thrifty thursday {sometimes you gotta change it up a bit!}

Alrighty, here's my first ever thrifty Thursday. I still have more than enough to be thankful for, but Monday has kind of taken that over, so here goes::

My kids love foamy soap! Plus, it seems to work better for kids since they don't always get that soap spread around enough to do it's job. So, did you know that the magic of foamy soap isn't in the soap at all? Nope, it's all in the pumper thing. So, instead of spending all your money on new foamy soap all the time, just do it once and then when it's gone fill it about 1/5 of the way with any liquid soap and then top it off with water. Another perk is that you don't have to get mad when your kids waste it by squirting it all over the sink, because really it's mostly water and they are entertaining themselves for a bit and who doesn't love that? It also works great in the bathtub. I squirt Anna with foamy soap when she's sitting in there and she thinks it's hilarious and it gets her clean. I bought a big liquid soap refill thing {Dr. Bronners is our favorite. It comes unscented or in lots of great smells -- when our peppermint is gone I want citrus . . . . or maybe almond} and we have probably been using it for at least 3 or 4 years . . . and I have way more hands than average to get washed at my house! So, it will last you practically forever. If you want you can take the money that you save and buy me a latte, that would be really sweet of you!

Reality

I love my kids. They are wonderful and a blessing!
BUT, I scream at them every day and get frustrated and angry with them so very often. It makes me sad.

If I know you are coming over to my house, I'll clean it up and, chances are good, it'll look pretty nice.
BUT, if you stop by unexpectedly {which is fine by me . . . but consider yourself warned} it is more likely to look like this::





which, in all honesty, is how it looks most of the time. So don't be offended if the toilet isn't flushed.

Sometimes I take pictures of my messy house for my blog while my baby cries in her crib.

For some reason people think I have it all together.
BUT, I really, really don't! I'm overwhelmed with life on a daily basis. For example, I am often overwhelmed -- many times each day -- by the sheer volume of footwear and outerwear spread all over my kitchen::


I think that all my problems would be solved and the world would be a better place if I had a mudroom.
BUT, deep down {actually not even all that deep} I know that wouldn't really solve much of anything important.

My kids seem sweet, well-mannered, kind and nice looking on the outside. You might think them to be pretty smart and put together.
BUT, at home they can be a complete disaster {although still quite cute!}. I often have not the first clue what to do with them. A couple of them are actually going in soon to be evaluated for anxiety and depression. We are at the end of our knowledge and ability to help them. And are hoping for some help, ideas and solutions {maybe even drugs, Lord willing!}



I love cloth diapers. They save us money, are better for the environment and are better for the little butts that wear them. I've used cloth diapers for almost a dozen years now.
BUT (no pun intended!), anyone who tells you that cloth diapers are just as easy as disposables is lying. True, these days they are pretty easy and not nearly the work they were even 10 or 15 years ago, but HELLO!, you have to wash them. The other kind you just throw in the garbage. Any idiot can figure that out. That is why, for the time being -- at least until the holidays are behind us and I have a working clothes dryer -- Sara's adorable little butt will be clad in disposables. {which I can order online and have delivered right to my door. Praise God!}

I give my kids an apple and a pile of goldfish crackers and call it lunch . . . not everyday, but when you make them a "real" lunch and they don't eat even one bite of it, you decide it's easier and less wasteful to just save yourself the effort.

Kirb has worked in the finance industry for years. He knows money! We have less than 10 years left to pay on our mortgage. We give away a pretty decent percentage of our income to charity. I clip coupons.
BUT, money is tight and is something I'm never NOT thinking or worrying about: How many days until payday? Can we afford ______? Sometimes we don't have enough money to pay all the bills at the end of the month. Currently there is a note reading "$225" in the Disney Fund Jar where the kids contribute money to our long-awaited Disney vacation in June {our first time there!} because I borrowed cash from there a couple weeks ago when things got a bit tight.

Also, I have fabulous babysitters. Their names are Bob, Larry, Dora, Buzz, Woody, Sid the Science Kid, Super Why and Batman . . . among others. Yup, my kids watch TV. They also play Wii.

I have wonderful, fabulous girlfriends!
BUT, sometimes, for the life of me, I can't figure out why they would want to be friends with me.

