Snakes, Snails, and Puppydog Tails

Update

2011-03-13T01:02:00.000-05:00

So I really want to get back in the blogging game, but I see that a year of only blogging once or twice has left me in the dust. So pardon the dust as I try to sort through all the changes and get back on track. It may be a little messy and a little sporadic as I try to figure all this out. In the meantime here are a few pictures of my crew with the newest addition!

The Sugar and Spice of the House (she's more sugar than spice)

Always with the thumb when she's sleepy or eating solids.

Mr. GQ himself!

Very proud big brother with his little sister!


Talent runs in the family!While I'm trying to figure out how all the new formatting works.... check out my friend's new blog... it will keep you in stitches!Who Needs a Medicine Ball?

Newest additon

2010-08-02T19:16:00.003-04:00

I should have posted this long ago.. but HERE SHE IS.... McKenzey (Kenzey) Olivia Sutton. Born July 10th, 2010. 8lbs 1 oz

Science Fair

2010-05-19T10:44:00.003-04:00

At the end of last month, Carter was part of the annual Science Fair at Austin Peay University...
For each local school there were three children competing for each grade. Carter was the ONLY 1st grade home schooler to compete.There were A LOT of first graders!
While Carter didn't place in the competition, every child received a participation medal.

I think he still had a lot of fun.
He learned a lot and it was a great experience overall. Not bad for MY first science fair project since 3rd grade!!
For Carter's project he chose five different paper airplane designs (including one he designed himself). The then flew each one five times and then averaged their distance. His goal was to see which paper airplane design flew the farthest. "The Moth" design was the winner.
While we WON'T be doing this EVERY year, I do plan to make it a regular part of our school schedule. (Per my mom's advice, I'm going to schedule them so that I only have one project at a time.)

New Additions

2010-05-09T20:51:00.007-04:00

So this is Carter's last week of first grade! YEAH - except that I need to order books for next year AND get started ASAP on next years school to give myself some "wiggle room" to work with after the baby is born.

Which brings up the newest addition coming in July... around the 15th they say, but we have another ultrasound later this month to see the size of our little GIRL! Believe it or not a girl!... I won't believe it - at least until she is born - then I'll believe it! The pregnancy is for SURE the hardest one yet - for me anyway. The baby is doing great! Everything has been progressing with good with the pregnancy. All those annoying pregnancy problems are what is getting me!

We've also had another addition in the past few months... Barrett, a golden retriever. After praying for over a year for "the right dog at the right time", Carter had a BIG answer to prayer. I have to say Barrett is the perfect dog for our family. He is patient beyond words with the little ones (and sometimes the big ones too) and can rough-tumble with the big ones! He has definitely helped Wyatt (and my nieces) conquer the fear of dogs. I would have to say that Barrett really is the perfect dog for our family. It was worth the waiting and praying to have him. It has taught Carter about the power of prayer and patience for God's timing. (me too!)That's all the new additions we have for now and I HOPE HOPE HOPE to be more consistent in updating this blog. I really do love doing it - it's just finding the time now!

Fall Festival Fun

2009-11-02T00:17:00.003-05:00

We had a great time at a local church's Fall Festival! It was a great time. My boys couldn't make it but we had Camo Carter
Spidey Hayden
and Monster Truck Driver Wyatt that were able to go with us!
We didn't get to do EVERYTHING, but they did a LOT.
In fact they had 7 HUGE inflatable houses PLUS games PLUS trunk or treating!
The thing they LOVED the most was riding a horse for the first time!
I'm so proud of Wyatt - he is usually TERRIFIED of animals, but rode it like a champ!
It was a blast even if someone was a little grumpy...

A Family Favorite

2009-10-23T20:33:00.004-04:00

One of our favorite things to do as a family since we moved has been going to the local dirt track! The boys LOVE LOVE IT!
Here are some pictures of our recent trip to watch the championships!

It was really cool and windy that night!

If you ask Wyatt what he wants to do on his birthday, he says go to the dirt race track! He is soooo in love with it! When we went the first time, he was mad that he had to leave early and Daddy and Carter got to stay late! This will continue to be a family favorite I believe!

Boy meets ... OUCH!

2009-10-20T22:08:00.002-04:00

This is what happens when you are chasing your big brother through the house and he moves... leaving your face to meet the edge of the coffee table. OUCH ...
Day one (yesterday)
Day Two (today)Not as swollen today, but much more colorful!

How to carve the perfect pumpkin...

2009-10-16T23:46:00.002-04:00

To carve the right pumpkin you
#1 - Draw out your plan

#2 - Draw it on your pumpkin
#3 - Hire the right help#4 - Keep a close eye on your hired help

#5- VOILA... the perfectly carved pumpkins...
Happy Harvest time!... Remember to let YOUR light shine!

Pumpkin Farm

2009-10-15T00:09:00.003-04:00

On Monday I took the boys to a pumpkin farm not far from here. It was a great Christian farm and we had a great time. There was so much to do on the farm... not just pick pumpkins!
They had two old trucks they had converted into "corn kernel boxes". The boys loved digging and loading the kernels. I think they would've played in those all day! They also had a huge haybale fort and a lawnmower train that were a boy's paradise!

Before we headed out to pick our pumpkins the owner of the farm shared a wonderful lesson about how pumpkins grow and how we are to let the light of Jesus shine from us. It made the pumpkin picking experience so much more exciting! The boys are still looking for the "belly button" on the pumpkins!
Other activities at the farm were the corn maze (with Carter as our fearless leader!). We used antique machines to remove the kernels from the corn and grind them to feed the animals.
They had a wonderful gift shop, beautiful mums, and FINALLY I found butternut squash for a decent price!
It was a lot of work, but well worth the drive and effort! (can you tell just how hard it was from the look on Carter's face? )
Up next... our carved pumpkins!!

It's a Pizza Party!

2009-10-08T19:01:00.008-04:00

So I've been MIA I know...
I've discovered that I have no moderation abilities in my body. I'm an all or nothing sort of girl!
(As evidenced by my eating habits! - Brings up an interesting thought about why people always start a diet on Mondays.. but I'll save that on for another time!)

Life has been crazy with moving, soccer games, and babysitting two more PLUS homeschooling Carter and NOW Hayden too it seems (he insists I really wanted to wait on most of it, but he really is into it - so why not!). I must say that I'm really impressed with how good he is picking up on things. We are all getting into a rhythm and some days are better than others.

Here's a look at our Pizza night (Chicago-style deep dish pizza) last night. We had a great time and WILL be doing it again. (I'll be posting the recipe on my recipe blog if you are interested.)
It was alot of fun for everyone and worth the work!
Have fun watching Bryan "spin some dough" (I had extras so we made 2 flat pizza crusts to freeze for another night)

I'll try to be better about keeping in touch. My goal is once a week... hopefully!

BABYSITTING

2009-08-22T20:19:00.001-04:00

BABYSITTING - or as Carter says... "Cousins' Camp daycare"... in short watching my 3 nieces is what my life has consisted of lately... It's been busy and interesting. Girls are DEFINETLY different than boys!
The smallest one is H - she is 6 months and little for her age! This girl is tough though, she's already made it through Wyatt "helping" get her our of the pack n play!!
Next up is A - she doesn't slow down or let the boys stop her! She has already been found hanging on to the outside rail of the deck - because she saw the boys doing it!

The oldest is B - she is a true firstborn! She and Carter have already butted heads a couple of times. This year she starts kindergarten.. so I will only be watching her on teacher work days.
I've been trying to think of things to keep them busy... so far we've colored, fought over the power wheels jeeps, played outside, fought over the power wheels jeeps, played inside.. fought over the ... you get the idea!

Dress up has been a big hit, but we don't have the girly dresses!We even visited the local children's museum! It was great a very small local place to go, but great to let the kids go and not worry about them!

It was a great place to explore and escape the heat!!
These two don't let the heat slow them down though...

What do you when it's raining?

2009-08-20T23:59:00.005-04:00

What do you do when it's raining out side... enjoy it!

Hot HUMID SOUTH

2009-08-10T23:34:00.004-04:00

So we've done it.. we are officially MOVED!! It's been a week and a half since we left Michigan for the HOT HUMID south!! (I've really forgotten how HOT and HUMID it is down here! - We had such a mild summer in Michigan it's really been a shock!)
I hope to post more faithfully... now that we are somewhat "settled". Today was the first day of babysitting for me.. my three boys PLUS my three nieces! Six kids ages 6 - 6 months! It went well... there are things I need to work on, and creative new ideas to keep all the little hands busy!!!
For now.. I'll just share Carter's tour of our new house.. not sure that the sound works, but you can see it (hopefully)

Way to go HAYDEN PLUS Big news

2009-06-30T16:11:00.006-04:00

WOW it's been a long time... I bet you're surprised to hear from me again!

To be honest I haven't had the desire to blog at all!

The main reason is that I couldn't share what I wanted to share... until now!

BUT I'll keep you in suspense until the end of this post... just to make sure you read it!

I won't bore you with all the what's happened in our household since my last post... that would take too long. In the past 24 hours Hayden's life has been VERY eventful.

Last night he learned to ride a two wheeler. He went from training wheels to pro in seconds. Bryan took the training wheels off and he TOOK OFF with no help at all.

This is the ACTUAL first picture of his first ride with NO training wheels. (We think the fact that his training wheels were unbalanced and barely touched the ground before helped him learn on his own.) The only problem he has is starting off himself, but he's already getting the hang of that!He's pretty proud that he can ride like a BIG boy!! I can't say that I'm suprised - He's always done this - it's like he watches and learns how to do things right then just DOES IT.

He did it with sitting, crawling, walking, and now riding a two wheeler.

The boy just amazes me!Here's a video of his great job riding.

He deserves two thumbs up for such a great job!He's had a rougher day today though... after another night with a low grade fever and headache (this has been going off and on since Friday) I took him to the doctor this morning - thinking he had a sinus infection.

NOPE- he has PNEUMONIA!!!

He keeps telling me that he feels better and can go ride his bike, but I'm not buying it!

I will probably let him go ride a little later, but not for too long!

NOW for the big news -

after 12 years of working with the ministry we do in Michigan we are MOVING!!

