My Princess is 4!

Happy birthday to my sweet Annie! She is so cute when you tell her Happy Birthday because she responds likewise. This afternoon we worked on saying, "Thank you!" when someone wishes you a happy birthday! She got to open her presents just before lunchtime today after we'd done a little bit of organizing in the living room. I think Ben was the most excited about it. She has been waiting and waiting to open the big playmobile box and is very excited about her castle. Tomorrow we will work on putting it together after church. She just played with the people all afternoon and evening.

We are putting some of the pieces together...

Sweet Annie picked a lemon cake mix. We haven't found our cake book that the kids typically pick from, so last night I found a butterfly that looked cute. Annie was just happy to have a cake; she didn't really care what was on it! Although she did quite like the candies...

We had the missionaries from our ward over for dinner as well as a friend's little boys that the kids have fallen in love with! Everyone enjoyed chicken tortilla soup, cornbread, honey butter, and sliced cucumbers on heart-shaped princess plates! Then we had her purple butterfly cake with strawberry ice cream.

While we were finishing our dessert, the kids somehow went out the front door and found the mud. This is leftover from the trench the plumber dug while connecting the house water pipes to the city water pipe. We didn't get an in focus picture of Annie out here, but they all had a great time! I reminded everyone that they only got to play in the mud because it was Annie's birthday and we would not be doing this fun game again!

Happy Happy Birthday Sweet Annie! We love you sooooo much!

My New Weight Loss Program

...mowing the yard twice a week. It's huge. We have a little tiny push mower. I have a blister my palm from squeezing the handle down. I know..wahwahwah. I am very glad to have a large yard. It would just be nice to have some of that nice sod we layed down a few months ago. And not to have the last 10 feet go uphill. And not to be rained on while mowing. And not to have to avoid all of the little toads that hop just out of the lawnmower's way. And not to have to discipline Ben and Annie for purposely killing the frogs by stepping on them. What an afternoon. So HAPPY it was a THREE package day! I really needed that. Hopefully my new weight loss plan will work - it definitely raised my heart rate, especially when I started jogging while pushing the mower because my shirt was soaked, I couldn't see very well from the rain (apparently we were having a tornado warning but I don't have TV yet, so I didn't know that), but needed to hurry and get the last bit done!

As a side note, we met Ben's teacher today, and she seems great! I sure have been praying for him to love school and enjoy his class. She is about 6 feet tall with a huge smile and made cute little cupcakes for each of the kids with a bumblebee on it. I have to admit I was very teary on my way home, overwhelmed with thanks for all of the blessings we have received in the last few weeks. Some friends tonight aren't ready for school to start yet, but I can't wait. Partly because my house will be more quiet, but school is so FUN! I love checking Ben's folder each day and seeing what he is learning. I love the whole idea of learning new things and doing projects and running around in PE. It's always so exciting for a new year to start! Hopefully I'll still feel this was a few more weeks into the school year!!!

Traveling

Since Andy and I both had to drive, we broke up our trip into 3 days, stopping each day at a free entertainment site, care of our Dallas Zoo Pass! The kids didn't do so great in the Little Rock, AR zoo, but I loved the Gorillas there! It was really hot, but I think we had prepped them so much for a long car trip, they were ready to just drive! The second day was Nashville, TN Zoo, which was really cool and very shaded. We only stayed about 3 hours and then everyone was tired. Love that the zoos are free because then we don't feel the need to drag kids around all day to get our money's worth!

The last day we went to a Discovery Museum in Dayton, OH. We stayed about 3 1/2 hours and could have easily stayed another 3 hours. The kids were begging to stay longer, but we needed to get to our house before dark. Everyone loved sleeping in hotels, and I loved going to bed when the kids did!

Our truck arrived Sunday afternoon and needed to be in Columbus early Monday afternoon, so we did a mammoth unloading undertaking Sunday night after a Stake Priesthood meeting. We had so many helpers from our new ward, the entire truck was unloaded in about an hour! The owners that we are renting from came by to meet us and were shocked at all our help, as was the truck driver and the kind next door neighbor that brought over chocolate chip cookies for everyone! I think I knew three people's names of the 20+ that were here. Thank you so much!!!

Dallas Zoo Babies

We were able to make one last Dallas Zoo trip the beginning of August and were shocked to melt! The kids had so much fun running with our friends. Ethan and Emily are five months apart. Brynnley and Annie are 2 months apart.

Kylie and Ben are 7 weeks apart.

And our hearts are never far apart! We love and miss you all!!!!

Ben is 6!

