Time (or lack thereof)

Wow! I was finishing up some stuff on the Internet tonight, and thought I'd check out Blogger and my friends' blogs. After enjoying their stories, I clicked on my own blog and saw that very pathetically, my last entry was in March. It was fun going back and reading those entries that I made last winter, but I truly don't know where I found the time to write them! However, I know I loved writing them, posting the pictures, and just finding time to write--which in a former life I used to do quite often.

Life is busy. For some time I had decided to wipe that word from my vocabulary because most of the time we make the time for things we truly care about and sometimes "busy" can be just an excuse. The reason we haven't called a dear friend, yet still found time to read a book on baking bread in 5 minutes a day. The reason we haven't finished responding to e-mails, but somehow still found time to post comments on facebook. The reason we can't do our daily Bible devotions, yet made time to read several of the latest magazines.

"Time management" is really about making choices on how to spend the time we have, and we all have the same 1440 minutes a day to choose how to spend.

And so, I'm trying to have balance in my life. It's a daily struggle between playing with the kids, spending time with Mark, keeping the house kinda sanitary, doing laundry, baking and cooking, working for the church, and making time for me too (aka the stuff I loved to do before I had kids). I'm trying to have less "that was a waste of time" moments and more "I'm so glad I made time for that" moments. I'm trying to work efficiently at the stuff I dislike (housework!), and slow down enough to appreciate Isabelle's ballet steps, Henry's block towers, and Lucy's cuddles.

So, I'd love to promise that I'll be blogging more, but I just may be "busy" -- playing hide and seek.

Children's Museum Trip

Sure, you've got your treadmills, your TurboJam, even (I'm told) work-outs on the Wii, but if you REALLY want to get your heart racing, check out the Children's Museum with three kids in tow during peak hours! Last Thursday, the kids and I headed to the Children's Museum with our playgroup friends and their kids (5 moms and 10 kids). In two words: fun and CRAZY! In the morning, some Sesame Street characters were visiting, along with a number of schools. The exhibits were just inundated with kids (mostly under 5 years) and their parents and strollers. It was a constant, "Where's Isabelle? Henry? I've got Hailey over here! Where's Kasey?" Thank God Lucy was happily hanging out in the sling, so I always knew where she was!

Story time with Elmo

Henry meets Grover (Isabelle was scared)However, it was the first time at the museum and we did have a blast! There were SO many neat things to play with! Here are some pics of the Clifford exhibit that was there:

Henry LOVED putting Clifford's bones on the conveyor belt or into the bowl.

Henry & friend Jake driving the truck.

Isabelle manning the cash register at the store.

So, after the crazy, heart-throbbing morning, our playgroup friends had to go. We decided to grab McDonald's. There was NO way I was going to stay and eat in the standing-room-only restaurant, so we joined some other people who were picnicking in the hallway. Afterward, we saw this sign on the Ronald McDonald bench we were lingering on/near:

Whoops!

We hadn't had enough, so we headed back to the museum, where the crowds had decreased by about 80%. Thank goodness! Mom had been ready to have a breakdown herself. We enjoyed all the rooms again, and my heart wasn't beating nearly as fast. It was so neat to see the kids using their imaginations and just exploring like crazy.

Lucy even got to get out of the sling in the Habitot, where she picked some flowers and played on some lilypads.

Henry played with the mailbox for about 1/2 an hour!

Isabelle loved jamming for the music video. I didn't get many pictures of her because she was so busy most of the day that she wouldn't even pose for any pictures (very unlike her!)

After about 5 1/2 hours, we decided to head out. We got up the stairs, out the skywalk, across the other skywalk, up the elevator, to the parking ramp, to our van, and buckled in before I realized we had left Lucy's cute, handmade jacket in the museum. Well, I couldn't just leave it there, so I threw Henry in the backpack and we cruised back to get it. On the walk back (again!) to the van, Isabelle started crawling through the skywalk, she was so tired. She jabbered about the museum the entire way home.

The museum was incredibly fun, and now that we've learned how to beat the crowds, we'll definitely be back. At least I know I'll get in a much-needed cardio workout!

Our Little Lucy Loo

Lucy is already 7 months, and I just can't believe it! She's now sitting up, rolling over, scooting around the room by doing the "worm", laughing, pulling Isabelle's hair, and eating (or spitting out) all kinds of solid foods. Perhaps the most amazing thing is that she puts up with her brother and sister constantly kissing her, holding her, getting in her face, and trying to carry her. Yesterday, Isabelle was outside with Mark and I while the other two were napping. She went in about 15 minutes before we did. Upon opening the door, I quickly realized that Isabelle and Henry had gotten Lucy out of her crib, tried to prepare a bottle out of breastmilk from the freezer, and fed it to her. I was a little freaked out by all that, but Lucy didn't mind . . . she just sat there with a huge smile on her face. Give them another year and a half and they'll really be ganging up on us!






