Husband Tag

Since I can never say no to being tagged and I read my friend Sonnet's blog, here goes:

What is his name? Kevin Russell
How long have you been married? 11 1/2 years
How long did you date? about a year
How old is he? He turns 43 on March 8th
Who eats more? Kevin out eats my whole family easily.
Who said "I love you" first? Kevin, which he reminds me of constantly.
Who is taller? Kevin
Who sings better? Yikes! Neither one of us carries a tune, next question please!!!
Who is smarter? I am of course. Silly question.
Whose temper is worse? Mine, but I do get credit for keeping most of my mean thoughts in my head now.
Who does the laundry? Kevin
Who does the dishes? Me, during the week. Kevin on the weekend. Clarification--he just does the dishes, I clean the counters and all that. He is getting better though.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Me, and in the middle and on the left until Kevin comes home. One day I will have my own bed.
Who pays the bills? Me and the online bill pay.
Who mows the lawn? Kevin, but I do a nice job when I have to.
Who cooks dinner? Unless you want pancakes or grilled cheese and tomato soup for the rest of your life, me.
Who drives when you are together? Me, I am much happier when we get somewhere that way. A control issue, I know.
Who is more stubborn? I prefer the word determined. And I think that says it all.
Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Kevin, I am too prideful.
Whose parents do you see the most? We have always lived closer to mine, so mine.
Who proposed? Kevin
Who has more friends? I do, but most of them live far away and not by many. Kevin and I have discussed this and come to the conclusion we suck at making friends.
Who has more siblings? Kevin has 6 and I have 1
Who wears the pants? I tend to be more forceful and controlling, but I would like to think it's a joint effort. Since we have 2 households it is more me right now. Probably is always more me and I just don't want to admit it.

You all know the rules. If you are reading this, tag you are it.

FOR SALE

The rules were simple: Clean their rooms, the family room, the living room and their bathrooms. What I got was,weeping, wailing gnashing of teeth, yelling, screaming, tattling, whining, cajoling, tattling and bribery.
Let it be known, I am not the one yelling, screaming or crying. I told them over an hour ago, if they did this we could go to Target ( a great reward at out house). So I have decided that if you want them, you can have them. With Anna, you will get pre-teen anxiety and moodiness. You will also get some backtalk and rolling of the eyes. The life is so hard and not fair attitude is a guarantee. According to the experts, this is all normal.

With Noah you will get a chatterbox and an easily distracted boy. He is scary smart and it will be a challenge to keep ahead of him. He has been trained and does not get his feelings hurt if you ask for 5 minutes of quiet.

With Isaac you get a happy go lucky boy that doesn't want to do any sort of chore. When the weather gets nice, you will most likely have to go search the neighborhood for him. He should have been born 40 years ago when times were safer. Although he is 5 he still throws himself and stomps his foot when he doesn't get what he wants.

With Abby you get sassy and bossy wrapped up in a deceptively cute little girly. She is either happy or mad, not much in between. And believe me, you want the happy because mad is not pretty.

Of course we have been taught our whole life that without the bad you could not recognize the good. So in that same vein, you couldn't recognize peace without the chaos and you couldn't appreciate the giggling with out the weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth.

With Anna you get a sweet, helpful, want to please everyone (when in the mood or if you aren't her parents) girl. She is an incredible helper with Abby and loves to play with her. She loves to dance and listen to music. She is also at her happiest when at the mall (I know, not always a good thing for everyone, but since I love to shop it is a definite plus). She has a strong love of the gospel and is my reminder to hold F.H.E. and family prayer.

With Noah you get a sweet sensitive boy who finds wonder and awe in the world around him (he thinks you should too). He is forever asking questions (not sure if that's good or bad) and has unquenchable thirst for knowledge. He loves to learn the scripture stories and loves the heroes in them.

With Isaac you get a carefree boy who loves to laugh and hang out with his older brother. He loves the outdoors and playing sports. He likes to sing (especially in the bathroom). He enjoys seeing other people happy and delights in their joys.

With Abby you get a child who tells you she loves you every other minute and means it. She loves to pretend, dance and sing. She loves the primary songs and the prophet. She adores her older sister. She, too, has a love of shopping. If ever I forget to say prayer with her at night, she is very quick to come and remind me.

All in all the good outweighs the bad, so I guess I will keep them. But I will continue to be grateful for bedtime and occasional weekends at my mom's. Things have quieted down now and that could be a scary thing. So I will end this rant and make sure everything is OK. Thanks for listening.

