The Laughlin Life

Still Here

2009-07-26T00:06:00.002-05:00

I sure do wish that blogs didn't have posting dates. A last post of January is quite sad I must say. Unfortunately, it is after midnight and I have to teach 4th grade boys Sunday school tomorrow, so this one cannot be long or creative. I hope to return soon with some updated pictures. Thanks to all you who keep your pages up-to-date. We love reading about your lives.

At Kristen's Request--More Pics

2009-01-29T22:43:00.005-06:00

Luke, Lilly, and Nate

My beautiful Lilly.

My handsome man, Luke.

Our precious baby, Nate.

Have you ever seen such a cute face?

Welcome to the Family

2008-12-31T15:23:00.004-06:00

Nate Allen joined us on 12/19/08 at 12:22 pm. He was 18 1/2 inches long and weighed 6 lbs 4 oz. As of today he is two weeks old and doing wonderfully. He is truly a blessing to our family and we are so glad to have him here. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

So Much

2008-12-06T16:24:00.005-06:00

Thank you God, so much, for all you've given me.

Out of the mouth of a 3-year-old

2008-10-25T20:39:00.002-05:00

Okay, for all of you who need a good chuckle out there, please read this article written by a mother of a 3 year old. It is absolutely hilarious!!

A 3-year-old tells all from his mother's restroom stall. By Shannon Popkin

My little guy, Cade, is quite a talker. He loves to communicate and does it quite well. He talks to people constantly, whether we're in the library, the grocery store or at a drive-thru window.
People often comment on how clearly he speaks for a just-turned-3-year-old. And you never have to ask him to turn up the volume. It's always fully cranked. There've been several embarrassing times that I've wished the meaning of his words would have been masked by a not-so-audible voice, but never have I wished this more than last week at Costco.
Halfway, through our shopping trip, nature called, so I took Cade with me into the restroom. If you'd been one of the ladies in the restroom that evening, this is what you would have heard coming from the second to the last stall:
"Mommy, are you gonna go potty? Oh! Why are you putting toiwet paper on the potty, Mommy? Oh! You gonna sit down on da toiwet paper now? Mommy, what are you doing? Mommy, are you gonna go stinkies on the potty?"
At this point I started mentally counting how many women had been in the bathroom when I walked in. Several stalls were full .. 4? 5? Maybe we could wait until they all left before I had to make my debut out of this stall and reveal my identity.
Cade continued, "Mommy, you ARE going stinkies aren't you? Oh, dats a good girl, Mommy! Are you gonna get some candy for going stinkies on the potty? Let me see doze stinkies, Mommy! Oh ... Mommy! I'm trying to see in dere. Oh! I see dem. Dat is a very good girl, Mommy. You are gonna get some candy!"
I heard a few faint chuckles coming from the stalls on either side of me. Where is a screaming new born when you need her? Good grief. This was really getting embarrassing. I was definitely waiting a long time before exiting.
Trying to divert him, I said, "Why don't you look in Mommy's purse and see if you can find some candy. We'll both have some!" "No, I'm trying to see doze more stinkies. Oh! Mommy!" He started to gag at this point. "Uh oh, Mommy. I fink I'm gonna frow up. Mommy, doze stinkies are making me frow up!! Dat is so gross!!"
As the gags became louder, so did the chuckles outside my stall. I quickly flushed the toilet in hopes of changing the subject. I began to reason with myself: OK. There are four other toilets. If I count four flushes, I can be reasonably assured that those who overheard this embarrassing monologue will be long gone.
"Mommy! Would you get off the potty, now? I want you to be done going stinkies! Get up! Get up!" He grunted as he tried to pull me off.
Now I could hear full-blown laughter. I bent down to count the feet outside my door. "Oh, are you wooking under dere, Mommy? You wooking under da door? What were you wooking at, Mommy? You wooking at the wady's feet?"
More laughter. I stood inside the locked door and tried to assess the situation. "Mommy, it's time to wash our hands, now. We have to go out now, Mommy." He started pounding on the door. "Mommy, don't you want to wash your hands? I want to go out!!"
I saw that my "wait 'em out" plan was unraveling. I sheepishly opened the door, and found standing outside my stall, twenty to thirty ladies crowded around the stall, all smiling and starting to applaud. My first thought was complete emabarassment, then I thought, "Where's the fine print on the 'motherhood contract' where I signed away every bit of my dignity and privacy?" But as my little boy gave me a big, cheeky grin while he rubbed bubbly soap between his chubby little hands, I thought, I'd sign it all away again, just to be known as Mommy to this little fellow.
(Shannon Popkin is a freelance writer and mother of three. She lives with her family in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she no longer uses public restrooms)

