Amazing Love

Practicing My Focus

2011-02-09T14:14:00.000-05:00

SMILE!

2011-02-08T23:00:00.000-05:00

Yeah, she has that affect on me too!
:)

Digi Scrapbook Page

2011-02-03T22:41:00.000-05:00

Grown Up Gracie

2011-01-26T21:28:00.001-05:00

Gracie is quickly loosing her toddler look. I can't get over how grown up she looks now.

It's Been Awhile...

2011-01-15T22:20:00.002-05:00

Someday, I'm going to start my own photo editing website... I've been stocking up on storyboards, PS actions, textures, you name it. Also, I've been reading tutorials, browsing other photographer's work, and practicing, practicing, and practicing! I feel like I'm nesting digitally. Once our family gets adjusted to our new addition, once I break out of my sleep deprived brain dead fog that always follows giving birth, I'm going to do this. I'm so excited!

Kids "Glam" Shots

2010-11-08T22:04:00.002-05:00

For My Dad

2010-09-26T20:59:00.005-04:00

My Dad was telling me the other day that he's missed getting pictures from me. So here are some pics, Dad!

Mountain Scenery

2010-06-30T16:06:00.001-04:00

I had a few minutes to edit some more of our vacation pics. I honestly can't remember where we were when I took these pictures, but it was on our way back east.

I'm Still Alive!

2010-06-27T15:42:00.003-04:00

It's been awhile since I've posted any pics, so here are some new ones!

Kathryn found this beautiful snail in our flower garden the other day. Speaking of snails...Kaleb came up to me making a yuck face and I asked him what was in his mouth. He opened up and I saw brown flecks of something on his tongue. After I scraped those out the best I could, he holds his fist up to me and opens up his fingers and there was a snail in his hand with a bite taken out of its shell! Oh SO GROSS!!! I guess he's trying to live up to the old poem of what boys are made out of. :)

Kaleb's mohawk. Ain't it cute?
:)

Oh, btw, baby #4 is on the way!!! He's due in March.
:)

It's Their Fault...

2010-06-10T23:12:00.004-04:00

We made this crazy looooooooong trip!

Meet Jamie and Travis, our bestest friends from our Virginian days. :) Why they had to move all the way to Idaho, I have no idea!

Awww!

Travis would like to "thank himself "for blowing the best bubbles ever. (Kenny and Travis were constantly thanking themselves for goofy things.)

Wow, now this is how to play Frisbee!

Kay Leigh. She's a few months younger than Kaleb.

Kids

Gracie

Peek-A-Boo!

Carolyn. She's just 3 weeks younger than Gracie.

She's SUCH a cutie! Even when she's whining over Kaleb pretending to hit her which happened a lot while we were together. They didn't get along all that great...but we're still planning their wedding. Kaleb and Kay Leigh has such a nice ring to it! :)

Beka. She's 6 months older than Kathryn. They were almost inseparable during our visit.

I've missed getting a picture of Greg in this post. He's 5 and lots of fun. I have pictures of him, they just haven't been edited yet.

Day 4:THE ROCKIES!!!

2010-06-09T21:55:00.003-04:00

The cloud looks like a fist punching the mountains!

Yes, there's still snow up there even in June!

I don't think this is a picture of the Rockies, but I'm beginning to loose track of what is what and it got thrown in with these pictures.

Check out the elevation! 9,534 ft! We even got a little higher than that. (I know, I need to clean my computer screen!)

All I can say is, "Wow!"

More Day 3 Pics

2010-06-07T23:20:00.002-04:00

Whoo-hoo! We can go 10 mph faster (legally!) in the West than we can back East!

SD hills

This dinosaur was at a pit stop somewhere in SD.

The next three pictures are of SD wilderness. I have learned what wilderness really is. It's when you can see NOTHING for miles and miles and miles, not even a tree. Just these really little shrubs that are very low to the ground. There's no gas stations, stores, homes, or buildings of any kind. It was very unsettling. We had a moose cross our path. Thankfully there was NOTHING for him to hide behind so we saw him coming with plenty of time to slow down.

We decided to take a scenic route thru SD and into WY.

I still have more WY pics to post, but I haven't edited all of them yet. I'm slowly making progress! I can't wait to post my Rocky Mountain pics, but I want to do all my pics in order the best I can.

Day 3: The Badlands

2010-06-05T11:09:00.002-04:00

These pictures speak for themselves.

It may have taken 3 days of travel to get here, but the view was definitely worth it!

Day 2 Sunday

2010-06-02T00:52:00.003-04:00

We left Iowa after church Sun morning and we traveled through MN and stopped in SD.

At a pit stop in MN, we came across this guy...

It's a 60 ft tall green giant! How exciting!
:)

SD field. Also very exciting, I know...

I thought these wind turbines looked neat.

I can't wait to post day 3. We had a very full day of sight seeing. That means I have about a billion pictures to sort through. Right now, though, I need to get some SLEEP! I am sooooo tired. Night!

DAY 1

2010-05-30T22:49:00.004-04:00

ROAD TRIP!!!

All those white spots are bugs that committed suicide on our windshield.

Yes, that's 5 states in one day! What were we thinking?! Actually, we really wanted to get to Iowa so we could go to a church where Kenny had made some friends from his Israel trip. We were in the van from 7:30 am to 11:00 pm. It was really 10pm because we went back an hour. I've always wanted a 25 hour day! But no one told the kids and they were up at 6 in stead of 7 the next day. There was no persuading them to go back to sleep either.

As you can see from the pictures we had beautiful weather for traveling. The kids were soooo good! Of course there were moments of tension and frustration from ALL of us, but they were few and far between.

I don't know what it is about hotel beds and kids, but at least with my kids, it makes them turn into mexican jumping beans. They immediately hop onto the beds and start bouncing and leaping from one bed to the other. They seem to be really enjoying this trip.

I did my share of driving...all 15 min of it! (JK!)

Isn't he cute?!

We saw lots and lots of this!

This is how the girls play their video games when the sun's too bright to see their screens.