Update on the Stoddard Going Ons

It has been a frantic week and I haven't been very good at posting anything lately. So I will try to catch up on what's been going on. My mother went to the emergency room last week and was misdiagnosed and ended up being admitted to the hospital on Friday. I just go the new she gets to go home. That helps me breathe easier. It is very hard to be so far away and not be able to see for myself that she is OK. She had a Diverticulitis attack and it was very painful for her. When my mom called and told me she was going to go to the hospital, Abby overheard and asked me who was taking Grandma. When I told her that Jodi and Bob were, she immediately was concerned for her cousins, Maggie and Olivia and demanded to know who was going to watch them. I thought that pretty good thinking for a 4 year old. To be honest, I hadn't gotten to thinking who would be watching the girls yet. For the next two weeks mom has to be on a clear food diet and then slowly move to a soft food diet. I can't imagine that kind of diet, but if I hurt like she does maybe I could do it. As I have mentioned earlier, I am making sock monkeys. I do one at night in bed as I am watching some Hallmark Movie (When will the strike end??????) and it keeps me from eating my way into oblivion. So far I have made about 20. Here's a picture of some of them that Kevin artfully arranged.
On Thursday we celebrated the Chinese New Year. I made some Chinese Noodles, Fried Rice, Egg Rolls and got the kids some chicken on a stick. If Kevin had been home, I would have done the all out meal. The kids love Chinese and gobbled it up.

Anna loves this fried rice and could eat it every day. I really should make it more often. It's one of our favorite ways to use up leftovers.

These two little guys made the long journey from our house to my sister's house. I made them for my nieces and sent them matching socks to go with (Kevin's idea). It's fun to see these monkeys take shape. Each one had a unique personality. This brown one was so darling. My neice Maggie loved it so much she wants to make one for each of her friends. I am trying to work it out so that I can go and spend the weekend up in Seattle with mom and show the girls how to make a monkey.

Saturday my friend's husband was so good as to extract 2 broken teeth from Kevin's mouth and perform a root canal. It was so generous of him to give of his time and services. Thanks to Rob for all his hard work!!!!

Is it just me????

It seems to me that my kids are forever having 3 or 4 day weekends. Every time I turn around they are home instead of at school. In November they had 3 4 day weekends and went to school just once on a Friday. In the past couple weeks they missed a day from snow and then had a Friday off for grading and then Monday was also off for some teacher thingy. I looked at the calendar and saw they get out at noon next Friday and because of Presidents' Day have Monday off. Plus our school district always plans an inservice day at the end of all holidays like Winter Break and Spring Break. The kids had 18 days off at Winter and will have 11 days off at Spring Break. On top of that, they get out early every Wednesday. I don't know how working parents do it, because they are forever having to find extra daycare. As for me I go insane trying to come up with fun things to do. Here are a couple things that help keep my sanity.

The Cinemark cheap seats: LOVE these. On Mondays groups of 3 or more get in for 50 cents each. We go almost every Monday--it's a whopping $2.50. We have seen The Game Plan, The Bee Movie, Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium in the past few weeks. The kids can hardly wait for The Chipmunks.

Ben Franklin: I love this craft store. They have all sorts of cute ideas around the store. My kids enjoy going there. I also go here when I have alone time. The last time I went with a friend, they didn't have as much. But I did get the stuff to make a very cute memo board in a frame. My kids are always happy with a craft project and so they know us at Ben Franklin's!!

The Dollar Store: I love it and I hate it. On one hand the kids are so delighted to go--they could spend all day picking something out. On the other hand, I then have cheap broken stuff floating around the house the next few days. Or worse, tears because the toy is broken.

Target: Anyone who knows me, knows of my love affair with this store. It is just good fun all around. If you ask Abby what she wants to do, she always says, "GO TO TARGET!"

Pappy's Pizza: It's yucky pizza, but the play structure is worth it. For less than $10 I can feed us and have 2+ hours of chat time with friends. It's a bit more when Anna and Noah come along, and the chat time is different with big ears hanging on every word.

Chances are, next time there is no school, you will find my family at one of these places. Hope you all have sanity savers in your busy lives!!!!

Bragging Moment

Noah decided at the last minute to enter a poetry contest the school district was having on Martin Luther King Jr. He won third place for it. (All grades were invited to enter) He will be published in the next Skipping Stones magazine and got $15.

Tonight we went to the school board meeting and he said his poem to the audience and received his award. Way to go Noah!!!!

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

By Noah Stoddard

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was judged by his skin,

Not from within.

He made violence silence,

And was a good knight in his fight.