So, that's my life. It is what it is. I still think it's {mostly} wonderful and I am {mostly} thankful! Just being real.

online shopping

If you do much {or any} shopping online, and you haven't heard of Ebates, you really need to check it out! My friend, Sheridan, turned me on to them and I haven't looked back! I don't do tons of online shopping {I don't do tons of shopping in general}, but when I do, I always go through Ebates. Ebates is a site from which to launch your online shopping. Start at ebates.com and then enter the store or product you are shopping for. They will hook you up with coupon codes, free shipping offers and all sorts of good stuff, plus link you right to the actual shopping site and then give you cash back based on the amount of your purchase and the cash-back offer from that particular retailer {lots of them are up to 10% cash back!}. Then every few months they send you a check for whatever amount you have built up. A little fun bonus money . . . who doesn't like that? Anyway, if you are at all interested, check it out here. All you have to do is create an account {that will take approximately 4 seconds of your time} and you're ready to go. Also, each day they have a featured store that is their daily double and if you shop at that particular store on that particular day you get double the cash back.

Also, if you are a diaper user {well, not you personally, but maybe a smallish person who lives at your house} another site that I love is diapers.com. Diapers.com just recently teamed up and has a sister site called soap.com where you can get lots of cleaning and household products as well. So, even if no one in your house wears diapers, they still have some stuff you most likely DO use. I just placed an order today for dishwasher soap {we run our dishwasher every single day -- often twice a day even, so we go through that stuff like crazy}, some bar soap from which I make homemade laundry soap and some diapers too. Their prices are pretty decent and they take coupons {you mail them in ahead of time in big batches even, if you've got lots, and then they automatically credit them to your account when you put that item in your shopping cart. You don't even have to remember that they're there!}. Plus, they have free shipping on any order over $49 and their orders ship with amazing speed. {I placed a diapers order one night after the kids went to bed -- probably 10ish -- and a big box of diapers arrived at my house the next afternoon. Amazing! I've never placed an order that hasn't arrived at my house the very next day. It kinda freaks me out a little, but I won't complain}. Plus they are an ebates site, so not only am I able to use my coupons, get free shipping, save a trip to the store, not have to haul big packages of diapers from my van -- along with all my kids -- get my order next-day and save myself a headache . . . I also get cash back in my ebates account with each order.

Anyway, why all this hype and plugs for ebates and dipaers.com? Well, first of all, I think it could be beneficial to you. And secondly, both sites give referral credit . . . and who doesn't like that? If you sign up at diapers.com or soap.com, they credit my account $5 when you place your first order, plus they'll give you 15% off of your first order too. A win-win if you ask me. {just use the referral code KIRB6444 at checkout on either site or click on the banner on the right side of the blog}. Plus, if you sign up for ebates using the link in that first paragraph, I'll get a credit on my account too. So, thanks!

I've been using both these sites for quite a while now and love them. And I'm usually a skeptic about such things. So, if you are interested, check into it. If not, you've probably already quit reading by now.

Have a great day!

Unexpected blessings

We moved into our house just over 12 years ago.

We got a 30-year mortgage.

Rates dropped a couple years later, so we refinanced to a 20-year.

Then they dropped some more. Significantly enough that we went through the whole refinancing rigamaroll again. This time a 15-year.

I'm not even sure anymore exactly how many years we have left, but we'll be done before Jacob finishes high school.

We got our mortgage statement in the mail yesterday. {I love getting the mail anyway, you know. It's one of the highlights of my day. Yup, I know. I'm a geek!} I know our mortgage is our biggest bill, and it probably should bum me out to see it in my mailbox, but instead, I find it fun to get it each month.

I love to see how quickly our mortgage balance drops {the portion of our payment that goes to principle is about 2.5 times more than the portion that goes to interest!} each month. Well, today when it came it was extra fun!

And completely unexpected, which is always great!

When you add to that the fact that it was very well-timed {with 5 more days 'til payday, a measly little checking account balance and some stuff that needs to be paid this week} it equals a really big blessing.

