Poor Zoe,

Just wanted to share a short video.

Can you guess what Zoe just finished telling the boys before I shot this video.

Zoe has many more years of this ahead of her  :)

Good thing she loves them.

Audrey's Newspaper

Audrey came home yesterday in the goofiest mood.

She was giggly and happy and secretive.

She had a piece of paper and pen. She was hard at work on something, giggling as she wrote.

Then she proudly asked "who wants to read my newspaper" and she handed this to me when I said "me".

I love the minds of children. She's always had a great imagination. Loves writing stories and comics : )  

She's so sweet, when she wants to be. All five kids ran around on a "Wild Goose Chase" all evening, which was a scavenger hunt that her and Zoe created.

Fun evening, sitting back watching them . . . and watching the twins try and keep up.

When she went to bed and told me that I could put her newspaper in my blog, so I did.

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Whole different topic.

I can't seem to keep clothes on these two.

Every time I turn around, they are down to their diapers.

Emmitt undresses himself when he wakes up from his nap, I usually only find out he's awake when he's squawking for help because he has a shirt stuck around his neck. He's actually tried to get redressed and put the shirt on completely upside-down, squeezing his entire upper body through the neck hole and his arms in the sleeves, he couldn't figure out why it wouldn't stay on his shoulders.  : )

He's starting to figure it out. I hear a lot of "I do it", trying to be independent these days.

Here's a couple clips of Emmitt trying to help out Castiel after getting his own pjs on . . . notice that Castiel has no interest in trying, or even helping.

And we have to work on my "Little Monkeys jumping on the bed".

Check out Castiel's forehead : (  Thankfully no doctors were needed this time.

They are definitely acting their age, the dreaded 2 year olds.

Partner's in crime.

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Up early this morning because Zoe made it into 5th grade band. Today's the first morning. She's a little nervous, because she knows she'll be quite a bit behind. This is Zoe, I know that she'll catch up to them in no time, because that's what she does  :)

Have a good day!

The Smurfs Help Me with My Frustration

I have heard Cameron say, "I don't like you. You're not my friend. I'm not going to play with you. I'm going to beat you up."

Then it is quickly followed up by, "I'm just joking, it's opposite day!" He's learned this technique from his sisters . . . ugh.

It is a quick excuse for a sudden streak of anger, or a correction when he says something he knows he shouldn't have.

It usually doesn't work, but he tries to get out of trouble.

It's National Opposite Day today, and it feels like an opposite day today for me.

The last two days have been non-stop crying. Crying about everything. Crying about nothing. I am working on getting the twins to use their words instead of whines. Some days go better than others.

We have a "crying stair" (the bottom stair) and whenever there is crying for no good reason, that's where I send them until they calm down.

The last two days, all three of them have spent more time on the stair then playing.

The house has been tension fulled the last two days and nights.

When I have days like that, the Smurf theme song plays in my head. Seriously, I hum it in my head.

It's been my, about to scream at a child but don't want to, song that I use to calm myself down.

I'm not sure why the Smurfs. Maybe I'm relating to poor Smurfette surrounded by boys all day, imagine the pain . . . I don't have to, I live it 8 hours a day :  )

For two full days, I hummed that tune "la la la-la-la-la la la-la-la la" and I know it's really bad when I start humming it out loud. I find it drowns out the crying and craziness, and it brings my blood pressure down.

And today was definitely "Opposite Day" . . . no crying. Happy boys. Playing boys. Calm boys. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I'm just hoping it continues this way until bedtime. Please. Please. Please.

I could use a few more opposite days this week : )

HAPPY OPPOSITE DAY, LOL! (make sure you use it if needed)

My 40 Week Plan

I wanted to share my plan for thoroughly cleaning my house this year.

I just have to say, that when we moved, we filled up a 26 foot U-Haul one and a half times, had a 16 foot Pack Rat, and a corner of my sister's basement.

I know I can do better than that. My goal is to fit into one 26 foot U-Haul in a year when we move again.

I've seen lots of ideas on the web. I researched and came up with my plan.

I've decided to create a 40 week plan.

