Winter

When I drove Zeke to school today it said it was 24 degrees out!! I wish it was supposed to rain this week instead of next week! We would actually have snow and it might stay on the ground for longer than a day! Zeke keeps asking every morning is there snow yet??? Dan always says I couldn't handle the snowy really cold weather and I think he is right, but when the weather is like this I really love it! I love bundling the kids up and having an excuse to walk around my house in my warm cozy robe all day. I love seeing them play all morning in their footie jammies and building forts with cozy blankets. I think it has to do with the season as well, having Christmas music on and making gingerbread houses, cutting down our tree, the anticipation of the advent calendar! Sofia and Moses have been playing with our manger scene daily, I heard Sofia tell Moses, "mo mo dis Baby Hesus"! I love it! Zeke has enough enthusiasm for the whole family. Two weeks before Thanksgiving he was asking when we could decorate the house, put the lights up! Even after we were done he kept asking what else can we decorate now! So much excitement and joy! It is hard not to get excited as well! I love the traditions I get to start with my family. My mom every year would bake a birthday cake for Jesus, it is a beautiful red cake. She still makes it every year. I can't wait for the kids to recognize our traditions and hold them dear as well.

Radio

I have had the same 5 c.d.'s in my car for the past year, not exaggerating here. So lately I have been really bored with my music selection, and I always forget to grab new c.d.'s or grab my ipod. So yesterday I thought, well I have lived here for 2 years now maybe I should set some stations on my car radio. I dislike the radio very much, there is never a station that plays good music consistently, so I don't turn it on unless it is am talk radio. So as I was cruising along doing my radio search I came upon 94.7 Power fm (enough said right). But surprisingly that is the one I am listening to. What is happening to me!! But as I searched around all I could find was Christian stations, (not that this is bad, its just not what I want to jam to in the car) or classic rock. Now I must admit it made my preset stations only because they were playing Def Leppard and it took me back to Jr. High when my sister got the cassette tape and we rocked out to Pour some sugar on me after school! But next thing I know they were playing Nickelback or some other band I just can't handle. So I keep switching back and forth between serious hair band guitar solos and Jay Z. And let's face it Jay Z makes a ride in the car much more enjoyable! So until a station gets it together and can play a good mix of U2, Jimmy Eat World, Coldplay, Get up kids etc., well then I guess me and Rihanna are gonna be friends!

Lances lately

Life lately. I think I have titled one of my other blogs this same title. Probably because I always have to do some catching up, I never have time to stay consistent on what is happening!
Updates:
The Lances have been busy! Mainly Dan, he is living and breathing the Stirring building right now. Literally he is always thinking, praying, talking it. It is life right now, and he is doing such an amazing job! It is such a huge undertaking and so much responsibility. So it is a crazy season for him but he loves it and he is really good at all the details and planning.
I just turned 32 last week. I can't believe I am in my 30's, it is funny how I still think of myself in my 20's, I just saw a picture of myself on a cruise about 3 years ago and I am pretty sure I have aged 10 years in these last 3! But I am ok with it. I think. I did a make over on the kids room, as you can see from the before pictures Zeke had peeled most of the paint off the walls!! It was so much work, I had to sand it all, putty, primer then paint it! Yikes but it is a nice calm yellow now.
The kids are doing awesome! Zeke is reading so well now and he is really working hard at school. There have been some hurdles but he is jumping them and we are growing from all our new experiences! He is all about drawing right, we have about 30 pictures up in our house of our family under a fan standing together, there s always a fire pit as well, it is really sweet.
Sofia is in the midst of speech therapy that has been awesome for her. She loves it each week when the speech therapist comes with all her cool toys and books. Although last week she accidentally forgot to go pee and the speech therapists lap got a surprise. It was a bummer, but it didn't really phase Sofia! She is such a little sweetheart, giving hugs and love to those who love her. She loves to wrestle with her brothers and loves to dress up!
Moses, where to begin, I love this age, it is so fun! He just walks around the house following whoever is closest and repeating literally everything anyone says! Our favorite is NO! and MINE! He learned those very quickly from the kids. He likes to dress up with Sofia and pretend to leave saying buy bye ma, and buy bye dada. He likes to wear backpacks and hats around the house. Last night all the kids were playing together wrestling and chasing each other, such a fun time right now. The kids definitely make me tired, all day we are going and someone needs something, but it is good.
Halloween the kids had a blast we went to our friends the Flecks house and a bunch of us walked around the neighborhood and had dinner together. I was feeling pretty old by the end of the night walking in heels! We were talked into dressing up as well, which was actually pretty fun! Dan was a redneck and I was his "stylish"(not so much) wife. Zeke loved that we dressed up also, he kept wanting us to keep our wigs on the day after!
Well that has been life with the Lances lately!

