Family Pictures

This year we had our family pictures taken at Christmas time while the rest of my family was here. We hired Kim Davis (an awesome lady from our stake!) to take the pictures. We were originally supposed to take them in the Purdue student union, but when we showed up to campus we realized that all of the buildings were closed for the holidays. (I blame university president Mitch Daniels and his frugal ways!)

We all kind of freaked out at first, but then decided to forge ahead and get a few shots outside. It was cold, but not nearly as cold as it should have been for December in Indiana. And it had rained pretty much non-stop the day before, so we were really lucky that the storm had passed!

We'd take off our coats, run to get in place, and then try to smile inbetween shivers!

I was really impressed with how well the kids did!

Then we went to a campus store called Von's that sells all sorts of stuff and is something of a local legend, mainly because of this crazy basement full of books. I was a little nervous about how these pictures would look, but I think they turned out great!! And so here are some of my favorites. There's a lot, but I want them all in my next blog book, so sorry. (Not sorry.)

This kid is getting too big.

So's this one.

 

Kind of a weird smile here...

... but totally nailed the cuteness here!

Cole just wouldn't stand normally. He's kinda hunched in his "I'm misbehaving but not enough to really get in trouble, this is my passive-resistance, just call me Ghandi" stance. Dang kid.

This one woulda been cute except I was in the background!

She's still so little! Sometimes I forget that.

My two "little" brothers, Kyle on the left and Kevin on the right.

I luuurve this one!

This one is fun, too. Peek-a-boo!

Decorating

Every year when I take all of the Christmas decorations down my house feels so bare and I just want to redecorate everything. I want all new furniture and paint on the walls and knick knacks and a totally brand new kitchen.

That last part is a lie. I always want a new kitchen.

But the first part is true. I always want several thousand dollars worth of changes but that's just not in the budget, much to my dismay. So I kept most of my decorations down and waited for inspiration to strike. It took a while.

First I found a big mirror for a steal at Target. I put it on the wall between the living room and kitchen, where I used to have some picture frames. (Picture frames that held a total of 20 pictures that were a big pain to change out.)



Then I found this glass dish that we picked up in Utah last summer. It was a wedding present my in-laws received. I had often seen it on the kitchen table or counter full of fruit. No one else wanted it so I took it home. I'm not a huge fan of amber/brown colored glass, so I decided to spray paint it a pretty greenish blue to match my living room.




The dang spray paint can broke halfway through the job, so it still needs a few more coats plus a clear coat. Still, lookin' good!




I put it on my bookshelf and I really like it there. I feel like it needs something in it, but not sure what.



Finally, I scrounged around Goodwill and the Salvation Army and found some vases I like and put them on the mantel.



I painted the blue one to match Joy's dish and the green one was like that and matched perfectly! I was going to put glitter on the glass one but decided silver branches were enough.

So that's the excitement around here. (And I'm okay with that. Who needs drama this time of year?) ((Or any time of year?)) Hopefully this will scratch my decorating itch for a while.

Cleaning Wars

In a fit of dictatorial power I made the kids clean the basement this morning. Based on their reactions I'm waiting for a call from the Hague concerning my war crimes.

Then I took things to another level and told Josh he had to dust and Spencer he had to vacuum. Mutiny was on the horizon but I reigned it in with a reminder of the cookies we had made yesterday. (In my new oven. Woo-hoo!) While not quite appeased, they commenced in their duties.



I was once again reminded of the stark differences in our opinions concerning "clean". I consider something clean if you can no longer see dust or crumbs. It's had a good wipe down or has been gone over with the vacuum a couple of times. If it's been disinfected, all the better.

Spencer and Josh consider things clean if they put any sort of effort into wiping or vacuuming. Minimal effort is the most efficient and thus the most desired.

This has been an ongoing battle for years. I am beginning to think they are literally blind to dirt.

And I suspect this battle will continue for years to come. Until they either move out and have to do all of their cleaning on their own or until they marry women who have the same definition of clean as me. OR... they marry women who have the same definition of clean as they do.

Gross.

Until that time comes I guess I'll keep up the good, neverending fight. (I have never felt more like my mother!)

Tuesday Randomness

The kids finally went back to school today. Why in the world on a Tuesday instead of Monday I'll never know. (This district is all sorts of weird with calendaring.)

I got a hair waver for Christmas and decided to use it this morning. It's tricky to wave your own hair. (At least for me!) I got it all done and it looked decent for 30 minutes until I had to go get Tess from preschool.