If a baby can form in 40 weeks, I can clean my entire home in 40 weeks  : )

I'm not placing any order to the list. Just going to work on whatever I feel like for that week. I'm sure to have a month of the least-desirable left at the end of the year, but that's kind of how it always works out, right?

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40 WEEK PLAN (in no particular order)

Kitchen
1. silverware, cooking utensils, glasses, water bottles, plates & bowls
2. storage containers, pans, pots, appliances, counter tops
3. towels, hot pads, cleaning products, spices, candy, pantry, liquor
4. cookbooks, magnets, decor, baby items, junk drawers

Dining Room
5. Top of curio and drawers
6. Bottom of curio and decor

Family Room
7. movies, cds, games, entertainment center
8. Decor and plants in entire home

Living Room
9. Orange chests, other storage boxes
10. Decor, picture frames

Closets
11. jackets, winter gear, shoes, umbrellas, all bills and paperwork

Master Bedroom
12. kc-shoes, tshirts, polos, dress clothes
13. kc-boxers, pjs, socks, jeans, shorts, bike clothes
14. mel-shoes, pants, top drawer, perfumes, bags & purses
15. mel-summer, sweater, dress clothes, pjs, bureau, jewelry

Master Bath
16. kc stuff, toiletries, cleaning supplies
17. mel stuff, decor, product

Bathrooms
18. towels, toiletries, beach items
19. hair ties, decor, bath toys, extra bedding

Laundry Room
20. cleaning supplies

Zoe's
21. hanging clothes, dresser clothes, shoes
22. decor, bedding, furniture, treasure box

Audrey's

23. hanging clothes, dresser clothes, shoes

24. decor, bedding, furniture, treasure box

Cameron's

25. hanging clothes, dresser clothes, shoes

26. decor, bedding, furniture, treasure box

Emmitt and Castiel's

27. hanging clothes, dresser clothes, shoes

28. decor, bedding, furniture, treasure box

Garage

28. garden tools, seeds, pots, chairs, camping gear

29. bikes and parts, outdoor toys, balls, tools

Toy Basement

30. boardgames, puzzles, books, art supplies

31. toys, stuffed animals, storage units

Basement

32. computers, books, extra furniture

33. Christmas holiday

34. All other holidays

35. KC and my memory boxes

36. Zoe's school papers 

37. Audrey's school papers

38. Cameron's school papers

Art Supplies

39 + 40 (and this is what I will be working on throughout the year too)

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I am serious about going through every single thing.

I will ask myself (or whoever the item applies to) - - -Do I love this item? Do I really use this item? Can I live without this item? Do I really need this to form a memory or will a photograph work?

Everything will be given a home or packed away neatly and labeled.

If it makes the veto list I will decide if it's worth selling or if I should donate it. If I go about this right, it should be fun. And a relief! Gotta start somewhere . . .

I'll be starting this next week. I just had the Rat Pack dropped off and a hundred more boxes placed into the house. I'm working on getting all that going in the right direction this week.

I'll try and show the before and after of the week's accomplishments.

Time to C-L-E-A-N house!!!

I will also be making a Christmas list. I know, a little weird . . . . . but I always have a hard time coming up with anything, and I'll really have a clear picture of what's needed, when all the extras are gone  : )

Cleaning Out the House THIS Year, because I'm Not Moving All This STUFF Again!

I believe that if the producers of "Hoarders" showed up at my door, they would start filming and the 1-800-GOT-JUNK trucks would pull into my driveway.

Okay, I might not be that bad, but I could definitely be put on the watch list.

I know that I save too much stuff. The artist in me can see the potential in too many things. I can make a list of what I'm prone to collect and store away, but the list is too long and ridiculous.

It's not like I am ambivalent. I am well aware. But like the hoarders I see on t.v., these things make me happy.

The move has helped me realize the amount of "stuff" we actually have, and I actually have. When you're forced to place everything into boxes, it opens your eyes to what you actually have. It can't be pushed in the back of a cabinet, stuffed into a corner or slipped into the attic.

I apologize to everyone that helped us move. Too much stuff, I know. And I knew during the move, but I was too overwhelmed to think and make decisions.

