Living the life in the D

Palmyra and Niagara Falls 2011

2011-08-23T19:27:00.004-05:00

This summer we decided to finally venture up to Niagara Falls and to Palmyra New York. We had a great time as a family. The Falls, and Hill Cumorah Pageant were amazing.
At the Joseph Smith Family Farm

Sacred Grove

Niagara Falls

Maid in the Mist Niagara Falls

GO COUGARS!

2010-12-28T15:45:00.000-06:00

Enjoying a BYU football game together with my girls!

My girls!

2010-12-28T15:39:00.000-06:00

Here are my girls on a BYU game day this past fall! We love cheering on the Cougars and usually get together with another family for each game (when we get them on tv that is!).

Pictures from DMC

2010-12-28T00:38:00.009-06:00

I have felt extremely blessed to be training at the DMC. Detroit definitely has its issues. But this has provided me with a very unique training environment. I have seen and treated things I never thought could exist. I could write a book on my experiences here and the patients I have come in contact with. A few pictures of some of the hospitals we cover will have to suffice today though.

Harper Hospital

DMC surgery hospital is a main operative site for us covering all aspects of podiatric surgery.

Huron Valley Hospital in the suburbs of Detroit. In a beautiful area of Michigan with lots of lakes and trees. Here we cover mostly elective cases.

Sinai Grace Hospital is where we are the busiest taking first call on foot and ankle trauma and cover all podiatric medicine and surgery.

Detroit Receiving Hospital is a level 1 trauma center where we cover podiatric medicine and surgery and do a rotation for three months on Ortho/Trauma.

Summer view of downtown Detroit from our clinic window.

Merry Christmas 2010

2010-12-28T00:26:00.003-06:00

Here are a few pictures from the past week in our house.
Here I am with my beautiful girls before our annual daddy-daughter date on Christmas Eve day. We go out to lunch and then to buy presents for mommy. One of my favorite traditions in our family.

We are lucky this year to have my parents here with us for the Christmas holiday. My dad and I are big hockey fans and went to see our favorite team play the Detroit Red Wings.

Gleaner's Food Bank

2010-05-08T08:28:00.007-05:00

On Friday afternoon my girls and I went to Gleaner's Food Bank up in Pontiac with some friends from our Women's group at church (Relief Society). It was such a WONDERFUL experience. One that I know we will be doing a lot more. The greatest part of the whole thing was that all children were welcome. I had a few trepidations on my drive up there as to if really my kids were going to be able to help or if they would just be in the way. Our guide was soooo good with the kids, explaining everything in detail. She made sure that the kids really were hands-on helpers and they all loved it. Well, they all loved it for the most part. After about an hour of working Elisabeth made it well known to everyone there as she yelled across the room that she 1.) did not want to do anything else 2.) wanted to eat some of the food and 3.) she wanted to go home! Wow that was embarrassing. Here I am trying to teach my children the importance of happily serving and my middle child yells out a statement like that. Everyone in the room busted up laughing at her blatant honesty. As everyone laughed I am sure that my face turned red. But I must say that in Elisabeth's defense, despite her tiredness , she dug deep and pulled out a smile and continued to work for another hour more. She did great and so did Madeleine! My heart was full as I saw them working so hard. I was one proud mama!

What did we do there, you might ask? Our group sorted a mass load of items from boxes and we made 180 food bags for school kids. The idea with the food bags are that children get fed school lunches during the school week, but what do they eat on the weekends? We made these bags so that every Friday a child in need is sent home with a bag filled with enough food to feed and sustain them throughout the weekend, until school resumes on Monday. The sad thing is what was sent home in the bags.

A Food Bag for an entire weekend for 1 child:

1 box of cereal

2 juice box size boxes of milk

1 can of corn

1 can of fruit cocktail

1 can of chili

And that is it!!! I was shocked and felt completely humbled and grateful for my many blessings. I feel so very fortunate that I am able to feed my childrenhomemade meals that are full of nutrition. I guess we could whine and complain about our role as a mother and having to cook meal after meal, day in and day out, BUT I think we all should feel lucky that we "have to" . I will no longer look at it as a "have to" but as being a blessing. It is a blessing that my children HAVE food to eat. I will continue to cook not only because I simply love it but now I will do it because I GET TOO!

December 2010

2010-05-01T22:08:00.000-05:00

December came and went in a FLASH! I felt like the first part of the month was spent drowning in countless hours planning the mother of all events...our Ward Christmas Around the World Party. Being the Activities Coordinator for the Bloomfield Hills 1st Ward is no minor task, I must say, but I was ready and excited for the challenge. The first thing I was told when I moved into this ward was, "Oh, just wait for our Ward Christmas Party...it is BEYOND anything you can ever imagine!" I was intrigued and excited about this ward party UNTIL I was called by the Bishop in September to be the Activity Director. I mean, really? Me? I have never experienced this calling, I have no husband around, and haven't the slightest clue of people, their abilities, talents, and willingness to help. But with much prayer, amazing help, and a miracle, the Party came together and was Stellar! Or so I hear. The sad thing was that I worked myself too hard for too long, and come the day of the party I was as sick as a dog! No, I did not even get to attend the Party. It was like being pregnant 9 months then never getting to see the birth of your party/child. Yes, I was devastated and yes I cried like a blubbering baby. But I must admit something. I think that because I was confident in my committee, I was confident that I had planned everything to a T, and confident that I worked my tail off even up to the last hour before the party started, oddly I was OKAY. As I stood on the driveway holding Victoria in my arms, having Elisabeth throwing up in the house, all the while waving good bye to my darling husband and precious Madie I felt this load instantly lifted from my shoulders. I knew I did my best and worked my hardest. My sorrow for not being able to attend quickly turned into peace and relief. I felt like I could finally sit down, relax, and start to enjoy the Holidays with my girls. Why do we do this to ourselves? Why are the holidays always jammed packed full of planning school parties, friend parties, church parties, work parties, and more. If you ask me it is quite ridiculous. Now for those of you who know me know that I LOVE to party! But I committed myself for the rest of December to sit down, take a breath, and cherish the little moments with my kiddos and husband. And so the month went on.....

After talking with a few friends I must admit that I was a little nervous for holidays, this being our first time to celebrate Christmas on our own without a home full of extended family. The idea sounded really amazing to me but I was nervous to see if this "idea I invisioned" was going to pan out to be all that I had hoped. Well guess what? IT DID! It was absolutely GLORIOUS! I get emotional just thinking about it! Seriously I must say that this was by far the most memorable and touching Christmas yet. Our focus was our family and the Savior. On Christmas Eve as I prepared the Swedish meal, Dan decided that he wanted to start a new tradition with the girls with hopes to keep it every year. He quickly realized why B.O.B. was his new best friend as he took them all out for lunch at a restaurant of their choice, then to the store to choose new PJ's, and then off to find mommy a gift. He came home and told me that they turned a few heads at the sight of a dad and his 3 girls! It was great for him to spend that time with his little ladies, and great for me to cook and clean in peace, with no distractions or urgency. If I remember correctly I think I even watched a little t.v. too! That night we ate our dinner in PJ's, read our new Christmas stories, read in the Bible about Christ's birth , opened family presents, and were off to bed at a normal hour. Dan and I spent the next few hours building and setting up, preparing for our good friend St. Nick. Why in the world are kids toys so hard to build? Ugh it is the worst! ( I must quickly mention that I told Madeleine that we personally "know" Santa. I explained to her in a really fast and long winded run on sentence that since our Grandpa Arrhenius is from Sweden, which is really far away, he and Santa have been life long friends. I told her that we have "Special Connections" , hence why he sometimes calls me while the girls are at school just to check in on them and to see how they are doing. With a little hesitation at first , a smile pulled through that was filled with excitement from Madeleine. I guess she really was excited about this because she came home from school one day and told me that she told her class that we personally knwo Santa and that he calls my mommy. It is safe to say that Madie was the envy of every kid in class and that it also is safe to say that I was probably the laugh of every mom of those children. Ahh it seemed fun to tell at the time when Grandpa Rawson pretended to call and be Santa. )

Christmas day came and we spent dinner with some close friends and did as we pleased. We are lucky that Dan was not on call on Christmas day. I am not sure how we dodged that bullet, but I will take it!

December Pictures 2009

2010-05-01T22:07:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas! Here are just a few pictures taken of our little munchkins!

Dan taking the girls on their New Christmas Eve Daddy -Daughter's date!

Big girls don't cry, but my baby looks way to cute when she does!

One day over Christmas break was spent as our "Polar Express Day" The girls got to wear the PJ's all day, make a train gingerbread, watch the movie "Polar Express" , and drink Hot Coco. Seriously it was the best day ever! Madeleine took the liberty to set the girls cushions up as a train. She was their Conductor and the were ready and ALL ABOARD the Polar Express!!!

Snow was here and the girls spent quite sometime outside playing in it. Madeleine could spend hours on end but our Lizzy would play and about after 1/2 hour would come in and be completely over the snow!

Madie took the responsibility upon herself to teach Elisabeth a thing or two about the snow. She taught her how to make Snow angels, making snowmen, throwing snowballs, and sledding down the hill that Dan created for them in the backyard.

I love this picture of Victoria standing on the window ledge staring at Dan and the girls with envy. I had Dan throw a snowball at the window where she was standing, and BOY did it scare her when it smacked against the window. It was hilarious... but obviously she did not think so. Oh I love our little TT!!!

Madeleine decided to play school with the girls. I love her teachers desk and picture that is on it.

I know it is completely ghetto but here is the only family Christmas picture we got. But we sure do have some cute little girlie's, huh?

We made about 13 dozen cookies this year to take around to our friends and neighbors. Thanks to Grandma Arrhenius...the girls were able to wear their trusty aprons to help out.

I love these little girlie's! It is so much fun to see them play together. The giggles, laughs, and playing is endless!

Here is Dan with his favorite new baby boy...the Snow Blower. Seriously I am so grateful for it, our backs have been saved many times this year so far.

Happy 31st Birthday to our main Squeeze. The girls painted little frames for him and we surprised him with a Wii. He was sooooo excited.

Madeleine's Holiday party was a lot of fun. I made a "snowman" out of an empty cardboard diaper box. It had a big mouth cut out for the kids to throw "snow balls" through. So...cute!

Pictures at Elisabeth's "Preschool Holiday Party". I wanted to yell out, "Merry Christmas" the entire time, but I guess this is how public school roll these days. I was in charge of the craft

and can I just tell you just how frustrating it was to figure out a craft that had no Christmas symbolism. I stuck to a Winter Candy cane mouse theme. Simple but cute.

You can imagine the horrific look on my kids face when we pulled up to Kroeger's, the grocery store when they saw this.......sitting outside.

I mean, really? C'mon Santa get a grip. I told Madeleine that this was just a guy pretending to be Santa and she was ok with my explanation. Saldy Elisabeth would not settle for that answer. She insisted saying, "No!!! That is Santa!" Geezo!

I snapped this shot of me with my awesome Salvation Army find. A brand new Tommy Hilfiger Nautical sweater for $3.00. I went there to get an "Ugly Sweater" to wear at our friends Ugly Sweater Christmas party and came away with this...

Disney's Princess and the Frog came out in the theatres, so my friend Aubree and I decided to take our "little Princesses" to see it.

Afterwards we took them to a local hamburger shop off of Woodward to get milkshakes!

You know you are cool when....

2010-05-01T18:43:00.004-05:00

You are the topic of a Swedish weekly Crossword Puzzle! Yes it is true...I think my brother-in-law Nik is one of the coolest people I know. A family friend in Sweden sent us this picture of a Crossword puzzle that was recently published in a Magazine in Sweden. I mean c'mon a crossword puzzle...how COOL is that? Sometimes I live vicariously through my "famous" Arrhenius family and their popularity in Europe. It makes my dorky self feel somewhat COOL.

November 2010

2010-04-26T00:31:00.002-05:00

In November we celebrated my 28th birthday and Elisabeth's 3rd! Her birthday was on a Sunday this year so we decided to get a few balloons (no worries this was done on "Our very special day, Saturday"), we invited 2 families over, and we then got to sing to our little darling. Now I must tell you that being the second child and having an older sister, Elisabeth literally and unfortunately came out of the womb singing High School Musical. She literally skipped over the whole Elmo/Barney obsession and went straight for the sappy teeney-bopper love songs. I must admit they are a blast to sing and dance to, but I was still bummed. Well you can imagine just how excited I was when I asked Elisabeth what kind of cake she wanted and she replied, "ELMO!" Do my ears deceive me? Hooray....the classics are back! I drew and colored a few Seame Street pictures on art paper, and, Viola, we had a make shift party tablecloth. (I must inform you that since this time Elisabeth has completely reverted back. HSM is okay to her...but she now LOVES Sesame Street and Barney.

I want to say a few things about our Lizzy Pooh! She rocks our world! When Elisabeth is mad, we are all sad! When she is happy, we are all happy! She can light up a room, make the entire family roll in laughter, entertain us without end, and warm us all with her sweet and tender love! She literally has the world at her fingertips! I hope as she gets older she will realize this and use this strength and quality for good. The world better get ready for our little firecracker, Elisabeth. She is here and ready to conquer the world one person at a time. Surprisingly, this year as she entered school and Primary she turned into our ultra shy and quiet child. You would never guess it when she is in her own element. I must say that Elisabeth is very observant and extremely sensitive in her own way. I have never met a child who is more fascinated with the Savior, His life and ministry. Almost daily she asks me to tell her about Christ, and all of his countless examples and stories. Almost daily she asks to watch a church dvd about Christ, the Crucifixion, and Resurrection. There are times that I question why she wants to watch it. But when I sit down and watch them with her, I get it. She is so inquisitive, and so tender. She loves to tell me of her love for Jesus, and her sadness in the way mean people treated Him. I feel the spirit that she feels and it is amazing! Elisabeth is a great sister, great daughter, and a sweet friend. She is our "Curious George" always asking questions about EVERYTHING!!! Where do things come from, how are things are made, and why do we have things? The questions never stop and for my sake...I hope they never do! I love Elisabeth and am so grateful to be her mommy! I look forward and sometimes nervously anticipate seeing her grow up! She is my pride and my joy! I am utterly OBSESSED with this little girl and all that she is. She has my heart forever! I LOVE LOVE LOVE you Elisabeth!

Okay back to November events! I had the opportunity to go with my friend Aubree to the Food Pantry up in Pontiac to serve a Thanksgiving meal to the homeless. It actually was a few days before actual Thanksgiving day. I am grateful and humbled by this experience. It was sad for me to see the lines and lines of people coming to get their food. To my surprise it was not just your drunken, crack smoking bum from the streets. Parents with children, men on their way to work, hot-shot "bling-bling" Fu-Bu wearing teenagers, and lonely old people trying to stay warm filled the room. I went that day in hopes to lighten peoples burden and lift their spirits but I must say that I am the one that came away being lifted! I was filled with gratitude and completely humbled. My initial hope was to take my kids with me to do this but I am glad that I didn't. Simply for their health and even safety I am going to wait a few years to take them there. I hope when we do it will make a huge impact on my girls life....I know it did mine!

