randomness

A few random things, in case you care::

• I got a haircut today. I was planning to grow my hair long enough to donate it, but it was driving me mad and since I value what little bit of sanity I've got, I got it cut. It's kind of a shaggy, long-ish bob.
• I was driving behind a Porsche going about 52mph in a 65 on 94 today. There was no traffic. Most people were doing 70. As I blew past this Porsche in my maxi van, I had the urge to say :: "Buddy, do you realize what you're driving? It's a PORSCHE! Pick up the pace, already!"
• I had a coupon for a free Frappe at Burger King, so I went through the drive-thru and picked one up. It wasn't really all that great and it gave me a brain freeze. TWICE! Those suckers hurt! Anna begged me for a drink of it, so I let her have the rest. I'm sure I'll pay for that later, but oh well!
• We have a HUGE dumpster in our driveway. It'll be there for months. It's not pretty, but it is exciting!
• We are about to start on the drain tile and radon mitigation part of our basement undertaking. Not at all a glamorous way to spend thousands of hard-earned dollars, but it'll be so good to have it done.
• I love where we live. About a 10-minute walk from home last night {walking at the pace of a 4-year-old} we spotted a white-tail about 30 feet off the road and stopped to watch a deer who had stopped to watch us. Also we walked by a swampy pond and enjoyed the sound of frogs. I love that we could get to either downtown St. Paul or Minneapolis in about 10 minutes by car and still be only blocks away from deep woods and wildlife! Perfect, if you ask me!
• The sunshine is glorious!
• Joe has an eye appointment tomorrow. We'll see if his patch on his glasses that he's been wearing for a few months has made any noticeable difference in his vision.
• I've had a {pretty nasty} cold for nearly 2 weeks. I'm about ready to be done with blowing my nose. Hopefully it will be gone soon . . . like yesterday!

it must be january

. . . the other day when I got to the Y all the treadmills were full. ALL of them. There are lots! Then yesterday when I got there, the childcare was at capacity. They gave me a pager and told me I was #2 on the waiting list and they'd page me when enough kids had left that I could check mine in. Crazy! Oh well, it should settle down a bit pretty soon. Right?

thankful thursday

Yesterday two women stopped by our house. Sisters. They had stopped by once before, probably 5 or 10 years ago already. I had almost forgotten about that visit. I wasn't home when they first got here yesterday. My mom was watching the kiddos while I was out for a bit. I called her on my way home and she told me about the visitors that were here waiting for me. When I arrived at home 5 minutes later, there they were. In my kitchen. In their kitchen. They did their growing up here. In this house. They were probably in their 60's. 70's maybe. They brought some copies of pictures of our house from the 40's and 50's. Some inside, some outside. Some including naked kids in a clawfoot bathtub. A fabulous old car in the driveway of one of the pictures. They said I could keep them. They brought them for me. Their family lived here from 1945 until sometime in the early-mid 70's.

The house was built in 1927. We moved in in 1998. I think that their family was the 2nd family to live here. I think we are the 5th. I know a teeny bit about the family that built the house (the Peterson's) and now I know quite a bit about the 2nd family. We bought it from my good friend, Carol's parents, so I know quite a bit about them too. I was at this house quite a few times over the years before I even had an idea that someday I would raise my family here (my junior high and high school years). It's so fun to know so much about the history of our home. It just makes me love it all the more.

I was thankful that, yesterday, the house was less than the complete disaster it often is in the middle of a week day. It was actually pretty clean! We looked at the pictures they brought and chatted for a bit. When they showed me a picture of some kids near a swingset, I told them that the frame from that exact swingset was still in our yard. We looked out the window and I pointed to it. It was here when we bought the house and we didn't have the first clue what to do with a huge, substantial, metal swingset frame, so there it sits along the fence in our backyard. Current day swingset makers should take note. That puppy is probably at least 60 years old and still as solid as can be. The younger sister said that she was often afraid to go upstairs to bed at night and wanted to stay downstairs until someone else went up there with her. Just. like. Lydia! It was so fun to hear their stories.

They saw a stack of (4 copies) the same book on the hutch and asked me about it. (Kirb said later that maybe they thought I was an author. Who else has multiple copies of the same book?) I said it was the book that had had the greatest impact in my life and I always keep a few copies on hand to give to people. Would they like one? I think they were surprised at my offer, but seemed genuinely excited and took a copy -- but only after offering to pay me for it. I said no, I would love them to have it. I gave them my usual warning that the book starts out really sad (I would have appreciated a heads up on that fact before I started reading it in a public place!), but if they could make it through the first chapter they could continue reading without a box of tissues right by their side (well, maybe keep one tissue available, just in case. It is cold season, you know).

