Hen-Pecked

I once saw a sign that said," Being a mom is like being pecked to death by a chicken" I've never forgotten it, because I seriously feel like that every day when everyone gets home from school...everyone needs something from me all at the same time. I remember when my kids were babies and I was SO excited when they could at last say "mama"!...Now, I often think of changing my name..."Mom? who is that? I don't know anyone that goes by that name around here..." Being a mom is the hardest job I've ever had...but I wouldn't trade it for anything....even if I get pecked to death :)
This poor chap is not only a chicken himself,...but he must have a lot of kids.....more than me... I guess my kids aren't so bad after all! :) In fact I have great kids, for which I am so grateful!

This all leads me into a tag I was tagged with awhile ago, that I'm just now getting around to doing!:

MOTHERHOOD:
1.How long have you been a mother?
13 years

2.How many kids call you mommy?
six-including Lance

3.When you were pregnant, did you know what you were having?
Well, YEAH! How else was I going to have their room decorated correctly?

4.How old were you when you became a mom?
23

5.How long were you in labor?
Start to finish:
Lauren - 3 hours(induced 1 week early-7lbs.8 oz.)
Madi - 3 1/2 hours(induced 1week early-9 lbs.)
Chase-- 1 hour and 10 minutes(induced 1 week early- 8lbs.5 oz.)
Conor - 2 hours(induced 2weeks early- 9lbs.3 oz.)
Wyatt - 2 hours(induced 2 weeks early-8 lbs. 5 oz.)
I'm pretty much the kind of person, that once I start something, I want it done now!
6.What's your favorite thing about being a mom?
I'm not sure...I love to see my kids learn new things and love to see them succeed..especially things they've struggled with. I also LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to snuggle with them in my bed in the morning...as long as it's after 6am

7.What's your least favorite thing about being a mom?
Throw-up.
Also, I hate to see my kids sad or hurt

8.Do you want more kids?
Ummm, no...and not just no....

(.Have you ever taken your kids on a trip?
Have I ever NOT taken my kids on a trip? :) We love to travel as a family! Good times, good memories! :)

10.How many times have you been peed on?
A bagillion....it's the first thing every one of my kids did to me when they put them up on my stomach after being born...except Madi...she pooped on me...that's thanks for ya..Although, some of them peed on themselves too...Wyatt peed in his own eye once when he was just a tiny baby...he didn't quite know what to do ...he just kept blinking while I stood by laughing...I cleaned it up...don't worry :)

11. How many times have you been barfed on?
More times than I've been peed on...3 of my kids had re-flux like you've never seen! But as they got older and did big-people pukes, I'd know when it was coming, so, I'd pass them off to Lance, and he's been nailed by every one of them! :)

12.Are your kids named after someone?
Lauren Eileen-Eileen is Lance's mom's middle name, and also means Helen in Greek, which is my mom's name
Madison Marilla-Marilla is my grandma Larsen's middle name. When I told her I was naming her after her she said,"Don't you give that ugly name to that cute little thing!"...we like it just fine grandma! :)
Chase Wayne- Wayne is my dad's name, Lance's dad's middle name, and Lance's grandpa's name...talk about hitting 3 in one blow! :)
Conor William-William is the name of my great-grandfather Harwood
Wyatt Warner- Warner is the maiden name of my grandma Harwood (Ganny)

13.When was the last time you had a sitter? What did you do?
The last time that we had to get a babysitter was a year ago! Now that the girls are old enough, they do the babysitting now!It's so nice because Lance and I go out on a date every Friday night--usually to see a movie, and sometimes grab a bite to eat. The girls take turns babysitting for other people, while the other one stays here and babysits the boys...Thanks girls!!

14-When your kids get in trouble, who's the bad guy?
It depends on who it is and what they did...Lance and I each have our things we defend....although, I seem to be the bad guy more often than he is...

What is the longest you've ever been away from your kids?
A week...that was a little too long, when we get to go without kids, it's generally 4-5 days

16. Are your toes painted?
Sort-of...

17. What was the last movie you saw in a theater?
Enchanted-with the kids
August Rush-just Lance and I

18. What's one thing you won't give up just because you're a mom?
Acting like a kid

19. What's one thing you did give up now that you're a mom?
Privacy...

20. What's your favorite cartoon?
I've ALWAYS loved Pooh Bear, I also love Disney's Robin Hood, and I love Spongebob

21.What is your favorite snack?
By snack do you mean candy?...Peanut M&M's

22.When the kids are napping, you are:
Dreaming...my kids have NEVER been good nappers....

