My Little Red turned 6 today!

6 years ago today, 21 hours of labor FINALLY came to an end as Cael Owen Gillespie came into this world.

Boy, oh boy....are we glad he's here.

Cael has been a joy to have in our home.  His exuberant yet shy demeanor is so contradictory yet hilarious to watch.  He is a smart, smart boy who loves to draw and learn new things.  He absolutely adores his baby brother Kian and alternates between taking care of him...and annoying him.  It, too, is hilarious to watch (okay, sometimes).

We're so glad he's a part of our family and thankful to have one day each year to celebrate his coming into it.

We started off today's "celebration" with Cael's breakfast of choice...

green eggs and ham.  VERY green eggs and ham.

Birthday boy headed off to school (for the first time in a week) where he got to "show and tell" the "surprise box"....he was SO excited.

After school we headed off to Burger King for lunch and a romp in the play place (disgusting and germ infested but, nevertheless, JUST what my cooped up boys needed).

We headed home to put the younger kids down for naps and assemble the "Angry Bird" cake,

(which fell over three times before we finally let the leaning dog lie)

Three of Cael's favorite friends came over to play...

(or in other words...laugh and giggle about bodily functions)...and enjoy popcorn and chocolate chips (random, I know).

Daddy came home and we settled down for dinner.  Meatballs over rice.  His favorite.
(blegh!..not mine)

 and then some cake and ice cream

(which he didn't even eat because he was too stuffed from dinner)

but he enjoyed licking the candles off, nonetheless.

Now...for the Happy Birthday Song...

and who can forget presents

I think he liked them.

("Booyah!")

Before bed, Cael and I spend a few minutes alone looking at baby pictures and talking about the day he was born and such.  Sweet, sweet memories.  Sweet, sweet boy.

We love our "Little Red".

Happy Birthday Buddy!

"It's going to be LOTS!"

Conversation I just had with Isaac (4 years).

"Mom...when are we going to have more babies?"

"Well, sweetie...we'll have more babies when Heavenly Father sees fit to bless us with them."

"Ooooooookkkkkaaaayyyyy."

...then (I hear him mumble to himself), "it's going to be LOTS!"

**Big Smile**....sort of.

and then...."Maybe some girl ones."


The kids are all pining for more babies....they keep asking "when".

(What do I look like....a baby factory?)  :)

At least they're all hoping for girls.  Even Rob's ready to have a girl next.  

And since Rob seems to get whatever he wants, there may be hope after all.  :)



(P.S. THIS IS NOT AN ANNOUNCEMENT!)

Angry Birds...yummy cookies...and the best "hide and seek"-er EVER!

I'm not gonna lie.  Now that this blog has gone private I feel a whole lotta weight off my shoulders.  I'm so glad to be able to share some of the more mundane, yet important and fun thing in our lives without worrying about overexposing myself and my family.  And...I get to use the kids real names.

Can I hear a hip hip HOORAY, if you feel the same way!

We've had a lot of fun stuff going on at our house lately (when mommy is not on the computer, that is).

Yesterday just happened to be one of those really enjoyable days.  I'll show you why.

First, the winner of "The Best Christmas Gift in the Gillespie Household 2011" goes to:

"Angry Birds--knock on wood" game.

It's seriously AWESOME!  We play it at least once a day.  AT LEAST!  It's Isaac's favorite.

First Mommy sets it up.  I've become quite the master builder.

Then they try an knock it down. (they are much better at this than I am.  I'll stick to the building)

Then when they get tired of missing...they bring out the big guns (Angry Bird stuffed animals they also got for Christmas).

Even Kian gets in on it.  He's pretty good...actually.  He usually sits on the side and "builds" with the block we don't need at the time.

 Then the kids played a rousing game of "CTR guy" combat...

Yeah..the cape is a little hidden.

...shield and all!

Yeah...I still need to tell that story.  I will.  Hold your pants on.

We made some SUPER yummy cookies.

 Recipe here...I just swapped the Cadbury Eggs for peanut butter chips.

