Twelve!

Twelve years ago, 

we were young and in love.

And twelve years ago

our towels didn't have discolored bleach spots

or rips at each end

Our sheets were crisp and new

Without threadbare spots 

threatening holes at the slightest tug 

Our dishes were a complete 8-piece setting

Without chips and cracks and scrapes and marks

And not one piece had yet been surrendered to the trash can when dropped on the floor

And our silverware was shiny and new

And hadn't yet been "distressed" by the garbage disposal

And every piece was accounted for

 But today, place settings like these 

Tend to outnumber anything we had twelve years ago

 And we might look a bit more tattered and distressed ourselves.

But just like our much loved towels and sheets and dishes and silverware, 

We have a history.

This is our life.  It's comfortable.  It's wonderful and well-loved.

 Twelve years later, 

We're still in love.

In fact, I love you more today than I did back then, Gary.

I cannot imagine anyone better for me than you.

Thank you for sweeping me off of my feet all those years ago and creating this life with me that is so full with joy and love and fun... blessings for which I continually thank the Lord.  The joy and the pain, the celebrations and the sorrows... we were meant to experience them together.  Thanks for sticking with me and loving me through it all. 

Happy Anniversary, my love!

I Don't Do Numbers

Suggest a book to me, and I'll probably read it.  Personal book suggestions go far with me.

So when Emma's 1st grade teacher recommended The Ninth Wife as school let out in May, I took note.  She said that she doesn't like to read (um, what?  All teachers don't like to read?), but that it was the first book that she really liked and it kept her attention.  Sounded worthwhile to me!

One day I went to Costco to pick up some bread (hello, Oroweat bread?  Super-duper cheap at Costco.  I feel like I'm selling my soul when I have to cave and buy it at the grocery store).  But as I approached the book aisle, the warm smell of the pages lured me in and I soon found myself perusing the new releases.

There it was!  The Ninth Wife!  Only $10?  SOLD!

Little did I know that little Brody had snuck in another book - The Ape House.  Why?  Because there are monkeys on the cover and "Mommy, I like ooo-ooo aaah-aaahs!"  Had I noticed when I was checking out, I would've not bought it.  A book about monkeys?  Please.  But it's funny how four kids can distract you when you're just trying to buy a few things at Costco or anytime you need any concentration to do anything, anywhere.  So now The Ape House is sitting on my bookshelf waiting to be read.  I'll keep you posted, but I'm not anxious to read it.

Anyway, I was about 3/4 of the way through The Ninth Wife when a friend mentioned the book she's reading: The 19th Wife.


WAIT.  The 19th Wife?  As in, ten after The Ninth Wife?  I've never been good with numbers, but had I gotten it that wrong?

Yes.  Yes, I had.  I emailed her teacher who confirmed that indeed the book she suggested was The 19th Wife.  Oohhhhhh.  Okay.

Well, I can't start a book and not finish it.  It drives me crazy.  Which is why I glare at Crime and Punishment every time I walk past my bookshelf.  I feel like that book mocks me because it is the only book I've ever started and not finished.  YET.  I will triumph, Crime and Punishment.  You have not won.  Ohhhhh that book...

Anyway, despite The Ninth Wife NOT being the book I was supposed to read, and despite it being fairly mediocre, I finished it.

So then I went to the library and checked out The 19th Wife, because heaven forbid I go to Costco to get it and random books about monkeys hijack my cart.

Right now I'm on page 77.  As stubborn as I am about finishing books I start, I'm not convinced I'm loving this one.  I didn't know what either fiction book was really about until I cracked them open.  Unlike The Ninth Wife, which was about marrying someone who had been married eight times already, The 19th Wife is about polygamy, which doesn't really do it for me.  It's interesting, but I'm itching to get started on the other books in my stack.  Like The Ape House and Crime and Punishment.  *sigh*

So -- have any of you read The 19th Wife?  Is it worth finishing?  Are there any other books with numbers in the titles that I must read?

UPDATE!
My friend Michelle was in the midst of this book and scurried through it in the days after I published this post.  Because of her not-so-rave review, I have... (breathe)... abandoned this book!  (GASP!)  She gave me a spoiler so I know whodunnit, but it just didn't seem to  be a worthy read.  And actually, I feel pretty good about it.  On to the next book!

Odds and Ends. Mostly Odds.

Hello.  I'm sick.  I feel like curling up in my bed and sleeping for the next 16 days.  But then my four kids remind me that that is not an option.