As they were leaving, the younger sister asked me if I would pray for the older sister because she has cancer and isn't doing well. She wants to keep getting treatment, but her platelets are low and they have had to stop the treatments for a while until the platelet levels come back up. I told them that I would pray and that I was dealing with low platelets at this exact time last year. She said she could tell that we were believers, otherwise she never would have asked. I was touched deeply by that comment. What an unexpected blessing they were in my day. I'm praying that Ann's book blesses them as much as it has blessed me and many others!

We just got a new computer (our old -- and it was old -- one died with the ending of 2011) and it isn't hooked up to the scanner yet, far as I can tell. As soon as I get the fabulous pictures scanned in, and in digital form, I promise to share them with you. They're SO fun!

brown paper packages tied up with strings::

Ok, just for fun here are a few {random, and in no particular order either} things that I really, really like. "These are a few of my fav-o-rite things." I'm so glad each of them is a part of my life. {In case you thought there might be, there is no monetary reason for this list. You could buy a million of each of these things and I wouldn't get a penny. Just so you know}::

1. Burt's Bee's chapstick {a winter must-have in my book!}
2. The Jesus Storybook Bible {the Deluxe Edition includes the whole book on audio CD too, read by a guy with a bit of a British accent. How fun is that?}
3. my clothesline
4. a caramel latte {or maybe almond}
5. the library
6. oreos with peanut butter on top
   
7. 1000 gifts by Ann Voskamp
8. my favorite womanly essentials :: lunapads and a diva cup
9. my family
   
10. double coupon day at the gas station {Tuesday} and the grocery store {Wednesday and Saturday}
11. babies :: the newer, the better
    
12. Mod Podge {I got through the stuff like water :: and I know how to make my own, but I don't do it, if you buy it with a coupon {Michael's, Joann's :: whoever has a 50% off} it's just as cheap to buy it and you didn't have to do a bit of work yourself}
13. hard, face-hurting, side-splitting, pee-your-pants-a-bit laughter!
    
14. Haribo gummi fruit salad {mmmmmmm}
15. water with lemon
16. music :: my current favorites are Third World Symphony by Shaun Groves, Deeper & Painted Red by JJ Heller, Fireflies & Songs and Invisible Empires by Sara Groves {no relation between Shaun & Sara, they just happen to have the same last name!} soon, though, I will be listening to Christmas music. I love Christmas music!
17. watching Parenthood
    
18. smartwool socks {I have them on at this very minute. I'm a frugal girl, generally speaking, but these expensive numbers are worth every single penny, if you ask me!}

What are some of your favorite things?

multitude monday

Here's my continuing Multitude Monday post, which all started a while back, right here on a wonderful, amazing blog that I read each day.

"One Thousand Gifts":

1674. sleepy superheros::1675. seeing my stuff in an actual shop where people who don't even know me actually buy it::
1676. llamas {and their fabulous teeth -- they only have teeth on the bottom. did you know that? i didn't until today.}::1677. kids celebrating their dad {a whole birthday "program" planned without adult intervention complete with skit, violin duet, gifts and treats}::

1678. laundry on the line::1679. fun crafting {LOTS of it!}
1680. a 2-birthday week
1681. seeing my aunt
1682. continued amazingly glorious weather {80's in October . . . in Minnesota! WOW!}
1683. music and how powerful it is in my life
1684. shopping with my mom, an introduction to a fabulous little occasional shop and some amazingly fun {and did I mention cheap?} "new" dining room chairs. so very exciting to me!
1685. learning a fun new skill::1686. fun Friday morning coffee with the moms
1687. Kirbs making it through his really busy {and stressful} week of work {he put in about 14 hours on his birthday . . . what a trooper!}
1688. a 4-generation spread around the dinner table::1689. our kiddos :: what a blessings they are. each and every one of them. that I've been entrusted with them is truly grace!::1690. the fun of being "boo"-ed
1691. crossing things off the list {LOVE that!}
1692. a wonderful sermon by a wonderful friend

Alrighty, that's it's for now. Tune in next Monday for the next installment.

Weekend update::

Nope, not the SNL kind, the SFL (Stoll Family Life) kind. So, "Live. From Roseville. It's Saturday afternoon"::