I have always had the excuse of an infant that I wasn't able to complete the projects that I wanted and go through everything. It was a very valid excuse, but the excuse has grown up.

It's time to create or recycle.  To use or trash. To sell or to donate.

This is a year of simplifying our life.

I always envy the people that have a more minimalist style. I imagine how much easier that must make their lives. I think about what it would be like to have a place for everything we own.

Maybe someday.

The abundance of "stuff" in my house ranges from baby items to bike items to craft items to 5 children's childhood memories and school projects to too many bill files to crates of shoes to vhs/cds/dvds to knick knacks to hundreds of frames to memories of my and KC's childhood  . . . all that I plan to go through this year thoroughly.

I am planning to use Craig's list for the big items, eBay for the shippable items, Goodwill for donations, garage sales in the Spring and Etsy for the creations that I am able to make from my piles of supplies.

I want to go slow and steady. I don't want to get overwhelmed and stop.

I'm going to see how many days in a row I can go this year listing at least one thing on Craig's List, eBay and Etsy.

Day One is complete. Feels good to get started. It'll feel even better when the year is over.

I can do this  :)  It'll make the next move SO much easier.

Snowman Shuffle

Today was the Snowman Shuffle, a winter dance at school for the girls. (I don't know how, but I forgot to take pictures, shoot!)

Audrey is still at an easy age. She let me help pick out her outfit, pick out funky socks and boots and put some curls in her hair. Simple, no fuss . . . pre-pre teen.

Zoe is anything but that.

I am beginning to notice just how much Zoe is growing up.

I think that she is changing faster right now, because she is trying to find her place in a new group of friends. I know that she's at a much more difficult age than Audrey.

I have been unpacking boxes of clothing and having the girls try on the majority of it. They've been deciding what is going in their closets, what is too small and what is still too big.

There is suddenly another category that I didn't expect. The pile of clothes that Zoe decided she won't wear.

This is a new thing to me, because she is my garage saler, my deal shopper. Well, she was. Now she's looking at the tags.

Within the last few weeks, I've noticed that I no longer know what she likes.

I am learning a new set of rules. I have been asking Zoe "is this cool?" lately. And this is a new "cool" that I thought I knew, but have been told that I don't.

Cute is for kids. I'm learning not to use the word when referring to her.
Embroidered jeans are only acceptable if they are peace signs, not hearts or flowers.
Neon is the coolest. The brighter the better.
Hair must cover half the face. Which I know I did as a pre-teen, and I now hate it as much as I know my mother did.
Big hair accessories are a must. Bigger the better.

This is only the beginning . . . I know. I'm trying to keep up.

She started getting ready this morning. Took a shower, laid out her outfit, hair accessories, matching nail polish and then proceeded to practice hair styles all afternoon. Before dinnertime she came to me with her DSI in hand. She had taken a series of pictures of ways she was thinking of doing her hair.

This is not my Zoe . . . but it is.

I pointed out my favorite picture, which she agreed on  :) Shocked me that I got that right.

I'm not sure how much I like her growing up. But like all mothers, I don't think I have a choice . . .

But she's not so pre-teen that I can't get her to act like my little girl some of the time : )

One on One

Today is "Ditch New Year's Resolution Day" . . . . . wow, that doesn't put much faith in people's comment to make changes in their lives.

So, if you've had enough, I guess today is the day to stop  :)

But I'm choosing to continue on . . . . .

I've had a very busy few days.

First off, Cameron was assessed for speech. He has difficulty with some of his consonants and double consonants. Some people told me that he'd get it eventually, not to worry. While others told me that he was hard to understand and I should get him checked out before kindergarten.

He was accepted into the program one day a week to work with a speech therapist. The reason was because he changes his "K" and "P" into "T", almost always. I guess that's a hard one to fix. (No wonder the kid has a hard time saying "cupcake") There are more speech related issues that they'll be working on with him, but I was told that that was their main concern.