This is HUGE for us. This is the only "married" life we have known and it's all our boys have known their entire lives!

We are very excited because we KNOW it's what God wants us to do, but scared too!

This move will allow us to be closer to family and the boys will be able to get to know their cousins better! The boys are excited too- although I don't know how excited they will be when they don't have the 180 acres to roam on like they do here!

Here are their first thoughts...

Carter - "Do they have snow in Tennessee? Will we be able to go snowboarding?"

Hayden - "Can Joel go too?" (I think he's going to have the hardest time leaving Joel.)

Wyatt - He didn't say much, but he's 2 1/2 and just copies what his brother's say!

I REALLY don't know how much I'll be able to post since our move time is the end of July/first of August, but I'm so glad to have the "secret" out so that I can freely blog again.

The lost tooth...

2009-06-09T10:31:00.003-04:00

Between baseball and now family camp I've not TAKEN the time to blog... to be honest I'm not really motivated - MAYBE some comments would help me get back in it!! (hint hint!)

So instead of playing "catch up" with blogged I'll just start with yesterday...we'll really 2 weeks ago, but the main part is from yesterday...

Two weeks ago I noticed that Carter had his first loose tooth. BUT I also noticed that the permament tooth was coming in FAST directly behind it.

I called the dentist when the tooth was almost all the way in and they said to give it 2 weeks...

So now to yesterday... the tooth still wasn't out - it moved a little, but not enough for me to pull. So I called and we made a trip to the dentist....which is an hour and a half drive. *YUCK*

NOW the tooth is out, but you can't really tell because the new one is almost fully in!

Carter did great... Wyatt was the one who was worried because he saw the dentist use the pliers to pull it out! Now all he says is " Carter got big hurt and I NOT do it now!" He was so worried that he was next!

On the trip back (Hayden was playing with a friend so I only had 2 boys) I stopped with the boys at a rest area to take Wyatt potty (workin' on the potty thing) Carter decided to LOOK at his tooth they pulled.. then DROPPED it on the ground!

Little little tooth... in a parking lot - I never noticed before all the little multi-colored stones they use to make a parking lot! Take a look next time and the picture trying to find a child's tooth! A needle in a haystack would be easier!

After looking for about 15 minutes, I took the boys to the bathroom thinking I would NEVER find it - but hey he'll lose more teeth, right!?

I told Carter "Let's pray we find it." So we stopped to pray and went back to the van. I buckled Wyatt in and thought "I'll look ONE last time." So I got on my knees looked for about 2 minutes, I STILL didn't find it. I got up to get in the van and THERE IT WAS!!

I still can't believe we found it. I told Carter "Look God answered our prayer... He even cares about a tooth." Then he said, "Yeah, and he cares about us too!" You got that right kiddo!

So needless to say it was an adventure... we won't forget about the first tooth Carter lost... REALLY lost!

2009-06-09T10:05:00.000-04:00

Check out the new website of scripture verse tees!!

It's sooo cool!

It looks worse

2009-05-11T22:28:00.002-04:00

This is what happens when boy-meets-road! It looks worse than it is... REALLY... by the time his nap was over today his lip wasn't even swollen anymore!

Everyday happenings

2009-04-22T16:54:00.004-04:00

This is an everyday occurrence in our house.
Usually Wyatt starts it.. (when no one suspects it)

Then Hayden continues it..

Then not too far behind them is big bro Carter and Daddy jumping in the mix...

Oh the joys of boys!

PRAY PRAY PRAY for Stellan

2009-04-21T08:10:00.000-04:00

This morning at 8:30am Stellan will be having HEART surgery... please pray for him and his family.. Check out his sweet momma's blog for specifics on how to pray!

We are just that mean..

2009-04-20T22:05:00.005-04:00

Because we are just that mean... and because he asked for it!

Easter pictures!

2009-04-15T15:12:00.007-04:00

Easter weekend was a lot of fun.
We had some friends (Tony and Mary) who live nearby come up and visit...
they brought their 4 wheelers (one is "Carter-sized")
and have left them in our care for the week!

I don't think this boy can stop smiling....

Wyatt was actually having fun.. you just can't tell it!
I boiled "some" (meaning a DOZEN) eggs to dye for Easter...
but then Bryan "remembered" blowing out the yoke of eggs with his Grandma when he was little....

So I left that up to him...

and the boys...

I wish I had gotten this a second later... Wyatt accidentally sucked in!!

Which left me with a DOZEN eggs in a huge bowl and LOTS of scrambled eggs the next day!

We dyed eggs on Friday night... and Mary helped Hayden put stickers on the eggs.

Carter even took a break from his Wii playing to decorate too.

As usual Hayden's the one who REALLY gets into it!

Although Wyatt HAD to do everything HIMSELF...

which was really tricky with the actual dying the egg part!

We gave the boys their Easter baskets on Saturday.. and idea I got from Holly's post the other day. It really helps separating the FUN of candy, eggs, baskets, Easter bunny with the REASON we celebrate Easter. Rejoicing in our Risen Saviour!

Hayden's basket....

Wyatt's basket

Carter's basket

On Easter we were in such a rush to get to church I forgot to get the boys picture BEFORE..

you never know what will be left AFTER!

So as soon as we got home I asked Bryan to take the boys picture while I got lunch ready...

This is what he got...

Oh.. and this... (notice Wyatt took off his shoe!!)
Fortunately his first picture was the best one!

Happy Easter.. He is RISEN and coming again!

Chicago Children's Museum!!!

2009-04-07T22:17:00.006-04:00

While Andrew and his family were visiting last weekend we made a trip over to Chicago. If you are ever in Chicago you HAVE to make a trip to the children's museum. It's great!! We had such a blast and the kids did too! The price may be a little steep at $10 a person (kids too - except for under one year.) BUT - if you check their site they have discount and even FREE days or half days!!! SOOOOOOO worth it even if you pay the full price. Go prepared to spend a LONNNG time the there!

The first things my boys did and LOVED was the boat/tunnel/ ladder that stretches for 3 FLOORS!! It's kind of freaky with them walking so high over your head!

Carter (of course) didn't hesitate and flew right across it!Bailey (my niece on the left) did great tooo. Hayden (he's on the right) was "overly cautious" and didn't want to walk out after climbing up... Wyatt takes after Carter and practically RAN over Hayden to the end of it..Wyatt going again... with NO ONE to slow him down!! That boy is a bulldozer to the core! Bailey again...

They loved it and since it's in the center we kept "coming back to it".... but on to the many other rooms.

The building room was a HUGE HIT with my boys... all FOUR of them
The building was a little over Wyatt's level... but they have fun little bolt puzzles that were perfect for him!
Hayden just liked dressing up like "Superman Builder Hayden"
This was the first "room" we stopped in... and we (the little boys and I) would've stayed longer, but it was SOOOOO HOT with the sun streaming in. So Wyatt (and I) got bored quickly and looked around. We found the Water Room.. and went to get Hayden .. leaving Bryan and Carter to finish their project...(Bryan didn't want to stop building. It was quite funny to see all the dads and a few moms building and the kids wandering around or gone to another room!) They took some pictures of their finished Tree house... it turned out pretty impressive...

The Water Room was a refreshing cool off after the HOT building room

This picture of Carter is blurry because that's how he spent most of the day.....in a blur running here and there!
Andrea LOVE LOVE LOVE the water....

It even tasted good... YUCK!
Hayden had his missions he was doing... Notice the plea for help in his eyes - instead Aunt Rachael took this picture... LOVE IT!

These two are trouble together!Another room was a town... with different things in the town.. grocery store... bus... auto shop...They had a "undercity" build the plumbing area that Carter spent time in... the boy is such a builder!!!Wyatt driving the ambulance..There were soooo many rooms... insect/garden, dino dig, forest, art, games, safety room...we didn't spend as much time in the rest of them... and I didn't get pictures from them either. I know if we went back there would still be so much to do...

Fire"woman" Bailey.. and Wyatt - the dog!

Fire"woman" Bailey and Hayden - the dog... why are my boys the dogs?

It was SOO much fun... we were all wiped out!!! But of course had to get a picture on Navy Pier (for the record... Rachael and I DIDN'T want to be in the picture.. Wyatt just wouldn't let me put him down!) After that we went for some great Chicago pizza at our favorite place Giordano's... GO there and get their stuffed deep dish pizza.... sooo good - one piece FILLS you up!

ONE LAST PICTURE from the day.... I loved it.. from the dino dig room... Wyatt is such a ham!!!

Visit from the cousins

2009-04-05T19:01:00.004-04:00

Last weekend we had a blast with Andrew (Bryan's Brother), Rachael and their THREE girls!! It was so much fun!This was the first time we got to meet Hannah or as Wyatt says "Hannah-baby". He couldn't get enough of her and constantly wanted to hold her!

We did make him surrender her so that Carter and Hayden would get a chance...by this point Hayden was "done holding"...
Carter took a break from his playing Wii to "talk" to Hannah! He even got her to coo and smile.

Bailey and the boys loved the tire swing And Bryan got to see his Andy... he really loves this little girl! It was nice to see that Wyatt isn't the only one going through the terrible twos right now!!! They were a busy busy mess together!

GAME TIME!!

2009-03-29T23:17:00.002-04:00

On Wednesday night Carter and Bryan got to go to the University of Kentucky game at Notre Dame. They were excited to see the Wildcats and not have to travel so far!
Carter wanted to get in the game spirit... so I painted his face! He thought he was hot stuff! They took our friends teenage sons with them, plus several friends also set behind them. (The ones that sat behind them were cheering for Notre Dame!)

Even though the guys weren't UK fans on a normal basis they joined Carter in cheering them on in style!
After the game they waited outside the UK locker room and Carter was able to get his picture taken with one of the players, Patrick Patterson! I don't think Carter could stop smiling!

Even though Kentucky lost he still had a great time! (Bryan says Carter only goes for the popcorn! )

Green

2009-03-27T10:30:00.000-04:00

Oh the joys of ring pops... and fun dip!

Pray for Stellan

2009-03-25T09:19:00.004-04:00

If you remember last summer I posted about MCKMomma and baby Stellan..
they thought he would die before he was born... but HE LIVED!!!
He is now 4 months old but his heart problems have resurfaced...
please be in prayer for this little boy and his sweet family..
You can read their blog by clicking on the link below.

