The talk

We finally buckled down and gave "The Talk". You know which one I mean, right? THAT ONE TALK? The one where we explain to our son that part of a daddy and part of a mommy is needed to make a baby?

Yep, THAT one. I wish I had some advice for all of you yet to have to experience this. I can say, we had planned it out. There was to be no awkwardness, no embarrassment. And then it all went to pot as mommy died of embarrassment. I'm quite literally dead from having to talk about the birds and the bees.

I don't know how the end of THE TALK went. I got all the way to the part where something goes somewhere and I ran out of the room. Daddy had to finish. I don;t know how it went. I didn't ask. I am assuming that Dustan told the boy all kinds of crazy stuff.

It would have been far easier to just show him this video

(Thank Val)

The quiet is like a roar inside my head

My house was full. FULL. My Granny and Papa came up from Arkansas and brought my Aunt Brenda along with them. Or maybe Aunt Brenda brought them. She drove. And despite "Tom Tom's" bad directions, they were able to pick up my cousin Leah along the way.

Add that to my sister and her four kids who along with my mom traveled down from Ohio. And my brother Seth and his wife Carrie came down from as well.

FULL. And noisy. My mother's family is the noisiest family on the planet. 4 millions decibels of utter chaos and craziness.
And love.

Now, it's quiet, and empty. And I am lonely.

Update on Dustan's grandfather:
He is still living, but at this time, is still not expected to pull through. The Hester family is a strong and vibrant family, they value your prayers.

And here is a little something to ponder as we gear up for another frantic holiday season.

Please keep our family in your thoughts and prayers.

Dustan's grandfather is dying. Not likely to make it through the night.

Wanna hear a dirty Joke?

Once upon a time, there was a family





And they all fell into the mud. Even the dog.

We went hiking today. Followed a creek. Swam in the creek. Watched the minnows and the crawdads. Got lost. Talked to a stanger who let us know we were way lost. Way way lost. Followed the creek back. Found a skunk. I mean, Heidi found a skunk. And now the whole house smells. Yuck.

Three Hotels in Three Days...

Or
How Not to Take a Vacation...
Or
How to Survive life in a Hotel With Seven Kids...
Or
Chicken Soup for a Grandma's Soul

Seriously, now, with all that is going on with this post, it's hard to choose a title. Basically, this is going to be a long dreadful story sprinkled with almost a million pictures. The story is meant to be cathartic for me. The pictures are for a grandma who is desperate to see her babies.

It all starts with my sister who has the most hilarious blog ever, but rarely posts. she is moving to Ohio and needed me to watch her kidlets (of which there are four) while she hunted for a house.

Hmmmm. Insanity set in and I said "yes". Seven kids in one hotel room. Seriously. I was insane.
Tip number one:





Bring electronics. Lots of them. Enough to share. Perhaps you will be caught in a blizzard, unable to leave your hotel room. You will be grateful for leapsters, and televisions, and computer, and wiis.

Tip Number Two:
Hot water is very important. Really. it is. Water of some sort at all is even more important. Our hotel decided not to have any, and so, we learned this the hard way. We spent two hours on the phone searching for a new hotel room. We found one. Next door. Right as the blizzard started.

Also, it does help if you are snowed in with some really cute kids.

Tip number three:Don't burn the first hotel down. Especially if they don'thave water.

Tip Number Four:
When all else fails, and when those cute kids decide they no longer want to be in a hotel room that does not have internet (even though it was advertised) and only 8.2 cable channels, then, baths and blowdryers will work for some temporary entertainment.

Tip number Five:
There are crazy quilting ladies from Detroit, Michigan who won't hestitate to drive to Ohio in the kiddle of a real blizzard which is producing 2 ft of snow and zero visibilty and insist on taking your hotel room. Evidentally, crazy people such as those, actually do exist.

Tip Number Six:
Blizzards are real things. It took us twenty minutes and half a heart-attack to drive two miles.

Also, our new hotel has no cable tv. Fortunately Uncle Jesse is willing to entertain the kids with warcraft. Which is good because the wii can't be hooked up here either.

