"You're 5 Like Me!"

Forget the ice cream! We have spit!

Libby is currently 5 and when someone has a birthday she always asks "how old are you?" It doesn't matter how old you are, but if you have a 5 in your age she always enthusiastically follows up with "Ooh, you're 5 like me!" So once again Papa Ed is 5 like Libby!

Click Play to Celebrate With Us!

Sleigh Ride

Click Play to Come on a Sleigh Ride With Us!

Papa and Great Uncle Dan took the kids sledding in the backyard after the latest snowfall. Squiz even joined in on the fun, however I don't know if she thought it was as much fun as the kids did!

Libby loves sledding, but she rarely walks up the hill! Someone always has to pull her up! I suppose it's great exercise, but when everyone else is tired, she still wants to sled!

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning was magical. We awoke to fresh, crisp, white snow on the ground and wells as falling from the sky. It was the perfect Christmas morning! The kids, when I say kids I mean Maison, Libby, Uncle Ryan, and the dogs, had scoped everything out before everyone was up and ready to go!

Click the play button to experience a little Christmas magic!

The Schmidt Family Christmas

We managed to make it back to North Liberty before the storm hit! We spent Christmas Eve with Grama Shari and Papa Ed, Uncle Ryan and Tara, and Great Grama Terry and Great Uncle Dan. It's been about 10 years since I have spent Christmas Eve with my family! It was really great and brought back lots of memories.

Squiz rescued Rudolph before the carnage began! Rudolph has seen 30 plus years of Schmidty Christmases. It's hard to even see the two of them among all of those presents. I don't know who's worse, my brother or my son! If they had their way, gifts would be put in piles according to name and if theirs didn't have the most, they would take them from other people's piles!

I don't know which Squiz loved more, her giraffe or some random box and the piece of cardboard that was found in the inside! Why buy toys when you have loads of wrapping paper and empty boxes?













Libby made quite a hall! She was super excited because she got almost everything on her Christmas list. Everything from the fake snake to scare her brother with to the scary eyeballs! I thought she was going to jump out of her skin!


You know you have way TOO many gifts to open when you fall asleep during all the commotion!

Maison made an equally great haul. I am always surprised by the simple things they like! We can never have too many markers or other "crafty" items at our house! What I love about them is when their used up, I can throw them away without feeling guilty! Maison is quite the movie buff. I don't think there is Disney movie he hasn't seen!

We didn't lose Rudolph in the carnage,

but we lost Daddy!

The Allen Family Christmas

So we headed up to Rolfe for our Allen Family Christmas. It's always hard to decide who's more excited about opening gifts, the kids ... or... Grandmere and Papa Dan.

The kids got more than they needed, like always...the boys lost interest, like always...and the girls got stuck cleaning up the after Christmas explosion, like always!

Mario Cart was a HUGE hit for Maison! Syd, Maison, and Hayley figured out how to wirelessly (I think I just made up a new word!) link their DSes to play and race eachother at the same time! Cool! Of course I had to pretend I knew how to hook them up when Maison was telling me about it because the minute he figures out he is smarter than I...well, I'll be in HUGE trouble!

I think Libby did more than fart when she saw her train case loaded with make-up and other girly products! It was make-overs for all of the girls. Addy patiently waited while Libby applied make-up and too much parfume!

Maison loves passing out the gifts. Unfortunately he can't pass the ones out in front of the tree first. He has to head to the back first because according to him, that's where Grammy keeps all the good presents. I wish Libby was around to open up the rest of her gifts. Unfortunately Hannah Montana had to do it for her!

Well, looks like Maison can study up on what it takes to be the best pirate ever! Did you know that all pirate flags aren't the same? As for Squizzle, she has her purse, her phone, and her sucker and is ready to hit the road! Libby runs over to Sqizz and says..."Oh look, a we can share your purse!" Libby is such a purse horse!

Unfortunately we had to cut our trip WAY TOO short due to the weather! On the plus side we didn't miss too much as others didn't make it to the Bud Barn either because the weather was so horrible! Everyone was sad to leave early, but there is always next year.

The Playhouse

Okay, I really didn't want to post this without pictures, but we just can't stop laughing! It's just begging to be shared! I promise to post pictures after Christmas!

Papa Dan has had this playhouse for a couple of years, and the kids have been slowly "decorating" it all up. They even finally convinced Papa to store his golf cart someplace else!