He got shot by a gun,

Before he was done.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Here's a shot of the backyard Sunday morning. I am sure all 2 of Eugene's snowplows were employed yesterday. The kids made a little snowman while Kevin was shoveling the walk.

This is Holly, the neighborhood dog. Abby is in the pink and Isaac in the background. Holly was loving the snow and had so much fun dancing around and playing with the kids.

A closer picture of the little snowman. Abby stuck close to Kevin since she still has the chicken pox. She only got 6 and they have all scabbed over and so we are hoping we will not be housebound for long. Now we just have to wait for the snow to be gone.

Anna, Ellie and another neighbor girl made a bigger snowman.

If you have noticed, Noah is missing from these pictures. He was in the backyard at the middle school building snowforts with the boys.

Abby update

So it seems the chicken pox has invaded our house. I just got off the phone with the nurse and she confirmed it as best she could without seeing Abby in person. Abby's legs are better though, seems she had a bit of a reaction to Anna's lotion, but those suspicious spots are still on her tummy and one behind her ear. I hate the fact that they are always the most contagious when you don't know it. So sorry to her little preschool class!!!!

Mommy, I have dots...

Abby came downstairs tonight and told me she had dots on her legs and that they burned. I did the math and it was 2 weeks ago that Noah had shingles. I am treating it as chicken pox and hoping in the morning the dots will be "magically gone", but I am not holding my breath. Sometimes I just say to myself, "Lucky, lucky me." I am so not prepared for this. I can't find my Calamine or my Aveeno. Think people will mind if I take my chicken pox infested daughter shopping with me???? And lastly, will I actually be able to get any sleep tonight???????

P.S. I will post pictures as they are more visible.

Crazy 8's

I'm not sure if my sister-in-law meant me when she listed 8 people to be tagged, but I am not sure and don't want to feel guilty by not doing it. These are hard for me sometimes, I really have to think. So here goes:





8 things I am passionate about:


1. My husband

2. My children

3. My family (parents, sister and her family, in-laws)

4. Reading

5. Lists

6. Recipes

7. Friends

8. Shopping





8 things I want to do before I die:


1. Go back to Germany

2. Go to England for fish & chips

3. Repay all the kindness given to us during our struggles.

4. Lose the baby weight (I suppose I should stop calling it baby weight since 1. I had it before the babies and 2. my last baby is 4)

5. Master the chocolate chip cookie (truly this one eludes me)

6. Know that my kids are happy

7. Make a family cookbook

8. Have a clean house!





8 things I say often:


1. Go to bed

2. Can I have just 5 minutes of quiet please?

3. Love you

4. How many times do I have to ask you? (and yes, my mother's voice echos as I am saying it)

5. Crap

6. Welcome to my life

7. Life's not fair, get used to it

8. Talk to you soon


8 books I have read recently:


1. Someone to Love--Jude Devereaux

2. Good in Bed--Jennifer Wiener

3. Twilight--Stephanie Meyer

4. New Moon--Stephanie Meyer

5. Eclipse-- Stephanie Meyer

6. Drenched in Light--Lisa Wingate

7. Killer Dreams--Iris Johanson

8. Angels Fall--Nora Roberts

8 songs that I could listen to over and over:


1. Chains of Love--Erasure

2. Red Red Wine--UB40

3. Shiny Happy People --REM

4. Sold (Grundy County Auction Incident)--John Michael Montgomery

5. You Say It Best--Alison Kraus

6. Jack & Diane--John Cougar

7. The Night The Lights Went Out In Georgia--Reba

8. Forever and Ever Amen--Randy Travis



8 things I have learned this past year:



1. How to survive without Kevin during the week

2. That I can get rid of a mouse on a trap

3. How to be more empathetic to someone who's grieving

4. More patience with my children

5. Spending quality time with the kids=happy kids

6. Forced extended vacations are nice

7. Blogs are fun and a great way to keep in touch

8. That I don't have to cross every thing off my to do list



8 people I think should do crazy 8's (if they want)



1. Arah

2. Jill

3. Karen

4. Sonnet

5. Cindy

6. Loni

7. Lynsdey

8. Alison

I did it!!!

My friend Arah, who inspires me in so many ways, got me into making these little monkeys. This one is Isaac's and he helped me stuff the body and legs. He sat there patiently as he slowly filled each leg. He brought it to school for sharing yesterday. This one is Abby's and my first one. It is special with all it's learning mistakes. She loves it though and carries it with her everywhere.

I'm getting better with each one. It has been a fun project and the kids are having fun helping me. Funny thing is with all the buttons I bought for the button trees, I had to go get bigger ones. I now have enough buttons to open a button store!!!!!

