What is going on around here?

Random/Interesting/Quirky Facts about Little ol' Me

• I am the youngest of five girls. I am the baby and proud of it!

• I have a germ-a-phobia about things lurking on vertical flat surfaces (windows, doors, walls and cabinetry) and feel the need to remove them with spraying/wiping or painting on a regular basis. No, I will not use my phobia to your advantage, so don't even think about asking. I have a hard enough time keeping the unwanted vermin off my own walls.

• I was a 'college football wife' and never missed a game. I say this purely as bragging rights: my husband loves me enough to listen me yell and scream at grown men in spandex (something he still hears every Sunday in the fall).

• I was a Bible Quizzer. And beat the pants off the best of them. (Does Romans 6:10 ring a bell to anyone?)

• My husband and I are high school sweethearts. And we haven't been on a date since.

• I cannot do nothing (multitasking is my element). Like right now, I am instant messaging with a friend, responding to my email, creating this 'tag' assignment, and heading to bed. /li>

• I still don't know in what "style" to decorate my house, even though I've toured countless Parade of Homes for the last six years.

• I want to participate in the Iron Man. Someday, I'll be crawling across the finish line a mere 24 hours after the true racers are done, and that's only if I don't drown first.

• I procrastinate because I know if I went through with my original idea I would miss something truly brilliant.

Because I was bombarded from all sides by this attack assignment, and because most chain letters end with me (the infamous black hole) and because I know most of the blogger world has already been tagged and because all good things must come to an end I took the liberty to change the rules. I am totally blog-lifting this idea from The Antics of the Three 22nds, for those lurkers out there who love to watch from a distance I challenge you to write your own Random/Interesting/Quirky Facts in my comments section. I know there are some things about each of you that I do not know. So get typing.

If, by a long shot, you are a blogger who hasn't been tagged, consider a post containing 7-10 Random/Interesting/Quirky Facts about yourself.

These are the ladies I used to admire: Joolee with your sopha full of girlies, Rachel and the boys on her range, the mom of those Three 22nd, Super because she's a Mom Annette, Everything just EO with Heather, Shea's fascinating indeed, and Mrs. Jo and her Kingdom.

Football or Bust

Bethel Homecoming Game

How, you ask, does one accomplish watching a college football game with three girls? Well, hopefully you go to a Homecoming game and there are kids' activities to entertain the older two. And hopefully, because it is Homecoming, lots of other family members will be there to help with the baby. Hopefully, you'll be able to find a comfortable position where you are visible to those who are managing your children, yet able to keep both eyes on the field. Hopefully, you'll be able to sit and watch all of the game. Hopefully, you only have to make one trip to the restroom. Hopefully, the baby will fall asleep peacefully in someone's arms, too exhausted to stay awake.

Probably, though, you'll get to stand for the whole first quarter, making sure everyone is taken care of. Probably the trip to the bathroom will be with someone else's child. Probably when do get to sit it will be on a soaking wet blanket (because the field had been faithfully watered for the entire week and is drenched), thus giving you two-toned jeans. Probably you'll yell and scream yourself hoarse, too competitive to be a simply a spectator. Probably the baby, who's completely over stimulated and on the verge of a meltdown, will only want mama and will have a stinky, dirty diaper, which you will change with the only dry space left on the blanket, never missing a beat of the game. Then proceed to rock the fussing child while patiently praying for the end of the game to come. Probably you'll have to rely on someone else's photos, because you forgot your camera. At the end of the game you'll probably collect your two sugar-high, received-everything-I-ask-for girls, and attempt to say your goodbyes to friends and family before complete hysteria breaks loose.

That is how you enjoy three hours of college football with three girls. Was it worth it, you ask? Well, to quote one of my idols, "It may be a crazy life, but it is our life." (Kate Gosselin)

We were there to watch 'Big Andy' play Defensive End. Thanks for a great show, Andy. Too bad the offensive didn't have your intensity. The series of downs you had on the goal line were magnificent.

Can you believe I made this happen?

This post contains the most awe-inspiring photos so brace yourself for…

The blades of our labor...





