The Irwin's Circus

The Incident

2010-01-07T13:26:00.005-06:00

Cold, cold day. Warmed up the van. Ready for my first trip to the gym of the New Year. Go me! 2010 here I come! Just showered and ready to sweat. I tell the girls to head out to the van. Quickly grab my waterbottle and diaperbag and lock the door.

Get to the van. It's cold. Brrr. Can't wait for a warm car. Anna and Naomi are standing by the van waiting to get in. Good girls. Oops, one missing. Little stinker. Where is she? Uh oh, must have lost her between the house and the van. Not a far journey but she can be quite the wanderer. As I approach the door, I hear loud crying. Oops, she must be inside. Poor girl, thinks she got left. Mommy never leaves, just may temporarily misplace. Someday she'll learn (Abby, not mom- unfortunately mommy is quite impaired in learning such things)

Open the sun porch, still crying, only louder. Good thing it has only been about 90 seconds max. I'm pretty sure there is a minimum trauma threshold that must be reached before it actually starts internal scarring. I figured I still had a few seconds to spare.

I talk to Abby, assure her I would never leave without her and that it would take me just a second to open the door. I go to unlock the door but it doesn't open. Stupid key. Stupid door. Try again. Still no go. Major uh, oh!

Uh-Oh because the only other lock on this door is an ancient skeleton keyhole whose counterparts only exist in quantities of ONE. That ONE being in the keyhole on the other side of the door! Abby must have turned it, trying to get herself out. It's okay, remember I still have time until scarring becomes permanent. TGIF&CP (Thank God for Fridays and Cell Phones).

I drag the other two out of the car while assessing the situation. Front Door - locked. Screendoor- two locks. Basement door- locked. Door to basement from inside- locked Windows- locked. I think you get the picture. I am overly paranoid.

I leave the Sunporch with Anna and Naomi mostly freezing in the 40 degree room with Abby playing happily on the other side of the door in 74 degree weather. I venture out into the teen degree weather (with wet hair mind you which has now in fact frozen in chunks) to search the garage for keys. This is my husband's organization system. Put everything in bags and place them all over and move them repeatedly so one has no idea where anything is. Found a bag, oh, that is empty. Found another bag- who needs this many screws anyway! Frustration mounting, Hair forming icicles, Hands falling off. Yeah, found a bag with keys- three of them, one skelaton, two others. Walk around the house trying to test keys in doors with no success. Husband, not knowing who he is talking to apparently, wants me to go kick in the basement door, which is locked with a dead bolt mind you. I try and of course fail. Even though I kind of wanted to fail because who wants to replace that door and who would be around to take me to the ER if needed?

I realize I have three choices: (1) perish in the cold with only two of my children (2) admit defeat and call a locksmith (which in turn means waiting several hours on "Locksmith time" for someone to come, charge me out to wazoo, and take an eternity to duplicate a key made about 100 years ago) or (3) break into my own house.

Now as some of you may know, my house was recently broken into just a few short months ago, so I choose the latter. The method is tried and true.

I call my Stepdad to be coached on how best to break a window. What tool do you use? What side do you hit? How many times? You know, I wonder if these questions went through the mind our recent burglar. I quickly dismiss the perposterous idea of our criminal being in the least bit intelligent since we were actually HOME when he broke in.

Do you know what I discovered? I am good at it! In case you were wondering, it just takes one small tap of the hammer right down the center. I even talked on the phone for part of it. (And I am not usually a multi-tasker!) I forsee great things. So if you ever lock your daughter in your house, I am your woman.

Once broken, the door was easily unlocked by adult hands and ah, we enter warmth (minus the several degrees lost to the broken window).

I learned two things: one... I have a wonderful daughter who was rather obedient, listening to my every instruction from" play with toys only by the door" to "go sit on Anna's bed because Mommy wants to break a window" when she could have been ruling the house and two...if anyone wants to break into our house, apparently, you are welcome to. Both times our windows were broken no one so much as flinched or reported suspicious activity. Yes, we are moving!

Dates with Me

2009-12-01T20:52:00.027-06:00

So we had a date and not much money...

Q: Wanna know what we did?

A: We went to the mall

Q: Wanna know what made it interesting?

A: We played a game

Q: What kind of game?

A: It went like this...

Q: How many things could we get at the mall for a total of $2.00?

A: 1 sample of Mrs. Fields Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie

1 sample of Orange Chicken from a knock off Panda Express

1 sample of Orange Chicken from a "Thai" place next door to the knock off Panda Express

1 sample of more chicken from who knows where, I think this place was Japanese

1 sample of a fantastic piece of California Chicken Sandwich from O'Charleys

Q: Can you tell we hit the food court first?

A: Yes

Q: Wanna know more? The list doesn't end there-

A: Of course you do.

1 handful of Reese's Pieces from a vending machine (25 cents)

1 crazy yellow speckled 20 sided dice (yes, I know the singular form is "die" but I thought

you might be confused) (53 cents)

1 awesome Christian sentiment card with my favorite picture on it: Two penguins looking at

each other. One with a big orange fish eating his head, with a headline that says, "Relax,

God's in charge." (15 cents- but only b/c someone gave me a penny to cover the extra cent)

1 demo of "Glo"- a new Bible software that is visually appealing and intriguing (Ryan will let

you know)

1 Lancome Face Cream sample which guarantees that I will look younger in 7 days (Ryan will

let you know)

Q: More?

A: Unbelievable, but yes...

2 stickers from Slackers- a hippy butterfly which I tried to convince Ryan we should put on

our minivan and a green alien head with a striped propeller cap which I neglected to suggest

that we put on our minivan (I mean we can't be both hippy and sci-fi geek, can we?) (70

cents - our biggest splurge yet)

1 super sours candy ball from vending machine which Ryan insisted we could split (turns out

he was wrong, I got a lick instead- you know, just to say it was "ours") (25 cents)

1 Building Rome Nightmare Teasers CD with three bestselling songs which include such

intelligent titles as "Sink Like an Anchor", "What are We Fighting For?", and my personal

favorite, "Dr. Doctor"

Q: Is that it?

A: No, one more thing-

Upon determining in my head that we had 12 cents left and then Ryan determining we had

19 cents left, we headed for the candy store. What can we get in one of those bins for 19

cents? We didn't know. So we (well, I, actually) asked the nice Indian cashier (while Ryan

walked away "discreetly" in embarrassment) what we could possibly get for 19 cents for our

little game. The very nice man gave us pick of anything in any bin in the store and said we

could have it for 19 cents.

Q: So what did we pick? A Lindt Chocolate? A chocolate orange?

A: Nothing that sophisticated...

A wax soda bottle (you know the one) -the one that you open with your teeth. We split it on

our way out of the store while chewing on the wax (such an aphrodisiac)

Q: 17 cents? That means you have 2 cents leftover?

A: No, actually it means that, as is typical in most marriages, "MISCOMMUNICATION",

(supposedly a high contributor to divorce) took place. You see Ryan thought I was talking

about adding numbers rather than subtracting so actually placed us "OVER BUDGET" at

$2.05 (with ironically, finances being the number one contributor to divorce)

Q: Was there friction?

A: No, we decided to split a cookie cake slice on a bench for $3.71.

An Apple a Day...breaks our budget

2009-09-15T22:36:00.004-05:00

Apple Picking at Eckerts...($27 in apples later)

Ryan and my sister, Tara. The funny thing is there was almost the same photo taken about 10 years ago when Tara was three or four, with Ryan holding her up to get an apple. Give it another ten years, and it could get a little awkward.)

Tara

Our friends Andrew and Laura accompanied us also!

Our trip to the Apple Orchard ended up with a total of 8 people, in 2 hours, 4 bags of apples, for about $70. It was the girls' first long awaited trip apple picking. For months Anna has been asking when it was going to be Fall so we could go pick apples. Glad the moment could finally arrive for her! Everyone left happy. Warning: homemade applesauce is going to be attempted soon.

Save Now

First Day of Preschool

2009-09-12T08:50:00.004-05:00

This week was our First Day of Preschool! We are doing a Preschool Co-Op once a week with a friend of ours and her son. We use the curriculum Before Five in a Row, a literature based study. We pick a book to read every week and do various activities associated with that story.

Here are some of the things we learned, along with some pics:

ABCs & London Bridges

Read Yellow Ball by Molly Bang

Played games with a yellow ball

Used watercolors for the first time to re-create the cover of Yellow Ball

Cheese and Crackers Snack in the shape of a (what else) yellow ball

Free Play

The Letter "O" and various learning games with "O"

Learning manners on how to open gifts politely, complete with a gift for everyone to practice with (what was inside? a yellow ball!)

Science lesson on Floating and Sinking. Their own yellow balls floated just like the ball in their book

watching a video about the letter "O" on our FAVORITE letters website- Starfall.com

We can't wait until next week when we study Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear?!!! This time Ms. Sara is the teacher and Preschool is at her house. What fun we are having!

Blackberry Heaven

2009-07-12T19:34:00.007-05:00

Lots of memories are made at Grandma and Grandpa's House. Picking blackberries is one of them...

(By the way, these lovely photos were taken by a family friend named August Jennewein. Check him out at http://www.augustjennewein.com/)

Party Princesses

2009-06-30T15:38:00.005-05:00

Party Animals threw a fabulous joint birthday party for Anna, Naomi, and Abigail. If you are looking for a stress free party, check them out. They are great! Here are some of the pics. Having three girls, of course, we picked the Princess theme!

2 boys in the Barbie jeep- I love it!

A BLUE Birthday

2009-06-02T19:46:00.004-05:00

Naomi's favorite color is blue. All day, everyday, I have to hear about BLUE.

So for her birthday, she wanted blue cupcakes with blue icing and blue candles. Well, she got it!

and here is a fun snapshot of these three goofy, giggly girls:

Chocolate Anyone?

2009-04-24T12:37:00.010-05:00

Getting ready for Bible Study. It's a little too quiet. Smart moms would wonder. I did- for a second and then went back to what I was doing. Anna came out of her room. Licking her fingers. Brown goo all over her face and clothes. Look of horror. Anna is confused. How did she know? Mom's know everything. Smart moms and not so smart moms both know everything. And the messy face helps a little. I enter their room. Naomi and Abby look like Anna, or maybe a little worse. In the center of the room is a tub of dipping chocolate. Smarts mom put up chocolate. Not so smart mom left a closed container of old dipping chocolate next to the trashcan to go outside. To make myself feel better I say to myself, 'well, it was in a closed (very jumbo sized by the way) ricotta cheese container. No remnants of chocolate. What kid would want Ricotta cheese?' Abby would. Abby did. I'm sure she was delighted to find that the ricotta cheese had turned rather brown and very sweet. Her sisters were happy too. So happy that they ate the whole thing. This was a LOT of chocolate. The floor is brown. Their clothes and faces are brown. There rocking horse now has brown hair. Late for Bible Study. Smart moms and not so smart moms both love chocolate. And apparently so do their kids.

These are the Days We Don't Want to Forget...

2009-04-13T20:25:00.002-05:00

Cahokia Mounds (P.S. It was SO much bigger when we were little!)

2009-04-13T20:13:00.007-05:00

uh oh...that's a lot of steps for such little legs!

V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!

Grandma, Anna, and Naomi also made it to the top

Ryan and his mom and dad

Anna and her Grandpa

Another Meyers-Briggs?

2009-04-07T11:14:00.007-05:00

We dyed easter eggs this weekend. What fun! Turns out their eggs seemed to match their personalities!

