The First Sunny Day

Really. It was FINALLY fantastic outside! We've waited all winter (and all spring that thought it was winter...) to have nice weather. And what did the children do?! They went swimming. In the Rubbermaid tote that the outside toys go in. Even LeGrand got in on the fun.

This IS my Mean Face...

Savannah had a Father/Daughter Activity for Achievement Days last week. The theme was a "Father-Daughter Hoe-Down". They did "Wanted" posters. This is the picture Savannah had on hers. I'm not sure how mean she looks - it just makes me laugh.

Andrew's New Blog...

Check out Andrew's Projects and what he's doing HERE! Please pass this blog address to your friends and family and anyone who might need some custom woodworking done.

He's got some amazing projects here; some that I'd love to keep... but I'd rather let someone else keep them!

I'll keep a link on the sidebar of our blog - please check back often for new things to buy and see.

Look What Crawled Out From Under the Deck!?!?!

Thank goodness it's not Snakes. You can see LeGrand is NOT thrilled about the kittens... at least he wasn't. Now he doesn't want to let them be. My guess is that these Kittens (who all have names now (Shadow, Toes, Socks, Fudge and Victor) are somewhere around 7-8 weeks old. They're starting to eat solid foods, and their Mom is starting to teach them to do other things. Like hunt. And kill mice. They'll be a great generation of mousers. We'll see how long they last - we quit counting the number of cats we've had around here after 20.

CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESE

There's a LOT of cheese going on here. Margaret LOVES the camera, and can't wait for me to take her picture. (Not something I do as often as one would expect...) Caroline... well, I found this cute little hat, and I just love babies in hats. I couldn't resist. (And isn't Caroline getting some cute little fat rolls??!!)

I Only Laugh 'Cause She's Cute.

If she weren't so cute, it wouldn't be funny.

Caroline has a sense of humor. A good one. She decided that barfing down Mom's shirt (completely missed the shirt) was worth smiling over.

What could I do? I smiled back. Even though inside I was cringing.

Good thing baby barf doesn't trigger the sympathy barf that kid barf does.

What I did Last Weekend...

Last Friday, all full of energy, I decided to do a deep clean to my house. Doesn't it look clean? It was an all day event - thankfully, you're spared the "Before" shots. It wasn't pretty before I cleaned. Even the girls got involved dusting the baseboards... until I dusted the fans, and they discovered that the baseboards were filthy again. It was certainly a wake up call for the amount of dust that gathers when one burns two woodstoves in the house. And an event that will certainly happen more than once every other year. Enjoy the tour!

Welcome to the Sun Room. This is the "main" entrance to the house, and certainly the one that is the hardest to keep clean. After the Sun Room, you'll walk through the kitchen into the dining room, which then leads to the living room. (I put up new drapes and changed the furniture... it's a lot brighter now, and feels so much better.) The final picture is our music room - note the new bookshelves in the corner. Andrew built them. (Isn't he WONDERFUL? He's also for hire. If you need new bookshelves or built-ins, or anything built, he's pretty handy with a hammer...) The music room isn't quite finished - it needs a new coat of paint and some sheers in the window, and I'm still working on moving the books to the shelves (I found four unopened boxes of books the other day... I'll need the shelves for them! Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE books???)

I'm just glad to have a clean house... This week's resolution is to keep it that way... After all this cleaning, I went to the temple to clean there. I was reminded that there are still areas of my home that need some attention. You don't get pictures of those... :)

The Elusive Smile

She doesn't like to show her gums... but one of these days, I'll get a picture of her with her ear to ear!

The things boys do...

When Mom's not looking, LeGrand finds all sorts of things to get into. He thinks he's an artist and his FACE is the canvas... Pardon the Boogers. His Chinese writing took precedence over the kleenex.

LeGrand Johnson

Isn't he HANDSOME??? He was first in line for "school" photos, and did such a great job of doing what I asked him to do! The hat he's wearing is from LeGrand Johnson Construction Company... seemed appropriate for him to wear it, considering that he's named after the founder of the company (no, we don't know the man, just thought it was a good solid name...)

As of this posting, LeGrand is 20 months old, and smart as a whip. He gains more words in his vocabulary daily!

