It's beginning to look alot like Christmas . . .

And my house looks alot like a hurricane went through, leaving piles of Christmas decorations in it's path. I totally love Christmas decorating but I totally hate the enormous mess it creates before I'm done.

So.

I don't have much to post about at the moment - but in a few more days I'll have photos of what a Roisum Christmas looks like. And some photos of a little adventure I'm going on this week. :)

Stay tuned.

The week that was so busy it's sort of a fog . . .

Where to begin? Let's start at the beginning (a very good place to start). (And yes, we're big fans of the Sound of Music). Last Monday we headed out to my mom and dad's and packed 91 - YES NINETY ONE - shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. That was just our family - not a church effort. My mom and dad collected items all year to put in these boxes, and when it was said and done we had far surpassed our goal. It was AWESOME - what an amazing thing to see and be a part of. I actually have pictures to post, but they are in the wrong format, so I'll get them fixed and post them later.

Then I spent Tues. and Wed. taking care of my BSF responsibilities and getting laundry done, house cleaned, and getting packed for our trip to MN. We hit the road Thursday and had a FUN couple of days in Willmar visiting Mark's family. The boys got spend a lot of time with their cousins - Mark's brother's kids - and I got to RELAX, which I needed soooo badly. Mark's parents got a trampoline last summer and it was put to good use this weekend - so much, in fact, Jack hurt his back. :( I think he's fine now.
We attempted to get a good picture of the 5 cousins - ummm, yeah. Basically impossible. This was as close as we got.

I have the absolute cutest nieces on the planet. They are ADORABLE and it takes a huge amount of restraint on my part not to just pack them up and bring them home with me.

I also happen to love buying clothes for them since I have no girls in my house (or on my side of the family for that matter!), so we brought them early Christmas presents. I bought them totally fabulous hot pink fur vests.

We also took in a holiday lights parade. Bundled the kids up and they had a blast.

We departed Willmar early on Sunday morning and moved on to Minneapolis for the Vikings game. We thought this would perhaps be a joyous occasion for our Vikings-obsessed children. Not so much. Upon leaving Willmar we had very long faces and eyes brimmed with tears because they had SO MUCH FUN and WHY is it we have to leave and WHY can't we just LIVE HERE?!? This mood persisted until we were in our seats and the game started at which point the fog started to clear a little and they managed to produce a little excitement. :)

Had to get a couple pics of Adrian Peterson - the boys' absolute FAVORITE - that's him standing in front of the bench.

And OF COURSE had to get some pics of Brett wearing purple (#4). Still looks funny to me, even in person.

Anyway, the Vikes won - by a lot - but it was still a great time. We were all bummed that it was over so fast.

We then proceeded to my Grandpa's place in Worthington for the night and had a really nice visit with him. The kids were asking him what he did in the war (he's a WWII vet) and on the car ride home today I realized how little I know about the war and for the first time ever, it really bothered me. So I read about WWII on Mark's blackberry for a good chunk of the drive across SD and now I'm feeling I'm "history starved" - I was riveted and can't wait to learn more. Who knew? Go figure.

Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!!

Football and a Sick Mama

Well now it's my turn. It was inevitable, I guess. I've come down with some crud so generously passed on to me by my kids. Both have been battling colds - I figured Jack was dealing with the remnants of his strep infection, but who knows. In any event my head feels like a bowling ball and my body feels like it's been hit by one. Sore throat, congestion and my eyballs are hot. You know what I mean? I hate that symptom.

I'm currently crashed on the couch watching a really ugly Vikings game (they're winning, but they look terrible) and this short little span of a few hours is the only time I have in the next 8 days to be sick. After this evening, there's no time in my schedule for illness this week. Zero. Seriously. And really for that matter, I can't work any viruses into my schedule until after Thanksgiving. The 'ol immune system needs to kick into high gear.

Earlier today I did manage to drag my bones to the boys' SUPERBOWL game - the championship game of the NFL Flag Football League they've been playing in. They were nervous, and had to do a little warming up at home first.

(I love this picture of Noah, and even though it looks like it, it's not posed, I promise).

They ended up losing 40-52, but they did great and Noah even threw a touchdown pass to Jack. Their coaches were players on the School of Mines football team and these were great guys - we were so impressed with them. After the game they talked about how special this team was to them and how they were so proud the kids made it to the Superbowl, they went out and bought all the kids trophies with their own money. Now you all know how much money college kids have, and we know these trophies run $8-$10 each. What great guys. Many of us parents repaid them, but wow!!

Now we are headed into a week of insanity. I have stuff going on nearly every minute of every day and then we're headed to MN at the end of the week to visit Mark's family and go to the Vikings/Seahawks game next Sunday. We can't wait. Now if we can just manage to get healthy (and STAY that way)!!

My funny boys

Conversation with Noah on the way home from the movie yesterday:

Mark: "Who was that girl you were talking to after the movie?"

Noah: "McKenzie."

Mark: "McKenzie?"

Noah: "Yeah - like as in Father McKenzie"

Mark and me both: "What?? Who in the world is Father McKenzie?"

Noah (with a sigh): "YOU KNOW - (starts singing) 'Father McKenzie wiping the dirt from his hands . . .' "

At which point we burst into laughter, recognizing the tune of "Eleanor Rigby" by the Beatles. I had no idea my child knew the lyrics to that song. I of course have Mark to thank for that. Along with a few other things. Not only are they obsessed with all things Vikings, the three of my boys have been wolfing down pickles ever since the latest batch was ready to eat, and NOW I can rest assured that I can count on my kids should I ever need Beatles lyrics clarified.

