Piano

I am looking for a game board for a DIY, so we headed to Goodwill.  (After Mallory's poor hand got too cold/numb at the playground.) At the store we immediately saw a small, beautiful piano with a full keyboard for $199.99. Andy admired it. I went to the toy area and he stayed. Well, today it was 50% off! We could not pass up the piano for $100. We have been wanting one again for years and trying to find one that we could get. This was too perfect. I don't like impulse buying at all, so this was difficult. Everything is falling into place. A friend loaned us a piano dolly, another came through with a truck. Now, we need to tune it and sign our kids up for piano lessons. ;) I hope I don't regret this.

Christmas Scavenger Hunt

(See heidiscreativeavoidance.blogspot.com for Christmas pics, I hope.) We will post more about our day later, but wanted to share something fun. For Christmas Andy's cousins were very thoughtful. They gave our kids a gift to remember. We put together a little scavenger hunt for them to figure it out. The first clue was in an envelope on the tree.
Here you go:

1. For a big Christmas surprise follow the clues.

The next will be where we keep the shoes. (Shoe rack by the back door)

In 

2. It isn’t freezing but might be very cold.

Don’t stand with the door open, as you’re always told. (refrigerator)

February

3. It isn’t Frosty, but he would like it in here.

He would be all nice and comfy with nothing to fear. (freezer)

You

4.I have keys but don’t open a door,

You can use me for games, homework and more. (computer)

Are

5. You can use me to reach up a bit taller.

People who use me are often quite smaller. (stool)

Going

6. Find where we keep things metal and shiny

Necklaces, rings and things that are tiny. (jewelry box)

To

7. Find the place where games we play.

This last clue should make your day! (game shelf)

DISNEYLAND

Merry Christmas Bahlmann Bunch! And Merry Christmas to you, too.

Daddy's Girl

For the first time I have a child that truly prefers one parent over the other. This week, well, this month really, Andy has been very busy. This past week he finally took his motorcycle course. (My Christmas gift to him.) Each day was very long. He works Mondays, took the course Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, got his license and slept for the graveyard shift Friday. By Saturday everyone was cranky and missing him.

On Sundays Andy leaves at 7:00am for meetings. We give him hugs when we get to church and then sit down. That was not okay with Mallory. We had to leave several times because she kept trying to get up front. Our family sang "Picture a Christmas" in sacrament meeting. This meant that Mallory got to hold Daddy. She was not happy leaving the stand. It is very telling when I have the following conversation before church.

"It's a good thing she isn't a Daddy's girl," said while looking at Mal.

Me - "Yep, that would make things really difficult."

"It's a good thing she doesn't climb under benches and try to get to the stand to sit with her Dad."

Me - *sigh* "Yep."

After sacrament meeting she made a break for the stand and I just gathered up our things and let her.

Then, after her nap she was playing and heard her daddy say something. She literally dropped everything and ran out of the room. She followed him around the rest of the day and HE had to put her to bed. There are times when she needs her mom, but mostly its dad. I am really okay with it. I know her daddy loves it and I think it is pretty cute, too.

Lately...

Since I can't post pictures I haven't posted at all for over 3 weeks. I will update you briefly on everyone, I guess. Without pictures, so sad.

Andy's grandfather has been in and out of the hospital this year. At the beginning of the month he took a turn and no one thought he would make it. Andy felt that he should go up and see him, but we couldn't figure out how to make it work. Through prayer and Andy's brother as the answer, he was able to visit his grandfather with all 5 of his brothers. It seems to have been just what Grandpa needed, because he is doing so much better and wants to be home for Christmas instead of in the care center. Andy also took a Spanish test to see if he is fluent. When he failed his qualifying exams the first time and changed his committee a lot of things seemed to change. It was understood that Andy could count his Old English study and translation as his second language but the person that literally signed off on it "forgot" so now Andy has to prove fluency in one language or take another language class. This 4 hour translation test is hoping he doesn't have to take French next semester. We are applying to A LOT of jobs and got our first rejection, but a nice note.

Marcus is struggling in math at times. His teacher is not teaching things according to him and his homework is taking hours each night. The other night he called his grandpa in Rhode Island for help because I was making dinner and he was not understanding his father's explanation. Marcus is still a friend to everyone and sensitive to others. People of all ages love him. He portrayed Joseph for the 3rd time at the ward Christmas party. He would rather be a wise man or shepherd.

Anneke is just like Pammy. I am not sure how I got her and often don't understand her. If it reflects her image she will stop and stare at herself, making faces. A couple of weeks ago she tried out for a play. They wouldn't let her try out for the part she wanted to and she didn't get the part they let her try out for. It was a very sad day. Then, she was the understudy for Mary and the girl that didn't show up to church when she was chosen for the part showed up late but came. Then, Anneke had to be a wise man because someone else didn't come. She was not happy. The pictures from that are a piece of work. Next year she is helping her teacher do a seminar about Cinderella Around the World. I happen to be slightly obsessed and since Anneke brought in a dozen or so of my Cinderella books she got this honor. 