And even had the sense to ball up the rest and put them in the freezer

 (instead of cooking them all and eating them all in one night.)

We ended the night with an exciting game of "hide and go seek" in which the WHOLE family participated.

I don't want to toot my own horn...but I think I won for best hiding place.

And yes...I did get up there by myself.  Skirt and all.  :)

Although, Rob insisted on being chivalrous and helping me down...with the boys in the other room.  For privacy sake.

All-in-all it was a pretty fun night.  We don't have a TON of those around here.  Mostly we just try to get through the day without pulling our hair out and then get the kids in bed A.S.A.P.

Okay...maybe I exaggerate.  Then again, maybe not.  

You made the cut!

Welcome y'all.  You made the cut.  Glad to have you here. 

I'm even more happy that my, once, family blog will now become just that again. 

I hope it becomes FAR more exciting for most of you. 

It was really becoming rather boring there for a while.

Rob admitted yesterday that he has not even read my blog for over a month.

RUDE!  But totally understandable.  :)

3 days to private and this and that

3 days to go until T.O. will become "private"....only 3 days.  Makes me kinda bummed (sniff, sniff)....but, it's time.

Don't forget that you can still follow along with me and mi familia at Methodical Musings of an Unbalanced Woman and Adventures in Frugalness.

In the meantime, check out some of these random going ons in our household.

Roberto and I FINALLY got the coat rack up and useable.  YEAY!  It's been awesome

(I will be posting more details on AIF soon)

Little Red's Painted Lady larvae arrived

Sometime in the next 2-3 weeks we will have beautiful painted ladies flying around in this net here.  We'll keep you posted.

Uncle Caleb and Aunt Holly came to visit for a few days after the new year.  It was good fun.  We like having them around (even if Caleb did put his big foot though the side of our tub)

Here the kiddos are enjoying "quality" time with him---"G" family style.

Holly also got a shot of Roberto and I hanging out on the floor while the monkeys were otherwise occupied.

As she took this shot she said, "See....proof you guys still love each other."

Yep....we do.  We just don't always have the time to do stuff like this. 

I thought it was a super funny statement coming from a newlywed.

Give them 10 years and 4 kids.

She'll understand then that having an opportunity to even hold hands is a novelty.  :)

Anyhow...so that's how it's going with us.  How are you?

Yeah....we've got culture

21 month Mr. Golden Locks has been walking around the house for days singing,

"Hallelujah. Hallelujah.  (Pause) Mama Mia (in an Italian accent, of course)"

The first, courtesy of a month worth of Christmas music, and the latter....from the scintillating tunes of Super Mario Brothers. 

It's hilarious!
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Better late than never...

Yeah...we did have Christmas at our house this year.  You would think we didn't...because I haven't blogged about it yet...but, yeah....we did.

Here's the proof.

But first....our visit to see the reindeer.

BTW, did you know Santa's reindeer like raisins?  I had no idea.  

G-McBabe informed me before we left...so we brought 

some along and...sure enough....

I'll have to remember that for next years "reindeer food".

Now for the main event...

  
Christmas Eve Photo's

(my parents used to make us take these on Christmas morning...

pure torture if you ask me.)

"Hey...what are you guys smiling at?"

"Come on [Mr. Golden Locks]...smile!"

Pretty typical going ons at our house.

"Okay....FINE.  I'll do the monkey face."

Christmas Morning

Notice how tired they are?...yeah...cuz it's 6:30AM

G-Mcbabe came into our room twice in the middle of the night.  "Is it time yet?" he would ask.  "NO!....go back to bed!!!!!!" 

Oogling over Pokemon cards...

and...my "supers" in their "CTR guy" capes

(that I spent hours and HOURS and lot of

in-the-head swear words on)

yeah...that's the best on I got.  Don't they look ecstatic?

(and they've barely worn them since....sniff, sniff)

I didn't take many pictures.  But...lucky for me the kids got a camera of their own and took plenty (mostly Little Red....over 250.)

Mr. Golden Locks "playing" with the angry birds

Little Red's feet...Mr. GL's new baby doll. A baby doll?  Yeah...what of it?

our breakfast...SO YUMMY!