The first set of pictures were taken on Setember 11, ten days after we seeded. The second set of pictures were wtaken on September 22. Amazing, I know and I saw it with my own eyes.

Once again, growing grass has proven to be obtainable. My countless minutes of watering were not in vain.


The deck was our Spring/Summer project. And we love it. The girls ate breakfast and lunch outside almost every day.

I can't wait for this to happen

And my list of favorites...

I am still waiting for my life to become significantly more interesting, but in the meantime, Jordan likes kindergarten. Notice I said "likes." On several occasions, she's asked why they are only learning letters. I wish I had the stamina to home school her, but I know I’d go mad trying to entertain her all day. Andi and I are stumbling through preschool at home. Time management still remains the biggest obstacle. It's hard to do preschool in the morning when Dillon is awake. And Andi still needs a nap on a regular basis, which makes afternoons difficult. But we have done at least one lesson every day that Jordan has been in school (which is practical, but still below my expectations). Dillon is perfecting the role of a being a toddler. I keep trying to get a picture of her peeking over the counter, desk, around the couch, etc., but it's a hard moment to capture.

Our outside "honey-do" list is rapidly reaching an end. And if we could keep everything on the inside from breaking down, we may actually have a "nothing-to-do-winter", effectively attaining couch potato status, which I would embrace more passionately if the Vikings could win. Another heartbreaking season could send me straight into a chocolate-induced coma, making entering and running the Grandma's Marathon impractical (not that it's practical now, but I am still going to do it). The season kickoff to my favorite shows will make cuddling on the couch in front of the tube a welcomed break to managing every moment of my day. And my favorites are (only achievable due to DVR - thank you, Dish Network):

Vikings Football (Of course, I couldn't allow Josh to sit mindlessly for three hours all by himself.)

Amazing Race (Thanks to my sister-in-law.)

Survivor (Josh and I watch this one together.)

Jon & Kate plus Eight (Can you imagine six kids the same age?)

TLC's What not to wear (There is something to be said about dressing for success in any situation.)

When love happens

Why I Y my mom

Recently, I took credit for rolling with the punches. Please know that is due in part to a wonderful example: my mom.

I don't know if I will find the right words or even give justice to what my mom means to me, but this is my attempt.

There is a song by Sarah Groves called Generations. Part of the chorus talks about how future generations will reap what I sow, that I can pass on a curse or a blessing to those I will never know. This is so true of my mom. When faced with hard times she didn't mumble or complain but instead chose to plow ahead, focused on the next generation, and knowing her life would impact those who came after her. She created an example that would benefit them, one that impacts me and will impact my children, and will in turn impact their children. Her example created a cycle of blessings that began from one person and will continue to affect those who come behind. I am eternally grateful that my mom provided this example, instead of leaving me to try to find it on my own. I don't know for sure if I would have been as blissful in my flawed state if she hadn't so faithfully provided the example.

All this to say that, because of my flawedness, I desperately want to follow in my mother's footsteps and continue to pass on a blessing to my children and to those I may never know.

Thanks mom. I Y you!


No, I didn't take the time to download the song to my blog and increase your reading enjoyment, but hear is a link to hear a sample http://www.saragroves.com/store/conversations/lyrics/generations/

When does this happen?

Caution content of this posting may cause drowsiness. No hurt feelings if you skip to the last paragraph.



I used to be able to accomplish a whole list of activities during one day. Now, I often wonder if I even ate, because I feel like I didn't even get one task accomplished. So I decided to keep a daily time line to see what's happening.



7:00 The alarm startles me from my beauty rest…meaning I'm still in debt and will never acquire enough beauty sleep to undo the damage. It truly is a never-ending battle.

7:08 Actually get out of bed, after listening to a few comments by the broadcasters.

7:10 After going to the bathroom and finding something clean enough to put on I finally gain enough courage to wake the sleeping bears (a kindergartener and a three-year-old). A treacherous task because the bears' attitude is never predictable. Screeching, moaning, and even outright roaring are not unheard of.

7:17 The awakening wasn't as bad as expected. I actually have all my extremities and I haven't even reached for the bottle of acetaminophen.

7:18 Potty and hand washing.

