If these walls spoke...

7 Giveaway Winner

noreply@blogger.com (If These Walls Spoke...) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:24:00 +0000

Congrats to NotGoodWith#s! Email your info to beckysallinger @ hotmail . com and I'll mail your book right away.

Here's a video of Ryleigh pulling your name out of the hat. It plays rightside up, I'm not sure why the thumbnail is sideways!

She's mad about it now, because she thinks she sounds like a munchkin. Someday my kids will all be in therapy because of what I've put them through. I'm taking donations for their mental health fund.

I'm headed out to dinner and Mama Mia with one of my besties, later!
Becky

Homemade Donuts and a 7 Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (If These Walls Spoke...) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 01:25:00 +0000

Sweet, sweet weekends. We checked off so many things on our house to-do list (paint, light fixtures, paint, outlets, paint and switches...I'll be putting in for my electrician's license after that project!), and still had time for some fun stuff. The kids saw a donut maker at Target last week, and the big news was, "did you know there's a machine that can make SIX donuts in under FIVE MINUTES!" OH, my! Ryleigh wanted to try making our own donuts, so we found this recipe, and started on Friday.

Side note-I've become obsessed with bread. I started feeling uneasy about the store-bought "wheat" bread I'd been buying, after already being disgusted for a while by the hotdog/hamburger bun options. I can't stomach paying $4.76 per loaf for the stuff I don't think will kill us (as fast). The ingredients lists on the packaging is daunting, and I was totally paralyzed in the bread aisle week after week, trying to figure out the best way. I went on a bread making spree a few years ago, and we were doing all kinds of grainy, wheaty, decent homemade bread. I even scored a bread maker (thanks, Lynne!!) and that thing changed my life. Then, I started doing daycare, and honestly just couldn't keep up. We. Go. Through. So. Much. Bread. I still used my bread maker to mix all my doughs for cinnamon rolls, pizza, breadsticks, etc. But, I was buying like somewhere in the neighborhood of oh, FIVE loaves of "wheat" sandwich bread per week. It started to gross me out. So, ANYWAY...I came up with a system for making nearly all the bread we need for the week on Sundays. Then, it's fresh, on hand, and consists of 5 or 6 ingredients as opposed to 28. I started out with white, figuring it was probably better for us than Sara Lee's "wheat". I think I'll slowly transition them to homemade wheat, which is definitely a different texture than they've become accustomed to.

I'm still buying bagels and english muffins, so don't go thinking I've completely lost it. It's not that much work if you've got your week's menu all planned out and can do it ahead. It's cheaper, tastier, healthier, and the scent that fills your home is nothing to complain about..

My word, where in the world was I?

Our handy assistant, Rugger. He is so awesome about fetching stuff from the basement food shelves, or the garage freezer, or taking garbage out, switching over laundry, you name it. Plus, he's funny. I miss him when he's gone. He had a sleepover this weekend, and I had a conscious moment of realization that I really like him. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, isn't that what they say?

I feel the slightest bit guilty about not letting them actually knead the dough. The tiniest ittiest little bit. I can only handle so much, you know what I'm saying? Plus, the dough always comes out perfect when I use the bread maker.

So, this recipe calls for the dough to sit in the refrigerator overnight. Then you roll it out the next day, cut out your donuts, and let them raise again. Do you let them raise? Or let them rise? Either way, it's not a super quick process we're dealing with here.

I think I've only ever fried something once before in my life-and it was chicken wings. I've never done dough...so I really didn't know what to expect. I only had olive oil on hand, so that's what we used. I also don't own a thermometer that reads high enough for oil (375* for this recipe). So, I just guessed. Evidently, my guestimations were just fine, because these babies were incredible.

Incredible probably doesn't even do them justice. They were so good. Breathtaking? Yes.

We inhaled them. They were warm and light, with the slightest crispiness to the outside.

The glaze was perfection. Not sickly sweet, not too thick, just enough to make the whole thing melt in your mouth.

I am not kidding you, we couldn't stop. The entire batch was consumed between 10am and Noon. No lie, and that was a lot of donut. I didn't even care, I just kept interrupted them with, "YES!" when a kid yelled, "can we have another..." No reason to save them, those delicious carbs were meant to be eaten fresh.

We're still talking about them.

I added a few teaspoons of cocoa to the very last of the glaze, and dipped three chocolate donuts. I actually didn't even get to try one of those, because they disappeared immediately. I heard they were good ;)

I had hoped to have a follow-up "my feelings one month after I read 7" blog written by now, but it just hasn't happened. Wheels are turning, winds are shifting, change is coming at the Sallinger house. Our week has been busier than I anticipated with two showings already so far and gorgeous weather that begs us to be outside. I have no idea if I'll be able to blog again before the end of the week, so I'm using this post to host my "7" giveaway. All you have to do is leave a comment! I'll choose the winner by letting a small child pick a name out of a hat on Thursday, February 2 at 5pm (central).

If you don't win the book, you can always make some donuts to ease the pain. Oh, sweet carbs.

It's Friday, Friday!

noreply@blogger.com (If These Walls Spoke...) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:41:00 +0000

I finally googled this video and watched it for the first time. Have you seen it? Officially, 3 minutes and 48 seconds I'll never get back! One of Ryleigh's friends taught it to her, and we sing it every week, all the time never having heard the actual song. I can't believe that video has gotten over 20 million views. What the heck, people watching it more than once?

