Home 4 Christmas

 Our little Family

 gingerbread house!

 lookin good lilly

 Hey it's just like 7th grade again!

 hoopla twister

 daddy making pie...yum.

 dont let them fool you, they planed this.

 Gavin and Danton snitching the last of the muddy buddies behind Grandmas' rocking chair.

 making food.

sister pajamers!

Home 4 Christmas

 Sister PJ's

 Bat boys!

 The bunker in the Kitchen.

 We had about 4 vacuum cleaners on the floor. Danton was especially effective.

 totally LOVE marshalls face. hahahaha!

 Owen is 9 months!

Compton cousin first christmas.

Time

Sitting up...taking time to myself. It's difficult when living in someone else's house. I'm used to sitting up with Mike and just doing nothing. Now I feel like I need the company...but I don't really want to be around people...I just want my hubby. And then after everyone is asleep. I spend time with my siblings...and then I go to bed. But when I get in my room it still doesn't feel like I've had chill time. When I spend time with just me and mike. It's always chill time and I always feel better afterwards. This time, being away from him isnt bad. When he was overseas, it was heart breaking. The first time we video chatted over the internet while he was in Afghanistan I wanted to hug and kiss the screen. Now I just know I need to wait a few weeks. I get to see him. I hope it's not bad on me to have to let him leave though. (I apologise for this probably not making since....it's past midnight) Mostly I just really miss my husband. And he'll be back for christmas....I just hope I'm ok with sharing my time with him with everyone else.

On the bright side...my siblings are almost ALL going to be at mom and dads house. That is a big deal. Garry and Sheri couldnt come this year.....but all my slibings in college are coming home. And Marshall is STAYING. I cant wait to see all of them. YAY!

Expect the Unexpected

I've heard this saying a lot, but never realized how hard it is. Going through life I thought I'd learn to roll with the punches and take whatever chance life can give me. But the unexpected happens mostly when you don't expect it. I guess thats why it's unexpected. I had a dream last night that some Nerf gun people came to town and they had a skydiving adventure you could go on, and as you were skydiving they'd shoot nerf darts at you. (yes I know strange) Anyhow I decided to jump on the chance because it was only a limited offer. The dream ended before I actually went skydiving so I don't know if I actually took the plunge. I've often wondered what it'd be like to sky dive, and I'd like to do it, but the opportunity hasn't presented its self. But I think if it did I'd like to say I'd jump at the chance to make a dream come true (well not the nerf dart part).

This morning and opportunity presented its self that was a limited time offer. Actually it was a timed offer and they needed to know by 10:30am. And without (much) hesitation we decided to do it. Because it will help us acomplish some of our dreams. Like the dream of being debt free. And I know I can handle it. I've got family. And we are going to get out of debt. And chances are, I'll get a Van this time. So here's to the next two months. Here's to being debt free, and a husband who is willing to go the distance (but not to far this time).

Adventures from Missouri: Brandon

So while we were in Missouri the boys gained another uncle, Brandon. I guess he started coming around my parents house about the time Mike left for Afghanistan. So we had the pleasure of getting to know one of the nicest boys I have ever met. He seemed pretty quiet at first and kind of kept to himself, but my boys didn't care. They were climbing all over him the moment they met. I guess kids can usually tell when they're around someone who is genuine. I think Xander and Brandon are kindred spirits. Most of the pictures we have of him are of him and Xander. The day after we met Brandon, Xander woke up and said, "hey, wheres that Brandon guy?" The boys were always having him do something for them. He happened to have a birthday while we were there too. My boys found out and they had to wrap up pennies for him. It was pretty cute. They even blew out all the candles on his cake for him. :D Brandon was always very kind to my boys. And every time I saw him he was typically holding one of my children. He helped make our time in MO a little easier because when Joseph and Hyrum went to school, if he spent the night, he was there in the mornings to say hi to the boys. Even if he wasn't coherent enough to do anything but let them crawl all over him.

As I came to know him better I found out that he has a sick heart, and it makes him weak. But he still found time to make my children happy. He was always very generous with his time while he was with my boys. And he never once got irritated with them. Every action he showed towards my boys was very loving. He helped me learn I could be easier on my children when they got into trouble. And kindness goes a lot further than harsh words. Someday, he's going to make an awesome father. But until then he makes a pretty darn good uncle.