Learning to smile

Well - she's getting to be at that stage where she's starting to smile. So far, the smile has been elusive, but we'll get it one of these days! Right now, I think we're getting the pre-smile. It's beautiful.

Look for blessing pictures to come later this week - we're doing them at the same time as school photos on Friday, weather pending.

Must. Hold. Head. Up.

This picture seems to say, "Mom, please hurry and take the picture, this is hard!" Immediately after taking this picture, she put her head back down on the pillow, and didn't look up again. I guess we wore her out...

I never realized how difficult it must be for an infant to hold their head up, but Caroline is doing very well, and Savannah and Margaret most definitely thought it was something funny to see. They were very nearly rolling on the floor in stitches as she started looking up. These were taken this afternoon...

Caroline is now 6.5 weeks old.

Wardrobe provided by Aunt Patience Mastny and her lovely Daughters (and possibly Mateo...)

Baking Bread

Buttering the tops of the finished product...
The UN-Finished product...

I have been putting off making bread for the last six weeks - only because I've been otherwise occupied with Caroline (whom I wouldn't trade for the world, by the way). Today, I decided that it needed to happen, so I enlisted the help of my two best helpers. My other two helpers watched.

After making the dough, I divided it so that the girls could make their own. I did NOT touch their loaves, only showed them how to form them by making my own. Sometimes it's hard to not do something for them, but the looks of joy were unmatched. We'll definitely be doing this again.

Wardrobe protection provided by Grandma Pierce.

More Caroline photos

You asked, we're delivering. LeGrand loves his baby sister.. every time he sees her, he has to point out that she has a nose, eyes, hair, fingers and toes. And he runs to bring her diapers and blankets and everything that I might need. She's the first thing that he wants to see in the morning (even before Mom...). I love it.

Enjoy the photos! The cradle that Caroline is in is a doll cradle. She still fits into it.

Caroline at one month...

At one month is 6 pounds, 1 ounce. She's 20 inches long - a gain of 1.25 inches over the last month. It's a good thing children don't continue to lengthen at that rate - if they did, she'd be a monster! Her weight gain is slow, but sure. Considering the amount of time that I spend feeding the hungry, I'm actually surprised that she's not a butterball yet, but she'll get there!

The dress that she's wearing is a dress made for an American Girl doll. It's the only one that she has that fits her perfectly. (And she's absolutely adorable in it - but I'm biased...)

In the last month, I've re-discovered how to eat with my left hand, learned that LeGrand is a BIG boy (FYI - he tips the scale at 27 lbs, and is 32 inches tall...) and that I don't really like carrying him around... and we've all learned that Caroline is the perfect addition to our family. I already don't remember what life was like before her.

Margaret and LeGrand

These pictures were taken a couple of weeks ago... Margaret was trying to get me to take her picture through the window... it worked! (She saw the camera and immediately went into "cheese" mode...)

This is LeGrand's "NO" face. It's one of the rare moments that he doesn't have his thumb in his mouth...

Baby Update

Caroline had her second well-baby check yesterday. Proof positive that she's eating... she's gained 7 ounces! She's still itty-bitty, but she now weighs 5 lbs, 11 oz. (And her cheeks are plumping up!

LeGrand on the other hand weighs in at 25.5 lbs. He's a tank.

Making Amends...

Caroline had her first "after I was born" visit from the Midwife yesterday. She's healthy and growing! However... we have to amend her birth weight.

Yesterday she tipped the scales at 5 lbs, 4 oz. No, she hasn't lost THAT much weight, after re-weighing her on the fish scale she was originally weighed on, we determined that her birth weight had been off...

SO... here are the stats: On 26 February 2010, sometime between 12:45 and 12:50 AM, Caroline Louise Stahr entered the world. She tipped the scales at a whopping 5 lbs, 10 oz. No wonder she doesn't fit into anything that we have for her! She was still 18.75 inches long, making her the record smallest baby in the Andrew and Linda Stahr family. She fits into Savannah and Margaret's baby crib. And there's still a little room for growth there.

She eats well, sleeps even better, and is expected to start making headway in her poundage shortly! I'll keep everyone posted.

