I've been tagged

Ok, Mia tagged me today. So I need to come up with 7 random things about myself to share. Now I just did 100 things last week so I am going to try and do 7 things about my childhood that I didn't share in the 100 last week. You are so lucky to hear more about me!! Here goes....

1. When I was a kid I wanted to be 5' 9" so that I could be a super model. I stopped just shy of 5' 7" and I round up every time that I have to say how tall I am.

2. I used to LOVE going fishing with my dad. My whole family would go a lot but I always liked to go with dad.

3. My family owned an apple orchard for a lot of my growing up years and I remember having to be quiet during the day because my dad would be up in the night turning on the windmills or lighting the smudge pots. I don't know how my mom kept us quiet.

4. I loved Anne of Green Gables. My mom read them out loud to me and I'm sure that I read them at least twice. I still have the movies too. Maybe I should watch them again :)

5. I mentioned in the 100 things that we had a boxer named Bo growing up but I didn't say that for the last few years of her life she only had one eye. I remember when she came home from the vet, I thought it was so gross. Her eye was sewn shut with stitches. It was really sad but she got along fine with just one eye.

6. I had a friend who used to cut her Barbie Doll's hair. I always wanted to do the same but my mom would never let me. I'm glad now, it would drive me crazy if my kids wanted to do that too.
7. I cried when I saw the Jungle Book. I don't know why but I remember my dad carrying me out of the theater crying. Maybe I was sad that Mowgli left Baloo.

There, I hope that I didn't repeat anything. Now I'm supposed to tag a few more people but most of my friends have been tagged. So, I will tag a couple....

Kinslee
Heather
Katie
Brandi

You girls are it!! Have fun!!

A good book..

A few months ago I started listening to audio books on my MP3 player while I clean or do the dreaded laundry or whatever "chores" that I am doing around the house. It really does help make the time go by faster and in case you're wondering I only put one of the ear buds in so I can still hear the kids while they are playing. The reason that I'm telling you all this is because I wanted to recommend the one that I just finished.....I had not even heard about Marley and Me until about a week ago when my friend was talking about the movie that was coming out. So I thought I'd check it out.

I will not attempt to write a review, I'm sure there are many different reviews that you can find but I did really enjoy it. It had a tiny bit of language but all in all it was pretty clean and it was a great story about a guy and his dog. One of the things that I really liked about it was that it's a true story and I could just picture it all happening. If you decide to read it let me know, I'm interested what you all think.

Sarah + a Marker

Yes it is true, she found a green sharpie. I honestly think this is the first time that any of my kids have taken a sharpie to their face. It all came off but I have to say she was pretty proud of herself and her fancy artwork.

What Happens When You Swallow a Penny?

You end up going to the emergency room!! This story came up two times this weekend so I thought I would post the picture and tell you the story (in case you hadn't heard).

This is an x-ray of Luke when he was just over a year (like a week over). He decided to see what a penny tasted like and ended up swallowing it. Luckily it went it like it did so he didn't actually choke on it but it did stop him from eating anything. That's how we figured out what had happened. He would eat like three bites and then throw up and he was drooling a ton. So, we took him to the emergency room and they did surgery right away. It was really scary for me, just sitting around waiting for him to get out. It ended up taking them longer then they thought so we waited even longer. The original plan was to go in and pull it out but once they got in there it fell down more so then they just ended up pushing it into his stomach. So we got to "look around" for it to show up for about 2 weeks! Turns out we missed it and had another x-ray to make sure it was gone.

So far we haven't had any more kid surgeries and I'm keeping my fingers crossed. It's just a matter of time I'm sure. I hope you enjoyed the look into my past.....

Kids, kids and more kids!!!

This weekend was the men's retreat for the guys at our church. Ben went along with close to 20 other guys. They just stayed one night and are due back this evening sometime. Yesterday morning my friend called me and asked if maybe I wanted to get together with her and her kids and one other friend and her kids. So we got pizzas, ice cream and brownies and a movie. The crazy part? There were 11 kids and 3 adults!! I guess you could say us moms were out numbered. Oh yeah, and one of the moms is also pregnant so #12 is on the way. It was so fun and our kids had a blast plus, it made our night without the men go by fast. All the kids get along really good and the older two girls were a big help. Here are some pictures of them watching the new Veggie Tales movie -- The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything. The kids LOVED the movie. I can't say that I watched it much, I was too busy eating brownies, drinking coffee and visiting with my friends, but the kids really enjoyed it.