Moving on!

Pajama day.

The kids were shocked to discover I owned actual PJ's. {Tell me I'm not the only one who sleeps in old t-shirts.}

Window paint is such a fun thing, but it's so hard to clean up!

We've had a very laid back week, with lots of runny noses, coughing, and staying home. Pajama day totally fit into the week perfectly. I think we need one more day of doing nothing, and a weekend, and hopefully by Monday we'll be ready to get out again.

You might take note of the gold walls. This wall is now grey. I'm wishy washy on the color, afraid we should have gone a little warmer. I'm sure after a few days of looking at it I'll just get used to it and forget all about my reservations. {That's what happened with the gold.}

I put classical music on the kids' mp3 players, and ~~encouraged~~ forced them to listen while they did their free-writing this afternoon. Heaven. No chatter, no questions, no messing around dangit! It was glorious. Ryleigh came up with some A+ poetry using this method, even :)

Now, I'll admit it doesn't take much to thrill me. When I can haul these guys to work with me and know they'll entertain themselves in the gym attached to my office for 90 minutes straight, I'm thrilled. It was after normal business hours, so their shrieking didn't bother anyone.

Too bad I wasn't wearing my Heelys; after the rope rides, they were whipping each other around on their skates and I kind of wished I could have gotten in on that action. I had my fingers hovered over 9-1-1 just waiting for a crash followed by screaming.

I had requested a hard copy of "7" to give away, and forgot all about it until it showed up in my mailbox yesterday. Score. Such a fun surprise amongst all the junk mail and bills. I'll have a giveaway next week!

Happy Friday, as it is indeed Friday. You might need to remind yourself that, "yesterday was Thurrrrsday...tomorrow is...Saturday". Oh. My. Word. No offense, Rebecca Black. I'm sure you're a super nice girl and your mother loves you to pieces. {And, congrats on the youtube success, by the way.}

Timeless Tuesday

noreply@blogger.com (If These Walls Spoke...) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:39:00 +0000

Some activities around here never get old.

Sugar cereal is such a treat over here! It was on sale this week and we haven't strung necklaces for a while. Big hit today :) My nutritionist, Denise (free with my gym membership) will be happy to know I stepped away from the refined sugar. After getting my measurements and body fat calculated this morning at 6am, I feel like it'll be easy for me to stay motivated in the healthy eating department today. Lord have mercy, I love cereal so much.

We've had these blocks for over seven years, and they've never been pulled out of the toy rotation, but they still get played with every single day. Best toys ever!

Love those chickens!
B

Giving it up.

noreply@blogger.com (If These Walls Spoke...) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:11:00 +0000

I know it's crazy, but I'm having a hard time giving up our baby toys. Our babies are not babies any longer. Our littlest boys love trucks, Legos and Star Wars. In an effort to avoid being sent to Hoarders Anonymous, we dug through the storage area under the stairs yesterday. There are several full garbage bags not shown here...yes, I may have issues.

It's 100% ridiculous to hang on to these things when we don't use them, and will never need them again. There are certainly needy children in our city who would love and play with these toys, and that can't happen if they're in totes in my basement. I saved one small tub of my favorites for daycare babies to use, and that's it. There are still boxes and boxes full of toddler toys in our shed, which we'll have to deal with after we move. This fact is keeping me sane. I know they're out there and if for some reason I were to need a slew of little kid stuff tomorrow...

Hey, Mitch's mom saved stuff from when her kids were little for her grandbabies to play with...and she will forever be known as the grandma with all the cool toys. There are worse things to go down as. I'm saving our Fisher Price Little People forever, I don't care if TLC comes in here and mocks me.

Happy Monday!
B

Phone Photo Friday

noreply@blogger.com (If These Walls Spoke...) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 13:28:00 +0000

My phone camera is back in action, which means it's been busy over here :)

We got seemingly miraculous Rockstar parking at the Children's museum yesterday, making this trip perfect from the start. I told the kids I had prayed for a good spot right before we turned the corner, and Ryleigh said she thought maybe there was a "reason" for it. "Yes, like maybe you could be witnesses for Jesus by being on your best behaviors." Ha!! Is that wrong? They did have good behaviors, I'll just say that! :)

A staff member took Ryleigh's picture with her creation here, so if you go in the next few weeks be on the lookout for it on the wall!

The library has become a great place for us to go during daytime showings now that it's too cold to head to the park. We're feeling extra thankful to be checking out free books these days, after escaping a fine of $99.40 last week. Ninety-Nine! Turns out, "return library books" somehow fell off my pre-vacation to-do list. Last week it hit me out of nowhere that our books were probably overdue. 60+ books X 6 days X $.25/book = devastation! We had actually checked the books out on a youth account, but the system had mistakenly calculated the charges as if it were an adult's. This brought things down into the $40 range...but, still. There's a 1-time "fresh start" option on youth accounts, which wipes the fees to $0, and we took advantage of it. Ha! Oh, heavens!

So, there's your Lincoln Libraries tip of the day from the Sallingers. Borrow your kids' books on a youth account, and then if something crazy happens, utilize the "fresh start" wisely (because you can only do it once)!

P.S. We have never lost a book. This is one advantage to having a small house that's picked up all the time for showings. Yes, our house is still for sale, in case you were wondering!

