Build-A Bear fun!

Rachel's Brownie troop choose to use their Girl Scout Cookie money on a trip to Build A Bear. I HIGHLY recommend taking your child to this place if they love stuffed animals!!! I have heard of this place before but have never walked inside a store until Saturday. Oh my goodness, what an experience! You have your child pick out desired animal to be stuffed, then they help put the stuffing inside said animal, next they are given a tiny heart to kiss & then touch all over their own body parts so that the animal can do the things the child can do (touch ear so your animal friend can hear you, touch your knees so your friend knows how much you need him, touch your heart so your friend knows how much you love them, dance around so your friend can dance, and a few other things...I can't remember them all) & lastly they hold the heart close to them, close their eyes & make a wish for their new friend before putting the heart inside the animal!

You could go broke in this place! There are sooooo many accessories & outfits to choose from!!! Who knew a stuffed animal could become so stylish!? Rachel can NOT wait to go back & pick out more stuff for her new friend, DAISY!

Rachel choosing her new friend, a Black Lab she named DAISY.

Brownie troop 293 with their new friends.

Rachel making a wish for Daisy.

Daisy getting her first grooming.

Another view...

And here are two pictures taken of the mountain while standing on the street behind us.

Beautiful mountain in our backyard!

Ok, so here is what I mean by the mountain in our backyard blocking the sun to the front of our house until now...the last piece of ice melted off the front yard just yesterday...yippie!!!

And even more fun!!

Look out, here I come!!!

Let's go Daddy, faster, faster!!!

Four little monkeys!!!

Having some scooter fun!

Here's the Darling Scooter Gang!

How can this be...Sam is already 7 months old!

Sam is now 7 months old and you are asking yourself, "What is that little guy doing these days?"

He is: Cutting one tooth, sitting up on his own, can roll all over the living room floor to get the toy he wants & is trying really hard to crawl, is "talking" up a storm, smiles ear to ear at everything!, just started eating rice cereal, sweet potatoes, and peas, and loves to grab everyones hair! I can not believe Samuel has been with us for 7 months already!!!!

Where does the time go? When we only had Jakob & then when we had Jakob & Rachel time seemed to go by pretty slow allowing us to enjoy every single second of their lives. But, add Ben & then Sam to the mix...the days seem to pass by at warp speed!!! During the school year here is how it goes...One day it is Monday, the next it is Friday!!! Wherever could a whole week possibly go?!?! Oh yeah... Brownies, ballet, Cub Scouts, Hebrew lessons, play group, playing outside, hockey practices & games, just to name a few!!! Then the weekend comes & goes just as quickly! Usually filled with more hockey games/practice, Religious school, maybe a cub scout or brownie activity, playing outside, snow boarding and skiing, playing with neighbor kids, etc.

Now, that "Spring" is here we have now stopped the hockey & skiing activities but, I am sure to replace them this "summer" with soccer, football, T-ball, playground fun, hiking adventures, etc. BUSY, BUSY! And of course I would NEVER want it any other way!!!!

I do get to sit down on the floor & simply just watch Samuel experience life & I love that time with him!!! It is just different now...it may be 15 minutes here & 15 minutes there rather than the hour here & hour there like it was with Jakob & Rachel. This doesn't mean I don't love Sam or Ben as much as them! It just means I am busier & have to space out that one on one time that used to happen all day long! Now that we are a family of 6 I just have more dinners to cook, lunches to make, laundry to fold, bathrooms to clean, dishes to wash, etc, etc, etc! I LOVE being a wife and a mommy!!!!! I am just not so fond of the maid part of my stay at home job description! So, the pictures above are of me enjoying Sam playing with his toys. I wish I could just sit & play toys all day long...but, I need to go make Ben's lunch, wash some dishes, start another load of laundry, and put away the two baskets full of folded laundry!

First feeding and Quotes of the week

Here's the first Rice cereal feeding. The kids had so much fun finally being able to help feed Sam! Ben can not wait to give Sam some Cheerios! Hopefully, I won't catch him emptying the whole box on top on Sam like my friend Shannon's daughter, Amanda did to her brother Ben years ago...remember that guys???

Quote #1:

So if anyone has a family member who plays games on the internet then you have probably heard the word Woot used...it means

"used in times of great excitement; to express a stage of extreme excitement; often used instead of "yes!" "saweet!""awesome", etc.; "

So, Jakob plays shoot up games with Daddy as well as some other 10 year old games???

And Rachel visits Barbie, My Little Pony, Noggin, PBS kids, etc. And often you hear them say "Woot" after they do some cool, exciting thing. Well, Jakob was going to say, "Woot" and he was also going to say "Sweet" at the same time so it came out "Swoot" and he then said, "Hey guys I invented a new word." So, now they both say, "Swoot, swoot" all the time. Too funny.

