Poor Baby

Most of the members of our family have come down with some ugly stomach bug. Poor Sydney spent a day throwing up and over a week with the runs. One morning when I was teaching at the YMCA, Loren got her out of bed and while she was playing with the other kids he went to take a shower. When he got out he found her like this.......

I am sure that she wondered where he was and went to find him, but didn't have enough energy to get to the top of the stairs. I don't think she made it past the first 3.

Spring Break/Easter

We got to spend Spring Break in Utah, but before we left Arin and his family came to visit. It was so much fun to see them! It had been over a year and a half since we had seen them last. Everyone had grown up so much!

I guess you could say after so many birthdays in a row, I was on a cake kick. Those of you who know me best, know that when I get into a particular hobby, it is overload until I am completely sick of it. Let's just say Marshall will be lucky to get a cake. Hopefully, I will have taken a big enough break from it by the time his birthday rolls around!

The kids loved being a Grandma's house. Over course I didn't take any pictures of them doing anything because that is what a good mother would do. We were lucky to get Easter pictures taken. It was quite a feat just to get these few!

And no I didn't try to color coordinate. When I found a dress with sleeves I just bought it. But now I am in trouble because we need a family picture for Loren's office and we don't have anything that matches. Guess I should have thought ahead. Oh well.

Grandma was very "sweet" and bought a bunch of sweets and eggs so that the kids could have an Easter egg hunt. Sydney thought the eggs were the coolest!

She also started to learn how to walk while we were there. She is now cruising everywhere and I can't believe it. It makes her look so big!


At Grandma's the kids always have free reign. They find the candy jar, cookie far, marshmallow jar, fruit snack box etc. Well, I guess they found the camera too because when I was downloading pictures this is what I found. Along with pictures of fruit snack wrappers and the television. I remember being a kid and taking pictures of the dumbest things too. Did anyone else do that?

The Crazy Thing We Call Life

It never ceases to amaze me how fast time flies. Believe it or not our family has celebrated three birthdays. I guess I like to have babies in the winter. There is a method to my madness. I don't like being hot!!!!! :) Marin has turned 7. She is already counting down to 8. It really seems like yesterday since she was born, but in other ways it seems like an eternity. We have moved to 3 different states since then! We invited a few of the Short extended family over for Marin's birthday. She loved being the girl of the evening.

The kids were anxiously awaiting the cake. Afterwards they had way too much fun running around and making noise. But luckily we LOVED it. It is nice to have people to celebrate with!

A week later Sydney celebrated her first birthday! Wow. I guess I can't use the excuse of still needing to loose ten pounds because I had a baby. She is no longer an infant. She loved being the center of attention. It is weird how they can tell when the day is all about them. I was all caked out after Marin's cake (not that it was anything special) so Sydney got cupcakes.

I guess all of the excitement got to Sydney, she wouldn't sit still for anything for a picture!

Don't you love how kids think that toys are more fun in their mouth. I am happy to report Sydney does now know how to put the letter in the contraption on the fridge.

Not only do toys taste great, but so does cake!!!!!



Then 2 weeks later Macy celebrated her 6 birthday. Sometimes I just sit and look closely at my kids and think, "When did you grow to be so big? Where did the baby face go?" Macy loves girly things. It is sad that she had to turn 6 before she got a crown and jewels!

Well we have a break few a minute before the next birthday so for now the celebrations are over. But it has been a blast!

I don't even know what to title this...

It is pretty sad that our last blog was in December. I truly am the worst at this. But for those of you who would like a little update, here we go. Yes, I know, it is a little late for Christmas pictures, but they have been waiting patiently in my camera for this moment so here they are.

We got together with all the Short cousins and visited a petting zoo in Star. The kids got to feed the animals and sit on Santa's lap. We enjoyed spending time with everyone. Unfortuntely we were all busy herding kids and I didn't get a group picture of everyone! Next time.

The weather in Idaho was made us feel like we never moved from Nebraska. There has been a lot of snow that will not melt. The kids have even had 2 snow days. They tell me that last year no one had to use their snow shovels the entire winter. I don't even know how many times we have used it so far. I would use it more but Loren took it to his office. That seems to be happening a lot lately. Luckily he finally bought a vacuum so that I could have mine back! That is ok, I am willing to share, for now. We even had church cancelled a few weeks ago. Loren was nice and played with the kids in the snow.

Our snowman is missing eyes, a nose, a mouth and all the rest of the fixings but at least he was really tall!

The office is officially open for buisness. Loren has seen oh probably between 15-20 patients. He has put on his first set of braces and hopefully more will take the plunge soon! It seems unreal that it is all really happening!