The Begining

So, let me sum up. I had a blog, mike had a gmail account. We put the blogger in his gmail. Mike went to  afghanistan, we wanted to video chat, so I got a gmail. Now my blog is under the wrong gmail. Hence the new one.

Daddy has been home for almost 2 weeks now. And it has been wonderful to have him home, and to be home. We were in MO for two months. I loved being so close to family...but I'd rather have MY family be home together and close. Mike going on this trip I think was a good thing for all of us. We've all learned to appreciate each other a little more. I was able to strengthen some bonds with my siblings and parents. And the boys got to play with uncles EVERY day.

Things have been going SO good since we got home. Mike is on.....yardwork? Don't remember what it's called, but basically his hanger doesn't have a contract yet so he's working on fixing roofs and replacing tiles and things. That has been a bit of a bummer, but hes on DAYS! Mike works NORMAL HOURS! Its SO wonderful. He gets to come home and have family prayer with us, and help me put kids in bed. Then we get to just be together.

This house is still a mess, but I'm now in the frame of mind where I can get rid of STUFF, things, JUNK. Any clothes I haven't worn in a year, are gone (yes I'm still holding on to some pants I'll never fit into again...but, a girl has to hope for something!). I am finding it easier to let go of things. And Thanks to my wonderful father in law, I now have a pressure cooker, so before I go to bed, I can now spend some time working on my food-storage. Life is good. And we couldn't be happier to have Mike home.

The Cave

Today is "one step for mankind, and one giant leap for MAN."
This blog is now mine
The Garage is now mine
The tools are only mine
The dirt on the floor .... is now mine
The bunk bed has been converted into a man station and is now mine
As for today it's mine.... all mine mu ha ha ha ha

Hey look, a Post!

So pretty much, I havent had access to my blog for 2 months because this blog is connected to mike's email, and he had to change his password while he was gone to Afghanistan. So I'm going to work on getting a new blog so I can post at my whim instead of having to hijack his computer so I can get on his gmail and post on my blog, so readers...if there are any left....beware. I'm going to have a new blog sometime soon. I'll post the link as soon as it's done being under construction.

Bass Pro

gnilwarc

Owen is Crawling backwards. He just started doing it this morning. That little boy is getting all sorts of big.

Mikey's Flip

So I totally didnt know mikey could do this and I look out the window right as he jumped off the fort and I about wet my pants. He loves doing it though. So we got it on video a few times. He's so talented and funny.

Not hardly Alice

So today I keep thinking about a dumb mistake I made a few months ago. And it's really starting to bug me. I went to Silver Dollar City with my family when Marshall got home, while we were there, Sarah and Nancyann and I were waiting in line for some drinks, and some dumb kid came up and just helped himself and walked off without paying. This kid was larger than me, but he was still just a kid, MAYBE a sophomore. And I sat there and thought, "you should pay for that you little punk" but I didnt say anything and he walked off not being confronted. 4 years ago I no doubt would have said something to that little turkey.

In Alice in Wonderland, the one that came out this year, the Mad Hatter looked at Alice and tells her, "you've lost your Muchness." I cant help but feel like I've lost a little of my muchness. I can make excuse after excuse on why I didnt confront that kid, honestly it scared me a little. He really was bigger than me. (yes yes I know thats lame) Really actually I think thats the only reason why I didnt say anything. I knew that if he wanted to do something to me he could. Only...chances are he wouldnt do anything because a)he was just a dumb highschool kid. b)there were TONS of other people there waiting in line as well. Really the worse thing he could have done was give me a dirty look, and walk off with a "free" drink. Which he did anyway(minus the dirty look) and I feel completely wrong. In Alice in wonderland the people there were confused if they had the right Alice or not. The Caterpillar takes one look at her and says, shes not hardly Alice. But later on through the movie Alice learns some things and becomes brave, smart, and valiant. As shes talking to the caterpillar she asks him why he thought she wasn't Alice. He said, "I said you weren't HARDLY Alice, you're much more Alice now then you were then." Time for me to become Marisa again. I stay home a lot, and haven't really been around people who do dumb/bad/wrong things. So I think I'd forgotten how to confront it. But I promised myself I'm not going to let that happen again.

You can tune a piano, but you cant....piano a fish?

Ok this is just one note that I'm tuning, but you do the same thing for the whole treble clef. Each note is 3 strings, then you get down into the lower bass clef, and it's only 2 strings. When it's just two you mute one and tune the other with your machine, then mute the first and tune the second to the machine. Then the last octive, is all one string per note, and those you just tune to your machine.

