take a peek

well it's almost been a month since i started my 365 blog
it's been fun finding the one shot for my day
some days i have lots to choose from, other days...well, not so many {ha ha}

after sarah and i started, she had the fun idea of putting it into a book
i think it will be fun for the kids to look at :)
{once ryan stops ripping books, of course!}

this is my first attempt at "digital scrapbooking"
and i'm loving it!!

here's the basics of how we are making them...

1. each week {7 pictures} will be on a 2 page layout
2. create layout and save as a picture (jpeg)
3. upload picture into shutterfly
4. create a photobook using our pictures*

*our pictures are actually 12"x12" files that we've created in either photoshop or illustrator
if you don't want to bother with making your own pictures, they have lots of templates you can just drop your pictures into.

you can take a peek at my book on my shutterfly site
i'll be adding pages as i go

i won't lie... it does take some time
BUT it's still way faster than regular scrapbooking!!!!
{and no large totes of supplies required}

25 random things...

if you're on facebook {seriously, who isn't??} you've seen the "25 random things"

i just posted mine the other day and i figured this would be a good place to post it too...

so basically it's just 25 random things about me
no particular order
just things i that came to mind

1. I wish I had more time to read

2. I love symmetry, things that either match or coordinate and even numbers

3. I love running, but wish I was a better runner

4. My goal is to complete at least 10 marathons - I've done 3 so far

5. One summer my running buddy and I did pretty much every major distance race in the Twin Cities - clearly this was before kids and when I had job to pay for it!!

6. I cannot sleep in an unmade bed. Yuck. I have to make my bed every day. I could care less about my kids' beds

7. I have my masters in biostatistics from the University of MN

8. I used to work as a biostat and used to teach statistics at a state college in MN

9. I like my boys to wear coordinating or matching clothes - even though I know it's dorky

10. In the car, I have to have my temperature settings on even numbers or multiples of 5

11. I love being a stay at home mom, but I'm getting the itch to go back to work - and I feel guilty about that sometimes

12. I VERY briefly sold Lia Sophia jewelry - I wanted all the freebies! I later sold it all on ebay for a nice profit :)

13. I love shopping - my favorite things to shop for are clothes for my kids and shoes & coats for me

14. I would wear Ann Taylor everyday if I had the money and the places to go. Right now casual Old Navy works just fine

15. I won tickets on the radio to a U2 concert.

16. I once spent a month biking across southern Australia - I had an awesome biking shorts tan!

17. I have 2 vicoden that I'm saving for a day when I need a really good nap

18. I hate the taste of wine - I wish I didn't.

19. I think Tivo is perhaps the best invention ever. I can't imagine TV without it!! I love to watch and show and look for the little discrepancies in each scene like hair tucked behind the ear in one shot but not the next. I'm always rewinding to check them out. Yes, I need a life.

20. My guilty pleasure... Real World on MTV, plus all the challenge shows - seriously when will those people get a real job? Yet I still watch...

21. I wish I could still play the piano like I used to. I want my kids to learn how to play the piano some day

22. I love watching my kids play sports...even though mid-season I start complaining about how busy I feel :)

23. I miss running around the Twin Cities with Jill - we were the perfect pair. She'd feel good when I would start to get whiny and want to walk and vice versa.

24. I love living back in Michigan - but I really miss my friends in MN

25. I can't wait to start taking cool vacations with my kids - I want them to have lots of fun memories from a wide variety of places

ok, there you go...
now make your own list :)

i'm just wondering...

just this past month, i can finally say that josie sleeps the whole night
if i'm lucky, when she wakes up around 6 to nurse she often falls back alseep
love it!!

i'm just wondering who told garrett & ryan?
just because we are used to getting up at night doesn't mean we now want to get up with you!!!
please, just sleep one entire night in your own bed.

i'm just wondering how bad it would be to lock their door from the outside...
kidding!!!

last night

last night i went out scrapbooking
the first time i've gone in over 2 years
i had a blast catching up with an old friend

since i take pictures off my camera on a daily basis for my 365 blog,
tim knew it wouldn't be long before i found these...
some fun pics of his night with the kiddos

and since they had so much fun, i think i need to go scrapbooking more often!
and maybe the next time i'll actually bring the pictures i printed off :)
{note to self: remember the paper cutter, too!!}

monkey see hear, monkey do

this morning i was driving olivia & her friend anthony to school.
anthony has been out sick for a few days - he's feeling better, but still kinda tired.