Dominoes... not the Pizza

2009-03-23T22:58:00.007-04:00

Wyatt's had a rough weekend. (Now the picture it just one he asked me to take while he was eating his pudding... don't ask me why... he just wanted it taken.)
I've known for a few days that he wasn't feeling good, but then on Sunday he woke up with a pink eye... YEAHHHH.

Today the other eye was pink.. so we went to the doctor...

Now please tell me WHY WHY WHY is it when I THINK they have an ear infection they DON'T, but when I don't think they have one they DO!

Poor boy - Pink eye in both eyes, sinus infection and ear infections in both ears!!

I think that makes me a nominee' for worst mother of the year... almost ties with the year I let Carter go almost a week with a broken arm before I realized it!

After the crazy afternoon at the doctor's office.. I had some fun with the boys tonight.

We played a game of Dominoes (or whatever you call it "Mexican Train", "Party Train", etc.)

After we finished I thought I'd do a fun thing for the boys (and keep them from interrupting Bryan's University of Kentucky basketball game - don't you love March Madness... sorry I digress)
So I lined up the dominoes for them to knock down...
I was doing good the first time with only 4 left
when Wyatt knocked them down... so I tried again... with success this time. So I let Wyatt knock it down...

After his turn the other two wanted their turn.. it went much better...although not as funny!

Hayden's turn...

If you want to work on your patience... try it.. set us some dominoes while 3 boys try to "watch".... you may not have much hair or patience left!!

Wyattisms

2009-03-19T23:39:00.005-04:00

This little boy has cracked me up so much lately...

here are just a few of his Wyatt-isms

* Walking across the parking lot into a store.

Me: "Come on Wyatt, hurry up"

Wyatt: "I want to walk SLOWLYYYY".

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* After I made him run around the table 2 times because of his bad attitude (we make Carter run laps outside when he has a bad attitude - it REALLY works).

Me: "Did you change your attitude Wyatt?"

Wyatt: "Yes" (still pouting- lower lip sticking WAY OUT)

Me: "Let me see a happy face."

Wyatt: "Cheese" (said with his pouty face)

Not good to crack up when you are trying to discipline your child. He is my constant helper in the kitchen... just this morning he started emptying the dishwasher... he was doing good tooo... until he pulled the top rack off the track and almost broke all the glasses! He actually know where most of the dishes belong... he may be the ONLY other one in the house that knows!

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A few nights ago we borrowed Judith's air popcorn popper.. he thought it was the greatest thing in the world. I think he would've popped the entire bag if I had let him!He's my little buddy... at least for now he still wants to be my baby!

This N That - A little bit of life

2009-03-14T23:33:00.009-04:00

So I've been avoiding posting for over a week now.. mainly because I would have to admit... "Hi, my name is Karen and I'm 30...."

There I've done it.. I am offically 30. I'd like to say it was an exciting, amazing, kick-off to my thirties.. but NOT really. My Birthday (March 9th) was actually pretty normal. The trip Bryan and I took to Canada in February was our 30th birthday(s) kick-off.

So the "excitment" for the day was that I made from scratch my favorite cake my grandma used to make. The boys helped me put the candles on top...

and we just hung out for the night...

which is just fine with me!!

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Hayden finally got the "SUPERMAN" backpack he REALLY wanted for his birthday... if you remember my post about that... oh wait it was the last thing I posted about...

He loves it!!

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Right now we are trying to sell our van and find another vehicle with lower miles (since our families are so far away). So if you are interested...
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But right now the most exciting news is that it DOESN'T look like this right now....

it looks like this.....

at least for today anyway!

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Until last year I didn't realize the importance of St. Patrick's Day... now thanks to Veggie Tales I have a new appreciation for St. Patrick and the sacrifice he made!
(By the way, I did some looking on the web and found that their versions - while humorous- is very accurate!)
You can watch it too just click here
Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

It's HIS Party - Hayden's bash!

2009-03-08T23:07:00.007-04:00

Hayden had a great birthday party with is friends here on the camp property...

it was a blast..

He has a LOT of friends...

Hayden is our social-lite... We were able to set up the bounce house the camp uses for Family Camp...

Hayden really got into boxing with his friends... This is his "serious boxing face".

Two days before Hayden's birthday Bryan bought this Jumpslide from Craigslist for our summer camps. He conviently needed to set it up to check it out (there is a tear that we need to fix)... PERFECT timing huh?

Hayden REALLY wanted a Superman cake... don't really know why... he's never seen a Superman show.. but that's what the birthday boy wanted... so Superman is was!

GREAT cake idea I found online... M&M's were PERFECT!!!

Later that night after the BIG Birthday Bash... we had our family party.

with leftover cupcakes from the party

Silly boys.... the presents are for Hayden...

from Uncle Kaleb and Aunt Kelly

He REALLY wanted a Superman backpack.. again with the Superman thing... but we couldn't find one anywhere... when he opened the superhero one... with NO superman... UM NOT GOOD. We said, "Hayden do you like your backpack?"
"NOOOOO, I wanted Superman..." and he looked really sad. Poor kid. He's so easy going (which makes it REALLY hard to buy for him.) THEN the ONE thing he REALLY wanted... he didn't get! So the backpack is going back to Target and one is on it's way from an online store!! (I would've done it before his birthday, but like-I-usually-do... it wouldn't have made it ontime)
The boys already have Geo-Trax.. but with three boys and only 2 engines that work... NOT GOOD!! So this was a No-brainer gift! He LOVED IT!!!
We even set up the train set in the living room afterward. (He also got some extra track for the train set)Hanging with my 4 year old...MOM- STOP!!
NOT on your life kid.. Mommy's kisses don't stop no matter how old you get!!

WHAT IS THAT????

2009-03-05T17:16:00.002-05:00

Have any of you ever had Amish bread?

It is SOOO good, to be honest it's more cake than bread... but SOOOO good!

Anyway, it's a 10 DAY process to make this "bread" and at the end of the 10 days you divide the batter into 4 bags with some left over.

You then make the bread (I make muffins.. no mess from slicing the bread) and give away the 4 bags of "starter" for the new batches of bread to friends.

I got the starter from a friend and made a batch two weeks ago.

This week was my second batch.

I was trying to figure out who to give the starters too and decided to give them to the ladies at the doctor's office.

(Hayden had his 4 year check-up yesterday... he did great - He was such a "superman" about the shots too!)

Back to the story...

I walked into the office and up to the counter (the lady waiting at the next window kept giving me weird looks out of the corner of her eye) I asked the receptionists if they wanted a starter for Amish bread.

At this point all I'm getting is odd looks from everyone in office...

UNTIL I realized I am standing in the DOCTOR'S office with a bag that looks like this.....

I quickly hid it under the boys coats and explained to the lady at the next window that it's Amish Bread starter and REALLY tastes incredibly good...

even if it looks like a bag of puke right now!!!!

It was one of the funniest moments to happen to me recently!!

So Have YOU tried Amish Bread before?

I PROMISE... it really is GOOD!!

Happy Birthday Hayden

2009-03-03T09:44:00.002-05:00

Today My Hayden is FOUR!!!

Happy Birthday sweet boy!

Birth
One Year

Two Years

Three Years

TODAY.... Happy Birthday SuperHayden!!!

What were you thinking?

2009-02-27T16:16:00.003-05:00

I've said it so many times to every one of my boys... and my husband too sometimes.

Maybe YOU can tell me what He was thinking... I'm sure that I have NO IDEA!!

Why is it?

2009-02-24T22:43:00.002-05:00

Why is it that my son...
my wonderful son...
who can't find things in his room...
Who can't find something sitting right in front of him...
Who can't find all the toys laying around outside that he needs to put away....
CAN find these on a 100 acre property in the snow!!!

here's a close up look...
HOW DID HE FIND ALL THESE, but can't find things in his own room?

How do you get out of bed?

2009-02-21T17:15:00.004-05:00

How do you get out of bed?
I guess there is more than one way...

notice the control... he really did hang there for a couple of seconds before completing the flip.

Just in case YOU may want to learn how to get out of bed...

watch this...

(pause the music at the bottom in order to hear. -

that is if you want to hear the screaming little boy in the background...

Wyatt tried to do the same thing from his bed on the bottom and it didn't go so well!)

OH Canada

2009-02-17T16:49:00.027-05:00

So Bryan and I had our first out of the USA AND gone for a week without the boys experience earlier this month.

It was also the first time I've flown in 8 years.

We had this h~~uge~~ small plane for our 3 hour flight! It was still a good flight. There was some beautiful sights (These photos were from the way home - I was reading THE SHACK on the way there - great book! )

The day after we got to Peggy and Joshua's house, we spent our time hanging out and adjusting to the time difference.

We got to see Sara again (we "met" her the day she was born almost 8 years ago) and we got to meet Sky for the first time. It felt like I already knew them from reading Peggy's blog.We then spent the next day at the Edmonton Mall (one of the largest in the world). It was amazing!! We shopped in the morning (without their kids, Sara and Sky) then in the afternoon we all (including the kids) went to the indoor waterpark that's INSIDE the mall!

But shhhhh don't tell the boys! I conviently forgot my camera to spare you THOSE pictures.The adults all left on Thursday for the 4 hour drive up to Jasper. After a quick stop in the cabin we would be staying in we all headed over to Jasper.The drive to Jasper from the cabin is about an hour and goes through the National Park there. We saw signs that there were mountain goats, elk, and moose, but we only saw elk!

Peggy and Joshua took us to see Maligne (Muh-leen) Canyon. Now Peggy says that it's a pleasant walk in the summer... but let me say that in the winter... it's an adventure!! All the steps where iced over which made "walking" interesting to say the least!

(Pause the music at the bottom of the page to hear the video)

Peggy and I took the less adventurous way down. But remember in this case anyway, what goes DOWN, must come UP!!

This is the 1st bridge we crossed over the gorge... pretty amazing huh?There is a bottom down there... a LONG way down there!
Before crossing the 2nd bridge we stopped for a photo.... But boys will be boys... and they wanted to go down further...

