Family Fun

Twirl Skirt, Burp Cloths and Awesome Diaper and Wipe Case!

2011-06-21T14:48:00.004-04:00

My good friend Christy is an incredible seamstress. She made this adorable twirl skirt and shirt for Natalie and would love to make one for your daughter or friend too! :) She makes custom bags, purses, quilts, blankets and burp cloths among many other things. Her company is Creative Blessings and she'll work with you to make whatever you want!

Check out her website HERE or her Etsy HERE and "like" her on Facebook to stay current with her latest projects. Order something for yourself or stock up on some unique gifts for friends!
What girl doesn't love to twirl? :)

She also made these great burp cloths for Bradley. They have a cloth diaper inside so they are extra absorbent and hold up really well to lots of washings.

And this Diaper/Wipe case is just awesome! It has two compartments-one for diapers and one for a small wipes container. It has an opening in the front so you can don't have to pull the whole container out to get a wipe.

And the best part is the strap--I just throw it over my shoulder to take to church for Evan since the bigger diaper bag goes with Bradley. I love it! It would make an great baby shower gift!

I wish I had more pictures of all the amazing things she's made... be sure to check out her site!

Part Two and Quote Time

2011-06-21T12:30:00.006-04:00

Here's the rest of the pictures! We had Adam over for a little cookout for Memorial Day.

Yummy Watermelon

We put a little pool up in our backyard. Great for quick cool-downs and a lot easier than carting everyone (and everything) to the pool! :)

Although it was really cold the first day!!

We took a drive around beautiful Colorado one day in search of campgrounds that would work for our family. Stopped for a picnic along the way.

So gorgeous!

The three amigos

Love that we get to explore so many different places.

And now here's the Denver Zoo pictures:

Polar Bear eating his lunch.

Us eating ours. :)

We came upon the bears... doing their "thing"-- Natalie said, "He's using her for a pillow." :)

We didn't plan this at all but Brian and Bradley were matching!

Swinging monkeys

It was such a fun day together--although I can't help but think about much more amazing it was to see the animals running free in Africa. Jealous of my parents living there now!

Quote Time!!

Blake: "Mom, is sugar a strong body food?"

Brian, at dinner at a particularly messy meal: "Evan, you're going to have to eat in a barn"

Natalie, singing, "E-I-E-I-O!"

Natalie: "But I don't want to obey you today!"

Blake: "You're such a Bando, Natalie"

Natalie: "No, you are!"

Brian: "What's a Bando?"

Blake: "You know... Oh I've come from Alabama with a Bando on my knee."

Natalie: "Mom, I just saw on TV, there's juice boxes that have Cars 2 on them and kids just love them! Can we get them?"

Blake, after accidentally poking Brian in the eye: "I know what's in your eye, Daddy. There's a cry in your eye!"

Natalie: "There's going to be a lot of people in heaven. It'll be like a restaurant!"

Me: "God will heal your boo-boo while you sleep, it'll be better in the morning."

Blake: "Is He going to put a band-aid on it?"

Blake: "If I throw a piece of cookie in the yard would it make a cookie tree?"

Natalie, playing dress-up: "Don't we just look so stylish?"

Natalie, as we were going through my teaching tubs for the garage sale: "Do you still remember how to teach or did you forget?" After I said yes, "Well then why don't you ever teach us anything?"

Evan is really making a lot of progress with his weekly speech teacher. She's so great with him and it's exciting to see him want to learn new words. He's starting to say some funny things now so we'll be adding him to this soon I'm sure. If you are in his way he says "beep beep!" and talks back to the TV--"Will you help me find the red ball?"-- "No!" :)

Hope you all are doing well. Thanks for reading this blog! :)

Picnics, Zoo, Circus and more!--Part One

2011-06-18T11:20:00.007-04:00

After sorting through 500+ pictures and picking the best ones, I still have a million more to post so this will have to be in 2 parts so as not to overwhelm you all! :) We went to the Denver Zoo and also to the Children's Museum last week while Brian was still on leave. This is starting from hotel and then the Museum. I'll get the Zoo and previous pics up tomorrow or so. Enjoy! We put the kids side by side longways on the bed. It worked! And Evan is officially done with his night-time paci after he fell and cut his tongue really deeply... couldn't have it that night and hasn't asked for it yet. Yay! Now on to potty training!
Children's Museum--fire fighter station

Playing Vet-it was cute, they had lab coats, stuffed animals and doctor kits to work on the animals. They loved it.

Grocery Store

Blake checking out

Bubble room--very messy but lots of fun!

Break for lunch

Painting/Art room

Huge magnetic board. Natalie had so much fun making up crazy sentences.

Passed Invesco Field on the way home... if they play the Steelers, we're there! :)

We got free tickets from the Army for the circus so even though we were all tired from the trip, I took the kids the next day.

Tight-wire rope... my favorite part.

Cotton candy... their favorite part. :)

Tigers

Elephants

Then we had VBS all week--the kids were wiped out each afternoon.

Bradley's 4 months old-- "talking" all the time now.

Last day at VBS--they had so much fun and learned a lot at "Panda Camp" (It was actually at a different church than ours but I wanted Blake to get to go this year--ours will be in July but is only for Kindergarten and up.)

Attempting to get all of them smiling... never works. :)

Part Two coming soon! :)

Royal Gorge

2011-06-04T18:07:00.008-04:00

We drove about an hour and a half south to visit the famous Royal Gorge. We ate a picnic lunch before going into the park. There were so many fun activities to do! I think this may have been the kids favorite part of the whole day.
Smiley guy

We rode an incline train down into the gorge. Pretty neat.

That's how low we were/how high the bridge is that we walked across!

You could walk around by the Arkansas River and then ride the train back up to the top.

Ready to walk across! A little scary!

So beautiful up there! You could see forever!

The tram that we later rode on.That's the river down there! Panning for gold

Horse carriage ride

Small petting zoo

In the tram

Back on the other side again.

Last stop--Bri and the kids went on a train ride (not this one of course, we were just waiting for our turn. :)

It was a very fun day with the family exploring Colorado!

Quote Time!

2011-05-31T14:39:00.004-04:00

Pictures of our trip to the Royal Gorge to come soon but in the meantime, here's the latest! :)

Natalie praying at dinner: "Dear Jesus, thank you for the dinner but I don't think I'm going to really like it."

Blake, seeing a man on a laptop at McDonalds: "Maybe he's playing on PBSkids.com!"

Natalie: "I wish I could be in a Disney movie." Me: "Why?" Natalie: "So I could be like Beauty and the Beast and have a mirror so I could see Daddy whenever I wanted."

Blake: "Can I have more pineapple trunks?" Natalie: "They're not trunks, they're junks!" (actually, chunks :)

(They also often call their favorite show Wild Kratts either Wild Cracks or Wild Craps.)

Natalie, down the stairs to Blake and Evan: "Kids! Time to go!"

Natalie, praying: "Dear God and Jesus, when I get old, I'll come see you."

Blake: "Natalie said stupid. Can you please give her a consequence, Daddy?"

Natalie: "Mom, a crock pot sounds like a pot you could cook a crocodile in!"

Blake, setting the table: "It's like I'm a chef and this is my restaurant!"

Natalie, sliding down our steps in a black trash bag: "Mom, you can wear it anyway you want because it doesn't have a tag in it!"

Natalie to Blake: "Daddy will throw you so high up in air that you can give Jesus a high-five and then come back down to Earth."

Lots of Catching Up

2011-05-25T12:05:00.007-04:00

We've had a busy several weeks lately so I apologize for not getting pictures up sooner. I tried to just pick a few out but it's still a lot so sit back and enjoy! :) We went to Brian's squadron ball a few weeks back. We had such a fun time!
Gotta love the Cavalry and their Stetsons!

Matt and Brian had been working really hard lately since they were in charge of the Ball so we had Matt and Siobhan and Adam over the next night for a celebratory steak (and chicken) dinner. It was great to relax and enjoy the warm weather together.

Wrestling with Mr. Adam

Corn hole

Fun at the playground

Our 3 month old--he squeals and coos now. :)

Love this of Evan

We went to Brian's squadron Org Day

Watching a clown show while eating sno-cones.

Lunch time

I went to Mississippi to surprise my dear friend Jessica for her birthday. They are half-way through a 2-year deployment and her husband planned and coordinated the whole weekend. We hadn't seen each other since Hawaii and it was so awesome to catch up. (And Brian stayed home with all four kiddos so I REALLY enjoyed my time away. :) Thanks honey!!)

We went to Painting studio where we had dinner and then they taught us step-by-step how to paint this piece. It was so much fun and everyone's was unique.