Because he did so well with the teachers, I told him he could pick something out, we were stopping for a few errands anyways. It was a very cold day, so right away he told me he wanted hot chocolate. So we stopped at the Dunkin Donuts on the way in . . . and of course, he picked out a sprinkled donut too  :)

I forgot how much fun one-on-one time with Cameron is.

Cameron and I used to go everywhere together. Usually alone with the girls in school and KC at work. The twins have really changed his world, along with mine.

We walked around the store with him chatting about everything he saw. We wandered the food, the toys and the Valentine's Day aisles, with him trying to talk me into buying him a 5 foot teddy bear with no success. I wandered Walmart much longer than usual, but it was the most enjoyable trip I've had in a long time.

I have to remember how important one-on-one time is with my children. For both them and me.

I had a similar experience with Emmitt to Urgent Care on New Year's Eve. It shouldn't have been fun in anyway, but oddly, it was. He charmed all the doctors and nurses and other patients. He didn't have to compete for my attention and even though he was in pain, he was happy to be the center of attention.

I need to make time for them all to be themselves around me . . . after all, they are all individuals. They don't always have to be marked to Speich clan  :)

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We had our first real snow!

The twins watched from the patio window in amazement. I worked on teaching them the word "snow", which they both thought I said "nose", so they kept pointing to their noses. I acted out rain falling from the sky with my fingers and said "snow" again.

So now Emmitt points outside, points to his nose and does the rainy fingers to talk about the snow.

Twins always are asking "touch?" because they want to get their hands on it. I've given them a handful a couple times now, which they love.

Cameron was the first to play in it with Daddy.

It was FREEZING out, but he didn't care. I had ramen noodles waiting for him when he came in.

This weekend the older 3 all went out for over an hour.

I called them in a couple times, but they needed to finish their snowman. His name was "Bobbie" and he was only about 3 feet tall, because the snow was not cooperating. They found some wet snow at the edges of the yard that they were able to make into a ball. At one point, I thought they were coming in, but they were only asking for a hat, scarf and mittens to finish him off.

I didn't get a picture, and he has already toppled over  :(

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I made myself a project this week too.

Have you heard of "upcycled clothing"?

I decided to give it a try. KC and I had a Christmas Costume Party to go to and we chose to go as Jack and Sally from "The Nightmare Before Christmas".

Sally's outfit is a patchwork of a bunch of materials, so I decided to get out the sewing machine and make it. I went to Goodwill and came home with one shirt and skirt that would fit me, the rest were just picked because of color.

I just started cutting and sewing . . . this is what we ended up looking like  :)

The party was a lot of fun! Thanks John and Risa for getting us out of the house for a night. That's another thing that we need to get better at . . . Date Night! There is always so much going on, but we need to make time for ourselves too.

And thanks to Grandpa and Grandma for watching 6 of the grandchildren! (The one in pink isn't mine, it's my niece, Ella)

That picture makes me a little sad.

As you can see, we were all ready for the Packer Game. What a bummer . . . can't win it every year.

Sad the season's over. We couldn't even watch the end, so we switch over and watched Wisconsin beat Nebraska . . . 

I also wanted to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!! LOVE YOU  : )

A Place to Play

My boys have been playing amongst boxes for a few weeks now.

I designated an area in the basement that would eventually become the playroom and purchased a carpet remnant at Home Depot for a great deal.

This is what our basement looked liked this morning.

A couple of hours later . . . . .

It proved itself worth the effort when the girls got home from school and five minutes later the boys all woke up. I sent them downstairs to check it out . . . and then had to call them up for dinner at 5:30  :)

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After dinner, Zoe had planned to make dessert for tomorrow. She announced that all the ingredients were in the kitchen, so I okayed it without many questions. She wanted to do it all herself, which I love. I love that she's found something she enjoys.

So she's in the kitchen, and I realize she's at the stove melting chocolate, I ask if she needs any help . . "nope". She had 4 mixing bowls with different portions of the recipe, I asked again . . . "nope". Then she's scraping it all together into a pan and asking if a butter knife would work for a "round tipped knife", I asked again if everything was okay, need me . . . "nope".

Then she proudly showed me the pattern she did to create a marble pattern.

