iphone Photo Plop 2/2014

Here are a few recent pics from my phone:

Jim and Hunter's snowman

Hunter walking around our neighborhood with my late Grandpa Stoehr's hat on his head.  I love it!

Tired out!

A first kind of nice day was spent riding bikes, and going to the park

Playing with ice

Crunching ice

King of the 'hood

King of the mountain

Saturday lunch at Great Harvest Bread

Hunter's find at an antique store

Tralee found this sheet music at an antique store and was beside herself with happiness!

Movie Night and Nose Troubles

I use this blog for a few reasons, but the main one is to document my family's life.  So, below are two things I need to document.  The first, Family Movie Night!  Every Friday night, we blow up the air mattress, gather all the pillows, and blankets, pop some corn, and snuggle while watching a movie.  Unless there's some other magnificent event to go to, the kids expect Family Movie Night on Friday night.  Someday they'll want to spend their Friday nights with friends, but for now, they belong to me, and I love it!!

Secondly, a few weeks ago at church, Hunter's Primary leader brought a rather distraught Hunter to me while I was in class, and explained that Hunter got something stuck up his nose.  She told me she couldn't see anything, but he was adamant that something was up there.  Luckily, we've had lots of experience with this little guy plugging up his nose with a plethora of treasures.  I took him to the bathroom, and asked which nostril was lodged with an alien object.  He pointed to the right one, and so I told him to stay calm while I blew air into his left nasal passage.  I blew a few times, then checked for the stow-away.  Sure enough, a foreign object appeared WAY UP in his cavity.  I had the blow a few more times into the opposite nostril until two tiny sandaled feet popped out of the other one.  I tugged on the feet and pulled out a rolled-up sticked of Jesus.  I showed it to Hunter, to which he smiled, and looked ever-so relieved.  He also gave me a huge hug, and thanked me, his hero!  I hugged him back, then reminded Hunter that we don't stick things up our nose, and gently ushered him back to class.  I giggled as I walked back to my own lesson, and thought to myself, "Of all the places to 'find Jesus' at church, I never thought it would be up my four-year-old's nose."  

Aquarium

A few weekends ago, I took the kids to the local aquarium while Jim was out-of-town.  It was a fun trip.  the kids sure enjoyed it.  Tralee was pretty much soaked from head-to-toe after petting the sting rays.  She was practically swimming with them.  Silly girl.  Below are some pictures from our little outing.

We'll be back I'm sure!

Tralee's Seventh

Tralee's seventh birthday was a full two-day celebration.  Two days you ask?  Yes.  This mamma was so excited for her daughter's special day that she overlooked the calendar, and decorated a full night in advance.  It wasn't until the next morning, while looking at my phone to get the time that I noticed it WAS NOT Tralee's birthday.  I was a full day ahead of myself.  I had been telling Tralee all month that her birthday would be on a Wednesday, when it was really on a Thursday.  Stinks woke up Wednesday morning ready to celebrate, and I had to tell her about her mommy's mix up.  I did it in such a way to make it a positive, "YOU GET TWO WHOLE DAYS TO CELEBRATE!"  It was kind of funny, and all was well in the end.  The best part was, I had a whole extra day (so it seemed) to have a six-year-old instead of a seven-year-old.

A few birthday decorations

The kids expect streamers on their doors every birthday

On Tralee's actual birthday, she woke up to even more decorations than on her birthday eve. I sent her off to school with her favorite breakfast in her belly, and then picked her up from school with balloons and a new stuffed animal.  She loved the surprise.  After school I let Tralee open gifts, and then we rushed to pick up her frousin (friend + cousin), Brinley.  We went to Big Al's for dinner and games.

Tralee and her after school surprises

Hunter showing off the presents we wrapped for Tralee.  Poor Tralee, when you have a birthday one month after Christmas, your gifts will forever be wrapped in the left-over Christmas wrapping paper.  She doesn't seem to mind too terribly!

Unwrapping

She loved all of her gifts!

Eating Tralee's birthday Sundae

Lucky girl won 1,000 tickets on one game.