Jess and her 3 adorable kids

Sweet Katie

Love you friend. Hang in there, you're doing amazing! :)

We went on a Backstage Tour of Chick-fil-a. It was really neat. They gave the kids booties and stickers and hats and we got to go back in the kitchen area and see how the make everything. I was impressed that they use fresh chicken breast (not frozen) and actually hand-batter it on the spot. No wonder it tastes better than some other places. :)

I found out about it because I'm get their emails but you can contact your local restaurant to set up a tour time. I think they're doing it for another month or so.

They even got to make their own ice cream cones!

I had LASIK eye surgery last week... and Brian got to watch! I am so glad I did it--it is wonderful to not have to worry about glasses or contacts anymore. I love it. :)

Attempting a pic of all the kids...

...not working... but I do like this one. :)

Here's a movie of the kids singing to me for Mother's Day.

Easter and More

2011-05-05T18:02:00.007-04:00

We went to bed the night before Easter with it snowing outside... we are still definitely getting used to this Colorado weather!

Happy Easter... didn't feel much like Spring but still a wonderful day because HE IS RISEN!

Family shot after church--not very willing participants. :)

We had some friends over for lunch.

Couldn't do an Easter Egg Hunt outside so the guys hid them in the basement for the kids.

Checking out the haul... our friends brought LOTS of candy!

Bradley will be 3 months this weekend.

First time I've ever had snow on my birthday! We've never lived where it snows at the end of April...it was gone in a few hours though. :)

Smiley guy

Natalie shared some of her dollars with her brothers and they all bought paint at the Dollar store.

Popcorn at a friend's house.

Happy Mother's Day to all of you! :)

Getting Ready for Easter

2011-04-22T17:14:00.006-04:00

We've really been enjoying our time with Brian home. Lots of fun memories! He taught the kids how to play Old Maid.Our cute little guy. We were able to have a few hours by ourselves one day for some shopping, lunch and mini-golf!

Easter preparations: our Easter Tree.

Making Peanut Butter Eggs. You know how we (okay, Brian) love all things PB and chocolate around here! :)

Resurrection Rolls. They've definitely become a tradition. Click the link for directions on how to make them and pics of us doing it last year. This year we dipped in melted butter before the cinnamon sugar and while they tasted good, it was much messier to make than without.

Quick recap: you dip a marshmallow in cinnamon sugar (melted butter first if you want) and then wrap in a crescent roll (or other dough.) Bake and the marshmallow will melt created a hollow roll when you bite into it.

It's an empty tomb! Jesus is alive!

Natalie said, "So Jesus is the marshmallow?"

Coloring Eggs:

Wow... Look at all the pretty colors!

I didn't get a picture of it but we have Resurrection Eggs (each plastic egg has an item inside to tell the Easter story) and the kids have really gotten into them this year. Fun to see them act it out--I love to watch their little hearts and minds in action. We'll be celebrating Easter together with some friends on Sunday. Hope you have a wonderful day with your family and friends. He is Risen!

Family Hike

2011-04-17T18:26:00.007-04:00

Bradley is 2 months already! Growing so big... and he's gotten less fussy and is sleeping a little more at night so that's been great. He's smiling and cooing and loves bath time.

What a great big sister.

Since we moved here, Blake's been saying, "When can we go up in those mountains?" With the deployment, winter and new baby, it took awhile but we finally were able to go on a picnic/hike as a family this week.

We drove up to Cheyenne Canyon Park.

Such beautiful views!

We had a picnic and the kids ran around the woods.

Bradley was there too. :)

Then we put Evan in the backpack and Bradley in the Baby Bjorn for a little hike.

Natalie and Blake were such troopers. We were impressed!

On top of the falls.. a lot more to go!

We made it! So pretty up there.

Blake asked when we could do it again as soon as we started walking back down. Guess he's our mountain man!

Family shot... thanks to the camera timer. :)

We're looking forward to doing another one this week. Love being out in God's beautiful creation!

Quote Time!

2011-04-06T15:17:00.007-04:00

Here's a sampling of the latest quotables from our kiddos and a few extra pictures:

Blake: "Is that a step on your shoe, Mom?" (I was wearing high heeled sandals.) Natalie: "I'm going to be a school teacher and a church teacher and a ballerina teacher when I grow up."

Blake: "I'm going to a pirate... and a dad... and an Army man."

Blake: "Hola Kelly, I need a box of nails and some wood."

Natalie: "Sure Handy Manny! Brian: "Why are you taking your stuffed animals outside?"

Natalie: "We need more kids for our pretend CDC."

Blake: "I can't find my my shoes anywhere!"

Brian: "Maybe they walked away."

Blake: "Dad, they don't have feet!"

Natalie: (praying at night)-"I like my bed but I think I'll really like it when I get up there to You." Followed by a conversation about whether there would be donuts and stores in heaven. And then she said she'd see a lot of old people there because you "don't die until you're old. It'll be a long time until I die but not that long for you and Daddy!"

Natalie: (watching a commercial for Crayola Glowing Sand) "Mom, can we please get that? It says it's easy to clean up!"

Markers and Picnics

2011-04-06T14:48:00.008-04:00

All three came up from the basement one day... Natalie said, "Doesn't he look like a cool dude?" Check out the video for a full look at the damage!

Picnic and playdate at the park with some MOPS moms. We were welcomed to the Unit at a Hail and Farewell last week. Got this pretty rose. We've been having some beautiful weather lately... don't have our patio stuff out yet but that hasn't stopped us from having picnic lunches outside!

Look who fell asleep during a few minutes of "tummy time"

So hot out one day... we had to find some shade... ...still yummy though! We had a family movie night... Cars+pizza+popcorn. :) Adam had a BBQ at his house... a lot of fun except that it had been 75 the day before and actually snowed and hailed that afternoon!! Ashley playing Zingo with Natalie. The four guys were playing a serious game of Risk.

It was both Matt and Siobhan's birthdays that week.

Adam let the kids play with his guitar, they loved it!

Brian is off for the next two weeks... we can't wait!!

Seven weeks and smiles

2011-03-29T12:18:00.005-04:00

Bradley is 7 weeks today...and we've seen a few fleeting smiles. So fun. He's definitely fussier than our other babies and doesn't sleep as well but he's still adorable and brings us lots of joy (although not much rest at night!) It's confirmed: 6 people make for a lot of laundry!

We went to Focus on the Family one day...they have a play area and Whit's End snack bar and soda shop. Such memories of Adventures in Odyssey tapes growing up.

Cross-eyed baby :)

We are loving having Brian home... we had a couple days of reintegration training together and he'll get 2 weeks off pretty soon so we're looking forward to some day trips and projects around the house.

Look who found Bradley's formula... he was using the scoop to dump it all out. Good thing that was a mostly used container of the old kind--we switched to a more easily digestible brand.

(For those that are newer to our blog, I would love to be breastfeeding Bradley but I have a lactation disorder in which I don't produce any milk so I haven't been able to nurse any of our babies. It's been one of the harder things I've had to deal with in my life but it's taught me a lot about judging others and also it's allowed us to be able to go out on dates and weekends away from the kids that we wouldn't have had if I was nursing. Anyway, just wanted to let people know why there's formula and bottles in all the pictures! :)

The past couple mornings, we've woken up to snow covering the ground. It melts quickly and is in the 50's or 60's by the afternoon. Colorado weather is crazy... but beautiful! :)

Welcome Home Daddy!!

2011-03-18T13:25:00.007-04:00

Brian got home a week ago this past Thursday. His flight was delayed until the next day so instead of the afternoon we had to get up at 4am the next morning to be at the Events Center. I wasn't sure how I was going to get everyone up and ready but we made it. :) They had so much to do which was great while we waited (several hours)... bounce house, crafts, games for the kids, music, food. Helped the kids pass the time quickly.
They gave out prizes for the kids when they participated in games... this was one that they especially liked. :)

"Can't wait to meet my Daddy!"

Here they come! They played Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA" so everyone was teary before they even came through the doors.

Fortunately they didn't have to stand there too long before they released them to their families. Brian was somewhere on the right hand side of the formation.

So proud to be an Army Wife! A feeling you can't quite explain...

The kids wanted Adam to have a sign too.

So happy!

Matt and Siobhan

First thing when we got home... WRESTLE TIME!

I put the kids to bed that night and this is what I found when I came back downstairs. :)

Brian had a few days off and now is going through reintegration but isn't usually gone all day so we're enjoying our time together as a family again.

St Patrick's Day green...

Thanks for praying and supporting and helping us through this (short) deployment... we appreciate you all!

Just Hanging Around...

2011-02-28T17:04:00.004-05:00

Bradley is the cutest sleeper.. always has his hands in funny positions. Love my little guy!

I know this is blurry but I don't have too many of me holding him... guess I need to get my mom to take some before she leaves this week!

"I can sleep in any position..."

Where is Bradley going to sit when we read books??

Evan's been taking off his diaper a lot lately... so Blake and Natalie got out the potty chair. Maybe he'll be the easiest one to train with all the help! I've been waiting til after Brian gets back and life returns to some semblance of order again. :)

We went out for brunch one day... yummy yummy.