Sunset in Iowa.

Well, that's all for now! This weary traveler needs some beauty rest.

Kaleb, say...

2010-05-28T08:00:00.000-04:00

CHEESE!

Kid fun

2010-05-27T08:00:00.000-04:00

I make up my bed so well, don't I?
:)

Daddy's Little Man

2010-05-26T08:00:00.001-04:00

Kenny LOVES football, so it's neat to see Kaleb run around with one and try to throw it. Hopefully, he'll get better with age!
:)

Park Fun Part Two

2010-05-25T08:00:00.000-04:00

Park Fun Part One

2010-05-24T08:00:00.000-04:00

I got brave the other day and took the kids to the park by myself. It was a good size park and they took off in three different directions, so I was a little nervous. But everyone was fine and had a good time. I took lots of pictures, so I thought I'd split them up into two posts.

Hi!

2010-05-23T16:13:00.001-04:00

Got Creative

2010-05-20T08:00:00.000-04:00

Gracie, an angel? Okay, so I got REALLY creative!
:)

Good Dirty Fun

2010-05-19T08:00:00.000-04:00

I love how each of the kids has their own shade of hair...blond, strawberry blond, and RED!

Part of the fun is getting cleaned up! Except for Mommy who has to vacuum the floors, wipe off the muddy counters, and scrub clothes. But for an hour of peace...it's worth it!!!

Not Gracie's Best Look

2010-05-18T08:00:00.000-04:00

Banana Chip Bread + 1 Toddler =

2010-05-17T08:00:00.001-04:00

One very messy, but happy boy!
:)

Curls...

2010-05-16T14:59:00.001-04:00

I think Kathryn has been practicing Gracie's fake smile!

S'mores

2010-05-05T08:00:00.001-04:00

I cooked bbq chicken and corn on the cob on the grill Mon evening. It was so yummy! One of our favorite things to do when we cook out is to make s'mores. We wrap them up in aluminum foil and let the chocolate and marshmallows get all melted. It's not the neatest way to eat them, but I don't think the kids care all that much.

"Um, Gracie, you've got something hanging off your chin."

Yeah, it's still there.

"Great, now there's two stringy things hanging off your face!"
I just love her crossed eyes.

"Hot, hot, hot!"

"Nom, nom, nom."

"Mmmm, mmmm, good!"

Kathryn didn't do too bad this time. Only a little bit on her chin. I think her face was cleaner than mine was!

It was perfect evening for being outside. It was one of those times that I wished God would have held the sun still for a little bit. The bugs weren't bad for a change, the kids were playing happily together, and the food was wonderful. I'm very thankful for my camera, so I can hold onto these fleeting moments a little bit longer.

Kaleb: The Bunny Exterminator

2010-05-04T08:00:00.000-04:00

"Mommy, there's a bunny in your flower garden! I'll get it."

"Careful now, the best way to pick up a bunny is by it's ear."

"Got'cha! You waskely wabbit!"

Kathryn Driving?!

2010-05-03T08:00:00.000-04:00

My feelings exactly, Brianna!

I don't know what it is about my children's driving skills that are so terrifying...

Remember this shot?

A Vase Full Of Blossoms

2010-05-01T10:00:00.001-04:00

Someday, I'm going to miss this.

I can't imagine life without little ones running up to me with crumpled flowers in their grubby hands.

But it's going to happen. Just look at my baby now!

These moments fade just as fast as those petals do. Taking pictures, lots and lots of pictures, is my way of holding on just a little bit longer to my children's childhood.

Spring Snow

2010-04-30T10:00:00.000-04:00

I know, I know, no one wants to be reminded of snow right now. But for posterity sake, I'm posting these pics of our "snow storm" on Tue. Thankfully none of it stuck around after late morning. Now I'm looking forward to 70 degree weather this weekend. Yay!

Random Pics

2010-04-29T10:00:00.000-04:00

This is how your supposed to hold a bat, didn't you know?

Hi!I'm cute!

Bouncy, bouncy, bounce!

Aw, Sleepy Kaleb

2010-04-28T10:00:00.000-04:00

Kathryn was singing lullaby's to him and Gracie was reading to him. And...

He's eating it up! Look at that little grin.

Spring Flowers

2010-04-27T10:00:00.000-04:00

I have been wonderfully blessed with a beautiful flower garden. All I have to do is weed. What a wonderful surprise it was to find crocuses sprouting underneath last years leaves. Then up came the tulips and now I have color all around my house!

I have no idea what kind of tree has these kind of blooms, but I can't wait to see them open up.

Kathryn asked if she could plant her own flowers awhile ago, so we planted two different kinds of seeds. One kind grew, the other didn't. I can't remember what kind of flowers they were, just that they're very pretty.
:)

Do I see lilac blooms in my near future?!
I think so! Yay!
:)

Sunday Pics

2010-04-26T10:00:00.000-04:00

Sunday is the one day of the week that we all look our best at the same time. Wouldn't it be nice if there was some way we could preserve that? Oh yeah, we can! Isn't this what tripods and timers are for? So here we all are in our Sunday best!

HI!
:)

Kaleb Counting...Sort of

2010-04-25T15:54:00.001-04:00

Come A Little Closer...

2010-04-25T10:00:00.000-04:00

I've got something to tell you.

My mommy makes the BEST lunches ever!
:)

If This Picture Doesn't Make You Smile...

2010-04-24T10:00:00.000-04:00

Than you're broken!

And I get to see this cute impish face every day!
I am so blessed.

Who Dressed This Boy?

2010-04-23T10:00:00.000-04:00

Certainly NOT me!

Gracie Blowing Bubbles

2010-04-22T10:00:00.001-04:00

Oh, to be three again.

The World's Next Super Hero

2010-04-21T10:00:00.000-04:00

No, not him...

Move over Heman!!!

I Am So Thankful For...

2010-04-20T10:00:00.001-04:00

A house that has the kitchen, dinning room, and living room all connected so the kids can run around and around and around on a rainy day!

So cute!
:)

Gracie Driving?!

