Earth Day

Elizabeth - Matt and I had to laugh after your last post. We both agree you have a mini Lee on your hands. And another "inspiration" story about your family huh? Seems like you guys get one of those comments every other week there in Milan. You would think the city would give you the Most Inspirational Family of the Year award. Besides the whole town knows who you guys are. Who could miss a family of 7 trekking 5 miles across town in a triple jogging stroller to get groceries at Kroger. I'm surprised people don't stop, roll down their window and take pictures of you guys because of how inspirational you are! Ha ha ha!!! Just kidding!

Thought I would post about an incident I had yesterday at a family carnival. There were the staple family games at this carnival-pin the tail on the donkey, face painting, and water balloon throw. Then we strolled by one I didn't remember partaking in as a kid. The game had the feel good name plastered in rainbow colors, "Keep the Earth Green". You don't remember racing to the recycling bin with plastic bottles, newspapers, and pop cans in order to save the earth? Neither did I, I must have been too busy throwing my candy wrappers out the car window. Well I didn't want to stop at this game, but the woman hosting this game lured Madeline in with none other than cute fluffy stuffed polar bears! Made organically of course. These were the prizes given away. So alright whatever we stop, I smile at the lady. My smile quickly turned into a hard laugh though when the woman said to Madeline, "I bet your mom is an enviromentalist". I said "Yeah sure my Save the Polar Bear bumper sticker is right by my Arms are for Hugging sticker on our new Prius!" Ha ha ha! I wasn't sure how I could be sending off the "tree hugger" vibe. I showered this morning and shaved my legs. My only other thought was maybe she can smell the organic fiber in my kid's Hanna clothes... I'm checking into this possibility. Well the game was explained to Madeline. The woman asked her "Do you know what this bin is for?" You know the one with the recycling symbol on it. Madeline shook her head no, so the woman turned to me and gave me a brochure about how to explain recycling to young children. So I told this greeny "Yes we do have a recycling bin and you know what I really like it because I put whatever doesn't fit in our trash bin, in it. So saves me money on buying more trash bags". Come to think of it this would be a great way to promote recycling. Well Madeline didn't win one of those fluffy polar bears that may be extinct soon, but she did walk away with a lollipop. The game made an impression on her though because she threw away the wrapper in the garbage, however I can't claim responsibility on the whereabouts of the lollipop stick. It may or may not have ended up on the green grass by our gas guzzling van. Just kidding!!!

Poor Justin!

Justin with great-grandma Hogan on his 1st Communion Day

So, Justin is great little boy and we are very proud of him. Lee is going to take him this summer to a soup kitchen and help feed poor people--we are hoping this makes a lasting impression on him. One that shows him how lucky he is and makes him thankful to God for the family and life he has been given.

There are times when "poor" little Justin thinks he has it so rotten! Like how his friends--even some of his home school friends--have all kinds of video games and he doesn't. Today at a garage sale he found an old PlayStation thing for $2.00 and he somehow thought that surely I'd let him have it because it was so cheap. Well, NOOO. He doesn't seem to care that Poppy & Nanna never let me have one either.

Well, later in the day..Lee tells me that Justin was talking to him about how he found this $2.00 PlayStation. Lee tells him again how those are not allowed in our house and Justin says, "Well, when I go to college I'm going to buy TEN of them and play them all day long!!" Great, Justin!!

Cheers,
Elizabeth

Lucy & Yoda!

Lucy is really growing up fast & I wish she'd stay little! She is talking more and Lee says it's like having "Yoda" from Star Wars in our house saying, "Help you, I will." That's how Lucy says everything. She puts herself at the end of every sentence. So, here are some of her common phrases:

"Mommy, juicy more Me."

"Daddy!! Daddy!! Poo Poo Me. Yucky, Me."

"Bye-Bye, Me." (when she wants to go somewhere.)

"Oozs, Oozs Me." (when she wants her shoes on.)

"Uppy, Uppy Me. (When she wants to be held.)

"More, please Me."

We're really enjoying this time with our kids. The kids and I walked around our neighborhood this morning to check out some garage sales and I had a mom say to me, "My husband and I see your family walking around town and I just have to say what an inspiration you are." Wow! That made my day!! When's the last time you told me I was an inspiration to you, Michaela?? (ha-ha!!)

Well, at the next house Alex wanted a toy McDonald's semi-truck, but it was a collectors thing and the lady was firm at $5, so I wasn't buying it for that. Alex got that "Hogan" look on his face and I knew what was next! He starts screaming and pounding his foot in the lady's garage and I'm hoping the lady who thinks I'm inspirational can not hear this tantrum a few houses down!!

