!!!SWITCHING TO WORDPRESS!!!

Blogger keeps putting restrictions on things like picture size and I keep ending up with odd text in the background of my page, so I'm switching to Wordpress. Here's our new link. http://andynadellransom.wordpress.com/ It's the same except for the wordpress at the end instead of blogspot.  Wordpress uploaded all of my blog posts and now my food posts and Elizabeth and Olivia's Specialty Sewing are on this same blog as well.

Also, if you used Google Reader, you probably already know that it's being discontinued in July.  I switched to Feedly and it let me transfer all of my subscriptions I had in Google Reader right over seamlessly. I can still use Google Reader now if I felt like it, but I like feedly better.

Tell me if you're confused by all that.  If you want to, you could click over to my blog and just sign up for posts to be emailed to you instead of worrying about all the rest of it.

Goal Update #3

It's time to update on my goals for the year since March is done.  Here's how I did in January and February.

NaDell's Goals for 2013
1. Read books and magazines that inspire me spiritually as well as intellectually.
I'm up to December of 2012 in my Friend and Ensign reading catch up. Just finished the last conference issue and just in time for the next one.
I finished the last in the "Emily" series that L.M. Montgomery wrote after her "Anne" books.  I liked the last book the best.
Elizabeth and I are going to start our next mother daughter book group book, "Everything on a Waffle" by Polly Horvath soon.
Andy and I are at the letter H section in our reading of the Bible Dictionary one page a night.
Need to work on more family scripture study time even more.

2. More family exercise.
I walked to the school a few times with Vincent riding his trike and Abby in the stroller and Elizabeth and Olivia join me sometimes on fast walks when I need a buddy.
No more weight lost this month, but I just have 13 pounds to go, so I need to focus more on what I'm eating and it'll work out.  More people have been noticing (even a few fit inlaws at dinner!) and I feel pretty good.
I started training for some 5K's I am signing up for this year too.  My routine right now is to run a fifth of a mile and then walk a quarter mile or so.  I'm working on my stamina and I'll get better as I practice.  It's already better after doing it three or four times.  I don't run every day because I need a rest day between.  It's hard work.  Right now with my walking/running I can do a 5K in 40 minutes.  I'd like to chop ten minutes off that time.  Do you think I can do it?

3. TEMPLE with Andy monthly.
Andy went to the Temple this month on a Wednesday night for baptisms with the youth, so I went alone last Saturday morning, but we both went.

4. Catch up my family scrapbooks.
In January I scanned old pre-digital scrapbooks.
February's goal was to organize the pictures and papers (invites, cards, etc.) that I already had ready to go. I also renamed the picture files on the computer from the end of 2012 so that when I have them printed, they will have the file name (date) printed on the back (Winkflash does that.)  I still need to work on the pictures from summer 2012 and then I'll be about ready to print them all. I didn't do much with all of this in March because I was busy throwing a party and doing other things, but in April, I'll rename those pictures from last summer and hopefully get started on the scrapbooks from the summer of 2011.

How are your goals?

Cross-stitching, Chalk, Walk

Olivia and Elizabeth have been begging to learn how to cross-stitch.  I decided that Spring Break would be the perfect time to do that since we are hanging out at home for the week.
Olivia chose a rose pattern and Elizabeth picked a Pepe Le Pew pattern.  They worked on them all afternoon on Monday and woke up Tuesday morning asking to do more.

Vincent wanted to cross-stitch too, but he's not quite ready for that, so I found some plastic canvas and yarn with a plastic needle for him to try out.

Vincent drew a chalk ladybug family with his Easter chalk.  Cute, huh?

We cleaned up a bunch of leaves Monday morning that were against our back fence and cleared off the patio.  Some of the kids ate their lunch out at our table in the backyard for fun.  It was a beautiful day.  Abby slept until 10:30am!  I slept until 9, so it started out pretty great too.

Tuesday we walked to the library for storytime.  We were a little late because Abby slept until 9:20am and we wanted to leave at 9:30 to be there for the 10am start.  We walked the two miles in just less than 40 minutes on the way there and a little more than that on the way back (uphill and against some wind).
Olivia is a pretty casual walker.  Do you like her one long sock?

Abby gets pushed in the stroller by her sisters and I.  She's living quite a luxurious life.

Time to go and teach Elizabeth how to sew on my mom's beginner sewing machine now.  Those crafty kids!

Exciting Easter Events

Friday after school while Elizabeth and Olivia continued to play across the street with our neighbor and I was making pizza, this little squirrel ate some seeds from Elizabeth's sunflower from last summer.