7:28 Breakfast for the bears, and it is good thing it only took 10 minutes to decide what to eat. It is a school morning, after all.

7:30 A chance to check emails, facebook, and the blogs I follow.

7:40 Read and sign the papers from school and put them in the backpack, add icepack to the lunch bag, and verify the snack bag made it into the backpack.

7:48 Done eating. Now off to teeth brushing, getting dressed, and hair combing.

8:00 Head to the bus stop. Pause to watch the deer cross the road - a mother and two fawns. Put hair into pony tails. Yes, at the bus stop. Give final directions to be good, listen well, and learn her classmates' names.

8:10 The bus is running behind, but we are back in the house to round up the piles of laundry. Sort whites, lights, darks, and brights (with three girls I often call this my Pepto Bismol load). Begin wash cycle number one.

8:20 Throw on workout clothes.

8:21 Cut an apple for the three-year-old and baby, fill a water bottle, and head for the basement.

8:22 Search house for the workout DVD I borrowed from the library.

8:28 Begin workout.

9:13 Complete enough of the workout to call it accomplished.

9:15 Turn sprinklers on. We are trying to grow a lawn. The final step of our landscaping.

9:28 If only I could spray the front yard in the five minutes I am told it should take.

9:29 Put towels in the dryer and a white shirt (that is not so white) to soak in the washer.

9:30 Just realized I haven't feed the baby breakfast. No wonder she won't let me put her down.

9:35 Time to turn the sprinklers off. Thanks goodness I set the timer to remind me or the seeds would be swimming.

9:43 Wipe a stinky three-year-old-bottom.

9:45 Sit down to eat my breakfast.

9:46 Begin preschool lesson of colors, Q for Quilt, and how many is this?

10:15 Add a load of white clothes and bed sheets to the not so white shirt to run wash cycle number two.

10:18 Pull the dry clothes out of dryer, bring them up to the folding station (a king sized bed).

10:20 Read Pooh's Snapshot Surprise to the three-year-old (way more enjoyable without the batteries:).

10:30 Find and print lesson plans for later. Hey, mark that down as planning ahead.

10:37 Quick search of office for missing credit card.

10:40 Open a yogurt for three-year-olds am snack and pour OJ to go with it.

10:41 Change a stinky baby diaper.

10:42 Shower.

10:47 Clean bathroom after baby had five, count them, five minutes of unattended freedom in the bathroom.

10:54 Put baby down for morning nap.

10:55 Wipe stinky three-year-old bottom. Yes, again.

11:06 Empty dishwasher and put clean dishes away. Listening to Rush Limbaugh in the background.

11:12 Wipe yogurt off the table and chair legs after hearing, "Oops mommy, I spilled."

11:20 Fill dishwasher with dirty dishes and run.

11:22 Wash large dishes in sink.

11:25 Rotate laundry and begin wash cycle number three.

11:30 Outside to turn on the sprinklers and jump on the trampoline with three-year-old. So much more fun the cool fall weather when you don't feel like you have to shower afterwards.

12:10 Ten minutes late for lunch. Any ideas?

12:15 Leftovers. Begin preparing a supper meal. Still listening to Rush.

12:25 Check emails, facebook, and the blogs I follow.

12:26 Delete all the junk emails. What did I do to the people from Viagra and eHarmony that they insist on sending me so much information?

12:30 Eat lunch. 1:00 Laundry continues now with the folding and putting away. Yuck.

1:06 Just multitasking, turned on the straightener to straighten my hair. Something I try to accomplish every three of four days.

1:10 Complete the supper meal.

1:11 Rotate laundry and begin wash cycle number four.

1:15 Back upstairs to fold laundry and do my hair.

1:16 Baby awake, skip laundry and hair to feed baby.

1:30 Hair and makeup. 1:40 Fold laundry. I'll have to put it away another day.

2:00 Turn computer on for three-year-old preschool lesson.

2:01 Change a baby diaper.

2:05 Provide fruit snacks for an "I'm so hungry" three-year-old.

2:30 Turn on sprinklers and play outside.

2:45 Again wondering how I am supposed to wet the front yard in five minutes.

