A short post with a life lesson.

It's been kindof a frustrating week at the Franzen household.  Mama bear had strep, followed by some awful flu-from-hell something-or-other that kept me out of commission for 5 days.  Papa bear was a saint, keeping watch over the rowdy, ill-behaved rugrats with the worst case of cabin fever... All the while dealing with a bum back!  So while I kindof feel like I could whine & moan about that for my blog post, I won't.  Instead, I'd like to share with you a life lesson my children taught me this weekend...

Saturday night, since Mama was feeling pretty miserable, the kiddos decided they'd like to have a slumber party...in MY bed...to cheer me up.  At first I thought, "ugh, great, just what I need; a sleepless night!"  But then quickly warmed up to the idea, as I am a sucker for snuggling with my babes.  In fact, nothing in this world makes me happier than doing just that!  So we jumped in our jammies, brushed our toofers, climbed up the World's Tallest Bed (i.e., the "WTB" - it really is, it's ridiculous) piled on our favorite blankies, stuffed animals, etc., and cozied in for a good night's sleep.  Mama was exhausted, and thought maybe the monkeys were too, since they had been terrorizing the house all day long.  But sadly, I was wrong.  Giggle, giggle.  10 minutes passed.  Chatter, chatter.  Another 10 minutes.  Flip, flop, toss & turn, another 10.  Mama was about ready to boot her little snuggle bugs outta the WTB when finally, at long last... silence.  For three.  Whole. Minutes.

Then.  Out of the darkness came the sweetest, most angelic little voice:

"I got a booger!  Here'go, Asha!"

A drowsy little voice mumbled groggily, "Eww, Noah.  Just wipe it on your blankie and quit buggin' me." Then she flipped over as if nothing happened, and went right back to sleep.

I had to bury my face in the pillow to keep from giggling aloud.  And there it was.  My lesson of the week:

When life hands you a booger, just wipe it off and go back to bed.



AWESOME!!!!!!!



TIME MACHINE TUESDAY: The Storm of '97

There's a storm a'brewin'!

The storm in my mind, I'm trying to remember... the storm outside, I'm trying to forget!

Everyone in my generation and older who lives in this 'neck of the woods' very likely remembers the Big Storm of '97.  It was in April, it was massive, and it led to devastating flooding.  The tantrum Mother Nature is throwing tonight somewhat reminds me of that storm.  This rain-turned-slush and high winds with rapid accumulations seems to resemble that storm quite a bit.  Tonight as I checked my weather app on my cell phone, and later paged through the cancellation notices on the TV station's website to find out if gymnastics was still on, I couldn't help but think how different things are now than they were a few short years ago!

I remember the '97 blizzard so clearly, it's almost like it didn't happen14 years ago!  The night it started, my brother & I got permission to go to town to see a movie at the "Show Hall" (yeah, I know this wasn't the 1950's. This is seriously what we did, and probably still do, call the movie theater in my hometown).  My Dad surprisingly let us out of the house, considering he knew there was a storm a'brewin' (I bet he used that exact term too), but we were happy to get out & about for the evening!

When we entered the "Show Hall" at about 7pm, the streets were dry and a light mist had just begun to fall.  By the time we left under 2 hours later, there was a good 4 inches of snoicesh (snowy ice slush?) on the streets.  We knew this wasn't good.  So we dropped my cousin off at home and headed out on the old country highway the 10 miles to our farm.  Doesn't sound like a bad drive, you might say?  You might.  If you weren't the one driving my 46-ft long 1981 Mercury Marquis Banana Boat tank with rear-wheel drive and bald tires.  Being the cautious teenage driver I was (stop the snickering, Seth) it took us nearly an hour to drive those 10 miles.  As we finally made it to where we could see our yardlight, we noticed my dad driving right toward us with the tractor lights blaring.  He had come to look for us.  Oh shit.  This was not good, folks.  Not good at all. 

Now you have to remember that this was a time where a cell phone was something we'd never even seen other than in movies, let alone haul along with us at all times (because remember, they weighed like 12 pounds and had to have a 6-ft whip antenna?)  Dad was pissed that we didn't call from Grandma's, or Heidi's, or "Idon'tcarewheregoddammitjustcall!" before we'd left town, and Mom of course had crafted in her imagination a fine tale of our untimely demise in the crevasses of ice and canyons of snow that had of course developed in the road ditches in those 3 hours... and made Dad fire up the tractor to come dig us out.  It was a long & stressful night, so the 'rents at least had mercy on us and let sleep before the ultimate ass-chewing they would most certainly bestow upon us at dawn.

But morning came with high winds, several feet of snow, and a power outage.  Which lasted 3 days.  So not only did we get the Chuck Christman Lecture of a Lifetime Special, we got to hear it over and over again.  For 3 whole days.  That's what you'd call a captive audience I guess.  Worse yet, it was cold enough outside that we had to fire up the old propane furnace and sleep huddled together around it in our basement so we didn't die in our sleep from hypothermia.  So there I was, sandwiched between Darth Vader and Buzzsaw McSnorysnore, lying awake and debating the pros and cons of going back upstairs to sleep in my 41-degree bedroom rather than put up with these jokers.  Turns out, we had plenty of blankets, so I sequestered myself in my icebox, and that's where I spent the remainder of the power-less days, probably stewing about how much it was going to suck being grounded for who-knows-how-long.  Definitely a memorable storm.  Glad it hasn't happened since!

Oh, and by the way:  I still call home before I head out on a trip home, especially under inclement weather conditions. So lesson learned, Chuckles.  Lesson learned.

Vacation, All I Ever Wanted...

 

It was a blustery, overcast February morning when some of my colleagues and I gathered at the bustling Hector International Airport to board our little puddle-jumper. According to our pilot, the air temp was 9 degrees. So long, Fargo. Two somewhat turbulent hours later we landed in Denver (a whopping 37 degrees warmer in the Mile High City). A hop, skip & another 2 hours later, we arrived in gorgeous, balmy Phoenix Sky Harbor airport. As we pulled our luggage off the carousel, we walked out the doors and immediately threw our coats in the trash. (ok, we didn't do that, but we felt like doing it!) A half-hour cab ride took us to our aaaaaahmazing resort, just in time for a breathtaking sunset:

The stunning view from in front of our hotel.