These got a little bit out of order...sorry! Ben turned 6 on the day we left for Ohio, so we celebrated the Saturday before. He had earned a pass to Six Flags for a reading program during the school year and Jamie gave Andy and I two tickets, so we were set! We had a great day just with Ben (and pretty much only riding what Ben wanted to) and came home to a surprise party that the girls decorated for with Grandma and Aunt Jamie! No birthday in Texas is complete without Blue Bell Ice Cream!

It rained for most of the morning, so the tea cups were pretty much the only thing open for our first hour there. Andy couldn't ride most of the round and round rides, so I got to! Ben did okay for the first 20 seconds and then was really nervous for the rest of it!

By far, his favorite ride was Roaring Rapids. After the third ride, Andy and I said, "No more!" since we were all completely soaked!

Ben got to throw darts and earned a batman doll. He did awesome and popped a balloon with each dart!

This was by far the longest wait of the day (and hence, the last ride) but Ben loved it and waited very patiently for his 90 second turn.

He has learned to love Looney Tunes and was so excited to see Bugs!

It was a really fun day - for the most part. I don't know that Ben will ever go on the Runaway Mine Train again. We did the MiniMine Train first and he really liked that. He didn't want to go on one that was faster, but we convinced him that we needed to do at least one roller coaster while we were there. About halfway through the ride, just as we were going up the biggest hill, the car stopped...for about 20 minutes! We were just stuck at about a 60% angle! The train engineer (hehehe) finally came to tell us that the previous train was broken and they would get us off as soon as possible. Thanks... Ben fell asleep on the way home and woke up to balloons tied on the front door. Happy birthday, Buddy! We love you!

Packing and Moving

Wow! Packing up a house is not the funnest thing I can think of to fill summer days, but it much better than UNpacking! Yuck! Many thanks to people who helped watch the kids and helpers who came to stuff boxes! What a faker! He forgets that I packed about 90% of those boxes!!! He did get to load and organize though.

The kids were so excited to climb in the moving truck!

This sight still brings tears to my eyes! We had so much help loading the truck with our friends from church (and a few neighbors too) that it went so quickly! I loved this image!!!

Saying goodbye to our house! Enjoy your new owners that have already painted you inside and given you a brand new fence!

The End of 'Our' Garden

This year I did little more than plant our garden and weed maybe 3 times a month. Apparently that was the right thing to do because everything did so great! The night before we left, we picked the rest of the goodies that we could use and left the rest for the new owners.

Saying Goodbye

We have so many fabulous friends in Richardson that we are already missing SOOOO much!!! We had such a fun time saying 'goodbye' in a whirlwind weekend that still makes me tear up thinking of it! Saturday night was a Texas Party with all of our neighborhood buddies. These are the ladies I've learned from for the past 4 1/2 years as I tried to raise my busy little boy from toddlerhood to school-age without too much permanent damage! We've had so much fun over the years, and it was great to spend one last night including our spouses! So many playgroups together with lots and lots of cute little boys running around (and 4 lone girls that just hung in there)!

These 3 fabulous women (and their husbands) planned a Texas-themed BBQ complete with RUDY'S meat and sauce! Can life get much better?!?

And our wonderful husbands!

Sunday after church we had a potluck goodbye that was so much fun too! I didn't even think to bring my camera to capture the Texas theme there! (Yes, the two things currently hanging on the walls in our new house are our 'Maas Family' sign and my wooden Texas flag; the rest will come soon enough!) I just don't DO goodbyes - I don't like them. We just say that we will see you later and keep in touch with email, blogs or facebook!

Our Favorite Missionary

JJ left for his mission about 6 weeks ago. We already miss him coming over to hang out; we were so spoiled when he came home from school! We loved helping prepare for his mission, reading all the papers/instructions that came with him, shopping for clothes, going through the temple with him, and being there for his setting apart. He is just an amazing young man! Obviously, the kids like him a little bit. He stopped to say bye on the way to the airport that Wednesday morning and was attacked! If you know anyone who speaks Cantonese and lives near Toronto and wants to learn about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, let me know and I'll pass on the information!

So, What's a Little Blood?