Pretty soon we will have a whole barrel of monkeys. Anna keeps coming home with somebody new she wants to give one to.

Thanks Arah for the wonderful idea. You're fabulous!!!!!

R.O.U.S.'s

This is a Nutria. Seen around Eugene quite frequently. In fact I saw 2 live ones off to the side of the road coming home from Target. I saw many more dead ones. When we first moved here, I called my dad and tried to explain to him what they looked like so he could tell me what they were. My friend Alison was the one who clued me in to what these creatures were really called. Sadly I was never able to tell Dad.

These things are truly creepy and their teeth are nasty. Instead of possum we have nutria road kill. There are tons of them around here. Just in case you don't have them (or miss them), I thought I would share with you!!!

Abby's Haircut

It's a cheesy grin and the morning after. I could have combed her hair a bit better, can't do anything about the cheesy grin. She loves the back. She calls it so soft.

She kept moving so I ended up going shorter than planned. Anna is extremely jealous. SHe wants me to do hair and give her highlights. She has actually been on me since New Year's when I did my niece's hair. So watch for her pictures to appear soon.

Update on Noah

Kevin took this on the way home from my sister's in Christmas Eve. If I were good at editing, I could have gotten rid of what looks to be Kevin's finger.

Noah went to school yesterday. The Doctor said it was OK. I figured he would be more distracted there than at home with mom. He has been incredibly brave and rarely whines. For anyone who knows Noah, knows this is pretty amazing. He tends to be the one who complains or whines the most when hurt. I have only heard that this is incredibly painful. It's the second thing people say when they hear he has Shingles. The first is that he is so young. I just wanted everyone to know that I am very proud of him for being such a trooper! I also figured people had seen enough of his arm and thought a cute smile is more fun to look at.

Shingles

Noah was diagnosed with shingles this morning. Poor kids. His skin just can't catch a break. He also has an outbreak on his right shoulder.

It started over the weekend and he didn't tell me until Tuesday night. With all his skin issues I just shrugged it off and said it would get better. Last night when I took a closer look it wasn't anything I had ever seen before. I emailed Kevin's cousin Earl (who is a dermatologist, darling and someone I trust more than my doctor) and he called me this morning and told me it was shingles and to get him to the doctor. The doctor confirmed Earl's diagnosis and prescribed some medicine for him. Now it's a waiting game for the medicine to kick in and help him feel better.

Back to school!!!!

There is only about 2 hours to go until bedtime. I feel as though I could have invited Dick Clark and his New Year's Eve countdown ball to help me celebrate this occasion. Don't get me wrong, I love my children to pieces. 18 straight days with them with only the occasional break has about done me in. I am so looking forward to having routine in my life once again and a bit of peace and quiet. Even if it only lasts for a couple of hours. Even if I have to spend it putting my house back in order. I live for lists and routine. This is a very happy day for me. Abby doesn't really believe me that she is going back to school tomorrow, I think she thinks it's all done with. But when I have to wake her up and get her ready, she'll know it's for real. And come Friday when the kids are all so exhausted and cranky, we'll all know school is back in session.

We had our first F.H.E. of the new year last night. We set some good goals. We have quite a few little things we want to work on such as more love, patience and respect with one another. But we set 3 big goals as a family. They are:

1. Get under one roof. As I have mentioned before, we are committed to having Anna finish out the school year here (noone should have to move at the end of 5th grade). But come summer we want to be under one roof.
2. Be a stronger/happier family. We will achieve this by holding F.H.E. each week, reading scriptures more regularly, praying together and playing together.
3. We will be more organized!!! The kids have committed to helping me out more around the house. There is a lot of sense to the scriptures that say God's house is one of order. I am much happier when the house is cleaner. We can do more when we are more organized. We are downsizing--if it doesn't make me smile we are chucking it. Of course, most of this will be done while children are in school.

Kevin is setting some goals and will be sharing them with me when he comes home next weekend. I am not sure he would want to post them for the whole world to read about. I am just glad he will be thinking of what needs to be worked on and doing it.

As for me, I always have a huge list. Still do, but I am determined to have a happier/healthier life. My goals for 2008 are:
1. Get healthier--I want to lose weight, but mostly I want energy to keep up with the kids.
2. Gain stronger testimony and faith
3. Be more organized
4. Be financially wiser and stronger
5. Have a happier family


For those of us who know us really well, know we have had our share of trials and struggles. This year we are taking control of our lives and doing all we can to have a better 2008. I am following the promise in D&C 82 "I the Lord am bound when you do what I say..."