You're not following, right? Mortgage statements don't usually come with money. Quite the opposite, in fact. Well, I'll explain: we got our annual escrow review statement in the envelope today. Usually this statement ends by telling us how they underestimated our escrow again and we owed them a lump sum of money {not usually TOO much, but still . . .} and that in the year to come our payment would have a slight increase. Today was the complete opposite {one of the very few perks to our country's economy possibly?}. We got a refund check for more than $250 for the overage of the balance in our escrow account, along with word that our payments would be roughly $70 less in the coming year. Praise God!! I plan to still pay the same amount I've been paying each month {which already was over the payment amount}, but now that extra $70 each month will chip away at that balance even quicker! I know enough to realize that if I lowered my payment by that $70 it wouldn't work out that we would have $70 extra a month of cushion in our budget anyway. It always finds a way to get absorbed. Does that happen to you too, or is it just us?

Anyway, that was my unexpected blessing for the day. Any unexpected blessings for you lately?

our newest {and biggest!} addition to the family

We are the slightly embarrassed, scared, Jon & Kate plus 8-ish looking proud owners of a new vehicle.
a 12-passenger Chevy Express 3500 -- pretty cool, huh? I bet you wish you had one too!

Since we are due to outgrow our mini-van as soon as #6 arrives on the scene, we upgraded to what I like to think of as the "maxi pad". You know :: mini van . . . maxi pad. Plus, won't that nickname make great roll-the-eyes, embarrassing childhood, weird parent stories when the kids are older? Yup, I thought so! Great for the sibling bonding, I tell you.

The kids {Superman included} are really excited!

They never have to share a row with more than 1 other kid. No more 3-kids-across backseats with lots of "He/she touched me" and fighting. Oh, I'm not naive enough to think their won't still be fighting, but at least they won't be pressed up against one of their siblings.

I, on the other had, am a little intimidated. I passed the "Chuck Sorlie School of Church Van Driving" long about the early 90's, but haven't driven anything this large and beastly for quite some time. YIKES! Watch out Roseville, here I come {for your safety, you'll be able to spot me from a mile away}! So far I've driven it down the block {to pick up Joe from preschool} and back. I did successfully park it . . . although there were no cars on either side of my chosen spot, nor was anyone parked in the spot in front of me or on either side of that spot. So really, it's not at all impressive! Not impressive at all, in fact.

Well, there's no turning back now. By about a week from now our "little" mini van will be gone and the "maxi pad" will be my only choice. I'm excited, don't get me wrong. It's just going to take a little getting used to is all. The lady that sold it to us said that I'll be used to it in no time and it really isn't all that hard to drive {but, sweet as she was, she obviously had something at stake and wanted for us to buy it from her . . . although she was one of 11 kids and her dad owned the dealership we bought it from and has for years, and a couple of the other family members work there too, so that made her quite a bit more endearing and I kind of believed her even}. Speaking of the dealer where we bought the van. They were fabulous to work with and if you ever need a car {or monstrous van!}, I'd recommend them in a second.

Alrighty, that's all! I hope you all appreciate your smallish, easy-to-drive vehicles. I sure am thankful for my super-huge one . . . even considering my trepidation.

Thankful Thursday

Hand-me-downs are the best if you ask me. I am so thankful for them. Just the other day I got a great box full of stuff for Anna from my friend Kelli. It was so fun to go through. In there was this great dress that will fit Anna perfectly this fall and winter {it's a tad big right now} and the most fun part was that the big girls had these same dresses a few years back . . . so now I have it in 3 sizes. Anna will probably look back at pictures of her childhood and wonder why she was always wearing the same dress. {I think the other 2 are a size 4 & 5, or something like that, so she'll get at least a couple years off in between this one and those}. Oh well, honey, that's just the life of a 3rd girl in a family . . . especially when the big girls often have matching stuff.

Anna in her "new" dress:

I know it looks like it hurts, but she sat in that position for quite a while.
Babies are bendy . . . that's what I always say!

here we all are in 2005, the girls sportin' their dresses:

So thankful for free clothes . . . and the friends who give them to us!

Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for perspective and the big picture.

I've had kind of a discouraging week: a major car repair and a rather major plumbing emergency, a few {rather large} medical bills.

