NEW URL...we've moved

We're moving to a new URL. I'm going to leave this old blog up for a few days, just so that you have a chance to update your links. Seeing as how this has evolved into our Marshy Corner, rather than just Katelis-corner, I saw it fitting to change the URL address. We will now reside at

http://marshy-corner.blogspot.com

Thanks for keeping up with our family...

Day 4 of Daddy's Ski trip away with the guys

I've made it through day 4 of solo parenting. Today was super low key compared to the last couple of days. The kids and I took it easy, making it to church this morning and spending most of the day at home. We ate a quick lunch, before a short video and then 2hr nap for Kateli, and 2.5 hrs for Joshua. After Kateli woke up she let me do a short photo shoot in her room, I'll post some when I go through those. Then this afternoon, we headed out to our friends house to just hang out and let the kids roam around. We did have an open invite to another friend's Super Bowl party, but I'm so worn out I didn't feel I had the energy to socialize too much tonight; I just wanted to take it easy. It's amazing how fast the 5 days have gone by (okay, I know I still have all of tomorrow, but really...it's been fast) The kids have behaved very well, and in the moments when they haven't, I've really tried to control my temper and have a little bit of patience, and show them grace. I think Kateli probably thinks I'm a little crazy, as this morning when they were testing me, instead of losing it, I would just pause, close my eyes and say "Lord, help me through this...I'm not going to lose it..." when I'd open my eyes, I'd see Kateli staring at me with a confused look on her face, and then her demeanor would change and she would obey :).

Day 3 of daddy's ski trip away

Daddy called early this morning to say hi, and let us know what their plans were for today. He also called me tonight to let me know that they were done with and that he was safe. He and the guys went out and skiied in Vail, which he said was a bit easier than their courses yesterday. He was sore but had fun!

As far as our day...Day 3 is over and we had lots of fun. This morning we woke up to kids that were ready to go back out and swim. So, after breakfast and a video we suited up and headed down to the pool. It was so much fun. My kids were not apprehensive at all. Kateli walked right in, towing same toys as yesterday in hand, and ready to play. Joshua was cold in the beginning, but quickly warmed up and by the time we were ready to go, I think he would have preferred a life jacket and to be left alone. That little guy has NO fear, at one point he walked over to the steps at the deeper side and looked as though he could have jumped. Of course, freaked me out, but I managed to get to him before he made any crazy move. He loved sitting in the hot tub as well, we just put his legs in, but I think he would have been okay if we had done more than just his legs. Yesterday, he wasn't too sure about the frog slide, today it was a different story. He walked over, climbed the steps by himself and went down the slide into mommy's arms. He absolutely loved it, and did a few more times!!! Kateli was going back and forth on her own, between the pool and the hot tub; she wasn't too clingy today and was swimming great! We swam about 1.5 hours before having to head out, with kids that DIDN'T want to leave. The hotel stay and pool were a huge hit with the kiddos. They were worn out and had great afternoon naps!! After nap, we took it easy. Just hung out at home and enjoyed a bike ride around the block, a quiet dinner and cookies and milk during our evening movie "Charlotte's Web" before calling it a night. Joshua went down like a champ. Kateli, must have been exhausted. Today she only tossed for about 30mins before falling asleep. Let's hope they sleep well and I can get some rest! Tomorrow is another day, and we pray it will be blessed with happy hearts and sunshine! Good night!

