A Christmas Break (pun intended)

I can count the days to Christmas on one hand! Phew!  Like the rest of the world, we are busy. Since Thanksgiving things have been jumpin' and jivin' around here.

We've been Jumpin...with the jump rope...

We've been Jivin...off the couch...

Landon must have been feeling like a middle child or something because he decided he needed more attention.  So a little somersault off the couch put him in the E.R. this past Saturday. Fractured elbow.  Excellent. Below is a picture after the morphine kicked in...it was quite funny.  He said to me, "Mom, we need a bed like this at home.  It is SOOO comfortable." "Mom, when my arm is in the cast I will be careful not to bonk you with it.  That will hurt because I will be so strong." Apparently, the morphine made him feel like Superman. :)

This is when the meds kicked in..DID NOT look this happy a few minute before.

Landon had a head start on our Christmas Break (har, har).  Hopefully if all goes well his cast will come off the 2nd week of January.  The cast is waterproof so it shouldn't slow him down too much.  Thankfully, it's not pool season! He was even able to play in the snow this morning.

Since we have a lot of crazy stuff going on around here, Our Plain Life will be taking a Christmas Break as well so this will be my last post of 2012. We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!!

See you in the New Year!!

Our Budding Pianist

It's the right of passage for every child. Some love it, some hate it, and some, as adults, wish they would have practiced more (ahem). Piano lessons. Annika started in September and she, so far, is loving it.  She wants to skip ahead in her books and just do the "grown up" songs.  Which, I am guessing, are the ones where you play more than one note at a time.  But, in all things, baby steps.

She had her first recital last night.  I was actually caught a little off guard as to how choked up I would be. She was one of the few kids that did her piece from memory.  For her first time playing in front of a group, I was impressed.  Playing in front of people didn't seem to phase her one bit.  Maybe because I am pretty sure she doesn't care one bit what people think. Good for her!

Such a big girl!

Didn't get the best view for this video, will know better for next time.
Had to get an "action shot." This was after the recital was done. Didn't want to mess up her concentration! :)

Way to go Annika! You worked super hard on your piece and mommy and daddy are SO proud of you!

Lazy Sunday

For Simon, today was a lazy Sunday full of church, pancakes, napping, and flipping through the T@rget Toy Catalog...

Punkin Carvin

When we ask the kids what they want their pumpkin carved into, it gets more and more interesting each year. Usually its a "whatever we have been watching a lot of on t.v. recently" theme.  (Side note: at the pumpkin patch Taryn said she wanted Justin Bieber carved into her pumpkin...not sure where that came from!!) Anyway, since we have 4 kids, we have 4 pumpkins which means 4 carvings. Until, someone brilliant (maybe it was me) came up with the encouragement to have the girls carve their own.  They were super excited which made Dan excited that he didn't have to carve 4 different pumpkins.  And, the girls did a pretty super job.

Everyone got in on the job of cleaning out the pumpkins.

Dan brought out the power tools this year. Apparently, Simon thought it was too loud.

There is one of my mixing beaters on the end of this drill to help pull the pulp away from the wall of the pumpkin.  Worked like a charm!

Annika has carved "tons of pumpkins" (this was her third year carving her own) so she was an expert.  She chose a flower this year.

Turned out pretty good!!

This year was Taryn's first year carving her pumpkin so she got a lot of advice (most of it un-solicited) from her sister.

Starting out with a simple jack-o-lantern.

Success!

Much like last year, Jake and the Neverland Pirates is a favorite around here.  Landon placed an order for Scully the Parrot.

I was impressed.

And in the spirit of the election, Dan chose to carve Old Glory into Simon's pumpkin.  I suppose if it was up to Simon he would have had Dan carve some of his favorites...an ode to goldfish, graham crackers, or perhaps sippy cups. In the end, the symbol of American freedom won out.

If that doesn't make you want to stand up and sing The Star Spangled Banner, I don't know what would!

The finished products!

 Have a fun and festive Reformation Day! :)

And for fun...go here and here and here for some more pumpkin carving from years past.

School Daze

Get up with my alarm. Shake the girls awake. Change clothes. Drink coffee (me, not the girls). Eat Breakfast. Drink coffee (again, me, not the girls). Send off to school. Do what stay at home moms do. Pick up from school. Homework. Dinner. Bedtime. Repeat. This has been more or less our routine for the last 8 weeks and I am just now getting around to posting about it. In fact, we are gearing up for Parent Teacher Conferences and our Fall break is already next week!

This year, we had two kiddos to send off to school. For some reason, in my mind, Taryn doesn't age. I thought it strange that I needed to send my 3 year old off to kindergarten. Wait! News flash! She's already 5 1/2! WHAT? How did that happen? 

The school year started off like any other school year with pictures, pictures and more pictures. I asked Taryn if she would like a picture with her new teacher. She responded, "I am done taking pictures." Alrighty then. Hug, hug, kiss, kiss. Hurry up and leave before mommy loses it.

 The obligatory first day of school pics:

Why is it that every school year is so anticipated by most parents, but when the time comes we have a hard time leaving them (at least for the first day)? I remember the thoughts that I had when I brought Annika to her first day of kindergarten. I think those same thoughts every year. What will this year be like? Who will be your friends? Will you be loving, caring and generous? Will you still love to learn and create?

How often I wish I could be a fly on the wall in their classrooms for just a day. To see how they respond to their classmates, how they make decisions, and to see if they can demonstrate God's love to those around them. 