2:46 A walk around the pond, while reading the mail and pushing the stroller, so the three-year-old can ride her bike.

3:00 Final glance at the local paper, advertisements, and coupons on the front step before heading inside.

3:10 Change into work clothes and pull back my hair.

3:20 Check emails, facebook, and the blogs I follow.

3:30 Wait for hubby and kindergartener to arrive.

3:45 Leave for work.



That's all folks. My eight hour day! And what did I accomplish? A couple of meals, watering the lawn, laundry, preschool, miscellaneous cleaning, and a whole lot of mothering, which is why I do it. One long day, written in one short sentence, meaning only one thing: I love what I do and I am thankful I get to do it again tomorrow.

Singing in the Rain

Living vicariously through my children…
Oh, how I miss puddle jumping and mud pie making.

I know that didn’t just happen!

The words I utter after a stubbed toe. (Don't worry, it's clean).

One recent night, like most nights, I had a child awake. While wandering the house in the dark, my "this little piggy that stayed home" came in forced contact with a Pack n Play that was lying in the hallway. And the first words of my mouth were, "Well, I guess I didn't need that toe!" It made me giggle enough to want to keep track of other utterances in the heat of a moment.

"No use crying over spilled (fill in the blank)." In this case yogurt, not just spilled, but splattered on the chair and table legs, up the wall and on the screen to our patio door.

"No way, that just happened!" When the mixer poofed flour all over the counter and my children as we were making cookies.

"Snap." Moaned, after the baby smacked me in the upper lip with a metal spoon, which gave me a fat lip.

"Oh, sugar!" When I noticed how late we were leaving to get to an appointment.

"WOW." As I watched my three-year-old fall off the play set.

"Oh, well." Listening to my five-year-old explain a broken tail light on the boat trailer.

"Oh no, you didn't!" Mumbled in discomfort after putting the wrong contact solution directly in my eye.

"Can you believe it!" To dumping the garbage all over the floor I just swept and moped.

"Ouch. Ouch. And one more ouch." To pinching the flesh between my thumb and pointer in the sprayer on a garden hose.

"OK." To my three-year-old stepping on my bare foot with her shoes on.

"Mommy." To my five year old hitting my shin with the break on her rollerblades.

So this collection sounded like a good idea, but now just looks like a list by someone who's overly accident prone. Yet my point remains. It is not foul language, profanities or aggression that come to mind in the heat of the moment. And when I reflect on this list, a sense of pride emerges. Although I am human and mistakes do happen, my attitude toward them is in my control. I can choose to be aggravated, upset, or angry. Or I can choose to accept what happened and move on. I am overjoyed to know that I usually roll with the punches.

What just happened?

To blog or not to blog, that is the question. I was just asking myself if I have what it takes to provide a blog. According to Wikipedia, a blog (a contraction of the term "Web log") is a web site usually maintained by an individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

What I learned after reading this brief description is that 'blog' is a contraction of the term Web log. But still I wondered, should I do it?

Can I …

… "maintain a web site?" Ha. Ha. And triple Ha. I can barely keep up with the updates in Facebook (I keep referring back to old facebook) let alone actually maintain a web site.
..provide "regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events or other material such as graphics or video." If by starting a blog, my life will become significantly more interesting, as to be able to provide regular entries and descriptions of events or other material, than I think it is a must do.
…"provide graphics and videos." Don't hold your breath.

Well, so far starting a blog sounds and feel manageable, but also seems one-sided. Where is that give and take? Not to be selfish, but I want to gain something for my time and effort.

I will gain…

…balance to my scrapbooking, creating a space to express myself for the moments not captured on film.

…a way to provide updates to my friends and family (and feature bloggers and blog readers).
…criticism. But that is nothing new.
…a venue for sharing my ever expanding knowledge and wisdom.

OK already, enough with the babbling. Here's my point!

I created a blog. That's what just happened.

Welcome to Billi's Babblings where I hope you'll enjoy the babblings of a blissfully flawed perfectionist.


Future babbling will include, but won't be limited to …

The purposes versus practical uses for the items in my house.
Why I Y my mom.
Donating my hair. Again.
Joradnisms
Justifications that rule my life.