2010-04-19T10:00:00.000-04:00

My thoughts exactly!

Peek-A-Boo!

2010-04-18T14:43:00.000-04:00

All Dressed Up

2010-04-16T10:00:00.000-04:00

Gracie's faces are HILARIOUS!!!

Stair Fun

2010-04-15T17:26:00.001-04:00

Our Yearly Family Pictures!

2010-04-14T21:01:00.003-04:00

I am truly blessed!
:)

All About Kathryn...

2010-04-12T10:00:00.002-04:00

And one of Gracie!

Isn't that such a FAKE smile? I had to bribe her with chocolate just to get that one.

Sisters

2010-04-11T10:00:00.002-04:00

I don't think Gracie's too crazy about being kissed by her big sis, do you?

That's better!

He's So Cute

2010-04-10T10:00:00.000-04:00

Ever Have One Of Those Days?

2010-04-09T10:00:00.001-04:00

Yeah, me too.

:)

Playing In The Rain

2010-04-08T10:05:00.000-04:00

It's finally warm enough for the girls to play in the rain!

And to wear their new flip flops!

Thanks Grandma, they LOVE them!

What Are They Looking At?

2010-04-07T14:00:00.000-04:00

Kathryn said it looked like a heart. Kenny said, "Yeah, a cow's heart!"

When was the last time you watched clouds with your children?
:)

Kaleb and his Papa

2010-04-06T16:39:00.002-04:00

I guess we haven't been feeding Papa enough...

Kaleb thought he'd try some toe jam too!

Papa explaining the finer points of hunting.

Sharing a wonderfully funny secret.

Peek-a-boo!

Pictures

2010-04-06T09:47:00.001-04:00

What A Weirdo

2010-04-04T22:11:00.000-04:00

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T14:17:00.001-04:00

Kenny's Birthday

2010-03-29T17:42:00.002-04:00

Kenny's birthday was about 2 weeks ago now, but I want to be sure to post pics of every mile stone in our lives so I don't loose them for when I drop the laptop on the floor (for the 38th time!). I am such a klutz.

Kenny really loves his birthday cake!

Yes, the candles say 13...
:)

Kenny directing us in our singing.

Kenny, don't you know that you're not supposed to eat the candles?!

Happy Belated birthday, Kenny!
:)

Morning Light and Bubbles

2010-03-26T11:34:00.001-04:00

A match made in photographer's heaven!

It's good to be back!

2010-03-22T21:45:00.002-04:00

I haven't felt much like blogging lately. I accidentally dropped my external hard drive while it was spinning and lost everything. Pictures, homeschooling stuff, photoshop extras. EVERYTHING. We had someone who does this kind of stuff for a living try to save the pics, but no such luck. The only thing left to do is to either pay thousands of dollars to some company to try to retrieve them or start over from scratch. So I'm starting over from scratch. Unless, there's some rich sympathetic friend out there who would like to make me their charity case...Nah, I didn't think so.

Please don't lecture me in the importance of backing up pics, I think I've learned my lesson, the hardest way possible!

So...once I get over the shock and get thru the grieving process, I'll be back to posting new pics.

Kathryn's Birthday

2010-03-10T22:12:00.002-05:00

Kathryn turned 7 today. We started it off with chocolate chip pancakes, then headed off to Chuck E. Cheese's. We stopped to pick up one of her friends on the way. We all had a really good time.

Now that's how to eat ice cream!

Catching Up

2010-03-08T22:25:00.002-05:00

I've finally gotten around to editing some more of my pics. These were taken the day after we moved into our new home. The night before we moved, we had a HUGE snow storm. This is why we STILL have inches of snow covering our yard in spite of several consecutive days of 40 and 50 degree weather.

Kutie Kaleb!

2010-03-07T21:10:00.002-05:00

Well, we've survived our first week in our new house. I still feel like we're staying at someone else's home though. We've gotten the basics unpacked. There are still so many boxes to go through.

We all love this house. It's so much nicer than our old one. Maybe eventually I'll post some house pics, but these pics of Kaleb will have to do for now.
:)

Boo!

Kathryn's Faces

2010-02-21T22:22:00.002-05:00

Foot Fetish

2010-02-13T22:18:00.003-05:00

This post is for all of you who have a foot fetish. Now, I am not one of those people. I happen to think feet are gross, especially mine. But I'll make an exception for baby feet and little girl feet.

I just love Kaleb's little hand there in the corner tickling Gracie's foot. That kid loves to get after Gracie!

For those of you who haven't heard yet, we finally have an official closing date. Fri Feb 26th! Less than 2 weeks now! I am so excited!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!
Kenny's so sweet. He got the girls Valentine blankets with heart shaped pillows. They carried those blankets around all day today. He got me one too, plus a box of chocolates. He knows how to get to my heart!

Sisters...

2010-02-09T16:00:00.002-05:00

I couldn't choose a favorite between these two pics, so I posted both!

A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost. ~Marion C. Garretty

Beautiful...

2010-02-08T21:09:00.002-05:00

I wasn't even planning on posting anything this evening. I have way too many pictures to edit and sort through. But this one picture...her beauty took my breath away. I had to share.

Random Pics

2010-01-31T22:37:00.002-05:00

Well, here we are starting a new month already! I spent ALL of Jan waiting to move and it didn't happen. Do you think God's still trying to teach me patience? I wish He'd realize that I'm a lost cause...Actually I'm glad that He hasn't given up on me yet.

Here are some random pics I've taken through out the week.

I'm learning to take one day at a time. To do what is best for my family each hour of the day. Soon enough all those hours and days will add up and we'll be moved and settled in our new place.

Gracie Faces

2010-01-24T23:29:00.000-05:00

I love this girl's personality!
Click on pic to see it BIGGER
:)

30

2010-01-22T14:29:00.003-05:00

I still can't say it out loud, but it doesn't feel so old when I type it...30. I turned that horrid number yesterday. It didn't hurt too much. :)

I got spoiled by Kenny all day. He made me an omelet for breakfast, took all of us out to lunch at the mall, then warmed up some left overs and made me a salad for dinner. Plus he DID THE DISHES!!! That right there is birthday present enough for me!