Papa and Uncle Rog have been fixing up the playhouse for the kids. When I say fix up, I mean building a loft on the inside, putting a new door on, installing an electric fireplace for heat, and much much more. All without the kids knowing this was happening! It is to be a surprise!

So of course Maison and Libby were more than excited when they saw it! They spent almost 12 hours out there the first day.

Maison to Papa..."What do you think Sydney and Hayley will think when they see it?" (Sydney and Hayley are their cousins)

Papa to Maison..."I think they're gonna sh*t their pants."

Libby to anyone that's listening..."I know the feeling! Because when I saw it...I farted!"

Frankin Baby

Jason, Iz, and I made a trip down to Menards tonight. As we were checking out, Jason grabbed a huge bag of Red Vines, which are generic Twizzlers. I can't stand them! They have a weird texture and pretty much taste like plastic. As we get into the van, Jason give one to Iz to munch on the way home. About halfway home, I turn to look back at her because she is awfully quiet. I couldn't believe my eyes! She was a red gooey mess! Iz has the biggest toothy grin and then rubs what's left of the vine in her hair where it takes up permanent residence until we got home!

All that mess just to save a couple of dimes! As Maison would say..."And that's what you get!"

Our Family Christmas

We celebrated our family Christmas today. Our tradition held fast with each kid receiving 3 gifts. Each received a practical gift, a fun gift, and something they really REALLY wanted. It was a little more difficult with Iz because it is hard to tell what she REALLY wants that is just hers. She REALLY wants whatever Maison or Libby has!

The big hit for Iz was her puppy Violet! I had been looking all over for her and Target and Wal-Mart had been sold out for weeks. It wasn't until a couple of days before our Christmas that I finally found her. Jason wasn't too keen on the idea, but I knew it would be perfect. I brought Violet home and programed her to say and spell Izzy and included a bunch of songs that Izzy likes! The minute she opened it, it was kisses for Violet all day!

Everyone had read and seen Libby's Christmas list earlier in the blog. I just couldn't believe how simple it could really be for her. Against our better judgment, we bought her the game...the loudest and most annoying game known to man...Hungry Hippos! She loved it, however I was a little disappointed because it didn't even have the real glass marbles, they were plastic! BOO!

Maison was pretty set on getting a Nintendo DS. So like the super great mom I am, I hit Wal-Mart on Black Friday at 3 am and waited in line for about an hour in hopes of saving $30. I knew he wanted red, but at that point, I was willing to take whatever they had. I was lucky and got 1 of the 50 they had on sale and even got the color he wanted! I am the best mom EVER!

My hubby even got me a new iPod!

This was the best Christmas ever!

As my brother used to say...

"We came...we saw...we got blowed up!"

Winter Recital

Click Play for Some Banana Split Time

Libby had her first dance recital tonight at Clear Creek Amana Junior High. I LOVE the factthe girls get two years out of their outfits! She says to me..."My teacher said our hair needs to be fancy and we need to wear lots of make-up so everyone can see our faces on stage. So there we were a half a bottle of hairspray, 30 plus bobby pins, and a pound of makeup later enjoying Libby's first recital of the year. She is such a ham!

I really hate filming these things because I end up laughing halfway through because they are so darn cute! I just can't keep it together. However, I made it almost to the end this go around! It started to go down hill for me real quick when she was counting backward from four on her fingers and ended up with her pinky as number one! Jason can record next time! Maybe he can keep it together more than I!

Skating Machine

Maison was invited to a birthday party at the ice skating rink at the Coralridge Mall. I was somewhat hesitant to send him because he has never ice skated before and

I didn't know if he would just get massively discouraged if he couldn't do it. We obviously decided it would be a great opportunity for him!

We dropped him off and watched for a while. He pretty much hung around the edge and made it around a couple of time. We asked him if he minded if we went into Target and got Libby some snow boots. Time we got back, which couldn't have been more than 20minutes. He was a skating machine! He was turning circles and skating backwards! He definitely gets his coordination from his mother!

I Love Apples

Izzy loves apples. Not just any apples but Michigan Honeycrisp apples to be exact. I buy a bag of those each week, and each week she manages to eat almost all of them! They fit perfectly in her hand and she just carries them around and munches when she wants.

Santa's Helper

We were all downstairs watching a little t.v.. All was quiet and so Maison disappeared. I just assumed he was getting something or using the bathroom. All of a sudden he flies down the stairs and says..."I'm ready to see Santa!" If you look closely, you'll find a homemade belt that was handcrafted my Maison! But, his bowl isn't full of jelly, just my batting!

My Helper

Is she helping or just really thirsty?

Izzy's 1st Haircut

We took Iz to get her first haircut tonight! She did really really great! No tears or tantrums! Maison and Libs were sad because she got a toy and they didn't! However, I can't believe how much she reminds me of Libby after we had her hair cut for the first time!

Thanksgiving Program

Maison's school had their Thanksgiving Program tonight. He's been working really hard at memorizing his part. He played the pilgrim boy in their Squanto play. He definitely enjoys being in the plays at school, but not as much as he enjoys singing!

Libby's Christmas List

The other afternoon, Libby was hard at work drawing in a notebook. A little while later she comes over and the following conversation ensued.

"Mom, will you look at my christmas list?" she says. "Bring it here," I reply. She happily bounces over with her notebook and pen. Before she hands it over she says, "Just so you know, I drew some pictures beside the list because I don't speak Spanish so good." I think to myself, "So she can write Spanish, but not speak it?!"

A Christmas List

Written and Read by Libby Opal Allen

1. A stamp for your hand, you know, so you can just stamp stuff.
2. Light-up reindeer ears from Wal-Mart
3. Roller skates
4. A Hannah Montana Guitar
5. Bubble gums & a Hannah Montana wig (the wig is covering up the gums so they don't get hard)
6. A bag to but over your head
7. Magnetic paper
8. Triangle blocks
9. A shirt with Cinderellas on it.
10. A snake to scare my brother. (It's not going to be real, just fake)
11. Whiskers to be a rabbit.
12. Some scary eyeballs and a scary nose.
13. 3-D glasses because I lost mine.

Happy Halloween

Grama Mary came down this year for Halloween. Izzy already had her costume, but Grama Mary helped Maison and Libby assemble their costumes for the big night. I think Maison would have just gone in anything, however Libby had something else in mind. She picked the whole thing out herself! I would have never guessed she would want to be a cheetah!

Here Kitty, Free Kitty

Okay, so we have a tiny mouse problem. A tiny, disgusting, nasty rodent problem! The problem was brought to our attention a few weeks ago when Gracie notified me of some strange goings on in our cold air return in the basement. She was pretty much freaking out! Not knowing what she was freaking out about, I stuck my face by the vent to get a look, when a ginormous rat hand reached out and almost grabbed my face! Seriously, it tried to rip it clean off!

So naturally I calmly notified Jason at work of this huge dirty rat problem! He tried to reassure me, but I tried to reiterate how important it was for him to come home immediately for fear it would eat me and the kids! Jason showed up with Ed, his coworker, and Ed came prepared with his hammer! They didn't want to take the vent off for fear it would escape, so Jason went to the garage and got a needle nosed pliers. Ed waited patiently for a rat hand to come out of the vent and when it did...snap! He grabbed it. While Ed held the dirty rat hand, Jason unscrewed the vent and grabbed it with another pliers. I love how my husband tries to make me feel better! He's holding this puny tiny mouse and says..."it sounded way bigger than it looks!" They put it in a sack and Ed sent it on to Jesus!

My dad suggest we look at the furnace filter to see if they were getting in from the outside. When we opened the door to the storage room we were greeting with the unfortunate stench of dead rotting mouse carcass! Jason pulled out the filter and sure enough it was shredded, and there was a dead mouse in the bottom of the furnace! Can you say NASTY!

We put screen over all the pipe holes and steel wool in every little whole we could find, not to mention broke out the poison and the mouse traps! Gracie spotted another mouse in the same duct a few days later, which takes our total up to 5 caught one dead!

So you're probably wondering about the title to this post, well, we're almost there! So Maison goes to school and shares his dirty rat problems with his teacher. So our dilemma goes on the class prayer list that the kids pray over every day!

A few days after the initial capture, Jason asks, do you suppose mice make sounds like a cat when they are ripping their limbs off trying to escape a glue trap? I had never thought about that, but I really hoped not! Later that day Libby and I heard the same sound, we looked all over the house and all of the traps were empty. After Maison got home for school, I sent him and Libby on a mission to find out where that noise was coming from.

