Lovely Christmas Break

I LOVE the break week between Christmas and New Years... the problem is getting anything accomplished! Anika and Thor are both having sleep-overs, so it's just Liv, Lars and me... and I'm only getting in the shower at 11:00 a.m.!!

I'm getting obsessed with home improvement projects... I only have three in mind for the next month (well maybe 4 or 5...). I'm just not a patient person when it comes to projects. When I have formulated a plan -- and I know what needs to be done... I DO IT! I might let one or two of the projects wait until mid-February... but that is the latest.

For one thing... we have heard the "Word" ... "Be Prepared!" -- that means get stuff done now so that we are FREE to "do" when the Lord moves. I don't want to be messing around with getting my house in order when the Lord has some ministry for us to be doing... often our home is part of that ministry. Either way, having our home in order frees my mind up to be able to minister. I'm not sure what is coming -- I just know we are supposed to BE PREPARED!!

In other ways, winter is a great time for home-projects, because in the spring, summer and fall we want to be OUT enjoying life with our family. We are looking forward to a year with Dirk working from home and want to enjoy our Black Hills again -- lots of camping -- day trips to the lake -- hunting next fall for Dirk and Thor together... etc.

It's going to be an exciting 2011!!

Christmas Christmas... oh how we love you...

merry christmas dear friends and family

It's my favorite season of the year -- the weeks between Thanksgiving and New Years -- even more important, CHRISTmas! We declined invitations to a few "corporate" type Christmas events... and we are not travelling for the holidays... we don't buy gifts for everyone in the family... Even with paring down our extra responsibilities we still have a little extra Season fun:
- Christmas Program for the Zion Preschool - Liv
- Christmas Program for the Zion School - Thor and Anika
- Dove Leadership Christmas Party at the Miller home - Dirk & Nancy (1/2 date night out... we still had Lars and got Devon to babysit the others)
- MOPS Christmas Party - Nancy
- MOPS Alumni Christmas Lunch at Bully' Blends - Nancy
- Zion School Parties - Liv, Thor & Anika
- Dove Mom's Coffee Brunch/Party - Nancy & Lars
- Dove Ladies Cookie Exchange Party - Nancy, Anika & Lars

The kids have been off from school starting this week, Monday, and I purposefully left all our holiday baking for these days off from school. Dirk is "on call" Thursday (23rd) and Friday (Xmas Eve) until noon -- but we are hoping to have some fun family time those days :) Friday night we will go to the Candlelight Service at Dove, then come home to open gifts... Saturday morning the kids will get an extra surprise: normally we don't do Christmas morning gifts of any kind... but Anika requested SOMETHING in her Christmas stocking (specially made by Grandma Annette)... and Dirk agreed -- there should be a candy cane or something in each stocking... So I found some extra-nice candy canes at Someone's In the Kitchen -- the extra big, handmade ones that come in fun flavors: mint for Dirk; rootbeer for Thor; Strawberry for the girls and Cherry for me! Lars will have to wait a year or two more for his! Then I went to Target and browsed the holiday isles... fun, but certainly not necessary... I didn't realize Christmas (candy) had become the new Easter (candy)??!! There were Christmas peeps... Christmas "bunnies" (acutally angels, or Santas, etc).... and all sorts of misc. treats. So I have decided the stockings will become our new "Easter baskets" -- with a few chocolate and candy treats. Not that we really need any more sweets...

No lefse made yet either... for those of you Scandinavian friends who might be wondering. Baby Lars has eaten up most of my extra time... we are hoping to get together with local friends to get a batch made sometime before the New Year. I am planning on making Almond Bars (super easy and YUMMMY white cookies with almonds and a frosting glaze); another batch of Pretzle Turtles; and possibly a batch of gingerbread cookies... I've already decided I'm not going to roll them though. I'm going to make the dough, make long logs from the dough, chill it, slice it, bake it ... frost them and let the kids "decorate" with the variety of sprinkles and other toppings we have left over from gingerbread houses (last year), etc. I'll let you know how that turns out. :) I really wanted to find the cheater-cookie dough that I've gotten the last couple of years -- sugar cookie dough that is rolled and pre-punched into Christmas shapes... Has anyone seen it around?? I've looked everywhere and can't find it this year?? (I know.... shocking that I'm not going TOTALLY homemade .... 4 kids will do that to ya)

I'm still working on the Christmas Card/picture... the photo is done... so it's just the "letter" portion to finish now. Hopefully I will get them MAILED before Christmas Day!! ha ha ha !!

We are a family of 6!!

I've been waiting 20 months to send out this news! Dirk is home from the WY project, and for the foreseeable future will be working from home (RC store)!! I should qualify this announcement with the disclaimer that he could accept another rental fleet project-offer, and be going "out" (who knows where?) in the future, depending on what is available... where... and for how long.

