Christmas in Britt

Owen on the sledding hill Grandpa made for the boys.

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Lewis took one ride down the hill with Grandpa. He's not very fond of snow.

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Lewis hanging out with Great-Grandma Nelson.

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Carter and Owen had fun at my parents' church Teen Center. There was air hockey, carpetball, ping-pong and pool. Carter is becoming quite the pool shark (his good friend Lucas has a pool table in his basement, so he plays quite a bit.) Here he is getting ready to play with my dad and my brother.
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Owen in his gift fort.

My Brother's Most Recent Project

These are pictures of a volkswagon bug that my brother is painting Paris scenes on for a client in Hawaii. Last year he did one with pictures of classic Hollywood stars for the same client. (If you think these are cool, you should see the nursery for his baby who could arrive anytime now.)

Lewis' New Friends

Lewis may be a little guy, but he has no fear of big dogs. When we are in our backyard, he tries to go visit our next door neighbor's St. Bernard (I think that's the kind of dog it is), and he loves the Labradoodle down the street. This weekend was no different. He went back and forth from my brother's dog Bosley, to my parent's dog Buddy. He would open the gate to Buddy's "room" and just hang out in there with him. He even tried to ride him a couple times. Thankfully, the dogs didn't mind his company too much.

Merry Christmas - A glimpse of our day in pics

"I hope it's a guitar."

That's the cutest frog Carter has ever caught.

Some pointers from daddy.

"I don't know why you bought me those silly puzzles, mom. I am loving this playstation!"

Frigid Temps + Young Boys = Craziness

Thunk...thunk...thunk...thunk...THUD. "That didn't hurt." - This is what I heard the other day as I sat at the dining room table.

"What didn't hurt?" was my response to Carter.

What didn't hurt was a crash landing during a trip down the stairs in the clothes basket. This is what boys do when they have been trapped inside for days on end due to absolutely frigid temperatures. You might wonder what else they do, or maybe you have boys of your own and have a list similar to mine.

1. Remove the mattress off of a bed and use it to jump on, and then lean it on the couch and fling yourself into it at great rates of speed.

2. Make gingerbread cookies. Decorate gingerbread cookies. This is a very nice calm activity until you factor the 19-month-old decorator into the equation.

3. Watch Kung-fu Panda, and then proceed to Kung-Fu each other until both are in tears.

4. Talk your mother into putting up the tent in the living room. Once it's up, fill it to the brim with pillows and couch cushions, and run across the room and flip into it.

By Tuesday morning, my sanity was in serious question, so I did the only thing I could think to do. I took them to The Playground http://www.theplaygroundforkids.com/ in Ankeny where they romped for hours while I chased Lewis and drank coffee with my friend Kerrie, whose sons were also in great need of some energy releasing activity.

The Toddler and His Busy Week

It has been a very long week at the Harms' house for various reasons. I thought I would share a few of Lewis' "accomplishments" that have made the week entertaining/frustrating, depending on which attitude I choose to look at it with.

1. He dumped Owen's apple juice all over the counter, which was full of the boys papers, pencils, markers, etc.

2. He threw away all of his alphabet magnets in the kitchen garbage.

3. He found Corey's razor. Thankfully, I discovered that before he cut himself.

4. When I sat my coffee on the computer desk to run and get my ringing phone, he dumped it out. Thankfully it did not get on the keyboard, but I can still faintly smell hazelnut when I sit to type.

5. He helped me shred chicken for enchiladas and decided to put some in the toaster. I thought I got it all out, but discovered the next morning when I was toasting a pop tart that there was still a little chicken in there. It smelled like my house was burning down.


6. The mother of all Lewis fiascos: Last night he put the puke bowl on his head, twice! It had been dumped and rinsed, but was definitely not clean.

(Owen was the puker. We're waiting patiently for it to hit the rest of the family to complete our week.)

State of Nebraska Citation Rant

While returning home from a lovely Thanksgiving at Corey's folks in Fremont Nebraska (It was lovely except for the puking and diarhea, but we won't go into that), we were pulled over by a police officer. Our curiosity as to why we were pulled over was soon relieved when Officer Lyon told Corey that he failed to use his turning signal while changing lanes. Yes, I know it is a terrible thing to do. They really should pull people over for that more often - a heinous offense!! I can't believe I am married to a guy who would do such a thing.

