100 things

Got it from Amber. Highlight the ones you've done. Kind of fun to remember things I'd long forgotten.

1. Started your own blog.
2. Slept under the stars.
3. Played in a band.
4. Visited Hawaii.
5. Watched a meteor shower.
6. Given more than you can afford to charity.
7. Been to Disneyworld.
8. Climbed a mountain.
9. Held a praying mantis.
10. Sang a solo. While slowly creeping the hem of my dress up...1st grade.)
11. Bungee jumped.
12. Visited Paris.
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch.
15. Adopted a child.
16. Had food poisoning.
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty.
18. Grown your own vegetables.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France.
20. Slept on an overnight train.
21. Had a pillow fight.
22. Hitch hiked.
23. Taken a sick day when you're not sick.
24. Built a snow fort.
25. Held a lamb.
26. Gone skinny dipping.
27. Run a marathon.
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice.
29. Seen a total eclipse.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset.
31. Hit a home run.
32. Been on a cruise.
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person.
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors.
35. Seen an Amish community.
36. Taught yourself a new language.
37. Had enough money to truly be satisfied.
38. Seen the leaning tower of Pisa in person.
39. Gone rock climbing.
40. Seen Michelangelo's David.
41. Sung karaoke.
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt.
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant.
44. Visited Africa.
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight.
46. Been transported in an ambulance.
47. Had your portrait painted.
48. Gone deep sea fishing.
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person.
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling.
52. Kissed in the rain.
53. Played in the mud.
54. Gone to a drive-in theater.
55. Been in a movie.
56. Visited the Great Wall of China.
57. Started a business.
58. Taken a martial arts class.
59. Visited Russia.
60. Served in a soup kitchen.
61. Sold Girl Scout cookies.
62. Gone whale watching.
63. Gotten flowers for no reason.
64. Donated blood, platelets, or plasma.
65. Gone sky diving.
66. Visited a Nazi concentration camp.
67. Bounced a check. (NSF)
68. Flown in a helicopter.
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial.
71. Eaten caviar.
72. Pieced a quilt.
73. Stood in Times Square.
74. Toured the Everglades.
75. Been fired from a job.
76. Seen the changing of the guards in London.
77. Broken a bone.
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle.
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person.
80. Published a book.
81. Been to the Vatican.
82. Bought a brand new car.
83. Walked in Jerusalem.
84. Had your picture in the paper.
85. Read the entire Bible. I'm really just assuming that I have over the course of my life. I've never set out with the purpose to read it all from front to cover.
86. Visited the White House.
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.
88. Had Chicken pox.
89. Saved someone's life.
90. Sat on a jury.
91. Met someone famous.
92. Joined a book club.
93. Lost a loved one.
94. Had a baby.
95. Seen the Alamo in person.
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake.
97. Been involved in a lawsuit.
98. Owned a cell phone.
99. Been stung by a bee.
100. Read an entire book in one day.

Pigs lay on their young...

My mom likes to tell the story about when she was pregnant and tossing and turning in bed to try to get comfortable. My dad told her something like "you're like an old sow rooting around." Just what all expectant mothers want to be likened to. A big sow.

Anyway, Avrie has developed a terrible habit of climbing into bed with us in the middle of the night. And we have developed a terrible habit of allowing it. I allow it because I'm too stinkin' tired to go through the work of putting her back in her bed 3-4 times a night. Last night she found her way between us and started thrashing around, kicking us in the face, headbutting, etc. I was in and out of sleep during all this. I woke up to her whispering in my ear, "oink. Oink. Oink." I scooped her up and on the way to her room she says, nearly yelling, "you Mommy pig. I Avrie pig".

those things you put in guns...

• We're sick around here. Hacking coughs for the most part. Avrie was up almost all night last night crying that her ear hurt. I took her into Target Clinic this morning and she did have a whopper infection. Nolan cried for over an hour tonight that his ear hurt but when we asked him if he needed to go to the doctor he said he was just really tired. I put some warm garlic oil in his ear before bed so hopefully he can sleep tonight. Evan is the only one who is escaping.
• Evan took Nolan and Avrie to the bank on Saturday. They took in the contents of their piggy banks to open a savings account. The bank had a special kids program going on. They each got to grab as many fake coins as they could and they got that equivalent in real money to put in their new savings account. Nolan grabbed $8-ish and Avrie got $4-ish. So they talked about the bank and money all day. Now when we're in the van and pass a bank Avrie is sure to point it out!
• Saturday night went to Stages Theatre and saw Goodnight Moon. The kids loved, loved it. It was entertaining for us parents too.
• Not really anything too exciting going on around here. I'm really tired. That's about it!

Cole Speaks Out...

I like getting my cheeks pinched just as much as my friend, Kaia.

Every once in awhile my big sister takes a liking to me. I kinda like her too. She's a silly little thing.

Mom bundled me up yesterday so I could watch my brother and sister play in the snow. It took 20 minutes to get everyone dressed and we were all back in the house within 15 minutes. My mom can't wait for summer.

I am the world's cutest monkey. At least my mom thinks so.

Here I am in all my chubby glory. My mom sure makes good milk.

I absolutely adore my big brother, Nolan. He loves to keep me entertained while mom picks up after him.