From Left to Right-

Anna: pure, simple, and girlie-girl pink

Naomi: flamboyant, fun, and full of color

Abby: sweet with an edge, curious, and inquisitive (hence the mutilated egg)

Clooney's Macaroni

2009-04-03T12:37:00.005-05:00

So in case you haven't heard, George Clooney is in St. Louis making a movie called Up in the Air. The whole city is a buzz with stardom and Clooney sightings. As far as I know of, they have filmed at a school in Affton, a Lutheran church in Maplewood, the Cheshire Inn in Clayton, Lambert Airport, the Schnucks on South Grand, and the Millenium Hotel. My mom and stepdad's church hosted the cast and crew food gatherings in their fellowship hall while they were filming at the Cheshire Inn. My stepdad is the building manager so he had full access all three days they were there. We got the leftovers. Apparently NPR has recently reported that someone from PETA contacted Clooney about using his sweat as a flavor for George Clooney Tofu. Thankfully, Clooney declined. We didn't get tofu but we did get to eat Clooney's three day old macaroni. PETA ain't got nothing on us. Thought about selling it on ebay but my kids were hungry. :)

My own Handwriting

2009-03-31T22:05:00.002-05:00

Guess what I did today?! I made my own font! What fun! Go to http://www.yourfonts.com. It is super easy! You just print out a grid with all of the letters on it, fill it out, scan it, and download your new font IN YOUR OWN HANDWRITING! I am super excited about being able to type in my scrapbooks with my own handwriting. And let's face it...it's just fun to see a product of "you" when using Microsoft Word. Kind of like when you walk by a mirror, it's hard not to look- You'll never use another font! {Well, at least if no one else is looking!}

My Head Hurts

2009-03-27T23:08:00.002-05:00

I went to a homeschooling conference today. Odd isn't it? (I don't homeschool nor could I if I wanted to since my kids are only 1, 2, and 3!) Anyway, in my very OCD need for planning, I attended a homeschooling conference to do some research on schooling options for Anna in another year and a half! Because I am a conference addict (just went to Hearts at Home a few weeks ago), of course I had a great time! Ah...I just love getting a tote bag, filling it up with kleenex (you always cry at conferences), pens (several- in case you run out of ink), yummy snacks, info on all the workshops you are about to attend, and a brand new notebook- ready for all the information you are about to take in. Sick, isn't it? I know, but what can I say- is there anything better?

This conference was a little different for me. Very good and very informative but also very heavy for a newcomer. Usually, I go to as many workshops as I can because my perfectionism drive is so huge that I must at least attempt to conquer every possible issue that could possibly be affecting my life or in the life of someone I love. Today, however, I committed the unthinkable conference addict sin- I skipped a workshop! I had the opportunity (the room was beckoning me) but I just couldn't do it. My head was too full, swimming in a sea of possible curriculums, various philosophies, statistics, and dare I say it...phonics (my most fearsome thing to conquer if I choose to homeschool). My head still hurts, though I have gotten a little relief from journaling about it. Lucky for my husband that he had a guys' night scheduled and hasn't been home to "hear all about it"- though I already told him that he has a date in the car tomorrow as we do errands and gets the privilege of listening and nodding at all the appropriate moments.

Things I learned:

- My curriculum style is F-U-N- if it's not fun, I don't want to look at it (this must be my problem with phonics!)

- I need some structure and direction if I'm going to teach. I like my hand held, especially in new things.

- Colleges actually love getting applications from homeschoolers because of their reputation as great students who love learning.

- One of the easiest ways to identify if someone has dyslexia is to see if they can speak Pig Latin- isn't that awesome!? Do you know what I want to do now? I really want to ask everyone I know to speak Pig Latin just to see.

- All children are kinestetic learners (learn by moving and doing & feeling/touching) until age 3-5 at which point the girls' can change. The boys, however, won't change their learning style until at least the age of 7. This means it is a good thing I have girls. I would much rather deal with lots of girly squeeling than 7 + years of wiggly boys. Unfortunately for Ryan, I think he would appreciate the rough-housing and a little less talking.

- Whenever you need to discipline, bring God's Word into the matter. Ie. if you are dealing with disobedience, talk about what God's Word says about it.

- And last but not least, First E Free is the most confusing church to navigate around in ever! This may also have contributed to my head hurting.

Overall a great day! Thanks to my hubby who suprised me this afternoon by taking half a day off so I could stay all day! He's just awesome.

Are you wondering if I am going to be a homeschooler? The jury is still out. We'll see what the Big Man has to say about it. But for now, I enjoyed impersonating one for the day.

Botanical Gardens with the Aunts!

2009-03-26T15:24:00.002-05:00

If J.J. Abrams told me to drink Kool-Aid...I just might.

2009-03-19T08:14:00.005-05:00

J.J. Abrams, creator of Alias, has made another tv show with a cult following- LOST. We were big fans of Alias and LOST is no different. We began watching season 1 on DVD in October and finished all 4 seasons in a matter of two months! Sadly, I even had dreams about the characters because LOST had become so much of a staple in our household. Season 5 began in January so our obsession could continue. Because everyone that watches LOST is a fanatic (there is no where in between), we began talking to a few friends about the show. They ended up inviting themselves over to watch an episode...and that is how it all began. Now, every week, six of us gather to have dinner together, play LOST trivia (complete with prizes), and watch the new episode. Last night we invited the "Others" and had a LOST costume party. Twelve of us crammed in our living room for all you can eat nachos, a Sawyer's Nicknames quiz, Costume contest, and of course, watching LOST. Everyone had a good time and are ready for more. Maybe our group of six will regularly turn into a group of 12- see what I mean...obsessive! Here are some photos of our party. They won't mean much to you if you don't watch LOST, but here they are anyway.

I was the airplane that crashes on the island, complete with the airline logo, wings, and plane windows with the charactes faces peeking out.

Sara as Olivia Goodspeed (Ben's teacher, minus the rifle)

Anna and Dan as Charlotte and Daniel Faraday (he even had the leather journal to go with it!)

Group shot. (From top left) Ali as Charlie, Joe as Tom, Ryan as Hurley, Dan as Daniel, Sara as Olivia and Allen as Richard. (From bottom left) Mark as the "random red shirt guy" who always gets killed off, Aubrey as Rousseau, Anna as Charlotte, Beth as Juliet, and Bradley as Charlie (complete with sugar heroine)

Allen as Richard- with eyeliner of course!

Friends since they were babies, Joe and Ryan as Tom and Hurley

a bookmark I made with my Cricut as a prize for a Hurley Quiz with Hurley's face and lotto numbers

Phase I Cleanup

2009-02-13T16:58:00.003-06:00

This whole thing has been traumatic for Ryan. Here he is hitting himself with a child's toy anticipating cleanup...

So apparently there is a code for cleaning up waste. Only those who have the privilege of waste management can be enlightened. So sorry to leave you out. If you'd like to be informed, you are more than welcome to come over and join in. Then...you can be in the secret club. See...we even have uniforms.

Trying to make Ryan feel better...

And Phase I Cleanup Begins!

Stay tuned...Phase II coming shortly!

What I am calling the Sewage Flood of 09...

2009-02-13T14:23:00.005-06:00

More background: Three weeks ago we had most of the stuff in our basement in one huge but nice neat pile at one end of our basement. Being the messy/want-to-be neat freak that I am, I decided we must organize our storage area. SO...I made Ryan help me divide everything by category. Once everything was divided by category, we were going to organize each category into storage bins, number them, and write down everything in them on an index card. That way if we needed something, we just look at the index card in that category and find which number box it is located in, making retrieval a breeze. Nice thought, huh? So being the excellent finisher of projects that I am (HA! HA!) instead of one nice neat pile of things on the OPPOSITE end of the basement where the sewer water came in...we had about 10 piles spread out ALL OVERthe basement separated into...you guessed it....categories. Now, not to be too hard on myself - we actually did get about 10 bins actually organized and put away but we still had a lot left. So when the water came....it hit us in categories! Anyway, just thought I'd share that optimistic little fact there just in case you were desperately wanting some more depressing Irwin news!

Here is the basement filling up with water- hard to tell where the water is- wish I used a ruler but...oh wait, the ruler was stuck in my craft supplies on the other side of the basement already submerged!

ick!

2009-02-11T21:31:00.003-06:00

Guess what I got to do last night? Ryan and I had some real bonding time. At 11 pm, we discovered our pipes in the basement were backed up and sewer water was coming into our laundry room area. There was about 2 or so inches of standing sewage water. 20 minutes later...Ryan comes to get me in bed to tell me to get up we must go salvage things in the basement. The sewar water was pouring in by that point. So there we are standing in rising sewer water trying to rescue our photos, memorabilia, clothes, etc. while the nasty water continued to creep its way into all of the corners of the basement. By morning our whole basement was covered 2-5 inches deep in utter yuckiness. Good news? A guy came out and fixed it, making all the water go away! Bad news? The water went away but not the sewage...so now the cleanup begins! Normally, I try for some humor when I am blogging about something like this. Maybe I should wait awhile. Humor currently escapes me. Oh, and by the way, I forgot to mention that I am sick.

Sledding with Aunt Tara

2009-01-29T10:02:00.003-06:00

a sledding train

A typical day at our house...

2009-01-28T10:26:00.002-06:00

Click here to see "Anna's Spastic Locamotion". I think she needs dance classes!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQlKqC72dWk

A Terrifying Sight

2009-01-28T10:10:00.006-06:00

You never know what you are going to find living in the most dangerous city in the U.S...

and

Oh wait, that wasn't a drive by- just a snow angels attempt. Though these angels do look like they've been assassinated.

Here they are a little improved:

and

This was Abby making a snow angel last year:

This was her out in the snow this year:

I think she should probably settle someplace warm.

Living with Me

2009-01-16T07:48:00.003-06:00

Living with me has its disadvantages. One of them being I am completely scatter brained and am consistently "misplacing" things. If Ryan says I lost something, I quickly correct him. I simply MISPLACE things- they always return, just not when I need them to. Things I frequently lose: my keys, my brush, my purse, the cell phone, my notebook which houses my life, pretty much everything of importance!

Well, the other day took the cake per say. I misplaced my toast. After looking everywhere reasonable, I could not find it ANYWHERE. Ryan nicely and a little naively insisted that Sadie, our dog, must have eaten it. I knew better than that though. I knew the culprit. I just didn't know the location. Are you curious?

It was hiding under my pillow. Yuck!

No, life with me is never dull. Frequently messy and unpredictable but never dull. Now, if anyone has seen my cell phone, please let me know- it has been MIA for about 12 hours now- And hollar if you find my other glove.

In case you all might be thinking it, "Yes, it IS amazing that God gave me children!" though I haven't MISPLACED one yet!

Endless Baking, Decorating, and Eating

2008-12-19T21:58:00.005-06:00

We made all these beautiful cookies for the girl's bible study teachers. We had them all nicely wrapped with cute homemade cards on top. Of course we were sick the day of bible study! So we saved the cards and ate all of the yummy cookies :)

Oops! I forgot to rotate the photo! Oh well, the point is...we were decorating gingerbread houses so Ryan broke out his drill! .....a man and his tools!

This is mostly what Anna and Naomi did while Ryan, my sisters, and I decorated gingerbread houses

all of us with our houses

Emma

Tara

Decorating the Tree

2008-12-15T13:57:00.005-06:00

A few of our favorite ornaments:

ONE of Dana's favorites (I just can't choose!)

Abby's favorite- it's got her photo from last year in it. It's a cute book that opens and your child becomes a penguin, a reindeer, etc. I got it from Discovery Toys and love it.

Anna and Naomi's favorites.

one of Ryan's favorites from when he was little

Our Little Tree finally decorated

The decorating process

Anna and Naomi took a break. (Anna reading to Naomi)

Naomi

Anna

Abby

17 Days, 400 Hours, 24,015 Minutes, or 1,440,902 Seconds

2008-12-08T13:43:00.005-06:00

...until Christmas! However you look at it, Christmas is coming.

Here is what we have been up to:

trying candy canes for the first time- everyone liked them except mom who got to clean everyone's sticky gooey mess, including dog hair- yuck!

Anna and Naomi set up the Nativity. Anna insisted that all the people must fit in the stable. Something tells me if she was the one in charge of the inn, Jesus would have had a room! :) Apparently her philosophy is the more, the merrier.

Breakfast with Santa. Anna saw Santa and immediately said "I don't like him" to which Naomi replied "I like him"...always a competition!

Daddy and Abby on top of a borrowed mantel from Home Depot! Apparently Home Depot let the community center borrow a fireplace for decoration for the breakfast with Santa. Just below Abby's foot was a price tag and a detailed description of the fireplace! I wish I could get on the list!