The piano is totally done, and I'm going to make some cookies, and bring them and the tuning stuff back to my wonderful neighbors. We sure are lucky.

Tuna

So the reason why I havent blogged much lately...my camera has been gone. But I got it back, and I've been taking pictures like a mad fool....but I'll get to that later. Last night we went to our neighbor's house (wendel with the riding lawnmower) They were tuning their piano, so Wendel taught me and mike how to tune an upright, and then let us borrow the tuning equipment. When we tuned the piano we started with middle c then did all the c's then we did all the b's then all the a sharps, then all the a's and so on down the line. But we have to do it after the kids go to bed, so we only got 1/2 done last night. Then things started to get silly.




BAHAHA. so I look retchedly horrible in this video, but It STILL makes me laugh. Waterfall...HA! more like WaterFAIL! LOL! But dont worry, we'll finish tuning it tonight. Maybe my next post will actually be about tuning the piano. It's rather interesting I think.

typing with your pinkie taped to your ring finger

This is how I've felt since sunday. My awesomely wonderful camera happend to be one of the not so awesome ones. I bout it when the D5000's were first off the line. Well turns out the first batch randomly stops working. Even with a fully charged battery you cant do anything It wont even show you anything on the screen. LAME.

As far as typing without your little finger...ever tried it? it's possible...but it slows you down and you make a TON more mistakes. You really dont realize how much you use it until you try not to. And it's EXTREMELY hard to ignore the urges to use your pinkie. This is kinda how I feel without my Nikon. I have another camera that is no where CLOSE to it's equal. Just a little 8mp point and shoot. Not to mention I now no longer have a video camera because my Nikon is what we've been using. I've had really bad posture all week...my shoulders have been shlumped more often than usual because I think "oh that would be fun to take pictures of!" Then I remember the only one I have is my old olympus. So I've been taking a lot less pictures than normal for me.

And, like having your fingers taped together, it's not the end of the world. And you'll get your pinkie back as soon as you take the tape off. In my case, as soon as Nikon fixes my camera. The main thing that stinks, I need to take Owen's 3 month pictures tomorrow, and Gavin's birthday is on Monday. Chances are the camera wont be back in time for either of those....considering I'm droping it off at the post office today. Looks like I'll just have to use my old one. But hey, thats why I kept it....for just-in-case situations like this

Workin it Out

so lately....I've been trying to get back into shape. And slowly...i'm getting there. The thing that I'm noticing the most...is I have to be persistent. Thats really hard to do in a 40min work out when you're only 1/2 way through and your baby starts to cry...I happen to have 4 babies that are prone to crying or getting into trouble when I work out.



Turbo Jam. I am NOT one to buy stuff off of tv. Usually they end up being cheep, and then later you find it at Dollar General for 1/4 the price it was on tv. But I had seen the turbo jam commercials, and considered getting it...until I saw the price. NO ONE was going to get me to spend that much money on a DVD. NU UH! I have many other things I can do with that money....and I can set up my own work out and stick to it without paying ANYTHING. Luckily for me...I have a friend who thought she would like turbo jam. she used it for like a week...and then stopped. So now I have it. It's not meant to get you ripped...which I wouldnt want anyway...just to tone you up.

My main reasons for wanting to work out.

1. Having more energy to play with my kiddos. I'm always getting tired after just a few minutes of rough play.

2. I want my toned body back. Before I was married I was consistently active, now I'm active...just not in the same way.

3. I need a stress reliever. And dancing or working out is a REALLY good way to do that. It helps a TON. Even on the days I dont want to work out, I still do anyway and I'm ALWAYS glad I pulled through.

4. I found this pair of pants at a thrift store. And they look EXACTLY like one of my favorite pairs of pants from Highschool. and they're the same size. (these pants were loose on me then, I just want them to fit now) and boy are they awesome pants! I'll get a picture of them as soon as they fit me.


So here goes EVERYTHING. Trying to work out with kids is rough, but I've been doing it for 3 weeks now, and I've only missed 3 days. I really want to wear those pants on my anniversary in July. And by golly...I'm gonna do it!

Xander & Owen

each of these pictures was taken just after the boy were 2 months old. I think the only difference is that Owens face is SLIGHTLY rounder in the cheeks...and he has a bit of a dimple. Who knew we'd get two of them to look so much alike.