They come running back to the house telling me they found a tiny baby kitty in a bush. Can you see where this is going? So we grab it and of course it looks exactly like our old cat Puskers that died right before we moved here! We get it cleaned up and I tell the kids we need to find it a home. Maison says..."Mom, we can't throw an answered prayer away! We were praying about our mouse problem and God gave us a cat!" What could I possibly say to that?

Jason came home for lunch and we were discussing our new cat problem. He whips out a penny and says, heads we keep it, tails we don't. He flips this penny out of the truck into the air and it rolls around before coming to a stop. I walk over to pick it up...heads! I handed it back saying, best two out of three. Needless to say, it went like that eight times in a row! Statistically speaking, that just isn't possible! Jason says, when are we just going to admit we have a new cat?

ISU vs Baylor

We took 2 of the 3 kids to the game this weekend because it was homecoming. We thought it would be a great idea to take the kids to have some lunch and tour the campus.

We decided to take the kids to Hickory Park in Ames. This is where Jason took me on our first date. Jason and I shared a little about our first date and how their father tried to kill their mother by running a red light, etc. Maison ordered a root beer float for dessert, and of course Little Miss Hallow Leg ordered a banana split, which Jason only got a couple of small bites! Man that girl can put it away!

Next we drove over to campus and Daddy showed them around the Design Center. The kids thought it was pretty cool. We then headed over the the Campenile, and told them what "Campeniling" was/is. For those of you that don't know, to become a true Iowa Stater, one has to share a kiss with a beloved one under the Campenile at midnight. This of course is where Jason and I shared our first kiss during Veshia (Veshia is a student run celebration every spring). The kids really got a kick out of Lance-a-Lot and Elaine, the campus swans. We concluded our tour with a ride on the Cyride bus back to the Design Center.

The kids really enjoyed the game. Libby fell asleep on me during most of the 3rd quarter, but I managed to cheer the Cyclones on to their victory over Baylor! We all left Ames tired, cold, and happy!

Honey Creek Acres

Maison's school went on a field trip to Honey Creek Acres in Swisher today to get a tour of the orchard and working bee hives. It was very interesting.

Did you know...

1. There are many many different kinds of pumpkins?

2. Gourds are not for eating?

3, There is an apple gourd that looks like an apple but is the color of a watermelon rind?

4. Bees carry pollen on their back legs?

Each student took a hay rack ride, toured the orchard, picked their own apple to eat, and received their very own gourd! It was way awesome!

12 Months Old

Click Play to Get a Little Cake in Your Face

Hard to believe our Izzy McSquizzy in 1 year old today! It almost seems impossible! I just can't believe a year ago today my husband was slamming the wheelchair I was riding in, into a wall by the elevator! With the economy the way it is, our baby factory went out of business, but I'm wondering if and when the economy turns around if that factory will reopen for business?

Squiz still isn't walking on her own yet, and still isn't saying anything recognizable to anyone outside of our immediate family, and when I say immediate, I mean Maison and Libby only! I don't even understand her yet!

Unfortunately her vampire teeth have been accompanied with her two front teeth, so we will have to fore go the vampire bat idea. Her teeth seem so big to me, but then again, Maison still has some pretty big chompers!

She is definitely the most strong willed of the three! Just absolutely relentless at times! She definitely gives Libs a run for her money when the bottom lip pops out! That must be a girl thing because Maison never stuck his bottom lip out when he pouted! And believe me, he can still pout with the best of them!

Thank you for all the gifts and cards! They are most appreciated!

Libby's First Field Trip

Today Libby's preschool took their first field trip to the North Liberty Fire Department. The kids had a wonderful time. Here are some important facts that Libby thought would very important to share with family and friends.

Did you know...

1. that the fireman's gear weighs about 70lbs! "Whoa, that's what you weigh mom!"

2. that firemen leave their boots in their pants? "Mom, I need to do that! Then I wouldn't have to get up so early for school!"

3. that most fire houses no longer have fire poles? Firemen sustain more injuries per year from sliding down the pole than from fighting fires! "Maybe they could just get a slide instead!"

Open House

Hillside had their annual Open House tonight. Maison was pretty excited to show us some of the projects they have been working on at school. The kids have spent quite a bit of time observing, studying, and releasing insects. Lots of creatures on display at the school.

Maison has been selected as a self-manager at school, which means he is a "go-to" person in the classroom. He helps his teacher as well as other students! Great Job!