We cut down our own little tree this year. Anna is having fun being pulled in the tree sled by various family members at the tree farm.

Here was Abby's vehicle. He looks excited, doesn't he? :)

Naomi and Aunt Ashley. This may be the only time that Naomi smiled at the tree farm. She was, of all things, afraid of the trees. I also kind of forgot her in the van- that may have had an impact just a little! But, really, we realized it within 20 seconds. She was mad at me when I returned for her. This one will be one to hold a grudge!

A family un-portrait. In our family of wee little ones, someone is always either crying or at the very least not looking at the camera. In this case...Ryan (not crying! but indeed not loooking)! And Naomi- still holding a grudge...or maybe it's our tree.

Jesus in Christmas...who'd a thought!?

2008-12-04T12:07:00.004-06:00

So here it is- a new post...if there is anyone still checking this blog! I have done such a poor job at posting these past months. I will try to do better!

Last year our Christmas was horrible. There was no Christ in Christmas. There was a flurry of activity, an abundance of parties, and lots of stress associated with Christmas, but no Jesus. Sad to say, but I'm not even sure we made it to church in December last year! This year we are determined that it will go differently. Not only do we want Christ to be in Christmas, we want it all to be about celebrating him! We cut down on Christmas parties, started getting our gifts ready in August, and Ryan is taking more days off around Christmas so there is less stress and more celebrating and relaxing. We also decided to do a tv fast for all of advent so we could focus on the things that matter.

Since the girls are older, we decided to start celebrating Advent with them. We made an advent wreath with a paper chain on it that counts down the days until Christmas. Each day we pull off a chain and read what it says. It has an activity for us to do as a family that is a winter or Christmastime related. So far we have painted ornaments for grandparents, made and hung up snowflakes, and colored the first event of the Christmas Story- an angel appearing before Mary to tell her she was going to have a baby.

My goal was to post daily in Advent so you could see all of the things we've been doing! But I think that is a little too ambitious since I am wanting to scale down on things....but I will try my best to post every couple of days.

We are so happy to be able to start traditions with our family as our girls are getting older and are happy to teach them about the baby Jesus and God's incredible love for them and all of us. We hope you are able to stop a moment and contemplate His love for you also during this busy season.

Love, the Irwins

Here are some photos:

6 Unremarkable Things About Me

2008-10-08T12:35:00.006-05:00

I've gotten "tagged" per say. So I am now supposed to write about 6 unremarkable things about me...

So here goes-
1) I can be quite passive in some arenas (though as I get older they are seeming to be fewer and fewer of these areas!) but I do have strong opinions on certain things and not necessarily important things. For instance, I really don't like that the title of this is "6 Unremarkable things about me". I'm not sure why- it's not like I'd really like it to say "6 Remarkable things about me". But as my husband said, if I were to write about unremarkable things, it would be like how many teeth I have or something (In case you were wondering- I do still have all of them- minus my wisdom teeth).

2) I cannot stand bad customer service. I just got off the phone with a Kohl's representative trying to fix their mistake (which they can't do)! So now I am intent to tell all of you to at least never shop online at Kohls because I pretty much always have bad experiences. Though my instore purchases always seem to turn out alright. So if I receive bad customer service repeatedly I have a passion for letting them know it. I try to be kind most of the time but I do let my irritation show a bit with the employees.

Okay...now onto something a little positive. I need to get off of this "negative train" since the first two weren't exactly examples of seeing the glass half full!

3) As long as I am talking to someone or watching tv, I love doing "boring" officework tasks. I was just at Community Bible Study and spent 2 1/2 hours cutting out bible verses, arks, little Naaman's, Mary and Jesus', etc. while talking to a friend. I hardly noticed. The time flew by. Last night I was working on someone's baby announcements by cutting and stamping while watching "The Biggest Loser" and "NCIS" and had a great evening. Also...I even like sorting the mail! Even though my house is a clutter magnet, I don't relate well to people's whose mail just piles up- I can't imagine waiting that long to go through it because I actually enjoy it!

4) I love doing "FUN" outings. We are going to Bounce U next week "for the kids". Ha! I can't wait. It's totally an early birthday present for me!

5) I love magazines- I used to love books but now that I have three kids, magazines suit my time constraints much better. My favorites: All You, Real Simple, Reader's Digest, Creating Keepsakes, Today's Christian Woman, Family Fun.

6) Even though worship is one of the things that draws me into God's presence more than anything else, I have no musical abilities. I am completely tone deaf. It takes me FOREVER to learn the words to songs. Ryan just laughs at me and always corrects me when we are in the car and I am belting out a song, saying all of the wrong words. I just tell him, the point is singing, not actually getting it right! Of course this gets on his last nerve (everything is black and white with him, God forbid something isn't "right" or "wrong"!) This inability to learn the words may be why I tend to like worship songs that repeat the chorus frequently!!!

Okay...so now I am supposed to "tag" other people to blog about 6 Unremarkable things about them but I think I might change it- how about telling us "6 Weird things about you". If you really can't handle the rule change then I guess feel free to be unremarkable. So I tag: Erin, Laura (on your facebook blog???), Joe Bubenik, and Wendy & Melanie (only if you want to change the title since you have already done the unremarkable you- you really don't have to though- I just don't know anyone else with a blog!!! :) )

Sushi, Sushi, Sushi

2008-09-23T08:11:00.004-05:00

"IRWINS- we totally want to go- we are SO into competitive eating!" Emily excitedly proclaimed into my answering machine.

We had called around to some friends inviting them to go to a sushi festival and sushi eating contest with us on Sunday. Emily was returning my phone call and apparently was super happy about the prospect. You see Emily makes her husband, Tim, watch the Nathan's Hot Dog eating contest every year with her on tv. This was Emily's first chance to see an eating competition IN PERSON! What a privilege! :) So we all headed downtown to take in all of the asian festivities. In all actuality there wasn't much to do. Thank God Y98 was there- the girls got to win some prizes so they had some toys to play with! They threw around mini beach balls for a long time while we awaited "The Competition". There was some native drumming by umm...white people and then it was time to watch 8 men and 2 women stuff their face with california rolls! They introduced all of the contestants. Last years winner was competing, trying to beat the 78 sushi rolls he ate last year. The contest began with 10 minutes on the clock and boatloads of sushi! Everyone had a different technique- some would stand, some didn't, some were wasted before the contest even started, some took drinks of various kinds after every roll. About 4 minutes in, a contestant got up and went backstage to toss his cookies (or well, sushi). He never returned. In the end, an asian man won, eating something like 86 sushi rolls! Too bad the queasy man never came back- after three minutes he was already up to 63 rolls! Emily said, "that is what is so different between this and the hot dog competition- The hot dog contest is only 6 minutes long and this is 10 minutes long. This one is all about endurance!". So we had an especially amusing time with enjoyable company. Next year, Ryan wants to participate! (the grand prize is a trip to Japan - we could finally visit Ryan's Aunt and Uncle who live in Japan)

By the way, we forgot our camera, so the above photo is not from the actual event. I found it online so you could FEEL like you were there. :)

Our Tattoo Parlor

2008-09-10T13:31:00.003-05:00

We were cleaning the basement and found loads of temporary tattoos! We thought they would be fun to experiment with. The girls loved them. I just informed Anna of some devastating news today- that they will eventually wash off! She didn't seem too happy about that. Since we put them on, Anna and Naomi make repeated references to their "bracelets". Even Abby likes looking at her chubby little feet to see the butterfly and hearts. Gideon was over too so he got plastered with one as well! Here they are showing them off:

Gideon's Last Stand

2008-09-07T08:58:00.003-05:00

Gideon's Last Stand. Well not really- we will still see him, but these photos are of his last day here with us on a regular basis. For the past year, I have been watching Gideon three days a week. We had lots of playtime with four children, ages three and under in the house and we enjoyed some testosterone! But August 29th was Gideon's last day :( Here are some pics of Anna and Naomi with their new friend which they are sure to miss! (Abby was sleeping and everyone knows you NEVER wake a sleeping baby...even for pictures, well actually, ESPECIALLY for pictures! That would never go well!) It was nice to have a steady stream of extra needed income this past year and I praise God for His provisions. It worked out really well. It even allowed us to purchase a few things for our home to make it more liveable with three children, a dog, and ourselves. I was also blessed because Gideon's mom is a friend of ours and because Gideon was over so often, we got to chat frequently and sometimes have extended playtimes (which helped to pass the long daytime hours away! Being a stay at home mom can be so lonely sometimes!). It was a really hard year for us with having children so young, but having Gideon here helped break up our days and provided income security so we at least didn't have to worry about money. Thank you God for a good year. Gideon is coming over tonight. So he isn't gone for good! I told the girls that Gideon is coming over and Anna said, "Daddy calls Gideon 'DUDE!"" Yes, that is true. He has to because there is no one else he can call 'dude'. There are only princesses around here.

We love you Gideon!

Gideon's favorite toy here is a ride on train. Since we only have two ride on cars, Anna is using a pillow to pretend she has one too.

This is all three of them trying to blow kisses at the camera

Blogworthy

2008-09-05T19:53:00.003-05:00

So one day last month I looked down and saw this: OOPS!

You want to know what's worse? I left them on because I didn't have time to fix it right then. So I forgot about it again and my sister in law came over and had to point them out to me. OOPS AGAIN!

(at least they are both polka dots! It could have been worse like plaid and american flags)

My Little Hams

2008-08-21T12:30:00.002-05:00

Abby in Anna's bumper car-

Here is Abby at the Science Center in the little room that has a very slanted floor. It was quite humorous to watch her attempt to walk in it!

Naomi being goofy- which is pretty typical

Anna dressed up in as many girlie outfits as she can find at one time- also pretty typical!

Well there is an August update! I plan to blog more in the winter. I am just enjoying summer too much! Now that they are 1, 2, and 3, we can go so many more places. I LOVE SUMMER! I AM DREADING WINTER! But for now, I will take what I can get!

Some photos from the past few weeks...

2008-08-03T19:45:00.007-05:00

Swimming in the backyard

Zoo with Laura and Mommy

Anna on the train

Zoo with Ann and Mommy and Gideon

Which Disney Princess are You?

2008-07-23T22:30:00.003-05:00

So I found this quiz and just had to take it because EVERY girl dreams of being at least some kind of princess...

Apparently here I am:

(if only I had the body to go with it!!!)

"You Are Ariel! "

Headstrong and fiesty. You have a mind of your own that's full of romantic dreams about the world around you. Exploring exotic places is your ultimate dream, and although you can be a little naive you'll realize that there is something to be gained from your family's wisdom.

Take the quiz at http://www.greatestjournal.com/quiz.bml?Q=16354 and let me know what you are!

A short story

2008-07-21T21:42:00.011-05:00

We started out

Then we got a little

Then we did some of this

And FINALLY we got this

and this

Now we want to

A Great Day

2008-06-23T19:40:00.005-05:00

What a fun day! Today is Anna's 3rd birthday! So the day started with singing and presents. We then went to the Transportation Museum with some friends and some grandparents. What fun we had exploring all the trains. All of the kids had a blast...and the adults had fun too! Too bad I forgot my digital camera!!! (that's why there is no pics!) Then I got to celebrate Wendy's birthday by going to a Scrapbooking class for a few hours! Can my day get any better? I came home and Anna and Naomi played in the pool while Ryan and I read "poolside". Anna got a "big girl" bed so we assembled that. Now...everyone is in bed. Oh...what to do?

what I made in my scrapbooking class! It's on a canvas- for hanging on your wall. It's hard to tell from the picture.

Superman Celebration 2008 (aka The Event Where Most People in Attendance Smell Bad)

2008-06-18T21:56:00.002-05:00

That's what you get when you have a comic book superhero gathering- lots of smelly men. Ryan and Rollie, although men in attendance, did take showers before they left (in case anyone was wondering). This was Ryan's guys weekend. When he came home, he proclaimed, "I don't know why I haven't done this sooner. I think I will be gone a lot more from now on." Ah...the small taste of freedom- perhaps the most dangerous temptation for a father (or mother) of three!!!! Here are a few pics:

Abby's 1st Birthday Party

2008-06-13T10:19:00.004-05:00

Life is Just a Chair of Bowlies

2008-06-01T19:27:00.002-05:00

Aren't they adorable?! My dearest friend Wendy made all of these oh-so-cute cherry dresses for the girl's birthdays! I LOVE cherries on little dresses. Wendy, of course, knew this so she found some cute, bright cherry fabric and started sewing away! Now Anna, Naomi, and Abigail have their first matching outfits (homemade nonetheless!)...definitely good attire for a photo op! Thank you Wendy!

