Tuesday Tip! A Few of My Favorite Things

I have spent the day thinking of something to pass on as a Tuesday tip. Nothing brilliant came to mind, but I have been appreciating a few new items in my life that I am now deeming as "favorite things," and perhaps by sharing them, they will become some of your favorite things too!



1. Lucy's Lambie Blanket

Lucy received this blanket from Coco & Tutu for Christmas, and I am beginning to wish that my name was on that wrapped package! My mom bought it at Bath & Body Works, and I don't feel that I can adequately describe how soft, warm, cuddly and adorable it is!

2. John Mayer Where The Light Is
I've been loving John Mayer ever since he told me that My Body is a Wonderland. This is his newest cd, and it is a 2-disc live set. He does a cover of Tom Petty's Free Fallin', and it is way better than the Tom Cruise version that always comes to mind when I think of that song (you know, that corny scene in Jerry McGuire where he is singing in the car). I give this cd two thumbs up! Love it!

3. Christmas Crunch

www.mindjolt.com

My dad introduced the game Christmas Crunch to us last week, and I am embarrassed to admit that I've lost count of the hours that I've spent playing! If you enjoy puzzle games like Tetris or Dr. Mario, then Christmas Crunch is right up your alley!

No downloading required! Just make sure to stop for potty breaks, and know when to walk away! It is highly addictive! (If you visit the game soon, notice that drantz holds the 2nd highest score for the week! Nice, Devon!)

Well, Gosh, If I Didn't Already Live Here...

I'd be packin' my bags and fixin' to move to Issaquah!

Come one, come all! My mom forwarded me this article from US News because it features Issaquah, Washington as one of the top 10 healthiest places to retire!

Though we aren't even close to retirement age, we do love Issaquah, and the article paints such a pretty picture, I don't see why y'all don't just head on up! What does Mr. Rogers say? I think it was, "Would you be mine? Could you be mine? Won't you be my neighbor?!"

Check it out! http://www.usnews.com/articles/business/best-places-to-retire/2008/09/18/best-healthy-places-to-retire-issaquah-washington.html

Christmas in California

I've got a week's worth of updating in this blog post, so sit back, get comfy, and here we go!

The Vacation House

We had a great trip visiting my family. We stayed with my parents and my sister Molly, and we are very much at home in what we call our "Vacation House."

Lucy has her own corner in the living room, and she is free to make a big mess! Joseph has his own corner too, but his isn't quite as colorful!

She has everyone wrapped around her little finger. Here she is with my dad, and he is feeding her chicken noodle soup. My dad's name is Coy, and his grandpa name is "Coco."


My sister treated me to a facial, and we convinced Devon to indulge in a facial too. It was more of a giggle fest than a facial :)

Molly let me try on her ridiculous pajamas, and I called them the Husband Repellent, thinking that these could be considered a new form of birth control. Seriously, how unattractive can a pair of pajamas be on a lady??

Lucy's First Salon Visit

I decided that it was time for Lucy's first haircut. She didn't have a lot of hair to work with, but as my mom said, we needed a professional to "make sense of it." As we pulled up to Lollipop Cuts, Lucy was very excited to jump into one of the salon chairs/vehicles, and she chose the yellow Hummer. Once the cape was put around her, she got a bit nervous!

She had a full support system-- me, Devon, Joe, my mom, and Molly all stood by and ooh-ed and aah-ed as Lucy transformed!

All done! The salon gave us a cute certificate and an envelope containing Lucy's baby hair. As you can see, Lucy wasn't too happy about the barrette!

Bloggers Unite!

We met up with the Blakes and Kristy and Reese Kloetzer for frozen yogurt, and it was so fun to be together! Kristy brought gifts for Baby Max (including red Converse shoes!), and homemade salt scrub and lip gloss for me and Lisa.

Isn't this cute??!! The scrub is great-- Joe, Devon and my dad all tried it with me. We all enjoyed our soft hands :) I'm hoping Kristy will post the salt scrub recipe as a Tuesday Tip (hint hint!)

Bloggers and babies!

Blondes Have More Fun

I gave my best effort as a brunette-from-a-box, but my smart husband decided that my xmas gift would be the gift of blonde! Here are my before and after pics, along with some belly!

Christmas Eve

The kids got to open one present on Christmas Eve, and Joseph chose which gifts he and Lucy would open. Conveniently, he chose the exact gifts that I'd already decided to let them open! I love it when our plans work out like that!

Lucy took a snooze on the sofa, and my brother Seth, Uncle "Sheffy," saw his opportunity to snuggle up with her.

We went to a Christmas Eve church service that Molly sang at, and she was amazing! I cried during her solo-- those darn hormones!

Lucy and Tutu. Lucy calls her "Toots"

And Finally, Christmas Day!

Baby Max got an outfit with tiny blue jeans! Would you believe that I cried?

Lucy and Ellee had their own dinner table-- how cute??

The Man Cave

Coco and Ellee. Adam thinks that my dad aspires to be one of The Wiggles.