Dan and I felt like the luckiest kids in the world! His parents came out over Thanksgiving and spent a few days here! It was sooooo nice to be with them, in OUR home, and seeing the kids LOVING their grandparents. Dan kept his dad busy by taking him to a Red Wings and a Lion's game. They seemed to have a great time! I know Dan was in heaven to spend a weekend chalked full of sports with his dad! I made my very first TURKEY this year! I have done every side, salad, and dessert but have NEVER had or needed to attempt cooking a turkey. As you can imagine I was VERY nervous because I had my Betty Crocker mother-in-law here and I wanted to impress her to say the least. I did more research on the darn Turkey that by "D Day" I was soooo over it! But the time and effort paid off. Old Tom was very moist, very flavorful, and turned out to be a HIT! Yahoo! My in-laws were also able to see Madeleine's soccer game, go to the Henry Ford Museum, do a Factory tour, and experience "heaven on earth" (Cider and donuts) It was such a great time having them here! The only problem I foresee now is that we will expect and another visit from them sooner rather than later. I love Anders and Kris and feel so blessed to have such amazing in-laws! I really must have done something right in heaven to have been blessed to get them!

November Pictures 2009

2010-04-26T00:30:00.000-05:00

While the boys went to the Lion's game on Thanksgiving morning...

Us girls went to a movie and then back home so I could make Thanksgiving meal.

Franklin Cider Mill and their piping hot donuts!

The Henry Ford Museum...

The Detroit Zoo with my in-laws. A little bit of cold won't stop us!

Elisabeth opening her presents for her birthday!

Look at our Pretty girls....all in a row! This was taken on Elisabeth's 3rd Birthday!

To get the kids excited about Thanksgiving, I took the girls to the Baldwin Library to see a real live turkey. After seeing this Elisabeth was fascinated with the thought that what we eat what was right in front of us, a turkey.

Blogapalooza

2010-04-25T23:22:00.000-05:00

I think...gulp...I think that I am back. My guilt has taken over and I feel such a tremendous urge to jump back on the band wagon. My posterity deserves it. So over the next handful of posts I am going to quickly recap our life, as we know it. I must start back all the way back in October. My mom was here for a couple of weeks spending glorious time with us and keeping us company. Now the reason that I decided to start back then was simply for the grandest holiday...HALLOWEEN. My girls were super lucky this year because Grandma Rawson a.k.a Creative Costume Creator, was in town. She helped fulfill every wish and desire that my girls had. Madeleine was Ariel, and Elisabeth was of course, Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty. Maleficent is hands down her most favorite character. I guess there are not enough kids in the entire world her age who voluntarily choose to be Maleficent for Halloween. There were absolutely no costumes for sale in stores, or on the Internet for Maleficent in her size. Have no fear Grandma Rawson was here. With a twist of her wand, and mad skills she created the most Wonderful costume that I have ever seen. Elisabeth looked FANTASTIC. I mean when she was fully costumed and make on there were many a jaws that dropped, including mine. (Geez next year there will be complete disappointment in the air as I am positive that I will never be able to live up to the G. Ma Rawson standard.) Sorry kids! Cute Victoria was an adorable recycled Butterfly from Elisabeth.Time was spent well while she was here.

October was filled with many trips to yummylicious Cider Mills, Greenfield Village, freezing cold soccer games and practices, fantastic school events, a trip to Canada (yay...we all have our passports! Boo...it sure cost a pretty penny to do so!), and some wonderful time spent together as a family.

October 2009 Pictures

2010-04-25T20:22:00.014-05:00

You have got to love our little TT and her fun faces!

We were on our way to enjoy the Ford Factory Tour at the Museum. Let me say that Mr. Ford was an extremely inspired man.

A day trip across the border to Point Peeley, Canada. It was absolutely A-Mazing!!!

Dan and my dad at a Red Wings game.

Apple Orchard: Yummy Cider and Donuts

Our favorite cheerleaders at Madeleine' s Soccer game. She had a great team, a great season, and great coaches. It was such a positive experience for us all. She scored 5 goals this season...way to go Madie!

Us at The Harlan Elementary Annual Fall frolic, it was wicked fun for the kids!

Elisabeth at her Preschool field trip to Bower's Farm...you have gotta love her choice of pumpkin...of course it was green!

Madeleine's friend, Carson, from school invited a bunch of kids over to his house for a Polar Bear swim and lunch. It was quite chilly outside but they cranked the pool up to 95 degrees. The kids had a ball!

Here is our little darling and a sweet picture of the girls and their best buddy grandma!

Halloween pictures 2009: We celebrated at school, church, Greenfield Village, and trick-or-treating with our friends! You know you all love my last minute Annie outfit! :)

Madeleine

2010-04-24T23:02:00.004-05:00

Out of the blue while eating lunch at the table with the girls, Madeleine says to me, " You know mom if we never get a brother it is okay because we already have one." Hmmm...curiously I wait for her to finish her thought. She continued, "Jesus is our brother!"

I bet you can't tell what has been on our mind around this house lately? Now although just the very thought of getting pregnant literally shoots chunks up my throat, giving me anxiety, and tiring me out with a headache...I think a little boy would be a nice addition to our family! Did I just say that? Three kids is great for me. Now four? Well that might throw me over the edge. Hahaha! We'll see...the Lord always has His plan for us, come what may! But I must say that Madeleine once again is so right! Jesus is our Brother. I told her that she needed to make sure and tell daddy that tonight when he got home. ( I can hardly wait to hear the response from my desperate-for-a son husband.) I am thankful for my Old-Souled-Madie. She has so much wisdom and understanding for such a little girl her age.

Let me fill you in on Madeleine now that my attention is turned to her. Well she currently is in Kindergarten and L-O-V-E-S it. Her teacher is Mrs. Singer, who I might add is A-Mazing! In school they are really working hard at their reading, and writing. Her penmanship is beautiful and her stories that she writes are fun to read. She is reading very well, sounding out any unknown words that she sees. Madeleine is one lucky girl who is surrounded by such good friends. She is always happy and I couldn't be more thrilled. I don't think Madie knows how to simply walk, she literally skips or bounces everywhere she goes, all the while beaming a smile from ear to ear. She is currently in swim lessons and gymnastics. With permissions from Madeleine, I am now officially able to announce that she is able to do a Cart-wheel! This is big time for her. She defeated her frustration and won! Another big deal for her is that she now can swing all the way across on the Monkey bars. (of course, while her kids sister, Elisabeth stands there swinging her booty singing,"Did the monkey mail come?" Silly girl is always making us laugh!) Last summer Madeleine learned to ride her bike without training wheels and so far this year she now has mastered the art of starting the bike by herself without us giving her a push to begin. It is amazing to me just how cool and monumental the little things are to them. I love it! Definitely, once Madeleine has her mind set on something, she NEVER gives up until she succeeds. Madeleine still has an imagination beyond that of ANYONE I have ever met. It is unreal and entertaining to watch not just for me but for her lucky sisters. She has the ability to create something from literally nothing. Madie loves to play with Lego's, build museums, schools, homes, and anything else she can think of. I am lucky to be her mom and see her develop and blossom into this beautiful little girl.

Switch it change it....rearrange it?

2010-04-24T22:30:00.006-05:00

So just after finishing our Ward Ice Skating Party, and completely planning the entire year of 2010 Activities to come, I received a call. A call from a member of the Bishopric asking to meet with me. Of course they did. As with everyother calling I receive I finally get to a comfortable "I can handle this" stage and the carpet is pulled from under me. Then once again there is a grace period where suddenly my world is turned around and rearranged. I was recently called to be the 2nd Counselor of the Relief Society Presidency, being in charge of the Relief Society Actvities. After being asked if I would accept this calling I answered, " Of course. Are you sure? You really want me?" Kindly I was assured that every calling is inspired and indeed they were confident in this decision. Now please understand that I am in no way complaing about about receiving a calling or serving...more often than not I am shocked because of my feeling of inadequacy. This all happening while Dan was out of town in Orlando, Florida attending a huge Podiatry Conference. Of course I immediately called him as soon as he landed. I told him of the news and he laughed, kindly saying, "Wow, you will be great!" Thank goodness for my supportive cheerleader. (I guess to be correct I should call him my Yell-leader! Nah....he is my Cheer-io!) If I have his support and confidence I know I can do it!

Well...game on! I am loving this calling and the Presidency that I get to work with. I am learning soooo much and I am grateful to my Father in Heaven for that. Of course it is busy and there is a LOT to do but getting the opportunity to work with these amazing women, makes it all worth it. It is funny how the Lord seems to give you more time and capabilities to do things even when it seems impossible. Man, I feel sooooo blessed and I am the first one to admit that. I KNOW that Lord loves us. He will lift us through the hard times, if we show our faith, do our best, and WORK. I am confident that if we do so, the Lord will fill in the rest... be whatever it may. We have some great ideas that are in the works for this years activities. Stay tuned to hear more about them as they come. Also, I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to hear any ideas.

Victoria

2010-04-24T19:49:00.000-05:00

January 2010: VicTORia is her name and sauciness is her game! Oh boy, has our little girl stepped into her own. Although she was slow to crawl (almost 10 1/2 months old) she sure is not slow to command the attention of anyone who is present. Wowy, She LOVES to talk, dance, and eat food. Seriously she can whoop her two sisters with eating...and that says a lot because both girls are FANTASTIC eaters. With her loud screams and frantic demands, FOOD is a hot topic for our dear little Victoria. She will eat anything and does so successfully even without teeth, gumming everything down. The looks of what might be two tiny teeth are on their way, it's about time since she is almost 1 year old.

April 25th, 2010: I have decided to add to this post now that she is 14 months old. She learned to walk the day before her 1st birthday, which was completely exciting for us all. I think especially for her sisters...they have been waiting for this day for quite some time. On her Birthday we bought her her very own Pink Princess torte cake from IKEA. She had no problem downing it right then and there! I like how Victoria is completely aware of just how funny she is. She does things and immediately looks at us to await our laughs. And boy does she get laughs. Her two older sisters are Victoria's biggest fans. Both Madeleine and Elisabeth constantly tell me just how happy they are that Victoria is apart of our family. Victoria loves to go to the zoo and read books with us about animals. She squeals with anticipation until we open the pages up to begin. As she points to every animal she either barks at them like a dog or screams like a monkey. It is hilarious. She also is a girl of many faces. Seriously I need to find pictures of her doing all of her various faces. She is more animated in her face that any character I know. She loves to walk around and feels completed free and liberated walking up and down the sidewalks on our street. A sucker is my go to last resort BRIBE for her. My other girls like suckers but not like Victoria. A SUCKER is filled with pure sugary bliss to her. A few words that she likes to say are: baby, Madie, mommeee, dad, bye, hi, ball, more, woof, and eye. When she smiles her sweet little eyes look like moon beams, it makes my hear melt. Victoria is funny because she is at the phase of "monkey see...monkey do." She wants and tries to do everything that her two big sisters do. I get nervous because although she is merely 14 months she tries to act way older than she is. She loves music and has since she was a baby. She likes to dance, bobbing her head up and down.

I asked Elisabeth what she wants me to write about Victoria and this is what she said, " She is so cute. She is so pretty and she likes to wave her arms. She likes to sing and she is pretty pretty smart and we love one another. She likes to Wiggle and watch the Wiggles. Her favorite part is with Captain FeatherSword. She likes to be in church and she likes daddy to go to work. She likes to play with real babies that don't talk. I love her. I like to kiss Victoria. Victoria always likes milk to drink...and me too! Madie likes water. "

Madeleine says this about Victoria, " Um, Victoria likes to eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. She is cute. I love when she hugs and kisses me. It makes me feel good because that means that she loves me. When I go to my bus stop in the morning I can hear hear scream all the way from the bus stop. I like to make her laugh. When she does funny faces she makes me laugh. She likes when I pull her in the wagon or when I catch her on the end of the slide. I love Victoria very much and she loves babies. When I pass her a ball she passes it back to me. I also taught her how to shake her head NO when she was a baby."

Just like our two other girls were at this age, Victoria is attached to me at the hip, which makes life quite interesting when trying to get things done and go places. We love our "TT" and I continually count my blessings with having her in my life.

Confidence and Strength.

2010-04-24T18:28:00.000-05:00

Tonight after reading stories to the girls before bed Madeleine looked up to me with a silly gasp and said, "Oh goodness I almost forgot! " Then she pointed to her underwear reminding herself that she needed to put "night-time underwear" on before bed.

Madeleine really struggles with wetting the bed. Like her daddy did as a little boy, she gets herself into an extremely DEEEEP sleep. It is really frustrating and disheartening to her when she wakes up night after night with a wet pull-up on. (Sniffle, sniffle,tear. This is very sensitive to us.) I mean we have tried every suggestion and tip thrown our way...AND still she continues to sleep straight through an accident. Well, after she quickly changed and hopped into bed this was our conversation. " Why does a little 2 year old (Elisabeth is actually 3 now.) get to wear underwear at night and a 5 year old like me still has to wear a pull-up?"

My heart sank, but like always I proceeded to explain to her that we are all made differently. I continued to tell her about how she sleeps very deep and because so, she is unable to recognize any urges to go potty in the middle of her sleep. After my explanation, which I am sure she has heard a trillion times, with saddened red, watery eyes she very matter-of-factly looked up at me and said, "It's just not right. It's not right that I am oldest and still have to wear one." I agreed then leaned down and gave her a big hug and kiss. Just as I was about to let go of her embrace she held her head up high and smiled up at me saying, "It's alright, I like me just the way I am...NO MATTER WHAT!"

As soon as I exited the room I just stared down the hallway in awe! Did I seriously just have such a strong and mature conversation like that with my 5 year old little girl? I am overwhelmed and filled with emotion at just how amazing Madeleine is. Whoa! She never ceases to amaze me with her complete confidence, strength, maturity, kindness, and love. But I must say that tonight my feelings of adoration AND admiration for her smacked me head on... just as the winter wind in Iowa does the minute you step out your door. It left me breathless.

I don't write about this sensitive topic to embarrass my sweet angel but to inspire and remind all of us just how important it is to love yourself just the way we are....NO matter what! It's a great lesson for me today, especially as I sit here and want to cry/scream as I look down at my milky- white post baby blob hanging over my pants. Ugh!

It took my 5 year old sweetheart to remind me that my Father in Heaven created me and LOVES me just the way I am... no matter what!

Easter Weekend in Washington D.C.

2010-04-24T03:05:00.002-05:00

Over Easter weekend we had the opportunity to go visit our friends Jeff and Alexis in Washington D.C. I had just finished a couple of grueling rotations in my residency program and we were in need of a little get away as a family. We had never been to our nations capital so we were extra excited to see the sites. We had a wonderful time visiting friends and learning more about our nations history.

My two most favorite sites that we saw on our trip had to be Mt. Vernon and Arlington National Cemetary. We were able to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It was a reverent experience to see our soldiers honored in this way At the Lincoln Memorial On the subway going into the city to see the sites. Yes, the double BOB stroller fit In between General Conference Sessions on Easter Sunday we took the family to the Washington D.C. temple and visitors center. The temple and grounds were beautiful

One of my favorite things in the world is seeing the girls play and laugh together. Here they are enjoying time together on the lawn outside of the Capitol Building. Our family in front of the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.

A little update

2010-03-27T12:22:00.006-05:00

My wife has gone on a 6 month blogging sabbatical so I thought I would upload a few pic's to let people know that we are still alive and well in Michigan.

