The Blomstrands

Twinship

2009-05-02T17:19:00.004-07:00

Oh my gosh, the twins are watching "Parent Trap"(Lindsay Lohan version), and are acting it out while they are watching it. Katy is laying on the floor with her head on a pillow for the ear piercing scene. . .maybe I should intervene. They're saying, "hey, you're supposed to be in a swimsuit for this scene". . .

Disclaimer: they've only ever watched the first half :)

Wish us luck!

2009-05-02T16:51:00.006-07:00

For our multitude of blog followers who also like classical music :). . .Brian and I are singing with the local symphony this coming Friday and Saturday night. It's a performance of Bach's Magnificat, and we'll be soloing. It's a good challenge and definitely a pride swallowing experience. ha Anyway, I knew if I didn't officially announce this, I would be in BIG trouble. So, if you need a date night, we'll see you there! Friday's performance is in Snowflake, and Saturday's is in Show Low.

Opening Day!

2009-04-18T17:01:00.004-07:00

Emily and Katy are signed up for T-Ball and this was opening day and their first game. They've had one practice so far and were excited to get this first game under their belt. We all had a great time!

Here's the team getting introduced at the ceremony and getting their Little League pins.

Emily up to bat, getting positioned by her coach. Their coach is very patient and encouraging.

Katy taking a swing. By their last time up, they each got a good, solid hit.

Emily making friends as she rounds the bases.

Katy got to play catcher during one of the innings. She really liked getting to be the "helper". Here she is giving the ball to a coach.

A very fun, successful day!

Thanksgiving Recital

2008-11-29T23:13:00.005-07:00

Grandma Karen sent us a Thanksgiving poem that she's used for many years in her classroom. Our girls loved learning it, and performed it well at this year's Ensman Thanksgiving celebration!

Linkage

2008-11-12T19:18:00.002-07:00

Why wouldn't you want this alphabetical list of crockpot recipes? Seriously. Does anyone have a favorite that they'd like to share that isn't on this list? I'm totally serious. I want it!!

Suggestions on taking pictures with kids. . .Yeah, I don't do this, I get good pics when I visit my relatives. Other than that, I'm realizing, I hardly take pics at all. hmm

Funny, if obvious points about relativism. . .ha A truly relativistic world would be scary.

(*Ignore if you already follow Amy's Humble Musings, b/c these are all swapped from her sidebar!)

Pictures--woohoo!

2008-11-07T15:01:00.019-07:00

It's amazing how often I want to title "finally" or "at last". . .hmm

Anyway, some things we've been up to--

Looking cute! Matching outfits from Grandma Karen and Grandpa Tom. . .back when it was still warm!

Dressing up for pj night at Awana

Playing in the "fort". Takes me back. :)

Ali's wearing an old shirt of mine (circa 1978?), speaking of good times. . .

"Crazy Hat Night" at Awana

Emily as "Queen Esther". . .(can't you tell). It obviously matters more that you feel like your character than look like it (authentically). Emily had a blast at Bible character night. She LOVES the independence that she has at Awana. She is always reminding me of what is coming up, what she needs to have learned, what they need to wear. Very responsible.

Katy is Mary, and apparently you get a lot of candy if people can guess who you are. So, guess who struck the jackpot?

Happy November, everyone!

Allowance?

2008-11-07T15:00:00.002-07:00

I am taking Abraham Piper's lead in asking how much, if any, allowance were you given as a kid? Do you give an allowance to your own kids? To yourself? :)

The Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-18T13:45:00.003-07:00

We took our annual trip to the Snowflake pumpkin patch this past week. We actually showed up before they were open. The girls were really upset that we weren't going to be able to go in.

Then, as we were driving down the road, we spotted a bus-load of kids milling around down there. Laura convinced me it wouldn't hurt to just drive down and check. Sure enough, they had opened up just for the school kids, but were kind enough to let us grab some pumpkins while they finished up. We made a quick run through the field and then headed to McDonalds for ice cream.

Good writing

2008-09-30T22:18:00.002-07:00

I'm thinking this must just be good writing, b/c why else would I spend time reading, much less recommending, a list of rules as to whom one should marry? As Amy Scott said in recommending it, it's a lot of common sense, and funny.

My "real" life

2008-09-26T13:43:00.004-07:00

So, schooling has begun, and I've already had my share of productive, lazy, and COMPLETELY unpredictable weeks. I've been weighing and praying over the ideas of recognizing when I need to suck it up and um, be disciplined v. when I need to let something go. I am mostly talking about the rest of my life that is getting skipped, not schooling. Then I read this at girltalk about life's "interruptions". Perfect timing and sentiment.