I work so hard to be careful with our family's money . . . I clip coupons, I pass over lots of things that I wish we could have, we rarely eat out {and drink water, rather than pop, when we do}, we borrow movies from the library rather than pay to rent them, I try to stay home as much as I can to save on both gas money and the temptation to spend money on stuff while I'm out . . . the list goes on. But then something hits out of the blue and there's nothing you can do about it. Like for example, you are done with your shower, you turn the water off and yet it just keeps comin' right out full steam ahead . . . yup, that's what happened here last Friday. To get the tub to shut off you had to shut off the hot water to the entire house. $457 later it's all fixed!

Anyway, even though things seem really discouraging this week and I'm pretty bummed, I take a cue from my Matthew 6-husband and try not to worry. This really is his theme in life {he's pretty amazing!}. He does not worry. Really! {I tend to make for him, though!} So, today I will try to look beyond today at the big picture. Someday it won't be so tough . . . by the time Jacob goes to college we won't have a mortgage . . . it is only a season, not forever. I am glad for perspective to know that "this too shall pass". The days of going to the doctor once a week for this, that or the other thing are fleeting. The tub should now last for a good long while. The car is now is good shape and will hopefully serve us well until it completely rusts through and Kirb falls out the bottom {just kiddin'}.

Here we are: the team of worry & not-so-much:

I like green

I know St. Patrick's Day was yesterday . . . that's not the green I'm talking about:

I had the chance to spend a little time with a wonderful woman over coffee & tea (and some wonderful conversation) this morning. She took a vow to buy nothing new in 2008 . . . and she did it! I found this idea interesting and quite fascinating. She went a whole year without buying anything new. Her year was up a few months ago and she couldn't really think of anything she'd bought new since then either. I asked her if it was more work for her to not buy new and she said it took a little getting used to, but that once she was in the "groove" and was used to doing it, it wasn't hard. If she needed a pair of jeans she went to a thrift or consignment shop and got a perfectly wonderful non-new pair . . . she said she loved using sites like craigslist and ebay too. She said the only part that got a little tricky was when she needed a gift for someone . . . you know now everyone appreciates a nice "used" birthday present. But she stuck with it and made something or gave gifts of time/activity rather than "goods". Obviously she bought food and she said that there were exceptions for things that were not readily available in non-new form (you know, like undies . . . you don't really want those used!!).

I'm thinking about doing this. I know that shopping is a little form of therapy and relaxation for me, but so are a bunch of other things . . . cheaper things . . . things that are better for me! Like reading or making cards or exercising or just being outside or playing with my kiddos or a conversation with a friend or a walk! Plus we really do have more than we need already. I was thinking I might start small . . . I'm thinking, maybe, the month of April.

I think it might get a little tricky when it comes to the kids (my friend who did this doesn't have kids . . . although she does have a very active and cute little puppy that she "parents"). If one of the kids really "needs", say, a new Easter dress I can't really go to 8 different thrift/consignment shops looking for one that would be good and would fit and all that . . . I don't have the luxury of that kind of free time, nor do I have the patience to be running all over town trying to find one particular thing in a particular size for a certain particular almost-8-year-old!

Or, for example, just today I bought Anna a new carseat. She has outgrown her "bucket" (as we call the infant car seat that people cart their kids around in) and needed a big girl seat. We got her "bucket" from a friend (so it wasn't new) and I checked to see if anyone had a rear-facing convertible carseat that they weren't using right now that we could have/borrow but didn't find much success. Places can't sell used carseats, (which I totally understand, there's no way to prove that it hasn't been in a car accident or something in which case it's safety would be compromised) so there really isn't another avenue to get something like that in non-new form . . . so I guess, maybe, that would be something that could be considered an exception . . . but, since it's still March and I'm thinking about trying this in April, I'm safe anyway!

I just think this whole idea makes so much sense! It's just another form of recycling . . . which I am a huge fan of . . . and of trying to become more simplistic in our lives and what we "need" . . . plus it's super "green" and I'm kind of a fan of "green" stuff.