Dirk had actually called me last Tuesday to ask me if I was ready for him to come home. I knew he was planning on being home for the weekend... so didn't think much of his question. But then he started talking about logistics for getting the camper back to our house, among all the other work-related vehicles that needed to get back to Rapid City... and I got super excited!!

We decided not to tell the kids, or anyone really -- mostly because we have seen projects (customers) SAY they are done, and then drag things on and on for weeks. (If not months: remember New Mexico? He was supposed to be home in 4-6 months and ended up being there 9 months!)

So Saturday noon Dirk pulled into the yard with the red camper, and the kids went crazy. Anika said "Are we going camping?" -- so we had a little family meeting in the living room and Dirk got to tell the kids he gets to stay home for a while now. :)

Just to give you the "short" story on the "work" front for him: he has always worked for Butler Cat (18 yrs total) for the last 8 yrs - driving a Service Truck out to remote projects where heavy machinery needed repair or maintenance. 2 yrs ago when the economy slowed, there was almost no Field Work available in our area and a position in a different area of the company was available, in the Rental Fleet. He worked as a Project Manager for 2 different projects (NM and WY)over the last 20 months -- providing full maintenance for a fleet of rented (sometimes upwards of 50 machines) heavy machinery.

Now that he is back in Rapid City, he will go back to Field Work, at least as far as we can see for now. It is still good work, and keeps him plenty busy -- and the need for Field mechanics is back to "normal" for our area.

God has GREAT timing as far as I'm concerned!! With baby Lars and "life as usual" it is great to have THE DAD around and an active part of our daily routine! I know none of us are used to it yet -- tonight will actually be our first night of having him come home at the end of a work day!

I've totally forgotten how good it feels to have a parenting-partner back! Not to mention it's just really great to have HIM around! :)

Don't you just love how cuddly newborn babies are??

Lars Andrew Morrison officialy joined our family Thursday morning, September 3oth at 8;30(ish) AM! He was 7 lbs 8 oz. and 19 inches long, with dark brownish-blueish eyes, and short dark hair. He has a darker skin tone - more olive - like Anika and Dirk... and has the cutest little circle chin just like his daddy and great-grandpa Alf. After looking at all the family baby pics, we all agree he favors daddy Dirk most.

I'm moving extremely sssssssssssssssllllllllllllllllooooooooooooowwwwwwwwwww these days... not becuase I'm still recovering from the C-section (well, I guess technically I am, thought I feel super good).... but becuase having 4 kids and getting 2 hrs of sleep at night (and Dirk working out of town) has made for one tired mommy. Yesterday I think I was seeing the world cross-eyed all day.

So.... I'll post more -- and more pics... Just not today! :)

2 weeks left!

I need to learn to blog shorter entries -- but do them more often. It's a problem of mine. Once I start "talking" I never seem to stop....

So far September has been a good, but uneventful months...
Thor's new desk, in the front row, of the 5th grade room....


Anika's new desk in the 2nd grade room .... interestingly in the BACK row....

Anika's new discovery... texting.



To be fair -- she only text messages her dad over in WY ... and 99% of the time she says the exact same thing.
"Hi dad. This is Anika. I love you."

:)

Pregnant??

OK -- so I realize being "plus size" and pregnant it isn't always the most obvious thing in the world -- and I'm not offended when people don't recognize immediately that the belly is a baby bump... but at 8 months pregnant... to me, anyway, I think it's looking a little more obvious. Apparently not....

I was at Target the other day picking up a few baby supplies that I had coupons for -- and a couple of baby shower gifts. As I'm in the baby shampoo and lotion isle a young cute VERY pregnant mom and what I'm assuming was her mother came down the isle. They were commenting about too many choices for baby soap, etc. and the "grandma" figure asked me, "is someone you know having a baby soon," as she glanced in my cart full of baby diapers, lotions, soaps, bibs, etc.

I replied "Yes... me."

"oh! When is your due date?"

"The end of September"

"OOH!... (pause) Is this your first baby?"

"No, this is our 4th." (smiling)

"OOOOHHHH... (pause, again) Well then you must know about all this stuff.... " And the grandma proceeded to ask a few questions about what toiletries I preferred, if I had nursed any of my babies; did I have a good experience at the hospital here, etc.

We chatted nicely for a few more minutes. Then she finished with this comment as I was walking away with my cart...

"I should have realized you were pregnant, look at the size of your boobs!"

(really? it was my "boobs" that gave it away???)

This cannot be AUGUST already?!

OK -- so I'm usually the scoffer when it comes to people lamenting time flying too fast -- but I'm just not ready for it to be August yet!!! The kids start school in less than 21 days!

But we have had a great - full summer... Maybe it's the transition from relaxed casual summer days spent by the Sioux Park pool and wandering through Storybook Island to a mom of a 10 yr old who went away to sleep away Bible camp for 5 days, then a day-camp at STARBASE ....

To steal an idea from a good friend... so i don't forget what fun we HAVE been having... this is how the Morrison's squeeze every drop of summer fun we can....