True to form, they are doing a little series, and it looks like there will be some suggested guidelines to help identify priorities. I am really interested. Either that, or I just want to forget it all and go have a nap.

Brian is at the Ligonier conference in Scottsdale--pray for him! Should be awesome. I get to do fun things with the girls like go to a wedding reception and parade, etc. Nothing to complain about, but sometimes I just wish I could turn everything off(usually for about 2 days) and pick up my house, clean(?), uh, landscape my yard, and return a few phone calls. It sounds like the beginning of a "to do" list. And like being disciplined should probably win out. I think I've been "letting things go" since Ali was born, b/c everyone knows you can get away with that when you have 3 kids under 2 years old. hmm Seems that putting something off can actually tire me out MORE than my kiddoes.

--Speaking of interruptions, and procrastinating, for that matter, Ali has been calling out for me(from bed) for a while now. I just went back to see what was up and she was laying in the middle of her room, in a very interesting pose, claiming to have fallen out of bed. "Mom, I just tumboed, I just tumboed wight out of my bed."

Razzle Dazzle

2008-09-08T14:55:00.003-07:00

Oh my gosh! I love Stuff Christians Like--especially b/c he posts about things I have totally thought about, usually. Sooo funny. This one from a while back about saying, "I'll pray for you," as a closing line when you are feeling awkward just hits the spot.

Do the two people who check this blog ever do this, or am I the only one who is being called out?

Mindless stuff

2008-09-08T14:36:00.003-07:00

I saw these today at Amy's Humble Musings. Of course, all 2 people that check this blog already know about Amy's, but humor me, anyway, K?

The FedEx commercial kills me. Speaking of Castaway, I really liked it, but can't watch it again.

This cheap/free date idea list is interesting. It has me wondering if either of the 2 people who check this blog have a date night, and what it usually consists of. Maybe most of what it usually consists of.

I get this

2008-08-16T14:34:00.002-07:00

Anybody else "get" this post? I have been struck by the idea at times that half of the things I am overwhelmed about are not because of God's requirements of me, but my own ambitions.

Plans

2008-08-14T19:52:00.004-07:00

When Katy and Emily are older, they will still be twins and have the same birthday, they were noting tonight. The current plan is that Katy will drive to wherever Emily lives. They are hoping that Emily's husband can tell Katy who they live by. Katy will arrive at breakfast time, at which point Emily will prepare (can you guess?) a) blueberry muffins, b) chocolate chip pancakes, c) bacon and eggs, d) toast with sugar on it, e) all of the above. Girls after my own heart.

Good stuff

2008-08-13T15:12:00.002-07:00

So. . .Apparently summer is already done. It went much as should have been expected, some trips and visitors with a week or two in between each event--enough time to unpack and repack. Never as much home improvement or project time as we swear to at the beginning! It was really good, busy fun.

Just thought I would get back in the swing, and link to an article that I liked. I have had the concept of a mom's work being in the home rolling around in my head in a fresh way lately. More on that later(maybe). :) Have you ever felt like every book you pick up, conversation you have, sermon you hear, song you listen to is of a certain theme? This is mine right now.

P.S. The link is from girltalk, and the series that they are doing this week looks good.

Summer is here!!!

2008-06-08T16:46:00.007-07:00

Well, I'm glad I said I wouldn't get to this very often--at least I kept my word. . . ;)

So--this last week the twins turned 5, all 3 kids did VBS, Brian took a course for a few days, we had some friends come visit and threw a party. I'm sure I'm forgetting 5 things. Woo-hoo! Here's proof. . .

Katy with her new Cinderella doll-I think this is "princess face".

Emily and Belle. This was their first wave of gift opening for their birthday. It was an all-day-long extravaganza. They are blessed! I totally treated it like Christmas and started the whole thing off in pj's. . .

Ali got in on the present action, too--are Grandma and Grandpa the best, or what?

Ali's clothes on=phase 2 of present mania, bags of adorable outfits!

I think the quote here is: "Oh my gosh, are you kidding me out of my mind?"

Brian and I enjoyed joking about the popularity of reading material as a gift. The girls have taken off with their reading lately--to the tune of ignoring presents while reading the cards.

Party girls/bubble warrior princesses?

Get 'em doing something messy right away. . .

More boys than have ever been seen at our house, all at once. Showing off favors that Grandma Karen made. . .

Katy wanted chocolate cake, Emily coconut. It was a little windy, so they pretended to blow out the candles. Well, Emily did. You should have seen Katy's face when I suggested that.

Aren't they cute?

