My Gorgeous Shelf

We've been in the process of finishing our basement (hence the queen bed in our family room I mentioned in an earlier post). We had our two bedrooms and storage room sheetrocked, etc., and that's about as far as we've gotten. But on Saturday we bought this fabulous shelf, and I put it together with all of my handy-lady skills. Okay, it didn't even need screws, it just kind of slots together, but I can still be amazing, right? It looks sparse right now, but what you can't see are the piles and piles of things that have yet to be organized before placement on the shelf. Don't worry-my minimalist ways and organizing expertise will not allow the piles to survive much longer.

Sweet Pete

Tagged by Kar:


WHAT IS HIS NAME: Brian Howard P., but most people call him "Pete".

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN TOGETHER? The easiest time frame to measure with is marriage-5 1/2 years!

HOW OLD IS HE: The big 3-0 in March!
WHO EATS MORE: Pete.

WHO SAID "I LOVE YOU" first: Pete. It took me forever to say it back! I basically waited until I knew I was going to marry him.

WHO IS TALLER: Pete by a long shot.

WHO SINGS BETTER: Pete, unless he's being blasphemous at church and puts an "Ohmmm" at the end.

WHO IS SMARTER: We each have our strengths and weaknesses in smarts.

WHO DOES THE LAUNDRY: Me, all me. Pete claims he's been doing his since he was 8, but I've not seen evidence to support this since we were engaged.

WHO DOES THE DISHES: Me, unless I beg and plead for him to help me.

WHO PAYS THE BILLS: Pete earns the money to pay the bills, but I write the checks.

WHO MOWS THE LAWN: Um, is neither an option? When it gets done, it's Pete.

WHO COOKS DINNER: Me, almost always.
WHO DRIVES WHEN YOU ARE TOGETHER: Pete.

WHO IS MORE STUBBORN? We're each stubborn about different issues.

WHO KISSED WHO FIRST: Pete went in for the kill.

WHO PROPOSED: Pete. We had dinner at his brother's house with his brother as server. He brought little candy boxes for dessert, and my ring was in my box.

WHO IS MORE SENSITIVE: I totally am.

WHO HAS MORE FRIENDS: I would say I have closer relationship friends, but he has "do stuff" friends.

WHO HAS MORE SIBLINGS: Pete-he has seven, I have three.

WHO WEARS THE PANTS IN THE FAMILY: Probably Pete-I tend to give in more when we disagree about something, but it's not that often.

We are a Handsome Family!

The boys got new church clothes for Christmas and also from Grandma P. Don't they look fab?

Here with Dad:


My shy smiler, Jakob:


The camera approacher, Troy:


And the non-poser, Brock:

Our Friendly Neighborhood Treadmill

Jakob took some of his stuff (which he has a plethora of Spiderman items) and dressed the treadmill up like Spiderman. There's a hat and three webs on top, some gloves on the left side, and a shirt hanging off the right. I doubt it will be able to whisk people to safety, though.

The Library

Ah, the smell of musty old books. You gotta love the library. Jakob's preschool class went today, and I accompanied them and took my other two boys. This library is the same one I went to when I was growing up, with the pond and all. His class learned about taking care of books, then we went to the children's section. I was reminded why I don't leave the house often with the three boys by myself: they always want to go in three different directions! I was also reminded of the last time we went to the library-Brock was looking at the fish in the pond and tipped forward and fell COMPLETELY into the pond! Yeah, I totally laughed at his trauma.

A Tribute to my Growing Belly

The other day my dad observed, "If I go through something physically challenging, I don't ever want to do it again. Why in the world do women often have more than one child?" Good question, Dad. I mentioned something about a veil of forgetfulness, but I've been thinking about it since. This pregnancy has been harder than my others, so I decided to look at the silver lining and make a list of things that I like about pregnancy:

1. Feeling the baby move. This is the coolest part of pregnancy. Men are totally missing out!


2. The clothes, especially at Motherhood. They need to start an after-pregnancy line, because their clothes are so dang cute!


3. You gain 30 or so pounds, and people tell you how good you look. When does this ever happen again?


4. It's a good excuse for getting out of exercising, cleaning, lifting things, eating healthily, etc.


5. If you have a craving, it's SOOO nice when you fill it!


6. It's not terminal! You know (about) when it's going to be over, and then you can look forward to sleeping on your stomach again and seeing your ankles.

I couldn't find a good pregnancy shot of myself; pretend the pumpkin is my tummy!

Goddess in the Making

And it came to pass that Nat looked, and she beheld a horrific sight. For lo, her bathrooms were disgusting. And on the 24th day of the first month, she was compelled to clean. And though she was wont to procrastinate, or ask one of the four wise men she lived with to do it for her, she knew in her heart that the day had drawn nigh. (By the way, I'm not trying to be blasphemous; I'm trying to show what a MIRACLE it is that I actually cleaned my three bathrooms today!)

And it came to pass that Nat scrubbed, and cleaned, and prayed mightily that her spray bottle of cleaning solution would last. And behold, it lasted; and after laboring during Troy's nap, the bathrooms were a new sight to behold. For they were sparkly and free of grime and soap scum. And the heavens rejoiced. And she rested from her labors for the remainder of the day. The Miracle of moving Mount Laundry would have to wait until tomorrow.

Cabin Fever

Because it's been 20 degrees below zero outside, we've been cooped up for the last couple of weeks. My road looks like a skating rink, we're out of coloring pages, and I don't know how many times "Winnie the Pooh" has been playing in our DVD player. The boys have reverted to primeval ways: Crayons were found (I can never seem to find them when it's time to put them away), and cave drawings were made on all sorts of surfaces in my house-the walls, the chairs, and yes, the bottom of some box springs currently residing in our living room. According to our artist, it's a picture of a snowman. I've GOT to battle the elements and get to the store for some coloring books!