23.Where are your kids now?
In bed...seems how it's stinkin' 1:30 in the a.m. I need to get to dang bed!!! This blog thing is a killer on my sleep patterns...

24.Where is your favorite place to buy Maternity clothes?
SO not applicable....

25.If I could do it over again, I'd do this differently...
Well, if your talking about this here questionaire...I'd have done it at a better time of day....but if you mean in my life, I'd not change anything. Mistakes learned, better people make....

Good Grief! It's about time I got done with that!...don't do that to me again!!!...I need to go to bed!...and By the way, I've already been tagged for the 101 things about me...I'll post it soon, so don't dump that one on me.... :)

Santa's Elves are watching!

The biggest threat I always give my kids this time of year is that very phrase..."Santa's Elves are watching!!" I didn't think they'd take it this seriously!!



http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1114628306

Lady Cougars in action!

Tonight was Lauren's first Basketball game! They played O.Henry middle school and won 21 to 10! Way to go Lady Cougs! Check out miss Lauren-long-limbs! Nice shots!

Giving thanks for Thanksgiving

Well here they are! The promised pictures from our wonderful Thanksgiving week!!!My parents, and my aunt Jeanette and uncle Bill came down to play with us, and we had a great time playing!



What better place to start than Rudy's! Our favorite BBQ place! Aunt Jeanette and Uncle Bill tried out the auto-handwasher...always a big hit with the kids too...At first Jeanette was afraid of it, but then she conquered her fear and taught Bill how to use the fascinating contraption!
Then of course we had to play the wii :)...they were especially good at the cell phone game!
And of course, the preparations for the great feast! Grandpa tackled the mashed potatoes...he did great, they were very mashed
Mom and Aunt Jeanette made some very good pourable, but not too runny, gravy...which was great because I suck at making gravy
Uncle Bill was....helping....ish
And the Turkey sliced the Turkey....
And last, but not least, the table is set and ready.....
Everyone digs in!

and after days and hours of preparation...the whole thing lasts about ten minutes...less for the boys because they didn't like anything except the corn and the rolls.....
Of course later there was a plethera of pies to choose from...suddenly the boys were hungry again...then the Larsen family tradition of playing cards where everyone is trying to go out before anyone else can, which inevitably ends up in angered players, unless you are the one going out on everyone else leaving them with a whole stinkin' handful of points...not that that happened to me...eight times....good times...but at least there are always yummy munchies...just in case we didn't make ourselves sick with all of the other crap we ate all day...
Lauren challenged Uncle Bill to fit all of the ice in his glass into his mouth.....
Challenge met! Lauren better be careful what she challenges him to in the future!...and Uncle Bill should set up bets and a good wager next time!

We also hit the outlet mall in San Marcos on the way to see the Alamo in San Antonio , where we also had a nice lunch and then a boat ride on the riverwalk! I still need pictures sent to me from San Antone...hint-hint....since stupid me forgot the camera that day...duh.Although, many of you have probably seen my parents fancy-pants Mexican dance on the earlier posts :)

We had such a great time and are so thankful that we got to spend that time with "all-them-all" :) So, thanks for coming! We love and miss "y'all"!!!

New babies everywhere!

Congrats to Tiff & Joey and Zach and Josh! They had a new baby girl! Sophia Ann, born Nov.26. 7lbs. 19"

Also, Congrats to Chad and Bren who had a new baby girl! Addelyn , born Nov.6th, 7 lbs. 12 oz., 20" Aden is a big brother too!


Sara and Timo are due to have a new little one any day now...we don't know what that one is yet...that drives me crazy!! How are you supposed to decorate a nursery when you don't know what you're decorating for?...SERIOUSLY!


Anyway, well done everyone! Good work! (glad it's you and not me...)

That's our little Honey-Buns!

I guess it wasn't my haircut afterall

Although Candice mentioned she recognized me by my haircut (see post below), she and Steve now claim it was just my huge muscles.

I wasn't so sure, so I dug up a recent photo of me (I'm on the right).


Sure enough, the hair looks great and I've got one hot bod. Boy, I just look mean and ready to rumble!

I tell ya what, you don't ever want to look in your rear-view mirror and see that coming after you!