Abby, Abby, and More Abby

2008-05-23T20:32:00.003-05:00

Okay...someone complained about me not posting any pics of Abby from the Renaissance Fair. Was I just treating her as a typical 3rd child (often ommitted accidentally!)? Of course not, I was doing her a favor! None of her photos were very becoming to put in mildly! So here are a few new ones that are definitley blog worthy! And it is only fair that she has a blog all to herself since Sunday is her FIRST birthday!!!! It's hard to believe she will be 1...and that there is no little sister to attend her birthday party! All of which I am grateful for :) Abigail is a joy. She loves to laugh and be hung upside down and other daring feats. She just started to walk and does well until she repeatedly shrieks in delight and then loses her balance. She loves to talk with her favorite words being "Night Night" and "Bye Bye". Happy Birthday Abigail! We love you!

Abby exploring her new talent

Yes, We are Still Alive...and Reliving the Renaissance

2008-05-19T19:49:00.006-05:00

I have been cameraless for awhile...so now FINALLY, here are some recent pics and a more recent update on this crazy circus we call the Irwin Family!

- Our kitchen, which has been "under construction" for the past three years, is now almost complete! Pinch me, I might be dreaming. (Thanks JOE!)

- Naomi just turned two which means we now have an 11 month old and two 2 year olds! Yikes! And I do have to say we have heard the word "mine" a lot more since Naomi entered the toddler years!

- Abigail is about to turn 1 next weekend and Anna is not far after her and will be 3. We will have a 1, 2, and 3 year old! This works out well for when strangers ask their ages...no need to think about it, I just start counting!

- I am about to start a summer bible study with the girls at my Teen Mother of Preschooler's Group. I'm excited! And Kid's Club with the Afghans is coming to a close for the school year.

- Ryan is still working as a lab technician, isolating mouse DNA and other weird activities involving mice. Squeak, Squeak!

- And one last thing, something funny that Anna said (there are so many these days as she is turning into a little person who forms sentences but doesn't quite get everything yet!)- We were in the van on the way home and a man was crossing the street. Anna said "I don't like mans. (momentary pause) I like ladies." Ryan said "Hey...I am man". Anna looked disturbed and was then quiet for awhile. She is our empathetic girlie so I think she felt bad! Another quick Anna comment- Ryan's mom was showing Anna their new house. Apparently there is an old rooster coop that they are planning to convert into a clubhouse for our girls. So Grandma told Anna "This is Anna's house". Anna looked inside and went in a little bit. She came back out and said "There is poop in Anna's house."

So that is a quick update...here are some photos of a Renaissance Fair we went to on Sunday with my mom, grandma, Steve, Tara, Emma, and our girls-

My mom got Anna a princess skirt and Anna LOVED it. It was such a joy to watch her. All throughout the day, we would be walking or looking at something and then it would dawn on her that she was wearing her princess skirt. She would immediately stop whatever she was doing and start dancing, without a care in the world. What fun to be a little girl and what a delight to witness it!

at a jousting event...unfortunately he did not make it out.

Aren't they all so cute?!

Well, I guess I will bid ye farwell until next time!

My Top Ten

2008-04-17T21:44:00.003-05:00

Ryan and I were talking and began evaluating our TOP 10 Purchases, so just in case you care...here they are (in no particular order)

Dana:
1. Pampered Chef ice cream scoop
2. Hoover Floormate
3. Reiker Heater fan
4. Ultravection oven
5. Notebooks I buy from Walmart that I use to organize my life
6. all of my scrapbooking stuff
7. Penway spiral bound notebooks from Walgreens for my spiritual journals, college ruled
8. Breathe Right nose strips to use at night when I have a cold
9. DVR (Tivo) to use on our tv
10. My kitchen table, my living room curtains, our African dresser, our mahogany cabinet

Conclusion- I take joy in the little things in life or anything that makes my life easier

Ryan:
1. Our House
2. Dana's engagement ring
3. Reiker heater ceiling fan
4. Dell laptop
5. Ultravection oven
6. Soda
7. High Speed Internet
8. Xbox 360, games, and accessories
9. Table saw
10. Our van
11. IPAQ personal computer (yes, I realize that this is #11, but when has Ryan ever followed the rules?)

Conclusion- Ryan pretty much loves anything that will plug in...or is so technically advanced that it doesn't actually NEED to be plugged in!

Discovery Toys Playdate

2008-04-17T12:31:00.004-05:00

This morning I had a Discovery Toys Playdate! Lots of new toys and lots of kiddos. I wasn't exactly expecting it be a ton of fun with so many people crammed into my little house but it definitely was! My favorite part was watching my girls explore all of the toys. It was a great way to see what types of toys they liked. Anna and Naomi ended up playing with toys that I never would have picked out for them. Anna's Fav: stacking cups These are a Discovery Toys staple. I always thought they were so simple that they wouldn't be very much fun. Apparently I was wrong because Anna spent most of her time with these cups! I guess I know one of her birthday presents already! Naomi's fav: A Hammer Away boat thingy Go figure Naomi's would include a hammer! It is a toy boat with lots of holes for balls to go rolling through down the ramp. Another of Naomi's favorites that we already have is the Toddler Marbleworks. Every kid no matter their age seems to LOVE it. We got it as a gift and I groaned because I have played with the marbleworks for older kids and I can't do it. It confuses me...so many pieces, so much chaos! I can't imagine how difficult it would be for me to put it together after having three kids! (it seems that my brain cells now rest in the single digits) Luckily, the toddler version stays in one piece and is easy-peasy (sp?). Abby's Fav: undeclared She just sucked on everything in sight.

I'm leaving my show open until Monday or so. If anyone is interested in ordering anything, you can browse the website at http://www.lauriestoys.com/ Just let me know if there is something you want or if you have a question and I can talk to Laurie about it. When you go to her website, if you click on the Spring Sale icon on the left hand side, there is group of toys that are all 50% off right now. Some of them are worth checking out!

Perspectives

2008-04-16T20:08:00.002-05:00

I had kid's club tonight with some Afghan children from our neighborhood. I was driving a family home and they were talking about their recent trip to Pakistan and Afghanistan. The 7 year old and his little 5 year old brother following suit said in broken English with a thick accent "I hate America." I asked why to which they said "There are police here." And then "There is fighting here." At which point, I just laughed to myself. Such irony.

Coolest Concert Venue Ever!

2008-04-13T11:38:00.003-05:00

Last night we went to Meramec Caverns to see Kutless, a post-grunge Christian band. It was cool. The concert was actually in the cave! I wish I had brought my camera because with all of us scrunched in the cave in the dark and all of the colored lights from the stage, it was AWESOME! Not so awesome was the fact that it was supposed to start at 6 pm. No one even came on stage until 7:30 pm and even that was just the opening bands. The openers played, then gave a World Vision speech, and then there was another "10 minute break" which actually turned into 15-20 minutes! So Kutless didn't start playing until 8:30 pm and guess what?! We had to leave at 9:15 pm to be home for the babysitters at 10 pm. How crappy! It was by far the coolest concert venue ever but it terms of organization, they really need some work! Especially since they didn't even apoligize for it! Maybe it was because the Caverns were recently flooded and they had a hard time getting things up and running...but still. Still trying to decide if I ever want to go back. Because it was pretty cool!

Glad We Have Family in Town!

2008-04-11T11:20:00.003-05:00

The excitement never ends here. Oh yeah- I just keep looking forward to the next "adventure" (please don't misunderstand me, this sentence should be read in a very sarcastic tone). We were off to the city far, far away (Ballwin- so it's not actually that far but it is when you are talking about getting three kids two and under there by 9 o'clock in the morning). We were going to have a morning of fun. 1st stop- meeting my aunt Clemanne at McDonalds for breakfast and the indoor playground. 2nd stop- Once Upon a Child to look at a used triple stroller. (I have a hard time driving the Sam's shopping carts, but being bound to my house for the last three years with children has driven me to the brink of insanity, so I thought I'd try pushing a triple stroller around and see what happens!) 3rd stop- Kohl's because my lovely aunt was taking us on a shopping spree to get summer clothes for Anna, Naomi, and Abigail. I was actually looking forward to a nice morning outing. Everything started out great...we were up early. I had laid everyone's clothes out the night before (including my own!). We were even ready early...a concept completely unheard of in the Irwin household both PRE- and POST- kids. We headed out the door without breakfast since we were headed for McDonalds. If you live in St. Louis, you might know that we have had a lot of rain lately, even severe flooding. Yesterday was no exception and it was raining rather hard. About halfway through my drive, our windshield wipers started vascilating between fast and SLOOOOWWWW, with heavy emphasis on the SLOOOOWWWWW in case you missed that. I was starting to freak out because I couldn't see anything in front of me. At one point, I was driving on the highway and all I could see was rain on my windshield and red lights - I am assuming from the car in front of me. This means they were slowing down but we were on the highway so how was I supposed to know how much to slow down? I was constantly having to flip the windshield wipers back and forth so that they wouldn't turn off. This was another instance (besides have three kids) where I wish that I could instantaneously morph into an octupus with all eight tentacles. Apparently, with all eight tentacles or not, all four of our guardian angels were following us around yesterday so all accidents were avoided. I called Ryan saying I can't drive in this. I can't go home, I can't go meet Clemanne- you have to find a car repair shop near to me so I can take the car in. Since we only have one vehicle, it had to be fixed and soon otherwise we couldn't drive anywhere. Ryan found a shop for us to go to and we trekked over there and made it. Then Clemanne drove all the way across town to meet us. We crammed three car seats into the back of her car in the pouring rain (I was so suprised they all fit!). The car place said it was a complicated problem so it would definitely be several hours. This was not hopeful news as it was 9:45 and naptime was near. But there was nothing we could do so we all went to Kohls...in the pouring rain. We killed some time in there- got new wardrobes for the girls! (Thanks Clemanne!) and when they started running around the store like banchee children, we decided we needed to go. Meanwhile, the repair shop called saying there was indeed a problem (yes, I know!) and that it would be a couple more hours. We then decided to go to McDonalds since none of us had eaten yet. The food was well, you know, not really food. But was nonetheless, thrilling for the girls, particularly the kiddie sized ice cream cones. The disappointment: the playground was too old for the girls- they couldn't reach any of the steps to go up to the actual fun stuff so they just got to eat and stare at the playground. Also, Abby has had a SEVERE diaper wash to the extent that I have been giving her a baking soda bath every diaper change along with a paste of cornstarch and vaseline. I was dreading changing her diaper on all of these outings but decided to "take the plunge" in the McDonald's restroom. I was again disappointed- Why McDonalds doesn't have a diaper changing station OR a counter at their sink is WAY beyond me! So I changed Abby on the floor of a bathroom stall with my jar of vaseline and my big tub of cornstarch. Grrr. Ice cream made me a feel a LITTLE bit better. The fudge sauce made me even feel a more LITTLE bit better. With no where else to go and the girls getting T-I-R-E-D, I called my mom to ask her if we could seek refuge at her house. Of course she said yes. We actually have taken refuge there several times when things like this happen. We got everyone inside, changed, fed, and then the phone call came that our car was ready early!!! Happy news because otherwise, Clemanne had to leave and I was stuck there until 5 pm when my stepdad was going to take us to pick up our car. So we piled back into the car, drove to the car repair shop, and got our vehicle back....$350 later! :( It was 2:30 pm, with no naps to speak of, no more money, and a wet mom exhausted from hauling carseats and kids in and out of cars and stores in the pouring rain. But all in all, it was good- no accidents, our car was fixed, and I had family around to help us out...and we came home with lots of clothes! Not a horrible, no good, very bad day. But then not a thrilling one either. So I guess that means we have to go look at the triple bus (I mean stroller) next week- dun, dun, dun.

