Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. This is the time of year when the blogosphere I inhabit seems to almost come to a stand still. Everyone is busy celebrating with family and not on the computer much at all. I am looking forward to some time catching up with everyone when things slow down here.

Christmas vacation has been so nice. It was important for us to soak up all the love and fun this year since next year Chris will be in Afghanistan working. Mimi helped make chocolate chip cookies with her Daddy. Okay, not too helpful really. She just stayed close to the kitchen waiting to lick the cookie dough out of the bowl. I think Mimi asked a million times if she could lick the bowl.Christmas Eve we set out cookies and a beer for Santa. The carrots were for the reindeer. The guinea pigs helped with the carrots and I helped Santa finish the beer. ;)Before bed Chris read Santa Mouse Where are You to the girls. As you can see Mimi was really getting into it. Miraculously enough everyone slept until seven. My sister Marie told me my nephew Christian was up at four. Ugh.Christmas morning Santa left a nice note. The girls were beyond excited. We each took turns playing Santa and passing around gifts. Maizie was thrilled to get a i pod touch from her Dad. She loves it. He etched a nice note to Maizie into the back of the i pod which was quite clever and sweet.I gave Chris a new robe and a DS. Living in a house with five girls he needs a robe! He loves the DS as he is sitting next to me playing Sims City right now while I blog. Very cute.Emma was beyond thrilled to open her own keyboard. I am hoping the girls will practice their piano here as well as at their mom's house. They are quite talented. I just had to get the girls snugglies. Now they will each have a snugglie for movie night instead of carrying around all the blankets in the house. All were beyond thrilled to open their very own DS. For months Maizie and me have been nice enough to let them play our DS's. Maizie and me were happy to have reclaimed our DS's. Chris gave me Scrabble for mine. My favorite gift from Chris is a very thick and cozy white robe. I love it.I think we were in pj's for two days playing, eating and watching the most beautiful snow fall. Sally worked on her Lego train set. All of the girls have been having a blast Picto Chatting. Emma is especially into picto chatting. I finished knitting another hat. Chris advanced in Halo.Mimi has been into playing with her play doh and all things Sponge Bob.

Today we caught up on laundry, cleaned the house and went out to lunch. Chris and me were going stir crazy. I swear the girls would have stayed in their p.j.'s all weekend if we let them. My mom sent them all some adorable new p.j.'s so I guess I can't blame them. It's nice to be cozy!

Build and Grow at Lowe's

Kate, Maizie's assistant bought all of the girls these adorable shirts. Very cute. Taking a photo where they were all smiling was impossible. I took about ten and this is the closest one to all smiles!Saturday mornings Lowe's has a time when all the kids can go and build something for free. It is called Lowe's Build and Grow. Lowe's gives you a great kit, a hammer, apron and goggles. When you complete it they give you a patch that you are supposed to proudly display on your apron. Our kids are not too into the patches, just the making of the project. Here is Sally working hard. She is the most independent when it comes to the projects. While I am stumbling over the directions she is usually saying, "No Marla. Use this piece. See...the directions here." Yup. It is good for me to sit near Sally while helping Mimi. Kate worked with Maizie and Chris helped Emma. I worked with Mimi and Sally helps me. Ha! Mimi was getting a tad wild with the hammer this time. Mimi hit my fingers at least five times. Each time she would collapse into a heap of giggles over my slight injury. Slapstick humor never fails to entertain a five year old.
Maizie and Kate had fun. It was a very loud day at Lowes. I am not sure how many kids were there, maybe thirty. That is a lot of hammering. All the girls handled the noise quite well. At one point Chris and I looked up to see a mom jumping up and down with her fingers in her ears. She was doing what I felt like doing. It was loud. Very loud. Maizie with her finished product. A Pet Treat Keeper. Emma was very proud of hers. Emma made sure to tell everyone, more than once that she finished first! That is more than likely because she had the benefit of Chris helping her. At one point Chris was saying from far across the table, "Marla...Marla...move the wood over once like this." I'm flipping my piece over every which way but the right way. Argh. I'm telling you..it's confusing and I had a lot of cold medication that day. ;)

Kate and Maizie had the most difficulty. Their kit was complete with nail holes that did not line up correctly. The kit is free but we are not talking highest of quality stuff here. The nails typically cut through the wood like butter and pop out with the slightest of movement. It is enough to drive any skilled carpenter over the edge. I'm not complaining though. Kate was determined to help Maizie make hers work and it turned out very nice.