Speed Dating

2009-10-04T16:48:00.003-05:00

Dan and decided that we wanted to find out what speed dating was all about. Not your average speed dating but our poor, married, dorky version of speed dating. On Friday we took the girls with us to IKEA. Once there, we dropped Madeleine and Elisabeth off at their FREE 1-hour babysitting and that is where the speed dating began. Now although we still had our youngest little squirt, Victoria, in our busy crazy world we still considered that "a date". We had 1 hour to to quietly eat dinner together and browse around the store if we had time. Drop off was at 5:10pm and with Buzzer in hand our date was to begin and end by 6:10. Our meal was eaten, conversation there (kind-of, our attention still focused towards Victoria) and all in all we had a great time! After we picked the girls up we took them back upstairs to order food and let them eat. Weird...I know! But hey it's how we roll these crazy Residency days. I think we will be doing this again, so if anyone would like to join us. Feel free to call.

P.S. There are rules and restrictions to IKEA's babysitting.

And it's GOOOOOD!

2009-10-04T16:23:00.004-05:00

We have been found wanting and waiting....that is.... for Madeleine to step up to the plate and show us her aggressive side in soccer. Well last Saturday Madeleine did just that! She got in there, put the pedal to the metal and scored! After the first one we were all shocked. I stood up, screamed like crazy with excitement (almost lost my voice), and Dan of course being the sentimental one teared up! That moment would have been enough to fill our excitement bucket for a lifetime but no, our cup runneth over. Madeleine pulled out two more AWESOME goals! What? My timid little bugger was aggressive and scored 3 goals! I am so proud and so happy for Madeleine. Her smiling face was truly PRICELESS. Of course it was the one game that I did not bring the camera to get the shots, ahhh!

Finally.

2009-10-04T16:13:00.003-05:00

After 4 month of waiting I finally was reunited with my bike buggy's wheels. Along with many other things, I left the wheels to my bike buggy in Utah during the move. Thankfully, Dan squished them in his suitcase so I could come home to a bike that was ready to roll. I immediately threw on the wheels and jumped on my bike and took my babies for a ride to the park. Yes, I squished all 3 of the girls in the buggy. I love riding my bike! It fills my heart with complete joy and I can't do anything but sing and smile! It must be something in the fresh air. Yesterday was the best because Dan pulled the girls to the store to pick up a few groceries while I ran along side them. Exercise and fun, not bad huh?

Gardner Village

2009-10-04T15:19:00.004-05:00

On the last day of our Utah trip we ventured over to Gardner Village in Sandy, Utah with a large group of my most favorite women in the world. Witchapalooza is happening right now at Gardner Village and I love going there this time of year. They stock the village full of hilariously cute witches that create a really fun ambiance for us all. We reserved a table for
16 at the Mill for lunch and chatted our hearts away! Ahhh, it was perfect! Luckily, for me Jenny best friend and her sweet kiddos met up with us. She announcing to all, that she is PREGNANT with their 3rd child! WooHoo, I am so happy for Jenny and Darren. That little child could not be born to greater parents than them. Madeleine and Elisabeth were in complete hog heaven being reunited with Adlen, Grant, and her cute cousins, Erik and Keilah. That afternoon really solidified that I was going to officially be sad to leave all of my loved ones in Utah as we returned home the next day! But....there is always our next trip. When? I have no clue, but I must have look forward to it and remain hopeful or else the distance between us and our families would be too overwhelmingly sad.

Last time we rode the horse Elisabeth cried if I would lift a finger from her body in fear. This time I went to wrap my arm around her and she said, "Noooo...I can do it by myself." Alrighty then, my Lizzy Pooh is brave and full confidence now! I applaud it my dear.

What?

2009-10-04T15:02:00.006-05:00

"Rise and Shout the Cougars are out!"

I'll rise and shout... at the cougars! Man, it was the worst. After our two game winning streak and being ranked 7th in the National polls you can imagine just how thrilled and excited Dan and I were (along with our other family members who went with us) to see our Cougars play at home against Florida State. Poor defense and coming out flat, BYU got stomped all over. Even though the loss, we still enjoyed being there at the stadium. It is always such a beautiful view of the gorgeous Utah mountains. We left Madeleine and Elisabeth at home with Grandma Arrhenius and took Victoria. thankfully we did because she was the hit of the game. Dan and I simply enjoyed the game watching her flapping arms, swinging legs, and dancing bobs to the music and cheers. So...thank you Victoria for the fun!

"Pull out the stopper, let's have a whopper, just get me to the church on time!"

2009-10-04T13:57:00.010-05:00

Wedding Bliss for us all...

I love the song in my title. It is from one of my most favorite movies, 'My Fair Lady. This song always plays in the back of my mind whenever I go to a wedding and now it is while I blog. Yeah! We recently got back from a quick trip to Utah. The purpose for our trip was to go to Dan's last brother's wedding. His brother Leif married Kylie Holt from Raymond, Alberta. Our girls were over-joyed to finally able to call her Aunt Kylie. Needless to say that our girls absolutely LOVE Leif and Kylie and so do we. They were married in the L.D.S. Mt. Timpanogos temple for time and all eternity on Friday the 18th of September. The wedding sealer was wonderful (the very BEST sealing that I have ever attended.) The luncheon and reception were wonderful and seemed to go off without a hitch. My mother-in-law did quite an amazing job getting everything together. Maybe wedding planning could be in her future? (I know she is rolling her eyes and laughing!) It was wonderful to be in Utah and spend time with the entire immediate Arrhenius family. We love them all soooo much!

Best Sisters FOREVER!

2009-10-04T13:33:00.003-05:00

I wish I could have been there! I always wonder how my kids act when I am not around. After I picked up the kids from school, the girls quickly started in, like they routinely do, telling me about the events of their day at school. Madeleine excitingly told me, " MOM, today Elisabeth and I had recess at the SAME time!"

I then asked, "What did you both do when you saw eachother?"

Madie responded, "Well I yelled her name and then we ran to eachother, I picked her up, and we hugged." (Whew...I get choked up just thinking about it!)

I proceeded to ask her, "What did you guys do at recess together?"

"I pushed her on the swings the whole time, mom," Madeleine said.

I never had a sister but hearing things like this make me wish that I did. I hope their relationship together will stand the test of time and grow even stronger as they get older. They are lucky girls to have one another!

Lizzy's First Day of School

2009-10-04T12:28:00.005-05:00

Fun Fact: Elisabeth's first day of school outfit was also Madeleine's first day of preschool over 2 years ago! Cool, huh?

I am a little behind with journaling but I decided better late than never. Elisabeth's first day of school was on Tuesday the 15th. We were all very nervous on what the outcome would be as this day arrived. She was excited at the idea of going to school like her Big Sister and it seemed to be the only thing that she would talk about for days. But I knew that our little one seems to be the kid who likes to talk the talk but not walk the walk. As we drove up to the school and walked to her classroom she was very quite. Not even a peep or smile. But she walked in, hung up her backpack and ever so bravely sat down and nervously focused on playing with the play dough, silently. I looked up at Dan with the hugest pit in my stomach, this wasn't our spunky little girl. Elisabeth doesn't know how to be silent! My heart just ached at her insecurity of the unknown. She was trying to be brave and did a better job at it than Dan and I. Once again I glanced up at Dan but this time noticing tears welling up in his eyes. I quickly stood up and whispered to him, "The tears have to stop...wait until we leave the classroom." He then grabbed Madeleine's hand and decided to walk her down the hall to her classroom, totally breaking down on the way! Cute, huh? I swear having girls has totally goobered, softened, and turned my husband into this totally sensitive and emotional guy! It was so sweet. Well, I gave Elisabeth a last hug and told her I would be back in a little while and left the room. I got out in the hall to be accompanied by at least 6 other parents who were crying as well. Saying things like, "She is no longer my baby." or "I hope he does okay." We all looked at one another, nodding our heads in agreement with one anothers comment, and then just laughed at our blubbering! Oddly I was the most composed out of them all. Despite the pit in my stomach I was used to this separation and crowing growing moment for our kids. I don't think it has gotten any easier but I that I am getting the routine down. Poor Dan...it was rough on him. It was the first time and first child that he had the opportunity to take part in the "first day of school ceremony."

Dan and I walked back out to our car and immediately discussed and analyzed what just happened and how Elisabeth did. Then we both poured our hearts out telling one another just how wonderful we thought the girls were. We both agreed that we wanted to run back into the school, grab the girls, and give them the hugest hugs and kisses again! Are we normal? Or are Dan and I crazy emotional lunatics? Either way, our girls are seriously growing up waaaayyyy too fast! Dan and I want our girls to know just how much we love our girls! It has been and continues to be such an honor to be their parents. I started the car and Dan and I looked at one another with a blank faces. What should we do now? Two girls in school, Dan done with work for the day(he had to go in really early for cases), and 3 hours with nothing to do. We decided to go walk around the mall. Dan took me to Nordstroms to smell the cologne testers, get me mascara, and then we headed over to Pei Wei's for an early lunch together. IT WAS THE BEST! Man... lugging one child around is cake! I guess after having to do it with 3 kiddos all by myself of course it would seem easy. It was GLORIOUS! I really look forward to the alone time I will get to have with Victoria. It is important and very special time to me.

Quickly the time came that we needed to get back to the school and pick up the girls! Both, Madeleine and Elisabeth ran up to us and seemed to have great day! Elisabeth was still a little unsure of what just happened but as the day went on, she opened up a little bit more about her day at school.

My Struggle.

2009-09-13T12:05:00.005-05:00

Today was Stake Conference. Stake Conference is a 2 hour meeting that takes place twice a year in our church. We as members of the Church in each local area assemble together to meet and listen to special speakers, fill the spirit, and can usually always expect to leave with a renewed vigor to live better lives. The only problem that I have, since Madeleine was born Dan and I have not been able to really enjoy and appreciate stake conference like we used to. Our experience usually ends up with both ofus spending at least 80% of our time out in the halls, trying to control and entertain our children all the while trying to be reverent so others can be afforded the opportunity to enjoy the meeting.

About mid-week my internal struggle began. My struggle was not that this Sunday was Stake Conference but in knowing that Dan was on call and would not be there to help assist me with the kids. I have yet to master Stake conference with one or two children but now a third kiddo is added to the mix. So throughout the week while I was driving, cooking, or cleaning I had the constant nagging and scared feeling that Stake Conference was this Sunday. I even rationalized myself to the point that I had convinced myself that there was no point or way that we were going to Stake Conference. What was the point? I knew I would be out in the hall the entire time so it would better (easier) to stay home. I had even decided that I was going to create a spiritual, even reverent experience at home for the girls since we would not be going to church. BUT, (this is where the internal struggle steps in.) every time I would rationalize, my thoughts were immediately followed with a stupor of thought. My thoughts seemed to turn and focus on the importance of the meeting and taking my kids. There was a purpose and reason for Stake Conference. I could be strong, I could do this! Ahhhh....but I don't know, it will be too crazy! I knew deep in my heart that I needed to suck it up, get organized, be obedient , and GO TO MY MEETINGS! The thought came to mind, " I never said it would be easy...I only said it would be worth it."

My internal struggle followed me even through breakfast this morning and I had still not made my decision. Finally with a quick decision I announced to the kids that it was Stake Conference this morning, so we needed to quickly get ready and go. (Oddly, me telling the kids really set the plans in stone. Most moms know that it is hard go back on your word and plans once the kids know of them.) My decision was made, we WERE going to Stake Conference and we were going to have a great experience, like it or not! Whew! I am glad struggle the struggle with my decision was over now I just needed to move on and get my hiney in gear.

One by one I threw the kiddos in the bath, got them dressed, did their hair, packed my "goody bag", and finally got myself together. And we were off! On the way to church I had Madeleine say a prayer that we would be safe and feel the spirit today at Stake Conference. Our prayers were answered, our day went fine! We arrived to the meeting 5 minutes early and quickly settled into our row. I felt completely blessed. The girls were absolutely and amazingly wonderful. Other than our expected potty and nursing break they colored and sat there like champs. Out of the 5 years that Dan and I have attended our Stake conferences together with kids, I have to say that although I was flying solo with the parental help, ironically it was the MOST I ever been able to listen and hear the speakers. It was crazy! Man do you think the Lord was on my side today, or what?

The lesson that I learned did not come from a speaker, nor a song, but was from my little 2 year old daughter. About 15 minutes left of the meeting, Elisabeth, who was sitting next to me looked up and sang softly these words from a primary hymn, "Lead me, guide me. Walk beside me, help me find the way. Teach me all that I must do, to live with Him someday."

Whoa! I was filled with emotion. My answer and lesson was right there being taught to me through the words of my child. I am not just my kids mom by chance but by choice! I choose to be their mom, teacher, and example. My father in Heaven trusted me with the blessing of being my kids mom. I am grateful and honored to try to prove worthy of such a choice. I know that it is my responsibility to lead them, guide them, walk beside them so that I may assist in teaching them what to do, so that they can live with their Father in Heaven again someday. I was to go to Stake Conference to show my children that no matter how hard it may be...We need to do what is right....and go to church. Just like it is important to follow the prophet, pray, read scriptures, or to stand up and be strong to make good choices! I don't want to be an excuse for my children. I want my kids to look back when they are older and say, "My mom went to church... NO MATTER WHAT!" I don't want them to find any excuse not go to church , read scriptures, fulfill their callings, etc. I want them to ALWAYS know how important this is to their mom. I was completely humbled and grateful that I was taught such an important lesson through my little sweetheart. Today was a result of my Savior's love. My father in Heaven knows my worried heart and understood just how scared I was to tackle today's Stake Conference by myself. I felt lifted, guided, and inspired throughout the entire day. For that I am grateful and I want to tell you that our Father in Heaven KNOWS and LOVES each one of us, His children.

Madie's Kindergarten Pictures

2009-09-08T12:56:00.005-05:00

Here is Madie ready to board her first bus ride ever. Mr. Dave is her nice bus driver.

Like I mentioned below, we followed our little Miss to school, so we could greet her when she arrived. So...here is the back of the bus. You want to see it, right?

Madie arrived and got off the bus so confidently. I was a Proud Mama today!

Poses before school to give us a little love.