I followed Super Nanny's advice by grabbing him on the upper arm REAL tight (ok I don't think she allows this, but something like that..) and marching back to the house for some "in your room alone reading time." Like I said, we are really enjoying this time with our kids!!

Love,

Elizabeth

"I don't believe in arranged marriages. I think you should give your kids at least three options!"
---Stubenville grad (gotta love that school!)

Baby Greta

Just a quick post to show you how big baby Greta is getting! At 2 months old, she now weighs nearly 11pds & my friends say she looks a lot like big brother Alex. She sure has his hair--almost as much anyway! As you can tell, I can put a waterspout on top of her head already!

We are all enjoying her contagious smiles and are looking forward to some fun summer trips with all the kids. Out to DC & VA Beach & Iowa--maybe another place. In between it all, we will be moving into our new home and re-modeling our kitchen a little! God Bless, Liz

Little Boys

Had a nice time in DC this past weekend. Matt got off all of last week for spring break, but he worked until Thursday in order to save vacation days. We had a good time and were able to ride the metros, visit the museums, and take a Capitol tour without a certain someone stressing out too much. Although that certain someone did have a couple of "We can't take these kids anywhere!" moments. But luckily I am talented enough to calm down that certain someone and two kids at the same time without any bystanders secretly wondering if they should report us to DHS. Madeline definitely had a blast at the hotel and pool, so much fun in fact that all she talks about is going back to a hotel. So now I have something new to bribe her with-a hotel stay. I'll let you know how this new parenting tip works out. I see great things to come.

The minute we got home yesterday, Toby took off for the backyard. I'll tell you what, a couple of months ago I thought it would be nice to just have more boys from now on because Toby has been so easy. But I'm beginning to rethink this wish. He has turned into a boy almost overnight. The little guy now pulls Madeline's hair, tries to tackle her, and grunts like a 300 lb man. The minute he is outside his hands become magnets and everything from cigarettes to dog poop he picks up. He also has a surprising knack to find the biggest sticks in our yard and use them as swords to chase the birds with. Any psychologist trying to tell us there is no difference between girls and boys should be laughed off as a nutcase. I definitely would remembered this if Madeline was acting this way a year and half ago. Actually an incident happened while we were in DC that made me wonder if Matt used to pick up sticks as a little boy or if he had to have the sticks wiped down with hand sanitizer first in order to kill all the germs. We were at an ice cream shop and Madeline had to use the bathroom. Matt was talking to a couple of his friends so I took Madeline. Madeline kept saying "I have to put this down Mommy". I ignored her and said sit down and pee. But she persisted and said "Mommy help me-I have to sit on this". She's never talked about this while using a public bathroom before, so I had no idea what she was talking about. But what do you know she was referring to a toilet protector. You know what I'm talking about-those flimsy gift wrap like tissue paper things that germ freaks put down on the toilet before they take a crap. Like this tissue paper is going to protect them from any germs. I ask Madeline-did Daddy tell you to use this? "Yes" And of course the tissue paper had to be carefully situated exactly on top of the toilet or else she would not pee. Great one more thing she is going to have to do in the bathroom now.

So we get back to the table and I ask Matt. "Did you tell Madeline she has to use a pisser protector when she uses the bathroom?"Matt, "Yeah, doesn't everyone use one of those?" Myself along with our other friends start laughing. "What germs are your butt cheeks going to carry Matt?" Matt's response, "Well you guys would be surprised how many germs you are carrying." Yep I probably would, but I still won't be using a pisser protector anytime soon.

Stephanie

Just a little post all devoted to our youngest sister, Stephanie. Stephanie--we'd like to thank you for being an awesome sister. You are a smart, kind, generous, outgoing, faith-filled girl who is truely on her way to becoming like us!

Oh, how we remember your ISU days and your 'I'm cool' comments to us like, "I'm never going to listen to Rush or become overly conservative like you guys." Oh, how you've changed and to think all it took was for you to get your first real paycheck out of college and see how much of YOUR money the government took out for their tax-funded programs! I do believe Michaela and I both warned you of how your thoughts would change after college and you'd soon become a better, more informed conservative Republican. No need to thank us, or even to say, "You know, you guys were right all along." Just receiving a Glenn Beck e-mail from you & knowing you listen to El RushBo every chance you get is thanks enough!!