Quote #2:

Jakob was playing outside, Rachel was playing on the computer, Sam asleep, Ben playing toys by himself, me cooking dinner. Paul comes home, looks around & says hi to everyone & then asks,"Where is Jakob?" I had let him sneak outside to play b/c if Ben had seen him he would have wanted to go as well & I couldn't go outside with Ben at that moment b/c I was making dinner so I didn't want Ben to know Jakob was outside so I spelled out the words that told Paul that Jakob was outside riding his bike. Then Rachel says, "Not fair, I want to go outside and ride my bike!" I drop my mouth open as if to say, "What?!" And Rachel says, "Guys, I can spell you know, I can read!!!" I had to laugh at that! (And of course as soon as Rachel said that Ben said, "I want to go outside." So, they all went out to play after all!)

Quote #3:

Sam started eating rice cereal...not too fond of it at first but now he gobbles it down like a champ!

So, it was daddy's turn to feed Sam some dinner. Ben sees Paul in the kitchen, "Daddy, you play with me?" Paul says, "Can't right now, I need to feed Sam." Ben being used to me saying that all the time however I am breastfeeding Sam so Ben says, "You can't feed Sam, you don't have milk in there!"

Hope they made you laugh...

FUNNY FACES!!!!

Who's crazy kid's are these anyway?!?!

A Beautiful Poem for my Mom

Right after Sam & I visited my parents back in December my Mom's friend, Nacny took her to get a haircut...it looked so good...it made her "look" a little healthier...
I miss my Mom!
Here is a Poem my Dad just e-mailed to me...

God Saw Her Getting Tired

God saw her getting tired

And a cure was not to be,

So he put his arms around her

And whispered, "Come with me."

With tearful eyes we watched her suffer

And saw her fade away.

Although we loved her dearly,

We could not make her stay.

A golden heart stopped beating,

Laying loving hands at rest,

God broke our hearts to prove to us

He only takes the best.

She will be definitely missed, a hard worker

and the biggest heart for those she cared about.

So giving and took so very little.

That was a beautiful poem Dad, thanks for sharing!

You want a piece of me?

A Ton of SNOW on APRIL 25th!!!

Ok, so here's what happened the past few weeks weather wise...

I came back home from Tennessee to find that "break-up" had occurred. Most of the snow had melted...only leaving mostly Ice...esp. in our front yard as it doesn't get full sun exposure until maybe the end of May due to Mountain in our back yard.

The kids enjoyed a few days riding scooters & bikes.

Then we had a few more inches of snow.

That melted...more "break-up".

Then it got cold again, 5 more inches!

Then it warmed up last week & the beautiful sun was out! The kids rode bikes, scooters, etc.

Thursday, not sunny, kids played outside anyway...was a little on the chilly side so I said, "It is probably going to rain tomorrow." I washed ALL the snow gear & hung in the closet for next winter!

Friday morning comes, I send the kids to school in raincoats & boots. They came home soaking wet...not from rain but from...

Anchorage digs out after record snowfall
The Associated Press
Published: April 26th, 2008 12:37 PM Last Modified: April 26th, 2008 12:37 PM
Anchorage continues to dig out from a snowfall that set a record for the day and the month.The National Weather Service says 17.2 inches fell at its office just south of Anchorage's international airport and 22 inches fell in northeast Anchorage on Friday and Saturday.
The heaviest snow fell between 3 and 6 p.m. Friday at a rate of almost two inches per hour.
The monthly total at the weather service office is now 29.7 inches, breaking a record from 1963 when 27.6 inches fell during April.
The 15.5 inches that fell Friday is the third-most for any one day in Anchorage. The record is the 25.7 inches that fell six years ago on March 17, 2002.

CRAZY I know!!! I took several pictures through-out the day...I measured about 15-16 inches!!

The kids had a blast walking to the "Spring" Carnival (ring toss, duck pond, bingo, etc.) at the Elem. school. Then when we got back home they played outside for a bit. Since the snow was so wet & heavy you could actually build a little snowman (Usually, snow here is too dry & powdery to stick together even for a snowball much less a snowman!) & have a snowball fight! Ben enjoyed knocking down the "Ben size" snow kid just as quickly as Paul built it. He would do his little fight dance around the snow kid & say in a singsong voice, "You want a piece of me?" and then he would promptly destroy it! Jakob & Rachel enjoyed the snowball fight & of course eating handfuls of the white yummy goodness! Sam, enjoyed a little snooze in the Baby Bjorn on me while at the carnival & the walk home.

Needless to say, the sun is out now & we are up to 46* right now & the snow has mostly melted.

I LOVE living in Alaska & I love the snow!!! With that being said... What I don't like is the "break-up" in the spring b/c it is sooooooooooooo messy & disgusting...the kid's snow gear is always coming home wet & black from the mess! Usually, it is a few weeks of that & then it is over, no problem. well, I think we are on our at least...4Th "break-up" period! So not only do you deal with cleaning the kids gear over & over but you get the oh so fun "mess" that it left from Biscuit every morning & evening that did not get picked up & was buried in the snow throughout the winter and has now revealed itself as a big puddle of muddy poop for your viewing pleasure! UGH!!! what joy! I love our dog & I love the snow...and of course Biscuit LOVES to play in the snow...I just wish you could Toilet train a lab! hee!