We did have to share a room, which scared me a smidge at first, but after getting to know mine better, I couldn't have asked for a better roomie! In fact, I'm pretty thankful because I kindof felt like a gained a new friend. She's one smart and funny lady who put up with my shenanigans all week without complaint! So this hotel is where we'd spend the next 4 days for our Premier National offsite event. Four glorious days, away from the arctic north and savoring the deserts' warmth. Four heavenly days, basking in the sun's rays, soaking up that desperately-needed Vitamin D. Four fabulous days, enjoying the… what? WHAT?!! What do you mean they're not letting us outside ANY of the days? You've. Got. To. Be. Kidding. Me.

There will be NO enjoying this.

Aah, but alas, they were not kidding me. We unfortunately DID have to spend the majority of our daylight hours in the conference center. The air-conditioned conference center where the air temperature resembled that of… you got it: Fargo. Don't you think it's a little mean to ship 34 poor souls from the tundra down south where it's a good 70 degrees warmer than it is back home, only to make them stay indoors the entire time? We looked like sad little puppies at the pet store, licking the glass, hoping and praying that someone would take pity and let our pasty selves out for corn sake!

the view from our hotel room

But we Fargo people are hearty. We make the best of whatever situation we're put in. And what the hell, at least we weren't stuck in Fargo. So we did what any good North Dakotan would do: we drank a lot of beer. They were feeding it to us for free after all. And it made us care a whole lot less that we only got to go outside after dark. I behaved much like my former college self the entire week -- little sleep, way too much consumption of adult beverages, and having far too much fun with my new friends. I had no kids to wake me up at 6 am, no laundry awaiting, no supper to put on the table, so I suppose I just let loose a little!

The first night at the resort - our "welcome dinner" (i.e. open bar!)

In the evenings, we frequented a local establishment which had no walls. With beach sand under the tables. And tiki torches. And a wading pool. So we pretended we were at the beach. The next morning, we wondered where all that sand came from, but we pressed onward. We hung out in the pool area at midnight, where it was a pleasant 60 degrees. Hotel patrons walked by in jackets and shivered just looking at us, while we laid on the concrete and gazed at the stars while we marveled at how much it resembled Fargo in July -- minus the 7-pound mosquitos.

Pretty cool, huh!?

Nonetheless, the sessions we attended (the reason we were there in the first place!) were actually really fun, and I learned a lot. Plus I met some great colleagues from all over the country, as well as got to know some of my home teammates a lot better.

Me with a couple of the lovely Fargo ladies.

At any rate, they fed our group quite well the entire week, and did some fun stuff for us after-hours too. We had a game night which included casino games, Minute to Win It games, and some major Dance Central throw-downs. During the sessions, they gave away great door prizes (probably to keep us from running away to float down the Lazy River). I was the lucky recipient of a sweet new smartphone… though I had to do a little obliterating to get it. Yes, the crowd eagerly cheered me on as I annihilated my piece of #$&% smart phone (it was a 'competitor' phone OS. Yup, that's a real hammer. Like "we're smashing the competition")

Smashy bang-bang, no more sucky phone for Shanna.

And then this is what it looked like after I asserted my true feelings about its incompetence...

No worries, I got a cool new Samsung Focus for doing this. But I can't use it in Fargo yet (it's AT&T).  Whoopsy. So I've gotta wait until Sprint releases their new Windows Phone 7 next week before I get a new one. (My wicked awesome company is buying it for me. I'll even show ya if you say "pretty please".) I'm phoneless in the meantime, but I'm not missing it one bit so far!

For our mid-week event, they took us to a place called "Rawhide", which was sortof like a cross between Deadwood and Medora (less gambling, more gunfighting). The trip had a little hiccup with our catering order, because instead of having enough food for 150 people they had about enough for 15. So a posse of 135 hungry people (who had also been given free drink tickets, mind you) moseyed on down the dusty trail to the steak house. Where we were promptly turned away. But my clever colleague somehow managed to get us a table, so I was one of the lucky few that got to enjoy a huge steak dinner while the rest of those poor suckers meandered about looking to rustle up a lizard or squirrel for dinner.

The yummiest steak dinner.

We ravenously gobbled up our steaks with guilty consciences (err, maybe not so much) fully expecting to see our counterparts weeping in the streets from hunger when we left the restaurant. Quite the contrary: they found out the bar attached to the steak house was serving $0.25 bottles of Bud Light during happy hour! We had some catching up to do… before I knew it, I was challenging my manager to a mechanical bullride contest, sporting the little $5 pink cowboy hat I had bought for the Princess at the gift store. My smart-ass co-workers stood by and chanted "Rodeo Queen! Rodeo Queen!" as I hopped on my first bull... only to be dumped off 3 seconds later by the a-hole ride operator who thought it would be funny to turn the sucker on full-tilt when I got on. I tried a second time, made it the full 8 and landed on my feet upon dismount just like a good rodeo queen should. Somewhere along the way I had dislocated my thumb, but amidst my lack of sobriety and the adrenaline from my rodeo rendezvous, I must'a missed that little detail.


I may not wear a sparkly sequined shirt anymore, but I've still got a little shine on the ol' crown. 
Not sure if jumping back on a mechanical bull with a busted up thumb was what my Dad meant
when he said, "Cowboy Up and get right back on that horse..."

So when Friday finally rolled around, I was a little torn about leaving. On one hand, it was the best week I'd had in years. On the other hand, I felt like crap and needed about a 12-hour nap. During my "ride of shame" back to the airport, I may have had to ask the chauffeur to pull the town car over so I could, um, hurl at the side of the freeway. Ugh. The rest of the plane ride home was uneventful, and boy was I ever happy to see my two little munkchins (and my one big one too!) when I got back home. 
It was a hell of a week. Rumor has it we'll be doing this offsite once a year. I'm guessing it'll take me exactly that long to recuperate from this year's monkey business.  See what happens when they let me out of the house?

I'm Baaaaaack...