Our sermon last Sunday was wonderful and talked about ENOUGH. We were asked to consider that "enough" is actually the opposite of poverty rather than wealth (which is most likely what most people would think of as the opposite of poverty). Enough is where we all should desire to be on the spectrum of wealth . . . people in poverty should (ideally) move "up" toward enough and people of great wealth should (ideally) move "down" toward enough so that we all land closer to the middle of the spectrum to a place where we are more well balanced. As far as I can tell, we (the Stoll family . . . and most Americans) have way more than enough and I'd like to work to get closer and closer to enough and rid myself of the extra in my life that I don't need . . . which reminds me of a wonderful book called "The Treasure Principle", if you haven't read it, you should! I'll leave it at that!

So, I'm saying officially that April is going to be my trial month for not buying anything new. I imagine it'll be a little tough and take some extra thought and work to get used to, but I'm gonna give it a shot . . . and if I really, really need something, Kirb not vowing to buy nothing new in April (he doesn't shop a whole lot anyway), so maybe he could just swing into Target real quick on his way home from work . . . :)

I don't feel like I buy a whole lot of "stuff", but I guess this'll be the test to see if that's true or not. Plus, it should be good for the family budget!

Technical difficulties

On Sunday night we had some power-issues and one wall of our house was without power. Kirb checked the breaker box downstairs and everything seemed ok. It was a mystery. We had some friends over for dinner and had a great time with them -- we just had to relocated the coffee maker, since its outlet was one of the one's not working, and run an extension cord so the kids could watch Kung Fu Panda, otherwise things went on as planned and a good time was had by all! Then we thought maybe it was a fuse. Our house was built in the 20's and most of the electricity has been upgraded {although I use that term loosely since it's still REALLY old stuff!} but some of it is still run by fuses. We've lived here for 11 years now and have never blown a fuse {electrically speaking, that is!}. We checked and checked and that didn't seem to be the problem as far as we could tell.

I asked my dad to come over Monday morning to see if he had any thoughts on the matter. He didn't see any problems with the fuses either . . . after twisting all 8 of them out and back in again and listening to Joe yell reports of what went off and on we moved on to the breaker box.

The breakers all looked like they were in the "on" position, but on further examination my dad found that one of them was not working. It was kind of "wiggly" and wouldn't "click" into the on or off position, so he decided it was broken and had blown out or something. This hadn't ever happened at our house before. He went across the street to our little, local hardware store that stocks everything and can help you with ANY problem! No luck . . . they didn't carry that part . . . too old! They sent him to an electrical supply place not too far away who had what we needed. Not the exact same part, but they said it would do the job. So my dad tripped off the {big} main breaker at the top of the box so he would be safe while trying to replace the faulty one. He's never done this particular task before, but he's not scared to just try stuff and see how it turns out (which sometimes makes me a little nervous. Shouldn't we have a professional do this, or at least be certain that it's the right thing to do?) Now, you need to understand that initially the electricity in our house was about 85% working fine and normal. But, we wanted to fix the 15% that wasn't working. (2 kitchen outlets, the outlet on the opposite side of the kitchen wall where we plug in the TV and stereo and that stuff, and the girls main bedroom light and 1 (but NOT both) of their outlets). We could live without this power, but we'd rather not.

My dad gets the broken breaker {do you find that funny too . . . "broken breaker", or is it just me?} fixed and then goes to turn the main power back on. Nothin'. Yup, nothing! The main breaker won't click back into the ON position.

So now we have basically NO power in our house . . . well, that's not entirely true. Somehow the 15% stuff that wasn't working before was now working just fine even though the main breaker box was off {mysterious and a little scary!} but the rest of the power was not working. So . . . no heat, no stove, no microwave, food warmin' up in the fridge and freezer. No laundry {which REALLY needed to get done}, no phone {since they are cordless and plug into the wall!}. Ahhh, but we COULD make coffee! And did I mention it was lunch time for my 2 kiddos that were home and had pretty much been ignored all morning as we worked on this mystery! So we call the electrical place and ask if they have the main breaker switch part that seems to be having the exact same problem that the little one was having just a little while ago. Well, they stock that part but they don't have one on hand right now. They do, however have one in Duluth that could be here by "tomorrow!". Umm, let's see no power until tomorrow. No thanks. I hang up and tell my dad and pray and call Kirb and tell him and pray some more and try to figure out what to do.

