And the winner is...

I'm sure you all thought I was never going to make good on my give-away, but, yes, we did draw a name. And the winner is....Paige. Nicholas got runner up, in case Paige can't fulfill her duties, but I think we'll send him a consolation prize. Paige, leave me a comment with your current address (Yes, I promise not to publish it...as if that many people read my blog anyhow) and I will mail you your winnings.

The real reason for the delay was those dang curtains! I ended up getting the olive bell acanthus fabric for them. I love it, but it has a huge pattern on it...quite a challenge to match up. Now I'm trying to find a complimentary fabric, so it could be years until these dumb curtains are finished! I will definitely put up a picture as soon as they are...ten years from now.

The prize was one of these little purses I've been making from Bend the Rules. I've made six or seven, but now that I've figured out that they're just the right size for a standard set of scriptures, I have to make two more....one for each of my not-so-little-anymore girls.

Our Valentine's Day Party

Since the kids don't get to participate in school Valentine card exchanges, I feel like I have to make a special effort to keep Valentine's from becoming a non-holiday. (I don't want my boys growing up to disappoint their lovely wives every year!) So, I decided to make a nice Valentine's breakfast. Lucky for me, it wasn't especially hard to wake up before all of the Saturday sleepy-heads to wrangle some balloons and stuff. Kids are so easy to please.

Innovation

When I went to iron the other day, I found this makeshift clothes line underneath my ironing board. Sometimes the trails that children leave behind them are insanely messy and annoying, so you have to enjoy the cute ones that give you a glimpse of their innovative personalities.

Peanuuut, Peanut Butter and Jelly

A few times a week, depending on the other craziness going on in our house, we do some fun little preschool activities geared toward James and Jonny. They usually center around some little nursery rhyme or song, which James totally hates. (For some reason both my singing and flute playing really irritate him, and he spends most of the time telling me to be quiet or just yelling at me. The other kids think it's hilarious, since he lets them play their instruments in peace!) The older kids, on the other hand, are only too happy to take a break from real lessons to sing silly songs and do crafts/cooking activities.
Well, the peanut butter and jelly song was a hit with everyone. (I think it almost beat the Hokey Pokey.) The kids all shelled peanuts, while I tallied up how many nuts were in each shell. Then we made some peanut butter in the blender. When the blender failed to get it smooth enough, the kids drug out the mortar and pestle (we aren't really "crunchy" people). You can see Jonny, looking lovingly at the final product (which he refused to try, but was eager to show off).
I hope my kids remember some of the fun things that we do as they look back at their school years, instead of all of the tears over math! We'll see.

This is a the lovely needle case I made for part of Annika's Christmas present.

The first FIVE people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you.This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2- What I create will be just for you.
3- It'll be done this year. (might be a little while)
4- You have no clue what it's going to be.It may be a story. It may be poetry, shoes, bags, or a little invention of my own! I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!
5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange. Believe me... it may blow your mind!

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!

Sounds like fun, right? So, let's play!
WARNING FROM ANNALIA: IF YOU ARE A BOY, IT WILL PROBABLY BE EITHER FOOD OR SOMETHING YOU WILL WANT TO REGIFT. :) SORRY.

And since I'm going to do this, I guess I'd better finish my last give-away first...coming soon!

The only kind of marathon I'm capable of...

We had a very busy day today, but it was all voluntary...and relatively fun (except for the trapped in the car with the kids moments).

By noon, Tony had decided not to go into work after all, that he would rather go to the zoo with us. Our membership has been collecting dust for most of the year, so, with only 3 more months to go, I decided we had better start getting our money's worth! I waddled around the zoo (yes, I'm already well into the waddling stage of my pregnancy) and was very grateful that Tony was there to help me prevent BooBoo from falling into the aquarium, keep Annika from wandering away, and herd children in general. The downside was that Tony clearly had other (undisclosed) plans for the day, because he rushed us out of the zoo without riding the carousel or feeding the goats. (Sometimes I am the sucker parent.) I thought the kids would freak out, but we bribed them with oreos. Surprisingly effective.

After the zoo, Tony's plans revealed themselves. He drove us all of the way to Port Ludlow to take a look at the vacation shack I've been contemplating. Luckily, it was right on the road and not the size of lot I would want (and, honestly, way too long of a commute for my hubby). I'd rather have my dreams crushed by an undesirable property than by the cold, hard fact that we don't have any money saved to purchase a vacation home. Time to start that fund!

On our way home (or so we thought), we replaced my non-functional camera with a new little point-and-shoot Sony. It took us five stores to find one in stock! How sad is that? Don't people want my money? I resisted the urge to buy a nicer camera until 1)I have enough money for it in my bank account and 2)I actually know what I want (instead of randomly purchasing something more expensive). Besides, it's also nice to have a camera small enough to put in a pocket or throw in your purse. Result: my next post should be replete with pictures (in addition to the usual rambling).

Did our evening end there? Of course not, because, by this time, we were all starving and still in Silverdale, about an hour away from home (Tony denies it's that far away, but that will always be my travel-time estimate). Eating out in Port Orchard is so much nicer. Maybe people there are poorer, so there are more free tables? Maybe they all go up to Silverdale to eat out? Whatever the reason, we had about as much luck with the restaurants as we did with the camera shopping. Finally, we settled on Sharies (Woo-hoo! for immediate seating and kids eating free!)

By the time we were finished eating, what do you know? that 9pm showing of Bedtime Stories on the Navy Base (that we thought would be way too late) was about to start. The kids were right. I was wrong. It was the funniest movie I've seen in a long time. Even James was entranced and kept up his 2-year-old commentary, "Gumball..marshmellow...motorcycle."

That was our 11-hour outing. What a marathon. It reminded me of driving cross-country, only the stops were more fun and the kids fought MORE in the car than they do when we move. (Lack of preparedness on my part. No books for entertainment...only siblings to tease.) According to my calculations, now we shouldn't have to leave the house again for at least a month. Aaahh. Home Sweet Home.

Together Again

Amazing. You almost forget how wonderful it is to have your family all together. I think I'm accustomed to having Tony away, but when he comes home, it's easy to see that there was a gaping hole where he should have been the entire time. Everything falls into place. Everyone seems a little more content...secure.

I'm still not sure if we'll be staying in the Submarine force this next time around. Tony says he feels like he's giving up so much in exchange for so little. ..and hey, if my narrative about our trip to Chuck-E-Cheese's makes him feel that way, imagine what else he's been missing out on!
Not to be too random, but while I was thinking about time passing us by as our family grows up, I dug out these pictures of Jonny and Annika pal-ing around three and four years ago. They're still thick as thieves (or, alternately, fighting like a pack of disgruntled thieves). When I think of my children, I think that these will be the sweetest days of my life.
Man. I need some anti-depressants - blogging should not make me cry!