Before the clock strikes 12...

Well it's my big brother's birthday today and I wanted to say...

HAPPY 33rd BIRTHDAY!!

I did wish him a happy birthday, but wanted to make it official and tell him how much I love him and how amazingly in our older years (feeling older for me anyways :))...I enjoy spending time with him - did you ever think that would happen bro? Funny thing is, I think he married someone just like Chad (a female version of course)...no wonder mom always said we were so much a like - have a good one!

Love,
Catharina

P.S. It makes it nice that I love your wife too and enjoy being friends with her - the feelings are deep...we both have a love of Wal-mart :)! In all seriousness, I think you both are awesome and am glad to call you both my friends!

My Best Friends Wedding!...Teehee I finally get to use that title :)

Here they are just exiting the temple as husband and wife (she is waving at the boys)

I know I'm suppose to be done, but I had to post these pictures of my friend Stephanie. It was her wedding on September 5th - finally their marathon courtship (I have to tease her about it) - ended in a temple marriage for time and all eternity! It was a beautiful day and I cried more at her wedding than my own :) - I'm totally serious too. It's a tender miracle their paths crossed - especially when life had given both so much heartache to overcome. After all they've endured and conquered - both deserved this sweet ending. She looked so BEAUTIFUL and they both looked so happy! Even though I miss her terribly I'm so happy for her. Okay now the pictures are from my cell...again! I forgot the dreaded camera, I know one day soon it will be attached at the hip (it's a goal to always have it with us to capture all sorts of events). There is no zoom on my camera so the "zoom" is me running up really close, while trying not to be in the way or too annoying (so there aren't a lot of "zoom" pictures :)).

Here they are with the boys

Here Greg is with Logan (Logan was smiling wide for the camera when I called his name)



One of the twins grinning on cue :) - I think I know who this is, but I don't want to say and then be wrong!

My one on one with Stephanie - I couldn't see my cell phone screen after it took a picture (because the bright sun blocked it out), so I couldn't tell she was blinking. Doesn't she still look beautiful?!!

One on one with Greg just outside the temple



Greg's dad and step-mom, they had to take off early (it's candid, but I thought it was sweet)


Greg's immediate family



Greg's side of the family



Stephanie with her parents



Stephanie's side of the family



All the boys at the wedding (yes there was an all girls photo w/me, but Chad wasn't in love with the idea of running up for the zoom and snapping a picture with my cell phone - I LOVE YOU Chad! :))

What LUCK!!...Well, maybe more "SLOW DOWN" and things like this wouldn't happen?

Holy cow I am so tired, but can't put off posting for any longer. I still haven't added the bios of the kids back since they were zapped. Lucky for all of you I have a new "zapped" story :) - I know you've all been on pins and needles and are dying to hear what happened...so here you go:

We finally celebrated Caden's first birthday (less than 2 months late, but still during his first year right?!!) - I'm glad we were able to pull it together and do this for him. He was NOT a happy camper that day - he'd been cranky all day and the four teeth coming in didn't help either (we are happy to report they have broken through :)). Right before the party I saw the camera and made a mental note - so when I needed it I could grab it. Well picture time came and the camera was not where I left it and was no where to be found (we of course found it when everyone left and Caden had already gone to bed during the party, loosing all hope for any birthday party pictures :)). So, I used my cell phone camera instead - not the resolution I was hoping for, but...surprisingly it did a great job. I used it for videos too and was going to add them all to our blog to share with family and friends. I was moving the pics from my phone to my memory card so I could upload them and add them to our computer and blog. I thought I had picked copy to card so I had a copy on the phone and another on the card - but I selected move instead (leaving no copy on my phone). Then I thought while I had the card in my phone I would look to see if any of the files for my palm would work on my phone (it has an MP3 player and things on it - I know WHY multi task now?). I went to the mass storage section and thought I was selecting "change format" to view all the files on the card...but instead it reformatted the memory card and zapped all the info on it!! I had backups for my palm, but the pictures OF COURSE where GONE!! I was SO sick to my stomach when I found that I didn't select copy like I thought, but selected move and didn't have doubles. The good news is we got it all on our video camera - but that can't be uploaded...or SCRAP BOOKED (it's on tape). I had the cutest pictures of Caden eating his cake (chocolate of course) and the cake itself. I am so sick that they are gone, but I do have the video and luckily our friend took a picture of the cake with his cell and emailed it to us. So, thank you Phil - you're a life saver!! If you can't tell it is a choo-choo train cake, I had side angles and everything before *sniff* - it still makes me sad. Since this is all we have picture wise I hope you all can get an idea of what it looked like. With the lack of pictures I feel like we have nothing to show for his 1st birthday :(. I have to remember we will have 1 yr pictures taken - oh, you'll be seeing them mark my words!!

With all this craziness, I have to remind myself we do have SOMETHING to remind us of his first birthday (a lot for his first year really) - all is not lost...*exhale*..."BREAK!" (that was my team pep talk - I'm good now :)). That is all I have the energy to type about, I have more pictures to post later (My Best Friend got married - YEAH!). Have a good night - I'm exhausted (I'll share the story for that later too :)).

What did you do?!!

Well I was tinkering around - I knew I should have walked away :(. I was trying to change the background and ended up messing with the template and it deleted my side columns! At least the posts are still there but all the descriptions of us and the kids...GONE!! So, I'll be typing it all up again later. I've spent the last few hours putting the pictures back up and setting it up for the most part. Blah, I can't believe I did that; I guess the good news is that I now know more about html codes than I did before. I know it will come in handy, it's already helped me change the column sizes and adjust some things that bugged me about the old one. So, be patient and check back from time to time to see my progress. I keep shaking my head in disbelief...I can't believe I did that?!! I'm tired and need to go to bed, plus my bum is asleep; have a good night :).

