Sunday Morning Birth Control

The Setting:

A lazy Sunday morning. Sarah and I are laying in bed contemplating whether to get up and start the Sabbath morning process. Lizzy, our cute five year old, enters the room and starts rummaging through my side table drawer. I roll over to see her holding up a string of condoms. The following conversation ensues.

Lizzy: What are these?

Me: Umm... Those are condoms.

Lizzy: What are they for?

Me: Umm... Well... We use those if we don't want mommy to get pregnant.

At this point Sarah has perked up to see how this conversation is going to end.

Lizzy: Do you put them on her tummy?

Me: No... Umm...

Lizzy: They're stretchy... I know... I opened one before and put it on my foot.

Lizzy then puts the condoms down and leaves the room. Just another Sunday at the Bisel home.

Dad Finds a way

I decided to go the Ward Trunk or Treat as Charlie Brown. Sarah put the finishing touches on the back of my head.

Just because you have a fussy 8 week old doesn't mean you can't have fun on the Wii. Noah was a little cranky so I put him in the baby carrier and he fell fast asleep. I think he likes it when dad plays the Wii.

We carved our pumpkins a little early for the AZ sun. Now our pumpkins look scarier than ever.

Have to Laugh so I don't Cry

56" JVC Flat Screen TV... $1700

Nintendo Wii Game System... $250

Playing Wii Sports with your kids and giving them a chance to watch their Dad throw the Wii remote into the TV...

Priceless!

I think I am going to be sick!!!!

Genesis 6:14

My beautiful wife gave birth to our fourth child on Saturday night at 11:08 PM. Our new little one weighs in at 6 lb 11 oz and 19 inches long. Welcome home little man.

His brother and sisters love him so much he may be permanently scarred from all the fighting over who gets to hold him next.

Proud Papa Craig holding his newest grandchild.

Nana and Papa came to visit at the hospital

Snuggling into mom for a nap.

Big brother is excited to even things up in our house.

Big sister number one is going to make the perfect second mother.

And big sister number 2 squeals with excitement every time our new little one moves.

My Talented Wife

My talented wife has a blog documenting all of her talents. The blog, of course, is not large enough for all of her talents, but she documents a small portion of them. Currently she has instructions on how to make this cute little diaper clutch (basically a purse for your diapers.) I assume she will be making me a murse version soon. She made an extra one and is giving it away. All you have to do is visit her blog and leave a comment telling her your favorite movie. Good Luck.

Milk and Honey Designs

No Fear!!

The trick is not let the wild animal know you are scared. I think Mitchell has it down!

No Noah Yet!

I would like to be blogging about the new addition to our family, that we thought would be arriving last night, but decided not to come. Sarah was up all night with contractions and thought for sure this was it. 11:00 = 10 minutes apart... midnight = 7 minutes apart... 1:00 AM = 5 minutes apart... 2:00 AM = 4 minutes apart... 3:00 AM = no more contractions... WHAT!!!

So instead here are some other events that have happened lately. Lizzy was so excited to lose her first tooth. It was quite loose and the new tooth was quickly growing in behind so she came to me ask me to pull her tooth out with my leatherman. She has seen me perform this feat with her two older siblings so she knew I was competent. I grab on to the tooth with the promise that I will not pull it until they tell me it is OK. Then when they give the slightest indication that it is OK, the tooth is gone. Each time I do it they don't even realize the tooth is gone until they stick their tongue in the empty space. This time was no different. She didn't stop dancing around with excitement for about 20 minutes. I am surprised we got her into bed that night.

Every morning about 9:00 our backyard is covered with these little lizards. This one stuck around long enough for me to snap a shot. One of favorite activities is catching these little guys. Although the bigger ones are much easier to catch.

12 to 16 Hours!!

When you decide to purchase a new playset for your kids and the instructions inside the box says that it will take 12 -16 hours for 2 adults to put it together... put the instructions back in the box and return the entire set to the store!

I think this is what happen to the previous owners of this playset before we found it at Costco for a "great price". Only the instructions and one of the other 6 six boxes had been opened. I was not smart enough to take my own advice. When I read that it would take 12-16 hours for two adults, I thought to myself, "Hey... I am a fairly mechanically inclined guy. I bet they are just being conservative. I am sure it will only take me about 6 hours."

15 hours later (over the course of two weeknights and a 10 hour friday) the set was complete. You might be thinking that is pretty good for one person, but please don't be mistaken, without the help of my wife and father it would have taken much longer.

If you decide not to take my advice and want to embark on this adventure, here is some advice:

1. Make sure that your wife is willing to help out. Mine was a life saver. She stayed 2-3 steps ahead of me the entire time, locating wood and hardware so it was ready when I needed it.

2. Make sure that your wife is perceptive enough to know when you are over your head and is willing to call your father to have him come help you, because you are too "manly" to call for help yourself.

3. Make sure that your 5 year old daughter isn't sitting near by with her play cash register and makes you "buy" everything before you can assemble it. It's very cute, but will also add significant time to the process.

4. Wear lots of sunscreen and drink lots of water because you are going to be out there for a long time.

With all that said, the kids love the new playset, and I am a sucker for seeing my kids having fun. Given the choice, I would probably do it again, but I'm sure this time I could do it faster.