It's Saturday evening about 8:15. I suggested to Andy that we do a little date night and watch a movie on his laptop. It's been a long day - half playing and half continuing to unpack. I don't really get a response. So, I decide to check my email while he works in the basement. (More house pictures to come - basics 3 bedrooms upstairs with kids, playroom, library, living room, kitchen. Downstairs is our bedroom, makeshift bathroom, huge living room, storage area and laundry.) About five minutes later, I hear, "That was stupid." (Besides the fact that word is trying to be eradicated from our house...we won't go there at the moment.) I don't even go to look because from his tone it just sounds like more messes to clean up. Then I hear the shower running and, "Linz! I need your help!" I walk in and see this image (imagine a little more stress on the face and the entire shower floor covered with bright red blood). Andy asks for a towel, paper towels, neosporin and band aids. I'm happy to announce I DID NOT FAINT! I asked what happened. Dear old Andy dropped a dirty, gross, dull MACHETE on his foot.
I got him the stuff and also grabbed his cell phone to call our nearest ward member (Brent) who also happens to be a med student, my old roommate's husband, Andy's previous ultimate frisbee competitor, and our friend. Yes, it needs stitches - just barely missed the artery (Great job there, Honey!), but since Brent is not yet a resident, he doesn't have all the neat little tricks in his bag. He had the numbing medicine to administer before placing the stitches but not the syringe. It's now after 9 on a Saturday night and the nearest 24 hour pharmacy is about 20 minutes away. We decided to just plunge ahead and do the stitches without the numbing. (I say 'we' because, well, I would have to watch, so it was really my call...right?)

Of course, this would have to be in pretty much the dirtiest area of the house at the moment! Stellar, right? So, they sterilized as well as possible with a little bit of rubbing alcohol and got to work! He tested Andy's pain tolerance with the rubbing alcohol on the gash..he did pretty well!

If you blow up this image, you can actually see the skin pulling with the needle. Yuck, I know. Andy said the most painful part of this whole process was the needle finding its way back to the surface. "It felt like a needle poking your skin." (That's why I do the blogging!!!) Sweat did bead on his forehead and he got a little bit pale. I offered my hand for him to squeeze but he didn't want it. (Why is it that I have to have the babies with my minuscule pain tolerance???) I asked Brent if he had a queasy stomach during all of this. "No! I love this stuff!"

A little teamwork helps the process move along...let's just be glad I was the one taking the pictures and not near the blood and the puncturing and pulling of skin involved with stitches. (Amazingly, in 9 1/2 years of marriage and three kiddos, this is our first experience with stitches...besides those baby ones, of course)

Wow. That's about all I have to say. I was not very close (LOVE the zoom) and very light headed. I think it's a good think I didn't go into nursing... :)

A job well done! Thanks so much for saving us from a several hundred dollar trip to the ER!!! Andy is well on his way to recovery and back to unpacking and organizing. Have I mentioned previously that I married a work-a-holic? But I love him anyway!!! Brent is going to check those little stitches Wednesday night after basketball...thanks for being a great neighbor!!!

PS - Thanks Ang for loaning us your hubby on a Saturday night!!!

O-hi-o

Heigh ho the dairy-o, we made it to Ohio! Yippee! This is our 3rd night in our new home and the kids were asleep by 10:20, the earliest night so far! We are unloaded (thanks to our fabulous new ward that came over last night after the stake priesthood session) and working frantically to unpack and get somewhat organized before Andy starts his "Academic Success Initiative Program" that starts tomorrow night. Yuck; I'm realizing how much I DISLIKE unpacking! I'm having big issues with the kitchen because I just can't decide where to put what. I'm so sad that I no longer have two pantries...or even one pantry...and my sad breakfast dishes have been sitting in the sink for two days since we also lack a dishwasher... :) However, it's an adorable house with a somewhat scary shower downstairs that Andy thinks is do-able. The plumber is in the process of moving the house from well-water to the city water, so as soon as that is done, I will scrub the tubs and sinks to remove the rust stains! So many things to do...! I'll take pictures as soon as the computer is set up. I'm happy to report that we do have a firepit! We still need to put the stones around it, but this is such a lifter since we had so much fun with ours at home. AND I didn't get my last fire in, so the s'mores stuff is packed here somewhere! Maybe by next week it will be unearthed... Last, but not least, my Texas friends - yesterday was the hottest day of the summer so far...at 91 degrees!!!! We turned on our a/c, not because it was hot but because of the humid stale air! More things to post later...like our story of getting stuck on a roller coaster at Six Flags...

Just a Normal Day...

... at the office. This is the email my sister sent yesterday afternoon. AUGHHH!!!! I LOVE him! Such a cute boy. If only I worked downtown there too... Apparently he was very nice and didn't smell. :) They didn't ask anything else because their speech had been stunted and hearts were beating too fast.

We are still in limbo - no place to move to yet, but fabulous friends are working on it! Hopefully we'll find somewhere to live in the next week or so or we'll be doing the weekly rentals at the local motel! Andy is almost done with work. I'm having fun with the kids and love squeezing on my friend's week old twin boys! Love, love, love all my Richardson buddies!!! I don't say goodbye - I just say see ya later! More pictures to follow, when I can get my Outlook up and running again!

Wow! It's final!!!

