Monday, December 31, 2007

Walking in a Winter Wonderland





We woke up this morning to 10 inches of fresh snow! It was beautiful outside and so we took the kids for a walk. After about 45 minutes, we noticed a deer carcass about 20 yards off of the path that we were walking on. Based on the tracks and the complete destruction of the deer, we assume it was a mountain lion. We turned around quickly and headed back to the lodge, but not before stopping and taking a family portrait. Of course.


And once again, more pictures can be found on the my flickr page or on facebook!

Saturday, December 29, 2007

And We're Back! No, not really



Well, we have internet access...so we are back in the able to receive and send emails as well as blog about all of the interesting and amazing things that we are doing! HAHA
We had a crazy Christmas at Matt's parents house. It was really fun, but I will give you the rundown:
8 kids under the age of 5
6-month old twins
4-week old newborn
6 kids on medication for their various ailments
4 kids on antibiotics
1 case of strep throat
2 hospitilizations (Matt's mom on Christmas eve and our newborn nephew Sam with RSV), both very scary...both healthy and fine now.
We didn't spend two nights in a row sleeping the same place for six straight nights.
One cancelled flight to Denver, one rescheduled flight to Denver. 24 hours of trying to rebook the flight in order to land one hour earlier in order to make it to club. 
Instead, we drove through blowing snow on the "Kenosha pass" which is one of the coldest, darkest and scariest roads in America. Especially when you are driving in a front wheel drive car with two kids and six hundred pounds of luggage in the back. 
But ahh, we made it to Young Life's Trail West. It is our first time here and I have to tell you, I love it. It is truly a GIANT lodge with so much to do and see. Plus, there is about a foot of snow on the ground, a great fire in the fireplace and all the hot chocolate that you can stomach. I can safely say, I would recommend this trip to anyone with kids. Who are over three. 
The ski slopes that are nearest by were freezing. I am not lying when I tell you it was 20 below with the windchill by the end of our time there. 
Lucy's glove would not stay on and she nearly lost her hand to frostbite by the time we got from the lodge to the car. Not really, but she acted like her hand was about to fall off for a good 45 minutes.

 
It is beautiful here and we are so happy to be in this lovely place for the next few nights. I will take as many pictures as I can! FYI: It is easier to upload to flickr, so click on my badge in order to see more complete pictography of our travels!

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Close-Up of the Buckle Ring


Here's a close-up of the ring I mentioned in my earlier blog. I just happened to have gotten a manicure today, so please admire the hot red nails along with the ring.

Friday, December 21, 2007

The Goose is getting FATTER

I just saw this on my sister-in-law's blog, since we are heading to the same place, I thought that I would fill you in on what we are driving into.

"We are headed to my parents' house for Christmas this year (if you're a thief reading this, please don't rob my house - although we'll have literally everything packed to the hilt in our janked up mini-van). It's going to be so much fun and so much chaos. Just in my immediate family there are 18 people - eight of them 5 and under. Wow. Thankfully Jeannie and Kelly, David and Mary Lane live in town, so we'll all have places to spread out...a little. When we all come together, though, we just all want to be in the same place, which usually means the 4 bedroom, 2000 square foot house where we grew up that we call home. Mom has parties and activities planned pretty much the whole time...church twice, parties every night, Christmas Eve dinner, Christmas day brunch. And then for the grand finale there will be Christmas dinner with 30 people in the same house we call home. Hilarious.

Even more hilarious are the emails that have been going around about what food all the women are bringing. I mean, we have to make sure we have enough, right? So here's the line-up. Please keep in mind as you're reading this that my mom thinks this list is STILL not enough:

Veggie Tray
Ham Things (ham biscuits that literally melt in your mouth)
Fried Turkey
Fruit Bowl
Tofu Turkey (my sister-in-law is the only healthy one in the bunch)
Cherry Cream Cheese Tarts
Lemon-glazed Pound Cake
Ten tons of chicken strips
Antipasto Platter
Huge Salad
Sour Cream Biscuits (I mean, wow...these are amazing)
Boiled shrimp
Sausage dip and chips
Vegetable Pizza
Pecan Tarts
Deviled Eggs
Sweet Potatoes
Macaroni
Maybe Bacon-Wrapped Tenderloin
Enough alcohol to inebriate a small country
And, of course, a partridge in a pear tree
Think that's enough? Not so sure.


Since we will be at Mom and Dad's, I may not be able to blog for a while. They are still in dial-up land, though I am hoping and praying that's their Christmas present to each other. If so, I'll be up and running. If not, have a merry, hug your kids, kiss your family, and thank the Lord for your life - and for His."h

What's Grosser Than Gross?


Last night Matt and I hired a high school friend to babysit for our kids. We had to go to a work-related event and so we left the kids in her care. Normally, she is a GREAT babysitter and to be fair, this story is nearly entirely my fault.
She texted me close to 7pm asking if she needed to give Lucy a bottle before going to bed. She hasn't babysat for us since Lucy has kicked the nighttime bottle, but I didn't have my cellphone on me. I left it in the car.
I didn't figure it would be a big deal, just fix her a sippy cup and she can drink some milk before going to bed. 
Well, we got home last night and the babysitter had found an old bottle in the depths of my fridge and had given it to Lucy. Now, by old bottle I mean; it could be two months old. The curds were still on the bottle when we got home. 
Doesn't that just make the bile rise up in the back of your throat?
Lucy has shown no ill effects and the babysitter said, "She just took that bottle down!" Thankfully, it was only a four-ounce bottle. 