We can't be getting banned from the library, we love it too much. It's kind of fun to go on non-storytime days, because it's so quiet. We almost didn't know what to do with ourselves, having the time and space to sit, browse and play games.

This camo suit of Truman's deserves a post of it's own. Look at his eyes, he's glaring under there! He's not mad, just super serious about getting that deer.

Ryleigh's latest evening activity: book/poem competitions. A person (anyone, but likely only members of our family) could write a poem or short story, and turn it into her. At the end of the evening, she will give out awards. Best Poem. Funniest Story. Most Original.

Very hilarious. I'm not sure what the cash register is for...maybe there was a fee at one point to participate? I know I didn't pay anything, maybe I got a "deal".

It's been almost a month (since before Christmas) that we've had an evening to do nothing. By nothing I mean, everyone's home at the same time, play legos, take baths, read books, go to bed at 8pm. A normal night, if you will. Hallelujah!

Homeschool kids' P.E. class...

We've had such a mild winter, these kids have been outside every single day with very few exceptions. It's finally cold enough this week I told them they had to stay inside, and after a few days, they asked to do Jillian Michaels' 30-Day Shred video. And I laughed so hard, I nearly woke the nappers. The went the entire half hour! Ryleigh even used the 3lb. hand weights for parts of it. They're begging to do it again.

Hey, it works for me. The DVD player is in my room, which is where I fold laundry. Two birds, folks! They get some exercise, I get my laundry folded and off my bed, and everyone's ready for sleep by 8pm. Including me. Yes!

B

Let's Go Fly a Kite.

noreply@blogger.com (If These Walls Spoke...) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 11:03:00 +0000

Three cheers for a fun weekend.

I do feel grateful for a job that allows me to be home with my own kids all week, but I do love a good weekend.

Grandma Rowe hit one out of the park with these homemade kites. Seriously, she can do anything.

Rugger is such a good big brother, no joke. I hope he's always sweet and generous with his time to the little guys, because they think he is so cool.

The kids freaked when these geese flew over. It really did look like there might be a goose/kite collision, but it didn't happen. Kind of like when you're at an air show and really fear the Blue Angels are going to slice off the top of your head, but they never actually do. Similar situation.

Such a fun afternoon with my favorites.

Pretty ridiculous that we were sans coats and flying kites on Sunday, and woke up to snow on Tuesday. Oh, Nebraska.

7 and 10

noreply@blogger.com (If These Walls Spoke...) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 07:32:00 +0000

We've said at least a dozen times over the past few days: it feels like our 10-yr anniversary vacation happened over a year ago. We hopped back into normal so quickly, it was like it never really happened. We loved it. It was beautiful and perfect. We'll do it again. (Maybe not for another 10 years.)

August, 2001, on our honeymoon in Cancun.

A decade from now our youngest will be 13, and our oldest might even be moved out of the house. Lord willing, they'll be the kind of teenagers who are easy to leave at home for a week...

A few weeks before we left, I took the opportunity to receive an advanced copy of Jen Hatmaker's newest book, 7 in exchange for a review on my blog. All 13 of my readers will immediately buy it from Amazon, so I'd say it's a fair trade. Jen and I are BFF's (read: I follow her on twitter and stalk her blog), and she makes me laugh. I mean, literally laugh out loud to myself. Our one-way relationship is sorta creepy/pathetic/awesome. I'm completely OK with it.

I identify with her personality-she is an "extremist". Hello. I've recently admitted this to myself. I need a challenge. I can't do it unless it seems crazy. Eat "sensibly"? Can't do that for longer than 4.5 hours. Refuse all sugar and flour? I could go a month. Jen and her family spent seven months addressing 7 areas of excess: food, clothing, possessions, media, waste, spending, and stress. They ate 7 foods for a month, chose 7 clothing items to wear for another month, gave away 7 possessions per day for a month...

Seven was, "an exercise in simplicity with one goal: to create space for God's kingdom to break through." Yes, please. "Jesus, let there be less of me and my junk and more of you and your kingdom."

It's the beginning of a new year, and my natural inclination is to purge, organize, simplify, create a new budget, mess with the routine. Reading this book, at this time of the year, is straight up dangerous for my family. Me, to Mitch: "You should probably go ahead and skim through this book. I'm afraid it's going to motivate me to do something crazy and you'll want to be on board."

Enter major conflict: reading this book while sitting poolside at an all-inclusive resort in Mexico. I'm surrounded by more excess than I've ever experienced. Spoiled, pampered, overindulged. Loving every carefree, relaxing, kid-free, "well deserved" moment, but feeling a little uneasy at the same time. "Do you think these waiters are getting paid a fair wage? The girl who brought these towels looked about 17, do you think she likes her job? Should we have just used the money we paid for this trip to feed a Lincoln family in need for an entire year?" Oh, mercy. Guilt wasn't invited on this trip!

"We cannot carry the gospel to the poor and lowly while emulating the practices of the rich and powerful."

Rationalization ensues, "We haven't taken a trip like this in 10 years, and won't do it again anytime soon. We have a lot to celebrate, I mean, even WE weren't sure we'd last a decade. Our kids will be better for us spending this week to reconnect and renew our energy."

"The day I am unaware of my privileges and unmoved by my greed is the day something has to change."

