That's My Girl

Ever heard of a game called Challenge 24? Here is a card from the game so you can give it a try. Using each of the four numbers and addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division you need to get it to equal 24.

How did you do? You can check the comment section to see a couple of different solutions for it if you're interested. This is actually the easiest level of difficulty and some of the most difficult ones will stump Glen and I completely.

The game fosters quick thinking and sharp math skills, so the schools are all over it. They have tournaments and before-school practices...it's pretty intense!

Today in the principal's newsletter they listed the winners of the school tournaments. The list included the top 5 winners from grades 4-6, in which Cami had placed 2nd place in the 5th grade. Upon closer examination of this winner's list I made a realization...out of all 15 of the top players in the school, Cami is the ONLY girl on the list.

That's my girl!

Ellie's Birthday/Easter thoughts...

The kids love Easter and who can blame them? It's a fun holiday with egg hunts, too much candy, and a week off of school. It's always been a challenge helping them to remember amongst all of the festivities, what it's really all about. With the recent deaths of Cami's friend, a dear friend's infant, and Glen's stepfather, the kids have asked a lot of questions about life, death, and the resurrection over the last couple of weeks. Between Easter and all of these very difficult questions, my heart is filled with an even greater gratitude for the peace and hope that the gospel of Jesus Christ brings into our lives.

We hope you had a wonderful Easter filled with love and joy!

Out of Practice

Look how tall Spencer is...it won't be long before he passes his short Mom right up!

I was never the best bowler to begin with...but boy was it embarrassing when I rolled a big fat 55 the other day with Spencer! I decided that I need to bring the kids bowling more often just so they don't end up as lousy as I am.

And if getting whomped in real bowling weren't enough, I have also proved myself to be a horrible Wii bowler as well!

Messed up?

Look closely at the sign at the bottom of this parking meter.

Is it just me? Or is that a little messed up that you can't find out how much time your money will buy until after you start inserting coins?

FYI--On principle we opted not to park here at the meters and ended up parking at a cost-free space with a half mile walk...we needed the exercise anyway! :)

Kids helping out

The kids have all sorts of chores that they're expected to do around the house. They scrub bathrooms, vacuum, Windex mirrors and windows, take out trash, wipe down counters and tables, and unload and load the dishwasher...not usually very willingly, but they do it nonetheless since it is expected of them. (Don't even ask me why my house is still always such a mess)!

So I made an unexpected discovery today amidst their helping...although they unload and load the dishwasher every day, apparently I've never asked them to actually start the dishwasher before. First Spencer started it without adding any soap. When I reminded him of this minor detail, he innocently exclaimed, "Oh, I forgot."

Later on this is what I found left out on the counter.

Oh well! I guess there's always duct tape...and at least he was helping!

Squeezing in Cami's page this week!

So I've stayed up too late to do it, but here is my page for the week...a tribute to Cami's zeal for everything in life! After a long, hard week like this one has been, making this was just the relaxing distraction I needed!

Thank you for all of your kind wishes and prayers. The funeral went as well as could be expected, Glen's in Denver now, and no one is currently sick (knock on wood).

Better weeks

So in the midst of readjusting our schedules to Daylight Saving's Time and helping a friend plan for her 10-year-old daughter's funeral, we get a stomach bug moving through our house, and then today we find out that Glen's stepfather has passed away in Denver.

We've definitely had better weeks in our house.

All by myself!

"Look! I got my jammies on all by myself!"

New Day and Age...bloghopping kids

Thanks for all your nice comments on the last post. I was somewhat hesitant to post the picture of me in the first place, but you all made me feel so good I might do it again!

So, I somehow made it through my college years without a computer at all. I hung out in the computer labs on campus typing papers until closing time and listened to wild stories of people connecting to the internet for the first time. It all seemed just a little too advanced for me and I couldn't ever imagine it being more than just a passing fad for the technologically savvy...which I definitely was NOT.

Fast forward all these years and now my kids can get around anywhere they want on the internet...Webkinz, American Girl.com, Facebook (yes, my Spencer is on Facebook), etc...you'd better believe we have a heavy duty Net Nanny for our computer and yet I still keep the computer locked up most of the day so that they actually remember to breathe.

So we've given them each 20 minutes of computer time each day and even then it's a crunch in that after school time--between homework, music, friends, playing outside, etc.

When their Webkinz tasks are completed, but before their alloted time is over Emma and Adam have discovered the joy of bloghopping...our own and all of yours. I've got them all bookmarked, so it's not difficult to get to them, yet it still makes me laugh. They'll watch videos over and over again, like this one and this one.

