game day, cold, and smitten

Mr. Marvelous. He leaves me smitten as a kitten.

Even in this picture--that my camera's timer caught of us while it sat on a green electrical box that we found on our walk to the big football game this morning--I'm smitten. Even though it's only 32 degrees out, we're standing on a wet, snowy, slippery slope, my nose is bright red from the frigid 6 block walk, and my eyes are dripping from the extremely snappy air...


... I'm still smitten.


Speaking of our state college football game today, it started out a bit nerve-racking. We were behind. And cold. We're not used to outdoor games, being that we've played indoors for the past 20 years. It was just this season that our state's brand new outdoor stadium opened. And I'll tell ya, Mr. Marvelous and I are a little excited about the whole deal.

We finally scored a touchdown and got a little wild and crazy. We spent a lot of time jumping up and down, to both show spirit and keep warm.

Then we scored another touchdown. And then intercepted and scored a third touchdown, just minutes from the second. We got a bit more crazy.

Then, we got out our suckers and goofed around while we basked in our comfortable lead.

Then we won. We screamed and high fived eachother. And I admittedly proclaimed to Mr. Marvelous that the thought of a hot bubble bath had been dancing in my head for most of the game.

The End.

Frequenting the Fairway

(The following is an entry that has been preposted. While Mr. Marvelous and I are vacationing in Costa Rica, I'll be backposting here at 4under3. See you next week.)

ORIGINAL POST:
It all started when Luke found the sports bin in the rear of the garage early this summer.


With a treasure hunting expression on his face, he lifted the lid, and began pulling softballs, baseballs, gloves and a bat across the garage. Then comes the frisbees, ball pump, whiffle balls, basketballs and a soccer ball.

But the greatest treasure uncovered on that Pursuit for Sports Happiness Day was two rackets and tube of tennis balls.

Mr. Marvelous and I bought these prized pieces in our younger years. We thought we'd possibly become avid tennis players.

We didn't.

In Luke's attempt to operate the racket and ball, and before I stepped in to teach him about his new find, he would lay the ball on the concrete driveway and wack at it hoping for a connection. Many times he would miss and scrape the edge of the racket along the ground, but as he got better he would send it sailing and truly enjoyed seeing the ball spin away.

After Mr. Marvelous realized how partial Luke had become to the racket and ball, he decided it was time to enlighten his son of the true game of all games. Here he is trying out his new set of mini Titanium clubs.

Watch out Tiger. This dude now frequents the driving range with his daddy. He's about ready to take you on.

They've found their Saturday morning sanctuary.

What a fabulously fair-way of spending time together.

Wordless Wednesday

UPDATE: It's a good thing it was Wordless Wednesday today. I wanted to give you a ski picture to go with my tweets about being frozen and cold and numb. But it just so happened that I pushed my time to post way too far into naptime. Before I knew it, naps were over and I had only uploaded these two photos. And that's as far as I got.

What I wanted to say was, "Can you tell that Mr. Marvelous and I have aged well after 1 year?" I mean, if you could take off our hats, neckwarmers and goggs and actually see us.

What I remember most about last year's double ski date is how my husband sent my hippie friend tumbling down the hill in an attempt to be first to the bottom.

January '08

Two days ago.

Rest assured, there were no tumbles or racing with the snowboarding couple that joined us this year--unless you count our racing back to the chalet to warm ourselves next to the fireplace.

it throws you into a funk

As it turns out, it's a bitter arctic tundra here.

And because of it, all our school systems announced last night that they'd be closed today. In addition, the MOPs group that I'm a part of canceled today's meeting too. Not that either of those really pertain to us today, being that our eldest is a newly 4-year-old who only attends preschool two mornings a week, and we're without our truck that has been in the shop since Monday fixing these. And it will stay put there for yet another full week. (Remember when that happened? Grr.)

So, this morning we dined on a batch of Banana pancakes, then a batch of Chocolate Chip pancakes. Then, we snacked from this beautiful, well-crafted, 4-sided inscribed jar (Thanks Kelly!):

All the while, carrying this coffee--sleeved with style--around with me everywhere I went (Thanks Gina):

We played with Daddy when he came home for a meeting with the cable guy:

(R: Hazel, L: Norah)

Then, we laughed about how much Hazel is a daddy's girl, and how I wished that it was Bring Your Youngest Daughter To Work Day. (Explanation: whenever Daddy is around, but then has to leave, it always throws this littlest sister--by 2 minutes--into a funk.)


What is it that throws you into a funk?

Date Night and Vacation Destination

You see, it's been 5 months since my SIL and niece--hubs' sister and her 4 year old--shacked up with us in our basement. That sure does make it easy to have date night any time we choose. We just put the little people to bed between 7-7:30 and go on our merry way. Usually our merry way consists of a movie with a restaurant to follow. Last night it was surprise take out Chinese from daddy and a late showing of 7 Pounds.