The neighbor girl joined us for pizza and then she and her mom stayed to have game night with us too.  It was extra fun.  So fun, in fact, that all of our kids slept in and wet their beds.  (Just keeping it real.)  They were tired!
I got up early and went to the Temple.  Andy went on Wednesday with the youth and I wanted to keep my yearly goal and it's always nice to get away there.  It was beautiful with all the blooming trees.

We decided to go to Walla Walla to go to an egg hunt there, but left a little late and didn't have the right address and still couldn't find it with additional directions and by then it was started, so we just met my mom at her house instead.  She said ten minutes after the time it was supposed to start, she saw people walking back to cars with empty baskets anyway, so I think we would have been disappointed anyway even if we had found the right building.  The kids were a little sad, but Grandpa Paul came home from work just after we got there and took them all to the park while Andy and I went to the store and my mom ran an errand. My dad was gone with them for quite awhile, but they all arrived back to their house safe and sound and thirsty and hot.
Vincent found a fun car to play with and rolled around outside.

Abby was not deterred from this peg board game for probably an hour.  I guess we need to find one (or should we just keep it as a special Grandma's house toy?)

Ransom kids with Grandpa Paul and Grandma Mary.

All of us smiling, even if we aren't ALL looking at the camera (well, she was looking at Grandpa's camera...)

Elizabeth running around the yard trying to stay away from the camera.

We got home, read some books with the kids, ate some dinner, started a bunch of laundry (see above), did some dishes, and started to dye some eggs.  Unfortunately, the dye kit I've had for a few years was all out of dye and only had the wands and stickers left.  We didn't want to go out just to buy an egg dying kit, so we improvised with markers for Elizabeth and Olivia.

Abby and Vincent used crayons and stickers. Vincent wasn't thrilled about that.

Abby really liked putting each little sticker on her eggs though.

Elizabeth's colored eggs.  Her crayola markers went through the egg shell and made a design on the hard boiled egg when she ate one later.

Olivia was too cool for her egg.

I sent Andy out to the bank afterall because I needed to go grocery shopping before the end of the month (coupons), so I bathed the kids while he did that and got them all ready for bed.  I went to Dollar Tree and Winco and got the best deals on things on my list (and just a few that weren't) and still have some money leftover to buy some craft supplies for our Ransom Made Spring Event coming up (April 19th and 20th).
After putting away all the groceries, doing more laundry, reading scriptures with Andy, and making some muffins for the kids so they wouldn't just eat candy, I finally went to bed.
The Easter Bunny visited our house too.  Elizabeth arranged all of her things. Candy, candy, and more candy, along with a rose ring and some Easter Egg chalk.

Vincent loved the Milky Way Egg and Snickers Bunny and his duck bubbles.

Olivia was extra excited about the egg chalk.

 Abby was barely awake in time to get ready for church.  She was still wiped out from playing so hard with Grandpa Paul during her normal naptime.  I like this picture mostly for her morning hair.

Here's where our day got really exciting.  A friend of mine posted on facebook Saturday night that her four and a half year old son swallowed a penny from an egg that he got at an Easter Egg hunt at church and was going to the hospital with his dad.  Luckily, her son could still breathe, but it was uncomfortable and stuck in between his mouth and stomach.  Our local hospital sent him by ambulance to the hospital in Spokane three hours away with his dad, since his mom was due to have her third baby anyday.  She also said her contractions were then ten minutes apart from all the stress (and she was ready). I told her on facebook that if she needed help at the hospital or with her two year old daughter, I could help.  Well, her mother in law called our house at 7:30 Sunday morning and asked if she could bring the two year old over.  Of course!  At that point the grandpa was on his way to trade his son places in Spokane so he could make it back for the baby and the son with the penny was supposed to have a procedure done at 8am.  The grandma dropped the two year old off at our house and she went to church with us after eating some breakfast.

The grandma called just before we left for church to let us know that the baby girl was born just before she got to the hospital to help her daughter in law and the baby is healthy and all that.  

The little girl wore one of Abby's dresses to church with us.

Here are my kids all dressed up.  Right before this, I fixed hair, but Abby thought her bangs needed more water...

Andy went to church early to practice with the choir for the songs they sang in Sacrament meeting.  We managed five kids on our bench.  Andy and I then went to the nursery, assuming they'd need some help and because we took two kids in there.  Turns out, the nursery leader was in a different hospital trying to have her baby too!  A lady from our ward came in with the snacks, so we got to sub which was sort of expected when she had her baby, but I didn't know about it....I guess I knew I needed to be there to help (and that's why I wore a long skirt to church today.)

