The Marshall Family Adventures

Monday, February 3, 2014

The Lazarus calf

We went out to Grandma and Grandpa's house after church and discovered there was a calf in the basement!!

The poor thing had been born the night before on a cold, wet night. She was found covered in mud amongst the other cows. Papa Mike thought she was dead, but then he saw her breathe.

So he picked her up, rushed her to the house and put her in the bathtub to clean her up and warm her up. He didn't have much hope she would make it though. She was in bad shape.

The kids loved on her a little and she started coming around. The sun was shining in through the window and it slowly relaxed her muscles enough that she could put her legs underneath her.

Shortly after that she could stand up so she got promoted to the barn! The kids had a fun time helping to nurse the calf back to health. It was nice to see her make it through and live. I've seen many calves in the basement fighting for their life through the years and not many make it out alive!

Game time!

I made up a game to help Luke with letters and sounds and Addy with spelling. It was a fun game for everyone. All it involved was writing letters and words on the tile in the kitchen with a dry erase marker. I would say a letter or sound and Luke would find the letter and put a toy pillow on it. For Addy I would say a word and she would find it and then copy the word underneath. Luke even helped Brooke by telling her which letter to put the pillow on.

Luke wanted to hop on the letter and erase it. So we also got to practice some delayed gratification. The last round he got to erase the letter. It was a great idea because then everything was cleaned up!

We also played our first family game of Settlers of Catan last night. The kids caught on pretty well!

Addy was the winner!!!

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Brooke is 3!

We just finished celebrating Brooke's 3rd birthday. I am glad her birthday was at the end of January intead of the beginning. It has been so cute hearing her count down the days until her birthday this month. She tells everyone she know that her birthday is in January. Now that her birthday is over she tells me, "My birthday was Januarty 27th and now I am this many (holding up 3 fingers) and that's bigger but I'm still little." Here's what we did for her big day.

The only thing she wanted for her birthday was a pink cake and to go to grandma's house. So I made her a pink cake and we went out to grandma's house to share with whoever wanted to come! When we were getting the supplies at Walmart she came across some pink marshmallows, so I used them as part of the cake decoration. It was a "pink" themed birthday with pink cake, pink marshmallows, and pink lemonade. Her new pink princess dress and wings went right along with the theme!

Big sister Addy was excited to get Brooke a gift. Scott took her and Luke to their favorite store ( Dollar Tree) to pick something out. Addy picked out several things and wrapped them up nicely in a little bag. A princess wand, a pink squish ball, and a sticker coloring book.

Luke picked out a gift he was sure she would love....SILLY STRING! And he got one for himself too ;)

The three girls all dressed up in their princess dress up gowns. Even Chloe loved getting dressed up.

Brooke also got a snuggle warm blanket. Perfect for the chilly days we are having!

And to top off the big day we made a trip to the ESU pool! It was a nice little heated therapy pool. Brooke even discovered that she could TOUCH! Such excitement! She's getting so big!

Love It or List It

We have been do a few updates to our house lately. It's been fun and we've learned a few things in the process.

I don't have a before picture, but the sink was off white with glittery gold swirls. The faucet was silver with white tips, and the light fixture was light colored wood with gold metal and round bulbs sticking straight out. Now everything matches!

We had a cute little helper...

As most projects are, this one took a little longer than we anticipated. The sink didn't quite fit because when the house was built it wasn't measured correctly. It was 49 inches from stud to stud, not wall to wall. So we had to cut out part of the wall, angle the sink down on top of the vanity, press it down, then fix the wall. And once we got the sink in we decided to take it back. There was a big scuff mark on the edge of the sink that someone had tried to fix. It was a big hassle to take it back and get another one, but we paid for a new sink and the one we had obviously was not. Now that it is done we are really glad we too the extra time and energy to take it back and get another one.

We also painted the kid's bedrooms. The are now a nice neutral gray and not crazy brown and blue...

The big kids spent a couple days out at grandmas so Scott and I could work on these projects together. (We still had Chloe and sometimes Brooke, but they take naps.) We had a lot of fun together. Now we are throwing around the possibility of selling our house. Hmmm....

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Growing Up

Brooke likes to play by herself sometimes and is so cute to watch. She is in her own little world. She takes care of her little babies. Here is she is being a good little mommy.

Luke has started the teeth losing journey. He lost his second bottom tooth the other day. The permanent teeth are right there ready to replace the baby teeth. He doesn't want to put his baby teeth under his pillow because he is afraid they will just be thrown away, so he keeps them in a ziplock bag and shows them to anybody who comes to our house.

We got a little guitar for the kids for Christmas. They have started lessons from dad and so far are enjoying it! He says they are catching on pretty well!

We all like to play with Chloe. She is our little "toy". She has been sick a lot lately, but when she is not sick she is really fun! She is getting "SO BIG"!

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

2013 Christmas Card Video

Enjoy our adventures from the year! Merry Christmas!

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Unplanned Weekend House Project

Scott is becoming more of a handyman all the time. He has learned to fix so many things around the house, and I think he really likes it. We were planning to go to Pittsburg last weekend. We were all packed up and actually ON OUR WAY when Brooke started throwing up. We went home and cleaned her up and set off again, thinking she just put her fingers down her throat or ate too much breakfast, but she threw up again! So we went back home, sat in disappointment for a while, and then decided to start a project in the house. I say "we", but it was all Scott.