This first picture is of the whole group. The four girls (not including Sarah) and the boy in the green shirt all belong to Mara, the boy in the black shirt by Jacob and the boy with the blue sleeved shirt belong to Cerissa and then of course there's my four.
Here's Zachary sitting with Kyra. He loves that girl!! She's such a good sport. She is the oldest of them all and plays so well with them and even helps with diapers and cleaning up. Thanks Kyra, you're awesome!!

This little boy is Chance. He was so into the movie at first, if you can't tell from the picture.

Here's Ayla, Luke and Emilyn laying on there tummies. They are also very intent....

It looks like Logan is really enjoying it here. I'm not sure what was going on but look at that smile.

Marly in this one decided that she would look at the camera. I didn't get a very big smile but I got a little one. In all fairness they spent all morning taking pictures, so here cheeks were probably sore form all the smiling that she had to do then.

I love this picture of Thad, Ayla and Luke. Notice Ayla's hair? She made it all day with the hair in pig tails and then pulled them out just in time for the picture.

So, Thad and Sarah are funny. I think that Sarah scares Thad 'cause she's always chasing him around our house. Uh Oh for me huh? Don't you think they look so cute together though?
I couldn't resist this one....she was saying her famous "cheeeeeese".

So that was our fun exciting pizza/movie night.

**If anyone wants an update on Dash...he is doing so much better. Yesterday at about 4:00 he totally perked up and seems to be in pretty good spirits this morning too. Now the problem is going to be keeping him calm enough to heal right.

Making Laundry Fun!!

I know that I am spending WAY too much time on my dumb ol' computer today but I finally figured out a way to make laundry fun!! I had to stop and show you.....

If you haven't see them yet go see our family night and our mini Beethoven and don't miss my 100th post. I just thought I should put those links there just in case it's been awhile since you've looked at my blog. I don't usually update things so many times in one week and I didn't want to throw you all off.

Italian Family Night (with a minor dog emergency along the way)

I have decided to make Wednesday nights "Family Night". A couple of weeks ago we just did a pizza/movie night, last week we did a "breakfast party" (Pajamas and all) and then just this past Wednesday night we had an Italian night. The whole idea was that we were chefs in Italy or at and Italian restaurant depending on who you asked. We had it all, the chefs hats, the music "When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's amore!!!" and others too, plus we even had the red and white checked table cloth. We all made our own pizza and I made Italian Soda and for desert we had Italian Ice. It was a lot of fun but we did have a little bump along the way which I will tell you about at the end of this post. So Ben took some pictures of the evening....

Don't you just love the chefs hats? I got them at the 50% off card shop for pretty cheap. They were just paper and already a couple of them have holes. In the picture below you can see my chef hat, it's a homemade one decorated by the one and only Jacob Abshire!! There's another picture of it later where you can see it better.
Unfortunately Sarah didn't get a hat, I just knew that she would have torn it to pieces before the night even started. She didn't seem to mind though as long as I kept some kind of food on her tray. Have I ever told you how much this girl can put away in food? She's a good healthy eater.

Here's the kids' pizzas. Jacob and Zac wanted the big ones and Luke wanted the english muffin style, that's what I made for Sarah too.

Ok, so this is funny progression that I had to put in. Ben was in charge of taking the pictures and he was trying to get one of him in his homemade chefs hat decorated by the very talented Luke Abshire. This was the first try......wow buddy, that's a little scary.

Here's the second one.....this one's a little better but I think that I see nose hair babe.

And here's the final shot....nice job, you look so handsome in that hat.

Here's my hat. I guess you can't see it much better in this pictures. You'll just have to take my word for it....it was decorate awesome!! It said "Chef Angie" and "I love you Mommy" and "This is what you would look like if you were a chef". Come kid, don't know you know that I really am a chef?
And last but not least...our fancy table. The table cloth was also from the 50% off Card Shop. It too was paper and had a hole in no time at all.
Here's a little video with the kids telling you what we are doing. If you listen real close you can hear the great music in the background. It's really not my favorite music so I was ready when it ended.