We waited in the van while the lovely officer went back to his vehicle to write us a ticket. In the meantime, I was just praying Lewis would not wake up in the back seat. I would have been very unhappy with Mr. Lyon if he would have woken up my baby at the beginning of a three hour drive! So, the officer comes back to the van and presents Corey with a ticket for $69, and then proceeds to ask us if we have any illegal substances in the vehicle. I'm so glad we had just put the pot away and had downed the last of the whiskey a mile back. Whew!!! Was this man insane? Did he not see our three children in the backseat? Does anyone ever answer yes to that question anyway? "Why yes, officer, we have a wide variety of illegal substances for you to choose from . And while you are at it, you might as well remove the illegal arms we have loaded in our suitcases in the back."

So anyway, I sat down to pay bills today, and I see that it says in bold type do not send cash through the mail and NO CHECKS ACCEPTED. What options does that leave? So I went to the website, and found that I can pay online with a credit card. That's fine, I thought. I'll just do that. So I typed in all the info and as I clicked the button to pay, I noticed that they charged me a $2.25 convenience fee for paying with a credit card over the website.

It is very convenient for them to offer no other options, and then charge extra money for the one option I have aside from getting $69 in cash and driving to Nebraska to pay in person. If it ever happens again, I think I'll go to the bank and get $69 worth of pennies and drive it on over to the Washington County Courthouse myself.

Carter at Church Christmas Program

Lewis Says Hello

Grace Christmas Program

Here are some pictures from our Christmas program at church. Lewis was adorable up on stage!!

I was so proud of my shy guy for saying his line in front of a crowded room.

Owen was disappointed that he only got to be in a small part of the program and then had to sit with us.

Turkey Cookies

The boys made sugar cookies into turkeys while we were in Fremont at Grandma and Grandpa Harms' house for Thanksgiving. Lewis especially liked Aunt Erica and even climbed on her lap during Thanksgiving dinner.

Cute Quote

We watched Prince Caspian as a family the other night. Carter and Owen sat with Corey and I on the couch, buried under a bunch of blankets with a space heater nearby. Iowa basements are wonderful in the summer and cold in the winter! Lewis watched for about 20 minutes and then decided he had had enough of C.S. Lewis for one night. He started running around, bouncing off of furniture and trying to dive bomb our little tent of blankets. After a considerable amount of time watching this silliness, Owen said, "Dad, when Lewis grows up, he's gonna be a silly daddy like you." It was very cute!

All I Want for Christmas...

...is my two front teeth. Yeah, right. I challenge you to find me a kid who wants teeth for Christmas. They've been falling out left and right around the Harms house, and for those of you who have read my Christmas letter, the lost tooth number is grossly inaccurate. Last night, the tooth fairy had to use a tweezers to dig some cashola out of a glass piggy bank to put under this seven-year-old's pillow.

Five Fat Turkeys

The Lyrics

Five fat turkeys are we

We Slept all night in a tree

When the cook came around, we couldn't be found

And that's why we're here you see!

Owen's "Winter" Concert was tonight. The little girl next to him is the lone girl of playing age in the neighborhood. She doesn't live on our street, (I'm pretty sure there is some kind of unwritten rule against little girls living on our street) but she lives close. Afterwards he said he thought the concert was really short. He was right. At Ballard West, they have three concerts in one night, and more are scheduled for tomorrow. There's a pretty strict schedule of getting people in and out of there.

I Think I'll Call it Christmas

The following is my current column for the local paper. I have gotten the itch to write again, and usually do a column when I feel compelled about a specific thought or topic. Anyway, I had a couple people ask to see it, so here it is.

The first flakes of the year have already fallen from the skies, and stores are filled with enough glitter, lights and music to tempt the senses of even the biggest scrooge.

This over-commercialized, material world we live in flaunts itself best this time of year. With enticing advertisements for toys and diamond jewelry. With super-sales to convince us to buy things we don’t even really want. With awe-inspiring outdoor light displays and about as many variations of artificial Christmas trees as there are flavors of Jelly Bellies. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the lights as much as anyone else. And I have twice succumbed to frantically searching for the one toy that everyone wants, but is impossible to find. But, I get so tired of the focus on the material. And I am saddened by the loss of focus on the spiritual.

To so many, Christmas is a time of buying presents, decorating the tree, eating lots of food and checking things off of a long list of parties, events and family get-togethers. Nothing is wrong with those things in and of themselves. But if that’s all there is to it, I think it’s kind of like having a big birthday bash and not inviting the guest of honor.

I’m not telling anyone they have to celebrate like my family does, but at our house, the guest of honor is not only welcomed, but revered.