So Peggy and I let them... and we started back up... a LONG way up. (They like to think they caught us before we made it back to the car, but really we stopped to look around and for a photo op.. or we TOTALLY would've made it back LONG before them! )I guess it could be worse... they could have wanted to do what these guys were doing... climbing the ice walls on the side of the gorge! The next two days we spent skiing in the Rockies...
Let me just say that the last time I skied was over 7 years ago!!!

I did in fact HELP Bryan learn how to ski. (He was already better than me by the end of that day!) I haven't skied since - I've been pregnant since - 3 boys to prove it! Bryan has skied EVERY year since. The "mountains" I skied on 7 years ago are equal to the bunny hill on these slopes. Maybe I should have gone again BEFORE heading to the Rockies.

That's me scared to death...

This is what I was thinking - "If I break something - I STILL have to take care of the boys"

I look pretty convincing in this one....Bryan had a great time and would love to tell you all about how deep the "powder" was and how great it was going through fresh snow. He spent time on the top of the mountain..

then going down!!!

Here is some video of us... who is the better skier... you be the judge?

(Don't forget whose blog this is by the way :)
(Pause the music a the bottom of the page in order to hear)

Us taking a break in the lodge.

After a great weekend skiing and seeing the Rockies we headed back to Peggy and Joshua's to repack to head back to the USA.

The last night in Canada we stay in a hotel in downtown Edmonton...

This is the view from our room

We walked around the city... Bryan even found BAMBOO

This is Bryan's "Will you quit taking pictures already" picture I took at the airport.

We were excited to head home to see our three little men. After a week gone, we sure missed them. (They did great with Grandpa and Grandma - Hayden didn't want to be in the picture. There's always one it seems.) Thank you so much Peggy and Joshua for opening your home to us and making this trip possible! We had an AMAZING time. It was SO GREAT to see you - NOW COME VISIT!

All or Nothing

2009-02-16T23:24:00.003-05:00

I'm an all or nothing girl... that's me....

it's either all on the exercise or Nothing (more nothing than all)...

all or nothing on the blogging... lately nothing more than all.

So now I face the mound of "information" that I want so badly to share!!!

Let's wade through this together...

The past month as been full of plans and preparations... then THE big day!!!

Bryan and I flew ALONE all the way to CANADA for an ENTIRE WEEK!!!!

YEAH you heard right, a full week without the boys (my parents were at home with them).

I know you think we are crazy... heading further north in the dead of winter and all!! But when you have such great friends like Peggy and Joshua... and they live in such a great location to ski...

So the reason behind the get-a-way besides to get away, and to see Peggy, was to "celebrate" our 30th birthday(s). (Bryan turned 30 in October and I will turn 30 in March).

So since this was our first time away for more than a night since Carter was born, and since it was our first time out of the USA...

I have LOTS of pictures to share...

be patient... I'm the all or nothing girl remember?

In the mean time... her are some great pictures to get you to come back!

Welcome Hannah

2009-01-29T09:19:00.002-05:00

I'm an aunt again (or however that works) ;) Bryan's brother Andrew and his wife Rachael had their 3rd little girl on Tuesday. They seem to have perfected what we can't manage... a girl! ;)
Hannah Joy - 7 pounds 1 oz and 20 inches long!!

Hannah and oldest sister Bailey...

Welcome to the family Hannah... I'm sure the boys will love to love on you.... just not too soon or that would hurt ! We can't wait to meet you!

While you aren't looking...

2009-01-24T23:14:00.004-05:00

While you aren't looking....

we might....

Find the camera on the desk

and take several photos of Hayden being shy

and a funny face photo....and a photo of the beautiful toasty warm fire in the fireplace..

along with several other photos mommy can't identify!

Of course we'd leave all those photos on the camera and NEVER think anyone would notice!!!

While you aren't looking we might make you so proud by cleaning up our Hershey kiss wrappers from our afternoon treat.... only to show you later where we cleaned them up to...

(Here's a closer look - that's the wrappers in the lamp stand)
While you aren't looking (and doing Carter's schoolwork)

we might take all the hats, scarves, and gloves out of the big basket and have some fun dress up time

While you aren't looking...

we might become good friends...

While you aren't looking...

we might grow up too quickly!

Boy meets couch

2009-01-19T23:59:00.002-05:00

It's tough being tough... Wyatt's lip met the couch and his front teeth cut through the lip. (He was running down the hall and jumping onto the couch... so I guess it was self-inflicted!) But a "blue" makes everything better! ("blue" is Wyatt's word for Popsicle... you can read about that here.)

He sure is our bulldozer... full speed ALL The WAY!!!

Baby it's cold outside.... REALLY COLD!!!!

2009-01-15T09:00:00.000-05:00

Baby it's COLD outside... This icicle was on the side of our house!!!You can't have all the snow without having some fun... since we have A LOT of snow with more falling now we had to have some fun, fun, fun!!

A couple nights ago we decided it was time to start teaching Hayden to ski...Wyatt wanted to get in on the action...Then Carter and Bryan got creative and this happened...
Yep... that's Carter behind the gator.... Bryan got me to drive; so that he could ski too!!

It was late so we called it quits... for the time being....They had so much fun they recruited more "friends" the next day... and the next day.... and...

Notice the blur of snow falling.. it was coming down HARD when they were doing this!Carter decided to show off his snowboarding skills (this is his "play" snowboard... he's even better on his real one!)The boyz got skillz.... Hayden had a blast jumping in the snow...trying to walk around... 12 inches on the ground now..

I tried to get a photo of Wyatt "walking" in the snow... it was up to his thigh. His favorite thing was to free fall backwards into the snow!! He cracked up every time!!!

Judith and Joel joined us outside for the fun.. and a snowball fight!

It was a lot of fun, but OH so cold!!! We better buckle down it's going to be colder stillanother 6-12 inches expected by the end of the day... with -30 degree wind chills!

Baby it's COLD OUTSIDE!!!!!!

If I weren't a mother...

2009-01-14T10:10:00.001-05:00

Two years ago today I started this blog. (Click here to read the first post)

I did it for the same reasons most people do... to keep family that lives far away "in touch" with our lives.

(I'm not sure how many of them actually read it...)

In fact I wouldn't have realized that it was 2 years ago today if my mom hadn't mentioned it the other day on the phone... THANKS MOM!

In the process I've "met" so many amazing people!!! It's been great.

That got me thinking about the REASON I started the blog... my boys and what life would have been like...

If I weren't a mother..

- I would still be a size 6... I like to think so anyway.

- I wouldn't have the "road map" across my stomach from 3 full term pregnancies!

- I would be able to walk across the floor without my feet sticking to something or tripping over toys.

- I would be able to sleep in as long as I want to on the days I can.

- I would be able to watch and ENTIRE movie without being interrupted

- I would be able to get a full nights sleep!! (most nights anyway!)

- I wouldn't have to worry about "what was going on" when it was quiet.

- I wouldn't do 20,000 loads of laundry in a week

- I wouldn't be "friends" with Google because of the Million questions I get asked everyday!!

BUT if I weren't a mother

- I would miss the hugs and kisses. (funny from someone who's not really that "touchy touchy")

- I would miss the "mommy watch this"... even for the 1,000,000th time

- I wouldn't get to see the first smile, laugh, step, broken bone... ;)

- I would miss the laughs and smiles

- I would miss the " mommy I love you" - (even if the reason he said it was because I let him play PS2 or not do school so he can play in the snow with his friends.)

- I would have no reason to blog... hey that's a big one isn't it!!

- I would miss watching them play together (they really do play well together - even if it's usually LOUD and involves running, jumping, wrestling, or boxing!)

- I would miss the snuggles and tickles

- I would miss the million questions, the fingerprints on the mirror, and the "copycat" syndrome that Carter has right now!! (OK, maybe I won't miss that!!)

And that just names a few things...

Fact is... I won't trade being a mom for ANYTHING!!!

So get ready for more years of crazy stories and funny pictures!!!

January 2007

January 2009

'Twas the weekend before Christmas... no rest for the weary

2009-01-09T23:00:00.001-05:00

The day after Carter's "dip" in the lake... he went skiing with Bryan, and a friend from church. They headed WAY up north almost to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This is a yearly trip (great deal at the resort) and they had a BLAST!!The morning after they got back Bryan and I left for the eastern side of Michigan for a friend's wedding... our hotel was right on the river. Just over the river was CANADA!!!Scott and Derrick were both in our wedding ... Bryan and Scott were in Derrick's wedding.... now Bryan and Derrick are in Scott's wedding!!Come on Scott... let's go... (It was SOOOO COLD - words can't even say how cold - for this picture)
Scott and his beautiful bride...
A blessing from the parents

After the reception.... or part of it... we had to leave for our 4 1/2 hour drive home!! (We left the next morning for Christmas vacation!)

Christmas Spirit...so I've been gone a while!

2009-01-08T23:32:00.005-05:00

SO BEFORE the heart stopping events of my last post... we had some Christmas spirit goin' on around here...
The stocking made by my momma... aren't they great!!!

Our GIGANTICALLY fat tree stuffed in the corner between the couch and TV. Notice the angled ceiling... so the angel didn't fit on top I had to use a bow instead. (We actually found a "slim" tree a few days before Christmas at Target for only $15!!! (75% the price of a display model) So we don't have to leave branches off the back to make it fit like we do on this one!!!!
We cleared out some boys... I mean toys...

Sang Christmas songs at our church...

Well Carter was "supposed" to be singing...

Not sure why he looks so sad here?.... I guess he's not one for the stage (Yeah right!)

We also took "goodies" to the nurses on the floor Hayden was on when he had to stay overnight in the hospital a few days before Thanksgiving. We also took a bag of toys..(new- not the ones we cleared out from the earlier picture) for the kids to have to play with while there. The nurses gave Hayden so much to play with and it made it a lot more fun for him.

Lesson Learned?

2009-01-05T22:20:00.004-05:00

Why does it seem like time goes by so fast...

then you hit Thanksgiving and it's all WARP SPEED until after New YEARS?

That's how our time has gone the past two months... as told by my lack of posting!

I did manage the nice Christmas background and header... doesn't that count for something!

So get ready for a flurry of posting over the next week or so or so or so ... so time is still flying by just not the SUPER Warp speed.