MAY:
Traveled to Rosholt for Graduation party for Abel (my nephew)
Campout at Devil's tower - Memorial Weekend with great friends

JUNE:
Spend a 1/2 a week sleeping in and doing NOTHING
Too cold to swim... tried Reptile Gardens (also too cold?!!)
Kids went to VBS at Zion Lutheran Church
Spent a fun week with brother James and family here
Went to Watiki, the park, out to eat, etc.
"camped" in Casper WY with Dirk - Father's Day weekend
Took a day trip on the ATVs up the Piedmont Fire Trails
Found out we are having a baby BOY in September

JULY:
Went to Yellowstone Park w/ Dirk in "Red" (our camper :)
Stayed in Casper for 3 more days with Dirk
Thor went to Camp Hallawasa in Custer, SD
Hills Alive Music Festival
Holli & kids stayed w/ us for the weekend!
Went to Old McD's Farm for one more day of fun!
Thor went to STARBASE
Hosted the Morrison Family Reunion to celebrate
Dirk's parent's 40th Anniversary, Tori's 6th bday
and Thor's 10th bdday; went to Reptile Gardens,
Dino Museum, and the Spearfish Water Park
Started painting (hired a good friend) the interior walls of the house!!
top two floors are done!! Lower level to be tackled later!
Went to the pool ONCE!!

We will see what fun August will bring!

Summer Daily Schedule

After months of reading Growing Kids God's Way, I should have been better prepared with a daily summer schedule ready before the kids even got of our school.... but leave it to me to wait until I was frustrated with how things were going (rather, NOT going!! ).


You will see no "errands" our "outings" in our schedule -- I don't tend to do those "outings" on a consistent schedule anyway -- so what works for us, is to fit those outings in during the "free times" of each day. If the kids happen to miss a bit of "chore time" I don't think they will be heart broken. What was most important to me was to have a PLAN for every minute we would be at home.

For those of you who think this might be a "nice idea" but you just couldn't manage to get it done... let me give you this word of encouragement... My kids have done this for 2 summers previously... and it wasn't all sunshine and roses the first time we started the schedule. But since the kids had been in school, they were used to a predictable routine... The little ones sometimes have a harder time working into a new routine. The best advice I've heard (and used successfully!) is to take a week at a time to introduce the schedule slowly... Start with the morning routine first... and stick to your guns mommies!! When that goes pretty well for 5-6 days... start adding the Afternoon schedule. Most families I know already have an evening routine, but this is a good chance to tweak that routine if you want to make any changes for the better in your evening home time.

You may notice pretty big amounts of "free time" each day. Thor especially does very well with outside free time. However, I do have to give encouragement to Anika when it comes to outside playtime. She is beginning to love garden work, so helping her focus on things she enjoys to do makes it easier. When they start to get bored, they will get themselves into trouble -- so I try to be proactive and make more/less plans to "guide" the free time. Planning outings each week, at least 2-3 has helped too. When they really only have 2 afternoons a week at home, they appreciate our own yard and neighborhood more.

So here it is... our flexible routine for Summer Days...

7:30am: mom get up, dress, "mom time"
8:00 - kids up (no later than 8) - breakfast
Morning Chores: (total time is 30 min. or less for both)
Everyday: dress, brush teeth,make bed, clean in own room for 10 min.
Chores for Allowance: taking out trash, clean own bathrooms, vacuum, etc.
9:00/9:30: Morning Free Time
Thor - outside
Girls - 30 min. of TV time
10;00: Outside Play time
11:30: Lunch & help clean up
12:30: Quiet Time
Thor & Anika: in room, reading, quiet projects
Liv: in mom's bed - nap time or rest time
Mom: FREE time! :)
2:00 Afternoon Free Time
Thor: 30 min TV, computer or PSP time
Anika: Mom time (one on one time w/ me to do project or read together)
Liv: still napping (hopefully!!)
3:00 snack time if needed
3:15: Resume Afternoon Free time
4:30: Mom prep for supper
5:30: Supper - help clean up
6:00: evening chore time: (smaller chore jobs like doing supper dishes, doing laundry, etc.)
7:00 p.m. Family time: movie we ALL like; games; reading, etc.
8:00 Bath Time
8:15 Girls Bedtime
9:00 Thor's Bedtime
Mom FREE Time!

this one is for you Jen... :)

So at lunch with the sweetest group of mommies a girl could ever know...the topic of food/shopping came up. Miss Jen found a bug in her strawberries... and has been in trauma ever since. When I jumped into the conversation mid-stream I said... "i'm usually kinda happy when I find buggy things in my produce. it assures me that there aren't so soaked in pesticides...." I guess I missed the point of the "story"... that it is kinda un-nerving to find a large BLACK bug in a freshly purchased box of berries. I did have to follow the comment up with, I prefer to find bugs that I would imagine seeing in the FIELD of growing strawberries... not a bug that came from a dirty truck, or other handling situation.