One Thing to Cross Off My List

2008-04-04T16:05:00.002-05:00

...so this wasn't on my list of things to do/see before I die BUT-

the other day we were driving and saw lightning actually strike! About 50 feet in front of us, the ground was actually smoking. It was fascinating. As soon as I saw it I thought...that should have been on my list.

Ryan and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

2008-03-31T09:56:00.005-05:00

So it wasn't a good sign when on Saturday at midnight we arrived to pick up our kids from my mom's and Anna and Naomi were still awake! This would be the first omen for how the next 24 hours would go because any parent knows if our children don't sleep, we pay for it the next day. Then, in the car on the way home, at about 12:30 am, Abby threw up repeatedly. Yuck! We put everyone to bed around 1 am and everyone slept until about 9:30 am (a good thing!). The morning and afternoon weren't so bad, just little things happened to Ryan which were annoyances and just got progressively worse. Ryan, who says he has hardly ever cut himself shaving, cut himself twice. Then there was his three hours of free time (another good thing!) when he worked at getting a higher rank on his xbox 360 and somehow forgot to save it, meaning no promotions for him. Later in the day, he decided to make dinner for all of us and needed to thaw some chicken. So he put some chicken under running water in the sink, checking on it frequently to make sure the sink was not overflowing. Naomi had a dirty diaper that needed some attention, the chicken was forgotten...and the sink overflowed and there was nasty chicken water EVERYWHERE (and lots of it)! So he cleaned up that mess and then finished cooking dinner. Unfortunately, and not suprisingly considering his day, the chicken ended up burnt, something he hardly EVER does. You see, he is anal about almost everything! This was clearly not his day. When the girls went to bed, he had to stop by a twelve unit apartment building that we are in the process of cleaning to pick up some things. He came back a half hour later in a mad dash for the phone, calling my stepdad to make sure that the police won't come when the alarm goes off because you guessed it, the alarm went off when he went in and the keypad had been moved. So after being reassured that the most harm done was probably unhappy neighbors, he got off the phone and we settled down to watch a tv show and then got up to go to the bedroom but first I had to get something from the cabinet. So upon opening it, discovered that the chicken water had also leaked inside the cabinet and over LOTS AND LOTS of things, including all our various medicines (which since we get sick so much you can just imagine how many bottles that was!), makeup, feminine products, etc. etc. By this time it was 11:30 pm. So we began the long process of starting to clean up all of the things, rinse them off, and let the cabinet air out. We are still waiting, but it seems like the base of the cabinet is warped. Prior to this, Ryan was talking about how bad of a day he was having. All of the sudden, while cleaning medicine bottles, it finally hit me! I just started laughing hysterically and couldn't stop. You see, as I said before, Ryan is INCREDIBLY anal about everything he does. If you don't believe me, just ask him about his ten step laundry process! I am usually the one to do dumb things. Just a small sampling of my resume includes sitting on our computer, losing a $100 bill, leaving my purse in Hannibal, MO, constantly losing my keys and misplacing things, frequently not having all of the ingredients for a recipe, driving down the street with 10 brand new CDs on the roof of our car, etc. (I could go on and on!) But here was Ryan who had done lots of stupid things which he NEVER does, all in one day. I just could not stop laughing. I still can't really. After cleaning up cabinet mess, I told him we must go directly to bed so nothing else can happen to him (or me!). So we did. Ryan leaves for work in the morning before any of us are awake but he always comes to kiss me goodbye. This morning I told him that I hoped he had a better day today. He said "well, I opened up my backpack this morning and a banana had exploded all over the inside." I hope it doesn't turn into the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week because tomorrow is his birthday! I guess he just decided to make up for the last twenty six years all in a couple of days.

To Springfield Again!

2008-03-22T19:41:00.002-05:00

Well, I was off on another adventure to Springfield a weekend or two ago, only this time with my dear friend Wendy!

So my review of Springfield, after having been there twice in a matter of months, is mixed. I have had a lot of fun in Springfield but also a lot of memorable (not the good kind of memorable) experiences.

One not so good memorable moment from the first trip as you may recall was the bad tourist brochure with an inaccurate map. This time around I still got lost numerous times. I thought Missouri roads were bad but really I think Illinios is not doing much better!

Our main horrible memorable moment this time was the hotel we stayed in. If staying in Springfield, do NOT stay in the Travellodge. There were numerous things wrong with this hotel like having no locks on the windows and the floor actually vibrating until 3 in the morning due to a party downstairs. But really, the worst part of it can be summed up in two words- "NO AIR CONDITIONING!" Can you believe that a hotel in this century doesn't have AC!!!??? Mental note, look for AC under the amenities section from now on when booking your hotel. Also, the alarm clock could only be set for times ending in :30! We wanted to get up at 6:00 am but could only set the alarm for 6:30 (or 5:30 but like I ever even considered that!)

Okay, now for the good moments...

The Scrapbooking Store in Springfield is great! We spent lots of time there, agonizing over which pretty papers to buy! I was looking for paper to make placemats for the girls. They turned out so cute! The people at the store were really nice and very helpful. Wendy had to wait forever for me to finally decide on what I was getting. Gee, that's hard to believe. She kept muttering something about making her fetus starve!

We had Chinese for dinner and went to see The Bucket List. Good and I cried. If only I could meet a Jack Nicholson type to take me around the world to sit on the Pyramids and attempt to climb mountains in the Himalayas! Any takers?

Then we went back to the AWFUL hotel, got no sleep, and woke up early to head to our conference for mom's. It was a fun day filled with laughter and lots of information. I attended workshops on marriage, spiritually nurturing my kids, and having contentment. The day ended with the hilariously funny Ken Davis, a comic and speaker. My favorite story of his was his introduction. He said he loves to go out on his motorcycle, winding through the mountains. He pulls off to the side of the road, pulls out a hairdryer and just sits and waits for people to drive by and points it at them. He said the funniest thing is to see the reactions of the men and women. The men always ask their wives should I pull over and the wives are always like no, you idiot, he is on a moped!

And to top off the weekend, we stopped at Outback Steakhouse for what else, but steak!

It was my first trip with Wendy, usually we are talking in broken English and drinking tea with Afghans but this weekend it was just us yacking it away in woman jibberish! What fun! Can't wait for next year. Kevin Leman's coming to Hearts at Home! So are we!

Always a Messie but...

2008-03-16T21:30:00.004-05:00

I'm a mess! My house is a mess!

The first claim is true but thank goodness I don't have to be perfect. I can be a mess but am still loved by and can still be used by God. As to the second claim, I have been trying to work on this for the past several years. I am a perpetual "Messie" as popular author Sandra Felton terms it. (This is opposed to being a "Cleanie"). Last year I went garage saleing. I happened to be at the house of a professional organizer. She was weeding out her books so there was a large quantity of books on organizing and getting rid of clutter. Now, even though I am a Messie, I gravitate towards learning about anything and everything organizational. You could call it a secret obsession. It excites me but at the same time makes me feel sick because it is so hard for me to implement! SO, back to the garage sale, of course I saw the books and was SO excited. I even stumbled upon two more of Sandra Felton's books! So what did I do??? I came home with four, yes FOUR, books on how to eliminate clutter from my home!!!! :)

After reading all of these, I got another great book on cleaning and organizing called The House that Cleans Itself by Mindy Starns Clark. This has set me on a quest to finally get my house semi organized FOR GOOD! I'm tired of organizing things and reorganizing them again, only to have everything still be a mess. I have gained a lot of good tips and insights from the book. A couple of tips that have impacted my life thus far...

- if you're life is chaotic (I feel like mine classifies!) then figure out which area of your home,when cleaned, brings you the most contentment and satisfaction. For example, mine is my living room floor. I have to have all the toys picked up and everything somewhat straightened before I can sit down and relax. If there are things all over the floor, I feel unrestful, kind of frantic, and overwhelmed with the mess. When my living room floor is picked up, I can handle some of the other mess because I am not so overwhelmed. The Fly Lady's space she needs clean is her kitchen sink. The author of The House that Cleans Itself must have under her bed and the inside of her closet floor straightened in order to feel sane!

- Rather than continuing to get frustrated with your lack of organization, embrace it. Work with your tendencies. Example: I am scatterbrained. I lose everything. I have to ask Ryan multiple times a day where my keys, my brush, the girl's sippe cups, bottles, etc. are. So in my first attempt at organization, I put a small basket on the counter to hold our keys and wallets in. The problem: it is about 15 feet from the door. So my keys, being the lazy kind, would never quite go the distance. Most books on organization would say you just need to suck it up and walk the extra few feet. The approach that Mindy Starns Clark takes in her book says find another way that works. So I did! When you first walk in our back door, immediately to your left is our refrigerator SO...I purchased magnetic hooks. And guess what?! My keys are there 75% of the time! (This may sound like a rather low percentage but if you realize that before about 99% percent of the time I could not locate them in under 2 minutes, 75% saves me a lot of time and a lot of grief!

- She suggests letting your house get messy for a day or two and then observing what kinds of messes you have. For instance, our diaper changing table was a hub for stuff, lots and lots of stuff- mail, diaper bags, papers, anything. So we eliminated it. We couldn't use it with things on it anyway. So we got a cabinet with doors that closed! So nothing can just be put down there with out purposely having to go about opening the doors and having it placed there. When dealing with paperwork, this tip is particularly helpful. You can begin to notice what type of paperwork tends to get left out and then find a solution to store it instead.

- Trashcan in every room. Sounds simple but I didn't have enough trashcans. Shorter trips to the trashbin means more picking up with easy disposal.

Those are just a few that I thought I would share. But really, I have learned so much more through all of the books. I didn't know organizing and household stuff was a skill but it is. And it can be learned! So far, our sunroom and our bedroom have gone through the House That Cleans Itself system of purging. How liberating it is. They are still a mess about 25% of the time. But, hey, I am happy with 75% of clean!

Oh, and by the way I'm famous! Mindy answered one of my questions on the House that Cleans Itself blog. If you'd like to visit it, you can go to http://thehousethatcleansitself.com/ and read the March 14th posting.

One last thing-
In heaven, I don't care if I get a mansion, I just want a housekeeper!

SNOW!!!

2008-03-05T20:49:00.010-06:00

With the 8 inches of snow yesterday, Ryan insisted we all go outside and make the girl's first snowman (or snowGIRL in our case!). Here are some pics...

Apparently Abby doesn't like snow angels

Our "work of art" - which was immediately eaten (the mouth was made of M&Ms and the eyes were Girl Scout cookies) by Sadie and then consequently knocked over by Sadie. Not that it matters anyway... the snow is mostly melted. I haven't looked at it today but I am guessing there are just a bunch of toys laying in our backyard now! My favorite are the shoes!

Les Fleurs

2008-02-20T09:00:00.005-06:00

I am sick so Ryan put brightly colored daisies all over the house to cheer me. The cheap ones at the grocery store but if you know me, they are one of my very favorite bouquets because they just pop with color. So far it is working. I currently have two children whining in the background and I am looking at my flowers and am happy. I am so glad God created so many colors! What puts a smile on your face even amongst chaos?

Goodnight Moon

2008-02-18T23:03:00.009-06:00

We were getting ready for baths and I told Anna and Naomi to go into the bathroom. Apparently they were hiding because when I arrived, this is what I found...

Then I grabbed my camera...and this is what I found ;)

Our New Dream Home

2008-02-15T08:55:00.003-06:00

Here is a photo of Anna and Naomi's new dollhouse. It almost has more square footage than our real house! One of their cousins, Lindsay, was so very generous and gave it to the girls. It has been her dollhouse for several years and she wanted to pass it along to Anna and Naomi since they played with it so much at the Christmas party at her house. Thanks Lindsay! Anna and Naomi LOVE it! (and it keeps them busy for hours! YEAH!)