Thanksgiving was great... I think I posted about that.. and my gift idea postings... I manage all of 1!!! WOW!!

So our real craziness started the weekend before Christmas (with only 2 weeks home from Thanksgiving before leaving again.. those were 2 crazy weeks too!! Mostly those were school work and getting presents purchased or somewhat put together!)

Before plunging in.. take a moment to enjoy the peace and serenity of our lake..

still -

frozen -

calm-

beautiful

Also a nightmare for a mom of 3 boys...

before reading on there is a warning...

terror WILL BE STRUCK in your heart!!

On Wednesday the 17th of December Carter fell through the ice... see terror... is your heart in your throat... it was in mine...

Unlike you I knew how it ended before I knew how it began...

Carter came in the door of our house wet up to his chest and said.. very timidly..

Carter - "Mom, I was walking on the lake with (a friend) and fell through the ice!"

Me -"WHAT... you did WHAT... Carter are you SERIOUS!!! YOU COULD HAVE DIED!!!"

(Yes, I did yell that.. Yes, I was crying ... I don't usually cry when he does crazy stuff and narrowly avoids death... but this time I DID CRY!!)

Me- "What (sob) happened (sob, sob)"

Carter - "Well I wanted to test it out and I walked on the thin ice and fell through."

Me - "Where"

Carter- "Halfway out to the blob platform" (the Blob is a major hit during the summer for our camp and the water out at the blob is over 6 ft deep... with all the rain in the fall the water has risen so it was about 8ft deep out there)

Me- "Could you touch the bottom?"

Carter - "No I floated"

Me- "WHAT !!!! You FLOATED!! - How did you get out? "

Carter - "I swam over to the one side, but it broke so I swam over to the other side and climbed out."

Me - (SOB SOB SOB) "Carter.. You (sob) could (sob) have (sob) died (SOB SOB)!"

Carter - "Mom, I'm OK!"

Me - "I know because GOD kept you safe"

Meanwhile I received a phone call from the concerned mom of the friend.. (who didn't fall through and was OK ).

I think I was short and cut her off because I was getting the whole.. (sob sob) story from Carter. I did call her back later and told her what happened and that he was fine although I FELT LIKE KILLING HIM!!!

Being the smart mom that I am -

I decided to Google "falling through the ice" to teach Carter what COULD have happened to him.

I found a great video from Discovery Channel.

You can see it if you click here.

Anyway, all that proved is that if Mommy had fallen in.. she would've drowned!!

Carter did what he was supposed to do in that situation!!!

His angel's are always busy that's for sure!!!

So instead, we've had DAILY talks about not going near the lake...

walking on the lake..

testing the lake...

touching the lake...

LOOKING at the lake...

I think all three boys realize to STAY AWAY FROM THE LAKE.

At least until next year...

or until something really cool walks out on the lake...

like the geese...

So this year I'm THANKFUL for my boys... all of them.. and for God's mercy and protection of them.. It's great to know He's ALWAYS with them watching over them !!

Notice in this picture..

THE HOLE and the footprints leading up to it..

YEAH... my heart is in my throat too!

Lights, Camera, Action

2008-12-10T11:29:00.003-05:00

So last night was our ministry Christmas party. They did something different this year. Instead of having us find babysitters for our kids... they provided babysitting for us!!! It was great.

They also had the kids do a Christmas performance for us. It was Hayden's first Christmas program! The boys did a great job... especially since we only made it to half of the practices!! Hayden tried his hardest to keep up with all the motions.
They both stood in their place even if there was a lot of yawning and touching toes going on! We were so proud of them both!

The funniest thing happened at the beginning.... The "host" for the evening unexpectedly had all the children on stage tell their name and age! Carter and Hayden were at the very end of the introductions. When the microphone was passed to Hayden he practically THREW it at Carter! This unnerved Carter who was then too embarrassed to say anything... He did manage to say that it was Hayden, but then couldn't tell his own name! He later told Bryan, " I was so nervous... I didn't realize there would be so many people."
Hayden did tell me last night he just wants to watch Carter sing next time ;)

Give Thanks

2008-11-30T00:06:00.004-05:00

I'm thankful for...

1. My Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!

2. My amazing hubby!

3. My 3 little blessings

4. Our health... this is close to my heart right now... Hayden spent 30 hours this past Monday and Tuesday in the hospital. He had early stage of pneumonia and his asthma flared up really bad. He is doing much better... but still not back to his old self. He actually ASKED to take a nap the past few days. Even though Carter has a cough and Hayden still isn't 100% there are a lot of families dealing with a lot worse than we have!

5. Time with extended family... even if it is eventful (come on don't you all have Family times like that!)

6. Snow ... we had a foot fall before we left for Thanksgiving break!

7. How God provides for all our needs!

8. Christmas... I just love everything about it! I even decorated before we left and before Hayden was in the hospital (all the decorations except our tree and outside lights)

9. Hugs and kisses (but I also like my space too!)

10. After Thanksgiving shopping without the kids... what's not to like about that?!

What top three things are you thankful for?

Happy Birthday Wyatt

2008-11-15T00:27:00.005-05:00

TODAY my baby is TWO!!!

Here are some of my favorites from the past two busy years... my how they have flown by!

Happy Birthday My "Bulldozer - Monkey - Big Boy" Don't grow up too fast!!

'Tis the Season - Gift Ideas #1

2008-11-11T22:42:00.003-05:00

I know I know... It's tooo early to talk about Christmas!!
But with things the way they are in the economy right now... better to get started early!
For obvious reasons I can't talk about what I'm working on for THIS Christmas... BUT I can show some of the things I've made for past Christmas'.. IF I have a photo (that part is Proving to be a challenge)

Idea #1 - Fleece Hats... Here is link for the site I found when I made these...

Easy to sew.. and you can really get creative with the ideas... Here is the basic starting point...
Then I added 2 pom poms on top... Then I took the pom poms off and made a "regular" style hat...

This is my personal favorite.. (you can't see the top very well..) instead of bringing it to a point - you just tie off in small spots all the way across the top..

Do you have any money saving ideas?

Party Time!

2008-11-09T16:44:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was Carter's birthday party with his friends... He was praying for snow... but it was just cold and rain/sleet instead! We were able to have the party in one of the camp's building... which was WONDERFUL!!!

Here's the party fun!

Blowing out the candles. Carter doesn't like cake.. just the icing. So I made a cookie cake instead. Notice me lighting the candle as he was blowing it out. The candle wouldn't stay lit so he really just blew out the lighter!

Here is the guests... I did manage ONE nice pose before they got crazy!

What a day...

2008-11-05T23:00:00.000-05:00

Hope you had a great day little boy... you are growing up tooo quickly!!!!I guess I didn't feed you enough today though...Stay tuned for the party on Saturday.... snow is a possibility!

Happy Birthday Carter

2008-11-05T08:00:00.000-05:00

Today my oldest turns 6!!
Here's a look at Carter over the past 6 years!!

I love you LOADS and LOADS... you will forever be my baby!

love,

Mommy

It's the WYATT SHOW

2008-11-03T23:17:00.003-05:00

A little peek into why Wyatt is our bulldozer!

The boy has NO FEAR!! (well except for "reals")

Don't forget to pause the music at the bottom of the page so you can hear Wyatt!

FALL

2008-11-03T09:39:00.000-05:00

Happy Fall Ya'll!!!
(Even though it's supposed to be 70 the next few days... then SNOW on Saturday!)

Hunting for Pinecones...Playing on the wagon/tractor while Hayden was sleeping..

I Love FALL!!!

HELP NEEDED

2008-11-02T18:43:00.005-05:00

This is Wyatt..This is Bear... (we're creative with our animal names, huh?)This is where you usually find Bear...

This makes Bear SMELL VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY BAD (you get the idea)!

I have tried everything I know to get rid of the smell... oxyclean, vinegar, soaking... everything I can think of and still the bear stinks.

HELP HELP HELP!!! He won't stop chewing on it so I just need an idea to combat the smell. I have to sneak it away in order to wash it.. and have it dried by the time he wakes up!! It's like a musty wet rag smell... you know like when you leave your dish rag in the sink too long...or have wet clothes in the hamper... or found a lost wet towel under a pile of stuff... NOT that I've done that or anything

HELP I'm open to ideas!

2008-11-01T17:09:00.001-04:00

Be-lated wishes!

2008-10-31T22:03:00.007-04:00

I know I've been missing... my great crowds have expressed their deep concern for my absence!! (Thanks for missing me Jennifer! ;)

Hello..

Hello..

anyone there? Just Kidding

It's hard to find time to blog when this... is going on in your house!

Seriously, a VERY important event happened last weekend and I didn't MAKE time to blog about it... I'm a horrible wife!!

Yep, my hubby turned 30! We didn't have any big party or anything... in fact he had to work all weekend. (HUGE father/son retreat and a youth retreat at the same time!) Also, since I turn 30 in March, we are planning to "get away" alone soon!!!

In fact for his big 30th birthday bash he got socks and a t-shirt!! BUT We did pull off a BIG surprise for him!! On Friday night (his birthday was Sunday - 26th) his brother Andrew drove up here from Tennessee to spend the weekend!!!

Even though they were REALLY busy with the retreats from Friday to Sunday afternoon - they still found time to be boys!!!We had a birthday cake Sunday evening...

And tried to get ONE good picture with daddy and his boys!

Happy Birthday sweetheart!!! We love you!

"To the Rescue"

2008-10-24T10:42:00.003-04:00

I would like to think this was us today getting ready for our church's annual Harvest Extravaganza.. but it's not.
Instead it's raining and Hayden spent the night throwing up.
These cute superhero pictures are from 2 weeks ago!
How can life not be great with superheroes as your kids!!!

Upwards End of Season

2008-10-21T11:05:00.005-04:00

Saturday was the last day of the Upwards Soccer season. It has been a great time, but it's also gotten really cold the past two weeks. Carter still had lots of fun! They introduced each player one-by-one and they ran through the "tunnel" of parents! It was really cute!

On Sunday night they had and end-of-season ceremony... There was a special speaker (local former sports anchor) and every child had their name called and got a nice sports bag. We got there early to get our seat... good thing it was packed. So the little boys entertained themselves running up and down the side isle... until more people started coming.