That's when I noticed the magazine on the table! GL, a girlie teen magazine, that she received from Aunt Tracy & Uncle Mike for Christmas. Yes, my Zoe found a recipe in it  :)  She is definitely one in a million.

I remember getting teenie bopper magazines at her age, and I can honestly say that I never noticed any recipes in them.

I'll have to let you know how it turned out. It's basically a frozen cheesecake  :)

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One more thing.

This has started happening this week.

It may mean nothing to you, but it adds more stress to my day.

The boys are now drinking from "big boy" cups, which means that the chance of a cup spilling has nearly doubled.

Castiel has proven himself better at the cup. Emmitt still is trying to put his whole mouth in the cup, but we've seen big improvement in the last couple days. First meal I calmly wiped milk off the floor three times . . . but tonight we had zero spills :)

Dealing with so many changes with the twins . . . they are happy to take on the new challenges :)

A Meal with No Fuss

Sometimes simple is better.

Especially when mommy has a headache. I think I have a head cold.

It's on days like these I realize that the volume of our home is . . . loud.

Dinner is usually the noisiest time of the day. I think it's a combination of the girls coming home from school and the boys waking up from their naps.

All that energy colliding at the same time is deafening.

So because of the headache, today was a good day for a meal that I knew everyone would eat without a fuss.

PINTEREST #4 hot dogs poked with spaghetti noodles & macaroni and cheese on the side.

I know the noodles are redundant but my kids don't understand hot dogs without macaroni and cheese. And the spaghetti noodles in the hot dogs, well that's just fun.

Dinner went as planned. No fuss, happy kids, full stomachs :)

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Other big news of the house. I am attempting to potty train Emmitt.

For a couple days, I was trying to potty train both twins. Then realized they both want to go at the same time and I don't have two toilets close enough together in my house for that. I think potty seats are icky, so I don't use them.

Emmitt shows much more interest in the toilet. He is starting to tell me that he wants to go.

I have a jar of jelly beans on top of the refrigerator. I call them pee-pee candy.

I know gross right? but I've done this three times before and candy works the best. Especially to a 2 year-old that doesn't get candy very often.

We had three successful trips to the potty today. One of the times I wasn't paying attention fully, and he made a "pissss, pissss" noise that I quickly understood what he needed to do.

My favorite part is when he's sitting on the toilet and he yells "I peeped, I peeped!"

My goal is to have the house diaper free by the end of April.

A Little Bit of Grandma Audrey in My Audrey :)

A new house for me means a lot of painting and shopping for new decor.

This time it's different for me. Since we are renting, I'm living with the sponge-painted walls, the flower tiles, the green counter tops, the vinyl flooring and (worst of all) the shiny gold light fixtures.

The last time we bought a house, I painted nearly every wall and ceiling in the house before we started moving our things in. (with LOTS of family help)

I'm feeling bad for my girls. They had their hearts set on neon walls.

In no way was I going to let them paint the entire room neon, but I thought that an accent wall could be fun.

Since painting isn't happening this time around, a project was in order to put some fun on their walls.

Today during the boys nap time, I started a Pinterest project with the girls :)

PINTEREST #2. Paint swatch hearts strung on their wall.

I'm most proud of the fact that they stuck with it and finished the entire project this afternoon. Even though by the end of the project, they had both poked their fingers with needles and band aids were needed.

They both made 3 strands. All on their own. All I had to do was teach and hang.

When we were hanging Audrey's side of the room, I noticed that she had only one heart hung upside-down. It was already on the wall and she looked disappointed.

I remembered something that I believe I heard from Aunt Bobbie, "Only God creates perfection." (It may have not been exactly that, but something close.) It was something that Great-Grandma Audrey used to say. She was an artist and crafter that always created with at least one imperfection.

I told Audrey that story and she smiled and looked at her upside down heart in a whole new way.

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PINTEREST #3. I also made a meal from Pinterest. I made a Cheesy Chicken and Rice Bake. I didn't have a plan, so I typed "chicken" into Pinterest, and this recipe popped up on my screen that I knew my family would like and I had the ingredients in my kitchen.