Getting ready for Travel

So I decided to go to the store and get some sandwich stuff and some fruit for our trip to MO tomorrow. Just a few things we can eat in the car. I ended up buying Bananas, apples, kiwi, strawberries, and...a honeydew.

I'm not entirely sure why I got the honeydew. I'm not really a mellon fan. Mike is, but the last time we had watermellon, the boys didnt eat it. At any rate, I had a few things that needed to be cut up so we could eat them in the car. So As I'm cutting up this honeydew. I get half way done with it and notice the only noise I hear is Ninja turtles, & Owen crying. And it was just a "someone hold me!" cry, so I knew the boys werent picking on him (not to mention it was missing the maniacal laughter from mikey). I go in the living room only to find the front door wide open and my oldest 3 children missing. I go outside, and Gavin and Xander are right by the road, and mikey is no where to be seen. So I heard my 2 children that I can find inside, and then yell mikey's name. I hear this little voice coming from the bathroom, "but mom I didnt do it, I'm just on the potty!" hahahaha! I dont know if he opened the front door and decided he needed to go potty, or if he really didnt do it and his little brothers just ran outside. Personally, I believed him. his little brothers have a habit of going outside when they're not supposed to. And...he always spends WAY to much time in the bathroom.

As for the rest of today, Mike is at the Dr.'s office getting a prescription for this chest cough he's had for a week now. and then he has to go straight to work. So I get to go to walmart and fill his prescription with 4 children in tow. Yeah I'm TOTALLY looking forward to that :S. But hey on the bright side, they wont be making messes in the house.

Then I need to get my kitchen cleaned, so I dont have anything growing in it while I'm gone. Then I"ll pack up my car, set my alarm for 3am, and go to sleep. Once 3 hits, I'll feed the baby, get all the kids & food in the car, and by the time thats done, Mike should be pulling in the driveway.

Then off we head to MO, Mike will drive probably from 3-7ish, and then we'll switch and I'll drive the rest of the way. Well thats the plan. But then again...have you met us?

2 months

Well, the Mr. Marshers did it. Owen, as of yesterday, is now 2 months old! He his such a fun little baby. He holds his head up really well, and smiles ALL the time. He loves laughing at mikey to. That is really cute. I havent caught it on video yet, but hopefully we will. Its so funny to watch my boys together. They all love baby, and you can tell he loves them too.

Things that make me cruel

1. Mikey wakes up in the middle of the night to go potty and he's so tired that he gets confused and instead of running to the potty, he just runs in circles until someone leads him into the bathroom. It makes me laugh EVERY TIME!

2. Xander HATES water. When I'm doing dishes and I dont want Xander in the kitchen, I'll spray him with the sprayer.

3. I've left bite marks on 1/2 of my children.

4. When I'm having a crappy day and dont feel like cooking I (literally) throw peanut butter sandwiches AT (not to) my children.

5. I dont mind eating goodies in front of my kids and telling them they cant have it.

6. Gavin is like Linus off of Charlie Brown. His blanket is his best friend. If Gavin is being bad, blanket goes in the washer. Usually on the longer timed setting.


But then again, I'm quite the mush, usually when I eat goodies in front of my kids I end up sharing, I really only bit my kids because they wouldnt stop biting eachother, so I showed them that it does hurt. And Gavins blanket gets drug around everywhere, so it really should get washed more that it does. And I guess my kids dont think I"m that bad, this morning Gavin wanted pancakes, and when Xander woke up and saw that I had batter ready to put on the griddle, he hugged my knees and said, "Mom you're making pancakes? You're the BEST mom EVER!" I'm so glad children are blind. :D

Wrestling

Well I knew as a mom I was bound to become a teacher, police man, judge, chef, activities coordinator, chauffeur, nurse, jungle gym and CEO of my house. Now I can add coach/referee to my list.

One Month

Congrats Owen you did it! You've survived being around 3 big brothers for an entire month! This boy can tolerate a LOT! Pacifier being shoved in his mouth, mikey picking him up by his tummy and carrying him around the house, brothers rocking him WAY to hard, and getting smothered with KISSES. He's sleeping up to 5 hours at least once on a good night. And this boy has the cutest smile. I havent caught it on camera yet, but the first time he smiled was right at 6 days old. He always has something to talk about. And by talk I mean grunt. This boy GROWLS all the time. He's a keeper!