so as we're driving olivia is chatting away at full speed to anthony.
{she wanted to know if they were still best friends. ha ha, such a girl!}
anthony is very quiet - so i ask him if he's ok.
he says "yes, i'm fine. but i didn't sleep at ALLLL last night.
my sister woke me up.
so that's why i'm tired."
{clearly he didn't need olivia's girly chit chat.}

next thing you know olivia is super crabby and snapping at ryan & garrett.
{granted she's sitting in the middle of them, so it's an easy place to get frustrated!}
i asked her to stop being so crabby.
she says "mom, i was up ALLLL night. i'm so tired!!!!"

introducing elle

we've got a new baby cousin!!

ellington (elle) virginia white
born jan 20th
7 lbs 6oz
20 in

welcome to the family baby elle!!

congrats josh & emily :)



if you look closely you'll see that ryan is still wearing his superhero cap
click on the picture for a better look :)

wordless wednesday

{hey josie... i love you!}

dressing himself

when you're 2 it's hard to pick a "look"

summer hat
super hero mask & cape
go fish t-shirt
camo pjs

tim put ryan to bed this night
so i didn't see what all he actually wore to bed
when he wandered into our bedroom in the middle of the night...
he was wearing this entire ensemble :)

when one picture isn't enough

some nights it's easy to pick my favorite shot of the day for my 365 blog
other nights it's hard
tonight was one of those nights

they kids were supposed to be getting ready for bed
instead, they decided a game of leap frog would be more fun

oh, to be 4 & 6 again!!



but seriously kids, now it's time for bed.

having fun, tunnel style

normally i'm not a big fan of the play tunnel
you all know why...
someone always ends up crying

well this day was no exception...
but look at all the fun they had!!

loving this!

now that josie can sit up she has so much more to play with
and ryan has found a new playmate!

i'm loving this stage
they'll sit for the longest time just playing together

i'm making sure to enjoy this time
before too long they'll be up to the usual brother & sister "antics"
and by "antics"... well, you know what i mean!

the last one!!!

warning... not very interesting
just wanted to remember this moment...


yesterday i made up a batch of green beans for josie
yum yum :)

to which i added this...

would you believe this is the LAST container of milk i have from when she was in the hospital??
i never thought i'd get through it all before it expired. ha ha!!

{the date on the container says 3/20... wow, that seems like forever ago!}

if you don't believe me that i had a lot of frozen milk, just check out this past post!!!

wordless wednesday

reading & 'rithmatic

lately we've noticed that olivia is growing up so quickly. suddenly she can read everything - it's very odd to go from 4 kids who can't read to suddenly have one kid that reads stuff on tv, at the store, on cereal boxes, on my computer screen, etc.

at bedtime tim reads a book to all the kids, then i usually put olivia to bed and read a chapter book to her. last night i went in to read some junie b jones to her. she already had the book out and she said to me, "mom, just a minute. let me finish this page, then i'll read to you." where did that come from??? and sure enough she could read it to me.

i think we'll have to make a trip to the library for some nancy drew books...that was my late night addiction - but i don't remember being 6 when i read them. mmm...

slow down olivia. you're growing up too fast!! but since you can read now, maybe you can keep your brothers busy and read to them :) thanks!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

the other afternoon olivia got busy with a math book. she absolutely loves doing math problems and working with the number line my mom gave her. can we say a nerd? {yes, i realize she's like me!!}

so after a few hours of doing math, she says "i'm so excited!! when garrett is in kindergarten and HAS to to math i'm just going to sit on the couch and RELAX! it's going to be GREAT!!!!"

like i was making her sit there for hours and do math??

later at supper she started singing to herself "nationwide is on your side"...so perhaps an actuarial career is in her future :) or maybe she's just a nerd who watches too much tv??

party in the tub

josie's almost 1 year old and tonight was the FIRST night of FOUR kids in the bath
not to mention josie's FIRST night in the ring
{we're not overprotective... she just learned how to sit up! ha ha}
check out josie's toy... the first few kids get all the cutesy bath toys
the last one gets the spiderman dive stick!!