 

Oh my poor, neglected blog. 2 months ago I made some resolutions (not really your typical New Year's resolutions, but more like promises made to myself). So the blogging in my spare time (what little of that I had left) was the first thing to go! I took a little hiatus, but I'm going to try to work some posts in more frequently. Maybe I'll head back to those regular "Time Machine Tuesday" postings?

The first big change was that The Hubs & I made a commitment to cook healthier and eat better. To us, that meant enjoying home-cooked meals together. It meant a lot more planning and more work preparing meals, but it has totally been worth it. We have grocery lists, and menu lists, and stocked up freezer and crock pots and the whole shebang. I know it sounds old-fashioned, but there is something to be said about that family time around the table… listening to Miss Chatterbox talk about the latest daycare gossip, or Mister Messy Face demand "moah 'tatos", and just sharing our day with each other. It's time we've found to be extremely valuable and I wouldn't go back if you paid me to!

We'd also been having some food battles with the little Miss of late, so we started a new "program" to help with that: if she ate what we put in front of her without complaint all week, then we set aside one night a week where she gets to be the boss. So "Asha Picks Night" (Friday) was implemented, and with HUGE success! There's no limits, she can choose whatever she wants to eat either at home (usually Tacos) or out (surprisingly varying in selection!) and we ALL have to eat what she chooses without complaint. As a result, we have had very little resistance from her the rest of the week because she can't wait to pick her current fave on Friday night.

I've started a couple things "just for me" too. I vowed to start doing some things for myself that I really enjoy, which in turn makes me less stressed and indirectly, a better parent I suppose? So I finished a couple books, and got some little projects done around the house. Also, since I enjoy watching TV, and I need to/want to work out so I went for a two-fer. I had about 6 episodes apiece of my favorite TV shows saved up, but they kept getting pushed aside for episodes of Blues Clues and iCarly. So I hooked up a bigger monitor to the desktop computer we have in the storage/crafting/workout/office room and now I watch episodes of the TV shows I love on Hulu while running on the elliptical every night! Win-win!!

I'd been having that creative urge again lately, so I've been sporadically working on some digital scrapbooking in the evenings after the kids go to bed and after my workout. Mostly just trying to get that hard drive full of digital pics of my kiddos organized into something tangible. It has been a daunting task, but quite a walk down memory lane. I also had the opportunity to do some fun video editing stuff lately (more on that in another post soon to come). But I also started writing. Not blogging writing, but something else. I can't tell you what just yet, but I promise my blog followers will be among the first to know! (mwah-ha-ha, sounds cryptic, no?). And that has been taking up quite a bit of that elusive "spare time" of mine as well.

Add to all that the fact that I got the opportunity to take not one, but TWO week-long trips out of town for work, and suffice it to say that when I got home from those trips, the munchkins didn't let me out of their sight for a full week for fear I'd leave them again. Not that Daddy didn’t do a perfectly wonderful job of caring for them in my absence, but…he's just not Mommy.

So I apologize to my devoted readers (both of you!) for the lack of blog posts since the beginning of 2011. Never fear, I haven't run out of things to say! Haha! But now that we're getting a little more accustomed to the new changes we've made, and now that the days are getting longer (though the weather not so much warmer) I'm planning on devoting one night a week to getting back to my usual shenanigans.

Let me give you a little TMT "catch-up" of our life over the past 2 months:

We had our very first sleepover...

Went to daycare in our PJ's...

We've reunited with old friends…

Got fashionable...

Raised a little hell with our buddies… 

 
 

Got a new big-boy haircut...

<><><>

Celebrated a very belated Christmas with some great friends…

Snuggled to stay warm in this ridiculous arctic weather…

Hung out with family...

And celebrated Daddy's #32 birthday... (and no, he hadn't been drinking in this pic. 
He will probably kill me for posting it for all the world to see,
but I think it happens to be a hilarious photo of him, and it's my blog, so there.)

And look at that!  It's 11:30pm.  I need my beauty rest, so it's goodbye for tonight.  Stay tuned for next week's post: More on my travels to faraway lands. Thanks for coming back! I've missed you!

BIKINGS! MUFFLES! GIGGLES!

 

This blog post is purely selfish. You see, I'm in Redmond, WA this week at a training for work.  And while I'm having a lot of fun networking and learning new stuff and enjoying the local cuisine and beverages...

I miss my kiddos SUPER DUPER bad! 

My wonderful hubby kept them up a bit later than their usual bedtime tonight so we could do a video chat.  Jord, you don't know how much you totally made my week!  Before I left, I had also snagged some videos from my camera and put them on my laptop so there was something to watch when I got homesick for my little monkeys.  So I'm sharing my favorite clips, which just so happen to kindof "illustrate" what my children are like, in a nutshell.  I must admit I've been watching these over & over while away from them.  Y'know, so I don't forget them or something?  Yah, like that would happen.

First up.  My creative and hilarious little lady, who recently made me follow her around with my video camera while she 'filmed' her Food Network Series, "Asha In The Kitchen."  Original, huh!?  Scripted by Asha.  While, well, in the kitchen.  But look out Paula & Rachael, this little character's gunnin' for ya.  Still not really sure what she was cooking up, but you get the gist of the show...

Food Network Junkie

Next we have Bammers.  It's fitting that Noah is eating throughout this entire clip, cuz that child eats nonstop from the minute he rolls out of bed in the morning ("bweaksist") 'til night ("pupper"), with a few "nacks" in between. And ketchup is the condiment of choice, he dips anything edible in it, but basically uses said item as a spoon for shoveling in the ketchup.  He has also recently become fairly obsessed with his Minnesota Vikings jersey, and insists upon wearing it.  Every.  Day.  Especially funny, because neither of his parents are Vikings fans (I think Grama K actually had picked up the jersey at a garage sale), but Daddy taught him to do a Norwegian Viking growl, which is far more adorable than intimidating coming from our little teeny Leif Eriksson. 

French Fries and Muscles

And lastly, Miss Weirdo again.  Okay, people who have spent a reasonable amount of time around me:  is this NOT my little mini-Shanna?  Good golly, it has just been a kick in the pants being around this little person who looks just like her Daddy but is very much her Mother's daughter.  She is quite the hoot.  Here, she was snacking on a cupcake and decided to go all Billy Bob with the teeth thing?  Who knows.  All I can tell you is that this clip makes me "lol" every time I watch it!