I hope you all had a great weekend!

Here is the back deck at 1:30 P.M.

OK...I loaded the picture & it is sideways...I don't know how to changed that now...I will try to not do that on the next picture...just tilt your head.

And here it is at 3:30 P.M. Ok...they are going to load this way b/c I take angled pictures...sorry...just tilt you head & you get the idea.

And here we are at 4:30 P.M. ... And here are at 7:00 P.M.
And lastly, at 7:00 A.M. The ruler is in there somewhere...

Last UT game my parents went to

My parents are HUGE UT (that is University of Tennessee...not Texas!) fans!!! My parents went to ALL the games! GO VOLS!!! This is a picture taken just a few weeks before my mom passed. Such dedication to go even though she was in extreme pain and could only sit upright for a short amount of time!!! I know I would not even go if I had a cold!!! It is hard to tell in this picture because the shirt is so big but my Mom had lost a ton of weight & was down to about 100 pounds here!!!
I am crying as I write this...I miss her so much! I am thankful she is no longer in pain...I just wish she had never been in the pain in the first place!!!
I do believe that she will live on through all of us who knew her and that she is now an angel with God helping me with my everyday challenges that are presented to me from my children!

Took A Little Time Off...

Well, I started this blog and then had to suddenly leave home for a few weeks...I returned home and have been busy catching up with this crazy life of mine! I am now attempting to jump back in here...please be patient with me as I learn "the ropes" of blogging, uploading pictures, adding pictures to my post, etc.


Here is the e-mail I sent out to my Mom's Club that will explain where I went for almost 3 weeks in March...





I received a call from my sister, Jennifer on Saturday afternoon, the 8th... that my Mom was passing & I needed to get there ASAP! B/C it was the beginning on Spring Break...there were NO empty seats on ANY flights until MONDAY NIGHT!!! I knew that would be WAY TOO LATE!!! Luckily I was able to get on a military flight early Sunday morning that took me to Charleston, S.C. The commercial airport there doesn't have any outgoing flights after 8p.m....I arrived at 9:30!!! Ugh! So, I fed Sam & rented a car & drove until I was too tired to go any more. I arrived the next day in Knoxville. I had about 4 hours with my Mom that I know in my heart that she heard me...her eyes were shut but she made sounds & facial expressions that were in correct responses to what I was saying...she also moved her lips when I placed Sam's forehead against her lips...I know she was trying to kiss him!!! Then she slipped into a coma. She did not want to die in a hospital hooked up to machines...she was at home...hospice did a wonderful job getting things set up & they showed us all how to care for her & give her the morphine. My Mom's sister, my Dad, my 3 siblings & their families & I took care of my mom until she took her final breath on Friday morning, the 14th. My Mom was a very strong lady to battle this cancer the past 2 & 1/2 years...I am so proud of her!!!!My parent's church had a BEAUTIFUL memorial service on Sunday. There were so many friends & family...it was a wonderful celebration of my mom's life! B/C my Dad is turning 69 tomorrow & not in the greatest shape himself ...getting difficult to get around in the two story house that they owned...We needed to get their house sold, packed, & moved...so I have been EXTREMELY busy here the past week...they are HUGE packrats...WOW!!!!! So, I will be continuing to help my family out this week. I get back home Thursday night.Please say prayers for my Dad, he lost his BEST friend of 44 years! For me & my siblings...I can't believe my Mom is gone...even though I have known since September that this day was going to come much sooner than it should...it doesn't make it any easier to say good-bye! I am thankful that my Mom is no longer feeling the horrible pain that she was experiencing these past few months though!!!Paul has been holding down the fort back home with the other 3 munchkins!





So as you can read...I lost my Mother a month ago now...I still shake my head in disbelief. So unfair!!! I wanted her & my Dad to see all their grandchildren grow up & go off to collage...just as all but one of my grandparents did!

I found out the day I gave birth to Sam, 27 September, that the cancer was back & the tumors were too big to remove & chemo. & radiation would not help at this point...she was given 6-12 months to live. When Sam turned 2 months old I flew with just him down to Tennesse to be with my parents for 10 days. I am THANKFUL to God for not taking my Mom before I had the opportunity to hug her one last time, to say how much I loved her, to tell her how thankful I was that: she & Dad did such a great job raising the four of us; that she supported me no matter how crazy my ideas were; and most of all for forgiving me for giving her a hard time as a teenager. I am sooooooooo very thankful that she got to hold Samuel, her 9th grandchild!

The last Litton Family picture, December, 2007

Here we are all on the couch at my parent's house back in December, 2007. You can tell by my mom's face that she is in pain...just makes me cry to know she suffered so much...but then at the same time...makes me smile to see all of us together!