First Day Overview

2009-09-08T10:00:00.004-05:00

This morning we woke up early in hopes for a smooth day. We got ready, ate breakfast, read Scriptures, said our prayers, and were ready to rock n' roll! Madeleine looked absolutely adorable and seemed very happy. After our checklist of things to grab and do were completed, Madie grabbed her backpack and we headed to the front porch to take the must-have-classic first day of school photo. While taking pictures Madie did say to me, "Mom I feels like I have a bunch of butterflies in my tummy." I dare not tell her that I did too! Pictures were taken and then we walked 3 houses down to wait with the other kids for the bus to pick them up at 8:20am SHARP. We waited a few minutes and then my confident little burst of sunshine boarded the bus for the very first time! She was so brave and listened to her driver. He told her to look at the signs above the seats because the kindergartners sit in the front. As Lizzy and I waved and yelled good bye, Madie's sweet little face peered out the window to us. Wow...talk about amazing! Slowly the bus pulled away and then Elisabeth, Victoria, and I were off. I had previously decided that I was going to follow the bus to school and then we would quickly park and hop out, so we could greet Madeleine and help her find her way to class. As I arrived at Harlan Elementary it was a sight to behold. Families and kids were beaming with excitement taking picture after picture. Ok...this was good, I wasn't as crazy as I thought I was. The bus pulled up and Madeleine was one of the first to get off. She was so happy. She grabbed Elisabeth and in one long breath said, " The bus is so much fun, you should try it Elisabeth. I sat next to two twin sister girls who are in kindergarten and we talked the whole time. They had matching Dora backpacks, matching shorts, brown hair, but different shirts. One girls name is Ava. Mom we stopped a whole bunch of times!" Whew she was excited. I was really impressed with our Principal, her name is Embecka and kindly she stood outside greeting the kiddos at the bus and at the doors as they entered. I love little thoughtful details like this. She entered class, turned her card to let everyone know she was here, unpacked her snack, put it in her snack cubbie, hung her backpack in her locker, and then sat down at a table where the teachers had a special bag full of gifts for each kid with their name on it. We had the opportunity last week to come in and meet Madeleine's teacher Mrs. Singer. She is wonderful and actually I have have had a zillion parents tell me just how great she is. Mrs. Singer was so great with Madeleine last week when they met and it gave me just a glimpse of how well Madie will be treated this year.
We gave hugs and kisses, took a few last pictures, and said our goodbyes. I knew everything was going be fine and so we were off. We were off to return books to the library, make it to our scheduled appointments, and to fill up time until we got to see our little Madie again. We were so anxious to hear all about her first day of school.
We anxiously awaited the newest "big kids" in town just outside the school where the kindergarten teachers brought out their students. Madeleine's thoughts and words about school exactly, "Everything was my favorite part of school! There was this boy who bumped into me, then I bumped into a girl named Ava. Then Ava pushed me and told me that I pushed her. I told her to please stop. Then there was this boy in class who kind of looked HANDSOME to me, he had a necklace on. I sat on this mat that had letters and numbers on it and the Mrs. Singer had me sit on the letter B. I played with the house keeping only for a little time and then the sand box. The sandbox in class felt kind of cold and kind of cool. The play dough my teacher gave me smells like cinnamon. I loved the Library the most. School is good."
And that my friends was Madeleine's first thoughts about school on her first day of kindergarten. I could have not said it better. I'm not to sure about this Ava girl pushing her BUT I am not too concerned because Madeleine is very good at resolving any conflicts be it by herself or through her teacher. It is nice to have her home and you can bet that just minutes after lunch was gobbled down Elisabeth and Madeleine went right into playing play dough and "school."

p.s. Interesting bit of information. So the entire time Madeleine was gone all Elisabeth could do was ask, "When do we get to pick up Madie?" or "When will Madie be back?" But just as soon as we saw Madie, Elisabeth gave her the cold shoulder and told her that she did not want to play with her but only mommy. Madie hugged her and told her how she missed her and thought of her and all of the funny things she does. Elisabeth sadly gave her nothing. Not a smile, not a hello, nothing! She did however tell Madie that she did not miss her. Hmmm very interesting, huh? I later took Madie aside and told her just how much Elisabeth missed her. Happily, Madie smiled real big and walked into the other room and gave her a hug. The dynamics around here today are quite interesting. It is funny to me how after lunch and everything settled down Elisabeth wnet right into playing with her favorite big sister.

COURAGE

2009-09-07T21:28:00.005-05:00

After seeing this idea on a few of my friends blog a couple of weeks ago, I quickly decided it would be an annual Arrhenius tradition as well. It is a really great idea to me and I was super excited to do it. After some thought and prayer Dan and I decided that our families "theme" that we were going to focus on for this school year would be COURAGE. We decided in Family Home evening tonight just exactly how we were going to have COURAGE as a family. We made a list that I will type up later and post on the wall for us to be reminded of daily. For the Arrhenius Family we have decided that we are going to have:

COURAGE to....

- C.T.R. (choose the right)

-Be a friend to EVERYONE.

-Learn and try new things.

-Stand up for what we believe in.

-Be yourself.

The girls really dug this school years theme and hopefully it will have a huge impact and strength to our family. Dan and I treated our little Courageous Princesses to their favorite fancy dinner of Pancakes, berries, sausage, and eggs. Yummy....thank you my darling Dan it was perfect. After dinner, bubble baths, Family Home Evening, dancing, and their must-have Pedicures the girls I heard Dan fiddling with the ironing board. I was wondering what in the world he was doing. Then minutes later he wandered into the room in his ironed white shirt and tie, church attire, and looking as sharp as could be. I could just to kiss him!!! That was my man! I was completely and overwhelmingly grateful as I looked at my amazing Priesthood holder as he took his role as the patriarch of this home so seriously. He then proceeded to give each of our sweet girlie's a special father's blessing (prayer) for this upcoming school year to help comfort and guide them through everything, come as it may. It was beautiful sight and so was my man. I love Dan more than words can even describe.

After we got the girls stories read, prayers said, and settled into bed I immediately went to the kitchen and "cleaned." I scrubbed the dishes harder than I think they have ever been cleaned. I scrubbed them harder and harder as the tears poured down my face. The reality finally set in...tomorrow is huge. Tomorrow is yet another step that is shoving my little girl into reality and helping time speed up WAY too fast! I sat there thinking of how absolutely MAGNIFICENT my little Madeleine just is. I kept thinking how I wish I could start life over with her again starting from day 1. Even with every up and down or high and low. Reasons being NOT that I would change a thing...but because every day, every minute, and every second have been such a joy, honor, and privilege that I have had to spend with this amazing little girl. I cherish my opportunity as her mother. I am so anxious and excited for all that in store for my little girls future but I must admit I am going to miss her terribly while she is gone. I know it is only a few hours but, Ahhh....I am seriously emotionally losing it! But I will have courage tomorrow because I am sooo proud of my courageous little kindergartner. Wish me luck as the day unfolds one moment at a time! I will definitely need your prayers! One child down and one more to go. Elisabeth does not start preschool until next Tuesday the 15th. Her preschool is at the same school as Madie's, Harlan Elementary. Their classrooms are just 2 doors down from one another...they both love this idea. I talked with their teachers and they said that the kindergartners and preschoolers get to play in their special playground together some days. Cool, huh? I can just envision them spotting one another on the playground and excitingly embrace in hugs! I love it! I know Elisabeth will love going to school but I have a very strong feeling that it is going to be a hard adjustment and ordeal for her to relax and not freak out. Here's to keeping our fingers crossed with her. I have taken her to her class multiple times already to help her prepare, adjust, and understand what will happen and where she will go every Tuesday and Thursday.

Our Labor of Love

2009-09-07T19:34:00.008-05:00

Today is Labor Day and I would have to say that it had been the best Labor Day that I have celebrated. I am not really sure why we celebrate this holiday, maybe to honor those who graciously work in our country everyday in and everyday out. Getting warmer? Am I even remotely close? No matter the reason I will sing hallelujah and praises for this holiday because Dan had the entire day off and we were thrilled to be able to spend every waking moment with him. Ahhhh...perfect.

We spent a couple of hours at the park. On our way home from lunch at '5 Guys Hamburgers and Fries' we drove past this glorious sight. The girls and I started yelling and made Dan quickly turn back around so we could play. The park is off of 12 mile and is called Inglenook Park. I think this park is by far the best park that I have ever been to not only in Michighan but quite possibley ever! Hmmm...I might have to think about it but as of now my brain is not recalling any better.

Our girls like to swing but out of the three of them thus far Elisabeth LOVES, LOVES, LOVES to swing. She loves going higher and higher to the point of almost falling out. I think if I were to let her, she would stay at the swings the entire time we are at the park.

This morning ( I know the pics are out of order but...) we went to the small town of Franklin for their annual parade and festivities. Franklin is just about 5 miles from our home so it was a quick drive to enjoy a really quick parade. Not much to see at the parade but there was a lot of candy to receive. On the way back to the car from the parade Madie said, "I think that was a candy parade." I told her that she was completely right. After today, who needs Halloween?

Seriously I worship the ground this little girl walks on....

and hers......

And hers too!!!! Wow, I am lucky!

If you are looking at this picture and wondering if you are seeing correctly....YOU ARE! Yes this lady is holding her baby...I mean DOG in a baby Bjorn! What the heck, this is just out right absurd to me, it's a dog for cryin out loud! I got a good laugh today.

The kids dancing around to the music, happy to see their buddies.

Here are my sweet obsessions, I could just eat them up.

Two Laces.

2009-09-06T21:05:00.004-05:00

Madeleine is on a roll baby. Conquering one milestone after another, I must say. Today my patience level was very high so I embarked on the challenge of teaching Madeleine how to tie her shoe. I am not the best at keeping track of when a child should learn to do something or not... but I probably should have taught her this long ago. It always seemed so much easier for me to quickly do it. Anyway, the outcome was good and her giggle level was high because she did it! The confidence she is gaining lately from accomplishing one thing after another is fun to watch. I am so proud of my amazing little/big girl!

Soccer is here again and Lizzy is going Green.

2009-09-06T19:36:00.004-05:00

Thursday was Madeleine's first team practice of the year. She is playing with the MHYSA (Madison Height Youth Soccer Association) league this year. Fortunately this year she is on the same team with two of her friends, Zach and Addy. Her coaches are really great and the kiddos seem to be enjoying themselves so far. Madie really is a great little athlete but has the timidness of a baby lamb. In practice she does well on the drills and really connects with the ball but as soon as they start to scrimmage against one another she seriously stampers and hops around the ball. It's as if her ultra-sweet self does not want to "steal" the ball from anyone in fear of upsetting them. It is actually quite cute to see. Dan and I are trying to teach her how to attack the ball and be aggressive but so far...nothing! She's as cute as a button though and I just love watching her have fun. We love soccer season and are so glad that it is here again. I look forward to the season of practices and games and the opportunity I get to watch her.
I must say that the problem we are running into this season is not with Madeleine but with Elisabeth. Elisabeth no longer wants to sit on the sidelines and cheer her sister on. She has decided that she is going to play too. Even before practice I had to get Elisabeth completely "ready for Practice" just like Madie or I am sure all heck would break loose. As I was helping the girls put their cleat's on Elisabeth looked over to Madie and said, "Now I on your team, right?" Ugh...just rip my heart will you? I told her that this soccer is only for Bigger kids like Madie. Elisabeth then broke out in tears saying, " I a kid too!"
So as you can imagine Elisabeth and I spent most of the practice on the side of the field together imitating what the coach was having Madie's team do, so that Elisabeth could "practice" as well. I never prepared myself as a mother to encounter situations like this. I never realized just how quickly the second child grows up and tries to keep up with the older kids, until now. It breaks my heart, I need to start finding things for her to do to let her shine. Now all she needs to do is to quickly turn 3 so we can actually sign her up.

The other day Dan and I were at the store and we quickly spotted this jacket, like we always do with bright green things because of Elisabeth's obsession for the color. It was a great price so we had to get it. Let's just say that we her best friends for the day after we gave it to her. Look out preschool "Greenalicious" is ready to rock and roll. To say that she loves green is an understatement. I can not tell you how many tears have been shed and arguments she has had with numerous boys because they both want the green sticker, green cup, green ball, green straw, green paper...I mean the list goes on. The boys usually look at her and tell her that they like green and that she is a girl. Girls like pink according to them. I usually just giggle because that is a battle they will never win with my Elisabeth. So here she is with her favorite new GREEN jacket and as you can see...as happy as can be. I love it!

Noooo!!!!!

2009-09-06T16:49:00.003-05:00

Recently Madeleine was sitting with Victoria in the family room and like always was talking and playing with her so well. This time Madie had a pile of things behind her back and would hold both of her arms behind her. She would then look at Victoria and say, "Victoria...is it in this hand?" Then she would proceed to pull out the hand with nothing in it and would shake her head and say," NOOOOOO!!!" Well just about 2 or 3 time of doing this Victoria caught on. Soon she would smile and shake her head Noooooo right along with Madie! IT was so darn cute, I could just die! The girls are really catching on to how much fun it is that their little Munchkin sister is learning things from them. What a joy!

That's my Girl!

2009-09-06T15:33:00.009-05:00

About 1 month ago I took of Madeleine's training wheels off in hopes that she would be motivated to learn and ride her bike without them. Well in that month I have only gone up and down our drive way about a half a dozen times to try to teach her. After doing this I soon realized that we needed more space to learn. With all of the major construction that has and will continue to take place on our street there was no way this was going to happen. Finally on Thursday I really focused and put my mind on this matter. I decided that Dan and I were going to take her over to the parking lot behind the large shopping center and teach her there where we would be in a wide open space. I laugh because in Iowa we used to take Madie to Costco's parking lot to ride her bike especially when we were teaching her how to pedal and ride with her training wheels. Ahh how times have not changed. So we loaded the car up with the bikes and headed over to the parking lot. It was on about try number 3 when I noticed that I could let go here and there. About 30 minutes of running up and down the lot with her, slowly letting go more and more, SHE DID IT! By golly Madeleine figured it out and rode her bike all alone! It just clicked! It was soooo exciting. I could see the pride fill her. It was a beautiful sight to see her with so much confidence. Not too shabby, huh? And just days over her 5th birthday. She told me while she was on the bike that she does better when people cheer for her. (i.e. Dan and Elisabeth cheering across the parking lot.) It is really neat to see another milestone come and go. I guess this means that my little girls is growing up. I don't want to even begin to think what it will be like in a few days when I send her on to kindergarten. This experience was one of those special moments as a stay at home mom where I get to teach something to my child and see it in full bloom. I am the luckiest mom in the world that I get to see and share these moments with my children everyday!

Lizzy doing her best, to cheer Madie on with patience in the warm sun.

Victoria loved Madie's helmet the most!

Three Things I HAVE to blog about....

2009-09-01T06:59:00.005-05:00

1.) My friend Jenny suggested Dr. Laura's newest book, "In Praise of Stay At Home Moms." I LOVE Dr. Laura (even though I think sometimes she can go a little over board)so I immediately agreed to reading it. I finally got my hiney in gear and over to the Baldwin Public Library to check it out. It was a summer "Hot Read" which means that I only have 1 week to read it and get it back. Hmmm..not a problem, like I said I love Dr. Laura. Well I read 75 pages last night and I REALLY REALLY like it. I suggest that EVERYONE read this book. It makes my heart swell with gratitude and love at the thought that I get to raise my children, no one else. It reinforces the HUGE importance of my role as a stay at home mother. Really everyone you have got to read it.

2.) While running yesterday I got a call from my brother Taylor. He very excitedly informed me that after having 3 boys they had just found out that.....they we going to have....................A GIRL! WooHoo for them. Awww I am so excited for them. This totally gave me hope that Dan and I do have a chance in having a boy the next go around, whenever it may be. So I want to once again congratulate Taylor and Sara on their next addition coming in February.