Farmer Luke

2008-10-23T18:53:00.002-05:00

This past weekend the Laughlin's headed north to Watseka. Ever since we got into Uncle Dave's tractors this past June, Luke has done nothing but talk about big tractors. We told him then that when it came time to harvest we would go back and let him ride in the combine. He never forgot!

Through June, July, August, and September he would occasionally say to us, "We go to Papa Johnson's and ride tractor?"

We'd respond, "When it's fall we'll go back and ride the tractors." Fall finally came and when we learned that the harvest had begun we found the first weekend we had free and made the trip up to the farm. On Friday evening Luke, Lilly, and I rode with Uncle Dave as he harvested the corn. I'm not sure who was more amazed,...Luke and Lilly, or their dad. I couldn't believe all the data that the combine could keep track of.

We rode for about a half an hour before Lilly finally stated, "I done riding tractor." We went to Grandma and Grandpa Johnson's had supper and went to bed soon after. Saturday morning Luke and I rode some more in the combine with Cousin Scott and Mom and Lilly went in the truck to take some grain to the elevator. What a weekend!

If you ever read our blog, thanks Uncle Dave, Cousin Scott, Grandpa and Grandma!

3 Continued

2008-10-09T22:51:00.004-05:00

This is a "to be continued" post. For your reading pleasure, please begin with "And Then They Were 3" prior to reading "3 continued".----I ran out of space on that post.

No worries though. A little competition for Lilly is healthy because she thinks she is/should always be in charge. Luke got several tractors and big trucks and is in heaven. He is a little more willing to share with anyone who is willing to just sit and play with him. Even Lilly.

All in all it was a wonderful day. Thanks to everyone who was there for their birthdays and thanks to everyone who responed to our last post and wished the kids a Happy 3rd Birthday. We love hearing from everyone and hope every day for you is as happy as the twins 3rd birthday was.

And Then They Were 3

2008-10-09T22:27:00.008-05:00

The day began with the Edwardsville Fire Department Open House. Luke and Lilly had been talking about this for weeks. It began with some tentativeness, but ended with sheer pleasure. They got to ride on the back of a fire truck, sit in the front seat, get in the back of an ambulance, and Luke's favorite thing was spraying the fire hose. What a beginning to a fabulous birthday.

After the firehouse we went the Mickey D's (AKA Donald's at our house) and then to a soccer game to blow some time. We got home from the game in time for a short rest time (too excited to actually take a nap) and then the aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and great grandparents began to arrive. They were so excited to see everyone. We had some pizza for supper and then came time for the birthday cakes.

As you can tell from the pictures, they were pretty happy with how they turned out! After the singing and cake eating were over we moved on to the presents. I can't believe how many presents there were to open. (Thanks to all our family for the wonderful gifts for the kids.)

With 10, that's right 10, kids at or under the age of 5 you can just imagine how smoothly the unwrapping of gifts went. You guessed it. Absolute chaos! The kids loved it though and actually enjoyed the help of their cousins to open gifts so they could play with some of their new toys while presents were still being opened. Lilly wasn't quite sure if she wanted too much help though. To be continued,...

The Big Two Turn 3

2008-10-03T23:10:00.002-05:00

October 4, 2005 Lilly and Luke came to join Alison and I in this world. Three years later we're still hanging in there and anxiously awaiting the arrival of a new baby brother in December. Today, however, is all about Luke and Lilly.

We're having a pink and blue party! They are so excited about their birthdays and have been talking for months (literally) about this day.

Happy Birthday kids!

Kiddie SHOTGUN

2008-09-03T18:52:00.005-05:00

For all of you out there who freak out when kids have toy guns (or real guns), don't panic. I'm not talking about the kind that NRA members love to have in the back window of their pick-up trucks. I'm talking about the kind we all called for before a car ride when we were growing up.