Not. An. Option.

And so, I'm trying to suck it up and still be a mom and wife despite feeling like I'm about to die.  I went to the doctor yesterday and answered all of her obvious questions in a crackly, barely audible voice.  

Nurse:  "Does your head hurt?"  

Me:      "YES."

Nurse:  "Is your nose stuffed up?"

Me:      "Is by nabe bobby?"

Nurse:  "Does it hurt your head to bend down to pick up the baby?"

Me:      "Only the first 4236 times."

Nurse:  "Are you tired?"

Me:      "Yes.  For the past 8 years."

In the end, she determined I have a sinus infection... that could be turning into something worse.  What an ominous diagnosis.  So I'm all medicinized (that IS a word), and hopefully I'll be feeling better soon.  This all started with a measly sore throat on Thursday, which turned into crazy full-on laryngitis Friday-Monday.  Tuesday it hit.  Oh, and Monday the two littles were diagnosed with croup.  We're a picture of health over here!!!

Anyway, here are some odds and ends for your Thursday viewing pleasure:

A New Thing I Love:

Of course I discover this at the END of the summer, but this is awesome.  I got a three-pack of these babies at Target.  

Sure, I could just go out and actually buy a racerback bra, but this does the trick in a pinch.  Not to mention this little perk:  it also tends to "lift" a little bit.  And it was so cheap!  Love.  

Another New Thing I Love:
I love, love, LOVE the new Facebook feature that reminds you of your status updates from the past.  "On this day in 2009..."  What a fun little walk through memory lane.  A recent one that made me giggle from last year:  "Emma says her toe thumb hurts."  Ha ha!


Socks Are The Thorn in My Side:
It might be more worthwhile to toss all the socks and start fresh every fall than to battle the matching and sorting of worn-out, stretched-out, out-grown socks.  I love summer, and maybe it's because there are so few socks involved.  With the start of school comes the start of socks.  Dislike.  Mundane, I know.  I just had to get that out there.


Thank you, Tony Osborne, where ever you are:
My kids' favorite new thing to do is watch the credits at the end of any show, looking for an "Osborne."  Finally they hit the jackpot!  Today while watching the end credits for "Chuggington" on the Disney Channel, Addie spotted the name Tony Osborne.  She screamed with joy and made me rewind it.  (Thanks are also due to the inventor of the DVR.)  So, thanks Tony.  Your hard work on that silly train show has made my daughter's day.


It Pays to Be a Night Owl:
This morning Addie was rattling off some of the Scriptures she's memorized when this one caught me by surprise:

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that who ever believes in him will not perish but have nocturnal life."  (John 3:16. Kind of.)


Simple Pleasures:
I really love the new Pampers Cruisers polka dot diapers.  They're so cute.

Apparently it doesn't take much to make me happy these days.


Squirrelin' Around:
We have a new little guy running through our yard lately.  He's pretty cute.  It's fun that our trees are finally big enough to be entertain the local wildlife.

I have no idea why I'm okay with this guy and not a vole.  A rodent is a rodent is a rodent... but this one has a fluffy tail.

The End. 

A Brody Afternoon

This year, I put Addie in afternoon kindergarten with the hopes of having uninterrupted quiet time each afternoon while the littles napped.

I dreamed big.   With two hours, the possibilities were endless.  Laundry!  Blogging!  Reading!  Meal planning!  House cleaning!  This was IT!  My chance to become the on-top-of-things mom I've wanted to be all along.

The littles?  They had different plans.  I have from noon to three o'clock while Addie's at school.  In order for them to get a good nap in, I have to put them down fairly soon after getting Addie to school.  But that's too early for Brody, and he's fought it every day.  If I wait too long, then I have to wake them up to pick up the big girls from school, which results in two grumpy little kids.  So each day for the last two weeks, I've experimented with different times and scenarios, only to be frustrated that I didn't end up with those coveted quiet minutes I dreamed of.

Today, Chloe went right down for a nap when we got back home.  She was zonked from a busy morning with friends.  But Brody had energy.  Lots of energy.

We read books, played trains, watered the flowers... all the while I warned him he had one minute until naptime.  And every minute after that, he'd look at me with his big brown eyes and hold a finger up and say, "One minute, Mommy."

