Crazy Silly Valentine's Chaos

(Happy Chaos Tip #4: Do crazy unexpected things to surprise your family! It keeps them on their toes.)

It's long been a tradition that our kids wake on Valentine's Day to find streamers in their doorways with little love notes proclaiming the things we love about them.

We did that for Zoe this year.

Weston was SURE that's what we'd do for them.

Mwhahahaha! I can't resist an opportunity to surprise someone....

Instead, they woke to find simply three strings waiting for them. And then we gave them the instructions. They had to hold on to their string and follow it until the end.

HA! They had so much fun! Their strings wound all around the house....through the kitchen, living room, downstairs and back up again. They laughed and smiled the whole time. Along the way they found love notes.

Weston's notes said things like...."We love how you love to read!", "We love how helpful you are to us!" and "We love your hugs!"

Emmett's said, "We love your big smile!", "We love how happy you are!" and "We love how much you love your brothers and sister!"

Sam's said, "We love how excited you are when dad comes home!", "We love your laughter!" and, "We love how you love to choose the right!"

At the end of their strings they each found a box of chocolate covered cherries, a new book and a small toy.

At one point Emmett said, "Let's do this again next month!"

In the afternoon, while Ryan was preoccupied with outside stuff....I locked all the doors and wouldn't let him back in! And then....

yep, you guessed it! I handed him a string and let him go about finding his Valentine's surprise. HIS string went all around, downstairs, then back up and then BACK downstairs and then up...hahahahahaha! It was quite fun.

At the end he found a dvd player for the tv for our room and the dvd, Lonesome Dove. I figured it was about time we got one for our room so we could snuggle up and enjoy some flicks together in comfort. :)

Later I took a bit of a nap(we were up quite late stringing all that yarn around the house!)and when I woke up I found a strange yarn mess hanging from my doorway and barring my way. heh heh. In the mess I found a sweet card from my cute man and a bottle of Eternity perfume.

When Ryan and I were married, that was the perfume I always wore. I ran out quite a few years ago and never bought anymore. Luckily, he thought to replinish my supply because the scent reminds us of our wedding and honeymoon. Aw, too sweet, right?

What a great lovey-dovey day!

Happy Chaos Tip #3: Make Homemade Pretzels!

Mmmmm, mmmmm, homemade pretzels! The kids had all sorts of fun forming the pretzel dough into loads of different shapes...

This is what Zoe does lately when we point the camera at her!

Check out Emmett's toothless grin!


Ian, your pretzel kinda looks like a cow pie!

Although I must say, the recipe we tried didn't turn out tooooo good. The kids still enjoyed them, but Ryan and I..eh...not so much. Luckily, my most awesome and wonderful, sis-in-law, Shelly shared her tried and true recipe...

Amish Soft Pretzels

(makes 15)

Mix: 1 1/2 C. Very Warm Water
1/2 C. Brown Sugar
1 1/2 TBS Yeast
Let it sit to soften yeast then add:
3/4 tsp. Salt
4 C. Flour

Mix, then knead together and let sit for 15 min.
Form pretzels by taking a small piece of dough (size of lemon) and roll into a "rope."
Form into knot and dip into solution of

1/2 C Hot Water
2 TBSP Baking Soda

Place on GREASED baking sheet and sprinkle with pretzel salt (or you can use Margarita Salt or leave plain). Bake at 550 degrees until browned- bakes very fast. WATCH!!! Remove from oven and dip tops in melted butter (or brush butter on tops) May sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar at this point if you haven't used salt.

Don't those sound yummy?? Thanks Shelly!

Happy Chaos Tip #2: Welcome an extra child into the chaos!

When you're asked if you want an extra kid hanging around for a few days, say......

"You bet!"

Ryan's sister, Shelly and her husband Brian wanted to take a trip to Las Vegas so, we were lucky enough to get to hang out with their wee boy, Ian, while they had a super time together.

They brought him by Sunday morning and he got to go to church with us. On the way there Ryan and I realized Ian could teach our boys an important lesson. HOW TO WHISPER.