After church we all went home, ate some lunch, Abby laid down for her nap, and I took Brittany over to the hospital to visit her mom and new baby sister.  I tried to call, but the phone in her room wasn't ringing right, so I just showed up.  They fixed the phone.  My friend's cell phone was in Spokane with her husband and was all out of minutes anyway. The new baby was cuddling her mom, so we just talked for a little bit and then the grandma came back from her lunch break.  The little boy's procedure went well and the penny moved to his stomach, which is great because he'll just pass it.  They were waiting then for him to be released in Spokane so the grandpa could drive his son and grandson back to town to meet the new baby.  I took the two year old back home so she could have a rest at our house (and the rest of us all rested too).  Then it was time to go to Andy's parent's for Easter dinner, so I called the hospital and everyone was there visiting the baby.  We met her grandma and brother in the parking lot and shifted the carseat and bag and wished them all well.  It's got to be nice for them to rest tonight all together!  What a crazy day they had!

We had a great dinner with Andy's parents, two of Andy's aunts, two of Andy's sisters, Grandma Ellen and Grandpa Paul, and a bunch of cousins.  Then we sang to Grandma Ellen who turns 85 April 1st.

I put Vincent and Abby to bed after we prayed and then I went on another 5K training run/walk around the school nearby.  I shaved a few minutes off my previous time, so I'm feeling pretty good and I needed to walk after eating so much Easter candy, cheesy potatoes, and chocolate cake!  Burned off 400 calories and it felt great!
Quite an exciting Easter, wouldn't you say?

I Spy

A really cute little girl who keeps herself (and me) entertained on a walk.

Some rose leaves turning from red to green.

A little boy who likes to race on his trike.

We walked to the school again Friday before lunch to check out the PTA closet and deliver checks to the treasurer.
When we got home I cleaned up the toys, vacuumed, swept, unloaded the dishwasher, reloaded the dishwasher, mopped, put away laundry, and made pizza dough.  Then I finally showered after the girls got home from school.  Busy, busy, but now our house is clean and fresh and I burned a bunch of calories doing it so I can REALLY enjoy my pizza tonight.
Last night I ran/walked a tiny bit more than a 5K in about 40 minutes.  I did four laps around our neighboring school and walked most of the last two, so I know I can do better than that.  Still, I'm feeling good and confident about this challenge I've given myself.  I have a little more than three weeks to train before the first 5K.

Fire Station and a REAL fire

This morning Vincent's preschool group went on a tour of the fire station.  Here's our big group.  

It was a bit bigger than normal because one friend brought kids from two other families and because younger siblings could come.

The firefighter showed one of the smaller hoses that they use for littler fires, like cars or garbage cans.

Vincent and Abby aren't very shy.  I'm fairly certain we don't make shy kids over here...

Even Abby had a turn checking out the water gun to see how heavy it was.

Abby decided that she was tired of standing and sat right on the dirty ground to listen.  It was easier to keep track of her, but the other firemen there were all worried about her getting too dirty and gave me some wipes to clean her hands.

Vincent "driving" the fire truck.

They moved over to an ambulance and showed them the machine they use on cardic patients.  The little finger thing took Vincent's pulse.

As if that wasn't enough excitement, after naps for the three of us, when the girls got home from school, they headed over to play at our neighbor's house with her daughter.  My neighbor texted me to see if Elizabeth and Olivia could stay for hot dogs.  Then Elizabeth came home to get our hot dogs because they had run out unexpectedly.  Luckily, I had some.  They roasted them over the fire pit in their backyard.
I asked my neighbor to take a few pictures for me.  She sent six.  Awesome.  Olivia made that rock fire ring.

My girls roasting some hot dogs.

This is probably the one that fell off and the dogs ate.

Roasting hot dogs with Haley.

Planting flowers in old tires to accessorize the fort.

When Vincent finally woke up from his nap (he had a mandatory nap because he got into things he wasn't supposed to), the rest of us headed over there too (since they were our hot dogs anyway, I figured it wasn't really inviting ourselves, right?)
I roasted one for Abby.  She doesn't like to eat much bread so we skipped her bun.

Vincent had the works and finished it all.

 Working in the backyard to get some wildflowers moved to places they can grow.

 Digging up some more wildflowers.

Olivia was cleaning her hands which turned into a face washing too.  It was bath night, so I didn't care one bit.  It's good to play.  Just look at that smile!