NERD.

Goodnight, my babes.  I sure do miss you, but I'll see you soon.  Keep on with your weird little selves. 

Out of the mouths of babes...

 

I always feel like I should carry around a digital voice recorder at all times to capture the little gems of wisdom that my darling little nuggets come up with sometimes.  Our Miss Asha is a very articulate young lady who between her vivid imagination and her spot-on comedic timing, always seems to have some zingers at-the-ready.  She's had some real doozies lately that I thought I'd share, as they have left us rolling.  And further proof that children repeat EVERYTHING they hear whether you want them to or not. 

Case in point #1.)  Driving home from daycare one day this fall, we turned off by the park near our house and saw that there was quite a crowd gathered (there were bouncy castles and a guy dressed in an elephant costume "prompting" folks to stop in).  I saw what the sign directing party-goers to the parking lot said and grinned, knowing her 'left-leaning' father would definitely have something to say about it...

Asha noticed the commotion and pipes up: "Look Mama!!  Look!  We should go there! What is it?"

"Well, it looks like it's a Republican Party Picnic."

"Oh, no. Never mind.  We shouldn't go there!"

I get a pretty good chuckle out of that, but then decide to prod her further, "Why shouldn't we go there?"

"Because, we are... what's that thing again?"

"Democrats?"

"Yeah, Democats.  Of the United States in'Merica" she points out.

"So what does that mean, 'we're Democrats'?" I prompt.

"It means I'd rather go home and have sp'ghetti."

My dear Uncle Bob might disown me...

Such an interesting child.  I'm just glad she's a
"Creative Spirit".  Never a dull moment...

2.)  One night just before bedtime, I sent Asha back to her room to put her clothes in the hamper.  Suddenly we hear, much like a foghorn:

"Daaaaaaddy!!  Sassy left a big ol' steamer in my bedroooooom!"

It's like the words flew straight out of her father's brain and came through her little sweet angelic voice. (Mom shudders).

3) I think my favorite is when she gets a saying almost-but-not-quite-right.  She tries so hard to be grown up, it's just so darn adorable when she ends up sounding like a foreigner trying to figure out our colloquialisms. Like when little brother started throwing one of his terrible-two-style tantrums in the car last weekend, kicking and screaming and throwing any object within reach of his carseat.  Sister, ducking the flying objects, remains calm and says with a head shake,

"You guys? Noah's going 'ape chip' back here."

*Giggles*

  

 

4)  A couple weeks ago, Jordan & I were engaged in a high-energy discussion, in which we were actually agreeing with each other about whatever it was we were discussing.  We were apparently getting a little expressive and maybe a bit carried away with our passionate debate, because Asha came in with a panicked look on her face.

"HEY!  Are you guys fighting?!"

We quickly replied, "no, honey, we're just talking."

"Well, it sounds like you're fighting!"

"Nope, we're not.  What makes you think we're fighting?"

"Because that's what you guys always sound like when Daddy's b*tchin' about the dog." 

We desperately hoped she would leave the room quickly so our tears of laughter could flow freely without her seeing them.  Gulp.  That would be her Mother's terminology she just repeated.  Note to self: try to swear less in front of Noah.  Maybe there's hope for him still.

We call this her "Grandma Debbie face". 

Now for my tangent about "naughty words":

Both my hubby and I grew up around livestock, and anyone who has grown up on a ranch knows that part of a ranchers' vocabulary generally includes some pretty salty terms.  No excuses, just explaining that some of these terms have been pretty commonplace for us our entire lives.  In fact, my best friend still attests that I taught her every cuss word she knows to this day!  Yes, I'm well aware of my potty mouth, but I swore (no pun intended) that I would try really hard to keep that in check so my children didn't pick up this nasty habit. But alas, Jord & I have both struggled with keeping to this and therefore we had to change our tactic.  We realized that while we'd certainly prefer our kids didn't say these words at all, once they get into school (heck, even daycare) we'd have little or no control over what words are introduced to them.  So we'd rather have them know what they mean and when it is / is not appropriate to use them, thereby (hopefully) taking away the power of those words.  And maybe avoiding an awkward visit to the principal's office...



Sassitude.  She says as much with her actions
as she does with her words!  Which is a lot.

Asha has never once failed us in this regard; she has test-driven new words only at home in and the privacy of her own room.  She's always been an extremely verbal kid (wonder where she gets it from...?) and is quite the sharp little cookie.  When she hears something new that piques her curiosity she asks what it means, and we make a concerted effort to explain it to her as best we can.  (I'm much less afraid of the awkward parenting conversations than I thought I'd be -- I don't think we give our kids enough credit for comprehending difficult topics.  But I digress...)

No, swearing is definitely not an attractive habit, especially for a young child, but we believe there are FAR worse things she could say. So we have concentrated instead on those words that can really hurt:  hateful, bigoted, judgmental words that can really do some damage.  And while I'm certain there will be those who judge my methods, and those who question my sanity, I'd still much rather have her drop an f-bomb than taunt a peer for being 'different'.

I truly feel that if we as parents give more credence to the words that mean something, and take away the power of those that don't (and I'm sorry, but swear words really don't mean anything...they are what you make them.  They're 'junk' words, as my HS journalism teacher used to say, actually "jibberish" was her exact term!) maybe we can make a dent in this horrible bullying phenomenon that seems to be overtaking our children at a younger and younger age.  In the wake of horrific events of late, where some extremely hateful words are being thrown around by people as dismissively as if they're chatting about the weather, I have to wonder if these people even realize what on earth they're saying? 

Raising a kind and thoughtful child is far more challenging than I'd ever imagined: they're accosted by TV shows and advertising and other children and so many external sources that try to derail your parenting advice at every turn.  So much is thrown at them that they become oblivious to the important stuff.  But it's our responsibility (not the school's, not the church's, not 'somebody else': OURS.) to make sure they do. And it's a big one. We have to teach our children to be cognizant of what they say and do and to make sound decisions about the messages they're communicating.