Here are some pics:

Lucy's latest trick is going up on her toes like she's going to do a push-up, then lunging forward.

In this photo taken by Isabelle, Lucy's all ready to crawl away.

And she loves the great outdoors too.

All wrapped up in a blanket.

Lucy just brings an incredible amount of joy to our lives. I know it sounds cliche, but it's just so darn true. Who could resist these bright eyes, chubby cheeks, and huge smile? Certainly

not any of us!

Life in the Great Outdoors

It was so gorgeous out today. On the way home from my folks' house at 3:00, our van read 56 degrees! That would be 60 degrees warmer than it was when we woke up on Wednesday morning. We're definitely not complaining.

After such a cold winter, we're loving going outside, exploring the woods, and playing in the remainder of the snow. Isabelle & Henry love snowball fights. Today Isabelle told Mark, "I know, let's have a snowball fight!" Then she ran into the garage for her umbrella and held it up to protect herself.

But, that snow is slowly disappearing (I'm not wasting any tears about that!), and lots of it is draining through the creek bed on the side of our house. Mark had this ladder thing from a different project, so we put that across the stream as a "bridge". Isabelle is very proud that she can walk it by herself.

The water running in the creek.

Isabelle & Henry sitting on the "bridge."

We also had a bonfire to burn some of the down tree branches on the side of our lawn.

Lucy just got to hang out in the backpack.

The acreage behind our house was recently logged. You can't really tell from our house (thank goodness!) but they did leave behind a mess of treetops. Mark has been cleaning that up--we'll have lots of wood for bonfires this summer--and burning some of the treetops. The kids love to help stack the wood and play nearby with their trucks. Last Friday, we packed up a picnic supper and went out there to roast hotdogs & marshmallows. It was a huge hit, and the kids are really careful around the fire. Isabelle kept exclaiming, "Good thing we have the fire. It keeps us warm and helps us to see, but it sure is hot!"

Other favorite outdoor activities lately: riding the 4-wheeler, checking out the barren gardens, just tromping through the woods, and trying to find the perfect place for the playhouse that Mark is building.

One thing is for sure: we love Mother Nature and our own big backyard. How very blessed we are to live here. We'll just keep loving it--frigid temps and all. (Oh, how much easier that is to say when the themometer's reading above 50 degrees!)

Where have we been?

Okay, so I know I've been really MIA lately. So, what have the Measners been up to?

Well, I've been subbing when Mark doesn't have work to do. Most days one of us is working, and sometimes the days I'm subbing are really hectic, especially if it's a Wednesday when I get home from school and turn around to go to Somerset by 4:00 for my office hours at the church. However, subbing does have its perks. On Tuesday, I read most of my book while subbing in the high school English room (the kids were reading too). And I get paid for that?!

I was going to write a list of things we've been doing, but I just decided I'd dole them out in small doses over the next week. Hope you enjoy them as much as I'm enjoying the Leinie's 1888 Bock I'm drinking right now! :)

Our Girl is 4: "We are so glad you've come!"

"On the day you were born the Earth turned, the Moon pulled, the Sun flared, and then, with a push [many, many pushes], you slipped out of the dark quiet where suddenly you could hear . . .
a circle of people singing with voices familiar and clear.
'Welcome to the spinning world,' the people sang, as they washed your new, tiny hands.
'Welcome to the green Earth,' the people sang, as they wrapped your wet, slippery body.
And as they hugged you close they whisped into your open, curving ear,
'We are so glad you've come!'" -- from On the Day You Were Born by Debra Frasier, which we read to our children on each birthday

(I started this post weeks ago. Here it finally is!)

Yes, Isabelle is officially four years old! She had her birthday and her party Sunday, February 22. In some ways it seems impossible that four years have gone by so quickly. In other ways, it seems like we've had kids forever!

For her birthday, Isabelle had her grandparents, great-grandmas, and many of her aunts, uncles, and cousins over. She had requested a "princess" cake, so we made the traditional Barbie cake (she picked out the colors), and we were all excited that it turned out so nicely! Isabelle just had a blast being the "birthday girl!" She would love to have that special title all year long, I think!

In celebration of my beautiful growing daughter, I'm listing Isabelle's Ten Favorites (in no particular order):

1. Oatmeal. Every morning, she wakes up, peruses the breakfast cabinet, and almost always decides on oatmeal sprinkled with brown sugar. She even passes up Marshmallow Mateys for it! In fact, she loves it so much, she requests it three meals a day, and sometimes even for snacks!