Pretzal Party

I am finally catching up here on toasty toes blog. I have finally after a couple of hours of uploading pictures, reached the pinacle of the year. Christmas Day.
By the time the Christmas pretzal party time arrived, I was sick as sick could be of being in my kitchen, so I begged my daddy and Dustan to head up the task. I just snapped a million pictures, cringed at all the finger licking, and laughed at the crazy candy combinations they came up with.
Also, you will perhaps see reason number 523 why I have not blog posted in so long. Work day never actually did end. It's still going on. In fact, it went forward even today. Dustan is busy laying flooring as I type and I am busy waiting for my freshly painted pantry door to dry so that I can move it out and start painting my basement door. You will see our new cabinets, and new paint color. You will not however see any window coverings, or a countertop. The countertop will be here next week, and the floor will also be done next week. I have lived in a quasi kitchen for over a month (we started this at the beginning of Nov., and I am ready to have a kitchen back. for those who may be wondering why we got new cabinets when the old, lovely blue ones were so cheery and pretty...well, the best explanation is that we will be selling the house. Which is reason number 524 for the lack of posting. I am mourning my lovely house- But, God has big plans for my family, and the first step is to get this house sold. So, I am no longer making decisions based on my own likes, but the possible likes and desires of the "everywoman". I am not everywoman, and this has been quite a grueling task for me.

But without further ado, here is pretzel day: (oh, and blooger pics is broken at the moment and so I had to use photobucket- which means I can't control the size. if this causes your computer to have a stroke and die- I am sorry. check back later and hopefully blogger will fix their issue AND I will have time to add smaller pictures.)

Happy Belated Halloween

Hahaha! For some reason, posting all these belated greetings crack me up. I am easily amused, which is a good thing I suppose.


The boys made their own glow in the dark skeleton costumes with very little help from mama. I have very creative little boys.

Did work day kill me?

Almost. Seriously. I think I am allergic to work, and no matter where I turn- it is tehre. Following me. It's a bit spooky. A lot has happened since my last post, in which I became so bored with my own posting that I just stopped. Cold Turkey. It didn't hurt at all.

Anyhow, the world seems to want to know what is happening in my life (and by world, I mean my small but significant family) and so here are some pictures of pumkin day.


Happy belated Pumkin Day! Hahaha!

Guess What?

This child is almost impossible to photograph. But he has a surpise that he wants to share...so he patiently waited until I was able to capture this "growing up" moment.

I am alive. Which is good. And not as easy as one would think.

I am adding this little video of Esther, which will cheer us all up. Unless it doesn't work. Which it won't, because that is the kind of night it is.

BUT. If it does, it will surely make you SMILE!!!

Ummm, my house is messy because it being destroyed by to humans who thought it needed to be repainted, refloored, and redecorated.

Special Day

Marcus is EIGHT!
Happy birthday little boy. I mean big boy. Eight years. I wish I could keep you forever, but the point of life is to grow...in both wisdom and stature. You have done both. This year saw your first basketball goal, your first fight with crazy aunt Mary, your first book- read completely on your own, your first mission project, your first swimming lesson graduation, and oh so may more firsts. My favorite first was you responding to my "I love you." For so many years I have told you that I love you. I love you around the world and back, I love you when you scream in anger, and when you pout for three hours because you have to write a spelling sentence. I love you when you tell me that you are a frutitarian and won't eat veggies or meat. For eight years I have told you that I have loved you. And for eight years you have responded with "I know." or "okay." I have always known you love me. But like every mama in the world I longed to hear it. I cursed the condition that made you write such beautiful poetry, understand such things that most seven year olds gasp in confusion at. That same condition that made you stiffen with every hug and to never respond to my loving whispers.
But this year was a milestone. I held up my fingers, in the sign for "I love you." and you responded. Your fingers formed an i, l, and y, sign language for I love you. And my heart sang for joy. No other moment this year was quite as good as that one. I love you too, my Marcus. More than you will ever know. Happy Birthday.

Just another day:

A busy busy day.
But oh so good. We had friends over for some school time and craft time. All while the lovely new carpet was being laid. We decoupaged little wooden pumpkins and they had a blast!