Enough to prompt a spontaneous hug from an onlooker? Classic body language here. . .

Did I mention reading? And being able to ignore all other activity going on around them?

Some things I learned: Don't send the kids through the food line first if you want any left over for the adults. Or if you do, make your friend Laurie stand there to protect the roast beef.

This is my good friend Tori's daughter, Sofia, with our girlies. They really played well together that morning(their family rolled in the night before, stayed with us, and made all of the food--uh, I mean, enjoyed our hospitality).

Brian, activities director.

The kids were supposed to freeze with their "scariest face" on. I opted for just getting down to the Squirrel Nut Zippers.

It was a good time. . .

and Milt helped it end with a bang by locking the keys in the car. Yes, that is the Fire Dept. How many firemen does it take. . .
I think the least stressful moment for him was when they had gotten the door open, starting the alarm, and he got to scramble around looking for the keys in his backpack. The kids were psyched, though!!

My friend, Tori, and I, do well picking up where we left off, and it was fun to see how her kids, Evan and Sofia, have grown. What a neat family.

Thanks to all of our sponsors! :) They had a great birthday!

And so it starts

2008-04-29T17:53:00.002-07:00

It's a good feeling as a dad to have my kids get interested in something I really like. Over the past few days we've started listening to Focus on the Family's radio drama of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. They are loving it (especially Emily and Katy). They start off coloring or playing with something quietly, but after a few minutes they've set it aside and sit there entranced.

They just came back inside after running around in the backyard deciding who was going to be Lucy, Susan, or Mrs. Beaver. Apparently there's a White Witch out there somewhere.

Happy Easter!

2008-03-25T15:18:00.004-07:00

My sister and her family are out visiting us this Easter. Here are all the cousins posing before the big easter egg hunt. Can you tell that they're trying to scope out all the eggs while dutifully standing and smiling?

Winter Wonderland

2008-02-05T16:42:00.000-07:00

We had over a foot of snow yesterday. What a treat! We don't get very many storms like this - maybe one a year. Emily, Katy, and I tromped around in it for awhile and then played hide-and-seek. With all the snow covering the branches and deadening the sound I was able to evade them pretty well. We went back out again today with Alison. She mostly sat and ate snow. I don't blame her. It's kind of hard to move when the fluffy stuff is waist-deep. All the camera work is from yesterday. I'm so glad they like to play.

(a video of them having no qualms whatsoever about getting down and dirty with the stuff)

Visit to California

2008-01-15T17:45:00.000-07:00

While we were out in California, my sister and her husband arranged for our whole family to have a photo shoot. The photo up at the top of this page is one of the products of that. Here's a couple more:

Top row: Me, Laura, My Mom and Dad (Karen and Tom), My sister Kari and her husband Tim, Abigail.
Bottom row: Katy, Alison, Emily, Jack

Abigail, Emily, Jack, Katy, Alison

These little girls always love story time.

The kids with Great-Grandpa Bill (my Mom's dad).

We are blessed to have good family. Kari has some more pictures posted at her site.

Christmas Day, 2007

2007-12-25T13:36:00.001-07:00

Merry Christmas! We've had a fun morning. Amazingly enough, our kids seemed to think that digging in their stockings for oranges, nuts, Hershey Kisses and coloring books was the extent of Christmas gift-giving! We finally let on that those pretty boxes under the tree were also for them.

After opening gifts and spending plenty of time playing hairdresser on Mommy and Daddy (I know you wish you could see how my hair looks crimped - but it's just pretend), the kids were sent out to the backyard. We still have some leftover snow, and while they were out there, we got another small flurry.

The Incarnation

2007-12-25T12:07:00.000-07:00

"Infinite and yet an infant.

Eternal and yet born of a woman.

Almighty, and yet nursing at a woman’s breast.

Supporting a universe, and yet needing to be carried in a mother’s arms.

Heir of all things, and yet the carpenter’s despised son."

--Charles Haddon Spurgeon

"Man’s Maker was made man

that the Bread might be hungry,

the Fountain thirst,

the Light sleep,

the Way be tired from the journey;

that Strength might be made weak,

that Life might die."

--Augustine

(HT: Justin Taylor)

But it's a good haunting

2007-12-15T13:53:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my sister for this blast from the past.

The Twelve Days of Christmas

2007-12-12T22:31:00.000-07:00

Gotta love it.

Who's Who?

2007-12-11T19:08:00.000-07:00

Just a little help for those who need it. If we don't label the twins by name in our pictures, look at their hair. Katy has bangs. Emily's bangs are grown out (a bit of a cowlick, I'm afraid). Hope that helps!