That's right. Lilly has a "shotgun" seat in my truck. Of course, I don't let her ride up front, but everytime Luke, Lilly and I are going for a drive in my truck she immediately starts yelling, "I need behind driver's side!" First of all, I have no idea where she even heard the phrase driver's side, but she sure does demand it.

What she doesn't realize is that the seat she is really wanting is the seat on the passenger's side. Just tonight I was going to go pick up a pizza and asked Lilly if she wanted to go. She said she wanted to stay home with mom. Then Luke said he wanted to go and she began pleading for the driver's side while running to get her shoes. She also grabbed my leg and told me not to leave until she was ready because, "I need behind the driver's side". Three times she said it and my assurance to her that she would get that seat was not enough until she was buckled in.

Oh what a child! Oh, we're heading out again,...SHOTGUN!

"I Want A Pink Party" ---Lilly

2008-08-30T09:32:00.002-05:00

FYI: These are just some stories that have happened recently in our lives.

Luke and Lilly are really excited about their birthdays this year. Luke was talking on the phone with Grandma Laughlin this morning and she was asking what he had done this week and he replied, "my birthday is coming up". Not quite what an answer to the question, but it sure is what he is looking forward to. She asked what kind of cake he wanted and he said, "a tractor".

You see, Luke doesn't beat around the bush. When there are things that he wants he will get to it no matter what distractions (or other questions) there may be. To get to talk to Grandma on the phone he came upstairs where I was still asleep this morning, grabbed my cell phone and asked, "What's this daddy?" He obviously knew the answer, but I played along. "That's my phone." To which he replied, "Call Grandma Laughlin." He loves his Grandma, so we gave her a call.

Now Lilly,....oh Lilly. She has an incredible imagination. In fact, if any of you were wondering where Seth, Matt, and Mia have been for the past three weeks; they have been at our house permanently. Lilly is big into jumping right now so she will say, "Daddy, watch me jump." So she jumps and I clap for her and then she says, "Watch Mia jump, then watch Seth, then watch Matt." But you see, they are only with us in her imagination, but we have to clap for them or she gets upset with us.

Over the past few weeks we've been feeding those three, wiping their tears (thankfully only tears), putting them to bed, putting band-aids on them, and just flat out having fun with them. Unfortunately, Lilly is "using" them to get what she wants. Gum is a huge hit with her right now, but she knows there are only rare occassions that she gets it. So one day she went up to Alison and said, "Mommy, Mia wants gum." Alison asked, "Do y0u want gum too?" She replied, "No,...(paused for a few seconds, then),...yeah." Bummed that mom had figured out her strategy I'm pretty sure she just walked away.

During this time that we've been playing with our cousins who aren't really here there has been an ongoing party in her mind. When you ask her what kind of party it is she says that it is a "pink party". So without a doubt, our third birthday party this year for Luke and Lilly will have lots of pink and tractors. What a match made in heaven.

A Day at the Zoo

2008-08-17T16:31:00.006-05:00

The Tuesday before I had to begin soccer pratices, Alison, Linda, Luke, Lilly and I went to the St. Louis Zoo for the day. It was about 80 degrees with the sun shining. What a great way to spend my last free day!

Luke and Lilly with Grandma Kapilla.

The giraffe sticking its tongue out at Luke.

This is cute, no butts about it.

And summer vacation 08 comes to an end.

Camping in Illinois Enjoyable?

2008-08-11T23:53:00.007-05:00

This past weekend Luke and Lilly got their first taste of camping. We had been planning on a camping trip for most of the summer and finally got the opportunity to go with some friends on Saturday to Carlyle Lake. It was beautiful!

Highs were in the low to mid 80's so the beach and water felt fantastic,...

and by the evening when we cooked some hamburgers and hotdogs over the fire for dinner it was into the 70's. What beautiful weather for August in central Illinois!

After dinner we went for a walk along the dam and the kids were fascinated by all the boats,...mostly sailboats.

Later in the evening we sat by the campfire and made smores which were a big hit and then put the kids down for the night. We were able then to spend some time talking with our good friends the Witts. As any of you with kids know, its nice to get a chance to sit and have an adult conversation from time to time without little ones interrupting.

Regardless, it was fanstastic to be able to enjoy the beauty of God's creation and to sit and fellowship with other believers and explore just a small part of the nature of God. Let me just encourage you to pause more often in life and think about the wonderful things God has done for each of us.