But wait that's not all...He also bought me a WHOLE cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory. Click here to see what I choose. It's called the 30th Anniversary Chocolate Cake Cheesecake. Oh, it is soooooooooo wonderful. Just one slice must weigh a pound! I didn't eat a whole slice, just so you know. I froze the rest to be eaten through out the year...or month...or next few weeks anyway. :)

After going to the Cheesecake Factory, we stopped at a McDonald's that had a Play Land and let the kids run around for a while. And yes, that is me waaay up there. Hey, a girl's only 30 once! Might as well make the most of it. Plus there were no other kids in there to run me over. Those tubes are a lot smaller than they look!

Kathryn enjoying a McFlurry.

Gracie enjoying her McFlurry.

Gracie's expressions crack me up! I have no idea where she got her personality from.

Me

And some random cute pictures of Kaleb.

We still aren't sure of a closing date on our house. We were told that next Thur will be the soonest. There was a mix up with the person who came out to assess our house, so that had to be redone and the paper work resubmitted.

9 Days Left

2010-01-12T22:56:00.002-05:00

With so few days left until the move, how do I have time to play with pictures and to blog? Simple...I've run out of boxes!!!
:)

Ahhhhhh!!!!

2010-01-10T20:26:00.002-05:00

11 days. 11 days until we move. I'm beyond excited. I'm at the point of staring blankly at the wall (and no, that's not a normal occurrence no matter what my loving friends may say!) wondering what in the world to do now. We've packed everything that we don't use everyday. We're down to a weeks worth of clothes. The only sheets we have out are on our beds. Towels are scarce. The kids stare forlornly at their empty shelves where they used to have toys. What do I do now?!

We're all getting antsy for the move. Our home isn't homey anymore. The pictures have long since been packed, boxes are the only ornaments now. Even though moving can be very stressful, God has been sooooo good to us. We had a ton of boxes given to us from one of Kenny's coworkers. Someone else is loaning us a box truck. We've had several offers of help for the big day.

I can't wait to be settled again!

Graham Cracker Houses

2009-12-16T10:27:00.003-05:00

We made our annual gingerbread houses yesterday. Except this time they're not gingerbread and they turned out way better than previous years. We used graham crackers and melted white chocolate for the "glue". It was so easy I even made my own house.

Mine is the two story one. I know, I'm a show off! :)

The next few pictures are of a typical evening at our house.

Wrestling with daddy while I cheer them on and take pictures.

And watching goofy clips on youtube.

What are they watching so intently anyway?

Oh, kittens singing, "I've Got the Joy, Joy, Joy Down In My Heart!" of course.

I made triple chocolate truffles last week. Kaleb thoroughly enjoyed his. And so did the rest of us, just not so messily!

My beautiful Gracie.

Dreaming

2009-12-10T21:44:00.004-05:00

I'm dreaming about my dream house. Imagining what is going to go where. Hoping I won't be disappointed when I get there. Praying for good neighbors. Wondering how moving day is going to go. Planning my first get together with lots of friends all at once because there will be room for everyone. Picturing my family sitting in our new dining room eating our first meal together. Seeing the years pass by in this new home God has provided. Believing with all my heart that we are right where He wants us to be. Knowing His timing is perfect. And waiting, waiting, waiting for it to be Jan 22!

I've spent the last 11 months dreading this coming Jan 21st. But now God has softened the blow of turning...you know, the T-word, with the new house. I do NOT want to be that old. I've enjoyed being in my 20's. I'm not ready to give that up. I never thought I'd be 30, it always seemed so far away into the future. Ugh, 30 sounds sooooo old and middle age and and and...I better stop. I'm going to get all my friends who are older than me mad at me. Oh well, I'm sure they felt the same when they turned 30 too. And all my friends that are younger than me...I am NOT old, I don't care what my age says.

So, as much as I dread being the big 3-0 on Jan 21, I can't wait for Jan 22 to get here!
:)

Kaleb's New Hobby

2009-12-07T21:22:00.004-05:00

Kaleb has a new hobby...

Unrolling toilet paper. He had unrolled it all the way out to the kitchen this evening before someone noticed what he was doing!

I love Sundays for many reasons, one of which is getting dressed up. It's the one day of the week we wear our extra nice clothes and spend more than 5 minutes on our hair and make up. It's our day shine as a family.

When did Kaleb grow up?

This is one of Kaleb's favorite pass times.

I have no idea why he has a glue stick stuck in his mouth. He's weird. He must get that from his father, certainly not ME!

My two men. I love them both soooooo much!

House Pics

2009-12-03T14:22:00.013-05:00

We had our new home inspected yesterday and it passed with flying colors! There were no major problems. A good friend of mine, Trina, watched Gracie and Kaleb so I could go to the inspection (Kenny had to work). I brought Kathryn with me so she could see her new home. She fell in love with it right away. I also was able to take tons of pics. The owners haven't moved out yet, so all the furniture you see is theirs.

Living Room. I just LOVE the cathedral ceiling!

Formal Dinning Room. Uh-oh, need new furniture! Maybe next year...

I love the big windows! They give the house such an open feeling.

Kitchen. I love the tile floor and the track lighting.

The not formal dinning room. What's the technical name for that? This is where we will actually eat. More big windows! And a door to the backyard.

Front door. Really?

Ready to go upstairs?

Master Bath. We get our OWN bathroom!!! Plus a walk in closet. Kenny won't have to sneak into Kaleb's room in the mornings to get his clothes anymore.

View down the hallway. The room at the end is the master bedroom. Then there are three other bedrooms. Each kid can have their own room...for now anyway!

This will be the kids bathroom.

Then there's one more set of stairs leading up to this...

Right now this room is being used as a craft room. I see a new school room in our near future! Just look at that built in desk all those built in shelves!!!

More school room. It's L shaped.

View looking out and down from the school room.

Ready to go downstairs? Notice the stairs and railing on the right...