I feel like we live fairly modestly. (I mean come on, we don't even have cable.) We have more than most of the world does, and don't even realize it. "How can I be socially responsible if unaware that I reside in the top percentage of wealth in the world?" Two vehicles that run, a roof over our heads, and plenty to eat. "Excess has impaired perspective in America. We are the richest people on earth, praying to get richer." We volunteer, donate stuff we don't use anymore, and raise money for charities. But. None of that requires us to get uncomfortable.

The Hatmakers tackled 7 areas of excess, but I feel especially drawn to two. Spending and Stress.

Maybe it's the new year making me want to reorganize everything in our life, including our budget...or maybe it's something more. I "gave up" the budget a few years ago, because Mitch offered to take it and I honestly needed to dump something off my plate. It's been g.l.o.r.i.o.u.s. not knowing what's going on with our banking. I mean it. For me, ignorance in this area is truly bliss. I don't log into our online banking, everything is set up on auto-pay, and my handsome husband makes all the deposits into the ATM so I never see a receipt. I have no idea what is in our bank accounts. None. Suddenly, I feel like that might be a problem.

If I had a nickel for every time someone said, "you must be SO busy" or, "my gosh, you have your hands full!" or, "why aren't you insane by now?"...I'd be a Bazillionaire. I get it. We're ridiculously busy. Stressed? I hate to use the word "stressed" because I feel like that's so negative. Everything on our plate is important and so worthy of our time and energy. Or necessary to pay the bills. We aren't big time-wasters in my opinion, or running around to a hundred different activities bringing on all kinds of unnecessary busy to our already full lives. It's just that five kids + home school + daycare + a small business + full-time job = busy. There's no other way around it. Or is there? God has instructed us to rest, but we have a really hard time keeping the Sabbath holy. If we truly rested one day out of the week, I wonder how we'd change.

"What if we are camels on this side of the needle, dangerously content with our fake gospel and avoiding the actual Christian life described in scripture?" Love your neighbor as yourself. As yourself. What if we really did that. What if we spent as much time and money on our neighbor as we did on ourselves? This was the part of the book that really made me come unglued. What if we lived so far under our means that we could give away 50%. Half. I don't even know what to do with that thought, except that I think it's probably the ultimate goal. My mind is blown.

This book definitely has me thinking, what are we missing? Life feels too comfortable, which is starting to make me uneasy. There's a tension I'm just becoming aware of, and I can't quite put my finger on it.

"Love God most. Love your neighbor as yourself. This is everything.

If we say we love God, then we will care about the poor.
The earth is God's and everything in it. We should live like we believe this.

What we treasure reveals what we love.

Money and stuff have the power to ruin us.

Act justly, love mercy, walk humbly with God. This is what is required."

The Sallingers are in. We're exhausted from being big consumers caught up in the machine with no real idea how to love our neighbors as ourselves (and no time or money to do it with). "Jesus, let there be less of me and my junk, more of you and your kingdom."

10 years and 5 months into marriage, we l-o-v-e-d our time away. Mitch was so relaxed by the third day, I actually worried there was something wrong. Evidently, he's unrecognizable when he's unwound. We didn't miss our kids until we stepped into the Cancun airport, and then it was like we couldn't get home fast enough. They had fun splitting their time between the grandmas, and we didn't worry about them for an instant. (Thank you G'ma Sue and G'ma Rowe, for doing the hard work while we laid around and did nothing for a week!)

*Disclaimer: I have never reviewed a book before and it's been a dozen years since I did a book report, so I'm sure I didn't quote things properly. Anything in "quotes" is from the book, 7 by Jen Hatmaker, which you can buy HERE, and you should. It's a well written, hilarious, easy read that only gets difficult if you think too much (or love Jesus).

Real life.

noreply@blogger.com (If These Walls Spoke...) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 23:33:00 +0000

It seems like it's been two years since I blogged last, and at least that long since I was on vacation. Sweet, sweet, paradise. I miss you.

Life picked up very quickly when we returned, with birthday lunch and surprise gifts.

Pedicures for my favorite girls, thanks to Christmas gifts for picking up part of the tab.

Ryleigh was really unsure about the man who was doing her toes. I mean, a man, mom. A MAN? I blew her mind and told her some men cut hair for a living, too. It's not actually that weird. She would clearly disagree.

We may, or may not have served that cake for breakfast on Sunday...then put candles in it and served it again after dinner. What. We picked up the kids (and that cake) after Midnight the night before, and there was truly nothing else in the house worth eating. That's my story...

The daily routine. I didn't miss it one bit. Not a single, tiny, itty, bitty, bit. By today, three days in, it's feeling pretty good. There were no poop catastrophes today, I don't recall anyone crying, the fighting was at a minimum, and we got three compliments on our good behaviors at the library. Bam.

Our house is still for sale, in case you were wondering. And yes, my Christmas tree is still up. The basement is holding all the contents of the storage closet right now, pending some rearranging of items. By rearranging, I mean tossing in the garbage. I refuse to pack the tree until there's an organized space to store it, and it might be a minute. Or two.