Scotch Tape

gavin was playing with the scotch tape, so instead of getting mad, I took 1 piece off for each of us, and put the rest away, then I showed him how to become a pig. He makes the best pig noise ever! lol!!

Midnight Snack

I randomly feel like blogging, and I've done at least 4 hours of dishes today, plus making breakfast lunch and dinner, and putting together a slide that should have only taken about 15 minutes but instead took an hour and a half, re-potty trained Xander, repremanded Gavin who knows how many times for playing in the toilet, played outside with the kids, battled for 2 1/2 hours to finally get ALL the kids asleep, and got my husband fed and back to work. All in all a rather productive day. And I could be cleaning my room, but who wants to work when you finally get a few moments to yourself after a day like today?

I'm starting to realize a few things about my life.

1. breakfast always gets served at our house, but I dont usually eat it because I'm busy getting seconds & thirds for the kids.
2. I have to have clean closets. Weirdly enough, it's the only place that stays clean.
3. I'm a big freaken mush. I always say no, but if they're sweet and smile and ask nicely...I end up saying yes quite a bit.
4. I'm horrible at making cookies. I consider myself a fine cook, and my cookies taste good, but I'm never satisfied because they always come out flat and crunchy no matter what recipe I try.
5. I always have lots of projects, and they NEVER get finished, currently I have over 20 empty soda/juice bottles sitting on my kitchen table waiting to be used for water storage, I wont let mike throw them away, cause we dont buy soda very often, and we NEED water storage. I also have an unfinished highschool tshirt quilt, and scrapbooks for all of my kids but Owen.
6. I am extremely melodramatic....but not when it matters.
7. I love having family time.
8. I'm starting to finally get a hold of my house...but if someone walked in my house in the middle of the day they wouldnt know it.
9. I usually only call my mom when I'm having a really good day...or a REALLY bad one.
10. I resort to fiddling online, because Mike works nights, and I dont get to talk to him before I go to sleep.
11. I'm extreemly NON motivated to get to bed. No one is here to remind me it's getting late, and there is nothing to go to bed for. I have to sleep alone until 4 or 6 am.
12. I actually NEVER sleep alone. Although Mike works nights, Owen usually sleeps with me, and then when Mike comes to bed usually he has to take Xander, Gavin or Mike out of our bed.
13. I have non routine, routines.
14. livivg with boys has given me more scars than I care to admit.
15. I can handle anything......except "over exposure" to boogers.
16. I could care less if my children wore the same outfit outside all week, its not like we go anywhere, and they usually sleep in just their underpants, so its not like their clothes would get the bed dirty.
17. I have a problem with being only 1/2 dressed. When I'm walking around my house, even if I'm alone, or the only one awake, I cant be wearing just a shirt, I have to either be fully clothed or in my bed sleeping.
18. I clean weird. When cleaning my living room I usually clean up in front of the couch, then vacuum that spot,then clean by the front door and vacuum there. I dont usually vacuum my entire livingroom at once.
19. I have texture issues. I cant sleep in satin blankets cause of the noise it makes/feeling it has on my calloused feet. *shiver*
20. our family could live off of hot dogs and orange juice...but I REALLY dont want to.
21. Cooking for my husband is REALLY satisfying, cooking with him, however; is a bit of a challenge sometimes because he is ALWAYS changing things to try and make them better, even when it's just mac & cheese.
22. I always feel like doing something, but I dont always feel like that something should be productive.
23. I have no clue what my husband does for a living. He works on airplanes...yeah thats about it.
24. I like dumb poems/jokes.
25. toilet jokes make me laugh.
26. I think all mothers should have the option of growing/retracting arms as they are needed.
27. I have a very odd sense of humor.
28. I like using big words when given the chance.

(ok so this post is turning out like no.5 another project that doesnt seam to have an end in sight...so until next time, dont forget to zip up your pants.)

New Swing Set

We finally got it put together, we dont have the slide on it yet, but that should be put together by the end of the week. The boys LOVED it...well at least Gavin did. Xander liked swinging on his tummy superman style, and mikey would just sit on the swing and say, "push me mom." Gavin is the only one who actually figured out how to push himself...only he doesnt know how to stop yet. LOL. The boys really like playing on the frame of the swing set. The blue bars on the sides are SUPER great for climbing. All in all, it was defiantly worth the money so they have something to do in our back yard now.