After Big Al's, we came back to our place for cake and ice cream, and then drove Brinley home.  When we got back home there was a knock on the door, and one of Tralee's best buds from school/church/neighborhood stopped by with her mom to give Tralee a bag full of birthday love.  It was probably my favorite part of Tralee's birthday.  Her friend's mom let me know that her daughter had put the bag together entirely on her own.  It consisted of a home-made puzzle made out of paper plates, a used and well loved stuffed animal cat, a dollar bill, a picture Tralee's friend had drawn, and a picture of the friend's bunny.  Tralee loved her friend's gifts just as much as the store-bought ones Jim and I purchased for her.  

I just LOVE what those little innocent minds think of as the ultimate gift.  It also reminded me that true gifts come from the heart.  In fact, Tralee fell asleep early that night, snuggling the well-loved stuffed animal kitty from her friend, and not the brand new cat I purchased for her.  I could just imagine Tralee's little friend putting the gift bag together, giddy and excited to deliver it to Tralee.  Tralee's expression when opening the bag was utter delight.  She knew her buddy had put a lot of thought into the surprises.  It melted my heart right into mush, and taught me a thing or two about gift-giving.

Tralee's cake.  She asked for it to be a vanilla cake, with chocolate frosting, and Hershey's chocolate decorating it.  Hershey's bars are her favorite.

Make a wish!

Blowing out the candles

Tralee in her Hello Kitty cat pajamas she got for her birthday (her new favorite jammies)

Overall I think my baby girl (she'll always be my baby girl) had a great birthday.  She was sad that her daddy had to be out-of-town for it, but we celebrated with him in advance.  We also promised her another special birthday outing, that I think we'll deliver on this weekend.  So, when all is said and done, not too shabby for our seven-year-old.

Zonked out on the couch with her new (old) stuffed animal cat.

Fast Forward to 2014

Welcoming 2014 with a kiss from my Mr.

Guys, I'm still writing checks for 2013.  The other day I actually dated something for 2008.  I'm going to sound a little long-in-tooth, but seriously, where did the time go?  Can it really be 2014, and can I really be in my thirties?  Sheesh.

It's all true of course, and I know it, but I don't feel it.  I swear 1999 was just yesterday, and any thoughts of being married with a family were just a dream.  I feel like it was yesterday I locked myself in my room, listened to Mazzy Star, and wrote poetry in all my teenage angst.   Now I'm closer to having a teenager than being one.  Yeah, in six years, I'll have a teen on my hands.  2020, please don't come too soon.  I'm already having enough troubles wrapping my head around 2014.

2014.  Can it be so?  

Yes, it is so.  I know my sentimental self makes it a bigger deal than it should be.  I know time ticks on, seasons pass, and I age with them, but my 1999 self didn't think time would tick so fast.  I spent a lot of time daydreaming about RIGHT NOW back then.  I have everything I dreamed up; an adorable husband, happy home, beautiful spunky kids, and a pug to wrap it all up nicely.  I don't take anything for granted.  2014 found us in a happy place.  I just feel a bit bewildered that it's here already.  I feel like someone hit fast-forward on my life, and I'm trying desperately to find the rewind button that doesn't exist.  I would even settle for a pause button, but I think we're only allotted a few pauses a year -- moments that seem to stop, so we can take it all in, and sketch a memory inside us that will never fade.  So, in 2014 I'll search for my moments to pause, and spend the rest of my time trying to find my bearings in this swift-moving world.  A world where my babies grow into independent children in a blink of an eye.  It's a happy world, it just moves by a little too rapidly for my nostalgic heart, but it IS happy.

Very happy indeed.

Hunter and me on our first date of 2014

My little stud-muffin, ringing in the New Year with me.

My January birthday girl -- turning another year older with the world.  This was her class party.

Angry Birds On Ice

A few weeks ago we helped Jim's cousin, Jared, with an idea he had to bring Angry Birds to life. . . on ice.  The result is in a video below.  I kind of feel like it's what you get when you mix crazy Canadians, winter weather, and Angry Birds together.  Both of my chickies are in it, as well as Jim.  I stayed behind the camera, and the whole time I filmed I thought, "This is what happens when you marry a Canadian; you find yourself in odd situations on the ice."  Oh well, the whole experience was fun, and Hunter (our Angry Birds addict) sure thought it was cool.  Jared did a good job putting the whole thing together in the video below:

If you ever feel like dressing like an Angry Bird, and having two dudes on ice fling you into a life-sized Angry Birds structure, I know where you can do it!