BOY, It's been a long time.

2008-08-07T21:51:00.006-05:00

I apologize to those of you who are faithful to keep us up-to-date on your lives because I fail you all miserably at doing the same for you. Regardless, here I am again. Much has happened since I last wrote, but here is the most exciting for me. We are having a boy!

Don't get me wrong, a girl would have been fantastic. It's just that I know how fun having brothers was so I really wanted Luke to get to experience that as well. Poor Lilly. She has been saying for over a month now that she wants a sister. We took the two of them to the ultrasound today to watch and when the technician informed us we were having a boy I gingerly asked Lilly if it was okay that she was getting a brother. She responded by saying, "NO! I want a sister." I told her a brother would be fun too and she simply said, "No baby."

She will be surprised when she ends up getting a brother anyways come late December. Little does she know that she doesn't get to decide everything in life. Beyond that, life is going great here. We had a wonderful long weekend in the Ozarks with Alison's family, have had some fun here at home, and are starting to prepare ourselves for daddy going back to work next week.

Here are a few pics from the past few months:

Lilly and Luke loving on each other like they do 24/7. Always getting along :)

Lilly looking cool with her shades on vacation.

Alison and Luke cooling off in the Lake of the Ozarks.

Get-R-Done

2008-07-10T08:12:00.002-05:00

These past few weeks have been extremely busy for the Laughlin household. After the laminate floors were completed we headed out of town for a few days. Three days in Bloomington with Dave and Amanda a day and a half at Grandpa and Grandma Johnson's in Watseka. On our way home (normally a 3 1/2 hour drive) we ended up stopping in Arcola and going to Rockome Gardens.

There was the petting zoo, which had a sign up saying not to touch the donkey because it "nibbles on little fingers", civil war reenactments, a "train" ride to see elk that were nowhere to be found, and the rock figures. Overall I was quite unimpressed, but it got Luke and Lilly out of the van for over an hour so it was worth it.

The next week Heath, Ben, Jeff and I went golfing. We played 36 holes of golf and got lunch for $19. What a deal! On Thursday we went to Litchfield for the 4th of July with some of the Watseka crew. That is always a fun day and a few of us went swimming even though it was absolutely freezing. That's right, cold on the 3rd of July. People were sitting on the deck with blankets on.

On Friday the 4th we went to Granite City for fireworks and the kids absolutely loved it! When they ended Luke kept saying "More! More! More!" It was a great time and always good to remember how blessed we are to live in this great nation. Thank you God.

Since then I've been working on the house some more. I got the recessed lights in our family room and painted the living room and then ripped out the old carpet so our new carpet could get put in yesterday. It's been busy, but good in the Laughlin Life.

God bless!

Finally Smiles

2008-07-02T08:26:00.003-05:00

Have you ever heard of a store called "Portrait Innovations"? Alison's sister Amanda told her about this store so we tried it out this past week. Every 3 months you can go in and have pictures taken for $9.99 and you get a 10X13, 2-8X10, 2-5X7, 4-3 1/2 X5, and a sheet of wallets. (You may even get more, but I don't want you to get too excited.)

There is a store in O'Fallon and one in Bloomington (that I know of). We took Luke to the one in Bloomington last week since we were there visiting Dave and Amanda and then took Lilly to the one in O'Fallon this week. (You can only get the $9.99 deal once per 3 months so that worked out well.) They actually both smiled for their pictures. That is a first!

Anyways, after many times having pictures taken at other places and not being at all satisfied, we really liked this place and have plenty of pictures for family at a very reasonable price. Enjoy!

Grand Finale,...All-Nighter

2008-06-23T00:44:00.003-05:00

Our new home underwent some major overall this past week. Beginning on Monday, I began knocking out all of the ceramic tile on the main floor of our home. It was about 650 square feet worth of it. It was a work out, but not that bad. The real surprise was the concrete board that it had been laid on. Whoever put it in had an obsession with their screw gun. Out of sheer and utter boredom, I counted how many screws I removed in our front hall alone. There were 345.