This brought up the topic of pesticides and the myriad of toxic stuff that is on our produce especially... and the "dirty produce list" I pulled out of my wallet. So... as promised, I am posting the list of dirtiest and cleanest produce...

These are the BEST produce to buy at any store, not necessarily organic:
1.Onions
2. Avacados
3. Sweet Corn
4.Pineapples
5. Mango
6. Asparagus
7. Sweet Peas (frozen)
8. kiwi fruit
9. Banana
10. Cabbage
11. Broccoli
12. Papaya

These are the WORST, contain the highest levels of pesticides and would be produce options you might want to consider purchasing organic or from other sources that don't use much/any pesticides:
1. Peaches
2. Apples
3. Sweet Bell Peppers
4. Celery
5. Nectarines
6. Strawberries
7. Cherries
8. Pears
9. Grapes (imported)
10. Spinach
11. Lettuce
12. Potoates

happy shopping girls!! :)

How old is Anika??

Just to clarify.... Anika had her 7th birthday 2 weeks ago.

Her Aunty Jan commented recently in regards to Anika's personality quirks, that she does not know she is NOT a grown up!!

Here are a few of our most recent conversations that provide further proof.

Conversation #1 started at Subway as we discussed the possibility of going to the end-of-the-year school party... a 'dance.'

Anika: Mom, I was just thinking about all the dresses I have, and none of them are sparkly enough. I want a new dress for the dance because I want a boy to be attracted to me so that he will ask me to dance.

(speechless... in shock... ahhhh... how do we address this.... this is FAR too early in life to have to cover these topics!!!!)

Eventual response sounded something like this
Mom: Well, I'm not sure you will be allowed to dance with a boy? You might be too young. IF we go to the dance, you can only dance in groups with all your friends.


Conversation #2: As we were driving to church in the car. Anika is "mothering" (or is it "smothering") Liv and Thor.

Thor: ANIKA!! You are NOT the mother...

Anika: Well, I'm ALMOST a mom... you know there isn't much difference between a 7 yr old and a 37 yr old.

(reference to Me, the real mom who is somewhere around 37... )


Conversation #3: On our way to Wednesday night church, the current Bible Study theme has been on marriage. Thor was requesting to stay home for the evening... and I joked with him that he might be too old for the "kids" class and I might send him out to the grown ups room so he can learn about marriage.

Anika: Ooooh! I want to go to the marriage class... you know mom, my favorite part of a movie is the romantic parts!!

Spring is Here!! and a Snow storm is on the Way!

Seriously... I've been a terrible blogger for the last 3 months. As most of you have read or know otherwise, being pregnant for the 4th time is creating a 'bare minimum' type lifestyle at our home. Unfortunately that means blogging does not make the cut 99% of the time. The remaining 1% of the time I might have time, I'm probably already sleeping, so it doens't happen anyway!!

So -- no pictures up yet from the Winter family ski trip...
No pics from Easter
No pics from Liv's 3rd Birthday party
None from Anika's 7th Birthday party

YET... someday, I promise they will be up!

We did have a great time this last month of April... (wait, the whole month is GONE??) 2 birthdays and a visit from Grandparents and Aunt Carrie Morrison made for a festive "fun" filled month!

Liv has become quite the little lady as she starts her 3rd year. She and I have been going through the adventure of "Growing Kids God's Way" at our churches Mom's Coffee (Bible study). As much as she may NOT appreciate it, it is giving me much better parenting tools... and in many other ways, relax about things that I know she will be able to grow into as long as I have the foundation set right from the beginning. We have a few "areas" we are both working on... One of which is helping train her the appropriate response(s) when she doesnt' like the answer I give her (usually when it's a "no") or when shie is being compelled to do something she really doesn't want to do. As with Anika at this age... there has been LOTS of drama... OH the drama. This is exactly why I said I would never have girl babies (when i was in my late teens and early twenties).

However, having girls is SOOOO much fun in so many other ways, I've just been determined to find healthy ways from them to work through the drama without it being a total burden on everyone else around them.

I have a few (not so fond) memories as a child and having one of my brothers get right down in my face and speak very quietly to me ... as I was having a drama moment of my own I suppose .... He was saying something to the effect that if I started to cry and make a fuss that my mom would hear... and then she would make me go back inside, and I wouldn't be able to stay out and do whatever adventure we were having outside. I recall this occasion very clearly that I REALLY did NOT want to have to go back inside with mom... I'd probably have to do some cleaning or other chores, as it seemed that is all that mom ever did! I was motivated by my desire to have something better... and my (much) older brother wasn't going to put up with a whining, crying 'baby' sister along on his adventure. So... I learned to "suck it up."

Being a mother of two girls now, I've learned a few things about teaching young girls to "suck it up." I do not have the same motivational factor as a mom, that my older brother had on me... perhaps another friend or other person close to my girls could be short and matter-of-fact with them... as a mom, I've had to learn a kinder and gentler approach.