Luke is loving preschool. He enjoys homework and writing. We are working on letters, but he can read several words. He is in the stage where he will say "Is it b-u-z-s night?" Which always gives us pause. (That meant bath night.) He still likes to figure out how things work, too. Luke has changed his Christmas list a lot. First he wanted the bat cave. Then he wanted a skate board. Then a scooter that goes by itself. Currently he wants a guitar.

Mallory is having a rough time adjusting to a regular bed. Or rather, I am having a hard time with her adjusting. At least every other night she ends up in my bed, which means that I end up sleeping on the floor by her bed so she doesn't wake her dad. She loves to sing and dance and has a major sweet tooth. She calls Anneke "dih-duh" and her brothers are both "duh-duh". Basically she is saying "sister" and "brother". She is very busy. Yesterday as I folded clothes she unfolded them and put them back in the laundry basket. BUT, she cleans and helps me a lot. Also, she is strangely coordinated on my high heels.

I am a year older since I last wrote. I actually went and bought some things for myself for the first time in about 4 years. I felt so guilty. I am loving teaching preschool. I have such fun with them. Plus, I learn some interesting things. Did you know that Santa Claus is in charge of Russia? Last week I actually went and sang karaoke for a friend's birthday. I was getting over a cold and the smoke in the bar made it worse. I sounded more awful than normal. I don't think the bar appreciated that 90% of us weren't drinking a thing. haha It was a fun and interesting experience. I was hesitant to go, but glad I did. Check that off the bucket list.

We are ready for Christmas and looking forward to the new year. Stay tuned for exciting news after Christmas. With this break I hope to figure out what to do with the blog. Sorry it was long, hope you stayed through to the end.

5 not 4

I deleted pictures from past blog posts so I could post a picture of my birthday boy. It did not work. It was fun to go back and read what I have written, though. Here is a memory post I did for his first birthday. http://bahlmannbasics.blogspot.com/2008/11/memory-monday_24.html

Anyway, he is loving being 5. He has made a huge track for his cars and is playing with his Batman toys. We are going to Baskin Robbins later for ice cream instead of having cake again. (Both he and I have free ice cream coupons for our birthdays.) Our elf, Chris, showed up today with powdered donuts and hot chocolate for breakfast, too. That was nice since the meals my Caspian Luke wants were pancakes for breakfast, silly noodles (ramen) for lunch and pancakes for dinner. He is quite extravagant. 

Today is the 12 year anniversary of Grandma's death. I think of her a lot and dreamed about her last night. I wonder what she thinks of her posterity; 9 great grandsons and 7 great granddaughters. 

I am off to read and play with the birthday both. 

Thanksgiving

This was going to be a fabulous post about Thanksgiving with old photos to share. However, after 990 blog posts I have reached my photo limit. I am going to try and remedy that, but if not, I will have to start a new blog. Stay tuned...

Yesterday we celebrated Thanksgiving with Andy's family. They graciously travelled several hours, with little sleep, to get here. I was willing as long as someone else did the turkey. A large bird intimidated me. My children loved getting to stay up late and have family around. I loved having a bigger place to accommodate everyone.

As the bird was cooking a hole got in the bottom of the disposable roasting pan. (I don't have a real one. They are bulky and we move a lot.) Grease dripped on the bottom of the oven which cause a lot of smoke. Someone (you know who you are), opened the oven door letting in oxygen and the oven was in flames. Thanks to baking soda, fans and elbow grease the men saved the turkey and all was well. The potatoes did tasted bit smoky though.

I don't like black friday. Others do. That is fine. I do not. I went to get Luke's birthday present and they are all gone. We had to settle and I am so sad. Maybe Santa can bring that instead of a skate board (what?!)...*fingers crossed*.

Mallory is talking a lot. I am still trying to figure out her particular dialect. My favorite is that she brought her bunny to church today that my kids made her for her first Christmas. It's name is Kitty. It's like the name of a book or song, A Bunny Named Kitty. Oh, and it is a "raddit" not a bunny.

Pirate Party

Having a birthday after Thanksgiving but before Christmas is hard. Trust me, I know. So, I decided this year that Luke's party would be before the stress of Christmas buying fully hits. We had his party on Friday. He wanted a pirate party. I think it went well.

I made this Happy Birthday Luke banner out of left over fabric scraps. We can reuse it, too.

 We had this flag on hand so we hung it out front.

 I made signs for everything; Tattoos (ie face painting), Poop Deck (bathroom), Galley (dining room), Main deck (the playroom) and the front door's sign Enter at your own risk.