We'd like to throw out a "Thanks" to you though, Stephanie. Thanks for understanding how difficult it is for two, young, full-time housewives to find the time to call you & chat in the evening when the call is free after 9pm (when we're either asleep, reading a Jane Austen book, or for Michaela watching "The Biggest Loser") or on the weekends when the call is free. Instead, time & time again you continue to show your generosity by actually calling our HOME PHONES during weekday/daylight hours!! By using your cell phone--you use up your precious "Sunny Fresh" minutes and take the risk of Human Resources noticing that you are not using your minutes to call an acutal client!

Thanks, Stephanie! I love it when Michaela asks, "Did Stephanie call you lately? Because it's been like two days since she called me and I'm wondering if she calls you more than me? Why would she wait two days to call me? I have some stuff I'd like to talk to her about. She didn't even respond to my e-mail I sent to her about how ethanol is making farmers so rich. Do you think she is mad at me? She shouldn't be--it's true you know. Farmers are getting rich off ethanol and it's not even good for cars. All the while I'm paying more for darn eggs! So, do you think she is really mad at me? Do you know if she's out driving around today because if she is and she doesn't call me I'm going to be mad. MADELINE! STOP THAT! I gotta go. Bye."

Love,
Elizabeth & Michaela

Diamonds!

So, this morning Lee was giving me a nice kiss when he looked at me and said, 'Oh, gosh this diamond fell out of your earring. We'll have to keep our eyes open for that." FYI: (He bought me the diamond earrings for our wedding gift, then again bought the same ones two years ago for my birthday --he forgot about the 1st pair! We returned the 2nd pair for something different.) Anyway....so I go to the hall mirror to look at my missing diamond and I see that it's not missing at all. It's right there.

So, I go back to Lee and show him the diamond and he's like, "Oh, it is there...that's weird. I could have sworn it looked like it was missing a second ago." So I told him that if he wanted to see the diamond better......he should buy me a bigger one! It was a cute moment!

Cheers,

Liz

Easter

Hi! Great post below, Michaela!! That was super fun to read and you can tell Matt that yes, he does have a loud voice-it's just that perhaps we don't want to embarrass him by mentioning it all the time!! ha-ha!!

As for you googling the answer to a radio contest...well, I did it last Fall and won! However, either people don't think to do that, they have a higher sense of morality, or they think they're smart enough to get it on their own--- because so many callers ahead of me got it wrong. It was some kind of history question like.. "Mary Smith was the first woman to do this?" I thought, how easy to look that up! The answer appeared before my eyes in a matter of seconds. Mary Smith first woman to parachute out of an airplane. I easily won a $40 gift card to a nice restaurant!

However, I must admit that while I was on hold I kept thinking what if the talk show guy asks me how I knew that. So, my plan was to bring Lee into my web of lies by saying that my husband is a big history buff. My guilty mind kept wandering....what if he asks...oh he likes the history of airplanes or parachuting or women and parachuting? I decided maybe I could just say, "Um..what?" and he'd go to a commercial break or something. In the end, the talk show guy just said, "Yes, finally the right answer! Now, Elizabeth have you ever been to the Main Street IX restaurant?" Awesome...I can answer that.."Yes, I sure have it's a great place Dave." Radio guy, "Wonderful, now what is your favorite food there?" That question was a little harder because it's an expensive place so Lee only took me there a couple of times and my memory is not so great, so I quickly blurt out.."Oh, Dave everything at Main Street is fantastic." That about covers it!

Things are going well for the seven of us here in Michigan. Lee only has two weeks (four classes) left to teach at MSU and then summer vacation starts!! Well, he'll have to grade all the exams and work on writing some articles and he's publishing a law school textbook (which is called a casebook), but he'll be working from home so I say he's on vacation!

Justin received his First Holy Communion on Easter Sunday and we were thankful to have a big group of Iowa relatives journey through a blizzard to get here and celebrate with us. Lee and I are very proud of Justin and while in the van with their cousins, Caleb & Adele, we overheard Justin say to Caleb... "You will get to receive your First Communion next year." Caleb said, "Yeah, and it's really Jesus." Justin said,"Yeah, it's great, but you first will have to go to reconciliation with a priest and that is kind of scary the first time. But, then....you will feel so great that you'll be like, wow I want to go to confession everyday because it makes me feel so good afterwards."

How wonderful that these two young kids are so excited about their Catholic faith and even at their tender age--they understand better than most adults sitting in the pews at mass!

