Baked Potatoes, Sleeping Girl and New Chairs

I hadn't planned on blogging again quite so soon but there were a few events of the day that I thought warranted a post! I'm sure many of you already know what a picky eater Olivia is. We often call her "Mini Kristin" because she takes after my sister in that way! Now to be clear, I'm not asking the girl to eat brussel sprouts, broccoli or peas. She won't even eat comfort foods like mashed potatoes and gravy. She loves her fruit, yogurt, cheese, bread, macaroni cheese, chicken nuggets and crackers. You get the picture. Well tonight I made "Loaded Baked Potatoes" for dinner. I told myself before offering it to her that I was going to stand firm and not give in to her tears. I served up her potato and gave her a little pep talk and what do you know, she ate it!!! She said, "Mmmm, mommy this is so good!". Maybe this is a step in the right direction!

Then while I was cleaning up the dishes, Abby and Julia went on an errand with Kelby, so I settled Liv on the couch to watch her favorite show on Noggin ... I normally hear her singing along but as I was doing the dishes I noticed how quiet it was so I went to check on her and this is how I found her ... She was sound asleep! I guess eating that potato took a lot out of her!!!

When Kelby returned with the girls he had the new chairs we bought for our front porch which had been on back order. Don't they look inviting?

I look forward to many evenings sitting out on the porch reading a good book with a tall glass of ice tea ...
That is if I can get these girls of mine off of them!

A Break From Regular Programming ...

I got this email from a friend the other day, and since I don't have anything new to post about "The Redheads", I thought I'd post this "getting to know you" questionnaire. Who knows, you might learn something about me you never knew!

1. Gone on a blind date: Yes, my very first date was a blind date

2. Skipped school: I think maybe once in high school my friend and I skipped out to go to the mall

3. Watched someone die: No

4. Been to Canada: No

5. Been to Mexico: No ... but I'm going on a Missions Trip to Costa Rica in a few months ... more on that to come!!

6. Been to Florida: Yes, just last month!

7. Been on a plane: Yes, but I prefer not to. I'm not a fan of flying! Turbulance scares me to death!

8. Ever had your heart broken: Yes ... it also hurts to be the one to do the breaking though!

9. Been on the opposite side of the country: Yes, I lived on the opposite side of the country - Germany - for 3 years!

10. Gone to Washington, DC: No, but I would love to!

11. Swam in the ocean: If you count going waist deep swimming in the ocean, then yes. Honestly, I'm too afraid of sharks and of being out of my depth to swim in the ocean.

12. Cried yourself to sleep: Of course, I'm a girl

13. Recently colored with crayons: Yes, I love to color with my girls. I think it's theraputic.

14. Sang Karaoke: Not on your life!!!

15. Paid for a meal with coins only: At the drive thru sometimes.

16. Made prank phone calls: Yes, in Junior High ... before caller ID. Kids can't do that anymore, can they?

17. Laughed until some kind of beverage came out of your nose: Yes

18. Written a letter to Santa Claus: Yes. I would leave a letter for Santa by the cookies and milk I left out on Christmas Eve and he always wrote back. It took me years to realize it was my dad's handwriting!

19. Been kissed under the mistletoe: Yes

20. Watched the sunrise with someone you care about: You know I don't think I've ever sat and watched the sunrise. Too early for me!

21. Blown bubbles: Of course, I have kids!

22. Gone ice-skating: Once and I wasn't very good

23. Been skinny dipping outdoors: No! Do you think I'd really admit to this though, my mom reads this blog! :) Just kidding, I haven't! Honestly!

24. Gone to the movies: Yes, I love going to the movies!

25. Any nickname? Lis, Leah

26. Mother's name: Jean

27. Favorite drink? Lemonade

28. Any Tattoos? No

29. Body piercings? Just ears, one whole in each. I had them double pierced a long time ago but I let them close up. I guess I go for the more classic look.

30. How much do you love your job? My full-time job - I love it! Best job in the world to be a mom. My part-time job as an administrative assistant to one of the pastor's at our church - It's great to work for such a wonderful man of God, to learn something in the process and to be able to do 95% of it at home! The Lord has truly blessed me.

31. Favorite vacation? Venice, Italy! I would love to go to Greece, Ireland and Hawaii one day!

32. Ever been to Africa? No

33. Ever been on TV? A commercial once, only because they recorded hometown greetings while we were in Germany to air on TV back home. I never got to see it though.

34. Ever been in a car accident? Yes, once when I was about 20. I totalled my little Mazda 323. A car pulled out of a side street and hit the passenger side. I went to the Chiropractor for months afterwards.