I am trying to get used to being bored. That is what happens when you move. Your life as you know it ends and you have to find a new one. Unfortunately, I am a little bit slow this time figuring out my life. I have been hired at the YMCA to teach step aerobics, but other than that I am callingless and scheduleless. I know those aren't words, but that is ok. I am just trying to enjoy the time that I have to do nothing. It is actually kind of sad because I am so used to doing nothing that I actually forgot to go visiting teaching one day. I don't even look at my calendar to remind me of things because there isn't anything written on it. Hopefully, I will remember next month!

Loren will leave next week to start his job in Texas. He will go there to practice orthodontics one week out of every four. It should be interesting. I usually melt down after the third day that he is gone so hopefully I will be stronger from now on!

We are entering the season of birthdays in our family so hopefully my next post won't be so long.

Thanks to all our family and friends for their love and support!

We Made It!

I can't believe that school is finally over! For real! We are not quite sure how we fit in the world now. The kids keep asking if dad is going to school today, we have to start training them to ask if he is going to work! Wow, work. Loren graduated from University of Nebraska on Dec. 1. There wasn't a formal graduation, but a banquet with all residents and faculty. We were lucky enough to have both Loren's parents and my parents there to celebrate with us. I was wrestling with Sydney the whole time, so Macy was taking pictures. Therefore the quality is lacking, you can only do so much! Roz I am going to use your excuse. I just had a baby (ok, nine months ago!).

This is a picture of Loren with his classmates, Mike and Paul and the full time faculty.

Here is Marin with my mom and dad. Sitting for a few hours is not very fun for little kids, can you tell?

Marshall was lucky enough to sit on Grandma Short's lap.

After 3 hours at graduation we actually got everyone to sit for another few minutes for a picture. It was quite the feat.

The next weekend we loaded up our Movex van and headed out to Idaho. You always hope that the move will go smoothly, but unfortunately it rarely happens and this time was no exception. Our moving van arrived 6 hours late which meant that Loren and all our slave labor (j/k I mean friends) only had 1 hour of daylight to load the truck. The other 3 1/2 hours were in the dark. I can't forget to mention the thick layer of ice in the parking lot from the snow storm a few days earlier and the freezing rain that day. It was quite the day. By the time we loaded the truck, rounded up our kids, and ate dinner, we arrived back at our apartment at 10:00 PM and still had to pack the rest of our stuff and clean our apartment so that we could leave early the next morning. Well, unfortunately we didn't get out all that early. I wish that I would have taken a picture of the kids loaded in the van because they were truly packed in there like sardines. (Our camera battery was dead and I still haven't found the charger, I hope I find it because I have opened every box!) I kept telling Loren that we could buy new cleaning supplies, a new broom, new tp and paper towels, new whatever!!!!! He still kept packing the car until we really couldn't fit anything else. My question was, "how are the kids going to get out to go to the bathroom?" I was sneaky and put some things in the dumpster when he wasn't looking! Our trip across Nebraska took forever. Yes, I know it is a long state, but this time it seemed to take twice as long! Our windshield wiper fluid was frozen so we could barely see out of the windshield because of all the dirt, and ice the trucks were throwing at us. We got to Laramie and they closed the road for the night. Marin was very excited to sleep in a hotel. She got her wish. We were trying to make it to Brigham City, Utah to stay with my sister, but it didn't work out. The next day we made it to Idaho with only a few hours of snow fall. We were very happy to make it. It is reassuring that I will most likely never have to make a long move ever again!!! Yea!!!!

It has been fun to see Loren's office. It is very close to being done. It is also fun to live in a place where we can spread out a little bit. I have never had so much space. There are actually closets that aren't even half full yet. And to have a garage is truly amazing.

I was really looking forward to having a living room that was a living room, not a play room. AS you can tell from the toys in the picture. I am tired of toys in the the living room. For some reason I can not convince the kids to play in the loft upstairs. I think that they are too used to playing where I am. Any ideas of how to solve this problem?

We finally purchased a couch, for the first time ever in our marriage! It was great. Actually my sister bought it for us, but we looked at it online, does that count? I guess we are now real people in the real world since we have purchased real furniture!

Thanks to everyone that has helped us with our big move! We could not have done it with out you! Anyone who has tended kids, lifted heavy stuff, called to see if we are ok, etc.........

Merry Christmas to you all!

Happy Halloween! Or should I say Almost Thanksgiving!

Ok. so retrieving pictures off my camera is like "pulling teeth". Maybe I should have Loren do it since he likes pulling teeth! :) I finally downloaded our pictures from Halloween so that we can document our fun day!

