Blessing Dress

My dad is visiting for the week.  (He's attending the Purdue 75th Annual Pest Management Conference - excitement!)  His visits are always a good thing, but especially good this week since Lance is out of town and Cole is especially good at running away from me at bedtime, knowing full well that I can't run around and catch him.

Anywho, my dad brought the blessing dress that I wore when I was a baby.  Even though it's vintage 1978, I still think it's a really cute dress!  (Ginger: whenever I hear the word 'vintage' I think of you because I agree with you - it's just another word for 'old'.  But in this case it's okay because it's vintage Maren. :)

(Side note: that's the Irish linen table cloth I bought on my cruise in the background.  What, you don't go to Grand Cayman to buy your Irish linens?  Huh...)

My Mother's mother, Regina Burgoyne, bought this dress for my mom for me.  Apparently my parents were appalled at the exorbitant amount she spent - somewhere around $25-$30.  (Keep in mind that this was 1978 and my parents were dirt poor students.)  This makes me like it even more.

I really like the little pink roses on the material.  I'm not a big fan of the big, white, billowy and satiny gowns that most babies are blessed in.  I don't know... it's just not my style.

There's a little bonnet that goes with it as well.

It's cute, but I think I might try to make a headband with little pink roses on it instead.  I'm not a big fan of bonnets.  (And most babies I know aren't either...)  We'll see.

The dress is just a little yellowed in a few places.  Anyone have any surefire methods of getting it white again?

M-A-D-S-E-N Wall

I'm finally getting around to decorating our basement.  (The plethora of school artwork above Spencer and Josh's desk doesn't really count in my book.)  For Christmas Lance bought me these really neat photos that spell out our last name.  Then last week I found a really great deal on a set of black frames.

Thus the M-A-D-S-E-N wall was born.

I'm considering collecting more black frames and putting those around as well.  Maybe add a black wooden "M" in there somewhere as well.  What do you think?  Would it be too much?

2010 Time Capsule Debut

Every new year I put together a 'time capsule' of all our family photos and videos from the previous year.  I set it to fun music and the boys LURVE watching it.  (When you're the star of the show of course it's fun to watch!)

Tonight we debuted the 2010 capsule for Family Home Evening.  The boys were completely excited.  The fact that we had Muddy Buddies for dessert only sweetened (haha!) the deal.

Cole took his usual spot right in front of the TV, totally absorbed.  (Well, for a few minutes at least.  The boy has an attention span of a chihuahua on Ritalin toddler.)

The boys sacked on the couch - for about 20 minutes.  Then the sugar kicked in and they spent the next hour bouncing off the walls and dancing to the music.

Despite the wildness, a good time was had by all.

His Po-po-po-po-po-ker Face

Spencer tried to get out of going to school today for the first time.

Spencer: Mommy, I feel sick.  I think I should stay home from school.

Me: Oh really.  How do you feel sick?

Spencer: (In a very business-like tone) *cough*cough* I really think I should stay home. *cough*cough*

(In all fairness, we all have colds around here.  But Spencer's definitely not sick enough to stay home from school.)

Me: I think you're probably okay.  Besides, what would you do if you stayed home all day?

Spencer (without missing a beat): I'd play Wii!

Me: Let me see if you have a fever.

Spencer: Yeah!  I have a fever!

(I check him.  He's fine.)

Me: No fever.

Spencer (forcefully): *cough*cough*

Me: I think you're fine.  I think you're just trying to pretend to be sick so you can stay home and play Wii all day.

Spencer: How did you know?!

Me: Mom's just know.  Go get ready for school.

That boy needs to work on his poker face.  To his credit, he is still sweet and innocent enough not to hold a grudge or pout the rest of the morning.  I can only imagine what theatrics the upcoming school years will bring.

Accidental Twins

Josh and Cole were accidentally dressed in matching clothes today.  I thought it was kinda cute, but there was no way they were going to let me take a picture of them together.

Little punks.

These are the closest I got to having them in the same vincinity.