I'm having a really hard time getting through my vacation pictures, but I am trying. Turns out my photography skills decline steadily after about 9pm on vacation. Especially when happy hour starts at 10am on vacation. I'm just sayin'. There are some goodies in there :)

B

Luxury and Excess

noreply@blogger.com (If These Walls Spoke...) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:42:00 +0000

Thank goodness for that pedicure my friend gifted me before we left, because I've taken 46 pictures of my feet over the last few days. It's what I do, and I make no apologies ;) My hot husband is asleep and after an uninterrupted 7-hour stretch, I can sleep no more. It's glorious. The sleeping, eating, drinking, reading, sleeping, drinking, eating. There's a really loose routine centered around a lot of my favorite activities. The one complaint I have is my reading material. It's got me in stitches, and nearly completely wrecked. More on that later, when I'm not so conflicted by my overly luxurious surroundings.

We returned to the internet yesterday, and the first email I got was from Ryleigh, "me and Rugger miss you so much and we really want you to come back". Oh, my heart. It hurt for about 2.3 seconds, and then I simply ordered another Rum and Diet and said, "forget it, Suckers, see you Sunday."

They're having a blast with the grandmas, I'm sure. Rowen was reportedly "banned from all door knobs and switches of any kind" at Gma Rowe's. Lord, please be with G'ma Sue the 2nd half of the week.

Later all, a bowl of guacamole is calling my name.

Buss Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (If These Walls Spoke...) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 23:52:00 +0000

Yep. I should be packing, cleaning, making food, or folding laundry. I'm just not feelin' it yet, so I'm doing this instead. The feeling will hit eventually and everything will get done, I'm totally confident. I did force myself to scrub out my bathroom...."check".

One last Christmas gathering to close out the year...

Our big kids got their very own hot glue guns, along with a ream of paper and other crafting goods. They were ecstatic, such a funny thing to get all riled up about. Love them!

The kids sang a few carols for Great Grandpa and Grandma. Sweet memories.

We're headed out to spend the last evening of 2011 with our Besties, such a fun way to end the year. I'm sure the urge to post pictures of our night will hit before the urge to gather diabetes supplies for Ryleigh's suitcase :)

B

Merry.

noreply@blogger.com (If These Walls Spoke...) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 03:14:00 +0000

Verrrry.

I loved Christmas/Birthday/LongWeekendPalooza. I loved it. Four full days of my handsome husband home, all my chickens together, and no work, daycare, school, errands... It was heavenly.

I felt like I really got to spend good quality time with each of my kids. I did everything I really wanted to do-and didn't take a lot of pictures, which is all right with me. We just hung out. I wanted a few days in a row of just hanging out...saying yes whenever there was a request to paint, or hot glue something, or dress a baby, or attempt a french braid. It felt glorious and relaxing, and time slowed down for once. It's all relative, you know. Five kids at Christmas probably isn't anyone's idea of relaxing, but compared to the usual routine, it felt like a staycation.

The boys shopped for the girls, and us girls shopped for our favorite boys. It was full, and fun, and didn't feel rushed or crazy. We forgot the popcorn balls until the last minute, and hopped into HyVee 15 minutes before they closed, which is kind of tradition.

I will need to take a bottle of Resolve out to the van at some point this week, to de-stick the seatbelts, which is also kind of tradition.

I threw together the bomb Christmas Eve dinner, if I do say so myself. I'm the Queen of pre-making meals, doing it fast, getting it done, and moving on with our night. I love that, because it makes our evenings smooth and last longer when I'm not in the kitchen for half the time. I loved planning and making dinner Saturday night. It probably helped that I was half-way through my second day off, so I wasn't exhausted! I'm going to make an effort to do it more often-even if only on the weekends.

We were both bummed we didn't just buck up and take the kids to 11pm candlelight Christmas Eve service. It just isn't the same at 4pm, no matter how you try and slice it. However, I was fearful of the behaviors we might inflict on others the next day, if we kept the kids up past Midnight. Knowing Jane Pierce was singing O Holy Night almost put me over the edge, and I'm still kicking myself a bit for missing out.

Turns out, we needed the kids to be in bed early, because we had a lot of work to do for Santa. Turns out, we are old and get tired earlier than we used to. Turns out, toy assembly with post-10pm brain is a lot of work. We're already laughing about putting the ping pong table's legs on incorrectly. Twice. Really! It wasn't funny at the time, when I was falling asleep behind the instructions, and Mitch was scrounging around for the right drill bits. Ho Ho Ho!

The little boys were up first, after 7am (which is a little early, but totally acceptable for Christmas morning!), and I could hear them talking in their beds about presents. Then, I heard them singing Happy Birthday, Jesus. Are you kidding me? Adorable. They love Santa and presents, but they know what we're doing when we celebrate Christmas.

Rugger made everyone a gift weeks ago (literally, maybe even over a month ago) and hid them in the garage "behind all the bikes and other garage junk". Sneaky! I actually knew he was working on something way back then, but had no idea he'd actually kept everything together and hidden stuff. He wrapped paintings, drawings and candy, and handed them out. Such a sweetheart.

It's not all about the presents, but for goodness' sake...it's amazing to see our kids love each other like that.

The Slinkies were a random Wal-Mart purchase for the boys' stockings, and they were such a hit. That's all Maeson told anyone who asked him what he got. A Slinky.

At one point the night before, we considered just showing the kids the box. Clearly, glad we stuck it out and finished the job. Santa would have been so disappointed in his little elves.

I loved the nice, nearly balmy weather we enjoyed, but it just didn't feel right. You know? I'm not a fan of freezing cold, or icy roads. But, it just felt weird to be playing soccer in Grandma's back yard after lunch. Are you with me?

The boys are way too big with their real bikes. I can't stand it.

