Blogging black hole

Summer's here! Yea!!

But life with 4 little ones around 24/7 means no time or energy to blog. Sorry blog friends! I'm trying to save all of my mental and phyical energy to ringlead this circus. lol!

The little things

Here are just a couple of funny little things that have been heard in the Team Larsen house lately...

Luke-"See that on my arm?"(referring to a mark from a mosquito bite) "I got that 8 years ago" Friend-"But I thought you were only 5?" L-"I know! That's what makes it so incredible!"

Caleb-Mom "Caleb if you have a paci then that means it's time for a nap." C-"That's not what the clock says. It says it's not time for sleeping. It says it's time to get a paci and go outside. That's what it says. See it's on the 5."

Adventure Camping

A few weekends ago, we went with some friends up to Tyler Bend on the Buffalo River. It was beautiful and super fun. It went from an easy weekend of camping to an adventure on the first night when winds that could send Dorothy back to Oz threatened to blow us back to Little Rock. Those winds brought in a nice thunderstorm and knocked some friends' tent down. That led to us adding four more "family members" to our tent for the night.

The rain continued through the next morning and into the first part of the afternoon. We persevered and, by about 2:00, were able to enjoy a beautiful day. We ended the trip with a record low of 42 degrees. Those of you with young children realize that's REALLY cold. Especially for little ones who don't have the extra warm sleeping bags or the 9 month old baby in the pack n play.

Fortunately we made it through and after we thawed out the second morning, we enjoyed a few more beautiful hours by the Buffalo. Camping is always an adventure!

And then it rained...

Not only did the rain make our kids nutso for however many days we were stuck inside but on Tuesday night the weather gave a Grand Finale and...

FLOODED OUR HOUSE!

Yes, that's right. We woke up in the middle of the night on Tuesday night to the smell of gasoline. When we stepped down off of the stairs we were in water. The electricity was out and it was hard to figure out exactly what had happened but we soon realized that the water had risen quickly and flooded through the dog door in the garage (hence knocking over the gas can) and wrecking everything in there. It had also filled up our sun room. What a SHOCK!

Not only that but as we were trying to figure out what to do, the water levels rose again and started coming in once more. I decided that if I opened the garage door that maybe it would allow an escape for the water that was trying to find it's way into our sun room. As I opened the door, the water rushed in like a raging river, almost knocking me down, and ransacking everything in it's path. Luckily we were able to grab most of it before it floated down the street for all of the neighbors to see, but it did ruin lots of things in the process.

Here are some of the aftermath pictures...

Tues. night, when I stepped into this room, the water had been up over my ankles

These were taken the next morning after most of the water was gone. Leaving a mud bath. Thankfully my sweet husband and servant hearted father-in-law spent the morning cleaning that up, as well as, the kitchen, dining room , laundry room, foyer, and part of the living room carpet.

You can see all of the debris that was left from the dog door.

You can see the marks on the wall from where the water rose.

This used to be my herbs but the stormy waterfall turned it into a mud pit.

Overall, it could have been much worse and we are thankful that it wasn't. It definitely made me thankful that God promised not to destroy the earth by flood again! :)

Life as it happens

Just thought I would share a little of what's been happening in Team Larsen land...

My mom and nephew came down for the weekend and we had tons of fun.

There is always an abundance of "treats" when Gabby is around.

All of the Larsen kids are in sugar detox this week.

We also discovered a new resident in the garage. A bird built a nest in the fish nets and has 5 or 6 eggs. We can't wait to see what happens!

This is just to remind those of you without toddlers what daily life is like...
He's working to perfect this look

Cool Hand Luke Rides Again!

Well, actually, for the first time!

Yesterday we decided that it was time for Luke to say goodbye to the training wheels and hello to bike riding freedom. He, on the other hand, was not so sure that it was his day. With much reservation we headed to the field by our house to give it a practice run. Chris and I took turns with the dreaded "Run behind the Bike" role (well, I took one turn). Honestly, after my run I was ready to put the training wheels back on and chalk it up to a good parenting effort. After about 15 min. of trying (I'm not a perseverer), I went over to visit with a friend that was in the area. When I got back a few minutes later, Luke was standing at the top of a small hill ready to show his stuff. I felt a little concerned but Chris looked confident so I acted hopeful. Amazingly, he hopped on that bike and pedalled full speed down the hill like a pro. I was shocked!

After about 30 mins. at the field, it was time to head home to bed. Luke was excited and wanted to try to ride on the road. We decided to give him one shot before we ushered him in, fully believing that after about 30 sec. of trying he would be done and ready to head in.

This is what happened...

That dude hopped on his bike and took off! What in the world! I guess he's a bike rider! If all of the kids would only be as easy as that. It was so fun to watch him zoom up and down the street. He loves it!!

Now, all we have to do is get him off the toddler bike and we're set. lol!

If anyone knows of a good deal on a 16 in. bike, we're interested!!!

What's on YOUR floor??

Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a gifted cleaner. Okay...that might be an understatement. Regardless, I am embracing being an imperfect wife and mother and in order to help you do the same, I am posting the contents of my kitchen floor after sweeping this morning. (Yes Chris, I actually swept the kitchen floor)

1 star wars helmet, 1 small car, 1/2 an Easter egg, 1 remote control back hoe, 2 hand-painted yard gnomes, 1 green croc, 1 foam bath letter, miscellaneous dirt mixed with cheerios and graham cracker pieces. (the cheerios and graham crackers are exciting because it means cuatro is starting to eat real people food!)

Okay...I have to confess...the hand painted yard gnomes were NOT on my kitchen floor. But they WERE on my island so I added them for Anna's enjoyment. :)

The thing about having all of that other stuff on the floor is that

it makes that amount of dirt and trash on my floor seem minimal. NICE!!

What's on your kitchen floor today??