• Sara had her 2-month check up yesterday {a little late} and all looks good. She's a tall {can you be considered "tall" if you are unable to stand up? I'm not sure.} skinny thing. An ounce short of 10 pounds {9 pounds 15 oz. for you non-math people} which is the 25th weight percentile for girls her age. 23 inches "tall", which is the 75th%. I say she's not any heavier because she's always movin'. Kicking her little legs and waving her little arms and using those facial muscles to flash us adorable little grins all the time! She's like a little calorie-burning machine, I guess. Plus, she poops with unbelievable frequency!
• I showered today. For the 3rd day in a row. That's some kind of record for me, I think, as I am not a daily showerer {usually every 2nd or 3rd day or so}. I think I've had a strong desire to shower more frequently lately because I'm so cold and a nice, hot shower takes care of that.
• I wonder who put $1.25 in my kiddos! You know the saying "Who put a quarter in you?" Well, multiply that by 5 and you've got $1.25. And my house!! 5 crazy, wild kiddos are running around here and being loud and silly today . . . while their baby sister naps peacefully in her crib despite all the noise and commotion!
• Kirb and I had our first date in about 3 months last night {the last time I remember us having a date was for our anniversary. In September. When life was a whole lot different than it is now!}. We went to Costco. Then we ate across the street at Chili's {we had a gift card!} before heading to his boss's {is that how you correctly make the possessive form of boss? I'm unsure, seems like a whole lot of s's!} house for his office Christmas party. Not a super high-excitement date, I know, but we're working our way up slowly. Plus, we loved it! so who really cares that many would consider it a tad boring?
• The mailman finally started delivering our mail again today. Yesterday we got a slip telling us that the mail would not be delivered again until we cleared the snow away from our mailbox. 10 feet in front of the box. 10 feet behind the box. And about 4 feet in {from where the plow stopped and where the mailbox was}. When the snow banks are about shoulder height on a 6 foot tall man, that's a WHOLE LOT of snow. Where exactly are we to put it? And, do they really expect us to stand in the middle {ok, the edge} of a busy street to do this? I guess so. I understand now why the people directly across the street from us {who also live on a corner} had their address officially changed from 19-something {74, I think} Lexington Avenue North to 11-something Ryan Avenue West. They pulled out their mailbox and now have their mail delivered right to the box attached outside their back door. It's a tempting thought. I have no idea what goes into a {rather major} change like that. I imagine it's kind of an ordeal. I don't think I could change our address. I feel like it might hurt the feelings of our house {yes, I DO realize that houses don't have feelings}. It's been known by "1973 Lexington" for a long time now. Nearly 85 years, to be exact! I think we'll just "deal".
• I'm not really a slipper kind of girl. They just aren't really my thing . . . or so I thought. I slipped Rebekah's on today {did you know she wears a women's size 10 shoe? Honestly, she's not even 10 years old yet . . . you shouldn't have feet bigger than your age, that's truly unfortunate} and guess what? Slippers totally keep your feet warm. Who would have thunked it? Next maybe I'll decide I want a bathrobe! What is this world coming to?
  

Alright, I think that's it! Have a great weekend!

tuesday stuff

Last night I was at Target with the 2 big girls {they needed some Christmas gifts still. It's so sweet to see them buy things for their siblings}. On the way out to the van one of them mentioned something I wasn't aware of::"The Ryan's play 'Stoll Haul'." That made me curious, so I asked what "Stoll Haul" was {other than one of the nicknames for our van, that my friend, Ing, came up with -- genius that she is!} Turns out it's much like "Slug Bug", but rather than straining to spot little VW bugs, you get the slightly easier task of spotting huge {12 and 15-passenger} vans and then punching your sibling -- or whoever is nearby -- and calling out "Stoll Haul". Feel free to play in your vehicle too. It could be fun. All credit for this fabulous game goes to the 3 Ryan kiddos, who are much more inventive than most . . . not to mention sweet, kind, smart and adorable!

How cute is this? She's working hard on that head control. Here is our bobble head baby::


His superpowers haven't been much help in fighting the bloody noses that the dry, winter weather has caused our favorite family superhero to have most nights lately. And since the teeniest drop of blood on his sheets freaks him out, I've washed his sheets twice in the past 3 days. And it's a bunk bed {well, more accurately, a loft}. Have you changed sheets on those buggers? I almost always end up broken out in a sweat {even when the temps are below zero, as they are today}. Changing Superman's sheets was not on the list of things I wanted to do with my day, but oh well!
That same superhero is having a really, REALLY hard time waiting for Christmas {I know this is not abnormal for a 5-year-old, but we've never experience it to this extreme at our house before}. Today he literally screamed at me::"I. WANT. TO. OPEN. A. PRESENT!! If I can open a present, I will be nice. If I can't, I will be mean. Do you want me to be nice or mean?" Alas, I still haven't let him open one. {Note: we refrain from putting gifts under our tree until the time has come to actually open them. But one extra-generous kiddo in our family has purchased -- or made -- presents for everyone, wrapped them and placed them nicely under the tree. I know she didn't do it to torture her brother, but that is what the result has been. It is no fun at all, as we hear about it, literally, without ceasing!}

