Spring Sports

Hailey has done soccer every spring and fall since we moved to Spokane. She's gotten quite good at it. I'm pretty sure she's drawing from the Huisman gene pool, not the Paulitz's. For once she has a good way to channel her aggression. That really helps her out on the field, she's not afraid to go after the ball.

She's got a great kick too. Whenever the ball goes out of bounds, her coach gets to send any player on the field to kick it back in. If Ha's on the field, she's usually the kicker. That kids always been freakishly strong for a child. Doesn't usually work in my benefit, but I guess it works for hers.

Greg got into the spring sports game this year and joined t-ball. Now I've always been more of a baseball girl than pretty much every other sport, so I really enjoyed watching his games. Plus, is anything cuter than 5 year olds playing t-ball? We took the kids to quite a few Spokane Indians games last summer, so he imagines himself quite the ball player. I'm pretty sure he ranks himself right up there with Jeeter the cheater. (Dave's favorite nick name)

Tragically for Greggers, he had the misfortune to get those pesky, unathletic Paulitz genes. Puny hits, and he throws just like me. We're definitely going to push more for an academic scholarship than athletic. But he has fun, and he's basically the cutest ball player ever. Some of the kids on his team were crazy good. One kid hit it far into the outfield consistently every time. He also participates in 3 sports at a time, so I'm pretty sure he's got a whole lot of energy.


Sports season is always crazy busy at our house. And I imagine it will only get worse as the kids get older. Add in school and church activities, violin, school orchestra, and two working parents and things are even more chaotic and unorganized than usual. But I truly enjoy watching my little crazies run wild on those fields, having the time of their lives.

Spring Break

For spring break this year we were supposed to visit Dave's family in Utah. However, about a week before break we found out there was a Star Wars exhibit in the Pacific Science Center in Seattle, and it would be over before the next school break. Being the Star Wars freaks that my family is, we of course abandoned ship on the relatives and bee lined for nerd capades.
We bought a city pass so that we could also take the kids to the aquarium, Science Fiction Museum, Experience Music Project and zoo. Tragically for the girl raised in a family of Star Trek disciples, the Science Fiction Museum was closed. I was pretty bummed, but I survived. We did get to go over to the music project which, unless you're an aspiring Kurt Cobain wannabe is pretty dull. On the plus side, they are working on a Nirvana exhibit. So next time I can see Star Trek and Nirvana! Hollah! Hailey had to have her picture taken with the guitar sculpture, since she has big dreams of being the next Miley Cyrus.
Kenzie was a natural butterfly magnet with her pink coat. The butterfly garden in the Science center is always one of my favorite things there.
Connor rocking out at the music project. I never got a good picture of the hysterical face he was making. He opens his mouth and eyes into huge O's of intense concentration like he's going to take off any second.


Hailey's Star Wars idol is sadly, Darth Vadar. She even bought herself a Darth costume at the over priced gift shop.
Connor was determined to never sleep in his bed. He would follow me around and crash in weird spots. He passed out under my chair when I was at the computer one night.


I forgot my camera the day we went to the aquarium so I missed getting picture of the gross, huge octopus. The boys couldn't decide if they loved it or were scared of it. The kids always love the zoo. Greg is trying to figure out how to be an animal scientist and an astronaut at the same time. The Woodland Zoo has the coolest indoor play area, I spent the whole time wishing we had something even close to it here. Seattle does not have a monopoly on crappy weather. I got a whole one bad picture of a toucan for Greg before my camera battery died. And I of course forgot a backup. We got to visit my sister and her husband. They are the only people I know who have a different, large construction project going every time I see them. We pulled up to find the top of their fence lined with mouse traps (to keep the dogs in) and their kitchen cabinets on the patio. We also got to meet a good friend of Dave's that he met at academy. It was great to finally meet this family he talks about all the time.

Locks of Love

About 2 years ago there was a girl in our primary that had gorgeous, long hair. One Sunday she showed up to church with all of it chopped off. When she shared that she had donated it all to Locks of Love, McKenzie decided, right then and there, she wanted to do the same thing. Since then she has been diligently growing her hair, only getting the occasional trim. About once a month, we'd measure her hair to see if it was long enough. She was so excited when it finally had grown out past the required 10 inches.
I was trying to get a picture here of how thick her ponytail was. This picture doesn't do it justice, but the kid has crazy thick hair. The stylist just kept cutting and cutting to get through that ponytail. She said she felt like she was cutting with dull scissors. The longest piece ended up being 13 inches long.
McKenzie with her new hair cut. She looks so different with her hair short. I can't remember the last time she had it this short. Its a pretty adorable cut, and she's so proud of herself. She plans on growing it out again to donate. She has such a generous heart, and says if she has lots of pretty hair, and some kids don't she'll just give it to them.