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

A Taste of Christmas

This video will give you a taste of all the personalities that we are looking forward to during Christmas.


Those Sloan's man, they make 'em with some personality don't they?

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Haircuts


What is it with my kids? I can not get them to look normal.
On Saturday, I decided that Lucy's hair was looking like a mess and so I would trim her up a bit. Everything was going well until Asher decided to jump OFF of the couch right in front of Lucy just as I was putting the final touches on her bangs. The scissors were at a normal place until she flinched and bent her head down right as my scissors were closing on the middle of her bands.

The result?


My daughter looks like Buster Brown.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Momma needs a nap

I found myself today being very cranky. And in front of my dear friend Natalie. With my kids, her child and the Troyer kids. We have a great little trade-off group where two moms watch all of the kids and the third mom gets the morning off to do whatever she wants. I really do look forward to it all week long.

But this morning, I was going off of just a few hours sleep because I had my Bible study with high school girls at 7. Only one girl came and she was 20 minutes late. I was a little frustrated with that. And I just was short on patience when I came back home. Then Lucy and Asher decided that they both needed to poop about every 30 minutes this morning.

Asher doesn't like to go #2 in the potty, so every trip to the bathroom was a fight. And Lucy was uncomfortable and frustrated all morning long. And we had two other one-year olds and a three year-old in the mix. I am not proud of the tone of my voice from this morning. Or how I treated my kids.

Ugh. Not my favorite day.
I hate how I acted.

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Poop


Yep, that's what that is.
And it is how we are feeling about getting the house. Our realtor let us know this morning that someone else has already secured a contract on the house. They are taking back-ups so we are going to sign the contract in the morning. But it doesn't look good.
So disappointing! But hope is not lost until ownership changes hands, so feel free to pray for this. We just want to do what is right and not go down without a fight.

POOP.

Sometimes...


This can be true...

But I have never seen a church be so upfront about it!

(thanks to the Wes McMurray blog for supplying the image!)

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

New House?



Matt and I went to see a house last with our amazing realtor Julie May. She heard about this property that was listed with an agent but was in foreclosure proceedings...so she wanted us to see it since it was going to be very cheap (compared with the rest of the market).
We went to see it and to make a long story short, it seems like a great opportunity for us.
Nothing is set in stone, but we did go to the bank today and they approved us for the financing. Now, we have to get our house in order to sell, make an offer, and hope that it comes through. We won't find out until right before Christmas if we get it or not. since it is in foreclosure, the decision belongs to the judge presiding over the case. But here are some pictures. (Click on the pictures to look at them in full-size)



The exterior is NOT CUTE. But with a new paint color, some shutters and new landscaping, I think it will make a huge difference. It is on over half an acre with huge trees, you can't see them here.

Feel free to pray that we get it. It is WAY in the budget. Also pray that we can sell our house quickly!

Monday, December 10, 2007

I love you tube

I know many of you are thinking, "Leslie, step away from the YouTube." But seriously, ya'll...this makes me laugh.
\

For those of you who want to know...

What I did with my weekend. Click here Not a classy evening, but a swanky one.

Note to self: not everyone is made to drink Cosmos.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

He's Got A Man Cold

If you watch this video, then you will know why I have not added any comment. 'Nuff said.

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Hilarious Post on Consumerist.com

Maybe it is just that I grew up in NY, but I think that this is hilarious:
This Ham is Delicious for Chanukah

This photo, and a few others of similar signs on similar hams, was taken at Balducci's on 8th Ave. at 14th Street, on Sunday, 12/2 by NancyKay Shapiro. She's attributed the signs to the "Department of Monumental Cluelessness, Well-Meaning Division."

Whoops.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Play "Bam" to Clean Up Fast


I saw this post on Parenthacks.com this morning:

"Play BAM! to get the kids to clean up quick (and have fun doing it)
Bill's got the trick for getting kids to clean up their toys:

This hack is aimed mainly at small children, since their toys are designed to take a beating. Also, not for the noise-intolerant. :-)

To get my kids (3 and 5) to put their toys away (typically in some sort of toy box), we play a game I call "Bam!" which involves grabbing everything on the floor and hurling it into the toy box while yelling "BAM!" as loud as you can. They love it, especially if you join in the racket with them. Takes about 30 seconds to completely clean a 12 x 12 room.

You may want to explain to your children that this is for "at home" only, not during playdates, day care, kindergarten, etc, when others may not take this behavior the way it was intended. :-)"

Well we played it tonight and it worked like a charm! Asher was having the time of his life yelling "Bam!" and throwing his toys into our toy basket. I kept saying, "You have to BAM IT!" So then he was saying, "Bam-it!" as he threw his toys into the basket. I just discovered a nice little cover up for if the word, "dammit" sneaks out of his mouth, since that is happening with regularity now.

Anyone have a solution to solve my sweet little son's potty mouth that doesn't involve throwing him off the deck?

Monday, December 3, 2007

Psalm 16:8, 11

"I know that the Lord is always with me.
I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me...

You will show me the way of life,
granting me the joy of your presence
and the pleasures of living with you forever."

I hope that this will bring you the comfort that it has brought to me today.