My husband was on the air today on the radio program "Connecting Faith" with Stephanie Kay. Although the topic was not one I was super interested in {Kirb is the "money man" around here after all, which is why they didn't ask ME to be on the radio talking about investments, planned giving, taxes and year-end-giving}, I did listen to the whole show. The kids weren't very understanding of the fact that I was trying to listen to the radio and not miss the times when Kirb was actually talking {there was him, the show's host -- hostess, actually -- and another guest, so he only talked probably a quarter of the time}. It was so funny to watch the kids yell into the stereo speakers "Hi Dad!" "Dad, can you hear me?" "Did you get my message, Dad? I left you a message." I guess they have a ways to go before they have a completely understanding of the concept of a radio vs a phone {which, I guess, is perfectly logical, since the only other time they've heard his voice and not been able to see him was over the phone. And, in that case, it works great: when you talk, you get a response. Not so this time around, however!} Another fun thing about the show was that Kirb's aunt {who is married to his dad's brother} was listening to the show in northern Minnesota -- I guess she's a dedicated listener of "Connecting Faith" as Stephanie seemed to know her by name -- without knowing that Kirby was going to be on. So, she called in when she heard his voice {it was a call-in show} and chatted with him a while. Not about the topic of the show, mind you, just to say "Hi". She also asked if he brought his horn to play on the air, then went on to tell the whole listening audience about what a great job he does playing the horn and what a beautiful singing voice he has. I found it to be the most entertaining 2 minutes of the hour-long show, myself! Auntie Arlene brings fun to any situation in which she finds herself though, that's for sure! In case you are interested, I think you can listen to the show here.

This 'n that

Thanks so much for all your sweet comments yesterday. I'm so glad that it was an encouragement to others to get a little glimpse of my reality. No need to worry about me {in case you were worried}, I'm not feeling too bummed or any different than I normally do from day to day, just decided it would be nice to break from the norm of "pretty" posts and have a "this is the way it really is" one for a change.

For your viewing pleasure I present you with this adorable {and clean} baby girl::And, in other fun news, guess who has figured out how to smile? Hopefully it'll get captured on film too, so you can share in the cuteness, but if the first run at smiling was any indication, she's going to be a genius in the smiling category!

We had a miraculous healing around here::Kirb was clearing a path through the scary laundry room so he could get the non-functioning dryer out so that that "new" one could be moved in and decided to check it out one more time and guess what? . . . . IT WORKED! We both had checked it over good and it really was completely non-functional just a few days ago. Maybe after that 6-month long vacation because of the fabulous line-drying weather we had this spring, summer and fall, it got worn out with such a huge work load on it's first week back on the job {a family of 8 and out-of-town, overnights guests soon-to-arrive makes for quite a mountain of laundry!}. Who knows. But, it's working just fine for the time being.

it has come to this::

I just finished a wonderful {REALLY thick} book late last night and haven't started the next book in my stack yet. This morning I was taking a shower {surprising, I'm sure . . . but I DO take one now and again} and was in no hurry to get out. There is a chill in the air and the warm water felt great! So as I was standing there, I read my shampoo bottle {yup, this is the exciting stuff of life!}. I found it much more amusing than most shampoos I've read and thought you might also appreciate it.

Above the really stupid warnings that I'm sure are legally required or some such thing {like::"for external use only"} was a heading that read::"You probably already know this, but . . . " And on my conditioner under "Directions" it read::"After shampooing, apply conditioner generously to your hair and scalp. Leave for 2-3 minutes while pondering the meaning of life (or whatever you usually ponder about). Rinse thoroughly and comb through while wet. For best results (and who doesn't want those?), use with our Nourishing Shampoo."

Now, wouldn't you agree that's the most entertaining shampoo/conditioner bottle you've ever read? Well, it made me smile anyway!

Sara's cord stinks. It's not quite ready to fall off yet {hopefully soon!} but it's stinky and gross. I'm hoping it won't be around much longer . . . but that would also mean she's not "freshly born" so much anymore and that makes me sad. I'll try to enjoy the littleness while it's still here. Smelly or not!Joe asked me yesterday::"So mom, when you eat does your food make into poop or milk?" Poor little guy was obviously confused about the whole business.

I really hope I'm not getting sick. I woke up with a really stuffy nose, which caused me to breathe through my mouth most of the night, which meant I also woke up with a sore-ish throat. I'm not sure if the stuffy nose came from the cooler weather and the fact that we turned our furnace on for the first time last night {poor Sara had super chilly hands and we had compassion on her!} or if I really am coming down with something . . . I really hope it's the former!

And for no reason other than the fact that I find it completely adorable, I leave you with this::

never a dull moment!

After feeling yuckier and yuckier for nearly a week, I finally went to the doctor {on my last week off -- starting next week I have weekly doctor appointments for the baby anyway!}. The narcotics they gave me seem to be helping already and hopefully I'll feel {and sound -- ask anyone who has been around me in the past 3 days or so. I sound like I'm near-death} close to normal again soon.