We're hoping that we can use this room as a guest bedroom, but it's very narrow. We're not sure if a bed will fit comfortably.

This is the guest bathroom. I love the tile on the shower wall. It's so fancy.

I get to have my own laundry room! The door on the right leads to the garage.

Now we're in the basement. We get to keep the pool table.

Somehow I think their clutter looks less cluttery than our clutter will look. The shelves will definitely come in handy.

Time to head out side!

View from the front of the house toward the road. There's lots of big trees in the yard.

Back of the house. Just look at that deck! It's beautiful.

Now lets got for a walk in the woods behind the house. Guess what we found back there?

A play house and lots of deer prints!

I thought Kathryn would be more excited about the playhouse than what she was. I think she was a little intimidated about how high it was. I'm sure by summer time she'll be flying up and down the ladder with her friends.

So that's it. I'm not excited at all, am I?

Is it Jan 22 yet?

Our New House...Hopefully!

2009-11-28T15:02:00.003-05:00

Well, we found our new home! It was one of the last ones on our list. I knew it was ours the minute I walked in the door. We put an offer on it right away and it was accepted! As long as nothing screwy happens, we're looking to close on both houses Jan 22.

When we put our house on the market, we really thought that no one would want it. We prayed for God to send someone to us if that was what He wanted. I was prepared to be content for as long as God wanted us to be here. I couldn't believe it when we got the call that someone put in an offer.

Then we started looking for a new place. I would like to say that my faith never wavered, that I knew there was the perfect place for us, since it was so obvious that this was what God wanted. But after we had looked at every house on the list but two, I was beginning to get a tiny bit nervous. I talked to Kenny about it while we were on the way to look at this house and he reassured me that it would all work out. He kinda knew that I would fall in love with this house. That's why he was saving it for last, so I'd have others to compare it to. He's so smart.

When we got to the house, it didn't strike me as being anything to special. It's white with some brick. I liked that the driveway was sealed. It has an attached two car garage. But as soon as we walked in the front door, I got tingly all over and started shaking. "This is it! This is it!" I started screaming in my head, trying desperately to not make any eye contact with the owner's Realtor. I don't have a poker face and I couldn't let him see how badly I wanted this house.

I would do a terrible job at describing it, so I'll just stick to the facts and when I can get in there with my camera, I'll post tons of pictures. It's a tri-level, 2204 sq ft, 5 bedrooms, 3 full baths (I get to have my own bathroom for the first time ever!!!), formal dining room, eat in kitchen, fire place, some hard wood floors, some tile, and some carpet. It's on 1.8 acres. It's beautiful. All the paint is new, it has big windows. There's a cathedral ceiling in the living room. It feels so open and bright.

I can't tell you how excited I am about this place! I can't wait to get in there. Jan 22 can't get here fast enough for me.
---------------------------

This is yesterday's sunrise. I will miss this view when we move, but I think I'll manage...somehow.

Under Contract

2009-11-23T22:46:00.002-05:00

We've made it back home, yay! We had a very nice visit with family and friends in Plattsburgh, NY. We even had an early Thanksgiving dinner. Lucky me!

No pictures with this post. I don't know when I'm going to have time to deal with pictures again. Our house is under a contract! We finally came to an agreement with the potential buyers that we both could live with. So now we need to find another home...soon! I'm so excited!!!

Checking In

2009-11-20T14:52:00.002-05:00

I don't think I've ever gone this long without blogging! Oh, I've been so so so busy. First it was getting ready for our "vacation" (visiting with family for 12 whole days!), then being on vacation (which I'm still on. We leave Mon.). Every spare minute of computer time that I've had, I've spent working on my digital scrapbook pages. I'm relieved to say that I'm almost done with that.

Some good news...Someone put a bid on our house!!! When Kenny told me, I got tears in my eyes I was so excited. They asked for less than what we wanted so we gave a counter offer. Now we're waiting to see if they're going to accept it.

Here are some pics I took this afternoon with my cell phone. We had lunch at a play place McDonald's. As we were leaving, we took a quick walk on the beach that's right next to the McD's. The weather has been very mild here for this time of year, but even so, the wind was very chilly so we didn't stay long.

Have a great weekend!

Kaleb's Turn

2009-11-06T22:01:00.005-05:00

I had a lazy day. I spent most of it with either Gracie or Kaleb laying on me sick with fevers. Gracie's wasn't too bad, I think she was mostly jealous of the attention Kaleb was getting, so whenever Kaleb wasn't in my arms, she was.

But my poor Kaleb, he just wasn't himself today. He spent most of the day napping or just laying in my arms watching his sisters play. His little body was so hot and just before bed his sinuses got all stuffed up. I rubbed some stuff on his chest to help him breath easier and gave him some Tylenol to keep his fever down.

I just know I'm going to come down with this plague after today. How could I not with sick babies hanging all over me all day long? I'm probably overdosing on herbs and vitamins in the vain attempt at not getting sick. Maybe it won't be so bad though when I do catch it...Here's to wishful thinking!

I made this super yummy whole wheat bread yesterday, and it turned out so pretty I had to take a picture of it! Oh, how I LOVE the smell of baking bread. And then cutting into it fresh out of the oven and watching the butter melt into all those steaming little cracks. Then there's that first bite of pure wholesomeness, yum!

This picture could have been taken today he was so sleepy, but it wasn't. I took it about a week ago. He had missed his morning nap and fell asleep eating his lunch.

I can hear Kathryn's laughter just by looking at this picture. I love how Gracie's peeking around her arm. I'm not even sure what they were doing, but whatever it was, it was funny!

I cherish these fleeting moments of watching my girls do things together like this. Their sweetness takes my breath away.

Kathryn has fallen in love with books and she's shared that love with Gracie by reading to her everyday. Now Gracie can't wait to learn how to read just like her big sister.

Another Scrapbook Page

2009-11-02T21:49:00.002-05:00

Kathryn's feeling much better today. I wish I had her immune system. If I get a temperature just one degree too high, I'm on the couch for the whole day!