3.) Today I did something that I have been working towards for many many years! I finally ran a Half Marathon. It was only supposed to be my "long run" for the week in continuing to prepare me for a Half marathon. Last week my long run was 8.5 miles and this week I was going to bump it up to 10 or 11 miles, in hopes to run the Half next week. Ipod charged, huge water bottle in hand, kids in the car, and a excited positive attitude I was ready to run. (Honestly a pumped, confident, and positive attitude are a must in order for me to run far lengths.) Dan kindly was driving me up North to the Clinton River Trail. It being 16 miles long and I would just do 10 miles of it. But, on the way I look over at Dan and ask him, "Should I just do it? Should I just run a Half right now?" He looked at me with stupidity and craziness sitting there and thought about it for a second and then said, "It would be nice to get this running obsession over today." (He is not the biggest fan of my long runs, they annoy him. Obviously Dan has not caught the running bug. A 3 mile run and Dan is good and done.) He then said,"you have never run longer then 8.5 miles I am not sure you are ready. " At this point I was giddy bouncing around in my seat with excitement and I felt ready and good! I quickly told Dan to pull over because at this point we had no clue where the entrance to the trail was. Being in the right lane he immediately turned into the gas station on the side of the road so I could go and ask the attendant for some directional help. I looked at the name of the gas station and my smile was larger than it could be, stretching literally from ear to ear. I yelled, "Dan look at the name of this gas station! Look, it is a sign!" Dan quickly looked at the name and started laughing. The gas station was called: MARATHON!!! There is it was...a sign, my question answered, I was officially going to run the Half today!
A quick side note for those of you wondering: I have always planned on running in an organized run but over the past weeks while doing research and trying to figure out the logistics of when, where, and financial costs I soon realized it wasn't going to work. I knew I would only run on Saturday's (most runs are on Sunday's) and it had to be when Dan was not on an external rotation OR on-call. My pickings were slim and I felt like I was jumping through crazy hoops to find something. But it did simply narrow it down to a Half Marathon run in Holland, MI (3 hours away) at the end of September. Timing wise it would be great, it would be just after I get home from Utah. I was actually really really excited for this "awesome run" until I started to do the math and then quickly realized with hotel costs, gas, entrance fees, food, and all other misc. fees for the vacation it was definitely going to be more than we can swallow right now! Ugh...I hate when finances control every cotton pickin' thing. BUT this too shall pass and I was okay with that. I would now just need to get creative and follow through with my plan to still run a Half despite being organized or not. I mean my goal was to finish 13.1 miles and I was GOING to do it rain or shine, organized or not! So when life throws you lemons...I guess I will make a lemonade slushy.
Back to the story....We were pointed in the direction 0f the trail from the Gas Attendant which was only 1/4 miles away. So, Dan dropped me off with my phone and IPod in hand and I was ready to roll. The girls thankfully all fell asleep because Dan met me at 3 miles, 6.5 miles, 9 miles, and 11 miles to hand me a drink. Thanks babe! The trail was great but I ran into a few problems along the way. The first being at the 5 mile marker of the trail. It was closed down and under construction! I was sooo annoyed but quickly turned around and headed back on the trail from the direction that I came. A huge thanks goes to my mom who I had on speaker phone for at least 5 miles of the run. She just talked and talked, busily keeping my mind off of running. I love my mom and her stories! Dan quickly mapped out the rest of the race for me to follow. When I got back to Mile 9 he gave me a drink, showed me the map to follow, and cheered me on again with the kiddos now being awake. I was feeling great at this point and ready to finish up the last of the race. The second HUGE problem came at Mile 11. As I was running closer into Pontiac, MI ( a very scary and unsafe area) I felt pretty threatened and scared despite Dan being on speaker phone with me and following me in the car. My heart felt VERY uneasy at the people and run-down houses that I passed. I knew I Had to get out of there NOW! So he opened the back door to the car and I jumped in. Ugh...I was SOOOOOO annoyed. Why was this happening? Despite the annoyance I felt, I knew it was the right thing to do. Dan drove me 7 minutes in the car and dropped me off in a better/safe location for me to finish my run. He once again mapped out the last 3.1 miles for me to run! Stopping for the 7 minutes literally was the worst thing I could do. It was not a rest or break by any means. It was torture on me mentally and physically. It was like all of a sudden my adrenaline stopped working and all of my bone and muscle aches and pains immediately kicked in. The pains were a total beast! Ahhhh! But, I HAD to do it and no matter how slowly I ran up the last hill to finish the race, I DID IT!! I DID IT! I accomplished a goal that I had made for myself many years ago! It was such a liberating and exciting feeling. I felt like I could conquer the world!

This picture is at 9.5 miles....I was still feeling great! Like my lame pose? Get me a break Dan's cell phone camera is not the best with movement. Hahaha!

The final steps in completing my goal! WooHoo!

A look into Madeleine's imagination for just 1 hour.

2009-08-27T11:55:00.006-05:00

So today we are lounging around the house while I have been doing laundry, chores, my calling (the ward bulletin), and other various nonsense things. I kids you not this is what I luckily get to listen and watch more or less.. everyday. Now when I tell you that Madeleine has quite the imagination on her I am not joking. So as I sit here at the computer doing this Sunday's bulletin I had to quickly stop to watch and log what is going on right now. Well we first I must mention that we started the morning off with Madeleine taking my two baskets of laundry that are waiting to be folded and set them up as pole Vault. She and Elisabeth took turns attempting to go over it for about 20 minutes.

The official Pole Vault...

We had a lunch break and during lunch Madeleine decided that they were going to be on a t.v. show about two Princesses (a.k.a. Madeleine and Elisabeth). Elisabeth was teh nice Princess named Ashlynn and Madie was a mean Princess name Ierna? who was going to try to steal a dance with Elisabeth's Prince. (Please note: this is all happening at the lunch table...during lunch.) Oh, I almost forgot...with Victoria and I being their Prince boyfriends. I just smile and go along with it in my efforts to prepare food, feed food, and clean up!

Well after lunch the pole vault soon turned into and then was expanded to Madeleine's...I mean "Dora's" trail to find magical musical instruments.
Madie word for word, "I'm Dora we need to find the musical instruments Diego (Elisabeth). First we need to go through the Spooky Tunnel filled with bats. Next, we need to under the Trroooollll Bridge. Then, we need to go through the singing gates to the musical instruments. But first we need the MAP, (A.K.A. Victoria) to show us exactly what we need to do. " Madeleine VERY enthusiastically then goes on and says, "C'mon Diego let's GO, GO, GO!" (Little music sounds being sung by Madie while on their journey.) Luckily they made it through the tunnel and then came to the very scary Troll Bridge. In a quick scramble and split second thinking, Madie then deemed me to be the Troll. ( Lovely, huh?) She told me that they needed to make me laugh in order to go over the bridge. With a sharp look thrown at me Madie then said, "Mom, tell us we can't cross the bridge until we make you laugh!!" Geezo...I better get with it, huh? They decided that to make me laugh they were going to do a SILLY DANCE. Well they finally succeeded and made it over the bridge and through the singing gates, FINALLY to the musical instruments.

"Dora's" trail in created...

The "Singing Gates" :

The Spooky Tunnel full of Bats:

Victoria A.K.A. "Map"

Madie doing the Silly Dance for the Troll in hopes to pass over the bridge.

There is absolutely NO reason for t.v. in this home. (though unfortunately a show still makes it on in our home ALMOST daily at some point.) This whole Dora ordeal is not a rare occurrence in our home. This is EVERYDAY! Today it is Dora, tomorrow it is animals, sports, princesses, etc. etc. All I have to say is, "You go girl!" I love, love, love Madeleine's imagination, I mean there is not a more exciting friend to play with in my opinion! I love even more that her imagination is rubbing off onto her little sister Elisabeth. If you ever need to be entertained just head over to the Arrhenius' just to observe my children. It is a riot!

I just sent the girls downstairs while I clean up and get Victoria down for a nap and I can already hear their new adventures together brewing. I think they arenow deciding to be moms with kids.

5th Invitation

2009-08-27T00:30:00.001-05:00

Happy Birthday Madeleine!

2009-08-26T20:46:00.021-05:00

First of I want to wish my Amazing little girl Madeleine a Happy 5th Birthday! Today we enjoyed a laid back day relaxing. We spent time together as a family and played with friends. Though this day actually is Madeleine's official birthday due to Dan's on-call work schedule, we went ahead and celebrated Madeleine's birthday this past Saturday.
We had a Cowboy themed birthday party that turned out to be quite a riot. All of the kiddos arrived Saturday afternoon at the Arrhenius Ranch ready for some Rootin' tootin' good fun! Immediately they moseyed on over to the table to decorate their own cowboy vests. (that I made for free from paper bags. Can I get a Holla for that?) Now that our little cowboys and cowgirls we dressed for the part we decided that in order for them to be official cowboys they needed to learn to do things that cowboys do.

We first wanted to see how many pieces of bubble gum each cowboy could fit in their mouths all the while still yelling, "Yee-Haw Cowboy!" It was hilarious! Dan duelled with two of the kids. But Adam and Ashlyn tied for the win, shoving in a whopping 20 pieces of gum! I have no clue how they all fit in. Seriously it was unreal!

From there we went outside for the kids to practice their "shots." It is important that every cowboy has expert aim. So... they each took turns shooting at the stacked cans. Also, they each took turns perfecting their aim by throwing water balloons through "Cowgirl Candy's" very large mouth. Now, by no means would I ever claim to be an artist, I actually am pretty pitiful when it comes to it. BUT I must admit that my artistic mother-in-law would be quite proud of "Cowgirl Candy." Candy was a hit... quite a few missed throws in the mouth but still a hit. At one point I think the kids decided that it was funnier to aim at me rather than "Candy's" mouth. No, I am not a baby. Of course a little water doesn't hurt but the slap of a water balloon... woowy, ouch not fun!

While Dan grilled hot dogs for the kido-s, each cowboy was paired up for a "stand-off." They each counted out 5 steps and waited for Sheriff Amanda to say, "DRAW!" They LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this! This eventually turned into a massive water gun WAR. It was a blast. Our big cowboys and girls had an even bigger appetite, so we quickly ate lunch and were on to cake, presents, and our ever so anticipated cowboy Pinata! Yay!

The party was a hit and I hope all of the kids had a great time! Madie said she had a blast and to me that is all that matters. Madeleine is quite a lucky girl because she has made some great friends here in Michigan whom she LOVES to spend time with! Thank you to all her friends (and moms!) Most of you know that I love to put on a party but I must admit that they are soooo tiring! Madie and I agreed that next year we may just have a VERY special family night activity together.

That same night Dan took the girls and I to get take-out at Pei Wei's for dinner. Yummy! We love their Edamame Soybeans! We parked at the temple for a picnic and then headed over to Boulan Park in Troy that evening for "Music and a Movie." The movie being featured was Elisabeth's as-of-lately favorite: Enchanted. Let me tell you something...this by far was the most fun activity that we have done since being here in Michigan. It was nothing crazy, different, or special but we just simply loved being together, outdoors, dancing, and watching a movie. Honestly it was sooo relaxing and sooo fun. The kids danced their hearts away to the awesome band that played while Dan and I sat back in our Camping Chairs singing along! Awww it was soooo wonderful! What a great day, huh?

I want my Madeleine to know that she is everything and much, much more than Dan and I could have ever dreamt of in a daughter. She is smart, kind, creative, beautiful, happy, sweet, tender, and full of LOVE and life. We love Madeleine and look forward to many, many more wonderful years to come. Happy Birthday Boogsie!

HAHAHA....sad but so true!

2009-08-20T07:35:00.004-05:00

Elisabeth came in this morning and jumped in bed with me to cuddle. I love this! I cuddled her in my arms, kissed her, and very briefly talked to her before she stopped me and said this, "Mom, you wear mom pull-ups? Something very stinky!" (for those of you moms who have ever had a child who has pee-peed in a pull-up you know how it wreaks! Yuck!) Well, after she said this I almost busted a gut in laughter!!! I knew what the culprit was. Embarrassingly, I admit that it was my terrible morning breath that my poor child fell victim of. Sad but sooo true. Honestly you must stay out of my way in the morning before I get the chance to make a pit stop to the bathroom to brush my teeth. HAHAHA gross! Whatcha going to do? I love my kids and their innocently inquisitive minds.

A day of rest...my eye!

2009-08-17T09:52:00.010-05:00

Unfortunately Sunday was not a "day of rest" here at the Arrhenius home. Dan was busy off at the hospital from the crack of dawn being there all day long, and for me? Well, I was stuck inside due to the fact that I had 3 precious little girlie's who were full of runny noses, hacking coughs, and goopy eyes. Nothing major but still enough to show some courtesy to my fellow ward members by keeping them home to prevent their kid-os from getting sick too! I hate that! The day started of pretty slow and relaxing with building a fort, reading books, and playing with toys inside it.

Which led us too...

The Track and Field Worlds Championships. Luckily they were being televised live on t.v. so the girls and I decided to watch it together. Which soon lead Madeleine's creatively busy little mind into creating her own Track and Field Championships. She decided that she was representing the country of Michigan and that Elisabeth that was representing the country of Iowa. Cute. Madie created a running/hurdles race around the house, a triple jump made of anything she could muster up in sight, and a long jump with the sand pit to jump in being made from a blanket. Smart. I told you she is VERY creative. Not only was Madie one of the athletes but our multi faceted child was also the announcer! Madeleine announced that Elisabeth did the furthest jump of the day at a whopping....3 MILES! Whewy, that is far.
Here is Madeleine at the starting line.
On your marks, get set, GGGOOOO!!! And she's off, look at all of those hurdles to jump over holy smokes! That bottle of lotion looks almost impossible, BUUTTT...she clears it! WooHoo!

Notice her sparkly microphone she used to interview. After she interviewed Elisabeth and asked her to tell us about track, Elisabeth tiredly responded, "track is good." And there you have it, special words from our World Champion 3 MILE jumper.

During their "track meet" I decided that I better not let my important little athletes become dehydrated so I thought to quickly head to the kitchen and make our favorite household staple, Raspberry Crystal Light. Well as most of you know when having 3 kids you can never just complete the task at hand without being interrupted by something or someone else. That someone else being my 6 month old little sweetheart, Vitoria who was sitting in the Family room covered with the mayhem around her. So I left the kitchen for um...30 seconds and returned to THIS......

I know what you are thinking right now, "What a terrible mother to take a photo of her daughter who is either cut, shot at, or in some terrible world of hurt!" Okay I am not that cruel! Read on....

AHHHHHHH!!! My heart sank when I walked in and saw Elisabeth crying. I then scaredly looked up at the counter and saw this............

HAHAHA! Okay it all makes sense now, my curious and impatient little 2 year old was trying to beat her mom in getting their drinks and while doing so received a Red Raspberry shower. Oh, man! Raspberry Crystal Light is the WORST to get off, it stains like a mother! So I quickly snatched a photo, grabbed my crying child, threw her in the bath and scrubbed her little body before anything was permanent. About half way through the bath, Elisabeth's sad cries soon turned into laughs. It was hysterical.

More pictures to show as evidence...

You can't really tell because of our gorgeous pink retro tub but the water was totally pink! She was pretty happy when I told her that she was like 'Pinkalicious' in the tub. The only difference being that we were able to wash it off of her. Here is Elisabeth now laughing and as happy as a bug in a rug! Ahhh the joy of a child's range of emotions!

Well onto her next choice of outfit and on to yet another new game...SWORDS!!!! Whew as you could imagine, I am now totally wiped out and exhausted at this point!

Fortunately we survived the day and made it through without any fights, terrible accidents, and our sick children are recovering quickly! Man...I thought Sundays were busy before but now I look forward to and will relish the calmness of controlling a toddler and a baby throughout church next week. Bring it on baby!

The Woodward Dream Cruise

2009-08-15T21:37:00.013-05:00

The Arrhenius Bunch 2009

I LOVE LOVE this photo of them holding hands. The kids just have a ball together!