What do all these things have in common?

Well, this is an overdue post and since I finally got the photos off my camera I thought I would post and share this story. Right around my thyroid surgery one of our toilets was plugged, and even the snake did nothing. There were still 2 other bathrooms to use so it wasn't a priority seeing how I had just had surgery. Well about 2 days later another one was plugged and Chad was obviously upset seeing how we had just replaced one toilet this year because of a constant clogging problem. You don't want to know the details - let's just say Chad is amazing, dedicated and deserved a vacation after that one. So since 2 were clogged, it became a bigger priority, but because of the last experience Chad said, "I am not taking another toilet off again!". I said that was fine, I had no problem doing it when I could lift things again (I'd done it before) - so he'd have to wait a while. In frustration Chad gave in and started with one of the two toilets, this of course was clogged by Eliza dropping an air hockey puck into the toilet and flushing. It was the perfect diameter to block anything from going down; Chad had to get it in just the right position to get it out. Then on to the other toilet; it would flush but it was really slow and anything solid wouldn't go down. So after working to clear it, it seemed something was stuck in just reaching distance. Chad's hand was too big so I bravely stuck my hand into the toilet (I know, I was surprised too!), as I reached in I found item after item settled on the bottom. I grabbed all I could reach and felt that the item we really needed to get to was just up in the bend of the tubing. I couldn't get my hand past it so I was able to convince Katija to try so we wouldn't have to remove yet another toilet (we have removed a toilet about 10 times in the last year - I'm not kidding). She couldn't get up that far either, so again Chad had to remove a toilet. At first he couldn't find anything, but after pushing the snake through over and over he felt something in the way. He had to push it a little at a time to get it to come out the bottom of the toilet. What did he find... a hair clip wedged in the tubing flushed by none other than...ELIZA MAE!!

I'm happy to say she hasn't tried putting anything else in - she was scolded and I think it finally took. So the answer to what do all these things have in common is...they were all flushed down the SAME toilet by Eliza. Some of these things have been missing for a while, I kept loosing tweezers and couldn't figure out where they were going. Now I know - and now they are kept under lock and key :). I don't know how the toilet worked with no problem for this long, I guess toilets are like a box of chocolates; you never know what you're going to get (or what's inside)!!

Does Mommy-work ever end? Do I get scheduled time off :)?

Holy cow, I've been trying to stay on top of everything at our house while catching up on the rest of things that have gone undone. Let's just say that this house hasn't been mom-ified in a LONG time. It's funny the things that I do when I am the one cleaning. Since I haven't been the one doing it and now I'm back doing it, I notice all the things over looked (from my view). I in no way am giving discredit to my wonderful hubby, who in the last few years has picked up more than his fair share of slack. It's more the small things that I do; I'll give you some examples. Okay when I clean I do small little things that help keep certain things maintained: When I wipe the counter I wipe the fronts of the cabinets below (especially the grooves that food and who knows what collect on), or when I "spot clean" the floor or even mop the floor I wipe the tops of the baseboards and the bottom 3-4 ft of wall, along with the light switch plates, electrical outlets, window seals and doors (especially by the door knob)...never fails they always look dirty!! With 5 little ones dragging their fingers across the walls everyday - I'm already out numbered! When I do laundry I keep a rag hanging above the washer that I wipe down the washer and dryer with because of the lint and over spray (from my pre-treating obsession) that collect on top of them, or even the floor right in front of the washer because the over spray attracts dirt etc. Then I throw it in the washer and it starts all over again - I know I'm weird (OCD as Chad would say). When I vacuum I always get the tops of the baseboards and edges, or when I pull the couch out to vacuum behind and under it I wash the wall above and behind the couch. I do this because somehow finger prints and spilling streaks find their way there - even if food isn't permitted downstairs :). So these things are well overdue for a good scrub down; I'm trying to do this gradually because with all that has to be done, I'd run myself into a 5 day resting period - pacing myself is SO important. From the scrubbing my hands are so waterlogged, red, dry and bleeding in some places. I just can't believe all a Mom does in a given day and how the smallest of things can take so much time. I've been out of the loop it feels for WAY too long I've forgotten all that is done. I did the bare minimum for SO long that the everyday thing was not the normal - even just above bare minimum amazes me (GO MOMS GO!!). I wont go into it all right now; it is too involved - but I'm amazed at the things I am doing, I can't imagine what all I'll be doing when I'm feeling even better. I can't believe the amount of laundry that needs to be done in a week (let's be honest...everyday) so that laundry isn't spilling over 5+ different baskets of laundry scattered all over the house! I am constantly straightening and picking up little things here and there because of how fast in can engulf a room. I'm just in awe really and can't explain it. By the time the girls get home from school, we work on their homework, reading, baths, dinner, brush their teeth, say prayers etc...it's already past 9 pm! I know I'll get better at this and faster; funny thing is as crazy as it is, I'm enjoying it and love to crash into the recliner at the end of the day and feel satisfied with all I've accomplished! I feel like a Mom again and I've missed her :); that is my little rant for today. So here is my shout out to any Mom out there, I've told my kids this and I'm starting to believe it..."Moms are MAGIC!". Thank you Heavenly Father for lifting us up and carrying us as we keep moving forward!