The cousins-- Avery, Ellee, Joseph and Lucy

My brother Adam and sister-in-law Jillian

Christmas Bellies :)

This is my favorite picture of all-- the whole family!

The Week in Pictures

Hey friends! Though I am in California for Christmas, I am still able to blog, so have no fear!

Here are some pictures from the past week...

I was motivated to scrub my kitchen floor, and Lucy insisted on helping! I asked Devon to take a picture of the special moment, and he said that he felt sure that this pic would end up on the blog! I'd hate to let him down :)

Devon's mom shipped Christmas gifts from Kansas, and we opened them on Monday night. We tried to connect with "Maga" on the webcam, but it didn't work :( So she was on the speaker phone! Joseph was especially excited to open gifts a week early!

This is a very dorky picture of Devon, but doesn't he have nice gums? :)

I got three new cds-- The Twilight soundtrack, the new Britney Spears, and David Cook. I love them all! New tunes for Mama!

This picture isn't of a specific event-- just Lucy eating some yogurt for breakfast. I thought that her bedhead was awesome. By the way, she is nearing her very first haircut, so stay tuned for a blog dedicated to Lucy's first salon visit.

When we woke up to snow, Joseph quickly got ready to go out and lay under the falling snow flakes. Lucy watched from the window in her diaper :)

We all crossed the street to Joe's school to play. I thought this pic of the two kiddos is sweet.

Lucy had so much fun rolling around and throwing snow... and this is the beginning of The Fit.

She kicked and screamed all the way home, and once we got home, we took off her wet clothes and then she threw herself on the floor in front of the door. Good grief!

Snowy in Seattle

We woke up this morning to a snow storm, and at the time I was excited because it was so pretty outside as I enjoyed my coffee and some Matt Lauer...

We bundled the kids up and took them outside to play. It was Lucy's first time playing in the snow, and she loved it!! She must have been so cold (I could have done a better job and added more layers of clothing), but she had the time of her life, and I took a bunch of pictures of the event. (She threw a fit when we brought her inside, and I have pictures of the fit too!)

Once we got back inside and watched the weather update on the news, we realized that we had better get a gameplan, because tonight we are flying to California for Christmas! The news expressed in very clear terms that if you can avoid being on the roads, stay home! Don't go to work, don't go to the grocery store, don't try to Christmas shop... Cars were sliding into each other, flipping over, getting stuck, and the roads were only getting icy as time passed and the snowfall wasn't slowing down at all.

As a side note, I am a bit confused about the mass hysteria that comes with snowfall in Seattle. I understand that the driving conditions are NOT ideal, but doesn't it snow on a regular basis in the winter in places like Denver, Boise, Salt Lake City? Do these cities come to a halt like Seattle does??

Anyway, we thought we'd better get moving! After a quick pack, a quick lunch and a prayer for safety, we put the car in 4 wheel drive and set out on our way to the airport.

We were feeling pretty good about arriving safely, 6 hours before our flight was scheduled to leave!!! The line to check our bags was loooooong, and we stood in line for 2 hours. I arched my back and rubbed my belly as much as possible, looking for a bit of sympathy for a pregnant lady. There was no sympathy to be found!

So, here we are, at gate B8, waiting to depart on our flight that has been pushed to 10:30. Lucy is asleep, Joseph is playing with Legos, Devon is watching a basketball game and playing with his iPod, and I am blogging :)

What a day! I feel like Tom Hanks in that movie where he lives at the airport...

Rantz Fam Jamboree

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

The Homecoming King

Devon had to work in Oregon for 2 days this week, and the kids and I missed him terribly. Just short of throwing a party, we gave him a welcoming homecoming, and in return, he has been especially wonderful! He is the reigning Homecoming King at the Rantz home.

He was eager to play with Lucy, and he even crawled through this tiny door! When he said that he was stuck, she assured him, "I help!" and gave him a push on his big booty!

He worked from home on Friday, and he took some time to bake Christmas cookies with me (yes, mama needed more Christmas cookies!), and he wasn't even grounded!

He spent time with Joseph, building Lego ships, which is currently Joe's favorite activity.




Joseph asked me if I'd like to "feature" one of his Lego creations on my blog. How could I say no? This ship is called The Bumble Bee. The window has a radar that is able to track down ships that are about to attack! The top yellow lines are smokers so that you can write in the sky with smoke! The flames rotate when they are shooting! The front bumpers are yellow and can block anything! The front gun is a torrent! This is Joseph's best creation to date!

Today is Saturday, and I have not left my house since Wednesday :) It is snowing outside (and starting to stick!), and it is so pretty and Christmasy! For some unknown reason, our house is only 61 degrees, and it might as well be 32 degrees because we are all freezing! Maybe I can add a snowy-scene picture tomorrow.



Now, I realize that this is a stretch, but Lucy has a pony tail!!! Look! It is a mullet-tail, but, nonetheless, it marks a "first" for Lulu :)