late vacation pictures

I always said I was going to put up more pictures and talk about our trip to Indiana and time has passed me by!
I was going to comment on each pic but it is not letting me! The one with Sofia on the ground is her washing herself with the bubbles, it was cute watching her give herself a bath on the side walk during the family reunion!
So I will do a quick summary of our trip:
The kids and I went for 2 weeks with my parents and my sister and bro in law and nephews to Indiana. Dan joined us there after a week.
The main purpose of our trip was to spend time with family. I was born in Indiana and besides my parents and sister/brother-in-law, all of our family lives in Indiana and Michigan. So while there we had 2 family reunions, it was a blast.
Most of the family had never met Sofia or Moses so it was so fun to get everyone together and just be with one another!
My parents rented a lake house that was beautiful and we all stayed there together with my grandparents. We were blessed by family that loaned us a boat and sea dos. Or as my Aunt says Skidoos!
ANyway we spent the time out on the boat and playing cards and eating really good fresh corn and green beans and other yummy foods that make me feel at home.
I miss my family and I was so thankful for the time we got to spend together.
All of my cousins went out to dinner one night while our parents watched all of our kids, it was so fun, I grew up without them close by so when we get together it is a really sweet reminder of the times we spent as kids.
I spent a lot of sweet time with my grandma as well, talking about Jesus, raising kids, and growing gardens. I am so grateful for the legacy my grandparents and parents have left for us, they are amazing people!

the kids

I really need to put pics up of our vacation but every time I look at them it just overwhelms me! I took a lot of pictures and I like to work on them a little before I post them and so I just keep putting it off!
Anyway here are some of the kids looking cute, in my opinion!

Life Lately

I have to be in honest in saying that lately I am just trying to survive! My days consist of cleaning up everyone elses booty butts (as Zeke likes to call it)!
We are in the midst of potty training Sofia right now and I am not gonna lie, it has been terrible.
We are at the end of week two of cold turkey potty training her. There has been a lot of pee on the floor, daily.
We tried here and there over the past 6 months and I never felt like she was really ready. But 2 weeks ago I was tired of 2 kids in diapers and the cost of diapers! So we went for it. Lets just say I have been elbow deep in (insert expletive here) for these 2 weeks! With Moses in part time cloth diapers I have had my hands in the toilet cleaning panties and cloth diapers way too much!
These past few weeks have been super busy for Dan and most days I feel like I am in a fog. It is so hard not having family in town and there have been many days lately where I just want to go hang out at my parents house, just chat about nothing with them, or drop in at my in laws and know I can put my feet up for an hour.
So I have felt sorry for myself.
But God is so good and he always blows me away with his provision! Our family up here sees a need and they step in and help. I have had four different friends offer to watch my kids and so many more encourage me and support me in my loneliness. I know it is a season of life that will pass way too quickly but man it is hard being at home all day with the kids, just trying to survive the mayhem!
Anyway all this to say we had a victory today with potty training! For the first time we went all day without one accident! Sofia woke up with a dry pull up and got up from her nap with a dry pull up! Maybe just maybe we are getting it!

bananas!!!!

I adore my kids but some days they just drive me bananas!!
Ever since we returned from vacation I have had a hard time getting motivated. I miss my family and we just kind of jumped right back into everything here, with school and church, all good things just busy. So all last week I had such a hard time getting things accomplished, well today I finally felt inspired to really clean my house and I did! I worked so hard mopping the floors, cleaning the bathrooms, picking up.
This afternoon a few things have happened to undo my hard work.
First Zeke found a poop nugget on the bathroom floor. No one is fessing up to it and it could be Zeke, Sofia, Moses or the dog!!
Then this afternoon when we were outside Sofia got absolutely covered in mud, Zeke turned the hose on the dirt and Sofia literally laid in it. It was a mess, so I brought her inside where I put her in the tub to scrub all the dirt off. She is mad and yelling, mud all over my floor!! Ugh!
Then I turn around to find Moses playing in the toilet!!
He is helping me with chores by scrubbing the toilet with a hair brush!!!
There is toilet water all over the floor, (luckily it was flushed).
It was unbelievable, all I could do was pound my fist in the air and say you guys are driving me bananas!!!
Life with kids, never a dull moment.