Day 2 of Daddy's Ski trip away

Well, we got through day 2 without much of a glitch. The kids are behaving well, for the most part, unless I tire them out too much in which case meltdowns are expected. I had a really hard time sleeping last night, and I'm not sure why exactly--it could have been the strong coffee I had in the morning, I suppose. The kids slept great, for most of the night, although Kateli still woke up in my bed this morning. Our morning was non-eventful. We managed to get Sesame Street before heading out to renew the tags on the van. Did you know that they are changing ALL OK license plates?? I had no idea, but I walked away with a new license plate and tag to put on my car--which I very diligently did soon after getting home. The kids went down for a nap earlier than usual, and I didn't hear much complaining from Kateli after I told her that after nap we would go swimming and have a lot of fun. And we did just that! I made reservations at the Radisson in town for one night, and we shared a room with our friends. You can imagine how much fun it was to have 2 adults and 5 little kids (all under the age of 5) in one room, with two queens, two pak n plays, and a roll away bed. We did get in about 1.5 hours of swimming before dinner, and another 45mins after dinner before bedtime. The kids were super worn out, but somehow didn't manage to get Kateli to zonk out immediately. She rolled around in bed for about 3 hours before falling into a deep slumber. The inside pool area at the Radisson is a kids pool paradise. It's got a huge frog slide for the really little kids on the shallowest end, fountains at the "shoreline", a huge palm tree that sprinkles water on you, a huge tube slide for the bigger kids on the "deeper side", which is about 2ft deep, and then there lilypads, and a rope type deal on the deepest side (which is about 3 ft deep). They have a sauna, which we didn't visit, and a hot tub. It was good that there was a hot tub, because when we got cold we'd go sit in the hot tub to warm up. Joshua was not too sure at first, he was shivering and not too thrilled, but by the end of the night he was enjoying every bit of it. Kateli managed to go down the frog slide a few times this afternoon, but wasn't too excited to do it much in the evening. She loved to play with the water toys that Beth brought, especially a cute little watering can and the blue and red cups. She pretended to serve you cofee or tea, whichever you'd like. Anyway, we had fun...pics tomorrow, if I get through them. Good night!

Update on daddy's ski trip: we did talk to him and heard about his fun skiing experience today. His first words to me were "I'm feeling really old"...He is the only one of the four guys that is snowboarding, everyone else is on skis. He said they were out on the slopes from 9 to about 5pm!! YIKES!! They did some really hard courses, and one fun one that he wouldn't tell me much over the phone about--apparently I have to hear from him in person about his run through the "enchanted woods" course. Anyway, he was exhausted but had a lot of fun!

Day 1 of Daddy's ski trip with the guys...

Yes, you read right...daddy is away on a ski trip with just the guys. The kids and I are here, and so far having a great time. What was I thinking, right?? to say "yes" to him going away for a few days--that's right, not 1, 2 or 3 days, but 5!!! I'm a good wife, huh?? well, I'd like to think so, but I have to be honest that I was a little...okay, honestly A LOT, jealous of his little adventure, until we dropped him off at the airport this morning, and then I was fine. After all, I do think that he deserves a break. AND I realized that it's not so bad to stay home with the kids, I do it everyday, and I know that this is going to be a good time for us.

So, today after the airport the kids and I headed to lunch to meet my friend and her kids. I should add that she and her kids had also just dropped off daddy/hubby at the airport, as it just so happens he's on the same ski trip as my dear husband. Anyway, being home with the kiddos we have FUN plans for the kiddos this weekend. After lunch we did naps, and then headed out to the grocery store. I thought I was safe and had plenty of time doing this before Kateli's ballet lesson tonight, and boy was I wrong. It took a little longer than normal to shop; I busted my gallon of milk while transferring it from the bagging area to my cart, but didn't realize it was busted until the kids were strapped in the car and I was putting the groceries in the trunk...of course I wasn't going to unload and head back in for another gallon of milk, so what did I do?? You have to know that ballet is at 6:30, it's about a 10 min drive (in not so inclement weather, and we still have ice on the roads here) from the house, and it was 6:06pm when we left the grocery store parking lot. Anyway, I decided to rush home and pour the milk out into some type of container so that it didn't leak out in the car--that's was all the groceries that I got out of the car at the time. And I rushed back out, got Kateli dressed in the car for her lesson and off we went again, (same direction as the grocery store)...did we make it? yeah, 6:31pm, only to find out that the place was closed. They had cancelled class due to the icy roads--which are now nothing but slush. Of course Kateli was crushed that her class was cancelled, and she cried for a bit. But we made it back home for a late dinner and a movie. Kateli was excited when I mentioned to her that we would have a sleepover with our friends, and she was eager to let Becca sleep in her room. It was so cute. Well, all kids went to bed just fine and us, moms, got to enjoy a chick flick, "The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants 2", have you seen it?? CHICK FLICK!! But a good one at that! And it's off to bed.