Anna's face {and arms too, although you can't see those in the picture} had a little run in with the cement steps last night and so Kirb made his 2nd ER run {different ER though . . . you know, to add a little variety to our lives} in less than 2 weeks to get her cleaned up. 6 stitches {1 internal and 5 external} later and she'll be ok, but they said that she'll probably have a visible scar. Hopefully she'll look good with bangs! After her x-ray, although not 100% certain, the doctor was pretty sure she doesn't have a skull fracture. So, that's the good news, I guess. Neither of us thought to change her into a diaper before leaving for the hospital, so, even with all the trauma, and after using the facilities at Children's Hospital a few times, she still stayed dry in her Elmo undies the entire day {she's been doing quite well in that area and even wakes up with a dry diaper most mornings!} even through stitches, x-rays and lots of excitement. Good job, Banana Boo! It was after 10 when Dad & daughter got home from their little "date night" so she was kinda loopy, all things considered, and wound down with some lemonade while watching Tinkerbell on Mommy's lap.

I was awake about 2 o'clock this morning {shifting positions is a pretty big ordeal at this point!} and Kirb was snoring {he has a cold too; it seems we all have it to some degree}, so I gave him an elbow in the side and said "Babe, you're snoring." His usual response would be to roll over or move or do something and then the snoring would stop. This time, rather, he said to me. "No, I'm not!" I didn't feel it was a good use of time time and {limited} energy to argue with a sleeping 36-year-old, so I let it go. But just for the record . . . um, yes, you were!!

I coordinated and hosted breakfast for the entire staff of the kids' school on Thursday morning. It's usually something I look forward too, but being pretty sick, quite pregnant and having to lug 4 loads of stuff from my van into the building in the rain at 7 am made it not-quite-as-fun-as-usual. Hopefully it will be fun again next fall!

It's Labor Day weekend! Kirb and I are planning to make one final trip to the fair, just the 2 of us, for a little date on Sunday night. I'm looking forward to a date and also looking at all the stuff I enjoy looking at, that isn't real possible when you've got 5 kiddos along -- all 7 of us spent about 8 hours at the Fair on opening day and had a great time {for the most part}. We ate 3 bags of mini donuts, a HUGE order of "World's Greatest French Fries", a few large sodas, 3 large Hawaiian Shaved Ice, 3 pickles on a stick, a bucket of Sweet Martha's Cookies and, I'm sure a few more things that I can't remember at the moment -- plus lots of snacks brought from home!

Jacob's asthma is always at it's worst at this time of year. He coughs almost constantly and can't breathe, so that's fun!

I have about 90% of our needed school supplies. I packed them up and was all organized over 2 weeks ago, but there were those last few things that I didn't have. So, I was trying to wrangle them up yesterday while filling my prescription at Target, but, as it turns out, Target is out of pretty much everything! Um, HELLO! School didn't even start yet! I asked the guy in the school supply section, "Where do you have plain folders?" and he answered, "We don't have any of those." Also missing from inventory were dry erase markers and glue sticks . . . those were the 3 things I needed more of. {Well, that and 1 box of quart-sized Ziploc bags . . . but those, miraculously, were in stock}. Believe me, I had dry erase markers, glue sticks and folders all in my big box o' school supplies, but it would seem I didn't have enough for 4 children to go back to school. I still need 3 more large glue sticks, about 20 color-specific 2-pocket folders and a pack each of thick and thin dry erase markers. Then I'll be done. I guess I'll hope for the best at Staples some time today! We'll see.

My grandpa would have been 99 today. Miss you, Papa!

I guess that's it for the moment. Have a fabulous Saturday!

oh, Anna

It started out innocently enough. We were in the basement and I said, "C'mon babe, let's go upstairs and see Daddy."

She answered with "No." {recently she has discovered her will and become a tad defiant}.

So, I said, "Nope, sweetie, it's time to go upstairs."

To which she replied, "Boss a me, Mom!" . . . which, I can translate with much confidence, based on her facial expression and intonation, as: You're not the boss of me, Mom. Oh, sweetie, 1. Yes, actually, I am and 2. we don't say that around here, got it!


Now, the interesting thing is that, although they do have a phrase or two {or ten} that they use that I do not appreciate {they aren't perfect, in case you hadn't realized that fact!} , this, "You're not the boss of me.", is not a phrase that I think I've ever heard one of the "bigs" use around here. So, I'm a tad baffled as to where she picked this one up. Clearly, however, she understands it's " proper" usage and can use it quite accurately in context. So, she has quite a little attitude, but, it would seem, is also pretty smart . . . I'm not sure if I should be annoyed and upset or just plain proud!

Oh well.

Nice one, Anna!