Knitting, Santa & Darwin may have had Cyclical Vomiting Syndrome

I am continuing my knitting frenzy. Maizie says,"Mom...you are addicted to knitting!" Darwin takes advantage of my knitting by getting in extra cuddle time. Hollea, Maizie's respite care worker said when she found me in my knitting meditation mode, "You are knitting again? You are just a Betty home maker aren't you?!" We both laugh knowing I am so not. Too funny. Sally was being cute by wearing Maizie's Build A Bear sweater. It looks quite adorable on Sally. Maybe Sally will help me begin a new fashion trend. Too bad I am pretty weary of knitting anymore Build A Bear sweaters. Sigh. Three more to go. I am going to tweak my pattern. Shake it up a bit.

When I first began knitting I told myself I would not begin another project until I finished the one I was working on. Yeah, that is really not possible. I have fallen in love with the yarn and when I purchase one I get a great thrill from the casting on and the decision of what I will be making with my new find. Granted, my skill level is still limited but I am learning to read patterns and getting a bit braver with each project. Right now I am making my mom a scarf and hat. I finished my hat class. It was awesome. Next I am going to take the sweater class. Mimi had fun riding the carousel at the mall with me and Chris. Are you wondering where the other three girls were? We bravely sent the girls to see New Moon on their own while we putzed around the mall. This is the second movie they have seen without me or Chris. Sally and Emma are well briefed in what to do in case of a "Maizie emergency". Sally is in charge of the Blackberry. The girls get a great thrill from attending a movie on their own. Last Sunday we visited Santa Claus. Maizie is going on twelve but wanted to see Santa. I'm cool with that. She told him she wanted a Teddy Bear. I think that was all she could think of at that moment. I don't remember what else they were discussing but from looking at the photo it looks like they had a nice chat. Mimi was in awe or star struck by Santa Claus. Mimi wanted to know if the sled next to Santa was his real sled, if it worked, who pulled it and if he is the Santa in the coloring books she has seen. Adorable. Santa and Mimi were talking on and on and on and on. When she finally whispered in Santa's ear what she wanted we were able to wrap up their conversation so the other children in line could visit him. I swear that Santa would have talked all day with Mimi. Emma and Sally were way too cool to visit with Santa. Or shy. I'm not sure which. Maizie drew me this picture of her ice skating. I love it. It is interesting that her drawing level has stayed at the level of a five year old. She reads at a sixth grade level but comprehends similar to a first or second grader. For math she is still struggling at a pre school level. Her skills are all over the place. I love children's drawings. I am always asking the girls to draw me pictures.

Maizie posted on her blog a few days ago. A miracle.

Last night was an all nighter. Maizie has been coughing for a few nights but last night was bad. She could not stop and had difficulty catching her breath. Today we went to University of Iowa Family Care Center. Her asthma is flaring up and she has an ear infection. Sounds typical for this time of year. Red flag number one before we are on the road to pneumonia. Argh. She has had more CVS spells as well. Check this out...Darwin may have had Cyclical Vomiting Syndrome. No, not our dog but Darwin...the scientist.

A visit to the neurologist is next. We will be staying home together this week in the hopes of storing up strength and good health for the holidays. I am doing everything I can to keep her out of the hospital this year. Oh! Maizie had her swine H1N1 vaccination finally! Sweet!

Knowing that I have respite tonight is the best. Me and Maizie are cuddling together watching Four Christmases. I love that movie.

Halloween Fun!

The girls arrived Friday night. It had been a long while since we saw the girls. Chris had a very rough month with the guard. Which means everyone had a rough month missing Chris. He is a commander and they are getting ready for a deployment to Afghanistan. For the entire month of October he was readying troops for the deployment. He worked from about five a.m. to eleven at night all week and most weekends. It was great to have him home and especially to have the girls with us as well.

As you can see from the photo above Mimi and Maizie missed one another very much. They have grown very close to one another. Every time I turned around Mimi was running up to Maizie and hugging her.Friday we celebrated Sally's tenth birthday. She had been wanting a flamingo marionette. Thankfully the Internet makes it very easy to find all kinds of toys. We gave her a baby and mama flamingo. She loves them and is great at putting on little acts with them. Chris gave her a whole bunch of Lego kits. Sally and Chris worked most of the day Sunday putting together a police station. I think she is collecting an entire town.Saturday we carved pumpkins. Chris looks like he is going in for the kill in the first photo. I love how kids start the carving process and then when it gets really messy and time consuming they run off. I am sure I was the same way as a kid. Before we knew it Chris and I were scraping and carving their four pumpkins and our own as well. We enjoyed a few beers and worked on our own pumpkins. Maizie went a little overboard with the drawing on her pumpkin. Chris tried to wash the ink off. He was able to make her design work without too much ink left behind.Maizie did great emptying hers out this year. Normally she would take out one hand full and run to wash her hands. She managed to allow her hands to be sticky for the whole process which was great.
Here is Maizie with her masterpiece. Emma was less than pleased with the cold gooey mess that was pumpkin carving. Too cute.
Emma wanted hers to look a bit like Frankenstein so we put some carrots on the side. Mimi wanted hers to have ears so I did the same with hers.Emma's is on top of the table. Sally's with the cool eye brows is on the chair. Chris's is to the left of the mum with the lid off. Mimi's is on the bottom right. They look awesome.
Maizie's is on the left. I went a little overboard with mine and added gourd horns, an eye and painted some blood around the mouth. It looked pretty nasty in the day light but in the night it looked great.
I had fun dressing up the girls. Sally looks like a club kid ready to go out. She was a ninja.
Mimi was an adorable witch, Maizie a bat fairy and Emma a vampire.