Sorry to go all "ape chip" on the topic of naughty words!  I'm not going so far as to condone cussin'... far from it.  I am a LONG way from being a perfect parent, but I think I have two pretty darn incredible kids to work with!  And I want others to know how incredible they are, so I sincerely hope that we are even a little bit successful in teaching them to use their words wisely.

Party Animals

 

The word is out:  it's snowing.  A lot.  And blowing too.  Not an uncommon scenario in our neck of the woods at this time of year.  So we did what everyone else in our neighborhood did and bought a crapload of groceries, made sure the snowblower had plenty of gas, gritted our teeth and threw on an extra sweater in preparation for the impending snowstorm.  The storm blew in with the grit and persistence that North Dakota snowstorms tend to do, and left us with a "snow day" (for those of you in warmer climates, "Snow Days" are those days where you do nothing all day but sit in your jammies and watch the boob tube and eat junk food.  Errr, at least that's what we did today anyway.)  So all this snow meant not going out and about to participate in any New Year's festivities -- but frankly, we didn't really care. 

Traditionally, we have hosted a gathering at our house for NYE, with lots of hors' deurves, drinks, games, and merriment.  But this year, it was just the four of us.  We celebrated New Year's Eve in style:  with a fine and healthy dinner of cocktail weenies, shrimp dip, and Cheeetos.  And we ate it in the living room.  Because only on that extremely rare occasion when a snow day occurs on New Year's Eve would one get to do such a ridiculous thing!


Bad parenting + watching Elf (again) = Cheeto covered baby.  It's just math, people.

 But we had a lovely evening just chillin', no pressure to do anything but snuggle.  So that's just what we did.  And it was the best New Year's Eve I've ever had.  Hands down. When the kiddos both crashed (probably coming down off their sugar high) at about 8:30, and the hubby not long after, I sat here by myself wondering what I might do with my free time!  So blog it is.  Cuz, y'know, I'm never at a loss for words!  And I have been reflecting on the past year today, marveling at how fast it went, just like the year before that, and the year before that, and the year before that...

Because if there's one thing that I consistently seem to be reminded of when the New Year rolls around each year, it's that life goes waaaaay faster than I ever imagined it would.  My baby, my sweet and silly baby boy who has perfected the art of knowing just the right moment to give out one of his melt-your-heart smiles with a giant hug & kiss (usually the moment right before Mommy is going to send him to time out) is nearly two years old.  Not a baby anymore. 



Snuck in to get one last picture in 2010.  My little angelic boy, this is the only time he's ever sitting still!


And my grown-up girl, my beautiful, compassionate and joyful girl with the soul of an artist, the body of an athlete, and the mouth of a sailor will start Kindergarten in this new year.  The lump in my throat gets huge and I blink back the tears when I think about how quickly it's all seemed to go. 


My little punkin. When she sleeps, she looks just the same as she did as a newborn.  Happy New Year, sweet girl.


Just over Christmas break, I borrowed my mother-in-law's DV camera to transfer some of the old video tapes I had of Asha from 0-2 years (my old camera broke over 2 years ago and I was never able to get them off there, so Grama Debbie saved my memories!! Yay!)  As I watched (in fast-forward) my baby girl go from cooing infant, to rolling over, to crawling, to walking, to babbling toddler in a matter of a few hours, it struck me that it did truly seem like the past 4 1/2 years have gone by in fast-forward mode.  Heck, the past 10 years have flown by, and I'm sure it doesn't slow down anytime soon.  Don't blink, right?

But that very thing was one of the reasons why I began keeping up this blog in the first place -- to write down the little things about our life as of now, lest we forget.  I started with a little weight loss journey that I quickly dropped because it was A) boring and B) senseless to worry about petty crap like that.  But don't get me wrong, I'm now 15 pounds lighter than I was at this time last year.  And we made some big changes to the way we eat to include healthier foods and less eating out, so that was that.  The Time Machine Tuesday posts were fun, maybe I'll keep those around once in awhile, and the Techy Thursday was a one-time deal, but I may bring that back around too!  Keeping this blog was so much fun, and I hope to be able to do even more with it in 2011.

So I look back on the 2010 that flew by in a flash and realized I learned a few things this year:

1. A little girls' excitement about going to the amusement park is almost equivalent to that of her Daddy's once they're buckling themselves into their first ride together.
2. Raising boys is SO different from raising girls!  Mud, puppies, boogers, poop, destruction, you name it -- I was not prepared for parenting a little boy.  Always surprising, always challenging, always fun. 
3. What happens at work stays at work.  If you take your stress home, your family pays for the crap that got dumped on you that day, and this is not fair to them.  It also steals away those little moments that are totally worth enjoying instead of stressing about other stuff that's out of your control.
4. Marathon car trips are a huge pain in the ass, but when traveling to visit family they are more than worth the trouble.  Oh, and portable DVD players are totally worth the cost.
5. I don't show appreciation for my husband nearly enough.  He is a rock star Dad, husband, and son who does way more than his fair share for our family without so much as a thank-you sometimes.  He is my rock, balances me, and helps me keep my sense of humor in our crazy life!
6. Sometimes decks just fall right off houses!  Sometimes you back into the babysitters' car!  Sometimes the adorable new puppy will leave unwelcome 'gifts' for you!  Sometimes your days will just about end you!  Sometimes your husband will forget to take the snoose out of his pocket before washing his pants!  But if you don't laugh about it you'll never get through it all, and with enough sanity left over to enjoy the good stuff. 
7. Sometimes you just need a fresh start.
8. Playing like a kid is way more fun than playing like a grownup. 

So here's to 2010:  a pretty good year overall.  Thank you so much for reading my stories!  Never a dull moment in our home, so it's been fun recording those moments for posterity, and for future embarrassment of my children. ;)  Happy New Year to all  of you!  Wishing you health and prosperity in 2011.

STAY WARM!!!

And a Partridge in a Pear Tree (Habitat for Humanity)

'Tis the night before Christmas...

The kitchen is filled with the smells of coffee, roast chicken, cookie dough, lefse, and red wine. We have been eating constantly since our arrival: caramels, peanut butter cups, sugar cookies, turtles, ginger snaps, krumkake, and lefse, not to mention the enormous 4-course meals my mother has prepared for us 3 times a day...