Favorite friends at Toys R Us.

Bradley's getting a lot more alert.

Already 3 weeks old tomorrow... can't believe it!

Lots more pictures....

2011-02-22T18:48:00.005-05:00

My Dad did all sorts of projects around the house again-but the kid's favorite was this "chip box" for our backyard. Natalie and Blake helped him put it together from start to finish and they all helped spread around the wood chips. It's the perfect place for them to play (and it's a lot less messy than sand!) Thanks so much Dad. I appreciate you!

Bradley is two weeks old today!

We attempted a little photo shoot.... will try again when he's asleep as he cried between almost every shot. :)

The helpers...

Watching Toy Story together

We went to Bible Study today and the ladies surprised me with a Diaper Shower--plus some other gifts! I was totally shocked... they had planned it a few weeks ago but then I had him early. They had blue cupcakes and snacks too. I feel so blessed!! Thank you!!

Brian should be home in about 3 weeks... we can't wait! :)

Baby Bradley and more...

2011-02-15T19:18:00.006-05:00

First attempt at a picture of all FOUR kids... we'll try again when they're not in PJs. :)

I took Bradley back to the doctor and his jaundice was much better and he'd gained back most of his weight already so that was great. He's a sweet little baby and there's nothing better than having him fall asleep on you... I love it. Proud Big Sister Natalie made him a Valentine.

My Dad came in on Saturday--he'll get to be here almost a week. The kids are loving having a man around and constantly wanting to wrestle and play with him. We're having fun and I feel so blessed that my parents were able to come visit (and to help me!)

Brian sent me 2 dozen beautiful roses for Valentine's Day. Thank you honey!

And my parents sent me these in the hospital.

We made Valentine Jell-O Cups again this year.

Blake and Bradley... we sure have a lot of "B's" around here now.

It has been so wonderful having my mom (and now my dad) here. I seriously don't know how I would be handling all this on my own. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Bradley William

2011-02-12T17:53:00.004-05:00

Bradley William was born Feb 8, 2011 at 9:47 pm. He was 7 lb. and 20 3/4 inches long. I was induced (because of pre-eclampsia) so it took a little longer than my other labors but the nurses and doctors were great and my mom was a huge support. I was able to email back and forth a little with Brian to keep him updated (although we didn't get reception so my mom kept taking the phone down the hall to send the messages!) Bradley was face-up so it was pretty difficult towards the end but overall it was a good experience and we're so excited that he's here! Proud Grandma!

My mom brought the kids in the next day. (Thanks Siobhan for watching them for us all day Tuesday!)

I love this one of Evan.

Bringing Baby Home:

Jaundice is really common here because of the altitude and at his next day check up, they were a little concerned so we're laying him in the sun during the day and trying to make sure he gets enough fluids. He's already better today. First sponge bath from Grandma:

He is a sweet baby and we're all totally in love with him already. We got to Skype with Brian today so he could see him "in person" besides just the pictures. I'll try to put pictures on more frequently for all of you but especially for Brian.

I can tell my blood pressure is going down as well as the swelling in my face and hands/feet and I'm feeling so much better now. I don't know what I would do without my mom here and all the friends who have been helping out--and thank you for all the messages and prayers. I appreciate you!

Evan's 2nd Birthday!

2011-02-06T21:05:00.007-05:00

Sunday was Evan's 2nd birthday. We were so glad to be able to celebrate it before the baby's birth... although they may have joint parties in years to come as their birthdays will likely be only 2 days apart! Whenever Evan sits on the couch, he wants to put a pillow behind his head and blanket on his lap... just like Daddy.
Here's the cake my mom and I put together... complete with oreo dirt.

The video is on the bottom... can't seem to move it up.

We went to McDonalds for lunch after church and then did cake and presents when we got home.

Yum yum!

Opening presents

Card from Grandma and Poppa-with 2 dollar bills inside... he just handed them to my mom. I'm sure that will change soon!

My mom's present for Evan

These trucks make sounds... he loves them.

And especially his BIG dump truck!

Going for a ride... :)

We are all ready to head to the hospital in the morning to have the baby. We'll keep you updated as we can! :)

Baby Update

2011-02-05T18:20:00.002-05:00

Some of you may know but a few weeks ago, my doctors discovered that my blood pressure is really high and I have pre-eclampsia. I've never had trouble with the other pregnancies and I don't feel terrible but definitely not great. The doctors decided that for the health of the baby and me, they are going to induce me on Tuesday. I'll be just shy of 38 weeks. While I'm sad Brian can't be here, I'm so glad that my mom is here and will be with us for about a month. So keep us in your prayers and we'll keep you updated on the little guy's arrival!

For those that wanted belly pics... :)

Chuck E Cheese

2011-02-05T17:39:00.004-05:00

My mom got in about a week ago and we are so glad she's here!
We went to Toys R Us to pick up a few more things for the baby and Evan got balloons and a crown since it's his birthday on Sunday. (Plus they sent us a $3 gift card in the mail--you can sign up your kids online.)

Then we went to Chuck E Cheeses... we went once in Hawaii but haven't ever been since. I had promised the kids it would be a "before baby/when Grandma's here" treat. They loved it!

Riding the Kiddie Coaster

Pizza lunch...

... complete with a visit from a special guest!

The kids absolutely loved it... although my mom and I were wiped out by the end of it! :)

We needed to move Evan out of the crib for the baby so we bought a little guard rail and tried it out last night. It took awhile for him to fall asleep because he thought it was just for fun (he often pretends to sleep on the bottom bunk while playing.) For nap today, he laid there and was quiet right away... I went back later to check and he'd dumped out all of those stuffed animals and had a bunch on his bed.

He had them covering his face... and I thought he was sleeping even though his arm was moving a little. He came out later (after over 1 1/2 hrs) and we can tell that he did NOT sleep by the fussiness... but at least he knew enough to stay in his room! Hopefully tonight will be better. :)

Hi Daddy!

2011-01-21T21:25:00.002-05:00

They're singing a song for Daddy about hibernation... not sure where they come up with these things... Enjoy the video! :)

Update

2011-01-14T18:18:00.003-05:00

Just wanted to let everyone know that Brian deployed this week. He left to join his unit that is already there and so he'll only be gone for 2-3 months. That's much shorter than the usual year or more and we know the time will go quickly. The hard part is that I'm 34 weeks pregnant now and so our little baby will come while he's away. Of course we wish he could be here for the birth but we're rejoicing that we were able to be together over the holidays. My mom is going to come out to be with us so that will be really helpful. Please keep him and us in your prayers during this time. Thanks so much! We appreciate all our friends and family! :)

We love you honey and miss you already!

Catching up on Christmas

2011-01-14T17:02:00.007-05:00

My parents, my brother Dave and sister Katherine came for 10 days over Christmas. We had such a wonderful time together. It's so fun to have a house of our own to host everyone! Between two cameras, I literally had hundreds of pictures to choose from so I tried to just pick a few but it still ended up a lot. Enjoy! :) Christmas Eve dinner: spaghetti and homemade meatballs
We continued our tradition of new PJs on Christmas Eve. Stripes this year.

"Daddy is reading Away in the Manger story to us. We know that Christmas is Jesus' birthday." (Natalie dictated that.)

Christmas morning.... lots of presents!!

Natalie with Candy Land and her light-up toothbrush.

Look at all that yummy food for our Christmas meal.

"Katherine and Natalie and Blake and Evan are smiling for the camera." (Natalie's narration)

My whole family helped with the meals and cooking. Thank you!

Lots and lots of football in the basement.

Auntie Katherine made this Gingerbread House with the kids. Thanks for all your help sista!

We went to the Garden of the Gods one day.

LOVE this one.

Can't believe there's about to be one more kid in our family...

Mom, Dad and Dave

We had such a great time exploring the rock formations.

It's not Christmas with my family without a project. My dad fixed lots of things around the house for us but the big thing was our laundry room. It's a really long room with a lot of wasted space so Brian, Dave and my dad sanded, stained and installed beautiful new cabinets. He also put in new outlets and additional lighting. It looks great!

I should have a taken another picture with all the tools put away but you get the idea. The storage is great and it's awesome for sorting and folding all our clothes. I love it! Thanks so much!

My aunt and uncle and cousins were in CO skiing so they came over to spend New Year's with us. So fun to get to see you guys! We had 15 people in the house for 3 days= lots of fun!

Dave and George working on Pulled Pork BBQ.

Maggie helping get our New Year's Eve snacks ready.

We played games and had a great time together even though it was a short visit.

My dad gave the boys much needed haircuts.

Look at that face.

Uncle George and Aunt Judy and my parents.

And all the cousins... plus our kids!

Thanks so much for coming to visit us! It was such a wonderful time with great memories!

Everyone else...you're invited to visit too! :)

Natalie's 5th Birthday!