My dad has an appointment to meet a man about a job . . . I know, it sounds a little illegal, but it's the truth. So he has to go.

I pray a little more and wonder what we can do. We can't really afford to call in a real electrician to fix us . . . I imagine that will not be cheap. Hindsight is always so much clearer and I keep thinking to myself, we would have been totally fine without power on that one wall. Now it's all messed up! I prayed some more and tried not to get all worked up. Kirb cancelled a meeting and said he'd come home and see what he could do. Now, I love him like crazy but he's not a handyman usually. He is good at tons of stuff, but is also aware of areas that he is not an expert in. He lets professionals change his oil and fix his car and install his new toilet and stuff . . . and he also tries to stay away from major electrical work! Miraculously {in all seriousness, it WAS a miracle, following lots of prayer} when he gets down to the breaker box he pushes it up in to the on position {which both my dad and I had done} and it stays. Praise God. The power is back! There are, obviously, a few missing details but you've read my ramblings quite long enough already {thank you!} and they aren't important so, basically, that's that!

Here come the deep thoughts . . .

It didn't end up being a fuse problem in the end, but it got me thinking a little about fuses. I know the phrase "blew a fuse", and have for a long time, but hadn't really ever thought about it before, in the literal sense. Our fuses are designed to take so much. They can actually handle quite a bit, but if every single thing that depends on them all is suckin' energy out of them at the same time, they can't take it . . . they blow and need to be replaced. Yikes! That's a good reminder, I think, for every day life. I {and you too} am designed to be able to take quite a bit. But there is a point where I can't take any more and I need to know when I am approaching that point and unplug some stuff before it's too late.

How about you?

. . . and in other news:

1. The blanket of clean, fresh, beautiful whiteness that fell last night is SO much prettier than what it is covering up! It makes me happy! Thanks, Lord, for the fresh new look you gave my world [I'll appreciate it while I can, I know it won't be this beautiful for too long.] We happened to be coming home last night right when it was falling. It was absolutely everywhere in the sky, the whole world seemed to be thick and heavy with the snow . . . just completely full of it. It was the most beautiful thing I'd seen in a while. The kids hung out in the dark when we arrived at home catching big, huge flakes of it on their sweet little tongues. What a fun way to end the day! [Which unfortunately was followed by some parental nagging . . . and yelling about brushing teeth and cooperation and other bedtime-related things!!]

2. We've caught 6 mice to date, but haven't caught one in 3 or 4 days even with multiple baited traps in the basement. I'm starting to get hopeful that we've got them all, but I won't hold my breath quite yet.

3. This week marks the 5th anniversary of Evelyn's new heart. How happy and deeply grateful we are to have her in our lives! Happy Heart Day, sweet girl! You are definitely one in a million. [In case you don't know, Evelyn is the daughter of my good friend Ing and also Rebekah's BFF.]

4. The kid's had Monday and Tuesday off of school. Monday for President's Day and Tuesday for workshops and conference prep. It was very fun [mostly] to have them home a little extra. We mainly hung out and relaxed at home: played outside, watched movies, read some great books and just loved the extra time together! Today it's back to reality.

5. We [Kirbs & me] were wounded and hurt by someone's words the other day. Both of us are feeling all torn up inside over it and generally just pretty yucky. It makes me sad . . . good thing for the pretty snow! The first part of the adage "sticks and stones can break my bones" is true, but the reality is that the second part is not. The words hurt just as much and, unfortunately, don't heal as quickly or completely in most cases. What I wouldn't give for a broken arm instead of this yucky feeling in my gut. It is a good reminder to me of the power of our words and the care I need to take with mine.

The tongue is a small things, but what enormous damage it can do. A great forest can be set on fire by one tiny spark. (James 3:5 TLB)

I hope I will, from now on, be even more mindful of what I say. Of it's necessity [let's face it, I say tons of stuff each day that I just plain don't even need to say in the first place] and of it's impact on those who hear it [or hear of it, even]. I'm putting my hope on the fact that good will come out of this ickiness somehow, even if only in my own actions.