Madeline's Cooking Madness

We have learned that our oldest daughter has a talent for cooking. So we decided to make a cooking video of Madeline making her mom's delicious chocolate chip cookies. MMMMMMMM! My favorite!!!!!

In case you are interested here is the recipe:

Cream together:

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

1 cup butter (not margarine, and yes it makes a difference)

Mix in until creamy:

2 eggs

Mix in:

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups flour

2 cups old fashioned oats (not instant, and again yes it makes a difference)

1 1/2 cups chocolate chips

Scoop dough into golf ball size balls and place on baking sheet. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 11 minutes or until the edges just start turning brown.

ENJOY!!!!

Camping

Over the last month, or so, I have had the opportunity of embarking on 2 separate camping trips. The first was at the beginning of April. Several of my friends and I decided that we should have a "Daddy - Daughter" camp out. My two girls have been requesting the trip and I finally caved and organized the outing. The second camp out was our annual "Father and Sons" event that happened at the beginning of May. Both camp outs were at the same location (Parker Canyon Lake in AZ). After spending several days in the wilderness with both my daughters and my son I have made a few observations.

Here are the things I have learned:

1. When camping with girls a Tea Party, complete with gold fish and hot chocolate, can break out at any time. 

2. Girls have about half the patience of boys when it comes to fishing, and boys have about half the patience of a gnat. 

3. Girls can spend hours in a tent talking about... I'm not really sure because the dads are not allowed. Then when you kick them out of the tent they will set up a group session in the largest unlocked car. In the car they will spend hours talking about... again I am not sure because the dads are not allowed. After running the battery dead in the car, they will head out on a hike where they will separate themselves from the dads because they need to talk about... see above comments for the rest.

4. Boys are fascinated with fire, and will throw anything they can get their hands on into said fire. They will also poke at the fire with any long flammable objects they can find, and after catching the object on fire, they will proceed to run around with the object until some other camper gets injured.

5. Girls are also fascinated with fire, but are content to watch from a distance and get just close enough to stay warm. 

6. When camping with girls you need to be sure and bring enough hot chocolate and cups for anyone within a 500 yard radius of your cooking area. Apparently there is a need to set up a free Hot Chocolate stand and solicit orders from all who are present. 

7. I learned that when it comes to camping and helping out that the following saying is applicable for boys and girls:

A boy is a boy. 2 boys is half a boy, and 3 boys is no boy at all.

8. No matter the weather boys/girls would rather tough it out then go home early.

9. Finally I learned that no matter the gender I enjoy camping with my kids. They are the best.

Next time we need to get mom to come along as well. 

Oh What Do You Do in the Winter Time?

Oh what do you do in the winter time when everyone is cold... well I guess not everyone is cold. Here are few things we do in Tucson during the frigid winter months.

Over the Christmas break we took a walk in the desert near a golf course. All the cousins had a great time searching for golf balls. Luckily all the rattlesnakes are asleep this time of year.

Playing at the park is another common activity in the Bisel household. Madeline's hair looks great from the static of the plastic slide.

Backyard football has become a popular event. The kids have learned that it is fun to tackle and be tackled. Dad gets to play full time quarterback. I think Lizzy has a future in football.

Mitchell did not escape this ferocious tackle from Lizzy. As you can tell he did not mind too much

Madeline has some sweet moves as she jukes Mitchell and runs for the touchdown. 

Recently we visited Colossal Cave near Tucson. It was a little chilly this day so the kids have on their jackets. If I remember correctly it was about 65 degrees.

Maddie and Lizzy posing for yet another cute picture near the caves. There was a lot of great places for pictures here. We may return next year for our Christmas photos.

Soccer is a year round activity in Tucson. This is Lizzy's first year. I am coaching her 3-4 year old team. Mostly we just try to keep the kids interested and headed in the right direction. Last week our team scored 3 goals for the other team.

Swimming is not a normal wintertime activity in Tucson. Not because of the air temperature, but because of the water temp. Most pools in Tucson are not heated in the wintertime. However, we were visiting my Aunt and Uncle (the preferred pool of the Bisel kids) and the kids wanted to go swimming. So on came the suits and into the pool. After they jumped in I checked the water temp and the thermometer read just under 50 degrees. No need to ask... I did not get in. The kids, however, stayed in for hours.

If you look close you can see the shock on Maddie's face. BRRRRRRR!

Mitchell just loves the water... No matter how cold.

It might have been a little colder than expected.

Mitchell and Madeline had a piano recital recently. 

They both did excellent.

We love listening to them play.

A very special Lady

Last week my grandmother, Betty Zitting Fosse, passed away at the age of 86. She is an amazing woman and brought joy to many people through the years of her life. She will be missed greatly now that she has returned to her heavenly home. If I remember correctly she has been without my grandfather for about 20 years. I know that she has missed him greatly during that time. During their 20 years apart Nana had several opportunities to date other men, but always turned them down because she was still married to her sweetheart. It warms my heart to know that they have been reunited once again. I know that she is happier now than she has been in a long time. I put together this video with the pictures I had of her.