Our Neighbor, Wendel

Today I finally got Mike to get our lawnmower back from some friends who were borrowing it, and I got him to mow our lawn around 2pm. I'm glad he did too. It was getting rather large. He got both the front and back done and then proceeded to use our "new" weed wacker (new as in new to us. Hurray for Garage Sales). As he was working our neighbor came up and started talking to Mike. He'd heard that I had the baby and wanted to see our new addition. So I came outside, along with my gaggle of children. Wendel of course oohhed and aahhed over Owen and said how cute he was. Then he said, "well I was going to come over and offer to mow your lawn, but it looks like you beat me to it. Can I at least pick up the blades on the mower and let your boys ride around the yard with me?" It was really sweet. Wendel has a riding mower and he mows his lawn as well as the neighbors house next to his. And when he offered to let the boys ride it I knew they'd think it was awesome.



Mikey was offered to go first, but he was a little hessitant because he didnt know Wendel very well. Xander jumped at the chance. He probably could have cared less if it was a monster riding the mower. He was going to drive that tractor! So we put him up with Wendel and boy did he love it. After Mikey saw how much fun Xander was having, he didnt have a problem taking his turn when Xander had gone around the yard a few times. The boys even got to steer, and they were very impressed by Wendel's stick (his cane). It was pretty fun to watch the boys and it was really sweet of our Neighbor to let them ride with him (I think he enjoyed it just as much, if not more, than the boys did). We were going to let Gavin ride as well, but the lawn mower was a little bit too loud for him, and he didnt know Wendel well enough. But Maybe next time.

Easter Morning

so far, each morning since the boys have been home, they want to see the baby. I think they just want to know if he is going to stick around or not. Mikey keeps asking me who Owens mommy is. He's just being silly cause he also talks about how baby Owen isnt in my tummy anymore. Xander is constantly asking to hold "our baby" and Gavin mostly just likes Owen's carset. But he frequently gives baby kisses, and says "baby Owen." This morning, Daddy was just heading to bed when all the boys came in to say hello to the baby.

Seeing Owen

Today Gavin got to see Owen for the first time. It was adorable! Owen was laying in the floor and I decided it would be a good time to skype with the boys if they were up for it so they could see their brother. Xander wasnt interested today, and Mikey just kept showing me things on the camera. But Gavin, once he figured out I could see him, and he could see me, LOVED it. We played peek-a-boo, and then he waved at me on screen. I'd name part of his face, and he'd point to it. Then he started talking about the baby. He even blew us kisses. It was so sweet. I miss my boys a lot, but it helped to see them today. After Gavin blew kisses, he kept touching the screen trying to pet his new baby. He even called him Owen. It's been nice having a clean house, but I'm SO ready for the boys to come home. I miss them a lot more than I'll miss the clean house or the peace and quiet. Cant wait to see you boys!

Owen Marshall Compton

Well folks. He finally came yesterday at 1:39pm. We went in to be induced at 7am and they were crowded so we had to wait till our room was clean. They didnt actually start me on the pit till just after 9am. Labor went really smooth, and his heart rate didnt drop at all. Apparently Owen means lucky. Once he was born our doctor gasped and said, "wow did you see this?" he had a knot in his cord. Thank heaven for modern medicine and being able to be induced early. Who knows how long he could have had that knot, or how much longer he could have lived with it. The doctor said usually if there is a knot you have a still born. I was a lot more nervous with Owen. More worried about if he was going to have health problems, and I know there was angels watching over both of us. Everything went off without a hitch. And we now have a sweet little Owen Marshall to add to our family. We're now a family of 6 and I cant wait for my kiddos to get home from Grandmas to meet their new brother.

Bedtime

Well...I've been dialated to a 3 for 3 weeks now. And I've been 80% effaced for just over 2 weeks. Every time I go into the doctor someone says, "I though for sure we wouldnt see you this time" or "You still havent had that baby yet?" well obviously.

I hate sleeping. I feel like the princess and the pea. I have to have about 50 different pillows and can only stay comfy for about 3 minutes then I have to resituate ALL of them again. I sleep awful, only to wake up the next morning to realize i'm still at my house, and there is still a baby in my tummy instead of in a crib next to me.

