From Trike Course to Man Den

Mike here! I know, take a breath. It'll be okay. I know this blog is 99% controlled by my adorable wife and pictures of kids so cute, I wonder if they are mine, but today I actually have something to say. For those that know me, that's not much of a shock.

Because I haven't blogged in months, I reserve the right to make this ridiculously long. After all, it is really more of a journal for us anyway.

So, we've lived in Castle Rock for 3 years and 2 weeks. That's unbelievable really. When we moved into our house, the builder warned us on a lot of items, one of which was not to finish out the basement for a few years so the ground would have a chance to settle. No problem, we didn't have the money anyway. Well, it's been 3 years and Rachel and I decided to bite the bullet and finish the space. We decided to do so about 2 months ago. I originally thought about going the cheap route and finishing it by myself with the help of awesome and intelligent friends. I decided against it though as I didn't want to spend every evening and weekend for the next 6-8 months trying to "figure it out". We found a designer to take my plan and fine tune it. (read as: change it completely) After getting several quotes, we decided to go with the guy who we were most comfortable with. Oh, and it didn't hurt that he was the cheapest. It took me two days to get everything out of the basement that we put in there for easy storage. Let me tell you, it wasn't easy, once I had to take it all out.



As you can see, this was an excellent locale for Aubrey and Ainsley to ride bikes and chase each other around the furnaces. Can you say FUN? The basement should be completed in about 4 weeks, so they've got a lot to do. Well, today was day one and I was impressed how much they got done.


It may not look like a lot, but they laid all the base wood for the hanging walls, framed the bathroom and part of the bar and opened up the stairway, where we will have a railing that matches the upstairs.

So, check back if you are into progress and like this sort of thing. We are excited to see it finished, but still have to figure out how to pay for the rest of it. :) Soon enough, this Trike Course we turn into a sweet place to entertain friends and family.

ZOO!!!

It's always nice when Mike gets to join in on some of the fun things I do with the girls, so Saturday was the perfect day to take a family trip to the zoo. The weather was great, it wasn't that crowded and the animals were fairly active. I have been to Denver Zoo at least 15 times in the last 3 years and I have never seen a hippo out of the water. They are really big!!! It may have more to do with getting to the zoo at lunch time instead of first thing in the morning, but it was a pretty cool thing to see!
The kids loved it and must have stood there for five minutes. It was fun going to the zoo with two talkative kids. They were really interacting with each other and telling us all about what they were seeing.
The highlight of the day was collecting leafs. I know, you drive forty minutes and the kids do something they could have done in your own yard! They collected a handful of leafs and we came home and did leaf rubbings. Okay, Mike and I did leaf rubbings. Aubrey wouldn't try and said it was too hard, but Mike and I had fun!

Fireproof

Well, blogger isn't uploading my pictures so my post will have to wait. Mike was gracious enough to allow a girls night on Friday. I say gracious, because he has been passing kidney stones all week and I went to the gym two nights and had a Women's Bible Study another. Needless to say, I had a lot of me time this past week and could have skipped on Friday, but it was with a friend I haven't seen in a while and it was totally worth it. We went to dinner at Chili's (I love the club tacos) and saw Fireproof. If you haven't heard of Fireproof, it is a movie put out by the same people who made Facing the Giants and had an amazing message. Don't get me wrong, it was made on a limited budget so you don't get all the special effects, but the message was very powerful. If you are married or hope to be someday, I would totally recommend it!!! I actually ran into a lot of people I know at the theater (like 20) but then again I live in a small town and our church was offering a free child care night so people were painting the town red. It really represented relationships and marriage well and it is worth seeing. It is currently in 800 theaters and came in number 3 Friday night. Most movies are in like 2500 theaters! So if you are looking for a movie with a great message, check out this one soon!

Today's Craft

The kids were fighting (crying) about what show to watch this morning. Aubrey wanted Veggie Tales and Ainsley REALLY wanted Little Einsteins so we did a craft instead. My mom's best friend. Sue, had brought this over for the girls while we were in California but we never got around to the craft. Here's the final project! (I had to help Ainsley get the back off the stickers).

I'm an Addict!

Just a cute pic of my girls loving on me during a movie!

I have a problem with addiction. I know this and try to keep away from substance abuse. Sometimes it's brownies, or ice cream, or Dr. Pepper... But there is usually some substance in my life I cannot get enough of. Luckily I have never tried illegal substances, so my drugs of choice tend to be things that keep my waist line looking similar to a donut. Oh wait, donuts are another problem of mine.