Look at that sweet, cute, fun, innocent face . . . how could any trouble possibly come from her? Just read on::

Anna has a new fascination::pockets. Actually it's not too new. She's loved pockets for awhile now . . . for putting her hands in, but she has just recently discover that you can put "stuff" in there too. The problem begins when over the last week or so, even if the clothes she is wearing have traditional pockets, she just stuffs things in the front of her diaper/pull-up/underwear (depending on how cooperative she's being in the bathroom department) and tells me she's putting them "in my pocket." {it's possible you can already feel where this story is going} . . . so, this afternoon I find her munching on a pretzel. Lunch has been over for a while and all the leftover food has been put away. It's possible someone could have dropped it during lunch, and she decided to snack on it off the floor, but when I ask her where she got the pretzel she answers, "In my pocket". NICE! I suppose a crotch-dwelling pretzel isn't the very worst thing she could eat, but it's right up there in my book! Yuck!

randomness

Here are a few random things from our life lately::

• I was at a consignment store with Rebekah a while back and the racks of clothes were labeled. You know: "outerwear", "dresses", "men's pants", etc. Well, when we came across the one labeled "boys and girls bottoms" {right next to boys and girls tops} she busted out laughing. She was completely hysterical and told me that was really funny, but maybe they should write something else instead. What a silly, funny girl!
• Joe only has 2 more days of preschool before he "graduates". Yikes! How can that be?
• I saw a turtle pee the other day. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I guess I would have to be aware that turtles need to pee too, but I had never really given it any thought at all and, definitely, hadn't ever had the chance to witness it. Now, I have! Enough said.
• I won a game of croquet at Kirb's office BBQ the other night . . . after being WAY behind. Yeah for me!
  
• Kirb was given the "opportunity" to perform at our school's staff appreciation breakfast. It was a hoot. He wore this: The picture does not do the outfit justice . . . you can't see the shiny white dress shoes {thanks Todd} or get a good view of how plunging the neckline of his shirt was, and the pants . . . you can't even tell how bad perfect they are! Finding them was quite the undertaking, {our goal was solid white dress pants like Frankie Valli wears to sing "Beauty School Dropout" in "Grease" -- since Kirb was performing "Falcon Heights Dropout" at the "Grease"-themed staff appreciation breakfast -- but that wasn't meant to be} but we finally found these {after multiple Goodwill trips} and they were great. A friend of mine asked, "Has Kirby lost more weight or are those pants just, um . . . really flattering?" It's a cut they don't use so much for pants anymore. I assure you they were the right size, but the overall fit of most pants has just evolved a bit in the past 50-or-so years! If you ask really nice, maybe I'll let you see the video of the song too!
• It's nearly Memorial Day . . . what in the world?
• I'm getting used to the van. I'm not nearly as scared as I once was. But, admittedly, it's still a beast to park and that's just a fact!
• Jacob had his final band concert the other day. It was all the 5th grade band kiddos from the district {about 160 of them}. They did a great job and Joe was thrilled when they did this number: {when the camera zooms in you can just barely see the top of Jacob's head . . . behind lots of other kids and his music stand -- about half way back -- directly in front of the blonde girl and to the right of the boy in the front with the glasses. Be on the lookout for a little dark hair toward the top left of the screen}
  

A little of this and a little of that

The Santa Baby in the picture from Friday's post was Joe. Most of you got it right; way to go! Congrats to Amanda, Rachel, Jenn, Mary, Melanie, Sandy, Tricia, Michelle & J who all guessed and/or answered correctly. We had a few other great guesses {those Stoll babies can be tricky, they all look so much alike at first . . . when I had Rebekah, I literally said to Kirby, "I already had this baby, I thought I was getting a different one this time." She looked, as a newborn, SO much like Jacob had it kinda freaked me out!} I'm not random-number-generator high tech or anything like that, but I asked Rebekah to pick a number between 1 and 9 {since there were 9 correct answers} -- I would have asked Joe since he was the subject of the whole contest, but I'm not completely confident in his ability to really know what numbers there are between 1 & 9 so I went with Rebekah since she is completely capable of counting correctly all the way to 9! She picked 6, so the lucky winner is Sandy. Way to go, my dear! I'll send you your super fantastic Shana-made prize ASAP . . . maybe it'll even arrive in time for you to re-gift it to someone you forgot to get something for. Don't hold your breath, it won't really be all that terrific, but I'm sure you are honored to even win, right?

In case there wasn't enough going on right now, we've also embarked on this project:
Actually my parents are doing all the work. Giving a facelift to Rebekah and Lydia's "new" room is my parents Christmas gift to them. {they redid the boys room for Christmas in 2007}. Don't tell, but tomorrow fun new bedding will be added to to the makeover! The room is not quite done yet, but the painting part is all completed. Now we just need to finish putting stuff back where it belongs, hang a few things on the walls and make up the new beds and it will be a very Merry Christmas indeed! Here are a few pictures as things are now:

Here's the color we went with. I don't know what it's officially called, but we call it orange:

The Sara Groves Christmas concert on Friday night was absolutely wonderful! I just love her music, her storytelling, her passion, her adorable kids {the oldest of which is named Kirby!}, her style and what her music has meant to me and in my life. In case you don't know her music {shame on you!} these are a few of my favorites: this one is so moving, this one is so very true and this one is like the story of my life {and it's Rebekah's favorite!} and every parent can relate to this {hilarious!} one. Her music resonates with me like nothin' else I've ever heard! Amazing stuff! The concert was wonderful, worshipful and long {3 hours!}. Worth every penny . . . and even more, but don't tell her that or she might up the prices next time around and I'm all about a good deal! But if, per chance, you know her well enough to actually tell her that anyway, next time you talk to her tell her I said "Hi" and that I think if we actually met {well, I guess technically we have met . . . twice . . . but standing in line the night of a concert when she met 80 zillion other people doesn't quite count, I don't think!} we could be quite wonderful pals!