LeGrand dotes on her, and the other children beg to hold her. We're keeping Margaret at bay until her runny nose leaves.

Mother is doing fabulously, and feeling great about how quickly the recovery seems to be going. Don't worry, I'm still taking my daily naps...

Caroline in Color

This is for you, Dad...

A New Sister...

And now... the news you've all been waiting for...

Her Name Is...

Caroline Louise Stahr (Caro-Line)

Caroline, one of the top 100 names of 1890; Louise after Andrew's Great Aunt Louise. We call her Caroline.

And now... since I'm sure many of you are just dying to do this...

Everyone sing along..."Sweet Caroline... Da, da, da... Good times never felt so good..."

Polls are NOW Closed... it's a GIRL!!!

Sorry. Thought you'd all have a little more time to vote than less than 24 hours!

On Friday, 26 February 2010, at 12:45 in the AM, we welcomed a new baby GIRL to our home. She was 6 lbs., 4 oz. and 18.75 inches long. She doesn't fit into anything that we have, so she spent the first 24 hours in nothing but a diaper and blankets, but she's figured out the eating part (MOO...) really well, and will soon fit into the clothes that we have.

Baby was born here at home, and the recovery and time down has been (for me) better than recovery after a hospital birth.

Pictures and a name to follow... as soon as we agree on a name...

If anyone reads this blog...

Please vote on what Gender you think this new baby will be! I'm beginning to think I blog in vain... (The one vote is Margaret's. She's convinced that we're having a Girl...) We welcome other voters... and you don't even have to tell us who you are!

Happy 27th! (Again...)

Yesterday, my Mom turned 27. Again. She's been 27 for a long time, but told me once that she was entitled to pick her own age once she'd hit a certain spot in her life, and she was going to stay 27 forever. "Keeps ya young, you know!" (I stole this picture from my sister, Charity's blog because ALL the pictures I have of my family are on the other computer... Thanks, Charity, for taking such great photos!)

So I thought I'd share some of the memories I have of my Mom.

1. When I went on my mission, I put my Mom's name on my bank account so that she could transfer money without any issues. The lady at the bank asked me how old Mom was, and I told her, "27." The rest of the conversation went something like this. "How old are you?" "21" "And your Mom is 27?!" "That's what she's said my entire life!" "Is she your REAL Mom?" "Yes." "Why don't you have your Mom come in to see us..."

2. One sunny afternoon, I was sitting on the deck waiting for the last few minutes before I had to go babysitting. Mom came out to water her plants, and took that moment to "water" me. The entire pitcher down my back. I should probably admit that I deserved it, since a few weeks earlier we had ambushed Mom at the Farm I worked at and completely soaked her while saying... "Make her grow..." I guess what goes around comes around...

3. Mom taking me to violin lessons, multiple tryouts for the Anchorage Jr. High Honor Orchestra AND Anchorage Youth Symphony (I don't know who was more relieved when I finally made the Youth Symphony - me, for not having to audition any more, or HER for not having to drive me that far any more!), encouraging me to get a JOB when I was in High School, coming to my Volleyball Game - and then encouraging me to NOT stick with a coach who wasn't going to treat me fairly... and teaching me that I am my own person, capable of making choices that are good. And supporting me in them - even the hard ones.

4. My Drivers test. I'm still not sure how Mom knew that I had stopped in the middle of the road and backed up after the light turned yellow because I didn't want to fail my drivers test...

5. Trusting me enough to send me to the hobby shop in Palmer for a can of spray paint three days after I got my driver's license knowing that I would more than likely take the long road home... and then not getting mad when I drove the car off a straight stretch and up a tree. (It's also something that I will NEVER live down, but hey. It could be worse!) I was most humiliated that it happened on a Wednesday night (Mutual Night), and the most popular guy in school happened to see the "A-2 Septic, we're TWICE as good" Truck pulling me out of the ditch. The ENTIRE Mutual program knew that I had "ditched" the car before I even got there. I'll never forget it either.

6. Supporting me through ALL of my trials - "If I asked the Lord to take away my Trials, I'd have to ask Him to take my blessings too."