A less weighty addiction is reading. I know I am like this, therefore I am usually very select about what I read, if I bother to read at all. When I like a book, I am dead to the world until I have satiated my desire. I can't stop at a chapter, or 100 pages, I have to finish it and I have to finish it NOW. Obviously the Twilight Saga threw me into the world of addiction once again. I could not get enough of that series. I could actually read the last page and start at the first page again. After reading Breaking Dawn nearly three times (the third time I skipped the chapters I wasn't interested in). I took a much needed break from the world of reading. It didn't last long, I would find myself searching for a book to read, thinking about starting it all over again. So I did what any other insane person would do. I reread the Harry Potter Series. After I finished the seventh book I was at a loss again. What was I to do?

I got myself a library card (I usually read a few novels a year and just buy them). Now I have an endless supply of literature at my fingertips. This isn't good! In fact, I can search the shelves from the comfort of my lap top (another addiction) while sipping Kenna Coffee with french vanilla creamer (another addiction) and reserve whatever I want and pick it up when it comes in. Oh dear, I don't know if my family can take it. I even considered skipping out on a cycling class tonight so I can just ride a stationary bike while reading my new book by Nicolas Sparks. I'm a sucker for romance! I'm not going to do that though, because I will burn three times as many calories in the class, but I considered it, and that is scary!

So anyway, I'm an addict and my drug of choice this season is literature, especially romance, although not sexually elicit. What should I reserve? Do you have any favorite books that you just can't put down? There's like 15 weeks left of football season so I have a lot of evenings open!

Craft Time

I have been trying to be better about planning activities for my kids. They love crafts, I just hate the prep and clean up for a few minutes of fun. Although finger painting is fun, these simple little paints are more my style for quick crafts.
And better yet, paint with water!!! Ainsley loves to drink from cups and bowls, so a nice clean bowl of water is the perfect paint for her. She was happy to paint like her big sis and didn't even know she was missing out on the real paints!

The newest thing

Ainsley will only take bites of new meals if Aubrey feeds her. Wow!

Aubreyisms

Just a few more funny things my kid says:

When walking into the bathroom, "Mommy, there is already somebody in here." Okay, this one is a bit freaky. My kid sees dead people using our toilet. I think she says it from times we have to wait at other places, but it is a bit unnerving to think there may be a stranger in your bathroom.

While playing outside, "Uh oh, snake!" She will then stomp in place, scream a little and show you right where the imaginary snake is.

Today while in the car, "Mommy! There's a kangaroo next to you!!!" I replied, "Oh, I didn't see any kangaroos when we got in the car." "It's on your hand! Get it."

She also sees imaginary ants on the kitchen floor from time to time. She is turning in to a pretty funny kid. Which is good, since you burn a lot of calories laughing!!!

time together

Since Ainsley and Mike are a couple of sickies, Aubrey and I have been painting the town red. We went on a few bike rides around the neighborhood (she was on her trike and I was fast walking to keep up), we've been to the grocery store twice, and went to the library and borrowed a few books and movies (all princess themed). This morning was a biggie. She went to church with Daddy. I'm here with snotty face, and although Mike is in a lot of pain, the 4 IB Profin (doctor's orders) he took should get him through an hour fifteen minute service. Aubrey rarely leaves the house without me, so this was huge. I asked her if she would rather stay home with Ainsley and me or go to her class at church with Daddy. She didn't even hesitate and said "Church with Daddy." What a big girl she is becoming!!! Ainsley was a bit perturbed with her decision, but she'll survive.

A great dog needs a home

Hi friends, family, strangers, lurkers, and whoever else landed here on this blog. Our dear friends in Corona, California are needing to find a home for their adorable dog, Moby. If you are interested in adopting this dog, post a comment with your email address (if I don't have it) and I will connect you with the owner. Feel free to send this post to people you know who may want to take advantage of this opportunity! Here's the back story on this dog.

We need help to find a home for our 5 year old Lab mix, Moby. We are in Corona, California. We have had Moby since he was a puppy, but are expecting twins next month and can’t give him the attention he needs. He has also, on a couple of occasions growled or nipped at our other dog (who grew up with him – he is the "alpha dog"), always over food or other treasure – toilet paper roll, etc , and though he is great with us and our 2 ½ year old (though big and energetic), we can’t take a chance with two more infants in the house – just don’t have enough hands.

He is HIGHLY intelligent and very high energy – loves to run. We used to be able to take him out to the dog park, etc, but just don’t have the time – so he needs to go somewhere he can run. He is very affectionate to our family and anyone in the home, but is protective of the home and has a fierce bark when he hears strangers/other dogs outside.

He really is a great dog, and we desperately want him to go to a good home. We need to find a permanent home in the next 3 weeks. We are even willing to fly Moby to another state, to ensure he goes to a good home. We have been unsuccessful with our friend/family network in finding the right home for Moby, and now have a limited time.

Thank you.

Ron

Health Update

Rachel- Healthy, but with a little drainage and a few sneezes here and there.

Ainsley- Sick, a bad cold, lots of colored mucus, not napping, very cranky since she can only breathe through her mouth which means she cannot suck her thumb, thus the no napping. She hasn't really ate anything in the last few days either.

Aubrey- Same as me. A little congested, but no temperature.

Mike- Flu-like symptoms gone, BUT HE IS PASSING KIDNEY STONES EVERY FIFTEEN MINUTES. My poor hubby! He guessed that this is what was going on yesterday, but hoped he was wrong. Nope, for the last hour he has been really going through it.

My poor family! If you think of it, say a prayer for our health, especially Mike.

Great Family Movie

We watched Meet the Robinsons last night and it was fantastic. It wasn't too scary, it was pro-adoption, pro-acceptance, and had a lot of stuff that makes it great for adults too. So if you haven't seen it yet, add it to your queue, check it out from the library, or whatever you do to rent movies. Your kids will love it and you will like it too. If you are an emotional girl like me, you may even cry a time or two!

When life gives you lemons

Life gave us a big ol' basket of lemons this morning, and by this morning I mean 2am. At 2am Mike got up and went downstairs to get a glass of water. He got back into bed and I asked him if he was alright because his breathing was really shallow. He said no and started shaking, really shaking. He had a major case of the chills. He did this for nearly an hour and finally started to drift off. I too was reentering the wonderful world of sleep when Ainsley started crying. When I put her down last night she was shaking a bit too. She had only slept for about 20 minutes during the day (thank you so much wonderful nap transition stage) so I thought she might just be over tired. But, just in case I turned on the monitor. Yeah, she had a 102 fever, AGAIN. But this time it was accompanied by a very clear, but runny nose and chills. Needless to say, between Ainsley and Mike, I got about 4 hours of sleep last night.

Well, that's not a huge deal. People get sick, people get the flu, you lose a night of sleep, it's not that big of a deal... unless you are supposed to drive to Wisconsin that day! Mike's grandmother passed away last Thursday and the service is being held this Friday in Wisconsin. We decided to drive out for the funeral, stay for a wedding the next day, and drive home Sunday and Monday. We canceled all of our plans during the time we would be gone. I know that sounds trivial, but it involved a babysitter, two parties, and our kick off Bible Study for Fall which is at our house. We got Mike's suit dry cleaned, we shopped for clothes for the events, got the oil changed in the car, and got all of our reservations in place.

We were really torn this morning as to what to do. I called Ainsley's doctor and got recommendations for what to do in the car (for 17 hours), I checked airline prices for Mike in case I decided to stay home with the girls, and I cried a lot. I'm sure most of the crying was a result of no sleep, but some of it was out of frustration and guilt. I felt horrible that we might not make it after all. Mike left for work discouraged, but optimistic that we could still make it happen. We were planning on leaving around 6pm tonight and driving straight through. Well, I'm sure you see where this is going, but we aren't going. Mike is already home and sleeping with an obvious case of the flu. Ainsley is shooting chunks of nastiness out with every sneeze, and Aubrey is feeling so left out that she isn't sick too.

So we are trying to make a batch of lemonade out of all of this, but it is hard right now. Perhaps we can have some family time on Saturday... I don't know, but Ainsley is crying again so I gotta go!
Look, she is trying to make lemonade herself!!!

New Biggest Loser

The Biggest Loser has been on for fifteen minutes. I have bean all teary eyed for 15 minutes. Heck, if they can lose 100 plus pounds in the next three months I should be able to lose 10! My workouts are going well, but we have had a lot of interruptions lately that take away workout time. I can totally tell that my legs are reshaping and that I am getting more muscle tone in my arms and stomach so that is a great start. Hopefully this new season will keep me motivated. I lost 7 pounds last season!!!

angry no more!

Today marked a big day. I decided that I was not going to lose my temper today!!! I know what you are thinking, losing your temper is a response, it isn't something you can control. Well maybe you aren't thinking that, but that's how I rationalize it. I'm sick of being upset over trivial things! It's not healthy and I am not going to get upset anymore. Today was a good day. I didn't overreact once. I raised my voice a few times I am sure, but that's a big improvement. Today I employed the perpetual time out philosophy.

You see, Aubrey loses her temper too, and when she does, she screams and runs out of the room. It's annoying. She even taught this negative behavior to Ainsley who also screams when she is mad. Ugh. So every time Aubrey screamed out of anger today she had to sit in time out. We talked about using our words. I told her it was okay to be upset, but it isn't okay to scream and yell when you are angry. She is so stubborn. I asked her to tell me that she would stop screaming when she was angry. How did she respond? "I'm not saying that, I'm not. I like to scream when I am angry." Hmmm... My response. "Well, I've asked you to use your words when you are angry. Every time you scream, you will have time out. You need to tell me why you are angry" So that's what we did. Who knows if it will have a positive impact. It has to be better than the alternative. Aubrey screams, I ask her not to, she screams again and runs away, I chase her down, scream back that we don't scream, Ainsley starts crying and hugs my leg, Aubrey throws something... Yeah, I'm over that. We'll see if I can make it two days without angry mommy resurfacing.

Pictures

Nothing says weekend like blueberry pop tarts and a movie.
Aubrey was pleasantly surprised by how much a pop tart tasted like dessert.

Funny things my kids do

still no pictures...

We were at Kohl's today at 1:00. That's nap time, but I needed to get a camisole to go under a dress I need to wear next weekend so naps were postponed. At 1:00 on the dot, Aubrey started crying because she wanted to sit in the stroller/clothes holder thingy. Ainsley slumped back and started asking for her "banket." In other words, they were sleepy girls and wanted their beds. I got them into them by 1:30 :) It was just too cute to see their body's reaction to the time.

Whenever Ainsley protests about the food I give her Aubrey jumps into help. "Look sister, it's yummy (takes bite) I like it! Try it sister, you like this. It's so very very very yummy." She did this today with popcorn and zucchini. What a great big sister!

Ainsley tells me when she is going to poop. When she finishes she walks over to me, lays down. throws her legs up and says "pew, tinky, tinky." I've tried to put her on the potty since she tells me in advance, but she yells "down" and then holds her poop for a few hours. I guess her telling me doesn't mean she wants to sit on the potty!

Aubrey is still obsessed with pink and matching. If she can wear pink, she does. She wants pink socks for Christmas to match her pink everything else and she matches her Lego's when she builds.

Hmmm...

So I only make whole chickens when Mike is home. Why? Meat on bone is gross, especially poultry. I hate handling it! We generally live off of ground beef, boneless chicken breasts, and pork chops. Throw in the occasional meal of roast or ribs and that's about it. Well, last night I had a defrosted chicken that needed to be cooked. I cleaned it, pulled out the inside the chicken stuff, dried it, seasoned it, rammed it onto my beer can chicken thingy, (after pouring half of the beer into a glass for Mike to drink later) and cooked it. That is about where I ran out of steam.

I took the chicken out of the oven and then had to figure how to get it off this metal contraption. That was a riot for the kids to watch. I splashed grease all over my shirt, so unless I can get that out, dinner turned out to be pretty expensive! I wrestled the chicken onto a plate and needed to cut it. I have NO IDEA how to cut a whole chicken. I managed to get the legs off with a bit of the thighs connected and gave up. I wrapped the chicken in aluminum foil and left it for Mike to cut up when he got home from worship practice. I really appreciate my husband and his help in the kitchen, especially his constant enabling of my disgust for meat on bone. Thanks Mikey for handling meat that resembles the original food source. I REALLY appreciate it.