Our house is sold! Our mortgage is paid!!! My sister joked that we need to go shopping now. Tomorrow we pack our stuff in storage for a few weeks until our future is a little bit more sure. However, there is a LOT to still do between now and then - unfortunately it's mostly 'Andy stuff" that I can't help with. Nor can I post a cute picture of us standing in our dining room that is packed from floor to ceiling with boxes - all organized by size...seriously! We are transferring all of our pictures from the last 6 years onto a one trilobyte (sp?) storage thing to clean off the old computer to leave with one of the YM here. It's taking my real computer from me. Alas - thanks for all the well-wishes! It's starting to get exciting...especially because we have a LOT of playing to the next three weeks with Andy before he begins reading reading and more reading!!!

So SAD...

I just packed my crock pot and both pantries are empty. Looking at all the boxes stacked in the dining room, I'm SO HAPPY to have a 3 week break before unpacking!!!

S'More fun

"Hey, wanna s'more?"
"S'more what?"
"No, no, you want a s'more?"
"I haven't had anything yet, so how can I have s'more of nothing?"
"You're killing me, Smalls! These are s'mores stuff. Okay - pay attention!
First, you take the gram. You stick the chocolate on the gram. Then you roast the mallow. When the mallows flamin', you stick it on the chocolate. Then you cover it with the other end. Then you scarf! It's kinds messy but good. Try some!" THE SCIENCE OF S’MORES

Graham crackers, chocolate, a toasted marshmallow. What more can be said about a s'more?
Plenty, if you're asking Reginald Mitchell, an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Stanford University. His specialty is combustion sciences, so he knows a good deal about marshmallows - when they're near a campfire, that is. Turns out toasting a marshmallow is actually a six-step process:

1. Swelling. As the marshmallow heats, the moisture in it expands, causing the marshmallow to swell.
2. Escape. As the moisture expands, it blows tiny holes through the marshmallow and escapes as steam.
3. Sugar rush. Depleted of moisture, the marshmallow is now a sucrose char. Oxygen in the air rushes to its surface - it's ready to burn.
4. Flame on. Oxygen diffuses from the air to the marshmallow's outer surface. At the surface, carbon reacts with the oxygen, producing a blue flame. This is called burning in the diffusion limited mode.
5. Oxidation. Simultaneously, carbon atoms grab oxygen atoms, producing carbon monoxide, then carbon dioxide.
6. Oxyinterruptus. Pulling the marshmallow from the fire and blowing it out interrupts the oxidation process. This creates soot, evidence of incomplete combustion.

Found at: http://www.findarticles.com/cf_dls/m1216/n5_v198/19554054/p4/article.jhtml?term=

Each year the youth get together to look at pictures of Scout Camp, Girls' Camp, and High Adventure. In the past, we've done a fireside, but in an effort to make firesides more spiritual, we planned this for a Saturday night activity. First, all the youth and their parents and leaders (with children) gathered in the front room for a slide showing on the ceiling (it worked the best).
Then we all went outside for a roasted dinner on the fire pit. After kids were done eating, they went out to the soccer field behind our house for a little exercise! I didn't get a picture of that one because I was off on a motorcycle ride!!!

Thanks for all the prep work, YM and YW leaders! We didn't do anything but have the house in some sort of order! It was great!

I was teasing Bishop for being so dressed up. I'm glad he was able to loosen up a little bit and enjoy roasting with us! He did a fabulous fireside the next night about prayers!!! Thanks, Bishop!

Of course, what ward/youth activity would be complete without a cute picture of Annie and her buddy Brynnley?

I'm still looking to do fires at least twice before we have to leave our house. If you're interested, come on over tonight or tomorrow!!! Right, Andy? :)

Cosette's Visit

My niece came home with us from California and stayed for a month to play and help while we sold the house. Unfortunately, the camera wasn't often around while we were! These favorites are fun though - just imagine the rest!
Cosette loves to cook. We made apple pie, blueberry cobbler, strawberry and blueberry jam, zucchini bread cookies, and lots of dinners. She tried and learned to like kale, zucchini and squash raw, meatloaf, and lots of other goodies! Her goal was to hook Emily around her pinkie, and I think that happened!

The first week Ben was at Safety Camp through the city. The last day was an award assembly, so to pass time while there was another house showing until we could go, we went to a local park. They went exploring down by the creek where Emily fell in. Since we couldn't go home, we were the family with the baby dressed only in a diaper. Great...

We had a fun HOT morning at the zoo. We all loved the baby chimpanzee!

Feeding the birds is ALWAYS the highlight of our zoo trip! Then we had to hurry back home for the plumber!

We had great fun! For some reason I don't have a good picture of "bugaboo" (ask Emily to say that; it's adorable!!!) while we did campfires, but she does that at home! Thanks for coming Cosette!!!