Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful...

Front row - Ian, Owen, Lewis

Back row - Seth, Shaan, Amina, Steven, Garrett, Carter

I don't know how much snow we got in Fremont, but I know it was a lot!! And it was cold and windy. We changed our travel plans and took off several hours early to get there before the bad weather, and we are glad we did. Corey's sister from Arizona surprised everyone by driving up, but her family ended up being stuck an extra day because the interstates were still closed the day they planned to leave. There was plenty of family time at 2235 E 8th Street with 8 adults and 9 children in the house for much of the weekend. Thankfully, I like my in-laws, and I think they like me :)

Carter and Garrett


Ian and Owen

The Lego table. Several kids got Lego sets for Christmas, and they all sat and built them after we opened gifts.

Swimming in Fremont

What a blessing that Corey's sister, Michele, and her husband stayed at a hotel with a very nice pool area. We loaded up the kids on both Friday and Saturday evening to go swimming. Above pictured are 8 of the 9 grandkids.

Pretty sure this was against the rules, but there were no lifeguards and they were having tons of fun. I think Owen was the only one who ended up with a minor injury.

The Wii-nter Wonderland

This Christmas in Fremont will be remembered for the snow and the Wiis. With one Wii in the basement and one in the living room, they provided much entertainment for both the kids and adults. You'll see from these pictures that the kids got pretty creative in the way they played. They found a way to play this "active" game system without being very active at all.

Amina and Lewis playing on the TV in the living room.

. The projector allowed the boys to play it on the big screen.

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If you can project it on the wall, why not the ceiling?

Harms Family Christmas

We opened gifts here in Huxley a day earlier than planned, so we could get to Fremont before it was blasted with another winter storm. Lewis' favorite gift was the $1 gun. He slept with it that night.

Owen's favorite gift was his mp3 player. Though the money I saved by purchasing an off-brand on ebay has not been worth the hassle the thing has been. Getting music onto it is a pain in the behind!

Carter's favorite gift is the wii. It has gotten a lot of use already.

Flipbook Video

Owen received a book that he can make flipbooks out of from Mara for Christmas. Corey decided to make a video out of a couple of them complete with sound effects by the boys. Enjoy!

Lewis in the Christmas Program

This is Lewis in the program at church. It's kind of long, but it's cute.

The Gingerbread House

At first glance it looks like Lewis is working very hard at decorating this gingerbread house. In reality, Grandma did most of the decorating. He's just trying to get that candy pulled off so he can eat it.

Christmas Program 2009

The boys did a great job in their program at church last night. Both grandmas and grandpas came to see them sing and recite their line.

What a difference a a few years makes! This one is from 2006.


Lewis was an adorable little donkey.

The LISTS

Carter's List
1. a soccer ball (one can never have enough)
2. a football helmet
3. ds games

Owen's list
1. a phone (not that he wants to call people, he just thinks they are cool)
2. a camera
3. an mp3 player
4. ds games
5. a Wii
6. a belt (yes, a belt)
7. a punching bag
8. dumbbells.
9. a watch
10. craft stuff
11. a lego set that builds something
12. a bigger bike
13. a football helmet and pads
14. a remote control car

The differences in the personalities of my children crack me up.

First Snow

I am generally tired of snow by mid to late January, but I love the first snow. So do my boys. They weren't too disappointed about getting out of school early today either.

Building a fort in the front yard.

A Boy's Version of "Mothering"

Today Lewis found his black and yellow rubber snake on the floor. He proceeded to wrap it in a blanket and sing it a song. If something can be very cute and a little freaky at the same time, that was definitely it.

The Practice of Contentment

I have decided that the process of selling a house is an extended lesson in the discipline of contentment. When we built this house three years ago, it was to be an "interim" house. Build and sell. That was the plan. Well, we put a for sale by owner sign in the yard last fall with no success, and then listed it in May. I have cleaned and shown my house over and over again. We thought we had it sold, and then we didn't have it sold. Some realtors have said, "It's in the top two or three for so and so." But no more offers. And though I would love to sell, so we could move on and I could stop having people walk through my house at random times and on random days, I have absolutely no control over who will buy my house when. And that's okay. On those days when I'm tempted to be frustrated by the whole process, God has a way of reminding me of my blessings.

"Have I not given you extra time in a home you really enjoy living in?
"Have I not given your boys many extra days of playing in the "forest" in the backyard, and playing kickball on the street?"
"Have you not been able to watch the leaves turn color and fall off the trees one more time?"
"Have you not had the opportunity to learn to trust Me through this process?"
"Have I not always taken care of you?"
"Have you not yet realized that I do not work on your timeline?"

It is so true that God's timing is not like mine. And though I think I would like things to go my way, I know from experience, God's way is better.

I'm sure that someday our house will sell. But in the meantime, we decided we could use a little breather. We've pulled the sign for the winter months. Maybe by the time spring rolls around I will be able to get myself back into continual deep cleaning mode.