Indiana pics

Mom, my sister Krista and the kids at my grandparents barn
Moses' first birthday!
Grandpa Olyer with Moses Everett , Mo's middle name is from grandpa!
Grampy and Sofia at the Soda shop
Dan tubing with the kids, there was some crying...
The cousins at the old family farm
Zeke Sofia and Moses in the corn
The family
Brothers

I am still processing the trip. I will write about our adventures soon. It was such an awesome trip, some really sweet times with my family. I miss them already.

more yummy food

First cucumber!
Our garden is crazy right now, it is on the verge of everything being ready, right in time for the kids and I to go out of town for 2 weeks!
We have had a few cherry tomatoes that we have eaten but all the big tomatoes and cucmbers are almost ready!
I don't even know if this one was ready but it was huge so I picked it and we are gonna eat it tonight!
There is so much that I am learning and so much I will do differently next year! I am loving this process and it has been fun for the kids to see the garden grow and turn into things we can eat!
Yay for gardens!

yummy morning

I love the Farmers market and I love WIC.
Every summer (well the last 2 since I have gotten WIC) they have vouchers for us to go to the farmers market and spend $20 for fruits and veggies! It is amazing, I am so grateful for this little perk!
Today the kids and I went and used our vouchers! Dan had a meeting so we braved it alone, Sofia in the stroller, Moses in the baby hawk, and Zeke helping me push the stroller over the gravel!
We got peaches, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, green bell peppers, green beans, corn, and 2 different kinds of squash! All for FREE!
I am so excited!!
I think WIC is such a great program, I never had to look into any extra help until we moved to Redding, and it is so cool to see all the great programs they have for women and children in Shasta county.
It is hard sometimes to use the vouchers in the grocery store, when I happen to go anywhere other than Winco. People seem to stare and huff in impatience, but it is worth it when I see the benefit and money we save for our family!
So yay for WIC and yay for farmers market!

campin it up!

Moses is getting 4 teeth right now, so he had a runny nose and didn't sleep, but what's new!
Roasting mallows, a nightly tradition
Payton wearing her mallow
The kids would sit around this gopher hole and watch him poke his head out all week, he was not shy at all!
Dump trucks are a tradition with Jonah, Zeke and Davey, it would not be camping without them!
The boys being cute with their pose!
The girls. I was going to post the pic of us in the morning, but they might be mad at me! I think we all look pretty good for camping!
Our family. we look pretty clean in this picture, the kids were pretty much always dirty or sandy, but that is the joy of camping!
Leave it to Adam to bring something fun that entertains the kids all week, last year it was the tree swing, this year bubbles!


Camping 2009
I think we figured out that we have been doing this camping trip together for about 7 or 8 years now! Crazy!
It started with just 2 little babies, now between our five families we have 13 kids and one on the way! (not mine, don't read into that statement)
It was a great trip the weather was amazing, 75 degrees!
We had so much fun just being together, the kids running around playing and singing, riding scooters and dump trucks, the adults telling stories ( really it was just Sam and his crazy stories, they are so hilarious!)
One bummer thing about the trip happened on the morning of day one, I get my camera out to take some shots of the kids and realize my battery is not in it! ARGH!!!
I never have a chance to take pictures, I miss it so much, and the one time I have the perfect opportunity I can't!
Dan had his camera but I barely took any, so sad.
Besides that we had a great time, I love these friends, we went through ministry together and through so many life changes, hard ones and good ones. I love you all and am so thankful for your friendship and for our time together to camp!

One down, a lot more to go!

We have lived in our house for about 8 months now and with three kids it has been hard to really settle in and "decorate". Whatever that means.
Anyway my parents have come up to visit numerous times and work themselves to death helping us! This last visit Dan and my dad hung two new fans and moved an old one to Zeke and Sofia's room. (It might surprise you to find out Zeke broke his old ceiling fan by climbing on his bookcase and hanging on the blades!)
Then my Dad and mom and Dan worked on our sprinklers all day as well. They are amazing and do so much to help us!
Anyway last week I finally finished one room completely in our house! Moses has been really wanting his room to be done and look put together so I did it! (that is a joke, he is only 10 months old, he doesn't really care!)
I am happy with it and the curtains came out good and it is simple but cute!
Next up is Dan and I's room, I was working on a shelf but the wood got warped after I had been distressing for a week, awesome.
Someday it will get done, for now I have one room down!!

oh what a night

Last night's events are in real time ( that is a 24 reference!:)
Dan and I decided to be crazy and stay up late to watch a movie last night.
Went to bed at 11:45
12:10, 12:30 Dog barking crazy at cats outside, get up to close our door so she stays in our room
(side note Dan is threatening her life again)
2:13- 2:30 Moses crying, got up to listen, forgot to close the door
3:24 Dog barking again, run out to grab her so she doesn't wake the kids, stub my toe on a chair, almost said a bad word
4:45 Moses crying ready to eat
5:10 put moses back to bed
6:30 Sofia wakes up pounding on her door to come out. Get up put her back to bed
6:40 dan's alarm goes off for early prayer
7:10 Sofia up again
7:15 Start the day, definitely having coffee today!
Needless to say it was not a very restful night!!!