One minute in the wind and I was a frizz fest. Obviously there's a learning curve here.

This afternoon I was sitting at my desk when all of a sudden the three hole punch fell of it's own accord and viciously attacked my ankle. It hurt. A LOT. It still hurts a lot, but only when I touch it. So I don't touch it.

Lance left for CES this afternoon. I hope he has lots and lots of fun. I figure this is his equivalent to an epic trip, like mine to DC. Only his is even better because someone else is paying for it. I wonder if he'll walk as much as I did? I gave him a FitBit for Christmas so we'll easily find out!

This evening I took the kids to Wendy's for dinner because my original dinner plans involved baking and my new range doesn't come until Friday.

And I really, really did not want to make dinner.

When I was in DC Lance took them and I guess the kids were just AWFUL. I didn't think of this until we walked in the doors. I only had to tell Cole to behave once, which he did because he knew if he didn't he wouldn't get to play with his friends at piano lessons tonight. (It's a good thing we didn't go to Wendy's on any other night because I wouldn't have had anything to hold over him!) I still consider their decent behavior a victory for mom-kind.

Finally, I got a paper today basically saying that Spencer has to do a science fair project over the next 6 weeks. What the what?! I hate science fair
Blergh. This is doubly unfair because I have a third grader who will be doing one this spring, too. Back to back science fairs seems extra cruel to this mom.

Spencer's Biggest Fan

Spencer passed the sacrament for the first time today. He was nervous and anxious to do it right, but also proud and happy. It made my heart happy to see him up there, looking all spiffy in his new suit and red bow tie. (Bowl ties are cool.)



Then, just as he passed us, Tess whisper/yelled "Spencer! Bring it here! BRING IT HERE!!"

Fits of giggles from her brothers ensued as I tried (and probably failed) to reverently explain that Spencer doesn't get to just go where he wants.



I meant to get a picture of the two right after church, but it just didn't happen. As you can seen I also tried to get a normal picture of the both of them at dinner. This also didn't happen!

Range Thief

As I mentioned in a previous post, my dang oven died on Christmas Eve. CHRISTMAS EVE - when I had tons to bake that night and the next morning and 10 people in the house.

Stupid oven.

We finally had repairman Ed come out and take a look at it. I like repairman Ed. He's so nice and good at his job! We've been through a lot together. (Re: that $&*!! water heater.) And I trust him, which goes a long way in the appliance world. So when Ed told me that what I had was a bad relay and that that relay was no longer made or carried anywhere, I trusted him.

And then I thought "Hmm, guess we have to buy a new range now."

And then I thought "DANG IT, why couldn't it have been my stupid fridge to die instead?"

And then I thought "Because that stupid fridge will outlive us all. I'll probably be buried in it."

So after a little online research last night, this afternoon we rounded up the troops and headed out. Granted, taking all of the kids with us was not something we really wanted to do, but on big purchases like this I like to have Lance along. He's good at noticing things I miss and vice versa.

We found the oven we wanted at Lowe's, but decided to buy it at Best Buy because it was the exact same price and we had some Christmas gift cards from there. So while I waited around to find a (scarce) salesman and buy the range, Lance wandered the store with the kids.

Once I was done we wandered a bit more, which drove Cole nutso because we had told them we were going to McDonald's for dinner (thanks for the gift cards, Santa!) and that kid is crazy for fries. We finally headed out, me playing one-on-one defense with Cole, Lance playing zone with the rest.

Right before we walked through the shoplifting detectors Cole asked, in his loudest Colie voice, "MOMMY! WHY DIDN'T YOU PAY FOR THAT?!?" I knew immediately he was talking about the range - in his 6 year old mind there was no reason I wasn't walking out of the store without it. But those hyper-vigilant employees didn't know what he meant, and they sure let me know it from the death stares they gave me. So while we walked through the security gates I proclaimed "I already paid for it - they're going to deliver it next week!" And hurried out the doors.

And then I thought "This is why some animals eat their young."

And then we commemorated the event with this picture once we got home.

Oh, and we did make it to McDonald's eventually, after a rather disastrous trip to the mall trying to find sneakers Spencer would like. (He's gone from not caring AT ALL to what he wears to being very picky. Oy.)

Doesn't Cole look sneaky in this picture? Punk kid.

He was probably eyeing the fries of the people at the next table. He had already eaten all of his and the rest of what Spencer and Josh couldn't eat.

Fin.

The Madsen Family's Top 10 Events of 2015