Blue and Gold Banquet

We got the chance to experience our first Blue and Gold Boyscout Banquet Monday night. Seeing the excitement on the kids' faces during the evening was pure joy.  As a kid I lived for these types of events.  Whether it was a 4-H Potluck, a Farm Bureau Banquet or a Blondell Family Reunion, something about eating mass produced food, sitting in uncomfortable folding chairs and eating off plastic utensils was such a big deal.  We didn't get out much.  Add a dessert auction with a live auctioneer to that, and you've got a crazy night out on the town. 



Grandma and Maisie at the Blue and Gold Banquet.

Papa and Mike work on crossword puzzles which were at each place setting.



Maisie loved being at the banquet.

Grandma bidding on the car cake Ross wanted. 

Ross' face when he found out Grandma got the cake.

The car cake.  You can see why 7-year-olds would find this awesome. 

Ross got to throw a pie in one of the scout leaders' face.  He thought this was hilarious.

The Oreo Cake we bought at the auction.  It was deadly good.  The car car cake was enjoyed by Ross' 1st grade class at school today.  I think Ross felt pretty special. 


This could be the first of many Blue and Gold Banquets.  Ross assures us, he's going all the way to Eagle Scout. 

I believe him.

Late Start

Yep, we got snow.  Just enough for a 2-hour late start.  I looked out the window and discovered a cardinal in the tree.

 

 

Turns out it was Ross.

 

 

 

Then I noticed how he got up there.

 

 

Mike would call this, "The Claussen Way". 

 

 

Sometimes you gotta learn the hard way.

 

 

 

The girls wanted to play too.

 

Maisie was happy making Snow Angels and diving into snow drifts.

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, Ross played Karate Kid.

 

Before long, it was time to throw snow gear into the dryer and warm up with hot cocoa.

Maisie requested one small marshmallow...

 

Ross requested one large marshmallow and several small marshmallows...

 

Molly requested the rest...

Happy Friday!

 

The Doctor's Office

It’s always interesting visiting the Doctor’s office with 3 kids in tow.  I typically leave sweaty, pissed off, embarrassed and exhausted.  Yesterday was different.  While sitting in the waiting room, a mother with a 2 year old daughter struck up a conversation with me.

Her: “Man, your brave to bring 3 kids here, I can barely handle being here with 1.”

Me: “Ha, I’ve been in your shoes and trust me, 1 can be harder than 3.  Especially with a 2 year old.”

Her: “I don’t know.  Were done having kids.  One was enough for us.”

I could tell she was already feeling sweaty and embarrassed while trying to corral her daughter. I knew by the time she left the building, pissed off and exhausted would be added to her list of emotions.

Meanwhile, my children were running around the waiting room, knocking chairs out of place, doing flips, summersaults, cartwheels and giggling at the top of their lungs.  I didn’t get excited about it and actually encouraged them to run and play, thankful it wasn’t my house they were treating as a gymnasium.  At one point the receptionist looked over at me with a small smile.  I shrugged my shoulders and smiled back.  I couldn’t tell if she was annoyed or not, but I figured the activity might get our name called faster.

Once called into the exam room, a whole new area to explore opened up.  There were drawers to rearrange, hands to wash, books to look at, exam tables to jump from, swivel chairs to spin as fast as possible and blood pressure cuffs to examine.  Ross was doing side lunges as he expressed the need to stretch and really wished there was a place he could do the splits.

The sight of my kids being kids, the humor of it all, the gratitude that my kids were healthy…the whole thing quickly had me in hysterical-silent-laugh mode. 

 

 

Within minutes, Maisie had to pee and we all ran out of the exam room hunting for the nearest bathroom.  Once she was on the pot, I realized the bathroom was a “staff only” bathroom. 

 

 

Me: “Hurry Maisie, were not supposed to be in here!”

Ross: “I’ll keep an eye out and let you know if anyone’s coming.”

Me: “Faster, Maisie, faster!”

Maisie: “But I still feel wet…”

 

 

By this point you can imagine how the actual exam went.  It involved a black light (for a benign case of ringworm on Ross’ scalp), and dry ice (for wart removal). 

 

 

Yesterday was a riot.  You couldn’t have paid me to miss it…

 

 

Tackling Our Dream

 

It began as a dream in 2004.  We dreamed of building a home in the woods and raising our kids in the country… it didn’t work out.

 

Ross was born in 2005 and in 2006 we revisited our dream of building a home in the country… it didn’t work out and we bought a house in Grimes.

 

Maisie was born in 2008 and in 2009 we revisited our dream of building a home in the country…it didn’t work out and we bought a house in Winterset.

 

Molly was born in 2010 and we’ve come to the conclusion that life is moving way too fast.  So with that, were going to build a home in the woods so we can raise our kids in the country…one way or another, this time it’s gonna work out.

 

 

All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.

Walt Disney

Better than Chocolates

There are few things better than a box of chocolates waiting for you at breakfast...

 

One of those is knowing your Papa will be coming for a visit...

 

Another is finding the most perfect seat in the house...

 

 

Busy Night

Last night began with an email warning from Grandma Boyd explaining how Ross and his 2 buddies received a 5 minute time-out during afternoon recess after Ross’ burped loudly and the 3 boys laughed excessively afterwards.  In Ross’ defense he said, “Excuse me”.

 

 

Once we arrived home, the evening started with everyone starving to the point of being completely wicked to each other.  I immediately went into 1996 Super Valu Deli employee-mode and whipped-up ramen noodles, mixed vegetables, scrambled eggs, toads in a hole, roast beef sandwiches and lettuce salad, all while helping Ross assemble his lunch for the next day, sift through homework folders and chug a glass a wine at the same time.  I’m a wanna-be multi-tasker.  Within 47 seconds of finishing the rushed smorgasbord I called dinner, I heard it.  “But Mom, I’m still hungry.”