7. Eating Hamburger Tator Tot Casserole (HTTC) EVERY SINGLE TIME I was asked to make dinner - no matter how many times Dad suggested that they go out for dinner... And then teaching me to make other things so that I could expand my cooking knowledge. Imagine what Andrew's life would be like now if all we ever ate was HTTC?

8. Going to the Temple with me for the first time - and then going to the MTC with me (and, I'm sure, wondering why she was the only one crying...)

9. Teaching me how to disect a grasshopper when I was 7 during her version of Summer School so that I would continue to learn even when not in a formal classroom.

10. All those clothes that she spent hours sewing for me. I never appreciated them as a child; now that I'm hating putting zippers into clothes, I can appreciate that she actually finished all those dresses in time for Christmas. I finished MY Christmas dresses in time for St. Patrick's day... and Mom's actually fit me for longer than 6 weeks (which may be all that Savannah's will fit her!).

11. Finally, letting me learn the hard way that living with Leslie was not the best way to save a friendship. Although we had some good times, ("It's only flat on one side?!" and Spanish Rice?) and made some memories, it was a learning experience I probably should have listened on. Leslie and I would more than likely be better friends now...

And there are a zillion other things that I could put; notwithstanding and nonethe less the fact that she gave birth to me (don't remember it, but I'm grateful anyway), she's been there for me even when I was rotten and I'm sure she didn't WANT to be there... and she's never given up on any of us. I've got a pretty great Mom.

So... Happy Birthday, Mom. Hope the Hamburger, French Fries and Rootbeer Float for $3.00 was worth it! And here's to another 34 of those 27-year old birthdays! (You know... when you've been 27 as long (or longer...) as some of your children have been alive, perhaps it would be o.k. to move to 37... at least then you'd only be 2 years older than me...)

Life's Lessons

At the risk of sounding like the meanest Mom in the World, I have to share some of the lessons that the girls (particularly Savannah) have learned this past month.

Lesson 1. Mom's serious when she says something, and she doesn't play around.

Lesson 2. Cleaning the chicken coop over doing school work isn't as much fun as it sounds.

Now. The stories behind the lessons learned at our house this last month.

For weeks, I've been telling the girls that they need to keep their toys in their locations when they're finished playing with them. The consequence for NOT keeping their toys organized when they're not being played with is that the infamous and somewhat dreaded Gunny Sack comes to eat them. Usually, Gunny doesn't spit them back out, and other children end up with new toys. Not so in this case. After giving the girls the chance to "govern themselves" with some guidance for a week, and then for an entire day, Gunny had reached her starvation point. One Friday, the girls were given the chance to clean their room. In the Stahr home, this means: make your beds, put your dirty clothes in the laundry basket, pick up the Barbies and the Little Pet Shop things (the only two sets of toys in their room), and make sure the books are on the shelf. I've worked with them many times to make sure that they understand this concept. At the end of the aforementioned Friday, I went into their room to see how far they'd come. As a side note, at the beginning of the day, the only things to do were to make their beds and pick up the Barbies. Much to my surprise, (or maybe not too surprising...) Margaret's mattress was OFF the bed, all of their clothes were out of the dressers, the books were all over the floor, ALL of the toys were scattered all over, and it looked like Hurricane Andrew had returned.

Several deep breaths later, I banished the girls from their room and went to work. That lasted for a sum total of 15 minutes before I realized that I was cleaning out of anger and spite, and in that case, Gunny would have not taken toys to Goodwill, but rather to the burn pile, never to be seen again. I calmly walked out of the room, closed the door behind me, and told the girls - calmly, that they were not allowed to clean their room, and that they were not allowed to touch anything in their room, except for their beds.

The following day, I followed through on a promise made weeks earlier that if they couldn't keep their room picked up, the toys were not going to be allowed in their room. Currently, the girls are discovering that swings and books are their friends while their toys are on vacation in the basement - nicely organized into their own little containers. We're going to a "check-out" system for the toys. As soon as I get the cards made up for each drawer or tote. I understand that this isn't a permanent solution to the problem, but it seems to have solved the "I can't function in all this chaos" issue. And they're a lot more appreciative of "play with toys" time.