Well, that "one minute" turned into NO NAP.  We made cookies instead.  But I was perfectly okay with that.  It's not often I get Brody alone, and the one-on-one time with him was really fun.  He's such a sweet, spunky, tender-hearted little guy.  It just might turn out that scheduling afternoon kindergarten for Addie means lots of quality time with Brody.  I feel a little bit selfish when I think about how much I planned for that time to be all mine.

But I also feel like our sweet time together today was a gift from the Lord.  After a really tough day yesterday, my afternoon date with Brody today was a reminder to me of what a gift he is.  Today, I took special note of his pudgy fingers working to put those train tracks together.  I watched his long red eyelashes brush his cheeks as he looked down to study his next lick on the spatula.  I smelled his sweaty little boy hair as he leaned on me while we read a book.  I delighted in his laugh when the hand mixer spit a bit of chocolate dough right on his nose.  I memorized the scrape on his knee that will be gone in just days.  It was a really special time.

The laundry can wait.  Blogging, reading and meal-planning can wait.  But lazy afternoon dates with Brody aren't going to last forever.  I think for now I'll just enjoy them... enjoy him.

What's On Your Mind?

Every time I see Facebook ask me, "What's On Your Mind?", ( <--- time out.  How do you properly punctuate that?  Anyone?  Grammar police?), I start thinking about all of the random stuff that really is on my mind.  Enter: MY BLOG.  So here's some of the random stuff that is on my mind right now.

- - -

On the way home from dropping Addie off at kindergarten this morning, Brody and Chloe and I sat and watched a bunch of men tearing out a sidewalk and pouring concrete to fix it.  Cement mixers, men in rubber boots, tools, a dumptruck... Brody was completely entertained for a solid 20 minutes.  Gotta love little boys!  And then he stood up and said, "Okay.  Let's go home."  He knows his limits.

- - -

Mmm-mm!  I've got BBQ pork in the crock pot and peach cobbler in the oven.  It's smelling good in here!  We're having company tonight.  I wish I planned this well every day.  It's kind of nice to already know what the dinner plan is.

- - -

Last night I was reading to the kids and had them giggling so much that Brody fell off the couch from laughing so hard!  They always ask me to read "in voice" and they are so tickled by it.  The books that had them in stitches last night were I Am Going and Are You Ready to Play Outside? by Mo Willems.

We love every single book Mo Willems has written.  The Elephant and Piggie books are our favorites! We love them because the girls can practice their reading by each reading for a character, and they're just so FUNNY.  His illustrations are so darn funny.  As I was reading last night, Gerald (the elephant) had a silly, "doofus" type voice, but it surprised them and had them rolling when little Piggie had a very deep, manly voice.  And Brody fell off the couch laughing when the tiny worms unexpectedly had robot voices.  

Okay, that sounds really dorky and unfunny now.  Maybe you had to be there.  Or maybe you have to be under the age of 8.

- - -

I went to the rec center today to work out.  This is a major news flash, because sometimes I go to the rec center, put my kids in the childcare, and hide out in the locker room to read a book.  Sometimes I go there and exercise.  And by exercise, I mean I walk around the track, spying on the people using those big scary machines.  They terrify me.  I have about a 20-second section of the track where I can see those contraptions and I try to figure out how they work - how to sit, how to move, what to hold.

But today I actually had the guts to ask the lady working there to help me.  Guess what?  They're not that scary!  Granted, I tried the ab machine and about died, but I think I can work my way up from 0 lbs., right?  I even had the guts to use a machine next to someone.  And I made another discovery.  Last time I was there using some kind of bike thingy, I noticed the cute girl next to me, with the totally matching workout clothes and perky everything, wipe her machine down.  Oh.  Was I supposed to do that?  So today I took an old washcloth with me so I could act like a pro and wipe it down.  That's when I realized that no, nobody does that, they actually provide wipes to use to wipe it down.  Next time I won't be toting along my ratty old washcloth and look like such an amateur.  After all, I lift WEIGHTS now.

- - -

Okay, if we're having company tonight, then I have a house to clean.  Happy Tuesday!

Brown Sugar Glazed Salmon

Anyone who knows me personally or has read my blog for awhile is probably laughing that I'm posting a recipe.  I'm not a great cook.  I don't even really enjoy it.  The lasagna incident of '99 still stings a little.

But people.  This recipe is EASY and so, so, SO GOOD.  It's my girls' most requested meal, and what they wanted for their first day of school dinner.

Even Chloe likes it!

So without further ado, I present to you...