I got to go shopping on my own this morning. While driving to the store, I snapped this picture with my phone. The person behind me must have thought I was crazy. And they would have been right!

Do you see what I see?

A heart in the clouds! I promise I didn't photoshop this picture, except to get rid of a few little reflections from the windshield.

Amy, over at Daily Pleasures, got me hooked on spotting hearts in nature. It's a wonderful reminder of God's love when you least expect it.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've been in a creative streak lately. It's a good thing too, since my dead line for getting these pages done is less than a month away!

Kathryn's Sick

2009-11-01T22:39:00.002-05:00

Kathryn started with a fever yesterday morning and it continued all through today. It got up to 101.9 at one point. We tried to give her medicine to bring it down, but she threw it up. Even as an infant, she's NEVER been able to keep medicine down. Oh, we've tried all the tricks through out the years. We've told her its candy, we've gotten the kind disguised as a popsicle, I've tried to hide it in her food, and every time it comes right back up. Anyone know anybody else like that or is she just...unique?

Thankfully, the fever didn't seem to bother her too much. She started to look really wilted by bed time tonight though. I hope she'll be better in the morning. She's always bounced back from illnesses so fast.

Now comes the waiting and watching period to see who else will come down with this plague!
--------------------------------------------------------------

What I worked on tonight!

Can you believe that it's Nov already?!

Fall Pics

2009-10-29T21:07:00.003-04:00

I finally got around to editing the rest of our leaf pile pics from Mon. We've had such a busy week. I was glad to stay home all day today. We had our missions conference Sun-Wed. That meant late nights for the kids, much later than they're used to.
I'm looking forward to getting back into our normal routine.

Even though this picture was taken only a few days ago, most of the leaves have already fallen off of it. Now I get to stare at dead looking twigs for the next 6 months or so.

This is Kaleb's scared face. He's so afraid of loud noises. The recycling truck had just pulled up in front of our house and it freaked him out. Poor baby! I hope he grows out of that.

Weeee!

Tomorrow is going to be another busy day for us. As long as we all wake up healthy that is. It seems like everyone around us is terribly sick with colds. I'm just waiting for our turn. Last night Gracie woke up in the middle of the night crying. I just knew she was sick, but thankfully she had just lost her pillow.

The kids and I are going to a friends house in the morning, then Kenny's taking me out to a very fancy restaurant for dinner. He won't tell me where, it's supposed to be a surprise. He got a gift card from work to this place or else we wouldn't be going. Very fancy stuff just isn't our style.

Oh, I hope we are all still healthy in the morning! I'm really looking forward to tomorrow.

Have a good weekend everyone!

Fall Fun

2009-10-26T21:55:00.004-04:00

The girls have been begging for a huge leaf pile to play in, so finally today they got their wish.

Kenny playing ball with his son. Aw!

Not sure what's going thru either of their minds at this moment, but it looks important.

Click on the pic to see it bigger.

I've got some cute pics of the girls jumping into their leaf pile, but I got distracted by my latest creation and haven't gotten to editing them yet.

Kaleb Pic

2009-10-25T15:21:00.003-04:00

Kaleb

I'm editing two weeks worth of pics this afternoon, but I had to stop and post this one before I got too busy with other things and forgot.

Sometimes a picture just begs to be played with. This was one of those times.

Here's the original:

I think either one is sweet, but the creative side of me loves to take a good picture and turn it into art.

Now back to editing!

Gracie's Scrapbook Page

2009-10-23T16:46:00.004-04:00

Well, the initial panic of getting my house decluttered just in case someone wanted to look at it has worn off and I'm back to my old photoshopping ways. You guys should see the difference in my house though! Jackie worked a miracle both in the main part of the house and down in our dungeon, I mean basement.

I talked to a couple of people today who have already started their Christmas shopping. You go, Mom C. and Lindsay! Meanwhile, I haven't even given it much thought. Usually, I try to start in Aug, no later than Sept. Not this year. So I need to start on that soon. My goal every year is to get everything but stocking stuffers done before Dec 1st. I want to enjoy the Christmas season, not stress over gifts and dealing with insane crowds. My point in bringing this up is that I've been working on my digital scrapbook pages. This will be my third Christmas making scrapbooks for my parents and Kenny's parents. I'm a little behind on those pages. I haven't made that many this year. Like everything else, I need to get a move on that too.

Here are two more pages that will probably make the final cut (I can only afford to do so many pages and usually I have way too many to choose from! I don't know about this year though.) Don't forget to click on the picture to see it better!

There's a story behind her nickname, Gracie Growler. Quite literally, it's a story about a little tiger cub named Gracie Growler who gets a new baby brother (who's name is not Kaleb, but for the sake of consistency, we call him that). The two names, Gracie Growler, are so much fun to say together that the nick name stuck. She even calls herself that from time to time. When we were potty training her and she'd go on the potty, she'd hop off the toilet and with a big goofy Gracie grin she'd proclaim, "Good girl Gracie Growler!" And we'd all cheer for her.

And now my goofy Gracie Growler is 3 and enjoying every minute of it. She thinks she's so grown up now. She's always saying something to make me laugh. I'm so thankful God blessed us with her.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Kaleb's Walking Now!!!

2009-10-22T08:45:00.005-04:00

It's been awhile since I've made time for blogging, but I had to post Kaleb's almost first walk. It's actually his 2nd. We had just finished putting the girls to bed and all of a sudden Kaleb started walking toward me unassisted! I kept scooting backward and he kept coming. He eventually got really mad at me for backing up. So Kenny got the camera and videoed him walking down the hallway towards me. Never mind my goofy PJ's. Like I said, it was bed time!

Gracie's Birthday Part 2

2009-10-16T22:53:00.003-04:00

Well, I'm back to editing my pictures. I've had a very busy and productive week cleaning house. Kenny's working nights now, so I figured I could postpone my no photoshop rule and do some catching up. Here are the rest of Gracie's birthday pics.

Her beautiful cake that I did not butcher this year (last years cake was awful!).