This year Maison is in a grade of his own, 2nd and a half grade! The 3rd grade is made up of all girls and most of those girls are old enough to be in the 4th grade, with one old enough to be in the 5th! So not only are they girls but all are a full year older than he! Poor boy didn't stand a chance! So the consensus was for him to work mostly with the 2nd graders because they are the same age as Maison and there are also a couple of boys, which Maison really likes his all boy group! He has the same privileges as the 3rd graders, like learning cursive! Maison is super excited about school and things are coming to him much easier which makes all of us happier!

This situation is just one of the many reasons we love Hillside! With the one room school house, the kids aren't limited to a specific grade and it removes the stigma of "pull-out" programs the public schools offer!

When I'm Old & Dead

So, we're driving to school today and it's abnormally quiet. Pretty soon Maison says, "Hey Mom, guess what I want to do when I get older?" Not knowing where this is going I hesitantly say, "What?" "I want to work at Country Landscapes with Daddy and draw cool pictures for people like he does." "Great!" I say. He follows up with, "I think I'll get a house in Fox Run too so I can be close to work."

It's quiet again for a couple of minutes and Libby says, "You know what Mom? When you get old and die I'm just going to live in your house, then I can probably cook my own food."

*Note to self: Sleep with one eye open and make sure my life insurance is up-to-date!

Maquoketa Caves State Park

Well, Daddy planned an exciting day at Maquoketa Caves State Park in Maquoketa, IA. Not ever being there before we didn't know what to expect. We were definitely under prepared! There was only one cave we could actually walk through. It had a nice walkway and a lighted ceiling. The other caves required you to have a headlamp or flashlight, and a desire to belly crawl like a snake! However we had a great time walking the entire trail. It was extremely beautiful!

Click Play for a Spelunking Adventure

Living History Farms

Maison's school went to the the Living History Farms in Des Moines, IA today. Maison's school has been studying Iowa History since the beginning of the school year, so this was a perfect trip for him and the school.

Click Play For a Trip Back in Time

11 Months Old

Oh my, where has the time gone? Hard to believe our last baby is almost a year old! Squiz has had a busy month so far! She has seen her first ISU football game, has had a couple of sleepovers at Grama Shari and Papa Ed's house, popped in some new teeth, and really wants to walk!

Speaking of Squizzy's teeth, she has the two middle bottom teeth and a couple on the top. Not the middle two top teeth, but the two teeth beside the front teeth. Now we aren't big fans of witches, vampires, etc, however the rules are going to have to bend a little next month. Assuming the two top teeth don't come down, we are going to have to dress her like a little vampire bat!

She still isn't 20lbs yet, and finally wears 9month clothes! Libby decided that she is still my peanutty and Squiz can be my honey bee. I wonder if Squiz will ever be able to think for herself? She won't have to with a big sister like Libs!

Henry Doorly Zoo

Click Play to Join Us at the Zoo

After the ISU/NDSU game, we stayed the night in Ankeny. Friday morning we headed off to Omaha to stay the long weekend with Jason's friend Eric. Eric and Nancy have 2 boys, 1 girl, a baby due in October, and a great dog named Chester!

Our kids don't see eachother often, but they seem to pick up right were they left off everytime we do get together! Eric to their kids and we took ours over to the Henry Doorly Zoo for the day. Nancy hung out at the house with Chester for a little R and R. The kids had a great time at the zoo and the weather was perfect!

Squizzy's First ISU Game

We took all of the kids to ISU's first home game against NDSU. Kind of ironic for me in a sense. What did we eat? Buffalo meat! The kids had a great time and Squizzy loved the whole thing! She did awesome! Her and Libby are definately into football, Maison is into the free stuff and watching the cheerleaders.

Stuffed Fish

Well, this summer when Maison was in Canada he caught a 36in Northern. It had been a while since I had seen one and now I get to see it everyday! Papa Dan had Maison's fish stuffed! Man that thing is nasty! Nasty in the sense it could rip your arm off and beat you with the wet end! YIKES!

I informed Jason and Maison both that it had to go in Maison's room and that it would be the only dead thing brought into this house! Meanwhile this fish is sitting on the kitchen counter and the dog is going completely nuts. Gracie wants this Northern in a really bad way! Jason let her give it a sniff and when she licked it, it was decided then and there that it had to go high on the wall.