After 3 1/2 days of removal, it was time to pick up our new flooring (laminate that looks like wood) from Vallows. As I was getting ready to leave, planning in my head how I would try and get the hallway laid that night, the lady working their says to me, "Now you know that the flooring has to acclamate to the new temperature and humidity for 48 hours right?" At that point in time, it took all the grace I could muster to not lose it. You see, we ordered the floor in April, I called two weeks before to set up a time to pick it up, went in one week before to specifically ask them if they had any recommendations on how to best install the floor, talked to a rep from the company we bought from and called the day before pick up to confirm I'd be there. Exactly 0 people had thought it important enough to mention to me before this point that I had to let it sit for 48 hours before installing it. But I kept my cool,...and waited about 20 hours instead.

My brother-in-law Dave (wonderful guy) was going to help me install. We began around 10:30 am on Friday by first cutting through subfloor to relocate a vent, then had to replace subfloor by the back door where that had been previous water damage. By 2:00 pm we were finally ready to start laying floor. By 10:30 pm we had finished the front hall and decided to start on the kitchen. By about 3:00 am we were done with the kitchen and decided the dining room would be easy so we finished it up by about 6:00 am. At that point we knew if we stopped we wouldn't want to start again so we did the back hall and the bathroom. By about 12:30pm on Saturday we were finally done. About 26 hours straight of installying floor. (Check that, we did take a break to play softball from 7:30 - 9:30).

Regardless, it is now done and we have begun putting our house back in order. I really do plan on posting pictures sometime soon, but no promises as to when.

To all you who are doing projects (especially my incredibly brave brother Justin) good luck and godspeed.

Ode to Handcuffs and Diapers

2008-06-18T09:44:00.003-05:00

Sometimes when I have a free minute, I enjoy taking a peek at the lives of others through a network of blogspots. When I open my web browser and "The Laughlin Life" pops up it makes me sad. I see that once again, I am failing my family and friends in the area of updates. Last published, May 20--before that, April 23.

Then I refocus this wave of emotions and think to myself, "I'm not that bad. I keep repeating the phrase, 'I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggoned (I had to look up how to spell that), people like me.' And when that doesn't work I just go to Handcuffs and Diapers because I know I've posted more recently than *Jeff*."

So Jeff, this one is for you. Thank you for being such an encouragement when I'm down and out, and just so you know, your last post was May 12 so you have another 3 weeks before you need to make your bimonthly contribution to all of our lives. So long for now from The Laughlin Life.

Backslidden

2008-05-20T13:18:00.002-05:00

I must confess for both Alison and I. We're backslidden bloggers. As I was checking all of the usual blogspots I was wondering why so many people hadn't posted in such a long time. Then I checked the last post date for us and it has been about a month ago. I've been trying to come up with a good excuse, but have found none.

I guess there just hasn't been enough happening to compel me to pass it on to our site. So, here is the boring update: I have put in all but two fence posts for our new fence and have hung 6 or 7 sections of fence; Luke is practically potty trained (this is exciting I guess,...at least for his parents); unfortantely, Lilly shows little or no interest in potty training; we spent $50 of our "stimulus" check on 2 maple trees to plant in our yard (stock market should soar); I have mowed enough for an entire summer already and our grass is still too long; I've heard our sump pump run approximately thirty-three thousand seven hundred and forty two times already (is that an approximation?); and to top it off, I spent $68.43 on a single tank of gas (crazy)!

Even though these items top the list of things that have happened in the last month I must still say that life is incredible, God is absolutely out of this world awesome to me, and I love my family so much! Have a fantastic day, week, or month if I don't write again any sooner.

The Hoosiers on Partridge

2008-04-23T08:23:00.002-05:00

So we moved into our new home a little over a month ago and I think we have already made our mark on the neighborhood. You see our street is very quiet, all the yards are in mint condition, everyone parks in their garage and when their garage is open for the very briefest of time, it is clean and organized. We, on the other hand, are none of the above.

When we are outside, you know it along with the rest of Edwardsville. We have a little boy who is potty training and absolutely LOVES to pee off the deck (thanks to Seth and Matt:) So this means he is screaming about every 10 minutes , "mom, I pee outside!!!" And his pants go off and his wee-wee is sticking between the rails on the deck with a stream of pee flowing into the yard. However it takes many attempts for him to actually go, mainly because he just loves the idea of going potty outside. While I am working with Luke, his sister is doing one of two things, either pulling her pants down and peeing too (resulting in the obvious--a mess!) or running towards the front yard resulting in me screaming for her to stop.