While I fixed lunch, Marcus read a book to his friends. He read with expression and made his mama proud. he got some of my genes afterall.

Love Letters

It makes my heart sing. A letter for me.
Der Mom
I Luve Yoo (the o's are hearts!)
Thanc You for
Food
Luve
WEStON

It makes your heart sing too doesn't it?
It also makes me wonder if I am raising as horrible a speller as myself.
It also makes me grateful for rice

Miss Spunk gets a room!

Poor Spunky. She has had a mattress on the floor with some old grey sheets my brother once used. Her blue curtains came with the house and her precious things were piled here and there in misc baskets. Poor neglected child.So how do you create a room that expresses someone so sparkly...and covered in dirt at the same time? How do you make a room that belongs to princess pea in a pod who is playing in the backyard wearing a tutu, cowboy boots, swimming goggles, and digging for earth worms all at the same time? Well...how 'bout we ask her?
After an entire day of searching for rooms online, Esther found this sheet set that she "Just had to have". It fits her perfectly. Frogs, flowers, and polka dots- as well as her favorite color combo- pink and green! I declared it perfect (I was ready to declare anything perfect after a day of window shopping with this child). I let her choose lots of other little details too that will be seen later...when I actually get them done...

And remember those old presswood shelves everyone told me to leave behind? (They were free from a store that was going out of business). Well. Look at them now! I misjudged how high the bed would be and Esther will need a wee step stool to safely climb up there. A bed stool! For a three year old! How awesomely cool is that!
And my curtains turned out lovely. Not completely done. I still have some details to finish (like the hem) but have to make a store run to buy those little details. Just wait til you see what I have planned.

Stay tuned. This is just parts one and two. Part 3 is a doozy and part 4 is all those little accessories that will make our crafty decorating hearts swoon.

PS: please excuse naked miss katie up there on the bed. Katie is a bit of a nudist and in an effort to shun modern conventions, she hid all her clothes.
PS#2: This morning is rather dark and gloomy. If it brightens up a bit I will snap some better photographs- cause the ones I posted STINK!

It's labor day:

And so we labored. My entire house has become the Land of Unfinished projects.
Everything got moved into the living room because we tore the carpet out of the dining room only to find that we can not replace it because the floor is so uneven. The solution to this problem is to tear up the sub floor (two layers of it) and sand down the floor joists until they are all even. This will probably get done sometime in the next century. Meanwhile, I now have a nasty particle board floor and a living room full of dining room.
On all of our treks to a million flooring store, in an effort to find an easier solution (we didn't), I noticed that our Discount Decorating Outlet Store was closing. FABRIC! For CHEAP! This floral and denim will be perfect for that new couch and loveseat.
And these are for Esther's room. The frog/floral is actually her sheet set from Target- but it goes so well with the curtain fabric that will get made sometime in the century after next.
And here is that dining room. Since it has no floor that needs to be protected, I used it for a painting studio. Those are those presswood bookshelves I got for free at a store closeout. Everyone kept telling me I was ridiculous for wanting them. But I have grand plans I tell you...Grand plans.
Part two of grand plan. paint Barbie pink? (The color was Esther's idea).

Galesburg had a storm.

Big enough to warrent calling out the big guys with big chainsaws. I went to help my mom feed 40 men who came in from all over our state to help clean up fallen trees. I gave Marcus my camera in an effort to keep him from being a nuisence.
This shot is pretty good.

So is this one. Maybe he is on to something.

This one was the most interesting of the bunch.

hmmm, maybe he should put this career on hold. I had no less than ten shots of shoes, car doors, fans, and celings.

And about twenty shots that looked like this.

And he filled my memory card up with over 50 that look like this. I could play "guess the body" for the rest of the evening.

Anyhow, it was a blessed time and Galesburg looks cleaner than it did when we arrived, but still a bit disgruntled and disheveled. My parent's church lost their steeple and the roof was damaged. Of course, Marcus didn't get a picture of that. wait....maybe that is what that white nothingness picture was.