2008-02-06T16:21:00.000-06:00

The other night I didn't go to bed until 1:30 am. We usually stay up late, but not THAT late. So I was anything but thrilled when Naomi woke up an hour ealier than normal throwing up. YUCK! Every mom has these days but can I just tell you I hate these days! I dread the thought of the whole day ahead of me with a child throwing up and two others on top of that needing to be clothed, diapered, fed, and entertained. Thankfully, Ryan was able to go into work late so he stayed home for a little while to help out and I actually got to take a shower. I put on my Superman shirt, recently bought in Metropolis, Illinois, declaring to Ryan...it's a good thing I have this shirt today because I'm going to need it! Later in the morning, Naomi turned a corner and was jumping and bouncing all over the living room. My mom declared Naomi not sick when she heard both Anna and Naomi singing and talking at the top of their lungs while I was on the phone with her. Then...naptime came. YEAH! All of us took really long naps. And it was a good thing because, shortly after, we left to pick up Ryan from work. We got a few blocks when I noticed the car was shaking and releasing violent noises from the back seat. I pulled over in a gas station and checked the tires. Sure enough, one of the tires was completely flat! I didn't bring my purse- I just threw my wallet in the diaper bag, but thankfully again, the cell phone happened to be in the diaper bag! Which was great (especially since I almost left the diaper bag at home). Ryan was evidently already waiting for me outside his office building, so one of his co workers had to go out on a search for him. Once found, he caught a bus to come meet us at the gas station. Meanwhile, we all got out of the carseats, cranked up the heat, and jammed to a B-Bop band for kids called The Go Fish Guys. The girls were having a blast running around inside the van. After a half hour or so, Ryan showed up to rescue us. Then we called Steve who also graciously rescued us . Steve took all of the Irwin girls home while Ryan stayed to change our tire in the freezing rain/snow mixture. So, as it turns out, I did need my Superman shirt for the day. This superwoman is glad she has such a great Superman to share life with her. (and also a great stepdad who stopped what he was doing to come help!)

A thought...

2008-02-01T14:44:00.001-06:00

How come really good days must be followed by really bad days? I really think they should be a bit more spread out!

Our Purple People Eaters

2008-02-01T12:37:00.001-06:00

Ever fight with your vacuum?

We have gone through numerous vacuums in a short period of time. Last year, we finally bought a more expensive one (hundred dollar range- sure, it was from walmart, but hey, when you buy something at walmart for $100, you know it has got to be expensive!) Well, it also turned out to be a lemon, or actually a lime I guess since it is bright green. But anyway, Ryan decided to vacuum the garage with it. Not so intelligent. The lime decided it had had its last squeeze. So we frequently have been borrowing my mom's fancy Rainbow vacuum and Ryan's mom's Kirby vacuum. I continued to do research on vacuums. We were tired of the search for a good vacuum and we really wanted a rainbow or a kirby, unfortunately they are $1700-$3000 more than our "expensive" vacuum! So I settled on a Dyson. They have rave reviews and retail for about $500-600. To us, this is really, really expensive. So I have been monitoring Craigslist every day for a good deal. I finally found one! So yeah...we finally have a decent vacuum (I hope!) I call it our Purple People Eater. And, by great luck, we found a mini purple eater for Anna and Naomi on craigslist the next day. So, now we are all happy vacuuming away! And as I have stated to many already, yes, I am definitely a stay at home mom. I think only those under that category would actually blog about a vacuum!

My lovely Purple People Eater...It's my favorite color!

Isn't she cute?! Anna will vacuum for a LONG time if you let her! Can't wait until she is old enough to use the big one! One of my cousins, Brendan, apparently loved vacuum cleaners when he was little. His mom would take him to the store and would purposely try and avoid the vacuum aisle. If he ended up seeing them, he would make her take the vacuums off of the shelf so he could look at them. Wow! He is fourteen (???) now and I have been informed that this eventually wore off. Bummer!

To Sing a Song or Two (or Three!)...

2008-01-28T15:57:00.000-06:00

Remembering Mama
by Mimi Greenwood Knight - taken from Chicken Soup for the Mother of Preschooler's Soul

"My mother raised twelve kids. But, as anyone from a large family can attest, there were always many more than that playing in the backyard, eating around the dinner table- even, it seemed to me, in the bathtub. A few cousins were spending the summer. Someone's parents were going through a divorce. Someone else's family moved away, and the kids were finishing out the school year with us. Yet there was always enough food on the table and enough of her time to go around. (Mama used to say that you don't divide your love; you muliply it.)

My mother never raised her voice. This is not an exaggeration; it is a fact. I never really appreciated the self-control this must have taken until I had my own houseful. I have to admit, there are days when I hear a screaming maniac in my house and realize it's me. How did she do it? And why didn't I inherit her peaceful nature?

Mama sang all the time. She sang in the kitchen. She sang in the car. She sang when she asked you to do something. I can hear her now: "Michelle, please empty the dishwasher; Denise, please sweep the kitchen" - all to the tune of "A Tisket, A Tasket." Anytime she was on the brink of losing her temper, I realized, she broke into song- sometimes chanting through clenched teeth, "Leave your little sister alone. I'm not going to ask you again"- this to the tune of "Mary Had a Little Lamb."

In the grocery store the other day, I hung at the end of my rope when, suddenly, I heard myself singing, "We're almost finished. Then we're going home." (The tune was unrecognizable. I inherited a wee bit of Mama's patience but none of her tunefulness.)

During her forty years raising children, Mama acquired some unbelievable tricks of the trade. Whenever she wanted to introduce a new food, she would serve it in a small casserole dish and announce, "This is a little something I fixed for your dad. If you'd like to try some, you may take a little on your plate. But you don't have to."

Of course we would all scramble for it and clean the plate. Dad was lucky to get any at all. Then she'd wait a couple of weeks and serve it again, but in her usual large portions. Someone would exclaim, "Wow, zuchinni for everyone!" After that, it became a family favorite.
Hanging on the wall of our kitchen was a chalkboard on which my mother wrote her thought for the day- usually religious, always inspirational. The children in the neighborhood took to cutting through our kitchen on their way to the bus stop in the morning to read it. A few of them, after they went off to college or got married and moved away, would even call from time to time to have it read to them over the phone.

I tried my own thought-for-the-day board. It hung on the fridge- for about a month. I remembered to change the thought- for the first five days. Then the board hung there, with the same thought half-erased, for the next twenty-five days-right next to the behavior charts I had forgotten to keep up with. I've decided to try itr again- when the kids are old enough to read.

Yes, she was an incredible woman, my mother. Though I often feel I fall miserably short when I compare my mothering to hers, it gives me great comfort to know that her gentle spirit is within me somewhere. I'm sure it will make itself known- especially when I introduce zucchini to my children."

Is it possible to sing 24 hours a day?

I thought this was a great remembrance, a great encouragement, and a great inspiration of ideas.

Happy Singing!

A Snapshot into our Marriage...

2008-01-25T19:54:00.000-06:00

Does your husband ever steal your food?
Mine does.
I am very precise with the method I use to eat my food.
My sister in law, Ashley works at a bakery. A very good bakery.
She occasionally brings us cookies. Last time she did, there was only one left.
I told Ryan it was mine. He said he would split it with me. I said no.
I either wanted all or none of it. OR I said if he wanted to eat the edges, I could take the middle. I am very generous you see when it comes to cookies.
Ashley comes over every week to babysit. On that particular night, I told her we wouldn't let her in the house without cookies anymore. Because they were so good, you see...even if she was babysitting. No cookies, no entrance. So the week after, she forgot. And the week after that, she forgot. She got tired of us turning her away at the door, so she brought some this time. She came to the door with a large white box. She said to open it. There laid before my eyes were 6 gorgeous cookies ready for my cosumption. But then I saw it. She decided to help out with our arguments. So she decorated three cookies with my name on them. And three cookies with Ryan's name on them. I showed Ryan. He immediately picked up a "Dana" cookie and took a big bite out of it. I picked up a "Ryan" cookie and took a big bite out of it. He returned to his video game. So I did what any cookie lover who is married to an honory husband would do. I finished it and closed the box. Later when we returned to the box for more, he noticed his missing cookie. I ate the rest of mine. Ryan saved his. I felt sick. Ryan still has some left. Hmm. you'll have to excuse me, I have something I have to attend to....

There's Something about Bouncing...

2008-01-22T11:28:00.000-06:00

that makes everyone feel and act like a kid again.

Here are photos from our outing to Bounce U. For those of you who aren't fortunate enough to know what it is- it is a place where you can pay to jump on huge inflatables for an hour. There is a huge slide, a dodge ball room, a bounce house, and an obstacle course.
Participants: Ryan, me, Anna, Naomi, my sisters, Tara and Emma, and Ryan's brother, Jonathan, and his friend Ethan.
Anna and "Uncle John" a-woo-woo!

I had to practically drag Ryan there. He even brought his book with him because he thought he'd be bored. Think again! He had a really good time playing with everyone, in between breaths!

the boys lined up at the drinking fountain- just like in grade school :)

Anna bouncing -she was so tired by the end but had such a good time!
Naomi sat on someone's lap for the first 1/2 hour or so- she was petrified. But eventually she got into jumping by herself and didn't want to stop.

Tara and Emma after just getting pegged by a plethora of flying balls

Ryan and Naomi going down the "BIG SLIDE"- looks of fear on her face most of the time
Anna and Tara had a much better time on the slide!
Ryan trying to coax Naomi into bouncing while also trying to soothe her
Jonathan and Ethan wrestling

CAN'T WAIT TO GO BACK!

A 24 hour vacation

2008-01-20T09:41:00.001-06:00

Ryan's parents have given us quite the gift...probably the best gift you could give us. They are taking Anna, Naomi, and Abigail overnight every Saturday!!! So, here is what we have done on our "mini vacation"...

-We bought a new washing machine. (Our old one died. We thought we brought it back to life by removing the tiny baby sock that was clogging it up. Slightly recessitated, but death was it's ultimate end.) Ryan left completely disappointed because we spent $800, more than we were anticipating, weren't able to get the top model with all the fanciest gadgets, and got to leave the store with nothing (they're delivering it). It was quite humorous to watch his playful frustration. We ended up spending more because we failed to consider the fact that if we got a front loading washer without getting a pedastal for it to sit on, this 5 foot 10 inch girl and 6 foot 2 inch guy would have to lie on the floor to load the washer!

- We went grocery shopping- so far our day is really exciting! (but at least it's kidless!)

- We came home to make a fun appetizer style dinner. We had cheese fondue, winecoolers, bandito chicken wings, salad, and started to make our own homemade mint chocolate chip ice cream. Ryan and I love food and we love cooking. So we had a good time whipping up some new recipes!

- We ate while watching two episodes of Arrested Development. We are still trying to decide what we think of them. Some of them are absolutely hilarious. Some hilarious parts are not so good. Verdict is still out.

- We finished eating (yes, we tend to eat in spurts!) while watching Rush Hour 3. Ryan laughed hard. I wasn't impressed. We both fell asleep in each others arms while the movie finished.

- We woke up this morning at 8:30. We slept in...finally!!!! Ah! We ate a liesurely breakfast at the table while reading the back of the cereal box and eating ALL of our OWN food. No one was asking us for anything. No one was trying to eat off of our plates. No sippee cups needed to be washed. Peaceful.

- Then I went to email and do blogging, while Ryan watched tv.

- Now we are going to work on our sunroom. We are trying to make it usable in the winter. We bought a super duper cutting edge heater fan that is supposed to heat even uninsullated rooms. Now we are going to put plastic on all the windows and get it all set up to play in! YEAH! This week we will have more space to play in!

- We will then leave for church and come home clean up a little bit more and then our girls will return.

- Yes, we will be glad to see them. Happy to interact with them again as they are all so entertaining and enjoyable. We will miss the serenity of the house as it is when it's just the two of us...but then there is always NEXT WEEK!!!!!

Hi Tech Couple

2008-01-14T22:45:00.000-06:00

So Ryan and I were driving the other day and came upon a sight that made us both laugh incredulously...

A Cobalt blue Sonata with a sixty-ish aged couple with a fancy GPS system, a radar scanner right next to it, while both talking, not to each other, but on their seperate phones using their own individual ear pieces! We were hoping to snap a quick photo but for fear that they were videotaping us, refrained.