We also have a garage that is full of stuff that we are not sure what to do with. Some we hope to sell in a garage sale and the rest consists of projects that are waiting to happen. The most consuming would be the panels of wood and vinyl for our fence (which will be a lifesaver!) But we always seem to have the garage open, and why I am not sure but I know the neighbors are probably not sure what to think. We currently have Lonnie and Debbie's pull behind trailor parked in front of our home with wood in it for the fence too.

Hopefully our neighbors give us a chance though, because behind our "hoosier" appearance is a great family.

My Girl

2008-04-21T07:59:00.003-05:00

Do any of your kids have a favorite color? Lilly sure does. It's pink! She also likes blue and purple, but watch out when there is pink around.

You see, any item, no matter where you are, (the cousins' houses, the store, 'bamas', or at home), if it is pink, it is Lilly's. She likes to let you know too. If she sees something with a drop of pink on it, she immediately says, "MY PINK". If nobody else is playing with it at that time, everyone is safe. If that item is at the time in use by anyone else, Lilly is not happy.

Lilly is also a bit of a hoarder at night. We are convinced she has a checklist in her head that is a list of requirements of things that need to be in bed with her before she can fall asleep.

Top 10 Items on her list.
#1 Blanket
#2 Baby
#3 Other Baby
(She has twin baby dolls)
#4 Doggy blanket (for the baby doll)
#5 Pink blanket (for other baby doll)
#6 Her drink (which she usually doesn't get, but always tries)
#7 Books (she has 3 favorites)
#8-10 Anything left on the floor of her bedroom that she can see. She doesn't want anything to feel left out I guess.

She is such a wonderful little girl and I'm so glad God has bless us with her.

Potty Training

2008-04-15T08:17:00.002-05:00

Just an update. Yesterday morning Luke and Lilly both went to the bathroom on the potty.
YES!

Blame It On The Rain

2008-04-10T09:06:00.002-05:00

Anybody remember the song by Milli Vanilli, "Blame It On The Rain"? Well this spring would definitely be one to do that. As I've sat here in my office at work for the past 2 hours (I have a student teacher--I work on notes, etc. until I get bored then I blog), there has been a constant rain. Not a drizzle, or off and on steady rain, but steady rain for 2+ hours. When I woke up this morning at 5:30 am, it was to a steady rain. I got into my truck in steady rain and walked into the school in steady rain. Since we moved into our new home on March 14, I pretty sure it has rained all but like 2 days since. (Maybe 3 or 4.) Oddly enough, I haven't cared one bit. Usually this many rainy, cloudy days would get me down, but it hasn't this year for some reason. I guess I'm too busy working on indoor projects to worry about being outside.

Anyways, I know many of you are wanting to see some pictures of our house and as soon as I take the time to download our pictures to the computer I'll try to get some on-line. Until the next time I decide to state the obvious,...God bless.

Shout It From the Rooftops

2008-03-31T01:57:00.003-05:00

As you all know, I am married to an absolutely amazing woman. Alison has so many wonderful attributes that I always just hope she finds in me as well. She is loving, caring, kind, humorous, adorable, generous, determined, focused, and giving. She loves God, loves me, loves her kids, loves her family (even the in-law ones) her friends, her church, and her life (at least when I'm not being too annoying). She does so many amazing and wonderful things each and every day and there is no way I can thank her enough. But to try,
let me just say, "Alison, thanks for everything!"

And just a reminder (and to let you all know I did not forget), my wonderful wife is having a birthday April 2nd. We'll just say some things never change and she is still younger than me.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALISON!

Success or Failure

2008-03-28T10:05:00.003-05:00

Question. Does anyone else judge the success of a post on the number of comments you recieve on it. I know I do. If I have a blog that goes with no responses I think to myself, "That one was a failure." With that in mind, as I read your pages and see any posts with no comments I will do my best to comment on them. By the way, you have no obligation to respond to any of our posts because of this one, I'll just know for sure that the blog stunk if there are no replies.

Good day!

The Pitter-Patter of Little Feet

2008-03-28T08:17:00.002-05:00

Since moving into our new house, Luke and Lilly have been upgraded to "big kid beds" in their own rooms. We started them out by having them sleep on a mattress on the floor. Each night when we put them down, we'll read a few books, (they'll ask us to read a few more), say our prayers, tell them they need to stay in their beds, and then ask them if they want their door open or closed.