35. Drive a 2-door or 4-door vehicle? 4-door Honda Odyssey. You should see me driving Kelby's 2-door with all 3 girls. It's quite a sight!

36. Favorite salad dressing? Raspberry Vinagrette

37. Favorite pie ? I prefer cake but I do love Dutch Apple

38. Favorite number? I don't have a favorite number

39. Favorite movie? Too many ... Sound of Music, Pride & Prejudice, Meet the Parents, Dan in Real Life, The Bourne Trilogy, The Italian Job

40. Favorite holiday? Christmas

41. Favorite dessert? White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory!!!

42. Favorite food? Chinese, Mexican, Italian. I'm easy to please. Pretty much anything but Sushi!

43. Favorite day of the week? Saturday

44. Favorite brand of body wash? Bath and Body Works

45. Favorite smell? Newborn babies

46. Do you remember your first kiss? I was 17 and it was on my very first date. Of course I remember, you never can forget your first kiss.

47. What do you do to relax? Read a book, listen to worship music

48. How do you see yourself in 10 years? Being the mom to 3 teenage girls. Lord, help me!

49. How many siblings do you have? 1 brother who is 30 and 1 sister who is 25

50. Furthest place you will send this message? It's on my blog, so who knows?

Those were some pretty random questions! So, did you learn anything new about me? Comment away! Well, the house is quiet so I think I'll go take a Sunday afternoon nap. I'm feeling pretty exhausted from staying up late too many nights watching the Olympics! I also ran 15 miles this week, but not all at once! A nap sounds pretty good right now! Until next time ...

Big Girl Liv

Congratulations are in order to Olivia. She officially stopped sucking her thumb 3 weeks ago! Who would have thought that a trip to the dentist woud give her the confidence and desire to kick the very strong habit?!? She has been sucking her thumb, always with her blanket (soft, saw ... it had so many names), since a newborn. Her blanket was always the trigger for her thumb sucking, so a couple months ago I started to put it away during the day and just give it to her at bedtime. But then after our Disney trip, old habits started to form again and she ended up with it all the time. That is, until 3 weeks ago. She went in for her first dentist visit and the dentist noticed right away that she was a thumb sucker. He had a little pep talk with her and said that your teeth are your friends and you don't want to do anything to hurt them. He also told her she has such pretty sparkly teeth, which she talked about for days. On our way home she said, "Mommy, I'm not going to tuck anymore". I said, "That's great Liv" but I'm thinking to myself (because she's said this before) "yeah right, we'll see about that when bedtime comes". Well bedtime came, and while it takes a lot longer to get her to sleep, she has been without her blanket and thumb for 3 weeks. My little girl is growing up! Thought you might enjoy some pics of Liv over the years with her blanket and her thumb.

Nothing's better than hiking the mountains of Colorado as long as you have your thumb

Wow, I'd forgotten her "soft" was ever that pink and ... clean!

Chillin' with Grandpa

Relaxing with my friend Morgan

Liv fell asleep like this in Julia's room (faithful blog readers: you may remember this from one of my previous posts!)

RIP Soft - We'll miss you! This post is making me feel a little sad so I'm going to go watch the US Swim teams Freestyle Relay Race that I taped on my DVR last night. That'll lift my spirits. What an exciting event! I was on the edge of my couch watching those incredible swimmers beat the French. After all the French swimmers said about smashing the Americans, it was kind of fun to watch them eat their humble pie at the Medal Ceremony. I can't wait to see Michael Phelps swim the 200m Freestyle tonight! The guy is amazing!

Go Michael!

Counting on God

I took this video of the girls yesterday and thought I'd share it with you all. It's their new favorite song and they have been singing it nonstop! It blesses me to hear them sing "It's the miracle of Christ in me. It's the mystery that sets me free. I'm nothing like I used to be. Open up your eyes you'll see". I hope it blesses you too.

The video stops abruptly, as you'll see, to avoid an all out war between my girls! Remember to pause my playlist before you play the video.

Friends

Don't you just hate it when you lose contact with good friends? There are a few people that I would love to reconnect with. I just recently found one of them! Valerie and I met at church when we were in high school. She was a bridesmaid in my wedding and we kept in contact for awhile afterwards but between me moving to Germany and then Colorado and her moving out of state, we sorta drifted apart. I recently found her email address, so we've been keeping in touch through emails. Valerie and her husband and two girls are living in Maryland now. She is visiting her family for a few weeks so we were able to get our girls together and have some girl talk! I think it's funny that when women get together the conversation eventually drifts to their labor stories (or nightmare). Just last night I met a new friend and wouldn't you know within 5 minutes our conversation drifted to pitocin and epidurals. Girls are so funny. Here are a few pics of our morning together.