(And Brooke was fine the rest of the day. Ate and drank like normal. I guess we just weren't supposed to go to Pittsburg! God must have been protecting us from something!)

This is what the steps looked like before. We actually rememberer to take a before picture! They were very shiny, squeaky, and slippery.

During...

Ahhh, much better. They aren't shiny anymore! And they are a little darker too. We wanted them to be even darker, but the type of wood it is didn't take the stain very well and this is as dark as it would get. They don't creak and squeak as much either!

From the mouths of babes.

It was a 7 Up kind of week at our house and Luke asked Brooke if she wanted some. Brooke promptly replied, "I can't! It says 7 and Up and I'm only 5!"

Chloe(age 2), was jabbering after dinner. We turned on Wheel of Fortune and a commercial came on so we muted the tv. It was a commercial about cars, and Chloe proceeded to describe everything that was happening. "There's a red tar and another red tar and it's going fast and it's turning..." Scott says, "We've got a commentary!" Immediately Chloe replies,"TOM AND JERRY! I WANT TO WATCH TOM AND JERRY!" Scott didn't understand why she was suddenly talking about Tom and Jerry. I said, "She thought you said Tom and Jerry, not commentary!" As we were getting ready for bed she said, "Why didn't we watch Tom and Jerry?"

Brooke, age 2, was getting ready for bed. Her diapers were on the top of the dresser. When I went in to help her, she already had her pajamas and diaper ready to put on. I said, "Brooke, how did you get your diaper down?" Without missin a beat she replied, "It was magic!"

While riding in the van Luke said, "Mama, I won't get married until you die. I want to live with you until you die and then I'll get married. That's what I'm gonna do.
Addy: I want to get married before you die because I want you to see my kids.
Luke: Oh...Well, I'll get married before you die, but I still love you more than anyone else.

Grandma Sharon took the kids to a carnival they were having at the school while Scott and I went to Topeka for a Dr. appointment. While they were there they went to look at a bunny in one of the classrooms. Brooke looked at the bunny for a while, then pointed into the cage and said, "There's chocolate chips in there!"

Luke asked why I don't just take the baby out if I'm ready? I told him I was going to let the baby decide when to come out. Then Addy said, "If you're going to let the baby decide that, then why don't you let us decide whatever we want to do?"

One of Luke's favorite books is "The Prince's Poison Cup." It's a book that portrays Christ's crucifixion and resurrection. I was having bad heartburn and he comes and whispers in my ear, "Mama, just think about the Prince's Poison Cup. That was way worser."

While tucking Brooke into bed the other night I said, "Brooke, you're getting so big! What happened to my little baby?" She immediately sat up, lifted up my shirt, pointed to my belly button and said, "Baby in tummy!"

Scott is reading Proverbs with the kids for bible time. He read Proverbs 12:1 - Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid. Scott asked, "What does that mean?" Luke said, "Well, it means I'm stupid." Then he said, "I guess I love spankings."

Brooke and Addison were talking. Brooke just babbles now, but Addy was babbling back. Then Addy stopped and said, "Brookie, sometimes we speak English."

While holding Luke's hand and walking down the street I told him, "Luke you have strong hands." To which he replied, "I know. That's so I can drive big green tractors."

Tonight before bed Addy said, "What's the difference between self-esistent (existent) and self-sufficient?" Scott explained it and then said, "they're kind of alike." She laughed and said, "They even kinda sound alike." The whole time I'm shocked that she can even pronounce those words!

Scott told Addy he was going to take her on a daddy daughter date. She got really excited and went up to her room to get ready. She not only got herself ready but she laid out clothes for him to wear! Black windpants, blue shirt, and running shoes. Not bad for a date to Claires and Braums.

On Luke's date with daddy they went to Braums for breakfast. As he was eating his pancakes he briefly paused and said, "We have GOT to do this again."

Addy says, "There's 3 things I want for Christmas, 3 things, only 3." I say, "Ok, what are they?" She says, "I want those things that you look through and see things. (binoculars) I want to be in the Sound of Music, and I want to spend the night at grandma and grandpa's whenever I want."

While riding in the car Addison asks, "Mommy, do the neighbor kids know Yahweh?"

Addy says to Luke out of the blue while riding in the car. "Lukey if mama gets fat it means she has a baby in her tummy."

Luke is in the habit of telling me, "Thank you for the yummy food." at dinner. One night he was really enjoying his meal when he let out a really big burp. Scott looked at him and said, "Luke, what do you say?" Luke replied, "Thank you for the yummy food!"

I asked Luke to pick up the living room and as he was picking up he started singing the song from Annie, "It's a hard knock life, for us!" Yeah, he has a really hard life...

After cleaning her room Addison proudly announced that she "cleaned it like a mother would clean it."

Luke was walking around with his shirt off and a post it note stuck to his chest saying, "Here's the good news! I have some good news!" I said, "What's the good news Luke?" He said, "JESUS!!!"

Someone asked Addison how old she was and she said, "I'm five. I'm a whole hand."

Every night at dinner Addison asks Scott if he is going anywhere or doing anything tonight. If the answer is he is staying home she always says, "Can we go on a daddy daughter date?" Then Luke says, "No I want to go on a daddy daughter date...without Addy." They love time with their daddy.