EXPLANATION: You see, at our old house we always closed the door and they never had a night light, but they had each other in the room. Now that they have their own rooms, in a new house, and are not in their cribs, we want to make sure they feel comfortable and secure so we leave the hall light on and give the option of door open or closed. Back to the story.

Most times they choose to have the door open and then we can close it after they have fallen asleep. One night last week Alison had put Luke in bed and they went through our typical routine. Of course, he chose to have his door left open. Apparently it was a very tough decision though.

About 5 minutes after she left the room, she heard the "pitter-patter of little feet" (Which usually means they don't want to go to bed.), followed by the slamming of a door (surprisingly), followed by the "pitter-patter of little feet" ("I better get back to bed before mom and dad catch me out of it."--Luke). Alison just laughed and continued folding clothes in our room.

A few minutes later she once again heard the "pitter-patter of little feet", followed by the opening of a door, followed by the "pitter-patter of little feet". Then silence the rest of the night.
He had tried both options and door open was the winner. Sleep tight our little one.

House Sweet Home

2008-03-25T14:10:00.003-05:00

WHAT WE'VE DONE SO FAR:
-Ripped out 3 walls, hung new drywall, mudded and taped.
-Painted Luke and Lilly's rooms. (Thanks Mom)
-Ripped down 90% of wallpaper. (We can't yet reach all of it in the stairwell.)
-Sanded (Thanks Mark) and painted Luke and Lilly's furniture.

MADE PLANS TO:
-Paint the entire downstairs and the stairwell. (Alison did not inform me of her plans to paint the first floor other than the entry way. I think I was duped into that.)
-Lay laminate wood flooring in entry way, back hall, bathroom, kitchen, and dining room.
(Uh Dave, you said you've done that before right?)
-Carpet the family and living rooms. (Once again, something I thought would be further down
the road, but the carpet isn't in as good of condition as we initially thought.)
-Put a fence in so our dogs can move here too (and so we don't constantly have to chase two
little ones into the front yard away from the street).
-Put some recessed lights in the family room and master bedroom since there are NO ceiling
lights (I'm wondering what the builder was thinking.)
-Paint the kitchen cabinets.
-Probably 5,000 other little things I'm unaware of at this point.

Oh how relaxing and refreshing it is to have a new home. Mark and Linda, can we move back in with you please?

And 1

2008-03-13T07:50:00.003-05:00

One more day until we move into our new home.
One day until peace and quiet returns to Mark and Linda.
One more day until my back begins hurting.
One day until I can see the floor of the room I'm staying in.
One more day until Lilly is in her "new housh".
One day until the fiasco of moving is over (OK, not true--it will probably be 3 weeks).
Oh,......one day.

Just Slap Me

2008-02-27T08:57:00.002-06:00

If anytime time in the near future you hear me say the words, "We're thinking about moving again,....JUST SLAP ME." Moving is no fun. At least not moving out. I'm very excited about moving into our new home and unpacking and decorating and settling in. Trying to fit 7+ years of stuff (and 2+ years of kids stuff) into a 16 ft long pod is not a pleasurable experience.

If moving is like other things in life, like running a marathon, or climbing Longs Peak, (or giving birth--for women), then a year from now I will somehow see it as if it were one of life's greater experiences. I'll say, "Oh yeah, I remember moving. It was so exciting to to hunt down a new home--try to negotiate a deal, put our home on the market...find a buyer--negotiate another deal, pack a pod, move whatever didn't fit to a friends house, live with family for 2+ weeks, finally move in,...and live happily ever after. It was so fantastic! Let's do it again."

At that point--JUST SLAP ME!

Blogspot Envy

2008-02-14T09:44:00.003-06:00

Do you ever get Blogspot envy? I do. I look at other people's sites and wonder, "How in the world did they do that?" I then go to the editing page and begin searching for ways to improve The Laughlin Life. To this point it has ended in frustration each time.

Jody, the next time we are in Litchfield I want a crash course on adding features to our site. That way I won't have so much trouble being obedient to the 10th commandment.