There's a saying in my family:  "Too many butts in the kitchen"
I'm getting the evil eye from Seth!

Eight of us are gathered in the house today: 1 with a contagious disease, 2 with plain old colds, 2 with stomach flu, 1 with a migraine, 1 with an injured eyeball, and 1 who is strangely calm and serene despite the calamitous racket her home has become for the past two days. But at least we are together. We are giggling and bickering and getting in each others' way and enjoying each others' company. Grandma & Grandpa have taken every opportunity to spoil the grandkids, (who just so happen to be in that "I feel so much better now, that I'm going to be a huge pill to remind you just how energetic I can be when I'm not sick" stage), but we finally managed to get them down for a nap (threats of "it's still not too late to tell Santa to turn back" still work on them at this age). My auntie & her family will arrive shortly, and we will bring Grandma out to celebrate with us tonight as well. We are preparing for tonight's celebration: church at 4:00, dinner at 6:00, rip into the gifts at 7:00, music at 8:00, rowdy card / board games at 9:00, pass right out from all the excitement at 10:00.

Christmas has arrived.

This is family.

This is true joy.

This is home.

And I am so grateful for this home. Built by my grandparents over 50 years ago, it kept me safe and warm for 18 years and welcomes me with its familiar walls when I return for a visit. It feels big and warm and loving, like a big hug when you need it most. I know it's not the house itself that makes it feel this way, it's the people in it.

Today, my donation will go to Habitat for Humanity. So that others may find the same kind of joy that I have found with the blessings of a house, which when full of people you love, becomes home.

HABITAT FOR HUMANITY

http://www.habitat.org/support

Thanks for reading my blog, and for coming along on this little journey I set out to write about. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to those of you who reached out in your own way to help those who were in need.

At times, it was tough to come up with something to write about… there are SO many worthy causes out there, sadly, so many people that need help... It was hard to make a choice. But I started this whole thing because I was so moved by the generosity of the people around me, and realized that it doesn't take a lot to make a big difference. Whether a gift of time, of resources, of money, or of yourself, if we all gave a little bit we would reap so much in return. So I urge you to continue beyond this holiday season. And I will too. Because I had a lot to give, and nothing to lose.

So here's a little recap for you (just imagine me singing this in my Santa outfit while holding my 'nog, belting at the top of my lungs:)

Twelve Drummers Drumming

Eleven Pipers Piping

Ten Lords a Leaping

Nine Ladies Dancing

Eight Maids a Milking

Seven Swans a Swimming

Six Geese a Laying

Fiiiiiiive Goooooldeeeen Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiings...

Four Calling Birds

Three French Hens

Two Turtledoves

And a partridge in a pear tree!



Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Two Turtledoves (Childrens' Health Fund)

On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me....

TWO TURTLEDOVES

December 22, 2010. 11:00 pm: We have arrived safe and sound at G & G's, with clean roads and an uneventful trip. Well, uneventful in a weather-related sense. Neither child slept more than 10 minutes the whole 5 1/2 hour drive, and constantly whined & bickered and argued about which DVD they would watch, but otherwise, uneventful. We unload the car and then plop into bed, exhausted. The bed is so snuggly warm, sleep has never looked so inviting.

December 23, 2010.  1:00 am: Baby awake, hacking and sniffling and miserable. Big girl half-awake, hacking and feverish. Puppy whining and scared. Daddy sound asleep through it all. Mommy pulling hair out.

3:00 am: Daddy helps get the kids 'liquored up' with nighttime cough syrup, takes the dog out to the garage, and retires to the living room to sleep in the chair. Kids fall asleep. Mommy crashes.

7:00 am: Big girl wants to awaken everyone in the house so they can play "IHOP" with her. No one obliges at this hour, so she heads to the couch where she watches a half hour of cartoons before she complains of "feeling crumbly". Baby wakes up, eyes crusty, cough worse, looks like death warmed over.

8:00 am: Grandpa calls the clinic for us.

11:30 am: Big girl is diagnosed with a plain old cold, which caused some minor complications due to her asthma, but is fine. Prescribed cough syrup, Tylenol, liquids and lots of rest. Baby has double-ear infection, sinus infection, and pinkeye. He is prescribed antibiotic, eye drops, cough syrup, liquids, and to stay the heck away from everyone until he is feeling better. Aaah, it ain't a holiday unless we exchange grody germs right along with our gifts, now is it?!

1:00 pm: Baby takes his dose of the good stuff, and lays down for a nap. Mommy & the Uncles head in to visit Great-Grandma at the nursing home, and work on our Project Linus blankets with the residents. (Success!! We made 6 beautiful blankets and had a really fun time getting them finished.)


"The Blanketeers", working on a Project Linus blankie. 
They turned out great, and we had such a fun time visiting with the residents!

5:00 pm: Baby awakens 4 hours later, a kid with a new lease on life. He rips through Grandma's house destroying everything in his path. There are no bows left on the gifts under the tree. Snowmen are lying in shambles across the floor. Cupboards are emptied of their contents. He's clearly feeling back to his old self.  It's a Christmas miracle…

Back to terrorizing Big Sister.

I know it's kindof silly to say that, but I found myself thinking: how lucky am I to live in a place like this? Where despite being 330 miles from home and in a very rural area, in a matter of a few short hours, my children got in to see a doctor, were diagnosed, given medicine, and are feeling good as new. And I am so fortunate to have great health insurance that covered our visit there so I don't have to make that gut-wrenching decision: take my sick child to see a doctor, or risk it with a "wait-and-see" because I can't afford it? Trust me, unfortunately I have been in that position before and I pray that we see a day where NO parent ever has to make that kind of decision.

I feel so lucky that we live in a place and time where children no longer have to die of common childhood illnesses. Where we as parents are educated about warning signs and necessary vaccinations and how to keep our kids healthy. Where we have access to physicians and resources and medicines and diagnostic tools to help us find the answers. Our system is far from perfect, but consider how much better it is than it was 25, 50, or 100 years ago. We've come a long way, but we still have a long way to go, which is why it's important to support causes like The Children's Health Fund, a group who is "committed to providing health care to the nation's most medically underserved children through the development and support of innovative primary care medical programs; response to public health crises; and the promotion of guaranteed access to appropriate health care for all children."  Wonderful!