2010-12-14T17:41:00.005-05:00

Can't believe our little girl is now FIVE! Her birthday was on Sunday and we did special things all day. We always let the kids pick the meals for the day and use a special "Celebrate" plate. She chose cinnamon rolls and eggs for breakfast. After church, we went to McDonald's for lunch. We decided to do cake and presents after that so she didn't have to wait all day.

She really wanted a Pillow Pet for her birthday this year. Here's my attempt at a Pillow Pet unicorn cake. She loved it even though it wasn't perfect. :) She was SOOO excited that we actually got her one.
Blake was an eager helper.

Love this look! Beauty and the Beast movie.

Natalie: "Everyone make a silly face!"

She got some Hello Kitty stationery and when we were all done she sat at the table to use it. The first thing she wrote was:

and brought it over to me. I am so proud that God is growing her heart to be so thankful. It's such a blessing to watch her grow.

She received cards from both sets of Grandparents with 5 dollar bills each and also 10 dimes from her great-grandmother. (Thank you!) We usually go to the dollar store and let them pick what they want with their dollars. For her birthday, she also got a kids devotional and when I was reading it with her that night, we talked about how it makes God happy when we share what we have with other people. Lately, Blake and Natalie have been putting coins in the Salvation Army buckets whenever we see them and so she said, "Mom, I have a lot of dollars, what if I put some of my dollars in the red bucket next time for the people who don't have very much?"

Makes this Mom's heart so happy.

She chose pizza for dinner and Mr. Adam came over for dinner (and Sunday Night Football) and even brought Natalie a present. I think he's part of the family now--he's happened to be with us for Blake's, Brian's and now Nat's birthdays! I had lots of kitchen helpers--look at all that pepperoni... and yes, we did take a lot of it off before baking! :)

Happy Birthday Natalie, we're so glad you're in our family!

Happy Birthday

Our New House!!

2010-12-14T16:39:00.006-05:00

Not sure why this first picture is so small but this is our new house!! I don't want to post our new address on here but if you need/want it, just email me! :) We "camped" for several days before our household goods arrived.
Many meals "on the floor"--it's much better now!

We have a fenced backyard, which the kids love and I love because they can go out and I don't have to watch them every second. It's great.

Our friend Adam is here now--he went to Penn State with Brian and was in Armor School right behind him. (He was over a few times in KY.) The kids totally love him and he's great about wrestling and playing with them.

They are definitely fans of "Mr. Adam"!

OUR STUFF IS HERE:

Brian had the master checklist to make sure everything arrived. So far we aren't missing anything except for some parts to put a few pieces of furniture back together.

Woah, what a mess!

Ahh, much better--straightened up enough to have a yummy pancake breakfast. (Although that was several days ago and things are looking even better now. :) Our Christmas Tree:

Unfortunately, decorating for Christmas is the last thing on our minds but decided we did need a tree. We got a real one this year (believe it or not, the first real one since before we were married!)

Brian put the lights on over the weekend and the kids and I put on the ornaments together the next day. Quite the experience, they were so excited. As I'm sure everyone with little kids knows, breakable on the top half, unbreakable on the bottom. :)

We pulled out our kid nativities... kids are loving them.

.... and of course the Veggie Tales one. :)

It's been so warm here-- 62 degrees today and so it doesn't feel like Christmas yet. I'm wishing we could have some of the midwest/east coast snow... but for now we get beautiful sunsets! :)

We are so blessed to be in our new house... Come visit if you can!!

Thanksgiving and Snow!

2010-11-29T12:45:00.005-05:00

We started our relaxing day with watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The kids loved it! I'm actually embarrassed to put this picture on but just wanted to show you our "out of the box" meal. You all know I love to cook and this is not how we would do Thanksgiving if I had an actual kitchen. But you do what you have to. :) Can't wait to make some meals in our new house!

It actually was surprisingly good, except for the turkey... none of us could even eat it (well, I think Evan did). Brian's comment was that it tasted like "MRE meat." We'll have real Turkey for Christmas. :)

The kids especially loved the sparkling cider-- my family's tradition.

Pumpkin cheesecake for dessert.

It was a wonderful day together (lots of football) and we have so much to be thankful for this year.

One thing we did to help teach the kids about being grateful was to look through the Samaritan's Purse gift catalog together. Natalie and Blake each picked out things they would like to send to kids around the world that don't have very much. Natalie chose baby chicks, mosquito nets and and a toy lamb that sings Jesus Loves Me. Blake chose soccer balls and shoes. We had some neat conversations and I think maybe we'll do this every year. Here's the link if you might want to do it with your family. They have all different price ranges for the various gifts and it's fun, tangible way for kids to help others. (We usually do the Christmas Child Shoe boxes but missed out on that this year.)

We woke up today and... it had SNOWED!!

We don't really have snow gear with us but we still went out for little while. I think it's Evan's first time to actually play in the snow.

There really wasn't too much but still enough to have fun!

Writing names...

We close/move in to our house TOMORROW... can't tell you how excited we are!!!!!! :)

I'm thankful for...

2010-11-23T15:21:00.004-05:00

...among other things, my wonderful husband and my three great kids!!

Looking through toy catalogs... this is the first year the kids have realized they can make "requests" for Christmas. :)

Evan trying to be in on the action...

Natalie and Blake made this fort.

It was a little small so Brian made them a huge one.

Plenty of room inside...

I love my cute family!

I am thankful for all of you too. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!

Quote Time and Tour

2010-11-15T12:54:00.006-05:00

I have another paper with more but I can't seem to find it right now but here's a few quotes:

The kids got stickers at checkout in Target one day and Blake put his over one eye, "Look Mom, I'm a pirate!"

Natalie: "I wish I could just get a ladder and go get a star to light my room at night. Then I'd get a cloud to lay on for a pillow."

Our landlord's name in KY was "Junior" and Blake told Natalie, "Mommy's talking to 'Asparagus'" (from Veggie Tales)

At church the kids filled out papers about themselves. One question was "What do you want to be when you grow up?" Blake said: "Just like Daddy" Natalie said: "a grocery checker-outer" Later after passing a gas station she told me, "no mom, I want to be a gas pumper"

One night Blake didn't want to go to sleep so we told him to just lay there and talk to his stuffed animals. "But they don't talk back!"

In the car Natalie said there were "dots in her foot" so I was explaining that maybe it had fallen asleep. She replied with "Was it snoring?" And then later she said, "It's okay now Mom, it woke up."

Here's a tour of our little extended stay hotel apartment: Coming in the front door- living room and kitchen to the right, kid's bedroom straight through that door.

To the left, hallway to the bathroom and our (and Evan's) bedroom.

Brian was playing "horsey" with all 3 before bed one night. :)

Living room- they were looking at a Toys R Us flyer-- a lot of "I want, I want" Now I know why I don't usually show them things like that! :)

Snack time at the table.

Twin beds in Natalie and Blake's room.
Our room- Evan sleeps in his pack and play in our closet. :)
Kitchen- I had thrown away these papers the kids made at church and Natalie took them out of the trash. She wasn't happy I'd tossed them!
Better view- opposite side has fridge and stove. Can't wait to cook in my kitchen with all my things again-it's been since July! I definitely am a pampered chef. :)

The living room area... sorry these weren't the best shots but thought it might help you all picture where we are living. Two weeks until we close on the house! Yay!!

Trick or Treat and more...

2010-11-08T17:33:00.004-05:00

Say hello to the cutest butterfly, scariest shark and silliest monkey you've ever seen! :)
We went over to the neighborhood where we bought our house to check it out. There were a ton of families around and we got to see the elementary school where the kids will go so that was neat too. Can't wait to move in!

"Trick or treat!"

Evan was in the stroller for most of the time (it was chilly!) but still held out his bucket at each house. He was definitely old enough to realize what was going on!

We found a park to play at one day.

With tons of leaves to pile up and jump in... fall fun!

We're staying in a little hotel apartment: 2 bedrooms and a little living area and tiny kitchen but it beats a regular hotel room and it's great to have a fridge and stove. Just a few more weeks until we can close on our house! Can't wait!!

Turning into a little boy more and more each day....

Trying on Daddy's heavy vest.

Getting ready for lunch... tomato soup and grilled cheese. And yes, there's only 3 chairs here so Brian and I eat on the couch. :)

Hungry Hungry Hippos... they love it but boy, is it a LOUD game! Evan has been walking around squealing and screeching just to try to make as much noise.

I heard we're supposed to get snow this week so maybe the next post will have snow pictures!!

Our Move to Colorado

2010-11-04T18:22:00.005-04:00

Talk about whirlwind packing and cleaning... we found out Brian's class was cancelled on a Wednesday and were on the road Friday! It was a quick turn of events but we were excited to get out to Colorado. We rented a little U-haul to take all of our stuff.

This one would have loved to be out there too. Just their size... On the road! We took it slowly and stayed in 3 hotels along the way. A little mini-vacation.