We arrived 30 minutes early last night and were the first to choose our seats. No, hubs doesn't have those really cool self tinting glasses, like it appears in this snapshot. And yes, my hair wrap is the bottom strip of my polkadotty Gap maternity shirt that I snipped off yesterday. How did you guys guess?


And, before the movie started, while I munched on two favorite movie theatre snacks and snuggled with Mr. Marvelous--across the arm rest--we talked about going here:

This is what I unwrapped on Christmas morning confirming my guess to Sneaky Santa's riddle. The riddle he's had planned for the last 3 months.

I sure am eating my words after talking like this.

A ba-rilliant idea, my dear!

Hi ho! Hi ho! It's off to Florida we go.

That's right folks, I said we. Some strings have been pulled, we've assigned caretakers to each of our three youngest children while we're away, and Mr. Marvelous, Julia and I are making the 25 hour drive to the sunny peninsula of the year round heat wave. And if I remember right, swimsuits and phat white sunglasses are a requirement to pass over their border. [Check. Check.] But then again, I've only been there once--during a "Chemistry" trip my junior year of high school--and that was a few...11...years ago. (ELEVEN years ago?) But hold on there a sec. We're not departing our beautifully snow laden parts until New Years day, let's hold off on sending your souvenir requests just yet.

So fess up. Which of you thought my hubby would pull through with the ba-rilliant idea of bringing me along for the roadtrip? (Because you're pretty smart cookies.) Isn't Mr. Marvelous truly that! Marvelous. And I attribute that--partly--to his upbringing with his mom and sister. He definitely aims to please the Venus mind in me. And, I'm betting Luke won't fall far from the tree, being in a house full of girls. I'm sure his wife will thank his sisters.

Speaking of his sisters:

Here's one of them. Hazel wanted the spotlight for a minute. She's feeling fine now, and appreciates all her concerned readers.

Now if you'll excuse me, Hi ho! Hi ho! It's off to pack I go.

(Ok, maybe I'll go have leftover Chicken Vegetable soup for supper, wait for Julia to get home from Disney on Ice with her Grandmother, prep for the Christmas party that we're hosting tomorrow after church, put Hazel's freshly washed carseat back together, enjoy Christmas, and wait for New Years. With a lot more inbetween.)

he's so brave

We had a surprise visit from my mom, grandpa, and aunt this morning. And while everyone was enjoying the beautiful fall day out on our deck, I was setting up the children's lunch on our deck table. Here's one conversation that took place between Julia and her grandma.


Hey Grandma! I really like bats. (She'll never forget this day, I'm sure.)


You do?


Yes. I'm not afraid of them at all.


Well that's good.


Yea. And my daddy, he's so brave at bats. (Notice she didn't include her mommy.)


(misunderstanding Julia's comment) Oh, he shouldn't be afraid of bats.


No, Grandma. He's SO.BRAVE at them. And he's so brave at everything, like lions and bears too.




...That's their some kind of wonderful that I was talking about. I won't mention to this awestruck daughter that her daddy has admitted to having a fear of heights. An obviously fading fear of heights, since he did climb Mount Kenya, has flown in more airplanes then I can keep track of, and has no problem walking around atop our house while bug zapping wasps nests.

Second thought, maybe he does it because he's so brave.

daddy melts mama's heart.

The way I see it, Julia and her daddy sure have some kind of wonderful love for eachother.

I fancy watching these two do their thing. And I'm not afraid to share their secret either. Daddy is wrapped around her finger. Whether he admits it or not.

Like when Julia was between 2 1/2 and 3 years of age she went through a stage of coming down to our room in the middle of the night to "snuggle for a minute." It happened once or twice a week, and it really ended up only being a minute. She always obliged when she was told her time was up. But, I always walked her back up to her room if she came to my side of the bed, since I only sleep soundly when there are no children in it. Now her daddy, he always gave in. She ended up catching on quickly as to which side to crawl in on.

And now she's turning 4 years old tomorrow!

I'm not going to say, "I can't believe it." Because I can. I just don't want to.

And her daddy.

While he's excited to continue with new, bigger girl things with Julia--like downhill skiing and fishing--I think he's a little sensitive to this growing up business. He confessed on our date the other night that he thinks he's going to miss Julia's little girlyness that seems to be "slipping away."

Ohh. That just melts a Mama's heart.

sigh.

birthdays with stitches and retirement

Not only is my husband the Let's Getter Done type, he's the Stitch In My Side type. He makes each one of us laugh every day. Especially Luke. Luke gets all daddy's jokes--even if they weren't meant to be jokes.