As we decorate the evergreen tree, we will be reminded of the everlasting love that God has lavished on us.

When we place the star on the top, we will think about the star that led three wise men to Baby Jesus 2000 years ago.

When I get my decorations out from the basement storage room, I will set aside a manger scene for my boys to arrange on the nightstand in their room, and take that opportunity to remind them that the baby represented there is the reason we celebrate, and that he is the greatest gift of all.

My boys will excitedly try to guess what is in each of their carefully wrapped presents, but they will first choose gifts to be sent to children on the other side of the world through Operation Christmas Child.

They may get a gift or two from “Santa” and will probably watch Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer on TV, but they will always be taught that the jolly old man is not what this holiday is all about.

And when I go the Christmas Eve church service, I will not just be singing Christmas songs; I will be worshiping my Savior. And if I see you and wish you well on December 25th, instead of saying Happy Holiday, I think I’ll call it Christmas.

A New Tradition?

Corey thought it would be fun to let the big boys sleep under the Christmas tree the night we put it up. They, of course, thought that was super-cool. Decorating the tree with the help of the three boys posed a few challenges (especially from Lewis, my "un"helper), but it was pretty precious to see them sleeping by the tree light.

Legos and Dr. Seuss

Tell me these Lego creations don't look like something straight out of a Dr. Seuss book. I can't believe Lewis is old enough to play with Legos.

Watching all three boys play together is great fun. Believe it or not, Owen was amazingly patient with Lewis while building this lego house.

Check this out

One of the Harms' favorite people dedicated a blog to my children. Aww, we feel so loved. Check our Mara's blog - Sincerely - and read a bit about my boys. Mara has been watching them for us for a long time. Once upon a time, she watched them while I volunteered at Birthright, stayed and ate supper with us, and then watched them again while we went to Bible Study. We don't have her in our house as often as we used to, but we get her when we can. (I hope you don't mind I added your blog to my list, Mara.)

The First Snow

Lewis liked being out with the boys, but wasn't too interested in touching the snow.

This gigantic snowball later got thrown at their friends' dad.

"Mom, this is the best day ever of the whole month!" That's what Carter said as he sat and ate "snow ice-cream" after playing out in the wet stuff for most of the day with Owen and the neighbor boys.

The Human Tornado Strikes Again

Lewis has decided to try lowering his cholesteral.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking, and the thing is, I love you" - Harry Burns - When Harry Met Sally

I have decided to use quotes from some great movies to help describe how Corey stole my heart a decade ago.

Rick: Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

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These pictures are the first ones my folks saw of the guy who would later become their son-in-law. This mud fight was one of the first things we ever did together. A muddy construction lot across from the apartment building (where Corey lived 4 doors down from me) seemed the perfect place to get dirty. We had mud in our teeth, our eyelashes, our ears...and believe it or not, the idea came from my roommate Rachel and I, not Corey.

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Harry Burns: Repeat after me. Pepper. Sally Albright: Pepper. Harry Burns: Pepper. Sally Albright: Pepper. Harry Burns: Waiter, there is too much pepper on my paprikash. Sally Albright: Waiter, there is too much pepper on my paprikash. Harry Burns: But I would be proud to partake of your pecan pie

This is just a random movie quote that we still say in our house sometimes. It has nothing to do with the picture, unless you consider that it is a silly quote and we had a silly way of getting to know each other. I convinced Corey that he should be in this drama competition that I was going to be in. I thought it would be a great way to have to hang out with each other. It worked. We spent a lot of time together, and Corey even got his picture in the Iowa State Daily.
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Lucy: Peter once asked me when I fell in love with Jack. And I told him, "It was while you were sleeping."

Technically, I didn't fall in love with Corey while he was sleeping. It was more like, while I could not sleep. I had some major jaw surgery, and this is one of two pictures that I allowed to be taken of me. After this photo, my face swelled like a balloon. OHH, I was not a pretty sight!!! But Corey didn't seem to care and he stayed up with me all night at my parent's house when I was a afraid to fall asleep, because I thought I might die. I had so much trouble breathing that I really did think dying was a possibility. He makes fun of me for it now, but that night, he just listened to me and walked me back and forth through the rooms of the house for hours. How could I not love this guy?
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Buttercup: Westley and I are joined by the bonds of love. And you cannot track that, not with a thousand bloodhounds, and you cannot break it, not with a thousand swords.

One year and two days after our first "official" date, we were married. In two days, it will be ten years ago. Three kids, two apartments, two houses and millions of laughs later, I can honestly say I love him more now than I did then.