The conversation went something like this...

Ryan: "Everyone needs to be quiet."
Ian: whispers something in an extra good and quiet whisper voice
Our boys continued to not be so very quiet.
Ryan: "Boys, it looks like Ian could teach you all how to whisper."
Emmett, now whispering: "I can whisper!"
Sam, now whispering: "I can whisper, too!"
Weston, now kind of whispering: "I can whisper!"
Me: Weston, that's not really whispering.
Weston, NOW whispering: "I can talk in a whisper...see! I can whisper..."

Finally, we arrive at church.

I am freaking out!!!!

So, I'm trying to get my scholarship application for this super duper most amazing conference in New York ready. And there's so much to do! I thought I was done pulling it all together. But, NO, I was wrong.

There's still loads of financial info I need to track down. How much is our home worth now? How much in savings? Estimated dental and medical costs for dependant children in the last year?

bah. I'm going to bed...

Edited to add: Okay. I popped it in the mail today after trying to get Sam to give it a good luck kiss. He basically just let me push it against his lips. Grrrr. I needed more luck than that!!! Okay. I should know sometime in March ( I think).

Let the wishing, dreaming, hoping and worrying commence!

Like mother, like daughter

We were getting ready to go to the library. I put my coat and scarf on and Zoe ran off.....

She had to find this funny little scarf that used to be wrapped around the neck of a stuffed Christmas bear.

Pretty darn cute, eh?

Happy Chaos Tip #1: Silly Robot Fun

Who doesn't want more chaos in their life, right? Starting today we'll be offering our exciting, fabulous tried and true Chaos Tips. You'll soon be learning all you need to know to begin filling your lives with more Happy Chaos!

Alrightee-o, let's get groovin'...

Happy Chaos Tip #1: Make a robot (or whatever your child LOVES)

What does your little one adore? Space? Dinosaurs? Princesses? Asparagus?


Our Sam LOVES robots. He is completly fascinated by them. He got this super great robot book for Christmas. It had a great craft idea in the back so...















We found some boxes, pipe cleaners and paint and got busy!




Sam named him LockerBot.















His head and body are shoe boxes so Sam can store treasure in them! Very cool, eh?





So, go on. Find out what interests your child, ignore the dirty dishes and clothes, check out some books about what they love or find some stuff on-line, find a craft or activity to do and then...


Make some Happy Chaos!

Ice Fishing Fun

Ryan took the boys ice fishing with his dad on Monday. They had an amazingly super fantastic day. The boys couldn't stop talking about the great time they had!

Sam caught one fish. Weston helped Grandpa bring in a trout. And Emmett caught THREE fish!

Zoe and I stayed home since I figured she'd get pretty cold and bored out there all day, but now I wish we would have gone! I would have loved to have been there to see the joy on their faces as they reeled in their catches.

They only had a few small problems. Emmett dropped one of Grandpa's tools down the hole after his dad said, "Don't drop that down the hole."

Luckily, Grandpa Franz had a camera and Ryan used it to locate the tool and fish it out.

The only other problem made its appearance later...

Ryan forgot about the sun reflecting off the snow and so the boys look like they had some massive allergic reaction! But they would tell you it was totally worth it. In fact, why don't I ask them about it....

Me: "Weston what was your favorite part about ice fishing?"

Weston: "Catching the fish with Grandpa."

Me: "Emmett, how about you?"

Emmett: "Catching all three of my fish."

Me: "Sam, what was your favorite part about ice fishing?"

Sam: "That I caught a fish!"

Tonight Ryan will be cooking up some of the stinky...er...I mean...YUMMY fish. Mmmmm! Sounds good, right?

Edited to add: The fish was surprisingly very very good. In the dinner prayer Sam said, "...Please help us not to cry if we don't like the food."

After they dug in and decided they quite liked it, Emmett said, "I thought this was going to be bad. But...it's not that bad. It's good!"

hahahahahahaha!