We're singing to her. It looks like she's wishing the song would be over already!

She got the candle on her third try.

Presents, presents, presents!

Strawberry cake with cream cheese frosting, yum!

I couldn't resist throwing in a little photoshop magic. This pic just begged to be played with.

Now off to bed. I've got to get ready to do some more decluttering with Jackie in our basement tomorrow. I so can't wait until all this sorting and throwing out is over with!

I'm A Pack Rat!

2009-10-13T23:08:00.004-04:00

Yes, Michelle, I know I can post pics without playing around with them on photoshop...but I have very weak will power. I know myself too well. I cannot have chocolate covered almonds laying around the house and not be a complete piggy (ahem!) and I cannot open up photoshop without indulging my creative side.

Jackie came over for 2 hours today and worked in our basement. Now, I've always considered myself the one to be able to throw out unneeded stuff and Kenny the pack rat, but no more after today. I was pulling this that and the other thing out of the trash pile that she was throwing in there. I don't know how many times I said, "Hey, you can't throw that out!" Then I'd proceed with my reasoning that went along the lines of "I got that on my 16th birthday!" or "That was a wedding gift!" Jackie would reply, "Do you use it?" The answer was always a no. I'd hand it back to her and she would do the honors of trashing it. Oh how I hate getting rid of perfectly good things! You should see my good will pile though. We're going to need to make at least 2 trips with the van. There's got to be a point where enough is enough. I never realized that I was a pack rat before today.

Even after 2 hours worth of work with Jackie, Kenny, and me on our basement, it still needs a lot of work. That's how scary it was! I can't wait until it's all finished. At least I'll be able to enjoy our home's new look even if it takes ages for it to sell.

No Pictures

2009-10-12T22:17:00.002-04:00

But please still read me! I've banned myself from photoshop until further notice. I spend waaaaay too long editing my pics and playing. I don't have time to play right now. We've decided to put our house on the market and see what happens. In the off chance someone wants to look at our itty bitty ranch, I'd like to be ready for them with a sparkly clean uncluttered home. Doing this on my own is an impossibility. I lack that special something, that mysterious clean gene, that a lot of you wonderful ladies out there possess. I am so jealous of you!

I have a wonderful friend, Jackie, who in less than 3 hours worked a miracle in my kitchen, dinning room, and living room. My Realtors came today to take pictures and they couldn't get over the change in my house. Thank you, Jackie! I can't wait to see the wonders she'll work in my basement. I may not want to move after all by the time she's finished with my house. I honestly didn't know my tiny living room could looks so spacious.

So that's what I've been busy busy busy doing lately. Maybe when my house is completely decluttered, I'll get back to my pictures.

Gracie's 3rd Birthday Part 1

2009-10-07T11:59:00.003-04:00

Gracie's 3rd birthday was yesterday. I took a ton of pictures. Here are just a few of the pics I've sorted through all ready.

We started the day off right...with chocolate chip pancakes! Yum!

Kaleb thoroughly enjoyed his two pancakes!

Kathryn looked so sweet, I had to throw this pic in.

I wanted to take a nice picture of Gracie, so I can remember what she looked like on her 3rd birthday. These are the best I could come up with!

Such a natural pose, don't you think?

We went to the McDonald's that has a play place for lunch. Kathryn got to bring along another homeschooling friend, Annabelle, and I got to bring along another stay at home mom, Michelle. It had been a long time since I had been able to do something with Michelle and we talked non stop. I had a really good time. Thanks for coming along, Michelle!

The girls got very hot and sweaty from running around the play place, so I got them all sundae's to cool them off. Of course, I had to get a yummy caramel frappaccino too!

We had cake and opened presents after dinner, but that's for my next post. After I sort through all those pictures!

Canning Applesauce

2009-10-04T13:56:00.002-04:00

What a chore! But a fun one when you have 4 way cool teen girls helping! Brittany wrote about the day on her blog, so I'll send you over there. Just click HERE and you'll be there!

I definitely couldn't have accomplished what we did in one day without their help. They did almost all the peeling and cutting. Their hands were shriveled and callused by the time they left. We made 21 quarts of applesauce. Like Brittany said, it should have been way more!

Not only are these girls the best baby sitters ever, they also are excellent interior decorators (they helped paint my bathroom) and now professional apple peelers. Well, almost professional anyway. Their next project...organizing the basement! They just don't know about it yet.
Tee-hee!
:)

Kaleb Walking...Sort of Part 2

2009-10-01T19:19:00.001-04:00

I thought I'd post a clip of Kaleb walking with a more...boyish toy.

A Day Off

2009-09-30T06:54:00.004-04:00

Kenny had a day off yesterday, so we pretended that it was a Sat instead of a boring old Tue. I actually slept in until 7:45! I can't remember the last time all the kids slept that late. We had a slow morning together, then Kenny said he'd watch the kids so I could go out to lunch with Amy! Isn't he just the coolest hubby ever?!

We had such a good time. We went to the Olive Garden, then found some really nice clothes at a little consignment shop that I had never been to before. And of course we couldn't head back home without making the prerequisite stop at Starbucks. Oh, I am so spoiled!

God has overwhelmingly blessed me with good Godly friends here. I can't imagine where I'd be spiritually right now if it wasn't for each one of them.

My hero, my hubby, lookin just like Kaleb in their matching shirts and jeans.
I love this picture!

I told the girls to sweep the dinning room floor while I took a shower and this is what they where doing when I was done. They were playing train with the chairs that they had moved out of the way to sweep. They were on their way to Nana's house and they had to bring lots of books to read on their long trip. Kathryn's reading out loud to her stuffed animals. Kids have such sweet imaginations.

Kaleb Walking...Sort Of

2009-09-28T14:47:00.002-04:00

This is Kaleb's favorite way of getting around now. He's not quite ready to walk on his own yet.