Checking out the hotel pool.

I know this is terrible but I had to put this picture on... Brian had an awful reaction to the chlorine in one of the pools and could barely open his eyes. Fortunately visine helped.

Kansas is very flat...

A stop at Cracker Barrel one day. I think I see mountains!!

Are we there yet???

It was a fun trip out and we are loving Colorado Springs already. More to come soon but the big news is we bought a house and hope to close by the end of the month. Thanks for your prayers for our family... we appreciate you all.

Last Days in Kentucky

2010-11-04T17:31:00.005-04:00

In case you actually try to keep track of where we're living... we're not in Kentucky anymore... Brian's extra training got cancelled and we packed up (in less than 2 days) and drove out to Colorado Springs! We've been here about 10 days now and love it already! Here's some pics from before we left. Feeding the animals. Evan was scared-the others never were.

Corn maze

The farm had a little nature walk in the woods.

This log was about 5 or 6 feet off the ground.... love this of Nat.

Hanging on the branches.

I love fall.

A few random belly shots... not great but there's definitely a baby in there!

I'm just over 24 weeks now!

More coming...

Armor School Graduation

2010-10-19T10:49:00.003-04:00

We went to Brian's graduation on Friday. We just happened to sit right acrosss the aisle from him. Aunt Debbie came too and was a great help trying to keep all three kids quiet during the ceremony. Thanks!
Family picture in front of General Patton's portrait.

Way to go, Brian. We're proud of you!

Brian with Aunt Debbie-so glad you could celebrate with us.

Windy Day!!

Uncle Larry came down after work and they took us out to dinner to celebrate. Thanks. It's been fun to get to hang out with you guys so much. (Also, they watched the kids overnight for us a few weeks back so we could go out to dinner with Brian's friends and stay in a hotel in Louisville. We appreciate you!!)

Less than 3 weeks and we're on our way to Colorado!!

Catching up...

2010-10-19T10:36:00.004-04:00

Natalie is really into writing lately... she's constantly sounding out words and writing messages and stories. She wrote this for me one day... Bottom row first: "I luv you Mommy becuz you luv me so much" See how she had to make some new letters out of paper. :)

We went back to our favorite lake for a LONG walk one day... we went all the way up the left side this time. The kids had so much fun climbing on the rocks.
Run, run, run!!

Picnic lunch afterwards... we'd worked up quite an appetite!

Blakey and Mommy
Playing with friends... found a frog in their yard!

Pumpkin Patch!

2010-10-13T12:50:00.005-04:00

News first... we are still in Kentucky and will be for a few more weeks. Brian passed his Armor School and now has an additional school here at the post. We're enjoying our time but definitely ready to be settled as a family with our things again!

Other big news... we had the ultrasound yesterday... baby looks good and they think that it's a BOY. They weren't able to fully tell so they're giving me another ultrasound in 3 weeks to check again. We thought this might be a girl since I was pretty sick again this time and wasn't sick at all with the boys... but we're very happy and I guess Natalie will get to reign as Daddy's princess. :)

My computer isn't letting me load any more pictures right now but here's some from when we went to a Pumpkin Patch with one of the families from Brian's school last week. It was a very crisp fall day but we had a great time. Actually headed out to another one this afternoon. I love this season! :)

They had lots of activities for the kids. A silo filled with "corn tables" and lots of trucks and shovels and pails. Not sure what Evan's expression means here... Julia and her daughter Laura-she's just a few months younger than Evan. On the tractor hayride. It was really informative... he stopped to teach us all about the apple trees and then all about pumpkins. Picking pumpkins... we thought we were moving so we just got baby ones.

Finding just the right one...

We had an impromptu picnic with their homemade bread, homemade peanut butter, apples and apple cider.

Fun day! More to come when I can...

Veggie Tales and Visits

2010-10-04T16:55:00.010-04:00

We went back to Aunt Debbie and Uncle Larry's for a visit one day. Had loads of fun playing all day together. What a blessing to get to know these relatives while we're here. Thanks for "adopting" us!! :)

Playing out back... swings and sandbox.
Yummy ice pops

Trying out the bikes again.

Music lessons with Uncle Larry.

Great to spend time with you again Kate.

Making cookies after dinner.

Dressed in pjs, ready to go home. Thanks for the fun day!

I took the kids to see Veggie Tales Live in Cincinnati. They LOVE Veggie Tales and I got a great discount so it was worth the 2 1/2 hour trip. Although Blake obviously didn't like the 45 minute wait before the show started! :)

The show was great, they did all the favorite songs plus they sang to a bunch of 80's songs and had little stories and lessons. The kids absolutely loved it. Fun memory!(I tried posting a movie but it wouldn't let me... go to the Big Idea website for more info on the tour dates and to see video clips.)

After the show, we met up with my cousin Mark and his family to watch the Homecoming Parade for the high school where Johanna teaches.

Picking up all the candy.

Wow, what a haul! Early Halloween. :)

We spent the night with them... the kids had so much fun together-- playing with toys, dressing up, dancing, staying up late. What a great time.

Woah, scary Hayden and Blake!

The only picture of me (thanks to Blake) and somehow I didn't get a single one of Johanna. Sorry!

Pizza dinner

Princesses Chloe and Natalie

Happy Evan

Thanks so much for letting us come visit. We had a great time!

What a Difference a Daddy Makes

2010-09-25T11:20:00.006-04:00

Brian came home from the field and needed to wash all his gear. He enlisted the kids help and eventually it turned in to an all out family water fight... so much fun and something I probably wouldn't have thought to do with them--that's why we love our Daddy! Trying on the "armor" as they called it.

The helmet was so heavy, Blake couldn't even hold his head up straight!

Natalie loves to make silly faces for the camera.

Scrubbing down the dirty, muddy gear.Love you honey!!

And then... he turned the water on them!
They had so much fun... Evan wasn't so sure though. (I'm not sure this video is working... hopefully it goes through!)

And then, he let them have the hose!

I joined in the fun too-clothes and all. We were all totally soaked but such before-bedtime fun with Daddy! :)

I know it's blurry but it's all I could get.

Brian has one big final field exercise coming up--pray for him as this is the culmination of everything and will be high stress, high intensity...with little food and little sleep. He's done such a great job so far and has been working so hard and I'm so proud of him. Way to go babe! You're almost done!

Picnic and Playtime

2010-09-17T16:32:00.007-04:00

We went back to the ducks one day to walk around the lake and have a picnic. These ducks are so aggresive... I think Evan got nipped a few times. Standing on higher ground for safety!
After walking really far over all sorts of terrain with our dinky umbrella stroller while lugging our picnic bag and blanket, we discovered there's an entrance on the other side of the lake... right by playgrounds and picnic tables. Oh well, it was all part of the adventure.

Do you think they enjoyed their lunch? :)

Evan discovered how to climb up these stairs and go down this slide. He did it over and over again. I'm pretty relaxed, especially since he's our third kid but these steps still made me nervous!

Beautiful day with a beautiful view and my beautiful kids.

We had walked all the way around the right side to about the middle of this picture. Now we know... :)

We were invited to a friend's birthday party.

After cake and ice cream, the kids all played outside with all sorts of water things. Lots of fun.

Natalie will always find the animals.

Our Jeep was in the shop again all week so we've had to be creative at home. (Update-they thought they figured it out, ordered the part but it didn't fix the problem so it's still there. Thankfully, they finally gave me a rental minivan so we can get out of the house, especially with Brian being gone so much.)

Our fort under the table. That's our phone number up top. :)

We had lunch in our fort (and it was a "jammie day")

Natalie lined up an animal in each of our car seats and fed them too.

Brian's schedule is pretty crazy... gone in the field a week, home 2 days, gone 10 days, home 3 days, etc. We have no communication with him when he's gone but they usually they give them a couple days totally off so we do get some quality time together. One morning when he was making breakfast, the boys laid on the floor near him-guess they just wanted to be by their Daddy. And yep, he makes breakfast whenever he's home-I'm blessed. :)

World's Coolest Kid Experiment:

I learned this at MOPS this week and did it with the kids when we got home. It's so cool! Pour some milk in plate. Add a few drops of different colors of food coloring. (Not too much or it's not as pretty.)

Give the kids a "magic" toothpick. (Dip the end in regular dish soap.) Have them stick the toothpick in the colors and watch what happens!

Let them have fun!

Eventually they mix it all up into a brown mess but that's part of the fun. It's such an easy and neat thing to do... we did it 3 times! :)

Quote Time

2010-09-14T17:05:00.004-04:00

The best from the past few weeks:

Natalie: "I burped... and it tastes like dinner!"