They moved Haley's fort to the middle of the fence instead of the corner and started decorating it.

Then Andy got home from work and took Elizabeth to jujitsu and now I'm going on a little run/walk.

5 KKKK?

Good thing I'm signing up for four 5K's and not three...
Yeah, that's right.  FOUR!
The annual Clot Trot.  This is a fun run for hemophilia awareness.  Andy's boss's son has hemophilia (blood clotting disease-as in if he gets a cut, he has to take special medicine to make it clot so he doesn't die.) His son is still very active and ran cross country and track in school and is currently serving a mission for the church.  For every other Clot Trot, we just (barely) manage the one mile.  This time I'm going for the 5K.  I have a few friends doing it with me and Elizabeth and Olivia. Clot Trots of the past: 2009 2010 2011 2012.  Apparently we didn't go in 2008 or I didn't take pictures.  We probably didn't go because Vincent was a baby....Not sure. (Maybe my husband's boss will read this and let me know if we were at the very first one.)

Color Vibe and Run or Dye don't have a real date yet, but if enough people preregister they'll set a date in Tri-Cities, probably in the summer.

The Glow Run is at night and the friends I saw who did it last year had a great time.  I think I'll take at least Elizabeth with me, and maybe Olivia depending on how she does at the Clot Trot.  I haven't signed up yet because I'm not sure who I'm taking, but this one is in May.

Tuesday night I asked a friend if she wanted to come over after Elizabeth was done at Jujitsu to do some run/walking with me.  She brought her two kids over because her husband was working late and Andy watched them while she and I went a few laps around the school that's nearby.  Olivia wanted to come too and got all dressed up after her bath and was stoked to join us (luckily she hasn't hit the smelly after running stage yet.)  We started out walking and then ran when we got to the corner by the school.  Olivia is fast and teased us saying, "I thought you said you were going to run!  That is jogging!"  She may have just the thing a drill instructor needs.  We ran/jogged for a little ways before walking again and repeated that a few times.  We only managed two laps around the school and I probably could have done more, but every little bit helps.  I'm probably more likely to keep up the training if I'm not sore for days afterwards...
We'll need some more work to get into better shape, but really the running I did is SO much better than I would have been able to do a year ago, I feel great about it and almost certain that I won't be the last one over the finish line, but even if I am, I will have finished and that's something!  These runs are all just for fun anyway.

A few bonus items of humor (to me):
On Monday Vincent rode his trike to the school Elizabeth and Olivia attend almost a mile away with me pushing Abby in the stroller.  He said he was going so fast, he was "like Francesco Bernoulli" from Cars 2.  Whenever he'd beat Abby and I to a corner (where he'd STOP!), Abby would clap and cheer him on, "Yea, broder!! Yea!"  Sometimes we even raced him to the corner and at least once Abby and I won, but only because he let us.  His little legs were pedaling super fast.  (Yes, I did gather bikes last fall, but they aren't quite ready yet--very soon they will be!)

Tuesday night Elizabeth showed us her newest Jujitsu move.  I videoed it.  Jujitsu is all about defensive tactics and tricks anyone can use to get out of any hold from any person of any size.  Watch and see:
Pretty good, right?  Useful skills and dang she's strong!  She did say that she would NOT be able to do that if she was being tickled at the same time.  Ha.

Wednesday morning as we drove home from dropping Elizabeth and Olivia off at school, we heard a Prince song on the radio and Vincent spent a portion of the day singing one line, "You don't have to be rich to be my girl!"  He even had a very Princelike falsetto.

Not so funny, but still awesome:
1. Switched our health insurance over to a new plan that will cost less.  Yea!
2. Because of our mortgage refinancing last month (Quicken loans is awesome BTW!), our former mortgage company sent us a substantial check from escrow reserves that was just for us.  I suppose we could have used it to throw back into our house, but we'll use it to finish paying our dental bill and to pay off Abby completely.
3. Speaking of paying off Abby, Tuesday afternoon I got a call from the hospital asking if I wanted to set up a new payment plan for Abby.  (Yes, she's two and we still owe on her---crummy insurance and other bills...)  I told the lady on the phone (yes, she called me!!!) that we planned on paying off the whole balance with our next payment and she said that they have discounts if you do that, like a FIFTY PERCENT OFF discount!  We are totally taking advantage of that!
4. After work Tuesday Andy stopped by his aunt and uncle's house to fix their computer.  They insisted on paying him a bit, even though he made them make it a little less.