And here's Jack tonight, pointing to his right nostril:

"Mom, something really hurts in this snout over here."

Oh my.

I was ready to totally dissolve in laughter until I could see the seriousness and sensitivity on his face so I bit my lip and examined his snout.

Oh how I love my babies.

As a sidenote, the poor dude does have a fairly large sore in there, along with stomach issues due to his antibiotics - came home early from school sick today (which was his first day back in over a week!!). I actually asked his teacher if I need to be concerned yet about his absences - especially since he'll be missing another 2 days in a couple weeks to go to MN. She's not concerned, thankfully. But I feel terrible for him - first his bout with H1N1, then his strep and the 4 day fever to go along with it, and now tummy problems trying to get over the strep. Prayers for healing and restoration of health to his little body would be most appreciated!

Doin' pretty good, aren't I?

Two posts within one week! The only reason for that, however, is because I haven't been all-consumed with my normal weekly activities. The reason for THAT is because Jack's been a pretty sick boy ever since Sunday night, so he and I have spent the week at home.

He woke up Sunday night with a high fever and headache, and it stuck with him until Wednesday at which point we learned he has strep throat. I had him at the doctor on Monday - they wanted to check his lungs, blood, and do the strep test - which came back negative, but after "growing" it for two days, it turned positive. Poor dude. If only the cells would have cooperated on MONDAY.

We also learned that after his bout with H1N1 3 weeks ago, his immune system is a bit compromised for the forseeable future. Nice, huh? He's doing a little better now after 24 hours on antibiotics - hopefully he'll be fully recovered by the end of the weekend.

We had a major case of cabin fever after the past few days so this afternoon we all headed outside to enjoy the GORGEOUS weather. I played fetch with Murphy and his beloved bunny and the boys played basketball.

Murphy's enjoyed having Jack around - they love crashing together. And let me tell you, this dog KNOWS how to get comfortable. :)

He's now up to 7.5 pounds - was 3.5 when we brought him home. Still having accidents, but I'm working on being forgiving . . .

Happy Friday!

Murphy, Halloween and a couple birthdays

Hello.

Long time no update.

I know, it's been two weeks.

But seriously, y'all, I have no idea where time goes. I'm barely keeping my head above water and I'm soooo hoping that improves soon.

Meanwhile I'm told I need to get some pictures on this blog!!

Update on Murphy: He truly drove me nuts the first two weeks. This dog would pee every time he stopped moving. Luckily it never amounted to more than a teaspoon. But still. Uggh. Now he's improved, however, and is wiggling his way into my heart.

The good things about him? He sleeps quietly through the night - no matter how long - which is awesome. We've never, ever heard him bark. He's a total cuddler - has to be on a lap whenever he's not playing. He totally knows how to fetch and does it endlessly. The highlight of his day is when the kids get home from school. And he LOVES Mark. At the end of the night when we're crashed on the couch watching TV, he has to be on MARK'S lap. Not mine. But his devotion is so cute I don't mind. And lastly, he's kinda cute. Don't ya think? :)

I think part of the reason he drove me nuts was that winter arrived in the Black Hills the same time he did. This has been the coldest, snowiest, windiest, yuckiest October on record according to the meterologists. 'Cept they didn't use the term yucky. Seriously, it's been like January here. And this, of course, happens to be the month we get a puppy who needs to go outside every 5 minutes. Which required donning the full winter regalia every time we went out. And I wonder where my time goes . . .

This was the most recent of several storms this month -

This past week is always a busy one for us - my mom's birthday, Halloween, Mark's birthday and his parents' anniversary. Paul and LaRayne celebrated their 40th anniversary today - that deserves one huge congratulations!! We couldn't be there with them, but we celebrated with them when we went to Vegas in September.

Friday, we headed out to Spearfish for a family dinner to celebrate mom's and Mark's birthdays. We had a really cool Halloween cupcake-cake that you can't see so well in the picture so you'll just have to take my word for it.

Murphy's still trying to figure out what he thinks of my mom and dad's golden retriever Molly. She thinks he's a great new toy, but he's still too little to really play with her. Might get smooshed.

And then we had a great Halloween. The weather cleared up perfectly - it was a balmy 55 all evening, and we trekked all over our neighborhood. Here was Noah's choice for this year (pretty authentic looking, don't you think?):

(had to show off his very cool flashing skull ring - he was all about the accessories).

And Jack made the same choice he did last year. He might be a tad bit obsessed. Our checkbook was happy about that.

And yes, the boys insisted that we get Murphy a costume. A little Frankenstein one. He was not amused. It lasted for about 4 photos.

Today was Mark's first annual 39th birthday. :) He had his perfect day - breakfast at the bagel shop before church, the boys football game after church and then we all hit the couch to watch the Vikings beat the Packers at Lambeau field. He's a happy boy. And now I'm going to start a daily countdown to his 40th. :) Just kiddin, sweetie!

We also managed to finish the soccer season, thank heavens. That could not come quick enough. We are, however, still playing flag football. Their team actually made it into the !!Superbowl!! They are a tad bit !!excited!! about this. The Superbowl does not occur for another two weeks, however, so we'll be dealing with !!strategizing!! and !!discussing!! and !!analyzing!! this upcoming game for many more days.

And here's one more picture of Murphy. Just cause he's a cutie patootie.