I started early with Anika, getting down on her level, and speaking calmly to her, directing her to take a deep breath. Then I would talk her through whatever seemed to be upsetting her... assuring her we will "figure it out." On other occasions, there is nothing to figure out... she just had to make the choice to be "OK" or even happy about the situtaion that she was not in favor of being OK about... certainly not happy about....

One of the fruits of the Spirit is Self-control - Galatians 5:22-23. It's not about asking my girls to deny true feelings... or to bury situations that should not be ignored... but there are times when they need to obey me, and obeying me includes having a good attitude about what they are being asked to do. (or not do)

So... here is one "funny" to end this diatribe!

The other morning as Liv, Anika and I were snuggleing in bed for a couple of minutes before we got up for breakfast... Anika and Liv had brought thier dolls into my bed ... and Anika was doing a pretend baby cry... telling Liv her baby needed her, because she was crying. This was Liv's response:

Holding baby under the armpits, and speaking calmly, she said "take a deep breath." And that was the end of the situation for Liv... she was ready for breakfast!!

We are taking a break from our regularly scheduled programing for this Important announcement!!!

I STILL haven't gotten the pictures from Kamp Kinship downloaded from my camera!! And I promised myself I would NOT blog until I caught up with the current details of the family ski trip (currently 30 days LATE)!!!

But ... the cat is out of the bag... so I just have to put the NEWS out there so everyone will understand why I've procrastinated so much lately....

It's the morning sickness... I'm just about sick of it.

In my case it's evening sickness, but the cause is still the same.

Yes, you read that right ....

Morning sickness.

Yes -- we are expecting baby #4 :)

He/She will arrive sometime early in October.

So now you know why I haven't gotten my butt off the couch long enough to upload pictures... or blog otherwise... or get much anything else done outside of the BASICS...

1. sleep
2. feed children
3. nap
4. feed self
5. nap
6. do laundry
7. nap
8. pick up kids at school
9. nap
10. feed children (again??)
11. "just resting my eyes"
12. tuck everyone in bed by 8:30 and GO TO BED :)

Thank you Jesus for Zofran or I might not be doing THIS much every day!!

Winter Fun!!

We've been home from Kamp Kinship for the 1st Annual Moeller family Winter Fest and I STILL haven't made it to the computer to upload my photos OR chronicle a single happening!!

It truely was a wonderful family weekend!!! You'll hear that about 100 more times... but I think I'll wait with the details until I have the photos ready. Pics speak 1000 words... so I can type a LOT LESS! ha ha !!

I was a little "under the weather" the first few days after the Kamp trip, so I'm still catching up on laundry... and sleep.... I'm starting to feel back to normal now. :)

Just have a quick little story about Liv....
She has decided she doesn't like eating what the rest of us are eating at meals. (thor jr. in the making so far :) ... so we try to take it in stride, not making too big of a deal about it, but only having healthy options around the house.

She said she was hungry as I was working in the kitchen one afternoon. I said, OK... what would you like.
Liv: I want a bicycle
Mom: what? a what?
Liv: a bicycle
Mom: ummm... can you show me
Liv (goes to the freezer and pulls open the door)
Mom: OH... a Popcicle!!! Ok sweetie! :)

This is why I love MOPS!!

Montessori. I thought I knew enough about the philosophies behind the program/school/etc. to pass judgement that it wasn't for us... Boy was I wrong!! Now, I'm not saying I'm pulling my kids out of private school to enroll them in the Montessori program... But I am saying there is a LOT of good to be learned from the method that fits into Christ-centered parenting!! It really was inspirational...

#1: Never do for your child what they can do for themselves... (thought I already knew that, and was doing that.... but it never hurts to see what others are doing... and challenge yourself in a new way!!)

#2: Toy Bins are EVIL (well, not her words exactly... that is my paraphrase) But the idea behind toy bins is not conducive to the way a child works... a FEW toys on shelves provides a much better play area. They learn to be more imaginative with the toys they do have... and easier to teach them that each thing has it's own "spot."

#3: As children learn the responsibility, they can be allowed more freedom... When they can pick up toys after they are done playing, they can play with something else.

So I came home INSPIRED!!

I was ready to tear into the girl's bedroom & toy bin in the family room in the basement!! But I had to get grociers and then hockey.... So this morning I began!! What fun!!

I should have taken "before" and "after" pictures... but who wants to see our big mess??


The new closet, now with toys shelves where Liv can easily reach items. The clothes are OK on the middle row for me because Liv doesn't pick out her own clothes, and Anika can reach the clothes easily with our little step stool. The highest shelf has the girls keepsake boxes, the girls games, and other itmes Liv cannot have access too without mommy supervision. These toys were previoulsy tossed into one of 4 different toy bins (along with many, many others. These were the only ones I ever saw ANY of the kids playing with... so why keep the rest?? I purged out 2 garbage sacks of junk, and 2 garbage sacks of donate-able stuff!! There is still toys in our family room downstairs... and a whole bin of American Girls clothes and accessories under the bed...