Blake: "When I become a Daddy, I'll have a big wallet!"
When I was taking my prenatal vitamin, Natalie said: "Mom, you don't get to chew that?! You'll choke if you swallow it whole!" (I agree, why do they have to be so big??)
When Evan tried to kiss me on the lips, Natalie: "Did he think he was your husband and you were his wife?"
Natalie calls a whoopie cushion: "wooshie cooshie"
Blake calls an ambulance: "alience"
After church the kids were telling us about their lesson-Joseph forgiving his brothers. I asked, "Joseph might not have felt like forgiving them...what might he have wanted to do to them?" Natalie responded with "punch them in the face."
Natalie: "Why didn't God give us wings like birds? I wish he did."
Blake, seeing a man in a cowboy hat using an electric cart, "His horse is at home."
Natalie, after a conversation about how God watches out for all the people in the world, "Does He have big eyes?"
Natalie: "Blake, what are your kid's names going to be when you grow up?" Blake: "My kids will all be Woody and I'll be Buzz!"
After talking about bad dreams and the "God is Bigger than the Boogie Man" song from Veggie Tales at bedtime, Natalie told me the next morning, "I had a bad dream and so I prayed and smiled and got back to my sleeping. When you smile, it makes it go away."
Evan is learning more words-- quack quack (duck), ha (hot), tuh (stuck) and finally doing some signs now. Looking forward to adding his funny quotes in the years to come!

And an update... I have to wait longer than I thought for my ultrasound so it won't be until October... we'll keep you updated on whether there will be a new little girl or boy in our family! :)

Labor Day and More...

2010-09-08T18:43:00.008-04:00

Natalie and her crazy faces.
One night after bath Blake started tackling Evan and said, "I just need to wrestle someone!!" Guess he misses his Daddy.

We had planned to have picnic outside one day but it was so hot and there was no shade so we moved it indoors... still fun. :)

Evan watching the dough mix in the bread machine.

We tried out making soft pretzels... very yummy but we probably need some more practice twisting them. :)

There's a pizza place right near our house that has games and rides, kind of like Chuck E Cheese. We walked to it one of the days we were stranded at home with our jeep in the shop. (We've been having lots of trouble-and they can't figure it out, just won't start sometimes and has left me stuck in a store parking lot with all the kids several times now. Hopefully we can figure something out soon!)

We went to visit Brian's Aunt Debbie and Uncle Larry near Louisville for Labor Day. I hadn't met them yet (or their kids) and it had been awhile for Brian so it was a great day of catching up.

Hotdog lunch out back.

They have grandkids similar ages so our kids loved playing with all their toys.

Especially riding bikes since we don't have ours here.

Cousin Kate--great to finally meet you too! :)

Yummy cookout, complete with ribs and all the sides.

Evan especially loved the banana pudding dessert!

Trying to get some pics of everyone...

Gets harder the more kids we add...

Thanks so much for having us!

I had to take this picture... after a very long day at the doctor's office, it POURED rain on us on our way back to the car. As Natalie says, we were "soaped and wet" (soaking wet) and I just had to laugh. I thought, "what else can happen today?!"

We've definitely had our share of hard times and difficult things about being here but we've also had lots of great and wonderful memories to cherish too. The song and promise I keep clinging to is that God never lets go, He's with us through all of this... and always will be. What an incredible thought!

And I will fear no evil

For my God is with me

And if my God is with me

Whom then shall I fear?

Oh no, You never let go

Through the calm and through the storm

Oh no, You never let go

In every high and every low

Oh no, You never let go

Lord, You never let go of me.

To listen to the song on YouTube, click HERE

May you be blessed today with this promise!

Grandma and Katherine's Visit

2010-08-29T16:07:00.009-04:00

My mom and sister drove down to visit us for awhile. We had a wonderful visit packed with lots of fun activities. Making chalk drawings in the driveway for them.

Brian had been gone in the field and so he got a few days off...which was great that they happened to be this week so he could hang out with us.
We went to the KY State Fair. Lots of fun!

We saw a dog show--they were amazing!

Lunch time-gotta love fair food.

Evan was so tired... he fell asleep eating. (Thanks to my new friend Connie for letting us borrow her stroller.)

Natalie is super into cotton candy-had her first taste a few weeks ago and we told her it would be at the fair and I think that's the only thing she cared about. My mom gave the kids some quarters to spend and that was all she wanted!

We saw lots of animals... I thought this was cute, if pigs can be cute.

The girls.

Listening to a band

Our cute family. :)

My mom with this amazing balloon display (that's part of the octupus)

The next day, we went to the Patton Museum on post-dedicated to the history of Armor (tanks and armored vehicles, etc)

Brian taught us a lot about the tanks.

There little simulators so you could sort of see what it's like inside a tank-the kids LOVED it!!

See the teeny windows (and the cute wipers)-that's all they use to see out!

We went to our friend's house for dinner. Our families were great friends in Germany when I was kid and I used to babysit for them when they were 2 or 3 years old! All grown up now!

Evan loved Kelsey...looks like we found a babysitter!

Kentucky has proven to be a real crossroads for us and our family and friends. So many people have stopped by to see us. Stan and Gayla live about 5 minutes away and my teacher friend Debbie, cousin Mark, and Chad and Jenny (college friends) have all stopped in to visit. Brian's aunt and uncle live about an hour away so we'll see them over Labor Day. Who knew we'd have so many friends here! :)

Gayla and my mom... best of friends. :)

They invited us to use their backyard pool so we took them up on it the next day.

Such a fun day... and yummy picnic lunch.

We went out for German food their last night. Auntie Katherine with Natalie... and Blake.

Everyone enjoyed the schnitzel!

Thanks for coming Mom and Kath!! :)

Coming soon: quote time... and in few more weeks, the sex of our baby! :)

Brian's Birthday and More!

2010-08-10T15:06:00.006-04:00

It was Brian's birthday this past weekend. We went out to dinner as a family (all-you-can-eat ribs!) on Friday night. There's a couple of guys from Penn State that Brian did ROTC with who just got here to start their training so we had them over on Saturday. Opening some presents.
We played corn hole and had yummy homemade pizza for dinner. The kids LOVED Vinnie and Adam and have adopted them as "uncles" while we're here-and actually, Adam will be moving to Colorado Springs so we'll get to hang out with him there too.

I decided to get a little more creative with Brian's cake-especially since we were having Armor guys over as well. The kids and I made him a tank cake!

Not completely accurate but still fun. :)

Happy Birthday to you!!

My camera died so I got few pictures...but we had a great time!

Debbie, a kindergarten teacher I taught with in Germany was driving through KY and stopped to see us. It was great to catch up with her-such a small world!!

Making EggMcMuffins for Daddy to keep in his freezer so he can have a little better breakfast than a poptart! :)

Feeding the ducks at nearby lake, much more aggresive than the Bellefonte ducks!

Blake's 3rd Birthday!

2010-08-04T16:59:00.004-04:00

Blake turned 3 last week and we celebrated a day early so Daddy could be with us. We had cinnamon rolls for breakfast to start the day... balloons everywhere... and pizza for dinner.

My dad always made awesome birthday cakes for us when were growing up... mine are no where near the level of his but it's something I enjoy doing that I hope the kids will remember. He asked for a Mater cake... however, the thought of actually carving up cake into that shape and decorating it was a little too much to take on, especially after being here just a week and not having any of my "cake making supplies." So this is what we ended up with:
He still loved it though! :)

Blowing out the candles... or rather spitting out!

He actually didn't have a single Mater car, even though we have about 4 Lightnings so he was actually glad that it was plastic and not cake. (Funny thing: both N&B call him "Lightning THE Queen" instead of "McQueen." :)

Time for Presents!!Puzzle and Cars books Lincoln Logs from my parents. Brian's parents sent money which Blake loved holding in his hot little hand at the store as he picked out his prizes. Thanks!! And a train set from Mommy and Daddy. (Thanks Just Kids Resale! :) They have played with these new toys non-stop which has made the adjustment to the new house easier.

Natalie made this card for Blake. She cut out all the individual pieces and then glued them on another piece of paper.

We love you Blakey-B and we're so glad you're in our family! Tune in for more birthday celebrations soon--Brian turns 29 tomorrow... one more year before joining in me in the wonderful world of 30's! :)

Life in KY

2010-07-31T11:20:00.005-04:00

We went to the water park on post (well, pool with slides :) The kids are I were there all day and had a blast! Unfortunately, school starts back up this week down here so all the pools are closing already so we were glad to get to go before it closed for the summer. Really shallow area, great for little ones.
Snack time!

They have life vests which was great so the kids could swim in the deeper area without me having to hold on to all three at a time. And you can see how many people were there by the end of the day!!

We found this great wooden playground near our house. It's huge!

It actually continues back 2 or 3 times as much as you can see!

It's been really humid and rained a lot lately so we haven't played outside all that much even though we have a huge backyard.

We have played chalk and with cars a few times though.

To show you our backyard... Brian was washing the vehicles out back... ... the kids were playing in a shady part...

.... WAY over there!! It's huge!!