Christmas is in 5 days and I still have quite a few gifts left that I need to finish making! Yikes! I had a huge chunk of time yesterday to work on making Christmas gifts. One project that I had never attempted before, but wanted to make for 4 or 5 people on my list was a total bust. I couldn't get it to work out at all and after a couple hours {ok, maybe it wasn't a couple hours, but it felt like it!} of success-less work I gave up and scratched that idea . . . but now I have to come up with something else for those people. They were gonna be so cool too . . . I'll try again when I have a little more time to experiment. I'm determined to get it to work! Then, the next thing I attempted was also something I had never made before, but I had made other very similar things so I knew I could pull it off. What I didn't calculate correctly was how very long it would take. It turned out amazing. Fun, cute and exactly how I wanted it to turn out, so that is great. Unfortunately, though, it took about 5 times longer to make than I expected it would. So, that shot my big chunk of time. I should actually be working on the rest of the stuff right now and not blogging, but alas . . .

Joey's preschool program is tomorrow. It's gonna be so cute. My grandma {the kid's GG -- you know, Great Grandma} is going to accompany the group and she is just as excited {if not more so} as Joe! I can't wait!

I can tell I've been spending lots of time downstairs working in my office {where my computer also is} because I just got an email from Pandora saying that I was close to approaching my 40-hour limit of free listening for the month of December. Since I don't want to pay the 99 cents for unlimited listening for the remainder of the month I'll just have to pace myself or actually listen to my own music or just work in silence or something.

For about the past 2 weeks or so Anna has reverted to not sleeping through the night. She's been waking up a time or two each night. The kicker is that when she wakes all up crying all she wants is Zho Zho {think Zha Zha Gabor . . . that's kinda how she says "Joe Joe"}. As it turns out {thanksfully} "Zho Zho" is usually sleeping at 2am, so we don't really indulge that desire! But, boy does she want him and she's all the more mad when I tell her he's sleeping . . . and, as it turns out, so is the entire rest of the family. Hopefully she'll cycle back to sleeping all night again real soon. But for now I find it sweet how enamored those 2 are with each other. None of our other kids have ever been quite so love-y with a sibling. It's pretty cute. What a pair!

Well, I think that's all the weekend updates that I've got. Kirb isn't feeling 100%, so I hope he doesn't get much worse and I really, really hope he doesn't get what I had. That would be terrible!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Are you kiddin' me?

I think of myself as a pretty optimistic person, for the most part. I try to be an "attitude of gratitude" person and focus on all that I have to be thankful for. But, since it's not quite Thanksgiving yet I need to take a moment to vent, complain, have a little fit about something that I am NOT thankful for today.

7 people live in this house. That's kind of a lot of people . . . a lot of butts. We go through lots of toilet paper. The other day we had, literally, less than one whole roll of TP when you combined the 3 nearly empty rolls of toilet paper in each of our bathrooms. It was nearly a crisis and it needed a solution. I had some other things on my list too {always do!} so off I went to the store. I went mainly for toilet paper, but ended up spending over $400 . . . and that's not even why I'm complaining! That's a whole other story, but let's just say I did some Christmas shopping!

Anyhoo, back to the toilet paper . . . I picked up the package of 24 double rolls {like I always do} of the same brand that I always buy and tossed it in my already overflowing cart. I thought nothing of it. Finished shopping, checked out, went home, put away my $400+ worth of stuff {groceries, diapers, Christmas gifts, a couple self-contained wardrobe things so Kirb can move his clothes to the basement -- since our new bedroom is quite skimpy on the closet space -- and the fateful toilet paper} and wrapped up my day.