Steph is sure a lucky gal!

Momand Dad visit the Alamo

We had a great time with my parents and aunt and uncle while they were here visiting for Thanksgiving! We went to San Antonio and saw the Alamo...my parents really got into it! OLE!!

BLOG-HOG

As many of you may have noticed, I haven't posted anything as of late....this is because we have here in our house, a BLOG-HOG. Lance (a.k.a.-blog-hog) has taken it upon himself to take over the very blog he has teased me about spending too much time on! Ironic, isn't it? :)
Anyway, we had a great Thanksgiving, as I hope all of you did! I'll post the pics. soon! Until then, enjoy whatever the"blog-hog" posts! :)

Booty-Traps!

Yesterday, I was playing Legos with Chase, Conor, and Wyatt. Chase started building the opening scene from Indiana Jones (where the big rolling rock was). To represent the stones in the floor, that when stepped on, triggered a poison dart to fire, he place small dot Legos on the board and called them "Booty-Traps" :) Not sure if this is because they trigger when a boot steps on it, or because that's what it thought they were called (he also refers to ones rear-end as Bootius Maximus). What a crack up!

As a public service message, here are some everyday booty-traps to watch out for:
Diet Booty-Trap: Almond Joys, Twixs, and Reese's. Reese's are especially evil. They call out to me and I'm sure there's some mind-altering drug in there. Guaranteed to go right to your booty.

"Are you Listening to Me?!?!" Booty-Trap: Guys Only. If you find yourself driving in the car, dreaming of Reese's, and your wife suddenly gets quiet and gives you the evil eye, chances are, your booty is already halfway in this trap. Oh you try to rewind in your mind, but only a word or two from the conversation makes it to your mush-for-brains head. Here's a secret of mine that just might be your last hope for yanking your sorry behind out of this booty-trap.

Here's what you say: "I'm sorry (standard guy beginning), I was just trying to recall the name of a primary song".
This is a classic diversion technique. Instead of focusing on the fact that you weren't listening, she's now left to wonder why you're thinking of a primary song and if she has a right to be mad about it.
3 out of 5 times, this is enough to derail things and save you. However, a few crafty wives (and Steph is in this camp), will certainly be suspicious and may hit you with the dreaded follow-up question: "Which one?"
Be on your toes! Wait too long and she'll know it's not just the baby that stinks. To fast, and it will be rehearsed. Also, and this is key, you must pick a primary song that is of sufficient spiritual umph that she'll agree you focusing on it rather than her was OK.
Experience has shown that, "...I see my mother kneeling..." is a good answer.
"...in the sun he melted, melted, melted..." not so much.

Good luck!

Steph - A Fatal Flaw Found!

OK. So we've lived in Austin for 5 years and despite many trips to Rudy's, only recently have we learned of the zen know as Rudy's cream corn. This may cause others to shake their heads in disappointment - and rightly so.
However, today while at Rudy's with her parents and Aunt and Uncle, I learned that Steph still hasn't even tried it! I promptly did my Texas duty and shoveled some in her mouth. After a bit, she said, "I don't really like it. Plain corn would be better".
Disappointment. Despair. Betrayal. How can this be?!?! Perfect in so many ways, and yet she has this fatal flaw.

I call out to any and all those that call Steph their friend. Please help me with an intervention and get her to PCLA - Plain Corn Lover Anonymous. Please keep us in your thoughts and pray for her before it's too late.

"I recognized you by your haircut"

Part of my "Fab to Flab" program includes swimming in freezing water at the gym. Today I was swimming and stopped at one end of the lap pool. I looked up and saw Steve and Candice getting in the hot tub. After I said "Hi", Candice remarked, "I thought that was you. I recognized you by your haircut."
As I started to swim again, I thought about that. She didn't say, "I recognized you by your hair". And since I was swimming, it wasn't like I was sporting some cool "do".
Hmm. Haircut. Haircut=less hair. She must be saying she recognized by my lack of hair! Basically, "When I saw your bald spot, I knew for sure it was you".


Ah great. That just killed 12 points on the Fab to Flab scale. I'm going to start bringing power tools and leaving them by the side of the pool so I feel more manly.

B-O-R-I-N-G

Last night the boys got to bed to late to read a story so I thought I'd settle them down telling them a made-up story with the lights off. I put on my very slow and sing-song voice ("It's not what you say, it's how you say it") and begin:

"Once upon a time. A long time ago in a land where the sun always shines and it's never dark..."