As you can see, we're doing well although we miss you all! Keep in touch! :)

Last days in PA!

2010-07-31T10:19:00.005-04:00

WELL...life is never dull with us!! For a variety of reasons, we packed everything up, sent it off to storage and moved down to KY to be near Brian during his training the next few months. We're staying in a rented furnished house about 20 minutes away and get to see him for dinner most nights and he gets to stay here with us most weekends. It's great to be all together again, even if everything is still a little in limbo. We're making the most of our time here but looking forward to getting all the way settled once we're in Colorado. Here's a recap of the past month or so. Our church does a sports camp each summer instead of VBS. Natalie loved that she was old enough to go and Blake loved that his Sunday School teacher was her teacher! :)
Brian came home for 4th of July to help us get ready to move. We got a lot done but also got to have a great picnic with our friends.

We had a great view of the fireworks near Beaver Stadium... they say Penn State's show is one of the Top 3 in the country--over 45 minutes long!

Spent lots of days at the pool with friends... went to Delgrossos Amusement Park with Jake and Cindy.

Train ride

Evan was big enough to go on the rides this year... he liked most but not this spin-y one... I don't blame him, I don't like spin-y ones either!!

Funnel Cake... so sad I won't be there to meet Cindy's baby girl!

MOPS "Mocktail" party... and last night with all of them... I miss you wonderful ladies! Thanks for the awesome cookbook... I love it! :)

Packing out! One great thing about all the moves with the military...they pack it up for you!!

Goodbye House!

On our way down to KY, I stopped off at Cedarville where I went to college... hadn't been back since. Hard to believe it was 12 years ago this month that I first set foot on campus! This was the Cowfarm that 5 of us rented our senior year. Pretty much the same...but no porch swing and probably no blue light special!! :)

We had grapes looking at Cedar Lake-- I took a bunch of pictures and we went in the DMC to use the bathroom. I was kinda glad it was summer... we were definitely in our travel clothes and looking pretty scrubby so I was glad I didn't see anyone I know! :)

On our way to KY!!

Evan Walking!

2010-06-30T09:12:00.004-04:00

We had dinner outside with our neighbors over the weekend...complete with juicy drippy popsicles! Fun in the summertime!
Evan finally started walking the day after Brian left... this video is for you honey. (If you get this in email form, you may have to click to link up above to be able to watch the video.)

We love you Daddy!

2010-06-22T14:59:00.003-04:00

So it's actually been two months to the day since I last posted but let me tell you all the reasons. (I planned to do it in pictures but we've had some computer trouble the last several weeks so I couldn't access any pics and well, now it frankly would just take too much time!)

SO here's what we've been up to: Brian finished up classes, graduated from Penn State, was commissioned as a 2LT, had lots of parties surrounding that, he and I went on a great 3 night trip to DC (sans kids-thanks Dad, Mom and Kath), we went on a lot of picnics and day trips as a family, Brian packed up everything and left for KY for his Armor training for the next lot of months and we're still here hanging out in PA.

See, we've been just a little busy! :)

And now, pictures for Daddy of the last couple weeks--with captions 100% from Natalie!

I am being silly.
I like to put my eyeballs up.

I like to say "I love you"

Blake is riding a pony.

We are feeding the birds at the zoo.

(Me here: we went to NJ to see my family and went to a great zoo for kids one day.)

That's me!

Blake is feeding the birds.

Blake smiling on the train.

Evy is on the chair at the beach. We went with Natalie and Blake and Grandma and Mommy. I like the water when we were standing close to the waves with Grandma.

This is Father's Day cake with Grandpa. And Happy Father's Day to you too Daddy!

Blakey is in his bathing suit playing at the pool at Grandma's and he likes to play in the water. That's all.

Blakey likes crackers and he's sitting on Mommy's lap.

Natalie is outside by the pool. That's all.

This is when we were eating on the back patio. I don't know... if you want to say something else Mom, you can.

(Me: We made Turkish food for dinner one night and I thought this pic turned out really pretty looking so I had to put in on. It was good! :)

Evy doesn't have his bathing suit on or even a daiper. That's so silly and you would laugh at it if you saw it!

I love you Daddy. I miss you and I'll see you in a couple weeks. That's all.

Grandparents, Easter and more!

2010-04-22T10:19:00.006-04:00

The kids and I headed to my parents for a weekend when Brian was away. Lots of fun as always. Not sure why it's so blurry but we went to IHOP for breakfast one morning... Kids Eat Free!

Splashing in Grandma's bubble bath!

Coloring Easter Eggs

Aunt Katherine and Grandpa helped make some beautiful eggs.

Egg Hunt in the basement.

(somehow i'm missing a few more pics of the weekend but it's a pain to add them back in... just move on to our MOPS Easter Egg Hunt... :)

Exploring their loot.

The kids had SO much fun playing with our plastic eggs and Easter things... see everything in the window? Hours of fun!

Easter!

Trying for a pic of all of them after church... not so great.

Brian's Dad and sister came over for the afternoon.

Yummy Easter Meal.

We walked/rode bikes on a walk and to the playground.

Aunt Bethany and Evan

Poppa helping Blake

We got to meet my mom for lunch at McDonald's one day as she was driving through PA.

We love Grandma.

City Serve

2010-04-22T09:46:00.004-04:00

Every spring, our church cancels all it's services for the weekend and encourages everyone to go out and "be the church" by volunteering to help in a variety of service projects around the community. Our LifeGroup chose to mulch (well, wood chip) a playground for a church's dayschool. It was a lot of fun and great to get the kids involved in serving too. Loading up the wheelbarrows...

...and dumping them out...

... for the kids to help spread. The kids had little shovels and rakes and did a great job!

Except for the fact that it was freezing out!

We went in the building for a little bit to warm up and have a snack. I felt like I was teaching pre-school again. :)

Melinda and Alayna

Natalie especially impressed us... she worked hard!

The pile's almost gone!

Way to Go everyone... it looks great. I know it will be a blessing to the church and the school.

Resurrection Rolls

2010-04-03T10:02:00.004-04:00

This Easter, the kids are finally "old enough" to understand things a little more. We've been having so much fun doing different activities to learn about the real meaning of Easter and it's awesome to see their little hearts and minds grasping that Jesus is alive and loves them!

We made these Resurrection Rolls and I think we've found a new Easter tradition!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Dip a large marshmallow in melted butter and then in cinnamon sugar.

Carefully wrap one crescent roll triangle (we used homemade dough instead) around the marshmallow. Pinch the seams together very tightly to seal in the marshmallow as it melts. (Even if it does melt out a little due to kid's craftmanship, it's okay-it still works! :)

Bake on a lightly greased baking sheet for about 15 minutes until golden brown.

IT'S AN EMPTY TOMB! JESUS IS ALIVE!

We're going to make these Easter Story Cookies tonight. Enjoy!

Natalie and Blake have been singing this song all week:

(sung to Mary Had a Little Lamb)

Jesus is alive today,

Alive today,

Alive today!

Jesus is alive today,

Alive forevermore!

HAPPY EASTER!

Dining Out

2010-03-31T14:25:00.006-04:00

We went to Brian's Dining Out a couple weeks ago.
These guys are all branching Armor like Brian.

Brian with his friend Robby

All the seniors

I had taken the kids down to Brian's parents so we got to have a kid-free night and sleep-in the next day, which is very rare! Thanks so much! :)

Spring Break

2010-03-31T13:42:00.003-04:00

Brian had a week off from classes so we were able to catch up on lots of fun family time. We went to the mall one day and the kids got to ride a few rides (this is pretty much their favorite thing in the world!) Well, almost... we headed over to Fun Unleashed, which IS their favorite!
Yummy pizza lunch... we love this place!
We play with them on the slides and things but it's great because we can also sit and talk while the run all around (and above us!)

Evan figured out how to climb up this... and the next day climbed up our stairs at home!

We rented lots of movies, Brian went skiing, went out to eat a few times, played lots, and had a great break together!

We had a candlelight pizza picnic on the floor. The kids thought it was so special.

After Evan was in bed, we popped popcorn and watched a movie with Natalie and Blake.

Such fun family traditions! :)

I love my kitchen.

2010-03-15T16:22:00.001-04:00

I love to try new recipes and although Brian would probably sometimes prefer a little less creativity, the kids are generally pretty good kitchen helpers and tasters. :)

I tried this Garlic Focaccia this week. It was SO good!

I mixed it my bread machine and baked it on my bar pan... the kids and I practically ate the entire thing before Daddy came home. If you don't have a bread machine you could google some recipes but this one is fabulous if you do: Click this link for recipe.We had a Birthday party at MOPS so I made this cake... so many people asked how I did it so I thought I'd put it on here... I taped two pieces of paper together to make the size of the cake. Then I roughly drew the letters on the paper, cut them out, laid them on the cake and used a knife to trace/cut the letters. Then transferred to the covered cutting board. It helps to do a "crumb coat" (lightly frost with diluted frosting) and then freeze before frosting the whole thing. And last.... Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies!