Carter sat with his team... the "Wolverines".

Carter was REALLY shy when up on stage... can't you tell? !!

Great Job Carter!!!

Brothers FUN

2008-10-18T07:22:00.001-04:00

Fun on the tire swing with brothers and blue suckers!
(Oh... this was from 2 weeks ago - it is NOT warm enough now to wear shorts/sleeveless shirts)

THE ANSWER IS...

2008-10-15T11:52:00.007-04:00

I need to be more tricky about this.... Couldn't fool you guys!!!

Wyatt is on the left and Hayden is on the right. (Great Job McMommy!!)

They are so much alike I am constantly calling Hayden -Wyatt and Wyatt-Hayden. ( They ARE NOT alike in personality... AT ALL!!!)

I hope they don't grow up confused!!!

Wyatt loves his "blues".(aka popsicles) He started calling them this because every time the older boys wanted one they would say, "I want a blue one." So now to Wyatt they are all BLUES. (He also calls things that scare him "reals" because I've said, "It's not real!")

Besides being in the 2nd week of our Fall Family Camp (pictures soon) AND having those NASTY colds that are going around... Hayden has been busy building houses.... LOTS of houses!!!

If you need a builder... feel free to contact us... construction is finished in about an hour!

Monday Moment - Quiz Time!

2008-10-13T18:44:00.001-04:00

QUIZ -
Which is Hayden and which is Wyatt?

Family Photos

2008-10-10T16:53:00.003-04:00

Before we left on our "vacation" we had a friend take some family pictures!
It didn't turn out like we hoped... but we got some good pictures anyway.

Wyatt's New Hobby

2008-10-08T22:59:00.000-04:00

This is what Wyatt has been up to lately!!!

Don't worry... he wasn't harmed - at least I don't think so!
He loves to pretend to get stuck... I guess he got REALLY good!

Monday Moment - Apple Pickin' Time!

2008-10-06T22:53:00.000-04:00

Today - apple pickin' with some friends!!!!

YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS!!!

2008-10-04T00:41:00.001-04:00

If you haven't seen FIREPROOF.. make time to go!!!
It's worth it and we need to show our support!
You can find out more about it here!

Vacation 2008 - THE END of the STORY

2008-10-02T23:41:00.006-04:00

OK LAST vacation post... I promise!!

After we left PapPaw and MamMaw's house in Mississippi... we headed back to Tennessee the plan was to "break-up the trip home" (it would have been WAY WAY to long to drive that far all at once.) One day driving to Andrew's then leave the next morning to head home!

We didn't make it far before our transmission started acting up again... the "new" one that we put in before we left! It has been acting funny and we need to have it flushed... but until then we have to pull over, turn off the van, and restart it whenever it acts up. That's always fun when you are on a long trip.

I took over driving to give Bryan a break, BUT we didn't get very far before THIS happened and our long drive got MUCH LONGER!

THAT is a FULLY BLOWN TIRE!! This happened while I was driving... only 2 hours from where we left!

This is how close we were to the rest of the interstate for 2 HOURS!!!! (Lots of prayer going on!)

I'll be honest... I was Dying to take a picture LONG before I did. Let's just say the "mood" wasn't right for me to snap some shots until the AAA guy got there. (when we were FINISHED and 2 hours after I called)

The boys did well.. all things considered!

Bryan did say... after he had changed the tire and before we started looking for a new one, "At least this will be something good to blog about!"

(A blessing of boys... the could pee next to the van NO PROBLEM!!!)

Of course our van doesn't have a NORMAL tire... no that would be tooooo easy!

Of course this happened on a SATURDAY, when not many tire stores are open!

Of course it was late in the afternoon when this happened so those FEW stores open with the size tire we need are CLOSING SOON!

Of course those soon to close for the rest of the weekend store with size tire we need WON'T be open on SUNDAY and we would have to get a hotel and wait until MONDAY!

Of course the closest tire store with our size tire is over an hour away with an hour and a half until closing... which means we got to drive on this puppy the whole way.

BUT God is bigger!

After driving over an hour on our spare tire, we found a tire store that was "supposed" to be closed! The guy inside put a new tire on the rim for us and Bryan for the second time that day changed the tire!

We kept driving on and got to Andrew and Rachael's house VERY VERY late! We slept in the next day (yep.. skipped church... we did pray a LOT the day before!)

Since we decided to stay around an extra day... due to the tire drama, we were able to go out to see Andrew and Rachael's new property. The boys LOVED riding the three wheeler!
After a MUCH less dramatic trip the next day we FINALLY made it home!!

SO ends "VACATION 2008" ... now for some rest!

Vacation 2008 - Mississippi

2008-10-02T23:33:00.003-04:00

After Andrew and his family left.. we stuck around the rest of the week...
We spent A LOT of time in their pool... our northern blood didn't fair to well in the southern heat!
The boys LOVED playing with Allegro (their new puppy - BIG puppy). Carter was really the only one who could handle her... the others couldn't take the jumping!These were taken in PapPaw's old truck...
Bryan helped make the wooden side rail for the bed of it.

Vacation 2008 - Photo op at Chick-Fil-A

2008-10-02T23:28:00.000-04:00

After a few days at Andrew and Rachael's house (Bryan's brother), we ALL headed down to Mississippi to visit Bryan's parents.
We had 5 kids under 5 at their house! It was BUSY to put it mildly!
When Andrew and his family were heading home, we all went over to Chick-fil-A for their "free-sandwich-when-you-where-your-team-logo-day". Nothing says loyalty like 11 University of Kentucky fans in Chick-fil-A in Mississippi!

We took a little photo op...
It didn't start off so good.... But we did get some good shots!

This is my favorite of my niece Andrea!

We love you guys... wish we lived closer so the kids could learn all those bad things from each other... or so yours could learn from mine!

Vacation 2008 - THE DRIVE

2008-09-30T23:27:00.007-04:00

So the following week I drove with the three boys from Virginia to Tennessee...
12 hours with the boys in a van..
ALONE!
I am insane!
But I did survive...
It wasn't too bad actually!
My parents followed me (or I followed them) the first section and we stopped overnight at my aunt's house! It was great to see them and my cousins.
This is Andrew ... I guess he would be my kids 3rd cousin!
They had fun and my boys sure kept him entertained!
Sorry, for anything they taught him to do!
My Uncle had just gotten this Harley recently and the boys LOVED sitting on it... no ride... it was POURING rain at the time! Here are some pictures from the next day... Southern Virginia to Clarksville, Tennessee... on my own with THEM! I won't say that I took some of these while driving because that would be soooo dangerous and VERY wrong!
This is the story of survival...
it's a law that all three children can't sleep in a van at the same time.Did you know that? Neither did I until this trip!
Wyatt slept first... then NEVER AGAIN!
As he was waking up Hayden (who actually slept the most) and Carter (who is always awake) both fell asleep.
For those who've never me Wyatt there is 2 words to describe him... bulldozer (he get what he's after) and LOUD (like jet engine loud - he came out loud)
Wyatt didn't want his brothers to sleep and tried to wake them up... VERY LOUDLY!
I tried everything I could... while still driving ...to keep him quiet. (books, flyers, cars, etc)
I finally found the solution...
a pen...
YEAH I let my 1 1/2 year old DRAW ON HIS LEGS WITH A BALL POINT PEN!
But it kept him quiet and the other two asleep a little longer!
It's all about survival!

Keep with me.... I'm almost finished blogging about this trip and then I'll move on... I promise!

Vacation 2008 - Virginia the rest of the story!

2008-09-29T23:58:00.006-04:00

So after our "eventful" night away while staying in Virginia. I dropped Bryan off at the airport so he could fly to Tennessee for that tiling job with his brother. For the week we spent at my parent's house we did A LOT!

The Garden Maze at Luray Caverns (where I was a tour guide in high school).

On Friday...Hayden got that "bug" the other two had the week before... So Carter got to go with Grandpa alone to the Demolition Derby at the local fair!

Once Hayden felt better, we took all the boys to "see" the fun at the fair on Saturday! All they REALLY cared about was the tractors... that and wanting to see the Motocross going on in the Grand Stand! (Carter has been praying that he can get a motorcycle ever since!)
The other days we played outside and had fun times... like this one ... Carter convincing his LITTLE brothers to push him in the wagon! Hayden got mad because he wanted to push himself... so he did!

Soccer and Parades.... a great day!

2008-09-29T11:51:00.005-04:00

Our church is hosting a soccer program this fall... Upward soccer has been a big hit!
This is the first time Carter has been able to play on an organized soccer team...
He LOVES it! This past Saturday was our local Apple Festival's parade. We (the boys and I) were able to be part of the parade. Carter road on one of the two Upward floats from our church.

Wyatt and I "walked" with our church in it... I walked He SLEPT the entire parade!

Our Church was numbers 97, 98, and 99 in the parade... just in front of these tractors.

I was so glad Wyatt got to see them since we weren't able to watch the parade.

(All these pictures - except the one of Wyatt sleeping which was DURING the parade - were taken in the 2 HOURS we waited for the parade to start!)

After the parade the boys and I made a stop at our local Dairy Queen!

YUM!!

Good thing too... they closed for the season yesterday!

Should I be worried?

2008-09-27T00:40:00.004-04:00

Should I be worried?

... That my not yet two year old runs to the kitchen when he hears the oven timer going off but....

he's yelling "burn, burn" the whole way!!

What does that say about my cooking?

Vacation 2008 - Six Flags D.C.

2008-09-26T14:49:00.010-04:00

The gang FINALLY got better and we were able to go to Six Flags in DC after all..

just a day later than planned...

without Wyatt (he had a day of one-on-one time with my parents...

I guess that would really be two-on-one!)

and without my sister, Keilah (she had to head back to college).

While I WOULD NOT recommend going to THAT SIX FLAGS at ALL,

we did have a pretty good day!

Hayden did almost drown when the lifeguard at the bottom of a slide didn't bother jumping in... long story and DADDY WAS FURIOUS!

He was the one to rescue Hayden... of course he was also the one who sent him down the slide. (He didn't know it was that deep at the bottom and the lifeguard didn't warn him!)...

