Quote of the Day...

I'd just gotten all the (rowdy, crazy) girls to bed when Sam popped up and told me I'd forgotten to give her her medicine.  Which was true.  So she hopped out of bed, and on her way down the stairs, shouted this to her (still stuck in bed) sisters...
"See ya later, suckers!"

Talking Sense

While driving home from the ski hill, somehow our conversation turned into a math story problem.  Me, being me, was doing the wrong math.  Tom, being Tom (aka - the math wiz...), was getting frustrated at my lack of understanding (aka - idiocy...).  He was explaining the "correct" (and "correct" is only in quotes because it's Tom who was right.  When I'm right, it's never in quote marks...) way of figuring it out.  Here's a little how it went from there...

 me - "Don't yell at me.  I'm just trying to understand!"  

Tom- "I'm not yelling.  I'm just trying to talk some sense into you..."

me - "Well don't talk sense so loudly..."

And then we started laughing.  And I did eventually figure out why my math wasn't quite working right... Heaven (or Tom) help my children when they need help with math homework...

And aren't we young and cute in this picture?  Brooke was just three weeks old...  And Tom had hair.

Quote of the Day...

Brooke and her friends are very much into playing with makeup right now.  Every time we have someone over, they play "salon".  And come out looking like zombies (on purpose) or clowns (thinking they're glamorous...).  So I was teaching Brooke and her friend how to really put on some makeup up.  I finished Brooke and when she walked out of the bathroom, her friend said this...

"Whoa!  You look just like your mom.  Right down to the really big nose!"

Uh huh.  Sorry Brooke... =)

Inside and Out...

It's snowing here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.  We're predicted to get over a foot of accumulation tonight...

 Which is about what I have in my living room...

(That's a lot of coats, snow pants, mittens, hats, mittens, boots, mittens, hats and mittens... It's wet snow.  One pair of mittens lasts about half an hour...)

Great Joy

I was reading my Patriarchal Blessing the other day and it reminded me that I would find great joy in the raising of my children.  Great Joy.  

It's good to be reminded.  Great Joy.  I choose Great Joy over frustration and impatience.  I choose Great Joy over dishes or house work.  I choose Great Joy over sadness or loneliness.  I choose Great Joy over feelings of inadequacy or doubt.  I choose Joy.

Scrappy - But Loved....

Some of you, in our ward, might have noticed a difference in the girls' appearance at church since the start of the new year... We moved to 9:30 church, I have ward council meeting at 8, but leave the house at 7:30, so I have time to put up the 90 chairs needed for primary.  Which leaves Tom in charge of getting the girls ready....  He doesn't even complain! =)  Or do a check before they walk out the door... Today's fashions included -
Sam - Wearing a long shirt (not a dress) over tights and boots....
Brooke - Noticed on the way to church her white shirt had a big spill down the front.  Luckily, I don't clean my car very often so a handy scarf was found and used as camouflage....
Alix - Cute, purple dress.  Pulled out of the laundry hamper.  With awesome chocolate milk spots on the front...
Erin - Adorable.
1 out of 4 isn't bad...

Holiday Boredom Buster...

School's been out for a few days, you're feeling a little bored?  Why not jump off the top stair and down into a pile of beanbags and pillows...

Erin 

 Sam isn't quite strong enough to jump from the top, so she'd jump from four stairs up.  She did tell me this - "My leg muscles aren't very strong, but my tummy has BIG muscles!"

 Alix

 Erin again.  I got the best shots of her.  She's a very photogenic flyer...

 Brooke

 And when you tire of flying through the air?  Why not take a break in your very own umbrella fort...

I greatly appreciate that my girls can make their own fun...  =)

You Didn't Learn The First Time?

We had some friends over for NewYear's Eve and while the adults played games downstairs, the kids pretty much did whatever they wanted upstairs... At one point, Alix came downstairs crying and saying she'd bit her tongue.  I took a look and she really had!  All the way through the tip.  I couldn't imagine what she'd been eating to bite her tongue so hard (and they weren't supposed to even have food up there).  In response to my questioning, this is her answer - "I pushed Erin off the bed and when she was falling, she grabbed onto me and then I fell too and bit my tongue when I hit the floor."  Hmmm.  Seems to me like you deserve it.  But here's a kiss, now go play...
An hour or two (or three - who can keep track of time?) later, some of our friends' kids ran down to tell me Alix had a really bad bloody nose.  So I go check it out.  She really did!  Blood gushing all over the place.  What happened?  Here's her answer - "Erin pushed me off the bed and I landed nose first, really hard!"
Nice.  Charming, sweet, lovely daughters that I have... In their defense, they weren't fighting, it was some sort of "game" they were playing.  But really?  You didn't learn the first time?