A student's mom gave me this recipe in Germany when I was teaching. I'd never tried them but we did this week and they were delicious! I have lots of gluten-free friends so this would be great for you and your kids. Enjoy!

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup chocolate chips

Combine all together and bake at 300 for 8-10 minutes.

I know these aren't the most nutritious recipes (we actually do eat quite healthy!) but they were the "keepers" of the week so just had to share... Enjoy! :)

Soccer and Grandma

2010-03-14T15:58:00.004-04:00

Natalie did Soccer Shots-- an intro to soccer for preschool-aged kids. She had a lot of fun with it although I think she had more natural talent for gymnastics. We'll see! :) Her coach was great-- learned all their names the first week!

After the last week, we went out to Pizza Hut with our neighbors, who's son Nathan was in the class too. Lots of fun! Grandma G was visiting us and got to see Natalie play too.

"I want to play in the snow too!"

Still no walking... but lots of standing and cruising!

Going on a "car trip" on the couch. Look how much they packed.

Being the Mommy... am I on the phone all the time? :)

My Mom came for two short weekends (with a visit to my sister in Indiana in between). Always great to have her here!

She let us sleep in and got up with the kids... Thanks! When I came down, they'd traced Natalie's body and had paper taped to to the wall measuring everyone's height. Fun memories with Grandma! :)

Sweet Retreat, Snow and SuperBowl

2010-02-28T21:35:00.004-05:00

We went with our LifeGroup to a Weekend to Remember over Valentine's Day... which is a marriage conference put on my FamilyLife. It was so great!! They have them in almost every city and we would highly recommend it if you get the chance... it'll change your marriage! :) Go to www.familylife.com for more info and also to sign up for marriage emails and resources.Out to lunch on Saturday with our group. Sat night is "Date Night"

It was in Hershey, PA and there were Hershey kisses EVERYWHERE! Besides edible ones all over, they were on the walls, in the bathroom...

...and even on our sheets! :)

We had a great time together.... thanks to Brian's parents for watching the kids for us! We appreciate it!

We didn't get as much as some places but we did get our share of "February Fury" snow.

Making Valentine's with the kid's feet.

We had the guys from Monday Night Football over to watch the SuperBowl. Lots of fun, lots of food. And I have to mention that I ended up being the winner of our Pro Pick'em contest! Guess Brian's taught me well!

My football cake... next time I'll look at a real one to get it a little more accurate! Oh well. :)

More to come...

Evan's First Birthday!

2010-02-20T12:27:00.004-05:00

Evan turned 1 on February 6th. All 3 kids were really sick with RSV so we had to cancel the plans of our neighbors coming over for pizza and cake. We tried to make the best of it! :)

The turtle cake I made... turned out pretty cute actually. Trying to eat pizza... I think they each had about 3 bites.
The birthday boy ate some...

"Can I just go to bed?"

"Happy Birthday to You!"

He did eat some of it...but you can tell he didn't feel well.

Blake didn't eat ANY cake... I've never seen him ever pass up a dessert. Definitely sickie! :)

Opening presents... some books, new spoons and a musical turtle (hence the turtle cake). The video isn't uploading... I'll keep trying.

Ready to go to bed--they were all asleep by 7pm!

Happy One Year Birthday, Evan! We love you!

Visit to Chris and Michelle's House

2010-02-20T11:34:00.005-05:00

Nathan, Natalie and Blake

Evan and Mommy

Enjoying his dinner!

We went to visit Brian's brother and family for the weekend. It's nice being so close, even if for a short time. We had a wonderful time and the kids played so well together. Thanks for all the yummy meals and good talks. We had a blast!!

Lily trying to get Evan's food.

Adam and Allie

Natalie and Allie... cute cousins!

Blake carried that movie the whole weekend.

Daddy and Natalie-- what a wonderful weekend! :)

Back home... cooking day!

As well as cooking up some ground beef and chicken for recipes and a few meals to freeze, we tried some new things. We made homemade oatmeal packets that were easy and turned out great and some homemade granola which we're loving on yogurt. (Click the links for the recipes.)

I tried to make homemade hot pockets since Brian loves them for lunches after classes but they did not turn out well-way too doughy. We often make tortilla pizzas so I decided to make up a bunch up to freeze and it works great! Brian can just pull out a couple and broil for a few minutes. Easy! (Just assemble sauce and cheese and whatever toppings on a tortilla. Freeze individually on cookie sheets and then stack on top of each other in a ziplock bag and keep in the freezer.)

I'd love to hear your quick kitchen tips that work for you! :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-12T12:25:00.003-05:00

Sorry it's been so long since I posted... we've had a lot of snow (well, not as much as other parts) and then been plagued with illness for awhile now. All three kids had RSV and now Evan and Natalie both have ear infections! It's been a rough couple weeks but the kids are off to their grandparents and Brian and I are headed to a Family Life Weekend to Remember Conference for a much needed break from sickies and school work. Can't wait! :)They stuffed their PJs with toys...

... and Evan has learned how to make a mess!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Pampered Chef Discount!

2010-01-26T15:29:00.004-05:00

As some of you know, I'm going to be a break from Pampered Chef for awhile as we get ready to move this summer. As a thank you to everyone, I'm offering 10% off EVERYTHING in the catalog through Jan 31st! This is a great time to get those items you've been waiting around to order. :)

(You must order through me and/or if you order online enter my name as the host for me to be able to subtract the discount.)

And, there's a FREE serving utensil (choice of large spatula, mini spatula or slice-n-serve) with an order of $60 or more!

I'm also selling what I have left in inventory at 50% off. I can send you the list by email if you're interested.

Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks! :)

Quote Time

2010-01-26T13:45:00.004-05:00

Here's the latest from my bambinos:

B: Holding his orange striped shirt to his chest, "I want to wear this one, it's my best friend!"

N: "Did Mary and Joseph sleep in sleeping bags?"

N: (in the bath, on her birthday) "Can I try to wash myself? I think that's what 4-year-olds do."

B: "I not 'bud', I Blake!"

Toy Story related:
N: (going into Bed Bath & Beyond) "Hey, it's like Buzz Lightyear!"
B: "To Cindy and E-On!" (infinity and beyond)
B: "Mom, it's not Buzz. It's Buzz LIGHTYEAR!"

B: "This eight-meal (oatmeal) is not hot anymore Mom. It's warm and cozy!"

N: (having a conversation about pregnant ladies) "It's like the moms are always taking their babies on a walk in their tummy strollers."

B: (after getting honey on something) "I be like Pooh Bear!"

N&B: "Let me tell you something through your ear" (whisper)

B to N: (wearing her Christmas dress): "You're a pretty princess!"

B: "This what you talkin' bout?" (whenever you ask him for something)

N: "Phew, I need to sit a minute to get my power back" (while running around with Blake)

And saving the best for last, at bedtime on our anniversary:

Natatlie: "Dear Jesus, Mommy and Daddy are having a special dinner tonight. Please help Blake and Natalie stay in their beds. Amen."

New Year's Eve and Beyond

2010-01-10T15:57:00.006-05:00

We spent New Year's Eve with our neighbors Jake and Cindy. We're so blessed that they moved in next door. The kids love playing together, we like hanging out with them too... and we get to trade babysitting for each other every now and then! :) We had dinner together and then played awhile.

I'm starting another new tradition... making a cake (or something) on New Years and taking a picture with the Year in number candles and the people we were with. It'll be fun to look back over the years and the memories (and I suppose see how the kids have grown except they weren't awake for this picture!)

We tried to get a picture with the timer on the table... not the greatest shot of us but at least we'll have the memory... by the way, the Caramel Cheesecake was yummy. :)

Our family dressed up before church one Sunday. (Trying to wear some Christmas outfits at least once this year! :)

Brian had another full week off before classes start again so we've been having lots of fun as a family-- relaxing and recovering from the holidays, watching lots of football, hanging out and getting some projects done around the house. It's been great!

We got some new shelves for the kid's rooms so they were helping Daddy put them together.

Evan really changed this past month...he's definitely moving out of being a baby and into a toddler. He can pull up on everything... get into things... laugh... and even dance!

We took Daddy to Fun Unleashed one day... we had a great time climbing through the tubes and going down the slides. We even carried Evan up with us and let him climb around too. It was a lot of fun!

Pizza lunch... Brian looks mad in this shot but we really did have a blast. Great place for the kids to run off some energy especially when it's so cold outside. We have Brian's deer heads hanging in the stair case and Natalie tried to throw a pacifier down the steps for Evan. Look where it landed! I don't think she could do that again if she tried! :)

Brian begins his last semester tomorrow. Can't believe our time here is already rapidly coming to an end. We've made lots of great friends and plan to make the most of the next months we have together before we move on again. Thanks for being involved in our lives. We're so blessed!