Cheers,

Liz
"Is it merely coincidental that homeschooling was outlawed by the Soviet State in 1919, by Hitler and Nazi Germany in 1938 and by Communist China in 1949?"
----Chuck Norris, Texan crime fighter

Heartbeat

Today has kind of been a dizzy day for us. It started out pretty good, except Madeline woke up just as Matt left for work at 5:45 am! Matt likes to think he doesn't have the world's loudest voice - "You always exaggerate Michaela, no one has ever told me I have a loud voice" Yeah your friends just imitate your voice for the heck of it. Anyways Matt had to call a fellow resident this morning as he was leaving the house and woke us all up. Why he couldn't wait a half a second and make the call outside or even in his car- escapes me! So regardless I got to start my day a couple hours early today!

So while the kiddos and I were eating our breakfast I was listening to our local radio station. They were giving away free tickets to Brooks and Dunn/Rodney Atkins concert if you could answer their question. Well Matt and I would love to see Rodney Atkins so I thought what the heck I'll call in. I got my laptop fired up so the minute they ask the question I could google the answer. That's what everyone does right? Well the question was " Bill Clinton warned the superdelgates that this will happen if you don' vote for Hillary" Great I thought I don't even need to google this- of course the answer would be death will happen-right. Isn't that what you are thinking the answer would be. Well while I was waiting on the phone I could hear all the other people's responses and the broadcaster was getting annoyed because no one was even close to the right answer, so he said "Okay I'll give you a hint a well known member of the Clinton administration mysteriously died here". Well now I was worried because I remembered this incident vaguely but I had no clue what the guy's name was or where he died. I was the next caller and didn't have time to google this because I was googling while the broadcaster was asking me for my name. I being the risk taker I am, instead of providing my name and answer, hung up the phone on the guy. He said on the air that the caller that just hung up on me needs to learn how to talk on the phone. Oops! Well my answer would have been close, but he was looking for "You will end up like Vince Foster at Fort Marcy Park". Better luck next time I guess.

Later this morning I had to go to my OB appointment because we are having baby #3 in late October. So no big deal I knew what to expect. It wasn't actually an appointment-more of an information session with a nurse, but that is besides the point. I had to have my blood drawn after the appointment. I hate needles-especially getting blood drawn is really the worst. With my first two children I clearly remember getting my blood drawn, but they only needed one vile of my blood. So I got a little nervous when the lab guy starting putting three, four, five, six, Seven viles onto the table.! So I said "You don't need SEVEN viles of my blood do you?" Lab guy - "Yeah that's what it says here, don't ask me. I'm just doing what they tell me to do." Oh okay that makes me feel good - he is not sure why he needs seven viles of my blood. He just knows that is what the notes in front of his face tell him to get. So the lab guy gave me the first prick with the needle, but "my vein flipped over". So sorry but "I'm going to have to use this bigger needle and do a butterfly procedure which will take longer." Okay as long as I don't start to cry I'll be alright. Well about half way into my first vile of blood the room started to get black. I didn't say anything to the guy because at this point I don't want him to stop, take the needle out, and then have to do it again. I just say "yes I'm fine" when he asks how I'm holding up. Finally during vile 5 or 6- I couldn't see anything at this point so I'm not sure which vile he was on. I tell him everything is black and the room is spinning. "Oh okay ma'am, we'll be done if a jiffy." I'm thinking great this guy is really efficient. He finishes up and at this point I about fall over in the chair. So he gets the receptionist in to put ice on my neck and give me water. Much better! I should have eaten a bigger breakfast and drank more water. Lesson learned. But the receptionist was really worried about me and insisted on calling Matt to come get me. So I give her his phone number. All the while I'm thinking, he is going to be annoyed if he has to come over here for this. So the nurse gets me a wheelchair and wheels me into the ER. Everyone waiting in the waiting room looked at me funny- I said "Hope you all ate a big breakfast" as she wheeled me into the ER so I can lay down on a cot. She says "Wait here until your husband comes". I'm thinking that may be a while. About 10 minutes later she comes back and says, "Well your husband is in lecture and can't come over right now. I could page him on the military pager if you want me to." I kind of laugh and say "Really I'll be fine". So she lets me leave-she probably felt sorry for me! Well about 10 minutes later Matt calls and at this point he thinks I am in the ER for something serious. I said yes I was in the ER because I almost passed out while I was getting blood drawn. "Oh that's it. I thought something serious happened since they called me out of lecture." I of course get mad and hang up the phone on him. I thought I remembered reading about that technique in Dr. Laura's "Proper Care and Feeding of Husbands" book. So Matt calls back and of course apologizes in his own way. By this time I'm not seeing double anymore and feel confident I can drive home safely-even though I have been driving for 10 minutes. Just kidding more like 5 minutes. Fun day!