when he grows up...

i often wonder what my kids will be when they grow up
a doctor, a supreme court judge, a scientist...
or in ryan's case - a covert spy who sneaks around undetected in the darkness
{oh wait - maybe he'd be a good burglar - ha ha}

ryan is one sneaky & quiet kid

most every night we wake up to find ryan smack dab in the middle of our bed
he's all covered up nicely, just sleeping away
we NEVER hear him come in
we NEVER feel him crawling under the covers
nope, he just slips right in without disturbing us and goes right to sleep

crazy ryan

wordless wednesday

2 ideas

i have lots of super creative friends
one such friend has given me 2 new ideas for 2009

first idea... think of a word that you want to focus on for the year
second idea... take a picture each day of the year

my word for 2009 is appreciate
it seems like every november i think about the things i'm thankful for
but this year i want to appreciate those things ALL YEAR LONG
it's so easy to get bogged down in the mundane day-to-day stuff
more often than not, i go to bed not appreciating the day i've had
so idea #1 for 2009 is to appreciate each day
i'm pretty sure i won't be able to do this (or even remember to) every day
but i might as well try!

now for taking a picture each day...
my goal is to take a picture of something every day
i got a new camera for christmas - i won't pretend that makes me a "photographer"
but i do hope it helps me get creative!

i'm going to post all my pictures on a new blog

stop in and check it out once in a while
you'll find a link on my sidebar

once the year is over, i'm going to make a book out of the blog
(sarah, you'll have to help me with that part)
just something to look back at and remember the little bits that made up 2009

and i need to appreciate all those little bits
well, most of them at least :)


feel free to snag this idea
i'd love to have some picture blogs to look at!!!

friends

visiting minnesota means visiting friends!

our last trip back we were able to hang out with the barnetts

while sarah & i talk daily thanks to modern technology, our kids don't get that chance

so it's pretty cool to see that when they get together they can play super well

this last visit, olivia & ben were so cute together

how grown up do our babies look??

halloween 2004

christmas 2008

christmas in pictures, part 1

better late than never.
here goes...

after a 14 hour car ride, we spent the week of christmas in minneapolis
the kids enjoyed new pjs from nana & papa :)
plus tons of attention and toys!

while the kids were enjoying all the attention, tim & i enjoyed a few minutes of freedom
we read some books, ran, shopped & went out with friends

celebrating baby

today was my sister's baby shower

my dad made the crib - it's awesome and makes me wish i was having another
4 kids and could ask for one - ha ha!!! just kidding :)
emily picked it out from land of nod and my dad replicated it - wow!

my mom is very much into the small details (ya, that's where olivia gets it)
the cake matched the dessert napkins - which i forgot to get a picture of
but you can see how cute the larger napkins were
(my mom was worried that her church ladies would be offended by the napkins...ha ha)

my mom, emily & i are known for copying each other
today was no exception
as you can see the wrap top/large necklace look was very much in
but emily & i took it one step further...

yes, we both wore a faux wrap dress, lace cami and tall boots!

...
emily is about 3 weeks out from her due date,
so i should be posting little baby white pics soon!

and for the record, i think it's a boy.
...

and now that sarah has given me the crash course in picasa collages i'll post some christmas pictures... one of these days :)

6 yr old logic

last night olivia & i were making a diaper cake for my sister's baby shower this weekend. it was pretty funny b/c the whole concept perplexed olivia. finally i realized she thought people were going to eat the cake. ha ha.

anyhow while making it, we had the following conversation...

olivia: why do we have to do allllll this stuff for emily?

me: because that's what you do when your sister is having a baby. maybe someday josie will give you a baby shower.

olivia: NO. i'm not having any kids!!!

me: why?

olivia: oh man. kids are just so much work. they just junk up your house with all their toys, they leave their clothes everywhere, they make forts with your chairs and blankets. kids are just too much work. i just don't want to be that busy!!! oh and at night you can't watch any parent movies because they keep coming downstairs.

me: kids aren't all that bad. think about fun it is to cuddle little josie and how much you love her smile.

olivia: well, i'll just cuddle my neices and nephews. i don't need my own kids. plus it will give me more time to shop online.

me: what do you need to shop for?

olivia: lamps

and that is how my 6 yr old's brain works :)