These dress up clothes, and small basket full of "accesories" used to be in a huge tub... it was a struggle to have them put away... and real clothes kept dissappearing into the play clothes bin... Now they have a real "Closet" of clothes, much more like real life... with the doll & kitchen right there, it's almsot like a little play "house" in the closet!

This spool & yarn "snake" has been one of Liv's favorite toys... frankly I hadn't seen it in months. Now I know why... The pieces were in 3 different toy bins, in two different rooms!! Now it has a place, "just for it"... I'm hoping this will keep all of us on the road to keeping things where they belong! :) (starts with mom, right?! :)
Now he has a cute little basket to live in...

And his own little spot on the shelf! :)

Last but not least -- the Hair Pretties... With two growing girls, we have a plethora of Hair and misc. accessories !!!

I have found 101 uses for these shoe organizers... this one came from Target for $8.


Each variet of hair do-dads has their own pocket...


Combs, brushes, etc. each have their own place



as well as the detangler spray !

Liv loves her doll, and got busy "taking care of her" while I was cleaning the room... Note the pink bean bag under her head for a "pilllow" :) Now I just have to convince her that baby doesn't need to take a nap in the middle of the hall?!!! She has a perfectly good crib in her room... but will she put her in there.... noooooo....

I keep writing the year as 01, instead of 10!

Good Monday morning Family & friends!

Mondays seem to be our Laundry day! Now, if I just had a little home-helper fairy to come put the clean clothes away the world would be perfect.... What am I saying! I want a home-helper fairy to do ALL the chores!!

I certainly can't complain -- Thor & Anika do very well with their home-chores. They earn good money every week for the chores too. Thor has the system figured out completely... when ever he is trying to save up for something specific (Kingdom of the Crystal Skull DVD this week) he offers to do ANY chore I can think of -- even making MY bed for me!! I discovered this week Anika is a SUPER stairway vacuum-er! I don't mind vacuuming as a whole, but like the stair-vacuuming the LEAST of it all. I had her do the two half-stair sections going from the kitchen to our lowest level, TV room area... and they are spotless!! YEAH!! That is going to become her chore EVERY Thursday afternoon!!

Dirk was home this past weekend, so we really did work some over-time on the household chores. We have learned with our new family schedule, that if all the homework and household (regular) duties are done by the time dad gets home on Friday, he will probably come up with some "fun" free time plans while he is here!! I think he's the biggest kid of us all!

Saturday morning started pretty early - leaving the house by 8 a.m. for Thor's Hockey game. The usual routine for the 4 squads of boys, is for two teams to have an hour of "stick practice" then a "positional scrimmage" (read: GAME) for an hour each.

A Side Note: We have been SO much happier wtih the hockey program this year, I can't stop telling other moms how impressed I am with the skills the boys are building! Not to mention, they are getting 3-4 hrs on the ice each week, compared to 1-2 hrs last year. It has everything to do with the coaching plan! Not to say that they last 2 years were a bad program... but it just shows how much better a good program can be with a little innovation! Because the boys are still playing only "1/2" ice for the games, it leaves the other half of the ice open for the stick-work practice ... so everyone gets 2 hrs on the ice, instead of taking turns using the whole rink for 2 teams to play a "game." 2nd: the coaches focus more on positional training during the "scrimmage" ... even stopping the game mid-play when someone has done something wrong, like "off-sides" and bringing the whole group of boys in for a "huddle" to make sure they understand what "off=sides" means... and what they need to do to prevent it. The also (probably the MOST important element) have 3 or more coaches on the ice all the time... one with the defensive players... one with the offensive players, trying to help them understand what their "job" is while playing the particular position. Thor plays defense a lot -- and is doing a really good job in that position, not that he can't do offensive play. He's bigger than most of the other boys -- not necessarily quicker!! :)

This weekend, however, 70% of the kids were gone to Pierre for a hockey tournament! There were just enough for 2 "squads" of kids left here in RC, which gave the coaches a fun opportunity. They did stick work for about 20 minutes -- then "game/scrimmage" the rest of the 2 hours of ice time!! Thor was POOPED when he got in the car... not to mention dripping with sweat and HUNGRY!!

The next stop after Hockey was going out to eat... not a usual treat, and since we are trying to eat "better" not "quicker" we opted for Olive Garden -- soup, salad, meat and pasta. Everyone was very satisfied -- even Liv who fell alseep in the booth while snuggled up next to me!

A few shopping errands took longer than we expected, even window shopping at Best Buy for a new lap-top for me for work (at church)... trying to stay within my Children's Ministry budget, plus a little extra from the leadership for the purpose of a lap-top. Still a challenge... not sure what is the best option yet? I guess my problem is that I have fallen in love the the Mac/Apple company (again) and have a hard time purchasing anything in the PC world. When you compare "apples" to "lemons" (pun intended!!) the PC's come up short every time. But the "good apples" are always a bit more expensive... so the questions is, how will I use the aforementioned budget to the best of it's ability!? :) I'll let you know what I decide.