Like I said.. I WOULD NOT recommend that park..

but here are some great pictures from the day with my sister Kelly, brother Kaleb and my family.I wish you could see Carter's face better in the water slide one..

It was like a giant half-pipe and I thought his eyes were going to pop out of his head!

One this coaster is my sister- Kelly, brother- Kaleb, Bryan, and Carter

They all gave it thumbs up!

The last ride of the day... Bryan took Carter on this water coaster... maybe we should have done that one earlier!

Vacation 2008 - What goes down...

2008-09-25T10:38:00.011-04:00

Next stop was Virginia..

After leaving Kentucky we headed to Virginia to visit my parents.

We were going to get to Virginia then two days later go to Six Flags in DC with my sisters and brother...

God had other plans...

"what goes down..."

you know the saying...

paints a colorful picture when I say that..

Wyatt then Carter came down with the flu...

BAD!!!

Before Carter got sick he went with Hayden to visit my sister, Keilah, at work

(she is in charge of the crafts at a local campground!)

The one thing she REALLY wanted the boys to do was the airbrush tattoos...

THEY loved it

(Carter was starting to feel bad and stayed quiet - that's what my mom said.. I was back at the house with VERY sick Wyatt)

Carter made it through in time to get back and get sick!

(Wyatt did get bad enough we had to go to the ER, but after some oral meds. he was doing better! I thought about taking pictures.... probably not the best time!)

Once Carter felt better I took a picture of him showing of his "tat"!

Keilah had to head back to college early so we only saw her a few days :(

Here are some pictures of my other sister Kelly, my brother Kaleb and the boys.

That's all for now...

Vacation 2008 - Kentucky - Nana's House

2008-09-23T09:06:00.008-04:00

We stayed at Nana's for a few days after our Six Flags adventure.

Bryan's sister and her family live close to Nana so we got to spend some time with them too.

Sophie had a blast watching my crazy boys.

On Sunday we went to their church and saw Uncle Matt lead worship and Aunt Mary play the organ... she let the boys "try it out" afterwards.

We had a lot of fun while there... we visited a horse farm, went to Chuck E. Cheese, and just played around!

We got some pictures with Nana and Sophie too!

Wyatt was having fun with Nana... all my boys love her so much! I'm not sure what they were "talking" about in the swing!

Monday Moment - the boys

2008-09-22T13:09:00.001-04:00

See they do love each other!

Vacation 2008 - "Let's Start at the Very beginning"

2008-09-21T23:12:00.002-04:00

"it's a very good place to start..."

Sing with me...

( be glad you CAN'T hear me singing).

Back to the beginning..

the beginning of our month long trip that I randomly posted about,

but never showed all the millions of pictures of..

then couldn't post until I quit OBSESSING over an online photo program a friend led me to!

Picnik.com if you need something new to obsess about - it really is a great program - for amateurs like me anyway!

SO now enjoy the COLLAGE of our trip

(Don't worry.. not all at once - I'm still not done obsessing!)

1st stop - Kentucky

We stayed with Bryan's grandma (Nana) but drove over and met his brother (and his family) and sister (and her family) at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom .
(if you saw the story about what happened there last summer... don't worry that ride is gone! If you didn't hear about it you can read about it here, but if it will terrify you from ever going to another park again.. don't read it!)

It was fun day.. with 6 kids under five and 6 adults ( 1 preggo - not me)
although at least 3 of those adults are like big kids...
you can guess which gender I'm talking about on that one!

Here's some pictures from our busy day...

Both the Large picture of Hayden and Carter and the small one of Wyatt looking out over the "land" were my illegal pictures..

taken WHILE the ride was in motion (the GIANT Ferris wheel).

For future reference...

DO NOT take THREE boys in a GIANT Ferris Wheel ALONE (in my "car" alone)...

ESPECIALLY if said boys realize that mommy will FREAK OUT if the "car" rocks even the least little bit...

this of course will cause them to slide side-to-side on the seat cause the "car" to shake...

don't ask.. there was a LONG story...

Bryan was looking for cotton candy and missed the ride... like I said a LONG story.

If you think you can handle it... trust me DON'T try... you'll realize it's not so much fun...

only by that time you'll be 100 feet high/in a cage/ with 3 boys/ ALONE!

Here's a picture of Wyatt I had to post because it was so funny...
this is what happens when you try to take the picture yourself while trying to catch him before he goes under the water!

For the record... I DID catch him!!!

Monday Moment - Don't wash away!

2008-09-15T17:59:00.012-04:00

OK I'm TRYING to get my life back on track... but it's slow going!!! I have tons of pictures to post from our trip and I don't have CLUE where to begin!!! For now I'll leave you with this Monday Moment.

Over the past few days we have had RECORD rainfall (some of it was from the remains of Gustav heading WAY up here!) I'm talking almost 12 inches in TWO days!!!

Bryan was at our church until 3am bailing the basement out... and is headed back tonight because at 3pm today the water FINALLY Stopped pouring in... I picture it as bailing a sinking boat with a sieve!!!

Before the REALLY heavy down pour we had ALREADY gotten 6 inches of rain... so since there are so FEW days of warm weather left....

I don't know if you can tell; Carter had mud all up his back! He was so proud of his muddy back!

All that fun was on Saturday... then Gustav (what remained of the hurricane) hit us on Sunday with BUCKETS of RAIN....

This is the little pump house that sits across from the Lodge... the water is actually DOWN a little from what it was!!!

I have so much more to share... our trip, the blow-out (you can decide which kind), Carter's school (we finished day one - since we just got home last Monday), and MUCH MORE! Don't give up on me people I'm still swingin' (with that grammar maybe I shouldn't be teaching Carter to read!)

HOME SWEET HOME - AT LAST!

2008-09-09T13:05:00.001-04:00

We are HOME!! It's nice, but OH so much to do...
I'll post soon about our trip home... what a trip!
Let's just say when it was over.. Bryan said, " This will be a great post for your blog!"

Vacation 2008 - Monday Moment - Firstborn Milestone

2008-08-25T08:50:00.005-04:00

OK I'm going to be all sentimental and sappy like you always are when the firstborn does something new!! (Great for me since I am a firstborn ;) Before our "get away adventure", Bryan so sweetly mowed for my parents. Of course Carter wanted to help, so Bryan let him have a shot at it.... he did pretty good. Bryan figured the mowing in a circle was the safest thing so he doesn't mow over stuff!!! (Oh if you hear about a "crop circle" in northern Virginia... now you know where it came from!!) Maybe I should hire him out to mow laws... in circles.. they could be big business....

Vacation 2008 - The Best Laid Plans... go to waste

2008-08-20T23:39:00.004-04:00

You know the saying don't you... it is SOOO true of my life!!!
Yesterday Bryan and I left for a romantic evening alone while my parents wrangled the 3 monkeys for us!!

THE PLAN was to go check in and RELAX.

THE PLAN was to enjoy being alone without "MOMMY MOMMY" or "DADDY DADDY" or "CAN I" or "HE DID...".

THE PLAN was to get something to eat after checking in... then run to Target for face wash I forgot and get back to the hotel to RELAX.

THAT WAS THE PLAN!!!!

Here is what really happened.

We ate at Chili's wait no... we WAITED at our table at Chili's for 15 minutes before we told someone that our waiter hadn't even said ONE WORD TO US!! (CLUE to how the night would be going...)

We manged to get through the rest of dinner un-eventful. THEN we tried to find Target. Not so easy in the nations capital!!!! (I thought I'd be smart and ask the cute preggo mom putting her little boy in the car - Here's a thought - "When someone tells you directions... try to PAY ATTENTION and follow them!!!!" We found out later - She was right if we had REALLY Paid attention)
SO IMMEDIATELY after the direction being given to us - we both FORGOT if she said to go left or right at the first turn!! We went left..... (WRONG WAY!!!)
After driving past MORE than the 3 lights she said it should've been (if we'd gone the right way)... we asked a cop on the side of the road at a speed trap.... AGAIN - PAY ATTENTION to directions.... (Streets and Maps/ Google Earth only do so much when you have us working with them!!!)....

SO instead of Target we ended up at the mall.... but that's OK... we'll just SHOP without kids and still make it back to the hotel to rest a little before bed... RIGHT? Maybe with any NORMAL people!!! We had a good time shopping even though we didn't buy much... and then headed out to the van by 9:15pm... not bad (except we aren't at the hotel yet are we???)

One thing you should know about my husband is he is particular about many things... the biggest being food... he only likes certain things and then only certain brands....ONE of his biggest loves is DUNKIN DONUTS...(to me a donut is a donut - can you hear him shudder and sigh when I say that???) So we decided to look for a Dunkin Donut store in order to have "breakfast" since we PLANNED to sleep late!!! Now the problem is we DON'T know where our hotel is, where we are, or where a Dunkin Donut's is.... so we decide to drive around the closest shopping center's just "looking" for one!!! (They are hard to find by the way - although I saw three today without trying)
After driving around for 20minutes we decided to head back to the hotel... which was WHICH WAY????? After much "discussion in loud voices" it was decided I would drive and he would look at the almost-dead-laptop-with-Streets-and-Maps on it.

I was directed to drive through a side street to just go to a grocery store to pick some "breakfast" up. Down the 35mph street I went... in the dark, dangerous city driving only 30mph when all of sudden in may mirror I see pretty blue lights flashing!!!!! OH YEAH I GOT PULLED OVER!!!! As it turns out having the light above your licence plate out is a major offense!! The nice young lady officer let me off with a warning since I'm out of state. When she brought back my "warning" my husband then asked her if she knew where a DUNKIN DONUTS WAS!! OH YES... you heard right he asked a police officer where a donut shop was!!! She replied , "Yes, I do but they are closed now... are you just being funny?"
As we pulled away Bryan pointed out that if he had been driving we wouldn't have gone down that road... I said yes but we would still be lost too!!!

We did make it to the hotel by 10:45pm!! So much for relaxing but at least we could SLEEP LATE (1pm check out so no hurry to get up) We'll that was THE PLAN anyway!!!

7am we were awakened to (I'm not kidding) the FIRE ALARM!!!
This wasn't just your normal BEEP BEEP BEEP ....NO just for us it was a SIREN with SPEAKERS in your room and a LOUD voice saying "ATTENTION PLEASE - MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE!!" I thought my head was going to explode!!! After "checking it out we found out that it was a false alarm and went back to sleep for a little longer!!