Note to self: Pre-cook the chicken in taco seasoning next time.

And best of all, the leftovers can be used for breakfast burritos  :)

My Pinterest Love Affair

I have a completely addictive personality.

So when I was told about Pinterest, I logged in and within two weeks I repinned over 700 things. I have a few original pins of my own.

I know, I'm sick.

So if you are unfamiliar with Pinterest, it's a site that is full of crafts, food, desserts, home decor, organizing ideas, hairstyles, and all things good.

It's the perfect website for mothers like me who love doing crafty projects and serving fun meals to their family and creating beautiful desserts to show off at parties ... but we just don't have the time to come up with the ideas.

So this year I am going to be using the website to try and have more fun with my year. While also getting organized and becoming a better cook.

Tonight was our first attempt. We made a homemade calzone. We made our's slightly different, because we had pizza last night.

So we made a calzone with barbecue turkey and mozzarella, with the dough made from scratch.

My helpful assistant for the night was so excited about how dinner would turn out.

I've heard from a couple people that there are Pinterest groups being set up and challenges out there on the Internet.

I will be posting my Pinterest accomplishments throughout the year. Don't know how many I'll end up actually doing but I'll number them as I go along, I plan on doing lots and lots!

PINTEREST #1. Calzone - - - here's a link to the pin.

Two weeks ago, the thought of making a calzone had never crossed my mind. Since seeing it on Pinterest, I've thought of nothing else :)

I need to practice making pizza dough. It didn't rise like I thought it should. We also cooked it on the wax paper, which we ended up having to peel of the bottom of our meal.

So, it wasn't perfect, but it was delicious. It's definitely something I'll make again . . . I've just learned a few things this time around.

So if you're not a member of Pinterest, check it out you might find something that you find of interest.

Can a Night Owl Become a Morning Person?

Zoe needs to catch the middle school bus for band practice two days a week. It forces mommy or daddy to wake her up at 6:00 in the morning.

KC and I usually take turns at this task. We've actually played rock paper scissors to see who has to roll out of bed first.

I was a night owl all through college. I'd pull all nighters on a weekly basis.

When KC and I were first married, KC worked 10am - 7pm, so it was late dinner, late night, late morning.

Now, with a house full of children, we have learned to enjoy quiet evenings together. Either catching up on things that we didn't accomplish during the day, or watching our favorite TV shows. Sometimes both at the same time.

It's always been normal for us to be a late night family. It's been our normal.

But with school getting earlier, and 2 year-old twins moving into big boy beds, and a workout schedule I'd like to try to accomplish ..... maybe I should be thinking about getting to bed early, so I can start my mornings more cheery :)

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Today I realized that I got tons done.

I do accomplish a lot on the mornings I am forced out of bed. I feel like I accomplish more throughout the day then usual

Maybe this will help me in my "DO"ing goals.

So I'm going to see if in 2012 I can turn into a morning person ...... the early bird catches the worm, right?!?

A good dose of coffee will help with my cheeriness, while I adjust.  :)

- - - This news will make KC's year, but my hope is that he may choose to convert too, even if it's a couple days a week  :)  - - -

I'm sooo proud of my girls. They are adjusting to moving again wonderfully and being so helpful unpacking & helping entertain the boys while I try to put our home together. Thank you Girls  :)

A New Year Full of So Many Possibilities . . .

"We spend our lives dreaming of the future, not realizing that a little of it slips away every day." - Barbara Johnson


I'm a dreamer. Always have been. Head in the clouds.

I dream of the things I want to do, dream of great ideas, dream of goals, dream of the life I want to live.

Many of them stay just that, dreams.
Either written in a notebook or forgotten as fast as I think of them.

This is the year that I jump into reality . . . and place my feet firmly on the ground.


My New's Year's Resolution this year is to . . . DO

"DO" what I want.
"DO" the great ideas.
"DO" the goals I make for myself.

and most importantly . . . "DO" the life that I want to be living.


Well, I guess, within reason . . . . . "DO"ing with five kids to account for, and that's not an excuse . . . . . it'll just add more "DO"s to my list  :)