Our new game....angry birds

Mini Rob's new "Batman" (Super Hero Squad) movie

We played it pretty low key this year.  We forgo-ed our annual "invite a few neighbors/friends over for Christmas Eve soup night" and ate pizza instead---just the 6 of us.  We stayed home all Christmas day (besides the 1.5 hours spent at church services) and made Christmas dinner all on our lonesome--just the 6 of us and then Skype-d with our Utah family that evening. 

Was I sad?  Lonesome?  Not really.  Not as much as I thought I would be.  In fact, it was quiet and relaxing and just plain nice.  We left for Spokane the next day to spend time with our Washington family (and friends) and that was really nice too. 

I'm kinda sad it's over.  :( 

However...there is ONE thing I am not sad about.  Saying "goodbye" to "Homer Clause" for one more year. 

 (although I can't complain too much this year...Roberto took him to work and left him there for the "season".  I only had to endure him for one day.  The kids were bummed but I was VERY happy.)

Just one easy click!

T.O.'s gOiNG PriVaTE...the winds of change.

I suppose this has been a long time coming (for all you ol' timers, remember about 9 months ago when I announced this...ha ha).  Still....it's been a really hard decision.

4 years ago I started this blog.  Wow...so much can happen in 4 years.  And it has.

Let me tell you, they have been the hardest years of my life.  Plenty of ups but mostly downs.  Depression will do that to you.  This blog became my outlet, my life line, and at times...my best friend.  I vented...sometimes with humor, sometimes despondency, or sometimes downright anger.  The archives will tell you as much.

Or, at least they would have, if I had any.  For "security" reasons, I deleted about 250 posts a few weeks ago.  It was hard....like erasing a period of my life (no worries, I backed it up first).

Why would I do that? Well...

As this blog has evolved over the last several month and become more "open to the public", I have become increasingly interested in wiping away the past and starting "clean".  I tried changing names, deleting some pictures and posts, and writing a little less personal (and subsequently, boring to my poor family and close friends).  And yet...I still didn't feel like it was enough.

What to do?

After some thought....okay...A LOT OF THOUGHT....I made a decision.

I have been making subtle changes here on T.O. in light of that decision but wanted to wait until after Christmas to really implement them.  So what did I do, already?

I started a new blog.

Testosterone Overload (featuring Adventures in Frugalness) has now become Adventures in Frugalness (featuring Testosterone Overload).

T.O. will soon become "private" for the viewing pleasure of adoring grand (and great grand) parents, aunts and uncles, siblings, cousins and close friends (you know who you are).  I will soon be adding back all of the archived posts and be filling it's pages with boring pictures and uninteresting things the kids have said that no one, but those who actually know them, will care about.  ha ha ha!

I really hate to do it (cuz like I need ANOTHER blog to keep up with)....but...it is what it is.

But...NO FEAR!  All is not lost.  Adventures in Frugalness will still be featuring some of T.O.'s greats from the past and sharing funny and/or very interesting "mommy blogger type" things in the future (I just wanted a clean and protected slate).  I will also continue to share frugal tips, helpful household hints, great deals, cheap (or just plain tasty) recipes, affiliate sales, etc.

I hope you understand.

Please come on over and take a look.  It's bright and cheery and very Super!!! Just excuse the dust...it's still under self-design construction (and I'm trying to fix all of the cross over formatting issues...ugh).  Tell me what you think.  I mean...honestly! Oh...and if you are a follower on GFC, I've already transferred your following over there.  If not...sign up.  :)

Now....for those of you who would like an invitation to the private blog please either e-mail me at testosteroneoverloadXY at gmail dot com or leave a comment here with your address.  Although I consider so many of you friends, I am only extending these invitations to those of you who I have actually met in person.  I mean no offense to anyone.  I promise.  It's just how it has to be.

Thanks for your understanding.

P.S. If you want to follow my depression/HOPE blog...come on over to Methodical Musings of an Unbalanced Woman.  I'd love to have you.

Just one easy click!