Here I am sleeping. Sometimes mom has a hard time putting me to sleep at night because I'm so fun to cuddle.

I am a smiley boy. I'll smile at anyone!

I'm starting to drool. That means I'm working on some teeth. That should be a blast!

Those Resolution Thingees

I looked back here and see that I failed miserably last year. So, here we go again. I've really given these some thought and hope that I can follow through with them.

• Make the bed daily. It really does set the tone for the day. I feel so much better and get so much more done when I do take the literal two seconds it takes to make it.
• Spend less time on the computer. MUCH less.
• Try to make sense of the Old Testament and get a little of the history sorted out. Make reading every day a priority.
• Be kind to myself.
• Start knitting again. Even if it is just on car rides. Knitting really centers me.
• Strive for patience with my children. And my husband. And myself.
• Have company at least once a month. This will be hard for me.
• Keep up on the laundry. Oh, who am I kidding!?

The Trip, Part 3 -- Beachin'!

Evan playing with the kids. 7-mile Beach in Grand Cayman. The water was crystal clear and the sand was white, soft and fine. Beautiful.

Avrie sat as still as a statue while the "nice lady" braided her hair. $2 per braid. Yeowch. But it was a touristy island experience!

This is how Cole enjoyed the beach!

Where'd my toes go?! Avrie really didn't enjoy the ocean. She hated the waves rolling in! This was at Labadee, Haiti. Labadee is a private island owned by Royal Caribbean. It was okay...the beaches were really rocky. There was a long zip-line over the ocean on one side of the island. Avrie liked watching the people "fly".

Wheee!

The Trip, Part 2 -- Onboard Fun

The ship: Mariner of the Seas

View of the outdoor pool area. There are two more whirlpools to the right. There was also an adults only pool area. We sat in the whirlpools but didn't do the big pools.

Grandma Char took Avrie on a few shopping trips. She found this puppy in a fancy carrier.

Great Grandpa and Grandma organized a game of Deal or No Deal. We all had the chance to win $0-$75. Or Grandma's expired coupons or fudge!

Elroy, Paula, Cole and I cheering on the basketball game:

That's my hubby making a basket!

The Anderson cousins. This picture was impossible!!

Princess Avrie on her throne.

Happy boy hanging out in our room.

Two beautiful girls!

The kids loved coming back to the room after supper to see what towel animal Mark created! This is a frog. We had a bat, monkey, elephant and rabbit. Avrie quickly discovered the chocolates on the pillows and would race into the room and eat them all before we got ours.

We had fun playing up on the windy helicopter pad. It would almost pick the kids up right off their feet! Avrie needed some bandaids on her knees.

Grandma Char organized a little birthday party for Oliver and Brayden. This is a group shot of all the great grandchildren.

Avrie showing off her party favor from Grandma.

Nolan went to the Adventure Ocean kids club a few times. One evening they had a pirate theme and they put on a short little parade through the Promenade.

Whew. So much to do that we needed naps.

Nolan and Dad played a few rounds of mini-golf but I didn't get any pictures.

The Trip, Part 1 -- The Way Down

We left the Cities at 4 PM on Christmas Day. We drove all night and beat the ice storm in Illinois by 30 minutes. Elroy's sister Phyllis lives just outside of Atlanta and we pulled into her place at 3 PM on Friday. We spent the night there in a bed...ahhh...and left around 9 and drove all day. Traffic was awful due to the holiday, construction and accidents. Eric and Lori had room for us to crash at their hotel in Disney World so we aimed to get there at 5 with enough time for Avrie to enjoy Disney a bit. With all the traffic we didn't get there until 9. It was time enough for her to catch the fireworks...good enough for her!

Sound asleep for the night. Avrie was the best traveler. We hardly heard a peep from her the whole way down. She played with a doll from Grandma, colored, etc.

This guy was another story. What's that in his mouth? *GASP* HYPOCRITE! I caved in and bought this Nuk on Friday morning hoping that it would help a bit. It really didn't. It did help him fall asleep a few times so I guess it was worth it. It got thrown the day we got home. Cole hates his carseat when he's awake. I'll admit to taking him out of his carseat way too often.

Desperation. DVD player two inches from his face. Bought us about 15 minutes of peace. Hope I didn't fry his brain.

Avrie looking a bit rough around the edges. We resorted to DVD's the last few hours.

Uncle Eric met us outside a resort and took Avrie in for the fireworks. She screamed at the top of her lungs "I'm in Disney World!" 'Unco Ewic' is #1 in her book!

Nolan was very excited to see his sister! After we got home and were looking at pictures he told me "Mom, when Avrie came to Disney World I just held her and held her and held her." He didn't ask about me once when he was gone but when he saw me he didn't let go for at least 10 minutes! He was extra snuggly for a few days.

Zoning out on Sunday morning before we headed for the ship.

4 1/2 Hours of Entertainment

You can hide treasure in it.

Color it.

Even bury alligators in it.

Glurch is amazing stuff.

Sorry, Polly.

When you live with a boy you never know what will happen. So sorry, Polly.

Happy Anniversary--8 Years

We celebrated by going to work, unpacking and doing laundry. Photo below was taken on one of the formal nights on our trip:

I'd post more trip pictures and details but you'll have to wait because I still feel like this: