The Chaplins

20 Questions

2012-02-08T16:53:00.001-06:00

Another fun idea I got off Pinterest is asking your child the same 20 questions each year for their birthday and seeing how the answers change. We started this last year with Carter and hope to do it with all the kids. Here are his answers:

How old are you? 7

Who is your best friend? I don’t have one (I think it’s Julan – not that he doesn’t have any friends, I just don’t know that he has one best friend right now)

What is your favorite color? Blue

What is your favorite food? Cornbread

What do you like to do with your family? Go to fun places

What is your favorite toy? iPod

What do you want to be when you grow up? A policeman or in the Army

What makes you happy? Mommy (awwww)

What makes you sad? Getting hurt

What is your favorite show to watch? Bey Blades

What is your favorite book? Harry Potter

What do you love to learn about? Science

What was the best part of your birthday? The Original Pancake House, presents

Where do you like to go? Fun places – Chuck E. Cheese’s

Who is your teacher? Frau Buchert

What is your favorite treat? Pop Rocks

What do you think about before you fall asleep? Whatever book I’ve just been reading

If you could meet someone famous who would it be? Thomas Edison (???)

What was your favorite birthday present? iPod

I think it’s funny how a lot of his answers had to do with what he did that day and what was fresh on his mind. It will be fun to see where these go over the years!

He’s 7!!!

2012-02-07T14:29:00.001-06:00

Where has my baby gone?!? I say this every year, but I seriously can’t believe how the time has flown by. It seems so recent that we just had this little one. And now I’m pregnant with our last. Where did the time go? Carter has become such a little man. He keeps us on our toes and challenges me every day to be a better mom. Without him, I might have been ok settling for mediocrity. He definitely pushes me to be the best that I can be and to figure out how I can be better. Here are some of my favorite things about him right now:

He goes to a German immersion school and he has picked up the language so well. He doesn’t speak it much at home, but when I see him talking to his teacher at school, it kind of blows me away. That little brain really is a sponge.

He is very observant – sometimes too observant for his own good. He often comes home telling us about things he saw or overheard that day. I think he “overhears” a lot when he is pretending to be ignoring everyone.

He thinks he is hilarious. He is always making up jokes and laughing hysterically at them.

He wants to grow up way too fast. He feels that he should be treated as an adult and loves it when he is.

He is pretty nerdy – still loves his Star Wars and Harry Potter. He knows all the characters from both and all the spells from HP. When he gets mad at Ben and Samantha he’ll bust out a spell on him. We’ve had to make the unforgivable ones off limits.

These days, this is how he spends most of his time. I love that he loves to read, but getting him to do anything else is a challenge sometimes. Who knew I would have to ground him from books? He is almost done with the 7th Harry Potter book, hence the spells. Mike is a little jealous of Carter’s speed reading skills . Who knew the Harry Potter glasses would be so prophetic? For his birthday I let Carter and Samantha skip school and we went out to the Original Pancake House for breakfast. Denny’s had been his favorite up until this moment. The blueberry pancakes knocked his socks off. Blueberry and regular syrups? Heaven. The rest of us were pretty pleased with our French Toast. Ben was just happy to have food in front of him. Afterwards, Carter had the choice to go wherever he wanted. Of course we ended up at Chuck E. Cheese’s. In his defense, we went bowling the past 2 birthdays, so he has mixed it up a little. I still feel like we spend way too much time and money there. But… is was his day and his choice. So Chuck E. Cheese’s it was. And we all had a great time. Present time! More Star Wars, because that’s what we need in this house. What the heck? Why would I need an iTunes gift card? Weird. Unless…It is! Carter got his own iPod this year. A very generous friend gave us her old one at a fabulous price. Now Carter can leave ours alone! And it didn’t take long… Like father, like son I guess.

We’re so glad you picked our family Carter! We love you and can’t imagine life without you!

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

2012-02-06T15:10:00.001-06:00

That seems to be what we are made of around here. For those who don’t know (I haven’t been great about announcing it), I’m 22 weeks pregnant with a little boy. I have to admit, the idea of another boy has taken some getting used to. I felt like I was sicker with this pregnancy than the other boys and I was so sure it was a girl. I’ve been right with the other 3, so I thought it was a done deal. Samantha wants a sister really badly and I want her to have a sister. Some of my best friends are my sisters and I want Samantha to have that for herself. But alas, the ultrasound tech was as close to 100% sure as you can be that it is indeed a boy. I told her to be sure, because I would be getting rid of all my little girl clothes (sniff, sniff). She told me to bring it back in if it’s a girl, because she would like to see that for herself. Samantha cried when she found out, she was pretty devastated. Mike and I are happy that everything seems to be going well and he looks healthy. Samantha is getting used to the idea of always having her own room (at least once the baby is old enough to share with Carter and Ben). The pink crib bedding has been returned and we are on to picking out boy names. Right now it’s looking like Adam, but we’ll see if that lasts.

We are excited and a little bit overwhelmed for this next stage in life. Since I’ve been feeling better I’ve been getting a lot done around the house. It has happened with the last 2 pregnancies too. I ‘m not sure if it’s nesting, the impending year of getting nothing done, or just the fact that the youngest is finally old enough to entertain themselves for longer than 5 minutes, but I tend to get a lot done during the last four or five months of pregnancy. When I told Mike I was pregnant with this last one, one of the first things he said was “You’re going to nest, right?” So far, I have grouted and painted the second kitchen upstairs that we have been meaning to get to for the last 3 years. I’ve also been doing some serious organizing, which I really love. I have a few building projects up my sleeve once we get some nicer weather – some bookshelves, a storage bench, things like that. Time is flying and before I know it he will be here and things will never be the same!

Pinterest Achievements

2012-02-02T21:47:00.001-06:00

I’m hoping that everyone reading this has heard of Pinterest. If you haven’t, you are missing out on a colossal time eating hobby. One of the jokes about Pinterest is that we all sit around pinning things and never making them/following through. In order to dispel this myth, I would like to share some of my favorite Pinterest finds.

I made this dessert for Thanksgiving and it was sooo good (and pretty easy). But the chocolate on the toffee bits looked kind of gross. Next time, I’ll stick with just plain toffee bits.

We had this knock-off of the Melting Pot’s Spinach Artichoke fondue for New Year’s Eve. I couldn’t stop eating it.

This punch also made it’s debut on New Year’s Eve.

These Krispy Kreme donuts were to die for. Although they were more like cake donuts than Krispy Kremes, but whatever. Definitely will be making these again.

While it may come as no surprise to those who know me best that most of my Pinterest accomplishments are food related, my proudest and favorite ones are not.

I used this tip to clean the burners on my stove and they have never looked better. Ok, maybe when we first bought the stove they did. But not since then. Seriously amazing.

And the one that I am most proud of? I finished this one last night:

I already had folders in a few spots of things that I wanted to keep that the kids had made, along with report cards and school pictures, but now I have one spot to put everything and I love it! I made 4 boxes (Office Max has them on sale right now) and so I am set for all of the kids’ stuff that needs saving!

I guess what I am trying to say is that while Pinterest can be a giant waste of time, when used responsibly, it can really lead to some great discoveries! And if you aren’t currently on Pinterest, you probably should be.

Short and Sweet

2012-02-02T21:19:00.001-06:00

Once upon a time there was a bear named Winnie the Pooh. He sang a song when you pushed his tummy. He had a ferocious friend named Tigger. They were BFF’s. When they needed protecting, they called on their friend, the knight. Who tended to be a little dramatic at times. But was brave and ferocious in his own right. This past Halloween, they all got together and robbed the neighborhood of all their treats. “Hey guys, wait for me!”

The end.

…And we’re back

2012-02-02T21:08:00.001-06:00

And alive. I know that it may not seem like it after my 4 month hiatus. But in my defense, it’s been an eventful 4 months. Due to this little boy in my belly, 3 of those months I spent nauseous and exhausted and so instead of blogging I just went to bed at 8. Then when I started feeling better around Christmas time, I got sick – some mammoth cold that I couldn’t get over. Once I finally beat that, I felt that it was time to finally get around to cleaning my house and getting some much needed projects out of the way. On top of all that, waking up early for seminary is killing me. I love my class, and I am learning sooooo much, but I am not a morning person and never will be. So here I am, still tired, but getting back on the blogging wagon. I’ve had some posts floating around in my brain for a while, so it will be nice to get those out. And unfortunately, since this is my family journal/scrapbook, there will be much catching up. I’ve got some serious motivation going on right now, so hopefully I’ll stick with it. I’m not sure if it’s nesting, or just knowing that with 4 kids it is highly unlikely that I will accomplish anything else around the house for a very long time. But I have been getting a lot done, so here we go!

Happy Fall!

2011-10-28T23:00:00.002-05:00

And here’s the new! We have had a fun October! We started with our once-a-year leaf raking for the kids to jump in. Always a good time. Crazy how much Samantha has grown!

2008
200920102011
We went to pick apples at the local orchard. These kids are getting fast! We had 1 1/2 bushels picked in no time. Now if only I could get them to can them as fast as they pick them…Dang I love this little boy. Well hello, little devil girl. Carter took this one, I have to say he did a pretty good job. And what better to do with apples than cover them in caramel? Needless to say, this was by far the favorite part of the day. So cute with his glasses. And to finish off the festivities, we decorated Halloween cookies and carved pumpkins tonight. Ben’s favorite was the cookies. Happy Halloween!

Something old, something new…

2011-10-28T22:44:00.001-05:00

Still recapping this last summer…

Our big vacation this year was to Yellowstone. We started out by driving out to Billings, MT to see some of our favorite people – our Montana cousins (I believe I mentioned our mad naming skills previously). We went out on to the rims and did a little hiking. It was a fabulous view and we didn’t get bitten by any rattle snakes, so that was a plus. The kids loved hanging out with their cousins. I mean really loved hanging out with their cousins. Mike and I enjoyed not having to do any parenting all week because the cousins were keeping them so busy.

And then on to Yellowstone! Speaking of views, that place is a.maz.ing. I wish I could put a cabin there. I could give up a lot of modern conveniences to wake up to this every morning. As you might guess, we saw a lot of wild life – tons of buffalo, an elk, moose, osprey, bald eagles, and probably more that I don’t remember now. The highlight was the wolf that passed right by us as we were on a bridge taking pictures. Apparently they are very rare and this one was probably the alpha male of the pack, according to the nice park ranger. It was pretty awesome. My personal favorite were the bears. Ok, this one too. We actually saw two bears, on the last day we were there. This was the closer one of the two. A bunch of our Utah family met us up there too. My parents – Grandma and Paca, as Ben now affectionately refers to him. My cute sisters – Turtle, Sarah and Michelle. It was so fun to spend time with them! Our Montana cousins had their bikes with them and Aunt Holly tried to teach Carter how to ride without training wheels. He rode for 30 seconds or in all his tasseled glory until he ate it, narrowly missing a tree. Since then, he has refused to try again. Carter learned the art of roasting marshmallows to blackened perfection. And got in touch with his outdoorsy side. Ben fell in love with his “Paca”. This kid loves finding pictures of Paca around the house, calling him, and he’s super excited for him to come out for Thanksgiving. Here’s the man himself…All in all, it was a great time! We’ll definitely be back.

June in October

2011-10-09T22:27:00.001-05:00

That’s right. I’m going down memory lane here. It’s been a while, but I feel like I haven’t had a lot of free time lately. I’m not going to lie, teaching seminary is a lot more time intensive than I thought it would be. It’s so good for me, but it’s a lot of work to prepare a lesson every day. With that and catching up on the last 6 seasons of Friday Night Lights, blogging has fallen to the bottom of the list. But there are things that I want included in my blog book at the end of the year, so I’m going to recap.

First, the start of the summer. Carter and Samantha had such great teachers. It was hard to say goodbye. I teared up a little when I said goodbye to Ms. Jones. She was Carter’s teacher for 2 years, and then Samantha’s for k3. After seeing her everyday for 3 years, I was sad to say goodbye. I’m just hoping she’s still around when it’s Ben’s turn to go to school. Carter’s teacher was so good for him. He had a great kindergarten year and he still talks about her. Mrs. Stuppan pushed him to work harder and be better, and he did so well in her class. They had a little graduation program for the class at the end of the year. I didn’t realize what a big deal it was (flowers, balloons, gifts, the whole 9 yards) and forgot my camera, so I ended up with nothing but a few iPhone pictures. I’ll do better for the real thing. Here he is with his best friend Isaiah and another girl I had never met before that day. Look how proud they are of their “diplomas”. So cute.

Apparently not much else picture-worthy happened in June. Stay tuned for July and our Yellowstone trip. And I promise, there will be some more entertaining posts in the near future.

Look Who’s Two!

2011-09-18T22:22:00.001-05:00

Actually, he’s been 2 for a while now. He turned 2 on the 6th. And believe me, we had lofty plans for his big day! Unfortunately, all the fun places we had planned to go were closed on Labor Day when we had planned on going. Then, on his actual birthday, Samantha threw up on the bus ride to school and we ended up staying home. We did have some good friends over for a small celebration though. In spite of our foiled attempts to get out and have fun he got to eat lots of good food and play with some toys. All in all, a good day in Ben’s book.

Here are some of my favorite things about Ben.

He is hilarious. About 6 months ago, he looked and me and said “I funny Mommy”. And he really is. He loves making people laugh. He loves to tease, tickle, and make faces. Whatever it takes. Lately, it’s the faces. As you can see he has quite the arsenal of them. Lately, he’s started saying “just kidding”.

He is a tank. This kid is 30 lbs. and 35 inches of chunk. He eats constantly. He knows how to open the fridge and does so on at least an hourly basis. He loves milk, string cheese, yogurt, fruit leather, goldfish, and really anything else he can swallow. At this rate, I’m going to have to find a couple of jobs to feed this one as a teenager. He loves his babies. This one in particular. We are really clever about naming our dolls in this house and refer to this one as naked baby. We also have pink baby and orange baby, named after the color of clothes they are wearing. Really unique, I know. Anyways, he has really latched on to naked baby and sleeps with him/her, changes it’s diaper and gives it baths. It’s really quite cute. He is very particular about his sleeping situation. He is my pickiest in that area by far. He likes to sit on the closed toilet to have his teeth brushed. He likes to read How does a dinosaur love his cat after brushing his teeth. He has to be the one to shut the door, turn off the light, and turn on his sound machine (in that order). Then he needs his blanket (luckily, it just has to be one of the 5 or 6 flannel ones I made when he was born) and a few minutes in the rocking chair with some songs. Then he needs two blankets on him and you must say good night as you are leaving. He then shouts “Good night Mommy/Daddy!” after you close the door at which point you have to open the door and say good night once again. Um, high maintenance much? I hold Mike responsible. I spent the first 18 months of his life putting him in bed with one blanket and singing twinkle twinkle little star as I walked out of the room. He is incredibly energetic. I guess he needs to burn off all that food he eats. This kid doesn’t walk anywhere. He runs, hops, jumps, shuffles or stomps everywhere he goes. Most likely he is just a normal little boy, but Carter and Samantha are pretty lazy, so he wears me right out. He loves to sing. I was listening to a song the other day in the car and by the end of the song, he was singing along with it. I have to watch what I’m listening to! My all-time favorite is when he belts out “MOTHER KNOWS BEST!” or “I’ve got a dream!” (both from the Tangled soundtrack). He sings along to You are my Sunshine at bedtime and I’ll frequently catch him singing “Baby, oh! Baby, no!”. That’s right, he’s got a bit of the Beiber fever. He hates messes. I love this about him. Although this doesn’t mean that he never makes them, he is all about helping clean them up. He asks for napkins at meals and says “that’s gross” at least 3 times a day. Here he’s showing me his sticky hands. He’s discovered how to get up on the toilet and wash his own hands now. I’m hoping that his dislike for being messy will help us out in the potty training department (a girl can dream, right?).He is obsessed with busses, trains, cars, airplanes, and trucks. Every time he sees a bus – city or school, he shouts “a point for me!” and he’s always the first one to spot them. It’s a random game that the kids play in the car. Ben is always the one that Carter and Samantha want on their team. I attempted to decorate his cake with a school bus. I decorated it the night before though, and the frosting started to run by the time we served it. Rookie mistake. And yes, there is a bite taken out of the 2. I’ll let you guess who did it. Ok, it was him. I am absolutely loving spending all day with this little boy. He is so much fun to be around. He is an awesome little buddy to hang out with! We’re so glad that he came to our family!

And for your viewing enjoyment, here are a few more from his collection of funny faces.

Oops.

2011-08-21T19:14:00.001-05:00

So I was cleaning up my Google pictures account after our trip to Yellowstone, making room for my family’s web album. I came across an album with all of my blog’s pictures in it. Mistakenly thinking that this must just be where the blog gets them from initially I tested out a picture, deleting it. Nothing happened to the blog, so I went ahead and deleted it. Big mistake. I should have listened to my gut and left it. It deleted pretty much all the pictures from my blog posts from the last 3 years. I’m not even trying to fix the older posts, but as I try to fix the newer posts they might come up again on your readers. Just FYI. And as a side note, if you feel like you shouldn’t delete something, you probably shouldn’t.

Video

2011-08-02T22:46:00.001-05:00

If you are using Google Reader, I don’t think the video from the last post shows up. You can view it here.

So Blessed.

2011-08-02T20:23:00.001-05:00

I was making dinner tonight and noticed that someone had turned on the TV. I went in to turn it off and saw this on the news(warning, it’s a little bit graphic and it might make you cry).

I cried through the whole story and then for a few minutes afterwards. All of a sudden I felt so blessed for all that I have and so petty for worrying about all of the little things that I worry about on a daily basis. Things like not having the right ingredients for a recipe. Things like not having the house that I want right now. Things like wishing I was skinnier.

I have never had to leave my home to find food. I have never had to see my kids go without. My biggest fear in the world is having to tell my kids that there is no food left. This is the main driving force behind my compulsive need to store extra food for times of need. My heart breaks when I think of these mothers – hungry and suffering in their own right trying to comfort their dying children. I pray that I never know the sorrow that they must feel every day. I pray that my family and I never have to know that pain.

The hardest part of seeing this suffering is knowing that there is very little I can do to help. If I could, I would invite them into my home. I would package meals and send them over. However, I know that my good intentions and sympathy won’t fill bellies. My sympathy pains are hollow without action. So, here is what I’m doing about it. I’m planning on skipping the grocery shopping for this week and donating our grocery money for the week to UNICEF. The kids are having a rummage sale, selling some of their toys and donating the proceeds (they may or may not know about this yet). Here is my challenge to you: Do something. Anything. Look through your pantry and see if you can skip grocery shopping this week. Have a bake sale. Have a rummage sale. Look at your budget and see if there is any way you can squeeze out a few dollars. Then donate it to UNICEF. Or the U.N.’s World Food Programme. Or Save the Children. Or the LDS Humanitarian Fund. You can learn more about these programs and others here and here. It may be just a drop in the bucket, but a drop is better than nothing. Then spread the word and ask your friends to do the same. Then hug and kiss your little ones and thank God that you were born where you were.

The great outdoors

2011-07-11T15:51:00.001-05:00

Typically, me and my kids are homebodies. We love hanging out around the house. While this is pretty low maintenance, it leads to pretty boring lives. So, in an attempt to get the kids going in the mornings, and to get us out of the house more often, we sit down on Sundays and plan out fun things to do each morning. Today’s plan was feeding the ducks. We were all a bit disappointed when we woke up this morning to thunderstorms. By the time we were ready to go, the serious rain had stopped and so we decided to gear up and head out. I’m so glad we did! We only found one duck, but she had some babies tagging along. Super cute. Since there wasn’t much duck action, we went for a little walk down the river. It was really shallow, so I let the kids walk in it a little bit. They had a blast playing in the water. We found another Momma duck with her baby and a crawfish (which we thought was dead, but turned out to be alive – freaked.me.out.). Then on our way back, we found a huge snapping turtle in a puddle! I don’t know what people are talking about when they say turtles are slow, because this turtle was quick! It stuck around for a few minutes of shell-petting and us trying to lift it up with an umbrella and then he was out of there. He hightailed it back to the river.

Did you know that snapping turtles have freakishly long tails?

Oh yeah, and all these pictures were taken with my new favorite app, camera+. Love it.

Farm Trip

2011-06-21T22:37:00.000-05:00

Samantha’s class had their annual petting farm fieldtrip this past week and we all tagged along. It really is a cute place, even if it is far away (it’s out past East Troy). I was hesitant to bring Carter, I thought he would be pushy and make it hard for the littler kids to have a good time, but he fit right in, and did great. He and Samantha spent most of the day like this:

He caught chickens for her:

And of course for himself. And I totally regret getting him the transition lenses – they don’t work so well for outdoor pictures. You may not have known this, but Carter is a goat whisperer. Actually, the goat was probably trying to eat his face. The pony rides are always a favorite. There was no hanky panky this year, like there was last year. Even Ben got to ride. He thought he was too cool to hold on though and then blamed the handler when he almost fell off. Look at that evil eye. The hayride is always fun. You know, they smash a thousand 3 and 4 year olds in a trailer and take us for a 10 minute ride. Good times. This is Sammy’s BFF of the moment, Anya. Mike has always wanted a pot belly pig for a pet. Although the kids enjoyed giving this one a little bum rub, I can’t get over the nastiness of the whole thing. There will be no pig pets for me. And as a random side note, turkeys have to be the ugliest creature on the face of the earth. This one looked like it stuck its head in a bowl of wax and then drip dried. I guess that rules out turkeys as pets too. Too bad, they could really come in handy as food storage…

One tooth-less kid

2011-06-19T22:42:00.000-05:00

Carter lost his first tooth tonight! It’s been loose for a little while now, and it finally came out tonight! It’s a good thing, because he already has the replacement coming in behind it. Here’s hoping that it straightens out now that it has a little bit more room!

He was so proud! Then he started feeling a little bit queasy…And it went downhill from there. He went pale, got cold and clammy and headed for the bathroom to hug the toilet. Apparently the sight of blood makes him sick. The kid can break a leg and not break a sweat, but show him a little bit of blood coming from his gums and he loses it. Go figure. My baby’s growing up!

The princesses

2011-06-08T22:49:00.000-05:00

I think that girls are hard-wired somehow to love princesses. I personally don’t remember ever being in love with them. That may have had something to do with the media black hole that is the 80’s and early 90’s for me. Maybe I just missed them when I was at that vulnerable age. Anyways, back to the topic… Me and the kids went rummaging the other day and Samantha brought along some of her money in case she found something that she loved. She still had $8 in her pocket when we were done. We had to run to Wal-Mart to pick up Carter’s new glasses (he broke the first pair already) and that money was just burning a hole in Sammy’s pocket. She would look at anything brightly colored – at one point checking out the razor isle. Lip gloss, brushes, you name it and she was trying to buy it. Finally we got to the fish isle. Turns out you can buy pretty much everything you need to set up a goldfish bowl for about $8. Meet the princesses –Ariel, Aurora and Bell. Apparently Bell looks like a grandpa to Carter. Don’t ask me who is who, because it changes on a daily basis.

I was trying to set her up for the eventual death of one of them by just mentioning how one would probably die fairly soon. For the next few days, she would say “I’m just going to go see if one of them died”. Then a surprised “they’re still alive!”. I ~~hope~~ don’t expect them to last long with how much she feeds them and the trauma that they go through on almost a daily basis. Who knows though? Maybe they will last forever and she can take them to college with her. Although by then she may have to change their names.

Night at the zoo

2011-06-08T22:48:00.000-05:00

Tonight they had a special night at the zoo to celebrate the new butterfly exhibit. Please take note, I am blogging about something within 24 hours of it happening. It may never happen again. Anyways, since I am a single mom this evening, I thought we would get out of the house. I’m glad we did. There were crafts, which Carter was very focused on…If only real bugs were this cute. Ben got to use markers, which pretty much makes the night a success for him. I love, love, love this picture of Ben. He had no idea what to think of the train. When the conductor blew the whistle, he jumped in my lap and didn’t leave for the rest of the ride. As for the butterflies, apparently they thrive at temperatures rivaling those at the gateway of hell. With 178% humidity. I got my camera out to get a picture of Samantha holding one and everything fogged right up. So imagine her holding a cute little butterfly, and you get the picture. We lasted about 10 minutes in that sweaty sauna.

All in all, a successful day. I don’t see what’s so hard about single parenting. Kidding! I know it’s not all butterflies and tattoos.

Did I mention there were tattoos there too? That last sentence would probably make a lot more sense if I had.

Worth it.

2011-06-08T22:44:00.000-05:00

Tonight out of the blue, Ben came up behind me, gave me a hug and said “I love you mom”. Of course it wasn’t that clear, but it’s definitely what he said. It’s the first time he’s just said it without me saying it first. I have to say it totally melted my heart. These little moments are what makes it all worth it.

Story time!

2011-06-05T09:47:00.000-05:00

Once upon a time there was a bathroom. It was an ugly bathroom. An ugly bathroom in an ugly house. It sat, unused and unclean for months while it waited for a new owner to come and save it from it’s ugliness. It had a pink toilet. And a pink sink…And yes, a pink tub. And a nasty floor. And tile that was covering moldy walls that were caving in. This bathroom was tired of looking so bad and feeling so unloved. One day, the new owners that it had dreamed of came along. That bathroom was hopeful as they quickly got rid of that pink toilet, cleaned up the place, and put in new flooring. Soon after came a new white vanity. And a fancy electrical outlet.

But then the progress stopped. That poor bathroom watched as every other room in the house was painted. It became even sadder when the upstairs bathroom was finished and the owners stopped using its shower. Month after month it sat there, half finished, with 4 of its faux tiles popped off where the outlet now sat. It started to think that it would never be pretty. It tried to get some attention by turning off all hot water pressure in the winter, leaking under the sink, and even springing a wax ring leak under the toilet (unbeknownst to the owners).

Then one day, the owners' uncle – Sam, I think it was, sent them a check. And soon after that check came, a nice man named Scott came. Scott cut out that nasty faux tile, pulled up the floor and tore that bathroom apart! Then, a nice man named Tom, and his plumber friend Derek came along and make it all look new! They replaced pipes and hung drywall. They tiled the floor and shower and put in a new tub. By the end of the month, that bathroom felt hotter than a teenage girl headed to prom!

And so, without further adieux, let me introduce the star of our story, Downstairs Bathroom!I love the trim in the shower. It’s kind of hard to get good lighting in there, but you get the gist. I have to toot my own horn here – this was the first time that I have ever used our miter saw on my own. And if I do say so myself, that is one fine looking laundry chute.

I have to admit, it’s now one of my favorite rooms in the house. Come stop by and cop a squat (is that really what it’s called?)! Or just wash your hands, or whatever.

Stay tuned for the story of upstairs kitchen/family room.

Look who’s four!

2011-05-23T10:39:00.000-05:00

Ok, so her birthday was over a month ago. I’ve turned into one of those bloggers… I’ve accepted it and I think I’m ok with it.

Samantha got to celebrate her birthday twice this year. Aunt Christine made sure she was taken care of while we were in Virginia. She got Sammy a fabulous princess cake and some of the best gifts a little 4 year old girl could ask for – a purse, a tiara, nail polish and a bunch of lip gloss. Samantha was in heaven.

For her actual birthday, we had been planning on being in the car driving back from Virginia. But, since we made it back in one day instead of two, we were able to go out and celebrate on her birthday. She picked Monkey Joe’s. The kids had a blast. Mike, not so much. Too much chaos. Ben had an accident as we were loading the car up to come home. He has healed nicely since. On a random note, of all the things to do at Monkey Joe’s. guess what Ben’s favorite thing is? That’s right, the hand sanitizer. He goes from pump to pump saying “hands! hands! hands!”. At least he’s got good hygiene, right? And he just saw the picture and started saying it again. He has a thing for hand sanitizer.

I let Samantha pick out her own cake. She was very excited about the Easter rings on the cupcakes. Other than the gift she got from Jon and Christine, this was her favorite gift. A doll that pees. Isn’t that every little girl’s dream?

Samantha is such a great addition to our family. I can’t imagine life without her. She is such a sweet girl. She loves girly things like lip gloss, princesses, nail polish and dresses, but she can hold her own in a light saber battle, and can climb just as high as Carter can on the playground. She is never one to be told what she can’t do. She loves being active and would much rather play outside than watch TV, although she is quite the Wii player. She’s doing great in school and loves her teacher. She has never liked meat (except chicken nuggets of course) and starts most meals with a “I don’t like this…”. She loves hanging out with the girls and will sit quietly through a girl’s night out with me and my friends. In general she is an easy going, snuggle loving, helpful little girl and we love her!

Easter

2011-05-23T10:25:00.000-05:00

I always find that when I wait too long to blog about something all the witty comments I had to share are gone. So I have tried to keep it sweet and simple, here is our Easter in pictures. One day I will figure out lighting and Photoshop and my pictures will look amazing. I’ll let you know when that day arrives.

The Easter Bunny was good to us this year:That’s Tangled that she’s excited about. She’s probably watched it a billion times now. One of her favorite phrases is “find your humanity! Haven’t you ever had a dream?”Hunting for eggs…On second thought, I’m not sure any amount of Photoshop can overcome our lack of photogenetics. But we still try.I’m not sure why this picture cracks me up, but it does. Is it the way his arms don’t rest by his side because he is so chunky? Or is it because he’s supposed to be looking for eggs and he’s just staring at the ground? I don’t know. Seventh Annual Egg Toss. I’m not sure if I should be offended that I have been kicked off Team Chaplin or not. I guess someone’s got to take the pictures, right?Team Callister won this year. They don’t lack photogenetics. Ben got his own egg toss on this year. I think he shows promise. Carter had better watch his back, it won’t be long until he’s standing on the sidelines with me.

Road Trip!

2011-05-14T14:15:00.001-05:00

Last month we took a road trip to visit Mike’s brother and his family in Virginia. We had a great time, and the kids were surprisingly good on the drive. Ben just talked on the phone, and Carter and Samantha rocked out to Justin Bieber. Alright, that was just for the first five minutes or so. But we had enough snacks and videos to keep them ~~happy~~ from screaming the whole way there. The weather was so nice while we were there! We were able to play outside almost every day (which was a novel concept for these Wisconsinites). Still, with the big mouth. One of the highlights of the trip was visiting with an old friend. Mike and Cameron have been good friends since high school. We actually had our wedding reception at his house. Anyway, Cameron is in DC training for his new position with the State Department in Kenya. We haven’t seen him in a long time and haven’t ever really gotten to know his wife, Jaclyn. It was so good to visit with them. I’m glad we caught up with them before they shipped out to Africa. I was so impressed with how willing Jaclyn was to have her picture taken – she had her baby a couple of weeks after we saw them. Hopefully we’ll be seeing them again soon (safari anyone? Yes please!)!And of course, being so close to DC, we had to go and show the kids the sights. We didn’t have as much time as I thought we would, and I didn’t get to see the cherry blossoms, but we did hit most of the major sights.

The cousins joined us. Aren’t they super cute? Most people have a hard time believing that they are siblings, let alone twins. Of all the sights, this is the one that Carter kept coming back to. He’s a Chaplin though, I would expect nothing less. Samantha wasn’t feeling well, and she and Ben fell asleep in the stroller, but I swear they were there. Carter dreaming of the day that he lives in the White House. And Mike wins father of the year award here. Check him out with one on his back, two in the stroller, and my purse. What a man! And you know it’s a good day when they end up like this. This, by the way, is a classic Forster sleeping shot. She looks just like my Dad (ok, and me) when he falls asleep sitting up. I’m excited to go back when the kids are older and understand more about what a special place DC is.

We also celebrated Samantha’s birthday out there, but that's another post. Overall, we had a great time visiting with Jon and Christine. Now it’s their turn to come out here!

Packer Mania

2011-04-28T15:02:00.001-05:00

I guess we figured that since it looks like we are going to be here in Wisconsin indefinitely, we should probably hop on the Packer wagon. It’s a pretty big wagon, so it wasn’t hard. People here love their Packers. And I’m not just talking casually. It’s an obsession for many.

It all started with the annual Chaplin Super Bowl party. It’s pretty easy to cheer for a winning team, right?

I taught the kids a cheer: “We are the Packers, we are the best and we will conquer!”

From there it kind of snowballed:

Mike’s dad, Jim, had the opportunity to spend the month of March in Milwaukee for work. One of the things he wanted to see while he was out here was Lambeau Field. We’ve never really been, so we jumped at the chance. My sister Amber was lucky enough to be in town for the blessed event. During the tour you get to go through the tunnel that the Packers come out of on game day. They have a recording of the announcer and the game day crowd playing as you go through. The frozen tundra:Aren’t we a photogenic bunch? We struggle sometimes.You can’t leave this girl alone for one minute…I think a couple of other Packer Fans were made that day as well. Jim’s Milwaukee office gave him a bunch of Packers loot as a parting gift. And although she’s required to be a 49er’s fan by marriage, I know secretly Amber now holds the green and gold near and dear to her heart. We stopped at 5 guys on the way up to Green Bay. Yum! We love that place. I think if I had to pick one food to live off of for the rest of my life it would be french fries. Yes, I know that would be a short life. I shorty but a goodie!

Go Pack Go!

Baby Ben

2011-04-05T21:51:00.001-05:00

Can someone please tell me when this happened?

My little baby is all grown up! I was rocking him to sleep the other night, which only happens when he is sick, and it hit me. He’s not my baby anymore! The mouth full of teeth, the running around, and talking all should have clued me in earlier, but I guess I have been in denial. Here’s the latest.

He went in for his 18 month checkup yesterday. He’s 27 lbs and 33” tall. He seems really big for his age to me,but he’s in about the 70th percentile for both, so he’s not huge. He is a healthy boy though! I swear, all he does is eat. As soon as he is buckled into the car he starts asking for snacks. He runs to his chair anytime you ask if he wants food. Some days it really feels like all he does is eat. And make mischief. He is my most mischievous child by far. He loves to get into anything he’s not supposed to. Then he will run by me with the evidence to see if he gets a reaction. He loves to tease too. He’ll steal my phone and when I ask for it back he backs away with a grin, saying nooooo.

He’s becoming quite the talker – his favorite words are book, bye, yah, no, snack, milk, mom, look (gook), Samantha, Carter, excuse me, and cracker. He’s picking up on a lot more each day.

He loves to throw things, and always has. He absolutely loves to play catch, and it doesn’t have to be with a ball. He’ll throw clothes, food, toys, shoes, pretty much anything he can pick up.

He gets sooooo excited to see Mike or I when we have been apart - when I pick him up from Kid Care at work, nursery at church, or when one of us gets home. When he hears Mike open the door after work he starts kicking his feet and shaking his high chair (we’re usually eating dinner). He runs to him and gives him a huge leg hug. It’s the same thing anytime he greets us. We get a huge “HI!” and some serious excitement. I know it won’t last so I am thoroughly enjoying it.

He’s tough. He fell down the stairs to the basement the other day, landing on the concrete floor at the bottom. He cried for maybe 3 minutes and then was fine. He was more upset at being held down yesterday at the doctor’s office than he was with the shots. Usually you can ask him if he’s ok when he’s crying and he will say “yah” and stop crying.

He’s also getting into the temper tantrum stage, which I am not enjoying so thoroughly, but we’ll get through it. He’s such a fun, happy kid!

Now I just have to get my hands on another baby.

Save the rainforest and the animals!

2011-04-02T15:02:00.001-05:00

We went to see Born to be Wild this morning. It was all about orphaned orangutans and elephants and the people who help raise them and release them into the wild.

After the movie, we were talking about why these animals are orphans and how humans play such a big part in these animals lives and the situations that they are in. It led to a discussion on what we can do to help. They briefly showed a palm oil plantation in the movie and we talked a little bit about how the producers of palm oil are tearing down the rain forest and taking over the orangutans' home (you can read more about it here). I asked the kids what they thought we could do to help. they suggested we stop buying products with palm oil in them, donate money to these organizations, and do our part to help the earth. Then Carter, my little activist decided that making signs was the appropriate way to spread the word. In a compromise to keep him and Samantha from posting these signs all over the neighborhood, we decided to post this here. So, from Carter and Samantha:

Don’t buy anything with Palm Oil!

The red and orange are warning colors, of course.

We did go through our pantry to see what we would be giving up (nutella – ouch!), and the kids said they would do it. It turns out that most things with palm oil in them aren’t that great for you anyways. I can guarantee we won’t be perfect, but we are going to make a conscious effort to avoid buying palm oil. It’s my way of teaching my kids that we’re a part of something bigger I guess.

And honestly, it makes my little hippie heart happy.

Dream big or go home.

2011-02-17T21:07:00.001-06:00

That’s kind of our family motto. So it should come as no big surprise that when asked at school, Carter was able to put some pretty big dreams down on paper. They are as follows:

My dream for myself….

Beat Mario Wii

My dream for my family…

To never ground me from the Wii

My dream for my school…

Never points off.

Seriously, big dreams.

Oh, and we don’t really have a family motto. If we did, it would probably have something to do with food.

Ben

2011-02-02T21:34:00.001-06:00

I gave Ben a haircut a few weeks ago and took some “after” pictures to document it. I meant to just take a little bit off so I didn’t have to keep tucking it behind his ears. But it turns out he’s really not very good at holding still and after a few pretty serious mistakes, I busted out the clippers and went with the good old buzz cut. It turned out shorter than I had intended, but I still think he’s pretty freaking cute. You can decide for yourself.

Please disregard the sticky fingerprints on the chair. When we are done with it we will most likely burn it.

Ben

VIEW SLIDE SHOW

DOWNLOAD ALL

Some of my favorite things

2011-02-02T21:23:00.001-06:00

I always love to see what the latest and greatest finds are among my friends. Having had a few things stand out in my mind as being pretty dang great, I thought I would share some of my favorite finds.

This one was a Mother’s Day gift. Honestly, I wasn’t super excited about it at first. Then I had to use it. And use it again. And again. And again. See, my kids like to turn on the lights inside the car and leave them on. On top of that, my battery hasn’t loved the cold weather. I’ve used it to jump start my car more times than I can count. I’ve used it to jump other people’s cars as well. There’s nothing like a woman in a mini-van coming to a man’s aide. I’ve also used it to pump up a flat tire. Honestly, this was one of the most useful gifts I have ever received. I feel much more secure having this in my car.

UPDATE: Mine is a Peak brand jump starter with inflator. You can find it here. Mike got mine on at Sam’s club.

Ok, so I’m not a crockpot queen by any means. But when I do cook in it, I hate scrubbing it. Mine is black and it never seems to come clean. Then I found these babies and let me say that they are worth every penny. If you ever use a crockpot you need to get these. Seriously. Amazing.

These next two go together.

Fleece sheets

Heated mattress pad

At first, I was thinking that the fleece sheets would get too warm. Then I remembered that I live in Wisconsin and decided to go for it. I will never go back. Fleece sheets are amazing. They are so soft and they don’t get cold. Flannel sheets are great, but these are probably at least 98 times more cozy. Carter got some for Christmas and I don’t think I’ve seen a happier boy.

The heated mattress pad really just takes the cake. I could stay in bed all day. I turn it on before I brush my teeth and wash my face and by the time I get into bed it’s a toasty little piece of heaven. The king size comes with separate controls, so Mike doesn’t even have to turn his side on and I can leave mine on all night. I can’t recommend this one highly enough. FYI, they are sold at Kohl’s .

This last one is kind of random, but it is my favorite organizational tool lately. I found this at www.motivatedmoms.com. It’s basically a chore list. The premise is that if you do the daily chores, your house will stay clean and you won’t ever have to deep clean because it’s all broken up over the year. It also reminds you to do things like plan for birthdays, change furnace filters and water plants. It’s a pretty intense list, and I have had to get over my need to have everything checked off, because in all honesty, I rarely get it all done. But it has given me a routine of daily jobs that if I get done, will keep my house looking good. You do have to pay for it, which is a downside, but I think it’s been worth it. They do have an app as well, but it needs some work before it would be worth the money for me.

And last, but definitely not least are these Munchkin snack traps:

You can find them at Target. I love these things. I can fill it up with animal crackers and it will keep Ben happy for hours. He just carries it around and snacks. The lid keeps them from falling out and keeps him from shoving 20 crackers in his mouth at once. We give Ben one at the beginning of church and it will get us through at least 2 hours. They are great for the car as well. The only downside is that crumbs will still come out when it’s banged on something, so it’s best with less crumby snacks. The Stauffer’s animal crackers from Sam’s club are my favorite thing to put in these.

Those are some of my favorite things lately. What are some of yours?

We Survived!

2011-02-02T20:41:00.001-06:00

We had quite the storm last night! It had been talked up for a few days – “the storm of the decade”, “snowmageddon”, you get the idea. We were supposed to get up to 20 inches or so of snow. They were saying that if you go out on the roads, make sure to have a survival kit because if/when you got stranded, you wouldn’t get help for a while.

The wind was insane last night and before we went to bed we saw lightening and heard thunder, which typically means that it’s going to dump. So imagine our surprise when we went out this morning and saw this: The driveway was almost all cleared! The wind had just blown it away. Oh, wait. The wind dropped it all here:

And here. You can’t see it very well, but that drift running across the front lawn, sidewalk and driveway is at least 4 feet deep. What happened to the snow blower? I guess it doesn’t work quite as well when the snow is 3 times taller than it is.

Mike spent an hour and a half clearing snow. I spent another 2. Where is the masseuse when you need one?

I started running out of places to put the snow at the end. Luckily, it’s not supposed to snow again until this weekend. Wait, why do we live here again?

Christmas 2010

2011-01-16T23:43:00.001-06:00

Christmas was great this year. Honestly, with everything else going on throughout the month, it all kind of blurred together. We tried to make sure the kids knew the reason we celebrate Christmas, and I think they got it a little bit. But in the end, it was all about the toys. When is it not?

We had a quiet morning unwrapping gifts and then had friends over for dinner. It was a good day. Unfortunately, my usual mad camera skills were nowhere to be found that day and we ended up with a lot of these: Ben was confined to the high chair for most of the unwrapping. As long as he had something to unwrap he was fine with it. Samantha and Carter visited Santa at Winter fest at their school. Santa promised that if they would leave cookies and milk that he would indeed get them the princess toys and Bakugan video game that they asked for. Thanks Santa. What ever happened to “we’ll see what I can do” or a good non-committal “I’ll keep that in mind”? Someone needs Santa lessons. Luckily, Santa was able to pull through and deliver the goods (thanks Kohl’s.com!). All in all, I would say that Christmas 2010 was a success (other than the lack of pictures), and I think they would agree:

Birthday Boy!

2011-01-16T23:25:00.001-06:00

Six years ago, Carter made me a mommy and nothing has been the same since. He has always been a handful, in both good and bad ways. I can honestly say that there is never a dull moment with this boy. Sometimes it’s due to his bipolar tendencies, but mostly it’s because he is a smart, sassy, loving, imaginative, thoughtful young man.

One of my favorite things about Carter is the face he makes when you fill his love bucket. He gets this quirky smile and comes in for a big hug. He definitely wears his emotions – good and bad – on his sleeve. You never have to wonder where you stand with him, he’ll tell you. He’s super smart and very inquisitive, he likes to know everything about everything and everyone. He loves video games and Star Wars more than anything else right now. The last six years have taught me more than I thought possible and I have grown as a mother and a person. I wouldn’t trade them for the world!

One of the many reasons Carter was excited to get a walking cast was because he really wanted to go bowling for his birthday. It’s becoming a yearly tradition for him. But we all have fun, so it’s not a bad thing. Samantha could carry her own ball this year. We took a little break after the 4th frame to open gifts. Here’s how it went down:

“Ok, these Star Wars action figures are alright, but I hope the rest of these gifts are better than this…””This is more like it. I like Mario, I like chess. Let’s see what else there is…””Holy mother of Mario! It can’t be!””It is! It’s Super Mario Brothers! I can’t believe it!””Best. Birthday. EVER!!!” He was shaking with excitement at this point. I think he liked it. At one point he wanted to live with Aunt Amber in Utah because she has this game. Apparently he loves it more than he loves us. Guess what he did for the next 3 days. Birthday Karma was looking out for him, because after I had a good talk with him about how nobody wins anything out of these machines and how he would be wasting his money he won a football on his first try. And then he won the jackpot on this machine and won us all jawbreakers. We ended the night at Famous Dave’s where we were sure that Carter would love the ribs and cornbread (two of his favorite things ever). Well I got my payback for the Mario game when he told me that my cooking was much better. The birthday ice cream eased any disappointment in the food though. And you always know it’s been a good day when you see this when you get home.

Happy Birthday Carter! We love you!

Ben

2011-01-16T22:28:00.001-06:00

Ben started walking back in November, and I totally meant to post about it then. Then December came and kicked me in the rear. Now that I’ve recovered and regained my inner peace (cleaned my house), here’s what he’s been up to:

Walking! He didn’t seem to be in a hurry to get going, but he finally got it down in November. Mike said he took a few steps in church on the 28th, but I didn’t see it, so it doesn’t count. I did see the steps he took the next day. Teeth! Holy Moly, this kid is a tooth making machine! He was born teething (literally) and hasn’t stopped since. He has his 2 year molars already and his 4 canines just came through this week. These have been the hardest ones yet. After this, he should be done until he gets his 4 year old molars. Hopefully they will come in when he’s 4! I have been impressed with how happy he has been through it all. Ben is definitely my mischievous child. Carter is sassy, Samantha is destructive, and Ben is just mischievous. He knows when he shouldn’t be getting into something and loves to do it anyways. The bathroom is his favorite place to be naughty. I caught him with some of my mixing bowls in the toilet one time (yes, they have been thoroughly cleaned since). He loved to pull everything out of the bathroom cupboard until I put a lock on it. He laughs and squeals when I catch him. He loves to sneak through the baby gate when one of the kids are a little too slow closing it behind them. Mostly, he just loves to get in trouble.

He is a copy cat. He loves to imitate everything and everyone. When we walk outside he will caw like a crow. He is talking quite a bit and says lots of words, just because he likes to copy what we say. He will try to say pretty much anything you ask him to. He saw me clean the toilet once and since then has tried to do it himself a number of times. He saw me clean the litter box and keeps trying to do that too. Needless to say, there has been some serious hand washing going on around here.

He’s learning his body parts. Ask him to show you a nose and he will stick his finger right up whoever’s nose you are asking about. He discovered the cat’s nose tonight. I don’t think she was super excited about that.

He is a great sleeper. He goes to bed around 6:30 and sleeps until 7 or 8 in the morning. And he usually takes a good afternoon nap. I guess he got the memo about me needing my sleep.

He loves to eat. He will eat pretty much anything and a lot of it, although yogurt and “nanas” are his favorite as of late.

He’s awesome! He knows more about temper tantrums than I would like, but what can you do? Lucky for him, he’s cute then too.

Invited you are…

2011-01-16T22:00:00.001-06:00

To take a glimpse into the coolest birthday party a six year old could ever ask for. Seriously, it was fabulous. I’d like to think that all of the kids left happy. As they arrived for their Jedi training, they were given proper Jedi attire. Carter and Samantha modeled them for me. We all know that half of what makes an outfit is the attitude. These kids seem to have that part taken care of. Every Jedi needs a light saber, right? These Jedis needed non-lethal ones, so they got to decorate their own foam versions. After using the Force to pin the light saber on the Jedi, they went to the basement to hone their light saber skills by keeping balloons up in the air with them. That was when this very modern looking droid came to them with a message from Princess Leah. This had to be their favorite part. They got to go on a scavenger hunt to find Princess Leah (AKA Samantha). They found her being held captive in the guest bedroom by a storm trooper. After storming the room, they showed that storm trooper who was boss. That would be Mike in the fetal position. Surprising how much damage a big blob of duct tape at the end of one of these can do. Note to self for next time – use tissue paper. The boys kept asking if they could go find Princess Leah again. Mike wasn’t so keen on the idea. Go figure. This was my version of the Death Star. Ok, I have a confession to make here. Are you ready for this? I’ve never actually seen Star Wars. I’ve seen bits and pieces, but not enough to know what the Death Star is actually supposed to look like. In the end I painted it too dark, but Carter was appeased when I made the laser thing grey. Regardless of the final product I feel that I deserve an “A+” for effort. And don’t mind that old mattress in the background. We’ll get rid of it one day. For now the kids jump on it sometimes. Carter picked his cake from Sam’s Club. It was delicious, but I think I probably could have whipped up something that looked at least as good. Oh well, it did the job. As far as I know, all of his birthday wishes came true. And then some. And here are the sugar-high Jedis at the end of the night.

I was absolutely exhausted at the end of the night. Mentally and physically. It was worth it, but I think Samantha will have a nice quiet tea party for her birthday.

Hello Old Friend…

2011-01-16T21:26:00.001-06:00

Hello blog. Remember me? I used to stop by every so often and drop off a new post. I know, I know, it’s been a while. Ok, it’s been a long time. That cast that Carter got the last time I stopped by? Well, it’s been replaced with an Iron Man-esque boot. And that little Iron Man? Well, he turned six and I haven’t even gotten around to telling you about it. It was a pretty awesome party if I do say so myself. Ben started walking a while back – I can’t believe I forgot to mention that one. We also had a fabulous Christmas and a rockin’ New Year’s Eve. The kids have been nothing but trouble, but that really hasn’t changed, has it now? What’s that you say? You’d like to hear all about it? Even when it was all so long ago? Well ok, I’ll do what I can to catch you up. And I will try to stop by more often. But as always, I make no promises!

Big Red, meet Little Red…

2010-12-21T22:48:00.001-06:00

In case you have forgotten the fateful day that was January 17, 2009, feel free to go here to read up on it and you can go here to meet Big Red. Apparently my kids break easily and Carter has broken his leg again. Different leg this time, his left Tibia – last time was his right femur. On Sunday, Mike was lifting him over the baby gate (which we have since replaced with one that swings open) and kind of dropped him down on the other side, the same way we have done a hundred times. Apparently he landed wrong and broke his leg. He knew right away it was broken, he was screaming that he needed an x-ray and we had to go to the hospital right away. I gave him some ibuprofen and we headed out to Children’s Hospital (lesson learned from last time). By the time we got there, he had calmed down to the point that no one really thought it was broken. Other than not wanting anyone to touch right where is was broken he seemed ok. He could turn his foot and even was ok when the doctor put pressure on his heel. But once the x-ray came back it was pretty clear that Carter was right and it was broken. It’s hard to see here, but it’s the little white line running down the bone towards the bottom.

Luckily, we know a great pediatric orthopedist. We were able to go on Tuesday and get his cast put on. In general, this hasn’t been nearly as bad as the last break, but I did cry a little bit when the ER doc said he would be in a wheelchair again (note to self, take anything said by any doc outside his specialty with a grain of salt). It’s just so hard when it’s snowy and so cold outside, and really being in a wheelchair just kind of sucks. Luckily, when we went to get the cast Dr. Van Valin decided to let Carter get a walking cast. The look on Carter’s face was priceless when he found out.

After that, he just laid on the table with a pleased look while they put his cast on. In honor of Christmas he got a red and white striped one – “Santa will be so surprised!”. He’s obviously pretty pleased with it. And the best part? The white part glows.

He only has to have it on for four weeks, at which point he will get a boot. For some people, this could be a pretty big deal. Unfortunately, it’s turning into an all too common occurrence around here. A friend came over to check on us and told us about how he had broken 6 bones. We are putting the kids on extra calcium supplements and hoping they don’t follow suit.

Winter is here!

2010-12-21T22:09:00.001-06:00

Ok, so it has been for a while now. It actually didn’t snow here until December 4 this year, which is fine by me. There wasn’t much snow then and there still isn’t. We’ve only had to shovel 3 times so far, and haven’t even started the snow blower. After the last few years, I will definitely take the break. The kids were excited about it though and couldn’t wait to get out and play in it. I wish I could still get so excited about snow. I guess it all changes when you have to get rid of said snow. Is it just me or is he just the cutest thing ever when he’s being sweet?Even Ben got all marshmallowed out and went out for a minute. But he preferred to watch from inside. Afterwards, we finally got our tree put up. I really try to love that tree, but every time we get the ornaments out and the kids start grabbing at everything and breaking things I just get frustrated and want to put it all away. That’s the Grinch in me. I try to keep it hidden. It came out pretty strong the next day when Carter and Samantha stripped the tree of all the ornaments and left them in a pile under the tree. Not my finest moment.

I thought with a fake tree we wouldn’t have to worry about strange creatures coming into the house in it, but apparently one little monster got in:

And a little stinkbug too.

Sometimes…

2010-12-21T21:43:00.001-06:00

Being youngest has its disadvantages.

Only in Milwaukee

2010-12-02T10:53:00.000-06:00

I was at Pick N Save the other night and saw this:

What is this you ask? It may not look like much, but each of those bricks are at least 40 lb. Just sitting out in the bakery like people buy 40 lb bricks of cheese every day. That's almost $500 worth of cheese! These people and their cheese.

Pumpkin Time

2010-10-26T23:04:00.001-05:00

Carter has been bugging us since the beginning of October to carve pumpkins. For how excited he was to carve them, he sure was offended when I told him he had to scrape the guts out of his own pumpkin. He did end up sifting through all of the mess to pick out the seeds though, so I guess he warmed up to the slime. I typically love the finished project, but I’m not a huge fan of the process (or the mess). Carter’s is the one with “the bandages for eyes, raindrop nose and toothy grin”. Samantha’s is the surprised one. She has known what her pumpkin was going to look like since we picked them out. Mine is supposed to be a take on Frankenstein, but Carter informed me that it looks more like a monkey. Rude. Last year Grandma and Grandpa Forster were here for Halloween. I kind of miss that. Maybe next year (hint, hint).

Star Wars

2010-10-24T22:16:00.001-05:00

All I can say is it’s a good thing that we embrace nerdiness around here. Yesterday there was a Star Wars thing going on at Discovery World down town. I thought “it won’t be that big of a deal, right? How many people would really want to go see a bunch of grown-ups in costumes?” Well, apparently Star Wars is a big deal and a lot of people would go to see people in costume. A. Lot. It was insanely busy. But my little Star War loving Jedi loved it. Never mind that he was too scared to pose with anyone but purple R2-D2. And yes, he was wearing his Jedi robe and carrying a light saber. One day, we will use these pictures as blackmail. I was laughing at with him all day. Sammy had no problem getting up close and personal with Chewy. And of all the characters Carter was scared of, he was most scared of these guys. And this one is his favorite. Boba Fett or Jengo Fett, I don’t remember which one he was. All in all, a fun experience, but not one that I will be repeating any time soon. The crowds were too much for me. And Ben.

A Change of Plans

2010-10-24T22:02:00.001-05:00

This past week has been a big one. Mike got a pretty big (and unexpected) promotion at work. He is now the toy buyer at Kohl’s. That means that he is in charge of the toy department for all of Kohl’s. If a toy wants to come into Kohl’s, it has to get by him first. We are super excited for it and I’m so proud of him. At the same time, one of Mike’s best friends has taken a job at Pet Smart in Phoenix and is leaving Milwaukee. All of this change has led to some serious introspection on my part. See, Milwaukee has always been somewhat temporary for us. We thought we would come out here, get a good start on Mike’s career and then move on. Retail itself is a fairly transient field – people are switching companies frequently. A lot of our friends have moved on - it just seemed natural that we would eventually too. At first we thought we would be here 5 years, and then we thought we could do another 2 or so, and then maybe a few more after that. But after 6 years, Kohl’s has been really good to us and this latest promotion changes things. This could be it. We could very well be here long term. As I watch our friends go through the transition of going to another company I am struck with a realization. I don’t think I want to leave. I have dear friends here that I consider family, this is the only place my kids have known, Mike really enjoys his job and we have some serious roots here. We will probably never be moving much closer to family, so moving would just mean starting all over in a new place where we know no one. I never thought I would say it, but Milwaukee really has become my home, and in spite of it’s flaws and shortcomings, I think it will be home for a long, long time. It’s quite the change in our plans, but change is good, right?

Crazy Kids

2010-10-17T23:41:00.001-05:00

My kids have always been really expressive with the faces they make. I caught a few of them on camera the other day. It started out innocently enough – whenever Ben sees Samantha in this little chair, he has to climb in with her. We’re all having a good time: Then Carter decides to get in on the action, And the craziness begins. Ben got some solo time in though: This face is by far my favorite. Carter used to do one like this when he was this age, without the huge open mouth. He also likes to crinkle up his nose and breath really fast and hard through it. The innocent look (notice the fresh haircut – no more shag!). I could kiss those chubby cheeks all day. But the open mouth seems to be his favorite. Always has been.

My new favorite

2010-10-17T23:12:00.001-05:00

Song, that is. I’ve had this in my head since I saw it on Facebook the other day. Maybe it’s because I can’t tell what color Ben’s eyes are. Maybe it’s just because it’s super-catchy. Enjoy.

Fall Leaves

2010-10-08T16:15:00.001-05:00

Every morning this week Carter has made a comment about how many leaves we have on our lawn and how we need to make them into a pile for jumping. But by the time he gets home from school we just don’t have time. Today he had a half day and it was unseasonably warm so we finally got around to getting them raked into a pile. It’s becoming a yearly tradition and other than the leaves that end up in the house, I think it’s a fun one!

The first jump:

Carter’s friend Gregory goes to the school down the street. When the kids knew he would be coming they hid under the leaves and waited to surprise him. They waited for a good 5 minutes, but it was worth it because he was very surprised. He and his little brother Martin joined in the fun for a while.

The kids have 3 weeks off school now for their fall break. Hopefully it stays warm so we can stay outside!

Apple Picking, Take 2

2010-10-04T20:57:00.001-05:00

Samantha had her first field trip today and I got to go with her as a chaperone. There was a mix-up with the buses, so the rest of her class was late (we drove up separately). I thought it would be a great opportunity to take some pictures. There was a cute little pile of mini-hay bales by some crates of pumpkins I thought would be perfect. As I was sitting Ben down a lady commented to her friend “oh look, she’s going to get some really cute pictures!”. Well yes, in theory. In reality, I got this:And this:And, well you get the picture. Family pictures next week should be a blast.

She did have a great time picking more apples (we only got 6 each, which was a relief after just canning a bushel and a half) and just hanging out. It was a nice day off for her. And I did end up getting one good shot (out of the 15 that I took).

I am the apple master

2010-10-04T20:43:00.001-05:00

After no less than 20 hours in the kitchen, 14 quarts of apple pie filling, 30 pints of applesauce and 12 cups apple butter, I feel that I can now refer to myself as the apple master. Add onto that the traditional conference cinnamon rolls, homemade bread for the apple butter and a double batch of pesto and it’s been a busy 2 days. Maybe it’s the survivalist instinct in me, but something about fall makes me want to cook. Luckily we are a family who knows how to eat :).

In Honor of Fall

2010-10-01T21:44:00.001-05:00

I made squash soup last weekend.

I pulled up my tomato plants.

We went apple picking today. I made these pumpkin cookies.

We busted out our jackets.

We pulled out the footie pajamas for the kids and put the down comforter on our bed.

I wish we could have fall without winter, but I guess you take the bad with the good and life will go on. Bring on the fuzzy yoga pants, fleece jackets and soups!

The rest

2010-10-01T21:38:00.001-05:00

The rest of our Utah trip was just spent hanging out and enjoying our time with the family.

We went to Paul and January’s amazing wedding. I don’t have more pictures to post, but seriously it was amazing. Samantha has been obsessed with weddings ever since. She went to one today as a matter of fact. It was in our guest bedroom. They make a super cute couple: We swam a lot: Samantha is absolutely fearless in the water, and she is so dang cute in her swim cap. Any visit with Amber would be incomplete without haircuts. Ben got his first. He’s what Amber refers to as a “runner”. He just kept tipping further and further to the side to escape the scissors. We made a stop up in Rexburg to visit Mike’s mom’s grave and see his grandparents. Grandpa took us to his lab and showed us how the machines work. We got to wear goggles to be safe. It was a great time!

And still more.

2010-10-01T21:18:00.001-05:00

Last one, I promise. We took the kids up to Stewart Falls earlier in our trip. They did so well hiking out there that I am inspired to find some trails out here to take them on. Carter especially really seems to love the outdoors. It’s like he’s in his element there. We rode the ski lift up to the top of the mountain and then hiked down – which was easier for the kids, but murder on my still-sore calves and blisters from Timp. All in all, it was a fabulous day – except for the part when I had to scramble down a black diamond run to retrieve Ben’s dropped toy.

You can’t tell, but Mike is terrified of heights and was a bit frazzled after Samantha missed the jump onto the lift and was almost taken out by it. Ben had it easy in his carrier and I think he knew it. See what I’m talking about? Isn’t it breathtaking? Man, I miss these mountains. These are home to me. And it kind of looks like Mike is taking a dump, but really he’s just trying to keep Ben on his back :). Best buddies (for now).

More hiking…

2010-10-01T21:10:00.001-05:00

When the kids heard that I was going to hike Timp they decided that they wanted to do it too. Having never climbed more than our slightly inclined street before, I thought I would start them out easy. I explained that we could hike up to the Y on the mountain and they were on board. It almost didn’t happen – for some reason it kept getting pushed back. Finally, on our last full day in Utah, Carter, Samantha and I went hiking with Grandpa while Mike stayed back and packed and let Ben nap.

As with any other activity, these Chaplins are only in it for the food. After about the 3rd switchback I had to start bribing them: “I have gummy bears for whoever can make it to the next sign…” Worked like a charm. I have to say that they were troopers and did better than I expected. When we made it to the top Carter just kept saying “I’m so glad we made it!’ I was glad we made it too! It was a perfect day, and it was so fun to share some of my favorite childhood experiences with my kids. I hope they remember these times as they grow up. Sammy could totally not care less that she has crazy sweaty hat head. And a big thank you to Grandpa for taking the day off to join us! We love you!

Happy First!

2010-09-25T22:06:00.001-05:00

Ben celebrated his birthday while we were in Utah. I know everyone says it, but I can’t believe how fast this year has gone by. He’s going to be off to college before I know it. Sigh.

We went all out and got him his very own cupcake. Don’t worry, there was cake for the rest of us too. First he wanted the lit candle… Then he wasn’t so sure about the cake… Then he showed it who was boss. And basked in the attention and sugar rush that followed. There was plenty of help opening gifts.This one was my favorite. And this one was Ben’s favorite – his first iPod. Which he dropped off the ski lift the next day. But that’s another story. Here are some things about Ben:

He has little interest in learning to walk. Crawling is working out just fine for him, thank you very much. He can stand for short periods of time.
He loves to eat. When he’s done, he will nonchalantly drop his food onto the floor or stuff it into the corners of his high chair. If you catch him, he will pretend he was going to eat it.
Sometimes if he’s hungry he will go back to the aforementioned food in the high chair.
He will fake laugh along with anyone. Carter got mad the other day that he was laughing at him because Samantha was. He also imitates coughs.
He has been an early teether. He has 8 teeth already and his top molars are just breaking through. It’s been a rough couple of weeks.
He can say hi, sit, stay, Mom, uh-oh and no (although it’s nanananana). He will also nod yes and shake his head no.
He weighs 23 lbs 6 oz 9 (50-75%) and is 30.5 inches long (75%)
He hates the car seat. I finally turned it around the other day and it was the first time he didn’t scream and cry when I buckled him in. The screaming did start shortly afterwards.
In general, he has been a happy, laid back baby. We’re all hoping that happy baby comes back after these teeth are in!

We love you kiddo!

Mount Timpanogos

2010-09-25T16:13:00.001-05:00

For those of you who don’t know where Mt. Timpanogos is, it’s in Utah County, it’s the second highest mountain in the Uintah Range, the 47th most prominent mountain in the contiguous United States. 15 miles up and back. My dad has hiked it over 25 times. He has taken each of my siblings to the top at least once. I hiked it with him when I was 8 or 9. I remember it being one of the hardest things I have ever done. I tried again in high school with friends and made it to the lake. From there you can see the summit, and it was just too daunting. I have been determined to hike it again for a long time. I convinced my sister that she should do it with me. My dad is always a willing hiker, and my mom and other sister were willing to watch my kids all day, so off we went! We actually did better than we expected and made it to the top in 5 hours, without any major stops. It was absolutely amazing at the top. on top of the sense of accomplishment from making it to the top, it feels like you are on top of the world. I took so many pictures, but really, they don’t do it justice. Utah County from the top:Deer Creek? I look Asian because of the wind. It was brutal at the top! I am so glad that Amber was able to do it with me. “I’m the king of the world!” Nerdy, I know. Coming back down. Were we really just up there? It was so beautiful and peaceful up there! We had some friends hiking along with us:We saw 3-4 mama goats with their babies. So cute! And we made it! I still kind of can’t believe we made it. I would do it again in a heartbeat though. Anyone up for next year?

Fishing with Grandpa

2010-09-25T14:46:00.001-05:00

While I’m not a big fan of canoes in general (too many traumatic experiences, the worst being canoeing on a lake full of alligators in Florida) one of my favorite things when I was little was fishing. And one of the best ways to fish is on a canoe. Carter was determined to get us out on a canoe and in the end he won out. We left much later than any serious fisher would approve of - I think we were finally on the lake by 10 or 11. We went up to Payson Lakes. The lake was really low and really green and since it was later in the season, we were pretty much the only ones there. Carter caught the first fish of the day, and it ended up being the biggest. He was so proud of himself. Then Samantha caught one. Then they got bored. And hungry. Luckily I brought along snacks. Otherwise we would have been done then. After yelling at them to sit still about 100 times, 1 bag of Gummy bears, 2 boxes of raisins and a lunch break, I think Carter and Samantha caught 5 total. Poor Grandpa couldn’t get any fish hooked. They would eat his bait, but he ended up with an empty hook every time. Maybe next time. Samantha and I got to wear the “Titanic life jackets” as my sister calls them. This is probably the same one I wore when I was her age. We totally rocked the orange. In this picture Carter is holding up one of the fish. Samantha was going to hold one too, until she felt it. She dropped it pretty quick and settled for holding a part of the chain. And at the end of the day, this is what we ended up with. We had a great time and made some great memories!

Utah

2010-09-25T14:15:00.001-05:00

I think I have finally recovered enough from the flight to and from Utah to start posting about our trip. I will never fly with these three again. At least until they are older. Ben was an absolute nightmare both ways. We made the mistake of booking an early flight on the way back and so Carter and Samantha hopped on the naughty train for the flight back. In spite of the disastrous flights, we had such a good time! We stayed longer than we have in the past – 2 weeks – but it was nice not to feel like we had to cram everything in while we were there. I also looked at is as more of a vacation and planned what I wanted to do while we were there. What it came down to was me reliving some of my favorite childhood memories. As it turns out, most of them were on a mountain. I miss those mountains a lot. Anyways, prepare for picture overload!

How do they do it?

2010-08-09T16:47:00.001-05:00

I’m not sure how it all works scientifically, but these 5 ingredients all come together into some seriously tasty cookies. And super easy too! I saw these on this blog this morning and made a mental note to try them sometime. Then I heard that a friend was sick and I decided to make some soup for her. I always feel like when I bring dinner I should bring dessert and voila – it was like a message from heaven or something. I was meant to make these cookies today. You probably are too.

5 Ingredient Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

by Leslie Sarna

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp baking soda
½ cup milk chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix all ingredients except chocolate chips. When blended, mix in the chocolate chips. Using your fingers, form 1 1/2 inch balls (dough will be very wet and sticky- I used my 2 tsp. cookie scoop) and place onto an un-greased parchment lined cookie sheet. You don't want to make them too big because they do spread. Bake for 8-9 minutes. Let the cookies sit on the cookies sheet for about 30 seconds to 1 minute before letting cool on a wire rack. Makes around 2 dozen small cookies

Nauvoo

2010-08-09T00:36:00.001-05:00

We braved the July heat and headed back down to Nauvoo for a little family time with Mike’s family this last month. We rented a big house (with a big air conditioner), which was perfect for all of us. We were right on the river – we had an amazing view: Since we have already been to Nauvoo we didn’t feel a lot of pressure to go out in the heat to see everything, which was nice. We went to the pageant and played some of the games before it started. Carter and Samantha won the tug of war (although I’m pretty sure it was with a little assistance from the ref). I somehow got suckered into pulling them around in the cart. It’s always something with these kids – “I want to ride in the stroller!” “I want to ride in the handcart!” They wouldn’t have made very good pioneers. We also hit up the temple, but mostly, we just hung out in the cold cold house (thanks Jim!) and visited with family. The kids had a blast with their cousins (other than the incident where Carter and Samantha snuck into their room and rifled through all of their belongings – luckily they are forgiving).

Have you tried to get 10 kids to look at the camera and look happy? I think they were happy. Except maybe the babies. It was naptime. On the way out of town, we caught a quick oxen ride. We came close to having an awesome adventure when one of the oxen was bitten by the biggest horsefly I have ever seen. But those cute old missionaries know what they are doing and kept everything under control. If you are thinking about going to Nauvoo, I would recommend not going in July. Or any other summer month for that matter. It is insanely hot and humid. Seriously. The pageant is nice, but it has to be on YouTube somewhere. Go in the winter. You will probably miss out on the shaved ice stand next to Duck’s Market (my own personal highlight), but I think it’s worth the sacrifice.

Because you only have 2 hands.

2010-08-03T21:42:00.001-05:00

And it’s so much easier to carry things in your mouth! Ben has taken to crawling around with one of these stacking cups in his mouth. The best part is that he knows he is being funny.

Down by the Bay

2010-08-03T21:32:00.001-05:00

Ok, it was down by the lake. Whatever. Down by the bay sounds better.

Mike and I rarely go downtown. I hate driving down there and Mike just hates leaving the house with 3 kids. However, I can usually lure him out with promises of cheap, yummy food. So I bought some coupons off Groupon.com for The Philly Way – this place is supposed to have amazing Phillies. We thought they were just ok, but it got us downtown so we thought we would take a little stroll down the lake front. And since I am still working on my photography skills, I documented it all for your viewing pleasure. Or you can just skip to the next post. It’s your call.

Just showing some love: Everyone knows that Milwaukee is famous for the cracks in the roads and sidewalks, but in the grass too? For some reason, the kids think that clover and dandelions are my all-time favorite flowers. I’ll take them for now, but once they get jobs, I’m expecting more. And well, sometimes this happens. We’re not sure why, it just happens. A lot.And we’re ok again. I think this picture pretty much sums up Ben’s feelings about life lately - “seriously?” And there we go again…And we’re good again. I know I’m biased, but dang, he’s cute. Come on over to the Brew City and you too can enjoy a walk down the lake front. I make no guarantees on the number of meltdowns or cracks witnessed.

Just because I can

2010-08-03T21:05:00.001-05:00

Make up posts about nothing but my kids, that is. We went to the park a while back and I got some cute shots.

This is Ben’s signature face. All my kids have had one. Carter would open his eyes really wide and flex his neck. Samantha’s was more of a dirty look, because that’s just the kind of baby she was. Ben crinkles up his nose and breathes really fast and hard through it. He has the greatest laugh, and I love how easily it comes. He is such a happy baby! I love this girl’s blue eyes. She got them from her Grandma Jayme and I can’t get enough of them. I don’t know what it is about this kid, but he has a really hard time just smiling naturally for the camera. Such a spaz. A cute spaz though.

Farm Day – Take 2

2010-08-03T20:57:00.002-05:00

Since the kids loved the petting farm sooo much, when our ward had a playgroup at a local farm, we packed up a picnic and headed on over. Sammy played nice for the camera, but here you see how it really went: Carter is talking to the lamb, and Samantha is wondering how she got stuck with a dirty lamb on her lap. I just had to post this as a reminder to myself that occasionally they do get along really well. Don’t they just look good on a tractor? I know Samantha is just wondering where the convertible is.

Getting Closer…

2010-08-03T20:46:00.001-05:00

To my dream of being a cattle rancher in Montana. Ok, make that owning a cattle ranch. I’m not sure how much of the ranching I actually want to do. Anyways, right before school got out for the summer we got to join Carter and his class on their field trip to the petting farm. It was pretty great. For the kids at least. They didn’t let me ride the ponies.

Now was Samantha smiling because of the pony ride? Or was it the cute boy that she was making eyes at? Seriously? It starts already? Carter was constantly reassuring his pony. I don’t think he even noticed the cute girl. That’s my boy. Holding a chicken is pretty great… But it’s even better when you cornered and caught the chicken yourself! I love the absolute look of pride on his face. This is Carter’s BFF from the bus, Keesa. She reminds me a lot of Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter. This was the one picture that she wasn’t doing a strange dance in. Samantha had fun, but was less than impressed by the hands-on aspect. I don’t think she would share my ranching dreams. The nice lady coerced her into milking the cow with lots of help. Carter on the other hand, got right in there and showed that cow who was boss. He’s totally going to be my right-hand ranch man.

What happened?

2010-08-03T15:33:00.001-05:00

My babies are growing up so fast! I love seeing them grow and learn, but at the same time I kind of just want to keep them little forever.

This little boy: Is now in all day kindergarten and packs a lunch.

This little girl: Went to school for the first time yesterday. And climbed on the bus this morning without a second thought. And this little one? Well he stood up today by himself and was pretty dang proud of himself. Before I know it they will all be leaving for college and I will have no one to get excited about glorious morning muffins and movie nights anymore. And I’m totally tearing up as I write this. I need another baby. Just one more, I promise.

Goodbye Old Friends

2010-07-13T12:32:00.000-05:00

Anyone who has been in my kitchen has probably noticed the frame that I have had hanging on the wall for about the last year. It still had the pictures that it came with in it until today. I hung it thinking that looking at it everyday would motivate me to fill it faster. Not so much. After a while, the models started to feel like family. Carter was upset when I told him I was finally going to fill it with my own pictures. Change is hard for him.

Anyways, I have had an idea of what I wanted to do with this for a long time. At first, I wanted to take pictures of different structures that looked like the letters in our last name. Then I thought maybe something more nature-y, like sticks or something. Then one month I was reading my Food Network magazine and they had a feature on food fonts - made out of raspberries. That got the wheels turning. I do like food more than I like sticks. And I do like cookies more than any other kind of food. So, this is the finished product:

I may still photo shop the pictures and re-print them but until then, at least I no longer have random pictures of a group of strangers camping in my kitchen. Go me!

Some days...

2010-07-05T23:00:00.002-05:00

Some days Carter drives me crazy. Then he does things like wishing on a star for love, kindness and peace in our home and reminds me why we haven't sold him yet.

Oh, and Samantha? She wished she could have an iPhone like Mommy and Daddy. That's my girl!

Kid for Sale

2010-06-23T16:21:00.000-05:00

This is kind of hard to read, but after Carter and Samantha's fight this morning, Carter came up to me and gave me this:

It says "this is Samantha and she is for sale. Love Carter". He says that we should only charge one cent, because if we charged 25, people would have to work and save up for her. Apparently he wants her gone now. Sweet sibling love.

Favorite things part 2

2010-06-11T08:16:00.001-05:00

As I was laying in bad last night I remembered 2 more things that I had planned on including in my last post. What can I say, after 11pm I go on auto pilot and shouldn’t count on myself to remember anything of importance. So here they are for your enjoyment:

Uncooked tortillas:

These babies are available at Costco. And let me tell you, once you have had these, you will never go back. At least I don’t understand why you would. They cook up like the ones from Cafe Rio or Qdoba, where they will stretch and stay together. And wow, do they taste amazing. You should probably head on over to Costco right now to get some. And if you do, you should also note that they come in more of a green/turquoise package. This is the only picture I could find.

Health aide:

Ok, so this one is kind of personal and gross, but let me just say this – it works. I have never tried nose spray before my doctor gave me this one. Between allergies and pregnancy I have been stuffed up for so long that it’s the norm for me. Anyways, without any further details, again I will just say it works. and now you know all about my snot. TMI? Maybe. But as Carter would say, that’s just the way I roll.

These are a few of my favorite things…

2010-06-10T23:07:00.001-05:00

I have a couple of friends who regularly post their favorite things on their blogs. I love the idea and have actually tried out some of their favorites and loved them too. Since we all know that I’m not on here enough to post anything on a regular basis, here are some of my favorite things all at once. Enjoy!

Favorite latest find:

Tide washing machine cleaner. This is actually what got me thinking about a favorite things post. I left a load of laundry in the washer for 3 or 4 days a while back and no matter what I did, I could not get the stink out of my front-loading washer. I tried everything – vinegar, baking soda (together – not the best idea I’ve ever had), bleach, Oxy Clean. One cycle with this magic powder and my washer smells like a spring breeze. Amazing. One tip though, if you are wanting to try it – I think you really only need one half a package at a time instead of the wh0le thing like they say.

Favorite book:

I love to read, and I read a lot. Typically, I finish a book and forget about it. I might think about it for a few days if it’s particularly troubling, but in general I couldn’t tell you much about the book I read 2 months ago. Same thing with movies. It drives Mike insane. We can be halfway through a movie and I will realize that I’ve seen it before. I like to think that I am just making room for more important things, but in reality it’s probably just a symptom of early onset Alzheimer's or something. Anyways, I read this book at least 6 months ago and I still think about Sarah and her “kitchen pistol”. She is the woman that I would hope to have been had I lived 100 years ago. She makes me want to move to Montana and pick up cattle ranching (AZ is way too hot for me). Which leads me to…

My favorite blog:

The Pioneer Woman. She’s witty, she cooks, gardens, takes some amazing pictures, homeschools, has her own cookbook AND the cattle ranch. Pretty much who I would love to be today (ok, except for the home schooling part, we all know I’m not nearly disciplined enough). I’m not sure where the desire to move to the country is coming from. I have a sister moving out to the country soon and maybe I’m just feeding off her excitement. Maybe it’s all the gardening I have been doing lately, living off the land. Probably it’s the unrealistic world that exists in my head that leaves out all the dirt, hard hard work, early mornings and stinky animals that come with that country living. All I see is my weed-free garden, kids playing in the yard, and me on the porch sipping virgin margaritas. Anyways, I could look at Ree’s food all day and she has some great tips for photography. Her tip today on exposure composition (found here) may have changed the way I take pictures forever. She’s pretty awesome.

My favorite gadget:

That would be the new iPhone. Ok, I don’t really have it – yet. I have been saving my pennies and holding out for the new version. It’s almost like having a baby – you love it before it actually comes. Yes, I just compared getting an iPhone to having a child. What are you going to do about it? I can promise you that the iPhone will be a lot more obedient and a lot less sassy. And if it’s not, at least I can upgrade one day:).

And last but not least, one of my very favorite things – sleep. Which is where I am off to now. More favorite things later. I’m out.

Broken

2010-06-01T13:54:00.001-05:00

I don’t know what it is with my kids, but they seem to have issues with their bones. I haven’t ever broken more than my toe, and yet 2 of my kids have managed to break something.

Samantha was climbing over the gate we had up to keep Ben out of the bathroom and she fell on her arm. She had been overly dramatic all day, so I didn’t think much about it when she cried about it. She wasn’t screaming or anything. So we put her to bed and said we would watch it. The next morning she said it still hurt and she wasn’t using that arm, so Mike took her into for X-rays after dropping me and Ben off at the airport. It was so hard for me to not be there for her. It turns out that it wasn’t even really broken, more of a buckle because her bones are still so flexible. She was put in a soft cast (which FYI only come in white) which we get to take off this Friday after only 3 weeks. It’s a good thing it’s so soon, because it’s hard to keep this girl out of the dirt and water!

I am just hoping that we are done with this whole cast thing, because I am soooo over it.

What a month!

2010-06-01T13:44:00.001-05:00

Ben has had quite the busy month! In this past month he has:

Popped 3 new teeth out with 1 more on the way.

Learned how to crawl normally, although he still prefers this:

Learned how to sit himself up from crawling.

Learned how to pull himself up to standing using whatever or whoever is handy.

Taken his first flight out to Utah where he met his cousins for the first time and got to spend some quality time with Grandpa. He was passed around quite a bit. Here is is with one of his favorite aunts, Holly. And one of his other favorite aunts, Amber. His sweet cousins – soon to be his country cousins. And another aunt – Taralea. I wonder if he will slow down this next month? Somehow I doubt it.

Karate Kids

2010-05-28T12:59:00.001-05:00

We heard that they were remaking Karate Kid, so we thought we would give our kids a chance to try out. I can’t wait to show Carter’s to his future girlfriends.

Really, we signed Carter up for some Kung Fu classes this summer through the Y and he wanted to show me that he already knew karate. Yes, you should fear his mad skills:

And not to be outdone, Samantha wanted to show off her Kung Fu moves:

Be afraid, be very afraid.

Back in the day…

2010-05-27T22:57:00.002-05:00

When we were young and innocent…

I found these pictures recently and thought they were fun. Looking at them now, I really think our kids are a good mix of both of us.

I am the cutest one (of course) – sitting down with brown hair:And if you can’t tell, Mike is the smallest. Weren’t the 80’s great?

Common Sense?

2010-05-02T11:28:00.001-05:00

Let me preface this post by saying that I’m not looking for a pity party here. I’m not looking for comments saying how beautiful/thin/good looking I am (although those are certainly welcome on any other post). This is just some good old fashioned venting, plain and simple.

I can’t tell you how many times I have been asked over the past couple of months if I am pregnant. No, I am not. I have 3 beautiful (in my own biased opinion) children and a cursed Peterson gene that causes me to hold onto all the weight I gained with those 3 children in my mid-section. Believe me when I say that if I could trade it for a little junk in the trunk I would. I try to brush off the pregnancy comments but really, they are starting to hurt. I am doing my best. I have been working out. I do my crunches/planks/whatever before bed. So cut a girl some slack!