 Marcus and Anneke were in charge of the ocean. This is what you saw as you came in the front door. The made the fish, ships, etc.

 After the ocean was a beach with sand dune to hold presents.

 Andy's pirate for "Pin the sword on the pirate". (I colored it.;)) Isn't he talented?

Our albino crocodile, again my talented husband did this. (I made those bean bags in the corner.)

 Now for the food.
Jello seas with mandarin orange ships. (Luke doesn't like regular oranges, so we compromised.

Squid dogs.

 Pirate cake pops. (not pictured "seagull eggs" or deviled eggs, goldfish crackers and "shark blood" or fruit punch.)

 Andy did a fine job face painting our guests. Then they got a pirate bandana and eye patch. The chose a pirate name. We had Captain Luke, Jack Sparrow, Red Scarlet, Blue Rhode, Violet Deonna and no name.

 We started our making pirate flags and decorating swords for the pin the sword game.

 While the flags and swords were finished Marcus led a game of "Tick Tock, Tick Tock Don't get eaten by the Croc" or hot potato.

 Our party goers and their flags.

 Luke wanted a few things that we put together into an obstacle course. First they walked the plank, fed the croc, crawled through the cave, spied the pirate through the spyglass, hopped the islands (pictured below) and slid down the water spout (slide). We timed it and the winner got some silly string. An awesome, coveted prize.

The desired pinata. (The second child knocked it off the hanger and so it seemed quite morbid after that.)

 Cake time

 Present time

It was hard work, but so much fun. The only thing we didn't work in was the bobbing for apples. Happy 5th my son.

Devastation

Last week my children came home with their progress reports. They only get a report card twice a year, so this was a big deal. Anneke was ecstatic that she got straight A's for the first time. Marcus was devastated to get his first B, actually, 3 of them.

The next day we went to parent-teacher conferences. Marcus's teacher had nothing bad to say about him. He is on a 7th-8th grade level in everything (and will probably be 9th grade by the end of the school year) and is the leader in the class without trying to be. He is funny, kind, etc. I told her how sad he was about his grades. The problem is that he is sooooo unorganized. He gets A's on everything he turns in, but what about those missing assignments? He forgets to do homework, etc. She suggested a system that I hope works. For the day it has been in place, so far so good.

Anneke is right where she needs to be. She is the tallest in her class and loves everyone. She is starting a fashion club. ;) I love her enthusiasm. Her teacher had nothing negative to say. So, there you have it. My kids are amazing. 

Screw drivers

At my husband's school instead of pencils and stickers with the school logo they give out sewing kits, first aid kits, measuring spoons and even a set of little screwdrivers among other things. When we went to do something at the beginning of the school year, Luke came away with those little screw drivers. He carries them everywhere with him. Two days ago he realized what they do...

Mallory got the Disney Princess castle from her grandparents, batteries not included. (see precious post for pictures) After a few days Luke figured out (with the help of big sister) how to unscrew the bottom and put in batteries. Mallory has been playing with the songs blaring practically nonstop since. Fine. But, Luke now unscrews everything. All the toys he can find. Just now he took every screw out the toy cell phone next to me and tried to unscrew the desk drawer. *sigh* What a kid. :)

*Stay tuned for parent/teacher conference update.

Terrific 2!

My baby girl crawled into bed with us this morning. 45 minutes later she was officially 2! I can't believe how fast time has gone. I am so grateful for my Hope.

She opened her present from Grandma and Grandpa. It was in a neat bag that has also been super fun to play with.

 Disney Princess Fisher Price castle!

 Everyone played and made a Little People village before breakfast.

 I made up a birthday pancake recipe (It had sprinkles even) and whipped cream.

 See, that bag is nifty.

 My little chef is growing up.

The day is still young, but I wanted to post these.

So Tired

Now that Mallory doesn't have to stay in bed, she, well, doesn't. Before she would roll over when she woke up too soon, now she comes to find me. Nap time is too short and interferes with preschool time. Bedtime is too short. I am tired of being woken up at 4:00am and being kicked in the side and stomach as I try go get her back to sleep. 

Everyone is tired. She keeps Anneke awake at night, then visits Marcus. Mallory herself is exhausted, but we can't force her to sleep. Andy is always tired.

In other Andy news: he had minor surgery to remove the bump on his head, nearly broke his finger playing basketball (it was a severe sprain) and had to get x-rays and his motorcycle isn't working and he can't figure out what is wrong. 

I hope things are better for the rest of you.

Trunk or Treat

Once again my blog is causing me grief. So, turn your head and enjoy the view.

We went to a local comic book store to show off our super heroes. Andy entered us all in a drawing for the night. Andy and I actually won; a Wonder Woman collection and a Superman collection. I knew that it was for my geeky husband and they are both his now.

