snow day.

claire, emma, anna and our little friend aaliyah went across the street to go sledding. i see anna walking back home, so i walk outside to see what is going on. a weepy anna tells me that as she was going down the hill, emma kicked her elbow. i gave her a hug and said, "honey, you have a big, puffy coat on...it should be feeling ok now?" she responds, "she did it on purpose, and it hurt my heart the most."

good point. a puffy coat offers no protection against that.

bonding.

miss emma rose decided that she wanted to snuggle with me for a couple of minutes. i turned oprah on and they were doing this valentines show. one particular story made me tear up a bit, and emma, who was sitting on my lap, cranks her head up and says "why you doing this?" and she pulls this face that looks like she is going down a big hill on a scary roller coaster. i say "that is a nice story...mom is crying a little because it is really sweet. just like i cried when you were born, because it was so special." she replies, "oh." i think, that was a good lesson on enjoying the things in life that make us happy. she looks back up at me and says...

"you look ugly when you cry."

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY.

2007 recap

sorry to say that these events will not be in chronological order....they will be listed as they pop in my head. no offense if i missed some large memory of '07 that involved any of you..."i am feeling rather sleepy.."

*listed and sold our 3rd house
*packed up and moved into our backyard (well, our friends house in the backyard)
*broke ground on our new home!!
*sent my oldest child to kindergarten
*sent my youngest girls to "3" school.
*sat with brian during a church service for the first time since '02. (usually the girls lose their mind and one of us stays in children's church.)
*went to florida/disney for a week!
*anna turned 5, the girls turned 3, brian turned 29 and i turned the big 2-8.
*anna played soccer. (and scored a goal)
*went camping in ludington for labor day weekend.
*we started '07 on a very fun cruise. ( i would really like to be on a cruise right now)
*hanna came home.
*baby jake was born.
*i grew my first gray hair. (with many to follow, i am sure.)
*had my 10 year high school reunion
*celebrated my 9th anniversary.
*met some great new friends.
*had "big fun" with my old (not age-wise) friends.
*started this blog.
*traveled the globe.
*saved 4 lives
*discovered a way to keep my girls from fighting
*won a mother of the year award.
*ran in 3 marathons.

ok...obviously the last ones are my attempt to make '07 look a bit more exciting. i guess that a quiet year is a good one. so far '08 promises to be full of birthdays and babies and big fun. some days are long, but the years fly by......

hellooo elastic waist!!

seriously...denim is a horrid fabric. even the stretch denim is no longer a friend of mine. earlier in the week i had to suffer through a conversation with 2 of my small framed friends; listening to them go on about how they can't buy stretchy jeans b/c they just fall right off after wearing them for a couple of hours. excuse me!! since the birth of my first, almost 10 lb. child...i cannot say i have had that problem. things shift during pregnancy, and in my case, never return to their place of origin. the give offered by stretch denim has kept me a part of the jean wearing world. i am no longer welcomed in that world. over the last month i have noticed that none of my jeans fit. some are so far from fitting, that i wondered if they ever fit or if it was just a dream. instead of backing off from the costco cake and delicious fountain coca-cola, i decided to buy a new pair of jeans. i humbled myself and went past the size i used to sport and headed to the back of the rack. (they shove that size to the back b/c it is always cuter in the size 0.) i find a pair that look like i could cram 2 of my husband in to them, and i think to myself "these will be way too big...see it is not so bad." not so much. as if jean trying on is not hard enough...is it really necessary that everything from the thighs up gets pulled upward in a jelloish motion? it does not feel good when you need to shove random areas of stretched out skin back into the jeans and do squats to try to get your thighs back in place. the only problem i have with stretchy jeans falling down is when the upper quadrant of my now disfigured backside rides up above the waistline of the jeans....there is no stopping gravity at that point. i have pleaded my case to brian, begging for some repair surgery....trying to remind him that since he has to look at me...it is really for his benefit. no deal. i have considered calling around to see if there are any doctors that need practice in this area..i would be a willing experiment. but for now, i have dug out the overly large gray sweat pants that i wore when i had three children in my uterus. apparently, my skin misses them and stays saggy in their honor. yesterday i picked them up from preschool and they had each made a valentine. my percentage of the class comes running up to me to show me their valentines inside of beautiful pink enevelopes. my soul says "this is why your body is a mess!! how worth it for 3 little valentines." swelling with pride i look at the envelopes, only to see that not 1 is addressed to me. how rude. well, when i come to their school events in my mom jeans and they look humiliated. i will remind them (while busting out old cheerleading moves) that it wasn't always like this. there was a day that i could slide into "front of the rack" size jeans without effort or body part misplacement. these mom jeans are for them!!!

the shower of eden???

greetings, friends. the hart's have returned to bloggerville and will now be typing from our new home (which we love!!!) i am sitting in my office, drinking some coffee and the children are playing in the basement. who knew such peace could exist? here is a quick story from this morning....

i was finishing up my shower and emma decided she wanted to get in. i hop out, she hops in. claire meanders in and also wants to take a shower. so in she goes with emma. emma clarifies that i will indeed still be in the bathroom "in case the water turns fire hot". yes, i say, i will be right here putting on some make-up. they begin to chatter together, pretending things, etc. i hear claire say, "mommy left the soap in here." my ears perk up (since i am only 2 steps away) because the girls have been known to dump out a whole bottle of hair wash in one shower. 2 gleeful girls start saying "fill up your cup!....it is a bubble land." i am starting to question their intelligence...wondering why they think that because they are in the shower, i cannot hear them. then i hear claire so, "oh..i soapeded up MY hair and now you have to do it too, emma. we both made this bubble land. here is your soap, rub it in your hair." to that my little adam (emma) replies.. "ok. but don't tell mom." brilliant children.

you know you are behind on laundry when....

*you ask your 3 year old to run upstairs and put on some big girl panties...later that night when you are getting her p.j.'s on, you see she has been wearing a bathing suit bottom all day long.

*your children are taking turns jumping into the dirty clothes pile and saying "WHEE!"

* your daughter's legs are cold and she cannot find any clean pants so she puts on a dress and puts her legs in the arm holes to keep warm.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, EVERYBODY!!!!

conversation with claire.

claire: "i know the most righteous kangaroo."

me: "the most righteous kangaroo?"

claire: "yes."

me: "wow. who is the most righteous kangaroo?"

claire: "roo."

me: "and what makes roo righteous?"

claire: "he just loves God so much, and is so much nice."

there you have it, my 3 year old has an understanding of rightousness and apparently roo walks with God. who knew?