Ethnic Food Extravaganza!

2008-01-09T14:52:00.000-06:00

Uh oh! Laura and I are at it again- another adventure, only this time with food! We decided to have a "Recipes from Books and Movies Party" Yes, I did come up with the name myself (patent pending). Our party consisted of us, the dynamic duo, and our taste testers : Ryan and Joe Bubenik.

A Bio of the Chefs:

Laura- She has travelled the world and experienced many culinary delights. She also has had a thorough experience of washing dishes everyday for 150 people in Sweden. She's fast!

Dana- She has experienced many culinary delights in West County, South County, Mid County, Downtown, and her very own neighborhood South St. Louis City. Oh, the places she has been! Dana, on the otherhand, only does dishes when Laura is in town.

A Bio of the Food Critics:

There is Ryan...who has two basic needs in life, the first being food. The second being left up to your imagination. He has a great talent for identifying various flavors in food.

There is Joe...who grew up with three brothers. Hence, his household has consumed large amounts of food. Some might say he is biased because he doesn't like vegetables.

The Recipes:

Ratatouille- from Ratatouille (French)

Turkish Delight - from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (British...or maybe Turkish!)

Aushuk - from Garlic and Sapphires (Afghan)

Matzo Brei- from Garlic and Sapphires (Jewish)

The Results:

Ratatatouille- ingredients included mushrooms, chicken broth, onions, zucchini, tomatoes, eggplant, garlic, basil, and more

Well, our second food critic didn't even sample this dish. You be the judge as to his bias. The other three of us had mixed reviews. It was not like the ratatouille pictured in the movie. We made real French ratatouille. It was basically like stewed vegetables with spices. Ryan and I thought it definitely needed parmesan cheese. Ryan thought meat should be mixed in as well, but he thinks everything should be mixed with meat.

Turkish Delight- I can't remember what was in it other than gelatin, sugar, powdered sugar, an extract of your choice (we chose maple), and fuschia food coloring.

Just think jello plus maple syrup. Absolutely horrid! See photo below. It looks horrid. It tastes horrid. Well, with one exception, the critic who doesn't like vegetables took a liking to these. What a surprise! ha ha

Aushuk- boiled wonton wrappers filled with loads and loads of garlic and green onions (also known as scallions which we discovered on our shopping expedition) and red pepper flakes. With a yogurt sauce with yet again, more garlic. A meat sauce on top with spices and more garlic.

I think this was the best of the dishes. We all liked it. Being a person who has tasted many authentic homemade Afghan dishes, this came up short in comparison to any of them. But for a bunch of Americans, I guess we didn't do too badly.

Matzo Brei- lots of butter, eggs, matzo crackers, and salt

Very easy. In the book, it was a dish that a small boy and his mother ate as comfort food. That fits. Comfort food or kid food. It was good, just a little bland. The smell of the butter melting and frying in the pan was noted in the book and was brought to life in our kitchen. Surprisingly, butter and titanium combine to make a really good smell. :)

The Rating:

2 Stars
the experience was much more fun than the final product
love the paint color of the kitchen- That alone gives it another star! (just painted it for my bday)

The Photos:

starting with the purple blob and then clockwise: Turkish Delight, Matzo Brei, Ratatouille, fork, and Aushuk.

this is an accurate representation of everyone's face after (or even before) trying Turkish Delight

Kudos to a Super Aunt!

2008-01-05T09:24:00.001-06:00

Aunt Ashley juggling all three girls who were desperately vying for her attention....and she loves it!

Aunt Ashley...they just light up when you say her name!

Reasons to like Aunt Ashley:

a) it started out when they were young- Ashley used to put vanilla in Anna's baby cereal. She thought there was no possible way it could be good without vanilla!

b) She reads to them for a never ending amount of time. This includes reading and re-reading Dr. Seuss, Pat the Bunny, and more.

c) She is the one who started "The Big Tickle". Now Anna frequently asks for a "BIG tickle".

d) They frequently have dance parties in the living room to the Newsboys.

e) She lets them play with her cell phone. Often you will find her ringer turned off, the phone lost, or various other functions activated or unactivated due to this generosity.

f) She is a super great aunt and spends LOTS of time playing and taking good care of her nieces!

Reasons to like Sister Ashley...

a) She makes weekly visits so Ryan and I can go out on a date. How very generous of her! Ashley works full time and goes to school full time but still takes the time to come over. We are always completely amazed by her sacrifice and generosity in spending her free time with our girls so we can have a break for a little while.

b) She still provides boundaries with the girls...even more so then her parents sometimes! She even makes them eat the stems to their brocolli!

c) She helps out from the biggest things all the way down to the littlest things. She spent several hours hanging and rehanging fabric squares on our walls that kept falling. The solution finally ended up including foam, tacks, superglue, fishing wire, and loads and loads of duct tape! Fabric squares are shown in the background of the above photo :) Now she is currently working on refinishing an old window to hang up in our bedroom! Something tells me were going to need a few more rolls of duct tape.

d) She is empathatic, takes action to help others, is passionate, creative, and oh-so-generous!

THANKS AUNT ASHLEY! Love, Anna, Naomi, and Abigail

THANKS SISTER ASHLEY! Love, Ryan and Dana

Adventures Galore!

2008-01-02T11:49:00.000-06:00

My dear friend Laura, who normally resides in Wisconsin, decided to take a break from the snow and come home to St. Louis for Christmas. So we decided to venture to a far and distant land...for the day. We chose Springfield, Illinois. We started our journey with Bread Company egg souflees and breakfast sandwiches. Then proceeded the LONG 1.5 hour drive :) to the Home of Lincoln. In case you are thinking of making the long trek for yourself...here is "DANA'S QUICK TRAVEL GUIDE: TIPS FOR TRAVELING SPRINGFIELD IN A SANE (AND NOT SO SANE) MANNER": (there are also some photos included for your enjoyment)

inside a house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright
a lamp whose twin just sold for over $1 million

Cozy Dog Drive In Diner- 2 Corn Dogs in love...isn't it pure bliss!?

a family photo with the Lincolns
Dana in front of a room of a 1920s reproduction of an enbalming room
our craziest stop in Springfield!
Laura in front of the Lincoln home downtown Springfield

1) First and foremost, trust no travel guide (except mine!). I ordered one from the Springfield's visitor center. The included map got us lost repeatedly. Now I have no sense of direction as you already might be saying to yourself but Laura has manneuvered her way around many foreign countries and U.S. cities with success. Not in Springfield! As further proof of the horribly constructed map, Our first touristy attempt was to go to the Lincoln Home. Due to our our favorite Springfield cartographers', we ended up at the Governor's Mansion. When we called the museum to tell them we were lost and to ask for directions, they asked us if we were using the travel guide.

2) Springfield has a wonderfully quaint downtown atmosphere. Unfortunately, whoever designed the street layout in Springfield was not aware of this. Therefore, all of the main streets are ONE way! We are talking about a SMALL city, NO TRAFFIC. I am convinced that they only exist to confuse tourists. Just be aware that if you want to go anywhere, you need to walk.

3) Because of it being a SMALL city, parking is either free or runs about 25-50 cents an hour!

4) The area code for Springfield phone numbers is 217. You will need this information if you pick up the Springfield Visitor's Guide and try to call for directions when you are lost. The TOURIST brochure did not include area codes!

5) Lincoln! Lincoln! Lincoln! If you have a fondness for our 16th president, this is the place to go! Our first stop (well, actually, our second stop, after the Governor's mansion) was the Lincoln home. We went on a guided tour through the home that him and his family lived in for the 17 years before they left for the White House. When it was first bought by Lincoln for $1,500, it was only three rooms. Due to winning a big law case, he was able to upgrade and add on an additional 4 rooms. Below is a photo of Laura in front of the house. Just in case you were wondering, good old Abe and his wife Mary slept in seperate beds.

6) If visiting Sprinfield, be warned, you will be unable to avoid death. There are countless museums talking about the civil war and Lincoln's assassination. There is Lincoln's tomb, a huge cemetary, and last, but certainly not least, The Museum of Funeral Customs. We just couldn't resist! Now my instructions to you, Resist! and if you'd still like to be morbid, at least go to the Race Riot museum instead. And if you really can't resist, save your 4 bucks a person and visit http://www.funeralmuseum.org/museumonline.html where I have discovered you can get a virtual tour of the WHOLE museum for FREE. But keep in mind that if your children are behaving badly in the car, children 5 and under are free. The museum was quite deathly. We were, however, charmed by the ever so eerie gift shop located in the museum. I was very tempted to pick up one of the shirts that had cute death phrases on them! There were also the ever so cheery Christmas ornaments with the name of the museum and the motto: "Death is only the beginning" No, I am not kidding. Oh, and wait, there is something else you must know about this museum...they actually sell memberships! For $45, your whole family can go free for a year and get 10% off of those tshirts I was talking about! Save up so you can buy all your Christmas presents there next year! We got a lot of laughs at that museum. And may I tell you that the curator was anything but lively. Below you will see a photo of me in front of the Enbalming room- exciting huh!? Don't you want to go to Springfield?

7) The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and Library is FANTASTIC!!!! It opened in 2004 so the whole museum includes various multimedia exhibits. If you attend the shows, you will see ghosts, smoking canons, and your seats will move! One thing I learned that I didn't know before was that Mary Lincoln wrote many letters to her son after the death of Abe. Her son destroyed all of the letters as he claimed Mary had gone mad and didn't want the letters to ever get in the hands of the public. You may also get your photo taken with the Lincoln's themselves! See photo below.

8) Cozy Dog Drive In...another idea we got from the Visitor's Guide. We should have known! We went there for dinner and ordered, what else, a corn dog and fries and onion rings. At first we were suprised by how cheap they were. And then we ate them. They were horrible! We decided we must go somewhere else for dinner- it was THAT bad! The best thing about them is their logo- two corn dogs embracing. See below. I bought a postcard with their logo and made Ryan's Christmas card out of it. Awwww!

9) If you are dressed in sweats, you are very limited to which restaraunts you can go to in Springfield! It was getting late and it was the Saturday before Christmas, either the restarants we wanted to go to were no longer open, too busy, or my attire was not permitted. When we called a restaurant at the Hilton, they said the dress was casual and then I proceeded to tell the nice lady what I was wearing, at which point she said, "Not THAT casual" It was a duh moment but I thought maybe we could sneak in the hotel lobby and get a bite to eat. Not so easy when the restaurant is on the top floor of the Hilton overlooking Springfield! So we settled for the Holy Land Diner. It was a Meditarranean/Lebananese/Greek (I guess in case you couldn't decide!) place with a buffet. Laura enjoyed the food immensely. I enjoyed the ice cream and baklava!

10) Our last stop- the Dana-Thomas House, built by Frank Lloyd Wright. We went on the nightly candlight tour for Christmas. Very pretty. The architecture and layout for the house was amazing. He had quite the knack for creating huge houses with lots of space while keeping the feel of the house incredibly intimate. Stunningly designed. Much better at Christmastime and at night. So there you have it folks.

My visitor guide is complete. I hope you enjoy.

Oh, and one last tip, 11) Get your gas in St. Louis! Much cheaper!

Ride em' Cowboy!

2007-12-14T15:58:00.000-06:00

Finally...a photo with all three of them at the same time!

To Dream is to Live!

2007-12-10T12:27:00.000-06:00

The first 1/4 of my life is probably over. The second 1/4 of my life will be consumed with raising kids. The last 1/4 of my life I will be rather old. This leaves the third 1/4 of my life- I must be really productive during this time in order to fulfill the list below. The Today Show had a broadcast on how women often fulfill their dreams in their 50s...here's to that!

Things I Want to Do Before Heaven...

- do a huge zipline high above the ground like the one in Dubrovnik, Croatia over the water (as seen on The Amazing Race) or in the Austrian Alps (like Matt Lauer did on the Today Show)

- grape stomping

- white water rafting

- visit New York City for the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, look at the decorated Christmas windows, and visit the Today Show

- be in the audience of a game show, preferably the Price is Right or Wheel of Fortune

- take classes in design and color

- be in the audience of a talk show, preferably Oprah, Ellen, Leno, or Letterman

- skydiving

- safari in Africa

- visit Paris (oh, what the heck, I might as well see the rest of Europe too!)