The Woodward Dream Cruise is the world's largest one-day celebration of classic car cultures that attracts more than 1 million visitors, and more than 40,000 muscle cars, street rods, custom, collector and special vehicles. People bring out their "babies" drive them up and down Woodward or park them. Simple...I now but neat. Luckily we live about a quarter of a mile from Woodward, so we were able step out our front door and walk over to enjoy the Cruise. It takes place the third Saturday in August every year, this being the 15th year it has been held. It first started back in 1995 as a fundraiser for a local soccer field in Ferndale, MI and has completely EXPLODED! A study was done back in 1997 that found the economic impact of the Dream Cruise is more than $50 million-more than any other recurring or one time event in Michigan, INCLUDING the Super Bowl and World Series. I think our state could use a little economic boost, huh?Although the official day for the Cruise is on Saturday, the Cruise happened the entire week. On Wednesday I was out running and part of my run took in a strip of Woodward. Even then Woodward was flooded with people out and about. Cars driving up and down and spectators sitting along the street with their lawn chairs and dinner. Just at the sight of it all...I was quickly flooded with emotion. Chills covered my arms. There is just something about seeing a group of people, community, or nation come together with love and camaraderie. It is inspiring. I just LOVE things like this!

Our Dream Cruise experience started on Friday evening. We walked about 2 mile up and down Woodward with the Bishops and the Hunter's. We stopped at the best Custard shop to get a sweet treat, let the kids run along the grass, and to watched the awesome cars parked and drive by. It was sooo great! The kids wanted to take pictures in front of every car we passed coll, or not! I wasn't quick enough with my camera BUT I did even see my life long love...a bright yellow VW van. It was soooo cute. The closet thing to ever owning one was the miniature toy version my mom gave me for my 16th birthday!

Then on Saturday evening our neighbors Pappa Ed and his wife Theresa had us, their families, and the neighborhood over for their annual Woodward BBQ. Of course Theresa went all our with the food and the decorations! IT was so nice to get to know our neighbors even better and to let the girls run around. Have I mentioned that I LOVE where we live? The people here are sooo wonderful.

This afternoon I had to drive to our church so I could get our Ward's weekly bulletin printed up and folded for tomorrow's Sacrament meeting. Our church building is right off of Woodward so with 3 girls in tow and all three of them asleep in the back, my shining moment was here! I took my chance to Cruise Woodward in my classic 2005 baby blue Dodge Grand Caravan.Yah it was sweet! I think that I got a little too in the moment, so I took these pictures ofmyself to show my "COOLNESS" or I guess my lack of it! Good thing the girls were zonked out because I am sure that Madeleine would have been embarassed of my dorkiness, or screaming for me to pay attention to the road. Which would have been a valid point BUT in my defense I took these while the car was at a stop.

This is my bad to the bone cruisin' face....err I guess.

This is my chillin like a villain face...just humor me.

And this one? Well this one is of me just happy to be Cruisin.

The Silver Lining of a Pager

2009-08-15T09:00:00.006-05:00

So it is 10am on a Saturday morning and Dan just responded to a text that I sent him earlier this morning. I had asked if he was alright and told him that I was worried about his exhaustion. He finally responded very simply, "I am good." As I look as his text my heart pounds with soooo much gratitude for my sweetheart. Like most often when Dan is on call, after completing his fatherly duties, dictations, logging's, and catching up on his sport updates he goes to bed around midnight. Just to be sadly woken up around 2am by his pager, for him to quickly get his Tush in gear and down to the E.R. for a case. I guess I am getting the hang of this because his "putrid pager" barely even phased me this time. If it wasn't for Dan's thunderously loud footsteps on our hardwood floors and his usual sweet kiss to say goodbye I may have slept through his disappearance into the musty dark night.

In the 1 1/2 months that Dan has started Residency he has been on...Podiatry, Anesthesia, Pathology, and will start Radiology next week. Besides these rotations he still is taking cases for Podiatry almost daily and has been on call about 18 out of the past 46 days. I would venture to say that out of all of these 18 days on call there has only been 1 MAYBE 2 days that he has not been called in. Last week alone out of a 72 hour period Dan received a combined total of LESS than 7 hours of sleep. I am just shocked at him, I honestly do not know how he does it! I know that I am an overly worried wife because when he is on call I have a constant knot in my stomach. It turns with concern for his lack of sleep and rest. Just to add the cherry on top of all the time that Dan spends for work... he then has 1 -5:30am academic meeting a week coupled with another academic meeting once a week, this one being in the evening. He has completed a few projects and will start traveling to conferences/learning courses around the country. Dan obviously gets really tired but seems to be completely blessed because he is constantly being sustained and lifted from day to day. I feel the Savior's love in our lives and I am sooo grateful for it.

Though it may not seem like there is much of a silver lining in this constantly busy life that Dan leads....there IS. He LOVES his co-residents. He feels that he truly works with some of the best Residents and Attending's out there! He is LEARNING soooo much! The cases and surgeries that Dan gets to see and DO are some that most people will only ever hear of and very few will ever see. Detroit the city presents some of the craziest most interesting cases possible. Like one of today's nasty cases that he told me about was...a "crack whore," I mean ,woman came in and was infested with 35 maggots in her foot! She said that she could feel them crawling around!!! Ugh, I just quiver at the thought. I once over heard Dan talking with a neighbor about the D.M.C. Residency program and why he choose it. This is what he said, " When I leave Residency and start practicing I want to confidently say that I will KNOW how to treat everything that walks in the door. With the DMC program I KNOW that I will have seen everything and be trained to help anything that walks in the door." Wow, to me that is a cool. I believe it too!

As I reflect on Dan's answer to our neighbor, I see this "coming to pass" one patient at a time. By the time a Podiatric doctor is completed with Residency he must have logged at least 500 surgical cases. Despite Dan being off on other rotations and only have been on Podiatry for 2 WEEKS total, he still has already completed and logged more surgeries in his 1 1/2 months of Residency than some Residents at other programs will have completed in their entire 1 year of Residency. To me, that is WICKED cool and exciting. Dan is an agressive hands on kind of learner and seems to do very well when his limits are pushed.
Please note: My point in posting this is most importantly to 1.) describe to my children when they don't remember, just exactly what Residency life was like for daddy, and to 2.) tell how grateful we are that Dan is at a program he is loving, learning, and appreciating every minute of it, despite how challenging and busy it may be. Now, I am not saying that our program or our LIFE, for that fact is better than anyone Else's. Heck...it is all we know. But I AM saying that we feel blessed. I am just glad that I have been able to see the silver lining and blessings that have come from this program and our experiences out here in Michigan thus far. To see Dan's joy and excitement has let's me gratefully say I am sooo ooberly glad! I am so grateful to my Father in Heaven for pouring out His blessings upon our family. Life is not a cake walk for us by any means BUT we are still loving the bumps and steps that we are taking while on this journey together. I only hope that through these bumps we encounter we are growing and progressing along the way. To me, this adventure is sooo fun. Now we just need to get some people out here to visit us so we can show off this fine state. Well as we sit here waiting for Dan to get home hopefully 5pm I need to thank my hubby AGAIN for his love, strength, hard-work, and countless hours spent on behalf of our family. I LOVE you Dan!

A girl and her friend.

2009-08-14T08:50:00.004-05:00

My grandma Huish gave Madeleine and Elisabeth this bear a few years ago. When you turn it on the bears mouth moves and sings in an ultra country-twang voice. The song is almost 2 minute long and some of the words go like this:

"I've got a never-ending love for you.
From now on, it's all I wanna do!
From the first time we met I knew.
I had a never-ending love for you!
After all this time of being alone,
We can love one another, feel for each other from now on!"

It's a stitch. Leave it Grandma Huish to find the most random cute bear...she has quite a talent for this. Well my girls LOVE it and sing with it word for word! Even Dan and I have impressively perfected our voices to sound identical to this bears singing. Yes, you are right... we are total dorks and have no life. Well my point in this post is that our sweet Victoria has found a new friend...our twangy bear. I think this discovery has sparked a friendship for life.

I love Victoria's interlocked arms with her new buddy! This is serious stuff people!

Summer Days

2009-08-14T07:22:00.006-05:00

We are feeling the summer weather and loving it here at our house. The past few weeks have been full of outdoor get-a-ways to the zoo, Greenfield Village, Nature Center, various parks, and many great beach days. It has been busy but quite a good time. The city of Birmingham has decided to re-pipe the the water and sewage in our area....which means our street is completely under construction. Ugh... construction starting 7 in the morning and not ending until 5 or 6 pm everyday. Our house shakes, rattles, and rolls, to say the least. Hence why, I have been out ALL day for the past few weeks with the girls! There is no reason that we need to be tortured with all of the noise and mayhem that is created just outside our front door. Luckily we have made some really great friends here who have busily kept us company.

Quick side note:

The girls and I do pedicures every few weeks. Some people may think I am crazy for doing this BUT I really enjoy it. I love spending this Girlie time with my girls talking and laughing. I hope we can keep this tradition up until they are all in their 50's and moved away. This Pedicure session, Madeleine begged that I do a French Manicure on them. So...I gave in and very frustratingly...ahem...I mean very patiently did their toes. I have a little OCD when it comes to challenging things like painting a straight white line on itty-bitty toes being especially difficult when they are moving all around. Despite their crazy movement I think they turned out adorable. Madeleine was thrilled! Elisabeth is not quite sure about the little white line just sitting there by itself. She kept asking for me to put more of the pink on but I told her that this is what it was supposed to look like. Everyday she asks for me to repaint her nails RED. I tell her that she has to wait for the paint to come off before we re-do them . I can just see her frustration just boiling over the " darn white line." Until her nails are painted red this white line will be the bane of her existence!

We attempted to go the beach with the Bean family a few days ago but upon arrival found that the beach was closed. It is always fun hanging out with the Bean's because they too have 3 girls all around our girls age. It is fun to see how well Dan and Aaron deal with being the only form of testosterone around a combined total of 8 girls! It is a riot just how similar our girls are with their roles and personalities in our families. Well, no beach for us but we still landed over at the Nature Center where we ate our lunch, looked around, and let the girls play. Ashlyn, their oldest daughter, found a cute little frog in the grass. Elisabeth was in NO way going to hold the frog but Madeleine got right in there and held it. They decided after a bit of holding the frog that they were going to build a house for the frog. Below are pictures of the girls building the house. Candice and I were convinced that the poor little frog had to be smashed "ASLEEP" under of all of the sticks that made up this house they created. Good times.

A few pics of some of our recent beach days....I love girls in bathing suits. Especially rolly-polly girls!

P.S. this is the end result of the Peach-Raspberry pie that I made from our fresh picked raspberries. I made some homemade whipping cream and added a dollop to each piece and Presto, it was fabulous! Super easy too, I must say!

Raspberries and Prayers

2009-08-04T09:20:00.005-05:00

When I was little I loved going out to my Grandma Rawson's backyard and eating raspberries straight from the bush. It always seemed to be such a novel and spectacular idea to step out of your own door and instantly enjoy sweet/tart simplicity. I still have not accomplished this goal of growing my own raspberries, but some day I will! But for now, I have good friends like Kim Bishop who so kindly invited my girls and I to go with them to Urwin Farm. There we picked our very own raspberries... over 3 1/2 lbs worth! The kids really enjoyed playing with one another, trying to fill up their baskets more than each other. I must say that Kim won the "Picking Prize" she was the best raspberry picker I have ever seen! Quick hands and Eagle eyes to spot them like a champ...hahaha!

Our two cute little bugs being sooo patient! They are only 1 month apart!

After the farm we took the kids to what my girls call "O' McDonalds" for lunch. They had this really awesome play area where the kids played at for well over an hour! Nice for Kim and I...so we could talk away. So while at McDonalds I realized that I did not have my cell phone. It was not in the car, my bag, or stroller. It was no where to be found. So we decided that after lunch we would head back to the farm and look for it there. Oh, geezo. Well before we buckled up in the car and headed back to the farm Madeleine said a prayer for us that, Heavenly Father would help us find our phone and that it would not be broken. We pulled up to the farm and it was not near the offices where we paid...so I decided that we needed to head out to the fields. With my fingers crossed, we pulled up to the fields and low and behold I saw my adorable little red BlackBerry sitting there on the ground missing me, looking oh, so lonely. As I jumped out of the car my smiling the girls yelled , "Heavenly Father answered our prayers, He helped us find our phone!" We were all soooo thrilled and excited! We quickly said another prayer to thank Heavenly Father for his help and were quickly back on our way home. I was not thrilled that I lost my phone in the first place but I was thrilled that my girls once again got to see the power of prayer and faith working! Sweet little examples like this are what builds a little kid-o's faith and testimony. I am sooo glad that I was able to experience that today with my girls. Now don't get me wrong we have had many other experiences like this with prayer together but for some reason this time it REALLY REALLY stuck with Madie. Maybe it was her age combined with understanding but whatever it was I was grateful to share this experience with my kids. Madie just beamed with excitement to think that her Heavenly Father DID listen and help us. I love little kids innocence and purity.

So you may ask what are we going to do with all of the raspberries? Well...we will keep some just to pop in our mouths. But the rest will be made into jam that we are making at the Bishop's today. Then... we will save out enough to make this for tonights dessert....

Peach-A-Berry Pie
4 cups fresh peaches - peeled, pitted and sliced
1 cup fresh raspberries
3/4 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 (9 inch) pie crusts
2 tablespoons butter, softened and cut into pieces
1 tablespoon coarse granulated sugar

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
Place peaches and berries in a colander for about 15 minutes to drain any excess fluid , then transfer to a large bowl. Gently toss with sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Transfer to a pie crust. Dot with butter, and top with remaining crust. Cut vents in top crust, and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until crust is golden brown.

Heaven on earth

2009-08-02T21:14:00.006-05:00

We recently signed Madeleine up for soccer this fall with some friends and are once again totally excited for it to come. Madeleine and Elisabeth have been begging Dan, almost on a daily basis to make up a "Soccer Pratice" for them. They run drills, shoot the ball, practice throw ins, and then play a game against daddy, all the while Lizzy cries because in her words, "Madie and daddy are taking MY green ball." I am sitting back, taking in the view, and LOVING every minute of it. Thank you Heavenly Father, I feel so blessed.

This evening after church, I had to get these photos. They are of all 3 of the girls playing in the basement together as happy a pea in the pod. Yes, Victoria is now sitting up by herself and loving every second of it. I can only imagine how much fun they will have together as they continue to get older.

Victoria is Scrumptious.

Would you drive over an hour just for Panera Bread?

