Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Horse...it's what's for dinner.

The other night as the oven was preheating for dinner, Emma went up to Pappa with her toy horses in her hands and asked,

"Is the oven done yet?"

Andreas: "No." And he looks at the horses in her hand and says jokingly, "Why? Are you going to put your horses in there?"

[Emma says while running away] "Not anymore!"

The 3 year old mind is a wondrous thing. And now we have to padlock the oven door.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

When he's not playing the 360, he's philosophizing

I was in the bathroom this morning, putting on make up, complaining about how some days it seemed like it was impossible to make myself look good.

From the bedroom where Andreas was lying I heard "yeah, life sucks some days."

To which I replied, "Phish....right, your life sucks so bad."

Andreas: "It does when I wear sandpaper in my underwear."

Me: "What are you talking about? Why would you put sandpaper in your underwear?"

Andreas: "Some days, it's a welcomed distraction."

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

cuddleTIME = x(3)?

I'm sitting here looking at pictures of my sweet baby, Emma. I can't believe she is 3 already. Actually closer to 4 now. I look at her and I see a baby. Then I go to the mall and I see a tiny little bundle in a stroller and I look back at my big girl and realize, she isn't a baby anymore.

Growing so dang fast. In some ways it's what I wanted. I was looking forward to this age where she wouldn't depend on me so much. Waking up multiple times during the night to feed an infant is exhausting, as is changing diapers, and crying and tons of other things. A lot of the time I think to the future and how awesome it will be to be able to spend time with my husband traveling, going out and enjoying each other without kids singing about turds in the background.

Then there are times like tonight, when I'm wondering where the past 3 years have gone, that I get scared. There will come a day when Emma doesn't want to cuddle with me anymore. She won't want me to read to her morning noon and night. There won't be a booster seat at the table. I won't hear Dora or Kai Lan on the TV. Our king sized bed will seem even bigger without "little in the middle". She will grow out of all the things that make her my little girl.

I look at her and I think "Why do we deprive ourselves of having more of these precious creatures? We could keep going and have another one or two to oooh and aaah over".

Sometimes Andreas and I talk about the pros and cons to having another child. We both get tired just thinking about it. Not just throwing another kid into the mix but the fact that I have not been lucky enough to have a normal pregnancy....EVER. With Emma, poor Andreas had to work and take care of me plus two kids while I was on strict bed rest for 10 weeks. We were lucky to have the outcome we did. Would we be that lucky again? If we could survive that whole ordeal a second time, would we be able to survive a 4Th child to raise?

Of course we could! They are so precious. They are amazing and sweet and perfect little people. I love to just watch her play, just stare at her in awe that she is part Andreas and part me but 100% from God. An angel on earth. I love her (ALL of my kids) so much that it hurts. I just want to hug them and never let go.

But eventually the time will come, no matter how many children I have, when they grow up. At the moment we don't plan on having anymore babies. And perhaps that is the way it will stay. So for now, I'll just keep hugging and snuggling and kissing my little bundles of joy while I still can. Because I've [hopefully] still got many more years of cuddling time left.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Santa Village

We took Emma to see Santa and Mrs. Claus today



Here is Emma waiting patiently in line to sit on Santa's lap


Oh my gosh! There he is!


I'm so darn cute and sweet!


Here I go!


I wasn't afraid at all!


Me and Mr. C chatting.



On to see Mrs. Claus


She helped me decorate a cookie.


She is a very sweet lady.


Time to take my cookie and go check out the reindeer.


I got to see a couple!


And now for a photo op....me in a pretty christmas sleigh.



Pretty horses!

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse...

...yeah right.

There are definitely mice stirring. Well, at least there WERE.

Over the past week or so we discovered that we had mice. We found little nibbles out of our chocolate Christmas calendars and the cookies in our treat cabinet. Even little turds in almost every drawer in the kitchen. YUK!

After disinfecting EVERYTHING we own in the kitchen and catching the culprit we thought it was over. And then we discovered the smell.

It was faint at first. Every time I walked past the stove I could smell it. We have a range with removable plates so you can insert a grill surface. I took it apart and cleaned it REALLY good thinking that the leftover grease was creating the stink. The next day it was still there, and getting WORSE.

Then I started to wonder if maybe we had a dead mouse under the appliance. So we moved it out but found nothing. However, we did discover how the mice are getting in. We have a downdraft and it goes directly out under our deck (which is enclosed so we can't get to the vent exit without pulling apart our deck). But it must have happened to the previous owners also since we think we found an old mouse trap under there.

We were frustrated because we didn't find the source of the smell. I thought maybe a mouse could have died in the wall behind the cabinets. But Andreas pointed out that the smell was the strongest in the front corner of the range. I put my nose in the corner and sniffed. OH MY DEAR LORD!! YUP.....that's definitely where it's coming from. It's a dead mouse alright, and it's right under the cook top. G-R-O-S-S!

So I called Nodak and made an appointment for the next day. But as the day went on I couldn't take it anymore. The smell was nauseating and the thought of a decomposing animal in my kitchen was too much. I called around and found someone who could come and check it out TODAY.

A man from Appliance Pros came out and started to work taking apart the range. After a while I heard "there he is!". HOORAY! The source of the stink has been found, right in the very corner we assumed it would be. It appeared as though it got electrocuted since he was right up by the wires and didn't seem to be trapped.

Of course the man needed a bag to dispose of the critter which meant I had to go into the kitchen, and I was really hoping to avoid that. I went in to give him a garbage bag and [GAG] there it was, clinging, dangling....all dead and smelly. [GAG][GAG].....[still more gagging]. I couldn't handle it, with my arm stretched out as far as possible (I'm talking Elastigirl here), I threw the bag at him and ran away. I just couldn't do it. I was going to help out and put the bag under the critter so he could drop him in but every ounce of my being was telling me to run....just run away.

Anyway, the mouse is gone and the stink along with it. It's pretty much the grossest thing I've ever seen. And it still turns my stomach to think that I've been preparing food in the same area as a rotting animal carcass. BARF-O-RAMA! Needless to say, Andreas wants to eat out tonight and I am ALL FOR IT!

Hand Chimes

Here is my Hanna at her first hand chimes performance




They did so good!

Monday, December 14, 2009

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Deck the halls...







Why is it that nuts in the shell is such a Christmas thing?




I think Mary has been practicing while we sleep




I've had this stocking since I was a wee tot