**SURPRISE**

AKA: Best April Fool's joke ever. . . (I'll explain later)

My life has been full of surprizes lately. . .

Surprize #1 I'm writing a blog post!

#2 Because of a really spiritual experience, I was sure I was pregnant back at the end of Jan, but the tests came back neg.

#3 I got down to my pre-Lolly weight again! (If only pre-Lolly was the same as pre-Enoch/Nana)

#4 I gained 5lbs back, and I'm betting on gaining more :P.

#5 Both of our cars died on the same day.

#6 The Lord loves us. (Maybe shouldn't be surprizing, but sometimes it is. . . )

#7 I've been facing impossibly problematic bloating and inexplicable sleep needs. (It's been bad. Robert had to push me out of the bed one morning--it was horrible.)

#8 I'm starting to doubt the competency of both birth control and pregnancy tests. I'm not sure why I use either of them ;D.

#9 I'm over 3 months pregnant! (Don't feel bad if you didn't know--I just found out a few weeks ago myself.) (Oh, and in case you've lost count--that's #4 for us.)

Happy Mother's Day Everyone!

New Year's Resolution

I sat down with Robert for like half an hour trying to figure out how to perfect our lives by setting 'realistic' goals. . . only one pencil was thrown and I don't even think it hit him (okay--I'm exaggerating a LITTLE bit). But we did make a long list. I really think we'll do better this year (especially on the get to bed by 11 one ;D--Don't look at the time this was published, please).

However, this afternoon, as I was lovingly watching over my dear little sweethearts, feeding them, reading them stories, bathing them, and ever so gently getting their feces off of their fingers and out of my clothing. . . another thought occured to me. Perhaps I have been setting the wrong goals!

So forget earlier bedtimes and more meaningful prayer--before my life is over, I want to be able to unashamedly poop all over my children and laugh hysterically at the fact (or at least watch my grandkids do it). At the moment, nothing else seems to matter, and revenge is much more 'realistic' anyhow.

Princesses and Ugly Stepsisters

I always wanted to be a tomboy when I was growing up--that's what was cool to all of my friends. But I know deep down inside I really wanted to be a princess. I loved Ariel (because she had red hair) and Jasmine (I guess I had a thing for the midriff). I hated Belle (still not sure why). Anyway--one Sunday I was having way too much trouble with my bangs, so just before church, I decided to hack them off (see photo). As I was straightening my hair with my hair clip--I felt a little closer to a princess. Maybe even related to one:

Green?

Seems like there's a song for every mood I've ever felt--here's how I feel right now.

"A Day in the Life" or "Fire Drill!"

Robert was going away again, so I decided that we would have some fun without him. (Well, you know, not "without" him, per se, but "in his absence.")
We made sugar cookies. Enoch only destroyed one.

Mommy did a little bit of a better job.

Yes, the smoke alarm went on, and we left the building like a good little family should. The baby even woke up for it--we couldn't just leave her inside of a potentially burning building--even on such a cold night.

You can bet we watched the rest of the cookies more closely.

Of course. . . maybe the cookies weren't what needed watching. . . .

Halloween Night

Halloween night we decided we wanted to be tourists. So, we set out to explore tiger country (google said this was a tiger habitat--but we didn't see any there). So, we headed to Presque Isle, where there had been reports of tiger sightings earlier that week (see previous post). We were sure to bring our camera, binoculars, and a map of the area. We even put on bug repellant (okay, not really--but we did wear socks with our flip flops to keep a little warmer in our shorts--luckily it wasn't a cold night). It wasn't too long after dusk when we spotted them! Wild tigers in there natural habitat--and we were especially lucky to find a hunting party!!!

Here we find the oldest tiger pausing to enjoy some of the night's spoils. As we followed these wild tigers, we discovered one of them couldn't walk on her own--so I got to carry her throughout the whole evening. It was really special. I don't know why we didn't take a picture.

Ward Halloween Party

Can you tell what we went as? (The primary did a cupcake walk--I made the purple and green ones. Lacey mastered the most disgusting slime-green frosting :D).
Can you see what we are now? We had to give some people quite a few hints. Maybe this helps? Speaking of making purple and green things. . . thanks Karen for showing me how to make some awesome bows.

Ali Mae Needs. . .

Some days I feel so full; I don't think I really need anything--Today was one of those days. But just for kicks, I wanted to see what google thought I needed. . . you know, in case someone is trying to find me a Christmas gift ;D. (I just googled "Ali Mae Needs")

So, here are my top 5 "needs:"

Ali Mae "needs" My Space (with three kids in diapers. . . you bet!)

Ali Mae "needs" a Christo-centric missiology (don't we all [I have no idea what that's supposed to mean, but it sounds good to me]).

Ali mae "needs" her Rocky fix (last night Robert wanted to watch Rocky. . . or are we talking Rocky Road?)

Ali Mae "needs"social acceptance in school, and it helps if she wears what celebrities do (riiiiight--although from the look of the holes in my pants. . . ummm. . . maybe that isn't so far fetched).

Ali Mae "needs" Better Explaining – And Fast (Part of my interest in linguistics and editing is to become more eloquent)

Well, hope that helps with your gift lists. Now I just have to search what Robert needs ;D.

Fall Pictures

Our little door monkey




















Us at the playground on the bayfront














Enoch and his new baby sister














"Baby lady" Laurelyn





















Nana loves to dress up.




















Enoch in front of the house, we are just about to unload an entertainment center that we found on the side of the road.

Guessing Game!

Hee Hee. . . memories (do do dooo) like a quiet afternoon. . . Uhhh. . . okay, maybe that's not really the right song for this post. Moving on.

Thought this might be fun.

Can you tell me Who, Where, What, Why, When, How?
Oh yeah, and Who could possibly have been the decorator of this establishment? (YIKES!--but trust me--it used to be worse, and I tried to get the owners to paint the. . . Ummm. . . "accent" wall. Little winter scenes pounded into white faux wood laminate--yup, I couldn't believe it either)