The Powdered Sugar Incident

Corey and his dad built new shelves for my pantry. I guess now the powdered sugar is a little too easy for a two-year-old to reach.

A Governor Under Our Roof

He makes a pretty cute Governor William Bradford, don't you think?
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Practicing "Knock Knock" Jokes

Anniversary Number 11

I woke up this morning to two vases full of flowers, and a gift. He got me the first six seasons of The Cosby Show - the best sitcom of all time. Wholesome TV; now that's a novel idea.

Eve of the Eleventh

Cuz when I looked into your eyes
And you dared to stare right back
You should've said "Nice to meet you, I'm your other half"
Relient K

11 things I like about the man I've been married to for 11 years.

1. He is funny. Sometimes even hilarious.
2. He doesn't like make-up so much. Woo-hoo!!
3. We share an intense love of chocolate chip cookie dough. Why bake cookies when the dough is so darn good?
4. He builds things - furniture, wooden "treasure" boxes, new pantry shelves, houses...
5. He has an incredible voice. Pair that with his guitar playing, and it is wonderful. Did you know that he sang at All-State?
6. He thinks I'm beautiful.
7. He lets our boys be boys.
8. Sometimes he makes supper. And I'm not talking mac and cheese. He can make a real meal with a real recipe. And he does it all because he knows I don't like to cook.
9. He is a servant. If there is a need he can help with, he will do it.
10. He doesn't care that I never notice when he gets his haircut. (Owen always notices though.)
11. He loves Jesus.

The Autograph

Corey took Owen to a Skillet concert on Friday. One of opening bands' drummers signed Owen's arm. I looked at it on Saturday and told him that I didn't think that guy knew how to spell, because I couldn't read his name. Owen assured me that they travel all over the world, and he probably wrote it in Japanese. What a hoot!

My Pro Football Players

I guess Lewis didn't catch the drift when I said, "look mean." My Vikings had a wonderful time trick-or-treating in their costumes from Grandma. She made the pants and the pads to go with the jerseys. Now we are all on sugar-highs. I'm sure their teeth are rotting as I speak.

The MotherLoad! I need to train Lewis on which candies to pick though. He chose way too many Mounds and Milky Way. Bring on the Snickers and the Reece's Peanut Butter Cups.

The Drink of Choice

Carving Pumpkins

Most of the work was done by Grandma Nelson, but we now have three lovely Jack-o-lanterns. Owen carved the middle one by himself. Lewis had no interest in posing for a picture. He decided to attack the pumpkin in the background instead.

Annual Dells Trip

We had an awesome time in the Dells as usual! Our condo was the fanciest we've ever stayed in, and it worked out to $55 per family per night! I love ebay. We spent hours at the waterparks, and Grandma and Grandpa dropped some money in the arcade so the boys could go home with a handful of trinkets.

Vacations are tops on my list. I'm already thinking about the next trip!

Everyone had fun in the wave pool, even my brother's baby, Lucas. Corey had fun telling the guard at the top of each waterslide that I like going down backwards. And he asked one of them to hold my end of the raft under the waterfall - and he did!

There were a few "family" raft rides, and this one never had a line, so we went on it a lot. The bummer was the conveyor belt was broken, so Corey and Keith had to carry the big rafts up several flights of stairs. I didn't feel bad for Corey though, I figure it was payback for making me go down all the slides backwards.

Lewis in the Water

Watching the big bucket dump with Grandpa.

Lewis had a ball karate chopping the water. He was really fighting hard.

The Boys

I know I'm slightly biased, but these are four of the cutest kids ever!

The Gigantic Play Place

What could be more fun than blasting foam balls at people in a three story treehouse?

This is what happens when two dads chase four little boys for three days.

A Little Water Fun

Don't let that smiling face fool you. This crazy dad is always up to something.

Overheard

Yesterday, Owen was talking with a friend about his new baby sister. This is what I overheard Owen say. "Just wait until she's 2. She'll mess up all your stuff." Spoken like a true older brother!

Pictures Not for the Faint of Heart

That splinter of wood in the above photo looks very small until you consider that it just spent 2 weeks under Owen's thumbnail!! It was imbedded under the nail, so you couldn't see it from the end of the nail, and it stopped somewhere past his cuticle. Two doctors visits, multiple salt-water soaks. two rounds of antibiotics, and two very painful shots of numbing medications later, his thumb is now splinter free.
I felt so bad for the little guy when we were at the doctor's office yesterday. It was so painful for him, and it took Dr. Testrout a long time to get it out. She had to cut his thumbnail way down as you can see in the above photo, and had to deal with a lot of gunk oozing out. It was pretty gross. Every time she would get a hold of the splinter, a little piece would just break off, so the splinter pictured above, is shorter than what was actually in his thumb.

Owen was so obviously in quite a lot of pain while we were at the doctor, but I am really proud of how he handled himself. And I love our family doctor. She is so good with my kids.

Campfire Without the Camping

A winter coat and no shoes or socks. He would not keep them on.
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One marshmallow in the hand, one in the mouth. Life is good!