2. Crafts. Look for some of her projects in a future post. She just loves to glue, paint, sparkle, color, cut, and create.

Isabelle's self-painted nails.

3. Books. Yay! She loves to read, especially before bedtime, and the library is one of our favorite stops. The other day she declared that she was going to be a doctor and a library checker when she got older (many thanks to Susan at the library who lets Isabelle check out her own books!)

4. Playing doctor. Especially after a trip to the clinic, Isabelle gets infatuated with playing doctor. We have fevers, we've swallowed something, we're SO sick . . . and Isabelle patches us all up! :)

5. Baking. Just today we were making granola, and she concocted her own little bowl of gooey stuff (oatmeal, water, cinnamon???) She loves to dump the ingredients in and mix it all up (and of course, put the spinkles on it!)

6. Cousins. She's always talking and singing songs about her cousins, and playing with them is about as good as a big bowl full of brown sugar-topped oatmeal in her book!

7. Dancing. Heavily inspired by the UWGB dance team, Isabelle swirls, twirls, flops, and shimmies. She's quite the interpretive dancer, often inviting us to watch her "shows" in the living room.

8. Taking pictures. While uploading pictures from my camera a few months ago, I found dozens taken by our little photojournalist. Thank goodness she got a V-Tech camera for Christmas!

9. Lucy and Henry. I really thought the "mini-mommy" phenomenon would get old as quickly as her new toys. But, Isabelle still loves to hold, cuddle, and play with our little Lucy. And Lucy just eats it all up, allowing Isabelle to treat her like a little dolly. Of course, Isabelle loves her little brother too, especially when she's chasing him or playing with him. I hope they always get along this well!

10. Imagining anything. I'm so proud of my little girl's imagination. We really could throw out the toys, and she'd happily play with the recycle bin and a couple pieces of paper.

Baking With the Measners

I grew up baking. In fact, I believe that I (and most of my siblings) could bake a batch of cookies by scratch by the age of 7. (At least that's what we claim.) We used to triple, or maybe even quadruple our recipes to produce enough cookies for our family and my mom's babysitting kids. In recent years, my love of baking has grown. I could read cookbooks for fun, and I swear that after Lucy was born I went through what I call "reverse nesting" when Isabelle and I baked something nearly every day. Needless to say, I was also eating many of those tasty treats myself (so much for shedding the baby weight!). Afterall, Mom can have as many as she wants, as long as no one else catches her at it! Since then, we've tried to cut back on how many we make, but the kids still really enjoy baking and eating. And baking and eating at the same time. They have this habit of licking their fingers in between putting on sprinkles, which causes all the sprinkles to stick to their fingers, which means they need to lick their fingers again, then back into the sprinkles, and look! they all stuck to the fingers again, so they need to be licked again! (I know, now none of you will ever want to eat cookies at our house again!)

I've slowly learned that baking with kids means NEVER turning your back, even for a second, or you could end up with a cup of salt in your granola bars or a couple tablespoons of baking soda in your brownies or water in your cookies. The mess is always huge -- flour on every surface and more bowls and spoons than necessary dirty. However, we always love the tasty treats, and making them is almost as fun as eating them! Hopefully some day my kids will love to cook on their own and will be calling me for advice just as often as I call my mom!


Henry excited about baking and licking his sprinkle-covered fingers.

Isabelle sporting pjs while baking (No, this picture wasn't taken right away in the morning, and yes, sometimes we do leave our pjs on all day!)

Unfinished Business

Today was just a crazy day. The sort of day where it was 5:00 P.M. and I felt like I had started about 20 different things, but never finished any of them!
Henry has decided this week that he doesn't like naps, and well, I'm just the nap nazi around our house, so I MAKE him take a nap. Today there was going to be no "making" him take a nap. After a nearly 2 hour struggle, he won. His nap . . . unfinished.

Isabelle just likes to be into everything and to have constant attention. If I have to do something at the computer (real work, not blogging!), she sneaks up under my arms and uses her small--but powerful--arms to yank mine off the keyboard. We did play Barbies, which was fun, except she always calls me "girl" when we're playing like that and she gets a little bossy. I think it's her way of making sure we're in make-believe land. We also started a batch of cookies, which are sitting in the fridge . . . unfinished.

Lucy balked at bedtime, which is really nothing new. She, at least, finished about four feedings before succumbing to her droopy eyes.

Now, I'm off to finish the laundry, the dishes, the cleaning of the kitchen counter, the bills, and the cleaning of our very messy TV area. If I'm lucky, maybe I'll follow Lucy's lead and actually finish something!