Anyway, this is in front of the shop.

 Marcus wanted a more Hawkeye like shot:

 Anneke insisted on having the cape on her shoulder. It is more Wonder Woman like. ;)

 I tried to get Luke to spin his hammer, but he wouldn't.

 Cute batgirl. I was going to gel her ponytails into a point like bat ears, but she was done, so I let it go.

 Trying to get a shot of her in the car meant she had to stop moving. I got about ten with this look or the back of her head.

 Finally, she said "cheese". 

Cheesy Captain America turning the bat mobile into a bat plane. (She was more interested in having free reign of a parking lot in her car than trick-or-treating. All other nursery age children were jealous and she had some sort of bat radar. If anyone came near the bat mobile she would immediately run back over and say, "no, 'top it." Yep, she is 2.)

 Finished Hulk. Luke did not want to do it Dad's way by leaving the teeth in just with the green peeled away. He said, "Dad didn't want to do it this way, but that's okay. It's my pumpkin."

I was "Citizen in Peril". Not a lot of work on my part. My costumes have been lacking since we moved to Vegas. Sometime Andy and I will be The Joker and Harley Quinn (a modest one!) That was my problem. I could not find a modest super hero that was female. *sigh*

Costume Preview

Tonight I hope to get better shots all done up and ready. (Plus individuals.) These were taken before the treasure hunt at a local shopping center on Saturday.

 The shot just made me laugh because it was so horrible all around.

 After obtaining all their loot.

 Today we worked on Luke's pumpkin. He was squeamish about the guts and I love him enough to get involved.

 Mallory's bat mobile. (She licked the roof and smeared it. Don't ask why, there are no words.)

 Luke's HULK pumpkin, phase 2.

I know this is a random shot, but I was proud of my spooky play dough; gray with gold glitter.

Have a fun and safe night. More to come.

My field trip

Anneke wanted to post about her field trip. She has been so excited for weeks about it. My friend drove her and took some pictures that she shared with me. That means that you have visuals for her commentary.

 The first thing was wait at the tables for our tour guide. When the tour guide got there we talked about apple cider. Then we went to the pumpkin patch.

 This is a pic of us on the hay ride. 
 Madison really liked sitting by me.

It was really fun. We got apple cider.
The bottles were small. I rode with the Branskes. We also got donuts.

"The Awesomest Author in the World"

Wednesday Marcus was able to meet his favorite author. The title is actually a quote from my boy about Brandon Mull.

Before we went we wanted to get The Beyonders to sign for Marcus and the 5th Fablehaven for Carlye. There was a huge gap where his books should have been. We got the last title by him for my niece's Christmas present. We were kind of bummed. (When we got there people had full sets of his books and had never even read them. It was nice for him but quite frustrating for us.)

We arrived early to get good seats and hence a good place in line. They presented Brandon Mull with a key to the city of Henderson. He said that it was the first time he got a key to a city and thought it only happened in the movies. He talked a bit about what he was up to and I texted Cari a play by play until we got distracted. One of the guys in charge of the event happens to be a friend. He was trying to get us up front, which he did for Marcus. But, while trying to work this out I missed a lot. :( He is going to do a sequel series to Fablehaven called Wyrmroost in 3ish years. He has one more Candy Shop War book besides the one coming about next week and one more Beyonders due out in March. He is working on a "super secret collaborative project" and another one I missed. After all that they awarded some students a copy of his new book. He had convinced his publisher to let him do it for the art winners. Marcus was in agony. You can see the book to his right in front of the lady. He was so tempted to grab it.

 The man in charge, Bud Cranor, had our Candy Shop Wars book signed special for us at a dinner he had with Brandon. Apparently at this dinner he talked about Marcus and his Fablehaven birthday party. So, when Marcus went up there Bud said, "Tell him you are the boy that did the party." It was really neat. Then Marcus caught a ride and left for Cub Scouts.

Despite getting there early they started the line in a weird spot so 2 hours later we made it to the front of the line. Andy's mantra of the night was "I love my niece" because no one else cared, really. Anneke, Luke and especially Mo didn't really know who he was. Marcus already got his favorite book signed. (Incidentally, it reminded me of "Long walk, part of gift.") We were very tired by the time we got there. Poor guy. He was so nice despite the time and long line behind us.

 Anneke asked what his favorite color was. "Blue, most of the time." Then he asked hers and how to pronounce her name. Andy had him sign a card for Marcus to slip into Candy Shop Wars 2 next week. He mentioned that his niece, Carlye, was from Texas. Mull wanted to get to Texas this book tour but it didn't work out.

 Luke was very nervous and would not pose for the picture. Mr. Mull told him, "Stranger Danger. Good job." It was a fun experience in the end.

I know that was long, but I wanted to have the memory for another time.