Saturday evening we were happy to stay home, watch the Winter X Games and play "Guess Who" (Anika & Dirk) ... and just relax for a couple hours. I don't even remember falling asleep... but apparently I did, before 10 p.m.??

Sunday was a great morning at Dove -- worshiping with our church family, I taught Kids Worship for the Elementary room. It's always a fun time with those kids. They are old enough to really talk about how the Bible stories apply to our lives. This year we are stretching the usual Bible stories into lessons called "Doing What Jesus Did." Our lesson on the life of Sampson then led to a short lesson on How to Listen to the Holy Spirit in our own lives... how does He speak to us? What do we do with "it" when He does...? Sampson didn't do a very good job of following God's directions... He's a good example of what happens when God Blesses us, and we let ourselves do whatever feels good at the moment.

Mom & dad had Sunday dinner ready for us at their house - Campfire Stew (a Moeller family specialty) homemade bread, salad, and ice cream with or without bread pudding on the side. :) There wasn't too much down time afterward -- we all had haircut appointments at Amy's at 3p.m. 5 haircut/trims later -- YEP, every single one of us!! We were on our way to Cabellas for a winter-sale shopping trip. :) Then a quick lunch at Taco Bell... and we surprised the kids with one last "outing" for the evening...

Family Swim Night at the swim center!! As we were driving over, none of the kids had any idea Dirk was even considering it... Thor said "We can't go, we don't have our swim suit along." To which I replied "we don't?" Then they realized we had been planning it all along! :) Surprising them is almost as much fun as planning to go 2 days ahead of time... but you don't have to hear the constant "can we go NOW.... how much longer until we can GO??!"

We always have fun swimming together -- this time even more fun to find friends there unexpectedly. Two families we know from MOPS and Zion school were there. :) Liv found herself VERY comfortable in the water... a bit TOO comfortable for mom... She was walking/running everywhere and would find herself in water over her head. When I tried to "hold/carry" her around she would wiggle out and say "I walk... I go."

Then we tried the little kid's blue slide -- and the rest of the evening was OVER! She LOVED the blue slide! The first two times down she went on my lap... The third time at the top she sat down and went, without any warning or hesitation! I had to yell across the pool for Dirk to get to the bottom QUICK! She was ready for independence... Which means I have to enroll her in swim lessons NOW!!!

That put us home at 8:45p.m. BED TIME!! Just enough time for me to pack a few dinners for Dirk to heat up on the job-site in WY, and get to sleep.

3AM today - Dirk left for WY for work :( We'll be happier when he gets home in 2 weeks. :)

Is it really Wednesday?

Bethany & Chris drove out from MPLS for the long weekend! Yeah!! What fun! We had been planning a visit with them over Christmas, but the holiday weather was NOT cooperating for long road trips... So the January holiday of MLKJ became the "new" Morrison-Moeller-Fletcher gathering date!

Saturday we planned a family outing to Deer Mountain and the Tubing Hill! We weren't really sure what to expect, and after raiding our extra supplies of cold weather gear, we were all "dressed" and read for some SNOW FUN! (except Liv who was graciously invited for a play-date at the Welch home) After a quick lunch in the "chalet" (can you call it that in SD, when it's really just a snack bar and picnic tables?) we braved the lines at the tubing hill.

40 degree weather and bright sunshine made for some interesting conditions... It certainly wasn't cold enough to be a bother... Dirk & Chris ended up shedding a few layers. One "path" of the 6 available was out of commission because the snow melted down to the grass and gravel beneath. One path had melted and frozen a few times too many and was slick (read: HARD) ice over much of the way.... but also made for the most adventuresome of the 5 remaining trails!!

Anika, the youngest and least adventuresome of the group loved EVERY trail, but preferred the icy-er quicker trails. She really didn't want to get up and have to pull her tube very far -- back to the rope-tow line! She would give us the "princess commentary" about every 5 minutes of the 3 hours we were there:
- This is the BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!!
- This is SO MUCH FUN!!
- I LOVE THIS!
- Daddy I want to go down the spiny-around-in-circles one!
- I want to go with Bethany this time.
- I LOVE TUBING!