Some Funny Stuff

2009-09-27T15:27:00.002-04:00

Thought I'd share a smile with the rest of you!

see more Fail Blog

see more Fail Blog

see more Fail Blog

Playground Fun

2009-09-25T21:58:00.003-04:00

We had such a good time together as a family yesterday. We decided to go to a playground that actually has picnic tables instead of the Pathways where we have to sit on rocks. We enjoyed our lunch and had fun watching the kids run around and play. There were even a few mini trails to explore. The weather couldn't have been more perfect for us.

So without further adieu (like my French? I'm so edumacated), here are a ton of pics from our day.

"What'cha doing down there, Mommy?"
Anything for a cute picture.

Ha! Ha! Check out Gracie's staticky hair! Too funny!

The End. For pictures that is. But I wanted to tell everyone about Kenny's surprise that he found his car this evening. See if you can guess what the surprise was...in his words it was "pretty, funny, cute, and a little bit crazy." Did you guess it? It was ME! Did the crazy give me away?

Mrs. Y asked if I could help clean the bathrooms at church this afternoon. Of course I jumped at the opportunity to get out of the house (it's been a looooong almost two weeks of runny noses), even if it did mean scrubbing toilets. So I called in some of my favorite baby sitters, who were more than glad to help me out. I LOVE these girls. And since they were already here, I asked if they wouldn't mind staying late so I could surprise Kenny at work.

I got there a little bit early because I was afraid of him getting done a little bit early and us crossing paths, but I shouldn't have worried. He was actually 15 minutes late getting out. I sat in his car reading a book while waiting patiently for him. The surprise was ruined a little bit because he called home on his way out and got the sitter, but I didn't mind too much. He was still surprised and we had a nice dinner at Red Robin. We did the usual tour of Barns and Noble too, but we didn't stay long. Each of us has had a long day and we weren't in the mood for reading. Speaking of long days, it's time for me to end this one. I'm tired!

Now off to bed for me!

Another Quiet Day

2009-09-23T21:58:00.003-04:00

We had another quiet day today. It seemed the kids noses ran more today than any other day this week. Because of the no gross nose rule in the nursery (a good rule to have, even though I know MY little angles would never spread yucky germs), we missed another church service. I'm going through withdrawal!!! I miss getting out, I miss interacting with grown up type people!

It actually hasn't been that bad. The weather has been beautiful, so we've been outside a lot. It's worse when it's the middle of winter and we're all cooped up in the house for a week or more with sickies.

Kenny has tomorrow off, yay! We're planning on a picnic at Ontario Pathways. I hope the weather cooperates and I can get a few good pictures. It'll be so nice to do something together and to not be the only grown up in charge. Some days that's a pretty lonely feeling. Like today, when my head felt like it was going to explode and I still had to be mommy and teacher and cook and maid and toxic waste remover and everything else life throws at me at any given moment. I finally got rid of the headache late this afternoon. I tried taking these herbs for it...willow bark and chamomile, and when that didn't work, I ate some chocolate. A few minutes later my headache went away. Maybe I just didn't give the herbs enough time to work or maybe it was the chocolate. I guess I'll never know, but the chocolate sure was good!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The other day someone asked Gracie how old she was and she said, "I'm getting to 3." My little baby girl can't wait to grow up. Her birthday is in a few weeks and then she'll be able to go with Kathryn to the little play area that my grocery store has for children while the parent shops. She's so excited. Now if they only had a place for infants...

Here she is explaining something to me. I can't remember what it was, but it must have been very serious.

Lately, I've been watching Kaleb fall in love with his daddy. Up until now, he didn't want anything to do with Kenny. The very few times I've left Kaleb with Kenny, he'd scream the whole time (Kaleb, not Kenny...though there very well could have been some screaming from him too!). But for this past month or so, Kaleb's been diving into Kenny's arms when he comes home from work. He cries when Kenny puts him down or if I take him. It's so wonderful to see. I can go shopping alone again, YES!!!

Yawn

2009-09-21T17:18:00.002-04:00

Ever have one of those emotionally unstable days, followed by a teary night? Well, it was my turn for one of those days yesterday. It started off all wrong with missing church. Going to church on Sundays is such a part of my life, that when I have to miss it, the whole day feels wrong. All the kids still have runny noses and a cough that comes and goes.

Besides missing church, I was missing my hubby. He's working super shifts at the plant this month. What that means is that instead of a 12 hour day, he's putting in 13+travel time, so it's more like a 14 hour day. He leaves for work at 5:30am and comes home a little before 7:30pm. As you can imagine, he comes home whipped. He works 4 days, then has one off, and so it goes for about 5 weeks.

For those of you who don't know, my dear hubby is a nuke...He's an auxiliary operator at the local nuclear power plant. Every 18 months the plant shuts down so they can refuel. That's when the super shifts kick in. We'll both be glad when this is over.

He gets 8 days off at the end of this and we're both really really looking forward to having that time together. He doesn't want to do anything that week, and I don't blame him!

Kaleb's got it made! I've lost track of how many toys he can sit in and go for a ride while Kathryn pushes him. He could care less that he's sitting in a pink baby doll stroller.

Gracie's such a cutie!

Hello

2009-09-18T14:05:00.002-04:00

We've had a long week fighting colds. Kaleb and I started with it Wed morning, Kathryn woke up sick yesterday, and Gracie woke up sick this morning. Now it's Kenny's turn tomorrow...good thing it's his day off!

Even though we haven't been feeling that great, school must go on! We've slowed down the pace a bit though. Instead of finishing around noon, we're getting done around 2. I haven't been exercising or getting up as early as I'd like either. I hope I can get everyone back into our good routine on Mon.

I'm still having fun playing with pictures in my few spare minutes. I did these while Kenny was playing Halo 3 after the kids went to bed.

My Mom. Now you know where I get my good looks from! Tee-hee!

This pic only took a couple of minutes to do. The hardest part was choosing the font. The actions I downloaded did the rest for me in a few seconds!

I found this pic unedited in one of my folders. It had gotten forgotten about in my disorganized mess of pictures, which is now organized, btw. This was taken last month when my parents were visiting me. I just love rainbows.

I hope all of you enjoy your weekend...germ free!
:)