Conor then says: "Dad. This story is B-O-R-I-N-G boring."

Hmm. Not sure what's worse. That I'm boring, or that my 6 yr old thinks he needs to literally spell it out for me. "Become as a little child?" Certainly would be a very honest place :P

Here's to you Steph!

I must admit, with Steph's previous disdain of computers, I didn't think she would take to blogging. Boy was I wrong! However, after watching her, and seen the blogs of some of our friends, I've reached a few conclusions:

1) You girls do a TON of amazing things! Concerts, Zoo, Parties, Decorating, Shopping - all usually involving family and friends. Last week, after much training, I increased my TV remote control - channel changing rate (RC-CCR) from 68-72 channels per minute. Certainly no small task, but it pales in comparison :P

2) Steph is truly incredible. She elevates existence to living. It's great for me to see another avenue for her to share her skills and humor (but not her M&Ms) and I'm glad all of you get to see that.


Luv you sweety!
- L

Ode to Peanut M&M's

There once was a girl, who loved M&M's.
The ones with the peanuts inside.

She felt if she couldn't have some each day,
She'd probably shrivel and die.


To avoid such a fate, her fine handsome man,
bought her a years supply.

But now they are gone...they didn't last long,
"Now what will I do?", she sighed.....

Yep, that's right...a years supply lasted a whoppin' 9 months....NO, I DID NOT EAT THEM ALL MYSELF!!!! ....I shared.. :) Maybe Santa will bring me some more...but it will probably be better for my New Year's resolution to lose weight if he didn't....

Christmas decor crisis

So, as many of you know...I'm a decorator...I decorate....that's what I do...So, anyway, I have re-decorated my front room,it is a TOTALLY different color scheme, and as I was thinking about getting my Christmas decorations out soon, I realized...PANIC!...My current tree decor will NOT match the new room!!!...Gratefully, I came to this realization BEFORE it was time to trim the front room tree this year! WHEW!!So, I have done what any other decorator would do...I went and got new stuff to match the new color scheme...Talk about barely slipping out of a potentially totally embarrassing moment!!! I wouldn't be able to have our big Christmas party if I hadn't caught the dreadful mistake! :)

You don't have to roll your eyes and make fun of me...Lance does PLENTY of that!!...but go ahead if it makes you feel better...I know I feel better now, having resolved the problem....Here's some of the stuff that I couldn't live without...I mean that I needed...I mean that I satisfied my sick little sickness with...All from Target ( the BEST store in the Universe! ) and Kirkland's home(another favorite of mine)...so, not expensive! (Lance's favorite part..)




LOVE the bling balls!! And these Apothecary Jars, would not let me leave the store without them! (Although both of mine are completely intact...not sure what happened to that picture...) I got two sizes of the Mercury trees....the snow globe plays a song...but I don't remember what song....maybe "O Christmas tree?...seems fitting doesn't it? I also got a bunch of different silver, and teal-blue balls...but couldn't find a picture of those....still gotta find some ribbon too...

All I want for Christmas is....

Try to tell me these aren't the cutest dishes...just try...and I love these ornaments! The red, green, and white ones could go on my upstairs tree, and the snowflake bling could go on my downstairs tree, in the front room...I will have four trees this year...I'm a decorator remember? Besides, two of them are small....then all the kids get one, or two in their rooms....I can't help myself! I found all of these treasures at the Company Store.

The Mysterious Ticking noise...

This is my kids favorite...we watch it all the time, and it never stops being funny to us....probably because after watching it, they act it out over and over again...Wyatt's got Dumbledors part down perfectly, and Conor's got Harry Potters down to a science, including the arm-flailing body movements,I do a pretty darn good Ron, and Chase is an excellent Snape...The girls like to do Hermione...it's quite entertaining!...a great family home evening play....;)

4x4 Princess

O.K., so I've been getting a lot of guff for the way I drive my FJ off-road....words like,"CRAZY!" or,"WILD WOMAN!",or "MANIAC",come flying out of their mouths when they have the privilege of off-roading with me. So, I decided to include a video of me in action, to dispel these rumors...you be the judge....