No new pictures

For whatever reason, we haven't taken any pictures in the last few weeks. In the world of digital I rarely go a day without a new picture of my kids, so it feels kinda weird. I don't really have anything interesting to post about. I had my second week of Bible Study today and it was a nice start to the day. Aubrey repeatedly told me the entire way there that she did not want to go learn about Jesus and wanted to go to the park instead. Silly kid! I informed her that being a member of our family meant many years of learning about Jesus so she better get used to it! She did cry when I left her class and had to be pried off me by Miss Kate! Thanks Miss Kate. I then dropped Ainsley off who also cried when I left, but she got over it before I was out of ear shot. After the study I went to pick up Ainsley. She started clapping and ran to me, Can you feel the love? Then I went downstairs to pick up Aubrey. She showed me her craft of baby Moses in the basket, and then put it in her backpack. As we walked by the playground she told me that her class got to play outside and that she went down the big yellow slide. Great! And then, bam, she had dropped to the ground throwing a full on tantrum. "Aubrey, what's wrong?" "I want to go back to my class and play. I like school!" I reassured her that we would come back next week, but we needed to go home at the moment. Nope, she was in fit mode. I had my arms full of Ainsley, Bible, purse, and left over muffins. I walked about twenty feet from her and told her I was leaving. Other moms were walking by asking if she was lost or needed help. This just enraged her inner beast and she really was at it now. I returned to the scene, and firmly told her to stand up and walk with me. She eventually did but screamed bloody murder all the way to the car. I took many deep breaths on my way home and managed to have a nice time with my kiddos before nap. This is good practice for both of us. School will be here before we know it, and I am sure we have many tear filled days ahead.

Swimming in a Sea of Bitterness

Confession time. I am bitter, and I know I shouldn't be, but I just am. Sometimes it is about women whose bodies fall back into place minutes after giving birth, sometimes it's over Mike having nice working lunches at restaurants during the week while I eat PB&J and pretzel sticks, but today it is over something far more shameful. I am bitter because I am missing out on a really fun church picnic because I have young kids. See, I told you it was bad.

Instead of having normal church today, we had church at a local regional park. It started at 11:00. You see, Ainsley is still really working on this one nap thingy, and it is no where near perfected. So, I put her down at 9:00 desperately hoping that she would nap, she didn't. So I started loading the car with bells and whistles at 9:45, I figured we would just go early and play before service started. Ainsley had a major melt down while I was loading the car, I guess she thought that I was leaving her here... anyway, by the time we left we weren't going to be that early after all.

The kids did great sitting on the blanket, we played on the playground during the message (it was for the good of those around us) and came back for the closing song and had our picnic. Ainsley was exhausted and ready to leave, so we headed out at 12:45. Here's the bitterness, right when Mike got to play an hour long concert of hits from the 80's and 90's. So I was a little bitter that I was missing it, and a lot bitter that he got to stay. He actually just got home so I am a lot less bitter that he's missing out too, but this is just one of those parent things that I hate. I hate missing out on fun things because of naps. Aubrey could have hung and skipped her nap, but poor Ainsley had already been up for 4 hours when we got there. That's just a long time for a little munchie. I know it a season, and I am supposed to cherish it, since it will be gone soon enough. But today I am bitter and feeling guilty about it. Which brings me to my next issue. emotional eating. Don't do it Rachel, having a sugary soda won't help!!!

a whole lot of nothing

Here's a picture of the girls playing the "crawl off the couch" game. They also play a "walk off the couch" game, jump off the step stool game, and the "use the ball to do a somersault" game.

Aubrey wakes up between 6:22-6:24 each morning. That's early!

Ainsley wales up 15 minutes later, but I try to ignore her until 7:00. I want my kids to sleep to 7:00!

I started a Bible Study yesterday. It's two hours, that's a long time for my kids to be in child care! They both did great. Aubrey learned that the Bible is true and Jesus is a friend. Ainsley learned the joy of rocking chairs and nice ladies. She was very tired when we got home. I learned that you cannot drop your kids off with peanut butter crackers because of potential allergies of other children.

I'm noticing a difference in my arms and legs from working out. My mid-section seems as big as ever. I'm really wanting faster results in that area. I also haven't lost any weight. I guess I'll have to scale back on my calorie intake yet again. I really like calories.

Prison Break started back up this week. I think I am over it, it just didn't hold me interest. I am usually a loyal fan once I love a show, but I may have to drop this one. They have through the month to grab my attention, or I am out.

There's just a few things that are running through my head this morning. I'm sure there are many more, but until I have my coffee and shower, I will be a in cloud of fog.

Halloween

Okay, so Aubrey has told me three times now that she wants to be a witch for Halloween. One time she said she wanted to be a spider, but with her crazy fear of all things crawly, I am sure she won't hold to it. She also wants Ainsley to be a pumpkin. Why? Well, Little Einstein's Happy Halloween episode has June as a witch and Annie as a pumpkin. Annie is Leo's younger sister on the show. June and Annie are Aubrey's favorites. So, unless there is a big shift in the next few weeks, I am well on my way to a little witchling for Halloween. I'm not sure how I feel about it. June is a cute witch and it would be a fairly easy costume, but still!