Brown Sugar Glazed Salmon
(taken from the Taste of Home magazine)

1 T brown sugar
2 t. butter
1 t. honey
1 T olive oil
1 T Dijon mustard
1 T soy sauce
1/2 to 3/4 t. salt
1/4 t. pepper
1 salmon fillet (recipe calls for 2 1/2 lbs., but I usually only make 1 3/4 - 2 lbs. for our family of 6.  Although we never have leftovers!)


In a small saucepan over medium heat, cook and stir the brown sugar, butter and honey until melted.  Remove from heat:  whisk in the oil, mustard, soy sauce, salt and pepper.  Cool for 5 minutes.

Place salmon in a large foil-lined baking pan; spoon brown sugar mixture over salmon.  Bake, uncovered, at 350º for 20-25 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.


I'm not a food photographer by any means, but here's ours from the other night:

YUM!  

Do you have any EASY and YUMMY recipes I need to try?

(Emphasis on EASY.  Ahem.)

A pretty big week

I didn't mean for there to be such a gap between posts this summer.  The upside is that we were out there, enjoying life and enjoying summer!  What would there be to blog about if we sat around doing nothing?  The downside is that a lot of fun stuff happened that I might have to revisit in future posts.  Chronological blogging?  Who needs it?!

So jumping right back into things...

It's been a HUGE week in the Flibbertigibberish family.  Every one of us had something big on our plates:

GARY:
Gary pulled off the annual Murder Mystery dinner for his high school students.  Thanks to his awesome team of volunteers and an incredible couple from church who graciously opened their home to the 250+ students/volunteers, it was a huge success.

Doesn't he look handsome in his suspenders and hat?  And to top it off, he preached in "big church" the next morning.  Whew!

EMMA & ADDIE:
First day of school!  Emma started 2nd grade and Addie started kindergarten. They're attending a new school this year, and we couldn't be more excited.

The charter school they attend is just down the street and so far we love it.  The uniforms/dress code have my girls all giddy each morning to see what they get to wear, and you won't hear this mama arguing!

Addie came home the first day and told me she'd made a new friend and was so excited that she was wearing the same thing as her!  Odds are pretty good when you have a uniform, you know!  So far she thinks kindergarten is "easy peasy."

Emma came home from school the first day and told me she'd met a girl whose hair is softer than cottonballs.  What more can you ask for in a new friend?!?

BRODY:
Over the weekend we went to the store and let Brody pick out a pair of big boy undies.  I guess that's all it took, because I'm proud to say that he is out of diapers!  Simple as that!

Day three and only two accidents and we're not looking back.  (Please note that his first accident happened while typing the previous sentence - no joke.  The second happened while finishing up this blog post hours later.  Ha!)

He's even slept overnight in those big boy undies!  He even took it upon himself to remove all diapers from his room before naptime.  He's serious about this.

CHLOE:
Chloe took her first steps last night!  She was so proud of herself as she walked back and forth between Daddy and her siblings.  She's still wobbly, but she's very close to just taking off -- not that I'm in any hurry for her to do so.

Last night I also nursed Chloe for the first time.  Emotional much?  Oh my word.  It didn't go as I imagined.  I thought the last time may have been over the weekend, but because THAT time didn't go as planned, and because I was still a little full, I decided to have another go at the official "last time." 

I picked her up and cuddled her, ready to soak up every sweet second of this last milestone.  I actually paused for a moment, and almost asked Gary to grab the camera, but I didn't.  Just as she latched on, she bit me.  HARD.  As if I had a piranha at my breast instead of a sweet baby.  I shrieked as I frantically tried to unclench her.  I cried.  I cried a lot.  I cried a big, loud ugly cry and handed her to Gary.  The golden, sunshiny, movie-moment I'd imagined had gone terribly wrong.  That was IT?  That's how we were going to end all these years of nursing?  I was crushed.  I fed her her bottle with tears rolling down my cheeks.

Friends have recommended going for another "last time," but I'm afraid that was it.  It's why there were multiple "last times" - the girl is a baby barracuda.  We're both finished, and I need to let go.  *sigh*

ME:
Well, all of these things are what have made it a big week for me.  Isn't that what being a mom is all about?  However, I was very sick last week, which made it a rough end to summer/start to school.  Fever, chills, sore throat... ugh.  I'm glad to be better, but unfortunately I passed it on to Emma who has already missed the last two days of school due to a fever! So, I'm praying everyone gets and remains healthy.

And I'm praying for a little less excitement in the next week!