bsmiles and sunny days

This is what we look like now. I've never been very good about setting up appointments to have our pictures taken. I always thought it was a little too expensive to get a bunch of copies of us in the same clothes with the same smile. As a matter of fact, our family portaits consist of: 1. A freebee that I got from the Welcome Wagon where we met with a guy set-up in a hotel room smoking and watching the Simpsons across the hall from his *studio*. I gotta admit, Dale and I both breathed a little easier when that one was over with. 2. A picture taken for the church directory when we were on staff. I probably would've skipped it if we hadn't been required to show. 3. The generosity of a truly gifted friend and photographer that gave us a couple of photo shoots as gifts after the birth of babies. www.beckynovacek.typepad.com **If you are driving distance from Omaha, call her.** Now that we've been spoiled by her creativity and ease behind the camera, it's hard ...

A few years ago we went all out on Easter clothes for all the kids. Kennedy had a really fancy dress for the Military ball, so Jasmine got a fancy dress. Tre was really little, so he got a little short outfit, but Micah, being the big boy that he was, needed a suit. I would have been content to go to Target and find something reasonable because that's the way I am, but Dale wanted to buy him a really nice suit. He found one at Burlington Coat Factory, made by Fubu , that cost a lot, LOT, of money. I went along with it, thinking he could wear it for a couple of years and it would ultimately be a practical purchase. Needless to say, Micah wore the suit twice before he outgrew it. Tre , somehow, has been able to fit the suit ever since. To say he's built leaner than Micah is kind of an understatement. If boys were two-wheeled transportation, Tre would be a ten-speed, Micah would be a Harley. The kid is about the turn six and the suit is a 4, but he still slides right into it. T...

While Daddy was gone, we had a slumber party in the living. I've been looking forward to the fort building all week. So during the Spongebob marathon, I built the fort, while Micah looked on in awe of my skills. He was pretty excited about it. So was Max. This is what it looked like from the inside from the left of the front door. Behind Micah was what they called the back porch because that's where the window was open and it was about fifty degrees outside, so it was cold once you climbed out there. Eventually, Micah and Jasmine dragged their blankets and pillows in there for the night. This is the green room, where Max and Scooter slept. They never want to miss out on the action. If you can't tell, we're underneath the dining room table. Tre started to putter out at about ten o'clock. He tried to stay awake, but he was pretty exhausted from getting up at 7am and then a marathon of his own including running, jumping, yelling, stomping, bouncing, cutting things, te...

I got up this morning and told myself I'd journal before the day took off, which I do on the computer. So I get on the computer and there is this error message, so I call my friend in India to see what I should do. After a couple of hours on the phone together, he told me what I already knew- to back up my files and we'd reinstall the operating system. So I did and then I tried to connect to the internet and couldn't for whatever reason, and so I called Comcast and set up an appointment to have someone come and fix it. And then after all the hours of backing up files, pictures, music... I realized that the problem getting online might be connected to my computer problem, so I called and cancelled. Well, while we were doing numerous lengthy tests, I learned that my friend, the one that spoke English beautifully, was going home in an hour and I'd have to wait to talk to him again until he goes back to work the next time. And the backing up took all of that hour an...

The days are going fast; I feel like I'm nesting again. Now that Deisha is settling into a routine and is willing to be awake without having to be held the whole time, I have a new lease on life! This morning we all got up late. Even Deisha wasn't ready to get out of bed until after 8:30. It was so great. Last night I let them all watch movies until they conked out. It was probably close to ll:00 when the last one crashed, so that wasn't too bad. It paid off because they slept late. After we all got out of our jammies and had our teeth brushed, I turned on a new aerobics video that I bought at Wal -Mart. It was a lovely purchase at only twenty-five cents, and it's no wonder. They must've recorded it on the local channel and tried it out on the shelves. It's pretty dorky, but man is it a work-out! My legs threatened to give out on me all day. Anyway, I turned it on and before the first five minutes were up, all five kids had a can of vegetables in each hand a...

She's not a terrible cook for a two-year-old; she seems to get the concept on the whole. I've been trying to coax myself into making broccoli cheese soup for dinner for about a week now. Micah has actually asked for it every night of the week which coaxed the self-coaxing. It's not hard to make and I had everything I needed for it, I just didn't want to because I hate scraping the counters after I make the noodles. I know. It's not a difficult task, it doesn't even take very long, but there's something about dough stuck on the counter top that I don't like. I think it is that when you go to the work to make the noodles, you don't want to have an entire counter top to deal with afterwards. It's not like they're that hard to make either; flour, salt, eggs, water, mix em up, cut em and toss em into boiling water... but it seemed like a daunting task and I pushed it off until tonight. So tonight while the Dell guy was here working on our co...

Can it possibly be the end of July already? I knew it would fly after we had the baby, but good grief! It's just slipping away from me. Last week our computer refused to boot no matter how many different ways we tried to coerce it, so forgive my absence. I can't be certain that I would've posted any sooner if it hadn't taken the last train to Parks ville, but it was a good reason for the time being and so here we are. SO much going on around here... We had a snake, VBS, basketball camp, a close call at the library, tents in the living room, spying on the neighborhood teenagers, and Deisha is sleeping through the night. Our anniversary with the BOP passed, Tre's turning six, it's fifty-seven degrees outside, and I finally started the quilt I've been mentally piecing for almost a year. Life goes fast when you're not paying attention. Doctor Randy Carlson has this motto or mantra that I hear him philosophizing on over and over again: Live deliberately...

Let's be real here. I was almost speechless back in Missouri when I told my OB that I was having severe mood swings and was curious about what they could give me to help level me out and he said, "I can give you Prozac, but you'll have to wait until next month. I immediately flashed to a vision of myself sitting in a corner with druel running down my chin in front of the TV with a melting bucket of ice cream in my lap and the kids running circles around me in their underwear shooting at each other with their homemade bows and arrows made from coat hangers, rubber bands, and pencils. When I snapped back to reality I asked sheepishly, "Isn't their a vitamin or an herb you could recommend?" I mean I was bad, but yikes. I have no experience with Prozac, but I've talked to people that do and it's never come highly recommended. So when he suggested B Complex, I went straight to Wal-Mart and stocked up. Then I went home and looked it up in the interne...

This guy was on the wall outside the front door. Moustache Joe would be so jealous. Something about this side of the country- all the bugs are super sized . This was Deisha on our couch a few weeks ago. She was really little. I thought if I included the whole couch you could better gauge how itty -bitty she was. She's not that little now though. Breast milk is like all-natural miracle grow. I put her in the sling today and my shoulder fell asleep after about fifteen minutes. And this is what Deisha looks like in that sweet little dress with her itty -bitty booties. I love this dress; Dale bought it and brought it to the hospital while we were still locked up. When I first saw it I thought it'd be months before she could wear it. Little did I know... She's sliding right into place in our household, but I have to be honest and tell you that the dynamics have changed dramatically. With Leila's fierce determination to maintain control of the throne, I am ne...