Wintery January

So we didn't have a white Christmas this year, but that didn't mean we weren't going to see the "white stuff" before winter was gone. Nope, in fact, this morning we woke up to a beautiful blanket of snow (okay, ice) outside. It was sleeting already at 6am, when Joshua called out, and I don't think it subsided until late this evening. It didn't accumulate too fast outside, but just enough that after daddy was "home from work" today (I put that in " ", because even though daddy worked from home today, we really didn't get to see him until about 4:45pm or so) the kids go to enjoy some sledding on our home made sled (see pictures). Both kids really enjoyed being outside, although they didn't last very long as they weren't fond of sleet hitting their little faces as daddy ran up and down the street pulling them behind. Kateli bundled up happily and without complain that she had to wear a her heavy coat, mittens, boots, a hat, as well as pull her coat hat on top of that. She was just happy to go outside and play for a little bit. Joshua on the other hand, I don't think was too fond of getting layered in clothing, but he did enjoy the sled ride. Anyway, here are just some pictures of our fun 10mins outside in the freezing cold!!

all bundled up and ready to go out

having fun on the sled

I love the expression on my little man, it's like he's not sure what to think of it all

okay, this is where they really didn't like the sleet falling on their faces....who could blame them?

This was Kateli when we told her it was time to go inside.

She was really cold, but hesitant to go inside, until I mentioned HOT chocolate and cookies :)

"what have mommy? daddy? Joshua?"

She's so funny...she actually pretends to take our order and jots it down on her notepad. It's really cute. She asks us, endlessly, I might add, "what have mommy?" "what you have daddy?" "and Joshua?" She's been doing it for a while now, but I hadn't been successful in getting some pictures--this afternoon was different, here she is....:)

and just for fun some recent pictures of the kids that I've gotten...

She very rarely lets me take her picture, so I think I'll have to settle for this one as her 3 year old photo :). I really like it! :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Our best wishes to you and your family this holiday season. May the blessings pour upon you as you await to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior on--Christmas Day!! Or in our case, we start our celebration on Christmas Eve.

It was tradition for me, growing up, to have a big to-do on Christmas Eve, and then Christmas Day we just got to sleep in late. My mom would start cooking early in the day, so that we could enjoy yummy "panes con pavo" for dinner. I remember it smelled so good in the house, and I wouldn't eat much of anything all day waiting for our meal, so that I could truly indulge and savor every bite. After dinner, we would either stay in and be together as a family, or we would head out to friend's homes who were having a Christmas party. I've always enjoyed being in the company of friends, but there was always, and still is a certain feeling of intimacy and closeness to being alone, as a family, on Christmas Eve. My favorite Christmases growing up, were the ones when we didn't have to be anywhere, we could just stay in and enjoy the evening, before heading to bed. I remember my parents would wake us up at midnight, so that we could see what "el niño Dios" or baby Jesus had brought for us. That was always so much fun--I don't remember ever having trouble getting up after being in deep slumber--or maybe I never did fall asleep and lay awake waiting for mom and dad to come in my room. As we got older, we got to actually stay up late and wait for midnight. The rule was that we couldn't open any gifts before midnight, we had "technically" wait for Christmas Day to begin!!! That's what I remember doing growing up...

Now that I'm older, and have a family of my own, I get excited around the holidays, because it's time for OUR family traditions. We don't live close to family, so that makes it more important for us to make our own Christmas traditions. I'll share with you just a few :

• We go see Christmas lights at Rhema, a local church that puts out an unbelievable display of lights every year
• This year we went to the Christmas Train. It's in Dry Gulch OK, and it was pretty neat. You ride on the train, listening to the narrated story of Jesus' birth, and watching the amazing paintings that are set out on the train route.
• This year we also got dressed up to get a christmas family portrait done. With a photographer in house, it's much more convenient to get this task accomplished, although by NO means easier :).
• We don't travel for Christmas, but rather stay home and enjoy being together.
• We eat a home cooked meal, before heading out to the candle light service at church.
• We bake a chocolate on chocolate birthday cake for Jesus. This year, Kateli has really gotten into the excitement of baking and celebrating Jesus' birthday.
• We put the kids down for bed at their normal bedtime (maybe a bit later than usual sometimes)
• In the past, Dan and I stay up, and we each get to open a gift on Christmas Eve, at MIDNIGHT (to follow in MY tradition) before heading to bed--we'll see how it works out this year :)
• On Christmas morning, it's all about the kids opening their gifts after sitting down around the tree listening to daddy read the story of Jesus's birth from the bible
• The rest of Christmas day is just enjoying our gifts and rejoicing in the good news!!

May this Christmas be filled with joy for you and your loved ones!!