We are so very blessed and well aware of where all blessings come from.  We attribute it to paying our tithing and doing our best to do what is right.  Andy calls it "clean living".  The timing of these blessings could not come at a better time.  We have progress to make on other bills and these all really help to lighten the load. I don't usually share so much financial stuff, but felt I should.

Chocolate Smiles

Sunday was a great day.  We went to our stake conference (and even sat in soft seats in the Relief Society room), had some lunch, napped (well, Abby and I did), dinner, bedtime reading, and then we watched "The Hobbit" with some snacks.
Abby really enjoyed her snack.  Can you tell?

I used up the last of our chocolate frosting from Andy's birthday cupcakes on some graham cracker sandwiches.  Delicious.  

Just in case you'd like a close up of that chocolate goatee, here it is and she's even smiling.

You may think that I am camera crazy, but this time it wasn't me.  Andy decided that we needed this picture enough to go in the other room and get the camera.
"The Hobbit" was beautiful and so exciting to watch since I read the book a few years ago with a book group and Andy has read it with Elizabeth and Olivia several times.  Andy took Elizabeth and Olivia to the theater when it came out to watch it, but this was my first time.  Abby and Vincent watched for an hour before they went to bed (luckily for them it ended at a good stopping spot 1:22:22 when the excitement slowed down for a minute and they were all safe.)
Hope your Sunday night was just as great as ours!

Third Time's a Charm!

Before I explain my obscure sounding title, I'll talk about this first picture.  Our girls were both invited to one of Olivia's classmate's birthday party/sleepover.  She's one of their "Sewing Club" friends.  I thought it was nice of her to invite both of them.  They really wanted to pack everything days ahead of the sleepover, but I made them wait until Friday after school.  Olivia walked around carrying all of that for an hour before it was time to take them.  They were just a little bit excited.  

Vincent wanted to be in the picture too.

Our kids don't normally sleep at anyone else's house unless we are on vacation or occasionally during the summer with the grandparents or rarely when we have a baby.  This was their first real sleepover.

I dropped them off at dinnertime and they ate dinner there, played, crafted, and played some more.  Olivia went to sleep about 10:30.  Their friend's mom called about 10pm and told me she had a little bit of a hard time at one point but didn't want to call me because she was afraid I'd make her come home.  She cried and then decided she was just hot and hungry, so the mom gave her a snack and she went to sleep.  Elizabeth on the other hand stayed up until 2:30am with one of the other friends who was there.  Oh dear!  Apparently they all woke up at 6:30am too.  That's way earlier than our girls usually wake up.  I don't think they'll be invited again, which is totally understandable and alright with me.  I picked them up just after 9am and the mom was already drinking an energy drink.  I hope she has a nap today!

The girls put their stuff away and then Elizabeth went out to clean up some leaves in our backyard.  Then she came with me on a hike.  Some friends of ours who used to be in our ward said they were hiking at 11:30 today, which is a great, reasonable time to hike for me.  They hiked up Badger Mountain which is a three mile (round trip) hike up steep dirt.

I have lived in our area for a very long time, but this is only the third time I've been on Badger Mountain.

The first time was Labor Day and a friend of mine was turning thirty and wanted to hike there really early in the morning, so we did.  Kind of.  I didn't quite make it all the way to the top.  I was NOT in good shape and I'd been up super late with Vincent (he was 1 1/2), so I was exhausted.

The second time was just last May.  My walking buddy, her visiting best friend, and I went with our combined five kids under four on a windy, chilly day.  We made it about halfway up and then the kids had had it. I was carrying Abby on my back too. 

This time I was in much better shape.

Just to compare, here are the side by side pictures of what I looked like on each hike:

Although I felt better than the first two times, I still had a hard time climbing.  My legs will be sore tomorrow!

Plus, I had to keep up with this cute little energizer bunny!  We were about halfway here, which is where I made it with Vincent and Abby. 

Elizabeth was a good hiking companion.  We met up with our friends when we were nearly at the top.

I wasn't sure if by 11:30 they meant we're going to be there right then and go or if I needed to wait and I didn't have their cell phone number to call them, so we just started and then their two teenagers (who used to be my cub scouts) ran past us so we slowed down a little to wait for their parents and sister.
Here I am with Elizabeth (and some random person) at the TOP of Badger Mountain.

One and a half miles of climbing and then one and a half miles of holding yourself back from rolling down the mountain.
I have friends who run up and down this mountain several times a week and plenty who hike it often, but I'm still pretty proud of myself for making it to the top.
See our pretty area?  We love it here.

On to the rest of the day!  Relaxing until our stake conference adult session.