I am proud to announce that I didn't make a single costume that my kids wore. I bought them all and was happy to do it. Sometimes you can only do what you can do!

We went trick or treating at Loren's school. Marin and Macy were very concerned that we were going without them. Sometimes having to go to school can be a bummer. We saw a few of our friends there as well. Marshall is the Lion, he is here with his friend Kari (the Hershey's kiss) and Emma, aswell as Bev the secretary for the department.

Marin wanted to be a soccer player. Who would have guessed? In fact this past weekend the girls were invited to a princess b-day party. Marin let us know that she didn't have to dress up like a princess and that it would be ok if she went as a soccer player. Macy however was happy to dress up as a princess.

Macy is a ballerina spider. All last year Macy participated in a ballet/tap dance class. I had to morgage our non-existent home to pay for her dance costume and then come to find out her one and only performance was on Sunday! So did she wear it? NO!!!!!! Therefore there was no question that she was going to wear it for Halloween. The most expensive costume ever!

Marshall loved being a lion. He made sure he roared at everyone!

Sydney was a kitty. Are cats pink? I don't think so, but it was cute and the first costume I saw at Target so there you go!

After we picked up the girls we decided to try "A Walk in the Stalks" at Hy-Vee. It is a grocery store in town where they have trick or treating in the parking lot. They have different stations set up and they have sponsors that pass out coupons for Happy Meals and prizes and candy. Unfortunately we had to wait in line for an hour in the cold. I am not sure how much fun the kids had. I know that for myself I would have preferred the traditional trick or treating, but oh well!























I couldn't resist documenting Loren's Russian jacket that he found at the Goodwill. He handled Hy-Vee better than I did! Happy Halloween!

Wow, time flies!

It is amazing how fast babies grow up! It seems like Sydney was just born. She is almost 8 months now, it is acting more and more like a big girl!

Huskers!

It is really too bad that the Huskers haven't given us anything to cheer about this year. The Cornhusker state is all about football. There is a pre-game party that starts a few hours before every home game. Amazingly enough it is free to attend (unless you get a 20 dollar parking ticket like we did). The kids had a blast jumping on air inflated objects, getting their faces painted and getting a balloon.

The Things Kids Do!

One day I was enjoying a peaceful afternoon when my phone rang. It was my neighbor letting me know that the kids in the neighborhood were painting Marshall with Eucerin (lotion). She told me to bring my camera and then clean him up. I was grateful for her suggestion of the camera. It helped me see the humor in the situation. By the way, Marshall thought that it was the best thing ever to be plastered in greasy, thick lotion. Whatever!!!

Back from vacation!

Oh, the joys of driving long distances with children. We have returned from our trip to Idaho! Although I don't think that our t.b. (tired bums) have recovered yet. Marin has been very nervous about moving, but now that she has seen all of the cousins that she is going to live by, she is no longer concerned.

We were able to find a house to rent and I am very excited! I have been waiting for a fenced backyard, garage, and seperate living room/family rooms for oh, 9 years now. I feel like I am being let out of jail.

It was fun to see Loren's office. They are making great progress. There is sheet rock now and brick is going on this week. In a few weeks there will even be cabinets on the inside-thanks to Loren's brother Garrett. This building has made me never want to build a house. Too many decisions! We are now counting down until the big day of the move-Dec. 15.

Clock Tower Orthodontics

Welcome to Clock Tower Orthodontics. Our accomadations are very spacious and have lots of air conditioning at the moment. Bring an umbrella if it is raining! The building is coming along, hopefully we will be open for business in Caldwell, Idaho, in mid January 2008!

We have even hired our first assistant. She is willing and ready to put her hands in your mouth! The question is- are you ready? Luckily, she is willing to work for dirt cheap because we can't afford to pay her.

White Trash Bash 2007

You haven't lived unless you've been to a "white trash" party. Who wouldn't want to eat Totino's Pizza Rolls, 'Lil smokies, and Cheese Wiz. There was a gift exchange of $3.00 gifts purchased at a gas station. (I've always wanted a beef stick!) Loren won the prize for the best costume. He definitely fit the definition of white trash, but I still love him! The kids thought it was halarious. They haven't seen that side of their dad.

Raspberries!!!! Yum, yum!

We made our annual trip to the raspberry patch so we could make yummy homemade jam. There is nothing like being covered in raspberry juice, sweat and mosquito repellant! This year we actually remembered to bring our camera so we have pictures to document this great occasion. We finally got the kids to look at the camera, but Daddy forgot to smile!