Reise and I both got Heelys, so we can keep up with the big kids. We might head to the mall to practice. Ya know, just to see if we can get kicked out. Or, make fools out of ourselves as we fall in public. Either way!

This was the first time in a very long time every member of Mitch's family was together at one time.

I got a wild hair on Thursday of last week to cash in our unused Coco Key passes from last April. We gathered up some BOGO coupons, and paid $10.70 to get in on Monday. It was such. a. blast. It was a surprise for the kids, I avoided the Christmas mess in the house for one more day, and all five children were sawing logs by 7:20pm. That, my friends, gets an A+. The one and only snafoo of the day? Rowen somehow managed to leave the house with size 18-month swim trunks on. For real. He's a big 3yr old. Not like one of those little guys who could maybe still squeeze into a 2T. No. He had a rash on both thighs which he never complained about once until we got home. Then, he was in a full fledged panic, because even his PJ pants touching the raw skin was too much. I applied some diaper cream, which offended him to the highest degree you could possibly imagine. However, it was totally cleared up by this morning. Whew! Please know I am laughing hysterically right now, just typing that out. That kid is incredible.

Ryleigh has been saving her money for a Nutcracker. She saw this guy at CVS at the very beginning of the season (we're talking September, here). She was gifted some money for Christmas, and had her first post-holiday shopping experience last night. "I saved so much money, and there's barely a scratch on it!" She is so practical, I imagine she'll never buy anything until it goes on sale, ever again. Love her!

Huge, contented sigh from this mom. So many things I love concentrated into one awesome weekend. Happy Birthday, Jesus. We're so glad that you were born!

Becky

Time flies!

noreply@blogger.com (If These Walls Spoke...) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 14:01:00 +0000

The last week has flown by so quickly, I can hardly fathom that it's been almost a whole week since we dipped everything we could find from our kitchen into almond bark, and celebrated a birthday.

We used a lot of utensils, because they kept going straight into mouths. I totally get it. Almond bark is so delicious. I mean, seriously, get out of here-it's so good!

I love it when one kid gets excited for another kid. It makes the random flareups of sibling jealousy a little more bearable.

Just messing around with the different continuous shooting modes on my camera :) It's sad that these kids are so shy. Reserved. Timid.

And, he's officially SEVEN. He went from a little kid to a regular boy over night. Such a bittersweet thing, this growing kids bit.

My goal for this week is to ~~blog my Christmas pictures~~, ~~play air hockey~~, ~~take lots of naps~~, ~~ignore the mess that's breeding in the basement~~, get my house back to looking less like a landfill and more like a dwelling space for humans. The 'plan' is to get a For Sale sign back in our front yard by Sunday...which will require the adults that live here to be productive this week. Even tho at least one of the adults is having a really hard time not slipping into vacation mode. I just want to sit on the couch and read books, load dart guns, and eat leftover cake balls for the next few days. I love long weekends, but they make it really hard to get back into the routine. :)

B

Second Annual

noreply@blogger.com (If These Walls Spoke...) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:20:00 +0000

Traditions. Love them. Rowen Family Cabin Christmas. These pictures look a lot like last year's. Love that.

Velveeta Shells and Cheese in the kids' stockings. Maybe it makes me a mean mom for never buying boxed pasta. Maybe it makes me a good daughter for letting my mom be a cool Grandma for always serving it? We'll go with that!

Homemade kites. Such a fun memory from my own childhood, now passed on to my kids. Love!

Not to be outdone by his baby cousin,

Nature walk with the dads and Grandpa. "Did you find a bald eagle?!"

Mitch took all the nature walk pictures, which turned out great. I just love that the boys are standing on the edge of a "caving bank" posing for a pic. I'm such a Nervous Nelly. Get away from the edge, please before that bank caves. Thank you!

Wii bowling tournament. Tiffany tried to defend her title as champion. {She failed.}

Second year with a brand spankin' new baby. This likely will not continue as a tradition...but one never knows.

Late nights, no naps... Grandma gave the kids each a flashlight (and even labeled it with their names, no fighting! Praise Jesus) and they played flashlight hide-and-go-seek in the gigantic basement. At 11pm. I wish I had a picture of seven of them snuggled up together in one bedroom for the night. By the morning, one kid had bailed, several had switched beds, and Rugger had stolen all of the blankets. Such fun. This is the stuff awesome holiday memories are made of, folks.

I love everything about this: bowling against Pao with a spit-up covered hoodie, and coffee mug permanently attached to body. Fussy infant? What about it? She still won that game and advanced to the next round. Pure skill and tenacity right there.

Meals? What? Full day snacking fests. Pretty sure the final count for Dekker was SEVEN oranges. At least he snacks with healthy foods.

Then, there's my kid's version of a snack...

Oh, and another one of mine with his fourteenth cup of hot chocolate.

Cousins. If I had to guess, I'd say they're discussing the exhaustion that comes from having baby brothers.

Taking a break from his bowling coaching duties (see the pipe cleaner ear piece/microphone?) to polish off a cake pop.

New Wii bowling champ! 277, what a crazy bowling score, even for Wii.

Jacuzzi bubble bath.

Heading out to climb that taaaallllll tower. I love everything about this memory. Tiff with a kid on her back, running. Rowen and Dekker holding hands, running. Dave being the paparrazi. Stef and I driving, trying not to hit the small children that continually popped out in front of the vehicle!