All in all it was a fun night. As for the bump along the way....While we were eating, our dog Dash was at the vet's office having emergency surgery. He ended up eating a rock that gave him an infection in his intestine. It was actually pretty scary for a bit, the vet told Ben when she took him in that there was about a 50% chance that he might not make it out of the surgery. Originally the thought was that the rock was too big to pass and there was no way to tell what kind of damage it had done until she got in there. Once they got in there they realized that the big problem was the infection and the rock didn't end up doing any serious damage, it just caused this horrible infection. He good now though, just in recovery form a rough couple of days. He's on about a million different pills and has to wear a cone so he doesn't look very good but he does wag his tail some so I think he's starting to feel better. I tell ya, having a dog is rough sometimes but I'm glad we have him. As hard as it was to have all that going on when we were supposed to be having this fun family night I think that it was a good thing that we had something fun to do. It kept our minds busy and we didn't just sit around waiting to hear how things were going.

Well I guess that's all for now. This was kind-of a long post for me. I guess the 100 Things must have got the juices flowing. Have a good weekend everyone!!

Ladies and Gentlemen......Beethoven (aka Sarah)

Now that Sarah is climbing I am having a hard time keeping off of EVERYTHING!!!! That includes the piano. She was up there playing the other day and I thought it was cute enough to share with you all.

So, what do you think? Is she going to be a famous pianist? She may not become famous but she sure is pretty stinkin' cute!

100 Things About Angie

From all the blogs that I've seen and read, I have learned that it's a blogger tradition that on your 100th post you have to list 100 things about you. I'm not sure if I can actually do this without putting you all to sleep (me too) but I will certainly try. I'm sure there are things that I will put here that you already know but I'm sure some that you don't know. I also want you all to know that I totally expect you to read EVERY word :) Just joking...if you don't want to read it just skip but if you do read it feel free to leave a comment and tell me how weird, funny, a little dumb, or whatever else you think I am. So, here goes....


1. I was born on July 2nd, 1978
2. In Omak, WA (a town of about 5,000 people)
3. I was home schooled all 12 years
4. I loved it!! A lot of people worry about social skills of kids that are home schooled but I never had a problem with that. If you know me....
5. I am a VERY social person. (like how I pushed that one to number 5?)
6. I took one college class right when I was done with High School (it was music theory at Cal Baptist in Riverside CA)
7. I almost went to college there the next year
8. I got a job as a dental assistant when I was 19 (the reason I didn't go back to collage)
9. I also thought about going to the University of Idaho. I met the head of the music dept. at a piano competition and he asked me to come there. I'm not real sure why I didn't go...it just wasn't in God's plan for me.
10. I worked as a dental assistant for 4 years -- 2 different dentists. When I got married I moved and found a job in Cheney.
11. I got married in June of 2000. It's really easy to remember how many years that we've been married!!
12. When I got married it was first time that I had ever lived away from home.
13. It was really hard moving away from ALL of my family.
14. It took about 5 years before Spokane really felt like "home" to me.
15. We have lived in 4 different places in the last 8 years. 2 apartments and 2 houses. We plan on staying in this one for a long time.
16. I am married to my very best friend.
17. I "went out" with Ben when I was 15.
18. He was my first date. We went to the prom together.
19. We went out separate ways for about 6 years then got back together.
20. I told him that I was in love with him before we started dating again. I knew that I was going to marry him before he did.
21. I have the 4 cutest kids in the universe (go ahead and tell me that I'm wrong if you want...I still won't believe you....but yours are a close 2nd)
22. I love being a stay at home mom. It's the best job ever....and the hardest too!
23. I think that I'm going crazy in the head most days....my kids are busy!!
24. I hate doing laundry....it's my enemy and is never ever done.
25. I am also not a big fan of vacuuming. Maybe I need a Kirby or a Dyson :)
26. I don't know how to keep up on my house either
27. It's messy most of the time (this is where you can give me hints)
28. I feel like I'm always cleaning/picking up and it just never gets done. I guess that's 'cause we live in it.
29. There are days when I wonder if my kids are crazier then anyone elses or if they are just normal boys.
30. I think my hair is already graying!!
31. I can't believe that I'm only at 31!!
32. I was scared to death when I had Jacob
33. I didn't even really know how to hold a baby...I had never babysat infants.
34. There was nothing to worry about....it all clicked.
35. I love having babies.
36. I could have a million of them as long as I didn't have to bring more home :) I know that sounds bad...I love my kids but I just know my limit.
37. I have the perfect number of kids
38. I was also scared to death to have a girl....I only knew boys! I'm still a little scared but getting used to it.

*Break*

Are you making it through this horribly long post? I hope so...I need to take a break though.

***

39. Sarah looks just like I did when I was a baby. When she turned 1 I compared my first birthday picture with hers and if you didn't know it would be really hard to tell who is who.