Fast forward to the next day and I happen to be the one who uses the last of the toilet paper in our main floor bathroom. I throw away the old cardboard roll {I know I should make something out of them, but in all honesty I just toss 'em} and put the new roll on the holder. It. won't. fit! We have a weird toilet paper holder in our main floor bathroom. I don't know when it was put in, I don't know who picked it out and I don't think they probably even make them like this anymore, but it's what we've got:
It doesn't have a removable post that the roll of toilet paper rests on like most normal ones, it has these two retractable stubby things that just hold onto the ends of the toilet paper . . . UNLESS YOUR ROLL IS TOO NARROW!! Then it just won't stay on there at all. Nice!
So, tomorrow I plan to focus on all the things that I have in my life to be thankful for . . . and there are SO many that I can't even begin to list them, but today . . . for this little moment, I'm focusing on this smallish thing for which I am NOT thankful. I guess I'll be running back to the store and checking the dimensions of my toilet paper before buying. But in the mean time I've got 24 rolls of stuff that don't fit . . . maybe some of you will be receiving them as Christmas gifts. Toilet paper is on the top of your wish list, right? I know, I know, we do have 3 toilets in the house and the other 2 toilet paper holders are the normal kind that will hold these 24 rolls, but I'd say 97% of our potty-ing takes place on the main floor, so I have a feeling we'll have these same 24 rolls around for years before we use them up in the basement and upstairs bathrooms . . . especially since the upstairs toilet is acting up . . . but don't get me started. Once complaint a day is enough!

Walking to preschool

. . . and back home again::

9 Things

9 things that I love right now: {in case you didn't know, I've always loved multiples of 3 . . . thus 9 things, rather than 10 or whatever "rounder" number might seem more logical}

1. this song {especially if my fabulously talented husband is singing it!}
2. beautiful fall weather {like we have today! Pull out a sweater and take a stroll through the leaves}
3. my family
4. my new Sara Groves album
5. reading a good book: I'm almost always reading something. Right now it's this as a little break from the Twilight series which I'm halfway through.
6. almond lattes
7. the Bible study that I'm doing this fall: great stuff! {I'm a big fan of Beth Moore's wonderful way of teaching}
8. the fact that I have such wonderful, wonderful friends!
9. playing Monopoly at McDonalds {now, if only I'd win something!}

45 things

I read this today and really enjoyed it. I thought you might too. {I especially appreciated #40. Quite true, I would bet.}

Some random stuff

A few random tidbits from our lives the past few days. From our family to you, enjoy:

• We had 4 nights in a row of middle-of-the-night puking. We are thrilled to have had 2 puke-free nights in a row!
• Anna "talks" up a storm these days! It's so cute!
  
• Lydia lost another tooth {her 7th} last night. It had been wiggly FOREVER and the adult tooth was already half in before the baby one finally came out.
• Lydia was excited that the tooth fairy remembered her this time {did you know that occassionally he/she forgets to come? Some days are busier tooth days than others, I guess. Usually the mistake is taken care of the next night!} Here's Lydia with her tooth box and gold dollar coin {that's what the tooth fairy always brings!} Also, THIS is what Lydia looks like in the morning. YIKES! She'd be completely fine going to school like that too, but usually I intervene!
  
  
• The kids all have fabulous teachers this year. We are so thankful and blessed!
• In case you were wondering, the Flashback Friday from last week was Anna. Good job if you got it right. YaYash, I'll get you a prize when you come here . . . in just a few days!!! Yeah!
  
• I have an official job for the first time in over 10 years. Regular hours and, thankfully, regular pay. Another HUGE blessing to our family for many reasons. I knew I needed to somehow make a little money for our family and this job literally fell right in my lap. I had just started thinking about what I should do to bring in a little extra money and I got offered a job completely "out of the blue"! Plus, so far so good. I love it!
• The weather has been absolutely, positively glorious the past couple weeks. How fun is that?
• I wish my clothesline were bigger. It just doesn't fit 7 people worth of laundry too well. Today is another perfect clothesline day. One load out there now, one finishing up in the washer to soon be joining the drying party on the patio.
• The kids actually rode the bus today. It was about 15 minutes late, but hopefully one of these days it will be here at the scheduled time! (We shaved over 30 minutes off yesterdays arrival time, so it's looking up!)
• Lydia looked a little Pipi Longstocking-ish this morning when we went to school. Don't you think?
  

A few bits of randomness

In case you wanted to know:

• I now have a child old enough to help mow the lawn . . . there are perks to them growing up, I guess!
• We spent the weekend at the 2009 Stoll reunion {they have one every 3 years . . . we can't wait until 2012!}
• The 4 older kids and I walked down to DQ tonight . . . that was $11 well spent. Plus it was a beautiful night for a walk!
• Kirby's dad is #15 of 17 kids, so there are LOTS of people at the Stoll reunions!
• I only know a smallish handfull of those people!
• My brother and Kirby's sister both had birthdays this weekend. Happy Birthday Luke and Kristy. We love you!
• Lydia cut her bangs {either Thursday night or Friday morning} . . . almost to her hairline. It's pretty bad! I'm not sure what to do about the family pictures we were going to have taken in a couple weeks!
  
• This was my 6th Stoll reunion. I went for the first time in 1994, 2 years before I was even an official Stoll.
• I think I'll go for a bike ride tomorrow . . . on a real bike that actually goes somewhere and on which you can feel the breeze in your hair. Hopefully the weather will cooperate.
• I'm looking forward to coffee with some girlfriends that I haven't seen in too long!