So, this must be another goal on his checklist I was talking about. Which is great. Especially when I can attest to having a few long days in my motherhood lifetime. Having a breath of fresh air drift through the door at the end of the work day is seemingly theraputic.

Here's an example of his attempts in laugh therapy while out at a friend's old amish farm. The day our family met Molly the Milking Goat and turned from our virgin goat milking ways, Mr. Marvelous was caught doing this:


And as you can tell here, I apparently didn't notice. I had my hands in some serious stuff. But after the fact, I was flipping through the camera and nearly fell to the floor in stitches.

**Oh, and he's officially turned. Twenty Eight, that is. In the card I wrote him this morning, I shared that 28 is "really getting up there." He's on the verge of halfway to retirement.

I guess I don't know why I'm talking, being a year older than him.

Happy Birthday, Babes.

the pavers that hold this family together.

It's really true.

Mr. Marvelous has surpassed all the expectations I had for him when we first started dating back in high school. I know, I know. Say it with me now, It's not healthy to hold expectations of your spouse or loved ones. I understand that now, but I really didn't know that as a 17 year old. And the expectations I'm talking about here are ones I pray my children will hold, their children will hold, and their children's children will hold.

They're important. And I'm serious.

I knew my husband was to love Jesus, love me, love his children, and love hip hop music.

Check, check...check, check!!

A little contradictory--the first and the last requirement--I realize this. See, I had my mind set that a country boy in tight jeans and a cowboy hat singing Achy Breaky Heart just wasn't my style. But Blackstreet! They had me at "No Diggity." And it just so happened that Mr. Marvelous liked them too. Then, it wasn't until a couple of years into college that I set my love for worldly Hip Hop and R&B harmonies aside only to pick up more uplifting Hip Hoppy/Rappy artists like Toby Mac and Skillet, now two of MM's favorites artists also.

And as far as the rest of the checklist is concerned, Mr. Marvelous has shown himself to be the most thoughtful, devoted, and entertaining man. And since his Birthday is tomorrow, I'm going to take a couple of posts to brag a bit about how wonderful my soon-to-be 28-year-old husband is.

When God placed Mr. Marvelous in my younger brother's classroom in 1st grade. He knew what he was doing. I didn't know what He was doing--until my senior year in high school--but He knew.

And since then, during these past 12 years together, I've found myself doting on his many charming traits.

First, he's an amazingly committed and hard worker. The dude gets something in his head and works vigorously on it until he's done. (Or gets something in his head for me to do, and works on me until I get it done.) We've been living in our house for almost 2 years now. And everything done in this house is due to MM's determination.

Here he's taking a break from cutting pavers for our back patio.

He designed, cut, and laid out each and every block by himself!!!

He's just about done...with the patio.


And here, under our new deck, is the retaining wall that he, a friend of his, and little Lukey
built. If I remember right, it was a lot of work. Possibly as much work as it took to wheelbarrow all that rock under the deck.

And, again, if I remember right, he felt it for a few days. But it didn't bother him, there's nothing Achy or Breaky about my guy. And did I tell you, he's got a list too. He was excited to check it off and move on to the next.

Stay tuned.

More to come on Mr. Marvelous' checklist.

playin' footsie

There's no place I'd have rather been, then here...

...playin' footsie with Mr. Marvelous.

It's our 5th Anniversary.

It's been 5 years since we've tied the knot. I can't decide if that's a long time or not.

We dated for six years before he knelt on his knee. I was so excited, I was Mrs. Marvelous-to-be. We've known eachother since we were little. Since then we've learned how to meet in the middle. It's almost as though I know his thoughts. He's definitely custom and not store bought.
A funloving daddy to four little ones. They think he's the best, he's the shine of their sun.
He's our foundation and rock, and I love him to bits. Happy Anniversary honey, you make me do flips.

Love, Your Babe

Daddy Daycare

In a few short hours it's too-daloo and off to our lake house for our 1st Annual "Craft Camp on the Lake." I've rounded up a bunch of "crafters" to retreat to a far away land of inspiration, imagination, and artistication. Ahh, I can almost hear it now...the "rum" of the sewing machine, the slash of the paper trimmer, the zing of creativity. While my scrapbook and I paint the town red, daddy will be home managing the merrymaking of our little 4under3's. I'd love to send in a tiny fly to sit on the wall and enjoy the show. Marvelous daddy knows how to throw quite the baby bash.

An Army of Frogs A Crash of Rhinos

A "rough-and-tumble tough" group of skiers, that's what I would call us....Fearlessly taking on even the blackest of double black diamonds all weekend. Terrain Parks, Halfpipe Corridors...ski lifts (there's a much needed skill in riding those too, you know!), I'm sure we left people staring as our crash of rhinos blew by everyone with style.