40. Luke also looks like I did. It's just a little harder to tell since he's all boy.

41.When I was little I had some friends who nick named me "walky talky" heehee...makes me laugh now (are you laughing Shiloh?)

42. I think that I could probably still have that nick name really.

43. I learned to ski when I was a kid and skied with my family lots.
43. I was also on a ski racing team. I sucked big time. I'm pretty sure that my name was at the end most of the time. I guess I just wasn't daring enough to just "let go" and take off.

44. I started snowboarding when I was 16 or 17. I never got very good at it but it was fun.

45. Someday Ben and I want to take out whole family skiing/snowboarding.

46. I broke my thumb when I was about 10. I was skiing.

47. My thumbs are different lengths. When my left one broke it was the spot where it grows and so it never grew after that.

48. The only time that I've ever had to stay in the hospital was when I had kids.

49. I loved being there....like I said earlier....you can say I'm weird. It's just fun being taken care of.

50. I knew 5 great-grandparents and 3 grandparents growing up.

51. We had a Mamoo and Pop, they were greats. I remember them really really well. Pop lived until he was 96 (?) and I was 19 or 20.

52. My mom's dad died soon after I was born so I don't remember him at all.

53. My Nana and Grandad still live in the same house as they have my whole life (that actually where the winery is.)

54. I grew up living in two different places.

55. My family owned a business in Southern California. It was an apple business so during the apple season, August through December, my dad, mom, brother and I would live in Oak Glen, CA.

56. I worked for them. It was such a great experience for me. I think that has a lot to do with the "social" part of me.

57. I got to go to Disneyland, Knott's Berry Farm and Sea World a lot when I was a kid.

58. Once Chad and I got old enough to drive we would got to concerts. We went to hundreds of Christian concerts.

59. I just found out the other day that I actually know the keyboard player for Switchfoot. He used to be in a band called Mortal and we saw them several times and I met them the first time I saw them. His name is Jerome in case you were wondering.

60. I want to go back to Oak Glen sometime with my family. It's been at least 10 years since I was there last.

61. I went to Hawaii when I was 21. The dental office that I worked for went for a convention. It was such a cool place. I wanted to move there, Ben proposed to me when I got back. I got married instead :) good thing.

62. We will go there together someday. Maybe for our 10 year...in 2 years!!

63. I went to New York 2 1/2 years ago with my friend Kristin. We went to see our two friends Jen and Melissa.

64. That was the first time I had been away from Zac and the longest from the others. It was so much fun and we did a ton stuff.

65. I have the best mom EVER!! She is always doing stuff for me and she still "takes care" of me. I love her so much and I don't tell her enough. (I love you mom!!)

66. Our friends used to call my mom Betty Crocker. She is quite the cook. I've always wanted to be like her.

67. I really enjoy cooking....I have since I first got married.

68. I started Weight Watchers in July and I have lost about 14 pounds and Ben has lost 30!!

69. It hasn't hindered my cooking at all. I've just had to change it a little.

70. I still have 30 more "things" to go?? It's starting to get hard.....

71. I have played the piano since I was 3 1/2. My mom started teaching me then when I got a little older I took from other teachers.

72. I played in competitions. I won state once and came in second a couple of times. That was one of my favorite parts.

73. I taught lessons when I was 15 through 19. Then got my dental assisting job.

74. I just started teaching my two neighbor girls. I am loving it!!!

75. I still play some. Mostly for my church. I wish I had more time to work of classical stuff but it takes so much time.

76. I used to play the drums for church too (when I was younger). I had a friend that was a great drummer and he taught me some stuff.

77. Someday I'm going to learn how to play the guitar. I would love to be able to sing and play with the kids.

78. I love my friends and I love spending time with them!! Unfortunately I am so busy with family that I don't get to spend time with as many of them as I would like to. They are all awesome!!

79. I drive a Suburban...what else could my family fit into.

80. I don't really like snow. It's okay for a few days but I don't like to drive in it and I'm not a fan of cold weather.

81. I love the spring, when it's warm enough to be outside.

82. I also like the crispness of fall too. I just don't like what comes after it.

83. I am starting to become a football fan. That's another good thing about fall. Ben is starting to wear off on me I guess. Although our poor Seahawks suck this year!!