A Perfect Day for Some Winter Fun

Finally, this weekend it was warm enough to have some good old fashioned winter fun. On Saturday, we trekked out to the hunting shack to go sliding with the kids. This is only the second time this year that we've gone sliding, and the kids just love it. After several times down the hill with us, they were ready to go whizzing down by themselves. Henry loved to say "Yee haw!" as he was going down the hill. He had to go ALL the way to the VERY bottom--over the little hill at the bottom of the big hill. Isabelle loved that the snow was wet enough to go down without getting whitewashed (I'm not going to lie; I definitely like it better this way too!) They both walked up a few times, but also enjoyed getting pulled while giving Mom and Dad a workout. Hey, we know we need the workout, so we'll take it!

Did I mention that the hunting "shack", aka The Ugly Buck Inn, has a woodstove, cooking stove, TV (during the season), satellite, couches, cabinets (with their Ugly Buck logo woodburned on them) and even a mural? Yup, that shack is very well-loved by my uncles, dad, brothers, and lone female hunter Ann (who painted the mural and even made camoflauge curtains!) It's the perfect place to warm up, nurse a baby, and enjoy some hot cocoa (that would be hot cho-co to Isabelle, and arguably the best part of going sliding!)

Inside and outside the shack

Ann's mural on the inside of the shack

So, even though my dad was disappointed that we didn't make the record books for being below freezing the whole month of January, I'll take this forty degree day and all the fun that came with it!

Go Green Bay!

Yesterday we decided at the last minute to go to Green Bay to watch my brother Michael play against the #11 team in the country, Butler. We weren't the only Schachtner fans there . . . Of course Mom and Dad went and their friends Randy and Mary came too. Donnie and Tracy had watched the game Saturday with their kids and decided to stay another night and catch another game. Then Laura and Brant and kids (who had already gone to and from GB with my parents on Saturday) thought, "What the heck . . . might as well go see one last game." Once we were on the bandwagon, Kristin and Darren and kids quickly got someone to milk those cows and made the trip too! We knew it was a good sign when all 3 mini-vans stopped at the same gas station at the same time without even planning it.

The crowd was huge at the game, almost a sell-out. And, the student section had multiplied from the few loyal fans in December to a whole rowdy, boisterous section. The fans were feeling it and the players were too. Although Green Bay didn't shoot very well, they made up for it with tenacious defense and nearly perfect free throw shooting. At half-time they had a 2 point lead, and quickly built it to 13 points in the second half. It was so exciting to see them remain confident and thoroughly beat Butler. At the sound of the buzzer, the whole student section swarmed the floor and celebrated with Michael and his teammates.

Green Bay has never beaten such a highly ranked opponent, and it was such a thrill to be there to watch it all unfold. In the end, we had to agree with the students that Butler indeed was "Over-rate-d. Over-rate-d." What then, to say of Green Bay? How about "hardest working", "biggest hearts", or simply "worth the 9 hour drive."

Uncle Mike with our nephew James (check out his hair!)

Our Little Man

Henry. Just thinking of him brings a smile to my face. Henry loves to do a lot of things, but what he loves to do most is laugh, and when he laughs, you can't help but laugh with him. His giggle is so darn contagious. His other favorites:

1. Dad. When he wakes up, the first thing he says is, "Where ih Da?" If Mark's not around, he's majorly ticked.

2. Playing with Dad in the shed.

3. Tools to play with in the shed (They're pint-size and real, plus he has wood and cardboxes to pound.)

4. Tractors and trucks. (Sometimes he even sleeps with them. Is he a boy or what?)

5. Water. He loves taking baths, and this summer he had no fear about jumping in the pool.

6. Taking the small grocery cart at our local grocery store and running around the store with it, causing the other shoppers to jump out of the way (and then grin, because you can't help but laugh at this kid with a HUGE smile tearing by with a mini cart.)

7. The book Llama Llama Red Pajama. Although this is wearing off, for a while he slept with this book and had it read several times each day.

8. Painting, or any other activity that means making a mess.

9. Running (and ending with a jumpstop) and climbing. He is famous for turning over garbage cans, boxes, baskets . . . whatever it takes to help him reach whatever is out of his reach.

10. Giving Lucy (Woo-ee) kisses and playing with Isabelle (Ihabelle). They actually all get along so well, and he and Isabelle really get into cahoots with each other.

Oh how we love our dear boy (even though lately some of the giggles have been replaced with fits and whining). He adds an incredible amount of joy to our lives.

Other pictures:

Henry mad because he wants to go to the shed with Da (and he doesn't want his picture taken.)

This year's dragon costume


He's really into cheesy smiles, and he loves squinting up his eyes for the camera.





His 2nd birthday