2009-08-02T20:04:00.006-05:00

Well when it means that you get the chance to see your best friend...I will! On Friday afternoon after Dan finished his shift we packed the girls in the car and quickly headed to Toledo, OH. The car ride was full of giddy smiles and joyous thoughts because I was in anticipation of seeing Alexis. Alexis, baby Daniel, McKensie(her sister), and her mother and sister in law were on their trek across America to Washington D.C. (actually Bethesda , Maryland) where she and Jeff will be calling home for at least the next 4 years. Where Alexis' husband Jeff will be attending USUS military medical school. Jeff was unable to help in their trek due to the fact that he has been in basic training for the past month in Alabama. I monitored their travels and progress day by day and Lex and I timed it just perfectly. Late on Thursday night as I was on my way from a wonderful temple trip I called Alexis and serinaded her with the song, "Reunited and it feels sooo good!" We laughed and both agreed on our excitement for the next day! Friday was finally here and we met up at the local Panera Bread near Toledo. There we ate dinner, had a WAAAY to short hour visit, and before long they were quickly off on their, what will have been, a week long journey. Ugh I am not a fan of driving and MOVING!!! Bless her heart!
Of course our meal was great...I love Panera Bread BUT seeing Alexis and my little sweetheart Baby Daniel was FABULOUS!!! Ahh, we missed them so so so so much! I am so happy and excited for them. I look back....obviously not too far because it was pretty much yesterday that Dan graduated, but I look back at our medical school experience with the fondest,most wonderful memories ever. We struggled financially ( I mean WAAYYY below the poverty level, people), we were crazy busy, were sadly FAR away from family, and yet LOVED every minute of it! I would do it all over again FOR SURE! We felt so blessed and so loved from our Heavenly Father. So...as I look at what is in store for Alexi and Jeff I just smile. I hope they hold on tight and enjoy the ride because they are starting an amazingly crazy wonderful journey together as a young family.

On our way we had a total a sign...no really, there was a sign named Alexis Rd. Perfect huh?

Here we are shooting the breeze, loving the weather on a blanket we threw out at a park, waiting to meet up with the gang.

Get ready Panera Bread here is a group who has traveled REealllY far to eat there! Respect.

Okay are they not going to be the cutest couple alive?

The poor little guy dead tired of his long American travels.

I'm Puzzled!

2009-07-27T09:02:00.008-05:00

Some of my fondest memories of when I was a little girl were spent playing games, making crafts, and doing puzzles with my Grandma Rawson. I can not even tell you how many games of Old Maid, Pick-up-Sticks, Go Fish, and Pay Day were played together. She taught me that games are not just fun to learn and play but the company and conversation together was even BETTER. Every time I was in town she would take me to the store to buy a craft to make, and a puzzle to do. We would come home set up the cardboard table in her bedroom, get a drink of water, a snack from her outside cooler and freezer, and then immediately go to town. As I sit here and close my eyes I emotionally recall every detail so vividly. I can remember the soft touch of my grandmas manicured hands, the brightness of the naturally lit room from the large glass windows, the sweet smell of her house, and the angelic songs that were always being sung by her. We would talk together, laugh together, and sing together. My grandma Rawson was quite a funny lady, always singing songs to make me laugh. Grandma was a lady full of class, pose, kindness, charity, love, simplicity, and energy. She was a very detailed, organized, and multi-talented woman. Grandma was "good to the bone," and there was no question about it. She was always happy and had more patience than I would think even possible to have. Grandma was sooo cute...one thing that was VERY important to her while "puzzling" together was that I knew all the secrets in executing a puzzle. It is rediculously important to me that my girls learn to puzzle. I think it teaches them great problem solving skills, flexible thinking, sharpens their fine motor skills, teaches them to look more carefully at the details, uses their memory skills, ALL the while teaching them PERSISTENCE and PATIENCE. I hope that my girls learn to enjoy playing board games and puzzles as much as I do.

Well due to the fact that our finances are VERY VERY tight this Anniversary I had to put a little more thought into Dan's gift. After a little thinking I decided that I was going to get something for us that we love to do together. My favorite thing to do with Dan is to talk. I love my conversations with my sweetheart and find myself never wanting them to end. So...I quickly concluded that a Puzzle was a must. Instead of falling on our "at home date night clutch" of watching movies or television we could now Puzzle together and talk, talk, talk, the night away! I was sooo excited because for $12.99 I found a box of 8 Disney puzzles varying from 150 pieces to 500 pieces. ( Baby steps, we'll start out small.) This way Madie (Elisabeth is not quite at this puzzle level yet) could put together the 150 piece ones and Dan and I could do the others. It's the gift that keeps on giving! Hahaha I know that I am a dork. Madie was equally excited for daddy's gift, and yes, she does do the 150 piece puzzle. I helped her out with about 40 of the pieces but other than that she patiently sits there and does it alone. It is cute, after a while of puzzling Madie tell me she is going to take a break... but only minutes later I find her lingering back at the table working on the puzzle. She is like me...I can't stop until I am done!

Well, when I gave the box of puzzles to Dan on our Anniversary he grinned and thanked me. Not a thrilled enthusiastic Hallelujah type-of-thank-you by any means, but more of a here-goes yet another one of Amanda's silly ideas type-of-thank-you. You must know this...Dan is not into Puzzles at all. They frustrate and annoy him to the worst degree. But I hope that he will learn to LIKE doing puzzles because of me and our time together. Hopefully I can show him the fun side of puzzles. The silver lining hopefully being that he will LOVE and enjoy our conversations, funny stories told, songs being sung together, and yummy treats be devoured all the while continuing on this important tradition started by my HERO, my great Grandma Rawson.

Parks, Walks, Museums...oh my!

2009-07-24T18:33:00.009-05:00

Lately the girls and I have spending time out and about. Despite what most people (non-Michigan-ites) think about Michigan ...it is full great things to do. Many of you know how I am not a fan of being at home all day, I HAVE to get out, see, and do. It is not that I don't love my home, I DO! I just get stir crazy and like to explore. We have recently gone to the Henry Ford Museum, Metro water parks, the lake, and many parks around town. Probably my most favorite thing is to... walk and walk and walk with the girls. My walking "journey's" usually start off in an unorganized, un-calculated direction but most often-than-not end up at an ice cream shop, hair salon, store, library, and mostly at a park probably at least 3 to 4 miles later. I love it, and the odds are pretty good that at least 1 if not 2 of the girls end up asleep on the way home! Below I have added some pictures that I have recently taken of my most favorite human beings on earth.

At the park.....

Bath time....I LOVE ROLLS!

Metro Water Parks...

The Museums.....( the Linkin Long photos are for Grandma Arrhenius and Uncle Nik.)

"Rock Stars, Cars, and Guitars": Macy's 2nd Tuesdays at the museum....

My Bug-a-boo playing on our bed....bee antenna's thanks to her silly sisters.

On this day...July 20th

2009-07-20T07:27:00.008-05:00

Throughout history on this day, July 20th there have been some very important and influential events that have taken place. Such as:

1976 -Hank Aaron hit his 755th Home Run, the last one of his career.

1976-the Viking I lands successfully on Mars at 11:53:06 UT. It was the first attempt by the United States to land on Mars.

1903-The Fords Motor Company shipped its first car.

1968-The Special Olympics was founded. Hooray!

356 BC – Alexander the Great, Macedonian-Greek king and military leader was born.

Argentina's – Día del Amigo (Friendship Day)

2000 – The leaders of Salt Lake City's bid to win the 2002 Winter Olympics are indicted by a federal grand jury for bribery, fraud, and racketeering. Can I get an AMEN- HALLELUJAH for Mitt Romney!

1945 – The US Congress approves the Bretton Woods Agreement.

But out of all of these important events on July 20 there is one special event that is MOST INFLUENTIAL and trumps all of the others. It is...

2002- The eternal union of two individuals.

It is true... 7 years ago today Dan I were married in the Salt Lake City temple for not just "time" but for all eternity. It was by far the best decision that I have ever made! Through our ups and through our downs I have NEVER- EVER- EVER regretted this decision and I know that I won't for the rest of my life. I am thrilled that I married my Best Friend, sweetheart, and inspiration. I don't claim that we have the "perfect marriage" or "life" BUT I will say that we both continually, respectfully, and lovingly work hard at our marriage and will forever. We have a lifetime to grow and cherish every moment with one other and that gives me hope and excitement. I truly am the luckiest girl in the world to have married a man like my honey Dan. They don't make men like him anymore. He truly is 1 in a million... no... 1 in a trillion. My smile spreads from ear to ear just at the thought of Dan and his sweet face and silly quirks. I want to shout from the roof-tops in joy that he choose ME! How did I get so lucky? I love you Dan! Happy Anniversary!

A Love Passed Down One Car at a Time

2009-07-10T19:52:00.006-05:00

My dad taught us at a really young age HOW TO and WHY it is important to wash our cars and keep them clean. I mean seriously I am sure major Child Labor Laws were broken. But despite any broken law...heehee...I am grateful to him for it. Growing up in California, washing cars was always a weekend chore for what seemed like the entire state of California. (Or maybe I was clueless and suckered into this belief.) This chore quickly turned into an enjoyable past time. I remember washing cars with my brother Taylor and loving every minute of it. It was always such a great time to talk, even if he did not want to chat with his kid sister. Over the years as I got older and I soon learned to drive I continued to enjoy washing cars. It soon turned into my "meditative time." It gave me time to clean my car, break a sweat, all the while think through my thoughts and feelings! Weird I know...but like I said I love washing cars. When I moved to Utah things were different. Other than the occasional Cheerleading Car Wash Fundraiser and washing cars with my buddy Alexis I swear no one ever washed their own car. I think Utahan's are all about the drive through "Super Sonic: the Work's" experience. I must admit even my husband does not have an interest in cleaning his own car. Dan would MUCH rather take his car in and have someone else do all of the cleaning. Now I understood that washing cars was not posh at one point because of the whole "drought episode" but that still was no excuse for Utah's lack of manual labor. Just so no dirty looks would be shot my way by drivers I went as far as parking my car on the grass so the water would run off and "water the lawn." Apartment living over the past 4 years has deprived me of the opportunity to meditate and wash....until NOW! Yet another perk of renting a home is that we have a hose!!!WooHoo! Today I thought that I would teach my 2 and 4 year old a little something about what it means to work! Following in my dads footsteps and starting young. I can just see the grin on his face right now. I am sure my dad is thinking, "You know when I was their age your grandpa and grandma had me working all day.....in the blistering sun.....cleaning anything and everything, without any food or water....all before the age of 3!" Hahaha, just teasing dad. I love you!

No but really I was so excited to get the girls bathing suits on and get sudsy and wet. They were equally as excited as I was. They each took turns using the hose, scrubbing the car, rinsing it off, and then of course spraying each other with the hose. It was fun! Madeleine was pretty grossed out with the dead bugs all along the front of the car and Elisabeth stayed to her one little section on the tail bumper. It looked pretty dang shiny if you ask me. They decided to pull out their bikes and do the entire works on them as well. That's the spirit!!! Well now that the fun part was done, I introduced them to the ever-so-exciting world of cleaning the inside. Yah, their attention lasted all of 4 minutes. I put on some tunes but Elisabeth decided that it was more fun to explore the front seats and put pennies in the CD player, than to Q-Tip clean the gunk out of all of the crevices. But finally after 3 HOURS the car was cleaned, cleaning supplies put away, and a whistle and a wink were given to our favorite 4 wheeled-blue steel and WE WERE DONE!

As soon as Elisabeth's bike was cleaned she immediately hoped on and said, "My bike's all done, I'm riding it!" I was laughing

Here is my little trooper...waiting it out while we cleaned the car! Love her!

So... was it still meditative doing it with children? Umm with teeth clinched I would say YES. Now it is only combined with crying baby, numerous child potty breaks, crumbs in every nook and cranny of the car, and the occasional refereeing that must take place between the "sisterly/friendly arguments." Now I may be wrong, but I think that this life-long love of mine has officially been passed down. I will keep my fingers crossed for a bright future of many more car cleaning weekends ahead.

P.S. Our wonderful neighbor Nikki has a pool and she is always telling us to come over and swim WHENEVER we want, no invitation needed. So tonight when Dan got off we took her up on her offer and jumped right in. The girls had a really great time and Dan and I got to swim some much needed laps. Madeleine is officially our little fish. She is all over the pool, swimming soooo well! I love it! I foresee the next three years will be spent many-a-night over at Nikki's house enjoying the water. Big thanks again to our WONDERFUL neighbor and friend!

The biggest hair cut yet.

2009-07-09T13:13:00.003-05:00

On Tuesday morning Madeleine hopped on her bike and I strapped the other two kiddos in the jogger and we headed off to get Madeleine's hair trimmed. It was looking pretty straggly and need of a trim. Well we arrived there and the lady pointed to Madeleine's hair and showed me how much. "I quickly said, no not that much just a slight trim. SHE likes long hair." She nodded. Well 4 inches later Madeleine's hair was not just slightly trimmed but looking great and HEALTHY! It still looks long and she is still happy. After the haircut we continued on and walked to the park. Ahh I love peaceful days of leisurely taking my time and going placing or doing things...come what may. The weather here in Michigan is absolutely INCREDIBLE...I mean 70's to low low 80's. Perfect. You'll see the Arrhenius gals outside pretty much all of the time! Here are pictures of Madeleine with her shorter hair, straight from her bike helmet but still looking sweet.

Of course if Madie gets her picture taken so MUST Elisabeth or all heck will break loose.

One day at a time.

2009-07-09T11:56:00.007-05:00

Well life as a resident has officially set in this week. Besides Dan's regular hours he has been on call. Whew! Poor guy has such long hours. It has been about 3 days since the girls have "seen daddy." He is getting called in a ton and keeping Uber Busy. We obviously miss him but I am doing my best to keep the girls happy and not thinking ab out missing daddy. Yesterday the reality set in for them with having Dan gone and they could not stop asking about him. Questions like, "When is daddy getting home?"

"Do doctors sleep very much?"

"What does the waiting room at the hospital look like?"

"Do you think daddy is eating...has he eaten lunch or dinner?"

consumed our day yesterday. I just think it will take some time getting used to the idea of him not getting home before they go to bed and leaving before they wake, day after day. I mean we have been doing this off and on for the past 4 years it will just take us some time to get used to again. We have been spoiled the past month having so much of Dan's time. But...reality quickly settles in and we trudge on and forward.

I decided that since the girls and I needed a little pick me up and fun from our hectic day of play-dates, errands, and doctor appointments that I would let Madeleine plan a little "girls party" for us to enjoy that evening. We headed off to Costco for our favorite Rotisserie chicken and some fruit to bring home for a quick fix for dinner. Madeleine had everything planned out to a T. Even the music for the car ride for us to dance and rock out to in the car. We gobbled dinner up, and quickly started in with our party that is, of course AFTER balloons were blown up. We dipped strawberries in chocolates for dessert and quickly got ready for the "program" that she ever-so-cleverly planned for us. She conducted our program and had each of us go up and sing a song and do a talent...(hmmm Family Home Evening????) After that was done she proceeded to award each of us with Princess Crowns. Elisabeth and I got one for: Doing such a Good Job Dipping Strawberries. Victoria was crowned for: Doing Such a Good Job sitting there WHILE we dipped strawberries. Love it! After playing with the balloons we devoured our strawberries making sure that Daddy got 5 for himself. We set up beds on the floor to finish our party with a sleepover in the front room. It was quite fun, maybe Party Planning will be in her future.

Dan got home late last night and was Very Very pleased with his saved strawberries. This morning when Dan left (waaayyy before normal morning time) he whispered to Madeleine, "Bye Honey I love you." And in a dead sleep she looked at him and said, "Bye daddy I love you!" and then Blew him a kiss. He said it was hilarious! She has no recollection of this... I told you my girls full on sleep talk and walk!

Madeleine INSISTED that while ea ch of us got up to sing our song that we must hold the "announcement sheet." She thought that the paper made the program look more official and legit.

While we sat around the table downing our strawberries....this is what our littlest strawberry was doing. In hopes to get our attention, Victoria repositioned herself to see us then talked and talked until we gave in and brought her swinging and reaching arms over to be with us at the table!