Head Em' Up and Mov'in' Out

2008-02-07T09:52:00.000-06:00

After 6 1/2 years of living at 1017 Franklin, Alison, the kids, and I will be moving. We have been kicking around the idea of moving for,....ever (or so it seems). We have been looking diligently for a new home for about 6 months. Finally, on MLK day, we found a home we absolutely loved.

To make a really, really long story a little bit shorter, we decided to put our home on the market so we could write a non-contingent offer on the home we liked. After only 2 days on the market we got an outstanding offer on our home and accepted. Praise God!

As a result, we will be moving out of our current home on February 28 and can't move into our new home until March 14. Alison's parents have graciosly offered to let us stay with them for that two week time span.

Be sure to keep us in your prayers as packing, moving (to Mark and Linda's), moving again (to our new home), unpacking, and settling in might be a tad bit stressful.

We hope everyone who reads this is doing well and feel free to comment on any of our blogs. We love hearing from you.

Daddy Poopy

2008-02-05T21:15:00.000-06:00

On one of the nice days we had a while ago, I decided to go outside and play with our two labs Sydney and Sophie. Since it is winter, they have gone weeks,...well, months probably, without a bath. Needless to say, they do not smell fresh.

After I put them in their pen, I came inside to see what Luke and Alison were up to (Lilly was napping). I found Luke downstairs playing at his tool bench. I got down next to him and was trying to let him know how impressed I was with his ability to use his drill. All of the sudden he stopped and looked at me with a disgusted face. He leaned over (cautiously) to my arm and tooka big whiff, hesitated, and took another one to make sure. He then backed off a little bit and gave me that same disgusted face.

He then very clearly and very emphatically stated, "Daddy poopy!"

Aren't kids just so honest, and absolutely hilarious!

Could I get some help here?

2008-01-30T14:33:00.000-06:00

Do you ever notice how kids can communicate in so many different ways? On any given night when we put the kids down to bed, they might put up a small fight and call out for mommy and daddy for a short time. A few nights ago, however, it was all very different.

We had put the kids down and I had gone to play indoor soccer. About 25 minutes after g0ing down, Luke began calling for Alison.

"Mom. Mo-o-o-m. Mo-o-o-o-o-m!" No whining, no crying, not even a pathetic, "mommy" plea. Just "mom".

Alison could tell it wasn't the normal request for attention, but a true, "Could I get some help here?" When she went into their room, lights still off, she went to his bed and began to feel for him. As soon as she found him, she realized he was naked. Once she was by his side, he very matter-of-factly declared, "I peed!"

And he had indeed. He stripped down naked and peed all over his bed. We can't quite figure out why he decided he needed to be naked to go to the bathroom this one time, but once he did he knew he had to find a different way of communication to actually get someone to come to the rescue.

Oh the joys of parenthood!

Oh Happy New Year

2008-01-04T01:30:00.001-06:00

Did anyone make any fantastic resolutions for the New Year? Mine of course is to update our blogspot at least more often than I have to this point in its existence. My sister-in-law Jody, who puts "our" page to shame regularly, keeps telling me I need to get Alison (nudge-nudge, prod-prod) into this whole thing so she can make regular updates. I think that is a fantastic idea and will therefore make that Alison's New Year's resolution,...to update our blogspot for us.

Hopefully you have all had a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year. Good luck on all those New Year's resolutions!

Turkey Season Is Upon Us

2007-11-21T00:02:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow we will be headed out to see our extended family in Watseka, Il. They are a wonderful bunch that we don't get to see often enough. To any of you who are traveling this holiday weekend; be safe, have fun, and enjoy that turkey!

Keeping Up

2007-11-20T23:51:00.000-06:00

As I sit here writing I realize I could and maybe should be doing about a dozen other things. However, this is relaxing. Spilling mostly pointless words onto a webpage that I have no idea how many people will read. To any of you who have looked at our newly created blogspot I apologize. I'm still figuring this whole thing out. It should get better within a year or two.

Why We Blog

2007-11-06T17:41:00.000-06:00

To express (our feelings)
To explore (our thoughts)
To reveal (something about us)
To reach out (to those we care for)
To connect (with those we haven't seen)
To share (with those we do see)
To discover (what we don't know)
To tell (about our lives)
To vent (when life stinks)
To discuss (issues)
To brag (on our children)
To waste (our time)