- take a trip around the world

- visit a factory to see how they make something that I like (ie. chocolate, crayons, poptarts)

- laser hair removal

- take a photography class

- hot air balloon ride

- live in a foreign country

- go on a cruise

If anyone would like to contribute to the Helping Dana Fulfill Her Dreams Fund, donate at the following link... http://www.ilovedanayesido.com/

Why I Hate Winter

2007-12-05T11:09:00.000-06:00

1. most all of us sick at the same time

2. most all of us sick for extended amounts of time

3. most all of us sick again...and again...and again

4. getting out the door with three small children in warm clothes, sock, shoes, coat, hat,
gloves, the favorite toy of the day (x 3), and sippee cups. Oh wait...don't forget the
diaper bag (and the baby)!

5. cold weather

6. cold car

7. gets dark really early

8. it's too cold to use our sunroom/playroom unless we want to experience #4 listed above
minus the diaper bag.

The only thing I like about winter is I got a new coat. It's purple. I love purple.

(taken just after Ryan called his mom and groaned "All four of my girls are sick!")

She Strikes Again!

2007-12-05T10:58:00.000-06:00

(in all fairness to Anna, I should mention that both incidents were accidents- this one occurred while I was on the floor changing Abby's diaper. Anna accidentally tripped while wearing her tap shoes and they ended up scraping against Abby's face. Poor Abby- she was even sick on top of everything)

FOUND!!!

2007-12-01T18:28:00.000-06:00

Suspect Apprehended.

America's Most Wanted

2007-11-29T14:49:00.001-06:00

(Victim describes attacker)

WANTED...little girl, brown curly hair, brown eyes, about 30 pounds, about 35 inches tall. Often goes by "Big Sister". The victim says the attacker occasionally sucked her thumb before the attack. May be premeditated. Could be armed. Let's get this one off of the streets.

*BIG REWARD (given in Teddy Grahams)

We're Home

2007-11-17T11:10:00.000-06:00

duh! did he even need a test?

We have returned! Refreshed and with many many new memories. Here are a sampling...

* going to Metropolis, IL- home of Superman. We took our first trip photo there of Ryan as Superman and I as Wonderwoman (as if that isn't an accurate potrayal! ha ha). Seconds later our digital camera met it's death on the gas station pavement. Uh oh! Dana said, "I'm just glad I didn't do it (after the computer incidents and all)!" Forunately for us, the friends we were visiting gave us one of their extra digital cameras! What great friends and such wonderful providence!

* nightly hot tub visits atop mountains - no additional words (or photos) necessary

* luxurious...and not so luxurious accomodations. The first cabin we stayed in was with friends who had just gotten married. Her parents rented out a party cabin for them for a week at $1,000 a night! This included 11 bedrooms, 4 indoor levels, 4 level deck, elevator, movie theater room, hot tubs (yes, plural), sauna, pinball machine, pool table, hammock, big comfy beds, and more! Then we went to our cabin, which would have been very nice IF... (1) we had not just come from the "castle on a mountaintop" (2) we were not paying for it ourselves and (3) we were not expecting it to be like what we were told we were getting. Our private (and I emphasize private) cabin in the mountains turned out to be in a residential neighborhood (still in the mountains) but with neighbors on ALL sides! And I am not talking about distant neighbors! Upon talking to the manager, we were informed that all people have different definitions of the word "private"! Hmph! Do not give your business to Black Bear Lodging.

* Sunset on a historical tour and trail in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park

* homemade beef jerky

* to die for mashed potatoes and brocolli with beer cheese from a local brewery

* Ryan and I playing laser tag. He won like 1500 to 600 or something ridiculous. I blame the endless hours of video gaming- it helps your hand eye coordination! If we had a diaper changing relay, I know I would win.

* getting $350 worth of FREE tickets to a GoKart place and attempting to go THREE times without success...thus coming home with all 150 tickets!

* hiking to Grotto Falls in the National Park. We wondered at the fact that only 6 years ago, we climbed Mt. St. Helens and now we were huffing and puffing on a 2.4 mile hike!

* many hours spent in a Scrapbook Clearance Store where the ENTIRE store was 50% off! Yes, angels were singing overhead. Don't feel too sorry for Ryan- he was rediscovering comic books at a local bookstore.

* teaching a drunk guy how to play a variation of Scrabble called Speed Scrabble at our friends

wedding reception. That game didn't last too long.

* visiting a local museum where we got to be in our own video game, experience an earthquake, and felt water as cold as the ocean was the night the Titanic sank. 28 degrees. We put our hands in it. I lasted 14 seconds and Ryan lasted 12 seconds. Yes, I do think three labors has helped my endurance level! Though I guess 14 seconds wouldn't have helped me too much back then!

* and SO many more! What fun and what experiences we have when we are together! We are so glad the Lord has chosen us for each other. 6 years well celebrated!

Am I Dreaming...?

2007-11-07T20:05:00.000-06:00

Ryan and I are going out of town and will be childless for 6 days!!! Am I dreaming...? Amazingly, NO...it's really happening. Hmm..maybe we just might 'forget' to come home.

We get to celebrate our anniversary (#6) while hiking, lounging, and playing, or doing anything we want at any little whim. Ahh...bliss!

I'll post gorgeous photos of waterfalls, fall foliage, and us having a good time when we get back.

Tennessee, here we come!

P.S. For those of you who are wondering, don't worry...we left the kids with plenty of food and water! :)

P.S.S. Before you pick up the phone to alert all necessary authorities...Ryan's mom and dad (aka Grandma and Pecka) are outdoing themselves as grandparents and as parents and taking all three of our girls while we get away!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

2007-11-07T12:06:00.000-06:00

Priceless memories

What a joy they are! Having two girls so close together is not without its challenges, but it is not without its rewards either! Anna and Naomi have such a precious relationship. They are so close. When one is without the other, they are always asking where their sister is. So far, adding Abby to the mix doesn't seem to be a problem. They lovingly refer to her as "Baby Abby" and also ask where she is when she is not in the room with us. Hopefully she will be just one more sister added into the Hug-Fest.

"This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." Deuteronomy 30:19-20

Thank you Lord for enabling us to follow You and choose life! Thank you for the relationship between Anna and Naomi that You have so lovingly knitted together. It brings such overwhelming joy to our lives.

2007-11-01T16:51:00.000-05:00

A Word From Tara

2007-11-01T11:55:00.000-05:00

Hi! This is Tara. I'm one of Dana's younger sisters.
And I'm Emma. Dana's other younger sister.
Today we had a little (funny) insident. Anna wanted practacly every book in the whole house read to her. So she asked Emma to read them to her. Whenever Emma would finish one book Anna would run over to the diper changing table (Dana keeps some of the books under it)and grab a new one. Then she said "I want to read Jesus book!" So Emma started to read the book when Anna suddenly wanted to sing the B-I-B-L-E song. So we sang it. Them Emma read half of the next page(only because Anna wanted to sing the song again). So we sang it again. Then Emma read a little more than half of the next page. And guess what happened next. .....YES! Anna wanted to sing the song again so we sang it one last time and just ended the book! Once that was over Anna grabbed a book called TAILS. So Emma read the book with no interution until she read one page that had a skunck. It said to skratch and sniff. So Emma did. And it smelled like some kind of rotten stew with a bottle of bad smelling stinky calogne with rotten purple tomatos.(if you want to know what it really smells like you can either buy the book or make the concocstion yourself.) Emma wanted me to smell it so she brought it over to the couch where I was sitting and skratched it and shuved it in my face so could smell it. And I did. It smelled so horible. So I jumped off of the couch and ran into the kichen asking, "Can I get a cup of water? Thanks!" And before Dana could answer I was at the sink with two cups in my hand(Emma needed water too.) coughing and gaging. I came back to the room took a gulp of water I started gaging again but this time it was with water and Dana was laughing hysterically in the background.

Happy Halloween (mostly)

2007-11-01T09:37:00.000-05:00

Our little pumpkin
Daddy and his girls

Naomi debuts as Snow White

Anna, former princess, converted doctor

Trick or Treating...to go or not to go, that was the question! We had gone to a Halloween party the night before and everyone was crabby from staying up too late. It was 5:20 pm and we were supposed to be meeting some of the kids from Kid's Club any minute to take them all out for an evening of "Halloween fun" but all of our kiddos were in the process of a meltdown. Anna and Naomi were both supposed to be princesses, but five minutes before leaving, Anna cried and cried, insisting that she did NOT want to be a princess. Is there any particular reason? Had she been traumatized the night before!? Every girl at last night's party was a princess. In fact, we were almost banned from the party since our girls showed up as princesses- I guess princesses don't like to share! I finally concluded, as any mother would, that it, of course, didn't have to do with the dreaded phrase..."terrible twos" but that she must not want to be like everyone else! :) So we got out our 'back-up' costume. Now some might say, "wow, she is really prepared". (she must have been a girl scout). But I will tell you, no, I am definitely not...in fact, those terms generally seem to elude me. But lucky for me, my new addiction, is garage saleing! Now this addiction leads me to many things...generally not always helpful, like when I come home with four books on how to get rid of clutter :) or when I go out for "donuts" and come back two hours later because I took a little detour (just a little one!). But last night, this addiction came in handy. Several weeks ago, my mom, Tara, Emma, and I went out in search of good finds. We stumbled upon a costume sale, where I bought the Beautiful Princess outfit (to go with Naomi's costume) and the Doctor's outfit (for next year). Thus, without knowing it, I stumbled upon preparedness. Fortunate for me! After Anna refused to be a princess, we proposed the idea of the doctor. She immediately liked the idea but after pulling it out- refused to put on the pants. Now, we thought about letting her be a pantsless doctor- after all, the physicians should get a dose of their own medicine, finding out what it is like to have to strip down to a measly gown in a 65 degree room in the middle of winter. But thought that maybe we might be taken in for child endangerment or something. So...we made her put the pants on. At which point, we are thinking, 'is this even worth it? This is supposed to be for THEM" But because we were meeting other kids in several minutes, shoved the pants on her with her, again, crying in protest. Once we got out the doctor kit, though, all was well. Ah...life with a toddler! We then met our group (10 minutes late as usual) and headed for a church carnival and then went door to door seeking out lots of sugar! They all ended up having a good time- even Abby who was happy to go along for the ride in a backpack carrier. I tried to post more photos for you but for some reason they would not load, so this is all I could get on there. I hope everyone had a good Halloween. We ended up having fun. Lesson for all those with three children two and under (because there is SO many of you!): even when you feel like it is too much work to get out of the house, GO, because you may still have fun. (though there have been many times where it ended up not so good) But, at least on holidays, it is worth the risk!

The Irwin's Circus: The Introduction

2007-10-29T13:33:00.000-05:00

Anna
Abigail
Naomi

Hello...and welcome to the Irwin circus (all two people who will be viewing this, anyway!). I am doing this at Erin's encouragement, so hopefully at least, she, is reading this. An introduction: 4 girls - ages 25 years, 28 months, 17 months, and 5 months, 1 female fido- age unknown (remember...we had kids), & 1 guy- he's not sure how old he actually is. With so many girls in the house, his age just seems to creep up by dog years- so I think that would make him about 175 years old now. A real spring chicken, um or I mean elephant...or something...I've got to keep up with the circus theme you know. Our names in order, Dana, Anna, Naomi, Abigail, Ryan (oops...scratch that) Sadie, and Ryan. And then there is Gideon, our honorary circus member, whom I watch three days a week. He helps level out the hormone levels...too bad Ryan isn't home to enjoy it!

Our update is short: ALL of us girls have been sick for the last week. I am finally feeling better and the others are improving- yeah! That said...I AM NOT LOOKING FORWARD TO WINTER!

That's all for now. For those of you who have hardly EVER seen a picture of my kids since their baby announcements, here they are! To others of you, (Wendy) who have more pictures of my kids on hand than I do...you probably have better ones, but hey, hope you can enjoy these too.