I was too wimpy to climb the whole thing, I think I made it about three flights. Chicken!!

Such a fun time making memories with my blast of a family. The cabin is already booked for next year, thanks mom and dad! Maybe we'll start the countdown now...359 days 'til... :)

B

SEVEN

noreply@blogger.com (If These Walls Spoke...) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 12:23:00 +0000

Rugger's party was last Saturday, and he asked if he was allowed to tell people he was seven. NO. Absolutely not, you aren't seven, so that'd be a big fat lie. You'll be SIX until Thursday. No sooner!!! {sob, sob, sob!} I can't believe it. He's so big :(

He asked for a LEGO cake...but was perfectly happy to hand out cupcakes with fondant Legos on top. Boys are easy to please, which is great (especially if it's a week before Christmas).

I do feel bad that the poor kid has to compete with Christmas...it's hard to plan his party, everyone has a lot going on (including his mother). These cupcakes were simple and cute, and not too difficult to make.

Since I was sending them home with the kids at the end of the party, I packaged them in clear 9oz cups. Portable, and cute! Maybe kind of hard to eat. Not impossible, but definitely required a little finesse. The butter cream icing had dried enough, that when they popped out, it wasn't a giant mess on your hands. I tested one before I sent them out :)

I kind of wished afterward, that I'd added some colorful sprinkles or something to the top. I mentioned that to Rugger and he acted like it was a really weird idea, so whatever!

At one point there were 17 kids, and they kind of trickled in randomly. Like I said...crazy time of year :)

Rugger can read his own cards now, he's so proud of that! I can't believe how grown up he's getting...where did that little baby go?

I love that he's so independent. He could not have cared less that everyone else was done eating and had run off to play. He was still hungry (100% boy) and sat there and polished off four pieces of pizza.

I loved that my brother and his family came during naps and drove over an hour to get here. Rugger is such a lucky kid. I love our people.

Speaking of uncles...Rock Star Uncle moment right here. My sister's husband hauled his four boys (the oldest is only 5!) to the party, all by himself. Did I mention it was during nap time?!! There was no other way around it, our weekend was completely packed except for a four-hour window in the afternoon.

Thanks to our peeps, for making my big boy feel special on his big day! He had a blast :)

We have a big day planned...Children's Museum with friends, daddy home for the afternoon, dinner out (his choice!), cake with Grandparents...

Happy 7th Birthday to my oldest boy, we love you so much!

xoxo

Go Tell...

noreply@blogger.com (If These Walls Spoke...) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 13:19:00 +0000

Down in a lowly manger

Our humble Christ was born

And God sent us salvation

That blessed Christmas morn:

Go Tell It On The Mountain;

Over the hills, and everywhere,

Go Tell It On The Mountain

That Jesus Christ is born.

On the seventh day of Christmas...

noreply@blogger.com (If These Walls Spoke...) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:41:00 +0000

This was one of those times when I wished I could let Ryleigh open one of her Christmas gifts early... Not that painting a straw black doesn't work for a magic wand, and using an old dress-up purse for props isn't awesome. I love the creativity :) I can't wait til she opens her legit magician's kit! She is going to love it.

The pull-a-penny-out-of-the-baby's-ear trick might need some practice.

Such good little audience members!

We had a super fun and very full extended weekend, and it's all downhill from here, baby. I plan to just relax my way through the rest of this week! :)

I'm going through 576 pictures of...Rugger's birthday party,

...the kids' Sunday school Christmas program,

...and, Rowe Family Christmas.

I love this time of year!
B

On the third day of Christmas...

noreply@blogger.com (If These Walls Spoke...) — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Some days we fly through projects, catch up on school, and check off items on the to-do list at warp speed. Plus, fit in a trip to the library :) This was one of those days. It's completely exhausting, but in a hurts-so-good kind of way.

My aunt teaches preschool, and I steal a lot of her craft ideas which she may or may not know :) They say imitation is the finest form of flattery, so hopefully she takes it as a compliment. She made a similar picture frame with her kids, but I made my kids paint theirs. Most of my kids are older, plus I'm kind of a slave driver when it comes to crafts. Oh, and they l.o.v.e. to paint.

Everyone's faces kind of crack me up here...

I think hot glue is one of the handiest things, ever.

Thanks again, Gma Buss, for all those buttons!!

And...this last picture is added only to display Reise's outfit (clothing change number ??? of the day...).

And a few random phone photos. It's Friday, after all.

No, we do not wrestle in the house, even in winter when it's warm enough to go out but it's too muddy and everyone is going a little stircrazy. I have no idea what they're doing here with makeshift mats and a referee.

51 library books can get pretty heavy...

This church staff lunch outing took me back about 15 years. All the cool people in the back of the bus, being obnoxiously loud. The adults in the front, shushing us.

Rusty driving. Ah, yes. Go ahead, my high school youth group friends. Enjoy a little Mexico missions trip memory right here!

Happy Weekending!
B

On the second day of Christmas...

noreply@blogger.com (If These Walls Spoke...) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 12:38:00 +0000

When you're five and a half you could probably paint your own toenails. At least, that's what Reise thought.

She did a great job on her toes...but also painted her leggings (on accident). Soooo...she might need a bit more supervision next time.