Confessions of the Tragically Unorganzied

I have been a hopelessly unorganized and scatter brained person for as long as I can remember. I can never finish cleaning a room because the second I leave the room or see something else that needs done (or I want to do), I'm gone. My brain has leaped ahead to the next thing. I have a to do list that will never be completed. I'm late to everything, no matter how hard I try. It doesn't matter how much time I give myself to get ready, kids ready, and get there, I will be late. Inevitably something will go wrong or I will get sidetracked. My house is always a mess. I will dig down in one room, get it nice and clean, but every other room in the house is trashed. Within 30 minutes the room I just cleaned will be trashed too. (Don't worry I haven't food poisoned anyone. Underneath all of the clutter its all bleached.) I'd like to say this is all the kids, but dang it, I cannot get myself to put everything away every time. To a super clean, organized person, I am a tragic case. I'm like the druggie that people think sending to rehab a waste of time.

Now don't get me wrong, I want to be more organized, on time, etc. I am constantly buying new things to organize myself, the house, or the kids. Every other week I have some new plan that will help me remember what needs done and keep myself organized. Everyday is a new day of "today I will not be late." AA would have kicked me out long ago. So, awhile ago I subscribed to this Real Simple email called "If you just do one thing." Everyday they send you an email with one thing you can do to get ahead of the game so to speak. Today's was, wait for it it's a good one, Make a Laundry Schedule. That's right a laundry schedule, as in on Monday I wash sheets, Tuesday towels, Wednesday whites, and so on. Supposedly this will magically give me time to spare and more energy too! I nearly peed my pants laughing. Are they kidding me? Is my laundry going to take any less time because I did all of the sheets on Monday? Are the kids going to magically start changing their clothes less frequently? Stop wetting their beds? Really?

Now I know somewhere out there some woman read that today and immediately whipped up a cute, embellished laundry schedule and posted it promptly for all to see. She probably even made a family home evening about organization to showcase her new chart. Tomorrow she will drive to the Hobby Lobby and buy the wood to make some sort of handy dandy Family Laundry Schedule. And it will look cute enough to be a decoration in her home, her family will follow it to a T and everyone's laundry will not be shoved under their beds. Next fall she will lead a super Saturday activity on how to make one. So lovely.

I am clearly not this person. At my house if you find your pants drawer empty, first you cry to your mother, as this is clearly a tragedy. Then I instruct you to dig in "the laundry mountain" as it is known in our house. If all else fails, you have to dump out the hamper and find the cleanest pair. This usually involves more crying, imagine a lot of sobbing here, "Mom, why didn't you do the laundry yesterday? You said you would. Why aren't my pleather leggings clean? My sparkly one's are dirty too! What am I going to wear?!" Umm regular pants?

For years I have felt rather guilty and bad about myself. I know it's dumb, but I do get really down on myself about the clutter, unfinished projects, lack of clean clothes, lateness, lost papers, lost checkbooks, lack of real groceries (sometimes), overdue everything, the list really goes on and on. Also, add a lot of self depreciating talk about why can't I be on time, EVER?! Every time I start one of my new "I'm going to be organized now" kicks, I dive in all or nothing. And then I obsess about it. If its not done perfect, I stress. The first day of being too busy to adhere to the laundry schedule will result in, well, making it worse.

Now for those of you who haven't chucked your computers across the room by now, or unfriended me on Facebook (because I'm clearly crazy), let me assure you first, that I have a point, and second, I'm medicated so no worries. So here's my grand revelation. I am giving up. We are going to aim for good enough. As long as the basics are covered it's all good. The house will never be immaculate, or very clean for that matter, and tomorrow I am going to give my laundry the same minimal attention I always do. But who cares? Your favorite outfit might not be clean right away, but I'll get to it, eventually. And in the meantime I will aim to make sure you always have clean pants, food to eat, a cleanish home and maybe a few more chores. The kids papers will continue to pile up on my desk, but rest assured, the permission slips are signed and the reusable stuff has been reused for printing coupons, (which we can pretend I will organize with the new organizer I bought last week), and I will dig out the bills at least. As long as I get to everything eventually its all good.

So if you happen to swing by before I have a chance to make it look like I cleaned, don't worry, I'll get to it.

Christmas part 2

It was pretty cool to be able to celebrate Christmas in OUR OWN HOME for the first time in 12 years of marriage. Its nice to be able to staple a ridiculous amount of decorations to the ceiling and walls without having to worry about patching them up when we move out. Nope we're leaving them all for the next owners. Dave read the kids "Twas the night before Christmas" before we began the hours long task of getting 4 kids to bed on Christmas Eve.