You Don't Know What You've Got Til It's Gone

LIQUID GOLD

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Grandma Vickie's tomato juice is on a short list of foods that everyone in our family likes. But something terrible happened last winter. Our supply ran dry. I tried making goulash with store bought tomato juice, and tried making chili with V8, but it never tasted right, and we all lamented the loss of Grandma's tomatoes. Okay, maybe that is a little dramatic, but we love the stuff. Corey says he could drink it straight out of the jar, and Carter and Owen always ask for seconds on goulash and chili if it is made with her tomato juice. Liquid gold it is.

We tried to grow our own tomatoes this year to no avail. I think we got about 10 tomatoes off of our 8 plants. But thanks to my folks fruitful plants, we were able to stuff our freezer full of them, and Grandma and Grandpa came from Fremont this weekend to help us can them. We got 17 quarts and 1 pint, but we're already down to 16 after a wonderful meal of goulash and french bread last night. We'll have to ration the rest out over the next 12 months!!

Bath Time

How could anyone not love this face?!!

Go! Go!

The boys spent a sizeable chunk of time jumping off the cedar chest and onto the futon mattress last night. Lewis would climb up and say "Go Go" and they'd all jump. It was very cute!!

More Peas Please!!

If you look closely at this photo, you will see green blotches in Lewis' hair. He wasn't very interested in eating supper tonight. He even flipped his plate over once, which was lovely. But if we let him down before the rest of us are done he tends to be more troublesome, so he sat, while the rest of us ate. To entertain himself, he decided to pick up his peas one by one and smoosh them in his hair. As you can tell from the picture, he was pretty proud of himself.

Seeking: New Voice

I lost my voice today. I can't make a sound above a whisper. Except for the coughing. That's pretty loud. It is a very strange sort of feeling. I can't remember the last time it happened or if it has ever happened to me before. It is very difficult to scold a toddler in with a voice he can barely hear, and yelling down the cul-de-sac for the boys to come home for supper wasn't happening either. Owen kept asking me why I was whispering, and our little neighbor boy, Logan, looked at me really funny when I started trying to talk to him. Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to sound convincingly stern when Lewis dumps coffee grounds all over the floor -tonight he just looked at me with a "Is that all ya got? I'm not scared of that." look.

Let the Tooth Rotting Begin

Oh my goodness - we have soooo much candy!! The big boys are loving it, and Lewis has figured out that it is very yummy. He stands by the kitchen counter saying "ease, ease, ease" over and over. He has also discovered that some candies are better than others and threw his smarties on the floor this morning. He is a Harms boy - he wanted chocolate!

Trick-Or-Treat

Thanks to Grandma Nelson for making the super-cool costumes!

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Boys in the Hood

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Human Woopie Cushion
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Ninja Warrior

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The Cutest Tootsie Roll ever!!

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Long Sleeves and Changing Leaves

I am not ready for winter. I don't want to dig out my long underwear. I'm not ready for boots and hats and mittens and big bulky coats to be strewn about my entryway. I don't want to freeze my bum off every time I fill up my car or go check the mail. I'm not ready for that. But I sure am enjoying the fall. I love the changing leaves. I love Indian summer days like today, when I can comfortably be outside in a long-sleeved shirt and jeans. I love burning my pumpkin and cinnamon candles. I love the smell of cool fall evenings. And I love watching my boys enjoy the season - thanks to my friend Carol for the picture of the boys and their buddies.

Precious

It's hard to believe this is the same stubborn little boy who threw a fit because we wouldn't give him a piece of fudge. All we asked him to do was say please - one of the few words we know he is fully capable of saying. It took him a 1/2 hour to give in and say please to Corey. I believe this is the beginning of the battle of the wills at our house - and it may be quite the battle.

The Problem with 3 Kids

There are only 2 beaters.

A Trip to the Orchard

The boys and I met some of my college friends at the apple orchard on Friday night. It was fun catching up with them and letting the kids play together. For some reason, I am the one blessed with all boys, though two of the three friends we met each have one son to go with their daughters. My friend, Rachel, and her husband, Eric, recently added super-cute twin girls to their household, making three girls and one boy. I believe the benefit of this for their son, Jairus, is that he, like Corey will grow up very accustomed to girls. Getting married and living with just one girl was a breeze for Corey after growing up with 4 sisters!

The boys had a ball at the orchard. Lewis had an apple in his mouth almost the whole time. And Carter and Owen had fun climbing the trees.

This thing is called a jumping pillow and all the kids had fun on it.