Next time, we'll start the process earlier in the morning, so we don't run into lunch. Not that drying your toes under the table with your sister's Barbie nail dryer isn't an option. The Barbie nail dryer that works now, thanks to that crusty dime dislodging itself from the fan blades.

On the first day of Christmas...

noreply@blogger.com (If These Walls Spoke...) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 03:26:00 +0000

I'm tired. My house is really starting to go downhill with all the Christmas crafting, baking, dipping, gifting, doing, being, and not cleaning going on. I have about 472 half-thoughts in my head about what I need to do right now, and can't figure out where to get started. So, clearly the most logical thing to do is sit down and go through my pictures of our fun night. Duh.

19 kids ages newborn to 8...

The semi-managed chaos of this kind of evening does not stress me in the least. Odd that coming home with five kids and a to-do list longer than my leg feels more overwhelming than all those kids hopped up on sugar. It's like the kind of white noise I could easily fall asleep to. Probably had a lot to do with the fact that it wasn't my house or playroom that was being demolished at warp speed :)

Gosh, we have the best people. Love our small groupies and their kids.

Thanks, Johnsons, for hosting a fab night!

We were this close to dropping our first major ball of the 2011 Christmas season tonight. Thankfully, it hit me at 8:30pm that we needed to deliver our first of 12 gifts to Mitch's parents today or we'd be delivering the last gift on the 26th. WHEW. I'm loving the 40-minute break I just took here, and hoping my little elves drop directly into bed the instant they return :)

B

This is Christmas.

noreply@blogger.com (If These Walls Spoke...) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 16:07:00 +0000

Early dinner, a new sweater, and a combed-over mohawk with hair spray.

Freshly charged camera battery, good seats, and a Grandma who always has gum for fidgety toddlers.

Thank you little girl, for bending down to examine your tights, so I could get a great shot of my kid standing behind you :)

Jingle bells, Away in the Manger, and We Wish You a Merry Christmas.

So thankful for Maeson's awesome Christian preschool and his super sweet and Godly teacher.
B

Our weekend in pictures.

noreply@blogger.com (If These Walls Spoke...) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:15:00 +0000

Becky

Etc. {Phone Photo Friday version} In Numbers.

noreply@blogger.com (If These Walls Spoke...) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 13:30:00 +0000

Because, there's not really much going on around here...but so much going on at the same time. Etc .: additional odds and ends; extras.

So much! That's what going on around here. So. Much.

12.3 That's Reise's actual hemoglobin number. Not 8. Long story short, there's not much wrong with Reise. "Lab error"...who pays for those? Dang! We do know now that she is a champ at getting her blood drawn. A++

362. That's the number of Best Choice labels "we" pulled off the apple juice from the church's kitchen.

Thank you Karin, Lynne, Sue, Lao, and a man I don't know for being part of the "we" last Friday night! We are blessed to share life with such great people.

4. Number of elementary-aged girls who helped cut the UPC's out of alllll those apple juice labels. Bless their hearts!

5. Number of children I held hostage in the parlor of First Presbyterian Church last Saturday, while I volunteered for the Food Bank and Jacob's Well.

0. Number of things broken in the parlor (PTL!).

Our view of the snow was incredible! Such a super pretty courtyard, in the middle of downtown.

3. Number of Pixie Stix Maeson had that morning. It's pretty tricky figuring out how to consume those things without getting a clog. Ryleigh is shown here, demonstrating how to keep it away from your tongue. Pour the sugar IN. Don't try to suck it out!! (Hysterical.)

2. The number of imaginary turntables on Maeson's air DJ setup. See how his hand is over his ear? That's so he can hear better out of the headphones. Wonder where he picked that up?

10. People in the Guthrie's living room, watching Charlie Brown Christmas, and Prep and Landing.

Christmas memories, being made right here. Good stuff, folks.

6. Loads of laundry to fold before we could go to bed that night.

1. First trip to the Children's Museum for The Baby. Sweet thing!

9. Christmas Alley performances down, 5 to go!

Thank you for these pictures, Peggy!

20 (degrees). The freezing point of a 10% salt/water solution.

9. Days until Rowe Family Cabin Christmas.
13. Days until Rugger turns 7.
16. Days until Christmas!

24. Days until we leave for hot, sunny, lazy Mexico. Not that anyone's counting :)

Happy Friday, all...

This one day at our house.

noreply@blogger.com (If These Walls Spoke...) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 12:22:00 +0000

There are days when I'm sure no one is happy to live in this house.

This was not one of those days.

So thankful. Love my chickens, love my job.

Yes, it's as hectic as you're imagining it would be, getting all that gear on.

One of my all-time favorite things the kids spontaneously do at lunch time is play "telephone". It's so dang funny, I need to set up a video and you would probably wet your pants and die over the things they come up with.

Rowen was allowed to pour his own oyster crackers into his chili. He seriously overflowed his bowl with crackers, and then very calmly started munching on them one by one with a face that said, "WHAT?".

The best days usually come with the biggest messes. At least, that's how it was on this one day at our house.
B

Best Choice Labels for Jacob's Well

noreply@blogger.com (If These Walls Spoke...) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 16:17:00 +0000

Ryleigh has been working hard on her blog this morning! If you haven't read her post about collecting Best Choice labels for Jacob's Well yet, you can go HERE to see it.

A sweeter girl with a bigger heart you'll never find, which is just my completely unbiased opinion!
B