6. We got our [pretty significant] tax return the other day. I was thrilled to feel like we had no money worries, even for just a couple days . . . it's expensive raising 5 kiddos! It's pretty much all gone now, [the money, that is] but the good news is that we were able to pay off a couple of long-term capital campaign pledges that we pretty much made in faith, since they were kind of [seemingly] beyond our means. But we felt really lead to make these pledges anyway [one to CSC and one to Northwestern] The pledges weren't "due" for over a year, but now they are all "paid off". [which in turn will significantly boost our charitable giving for 2009 and get us another nifty refund next year . . . but that is just a nice perk/benefit and was not, at all, the goal in all of this] It feels terrific to know that these fabulous ministries have a little more money to work with now and that I won't have to think about those extra commitments again in the months to come when money might be a little tight! And if we can just hold on for less than a decade, [which I know will go super fast] by the time Jacob graduates from high school we should be mortgageless if we keep at it! What a day that will be. You think I'm excited now, just you wait!!!

7. Valentine's Day was great! The red, pink & white party at my mom's was extra fun. We did not eat a single thing that wasn't red, pink or white. The kids had fun and there was lot of love!!

The wonderful host & hostess of the evening

The Valentine-y Stoll's (all in red, pink & white!)

Lydia's Valentine hair [you know, since hair is one of my greatest talents!!]

8. I have a few friends [which is a few too many!] who have really sick kids right now. In and out of the hospital trying to get things figured out. My heart is heavy for them and I'm trying to remember to pray for them all the time. Having sick kids is a terrible feeling. So helpless and painful!

9. The 3 big kids were invited by my grandma [their piano teacher, who they call GG . . . for great grandma] to give a little mini concert/recital yesterday at the nursing home where she volunteers. [yup, I do realize it seems a little funny that a lady in her 80's would be volunteering at a nursing home where I'm sure some of the residents are younger than she is, but hey, good for her!] They each played a piece or two and did a great job. I think the residents appreciated it too. [In case you know her, that's Elaine DeYoe's head there, front and center.]


10. Sleep update: Joe still makes his way up to join us in our bed most every night. Anna is getting better lately . . . at least a little. She usually gets up once [about 3ish] to eat a little, snuggle, have me find her nuk and just generally be assured that we're still there. I'm feeling hopeful that by her birthday she might be sleeping all night . . . at least once in a while!

11. I signed us up for family camp at Trout! I think it will be tons of fun and that we will all love it. This was our one fun, family splurge out of our short-lived wealth [see #6]. It will be the perfect vacation for us . . . no planning on our part and an already-scheduled babysitter for each and every evening so mom & dad can have a little fun! All without having to step foot in the van or buckle anyone up for 5 whole days! Plus, there's a lake . . . swimming is always a hit!

this 'n that

well, i thought we were through being sick, but it turns out we weren't. oh well! hopefully now the last of it is over! i pray it is.

we've been crazy around here lately: sickness, work, party-ing, cleaning, decorating . . . yikes! i'm hoping things will slow down just a tad soon. i just finished (yesterday) an order for 1,040 greeting cards. it's a corporate order that i do every year. i'm so glad to be finished with it. what i love about making cards is the uniqueness and thought i put into the design of each one, but when you make hundreds of the exact same card it gets a little old . . . but the check that comes along with it is quite nice so i put up with it! now for the next 11 months i can be creative again!

ok, so i couldn't help myself when i bought this shirt (onesie, actually, if we're being technical) for anna. she doesn't need any clothes, and normally i'm pretty good with the self-control in that area but #1 she is completely unBEETable and #2 beets are the only food on earth that i know of that kirbs won't eat. (actually he probably would eat them, but he doesn't like them!) so, when i saw it i couldn't just leave it at the store. as a side note: normally i'm quite bugged by clothes with words on them ("princess", "i'm naughty", "i love my mommy", "cutie", "my brother did it" . . . it all just irritates me). if other people like them, that's fine, but i don't like to put them on my kids, generally. but i digressed from my usual "rule" to get this sweet little shirt for my sweet babe! isn't it cute? and her daddy thought it was quite funny too.

here are a couple of pics of her taking a bath tonight. she is sporting the chapped cheeks look of winter (and the little cold she has isn't helpin' either!). i think she might be on her way to a head full of curls though, like her oldest sister! whattaya think? only time will tell, i guess.