***

*I know I'm almost there but I have to take another break to think about more stuff*

***

84. I used to be a lifeguard. I started when I was 17. It was the best job...I got to sit out in the sun and get a tan.

85. I also taught swimming lessons. It's a little ironic that my kids are just now learning how to swim.

86. Growing up we had a Boxer named Bo. When we got Dash (our dog now) we looked at some boxers. I've always thought that it would cool to have another one. She was a really good dog.

87. I know that I've told you this before here but I will say it again....I love coffee. I know that I drink way too much of it but I really really like it. My favorite way at home is with some Coffee Mate Coconut creamer in it. If I go out, I go to Starbucks and get either a Carmel Macchiato or a White Mocha.

88. I play pinochle. I have since I was young and it was just my luck that Ben plays too. We don't play enough but whenever there is a family gathering we usually get a game or two in.

89. I married into an awesome family!! I love Ben's family...all of them. He has a ton of cousins who all have kids around the same age. We don't see them enough but when we do we all have a blast.

90. My sister-in-law Becky is an amazing person. I have been friends with her for longer then Ben and I have been married. She also has a cool family!!

91. I enjoy reading when I have time. It takes me a long time to finish a book now though. My new thing to do it download books onto my MP3 player and listen while I do my housework. It make the time go by pretty fast.

92. My favorite book?? I would probably have to say Francine Rivers Mark of the Lion series. They are great books...I would highly recommend them.

93. I Love Jesus!!

94. I have been a Christian my whole life. I don't remember any distinct point in my life that I become a believer...I just am and have been.

95. I have had some tough times but I always come back to God and realize that there's no way that I can do anything without Him.

96. We helped with a church plant about 6 years ago. We are still there and both Ben and I are very involved. It's cool to be able to serve God in different ways!

97. I pray everyday that my kids will love God and grow up serving him.

98. I wish that I could be in more then one place at a time. Then I could do way more stuff and be way more productive!!

99. I'm amazed that I've made it to 99!!

100. The most profound thing about me that you probably all know....I'm a goof ball!! :) I like to joke around. I get that from my dad...he's quite a joker. I'm pretty sure that at least one of my kids has gotten that from Papa too. We'll see about the rest of them.

Oh my goodness....I'm done!!!! Hope you stuck with it and if you have any questions about any my 100 things please ask. I love to share about my life and please please leave a comment to tell me that you read it.

Is She Hungry?

On Thursday night my family ate before me because I had a meeting that's right at dinner time. So by the time I got home all the kids were fed and in their PJs ready for bed. As I was eating my taco salad, Sarah climbed up on the table (if you haven't seen it click here ) to watch me eat. It was pretty funny how close she got to look at it. I did finally give her a bite and when I did she said "ummmm!" I think she just likes to eat my food. I thought the pictures were cute so I thought I'd share.

The two that I forgot...

I was just told by Becky that I didn't post any pictures of Zac and Sarah. I don't have any great pictures of them but here are a couple.

Zac loved dancing. You should have seen him.....he was quite the dancer.
Here's Sarah in her beautiful dress. It matched everything really well and it was nice when she wasn't trying to pull it up :)

My Brother Got "Hitched"......FINALLY!!!

So last weekend Chad, my big brother, got married to an awesome girl. Crystal had been a part of our family for three years but it was pretty cool to see it become official. The wedding was gorgeous. It was an outside wedding and it threatened to rain but it only sprinkled off and on. I thought it was perfect weather for the time of year. There were a lot of people there....200 or so. I guess you can say that they are both loved by many people. 4 out of the 6 Abshires were in the wedding....here's a few pictures.

Jake and Luke were the Ring Bearers. They did awesome and were so proud to walk down the aisle with the rings.
Ben was privileged to be the Best Man. Doesn't he look so handsome there??
I was one of 6 bridesmaids. I felt so honored to stand up there with them. Don't you think Crystal is stunningly beautiful? I went dress shopping with her and not one dress looked bad on her but this was a great choice. I am so very proud of my brother. He picked a great girl to be my sister-in-law.

Chad and Crystal -- Congratulations on starting your new life together. I love you both!!

P.S. To see more wedding pictures go see Kimberly and check out all of the pictures she took at the wedding.

My little climber

Sarah woke up this morning and decided that she was going to be a climber I guess. This is not the first time that I have caught her up on a chair today. She is very proud of herself if you can't tell from the pictures. I don't think she can get down on her own yet but I'm sure it will come soon.....

As I was writing the first part of this post I looked over and this is what I saw...

My oh my, what am I going to do now??