New Year's Resolutions

I have seen quite a few of posts of New Year's Resolutions. I am a huge fan of setting goals and will be doing so, but my New Year doesn't begin until the kids go back to school on the 8th. It's so much easier to get organized, clean and throw things out without someone over my shoulder, lips quivering, asking if I'm really going to throw that out. Also, I need a few days to recover from being gone. We are just now getting the suitcases put away and the Christmas decorations down. (The house always seems so naked after decorations come down) This Sunday during F.H.E. we will be setting family goals and individual goals. I always like to work on something new each month as a family. Sometimes I am so organized I have a printout for the fridge. So as the Stoddard family new year begins, watch for our resolutions.

Is it bad luck when your Lucky Bamboo dies??

I want to know if I need to start preparing for bad luck now that my bamboo has died. Of course it wasn't the straight ones, had to be the curled one. I bought this thinking this was one plant I could keep alive. OOPS!

I am hoping it doesn't bring bad luck. I've had my share in the past and am hoping for a luckier 2008.

These are a few of my favorite things....

Anna is at the electronic and clothing stage in life. Here she is hugging her new skinny jeans (must be nice to look cute in those!!), wearing her new gloves, headband and bathrobe. Noah is actually saying, "YESSSSS!!!" He so wanted these Legos--thanks Grandma.

Grandma got Abby a dress up trunk and Anna and Maggie had Abby posing. Not a huge fan of the dress, but the color was great. She loves to dress up.

Grandma was Noah's favorite person this year. He so wanted a Husky jersey. He has yet to go a day without wearing it.

Isaac and his cool marble set. Santa was smart and brought extra marbles to replace those that get lost. He and Grandma must be in cahoots.

Among other favorite things this year were: Hot Hoops--Isaac kicks my butt every time we play (maybe this is why it's a favorite?), Blokus--too fun!!!, webkins and of course the always loved cash. I took the kids out yesterday to buy stuff--I felt as though I was Christmas shopping again. The kids all bought a lil' kins, the boys each bought a gameboy game and the girls headbands and a curling iron.

There's no place like home

After a very lovely, extended visit at my mom's, we are home again, home again, jiggety jig. I am amazed I managed to fit all of our belongings in the van and managed to leave only a couple of things. Prescriptions for Noah and me, nothing huge like a Christmas present or anything. The kids don't go back to school until the 8th, so we have a nice amount of time to recover and get back into routine.

We hope you all had a fun time ringing in the new year and that you reach the goals that you set. Our first Family Home Evening of the year will be spent setting a few goals for our family. I love this time of year. It's like a blank page just waiting to be written on. Here's to a happy, healthy and successful 2008!!!!

I've Been Tagged!


The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
Each player answers the questions about themselves.
At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

5 things I was doing 10 years ago
1. Learning how to handle one baby--oh to go back to just one. Piece of cake!!!
2. Living in Edmonds and loving being close to my sister and parents
3. Who can remember 10 years ago? I feel pretty good I came up with 2 things.
4.
5.

5 things on my to-do list today
1. Go to the grocery store
2. Get my sister gallons of shampoo
3. Fix dinner
4. Keep Mom's house clean
5. Drink more water than Diet Coke

Snacks I enjoy
1. Ice cream
2. Popcorn
3. Licorice
4. Diet Coke
5. Chocolate

Things I would do if I were a billionaire
1. Get the family back under one roof
2. Take my mother back to Germany
3. Take the kids to Disneyland
4. Pay off the Dental bills
5. Make it so my mother wouldn't ever have to work

3 Bad habits
1. Diet Coke
2. Being a bit too controlling
3. Cracking my knuckles

5 Places I've lived
1. Edmonds, WA
2. Bothell, WA
3. Spokane, WA
4. Eugene, OR
5. Soon to be moving to Hillsboro, OR

5 Jobs I've Had
1. Babysitter/Nanny
2. Worked at a Deli
3. Worked at a Health Club--daycare and reception
4. Hairstylist
5. Stay at Home Mom

5 Things People Probably Don't Know About Me
1. I hate unloading the dishwasher--would rather hand wash than unload.
2. I can not bake a good chocolate chip cookie to save my life.
3. I hate crowds.
4. When I was a teenager, I set the goal to go 1 month without sugar and did it.
5. I love to make lists--it's an addiction

So now I'm supposed to tag five people... goodness, I would love to hear from anyone. I just tagged a few people and Jill was the only one nice enough to do it. I'm not sure my ego could take more rejection. But if I had to name a couple it would have to be Arah and Karen. Of course anyone else can feel free to do it as well.