Our bedtime beauties!

Let Freedom Ring...

2009-07-04T11:20:00.006-05:00

Before our day continues on in celebration with BBQ's and friends, I wanted to quickly share my love for our Country. I love America and all that we are from the past, present, and future. To me, there is NO question that AMERICA is the BEST country in the world!!! I have so much pride for America and get a little emotional about it. Yes, I am one of the goobers who gets goose bumps and teary eyed when we sing patriotic hymns. I love it. Although we are missing our favorite "4th celebration" in Provo, last night we attended Birmingham's Fireworks at the golf course and were completely impressed. I think the best fireworks show that we have seen yet. We were in good company with some friends from our church. This morning The Bloomfield Hills 1st Ward ( our church congregation)celebrated early this morning with a breakfast and Flag raising ceremony with songs and a speaker. It was neat. I am off to get the girls ready for the BBQ this afternoon.

Here is the only picture taken from last night watching the fireworks! P.S. Disclaimer: I look terrible in my running clothes b/c Dan forwarded me the opportunity to get a good run in to the golf course and meet up with them.

After a really late night of fun with friends, food, and fireworks...we came home and got to enjoy even MORE fireworks with the Arrhenius family in Utah.. Via the Web Cam. I love technology and the ability to stay connected with our family. We sure miss them all!

Meet the new doctor in town...Dr. Dan

2009-06-30T23:32:00.002-05:00

Well as of JULY 1, 2009 (tomorrow) Dan will hang up his short white coat (student), in exchange for his official long white coat (doctor). Hooray! I know he is feeling a slew of mixed emotions but I am so excited for him to start this new adventure. Good luck babe, we're rooting for you!

Swim lessons are BACK!

2009-06-30T23:02:00.008-05:00

The first day of swim class Madeleine strapped on her goggles, dipped her head under, and swam straight to the side. A father sitting beside me looked over in shock and we laughed. I told him, "Well why in the heck am I paying for her to take swim lessons?" I guess she had a great start but obviously the teachers are vital in her confidence, technique, skill. She is doing great, swimming like a fish, and having some fun.

Though I LOVE these photos of Lizzy at swim lessons, I would like you direct and FOCUS your attention to the "Many Faces of Dan." No joke within a 5 minute period...I snatched these photos. Just look at his silly faces, not one is the same! HaHaHa!

Beach Day!

2009-06-30T22:38:00.005-05:00

We ventured out to the "Beach" with some friends last week. We packed a lunch, headed over to the Stoney-Creek Metro Park, and had quite an enjoyable time. I got anannual pass so we can go many more times this summer. Apparently they have great sledding, tubing, and ice skating in the winter too!

YUMMY...I LOVE VICTORIA!

I love, love, love Elisabeth's tushy! We now realize that sunblock ON the tush is a MUST. No matter how many times we pull her wedge...this ALWAYS is the end result. Love it!

"The Hair"

"The Eyes"

Lemonade 25-cents

2009-06-30T22:29:00.004-05:00

Madeleine and Elisabeth started their very 1st Lemonade stand. With a little help and excitement from the boys a few doors down..it all came together. It was adorable! They made almost $4.00 and what should have been split between 4 kido-s ended up being split 8 ways from the "Straggling Tweens" who wandered in and wanted in on the action as soon as they saw how much money was being made. The girls were innocently unaware and loving every minute of it!

Favorite special moments captured

2009-06-30T22:10:00.004-05:00

To me, there is nothing sweeter than "catching" your sweethearts asleep. It is so relaxing and so innocent. Lately I have caught some major sweetness going on.

I love... taking my girls on walks and seeing their sweet faces.

I love...hiddenly catching Dan preciously talking, kissing, and loving our girls. Lucky for me I get to see this all the time.

Is having 3 kids harder?

2009-06-30T21:51:00.005-05:00

People always ask me if having 3 children is harder. I give you my answer thus far in my 5 months of experience in actually having 3 kids. My answer is one that I have thought about time and time again, which is....It requires more time, organization, and creativity BUT generally I would say NO it really is not much harder. Huh? What? Why you may ask? Well the following pictures are evidence to my case and reason....

(While I was in the kitchen doing the dishes I peered into the family room and saw this...the girls playing "Sleeping Beauty." Man I love my little squirts!)

When you have two kids who have an imagination beyond belief, and spend countless hours together playing...more time is freed up to spend with the 3rd child and to do daily chores. Now don't get me wrong...it is no cake walk but definitely "do-able." Now 4? Ay Caramba....I WILL be scared! I would like to give Kudos to all the moms I know who do such an amazing job at balancing their crazy-busy lives all the while raising wonderful children.

P.S. You may want to ask me this question later in life when my kids have grown up...I am sure my answer will be totally different. We'll see.

Father's day

2009-06-30T20:49:00.006-05:00

We have decided, that is, the girls and I have decided that Father's Day in our home WILL always be hugely IMPORTANT and always celebrated to the fullest. Possibly even the largest holiday to us. I mean...sharing a house with 4 "LIVELY" girls and flying solo in the male/testosterone department can not be easy. Dan is ever-so-deserving to have a day devoted to him. Everyday we try to show just how obsessed we are with him, but on Father's day it is his turn to shine. We love and appreciate EVERYTHING our daddy does. He is an INCREDIBLE human being. The thought of my husband and his goodness overwhelms me with indescribable emotion. The girls love their daddy with every fiber of their being and it shows. And for myself....well it would be an understatement to say that I am truly, madly, and deeeply in LOVE with Dan.

On Saturday we took Dan to IKEA for lunch and then on to Greenfield Village for the highly attended and highly anticipated Father's Day weekend of "Motor Muster's." There were over 1100 classic vintage cars from the 1930's through the 1980's. It was really neat to see how much time and effort were put into these cars. The owners pride and joy for sure. They were wicked beautiful. Despite the humid heat of the day, we really enjoyed our day there and enjoyed spending more time with my hunny.

Madie's Favorite.... and Lizzy's favorite. I wonder what their favorite colors are. Classic.

If there is one thing that Dan LOVES it is being "On time and AT LEAST 5 to 10 minutes in our seats at church before the meeting starts. " So for Father''s Day I wanted to make sure that this happened. I woke up extra early, got myself and the girls bathed, dressed and ready all before Dan woke up. Pretty tricky I must say! We all jumped in bed with him after we were ready and gave him our special "homemade gifts." Our day was filled with food, LOVE, and even more LOVE! We have 3 friends who were family-less on Father's Day. Their wives and children were sadly at least 1600 miles away(dang 4th year rotations...I feel your pain guys.) We wanted to make sure that they felt special on Father's Day too so we had them over for a special dinner. We put together little gifts for them...that the girls were SOOOO excited to give! You gotta love little girls and their enthusiasm, nothing beats it!

Father's Day was a great day. I am always humbled and filled with so much gratitude when I think of all of the wonderful men that fill my life. I am so proud to say that I know THE greatest fathers in the world....my hubby, my Dad, Father-in-law, Brothers, Grandpa's, and friends. Their love, goodness, and examples will live as a legacy to us all for generations and throughout time. Woowy I am lucky!

Rice Cereal

2009-06-30T20:29:00.006-05:00

The day arrived a little over a week ago for Victoria and her journey in discovering the glorious deliciousness that our world brings to us... food. Well not so great for her...rice cereal. But still...food. It is always fun for me to watch my kids with their first feeding. It is filled with such a ray of mixed emotions and facial expressions. Love it. All in all she did well and seems to really enjoy it. (Both Madeleine and now Victoria have Acid Reflux so the doctor recommended starting them early on food...to help control the reflux a little bit more with thicker food filling their tummies.)

SO SAD

2009-06-12T22:10:00.004-05:00

It is a day of mourning...the Red Wings lost tonight 2-1. From the words of Dan, "How depressing, a gray cloud will hang over the city tonight."

Cheer up Charlie we'll take em' next season!

The three R's

2009-06-12T16:07:00.011-05:00

Red Wings

Riverwalk

Red Bull Air Races

Dan took us on a little "field trip" to downtown Detroit today. (No not the Ghetto part.) Millions and millions of dollars have been pumped into the downtown area and it shows! Since tonight is game 7 in the Finals for the Stanley Cup, and being that we are HUGE Red Wings fans here in our home (thanks to Dan) He thought that it would be appropriate for us to celebrate the right way. He took us to Hockey Town Cafe right there in downtown across from Tigers Stadium for lunch. It is this awesome cafe/Bar/Party station that is full of Red Wings decorations and filled to the brim with a slew of fanatical Red Wings fans. Just our type of place to go. The girls thought it was , "Soooo cool." For those of you who don't know...Detroit is obsessed with hockey and their Red Wings. They have won the Stanlye Cup 11 times and are trying to keep the Cup here in Detroit for a back-to-back win. People left and right filled the streets with their Red Wing gear on, itt was so much fun to see. I was just bummed that the girls were unable to wear their Red Wing shirts with Dan and I because they were in the washing machine from Wednesday nights game. To me there is nothing more fun than living in a city that has so many professional sports. (i.e hockey, football, baseball, and basketball)

After lunch we headed over to the next R...the Riverfront.

The Riverfront is a long stretch of path that you can ride bikes, take a stroll, and look across the river to the other side which is Windsor, Canada. It is neat to see. Yep, just a hop, skip, and a jump away and you are in Canada. Dan and I plan on taking the short tunnel drive under the river to Canada with the girls... we are just waiting on the girls passports to arrive in the mail. Canada's River front and skyline look nice, but I still think that ours looks better. I will just have to wait and see until we go. Hee Hee!

Dand had to get a picture of GM...the company that is keeping this city afloat...YAH RIGHT!

Luck was with us today because as we were walking the Riverfront we noticed patches of people here and there staring and waiting at the river. I was confused but then remembered looking on the computer last night that on Saturday and Sunday was the "Red Bull Air Race World Championships." Yes... I totally wanted to go and take the girls but looked at the ticket prices and quickly said No-Way-Jose. Well...like I said luck was with us, today was the practice rounds for these pilots competing from all over the world. Dan and I were thrilled, I mean c'mon we had front row seats to see these hot Shots strut their stuff and did not even have to pay a dime! WooHoo! The entire time I just kept wishing that my friend Alexis was there. She is a pilot herself and would totally eat this type of stuff up. I loved it...a little to freaky-scary to me, but I enjoy watching crazy people do incredible things. I could have stayed there all day and watch the pilots fly. It reminded me of the good ol' days when I would meet Alexis down at the Provo airport and she would take me for a ride. Obviously we were not crazy like them. But we did get a little crazy and "Cruise the 8" (Movies 8 in Provo... that is) but in our plane. We thought we were so cool to say that we did such a thing and I am not starting to believe that we WERE!!! HaHa I mean who can say they Cruised the 8 in a plane. Another crazy thing we did was hop in the plane and head down to Vegas. Well, we never actually quite made it to Vegas. I got really really sick and plane was acting weird. SO...instead we only made it to Parawon and turned back around. Haha, I laugh at the fun times Alexis and I had together. Ahh to be young, fun, spontaneous, and nerdy! I miss those days.

I think it goes without saying that we had a wonderful day today getting to see the sights around town. I can't wait to see more!!!

Here is a video of a plane practicing the course.

Rolling with my Hommies

2009-06-12T15:39:00.002-05:00

Last night after a long jabber session on the bed with Victoria I looked over at my little squirt and saw her roll over. She just turned 4 months old and is growing up waaayyy to fast.

The Queen of all the Land

2009-06-10T21:52:00.004-05:00

Our Queen Victoria has won over this home and all of our hearts! She is 4 months old. Victoria loves to watch her sisters play. She straightens up and flexes her body in effort to leap out of our lap and play with the girls. Madeleine and Elisabeth constantly argue over who gets to hold her next. I think that every part of Victoria's body is covered with kisses daily.

Today's Check list of kissed body parts:

Cheeks- Check

Head- Check

Tummy-Check

Legs- Check

Feet-Check

Toes- Check

Thighs-Check

Lips- Check

Back-Check

She is oh so Kissable! Victoria loves to watch Hockey with her daddy and always grabs his face. She smiles a lot and jabbers back to us at any chance she gets. We love Victoria and look forward to watching her grow!

There is a first time for everything

2009-06-10T21:03:00.008-05:00

Today was a first for us here at the Arrhenius household. Guess who came to visit us here on our street? The ICE CREAM MAN! We have never had the opportunity for the girls to step, or RUN outside our door and buy an ice cream. It was so much fun. Madeleine, Elisabeth, and I were in the backyard after dinner when we heard the all too famous music. Madeleine looked at me with huge eyes and started to giggle and scream. I told her to quickly run inside and grab their saved money. We were laughing and yelling throughout the house finally finding the girls sock purses with their saved change. We ran outside and made it just in time for the girls to pick out a frozen treat! I...ahem... the girls, were so excited! As a little girl I remember running after the ice cream truck just after hearing the first chimes of the music and loving it! I Scream, you scream, we ALL scream for ice cream! With saved chore money in hand I am sure that this summer will be filled with many more Ice cream hunts in
the future! Hooray!

P.S. all the while Daddy and Victoria are just hanging loose!

Differences

2009-06-10T20:34:00.005-05:00

It is crazy to me how completely obsessed, in-love, and amazed I am with my children. I never quite understood how I was going to be able to love ALL of my children equally before I actually had another one. What else amazes me is the crazy differences between them. Aside for their love for life and eachother, they are truly night and day. As opposite as they come. I LOVE their differences and can't wait to see what personality and role Victoria evolves into. Last night as we were sitting in the front yard while Dan was plaing T-Ball with the girls I notcied something soooo cute. Something very simple yet to me sooo DEEP. It simply wrapped their differences up in ONE hairstyle. Both girls had their hair in two french braids and they looked so different. The braids almost represent their personalities. I LOVE IT!
Madeleine's braids: Prett, Long, and straight

Lizzy's braids: Cute braided Ringlets. I love that even her braids turned into ringlets.

A few pictures of our home....

2009-06-10T19:54:00.007-05:00

I am so thrilled to be here in our home. It is such a change from apartment living. I love it! I am no hater of apartment living...c'mon we lived in apartments for almost 7 years! But nothing, I mean NOTHING beats a backyard AND a front yard! So here is our little crib. Enjoy...we do!

P.S. I am no fashionista or interior decorator so no judging.

Madeleine's and Elisabeth's room:

Our bedroom: Heaven on earth...my bed! Hallelujah!

Kitchen and Dining Room: I took this table that has now "thrice" been handed down from medical students. But...I finally painted it black with my dad. It turned out darling. Much better...with a bench and chairs from IKEA it looks great! For those of you who have eaten at our place time after time...I am sure that you would agree, TOTAL UPGRADE for the table. I just can't part with a 10 seater table for "FREEEEEEEEE!"

Family Room:

Outside: I could not wait for 1.) to finally be able to put up a flag...and 2.) for the flowers to bloom. We have Peonies , in the front yard and back. I love Peonies. I think that we are going to plant a few others flowers in place of the little tree/bush right of the front porch in the picture. The bush is D.E.A.D.!!

P.S. for my dear Husband I had 2 of these stickers made.

They say, "RISE AND SHOUT!" I put one on the bathroom mirror and the other one on the celing right above his side of the bed. Hopefully it will give him a little bounce in his step every morning before work. You all know how he feels about the Cougs.