Lesson 2: Education is important. I've learned this my entire life. Home schooling, while it has its benefits (and I really wouldn't quit for anything at this point, no matter how challenging it may be), also has its challenges. Some are a little harder to solve than others. When I was a teenager, I learned a valuable lesson on the importance of an education. I decided that I didn't want to go to school, and was given a choice: "You can go to school, or you can work around the house." I thought it would be more fun to work around the house. Boy was I ever wrong. It started with scrubbing buckets... with a toothbrush. Then, it went to mopping the kitchen floor... on my hands and knees. (Sometimes I think my parents didn't start believing in mops until I was MUCH older...) And the list went on, until I was more than ready to go back to school the next day. To my Mom's credit, her plan worked. I didn't miss another day of school unless I was truly ill, and COULDN'T get out of bed.

So... I employed the same tactic as Mom did. Only, I'd already DONE all of the inside housework the day before, leaving only the seriously nasty jobs outside to be done.

Savannah has advanced in her math skills to a 3rd grade level. Unfortunately for her, the front of her workbook says, "Appropriate for students in GRADE 4". She thinks I'm trying to get her to skip all of third grade math. She decided yesterday that she would rather NOT do school. Ever. At All. So, I gave her a choice. "You can either do your school work, or you can shovel out the chicken coop." We have 5 hens, and their coop hasn't been cleaned since last summer. I made SURE she was aware of all the ramifications involved in cleaning out the coop, including telling her that it was a dirty, nasty job - and then let her make the choice. I also informed her that once she started the coop, she would be responsible for finishing it.

No matter HOW I feel about Math, I would still choose the math over the poop. Several hours later, after Savannah's choice of shovel and pail (and I mean Sand bucket and toy shovel) were elongating the hours she'd been in the poo..., she decided that it was much more fun to do math. Unfortunately, she also learned at this point in time that I was serious about her finishing a project once she'd started on it.

At 5 PM, I walked to the coop with Savannah to see how far she'd come. She informed me that she'd divided the coop into quarters (see, she was doing math after all...), and that she'd finished one quarter of the poop scoop. She'd done a marvelous job. For someone who had poop up to their knees, she'd done very well moving the poop from one side of the coop to the other.

Mercy took over, and I had her go in the house and get cleaned up - after asking her if she still wanted to not do school. She decided to weigh her options with the NEXT dirty job... and then I informed her that if the FIRST dirty job was to clean out the chicken coop, the SECOND wasn't going to be more fun... Justice still had to be served with the chicken coop - and it still needed to be finished. This morning, I helped her to make sure that it was a lot more manageable for an 8 year old.

Working in the temple has its benefits - at least for this 8 year old. I started to think about how harsh I'd been on her; after all, that's a lot of poop, and she's not any bigger than half the shovel! Working together, we took an hour to finish the cleaning of the coop. I still think that she's going to choose Math over Poop next time...

The lesson - for every action, there is an opposite (although not always equal) reaction... And Mom doesn't back down on the dirty jobs. I think I'd take the bucket scrubbing over chicken coop cleaning any day. And I'll take an education over ANY of that.

Kids say the Darndest Things...

The other day Margaret calmly announced that she was going to the bathroom. Why, I don't know. As she's taking care of business, suddenly I hear, "Mom? Did Jesus have to Poop?"

I was flabbergasted. And of course, I answered, "I'm pretty sure he did...." To which she said, "Why?" My answer? "Because everybody poops."

End of discussion.

Margaret's Big Day... the Big 0-4!

I'll have pictures in a later post, but I wanted to detailize the events of the day... before they are no longer in my memory.

To start the day, Margaret announced about a week and a half before her birthday that for her special birthday dinner she wanted Macaroni and Cheese. The Yellow Kind. From the Box. I had to get special permission from her to make some homestyle macaroni and cheese for the adults who would be in attendance; which she very reluctantly granted. However, we're all grateful that she gave in.

For her birthday dessert, she was insistent on Cherry Pie. When the time came to MAKE the pies, she told me that if I wanted to, I could make an apple pie. So I did. And that's the one that she wanted after all. They were both good. (Not anything like the Shaker Lemon or Lime Pies that I made Andrew for his birthday. Those were inedible.)