Needless to say, Thor was having a great day too -- just with less adjectives. :)

I think I broke a couple of "distance" records for the afternoon -- there was a 5 or 6 ft high embankment covered in snow at the bottom of the icy run, meant to stop riders if they got up a bit too much speed. However, most people saw this as a challenge to hurdle the embankment -- which happened many times with riders young and old. One of my first runs I sped over the embankment, across the road behind it and into the snow pile on the other side! One of my last runs of the day, I went over again.. at a different angle, and ended up running into the light pole on the other side road at well. I didn't run into it with much speed, and the tube was the only part that actually hit the pole... so either way I was just fine... but it did remind me that perhaps putting ones feet down to slow yourself might not be a bad idea! :)

We ALL had a great day. The last 3 or 4 runs we tried to make a group run, by holding onto each other, or the handles of the tube next to us (instead of just our own tubes handles). Other groups had been going down with as many as 15 tubes together... giving great speed and momentum... not to mention camaraderie! It took a few runs for us to realize what we needed to do. One attempt ended up in a tube sliding down the mtn. without a rider, as we were trying to position ourselves for the group run... and Chris lost hold of his tube. No worries, he just shared a tube with Bethany!

The last run we finally made it down, all together, with Thor & Anika riding on the same tubes with Bethany & Chris respectively, (on purpose). It was a great way to finish the day!

Sunday we went to church at Dove together; then brought home Golden Phoenix Chinese food for lunch (so Dirk could watch the Cowboys lose to the Vikings...:( ) The afternoon was not meant for resting (as usual Sundays are around here)... but found us going in two directions. Bethany, Chris, Mom, Dad and Bethany went to Hot Springs for Theo's 2nd birthday party. Dirk, Thor, Liv and myself went to Thor's hockey game against the Black Hawks.

We couldn't just leave well enough alone for the day... and stayed up until 1:30 a.m. playing Settler's of Catan... and Catan Germany. (why do we always stay up WAY too late when company comes? because we just don't want to waste a second of the time together!!)

Monday Bethany & Chris had massage appointments scheduled (good idea for a vacation weekend!!) with Tanya... so I did some errands with the kids while they relaxed (or were they being tortured? Just not sure yet...? ha ha ha :) We went out for sushi (their first time) and then shopped at the kitchen store for a few basics they needed for their newly-wed home. (is it still a newly-wed home when it's more than 1 yr?... well, anyway) With new pots, pans and a good knife, I think they are one step better prepared for "good cookin!"

Tuesday morning they left for home, and I sent the big kids back to school. I wasn't sure how I was going to start my day: laundry, picking up and reorganizing, dishes, sorting through left-overs in the fridge.... and then I remembered... Today is MOPS! I had 30 minutes to get myself and Liv out the door... we made it just in time! A vacation moment for ME!! How fun! We made beaded bookmarks with ribbon and pretty beads hanging from silver clasps... But the girl-chat time was even MORE fun!

Long weekends are HUGE fun... I just need an extra day before and after to get everything done. You'd think I'd have figured out how to do that being in my (cough) thirty_(something-th)_ year... Seems like every time I'm confident we have the life organization stuff down I end up in a ball of craziness -- must be to keep me humble?? Or maybe I'm just not as good as I think I am (ha ha ha ... ) Or at least not as PREPARED as I think I am!!

Wow how the time flies!

I think adding a blackberry was just one electronic device too many for this stay-at-home mommie.

Just watched an episode of Oprah, "A Family Striped Down." Whatever else you think about the big "o" (I don't agree with her stance on faith or politics) the woman does know how to produce a thought provoking relevant TV show.

The premise was a family that spent so much time using the best of technology (to make thier lives easier... better(?)... and more fulfilled) and the result was a family that was disconnected from each other...

They didn't know how to BE where ever they were....

Wow... was I convicted.

When I'm driving home with a car full of kids and I spend the whole drive on the cell phone just so I don't have to listen to the constant chatter... what am I missing? (A LOT!! 4th graders have plenty of gossip to catch up on!)

When we get home the TV and the computer are the first two places occupied by someone... instead of talking to each other... and finding out how our day went.

I'm more aware, so now I have the tools I need to make a change. I really didn't NEED a phone where I could check Facebook anywhere... anytime...

On the fip side, if I can get my "social web networking" done while washing the dishes (with said blackberry propped up on the kitchen window sill)... perhaps I'll be able to dedicate ALL my attention to my family from 4 to 8 p.m. in the evening.

I recently had a "mentoring" conversation (I'm the mentor... what is wrong with this picture) with a single parent in our church who is coping with the new situation of solo-parenting 4 young kids. The comment came up that there is NO TIME for anything other than the bare basics of life... especially when you have to take care of "issues" every 30 seconds. There was no time left for "quality time."

My suggestion was to plan ahead of time for every moment with the kids... to make a "schedule" (not necessarily drivien by the clock, but perhaps 1st:do this, 2nd: do that; and so forth)... I think perhaps I was supposed to get that message myself.

Those 4 precious hours each day after school with my family... have a plan set in place for what to do... Set "time" for the basics: chores, homework, eating, picking up, getting ready for bed.... MAKE "time" for the quality stuff: reading, praying, talking about life, loving each other, having a little fun together...

We all have the same amount of time -- the question is, what do we do with it?

New fav quote: The grass isn't greener on the other side; the grass is greener where you WATER it! :)