Several of my "12 Days" posts have been about organizations that help kids. Since becoming a mother over 4 years ago, I have counted every blessing in regards to my children. I have looked into those sparkling blue eyes and kissed the tops of those angelic blonde heads and thanked God for those two perfect blessings I have been granted. And realize daily what a huge responsibility it is to be the Mommy to these amazing little creatures that have been entrusted to me. I think that's exactly why I'm so passionate about helping those other beautiful little people in this world who cannot help themselves. It's about giving those kids a chance to grow up and become something wonderful.

My world.

For my two little turtledoves (who are at the moment soundly sleeping all snug in their beds while visions of sugarplums dance in their heads) today's donation will go to help kids who are not as lucky as mine are. Kids who by chance were not born into families with access to the medical resources we have, kids whose parents want the best for them just the same, but watch in horror as their children get sick and it's beyond their control to help them. For those kids, we should be able to do more.

THE CHILDREN'S HEALTH FUND:

https://secure2.convio.net/chf/site/Donation2?df_id=1480&1480.donation=form1

Three French Hens (St. Jude's Ranch Recycled Card Program)

On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me….

THREE FRENCH HENS

Here's a couple of super-easy ones for you today. Cuz I don't  know about you, but at this moment, I am in desperate need of super-easy!

The kids have felt crummy this week, and as a result I didn't get done what I wanted to get done in preparation for the trip. Between the sickies and my "Seasonal ADD" (which is just my average run-of-the-mill ADD multiplied by about 3 million because of all the extra stuff I feel the need to do at Christmas time), I didn't think it was going to happen.

But I managed to squeak out a 'win' at the last moment… we are packed and ready to rock n' roll. In mere minutes we will be hitting I-94 West and soon, "We'll be home for Christmas." 5 1/2 hours (and that's on a fair weather day with no potty stops) in the Incredible Shrinking Car with 2 wound-up kids and 1 excited dog and 1 cranky husband and 1 stressed out Mom and 397,000 gifts and an array of other crap that we may or may not need over the next 6 days. The trunk is so full I actually had to sit on it to get it to latch. I'm not even kidding, I seriously had to do that. Good thing I had a couple extra Christmas treats this week, because I needed the extra weight to get it closed!

But when we get there…. Aaaaahhh. Christmas will have officially arrived. I'm sure my folks will be up waiting for us, Mom will probably have some food sitting out for us ('just in case') and we'll be ready to kick of the holiday celebration. And we are EXCITED! So the next time I post, it will be from my parents home, probably written in my PJ's and drinking Bailey's & coffee while my folks work on spoiling the kids and feeding us until we need to be rolled out of there in a wheelbarrow after Christmas Day.

So in a matter of a few hours, I got all packed, wrapped & rounded up the gifts, and finished up my last couple Christmas cards. A great way to keep in touch with friends and family across the globe. One of my favorite parts of the Christmas season is going to the mailbox and finding ACTUAL MAIL, from folks that I may not keep in touch with as often as I'd like, but I certainly love hearing from nonetheless and enjoy seeing what they've been up to the past year.

Which reminds me, I'd like to send out a very special thank you to a dear friend who had a fantastic suggestion for a donation that is 'super-easy', because like I said, sometimes we all need a little "easy" amidst the hectic rush that Christmas can be. We need to take a little break and remember what Christmas is all about. To calm down and count our blessings. So thanks Georgia, for reminding me of that!

You can save the greeting cards you receive at Christmas and pass them along to the St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. They 'reuse' them by creating new cards which are then sold and the proceeds go to their very worthy charity. It's a VERY quick & easy thing to put on your "to-do list" that can make a big difference to lots of abused & neglected kids who really need a program like St. Jude's Ranch in their lives.

So though my project for today may just have to be done after these 12 Days of Christmas have already passed, I'll be rounding up all the beautiful greeting cards and sending them to:

St. JUDE'S RANCH

Recycled Card Program

100 St. Jude's Street

Boulder City, NV 89005

http://www.stjudesranch.org/help_card.php


See ya on the flip side (aka, North Lemmon!)

Four Calling Birds (Cell Phones for Soldiers)

On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

FOUR CALLING BIRDS

The charity I have chosen today, Cell Phones for Soldiers, was started by a 13-year old girl and her 12-year old brother. They were motivated to action when they heard a news story about a soldier who ran up an $8000 phone bill while calling home to speak with his family while deployed overseas. Shocked by the expense of such a seemingly simple, everyday thing like a phone call, they immediately rose to action. The teens were driven to help soldiers, men and women who were torn away from their wives, husbands, children, parents, friends, and communities to do their jobs: putting themselves into harms' way to protect all of us from harm. They just wanted to help these soldiers and their families cope with the stress of a deployment. Talk about humbling.

These kind and noble children felt so passionate about this cause that they selflessly gave what some might call a meager amount, but was likely their entire life savings: they literally emptied their piggy banks...for a total of $21. When they took their money to the bank, the manager was so impressed by their thoughtful act that he anted up $500 to help. Their project quickly snowballed into a huge effort to collect phones and prepaid calling cards for troops stationed overseas. It was a simple idea, with lovely intentions. Since it's inception in 2004, these two "kids" who started with $21 have raised almost $2 million in donations and have distributed 500,000+ calling cards to soldiers who are serving our country.

Who doesn’t have an old cell phone lying around the house? I personally have two that are in fantastic condition, and 3 or 4 more that are older than dirt, just sitting in a box in the basement taking up room. So why would I NOT give my old phones to this very worthy cause? It's just too easy. The Cell Phones for Soldiers website even has an easy-to-use eraser tool that will remove personal data from your phone before it gets shipped or donated (in case you don't want your personal phone book flying around out there). Besides that, it's a good "go green" effort too! The phones don't even have to work -- the phones collected for this program are sent to Re-Cellular, which in turn pays CPFS for each phone. That happens to be enough for about an hour of talk time for a soldier who are oceans away from their family and friends, fighting for our nation. Just a little thing that could mean a LOT.  Especially during the holiday season when they may be feeling lonely and so far away from our world of stockings and decorating trees and gift shopping must seem so irrelevant compared to what they encounter on a daily basis.