With the small amount of truth that's in all of that, I wouldn't consider myself one who someday makes it into the Ski Hall of Fame, nor the rest of our group for that matter, (Although, my Marvelous husband is a serious speed skier and was the first one down the hill no matter what.) but it was a great time had by all.

Thanks Leah and Justin for joining in.

We're Signing Off....

My 6 day blogging sabbatical is about to begin. A MUCH needed skiing vacation for me and my "Crazy-in-love(r)" begins tomorrow at naptime. A combination of grandmas, great aunts, and great grandmas will be holding our house up while feeding hungry mouths (some easier than others...I haven't told you that the twins started solids right before Christmas), playing dress-up "Princess-style," and making rumbling-cornpicking-combine noises while we are gone.

I can't tell you what perfect timing this break is for us...a serious amount of Cabin Fever has set in.

So, while I'm gone...during this upcoming Minnesota heatwave, stay cool like the underside of your pillow.

Laugh Cackle Giggle

As a Christmas gift, my Marvelous husband got us a night out on the town, babysitter in all. It included laughing and dinner. For those of you mommys out there, you know that in itself is like Santa leaving a winning lotto ticket in your stocking.

But wait, it gets even better! He got us tickets to the "sold out" presentation of last season's Last Comic Standing winner-Josh Blue.

Somehow we got hooked on that show last year and watched it to the end when we were cheering for Blue.

After a night full of belly laughs we were able to meet Josh and shake hands.

After researching "Laughter" I found this. I'm sure you remember hearing that "Laughter is the Best Medicine." We've all been taught that...but laughter REALLY has enormous amounts of health benefits.

Check this.
A study done in Japan found that laughter helps regulate gene expression to help control type II Diabetes.
And, studies also suggest that laughter positively affects rheumatoid arthritis.
AND, perhaps the biggest discovery is that laughter is now being proven to alleviate some of the lasting effects of heart attacks such as less medication and fewer repeat attacks with humor therapy of just thirty minutes per day.


God knows what he's talking about when he says, "be joyful."

When NOT to take a 3-year-old Along for the Ride

If you don't want your husband to know you went to...let's say....for example Fleet Farm to quick pick up a Christmas gift for him (even though you said you were going to drop off an overdue library book that you didn't want to continue paying late fees for as it sat on your nightstand, which is the truth but not the main reason to get out of the house)

...don't take your 3 year old along for the ride.

Because, once he asks you, "What took you so long?" and you reply with "I just had to make a quick stop somewhere else" but you refuse to tell him where...

...that's when your darling 3 year old might pipe in with the most excited little voice, "Daddy, I love going to Fleet Farm."

My husband is Mucho Marvelous

Yesterday was "My husband is Mucho Marvelous" Monday. Now, don't get me wrong, my husband is mucho marvelous every day, all day long, like yours I'm sure. Well...except on those days when he is slightly marvelous...without the mucho.

You know, like when we're in bed and he rolls over, pulling my covers out from being so neatly tucked in at my foot of the bed. Or, when he gets over zealous while filling the dishwasher, craming dishes above and beyond the load limit causing the "spinner thing" to never make a full turn the entire 2 hours and 18 minutes that it is running. Which leaves every dish in need of a second cycle. But that's not what I came to say. I came to you to talk about My Mucho Marvelous Husband.

Yesterday we had a big date. My mom came to watch the kids over night while we went out frolicking around like fools-in-love.

After a much needed marvelous 1-on-1 adult conversation during our drive to the cities that included how great he thought I was as a mother (go ahead, say it..."awwww.")...we walked around the MOA looking for a couple pre-Christmas gifts for ourselves. Oh I miss that place!!! And tell me the truth. How many of you out there have this same problem I have, which I NEVER had in college. Who feels like you would be ridding your family of bare necessities like food in their tummy if you bought YOURSELF something? I mean, a $20 dark olive vest is not a 4 letter word, right? Well, I have this problem with spending money on myself when I am by myself...BUT, if my husband is with and gives me the go-ahead...it's like Christmas morning. I love that he wanted to take me shopping. Isn't he so marvelous!

Then we met some friends of ours at a cute, overcrowded restaurant in Dinkytown for a little pregame supper before the "Goph's" kicked NDSU nearly back home. It was a marvelous yet bittersweet win for us 4 since we're all big fans of the Bison's starting point guard Ben Woodside who grew up in a neighboring town of ours.

All in all, the day was a blast. We felt like we were single again...married but pre-children that is. But ohhhh did it feel good to get home and check on 4 little pumpkins who were fast asleep, digging my nose in 4 little cheeks and giving 4 little good night kisses. Mmmmmmm!