Hailey and Greg eagerly waiting to come in the living room and see all of their presents. I really like to see the kids faces when they come out on Christmas morning, so they are under no circumstances to leave their rooms until we are up. This year we told the girls they could run across the hall to the boys' room and yell into the baby monitor until we woke up. Nothing like waking up to 4 children screaming "WAKE UP MOM AND DAD! WAKE UP NOW!"
McKenzie, the world's most subdued 9 year old waiting for her presents.
Hailey has great aspirations of being a famous rock star, she has some pretty interesting Beyonce moves she definately did not learn from us. Santa brought her a guitar this year. Yes we are that stupid.
The boys have become completely obsessed with Star Wars. Their $5 day after Thanksgiving light sabers were the big hit of the day. I could have saved myself a lot of money and just got them that. Connor stomps around all day singing the Imperial March to himself in da da da dums.
No Christmas would be complete without the gift with 1000 pieces. What better gift for a wild 3 year old could there possibly be? Thanks mom and dad.

Playing Apples to Apples with Maddy and Sadie.
Even though we all live across from the country from each other now, the kids still get back together like they were never apart each time. Hailey and Maddy have such a special relationship, I hope and think they will always be friends.
Connor and Jack became fast friends.

The Campbell and Huisman kiddos, minus Sadie who decided she didn't want to be photographed today. Hard to believe that Nik and I now have 8 kids between the two of us. Its a long way from the old days when we could just run around town in our clunker cars, doing whatever we want, guzzling Mt. Dew. Now its more like hanging out in a daycare, we've traded our clunkers for mini vans, and now have to do what the kids want. Except for the fact that its now diet, the Mt. Dew is the one hold over. Maybe when our kids all move out, we can be neighbors again and hang out all day doing absolutely nothing.

Christmas part 1

I, of course managed to somehow post these out of order so bear with me.
We went up to 4th of July Pass to cut down our tree, just like good Paulitz's do. And in true Paulitz tradition, got a tree at least 2 sizes too big for our house, so in other words, perfect. It was a little like the old days of my Dad's ginormous trees when you sat on our couch and had tree limbs in your face. And you pretty much couldn't use the living room for anything besides tree watching. In an amazing display of helpfulness, Carl decided to help Dave haul our tree down the hill. He was probably angling for a Pepsi.

We stole a tradition from our friends, Nik and Da, and let the kids sleep out under the tree one night during Christmas. The first year we made the mistake of sleeping on the floor with the kids. Never again. This year we did it a couple of days after Christmas, and our kids had the added treat of having Maddie and Sadie sleep over.

Sometimes there just aren't words. My child went to school like this because it was cold.

My boys enjoying some hot cocoa and cookies after our trek into the woods for a tree.
As we were coming down the hill with our tree, we saw these people unloading a sled and dogs. Not something you see everyday, at least here. We all stood around watching these poor women wrangle their dogs into harnesses before taking off.

In order to haul the huge tree back to the car, we had to chop off some of the branches. We wanted to take them all home so we could make a wreath and a bough so we told all the kids they each had to carry some. True to form, Greg threw himself down like we were killing him, and announced it was too hard. Connor grabbed some branches and took off. He fell a few times, but he got right back up and kept on trucking.
We climbed up a very steep hill, searching for a tree. Hailey followed us the whole way. Finally something that tires the kid out.


The kids were pretending to be penguins, sliding down this hill on their bellies. Poor Connor just couldn't get back up. Kenzie had to drag him back up each time by his hood.

We made our yearly trip to the Christmas parade, fireworks, and tree lighting in Coeur d Alene. It had been bitterly cold, and we had a ton of snow, so all the kids are bundled up to the hilt. The parking lot snow piles by the car made for great climbing and butt sledding.

What Goes Around Comes Around

It's a pretty well known fact that I was not the easiest child for my parents to raise. I also have a reputation of being a bit of a spazzy mistake maker. For example, car care. Not so much with the parking skills, making right turns without driving over the curb, every single time, not checking the oil (that's a whole other story) and so on.

So about 8 years ago when Hailey was a baby, the girls and I came up to go to my brother's college graduation in Moscow. My Dad and I drove down in his Honda. I, of course left the lights on in the parking lot and killed the battery. We got the car jumped and all that, but apparently Honda's have an anti-theft feature that requires you to enter a special code after the stereo has been detached from battery power. Seems as how he bought a used Honda, he didn't have the magic code and drove around with no stereo for 6 years until he finally broke down and paid the dealership guys 50 bucks to find it.

Here we are, years later, and I have more little monsters and my own used Honda. Needless to say my own charming children left a light on and killed my battery. It caused some mayhem getting to church yesterday, but no biggie. Imagine my surprise when I hopped in my car today, and my stereo kept flashing "code". At first I was thinking "that's strange" but then I made the connection. My kids had done to me the exact thing I'd done to my Dad's car! The horror! The irony! I of course called my Dad right off, knowing that hearing that the exact same thing has happened to me would just make his day. I'm sure I've painted a picture in his mind of the gloriousness of my kids doing to me all that I did to them. As Dave said paybacks a "B"