 

 

I like that I got a shot of Cole right before he fell on the floor.  Luckily, he's still pretty roley-poley, so the fall didn't hurt him at all.  (Although I'm pretty roley-poley right now, I'm pretty sure a fall like that would maim me.)

The boys were a bit grouchy today.  I was a bit grouchy today.  We were ALL a bit grouchy today - mainly because we all have these awful colds.  The kind where your nose runs all the time and you're all congested and can't breathe and you just feel gross.  It's pretty fun around here.  Wanna come visit?  We have lots of tissues and accidental twins!

Yummy Peach Dessert

I've been craving peach cobbler since before Christmas, but we always had so many other goodies around the house I couldn't justify making it.  But now the goodies are all gone and I was craving it even more and then I found an old recipe of my mom's last night and took it as a sign.

The recipe is called "Yummy Peach Dessert" in her cookbook, but I think it's also commonly called "Peach Dump Cake".  I think I like "Yummy Peach Dessert" better. :)  I now it's not cobbler, but it's just as good and twice as easy.

First, you dump a big can of peaches, juice and all, into a 9x13 pan. 

How big of a can?  Well, not the smallest can, but certainly not a #10 can.  You know... that big can in the middle. (I'm too lazy to get up and look, okay?)  I like to cut the peaches up a little - it makes them easier to eat.

Then you get out a yellow cake mix.

Side Note: I like Aldi cake mixes.  They're yummy and super cheap.  In fact, I think I prefer them over the big name brands.  I just love Aldi!  I spent $120 there today stocking up on stuff and you wouldn't believe how packed my cart was.  Very, very satisfying.  (Get over your fear, Misty, and try it some time!)

Anywho, sprinkle the cake mix over the peaches.

Now here's the good part: take a stick of butter and cut it into 16 squares.  (Or at least try to.  Apparently I am butter-cutting-impaired. Some of the pieces just would not cut the right way!)

The name of this is Yummy Peach Dessert, not Healthy Peach Dessert.

And now here's the great part: sprinkle about a cup of brown sugar on top.

Oh merciful heavens.

Then bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

Mmmm...  I like to eat it piping hot with a big scoop of vanilla bean ice cream on top.  I would have a picture of this, but my family and I scarfed it down too quickly. 

But trust me.  It was heaven.  Heavenly.  Celestial.  Yum.

Of course that might just be the craving hormones talking.

But I don't think so.

Slow

Not much to blog about lately, mainly because life is moving so slowly.

And that's mainly because I'm moving so slowly. 

Each pregnancy seems to bring it's own set of torturous side effects joys:

• Spencer - really long-lasting morning-noon-and-night sickness.  Truly, compared to my other pregnancies it was the worst.  Which I guess is good since I didn't have any other kiddos around.
• Josh - I would get these really bad stabbing pains in my abdomen if I was on my feet for too long.  My doctor said they were from the scar tissue from my c-section stretching.  I'm pretty sure they were really from Josh stabbing me.  They were awful.
• Cole - I kind of got the stabbing pains but what really got me that time was my aching back and hips.  Oy, they hurt.  The heating pad became my best friend.
• Baby Girl Madsen - And now here we are.  A few weeks ago I realized I was finally all done with my morning-noon-and-night sickness.  (I wasn't throwing up anymore, but I still often felt nauseous for no reason.)  So I had one pretty good week where I felt pretty good.  And then the sciatica kicked it.

Oh man.  It hurts.  If I'm on my feet too long it hurts.  If I sit down for too long it hurts.  If I lie on my left side in bed for too long I can barely get up.  I hobble around like a 97 year old lady. 

Spencer and Josh have both become really good at picking things up for me.  Cole has sensed my weakness and uses it to his advantage whenever possible. (He runs away every time he knows I'm coming to pick him up or to stop him from doing something naughty.)  ((Pesky toddler.))

Ice kinda helps.  Heat kinda helps.  But not really, and not for long.  In fact, the only way to get rid of this symptom?  Having this baby.

Four months isn't really that far away, right?

Oh man... now time is moving slow...