After that sort of start I was afraid of how security at the airport would go for Bryan's flight... visions of strip searches and detaining floated through my head.!!
The rest of the trip was surprisingly uneventful.... Bryan made his flight and is now at his brother's house... I am still at my parents with the three boys!!!
This was our first "overnight" trip alone since before Wyatt was born... the last one ended with a phone call that Hayden was throwing up everywhere for our babysitter...

So now you know 1) Why we don't go anywhere alone
2) Why we don't really PLAN anything
3) Why it is IMPORTANT to pay attention to directions

If we had turned right- like the lady said- instead of left there was an entire shopping center on the other side of the highway.....
wonder if they had a DUNKIN DONUTS?

Monday Moment - Just for Moms!!!

2008-08-18T16:42:00.003-04:00

I love the Go Fish Guys and just came across this video of their "Mom Song" on You Tube.... It's so good.... Check it out... Then buy the cd. They are great!

Another SOOOOO funny video I found is "Momsense" tooo funny... what do you say to your kids everyday???

In response to her "MomSense" she can up with "DadSense" I CRACKED UP!!!

Empty to Full.... Actually Full to Empty

2008-08-14T23:17:00.002-04:00

Today has been a VERY FULL DAY!!! (actually it's been pretty empty...but that is the end of the story..)
Last Friday we left for three weeks of "vacation" and support raising. This is a LONG trip all over the east and south!!
On Saturday we met Bryan's sister and her family and brother and his family for a day of fun at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom. (I'll post those pictures later) We had a great time hanging out with the cousins and riding rides (FYI - DON'T take 3 little boys on a GINORMOUS Ferris Wheel all by yourself.... especially if #1 - You aren't a "fan of heights" and #2 - Your oldest thinks it's funny that your so nervous!! )

We then spent the next two days visiting Grandma in Lexington (Nana to our boys - she is there only great-grandma). Then headed to Virginia to see my family... the plan WAS to go to the Six Flags in Maryland on Friday with my sisters and brother. This is where the EMPTY day comes in... last night at 3am Wyatt emptied his stomach and then Carter did too at 1 pm!! YUCK! I hate being sick...even more so when you aren't at home!!!! Wyatt was sooooo sick we actually took him to the ER tonight because we could get him to STOP emptying his stomach...They were able to give him something orally for the nausea and he was able to keep some juice down for a couple hours... So now it's 11:30pm... I'm PRAYING that Hayden doesn't catch it... or Bryan... or my parents... or my siblings(who came home from college/work just to see us and NOT go to Six Flags now!)... oh and that I don't get it either. I mean we are all about sharing, but NOT THIS!! So pray for us... that we get better and can enjoy the time we ACTUALLY get to see our family. OH... and Bryan is flying down to his brothers on Wednesday and we will head down later!! (AGAIN another story for a later post.... we don't have a boring vacation do we?)

The End has come!!!

2008-08-12T09:00:00.000-04:00

The end has come... after 6 years I will not longer be teaching at GCC on Thursday nights :(

After much prayer the church has chosen to move their mid-week service to Wednesday nights, this is the same night as our church holds their mid-week service! It's been a great time, but obviously God has us moving on in different directions! I will really miss the kids and the fun time we have each week.

This is my Jungle Room kids... being serious

And silly!!!

The children's rooms are amazing!! Some of the older kids rooms have slides where the parents drop them off upstairs and they slide into their rooms!!! It's pretty amazing!!! The tv monitor is the top of the slide ... there is one at the top so parents can see when the children reach the bottom!

Hayden finally enjoys his "Garden Patch" room without crying!!! He was playing dress up and going down the little slide in the room when we took these pictures. (This is 3 year olds only!! The church is HUGE!)

Wyatt is still in the screaming when dropped off stage, but has come to love his teacher. He's become her special helper so it will be hard not to be around every week again!

I forgot to get pictures of Carter's current class.... he's in the Penguin Room now (as in 3-2-1 Penguins)!! But here is the one he just moved out of... "Under the Sea" for 4- 5 year olds. The whale's mouth is the end of the slide!!!

This is how long I've been a teacher here... I was pregnant with Carter when I started and the girl in the black was in my class!!! I've also taught her brother and just had her littlest brother enter my class this summer!

Monday Moment - Treadmill Run

2008-08-11T09:40:00.000-04:00

This is what we "messed up" parents do for fun!
Enjoy!!

Church at the Camp

2008-08-07T11:09:00.008-04:00

Last night our church had their mid-week service here at the camp. It was a great time of fun and fellowship. After some swim time they held the baptism service.

It was a little cooler than it has been so the water play didn't last too long for my guys... Especially when they saw these...
I was able to get this sweet picture of my friends little boy... he had a rough start into the world but is doing great now.. and such a cutie too!! (See I didn't post THAT ONE picture of you:)
IT had been VERY overcast during the swimming time (which of course made it feel even cooler)... just before the baptisms started this is what the sky looked like... fitting huh?

One more cute pic of Wyatt trying to grab the camera from me!

Monday Moment - Growing up is hard to do!

2008-08-04T10:16:00.007-04:00

Here's the proof that ~~growing up~~ keeping up is hard to do!

Wyatt has been taking on life at FULL force and suffered quite a few bumps/bruises along the way...
Recently he has...
Grabbed my flat iron when I wasn't looking..

He fell off something sometime and bumped his head (it's hard to see it in the picture) He RODE his bike down the hill and crashed of course!The next day AT CHURCH he fell or tripped over something and hurt himself just before Bryan went to pick him up from his class! (See the HUGE bump in the middle of his forehead? OH... this is a different time from the earlier one)

After all that in the past week and a half ... he STILL doesn't want to slow down!!

We keep our angels busy over here!

2 months only!!!

2008-08-01T09:24:00.000-04:00

Being in the north... summer doesn't last long. So while it seems I've been posting a lot of water time pictures... in theory we ONLY have about 2 (maybe 3) months where the water is WARM enough and the air hot enough to have this much fun!

SOOOOO more water pictures!!!

Bryan tried to teach Carter to water ski...He had tried on his own, but never made it all the way up. (I was at the house while the little boys were napping) So Daddy did it with him!!!

Then of course Daddy had to have some fun on his own and went kneeboarding!

After Hayden and Wyatt woke up we all rode out to the middle of the lake and jumped in (this was big for Hayden and I we both like to be able to touch the bottom!) But Hayden braved it and came to mommy... He's learning to overcome his fears... just like me !

So which one is Hayden and which one is Wyatt? (I never realized how much they DO look like twins!)

These were taken the other night, but I just hadn't had time to post them yet!

Hayden and his buddy Bradley!
Wyatt actually wanted in on the picture too! Notice the goggles Hayden is wearing! He came and put them on so he could run through the sprinkler like this...
I forgot how funny a three year old is!!

PRAY

2008-07-31T10:35:00.001-04:00

Join in prayer today for this sweet mom and her unborn little man!!
They are in need of God's healing hand!

Monday Moment - Monster Truck

2008-07-28T08:54:00.005-04:00

My Sister went to a Monster truck show a week ago. I wanted her to see we have one here everyday!

Whole Hog Sunday

2008-07-24T13:15:00.002-04:00

The church we attended locally had a "Whole Hog Sunday". It was an outdoor service on the new church property. Afterward there was games, bounce house, slide, hog roast, and HOGS (motorcycles)... it was a great time to hangout and fellowship. The weather was cloudy and warm! Perfect for lots of fun!

The playground has already been put in for just such events!

The slide was a HUGE hit!!

Carter going down

Hayden had his turn...

Carter "helps" Wyatt... but sometimes it's better to go on your own!
The bounce house was fun too!

Snakes, Snails, and Puppydog Tails

Update

Newest additon

Science Fair

New Additions

Fall Festival Fun

A Family Favorite

Boy meets ... OUCH!

How to carve the perfect pumpkin...

Pumpkin Farm

It's a Pizza Party!

BABYSITTING

What do you when it's raining?

Hot HUMID SOUTH

Way to go HAYDEN *PLUS* Big news

The lost tooth...

It looks worse

Everyday happenings

PRAY PRAY PRAY for Stellan

We are just that mean..

Easter pictures!

Chicago Children's Museum!!!

Visit from the cousins

GAME TIME!!

Green

Pray for Stellan

Dominoes... not the Pizza

Wyattisms

This N That - A little bit of life

It's HIS Party - Hayden's bash!

WHAT IS THAT????

Happy Birthday Hayden

What were you thinking?

Why is it?

How do you get out of bed?

OH Canada

All or Nothing

Welcome Hannah

While you aren't looking...

Boy meets couch

Baby it's cold outside.... REALLY COLD!!!!

If I weren't a mother...

'Twas the weekend before Christmas... no rest for the weary

Christmas Spirit...so I've been gone a while!

Lesson Learned?

Lights, Camera, Action

Give Thanks

Happy Birthday Wyatt

'Tis the Season - Gift Ideas #1

Party Time!

What a day...

Happy Birthday Carter

It's the WYATT SHOW

FALL

HELP NEEDED

Be-lated wishes!

"To the Rescue"

Upwards End of Season

Brothers FUN

THE ANSWER IS...

Monday Moment - Quiz Time!

Family Photos

Wyatt's New Hobby

Monday Moment - Apple Pickin' Time!

YOU HAVE TO SEE THIS!!!

Vacation 2008 - THE END of the STORY

Vacation 2008 - Mississippi

Vacation 2008 - Photo op at Chick-Fil-A

Vacation 2008 - THE DRIVE

Vacation 2008 - Virginia the rest of the story!

Soccer and Parades.... a great day!

Should I be worried?

Vacation 2008 - Six Flags D.C.

Vacation 2008 - What goes down...

Vacation 2008 - Kentucky - Nana's House

Monday Moment - the boys

Vacation 2008 - "Let's Start at the Very beginning"

Monday Moment - Don't wash away!

HOME SWEET HOME - AT LAST!

Vacation 2008 - Monday Moment - Firstborn Milestone

Way to go HAYDEN PLUS Big news