When in doubt, I suggest that we take a “don’t ask, they’ll tell” policy. This may be common sense for some, but apparently not for everyone. If someone has blessed baby news to share, they will. If they don’t, well you can leave that to your own imagination. Give it a few months, and you will probably get your answer. And now I feel better. At least a little.

My cup runneth over

2010-04-27T22:38:00.001-05:00

So the kids just got more!

Apparently our neighbor a few houses down has quite the dandelion problem. And what mom doesn't love flowers? It's good to be loved.

Tummy Troubles

2010-04-25T23:01:00.001-05:00

We have had some stomach virus going around our house lately. Ben got it last Monday, Samantha and I got it on Thursday, Mike got it on Friday, and Carter just got it today. Luckily, it’s short-lived. We threw up 3-4 times, felt like crap for a day and then we were back to normal for the most part. Anyways, the point of this isn’t to inform you of the vomit-fest that has been going on here lately, but to point out some key differences in my children. And let me preface this by saying that I love them all the same.

Ben: Projectile vomited in kid care at the YMCA. Within minutes was smiling and playing like nothing had happened.

Samantha: Tells me that her stomach hurts. I ask her if she was hungry. She says “no, I just need to throw up” in her cute little voice. And yes, that means that she had already thrown up in her shoe and on the living room floor. She goes back into the bathroom a few times and throws up like it happens all the time. She prefers to have a little seat to sit on while she does so. As I am in the upstairs bathroom I hear her singing a little song as she sits there waiting to throw up.

Carter: Threw up in his bed tonight. The screams coming from his room made me think that he was having terrible nightmares. He is wailing (to his credit I think it was mainly due to the vomit in his eye). As I get him up and bring him into the bathroom, he is crying and going on about how this is the most terrible thing that could ever happen to him and he wishes that he would never throw up and how he had even said a little prayer that he would be better, and how this is just terrible, etc. As he is back in his room getting clean pajamas on he is still crying about how terrible this is, and “oh no! I have use another pillow! That was my favorite pillow!” Again, to his credit, he bought his memory foam pillow with his own money. “Now I can’t wear those other pajamas! I just wanted to sleep well! This is horrible!” and well, you get the picture.

I do love all of my children equally, but some seem to have better coping skills than others.

View Full Album

Sammy is Three!

2010-04-25T21:23:00.001-05:00

And we had a fabulous day! It all started with strawberry waffles, a new favorite. She had a hard time not stuffing it in her face long enough to take the picture. It took probably 4 tries to get one without her looking at her food. Then she got to choose where we spent the rest of the day and where else would a little monkey want to go but Monkey Joe’s? It’s a bounce house with huge slides. She decided to invite her best (and sadly pretty much only) friend Hallie to come along.

Can you tell who has a photographer for a mother? If you can’t from this, maybe you can from these (hint: it’s not Samantha): She is adorable, and yes, she knows how to ham it up. Anyways, they ran and jumped and slid and played for hours. It was fabulous. After they had all run out of energy (I guess the power lunch of Tootsie Rolls and DumDums from the arcade didn’t cut it) we headed home for some real food. And cake. Dora cake. What else? I am hoping for another theme next year. Then the gifts:

Funny story – Carter has been concerned about Samantha’s lack of diversity when it comes to her babies. He was absolutely adamant about getting her a “dark-skinned” baby. Hallie was thinking along the same lines, but she chose the “light-skinned” version (Carter’s words, not mine). So Samantha ended up with Bi-cultural twins. And she loves them. They are named Kylee and Carlee. Although Samantha says her R’s with a New Jersey accent, so really, they are Kylee and Kylee. This has the makings of a very interesting social experiment…She also got some accessories for the twins, and some socks. Can you see the enthusiasm for the socks?

No, she really likes them, but I have to give Mike a hard time because he has a thing with socks (not a weird thing, he has just dealt a lot with them at work. He knows a lot about socks. Ask him).

And because when I asked Samantha what she really wanted for her birthday and she told me “a blue light saber and a sword so I can battle the bad guys”, I decided she needs more girly things in her life. A friend gave me some amazing tutus for her and she loved them!It’s so fun to see her girly side, I need to get her into some dance classes or something.

Sammy is such an awesome girl! Here are some of my favorite things about her:

She is so laid back and easy going. I get comments all the time about what an easy little girl she is. She is very brave and doesn’t scare easily (Carter makes her go down into the basement with him). She is an awesome sister, always thinking about her brothers and how to make them happy (and occasionally how to make them scream, but whatever). She is funny and loves to make people laugh. She loves to have her toenails painted – purple and pink are her favorite colors, but she doesn’t discriminate, she will tell you they are all her favorite. She loves everyone, even the bad guys, as she tells us quite frequently. She loves nursery, although her teachers tell me she doesn’t say a word the whole time. She loves to sing, although she won’t do that in nursery either. She is a mama’s girl, which I secretly love. She can’t say her R’s, so book mark sounds like book mike. She has an obsession with toe jam. More than once in a store she has sat down on the floor, taken off her shoes and socks and picked out her toe jam. She doesn’t love sweets. She can rarely finish a whole dessert. Having said that, she still asks for poop treats occasionally, although she has been potty trained forever. She loves to play pretend. She has some of the funniest facial expressions, she really gets into it when she talks. I could go on, but just let it be known that she is a very special little girl and I love her guts!

My Wild Things

2010-03-16T22:55:00.001-05:00

Ben gets blogged about on a monthly basis, so I thought I would give a shout out to my other crazy kids. We definitely have our struggles, but they are so worth it! Sammy is so laid back. She is happy just to go with the flow. She has learned the art of tattling, but if that’s the worst she does, I’ll take it. She gets along with everyone. When Carter has friends over, they usually end up playing with Samantha because Carter can be a bit bossy sometimes.

Carter is full of spunk. His latest obsessions are chess and Star Wars. I guess we don’t have to worry about him with the ladies. He loves reading, we are at the library at least once a week these days. He’s sassy as can be, but he can also be super sweet when he wants to.

Love these kids!

6 Months!

2010-03-16T22:34:00.001-05:00

This kid is growing fast! Here’s what he has been up to:

He weighs 16 lb. 3 oz. and is 27 inches tall

He loves to eat. Really loves to eat. Loves to eat anything. He’s got teeth and is ready to use them. Carter and Samantha love feeding him and he is learning how to feed himself finger foods.

He is a mover! He isn’t quite crawling yet, but he can scoot and roll enough to get pretty much anything he wants. Carter and Samantha are learning the hard way that if they leave things on the floor he will get them. And by get them I mean eat them.

My favorite thing that he does is grab my cheeks and pull my face in for a big slobbery open-mouth kiss.

He sleeps 11-12 hours straight at night, which makes us both very happy.

He loves to smile!

Saving the world…

2010-03-16T22:06:00.001-05:00

One pothole at a time. That’s right, I said pothole. Milwaukee has some of the worst potholes of any city in the country (ok, I’m not sure that’s an actual fact). Something about sub-arctic winters and circa 1950 roads makes for some harsh driving conditions. I have had the struts (part of the suspension) replaced on my car not once, but twice already. Anyways, there was a massive one just up the street. I had to drive on the opposite side of the road to avoid this pothole. I use that term loosely, it was more like the Grand Canyon of potholes. It was at least 6 feet long, 3 feet wide and 6 inches deep. I finally got online and reported it to the city and the next morning they were out there fixing it! I felt like a superstar. I’m just doing my part to make this world a little bit better. You can thank me next time you come to my house. Now if someone would just report the other 234,873,492 potholes.

I’m in love…

2010-03-16T21:47:00.001-05:00

It was love at first ~~sight~~ slice. A few years back, I was naive enough to believe that a food processor was a food processor. They slice, shred, process, whatever. So I bought a basic Black and Decker from Kohl’s. Over the years, as I have been cooking more, I have come to realize that indeed, they are not all the same. Mine was loud and in spite of having a shredding/slicing disc, it mostly just mutilated anything that I put in there. And did I mention it was loud? Carter would run and hide in his room every time I would use it.

Well, after much convincing, I was able to get Mike to come around. When this beauty went on a fabulous sale a couple of weeks ago, he got it for me as an early birthday present!

I put this thing right to work. Our first processing job was Philly steak and cheese sandwiches from Our Best Bites. This thing sliced through that mostly frozen meat like butter. And best of all, it sounds like a kitten purring. I’ve made pizza dough in it and it came out so smooth and soft. I made a bunch of baby food today and I have to say I love it more and more every time I use it. So, if anyone out there is wondering what it really takes to make me a happy woman, high end kitchen gadgets are the key to this woman’s heart.

Me and td0gg

2010-02-14T22:00:00.002-06:00

What do me and this fine young man named td0gg have in common you ask?Well, we both were dumb enough to wash some Great Stuff (the insulation spray foam) off our hands down the drain. Apparently it will expand, even in water, and clog the drain pretty badly. We are talking a solid blockage. And it was in my utility sink, so laundry was a no-go until we finally got it cleared. And by we I mean the nice handyman that our friends recommended. After plunging, snaking, and Drano we finally gave up and called him. Best $30 we have ever spent. I guess now I have no excuse for not doing the mountain of laundry in the basement. If anyone has a good one for me let me know. I'll do whatever it takes to avoid it.

5 Months!

2010-02-08T21:46:00.002-06:00

This past 5 months has flown by! I can’t believe how much my little baby has grown already! I was watching our friend’s baby rolling and crawling around our house last night and I can’t believe that isn’t that far off for Ben. Sometimes I wish they could just stay babies forever. But 4 years of diapers was enough with Carter, so I guess it’s ok.

What can I say, I am absolutely in love with this kid! He is such a happy baby. He smiles all the time and he is so easy going and easy to please. He usually sleeps through the night, typically 7:30 pm until 6:30 am when he comes into bed with me for a little snuggling. He loves to be held and cuddled. He still loves his wrap and he still naps in his car seat. I can’t say I blame him though, it does look pretty cozy. He still just has the 2 teeth, thank goodness. With top teeth that kid could do some serious damage. Oh, and did I mention the ginormous mouth? We started him on solids recently. Apparently my milk just wasn’t enough to sustain all those rolls. I have never in my life seen a baby take to food the way Ben has. Typically the first few times they don’t eat a lot and most of it ends up on the floor/walls/clothes. It took Ben about 2 bites to get the hang of it. He get so excited when he sees the spoon coming. He grabs my hand and shoves it into his mouth, smiling the whole time. He gets so worked up between bites, it’s like he’s begging for more. He smiles and talks and kicks as hard as he can. I shouldn’t be surprised, he is my son after all. But dang, it’s cute.

He rolled over from his back to his tummy yesterday for the first time, so now he can roll both ways. He hasn’t figured out that he can roll to get around yet. I’ll keep it that way as long as I can.

I can’t get enough of him! But sometimes I think he’s had enough of me. Love him!

All Alone

2010-02-08T21:23:00.001-06:00

We have been so lucky to have so many people out here visiting us in the past few months! My sister and sister-in-law came out right after Ben was born, then my parents, then Mike’s dad, then another sister, and finally Mike’s Brother, his wife and their twins. They let in the middle of January and now I don’t know what to do with myself! We have no one else coming to visit anytime soon. It’s kind of weird to be all alone – as alone as you can be with 3 kids anyway.

We had a great time while they Jon and Christine were here. Their twins were born 8 days before Ben was so it was so fun to see them all together. I hope they will be good friends as they grow up.

Emma, Ben and Noah. Ben’s ginormous mouth looks even bigger compared to his cousins cute little smackers.

The boys:We hit up Discovery World:

And of course, the Chaplin family favorite, Chuck E. Cheese’s. Man, my kids love that place. And so do the big kids (that’s Mike and Christine with Emma in the wrap). We loved having them here and can’t wait for more visitors!