joe has turned a little corner recently. i failed to notice exactly when it happened, but the other day i said to kirbs, "he is so fun and pleasant lately. i just love him!" that's not to say that i didn't love him before, but he has been quite the handfull for the past few months and i didn't always like him a whole bunch. i'm so glad to have turned this corner! what is it they say? 6-month cycles? i'm gonna try and enjoy all 182 days of this one!!! he is funny, polite, hilarious, a great helper, comedic, cute, (relatively) cooperative and, did i mention, quite funny! i'm just trying to enjoy every minute of it. he even cooperated and willingly let me cut his hair (usually i have to literally pin him down while he is contorting his body like mad to try and get away and kicking and screaming. and -- for some reason -- the haircuts never quite come out as nice as i would hope! hmmm, surprising! i wanted to trim him up because he's going to be in heather & roberts wedding in a few weeks and we don't want him to look shaggy when he has that fancy little tux on, now do we? also, he loves "helping" these days. he unloaded the dishwasher for me today and is always "picking up" the living room lately too (which means piling everything from the floor onto the top of the coffee table). also, his manners astound me. we're not rude people, but he is, by far, the most polite member of our family right now. it's pretty endearing . . . alright, i know, enough about him . . . but isn't he cute? oh and just one more sweet thing: his new favorite thing to do is to play with the (many) nativity sets we have out right now. the dialouge he comes up with is great. today the camel and the angel (who he would be sure to tell you is named gabriel) were flying through the kitchen on their way to talk to "go-sef" (joseph) (yup, he calls himself "go-ey" or "go" if you ask him his name. he is very consistent in his mispronunciations) alright, that's it. i promise! picture explainations: so, his outfit for most of last week (whever we were at home) was underwear and this tutu (with the arms NOT in the sleeves, becuase "they itch me!"). then there's one of him playing with the nativity pop-up book with the little carboard characters. he loves it. then there's him trying to escape from kirbs' clutches when we're trying to take a family picture!

yesterday marked the first day evelyn was back at school all day! she had not quite been able to make it all day up until now and either went in late or got picked up early. we are thrilled with this next step of progress. rebekah was excited that she even got to go outside at recess AND go with the class to gym. way to go, ev!

jacob was home sick today and we had such a fun time together. i gave him his spelling test so that he wouldn't have to make it up when he got back to school tomorrow. then he was feeling just fine by lunch time so we went to the y and played basketball together (while joe & anna were in kidstuff). i loved the one-on-one time with him. rebekah was home sick one day last week and that was a great day too. she asked me if she could have a tea party and i said sure so she got joe dressed up (in a button down and khakis . . . she changed him out of the clothes he was wearing which, i guess, were not suited for going to tea!) and she got dressed up and she dressed up elizabeth (her american girl doll) and put a blanket over an upsidedown laundry basket and served tea and mandarin oranges to the 3 of them. it was so sweet and cute. now there is a girl i should have around more often. she basically puts me out of a job. now, if only they were as sweet when they were all together as they are one-(or two, or even three) on-one. but, unfortunatly the minute you put them all together in the same building it becomes a fighting, screaming, hitting mass of angry, moody, crabby chaos. crazy, since they are all such sweet kids? oh, well. enjoy what you can!

ok, i realize this was a way longer-than-average post. thanks for putting up with it! i'm almost done. our family is trying to enjoy each moment of this advent season and reflect on what our God did for us thousands of years ago when he sent a sweet little baby to earth to live and die for me and you. it never ceases to amaze me. thank you Lord for your sacrifice of your precious, precious son for me. and my sons. and my daughters. and my friends and family and each of us here on this earth. your love is amazing!

happy advent, all! enjoy it.

ouch! part 2

we got the "this is not a bill" statement from joey's stitches in the mail. arguably more painful than the actually injury and stitches put together!!! how does it work that i bust my butt to clip coupons for 45 cents off my laundry detergent and in a minute spend nearly a thousand dollars getting 2 little stitches in my son's head? just makes me wonder why i try so hard. anyway, we are obviously more thankful that joe is ok than we are mad about the "not a bill." i'll get over it, i just needed to vent a little!

now i'm off to have a fun, beautiful fall day with my family!! yeah!