The beginning of each school year seems so much more of a big deal than the start of the New Year. New routines, schedules, relationships, etc. Whereas, the New Year is just another day except now we have to change the year when we write out a check....even then it takes us until February to do it right.  With the start of the school year, I think I make more resolutions than I do at the start of a New Year:
This year I will get up before the kids so it's not so crazy. 
This year I will make lunches the night before.
This year homework and chores will be done before going out to play.
This year I will be intentional about setting time aside to work with Landon so he is ready for preschool.
This year I will have a time of devotions with the kids before they leave the house.
This year I won't wear my p.j.s until 11 a.m.

And, just like New Year's resolutions, they are all broken before the third week of school.

However, there are a few "resolutions" I am determined not to break (and so far, 8 weeks in, we are going strong):
I will enjoy these moments when school is exciting, friends are sweet and teachers are cool.
I will enjoy the "little" amount of homework because essays and exams will come soon enough.
I will enjoy the short time that I have with the boys at home.
I will enjoy the innocent questions, and the fact that they still accept the simple answers.
I will enjoy this season of life and not wish it away.

Hope you are enjoying your school season...whatever stage you are in!!  

Pool Days are gone :(

It's 52 degrees right now.  The wind is blowing. Fall is here.  It's so easy to forget how HOT this past summer was.  It was hot. It was hot. It was hot.  But, it made for some awesome pool time and we went often.  Dan would regularly take the kids to the pool after dinner.  This is one of my favorite things about the summer...staying at the pool until the sun goes down.

I remembered to take my camera on one of the last pool days.  As you can see the pool was empty. As social as our family likes to be, when the pool is empty it's pretty cool.  Almost like having our own pool without all the maintenance.

This is why it's fun to have the pool to ourselves...and also why my kids have the best daddy ever.

Simon usually stayed towards the shallow end. 

 My view (and, yes, that is Dan throwing Landon into the air)

Goofball

All in all, it was an excellent pool season.  We are already counting down the days until Memorial Day Weekend!

Playing Catch Up

With the leaves falling off the trees, I am reminded of how quickly time goes by.  I am reminded of the changing of seasons and the changing seasons of life.  I am reminded of how the trees must go dormant to prepare for new life in the Spring. I am reminded of how much I love cool days and frosty nights. I am reminded by my sister that I haven't blogged in a really. long. time.

Yes, I know this. Yes, I haven't been keeping everyone up on my life.  Yes, I have been napping, er, I mean getting things done while the kids nap in the afternoon.  Yes, blogging has taken a backseat. Yes, I am going to do a photo dump to catch you all up on what Our Plain Life has been like. Yes, everyday this week (!) I will be playing catch up.

On last month's episode, we left you with our Master Bedroom redo.  A lot has happened since then.  We had some special family members come out to visit.  My oldest child somehow became 8 years old without asking my permission. School started and pool days ended. We've been playing outside and just enjoying the cooler temps.

SOOO....first things first!  Our special visitors.  Since our sister-in-law was spending an extended period of time up in Iowa with family, she decided to take a drive down South and spend some time with us.  We were super excited to have Mal and her family crash at our home for a few days.  There were 8 children under the age of 8. Crazy? Yes. Fun? Absolutely!!

We went to the normal sights in the area but most of all just enjoyed each other's company. When we went anywhere, we just made sure that the total sum of children added up to "8" and then we were good to go!

Spent some fun time at the pool with these sweeties.

Being educational (and very very hot) at the Farmstead

17 months apart but about the same size!

It's wild in here!! (Thanks Mal for this pic!)

Doing some fishing with Uncle Dan (Thanks Mal for the great pic!)

 The Whole Crazy crew (Once again, Mal, photographer extraordinaire, got a great pic)

Last quick group hug before the cousins hit the road

And just for fun...

August 2012 (Aidan just about 7 and Annika just about 8)

July 2006 (Annika just about 2 and Aidan about 10 months)

Thanks Mal for making this special trip.  We loved having you and already looking forward to next time!!

Rockin this hizzle...or something like that.

With the start of school and all the good stuff that comes with it, it's been a little crazy over here.
Therefore, I would like to dedicate this little ditty to my partner in crime (Dan, that's you).

Master Bedroom Redo!

When your mom who lives over 1600 miles away comes in to visit you and your family, what do you do? Do you sit around talking about the good ole days, drinking ice tea on the porch?  Perhaps you go shopping and out for lunch.  Maybe she takes the kids to a special place for a special day for special time just with them.  Or maybe you take five days to repaint your master bedroom.  Wait, what?! Yes, my mom comes into town from Southern California and we redo my bedroom.  What an awesome daughter I am!

I have been wanting to redo my bedroom for awhile.  Not that there was anything really wrong with it, it was just, well, dark and not really my color.  So I decided to lighten it up a bit.  However,  the previous owners (I can say this since I am very confident they don't read this blog) did a horrible job painting it, it took a lot more time than we thought with fixing trim, etc. But, in the end, it turned out better than I expected.  I still need to do some finishing touches (pictures, etc), and that will take a little bit of time to decide on what I want.  In the meantime, here are some before and after pics for your enjoyment!

Before (these are actually pictures from when the previous owners where selling so this isn't our furniture..but you get the idea)

During (after I pulled all the furniture away I remembered I wanted to take a "before" pic)

Don't forget about the toilet room!

After! The color is gray, but it definitely has a blue undertone and you can see that in the pictures.

 

The band in the tray ceiling is a darker color, the same color as the bath.

Hard to tell in the pictures but bathroom walls are a shade darker

See! A new color in here too!

I really like the way it turned out.  Much brighter, just like me! :) 

By the way, my mom is an all-star painter, but after all of this she says she's going to retire her painting clothes. Thanks mom for helping me, I wouldn't have done it without you!

Colors (in case you are interested, and for my memory):

Bedroom Walls: Restoration Hardware Gravel

Ceiling: Restoration Hardware Pumice

Bathroom Walls: Behr Antique Tin