Mimi was quite pleased with her stash of candies. We left a bowl of candy outside for the kids while we went trick or treating. Once we returned we filled the bowl again. By the end of the night we had to turn kids away because we ran out of candy. Being our first year in this neighborhood I had no idea what kind of turn out we would have. Next year I will have to buy way more candy.After dinner we were all exhausted. The girls settled down to watch a movie while Chris, Mimi and me cuddled in bed and watched some t.v. The adorable lil' witch Mimi was ready to put her broom up and call it a night. She fell asleep in Chris's arms within minutes. So sweet.

Let me Introduce you to...

I love the above quote. I found it fitting considering the amount of changes taking place in my life lately. Today I thought it was time to introduce you to Chris and his three beautiful girls. What a blessing it has been to open my heart to these three precious pumpkins. On the far left is Emma. Emma just turned eight and she keeps me on my toes. I am convinced she will one day be a high power attorney. She has an amazing ability for debate. Usually topics like how the world was made, or why birds fly. Emma takes the more scientific view. I like to make up crazy stories as to why things are as they are. We both love debating together. Emma communicates easily with animals and has grown especially attached to Darwin.

Next to Emma is Sally. Sally will be ten in a few days. Sally is the lover of nature. The one who reminds me to recycle and asks me if I am "being green" when I am throwing out something. Sally loves animals and has a strong need to give back to the world. I see her as the peace maker, the giver and the nurturer. I see myself in Sally. She is my "mush pot" as my mom called me when I was little. In other words, we are both deep feelers, sensitive and loving.Next is little Mimi. She is by far the easiest going child I have ever known. She takes everything in stride. Mimi has an intense love of Sponge Bob. One day she was in the bathroom and I was channel surfing on my television in the other room. I landed on Nickelodeon for just a few seconds. The only sounds on the t.v. were some glub glubs and whirring noises. From the bathroom she yelled, "That is Sponge Bob! Leave it there Marla!" She then went on to recite exactly what was being said on the program. I was amazed. I too love Sponge Bob so Mimi and me hit it off right away. Mimi is a cuddle bug and loves to go to the library. Recently I took Mimi to get glasses and she looks like a little librarian. I could just eat her up she is so sweet.

And finally, there is little miss Maizie. Maizie is not so little anymore. Maizie loves her "step sisters". There is no rule that we have to be married in order for Maizie to call them her "sisters". How else do you explain the close bond these girls have made? Sisters is fitting. That is not to say that the adjustment to having sisters was easy. It was not. Maizie is learning how to share on a whole new level. She loves her sisters fiercely and asks when they will be here daily. The girls have learned a lot about Autism and they can all tell you a bit about Cyclical Vomiting Syndrome. This is my Chris. What can I say...I am totally and completely wild about him. He is book smart and emotionally intelligent, sensitive and stronger physically than anyone I have known. At the pumpkin farm he was so funny. He wanted to bring all the best pumpkins home with us. It was hard for him to leave the awesome pumpkins behind. We had to buy six and that was more than enough!

We have both been through some confusing and rough times in the last few years. I feel fortunate to have found a best friend in Chris. He is supportive of me staying home to be there for Maizie and him. Chris encourages and inspires me artistically. He is the breath of fresh air I did not even know I needed.

He works full time for the Iowa Army National Guard. The military is one of Chris's many passions. I will talk all about my new life with the military in another post. Chris is talented in wood working and loves history. We have lots of fun together. I am trying to beat Chris at Halo. I suck. Totally. When we are not gaming, cuddling or talking we are working on our money pit of a house, but it is our house so we love it. We are all on this new path in life together. It is strange how sometimes we are pushed in new directions never before imagined. At the time we think we will die from the changes. We think that life will forever be dark. Now, I can't imagine my life without Chris and his girls. Like the pumpkin in the quote I have survived because I honestly do not fear change anymore and I have learned how to move with it and sometimes against it. Mostly, I have found joy in embracing and accepting change.