I think the highlight of her day was getting a new barbie doll house, and having Macaroni and Cheese. From the Box. While Andrew was putting the homestyle Mac and Cheese into the Skillet to brown, Margaret came into the kitchen, looked at what he was doing, and said (in a very hurt tone of voice), "I thought you said I could have the Yellow kind! From the Box!" I had to quickly show her that I had made her some of her very own dinner, and that the only other people who would eat it were Savannah and LeGrand. I think there were a couple other people who tried the Kraft, but the Bacon Ranch Macaroni was a big hit.

In fact, for all who are interested... Here's the recipe:

Bacon Ranch Macaroni and Cheese

16 oz. Curly Noodles, cooked and drained according to package
directions
1/2 package bacon, cooked until crisp and drained (And Justin, you get to
pick the size of the package... it is, after all, bacon!)
1 c. 2% Milk
1/4 c. butter
1 package Ranch Dressing mix
1 tsp. Garlic Salt
1 tsp. Lemon Pepper
1 tsp. Garlic Pepper
8 oz. Sour Cream
1 c. (4 oz) shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
1 c. (4 oz) shredded Colby Jack Cheese
1/3 c. grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 c. crushed Saltine Crackers

Cook Pasta. Meanwhile, in Dutch oven, combine Milk, butter, Ranch
dressing and seasonings until heated through. Add Montery Jack and Colby
Jack Cheeses; stir until melted. Stir in Bacon Bits and Sour Cream until
well blended. Add noodles with Saltine Crackers, top with Parmesan
Cheese. Serve. This is Tasty! Serves 8; comes together in less
than 1/2 hour. There were no leftovers.

If you want the other kind, just go to the local grocery store and pick up a box of Kraft... follow the directions. Serve to your children while you eat the other kind. It's really worth it!

And I'll get pictures up as soon as they're on the computer.

LeGrand's Christmas

LeGrand got a drill for Christmas. Margaret gave it to him. When we sat down for Breakfast, he came running over with it to fix the floor. He spent a good 15 minutes trying to get everything on the floor just perfect. I think he's tired of stepping over the crack in the floor. Either that, or he knows what needs to happen, and is trying to help Andrew with his project.

I'm inclined to believe this is his favorite present... it makes noise, and he's carried it around with him almost everywhere he goes. He's tried fixing the chairs (unfortunately, not the parts that need fixing), the couch (it's not broken), his bed (also not broken) and I think I caught him trying to unscrew someone's belly button with the drill. Might have been Andrew playing with the drill... They've both had a lot of fun with it. The Onesie he's sporting (LeGrand, not Andrew) is another of his Christmas presents. He has, however, figured out how to take them off without unsnapping them. And he thinks they make handy pockets for whatever he wants to put down his shirt. The other day it was swiss cheese. Last night, it was his pretend cell phone. (Then he was frustrated because he couldn't get the phone out...) He's truly a joy to have in our home.

Christmas Morning...

Christmas morning came without the expected excitement. Margaret was the first one awake, and she chose to come crawl into bed with us rather than go see if Santa was coming. In fact, at 8:30, when we all woke up, the conversation went something like this:

Mom: "Margaret! Did Santa come?"
Margaret: "Yep."
Mom: "How do you know? Did you go see what he brought?"
Margaret: "Nope. But I know he came. He hasn't missed a Christmas yet."

The excitement came when we all went downstairs and the girls saw the presents piled and stacked around the tree. I have discovered that putting different parts of the same present into multiple boxes gives the appearance that Santa is wealthy. The girls were thrilled with their presents - and especially with the dresses that Mom made (that still need zippers and hems before Saturday...) even though Mom fibbed and told them that the dresses were for cousins who are almost the same size as them.

One of Savannah's favorite gifts was the Windstopper Fleece vest and hat that I made for her. She'll be able to wear the vest until she's 30. I know. It fits me. The hat, I'm not sure about... depends on how big her head gets.

Margaret's favorite was her Belle Barbie and her porcelain tea set that she got. She's played with BOTH of them almost non-stop since Christmas. I've even had to take the tea set out of her bed when she was sleeping.

LeGrand... There's a whole separate post on him. Complete with pictures. Let's just say, he's trying to be like his Dad.