Wustof knives, Le Creuset 4-quart enamel-lined pot, stainless steel pots and pans, electric beaters.
81. I love my husband. He's, like, the best EVER.
82. I love a good debate. I wish our school had had debate.
83. I love Target. But who doesn't?
84. I hate Walmart. So. Much. Junk.
85. I had major neighbor envy at the Y this morning. A group of three moms were talking about who was going to host playdate that afternoon. They all lived next door to each other. They probably live in some yuppie development that I'll never be able to afford, but I want lovely neighbors so bad!
86. We're poor. We live paycheck to paycheck. We have zero savings. We still haven't paid for Avrie's birth. I'm fine with this because we are HAPPY. I know lots of people who have lots of money and are very NOT happy.
87. I shave my upper lip. I wonder how many women do who won't admit it. Mind you, I don't use a Bic.
88. The first year I planted my own garden I planted 12 tomato plants. No one told me I'd have them coming out my ears! The next year I only planted 6. The next year I planted 2.
89. I haven't used algebra since math class. What a useless tool.
90. I love going to the dentist. I'm definitely in the minority.
91. I love filling out paperwork and questionnaires.
92. I don't subscribe to any magazines.
93. We don't get the newspaper.
94. I should wear glasses or contacts but I don't. My glasses got smashed and my contacts dried out. I'm so responsible.
95. I love coloring. It's so therapeutic.
96. I hate scrapbooking.
97. I've never had a Thai curry I liked.
98. I love seafood. I haven't always. I could eat a whole plate of mussels.
99. I don't like baked potatoes. At all. They have the nastiest texture. Same with refried beans.
100. We are terrible at having company. Invite yourself over...we'd love to see you and feed you!

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

I'm so annoyed with Blogger. My title today would read: I'm contemplating a move to Wordpress. But it won't let me change it. It won't let me add to my workout log either. It should read:

1/8 - BodyPump, 1 Hour
1/7 - 2.5 Mile Walk Outside
1/5 - Sledding, 45 Minutes
1/4 - Mall Walked, 45 Minutes
1/3 - Chased 3 Kids All Day
1/2 - Rolling Hills Level 10, 30 Minutes
1/1 - BodyPump, 1 Hour

Great Week for me!!

A Day in the Life of Me

Like Jenny and Martha I thought it would be fun to track my day:

7:10 - Nolan crawls in bed with me to snuggle.
7:40 - We finally get up. I go to the bathroom and discover I'm once again not pregnant. Get very depressed. Go to the kichen to warm up some leftover pancakes for Nolan and leftover eggs for me. Go back to the bathroom to weigh myself while it's heating up. Get even more depressed...the day is off to a lovely start. Make a cup of tea. Eat breakfast. Read my bible. Avrie wakes up. Feed Avrie. Send the kids downstairs. Place my milk and eggs order for January. Have a shower.
9:00 - Pick up the box of Playtex that Avrie has strewn across the house. Nolan comes and asks what I use them for. I tell him I'll tell him when he's older and he's amazingly okay with that. Get dressed. Lament over my shrunken chest. Get more depressed and wish I had a bottle of Prozac. Drink my tea which is now ice cold. Change two dirty diapers and wonder once again why my 3 1/2 year old can't just poop in the toilet. For new blog readers, he's been PEE trained for almost a year. Get the kids dressed for preschool.
9:20 - Throw a roast into the crockpot for supper.
9:30 - Unload and reload the dishwasher.
9:45 - Comb my hair and finish getting the kids ready. Round up all the library books that are due. Head out the door. Stop at the library. Head to preschool. Drop Avrie off at sibling care and go play with nolan for 1/2 hour before separation. Have mom's group discussion for an hour before going back for circle time. Load the kids back up and come home.
12:45 - Scrounge up some lunch.
1:00 - Put Avrie down for a nap.
1:10 - Ate what the kids didn't for lunch.
1:15 - Read Nolan a story and got him settled down for quiet time. Clean up the kitchen and switch the laundry.
1:35 - worked on the clock site until:
2:25 - Changed Facebook picture and caught up on a couple blogs.
2:30 - Chopped up sweet potatoes for the crockpot.
2:35 - Avrie is up. Nolan is done with quiet time. Get yogurts for the kids. Nolan eats his and Avrie refuses.
2:55 - Nolan says he wants to go for a stroller ride to the fire station, but he doesn't want to try the suits on (???). So we're headed out for a walk to the firestation!!
3:50 - Home from our 2.5 mile walk. Left Nolan outside to play in the slush. We walked home via the Dollar Tree so I could pick up a pregnancy test. What?! Well my so-called period was being snarky and hadn't done anything at all since my first bathroom trip...very, very unusual for me. So I drank gobs of water. Dinked around online. Added cornstarch mixture to the crockpot to thicken the gravy. Switch the laundry. Finally have to pee. Go take the test and rather than staring at it for the line or lines to appear I watch Nolan out the window. I look exactly 1 minute later and see TWO LINES. My poopy day has taken a turn-around. I am now elated. Go through a big tub of old linens and purge stuff to donate to Lupus. Set the table. Read a story to the kids while waiting for daddy to get home.
5:15 - Daddy home. Ate supper. Cleaned up the kitchen. Packed our stuff for the Y and got the kids in their swimsuits. Left at 6:10 and got three blocks away when we realized we'd forgotten the gym bag. Finally get to the Y at 6:30 and get all our suits on and showered off when I realized I hadn't checked to see if there was open swim. There was. At 7:30. So we got dressed again and played basketball in the gym for a 1/2 hour to wear off steam. Stopped at Target on the way home for garbage bags. Got home and put Avrie in bed. Switched the laundry, started the dishwasher and unloaded the gym bag. Plopped down on the couch where I will remain until Nolan calls me for a goodnight kiss. Then I'll brush my teeth, wash my face and crawl in bed. The end. Oh, and blogger is so insanely messed up...I haven't been able to edit anything all day...the title or add to the sidebars. How annoying.

Happy Anniversary...7 Years!

Time sure flies by fast! Can't believe it's already been 7 years. Can't believe it's only been 7 years!! We're coming up on 11 years together and can't remember what it was like to live without the other!

We went sledding yesterday at the park near us. It is an insane sledding hill. You are literally scared for your life. Literally. Luckily they have a "ditch" next to it that's manageable!

Random Friday

• Avrie sits down on the floor, pulls her socks off and says "oils". She is also working on forming the word "remedy". I love my alternative children!
• Nolan informed me that grandpa lives at the cemetery and then wondered if he had his eyes open.
• Evan suggested sushi for our anniversary this Sunday!!! Yipeeee!
• I'm going to Unique for snowpants this afternoon. Last time we were there we lost Avrie's shoe. So we'll look for that too.
• I'm deciding that I don't need to mop my floors for meeting Sunday. No one will notice or care if they do. I'll just have to mop it again after anyway.
• Evan also suggested going to BodyPump tomorrow morning. What?!!? I got him to go with me on Monday and on Tuesday night he said to me "curse you and your BodyPump". He must not be sore anymore.

Resolutions

I don't know that I've ever actually made resolutions. This year I'm going to attempt to keep up on laundry (haha) and start working out regularly (who doesn't resolve this every January 1st). In an attempt to hold myself to it, I'm starting a little log to the right. I'm loving the right side-bar. It's a wealth of information! So I'm doubting that anyone is interested in my workouts, but maybe it'll get me to the gym more often seeing as how I'll have to impress you all.

Another attempt to make my blog more interesting is my ever-changing (well, it's changed twice) title. It will change with posts, my mood and the moods of my children. Or if I think of something quippy (is that a word?) or witty.

3rd Annual Lefse Day

Lori reading to Avrie and Sienna.

Grandma helping Nolan roll out lefse.

Parker

Phyllis

Evan

More lefse?!?

Me 'n Avrie

Yummy. Whipped cream and cheese.

Feeding Uncle Eric. He actually ate it. Eeeyuck.