I'm not sure if you've noticed, but they've also learned how to make comments. They generally just comment on posts that happen to be about themselves, but they have occasionally left comments on other's blogs as well. Emma's comments are always very factual like, " Ellie used my toothbrush." , while Adam's usually involve his own name being typed.

In the midst of this new hobby of theirs Adam has become obsessed with equal coverage for all (or maybe just for him) on the blog. He is constantly asking me to take pictures of him doing specific things and asking me to please post it on the "family blog"...differentiating the request from placement on his own "blog" which is actually his tag in our photo organizer.

So here's Adam with his latest Lego creation. He actually had me take several pictures of his spaceship in all phases of a dive...but here's the best of the bunch.

Adam also discovered that giant Legos are almost as fun as the little ones. He wouldn't leave these Legos alone at the National Building Museum.

If you happen to see a bunch of comments here that say, "adamadamadam", don't be surprised at all.

Gray and gloomy

In the midst of all my lighthearted, trivial issues in life...I take this opportunity on this gray, gloomy day to hold my kids and husband just a little tighter today. One of Cami's friends has just passed away from leukemia and my heart is aching for her sweet mother who has so lovingly cared for her. :(

New Do

I needed something different so I chopped off all my hair and I don't miss it at all!

This week's page: Emma

I used Shabby Princess Tropical Winter kit for the paper and most of the embellishments in creating this page.


Emma was a full participant in creating this page. She picked out the buttons and brads and told me exactly where they needed to go.

I sense a future digital scrapper in the making! :)

Leaps and bounds

In my years of being a Mom I've noticed that instead of happening in small increments as would be expected, that development often happens in great leaps and bounds in a very short period of time. It seems like a light bulb just turns on in their little minds and they "get it" and they're never the same again.

Recently this "leaps and bounds phenomenon" happened with Ellie. First she shot up about 1 1/2 inches and outgrew all of her 2T clothes overnight (no kidding). Then all at once, she started using the potty independently (yay!), getting herself dressed, recognizing and writing a few letters, speaking more fluently, and most interesting of all...

seriously increased her concentration level. I just can not get over how she labors over her coloring, sometimes spending an hour or more on the same masterpiece.


Here she is, finally completed with her first masterpiece and she can't even look up at me for the picture, because she's started in on the next one.

My baby is not such a baby anymore. :(

Demise of Pompeii (or the wild and crazy day of preschool)

So the story of our wild, crazy, and messy day of preschool (from the beginning)...

Last August our family went to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg and my macho husband (seriously you should have seen his strut) won this life-size dolphin. From the beginning I was not a fan--wondering not only how we'd get it home, but where it could possibly reside in our home! However the kids were smitten and Glen was so proud of his superior aiming skills that there was no denying I was outnumbered, thus the addition of "Pompeii" into our bustling home (named after one of the kids' favorite rides at Busch Gardens, "Escape from Pompeii").

I've been secretly hoping for his "death" for many months, mumbling under my breath every time I had to move him from a bed, to a couch, to on top of Ellie's play kitchen...anywhere out of the way. The kids even took to riding him down our stairs, a process I hoped would speed his destruction.

After 6 plus months of stair rides, wrestling matches, and usage as a giant pillow I was beginning to think he was indestructible...until today.

Five minutes after preschool began today I had a breathless preschooler run up the stairs to tell me that Cami's dolphin was broken. I was quite unconcerned as I came down to take care of it. If I would've known that this was the sight I was to be greeted with, I would've run a lot faster and probably not have grabbed the camera, but hey at least I have some documentation of the crazy day now.

After a super speedy trip to Pompeii's final resting place...the trash can...


I came back in to find them literally rolling on the floor and covering each other with his styrofoam stuffing.


This is what they looked like at this point (maybe a total of 15 minutes into preschool now).


So, while they played, I vacuumed and vacuumed and vacuumed some more, but every time someone took a step they left a trail of white footprints ( the epitome of a vicious cycle)...


... so the only thing I could think to do other than giving them all baths and a fresh change of clothes was to vacuum the kids (how's that for a fun preschool memory?).


Vacuuming was a little more effective on the boys with their short hair...


...than on the girls who were still quite a sight to behold even after a thorough vacuuming.

Eventually we did have a little preschool time (confined to the basement so as to minimize the spread of Pompeii's innards through the house). The kids thoroughly enjoyed playing store and going shopping with real money, but I imagine if you ask them the highlight of the day it will probably be related to a giant dolphin!

Who would have ever thought that Pompeii's demise would be as explosive as his namesake's ?