Evelyn and Olivia (Evelyn is 6 months older than Liv). They had a lot of fun together!

All the girls, even the puppy

Me and Valerie - she hasn't changed at all! She looks just like she did in high school. I wish I could say the same!

Valerie and her 3 month old baby Julia. Don't you just love the name! She has great taste

The girls playing hide and go seek

Evelyn

Big Julia holding little Julia

The girls all hanging out in the laundry room, which has now become the puppy training roomAbby holding a crying Julia. It must have been nap time
Now that we've found each other again, I hope we stay in touch. Maybe a visit to the east coast is in our future! Tonight we're celebrating my sister-in-law Heather's 30th birthday, so I better go get my house in order. I may enlist the help of 3 certain little redheads.

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New Addition

Don't fall of your chair or anything, I'm not pregnant ... we just got a new puppy last night! She is a black Miniature Schnauzer, she is 10 weeks old and we named her Maggie. It was totally spontaneous, we weren't even talking about getting another dog. We already have one white Miniature Schnauzer named Mitzi.

This is how it came to be ... my in-laws headed over to a local Miniature Schnauzer breeder yesterday evening to look at their pups (their dog Hannah had died a few months before and so they felt they were ready for another dog). They decided on a cute little Salt and Pepper Schnauzer. My father-in-law called me and said there was little black one available also. Well, after many phone conversations back and forth, one thing led to another and we ended up getting another dog. It's going to be a hard few weeks, with sleepless nights and lots of trips outside, but let me tell you that these three little girls of mine are beyond thrilled! We think she's pretty cute too. We're not too sure what Mitzi thinks yet.

Introducing Maggie

Abby was up at 7:00 am, after going to bed at 11:30, ready to see her new pup!

So sweet

Jules and her little Maggie

Liv was already asleep last night when we got Maggie so she was pretty surprised this morning when a little black dog woke her up by licking all over her face. You should have seen how big her eyes were!

Her sister (my in-laws dog) came over for a playdate. This is Gretel and Maggie

The redheads with the new pups

Puppies are so much fun

Julia being attacked by the Schnauzer pups

We still love you Mitzi

Too cute a pic of Olivia not to post

Grandma and her new pup Gretel

More life in bloom

My gorgeous sweet potato vine , that took forever to spread, but now that it has it looks amazing!

One Exhausting Bike Ride

On Saturday Kelby thought it would be fun for us all to go on a bike ride. Now I love going on bike rides, but when it's 90+ degrees and very humid, it didn't quite sound like my idea of fun but I succumbed. Abby was feeling a little under the weather so she spent the afternoon with Grandma Deese (lucky girl). We still ended up having three little girls though because we brought my niece along for the ride. Here are a few pictures from our exhausting 20 mile bike ride.

Before the ride

Julia is ready to go

Olivia and Adalee were pretty squished but they didn't complain ... too much! We stopped half way and had lunch at a little mom and pop diner.

I just love this girl. She is so tough! How many 7 year olds can bike 20 miles, fall off their bike and cut up their hands and knees and even admist tears and blood hop back on their bike to finish the last 6 miles. She hardly ever complains, just goes along with whatever is handed her. She's just like her mommy :)

Kelby had quite the workout pulling over 50 lbs. of little girls

Poor little girls. It was pretty hot in the bike trailer.

We didn't hear much talking on the way home. They were exhausted!

Nothings better than a Lime Slushee from Sonic after a long bike ride

On a different note, Kelby and I went to see the movie Mamma Mia on Friday night. Now I'm a huge fan of musicals (Sound of Music, Phantom, you get the picture) but I guess I kinda, sorta neglected to tell him it was a musical (which he's not a fan of).

Within the first few minutes of the film they broke into song. He looked over at me and said "What... is... this?" Oops. Oh well, it was good for him, right? Help broaden his horizons a bit. After about the 5th song in 15 minutes though, I think he wanted to walk out and go see Dark Knight. Come to think of it, I think we were one of very few people who went and saw Mamma Mia instead of Dark Knight.

But I really enjoyed it, it's a feel-good movie and it made me want to stand up and sing a long. The scenery was gorgeous too. Makes me want to go to Greece all the more.

Well I have a house that needs some TLC and daydreaming about Greece isn't going to get it done so I better get to it.