 

 

So thankful for my Super Valu Sub Station Experience. 

Maisie had gymnastics last night, which meant getting her into her leotard would be the next feat.  Mike came home from work a tad early so I put him on leotard duty.  All was well until I heard him barking about how grossed out he was by her constant she-she exposure.  I explain it’s just a phase, tell him to be sure she washes her hands, and the evening rolls on. 

 

 

 

Molly soon realized I was leaving for gymnastics with Maisie and the crying began.  Oddly, I was o.k. with it and actually looked forward to the 30 minutes of childlessness.  Once Maisie was dropped off, I walked across the street to the library where I learned the library’s computer system was down.  Some old guy started telling me how North Korea detonated a nuclear bomb yesterday which was the reason the system was down.  I must have looked too friendly, because he followed me around the library like a lost puppy for the next 12 minutes, explaining the details of the bomb.  Recalling a moonlight skate at Eldridge Skate Park with my mom as a kid, I determine picking up strays must be a genetic thing.  I quickly checked-out a book-on-tape about gratitude as the librarians had to physically write down the numbers because as you recall, the nuclear bomb sabotaged the Winterset library computer system the previous day.  Thank heavens the Dewey Decimal System is still in use.

 
 

Maisie snagged a sucker after gymnastics and thought to grab one for her sister too.  When we arrived home she told Ross, “Sorry Ross, I didn’t get one for you.  I forgot I had a brother.”

 

 

 

The rest of the evening involved discovering Molly had peed in the potty chair and was attempting to dump it in the toilet on her own, taping candy to over 50 valentines for school/daycare parties, calming Ross’ fears about a witch who can kill on contact and a naughty puppet he saw on cable, realizing Molly had again removed her diaper and was now trying to poop in the potty chair but missed, and trying to locate the cat to make sure he was outside for the night.

 

There's nothing like passing out on your sisters shoulder with a chocolate milk moustache.

 

Some nights I collapse into bed feeling as though I’ve won.  Last night was one of those nights.

Misselani's Party

 

We had a birthday party this morning.  It was for Misselani.  The girls came up the name on their own.  She looks like a Misselani to me. 

 

We drank pretend orange juice, ate pretend monkey cake and sang Happy Birthday.  Then we took a walk in the woods and got chased by a porcupine. 

 

I think Misselani enjoyed all the attention at her birthday party. 

She only cried once.  Thank goodness Molly was there.  She was the only one who could calm her down.

We didn't have a clean knife, so we used a buffalo tooth to cut the cake.  Misselani got the piece with the monkey head.  I got stuck with the tail. 

Go figure.

A Kiss

He blew me a kiss today… out of nowhere and when I wasn’t expecting it.

 

 

He hopped out of the van as usual, with his puffy red coat and Uncle Eddy leather hat strapped across his chin.  ‘That’s my boy’, I thought as he walked toward the school.  That’s the exact moment he stopped, turned, looked me square in the eyes and blew me a kiss.  I could barely get my hand to my mouth fast enough to blow one back, my heart was soup. 

 

 

He blew me a kiss today…he pretty much made my day before 7:30 a.m.  I’m spoiled like that.

 

 

 

 

Just a Minute

I’m sick of it.  I’m sick of all the minutes I spend trying to complete all the insignificant, tedious chores I’ve allowed to take priority over my family.  My “just a minute” phrase slapped me in the face when I asked Molly to hand me a towel. “Just a minute”, she replied.

As I stood there, feeling like the worst, most neglecting mom to live, I decided to quit this rat race.  I’m giving up.  I might not be able to keep up with the endless laundry, I might not serve vegetables at dinner each night, I might walk away from the kitchen with pancake syrup still stuck to the counter, I might use a bath towel with toothpaste stuck to it and have Oreo’s smashed to the inside of the couch cushions. I have a new goal.  It’s not to care.  I want the “just a minute” mom to go away.  She’s annoying me.

I imagine someday when the kids are off at college, I’ll long for ‘just a minute’ of my kids to be eating at my table with Mike and I, even if it’s for fish sticks and tater tots.  

When all the baby dolls and Barbie dolls get packed up, I’ll kick myself for not taking ‘just a minute’ to play with them every chance I had. 

When Ross starts spending his free time hanging out with his friends, I’ll pray for “just a minute” of him following me around the house complaining of being bored and wish I had stopped folding the laundry long enough to play with him.

When my kids quit talking to me because I’m not cool anymore, I’ll wish for “just a minute” to sit down with them and really listen to them eagerly tell me every detail about their day, instead of checking my email’s at the same time.

This mama’s turning over a new leaf.  “Just a minute” is being replaced with “okay”.  The foundation's strong, I'm pretty sure the house won't fall apart without me.

I can cut hair

Maisie's hair needed some attention.  My dad's a barber.  It's got to be in my genes somewhere.

 

I love her hair color.  I call it caramel with honey highlights.

 

We found a haircut on pinterest we both liked and went for the plunge.  I even did the little flip on the bottom with the blow-drier and round brush.  So happy to be using the blow-dryer for it's intended purpose these days.

 

 

Moo wanted me to cut her hair too.  Nice try.  I did my best to fake cut it. 

 

 

I love her hair color too. I call it platinum.  Reminds me of a natural version of my college hair color.

 

A sign of days to come... my girls admiring each others hair.

 

All babies sit on the steps.  The newly carpeted steps, I might add :)