Hacking Child

O.K., so, I've been trapped in my house for the past 10 days with a sick kid!...Poor Conor..started out with high fever, went into the croupe, then went into some other coughing something...all the while, having this 103+ fever...After chest x-rays, and blood work ( Which after getting his blood taken said," That was the TOTAL OPPOSITE of nice and peaceful!!!!"--he says the funniest things! :)) Thankfully had no Pneumonia, but has a nasty virus of some sort.

Now, I hate to see my kids sick as much as the next mom, ...but DANG!!! It has completely thrown me off my groove!!Gratefully, he is doing much better, and I am happy...oh SO happy to report that ALL of my kids are back in school today! Now maybe I can actually get something done!...Although, sometimes it's nice to have the kids around as an excuse as to why things DON"T get done! :)

My Man the Ironman!

O.K., So a Lifetime Fitness Center just opened up near our house...Lance goes and checks it out,and comes home and says "I signed us up!" I , myself, am not really a "gym" person, but it's a nice place for the whole family...indoor/outdoor pools with waterslides, and rock-climbing walls were the big perks for the kids...for Lance it was the indoor lap pools. He was always a swimmer, and still very much enjoys this type of exercise, so, he decided to start on his self-proclaimed "Flab-to-Fab" program. He gets up, drops the kids off at school, then goes and either swims or does weights...depending on the day ( he's got it all worked out)Lance is definitely an all-or-nothing kind of guy, so on day one, he dscides to do the whole Flab-to-Fab in one shot. He jumps in the pool, and swims his little heart out! Later I get a call ffrom him saying," I just wanted you to know that you are married to a flabby old man!!" This of course, is not true, but to humor him, i inquired, "what makes you say that?" He then proceeds to tell me that swimming was harder than it used to be, and that after he was done, he got in the shower and started feeling a little nauseated...realizing, that if he indeed threw-up, he'd much rather do it in the privacy of his shower stall, rather than out in the locker room...so, he turned the shower to a cooler temperature and dry-heaved in the shower.....Now, me, being the loving, concerned,and compassionate wife that I am, burst into laughter, then reminded him that he wasn't supposed to do it all in one day! I am happy to report, that he has been going every morning now for a few weeks, and he has had no more "gastric issues" I'm so proud of him for being so dedicated, and for what it's worth--he is not one bit flabby...He's always been my hunka-hunka- burnin' love!! Keep it up Ironman!!!

3 brothers

As Conor and Wyatt have been watching Chase do all of his scout stuff, they have been more than a little excited to jump on the bandwagon...Conor has continued to ask, on a daily basis," when do I get to do scouts?"....and ,"it's not fair that Chase gets to do scouts and not me!!!" So, finally, Lance got Conor the Tiger Cub book so that he could work on scout stuff too...It's been hard to get him to understand that we don't do the Tiger cubs at church, but he can still pass stuff off and get awards.As this was being explained to Conor, Wyatt piped up "Yeah! and I can do the Kitty Cubs!!"...I guess he just figured, the smaller you are, the smaller the animal you get to be in scouts...what a cutie....I hope they can stay this enthusiastic about it until they get their Eagles!!! But I won't hold my breath :)

Daddy / Daughter Campout

This year the Daddy / Daughter Campout was held at Pedernales State Park...which is only 45 minutes from our house. It's a beautiful place and the girls had a great time with their dad...yes, Lance really was there, he just ended up being the one to take all of the pictures....I told him it really is OK to ask someone for help, by asking them to take a picture of him WITH his daughters at the DADDY /DAUGHTER campout...maybe next year! :)

They really had a good turnout, and everyone had a good time!!Lauren, burning Marshmallows...personally, I like them best that way....

Madi demonstrating the proper way to apply Marshmallows to the roasting stick, so that they don't fall into the fire when they catch on fire....

The Whole gang...except for Lance again...who is taking the picture...

Scouting News

Congrats to Chase who earned his Wolf badge yesterday at pack meeting!!! Way to go Chase!!

Basketball Babe

Announcing!! CSMS has a new player on their team!!! Lauren made the 7th grade basketball team!! The only thing is, she has to be at school by 6:50 every morning for practice ....and anyone who knows Lauren, knows that that will, by far, be her biggest challenge!! But so far she's done great! Not to mention, she has an awesome dad who drops her off.. :) Way to go Lauren!!

Halloween...Good Times...

Wyatt, I mean Vader has great light-saber skills....but abandons weapon and mask for candy!!