I guess the reason why I'm writing right now is cause I had decided (about a month ago) that today would be the day Owen would be born. Yeah..not seeing that happen. I've been having contractions for weeks now. I'm starting to believe they aren't doing anything. I really dont want to go to bed because I'm going to wake up to a whole new WEEK. Just another non-eventful week. Well these posts are getting more and more pathetic. Maybe tomorrow I'll put some pictures up of how clean my house is right now. It's AMAZING. so yes...there is a plus side...I suppose. but for now, I'm going to bow out. Goodnight.

nope... still pregnant

well...I'm home alone. Again. And I really dont mind it. Mom's got the kids, but we're still waiting on Owen. I havent finished completely organizing my house and while I was on the phone with my Wonderful mother today she said, "thats why you haven't gone into labor yet. Owen is waiting for you to get your house just the way you want it, cause you wont have the time to do it after he's born." Ok mom. I'm going to test your theory. I'm gonna go organize my room tonight, get all the loose ends tied up, and by what you say, Owen will come tomorrow. See you then baby.

Annie

Mikey's favorite movie is Annie. We've only watched it probably a total of 6 or 7 times. Its not my absolute favorite, but he LOVES it. This is just the opening credits and I heard him singing in the livingroom. TOO CUTE! I had to get my camera out. Dont mind the messy livingroom. Thats just part of life. The good moments never happen when you can video in a clean room. Daddy was a little surprised that Mikey knew most of the words already. And we were both snickering quite a bit when he sang that last note. Love that little boy!

Texas Snow

Lately I've been sleeping on the couch, cause thats the ONLY place I can get comfortable. I woke up about 7:30 this morning and the curtains in our front room were slightly open...then I saw it. SNOW! not just snowing...but SNOW...ON THE GROUND! I couldnt believe it! I had to run into my bedroom and wake up my hubby, who had JUST gone to bed 2 hours earlier, and tell him the news. "Yeah," he said, "I Know." My mom had told me over the phone the night before that Dallas was supposed to get snow, but I didnt want to get my hopes up. we've lived here for a year, and Snow just doesnt stick. But stick it did, and this morning our lawn was almost totally white.

The kids woke up, and were starting to have a cranky morning...until I pointed outside. "WOW," Gavin said, "SNOW!" said Xander, then Mikey...of course said, "We NEED to go outside and make a snowman!" But of course, we had to wait till Daddy woke up. Then at long last, 12:30 rolled around, and the boys were DIEING to get outside..and Daddy finally woke up.



Luckily we had kept our winter coats from living in MO. Haven't really had a need for them yet in tx. But we kept them for the trips back to visit family in Missouri. boy am I glad. We still didnt have quite the preferable snowgear, but the kids were totally happy just to be out in the snow with mom and dad. We put 2 pairs of socks on each of them and then tied plastic bags to their feet, then put their shoes on. Good thing too. Their shoes were SOAKED by the time we went inside. We didnt have any gloves, so we put plastic bags on their hands and socks over the bags. That seamed to work fairly well.


Mikey was the snowball champion. He got REALLY good at throwing snowballs at mom and dad. And he was laughing so hard the entire time. He even took a snowball to the face and was STILL loving it. Gavin mostly just stood around the whole time, or was just being held by mom. He didnt start having fun until he figured out you could eat the snow. I took a bit of the clean snow off the car and gave him a little. After that it was all over. All I heard from him the rest of the time was, "bite? Peese, Bite." He loved it.


When Xander figured out you could eat the snow, he took some off the ground...and it had leafs and grass in it. He took a bite and said, "mom, I dont like the grass." He didnt quite get why gavin liked it so much. to him it kinda tasted like dirt LOL! Then I showed him where to get clean snow and he liked that MUCH better. Then while Mikey and Daddy made the snowman body, Xander and Gavin spent their time feeding eachother clean snowballs. Well actually Xander would have a snowball and when gavin asked, "bite?" he'd give him one. It was so stinkin cute.










Daddy had a bit of a hard time getting the body onto the snowman, and when he did try and lift the second snowball, he droped it and it broke apart, so we just packed it on top and made it sorta ball shaped. Then Mikey just kept packing snow on the snowman while daddy rolled out the head. Pretty soon we got our snowman all finished, daddy went into the backyard for sticks for the arms, and mommy improviesed the face with some lids from the kitchen and a crazy straw mouth. These boys were SSOO happy the entire time we were out. Gavin was ready to go in when the snowman was done, so we took a picture (hurray for tripods and timers on cameras), and headed inside. We ended up making hot waffels for lunch. boy was that good. And then the boys started falling asleep on the couch watching chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

I think They'll be talking about today for a long time. I LOVE family moments like this.