Whether you're for or against the politics behind the wars our nation is currently fighting, these men and women are sacrificing so much for your right to voice that opinion. So let's give them a voice in return… so that they may find some comfort in hearing familiar voices, while working in unfamiliar lands far away from home and under conditions that most of us could not even imagine. 

So two items of action for me today (and I hope you too will at least take the time to do #1)

1) Take my old cell phones to a local dropoff point (Any of the Wells Fargo Bank and Liberty Tax locations for you Fargoans) Collect your friends' & neighbors old phones too! (Let's just make sure they're not currently using them… that could cause some family brawls at Christmastime!)

2) Make a donation at http://cellphonesforsoldiers.com/donatemoney.html


For Nate, for Donnie, for Josh, for all the friends and family you & I have who are serving in the military:  THANK YOU.  Thank you and your families for your sacrifices so that we can continue to enjoy freedoms like having cell phones, and reading blogs, and celebrating Christmas...

CELL PHONES FOR SOLDIERS

http://cellphonesforsoldiers.com/  

Five Golden Rings (Child's Play)

For today's verse of the LONGEST CHRISTMAS SONG EVER…

I sat here all day, stumped about what to write. So many worthy causes, almost too many to choose from. I had complete and total writer's block. This is my favorite verse of the song, cuz I can sing it long and loud. And I like loud. But 5 Golden Rings, huh? What on earth… the Olympics have rings for a symbol… Gold is lovely… Symbolically they could… ummm....ugh. I got nothin'. All I can think of is my golden wedding ring. Beautiful and meaningful to me, but how can I work it in to the blog and contribute to a cause I believe in? Completely befuddled!

As the ultimate nerds, "Brad & Janet"
in the Rocky Horror Show, FMCT, Feb '03.

Then, as my hubby emerged from his man-cave tonight to get a glass of iced tea, it suddenly hit me: this will be HIS day. We don't really exchange gifts at Christmas anymore, but this could be my little 'gift' to him. He means the world to me, so why not give to a charity that means something to him? Besides, he often complains about how my blogs are "a little light on the Jordan", so I figured why not sprinkle some "Jordan" into a post! So I asked him cause he really believes in, and before I had even finished my sentence, he got all excited and blurted out, "Child's Play!"

"Child's Play? Never heard of it. Tell me about it."

So he went on to explain what the organization does, and how he found out about it. He visits a website quite regularly, called "Penny Arcade", where he finds some dork-tastic comics and blog posts and other things that make absolutely no sense to me. But on this site is also something created by its founders that is really quite incredible. It's a video game charity. Created by gamers. Just some regular dudes who happen to love video gaming decided one day that they were tired of getting a bum rap and about how they kept hearing how video games were the root of all evil and blah blah blah. So they set out to make a difference, partly to prove folks wrong, but mostly because they truly believed in a cause and wanted to help. So they got together with (their local) Seattle Children's Hospital and Amazon.com to help some really sick children who had the misfortune of spending their Christmas in the hospital, have a very special Christmas.

Several years later, these same dudes are the authors of an increasingly popular gaming site (Penny Arcade - that's Jordan's favorite site and how he came to find out about their project) and their charitable idea has since become a huge non-profit organization called Child's Play that raises money and gift donations to sick kids in hospitals around the country. It's a little like "Toys for Tots", but while some of the items donated are given to the children to take home, other gifts stay at the hospitals for all the kids to use (things like game consoles) so that being sick doesn't also have to mean missing out on being a kid.  Their charity proves that you don't have to be large in number or rich and famous or even "cool" to drive change.  You can do a whole lot with very little.  I greatly admire that.

The day I became his Mrs. - June 7, 2003.  As another
'5 Golden Rings' reference our vows stated, "This ring
is round and hath no end, so is my love unto my friend."

While I usually scoff at his gaming nerdery, and I certainly don't cut him any slack about his hobbies, I actually think this is a pretty darn amazing cause. Recommended by a pretty darn amazing guy. So my gift today is on behalf of my husband: a video-gamin' guy who is hard-n'-crunchy-on-the-outside but soft-n'-chewy-on the-inside. He is compassionate and thoughtful and giving in ways that take my breath away every day. He is a kind and honorable man. I totally get his completely inappropriate humor, and he gets my doofy cornball humor and we have both learned that the key to happiness is keeping a sense of humor at all times. Laughing holds us up through the low points in life and gives us so much more joy through the high points. We couldn't be more different, but we work because we complement each other so perfectly.

Besides all that, he gave me the two greatest gifts I could have ever imagined: my children. I thank God every day for these two healthy Jordan-Mini-Me's who make our lives so much richer and so very worthwhile.  When I rocked my booger-nosed baby with a hacking cough and a cranky attitude to sleep tonight, (as I am feeling completely sleep-deprived from the marathon rocking session we did last night) a thought struck me -- this kiddo has a simple cold and I feel awful for him.  When big sister was about his age, she landed in the hospital with complications from pneumonia, just overnight, but it was purely awful.  What would it be like if they got really sick?  I don't even want to think about a "what if" like that - and I'm glad that I don't have to think about it right now.  It made me marvel at how parents of really sick children survive it.  How do they conquer their own fears and become a pillar of strength so that their children don't become frightened too?  How do they manage those long nights and scary doctors' offices?  How do they handle all the medications and the machines and uncertainty?  My heart goes out to their families and I consider how lucky we are that our kids aren't the ones who are stuck in a hospital on Christmas (or any other time of the year), and I pray for the kids and parents who are.  And how I hope that we never find ourselves in a situation like that.  Again, I count my many blessings.

Some of my many blessings. (Photo courtesy of Milestones Photography)

So although my husband won't be getting any Cosby sweaters or grilling tools or neckties from me this Christmas, I hope he knows how much he is loved and appreciated by me. I don't say it often enough, and certainly take him for granted far more than I care to admit. But this Christmas he will get something given in his honor, and with more love than he will ever know…

My 5th day of Christmas gift goes to:

PENNY ARCADE CHILD'S PLAY

http://www.childsplaycharity.org/

How's that for "light on the Jordan"? (Careful what you wish for, my love…)